National

MNA National Desk: PM Sheikh Hasina has condemned the Barcelona terror attack that claimed 14 lives and injured scores. The foreign ministry said Prime Minister sent a message to Spanish President Mariano Rajoy Brey expressing her sentiment on behalf of the country, reported news gaency. “I am deeply shocked and grieved at the terror attack”, she wrote, “I, along with the people and the government of Bangladesh, strongly condemn such mindless act of cowardice and stand in solidarity with the people and the government of Spain.” “I express our deepest condolences and sympathies to you and the people of Spain. ...

MNA National Desk: Obaidul Quader, Awami League General Secretary, on Friday said the government will take steps for rehabilitation of the flood-affected people. “The Prime Minister will visit the flood-hit areas and mitigate your sufferings. She’ll compensate you for the losses,” the road transport and bridges minister said. He said this while addressing the flood victims before distributing relief materials among them at Raghunathpur High School compound in Biral upazila. The minister also ensured that the flood-hit people will get back everything they lost due to the flood. Among others, Awami League leader Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Dinajpur-6 MP Md ...

MNA National Desk: About 5 activists of Ganojagaran Manch, including Imran H Sarkar, were injured in an attack allegedly by Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) men at Shahbagh on Thursday evening. Sources said some BCL men attacked on Imran when he was collecting relief materials in front of the National Museum for the flood-affected people. According to sources, around 12 people attacked the demonstrators immediately after the programme ended, reported news agency. Earlier, on July 16, a car carrying the Mancha spokesperson was attacked by BCL activists when he was leaving the Dhaka metropolitan magistrate’s court after attending the hearing of ...

MNA National Desk: The physical condition of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Annisul Huq, who is now staying in London, is improving and he was shifted to bed from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a hospital there. “We were informed that physical condition of the DNCC Mayor is being getting improved and he was shifted to bed from ICU,” said Monwar Hossain, public relation officer (PRO) of the DNCC to news agency. The mayor had been suffering from various health complications for the last two months. On July 29, Huq went to London to visit his daughter. Huq’s ...

MNA National Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is going to visit Dinajpur and distribute relief among the people on 20 August to take a stock of flood-affected areas in the district. Dinajpur-2 constituency lawmaker and Awami League’s organizing secretary Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury confirmed about this visit to media. This year Dinajpur is one of the mostly affected districts by flood. Water levels of the rivers in Dinajpur are also rising. Water of River Punarbhava and Atrai crossed the danger level. Earlier, on Wednesday evening, Sheikh Hasina along with two of her cabinet members and attorney general met the president, Abdul ...

MNA Education Desk (JnU Corespondent): Jagannath University (JnU) Vice-chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Mijanur Rahman on Thursday has said that the purpose of creating the incident of ‘15 August’ was to simultaneously kill the three facts—Bangabandhu, Bangladesh and Bangalism not to merely change the state power. He came up with this comment while addressing a discussion as Chief Guest titled ‘Mass Media and 15 August’ held at the central auditorium of the university at 12:00pm marking the National Mourning Day and 42nd death anniversary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman. The VC said that the incident was created ...

MNA National Desk: Over 3 million people from 7,52,349 families living in 623 Union of 96 Upazilas are affected in the countrywide floods. The death toll raised to 37 till, said Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief acting Secretary Ghulam Mostafa on Wednesday. As many as 411,000 people have taken shelter at 1,599 centres that are opened to support the flood victims. The government has distributed 3,255 tonnes of rice and Tk 13.2 million in cash among the flood victims since 9 August. Some 16,000 packets of dry foods have also been distributed among the affected people, the acting secretary ...

MNA National Desk: Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Annisul Huq was admitted to a hospital in London with nervous system complications. Annisul Huq is now in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of hospital as he is suffering from a brain disease called cerebral vasculitis. The mayor had been suffering from various health complications for the last two months. Earlier, on Jul 29, Huq went to London to visit his daughter. “He was suffering from cerebral vasculitis. It was not detected in Dhaka. He was suffering for the last two months with occasional spells of dizziness and lack of balance,” ...

MNA National Desk: President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday paid deep homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the nation is observing the 42nd anniversary of his martyrdom. Abdul Hamid and  Sheikh Hasina paid tributes to the architect of the independence by placing wreaths at the portrait in front of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi Road No. 32 in the morning. Later, Sheikh Hasina went to Banani Graveyard where her mother Bangamata Fazilatunnesa Mujib, Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal and Sheikh Russell and other martyrs of 15 August were laid to the eternal ...

