Three hundred and twenty members of Formed Police Unit from Bangladesh got the United Nations medal at a colourful ceremony in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on May 10, an UN release said. The ceremony was attended by the deputy special representative of the UN secretary general in Haiti, Nigel Fisher, commissioner of the UN police Marc Tardif, ... Read more
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World living beyond its resources, summit off-track: WWF
Biodiversity has decreased by an average of 28 per cent globally since 1970 and the world would have to be 50 per cent bigger to have enough land and forests to provide for current levels of consumption and carbon emissions, conservation group WWF said on Tuesday. Unless the world addresses the problem, by 2030 even ... Read more
Irrigation over, power cut not yet
Financial constraints keep many plants shut; PDB seeks to buy offshore gas from Santos Although the extra need for power for Boro season irrigation is over, the level of load shedding remains unchanged due to the authorities’ financial inability to operate many idle rental power plants. A top official of the Power Development Board (PDB) ... Read more
No banking by cooperatives
Cabinet endorses 7-yr jail for unauthorized banking The Cabinet on Monday approved the draft of the “Cooperative Society (Amendment) Act 2012” prohibiting banking without prior permission of Bangladesh Bank with a provision of seven years of jail and a fine of Tk 10 lakh for violating the rule. The cabinet meeting was held at the ... Read more
Gone with greed
It was the lure of high profits that drove Mohiuddin Robin to deposit money with a cooperative society. But it wasn’t long before the 31-year-old was overcome with a sense of despair. Robin found out that the cooperative society was a fraud and all his money was gone. Robin, his family members, relatives and friends ... Read more
No headway in investigation
Sagar-Runi murder case No headway in investigation Neither the Rapid Action Battalion, nor the detective branch of police is yet to make any headway in the investigation into the murder of journalist couple Sagar and Runi even after passage of more than four months. Since the murder, the RAB and other investigating agencies, however, have ... Read more
Police demand risk allowance
The home ministry in its budgetary proposal last week placed the demand for paying the police 70 per cent of basic salary as risk allowance from the next fiscal year which according to finance ministry calculations would require an additional expenditure of Tk 8.24 billion a year from the public exchequer, officials said. The home ... Read more
HC for action against errant 3-wheelers
Private Yet Not Private HC for action against errant 3-wheelers The High Court (HC) yesterday asked the government to explain in three weeks why it should not be directed to take action against “private” CNG-run three-wheelers illegally operating on a commercial basis in and around the capital. Issuing a suo moto rule, the HC asked ... Read more
Ashulia calm
Factories resume production The Ashulia industrial belt on the outskirts of the capital returned to normal yesterday after a two-day shutdown for violence over a rumour of a garment worker’s death. Workers of all readymade garment factories in the area joined work yesterday morning. During the agitation programmes on Saturday and Sunday, workers vandalised over
Repair job goes to army
Meghna Bridge Repair job goes to army Failing to select a company over the last five months, the communications ministry has assigned the task of repairing the Meghna and Gumti bridges to Bangladesh Army. The bridges have been posing risk to commuters for over a year due to river-bed scouring and damage to the expansion ... Read more
RMG workers on rampage
100 injured, 4,500 Ashulia workers sued At least 100 people were injured and more than 300 apparel factories were closed for the day as garment workers fought pitched battles with the police at Ashulia on the outskirts of the capital for the second consecutive day on Sunday. More than 20 factories were vandalised during the ... Read more
Pharmaceutical cos jack up medicine prices
Drug Admin seems tongue-tied Patients suffering from serious diseases are in a quandary as medicines are becoming costlier in the country as government authorities have no control over the pricing of many lifesaving drugs, according to firsthand findings. People of middle-and lower-income groups are the worst victims of such price spirals as they have to pay ... Read more
100 hurt as police, apparel workers clash at Ashulia
At least 100 people were injured, more than 200 apparel factories closed for the day and more than 50 factories were vandalised as the police and the workers clashed at Ashulia of Savar on the outskirts of the capital on Saturday. Kamrun Nahar, 30, an operator who worked at an Opex Group factory, was run ... Read more
Hasina trusted by 77 percent
Gallup poll survey of 2011 ranks her 7th among Asian leaders Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has 77 percent approval rating, according to a Gallup poll. Washington-based Gallup, renowned for predicting US election results and conducting the US presidents’ approval ratings, ranked Sheikh Hasina seventh in its survey conducted in 21 countries of Asia and the ... Read more
Rash driving puts people’s lives in peril
Nine people are killed daily Reckless driving by a legion of greenhorn drivers has shot up the number of road accidents in the country, but due to lack of enforcement of rules and no real punishment for killing people on the roads, careless drivers are still at large on the roads, experts observed. Data from the ... Read more
Malaysian cops prey on migrant workers
Rights activist tells anti-graft body in KL about their harassment for bribe Migrant workers in Malaysia are regularly being harassed by law enforcers and forced to pay bribes, rights activist Irene Fernandez told Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Friday. She also cited six instances of corruption involving guest workers, reported The Malaysian Insider. On Friday, the ... Read more
Private sector women get less maternity leave
Discrimination in maternity leave entitlement for working women resulting from inconsistencies between the Labour Act 2006 and the amended Bangladesh Service Rules is a cause of significant concern, according to working women and lawyers. Non-implementation of the existing laws particularly related to maternity leave and lack
Housewife set ablaze by husband, in-laws
A 28-year-old mother of two daughters is writhing in a hospital bed with most of her body burnt and wrapped in bandages. Mousumi Akhter Sumi was set ablaze allegedly by her husband and in-laws yesterday at their house at Krishnapur of Comilla sadar for protesting against her husband’s extramarital
Hit hard by summer heat
Frequent power cuts make Dhaka life all the more difficult The scorching heat, high humidity, frequent power cuts and perennial water crisis have made life miserable in the capital in the last few days. The situation is also contributing to the spike in diarrhoea cases. More than 500 people are getting admitted to the International ... Read more
AL leader, 2 journos among 15 killed
Road Accidents AL leader, 2 journos among 15 killed PM orders arrest of drivers Fifteen people including Awami League’s Sylhet district unit senior vice-president Iftekhar Hossain Shamim and two journalists were killed in road accidents in Sylhet, Dhaka and Gaibandha yesterday. Eight people, including Iftekhar Hossain Shamim, were killed and 30 others injured when