News

Staff Correspondent Foods at restaurants have still remained costly despite substantial fall in prices of edible oil, flour and other items by 25 to 30 per cent over the past few weeks. Owners of restaurants raised the prices of their items ranging from 30 to 50 per cent in the middle of last year, citing ... Read more

Wasim Bin Habib A upazila parishad consists of a chairman, two vice-chairpersons (one of them a woman), chairmen of all union parishads under the upazila concerned, mayors of all municipalities, if there are any, and women members of the reserved seat. The chairman and vice-chairpersons are going to be elected today. One-third of the total ... Read more

Staff Reporter Industries Minister Dilip Barua yesterday said that the government would start dialogue with business bodies to formulate a business friendly industrial policy in the country. He was talking to reporters after a meeting with a business delegation on prevailing situation of trade, commerce and industries of the country at Shilpa Bhaban. International Business ... Read more

Unb, Dhaka Saudi Ambassador Dr Abdullah N Al Bussairy yesterday said his country will recruit more doctors from Bangladesh apart from workers. Talking to reporters after meeting Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and State Minister Hassan Mahmud, the ambassador said a team from Saudi ministry concerned came to Dhaka on Tuesday to recruit several thousand doctors. ... Read more

WASHINGTON: Barack Obama took the oath of office to become the first African-American president in US history on Tuesday, proclaiming America had chosen “hope over fear” and must unite in a “new era of responsibility” to triumph over its multiple crises. Witnessed by a huge crowd of more than two million people, Obama, 47, became ... Read more

ELECTION TO 480 UPAZILAS Electioneering ends, polls tomorrow Staff Correspondent Candidates and their supporters put in all their efforts in the last-minute campaigns on Tuesday to seek votes in their favour for upazila elections. Scheduled on Thursday amidst tight security, bringing an end to nearly a month long hustings with a festive touch. Electioneering ended ... Read more

May modify ordinance to ensure their authority over local govt M Abul Kamal Azad The newly elected Awami League (AL)-led alliance government is likely to modify the Local Government (Upazila Parishad) Ordinance to bestow some authority on lawmakers which the immediate-past caretaker government removed by promulgating the ordinance. LGRD and cooperatives ministry sources say the ... Read more

Staff Correspondent The government will unlock within one week 298 bank accounts of politicians, businessmen and government high officials frozen by the caretaker government in connection with their corruption and irregularities. “The account-holders will be able to start drawing cheques and financial transactions through these accounts after a week the” after a meeting with visiting ... Read more

United News of Bangladesh . Chandpur Rescuers recovered Tuesday bodies of 22 of the victims of Monday’s trawler capsize in the River Meghna, all but one from the same locality. Divers of BIWTA, Coast Guard and Fire Service pulled up the bodies from inside a cabin of the sunken trawler in a macabre scene. The ... Read more

Staff Correspondent The president, Iajuddin Ahmed, on Tuesday appointed ruling Awami League lawmaker Abdus Shahid chief whip of parliament, a parliament secretariat official said. ‘I will be attending office from tomorrow,’ Shahid, the lawmaker for the Moulvibazar 4 constituency, told New Age on Tuesday, confirming his appointment with the rank of a minister. The Moulvibazar ... Read more

Staff Correspondent BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain on Tuesday said the BNP leaders and activists will foil the government’s move to form regional task force in the name of combating terrorism. “The BNP will never accept foreign troops on the soil of Bangladesh in the name of combating terrorism through forming regional task force. ... Read more

Suranjith Deabnath Pro-Awami League (AL) teachers of different public universities are now lobbying hard with new government high-ups to get appointment as vice chancellor (VC), pro-vice chancellor (pro-VC) and other top vital posts after the political changeover. On Thursday, Mass Communication and Journalism Department Professor and Dhaka University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) former president AAMS Arefin ... Read more

Professional criminals now active in capital Sahidul Islam Rana Some high-profile accused of different graft cases and professional criminals have already started returning home at the very outset of the incumbent political government. More than one hundred corruption suspects as well as accused of some other criminal cases – who went into hiding soon after ... Read more

Court asks it to pay Tk 24cr to distributor Md Hasan After a two-year legal battle, an arbitration tribunal recently ordered Grameenphone to pay more than Tk 24 crore to Communic Park Ltd, a local distributor of Grameenphone subscriber identification module (SIM) cards. The verdict was in response to a Tk 45.30 crore lawsuit filed ... Read more

Staff Correspondent In the backdrop of a slide in law and order, the government on Tuesday warned the law enforcers of stern actions against any negligence of duties, officials said. The home minister, Sahara Khatun, while presiding over law and order review meeting asked the forces to ensure public safety at any cost. ‘We want ... Read more

4 asst proctors resign CU Correspondent Bangladesh Chhatra League activists of Chittagong University (CU) unit snapped telephone lines to the vice-chancellors’ office and drove the deputy registrar of the office out yesterday afternoon. Four assistant proctors of the university submitted their resignation letters to the vice-chancellor (VC) yesterday and the VC accepted letters of three ... Read more