Headlines

Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and Indian Border Security Force (BSF) have agreed, at a flag meeting, to maintain peace and tension free atmosphere, on a sustained basis, along the international borders, separating the two countries, through discussions, mutual understanding and cooperation, officials said. The Sector Commander of BDR and the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Indian ... Read more

Criminals gunned down a diploma engineer of the Urban Development Directorate in the city’s Mirpur area yesterday after abduction. Rakibul Hasan Mukul alias Yusuf, 35, hailing from Kaliakoir in Gazipur district, worked as a designer at the directorate. Police suspected that the engineer might have been killed following a feud over his office related matter. ... Read more

Former army chief General Moeen U Ahmed resigned as the Bangladesh Olympic Association president about three years before he was to serve out his tenure, a high Olympic Association official said on Tuesday. ‘He has tendered his resignation,’ said Kutubuddin Ahmed, the secretary general of the association. Moeen was twice elected unopposed the Olympic Association ... Read more

Around 23 hundred acid throwing incidents took place in the country in the 11 years causing burn injures of at least 3 thousand people including women and children. Speakers at a press conference organised by the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) said this at Sonargaon hotel in the city yesterday quoting Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF) ... Read more

Rain turns dug-up, ill-repaired streets from bad to worse Poor road conditions, delayed repairs and continuous road diggings have left many residents suffering at different places around the city. Road works completed after digging up roads, and then filled back, have been left without complete repairs, adding to the misery of commuters. The monsoon rains, ... Read more

The cabinet yesterday approved in principle the ‘Father of the Nation’s Family Members Security Act 2009 providing lifetime security for family members of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with immediate effect. The approval was given at a regular weekly meeting of the cabinet at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, eldest daughter of the slain leader

The cabinet has approved the International Crimes Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2009 aiming to try those involved in acts against humanity during the 1971 liberation war. The approval was given on Monday at the weekly meeting of the cabinet chaired by prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Earlier, the Law Commission recommended five changes in the International Crimes ... Read more

DNC understaffed, ill equipped Drug dealers and Mafia leaders often use Bangladesh as a transit point for dispatching heroin and opium from Myanmar and other countries of the golden triangle to different destinations by dodging the ailing department of narcotics control ( DNC ), which is under staffed and ill equipped to detect their stealthy ... Read more

The cabinet on Monday approved the Mobile Court Bill 2009 in order to revive the executive magistrates’ authority to operate mobile courts for summary trial of the perpetrators of some specific offences. The home affairs ministry placed the bill at the weekly cabinet meeting in the secretariat with the premier, Sheikh Hasina, in the chair. ... Read more

Seven students were injured yesterday as a chunk of roof-plaster fell on them when they were in a class at a school at Prasanna Poddar Lane in the city’s Tantibazar area under Old Dhaka. The injured were identified as Mhethelia(6), Rubina(7), Soniya(8) Ashamoni,(7) Tania(7) Johohara(7) and Juli(6), Salauddin officer in-charge of

Graft charge against Mainul The sub-committee of the parliamentary standing committee on Housing and Public Works ministry formed to inquire into the allegations of corruption and irregularities against former adviser of the caretaker government Barrister Mainul Hosein has directed the concerned officials of the Housing and Public Works ministry, RAJUK and Public Works Department to ... Read more

The just-formed central committee of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal Monday night dissolved the organisation’s three units and expelled four leaders for ‘breach of discipline and anti-organisational activities.’ The Chhatra Dal president, Sultan Salauddin Tuku, told New Age that the central committee has dissolved the Dhaka University, Dhaka city south and Dhaka city north units of the ... Read more

Untrained instructors teach driving to thousands; regulatory body sits idle For thousands of aspiring drivers of motor vehicles, the country has only 10 registered learners’ schools and five ‘qualified’ instructors, according to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). With over 50,000 vehicles taking to the roads or applying for registration every year and another 1.2 million ... Read more

Poor people in Bangladesh own more mobile phones than the same group in India and Pakistan, more televisions than the Indian poor, but availability of computers in the poor Bangladeshi households is almost zero, according to a recent study. The survey by LIRNEasia, a Sri Lanka-based Asia-Pacific information and communication technology policy and regulation capacity-building ... Read more

First session of ninth Parliament Over Tk 5 cr wasted for quorum crisis: TIB Parliament members did not attend the session in time and as a result around Tk 5.42 crore was misused during the first session of the 9th parliament due to quorum crisis. This was revealed at a roundtable discussion on ‘strengthening effectiveness ... Read more

Malpractices like adulteration of food, use of toxic chemicals like formalin to preserve fish and seasonal fruits and illegal occupation of footpaths have increased in recent times due to absence of mobile courts to enforce laws. Law enforcement agencies, including Rapid Action Battalion, have conveyed to Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in writing about a sudden ... Read more

SC verdict critical of Article 70; TIB recommends amendment; dy speaker sees no problem The amended article 70 of the constitution has kept MPs “prisoners” of their own party since restoration of parliamentary democracy in 1991, preventing them from playing due role in parliament freely. According to the amended provisions, parliament membership will be vacated ... Read more

Teenagers of rich parents introduce new terror on roads with reckless driving of their modified cars Dangerous joyrides and reckless as well as happy-go-lucky driving have become the most common features of the city traffic, exposing innocent pedestrians and commuters to serious accidents every day. The tragic death of Anima Rani Saha on Dhaka University ... Read more

Extortionists continue to squeeze money from the developers and owners of construction sites, using their political identity, alleged the victims. The law enforcers are also reluctant to nab the culprits because of their party affiliations, forcing us to pay them silently in order to continue to run our businesses, they said. The victims feared that ... Read more

Speakers at a seminar on Saturday underscored the need for formulating Code of Conduct for manpower agency to help establish discipline in the sector and secure appointment, migration, jobs and wages of Bangladeshi workers abroad. In order to build a strong skilled workforce, they also emphasized on setting up a Vocational Training Institute based on ... Read more