BANGLADESH

A chamber justice of the Appellate Division has stayed a previous High Court (HC) order for four weeks that asked the inspector general of police (IGP) to appear before it on May 16.

Police chief Hasan Mahmud Khandaker on Tuesday received summons from the High Court to explain steps taken to locate two 'missing' Islamic University (IU) students who allegedly went missing almost three months back.

In response to a government appeal, the Appellate Division justice, Syed Mahmud Hossain, passed the order on Wednesday.

Attorney general Mahbube Alam and deputy attorney general Sarder Mohammad Rashed Jahangir argued for the state during the hearing.

"Besides staying the High Court's previous order for four weeks, the court also ordered to move to it with a regular appeal with four weeks," Rashed Jahangir told .

According to the petition filed over the 'disappearance' of the duo, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel in plain clothes picked up the two IU unit leaders of Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) from a bus at Nabinagar in Savar while they were returning to Kushtia from Dhaka on the night of Feb 4.

The missing leaders are Al Mukaddas of Al-Fiqh and Mohammad Waliullah of Dawah departments. Mukaddas is the cultural secretary of the university unit of the ICS while Waliullah is its finance secretary.

A four-day strike was observed at the university in Kushtia town in protest against the 'forced disappearance' of the two leaders.

Following a writ appeal, the High Court on Feb 15 issued a rule asking the government officials to explain why they should not be directed to produce the duo before it to prove that they were not detained illegally.

Hearing the writ petition, the bench of justices Abdul Awal and Mohammad Ashraful Kamal had issued the summons to the IGP on Tuesday.

Police on Thursday pressed charges against BNP's acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 44 others for their alleged role in torching a bus in front of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) during the Apr 29 general strike.

Detective Branch inspector Nurul Amin, who is investigating the case, pressed the charges with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in the morning and sought arrest warrants.

Tejgaon police filed a case on Apr 29 accusing the leaders of the BNP and its allies of backing the strikers who allegedly set the bus on fire in front of the PMO.

Among the accused, BNP's joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi was arrested and sent to jail, pending further order, while another joint secretary general Mahbubuddin Khokon was on bail.

Defence lawyer Masud Ahmed told that if convicted in the case, one may face up to two years in jail. According to the law, there is a 30-day deadline to finish the case as it was filed under the speedy trial act. The investigator may get an extension of 15 days if it is not concluded in 30 days.

The charge-sheeted accused also include BNP leaders MK Anwar, Hannan Shah, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Mirza Abbas, Khandoker Mosharraf Hossain, Amanullah Aman, Ruhul Kuddus Talukdar Dulu, Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Fazlul Haque Milon, Sharif Uddin Chowdhury Anne, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal president Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, Liberal Democratic Party president Oli Ahmed, Jamaat-e-Islami acting chief Mokbul Hossain, BJP President Andalib Rahman Partha and Swechchhasebak Dal president Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel

After a week of the government announcement to procure rice and paddy from the local market, the Directorate General of Food sent letters to its offices in different districts fixing targets to buy the Boro crops.

"The launch of the drive to buy rice and paddy needs completion of particular processes after the decision is taken. We sent the letters after finishing the process on Tuesday," Director General of Food Directorate Ahmad Hossain Khan told .

He claimed that the letters had reached the local offices.

The crop procurement committees at district and upazila levels had already finished preparations, he said adding the drive to buy the crops would start next week.

At a meeting on Apr 30, the Food Planning and Monitoring Committee (FPMC) of the food ministry had decided to collect rice and paddy of the Boro season from May 3.

Food Minister Abdur Razzak had said the government would procure rice at Tk 28 a kg and paddy at Tk 18 a kg until September.

Tenth witness in the sensational 10-truck arms haul case, a police official, told a port city court on Tuesday that a number of National Security Intelligence (NSI) officials had pressured against the seizure.

Then deputy commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Abdullah Hel Baki made his submission in the court of S M Mojibur Rahman, the Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions Judge and Senior Special Tribunal-1 judge.

Baki said the NSI officials were at the jetty of state-owned Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Factory Ltd (CUFL) during the seizure on the night of Apr 1, 2004.

Six people, including the then deputy director, Maj Liakat Hossain, came to meet him with two police officials on duty at the police camp at the coal depot northeast of the jetty.

"Maj Liakat asked me, 'Why are you making the seizure? DG [NSI director general] Brigadier General Abdur Rahim knows about this.' He then passed me his mobile phone and asked me to talk with the DG on line."

Baki, who is currently the Sylhet Metropolitan Police's additional commissioner, added that they got very irritated when he declined to talk over phone with Rahim.

He continued that his senior, then CMP Commissioner Sabbir Ali, told him not to get into conflict with the NSI officials without proper evidence.

"They were not arrested as I thought that NSI's involvement would come out during the probe anyway. Also, Maj Liakat put pressur on me."

