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Rajuk officials in HC to explain building safety measures

2011-08-04T00:16:00.000-07:00

The chairman and 51 officials of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) appeared before the High Court on Thursday to explain their functions in enforcing building safety rules.Rajuk chairman Nurul Huda along with the other officials appeared before the bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore in the morning as per its earlier order.
The bench on August 1 summoned them to explain the building safety rules while hearing a suo moto rule over the deaths of four workers in a lift collapse at an under-construction building, Iris Noorjehan, at the capital's Kakrail on July 21.

Judge embarrassed to hear 13 lawyers' bail plea

2011-08-04T00:12:00.000-07:00

A High Court judge Thursday felt embarrassed to hear the bail petition of 13 lawyers accused of assaulting police and preventing the latter from their duties at the court Tuesday.
The bench of Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Anwarul Haque were hearing the bail petition.
Justice Nazrul Islam said at one stage of the hearing one of them felt embarrassed to hear the petition.
He, however, did not disclose the reason for feeling embarrassed or name of the judge.

Fair polls possible only under AL: Hasina

2011-08-01T05:32:00.001-07:00

Mon, Aug 1st, 2011 5:33 pm BdST

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Dhaka, Aug 1 (bdnews24.com) —Prime minister Sheikh Hasina says her party is able to present fair elections before the nation.

She says Awami League has record that fair elections are possible only when it is in office.

Hasina said Monday her government did not interfere with any election held during its term.

"Awami League did not interfere with any election. People voted freely. The administration was under the Election Commission during the polls. The commission suspended and transferred officials whenever it wanted to," she said.

She made the comment at the opening of a blood-donation campaign organised by Krishak League in Dhaka.

About elections during the BNP's rule, the prime minister said, "Everyone can recall elections in Magura. Fair elections are impossible under BNP as the party was founded in an illegal (unconstitutional) way."

She also urged opposition leader Khaleda Zia not to 'mislead people with false information'.

The caretaker government system was introduced through the 13th amendment to the constitution in 1996 following demand by then opposition Awami League. Then ruling BNP had infamously held national elections on Feb 15, not keeping Awami League and many other parties in the fold.

The current Awami League government brought the 15th amendment to the constitution repealing the caretaker government system.

As per the amendment, the next general election will be held through an interim arrangement under the present government.

Deadline extended again for pressing charges

2011-08-01T05:31:00.001-07:00

Mon, Aug 1st, 2011 3:52 pm BdST

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Dhaka, Aug 1 (bdnews24.com) — The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) dealing with 1971 crimes against humanity has extended deadline by three months for the prosecution to complete investigation and press charges against four top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders.

After missing the latest deadline on Monday, the slow-moving prosecution sought more time from the tribunal to press charges against the leaders including Jamaat chief Matiur Rahman Nizami.

The tribunal then fixed Nov 1 for the next hearing when the prosecution will have to press the charges also against Jamaat secretary-general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, assistant secretaries-general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla.

All of them are currently in jail, pending trial under an amended act, on charges of committing crimes against humanity in 1971 when Bangladesh was born through a nine-month bloody war with Pakistan.

The leaders had allegedly sided with then West Pakistan and masterminded or backed crimes such as killings, arson and rape. They have denied the allegations and said the government is pushing "politically-motivated" charges against the leaders to wipe out Jamaat.

Extending claims by many independent researchers, the government says it has enough evidence to move ahead and the responsible for the crimes must be punished as it is pledge-bound to do so as per the election manifesto of the ruling alliance led by Awami League.

On Monday, the three-member tribunal headed by justice Nizamul Haque also asked the prosecution to submit the investigation report against BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury facing similar charges on Oct 4.

Earlier, the tribunal rejected please by the leaders' counsels who argued that they need to be freed on bail to observe Ramadan and Ehtekaf.

Mojaheed, Kamaruzzaman and Quader Molla were were in court when the order came while Nizami was absent as he was taken to Chittagong on Sunday to be produced before a court in a separate 2004 arms haul case.

Abdul Alim, a minister of Ziaur Rahman's cabinet, and Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee were also held for charges of crimes against humanity in 1971. Alim was later released on conditional bail.

