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Journalism of Courage
Indian national shot dead in Chittagong
DHAKA: Unidentified gunmen shot dead an Indian national employed with a transnational shipping company in agrabad area of Bangladesh8217;s port city of Chittagong last night, Chittangong police said today.
No arrests have been made in this connection so far, police said.Police said the victim had come to Bangladesh four years ago. His wife is also an Indian national and is working as a teacher in a local school.An Indian High Commission official told PTI that Tayyeb8217;s body would be flown to Calcutta today.
Obasanjo sacks military officers
LAGOS: Nigeria8217;s newpresident, Olusegun Obasanjo, has forced 33 additional high-ranking officers to leave the armed forces and has ordered authorities to seize their fortunes which were allegedly amassed illegally, state radio reported today.
Obasanjo, Nigeria8217;s first democratically elected president after 15 years of military rule, has removed nearly 60 officers and generals from the armed forces and sent them into early retirement since he assumed office on May 29.The chief of the general staff and the heads of the air force, navy and infantry have been sacked.
Most of the military officials who have lost their positions came to their posts under the late dictator, General Sani Abacha.
Obasanjo had vowed in his inaugural address to restructure the military.The new president also ordered the seizure of more than 400 million dollars worth of shares in the state-run oil industry controlled by members of the former military government.
Abacha and his cronies allegedly misappropriated more than five billion dollars andmoved them to foreign bank accounts.
Severing Royal ties
canberra: A November referendum on severing Australia8217;s 200-year-old ties with the British crown moved a step closer today when the legislation was introduced into parliament.
The constitution alteration establishment of republic bill puts into place a Republican model devised by a constitutional convention in February 1998.A president would be nominated by the public, vetted by a committee and approved by two-thirds of both houses of parliament.
quot;The bill would establish Australia as a Republic from January 1, 2001, with an Australian citizen as head of state. The Head of State would be called the President,quot; attorney-general Daryl Williams told parliament.
Only Australian citizens eligible for election to parliament could be president, ruling out dual citizens, while serving politicians and political party members would also be disqualified.
The president would have the powers currently held by the governor-general, the Britishmonarch8217;s representative here, and be appointed for five years.The legislation did not specify the grounds for removing a president.quot;The prime minister would be required to seek the approval of the House of Representatives for that action within 30 days, unless an election were held,quot; Williams said.
