Archive for December 29th, 2007
Saturday, December 29th, 2007As her husband wept bitterly by the graveside and vast crowds of mourners beat their chests in grief, Benazir Bhutto was finally laid to rest yesterday.Rioting and political violence following the assassination of Benazir killed 33 people.Hundreds of thousands of people let out a huge roar as the former premier's body arrived at the family mausoleum in the village of Ghari Khuda Baksh in the southern province of Sindh.Inside the imposing three-domed mausoleum a cleric led funeral prayers, while the crowds raised their hands in front of their faces and chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) three ...
(read more) Saturday, December 29th, 2007Expatriate Bangladeshis yesterday called for an end to the existing political culture and attitude, and restoration of the traditional values of serving the community.Shunning the materialistic path of the West, the people of Bangladesh need to nurture and uphold their own values, they said on the second day of the three-day conference of Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) in the capital.A competent leadership is the need of the day to harness the potentials of the citizens. And they should be empowered properly and should have a role in decision-making, the expatriate Bangladeshis noted.They were speaking at an afternoon session of the NRB ...
(read more) Saturday, December 29th, 2007Investigators yesterday retrieved some broken pieces of the two stolen Vishnu statuettes from a dump on the city outskirts and the National Museum authorities confirmed that those belong to the 1,500-year-old relics.So far, the law enforcers have managed to gather 27 pieces of the Gupta era idols--'Vishnu' and 'Bust of Vishnu'--at Baliarpur of Aminbazar.Of the fragments salvaged, 20 make up about 25% of the black terracotta statuette of Vishnu where the Hindu god stands with goddesses Saraswati and Laxmi on either side. The remainder pieces comprise a little over 10% of the bust, Swapan Kumar Biswas, acting keeper of ...
(read more) Saturday, December 29th, 2007Just a few hours before her assassination on Thursday, Benazir Bhutto informed Afghan President Hamid Karzai about threats to her life. Benazir Bhutto was also warned that her meeting with Hamid Karzai just few days before the elections could create more troubles for her.She was advised to avoid meeting Karzai because some extremists would have another opportunity to declare that a Pakistani American agent met an Afghan American agent, but she ignored all the concerns raised by her close associates. Sources present in the last Karzai-Benazir meeting revealed that the Afghan president prayed for the safety of former prime ...
(read more) Saturday, December 29th, 2007Awami League (AL) will take its future steps cautiously as the top party leaders fear that the party will have to deal with manifold problems next year.Although the party has plans to speed up its activities for taking part in the next parliamentary election, it is yet to make it clear whether it will take part in the polls or not.Besides, the party leaders are now in a dilemma about participating in the local government election scheduled for next year as the party chief did not show any interest in this regard.Sources said most of the senior ...
(read more) Saturday, December 29th, 2007There has been a lot of talk about reversing the "brain drain" out of Bangladesh at the ongoing conference of non-resident Bangladeshis. There has also been a lot of talk about why this is not only unlikely to happen but also almost impossible to make it happen due to a lack of infrastructure and security. But, no one has shattered this myth more spectacularly in the last decade than Iqbal Z Quadir, founder of Grameenphone who brought the mobile phone to the masses.Quadir, founder and executive director of Legatum Centre for development and entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ...
(read more) Saturday, December 29th, 2007Ferry service between Aricha and Nagarbari resumed yesterday after five months.But the navigability problem in the Jamuna river might hamper the ferry service.The service was suspended on July 30 as the Nagarbari ferry pontoon was badly damaged by floods. Although the pontoon was repaired after floodwater receded, the service could not be restored due to shortage of operational ferries.Ferry 'Birshrestha Jahangir' was brought to the newly constructed Kazirhat ferry terminal to resume the service yesterday.Earlier, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) took initiatives to build a permanent ferry terminal at Kazirhat. The construction works of the ...
(read more) Saturday, December 29th, 2007Two globally endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles were rescued from sellers at Taantibazar in the capital by the Department of Forest and Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh yesterday morning.The rescued turtles were brought to the city from Patharghata, Barguna by a seller named Mamun, who had bought both of them for Tk 4,800 from local residents.The turtles were on sale at Taantibazar for Tk 10,000 each. Two other sea turtles were sold for Tk 16,000 each recently, according to sources.The endangered sea turtles are often sold in the city for consumption, mainly in the old town and ...
(read more) Saturday, December 29th, 2007Nepal lawmakers yesterday formally approved a decision to abolish the monarchy and declare the country a republic as part of a deal with former Maoist rebels.However, King Gyanendra will remain on the throne for the time being as the agreement between the Maoists and the government last weekend to make Nepal a republic can only be put into effect at the first meeting of a new constituent assembly.Polls for that assembly are due to be held by mid-April.In Friday's vote, out of 321 parliamentarians, 270 voted for abolition of monarchy and three voted against. The remainder were ...
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