Kutcher gives online hint about joining 'Men'

AP, LOS ANGELES, May 13: Twitter king Ashton Kutcher gave his followers a big clue Wednesday that he may be joining "Two and a Half Men" — either that or he's punking them.

"What's the square root of 6.25?" the actor asked in a tweet.

The answer is 2-1/2.

Kutcher's online message came amid reports that he's nearing a deal to replace the fired Charlie Sheen on TV's top-rated comedy. The 33-year-old was negotiating with series producer Warner Bros., The Hollywood Reporter said Wednesday, citing unidentified sources. Earlier, Broadcasting & Cable reported Kutcher had emerged as a candidate for the CBS series.

Warner Bros. declined comment, as did CBS. Kutcher's representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

There is deadline pressure to get a deal done, with CBS presenting its fall lineup to advertisers in New York next Wednesday.

Kutcher gained fame on another sitcom, "That 70s Show," then focused on film roles (the romantic comedy "No Strings Attached" the most recent) and producing, including the prank show "Punk'd."

Warner and CBS have been shopping for a name actor who could keep the highly lucrative sitcom afloat without Sheen. Within recent days, negotiations with British film star Hugh Grant fell apart because of reported creative differences.

There was speculation Wednesday that Kutcher could parlay his nearly 6.7 million Twitter followers and even bigger Facebook fan club into continued healthy viewership for "Two and a Half Men."

But Kutcher's effort to use social media to boost "The Beautiful Life," which he produced for the CW network, proved lackluster: The 2009 series, which was a venture between CBS and Warner Bros., was canceled after just two episodes.

It's been more than two months since Warner fired Sheen in the show's eighth season, a move that followed the hard-living actor's bouts of wild partying, repeated hospitalizations and a bitter media campaign against his studio bosses who shut down production.

Tilda Swinton shines in perplexing drama

Reuters, CANNES, May 13: The irony in the title of Lynne Ramsay's film, "We Need to Talk About Kevin," is that no one ever does.

In many ways, in fact, the film is almost as non-verbal as the newly restored version of Georges Melies' 1902 "A Trip to the Moon," shown here at Cannes earlier this week. "Kevin" is about one character yet takes place entirely in the mind and world of another. Seldom has a son and a mother been more unknown to each other than in this drama, which is as perplexing as it is intriguing.

Its Cannes exposure should send Ramsay's movie, her first in nearly 10 years since "Morvern Callar," on a distinguished ride along the festival circuit with acquisitions coming in many territories, all of which will be tough sells theatrically. Moviegoers seek out a film such as "We Need to Talk About Kevin" for the experience of a top-flight director taking complete charge of a fractured, intricate narrative design and a top-flight actress at the peak of her game. With this film, Tilda Swinton establishes herself as the one to beat for best-actress honors at 2011 Cannes.

The Kevin in the title is a troubled, angry youth who, you realize fairly soon in a narrative that tracks back and forth in time, has committed a high-school murder rampage. He is played by three different youths at varying ages but the two playing him as a 6-year-old (Jasper Newell) and a teenager (Ezra Miller) definitely have the evil eye. Sinister and brooding, each stares at his mother with dark intent, the mind behind those eyes clicking away with devious plots. But the movie really isn't about Kevin. It's about Swinton's Eva, the mother who maybe didn't want to have the child in the first place, but that's just a guess. She never says so.

Eva has moved from her New York suburban home following the tragedy into a humble house that is the frequent target of vandals, even as she is the frequent target of outrage from a community that scorns her for producing such a monster. Kevin is incarcerated in a nearby prison that she occasionally visits as she tries to get back on her feet with a menial job at a travel agency.

Since the movie largely takes place in her tormented mind, it free-associates with images, words and themes going as far back as her romance with Kevin's father, Franklin (John C. Reilly), somewhere in Europe. The movie, in fact, opens at a Spanish festival where a large crowd of young people douse themselves with tomatoes and juice, calling forth one of the basic theme images of the movie - a redder-than-red red that takes in the festival bacchanal, red paint vandals throw on her house, the supermarket soup cans she hides behind to avoid irate parents and the blood from Kevin's many victims.

