Archive for April 7th, 2007
Saturday, April 7th, 2007The police arrested Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) Mayor Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran at his residence in the city's Chhararpar area early yesterday. The same day the Sylhet Sadar Cognisance Magistrate's Court sent him to jail when he was produced before it at about 9:00am.Kamran was held in a graft case filed in 2003. After arrest at around 6:00am, he was taken to the Kotwali Police Station. There, he protested his innocence and told the newsmen that the case against him was lodged out of political vengeance by the then BNP government."I will face the conspiracy in the court ...
(read more) Saturday, April 7th, 2007Welcoming the Election Commission's (EC) reform proposals political leaders, former election commissioners and eminent citizens yesterday said the proposed year and a half timeframe for holding the next election is too long and it is possible to shorten it. They said bringing electoral reforms and preparing a voter roll should get priority but the proposals should be finalised after consulting all the authorities concerned including political parties.The political leaders however said the ban on indoor politics should be lifted soon so that the parties may discuss the proposals among themselves for taking decisions about those.Hailing the proposals, former law ...
(read more) Saturday, April 7th, 2007Proper application of biotechnology can help revolutionise development of agriculture, industry and healthcare, and achieve sustainable growth.This technology can also be used as an effective tool to produce or modify various goods and improve plants and animals.Speakers expressed this view at a seminar on 'Promotion of Biotechnology in Bangladesh: National and International perspective' that began in the capital yesterday.They observed that increasing use of biotechnology would help meet the challenges of developing countries like Bangladesh where population is growing but agricultural productivity is not increasing as required and farmland is decreasing.Scientists and biotechnologists from different countries including US, ...
(read more) Saturday, April 7th, 2007A large number of old and valuable books including handwritten scripts are getting damaged in the old building of Woodburn Public Library at Edward Park in Bogra town while the government department concerned seems indifferent to it.At least 7,000 of some 25 thousand books of the library were damaged during the Liberation War and the post-independence period due to lack of proper maintenance, said Md Shamsul Alam, member secretary, convening committee of the library.The library authorities proposed to hand over the old and valuable books including the ancient handwritten scripts for preservation and but the government has yet to ...
(read more) Saturday, April 7th, 2007Climate change is set to inflict damage in every continent, hitting poor countries hardest and threatening nearly a third of the world's species with extinction, UN experts warned yesterday. Global warming will affect much of life on Earth this century, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in a landmark report whose drafting was marked by an angry row.Damage to Earth's weather systems from greenhouse gases will change rainfall patterns, punch up the power of storms and boost the risk of drought, flooding and stress on water supplies, the IPCC said.The consequences will be adverse or ...
(read more) Saturday, April 7th, 2007BNP leader and detained former communications minister Nazmul Huda was sent to jail yesterday after he was produced in a Dhaka court on expiry of a four-day remand in a money laundering case.Investigation officer (IO) of the case submitted a report to the court, saying that important information has been extracted from Huda. So, he needs to be confined in jail until completion of the investigation into the case.After the hearing, Metropolitan Magistrate Mamun Al Rashid ordered to send Huda to jail. The former minister was placed on remand on March 29.On February 15, Dhanmondi police filed a case against ...
(read more) Saturday, April 7th, 2007Bangladesh will desperately try to bury their wretched start to the Cricket World Cup Super Eights when the competition resumes after a two-day break with the Tigers facing serious title contenders South Africa in Guyana today.It would be a tough task for Habibul Bashar's men to regain confidence after disappointing performances against reigning champions Australia and New Zealand although they get fours days' rest before facing the current top-ranked side of the world.The match, which starts at 7:30pm Bangladesh Time, will be telecast live by state-run Bangladesh Television (BTV) and SET Max from the Providence Stadium in Georgetown.South Africa ...
(read more) Saturday, April 7th, 2007Asia faces a heightened risk of flooding, severe water shortages, infectious disease and hunger from global warming this century, the UN's top climate panel said yesterday. The region is confronted by a 90-percent likelihood that more than a billion of its people will be "adversely affected" by the impacts of global warming by the 2050s, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said.Its estimates, in a major report unveiled in Brussels, say the magnitude of climate-change effects will vary according to the size of the world's population, energy use and the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, ...
(read more) Saturday, April 7th, 2007The benefit of migration has plummeted for unskilled workers from Bangladesh in recent years damaging the economic base of their families, according to findings by studies, experts, and returnee migrants.The key reasons behind this are low wages and lack of facilities abroad, and higher migration cost due to manipulation of the visa issuance process by middlemen at home.Majority of Bangladeshi workers abroad, who borrow at high interest rates to finance their migration, also work in extremely hazardous conditions and are subjected to exploitation.But manpower agencies and middlemen involved in sending workers abroad make quick money capitalising on the helplessness and ...
(read more) Saturday, April 7th, 2007The district administration has asked 20 housing companies to free the government lands they had included in their projects illegally. The private companies had allegedly grabbed at least 289 acres of land estimated to be worth around Tk 500 crore.Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet Jamal Hossain Majumder told The Daily Star that the lands grabbed include 173 acres of Khas land (those under state jurisdiction), 19 acres of vested property, 69 acres of Waqf (endowed) property, 9 acres of tea estates, 6.5 acres of Roads and Highways and 11 acres of Bangladesh Railway.The administration officials at a meeting Thursday asked ...
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