Majority of private universities seem to have turned a deaf ear to the Private University Act provision which requires them to move to their own campus in seven years after establishment as only 11 of the 52 private universities have done so. There are now 77 private universities running in the country and 52 of them ... Read more
Other Headlines
N Korea, IOM greet Hasina
North Korea and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have congratulated Sheikh Hasina on her assumption of the office of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for the third time. According to a foreign ministry release issued yesterday, Pak Pong Ju, premier of the Cabinet, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, greeted the new government headed by ... Read more
EU asks parties to consider early elections
Asks BNP to sever ties with Jamaat-Hefazat The European Union on Thursday called on the government and opposition to consider early elections to ‘give the Bangladeshi people a chance to express their democratic choice in a representative way’. In a resolution adopted on the ‘recent elections’ in Bangladesh, the EU also urged the Bangladesh Nationalist Party ... Read more
Cut Jamaat ties for talks, AL tells BNP
Awami League joint general secretary Jahangir Kabir Nanok yesterday alleged that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia was engaged in spreading lies to mislead the people after her blunder for boycotting January 5 parliamentary elections. Addressing a press conference at the party chief Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmondi political office, Nanok said Khaleda Zia is now engaged
Suchitra Sen no more
An enigma even in her final journey; president, PM, BNP chief condole Iconic Bengali actress Suchitra Sen, often described as India’s Greta Garbo after she quit acting at the height of her career to lead a hermit-like existence, died on Friday aged 82, reports AFP. The star had been ill in hospital in the eastern ... Read more
Ershad, Rawshan divide widens
The tussle between Jatiya Party (JP) chairman HM Ershad and his wife, also the senior member of the JP’s presidium and leader of opposition in Parliament, Rawshan Ershad, is worsening day by day. The schism relates to control over the party and its functioning, inside Parliament. The conflict between HM Ershad and Rawshan Ershad worsened further ... Read more
Biswa Ijtema to see unprecedented security
In the wake of widespread violence across the country, authorities have taken strong security measures for the upcoming Biswa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of Muslims after the holy Hajj, reports UNB. This year, the three-day first phase of the Biswa Ijtema will begin on January 24 on the bank of the Turag River at ... Read more
10,000-MW power generation still a far cry
Though the country’s power generation capacity reached 10,000 megawatts in November last year, actual generation of such a quantum of electricity was not possible because of the dearth of energy supplies and mismanagement in power distribution, a report by the Planning Commission (PC) said on Wednesday. It prepared the report on January 15 so that the
No of public univ students outpaces accommodation
The number of students in public universities is increasing every year and authorities are struggling to provide them with accommodation in halls of residence as the universities can provide only a third of their students with residence. According to University Grants Commission’s 2012 annual report published on January 9, only 32 per cent students were
Selima Rahman released
BNP vice-chairman Selima Rahman was released from Kashimpur jail on Friday morning as she secured bail on Thursday in a case filed under explosives act, reports UNB. Jail sources said she came out from the women unit of the jail around 11:15 am. A Dhaka court granted bail to Selima Rahman on Tk 20,000 bond. ... Read more
Family frustrated with Gopibagh murder probe
Family members of murdered controversial Pir Lutfur Rahman are feeling helpless, as law enforcers have not been able to make much headway in the investigation into the killing of six persons in the Gopibagh area of Old Dhaka on December 21. Despite repeated assurances by the police that they were doing their best, family members ... Read more
Cold hits infants
Ctg hospitals see increased inflows of patients as temperature drops With the fall in temperature, a large number of children affected by cold related complications have been admitted to the paediatric ward at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) and private clinics in the city over the past few days. Most of them contracted pneumonia, asthma, and ... Read more
Target expat workers
Kidnappers realise ransom from families thru’ agents in Bangladesh A number of kidnapping gangs run by Bangladeshi nationals are trapping their compatriots working abroad by offering lucrative jobs in some European countries. The gangs, active mainly in some Middle Eastern countries and Greece, lure migrant workers with promises of jobs in Turkey, Italy and some ... Read more
Lost dynasty found in Egypt
A previously unknown, yet potentially very important, ancient Egyptian kingdom has been discovered by archaeologists working in the Nile Valley. Excavations at Abydos, 70 miles north-west of Egypt’s famous Valley of the Kings, have revealed the existence of an entire royal cemetery. The cemetery
South Africa says over 1,000 rhinos poached in 2013
More than 1,000 rhinos were poached in South Africa last year, a 50 percent increase from 2012, fuelled by the black-market demand for their horns, the government said yesterday. “The total number of rhino poached in South Africa during 2013 increased to 1,004,” the environment ministry announced in a statement. Asian demand
Zero tolerance against graft
PM tells first cabinet meet of new govt Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on Thursday, warned of action against ministers if they are found guilty of corruption. “My self and even my family members are not involved in corruption. So, I will take stern action against those involved in the menace,” the PM told the first ... Read more
Govt softens stance on BNP
Nayapaltan central office reopens after 47 days The government seems to soften its stance on BNP as it on Thursday allowed BNP activists to enter their central office at Nayapaltan in the capital after 47 days. The development followed BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Wednesday press conference from where she urged the government to sit for ... Read more
BNP’s fronts lack in coordination
Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party appears to be lacking in coordination about its current movement against the government as most of its eight front and two associate organisations are out of touch with one another, giving a lacklustre performance. Top leaders of the front organisations and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal said that they were ... Read more
Police seal off Inqilab, four journalists held
Police yesterday sealed off The Daily Inqilab and arrested four of its journalists in a raid hours after the vernacular daily ran a report on the participation of Indian forces in the joint forces’ operation in Satkhira. The law enforcers also took away a central processing unit (CPU) from daily’s office at the city’s RK ... Read more
Foreign envoys calls for immediate talks
Foreign diplomats stationed in Bangladesh have called for an immediate dialogue between the ruling Awami League and BNP to overcome the ‘ongoing political impasse in the country’. They made the call during a briefing organized by newly-inducted State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shariar Alam to foreign envoys at the UNCLOS