All eyes are on Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna and Barisal, as the residents of the four divisional headquarters cast their ballots on Saturday in a fiercely contested poll to elect four new mayors for the four city corporations. The closely watched mayoral elections have
Month: June 2013
US may cut off trade benefit for Bangladesh
President Barack Obama could soon decide to cut off trade benefits for Bangladesh, in a largely symbolic response to tragedies in the country’s garment sector that have cost more than 1,200 lives in the past eight months. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office, with input
Six pirates lynched in Noakhali
Six members of a pirate gang, including the ringleader, were killed and four others injured in a lynch-mob attack in Subarnachar upazila early Friday. One of the deceased was identified as Mohammad Selim, 40, the lynchpin of ‘Selim Bahini’ and a resident of Char Majid area. Police said locals chased a gang of 15/20 pirates ... Read more
BNP leaders fear rigging in city corporation polls
Senior Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders have alleged that the elections in four city corporations are likely to be rigged but the leaders of the ruling Awami League (AL) have dismissed such apprehensions, saying the elections would be held in a free and fair manner. BNP leaders believe the election results would have
AL trying to tamper polls, alleges Rizvi
Alleging that the ruling Awami League-backed candidates are trying to tamper the city corporations polls, BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Friday demanded immediate deployment of army at all polling centres for free and fair elections. Addressing a late night press conference at the party headquarters in city’s Nayapaltan area, Rizvi said the ... Read more
Pedestrians unable to cross roads using over-bridge
Pedestrians who use footbridges to cross roads in areas under the two city corporations (south and north) in the capital run the risk of sustaining serious injuries. Elderly persons and children, in particular, are highly vulnerable. Either necessary maintenance work has not been carried out or the pace of repairs of the over-bridges is very ... Read more
US to fund fire, building safety projects
The United States government has announced a $2.5 million competitive grant solicitation to fund improvements in the enforcement and monitoring of fire and building safety standards to better protect workers in the ready-made garment sector of Bangladesh. The announcement was made on Thursday by US Labour Department’s The Bureau of International Labour Affairs
Dipu Moni briefs UN official on polls preparations
Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni has briefed United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman about the preparations and actions of the government to ensure free and fair elections. During a meeting in Geneva on Thursday, she also discussed with the UN senior official the ways to further broaden the role and engagement of UN ... Read more
People will reject ‘zeminders’ in polls: Obaidul
Communications Minister Obaidul Quader on Friday said country’s people will give a lesson to the public representatives who behave like zeminders (landlords) forgetting public interests. “In many cases, public representatives put obstacles in the way of demolishing illegal roadside structures and stopping plying of illegal vehicles on the national highways. They behave
Private autos continue to run commercially
Many privately-owned CNG-run auto-rickshaws are continuing to operate commercially in the Dhaka city in defiance of a High Court order and without permission from the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority. Some drivers of such vehicles told New Age that
Increased taxes on chewing tobacco demanded
Anti-tobacco campaigners on Friday demanded that the government should impose 70 per cent tax on chewing tobacco products to discourage tobacco consumption. They expressed their dissatisfaction as they said the finance minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, was silent over imposing tax on the smokeless tobacco in the
National tree fair draws huge crowd on weekend
Several hundred visitors on Friday thronged the premises of the National Tree Fair 2013 showcasing tree saplings of different species. Simi Mehnaz, a banker who came to the fair from Uttara of the capital, bought saplings of rose, china rose, marigold, hasnahena, mango and chilli from the fair.
RU students suffer for transport crisis
ABOUT a half of the total number of student buses at Rajshahi University have worn out for lack of repairs for years. The students are suffering for transport crisis as there has been no addition of new buses to the transport sector of the university in the last few years.
Dhaka University teachers demand Mahmudur’s release
Pro-Bangladesh Nationalist Party ‘White Panel’ teachers of Dhaka University on Friday demanded unconditional release of the daily Amardesh acting editor, Mahmudur Rahman. The opposition-backed teachers’ panel convener Sadrul Amin in a written statement on the day made the demand
Cultural heritage of different regions presented
Traditional folk music of different regions across the country drew huge audience on the opening of the two-day folk music festival in the Chhayanaut auditorium on Thursday afternoon. The festival titled Desh Ghorer Gaan has been organised by Chhayanaut as a belated celebration of its founder Wahidul Haque’s birth anniversary, which falls on March 16.
Ponchadosher Ponchadin begins with Majhrater Manushera
Theatre troupe Nattyateertha has arranged an atypical five-day theatre festival where three guest troupes and the host troupe will stage 50th shows of five plays. On Thursday afternoon, amid much colour and enthusiasm, the festival was inaugurated by Ramendu Majumdar, president of worldwide International Teatre Institute, at the premise of National
Songs of three music maestros presented
Legendary music directors of Bangla songs Khan Ataur Rahman, Subal Das and Debu Bhattachariya were remembered through a musical programme organised by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Monday at its National Music and Dance Centre. A discussion session was also held on the life and works of the legends at the same venue prior to the ... Read more
Rituparno Ghosh Film Retrospective inaugurated
Rituparno Ghosh Film Retrospective began through the screening of film Unishey April on Thursday at the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre at Gulshan in the capital. The centre has organised the retrospective as a tribute to recently demised noted Indian filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh. Three more of his movies, Utsab, Titli and Khela will be screened on ... Read more
SRK is the only non South person in Chennai Express
Rohit Shetty’s ‘Chennai Express’ is an action love story. The plot revolves around Shah Rukh Khan, who plays a guy from Mumbai who goes to the South where he meets Deepika Padukone, who plays a Tamilian, reports The Times of India. Interestingly, other than SRK, the entire cast and main crew are from the South ... Read more
Import of factory raw materials, capital machinery drops
The import of capital machinery and industrial raw materials plunged in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, hitting the country’s expected GDP growth for the FY 2012-13, said officials of the Bangladesh Bank. The settlement of letters of credit or actual import