MNA National Desk: The law enforcement agency cordoned off a building of Hotel Olio International near Square Hospital in Panthapath area suspecting presence of militants inside the building since early morning Tuesday. Sounds of explosions and gunshots were heard from the hotel. A man was injured during a blast. The injured was taken to Square Hospital. However, identities of the injured could not be known immediately. Members of law enforcing units including the tactical unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) have taken position near the building. A unit of fire services has been kept ready for ...

MNA National Desk: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged that the government is trying to stage a drama over the Supreme Court’s verdict on the 16th amendment. “The government is desperate to stage a drama over the 16th amendment verdict as it has exposed that Awami League has no legitimacy to stay in power. It has also clearly manifested that the party has no moral ground to run the government,” he said on Monday. Fakhrul came up with the remarks while talking to reporters during his visit to different flood-affected areas. The BNP senior leader also ...

MNA National Desk: Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, has said he met the chief justice, Surendra Kumar Sinha, to convey party’s stance on the 16th amendment annulment verdict and his discussions with the chief justice has not concluded yet and he will meet him again. “I visited the residence of the chief justice. We had a long discussion and the discussion has not ended yet. More discussions will be held, said Quader while addressing a programme in the capital on Sunday. The programme was arrenged to mark the birth anniversary of Sheikh ...

MNA National Desk: The High Court (HC) deferred the announcement of its verdict on the death reference and appeals of the death-row convicts in the Narayanganj seven-murder cases till 22 August. A two-member HC bench of Justices Bhabani Prasad Singha and Mustafa Zaman Islam rescheduled it on Sunday. Earlier on 26 July, the HC bench fixed 13 August for delivering its verdict on completion of the hearing from both the prosecution and defence sides. A court of Narayanganj on 16 January last sentenced 26 people, including three sacked RAB officials and ex-city councilor Nur Hossain, to death and nine others ...

MNA National Desk: Bangladesh has at least 1.15 crore sacrificial animals for the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha and there is no need to import cattle, according to the Department of Livestock Services (DLS). “Our farmers will count losses if we import sacrificial animals despite having enough local livestock production,” said DLS director general Dr Md Ainul Haque. He also suggested people not to buy unhealthy cattle. There has been a sharp rise in livestock production in recent years in the country reducing dependence on neighbouring countries for sacrificial animals during the Eid-ul-Azha, said officials. Now there are some 61,72,990 healthy sacrificial animals ...

MNA National Desk: A Tangail court on Tuesday sentenced twelve people to death for killing college student Rajan Sarkar in Bhuapur upazila. Judge Wahiduzzaman Sikdar of the Tangail Special Judge Court handed down the verdict. Eight among the 12 convicts were present in court. The rest have been absconding since the beginning of the trial. Rajan Sarkar, a second year student of the Dhanbari Degree College, was hacked to death for rivalry over land on Apr 13 of 2014, according to the case details. The victim’s father Lal Miah Sarkar had accused 19 people of murdering his son in a ...

MNA National Desk: A Narayanganj court on Monday sentenced a young man to death in a case filed over the murder of five members of a family at Baburail on 16 January 2016. The lone convicted young man was Mahfuz Rahman. The court also fined him Tk 5,000. Taslima Begum, 35, wife of Shafiqul Islam, a private car driver in capital Dhaka, their children Sumaiya, 5, Shantu, 10, Taslima’s brother Morshedul, 22, and Lamia, 25, who was married to Shafiqul’s brother Sharif, the five members of the family were found dead in their house. Shafiqul Islam filed the case against ...

MNA National Desk: Road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader on Sunday said the remarks of finance minister AMA Muhith about the Supreme Court’s verdict on the 16th amendment is his personal opinion. Obaidul Quader, the ruling Awami League general secretary, said, “We haven’t issued any statement from the party. We don’t want to say anything rashly. We have been considering the matter calmly.” The minister was replying to reporters after signing an agreement with Japan’s Mitsubishi-Kawasaki consortium to buy engines and bogies for the Metrorail. The senior Awami League leader also said, “There is no reason to be hot ...

MNA National Desk: The Ministry of Environment and Forest will be renamed to include climate change. The decision came on Sunday from a meeting by the National Environment Committee, which is headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Ihsanul Karim, press secretary of prime minister, said this to the reporters that the ministry will be renamed as the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The Ministry of Environment & Forests is the nodal agency in the administrative structure of the Central Government, for the planning, promotion, co-ordination and overseeing the implementation of environmental and forestry programmes. MoEF oversees all environmental ...