"Even the probe committee led by the home secretary did not accept my claims about their involvement," Baki added.

The police official also identified Liakat Hossain in the court, who is accused of overseeing the unloading of the cache of arms at the jetty that night.

Former NSI chiefs Rahim and Rejjakul Haider, Liakat, then Industries Minister Matiur Rahman Nizami and State Minister for Home Lufozzaman Babar are accused in the case.

The project cost of the 1.8-km Mirpur-Airport Road flyover through the restricted Dhaka Cantonment zone, an overpass and a connecting bridge at Banani rail crossing has doubled.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday approved the revised Construction of Flyover at Mirpur-Airport Road and Overpass at Banani Rail Crossing project, for which the cost has gone up to Tk 3.6 billion from the original outlay of Tk 1.92 billion.

The approval was given at its meeting held in the NEC conference room in city's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, with ECNEC chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

The deadline to implement the project has also been extended by one year.

The top economic policymaking body of the government approved a total of seven development projects, including one for the construction of the flyover, Acting Planning Division Secretary Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam told reporters after the meeting.

The army's Special Works Organisation (SWO), and the Roads and Highways Department of the communications ministry took charge of the project last June 2010 with the target of completing it by June 2012.

In the revised project plan, the implementation deadline has been extended by one year. The total project cost be borne by the national exchequer.

Installations from about seven acres of land are being removed and relocated from the restricted Dhaka Cantonment zone to implement the project.

The project cost have been revised due to more space required for two additional lanes dedicated to the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, inclusion of a new connecting bridge, increased width and length of the flyover and overpass and the overall increase in the cost of the project work.

The revised project aims to ease the city's nagging traffic jam, ensure signal-free uninterrupted traffic operation, and to reduce road mishaps and development of traffic management at the Banani railway crossing and its neighbouring areas including Army Stadium and Naval Headquarters.

Starting from Matikata, the flyover ends at Radisson Hotel. People using the flyover would not face the cantonment's check posts. At present, the residents of Mirpur and Pallabi have to take a long detour at Bijoy Sarani or Agargaon to go to airport putting extra pressure on the busy Airport Road.

The 0.8-km Banani overpass will have six lanes and a designated road. A link bridge will connect the overpass with the flyover.

BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other senior leaders met Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Monday night after being granted a seven-day reprieve by the High Court.

He was accompanied by A S M Hannan Shah, Mirza Abbas, Amanullah Aman and other top brass of the party during the visit to Khaleda's Gulshan office.

Fakhrul and other senior BNP leaders, after spending a week in 'hiding', appeared before the High Court earlier in the day to press for their anticipatory bail plea in two cases filed over bomb blasts, arson and vandalism during Apr 29 countrywide shutdown.

The bench of justices Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Mohammad Nazrul Islam Talukder gave a split verdict on the petition but gave them respite for seven days by ordering police not to harass them during the intervening period.

Immediately after the order, the BNP spokesperson went to the party's headquarters in Naya Paltan and vowed to continue anti-government demonstrations on the streets.

A Political Science lecturer of the Dhaka University has allegedly been abducted.

Proctor Amzad Ali told bdnews24.com: "A student told us about the abduction of Nur Uddin Alo around Monday midnight. The police have been informed and the steps have been taken on the part of the university"

The reportedly abducted lecturer has no fixed residence. He is said to be running a school at Tongi. "No one was found there," the proctor added.

A general diary was filed with Shahbagh police on Tuesday evening over the incident.

Officer in charge Shirajul Islam told bdnews24.com, a Political Science Department student of DU, Enamul Haque, filed the GD.

Haque claimed in the diary that his teacher sent a text message over mobile phone saying he had been kidnapped.

Islam continued that Alo was at Tongi when the SMS was sent. However, police could not find him there.

With the assistance of Rapid Action Battalion, police traced the mobile at Noakhali last, the official said.

"Nur Uddin Alo and his wife have filed a number of cases against each other earlier and police are looking into the matter," he added.

Jatiya Party (JP) chief Hussein Muhammad Ershad has spoken in favour of initiating national poll dialogues in parliament, a senior party leader has said.

Ershad spoke his mind on the poll dialogues during an hour-long visit to ruling Awami League chief and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office on Tuesday, a leader attending the meeting said.

JP presidium members Anisul Islam Mahmud and Ziauddin Bablu accompanied the former president to the prime minister.

"Discussions or dialogues, whatever you call it, the opposition will have to start it and start it in parliament", he quoted Hasina as saying.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also emphasised on the need for talks between the government and the opposition to resolve political differences, during her recent Bangladesh visit. Foreign diplomats and businessmen operating in Bangladesh have also been making similar appeals.

BNP, which has been pressing for reinstatement of the caretaker government provision, said that they were ready for the talks. However, one of the party's senior leaders, Moudud Ahmed, said on Tuesday that the government should initiate the talks.

