Archive for October 28th, 2008
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008At least six people were killed and dozens of fishermen missing as Cyclone Reshmi lashed Khulna-Barisal coast yesterday morning with winds gusting up to 84 km an hour.Hundreds of thatched houses and crops on a vast tract of land were razed to the ground by gales and heavy rains.Offshore islands and coastal areas were swept by tides leaping up to 6 feet above normal level.As of filing the report at 10:00pm, communications between the capital and southern districts through interior waterways remained suspended. Road links between many areas however were restored.A special bulletin from the Met office said ...
(read more) Tuesday, October 28th, 2008Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma has said the state of emergency is “inconsistent” with a normal electoral process and favoured its lifting before the election.“We've conveyed our position that it is inconsistent with normal elections. Obviously, it would be desirable for us if it is lifted,” he told a media conference at Sonargaon Hotel yesterday evening after holding meetings with the caretaker government and the Election Commission.In reply to a question, Sharma said he has not received any response from the government during his discussions regarding the lifting of the emergency. But, he said if it is the government policy ...
(read more) Tuesday, October 28th, 2008BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday said since her party is the most popular and an election-oriented one, it is ready for the December 18 national elections as well as a 'movement'.Dispelling confusion over her participation in the upcoming parliamentary election, she questioned, “Why should I not be able to take part in election?”She went on, “There is no bar to my participation in election. Even there is no apprehension in this regard.”Khaleda was talking to journalists at her Gulshan office for the first time since her release from jail on September 11.The former prime minister did ...
(read more) Tuesday, October 28th, 2008Though the High Court (HC) banned sale and display of eight brands of powdered milk 'contaminated with melamine' on October 23 the government apparently took no measures until yesterday.Health Adviser AMM Shawkat Ali after a meeting on Sunday and at a press conference yesterday said they would strictly follow the HC order. The district administrations have been asked to form committees to monitor markets and conduct drives, he added.But officials of the civil administration in the capital and major cities last night told The Daily Star they did not receive any such order.Meanwhile, a contempt of court petition was filed ...
(read more) Tuesday, October 28th, 2008Different organisations and individuals, who demand prosecution of anti-liberation war criminals, yesterday raised formal objections to Jamaat's possible registration as a parliamentary political party with the Election Commission (EC).The objections came after the EC had published a public notice on Sunday inviting objections to Jamaat's possible registration accompanied with supporting documents.If the EC finds the objections to be credible, it will call both sides to the commission secretariat for a hearing, said commission sources."We will examine the statements and the documents of both sides before taking a decision," Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain told The ...
(read more) Tuesday, October 28th, 2008Despite a number of major arrests during crackdowns on Islamist militants in the last few years, over 250 trained operatives of outlawed Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) are still at large and many of them are reportedly trying to regroup.The fugitive JMB operatives now remain a matter of grave concern for the law-enforcement agencies, who have no clue to their whereabouts or activities. Their concern has recently intensified as they have scattered intelligence reports these fugitives, who were directly involved in several terror attacks in different times, are holding secret meetings under a new leadership.There are reports Saidur Rahman has taken ...
(read more) Tuesday, October 28th, 2008Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Inu) President Hasanul Haq Inu fears that political parties which will get defeated in the upcoming parliament election will reject the poll results and attempt to resume politics of confrontation since, he said, allegations of bias have already been raised against the caretaker government.In an exclusive interview with The Daily Star, Inu said the December 18 election would be an election for 'rehabilitating' identified corrupt people, war criminals and militants as they are going to join the electoral race after obtaining bail in cases filed against them.He alleged that the present government has a 'secret agenda', and ...
(read more) Tuesday, October 28th, 2008The central bank yesterday said the Trust Bank's loss of about Tk 22.41 crore was not due to money laundering rather it was transactional loss."The bank incurred the loss dealing in foreign exchange. We have no evidence that indicate the loss was due to money laundering," Ziaul Hassan Siddiqui, deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, told reporters.Reporters asked the question to the Bangladesh Bank governor who referred it to his deputy for the answer.The issue came to the limelight when Bangla daily Amar Desh published a news item in this regard. Amar Desh publisher and former energy adviser Mahmudur Rahman also ...
(read more) Tuesday, October 28th, 2008A High Court (HC) bench yesterday refused to hear petitions filed by six ministers of past BNP-Jamaat alliance government for quashing proceedings against them in the Barapukuria coal mine corruption case.Jamaat Ameer and former industries minister Motiur Rahman Nizami, Jamaat Secretary General and ex-social welfare minister Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, former finance minister M Saifur Rahman, ex-health minister Khondker Mosharraf Hossain, former commerce minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury and former state minister AKM Mosharraf Hossain had filed the petitions.The petitioners' counsels told reporters that the bench of justices Md Muzammel Hossain and Afzal Hossain Ahmed did not mention the reasons for ...
(read more) Tuesday, October 28th, 2008Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury yesterday hinted that the state of emergency may be lifted before elections after gradual relaxation of emergency rules depending on the evolving situation and discussion with the political parties.“My hunch it will ultimately go before polls, but again you see it will depend on how things evolve and discussion with political parties,” he told reporters after a meeting with visiting Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma at the foreign ministry.Iftekhar, one of the five-member government panel, which negotiated with the parties, said the emergency rules will be relaxed in phases and a situation created so the ...
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