Archive for June 4th, 2009
Thursday, June 4th, 2009Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) yesterday began a three-day eviction drive against encroachment on the river Turag.The government embarked on the drive following a vigorous campaign launched by The Daily Star against pollution and encroachment on the rivers surrounding the capital.Initially BIWTA along with district administrations of Gazipur and Dhaka knocked down parts of four huge structures including a kitchen market and a fish market in Tongi Bazar to the east of Tongi Bridge.Portions of the Merchants Dyeing Industry and Bengal Indigo Textile Mills that encroached upon the river on the southern bank also came under ...
(read more) Thursday, June 4th, 2009The Parliament Secretariat Commission yesterday decided to provide lawmakers with a vehicle, a driver and a certain amount of fuel allowance each as it is against reintroducing the provision that allows MPs to import duty-free cars.The last caretaker government scrapped the provision through an ordinance in the wake of widespread scandal and irregularities in importing duty-free luxurious cars.But the new parliament did not ratify the ordinance, which increased hopes among many lawmakers about getting back the privilege."No duty-free cars from now," Speaker Abdul Hamid, chief of the Parliament Secretariat Commission, told reporters at his office after a meeting of the ...
(read more) Thursday, June 4th, 2009Foreign diplomats in Dhaka have expressed their deep concern over the increasing number of criminal activities by which the diplomats, their family members and foreigners are being affected mainly in Gulshan and Baridhara roads.They have requested Bangladesh authorities to take urgent measures to provide for appropriate security in the areas where those incidents are taking place frequently.Sources in the police said rampant incidents of mugging are taking place all over the city from evening to midnight and muggers are using private cars and vans in most of the cases.“It is a social problem which we have to contain through patrol ...
(read more) Thursday, June 4th, 2009The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of Jatiya Sangsad yesterday rejected Finance Minister AMA Muhith's proposal for passing the next fiscal year's budget on July 23 in parliament that goes into its second session today.BAC, the topmost forum of parliament, decided that the budget for FY 2009-'10, which will be the first budget drawn by Awami League (AL)-led alliance government, will be passed on June 30, a day before the new fiscal year begins.The second session of the ninth parliament that begins at 3:00pm today will continue till July 9, and if necessary, the speaker may extend the duration ...
(read more) Thursday, June 4th, 2009Detained former BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu instigated the BDR mutineers, who were involved in the carnage at their Pilkhana headquarters, alleges the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).The CID made the allegation in its forwarding report submitted to a Dhaka court yesterday when the investigation officer of the mutiny case produced Pintu before the court seeking 10-day remand.The court granted five days to quiz the former lawmaker in connection with the charges.Earlier, the national probe committee on BDR carnage revealed Pintu's "involvement" with the BDR carnage in helping mutineers flee by arranging engine boats to cross the Buriganga at Keraniganj ferry ...
(read more) Thursday, June 4th, 2009The government is going to cut taxes on mobile SIM card and industrial raw materials and corporate tax rates of banks and financial institutions in the budget for the next fiscal year.But it will increase taxes on cars, vehicles, cigarettes and mobile phone sets to collect additional revenue.The government will not bring any change to the ceiling of individual tax rate, but it will conduct special drives in a good number of places in search of new taxpayers.The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has set the revenue collection target for the next fiscal year at Tk 61,000 crore, which is ...
(read more) Thursday, June 4th, 2009Detained former NSI deputy director (DD) Maj (retd) Liakat boarded at Hotel Golden Inn in Chittagong using a fake name two days before the arms haul and supervised the offloading of the consignment of 10 truckloads of illegal arms and ammunition, CID sources said.The hotel's register book showed that Abul Hossain from Lalbagh in Dhaka boarded room No-512 at the hotel on March 30, 2004.Sources said sergeants Alauddin and Helal Uddin, who helped seize the consignment, identified Liakat as the man who boarded the hotel introducing himself as Abul Hossain.The sergeants were summoned to the Chittagong divisional headquarters of the ...
(read more) Thursday, June 4th, 2009The High Court (HC) yesterday asked the authorities to place before it today statements on the steps already taken and to be taken to prevent encroachment, earth-filling and construction of illegal structures on the rivers surrounding the capital.A division bench of the HC directed the directors general (DGs) of the Department of Environment (DoE) and Directorate of Land and Records (DLR), and chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) to be present in the court for placing such statements on the rivers Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakhya.The bench comprised of Justice ABM Khairul Haque and Justice Momtaz ...
(read more) Thursday, June 4th, 2009The poor are burdened with more bribe demands than the rich amid global financial crisis and it appears as a double punishment to the poor, says Transparency International's (TI) Global Corruption Barometer 2009.“Across the board, low-income respondents were more likely to be met with bribe demands than the high-income respondents,” said the barometer prepared on the basis of responses of 73,000 individuals drawn from 69 countries.The barometer, a global public opinion survey, released by TI yesterday says over half of those polled believe the private sector uses bribes to influence public policy, laws and regulations, and the government efforts to ...
(read more) Thursday, June 4th, 2009Paribesh Bachao Andolan (PBA) yesterday urged the government to form a high-powered commission to save rivers from encroachment and pollution and to increase navigability across the country.The demand rose at a PBA sit-in programme in front of Krishi Bank Bhaban in Motijheel. They also formed a human chain as a part of the programme.Chaired by PBA Chairman Abu Naser Khan the programme was held as a part of the organisation's countrywide campaign titled "Save the Rivers Movement".They also demanded a national committee comprising of experts to solve the international river issues and a regional multilateral committee to ensure natural ...
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