Police submitted their first progress report on investigation into the missing of BNP leader M Elias Ali with a Dhaka court on Sunday.Banani Thana Inspector Kazi Mainul Islam submitted the report with Metropolitan Judge Moniruzzaman on Sunday noon.
The progress report stated that police sent wireless massages in every police stations of the country as part of their initial step to find out Elias Ali and his driver.
Meanwhile, an application has already been placed to BRTA authority for verifying the ownership the abandoned private car seized by police from city’s Mohakhali area.
Earlier, BNP Organizing Secretary of Sylhet Division and former MP M Elias Ali went missing along with his car and driver in the early hours of Wednesday.
Tahsina Rushdi Luna, wife of Elias Ali, lodged a General Diary (GD) with Banani Thana over the incident on the same day.
The High Court on Thursday issued a rule on the government to explain within 10 days why it should not be directed to produce Ilias Ali before the court.
The HC bench comprising of Justice Farid Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Hasan Arif issued the rule following a writ petition by the BNP leader`s wife, Tahsina Rushdi.

The HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik and Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim also issued a suo moto order on the government asking it to find Ilias Ali on the same day.

Meanwhile, a Dhaka court also directed Banani police to submit reports to it every 48 hours on the progress of the investigation into the whereabouts of Ilias Ali.

The postmortem of the bodies of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Mehrun Runi has been completed at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) morgue on Thursday afternoon.
Forensic Department chief of DMCH Kazi Golam Mokhlesur Rahman conducted the post mortem. Assistant professors of the same department Kamrul Hasan Sardar, Parvez and Iftekhar assisted him.
Golam Mokhlesur said, “We have kept necessary evidences as the bodies have been decomposed. These would be sent to chemical laboratory of Mohakhali. If they had fed something before killing, it would be disclosed in the report.”
Shariful Islam, brother-in-law of Sagar, said, “Two and half months have been passed. But, police could not do anything. We hope something may be revealed this time.”
Nowsher Alam, younger brother of Merun Runi, said, “I don’t think they can find out anything, which they could not in last two and half months.”
Earlier, a team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) stared exhumation of the bodies from 1015am and completed at 1107am.
The exhumation has started in presence of Investigation Officer and RAB ASP Jafarullah and RAB director (legal and Media Wing) Commander M Sohayel.
On Tuesday, Judge Bikash Kumar Saha of Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court ordered exhumation of the bodies of the journalist couple to ascertain the reason of their murder.
Executive Magistrate M Shahiduzzaman was appointed for supervising the exhumation.
Later, the bodies were buried again at Azimpur graveyard in the afternoon.
On February 11, senior reporter of ATN Bangla Runi and her husband Sagar Sarowar, who was news editor with Maasranga Television, were murdered at their west Rajabazar rented house in the city.
Nowsher Alam Roman, younger brother of Runi lodged a case accusing some unidentified persons on February 12.
On February 16, the twin murder case was transferred to the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) for fair investigation.
On April 18, the High Court directed the authority concerned to transfer the twin murder case of journalist couple Sagar and Runi to Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) after the detective police had admitted their failure in this regard.

The 47th birth anniversary of Sheikh Russel, the youngest son of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and brother of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is being observed Tuesday in tears.
Russel, born this day in 1964, was killed along with his father and most other family members on August 15, 1975 during a putsch by a group of disgruntled military-men.
The ruling Awami League has chalked out daylong programmes to mark the day.
Sheikh Russel Jatiya Shishu Kishore Parishad began the programme of the day hoisting the organization’s flag at around 7am.
The elaborate programmes include placing floral wreaths at the portrait of Bangabandhu at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi and offering prayers at the grave of Sheikh Russel.
A discussion and prize-distribution programme was arranged at Bangabandhu International Conference Center at around 10am. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was scheduled to attend the programme.
The city Awami League will hold a discussion at Bangabandhu Avenue at 3pm.
Awami League acting general secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif, in a statement published Monday, urged the party leaders and activists to observe the day with due solemnity.

Awami League (AL) lawmaker and former state minister for home Tanjim Ahmad Sohel Taj resigned as parliament member on Monday.A confidential parliament source confirmed about the matter on Monday.
According to source, Sohel’s additional personal assistant Abu Kawsar sent the resignation letter to the speaker’s office at about 1030am.However, acting parliament secretary Mahfujur Rahman said that he knew nothing in this regard.
Earlier, Sohel Taj, son of country`s first Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed, sent a letter to cabinet secretariat asking why a huge amount of money was sent to his account after two and a half years and why no gazette notification on his resignation was issued.
Meanwhile, he demanded that the government take back around Tk 40 lakh deposited in his account in remuneration and allowances for the post.
Earlier on June 1, 2009, he stepped down as state minister for home affairs about five months into his appointment.
Sohel Taj, son of country`s first Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed, submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her Office on the same day.
Later, he was made a minister without portfolio.
Sources said Sohel Taj did not specify any reason except `personal ground` for his resignation.

