News

Staff Reporter Veteran politician and Awami League Presidium Member Mohammad Zillur Rahman was sworn in as the 19th President of Bangladesh at a simple ceremony at Bangabhaban, the presidential palace, yesterday

Traffic jam rises on unfit buses, illegal rickshaws, VVIP movements, lax law enforcement Helemul Alam Return of unfit buses and illegal rickshaws on the city streets is one of the reasons why traffic congestion has worsened over the last two weeks, say traffic cops and public transport employees. They blame the tailbacks also on

Staff Reporter Re-election of the suspended six upazilas will be held on April 6, Election Commission (EC) senior assistant secretary Md Abdul Baten said yesterday. The upazilas are Brahmanbaria Sadar, Ramganj of Laksmipur, Barura of Comilla, Belkuchi of Sirajganj, Dighinala of Khagrachhary and Ukhia of Cox’s Bazar. Polls to two upazilas of them were postponed ... Read more

Tackling Recession Fallout Dhaka says no to IMF support offer Staff Correspondent IMF offers Bangladesh support in its efforts to offset any negative impact the country may face due to the global financial crisis, but Bangladesh says it does not need such assistance right now. IMF Director of the Asia and Pacific region Anoop Singh ... Read more

Staff Correspondent Thirteen distinguished persons of the country will be awarded the Ekushey Padak-2009 in recognition of their outstanding contributions to their respective fields. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs yesterday made a list of the awardees. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hand over the award to the persons at Osmani Memorial Auditorium at 11:00 am ... Read more

BSS, Dhaka The Awami League Parliamentary Party (ALPP) yesterday elected party presidium member Begum Sajeda Chowdhury, MP, as the deputy leader of the House. Sajeda Chowdhury replaced elderly leader Zillur Rahman who was elected as the country’s 19th president. A meeting of ALPP in the treasury bench meeting room in the Jatiya Sangsad with Prime ... Read more

Staff Reporter The government, under a broad-based reform programme, is carrying out a number of core tasks to make the public procurement system in Bangladesh well-functioning, transparent and accountable, according to official sources. Procurement or purchase of goods, works and services by any procuring entity (PE) using public funds is called public procurement. The main ... Read more

Pulack Ghatack Finance minister AMA Muhith yesterday said that the global economic recession has started biting Bangladesh, a view, which has been opposed by former Finance and Planning Adviser of the erstwhile caretaker government Dr Mirza AB Azizul Islam. “There is a negative effect of the global economic meltdown on the sectors of jute, jute-made ... Read more

Staff Reporter Senior leader of the ruling Awami League Mohammad Zillur Rahman has been declared next President of the country. The Election Commission (EC) yesterday unofficially declared him as President-elect of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Zillur Rahman will be sworn in at the Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban, the presidential palace, at 7:00pm today. Before ... Read more

Legal action against extra-judicial killings Staff Correspondent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that her government would publish ‘whitepaper’ on corruption committed during the erstwhile Army-backed Caretaker Government and BNP-led four party alliance government regimes. During the ‘Question and Answer Session’ in the Parliament on Wednesday, the leader of the House said, “All extra-judicial

Dutch firm takes $25m for 8yr redundant service, seeks another $28m for future Sharier Khan The Rural Power Company Ltd (RPCL) is faced with the dilemma of respecting a very costly and redundant 15-year power plant service contract with a Dutch company that was signed on the basis of a secret and unsolicited negotiation in ... Read more

Shamim Jahangir Load shedding of electricity has been disrupting normal activities of the people and affecting production in mills and factories across the country for the last several days. In some areas of the country the power outage

Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee The 79-year-old politician Zillur Rahman, who is scheduled to take oath of office as the 19th president of the republic this evening, was born on March 9, 1929 at Bhairab in Kishoreganj. His father, the late Mohammad Meher Ali Miah, was a lawyer. Meher was then also the chairman of then Mymensingh ... Read more

Minister ‘mistakenly’ included Staff Correspondent The House yesterday constituted five standing committees, beginning the process of formation of the crucial committees in the current session of parliament. Three of the committees have been formed for businesses related to Jatiya Sangsad (JS) and two on ministries. But the treasury bench ignored the JS rules of procedure ... Read more

Poachers active in Hakaluki Haor Rajat Kanti Goswami, Moulvibazar With the arrival of thousands of migratory birds in Hakaluki Haor, the biggest wetland in South Asia, poachers have become active and are killing a large number of the species for meat every day. Several bands of local poachers set poison traps on the bank of ... Read more

Staff Correspondent Severe text book crisis has been created due to unpl-anned and insufficient book supply by the government to the markets as well as syndicate created by the members of allottees for printing text books with a motive to earn quick money. Book publishers, printing owners and wholesalers alleged that the government has set ... Read more

Staff Correspondent The examinations scheduled to begin on Wednesday in all the polytechnic institutes of the country, expecting the Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute, were held peacefully. The agitating students sat for the final examinations after their demand for change in the referred exams system was met, the Bangladesh Technical Education Board chairman, Nitai Chandra Sutradhar, told ... Read more