BANGLADESH

Sad news all bangladeshi people.one of our Actor-director Humayun Faridee died. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina condoled on Monday the death of versatile actor Humayun Faridee.

Her press secretary Abul Kalam Azad quoted her as saying, "Bangladesh will always remember his contributions in drama and culture".

He added that the prime minister prayed for the departed soul and expressed condolences to Faridee's family members.

The popular actor who graced television dramas, movies and theatres with his varied performances died at his Dhanmondi residence on Monday, aged 60. Faridee was ill for quite a few days and was even admitted to a hospital around two weeks back.

Actor-director Faridee was born on May 29, 1952 and studied economics at Jahangirnagar University. His acting career started off on the stage, with Dhaka Theatre.

He acted in numerous television dramas and was in Bangladeshi cinema for over a decade.

VERRY VERRY SAD NEWS for bangladeshi people.After 25 years of keeping audiences entranced with his acting prowess in television dramas, movies and theatres, Humayun Faridee finally made his concluding bow to the world stage on Monday.

He was 60.

Actor-director Faridee was born on May 29, 1952 and studied economics at Jahangirnagar University. His acting career started on the stage, with Dhaka Theatre.

He acted in Bangladeshi cinema for over a decade. But it was on television that Faridee really left his indelible mark, appearing in countless dramas and series that became the staple diet of Bangladeshi audiences.

Faridee brought to life a huge gallery of characters, and he went on to enjoy many successes on television and in the theatre. Some of the most famous productions he took part in includes Montasir Fantasy, Kirtonkhola, Keramot Mongol, and Durto wee.

Among his TV plays were Nil Nakshar Shandhany (1982), Durbin die dekhun (1982), Bhangoner shabdha suni (1983), Bakulpur koto Dur (1985), Mohuar Mon (1986), Sat Ashmaner Shiri (1986), Akdin hohat (1986), Chanmiar negative positive (1986), Ojattra (1987), Songsaptak (1987-88), Pathar Shomoy (1989), Dui bhai (1990), Kothao Keu Nei (1990), Shiter Pakhi (1991), Shomudre Gangchil (1993), Tini Akjon (2005), Chandragrasto (2006), Kachher Manush (2006), Mohona (2006), Vober Hat (2007), and Srinkhal (2010).

In the tele-play "Bhangoner Shobdo Shuni" his line "Ami toh jomi kini na, fani kini" ( I don't buy land, I buy water) became a favourite with the audience. His characterisation of Ramzan in "Shongshoptok" achieved legendary status.

Faridee also left his mark on the silver screen. Movies he acted in include: Hulia, Dohon, Shontrash, Bachelor, Joy Jatra, Shamolchaya, Bhohubrihi, Ekattorer Jishu, Mayer Morjada, and Aha!.

Patronised by filmmaker and director Nasiruddin Yousuf Bachchu, Faridee, a fifth batch student of economics department of Jahangirnagar University, started his career on the stage around the 1980s. Legendary playwright Selim Al-Din also ushered on his career on the stage.

Anu Muhammad, a professor at economics department at Jahangirnagar University and a fellow classmate of Faridee, told on Monday that Faridee was a very talented and amiable person.

"His theatrical career basically started with the encouragement of Selim Al-Din," Anu said. During Faridee's student life, he and Selim Al-Din together organised drama festivals, published magazines, and arranged study-circles, he added.

breaking news Grameenphone has won a crucial legal battle with regulators BTRC as High Court has rejected claim for an extra Tk 236 crore in spectrum fees levied in 2008.

A two-judge bench also said the BTRC was however right in asking for the spectrum and licence renewal fees without deducting value added tax.

Justices Farid Ahmed and Sheikh Hasan Arif, at the same time, observed that the mobile operator would legally get waiver on such taxes.

Barrister Rafiq ul Haque led the GP legal team while attorney general Mahbube Alam, Ajmalul Huq QC and others defended the BTRC.

The existing undergraduate medical curricula in Bangladesh's medical institutions are going to be revised in line with modern practices and changing pattern of diseases.

Prof Fatima Parveen Chowdhury, director of the Centre for Medical Education (CME) that works on the updation, told bdews24.com that in the updated curricula, they would also design medical ethics in a way that students have to practise it throughout the five-year study.

According to Bangladesh Health Watch Report 2009, medical students do not pay much attention to ethics chapter as 'it is not likely to be asked in examinations'.

The report believed practising ethics could improve the quality of health services plagued by 'malpractices.'

