Thursday, March 29, 2012

'Bangabandhu' to Hit Orbit in 3 Years


DHAKA NEWS

Dhaka, Mar 29 Post and Telecommunications minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju has announced that the country would launch its first-ever satellite named after 'Bangabandhu' in three years.

The minister made the announcement following signing of a deal with USA-based Space Partnership International (SPI), which would help launch the satellite.

"After the government assumed power, the first cabinet meeting approved launching of the country's first-ever satellite. The deal with SPI takes the dream of Digital Bangladesh a step further," said Raju.

SPI managing director Bruce Kraselsky and Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) chairman Zia Ahmed signed the deal on behalf of their respective authorities at BTRC Bhaban on Thursday.

US ambassador Dan W Mozena was also present at the contract signing ceremony.

Currently, all television channels, institutions providing internet services, V-sat and radio channels are running their operations using foreign satellites.

According to BTRC, each television channel pays about US $0.0002 billion annually for using the satellites, and all institutions, including the 19 television channels, taken together end up paying US $0.004 billion every year.

BTRC said launching of a satellite would not only reduce the expenditure but also earn foreign currency for the country.

"Bangladesh may earn about US $ 50 million a year after the satellite is launched," said Kraselsky.

SPI will act as a consultant firm in launching the satellite. It will help Bangladesh in market evaluation, marketing of the satellite, building expertise to operate the satellite and management of the ground station. The SPI will charge Tk 0.87 billion for the job.

Cabinet okays Atomic Energy Control Act-2012


DHAKA NEWS

The cabinet on Thursday approved the draft of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Control Act 2012 keeping the provisions of constituting a separate regulator for the country's first-ever nuclear power plant at Rooppur in Pabna.

The approval was given at the weekly meeting of the cabinet held at Bangladesh secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan briefing newsmen said the cabinet approved the act as there is no regulatory body as well as legal and institutional framework for the power plant at present.

He said under the proposed act, a five-member regulatory body titled ' Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority' headed by a chairman will be constituted to supervise the activities of the operator of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant to be constructed with the assistance of Russian Federation.

Besides, an advisory committee will be formed with the experts from related sectors.

Under the act, the operator will have to take the responsibility for any damage due to accident in the plant. The claim of damage will have to be filed within ten years after the accident and disposed of within 50 years.

The issues of definition, goals and activities of the authority, determination of compensation, security and safety of the power plants as well as safety measures against radiation and management of nuclear waste have been mentioned in the proposed act.

The cabinet also okayed a proposal for re-fixing the implementation date of National Wage Scale for the workers of the state-owned mills and factories.

Under the proposal, the new basic salary of the workers will be effective from July 2009, while the other marginal benefits from July 2010. The arrears will be paid in four equal installments from September 2012 to December 2013.

Under the new scale, the maximum basic salary of a worker would be Tk 5,600 while the minimum Tk 4,150 with 50 percent house rent and other allowances.

A proposal for observing the 3rd April as the National Film Day from this year was also endorsed by the cabinet to project the importance of films before the people and encourage all stakeholders of the film industry.

The 3rd April has been selected as the National Film Day as on this day in 1957, the then industries and commerce minister

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman placed the East Pakistan Film Development Corporation Act at the Provincial Assembly for the development of film industry in the country.

The cabinet was apprised of the participation of a Bangladesh delegation led by the health and family welfare minister in the 20th executive committee meeting of the 'Partners in Population and Development (PPD) held in Nairobi, Kenya in February this year.

The cabinet secretary said the meeting has decided to set up the secretariat of the 25-member body in Dhaka.

Cabinet members, advisers to the prime minister, state ministers concerned attended the meeting, while cabinet secretary and concerned secretaries were present.

Ghulam Azam's indictment order on Apr 17


  
DHAKA NEWS


Dhaka, Mar 29 The war crimes tribunal will issue Jamaat-e-Islami guru Ghulam Azam's indictment order on Apr 17.

The International Crimes Tribunal, set up to deal with crimes against humanity during the 1971 War of Independence, set the date after hearing arguments of both the prosecution and defence for and against the former Jamaat chief's indictment.

Earlier on Thursday, the tribunal adjourned hearing defence arguments against Jamaat assistant secretary general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman's indictment to Apr 1.

Prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum began his arguments against Ghulam Azam's discharge petition and started with a petition, which was kept aside after some discussion.

Malum pleaded that the tribunal ask for copies all decisions, meeting minutes, records, organogram, posters, leaflets, brochures, publications and such material of Jamaat-e-Islami for most of the period since its formation in the 1940s until 2012.

The tribunal pointed out that the application was filed under a certain section of the law that would apply only after commencement of the trial, meaning after indictment.

The tribunal also told the prosecutor that he had not mentioned from whom the tribunal would ask all these documents, which would be rather voluminous.

The newly appointed tribunal member, Justice Mohammad Anwarul Haque, told him, "You must specify a person, or we cannot issue an order just like that."

Malum then suggested that the accused may be asked to provide the records.

Justice Nizamul Huq, the tribunal chairman, asked, "Do office bearers of political parties take all the records with them when they retire?"

The other tribunal member, Judge A K M Zaheer Ahmed, then pointed out that the accused was not even affiliated with Jamaat in the early 1940s and getting those documents would be pointless.

The judge suggested that the prosecutor should perhaps concentrate more on 1971 and the individual.

The prosecutor went on to supply the tribunal with the copy of a gazette notification which clearly showed, and quite beyond doubt, that the Razakar forces were a part and parcel of the Pakistani occupation army.

The tribunal was convinced that this would do away with any doubts whether the Razakars constituted an auxiliary force.

