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Once a common phenomenon in rural Bangladesh, earthen houses have made a comeback in Dinajpur with innovation in design. The new model is more durable, and weather-friendly, local craftsmen have said. Johura Begum at Jogenbabur Hat under Dinajpur municipality,

The Dhaka University (DU) senate in a special session on Saturday elected a three-member panel for appointing the Vice Chancellor to the country’s premier educational institution. The three panel members are: DU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Admin) Prof Dr Shahid Akther Hossain and Pro-Vice

Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad on Saturday said his party won’t take part in the next general election under the present Election Commission (EC). “I wanted to make the Election Commission stronger; the present EC does not have people’s confidence in it. How can we take part in polls under it since

United States’ ambassador to Bangladesh, Dan W Mozena, said he thinks that there is a way forward with respect to holding the next general elections in a free, fair and credible manner. He also said he agreed with the views expressed by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and China’s ambassador to Dhaka, Li Jun, who had, ... Read more

Survivors of the Rana Plaza collapse went on demonstrations in front the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association building in the capital on Saturday marking four months of of the disaster. Apparel workers’ platform Bangladesh Garments Sramik Sanghati organised the protests where they demanded an immediate payment of their

Law enforcers recovered limbs of human bodies wrapped in several sacks at Dhaka City Corporation Garbage Dumping Zone in the capital’s Matuail Mridhabari area on Friday morning. “Initially, we came to know that the sliced body parts were of two men and two women,” Minhazul Islam, assistant commissioner Dhaka Metropolitan (DMP) of Police told

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called for a government-opposition dialogue for resolving the current political impasse in Bangladesh and holding a participatory general election in the country. The top executive of the world body made the call when he telephoned Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the morning and later the opposition leader,

Though the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) has directed that the city’s roads should not be dug up during the rainy season, most of the service providers are indiscriminately excavating the roads across the capital, mostly without permission, DCC officials said. This is in flagrant violation of the DCC prohibition, they complained. The results of such ... Read more

Stressing the importance of the continuity of the country’s democratic process, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday reiterated that the next general election would be held as per the constitution to put an end to undemocratic power changeover. “The next election will have to be held as per the constitution and we’ve to begin the ... Read more

Government subsidies for LPG cylinder were gobbled up by dealers and middlemen while subsidised furnace oil ended up at wrong hands over the last two financial years. As a result, the subsidies did not benefit the consumers, an audit has found, exposing serious monitoring flaws at the BPC. In 2011-12,

The production environment in most jute mills of the country has been found to be in a poor state in terms of maintenance of temperature, humidity and lighting. This is adversely affecting overall production. This was revealed in a recent study, jointly conducted by the Centre for Policy Dialogue and the Department of Mechanical Engineering ... Read more

The Raid Action Battalion on Friday said that it unearthed a militant organisation BEM and arrested three of its suicide squad suspect along with firearms and ammunitions in Bogra district town. Although the elaborate name of BEM was yet to be known, the organisation was following the operation style of the banned Islamist outfit

At least five people including four police personnel were injured in a gunfight between police and a gang of muggers early Friday at Zia Nagar village of Keraniganj, an outskirt of the city. The injured were identified as sub-inspectors Abul Kalam Azad and Aminul Islam, constables Abdul Matin and M Safur of Keraniganj Model Police ... Read more

Mounting pressure on the government to hold the general election under the non-party caretaker government (CG) system, BNP spokesperson Mirza fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Friday that the party will announce its next course of action after Eid-ul-Azha. “A grand rally will be held in Dhaka after Eid-ul-Azha. Opposition leader Khaleda Zia will announce an

The European Union (EU) has unveiled a special aid package to strengthen democracy and human rights, food security and nutrition, and education and skill development in Bangladesh, officials said. However, the EU is yet to inform Dhaka about the amount of funds for the country programming (CP) 2014-2020 for Bangladesh. The bloc has prepared a ... Read more

Awami League presidium member Mohammad Nasim on Friday urged Prof (Dr) Muhammad Yunus not to make unsolicited political statements on the issue of the caretaker government system. “Don’t stir up any controversy by making unwanted statements on the caretaker government issue. We respect you as a Nobel laureate. But you are demeaning yourself by

Edn minister likely to meet demonstrators today The Jahangirnagar University vice-chancellor, Anwar Hossain, on Friday said that he would resign if the chancellor, President Abdul Hamid, so wanted and his resignation could restore academic atmosphere to the campus. ‘I am the elected vice-chancellor and President Abdul Hamid has appointed me. If he wants, I will ... Read more

4 held in Cox’s Bazar Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members yesterday arrested four drug peddlers along with 10,680 yaba tablets near Morichya Check Post in Ramu upazila here. The arrestees Abdur Rahman, Shafiqur Rahman, Abu Ahmed and Ayub Ali are from Cox’s Bazar Sadar and Ukhia upazilas. Sources said BGB members

A human rights body in West Bengal state yesterday demanded the immediate arrest of a Border Security Force (BSF) constable on the charge of raping a Bangladeshi woman at a village in the state’s North 24 Parganas district. In a letter to New Delhi-based National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Kirity Roy, Secretary of Banglar Manabadhikar ... Read more

Special ID cards to stop job changes Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia will be provided with special identity cards from early next year to prevent them from switching jobs before expiry of job contract, reported Malaysian English daily The Star on Thursday. Malaysian Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the cards would have ... Read more