Archive for December 13th, 2007
Thursday, December 13th, 2007Another Dhaka court yesterday framed charges against four teachers and 15 students of Dhaka University (DU) of breaching the emergency power rules during the August violence on campus.The same day two Rajshahi University (RU) teachers and an official were acquitted on charges of torching a DGFI vehicle on August 22 while 10 students and an employee of the university were sentenced to three years' rigorous imprisonment.In Dhaka, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Habibur Rahman Siddiqui set December 19 for recording statements of the witnesses. Before that, he read out details of the charges. Five of the accused were in the dock ...
(read more) Thursday, December 13th, 2007The country needs $2.2 billion for rehabilitation projects and budgetary support and the government expects a one percentage point drop in expected GDP growth while one percentage point jump in inflation in FY08 due to Cyclone Sidr.The government told this yesterday to the Local Consultative Group (LCG), a platform of Bangladesh's development partners, at a meeting held in the NEC auditorium in the capital.The government also reiterated its case for food assistance when four secretaries of the government met the donors to present their assessment on the budgetary effects of floods and cyclone, economic damage to infrastructure and the ...
(read more) Thursday, December 13th, 2007The High Court (HC) yesterday declared "illegal" the appointment of Justice MA Aziz as the chief election commissioner who preceded the current CEC, sealing the scope for the government to allow any person to concurrently hold two constitutional posts.A division bench, comprising Justice ABM Khairul Haque and Justice Syed Ziaul Karim, pronounced the judgment, making its twin-rule absolute.The HC on June 18 in 2005, following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), had issued a ruling upon the then CEC Aziz, the Election Commission and the government, asking them why Aziz's holding the office of CEC alongside being a sitting Supreme ...
(read more) Thursday, December 13th, 2007A special court yesterday sentenced former chief whip and Awami League leader Abul Hasnat Abdullah to eight years' imprisonment for three counts of tax evasion.Judge AK Roy of the second special court, set up at the MP hostel on the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises, delivered the verdict against Hasnat, who is on the run.The court also fined him Tk 40 lakh; in default of which he would have to stay in jail six more months. It also ordered the authorities to confiscate his properties worth Tk 1.65 crore that Hasnat did not mention in his tax returns submitted to the ...
(read more) Thursday, December 13th, 2007Chief Adviser (CA) Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday called for transforming educational institutions into "centres of excellence" instead of "centres of politics" to elevate Bangladesh to a moderate-income country over the next decade.The head of the caretaker government proposed incorporation of three-point component in the strategy of national development for advancing the already attained progress and turning Bangladesh into a moderate-income-group country.He mooted the proposals while inaugurating the four-day 16th biennial conference of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) at the auditorium of the Institution of Engineering Bangladesh.The components include increased investment in education and human resources to sustain the export-led growth, to make ...
(read more) Thursday, December 13th, 2007The Privatisation Commission served a legal notice to the Saudi prince on Tuesday, asking him to deposit $458 million within December 26 as per the commission's tender participation rules for taking over Rupali Bank.The notice signed by Barrister Tofaelur Rahman said according to the commission's rules, the highest bidder must deposit the amount offered within the stipulated timeframe, otherwise the commission will take action against them.Upon getting prior approval from the government high-ups, the Privatisation Commission sent the legal notice attached to a letter to Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Saud through the Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh.The notice ...
(read more) Thursday, December 13th, 2007The rescue operation at Rangs Bhaban, which had resumed yesterday five days into the cave-in of the building, was stopped on safety grounds 10 minutes after the operation had started.Engineers from the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) stopped the rescue work by the firefighters, saying the supporting structures built inside the collapsed building for conducting rescue operation were not fit.At around 4:10pm, the firefighters attempted to recover the hanging bodies trapped on the sixth floor before the experts had asked them to stop, witnesses said.The Rajuk hired four private firms to ...
(read more) Thursday, December 13th, 2007 Journalists, press workers and employees of newspapers and news agencies in the capital yesterday took to the streets demanding amendments to the recently announced sixth wage board award for them.The agitating journalists and others ignored the Emergency Power Rules (EPR) and held a rally on the road in front of the Jatiya Press Club blocking traffic for over two hours from 11:30am, and issued an ultimatum to meet their demands by December 16.Amid presence of law enforcers, they brought out a brief procession and chanted slogans against Law and Information Adviser Mainul Hosein.A four-hour abstention from work was observed ...
(read more) Thursday, December 13th, 2007The Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday pressed charges against Jatiya Party (Manju) Chairman Anwar Hossain Manju, his wife Tasmima Hossain and his cousin Mahmud Hossain in a case filed in connection with taking Tk 1 crore as bribe from a construction company.Meanwhile, the ACC filed a case against former BNP lawmaker Nadim Mostafa and his wife Nurunnahar Parul with Ramna Police Station in connection with concealing their wealth and amassing properties through illegal means.A Dhaka court yesterday sent former Awami League (AL) lawmaker Kazi Zafarullah, arrested under section 16(2) of the Emergency Power Rules (EPR), to jail after he was produced ...
(read more) Thursday, December 13th, 2007The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has decided to initiate a primary inquiry into the wealth of former prime minister Khaleda Zia's younger brother and former BNP lawmaker Major (retd) Syed Iskander.According to sources, the commission has already appointed its Deputy Director Moniruzzaman Khan to conduct the inquiry against Iskander, also a BNP vice-chairman.At the onset of the Awami League government in 1996, now-defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption issued a notice to Iskander directing him to submit his wealth statement.Subsequently, the High Court, following a writ petition by Iskander challenging the legality of the notice, issued a stay order on the functioning of ...
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