The curse of early marriage

At 15 Jolly was preparing for her SSC exams. She never set for the tests. The teenager instead was married off to become a houswife. Although her parents boast of having a rich son-in-law, they have never tried to know...

Horrors of genetically modified crops

MAJOR biotech companies like, Monsanto, Syngenta, Bunge, Cargill, etc. are all bent on controlling the world's food supply. Monsanto has played the leading role in destroying organic agriculture and millennia-old biodiversity.They have no respect whatever for the lives and the...

Ctg Customs destroys 150 tonnes of powdered milk

The Chittagong Customs House destroyed 150 tonnes of date-expired imported powdered milk worth US$ 0.25 million Monday last.The powdered milk was imported in six containers in 2004 and its date expired in 2006. The cargo has since remained stuck up...

Elect honest and efficient leaders for country's uplift: Gen Moeen

KUAKATA (Potuakhali), July 11 (BSS): Chief of Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed today said Bangladesh needs honest and efficient national leaders to ensure rapid economic growth and to free the country from poverty and hunger.People should vote for honest,...

Five jute mills to go under private management

Five mostly inoperative state-owned jute mills are set to go under private management as the government has completed formalities to lease them out to the private entrepreneurs, said a senior jute ministry official Friday.The move will create employment for around...

Pakistan, UN reach understanding on Benazir slaying probe

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 11 (AFP): Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi reached a tentative deal with UN chief Ban Ki-moon Thursday on setting up an independent panel to probe the slaying of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the world body...

Profit from ensuing Agha Khan Football to go to school football dev fund

The entire profit from the ensuing Agha Khan Gold Cup Football will go to the school football development fund, reports UNB.The decision came from a joint meeting of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) and Agha Khan Foundation at the BFF Bhaban...

Food quality at DU canteens deteriorating

Students of Dhaka University (DU) are taking their meals on higher payment in view of the current soaring prices of essentials, but eating low quality food under some sorts of compulsion, reports BSS.Residential students often allege that they are in...

Four of a family trampled to death by elephants

BANDARBAN, July 11 (UNB): Four members of a family, including two children, were trampled to death by wild elephants at Yangsa Bonpur in Lama Upazila Thursday night.The deceased were identified as Syed Alam, his wife Jarina Khatun, son Md Jubayer...

Invitation letter for AGMs

The general public, nowadays, are investing their small savings in the share market and purchasing shares of public limited companies hoping to earn better return compared to savings in terms of deposit schemes with the banks. They want to know...

Share trading of Rupali Bank to resume this month

Share trading of Rupali Bank Limited, the top market capitalisation leader of 2006 and 2007, is likely to resume in the stock market sometime in the third week of this month, officials said.Trading on the largely state-owned bank share has...

Tensions mount in Mideast as Iran testfires missiles

Iran has successfully test-fired both medium- and long-range missiles in two consecutive days, in what many analysts described as a move to trigger grave concerns over stability in the region.By testing a long-range missile capable of reaching targets in Israel...

China's shoes export not optimistic

BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua): China's export of shoes was 3.39 billion pairs in the first five months of this year, dropping 3.6 per cent year on year, according to statistics from the customs.The average export price was three dollars per...

Highway accidents

THE Dhaka-Chittagong and the Dhaka-Khulna highway have turned into death traps. Bad news are coming regularly about accidents on these two highways. In the latest accident on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway the other day two buses collided head-on, leaving, at least...

Call rate steady, dollar stable

The inter-bank call money rate remained steady Thursday due to adequate flow of cash. The US dollar maintained stable nerve against Bangladesh taka (BDT) in the inter-bank foreign exchange market on comfortable liquidity, fund managers said.The call rate in extreme...

Mass hysteria in Jessore, four schools closed

KHULNA, July 10:- Four educational institutions of Jessore have been closed temporarily due to outbreak of mass hysteria. A five member committee of ICDDR,B called by the health department visited the schools and Jessore Sadar Hospital.Sources said that ten female...

No nuclear deal at Bush-Singh meeting

FT Syndication ServiceTOYAKO (Japan): A long-awaited meeting between US president George W Bush and Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh ended Wednesday without a formal announcement that India is ready to implement their bilateral accord on civil nuclear power.Instead, the two...

N Korea returns to disarmament talks

BEIJING, Jul 10 (AFP): North Korea returned Thursday to international talks on its nuclear activities after a nine-month break, raising cautious hopes the reclusive regime will take another step towards disarmament.Envoys from the six nations involved in the long-running talks...

27.5pc drop in capital machinery import signals slowdown in industrialization

The import of capital machinery dropped by 27.5 percentage points in the just-concluded fiscal that indicates the country's industrialisation will slow down further in the new fiscal, an expert said.According to Bangladesh Bank's provisional statistics, letters of credit (LCs) for...

German team keen to invest in automotive, electrical sectors

CHITTAGONG, July 10 (BSS): The leaders of visiting German business delegation at a discussion with the leaders of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) here Wednesday expressed their eagerness to invest in Chittagong." We are considering to invest here...

New executive chef of hotel Radisson

Radisson Water Garden Hotel Dhaka has appointed Kai-Uwe Klenz as the new executive chef.Chef Klenz is originally from Germany and a 23-year veteran in the culinary industry.Before joining the Radisson family, he had been working at Hotel Inter-Continental in Bukharest...

US swimmers set to dominate in Beijing

LOS ANGELES, July 10 (AFP):Always formidable in the Olympic pool, the United States will launch a squad of proven performers at Beijing's Water Cube in their bid to maintain their swimming superiority.Eight of the nine world records set or matched...

Chittagong city now has 1,568,191 voters

CHITTAGONG, July 10: District Election Commission (DEC) office of Chittagong has published draft voter list of 41 wards under Chittagong City Corporation (CCC), where total number of voters has reached 1,568,191 with an increase of 429,873 voters.Earlier, in 2000 number...

AFBL launches vote campaign for Cox

Akij Food and Beverage Limited (AFBL) Thursday launched a voting campaign for powering the country's main sea beach in Cox's Bazar to stand first in the '7 Natural Wonders in the World'.AFBL, a subsidiary of local conglomerate Akij Group, will...

TCB, BDR will help stabilize market during Ramadan

Commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman Thursday said the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) and the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) will work to ensure that the prices of essential items remain under control during the upcoming Ramadan -- the month of fasting.He...

Chevron completes seismic survey in Lawachara

Chevron has completed seismic survey in Lawachara national forest and its adjoining areas last month, officials said."The project was completed on schedule, safely, properly protected the environment and the biodiversity, and we have recorded all data as planned," chief Geophysicist...

Landmine blasts kill 6 in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Jul 10 (AFP): At least six people were killed and nine others injured Thursday in three separate landmine blasts in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, an official said.The blasts took place in Kurram, a tribal district bordering Afghanistan...

Adulterated mango

We are horrified to see in the newspapers the detection of tonnes of mango, adulterated with extremely harmful chemicals such as carbide, for ripening. What are we taking in the name of mango in that case? Are we poisoning us...

'Employment guarantee scheme' won't fuel local inflation: Aziz

Finance and planning adviser Mirza Azizul Islam said Thursday the newly introduced "employment guarantee scheme" will not fuel inflation and affect labour market."It is a relatively a small country and by now transportation and communication links between different regions have...

DU students take refuge in mosque as there is not enough room in halls

Students of the Dhaka University (DU) have started to take refuge in the mosques located on the campus as there is not enough room in the residential halls and the rent of mess in the city has gone up significantly...