Abdur Razzaq, the senior counsel, representing the entire Jamaat leadership, has been contending that Razakar, Al Badr or Al Shams did not constitute auxiliary forces as defined by the relevant laws.

The gazette was a part of prime minister Sheikh Hasina's speech in parliament on Apr 16, 1992 when she was in opposition.

Zead-Al-Malum then read the speeches of both Hasina and Awami League leader Mohammad Nasim at length.

He ended his arguments saying that there were clear evidence against Ghulam Azam for crimes against humanity during the war and charges ought to be framed against him.

Judge Zaheer Ahmed clarified that unlike the charges against another Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee, and BNP MP Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, the charges were not separated. "You have brought five charges. There is one for the murder of Siru Miah. And then there are charges for complicity, conspiracy, incitement and command responsibility."

Malum agreed. Judge Zaheer Ahmed then said that it would have made the tribunal's job easier if the prosecution presented its case in a more organised manner as the defence does.

"They present the cases nicely in a chronological order which makes it easy to follow."

Justice Nizamul Huq told Malum that although the prosecutor had not mentioned it, the tribunal chair had expected that the prosecutor would.

Referring to the first charge against Ghulam Azam, a meeting of certain political leaders with General Tikka Khan, on Apr 4, 1971, days after the Pakistan army descended upon the people and massacred them, Justice Huq said that most of the days following Mar 26, the entire city was under curfew. "Sure it was withdrawn at times but mostly there was a curfew."

But then he pointed out, that there was a meeting of over a dozen political leaders with the Pakistani general only meant that they were in touch with the military.

"I had expected that you would say that in your submissions. But you did not."

Shishir Manir, a junior defence counsel on Abdur Razzaq's team, stood up to point out that superior status as the prosecution had pointed out did not constitute an offence by itself. "It is merely a status."

The judges also agreed that command responsibility by way of acquiescing to crimes against humanity had to be demonstrated and superior status by itself would not suffice.

KAMARUZZAMAN'S CASE

Earlier in the day, tribunal chairman, Justice Nizamul Huq, was rather reluctant to adjourn Kamaruzzaman's case when Tanvir Ahmed Al-Amin stood up to pray for time as the defence had not been able to prepare the discharge petition.

When the junior counsel said there were a few thousand pages of documents that the prosecution had served upon the defence, Justice Huq asked back, "How many of these discharge petitions, and there have already been a few, refer to those volumes of documents?"

He said the defence only referred to the volume when praying for time but in essence the petitions were basically the same. "The same is true for the formal charges."

Justice Huq said that a large portion of the formal charges were the same for almost every case while the discharge petitions were also similar in nature except when they dealt with the particular case of the individual.

Tribunal member Judge A K M Zaheer Ahmed joked that the defence could, in fact, borrow from another discharge petition and begin.

Essentially the same team of counsels represents the Jamaat-e-Islami leadership.

Al-Amin all but agreed to the tribunal's observation that the petitions were almost the same to a large extent. But he continued to plead that the petition was simply not ready and needed more time.

Justice Huq said he could not insist that the young counsel begin his arguments, which he certainly would have had it been a senior counsel like Abdur Razzaq and reluctantly adjourned the matter to Apr 1.

JAMAAT GURU IN ICT

On Dec 12, the prosecution brought a 52-point charter of charges against Azam and appealed for his arrest. Later, following the tribunal order, charges were re-arranged and presented to the tribunal on Jan 5.

He was produced before the tribunal by it order on Jan 11 and sent to jail on the same day. Since that evening Ghulam Azam has been shifted to the prison cell of the Bangabandhu medical university for better treatment considering his delicate health.

Azam had allegedly lead the infamous 'peace committees' and collaborated with the Pakistan Army during the Liberation War. He also spoke in favour of Pakistan to the Middle Eastern countries during the war, according to the prosecution.

He stayed in London for seven years after 1971 and returned to Bangladesh in 1978 during Ziaur Rahman's rule. Having led Jamaat for long, Azam retired from active politics in 1999.

CG not Needed for Fair Polls: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina


DHAKA NEWS

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday in parliament spoke strongly against the necessity of a caretaker government to hold free, fair and neutral parliamentary elections.

“Holding election under a caretaker government was necessary when massive polls rigging took place,” the premier said in her winding up speech in the twelve session of the present parliament.

She added sometimes vote rigging took place through media coups, sometimes incorporating fake voters in the electoral roll.

The premier mentioned that one million fake voters were incorporated in the electoral roll during the past BNP-Jamaat four-party alliance government.

But, she went on saying, the Election Commission had now been made strong and independent.

The EC has now been working neutrally.

She claimed all the 5,175 polls including mayoral elections in three city corporations, upazilas, union parishads and by-elections held under her government, were free, fair and neutral.

While speaking against the restoration of caretaker system, Hasina, also the leader of the House, said unwanted situations had taken place during all the caretaker governments since its inception in 1996.

“During the Justice Habibur Rahman’s caretaker government regime, a coup attempt took place, during the justice Latifur Rahman’s caretaker regime, killing and torture took place indiscriminately and the immediate past caretaker government ruled the country for two years,” she asserted.

The premier asked how the opposition leader and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia forgot those.

She argued that her government had scrapped the CG system by amending the constitution in line with the Supreme Court verdict to this end.

The premier said the opposition joined the parliament only to ensure their financial benefits.

“In parliament, they spoke using indecent, vulgar and abusive languages. Even some of their members moved to attack one of our female MPs,” Hasina said.

And now they [opposition] are in streets and speaking abusive, vandalising vehicles in the name of movement against the government.

In her over 35 minutes' speech, the premier criticised the media for writing what she says both true and false, freely and on their own.

The twelve session of the ninth parliament was prorogued on Thursday having 34 sittings.