Professor Abdul Matin Talukder, provost of Mother Bux Hall at Rajshahi University, has been removed from the post while the provosts of two other halls resigned. Abdul Matin has been removed from the post of hall provost for his alleged non-cooperation with the university authorities, according to university sources. He told reporters that the vice ... Read more
News
Call for emergency services to disaster-hit people
World Health Day Today Call for emergency services to disaster-hit people Bangladesh celebrates the World Health Day today with the slogan ‘Save lives: Make hospitals safe in emergencies’ along with the other United Nations member countries. President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in separate statements wished successes of the week-long programmes taken by ... Read more
Hunt on for world-class actor to play Bangabandhu
Red Rose Films Limited, a London-based film production house, looks for a world-class actor to play the main role in its English movie being made based on the life of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury, noted columnist and chairperson of the production house, told reporters at a press conference here yesterday that they ... Read more
Lending rates remain high
BABs’ commitment, repo rate cut ignored The commercial banks have not yet started slashing their interest rates on lending in line with the central bank’s latest interest rate policy and the commitment of the Bangladesh Association of Banks. However, some banks have cut interest rates on their deposits, but they are still counting the same ... Read more
Ailing movie industry sees light
Seventy-four full-length films were released last year but very few of them could make profits or breakeven returns on investments. Industry people used to say the movies could not make profit as middleclass people were turning their back on cinemas. But they now say cinema goers are there and also is the business thanks to ... Read more
Intensify talks with US for duty-free access
Trade analysts advise govt on recession risks Trade experts yesterday advised the government to aggressively negotiate with the Obama administration to obtain duty-free and quota-free access for Bangladeshi goods to the US. “This is the time to chalk out details with the Obama administration,” Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow with the Centre for Policy ... Read more
Motorola eyes strong foothold
Motorola, one of the leading mobile device makers, is developing plenty of strategies to grab a significant share of Bangladesh’s untapped handset market. The US-based company yesterday said it has taken a lot of strategic plans, which will be disclosed soon, to re-enter Bangladesh market with a wider distribution network. The existing 45-million mobile market ... Read more
Stocks shoot up on banks
Dhaka stocks rebounded strongly yesterday from continuous loss and flat trends for the last few days with all its indices going up backed by banking shares, although decliners beat advancers. The benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSE General Index, rose by 39.62 points, or 1.63 percent, to 2,466.16 points. The DSE All Share ... Read more
Software exports grow 67pc in July-January
Staying immune from the ongoing global meltdown, the local information technology industry witnessed a 67 percent rise in exports during the first seven months (July-January) of this fiscal year, compared to the same period a year earlier. The IT-enabled service makers fetched $19.75million from exports during the time, which was $11.77million last fiscal. Software exports ... Read more
New boss vows ‘reinvented’ GM even in bankruptcy
Embattled General Motors is girding for bankruptcy if necessary but will still emerge “reinvented” from its wrenching crisis, GM’s new government- backed boss Fritz Henderson said yesterday. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said President Barack Obama’s administration was looking at all options for GM, after former CEO Rick Wagoner was replaced by Henderson last week on ... Read more
IBBL Quaraanic Language Institute inaugurated
Islami Bank Foundation, a subsidiary organisation of Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd (IBBL) has introduced ‘Quaraanic Language Institute’ through an inaugural function at Mohammad Younus Auditorium of Islami Bank Tower recently. Shah Abdul Hannan, former Chairman, Board of Directors of IBBL and also former Secretary inaugurated the institute as the chief guest. Principal MouIana Zainul Abedin, ... Read more
RPP project chief, BB officials visit Japan-BD Security Printing factory
A high-level team comprising of RPP Project Chief Dick Moss (Sri Lanka), BACH Project Implementation Manager Nayeni Fernando (Sri Lanka) and Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank Mohiuddin Ahmed on Sunday visited the factory of Japan-Bangladesh security printing & papers Ltd. Located at Bhulta in Narayangonj. They along with Chairman of Japan-Bangladesh Group Salim Prodhan have ... Read more
Govt to seek evidence from Pakistan, US
War Crime Trial Govt to seek evidence from Pakistan, US UN names 4 international experts to help in probe The United Nations (UN) has named four international war crime experts to assist Bangladesh in the trials of war criminals of 1971, responding to a request of the government, officials said. The government has also taken ... Read more
MPs get sweeping authority as upazila parishad bill passed
Parliament on Monday unanimously passed the upazila parishad bill with provisions giving lawmakers sweeping authority over upazila parishads in their constituencies. The house passed another bill cancelling the Gram Sarkar [village government] system enacted by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party government in the past. The Upazila Parishad (Repealed Act Re-Introduction and Amendment) Bill made it mandatory ... Read more
Action demanded for violation of EC code in poll spending
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Trusty Board Chairman Professor Muzaffer Ahmed on Monday called upon the government to conduct audit and take legal action against those responsible for additional expenditure during 9th parliamentary election in excess of the amount fixed by the Election Commission. This call was made while TIB Chairman are addressing a press conference ... Read more
Most think-tanks fulfilling foreign agendas
Source of funding shrouded in mystery Most think-tanks fulfilling foreign agendas With the source of funding remaining highly ‘mysterious’ there seems to be lack of transparency in financial matters of most so called think-tanks as they work more for themselves and their financers than the country and people. Talking to The Bangladesh Today, some top ... Read more
Green Crescent founder Faisal arrested
The Rapid Action Battalion on early Monday arrested Faisal Mostafa, a British citizen of Bangladeshi origin, who is the alleged patron of the militant’s den, Green Crescent in Bhola, where the RAB busted an ammo factory and seized a large cache of firearms and explosives on March 24 this year. The RAB also detained Hasan ... Read more
62 killed, 4258 hurt so far
Post-poll violence 62 killed, 4258 hurt so far At least 62 people were killed and 4258 injured in political violence mainly between activists of the Awami League (AL), Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami across the country after the December 29 general elections. According to Odhikar, an NGO that compiled newspaper reports on political ... Read more
Delay in reform may cost country: BDR chief
Delay in reorganising the BDR after the bloody mutiny at the border guards’ headquarters might cost the country, its chief and head of the paramilitary force’s reorganisation sub-committee Maj Gen Mainul Islam yesterday. “The sooner we finish with the reorganisation the better it is for the country because the mistrust that had caused all the ... Read more
NBR chief made OSD in major admin reshuffle
The government in a major administrative shake-up on Monday made the National Board of Revenue chairman, Mohammad Abdul Mazid an officer on special duty. Acting secretary of the housing and public works ministry, Nasir Uddin Ahmed has been made acting chairman in place of Mazid, who had held the post of the NBR chief since ... Read more