A Dhaka Court has indicted journalist Shafiq Rehman, daily Naya Diganta editor Alamgir Mohiuddin and its publisher Shamsul Huda for libel. The Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrates court of Hakim Shahriar Mahmud Adnan framed charge against the three on Thursday.
Bangladesh Quoran Shiksha Mission president Maolana Abu Bakar Siddique, who is also Awami Olama League vice-president, filed a case accusing the three for hurting religious sentiment and defaming Islam on Mar 6 in 2011.
According to the case statement, Naya Diganta ran a column on Feb 25 in 2011 written by Shafiq Rehman titled Not a chance editor, a chance adviser quoting former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque. In another column in the same newspaper, Shafique Rehman identified Khairul Haque as Chance Muhammad, it was alleged in the case.
It was alleged in the case that Shafiq Rehman criticised prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) by writing the column and hurt emotions of the Muslims and the religion Islam was defamed.
But the judge took into cognisance only the charge of the defamation.
All the three accused pleaded their innocence after the charge was read out before them.
A T M Golam Daud argued for the plaintiff while Abdullah Mahmud Hasan stood for the accused.

At least 10 people were killed and several others injured in storms and lightning strikes triggered by pre-monsoon rains at different parts of the country from Tuesday night to Wednesday afternoon.

According to reports, four people were killed in lightning strikes in Bagerhat, Kishoreganj and Habiganj districts on Wednesday while six died in house-collapse incidents as a Nor'wester lashed Thakurgaon and Dinajpur districts on Tuesday night.

In Thakurgaon, five people were killed and over 50 injured as the Nor'wester swept through Pirganj upazila.

Pirganj upazila executive officer (UNO) Abdur Rouf told that the storm hit the upazila around 7:30pm and continued for 30 minutes.

The deceased were identified as Abdul Halim (26), son of Sohrab Ali, Rina Akther (7), daughter of Yousuf Ali, and 'Sakibul' (9), son of Mohasin Ali of Jagannathpur village under Boirchuna union, and Sharifunnessa (70), wife of late Shakir Mohammad of Hazipara village, and Halima Banu (50) of Chandaria village under Jabarhat union.

Of the injured, 27 were admitted to Dinajpur and Rangpur medical college hospitals.

The Nor'wester damaged at least 5,000 houses and crops on a vast tract of land, the UNO said adding that at least 25 villages of Boirchuna and Jabarhat unions were badly affected by the storm. A large number of trees and electric poles also got uprooted.

In Dinajpur, Rezia Begum (40), wife of Moksed Ali of Barapukuria area of Parbatipur upazila, died instantly as a wall of her house collapsed on her during the storm.

In Bagerhat, a college student was killed in lightning strike at Nalua village of Chitalmari upazila on Wednesday around 1:30pm. A thunderbolt struck Ramjan Sheikh (20), son of Amjad Sheikh, of the village when he was collecting fallen mangoes.

In Kishoreganj, two people died in lightning strikes at the district's Tarail and Karimganj upazilas when they were working in the fields at noon.

The deceased were identified as Bassu Mia (60) of Mougaon village under Tarail upazila and Kajal Chandra Debnath (35) of Panahar village under Karimganj upazila.

In Habiganj, one was killed and six more injured as a thunderbolt struck them while working on a cropland at Jatradighi in Baniachang Haor area on Wednesday noon.

Officer-in-charge of the Baniachang Police Station Nirmalendu Chakrabarti told that the injured were rushed to Habiganj Sadar Modern Hospital where doctors pronounced Imran Mia (16), son of Khasru Mia of Amirkhali village of the upazila, dead.

Police have arrested the disgraced army officer who allegedly led the looting of Tk 20 million from a Chittagong shrine while being the commander of a RAB unit.

The former RAB-7 chief, discharged lieutenant colonel Zulfikar Ali Majumdar, has been the prime accused in the case after the incident at Talsara Darbar Sharif in Chittagong during a raid on Nov 4.

A police officer in Dhaka said Thursday that he was arrested from a house in the city's Maghbazar area.

"He was in a house in Bhuter Goli and we took him into custody at around 4am," Ramna OC Shah Alam told .

A Chittagong police officer, Anwara Police Station OC Abdus Salam, also participated in the raid and was the one who identified Zulfikar.

A case was filed against the commander and nine of his subordinates on Mar 13 this year. They were accused of breaking open the almirah of the shrine during a raid on Nov 4, 2011 and stealing Tk 20 million in cash. The RAB team arrested five Myanmar nationals, whom they handed over to police, but did not say anything about the money.

The accused law enforcers were withdrawn from their duties after a preliminary investigation.

