Prime Minister starts running office


Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina — sworn in for her second spell as Bangladesh's prime minister Tuesday night— started her office for the first day on Wednesday morning.
Earlier, the newly elected Premier paid her tribute to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by placing wraths at the portrait of the Bangabandhuat at Dhanmondi at around 8:20 am. She also spent more...
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19 new women lawmakers can help end discrimination

Speakers at a seminar underscored the need for more participation of women in the policymaking and implementation of the women development policy of 1997. Congratulating the 19 newly-elected women members of the parliament, they called for total elimination of acid throwing and dowry-related repression on women and killing. Meanwhile, Karmojibi Nari (KN), an association for employed and working women, in a statement Wednesday hoped that gender discriminations and violence against women will end very soon.
President of Karmojibi Nari, Shirin Akhter, and General Secretary, Sharmin Kabir, have sent letters of felicitation to the 19 women lawmakers
    details....
Bangladesh's new cabinet line-up

The line-up of Bangladesh's 32-member new cabinet, which was sworn in President House Tuesday evening, is as follows:
Brazil to send aid to Gaza

Brazil will send an Air Force plane with 14 tons of food and medicine for the people in the Gaza    details....
4.7 scale quake jolts northern region

A mild tremor shook the northern parts of the country on Tuesday night. There was no immediate report of any    details....
BNP to join cabinet's oath taking ceremony

Putting all the speculations to rest the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has decided to join the swearing-in ceremony to be    details....
       Politics
 Parliament to discuss legitimacy of CG`s action: Hasina

Awami League President Sheikh Hasina Wajed has said the Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) will take up the issue of justifying caretaker    details....

 President greets Hasina on landslide polls victory
 Poll stage-managed, alleges Khaleda
 55 women contesting JS poll: Higher than any time
 Khaleda hopes to get two-third majority in polls
 No anti-Islam laws, if AL voted to power: Matia Chy
   International
 Zimbabwe cholera death toll tops 1,700: WHO

Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic is picking up speed, with a total of 1,732 deaths out of 34,306 cases, the World Health    details....

 Sri Lanka seizes key rebel defence line in north
 Worldwide protests denounce Israel
 Bush calls for pressure on Hamas
 US hands over security in Iraq
 China dairy boss pleads guilty
    Agriculture
 Self-reliance on oil seeds, spices productions possible: Experts

Experts and scientists have opined that the country has immense prospects to achieve self-reliance in oil seed, pulse and spice    details....

 Flood-tolerant rice varieties pass field tests in BD
 Bhola betel leaf growers face financial crisis
 Khulna farmers produce 7.5 lakh mts vegetables
 Aman production in 5 N dists likely to decline due to Pest attack
 Poultry farming gains momentum in Chapainawabganj
  Development
 CHT comes under mobile phone network

The Government has decided to expand mobile network in Chittagong Hill Tract (CHT) with a hope that telephone services in    details....

 Indian co to set up industry to create jobs for 1,203 Bangladeshis
 NEC allocates 420cr for Hatirjheel project
 US to provide $4.3 mln to construct multipurpose cyclone centers in BD
 WB provides $149m loan to BD
 Govt approves Tk 3,324 crore for 4,256 flats in capital
     Economy
 8.75 lakh overseas employment, $9b remittance in 2008

Overseas employment last year exceeded 8.75 lakh and nearly $ 9 billion remittance received from overseas employees in the year    details....

 ADB cuts BD's GDP growth at 5.5-6% in fiscal 08-09
 World economy 'weakest since 30s'
 BD economy faces trouble: World Bank
 BD sees 6.2 pct 2008/09 growth, below target
 Country to face global financial crisis
     Education
 Indian HC to donate Rs18.3 m to DU Theatre dept

The Indian High Commission in Dhaka will give Rs18.3 million to Dhaka University (DU) as a donation for the construction    details....

 Primary schools dropout rate reaches 50%
 Police raid 9 DU halls, 2 BCL men held
 IER admission test at DU on Jan 23
 Remarkable achievement in girls' education
 DUTA elections on Dec 31
        Health
 22m vaccinated in anti-polio drive

A total of 22 million children were administered polio vaccines on Saturday, in the second round of a fresh drive    details....

