Devastating fire at Amin Colony Girl killed, 315 structures gutted
Staff Correspondent
A twelve-year-old girl was burnt alive and five others suffered wounds in an inferno that broke out at the cluster of thatched houses of Amin Jute Mills Colony, mainly made for workers and employees of the state-run Jute Mills in the city slightly after zero hour on Tuesday.
The fire also damaged dozens of shops and dwellings nearby. Neither the firefighters nor the local inhabitants could tell exact number of structures destroyed in the fire.
A source of the Fire Brigade and Civil Defense, however, claimed that 294 semi-concrete dwellings, 19 grocery shops and two local offices of private voluntary development organizations (PVDO) were gutted completely in the fire.
Condolence book for Mahboob Draws huge Response
Staff Correspondent
The condolence book that has recently been opened in remembrance of language movement hero and poet Mahbub-ul-Alam Chowdhury and recording the messages from the poet's admirers, friends and well-wishers has received huge response in the first few hours.
A civic body, formed recently to organize and oversee events on the life and works of language veteran and poet Mahbubul Alam, launched the condolence book on Monday.
The book was kept at Chittagong Sahid Minar from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. People from all-walks have written their feelings on the book.
A total of 101 persons wrote their feelings about the poet during three hours. The book will remain open for the next two days.
Journalist Latifi passes away
Staff Correspondent
Former senior vice president of Chittagong Press Club and General Secretary of Chittagong Union of Journalists (CUJ) Alhaj Imamul Islam Latifi died of complicated diseases on Tuesday morning at a city clinic.
He was 62 and he left behind two sons, nine brothers, six sisters, professional colleagues and host of relatives to mourn his death.
He was buried at his family graveyard in Mirsarai after Namaj-e-Janaza on Tuesday afternoon.
Views exchanging with NBR Chairman today
A views exchanging between newly assigned chairman of National Board of Revenue (NBR) and Secretary of the Internal Resources Division Md. Abdul Majid and the leaders of Chittagong Chamber and other trade bodies at Chamber auditorium at 3.30 pm today.
Holy Christmas celebrated
Staff Correspondent
Members of the Christian community here on Tuesday celebrated their greatest religious festival Holy Christmas in the city and elsewhere in the district with traditional enthusiasm and solemn devotion.
Nearly 10,000 Christians in Chittagong celebrated the festival that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ.
In the city all Christian families started to pulsate with festivity since the clock struck at zero hours of yesterday.
National News
15 remanded over artefact theft
P View desk
A Dhaka court Tuesday remanded 15 people for five days in a case that involves their alleged roles in the theft of two rare artefacts from Zia International Airport.
Of the arrestees, three were officials of Air France's Dhaka office and seven were cargo loaders.
Airport police sub-inspector Monu Shoheb Imtiaz, investigating officer of the case, sought 10 days to quiz the arrestees, but the court approved only five days, bdnews24.com reports from Dhaka.
The first information report did not mention the names of the accused. The 15 people were arrested on suspicion of their involvement in the incident and sent to court.
Prayers for peace mark Christmas
P View desk
Christians in Bangladesh Tuesday celebrated Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, amid festivity and with calls for peace and religious harmony.
The Christians joined with those across the globe in celebrating the day with different festivities while many Muslim scholars echoed the call of the Pope Benedict XVI for peace in the increasingly violent world, bdnews24.com reports from Dhaka.
Bangladeshi peacekeepers’ sacrifice glorifies nation: Iftekhar
P View desk
Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury Tuesday said Bangladeshi blue helmets’ sublime sacrifice for world peace glorifies the nation and inspires the global community.
“Our peacekeepers have taken up the peacekeeping mission as challenge. We have turned the sacrifice into the strength. We are playing an important role in establishing global peace and bringing about stability in conflict-ridden areas,” he said, UNB reports from Dhaka.
The Foreign Adviser made the statement at a commemorative meeting at the Jatiya Press Club marking the 4th anniversary of death of 15 army men killed in a plane crash in Benin on this day in 2003.
Global News
Bombings kill 26 in Iraq
AP, Baghdad
A suicide car bomb exploded outside a residential complex belonging to a state-run oil company north of Baghdad on
Tuesday, killing 22 people and wounding 80, police, local hospital officials and the U.S. military said.
In a separate attack northeast of Baghdad, four people were killed in a separate suicide bombing targeting a funeral procession for two members of an anti-al-Qaida, officials said.
Local authorities said victims were still being pulled from the rubble of two destroyed buildings and that the death toll was expected to rise.
Modi sworn in for third term as Gujarat CM
AP, Ahmadabad
Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi, arguably India's most divisive politician, was sworn in Tuesday for
a third term as chief minister in the western Indian state of Gujarat.
Thousands of supporters waving saffron flags gathered in an Ahmadabad stadium to watch Modi take the oath of office after his Bharatiya Janata Party swept state elections, defeating the Congress party, which heads the federal government.
The election win has been seen as a personal victory for Modi after a bitter campaign fought in the shadow of anti-Muslim riots that left more than 1,000 people dead in 2002.