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Minor boy killed in Rajhshahi road crash
bANGlADeSH NewS isters. Prominent among those who were dropped from the previous government were Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir and minister without a portfolio and minority leader Suranjit Sengupta. Attired in an off-white sari, 66-year-old Hasina looked confident at the jam-packed Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban. She took oath pledging to preserve, protect and defend the national constitution and state sovereignty. “I am, Sheikh Hasina, taking oath…that I will discharge my duties faithfully as the prime minister of the govern-
ment as per the law,” Hasina said amid claps from the audience. This is the third term for Hasina as prime minister. She had also served as prime
Ex-Bangladesh dictator ‘detained’,taken to military hospital
Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah executed in Bangladesh for 1971 war crimes
Grand Urs at Bishwa Zaker Manjil begins today
Bangladesh’s ex-military ruler H M Ershad was whisked away from his home by security forces early today and admitted to a military hospital here,days after the 83year-old former dictator’s dramatic decision to boycott next month’s general elections. The former president was only being taken for a check-up,said a top official of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). Speculation was rife that Ershad,whose Jatiya Party is a key ally of the Awami League-led grand alliance,was “detained” as part of the government’s efforts to force him to participate in the January 5 polls. However,RAB media wing Director Habibur Rahman told Bdnews24 that Ershad was at home when he fell sick. “The personnel guarding his residence took him to the hospital after they were told of his feeling sick.”Witnesses said a joint team of police and RAB entered the pri-
vate “President’s Park” residence and virtually whisked him to an SUV,fuelling speculation that Ershad was arrested. Activists of Jatiya Party scuffled with security personnel who took Ershad to the Combined Military Hospital where he was admitted.TV footages showed a grim-faced Ershad was sitting on the backseat of the SUV wearing a red sweater as the convoy of police and RAB vans drove off.“It is mysterious,I was with him (Ershad) until the evening…he was in good health and also took part in his routine physical exercise,” Ershad’s press secretary Sunil Subho Roy told reporters.The former military ruler,who was ousted in a mass upsurge in 1990 after nine years of rule,returned to limelight earlier this month when he announced his party would stay way from the polls due to lack of a proper atmosphere.
Abdul Quader Mollah,a senior leader of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami party,was executed on Thursday for genocide during Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation war,hours after the Supreme Court rejected his review petition.The 65-yearold Mollah,infamous as the “Butcher of Mirpur”,was the first politician to be executed for massacre and rape during the war of independence from Pakistan.Mollah was hanged at 10.01 pm (local time) in Dhaka Central Jail,a prison official said.The apex court on Thursday upheld the death sentence for the assistant secretary-general of the right wing party,rejecting his review plea two days after his hanging was dramatically put on hold in a lastminute reprieve.Mollah sided with Pakistani troops during the war and gained notoriety for leading the infamous Al-Badr militia in the Dhaka suburb of Mirpur,where he had a role in slaughtering a large number of people.
FARIDPUR : The fourday Grand “Bishwa Urs Sharif” of Bishwawali Khwajababa Faridpuri will begin today at Bishwa Zaker Manjil at Atrashi under Sadarpur upazila of the district, reports BSS. A Bishwa Zaker Manjil press release said here on Friday that all preparations have been completed under the.
minister during 19962001. Awami League won over two-thirds of parliament’s 300 seats in the January 5 polls which were described as a farce by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led 18-party opposition alliance. The opposition boycotted the polls demanding a neutral caretaker regime to oversee the polls. The opposition led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia tried to derail the polls by calling strikes and blockades. Over 160 people were killed in poll related violence since November. Jatiya Party, headed by former military
news that the Bangladesh government took assistance from the Indian Army and Border Security Force to contain violence in southwestern Satkhira district, which borders India. News editor Rabiulla Ulla Robi, deputy chief reporter Rafiq Mohammad and diplomatic correspondent Ahmmed Atiq were today produced in a magistrate’s court, which sent them to jail. The court fixed Monday for hearing the remand and bail petitions of the arrested, Dhaka Tribune reported. “It (the report) was a blatant lie and it was published with a clear aim to jeopardise Bangladesh’s relations
with India…it coud have triggered a riot,” Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu told reporters. He said the report also insulted security forces like the Border Guard
Bangladesh and Rapid Action Battalion, which were deployed to contain violence in Satkhira ahead of the January 5 polls. A senior Home Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told PTI that elements close to the
ruler H M Ershad, won 32 seats and likely to play the role of the main opposition in the parliament. BNP leaders were absent from the swearing-in ceremony. Many diplomats, including Indian High Commissioner Pankaj Saran, US Ambassador Dan Mozena and British envoy Robert Gibson, attended the ceremony. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated Awami League leader after she was sworn-in and said he hoped bilateral relations between the neighbouring countries would flourish.
