AP, Islamabad Pakistan began moving thousands of troops to the Indian border Friday, intelligence officials said, sharply raising tensions triggered by the Mumbai terror attacks. India has blamed Pakistani-based militants for last month’s siege on its financial capital, which killed 164 people and has provoked an increasingly bitter war of words between nuclear-armed neighbors that ... Read more
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Abolition of election to non-govt edn instt bodies proposed
Siddiqur Rahman Khan The education ministry has put into the final form the draft of an ordinance on the management committees of non-government educational institutions to replace the existing election system to choose guardians and teachers’ representatives. ‘Guardians of the students who become first in the final exams will be nominated representatives of guardians to ... Read more
Barisal Public University project approved in ECNEC
Admission in six subjects from current session, Named Shahid Ziaur Rahman University Our Correspondent, Barisal The implementation of the project for a general public university in Barisal division had been approved in the recent meeting of the Executive Committee of Economic Council (ECNEC). According to the related sources, a project with a budget of Tk. ... Read more
RMG exports to Canada rise well
Kazi Azizul Islam Although Canadian import of apparels slowed down this year, Bangladesh’s garment export to that North American country has posted a satisfactory growth rate, say officials at the exporters’ associations. Diversion of a portion of Canadian apparel imports from China to Bangladesh in the past few months helped the exporters, they pointed out. ... Read more
Massive layoffs expected in UAE
AFP, Dubai Up to 45 percent of the construction workforce in the United Arab Emirates could be laid off, with thousands already having lost their jobs due to the global financial crisis, a report said yesterday. The Khaleej Times newspaper quoted Khalfan Al-Kaabi, a member of the board of directors at Abu Dhabi Chamber of ... Read more
JETRO inks deal with BASIS: Promote Bangladesh’s software in Japan
NATION BUSINESS REPORT Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) has inked a deal with Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) to promote Bangladesh’s software and IT enabled services (ITES) industry in Japanese market. JETRO has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with BASIS in this regard on December 15 last at the BASIS Secretariat ... Read more
Electioneering peaks as polls near
Khaleda’s last rally in Dhaka, Hasina’s in Ctg Shahidul Islam Chowdhury Electoral campaigns for the December 29 parliamentary polls peaked as the top politicians, including Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, are travelling across the country and the candidates and the activists are trying hard to reach almost every voter in their constituencies. Apart from supervising ... Read more
Guard polling centres to thwart vote rigging, says Khaleda
Abdullah Juberee . Mymensingh Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday urged the people to stand guard at polling centres across the country on December 29 so that none could ‘rig’ the polls or ‘change’ its results. ‘There are conspiracies to rig the polls at any cost. I urge you to go to the ... Read more
Hasina warns against intimidating voters
Staff Correspondent The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, on Thursday called upon the people to vote for her party’s symbol ‘boat’ without fear and remain vigilant against any attempt at vote rigging. ‘Attempts to intimidate voters will not be tolerated. Cast your vote for Awami League to build a
Real politicians ignored as 80 per cent candidates are businessmen
100 accused in murder case Staff Correspondent Of 1579 candidates contesting the national parliamentary election from 299 constituencies, 100 are accused in murder case and 48 are facing corruption cases. Out of 100 candidates accused in murder cases, 24 are contesting from the Awami League, 34 from BNP and the rest from other political parties. ... Read more
Poll set to be held after 2 days amid unprecedented security
Election countdown Poll set to be held after 2 days amid unprecedented security Ban on campaign will be imposed from tomorrow midnight Staff Correspondent A festive mood prevails across the country as the stage is now set to hold the much-awaited national parliament election on December 29 (Monday) amid unprecedented security measures. The candidates from ... Read more
Women aspirants for JS seats reach new high
50 to contest in 52 constituencies Rakib Hasnet Suman Apart from Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia, a crop of female leaders of different political parties have emerged as tough candidates in different constituencies in the upcoming parliamentary election. This time 50 woman candidates are contesting in 52 seats. In the 2001 polls, 38 women contested
Rural people know little about ‘no vote’ option
Staff Correspondent Apart from a section of the urban elite, the provision for ‘no vote’, introduced in the national elections this time, is hardly known to people in the countryside because of poor publicity campaigns on the part of the Election Commission. In its package for political and electoral reforms, the military-backed government of Fakhruddin ... Read more
Public life intolerable due to tannery
Tannery yet to be shifted to Savar Public life intolerable due to tannery Staff Correspondent “It is not a place for human habitation as foul odours of raw hide covers the area all the time. Specially after the Eid-ul-Azha, it is very difficult to stay here as thousands of raw hides from different places of ... Read more
Poll spending started well before campaign
TIB finds 142 candidates spent nearly Tk 3 lakh each before campaign Staff Correspondent As many as 142 candidates from 40 constituencies spent on average about Tk 3.04 lakh each for
No withdrawal from polls, says Khaleda
She warns govt, EC against manipulation Abdullah Juberee . Feni Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia on Wednesday dismissed rumours that her party and alliance might withdraw from the election race but warned against attempts to rig the December 29 parliamentary polls. She warned the interim government and the Election Commission of ‘dire consequences’ if ... Read more
Hasina accuses Khaleda of staging drama as ploy
Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee . Dinajpur The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, on Wednesday termed her political arch-rival Khaleda Zia’s claim of an attempt on her life a ploy in the guise of a drama to keep off the December 29 polls. ‘It is not clear why she suddenly staged such a drama claiming grenades were ... Read more
X-mas today
Staff Reporter The Christian community will celebrate the largest religious festival ‘Christmas Day’ today across the country in remembrance of the birth of Jesus Christ. The Christian community believes, God appeared on earth through his son, Jesus Christ, on Christmas Day. It is also a celebration of rebirth, new beginnings, forgiveness and peace as the ... Read more
New situations being created as polls near, says Delwar
Staff Correspondent The BNP secretary general, Khandaker Delwar Hossain, on Wednesday said that with the election day approaching, ‘new situations’ were being created with an ulterior motive. The BNP-led alliance on Wednesday staged demonstrations across the country in protest against the ‘attempt’ on the life of the alliance chief Khaleda Zia. ‘With the day for ... Read more
US travel alert on Bangladesh elections
UNB, Dhaka The US State Department has warned its citizens of the risks of travel to Bangladesh and urged caution while traveling before and after parliament election on December 29. In its travel alert the State Department said the Bangladesh government lifted a State of Emergency on December 17 that had been in place since ... Read more