Archive for September 30th, 2006
Saturday, September 30th, 2006The much-awaited dialogue between the ruling BNP and opposition Awami League (AL) over electoral reforms now appears only a matter of time as the BNP secretary general yesterday gave his counterpart a formal proposal for talks over phone.In reply to Mannan Bhuiyan, AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil said he will first communicate the message to his party chief and leaders of the 14-party combine and then after consulting them he will announce his decision sometime today.Bhuiyan, also LGRD and cooperatives minister, made the call to Jalil at about 10:30am yesterday and formally invited him for a secretaries-general level dialogue to ...
(read more) Saturday, September 30th, 2006State Minister for Power Major General (retd) Anwarul Kabir Talukder MP was removed from the post last night just hours into his announcement that he will resign today."Taking all the responsibility for the failures in the sector, I will resign tomorrow," Talukder told The Daily Star last night, a day after the massive violence that was triggered by nagging power outages.Satellite TV Channel i reported last night that the state minister had made a phone call to its office and said he will resign today.In a late night development, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) relieved him of his responsibilities yesterday, ...
(read more) Saturday, September 30th, 2006Militant kingpins Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai yesterday filed 'conditional' applications seeking permission to appeal against their death penalty in the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday."They have told me that they have given their statements in the applications and said it is up to the Supreme Court whether it will consider those as appeals or not," Deputy Inspector General (Prisons) Major Shamsul Haider Siddiqy told The Daily Star last night.Another source said both Abdur Rahman and Bangla Bhai told the jail authorities that they wanted to give their depositions before the SC. If their pleas are granted, their ...
(read more) Saturday, September 30th, 2006Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the power sector has declined by 30 percent a year on average in the last four years as the government failed to press through new power schemes for lack of decisions and leadership.However, FDI in the telecom sector, which repatriates several hundred million dollars each year, posted a 148 percent average yearly growth in the last two years. In the same period, foreign capital in service sector also has increased by 73 percent, on average, a year.In terms of money, the total FDI flow in the first two years showed no signs of increase. But ...
(read more) Saturday, September 30th, 2006When the country is reeling under more than 2,000 MW of load-shedding, the government is planning on formal inauguration of three power projects -- including a half megawatt one.While the half-megawatt project actually made a breakthrough in the remote hill tracts area, the two other power projects are neither new nor very promising.Power Development Board (PDB) sources said other than laying the foundation stone, the ruling party leaders are unlikely to deliver any public speech at the three project sites.The three projects are: 250MW Barapukuria coal-powered project built by a Chinese consortium, Fenchuganj 90MW power project being built by ...
(read more) Saturday, September 30th, 2006UK Parliamentary Human Rights Group said the prospect for free and fair general elections in Bangladesh is looking bleak with only a month to go before the caretaker government takes office.Lord Avebury, vice-chair of the group, made the comment while chairing a seminar on 'Bangladesh: Logjam on the Road to Free and Fair Elections' in the House of Lords on September 27."The US National Democratic Institute (NDI) has already referred to the incompetence and bias of the Election Commission (EC), all four of whose members were previously activists of parties belonging to the coalition government," a House of Lords press ...
(read more) Saturday, September 30th, 2006Demonstrations by the people demanding uninterrupted power supply continued yesterday in different regions of the country while police filed cases against about 22,100 unidentified persons in the capital for taking part in the violent protests of Wednesday and Thursday.Several hundred residents of Azampur in Uttara of the capital attacked the local office of Dhaka Electric Supply Company (Desco) yesterday afternoon demanding uninterrupted power supply. The mob also vandalised vehicles belonging to Desco.Police managed to bring the situation under control around 3:00pm. Later, the demonstrators submitted a memorandum to the Desco authorities.Meanwhile, extra police force was deployed at different power stations ...
(read more) Saturday, September 30th, 2006Different workers organisations in readymade garment (RMG) sector yesterday gave a 72-hour ultimatum to the government and the factory owners for fixing wages of the workers.They warned of a tougher movement if their demands are not met within 72 hours and said the recently passed labour laws would create anarchy in the country."The government and the owners did not implement the tripartite accord regarding minimum wage and other issues of the RMG workers. This might cause deterioration in the overall situation for which the government and the owners will be fully responsible," President of Bangladesh National Garments Workers Employees League ...
(read more) Saturday, September 30th, 2006Indian Border Security Force (BSF) killed a Bangladeshi youth near Hardona border on Thursday night. Locals said the Indian border guards of Soldana camp ran a speedboat over Amir Hossain, 25, while he was crossing the Ichhamoti River with cattle, leaving him seriously injured.Bangladeshi fishermen rescued Amir in a critical condition. He was first admitted to Satkhira Sadar Hospital and later shifted to the Khulna 250-bed Hospital where he died yesterday afternoon.BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) confirmed the incident.UNB Thakurgaon correspondent reported that the BSF fired gunshots at Haripur frontier on Thursday night, creating panic among the residents at Dangaon and Dahagaon ...
(read more) Saturday, September 30th, 2006A local leader of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) was killed by a gang of miscreants in front of his house at Fulbari in Bogra town early yesterday. It is alleged that the gang led by Chhatra Dal activists Suman and Jitu swooped on Rabiul Islam, 22, president of BCL ward no-2, at around 1:30am.As Rabiul tried to flee, the gang opened fire and hit him with sharp weapons, leaving him critically injured. The BCL leader was rushed to Bogra Mohammad Ali Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries soon after admission.Chhatra League district unit brought out a procession in the ...
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