News agencies were present in Bangladesh prior to its independence from Pakistan in 1971. The state-owned Associated Press of Pakistan (AAP) had branches in Dhaka and Chittagong from 1949. After independence, the AAP was replaced by the Bangladesh state-owned agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha on January 1, 1972. The second news agency to be established, and the first to be privately owned was Eastern News Agency (ENA). It was founded in Dhaka in the years immediately prior to the Bangladesh Liberation War. However, the freedom of press was significantly curbed quite early in the history of the country. One of the many restrictive regulations coming from the enactment of single party rule of BaKSAL was the promulgation of the Newspaper Ordinance (June 1975; Annulment of Declaration)- which allowed only four state owned newspapers (the "Dainik Bangla", "Bangladesh Observer", "The Daily Ittefaq", and "Bangladesh Times") to continue their publication and banned the rest of the press and newspaper industries. Later, After the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, many newspapers that were banned earlier started to reappear. Press Institute of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Press Council were established.