Formal charges against Sayedee were submitted on July 11.

Hearing in Ctg arms haul begins

2011-08-01T00:46:00.000-07:00

Monday, August 1, 2011

File PhotoNbd24 Online Report

Eleven accused including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami were produced before a Chittagong court Monday as it began the hearing into two cases filed in connection with 10-truck arms haul.
Beginning the trial into the sensational arms seizure incident around 11:25am, Judge Golam Sarwar of Chittagong Metropolitan Special Tribunal-1 heard the bail petitions of six accused.
The court, which was continuing its proceedings till filing of this report at 12:45pm, is expected to pass orders on the bail prayers later in the day.
Before the court proceedings started, the 11, including nine newly charge-sheeted, accused were produced before the court in the morning.
After three and a half years' further investigation, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on June 26 submitted two supplementary charge sheets in two cases pressing charges against 11 new suspects including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami.
Two cases were filed -- one for smuggling firearms and the other under the arms act -- a day after 10 truckloads of arms and ammunition were seized at a jetty of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd (CUFL) in the port city on April 2, 2004.
Of the new accused, six were taken to the Chittagong Central Jail from different jails of the country Saturday night.
They are: Babar, Nizami, former director general (DG) of National Security Intelligence (NSI) Brig Gen (retd) Abdur Rahim, the then director of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) Maj Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, former NSI director Wing Commander (retd) Shahab Uddin and former deputy director of NSI Maj (retd) Liakat Hossain.
Three other accused -- former managing director of CUFL Mohsin Talukder, former CUFL general manager (admin) Enamul Hoque and former NSI field officer Akbar Hossain Khan--are now at Chittagong jail while two others--Paresh Barua and former additional secretary of industries ministry Nurul Amin--are absconding.
With submission of the supplementary charge sheets, the number of total accused stood at 52 in the case filed for smuggling the firearms and 50 in the other case filed under the arms act.
Among the previously accused, Hafizur Rahman and Deen Mohammad are now in Chittagong jail while six remain absconding and others are on bail, said Md Muniruzzaman, investigation officer of the cases.
On June 29, acting Judge of Chittagong Metropolitan Special Tribunal-1 Golam Sarwar took the supplementary charge sheets into cognisance during a hearing for this purpose.
The court also fixed today for producing all the accused in the cases before the court.

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Medical-dental admission test Sep 23

2011-07-31T09:06:00.000-07:00

Sun, Jul 31st, 2011 7:37 pm

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Dhaka, July 29 (gajinewsbd24.blogspot.com) – Admission test for medical and dental colleges will be held combined this year, for the first time, for both public and private institutions.

Having effected some major changes in the admission process, the health directorate has fixed September 23 for the combined admission test.

"We will also release admission forms online for the first time. They can also be filled up online," director general for health services Khondaker Mohammed Shefyetullah told bdnews24.com on Sunday.

He said the new systems – combined test and online forms – are aimed at easing students' 'hassles.'

"Enrolment process for the MBBS (medical) and BDS (dental) courses used to be same, but held separately," the director general said.

Students had to run from one medical college to another to collect admission forms and get admitted, he said explaining the reason for changes.

According to the health directorate, there are 2,465 seats in 18 government medical colleges while the number is 3,350 for 44 private medical colleges.

Similarly, three public dental colleges have 218 seats while there are 765 seats in private dental institutes.

The one-hour multiple choice question (MCQ) examination will be conducted at about 18 centres (government medical colleges) across Bangladesh.

"One mark will be cut from four every wrong answer," medical education director Shah Abdul Latif told bdnews24.com.

He said students with GPA-8 would be eligible to buy admission forms. The admission will be completed based on merit position and students' choice of institutions.

The director said they would also identify those second-time candidate, who already have seats in medical colleges.

"Many medical students sit second time to enrol in their desired medical colleges," he said. "In such cases, five marks will be deducted from their total marks (admission test plus GPA)."

"We want to discourage second-timers," he added.

The director said they were also mulling taking thumb impression keep fake candidates at bay.

"It's still in the planning stage," he said.

"But we are in the final stages of releasing admission forms. We will release once the software is ready."

