The Criminal Investigation Department of police on Saturday night arrested a field officer of the National Security Intelligence in connection with the April 2004 Chittagong arms haul case. The court remanded Akbar Hossain Khan, the NSI official, in CID’s custody for two days for interrogation. The court also ordered a fresh two-day remand for Mohsin ... Read more
News
6 killed as Bijli sweeps over
662 houses, about 650 hectares of cropland damaged At least six people were killed in Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali and Bhola and scores injured as cyclonic storm Bijli, the first of the 2009 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, crossed past Bangladesh early Saturday, levelling several hundred houses and standing crops on a vast tract. According ... Read more
India warns Dhaka of assassination plot
India has warned Bangladesh’s political leadership, including prime minister Sheikh Hasina, of a possible assassination plot, an Indian newspaper reported on Saturday. The Indian Express said foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon had informed Dhaka of the threat during a recent visit. Menon arrived in the capital on an “unscheduled visit” on Apr 12. Bangladesh foreign ... Read more
Largest flour mill set to start operation
The country’s biggest-ever flour mill is set to start production at the end of this month. Shampa Flour Mills, a Tk 250-crore project of the City Group, will produce premium grade and packed flour and semolina (suji). A visit to the factory at Rupshi under Rupganj upazila in Narayanganj last week
Experts suggest regulatory reforms for businesses
The initiative to bring regulatory reforms for improving business climate is yet to draw attention of the new government, the chairman of Regulatory Reforms Commission said, regretting lack of demand for business reforms from the stakeholders. Akbar Ali Khan, addressing the presentation ceremony of a survey report on business reforms on Friday, added that delay ... Read more
Earthen seal with ancient inscription found
Archaeologists recently found a broken clay seal with illegible ancient inscriptions during excavation at “Paharpur Buddhist Monastery” site in Naogaon district. They also dug out other artefacts including unknown earthen pots from the world heritage site. The Department of Archeology carried out the month-long excavation at the site that ended on April 16. Naheed Sultana, ... Read more
1.5 lakh families in Bhola outside cyclone shelter coverage
Many offshore islands have no shelter Several lakh people living in the coastal areas of Bhola district are highly vulnerable to cyclones and tidal surges as the shelters constructed the purpose are too inadequate to accommodate the large number of people during natural disasters. Around 1.5 lakh families living in chars (island) of high-risk coastal ... Read more
Potato, pulses, edible oil prices up
Meat, chicken, fish, eggs prices remain high Potato, pulses and edible oil prices increased further in the past week in the city because of shortage in ready stock. The prices of other vegetables remained stable, but meat, chicken, fish and eggs remained exorbitantly high. Consumers observed fresh increase in prices of several essential goods during ... Read more
Use of wood at kilns posing serious threat to public health
The owners of brick-kilns in the district are using wood instead of coal for baking bricks violating government restrictions resulting pollution of environment and posing a serious threat to public health. District administration sources said, under the Brick Burning Control Amendment Ordinance, 1992, setting up of brick fields on crop land and near human settlements, ... Read more
Record number of 101 lawyers opted from AL
The Ministry of Law appointed 101 lawyers from the rank and file of Awami League as public pleaders in 22 courts of Barisal and cancelled jobs of 35 lawyers appointed during the previous regime. The newly appointed lawyers started functioning from Wednesday. The appointment letter signed by Mir Shafikul Alam, Deputy Solicitor of the Law ... Read more
Lack of safe drinking water gives rise to diarrhoea
About 13,847 were afflicted by diarrhoea and at least five people died in the country in the past seven days due to lack of pure drinking water and consumption of stale and contaminated food, said sources at the Directorate-General of Health Services’ control room. The floating people, slum-dwellers and destitutes in the city are most ... Read more
Handloom factories in sorry state at Narsingdi
Hundreds of handloom factories including Jamdani, Katan and Benarashi in the district are facing set back due to high price of yarn and dye and smuggling of Indian fabrics in the local market. Local entrepreneurs said a group of dishonest yarn and dye traders are making the yarn and dye market unstable with an ulterior ... Read more
Future to bind print, web together
Says Sir David Bell, chairman of FT The news world is going to be the one in which the print media and the web will live side by side. So says Sir David Bell, chairman of the Financial Times Group, one of the world’s leading business information companies. The internet is not swallowing everything in ... Read more
Winners of Bangladesh Business Awards ’08
Business Person of the Year Abdul Monem came to Dhaka in early 50s virtually empty-handed with a secondary school certificate being his only means to bet fortune on the city streets. Initial days were hard before he signed up as a construction contractor in partnership. But it did not augur well for Monem and forced ... Read more
Valuables worth Tk 16 lakh looted in city
One shot dead Valuables worth about Tk 16 lakh were looted from the house of a businessman at Kutubkhali of Jatrabari in the Dhaka city early Friday. Victim’s family said a gang of six robbers entered the house of businessman Ferdous Minto on the first floor of the four-storey building by cutting open the balcony ... Read more
Consider climate change issue while preparing budget
Speakers tell seminar Speakers at a seminar yesterday stressed the need to consider the impacts of climate change while preparing the national budget. The seminar titled ‘Climate change: Its impact on health and environment’ was organised by Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa) at Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium. “The impacts of climate change should be considered during ... Read more
Syndicates selling adulterated fuel oil in Khulna
A syndicate is reportedly active in supplying adulterated fuel oils in different fuel sales points in the Khulna city and also many rural areas of the district. Members of the syndicate collect adulterated fuel oils from different parts of the country and supply them to their local customers, local sources said. A section of rural ... Read more
Cyclone Bijli hits coasts, weakens
Cyclone Bijli hit the coastal areas of Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar last night. Strong wind coupled with heavy rain started blowing at around 7:30pm. It may take another 4-6 hours to cross the coasts, said a late night Met office bulletin. The storm lashed the offshore island of Sandwip, coastal upazilas of Banshkhali and Anowara ... Read more
Nearly 25 lakh jobseekers caught in GPA tangle
About 25 lakh jobseekers, who completed their secondary education after 2000, are facing difficulties in taking recruitment tests in the absence of an official harmonisation of the pre- and post-2001 evaluation systems of academic results, alleged sufferers. The government in 2001 introduced letter-grade system in secondary school certificate examinations, ending the traditional evaluation of examinations ... Read more
Most RMG factories not fully compliant, survey finds
Some 743 out of 1,175 garment factories located in Dhaka division and surveyed in 2008 have failed to fully comply with a 2006 tripartite agreement, according to a government inspection report. The survey revealed that the non-compliant factories had not implemented the all eight conditions agreed on by the labour ministry, representatives of apparel owners ... Read more