Main Page «
Front Page «
Metro «
Business «
International «
Sports «
National «
Editorial «
Op-Ed «
Home «
Letters «

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

The Your Choice Corporation (YCC), a Bangladeshi company based in Tokyo, has provided the facility to view Bangladeshi television channels for non-resident Bangladeshis worldwide through internet service.
   Ahmed Masud said that at present his company is providing four Bangladeshi television channels, ATN Bangla, NTV, Channel-i and Channel-one. ‘The organisation is also providing four Indian and four Pakistani television channels to attract the expatriates of those countries,’ he added.
   Though the subscribers of the Bangladeshi television channels are mostly non-resident Bengalis in Japan, the company is now working for the Bangladeshi community in Australia.
   ‘At present, we have 470 subscribers who are taking internet television service from us. We are getting response from Australia and will expand to the market of the United States, European Union, Singapore and South Korea hopefully by next November,’ he added.
   Masud also said that they are trying to increase the number of television channels by December next. ‘We are planning to involve some of the television channels from Sri Lanka, Nepal and Myanmar.’
   The interested persons can login at www.yccjp.com and www.ycc_ch.com and can enrol their names as members with a fee of 30 dollars per month.
   The people who are interested to get internet connection on their television sets will need to buy a device at the cost of 100 dollars.
   Masud further said that the people, who are staying abroad, feel for their country very much. They want to see their motherland and also want to build relations between their children and the country.
   ‘Our service will also uphold the culture of Bangladesh. We will also be able to create jobs for Bangladeshi people through our service,’ he hoped.

Two US cinema chains say they will not screen a controversial British film portraying the fictional assassination of President George W Bush. Death of a President, which shows Bush being shot dead, secured a US distribution deal last month.
   A third major chain said it was unsure whether to show the mock documentary, which is due to open on 27 October.
   The film, which has raised protests from conservatives in the US, will be shown on UK TV channel More4 on Monday.
   Regal Entertainment Group, which has more than 6,300 screens in 40 US states, said it would not show the film because of its subject matter.
   Spokesman Dick Westerling said: ‘We do not feel it is appropriate to portray the future assassination of a president, therefore we do not intend to programme this film at any of our theatres.’
   Mr Westerling said Regal had received ‘numerous phone calls and e-mails’ supporting the company.
   Even if the film became a hit in other venues, Regal would stand by its decision, he added.
   Cinemark USA, which operates about 2,500 screens in 34 states, told trade newspaper The Hollywood Reporter it would not screen the film.
   A spokeswoman for AMC Entertainment, which runs 5,600 screens, told Reuters news agency her company had yet to make a decision.
   Richard Abramowitz, consultant for US distributor Newmarket Films, said the film had been booked to be screened in more than 100 venues.
   Death of a President, funded by Channel 4, shows Mr Bush being targeted by a sniper during an anti-war rally in Chicago in 2007.
   Director Gabriel Range, who also co-wrote the film, uses archive footage of Bush to create the scenes that lead up to the president being shot. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September.

A week long Terra-Cotta exhibition titled Matir Goynay Nari organised by Ashik Hasan is being held at the Zainul Gallery of the Fine Art Institute of Dhaka University.
   Director of the Fine Art Institute Professor Abdus Shakur Shah inaugurated the event while Professor Rabiul Islam was present as special guest.
   A total of 200 pieces of work are on display and will be open for all from 11:00am to 8:00pm till October 14.

The £10,000 Forward Prize for Poetry has been won by Robin Robertson for his collection Swithering.
   Robertson, 50, from Scone, Perthshire, is the first poet to have won both the best collection prize and the best first collection prize.
   The first, A Painted Field, was a winner in 1997. Swithering is the third collection he has released.
   Indian-born Tishani Doshi, 31, won the £5,000 best first collection prize for Countries of the Body.
   Robertson said: ‘I am delighted and surprised. It has been a strong for poetry as the shortlist for this award shows.
   ‘It’s always nice to win anything but when you are up against poets that you have always admired, it is remarkable.’
   Tishani Doshi admitted her success was taking some getting used to.
   ‘Writing poetry seems almost like an indulgence, so to win such an award is slightly surreal.