Former students of Jahangirnagar University on Tuesday demonstrated and held a rally in the city's Shahbagh area protesting attacks by 'VC-backed Bangladesh Chhatra League activists' on teachers and cultural activists.

Some university teachers and activists of Jahangirnagar Sangskritik Jote came under attack on Apr 28, as they had been agitating to demand resignation of vice-chancellor Prof Sharif Enamul Kabir.

At the rally, the protesters came up with a four-point charter of demands, including punishment to the attackers and removal of the VC.

Other demands include judicial probe into the killing of JU student Zubair and holding polls to all the central student unions of the university, including JU Central Student Union.

"Not only the students and cultural activists, but teachers have also been attacked for demanding the VC's resignation in protest against his illegal activities," said Shashanka Baran Roy, a former JU student, who joined the demonstration.

"An autocratic vice-chancellor is sitting at the top of a power structure that is standing with support from some opportunist teacher and student organisations," he added.

Several other organisations including the Bangladesh Chhatra Federation and the Bangladesh Chhatra Union also joined the demonstration. Teachers also expressed their solidarity with the demonstrators.

Dhaka University Prof MM Akash urged the education minister and the prime minister "to intervene and save innocent students from what is happening currently at JU and the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology."

Pointing to the allegations of irregularities brought against the vice-chancellors of JU and BUET, he urged the minister to take action without further delay.

Meanwhile, the students demonstrating under the banners of the Jahangirnagar Sanskritik Jote and the Sontrasher Biruddhe Jahangirnagar on the campus began a fast-unto-death on Tuesday noon protesting the recent attacks and demanding the VC's removal.

Killing of Zubair, an English Department student of the university, fuelled the movement against the VC, already accused of appointing reportedly ineligible people as university teachers and felling trees on the campus for the sake of money.

Four days after being released on bail, miscreants threw acid on a witness of an acid attack case.

The victim, Selina Akter, 17, a resident of Matipur area in the district town, had testified against the attackers in the case filed for throwing acid on her younger sister, Farhana Akter, 15.

Noakhali district police superintendent Harunur Rashid Hajari said miscreants threw acid on Selina, a higher secondary student, after breaking into her house in the early hours of Tuesday.

Selina was admitted to the Noakhali Medical College Hospital immediately after the attack. Later, she was taken to the Acid Survivors' Foundation Hospital at Banani in the capital as her condition deteriorated.

The victim's mother, Mazeda Khatun, told bdnews24.com that her younger daughter Farhana had came under acid attack the same way on June 15 in 2010.

Farhana's family filed a case accusing Shahjahan Sunam, Yasin Arafat Sajib, Sharif Bihari, Giasuddin Raju, Mahmud and Parvez of the attack.

Selina had testified against them before a district court recently, and all the accused had obtained bail four days back, Mazeda added.

"They attacked my other daughter immediately after they were released," alleged Mazeda in presence of district police chief Hajari, who visited the victim at the Noakhali hospital.

Mazeda, a widow having six daughters, has been living on the help provided by her brothers since her husband had died last year.

"There is no justice in this country. My younger daughter did not get justice and now the elder one has become a victim of the same crime. What is the use of our survival? I along with all my daughters will commit suicide by taking poison," Mazeda continued to wail.

Doctor Mahabub Rahman of the hospital said Selina's face, neck and back had got burned with acid.

Hajari said Mazeda filed a case against the six youths at the Sudharam Police Station over the Tuesday attack and one of them had already been arrested.

"All the accused had been arrested earlier [in Farhana attack case]. Charge-sheet was pressed implicating all the six. But they have committed the same crime just after coming out of jail on bail," said Hajari.

According to Farhana, the youths used to harass her on way to and from school.

She alleged that the accused had been intimidating her family with dire consequences if the case filed against them was not withdrawn immediately.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said acquiring better skills and knowledge of technology application were necessary for workers to fight global challenges amid economic upheaval.

While global economic giants are passing hard times, Hasina said a concerted effort was needed for Bangladesh to stay afloat as many countries are adopting fiercer approaches to remain competitive in global market.

She said Bangladesh has a chance given the workers acquiring better skills despite tough challenges thrown by existing and emerging competitors.

"The country's manufacturing sector is facing a stiff competition because of global economic crisis. I call upon you to enhance skill and increase capability of application of technologies," she told a May Day discussion at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium.

The labour and employment ministry organised the discussion to commemorate the day.

The prime minister said united efforts by workers, employers and government could build Bangladesh as a developed and modern country.

Hasina also urged all to uphold the country's interest.
She said workers, employers and the nation would survive, if industries and factories sustain.

Saying her government has fulfilled demands of the workers, Hasina also urged them to pay more attention towards keeping the country's export market on course.

"We have fulfilled all of your demands. The working force would flourish if the industries sustain," she said.

Detailing her administration's various steps, she said the government formed the National Wage and Productivity Commission after assuming office this time.