Reading aloud to her son from Robin Hood -- the only time in the film mother and son enjoy each other's company -- the movie tracks Kevin's growing obsession with archery from rubber toys to increasingly powerful bows until the final weapon he uses to hunt classmates.

An enmity exists between son and mother, seemingly from birth, that Ramsay - who wrote the screenplay with her husband Rory Stewart Kinnear from Lionel Shriver's prize-winning novel -- never tries to solve. The film hints that no mother could cope such a son; indeed Kevin despises his mother, seems to have no friends and treats his dad and young sister Celia (Ashley Gerasimovich) with only feigned affection. This boy likes nothing and no one -- except for archery.

The father is clueless about his son's treachery and ignores any attempt at enlightenment by his wife. Of course, the movie's events are memories filtered by guilt, regret and anguish so they are by no means reliable. The camera sticks with Swinton, letting you know that this is her thinking back, searching for answers. None come.

Although on camera every minute, Swinton gives the impression that this woman would love to disappear. Even before the massacre, she looks like she wants out of her life. The actress conveys every thought racing through her character's mind.

What is she doing in this dreadful suburb with a husband she forgot how to love and a son she cannot reach? The last thing she knew she was at a tomato-throwing festival in Spain.

Ramsay shoots in Cinemascope so no matter how close she gets to her heroine, you sense the environment as well. Small objects and little details about what Kevin is up to take on a more ominous aspect in wide screen. This is, in a way, a real horror film about everyday things and a disconnected family.

All these narrative tricks and the intense scrutiny on a single character do put a viewer at a remove from these events, however. This is a coolly cerebral film with odd music choices -- everything from the Beach Boys to vintage country -- and a few odd images such as a microscopic view of breast cancer cells dividing, apropos of absolutely nothing. It's a film to think about and debate over but not one to embrace.

Matthew Perry to take break to "focus on sobriety"

Reuters, LOS ANGELES, May 13: Former "Friends" star Matthew Perry said on Thursday he is taking a break from show business to focus on his sobriety.

"I'm making plans to go away for a month to focus on my sobriety and to continue my life in recovery," Perry told celebrity news website TMZ.

Perry's publicist said the actor was going away but said he is not currently in rehab.

Perry's decision follows a disappointing reception for his new TV comedy "Mr. Sunshine". The 41 year-old actor starred, created and co-produced the show, which made its debut in February but is thought to be at risk of cancellation after low ratings.

Perry made two trips to rehab for addiction to alcohol and prescription painkillers during the 10-year run of "Friends" , on which he played wise-cracking Chandler Bing.

Unlike some of his "Friends" co-stars, Perry has had limited luck in his career since the end of the comedy series in 2004. His last major network TV series "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" was canceled in 2007 because of poor ratings.

Actress Marlee Matlin hit with tax bill, sells home

Reuters, LOS ANGELES, May 13: Actress Marlee Matlin says she is selling her Los Angeles-area house and taking her four children out of private school to ease a cash crunch that has left her owing $50,000 in back taxes.

Matlin, 45, told People magazine that she was working out a payment schedule with the Internal Revenue Service to settle her tax bill from the 2009 fiscal year.

She said she and her husband, a police officer in the Los Angeles municipality of Burbank, "have always made ends meet in the past -- and we will in this circumstance as well." Her spokeswoman confirmed the details of the news report.

In this case, the couple are seeking $899,000 for their modest, five-bedroom, 2,600-square-feet (243-square-meter) home in the suburb of Pasadena, according to a Reuters search of public records.

Matlin told People that the family planned to move to a suburb with a good public school. As a middle-class working actor without a steady paycheck, Matlin said she and her family do not live an extravagant lifestyle.

Nor did her tax woes did not mean she was "a bad person," she told People. "It's reality. It's the reality that a lot of people in America are facing."

Matlin, perhaps the best known deaf actress in Hollywood, is a contestant in the current season of "Celebrity Apprentice."

She won an Academy Award in 1987 for her lead role in "Children of a Lesser God," and made Emmy-nominated guest appearances in episodes of "Seinfeld," "Picket Fences" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

Tearful rocker James Durbin exits "American Idol"

Reuters, LOS ANGELES, May 13: Rocker James Durbin, fighting tears of disbelief, was thrown off "American Idol" on Thursday as viewers chose their Top 3 on the TV singing show.

