Staff Reporter The chairman of Westmont Power (Bangladesh) Ltd, Kazi Tajul Islam Farook, yesterday petitioned Tejgaon police station for withdrawing the extortion case he filed against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Amid a latest change of wind on the political front, he took the cue from another business tycoon, Azam J Chowdhury, who also backtracked ... Read more
News
EC fails to apply RPO section 91/ for lack of time
UNB, Dhaka The Election Commission cannot apply themuch-talked-about section 91/e of the Representation of People Order (RPO) in the December 29 polls for time constraint, much to the relief of politicians who were in fear of falling under this sword of Damocles. Talking to reporters at the Election Commission Secretariat Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) ... Read more
EC finds 27 contestants guilty of code breach
Staff Correspondent The electoral enquiry committee has found specific evidence of violation of the electoral code of conduct against 24 candidates running for the December 29 polls. The committees, which investigated 27 specific allegations against the contenders from major political parties, including the Awami League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islam, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh and National Awami ... Read more
Manifestoes more populist than pragmatic
Khawaza Main Uddin and Nazrul Islam Despite having development goals galore, the election manifestoes of major contenders for power miss certain critical areas and lack strategies and programmes to achieve the ambitious targets for public welfare and national progress, shows an analysis of polls pledges. Issues such as checking farmland depletion and protecting environment in ... Read more
EC yet to requisition judicial magistrates for polls duty
Staff Correspondent The Election Commission is yet to requisition any judicial magistrates for election duties to deal with electoral offences with only three working days in hand before national polls. Election commissioner Sakhawat Hussain, however, told New Age the commission on Monday had asked its secretariat to send a requisition letter to the government in ... Read more
Election, the good and the bad
Hasnat Abdul Hye If democracy is a way of life, Bangladeshis have so far been able to enjoy it by fits and starts. It is not because of their fault or lack of interest but in spite of themselves. There have been abrupt interruptions at regular intervals in democratic dispensation after independence. The first came ... Read more
ACC defends revelations of Koko’s transactions in S’pore days before poll
ACC got info on Koko’s transactions on Sept 30: Mashhud UNB, Dhaka Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) on Monday defended revelations about BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s youngest son Arafat Rahman Koko’s transactions in Singapore days before elections saying the Commission considers it unacceptable to curb or interrupt its activities for political activities. “It’s unacceptable that the ... Read more
Polls fever too intense
6 Days To Go Polls fever too intense Arun Devnath for Star Online Walk down any road in the capital — quiet or busy — and you can feel the tide of emotions over the year-end elections runs deep. On a Dhaka morning, dulled by winter, one thing emerges urgent for a nation that is ... Read more
EC to blacklist observers if found biased
Staff Correspondent The Election Commission (EC) will blacklist election observers if any of them are found biased towards any particular political party during polls monitoring, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said. Terming the upcoming polls “different from previous elections”, the CEC said fresh voters could change the country’s political culture by casting ... Read more
Fuel made a little cheaper
Star Business Report The prices of petroleum products were lowered yesterday to help farmers before the boro season, said chief adviser’s special assistant Dr M Tamim. The prices of kerosene and diesel were reduced by Tk 2 per litre while petrol by Tk 4 and octane by Tk 3 a litre, said Tamim, also in-charge ... Read more
Voters do not believe in pledges
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
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