"It has become imperative to update the curricula in line with the current needs of medical practice in Bangladesh and the shift of disease pattern and use of advanced technologies in the world," Prof Fatima said.

For instance, she said, once communicable diseases were widespread in Bangladesh, "but with the passage of time, non-communicable diseases like cancer, heart diseases, etc. outstripped the communicable ones".

"So we need to give these diseases priority in the study," she said and added that Bangladesh witnessed the use of advanced technologies in medicare in the last decade, but they did not find place in the curricula.

First formal medical curricula in independent Bangladesh were introduced in 1988, which were revised only once, in 2002.

The director said they would try to incorporate all, needed to make the curricula contemporary, and steps would be taken to lessen the 'content' burden of the students by introducing one more professional exam at the end of the fourth year.

Currently, students appear in three professional exams – first after second year, second after fourth year and final at the end of the fifth year.

The Centre for Medical Education will elicit ideas and suggestions from senior teachers of various departments – Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pathology, Microbiology, Pharmacology, Forensic Medicine, Community Medicine, Medicine, Surgery and Gaynaecology and Obstetrics – studied at medical colleges.

A committee will also work to integrate selected medical students' recommendations into the draft updated medical curricula, which in turn will be sent to the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) for approval.

"Once approved, medical colleges will have to follow it," Prof Fatima said and sounded hopeful that they would be able to complete the process by 2012.

She noted that the curricula will able to improve the skill of future medical graduates.

The curricula should be updated every 10 years, Prof Fatima felt.

The first-ever citizen journalism-based blog, blog., is celebrating its first year of practice of citizen journalism on its Bengali website.

Editor-in-chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi inaugurated the celebration at a function at the Public Library auditorium in the city on Sunday.

"While launching the blog a year ago, I had said that it won't be like other blogs," Khalidi, the chief guest of the function, said.

"Here, bloggers will not only comment on other incidents or issues, they will also give information. They will practise a type of journalism," he added.

Referring to a cliché the proverb 'comment is cheap, information expensive', he said it is easy to comment but hard to collect or give information.

The work to present information has become easy due to easy access to information technology, he said.

"To me, scrutinising the information is a tougher job."

"We need to be alert when the issue is responsibility," Khalidi added.

He unveiled a publication containing a compilation of selected writings of bloggers over the last year, called 'Nagar Kabya'.

Ten bloggers, who have enriched the blog and made it an alternative medium through their contributions and strong opinions since its inception last year were given away Nagarik Sommanona Award.

The award recipients are Abu Sufian, Mottalib Darbari, Basanta Bishu, M Sahid, Nijhum Majumder, 'Futurist', Ilias Chowdhury, Nahuan Myth, Mamun M Aziz and Probir Bidhan.

Three bloggers were also given special awards. They are M Hashem, who contributed highest number of posts, Nahuan Myth, the highest commenter, and Ilias Chowdhury, who contributed the highest number of photo posts.

The site was inaugurated at the Little Mag Corner of the Amar Ekushey Gronthomela on Feb 11 last year.

"Here," he continued, "the two sides will have to be responsible – you will give information as citizen journalists and the moderators will check it."

"We should keep in mind that everyone will have to suffer if fails to behave responsibly.

The issue of law or rules surfaces when freedom is misused, he felt.

"We may have to pay the price culturally, socially and politically for being irresponsible in [using] internet," he said.

Trains were able to leave Dhaka after a five-hour standstill due to derailment of two wagons of a goods train in the city, but those entering the capital still remain stranded on the outskirts.

The wagons carrying oil jumped the tracks near FDC level crossing at Karwanbazar around 5:15pm on Sunday, Kamlapur Railway Police sub-inspector Moktar Hossain told .

"Oil is leaking through one of the tankers that got ruptured," he said.

No causalities were reported, he added.

Local people gathered near the ruptured tanker to collect oil.

An official from railway's control room said it would take three-four hours for train communication to get normal.

Farhat Quader Chowdhury, wife of senior BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury arrested on charges of his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity during the Liberation War, has claimed that her husband is not being provided proper legal aid in line with the International Human Rights Act.

The lawyers of the BNP leader have also made similar complaints to the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) and appealed to halt proceedings of the war crimes case against him for eight years.

The appeal was made on Sunday, a day before the tribunal is scheduled to decide on Monday whether it will frame charges against the BNP lawmaker, tribunal's registrar Mohammad Shahinur Rahman told .

