ICU lying unused in Sunamganj hospital

SYLHET, Aug 24: The 250-bed Sunamganj District Sadar Hospital, the prime hospital for 2.4 million people's medicare services, has been suffering various problems including staff shortage and others for long. Moreover, the newly established ICU unit is lying unused.Built at...

'People to resist repeat of polls staged in 2014, 2018' DB out to detain Chhatra Dal leaders: JCD

FE REPORTThe Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Thursday avowed that the people of the country would resist the ruling Awami League from holding another episode of the elections staged in 2014 and 2018."You (PM Sheikh Hasina) couldn't hold onto power...

BNP, like-minded parties to hold rallies in city today

The BNP and like-minded parties are set to bring out mass processions with black flags today (Friday) as part of their one-point simultaneous movement, reports UNB.This will be the fifth programme of the one-point movement of the opposition parties to...

Fakhrul off to Singapore for treatment

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir left Dhaka for Singapore on Thursday for receiving medical treatment there. Fakhrul, along with his wife Rahat Ara Begum and daughter Mirza Safaruh left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the...

BNP rallies have no public participation: Quader

Awami League (AL) General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Thursday said there is no public participation in the BNP's rallies as it is a movement of leaders and activists of that party, reports BSS."BNP leaders got disappointed over their movement. They...

China retaliates as Japan releases N water

BEIJING, Aug 24 (BBC): Japan has begun its controversial discharge of treated waste water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean, sparking protests in the region and retaliation from Beijing.China is the biggest buyer of seafood from Japan,...

India lunar rover takes a walk on the Moon

NEW DELHI, Aug 24 (BBC): India's Moon rover has taken first steps on the lunar surface a day after the country made history by becoming the first to land near the south pole.Chandrayaan-3's rover "ramped down" from the lander and...

Biden unsurprised by report of Prigozhin's death

NEW YORK, Aug 24 (Reuters): US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he was not surprised by reports that Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had died in a plane crash, adding that not much happens in the country that President...

Spy satellite launch fails again

SEOUL, Aug 24 (AP): North Korea said Thursday that its second attempt to launch a spy satellite failed again but vowed to make another attempt in October, demonstrating willingness to endure flops to acquire a key military asset coveted by...

California bar shooting claims four lives

CALIFORNIA, Aug 24 (BBC/AFP): Four people have been killed and six others hurt in a shooting incident at a biker bar in southern California. The gunman was among the four who died in the shooting at Cook's Corner in Orange...

Uniting for Rohingya human rights and sovereignty

On the anniversary of the Rohingya genocide today (August 25), a collective call for justice and recognition of the sovereign rights of the Rohingya people resonates across the globe. This tragic chapter, initiated by the quasi civilian government of Myanmar...

Multiple layers of censorship: perception of media workers

A study was conducted in 2022 on media censorship as perceived by the people working in the media. It was basically based on their work experience and how they would grade the strength and weakness of the censors that operate...

Addressing undernourishment issue

Bangladesh has made rapid progress in health and nutrition over the past decade. There has been a significant decline in stunting among under-five children, as well as a rise in life expectancy. However, the country is yet to achieve nutrition...

Beggars should be rehabilitated--

Begging, despite being a hated profession, continues to exist in our society. We can see beggars everywhere in the country, especially at bus stands, railway platforms, hospitals, foot-over bridges, markets, parks and traffic signals. Even healthy people are seen begging...

When money belongs to 'Sarkar'

There is a saying in Hindi: 'Sarker ki maal, dariya mey dhal', meaning that one is free to waste it the way one likes if the money/property belongs to the government. The indiscriminate misuse of resources is possible only in...

Frauds playing with public health must be made to pay

The scam over supply of bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (BTI), a group of biological agents used for controlling larvae of certain dipterans, has poured cold water on the enthusiasm Mayor Atiqul Islam of the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) exuded at...

Spendthriftiness in the name of capacity payment

For years the staggering amount dished out as capacity payment to power plants -- a large number of which are inoperative -- does make a unique case of squandering public money. Capacity payment is what the government has to pay...

Indian spacecraft lands on Moon's south pole

BENGALURU, Aug 23 (Agencies): An Indian spacecraft landed on the rugged, unexplored south pole of the moon on Wednesday in a mission seen as crucial to lunar exploration and India's standing as a space power, just days after a similar...

Dhaka-Ctg road to have eight lanes

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 23: The arterial four-lane Dhaka-Chattogram highway will have eight lanes to handle the growing pressure of traffic as the making of a design of the expansion work is well underway.Physical work on the three-phase project, which will also...

Status quo on probe against S Alam Group

The Appellate Division (AD) on Wednesday ordered maintaining status quo until January 8, 2024 upon a High Court (HC) order that asked the authorities concerned to conduct inquiry into the allegations against S Alam Group owner Mohammad Saiful Alam regarding...

'S Arabia changes visa rules to ease BD citizens' visits'

Visiting Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al Rabiah, on Wednesday said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has overhauled its visa policies to ensure hassle-free travel for Bangladeshis to that country. "We are here to...

Chevron starts drilling Bibiyana-27 well

America's oil-and-gas major Chevron started drilling Bibiyana-27 well in the country's largest-producing Bibiyana gas field on Wednesday, said sources.The gas filed in the northeastern part of Bangladesh, located under block 12 in Habiganj district of Sylhet division, is currently producing...

NSD investors to enjoy tax cut on interest income

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has allowed investors in national savings Deposits (NSDs) and exporters to enjoy reduced tax rates on their interest income and cash incentives.It has also allowed certain corporate taxpayers, who are exempted from submission of...

Khairuzzaman made new finance secretary

Dr Md Khairuzzaman Mozumder, Secretary, Energy and Mineral Resources Division, has been made Finance Secretary.The Ministry of Public Administration issued a circular to this effect on Wednesday. He will replace the outgoing Senior Secretary of the Finance Division, Fatima Yasmin,...

PM dreams country to be trillion-dollar economy

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 23 (UNB): Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday invited South African entrepreneurs to make investment in Bangladesh that seeks to become a trillion-dollar economy and a fully developed smart nation by 2041."Bangladesh progresses toward prosperity. We want you...

Consumer rights directorate urges action against top five egg cos

The country's leading poultry corporations persistently fuel volatility in the egg jacking up prices, as indicated by a recent report from the commerce ministry.The report, prepared by the Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection (DNCRP), reveals that prominent poultry companies...

Briefing 2023-08-24

Prayer Timings (2023-08-24)

Economic corridors linking northeast, southwest may yield $286b by 2050: ADB

Bangladesh's southwest and northeast economic corridors, with special interventions, are estimated to increase economic output to $286 billion in 2050 from $32 billion in 2020, according to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report.With specific interventions, it could also create an...

Tax collection up 15.38pc in July

Tax-revenue collection grew by 15.38 per cent in the first month of the current fiscal year (FY), 2023-24, due to a hefty rise in VAT collection following the inflationary pressure.VAT collection grew by 21.51 per cent in July compared to...