Headlines

Staff Correspondent The swearing-in of the lawmakers from BNP and allies yesterday was not aired live on Bangladesh Television. Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar said, “It is discrimination against the opposition in parliament from day one.” BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia said, “This shows the public the difference between what they [AL-led grand alliance] pledge and do.” The ... Read more

UNB, Dhaka US Ambassador James Moriarty yesterday said the United States can help the new government in Bangladesh consolidate democracy, as there is a lot of support in America for this country. “We will do everything we can,” he told reporters after an hour-long meeting with Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni at the Foreign Ministry ... Read more

UNB, Dhaka Three secretaries have been transferred to different ministries in a reshuffle in the administration by the new government. Liberation War Affairs secretary Nasiruddin Ahmed has been transferred to Power Department, Science and ICT secretary Mohammad Wahid uz Zaman to Water Resources Ministry and Social Welfare secretary Dewan Zakir Hossain to Industries Ministry, said ... Read more

Staff Reporter Home Minister Sahara Khatun yesterday asked the law- enforcing agencies to nab the extortionists, whoever he may be, to stop overt or covert toll taking. “Whatever it is-overtly or covertly–smash the hands of extortionists,” she said responding to a reporter’s question about silent extortion across the country. Briefing reporters on law and order ... Read more

Staff Correspondent Several hundred garment factory workers Thursday evening went on the rampage in the Tejgaon Industrial Area in Dhaka, vandalised more than 50 vehicles and blocked the Tongi Diversion Road for two hours demanding

Markdown to give Boro major boost; govt subsidy for non-urea fertilisers will now stand at Tk 2,700cr Staff Correspondent The government yesterday slashed the prices of non-urea fertilisers to almost half per kilogram to help farmers during the country’s biggest crop season, Boro. From now, farmers will be able to buy 1kg TSP (triple super ... Read more

Hasanuzzaman Khan A source close to the US embassy in Dhaka said they have ascertained only 3 million dollar deposited in a Singapore Bank in the account of Arafat Rahman Koko which was described as Siemens’ kickback. When asked about the 200 million dollar in kickback reportedly deposited in Koko’s name in a Singapore bank, ... Read more

Md Hasan The government has decided to take legal actions against Siemens Bangladesh Ltd, following the international scandal of bribery and money laundering involving Germany based industrial giant Siemens, and Arafat Rahman Koko, younger son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia. The actions might include blacklisting of Siemens Bangaladesh Ltd, barring it from doing business ... Read more

Staff Correspondent The government will take steps immediately to appoint two new judges to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for speedy disposal of the appeals in the Sheikh Mujibur Rahman murder case, said law minister Shafique Ahmed on Wednesday. ‘The Awami League government initiated the trial process in 1996. But no other government ... Read more

Staff Correspondent Bangladesh on Wednesday strongly condemned the continued Israeli attacks on Gaza of Palestine as it entered into the 3rd week, and called for immediate halt of the attacks, which caused casualty to hundreds of Palestinians, mostly the women and children. The government of Bangladesh also urged the Israeli authorities to comply with the ... Read more

Reuters/Bdnews24.com . Dubai Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden called for jihad (holy struggle) over the Israeli offensive in Gaza in a new audio tape that appeared on Islamist web sites on Wednesday. The Saudi-born militant said the global financial crisis had exposed the waning US influence in world affairs and would in turn weaken its ... Read more

Staff Reporter BNP-led four-party alliance MPs is going to take oath today at 4:00 pm at the Jatiya Sangshad Bhaban. The outgoing speaker Barrister Jamir Uddin Sircar would officiate the oath taking ceremony. All preparations have been completed for conducting the oath, Speaker office sources said. Talking to the New Nation senior leaders of BNP, ... Read more

Tk 2cr travel tax remains unpaid  Unb, Dhaka The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has requested the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) to cancel permission for all Best Air flights as the private airlines has failed to pay travel taxes amounting to Tk 2 crore. In a letter sent to the CAAB on January ... Read more

Staff Correspondent Bangladeshi origin British businessmen on Wednesday sought cooperation from government to set up a curry school in Dhaka to produce skilled manpower for curry industry to fulfill the growing demand of BD workers in Britain. “In Britain, there are 12 thousands restaurants which are mainly operated by the Bangla-deshi migrants. As many as ... Read more

Bangladeshi workers in Singapore feel the crunch Porimol Palma Bangladeshi expatriates have started experiencing job cuts in Singapore due to slowdown in businesses, especially in the shipping and construction sectors, following the global financial meltdown. “We’ve received information from the Bangladesh mission in Singapore that a good number of our workers are jobless because of ... Read more

‘Aratdars’ illegally collect no less than Tk 40 lakh a day from Karwan Bazar, Jatrabari, Shyambazar; vegetable prices go at least 5pc up for extortion Shaheen Mollah and Najmul Alam Nobin Greengrocers have to pay illegal toll to Aratdars in the city’s three premier kitchen markets and, in turn, they force consumers to

Siddiqur Rahman Khan Incidents of violence have been on the rise in the higher educational institutions across the country in the last few days, and two institutions in Khulna have been closed following clashes between activists of different students’ organizations backed by political parties. The academic future of thousands of students is at stake and ... Read more

Staff Correspondent The high-profile persons accused of corruption have started returning to the country after the Awami League-led alliance government assumed office. The accused — politicians, government employees and businessmen — and their family members left the country after the military-backed interim government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed grabbed power after January 11, 2007 and launched ... Read more

UNB, Dhaka Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said her new government wants maximum implementation of the annual development programme (ADP), maintaining standard quality, for development of socioeconomic condition and physical infrastructure. She made the remarks at the maiden meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) yesterday after her assumption of office as ... Read more

BNP hints boycotting 1st session of JS terming Jan 25 black day Staff Correspondent BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain on Tuesday hinted that the party would not join the first parliament session on January 25 saying on that day multi-party democracy had been destroyed through introducing BAKSAL a one-party rule system during Awami League ... Read more