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Communications Minister Obaidul Quader on Sunday directed the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) to start operating its long-distance buses immediately amid the opposition called countrywide rail-road-waterway blockade. “The BRTC is a state-owned entity. It should serve the people’s interests. It is not acceptable that only private vehicles

Khaleda to address press on Dec 24 Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Sunday said holding of the 10th parliamentary election is still possible after January 24 as per Constitution with participation of all political parties through a consensus. BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia would address a press conference on December 24 on the current crisis and latest political ... Read more

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) is likely to sue National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Ghulam Hussain on corruption charges, which are being investigated by the anti-graft watchdog. ACC Commissioner Nasiruddin Ahmed has already sent a letter to Principal Secretary of Prime Minister’s Office Sheikh Md Wahid-uz-Zaman on December 17 and

The Rapid Action Battalion rescued a bank official from Mirpur area in the capital on Sunday, a day after his kidnapping. RAB also arrested seven people in connection with the kidnapping of Abul Khayer Alok, a BRAC Bank officer. The arrestees are Saddam Hossain, 20, Sajedul Haque, 23, Masudur Rahman, 24, Dipu Khan, 18, Abdullah Al Mamun, ... Read more

The solution to the current political deadlock with regards to the election-period governance lies with the people of Bangladesh rather than outsiders, including the United States. US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan Mozena made the remarks while replying to a question on what plan Washington had regarding the political stalemate

Chinese Vice-foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin is likely to visit Dhaka shortly to discuss political situation in the country and bilateral issues. Zhenmin is expected to arrive in the capital either on December 26 or 27, said sources concerned. The exact date of the visit will be finalized today,

The Anti-Corruption Commission has detected another case of corruption by Hallmark Group in which it embezzled more than Tk 343 crore, a commission investigator told New Age on Sunday. The official said that an inquiry team had found that six other sister concerns of the Hallmark Group had embezzled the amount from Janta Bank Limited through ... Read more

Unidentified miscreants looted Tk 66 lakh after killing the night guard of British American Tobacco regional office in Jaipurhat on Sunday. The victim was identified as Md Abul Kalam Azad, 55, a resident of Madarganj under Jaipurhat Municipality. He was the security guard of British

The gas cylinder of a bus exploded in the capital’s Mirpur area leaving at least seven people, including the driver, injured on Sunday night. Witnesses said the cylinder blasted when the driver and a mechanic were fixing mechanical problems in the bus that went out of order near the

Assailants killed a pir, his son and four followers inside his rented house at Gopibagh in the capital Dhaka on Saturday evening, the police said. The police found the six, with their throats slit, hands and legs tied and mouths taped shut in two rooms on the first floor of a four-storey building

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Saturday said that army deployment was not required in the elections that do not need polling with people boycotting. The party said that ill attempts were being made to pit army against people by deploying them for the elections, scheduled for January 5, when less

Reiterating that the new parliament could be dissolved in case of a political compromise, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said it is the opposition that has created the scope for 154 MPs to get elected unopposed through its election boycott. “It’s not our fault…why didn’t they (BNP) go to

Contradictory statements from senior leaders of Jatiya Party (JP) have created confusion among grass roots-level leaders and activists about the party’s stance on participating in the January 5 parliamentary polls. A day after JP presidium member GM Quader reaffirmed his party’s decision not to join the election, his party colleague and state minister for sports and

Stray incidents of violence marked the first day of the 83-hour-long nationwide road-rail-waterway blockade programme, called by the BNP-led 18-Party Alliance, on Saturday. The opposition alliance is enforcing the blockade, demanding that the 10th general election be held under a non-party caretaker government. The

Defending their decision not to monitor elections, Head of the European Union (EU) delegation to Bangladesh William Hanna on Saturday hoped that the political parties would make the best use of their times to reach some sort of understanding for a sustainable, inclusive and credible election. “We’ll follow what happens next, and I’ll be asked ... Read more

As many as 1,086 condemned prisoners, including four Jamaat leaders—Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid, Delwar Hosaain Sayedee and Abul Kalam Azad, alias Bachchu Razakar—involved in atrocities against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, are awaiting the gallows, according to sources in the department of prisons. The

At least 30 long-distance buses, plying with police protection, were vandalized by blockade supporters in different districts on Saturday. These buses had left the inter-district bus terminals in the capital ahead of the fifth-phase of countrywide blockade enforced by BNP-led 18-party

Meeting Dhaka Central Jail Inmates Greasing palms provides the short cut An unauthorized system is in place in Dhaka Central Jail that allows visitors to meet inmates without delay by greasing palms. The payments are collected against ‘special slips’. Apparently not authorized by the jail authorities, guards charge Tk 300 as the ‘fee’ from each visitor ... Read more

Unnayan Onneshan, an independent multidisci-plinary think-tank, in its monthly economic update reveals that the situation of banking sector in Bangladesh has been deteriorating in terms of growth and disbursement of credit and risk management, lowering the rate of growth of the economy. It also observes that the decade-long policy of liberalisation in the sector has

Awami League lawmaker Mizanur Rahman Khan Dipu of Dhaka-6 constituency died at Apollo Hospitals in the city on Saturday.  He was 49. Doctors declared Mizanur Rahman dead after he was brought to the hospital around 6:59 am, said Aminur Rahman, duty manager of the hospital.