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Jobs being shed, fresh recruitment stopped Apparel manufacturers are adopting alternative measures, including shedding manpower, to stay in business in the prevailing tumultuous situation in the country. As part of the measures the manufacturers were adjusting their costs in the wake of the new wage structure announcement by stopping any fresh

The government, for the first time, has taken a move to formulate a national insurance policy aiming at expanding insurance business in the country through necessary reform initiatives. The insurance regulator — Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) — has already prepared a draft in this connection saying it

Mushfiqur Rahim will be leading the Bangladesh cricket team until the 2015 ICC World Cup, to be held in Australia and New Zealand. The 25-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman’s role as captain, which was originally scheduled to end this year, was extended at a meeting of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) at its headquarters in Mirpur yesterday. The appointment will

The home ministry has asked the chiefs of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Coast Guard and the Police to strengthen patrolling along the border to check fertiliser smuggling from the country. The ministry issued the directive recently to the Director General (DG) of BGB, DG of Coast Guard and Inspector General of Police (IGP), sources

The final hearing on the maritime boundary dispute between Bangladesh and India will take place at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague in the second week of December. “The final hearing will begin on December 9 and will continue until December 13,” a senior official of the foreign ministry told The Independent

Tk 2,600cr Swindling Bail for Hall-Mark boss extended A Dhaka court yesterday again extended the bail to Hall-Mark Group Chairman Jasmine Islam till January 22, 2014 in connection with 11 graft cases filed for swindling over Tk 2,600 crore out of Sonali Bank. The court also rejected bail prayers for Hall-Mark Managing Director Tanvir Mahmud, its ... Read more

China hopes there will be a smooth election in Bangladesh in January, which the country’s opposition has pledged to boycott. “As a good and close neighbour of Bangladesh, China sincerely hopes that all concerned parties in the country will put the interests of the whole above everything else,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said yesterday.

The National Board of Revenue is likely to extend to December 31 the deadline for submission of income tax returns because of far lower than expected response from individual taxpayers amid political uncertainty, officials said. A proposal made by the NBR for the extension of the deadline was approved by the finance minister AMA Muhith on ... Read more

Upermarket Collapse Latvia PM resigns The Latvian prime minister, Valdis Dombrovskis, resigned on Wednesday, taking responsibility for the collapse of a supermarket roof that killed 54 people last week and plunging the Baltic state into turmoil weeks ahead of its entry into the euro zone. The departure of the Latvia’s longest-serving

Any cat owner will tell you that although they are sometimes kept as pets, felines are beholden to no one. A new study from the University of Japan has confirmed this, showing that although pet cats are more than capable of recognising their owner’s voice they choose to ignore them — for reasons that are perhaps ... Read more

Oppn calls hartal in Sirajganj, Bogra, Comilla, Rajshahi to protest deaths At least seven people, including a member of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), were killed and over 200 injured as the BNP-led 18-party alliance supporters clashed with law enforcers and ruling alliance activists across the country on Tuesday, the first day of the 48-hour ... Read more

Ex-advisers, jurists say after meeting president A team of civil society members on Tuesday evening urged the president to act within his constitutional authority to resolve the ongoing police impasse as the democracy ‘may be endangered’ if the next general election is held without the participation of the BNP. “The democracy in the country may ... Read more

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed has said the election date can be rescheduled if political parties reach a consensus over the issue. “The election date can be re-fixed if the political parties reach a consensus on the issue after resolving the present political crisis,” he told reporters in the capital Tuesday evening, a ... Read more

They will enjoy spl security until polls Five out of seven advisers to the prime minister, who were appointed with the status of ministers five years ago, on Tuesday stepped down. Public administration affairs adviser HT Imam, energy adviser Tawfiq-E-Elahi Chowdhury, economic affairs adviser Mashiur Rahman, health and family

Chinese Ambassador Li Jun on Tuesday said that China, as a near neighbour, is closely follows what is happening in this brotherly country. “China strongly believes that a stable, peaceful, prosperous and independent Bangladesh is a fundamental interest of the Bangladeshi people,” said Li Jun after a meeting with Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali at the ... Read more

The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) Tuesday announced that it would boycott the 10th parliamentary election slated for January 5. “Without consensus among political parties regarding the polls-time government, no election can be acceptable. For this reason, we will not participate in the election,” CPB President Mujahidul Islam Selim said at a press

The BNP on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to quit office and the Election Commission (EC) to postpone the poll to resolve the political crisis. The call by BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi came at a press meet at the party’s Naya Paltan office here on the first day of the opposition’s

The ruling Awami League Tuesday claimed that the people of the country rejected the 48-hour countrywide blockade programme enforced by the BNP-led 18-party alliance protesting the announcement of the schedule for the 10th parliamentary elections. “The countrymen have welcomed the polls schedule, and this has been proved by the normal movement

Jatiya Party (JP) chairman HM Ershad has complained that a congenial atmosphere for holding free, fair and credible elections in the country is absent. “No level playing field has been created yet. You can ask me — is there any level playing field in the country for holding a credible election?

Commerce minister GM Quader on Tuesday ruled out any political ploy behind signing of the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) and declaration of the election schedule on the same day. “TICFA is a simple bilateral agreement to facilitate trade between the USA and Bangladesh. We signed the pact to protect and foster our ... Read more