Rashidul Hasan

Three The Daily Star correspondents visited six centres of the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) polls, housed in two schools in the port city.

From the very beginning of the campaigns for Chattogram City Corporation polls, the rebel candidates have been a big headache for the Awami League high-ups as a number of party men went against the central decision to run for councillor in the high-voltage local body election.

The Chattogram City Corporation polls yesterday were marred by violence and the capture of scores of polling centres by Awami League men amid a low turnout of voters.

Shahadat Hossain, BNP’s mayoral candidate for the Chattogram city polls, has vowed not to leave the electoral battle despite what he said were various obstacles and harassment by police and ruling Awami League men.

More than 19 lakh voters are going to decide today the outcome of a high-voltage contest between the ruling Awami League and its archrival BNP in the Chattogram City Corporation election amid tight security.

As Chattogram City Corporation holds election tomorrow, both the Awami League and BNP camps ended their 18-day campaign early today.

Almost half the complaints filed by mayor and councillor candidates in the Chattogram City Corporation elections, to be held tomorrow, are yet to be addressed.

By nature, a city councillor’s job is not that attractive. On paper, elected councillors may enjoy some local repute but have little power to exercise. All they get to do is sign certificates and monitor civic services like waste management and street light maintenance in wards.

Most pledges made by the mayoral aspirants of the two major parties -- Awami League and BNP -- in their manifestos for the January 27 Chattagram City Corporation election are beyond the legal and financial mandates of a mayor, experts said.

Women make up 48.83 percent of the electorate in the Chattogram City Corporation polls, but they feel neglected in the pledges made by the two major candidates. Women voters of Chattogram feel that the candidates did not place enough importance in tackling gender-based issues.

The ruling Awami League is likely to face a stiff test in Wednesday’s Chattogram city polls due to a division in the local party unit and presence of a good number of rebel councillor candidates.

Around mid-February in 2019, a Bangladesh Biman pilot felt something hit his aircraft while taking off from Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Six foreign airlines have expressed interest in operating flights to Dhaka, thanks to favourable regulatory policy, vibrant market, and high profitability.

Around mid-February in 2019, a Bangladesh Biman pilot felt something hit his aircraft while taking off from Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Stock investors of United Airways who own 95 per cent of the shares of the defunct airline have been left high and dry after the regulator delisted the company from the main trading board of the exchanges.

Failing to get support from Awami League, the ruling party’s rebel councilor candidates are desperately trying to get the support of BNP-Jamaat to win the election race of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) polls scheduled for January 27, sources in Awami League and an intelligence report of police say.

Lawmakers at a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on agriculture ministry yesterday expressed their indignation and doubt over the ministry’s claim that 4,390 “family nutrition gardens” have been set up at different unions across the country.

It will take around a month to clear the backlog of some 10,500 Saudi Arabia-bound Bangladeshi expatriate workers who were stuck in the country due to the Gulf nation’s two-week suspension of all international flights.

Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder has admitted that seven lakh fake OMS cards were distributed during the Covid-19 lockdown in the country last year.

A parliamentary body yesterday directed the health ministry to ensure that no irregularities and corruption take place centring the Covid-19, like those of Regent Hospital and JKG healthcare over testing.