She said the government decided to raise the salary and allowances by about 70 percent and a law will be enacted in this regard.

Hasina said her government has enhanced retirement age of the workers to 60 from 57 and announced minimum wages in different sectors including Tk 3,000 in the garment sector.

The prime minister said her 1996-2001 government had leased out a number of mills and factories to the workers on a partnership basis, and many of those mills and factories are now running well.

"This time, we resumed production at People's Jute Mills and Qaumi Jute Mills bringing smiles on the faces of the workers," she said.
Hasina said the government has formulated a contemporary policy for the industrial sector.

She said the government has also rolled out a policy to remove child workers and provide them with educational and vocational training after freeing them from sweatshops.

Hasina said her government wants that the lives of the workers be solvent and developed.

She said her administration had solved problems the workers faced and called on them to keep in mind what role the state was playing for them.

Addressing the industry owners, she said they needed to become a part of their workers' 'well and woes' to ensure a proper industrial state with high level of production.

Hasina recalled the sacrifice of the workers in Chicago and said Bangladesh has held its head high in the world, getting respects worldwide.

She said Bangladesh has become a model of development in the world and asked the workers to maintain this trend.

Hasina recalled various steps taken by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to ensure the rights of the workers.

She said the Father of the Nation had declared May Day a public holiday after independence.

"He had ensured the rights of the working people in the articles 14 and 19 in the constitution. He formed the wage commission and revived abandoned factories, banks and insurance by keeping them under public sector."

The prime minister said the government is working to increase exports by building factories.

She said her government's aim is to strengthen rural economy as production would increase in line with the rural people's buying capacity.

The prime minister said the objective of her party's politics is to improve quality of life of the working people.
Hasina also inaugurated the online trade union registration and factory registration and a May Day fair at the venue.

Nearly seven months after beheading eight Bangladeshis over murder charges, Saudi Arabia executed two more on Tuesday for killing and theft, the local media said.

The duo, Najoum Mohammad Amin Abdul-Sharif and Abdul-Majid Abu Bakr Hamza, were accused of killing another Bangladeshi national Mohammed Shaheen Mohammad Kabir and stealing his money and mobile phones, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported quoting a Ministry of Interior statement.

The statement said the Bangladeshis were executed in the city of Jazan.

"The General Court issued the sentence against them. It was approved by the Cassation Court and the Supreme Court. A royal order was issued to implement the sentence," it read.

The statement underlined the keenness of the government of Saudi Arabia on 'achievement of security and justice and implementation of rules of Sharia against anyone who attacks innocent people and sheds their blood'.

The ministry also warned of punishment against anyone who tried to commit crimes.

On Oct 7 last year, death sentences to eight Bangladeshis, found guilty of robbing a warehouse and murdering the security guard, were carried out at Saudi Arabia's Riyadh.

The beheading had attracted condemnation from Bangladesh and elsewhere.

Results of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations will be published on May 7.

Education minister Nurul Islam Nahid said on Sunday that a copy of the results would be handed over to prime minister Sheikh Hasina at 10am on May 7. "Formally the results will be published through a press conference at the ministry at 1am," he added

The examinees would be able to collect their results after the press meet, Nahid added.

An estimated 1,420,057 students of 26,855 educational institutions under eight general education boards, Dakhil and vocational boards sat for the SSC and equivalent tests which began on Feb 1. Among them, 735,229 are boys and 684,828 girls.

Total 1,052,969 students sat for SSC tests. Among them 532,818 are girls and 520,115 boys. For the first time, girls have outnumbered the boys in SSC examinations.

In addition, 275,930 students appeared for Dakhil tests and another 91,158 students are SSC (Vocational) tests.

For the first time this year, there were 'creative questions' in all the papers except Bengali second paper, English first and second paper and mathematics.

The number of total students took part from abroad is 274. They appeared in tests at Jeddah, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Bahrain and Tripoli centres under Dhaka Education Board.

ssc result published in 7th may. go to the following link and get your result. good luck

http://www.educationboardresults.gov.bd/

please following the instruction

select your examination
select year
select board
input roll
and click submit

The government has formed a committee to investigate explosions inside the Secretariat during hartal hours on Sunday.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) additional commissioner Mili Biswas will head the panel while assistant deputy commissioner (Ramna Zone) Mahtabuddin will be the other member.

Ridiculing strict security measures during the BNP-enforced shutdown, two unidentified youths riding a motorcycle hurled the bombs right in front of law-enforcers on guard and sped away around 3:45pm near Gate-2 of the Secretariat.

One of the bombs exploded on the boundary wall near Zero Point, while the other went off in the parking lot near the cars of the home minister and the state minister for home, damaging a window glass of Ansar official Ashish Kumar Rai's car.

The BNP had called the shutdown to protest against disappearance of one of its organising secretaries and former MP M Ilias Ali.

