Month: December 2013

Assailants killed a pir, his son and four followers inside his rented house at Gopibagh in the capital Dhaka on Saturday evening, the police said. The police found the six, with their throats slit, hands and legs tied and mouths taped shut in two rooms on the first floor of a four-storey building

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Saturday said that army deployment was not required in the elections that do not need polling with people boycotting. The party said that ill attempts were being made to pit army against people by deploying them for the elections, scheduled for January 5, when less

Reiterating that the new parliament could be dissolved in case of a political compromise, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said it is the opposition that has created the scope for 154 MPs to get elected unopposed through its election boycott. “It’s not our fault…why didn’t they (BNP) go to

Contradictory statements from senior leaders of Jatiya Party (JP) have created confusion among grass roots-level leaders and activists about the party’s stance on participating in the January 5 parliamentary polls. A day after JP presidium member GM Quader reaffirmed his party’s decision not to join the election, his party colleague and state minister for sports and

Stray incidents of violence marked the first day of the 83-hour-long nationwide road-rail-waterway blockade programme, called by the BNP-led 18-Party Alliance, on Saturday. The opposition alliance is enforcing the blockade, demanding that the 10th general election be held under a non-party caretaker government. The

Defending their decision not to monitor elections, Head of the European Union (EU) delegation to Bangladesh William Hanna on Saturday hoped that the political parties would make the best use of their times to reach some sort of understanding for a sustainable, inclusive and credible election. “We’ll follow what happens next, and I’ll be asked ... Read more

As many as 1,086 condemned prisoners, including four Jamaat leaders—Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid, Delwar Hosaain Sayedee and Abul Kalam Azad, alias Bachchu Razakar—involved in atrocities against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, are awaiting the gallows, according to sources in the department of prisons. The

At least 30 long-distance buses, plying with police protection, were vandalized by blockade supporters in different districts on Saturday. These buses had left the inter-district bus terminals in the capital ahead of the fifth-phase of countrywide blockade enforced by BNP-led 18-party

Meeting Dhaka Central Jail Inmates Greasing palms provides the short cut An unauthorized system is in place in Dhaka Central Jail that allows visitors to meet inmates without delay by greasing palms. The payments are collected against ‘special slips’. Apparently not authorized by the jail authorities, guards charge Tk 300 as the ‘fee’ from each visitor ... Read more

Unnayan Onneshan, an independent multidisci-plinary think-tank, in its monthly economic update reveals that the situation of banking sector in Bangladesh has been deteriorating in terms of growth and disbursement of credit and risk management, lowering the rate of growth of the economy. It also observes that the decade-long policy of liberalisation in the sector has

Awami League lawmaker Mizanur Rahman Khan Dipu of Dhaka-6 constituency died at Apollo Hospitals in the city on Saturday.  He was 49. Doctors declared Mizanur Rahman dead after he was brought to the hospital around 6:59 am, said Aminur Rahman, duty manager of the hospital.

An eight-year-old Bangladeshi boy who was walking with his sister to school was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer on Friday at an intersection in Queens, New York, just two blocks from his home, reports The New York Times. Friday was the last day of school before winter break, and the boy, Noshat Nahian, was carrying ... Read more

Temperatures dipped across Bangladesh as winter set in forcing people especially those living in the northern districts to bring out their best woolens. Residents in the capital felt the extra chill since last nights drizzles. Mild to severe cold wave might sweep across the

Thailand’s main opposition Democrat Party on Saturday announced it would boycott snap elections in the crisis-gripped kingdom, piling further pressure on the government as protesters prepared to ramp up rallies aimed at suspending democracy. Members of the kingdom’s oldest political party—who resigned as MPs en masse to join the demonstrations that have rocked

The Tanzanian president, Jakaya Kikwete, has sacked four government ministers following accusations of abuses committed by security forces during a huge operation against wildlife poaching. The dismissals, which did not affect the key finance and energy portfolios, come after reports of arbitrary murder, rape, torture and extortion of