Bangladesh
Assault on on-duty journalists an unpardonable crime: GM Quader
Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader MP strongly condemned the police attack on journalists during the Supreme Court Bar Association elections, and demanded exemplary punishment for those involved in the incident.
“Assault on media workers while performing their professional duties is an unforgivable crime,” he said in a statement.
Expressing anger over the incident, the Jatiya Party chief also said any attack on innocent journalists while collecting news cannot be accepted in a civilised society.
GM Quader deplored that journalists in the country already cannot work independently. “Self-censorship has increased in the country's media due to various repressive laws.”
He said the country's media outlets are trying their best to keep the flow of information amid various adversities.
“It’s not possible to maintain democracy without full freedom of the press. So, everyone should play a responsible role in flourishing media for the sake of democracy. “All sorts of the safety of media workers should be ensured.”
At least 10 journalists were injured as police charged batons on them on the Supreme Court premises amid a scuffle between pro-Awami League and pro-BNP lawyers over the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) election on Wednesday.
Police attacked journalists when they were taking photos and videos of police action on the pro-BNP lawyers as they engaged in a brawl with the pro-Awami League lawyers during their demonstration demanding the formation of a fresh election conducting committee under an "acceptable" authority.
Travel through Sonamasjid land port resumes after 3 yrs
Travel of passengers between Bangladesh and India through Chapainawabganj’s Sonamasjid land port resumed on Thursday after three years’ of suspension.
Indian Assistant High Commissioner in Rajshahi Manoj Kumar inaugurated the operation of Sonamasjid check post by cutting a ribbon.
Passengers of both countries having passports will be able to travel through the check post from now on.
A 25-memebr Bangladeshi delegation led by Chapainawabganj Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Abdul Wahed went to India through the check post on the first day.
Travelling of passengers through the landport was stopped on March 15, 2020due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
However, the export and import activities through Sonamasjid land port in the district remained normal during the pandemic.
Read more: Parliamentary Committee suggests reopening of Sonamasjid land port for immigration
Lawmakers Md Ziaur Rahman, Dr Samil Uddin Ahmed Shimul and Ferdousi Islam Jessy, Zilla Parishad Chairman and freedom fighter Ruhul Amin, Chapainawabganj Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Abdul Wahed and Sonamasjid land port’s C&F Agent Association President Ismail Hossain were, among others, present at the inaugural ceremony.
3 more dengue patients hospitalised in 24 hours
Three more patients were hospitalised with dengue in the 24 hours to Thursday morning.
Of the new patients, all were admitted to hospitals in Dhaka, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
24 dengue patients, including 14 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.
So far, the DGHS has recorded 796 dengue cases, 766 recoveries, and nine deaths this year.
The country logged 281 dengue deaths in 2022 – the highest on record after 179 deaths recorded in 2019. Also, it recorded 62,423 dengue cases and 61,971 recoveries last year.
Chief Justice has nothing to do with SCBA election: Attorney General
Attorney General AM Amin Uddin on Thursday said the Chief Justice has nothing to do with the situation created over the Supreme Court Bar Association(SCBA) election.
“Chief Justice said it is not our matter. It is a bar’s (Lawyers’ Association) matter. Senior lawyers of the bar association should sit for discussion to resolve the problem,” he told reporters after a meeting with Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique.
Responding a question whether the election environment is good, the attorney general said that to keep the environment peaceful, both of the sides have the responsibilities equally. “If one side snatches the ballot papers and another side obstructs, then how will environment be fine?”
“BNP supporters raise demand for re-election. But election is going smoothly and hundreds of lawyers are casting votes standing in queues,” he added.
Earlier, a section of Pro-BNP lawyers presented yesterday's incident of police action on them on the premises of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) before a full bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique.
Meanwhile, pro-BNP lawyers are still chanting slogans against the election which is underway today while pro-Awami League lawyers are also chanting slogan supporting the election.
At least 10 journalists and lawyers were injured as police charged batons on them at the Supreme Court premises amid scuffle between pro-Awami League and pro BNP lawyers over the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) election on Wednesday.
The two-day voting in SCBA election started around 10 am but it was suspended immediately when some pro-BNP lawyers staged demonstrations demanding formation of election conducting committee led by a neutral person.