Shahbagh and Tejgaon police have separately sued BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir for his alleged role in bomb blasts at the Secretariat and vandalism during Sunday's nationwide general strike.

Fakhrul and 26 others have been accused in the first case at Shahbagh Police Station over the explosions of two crude bombs at the Secretariat.

The second case involves charges of smashing vehicles and arson in front of the Prime Minister's Office. Fakhrul and 42 others have been accused in the case.

Shahbagh sub-inspector Hirendrana Pramanik filed the case on Sunday night, his colleague sub-inspector M A Jalil told bdnews24.com .

Meanwhile, the case with Tejgaon police was filed around 9:15pm, Tejgaon Police Station officer-in-charge Imam Hossain told

Police clashed with BNP activists in parts of the capital, Dhaka, as the opposition-sponsored nationwide general strike began on Monday for a second day on Monday amid detention and vandalism.

Police dispersed a procession in front of the BNP headquarters when the opposition activists tried to march through the street there in the beginning hour of the day's shutdown. Police detained at least three opposition activists including former deputy health minister Sirajul Haque from there, said Paltan Police Station chief Shahidul Haque.

Clashes took place in Naya Paltan, Mohakhali and Mirpur.

Like previous days, police kept the BNP headquarters cordoned off.

In the morning, police searched the house of BNP's acting secretary-general Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in the city's Uttara residential area, his wife said.

Rahat Ara Begum said her husband was not home at the time.

Meanwhile, police filed cases charging Fakhrul and few other party functionaries with role in Sunday's Secretariat blasts.

At least a dozen bombs exploded in Dhaka on Sunday during the daylong shutdown. Two of them were thrown at the Bangladesh Secretariat.

The BNP has set a new deadline of Monday to find M Ilias Ali, an organising secretary and the chief of Sylhet district unit of the party.

Bangladesh's medical curricula is going to be updated with lessons of proper under-2 feeding practices in an effort to reinforce the battle against malnutrition.

With almost all health indicators showing the right move, the South-Asian country is still grappling to combat malnutrition, largely because of improper feeding practices, experts say.

The Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2011 showed only 21 percent families strictly follow the under-2 feeding practices in the country where 41 percent children show dwarfed growth and 36 percent remain underweight.

"Doctors need to learn proper feeding practices of under-2 so that they can advise appropriately to the parents," Prof Md Ekhlasur Rahman, Line Director of the National Nutrition Services (NNS), told bdnews24.com.

The government launched NNS in July 2011 giving infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices one of the top priority interventions.

The Line Director said IYCF was not 'adequately' mentioned in the medical curriculum.

"We have already started the process of inserting its details in the curriculum," he said.

According to IYCF rules, a child has to be breastfed within first hours of birth and continue exclusively up to six months and given homemade food after six months while continuing with breastfeeding.

Starting homemade food before six months is early while it is very late if someone starts after one year.

"We cannot tell mothers what type of food they should offer after six months," said Dr Samiul Islam, a medical officer of Nangalkot Upazilla Health Complex, Comilla.

"Not even doctors will be able to give the correct advice of what type of food should be given after six months, unless trained up," he told bdnews24.com, "We could not learn it during our medical studies."

Prof Sameena Chowdhury, a member of Obstetrics and Gaynecology Society of Bangladesh, who is also involved on the updating process, said they were trying to identify the gaps in the curriculum.

Nutritionists recommend homemade food twice a day in half of a 250 ml bowl for the babies of seven to eight months.

It is thrice a day with the same amount for babies of nine to 11 months, and in full bowl (250ml) thrice a day for between 12 and 23 months.

"Early start of homemade food causes indigestion as the babies' intestines are not prepared to digest," said Prof Chowdhury.

"If delayed, it does not meet the nutritional requirements for growth."

Police have raided several places in Chandpur to trace missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali.

However, there was no news of any breakthrough until 10pm Saturday.

Additional superintendent of Chandpur police Mohammad Amir Jafar told bdnews24.com: "We have information that an ambulance carrying Ilias Ali entered Chandpur from Comilla. We are searching various places ... he is yet to be recovered."

Police patrolling had been intensified in the district, he added.

The car of former MP and one of BNP's organising secretaries Ilias was found abandoned at Mohakhali near his Banani residence in the capital on April 18. Ilias and his driver Ansar Ali has been missing since then.

His family and the party have alleged that government's henchmen had picked up Ilias.

The party has already enforced three days of dawn-to-dusk general strike and announced to observe another round of two-day hartal on Sunday and Monday in protest against his disappearance.

The forest department on Friday seized 155 turtles smuggled in fruit baskets to Bangladesh through Benapole border from India.