Durbin, 22, who was widely seen as a sure bet for going all the way to the finals, got the least number of votes despite universal praise from the judges during the week of inspirational songs.

His shock departure left 17-year-old country singer Scotty McCreery, pop/country singer Lauren Alaina, 16, and Haley Reinhart, 20, to compete for a place in the finale.

"I worked so damn hard and I was hoping to get there," said a stunned Durbin, tears streaming down his face.

"But I did so much stuff that's never been done on the show. I did what I came here to do, and that was to give metal a chance," he declared.

Durbin, who suffers from the tic disorder Tourette syndrome and describes himself as a high-functioning autistic, made a name for himself on the top-rated show with a series of hard rock performances, often against the advice of in-house mentor Jimmy Iovine.

But on Wednesday's performance show it was Reinhart who got a big thumbs-down for her rendition of the Michael Jackson's "Earth Song." In an unusually harsh remark, judge Randy Jackson chided Reinhart for "screaming."

For all the controversy earlier this season about audience bias toward male contestants, the final three is now made up of two women and a sole man.

"Idol" has increased its audience this year after three years of slipping ratings, thanks mostly to the arrival of new judges Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler.

Tyler on Thursday debuted the music video of his first U.S. solo single -- a pop-heavy song called "(It) Feels So Good."

The 2011 "American Idol" finale airs on the Fox network on May 24 and 25, when viewers will choose the winner, and he or she lands a recording contract.

Past winners Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood have gone on to major singing careers, while eliminated finalist Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar for her supporting role in the big-screen adaptation of the "Dreamgirls" musical.

Ashton Kutcher in deal to replace Charlie Sheen: reports

Reuters, LOS ANGELES, May 13: Actor Ashton Kutcher was reported on Thursday to have signed a deal to replace Charlie Sheen in a revamped version of top-rated U.S. television comedy "Two and A Half Men."

Deadline Hollywood said Kutcher, 33, the husband of actress Demi Moore, had signed a deal to join the cast of the CBS show when it returns for a ninth season.

The Hollywood Reporter said the "That '70s Show" actor was in final negotiations on Thursday night.

CBS and "Two and a Half Men" producers Warner Bros. Televison declined to comment on the reports, which came a week before CBS -- the most-watched U.S. broadcast network -- presents its new season line-up to advertisers in New York on May 18.

Sheen was fired in March from his starring role as a womanizing bachelor after weeks of erratic behavior and for publicly insulting the producers. Production was also shut down for the remaining eight episodes of the 2010-11 TV season.

Producers have since been scrambling to retool the money-spinning show without Sheen, or add new characters. On Wednesday, industry sources said British actor Hugh Grant had pulled out of negotiations citing "creative differences."

Kutcher is best known for his role as a dim-witted stoner in "That '70s Show," a comedy that aired for eight seasons on Fox and remains popular in syndication. His movie career has been less successful. He was last seen in the January romantic comedy "No Strings Attached" opposite Natalie Portman. He was an early adopter of Twitter, with a huge following of 6.8 million people.

"Two and A Half Men" is the most-watched TV comedy in the United States with about 15 million regular viewers and has been a lucrative source of advertising revenue for CBS, and syndication fees for Warner Bros.

Sheen, 45, who has been in and out of drug rehab for the last 12 months, was the highest-paid actor on U.S. television, earning more than $1.2 million per episode.

Warner Bros. last month strongly denied claims by Sheen that the studio was in talks to reinstate him, and said there was no chance of him returning to the show.

Md Muzammel Hossain made Bangladesh chief justice

Justice Md Muzammel Hossain was on Wednesday appointed the 20th chief
justice of Bangladesh superseding senior-most Appellate Division judge Shah
Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman once again.

The president, Zillur Rahman, made the appoint- ment with effect from May
18, said an official gazette notification issued on Wednesday.

Justice Muzammel Hossain will replace the incumbent chief justice ABM
Khairul Haque, who will retire on May 17.

With the appointment of Justice Muzammel, Justice Nayeem was superseded for
the second time.

