Archive for September 10th, 2007
Monday, September 10th, 2007Indoor politics is allowed again from today, albeit on a limited scale with strict conditions attached, following the chief adviser's (CA) declaration of lifting the ban through his address to the nation last night."The government will lift the restrictions on indoor politics tomorrow to create an environment conducive to talks with political parties," CA Fakhruddin Ahmed said adding that reforms will be brought to the electoral laws and rules after the discussions with the parties.According to a gazette notification issued by the home ministry last night, a political party may hold meetings of its forums to discuss only its ...
(read more) Monday, September 10th, 2007Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday said if possible, the government will arrange general election ahead of the previously set December 2008 deadline after completion of the electoral roll with voters' photos.He reaffirmed his commitment to transferring power to elected public representatives after arranging the elections within the set timeline.“Immediately after preparation of voters' list with photos, the government will extend all-out cooperation to the Election Commission (EC) in holding the polls at the quickest,” Fakhruddin said in his address to the nation over the state-owned radio and television.The chief adviser also announced the end of the ban on indoor politics ...
(read more) Monday, September 10th, 2007Leaders of the BNP faction led by Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan in a letter to the chief election commissioner (CEC) yesterday labelled Khaleda Zia's decision to expel Bhuiyan and Ashraf as a violation of government restrictions on political activities.By the same token, they questioned the appointment of Khandaker Delwar Hossain as the party's secretary general.A delegation led by BNP Vice-president Major (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed submitted the letter to CEC ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday evening. During an hour-long meeting at the commission, they tried to convince the election commissioners that Bhuiyan-led faction represents the mainstream BNP and deserves the EC's ...
(read more) Monday, September 10th, 2007Three private land phone companies yesterday received licences from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to operate fixed phone services in central Dhaka.This is the first time private fixed phone operators, also known as PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) operators, have been awarded the licence to operate in Dhaka. The BTRC had been withholding licences to operate in Dhaka.The three PSTN operators that received licence to operate in Dhaka are RanksTel, Dhaka Telephone Company Ltd (DTCL) and Square Informatix.Of them, both RanksTel and DTCL received their licences in May 2005 to operate in four zones in the country ...
(read more) Monday, September 10th, 2007Police charged four Dhaka University (DU) teachers and 32 others including 15 DU students with instigating violent student protests on the university campus and at other places in the city last month.The chargesheeted teachers are already detained DU Teachers' Association (Duta) General Secretary Prof Anwar Hossain and Sciences Faculty Dean Prof Harun-or-Rashid and Duta President Prof Sadrul Amin and applied physics department Chairman Prof Neem Chandra Bhowmik.Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) President Azizul Baree Helal, who was shown arrested in two cases in connection with the violence and remanded for 10 days for interrogation, was however not charged in any case.The ...
(read more) Monday, September 10th, 2007Welcoming the government's decision to relax the curbs on indoor politics, leaders of different political parties yesterday lauded the chief adviser's address to the nation, and said they would soon start working at party forum towards reforms.Talking to The Daily Star, they said the steps would leave a positive impact on the Election Commission's talks on reforms and implementation of the roadmap to polls.Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman HM Ershad said Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed in his speech has touched on almost everything the nation was expecting."As he has spoken elaborately on different matters, it is now clear that ...
(read more) Monday, September 10th, 2007The flood situation in the country has deteriorated further due to incessant rains over the basins of the Ganges, Meghna, Brahmaputra and southeastern hills.Our correspondent in Sylhet said authorities are struggling to protect the Surma and Kushiara embankments while the civil administration and the military are working together to save the vulnerable parts of the Teesta barrage.The Padma is flowing over the 1,296-foot-long town protection embankment in Rajbari, BSS reports.People are being infected with diarrhoea again for having contaminated water and stale food. The fresh flood has destroyed crops worth millions of taka and left hundreds of thousands ...
(read more) Monday, September 10th, 2007Three private land phone companies yesterday received licences from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to operate fixed phone services in central Dhaka.This is the first time private fixed phone operators, also known as PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) operators, have been awarded the licence to operate in Dhaka. The BTRC had been withholding licences to operate in Dhaka.The three PSTN operators that received licence to operate in Dhaka are RanksTel, Dhaka Telephone Company Ltd (DTCL) and Square Informatix.Of them, both RanksTel and DTCL received their licences in May 2005 to operate in four zones in the country ...
(read more) Monday, September 10th, 2007Newly appointed BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain yesterday said it is not the duty of the Election Commission (EC) to determine the leadership of a political party, only the policymakers of a party have the right to choose its leadership."The people will not accept any decision that will come through obfuscating the issue as we have already made the matter clear to the commission," he told reporters in his NAM apartment in the capital when asked about the EC's recent announcement that the commission itself will decide which faction of BNP will be invited to the upcoming electoral ...
(read more) Monday, September 10th, 2007The government is considering abandoning the existing system for leasing water bodies in an effort to improve the livelihoods of fishing communities and increase fish production.Currently non-fishermen, especially people with political influence, manipulate the leasing process depriving real fishermen the opportunity to lease water bodies, said fisheries experts.Over 10 lakh tonnes of fish is produced each year in 40.36 lakh hectares of open water bodies in the country.An expert committee on fish resources said fish production could be increased significantly if the present leasing system is changed.A study conducted by Directorate of Fisheries found that the leasing process followed in ...
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