Chief forest conservator (wildlife and nature conservation circle) Tapan Kumar Dey told bdnews24.com 87 of the recovered turtles are Three Keeled Tortoise (Melanochelys tricarinata) and the rest 68 are Snail-eating Turtle (Melanochelys trijuga).

He said the baskets with the turtles were smuggled into Bangladesh on Thursday. Then they were taken to Continental Courier Service branch office at Jessore's Jum Jum area in a covered-van.

Border Guard Bangladesh's (BGB) Jessore Battalion and forest department officials jointly raided the courier service office upon information on Friday morning and found the rare turtles in three baskets.

But the smugglers managed to flee the scene right before the raid, Dey said.

He said, "The turtles have been brought to forest department building (Ban Bhaban) in Dhaka immediately from Jessore."

Earlier on Apr 17, another consignment of smuggled turtles was apprehended at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Forest department officials suspect that both operations are work of the same smuggling syndicate.

Dey said, "They smuggle these rare turtles to Bangladesh from India and then send them to Thailand, Taiwan or China."

He also added that these Shila Turtle and Kali Kaitta species are also on the list of 'endangered' species in Bangladesh. They are mostly seen in adjacent hill tract areas of the rivers Ganges and Bhramaputtra.

The BNP-led 18-Party Alliance has called two consecutive shutdowns on Sunday and Monday as they say the government failed to 'return' missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali by the deadline given by the opposition.

The party's acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the new agitation programme at a press briefing at the party's Naya Paltan headquarters on Saturday.

"We will enforce dawn to dusk shutdowns on Sunday and Monday to protest the forced disappearance of Ilias Ali," he said.

"The government has failed to return Ilias and his driver Ansar to their families. They failed to return them by the deadline given by our party chief."

"That's why we are enforcing two consecutive shutdowns. Fresh protest programmes will be announced on Apr 30 after the shutdowns," Fakhrul added.

On Tuesday, BNP chief Khakeda Zia had given the government Saturday deadline to 'return' Ilias Ali or she had said they would go for tougher agitation.

BNP had enforced three consecutive countrywide shutdowns on Apr 22, 23 and 24 and a day-long shutdown at four Sylhet districts on Apr 20 on the same demand.

More than 20 vehicles were vandalised and set on fire in Dhaka only during the demonstrations. A driver of a bus was burnt alive in a pre-shutdown violence.

Three persons were killed in clashes at Ilias' home constituency, Bishwanath in Sylhet, between law enforcers and pro-shutdown activists.

BNP's one of the organising secretaries Ilias Ali, also the party's Sylhet chapter chief, and his driver Ansar Ali went missing since early hours of Apr 18. Police found his abandoned car and mobile phone at a street in the capital's Mohakhali area near his Banani residence.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) had raided a number of residences in Pubail, Gazipur and Dhaka in its bid to find the missing BNP leader, but failed.

Khaleda Zia accused that 'government agency and RAB picked up Ilias'. However, prime minister Sheikh Hasina denied the accusations and alleged that the BNP was staging a 'drama'.

The 11573 BCS applicants who moved the High Court will now be allowed to take their exams, a senior PSC official said on Wednesday.

"This was decided at a (Public Service) Commission meeting in line with a High Court order," A I M Nesaruddin, a controller of exams, told

These 33rd BCS hopefuls failed to make payments due to server shortcomings even after filling in forms online by the Apr 7 midnight deadline.

The PSC argued that it had advised beforehand against making the applications at the last moment and therefore those that failed would not be allowed to sit for the exams.

The PSC decision forced some of the civil service aspirants to seek redress at the High Court which slapped a three-week suspension of the recruitment process. The Commission then went to the Appellate Division and won an order, but eventually decided to give in to the applicants' demands.

These applicants would now be able to pay their fees through the payment system of state-run mobile phone operator Teletalk between 8am on Apr 29 and 10pm on May 2.

The Commission's data shows that a total of 183,627 applied online and collected their admit cards. The preliminary exam is scheduled for June 1.

The Commission had invited applications through advertisements on Feb 29 for 4,206 vacancies in the Bangladesh Civil Service.

A Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft made an emergency landing at India's West Bengal after it lost its way on Wednesday evening.

Assistant director of Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) Nur Islam told that the trainee pilot, Rashed, has managed to land safely at Murshidabad in India.

The aircraft lost its communication with the control tower half an hour after it took off from the Jessore Matiur Rahman airbase at 6pm, ISPR said.

Rashed called the airbase at 7:55pm to report that he landed on a field in a village of the Indian state of West Bengal at around 6:45pm.

"I have talked with him (the trainee pilot) after he landed in India and diplomatic efforts are on to bring the trainee pilot and the aircraft back," said Nur Islam.

The airbase control tower sergeant Matiur Rahman said that the airplane-PT-6 3806-suffered damages during the emergency landing.

Sub-divisional officer in Murshidabad Dipanjan Bhattacharya said that the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi has been contacted, reports PTI.