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A half of the country’s school-aged children are not enrolled in any school, official government surveys have found. The Bangladesh Primary Education Annual Sector Performance Report and the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics, both published towards the end of 2012, found that 1.91 crore children aged between 6 and 17 are not receiving

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Thursday said there was ‘no scope’ for holding the next general elections without a ‘non-party’ caretaker government. A non-party government is a must for a participatory and credible election, he told reporters after a meeting with Krishak Sramik Janata

The crisis at Jahangirnagar University has deepened, as a large number of agitating teachers, under the banner of the General Teachers’ Forum, have kept the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Anwar Hossain, confined to his room from Wednesday morning till the time of filing of this report on Thursday evening. They are demanding his resignation. Defining the teachers’ ... Read more

Awami League leaders on Thursday said that Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus had sided with the BNP-Jamaat by supporting their demand for an election-time non-party caretaker government. Yunus at a joint press conference with Bangladesh Krishak-Shramik Janata League president Kader Siddiqui at Yunus Centre had said that free, fair

Politically-Motivated Cases Subed, 71 other cases to be withdrawn The government on Thursday decided to withdraw 72 more cases, mostly filed against leaders and activists of the Awami League and its front organisations. The national committee to review and recommend withdrawal of the ‘politically-motivated cases’ took the decision in its 31st meeting at the secretariat

The two major political parties have to take the initiative to hold talks to resolve the prevailing political impasse over the election-time government, said Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury on Thursday. “Either the government or the opposition should take the initiative for talks to resolve the political crisis over holding the next parliamentary polls. If ... Read more

Three arrested A schoolgirl of Manikganj has been forced to lead a life of a sex worker at a house in Savar on the outskirts of the capital for the last two months. The victim disclosed the horrific story of her confinement to the press at the office of the superintendent of police of Manikganj ... Read more

The inspector general of police has reported to the High Court that he knows of only one incident throughout the country in which the police were involved in extortion from truck drivers. The report was submitted to the court in compliance with an order of July which had in addition asked the IGP to stop ... Read more

Ghulam Azam Trial ICT contempt rule against HRW Sept 2 The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Thursday set September 2 for its decision on the prosecution’s contempt petition against New York-based Human Rights Watch. The war crimes prosecution brought the contempt charge against the international human rights watchdog alleging that it made ‘scandalous’ comments

The government is very much cautious about implementing the Rampal coal-fired power plant near the Sundarbans and is open to any suggestion from any quarter to prevent damage to the mangrove forest, said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s energy adviser Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury on Thursday. “We will implement the project in accordance with the law and ... Read more

A dispute has erupted between cinema owners and feature filmmakers over a recent change in the country’s import policy which allows Indian films to be imported in Bangladesh. Section 49 (C) of the latest import policy 2012–2015 states that films from South Asian Free Trade Area member countries can be imported as long as their

As many as 987 convicts are languishing in condemned cells across the country, because of a huge pile of death reference cases waiting for disposal in High Court. The number of condemned cell prisoners were 1,000 last year, which, till Monday, stood at 987, due to the death reference cases pending in High Court,

The story began almost three years ago, on November 12, 2010. Anwar Hossain, a staff of Bangladesh Marine Fisheries Academy, was restlessly waiting in front of the emergency department of the navy hospital in Chittagong. Doctors had told him that his pregnant wife Jannatul Ferdous, who was in her third trimester, was in a very

Bar On Info Disclosure Petition of Oishee’s lawyer rejected A Dhaka court yesterday rejected a petition by the lawyer of Oishee Rahman seeking directives on police to stop disclosing information about her to the media. Schoolgirl Oishee is the prime suspect in the killing of her parents Mahfuzur Rahman and Swapna Rahman. Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Nur ... Read more

Only 30pc work of four-lane Dhaka-Ctg highway project done in seven years In its election manifesto, the ruling Awami League had attached high priority to upgrading the Dhaka-Chittagong highway into four lanes. Four and a half years down the line, the party has claimed the project to be “successful” on the city billboards grabbed overnight. ... Read more

A large number of stillborn babies are disowned by their parents, discarded in hospitals and buried in unidentified graves. In the past six months, Dhaka Medical College Hospital has sent at least 144 stillborn babies to the voluntary organisation Anjuman Mufidul Islam as their parents have refused to bury their own children. Anjuman says that in the ... Read more

The Prime Minister, Shiekh Hasina, on Wednesday called upon the people to remain vigilant against the conspiracies of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami. “You should think twice before voting to power those who tried to destroy the Opposition by using grenades in broad daylight. You must ponder for a moment whether

US envoy concerned over contempt of HRW The United States and China world’s two super powers, have called for dialogue between the ruling party and opposition to resolve the political crises with respect to upcoming general elections in the country. Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jun has said that he tried to organise a face-to-face ... Read more

Grenade attack charge BNP on Wednesday claimed that there was a “political plot” to implicate the party’s senior vice-chairman, Tarique Rahman, in the grenade attack on an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004. “Implication of Tarique in the grenade attack incident is politically motivated. His name was absent in the initial FIR lodged in ... Read more

Oishee Rahman, daughter of slain special branch police inspector Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife Shapna Rahman, and their domestic help, Shumi, were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, on Wednesday, to determine their biological age. Oishee and Shumi were taken to DMCH in a special car of the Detective Branch Police at 2: 45 pm. ... Read more