News

AFP, Madrid The global food crisis which threatens to stoke social unrest and push millions more into poverty could get worse due to the international credit crunch and falling food prices, the head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said Monday. “The contraction in prices for agricultural goods and the financial uncertainty risks ... Read more

Agence France-Presse . The Hague The first-ever trial of the International Criminal Court began on Monday with a Congolese militia commander denying he committed war crimes by recruiting hundreds of child soldiers to kill and rape. ‘At this stage our client would like to plead not guilty,’ said Catherine Mabille, Thomas Lubanga’s lawyer at the ... Read more

Staff Correspondent The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) will file a case against 38 staff of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTCL), formerly BTTB, including 21 divisional engineers for misappropriation and wastage of around Tk 23.04 crore. Meanwhile, the ACC yesterday approved filing two separate cases against former lawmaker M Shahjahan and seven others on charges of irregularities ... Read more

US ‘committed’ to global battle against hunger, says Hillary Afp, Madrid The global food crisis which threatens to stoke social unrest and push millions more into poverty could get worse due to the international credit crunch and falling food prices, the head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said yesterday. “The contraction in ... Read more

Staff Reporter Speaker of the House Adv Abdul Hamid yesterday said that he would correct the seating plan for the Members of the Parliament after consulting it with the treasury and Opposition leaders, as there is allegation of wrongdoing by former Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar. The treasury bench is annoyed as the former Speaker overruled Chief ... Read more

Staff Reporter The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has recommended taking necessary steps to permanently shut down all the telegraph offices of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL). The central telegraph office of Dhaka had earned about Tk 2 crore while the expenditure was about Tk 30 crore in the time span. As per ACC’s investigation it ... Read more

Staff Correspondent A local company, Active Fine Chemicals Enterprise, has started manufacturing raw materials and chemical reagents for the pharmaceutical industry with a view to lessening import dependency and cutting down time and costs, the company officials said. They said that although the pharmaceutical industry of Bangladesh has advanced much, backward linkage of this industry ... Read more

UNB, Dhaka As per government guidelines, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) itself is going to dispose of former Energy adviser Mahmudur Rahman’s complaint against the ACC Chairman accusing him of misappropriating Tk 22.41 crore through money laundering. “We sought guideline from then government about the complaint against the chairman. According to that guideline the Commission itself ... Read more

Asif Showkat The government, after a long gap of 16 years, has revived the Market Intelligence Unit to keep a vigilant eye on the market prices of essential commodities, said official sources on Monday. The unit will begin its work immediately. The commerce ministry abolished MIU in 1992 after Bangladesh became a member of World ... Read more

Staff Correspondent The cabinet committee on purchase on Monday approved a proposal for import of 13 lakh tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates for the current year. The committee, headed by finance minister, Abul Mal Abdul Muhith, at a meeting at the cabinet division gave the approval. The energy division ... Read more

President draws govt attention to food prices, anti-graft fight, trial of war criminals Staff Correspondent President Iajuddin Ahmed yesterday termed the new Jatiya Sangsad a “parliament for change” and said poverty alleviation, elimination of corruption and terrorism, trial of war criminals and establishment of good governance would be

UPAZILA POLLS EC’s final tally betrays reality Khadimul Islam The upazila elections, held on January 22 amidst violence, intimidation, assaults and harassment of election officials, capture of polling centres and stuffing and snatching of ballot boxes, saw more than 71 per cent voter turnout, according to the Election Commission’s final tally. Academics, election observers, election ... Read more

Defeated candidates lodge complaints against ruling party men EC takes hard-line against irregularities in UZ polls Staff Correspondent The EC has taken a hard line against the irregularities that took place during third upazilla polls on January 22 and commission would take action against the candidates for allegedly violating the code of conduct during elections. ... Read more

Staff Reporter The ninth parliament had a formal start yesterday unanimously electing Advocate Abdul Hamid Speaker and Col (retd) Shawkat Ali Deputy Speaker to preside over the House. The Parliament elected Adv Hamid for the top office on a formal proposal from Chief Whip Abdus Shahid, seconded by Whip Shagufta Yasmin Emily. The deputy speaker’s ... Read more

Staff correspondent The lawmakers of the BNP-led main opposition in the ninth parliament in the opening session on Sunday staged a walkout before the speech of the president, Iajuddin Ahmed, accusing him of breaching his oath of office. ‘The president breached his oath of office by not arranging elections within 90 days of the assumption ... Read more

Staff correspondent The 122 ordinances promulgated in two years of the interim government of Fakhruddin Ahmed were placed for discussion in the parliament in its opening session on Sunday. The law minister, Shafique Ahmed, placed the ordinances in a single motion and the speaker, Abdul Hamid, read out the list of ordinances. According to the ... Read more

Railway Break-ins 3 investigations find 3 different reasons Staff Correspondent Three probe committees that investigated the recent break-ins at Rail Bhaban in Dhaka and a railway office in Chittagong came up with three different conclusions. However, all the reports said no important files went missing. The probe committee formed by Bangladesh Railway yesterday filed its ... Read more

7 promoted to secretary rank Staff Correspondent The government yesterday brought major changes in the civil administration, promoting seven officers to the rank of secretary and making one secretary and two additional secretaries the officer-on-special-duty (OSD). The government also gave postings to a number of officers who were made OSD by the BNP-led four-party government ... Read more

Chttagong Correspondent Experts on the apparel product quality and industrial productivity here at a seminar yesterday speculated further growth of the country’s readymade garment (RMG) industry when the biggest economies of the world were hard hit by ongoing economic slowdown. They said that the local apparel exporters would benefit from the consumer’s delight in the ... Read more

Staff Reporter BNP Vice Chairman MK Anwar said yesterday the ruling Awami Legue did not give them any offer for the post of Deputy Speaker of the 9 th Jatiya Sangsad. “They promised to give us deputy speaker. But the post has been allocated to the ruling party’s nominee without the consultation with our party,” ... Read more