Bangladesh

    The government has decided to free BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail for six months suspending her sentences upon two conditions. Law Minister Annisul Huq came up with the announcement at a press conference on Tuesday at his Gulshan office. The conditions are receiving treatment staying at her Gulshan residence and not leaving the country. He said the former prime minister’s sentences have been suspended as per the section 401 of Criminal Code of Procedure (CrPcC). The Law Minister said they took the decision at the directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina considering her age and humanitarian ground. He said he sent his opinion about Khaleda’s release to the Home Ministry. Annisul said the Home Ministry will now take necessary steps to release Khaleda. He sa...

    City representatives were 'proud' to visit Bangladesh last week and form a permanent bond with Sylhet where many of Portsmouth's 10,000-strong Bangladeshi community have roots. As part of a twinning trip members of Portsmouth City Council, the Portsmouth Bangladesh Business Association (PBBA), the University of Portsmouth, the port and other groups arrived in Bangladesh on November 16. Portsmouth City Council leader, Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, said: This has long been my ambition and the newly formed PBBA has given us the perfect way to make the twinning of our two great cities really meaningful. The firms who have joined us on this trip have found it very beneficial and we all hope it will help grow jobs and opportunities for business at home and here in Ba...

    A court in Bangladesh sentenced 16 people to death on Thursday over the murder of a 19-year-old female student burnt alive in April that provoked outrage across the country. Nusrat Jahan Rafi was doused in kerosene and set on fire after refusing to withdraw a sexual harassment complaint against the head teacher of the seminary she attended. The verdict proves that nobody will get away with murder in Bangladesh. We have the rule of law, prosecutor Hafez Ahmed told reporters after the verdict in a crowded courtroom. Rafi was lured to the rooftop of the seminary where her attackers pressed her to withdraw the complaint she had filed with police. When she refused, she was tied up, doused in kerosene and set on fire. She suffered burns to 80 percent of her body and di...

The budget session began yesterday with Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury presiding over. The Finance Minister will place the budget for the 2019-20 fiscal tomorrow. Earlier in the afternoon, Business Advisory Committee of the parliament also attended by Leader of the House and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decided that the budget session will continue till July 11. Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury inaugurated a budget information help desk at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban in Dhaka yesterday. The Speaker speaking on the occasion expressed her hope that the help desk will play an important role in assisting the lawmakers in delivering informative, constructive and lively speech in the on-going budget session. The 11th anniversary of Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasin...

The Jatiya Sangsad is going into its third and budget session today. Earlier, President Md. Abdul Hamid summoned the third session of the 11th Parliament exercising the power bestowed upon him as per Article 72 (1) of the constitution. Finance Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal will place the national budget for 2019-20 fiscal in the House on June 13. Foreign Minister Dr. A K Abdul Momen has said, Rohingya crisis will be a major issue for discussion during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to China next month. The Minister said this to the media at his ministry yesterday. China is sincere to help Bangladesh in tackling the crisis and has always advised us to resolve the problem through bilateral discussion with Myanmar, the Minister added. The 11th anniversary of release of Awami League Pre...

    A passenger armed with a gun and claiming to have a bomb has taken a crew member hostage after trying to hijack a plane flying from Dhaka in Bangladesh to Dubai, according to reports. The man tried to storm the cockpit of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane while it was in the air, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing in Chittagong, Bangladesh, it is said. No injuries have been reported. But hijacker was spot dead by civil authority. The hijacker was still on board the plane with at least one crew member hostage after the jet landed safely and was evacuated, local reports said. The gunman allegedly opened fire on board flight BG147 and demanded to speak to the prime minister of Bangladesh as the drama unfolded on Sunday afternoon. Police immediate...

    Voting in the 11th national election concluded at 4 pm on Sunday amid allegations of irregularities, including overnight stuffing of ballot boxes and capturing of polling stations, and sporadic violence in different parts of the country, leaving 13 people dead. In Noakhali, Nurun Nabi, an Ansar member, was shot dead by some miscreants at Tulachara Primary School polling station of Noakhali-3 constituency, said presiding officer Prof Dr Suchon Chowdhury. In Chattogram, Ahmed Kabir, 45, an activist of Jatiya Party, was killed in a clash between Awami League and Jatiya Party activists in Banskhali upazila early in the morning. In Rangamati, Bashir Uddin, general secretary of Kashkhali union Jubo League unit, was killed in an attack allegedly by some BNP activists at K...

    Accusing the ruling party men of stuffing ballot boxes overnight well before the start of voting, Jatiya Oikyafront chief Dr Kamal Hossian on Sunday voiced concern over the peaceful holding of the national election. He came up with the remarks while talking to reporters after casting his vote at Voqarunnisa Noon School centre in the morning. Reports have it from outside Dhaka that votes have been cast overnight unlawfully depriving the voters of their right which is very disturbing, he said. Millions of lives had been laid down in 1971 and thereafter in the Liberation War and different democratic movements for establishing the voting right, Kamal said. Through casting votes, he said, people exercise their rights to the state. Dr Kamal said there are around 160 mi...

    The densely populated capital city has acquired a festive mood since traffic snarls have all but disappeared from its streets ahead of the general elections, slated to be held tomorrow. Normally, the city streets are free of traffic jam only during the Eid holidays as the people go to their native villages to celebrate Eid with their kith and kin. But this time, residents have been leaving Dhaka in hordes for a different purpose: to exercise their franchise in the upcoming national polls. The people are enjoying three days vacation as the government has declared polling day December 30 a public holiday. The two days preceding the polls Friday and Saturday are weekly holidays, which has created a vacation mood in the nation. This correspondent visited the busiest ...

    UNB correspondents from different districts reported that the assistant returning officers are handing over the election materials to the presiding officers. Election materials will be reached to the polling stations across the country within this(Saturday) afternoon, said Election Commission Joint Secretary Farhad Ahmmed Khan. In Dhaka city, electoral materials are being distributed from 15 vanues for 15 constituencies. The country’s people are going to witness a battle mainly between two major political camps ruling Awami League-led Grand Alliance and Dr Kamal Hossain-led JatiyaOikyafront in the election to be held with the participation of 39 registered political parties. Meanwhile, the curtain fell on the 18-day official electioneering on Friday morning amid a...