Call to regulate news portals

Dhaka, Jun 6 (bdnews24.com) ? Member of Parliament A N Mahfuza Khatun Baby Maudud has requested Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad to start registration system for online news portals as in case of newspapers.

She made the call while speaking in parliament on Wednesday, raising a notice on urgent public affairs.

"Online news portals are being coming up one after another like mushrooms. Just after installing a few computers, people claim to have started news portals.

"They do not follow the journalistic ethics," Baby Maudud, an MP from seats reserved for women, said.

"Those organisations claim facilities on par with news establishments. The government also doesn't seem to have any control over them," she said.

"There are some renowned online news agencies in Bangladesh. They pay taxes to the government. But the others don't have any such accountability," she added.

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Air Force gets new chief

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Dhaka, Jun 6 (bdnews24.com) ? The government appointed Air Vice Marshal Muhammad Enamul Bari as the Chief of Air Staff on Wednesday.

Bari would replace Air Marshal Shah Mohammad Ziaur Rahman, who is retiring on Jun 12.

The Defence Ministry appointed Bari for three years, a media release from the Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) said.

Tenure of Chief of Army Staff General Abdul Mubeen's is also due to expire on Jun 15.

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BNP to evaluate budget outside the House

Dhaka, June 7 (bdnews24.com) ? Main opposition BNP will not join the House on Thursday but it has formed a panel, which will see the Finance Minister's budget proposal for the next fiscal year on television and 'evaluate'.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's Press Secretary Maruf Kamal Khan told bdnews24.com that a high-level panel has been formed to examine the proposed budget.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith is scheduled to place a Tk 1.9 trillion national budget for the fiscal 2012-13 in Parliament on Thursday afternoon.

Insiders say the next budget prioritises power, roads, physical infrastructure, local government, power, primary education, health and family welfare, rural development, human resource development and a better social safety net system.

The BNP panel will discuss the budget proposal from the party chief's Gulshan office from the beginning of Parliament session, Khan said.

He said, "The panel will give its reaction on the budget directly to the people after hearing the budget speech of the Finance Minister at the party chief's office."

M K Anwar, Abdul Moeen Khan, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Osman Faruk, Abdul Awal Mintu, party Deputy Treasurer S M Fazlul Haque are on the panel.

At a press conference at Sonargaon Hotel on Tuesday, Khaleda shared the party's thoughts on the next national budget in presence of diplomats, leaders of various political parties, eminent citizens and civil society personalities.

She said the budget would be a loan-dependent one which will create unrest in the economy.

"Media reports say that the forthcoming budget will have a deficit of Tk 0.5 trillion (Tk 500 billion) out of a total outlay of Tk 1.9 trillion. It means the government will have to arrange more than 25 percent of the fund from borrowing, mainly from the domestic sector and largely from the banks."

"As a result, economic imbalance, anarchy and unrest are inevitable in the country," she added.

Khaleda also claimed that the last budget of the ruling Awami League-led Grand Alliance is being prepared to benefit the party.

"The budget allocations are being made keeping in mind the upcoming national election."

The main opposition had boycotted the last three budget sessions in parliament in this term of the Awami League-led 14-Party Grand Alliance government.

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Viquarunnesa student rape trial begins

Dhaka, June 06 (bdnews24.com) -- Trial of the case over a Viquarunnesa School student rape began on Wednesday at a Dhaka special court with the deposition of the complainant.

Father of the victim gave his statement as the complainant and prosecution witness and later the defence lawyer cross-examined him on different points.

Judge Arifur Rahman of Dhaka Nari-O-Shishu Tribunal Court number 4 fixed June 25 as the next date for submission of another prosecution witness.

In his statement, the victim's father told the court that his 15-year-old daughter, a student of Viquarunnesa Girls' School and College's Bashundhara branch, was raped by the accused, Parimal Joydhar, at his coaching centre twice last year.

His daughter described the incident to the family and later he informed the school authorities of the incident, he said.

After submission of his statement, Parimal's counsel Mahfuzur Rahman crossed-examined him.

The court framed charges against Parimal on March 7.

Mohammad Shahadat Hossain, Officer-in-Charge of the Badda Police Station and also the investigation officer (IO) of the case, submitted the charge-sheet on August 11 last year indicting Parimal, a sacked teacher of the school's Bashundhara branch.

The IO, however, dropped the names of Husne Ara Begum, the principal of the school, and Lutfur Rahman, in-charge of its Bashundhara branch.

On July 5 last year, the victim's family filed the case accusing Parimal of violating the girl at his coaching centre in Badda twice -- first on May 28 and then on June 17 last year.

The school authorities fired Parimal on July 5 last year amid widespread criticism and agitation from students and other quarters.

Parimal was arrested on July 7 and on July 11 he confessed to raping the student.

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Bulk power tariff likely to be up 50pc

Aminur Rahman Rasel
bdnews24.com Correspondent

Dhaka, June 6 (bdnews24.com) ? The Power Development Board (PDB) has proposed to the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) to raise electricity tariff at bulk level by 50 percent per unit (each kilowatt hour).

