60km tailback in Comilla Thousands of people on Wednesday huddled at bus, railway and launch terminals in the capital to head home in outlying areas to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, to fall on either August 19 or August 20. Passengers crowded Gabtali, Sayedabad and Mohakhali inter-district bus terminals, Kamalapur railway station and Sadarghat launch terminal frantically trying ... Read more
bangladesh
National Mourning Day today
The nation will pay homage to Bangladesh’s independence hero Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in observance of the 37th anniversary of his death on Wednesday. A group of disgruntled army officers, at the dawn of August 15, 1975, assassinated the Bangabandhu and most of his family members, at his Road 32, Dhanmondi
HC asks govt to explain legality
New MBBS, BDS admission system HC asks govt to explain legality The High Court on Tuesday asked the government to explain in four weeks the legality of its decision to enrol students at medical and dental colleges based on their grade point average scores in the Secondary School Certificate and Higher Secondary School Certificate examinations ... Read more
Students give govt until Aug 26 to cancel decision
Admission seekers protesting against the decision to enrol students in medical and dental colleges without admission test on Tuesday gave the government an ultimatum to cancel the new system by August 26. The students said they would announce their next protest programmes on August 27 if their
Dhaka rated the least liveable city
Dhaka has been placed at the bottom of the world’s 140 cities this year in terms of living conditions, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2012 Global Livability Survey. Last year Dhaka was ranked the second least livable city in the world. The survey ranked Australia’s Melbourne as the most livable city in the
10-second pulse for each mobile call from today
All the cell phone operators in the country have to introduce ‘10 second pulse’ with each call from today, as the regulator has put special attention for ensuring customers’ benefit, said officials. ‘The operators have to introduce the ‘10 second pulse’ after 12 midnight Tuesday. If they do not do so, it will be a ... Read more
Ask Myanmar to settle it
PM tells UK, other countries not to put pressure on Bangladesh on Rohingya issue Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called upon the United Kingdom and the countries concerned about Rohingya refugees to talk to the Myanmar government instead of pressuring Bangladesh. She said this when British Secretary of State for International Development Affairs Andrew Mitchell ... Read more
Students burst into protests, writ petition filed
New admission system for MBBS, BDS courses Students burst into protests, writ petition filed Admission seekers on Monday burst into protests across the country against the government’s decision to enrol students at medical and dental colleges without admission tests. A Supreme Court lawyer on Monday filed a writ petition challenging the government decision to enrol ... Read more
Country now without top 3 leaders
The country is running without top leaders, including the president and the prime minister, as all of them are on foreign trips. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been in London to attend a nutrition conference since August 11. She is expected to return at 8:40am today
Rush for home begins today
Eid Holidays Rush for home begins today With the Eid-ul-Fitr now only days away, a mass exodus from capital will begin today as a six-day-long public holiday commences tomorrow. Thousands of people have already bought advance bus and train tickets to go to village homes to celebrate the festival with their families
Spices too hot at Eid market
Despite a drop of prices in the wholesale spice market, retailers are still charging customers high for items like raisins, cumin, cloves and cardamom. Prices of some spices dropped by as much as Tk 150 a kg a month ago, according to data gathered by The Daily Star. However, visiting Karwan Bazar, Palassy and Moulvibazar, a ... Read more
Govt to issue MRPs before getting police clearance
The government has asked the passport and immigration department to issue new Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) in 15 days for emergency and in 30 days for regular before getting police verification reports to contain sufferings of the passport seekers home and abroad. The decision came on Sunday at a meeting held at the Prime Minister’s ... Read more
Russia agrees to provide 85pc fund
Nuke Power Plant Russia agrees to provide 85pc fund Loan agreement by year end Russia has agreed to provide as credit 85 percent of the estimated Tk 12,000-15,000 crore needed for setting up the first-ever nuclear power plant in Bangladesh. It will initially provide $500 million (around Tk 4,000 crore) for conducting necessary studies and ... Read more
PM for global actions to end poverty
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday called for concerted efforts of the international community to fight against poverty and hunger as the two issues had global origins and implications. “The whole world needs to mobilise its resources, share experiences, research findings and technology, and fully commit themselves to implementing global and national plans and
No admission test this year
Medical Colleges No admission test this year There will be no admission tests for public and private medical colleges this year as students will be enrolled on the basis of their SSC and HSC results. This was decided at a meeting at the health ministry yesterday with Health and Family Welfare Minister AFM Ruhal Haque ... Read more
Hajj flights begin on Sept 17
Hajj flights from Dhaka to Jeddah will begin on September 17 and continue till October 30 this year. Biman Bangladesh Airlines along with Saudi Arabian Airlines and Nas Air will carry a total of 1,12,568 Hajj passengers from Bangladesh, the civil aviation secretary, Md Atharul Islam, said on Sunday. ‘The national flag carrier Biman has ... Read more
Banks post mixed profits
Loan provisioning weighs on earnings Earnings of listed commercial banks showed a mixed trend in the first six months this year with half of the banks posting growth in net profit. Net profit of the remaining banks declined during January-June, compared to the same period last year, according to the banks’ half-yearly disclosures made public
Bangladesh moving slowly up in ICT
Analysts say weak regulatory regimes cast a blight on the sector Bangladesh is moving slowly up in ICT advancement, ranking 113th in the “networked readiness index” this year among 142 countries. In the previous three years, Bangladesh progressed from 130th to 118th to 115th, according to the Global Information Technology Report: Living in a Hyperconnected ... Read more
Greens urge govt to use renewable energy
Environment activists on Saturday said the Bangladesh government should take initiative to use renewable energy for a prosperous economy and to be self-reliant in energy. The speakers also urged the people concerned to make people aware about renewable energy in a seminar at Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban at Dhaka University, said
No int’l treaties placed in JS
All governments overlooked the constitutional provision None of the international treaties that Bangladesh signed with different countries over the last three decades has been placed in parliament. This clearly undermines article 145A of the constitution that says: “All treaties with foreign countries shall be submitted to the President, who shall cause them to be laid ... Read more