Bangladesh
‘Robber met JMB members in jail and became leader of new militant group’
Arrested council (Shura) member and head of the armed wing of a new militant group, Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya, met JMB militants while in jail on robbery charges and became a top leader of the new group after he was released.
Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of Rab’s legal and media wing, revealed the information while briefing the media today over the arrest of two members of the new militant group yesterday from a Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar.
He said Rab interrogated Masukur Rahman alias Ronobir alias Masud and Bashar after arresting them yesterday and got some important tip-offs.
Ronobir’s associate, Bashar, is a bomb-making expert.
Ronobir used to work at a post office. He also led an armed robbery gang and got arrested.
“During his time in prison, he met the leaders and activists of JMB and decided to join forces with them,” said the Rab officer.
Also Read: 2 ‘militants’ arrested from Kutupalong Rohingya camp after 'gunfight’, Rab says
He continued to visit JMB members in jail after his release. He had contact with their families too, he added.
In 2017, he met Rakib, a Shura member and later head of Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya’s finance and media wing, and became a founding member.
Members of Rab yesterday (January 23, 2023) arrested Ronobir and Bashar after a gunfight at Kutupalong Rohingya camp in Ukhia upazila of Cox's Bazar.
Rab arrested the duo along with arms and explosives from a den in the camp following the gunfight.
Covid-19: 13 more cases reported in 24 hours
Bangladesh reported 13 more Covid-19 cases in 24 hours till Tuesday morning.
With the new number, the country's total caseload rose to 2,037,469, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read more: US proposes once-a-year COVID shots for most Americans
However, the official death toll from the disease remained unchanged at 29,441 as no new fatalities were reported.
The daily case test positivity dropped to 0.49 percent from Monday’s 0.56 percent as 2,657 samples were tested.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.44 percent while the recovery rate rose to 97.74 percent.
Read more: Covid-19: Bangladesh logs 11 more cases, zero death
Bangladesh reported its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 in 2021 and daily fatalities of 264 on August 5 of the same year.
2 probe committees to be formed over errors in textbooks: Dipu Moni
Two high-level probe committees will be formed to identify those responsible for mistakes and distortions in the textbooks distributed this year, said Education Minister Dipu Moni on Tuesday.
“I see identifying errors in the textbooks very positively,” she told the reporters at a press briefing on the corrections of mistakes in the textbooks of the new academic year at the International Mother Language Institute of the capital.
Read more: If there are errors in textbooks, they will be corrected: Dipu Moni
The outline of these two committees will be presented by next Sunday (January 29, 2023), she said, adding that officials from the Prime Minister's Office, Education, Primary and Mass Education ministries and related ministries will be involved in the committee.
A committee will consist of experts for each subject and the ministry will provide an online form for revision of textbooks, she said.
In this form, people from the country and abroad will have an opportunity to inform the ministry about errors or inconsistencies in textbooks, said Dipu Moni.
Experts will review all the textbooks again and will take note of the mistakes identified in the textbooks and fix them and those corrections will be sent to the educational institutions, she added.
Read more: NCTB gives corrections for 9 mistakes in 3 textbooks of new curriculum
The other committee will be formed with the representatives from the Prime Minister's Office, representatives from two ministries, representatives from National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) and officials of the ministries concerned, the education minister said.
“It will be investigated whether the mistakes and controversial topics in the textbook were intentionally added or not.”
Earlier, NCTB provided corrections for nine mistakes they found in three textbooks of classes 9 and 10 this year.
NCTB issued a notification in this regard on January 15, 2023 and posted the corrections on their website.
Read more: Zafar Iqbal admits plagiarism charge in new textbook, expresses disappointment
Besides, eminent writer and academician Dr Muhammed Zafar Iqbal and Professor Hasina Khan expressed regret over the plagiarised content found in the class 7 science textbook that they had edited. They also took responsibility in a statement.
As part of the new curriculum from this year, science textbooks for classes 6 and 7 were printed and distributed to students as ‘Anusandhani Path’. In an article published in a daily, a complaint was raised over copying some sections of this book from the National Geographic educational site.
Bangladesh reports 14 more dengue cases
Fourteen more people were hospitalised with dengue in 24 hours till Tuesday morning.
Of the new patients, five were admitted to hospitals in Dhaka and nine outside it, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read more: Bangladesh reports one more dengue death, 11 new cases
A total of 58 dengue patients, including 29 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.
So far, the DGHS has recorded 503 dengue cases, 439 recoveries, and six deaths this year.
The country recorded 281 dengue deaths in 2022 – the highest on record after 179 deaths recorded in 2019.
Read more: Bangladesh reports 2 more dengue deaths, 14 new cases
Also, the DGHS recorded 62,423 dengue cases and 61,971 recoveries last year.
