Archive for October 9th, 2009
Friday, October 9th, 2009Bangladesh will go to the United Nations arbitration for a resolution of its long-standing dispute with India and Myanmar over maritime boundary.Announcing the decision at a press briefing yesterday, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said the government has decided to take the matter up with the UN, as talks over the last 35 years could not settle it.“We are submitting the issue to compulsory arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to ensure our sovereign rights to the natural resources in the Bay,” Moni noted.She, however, said bilateral discussions will go on.Earlier in the day, ...
(read more) Friday, October 9th, 2009Bangladesh has reinforced its troops along the border with Myanmar as tension went high following repeated provocative acts by the latter's military forces including violation of international border and illegal construction of barbed-wire fences along the frontier.Highly-placed sources in the government said the reinforcement was required as the Myanmar military junta deployed huge troops with heavy weapons within five kilometres of the border and many of them frequently intruded into Bangladesh territory, added the sources.Bangladesh in the past always resolved all disputes with its neighbours through bilateral discussion but this time the authorities had taken it seriously and they are ...
(read more) Friday, October 9th, 2009The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has initiated enquiries into the charges of misuse of power and amassing wealth by illegal means against five former and incumbent lawmakers of Awami League and BNP including Amir Hossain Amu and Khaleda Zia's younger brother Sayeed Eskander.The other politicians are AL lawmaker MA Mannan, and former BNP ministers Mirza Abbas and MK Anwar.Of them, enquiry is being conducted on charge of amassing wealth illegally by Amu, Mannan, and Sayeed Eskander while for misuse of power against MK Anwar and Mirza Abbas.“We have started enquiry into the allegations of misuse of power and illegally amassing wealth ...
(read more) Friday, October 9th, 2009Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday sought UN recognition and its support for the development of Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation and Training (BIPSOT) to enhance its capacity.She sought the support when the visiting UN Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy called on her at the Prime Minister's Office here.During the meeting, they discussed wide range of issues involving the UN peacekeeping operations to establish peace in different countries across the world, said Prime Minister's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad after the meeting.Speaking on the recently concluded United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session held in New York ...
(read more) Friday, October 9th, 2009The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has let off 3,800 of the 4,300 unfit vehicles, seized in a month-long drive before Eid-ul-Fitr, on condition that they would not be run on city roads.However, most of those outdated vehicles including buses and pick-ups have returned to city streets in violation of the agreement.DMP had launched the special drive as part of the present government's bid to ease nagging traffic congestion in the capital. But the drive seems to go in vain as the city residents continue to experience severe traffic jam in city streets.The traffic department pointed out running of huge number ...
(read more) Friday, October 9th, 2009The High Court yesterday issued further directives upon the authorities concerned to protect the Turag and Buriganga rivers from grabbers as construction of illegal structures and earth-filling continue at some points despite several similar directives.The HC directed four government high officials to stop all kinds of encroachment and earth-filling on these rivers.The court ordered them to visit in seven days the areas on the Turag and Buriganga where land grabbers are continuing earth-filling.The officials are the chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), the director general of the Directorate of Environment, the deputy commissioner of Dhaka and the commissioner ...
(read more) Friday, October 9th, 2009Shakib Al Hasan did the nation proud when the young all-rounder won the Wisden Cricketer magazine's Test Player of the Year for 2009 award pushing a star cast behind in the race for the coveted laurel.The 22-year-old cricketer from Magura, named in the World Test Eleven last week, reached greater heights yesterday when he topped a performance table compiled by the revered magazine's correspondents at Tests played between September 2008 and the end of August 2009.Surprisingly though the ever-smiling Shakib beat the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Andrew Flintoff and Jacques Kallis with a performance that saw Bangladesh winning back-to-back series ...
(read more) Friday, October 9th, 2009Bangabandhu murder convict Lt Col (retd) Mohiuddin Ahmed in his confessional statement said Maj Gen Ziaur Rahman was involved in the incidents of August 15, 1975 in which Bangabandhu and most of his family members were assassinated.Mohiuddin made the statement before the then additional chief metropolitan magistrate Md Habibur Rahman on November 27, 1996.Barrister Abdullah-al Mamun, counsel for convicts Bazlul Huda and AKM Mohiuddin, yesterday placed the statement of Mohiuddin Ahmed before the Supreme Court. He was delivering his submission during the fourth day's hearing on appeals of five convicts who challenged their death sentences in the case.According to Mohiuddin's ...
(read more) Friday, October 9th, 2009The World Bank has said around 24 lakh more people in Bangladesh would plunge into poverty in the current fiscal year (FY) due to the impact of global economic recession.The number of such people would be higher in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions compared to those in Rajshahi, Barisal and Khulna divisions.This was reflected in an economic update on Bangladesh prepared by the World Bank (WB), South Asia Region, prior to the WB-IMF annual meeting held in Istanbul recently.WB sources said the countrywise report has not yet been published but the World Economic Outlook released during the Istanbul meeting projected ...
(read more) Friday, October 9th, 2009Detained former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu admitted that the Arges grenades used in the August 21 blast were delivered from his Dhanmondi government residence.Additional Superintendent of CID and investigation officer (IO) of the case Abdul Kahar Akond said this in his forwarding report yesterday. But he did not mention who delivered those grenades from the BNP leader's residence and to whom they were handed over.The report also said Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (Huji) members held a meeting at his (Pintu) residence before blasting grenades on an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004 that left 23 people dead and a number of ...
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