Archive for August 18th, 2008
Monday, August 18th, 2008The Election Commission (EC) might not be able to ensure registration of the political parties and intra-party reforms before the ninth parliamentary polls due to time constraints.The proposed changes to the electoral laws to that effect have yet to be laid down whereas those were supposed to take effect by February and require the political parties to register with the EC by June, according to the EC roadmap.With the national election planned for the third week of December, the parties were to be given four months to amend their constitutions and have new committees through councils to meet the ...
(read more) Monday, August 18th, 2008The government is going to rearrange the civil and police administration in two weeks through transfer and posting, and through withdrawal of officials facing specific allegations or having poor performance records, officials say.Instructed by the Chief Adviser's Office, the establishment ministry along with the Cabinet Division initiated moves last week and is now busy scrutinising field level officials to pull out those whose involvement might make polls controversial.In the police administration, officials posted by the then Iajuddin Ahmed-led caretaker government would be transferred from their present stations."We have 10 such superintendents of police [SP] and 58 officers-in-charge [OC] who will ...
(read more) Monday, August 18th, 2008Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has launched a new intelligence wing recently to gather information in advance about the activities of different political parties and their front organisations.Two major political parties--the Awami League (AL) and BNP--said the new intelligence wing has been set up to harass political party leaders and activists.DMP Commissioner Naim Ahmed, however, said the objective of the Political Intelligence Office (PIO) is not to harass anyone; it is rather to collect information about any incident quickly so that the police can take preventive measures before it escalates into something bigger which may become difficult to handle.Police sources said ...
(read more) Monday, August 18th, 2008Corruption suspects are getting released on the High Court (HC) bail and cases against them are being stayed because of loopholes in the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) laws and rules, observed a few Supreme Court (SC) lawyers.They said these loopholes constitute three grounds on which the HC mostly grants bail to accused persons and stays proceedings against them.One is the ACC officials' failure to submit enquiry reports within 30 days of being tasked with gathering information about a corruption suspect and the investigation officers' failure to submit reports within 60 days of filing of the cases as per the rules.The two ...
(read more) Monday, August 18th, 2008Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina said the massive public misery in the last one and a half years has proved that unelected governments cannot bring any good for people.She called for handing over power to elected representatives by holding a free and fair election without any further delay.Hasina was speaking at a discussion on the 33rd death anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15 at a hotel in Virginia State, according to US-based news agency News World."There is no alternative to holding parliamentary elections; no alternative to democracy to build a happy and prosperous Bangladesh ...
(read more) Monday, August 18th, 2008Pakistan's ruling coalition tightened the screw on President Pervez Musharraf yesterday, saying that it had readied impeachment charges against him and was giving him two days to stand down.Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar told AFP that "the charge sheet will be presented in parliament by Tuesday". Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said a day earlier that Musharraf had to decide on quitting "by today or tomorrow."The coalition finalised the charges on Sunday after intense deliberations and would present them on Monday to the alliance's leaders, Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said."It is a historic document," Rehman ...
(read more) Monday, August 18th, 2008Michael Phelps cemented his place in Olympics history Sunday, capping a sensational week by becoming the first athlete ever to win eight gold medals in one Games.Phelps brought the curtain down on a record-breaking week of swimming when he directed the US team to victory in the 4x100m medley relay and overtook fellow US legend Mark Spitz's seven gold medals at Munich 36 years ago.The 23-year-old Phelps also broke seven world records through the week and became the most successful Olympian of all time with a career 14 gold medals."I'm lost for words," he said."The whole thing, every race, one ...
(read more) Monday, August 18th, 2008Law enforcement agencies stepped up security in the capital and other places across the country to avert any attack by the activists of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) as August 17 was the third anniversary of the countrywide near simultaneous bomb blasts."We have no intelligence report on any possible attack by the militants, but we stepped up security so that no untoward incident can take place," a top official of the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) told The Daily Star.The Dhaka Metropolitan Police deployed 2,000 additional forces alongside the regular ones and set up around 100 check posts.Besides, plainclothes Rab members were ...
(read more) Monday, August 18th, 2008Detained Awami League presidium member and former home minister Mohammad Nasim was released on Friday on a High Court bail two days after jail authorities received the court order.Family sources say Nasim, who was sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment by a special court for amassing illegal wealth, would be sent to Singapore for treatment as early as possible.He is also accused in another corruption case in connection with illegal installation of telephone lines by Worldtel Holdings Ltd.The sources say they would apply to the Singapore embassy today for visa of Nasim and his family members.They add he would be admitted ...
(read more) Monday, August 18th, 2008The holy Shab-e-Barat was observed across the country on Saturday night with due solemnity and religious fervour.Muslims spent the night through special prayers, recitation from the holy Quran and milad mahfil. They visited the graves of their near and dear ones, offering fateha for the peace of the departed souls.They distributed sweets and homemade food among the poor, neighbours, friends and relatives.Many homes and streets were illuminated with candles and strands of electric bulbs to lend a joyful ambience to the festival.The Lailat-ul-Baraat, popularly known as Shab-e-Barat, has special significance for Muslims who believe that on this auspicious night Allah ...
(read more) 
