Bharat Rakshak

Gerard wrote:Truth lost? Most military records of Bangladesh war missing

Maj Gen Rafiqul Islam joins BDR as new Director General

Dhaka, May 10 (UNB) : Major General Md Rafiqul Islam joined Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) as its new Director General Sunday. He took over from outgoing director general Maj Gen Mainul Islam, says an official release from the BDR headquarters Monday. Deputy DG, directors and senior officers of BDR welcomed Gen Rafiq when he reached the BDR headquarters on Sunday.

Earlier Gen Rafiq served as DG of Ansar and VDP before he joined BDR. He obtained commission in Signal Corps in Bangladesh Army on November 30 in 1976. During his career, he held many important posts successfully. Rafiqul Islam was the GSO (operations) of Military Operation Directorate, assistant private secretary to the Chief of Army Staff, directing staff of Defence Services Command and Staff College, colonel staff of the Infantry Division, director (operation) of the Prime Minister's Office and the Armed Forces Division and director (signal) of the Army Headquarters. He also performed as the commandant of two signal battalions and Signal Training School and College. He served as the deputy region commander of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mozambique (ONUMOZ) in 1993-94. The new BDR chief completed his army staff course from Kuala Lumpur Armed Force College in Malaysia in 1987.

Major General Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardy, BB, ndc, psc has joined as Director General of Bangladesh Ansar & VDP on 06 May 2010. Before joining this organization he was Director Military Intelligence in Army HQs.

India to ease visa rules for Bangladeshis : India government
PTI, New Delhi, 5 May : Building on improved relations with Bangladesh, India today said it proposes to ease visa rules for visitors from the neighbouring country. "There is a proposal to relax the procedure relating to grant of conference visa to Bangladeshi citizens. The matter is under consideration," Home Minister P Chidambaram said in the Rajya Sabha. Answering questions, he said the categories of visitors for whom visas may be relaxed include professionals regularly visiting India and requiring longer stay than one year in rare and exceptional cases. Visa on medical grounds including for those accompanying attendants and relatives, may also be eased, Chidambaram said. As for Indians visiting Bangladesh, he said the visa regime is reciprocal.

Tarique Rahman, BNP's senior vice-president, held a long meeting with London BNP and Juba Dal leaders on Sunday to discuss political situation in Bangladesh, apart from organisational matters in the UK. This was Tarique's first ever meeting with the party's UK wing since his arrival in London on September 12, 2008 on parole for treatment of his spinal cord.

The meeting was held at the Ramna Plaza Restaurant owned by UK BNP President Kamar Uddin, in Southgate, a suburb in the North London borough of Enfield where Tarique resides. The meeting lasted nearly three hours from 2:30pm. Sources present at the meeting told UNB that the political situation in Bangladesh and internal groupings in the UK BNP and its front organisations were discussed. Tarique wants to hold more such meetings in the future. The sources said 40-50 present and former presidents and general secretaries of the BNP and Juba Dal attended the meeting.

The Election Commission on Sunday asked the Jamaat-e-Islami for the third time to amend its constitution in line with the electoral laws and the country's constitution. The opposition party says it will sit with the Commission soon over the amendments. Jamaat's secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid told bdnews24.com, "We have earlier received a letter from the EC last week. We will sit soon to decide on our stance on the matter. The party's law secretary will fix an appointment with Commission for a meeting." Asked how much time they will need to make the changes, the Jamaat leader said they will be done 'well before' the June 10 deadline.

The Commission has marked at least seven articles in the party's constitution that require changing. The EC's joint secretary (law) and convener of the party constitution scrutinising committee Nurul Islam Khan told bdnews24.com, "It is the third time we have written to Jamaat-e-Islami for amending some of the conflicting articles in their constitution." The Commission first wrote to the fundamentalist party on Jan 24 and then on Mar 25.

On Mar 24, Mojahid told bdnews24.com that their leaders had agreed upon making two changes to the party constitution. They, however, did not agree to make the remaining amendments, Mojahid said, adding that they would seek clarification on the articles in the meeting with Commission. On Mar 25, election commissioner M Shakhawat Hossain told reporters that measures would be taken in line with the registration guidelines if any party failed to amend its constitution accordingly. Guidelines allow for the scrapping of registration if amended constitutions are not submitted. But, Shakhawat added, "Although the Election Commission is empowered to cancelparty registration, it should not be done hastily."

The parties could consult the Commission, which will help resolve their problems, he had added. Around 39 political parties had provisionally registered with the Commission with their draft constitution before ninth general elections. Freedom Party later lost its registration as it had failed to submit its amended constitution before Jan 25. The Commission, sources say, will remind some more parties about amending their constitutions.

A Dhaka court has ordered submission of a probe report on a money laundering case against senior BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury by June 22. Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Dilara Alo Chandana gave the order to the case investigation officer on Sunday. Toufiqul Islam, an ACC assistant director, filed the case with the Dhanmondi Police Station on Thursday. The case details say that Chowdhury sent $250,000 and HK$100,000 from Hong Kong to the UK on Sep 5, 2005. Dhanmondi police chief Shah Alam had said that the BNP policymaker had purchased shares of a foreign pharmaceutical company—Global Beximco Pharma UK—with that money.

