Archive for November 11th, 2007
Sunday, November 11th, 2007The Election Commission (EC) is working towards quick disposal of the appeal pending at the Supreme Court (SC) against the High Court (HC) order for it to collect and publish certain personal information about the election candidates.It has made the move as it looks to incorporate in its rules a provision requiring it to make public details like academic qualification, profession, source of income and criminal records (if any) of the aspirants to parliament.The draft proposals of the EC for electoral rules and reforms already contain a section to that effect. The rationale for the initiative is to ...
(read more) Sunday, November 11th, 2007Bangladesh joined the Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) Friday, a move that would connect the country's rail system to a 81,000km network stretching from Europe to East and South-East Asia.Signing the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network makes Bangladesh the 20th signatory to the deal, but Dhaka would still need to sign bilateral agreements to make the TAR network operable.Only eight of the 28 countries under the TAR network are yet to sign the agreement, due to "procedural" and "technical" matters, rather than disagreement about the project, communication ministry officials told The Daily Star.A similar road agreement, the Asian Highway ...
(read more) Sunday, November 11th, 2007Sector Commanders' Forum, a platform of sector commanders of the Liberation War, will go for legal actions against the war criminals of 1971 within this week, Convener of the Forum Lt Gen (retd) Harun-ur Rashid said yesterday.“National Law Committee [law wing of the forum] is making preparations for this. They are taking time so that the war criminals cannot escape through the loopholes in law,” the former army chief said at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital.He also urged the caretaker government to initiate legal actions against the war criminals and said their ...
(read more) Sunday, November 11th, 2007AKTEL, the second largest mobile operator in Bangladesh, made a loss in the third quarter, due mainly to Tk1,450 million compensation it will pay the government for the use of AKTEL subscriptions by some of its customers to illegally transfer international calls.The operator, which is owned 70 percent by Telekom Malaysia, also blamed stiffer competition and government regulation for its weaker performance.In the three months to September 30,2007, AKTEL's total revenue rose 8 percent compared to the same period a year earlier to Tk 3,557 million. The number of subscribers reached 7 million, up 63 percent from a year ...
(read more) Sunday, November 11th, 2007Investigators while grilling Jannatul Ferdousi Nikita and her family members found out yesterday that Nikita's gold ornaments are worth Tk 5 crore and they are kept in a bank vault.Nikita, her father Abdur Noor, mother Saleha Khatun and brother Mohammad Moinuddin were arrested earlier in connection with trading Yaba, a drug containing a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine. They were placed on a three-day remand and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) is now quizzing them."We found out about the gold ornaments valued around Tk 5 crore. We are still trying to find out how much money Nikita has," said an ...
(read more) Sunday, November 11th, 2007Saifur-led faction of BNP will take part in all local government elections while leaders of pro-Khaleda faction of the party yesterday said they will finalise their decision at party forum.Khlaeda loyalists also said they consider release of the detained party chief a must for free and fair polls.The Election commission (EC) had earlier announced that it is making preparations for holding local government elections including city corporation polls before the national elections by the end of 2008. Elections of city corporations might be held in March or April next year, it said.Meanwhile, leaders of the Awami League already ...
(read more) Sunday, November 11th, 2007To achieve the goals of "Power for All by 2020", the government should diversify energy sources and build new power plants, improve transparency in tender and ensure reasonable tariffs, speakers told a roundtable yesterday.At the roundtable held at Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) auditorium, the speakers said the inaction to develop new power plants during the last several years has made it very difficult for the nation to achieve the goal of power for all by 2020. Consequently, the government is now over-burdened with a large number of new power projects.Jointly organised by DCCI and The Daily Star, ...
(read more) Sunday, November 11th, 2007Eminent citizens yesterday asked all to assist the caretaker government in implementing its roadmap on its way to handing over power to an elected government.No situation should be created which may delay holding of the next general elections in a free and fair manner and smooth handover of power to the elected government, they said at a discussion programme titled "Politics, Election and Future of the Country".Hailing different reform initiatives of the government, the speakers urged all for their cooperation for the sustainability and irreversibility of these initiatives.Failure of the caretaker government in carrying out these fundamental reforms to "pull ...
(read more) Sunday, November 11th, 2007Criminal Investigation Department (CID), investigating the August 21, 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League (AL) rally, might take the accounts of detained AL President Sheikh Hasina and a number of top AL leaders before submitting charge sheet of the case."If needed we may take the accounts of Awami League President Sheikh Hasina and her political colleagues," CID chief Additional Inspector General Fony Bhushan Chowdhury told The Daily Star yesterday.The CID chief, however, said it would take some time to submit the charge sheet of the case.Arrested on July 16, Sheikh Hasina is now in a sub-jail on ...
(read more) Sunday, November 11th, 2007Five development partners have agreed to give Bangladesh $800 million as loans for a project for supplying safe drinking water through pipeline and improving sanitation services in Dhaka and Chittagong cities."We have initiated a big project to improve water supply in Dhaka and Chittagong and when the project completes, residents of these cities will get safe drinking water through pipeline," Local Government Division Secretary Safar Raj Hossain said yesterday."After implementation of the project the city dwellers will be able to drink water without boiling it," he said after signing the agreement with the donors.The partners for the project are World ...
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