Archive for November 4th, 2007
Sunday, November 4th, 2007Transparency International (TI) Chairperson Huguette Labelle yesterday asked the government to ensure due process and transparency during anti-corruption drives and trial of the suspects."It is important that due process takes place, the prosecution is done in a fair, objective and honest manner. Integrity needs to be at the top," Labelle said, stressing the need for prosecutors' being free from political influence.The TI chief was speaking at a press conference at Hotel Sonargaon, concluding her two-day visit to Bangladesh. She also talked about the upcoming elections, transparency in revenue and budget systems, independent functioning of institutions like the Anti-Corruption Commission and ...
(read more) Sunday, November 4th, 2007Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency yesterday, saying that judges were interfering with the government and that Islamic militancy posed a grave threat to the country. He also replaced Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry with Justice Hameed Gogar.Paramilitary troops and police surrounded the Supreme Court (SC) in Islamabad, which had been due in coming days to give a verdict on the legality of military ruler Musharraf's victory in an October 6 presidential election.The SC ordered the suspension of emergency rule, private television reported, but the government rejected the move.All land and mobile telephone lines went down ...
(read more) Sunday, November 4th, 2007According to the BNP constitution, Khaleda Zia lost legitimacy to be at the party helm when her mandate as chairperson expired around eight years ago.The party constitution does not have any provision allowing the chairperson to hold the post after the stipulated two-year term."The chairman of the party will be elected through direct votes of the members of the national council for two years on the basis of a simple majority. At the end of the tenure he or she will be eligible to be elected again," reads section 8 (a) of the constitution.The last time Khaleda was elected ...
(read more) Sunday, November 4th, 2007With the cancellation of two contracts to set up power plants totalling 600 megawatt (MW) capacity, the government is now left with the enormous pressure of floating tenders for more than 14 major power projects having more than 4,000MW capacity in total.The situation created new worries for the government. Finding the enormous finances for implementing these projects has become a tough challenge while Petrobangla is unable to ensure gas supplies for all the projects."As floating a large number of tenders for power projects is not encouraged by international financiers, we are initially floating two tenders, one this month and one ...
(read more) Sunday, November 4th, 2007Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee and different political parties yesterday urged the government to file cases against the war criminals to bring them to trial.At a meeting they also called for a list of the war criminals and collaborators."We have decided not to file any case at individual level. Rather, we think, the government should take the initiative in trying the war criminals," Prof Kabir Chowdhury, president of the Nirmul Committee( Forum for Secular Bangladesh) advisory body, told The Daily Star last night."The war criminals must apologise to the nation," he said talking about decisions of the meeting organised as ...
(read more) Sunday, November 4th, 2007Germany, one of the largest destinations for Bangladeshi garments, has imposed a 12 percent deposit on suspect imports due to fears over the widespread abuse of certificates that allows Bangladeshi products duty-free access.Earlier this year a Bangladesh government investigation confirmed that several Chinese and Indian companies had been exporting products to European countries using fake Bangladesh GSP (generalised system of preference) certificates.To counter this fraud German Customs imposed the 12 percent security deposit from August on consignments they suspect to have fraudulent Bangladeshi GSP certificates.It has been claimed that the move was taken without any consultation or prior notification, but ...
(read more) Sunday, November 4th, 2007Investigation by a fact-finding committee formed to investigate admission forgery at Dhaka University remains stalled as the probe body could not hold a meeting in over last two months due to the recent impasse at the university.Detention of two committee members and uncertain situation at DU hampered the investigation process, a member of the fact-finding body told The Daily Star asking to be unnamed.Another member, however, said indifference of the committee is also responsible.A number of suspected students have meanwhile secured a court permission to attend classes and take examinations. They had filed a writ with the hope that they ...
(read more) Sunday, November 4th, 2007Cost of producing winter crops is on the rise across the country as the farmers are having to pay 15 to 20 percent more than the prices set by the government for non-urea fertilisers.Farmers blame an artificial crisis for the rising prices of both urea and non-urea fertilisers throughout the country.According to reports from Tangail, Bogra, Dinajpur, Comilla and Manikganj, despite availability of fertilisers, the farmers are being compelled to spend an additional Tk 100 to Tk 250 for a 50-kg bag of non-urea fertiliser such as Triple Super Phosphate (TSP), Muriate of Potash (MOP) and Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP).Non-urea fertilisers ...
(read more) Sunday, November 4th, 2007Bangladesh has sought additional assistance from the World Bank (WB) for facing the economic challenges caused by global increase of prices of oil and food items and recent countrywide flood."We expect enhanced budgetary support [from the World Bank] through increased transitional credit and project financing to meet the current challenges," Finance and Planning Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam told reporters last night after meeting with WB President Robert B Zoellick.The WB president arrived in Dhaka yesterday on a two-day visit to Bangladesh."We placed our priorities before the World Bank president and urged him for faster implementation of support in the power ...
(read more) Sunday, November 4th, 2007A statement claimed to be endorsed by 122 former BNP lawmakers yesterday urged the Election Commission (EC) to invite Khandaker Delwar Hossain, the secretary general appointed by Khaleda Zia, to the dialogue on electoral reforms.It says the commission should give Delwar adequate time to firm up recommendations in consultation with the party leaders and workers.Issued by former lawmaker Nurjahan Yasmeen, it also requested the authorities to unlock the party's central office. The ex-lawmakers think it would be difficult to advance the electoral process and establish democracy keeping a major political party's headquarters shut.Demanding immediate release of Chairperson Khaleda ...
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