Palmyra trees may shelter our coastal people

IN AN article titled 'Lifebuoy for each home in coastal areas' that I wrote in December 2007 after cyclone Sidr had hit the coastal areas of Barisal and Khulna, I gave an idea about how Palmyra trees could work miracles in sheltering our coastal people. Amazingly, I received dozens of messages from the readers from various corners of the world appreciating my inventive idea, though I myself was not a disaster management expert in any way. But the idea perhaps fell on the deaf ears of our policy makers.

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Bourses keep regaining ground

Dhaka and Chittagong bourses continued with the rebound for the second day on Wednesday as share prices of most of the issues soared further following a two-week nosedive in share prices.

The benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange gained 458.93 points, or 6.72 per cent, to close the day at 7,280.01 points preceded by a 7.82 per cent rise on Tuesday as investors' confidence continued to consolidate, market operators said.

With this the DSE general index has gained 494.73 points since trading resumed on Tuesday after the government-imposed suspension of share trading on Sunday and Monday.

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Wildcat strike at DMCH burn unit hampers treatment

A wildcat strike by undocumented employees demanding their job regularisation disrupted treatment at the burn and plastic surgery unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital for three hours on Wednesday.

The sudden work stoppage during peak hours by 47 temporary employees caused imminence sufferings for some 300 patients admitted at the ward and more than 150 outdoor patients who failed to get treatment, the hospital sources said.

Al Amin, a burn injured patient, who came to the hospital at 11:00am, said he had to wait until 2:30pm to receive treatment as hospital staff said there was a shortage of manpower on the day.

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Indian govt working on river-linking project: CSE director general

The Indian government is working to 'transfer water from rivers by digging canals', Sunita Narain, director general of the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said on January 20.

'The reasons behind the (Indian) government's initial move for river interlinking were to transfer a large amount of water from northern India to southern India. But the government has realised that it is a Herculean task, which were always done,' she said when talking to New Age at the National Press Club in Dhaka.

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30 hurt as locals, JL men, police lock in Munshiganj clash

Around 30 people, including at least five police, were injured on Wednesday in a clash between residents of the Arial Beel area, Jubo League activists, and the police on the Dhaka-Mawa Highway at Shologhar under Srinagar upazila of Munshiganj district.

Locals alleged a group of Jubo League activists attacked a procession of them heading for Muktangan in the capital city to attend a public meeting called by the Arial Beel Raksha Committee to protest against the government's move to build an airport in the Arial Beel area.

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Sunetra gas field exploration likely to be delayed

The start of the drilling of an exploration well in the Sunetra gas field is likely to be delayed until at least the end of the year as the state-run petroleum exploration and extraction company Bapex and its parent organisation Petrobangla have failed to finalise a development project proposal.

According to experts working within Bapex and Petrobangla, the Sunetra structure which is located in Sunamganj and Netrakona could become the biggest exploration success of the state-run corporation.

Although Bapex had given the project its highest priority and has planned to drill an exploration well by April, this will not happen until December at the earliest. The discovery of the gas field was announced in August 2010.

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Habiganj 1, B’baria 3 by-polls today

By-elections to the Habiganj 1 and the Brahmanbaria 3 constituency are set for today (January 27, 2011) amid fear for violence and uncertainty over troop deployment, a demand that the Election Commission and the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party have made.

Polling will begin at 8:00am and continue till 4:00pm without any break. In the Brahmanbaria 3 constituency, 3,10,238 people will cast their vote in 126 polling centres and in the Habiganj 1 constituency, 301,447 people will cast their vote in 175 polling centres.

Both the ruling Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party have put in their best to fight it out in the by-elections, 10 days after the municipal elections in which BNP-backed mayoral candidates outdid AL-backed candidates.

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HC bans use of the term ‘eve-teasing’

The High Court on Wednesday asked the government to set up a separate cell at each police station across the country in a bid to address the rising criminal offence of sexual harassment and stalking of women.

The thana police cell authorities are bound to submit their reports to the district

development committee every month for evaluation.

Delivering the judgment upon a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) writ petition over eve-teasing, a division bench headed by Justice M Imman Ali passed the order making its rule absolute.

 

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PM Hasina arrives in London to begin 5-day visit

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in London Wednesday morning to begin a five-day visit to the United Kingdom at the invitation of the Oxford Union.
As Hasina landed at Heathrow Airport at 7 am (local time), she was received by Andrew Patrick, Director of South Asia Group, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Bangladesh High Commissioner to UK Prof Saidur Rahman Khan.

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