Bangladesh’s parliament Wednesday formed a 15-member parliamentary committee to begin a review of the country’s 1972 constitution. The opposition parties opposed the move by keeping out. The government of Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina, who recommended the committee to the House, hopes to amend the constitution and debate its basic tenets socialism and secularism that were altered by [...]

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in parliament yesterday said the government has a plan to set up more international and domestic airports in the next fiscal year. Replying to a question she said the government has adopted a plan to set up Bangabandhu International Airport as per the election manifesto. The proposed international airport will act [...]

“We have decided to build the pipeline at a cost of $150 million as Chevron says production at the Moulavi Bazar, Jalalabad and Bibiyana gas fields will be more than doubled to 1,840 million cubic feet (mmcft) a day,” said Mohammad Hussain Monsur, chairman of the state-run Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, or Petrobangla. [...]

The government would stop all sorts of environmental degradation following hill cutting, forest plundering or poor management of industrial waste, said Primary and Mass Education Minister Afsarul Amin. He said this while speaking at the inaugural programme of sapling distribution of British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) at Mercantile Marine House Field yesterday. He stressed the [...]

Hanufa Bibi stoops in a worn sari and mismatched flip-flops to work the hand pump on her backyard well. Spurts of clear water wash grains of rice from her hands, but she can never get them clean. Thick black warts tattoo her palms and fingers, the result of drinking arsenic-laced well water for years. It’s [...]

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) will hold its first meeting today for fiscal 2010-11 to consider eight development projects, including one to develop and reclaim Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara Lake in the city. Ecnec Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will preside over the meeting. The Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara project [...]

Rescuers pulled bodies from under chunks of mud covering mostly thatched huts before rescue work was suspended because of darkness, officials said. As the rain continued to pound, officials feared the toll could rise as scored remained missing. The country’s flood warning centre said most of the south-east had experienced heavy rainfall during the past [...]

BUET professor Ijaz Hossain on Thursday claimed that energy shortage annually causes nearly US$ 16.6 billion economic loss to the country. He made the claim while making a presentation on “the Impact of Power & Gas Crisis on the export-oriented manufacturing sector” at a luncheon meeting at Sonargaon Hotel in the city, organized by Dutch-Bangla [...]

Bangladeshi researchers have successfully decoded the jute plant genome opening up a new vista in the development of variety of the world’s most adorned biodegradable natural fibre.(The Daily Star) Experts said this gene sequencing would help improve the fibre length and quality, including colours and strength; and develop high yielding, saline soil- and pest-tolerant jute [...]

Allies of the ruling Awami League-led government have urged the ruling party not to go ahead with the draft health policy without their participation in the discussion process. Hasanul Haque Inu, president of Jatio Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), one of the partners of the Grand Alliance, said this at a round-table on health policy held at [...]