ACC got info on Koko’s transactions on Sept 30: Mashhud UNB, Dhaka Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) on Monday defended revelations about BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s youngest son Arafat Rahman Koko’s transactions in Singapore days before elections saying the Commission considers it unacceptable to curb or interrupt its activities for political activities. “It’s unacceptable that the ... Read more
Dhaka Mirror
Polls fever too intense
6 Days To Go Polls fever too intense Arun Devnath for Star Online Walk down any road in the capital — quiet or busy — and you can feel the tide of emotions over the year-end elections runs deep. On a Dhaka morning, dulled by winter, one thing emerges urgent for a nation that is ... Read more
EC to blacklist observers if found biased
Staff Correspondent The Election Commission (EC) will blacklist election observers if any of them are found biased towards any particular political party during polls monitoring, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said. Terming the upcoming polls “different from previous elections”, the CEC said fresh voters could change the country’s political culture by casting ... Read more
Fuel made a little cheaper
Star Business Report The prices of petroleum products were lowered yesterday to help farmers before the boro season, said chief adviser’s special assistant Dr M Tamim. The prices of kerosene and diesel were reduced by Tk 2 per litre while petrol by Tk 4 and octane by Tk 3 a litre, said Tamim, also in-charge ... Read more
Voters do not believe in pledges
CONSTITUENCY DHAKA 5 Voters do not believe in pledges Taib Ahmed With the candidates running for Dhaka 5 and making plenty of promises for the development of the constituency, the general voters tend to believe 30 per cent of their pledges will not be implemented after the elections. The voters, however, expect that some of ... Read more
Obama admin will put pressure on Pakistan to dismantle terror camps’
Indian Americans ask UN to declare Pakistan terrorist state Press Trust of India . New York The incoming Obama administration will put pressure on Pakistan to take strong action against terrorists as also their organisations and dismantle their training camps, a top US lawmaker has said. Addressing a fund-raiser organised by the Indian community in ... Read more
493 candidates have no taxpaying history
NBR moves to expand tax net Staff Correspondent The number of contestants in the upcoming general election, who have no record of paying tax, still stands at 493, out of the total 1,545 candidates in the Election Commission’s final list. Earlier, the National Board of Revenue found around 870 candidates, who were in the race ... Read more
Maker of ‘Bush Shoes’ receives orders of 3,70,000
Agence France-Presse . Istanbul The maker of the shoes that an Iraqi journalist hurled at the US president, George W Bush, has had to take on 100 extra staff to cope with a surge in demand for his footwear, he said on Monday. ‘Between the day of the incident and 1:00pm today we have received ... Read more
Brad Pitt not marrying Angelina Jolie yet!
ANI New Delhi: Brad Pitt has reportedly rejected Angelina Jolie’s marriage proposal. Jolie, who raises six kids with Pitt, is reportedly keen to wed the actor, reports the ‘China Daily’. However, Pitt feels it’s too early to take the relationship to the next level and wants to consult couples counsellors before tying the knot. “Angelina ... Read more
Sonam is young, Aishwarya is old for international cosmetic brand L’oreal
Spicezee Bureau Mumbai: After winning the hearts of many with her vivacity, Bollywood’s pretty lady, Sonam Kapoor, is now set to become the young face of the international cosmetic brand L’oreal. The ‘Saawariya’ girl recently signed her first endorsement as brand ambassador for L’oreal, making a mark on the international modelling network. Although the ever ... Read more
Ash is spoilt for choice
Prithwish Ganguly/DNA Aishwarya Rai Bachchan rues the fact that she has to leave many good films because she is mostly spoilt for choice. She adds often some very good films come her way after she has given her dates for a particular project and she has to let them go. “I get offered some really ... Read more
Best phase of my career began with Saif : Kareena
Before meeting Saif, life was not so beautiful for Kareena Kapoor. Life took a new turn when her faith stuck together with him. Not only her personal life but her professional life too began to smile at her and is going great. Bebo owes her success and happiness to him and feels happy that Saif ... Read more
Russia commemorates National Heroes
Exhibition at Russian Centre of Science and Culture Cultural Correspondent To mark the Russian day of National Heroes, on December 18, Russian Centre of Science and Culture organised a photography exhibition highlighting legendary Russian figures. Most of the images are photographic reproductions of portraits — both black and white and colour. The photographs are mainly ... Read more
De Villiers does it for Proteas finally
CricInfo, undated AB de Villiers erased a lingering hoodoo for South Africa as they sealed their most satisfying win with a record-breaking chase of 414 for 4 that buried Australia in the first Test at the WACA on Sunday. Since coming back into the international arena in the early 1990s, South Africa have had the ... Read more
Export earnings fall 8pc in Oct
Kazi Azizul Islam The ongoing global economic recession has finally rung alarm bells for Bangladesh garment industry as latest official data reveals that the country’s export earnings in October was $868 million, posting nearly 8 per cent decline from that in the same month of 2007. The monthly data released by the Export Promotion Bureau ... Read more
Dhaka stocks jump
United News of Bangladesh . Dhaka The Dhaka Stock Exchange recorded significant rise on Sunday amid increased turnover, helping stocks to gain across the board. The DSE General Index, the benchmark index, rose 73 points or 2.89 per cent to close at 2,591 from 2,518 points on Thursday while the All Shares Price Index increased ... Read more
RU classes, examinations suspended till Dec 31
Class III, IV employees continue strike Our Correspondent . Rajshahi The academic committee of Rajshahi University at an emergency meeting on Sunday suspended all the classes and scheduled examinations till December 31 due to agitation by controversially-appointed class III and IV employees. No class or scheduled examination was held at the university as controversially-appointed class ... Read more
Move to empower exec magistrates to try polls offences rejected
Khadimul Islam The Supreme Court has rejected the move of both the home ministry and Election Commission to invest executive magistrates with powers to try electoral offences during the December 29 general elections. The commission received a letter from the Supreme Court, said a high official in the commission secretariat. According to the official, the ... Read more
Trouble for AL allies in the North
Fading Ershad charm, multiple candidates may help BNP Rakib Hasnet Suman Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman HM Ershad’s waning popularity in the greater Rangpur area and Awami League’s (AL) continuing indifference to its leaders’ electoral rivalry with JP nominees there despite being partners in an electoral alliance, have brought new hopes for BNP-led four-party alliance nominees ... Read more
Media asked to refrain from publishing and airing provocative news: CEC
4-party lodges complain against ATN Bangla for terming Jamaat leaders war criminals Staff Correspondent Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said a favorable atmosphere is prevailing in the country and the EC is waiting for holding a successful parliamentary election slated for December 29. He also urged both print and electronic media to ... Read more