Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
The government has yet to make any move to enact a law that would require formation of an independent search committee for appointing a new Election Commission after the tenure of the current EC expires in early February.
The outgoing EC suggested enactment of such a law with a provision for parliamentary scrutiny for choosing a new EC.
The proposal seeks to involve the opposition in the process of appointing the chief election commissioner (CEC) and other election commissioners, and curtail the government's unilateral power in picking up its favourites for the crucial election conducting job.
"There is no move right this moment ...
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Thursday, November 24th, 2011
Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka and all of its councillors elected in 2002 will no longer be able to remain in offices after the passage of a bill placed in parliament yesterday.
Once the bill is adopted, the current DCC will be dissolved instantly and the corporation will be split into two -- DCC North and DCC South.
An administrator will be appointed for each of the two new corporations to run the activities till those are constituted through elections, according to the provisions of the bill.
State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanok placed the bill on ...
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Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
Returning to the House after a long time, Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia yesterday launched an attack on the government and said it has “completely failed to meet people's expectation”.
The opposition lawmakers also returned but walked out afterwards and did not return.
"The country is in a deep crisis. There is no rule of law, democracy, independence of the judiciary and the media. The government has no success...,"said Khaleda, the BNP chief.
She demanded discussion on various important issues in the House, adjourning its other scheduled business.
Opposition lawmakers already submitted notices to the Parliament Secretariat asking for discussions on different issues ...
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Thursday, March 3rd, 2011
Dr Muhammad Yunus, the man who brought a Nobel Prize for Bangladesh, and the most celebrated living Bangladeshi around the globe, was unceremoniously relieved of his duties at Grameen Bank yesterday through a Bangladesh Bank letter.
The central bank said Yunus failed to seek its approval when he was reappointed as the managing director in 2000, violating one of the statutes of the partly state-owned (25 percent) Grameen Bank. Now 11 years later the central bank suddenly woke up to the issue and hurried to "remedy" the situation.
But his removal was disputed by Grameen, which said his position was legal. And ...
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Sunday, February 27th, 2011
Maintaining utmost secrecy the government is set to amend the Anti-Corruption Commission laws clipping the anti-graft watchdog's authority to file cases against any public servant beginning from the head of state to the members of union parishads.
Besides, the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently finalised nine more amendments keeping the ACC completely ignorant about it. Since then repeated attempts by the commission to get a written copy of the finalised amendments turned futile.
According to information gleaned by The Daily Star, the most damaging amendment would be the provision to require prior permission before filing cases against officers and ...
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Sunday, January 9th, 2011
Two years after a massive defeat in the parliamentary elections, the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party still struggles to get its rhythm back.
The BNP has stayed away from parliament even though it opposed such boycotts in its election manifesto. It has called three dawn-to-dusk hartals mainly to protest BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's loss of the cantonment house and corruption charges against her two sons Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko.
The debate over the house has led to the expulsion of one of the founding leaders of the party, barrister Nazmul Huda. Huda was ousted after his criticism of the party's ...
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Tuesday, December 28th, 2010
A parliamentary body yesterday recommended including more than 1,400 private educational institutions on the monthly payment order (MPO) list in the current fiscal year.
The parliamentary standing committee on education ministry asked the ministry to involve the committee in the selection of educational institutions for inclusion on the MPO list.
“The education ministry has got Tk 306 crore for paying salaries of staff of educational institutions that are on the MPO list. The committee today [yesterday] asked the ministry to calculate the amount required to add between 1,400-1,500 schools and colleges to the MPO list,” Rashed Khan Menon, chief of the committee, ...
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Thursday, December 23rd, 2010
When an inter-agency team of the US government tried to get information about Rapid Action Battalion's human rights violation records in an effort to improve the elite force's practices regarding such rights, they were stonewalled by the Bangladesh home ministry.
Officials of Rab, and some senior government officials however recognised the necessity of addressing the issue.
The revelation was made by Wikileaks, through publication of a series of classified cables originating from the US embassy in Dhaka.
The cables were sent by US Ambassador in Dhaka James F Moriarty in August 2008, and in January and May of 2009. The information in the ...
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Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
In two successive years, expatriate Bangladeshi scientist Dr Maqsudul Alam achieved two milestones in genomics -- sequencing the genomes of papaya and rubber plants.
These successes shot Alam into spotlight in the scientific fraternity and hit headlines in the world's leading scientific journals in 2008 and 2009 but that could not quench his thirst for doing something special to benefit his motherland.
Maqsudul Alam, born in Faridpur -- a region known for growing jute -- finally translated his dream into reality this month by successfully leading a team of Bangladeshi scientists and researchers in decoding jute plant genome.
In Alam's own ...
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Thursday, March 18th, 2010
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday warned that actions would be taken against anyone found involved in repression on children.
“Law has been enacted to deal with it,” she said while addressing a children's rally and cultural programme on Bangabandhu's mazar complex here.
The women and children affairs ministry organised the function marking the 90th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The PM said her government wants to ensure education for every child. “We have ensured measures so the children do not engage in hazardous works.”
She asked the children to adopt the ideals of the Father of the Nation. ...
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