Chin’s telecoms equipment maker ZTE launched two smartphones yesterday to cater to the growing middle-class population in Bangladesh. The touchscreen, dual SIM handsets — Grand X and Skate Acqua — are 3G-enabled and would run on the Android 4.0 platform. The Grand X, which comes with a 1 Gigahertz dual core processor and 4.3-inch display, sells
dhaka
BTRC to go tough on mobile phone operators
Bill Shocks After Promotional Offers BTRC to go tough on mobile phone operators The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission is likely to go tough on the mobile phone operators as many subscribers are facing bill shocks after availing themselves of different promotional or campaign offers. BTRC officials said the commission would issue a directive to the ... Read more
English teaching trade kills learning
Say academics The “business” of English Language Teaching (ELT) is “killing” the learning of English in Bangladesh, said eminent academics at a conference in the capital yesterday. Popularity of ELT in the country has enabled some teachers and experts to profit from it, while the move away from teaching grammar and English literature
Repeated fuel price hike, political instability to hit GDP growth: DCCI
The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday expressed its concern that frequent price hike of fuel oils and electricity and political instability might impede achievement of the government’s target of 7.2 per cent GDP growth for the current fiscal year. ‘Achieving the projected 7.2 per cent growth would be very challenging mainly due ... Read more
No alternative to improving English teaching methods
Speakers tell int’l conference With a view to developing professional skills and proactive mindsets, teachers from different countries have assembled at a conference in Dhaka, sharing their ideas and discussing the challenges and issues of English teaching. Since teachers play a crucial role in the process of language learning, there is no alternative to improving the methods ... Read more
Sand trading or river grabbing?
Govt launches drive to protect Turag, locals sceptic In a drive against river grabbing often under the cover of sand trading, the Dhaka district administration yesterday removed heaps of sand from the foreshore of the Turag river, but did not arrest or fine anyone. Administration officials, who conducted the drive at Sinnirtek in the capital’s Mirpur, ... Read more
USAID starts youth training programme
The USAID, an American overseas development agency, in Dhaka yesterday launched a five-year Leadership Development Programme (LDP) to engage young people in alleviating poverty, creating jobs and protecting the environment. State Minister for Youth and Sports Ahad Ali Sarkar and US Ambassador
Shishu Hospital inaugurates cardiac unit
Dhaka Shishu Hospital inaugurated its cardiac unit on Thursday to render services, including operation, to children with cardiovascular diseases, said a press release. US paediatric heart surgeon Kim F Duncan, from University of Nebraska medical centre, will treat patients at the cardiac centre of the hospital till
Urbanisation too scary
Experts deplore rapid pace of unplanned development, fear whole country to become city state in 4 decades Urban sprawl is so rapid in Bangladesh that the entire country is going to convert into a city state in three to four decades. It is very important to introduce proper urban management to address the situation, said renowned ... Read more
Dhaka’s first bus map in the making
There is good news for the not less than 5 million bus passengers in Dhaka: The city’s first bus map is in the making to ease their daily journeys through the labyrinthine bus system. A group of four American researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and volunteers from the Bangladeshi start-up Kewkradong are
Another kitchen market goes formalin-free
Mirpur’s Shah Ali Bazaar was yesterday declared free from formalin and carbide, as part of a drive by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry to fight food adulterers. Shah Ali Bazaar becomes the eighth kitchen market after Malibagh, Shantinagar, Mohakhali, Gulshan DCC-North, Mohamm-adpur’s Town Hall, Kaptan Bazar and the
Beautified Hatirjheel attracts visitors
It’s now a recreation spot Hatirjheel seems to be a picture of Dhaka we could dream of. It is indeed a small piece of the capital that stood aloof from the rest. The sight of its jam-free express roads, uncluttered footpaths, modern bridges, walkways along a lake stretching as far as our eyes can see ... Read more
Cold claims 8 more
Mercury dips further; northern region worst-hit As mercury hit 45-year low yesterday with the minimum temperature recorded at 3 degrees Celsius in Saidpur, the cold snap claimed at least eight more lives. Cold-related complications left four people dead in Lalmonirhat, one each in Jamalpur and Madaripur and two in Moulvibazar from Wednesday
Biting cold batters life
Mercury dips 45-year low; 82 deaths reported in a week; more cold spells this month A record-breaking cold spell sent the mercury plummeting across the country yesterday, with Dinajpur experiencing 3.2 degrees Celsius, the lowest in almost half a century. Many thousand people suffered badly as the persisting chilly weather with strong winds sent them ... Read more
Nipa researches on folk dance
For the last few years, Shamim Ara Nipa has been conducting vast research on Bangladeshi folk dance forms. With her great passion for folk dance, the dance diva is trying to popularise the folk genres like jari, lathi, dhamail, bratachari and more. ‘Folk are the only dance forms which are uniquely ours. To represent our ... Read more
70pc secondary schools without internet
Govt introduces ICT as compulsory subject The government has introduced information and communications technology as a subject compulsory for students of Class VI–VII from 2013 although the authorities are yet to equip about 70 per cent of secondary schools and 88 per cent of madrashahs, according to BANBEIS, with internet facilities. Officials of educational institution ... Read more
Country chilled on season’s coldest day
A cold wave is sweeping the country with the season’s lowest temperature recorded at 4.9 degrees Celsius at Ishurdi in Pabna yesterday. The Met office said mercury dipped to six degrees Celsius in most places in the northern region and 9.6 degrees in the capital. In a forecast for 24 hours from 6:00pm yesterday, the Met ... Read more
Non-food inflation doubles in ’12
Average inflation eases The non-food inflation jumped to 11.45 per cent last year mainly because of price hike of electricity, house rent and other non-food items. In 2011, the non-food inflation was 6.83 per cent, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday. According to the BBS data released on the day, the food inflation, however, ... Read more
Housing fair logs Tk 620cr in sales
The biannual housing fair that ended on Sunday registered around 40 percent growth in sales of apartments and plots, compared to the previous show in June last year. Realtors sold a total of 596 flats and 652 plots worth Tk 620 crore at the five-day show orgainsed by the Real Estate and Housing Association of ... Read more
Dhaka smart-phone expo begins Friday
A three-day Dhaka Smart-phone Expo 2013 will begin on Friday at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital. Speaking at the press briefing on Tuesday at a city hotel, the organisers said the exhibition would showcase smart-phones and tablet