 Chocolate, wine and tea improve brain performance
 42 people die of AIDS in country this year
 Breakthrough helps detect malnourished babies
 BD call centers to provide healthcare services for expatriates
 Cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe kill more than 100 people
        Law & Crime
 4 convicts of Ahsanullah murder case held in Kolkata

Kolkata police has arrested four criminals, who were convicted in the Awami League leader, Ahsanullah Master, a senior official of    details....

 Govt imposes 1 month detention on Mamun
 Rizvi sued for defamation
 Dulu freed on bail
 Police detains BNP, Jamaat men on charges of vote buying
 Pabna police detains Nizami's ex-PA, 7 others while buying votes
      Entertainment
 US writer Westlake dies

Prolific mystery writer Donald E Westlake has died of a suspected heart attack while on holiday in Mexico. His wife,    details....

 No Woman No Cry songwriter dies
 John Travolta's son dies in Bahamas
 Dog tale earns highest X-mas gross
 Jackson denies transplant claims
 Lillo Brancato cleared of charges
     Business
 Soya bean oil price falls by Tk 20 a litre

Prices of different brands of soya bean oil marked a sharp fall of around Tk 20 per litre in the    details....

 Veg, fish prices mark a sharp rise in city markets despite adequate supply
 Banks urged to provide shipbuilding sector easy access to loan
 Consumer Rights Protection Department to be set up
 Banks urged to provide shipbuilding sector easy access to loan
 Prices of essentials show downward trend
   Environment
 3 moderate cold waves likely this month

The country, including its northern region is likely to experience two or three moderate cold waves this month with a    details....

 Mild cold wave to continue few more days
 Garnaut criticism shows Rudd is a 'climate change fraud'
 Scientists try to mitigate climate change effects
 Brazil sets 70% deforestation cuts for Amazon protection
 'Nisha' lies off Tamil Nadu coast as land depression
    Science & Tech.
 Scientists find 2,000-year-old brain in Britain

British archaeologists have unearthed an ancient skull carrying a startling surprise ? an unusually well-preserved brain. Scientists said Friday that    details....

 BTRC to issue 3G licences by March'09
 BTRC to give license for internet services
 India rejoices over moon probe landing
 ECS City IT fair ends
 India launches 1st lunar spacecraft to map surface
    Power & Energy
 Petrobangla signs deal to develop Dighipara coalmine in Dinajpur

The Bureau of Mineral Development (BMD) on Sundy signed an agreement with the Petrobangla to develop the Dighipara coalmine in    details....

 First coal mine in country built by Chinese highly lauded by both sides
 Cairn digs deeper in Bangladesh offshore field
 Half of existing natural gas reserve likely to be exhausted by 2015: expert
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 Severe power crisis to aggravate public sufferings
       Sports
 Sri Lanka wraps up series win

Sri Lanka 384 (T M Dilshan 162, C K Kapugedera 96, B S M Warnapura 63, Shakib Al Hasan 4-109)    details....

 SA chase 314 for victory
 Hamburg interested in Podolski
 Upson reject Villa deal
 Spurs agree Defoe deal
 Harmison called up for harmony
 
   
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Special News

 City dwellers rush for village homes to vote on Monday
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Editorial

Sustainable transport dev policy needed
Dr Mahabubul Bari

In communities across the nation, there is a growing concern that current development pattern, dominated by `sprawl`? which induces an ever-increasing need to travel and thus construction of more roads ? is not in the long-term interest of our cities, existing suburbs, small towns, rural communities or wilderness areas. It is thus unfortunate that our city planners, including the Strategic Transport Project (STP) team selected a growth pole or deverse land use development scenario, which promotes sprawl and the ever-increasing need to travel and to construct new roads. The scenario was selected on the assumption that the development of a number of poles or larger settlements outside Dhaka proper connected    details....

Interview


All promise well before polls but rarely keep them: Abul Kashem

First vice president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Abul Kashem Ahmed recently said many well pledges are included in the election manifestos of all the political parties of the country, but the pledges are rarely implemented. He, however, sees both the major parties`- Awami Legue, BNP- polls pledges to control price hike and putting emphasis on the agro sector as positive aspirations.    details....