Bangladesh

    President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid their tribute to the martyred intellectu-als on Monday morning. To commemorate the Martyred Intellectuals Day, they each placed a wreath at the Martyred Intellectu-als Memorial at Mirpur in Dhaka. On the night of December 14 in 1971, over 200 Bengali intellectuals including professors, journalists, doctors, artistes, engineers, and writers were picked up in the capital by the Pakistani occupation forces, abetted by their local collaborators. The intellectuals were taken blindfolded to torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Ra-jarbagh and other locations in different parts of the capital and later executed en masse at different kill-ing grounds, most notably Rayerbazar and Mirpur. Since then, the day is ...

    As per IMF conditions, the government cannot borrow non-concessional loans beyond a certain amount in a given period of time. The IMF considers a loan carrying less than 35 per cent grant element as non-concessional or hard-term loan Bangladesh is going to formulate a strategy to receive more non-concessional or commercial loans from external sources to meet the growing demand for funds. This is being done as there has been a decline in government to government (G to G) soft loans. Besides, the Economic Relations Division cannot process non-concessional loans following the Public Procurement Act, 2006 and Public Procurement Rules, 2008, as well as changes made in the condition of non-concessional loans from non-government to government sources. The government has now formu...

    Terming her government’s decision to build the Padma Bridge with the country’s own fund a challenge, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh wants to show the world by implementing this dream project that it has acquired the capacity to implement any mega project. “The heroic Bangalee nation who had earned Independence through an armed struggle raised its head high to-day…they now want assistance from their development partners, not alms,” she said. She came up with the remarks while addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project and River Training work at Janzira. The premier first opened the river training work at Naodoba in Janzira by unveiling a plaque and later inaugurated the groundbreaking of the main bridge at Mawa point by unv...

Ananta Yusuf: Those who had experienced the trauma of the war and the exhilaration of freedom in 1971 know exactly how the broadcasts of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, the radio station of the Bangladesh Government in exile, and the songs it played over the air, inspired millions of souls. For some of the memorable songs we will forever be in-debted to Gobinda Haldar, the lyricist of Mora Ekti Phul Ke Bachabo Bole Juddho Kori, Purbo Digonte Shurjo Utheche and Ek Shagor Rokter Binomoye. On March 25, 1971 - the war broke out in every corner of the country. With limited resources and abilities, people from all walks of life joined the struggle for freedom. By the end of May, Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, a clandestine radio station of the resistance, started its second phrase, as it aired revolu...

    The High Court (HC) yesterday directed the inspector general of police (IGP) not to present crime ac-cused before the media until they are produced in court. The HC bench comprising Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Amir Hossain came up with the ob-servation while delivering a verdict in a case relating to a bomb blast case. The bomb was blasted by a member of Jamaa'tul Mujaheedin Bangladesh (JMB) at a press conference in Gazipur six years ago. In its order, the HC bench observed that the IGP should take initiatives so that an accused is not pro-duced before the media prior to producing them before the court. This is the second directive from a High Court bench to the police for not bringing any crime accused before the media until they are produced in court. Earlier, o...

    BASIC Bank suspended its four top officials on Wednesday. The decision was taken after a scam that occurred losses in thousands of crores in recent years. Loan frauds, committed because of direct involvement of the previous board led by its chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu and some of its top executives, occured in the Dilkusha, Gulshan and Shantinagar branches of the bank. Bangladesh Bank detected huge financial irregularities involving around Tk 4,500 crore of loans in three branches of BASIC Bank between 2009 and 2013. Among the fired officials, three are deputy managing directors while another is a general manager, ac-cording to bank sources.

    The High Court today directed the government to immediately remove illegal structures within 10 metres of highways across the country. Delivering the judgment on a writ petition, the HC ordered the government to set up dividers on the highways to prevent road accidents. The court asked the authorities concerned of the government to amend the highway-related rules so that no struc-ture can be built within 10 metres of the highways. Under the existing rules, the government allows construction of structures within this range. The court also asked the authorities concerned to take a step to amend the rules fixing Secondary School Certifi-cate (SSC) as the minimum educational qualification for drivers. The government will have to implement the rules after five years, the court ...

    Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali today said the government is assessing the relationship between Bangladesh and Pakistan and thinking about what measures need to be taken over the reaction of Islamabad after the execu-tion of two war criminals last month. “The whole matter is a continuous process,” he said while addressing a discussion at WVA auditorium in Dhaka. Ekattorer Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee organised the discussion on “Relationship between Bangladesh-India in the Touchstone of Time” to mark the 44th anniversary of the recognition of India to Bangladesh as an inde-pendent country. Hours after Bhutan’s recognition, India recognised an independent Bangladesh on December 6 in 1971. The minister said many Pakistanis have admitted the crimes committed during the Liber...

    Sylhet Super Stars made an unbelievable turnabout in the BPL by bowling out the Barisal Bulls for 58, the lowest-ever total in the BPL and then chasing it with ease to win by nine wickets. The massive swing in fortune - Sylhet lost five of their six matches previously - coincided with Shahid Afridi replacing Mushfiqur Rahim as captain for the remainder of the tournament. This was also the second time in the competition that Barisal were bowled out for a below-100 score and the fourth instance in this year's competition for the team batting first. Sylhet also completed the fastest chase, closing out the game with 51 balls to spare, overtaking the previous record help by Comilla Victorians, who beat Rangpur Riders with 49 balls to spare. It was all so different before the ga...

    Mayor Annisul Huq had his first bitter taste of what lies ahead if he really wants to go about his promises with sincerity. His mission virtually failed when he went to supervise the clearing of the Tejgaon road where trucks are parked illegally, blocking the important connecting pathway. It also proved a lot of things – how rowdy and ill-disciplined our transport sector is, how political patronage can lead to creation of monsters, how weak our institutions have become because of politicization, how helpless the Dhaka city dwellers are and lot more. Annisul, who seems to be more energetic than any other mayors that we had, who sounds more affirmative and who seems to really want a change in Dhaka, looked overwhelmed by the muscle power of the transport workers. In the end ...