Justice Khairul Haque was appointed chief justice on September 26, 2010
superseding two senior judges of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court
— Justice Md Abdul Matin and Justice Nayeem.

The Supreme Court Bar Association has earlier demanded appointment of the
senior-most Appellate Division judge as chief justice.

The bar association president, Khondker Mahbub Hossain, on Wednesday told
New Age that the association would hold its special general meeting today to
decide its action in protest at the supersession.

'We will protest at the supersession in the appointment of the chief justice
as such supersession is always done on political considerations and it
tarnishes the image of the judiciary,' he said.

Justice Nayeem is unlikely to be the chief justice as he will retire on
November 15, 2011 and Justice Muzammel will retire on January 17, 2015.

If the constitutional provisions relating to caretaker government are not
amended by the parliament, the outgoing chief justice Khairul Haque will
remain eligible to head the caretaker government during the next general
elections to be held by April 2014.

Justice Nayeem went on leave on September 30, 2010 when Justice Khairul
Haque was appointed chief justice superseding him.

Although he joined the Supreme Court on January 30 after the leave, he told
the chief justice, as he mentioned in a letter, that he was unable to
discharge his judicial duties sitting in the bench led by Justice Khairul,
who was junior to him.

Five killed in city

Five people were killed at Kalabagan, Kadamtali, Khilgaon, Tejgaon and New Market in the capital between Monday and Wednesday.

The police found Golam Rahman, 58, dead in his house in Lake Circus at Kalabagan on Tuesday night.

Golam, a former additional chief engineer of the Roads and Highways Department, lived in the house with his wife, former lawmaker Sahana Rani, and two daughters.

The police and the family said that he had been stabbed to death in his house sometime between Monday night and Tuesday evening. His legs and hands were tied up with ropes.

The victim's brother-in-law Shahin Iqbal Sabu said that Sahana Rani and her daughters had gone to their village home in Jhenaidah on Monday morning, leaving Golam with their domestic help Nurul Islam at home.

'I went to their house about 9:00pm Tuesday and found the door open. I went inside and found him lying dead on the floor with several stab wounds in the body. I then called the police,' he said.

Shahin Iqbal said that he went there after his sister asked him over telephone to inquire about Golam as she had failed to contact him since Monday afternoon.

He said that the domestic help disappeared after Golam had been found dead.

The Kalabagan police officer-in-charge, Mohammad Enamul Haque, said that they were trying to arrest Nurul Islam, sued in this connection by Golam's wife. 'Nurul Islam is the only suspect,' he said.

The body was sent to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for a post-mortem examination.

At Kadamtali, assailants stabbed Russell alias Ujjwal, 20, of Purba Dholairpar to death on Wednesday morning.

The family and the police said that a local gang called Ujjwal out of his house and stabbed him indiscriminately in the chest, face and abdomen about 8:30am.

He died after he had been sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Ujjwal worked in a fan factory in Old Town of Dhaka and was from Chandpur.

The body was sent for a post-mortem examination.

No case was filed.

At New Market, assailants hacked Khairul Islam Babu, 36, was an employee of a real estate company, to death in a house on Wednesday morning.

New Market police subinspector Nur Alam said that they had found Khairul dead on the 13th floor of a building about 2:00pm.

A case was filed.

The body was sent for a post-mortem examination.

At Khilgaon, two cousins, Babu and Piplu, allegedly strangled a young man, Ahmed Ali, 14, at Uttarpara of Madartek about 9:30pm over a land dispute, the police said.

Ahmed was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where he was pronounced dead about 10:30pm.

At Tejgaon, the Far East Insurance Company's office assistant Nasir Howlader, 30, died in Samorita Hospital in Dhaka after he had fallen down from the roof of a building at Karwan Bazar.

The victim's wife Nazma Khatun Ruma alleged that he had been pushed down from the roof.

News Source: New Age

SC leaves changes for JS to decide by 2012

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered retention of some provisions, including the Supreme Court's authority over the subordinate judiciary and Bangladeshi citizenship, made by the fifth amendment to the constitution, until December 31, 2012 to enable the parliament to make necessary amendments to the constitution.

The five-member Appellate Division bench, presided over by Justice Md Muzammel Hossain, ordered retention of the martial law proclamation that had amended Article 6 of the constitution regarding Bangladeshi citizenship.

