Month: September 2013

Marchers issue ultimatum to govt The Dhaka- Sundarban long march ended on Saturday giving the government until October 11 to drop the Rampal thermal power plant project or face a ‘strong movement’. On the last day of the five day march, activists held a rally at Digraj in Bagherhat and adopted the ‘Sundarban declaration’. The ... Read more

NBR forced to waive duty on car imports The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has withdrawn a provision that barred lawmakers elected in the last two years of parliament from getting tax waiver on car imports. Following repeated requests by the parliament secretariat, the revenue authority removed the provision on Monday, only four months

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday met with Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Sing at headquarters of United Nation (UN) in NewYork. At the 30 minute-long meeting, head of the two governments discussed bilateral issues, ameeting sources told reporters. But, the authorities

The World Bank has expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of 12 projects approved by it and will speak to the Economic Relations Division (ERD) authorities on October 1 to resolve the issues. The Dhaka Water Supply and Sanitation Project was aimed at improving sustainable delivery of storm water drainage, waste water, and water services by ... Read more

Seminar decries govt’s inaction, urges people to rally behind rivers More than 10,000 acres of wetland, enough to make up 146 Ramna Parks, have been disappearing each year since 1999 owing to illegal earth filling in and around Dhaka city, experts said at a seminar in the city yesterday. The tendency to encroach on wetland ... Read more

The proposed Rampal power plant project will bring more harm than good for the country destroying the world heritage Sundarbans, according to an independent Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The EIA of physical, biological, social and economic environment indicates that most of the impacts of the coal-fired power plant are negative and irreversible,

Mitford Market Raided Fake, foreign medicine seized As many as 103 people were detained, 28 shops sealed and over Tk 1.25 crore fined yesterday in a joint drive against fake and unauthorised medicine at Mitford in Old Dhaka, the country’s largest hub of wholesale medicine. The eight-hour-long drive that started at 10:00am was conducted by ... Read more

At least 20 readymade garment (RMG) factory workers were injured in a clash with law enforcement personnel in Ashulia when police tried to stop a procession brought out by workers in support of their demand for a minimum monthly wage of Tk. 8,000. A general holiday was announced in five

Speakers at a seminar on Saturday underscored the need for a free, fair and credible election with the participation of all political parties in order to strengthen democracy in the country. Addressing a seminar organised to mark the launching of ‘The Dhaka Forum’, a civil society organization, speakers urged the country’s two major political parties-Awami ... Read more

Many young people rallying against the government move to set up the Rampal thermal power plant near Sundarban are carrying out campaigns on social networking and video-sharing sites demanding an early cancellation of the project. They are holding signature campaigns and requesting petitions against at project to save Sundarban as ‘it has always protected

Unidentified armed assailants on Saturday barged into the drawing room of a businessman at Rupnagar in the Mirpur area in the city and shot him dead. He was identified as Zafrul Haque Moktar, 55, son of late Jahirul Haque, of Karupchar village in Shibchar, Madaripur district. The incident

About 79 Bangladeshis have been languishing in a Kurdistan prison in Iraq for months without trial for illegal entry. The Bangladeshi citizens, who mainly used to work for different municipalities as garbage collectors, house cleaners and construction workers, were in fear that they would be deported to Iran instead of being sent back home, reported ... Read more

Garment owners and workers Saturday agreed to work together to cool down the labour unrest prevailing in the country’s readymade garment (RMG) sector centering increase of the minimum wage. Leaders of BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) and garment workers at a joint press conference Saturday expressed the

Looking for an alternative route amid the growing port activities, Chittagong Development Authority (CPA) and Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) have jointly planned to take up a 17-kilometer elevated expressway project to connect Karnaphuli Bridge and Patenga beach with at least five landing stations. Keeping in mind the future requirement, CDA chairman

A former high official of Unique Group was found dead, with hands and legs bound, at a building in the capital’s Moghbazar last night. A mob might have beaten Abdullah Masud, 40, to death before leaving the body at the basement of SK Tower, said Ramna police.