PDB as also urged BERC to make the proposed rates effective from July 1.

The proposal said that after the proposed price comes into effect, the retail power price needs to be hiked too, otherwise, power distribution companies will face losses, it added.

If the proposal is accepted, the government will increase bulk and retail power tariffs for the third time this year.

BERC member Selim Mahmud told bdnews24.com that the final decision to refix the power tariff would be made after holding an open meeting and a mass hearing.

State-run Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) on May 24 sent a proposal to the country's energy watchdog, BERC, to increase gas prices, except at the domestic consumer level.

The PDB proposed raising bulk electricity tariff by 50 percent to Tk 6.03 per unit from Tk 4.02.

"If the new power tariff does not come into effect, the government will have to provide subsidies of nearly Tk 120 billion to the power sector in the next fiscal. If the proposal is approved, the amount will go down to Tk 35 billion," the proposal said.

PDB Chairman A S M Alamgir said they proposed the increase in power tariffs for lack of government subsidy in view of the increasing fuel cost for power production.

"The production cost of per unit power is about Tk 5.50 and it will go up to Tk 6.87 next year," he added.

At present, 30 percent of the total electricity is produced from fuel like diesel and furnace oil, while the rest is generated from gas, coal and water.

The government has increased bulk and retail power prices for five times during its tenure since January 2009, leaving the sword of Damocles hanging over the head of retail consumers.

Bulk and retail power prices were hiked by Tk 0.28 and 0.30 per unit respectively from Mar 1.

PDB purchases power from rental and IPP power plants, Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB) Ltd and Ashuganj Power Station Company Ltd (APSCL).

It sells the electricity to its bulk consumers ? Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC), Dhaka Electric Supply Company Ltd (DESCO), Rural Electrification Board (REB) and to its retail consumers ? in its own distribution regions at the price fixed by the BERC.

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'First Bangladesh-US dialogue in Washington'

Dhaka, June 6 (bdnews24.com) ? The first Bangladesh-US Partnership Dialogue will be held in Washington, DC on the margins of the next UN General Assembly.

US Ambassador in Bangladesh Dan W Mozena conveyed this message to Foreign Minister Dipu Moni on Wednesday when he handed over a letter of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the Prime Minister.

In the letter, Clinton expressed her thanks for the warm 'welcome' extended to her by the government and the people of Bangladesh.

The US-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue Agreement was signed in Dhaka during her visit on May 5-6.

Following up on the Agreement, the Secretary in the letter expressed her satisfaction that preparations are underway to convene the first dialogue in Washington, DC.

According to a US embassy media release, the Ambassador called on Foreign Minister Dipu Moni to follow up on the 'successful' visit to Bangladesh of the US Secretary of State as he prepares to return to Washington, DC, for consultations.

They discussed a wide range of follow-up activities, including the Partnership Dialogue, Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA), and Trafficking in Persons, it said.

They reviewed recent developments related to labour rights in Bangladesh and its importance to the future of Bangladesh's 'vital' readymade garment sector.

In the letter, the Secretary also shared her 'high regard' for Grameen Bank and 'the hope it brings to more than eight million of Bangladesh's most vulnerable, particularly women'.

She expressed hope that the Bangladesh government would endeavour to ensure that the Bank's integrity, including its innovative governance and ownership structure, is sustained as an effective development tool for the poor.

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Court orders publishing ad for Jamaat men's appearance

Dhaka, June 6 (bdnews24.com) - A Dhaka court on Wednesday ordered police to publish an advertisement asking fugitive Jamaat-e-Islami acting-Ameer Maqbul Ahmed and three others to appear before it by June 13 in an arson case.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Erfanullah made the order as the police submitted a report before him stating that they failed to arrest the fugitives even though they raided their residences at different times.

The three others are Nurul Islam Bulbul, Delwar Hossain Saidee and Abdul Zabbar, all former leaders of Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, student wing of Jamaat.

General recording officer (GRO) at Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in Dhaka Altaf Hossain told bdnews24.com that they would publish the advertisement in two Bangla national dailies as per the order.

In the supplementary charge-sheet, 18-Party Alliance's 46 leaders and activists, including BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, have been indicted in the case filed for torching a bus near the Prime Minister's Office during hartal on April 29.

Wednesday was the hearing day on the arson case.

Counsels of BNP lawmakers MK Anwar, Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon and Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, Liberal Democratic Party Chairman Oli Ahmed and Bangladesh Jatiya Party President Barrister Andalib Rahman Partha submitted separate petitions seeking time for them.

In the petitions, the defence said their clients could not appear before the court as they were busy with the budget session of Parliament.

The five 18-Party Alliance leaders are on bail from the High Court.

The remaining 37 accused, including Mirza Fakhrul, BNP joint secretaries general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and Amanullah Aman, standing committee members ASM Hannan Shah, Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, and former deputy minister Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu, who are now in custody, were not produced before the court on security reasons.

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