After successful completion of the online forms, students would get a code number and a password.

Using the code, Latif said students would be able to pay the admission fee through state-run mobile operator Teletalk.

"Then they will be able to take a print-out of their admit cards," he said.

However, it is feared that the students would face trouble in paying the admission fee using Teletalk network, as only 1.141 million of the total 76.434 million active mobile subscribers use the state-run mobile operator.

Cashing in on the limited number of Teletalk subscribers, people might try to do business, as it happened last year, said one Rakibul Islam who faced lots of trouble during his sister's college admission last year.

"I had to spend extra amount to pay the fee," he said, adding some people did business in front of various colleges.

"But it's (Teletalk) government run operator. We had no other alternative," the director said.

This year, the admission process will be completed earlier than previous years to cut short the time that students pass after their HSC examinations, he said.

Dhaka stocks mark steep fall

2011-07-31T05:37:00.001-07:00

Sun, Jul 31st, 2011 2:46 pm

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Trading at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) registered a sharp fall on the first day of the week.

Marking the start with a downtrend, the DSE general index continued to fall and shed 128.18 points or 1.9 percent to close at 6459.62 on Sunday.

The prices of most of the shares that changed hands declined.

Of the 260 issues traded at the prime bourse of the country, 221 turned down, 37 gained and two remained unchanged.

The turnover that crossed Tk 16-billion mark several times this month stood at Tk 13.41 billion.

Trading at DSE marked a fall for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday, the last trading day of the week.

Although the turnover crossed the Tk 18-billion benchmark, the DSE general index shed 39.94 points or 0.60 percent to 6587.81 on that day.

Introduce rationing, BNP asks govt

2011-07-31T05:36:00.000-07:00

Sun, Jul 31st, 2011 2:10 pm

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Accusing the government of its failure to rein in the prices of essentials ahead of Ramadan, BNP has demanded that food rationing be introduced for the low-income group.

Acting secretary-general of the party Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir came up with the demand at a human-chain programme in front of the National press Club on Sunday.

"The government has failed to reduce the prices of essentials in its two-and-a-half years' rule, though it was its election pledge. Price hike just before Ramadan has made the public life miserable," he said.

Rickshaw-van Workers Owners Coordination Council formed the human-chain protesting the price hike of essential commodities and the government move to make several city streets off-limit to slow-moving rickshaws.

About the decision, Fakhrul said, "It would have been good had the step been taken after ensuring alternative jobs for the low-income people. It (govt) has taken the step in the interest of the rich as it is not a pro-people government."

AL submits audit report

2011-07-31T05:34:00.000-07:00

Sun, Jul 31st, 2011 1:35 pm BdST

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The ruling Awami League has submitted its annual audit report to the Election Commission.

Party's deputy office secretary Mrinal Kanti Dash and election committee member Riazul Kabir Talukder submitted the audit report to the EC on Sunday for the year 2010.

Mrinal told reporters that the report was scrutinised by audit firm SM Zakaria and Company.

About publication of the report, he said, "The EC can do what it wants."

The commission last week sent letters to 38 registered political parties asking them to submit their annual audit reports.

According to the Representation of the People Order, political parties must submit their audit reports by July 31 for the previous year.

EID-RAMADAN Vacations for schools, colleges declared

2011-07-31T05:32:00.001-07:00

Sun, Jul 31st, 2011 3:59 pm BdST

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Dhaka, July 31 (bdnews24.com) — The education ministry has declared Eid-ul-Fitr and Ramadan vacations for high schools from Aug 4 to Sept 7 and colleges from Aug 16 to Sept 7.

Education minister Nurul Islam Nahid spelled out the vacation schedule at a press conference on Sunday.

He also declared vacation for madrasas from Aug 2 to Sept 10 and for vocational institutions from Aug 16 to Sept 7.

Nahid said the vacation for primary schools will be declared by the primary and mass education ministry, while the universities will announce their own vacations.

Facebook tackles face-recognition privacy concern

2011-07-30T17:55:00.001-07:00

Thu, Jul 28th, 2011 3:10 am

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LOS ANGELES, July 28 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) -- Facebook has made it easier for users to opt out of its controversial facial-recognition technology for photographs, an effort to address concerns that it had violated consumers' privacy.

