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Info, documents to go online Finance Minister AMA Muhith would place the Awami League-led grand-alliance government’s maiden budget in parliament on Thursday at 3pm amid wide publicity of all its information and documents online and offline. An official announcement yesterday said all the information and important documents of the new budget would be released on ... Read more

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Tuesday announced convening committees for its 71, out of 75 district units, dissolving the incumbent bodies and asked them to elect fully-fledged panels through council sessions by November 15. The convening committees for the Dhaka city, Dhaka district, Manikganj and Sunamganj were yet to be announced. The party’s office secretary, ... Read more

At least 352 students of Potkakhali Government Primary School under Sadar Upazila of Barguna reportedly fell sick after having biscuits distributed by World Food Programme (WFP) yesterday. The children were admitted to Barguna General Hospital where doctors declared them to be out of danger. Police had to be deployed to restrain the agitating guardians from ... Read more

Hordes of visitors, mostly small-time political leaders and activists, trickle into Bangladesh Secretariat each working day, disrupting normal function of the country’s main seat of administration. They come over from across the country as well as the capital. They get into the highly protected secretariat zone with valid passes issued by the authorities, or sometimes ... Read more

Polls to Zila Parishads by 2010: LGRD Minister Leaders of Upazila Chairmen’s Association alleged that UZ chairmen have become inactive due to indecision of government and non-cooperation of the UNOs. After a meeting with LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, association head Badiuzzaman Badsha said although they were elected several months ago but they cannot work ... Read more

Encroachment on khasland in the city and elsewhere in the country have been continuing una-bated for long many years. Even the riverbeds have been grabbed by landsharks. To our horror the waterbodies and wetlands, which are the lifeline in the city, have been illegally occupied. As a result, the city is dying gradually harming the ... Read more

The number of landless people in the country is growing steadily because of poverty, river erosion and legal disputes posing a grave threat to socioeconomic progress, according to experts and a government report. The Agriculture Census 2008 conducted by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics revealed that out of 28.67 million households, 4.48 million or 15.62 per ... Read more

Another aide to the mafia don arrested Detectives have found some political leaders and influential people in Bangladesh to have close relations with international mafia don Daud Ibrahim. The police suspect the influential people maintain close link with Daud to get his support in expanding their businesses in Dubai, a stronghold of the Mumbai-based mafia ... Read more

Seven Ministers of the Awami League government came under fire in the party central working committee meeting held on Saturday at its Dhanmondi political office. They are Finance Minister A M A Muhit, Commerce Minister Farooq Khan, Law Minister Shafiq Ahmed, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen and State Minister ... Read more

Syndicate of 50 claims land in Atir Khal, set to fill it up, sell as plots Defying the wetland protection act and a prime ministerial order, a real estate developer has embarked on a project to fill up Atir Khal, one of the busiest canals till today, connected with the river Buriganga, and serving thousands ... Read more

MPs, academics to join brainstorming on its draft on June 15 Expatriate and local energy experts, parliamentarians and energy sector officials will examine the draft coal policy at a four-day exclusive brainstorming session, jointly organised by the energy ministry and Petrobangla. The session begins on June 15 at Jamuna Resort near the Jamuna Bridge, sources ... Read more

Weather and spinners could be the decisive factors when Bangladesh take on Ireland in their must win final group match of the Twenty20 World Cup at Trent Bridge today. With the India game already lost, the Tigers now face a make-or-break situation against a side that have shown abilities to beat them in the past ... Read more

Some 10 persons, including two businessmen and two students, were killed in the capital in the first seven days of June indicating deterioration of the city’s law and order situation in recent times. Despite many initiatives undertaken, including special drives starting from May 14, by the DMP in the wake of growing lawlessness in the ... Read more

World Environment Day observed Rivers will be revived at any cost: PM The severely degraded river systems will be reverted to their past grandeur whatever the cost, prime minister Sheikh Hasina declared on Friday. She pledged assistance of her administraion to multidimensional researches into modes of combating environmental disasters. In the same breath, the prime ... Read more

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) yesterday, the third day of the on-going eviction drive, dismantled parts of two major and at least 30 makeshift sturctures erected on the river Turag. With the assistance of Gazipur district administration BIWTA tore down the illegaly Kamarpara Bridge in Masimpur mouja and Hossain Dyeing at Pagar mouja of ... Read more

Bangladeshis forced to stop fishing near St Martin’s island Nasaka, the border security force of Myanmar, opened fire on a group of Bangladeshi fishermen in Batirdia sea channel under Teknaf upazila near Saint Martin’s Island, Thursday morning, leaving 11 fishermen wounded, according to a delayed report. Bangladeshi fishermen have not been able to go fishing ... Read more

The government is planning to impose strong control over trade union activities at government, semi-government and autonomous bodies. A government plan and policy, in this regard, is expected to be reflected in the coming budget speech of the Finance Minister on June 11, it has been learnt. Sources in the Ministry of Labour and Employment ... Read more

Successive governments could have recouped up to Tk 200,000 crore had they taken measures on the thousands of audit objections brought against public servants since independence, according to a new research published Thursday. “With this money, Bangladesh could have constructed 20 Padma bridges,” said a former comptroller and auditor general, who carried out the study ... Read more

They demand its amendment The Election Commission (EC) is not going to sit with the political parties soon to discuss further amendments to the amended Representation of People Order, 1972 (RPO, 1972), as demanded by the parties. The law wing of the EC is working on preparation of the agenda of meeting with the political ... Read more

The Daily Star has received the National Environment Award 2009 in environment education and campaign category, for promotion of environmental awareness. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over the award to Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of the newspaper, at the launching ceremony of a two-day programme marking World Environment Day yesterday in the capital’s Osmani ... Read more