Ustad Shahadat Hossain Khan plays sarod, top, Munmun Ahmed presents a kathak recital on the opening day of the three-day classical music programme. — Ali Hossain Mintu.

People are busy setting up stalls at the Bangla Academy premises in Dhaka as the Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2013 is only a few days away. The photo was taken on Tuesday. — New Age photo

Dhaka Gladiators batsman Darren Stevens blasts a boundary during his unbeaten knock of 55 from 35 balls in their Bangladesh Premier League match against Sylhet Royals at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong on Tuesday. — New Age photo

A Malian soldier trys to disperse looters in the streets of Timbuktu on Tuesday. Hundreds of Malians looted stores in Timbuktu on Tuesday, saying the shops belonged to ‘Arabs’ and ‘terrorists’ linked to the radical Islamists who occupied the desert town for 10 months. — AFP photo

Rangpur Riders paceman Fidel Edwards (C) celebrates the wicket of Khulna Royal Bengals batsman Lou Vincent with team-mate Abdur Razzak (R) during their Bangladesh Premier League match at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong on Tuesday. — New Age photo

Syrian rebels make victory signs as they take position in the north-western Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughur on January 25. — AFP photo

The National Human Rights Commission chairman, Mizanur Rahman, talks with a woman during his visit to a neighbourhood of the Harijan community at Hajaribagh in the capital on Tuesday. — New Age photo

Journalists hold a sit-in in front of the Supreme Court building in the capital on Tuesday in protest at an attack on them. — New Age photo

Holiday-makers at the seaside town of Beidaihe, east of Beijing, last summer. International tourist arrivals surpassed one billion for the first time last year, with the Asia-Pacific region posting the biggest increase in foreign visitors. — AFP photo

Smoke billows from two buses after they were set on fire allegedly by Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal activists in front of Jagannath University in Dhaka on Tuesday. — Indrajit Ghosh

Protesters opposing Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi shout slogans as they march despite a nighttime curfew in the city of Suez on Monday. — Reuters photo

MAIN NEWS

Police spread dragnet for Jamaat-Shibir men

The police launched a nationwide hunt for activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir on Monday night after the Islamist party’s militants rampaged through the capital and other major cities on Sunday to... Full story

Verdict on Sayedee any day

International Crimes Tribunal 1 which completed rehearing the defence and the prosecution in the war crimes case against Delwar Hossain Sayedee on Tuesday announced that it reserved the verdict until a later time. Full story

Padma graft, BCL rowdism embarrasses govt: Inu

Information minister Hasanul Haq Inu said on Tuesday that the allegations of corruption in the Padma Bridge project and the violence and vandalism by Chhatra League on different campuses had embarrassed the government. Full story

Police asked to treat rape complaints as FIRs

The High Court on Tuesday directed the police to ‘treat’ all complaints of rapes as first information reports. The bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury and Justice Mahmudul Haque also asked authorities to send... Full story

NATIONAL

Hong Kong to recruit 80,000 housemaids in 6 months

The government would in weeks prepare a database of women workers aspiring to work abroad, expatriate welfare and overseas employment minister Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain said Tuesday. Full story

Submit probe report on Quasem by March 3: ICT

METRO

Political violence feared to affect fair

Publishers are busy preparing stalls and printing books for Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2013 amid a fear that political unrest on the Dhaka University campus may have an adverse impact of the fair. The political situation on the campus is worsening... Full story

Freelancers earned Tk 1cr per day last year: ICT adviser

BUSINESS

Import, export fees hiked by up to 275pc

The government has increased registration and renewal fees for import and export ranging from 76 per cent to 275 per cent in its new import policy. The increased fees were made effective in the new Import Policy Order-2012-2015 through issuing statutory... Full story

Cut in spectrum block allocation, relax payment mode likely

INTERNATIONAL

65 bodies found ‘executed’ in Syria river

The bodies of at least 65 young men and boys, all executed with a single gunshot to the head or neck, were found on Tuesday in a river in the Syrian city of Aleppo, a watchdog and rebels said. Full story

Looting in Timbuktu

SPORTS

Gladiators end Royals unbeaten run

The unbeaten run of Sylhet Royals in the Bangladesh Premier League finally came to an end when they lost to Dhaka Gladiators in their sixth match in Chittagong on Tuesday. Holders Gladiators avenged their seven-wicket bashing in Khulna with this... Full story

Edwards bowls Riders to easy win

EDITORIAL

Jamaat-Shibir violence and largely defensive law enforcers

THE violence and vandalism perpetrated by activists of Bangladesh... Full story

A legitimate demand that govt needs to pay heed to

OP-ED

Questions on Rooppur nuclear power plants

FEW critical questions have been raised so far by Bangladesh’s intellectual community regarding the deal towards construction of two nuclear power plants in Rooppur. Yet, questions do need to be posed. Full story

Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues: the debate

TIMEOUT

Classical music fest continues at Shilpakala

A three-day classical music fest began at the Music and Dance Centre of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Monday through fascinating presentations by accomplished vocalists, instrumentalists and dancers. As part of its annual programme of promoting... Full story

Shambhu’s paintings follow age old tradition

LETTERS

Make the JSC stipend meaningful

LAST month, the government published the list of the stipend recipients prepared on the basis of Junior School Certificate examination 2012 results. It is learnt that the stipends will be allocated on the basis of number of students... Full story