Archive for July 25th, 2008
Friday, July 25th, 2008The High Court (HC) yesterday declared the new contempt of court ordinance invalid, and observed that it undermines the spirit of the constitution and independence of the judiciary.Ruling on a writ petition challenging the legality of some provisions of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2008, an HC bench comprising Justices ABM Khairul Haque and Md Abu Tariq also observed that the ordinance curtails the magistracy of the Supreme Court (SC).It said when a new parliament was expected to take over within a few months it was not necessary to promulgate the ordinance replacing the Contempt of Court Act 1926. ...
(read more) Friday, July 25th, 2008Upgrading the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway into a four-lane road is in fresh limbo due to negligence and lack of coordination between the Ministry of Communications and Roads and Highway Department (RHD) in preparing tender documents.Officials say conflicts between the ministry and RHD over a not-so-serious option in the tender documents have resulted in the project's cancellation for the second time in 15 months.They say upgrading the narrow highway is crucial not only for smooth passage of increasing number of vehicles but also to check deaths of hundreds of people in accidents every year.The then chief engineer (CE) of RHD and ...
(read more) Friday, July 25th, 2008Awami League (AL) and Jatiya Party (JP) in a latest political development decided to join hands with an eye to securing victory over the BNP-Jamaat alliance in the upcoming national elections.If voted to power in the next parliamentary polls scheduled for December this year, both the parties agreed in principle to work together for an effective parliament and curb corruption in the country by continuing anti-corruption drives.AL and JP, altogether winning 47.24 percent of votes cast in the last parliamentary elections, have also planned to forge a greater alliance and launch a special campaign against the anti-liberation war and fundamentalist ...
(read more) Friday, July 25th, 2008The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in its primary report on corruption in the Roads and Highways (R&H) Department revealed that irregularities in constructing two roads resulted in the loss of Tk 29 crore to the state exchequer, not to mention the roads are unusable now.The ACC investigation disclosed that officials concerned in R&H in collaboration with contractors used substandard materials, did not maintain procurement regulations or follow specifications for construction and misappropriated Tk 29 crore.The R&H department constructed a 55-km-long road to Hatirkumrul in Sirajganj from Bonpara spending Tk 310.24 crore. The contractors used soil in construction instead of sand ...
(read more) Friday, July 25th, 2008Over the years, flawed policies have destroyed a large part of the Modhupur forest instead of preserving it, speakers at a seminar said yesterday.The speakers urged the government to ensure forest dwellers' right to their native land and make them a party to manage natural forests on certain conditions.They said in the name of saving the forest the government has snatched the rights of forest dwellers who are living there for generations and turned it into shooting range, rubber plantations and gardens of alien species.The speakers said this at a national workshop on "Protect the Sal Forest of Modhupur ...
(read more) Friday, July 25th, 2008The government has shifted from its stance to repeal the Representation of the People's Order (RPO) 1972 and wants to amend it, incorporating the Election Commission's electoral reform proposals for conducting the parliamentary polls.The move to amend the existing RPO instead of promulgating the recently approved Representation of the People's Ordinance 2008 was taken in an apparent bid to satisfy the political parties.The Election Commission (EC) drafted the Representation of the People's Ordinance 2008 and subsequently the advisory council approved it in principle at a meeting on July 13 with the proposal for repealing the existing one.A number of political ...
(read more) Friday, July 25th, 2008A special court yesterday sentenced Awami League (AL) Presidium Member Kazi Zafarullah to two years' simple imprisonment for not submitting wealth statement to the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) in due time.Judge M Ashraf Hossain of Special Court-5 set up on the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises pronounced the verdict.Since the AL leader is on the run, the sentence will be effective from the day of his surrender or arrest.ACC Assistant Director Ashraful Islam filed the case against Zafarullah with Gulshan Police Station on March 19 this year for not submitting wealth statement to the ACC.The commission served a notice on the AL ...
(read more) Friday, July 25th, 2008Indigenous people in many remote villages in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) will have to suffer from lack of food grains for at least two more months until the next harvest if the government does not provide them with food.Many families in the CHT districts including Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Rangamati are now living on wild potato, arum and green leaves after rats invaded the areas last year and early this year and destroyed all their crops leading to this famine-like situation.The government and donor agencies provided them with rice immediately after the rat invasion, but that was adequate for only a ...
(read more) Friday, July 25th, 2008The Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) yesterday backtracked on its plan to cut down trees to improve drainage system in Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara neighbourhoods, amid strong protests from locals and environmentalists.The Daily Star on July 23 reported the city corporation's move to chop down 52 old trees. Six trees, including a decades-old one, have already been felled."We've decided not to cut down any trees in the areas except for those already dead," the DCC's Chief Executive Officer Md Alauddin said at a press briefing at Nagar Bhaban.He said the city corporation went for felling the trees in order to improve ...
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