The International Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT-2) issued arrest warrants against Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan, two expatriate war crime suspects of 1971, on Thursday. The three-member tribunal, headed by its chairman, Justice Obaidul Hassan, passed the order after taking into cognisance allegations against the two. It also asked the police to execute
Month: May 2013
Some envoys meet over breakfast
Ambassadors of some developed countries met over a breakfast at the residence of the Danish Ambassador on Thursday. “Yes, I hosted a breakfast for some of my colleagues at my residence,” Danish Ambassador Svend Olling told The Independent on Thursday night. “It’s a routine meeting. It’s not a new phenomenon,” he said
Hefazat firm on Dhaka siege
Hefazat-e Islam Bangladesh (HIB), an Islamist organisation, based in Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Muinul Islam Madrasa of Hathajari upazila in Chittagong district, is adamant to hold its May 5 Dhaka siege programme. The government tried its best to convince the HIB leaders to postpone or cancel their programme but failed. The government made its last ... Read more
EU deeply concerned over labour conditions
Following the Savar tragedy, the European Union (EU), Bangladesh’s largest trade partner, has expressed deep concerns over the labour conditions in Bangladesh, saying that appropriate actions would be taken including through the GSP to motivate responsible management of supply chains involving developing countries.
Garments at Rana Plaza have links to US companies
The garment factories housed in the collapsed Rana Plaza in Savar have links to companies in the United States and Washington, with whom they will discuss what roles they can play to improve the working conditions in Bangladesh. “We understand that businesses operating in this building appear to have links to numerous companies in the ... Read more
New Speaker urges opposition to join JS
Voicing her hope that she would be able to play an effective role, newly elected Speaker of the parliament Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury on Wednesday urged the opposition to join the House and play their role there. “It’s a milestone in empowering women in the country,” the country’s first female and youngest Speaker said expressing ... Read more
New Speaker urges opposition to join JS
Voicing her hope that she would be able to play an effective role, newly elected Speaker of the parliament Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury on Wednesday urged the opposition to join the House and play their role there. “It’s a milestone in empowering women in the country,” the country’s first female and youngest Speaker said expressing ... Read more
Buyers commit to help prevent Savar-like incidents
The Retail Council of Canada (RCC), a Canadian association representing more than 40,000 stores of all retail formats, has expressed its commitment to working with its members and the international community to drive change in Bangladesh to help prevent incidents like the Savar tragedy. Offering sincere condolences to the victims of the Savar tragedy and ... Read more
Warming trees limit warming – a little
Warmer temperature prompts trees to release aerosols which in turn stimulate cloud formation. And that can help to cool the temperature, at least modestly. Trees may provide the Earth with a little shade from global warming – indirectly. European and Canadian researchers report that they have found what engineers like to call a negative feedback ... Read more
Savar tragedy overshadows Int’l Dance Day
This year’s International Dance Day celebrations programme was short and not much coulourful like the previous years. The Savar tragedy that took life of about 400 apparel workers and injured thousands affected the charm of this year’s programme and the organisers modified the schedule. Perhaps this is for the first time that dance organisations observed ... Read more
People’s songs presented for treatment of Savar victims
People’s songs composed by the young musicians were presented at the Shawkat Osman Auditorium of Central Public Library on Monday to help the victims of the Savar tragedy. These inspirational songs, presented by three young singers, uphold the struggles of the marginalised people and suggest them to be conscious of their rights.
Bollywood’s iconic films mark their silver jubilee this year
This year marks the 100 years of Indian cinema and it’s going to be a double whammy for some stars, as their big releases complete 25 years at the same time, reports Hindustan Times. The year 1988 was a treat for cinema lovers with big-ticket movies such as Anil Kapoor’s Tezaab, Rekha’s Khoon Bhari Maang ... Read more
Amina Sundari to be staged today
Dhaka based troupe Theatre Art Unit will stage Amina Sundari today at the Chittagong Shilpakala Academy as part of the ongoing Nandimukh Theatre Festival organised by the troupe marking its 22nd founding anniversary. Written by SM Solaiman and directed by Rokeya Rafique Baby, Amina Shundari has been adopted from the 300 year old folklore of ... Read more
May Day today
Today is the historic May Day. It will be observed in Bangladesh along with the rest of the world with the pledge to establish the rights of workers. The day is a public holiday. President Md Abdul Hamid Advocate, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and leader of the opposition and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia have extended ... Read more
SC upholds death for 2 fugitive army men
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday awarded capital punishment to two absconding army personnel in connection with the much talked about jail killing case. The two fugitives are dafadar Marfat Ali Shah and dafadar Abdul Hashem Mridha. The HC had acquitted them of the charge. With this, three army personnel have been given
Two more bodies found, death toll reaches 389
Two more bodies were recovered from the debris of the collapsed eight-storey Rana Plaza building in Savar on Tuesday morning. With this, the death toll rose to 389, Dhaka district deputy commissioner Md Yusuf Harun said. Nearly 111 hours after the Rana Plaza had collapsed, the second phase of the rescue operation using heavy equipment ... Read more
HC orders seizure of Rana’s property
The High Court (HC) on Tuesday directed the government to confiscate all the movable and immovable properties of the owners of Rana Plaza and proprietors of five readymade garment factories housed in the ill-fated Rana Plaza at Savar. Sohel Rana is the owner of Rana Plaza, while the other four garment factory owners are Aminul ... Read more
BNP calls off May 2 hartal
The BNP-led 18-party Opposition alliance on Tuesday withdrew its nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal slated for May 2, as it did not want to hamper rescue operations at the collapsed Rana Plaza at Savar. This was stated in a press statement, signed by Maruf Kamal Khan Sohel, press secretary of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Ban Ki Moon ‘to send team to help break political crisis’
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon will send a UN delegation in May to help the bickering political parties reach an understanding and thus resolve the ongoing political crisis in Bangladesh. “The delegation is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka in the second week of May as per the personal desire of the UN Secretary General,” ... Read more
Garment workers clash with police: 100 injured
At least 100 workers of readymade garments (RMG) factories were injured when police charged batons on them on the compound of Rana Plaza, the building which collapsed on Tuesday morning. Of those injured, 22 were admitted to different local hospitals and private clinics in a critical condition. Witnesses said thousands of RMG workers of different