Dhaka, 4 June : Former Bangladesh Home Secretary and BNP chairperson’s advisor Zahurul Huq and 49 Ward Commissioner Abul Khayer Bablu were among 150 people arrested from the capital and elsewhere of the country ahead of tomorrow’s dawn-to-dusk hartal.At least 10 passenger buses were burnt in pre-hartal violence in different parts of the capital.
Opposition BNP and its allies Jamaat-e-Islami, BJP and Khelafat Majlis called the shutdown to protest the government move to scarp the provision of the non-party caretaker government. IOJ, JAGPA and others extended their support to the hartal.
BNP alleged that Zahurul Huq from Elephant Road and Bablu from Dhanmondi were arrested in the evening.
BNP office secretary Rizvi Ahmed claimed that Khulna City JCD general secretary Kamal Ahmed was arrested from Khulna city in the evening. He also claimed that at least 250 BNP activists were injured in police action on the hartal campaigners across the country.
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India to hosts this year's World Environment Day tomorrow
New Delhi, Kolkata, 4 June : India will host this year's World Environment Day tomorrow and the government has announced that the country will continue to play a very important role in defining the terms of environmental debate at the global level.Each year a different country is chosen as the principal venue for the global celebration of World Environment Day which falls on 5 June and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has selected India as the global host of this year's programme.
The theme of this years celebration is "Forests: Nature at Your Service", which highlights the crucial environmental and economic roles played by the forests, particularly in India.
"The message is largely to the international community that India is willing and determined to play and is playing a very important role in defining the terms of environmental debate," Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh in his message to the world on the occasion.
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BNP to go non-stop movement to thwart annulment of CG
Dhaka, 4 June : Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia on Saturday said her party might be compelled to go for tough non-stop movement if the government does not refrain from annulling the system of caretaker government embodied in the Constitution.
She said authority of amending the Constitution lay with parliament, and not any court. Nor it is not mandatory for parliament to implement verdict of the court on amending the Constitution. Khaleda told a crowded press conference at her Gulshan office this evening that BNP would thwart the ill motive of government.
Dhaka, 4 June : Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia on Saturday said her party might be compelled to go for tough non-stop movement if the government does not refrain from annulling the system of caretaker government embodied in the Constitution.
She said authority of amending the Constitution lay with parliament, and not any court. Nor it is not mandatory for parliament to implement verdict of the court on amending the Constitution. Khaleda told a crowded press conference at her Gulshan office this evening that BNP would thwart the ill motive of government.
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GS Prakash Karat to review CPI(M) debacle in West Bengal
Kolkata, 4 June : CPI(M)'s West Bengal state committee met here today with party general secretary Prakash Karat as special invitee to finalise its review report on the end of the uninterrupted 34-year rule of the Left Front in the state.Party sources said during the two-day session Karat is likely to discuss the factors responsible for the drubbing in the Assembly elections with the state leadership which took up district and block-level reports on the poll reverses.
The meeting is also expected to analyse the wrong estimate of the party's prospects in the election when the leadership forecast 199 seats for the Left Front to be able to form the eighth Front government in the state.
Former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was present at the meeting, which will also take up the issue of post-poll violence by TMC.
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FM hopes Singapore would import more B'deshi Products
Dhaka, 4 June : Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni expressed hope that Singapore would import more Bangladeshi Products to reduce the trade gap between the two countries.
She told this during her meeting with new Singapore Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam at the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday, said a press release.
Dhaka, 4 June : Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni expressed hope that Singapore would import more Bangladeshi Products to reduce the trade gap between the two countries.
She told this during her meeting with new Singapore Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam at the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday, said a press release.
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WB BJP state president Rahul Sinha offers party to resign
PTI, Lucknow, 4 June : BJP's review of its performance in the recently-held Assembly elections to five states saw its West Bengal unit chief Rahul Sinha offering to resign owning "moral responsibility" for the party's defeat, but it was shot down by the top leadership.During the discussions on BJP's dismal poll performance in all the five states - West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, senior party leaders made efforts to know why their calculations went wrong.
Rahul Sinha, BJP state unit president of West Bengal, told party President Nitin Gadkari that he was owning responsibility for the party's poor showing in the state.
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CPI(M) leaders paraded, assaulted for alleged corruption
PTI, Burdwan, 4 June : Eight local CPI(M) leaders were today paraded by being pulled with the ropes tied around their waists before being beaten up by villagers at Saraighar in Burdwan district over alleged corruption.