The deployment of "Tag Suggestions" technology -- designed to speed up the process of labelling friends in photos -- had renewed concerns about how the world's largest social network with 750 million members handles privacy.

The technology scans newly uploaded photos, compares faces in those snapshots with previous pictures, then tries to match faces and suggest name tags. When a match is found, Facebook alerts the person uploading the photos and invites them to "tag," or identify, the person in the photo.

Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen said in a letter to Facebook last month that it compromised consumers' rights to privacy by analyzing faces in photographs posted on the website, then cataloguing them.

Facebook has since met with Jepsen, and this month began running ads on users' home pages telling them about the feature and allowing them to count themselves out of its use entirely. Should users opt out, any facial recognition data that had been collected will be deleted.

"Facebook has made significant changes that will provide better service and greater privacy protection to its users, not only in Connecticut, but across the country," Jepsen said in a statement on Tuesday. "The company has been cooperative and diligent in its response."

Facebook, which verified that those ads have run, has said the feature is available in most countries. Automated photo-tagging suggestions are made only when new photos are added, only friends are suggested and users can disable the feature in their privacy settings, the company has said.

"People across the country using Facebook will be more aware of our personalized privacy settings, and how they can be used to benefit their experience on the site," Tim Sparapani, director of public policy at Facebook, said on Tuesday. "We hope that people on Facebook will find the results to be helpful and useful."

YOU IN OR OUT?

While other photo software and online services such as Google Inc's Picasa and Apple Inc's iPhoto use facial recognition technology, the use of the technique on an Internet network like Facebook raises thorny issues.

For instance, iPhoto gives users control over facial recognition by letting them elect whether or not to use the technology with personal photo collections. Facebook's, in contrast, operated independently and was automatically enabled, analyzing faces across a swathe of newly uploaded pictures.

The lack of notifications about the wider roll-out of the feature had spurred concerns among privacy advocates, who argue it should be up to users to allow it. A group of organizations had filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission requesting an investigation.

Such a system also raised questions about which personally identifiable information -- such as email addresses -- could become associated with photos in Facebook's database.

Addressing other concerns, the social network has also streamlined the process for reporting fake accounts or impostors, after Connecticut Representative Kim Rose complained to Jepsen about the difficulty of removing an account that had been falsely labelled as hers and that asked for money.

In response, Facebook has set up a "roadblock" system that freezes accounts reported until they are verified, has made changes to the reporting system, and has speeded up response times, Jepsen said in his statement.

Facebook also has instituted direct links to user contact forms and an automatic email response to help direct users to the correct mechanism when trying to report an impostor or fake profile.

"Although this measure won't totally stop fraudulent pages from being created, it will have a significant impact on reducing the amount of time they are active," the attorney general said.

Govt will be out by next budget: Oli

2011-07-30T11:13:00.001-07:00

Sat, Jul 30th, 2011 6:23 pm

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Dhaka, July 30 (bdnews24.com) -- A day after joining hands with BNP, Liberal Democratic Party chief Oli Ahmed turned on a dime predicting that the current government will be gone by the next budget.

"We had ardently supported Awami League for the last two years. But they've kicked our torso. Even the throne of Allah has been rocked by our cries," he said at a meeting of the party rank and file at a hotel in the capital on Saturday.

After a meeting with BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Friday night, the LDP chief briefed journalists of their decision to work together against the government.

A former member of BNP's standing committee, Oli Ahmed deserted the party on Oct 26, 2006, just a day before the previous four-party ruling coalition had stepped down.

He then launched the LDP along with former president A Q M Badruddoza's Bikalpadhara. But the coalition did not last and they chose their own ways.

Oli told the party's grassroots workers that he went to speak with Khaleda in order to reduce the gap between the two parties.

"I haven't met her to bargain but to reduce the political distance created over the past 10 years. Our leaders are discussing the next steps to protest. The distance between us has already been narrowed down."

Disclosing that there had been an invitation for talks from Awami League president Sheikh Hasina, he said, "I told them that this is not possible to be with you."

