The nationwide 83-hour road-rail-waterway blockade, enforced by the BNP-led 18-party alliance, ended on Tuesday afternoon amid stray incidents of violence, leaving a person dead in Satkhira, reports UNB. The fifth spell of the protest programme that started at 6am on Saturday ended at 5pm today. The opposition combine enforced the blockade programme
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EC plans to invite observers from SAARC countries
After failing to attract attention of election observers from EU, Commonwealth, the United States, and other western countries, the Election Commission (EC) now plans to invite ‘foreign observers’ from SAARC countries. To arrange the trips of election observers from SAARC countries, the EC has already sent a letter to the finance ministry to allocate Tk 1 ... Read more
No sign of change in venue for T20 WC: ICC
With Pakistan’s participation in the next year’s World Twenty20 Cup still in doldrums, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has given no indication of shifting the mega tournament from Bangladesh, according to reports. According to The Express Tribune, a well-placed official said that the ICC is not considering switching the venue and continues with its preparations
7 cows, shops burnt in petrol bomb attack
Seven cows were roasted alive and 10 furniture shops were gutted as a burning cattle-laden truck rammed into a furniture market at Faujdarhat of Sitakunda in Chittagong following a petrol bomb attack on early Tuesday. Fire broke out on the truck as the petrol bomb was hurled on the running truck at about 4:15am and the ... Read more
Two shot dead by police in Sirajganj
Two men were shot dead allegedly by the police on Dhaka-Sirajganj-Rajshahi highway in Sirajganj early Tuesday. The victims were Al Mamun, 25, son of Sujabot Ali, and Monsur Ahmed, 23, son of Aher Ali, of village Baniagati, and they were cousins. The police said the victims were shot dead by the
Mystery shrouds VoIP ‘trade’ by 37 foreigners
Mystery shrouds the involvement of 37 arrested foreigners, including seven females, in unauthorised VoIP business and the illegal stay of 13 of them in the country. The 37 foreigners along with 6 Bangladeshis were arrested in possession of huge VoIP equipment during a Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) drive at
6 IGW service providers face suspension
The operation of six international gateway (IGW) service providers will be suspended if they fail to pay their outstanding duties amounting to about Tk 300 crore to the BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission) by today. The companies include Mos 5, SM Communication, Firstcom and Sigma Telecom. BTRC?director Colonel Zakir Hossain told
Blockades hit rural, urban economy alike
Business and economic activities in both rural and urban areas have been badly affected by protracted blockades and political violence that paralysed transports across the country and reduced export-import trades at the main seaport. Chamber leaders of Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet said business and trades in various sectors – agriculture, manufacturing,
Stary violence marks 4th day blockade
Shipping minister Shajahan Khan on Monday said inter-district buses on all routes will be given police protection from Tuesday. The minister’s statement followed reports of vandalism and arson against state-run BRTC buses in Noakhali, Brahmanbaria and Bogra on the third day of the 83-hour transport blockade enforced by the BNP-led opposition
Govt to deploy 50,000 troops
People asked to deposit firearms At least 50,000 members of the armed forces will be deployed in the country from December 26, ahead of January 5 parliamentary polls, to maintain law and order. The soldiers to be drawn from Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Air Force will remain on duty until January 9, a ... Read more
Envoys concerned over safety of foreigners
Foreign minister briefs ASEAN, SAARC envoys Against the backdrop of escalating violence, envoys of different countries have expressed concern over the safety of their people, students and members of the diplomatic staff living in the country. This occurred when foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali briefed the envoys from SAARC and ASEAN countries on the current situation ... Read more
Huji link in 6-murder suspected
Law enforcers are yet to make any headway in the Gopibagh six murder case, but family members and RAB suspect Harkat-ul Jihad (Huji) militants involvement in the killing. Unidentified assailants murdered Lutfur Rahman, a controversial Pir, along with his son and four disciples in a house at Gopibagh in the capital on Saturday. However, three ... Read more
Hifazat postponed Motijheel rally
Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh (HIB) has postponed its grand rally at Shapla Square in the city, scheduled for Tuesday, as it failed to get permission from the authorities. “Even though we made all preparations for a peaceful rally, we could not hold it as the government did not permit it,” said HIB nayeb-e-ameer and
Polls will be all right without foreign observers: CEC
The chief election commissioner, Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, said on Monday that media and local observers would oversee the January 5 elections in absence of foreign observers. ‘We had invited them to observe the polls. But every organisation has its own guidelines and policy. They will decide whether they will send the observers
JP minister visits office, seeks salary & benefits
Even though water resources minister Anisul Islam Mahmud of the Jatiya Party (JP) has already submitted his resignation letter to his party chairman, he suddenly visited his office at the Secretariat at 12.30pm on Monday. This has exacerbated the confusion over the status of the JP ministers in the Cabinet. When officials of the ministry learnt ... Read more
Taranco submits report on Dhaka visit to UN chief
United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernández-Taranco has submitted a report on his recent Bangladesh visit to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Taranco visited Bangladesh from December 6 to December 11 in an effort to resolve the political impasse in the country over the poll-time governance issue. A source familiar with
8kg bomb-making materials seized
Personnel of the Detective Branch of the police early on Monday arrested seven people, including a local leader of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the students’ wing of the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), from a residential house at East Goran in Khilgaon area in the city along with eight kilograms of bomb-making materials. Those arrested ... Read more
Blockade takes heavy toll on goods transportation
As the nationwide siege by the opposition continues, it has taken a heavy toll on the country’s exports, imports and marketing of perishable commodities, leaving everyone — from producers to buyers — gasping. On Sunday night, only 100 to 150 container lorries rolled in and out the Chittagong Port, the country’s gateway to the world by ... Read more
Party centres set to go broke
Strikes, blockades do it Commercial party centres have suffered huge financial losses in the last few months due to ongoing political turmoil, businessmen said Monday. A number of owners said nearly 200 party centres in Dhaka city are now facing the biggest blow in their business operations this season as even
8 year old ‘raped, murdered’ in city
An 8-year old girl was allegedly raped and murdered in Shipaibagh area in the capital. Khilgaon police recovered the body of Antora from her aunt’s residence in Shipaibagh at around 9:00am Monday. Antora was a student of class two. She was the daughter of Ali Hossain, from Araihazar upazila in Narayanganj. The girl along with her ... Read more