Archive for April, 2007
Monday, April 30th, 2007The government is going to downsize the current budget by 5.9 per cent due to declining foreign aid, poor revenue collection and slow implementation of Annual Development Programme (ADP).According to a preliminary estimate by the finance ministry, the government may slash the ADP by 23 percent but it may increase the revenue budget by five percent.Overall revenue in the revised budget may decline but non-tax revenue may increase due to recovery of illegal money from corrupt people.Already Tk 270 crore illegal money of seven businessmen has been retrieved and deposited in the national exchequer. The government expects that a ...
(read more) Monday, April 30th, 2007The Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday pressed charges against three detained ex-state ministers and two of their family members in connection with three graft cases filed for amassing huge wealth through corruption and abuse of power.This is the first time the ACC submitted charge sheets against them in connection with graft cases filed with different police stations in March this year.The charge-sheeted accused are former state minister for planning Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, ex-state minister for civil aviation and tourism Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin, ex-state minister for labour and employment Amanullah Aman, Nasir's son barrister Mir Mohammad Helal Uddin and Aman's wife ...
(read more) Monday, April 30th, 2007The Power Cell yesterday cancelled the third tender of the Sirajganj 450 megawatt power project.In a letter to the eight pre-qualified bidders of the third tender, the Cell said the government has decided to appoint a consultant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to supervise the tender for the project. Under the circumstances, the ongoing tender process has been cancelled, the letter added.The fresh pre-qualification process will be initiated soon, the letter said, regretting inconveniences caused to the bidders--AES (USA), YTL (Malaysia), GMR (India), Globeleq-Summit Consortium (UK-Bangladesh joint venture), Manning Industries (USA), Marubeni Corporation (Japan), Orion-Delta (local), Esser Power-PHP Consortium ...
(read more) Monday, April 30th, 2007The work of preparing a project proposal for a voter list with photographs and for national identity cards is likely to begin next week, a month after the 18-month timeframe for voter registration was announced by the chief election commissioner (CEC). Two consultants however joined the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat yesterday and three others, including two from abroad, are expected to join in a couple of days.After appointing the consultants, the EC will hold a meeting with them and discuss creating the voter list with photographs and the national identity cards, sources said."The consultants will start working on the ...
(read more) Monday, April 30th, 2007The High Court (HC) yesterday refused to accept a writ petition seeking a directive for the authorities not to arrest or harass Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina on her return home.An HC bench turned down the application for permission to file the petition on grounds of procedural flaws.The lawyers who moved for it then went to another bench but that too declined to receive the affidavit regarding the intended petition.Barrister Shafique Ahmed and Mahbubey Alam are among the lawyers working for a court order not to detain Hasina on her arrival without lawful authority.Speaking to the reporters, ...
(read more) Monday, April 30th, 2007BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia did not get visa for Saudi Arabia for performing Umrah as of yesterday.Brigadier (retd) Hannan Shah told reporters that Khaleda is not leaving the country now as the formalities to get her visa did not complete. "It will take some time to get the Saudi visa for her," he said.Party sources said the Saudi government did not agree to issue visa for the former premier as it thinks that Khaleda is not going to Saudi Arabia willingly.Party leaders meanwhile alleged that Khaleda's movement is still being controlled because she could not attend a scheduled programme yesterday ...
(read more) Monday, April 30th, 2007Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina yesterday said she has no plan for seeking revenge against the military backed caretaker government which tried to block her return to Bangladesh."I don't think about taking revenge. Even my father's killers were brought to book," Hasina, a former prime minister told the India Tribune yesterday accusing the caretaker government of not fulfilling its promise for holding elections."There was a mass movement when the caretaker government assumed office. Their first job was to hold elections. But they haven't done that yet," said the AL chief who was scheduled to deliver a speech at ...
(read more) Monday, April 30th, 2007The caretaker government has sent a set of proposals to the Election Commission (EC) for banning party-affiliated student organisations and trade unions, Law Adviser Mainul Hosein said yesterday. "I have told the chief election commissioner (CEC) that there should be a law so that no political party can use the teachers and students to its advantage," he said talking to journalists at his secretariat office.Asked if a draft has been made, he answered in the negative.He said the government believes there should not be party-affiliated student and labour bodies in public or private institutions."We are not talking ...
(read more) Monday, April 30th, 2007Finance Adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam yesterday dismissed any controversy or constitutional crisis over budgeting by the interim government despite the fact that the next budget will not get through a parliament.The adviser who is authoring the budget said: "Budget is just a statement of earning and expenditure of the nation; this can pass through an ordinance."Mirza Aziz said this while talking to the press after the Resource Committee Meeting at his office where officials concerned were present for the exercise of resource assessment and allocation for the upcoming budget for 2007-08.This is for the first time in Bangladesh's history ...
(read more) Monday, April 30th, 2007The national coordination committee against major corruption and crime is investigating 21 cases of major crimes, said MA Matin, chairman of the committee and adviser for the Ministry of Communications.Three FIRs (first information report) of the cases have been sent to the Anti-Corruption Commission, another three would be sent very soon while the committee is reviewing the rest 15 cases.Matin was talking to the journalists after emerging from a review meeting of annual development projects under Bangladesh Railway at Rail Bhaban yesterday.The meeting that reviewed the progress of 29 development projects undertaken in 2006-07 fiscal year under the ...
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