Claiming himself the first title winner as a freedom fighter, Oli said, "The country is going through a deep crisis…it's my duty as a freedom fighter to salvage the country from the crisis."

Representatives of the party from 40 districts took part in the programme, where Oli presented a 21-point proposal.

The proposals include strengthening the president's power, strengthening the judiciary, the Election Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission, and annulment of the 15th amendment to the constitution.

Dhaka, Delhi vow to manage border better

2011-07-30T11:04:00.000-07:00

Sat, Jul 30th, 2011 1:50 pm

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Dhaka, July 30 (bdnews24.com) – Bangladesh and India have signed a 'border management plan' to ensure better management of border to stop smuggling and human trafficking.

India has also lauded the initiatives taken by Bangladesh to combat terrorism and militancy.

"I have on record on numerous occasions appreciated the splendid cooperation of Bangladesh to combat terrorism," said visiting Indian home minister P Chidambaram at a joint press conference.

Indian home minister came to Dhaka Friday night on a 24-hour visit on the invitation of his Bangladsh counterpart Shahara Khatun.

The two ministers discussed border security, boundary dispute, halting smuggling and human and arms trafficking, and security-related issues on Saturday.

Chidambaram said both countries recognise the importance of cooperation in the field of security and are determined to jointly combat the menace of insurgency, militancy and terrorism.

"We are glad that our leadership had agreed that the territory of either would not be allowed for activities inimical to the other," he said.

He said it is also agreed not to allow their respective territory to be used for training, sanctuary and other operations by domestic or foreign terrorists/militants and insurgent organisations and their operatives.

BORDER KILLINGS

Chidambaram said the Indian authorities have issued strict instruction not to fire at the border.

"We have issued strict instructions that under no circumstance BSF fires at anybody crossing from India to Bangladesh or Bangladesh to India," he said.

The message is carried down to BSF jawans and after the issuance of instruction, the number of killings came down to seven, he said adding, "Seven is a bad number, but you should compare the figure with earlier figures."

When his attention was drawn to killing a Bangladeshi national by throwing stones by BSF, he denied the allegation.

"I flatly deny it. No body was found…neither BSF handed over any body to Bangladesh authorities. I requested my Bangladesh counterpart to investigate to find the truth," he said.

Home minister Sahara Khatun said Bangladesh always protests when there is a border killing.

About the killing of Bangladeshi by throwing stone, she said, "You heard what the (Indian) minister has said."

Sahara said at the home minister-level meeting, border killing issue was discussed.

"The Indian side has shown positive attitude in this regard and assured that they will work to stop firing at the border," she said.

KILLERS OF BANGABANDHU

Indian minister said it was possible that two out of 12 convicted for Bangabandhu's murder are in India.

"We asked Bangladesh to provide us details and intelligence information, and no resources will be spared to apprehend them and hand them over to Bangladesh," he said.

Captain Mazed and Risalder Moslehuddin are believed to be hiding in India.

Sahara requested her Indian counterpart to find out whether the two absconding killers are in India.

BORDER DISPUTE

Chidambaram said issues relating to enclaves, adversely possessed land (APL) and undemarcated border will be resolved during the visit of Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh.

Headcount at the enclaves had been completed last week, and it was found that 51,000 people live in these enclaves.

"APL issue is nearly resolved and only one or two cases need to be taken care of, and 6.5 kilometres of the undemarcated boundary issue will be resolved before the visit of Indian prime minister."

Bangladesh and India share over 4,000 kilometres of boundary and there are 111 enclaves in Bangladesh and 51 in India along the border.

The Joint Boundary Working Group meeting was held in November last year, and both sides are engaged in a process to seek a comprehensive resolution of outstanding land boundary issue, he said.

"Both sides made substantial forward movement to resolve land boundary issue."

Sahara said they have had a fruitful discussion on exchanging enclaves and she hoped that they would be able to resolve all the disputes including border problems very soon.

Twenty-four hour unfettered access to Bangladeshis living in Dahagram and Angurpota was also discussed in the meeting, she added.

BORDER MANAGEMENT PLAN

Bangladesh and India have signed a border management plan to enhance border controls and uphold peace and tranquility.

