Archive for July 23rd, 2008
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday expressed his satisfaction at successful completion of an error-free voter list with photographs, saying it is a milestone towards a free and fair election.“We look forward to an election which will not only be free, fair and credible but also set a high standard for future elections as well,” the CA said while addressing a function marking the celebration of successful completion of voter registration at Radisson Hotel organised by the Election Commission.He congratulated all who have made it happen, completing the registration of 80 million 500 thousand 723 voters with their photographs and fingerprints. ...
(read more) Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008The Election Commission (EC) yesterday began finalising the draft electoral rules and code of conduct for polls to upazila parishads with a strict provision to disqualify candidates using their political affiliation in the polls.The EC also plans to hold the long overdue polls to Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) late October by having the voter list of DCC areas ready by the first week of September, sources in the EC Secretariat said.According to an EC decision made on July 10, polls to 300 out of 482 upazila parishads will be held on the fourth week of October. The EC ...
(read more) Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008The pledges for seeking votes in the upcoming city corporation polls have remained the same: corruption and criminal activities would be rooted out, development work would be done, city corporation offices would be freed from political influence and so on. Only the persons making the pledges have changed.Those who made the pledges five-six years back are now behind bars because they did exactly the opposite to what they said by engaging in corruption. This time it is the new faces that are making the old pledges as mayoral candidates.This has created doubts among the residents of these four cities--Khulna, Rajshahi, ...
(read more) Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008Acting Awami League President Zillur Rahman yesterday called for resisting upazila parishad elections, as the Chief Election Commissioner's disclosure hit the headlines that the local-body polls will be held on October 23.The AL leader categorically stated that any other polls before the general elections would not be accepted.“In no way any other polls before general election will be accepted. We have to resist it,” he told an extended meeting of Mohammadpur-Adabar unit of the party at Mehedi Community Centre at Asad Gate.Zillur said it would make sense if election to all upazila parishads could be held. This staggered election ...
(read more) Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008Vehicle owners going to post offices to deposit tax renewal fees for their motor vehicles face untold sufferings as the post offices are failing to cope with the huge number of people queuing up.This is likely to continue for at least two and a half months more till booths are installed nationwide for easing this suffering.Vehicle owners have to stand in long queues for several hours to deposit their money and have the copy of the receipt. However, if one pays brokers there, his or her sufferings are gone in a jiffy as the agents maintain an unholy nexus ...
(read more) Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008Comprehensive reforms in agriculture and markets are imperative to create opportunities for people deprived of resources and thereby alleviate poverty, eminent economist Prof Rehman Sobhan said yesterday.Asset deprivation is a major reason for poverty, he said, expressing concern over emerging gap in education and health opportunities for the poor, and suggesting equal access to land, education and health for all.Prof Sobhan, also chairman of Center for Policy Dialogue, was speaking as the chief guest at the launch of Brac Development Institute (BDI) under Brac University that will serve as a resource centre for issues on poverty and the poor and ...
(read more) Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008The Election Commission (EC) thought better of inviting politicians to yesterday's celebration of its successful completion of the voter registration task at the field level to "avoid controversy".A senior official involved in organising the programme said intelligence agencies objected to inviting a few politicians suspected of corruption.Asked about the matter, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday told reporters that he did not know anything about it and suggested communicating with the EC secretary.When contacted, EC Secretary Humayun Kabir told reporters that politicians were not invited because of space constraints at the Radisson Hotel, the venue of the function.He ...
(read more) Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008Chief of Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed yesterday requested voters to choose honest, capable and dynamic leaders who can lead the country in the right direction."Let us vote at a free and credible election in December 2008 to bring back the constructive democracy in the country," he told a programme at Hotel Radisson, organised by the Election Commission in celebration of the successful completion of the photograph-attached voter list.Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed was chief guest at the function while Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda made the welcome address.Gen Moeen said many in national and international communities had estimated ...
(read more) Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday pressed charges against detained former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar in a corruption case filed for accumulating illegal wealth and hiding information about his actual assets from the commission.Rupak Kumar Saha, deputy assistant director of the ACC and investigation officer (IO) of the case, submitted the charge sheet to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (CMM) Court, showing nine people as prosecution witnesses.The charge sheet was prepared under sections 26 (1) and 27(1) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004 and Section 15 of the Emergency Power Rules 2007.The IO in his charge sheet maintained that Babar ...
(read more) Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008Former agriculture minister and BNP Vice-president MK Anwar was released from Dhaka Central Jail last night following an interim bail issued by the High Court Sunday.An accused in the Gatco graft case, he was sent to jail on surrender before a court on May 20.Jail officials said the bureaucrat-turned-politician stepped out of the prison at 7:55pm.From the jail gate, he came straight to his Elephant Road residence where a good number of party leaders and workers gathered to welcome him, his wife Mahmuda Anwar told The Daily Star.She also said Anwar would have been freed two days ago, had ...
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