BANGLADESH

The government is going to appoint A T Ahmedul Huq Choudhury as the new chairman of the Public Service Commission.

Choudhury, a member of the commission, is replacing Saadat Husain whose tenure expired on Wednesday.

"A T Ahmedul Huq Chowdhury has been finalised as the new chief. The Prime Minister's Office has finalised the selection. However, we are yet to receive the official letter," the commission secretary Chowdhury Babul Hasan told  on Wednesday.

In a quick reaction, Choudhury told : "I have heard of the appointment, but did not receive any official letter yet."

Choudhury served as Additional Inspector General (AIG) of police before joining the commission on June 23, 2009.

The Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) has imposed extra taxes on polygamous marriages.

CCC public relations officer Saifuddin Ahmed said the city authorities imposed the extra taxes to discourage polygamy.

The decision came at corporation's 17th monthly general meeting, chaired by CCC mayor Manjur Alam on Wednesday afternoon.

Saiful said, "Citizens will have to pay specific taxes for marriage, adopted children, birth and death certificates according to an announcement of the ministry of local government, rural development and cooperatives."

As per the CCC decision, a man has to pay Tk 2,000 instead of 1,000 for registration of his second marriage, Tk 10,000 instead 5,000 for the third and 20,000 instead 10,000 for the fourth marriage.

The registration fee for the first marriage was also raised to Tk 50 from 25.

Councillor Zohur Lal Hazari said general councillors had appreciated the decision.

CCC women councillor Syeda Rehnuma Kabir Ranu told , "Polygamy cannot be controlled by only raising taxes, rather this is an endorsement. Only good mentality can help check polygamy."

Another women councillor Zannatul Ferdous told , "Many males, who marry without permission from their existing wives, will be discouraged if taxes are increased."

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have arrested two teenagers who allegedly hacked the Supreme Court website.

The suspected hackers, 'Russel', 16, a 10th grader, and 'Raihan', 17, a first-year student of a college, were detained on Wednesday, RAB intelligence wing director Ziaul Ahsan told

The website was hacked on Nov 11 morning and restored in the evening.

According to the message seen on the site in the afternoon, the hackers identified themselves as "Bangladeshi UnderGround Hacker 3xp1r3 Cyber Army".

They, however, claimed that all the data is safe and not being tampered with or deleted.

"Some other hackers are trying to hack Bangladeshi sites!! And delete all the data !! (sic)," they warned.

US firm Boeing will deliver its second Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to Biman on Thursday in a follow-up to the first Boeing delivery in Oct 2011.

These two aircraft deliveries are a milestone for Biman and Boeing, and a sign of the growing Bangladesh-US economic relationship, said a US embassy press release.

Under a $1.2-billion sales agreement signed in 2008, Boeing will supply 10 brand new aircraft, including four Boeing 777-300ERs, four Boeing 787-8 and two Boeing 737-800NG aircraft over the course of 10 years, part of a long-term fleet renewal programme that aims to modernise Bangladesh's national carrier.

The next two deliveries of two 777-300ERs are scheduled for 2013.

Army deployment in the Naryanganj city polls did not go ahead due to a 'misunderstanding', although the Election Commission had asked for it.

Chief election commissioner A T M Shamsul Huda on Tuesday referred to a letter from the Armed Forces Division he had received on Sunday over two weeks after the commission had asked for an explanation.

The commission had written a letter on Nov 3 asking why there was no military despite its request.

A newly formed city corporation, Narayanganj, went to the polls on Oct 30.

Huda quoted the letter, which explained the matter, saying, "There was a misunderstanding between the government and the commission."

"Army deployment was not possible as the letter [seeking deployment] had been issued without any discussion with the ministry and since the defence minister was abroad," Huda told

"There has to be same formalities before seeking army deployment," he added.

This is the first time the government has explained reasons for not deploying army as sought by the commission.

So far, the government failed to provide army in one municipal election and two by-elections.

The EC had sought army for Narayanganj polls following demands of Awami League's rebel candidate Selina Hayat Ivy and BNP-backed Taimur Alam Khandaker.

Taimur announced boycott of the election following a decision taken by chairperson Khaleda Zia protesting the non-deployment of army.

The commission and the government were criticised by several quarters over the issue.

On the voting day, Huda said they would sit with the government to discuss the matter.

On Tuesday, he said there had also been EC's 'weaknesses' in the non-deployment of army.

"Meetings with law enforcers takes place before elections. The army is called in the meetings. They usually submit their own observation. But nothing was done this time. Even the home ministry could not say anything about it," he added.

He also said prime minister Sheikh Hasina, also the defence minister, had been in Australia and the principal staff officer of the Armed Forces Division had been in Saudi Arabia during the election.

Returning from Australia, Hasina had said, "The commission sought army at such a time when we were busy abroad."

'CONSTITUTION WAS NOT VIOLATED'

Asked whether the government violated the constitution by not fulfilling EC's demand, Huda said, "I don't think so."

Violating the charter is not so easy, he said adding, "It depends on many things."

BNP said the government violated the constitution by not deploying army in the election, a claim the prime minister had denied.

Two days before the voting, Huda had said the government is bound to give army in line with the constitution.

Opposition leader and BNP chief Khaleda Zia has sent a letter to Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh urging him to conduct a joint survey before the work of the Tipaimukh Dam and Hydroelectric power plant starts.

Khaleda has voiced the opposition's anxiety over the issue and that it feels the need for a joint survey, the party's acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam told reporters on Wednesday.

"A solution has to be drawn through discussions between the two countries. There is still time, conduct a joint survey before constructing the dam," he said, quoting the letter sent on Monday.

The letter has pointed out that building the dam would not only endanger livelihood of Indians dependent on the Borak River but also 30 million Bangladeshis who are hugely dependent on the Meghna River.