Bangladesh Newspaper Online - News Headlines of Bangladeshi Newpapers

Sharier Khan

The cyclone caused the country’s power system to collapse completely yesterday morning, triggering a knock-on effect on piped water supplies, telecommunication and filling station operations.

In addition to suffering the miseries inflicted by the lack of power and water supplies, people spent a day amid increasing tension and uncertainty. (more…)

Staff Reporter

Fixing the value of each share at Tk 100 three nationalized commercial banks (NCBs)–Sonali, Janata and Agrani banks-were formally made public limited companies (PLC) through the signing of separate “vendor” agreements to this effect yesterday.The NCBs, after necessary gazette notification, will be operated by independent management and board of directors in accordance with the Banking Companies Act of 1994. Having 100 per cent share of the PLCs, the government earlier appointed chairmen of the board of directors for the three banks. (more…)

Staff ReporterThe severe cyclone-SIDR hit the country’s coast yesterday evening with a windspeed from 140 to 165 killometres per hour (kph).The cyclone originating in the Bay started pounding the entire south and southwestern coast from Cox’s Bazar to Satkhira districts. The number of the vulnerable people living in the coastline are nearly 1 crore 20 lakh.

Officials engaged in evacuation from remote offshore islands said winds with a speed of 100 to 130 kph which was packing with gusty wind to 165 kph started lashing the areas ahead of impending attack by the super severe Cyclone “SIDR”, a category four super storm.

“This cyclone has a devastating capacity like that of the November 12, 1970 cyclone and the US hurricane caterina,” a senior meterolgist said. (more…)

Death toll may cross 1,000; all communications, utility services snapped; thousands missing; houses, crops, trees destroyed; lakhs homeless
Syed Ashfaqul Haque and Julfikar Ali Manik

Bangladesh dated with a nightmare as cyclone Sidr ripped through the southwestern coast late Thursday, killing over 700 people and demolishing houses, crops, vegetables and trees alike along its trail of devastation over an area of thousands of square kilometers.

Packing winds over 220km an hour, the fierce tropical storm roared across the shoreline after it hit landfall at the Khulna-Barisal coast at 7:30pm Thursday, cutting off all communications and utility services across the country.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my 47 years life,” Khalilur Rahman, a government official in Patuakhali, told The Daily Star over telephone last night. “It was a panic beyond description. People found no way but to keep on screaming as long as the cyclone ran rampage here.”

One of the fiercest cyclones in the history of the land, the Sidr rode

on wailing winds, driving rains and tidal surges to wreak havoc for over 14 hours before moving to Asam and Tripura through the Sylhet border, turning into a well-marked low yesterday. (more…)