In the appeal, the defence lawyers sought the tribunal to provide them probe report of the investigation agency, other relevant information and documents against Chowdhury within the next 14 days.

The tribunal was requested in the appeal to review the laws of the tribunal, and visit the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Crimes (Tribunal) (Amended) Act-1973 as per the Rome statute.

After the submission of the appeal, Farhat Quader at a press conference at the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president's room told reporters that the ruling Awami League in its previous term had signed the ICCPR on Sept 6, 2000. Besides, Bangladesh also signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Rome Statute of the international crimes tribunal act.

"The appeal has been made so that the laws are followed properly," she said.

"You can't make the tribunal controversial. Either you run it under the native laws or under the practicable international laws. We would not get fair justice if it is made controversial. You can bring him (Chowdhury) to Hague, if necessary," she added.

Farhat Quader alleged that the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act-1973 was enacted for the trial of military personnel. "Why others should be tried under the law (formulated for the military personnel)?"

On March 25, 2010 the government constituted a three-member tribunal, investigation body and a lawyers' panel to try war criminals under the provisions of the 1973 International War Crimes (Tribunal) Act.

A bill on joining a global initiative to combat terrorism was tabled in parliament on Sunday.

The bill aims at exchanging assistance among countries to investigate, prosecute and conduct judicial acts in criminal matters, law minister Shafique Ahmed said after presenting the bill.

Deputy speaker Shawkat Ali sent the bill it to the parliamentary standing committee on law, judiciary and parliament affairs ministry for a three-day scrutiny.

The bill, Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act- 2012, said any country seeking assistance in criminal matters will get highest aid from Bangladesh if the matter is considered a crime in Bangladesh.

Claiming to have hit upon some vital clues in the journalist duo's killing case, police on Sunday said they will make some important revelations on Monday.

Speaking after a meeting of the committee to co-ordinate simultaneous investigations by several law enforcing agencies into the murder of Meherun Nahar Runi and Sagar Sarowar, DMP deputy commissioner (Tejgaon zone) Imam Hossain said they have made some progress.

"We are trying our best to keep the honourable minister's promise," said the top cop referring to the 48-hour deadline given by the home minister to wrap up the case.

Police chief Hassan Mahmud Khandaker has called a press conference at 1pm on Monday after the expiry of the home minister's time limit. The gruesome killings, progress in the investigations and the law and order situation of the country is likely to be talked about at the conference.

ATN Bangla senior reporter Runi and her husband Golam Mustofa Sarowar, alias Sagar Sarowar, a news editor with Maasranga Television, were murdered in the early hours of Saturday at their rented flat in west Rajabazar in the capital.

Home minister Shahara Khatun had ordered police and other law-enforcing agencies to arrest those responsible within 48 hours while on a visit to the scene of crime.

The minister on Sunday reiterated that the killers will be arrested within the specified time limit.

The house where the journalist duo was murdered comes under Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station. Detective police, Rapid Action Battalion and Criminal Investigation Department are probing the murders.

When asked about the investigation progress in the past 24-hours, DMP detective police joint comissioner Maruf Hasan told : "[The] investigation is going on and so are attempts to arrest those involved. We hope that we will be able to arrest them shortly and produce them in the court."

Imam Hasan said two teams of detective police, one of CID and two of police are probing the killings. Detective official Maruf is coordinating the investigations.

Stating that there have been a meeting of the coordination committee on Sunday, Imam Hasan said the teams are scheduled to sit at a meeting tonight (Sunday).

Though RAB is investigating the case separately, their activities are also being coordinated, Hasan said. "Everything is being given importance as this is a really sensitive case. Nothing is being left to chance."

Runi's younger brother Nowsher Alam Roman lodged a murder case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station at 5pm on Sunday, after nearly 36 hours of the incident, against 'unnamed' assailants.

Station's officer in-charge (OC) Zakir Hossain Mollah told that no name or specific number of the assailants was mentioned in the case details.

He said investigation teams have talked to the journalists' families and will do so again, if needed.

A police officer related with the probe team, who cannot be named, told : "The investigation has made great progress. Important information has been found through mobile tracking. Police are investigating to be sure of certain other things."

Meanwhile, RAB and detective police have collected pictures from Dhaka Reporters' Unity and video of the picnic of journalist couple's son Mahin Sarowar Megh's school, and they are being examined, officials said.

The five-year-old son of the duo, who was at home at the time of killing, told police that two people killed his parents whom he had seen earlier at a picnic.