Archive for June 6th, 2009
Saturday, June 6th, 2009Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday made a strong pledge to evict those who have encroached upon rivers irrespective of their identity and strength."I want to declare unequivocally that whoever the encroachers are, however powerful they are, they will be evicted," she said while addressing a programme organised on the occasion of the World Environment Day 2009.Whatever it costs, the government will retrieve the country's river system, which is now in a severely constricted condition because of pollution and encroachment, she said.Hasina said the government is taking initiatives to formulate an integrated policy and plan to save the country's environment and ...
(read more) Saturday, June 6th, 2009Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) yesterday, the third day of the on-going eviction drive, dismantled parts of two major and at least 30 makeshift sturctures erected on the river Turag.With the assistance of Gazipur district administration BIWTA tore down the illegaly Kamarpara Bridge in Masimpur mouja and Hossain Dyeing at Pagar mouja of Tongi.On-duty senior Executive Magistrate Abul Bashar Md Ameer Uddin said his team demolished parts of Shajid Washing and Dying factory till 3: 00 pm and said emphatically that the drive would continue today.Ameer said, “We were inspired by The Daily Star campaign against river-gobblers ...
(read more) Saturday, June 6th, 2009A suicide bomber killed 38 people attending Juma (Friday) prayers at a mosque, while a roadside bomb left four soldiers dead in Pakistan's tribal belt the latest violence to rock the country's northwest as the army says it is beating back the Taliban in the Swat Valley.Malik Naveed Khan, police chief of North West Frontier Province, said 38 people were killed and 50 wounded in the explosion."We fear the death toll may rise to 45 because people are still trapped under the debris. Rescue work is under way," Atif-ur-Rehman, the top government official in Upper Dir, told AFP by telephone."The ...
(read more) Saturday, June 6th, 2009Nasaka, the border security force of Myanmar, opened fire on a group of Bangladeshi fishermen in Batirdia sea channel under Teknaf upazila near Saint Martin's Island, Thursday morning, leaving 11 fishermen wounded, according to a delayed report.Bangladeshi fishermen have not been able to go fishing in the channel since the incident.Fishermen said Nasaka fired gunshots at them within the maritime boundary of Bangladesh in East Bay of Bengal and looted their fishing nets and other valuables.They said fishermen in Cox's Bazar area have been catching Hilsa fish in large numbers since June 1. Till Thursday they caught Hilsa worth ...
(read more) Saturday, June 6th, 2009The Daily Star has received the National Environment Award 2009 in environment education and campaign category, for promotion of environmental awareness.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over the award to Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of the newspaper, at the launching ceremony of a two-day programme marking World Environment Day yesterday in the capital's Osmani Memorial Hall.One individual and three organisations were the recipients of the National Environment Awards this year in four categories.A farmer turned beggar Md Gaher Ali, received an award in the category of environment preservation, for planting 18,000 palm trees on Naogaon-Rajshahi highway between ...
(read more) Saturday, June 6th, 2009The law commission, formed to help modernise the country's law and judicial system, is yet to be fully functional due to shortage of manpower and logistic supports although its chairman and two members have been appointed.Former High Court (HC) judge Justice MA Rashid was appointed chairman of the commission in April this year while former district judge Sunil Chandra Paul was made its member in May.This week, the government has appointed Prof Shah Alam of Chittagong university as another member of the commission.Commission Chairman MA Rashid has recently told The Daily Star that the law commission is a ...
(read more) Saturday, June 6th, 2009Three schoolboys were arrested Thursday night on charge of killing a classmate in a quarrel over a digital music player near Beribadh under Pahartali Police Station in the port city.The detained students are Farhad, 14, son of Mohammad Alam of Biswa Colony, Parvez, 15, son of Enamul Haque of City Gate, and Shuvo Chowdhury, 14, son of Asish Chowdhury of Kattali area in the city.Police said they picked up the three students of class-VIII of Mostafa-Hakim High School from their houses at about 8:30pm following a tip-off and took them to the killing spot on the night.Around 3:30am yesterday, the ...
(read more) Saturday, June 6th, 2009World Food Programme (WFP) has claimed the high-energy biscuits that caused toxicity havoc after consumption by the school students in Khagrachhari district recently, were completely safe."There are no pathogenic bacteria detected in the biscuits," said the UN food organisation in a statement citing a laboratory test report, received on Thursday.It said, "High energy biscuits manufactured for the organisation in Bangladesh are completely safe for consumption, according to preliminary laboratory tests carried out by the Institute of Food Science and Technology of BCSIR."The organisation said the levels of vitamin 'A' and iron were found to be higher than the levels ...
(read more) Saturday, June 6th, 2009Prodding the international community, President Barack Obama called yesterday "for all of us to redouble our efforts" toward separate Israeli and Palestinian states. "The moment is now for us to act," he declared.Alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel one day after his trip to the Middle East, Obama said: "The United States can't force peace upon the parties." But he said America has "at least created the space, the atmosphere, in which talks can restart."The president announced that he was sending special envoy George J Mitchell back to the region next week to follow up on his speech in Cairo a ...
(read more) Saturday, June 6th, 2009Phensidyl smuggling has shot up since the February 25 carnage at Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters, as lax border control, because of a shortage of BDR guards, allowed smugglers to step up operations across the Indo-Bangladesh border.An internal security report, submitted to the government high-ups early this April, also observed that the post-BDR carnage period has been marked by sharp increase in illegal activities, such as trafficking of women and children, and drug and arms smuggling.This is reflected particularly in the sharp rise of Phensidyl smuggling, evident from the high number of recoveries in the last two months and a ...
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