Body found in Chittagong city The body of a person was found inside the shop of his brother-in-law from Kalurghat area of the port city of Chittagong on Saturday morning. The victim, Manzil, 18, from Barisal, an employee, was strangled to death, law enforcers said. However, police were not clear on the motive of the murder. Police recovered the body around 9:30am upon information from locals, Chittagong Metropolitan
Police (north) Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Shahidullah said. The shop was broken into on Friday night, he said. The murder could have been committed by robbers or motivated from previous enmity. Investigation is underway. The body was sent at the morgue of Chittagong Medical College Hospital for autopsy. Procedures were on to lodge a case regarding this matter.
Yemeni national dies at Ijtema A Yemeni citizen died of cardiac arrest at the grounds of Biswa Ijtema in Tongi on Saturday morning. The deceased was one Ahmed Abdullah, 70, son of Ahmed Abdullahu Abdullah. Gazipur Civil Surgeon Shah Alam Sharif confirmed of his death. The Yemeni died sometime around 8am at the foreign guests section of the Ijtema, Alam said. Three more devotees died on Ijtema ground because of
cardiac arrest in the early hours of Saturday. Two of the deceased were Shamsuddin, 60, from Mymensingh, and Zihad Ali, 55, of Kustia. Tongi police station OC Ismail Hossain confirmed of the deaths. Police arrested 14 people accused of various crimes including pick-pocketing and purse-snatching, earlier on Friday, added Hossain. The second day began with the delivery of sermons, prayer for
Bangladesh: 3 journalists jailed for ‘false’ report Three senior Bangladeshi journalists of a pro-opposition newspaper have been arrested for publishing a “false” report that Indian forces had helped the government contain violence during the recent controversial polls. Detectives raided the office of Inqilab, a Dhaka-based Banglalanguage daily were arrested on Thursday and picked up the three journalists. They also sealed the press, platemaking and server rooms and seized three computers. The raid was conducted hours after police filed a case against the newspaper for publishing “baseless”
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Sheikh Hasina sworn in as Bangladesh PM after violent elections Sheikh Hasina was on Sunday sworn in for her second straight term as prime minister, a week after her Awami League secured a landslide win in the violence-hit general election boycotted by the opposition as a farce. President Abdul Hamid administered oath of the office to the 48-member strong council of ministers at ‘Bangabhaban’ – the presidential house – here in a ceremony that was broadcast live. A total of 29 lawmakers took oath as Cabinet ministers. 17 MPs were appointed as state ministers while two as deputy min-
RAJSHAHI : A minor boy was killed when a tractor knocked down him in Kristaganj area under Boalia thana in the city, reports UNB.The deceased was identified as Hasan Ali, 10, son of Abdur Rahsid of Kechua Tala in the city.Uttam Kumar, sub-inspector at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) police camp, said the accident took place in the area in the evening when a sugarcane-laden tractor hit Hasan when he tried to pick up a sugarcane from the vehicl.
February-2014
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) or its ally, the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami, could have masterminded the propaganda to defame the Awami League, which won the recent polls. Police officials said the journalists were arrested for publishing a “highly sensational” report that was “totally untrue”. “They were arrested under a specific law and will be exposed to justice,” a police spokesman said. The front-page report in the rightwing newspaper purportedly quoted matter from social media sites and incorporated alleged reactions from government officials and
analysts. The Foreign Ministry rubbished the report, saying a purported Dhaka-Delhi communication it cited was a “production of photoshop technique”. Several other websites carried the Inqilabs’ report while unidentified persons sent a “forged official communication” to the National Press Club for circulation among journalists. Authorities last year sealed the press of proopposition Amar Desh newspaper for carrying forged photos of police repressions of “pious Muslims”. The government also ordered the suspension of a proopposition TV channel. A
exaltation and welfare of the Muslim Ummah amid recitation from the holy Quran and Hadith. Maulana Abdul Wahab of Pakistan, Maulana Md Jamshed, of Delhi, Maulana Ahmad are scheduled to deliver the day's sermon on Saturday.Maulana Jobayerul Hassan of Delhi will conduct a dowry-free mass wedding after Asar prayers. The first phase of Ijtema will conclude with Akheri Monajat on Sunday.
17 houses, fuel shop gutted in Ctg CHITTAGONG : At least 17 houses and a petroleum oil shop were gutted in three separate fire incidents in Rangunia and Boalkhali upazilas of the district and Bakalia of the port city on Thursday, reports UNB.In Boalkhali, seven houses burnt down in a fire that broke out in Kanungopara area around 2:00 am.Affected Kamal Uddin said the fire originated from an electric short circuit.The blaze was estimated to have caused losses worth Tk8 lakh.Locals managed to douse the fire around 3:00 by the time a fire fighting unit from Patiya arrived. In another incident, 10 houses were gutted in Safarbhata area of Rangunia.