Archive for September 4th, 2006
Monday, September 4th, 2006Several thousand ruling BNP leaders and activists yesterday brought out a huge colourful mass procession in the capital led by their Chairperson Khaleda Zia who is also the prime minister of the country. The procession marking the 28th founding anniversary of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) virtually turned into a massive election campaign on around fifteen-kilometre route of the march, just ahead of handover of power to a caretaker government by the four-party ruling alliance.The massive procession, one of the largest political programmes by BNP in recent times, apparently was a show of strength. It started at about 4:20pm from Naya ...
(read more) Monday, September 4th, 2006Officials and employees of Bangladesh Biman yesterday called an indefinite strike at airports across the country from September 7 to press for urgent measures to make Biman solvent."We wrote to all local agencies of international airlines to refrain from using Bangladeshi airports from September 7," a leader of the Bangladesh Airline Pilots Association (BAPA) said.He said from that day the Biman officials will not do any ground handling at Zia International Airport, Shah Amanat International Airport, Chittagong and Shah Jalal International Airport, Sylhet.Ten trade bodies of Bangladesh Biman yesterday integrated themselves into a broader platform styled Biman Sammilito Sangram Parishad ...
(read more) Monday, September 4th, 2006The crisis over transporting containers to and from Chittagong Port was partially resolved yesterday as two of the five feeder-vessel operating companies agreed to continue operation following a tripartite meeting at the commerce ministry.Representatives of the feeder vessel operators have agreed to withdraw and refund the congestion surcharges, Commerce Minister Hafizuddin Ahmed said after the four-hour long meeting.Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has also agreed to withdraw its cases against the Chittagong Feeder Trade Committee (CFTC), he added.Local companies QC Shipping Line and HRC Shipping will continue loading and unloading of containers while the Oriental Express Lines, Sea ...
(read more) Monday, September 4th, 2006The newly appointed Election Commissioner Mahmud Hasan Mansur yesterday paid an unprecedented surprise visit to the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat and held meetings with the chief election commissioner (CEC) and two other election commissioners, without taking the oath of office.Hasan Mansur, who was suddenly appointed as an election commissioner last Thursday and who is scheduled to take the oath today, also met the EC secretary during the visit but did not pay any courtesy call on the rest of the officials at the secretariat.Stunned by the surprise visit, officials of the EC Secretariat termed it unprecedented, since none of ...
(read more) Monday, September 4th, 2006The bullet-hit victims of the August 26 carnage in Phulbari, Dinajpur are yet to get financial support for their treatment even though the government said on Wednesday that it would compensate the victims within 72 hours. The government on Wednesday pledged to provide a compensation of Tk 2 lakh to each of the families of those who died on August 26 and a total of Tk 9 lakh compensation for the injured. Rajshahi City Corporation Mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu had made the pledges in a public meeting at Phulbari after signing an agreement with the demonstrators in Parbatipur.Dinajpur Medical ...
(read more) Monday, September 4th, 2006Unusual traffic jam coupled with fewer motorised vehicles caused immense suffering to the commuters during the founding anniversary procession of the ruling BNP in the capital yesterday.Due to their procession from Nayabazar to Gabtali, the 20-kilometer road became virtually non-functional for vehicles from noon to evening.A reduced number of private and public vehicles came to ply the streets yesterday, as the ruling party was doing publicity for their rally and procession for the last few days.Commuters and vehicles were seen waiting for hours at different intersections including Gulistan, Malibagh, Mouchak, Bangla Motor, Sonargaon, Farmgate, Asadgate and Shaymoli while the ...
(read more) Monday, September 4th, 2006The bodies of the six Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers, who died in a road crash in Ivory Coast on August 25, will arrive in Dhaka this afternoon.Upon arrival at Zia International Airport at 2:00pm, Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan will receive the bodies on behalf of the government with due state formalities.The six met their tragic death just hours after their landing in Ivory Coast.A truck carrying the soldiers crashed at Tiasali, some 125km off Ivory Coast capital Yamoussoukro, and veered into a roadside ditch at around 5:30pm local time (11:30pm Bangladesh time). Eleven others were also injured in this ...
(read more) Monday, September 4th, 2006Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) yesterday forced hundreds of Dhaka University (DU) students of different dormitories to join a grand procession organised to mark its parent organisation's 28th founding anniversary.The ruling BNP yesterday organised the procession where thousands of leaders and activists of BNP and its associate organisations including JCD joined.Sources said the JCD gathered around 3,500 students from different dormitories of DU to join the procession from Naya Bazar to Gabtoli.A number of students said the JCD men launched a room-to-room campaign on the eve of the procession and told first, second and third year students to join the ...
(read more) Monday, September 4th, 2006Liberation War Affairs Secretary Abu Solaiman Chowdhury has been made new cabinet secretary replacing ASM Abdul Halim.Abu Solaiman Chowdhury joined the BCS [Administration] cadre in 1973. He assumed the office of Liberation War Affairs Secretary on January 15 this year. He worked in the ministries of Women and Children Affairs, Civil Aviation and Tourism, Youth and Sports, Cultural Affairs, LGRD and Cooperatives. He also worked at Bangladesh Handloom Board, Election Commission Secretariat and Jamuna Multi-purpose Bridge Authority.Sources said the new cabinet secretary would retire early next year.Solaiman obtained Hubat Humphrey Fellowship from the American University on Development Planning and ...
(read more) Monday, September 4th, 2006An unidentified criminal shot a 70-year-old man dead inside a shop at Pallabi in the city yesterday apparently over refusal to pay money.Witnesses said a youth came to the scrap material shop at Taltola in Mirpur Section 11 at about 12:30pm and shot Izzat Ali point-blank in the face and throat.Izzat's grandson Mohammad Rana, who was present during the incident, said that the youth, aged around 22, came and gave him a piece of handwritten paper. "As I was reading the paper, the youth shot my grandfather twice and ran away," he said.Rana and locals rushed Izzat to Dhaka ...
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