Survey shows devastating impact of digital divide on children’s learning in Bangladesh during COVID-19
Fewer than one in five children (18.7 per cent) in Bangladesh participated in remote learning during COVID-19 school closures, which at one and a half years were among the longest pandemic school closures in the world, said UNICEF on Thursday.
This extraordinary scale of the impact of school closures was confirmed today in the National Survey on Children’s Education in Bangladesh 2021, a joint survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF.
The survey shows that the hardest hit are the most vulnerable children who have limited access to the Internet and TV, and who lack supportive devices such as computers or smartphones at home.
Fewer children from rural areas (15.9 per cent) participated in remote learning, such as online and televised, compared to those from urban areas (28.7 per cent).
Significant geographical disparities also come to the fore with the highest percentage of students remotely participating in classes in Khulna and Dhaka (23.4 per cent and 23.1 per cent respectively), and the lowest in Mymensingh (5.7 per cent).
The youngest children carry the heaviest burden as participation in remote classes was lower among primary school children (13.1 per cent) compared to secondary students (20.3 per cent in lower secondary and 23.7 per cent in upper secondary).
“The pandemic’s impact on children is still reverberating throughout the country. It is critical to close the digital divide and to make the education system more shock responsive,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative to Bangladesh.
UNICEF provides technical assistance to the Government in support of learning recovery and acceleration, including on innovative remedial education.
“The Survey on Children’s Education in Bangladesh 2021 would help to understand the extent of the impact of the prolonged school closure during COVID-19 pandemic on attendances, out-of-school, drop-out, and learning loss of children, along with other education outcomes and support the Government to take steps for improving the quality and standard of education,” said Mohammad Abdul Mannan MP, Minister, Ministry of Planning.
The survey also includes preliminary post-pandemic data on child marriage.
The survey indicates a downward trend, giving cause for cautious optimism.
According to the Bangladesh 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) – the country’s largest-scale and most authoritative survey on the situation of children – 51.4 per cent of girls are married before turning 18.
The next MICS, set to be conducted in 2024, will confirm if the positive downward trend for child marriage indicated in the National Survey on Children’s Education in Bangladesh 2021 is sustained.
No decision yet about reducing hajj cost: Religious Affairs Ministry
No decision has been taken yet to reduce the price of Hajj packages, said Motiul Islam, additional secretary to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Bangladesh today (March 16, 2023).
“We are yet to receive a copy of the court's order. If there is a new decision, I will tell you later,” he told reporters at the ministry.
The registration for Hajj under the existing packages is ending today, he said adding that the intending pilgrims have to deposit money in banks within this time.
It has not yet been decided whether the registration time will be extended, said Motiul.
Read More: High Court questions hike in price of performing hajj
As of March 15, 9,569 people have registered for Hajj under government management and 91,246 under private management.
There are still 25,480 empty quota for registration, he said.
The High Court on Wednesday asked Attorney General AM Amin Uddin to take initiative to reduce the Hajj package cost.
The HC bench of Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Mohammad Ali gave the order after hearing the Ministry of Religion's explanation regarding the high Hajj cost this year.
Read More: Govt raises hajj cost by Tk 1.61 lakh this year
On Tuesday the court questioned how common people will perform hajj at the cost of the package set by the government.
It questioned “Why doesn't the government allocate budgets for the hajj like other countries in the world?”
The HC bench of Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Mohammad Ali came up with this observation while hearing a writ petition over revising the hajj package offered by the government this year.
Earlier on February 1, the Ministry of Religious Affairs announced the hajj package for 2023 in a memorandum. According to the package, a person has to pay a hefty amount of Tk 6.83 lakh to perform hajj this year - up from Tk 5.22 lakh in 2022.