Chidambaram said that he was glad that the border guarding forces concluded 'Border Management Plan' and he believed that this would help them enhance together the management of border.

"India has taken several measures to enhance border controls and we are committed to cooperating with Bangladesh in protecting our borders from illegal activities," he said.

Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) and Border Security Force (BSF) signed the border management plan Saturday.

Sahara said the coordinated effort of BGB and BSF would strengthen the border security by stopping smuggling and trafficking of human, drug and arms.

BILATERAL TRADE

The Indian minister said trade is a great booster of relationship and they are working on several projects to improve trade infrastructure and connectivity.

"India has now undertaken to set up seven integrated check-posts (ICPs) and a foundation stone of the ICP at Agartala was laid in May 2011," he said.

A new land customs station (LCS) was opened at Fulbari-Banglabandha in January this year and a Border Haat was inaugurated on Meghalaya-Bangladesh border earlier this month, he added.

HIGH LEVEL VISITS

Chidambaram said the relationship between India and Bangladesh is passing through a very promising phase as both sides have embarked on a number of forward-looking, pragmatic and mutually beneficial initiatives.

"The regular high level exchanges between our two countries in recent past have further cemented the bilateral relations," he said.

Sonia Gandhi, chairperson of UPA, was here earlier this week as the chief guest at the recently-concluded autism conference and to receive Bangladesh Freedom Honour conferred on late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Vice president of India also visited Dhaka in May on the occasion of inauguration of joint celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian minister said.

"These events testify the shared struggle and sacrifice by peoples of the two countries."

JOINT COMMUNIQUÉ

The Indian minister further said considerable progress has been made in implementation of joint communiqué declared during the visit of prime minister Sheikh Hasina to Delhi last year.

"Prime minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in January 2010 has given a new direction to our relationship," he said.

The two prime ministers had a common vision for the future of cooperation between the two countries, he added.

"The joint communiqué adopted during the visit outlines various decisions and initiatives implementation of which would transform the bilateral relationship."

MANMOHAN VISIT

India attaches highest importance to its relations with Bangladesh and seeks a deeper and stronger partnership, Chidambaram said.

"We are guided by the fundamental premise that a stable, prosperous, democratic and peaceful Bangladesh is in our mutual interest."

India is committed to pursuing cooperation with Bangladesh that brings prosperity to the peoples and development to the two countries, he added.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh is looking forward to his visit to Bangladesh on September 6-7 on the invitation of Sheikh Hasina to take forward a mutually beneficial cooperation as envisaged by the two leaders, he said.

Salahuddin Ahmed no more

2011-07-30T11:02:00.001-07:00

Sat, Jul 30th, 2011 7:51 pm

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Dhaka, July 30 (bdnews24.com) – Former defence secretary Salahuddin Ahmed has passed away. He was 87.

His son, Khaled Salahuddin told bdnews24.com, "My father breathed his last on Saturday at 11am at Square Hospitals, where he was undergoing treatment."

According to Khaled, Ahmed's burial will take place on Sunday evening at Banani graveyard. Before that, his namaz-e-janaza will be held at Rajarbag Police Line mosque after johar's prayer.

He said his father's body will be kept at his residence until 11am for people to pay their last respects.

Following a stroke at his Shiddeswari residence on July 26, Ahmed was admitted to the Square Hospitals. He had to be given life support as his condition deteriorated.

Since his joining in the Pakistan Police Service in 1952, Ahmed handled several important assignments, including the deputy inspector general of police. He retired from active services in 1983.

Before joining the government service, he worked as lecturer at the economics department of Dhaka University.

India urged to halt border killings

2011-07-30T10:55:00.001-07:00

Sat, Jul 30th, 2011 9:44 pm

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Dhaka, July 30 (bdnews24.com) – The foreign minister has urged the Indian home minister to use his good offices to put a complete halt to frequent incidents of firing by BSF on innocent and unarmed Bangladeshi nationals.

"Recurrence of these incidents does not reflect the excellent bilateral relations that the two countries share," Dipu Moni told P Chidambaram when he called on her at her office on Saturday afternoon, said a press statement from the ministry.

