The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Monday told top bureaucrats that the current parliament would serve out its full tenure, but it would not hold any session in three months before the expiry of its five-year term. She also made it clear that her cabinet would not take any policy decisions between October 27 this year and January 24, 2014. […]

Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday warned that the government would make a ‘painfully exit’ if it obstructed opposition’s rallies and processions. Addressing a students’ gathering he condemned the police for not allowing Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal to march in a procession from Suhrawardy Udyan on Monday. He protested at the arrest of JCD leaders […]

At least 387 Bangladeshi workers were arrested in Malaysia in two days ending Monday during ongoing crackdown on undocumented foreign workers. They were among 2,433 undocumented foreign workers arrested in the scheduled crackdown beginning Sunday morning, Malaysian daily, The Star reported on Monday. Earlier, the Malaysian authorities announced that the crackdown on foreign workers staying in that country illegally would […]

The cabinet on Monday endorsed a bill that proposes stripping convicted collaborators and war criminals of their voting rights. When the bill becomes a law those convicted under the Collaborators’ Tribunal Order 1972 or the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973 would lose their right to vote. Chaired by prime minister Sheikh Hasina the weekly cabinet meeting at the secretariat approved […]

Students of Jagannath University have clashed with local businessmen in Dhaka over the news of a fellow student getting beaten up. No injuries had been reported from the 30-minute clash that started on Monday noon. The Kotwali police officer-in-charge, Shah Alam, said a Jagannath University student had an argument with a watch repairman at a market in Islampur. The clash […]

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Monday asked New York based Human Rights Watch and its two officials to explain in three weeks why contempt proceedings would not be drawn against them. At a scheduled full court hearing, the tribunal took up the matter of ‘Chief Prosecutor Versus Human Rights Watch and 2 others’ and directed its registrar to serve the […]

The High Court on Monday asked the jail authorities to provide the detained Odhikar secretary Adilur Rahman Khan with facilities enjoyed by a class-1 prisoner in jail. The vacation bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice Zafar Ahmed passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by Adilur’s wife Saira Rahman Khan challenging the legality of lower court’s […]

The police have pressed charges against 362 people in seven of the 19 cases filed for attacks on and looting of Buddhist temples and houses in the Cox’s Bazar district headquarters and Ramu, Ukhia and Teknaf upazilas in September 2012. Although various inquiry reports quoting victims said that people belonging to all the major political parties were involved in the […]

The British government was accused of ‘breathtaking laxity’ in its arms controls last night after it emerged that officials authorised the export to Syria of two chemicals capable of being used to make a nerve agent such as sarin a year ago, The Independent newspaper reported on Monday. The UK government has rejected the claims, reports BBConline. The story has […]

The information ministry has said the finance ministry should reconsider its decision to increase the rate of government advertisements for national dailies and periodicals by 50 per cent. In a letter to the finance ministry on Sunday the information ministry observed that 50 per cent hike approved by the finance ministry was not sufficient as printing cost of the newspapers […]