Archive for August 8th, 2006
Tuesday, August 8th, 2006Already facing an acute liquidity crisis, the Oriental Bank loaned nearly Tk 380 crore to different business enterprises in 17 months till May 2006 on orders from the bank's new owner and top management, documents show.To arrange money for the borrowers, the bank borrowed from the call money market at the highest possible interest rate. By December 31, 2005, the high-interest loan it took stood at a staggering Tk 213 crore.The bank did not hesitate to be on the slippery slope to be able to lend Tk 380 crore, whereas it was unable to pay around Tk 200 crore to ...
(read more) Tuesday, August 8th, 2006Due to inaction of the power ministry, the government by August 15 may lose 22 million dollars of conditional soft loan from the Czechoslovakian government for rehabilitation of two old power plants installed by the Czechs.These plants -- Khulna 60 megawatt and 110 megawatt -- built in 1973 and 1984 respectively by a Czech government company Skodaexport, are now generating maximum of 50mw and 85mw respectively.Both of these plants underwent overhauling in the past and they are scheduled for major rehabilitation in the next year. Sources said by installing new boilers, control systems, and by refurbishing turbines, etc, these ...
(read more) Tuesday, August 8th, 2006Local Consultative Group (LCG), a platform of donor agencies, yesterday held a high profile meeting with the leaders of different political parties including the ruling BNP and the main opposition Awami League(AL), focusing on four areas of election assistance.The areas include domestic and international election monitoring, coordination in the Election Commission (EC), voter education and civic awareness.The informational meeting for political parties on development partners' planned electoral assistance for the 2007 parliamentary polls process was held at a city hotel.Opposition leaders attending the meeting raised questions over the role of the present Election Commission (EC).The EC and ...
(read more) Tuesday, August 8th, 2006The handloom rug of Ulipur in Kurigram is making its way into the world market, opening up great opportunities for hundreds of unemployed women in the locality. About 25,000 rolls of rugs, locally known as Satranji, are being exported every month to Germany and America. What makes Ulipur rugs unique is that they are woven from materials such as jute, garment waste, maize cane, and sugar cane.Currently, some 300 women from the Monga-prone villages of Ulipur work at a factory of Tetultala to produce the handloom carpets.A joint venture of Chhinnamukul Bangladesh, an NGO, and Karupanya Rangpur, a private ...
(read more) Tuesday, August 8th, 2006Appointments of judges in the country's judiciary system should be free from influence of partisan politics to ensure justice for the people, eminent citizens said yesterday at a discussion. They said the absence of an independent and impartial judiciary, inordinate delay in adjudication of cases, high cost of litigation and a dearth of legal aid are hindering justice for the people.The speakers also recommended removal of all judges who were appointed on political considerations in the last two years.Detailing their own experiences, the speakers said respect for the constitution and rule of law is lamentably absent, increasing inefficiency ...
(read more) Tuesday, August 8th, 2006Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) recovered two firearms including a sophisticated M-16 rifle and 373 bullets from a remote area in Fatikchhari upazila yesterday morning.During a search at Charer Khil village of Narayanhat union in the upazila, a team of Rab-7 unearthed one M-16 rifle with three loaded magazines from an abandoned bungalow owned by one Foyez Ahmad at around 5:00am yesterday, sources said.The members of the elite force then raided the house of Kafil Uddin in the same village and recovered one double-barrel gun and 373 bullets of M-16.They launched the operation on the confessional statement of Nasirul Islam alias ...
(read more) Tuesday, August 8th, 2006While the garment owners are sticking to their position of offering Tk 1,300 as the minimum wage for the workers, the board formed to recommend the salary ended yesterday's meeting without reaching a decision about the minimum wage for the workers, sources said Garment workers demanding Tk 3,000 as minimum wage said they are ready to accept a reasonable offer, but the owners' stubborn attitude has created an uncertainty over the government's decision that the minimum wage for the garment workers would be announced within this month.The garment owners also declined to accept a compromise proposal placed by the wage board's ...
(read more) Tuesday, August 8th, 2006Eminent citizens of the country yesterday presented a vision for achieving a realistically defined goal to meet people's legitimate expectations by 2025 through a concerted effort, terming achievements in democratic practices in the last 15 years as 'insignificant'.Identifying confrontational political culture, poor governance, deteriorating public services, politicisation of key public and democratic institutions, culture of impunity and lack of farsightedness of the policymakers as key hurdles, they called for working together to remove those and to ensure rule of law and effective functioning of an accountable government and an independent judiciary."The long captive democracy got its freedom in 1991. But ...
(read more) Tuesday, August 8th, 2006Speakers at the 2nd expert group consultation meeting of the Nagorik Committee 2006, formed for preparing a vision paper for Bangladesh 2021, stressed the need for an efficient, accountable, transparent and decentralised government. Free and fair election is pre-requisite for improving the quality of the governance and having more accountable administration, they said at the consultation chaired by former finance minister and joint convener of Nagorik Committee M Syeduzzaman at the Cirdap Auditorium yesterday.They underscored the need for a powerful anti-corruption commission, independent judiciary, and ombudsmen in different sectors for achieving the goal."The entire administration would collapse, if the ...
(read more) Tuesday, August 8th, 2006The Election Commission (EC) Secretariat yesterday decided to request the cabinet purchase committee to exempt it from the public procurement regulations (PPR) 2003 to enable it to complete printing of the updated voter list by October. It took the decision at an inter-ministerial meeting that discussed possible complexities arising out of compliance with the PPR.Sources said the EC Secretariat is going to make such a request mainly due to time constraint caused by the loss of over six months in preparing a controversial fresh voter list. Now, it is not possible to complete printing of the updated voter list this ...
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