Five operatives of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad have been arrested in the capital Dhaka, a Rab official said on Sunday.

Of the five, one is a Pakistani national while the remaining four are Bangladeshi citizens, Rab Assistant Director (media wing) Mohammad Kamaruzzaman said

The arrested are: Rezwan Ahmed, 26, of Karachi, Pakistan, two brothers — Imazuddin alias Munna and Sadek Hossain alias Khoka — sons of Mohiuddin of Hajiganj thana in Chandpur, Abu Naser Munshi of the same district, and Nannu Mia alias Belal Mandol of Kotwali thana in Sylhet.Rab Intelligence Wing and Rab-2 in a drive from around 1:30am to 6:30am arrested the militants at 5/F Sukanya Tower near the Gausia Market on the city’s Mirpur road.

The militant suspects belong to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad group which is reportedly responsible for the 2001 terrorist attacks on the Indian Parliament in New Delhi, said Colonel Matiur Rahman, additional director general of Bangladesh’s elite Rapid Action Battalion.

Rezwan at a press briefing at the Rab headquarters confessed that he had been working as a coordinator of Jaish-e-Mohammad in Bangladesh and also a recruiting agent for conducting operations in India

To improve the security ,VBangladesh navy and US Navy going to arrage a joint tranning secession.
The United States’ Navy Ship SAFEGUARD (T-ARS 50), the lead ship of the SAFEGUARD class and the Navy’s only forward-deployed rescue and salvage vessel, will conduct a port call in Chittagong on Feb. 13 to 18.

“During the port call, the crew will train together with Bangladesh Navy sailors on advanced diving and salvage techniques,” a U.S. embassy press statement said in the capital, Dhaka on Thursday.

The USNS Safeguard last visited Bangladesh in November 2008.

This visit is the latest in a series of exercises with the Bangladesh Navy Special Warfare and Diving Salvage Center (BN SWADS) at the BNS Issa Khan Naval Base in Chittagong, the statement added.

“This port call demonstrates United States government’s commitment to Bangladesh and to regional security by promoting military-to-military relationships throughout Asia and the Pacific,” the statement noted.

The interest rate on 15-Year Bangladesh Government Treasury Bonds (BGTB) remained unchanged Tuesday as the rate failed to attract interest from commercial banks.

The yield, also known as coupon interest rate, on the 15-Year BGTB was 8.74 percent, unchanged from the previous auction on Jan.13, according to auction results issued Tuesday.

“The interest rate on the bond has been fixed in line with the market demand,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, told official without elaborating.

Eighteen bidders offered bids amounting to US$17.46 million (BDT 1.21 billion) for the risk-free government bond. Only four bids amounting to $4.62 million (BDT 320 million) were accepted.

About $9.81 million (BDT 680 million) was devolved on primary dealers, the central bank of Bangladesh said.

“Most of the banks expect that the demand for fresh investment would go up in the near future and then the interest rate on the long-term security would increase further,” said a senior treasury official of a private commercial bank..

The central bank earlier selected 15 PDs – 12 commercial banks and three non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) – to handle government-approved securities in the secondary market.

Currently, four government bonds are traded in the markets: 5-year, 10-year, 15-year and 20-year

Taka falls against Dollar.
Bangladesh taka (BDT) fell further against the US dollar on Monday following a rise in demand for the greenback in the inter-bank foreign exchange market.

The US dollar was traded between Tk 69.27 and Tk 69.31 in the foreign exchange market on the day against Tk 69.27 of the previous day, treasury officials said.

The BDT has been depreciating since January 24 this year following an increase in demand for the greenback in the inter-bank market to settle payments for import of petroleum products, scrap vessels, edible oil and food grains.

“The exchange rate between BDT and the US dollar has been re-fixed in line with the market demand,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE, adding that the central bank is monitoring the country’s foreign exchange market closely to keep it stable.

“The upward trend of US dollar is likely to continue for a few more days if the central bank refrains from intervening in the market,” a senior treasury official of a leading private commercial bank told FE.

He also said the demand for the greenback might decline shortly after easing pressures on payments for petroleum products, scrap vessels, edible oil and food grains particularly wheat.