The Indian home minister is on a two-day official visit to Bangladesh on the invitation of his Bangladeshi counterpart.

On the issue of border management, the foreign minister said that the two sides must strengthen their efforts to stop criminal activities along the border, particularly smuggling of drugs and human trafficking.

Moni expressed satisfaction at the level of cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the areas of security, border management and the work to resolve the long-pending issue of demarcation of land boundary and the ones related to it.

'Torture' cops under suspension

2011-07-30T10:53:00.001-07:00

Sat, Jul 30th, 2011 9:54 pm

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Dhaka, July 30 (bdnews24.com) – Three officers of Khilgaon Police Station, alleged to have tortured a Dhaka University student, have been put under suspension temporarily following a High Court order to this effect.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police additional deputy commissioner Mohammad Masudur Rahman told bdnews24.com on Saturday that officer-in-charge Helel Uddin, sub-inspector Alam Badsha and assistant sub-inspector Shahidur Rahman have been suspended.

He, however, could not confirm when the order was executed. "The court order has not reached us yet," he added.

The High Court on Thursday ordered the inspector general of police to put under suspension OC Helal and two others until the investigation into the alleged torture of Abdul Kader, a biochemistry and molecular biology Master's student, is over.

Helal, however, was off the duty on Friday, and OC (investigation) Mohammad Azizul Islam was acting as the police station chief. The two others were also not attending office.

Police say they held Kader at Khilgaon on July 15 when he was about to commit a robbery. Khilgaon police lodged two cases against him for robbery and possessing sharp weapons, while Mohammadpur police showed him arrested in another case filed another for hijacking a car.

Kader, however, claims cops picked him up from Segunbagicha when he was coming back to the university dormitory from a relative's house at night. He alleged that the Khilgaon police chief and others beat him severely and Helal hacked him in the leg.

Ordered, the police produced Kader, in wheelchair before the High Court on Thursday, when the court ordered the suspension of the three cops. The court also censured the OC, saying he was filing false cases against Kader.

The court also ordered that Kader be transferred immediately to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, and that the government bear the cost of his treatment.

The police and the law ministry were also asked to form two investigation committees to look into the matter.

Passenger trawler sinks in Buriganga

2011-07-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

Sat, Jul 30th, 2011 10:07 pm

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Dhaka, July 30 (bdnews24.com) — A trawler has sunk in Buriganga with at least a hundred passengers on board.

The incident took place near Mitford Hospital ghaat around 8.45pm Saturday, Fire Service said.

Fire Service control room official Syed Hossain Khan told bdnews24.com that divers were looking for dead bodies in the river, but none had been found until 10pm.

Eye witnesses said the trawler was heading from Babubazar ghaat to Madbarbazar ghaat when a barge carrying sand rammed into it and knocked it over.

Many had swum ashore, they said.

SHAHARA-CHIDAMBARAM TALKS India pledges better show to stop border killings

2011-07-30T01:32:00.000-07:00

Dhaka, July 30 (bdnews24.com) -- India pledges to put an end to killings of Bangladeshi nationals by its border force along the porous border.

Visiting Indian home minister P Chidambaram says disputes over the border and adversely-held enclaves will be settled during Indian prime minister Manmohon Singh's planned visit in September.

The Indian authorities have already issued strict instructions for "not to fire" under any circumstance while people from Bangladesh or from India try to illegally cross the border, Chidambaram says.

He made the comment Saturday at a joint press conference after a meeting with his counterpart Shahara Khatun at the Home Ministry.

Chidambaram led a 12-strong Indian delegation while a 17-member Bangladeshi delegation led by Shahara attended the meeting.

The message of "not to fire" has been carried down to the BSF guards and after the issuance of instruction, the number of killings has been decreased substantially, he claimed.

For a better border management, the two sides on Saturday signed a joint plan to deal with smuggling and human trafficking along its more than 4000-kilomtre border.

The meeting's outcome was important amid concern by an influential global human rights group that India must investigate killings of Bangladeshi people by its border force along the porous border.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has been pressing for the investigation into the alleged killings for long, and it earlier this week made a renewed call to do so.

Bangladesh has also been demanding for years for not using lethal weapons when people from both sides attempt to cross the border illegally.

