Bangladesh

    President Adul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday paid rich tributes to late valiant freedom fighter and Social Welfare Minister Syed Mohsin Ali by placing wreaths on his coffin at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. The President and the Prime Minister separately placed wreaths on the coffin of Mohsin Ali and stood there in solemn silence for some time as a mark of respect for the memory of the deceased. Speaker Dr Sharmin Sharmin Chaudhury, ministers, Deputy Speaker, Leader of the Opposition, Chief Whip and parliament members were present on the occasion. Later, flanked by senior leaders and parliament members of the party, Sheikh Hasina, also the Awami League President, laid another wreath on the coffin on behalf of the party. Speaker Shirin S...

    Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Atiur Rahman on Wednesday said that almost all industrial sectors in Bangladesh are open for investment by non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs), reports UNB. “NRBs can play a significant role in technology transfer in the form of training for skill devel-opment and management efficiency,” he said while addressing an NRB focused event ‘Bangla-desh Financial Sector: Opportunities, Regulations, Products and Services’ in London. The function, jointly organised by the Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), UK Bangladesh Cata-lysts of Commerce & Industry (UKBCCI), and Bangladesh High Commission in the UK, was also addressed by Bangladesh Commissioner in London Md Abdul Hannan, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh Abrar A Anwar, and Chairman of UKBCCI I...

    State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid says that prices of gas and of electricity are going to increase at consumer level. He adds that new prices are likely to be effective from the 1st of September. Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission, BERC is expected to make an announcement in this regard this afternoon. Gas price may increase by more than 25 percent, while electricity price may rise by 3 percent on an average. Gas price was last increased in 2009, while the pow-er price was last hiked in March last year. At the beginning of this year, the energy regulatory commission held hearings in response to the requests of distributors for the hike of gas and electricity prices. Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (Berc) has increased the average power retail pri...

    The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has decided to be tougher against the use of fake band-rolls and stamps against Bidi and cigarette companies as the revenue collector of the national exchequer has got some allegations in this regard. According to sources at the NBR, some bidi and cigarette-producing companies are using fake band-rolls and stamps to evade tax. "The amount of the tax evasion is hefty and it came in the light following an inquiry," a senior NBR official told the news agency. He said the country's some tobacco companies have long been using fake band-rolls and stamps to evade the Value Added Tax (VAT). The Board also asked its field-level offices across the country to intensify their surveillance. The NBR official said they have collected samples from the r...

    The grateful nation is paying rich tribute to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his 40th anniversary of martyrdom with observing the occasion as National Mourning Day at the state level. To mark the day, the government, ruling Awami League (AL), its front and associate bodies, different socio-cultural, political and professional bodies held elaborate programmes. On this day in 1975, the Father of the Nation along with most of his family members was assas-sinated by a section of disgruntled and ambitious army personnel. His two daughters - Sheikh Hasina, now prime minister, and Sheikh Rehana-escaped the bloodbath as they were abroad. The day was a public holiday. The day's programme started with the hoisting of National Flag at half-mast and raising ...

    The dwellers of Garati enclave in sadar uapzila of the district celebrated the historic swap of enclaves with India by hoisting the Bangladeshi national flag on Saturday morning. The national flag was hoisted in Forkania Madrassa playground in Panchagarh sadar upazila at 6 am. As part of the process to implement the 1974 historic Land Boundary Agreement, Bangladesh and India formally swapped their enclaves in the wee hours of Saturday, bringing an end to the 68-year statelessness of thousands of people. With the midnight swap, the 51 Bangladesh enclaves in India have become Indian territories while 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh the Bangladesh territories. Mohammad Samsul Alam, acting deputy commissioner of Panchagarh, Giasuddin Ahmed, su-perintendent of police of ...

    Police arrested another accused in connection with the murder of teenage boy Rajon from Sheikhpara of Sylhet on Friday morning, rising the number of arrestees to eight. The arrestee was identified as Ali Haider. Officer-in-charge of Jalalabad Police Station Akhter Hossain said local people caught Haider around 11:30 am and handed him over to police. Earlier on July 8, the 13-year-old boy, Sheikh Samiul Alam Rajon, son of Sheikh Azizur Rahman of Badeali village in Sadar upazila, was brutally tortured to death over a theft at Sundar Ali Market in Kumargaon area of the city. The killers themselves took the video footage of the incident and uploaded it on the internet. The video clip went viral on social networking site Facebook and video-sharing site Youtube which cause...

    Prime minister’s son and her ICT Adviser Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy has thanked the Awami League government for its hard work to turn Bangladesh into a lower-middle-income country. Reiterating her mother’s new target, he hoped Bangladesh would become a higher-middle-income economy by the end of the government’s current tenure. In a Facebook post, he wrote, “Bangladesh is no longer a poor country. It is now officially a middle-income country. “Per capita income has more than doubled during the past six years of our government, poverty level almost halved, tremendous development has taken place in all socio-economic sectors.” Attributing the progress to the efforts of the government, he said, “All thanks to the hard work of our Awami League government.” World Bank on Wedne...

    A training aircraft of the Bangladesh Air force has crashed in the Bay of Bengal, and its pilot Flight Lieutenant Tahmid is still missing. The Air Force, the Navy and the Coastguard are jointly searching for the pilot and the wreckage in the Bay. The F-7 aircraft  took off from Chittagong Shah Amanat Airport around 10.30 this morning, and lost contact with the control room around 11am. It is assumed that the plane crashed 6 nautical miles off Patenga beach in Chittagong. The coast guard claims that they have traced some debris of the aircraft.

    At least eight people lost their lives yesterday in flash floods and landslides triggered by incessant rain, which continued to wreak havoc across the country since Wednesday. The rains also caused severe waterlogging in Chandpur, Patuakhali, Barisal and many parts of the capital. Cox's Bazar remains the worst sufferer, as it recorded 879mm of rain in the last 60 hours. Heavy rains lashing down on the district caused landslides in barren hills and claimed the lives of six people, including two children, on the isle of St. Martins. Many areas and towns in Chandpur and Khulna have remained waterlogged. This has created panic among the locals, who fear a sea surge in the southwestern coast. Reports from Cox's Bazar say four people were swept away by flash floods in Ukhia ...