The eight CPI(M) leaders - Achinta Mondal and Srikanta Ghosh, both local CPI(M) committee members, former secretary of the gram panchayat Jahar Ghosh, besides Ashwini Mondal, Sukumar Pramanik and Kartik Mondal, three gram panchayat members and Sunil Mullick, the secretary -- had called a meeting of the villagers in a field, local Trinamool Congress leader S K Jamal said.
The villagers had demanded an explanation on how Rs six lakh in development funds was spent about a fortnight ago and the CPI(M) leaders had said that an explanation would be given today, he said.
PTI, Burdwan, 4 June : Eight local CPI(M) leaders were today paraded by being pulled with the ropes tied around their waists before being beaten up by villagers at Saraighar in Burdwan district over alleged corruption.
The eight CPI(M) leaders - Achinta Mondal and Srikanta Ghosh, both local CPI(M) committee members, former secretary of the gram panchayat Jahar Ghosh, besides Ashwini Mondal, Sukumar Pramanik and Kartik Mondal, three gram panchayat members and Sunil Mullick, the secretary -- had called a meeting of the villagers in a field, local Trinamool Congress leader S K Jamal said.
The villagers had demanded an explanation on how Rs six lakh in development funds was spent about a fortnight ago and the CPI(M) leaders had said that an explanation would be given today, he said.
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Total and darkest "Lunar Eclipse" on the night of 15 June
PTI, Mumbai, 4 June : With the sun, earth and moon falling in a straight line on the night of 15 June, a celestial drama, showing the darkest lunar eclipse in the 21st century, will occur, an official spokesperson said here today.The moon will pass through the shadow, cast by the earth, producing a beautiful spectacle in the sky. As the moon slips into the earth's umbra (dark shadow), it will slowly turn coppery red, Programme Coordinator (Scientific) at the Nehru Planetarium Suhas B Naik-Satam said.
This will be the darkest lunar eclipse visible over the skies of India in the 21st Century, after the last darkest lunar eclipse 40 years back on 6 August, 1971, he said.
The lunar eclipse will be visible throughout India and it will start at 23:53 pm(IST) and it will end at 03:32 am on 16 June, Satam said.
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WB Govt orders judicial probe into Mostafa Quasem's death
Kolkata, 4 June : The West Bengal government today ordered a judicial inquiry into the death of CPI(M) MLA Mostafa Bin Quasem at the MLA Hostel here in deference to the request of his son Masum.
"The Chief Secretary will decide the terms of reference of the one-member judicial commission," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters here.
Kolkata, 4 June : The West Bengal government today ordered a judicial inquiry into the death of CPI(M) MLA Mostafa Bin Quasem at the MLA Hostel here in deference to the request of his son Masum.
"The Chief Secretary will decide the terms of reference of the one-member judicial commission," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters here.
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Asian Development Bank assures fund for big solar system
UNB, Dhaka, 4 June : Asian Development Bank (ADB) has in principal agreed to provide financial support to Bangladesh for implementing a solar system project for generation of 500 MW power.The assurance came from the top executives of the multilateral lending agency at its 3-day Asia Solar Energy Forum’s Conference in Bangkok that ended on 1 June. A delegation led by PM’s Energy Adviser Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury attended the conference.
“Responding to our call, ADB has in principal agreed to provide the financial support to a 500 MW capacity solar energy project. Now, other things will be worked out to implement the proposed project and the amount of fund will be determined on that basis,” Tapos Kumar Roy, Additional Secretary of the Power Division, who attended the conference told UNB.The ADB arranged the conference as part of its policy to promote renewable energy, particularly the solar-based power system in the Asian countries. The lending agency has planned to introduce 3,000 MW solar-based power system in the region by 2013.
Delegations from most of the Asian countries including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Maldives participated in the conference.
Bangladesh delegation included Power Secretary Abul Kalam Azad, Additional Secretary Tapos Kumar Roy, IDCOL chief executive office Islam Sharif and Rahimafrooz Renewable’s managing director Munawar Moin.
Officials attended the conference said Bangladesh proposed a plan for introducing 500 MW solar panel-based system that includes solar irrigation pump; solar roof top in urban areas; and mini grids solar plants in rural area.
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