An order on whether to frame charges against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and a group of former serving Army officers in the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC) “abduction and torture” crimes against humanity case will be delivered on Dec 14. The date was set on Tuesday by the three-member International Crimes Tribunal-1, led by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, after hearing arguments from both the prosecution and the defence. Prosecutors have petitioned the tribunal to frame charges on five counts. Defence lawyers, meanwhile, sought discharge for all suspects, including the three arrested Army officers. Of the 13 suspects, three Army officers are in custody.

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed believes corruption will never be eradicated unless corrupt individuals are socially rejected. Information about corruption must come from all members of society. According to the advisor, if politicians have goodwill, society will not decay and corruption will decline. Now, the reality is the opposite—money goes from Bangladesh to America and other countries, and later somehow returns to the country. He urged the government to send officials with the rank of first secretary to those countries to bring this money back.

He did not expand on the origins of the bad loan crisis, reports bdnews24.com. Bad loans stood at Tk 2,11,391 crore in June last year. BB officials said distressed assets, a term that covers bad loans, written off loans, rescheduled loans, and loans locked in money loan court, could cross Tk 10,00,000 crore. According to them, the sharp rise in bad loans points to widespread irregularities, scams, and weak oversight throughout the 16-year Awami League regime. In 1999, bad loans in the banking sector stood at a record 41.1 percent, the highest on record.

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) activists have alleged attacks while travelling to an election rally in Ramgati Upazila, Lakshmipur. These attacks took place in several places, including Ramdayal, Azadnagar, and Ramgati Bazar in the Upazila on Monday. Leaders and activists had set out from various places in the Upazila in vehicles since noon to attend the rally, during which the incidents of attack and vandalism occurred. Lokman Hossain Bablu, general secretary of the Upazila JSD, alleged supporters of BNP nomination hopeful ABM Ashraf Uddin Nizan carried out the attack. However, Ramgati Upazila BNP President Jamal Uddin denied the allegations.

Bangladesh ex-PM Khaleda Zia's UK evacuation faces fresh delay as air ambulance withdraws Dhaka landing requestThe operator, Germany-based FAI Aviation Group, on Monday requested that the slot be withdrawn, news portal bdnews24.com reported, quoting a senior airport official.

Chief Advisor's Special Assistant on Finance Anisuzzaman Chowdhury has said interest rates need to be raised more to bring inflation down to the 5 percent range.On Monday, he said the policy is necessary because of the large size of the informal sector in Bangladesh. "Our inflation has come down. I have no disagreement with the rationale the governor has presented," he said. "But my question is this: since our informal sector is very large, interest rates will have to be raised much further if you want to bring inflation down to five. "He made these remarks at the launch of the economic report by the General Economics Division held at the NEC conference room in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka.Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur presented his argument in favour of not reducing the interest rates until inflation comes down.

However, the operator, Germany-based FAI Aviation Group, on Monday requested that the slot be withdrawn, news portal bdnews24.com reported, quoting a senior airport official. CAAB sources confirmed that FAI Aviation Group formally approached authorities through a coordinating agency to cancel its earlier slot request, tbsnews.net reported. The Qatar government had arranged the aircraft, renting it from the FAI Aviation Group, after opting for a replacement air ambulance to conduct the long-range medical evacuation. However, the arrival of the air ambulance sent by the Emir of Qatar was delayed due to “technical issues”, deferring her departure to Sunday. Khaleda last travelled to London for treatment in January aboard an air ambulance from the Emir of Qatar’s personal fleet.

The air ambulance chartered to fly BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to London for medical treatment has received clearance to land in Dhaka on Tuesday morning. However, the FAI Aviation Group's initial application had sought clearance to land in Dhaka on Tuesday and depart for London on Wednesday, reports bdnews24.com. By Friday evening, the party announced that the Qatari special air ambulance would not be arriving, adding that the emir would instead arrange an air ambulance rented from Germany. According to the Qatar Embassy in Dhaka, the air ambulance has been hired from FAI Aviation Group, based in Nuremberg, Germany. Khaleda last travelled to London for medical treatment in January, flying on an air ambulance from the emir of Qatar's personal fleet.

Jatiya Party Chairman Anwar Hossain Manju has said Bangladesh's independence "should never be underestimated", though Bengalis have yet to overcome “a tendency to be jealous of others’ success”. Speaking at the launch of the National Democratic Front (NDF) on Monday, he stressed that jealousy does not fully explain everything. "We have seen many changes and will see more... We did not make a mistake by liberating the country. The transformation of our infrastructure over the past five decades has surprised many at home and abroad.”After leaving HM Ershad's Jatiya Party in 1997, Manju and Sheikh Shahidul Islam went their separate ways. Criticising the culture of blame, Manju said: “Each side claims it fixed everything before another ruined it.

An air ambulance scheduled to transport Bangladesh's severely ill former prime minister Khaleda Zia to London for medical care will arrive in Dhaka on Tuesday. According to news portal bdnews24.com, a senior official at the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) stated on Sunday that the aircraft has been assigned a landing time of 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday and a departure time of 9:00 p.m. on the same day.

Onion imports from India have resumed through the Hili Land Port in Dinajpur after three months of suspension. On the first day, 30 tonnes of onions, imported by a company named Rocky Traders, entered the Hili port. Atik Hasan Rubel, the owner of Rocky Traders, said each tonne of onion was imported from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh for $245. The import cost of per kg of onion, including duties and transportation expenses, stands at Tk 46, he said. If imports continue, onion prices in the market will fall significantly.”The last onion consignment through this port arrived on Aug 30.

Transparency International Bangladesh chief Iftekharuzzaman has said the interim government failed to take a stand against corruption. Iftekharuzzaman added that there was no denying the fact that the interim government had missed the opportunity to take a strong stand against corruption. He called on political parties to form an independent bank commission. The TIB presented 52 recommendations at the press conference. He pointed out that the government failed to implement the reform commission proposal to incorporate corruption in the business sector in the ACC schedule.

The Election Commission (EC) is holding a meeting to fix the schedule for the 13th parliamentary election and a national referendum expected to take place simultaneously in February next year. The meeting, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin, began at the EC headquarters in Dhaka's Agargaon around 10:45am on Sunday. As in previous years, EC officials are due to meet with President Md Shahabuddin at the Bangabhaban on Dec 10 to brief the him on overall preparations. The EC is also assessing progress in preparations for both the referendum and the general election. All four election commissioners, the EC secretary and other relevant officials are attending the meeting.

"We still have bottles at the old rate. Whoever wants the new one will get the new rate, whoever wants the old one will pay the previous rate. We cannot argue with customers, so we are keeping both," he told bdnews24.com.Under the earlier rate, a one-litre bottle was selling for Tk 189. The price of a kg of green chili was reduced by up to Tk 40. The price of juvenile hilsa has also been increased by Tk 200 a kg.

A former Jubo Dal leader, who was arrested in an operation in Jashore’s Keshabpur by joint forces, has died. He died a day after he had been arrested by the joint forces on Thursday night. He was admitted to the prison hospital, from where he was admitted to the Jashore General Hospital as his condition kept deteriorating. Ujjal’s body bore blunt injuries and he was bleeding internally, said Jobayer Hossain, a doctor at the Jashore hospital. Keshabpur Police chief Borhan Uddin said Ujjal was sick when joint forces handed him over to police.