River Halda flows through the heartlands of Chittagong. It serves as a lifeline to millions living on her banks. An exhibition of photo and video presentation titled Halda: River of Mystery was inaugurated at the Berlin Hall of Goethe Institut in Dhanmondi at Dhaka on 20 July. Monjurul Kibria, Associate Professor, Department of Zoology, University ... Read more
bangladesh
Nat’l Film Awards 2009 announced
The government Thursday announced names of the recipients of the National Film Award-2009. The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, will distribute the awards among 28 personalities in 26 categories at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre on July 23. The minister for information and culture affairs, Abul Kalam Azad, announced the recipients’ names
Honour they never got
Raju Bala Dey and Surjo Begum — two Birangonas raped by Pakistani soldiers during the Liberation War — yesterday narrated their horrifying experience and the humiliation thereafter. The two Birangonas (war heroines) from Sirajganj are the first among nearly two lakh war rape victims to come in public to recount their
Most city shops stop selling sugar, oil
TCB outlet also stops sales abruptly Sugar and soya bean oil ‘ran out’ in most retail shops in the capital on Thursday, a day after the commerce ministry revised the soya bean oil price and set the prices for palm oil and sugar. The commodities could be found in a few shops in the city, ... Read more
Farmers begin jute harvest
Farmers in different areas of the country, especially those who cultivated jute early, have started harvesting their jute this season. Officials of the department of agriculture extension said farmers in most of the areas were happy this year as they were getting satisfactory yield. They said that harvesting would go on in full swing for
Stop coaching business
Teachers demand at meeting with education minister Heads of top city schools and colleges yesterday demanded the government take action to stop private tuition and coaching, holding these responsible for various unethical practices in educational institutions. If needed, the authorities should arrange extra classes in the campus itself, they insisted. Agreeing with their demand, Education ... Read more
BRAC Bank launches mobile banking service
BRAC Bank introduced a complete mobile financial service yesterday with assistance from its subsidiary company bKash Ltd. Now mobile phones will be used as bank accounts and they will also serve as wallet for transaction of money. BRAC Bank said customers will be able to receive electronic money into their bKash accounts
Pintu, Torab, 428 others indicted
A Dhaka court on Wednesday charged 430, out of the 847, accused, including former BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and local Awami League leader Torab Ali, with murder and other criminal offences committed during the rebellion at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles, now renamed as Border Guard Bangladesh, in February 25–26,
Police role in question
Only survivor tells The Daily Star about the fateful night Al Amin, the lone survivor of Aminbazar mob beating early Monday, told yesterday how he saved his life and that plainclothes police just watched his friends get killed from a couple of yards away. Traumatised and with injuries all over his body, 17-year-old Al Amin ... Read more
Another expressway to link Uttara, Savar EPZ
Govt also approves second Padma bridge project; counts on public private partnership The government plans to build a 34-kilometre elevated expressway for quick entry and exit of vehicles to and from Dhaka, and facilitating transit trade with India, Nepal and Bhutan. The Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway Project (DAEEP), to be implemented in Public Private Partnership (PPP), ... Read more
Govt asked to explain in action
The High Court on Wednesday asked the government to explain in ten days why it should not be directed to take punitive action against the persons responsible for lynching six students on suspicion of robbery on July 18 in Amin Bazaar. The government and the police were also asked to explain why their inaction and ... Read more
BNP to write to int’l bodies
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party is likely to send letters to 19 countries and international human rights organisations, including the United Nations, informing them of rights violations such as police assault on the opposition chief whip, Zainul Abdin Farroque, in Bangladesh. A meeting of the BNP parliamentary party made the decision, opposition lawmakers told
HSC results on July 27
The results of the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and its equivalent examinations will be published on July 27. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid will announce the result through a press conference at the ministry after handing over the copy of the results to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Dhaka Education Board Chairperson Prof Fahima Khatun told
BNP, allies turn down EC invitation
BNP stuck to its stand and once again turned town an invitation for Wednesday’s talks with the ‘biased’ Election Commission. ‘We express our sincere regrets as it is not possible to take part in the discussion at your invitation today because there is no change in our position as I had conveyed to you in ... Read more
People deserve safe roads
Professor Ahsan tells New Age ROAD safety remains a neglected issue during all governments, irrespective of their political identity, Professor Hasib Mohammed Ahsan, director of Accident Research Institute under Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said Tuesday. ‘The situation has become very bad and is getting worse, day by day. There is hardly any enforcement
Handicraft brings the joy of self-reliance
Tackling poverty with handicraft business Handicraft brings the joy of self-reliance The economic hardship has gone from the life of Basana and her family since she has started a handicraft business. Basana Rani, a 35-year old woman of Adhairpur village in Badalgachhi upazila of Naogaon, is now self-dependent and able to take a square meal ... Read more
Traders raise gold price to nearly Tk 50,000 a vori
Local traders on Tuesday increased the price of gold by about Tk 1,166 per vori (11.66 gram) to around Tk 49,555 following the continued rise of prices on the global market. The price of 22-carat gold, which stood at around Tk 48,389 in May this year, has seen 2.41 per cent rise over the last ... Read more
Birthday in tears
His sister bought two new T-shirts and was planning to order a cake for his 19th birthday. The family made all the preparations to give him a big surprise. But the home that was supposed to have a birthday party turned into a home of mourning yesterday. Tipu Sultan, one of the six students beaten ... Read more
Lone survivor gets bail in ‘robbery’ case
Al Amin, the lone survivor of the mob attack that left six students dead in Bardeshi village of Aminbazar early Monday, was sent to jail yesterday in connection with a robbery case and was later released on bail. Earlier on the day, police produced him before a court, showing him arrested in the case filed ... Read more
Extra-judicial killings led to mob violence
Says HR commission chief The recent rise in mob-violence including the one that killed six students on Monday is the direct social impact of continuous extrajudicial killings, said National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman Prof Mizanur Rahman. “That is why we have been saying that you cannot continue extra-judicial killing,” Rahman said