Today the entire world is gradually becoming a Digital Planet. Almost every state is heading towards a knowledge-based society and Bangladesh cannot stay away from the advantages out of it. Though it is very easy to speak about such a dream, i.e. making a country
The golden jubilee of the independence of Bangladesh would be observed in 2021. The country has already fixed its target of achieving ‘Digital Bangladesh’ by that time. It is a timely expectation for proper positioning the country among other hi-tech countries globally. A country goes digital means it will be an e-state means all its activities of governance, commerce, education, agriculture etc., will be powered by computer and internet. Today information communication technology (ICT) drives the technological and economic advancement of the developed as well as emerging economies. The goal of establishing such digital country would bring success in the ICT sector, which cannot be ignored in this 21st century. Heading towards that target will link every device such as cell phone, internet, computer, e-learning, e-governance etc.

The World Bank asked Bangladesh on Wednesday to follow experiences and practices of Singapore in information and communication technology (ICT) to achieve its vision for a digital country by 2021.

“Digital Bangladesh has generated public excitement and support, challenged the government to new ways of working and thinking … and solve problems through ICT,” said Ellen Goldstein, country director of World Bank in Bangladesh.

“Drawing on the Singapore example, the Bangladesh government’s vision of Digital Bangladesh can be a catalyst to improve service delivery to citizens and business in Bangladesh…and accelerate the country’s development through the new knowledge economy,” she said.

“This technology has become pervasive in our daily lives, and it has so much potential that we have to fully tap, here in Bangladesh,” she told a seminar on the occasion of Singapore ICT Day.

Singapore has been consistently ranked as one of the top countries in e-governance and for ease of doing business. Today in Singapore, over 2,000 government services are available online.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set a goal for her impoverished south Asian country to become fully digital by year 2021 in line with her efforts to improve economy, cut poverty and make Bangladesh a middle-income nation by then.

Her government has started supplying computers in schools in the remotest areas of the country and hiring skilled teachers side by side with offering free education up to grade 12, officials said.

Verghese Mathews, the High Commissioner of Singapore in Bangladesh, said that the e-Government systems aimed at increasing the efficiency of the public sector, and improving transparency and good governance, all of which in turn enhanced overall business infrastructure.
More :Towards a digital Bangladesh

“There is the TradeNet system, which provides a single window for all trade permits and related matters. Then there is LawNet, an electronic filing for the judicial system; and, finally, the Online Business Licensing Services, which delivers integrated cross-agency services through one platform,” the High Commissioner said
We will follow you to eradicate corruption as Singapore is a corruption free country and a successful model in ICT,” said Abdul Awal Mazumder, secretary, ministry of science and ICT of Bangladesh.

He said that over the next 12 years Bangladesh planned to introduce IT systems in all government offices, trade and business to alleviate poverty, create more jobs and eradicate corruption.

Yeong Wee Tan, a senior official of Singapore-based IDA International Pte Limited, said that in the 1960s Singapore was a loan recipient of the World Bank and had since progressed to a point where individual GDP (in Singapore) has now reached $34,000.

“With the help of IT we achieved tremendous success as it is very vibrant in our country and South Asian nations including Bangladesh can reap the fruits of our experiences,” Wee Tan said in his presentation.

Future problems in space with satellite attacks. Many countries are now beginning to get their own defence satellites. Satellites are vulnerable but extremely important for defence.-guru

Bangladesh plans to launch its own communications satellite within a year, Post and Telecommunications Minister Raziuddin Ahmed Raju said yesterday.

The cost of the programme will be between $150 million and $200 million, he said.

The minister disclosed the government plan to reporters during a media briefing.

“We’ve already started talking to different countries including the US, Japan and China, to help us launch our own satellite,” the minister told The Daily Star over the phone.

The satellite would serve commercial purposes including improving telecom services, helping to meet the booming demand for it. Telecom operators could subscribe to satellite services on a commercial basis, the minister added.

Television broadcasting, and meteorological data including disaster warnings would be available easily by the satellite. It might also be used for mapping natural resources, and to predict weather to help farmers, experts said.

