Bangladesh News

Number of patients soars for want of safe water

Monday, March 31st, 2008 The number of severe arsenic contaminated patients is three times higher than the previous estimation done around two yeas ago, says a joint study of the government and JICA. The study shows the number of arsenicosis patients are increasing alarmingly due to want of safe water sources in affected areas. The study conducted under the project titled "Sustainable Arsenic Mitigation under Integrated Local Government System (SAM-ILGS)" also finds many identified patients died in last five years without proper treatment. "The actual number of patients in the country could be even more than triple than that was identified previously if the contaminated areas are ... (read more)

2 units shut down after explosion

Monday, March 31st, 2008 Two units of Ashuganj Power Station were shut down yesterday after a fiery explosion severely burned four people including two engineers of the station. The two engineers and two electrician of the station were conducting repair work when a breaker of Unit-5 exploded and caught fire at around 11:45am, said sources at the power station. The injured -- Assistant Engineer Kamruzzaman, Assistant Engineer M Rukan Mia, electricians Brindaban and Mohammad Salam -- have been sent to Dhaka in a critical condition. Units 4 and 5 have been shut down following the incident and 450 MW of power is currently being generated at the ... (read more)

Tk 128cr loss in 2 years

Sunday, March 30th, 2008 Due to massive project cost escalation and low coal production, Barapukuria coal mine has incurred a loss of Tk 128 crore since it started production two years back, according to a Petrobangla source. The mine will continue to incur losses for around six years even if it maintains a healthy coal production rate and the government maintains a coal sales rate of $70 per tonne. According to the mining company's report, it incurred a loss of Tk 52 crore in fiscal 2005-06 and Tk 77 crore in 2006-07. "But it will not incur losses forever," said the source. "According to a proposal, ... (read more)

Anti-graft bodies, court to send corrupt people

Sunday, March 30th, 2008 The Truth and Accountability Commission will have the power to hold closed-door hearings on corruption or corrupt practices in certain cases, although there will be provision of public hearings. The draft of the proposed law, "Voluntary Disclosure Ordinance, 2008" says the Commission may hold such hearings if there is a "likelihood" that an open hearing will result in harming the person concerned. The Commission may also hold such a hearing on appeal of the person who has made the voluntary disclosure before it. Though someone taking the advantage of voluntary disclosure will not have to serve in jail, they will be awarded up ... (read more)

Motijheel skyscraper develops cracks before completion

Sunday, March 30th, 2008 The under construction 37-storey City Centre at Motijheel has developed cracks in its ground floor walls, prompting police yesterday to evacuate people who live or work in the building and the adjacent ones. The cracks in a front sidewall were first noticed about one and a half months ago. Suddenly, they started widening yesterday afternoon, causing panic in the commercial hub. Besides, a side wall has curved in precariously, security guards and construction workers told The Daily Star. Later in the afternoon, police marked the site with yellow tape and closed off the road between Shapla Chattar (roundabout) and Dainik Bangla ... (read more)

Govt to supply 15pc of April rice need

Sunday, March 30th, 2008 The government will supply 15 percent of the country's requirement of rice next month through various safety net programmes amid continued price escalation. Food Secretary Mollah Wahiduzzaman yesterday told The Daily Star that the government would inject around 2.8 lakh tonnes of rice into the market through these programmes. According to Food Planning and Monitoring Unit (FPM) statistics, the annual demand for rice in the country is 2.55 crore tonnes with the monthly requirement being 21.25 lakh tonnes. The overall food situation and distribution programme were reviewed at a high level meeting yesterday at the food ministry with the food secretary in ... (read more)

Electoral reforms to cut money, muscle power

Sunday, March 30th, 2008 Chief Adviser (CA) Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday said the objective of the electoral reforms undertaken by his caretaker government is to curb undue influence of money-muscle and misuse of authority in the forthcoming election. He told Asian media personalities that primary goal of the caretaker government is to hold a free, fair, transparent and credible election by the end of 2008. Fakhruddin said his government believes in freedom of press, as the press builds the bridge between the people and the government. The head of the caretaker government made the remarks while exchanging views with a delegation of Asia News Network (ANN) at the ... (read more)

AL to observe hunger strike next month

Sunday, March 30th, 2008 Bangladesh Awami League (AL) will stage a daylong mass hunger strike across the country next month to press for its five-point demand that includes announcement of election schedule and release of detained party chief Sheikh Hasina. The decision came from a daylong meeting of Awami League Central Working Committee (ALCWC) held at the party's Dhanmondi office with Acting President Zillur Rahman in the chair. The three other demands are: Bringing down high prices of essentials, trial of war criminals, and improving the law and order. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Acting AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam declared the mass hunger strike, saying ... (read more)

Offenders to get pardon at cost of polls ambition

Saturday, March 29th, 2008 The government is about to finalise a new law for launching the Truth and Accountability Commission to prevent corrupt persons from participating in any election and holding public offices and posts in financial organisations for five years without trial. The constitution and the Emergency Power Rules (EPR) already have provisions to imprison and bar the corrupt from election for the period of conviction and appeal. But the power of the Truth Commission in this regard will be sweeping as the bar comes as a consequence of the punishment of depositing ill-gotten wealth to the state exchequer following voluntary disclosure of their offences. The ... (read more)

Tax holiday to 999 units makes positive impact

Saturday, March 29th, 2008 Tax holiday facilities to 999 industries in last two fiscal years have brought positive impact as production values were 30 times and export value 17 times more than the revenue losses due to the facilities, reveals a study by NBR. Introduced as incentives for business investment, the system of tax holiday, which facilitates reduction or elimination of taxes, will end in June. But National Board of Revenue (NBR) last week recommended that the government continue the facilities considering its positive outcomes. According to the NBR study, total revenue loss of the government was Tk 1,205 crore in the FY 2005-06 and FY ... (read more)