Archive for January, 2008
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
The government yesterday approved creation of the Supreme Judicial Commission to ensure neutral and credible appointment of Supreme Court judges. It also approved a proposal of Election Commission (EC) Secretariat to free it from the control of Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
But the government at its weekly cabinet meeting yesterday deferred the proposal for the creation of a national constitutional commission, which would bring government control over appointment to constitutional posts to an end.
The proposed EC Secretariat ordinance will ensure independence of the secretariat under full control of the chief election commissioner (CEC), chief adviser's Press Secretary Syed Fahim Munaim told ...
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
The unprecedented anti-graft crackdown by military-led taskforces under the National Coordination Committee (NCC) to Combat Corruption and Serious Crimes is gradually losing impetus due to numerous complexities and difficulties including frequent shift in priorities.
NCC also started narrowing down its focus of attention as the preparation for holding the stalled 9th parliamentary election is gaining momentum. Against such a backdrop NCC introduced the idea of forming a truth commission as an alternative way for dealing with graft cases and suspects, which would provide an opportunity for corruptionists to admit to their culpabilities and to be penalized monetarily avoiding prolonged legal ...
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and Border Security Force (BSF) of India yesterday had a over four hours long gun battle near Haripara of Birampur upazila in Dinajpur which left at least three Bangladeshis, including a BDR man, injured.
A few thousand locals fled the area amid the gun battle. The tensed situation came to an end when a flag meeting was held between the two border security forces.
The injured are Nayek Latu Mia, commander of a BDR patrol team, and villagers Tofazzal Hossain and Nurul Haque. The injured were rushed to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital. They were reported to be in ...
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
The troubled Barapukuria coalmine that had been failing to produce enough coal to run the two-unit 250 megawatt (MW) coal fired power plant at its site may be able to ensure enough coal production throughout the current year, a top official of the mine said.
This is because the mine has started coal production at a new phase from January 14. This mining area is environmentally and geologically less hostile than the last production phases. On the plus side, mining equipment have been overhauled in the last two months to ensure efficiency.
The Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Ltd (BCMCL) on Monday ...
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Alter: You're clearly not comfortable taking part in what Bill Clinton called the "contact sport" of politics.
Obama: It's not my preference. Do you remember when (Michael) Jordan's Bulls were playing the Detroit Pistons? They had the "Jordan Rules" (defense). (The Pistons) would just knock 'em around. They didn't care. It wasn't a pretty sight. But until the Bulls learned to push back, it was going to be hard for them to win. It's not something I shy away from, but not something I relish. We're not going to back down. It's part of what's at stake here: can we change ...
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
The government has implemented only 21 percent of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) in the first half of the current fiscal year and power division, a top priority in the development budget, spent only 18 percent of its allocation.
According to a planning ministry review, the ADP implementation rate in the last six months has dived to a four-year low.
Twenty-five percent of the ADP was spent in the first half of FY07, while it was 27 in FY06 and 29 percent in FY05.
The planning ministry report identifies a number of reasons for slow implementation that included inadequate knowledge of the government ...
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
The long due polls to the upazila parishads will be held either simultaneously with the ninth parliamentary elections or before it, the election commissioners said yesterday.
Election Commissioners Muhammed Sohul Hussain and Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain told this to reporters at the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat.
They also responded to queries on electoral law reforms and failure to hold the parliamentary polls within the 90 days timeframe.
The EC will examine the feasibility of upazila polls as the commission now has the power to announce the schedule for it, Election Commissioner Sakhawat said.
"We will examine if it is ...
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
A special court yesterday sentenced former BNP lawmaker M Rashiduzzaman Millat to eight years' imprisonment on charges of amassing illegal wealth beyond known sources of his income and giving false wealth statement.
It ordered confiscation of the property Millat accumulated illegally.
The court also handed down three years' jail term each to Millat's wife Sabera Suraiya and their son Sayed Bin Jaman Sourav in the case.
Millat was also fined Tk 10 lakh, in default of which he would have to remain behind the bars for one year more. Besides, his wife and son were fined Tk 1 lakh each, in ...
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
The pro-Saifur faction of BNP will hold a meeting today to discuss party affairs and unification process while the pro-Khaleda faction decided to strengthen the party in the capital by dissolving the Dhaka city unit committee led by Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka.
Party leaders said the Saifur-Hafiz-led faction is also planning to build their strength in the changed situation and focus on the implementation of reforms in the constitution of the party to make it democratic.
Senior leaders of the party and its front organisations have been invited by Maj (retd) Hafiz, the standing committee-appointed acting secretary general of the Saifur ...
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Detained Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina's Canadian counsel Prof Payam Akhavan yesterday said the charges brought against her are 'politically motivated' and intended to throw her out of politics and the next parliamentary election.
"I want to say after observing everything that there is political motive behind bringing charges against Sheikh Hasina," the counsel told a crowded press conference at Sonargaon Hotel.
Payam arrived in Dhaka on Sunday to meet Hasina.
When contacted, Inspector General of Prisons Brig Gen Zakir Hassan however said they could not allow the foreign lawyer to meet Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim in ...
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