Archive for December 6th, 2006
Wednesday, December 6th, 2006The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday witnessed another unprecedented incident as its judges started refraining from carrying out court proceedings.The judges started the work stoppage demanding apologies from the SC lawyers who had demonstrated on the premises of the court on November 30, and punishment for the perpetrators of vandalism carried out there on the day.The SC authorities also filed a general diary with Shahbagh police accusing 200 people, including noted jurists Dr Kamal Hossain, Barrister Amir-Ul Islam, Barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud and Barrister Tania Amir, of the vandalism and tearing off of the national flag.The judges in a meeting yesterday ...
(read more) Wednesday, December 6th, 2006The Election Commission (EC) at last decided yesterday to correct the mistakes in the updated voter list in just eight days by sending its 1.4 lakh staffs on door-to-door visits from next Friday. Earlier, it took 22 days for updating the voter roll without checking the authenticity of information with the same manpower.EC Secretary Abdur Rashid Sarkar said they initiated steps to correct the updated voter list. "We sought a budget of Tk 10 crore from the finance ministry for the task," he said at a press briefing after a meeting with the advisers to the caretaker government at Bangabhaban ...
(read more) Wednesday, December 6th, 2006The team of advisers to the caretaker government, which has been negotiating with the rival political alliances, is set to initiate further discussions with them for rearranging the election schedule and reconstituting the Election Commission (EC), Adviser Akbar Ali Khan said yesterday. About appointing another commissioner to the EC, he said, "The Election Commission is so controversial that it's very difficult to find a person who will agree to become an election commissioner and at the same time will be acceptable to all.""We had talks with a number of people, but nobody agreed to work as an election commissioner," he ...
(read more) Wednesday, December 6th, 2006The sit-in around the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat by the 14-party combine and allies passed off peacefully yesterday with the demonstrators resolving to continue the programme until the commission is reconstituted and the voter roll corrected.During the first day's demo held between 10:00am and 2:00pm, the participants appeared to be in an upbeat mood. Many of them said they believe they are now close to what they have long been agitating for.The Awami League (AL) led alliance on Monday declared that it would be staging sit-in outside the EC Secretariat to press home the demands for EC reconstitution and ...
(read more) Wednesday, December 6th, 2006Leaders of the BNP-led four-party alliance once again blasted the caretaker government (CG) advisers yesterday for their latest move to resolve the political crisis, saying they are acting as underlings of the Awami League (AL) without taking any action for its countrywide blockade programme. They reiterated that they would not accept crossing the 90-day limit for holding the next general election and any unconstitutional move to reconstitute the Election Commission (EC). The four-party would take to the street if the CG does anything for a particular party, they warned."You (CG) can change the election schedule without shifting the date of ...
(read more) Wednesday, December 6th, 2006Ship owners' unilateral raising of container freight by $200 per TEUs (twenty equivalent units) from December 1 will adversely affect export-import trade, particularly making imported items including essentials costlier, business sources said.They increased the fare by $200 for each loaded TEUs of containers and $50 for each empty container on the route connecting Chittagong port with Singapore, Malaysian and Sri Lankan ports. The enhanced rate has been effected without prior notice.Earlier, the average freight was $300-350 per TEUs on those routes but it would now go up to $500."The sudden freight hike will directly affect overall business in the ...
(read more) Wednesday, December 6th, 2006The Awami League (AL) yesterday told visiting US Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs John Gastright that holding a free and fair election would be impossible unless the existing voter list is updated again and the Election Commission (EC) is reconstituted."We discussed current political atmosphere pertaining to the next election and told them that a free and fair election is still not possible under this prevailing situation," AL President Sheikh Hasina's political secretary Saber Hossain Chowdhury told reporters after John Gastright concluded his meeting with AL President Sheikh Hasina at Sudha Sadan.Emerging from an hour-long meeting with ...
(read more) Wednesday, December 6th, 2006A Dhaka court yesterday asked 36 former BNP, Awami League (AL) and Jatiya Party (JP) lawmakers to explain why actions should not be taken against them to realise telephone bills totalling Tk 83 lakh from them and fixed January 9 and 10 of 2007 for receiving their explanations.Metropolitan Magistrate Rokan-Ud-Doula passed the order after an accounts officer (West) of Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) filed 36 cases at different dates last month with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (CMM) Court, Dhaka against the former members of parliament.Earlier on Monday, another court directed JP Chairman HM Ershad and 18 former BNP, ...
(read more) Wednesday, December 6th, 2006US Deputy Assistant Secretary John Gastright yesterday expressed his optimism that Bangladesh is going to have an election, overcoming the crisis, and it will be the most monitored polls ever in the country. He discouraged army intervention for a solution to the prevailing political crisis over the polls, saying that it will certainly negatively affect Dhaka-Washington military relations and Bangladesh's peacekeeping operations."I don't think army step is the right thing for Bangladesh. It will certainly negatively affect military to military cooperation, give a negative signal to the whole world and affect Bangladesh's participation in the UN peacekeeping mission," the visiting ...
(read more) Wednesday, December 6th, 2006A three-day conference on extreme poverty concluded yesterday with participants urging for greater emphasis on gathering better data and tailoring public policies, political structures and market mechanisms to work for the poorest.The conference titled "What works for the poorest?" was organised by Brac in collaboration with the Brooks World Poverty Institute and the Chronic Poverty Research Centre at the University of Manchester.Chairing the concluding session, held at the Brac Centre Inn in Dhaka, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Chairman Rehman Sobhan said there is an urgent need to focus more on the broader socio-political processes that perpetuate poverty and ...
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