Mohiuddin Alamgir

Secondary schools are set to resume full-fledged in-person classes today – two years after the Covid-19-induced closures, online classes and limited scale operations.

Building consensus among political parties, bringing back people’s trust in the Election Commission and reforming the electronic voting machine system are among the vital measures needed for free and fair elections, academics said yesterday.

The Election Commission is all set to begin a series of talks with cross-section citizens from tomorrow.

April 9, 1971. Amzad Ali Khondaker was moving a trunk out of the Secretariat building that housed the then office of Department of Films and Publications.

The government is planning to resume full-fledged classes at schools and colleges as 84 percent secondary students have already received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine and the daily positivity rate is on its way down.

Admission seekers are worried about their preparations for the coming public university entrance exams as most of the universities are yet to decide whether the exam syllabus would be shortened or not.

Buildings on either side of Satmasjid Road between Jigatala and Shankar in the capital’s Dhanmondi are teeming with signs and hoardings of different sizes and colours, mostly in English.

Voter turnout went down significantly in almost all local government elections under the immediate past Election Commission, compared to the polls held by the previous EC.

Sitting for tests on three optional subjects and for fewer marks, HSC examinees of 2021 have achieved brilliant results as the pass rate and number of GPA-5 achievers in nine general education boards increased.

Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar speaks with Mohiuddin Alamgir of The Daily Star about various issues related to the outgoing Bangladesh Election Commission, as well as the elections held during its five-year tenure, which expires today. This is the last of a two-part series of interviews marking the occasion.

Election Commissioner Md. Rafiqul Islam talks to Mohiuddin Alamgir of The Daily Star about various issues and allegations that marked the five-year tenure of the outgoing Election Commission, which ends on February 14, 2022. This is the first part of a two-part interview series intended to mark the occasion.

“Our first challenge is to hold a free and fair election and then to win the confidence of all political parties, including the BNP,” Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda told a news briefing five years ago after taking office.

The ruling Awami League suffered an election debacle in the seventh phase of union parishad polls as independent chairman candidates outdid them.

In the sixth phase of Union Parishad elections held on Monday, independents bagged chairman posts in 95 UPs and Awami League nominees in 117 UPs, according to Election Commission data unveiled yesterday.

The sixth phase of the union parishad polls will be held today amid confusion among voters about how to use Electronic Voting Machines. 

Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar yesterday hit back at Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda saying that the latter criticised him “out of vengeance” as they had differing positions on different election issues.

There should be a guideline for appointing vice-chancellors to public universities to reduce political manoeuvring in the appointment process, opined University Grants Commission Chairman Prof Kazi Shahidullah.

AMA Muhith might have retired from public service but he could not stop working towards the welfare of people.

A liberated Bangladesh was in a state of euphoria following the surrender of the Pakistani occupational forces on December 16, 1971.

Chief Election Commissioner Nurul Huda and Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar have once again traded barbs in public.