Archive for August 28th, 2008
Thursday, August 28th, 2008Amid lax management in the overseas sector, recruiting agencies and manpower brokers smuggle about Tk 8,000 crore every year in the form of hundi to buy visas or job demands for Bangladeshi workers.Such illegal transactions spawn enormous malpractices forcing a large part of low-skilled workers into penury. But the government measures fail miserably in negotiating with labourer receiving countries to check frauds.In the '80s, the employers used to bear the expenditure to hire workers from the country. But later a syndicate of visa traders enticed the employers to take cheaply paid workers from them in exchange of commission, creating dozens ...
(read more) Thursday, August 28th, 2008Eight judges among dozens sacked by Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf were reappointed by the government yesterday, a move condemned by many lawyers as a political stunt.The decision comes two days after former prime minister Nawaz Sharif quit the government over differences with leading coalition partner Asif Ali Zardari over the issue of the sackings, which set off months of political turmoil.The legal community described the move as a "conspiracy" to harm their demands for the restoration of all judges, including independent-minded chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.Chaudhry was among dozens of superior judges fired by Musharraf last year under emergency ...
(read more) Thursday, August 28th, 2008Politicians facing no corruption cases or investigations won't be barred from participating in elections if they voluntarily approach the Truth and Accountability Commission (Tac) for clemency, surrendering their ill-gotten wealth.Tac Chairman Justice Habibur Rahman Khan said this yesterday, citing the relevant law.Apparently unhappy about the responses so far from politicians and businessmen, the Tac chairman told the regular weekly briefing that among the 184 individuals applied for clemency, there is no politician.About the reasons behind reluctance of politicians to come to the Tac, Justice Khan said they are not coming because of a provision barring the clemency-seekers from participating ...
(read more) Thursday, August 28th, 2008The European Commission's decision on sending election observers to Bangladesh depends on relaxation of the emergency rules since the EC usually does not observe elections where the state of emergency remains in place.Ambassador Stefan Frowein, head of the delegation of the EU countries' envoys, made the remarks while talking to the reporters after an hour-long meeting with Foreign Affairs Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury at the foreign ministry yesterday.Frowein said the European Commissioner for External Affairs will take the final decision about sending the election-observation mission to Dhaka by the end of September analysing the given situation.In June last, an ...
(read more) Thursday, August 28th, 2008Home Affairs Adviser MA Matin yesterday said there is no legal bar to releasing BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and her elder son Tarique Rahman from jail to facilitate their treatment abroad.He said the process of freeing Tarique, senior joint secretary general of the BNP, has made headway. "But everything cannot be disclosed right now."Matin was talking to reporters after a brief meeting with Law Adviser AF Hassan Ariff at his secretariat office.On Tarique's treatment after he grazed his forehead slipping on the bathroom floor in his prison cell at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Monday, Matin said he ...
(read more) Thursday, August 28th, 2008Amid police interruptions and heavy rainfall, BNP-led four-party alliance partially managed to carry out their countrywide demonstration of forming human chains yesterday.The demonstration was scheduled demanding immediate release of detained BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and her elder son Tarique Rahman, who is also a senior leader of the much beleaguered party.Police broke up the human chains in most places across the country, as the law enforcement department had issued an order Tuesday night urging the protesting alliance to refrain from demonstrating, saying 'the action would violate the emergency powers rule'.In some places including Khulna and Kishoreganj the alliance ...
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