June 2018
AL candidate takes lead in GCC polls amid BNP allegations
Sayeed Muhammad: The early unofficial results yesterday showed that Awami League’s mayoral aspirant Jahangir Alam was leading in the Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) election. According to unofficial results of 118 polling centres as of 8pm yesterday, Jahangir bagged 1,37,034 votes while his BNP counterpart Hasan Uddin Sarker got 60,204 votes. Earlier in the day, polling…
All those mischievous men…
Syed Badrul Ahsan, Editor-in-Charge, The Asian Age: There is quite something to be said about those Bengalis who somehow cannot rest easy with the place of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in history. More than decades ago, Syed Najmuddin Hashim enlightened yours truly with remarkable tales of some Bengali civil service officers trapped in Pakistan in…
Interest rate on bank loans must be cut
Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, Former Governor, Bangladesh Bank: The move to fix bank loan interest rate at 6% was not right. Bankers say they would fail to attract depositors just because of the interest rate. So why did they agree to do so? This is not right. Now they say they cannot grant 9% defaulted loan….
Interest rates must be brought down to 3-4%
Prof Dr. Mahbubullah, Economist: There has been debate on whether the state’s money can be kept in private banks. It can be kept at 6% deposit rate. But what should the deposit and interest rates be? Interest rates should be brought down within 3-4%, not more than that. For every bank, profit is a huge…
Congested buildings result in high temperature
Engineer M Inamul Haque, Former Director General, WARPO: Our capital is so congested of buildings that naturally the temperature is higher. This is resulting increased heavy rains and hail storm incidents. The increased heat results a sudden 4-5 km lift on the air. Artificial forests of buildings has been created cutting down many trees and…
All eyes on Gazipur as city polls today
Sayeed Muhammad: City dwellers of Gazipur are all set to exercise their franchise as voting in the city election starts at 8am amid tight security, with the Election Commission (EC) completing all necessary preparations in this regard. “All necessary preparations have already been taken to hold the elections in a free, fair and peaceful manner,”…
No more than 5hrs driving on highways, PM orders
Abrar Hussain: In a bid to prevent road accidents in the country, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday directed the concerned authorities new directives, including a restriction on drivers plying their vehicles on the highways to five hours at a stretch, reports The Daily Star. The PM gave the order as soon as the news spread…
People don’t care who wins Gazipur polls
Afsan Chowdhury, Scholar and Political Analyst : The countrymen are not at all interested in the Gazipur City Corporation election. I do not know whether citizens of Gazipur are interested or not, but the rest of the country definitely does not care. Actually, the election atmosphere is not of any importance. Back in 2013, the people…
Non-MPO teachers start hunger strike
Sejuti Mourin: Teachers and employees of non-MPO educational institutions, have began an indefinite hunger strike protesting for enlistment under the government’s Monthly Payment Order (MPO) facilities. Hundreds of teachers and employees under the banner of “Non-MPO Shikhya Pratishthan Shikhyak Karmachari Federation” gathered in front of the National Press Club at 10 am yesterday. Earlier on…