Archive for August 8th, 2008
Friday, August 8th, 2008The Election Commission's (EC) preparations for upazila polls in October continue at full throttle while its move to make the elections non-partisan remains mired in uncertainty due to a recent High Court (HC) ruling.Its earlier bid to keep political parties off the August 4 polls to four city corporations and nine municipalities failed after the HC on July 31 scrapped the restrictions that the electoral rules slapped on the parties.Now the commission is undecided whether to ask the government for a new provision in the upazila parishad ordinance to organise the polls with the political parties having no ...
(read more) Friday, August 8th, 2008The High Court (HC) yesterday stayed for three months a gazette notification of the Election Commission (EC) finalising the re-demarcation of parliamentary constituencies.The HC bench of Justice Khademul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Mashuque Hosain Ahmed also issued a rule on the government and the EC to show causes in two weeks as to why the July 10 gazette should not be declared unconstitutional and illegal.The bench issued the rule following a writ petition by former BNP state minister Abdul Mannan on August 6 challenging the gazette that brought changes to 84 of the 133 constituencies the commission had provisionally ...
(read more) Friday, August 8th, 2008The High Court (HC) yesterday declared void the provision of the Supreme Judicial Commission Ordinance 2008 that empowers the president to disregard recommendations of the Supreme Judicial Commission (SJC) in appointing judges to the higher judiciary.A three-member special bench of the HC comprising justices Mohammad Abdur Rashid, Nazmun Ara Sultana and Md Ashfaqul Islam delivered the judgment upon a writ petition filed by Supreme Court (SC) lawyer advocate Idrisur Rahman.Justice Rashid said in the judgment that he found the ordinance unconstitutional, so he made absolute the HC rule dated April 28 that asked the government to explain why the SJC ...
(read more) Friday, August 8th, 2008Sticking to its position of not taking part in the parliamentary elections with the state of emergency enforced, the Awami League (AL) is trying to mount pressure on the caretaker government with the help of international community to have the emergency lifted.The AL will hold the final round of talks with the government soon and make the party's position clear about the December polls under the state of emergency.Even though the August 4 polls to four city corporations and nine municipalities were held in a free, fair and peaceful manner with the emergency in force, the AL policy makers believe ...
(read more) Friday, August 8th, 2008Pakistan's ruling coalition said yesterday that it would impeach President Pervez Musharraf, posing the biggest threat to the key US ally in the "war on terror" since he seized power in a 1999 coup.The landmark agreement came after three days of marathon talks between coalition leaders Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif, another ex-premier."We have good news for democracy," Zardari said at a joint news conference with Sharif in Islamabad. "The coalition believes it is imperative to move for impeachment against General Musharraf."The government had summoned the national assembly, or lower ...
(read more) Friday, August 8th, 2008Crime scene investigation and the trial process of criminal cases are likely to enter a new era at the end of next year when the police department expects to be geared up with state-of-the-art forensic laboratories and a comprehensive national database of criminals.The long overdue modern forensic labs and the centralised criminal database to some extent will ease dependency on the present testimony-based trial process that leaves room for a relatively large margin of error in identifying offenders or innocent people, said experts.With this end in view, the police headquarters have already been working on several projects that include ...
(read more) Friday, August 8th, 2008A tight monetary policy would cost the country badly in terms of productivity and employment generation, observed Bangladesh Bank in its quarterly released yesterday.“A contractionary (tight) monetary policy will adversely affect the country's GDP growth, employment and investment,” Mustafa K Mujeri, chief economist of the BB, told reporters at the quarterly launching ceremony at the bank.Earlier, the International Monetary Fund had suggested the central bank to switch over to a tight policy from the expansionary one to mitigate the soaring inflationary pressure.“Although monetary tightening can bring down inflation, it has unacceptably high cost in terms of foregone output and employment,” ...
(read more) Friday, August 8th, 2008The Department of Forest is planning to go for an oil palm plantation once again after a failed project undertaken in the early 80s.The department has already prepared a project proposal named 'Sabuj Baloy' (Green Circle). At least 20 percent plants under this project will be oil palm, say sources working with the department.Though local weather is not friendly for oil palms, the department has retaken the initiative to fulfil desire of a very powerful high official of the military-backed caretaker government, insiders say.The department however didn't even conduct any pilot project before taking this initiative, they add. ...
(read more) Friday, August 8th, 2008The High Court (HC) yesterday observed that Tarique Rahman is seriously ill and should be sent abroad for treatment.An HC bench made the observation after examining the medical reports of Tarique, elder son of the detained former premier Khaleda Zia.The HC also rejected the petition filed by detained BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman for quashing the proceedings against him in the case of Tk 21-crore bribery following the murder of Humayun Kabir Sabbir, a director of Bashundhara Group.The bench, comprised of Justice Sharifuddin Chaklader and Justice Md Emdadul Haque Azad, however, stayed the trial proceedings against ...
(read more) Friday, August 8th, 2008A special court yesterday framed charges against Arafat Rahman Koko in a corruption case filed for accumulating wealth illegally and hiding information about his property from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).This is the first time charges have been framed against Koko. He was released on two months' parole on July 17 to facilitate his treatment abroad.Judge M Sirajul Islam of Special Court 7, set up at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban complex, fixed August 13 for cross-examination of witnesses to begin.Koko's counsel Taherul Islam Tawhid termed the charge-framing illegal as he said it was done in the absence of the defendant's appointed lawyer, ...
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