Archive for October 18th, 2006
Wednesday, October 18th, 2006The next caretaker government, which is likely to be formed hurriedly in the wake of impasse over the appointment of chief adviser, will face challenges to create a level-playing field for free and fair polls within a short time.Officially, the caretaker government has a 90-day tenure, but it will have only 58 workdays to complete the massive task of creating a peaceful atmosphere for the election besides running day-to-day routine work.With the formation of the next non-party interim government close at hand, nothing however is certain yet due to the prevailing political impasse over the possible chief of the caretaker ...
(read more) Wednesday, October 18th, 2006Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus last night explicitly said he is not willing to become the chief adviser to the caretaker government, putting a brewing rumour of last few months to rest. "The caretaker chief should be neutral. I am not a neutral person since I am involved with the campaign for clean and competent candidates in the national elections," he said.If need be, he will form a political party to strengthen the campaign, the microcredit guru told reporters at Zia International Airport before flying to South Korea, where he will receive Seoul Peace Prize 2006.There has been a ...
(read more) Wednesday, October 18th, 2006The Bangladesh Bank (BB) yesterday rejected an appeal of the dissolved board of directors of the Oriental Bank seeking withdrawal of the action taken on charge of failure to properly operate the bank.The central bank also decided to review its monitoring system of all banks to unearth how the recent scam at the Oriental Bank happened despite close watch for years.The BB board of directors at a meeting also rejected an appeal of CM Koyes Sami, ousted managing director of the Oriental Bank, who also requested to relieve him of the same charge.Rezaul Karim, a director of the Oriental Bank, ...
(read more) Wednesday, October 18th, 2006The Awami League (AL)-led 14-party opposition combine yesterday expressed grave concern over prime minister's seeking support from the army to keep continuity of the BNP-Jamaat alliance government and thus making the institution "controversial"."Prior to handing over power, the prime minister has been repeatedly calling darbar meeting of the army and seeking its support to keep continuity of the alliance government," 14-party Coordinator Abdul Jalil told reporters at a press briefing at his residence in the capital last night."The prime minister is thus trying to influence the army politically and making them controversial," Jalil said, describing the act as against the ...
(read more) Wednesday, October 18th, 2006Different government entities share 85 per cent of the total classified loans of 20 top defaulters in the banking system and there is little initiative for rescheduling the defaulted loans. Bangladesh Bank (BB) sources said the total outstanding bank loans of the 20 top defaulters as of June 30 this year was Tk 8,574 crore while Tk 5,698 crore or 66 percent of the amount was classified (defaulted).Of the 20 top defaulters, seven government entities share Tk 4,871 crore of the classified loans, and the rest is in the private sector, according to statistics prepared by the BB recently.Bangladesh Petroleum ...
(read more) Wednesday, October 18th, 2006As the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is repeatedly seeking to know the actual status of investigation into the August 21 grenade attack case, Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar continues accusing the Awami League (AL) of non-cooperation with the probe.Sircar has even asked the IPU not to continue examining the August 2004 grenade attack case regarding the assassination attempt on Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina to let the legal proceedings go unhindered, sources said."It would not be wise to proceed with this matter any further in this forum. With heartfelt thanks in anticipation of dropping the matter," he said in his reply to ...
(read more) Wednesday, October 18th, 2006At least 100 garment workers were injured yesterday when police clubbed a procession demanding salary and Eid bonus around the EPZ area under Ashulia thana in Savar.The agitating workers vandalised a dozen vehicles at Nabinagar and Kaliakoir bus stations and barricaded the Nabinagar-Kaliakoir highway for two hours.The clashes between the workers and law enforcers left several policemen injured while a number of commuters were also injured being caught in the middle of the clash.The workers said the owners of around 10 garment factories had closed their production units several days back without paying salary and Eid bonus.The affected ...
(read more) Wednesday, October 18th, 2006A drug-addict youth murdered his elderly uncle and aunt at East Basabo under Sabujbagh Police Station in the capital yesterday, as they did not give him money to buy a cellphone set.Jahangir Shawkat Jewel, 25, admitted to having killed his aunt, mother's sister, Tajifa Begum, 55, and her husband Afsar Uddin Ahmed, 65, a retired warrant officer of the air force, after police arrested him.Quoting Jewel, police said that he has been demanding Tk 3,000 from his uncle and aunt to buy a cellphone set for the last four days. Irritated at their delay, he bought a hammer, a chisel ...
(read more) Wednesday, October 18th, 2006The judicial enquiry of the attempted murder case against five police personnel filed by the National Shooting Federation for attacking three shooters, including the Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Asif Hossain Khan on October 2, will begin on October 22.Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Shafiq Anwar yesterday set the date and issued summons upon the complainant and others to appear before the court on the fixed date.Metropolitan Magistrate Syed Mohammad Mojibul Haq ordered the judicial probe into the matter after Range Officer AFM Sahab Uddin Ahmed filed the case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, Dhaka on October 8.The accused are: Deputy Commissioner (DC) ...
(read more) Wednesday, October 18th, 2006Eight months ago, when Fizaz Ahmed opened an Internet service using a mobile modem in Kapalia Bazar of Jessore, the local people hardly knew what it was as the nearest Internet service was 35 kilometres away. Now the Internet is rapidly changing the lives of the people of about 15 villages around Kapalia Bazar.Villagers are now buying printouts of documents like passport forms or licenses from Fizaz's establishment. For Tk 5, a farmer can obtain a listing of prices for any agricultural commodity sold at nearby markets. Students have started exploring admissions in universities and compiling education related information. Mothers ...
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