“We are very serious. We hope to give the people the good news soon,” said Raju.

He said the government is discussing the technical aspects with the US, Japan and China that have vast experience in the field. Some other countries are also showing interest, he added.

After assessing the proposals of interested countries, the government will pick the one that is most favourable for Bangladesh, the telecom minister said.

“Financing by the interested country will be an important criterion for awarding the contract,” he said.

Experts have welcomed the venture saying that satellite technology would provide quality and faster telecom services to the people, and reduce the risks associated with natural calamities.

“A satellite of our own can benefit us a lot, including better weather forecasting and survey of mineral resources,” said Satya Prasad Majumder, a professor of electrical engineering and electronics at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).

Currently, Bangladesh subscribes to information about its mineral resources from the US, he said.

Majumder said a satellite could also help control mass communication traffic, such as television and radio broadcasting.

“You don’t need a cable TV network if you have satellite services,” the Buet professor also an expert on communication technology told The Daily Star.

Syed Margub Morshed, former chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission said a satellite can give a country uninterrupted communication services.

“If the fibre optic cable is snapped, services will remain undisturbed through VSAT for the satellite,” he said.

There are several thousand satellites in space, launched by more than 50 countries. Bangladesh’s neighbours India and Pakistan launched their own satellites in 1980 and 1990 respectively.

Considering the importance of tourism ,Bangladesh has formed a new police unit to ensure more protection for local and foreign tourists and tourism spots in the South Asian country, a senior spokesman of Bangladesh Police said on Sunday.

    ”We’ve formed the new unit — Tourist Police — to ensure foolproof security of all local and foreign tourists in the country,” Assistant Inspector General of Bangladesh Police Md Nazrul Islam told Xinhua on Sunday.

    He said the newly formed Tourist Police unit, which started its journey on Sunday from the country’s southeastern Cox’s Bazar Sea Beach, some 391 km away of capital city Dhaka, will expand its network to other tourist spots.

    Side by side ensuring security, Islam said the police unit has also been assigned for conducting rescue operations.

    Another main task for this particular unit is to look after the nature and wildlife in the tourist spots, he said, adding “We hope that the foundation of the unit will help restore more confidence among local and foreign tourists regarding safety and security.”

    According to statistics of the country’s National Tourism Authority (NTA), a total of 349,837 foreign tourists visited Bangladesh in 2008, about 21 percent higher than that in 2007.

    Despite the rise in number of tourists’ visits, the incomes from the tourism sector in 2008 came down to 4. 60 billion taka (about 65.7 million U.S. dollars) in 2008 from 5.27 billion taka (about 75.3 million U.S. dollars) in 2007, the NTA figure showed.

    The lack of adequate security and poor infrastructure were largely blamed for lower tourist arrivals in the country’s many remote tourism spots, which officials said virtually prompted the authorities to create the new unit.

The Bangladeshi belongs the prospect of the Nation .
-(boston.com)Bangladesh native Abdul Momen, a management professor at Framingham State College, was a longtime critic of successive governments, military and civilian alike, in his homeland.

Now that he has been appointed ambassador to the United Nations for Bangladesh, Momen will have to field criticism of the six-month-old government he has agreed to represent. And some of that criticism is surfacing in his adopted state, Massachusetts.

Rafiq Islam, who lives in Falmouth on Cape Cod and has been in the United States for 26 years, contacted the Globe to say he had just returned from Bangladesh and found the crime and security situation to have deteroriated. He said that extrajudicial killings of political figures also have continued despite the promises of the new government.

He said that the new prime minister, Sheikh Hasina Wazed, elected in a landslide victory in December, appeared to be doing what she had done in her first term as prime minister, from 1996 to 2001, promising change and then failing to deliver. “The situation has not improved very much. Many international watchgroups have criticized the government, and the so-called progress has not materalized. It is more of a political dictatorship than a real democracy,” Islam said.

I wrote about Momen’s appointment in the Globe on Tuesday. Last night I asked him by email to respond to criticism that the government isn’t doing enough or acting fast enough. Momen, who is traveling today to Bangladesh to collect his credentials for the UN post, answered by email before departing.

