Archive for August 25th, 2006
Friday, August 25th, 2006A Dhaka Court yesterday discharged Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman HM Ershad from two graft cases filed over 15 years ago but decided to frame charges in the cases next month against five co-accused, including Anwar Hossain Manju.The order came at a time when the ruling BNP is negotiating to have the former president on its side in the upcoming elections in return for gradually withdrawing the cases pending against him, even if by annoying its key ally Jamaat-e-Islami.The Special Court for Dhaka Division discharged the overthrown ruler from the cases for illegally awarding a contract to Scimitar Oils for drilling ...
(read more) Friday, August 25th, 2006Bangladesh-India Joint Boundary Working Group (JBWC) will visit enclaves and territories in adverse possession in next one month and submit report to their respective governments, Indian Home Secretary VK Duggal said in Dhaka yesterday.The JBWC met in Dhaka on July 16-17 and discussed the outstanding border issues that cause frequent skirmishes between BDR and BSF."India and Bangladesh were friends, are friends and must remain friends. We must work towards making the relationship more solid, more concrete so that the coming generation should not fault us on anything," Duggal told reporters after courtesy calls on Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan and ...
(read more) Friday, August 25th, 2006The ruling BNP will decide on including Jatiya Party (JP-Ershad) in their alliance after receiving opinions from grassroots level leaders and activists in its National Executive Committee meeting scheduled for tomorrow. The leaders and activists will not be allowed to speak against any party leader or on internal feuds at any level of the party in the executive committee meeting, sources close to BNP high-ups said. Even senior leaders have decided not to discuss Oli Ahmed in the meeting, they added.Sources said BNP high command would discourage grassroots level leaders to raise issues like price hike of essentials in ...
(read more) Friday, August 25th, 2006Bangladesh Bank (BB) has asked the foreign investors to increase their equity and offload primary shares in the local stock market, with a view to contain higher outflow of profit from the country, the central bank governor said yesterday."The FDI (foreign direct investment) in our country depends heavily on bank-borrowing. With only 30 per cent of their own capital, the foreign investors manage the rest of the amount by borrowing from banks," said BB Governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed.It's quite natural that profit repatriation would take place. The rationale behind the bank's move is to make sure that the profit ...
(read more) Friday, August 25th, 2006A Dhaka court yesterday sentenced 21 people to death in connection with the killing of Jubo Dal activist Sabbir Ahmed Talukder Gama of Naldanga in Natore in February 2004.This is the second highest number of people receiving capital punishments for a single criminal case in Bangladesh.However, the defence lawyers said a deputy minister influenced the judgement.A group of leaders and activists of Naldanga upazila unit of Awami League (AL) on February 7, 2004 killed Gama, 26, also nephew of Deputy Minister for Land Ruhul Kuddus Talukder Dulu, following a political feud in the locality.A Dhaka court on April 16 ...
(read more) Friday, August 25th, 2006The axiom -- truth is stranger than fiction -- so happily became a reality for Matiur Rahman who lost his daughter Rina in the late 80s and dramatically found her, along with her Dutch husband, when they came to Bangladesh for a visit recently.Taking advantage of poverty and vulnerability of Matiur's family, a gang of child lifters posing as social workers sold Rina to a Dutch couple when she was only six-month old.Rina, educated in the Netherlands and now a lawyer there, came to Bangladesh and saw her father for the first time at the initiative of an NGO -- ...
(read more) Friday, August 25th, 2006The 10th South Asian Games saw its first day without rain in Colombo yesterday but the sun was not at all shiny for the Bangladeshi contingent.Bangladesh failed to win a single medal having participated in three athletics events, two in shooting and two in karate where medals were decided.Earlier, late on Wednesday, the female team earned a bronze in the kata event to take the tally to one gold, 10 silver and 21 bronze medals.Meanwhile, the athletics competition began at the Sugathadasa Stadium in front of a full house and the first gold medal went to India's S Shanthi who ...
(read more) Friday, August 25th, 2006Bangladesh and Indian officials led by their home secretaries began a four-day talks in Dhaka yesterday on the longstanding issues that frequently cause unpleasant situation along the border between the two neighbouring countries and to work out a peaceful border management.Home Secretary Safar Raj Hossain is leading an 18-member team while his Indian counterpart VK Duggal the 16-member Indian delegation at the seventh home secretary level talks that began at State Guesthouse Meghna in the afternoon."Peaceful border management will be the key issue on the agenda," the Bangladesh home secretary told reporters after the Indian delegation met him at his ...
(read more) Friday, August 25th, 2006Legal experts and academics at a dialogue in the city yesterday apprehended that ignorance about the urgency of protecting fundamental rights and preventing extra-judicial killings in the name of 'crossfire' would lead the society to self-destruction.Such violence and immunity to criminals usually begin on a small scale but gradually increase to such an extent that they occur systematically, threatening the whole society, they observed.Samaj Rupantor Oddhyan Kendra (SROK), a social studies centre, organised the dialogue on 'Extra-legal state intervention in citizens' rights', held at the Jatiya Press Club.Referring to extra-judicial killings by Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Dr Shahdeen Malik in ...
(read more) Friday, August 25th, 2006and Comilla yesterday.In Jessore, a truck with 47 ex-army men on board collided with another one at Saidpur Bottala on Jessore-Magura Road at around 4:30pm, killing seven on the spot and injuring 30 others, according to our correspondent.Four of the dead were identified as Aminur, 50, Shahjahan, 55, Jamshed, 50, and Zafar Ali, 45. Identity of the remaining three could not be known.The injured are undergoing treatment at Jessore General Hospital and Combined Military Hospital.The army men were returning home in Kashiani upazila of Gopalganj by the truck after lifting ration from Jessore Cantonment.Our Comilla correspondent reported that four members ...
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