Archive for July 13th, 2009
Monday, July 13th, 2009The Rural Power Company (RPC) in August 2005 cancelled a plant operation and maintenance contract with Lahmayer International Pally Power Services (LIPPS) as it illegally shut down and "sabotaged" two 70-megawatt units of a Mymensingh plant.The RPC also filed several cases against officials including the LIPPS chief who fled from the country not only for sabotaging the plant but also for committing a host of serious financial corruption.The corruption charges include attempts to take over the RPC management. Their corruption affected RPC so much that the German government had cancelled 70 million euro grant marked for two power projects.The ...
(read more) Monday, July 13th, 2009Unidentified criminals shot dead Shahid Iqbal Bithar, ward councillor of Khulna City Corporation and presidium member of Jubo League, near his residence at Musalmanpara in Khulna early yesterday.Sources said Shahid's tough stance against canal encroachers or intra-party conflict could be the motives behind the murder.He was the convener of the 19-member committee formed by the KCC to conduct eviction drives against encroachers of 22 canals in Khulna city and its suburbs. Shahid reportedly received threats after the eviction drive was launched on July 2.Witnesses told the police that two persons riding a motorbike fired two shots at Shahid, ...
(read more) Monday, July 13th, 2009A group of people have been extracting sand on a large scale from the bank and adjacent shallow river bed of the Buriganga at Basila although they have permission for extracting sand from the middle of the river.The activity allegedly backed by activists of the ruling Awami League is exposing the residential area to erosion and threatening to change the very course of the river.These people are also defying the permission given by Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority by using 14 powerful dredgers while they have permission for only three.The whole activity is being overseen by armed men in at ...
(read more) Monday, July 13th, 2009Bangladesh and India kicked off a border conference at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters yesterday morning, while two Bangladeshis were shot dead by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) at Chuadanga and Dinajpur frontiers.At the three-day director general level conference between BDR and BSF, Dhaka will raise the issue of killings, wounding, and torture of unarmed Bangladeshi nationals by BSF and Indian civilians at the border."Once again we will request our counterpart to take measures and stop such killings and the firings," a senior BDR official told The Daily Star last night.Four other Bangladeshis were also killed on Thursday in separate ...
(read more) Monday, July 13th, 2009The central bank has asked all banks to submit monthly reports on their stock portfolios, following unearthing of irregularities in share business by a Dhaka Stock Exchange investigation.Banks from now on must submit detailed information about their stock portfolios by categories of purchase, mortgage, and deposit, sources said.The monthly reports must be submitted within seven days of the next month to the Department of Off-sight Supervision of Bangladesh Bank on a regular basis.For the month of June 2009, the report must be submitted by the 15th of this month.The central bank has already issued a circular to that effect to ...
(read more) Monday, July 13th, 2009Influential encroachers still continue filling up parts of the Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara lake at different points as the government sits idle only to watch environmental disasters in near future.Different developers, industrialists, lawmakers, former bureaucrats and anyone with good ties with the government high-ups are grabbing the lake almost every day. In many circumstances these encroachers even forged papers of the pricey pieces of land in connivance with the authorities concerned.Some officials of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) are helping the grabbers to get clearance for construction on the encroached parts of the lake. This remains an open practice for years, but the ...
(read more) Monday, July 13th, 2009President Zillur Rahman yesterday called upon the Anti-Corruption Commission to continue its ongoing fight against corruption without making any compromise with a view to building a corruption-free society."The ACC will need to remain firm with its ethics and values," Zillur said while new ACC Chairman Golam Rahman paid a courtesy call on him at Bhangabhaban in the afternoon.During the meeting, the ACC chairman apprised the president of the ongoing activities of the commission and sought his cooperation in the discharge of his duties.Zillur assured him of all-out support in performing his responsibilities.Saying that there should be ...
(read more) Monday, July 13th, 2009Former BNP state minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku yesterday sued recently retired army chief Moeen U Ahmed for defamation and Tk 100 crore in damages.On his behalf, barrister Moudud Ahmed lodged the case with the Third Joint District Judge's Court, Dhaka.The complainant said he was hurt and defamed by some remarks General (retd) Moeen made in March 2007.On a petition filed by Tuku the same day the court asked Moeen to explain within three weeks why his property should not be attached.Earlier, in response to the defamation suit, Judge SM Saiful Islam ordered the ex-army boss to appear ...
(read more) Monday, July 13th, 2009Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain yesterday blamed the negligence of Water Development Board for the partial damage to Sirajganj town protection embankment by river erosion within 10 years of its construction.He said the construction was affected by erosion due to lack of proper monitoring and maintenance by the officials of Water Development Board.During his visit to the embankment site at noon, the minister told the journalists that unplanned lifting of sand from the riverbed and lack of supervision by the district administration possibly caused the collapse of the protection embankment.He warned the officials concerned against any kind of corruption or ...
(read more) Monday, July 13th, 2009Indian Border Security Force yesterday killed two Bangladeshis--a farmer and a cattle trader-- on the borders of Dinajpur and Chuadanga.The deceased were identified as Yakub Ali, 27, son of Mohiz Ali of South Daudpur in Birampur upazila of Dinajpur and Badruzzaman, 40, son of Safiuddin of Nastipur in Damurhuda upazila of Chuadanga.BSF troops from 57 Gobindapur camp opened fire on Yakub, while he was working in the field about 100 metres inside Bangladesh border at Daudpur around 10:30am, leaving him critically injured, BDR officials of 40 Battalion at Phulbari said quoting witnesses.Yakub was rushed to Birampur Upazila Health ...
(read more) 
