Hasan Arif, HossainZillur visitsChittagong today |
Staff Correspondent
The newly appointed advisers A F Hossain Arif and Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman arrive at the port city on Friday to visit the graveyards of their parents.
Of the two advisers who have been sworn in on Wednesday A F M Hasan Arif in Charge of the ministry of Law, Justice and Parliament affairs and will be visiting Chittagong for a short period.
According to official sources A F M Hasan Arif will visit his mother’s graveyard at city’s Katalganj at around 7:00 pm on Friday and after short stay at Nasirabad Housing Society will leave Chittagong for Dhaka on the same night. More....
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| Work pattern of CCH
to be reinforced soon |
Staff Correspondent
In a bid to bring pace in the routine works at Chittagong Customs House (CCH) series of changes will soon be brought which is expected to eliminate the time-consuming and indiscipline work pattern in the public organization apart from easing its overall activities.
As part of the initiative, all activities related export will be handled in the ground floor of the Customs House and a special counter will be opened.
Customs Commissioner (Export) will sit in the ground floor for supervising the activities. Earlier, all works related to export have long been handling unsystematic way without having any particular desk. |
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Looting shrouded in mystery
TK 6.61 lakh of BRAC
snatched at Colonelhat |
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Jashimuddin (Accountant) and Monirul Islam of BRAC, who were detained in connection with over Tk 6 lak snatching by muggers on Thursday afternoon. Photo : AUH Dulal |
Staff Correspondent
Armed snatchers looted away TK 6.61 lakh in cash from two employees of the local branch of a national NGO - BRAC at city's Colonel Hat area under Pahartali police station yesterday afternoon.
The looting of such a big amount of money is shrouded in mystery as the carriers did not raise any protest and the incident took place without any brawl.
Police neither could arrest the snatchers nor recovered the looted money till the time of filing this report on Thursday night.
Top officials of the NGO including regional manager and area manager rushed to the police station soon after the incident.
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| Death anniv of MA Aziz today |
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The 37th death anniversary of mass leader M. A. Aziz, one of the pioneers of the Bangali nationalist movement, one of the founders of Bangladesh Awami League and close associate of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman will be observed today. |
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| One crushed
under wheels
of Covered van |
Staff Correspondent
A pedestrian was killed when a covered van crashed him under its wheels at city's Saltgola area under Bandar police station yesterday afternoon.
The victim was identified as Sabu Das, 23, hailed from village Boiltali in Chandanaish police station.
Police quoting eyewitnesses
said that he was crashed under the wheel of heavy van while crossing the road. He died on the spot.
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National News |
| Moeen asks for
stable rice prices |
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P View desk.
Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed Thursday called upon the business community not to adopt unfair means and to
keep stable rice prices, which appear to have been jacked up in recent times.
"Public means everything to government. The job of the government is to control the price hike of rice. And all of our duty is to cooperate with the government in this regard," he said, UNB reports from Dhaka.
He made further strongly worded observations in his statement after receiving cash and relief materials for the Army Fund for the Sidr-affected people of the country at Army Officers' Mess at Dhaka Cantonment. |
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BB Governor announces Monetary Policy
Economic situation to
Improve in 2nd half |
P View desk
Bangladesh Bank Thursday projected that the inflation is likely to ease at 8.0-8.2 percent in the second half of the current fiscal year (January-June '08) from the level of 11.21 percent in November 2007. The projection is a full percentage point more than 7.2 percent in
the previous fiscal year (2006-07), UNB reports from Dhaka.
The central bank also projected a GDP growth of 6.0-6.2 percent in 2007-08, less than the Bangladesh Bank's independent Policy Analysis Unit (PAU) projection of 6.5 percent, but half a percentage point more than that World
Bank's 5.5 percent.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed revealed the revised projections as he announced the Monetary Policy Stance for January-June '08 period at a `Meet the Press' programme at the Bangladesh Bank conference room.
"It's a forward looking projection as we expect the overall economic situation to improve in the second half," he said, terming the Bank's policy stance as "pro-growth, pro-employment and pro-income generating."
The Governor explained the strategy that the central bank would continue its efforts to lower lending rates to expand credit flow to the real sectors like agriculture, SMEs and to women entrepreneurs.
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| Salahuddin to serve 7 years |
bdnews24.com Dhaka
A special court dealing with high-profile political corruption Thursday sentenced former BNP state minister Salauddin Ahmed to seven years in jail for taking bribes from a businessman.
Judge Mohammad Ashraf Hossain of the Special Judge's Court-5 delivered the verdict against the former state minister for communications in a makeshift courtroom on the Sangsad Bhaban premises.
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| Newcomers for dialogue
with political parties |
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Five newly appointed advisers (from top left) Major General Golam Kader(Rtd), Dr. AMM Sowkat Ali, Rasheda K Chowdhury, Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman( from bottom left) and AF Hasan Arif attend office after distribution of respective portfolio on Thursday. Photo : Focus Bangla |
P View desk
The newly appointed advisers yesterday (Thursday) said that their caretaker government would hold dialogue with the political parties on the issue of election to resolve the prevailing political crisis. One of the five said that today's Cabinet meeting, where the advisors were allocated portfolios, discussed the issue of holding dialogue with the political parties.
The new advisors, however, disagreed with the demand for holding election before June 2008 and immediate withdrawal of the state of emergency.
In their maiden reaction to reporters after assuming office in the Bangladesh Secretariat, the advisors said the caretaker government's very first challenge is to hold a free, fair and acceptable general election by 2008 as per the government-announced roadmap and hand over power to an elected government.
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| Three Special
Assistants to
CA appointed |
P View desk
Three 'Special Assistants to Chief Advisor' were appointed Thursday with the rank of state minister, under a new arrangement aimed at enlarging the caucus of the caretaker government.
They are Brig Gen (retd) MA Malek, former PDB chairman, Professor M Tamim of
BUET and Barrister Debashis Roy, UNB reports from Dhaka.
Chief Advisor Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed gave the appointments, a day after five new advisors were sworn in his council of advisors to fill up as many vacancies.
Earlier in the day today, the Chief Advisor at a special meeting of the council of Advisers at his office reshuffled portfolios of the advisory council members.
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Global News |
| Suicide bombing kills 22
outside court in Pakistan |
AP/UNB, Lahore
A suicide bomber blew himself up among police deployed outside a court in eastern Pakistan ahead of a planned anti-government protest Thursday, killing at least 22 people and wounding dozens more, officials and witnesses said.
The blast in front of Lahore High Court was the latest in a wave of attacks targeting politicians and security forces ahead of Feb.
18 parliamentary elections. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suspicion will likely fall on militants linked to Taliban and al-Qaida.
It came as Scotland Yard investigators visited forensic laboratories elsewhere in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, to examine evidence in the assassination two weeks ago of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi, a garrison city to the north.
"I have not heard such a big explosion in my life. We felt as if our ear drums were about to burst," said Abdul Hameed, a lawyer's assistant who was inside the court when the bomber struck.
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| Bush visit great hope for
Palestinians : Abbas |
AP/UNB, Ramallah
U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday predicted that a Mideast peace treaty would be completed by the time he leaves office. He said he's convinced that both Israeli and Palestinian leaders understand "the importance of democratic states living side by side" in peace.
"I am confident that with proper help, the state of Palestine will emerge." Bush told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "And I'm confident when it emerges, it will be a major step toward peace.
I am confident that the status quo is unacceptable, Mr. President, and we want to help you."
Abbas, standing alongside Bush, called on Israel to fulfill its commitments to a Mideast peace plan, and said he hopes "this will be the
year for the creation of peace."
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