Archive for February 18th, 2008
Monday, February 18th, 2008The movie industry in Bangladesh is shocked at the sudden demise of actor S.M. Manna. One of the leading actors of Dhaliwood, Manna, passed away yesterday at the United Hospital in Dhaka. He died of heart attack.Born in 1964 in Tangail district, Manna acted in over 300 movies. Most of them have done profitable business in an era when the Dhaka-based movie industry faced a drought. Manna's career was initiated in 1984 after he was discovered through a talent search programme by the Film Development Corporation.Manna was the General Secretary of Bangladesh Film Actors Association. As the General Secretary of ...
(read more) Monday, February 18th, 2008The country's poultry industry continues to be in grave peril with sales already halved due to panic among consumers in the wake of recent bird flu outbreaks, operators said.Many restaurants have already taken chicken off their menus while home consumption too has slumped.“We are going broke. We are pushing our chicks at a token price to poultry farmers to minimise our losses,” said Shah Habibul Haque, director of Aftab Bahumukhi Farm Ltd.One of the biggest poultry hatcheries, the farm claims it has incurred on average a loss of Tk 2 crore every month since November last year.“Condition of small farmers ...
(read more) Monday, February 18th, 2008Prices of edible oil at both retail and wholesale levels registered a fresh hike of Tk 7 to Tk 10 in the last couple of days -- apparently due to price manipulation by a section of unscrupulous traders, said market operators.A litre of non-brand soybean oil was selling at Tk 108 to Tk 115 yesterday at retail outlets, whereas the price was between Tk 98 and Tk 108 only two days ago, said a number of traders.Retail price of non-brand mustard oil was Tk 120 to Tk 125 per litre yesterday while it was Tk 110 to Tk 115 a ...
(read more) Monday, February 18th, 2008A Dhaka court yesterday sentenced three activists of the banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) to death on charges of killing eight people including two Udichi leaders by carrying out suicide bomb attacks at Udichi and Shata Dal Shilpi Goshthi offices in Netrakona in December 2005.The convicts are Salahuddin alias Saleheen, Asaduzzaman Chowdhury alias Panir and Yunus Ali. Saleheen and Panir were in the dock during the delivery of theverdict. Yunus was tried in absentia as he is on the run. The court acquitted Fahima alias Farzana, also known as Rokeya, as her involvement with the killings was not proved.Judge ...
(read more) Monday, February 18th, 2008Pakistani security forces were on high alert yesterday, as violence surged and claims of rigging mounted on the eve of elections that could threaten President Pervez Musharraf's grip on power.Monday's vote has been overshadowed by the slaying of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in December and by a subsequent wave of bloodshed, including a suicide attack on her supporters on Saturday that left 47 dead.Opposition allegations that the parliamentary polls will be rigged have also raised tensions in the nuclear-armed nation and increased concerns among its foreign backers.Musharraf said in an interview with former cricketer Imran Khan's ...
(read more) Monday, February 18th, 2008Detained Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina has decided to consider positively the suggestions by the jail authorities and her personal doctors to have medical check-ups in the country, her physician said yesterday."She [Hasina] has said that she will think about our proposals positively," Dr ABM Abdullah, one of the personal physicians of the AL chief, told The Daily Star after a meeting with her at the sub-jail on the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises.Hasina had earlier refused to have any medical check-ups, except for her eyes, in the country expressing fear that there would be foul play.The jail authorities ...
(read more) Monday, February 18th, 2008The Bibiyana 450-megawatt independent power project is set to face lack of competition, as two of the four pre-qualified bidders are going to merge and bid as one consortium.Korean power company Kepco and Malaysian Powertek along with its partner Siemens Project Ventures have informed the Power Cell of the power ministry on February 11 and 13 that they want to form a consortium.The new consortium will put Powertek in the lead bidder's position. Powertek's parent company Tanjong Public Limited Company last year purchased the local Haripur 360mw, Meghnaghat 450mw and the NEPC 110mw power plants.Two other pre-qualified bidders are US ...
(read more) Monday, February 18th, 2008Livestock officials culled 95,000 chickens at the bird flu-infected poultry farm at city's Uttar Badda as the culling continued for the second consecutive day yesterday.The government, meantime, decided to set up 16 more laboratories in the country next month for testing and identifying bird flu viruses as more and more areas are coming under avian influenza infestation.
(read more) Monday, February 18th, 2008The Election Commission (EC) has set 2020 as the deadline for political parties to have women in at least one-third of the party committee posts at all levels.Many political parties during their September-November talks with the commission last year strongly objected to the EC proposal for making this provision effective from this year.While reviewing the opinions of the political parties last week, the EC decided to relax the provision by inserting the 12-year timeframe for empowering women politically.The EC, however, rejected a few parties' objections and decided to retain its proposal for banning political parties from having front organisations comprising ...
(read more) Monday, February 18th, 2008Kosovo yesterday declared its independence from an angry and anxious Serbia in the final fallout from the conflict-strewn breakup of the former Yugoslavia.Tens of thousands of flag waving people packed the capital, Pristina, as the Kosovo parliament voted a declaration of independence which insisted that the world's newest state would be "dedicated to peace and stability."The parliament also approved a new flag for the landlocked state of about two million people.While the United States and European Union are quickly expected to recognise the new state, Serbia is infuriated by the move and has been given strong support ...
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