Archive for December 15th, 2006
Friday, December 15th, 2006To the utter surprise of many, the High Court (HC) handed two years' imprisonment to former dictator HM Ershad yesterday, rejecting his appeal against the trial court's verdict in a corruption case of purchasing Japanese boats.The verdict has now given rise to the question if Ershad, who is also the president of the Jatiya Party (JP), will be able to take part in the upcoming parliamentary election.After over 11 years of appealing against the trial court judgment that awarded Ershad a three-year term in the jail, the attorney general's office moved in the court for holding hearing of the appeal. ...
(read more) Friday, December 15th, 2006There might not be any move before Sunday to recast the Election Commission (EC) in line with the package proposals drawn up by the council of advisers to the caretaker government 10 days ago.The advisers however decided on Wednesday that by this time they might be 'covertly' trying to negotiate a consensus among the political parties on reconstituting the commission by sending two commissioners on leave, said sources.President and Chief Adviser Iajuddin Ahmed at Wednesday's meeting asked the advisers to initiate steps to break the deadlock stemming from his strong opposition to the idea of sending Election Commissioner SM ...
(read more) Friday, December 15th, 2006The nation observed the Martyred Intellectuals Day yesterday paying rich tribute to those illustrious sons of the soil who were brutally killed at the fag end of the Liberation War. With defeat looming large, the Pakistani occupation army aided by their local collaborators -- Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams -- abducted frontline intellectuals and professionals on December 14, 1971 and killed them to cripple the nation intellectually.The killers dragged renowned academics, teachers, litterateurs, doctors, engineers, journalists and other eminent personalities blind-folded out of their houses and killed them before dumping the bodies in Rayerbazar, Mirpur and other killing fields.Different ...
(read more) Friday, December 15th, 2006Correction of the updated voter list enters its eighth day today but a large number of houses in different areas of the capital and elsewhere in the country have not yet been visited by the Election Commission (EC) field level staff engaged in the task.Around 10 thousand people residing in eight inaccessible Teesta chars in Dimla and Jaldhaka upazilas of Nilphamari are still not aware of the ongoing correction of updated voter roll no EC staff visited the areas till yesterday.Spot visits by The Daily Star correspondents also revealed that the field level staff did not yet visit many houses ...
(read more) Friday, December 15th, 2006 With the arrival of winter, migratory birds of different species thronged Jahangirnagar University (JU) campus making it eloquent with the chirping of the birds. Even though the number of birds this year seems lesser than the previous year due to the delayed advent of winter, more than six thousand birds, six foreign species alongside local breeds, have already taken shelter here. This year the birds arrived in the last week of October, a month later than in the previous year.Drying up of lakes, disturbance and interference from humans, unplanned cultivation of Nepiar grass in the shallow ...
(read more) Friday, December 15th, 2006The Election Commission (EC) yesterday extended the time for the ongoing field level work of correcting the updated voter list by three days--up to December 18, but was yet to re-fix the poll date.The EC also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the European Union (EU) for the latter's sending around 150 observers in three phrases to Bangladesh for the upcoming national election.EC Secretary Abdur Rashid Sarkar told newsmen that a meeting of the commission yesterday took the decision to extend time for correcting the voter list.Sarkar said the EC, however, is yet to take any decision regarding ...
(read more) Friday, December 15th, 2006Eminent economist and adviser of two previous caretaker governments Wahiduddin Mahmud yesterday said election commissioners cannot be appointed merely by abiding constitutional provisions or presidential powers, as judgement of 'good intentions and dignity' is also required for it."The appropriateness of appointing election commissioners is not merely a matter of abiding by constitutional provisions or the prerogative of the president," Mahmud said at the launching ceremony for the "State of Governance Report 2006" released by Brac University's Centre for Governance Studies (CGS)."What matters is the appropriateness of the appointment in relation to the dignity and stature of the position," said Mahmud, ...
(read more) Friday, December 15th, 2006The home ministry will have to bear the cost of the armed forces working to maintain law and order before the national election due to hurried deployment of the troops.Usually, the Election Commission (EC) pays for the army to work during the election period. But this time it will not have to finance the job, as it did not ask for the services of the military, said sources.If the troops, who rolled out on December 9, remain posted on the field till the polling day, the home ministry will have to cover one month's deployment expenses as the EC ...
(read more) Friday, December 15th, 2006Private company Saif Powertec Limited resumed operation of the four sophisticated gantry cranes at the Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT) last night after remaining inactive for over a month due to opposition by a section of dockworkers loyal to the Chittagong city mayor.The company took the charge again following the directives of the High Court division of the Supreme Court, sources said.Saif Powertec Limited suffered huge financial loss as they had been 'illegally' prevented from operating the cranes, Tarafder Ruhul Amin, managing director of the company, said, adding that as per the agreement with the company, the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) ...
(read more) Friday, December 15th, 2006Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina yesterday said Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad has been sentenced to two years in jail as the judiciary is still being influenced with 'remote control' by the BNP-Jamaat alliance as he refused to join the four-party alliance. In a fierce reaction to the High Court verdict that jailed Ershad for two years in the Japanese boat purchase case, the AL chief said the court handed down a two-year sentence on Ershad even before the hearing of the case was complete.AL Presidium Member Tofail Ahmed, General Secretary Abdul Jalil and LDP Organising Secretary Mahi B ...
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