Dhaka  - Bangladesh's military-backed government announced Wednesday it would hold December elections according to the announced schedules, despite the demands of a leading party not being met.

The announcement came an hour before the expiry of a deadline set by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, which had demanded the government delay the poll and allow her party to join.

The parliamentary and upazila (local council) elections would be held according to the previously announced schedule "as there had been no consensus between the political alliances ... (and the) government despite ... all our effort," said Hossain Zillur Rahman, a key adviser to the interim government.

Dhaka  - Bangladesh's military-backed government announced Wednesday that it would hold the country's December elections as per the previously announced schedules, despite the demands of a leading political party not having been met.

The announcement came an hour before the expiration of a deadline set by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, which had demanded that the government delay the poll and allow her party to join.

The deadline expired at 9 pm (1530 GMT) Wednesday.

Agartala, Nov. 19 : ‘Oneness through drama'' was the central message of a group of Bangladeshi theatre artistes, who were on a cultural trip to Agartala recently and left an indelible mark on various theatre lovers.

It was a delightful and emphatic performance of “Ebong Aswamedh Jagna", by a group of 19 artistes from Bangladesh, which performed the epic Ramayana at the central auditorium of Tripura University here recently.

Dhaka - The European Union will send election observers to monitor Bangladesh's general election, after concluding that an atmosphere for "a free, fair and credible election" has been created in the country, an official statement said Tuesday.

"The decision was taken following the repeal of elements of the Emergency Power Rules in early November," the office of the European Commission delegation in Dhaka said.

Delegation chief Stefan Frowein, who earlier had said that the EU usually refrains from deploying an Election Observer Mission under a state of emergency, noted the decision constituted a recognition of the impressive progress made by officials to foster an atmosphere conducive for a fair election.

Dhaka  - The leader of one of Bangladesh's major parties warned Monday that groups might boycott national elections scheduled for December unless her party's demands to improve the elections are met within 48 hours.