BANGLADESH

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has suspended its flight operations to Cox's Bazar due to renovation of runway at the airport there.

The last flight had left for Cox's Bazar on Jun 30, and it could not be known when the next flight would take off for the destination.

"The Board of Directors has decided to operate Boeing 737 on this route. But the runway at Cox's Bazar is not fit for operations of this aircraft. So, the flight operations were suspended until the completion of renovation work," said Biman Bangladesh Airlines Director of Sales and Marketing Mohammad Shanewaz.

He said flights operation to Cox's Bazar would remain suspended until the renovation was over. He said the operation may resume in two months.

According to Biman officials, the directorial board at the end of last year decided not to use F-28 and DC-10 aircraft on the route.

Biman had been using F-28 aircraft on the route and it was put off-use on Jun 30.

"Biman had a plan to purchase Dash model aircraft for this route instead of F-28. But financial constraints forced the authorities to back off," said a Biman official preferring anonymity.

Years of losses had forced Biman to take flights off seven domestic routes in 2007.

The Cox's Bazar airport runway is expected to be expanded to 9,000 feet in length alongside increasing its width in the first phase of renovation. The second phase would replace airport establishments like the terminal building.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will continue its funding support for the Padma bridge project even though the World Bank and ADB had withdrawn from the project alleging corruption in the process of project implementation.

"We would like to go slow like another lender of the project Japan International Cooperation Agency," said a senior IDB official posted at its Dhaka office.

The Jeddah-based IDB is committed to provide $140 million for the $2.9-billion Padma bridge project. IDB's announcement came a day after JICA announced to continue its funding for the project. Japan's JICA has promised to give $400 million for the project.

"IDB is not going to cancel its deal right now. The bank wants to give more time to the government of Bangladesh," said the IDB official.

"The bank is even eager to go for a new deal over implementation of the project if the existing deal does not finally work out," he added.

The main financier of the project, the World Bank, cancelled its $1.2-billion fund commitment on Friday. ADB, which had pledged to contribute $610 million to the project, also hinted following the same path.

The Hindu Marriage Registration Act-2012 was presented in Parliament on Tuesday keeping marriage registration optional.

The Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shafique Ahmed presented the bill which is the first of its kind for Bangladesh's Hindu minority.

It has been sent to the Standing committee on the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry for scrutiny, which is expected to submit a report within a month.

The bill eyes documenting Hindu marriages and saving women of the religious minority from marriage-related frauds.

It has been said in the proposed law that due to lack of documentation in the Hindu marriages, the women become vulnerable to various swindling and it becomes hard to provide them legal assistance.

The bill also reasons that documents relating to marriage registration are vital during tours abroad and immigration.

On May 21, the Cabinet had endorsed the draft of the Hindu marriage registration law.

Neighbouring India passed the `Hindu Marriage Act` in 1955.

According to the bill, marriages of Hindu men below 21 years or women below 18 will not be eligible for registration.

The condition of popular contemporary Bengali fiction writer Humayun Ahmed, undergoing treatment in the United States, improved further on Tuesday.

A K Momen, Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, told bdnews24.com of the improvement.

The writer's oxygen mask, put on due to respiratory problems, was removed on the evening of Jul 2, Momen said.

He said Humayun could talk as his condition had improved.

Referring to doctors at the Bellevue Hospital, where Humayun is undergoing treatment, Momen said Humayun's last CT scan report did not indicate any trace of cancer in his body. He further saidthe wound from recent surgery was also healing.

Doctors had successfully pumped out around 400 millilitres of water around 6:45pm on Jul 2 (NY time). Otherwise, he could have been infected by pneumonia, Momen said.

Humayun went to New York on Sep 14 last year with his wife and children for undergoing colon cancer treatment. The writer had been living at a rented flat in Queens with his family.

He underwent 12 chemotherapy cycles at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre.

Humayun returned home on Jun 19 after undergoing colon surgery on Jun 12. He was admitted to a Jamaican hospital one day later as he suffered from abdominal pain. From there, he was transferred to the Bellevue Hospital for second surgery.

Born in Mymensingh in 1948, he did his graduation from Dhaka University and later joined the university as a lecturer of Chemistry but retired to become a fulltime writer and filmmaker.

Winner of prestigious Bangla Academy Award in 1981, Ekushey Padak in 1994 and three National Film Awards (Best Story in 1993, Best Film 1994 and Best Dialogue in 1994), Humayun continued writing while he was undergoing treatment in New York.

On Jan 13, the government made the 63-year old writer Senior Special Adviser to the Bangladesh Mission at the United Nations in New York.

Old Dhaka's alleged top criminal "Dakat' Shaheed and one of his associates Kalu were shot dead in what RAB called 'crossfire' early on Wednesday.

RAB spokesperson Commander M Sohail told bdnews24.com they had information that Shaheed,42, recently came back to the country after hiding abroad for a long time

"We had information that he returned to Dhaka on Sunday," he added. He was supposed to enter Luxmibazar with his associates on Tuesday night.

"Acting on tip-off, RAB set a trap for him."

"Shaheed and his assistant died on the spot after taking bullets when the Rapid Action Battalion personnel fired on them in retaliation near the city's Luxmibazar area around 12.30am."

Shaheed and Kalu had to stop their motor-cycle before a RAB barricade near the entrance to Luxmibazar.

"And at one point, out of nowhere they fired on us first. They were killed on the spot when we fired back on them," he added.

Two pistols were recovered at the scene.
Shaheed was an accused in 12 cases including the sensational goldsmith Prem Krishna murder case.

Meanwhile, locals took out processions to celebrate the news of his death.