Bangladesh News

Light finally seen at end of the tunnel

Thursday, December 7th, 2006In a major breakthrough in the near debilitating political crisis, the Election Commission (EC) yesterday decided to rearrange the entire election schedule including the polling date, following a tedious negotiation among the caretaker government and the two rival political alliances. The new schedule will be announced sometime today through a gazette notification, ten days after the surreptitiously hasty announcement of the previous schedule."The election commission will refix the poll schedule in its tomorrow's meeting," a press release issued by the EC Secretariat disclosed yesterday, apparently clearing the clouds regarding holding of the next parliamentary election within January 25.The EC ... (read more)

Judges skip work for second day

Thursday, December 7th, 2006The Supreme Court (SC) judges yesterday continued their unprecedented protest by abstaining from work for the second consecutive day to press home their demands.Although only the High Court (HC) division judges were supposed to refrain from court proceedings for two days that started yesterday, the Appellate Division judges also refrained from work. They, however, attended their offices.The judges started work abstention demanding apologies from the SC lawyers and punishment of vandals responsible for the vandalism at the SC premises on November 30 that was triggered by a stay order by the chief justice.On November 30, minutes before a High Court ... (read more)

4 jewellery shops in Uttara looted

Thursday, December 7th, 2006In a major gold heist yesterday burglars made off with stolen ornaments and cash worth about Tk 12.80 crore, breaking into four jewellery shops in Mascot Plaza at Uttara in the capital. The total amount of gold stolen is 7,821tola, according to the robbed jewellers. The jewellers' association said this is the biggest ever gold heist in the history of the country.Two guards of a private security company, Security Management Services (SMS), in league with the burglars drugged two of their on-duty colleagues before breaking into the 16-storey shopping complex off Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, according to police and the owners of ... (read more)

Traffic system chokes as sit-in rolls into day 2

Thursday, December 7th, 2006The 14-party combine's non-stop sit-in around the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat continued for the second day yesterday without any untoward incidents.A number of major roads leading to the EC were made off-limits to motorised vehicles during the programme, causing immense sufferings to the commuters, especially the school-going children who had to attend examinations.During the sit-in held from 10:00am-2:00pm, the Awami League (AL) led alliance declared to go for tougher programmes, including laying siege to Bangabhaban, to realise their demands. These include reconstitution of the EC, correction of voter roll, de-politicisation of administration and cancellation of the election schedule.They also demanded ... (read more)

30 lakh forms sent out for voter roll correction

Thursday, December 7th, 2006The Election Commission (EC) yesterday started sending 20 lakh forms to be used to delete the same number of fake or duplicate names from the updated voter list amidst widespread allegations that it contains over one crore excess voters. It also sent 10 lakh forms to be used for inclusion of names in the electoral roll and will send more for inclusion and deletion of names, if needed, sources in the EC Secretariat said.The move was initiated about a month after the caretaker government (CG) first proposed correcting the mistakes on the voter list.The EC however declined to ... (read more)

Tax ombudsman gets into action

Thursday, December 7th, 2006The office of the tax ombudsman got off to a belated start, seeking yesterday complaints from taxpayers harassed by tax officials. Taxpayers subjected to harassment by tax officials have been asked to lodge complaints with the office of the tax ombudsman.The ombudsman will deal with complaints regarding income tax, value added tax (VAT) and import duty, and take remedial measures.Aggrieved taxpayers should file the complaints with the ombudsman's temporary office at Kakrail in the capital either in person or by mail or through courier services, according to a press release issued by the office yesterday.If tax officials act in an ... (read more)