After India, now Bangladesh bans Peace TV

The Bangladesh Government has decided to stop airing Peace TV along with other unauthorized channels.

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu made the disclosure at a press briefing after a Cabinet committee meeting on law and order on Sunday, reports the Dhaka Tribune.

India refutes reports of NSG team's visit to Bangladesh

India today denied that a team of National Security Gaurd (NSG) was visiting Bangladesh amidst reports that it was in Dhaka to study the recent terrorist attacks that have shocked that country.

External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup, who is currently in South Africa accompanying Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said,"Just to clarify, reports of an NSG team visiting Bangladesh are false."

US issues fresh travel alert for B'desh, asserts threat of terrorism is 'real'

Cautioning its citizens to maintain caution in the wake of the attacks including the shooting in a mosque on Eid and the deadly assault in a cafe in Bangladesh, the United States has issued a fresh travel advisory calling on its citizens to be vigilant and consider the risk of travel to Bangladesh

Bangladesh PM Hasina's advisor blames "homegrown terrorists" for Dhaka attack

Blaming homegrown Islamist terrorists for the Dhaka restaurant terror attack in which 20 hostages were hacked to death, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's advisor Gowher Rizvi said the terrorists are trying to attack the core values of the society which are secularism, pluralism and democracy.

He said Bangladesh is an example of a tolerant Muslim majority state.

"Bangladesh is a secular country even though it is pre-dominantly Muslim. We are a very tolerant society. We are an exemplar of a Muslim majority state, which is secular, plural and democratic and I suspect they are attacking our fundamental core values," Rizvi told ANI while describing the terror attack as "barbaric, heinous, mindless and callous."

PM Hasina to address nation this evening following Dhaka hostage incident

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to address nation at 7:45 p.m. today following the hostage crisis at Holey Artisan Bakery in Kabul's Gulshan diplomatic zone that left over dozens of people killed.

"Bangladesh Television (BTV) and Bangladesh Betar (Radio) will broadcast the prime minister's speech starting from 7:45pm," the Daily Star quoted Ashraful Alam Khokon, Deputy Press Secretary of the Prime Minister as saying.

"Six attackers have been killed and 13 rescued. The attackers were not allowed to escape," the Daily Star quoted her as saying.

18-year-old Indian girl holidaying in Dhaka among those killed

An 18-year-old Indian girl holidaying in Dhaka was among 20 foreigners who were hacked to death by ISIS militants in a terror attack at a restaurant in Bangladesh capital's high-security diplomatic zone

The girl, Tarushi Jain, a student at UC Berkeley, was on vacation in Dhaka. Her father runs a garment business in Bangladesh for the last 15-20 years, according to officials here

Another Indian, a doctor by profession, had a narrow escape, as he spoke fluent Bengali and the terrorists mistook him for a Bangladeshi, they said

In a series of tweets, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said,"I am extremely pained to share that the terrorists have killed Tarushi, an Indian girl who was taken hostage in the terror attack in Dhaka

Indian doctor escapes death by inches in Dhaka hostage crises

Indian doctor Satyapal nearly escaped death today after being released, apparently because he spoke fluent Bengali and was considered to be a Bangladesh national by the gunmen, who held people hostage in an upscale cafe Holey Artisan in Dhaka's diplomatic zone last evening.

Twenty people including foreigners were shortly killed with sharp weapons by the gunmen after taking the diners hostage.

The deceased include eight Italians, some Japanese and South Koreans and one Indian and some Bangladeshi nations.

Hasina vows to do everything to 'uproot militants' from B'desh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today vowed to do everything to "uproot the militants and violent extremists" from Bangladesh after elite forces stormed a cafe and killed ISIS militants who had taken dozens of hostage.

"It was an extremely heinous act. What kind of Muslims are these people? They don't have any religion," she said in a televised speech, referring to the terrorists.

Security forces launch offensive to end hostage crisis in Dhaka restaurant

The security forces on Saturday morning stormed into the Dhaka restaurant to end an unprecedented hostage crisis, where it is believed that around 20 people are kept as hostage since last night.

According to the Daily Star, heavy sound of explosion started to rock the area at 7:40 a.m. this morning.

Charitable Trust graft case:Dhaka court rejects Khaleda Zia's plea

Dhaka, Apr.17 (ANI): A Dhaka court has rejected a petition filed by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia to cross examine yet again the investigation officer of Zia Charitable Trust graft case.

Judge Abu Ahmed Jamadar of the Special Judge Court-3 passed the order finding 'no ground'.

A lawyer of Khaleda submitted the petition before the court in her presence, reports Daily Star.

Earlier, Khaleda appeared before the court set up at Bakshibazar.

The High Court cleared the way for a lower court to continue the trial proceedings after rejecting Khaleda's petition.

Khaleda challenged the legality of the appointment of Harunur Rashid, the investigating officer of the case, saying that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had not published any gazette notice.

The ACC earlier filed the case accusing Khaleda and three others of abusing power in setting up the charity.
-Source ANI

Bangladesh court rejects petition to scrap Islam as a state religion

Dhaka, Mar. 28 (ANI): The Dhaka High Court has rejected a petition by secular activists to scrap Islam as the state religion.

The court was hearing a writ petition, initially filed 28 years ago, which challenged the constitutional amendment that gave Islam the status of a state religion, reports the Daily Star.

The move to make Islam the state religion had come during the dictatorship of Gen. H M Ershad, who had inserted a section in the eighth amendment to the constitution on June 9, 1988.

The amendment was immediately challenged through a writ petition.

The court heard the petition for the first time in June 2011 and sought an explanation from the government on why the part of the eighth amendment to the constitution that had made Islam the state religion and should not be annulled.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina brought back secularism as a pillar of the constitution but promised it would not ratify any laws that go against the central tenets of the religion.

The court hearing came amidst a crackdown by the Bangladesh government against 'militants and extremists' behind the 'Islamist violence' that has recently gripped the country.
-Source ANI