MNA National Desk: A Bangladesh national, who investigators say was recruiting young men from terror activities and providing them with logistical support, was arrested on Sunday from Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh. The man, identified as Abdullah, is suspected to be linked to the Ansarullah Bangla Team — a Bangladesh-based extremist group inspired by the Al Qaeda, reported news agency. Sources in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said Abdullah had been living in Uttar Pradesh since 2011. Initially, he lived in Deoband. Abdullah was allegedly involved in terror recruitment, said the anti-terror officials. He was also providing fake identity cards ...

MNA National Desk: The 68th birth anniversary of Sheikh Kamal, the eldest son of Bangladesh’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is being observed across the county with due respect. Awami League, its associate bodies and different political, socio-cultural and sports organizations have taken elaborate programmes marking the day. The AL and its associate bodies paid tribute to Sheikh Kamal by placing wreaths at his portrait on Dhanmondi Abahani Club premises at 8:00am and at his grave in the Banani at 9:00am. Besides, Awami Swechachasebok League, Jubo League and Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote have also taken various programmes to observe the day. ...

MNA National Desk: Anti-Corruption Commission’s (ACC) new hotline has been overwhelmed with tens of thousands of calls about acts of corruption in its first week, an official said on Thursday. Hotline number 106 was launched last Thursday by state authorities in an effort to crack down on graft. “Since July 27 around 75,000 people called our hotline,” Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) spokesman told to news agency. The news line is manned by just five government employees, with a substantial number of calls being forwarded to a voicemail messaging system. The commission is authorized to inspect bribes in government offices and agencies, ...

MNA National Desk: Minister for Road Transport and Bridges Obaidul Quader on Wednesday said the misuse of Section-57 of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act should be stopped. The minister told this to reporters after inaugurating the Metrorail construction work in front of Survey Department Office in Agargaon in Dhaka. “Arresting the journalist in Khulna after suing him under Section-57 is a misuse of the section of ICT Act. The Information minister should intervene into the matter to stop the misuse of Section-57”, said Quader. Abdul Latif Moral, the Dumuria Upazila correspondent of a Khulna-based newspaper, was sent to jail ...

MNA National Desk: As one of the eight members of the OIC executive committee, Bangladesh has reemphasized the universally accepted “two state solutions” in resolving the longstanding Palestinian crisis. Bangladesh also called upon the Muslim Ummah for presenting in a united voice for protecting the people of Palestine as well as its holy places. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam addresses the Executive Committee at the extraordinary meeting in Istanbul yesterday. The meeting issued a joint communique outlining a list of actions to uphold their responsibilities of international community towards the cause of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif. Chaired ...

MNA National Desk: The Supreme Court  released the full text of its verdict upholding the High Court verdict on Tuesday that declared the 16th Amendment to the Constitution establishing Parliament’s authority to remove Supreme Court judges, illegal. The copy of the full verdict was released after singing of all seven members of the Appellate Division bench, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha. The copy of the verdict will be released soon on the SC website. Earlier on 3 July, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court verdict. A seven-member Appellate Division bench, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, ...

MNA National Desk: Civil society members who joined the Election Commission’s maiden dialogue on Monday suggested the commission to keep ‘No’ vote as an option to show no confidence in candidates should be included in the ballot papers for the next national polls. Most of the civil society members also recommended the Commission to take proper step for ensuring the participation of all political parties in the next election and removing the fear of voters. They recommended defining army as law enforcers so that they can be engaged in the next polls or holding it in a free and fair ...

MNA National Desk: The 36 wards formed recently by the government in Dhaka have been added to Dhaka’s two city corporations. Dhaka expands by more than double after inclusion of 16 union councils. The Local Government Division issued a gazette on July 26 after city corporation officials recommended their formation for holding councillor election. Dhaka North now has 54 wards, after the addition of 18 new-ward. Dhaka South wards have risen from 57 to 75. The number of wards inside the two Dhaka City Corporations stands at 129. Shyampur, Dania, Matuail, Sarulia, Demra, Manda, Dakshingaon and Nasirabad unions were added ...

MNA National Desk: The High Court on Sunday has declared the second increase in the price of household gas this year to be illegal. A HC-bench comprising Jutice Jinat Ara and Justice Kazi Mohammad Izarul Haque Akand issued the verdict after concluding the hearing on the rule. Earlier, the apex court issued a rule asking as to why the gas price hike for the second phase is not illegal on 28 February 2017. The rate of household gas is to be reset to the previous level on Aug 1, the court said on Sunday. On 23 February, as per the ...