Archive for May 28th, 2008
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008The sewage treatment plant of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) remains underused for years due to non-cooperation of the house owners.A large number of house owners in Dhaka resort to linking their sewage discharge connection directly to the storm water drainage instead of sewage management networks to evade government service charges. This results in severe pollution to the rivers, canals and lakes in and around the capital.The city storm water drainage is directly connected to these water bodies, while sewage network is connected to Pagla sewage treatment plant in Narayanganj.Sources in Wasa say every day the city ...
(read more) Wednesday, May 28th, 2008Detained former ministers Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, Motiur Rahman Nizami, M Shamsul Islam and Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain yesterday denied any wrongdoing in awarding the Barapukuria coalmine deal to CMC, saying they "only" approved the deal on the basis of recommendations from the ministry concerned."We did not get much time--we generally go through matters referred to us in a short time and approve them," they were quoted as saying by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Deputy Director Monirul Haque, the investigation officer of the case.The ACC deputy director quizzed the four former ministers separately at the gate of Dhaka Central Jail between 11:30am and ...
(read more) Wednesday, May 28th, 2008Detained former premier Sheikh Hasina yesterday said a 'conspiracy' is still on to implement the minus 2 formula in a bid to render her ineligible for contesting in the next parliamentary election."Seeing the prosecution's attitude it seems a conspiracy is still on for railroading the trial to convict me, in a bid to make me ineligible for the upcoming election. The minus 2 formula is still on," Abdul Mannan, a counsel of the Awami League (AL) president, quoted her as saying after cross examining the first prosecution witness in the Barge-mounted power plant graft case yesterday during the fifth ...
(read more) Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday pressed charges against Awami League (AL) General Secretary Abdul Jalil in a case filed for amassing wealth worth Tk 36 lakh illegally and concealing information in his wealth statement.ACC Deputy Assistant Director Enamul Haque Chowdhury, the investigation officer (IO) of the case, submitted the charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka.Jalil is currently in Singapore on parole for medical treatment.The AL general secretary was arrested on May 28 last year and remained in custody for over eight months without any specific charges. Finally on January 1 this year, he was ...
(read more) Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 The National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday filed a case against detained former BNP lawmaker Mosaddak Ali Falu for dodging Tk 2.75 crore income tax between 1996 and 2006.Deputy Tax Commissioner of NBR Nurul Amin filed the case against the former lawmaker with the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court.NBR showed Falu's tax evasion upon his income of Tk 11,21,65,517 for the years 1996 to 2006.After hearing the case yesterday, Judge Mohammad Azizul Haque recorded the statement of the complainant, took it into cognisance, and directed the jail authorities to produce Falu before the court on June 2.In his ...
(read more) Wednesday, May 28th, 2008Bangladesh and UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, yesterday agreed to revive the tripartite agreement under which Rohingya refugees would be able to voluntarily return to their homeland in Myanmar.Antonio Guterres, the visiting UN high commissioner for refugees, said in a joint press briefing following his meeting with foreign adviser Iftekhar A Chowdhury at a state guesthouse, "Our intention is to re-establish the trilateral mechanism among Bangladesh, UNHCR and Myanmar to create a condition for voluntary repatriation of the Rohingya refuges to Myanmar."The UN high commissioner for refugees during the briefing also dismissed any possibility of awarding Bangladeshi citizenship to the ...
(read more) Wednesday, May 28th, 2008Employment of Bangladeshi workers in Bahrain comes to a halt, as the country on Monday stopped issuing work permits to Bangladeshis, Bahraini newspaper Gulf Daily News reported yesterday.The Bangladesh embassy in Bahrain says the move is "shocking" and "unacceptable" and they will pursue the Gulf nation to review the decision. Bahraini human rights activists also term it "xenophobic".Recruitment businesses observe the ban is a great shock for Bangladesh's overseas labour market that came after a halt of recruitment in Kuwait in late 2006, reduction in employment in Saudi Arabia and a temporary ban in Malaysia.Jobseekers now in Bahrain with work ...
(read more) Wednesday, May 28th, 2008Aggrieved by the Election Commission's (EC) move to redraw parliamentary constituencies, politicians and other people have filed 1,057 appeals with the EC against re-demarcation of 43 constituencies.Amidst growing opposition from major political parties, the EC on April 29 unveiled a draft list of parliamentary constituencies with 133 of the 300 seats redrawn, and invited appeals against it by June 1, if any.Officials at the EC Secretariat said they received the appeals concerning 43 seats by Monday, and the number might go on increasing till expiry of the time limit.Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain however said ...
(read more) Wednesday, May 28th, 2008Several pieces of land in 10 villages adjacent to the Barapukuria coalmine in Dinajpur have subsided recently and the cultivable lands have now gone under water.Sources said many pieces of land over the coalmine Phase-1101 and Phase-1103 have subsided and the monsoon rain coupled with the pumping out of water from underneath have created shallow water bodies. The mine pumps out a staggering 1,300 litres of untreated water an hour.Sources in the Barapukuria Coalmine Company Ltd said at least 30 acres of Boro have gone underwater since the starting of the recent land sinking early May. A 200-foot stretch ...
(read more) Wednesday, May 28th, 2008A Dhaka court yesterday sentenced former BNP lawmaker from Bagerhat MAH Salim to seven years' rigorous imprisonment for extorting Tk 12 lakh from the owner of a construction firm in September 2006.Salim was also fined Tk 50,000 in default of which he will have to suffer two months more in jail.Judge Nigar Sultana of the Fourth Assistant Sessions Judge's Court handed down the sentence in the presence of the convict.This is the first time Salim, also chairman of private television channel Channel 1, has been convicted in a case since his arrest on March 7 last year under section 16(2) ...
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