Speakers tell discussion Planned management of the existing roads and its strict enforcement can resolve only one-fourth of the horrendous traffic problem in the city, said noted engineers and planners at a discussion yesterday. Only a multi-modal transport system including roads, waterways and railways can provide a long-term transport solution to make a metropolitan city ... Read more
dhaka
Ensure sale of safe iftar
Green activists urge govt Green activists demanded the government to take all necessary steps to ensure sale of safe iftar and other food items at reasonable prices during Ramadan. They made the call at a human chain programme in front of Institute of Fine Arts at Shahbagh in the city yesterday organised by Poribesh Bachao ... Read more
People oppose school, college on Sabujbagh playground
The government decision to establish a school and a college on Sabujbagh playground in the city drew adverse public reaction. People in the neighbourhood said that the government took the decision ignoring a High Court verdict delivered on March 15 directing the government to remove, in 15 days, all illegal structures except for those built ... Read more
Safety rules defied
Workers face rising risks of accidents Most construction firm owners directly or indirectly force workers to work without any safety gear and in hazardous conditions which lead to frequent accidents at construction sites. With a high unemployment rate, firm owners have the luxury of firing anyone who talks about safety, and hiring someone who does
Nahid against coaching business
Says immoral activities must be stopped Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday criticised the teachers who are busy with coaching business instead of teaching in classes. He also strongly criticised a section of people for their immoral activities in educational institutions. “Some teachers engage in teaching outside classes in exchange of money and attract students ... Read more
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
4 die in construction lift collapse
Four workers died as a makeshift lift carrying them plunged to the ground in a terrifying free-fall at an under-construction building in the city’s Kakrail yesterday evening. The dead were Zahidul Islam, 26, Delwar Hossain, 28, and his two nephews Rubel, 20, and Abdur Rahman, 18. The lift, on its way up to 13th floor, ... Read more
Most construction firms flout safety rules
Most of the private construction firms in the capital are flouting the provisions of the Bangladesh National Building Code 2006 which require them to ensure the safety of people. They do not even follow the safety rules required for workers. Inadequate safety measures increased the number of death of workers in construction sites. The latest ... Read more
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
Police to probe now police case
6 Students Killed by Mob Police to probe now police case Police high-ups have no confidence in the case filed by Savar police regarding the killing of six students in Aminbazar on Monday, in which the victims are labelled as robbers. The police headquarters hence formed a four-member committee yesterday to probe the matter. “We ... Read more
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
6-hr shutdown at gas stations
Decides govt to tackle electricity crisis during Ramadan The CNG filling stations across the country will remain closed between 3:00pm and 9:00pm for nearly a month starting from the first day of Ramadan as part of a government initiative to improve gas supply to power stations and tackle power crisis. At present, the closing time ... 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
14 fake-brand TVs seized in capital
A mobile court on Wednesday seized 14 fake brand televisions from four electronic shops at Moulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium Market in the capital. During the drive, a team of law enforcers, led by executive magistrate Shakil Ahmed, raided different shops and realised Tk 40,000 in fine from the owners of the four shops for showcasing ... Read more
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
Death penalty for OC Rafiq
Rafiqul Islam who was suspended as the officer-in-charge of the Motijheeel police and two others were on Wednesday sentenced to death on charge of killing college student Kamrul Islam Momin in 2005. Dhaka speedy trial tribunal judge Mohammad Rezaul Islam convicted Rafiqul, Tareq alias Zia and Shakhawat Hossain Jewel to death
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
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