Archive for November 28th, 2008
Friday, November 28th, 2008Indian security forces have arrested three militants, including a Pakistani national, inside Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, which was attacked by a group of gunmen, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported early today.Meanwhile, seven hostages were rescued from a Mumbai residential-business complex, also housing a Jewish centre, which was attacked by Islamist gunmen, Indian security officials said late last night, reports AFP.The PTI report identified the Pakistani national as Ajmal Amir Kamal, a resident of Faridkot, Multan, in Pakistan.It also said the militants were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba--a Pakistan-based militant group best known for an assault on the ...
(read more) Friday, November 28th, 2008Interviewing BNP ticket aspirants yesterday was merely a formality as the party had already chosen its candidates for the next parliamentary election ignoring the traditional system of interviewing nomination hopefuls.Insiders said the party last night started sending letters to candidates confirming nomination.Shamsul Alam of Chittagong-8, who joined the BNP yesterday evening, showed reporters his letter of nomination at 10:10pm.However, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, former minister and a nomination hopeful from Chittagong-10, told The Daily Star at 8:30pm, "The [parliamentary] board informed us that the letters will be issued in the evening although I did not receive it yet."Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General ...
(read more) Friday, November 28th, 2008Between 2000 and 2006, all road maintenance jobs of Roads and Highways Department (RHD) were awarded to contractors at a higher cost than the projected cost causing losses of around Tk 154 crore to the state.In these six years, periodic maintenance jobs were always done at a higher price than projected through collaboration between RHD officials and contractors, an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigation revealed.Of the amount, the government incurred Tk 149 crore loss as the jobs were done at higher costs than projected while irregularities in implementing the projects cost the state another Tk 4.71 crore.Interestingly enough, a total of ...
(read more) Friday, November 28th, 2008Finally, BNP appears to have violated electoral laws and its own constitution to pick contenders in the upcoming parliamentary polls by not allowing grassroots level leaders of the party to make preliminary selection of candidates.Keeping the grassroots party committees in the dark, BNP Parliamentary Board (BNPPB) last night almost finalised party nominees by interviewing those who submitted applications seeking nomination on Tuesday and Wednesday.But the Representation of People Order (RPO) does not allow political parties to nominate parliamentary polls candidates without having grassroots committees' recommendations in this regard.As per the RPO, members of ward, union, thana, upazila ...
(read more) Friday, November 28th, 2008The Election Commission (EC) yesterday decided to authorise executive magistrates to hold trial for electoral offences to ensure holding of the next national polls in a free and fair manner although they do not have the jurisdiction to do the task.As per the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), only judicial magistrates are authorised to hold trial for electoral offences that are grave in nature and award the offenders punishment, which involves both imprisonment and fine.An individual could be imprisoned for two to seven years, and also fined for committing electoral offences on the polling day, according to the Representation of ...
(read more) Friday, November 28th, 2008Eminent economist Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud yesterday blasted the World Bank forecast that export growth might fall by 4.3 percentage points and remittance by 20 percentage points this fiscal year due to global economic meltdown.He said the World Bank made the report acknowledging the ongoing growth rate in GDP, export, remittance and import but these indicators are now stable.He said the current global financial crisis would not severely affect the economy and exports, especially the export of garment items."We produce garment products most efficiently in the world as our labour cost is competitive and we produce low-priced items which have ...
(read more) Friday, November 28th, 2008Former caretaker government adviser Dr Akbar Ali Khan says the country's political parties are preoccupied with the past and do not talk about their future plans to address political, economic and global issues."We are about to face a big economic crisis and the political parties are not at all telling their plans to solve that crisis and what their role would be to counter the effect of globalisation," Dr Akbar said in an interview with The Daily Star.The chairman of the Regulatory Reforms Commission said there should be public debates on the issues of politics and economy where political parties ...
(read more) Friday, November 28th, 2008Chairman of Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) Prof Muzaffer Ahmad yesterday underscored the need for proper application of the Representation of People order (RPO) for strengthening the Election Commission.Proper application of the RPO will help strengthen the EC, but there should be a procedure to avoid its abuse, he added.He disagreed with the political parties' demand for repeal of the section 91 (e) of the RPO and said if the parties abide by the election code of conduct, they have nothing to fear.Prof Muzaffer was speaking at a workshop on “Laws Relating to Parliamentary Elections”, organised by Sushasaner Janya Nagarik ...
(read more) Friday, November 28th, 2008The Deccan Mujahedeen, which has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks across Mumbai in India (formerly known as Bombay), appears to be the latest in a string of home-grown Indian Islamic militant splinter groups.Until recently, the majority of terrorist attacks in India have been blamed on groups based in or supported by Pakistan.But attacks over the last year have been claimed by groups with names stressing their local origins. The appearance of the Deccan Mujahedeen, which appears to take its name from the Deccan plateau that covers much of south India and was previously unknown, has added to the ...
(read more) Friday, November 28th, 2008President Iajuddin Ahmed and Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed have condemned the acts of terror, which were unleashed on the city of Mumbai on Wednesday night.They also expressed deep shock at the loss of lives in terrible terror strikes in the Indian business capital.In a message of condolence to his counterpart Mrs Pratibha Patil yesterday, the president said, “Bangladesh stands firm with her friends in India at this hour of grief”.He conveyed his deepest sympathy to the bereaved families.The chief adviser in a separate message to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the terrible terror strikes in Mumbai ...
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