Archive for August 18th, 2006
Friday, August 18th, 2006Jatiya Party (JP) chief HM Ershad was acquitted yesterday in a graft case filed against him 14 years ago. The verdict came at a time when the ruling BNP is negotiating to have the dictator on their side in the upcoming elections in return for gradually withdrawing the cases pending against him.The Special Court for Dhaka Division acquitted Ershad of illegal withdrawal of Tk 2,76,324 of income tax money without submitting any document in favour of his action.The court had twice deferred the dates for delivering the verdict that was prepared about three years ago."That accused HM Ershad having found ...
(read more) Friday, August 18th, 2006"I'll soon be gone, quite alone/And quietly, taking none of you along/On this aimless journey. Useless/To insist, I must leave you all behind. No, I'll take nothing at all/On this solitary journey...", wrote Shamsur Rahman in his poem "Before the Journey".Shamsur Rahman has gone leaving the whole nation in a deep shock.The eminent poet breathed his last at 6:30pm at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital (BSMMUH) yesterday.Dr Iqbal Ahmed Chowdhury, assistant professor of BSMMUH, formally declared the country's top poet dead at about 6:45pm. The poet died as his blood pressure fell to the lowest level, he told newsmen ...
(read more) Friday, August 18th, 2006Bangladesh Community Primary Teachers' Association yesterday withdrew their indefinite strike without any assurance from the government after observing a twelve-day hunger strike at the Central Shaheed Minar in the capital.The teachers said that they decided to withdraw the indefinite strike and the hunger strike in the greater interest of the students as the second term examinations are due from August 23.Teachers of community primary schools had been on indefinite strike since August 1 and went on hunger strike until death at the Central Shaheed Minar since August 6 demanding nationalisation of their jobs.They brought out a procession from the ...
(read more) Friday, August 18th, 2006At least 11 outlaws were killed and another captured wounded in a firefight between police and cadres of the Janajuddho faction of Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) at remote Sharirvita village of Sujanagar upazila in Pabna yesterday.During the gun battle that lasted around two and a half hours, around 200 rounds of bullets were traded, police said, adding that they recovered 10 rifles and 113 bullets from the area.At around 5:30am, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and police block-raided the area, some 45 km off the district town, following information that 50 PBCP cadres were holding a secret meeting at the ...
(read more) Friday, August 18th, 2006The Awami League (AL)-led 14-party opposition combine in its reaction to the verdict in the graft case against HM Ershad yesterday said the 'corrupt' BNP-Jamaat coalition government has failed to prove corruption charges against the deposed president because of its 'dirty political game'.AL General Secretary and Coordinator of the opposition line-up Abdul Jalil said said Ershad has been acquitted as part of the ongoing political game of the BNP-Jamaat coalition government."As the present government itself is corrupt from top to bottom, how could it combat corruption?" Jalil told The Daily Star when contacted.Workers' Party President and 14-party leader ...
(read more) Friday, August 18th, 2006Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman and deposed president HM Ershad termed yesterday's court verdict, which acquitted him of a graft charge, as the beginning of justice. "I am getting justice as the government is not interfering with the trials of the cases. Justice will prevail and I will be acquitted in all the cases if the trials are conducted neutrally," Ershad told journalists brushing aside allegations of being acquitted of the charge due to an understanding with the ruling party.The JP chief described the cases filed against him as political. "There are no legal grounds for the cases filed against ...
(read more) Friday, August 18th, 2006The government borrowing from banks rose 180 per cent in the first 25 days of the current fiscal year (FY) and stood at Tk 2,061 crore, compared to Tk 736 crore borrowed in the same period (July 1 to 25) of the last FY.The gap between the government's earning from the revenue collection and spending is responsible for the increased borrowing, finance ministry officials said.Besides, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) did not release about $300 million as budgetary support in time, which also contributed to the government's higher borrowing from the banks.The government's expenditure has ...
(read more) Friday, August 18th, 2006Leaders of the country's business community yesterday expressed deep shock and concern over the arrest warrants issued against eminent citizens and business personalities following a case filed by the Board of Investment (BoI) chief. In a joint statement, leaders of 10 leading business chambers and associations expressed fear that this kind of situation will damage the country's image and investment climate.The warrants were issued against business personalities Syed Manzur Elahi and Laila Rahman Kabir, and eminent citizens Professor Rehman Sobhan, M Syeduzzaman and Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya after BoI Executive Chairman Mahmudur Rahman filed a defamation case against them.The case ...
(read more) Friday, August 18th, 2006Secretary to the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat yesterday ruled out possibility of further extending time for updating the voter list even though he said the task was unlikely to be completed before the scheduled date of August 20."We are hoping 95 percent of the task would be complete by the scheduled time. If anyone is left out, he or she would have to apply to be registered," Secretary to the EC Abdur Rashid Sarkar told reporters at his office yesterday.The EC will sit to review the progress of the ongoing task on Sunday. The time to complete the task ...
(read more) Friday, August 18th, 2006The Public Service Commission (PSC) yesterday announced the results of the written test of the 27th Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination held this year. The PSC has selected 16,418 candidates provisionally for viva or spoken interview in different cadres and the viva will begin from September 9, said a PSC press release.The PSC reserves the right to cancel the application of any provisionally selected candidate if a candidate lacks the eligibility in line with the advertisement of the examination including age, educational qualifications or selection of optional subjects, the press release added.The commission also reserves the right to ...
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