Other Headlines

Mobile courts can now try stalkers on the spot by sentencing them to one-year imprisonment or fining or both. A gazette notification was issued to this effect yesterday empowering the executive magistrates to try stalkers. This has been done by incorporating Section 509 of the Penal Code into the rules of the Mobile Court Act 2009. ... Read more

In a rare move, the Supreme Court debarred journalists from covering its proceedings on Wednesday when the chief justice’s court was hearing an appeal petition of former prime minister Khaleda Zia. The reporters, who always cover the Supreme Court, were surprised at the security personnel not allowing them entry into the court

Interest rate fixed at 27pc max The Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) yesterday published a guideline for microfinanciers — putting a cap on interest rates, banning deductions at the time of issuing loans, and making it mandatory to allow at least a 15-day gap between the dates of loan issuance and first repayment instalment. Around 1,200 ... Read more

Tilted Building Developer to rebuild it for flat owners Developer of the tilted building at Kathalbagan in the capital Asia Comtech Builders Ltd has made a deal with flat owners at the seven-storey Haider Asia Tower to reconstruct the building and hand it over to them by the end of next year. The two sides ... Read more

The formal countdown to the World Cup 2011 began at one minute after midnight past Wednesday, exactly 100 days before the opening match between Bangladesh and India. The local organising committee marked the occasion with a colourful programme, including fireworks and light and sound, at the South Plaza of

Two alleged robber were beaten to death early Wednesday by a mob at Purba Rajasan in Savar, a city suburb. The Savar police identified one of the deceased as Shahid Chowdhuri, 40, son of Tomij Uddin of Bejorghati village of Munshiganj district, and the other as simply Siddique, 37. This was the second such incident that ... Read more

The entire royal palace of the Chakma dynasty in Rangamati burnt into ashes Wednesday night in a fire that broke out at around 6:45pm. Locals and witnesses said the fire in a few minutes engulfed the whole palace popularly known as Raja-ghar located on a small island near the

The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education would ask the education ministry to introduce lottery system for admission to class-I in the capital’s 24 public high schools. The directorate yesterday made the decision at a meeting of a committee on admission to the 24 government schools. Almost all the headmasters of the schools favoured the ... Read more

A nine-year-old domestic help died after she fell from the roof of a 7-storey building at Arjotpara in city’s Tejgaon yesterday. Jharna, who hailed from Mymensingh, was working in the house of Lutfor Rahman, owner of a poultry farm in Gazipur

Stalkers critically wounded a schoolteacher in Cox’s Bazar on Monday and two madrassah managing committee members in Noakhali on Tuesday as they protested at the harassment of girls. The police had arrested two persons — a relative of the people who attacked the schoolteacher in Cox’s Bazar and one of the people who attacked the ... Read more

Festival allowance in RMG units Owners refuse to pay in new wage structure Apparel factory owners have decided to pay Eid festival allowance to workers in line with the old wage structure amid workers’ demand for festival allowance according to the new wage structure. The workers are supposed to get paid for November in line ... Read more

A joint team of Dhaka Wasa and district administration yesterday resumed their eviction drive to recover Kalyanpur Ka Khal (canal) from encroachers. Local lawmaker Aslamul Haq, who opposed a scheduled eviction drive of the authority in the area on October 31, assisted the team in conducting the drive and spent over one hour with

The government on Tuesday amended the Mobile Court Act 2009 empowering the mobile courts to try offenders of stalking girls or women summarily. The home affairs ministry issued an official gazette notification incorporating Section 509 of the Penal Code into the list of laws under the purview of the act in the wake of rising ... Read more

Eid a week away As the anthrax scare faded away over the last few weeks and the Eid-ul-Azha just days away, cattle traders are pinning their hopes to make up for losses during the peak trading season. Though the number of sacrificial animals, as well as the customers, remains very thin at Gabtali cattle market ... Read more

Tilted Building Rajuk lacks dismantling equipment Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha has yet to start demolishing the leaning seven-storey building in Kathalbagan though two days have gone since the building tilted onto a high-rise next to it. Rajuk officials said they would need at least two more days to begin the work. As they do not have ... Read more

Six junior school certificate examinees were killed in a road traffic accident on their way to an examination centre in Shibganj upazila of Bogra district on Monday. The accident took place on Bogra-Rangpur highway near Kashipur around 12:45pm when a Rangpur-bound bus coming from Bogra rammed a human hauler carrying JSC

After a break of more than seven months, power distribution agencies are going to give new electricity connections to consumers on some specific conditions, including installation of solar panels. A power division notice on Monday said 50 per cent of the applicants would be

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha on Monday sued the developer and land owner of an eight-storey building at Kathalbagan in the city that tilted toward a bordering building after two of its floors subsided on Sunday night. The city development authorities on Monday filed the case accusing real estate company A Asian Comtech BD Ltd managing director ... Read more

The government has decided to reward 10 top taxpayers with the status of Commercially Important Person every year to encourage people to pay direct tax. The decision came at a weekly cabinet meeting at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. The cabinet also approved a policy subject to

Telephone Shilpa Sangstha (TSS) will start manufacturing and assembling laptop and notebook computers in the country within six months in collaboration with a Bangladeshi IT company and a Malaysian equipment manufacturer. Under the joint venture initiative, the highest price of a laptop or notebook will be