Archive for March 11th, 2007
Sunday, March 11th, 2007Tarique Rahman, now under custody of the joint interrogation cell (JIC), has disclosed names of some top 'Hawa Bhaban men' who used to control major businesses and look after his bank accounts, said sources.BNP's Senior Joint Secretary General and the eldest son of Khaleda Zia, Tarique has also divulged identities of his business partners and associates who include several ex-state ministers.Besides, he talked about his 'syndicate' in Bogra, a BNP stronghold, added the sources.The joint forces arrested him in the early hours Thursday at his mother's cantonment residence. The same day he was placed on a four-day remand on ...
(read more) Sunday, March 11th, 2007An intelligence agency report identifying corruption and opacity in recruiting 300 upazila election officers through the Public Service Commission (PSC) in 2005 has recommended taking actions to free the Election Commission (EC) from such controversy before the next elections. The Ministry of Home Affairs recently sent the probe report to the EC requesting it to take actions in the light of the recommendations made by the intelligence agency, sources said.On receiving the report, the EC at a meeting last week decided to examine the efficiency of the controversial upazila election officers through authorising an organisation other than the PSC ...
(read more) Sunday, March 11th, 2007The BNP-led alliance government during its five-year term allotted 90 plots on the Cox 's Bazar beach to its top leaders for setting up hotels and motels. Sources said the one-acre plots were allocated at unusually lower price and violating rules and regulations for this 'ecologically critical' area.On May 20, 1999, the then government declared 10,465 hectares of land in Cox's Bazar and adjacent areas as 'ecologically critical area' to preserve the bio-diversity and prohibited erecting structures, felling trees and capturing animals in the area.Influential lawmakers and cabinet members of the alliance government went on a frenzy of obtaining ...
(read more) Sunday, March 11th, 2007A special audit of the accounts of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) for the years 2003 '04 and '05 detected specific cases of irregularities including embezzlement and violations of government rules, which caused a financial loss of over Tk 19 crore to the corporation.The audit report prepared by the District Office of Comptroller and Auditor General suggested government authorities concerned to take actions against the individuals involved with the crimes and to recover the loss.ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury had been the city mayor during the period, who was arrested by the joint forces on Wednesday night on charges of corruption.He ...
(read more) Sunday, March 11th, 2007The performance of Chittagong Port improved significantly after a number of steps were taken by a taskforce formed by the joint forces.The age-old practice of underhand dealings inside the port for container movement has been checked considerably as well.Although bribing of customs officials for customs clearance has stopped, a small number of highly secretive underhand dealings still take place in the port, according to sources.According to sources, the joint forces had formed a taskforce immediately after the declaration of emergency in the country for improving the situation at the port.The task force had a series of meetings with ...
(read more) Sunday, March 11th, 2007Foreign Affairs Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury yesterday announced that Bangladesh is in the process of acceding to the UN Convention on Suppression of Nuclear Terrorism."In conformity with the UN Charter and international law, Bangladesh supports all international efforts, including implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions, particularly 1373, to combat terrorism," the foreign affairs adviser told a seminar at Bangladesh Institute for International Strategic Studies (BIISS).The daylong seminar titled 'Challenges to Security in the 21st Century: Bangladeshi Perspective' was organised by Centre for Strategic and Peace Studies (CSPS).The foreign adviser said that Bangladesh recognises that the growing trends in terrorism ...
(read more) Sunday, March 11th, 2007Caribbean heritage will be put on show in the opening ceremony of the eighth Cricket World Cup when the gala event takes place at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium in Jamaica today.The much-anticipated ceremony will be telecast live on Bangladesh Television at 4:15am Monday.As organisers remain tight-lipped, it was learned that the show was slated to have some spectacular lighting effects. They have also roped in two lighting consultants for this grand affair one of whom has worked for the American Super Bowl just a few months earlier. A budget of 2 billion Jamaican dollars has been estimated for this showcase ...
(read more) Sunday, March 11th, 2007Former Awami League (AL) lawmaker Mirza Azam, one of the 50 graft suspects listed by the Anti-Corruption Commission, was yesterday charged with forging documents to sell a luxury car.Sub-inspector Shawkat Kabir of the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) unit-1 filed the case with Gulshan Police Station. The previous day a team of the elite crime busters recovered a Lexus jeep from the house of one Shawkat Ali house on road No. 113 in Gulshan-2.The complainant said Mirza Azam, also the general secretary of Awami Jubo League, prepared fake documents and sold the white-coloured car (Dhaka Metro Gha 11-4387) to Shawkat.Both ...
(read more) Sunday, March 11th, 2007Finance and Planning Adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam yesterday said the government must be on guard against adverse effects that might result from its 'war against corruption'.Speaking at a seminar, he said there is no question about the need to increase accountability and transparency in public services, but the government will have to be careful about the flip sides of going all out against the corrupt elements.Titled "To the MDGs [Millennium Development Goals] and Beyond: Accountability and Institutional Innovation in Bangladesh", the seminar was organised by the World Bank (WB) and East-West University (EWU) at the varsity auditorium in the ...
(read more) Sunday, March 11th, 2007The joint forces yesterday arrested a police sub-inspector (SI) while he was taking bribe from a city hotel.In Gazipur, another SI and a businessman were arrested on Friday by the joint forces for bribery.Acting on a tip off, the joint forces conducted a drive at Hotel Noor Residential at Fakirapul in the capital at around 3:00pm and arrested Shahabuddin, former SI of Motijheel Police Station who was transferred to Rajshahi Range on February 27, with bribe money worth Tk 5,000 and seized his mobile set.Shahabuddin was later sent to Paltan army camp and filing of a case with Paltan ...
(read more) 
