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Says owner; Crews’ families tell of ransom demands The families of two crew of hijacked ship MV Jahan Moni yesterday claimed that the pirates demanded ransoms for their release. But the figures vary wildly. Mohammad Shahjahan, owner of the hijacked ship, contradicted them saying the pirates had not yet demanded any ransom

But BGMEA sees little scope for revision Labour minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said on Sunday that the new pay structure for apparel workers might be reviewed for identifying anomalies that infused a section of workers with grievances, although garment factory owners see little scope for such revision. In the wake of widespread violence at garment ... Read more

Vandalism and bloodshed in the Bangladesh apparel industry will cause the message to circulate across the globe that investment here is not safe, remarked Kihak Sung, chairman of the South Korea-based garment manufacturing group YoungOne Corporation, on Sunday. Sung, who is also the president of BEPZA Investors’ Association, claimed at a press conference in

A village-based tiger response team has again showed great courage to save a tiger of the Sundarbans. On December 10, a tiger suddenly came out of the forest and entered the village Uttar Rajapur, under Sharankhola range of the Sundarbans. It then killed a cow and returned to the forest, says a Wildlife Trust of ... Read more

Garments factory workers on Saturday vandalized several garment factories and demonstrated at Ashulia in Savar, Rupganj in Narayanganj and in Gazipur, demanding wages in accordance with the new wage structure. At least 30 RMG workers and executives of garment factories were injured in the clashes between them in Gazipur and Rupganj, said police and

The garment industry seems to be heading for another massive outburst of workers as many factory owners are either delaying the implementation of the new pay structure or depriving workers by grading them unfairly to lessen their pay. Workers and their leaders said that there have been protests in at least one-fifth

People to see case updates, verdicts online As part of a move to reform the judiciary, the Supreme Court has started updating its website with details of the cases heard and disposed at the Appellate and the High Court divisions every day. The SC website http://www.supremecourt.gov.bd/ also contains the daily cause list of both its ... Read more

Four members of a family, including an 11-month-old girl, sustained various degrees of burn injuries in an acid attack by an in- law at Uttar Baherpur village in the city’s Keraniganj area in the early hours of Saturday. The victims, Asma Begum, 25, her baby Afsana, and sisters Nazma Begum, 24, and

Reveals rights body of ethnic people on incidents of 23 months The country’s indigenous community has lost nine women and over 700 houses over land disputes in the last 23 months, said a study of Kapaeeng Foundation, a human rights organisation of ethnic people. Around 500 houses were destroyed and five women were killed in ... Read more

Tells Prof Yunus upon arrival Dr Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, yesterday said a person is innocent until found guilty. “Allegations might be raised against someone, but no one should be deemed guilty until it is proven,” said Nobel laureate Yunus at the capital’s Shahjalal International Airport upon his arrival from France in the morning

Inspector General of Police Hassan Mahmood Khandaker yesterday claimed the recent survey report of Transparency International Bangladesh did not reflect the public opinion. The IGP came up with the observation while addressing as chief guest the annual general meeting of Retired Police Officers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (RPOWAB) at

The Border Security Force of India beat a Bangladeshi to death on Gatipara border of Benapole in Jessore early Saturday. The deceased, Amir Hossain, 35, of Gatipara, was a cattle trader, the police said. The Indian border guards have killed 15 Bangladeshi civilians since September 27, the day on

Bangladeshi cargo liner MV Jahan Moni hijacked on December 5 from the sea off the Indian port Cochin anchored at the Somali coast early Saturday, shipping officials said. According to satellite images gathered MV Jahan Moni anchored at Somali coast at 2 AM on Saturday, said Feroz Alam, an official of S.R. Shipping, which owns ... Read more

A female schoolteacher was killed at her house in the capital’s Pallabi area on Friday night. The deceased, Aklima Akhter, 26, was a mathematics teacher at Mirpur Bangla High School and College. She would share a sublet room with her younger sister Sumi at a six-storey building in Mirpur-6. She got married to Mohammad Liton ... Read more

The prison authorities have decided to set up a rehabilitation centre in the city to train prisoners in different vocational skills and motivate them to return to normal life after they serve out their prison sentence. ‘We have decided to set up the centre with two goals in mind. One is to reduce the pressure of ... Read more

Says ship’s operating firm The hijacked Bangladeshi ship MV Jahan Moni was expected to reach Somali coast early today. Officials of Brave Royal Shipping Management Limited, the operating firm of the ship, said they spotted the ship around 60 nautical miles off the coast around 7:00pm yesterday. They were monitoring the ship’s position through

Over two dozen coins, found about 11 months ago at Kashbawri village of Joypurhat district, have been identified as of Akbar era. Dilip Kantu Mahata, of the village under Panchbibi upazila, found 28 coins at the construction site of Nilkanto Mondir on January 25 last year, said Panchbibi police

Some apparel factory owners are trying to place workers in a lower pay grade to deprive them of the new minimum wage, trade union leaders said. The Garment Workers’ Trade Union Centre general secretary, KM Ruhul Amin, alleged that Kaniz Fashion at Tejgaon, Padma Poly Cotton at Uttara and Madina Pel Fashion Craft Limited tried ... Read more

A total of 1,235 people, mostly youths, were arrested in 172 cases of alleged harassment of or physical assault on women in the first 10 months of the current year, police statistics show. In addition, 466 ‘general diaries’ alleging harassment of women were recorded with different police stations across the country in the same period, ... Read more

Workers vandalised an apparel factory at Shyampur in the capital on Friday demanding wages in the new wage structure. Witnesses and the police said some workers of the Imam Dying and Printing Industry Limited saw the general manager to discuss their wages in the new