Archive for December 17th, 2006
Sunday, December 17th, 2006Jubilation overshadowed political turmoil yesterday as the nation celebrated the 35th anniversary of victory in the nine-month Liberation War in 1971.People from all walks of life paid their homage to the martyred war heroes who made supreme sacrifices for liberating the country from the Pakistan military rulers trampling the rights of the Bangalees, the majority in the then Pakistan.As the countrymen renewed vow to uphold the spirit of the Liberation War, BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami activists clashed with Awami League (AL) men in Moulvibazar, Pabna, Chittagong, and Mymensingh, leaving at least 82 injured.The day in 1971 marked the end of the ...
(read more) Sunday, December 17th, 2006A few advisers to the caretaker government have re-initiated negotiations with the two major political alliances about recasting the Election Commission (EC) in line with the advisory council's package proposal.Sources said President and Chief Adviser Iajuddin Ahmed will request election commissioners SM Zakaria and Modabbir Hossain Chowdhury to go on leave--as per the package proposal--only when the two alliances led by the BNP and Awami League (AL) agree."We are informally consulting with the leaders of BNP and Awami League for a consensus on resolving the ongoing political deadlock," Agriculture Adviser Shafiqual Haque Choudhury told The Daily Star yesterday.He said it ...
(read more) Sunday, December 17th, 2006A number of welfare organisations in Bangladesh misuse tax-exemption facilities by operating profit-driven programmes that do not serve any socio-economic goal but encourage 'corruption-based activities', a Bangladesh Bank (BB) study found.The study -- Tax expenditures in Bangldesh: An introductory analysis-- by the BB's Policy Analysis Unit also said the 'tax-holiday' provided to induce foreign direct investment (FDI) is widely misused and its opportunity cost is higher than its stated objectives.In the financial year 2005 (FY05), Tk 9,345 crore of tax was exempted, which was 31.3 percent of the total revenue earning and 2.5 percent of GDP, according to figures from ...
(read more) Sunday, December 17th, 2006BNP-led four-party alliance and Awami League (AL)-led 14-party coalition are set to show off their strengths as both the alliances will hold grand rallies in downtown Dhaka. AL-led 14-party will hold the rally tomorrow and four-party will hold its on the following day.Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, chiefs of the two alliances, will give their activists guidelines regarding the next election scheduled to be held on January 23.The AL-led coalition will announce three conditions as prerequisites for its participation in the election - rescheduling of the election after correction and publication of the updated voter list, implementation of the package ...
(read more) Sunday, December 17th, 2006"Please register my name on the voter list," Sekandar Ali (65), a resident of ward no 5 in Kamrangirchar in the capital requested The Daily Star correspondent mistaking him for a field level Election Commission (EC) official. Like Sekandar, thousands of prospective voters who live mostly in slums of Kamrangirchar were not registered as voters yet on the ninth day of stipulated 11-day schedule for correcting the much controversial voter list already updated once.About 10 thousand prospective voters of the ward now feel that they have little hope of seeing their names on the voter list as the field level ...
(read more) Sunday, December 17th, 2006Latifur Rahman, chairman and managing director of Transcom Group sent the following rejoinder to Amar Desh, ntv, Rtv in response to the false and malicious reports involving him and his business. We reproduce it in full: "I have been surprised and shocked by a series of articles in the daily Amar Desh and news reports in the two TV channels namely ntv and Rtv. Mosaddek Ali Falu owns all these three media outlets, fully or partly.In these reports, I was accused of using the influence of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star to increase my personal wealth and illegally occupying ...
(read more) Sunday, December 17th, 2006Jatiya Party (JP) enforces a dawn-to-dusk hartal in five districts of greater Rangpur today protesting the High Court verdict on Thursday that sentenced JP Chairman HM Ershad to two years' imprisonment in the Japanese boat purchase case. Announcing the programme on Friday, JP Presidium Member Moshiur Rahman Ranga said that the verdict was 'designed to bar Ershad from contesting the next parliamentary election.'Party leaders from the five districts -- Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Nilphamari and Rangpur -- were consulted before declaring the programme, our correspondent from Lalmonirhat reports. Awami League (AL) has extended its support to the hartal in the five ...
(read more) Sunday, December 17th, 2006Outgoing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has urged the Bangladesh caretaker government to ensure a level playing field, particularly through restoration of confidence in the Election Commission (EC).In a statement on Friday, he also called on the army to continue to play a neutral role, thereby creating an environment for peaceful elections.Renewing alarm about pre-election unrest in Bangladesh, he called for restraint and compromise among Bangladesh's major political players amid concern at the continuing violence and tensions ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for next month.The statement released by his spokesman, Annan said he "hopes that all parties will make ...
(read more) Sunday, December 17th, 2006Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina yesterday said Bangabandhu had never granted general amnesty to the war criminals and collaborators."The general amnesty declared by Bangabandhu did not cover those who were charged with war crimes, rape, arson and other offences," she said.Hasina was speaking at a reception organised by the AL in honour of the valiant freedom fighters (FFs), artistes and other employees of Swadhin Bangla Beter Kendra on the occasion of the Victory Day at Sudha Sadan.She said the anti-liberation elements, who directly acted as accomplices of the Pakistani occupation forces, were sentenced to jail under Collaborators Act. Besides, ...
(read more) Sunday, December 17th, 2006At least 80 people were injured as BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir activists clashed with Awami League (AL) and its student front Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) men in Chittagong, Moulvibazar, Mymensingh and Pabna during Victory Day celebrations yesterday.Trouble in port city Chittagong that left 12 people injured began when BNP leaders and workers entered the Shaheed Minar premises through the exit, ignoring request of the on-duty security personnel.City Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, who first placed wreaths there at midnight, also requested the BNP leaders and workers to enter the premises through the designatedentrance and place ...
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