Archive for January 6th, 2009
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009The new government led by the Awami League (AL) begins a tightrope walking this evening amid high expectations of people, ending around two-year long eventful rule of the caretaker government.President Iajuddin Ahmed appoints and administers oath today to AL chief Sheikh Hasina as the next prime minister and her colleagues in the new council of ministers, who will have to deliver on their electoral pledges that increased people's hope for changes.The president also congratulated Hasina over telephone for being elected as the leader of the majority party in parliament.On the desire of the new premier, he will also appoint and ...
(read more) Tuesday, January 6th, 2009To many the result of a comparison between voter turnouts in 1991 and 2008 elections might come as a surprise, especially when only 55.45 percent of voters voted in 1991 compared to a high 87 percent this time around.But a clearer picture emerges as one looks at the number of fake and duplicate voters, successful elimination of which helped to boost the percentage of turnout in 2008.When in 1991the voter list was packed with over one crore fake or duplicate voters and in 2001 with over 60 lakh of them, even high turnouts looked small proportionally, because a ...
(read more) Tuesday, January 6th, 2009Israeli troops battled Hamas fighters in Gaza's main city for the first time yesterday while the government fended off worldwide calls for a ceasefire. Fifty died in a day of clashes.Amid raging combat in Gaza City, and as the Palestinian death toll rose over 550 including 90 children, French and Russian presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitry Medvedev both demanded a halt to the conflict. But Israeli ministers said the offensive would go on.Large explosions and heavy gunfire rocked the Shejaiya neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City as night fell. Israeli military sources confirmed there were heavy clashes.Flares lit up the skies ...
(read more) Tuesday, January 6th, 2009The cabinet of the Awami League-led grand alliance government may be medium in size with around 35 members initially and is expected to be dominated by young lawmakers.AL advisory council member HT Imam yesterday confirmed speculations that there will be technocrats among the cabinet members who will be given charge of 46 ministries and divisions.The last couple of days saw widespread conjectures about who are going to be sworn in as the members of the AL-led government's council of ministers today.However, AL chief Sheikh Hasina, who is going to be sworn in as the prime minister, her sister Sheikh Rehana ...
(read more) Tuesday, January 6th, 2009The caretaker government last month approved a policy welcoming greater participation of local private entrepreneurs in the power sector and their wider involvement in selling electricity to large consumers.The Policy Guidelines for Enhancement of Private Participation in the Power Sector, 2008 welcomes foreign private investors as before. But for the first time, it opens up for local investors the same financial incentives offered to foreign investors spelled out in the articles 5 and 6 in the Private Sector Power Generation Policy, 1996.These incentives include exemption of corporate income tax for 15 years, 12 years duty-free spare parts import worth maximum ...
(read more) Tuesday, January 6th, 2009Awami League (AL) yesterday warned its leaders and activists of stern actions for any involvement in post-election violence."If we find involvement of any party activists or leaders in post-polls violence, we shall take organisational action against the person and also request the law enforcement agencies to take necessary steps as per existing laws," AL spokesperson Syed Ashraful Islam said at a press conference at the AL president's political office in the capital's Dhanmondi.The role of opposition in the parliament is a must to strengthen democracy and make the House effective, he said urging the BNP-led four-party coalition to accept ...
(read more) Tuesday, January 6th, 2009The government has formed an expert committee to review the proposed Detailed Area Plan (DAP) within the next 30 days and recommend ways to correct its flaws and make it suitable from both housing and environmental points of view.The timetable to finalise the DAP has also been extended by another six months.The 12-member committee, comprising urban experts and environmentalists, was formed on January 1.Floated in 2004, the DAP was scheduled to be finalised by December 31, 2008. However, it was the plan could not be finalised as it was recast several times.Experts and environmentalists have earlier raised strong objections about ...
(read more) Tuesday, January 6th, 2009Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) might boycott the new government cabinet's induction ceremony today in Bangabhaban as its key ally in four-party alliance Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami was not invited, although two of its members-elect of the parliament were.Some BNP insiders said another reason for the party's possible absence in the ceremony today is that its presence there might be regarded as its acceptance of archrival Awami League's (AL) landslide victory in the recent election.A close aide to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, however, told The Daily Star last night that the BNP chief might send a representative to the ceremony at ...
(read more) Tuesday, January 6th, 2009Indian police arrested four Bangladeshi criminals, three of them convicted of murdering former Awami League (AL) lawmaker Ahsanullah Master, in Gariahat of Kolkata Sunday evening.The other criminal has been convicted of murdering a former Titumir College students' council vice-president and sentenced to life-term imprisonment.Murderers of the AL lawmaker are Nazrul Islam Dipu, Wahidul Islam Tipu and Sahayet Hossain Manju. Dipu has been sentenced to death while the other two were sentenced to life-term imprisonments in the Ahsanullah Master murder case.Ahsanullah was gunned down on May 7, 2004, in Tongi.Arrestee Zakir Hossain Rupak was sentence to life-term imprisonment for ...
(read more) Tuesday, January 6th, 2009Chief Adviser (CA) Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday expressed his pleasure to see that the state power is being handed over smoothly to an elected government.“I feel happy to see that the power is being transferred to an elected government. It will be a great achievement for the countrymen,” he told reporters after paying a farewell call on President Iajuddin Ahmed at Bangabhaban.The head of the outgoing caretaker government expressed the feelings of fulfillment of national tasks a day before a new cabinet, led by Awami League chief and leader of the AL parliamentary party Sheikh Hasina, is going to ...
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