London

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said her government would give priority to connectivity if it comes to power next time. The government has also a plan to construct a nuclear power plant in the country’s southern part, she said. The PM while attending her question-answer session also informed the Jatiya Sangsad yesterday that law enforcement agencies arrested 20,767 drug peddlers since the current drive was launched in May this year. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Hajj Program of 2018 at Ashkona Hajj Camp in Dhaka yesterday. Speaking on the occasion, the PM urged everybody to remain careful to stop spreading confusion about Islam. The Jatiya Sangsad passed 'The Press Institute Bangladesh Bill 2018' seeking to bring PIB activities under the ambit of the law. Information Min...

Former Tower Hamlets Councillor Shahed Ali who was imprisoned for housing fraud has been ordered to repay £180,000 or face being returned to prison. The Confiscation Order requires him to pay £110,000 to Tower Hamlets Council and the Government for money he made as a result of his fraud. He has also been ordered to pay the Council's legal costs of £70,000. In 2009, Mr Ali applied for social housing after claiming to be sleeping on a sofa at a relative's house. He was subsequently given a one bedroom council flat in Christian Street off Brick Lane. However, Mr Ali failed to disclose that in fact he owned a private property at Manchester Road, E14, and had also occupied a property at Cannon Street Road, in the Whitechapel ward he represented. Tower Hamlets Council became suspicious afte...

The Mayor of Tower Hamlets has called on Network Rail to rethink its decision to inflict damaging rent increases on hardworking small businesses based in railway arches across the borough. Mayor John Biggs and Cllr Motin Uz-Zaman (Cabinet Member for Work and Economic Growth) have written to the Secretary of State for Transport and the Chief Executive of Network Rail to urge them to reconsider the decision to hike the rents in advance of selling off thousands of railway arches across England and Wales. Some businesses have seen their bills rocket by as much as 350 per cent. The impact is already being felt, with a number being forced to find new premises or close their doors altogether. The council understands that it is part of a strategy to make the apparent value of the national arche...

The Cabinet has approved the draft of 'The National Agriculture Policy 2018' incorporating the facilities of using nano-technology in the agriculture sector to control diseases of the crops and determine generic nutrition. The approval was given at the Cabinet meeting held at the Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair yesterday. The meeting also endorsed the drafts of the 'Bangladesh Shishu Academy Act, 2018’, ‘The Health Development Surcharge Management Policy, 2018’ and the draft of ‘Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons’. The Jatiya Sangsad has passed the Wage Earners’ Welfare Board Bill, 2018 aimed at providing services and ensuring welfare to expatriates abroad and their family members living in the country. Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Mi...

Tower Hamlets council has successfully prosecuted a premises illegally offering sexual services. On the 19th of June 2018, Cheng Xiang Chinese Medicine Limited, trading as Health one at 66 Middlesex Street, E1 7EZ was found guilty at Thames Magistrate Court of breaching the terms and conditions of their special treatment licence by allowing the premises to be used by prostitutes, for soliciting or any other immoral purposes. The Council's legal team and officers from the Environmental Health and Trading Standards Service presented the court with evidence including an account from a client who was offered services of a sexual nature at the premises. The defendants argued that the sexual services offered did not amount to prostitution as they did not involve full sexual intercourse. Howeve...

Festival season in Tower Hamlets moved up a gear on Sunday July 1, when the council successfully hosted another renowned Boishakhi Mela, attracting around 40,000 revellers across the day from the borough and beyond. A parade from Brick Lane to the festival site in Weavers Fields, Bethnal Green officially launched the biggest celebration of the Bengali New Year in Europe. The colourful procession with music and fabulous floats included a magnificent tiger, an elephant as well as a peacock whose striking plumage was at the front of the parade. The hot weather was perfect for the day with glorious sunshine adding to the carnival atmosphere. On the main stage, some of the biggest names in Bangla music and dance performed as people of all ages and backgrounds rocked to the music. Headline ...

The Finance Bill 2018 was passed in the Parliament with some changes, including lowering of VAT on internet services, continuation of VAT exemption on computer and its parts and increase the tariff of cigarettes. Finance Minister A M A Muhith moved the bill which was passed by voice vote in the House yesterday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said the budget for the upcoming fiscal was placed thinking the welfare of the people. The PM, while taking part in the discussion on budget for next fiscal yesterday evening, said the fate of the common people of Bangladesh has really changed as we have taken steps to give the people at all level a decent and economically prosperous life. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has emphasised on undertaking a far-reaching plan for improving the life and live...

    Eight fire engines and 58 firefighters are currently battling a fire at a tower block in Mile End. The London Fire Brigade (LFB) say half of a flat on the 12th floor of a tower block is alight in Wellington Way, Mile End. The Brigade received over 90 calls to the fire and were first called at about 12.30pm. Crews from Bethnal Green, Shadwell, Stratford and Whitechapel are in attendance. Forty people were forced to flee the tower block as smoke billowed over east London. At this stage, the LFB say the cause of the fire is unknown. Muhbeen Hussain wrote online: There is a Tower Block in Mile End, London on fire. Fire fighters are attending to it. Pray that everyone is getting out safe. Emergency services are attending but the fire seems to be very much ablaze. ...

The Finance Bill 2018 was passed in the Parliament with some changes, including lowering of VAT on internet services, continuation of VAT exemption on computer and its parts and increase the tariff of cigarettes. Finance Minister A M A Muhith moved the bill which was passed by voice vote in the House yesterday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said the budget for the upcoming fiscal was placed thinking the welfare of the people. The PM, while taking part in the discussion on budget for next fiscal yesterday evening, said the fate of the common people of Bangladesh has really changed as we have taken steps to give the people at all level a decent and economically prosperous life. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has emphasised on undertaking a far-reaching plan for improving the life and live...