Headlines

Staff Correspondent An accumulation of clouds, sailing from Eastern ghat in Orissa, has spoilt the winter at its peak making the weather a bit warmer, met office sources said. The presence of clouds and associated moisture-laden air have not only pushed up the mercury but also contributed to recent spell of fog clouding the visibility, ... Read more

UNB, Dhaka The High Court on Monday issued rule upon a woman journalist of a weekly newspaper to explain why punitive action should not be taken against her for denying disclosing the source of news as asked in a contempt of court case. Issuing the rule, a division bench comprising Justice ABM Khairul Haque and ... Read more

Staff Correspondent The newly elected government yesterday transferred 10 secretaries and five joint secretaries in a major reshuffle in the administration. Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Syed Ataur Rahman has been transferred to the Ministry of Education, according to an official announcement. Privatisation Commission member ABM Abdul Huq Chowdhury has been made secretary of textile and ... Read more

Staff Correspondent Shaheed Asad Day will be observed today, commemorating his martyrdom this day in 1969 during the mass uprising against the Pakistani rulers that led the nation to independence. On this day 40 years ago, Asaduzzaman was killed in police firing in front of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital while leading a protest demonstration. ... Read more

Staff Correspondent The Awami League-led government has expressed unwillingness to kick-start the ailing Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, a public sector arm for market intervention, in a marked shift from its pre-polls pledge for a ‘multi-pronged approach to control prices and monitor the market’. Making public the government’s position on the corporation, the commerce minister, Faruk ... Read more

Shahiduzzaman The expert committee formed to examine the ordinances made in the past two years on Sunday finalised its report recommending that 30 ordinances should be approved, 53 should be scrapped and 39 others should be left for the parliament to decide. ‘The expert committee has finalised its report, which will be placed in the ... Read more

Chittagong Correspondent The administrative big shots of Chittagong University (CU) have apparently failed to find a way out from the deadlock arising out of the siege laid by the-Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), student front of Awami League and

PM issues warning; BCL central body to be dissolved Hasan Jahid Tusher and Najmul Alam Nobin The Awami League (AL) high command might soon dissolve the central committee of its associate body Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) in the wake of recent series of violence at several educational institutions across the country. The party high-ups are ... Read more

UNB, Dhaka Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday urged the United States to invest in Bangladesh in larger volume and emphasized on more US cooperation in energy and power sectors of the country. The request came when US Ambassador in Dhaka James F Moriarty called on the Prime Minister at the Prime Minister’s

Conspirators killed Zia, now want to destroy BNP   Staff Correspondent BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain on Sunday said as part of implementing a blue print to destroy BNP, the conspirators in a planned way murdered the founder of the party, President Ziaur Rahman. “The conspirators are still active to destroy BNP. In phases at ... Read more

AFP, Port Blair India said Sunday that hundreds of people were missing at sea, believed to be part of a wave of boat people allegedly dragged out to the middle of the ocean by Thailand and left to die. Thailand has denied the accusations, but accounts of survivors and the latest reports from the Indian ... Read more

Julfikar Ali Manik BNP standing committee member and former minister Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain brought back 76,282.07 pounds (equivalent to about Tk 1.04 crore) from the UK at the initiative of now-defunct taskforces. The military-backed caretaker government cracked down on high-profile graft-suspects in February 2007 and Mosharraf was arrested within a few months. Sources say ... Read more

President advises foreign service officials Unb, Dhaka President Iajuddin Ahmed yesterday termed foreign service officials mirror of the county and hoped they would uphold Bangladesh’s image abroad. Iajuddin made the remark when a 10-member delegation of the Foreign Service Academy led by its Principal Ambassador Shahed Akhtar called on him at Banga-bhaban. The delegation comprised ... Read more

Sylhet Medical Hostels BCL erases Khaleda, Saifur’s names Staff Correspondent, Sylhet Activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) changed the names of two female dormitories of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Saturday night, erasing the names of Khaleda Zia and Saifur Rahman. Khaleda Zia female interns’ hostel was renamed as Bibi Ayesha (RA) intern hostel while ... Read more

Staff Correspondent Expatriates’ Welfare & Overseas Employment Minister Engineer Moshar-raf Hossain on Sunday gave intimation that the government fixed rate for sending workers abroad through recruiting agencies may be increased. After holding a meeting with leaders of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) at his ministry, he said “BAIRA leaders said current rate was ... Read more

Sports Reporter Bangladesh will meet Zimbabwe today in the first match of the three-match Grameenphone ODI Series at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. The match starts at 9.00 AM. Bangladesh Television will telecast the match live from the stadium. Before today’s encounter, Bangladesh faced Zimbabwe in 34 ODI matches. Of them, Zimbabwe registered 19 wins ... Read more

Staff Reporter A four-day long education exposition- “3rd Education Worldwide Expo 2009” will begin on January 22 aiming to provide up-to-date and comprehensive educational and career opportunities and guidance. The fair will be opened for all from 10am to 8 pm at level-7, Basundhara Expo Centre, Bashundhara City. The entry fee is fixed at Tk ... Read more

PARTY REORGANISATION AL plans top-down approach,BNP for bottom-up Shahidul Islam Chowdhury and Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee Major political parties, including the ruling Awami League and the opposition in parliament Bangladesh Nationalist Party, are planning to democratically revitalise respective parties and hold national council sessions after the January 22 upazila elections. The Awami League is planning to ... Read more

Israel shells 50 targets ahead of truce vote Afp, Ap, Gaza City Israel pummelled Gaza with new strikes yesterday destroying 50 targets, including a UN-run school sheltering hundreds of refuges in the north, hours before an expected unilateral halt to a 22-day war on Hamas. The Israeli security

VC confined in CU, 40 hurt in Jagannath Univ Staff Correspondent Violence on Saturday spilled over to two more public universities after Jahangirnagar University centring on political enmity and in-fighting of the Chhatra League over stranglehold on campuses. At least 40 students were injured in the clashes in Jagannath University. Students in Chittagong University had ... Read more