Sunday, January 3rd, 2010Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said her government is going to formulate a policy soon for ship-breaking industry to save environment and lives of workers."We are not against the ship-breaking industry. But it should not be done at the cost of environment and lives of workers. We are against indiciplined activities [in this sector]."The prime minister said this while adressing the inaugural ceremony of the 51st Convention of Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) at the IEB Chittagong Centre.Later while laying foundation stone of five flyovers in the port city in the afternoon, Sheikh Hasina also reacted over the ...
(read more) Sunday, January 3rd, 2010Most students of primary and secondary schools across the country started their first day of school in the academic year with the free government-distributed textbooks in their hands.The educational institutions in the capital and elsewhere in the country distributed the new textbooks to the students yesterday.Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid inaugurated the distribution at Azimpur Girls School and College in the city. However, on December 30 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally inaugurated the distribution of 19 crore textbooks among students of primary, secondary, ibtedai (primary level of madrasa), dakhil and technical classes.Around 90 percent textbooks of general secondary schools ...
(read more) Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009Home Minister Sahara Khatun yesterday requested the top functionaries of the government to refrain from talking details about deportation of the killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.Talking to reporters at her Secretariat office, the minister said a 'red alert' has been issued by the Interpol for the fugitive killers of Bangabandhu aiming to tracking and bringing them back to Bangladesh.On Law Minister Shafique Ahmed's remark on bringing back Lt Col (retd) SHMB Nur Chowdhury, a convict in Bangabandhu assassination case, from Canada, she said, "It's not right to disclose the information about the procedure the government is following now. The ...
(read more) Friday, October 30th, 2009The Power Development Board (PDB) yesterday received a record number of 63 proposals for eight rental power projects totalling 530 megawatt in capacity, set to start being launched the next summer.PDB Chairman Alamgir Kabir told The Daily Star that his organisation aims to sign the agreements with successful bidders within the next month, so that four diesel fired plants could start launching operations from March next, and four heavy fuel oil (HFO) fired plants may start launching from next August.The expected tariff for power from diesel plants totalling 250MW in capacity is around Tk 14 per kilowatt hour while from ...
(read more) Saturday, October 24th, 2009Nobel-laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus suggested that world leaders now get down to redesigning the global financial system as it crumbled in 2008 amid economic recession.“The global financial crisis offers world leaders an opportunity to 'retool, redesign and reconceptualise' the system that crumbled in 2008,” said the micro-finance pioneer at the European Development Days function on Thursday.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is leading Bangladesh delegation at the function. She is scheduled to address it today.Yunus, managing director of Grameen Bank, made the call at an opening-day plenary session titled 'The Response to the Global Economic Downturn', where world leaders and policymakers dealt ...
(read more) Friday, October 9th, 2009Bangladesh will go to the United Nations arbitration for a resolution of its long-standing dispute with India and Myanmar over maritime boundary.Announcing the decision at a press briefing yesterday, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said the government has decided to take the matter up with the UN, as talks over the last 35 years could not settle it.“We are submitting the issue to compulsory arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to ensure our sovereign rights to the natural resources in the Bay,” Moni noted.She, however, said bilateral discussions will go on.Earlier in the day, ...
(read more) Wednesday, October 7th, 2009The government is facing difficulties in recovering the city's canals and water bodies encroached upon by real estate companies and individuals who, the LGRD and cooperatives minister yesterday said, are "highly influential and financially powerful".He said it is even difficult to fight these quarters legally.However, despite all these obstacles the government has taken up various measures to recover the canals and water bodies in and around Dhaka city, Syed Ashraful Islam said during the question-answer session in the House.The government has also planned to treat the water of the Meghna for supplying within the city, he added.Lawmakers had expressed serious ...
(read more) Wednesday, October 7th, 2009The High Court granted anticipatory bail to 14 sugar traders from Jessore and Khulna yesterday in two cases filed on charges of illegally stocking sugar last month.The HC bench of Justice AFM Abdur Rahman and Justice Md Emdadul Haque Azad also issued separate rules upon the government to explain why the accused should not be given regular bail.The people, who were granted bail, are--Abdul Wahab, Anisur Rahman alias Boro Anis, Anisur Rahman alias Chhoto Anis, Abdul Wadud, Modhusudan Saha, Raju Ahmed, Mohammad Amin, Chitta Ranjan Kundu, Hafizur Rahman Babu, Safier Rahman, Rafiqul Islam, Alok Kumar Kundu, Sirajul Islam and Sarwar ...
(read more) Tuesday, October 6th, 2009The case of abduction and rape of a class VII schoolgirl in Kalapara on September 25 'ended' two days later at an arbitration conducted by local Awami League (AL) leaders with police looking on, according to an investigation.Following the abduction and rape of the minor girl that created sensation in this remote town, the local AL leaders decided to settle the matter through what they claimed "tough arbitration".Ironically, local MP and State Minister for Water Resources Mahbubur Rahman Talukder was present in Kalapara at that time.Locals including a number of AL activists told The Daily Star correspondents the Kalapara police ...
(read more) Tuesday, October 6th, 2009The government has taken an eight-year-long mega plan to bring back navigability in 53 important waterways by carrying out massive dredging with a cost of around Tk 11,474 crore, Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan informed the House yesterday."The shipping ministry has sent a primary project proposal to the economic relations division on August 4. The planning commission has already approved the proposal in principle," the minister said.Replying to a query of Awami League lawmaker Israfil Alam, the shipping minister also said the government has planned to dredge 3276 lakh cubic meters in 53 waterways.In response to a query of AL lawmaker ...
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