Read More: Preparations taken as hajj pilgrims don’t face trouble for dollar crisis: State Minister
First all-female police dog handler team introduced today
Bangladesh Police today introduced the first female police dog handler team — comprising members of the female Airport Armed Police Battalion — to make the operational activities more dynamic.Seven female APBN members have been included in the police dog handler team after getting training from the K9 dog handler course. They received training from professional dog squad trainer Tony Brison (UK) and Melin Broadweek (New Zealand). The US embassy and Airport Armed Police jointly organised the training.Commanding Officer of Airport Armed Police Battalion-13, Tofail Ahmed, handed over the certificates to them after the conclusion of the training course today.Airport Armed Police Battalion started the K9 Dog Squad unit with two labradors, two German shepherds and four malinios dogs in 2017.The dog squad unit has been used for checking passengers and screening luggage.Mohammad Ziaul Haque, additional superintendent of police (media) of Airport Armed Police Battalion, said the government has taken a step to upgrade the number of dogs to 66 in the dog squad group by 2025.The government took the steps considering the operations of the third terminal of the airport, he said.Fifteen more dogs will be attached to the dog squad in 2023.A full-fledged dog squad can play an important role in preventing sabotage, drug smuggling and currency smuggling, said speakers at the programme.
No country except Pakistan has caretaker government: Quader
Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader said no country in the world has a caretaker government except Pakistan.
No country in the world talks about caretaker government, it is BNP which talks about it shamelessly, he said.
He said these at a food distribution and discussion programme on the occasion of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birthday at Gendaria in the capital.
"BNP is talking about caretaker government. They should be ashamed of it," he added.
Quader said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is taking the country forward and making it a role model for the world by nurturing Bangabandhu’s ideals.
Regarding the letter of 40 world leaders about Yunus, Quader said, "We don't need to think about people who don't think about Bangladesh. He breaks the law himself."
Building up a resilient, sustainable business model needed to overcome future challenges: BGMEA chief
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan has said they need more support from the advanced economy in terms of product and fiber diversification, innovation, technological upgradation, reskilling and up skilling their people.
"We need to put emphasize on building up a resilient and sustainable business model to overcome the future challenges," he said while speaking at the 4th edition of Sustainable Apparel Forum on Thursday.
Faruque Hassan said they have established BGMEA Centre of innovation, efficiency and OSH.
The centre will works as an exchange hub of industry wide best practices as it endeavors to disseminate knowledge to beneficiary groups continuously in the area of product development, efficiency, use of technologies, process upgradation, environmental sustainability and social innovation.
"We need assistance from all of our esteemed stakeholder to make this center more vibrant and useful," said the BGMEA chief.
"So please come forward, collaborate, and exchange knowledge and expertise to ensure more decent employments, and build a resilient and sustainable fashion industry," he said.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi spoke as the chief guest.
The BGMEA chief said they have ensured 100% safety in terms of fire, structural and electrical remediation within the workplace which has restored global confidence in them.
"We have taken a number of initiatives to ensure the better wellbeing of our workers," he said.
SC grants ACC's appeal, former official Sharif Uddin won't be able to return to work
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has granted an appeal filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against the scrapping of Rule 54(2) relating to the removal of an employee of ACC without showing any reason.
An eight-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, passed the order.
As per the order, former ACC official Sharif Uddin, the writ petitioner, will not be able to return to service, the lawyers said.
Senior Advocate Salahuddin Dolon represented Sharif in court. Meanwhile, senior Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan appeared for the ACC.
Rule 54(2) of the ACC Service Rules of 2008 allows the anti-graft organization to remove any employee from service with a 90-day notice without mentioning any reason.
Previously, an ACC official named Ahsan Ali was removed from service under this rule. Later, he filed a writ petition challenging the validity of rule 54(2). On October 27, 2011, the High Court declared the rule null and void.
In November 2016, the Appellate Division rejected the ACC's leave-to-appeal petition against the High Court's ruling. The next year, the ACC filed a review petition against it.
The Appellate Division finally granted the ACC permission to file an appeal against the verdict on November 28, 2021. At the same time, the court put a stay on the HC order until the appeal petition is settled
On February 26 of last year, ACC dismissed Sharif Uddin, then deputy assistant director, from his job without showing any cause. Later, Sharif filed a writ petition against the decision at the High Court, challenging the validity of Rule 54(2).
Later, on April 11, it came up for hearing. However, the High Court adjourned the hearing on Sharif's writ petition as the ACC's review petition in Ahsan Ali's case was not disposed of until then. Later, on June 16 of last year, Sharif filed a leave-to-appeal petition with the Appellate Division against the stay order.
Earlier this year, Sharif's leave-to-appeal and the ACC's appeal were brought together for a hearing at the Appellate Division. After hearing the two petitions together, the Appellate Division set March 16 for ruling on the matter.