It ordered retention of the martial law proclamations that had amended Article 44 guarantying the right to move the High Court for the enforcement of the fundamental rights and Article 102 that had restored authority to the High Court to pass necessary orders to enforce fundamental rights.

The martial law proclamations that had amended Article 96 making provisions for the Supreme Judicial Council for removal of judges and holders of constitutional offices and repealed Part VI-A of the constitution, which was added by the fourth amendment making provisions for forming 'National Party' as the lone political party in the country, will also be retained, the court ordered.

The amendments made by the fifth amendment 'are hereby provisionally condoned until December 31, 2012 in order to avoid disastrous consequence to the body politic for enabling the parliament to make necessary amendments to the constitution and also for enacting laws promulgated during the aforesaid period,' the court said.

The court passed the order in its verdict in the government's appeal seeking a review of the Appellate Division judgement delivered on February 2, 2010 upholding the High Court verdict delivered on August 29, 2005 declaring the fifth amendment void.

In Wednesday's verdict, the Appellate Division disposed of the government's petition with a modification of the operating portion of its December 2, 2010 judgement.

The court also ordered the government to hand over possession of the Moon Cinema Hall at Wiseghat in Old Town of Dhaka to the Bangladesh Italian Marble Works Limited managing director Maqsudul Alam 'in three months free from all encumbrances and/or to resolve the dispute amicably within the said period.'
The High Court had delivered the verdict after hearing a writ petition filed by Maqsudul over a dispute relating to the Moon Cinema Hall.
In Wednesday's verdict, the Appellate Division expunged the observations made by the then chief justice Tafazzul Islam in the February 2, 2010 judgement and upheld the High Court verdict delivered by Justice ABM Khairul Haque, now the chief justice.
The February 2, 2010 judgement overturned the High Court's observation that had said, 'The Fourth Schedule as envisaged under Article 150 is meant for transitional and temporary provisions. Since Paragraph 3A and 18 were neither transitional nor temporary, the insertion of those paragraphs in the Fourth Schedule is beyond the ambit of Article 150 of the constitution.'
The February 2, 2010 judgement observed, 'We are of the view that the High Court Division unnecessarily dealt with Article 150 of the constitution. As it appears, Paragraph 21 and 22 as included in the Fourth Schedule are the results of the Eleventh and Twelfth Amendment which were enacted in order to strike down remaining portion of the provisions of the Fourth and the Fifth Amendment.'
'The Fifth Amendment which ratified and validated Paragraph 3A and 18 is ultra vires because it ratified and validated the martial law proclamations, regulations and orders made by the authorities not recognised by the constitution and Article 142 thereof,' said the February 2, 2010 judgement.
The High Court bench of Justice ABM Khairul Huq and Justice ATM Fazley Kabir on August 29, 2005 delivered the verdict declaring illegal and void the fifth amendment and the martial law regulations issued between August 15, 1975 and April 1979.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party's secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain and three Supreme Court lawyers — Munshi Ahsan Kabir, Tajul Islam and Kamruzzaman Bhuiyan — filed two provisional petitions on May 3, 2009 as the present government accepted the High Court verdict and quit the legal battle against it.
The Appellate Division on May 4, 2009 allowed Delwar and the three lawyers to file regular petitions seeking permission to appeal against the High Court verdict.

News Source: New Age

SSC results to be published today [May 12, 2011]

The results of the Secondary School Certificate and equivalent examinations will be published today (May 12, 2011).

The education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, will ceremonially hand over the results to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the morning.

Nahid will officially announce the results at a press briefing in the secretariat at 1:30pm.

Students can collect results from their educational institutions at 2:00pm. The results will also be available on the education ministry's website at www.educationboardresults.gov.bd.

The examinations began on February 1 and ended on March 10.

Source: New Age

Low status, poor salary keep qualified people off pry education

Primary schools are facing shortage of qualified and skilled teachers as talented people do not take up teaching as profession because of low status, poor salary and no promotion in the job.

Teachers working in government primary schools have become Class III government employees since the nationalisation of primary education in 1973.  The status has not yet been upgraded.

