Headlines

Victim made to deny rape by BCL men; leaders blame journalists for tarnishing party image Kalapara police administration under influence of local leaders of the ruling party is holding back facts about the incident of abduction and gang rape of the schoolgirl on September 25 by ruling party activists. A group of 16 Chhatra League ... Read more

The six mobile phone operators in the country have at least 30 million subscribers on their roll and 35 percent of them use unregistered. SIM cards. Hardened criminals use unauthorised SIM cards in their cell phones to demand toll from their targeted persons and issue death threat for non-compliance of their demand. Businessmen, contractors and ... Read more

The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha is likely to hold on October 10 the lottery for allotment of plots in four categories under the Purbachal New Town Project. ‘The next phase of the lottery may be held on October 10 at 10:00am in Osmany Memorial Hall,’ said a senior Rajuk official on Tuesday. He, however, said that ... Read more

Parliament session resumes tomorrow BNP won’t join for lack of democratic atmosphere: Khandaker Delwar BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain has said the opposition party will not join the parliament session which will resume on Sunday as the democratic atmosphere in the house is yet to be ensured. He made the this assertion while talking ... Read more

Setting the clocks an hour ahead, the daylight saving time (DST) introduced at midnight on June 19, is still on as the government is yet to decide whether the clocks will be readjusted like in the past. The DST system was introduced to reduce electricity demand of 200-250 megawatt (MW) in the evenings and to ... Read more

Bangladeshi students in Sweden demonstrated on Thursday against the extra-judicial killing in so-called crossfire back home during the UN secretary-general’s visit to Uppsala University in Sweden. Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon is in Sweden for talks with Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt on the upcoming climate summit in Copenhagen. Ban was invited by the Uppsala University to ... Read more

Internal discord has been rife in both the ruling Awami League and the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party with senior leaders speaking out against respective party standpoints creating confusion and anguish in the rank and file. Impromptu and often unguarded statements made by some influential leaders to the media have exposed their personal grievances, rivalries ... Read more

Mayor, environmentalists decry bid to take over Dhanmondi public playground A limited company of powerful businessmen will soon take over Dhanmondi playground, earmarked in the city’s master plan as a common field, to build there a mini stadium with exclusive sports facilities much to the chagrin of local residents. Dhanmondi Club, now a limited company, ... Read more

She cites Jalil’s admissions as evidence of rigging Opposition leader Khaleda Zia deplored that the present government is not paying attention to public welfare nor fulfilling its pre-election pledges as Awami League “didn’t come to power with people’s vote but through rigging”. To underpin her observations she said that a former general secretary of the ... Read more

A school of gangetic dolphins have returned to the rivers Turag and Buriganga with the flow of fresh floodwater from the upstream. Several dolphins were sighted recently near Shoalmachi in the river Turag and at Jhaochar, a kilometre downstream in the river Buriganga, much to the delight of environmentalists and local

Last date for opinions on education policy today With the last date for the government invitation urging opinions from the general public — academics, guardians and students in particular, on the proposed Education Policy posted on website ending today, interested observers have come up with their views. As a number of the academics told this ... Read more

Despite protests and street agitation against awarding gas block to any foreign companies Petrobangla officials on Tuesday discussed with Tullow officials the modalities of signing a deal on gas exploration in the country’s territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal under a government decision, which has faced with raucous protests. According to official sources, Tullow ... Read more

The authorities of the country’s lone medical university, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), yesterday sacked 10 professors and one associate professor for, what they said, ‘unlawful’ appointments. University registrar Abdul Gafur who served the letter in this regard to the teachers told The Independent that the 11 had been relieved of their jobs because ... Read more

The national board of revenue on Tuesday extended the deadline for submission of tax returns by one month. The previous deadline for submitting tax returns for the current fiscal year was scheduled to expire on September 30. Now, the new deadline has been fixed on October 31. The extension of deadline came against the demands ... Read more

Govt officer dies of rabies A 35-year-old government officer died of rabies at the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) recently. A dog bit him three months back, which he ignored and did not take any safeguard after the bite. He turned up at the hospital when he began to feel pain and numbness at the bite ... Read more

Farcical arbitration let 16 culprits get away with fine of Tk 10,000 each; victim’s poor father dares not to file case Ten activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) allegedly gang-raped a teenage girl Friday night and were later handed down mere punishment at village arbitration arranged to ensure their escape by local Awami League leaders. ... Read more

US president accepts her invitation to visit Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met US President Barack Obama and exchanged views on the adverse impacts of climate change on developing countries in a major event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. This was the first encounter of the new Bangladesh premier with the ... Read more

US President Barack Obama Wednesday urged world leaders to move in a new direction saying they “must embrace a new era of engagement” in his first speech to the annual UN General Assembly. “It is my deeply held belief that in the year 2009 more than at any point in human history, the interests of ... Read more

The holy Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the greatest religious festivals of the Muslims, was celebrated in the city and elsewhere in the country on Monday amid enthusiasm and with due solemnity, seeking divine blessings for the continued peace, progress and prosperity of the country as well as the Muslim Ummah. In most places across the country, ... Read more

Frequent earthquakes have caused grave concern among the people, especially those living in Dhaka as they are believed to signal the possibility of a big earthquake. Experts told The Independent yesterday that big quakes follow the cyclic order. No big quake has rocked this region for the last 70 years. On September 21, on the ... Read more