Bangladesh restores mobile networks along its borders with India
Dhaka, Jan 1: Bangladesh has reversed its decision of shutting down mobile networks along the country's over 4,000 km-long borders with India, two days after asking telecom operators to block the services citing "security" reasons, according to media reports on Wednesday.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Sunday directed the shut down of around 2,000 base transceiver stations, affecting around 1 crore users in 32 districts that share border with India and Myanmar.
The government's directive to the telecommunication operators came days after India's Parliament passed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), causing much concern in Dhaka that it could lead to an influx of migrants from India.
The reports did not give any reason for reversing the government's decision on Sunday.
The BTRC, in its order to telecommunications service providers- Grameenphone, Teletalk, Robi and Banglalink- said network coverage within one kilometre band along the border areas with India should be suspended until further notice "for the sake of the country's security in the current circumstances."
Jahurul Haque, BTRC chairman confirmed the latest decision to reverse the restrictions, bdnews24.com reported.
According to The Daily Star, the authorities sent an email to all the mobile operators early today, asking them to restore the networks.
Please reinstate operations of the BTSs (Base Trans-Receiver Stations) near the Bangladesh-India border sites immediately, the email, by Md Sohel Rana, deputy director of BTRC's spectrum management division, said.
Mobile operators also confirmed that they have started to up their network again but it will take about a day to fully reinstate the connections as some of the towers are in very remote areas, the report said.
"As per the directive from BTRC, we have already started reactivating the BTSs located along the border areas. The reactivation process will take a while to complete since a lot of BTSs are involved here," Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer of Robi Axiata Ltd, told The Daily Star.
Earlier, Post and Telecommunication Minister Mustafa Jabbar told The Daily Star that the networks were blocked as the security of the state is the government's first priority.
He clarified that the decision was not taken by his ministry and they just carried it forward.
The report quoted him saying that the decision was made following a consensus of three to four ministries, and the foreign ministry was leading the efforts.
Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen has said that Bangladesh has requested New Delhi to provide a list of Bangladeshi nationals living illegally in India, "if any", to be repatriated.
He had also cancelled his visit to India beginning December 12, hours before he was to arrive in New Delhi.
According to diplomatic sources in New Delhi, Momen and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal cancelled their visits to India over the situation arising out of the passage of the controversial Citizenship Bill in Parliament.
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Baramati plane crash: Rohit Pawar alleges attempts to shield VSR Ventures
Mumbai (PTI): NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday alleged that someone was trying to save VSR Ventures in connection with the plane crash that killed Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, and claimed that the AAIB preliminary probe vindicated the doubts earlier raised by him.
He also accused VSR company of indulging in several grave lapses in the past.
The Learjet 45 aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures, crashed near the Baramati air strip in Pune district on January 28, killing Pawar and four others.
In its 22-page preliminary report on the VSR Venture's Learjet plane crash, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said the visibility at the time of the crash was below the required level. It also flagged about fading marks on the runway and presence of loose gravels on the runway surface.
Pawar said, "I am not against VSR or the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Ajitdada was travelling in a VSR aircraft. Unless we go into the depth of every aspect, we will not know the truth. But someone is trying to save this company. The doubts we had raised have been proven correct in the inquiry report."
He also claimed that the AAIB report contained discrepancies, including mentioning Baramati as a district, and questioned how seriously the probe had been conducted.
Pawar, who has been regularly holding press conferences to raise issues concerning the Baramati plane crash, also contested the report's conclusion that the aircraft hit trees before crashing.
"The report says the aircraft struck trees and then fell. But there are no trees at that spot. There is only a small bush which the aircraft did not even touch. What is stated in the report about hitting trees is incorrect," he said.
Pawar further alleged that VSR Ventures had displayed irresponsibility on multiple occasions, citing an incident involving the then chief minister Eknath Shinde's Davos visit on January 20, 2023.
He claimed that the aircraft carrying Shinde had entered Iranian and Iraqi airspace without overflight permission, following which fighter jets from the two countries allegedly warned of action, forcing a change in route from Bahrain to Zurich.
"There have been several such grave lapses by VSR," he said.
Pawar demanded to know from where VSR Ventures derived its "audacity", and sought details about its investors and officials, though he added that he was not personally concerned with who they were.
Drawing a comparison, he said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had taken over the probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death within two days, whereas a month had passed since the Baramati crash without a similar action.
He claimed that VSR Ventures had two directors and three shareholders, and that there were eight common names across two related companies.
He further alleged that the owner of VSR was related to the Union Civil Aviation Minister and questioned why the company, though registered in Delhi, had made high-value investments in Jubilee Hills (upscale area in Hyderabad) at rates allegedly Rs 17 crore above the market price.
The MLA representing the Karjat-Jamkhed assembly constituency in Ahilyanagar district also raised concerns about the legal and institutional framework of the AAIB under the 2017 rules, claiming it was neither a statutory nor an autonomous body and remained answerable to the secretary and the minister, besides being attached to the DGCA.
"There is no independent investigative agency," he alleged.
