Archive for October 4th, 2009
Sunday, October 4th, 2009Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday gave orders for taking action against party men involved in extortion, tender manipulation and other unlawful activities, which are tarnishing the image of the party."Stern actions will be taken against those involved in any unlawful activity. Nobody will be spared," the AL chief told a meeting of the AL Central Working Committee (ALCWC) at the party's Dhanmondi office.AL General Secretary and LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam told reporters after the meeting that they have received many complaints of extortion, tender manipulation and other malpractices by party men. "We will take tough ...
(read more) Sunday, October 4th, 2009Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday directed Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain to take immediate measures including construction of an elevated expressway in the capital to ease nagging traffic jam.The premier's directive came after central Awami League leaders addressed the issue at the AL Central Working Committee meeting at the party president's political office in the city's Dhanmondi.Many committee members drew the communications minister's attention to the issue and asked him what steps have been taken to ease traffic jam in the capital.Hasina, also president of Awami League, asked the minister to come up with a priority project like construction of ...
(read more) Sunday, October 4th, 2009The charge sheet in the August 21 grenade blasts case points to a meticulous plot to kill the then opposition chief Sheikh Hasina, but clears up no questions along that line.The charge sheet submitted on June 9 last year does not explain if the attackers knew about the venue before Awami League on August 20 announced that it would hold the rally at Bangabandhu Avenue.AL sought the government's permission to use Muktangan for the rally a week before August 21. But as it did not get any response even on August 20, it decided to settle for Bangabandhu Avenue.The decision ...
(read more) Sunday, October 4th, 2009A section of ruling party leaders mounts pressure on local journalists to stop reporting further on the incident of gang rape of the teenage girl at Kalapara upazila in Patuakhali.Under immense pressure, the editor of a local daily had to sack one of its reporters who covered the September 25 incident. The reporter filed a general diary with the police seeking protection.The administration is yet to take any step to arrest the culprits or arrange medical test for the victim, whose family had to flee home for fear of reprisal.Locals said a clique of local ruling party men forced the ...
(read more) Sunday, October 4th, 2009Bangladesh Biman seeks guarantee from the government to avail bank loans to make pre-delivery payments (PDP) of about $117 million for purchasing Boeing aircraft, officials concerned said.The government is yet to respond positively to the guarantee appeal though the first PDP instalment will have to be paid by the state-owned airline at end of October.“We have requested the government to provide guarantee for purchasing four aircraft from Boeing. It will be difficult for us to secure bank loans without the guarantee from the government,” said Muhammad Zakiul Islam, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Biman.The state-owned carrier, now ...
(read more) Sunday, October 4th, 2009A wild male elephant was allegedly killed at a rubber garden near Alikhhong village of Baishari union under Naikhhongchhari upazila in Bandarban Thursday night.Locals suspect that miscreants poisoned the elephant to take away its tusks. However, local forest official Zahirul Haque said they were yet to find any proof of poisoning, as they did not receive the autopsy report.He recovered the body Friday afternoon and it was buried after autopsy.Zahirul said the tusks were with the body when it was found and forest officials cut those out to preserve.A general diary was filed with Naikhhongchhari thana Friday night.Wild elephants had ...
(read more) Sunday, October 4th, 2009Tension mounted on Naikhangchhari border of the district as Myanmar restarted erecting barbed wire fence along its border with Bangladesh from Friday and deployed additional army personnel on their side yesterday.Local sources said erecting fence from pillar No 41 to 45 on their side by Myanmar border security force Nasaka under the supervision of its army and yesterday's additional deployment of the military forces have escalated the tension in the border area.Some residents of Ghumdhum area said they saw Myanmar army personnel were patrolling alongside Nasaka members on their side. They apprehend that Myanmar has increased the army deployment to ...
(read more) Sunday, October 4th, 2009Investigators will show detained top Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders Mufti Obaidullah and Monsur Ali arrested in a number of deadly grenade and bomb attack cases soon as the two disclosed significant information about such attacks."We already initiated a move to show them arrested in the CPB rally [at Paltan on January 20, 2001] blast cases and having them in remand in those cases today. We suspect they might have been involved in the attack," said a top official in the Criminal Investigation Department.The official said they are also thinking about having them in remand in a case filed in connection with the ...
(read more) Sunday, October 4th, 2009Criminal Investigation Department (CID) yesterday in Chittagong interrogated former Home Secretary Omar Faruk who led a five-member probe committee the home ministry formed following the seizure of ten truckloads of firearms in early hours of April 02, 2004.A top retired army officer, who held a key position in the port city during the seizure of the deadly consignment, might also be interrogated to find out the activities of DGFI and NSI in Chittagong, said a highly placed official of CID.Besides, the seized arms and ammunition were counted and listed with the help of armed forces and taken under Army custody, ...
(read more) Sunday, October 4th, 2009Whole villages in Indonesia's quake zone were found obliterated by landslides Saturday, while rescuers searched desperately for up to 4,000 people believed to be still trapped in rubble.The full extent of the damage from Wednesday's 7.6-magnitude earthquake emerged as attention turned to the hundreds of villages in the hills outside Padang, a devastated city of one million at the centre of rescue efforts.AFP journalists travelling from the coastal city on Sumatra island to the surrounding mountains encountered dozens of crumbled houses on the steep roads, and then four villages buried entirely by landslides.Search and rescue officers from the local government ...
(read more) 