The poor salary of a primary teacher is another reason why schools are not getting qualified teachers.

A non-trained assistant teacher gets Tk 4,700 in the pay scale. With house rent and other enumerations, an assistant teacher earns Tk 8,050 a month.

The salary is even lower for teachers in non-government primary schools where an assistant teacher gets Tk 5,100 a month.

A primary teacher in India gets three times the salary a teacher gets in Bangladesh, said Manzoor Ahmed of the BRAC University's Institute of Educational Development.

Manzoor and other educationists say that this low status and poor salary are having impact on children's education at the primary level.

'Will a university graduate want to be a Class III government employee?' Manzoor said. 'University graduates do not take up teaching in primary schools as a profession. When people who have nowhere to go are taking this profession, we should not expect qualified teachers to come in.'

Dhaka University Professor Emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury said, 'Primary education is the most important part of education as it creates the foundation of education for a student. If primary education is hampered for lack of qualified teachers, the whole education system will suffer.'

Many others take up teaching as a profession but they do not want to continue. Teaching has now become 'a transit profession' for many talented job-seekers who take up the profession for a transitional time and look for better options.

A head teacher of a primary school in the capital told New Age that two teachers had recently left her school.

Faruk Alam, an assistant teacher in the BG Press Government Primary School said, 'It is difficult to continue in a profession when you know that you will be spending your life in one position.'

A primary teacher begins an assistant teacher and he can only be the headmaster after being promoted. There is no other career option for a primary teacher.

'My friends who joined apparel factories have been promoted five to six times. But I have been as an assistant teacher for 24 years,' Faruk said.

As such, many positions of teachers are vacant in government primary schools.

The Nababerbagh Government Primary School at Mirpur in the capital has five teachers for 750 students.

In the country, 2,171 positions of headmaster and 4,731 of assistant teacher in 37,672 government primary schools are vacant, the primary and mass education minister, Afsarul Ameen, told the parliament on December 7, 2010. Directorate of Primary Education officials said the number of vacant positions had increased further.

Siddiqur Rahman of the Institute of Education Research in University of Dhaka said that it is not possible to improve the primary education system without increasing the salary and giving more career options for teachers.

Siddiqur, also a member on the committee that formulated the Education Policy 2010, said that it was possible to create more positions within the existing system.

'There are now only two positions in primary teaching — assistant teacher and the headmaster. There can be four positions — assistant teacher, senior teacher, assistant headmaster and the headmaster,' he said. 'There should be a career ladder so that a teacher can get promoted as field-level officials,' he said.

Many studies and committee reports have for long been recommending that the status and the promotion system of primary teachers should be changed.

The National Committee for Primary Education 1997 proposed a system for primary teachers so that a teacher can be promoted to be the director general of Directorate of Primary Education.

But no such recommendation has been implemented. Teachers believe that field-level educational officials and administrative officials in the primary education directorate do not want to change the status of teachers.

'If a teacher can be the director general of the directorate, it will be a problem for them as they would not get the chance to be the director general,' said a primary teacher. 'Field-level education officials will not be able to dominate us if our status is upgraded,' he said.

'The recruitment policy needs to be changed to put in place a promotion system for primary teachers. But primary education directorate officials are obstructing changes in the recruitment policy,' said Siddiqur Rahman, secretary of the Bangladesh Primary Teachers' Association.

The primary and mass education secretary, AKM Abdul Awal Mazumder, said that the ministry was trying to increase the salary of primary schoolteachers. 'The headmaster's salary will be increased very soon. We are also trying to increase assistant teacher's salary,' he said.

'We are trying to amend the recruitment policy so that primary teachers can get more chances of being promoted to field-level officials,' he added.

News Source: New Age

Frequency allocation delay holds up community radio

The Bangladesh Teleco-mmunications Regulatory Authority's delay in allocating radio spectrum frequencies to the fourteen non-governmental organisations which obtained licences to start community radio services in April last year is the main reason why none of them have started broadcasting, according to the NGOs

On 22 April 2010, the information ministry gave licences to 14 NGOs which intend to start community radio services on condition that they begin broadcasting within one year.

Four of the NGOs have still not received their frequency spectrums from the BTRA, and ten of them only received theirs more than two months ago in February and March.

