Archive for May 17th, 2008
Saturday, May 17th, 2008Launched amid much enthusiasm and fanfare over a month ago, Dhaka-Kolkata passenger train service now sees not even one third of seat capacity of the carriages used.Passengers attribute poor show of the Maitree Express service to long stops at the border stations--Darshana in Bangladesh and Gede in India--for immigration and customs formalities, twice-a-week only (Saturday-Sunday) schedule and hassles in ticket purchase in Kolkata.Sources said necessary efforts to popularise the train service are yet to be made by the ministries concerned in both the countries, their business communities and cultural and tourism organisations, contributing to its present state.Bangladesh officials however said ...
(read more) Saturday, May 17th, 2008Four top outlaws in the country's southwest region serving out long prison sentences broke out of Chuadanga Jail Thursday night. The escaped convicts are Aktaruzzaman Sohag, 38, Abdul Hamid, 37, Jorap Ali alias Bachchu 32, of Chuadanga and Asiqur Rahman Tagar, 36, of neighbouring Kushtia.Hamid and Tagar were the gang bosses named after them while Sohag and Bachchu were top cadres of the outlawed Banglar Communist Party (BCP-Laltu). Tagar was also a daytime BNP cadre in Kushtia.Arrested between 1998 and 2002, the four were serving out jail terms ranging from 44 to 80 years, police said.The breakout caused panic in ...
(read more) Saturday, May 17th, 2008Just when reunification of BNP seemed only a matter of time, a cloud of uncertainty formed over the process again. The uncertainty was created by pro-Khaleda faction chief Khandaker Delwar Hossain's intransigence over making a joint public statement with the rival faction, and his insistence that pro-Saifur faction makes a public announcement nullifying its founding meeting, even before the next reunification meeting of the feuding factions, according to sources.Maj (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed, acting secretary general of pro-Saifur faction, yesterday at a news briefing in his Banani residence said a scheduled meeting between the two factions did not take place on Thursday ...
(read more) Saturday, May 17th, 2008Some senior lawyers and former judges believe quick and full delivery of the Supreme Court (SC) judgments, particularly the ones of crucial importance, would allay concerns among the litigants and lawyers.Talking to The Daily Star recently, they said they are interested to know observations and findings of the Appellate Division of the SC in the judgments it pronounced of late only by saying "appeal allowed".Describing the judgments as important for the nation, they said people have a right to know on what arguments and laws the decisions were based.In its judgments on April 23 and May 8, the ...
(read more) Saturday, May 17th, 2008The government is being deprived of an annual revenue income of Tk 100 crore as pay channel businesses remain unregulated, while some cable operators allegedly remit money abroad for using devices smuggled in from India.Leaders of Cable Operators' Association of Bangladesh (Coab) say they have 3,200 members who connect 2.5 lakh households across the country. But businesses and experts estimate that only Dhaka and Chittagong have over 10 lakh customers of pay channels.This estimate is substantiated by national media survey 2002 by The Communication Initiative Network that says 83 percent people of 15-49 age group in urban areas and 50 ...
(read more) Saturday, May 17th, 2008Terming cinema a strong medium for reflecting life and the society, filmmakers and cultural activists yesterday called for launching a film movement in the country in collaboration with the government and private entrepreneurs.There are plenty of good ideas and good filmmakers, but there is a lack of patronisation and initiatives for collaborative work with other countries, which could have created a greater market for cinema, they said.The observations came out of a roundtable discussion on 'Films we want made', organised as a part of an ongoing contest of movies, photographs, and lyrics titled Celebrating Life 2008, sponsored by Standard Chartered ...
(read more) Saturday, May 17th, 2008Prices of eggs rose sharply in the city's kitchen markets in the last two days while the price of battery chicken also witnessed a fresh hike.Meanwhile, prices of rice varieties, pulses and edible oil remained stable in the last one week.The price of eggs rose to Tk 23-26 a hali (four pieces), which was sold at Tk 21-22 two days ago.Egg seller Zakir Hossain at Karwan Bazar kitchen market said he sold eggs for Tk 21-22 a hali two days ago but suddenly its price increased to Tk 24 yesterday. The sale of eggs came down due to the ...
(read more) Saturday, May 17th, 2008At least 50 people, including six policemen, were injured as students of Khulna University (KU) clashed with transport workers at Sonadanga bus terminal at Thursday midnight and then with police on Khulna-Satkhira Highway yesterday.Three KU students injured in the clashes are now undergoing treatment at a local clinic and Khulna Medical College Hospital. They are Manotosh, Asad and Maruf of computer science department of the university.Following an emergency meeting, the university authorities asked the students to vacate their dormitories by 2:00pm yesterday. The university is scheduled to go on a month-long summer vacation from tomorrow.Female students vacated their hall by ...
(read more) Saturday, May 17th, 2008Most industries in the capital are yet to install Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) for safeguarding the city's surrounding rivers from further pollution although the deadline for mandatory installation of ETP in all industries ended six months ago, environmentalists said yesterday.Out of 7,000 industries, only 102 have installed ETP while the rest are still discharging waste water into the rivers, they revealed at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity.“The decision to install ETP in all industries by October 31, 2007 was made at a meeting between two advisers and associations of industry owners on March 22, 2007. But only ...
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