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The Election Commission is planning to announce the schedule for the 10th parliamentary election next week, election commissioner Mohammad Shahnewaz told reporters on Wednesday. The EC would fix the date for announcement of the election schedule within a couple of days. The commission had also apprised the President

The Armed Forces Day that marks the establishment of Bangladesh military during the country’s War of Liberation will be observed today with due solemnity and enthusiasm. On this day in 1971, Bangladesh Armed Forces comprising Army, Navy and Air Force came into being and launched an all-out attack on the

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested a total of 1,41,164 criminals for the last nine years, sources at the police headquarters said quoting a brief of the elite force prepared for the high-level delegation of the commonwealth meeting held at Sri Lanka. Of the arrested criminals, 1087 belonged

Two minor boys were injured, one more seriously, Wednesday afternoon as a cracker they had picked up taking it for a ball exploded in the city’s Tejgaon area. Tofazzal Hossain, 11, a student of class III lost three fingers and the wounds of his friend Lokman Hossain, 10, was less serious. The misfortune

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will leave for Saudi Arabia Thursday night to perform Umrah. She will be accompanied by a delegation of about 50 members comprising the prime minister’s family, Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni, officials of the foreign ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office, security and media team, said the sources concerned. After performing Umrah

At least seven Bangladeshi nationals were injured in bomb blasts in Beirut on Tuesday, an official of the foreign ministry said on Wednesday. It has been gathered that seven Bangladeshi nationals sustained injuries in the blasts and of one of them was in critical condition, said the official.

Despite widespread criticism, President Abdul Hamid has signed a much-talked-about bill into law that introduced a controversial provision curtailing the Anti-Corruption Commission’s authority to file graft charges against the government officials on its own. From now on, the anti-graft body will

In a span of three days, customs officials again seized at least 8 kilograms of gold worth about Tk 3.75 crore from a passenger of an incoming flight at Shah Amanat International Airport Wednesday morning. A man was arrested for his alleged involvement in gold smuggling, the officials said. He was identified as Jamal Uddin who ... Read more

The cyclonic storm, ‘Helen’, over the west-central Bay and adjoining area moved slightly westwards. It was centred at 3:00pm on Wednesday about 1200 kilometres southwest of Chittagong port, 1150 kms southwest of Cox’s Bazar port and 1040 kms southwest of Mongla port. It is likely to intensify further and move

The BNP-led opposition alliance on Tuesday urged the president to play ‘a historical role’ by taking an initiative for holding a dialogue to resolve the ongoing impasse. The president assured the alliance leaders, who met him at Bangabhaban in the evening, of taking steps within his constitutional authority.

Chief election commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad has sought the support of President Abdul Hamid for conducting free, fair and peaceful elections, with all political parties participating in them. He also sought the President’s support for deploying the Army as early as possible after the election schedule is announced, which is supposed to be declared

At least 80 people were injured as ready-made garment (RMG) workers clashed with police at Ashulia in Savar and in Gazipur on Tuesday, protesting Monday’s deaths of two workers and demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk 8,144. About 50 RMG units in these areas were also closed for Tuesday because of the agitation and ... Read more

Again accusing the opposition BNP-Jamaat-Hefajat for conducting sniper attacks on common people as well as burning people to death in vehicles during the countrywide shutdowns, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday called upon the countrymen to unite against such anarchy and violence by the opposition. “They (BNP-Jamaat-Hefajat) want to take political

Terming the passage of the Anti-Corruption Commission (Amendment) Bill 2013 as “unconstitutional”, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on Tuesday urged the President not to sign it. “The government wants to amend the Act so that it can satisfy persons who will assist the ruling party to stay in power,” TIB chairman advocate Sultana Kamal said. She

Solution to Crisis Mozena still optimistic US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan W Mozena is confident that major political parties in Bangladesh will find a way out of the ongoing crisis to hold free and credible elections. “Major parties must engage in political dialogue and I am very confident that the leaders will do it at ... Read more

Communica-tions minister Obaidul Quader said on Tuesday that the main Opposition BNP would be given 10-12 ministries if it joined the election-time government. “There may be a big surprise. We hope the BNP will participate in the parliamentary election as most of its grassroots level leaders want to take part

None of the 25 recommendations of the Law Commission has been implemented by the government in the last five years, which has generated severe resentment among commission officials. These recommendations were made for enacting several laws, including a witnesses’ protection law and judges’ appointment rules, which the

Deal signed with design consultant Dhaka would be free of its terrible traffic jams in six years, with the opening of the first metro rail service, said government officials after signing a deal with consultants for design and construction yesterday. The construction of 20-kilometre metro rail from north of Uttara Model Town to Bangladesh Bank was ... Read more

The Primary and Ebtedayee Terminal Examinations 2013 will begin across the country today (Wednesday), reports UNB. Some 29,50,193 students — 26,35,406 from schools and 3,14,787 from madrasahs — will take part in the examinations to be held simultaneously in 6,574 centres. Of the school examinees, 12,14,909 are boys and 14,20,

Children Caught Up In Political Violence UNICEF deeply concerned UNICEF is increasingly worried about children who have been caught up in recent violent protests and the continued use of children in demonstrations held by political parties in Bangladesh, a UNICEF statement said on Tuesday. Alarmingly, a number of children died or have been seriously injured during ... Read more