Electronic and electrical appliances are being damaged in large numbers due to frequent power outage and rapid voltage fluctuation, reports UNB.

According to electronic and electrical appliance traders, the rate of complaints about the damage of the goods has increased abnormally with the rise in load shedding across the country.

Agency

Bangladesh Naree Mukti Sangsad (Bangladesh Women's Liberation Council) asked the government Thursday not to delay in implementing the proposed national women's policy.

BNMS convenor Hazera Sultana said: "The fundamentalist and communal fanatics in the country are whipping up tension and agitation and opposing the women's policy with a view to diverting the nation's attention from the issue of war crimes trials."

Bribery case

The Anti-Corruption Commission is going to charge-sheet eight persons, including BNP senior joint secretary general Tarique Rahman, ex-minister Lutfozzaman Babar, Basundhara chairman Shah Alam and his two sons in a Tk-21 crore bribery case, reports UNB.

The huge money was reportedly transacted in bribe for not implicating one of Shah Alam''s sons in a sensational murder case filed in 2006.

Elections to Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet City Corporations and eight municipalities are likely to be delayed till July next, as the proposed law to regulate the local bodies could not yet be finalised, reports UNB.

"We were supposed to hold the elections (four city corporations and eight municipalities) by May 27… But we can''t declare the schedules since the new law could not be finalised yet," Chief Election Commissioner Dr ATM Shamsul Huda Wednesday told a Gono Forum delegation led by party chairman Dr Kamal Hossain.

The Council of Advisers of the caretaker government Wednesday approved a proposal for forming Southern Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd under the Power Development Board for distribution of electricity in Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Noakhali and Comilla districts, reports UNB.

It also gave final approval to the National Identity Registration Authority Ordinance 2008 with few amendments for ensuring some service-oriented facilities to national ID card-holders, such as during applying for new passport and its renewal, TIN and opening bank account.

Agency

The Anticorruption Commission Wednesday filed a case against former prime minister Khaleda Zia's son Arafat Rahman Coco on charges of amassing illegal wealth.

The ACC filed another case against Awami League leader Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim for submitting a skewed wealth statement to the corruption watchdog.

Staff Correspondent

Cherie Blair, wife of former British prime minister Tony Blair, said Wednesday that Bangladeshis will decide for themselves how to protect their human rights and

Bangladesh has begun evacuating thousands of stranded workers who were trafficked into war-ravaged Iraq by illegal manpower traders, officials said on Wednesday, reports agency.

An Emirates Airlines flight carrying 42 Bangladeshis arrived in Dhaka on Thursday as part of the evacuation process under the initiative of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

REUTERS, DHAKA - Bangladesh's Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that no one facing charges under emergency powers would be eligible for bail, effectively blocking the release of detained politicians until their trials are over.

The South Asian nation has been under a state of emergency since an army-backed interim government headed by former Central Bank Governor Fakhruddin Ahmed took over in January 2007, following deadly political violence.

Staff Correspondent

Hundreds of people staged protests in the Bangladeshi capital on Wednesday against a shortage of drinking water, witnesses said, defying a ban on such demonstrations.

A falling water table and lack of power to run water pumps has led to a serious shortfall of drinking water in Dhaka, a city of 11 million, officials said.

Staff Correspondent

The Supreme Court has ruled against granting bail to detainees held in EPR cases that are under investigation.

An full Appellate Division bench, headed by chief justice Md Ruhul Amin, gave the ruling Wednesday in favour of the government appeal challenging a High Court verdict that had granted bail in a case file under emergency powers rules last year.

Staff Correspondent

The advisers' pre-dialogue meeting with BNP's pro-Delwar faction was deferred Wednesday because of an unscheduled meeting of the advisory council, an adviser said.

Commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman told reporters, after a meeting with communications adviser Ghulam Quadir and local government adviser Anwarul Iqbal, that another meeting scheduled with LDP also had to be postponed because of the cabinet meeting.

Staff Correspondent

BNP factional leader Khandaker Delwar Hossain, disgruntled by the Election Commission's invitation to his rival faction, Wednesday demanded the resignation of the chief election commissioner.

Delwar told reporters on his NAM flat in the Sangsad Bhaban area that his faction would not take part in elections unless former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina were freed.

Meeting on Demarcation of maritime boundary

A high-level meeting on demarcation of the country''s maritime boundary was held Tuesday at Bangabhaban in the presence of President Professor Dr Iajuddin Ahmed, underlining the urgency of resolving the outstanding issues with the neighbors, reports UNB.

The meeting discussed different issues of demarcation of the country''s territorial waters with the neighboring countries under the UN Clause-III 1982.

Secretary General of the United Nations Ban ki Moon has accepted Bangladesh proposal for forming a Task Force to address the current global food crisis, particularly as rice shortages triggered a stir, reports UNB.

The proposal, placed by Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury during the current UNCTAD XII session in the Ghanaian capital, was enthusiastically received by the attending delegations.