Staff Correspondent Some 32 high profile candidates of the alliances led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Awami League and other parties face off in more than a dozen constituencies in the December 29 parliamentary elections. Two former finance ministers – BNP’s standing committee member M Saifur Rahman and AL’s advisory committee member Abul Maal Abdul ... Read more
Dhaka Mirror
Paltan packed like sardines
Staff Correspondent The election rally of Awami League turned into a human sea at Paltan Maidan and its surrounding areas yesterday as tens of thousands of people joined the party’s final showdown in the capital ahead of the national polls. The gathering gradually wore a festive look when AL supporters from different areas started thronging ... Read more
Tight security at Paltan, surroundings
Nazrul Islam Tens of thousands of people thronged the Paltan ground to listen to Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina who addressed her penultimate election rally on Friday amidst unprecedented security arrangements before the December 29 parliamentary polls. Amidst slogans in favour of the party’s election symbol ‘boat’, the AL chief addressed the huge crowd from ... Read more
Businessman seeks to retract Arafat extortion charge
Staff Correspondent A businessman who filed an extortion case in 2007 against Arafat Rahman, the youngest son of Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia, on Thursday night submitted an application to withdraw the charge. Abu Ahmed Zayed an Rabbi, owner of an advertising firm, had filed the case with Gulshan police on May 16, 2007 ... Read more
Dhaka dates with rallies, processions
2 Days to Vote Dhaka dates with rallies, processions Arun Devnath Dhaka morphed into a city of high-pitched rallies and processions as the election campaign yesterday moved closer to the final lap. In parts of the city, different rallies continued into late evening. Awami League President Sheikh Hasina spoke from a high-profile afternoon rally at ... Read more
4-party rally at Paltan today
Staff Correspondent BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will address an election rally of 4-party alliance at the city’s historic Paltan Maidan today, a day after her political archrival Sheikh Hasina’s grand election rally at the same venue. Like Awami League, BNP has also exerted every effort to put up a huge showdown at the Paltan Maidan ... Read more
100 short-term EU observers to watch polls
Unb, Dhaka The European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) yesterday deployed nearly 100 short-term observers across the country. They will be joining the long-term observers who have been in the field for the past five weeks, following all electoral preparations including candidate scrutiny, campaigning and the work of the Election Commission. With the deployment of ... Read more
Restriction on vehicles before and after poll
Staff Reporter Election Commission (EC) has imposed a ban on the movement of auto rickshaw, cars, microbus, jeeps, pickup vans, buses, trucks, launches, speed boats and all mechanised water vessels across the country from tomorrow (Dec 28) midnight to Dec 29 midnight to mark the parliamentary polls. An EC press release issued yesterday, however, said ... Read more
Muslim religious leaders extend support to BNP candidate
Barisal Correspondent More than fifty prominent Muslim religious leaders, madrasha, principals and teachers, Imams of mosques and marriage registers of Barisal city extended their support to Advocate Majibor Rahman Sarwar, district BNP president, former BCC Mayor and whip. In a joint statement issued yesterday they said as grand alliance included corrupt former autocrat and announced ... Read more
Indian ships refuse to back off despite Navy protests
Staff Reporter India yesterday sent ships into Bangladesh territory to explore for gas in mineral-rich Bay of Bengal. Naval personnel of the country had sighted “Indian ships overlapping into our plains of the Bay of Bengal,” Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain told the New Nation, adding they appeared to be exploring for gas. The Navy has ... Read more
Pakistan moves troops toward Indian border
AP, Islamabad Pakistan began moving thousands of troops to the Indian border Friday, intelligence officials said, sharply raising tensions triggered by the Mumbai terror attacks. India has blamed Pakistani-based militants for last month’s siege on its financial capital, which killed 164 people and has provoked an increasingly bitter war of words between nuclear-armed neighbors that ... Read more
Vietnam tightens rules on blogs
Vietnam has tightened restrictions on internet blogs, banning bloggers from raising subjects the government deems inappropriate. Blogs should follow Vietnamese law, and be written in “clean and wholesome” language, according to a government document seen by local media. Internet service providers will be held accountable for the content of blogs they host. More than 20 ... Read more
Sleep gives brain disease warning
Physically “acting out” dreams when asleep could be an early warning sign of dementia or Parkinson’s disease. Canadian researchers studied 93 people with “REM sleep behaviour disorder”, which can involve punching or kicking out while dreaming. The Neurology study found more than a quarter were diagnosed with a degenerative brain condition over the next five ... Read more
Indians warned to avoid Pakistan
India has advised its citizens against travelling to Pakistan as tension continues in the wake of last month’s deadly attacks in Mumbai. India’s foreign ministry said travel was “unsafe” after reports Indians had been detained following recent bomb attacks in Pakistani cities. Pakistani officials say the tension has meant scaling down military operations against militants ... Read more
Rice tops US ‘official gift list’
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has topped the list of US officials for the number of gifts received in 2007, a state department report shows. Ms Rice received $312,000 (£211,000) worth of jewels from the king of Saudi Arabia – worth three times more than his gifts to President George W Bush. Among the ... Read more
Abolition of election to non-govt edn instt bodies proposed
Siddiqur Rahman Khan The education ministry has put into the final form the draft of an ordinance on the management committees of non-government educational institutions to replace the existing election system to choose guardians and teachers’ representatives. ‘Guardians of the students who become first in the final exams will be nominated representatives of guardians to ... Read more
Barisal Public University project approved in ECNEC
Admission in six subjects from current session, Named Shahid Ziaur Rahman University Our Correspondent, Barisal The implementation of the project for a general public university in Barisal division had been approved in the recent meeting of the Executive Committee of Economic Council (ECNEC). According to the related sources, a project with a budget of Tk. ... Read more
RMG exports to Canada rise well
Kazi Azizul Islam Although Canadian import of apparels slowed down this year, Bangladesh’s garment export to that North American country has posted a satisfactory growth rate, say officials at the exporters’ associations. Diversion of a portion of Canadian apparel imports from China to Bangladesh in the past few months helped the exporters, they pointed out. ... Read more
Massive layoffs expected in UAE
AFP, Dubai Up to 45 percent of the construction workforce in the United Arab Emirates could be laid off, with thousands already having lost their jobs due to the global financial crisis, a report said yesterday. The Khaleej Times newspaper quoted Khalfan Al-Kaabi, a member of the board of directors at Abu Dhabi Chamber of ... Read more
JETRO inks deal with BASIS: Promote Bangladesh’s software in Japan
NATION BUSINESS REPORT Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) has inked a deal with Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) to promote Bangladesh’s software and IT enabled services (ITES) industry in Japanese market. JETRO has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with BASIS in this regard on December 15 last at the BASIS Secretariat ... Read more