Monday, July 23rd, 2007 The way Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan, the son of a small bamboo trader, turned the virtual king of the hill districts beats the pace of a meteor.The former BNP lawmaker is alleged to have carried out a reign of unbridled violence and corruption as well as stirring up hostility between the indigenous communities and the Bengali settlers in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) during the five-year term of BNP-Jamaat alliance government.His splendid mansion, "Baithak", in the middle of the wilderness in Khagrachhari, now under government custody, stands for unbridled corruption.At the beginning of the BNP-led administration in late 2001, he had a ...
(read more) Sunday, July 22nd, 2007 The government must ensure transparency and due process of law in the ongoing crackdown on corruption to make certain its success while political will of the future governments is required to guarantee its sustenance, said discussants at a roundtable on corruption yesterday.The caretaker government should also review its policies as public confidence in the crackdown on corruption dipped recently, said the speakers who were participating in daily Prothom Alo roundtable titled "Effective steps to curb corruption" at Hotel Sheraton in the capital.Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury said the anti-corruption drive will not be sustainable without ...
(read more) Saturday, June 16th, 2007 The army-backed caretaker government yesterday did not let Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina leave the country for the USA. The former prime minister termed the government move "inhuman" and a "mistake"."I wanted to go to the US to assist my pregnant daughter. But the government did not allow me to go...This is undemocratic and absolutely inhuman. I think good sense will prevail soon upon the government," Hasina said in her immediate reaction.However, expressing her firm desirer to go to the US any day, she said, "I must go to the US to assist my daughter."Sources said when contacted on ...
(read more) Friday, May 25th, 2007 Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said past practices of "picking people from the streets" to make election commissioners have to stop if we have to have an independent and efficient Election Commission (EC).Huda said although it is difficult to prepare the voter list with photographs and national ID cards within the "tight" schedule of 18 months, it is necessary as the previous database and voter lists have lost all credibility because of politicisation.The CEC was speaking at a roundtable discussion titled "Immediate Action Plan for Election Commission" organised by Bangla daily Prothom Alo at Hotel Sheraton. The ...
(read more) Thursday, May 24th, 2007 Army chief Lt Gen Moeen U Ahmed yesterday said power takeover by the military or their getting involved in politics is out of the question as the army is not the "proper institution" to run the government.Moeen also reiterated the army's full commitment to press freedom and journalists' right to report freely. "The army respects the free press and takes its suggestions very seriously and often acts on them," he told newspaper editors at a meeting at his office yesterday.He said he wants elections and restoration of an elected government as early as possible. If the army wanted to take ...
(read more) Sunday, May 20th, 2007 The Election Commission (EC) yesterday disclosed a significant proposal for introducing a system for casting "no votes" in parliamentary elections to express voters' lack of confidence in the contesting candidates in a constituency.The number of the "no votes" cast will not, however, affect the election results, the draft said, adding that this statistics might rather be used only for academic purpose.The EC disclosed the proposals on electoral reforms at a meeting with the editors of different national dailies and senior journalists at the National Economic Council conference room.The draft presented yesterday has a few new proposals included in the original ...
(read more) Sunday, April 29th, 2007 Quality should be as important in improving education as literacy rates, said speakers at a policy roundtable yesterday. They also stressed the importance of increasing enrolment of minorities and disabled children in an effort to achieve universal education in Bangladesh by 2015.The speakers also opened up discussion on the much disputed figures of literacy rate, saying there is a need for a common definition of literacy for greater consistency and coordination among different stakeholders in education development.Education activists, former and current bureaucrats, NGO workers and academics participated in the roundtable styled "Education as a human right: Where are we?" jointly ...
(read more) Monday, April 9th, 2007 Incredible and unbelievable were the most used words as the country erupted into frenzied celebration moments after the Tigers stamped a fascinating 67-run win against South Africa on Sunday."It was unbelievable. We beat the number one ranked team in the world and that too by a big margin," said Adil Ahmed as he rushed towards the Teachers Student Centre (TSC) of Dhaka University, which has become a rendezvous for Tigers' fans over the years." (Mohammad) Ashraful was incredible. His innings showed what he is capable of. We love Ashraful," remarked Shamim, amidst hysterical celebration at the TSC, which turned ...
(read more) Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) starts today its probe into controversial High Court (HC) judge Faisal Mahmud Faizee's alleged certificate scandal.A presidential order was sent to the Supreme Court yesterday via the law ministry to conduct the enquiry.If Faizee is found guilty of "gross misconduct" for forgery of certificate, the president may remove him from office.Eminent jurists yesterday said the controversy should be settled quickly to save the image of the higher judiciary. Faizee committed gross misconduct by taking oath with a false certificate, they added.The approval to form the SJC came after Chief Justice Md Ruhul Amin sent a ...
(read more) Sunday, March 25th, 2007 Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday lauded Prof Rehman Sobhan for his 'immense contribution' to Bangladesh's independence and to the country's development through highlighting a myriad of problems and their solutions in his academic and popular writings.He made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at the publication ceremony of a four-volume 'Collected Works of Rehman Sobhan', published by the Centre for Policy Dialogue.Sobhan said the selected collection of his popular writings, stretching from 1958 to 2006, have the notion of justice at the core and express his ideas on political economy of the society.The book launch attendees' list was ...
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