A month ago the information ministry extended the period of time before broadcasting was required by 6 months.

Sabrina Sharmin, the programme director of Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service Bangladesh which won a licence to broadcast 'Radio Chilmari' in Kurigram district's Chilmari upazila, told New, 'We got a licence last April but we got a frequency spectrum only this February. That's why we failed to start our journey within the required period.'

She said that the radio stations are now selecting the foreign companies from which they will purchase the transmitters and antennas. 'After we have made our choice, we need to get the approval of purchase from the BTRC.'

Ziaul Haque, the chairman of Radio Nalta set up by the Nalta Hospital and Community Health Foundation for broadcasting in Kaliganj upazila of Satkhira district, told New Age that they had ordered an antenna and transmitter and hoped that they would be able to start test transmission by 22 June.

A number of other licensees are in the same position, including Srijony Bangladesh which will broadcast 'Radio Jhinuk' in Jhenidah town and Young Power in Social Action which will broadcast 'Radio Sagar Giri' in Sitakunda upazila.

The information ministry approved the idea of a community radio service in Bangladesh in 2008 and set up three committees to supervise the new service

Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, secretary to the information ministry who is also president of one of these committees — the National Regulatory Committee — told New Age that he hoped that the radio stations would come on the air within two or three months.

He admitted that the reason for the delay in broadcasting was the time it took to get frequency spectrums.

However BTRA's senior assistant director, Mohammed Sohel Rana, told New Age that they gave the frequencies within two months after the organisations applied for them.

He blamed the delay on the time it took for the home affairs ministry to give the NGOs security clearance.

According to the government's policy, community radios can play a vital role in providing education, information, entertainment and thus spur the development of the rural areas, particularly if they air programmes which will provide solutions to the problems faced by their clients.

Bazlur Rahman, the chairman of the Bangladesh NGO Network for Radio and Communication which is helping the NGOs to set up community radio stations, told New Age that the UNESCO, Canadian International Development Agency, Japanese embassy and Palli Karma Sohayok Foundation are providing funds for the establishment of the radio stations.

Some radio stations are also seeking funds from other sources

No NGO from the Chittagong Hill Tracts has so far applied for a community radio licence. Information commissioner Sadeka Halim told New Age that she thought that it was essential for the people of the hills to have their own community radio stations.

Source: New Age

BB governor urges banks to get involved in social activities

Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman on Tuesday urged the commercial banks to involve in social activities by encouraging the migrants workers to invest their remittances for productive use and sustainable economic development.

The central bank governor observed that the banks only received and delivered the remittances of the migrant workers for earning commission and did nothing to motivate them to invest their money for productive utilisation.

He was addressing a discussion meeting on 'Remittances for  Community Development : Exploring Alternative Schemes and Best Practices' jointly organised by Bangladesh Support Group, the Netherlands and Europe-based International Network of Alternative Financial Institution that links migrants remittances with microfinance institutions.

Atiur said the banks, local NGOs and other government agencies could play an active role in utilising NRB funds for social development activities in remote areas.

'It is observed that the bulk of remittances are used for consumption

of food, clothing and

agricultural land, home construction or repair and loan repayments with only little left for community development activities', he said.

'Perhaps NRBs find it difficult to locate appropriate channels for utilising their money for such community development initiatives,' he added.

He said there was no

crisis of liquidity but the crisis of trust. Investments would automatically

come if a conducive environment and trust could be ensured.

Atiur urged the non-resident Bangladeshis to invest in  such sectors like

power generation and renewable energy, software services, call cantres, basic legal documentation services, hotels and tourism in the country.

'NRBs know better the import demands and preferential tariff opportunities in their host countries. They can use this knowledge in profitable investment by setting up cost-effective labour intensive export manufacturing bases in Bangladesh and creating markets in the host countries and elsewhere', he said.

Triple L, Netherlands project coordinator Danielle De Winter, BASUG chairman Bikash Chowdhury Barua, INAFI Asia and Bangladesh

executive director Atiqun Nabi, NGO affairs bureau director general Muhammad Nurun Nabi Talukder and senior officials from banks, NGOs and government were present at the meeting.

Source: New Age