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Victories for Victoria, Agrani

Posted by NEWS

Victoria and Agrani Bank have confirmed their tickets to the final round of the Grameenphone Federation Cup.

Both sides earned solitary-goal wins against Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) and Uttar Baridhara at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Sunday.

Striker Toklis Ahmed scored the winner for Victoria in the 40th minute.

Capitalising on a through-pass, the striker entered the box to shrug off Air Force defender Abdul Kader before tapping the ball home.

Forward Nur Hossain Ripon put 10-man Agrani Bank ahead in the 27th minute tapping a cross of Sujon Mahmud.

The bankers had to play the final 15 minutes a man down after Hanif Prodhan was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Hili land port operations resume

Posted by methun

Hili land port in Dinajpur has resumed operations after an 11-day halt on Saturday.

"Indian trucks carrying goods have started entering Bangladesh from around noon on Saturday," said Nurul Ferdous, officer-in-charge of Bangladesh's Hili Immigration.

Quoting general secretary Ashok Kumar Mandal of Indian Exporters and Customs Clearing Agents Association of Hili , Bangladesh C&F Agents Association president Abul Kashem said Hili land port resumed operations after Indian authority reinstated a decision to take permission from the Indian Hili authority for exports of Bangladeshi products.

Earlier, tender passes were taken from the Indian Hili customs authority for exporting Bangladeshi goods. Recently an order from the Maldah customs said that permission have to be obtained from the Maldah customs authority for Bangladeshi goods export.

Indian businessmen stopped export-import activities for an indefinite period protesting against the decision on Dec 13.

Coastguards detain 23 leaving for Malaysia illegally

Posted by methun

Coastguards at Teknaf detained 23 people, including 18 Myanmar citizens, who were preparing to start for Malaysia without any valid travel documents on Friday.

They were held from a boat in Dakkhinpara Badambania area of the Saint Martins Island around 10pm, Shahparir Island coastguard camp official Matiur Rahman told .

The people of Myanmar, along with five from Chokoria and Patia, made a deal with Chakaria's Kamal Uddin to take them to Malaysia in exchange for Tk 50,000-70,000 each, he said.

They gave Tk 20,000 each in advance and were on their way to a trawler waiting for them to start for Malaysia.

Several of the passengers of the boat fled the scene when the coastguards reached the area, the Saint Martins Island Station sub-lieutenant M M Masud Shikder said.

Pvt school teachers threaten self immolation

Posted by methun

Hundreds of non-government primary school teachers holding demonstration at the Central Shaheed Minar have threatened self immolation if their demand for regularisation of jobs is not met.

"We will resort to this extreme step on Dec 27 if our demands are not met by then," said Mohammad Shamsul Alam of the National Non-Government Primary Teachers' Oikya Parishad, a platform comprising four organisations of non-government primary school teachers.

The teachers want the government to immediately nationalise 24,000 non-government primary schools and provide the 100,000-plus teachers with same privileges as those of government school teachers.

"Otherwise, a self immolation programme will be observed as part of the non-stop programmes that started from Dec 21," warned Alam.

Member secretary of the platform Abdur Rahman Bachchu told  that no assurances had been received from the government, so far though the non-government registered schools are under the primary and mass education ministry.

Workers' Party president Rashed Khan Menon has expressed solidarity with the protesting teachers and assured that he would take up the matter with the education minister, said Bachchu, who is a teacher at Madaripur Police Line Primary School.

Assistant teacher of Faridpur's Zagdia Balia Primary School, Reena Parvin, who has left her four-year old child home to join protests, said she will not return home until the demands are met.

Younus Ali, headmaster of Pabna's Bhatkia Chodpara (reg.) School, urged the government to pay heed to the teachers' demands. "The government will need only Tk 4.2 billion to nationalise the non-government primary schools of the country," he added.

20-yr-old held for killing friend

Posted by methun

A youth, Zahed Mahmud, has been arrested for the murder of 21-year-old Mohammad Kafil Uddin in Chittagong.

The police said Mahmud, 20, has admitted to "accidentally" killing his friend following offensive comments.

The Chittagong police recovered the body of Kafil on Dec 19 from a corner of the area's Jamia Tul Falah mosque. The deceased, a second-year Computer Science student of the International Islami University (IIUC), had his hands slashed and injury marks on the neck.

"Mahmud strangulated Kafil to death and then slashed the victim's veins in order to mislead the law-enforcing agencies," Mahanagar police commissioner Abul Kalam told reporters on Sunday.

Mahmud, a resident of the city's Baghmoniram area, confessed that he lost his temper after Kafil made an offensive comment regarding his physical structure.