On June 13, 2007, the graft watchdog filed another case against the BNP standing committee member with Ramna police for concealing wealth information and amassing wealth from unknown sources. Chowdhury had illegally acquired assets worth Tk 9.46 crore and that he had concealed information about assets worth Tk 11.74 crore, according to the case details. The case is currently stayed following a High Court order.

The ACC in its list of country's 50 corrupt politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats, drawn up during the tenure of the previous caretaker government, asked them to submit their wealth information, including that of their wives and children. Chowdhury's name was also there. He was arrested by the joint forces on Feb 3, but later released.

Key Facts about Beximco Pharma:

Established in: 1976
Headquartered in: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Listed on: Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) and AIM of the London Stock Exchange (LSE)
Turnover: ID 153.9 m, US$239.1 m (2007) for parent company
Market cap: ID 727.7m, US$ 1.13 b for parent company
Export valuation: ID 2.79m, US$ 4.35m in 2007
Export destinations: 31 (another 28 or so planned)
Notable GMP clearances: GCC, Australia (approved), UK (pending)
Staff: 2,300

Dhaka, May 5 (bdnews24.com)—A Dhaka court on Wednesday refused former BNP state minister Lutfozzaman Babar bail in two cases related to Aug 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally. Dhaka additional chief metropolitan magistrate Mohammed Ali Hossain Babar gave the order after hearing his petition. Jainal Abedin Mesbah, the lawyer for Babar, told bdnews24.com that he will move the Dhaka district judge's court against this decision. Babar is currently serving 17 years following his conviction in an arms case. {the case is the one where ulfa was shipped arms from bd}

The BNP leader is also facing charges of concealing income of around Tk 8.6 crore in 1999-2000 and 2008-2009 tax years and failing to pay the tax counted on it as a director of Master Electronics Industry Limited. Babar was remanded for 12 days in two phases in connection with the murder of former Awami League finance minister Shah A M S Kibria, on Feb 11 and on Mar 14.

Habiganj police arrested two people, including a leader of BNP-backed Jatiyatabadi Olama Dal, in connection with the murder of former Awami League minister Shah AMS Kibria early on Wednesday. Police claimed that the arrestees were activists of the banned Islamist outfit Harkat-ul-Jihada-al-Islami. They are Maolana Kashem bin Billa alias Noman and Arif Billa. Maolana Kashem is the president of the Olama Dal in Habiganj Municipalty.

The two men had been arrested at a house in Baniachang Upazila of the district, said Zillur Rahman, additional superintendent of police. Noman and Arif were sent to the court. Police sought a 10-day remand for the two, Zillur said. Former finance minister Kibria was killed in a grenade attack in Habiganj on Jan 27, 2005. Police have been claiming HuJi's link behind the attack. The case is currently under a more detailed investigation. Police official Zillur said they had arrested Noman and Arif following a confessional statement of an accused, Mizanur Rahman Mithu during the grilling by Taskforce Interrogation Cell.

NEW DELHI: One of the most wanted fugitives by India Paresh Barua , commander inchief of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has been arrested by the Bangladesh authorities. AoA!!!

The dreaded ULFA leader was apprehended by the Bangladeshi security agencies about 12 days ago when he was crossing over to Bangladesh via Myanmar border after visiting Chinese Yunnan province.

“We are expecting Bangladesh to hand him over to us soon once they finish interrogating him,” sources told Express. Barua’s arrest is being considered as the final nail in ULFA’s coffin as most of its top leadership have already been handed over to India by Bangladesh.

Bangladesh, Russia Sign Nuclear Power Deal
Bangladesh Signs Deal With Russia For Nuclear Plants In Energy-starved South Asian Nation
.(AP) DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) - Bangladesh and Russia are finalizing a deal on the first nuclear power plants in the energy-starved South Asian nation, an official said.An official in the government's Atomic Energy Commission told The Associated Press on Saturday that talks on nuclear cooperation were progressing."We will require signing a few more agreements with Russia to go for the final implementation," he said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.He said under the agreement, the two countries would design, construct and operate nuclear power plants while Russia would train Bangladeshi officials and engineers. Transfer of technologies and maintenance of the plants are part of the agreement, he said.The official said the agreements could be finalized when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visits Russia later this year.The government in April approved a draft for the deal with Russia.Bangladesh wants to set up a nuclear plant at Rooppur, 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of the capital, Dhaka, to meet its growing power need.

Bangladesh Bans Facebook Over Prophet Drawings
DHAKA, Bangladesh) — Bangladesh has become the second South Asian nation after Pakistan to block the popular social networking website Facebook over a page that urged people to draw images of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Chief telecommunication regulator Zia Ahmed said Sunday that access to the site has been temporarily blocked because it was publishing caricatures that may hurt the religious sentiments of people in the Muslim-majority nation.

Bangladesh has blocked social networking website Facebook over caricatures of Prophet Mohammed and “obnoxious” images of the Muslim-majority country's leaders, an official said on Sunday.

