Headlines

Staff Correspondent Thirty-four Bangladeshi students secured the highest marks worldwide in thirteen subjects in the GCSE O-level examinations last year while another 19 have obtained the highest marks worldwide in six subjects of the

Staff correspondent The parliament resumes its session at 4:4pm today after a 10-day recess. The house is expected to approve a number of bills, including the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill which proposed passage into law of two ordinances promulgated by the immediate-past interim government bringing about changes to the code making the lower ... Read more

bdnews24.com, Dhaka Sheikh Hasina’s cousin Sheikh Helal Uddin on Saturday was all set to become MP for Bagherhat-1, one of the two seats vacated by the prime minister. Sheikh Helal is the son Sheikh Naser Rahman, younger brother of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Both were killed on Aug 15, 1975, along with other members of the ... Read more

7 killed, 20 injured; 6 top floors gutted; govt orders probe; electric short-circuit suspected; mall closed for 2 days Staff Correspondent A raging blaze yesterday reduced the upper levels of the capital’s Bashundhara City shopping complex to a skeleton, killing at least seven people and injuring 20 others. Ill-equipped to douse high-rise flames, the fire ... Read more

bdnews24.com, Rajshahi Rajshahi University closed indefinitely after an Islami Chhatra Shibir leader was killed and scores were injured in campus clashes with Bangladesh Chh-atra League on Friday. Sharifuzzaman Nomani, general secretary of the RU Shibir unit, died around midday, Rajpara Police Station OC Anisur Rahman

Complex’s water reservoir found empty Helemul Alam Even though Bashundhara City building in the capital had several fire hydrants inside, the building’s reservoir had no water. This helped the fire to spread and claim the lives of seven persons yesterday. Director General of Fire Service and Civil Defence Abu Nayeem Md Shahidullah said the hydrants ... Read more

Staff Correspondent Prices of liquefied petroleum gas or LPG and furnace oil produced by Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation have been reduced by 13-15 per cent with effect from Sunday. The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday approved the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation’s proposal to lower the price of a 12.5 kg cylinder of LPG to Tk 850 ... Read more

Firemen waited for blaze to come down Raihan Sabuktagin Fire fighters could not douse the flames on upper floors of Bashundhara City shopping complex in the capital yesterday as they do not have required logistics and equipment to tame a blaze beyond 13th floor of a building. Despite reaching the spot immediately after the fire ... Read more

Sky-lift fails to reach top floors Arun Devnath and Emran Hossain A small crowd lingered into the night, hours after fire fighters battled out the blaze at the Bashundhara City shopping mall yesterday. Shards of glass glinted in the light streaming from an ’emergency’ lighting unit set up by the Fire Service and Civil Defence ... Read more

Taib Ahmed The Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence lacks logistics to extinguish fire in buildings of more than 14 storeys. The agency has only two hydraulic ladders which can hose water up to the 14th floor of a building at best and the country does not have helicopters equipped to put out flames in ... Read more

Rafiqul Islam Azad Bangladesh Fire Brigade has only two modern ladders that could be used in dousing fire by throwing water up to 14-storey of a high rise building, according to sources in the Fire Brigade. Of the two Turning Table Ladders (TTL), the new one, brought from abroad two months ago, was used for ... Read more

Staff Correspondent Prostitution goes unabated in different parts of the country specially capital Dhaka as young and minor girls are being forced to this immoral profession in the name of giving job. A section of unscrupulous inhabitants in the capital are engaged in collecting young and minor girls from their villages in the name of ... Read more

AFP, London World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Friday that 2009 is turning into “a very dangerous year” for the economy but warned G20 members against protectionist policies to fight the downturn. “2009 is shaping up to be a very dangerous year,” he told reporters ahead of Saturday’s G20 finance ministers meeting on how best ... Read more

Cites global meltdown impact as reason, denies entry to 532 Bangladeshi workers in Kuala Lumpur Staff Correspondent Malaysia on Tuesday cancelled visas for more than 55,000 Bangladeshi jobseekers, which were approved back in 2007, citing the impact of global economic recession on its manufacturing sector. These workers were scheduled

Staff Correspondent The High Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the government for delaying the passage of two ordinances to make the judiciary independent of the executive. The High Court bench of Justice ABM Khairul Haque and Justice Abdul Hye, in a rule issued suo moto, also asked the government to explain by March ... Read more

bdnews24.com, Dhaka The law minister, after a meeting with the attorney general and the army’s judge advocate general on Wednesday, said trying the BDR mutineers under the Army Act is still being considered for the fastest trial. “As Bangladesh Rifles is a ‘disciplinary force’ and it killed officers of another ‘disciplinary force’ their trial could ... Read more

Mustafizur Rahman Shortage of water, which is gradually becoming acute in the capital with the summer setting in, may trigger demonstrations by city-dwellers, fear Members of Parliament. The city’s lawmakers expressed their concern at a meeting with the LGRD and cooperatives minister, Syed Ashraful Islam, at the secretariat on Wednesday. They demanded immediate solution of ... Read more

UNB, Dhaka Although the government set up monitoring cell in Power and Energy Ministry, no substantial improvement appeared in the power and gas supply situation across the country. The country has been experiencing more than 2000 MW power shortage and about 200 million cubic feet (MMCF) gas shortage

Body of Maj Hakim identified Staff Correspondent Two army officers killed in a chopper crash on Monday and two during the massacre at Pilkhana BDR Headquarters were laid to eternal rest yesterday at city’s Banani Army Graveyard. The officers buried with state honour are Maj Gen Rafiqul Islam, general officer commanding of 55 Infantry Division ... Read more

Staff Correspondent The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has asked one of its policymakers, Chowdhury Tanveer Ahmed Siddique, to explain why action will not be taken against him for breaching party discipline and defaming the party chief. The party’s joint secretary general Nazrul Islam Khan on Wednesday told New Age that the show-cause notice was served to ... Read more