Archive for July 24th, 2008
Thursday, July 24th, 2008Pollution and loss of navigability in the Buriganga and other rivers surrounding the capital are forcing thousands of people to change their livelihoods.Many of the fishermen and boatmen who would once depend on these rivers for a living have switched to other professions as the rivers have become too polluted and in places dried up.Suvadda jelepara [fishermen's quarter] in Keraniganj, a village that would seethe and teem with life even a decade ago, now exists in name only. Once home to nearly 400 fishing families, it currently has only one family continuing fishing as a source of income.Swapan Das, the ...
(read more) Thursday, July 24th, 2008Release of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is being delayed as she and the authorities have yet to reach a consensus on the conditions, party sources said.In response to the strings attached to her release, the former prime minister has come up with counter-conditions, they added.She has demanded that her elder son Tarique Rahman and the other detained party leaders who are not convicted yet must be freed before her release.BNP insiders said the authorities have laid down a number of conditions for her release. They want her to go to a particular country for treatment and refrain from ...
(read more) Thursday, July 24th, 2008The Election Commission (EC) has moved to register the 1.6 lakh Urdu-speaking stranded Pakistanis living in different camps in Bangladesh in the fresh electoral roll, allowing them to cast votes in the upcoming national and local polls.But registering Bangladeshi citizens living abroad before the next parliamentary election still remains uncertain as the commission's move to amend the electoral roll ordinance for this purpose remains stalled, sources in the EC Secretariat said.The EC initiated the move to register the Urdu-speaking people as voters following a High Court verdict that granted Bangladeshi citizenship to the Biharis living in different camps for 37 ...
(read more) Thursday, July 24th, 2008Flames spouted out of a defective underground pipeline of Titas Gas, causing panic and disruption to vehicular movement on the busy Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue near Bangla Motor intersection yesterday afternoon.The surrounding roads experienced a massive gridlock for over three hours as the sudden incident forced the traffic authorities to block portion of the road for about half an hour.Meanwhile, four female workers were taken to hospital suffering from gas inhalation following a gas pipeline explosion inside Igloo Ice Cream factory at Shyampur in the city.As the flames at Bangla Motor shot up about ten feet into the air, panic-stricken ...
(read more) Thursday, July 24th, 2008A team of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday separately quizzed detained former prime minister Khaleda Zia and her eldest son and BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman in connection with the embezzlement of over Tk 2.10 crore of Zia Orphanage Trust.The ACC team led by Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) Harunur Rashid interrogated Khaleda at the gate of makeshift jail on the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises from 5:45pm to 7:30pm. They quizzed Tarique at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital cabin from 4:15pm to 5:30pm.Their lawyers barrister Nowshad Zamir, advocate Mahbub Uddin Khokan and advocate Shimul Biswas were present during ...
(read more) Thursday, July 24th, 2008Detained former premier Khaleda Zia and her elder son Tarique Rahman were shown arrested yesterday in a case filed for embezzling over Tk 2.10 crore by forming a fake establishment named Zia Orphanage Trust.Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Golam Rabbani passed the order after Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) Deputy Assistant Director Harunur Rashid, also the investigation officer (IO) of the case, submitted a petition for showing them arrested in the case.The commission filed the case against seven people including Khaleda and Tarique with Ramna Police Station on July 3 for committing the offences.According to the case proceedings, the then prime minister Khaleda ...
(read more) Thursday, July 24th, 2008Border security forces of Bangladesh and India exchanged gunfire on Shibganj border in Chapainawabganj yesterday morning, halting cross-border trade and immigration activities through the Sona Masjid land port.Panic gripped the locals when volleys of gunfire broke out at around 6:00am, half-an-hour after Indian Border Security Force (BSF) gunned down a Bangladeshi cattle trader on Nimtola border in Chuadanga, according to our correspondents.With this latest killing, BSF men shot dead six Bangladeshis including two Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel since Friday.The deputy director general (DDG)-level border conference that is presently being held in Kolkata failed to defuse the tension and killings on ...
(read more) Thursday, July 24th, 2008The newly established Government Attorney Department has taken initiatives to recruit about 2,000 law officers for conducting cases in the courts including the apex court on behalf of the state.This is the first time in the country's history that law officers are going to be recruited through the Public Service Commission (PSC).The attorney department has earlier been set up under the Government Attorney Service Ordinance, 2008 for dealing with cases in courts and performing other duties on behalf of the state.The department has recently put forward a proposal of recruiting 197 law officers (attorneys) for the Supreme Court and 1,799 ...
(read more) Thursday, July 24th, 2008Five school students, including two sisters, died when a boat capsized in a jheel (water body) at Pallabi in the capital yesterday.The victims are Nipu, Sadia Mobasherin Shashi, 15, her sister Mafia Mobasherin Brishti, 14, Khuki and Juthi.Nipu was the only boy and a student of class X, while the others were students of class IX -- all from MDC Model Institute in Mirpur-12.The boat sank with 10 students on board and five of them swam ashore or were rescued, said Amina Rahman Ajanta, who was rescued by a local youth."As I didn't go to school today, my friends came ...
(read more) Thursday, July 24th, 2008About 50,000 people remain marooned in four upazilas in Netrakona due to flash floods caused by heavy rain for the last three days.Besides, road communications in several parts of the district are also disrupted due to heavy downpour.The affected four upazilas are Durgapur, Kalmakanda, Mohanganj and Khaliajuri, Netrakona Water Development Board (WDB) sources said.If it continues to rain, vast areas in Madan and Atpara upazilas might also go under water. Water levels of the districts' four major rivers Someshwary, Mogra, Kongsha and Dhanu have registered a sharp rise.Dhanu river was flowing above the danger mark and overflowed ...
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