Headlines

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh is developing a health care network for the poor in his country that will operate at low cost using mobile phone technology. Yunus is working with U.S. medical experts to help Bangladeshi villagers transmit their medical information to doctors in far-away cities for better treatment. Muhammad Yunus ... Read more

Eight years into the Ramna Batamul blast, a Dhaka court yesterday framed charges against 14 operatives of outlawed Islamist outfit Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji) including its chief Mufti Abdul Hannan in two cases filed in connection with the incident. Metropolitan Sessions Judge ANM Bashir Ullah rejected the discharge petitions submitted by the counsels for ... Read more

Ashraful warns upazila chairs LGRD and cooperatives minister Syed Ashraful Islam on Thursday warned the upazila chairmen and vice-chairmen, who were protesting against the new upazila parishad law, that the parliament members had the authority to revoke the law anytime and dissolve the local bodies. He urged the aggrieved chairmen and vice-chairmen to have patience ... Read more

State Minister for Law Adv Qamrul Islam yesterday said opposition leader Khaleda Zia would receive notice within next week to vacate her cantonment house at 6 Mainul Road inside Dhaka cantonment. “Process of serving notice by the cantonment board began and she would receive it within next week,” he told reporters at the Law Ministry. ... Read more

The cabinet on Thursday approved a draft bill which proposed amendments to the Information and Communications Technology Act making provisions to curb cyber crimes and to reach ICT services to people of all walks of life. ‘It is an update on the Information and Communica-tion Technology Act 2006 which incorporated provisions to fight cyber crimes,’ ... Read more

Wants more changes in RPO The Election Commission (EC) will initiate steps for further amendments to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), and will hold dialogue with the political parties in this regard, an election commissioner said yesterday. “We will invite registered political parties to the talks at appropriate time,” Election Commissioner Brig Gen ... Read more

Wrong info in Diary 2009 draw flaks Notice served against 4 top bureaucrats Does Bangladesh has any Chief Justice? Perhaps no-at least the official Dairy 2009 suggests so. Is there any Constitutional post like Chief Justice Bangladesh Supreme Court? Perhaps there is, as the dairy says. Who is Janab AMM Ruhul Amin holding the so-called ... Read more

Export-oriented industries to get Tk 2,500-3,000cr in cash subsidy, says minister The government may allocate Tk 2,500-3,000 crore cash subsidy to affected export-oriented industries in the recession package it is going to announce next week to tackle the fallout of global meltdown. “Only the affected exporters will be given bailout assistance from the package, and ... Read more

Upazila parishad chairmen, vice-chairmen on Wednesday threatened a tough movement, including declaring personae non gratae lawmakers on upazila parishad premises if the sweeping authority of the lawmakers over upazila parishads in constituencies are not scrapped. They demanded amendment to the Upazila Parishad (Reintroduction of the Repealed Act and Amendment) Act, passed by the parliament on ... Read more

Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina has warned Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) men of stern actions for creating unrest in educational institutions. She has also warned top BCL leaders of a possible ‘five-year jail’ if the warning goes unheeded. The PM made the warning as a team of top BCL leaders led by its President Mahmud ... Read more

Former Awami League lawmaker Joynal Hazari was sent to jail after his surrender in a Feni court on Wednesday. Hazari reached at the court at about 11:00am to seek bail in six cases. A number of his supporters assembled on the court premises before his arrival and shouted slogans. He obtained bail in five cases, ... Read more

Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam and its equivalent Alim and Business Management (BM) examinations begin today amid strict security. A total of 6,18,308 candidates are appearing for the exams under 10 education boards. The exams will be held in 1,919 centres this year, including five abroad and under Dhaka, Rajshahi, Comilla, Jessore, Chittagong, Barisal, Sylhet, ... Read more

Indians begin voting in epic elections Millions of Indians are due to vote in the first round of the country’s 15th general elections on Thursday. Voters in 124 constituencies will be taking part in Thursday’s vote. There are four other phases between then and the last phase on 13 May. More than 700 million Indians ... Read more

Sonadia Deep Sea Port Debate over feasibility report tomorrow A deep sea port can be set up at Sonadia channel in three phases till 2055 at an estimated cost of Tk 60,000 crore with the first phase completed by 2016, says a feasibility study. The first phase of the port in the offshore island of ... Read more

It’s dropping fast, says BDR DG Cross-border movement of criminals, and trafficking of illicit goods including small arms increased alarmingly in the days following the events in Pilkhana Headquarters of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), observed an internal security report. The national security is likely to be affected by the recent development, and trafficking of illegal weapons ... Read more

The high-powered Home Ministry probe committee is still in the dark over the motive and masterminds of BDR carnage even after one and half months of its formation, informed sources said. An influential member of the committee acknowledged that they still could not identify the reason and said “actually it is not our job… police, ... Read more

The investigators tasked with probing the carnage at the Peelkhana BDR headquarters in February are learnt to have pointed their fingers at some rising leaders of Awami League for their possible involvement in the brutal mayhem. Sources said that LGRD state minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Jubo League general secretary Mirza Azam MP and former state ... Read more

The crimes at vessels in Bangladesh water territory has declined substantially when it has increased alar-mingly around the globe in recent years. International and regional and global forums at their recent meetings highly appreciates Bangladesh efforts in making safer its water territory through combating sea piracy and other crimes centering vessels. Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) ... Read more

Apr 10: The booming shipbuilding industry in the country is now under threat due to the Chittagong Port Authority’s (CPA) decision to ban its construction within two kilometres of the upstream of the CPA jetty number one. The CPA sources claimed that the shipbuilding industry within the vicinity of the port areas might create siltation ... Read more

Public interest prompted lease cancellation: Shafiq Leaders of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Thursday warned at a protest rally that the government will be responsible for any untoward situation in the country if it does not cancel the decision of cabinet meeting. It may be mentioned here that the government has decided on Wednesday at ... Read more