News

Grassroots leaders gathered in headquarters for soul-searching UNB, Dhaka BNP on Tuesday kick-started a month-long reorganizing process of the former ruling party that went haywire after the 1/11 onslaught, gathering upazila, thana and pourshava-level leaders in the headquarters for a soul-searching. The bottom-up recasting process began through interviewing presidents, general secretaries and organizing secretaries or ... Read more

Govt sits idle as Shankharibazar houses get more vulnerable Pinaki Roy Monday night’s collapse of roof plaster at Shankharibazar is a chilling reminder that run-down buildings in this part of the city could cost lives any time and the government cannot afford delays in dealing with the looming

Staff correspondent Lawmakers of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led opposition continued to remain absent in the parliamentary sessions for the fourth day because there has been no solution to the stalemate on the seating arrangement till Tuesday. They could not decide on Tuesday whether to return to parliament for the current session as the leader of ... Read more

Staff Reporter Commerce Minister Faruq Khan yesterday said that the government was actively considering providing transit to neighbouring India and the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) is in the final stage of processing. “Transit to India is under active consideration of the government. If we find it benefiting the people of the country, we ... Read more

Staff Reporter Commerce Minister Lt Col (retd) Faruk Khan yesterday said the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would visit Saudi Arabia shortly to sign an agreement aiming to enhance trade and investment between the two countries. Faruk Khan disclosed this while talking to the waiting reporters after a bilateral meeting with a Saudi business delegation at ... Read more

Grassroots also tell BNP to drop controversial leaders Rakib Hasnet Suman Grassroots level leaders of BNP yesterday proposed to party high-ups that it should not continue ties with Jamaat-e-Islami considering the new generation’s sentiment, and drop all controversial leaders from party committees at all levels. They also suggested that the party leadership reconstitute the committees ... Read more

UNB, Dhaka The publication of upazila election results is getting delayed due to omissions and commissions in the result sheets sent by returning officers, CEC Dr ATM Shamsul Huda said on Tuesday. “After scrutiny, it was found that the results announced by the returning officers at night had no similarity with the ones announced later ... Read more

Mamunur Rashid At least 200 top terrorists, who were enlarged on bail after the general elections, are now indulging in various sorts of criminal activities leading to deterioration of law and order across the country. Most of them are reportedly maintaining link with some influential leaders of the ruling party and law enforcing agencies, informed ... Read more

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