CONSTITUENCY DHAKA 5 Voters do not believe in pledges Taib Ahmed With the candidates running for Dhaka 5 and making plenty of promises for the development of the constituency, the general voters tend to believe 30 per cent of their pledges will not be implemented after the elections. The voters, however, expect that some of ... Read more
News
Obama admin will put pressure on Pakistan to dismantle terror camps’
Indian Americans ask UN to declare Pakistan terrorist state Press Trust of India . New York The incoming Obama administration will put pressure on Pakistan to take strong action against terrorists as also their organisations and dismantle their training camps, a top US lawmaker has said. Addressing a fund-raiser organised by the Indian community in ... Read more
493 candidates have no taxpaying history
NBR moves to expand tax net Staff Correspondent The number of contestants in the upcoming general election, who have no record of paying tax, still stands at 493, out of the total 1,545 candidates in the Election Commission’s final list. Earlier, the National Board of Revenue found around 870 candidates, who were in the race ... Read more
Maker of ‘Bush Shoes’ receives orders of 3,70,000
Agence France-Presse . Istanbul The maker of the shoes that an Iraqi journalist hurled at the US president, George W Bush, has had to take on 100 extra staff to cope with a surge in demand for his footwear, he said on Monday. ‘Between the day of the incident and 1:00pm today we have received ... Read more
Export earnings fall 8pc in Oct
Kazi Azizul Islam The ongoing global economic recession has finally rung alarm bells for Bangladesh garment industry as latest official data reveals that the country’s export earnings in October was $868 million, posting nearly 8 per cent decline from that in the same month of 2007. The monthly data released by the Export Promotion Bureau ... Read more
Dhaka stocks jump
United News of Bangladesh . Dhaka The Dhaka Stock Exchange recorded significant rise on Sunday amid increased turnover, helping stocks to gain across the board. The DSE General Index, the benchmark index, rose 73 points or 2.89 per cent to close at 2,591 from 2,518 points on Thursday while the All Shares Price Index increased ... Read more
RU classes, examinations suspended till Dec 31
Class III, IV employees continue strike Our Correspondent . Rajshahi The academic committee of Rajshahi University at an emergency meeting on Sunday suspended all the classes and scheduled examinations till December 31 due to agitation by controversially-appointed class III and IV employees. No class or scheduled examination was held at the university as controversially-appointed class ... Read more
Move to empower exec magistrates to try polls offences rejected
Khadimul Islam The Supreme Court has rejected the move of both the home ministry and Election Commission to invest executive magistrates with powers to try electoral offences during the December 29 general elections. The commission received a letter from the Supreme Court, said a high official in the commission secretariat. According to the official, the ... Read more
Trouble for AL allies in the North
Fading Ershad charm, multiple candidates may help BNP Rakib Hasnet Suman Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman HM Ershad’s waning popularity in the greater Rangpur area and Awami League’s (AL) continuing indifference to its leaders’ electoral rivalry with JP nominees there despite being partners in an electoral alliance, have brought new hopes for BNP-led four-party alliance nominees ... Read more
Media asked to refrain from publishing and airing provocative news: CEC
4-party lodges complain against ATN Bangla for terming Jamaat leaders war criminals Staff Correspondent Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said a favorable atmosphere is prevailing in the country and the EC is waiting for holding a successful parliamentary election slated for December 29. He also urged both print and electronic media to ... Read more
Election 2008: The race for edge
Mostafa Kamal Majumder The Awami League is setting up equipment for video conference of party chief Sheikh Hasina with voters to ensure that she can reach her messages to a maximum number of people at the shortest possible time, it is learnt. This is a technological response to BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia’s whirlwind tour ... Read more
Hasina ready to sacrifice life for country
Shariful Islam and Aminul Islam from Mymensingh Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina yesterday said her life is under threat since a certain quarter is afraid of the mass surge in favour of Boat, her party’s electoral symbol, ahead of the parliamentary election. “You have already read in newspapers about the apprehension of attacks on ... Read more
Khaleda pledges Padma Bridge at Mawa
Star Report BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday said, if voted to power, her government will construct the Padma Bridge at Mawa to connect the southern region with the capital. She also pledged to supply natural gas from the Shahbajpur gas field in Bhola to other parts of the region. The BNP chief made the pledges ... Read more
AL, BNP pledge no meddling in administration
Sceptics term it routine promise Mustafizur Rahman Major political parties in their respective election manifestos have made ‘routine pledges’ that they will not meddle in the function of public administration and ensure smooth service delivery for the public. They have announced that if voted to power they will introduce a merit-based appointment and promotion system ... Read more
Symbol shuffled between two candidates three times in two days
Staff Correspondent The Election Commission is in a quandary over allotting election symbols to the two candidates of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party for the Comilla 10 constituency. The commission and the returning officer for Comilla have changed election symbols for the two candidates for Comilla 10 constituency at least three times in two days. The ... Read more
Home adviser brushes aside chance of attack on Hasina
Staff Correspondent The home affairs adviser, MA Matin, on Sunday assured all that there was no chance of any attacks on the life of the Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, also a former prime minister. He said the authorities had taken all-out measures to ensure the security for Hasina following reported threat on her life. ... Read more
Mumbai hostage hotels reopen
Agence France-Presse . Mumbai Two luxury hotels that were stormed by Islamist militants re-opened amid tight security in Mumbai Sunday, less than a month after devastating attacks that rocked India’s financial and entertainment hub. The Trident and Taj Mahal hotels received their first guests since the carnage, with staff praised for their dedication and resilience ... Read more
ACC sues 23 BTCL staff for Tk 41cr embezzlement
Staff Correspondent The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday filed 11 cases against 23 staff of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTCL) on charges of misappropriating around Tk 41 crore. ACC Deputy Director Nurul Islam and Assistant Director SM Shaidur Rahman filed the cases with Ramna Police Station against the officials of BTCL, formerly known as BTTB. Of ... Read more
Criminals shoot two dead in city
Staff Correspondent Indiscriminate gunfire of unknown criminals last night killed two people and injured two others in the city’s Manikdi under Cantonment Police Station. Graphics analyst of a Banani firm Ariful Alam, 30, and an unidentified 25-year-old person died on the spot. Cantonment police said they found eight bullets with the unidentified dead person. Injured ... Read more
EC to accept 17 nominations validated by court
Staff Correspondent The Election Commission on Thursday asked the returning officers to accept nominations, cancelled earlier, of the candidates who obtained High Court orders for them to contest the December 29 parliamentary polls. The chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, expressing disappointment about the inclusion of fresh candidates, said, ‘We will do it even if ... Read more