Archive for March 21st, 2008
Friday, March 21st, 2008The law adviser yesterday said the government will form a National Security Council to make decisions on security matters "not only regarding law and order but also about other national crises like disasters and food security issues".The adviser, AF Hassan Ariff, during his weekly press briefing also said the government will form a 'truth and accountability commission' within a month.Talking about the proposed National Security Council, Hassan Ariff said the home ministry was asked to prepare a draft of the ordinance.He said the security council is now being discussed and its shape and jurisdiction have not been finalised yet. ...
(read more) Friday, March 21st, 2008The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is moving forward with a plan to clamp down on corruption in fertiliser sector and it is currently collecting relevant information in this regard from all over the country.Meanwhile, the ACC yesterday approved filing of three charge sheets against former lawmaker Anwar Hossain Manju and his wife, former premier Khaleda Zia's then assignment officer Dr Firoz Mahmud Iqbal and his wife, and DCC ward commissioner MA Quayum and his wife for concealing information in their wealth statements and amassing illegal wealth beyond their known sources of income.The ACC yesterday also filed a case against Rajuk (Rajdhani ...
(read more) Friday, March 21st, 2008Billboards installed on rooftops have become death traps in the city as a number of people have been killed and many others injured when loosely held hoardings fell off during stormy weather.An unidentified youth was killed in front of Chandrima Super Market during Wednesday night's storm. Earlier, security guard Hazarat Ali, 46, was killed on June 17, 2006 on Pragati Sarani and a boy in front of the Shishu Park last year.Besides, a large number people were injured as either billboards or metal parts fell on them.Over 3,000 rooftop billboards are currently installed in the city. Roadside buildings in Shahbagh, ...
(read more) Friday, March 21st, 2008Awami League (AL) plans street agitation to press the government to check the skyrocketing prices of essentials and resolve the crises of food, fertiliser and power without delay.At the same time, it will make every effort to build up pressure on the military-backed caretaker administration for parliamentary elections as per the Election Commission's (EC) roadmap.The party policymakers are now devising strategies for the agitation programmes amid the state of emergency when every kind of anti-government demonstration is banned.In view of the restrictions, they are working to come up with programmes that will not fail to draw popular ...
(read more) Friday, March 21st, 2008The US has urged the government to lift restrictions on freedoms of assembly and the press and hold dialogues with political parties to fulfil its pledge to hold free, fair and transparent elections by the end of this year."We urge the government to move forward on its dialogue with political parties and to remove restrictions on freedoms of assembly and the press," said US State Department's deputy spokesman Tom Casey in a press statement released in Washington Wednesday.The government partially lifted the ban on indoor politics in Dhaka last September, but the ban remains in place for the rest of ...
(read more) Friday, March 21st, 2008The government should consider consulting political parties before adopting the budget for the next fiscal year so that the next elected government accepts it, Regulatory Reforms Commission (ACC) Chairman Akbar Ali Khan said yesterday."It isn't clear how the elected government will accept the budget if the election is held by December this year. Some say they would not accept it unless the government consults with them. I think the government should consider their demands for proper implementation of the budget," Akbar said.Akbar, a former finance and planning adviser, made the remarks at a discussion on the framing of PRSP (Poverty ...
(read more) Friday, March 21st, 2008Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said the commission wants to hold the local government polls at the end of April or in the middle of May this year.“If possible, the EC wants to hold elections to four city corporations. We also want to hold election to Dhaka City Corporation before the national elections,” he said while addressing a training programme on voter list with photograph and national identity card at Shilpakala Academy in Goalanda upazila in the morning.He made it clear that their first target is to hold the national elections on completion of the voter list ...
(read more) Friday, March 21st, 2008The Election Commission (EC) yesterday asked the police headquarters and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) for the lists of polling stations they identified as vulnerable on security grounds before the cancelled general election last year.“We are collecting lists of vulnerable polling stations from different security agencies to look at the reasons behind classifying those as vulnerable,” Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain told The Daily Star.Besides, the commission is thinking of preparing an atlas of polling places so that those can be kept under watch easily during election time, he added.The lists are needed ...
(read more) Friday, March 21st, 2008Detained former premier and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia refused to become a voter as the government what she said detained her “illegally”.Emerging from the sub-jail yesterday, her lawyer Ahmed Azam Khan told reporters that Khaleda Zia said the government detained her illegally and so she wouldn't become a voter in protest.Jail authorities had gone to the sub-jail with voter registration forms twice for making her voter, but she refused to register.Another former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, also detained in another sub-jail nearby, has become voter from Dhanmondi area.Ahmed Azam said the BNP chairperson is concerned over price ...
(read more) Friday, March 21st, 2008Doctors at Square Hospital found severe hearing problems of detained Awami League President Sheikh Hasina after doing several medical tests.Hasina has been undergoing treatment at the hospital since March 11."We have found problems in both of her ears after doing different tests," said Dr Sarwar-e-Alam during a press conference at the hospital yesterday. He said she has problems in her eyes as well.He said the medical team formed at the hospital to examine Hasina's health would make formal recommendations about her health to the jail authorities on Sunday. The recommendations would be made final after doing some more ...
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