Archive for January, 2008
Thursday, January 31st, 2008Six legal experts appointed as amicus curiae in the hearing of the extortion case against Sheikh Hasina, submitted their opinions to the High Court (HC) yesterday saying a trial of a crime, which had been committed before the promulgation of the Emergency Power Act, cannot be held under the ambit of Emergency Power Rules (EPR).It would be a violation of the constitution if a crime committed before the formulation of EPR is brought under the ambit of it, said the six senior Supreme Court (SC) lawyers.An HC bench on Monday appointed seven senior Supreme Court lawyers as amicus curiae [friends ...
(read more) Thursday, January 31st, 2008Businessman Azam J Chowdhury, who sued former premier Sheikh Hasina for extorting Tk 2.99 crore, ultimately did not bring any allegation against her when the trial of the case began yesterday with his deposition.Hasina's name appeared only twice in the deposition as Azam quoted his conversations with Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, the former premier's cousin and another accused in the case, while striking the extortion deal.Azam told the court that Selim assured him of awarding the job of erecting the 210MW power plant at Siddhirganj with the help of "the then prime minister". Azam quoted Selim as saying that if ...
(read more) Thursday, January 31st, 2008Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) yesterday sought explanation from the country's largest telecom company Garmeenphone (GP) as to why its license should not be cancelled or suspended on charges of violating the terms of its license agreement.According to the telecom watchdog show cause notice, Grameenphone will have to respond within the next 30 days, otherwise BTRC might cancel or suspend the leading telecom operator's activities.BTRC Chairman Maj Gen (retd) Manzurul Alam confirmed the issuance of the notice.Talking to The Daily Star a GP spokesperson said, "Yes, we have received the notice. We are fully cooperating with the ...
(read more) Thursday, January 31st, 2008In the backdrop of poor implementation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP), the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday asked the low-performing ministries to surrender their funds to the planning ministry by February 7.The Ecnec expressed dissatisfaction over only 21 percent implementation of the ADP in the first six months of the current fiscal year. It also directed the ministries to complete the tendering process for procurement before approval of the authorities concerned, a planning ministry official said.The Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Department (IMED) of the planning ministry will issue a circular soon allowing the ministries to complete ...
(read more) Thursday, January 31st, 2008A special court yesterday sentenced former power secretary ANH Akhter Hossain to ten years imprisonment for amassing wealth beyond known sources of his income and concealing wealth information.Delivering the judgment, the court fined him Tk 1 lakh, in default he is to suffer for another three months in jail.Besides, the court sentenced Akhter's wife Nazneen Banu, who is now absconding, to three years imprisonment for abetting her husband in amassing the illegal wealth. Nazneen was fined Tk 50,000, in default she will have to serve jail term for three more months.The court also ordered confiscation of the illegally acquired ...
(read more) Thursday, January 31st, 2008Canadian jurist and McGill University professor Payam Akahavan yesterday said deposition of the complainant of Tk 2.99 crore extortion case against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina showed the case is 'non-existent'.“To continue with the case anymore would be a miscarriage of justice,” said Payam, who is now in Dhaka, and heard deposition of the complainant in court.Talking to newsmen after coming out of the court, Payam said, “The ongoing trial is not trial of Sheikh Hasina but trial of the integrity of judicial process.”He expressed concern over detention of the Awami League (AL) president, denying bail to ...
(read more) Thursday, January 31st, 2008Vodafone, the world's leading mobile telecom group, is in talks to buy a 30 per cent stake in AKTEL, Bangladesh's third largest mobile network, from the local owner A.K Khan and Co, in a deal that could be worth more than US $300m.Speaking at an open meeting with the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, Gavin Darby, chief executive officer of Vodafone Americas, Africa, China and India said: “I met Mr. Khan (Salahuddin Kasem Khan) chairman of A. K. Khan and Company yesterday (Tuesday). Mr. Khan is considering selling his AKTEL's shares. So in the short time, that is the opportunity that ...
(read more) Thursday, January 31st, 2008Family of Sa-Aung Gya along with 15 other families reached Zaitun Para after a four-day walk from their remote village in Rainkhong in Rangamati. Fear of starvation forced the exodus as rats infested their crops and left them with no food until next harvesting season."We have left our village in the wake of rats' attacks. The pests have destroyed almost all our crops and now we don't have anything to eat for the rest of the year," said Sa-Aung Gya.Standing on the bank of the Sangu on way to Ruma, he told The Daily Star they were waiting for "Karbari" ...
(read more) Thursday, January 31st, 2008Governments of the countries grappling with corruption must take initiatives to change institutional culture and work with domestic and international allies to fight systemic corruption, said an internationally renowned expert on global corruption and reform."If we want to reduce systemic corruption, we need to change the corrupt institutional culture," said Prof Robert Klitgaard, the expert, at the 5-day anti-corruption conference sponsored by the UN at Bali International Convention Centre in Nusa Dua yesterday.While delivering a lecture on 'Holistic Approach to Eradicating Corruption', he said leaders of the countries struggling with corruption should try to mobilise domestic and international allies as ...
(read more) Thursday, January 31st, 2008Leaders of the pro-Saifur faction of BNP yesterday in a meeting decided to bring reforms in the constitution of the party before unifying the party.However, Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, acting secretary general of the faction, during a press briefing following the closed-door meeting at his Banani residence, said, "We want the implementation of reforms and the unification simultaneously." A united BNP will participate in the next election, Hafiz added.The faction leaders attending the meeting expressed their resentment over the pro-Khaleda faction leaders' attitude toward the unification proposal of the Saifur faction. "Did we commit a sin by supporting the ...
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