"I regret killing him and am ready to accept whatever the punishment is," he told reporters at the Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) headquarters on Sunday. He also claimed that he had been suffering from mental problems since the crime.

Police inspectors Sandeep Kumer Das and Mohammad Mohsin told  that the police have recovered the laptop and money which was taken from the deceased Mahmud after his killing.

Razzak burial Monday

Posted by methun

The body of late Awami League leader Abdur Razzak has been kept at the BIRDEM Hospital mortuary.

The mortal remains of the Shariatpur-3 legislator, who never lost an election, would be kept there until Monday when it would be taken to his village at Shariatpur's Damudda.

Razzak would be buried in the capital's Banani graveyard later in the day.

Earlier, Awami League supporters paid their last respects to their late leader as his body was taken from the Central Shaheed Minar to the party's Bangabandhu Avenue headquarters around 6:20pm.

After around 15 minute's halt there, relatives of Razzak left for the BIRDEM mortuary.

His second namaz-e-janaza in Bangladesh was held at the National Eidgah ground around 4pm. The body was taken to the Shaheed Minar afterwards.

Baitul Mokarram National Mosque's Khatib Mohammad Salahuddin conducted the second janaza attended by leaders of various political parties and people from a broad spectrum of the society.

Ruling Awami League leaders and Razzak's long time associates, advisory council members Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed and Abdul Jalil, attended the janaza along with Mohammad Nasim, Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif, Qamrul Islam, Jahangir Kabir Nanak and others.

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, joint secretary general Amanullah Aman, vice-president Abdullah Al Noman also attended the second janaza among the leaders of other political parties.

Of the 14-party grand alliance leaders, Workers' Party president Rashed Khan Menon and National Awami Party general secretary Enamul Haque attended the prayers.

The first namaz-e-janaza in Bangladesh of the leading organisor of the 1971 Liberation War took place around 3pm at the parliament building premises, which was attended by speaker Abdul Hamid, deputy speaker Shawkat Ali, cabinet members and MPs.

Before the janaza, Razzak's son Nahin Razzak urged everyone to pray for the departed soul of his father.

After the janaza, a police team gave state honour and floral tributes to Razzak.

A BNP-delegation led by Moudud Ahmed and A S M Hannan Shah also paid their last respects by placing wreaths on his coffin.

The janaza took place after his body was taken there from his Gulshan residence where president Zillur Rahman and prime minister Sheikh Hasina had paid their homage to the 69-year-old veteran politician.

They also consoled the family of the Awami League advisory council member.

Razzak's body was taken there from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after the Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight carrying his remains from London landed at 12:15pm.

His family members including his wife Farida Razzak and two sons were with the body.

Razzak died at King's College Hospital in London at 03:50pm local time (9:50pm Bangladesh standard time) on Friday while under treatment.

A namaj-e-janaza was held there on Saturday.

His long time associates Amu, Tofail and Jalil paid their floral tributes to him at the airport.

Awami League leaders Nanak, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Suranjit Sengupta, Obaidul Quader and Shahara Khatun, Faruk Khan, ruling party ally Workers' Party chief Menon and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSaD) president Hasanul Haque Inu, among others, were also present at the airport.

Caretakers before new EC: BNP

Posted by methun

BNP joint secretary-general Goyeshwar Chandra Roy has questioned president's talks with political parties to form a new Election Commission, saying his party is more interested in "reinstating the caretaker government system".

"We are very clear...first decide on the caretaker government issue and then form the Election commission," he told a media briefing at Dhaka Reporters' Unity auditorium on Sunday in a seminar titled "40 Years of Victory: People's Desire and Gains", organised by Shushil Forum.

"People want decision on the caretaker government issue rather than reconstitution of the Election Commission, because the Election Commission under a party-based government will be a 'puppet' institution [of the government]," he added.

The caretaker government system was abolished with the 15th amendment to the constitution, and so, the next national poll will have to be held under the incumbent Awami League-led government.

The main opposition BNP has been expressing dissent with the amendment and refusing to go to elections under any party government. BNP chief Khaleda Zia has already led three road marches this year, so far, demanding reinstatement of the caretaker system.

"The constitution does not give the president the right to hold dialogues to form the Election Commission. But still, dialogue is being conducted by him," Roy said.

"The aim is to form a 'puppet' election commission," he alleged.

President M Zillur Rahman started holding dialogues with parties represented in parliament from Dec 22. On the first day, he heard from Jatiya Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSad). The president will hold dialogues with other parties in the days ahead.

Referring to the president's not taking part in the Victory Day and Martyrs Intellectual Day programmes, Goyeshwar said, "People were told then that he [the president] is ill. And now, he is holding dialogues. People are wondering why the president did not attend the national programmes."