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Local
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Sunday, June 15, 2003
Compiled by SDNP
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Brief, Summary of more than 20 leading Bangla & English Dailies, Source : News Garden
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Sunday, June 15, 2003
National
US Secretary of State
Colin Powell will visit Dhaka on June 19 as part of a three-nation
tour of Bangladesh, Cambodia and Jordan. According to a State
Department press release issued yesterday, Colin Powell will meet
Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and other senior officials during
his Dhaka visit.
Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman said yesterday that he has
charted a middle course in his budget proposals between heavy
taxation and excessive borrowing with a view to achieving the
increased development needs with limited resources.
Awami League President and
Opposition Leader in Parliament Sheikh Hasina has come down
heavily on the new budget, accusing the BNP-Jamaat alliance
government of protecting the interest of the rich at the cost of
the poor. "By imposing tax and VAT on essentials, the alliance
government has ignored the interest of the poor, she said,
addressing party unit meeting in London yesterday. Sheikh Hasina
is returning home from London this morning .
The Awami League (AL) yesterday came down heavily on the proposed
budget for the fiscal 2003-2004, branding it an onslaught on the
poor and against Islamic values. Senior leaders of the party said
the ruling coalition committed to upholding Islamic values in
polls pledges, but now continued to renege on the promises and did
not hesitate to lower the prices of alcoholic drinks.
The proposed budget for fiscal 2003-04 followed "donors'
prescription" instead of giving the much needed support to the
"poor people's economy" to alleviate poverty, CPB leaders told a
party discussion yesterday.
Former FBCCI President Abdul Awal Mintoo said that the proposed
budget would help to further strengthen the macroeconomic
stability. He also appreciated government's effort to expand the
tax base by not creating burden on common people.
President of Bangladesh Chamber and Industry AK Azad said that the
budget provided a complete roadmap of the future economic track of
the country's economy. He urged the government to provide more
incentives for the country exporters.
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) yesterday in its
reaction to the proposed budget for the fiscal 2003-04, said that
the measure to increase domestic resource would raise the tax
burden of the general people.
President of BKMEA President Monzurul Huq said that the budget
proposed some significant steps to support the RMG sector. The
move to reduce the income tax rate for the RMG industry was a
laudable step, he noted. Jhum cultivation, the primitive mode of
agriculture of the tribal people in the hilly region of Chittagong,
is still continuing as there is little support to run their
families despite an increase in their population. Government
assistance hardly reaches the poor tribal people to meet their
basic needs.
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Neighbour
Bangladesh-India Joint Monitoring
Committee is meeting in New Delhi for the second day today to prepare a
report on sharing the Ganges waters . Bangladesh experts said that in
January Bangladesh received less water which improved later during the dry
months.
Anti-child labor activists on Thursday urged the Indian government to
ratify an international convention and free millions of children belonging
to the so-called "untouchable" castes working as forced labor. On World
Day Against Child Labor, the Global March Against Child Labor - an
organization linking 144 nations - is focusing on the plight of Dalit
(untouchable) children, who form the bulk of the child labor force in
India.
Nepal's new Prime Minister, Surya Bahadur Thapa, has suggested he may be
ready to reinstate the dissolved parliament. Newspapers quote Mr Thapa as
saying he is open for talks with the opposition parties about the matter,
which was a key opposition demand. Five of the six parties in the
dissolved parliament have been engaged in anti-government protests over
such a demand. On Tuesday, Thapa formed his cabinet, naming six ministers
from his own party.
In a major breakthrough, the Punjab administration on Friday persuaded 112
devotees, who had locked themselves inside the contentious shrine here on
Thursday and threatened self-immolation to give up their protest.
A Criminal Investigation Department team of Ahmedabad state police seized,
on Friday, the Mercedes car gifted by Ahmedabad-based scamster, Zahir Rana,
to former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev from the latter's Delhi
residence.
The super-7 fighter aircraft- result of biggest-ever Sino-Pak joint
venture will undergo its test flight within next couple of months. The
single-seat, turbofan engine-powered fighter will go into volume
production once tests have been successfully carried out. "The Super-7
aims to gradually replace the F-7, MiG-21 and Q-5 series aircraft that are
currently in service in both China and some developing countries, The Dawn
reports.
President Pervez Musharraf has said he was optimistic Pakistan and India
would be able to work out a peaceful solution to the long running dispute
over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, reports said. “We are and will
remain optimistic about achieving a negotiated settlement to the dispute,"
he said in an interview to Saudi daily Okaz
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International
Australian Prime Minister John Howard
ordered inquiries yesterday into why Australia has granted asylum to a
former Bangladeshi prime minister, Kazi Zafar Ahmed, convicted of
stealing from his
impoverished people, reports a Sydney daily, The Sydney Morning Herald.
After four airborne attacks by the
Israeli military in three days, the Hamas militant group ordered an
all-out assault on Israel and urged foreigners to leave. Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon pressed a "war on terror" while ridiculing the new
Palestinian government.
Saddam Hussein has called on foreigners to leave Iraq and threatened
attacks in countries with troops occupying his former state, according to
a letter he purportedly faxed to an Arabic newspaper Friday.
Fires blazed on the oil pipeline from Iraq's northern oilfields today
after what residents said were twin bomb attacks targeting exports through
Turkey.
US troops killed 27 Iraqis who ambushed a tank patrol yesterday, after
killing at least 70 at a guerrilla camp the day before, in the bloodiest
clashes since President Bush declared major combat over.
At least two people have died and 26 others injured, after Cambodian
police opened fire on hundreds of protesting garment workers in the
capital, Phnom Penh. Security in Phnom Penh has been tightened in
preparation for a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean)
next week, when foreign ministers from more than 20 countries will convene
in the capital.
Nasa is launching the first of a new generation of robots destined to
search for water on Mars. The US space agency is making use of the
neighbouring planet's close approach to Earth this month to send two space
craft to the Red Planet.
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Sports
A day after announcing the national
cricket team for the tour of Australia, chief selector Aliul Islam
submitted his resignation. "I quit for the sake of the game in the
country. And also to show respect to the inquiry report into the
Bangladesh's World Cup debacle.
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