Archive for April 14th, 2008
Monday, April 14th, 2008Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday filed a case against former adviser to caretaker government Justice Fazlul Haque on charges of amassing assets illegally and providing false information in his wealth statement.First against any former or incumbent caretaker government's adviser, the graft case was filed with Ramna Police Station.According to the first information report (FIR), Justice Haque held back information about moveable and immovable property worth around Tk 97.37 lakh. Those assets do not match up with his known sources of income.As an adviser to President Iajuddin Ahmed-led caretaker administration, Justice Haque held the law, justice and parliamentary affairs, forest ...
(read more) Monday, April 14th, 2008The Awami League (AL) yesterday placed before the caretaker government a five-point demand including release of its chief Sheikh Hasina, measures for her treatment abroad and a specific date for the ninth parliamentary polls.The party also demanded holding of the national election by December 31, controlling price hike of essentials immediately, lifting of the state of emergency and trial of war criminals.The demands came up during an unofficial talk between seven AL leaders and five advisers to the caretaker government at the state guesthouse Meghna in the capital.Assuring the AL leaders of holding the election by the end of this ...
(read more) Monday, April 14th, 2008As the Bangalee nation celebrates Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla year 1415 today, security agencies have already swung into high alert to prevent any terrorist attack on the festivities.The traditional centres of celebration around Ramna Park, Suhrawardy Udyan, Shahbagh and Dhaka University campus are under a tight security net as hundreds of thousands carnival goers are expected to throng central Dhaka to welcome the Bangla New Year.Chhayanat starts its musical programme at Ramna Batamul at sunrise, while the Fine Arts Institute is scheduled to bring out its traditional procession of floats and giant masks around 9:00am to usher ...
(read more) Monday, April 14th, 2008Former Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Shahjahan Chowdhury was yesterday handed down 10 years' imprisonment for corruption while Faisal Morshed Khan, former foreign minister M Morshed Khan's son, seven years for aiding and abetting Shahjahan.The Special Court-2 of Judge Amar Kumar Roy delivered the verdict in the illegal wealth accumulation and concealment case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on July 1 last year.Alleged militant patron Shahjahan Chowdhury's name was on the first list of 50 high-profile graft suspects made public by the ACC on February 18.The court sentenced the former Satkania lawmaker and a member of Jamaat's Majlis-e-Shoora (the highest policy making ...
(read more) Monday, April 14th, 2008At least 299 prisoners of foreign nationality are stuck in different jails of the country due to diplomatic and bureaucratic tangles, even though their jail terms expired.Inspector General of Prisons (IG-Prisons) Brig Gen Zakir Hassan told The Daily Star, "We have been trying to repatriate them. The home ministry and the foreign ministry have also been contacting embassies and high commissions concerned."Among the prisoners of foreign nationality 162 Indian citizens, 128 Myanmarese, two Tanzanian, two Nepali, one Pakistani, one Filipino, one Saudi Arabian, one Kenyan and a Hungarian are in jail even though their jail terms have expired. Of them, ...
(read more) Monday, April 14th, 2008A number of social and political organisations yesterday condemned the violent activities of some Islamist organisations which they said made the National Women Development Policy 2008 an issue in order to achieve political gain.Meantime, a Dhaka court yesterday rejected the bail petitions of nine Islamist activists in a case for instigating violence and assaulting policemen near the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in the capital on Friday.Samajik Protirodh Committee in a statement demanded the cancellation of the committee the government formed to review the women development policy and called for banning political activities in religious institutions.Advocate Sultana Kamal, former adviser to ...
(read more) Monday, April 14th, 2008The sunrise of the Bangla New Year 1415 today marks the reconnection of the two Bengals through rail service after a long break of 43 years.Starting from Dhaka and Kolkata this morning, two trains, named “Moitree Express,” will reach the other city tonight in a fulfilment of the long wait for a direct passenger train service between the next-door neighbours.Considering people's enthusiasm, the Bangladesh authorities have added an additional compartment to the seven-compartment train, which leaves Cantonment Station at 8:30am.Another train leaving Chitpur Station in Kolkata at 7:10am local time will reach Cantonment Station at around 8:30pm to be ...
(read more) Monday, April 14th, 2008Political leaders holding party posts will have to resign from their positions if they get elected to local government bodies, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda said yesterday.Referring to the draft of new electoral laws on city corporations and municipalities, he categorically said the long due polls to upazila parishads must be held in between November and December this year as per the electoral roadmap.The Election Commission (EC) in its proposal to free the local government bodies from partisan politics had said political leaders holding party posts would have to resign from their posts first to contest the local ...
(read more) Monday, April 14th, 2008The caretaker government once again invited pro-Saifur faction of the BNP to an 'unofficial' talk with it, prompting the faction's leaders to seek more time for discussing the invitation among themselves as well as with leaders of the rival faction led by Khandaker Delwar Hossain.Communications Adviser Ghulam Quader yesterday afternoon made a phone call to Maj (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed, acting secretary general of Saifur loyalists, inviting the faction to an introductory dialogue with the government seeking a date for it."The adviser talked to me over the phone, and now we are discussing the matter among ourselves. We will ...
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