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Government primary and secondary schools have largely failed to compete with with non-government and private institutions, according to results of the Junior School Certificate and Primary Education Completion exams which were published on Sunday and Monday. Only one government school of the capital could earn a position in the top

The country’s political parties are facing serious obstacles in holding rallies, meetings and in carrying out their political activities, from the present poll-time government, which was formed to oversee a credible parliamentary elections, Jatiya Party (Ershad) leaders complained angrily, after police foiled its 28th founding anniversary programme in the city on Wednesday

US Ambassador Dan W Mozena on Wednesday met BNP vice-chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury at his residence in the city, reports UNB. They had nearly an hour-long meeting from 10am at Shamsher Mobin’s Banani DOHS residence but the content of the meeting could not be known. Contacted, Shamsher Mobin told UNB that

Only One to Ride a Motorbike Sudden ban kicks up an uproar The government out of the blue has slapped an indefinite ban on pillion passengers on motorbikes upsetting law-abiding motorcyclists. “I always take my wife to her office at Motijheel, around 10km from my home at Taltala,” said Nazmul Ahsan. With no direct buses ... Read more

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president, AJ Mohammad Ali, on Wednesday described as baseless media reports, suggesting that there was consensus on not holding political rallies on the Supreme Court premises by lawyers with political affiliation. He also said that lawyers would continue their movement until the

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested two persons with a large quantity of illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) equipment from a house in the Rayer Bazar area of the city on Tuesday night. They were identified as Mohammad Firoz Alam (25) and Sohel Rana (22). RAB director (legal and media wing) Habibur Rahman told The ... Read more

House rent sees 10.91pc rise, it says The living cost in the capital witnessed a 11 per cent rise in 2013 hitting hard the poorer section of the city’s over 1 crore population, according to an annual report released by the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), reports UNB. The cost of living has been calculated ... Read more

Freedom was less than two months away for Shah Alam, a prisoner of Dhaka Central Jail, but then death befell him yesterday. The 35-year-old was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) by prison guards in the morning with his face swollen, said hospital and family

People ushered in the year 2014 as the clock struck zero hours past Tuesday in a somewhat sombre mood amid an unusual situation as the opposition alliance began enforcing a nationwide road-rail-waterway blockade for an indefinite period from the very first day of the year. The opposition alliance enforced the blockade to press for cancellation of ... Read more

A fresh diplomatic move has started to resolve the country’s ongoing political impasse in the last couple of days. And apparently as part of the effort, US Ambassador Dan W Mozena and British High Commissioner Robert Gibson met with the Leader of the Opposition, Khaleda Zia, at her Ghulshan residence in the last two days. The diplomats ... Read more

Nationwide blockade of roads, railway and waterways called by Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led opposition alliance for an indefinite period begins this morning pressing for election under a non-party government cancelling the ‘farcical’ election slated for January 5. The sixth spell of blockade begins at 6:00am

13 indicted for Tazreen FASHIONS?fire A Dhaka court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants against six people for the fire at Tazreen Fashions in Savar last year, after accepting charges against 13 people, including the owner of the company, Delwar Hossain. As many as 111 workers, most of them women, were killed in the blaze in the ... Read more

Countrywide demo today; British envoy meets Khaleda; Shamsher Mobin detained The BNP-led 18-party alliance yesterday announced a non-stop blockade programme across the country from 6:00am Wednesday, demanding the cancellation of January 5 general elections. BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s adviser Advocate Khandaker Mahbub Hossain announced

Police seize 200 crude bombs in capital As many as 82 people were arrested across the country, with sporadic incidents of violence taking place in the city in connection with the opposition’s ‘March for Democracy’ programme on Monday. Also, Anarul Islam, chairman of Agardari union parishad in Satkhira, was killed in a clash during a drive ... Read more

Even as thousands continued to suffer from biting chill, the Met office on Monday warned that two more cold waves are on the offing. The first one is likely to hit the country in a couple of days. It will be moderate to severe with dense fog, the Met office said. As a result, the mercury ... Read more

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday said that the government has no problem with the agitation programmes of the opposition as it is their democratic right, reports UNB. “You can go for your agitation programme, we’ve no objection. It’s your democratic right. But you’ve to stop the killing of innocent people

Awami League supporters attacked pro-BNP lawyers for the second consecutive day on the Supreme Court premises on Monday. Activists of the Mohila Awami League, Sramik League and the Prazanma League threw brick bats at pro-BNP lawyers in front of the main gate, where a meeting was being held in protest against Sunday’s attack at around 12.00 ... Read more

The South Asia Regional Initiative (SARI) for Energy, the regional platform of cooperation, is set to start talks to establish a “virtual market” for South Asian countries for trading energy, particularly electricity, among its members. USAID has granted USD 9 million for five years to complete the brainstorming talks, titled ‘South Asia Regional Initiative for

Residents of Dhaka will have to forgo wild parties to ring in the New Year at midnight on Tuesday. But they can take cheer from the fact that they will be more secure inside their homes, or so feel the police in the capital city. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Monday issued a directive banning ... Read more

Rafiqu-ul-Huq pleads for male leadership Eminent jurist Barrister Rafique-ul-Huq on Monday opted for male leader, not the female one for Bangladesh, reports UNB. “Now, the country does not need female leader, it needs male leader,” he said while giving his reaction regarding the attack of pro-government activists on the lawyers in the High Court premise. ... Read more