He said that in just a few months, the Awami League government led by Hasina in fact has made significant progress in a number of areas.

For example, he said the government had cut the prices of essential foodstuffs, including rice, by half in the last six months. To reduce corruption, the government has required Cabinet members to declare their wealth, and has made the financial system more transparent. The economy is likely to grow 5.5 percent to 6 percent this year, Momen said, ahead of earlier projections.

He acknowledged that there are law and order problems in Dhaka, the huge capital city, and that extrajudicial killings have continued, although he said the pace of such killings has been cut drastically. “More importantly, in the present government, both the Law Minister and the Home Minister have publicly stated that they will not tolerate any extrajudicial killing and those responsible would be punished to the fullest extent of the law. This is a good beginning. I have written personal notes to both the Ministers to fully stop the extra-judicial killing as it simply unacceptable.”

Momen said terror attacks by Islamist extremists had stopped since Hasina took office, but he added that because of campaigns against tax evaders and corruption, “many well-to-do people are upset and they are trying to derail the government.”

The daughter of one of the most prominent victims of extrajudicial violence in Bangladesh is Nazli Kibria, a professor at Boston University. Her father, Shah AMS Kibria, a member of Parliament and former finance minister, was assassinated in 2005. The family maintains a web site about Kibria and the assassination. The previous year, Hasina herself narrowly escaped a similar grenade attack.

Nazli Kibria applauded the appointment of Momen to the UN, but said she was upset that nothing had been done by the new government to bring the perpetrators of her father’s killing to justice. “My father was a member of the Awami League. We expected this new government to do something, but they’ve done absolutely nothing. My family is not happy about it,” she said.

Momen said in his email: “As you know, extra-judicial killing has become a norm, especially over the last seven years, and it is taking time to fully stop it.”

The post of Army Chief rolled a Major role in the last 3 year
The government has appointed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s principal Staff Officer Lieutenant General Abdul Mubin Chowdhury as new army chief.

General Mubin replaces General Moeen U Ahmed, who on April 6 last year had his service extended by an year.

Lieutenant general Md Abdul Mubeen, appointed new army chief, will be promoted to the rank of general with effect from June 15 when he takes office, the defence ministry said in a statement Sunday.

Mubeen’s three-year tenure succeeds that of General Moeen U Ahmed, who goes on retirement from June 15 on completion of an extended term, said the ministry.

A former GOC in Jessore and Chittagong, Mubeen was made Principal Staff Officer to the Armed Forces Division a year ago, on June 4 2008, in a major reshuffle of top army posts.

He also came to the fore giving a well-received televised statement on the night of Feb 27 to clarify that the government’s announcement of a ‘general amnesty’ during the Feb 25-26 BDR mutiny did not mean that mutineers involved in killings, arson and other crimes would go unpunished.

Moeen U Ahmed is widely regarded as having had a key role in the ‘1/11 takeover’ and formation of the new caretaker government after a state of emergency was imposed Jan 1 2007 during a period of extreme political turmoil.

On April 6 last year, Moeen’s term was extended by another year. The extension took effect from June 15 that year.

He will replace General Moeen U Ahmed, whose extended term ends on June 13.

Mubin made a well-received televised statement on the night of Feb 27 to clarify that the ‘general amnesty’ the government had declared during the Feb 25-26 BDR mutiny did not mean that rebel BDR border guards involved in killings, arson and other crimes would go unpunished.

Moeen U Ahmed is widely regarded as having had a key role in the ‘1/11 takeover’ and formation of the new caretaker government after the state of emergency was imposed on the day in 2007.

The unprecedented two-year caretaker administration came to be called the ‘army-installed’ government, while Moeen’s speeches on national and political matters raised question as to his intentions.

He was repeatedly forced to deny any possibility of an army takeover during the two turbulent years.

On April 6 last year, the Moeen’s term was extended by another year. The extension took effect from June 15 that year and ends on June 13.

Mubin, meanwhile, served as the coordinator of the national coordination committee against corruption during the caretaker government’s anticorruption drive against political bigwigs and businessmen.