Headlines

Militants in Bhola found more equipped, trained than JMB, says investigators Star Report The London-based NGO Green Crescent, which runs the madrasa-cum-orphanage in Bhola that turned out to be a mini-ordnance factory Tuesday, had plans to set up two more training centres for militants in Doulatkhan and Lalmohan upazilas of the district. Rapid Action Battalion ... Read more

10,000 programmers a year; IT curriculum must in SSC level by 2013, in primary 2021; opens digital expo Staff Correspondent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said her government will do whatever necessary to create 10,000 information technology (IT) programmers every year. The government will introduce compulsory IT curriculum at secondary school level by 2013 and ... Read more

6 BDR rebels make confessional statements Staff Correspondent The director-general of Bangladesh Rifles said on Wednesday that last month’s rebellion in the Pilkhana had not only caused the untimely death of many talented officers but also destroyed the paramilitary force’s trustworthiness. ‘The mutiny has not only caused the murder of many talented officers but has ... Read more

JS body blasts it for sketchy bookkeeping; 4 sub-committees to check graft in jute, textile mills Staff Correspondent The parliamentary standing committee on public undertakings yesterday blasted the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) for alleged anomalies in its accounts of expenditure of Tk 1,100 crore in last eight years. “It is clear that accounts ... Read more

Reviewing International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973 Staff Correspondent The government has started its formal work to try the war criminals, who were allegedly involved in the genocide during the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh. Against the backdrop of the unanimous decision, passed in the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) in the ongoing session of the ninth Parliament, ... Read more

Leaves for KL to discuss labour issue BSS, Dhaka Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni on Wednesday said, militancy or terrorism was not a critical challenge for Bangladesh’s image abroad yet as she called it an issue worldwide concern. “I don’t think it is a critical challenge for Bangladesh’s image yet,” she told newsmen in her ... Read more

Staff Correspondent . Sylhet A Bangladesh Rifles soldier reportedly committed suicide in the Sylhet sector headquarters in Akhalia area of the city on Wednesday. The deceased, Waliullah Sheikh, 23, a soldier of 38 Rifles battalion under the Sylhet sector headquarters, came from village Bhandertek under Batiyaghata upazila in Khulna. Police recovered the body hanging from ... Read more

1,793 workers killed, 2,684 injured in 2008 Staff Correspondent Around 1,793 workers and day labours of different sectors throughout the country were killed and around 2,684 were injured last year at their respective workplaces due to absence of adequate occupational safety and negligence of authorities concerned. This was disclosed by participants at a discussion meeting ... Read more

Staff Reporter The government will go for a wide extension of the tax-net in the upcoming budget for 2009-10 fiscal year, as it will have to concentrate on internal resources, in view of a slowdown in foreign aid flow in the wake of the global recession. National Board of Revenue Chairman Mohammad Abdul Mazid said ... Read more

Footage to help investigation greatly; another FBI team shortly; govt waits for post-mortem on BDR men’s death Staff Correspondent Investigators of the BDR carnage found audiotapes and footage of the BDR officers’ meeting held on February 25 morning at Darbar Hall in Pilkhana and the CCTV footage of arms being looted from the BDR arsenal. ... Read more

Govt also plans to set up shelters for the destitute Mustafizur Rahman The government has initiated a move to distribute ‘khas’ or government-owned land among the ‘landless people’ in each upazila across the country. The entire process, that includes listing of landless people, identifying khas lands not in use by any authorities and allocation, will ... Read more

Good stock, low global market bring down prices Staff Correspondent The prices of both coarse and fine rice varieties are decreasing in this non-harvest season when rice prices normally remain high. Sufficient stock and supply of rice and paddy and a fall in food grain prices on the international market are the main reasons behind ... Read more

Raheed Ejaz New Delhi has asked Dhaka to allow transportation of heavy machinery and other equipments from Kolkata to Agartala through Bangladesh’s Ashuganj river port. The cargo will be used to construct a power plant in Tripura state. The Indian delegation made the request on Monday, the first day of the two-day talks on water ... Read more

Violates govt rules to get one at cost of public money Staff Correspondent In breach of government rules, Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has lately invited tenders for a cross-country vehicle to be used by Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain. According to procurement rules, a department cannot usually purchase of its own accord any vehicles, ... Read more

Probe report blames Bashundhara for negligence in safety Hasan Jahid Tusher The probe committee that investigated the fire incident at Bashundhara Shopping Complex in its report yesterday could not identify the source and cause of the fire but mentioned gross negligence of the Bashundhara authorities regarding fire safety. The Bashundhara authorities did not cooperate with ... Read more

Staff Correspondent The government on Monday formed a committee on the reconstitution of the border force in the wake of February 25–26 rebellion of soldiers in the Bangladesh Rifles headquarters in which at least 81, mostly army officers, were killed, a high official said. ‘I will do it at the earliest in the interest of ... Read more

Adopts new hajj package UNB, Dhaka The Cabinet at its regular meeting Monday brought some amendments to the National Hajj Policy and adopted a new hajj package to comply with new rules introduced by the Saudi government. “The total cost of hajj will be Tk 2,20,550 per person under the new package,” PM’s Press Secretary ... Read more

Staff Reporter Speakers yesterday expressed the view that high-rise buildings in Dhaka city have multiplied the problems fire hazard, electricity, water shortage and equitable distribution of land and other resources. Fire is an issue not only for high-rise buildings but for many structures in the capital for failing to follow the building code or taking ... Read more

Staff Reporter Two leading public universities of the country-University of Dhaka (DU) and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) have been ranked as 4922 and 3801 in global position respectively according to Webometrics January survey. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of the USA has been ranked as number one in the world. Stanford University ... Read more

Agence France-Presse . Manila Journalists in South Asia face ‘severe risks’ amid escalating violence in the region, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report released in the Philippines Monday. Attacks on media workers in Sri Lanka and Pakistan have increased and four other countries in the region — Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh ... Read more