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Local News
Saturday,
December 14, 2002
Head Lines
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News Brief, Summary of
more than 20 leading Bangla & English Dailies, Source : News Garden |
Saturday,
December 14, 2002
National
The Martyred Intellectuals Day is being
observed today (Saturday) paying glowing tributes to the members of
intelligentsia assassinated in the run-up to the victory in the Liberation
War.
The Thai government has agreed to allow duty-free
export of 128 items under six categories from Bangladesh to Thailand on
non-reciprocal basis, giving a major boost to relations between the two
countries.
A Metropolitan Magistrate's Court Friday sent Enamul
Haq Chowdhury, a stringer of Reuters Dhaka Bureau, on three-day police
remand for his alleged involvement in a sensitive news story quoting home
minister on recent Mymensingh bomb blasts.
The three-day Biswa Ijtema, the second largest
congregation of the Muslims after the holy Hajj, began on the bank of
river Turag in Tongi yesterday with delivering sermons by the noted
Islamic thinkers.
The Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) sealed off
all the border points with the northern district of Rajshahi in the early
hours yesterday. Senior officials of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) in
Rajshahi quoted their Indian counterparts as having said that the border
was sealed to check illegal entry of people to Indian Territory, it is
reported.
Justice Sultan Hossain Khan, chairman of the
one-member judicial probe body formed in connection with Saturday's bomb
blast incidents in four cinema halls in Mymensingh, reached Mymensingh at
6.30 pm yesterday.
Eminent lawyer Dr. Kamal Hossain has called it 'an
erosion of the rule of law' the way the government has recently detained
some people without showing any objective basis. 'The pattern of recent
arrests reflects arbitrariness of the government and can be perceived as
political victimisation,' he said pointing to the arrest of some Awami
League leaders and critics of the government, it is repoted.
Speakers on the second day of the three-day
conference on Access to Justice and Penal Reform in the capital city
yesterday suggested improvement of the existing prison conditions.
Three people were killed and 21 others injured in
two separate road accidents on Dhaka-Mymensingh and Mymensingh-Haluaghat
Highways yesterday.
Three and a half years after filing of petitions by
the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against a High Court
judgement, the Appellate Division begins today hearing of the sensational
1996 share scam cases.
The strain developed in several areas of bilateral
relations between Bangladesh and India did not affect the preparatory
meeting held on December 2-3 in New Delhi for the secretary-level meeting
on trade, it is repoted.
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Neighbour
At least 15 people were killed and 60
injured when a bus carrying Nepalese workers fell into a roadside ditch in
the eastern Indian state of West Bengal yesterday.
The last of the Pakistani and Indian troops who were
sent a year ago to their common borders will be pulled back within four
months, Pakistani Defence Secretary Hamid Nawaz said Friday.
Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan said yesterday
they had finalised an agreement to repatriate at least 1.2 million Afghan
refugees over the next three years from camps along their common border.
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International
The Australian government said Friday it will slash
tariffs on imported cars and auto components to five per cent in 2010,
giving a 2.4 billion US dollar handout to manufacturers to soften the
blow.
European leaders approved Thursday a multi-billion
dollar funding package for the EU's expansion to take in 10 new members in
2004, the EU's Danish presidency said. The deal, which is worth a total of
40.5 billion euros (dollars) over three years or about 25 euros for every
citizen of the current 15-member bloc, must still be approved by the
candidates themselves.
France and Germany plan to jointly expel illegal
immigrants from their territories and are negotiating a new bilateral
immigration accord, their interior ministers announced Thursday after
meeting in Paris.
Iran Friday brushed off US concern that it may be
developing a secret nuclear weapons program and said international
inspectors were welcome to visit any facilities they suspected.
Britain on Thursday unveiled a controversial plan
allowing schools to fine parents of persistent truants in a bid to reduce
pupil absenteeism. Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said it
was 'absolutely right' to focus on the issue of truancy in Britain's
schools.
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Sports
Bangladesh and West Indies cricket
teams leave for Chittagong today to play the second and final Test match.
The five-day contest starts at the MA Aziz Stadium on December 16.
Hasanuzzaman hit a magnificent double century for
Khulna division to force Chittagong for a draw on the concluding day of
the four-day match of Ispahani Mirzapur Tea 4th National
Cricket League at Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium in the city Friday.
The national cricket team of war-ravaged Afghanistan
will play in the 16th Frontier Gold Cup in neighbouring
Pakistan next week. The tournament is not on the international calendar
but is a local fixture in Peshawar.
Australia cruised to a seven-wicket victory over
England with five over to spare at the Sydney Cricket Ground Friday.
New Zealand opener Mark Richardson extended his
impressive run with the bat as he slammed an unbeaten 83, but he failed to
stop India from bouncing back into the opening Test Friday.
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