Archive for December, 2007
Monday, December 31st, 2007 Slain Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal yesterday was named chairman of her party, with her husband named co-chairman, two top party officials told AFP.Slain Benazir's party will take part in national elections set for January 8, her husband Asif Ali Zardari said yesterday.The party of former Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif will also take part in elections, after earlier saying it would boycott, two spokesmen of the party said.Zardari earlier called on Sharif to reverse his decision to boycott the polls, which Sharif had announced as a gesture of solidarity in the wake of Benazir's assassination ...
(read more) Monday, December 31st, 2007India has increased the minimum rate of different kinds of rice exported to Bangladesh to $500 from $425 per tonne, which rice traders said will cause further rise in the already hiked price of the commodity in domestic market.In a notification on Thursday, the commerce ministry of the Indian central government increased the prices of exported rice with effect from yesterday, our correspondent at Benapole reports.Rice importers have described the Indian government's decision as an indirect effort to ban rice export to Bangladesh."This price hike will discourage Bangladeshi traders as the per-kilogram cost of rice will stand at Tk 35 ...
(read more) Monday, December 31st, 2007Detained former premier Khaleda Zia and two of her detained former cabinet colleagues including former law minister Moudud Ahmed were shown arrested yesterday in connection with Niko graft case.Following separate petitions filed by the investigation officer (IO) of the case, ACC Assistant Director SM Sahidur Rahman, the order was issued by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Golam Rabbani, which also showed detained former energy minister AKM Mosharraf Hossain as arrested.The IO in the petitions filed yesterday -- one against Khaleda Zia and Mosharraf, and the other against Moudud -- mentioned that for the sake of fair investigation the accused ...
(read more) Monday, December 31st, 2007Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday arrested Md Abbas Ali and Nasir Uddin, the ringleaders of "Abbas-Nasir" smuggling group who allegedly had two Vishnu statuettes stolen at Zia International Airport and destroyed.A Rab source last night told The Daily Star that Abbas was arrested in Malibagh-Khilgaon area while Nasir was arrested at Uttara in the capital.As Rab that arrested Abbas and Nasir were conducting more raids last night in connection with the theft of the statuettes, the source refused to give more details about their arrest.Rab officials Thursday came to know about Abbas and Nasir's involvement in the theft through the ...
(read more) Monday, December 31st, 2007The government was sending the artefacts to Paris for display at the Guimet National Museum under a nominal insurance cover.The insurance value for 187 artefacts was only 5.50 million euros [around Tk 55.4 crore] whereas value of some of the items individually could be more than the insurance money, said experts.'Vajrasattva', the Pala-era artwork moulded out of eight metals, and 'Pragya Paromita', ancient paintings on manuscript made of palm leaves--any of them could fetch more than the amount the entire collection was insured for.Dr Joachim K Bautze, a German art historian who is an honorary fellow of the ...
(read more) Monday, December 31st, 2007Detained former chief conservator of forest Munshi Anwarul Islam yesterday confessed to a magistrate that he amassed a huge amount of wealth illegally when he was the forest boss.Meanwhile, detained former state minister for liberation war affairs ministry Redwan Ahmed was shown arrested in the case filed in connection with amassing wealth illegally.Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Hemayet Uddin recorded the statement of the forest boss after investigation officer (IO) Mirza Zahidul Alam, assistant director of the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC), brought Anwar to the magistrate's chamber.On October 23, ACC Assistant Director SM Sahidur Rahman filed the case with Ramna Police Station against ...
(read more) Monday, December 31st, 2007Human rights organisations yesterday expressed concern saying that the proposed National Human Rights Commission Ordinance 2007 will not ensure transparency and independence of the commission, as it sets many conditions in publishing its reports and its selection committee is too dependent on the executive.The rights bodies said the definition of human rights in the ordinance is also not comprehensive as it excluded economic, social and cultural rights that are enshrined as key pillars in the constitution of Bangladesh.Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) made the observations at a joint ...
(read more) Monday, December 31st, 2007The country will need another 1,000 MW electricity in the upcoming irrigation season that starts from mid-January to operate an increased number of irrigation pumps, mainly for rice fields.The number of irrigation pumps will increase by 11 percent across the country in order to support massive crop cultivation, especially paddy, as farmers will try to compensate for the colossal loss they suffered in two-time floods and cyclone Sidr in recent times.Power and Energy Adviser Tapan Chowdhury gave the information at a press briefing at Bidyut Bhaban yesterday, saying there would be 300-650MW of load shedding to ensure adequate power supply ...
(read more) Monday, December 31st, 2007At just 19 years old, a blood-stained family legacy could hang heavy on the shoulders of assassinated Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's only son Bilawal.He becomes the third Bhutto to lead the Islamic nation's largest political party after his mother and his grandfather Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who founded the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and was executed under martial law in 1979.His father Asif Ali Zardari meanwhile was appointed co-chairman of the party.Bilawal has already shown signs of following in his mother's footsteps, enrolling earlier this year at Oxford University, where Benazir Bhutto was head of the prestigious Oxford Union debating ...
(read more) Monday, December 31st, 2007Bangladesh may end up facing Pakistan's militancy situation in just five years if the government does not counter militant ideology by creating strategies within itself and the civil society, said renowned political analyst Rohan Gunaratna yesterday.A global expert on al-Qaeda, Gunaratna said Bangladesh has the operational capability to prevent militancy but the government does not have mechanisms in place to sweeping arrests last year, Gunaratna said.Referring to the countrywide bomb blasts carried out by the JMB on August 17, 2005, he said, "The JMB was known to the Bangladeshi authorities before that incident, [but] there wasn't the initiative on part ...
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