2 BCL leaders injured in attack by helmet-wearing miscreants at Barishal University dormitory
Two leaders of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) were injured in an attack by some miscreants at a dormitory of Barishal University early Tuesday.
The injured were identified as Mohiuddin Ahmed Sifat, a student of Mathematics Department and GM Fahad, of Public Administration Department. Both of them were Masters students.
Provost Abu Zafar of Sher-e-Bangla Hall said a group of 10-15 miscreants, wearing helmets, swooped on Sifat while he was asleep and stabbed his in the dead of night.
Later, they also entered the room of Fahad and stabbed him indiscriminately. Hands of Fahad were broken.
Before the attack, the miscreants put the rooms of other students under lock and key from outside.
Also read: Two JCD activists allegedly beaten up by BCL at DU
They were taken to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College and Hospital Tuesday morning.
Some students alleged that Sifat established reign of terror in the area and he had many rival for these activates.
Ali Ashraf Bhuiya, deputy commissioner of Barishal Metropolitan Police, said legal action will be taken against the attackers after identifying them.
However, the motive behind the attack could not be known immediately but police said establishing supremacy might be the reason behind the attack.
Mothers can now be listed as legal guardians of students in official documents, HC rules
In a historic judgment today, the High Court said that from now on, mothers will be recognised as legal guardians of students in official documents.
The High Court bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil pronounced the judgment.
After hearing on January 16, the court fixed January 24 for delivering the verdict on whether mothers will be recognised as legal guardians or not.
Advocate Ainun Nahar Siddiqua, Advocate SM Rezaul Karim and Advocate Ayesha Akhter stood for the petitioner at the court while Deputy Attorney General Amit Das Gupta represented the state.
Read more: HC issues rule on migration system in admission process
According to the lawyers, a female SSC examinee from Thakurgaon was denied admit card in 2007 as she could not mention her father's name in the information form which is required before participating in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination.
The girl grew up with her mother after her father left them without giving them recognition.
Later, on August 2, 2009, three human rights organizations — Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), Bangladesh Mahila Parishad and Nari Paksha — jointly filed a writ petition citing public interest.
On August 3 of the same year, the High Court bench of Justice Syed Refat Ahmed and Justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury issued a rule asking why this discriminatory provision, which is an obstacle to human rights, equality and especially the right to education, should not be declared as contrary to law and unconstitutional.
Read more: HC issues rule on compensation for daily labourers jailed by mobile court
The court also ordered submitting a report on the education boards where mentioning both father’s and mother’s names is compulsory in getting the registration cards for the SSC examinations and what kind of measures are taken to ensure participation of those eligible examinees in the examination who are unable to mention the identity of their fathers.
Later on June 6, 2021, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) filed a supplementary affidavit in court on behalf of the petitioners.
Majority of children with disabilities are not enrolled in any formal education: Survey
More than half of children with disabilities in Bangladesh are not enrolled in any formal education, according to new national-level data revealed on Tuesday.
The findings come from the recently-published National Survey on Persons with Disabilities (NSPD) 2021, conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) with technical support from UNICEF.
The survey reveals that among children with disabilities (aged 5-17 years), only 65 per cent are enrolled in primary school and only 35 per cent are enrolled in secondary school. In total, 60 percent of children with disabilities aged 5-17 years are not in education.\
Read more: Learning Disabilities in Children: Types, symptoms, ways to help
The survey also found that children with disabilities who do attend formal education lag behind academically by over two years for their age on average.
“The data from this national survey – the first of its kind by the BBS – highlights the challenges children with disabilities face growing up. The findings will support the Government to formulate policies and initiatives to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities in Bangladesh,” said Iftekhairul Karim, Project Director, BBS.
According to the survey, 1.7 percent of children in Bangladesh live with one of the twelve types of disability defined in the Persons with Disability Rights and Protection Act 2013, while 3.6 per cent of children face functional difficulty in at least one of the domains of seeing, hearing, walking, fine motor skills, communication, learning, playing or controlling behaviour.
“The new data highlights just how many children with disabilities in Bangladesh are losing out on education. We need to do more for these children. We need to provide the support and services they need, and we need to create an inclusive environment where they can thrive,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative to Bangladesh.
Data from the survey also shed light on the difficulties that children with disabilities face as adults.
Read more: Youth with disabilities deprived of learning, employment scopes: Study
Only one third of persons with disabilities of working age are employed, with women with disabilities far more likely to be unemployed compared to men.
And while 90 percent of persons with disabilities who are registered with the Government receive disability allowances, the vast majority of them – about 65 per cent – remain unregistered.
Early identification and management of childhood disabilities are critical to maximizing the potential of children.
It is also critical to create an inclusive environment where families and service-providers can support children with disabilities to participate actively in all spheres of life.
UNICEF works with the government and partners in Bangladesh to champion the rights of children with disabilities to education, healthcare and future employment, and to remove social stigma and prejudice.