When Chidambaram's attention was drawn to the alleged killing of a Bangladeshi national by throwing stones by BSF, Chidambaram denied the allegation.

"I flatly deny it. No body was found. I requested my Bangladesh counterpart to investigate to find (out) the truth," he said.

Home minister Sahara Khatun said Bangladesh always protested when there was a border killing.

When her attention was drawn to that killing, she said, "You have heard what the Indian minister has said."

"The Indian side has expressed positive attitude in this regard and assured that they will work to stop firing along the border," she said.

Chidambaram's visit is crucial ahead of a planned Sept.6-7 visit to Dhaka by Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh. The minister arrived in Dhaka late Friday for a 24-hour official visit.

Saturday's meeting was held following last week's joint headcounts in 162 adversely-held enclaves on both sides of the nations. Of this, 111 are Indian territories inside Bangladesh.

The enclaves are locked by territories belonging to the other side, a contentious issue between the two countries since the partition of the subcontinent.

A Joint Boundary Working Group meeting between the two sides and subsequent home secretary-level discussions earlier this year had agreed to expedite the process of exchanging the enclaves under a 1974 Indira-Mujib deal.

2 drown, 1 missing in Cox's Bazar

2011-07-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

Sat, Jul 30th, 2011 12:35 am Dial 2000 from your GP mobile for latest news

Cox's Bazar (bdnews24.com) — Two youths have drowned in the Bay of Bengal at Laboni Pint beach while another is missing.

'Moktakim', 27, and 'Abid', 27, and the missing Ashiqur Rahman, 26, were washed away by waves while bathing at the beach on Friday evening with several other colleagues, Cox's Bazaar additional superintendent of police Uttam Kumar Pal said.

All of them were employees of advertising agency 'Matra', who had come to film an advertisement at the beachside city.

Moktakim and Abid were later rescued from the water but died while on way to hospital, ASP Uttam said.

Matra director Shamsul Arefin told reporters they had brought a team of 35 to shoot an advertisement. Abid was a performer in the popular musical contest Close-up One, while Ashiqur was the son of painter K G Mostafa.

50 hurt as rival AL factions clash

2011-07-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Fri, Jul 29th, 2011 9:48 pm Dial 2000 from your GP mobile for latest news

Mymensingh, July 29 (bdnews24.com) — At least 50 have been injured in a clash between two factions of ruling Awami League at the Gafargaon railway station.

Clash erupted between followers of Gafargaon MP Giasuddin Ahmed and Upazila chairman Fahmi Golandaz Babel on Friday afternoon as they arrived at the station. Both groups were heading towards Awami League's workers' meeting at Mymensingh Circuit House.

The police charged batons to disperse the crowd and at one point fired rubber bullets. At least 10 policemen were injured with the brickbats hurled by Awami League members.

Gafargaon Police Station officer-in-charge Omar Faruk told bdnews24.com he had also been injured in the clash.

A case was filed in this connection, he said.

http://gajinewsbd24.blogspot.com/

Chidambaram in Bangladesh

2011-07-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

Fri, Jul 29th, 2011 11:29 pm Dial 2000 from your GP mobile for latest news

Dhaka, July 28 (bdnews24.com) – Indian home minister P Chidambaram has arrived in the capital on a two-day official visit.

He landed at the Shahjalal International Airport at 10:55pm on Friday. He was received by his Bangladeshi counterpart Shahara Khatun at the airport.

The Indian minister comes on an invitation extended by the Bangladesh home minister.

During his visit, the Indian home minister is scheduled to call on prime minister Sheikh Hasina, according to a press statement from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.

Chidambaram is also scheduled to meet foreign minister Dipu Moni.

He will have comprehensive talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart as the two sides are expected to review cooperation in the fields of security and border management, and other related issues.

The bilateral relation has been looking up since the implementation of the comprehensive and forward-looking Joint Communiqué adopted in January 2010 during the visit of Hasina to India.

There have been regular high-level exchanges between the two countries ahead of the forthcoming visit of Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh on September 6-7.

Bangladesh and India share enduring fraternal, linguistic and cultural ties and also a common history of struggle and liberation.