News

The historic May Day will be observed in the city as elsewhere across the country today with a call for establishment of the fundamental rights of the working class of people. On this day in 1886, scores of workers were killed at Hey Market in Chicago in the United States when the workers staged demonstration ... Read more

Party’s interest more important to union leaders than workers’ rights Opportunism, corruption, undue political interference, workers’ disunity and the ideological divide between the leaders have stalled the trade union movement in Bangladesh for decades, which has allowed the workers’ rights to be trampled across the country, said analysts and activists. The absence of constructive unionism ... Read more

Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain yesterday categorically said the construction of long cherished Padma Multipurpose Bridge (PMB) would be completed within December 2013. “On completion, the Padma Bridge is expected to contribute an additional 1.2 per cent growth to Syed Abul Hossain was speaking at a presentation on design of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge held ... Read more

Eight firms vie for 300MW station Eight power companies yesterday submitted their financial and technical bids to install a 300 megawatt power plant in Siddhirganj under the World Bank financing, the first power bid opened under the new Awami League government. Sources say four Chinese companies, an Indian and an Indo-German joint venture, a Korean ... Read more

The government on Thursday decided to distribute textbooks among all the 70 lakh secondary students free from the academic year 2010, the education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, told New Age. ‘The decision was made at a meeting attended by the finance minister and the chairman and members of the parliamentary standing committee on education ministry,’ ... Read more

The government appointed Ghulam Rahman, chairman of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission, as the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) chief yesterday, twenty-eight days after Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury stepped down from the post. The government also downgraded the status of the ACC chairman to a Supreme Court judge from the status of a minister given during the tenure of ... Read more

Water level 75.05 MSL instead of 82.40 Kaptai Hydroelectric Power Plant (KHPP), the country’s lone hydroelectric power project, is now in operation with one unit only out of five, generating just 90 megawatt (MW) of electricity instead of installed 230MW at present. With the decline of power generation at KHPP due to drastic fall of ... Read more

Diarrhoea outbreak in the city has become phenomenal as the inhabitants have no other way except for drinking muddy and stinking water. Scorching heat continues all over the country, our correspondents from Bhola, Rangpur and Gopalganj have reported that one person in each place has died of heatstroke. The deceased are Yasen Patwari (65) of ... Read more

Asks government officials to act as friend, not master of masses Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday observed that Bangladesh could not attain its desired development yet as military and military-backed forces ruled the country frequently in the past with disregard for people’s welfare. Not only in Bangladesh but in many other countries of the ... Read more

MPs find UNOs on their side in row with upazila chairmen Conflicts between the elected representatives and local administration at the grassroots have intensified with upazila nirbahi officers siding with members of parliament in respective areas throwing local administration into disarray. The grassroots administrations are suffering from a kind of inertia as the newly elected ... Read more

BDR massacre trial in accordance with law Law Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed on Tuesday said the government is proceeding cautiously to hold the trial of war criminals impeccably by international standards. Addressing the press, he said, “We are not hesitating to hold the trial of war criminals which is a national demand. We want to ... Read more

Rivalry between Sadek Hossain Khoka and Mirza Abbas, two aspirants for the top position of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the capital, reflects intense grouping at different tiers of the party across the country. The party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, however, has taken a move to have the two influential leaders of the Dhaka city to ... Read more

Many secondary schools have been forced to defer the beginning of first term examinations as the government failed to make the textbooks available in the markets at the beginning of the academic year on January 1. The academic calendar prepared by the Ministry of Education scheduled the start of the first term examinations in all ... Read more

The swine flu virus first detected in Mexico can no longer be contained and countries should focus on mitigating its effects, a top UN official said. World Health Organization deputy chief Keiji Fukuda was speaking as the WHO raised its alert level to four, or two steps short of a full pandemic. UN food inspectors ... Read more

2011 Cricket WC Bangladesh to host two quarterfinals Bangladesh will host eight matches including two quarterfinals of the 2011 World Cup after the tournament’s organising committee relocated Pakistan’s matches in Mumbai yesterday. Apart from the matches, Bangladesh have been confirmed to host the opening ceremony on February 18, 2011 after it was revealed that Sri ... Read more

It fails to treat polluted river water; over 10,000 ended up in diarrhoea hospital In the broiling midday sun, Rashida Khatun was standing in the queue in front of the Sabujbagh Buddha Temple with two big plastic jars and a steel pitcher in her hands. The temple authorities were providing drinking water from their own ... Read more

100 vehicles damaged The agitated drivers of CNG-run autorickshaws vandalised more than hundred vehicles in the port city today. At least 50 people including eight policemen were injured in clashes between the agitated drivers and police and owners of the car centres. Police arrested a total of 15 people for damaging vehicles from different spots ... Read more

574 workers killed, 713 injured at workplaces last year As many as 547 workers met tragic end of lives and 713 received injuries at different workplaces including garment factories, due to lack of adequate preventive measures and frequent clashes between workers and owners of the factories last year. This was revealed at a press conference ... Read more

The ultimate motive of the Peelkhana carnage on 25 and 26 February last was to simply kill Army officers commanding BDR as a result of which 54 Army officers were killed. The actual planners of the massacre instigated common BDR soldiers and generated heat against Army officers. The geo political securities analysts said that the ... Read more