Archive for August 30th, 2006
Wednesday, August 30th, 2006The indefinite strike in Phulbari of Dinajpur seeking ouster of the Asia Energy continued for the third consecutive day yesterday while the government has yet to take measures to meet the six-point demand of the locals.The demonstrators refused to sit with the local administration yesterday. Instead, they opted to wait for the government to send a high-powered body to resolve the issue.Meanwhile, Rajshahi City Corporation Mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu and Deputy Minister for Food and Disaster Management Asadul Habib Dulu arrived in Dinajpur last night to find a way of reconciliation with the demonstrators.However, the demonstrators have yet to respond ...
(read more) Wednesday, August 30th, 2006The High Court (HC) yesterday directed law enforcing agencies, with emphasis on Rapid Action Battalion, to follow the provisions in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in cases of arrests of citizens.The direction followed a HC suo moto ruling issued against the government, police and Rab on July 27 asking them to explain in two weeks why they should not be directed to produce Kishore Kumar, whom Rab had arrested on July 19, before the court to prove that he was not being held unlawfully.A High Court division bench issued the first ever suo moto by the HC against any ...
(read more) Wednesday, August 30th, 2006A misleading report on Bangladesh's losing a lawsuit at an US court against Niko for $250 million compensation in the Tengratila gas field blowout is helping the controversial explorer reap benefit at the Canadian stock exchange.Bangladesh never filed any case with any US court for compensation in the Tengratila blowout.In a twist to truth, the Canadian Press, crediting Niko, reported on August 25 that a judge in Texas had dismissed the case filed by residents of Bangladesh who claimed themselves as victims of an uncontrolled release of gas at one of the company's wells last year.In reality, some unknown ...
(read more) Wednesday, August 30th, 2006Ruling BNP's dissident leader Oli Ahmad defended his statements against the 'adulterers, corrupt leaders, and haughty plunderers' and urged the people to unite against them since there is no alternative to this to save the nation. "The crisis in the country will deepen if such people are re-elected," he told reporters yesterday in his DOHS residence in the capital on his return from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah.Some people in BNP, who are involved in corruption and terrorism, are badmouthing him, he said."I am a hero of the liberation war, I will never lose and as a freedom ...
(read more) Wednesday, August 30th, 2006The High Court (HC) yesterday ordered immediate release of innocent Shah Alam Babu from jail, saving him from walking the gallows. He was wrongly identified as Sundar Babu, the main accused in a murder case, and sentenced to death by a lower court in Dhaka in 2004.The HC delivered its verdict on completion of hearing of the death reference and appeal in the case.It also ordered stripping lower court judge Shamsul Alam Khan of judicial powers as he illegally awarded death penalty to innocent Shah Alam Babu, mentioning him as Sundar Babu, on August 18, 2004.A death reference ...
(read more) Wednesday, August 30th, 2006Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has expressed her conviction that members of the armed forces will play their effective role in holding the forthcoming national election in a free, fair and neutral manner, as they did in the past."As per constitutional provision, a caretaker government will take over on expiry of our tenure in October this year and make arrangements for holding a free and fair election," she said while addressing a darbar of army, navy and air force at Chittagong Cantonment yesterday.The prime minister said members of the armed forces not only participate in war but also cooperate with ...
(read more) Wednesday, August 30th, 2006Several witnesses to Saturday's carnage in Phulbari claim that the magistrate on duty did not want to give orders for firing on the demonstrators, rather the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel forced him to do so. At gunpoint, Magistrate Abdul Aziz was compelled to order firing, they told journalists yesterday, three days after the incident that left at least five killed and over 200 injured.Neither the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO), magistrate or any of the BDR officials however agreed to comment on the issue."I saw some BDR men pointing gun at the magistrate and asking him to sign a paper they ...
(read more) Wednesday, August 30th, 2006A father was seen walking the streets of Phulbari in Dinajpur district yesterday with the front page of a national daily's August 27 issue featuring a photo of his 13-year-old son who died in BDR firing on demonstrators on August 26.Salahuddin Azam, the 37-year-old father from West Gouripara, was asking people if they saw the body of his son Afsar Jaksu or if they could tell him where he might find the body."I did not know my son had died," Azam told The Daily Star. "I came to learn about his death from the newspaper the next day. I have ...
(read more) Wednesday, August 30th, 2006The time limit for keeping the updated voter list open for public inspection at local government and election offices expires today with many areas in the country yet to see the list displayed at these offices.Even the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat does not have information whether the updated list is being displayed properly while the EC has no plan to extend the time limit, sources said."We are not collecting information from the field level on keeping the updated voter list open for public inspection. We are getting the information only from media reports," a top EC official told The Daily ...
(read more) Wednesday, August 30th, 2006Believe it or not-- at least 85 percent of the total population in Khagrachhari district have become voters.According to the regional office, the total population of the district is 5,18,463--based on the 2001 census. After the latest update, the number of voters stood at 4,44,129.District Election Office sources said at least 1,08,042 voters have been added to existing 3,54,540 voters. A total of 18,453 voters have been excluded for various reasons including death and migration.If 1,11,344 students of primary and high schools are deducted from the total population, the number of eligible people would be 3,32,785. District Election Officer Muhammad ...
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