Archive for September 24th, 2008
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008In a reversal of its stance, BNP yesterday announced it will get registered with the Election Commission (EC) and contest the December 18 polls under the new electoral provisions.The announcement came after a two-hour meeting between a four-member delegation of the party and the EC.Awami League (AL) and Jatiya Party (JP) have already said they will apply for registration by amending their constitutions after Eid-ul-Fitr.Now BNP's retreat from hard-line policies means a significant breakthrough in the commission's efforts to ensure registration of the political parties before the upcoming national election, said sources at the EC Secretariat.Earlier on ...
(read more) Wednesday, September 24th, 2008Bangladesh Railway (east zone) will arrange a special air-conditioned train service 'Eid Special' for three days from September 28 on Dhaka-Chittagong route to help the homebound holidaymakers ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.Thirteen A/C coaches, imported four months' earlier among 30 such coaches from China and have been lying at the railway workshop, will be included in the special service charging Tk 380 per person.Sources said after the service, the coaches would be taken back to the workshop again since the launching of a regular train is yet to be decided due to lack of required locomotives.The special train service will begin from ...
(read more) Wednesday, September 24th, 2008A high-powered government taskforce is going to recommend digitisation of the country's entire land records and turning district administration offices into monitoring bodies from its present role of service provider to ensure transparency and reduce corruption.Led by former adviser to a caretaker government Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury, the five-member taskforce said a commission should be formed comprised of government and non-government experts to spearhead modernisation of records and land registration system.The proposal notes that the entire reform is possible with the present strength of the government and using local resources without having to take foreign consultancy.The government taskforce ...
(read more) Wednesday, September 24th, 2008There has been no significant success in the unprecedented anti-corruption drive in the last 19 months in Bangladesh, which has ranked 10th among the most corrupt countries this year.Bangladesh has jumped up three positions to 147th with 2.1 points in the annual global corruption perceptions index (CPI) of the Transparency International (TI) with a mere 0.1-point increase. Kenya, Russia and Syria have scored the same.Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said the shift in position bears almost no significance in terms of reining corruption; it is rather the result of decline in other countries' status.The international anti-corruption watchdog's Bangladesh officials blamed three ...
(read more) Wednesday, September 24th, 2008Development in education sector remains stagnant despite formation of seven education commissions and committees since independence and three others during the Pakistan regime, as none of their reports or recommendations has been implemented due to political tangles.Millions of public money was spent in the process of formulation of the reports, but no political governments took the initiative to implement the recommendations in fear of demonstrations by the opposition, say education ministry sources.Every political government formed at least one education commission or committee during their tenure, but no report has been made public, let alone being implemented.The seven education reports were ...
(read more) Wednesday, September 24th, 2008Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nur Mohammad yesterday said the police department is beset with limitations and if police serve people up to their expectations, people will raise their voice to remove the limitations.The IGP, who expressed frustration on Monday about the delay in promulgation of the Bangladesh Police Ordinance 2007, however said they are hopeful about the promulgation of the ordinance.The IGP said this while inaugurating two new police stations -- Darussalam and Kadamtoli -- in the city yesterday that raised the total number of police stations in the city to 35. Six more police stations will be set ...
(read more) Wednesday, September 24th, 2008Mayors of five city corporations yesterday said holding of parliamentary elections and upazila polls within a short span of time would hamper both.It would be difficult to ensure coordination in electoral activities as well as in administrative and security duties in holding the elections with such narrow gaps as announced, they said.The mayors were talking to journalists after attending a meeting of the urban primary healthcare project held at the LGRD ministry with LGRD Adviser Anwarul Iqbal in the chair.“Not only the national election but also elections to the local government bodies will be hampered if held within a ...
(read more) Wednesday, September 24th, 2008After a pause of about 20 months, Awami League (AL)-led grand electoral alliance is about to be resurrected again, as its key leaders are scheduled to meet for iftar today, ahead of the parliamentary election scheduled for December 18.Leaders of the components of AL-led 14-party coalition, and of Jatiya Party (JP-Ershad), Bikalpadhara Bangladesh (BDB), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Jatiya Party (JP-Manju), the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Misbaur Rahman led Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ), Zaker Party, and of some other parties which had not been in the grand alliance earlier, have been invited to the iftar in a community centre in ...
(read more) Wednesday, September 24th, 2008The Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) is rather okay with Transparency International's (TI) perception that no significant development has been made in curbing corruption in Bangladesh over the last year, considering that graft in the country has not increased."We could've gone backwards while conducting the drive against corruption, but we didn't. We started the drive at a time when the country was engulfed by corruption, and we arrested the graft suspects," ACC Director General (Admin) Col Hanif Iqbal told the Daily Star yesterday in his reaction to TI's annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2008.Hanif made several observations about the CPI which ...
(read more) Wednesday, September 24th, 2008BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday demanded release of all detained political leaders before the Eid to create a congenial atmosphere for elections.She also expressed gratitude to people from all walks of life as well as party leaders and activists for pressing the demand for her release, her two sons and political leaders."They played a courageous role against repression and in favour of the Zia family, democracy and human rights," she said in a statement signed yesterday by Maruf Kamal Khan, former deputy press secretary to Khaleda."I was released on bail after spending about a year in jail. ...
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