The move came after Pakistan banned access to Facebook, video website YouTube and 1,200 web pages over a row about “blasphemous” content on the Internet.

“Some links in the website also contained obnoxious images of our leaders, including the father of the nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and the leader of the Opposition.” He said Facebook would be re-opened once Bangladesh had permanently blocked the offending pages.

The country's anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) said it had arrested one man over the images of political leaders. “A special intelligence team arrested him and he has been charged with spreading malice,” senior RAB official Enamul Kabir said.

He said the arrested man used at least six Facebook accounts to post the images, but officials declined to give details of the depictions, which were not immediately showing up on the site on Sunday.

Bangladesh Shipping Secretary Abdul Mannan Hawladar confirmed the signing of the accord on Monday. “I have just signed the agreement declaring Ashuganj as a new port of call,” he told the official news agency BSS. Through this accord, heavy Indian consignments for the Palatana power Project in Tripura will be transported through Bangladesh.

Under this deal, in line with the decision reached during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in January this year, Bangladesh's Ashuganj port would be the second transhipment point and fifth port of call in Bangladesh.

India has already declared Shilghat as the port of call.

The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority officials said preparations were under way to transform Ashuganj into a modern port and renovate the 49 km- road from the port to the Tripura border, with New Delhi bearing the cost.

The officials said Bangladesh decided to consider its decision as “test case” to allow New Delhi to use its territory, responding to the long Indian request for transit. Dhaka will then move with other proposals of various modes.

The High Commissioner said flexing of muscles would never help. "Our experiences show that it has never helped. Our tough stand with India did not work. Things started moving when we sat down and discussing the issue with India,"

DHAKA June 13 (Reuters) - Increased defence cooperation will be among the topics discussed when Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits Bangladesh, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said on Sunday.

"China is the largest defence hardware supplier to Bangladesh. So talks on enhancement of the defence cooperation will be in the agenda," Moni told a news conference, without giving details.

Bangladesh will soon add two new Chinese frigates to boost its naval fleet and increase its number of frigates to seven, a defence official told Reuters.

Officials say boosting naval capabilities is important for Bangladesh to maintain surveillance in its territory in the Bay Bengal, rich in natural resources and hydro-carbons.

Bangladesh briefly deployed naval ships in a disputed part of the bay after Myanmar began exploring for oil and gas there in October 2008.

Bangladesh withdrew the ships after Myanmar stopped the exploration, when China, a friend to both the neighbouring countries, expressed deep concern.

China agreed to provide the frigates during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to Beijing in March, the official said asking not to identify him.

Bangladesh last added a frigate, built by South Korea, in 2001, when Hasina was also prime minister.

Xi arrives in Dhaka on Monday on a two-day visit, on the first-leg of a four nation tour. He will also visit Laos, New Zealand and Australia until June 24, Chinese embassy officials said.

He will also discuss regional, international and bilateral issues including economic and technical cooperations, Moni said. (Reporting by Nizam Ahmed)

Karan Dixit wrote: http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-123729.html

I would like to point out that there is a difference between India and China. India is a democracy and a reasonable country. Therefore when dealing with India, the language of peace and reconciliation goes much further. The same is not true for China. It is a totalitarian regime with hegemonic intentions. Peace and reconciliation will do nothing but fuel the arrogance of Chinese dictators even further. But that does not mean China does not need to be engaged. I think India's China's policy under Man Mohan Singh administration is right on the mark.

He suggested that SAARC countries can be grouped into three -- one, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, two, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Seychelles, and three, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said these groups can work much effectively bringing together all the stake holders like states, local governments, people, etc. to solve issues which were "hostage to partition syndrome".

16 July 2010 Last updated at 08:32 ET

Bangladesh bans books written by radical Islamic author
By Anbarasan Ethirajan BBC News, Dhaka

The Bangladeshi government has ordered mosques and libraries across the country to remove all books written by a controversial Islamic scholar.

The chief of the government-funded Islamic Foundation told the BBC that the books by Syed Abul Ala Maududi encouraged "militancy and terrorism".

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A special tribunal in Bangladesh issued arrest warrants against four senior leaders of the country's largest Islamic party on Monday ahead of a planned trial over alleged crimes against humanity during the nation's 1971 independence war.

The government set up the tribunal in March to prosecute people accused of collaborating with the Pakistani army in killings and other crimes during the 1971 war that culminated in Bangladesh ceding from Pakistan and winning independence.

On Monday, the three-member tribunal headed by Justice Nizamul Huq made the order after the prosecution petitioned it, seeking arrest warrants against them on charges of alleged genocide, murder, rape, torture, looting and arson related to 1971 war. In an amended law, the government recently described these heinous acts as crimes against humanity.

negi wrote:Yeah the elephant has started moving in Bangladesh

Bangladesh court bans religion in politics

negi wrote:Yeah the elephant has started moving in Bangladesh

Bangladesh court bans religion in politics

"This one-billion-dollar line of credit is the largest ever given by India to any country," said Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Dhaka.

The line of credit also marked the single largest loan Bangladesh has received from any nation, development bank or donor agency, Dhaka's Economic Relations Division secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said.