News

Staff Reporter BNP Secretary General Khandker Delwar Hossain yesterday demanded of the government to reinforce the special security for the party Chairperson Begum Khaldea Zia. He said the life of party chairperson is now ‘insecure’ following the withdrawal of security provided by the special security force (SSF) from the first day of this month. “We ... Read more

bdnews24.com, Dhaka Finance minister AMA Muhith has said that Bangladesh is still insulated from global economic downturn. “IMF has predicted that the GDP of all countries will come down alarmingly due to global recession, but in spite of this global gloom, our economy is still in good condition,” Muhith said on Tuesday after a meeting ... Read more

Ranglai tells The Daily Star how his community was made to suffer over decades Pinaki Roy He grew up chasing wild boars and working in the jhum filed. Walking for hours in the hilly paths was part of his usual but hard life. But that son of the hills, Ranglai Mro, is so weak now–his ... Read more

JS told Staff Correspondent The government is actively considering reintroduction of food rationing system for the low income group of the population, following its imposition of a ban on rice export till May 5 of this year. The moves were initiated in an effort to increase supply of the nation’s staple to the domestic market, ... Read more

Talha Bin Habib, Back from Comilla Though child marriage has been banned by the enactment of law but in real sense it is still rampant in most of the villages of the country. Early marriage remains the major cause for maternal mortality and hindrance to proper mental and physical growth of children. Illiteracy, ignorance and ... Read more

DCC fails to provide services to city dwellers Staff Correspondent Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) fails to provide services to city dwellers as most of its officials are corrupt and misappropriate money of various projects despite their excuse that proper services cannot be given due to manpower and resource shortage. Many projects are implemented under the ... Read more

Container yards now used for keeping cars; CPA goes for new sheds Staff Correspondent, Ctg The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) is now forced to keep imported vehicles in the container yards as the port sheds for vehicles have already been crammed with around 5,000 cars against the capacity of only 2,800. An increase in car ... Read more

Staff Correspondent Priyanka Gandhi, who arrived in Dhaka yesterday, visited Brac schools and is likely to finalise discussions with the NGO to introduce its education programme in India. On her arrival at Zia International Airport around 4:00pm on a two-day visit, Brac Executive Director Mahbub Hossain, director Ahmed Nazmul Hossain and

Staff Reporter Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun admitted that terrorists, extortionists and militants have raised their ugly heads once again and law and order situation has deteriorated after the December 29 elections. Sahara Khatun was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the 1st Senior Police Executive Management Course at the Police Staff College in Mirpur yesterday. ... Read more

BSS, Dhaka Import of raw materials and consumers goods increased significantly during the last July-December period indicating an upswing in the country’s economic activities. According to Bangladesh Bank import data released recently, the volume of L/C opening for import of scrap vassals rose by 209 percent during the period, compared to the corresponding period of ... Read more

Staff Reporter South Korea yesterday assured that it would recruit over 5,000 skilled and semi-skilled workers from Bangladesh in 2009. The assurance came during a meeting between State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hasan Mahmud and South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Suk-Bum Park in the city. Briefing reporters Dr Hasan Mahmud disclosed that some 1,500 Bangladeshis ... Read more

Khadimul Islam The Election Commission has withheld the publication of results of 14 more upazilas after January 27, when it suspended the results of 7 upazila elections, because of allegation of irregularities, stuffing of ballot boxes, capturing of polling centres and intimidation in the January 22 polls. The commission withheld the result of the upazilas ... Read more

Plans to stop special permits for buying logs from forest depots Pinaki Roy The government plans to stop issuing special permits for buying wood from its depots as the official documents often end up being abused by illegal traders and also mean a loss in revenue from timber sales. Usually, the permits are given to ... Read more

Speaker hints at seat rearrangement Staff correspondent Lawmakers of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led opposition are likely to decide today whether to return to parliament for the current session after the speaker told them that he hoped to settle the dispute over seat allocation before the next session. The lawmakers of BNP and its allies Bangladesh ... Read more

MOVE TO REVAMP BNP Local leaders want bad elements to go Abdullah Juberee Grassroots-level leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party have hailed the decision to reorganise all its committees stressing that the party should cleanse its ranks of harmful elements. The party’s top policymaking body, the standing committee, on Sunday decided to reorganise all the ... Read more

Muhith tells JS he’s upbeat Staff Correspondent Finance Minister AMA Muhith is optimistic about getting back the money siphoned off by Arafat Rahman Koko, Khaleda Zia’s youngest son. “We are trying to get the money back and some steps have already been taken in this regard,” Muhith told the parliament replying to a supplementary question ... Read more