Grameen Bank official killed as truck hits motorbike in Lalmonirhat
A Grameen bank official was killed in a road accident on Borokata-Teesta Barrage Road in Lalmonirhat's Hatibandha on Tuesday morning.
The deceased was identified as Abdul Latif, 47, hailing from Votmari area of Kaliganj upazila and a field officer of Grameen Bank Borokhata branch.
Read more: Tourist killed in Rangamati road accident
Witnesses said Latif riding on his motorcycle was going towards Teesta Barrage this morning.
The accident occurred when a Borokhata-bound truck hit the motorcycle, leaving Latif dead on the spot, said Abdul Hakim Azad, officer-in-charge (OC) of Hatibandha highway police station.
Read more: Bangladesh sees 9,951 road accident deaths in 2022, highest in 8yrs: Report
Police seized the truck but could not arrest its driver and helper, added the OC.
Blast at Dhaka's Moghbazar leaves 4 injured
At least four people were injured in an explosion in Dhaka's Moghbazar area earlier today (January 24, 2023).
The blast occurred at around 9:45 am in front of a medicine store in the Moghbazar Wireless area and the injured were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said Abul Hasan, officer-in-charge of Ramna Police Station.
The injured are Saiful Islam, 36; Tareq, 20; Abul Kalam, 25; and Md Shaheen, 30.
Read More: Dhamrai gas cylinder blast death toll rises to four
The reason behind the explosion could not be known yet, added the OC.
"However, we are looking into whether it was a crude bomb or anything else," said Abul Hasan.
The injured are now receiving treatment at the hospital, said Inspector Bachchu Mia, in-charge of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) police outpost.
Read More: 205 BNP leaders, activists sued over crude bomb blasts in Barishal
“All are out of danger,” he added.
PM directs DCs to increase food production, exercise austerity
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday directed the deputy commissioners (DCs) to make all-out efforts to increase food production and exercise austerity in using electricity and public funds.
She also asked them avoid less-important projects to face the current situation as well as to be devoted to building a ‘Smart Bangladesh’ by 2041.
The premier issued a 25-point directive while opening the three-day conference of deputy commissioners (DCs) at Shapla Hall of her office here in the city.
"You'll have to make an all-out effort to increase food production. No land should remain unutilized anywhere….There are uncultivated lands throughout Bangladesh, if we can make these fit for cultivation, we will have no problem in food production and diversification," she said in her first directive.
Read more: PM unveils new book on Bangabandhu and his government
Hasina said she is now giving utmost importance to agricultural production so that Bangladesh would not be hit hard by the global food crisis.
In her second directive, she said, "You'll have to exercise austerity in using electricity and energy as well as make the common people aware in this regard."
The PM asked the DCs to ensure that the people receive services in time from the government offices and acquire satisfaction of the service-seekers.
Talking about the development projects, the PM directed the DCs to undertake the essential and fruitful projects considering local aspects and their possible outcomes as well as to supervise the quality of project works.
“In case of undertaking any project, you who are in our field administration should keep eyes on how it would be effective for the local area, how much people would be benefited from it, and ensure that there would be no wastage (of money)….. I don’t like taking a project everywhere indiscriminately. I want to implement the projects which are immediately needed,” she said.
Since a deputy commission is the charge of a district, the DC should monitor the quality and effectiveness of project works in the district, she said.
EVM project scrapped as govt priorities others: PM
The premier said the government cancelled the proposed EVM project as the government now attaches priority to maintaining food security and healthcare services and welfare of the people right now in this situation.
PM Hasina said she saw in today's (Tuesday) paper that one leader of opposition remarked that Tk 8,000 crore would be required for the EVM project and so, the project was excluded from the Planning Commission as Bangladesh is in a financial crisis.
“The financial crisis definitely prevails all over the world. We’ve it also. But it (the crisis) is not so here that we can’t run…. Now our priority is to maintain people's food security and medical care, and consider the people's welfare first. I will spend the money no matter how much is required to boost agricultural production to ensure the medical treatment of the people,” she said.
“Why will we go to implement the projects which are not needed now?” she said.
The premier said sincerity for standing beside the people and serving them was created among the government officials and employees after she came in power.
“I’ve seen a change in you now….. The sincerity for standing beside the people and serving the people has been witnessed among the government officials and employees after I came to power. Otherwise, we could not have possible for us to gain so much success in the development of Bangladesh,” she said adding that she renamed the establishment ministry as the public administration ministry.
Read more: PM opens 29 development projects, lays foundation stones of 4 others
The directives include exercising austerity in using government funds; stepping up endeavors to attain the targets set under SDG localization; ensure accesses of actual destitute and disadvantaged people to all social safety net programmes and creating employments; improving the teaching quality in educational institutions; ensuring the functioning of community clinics and union health and family welfare centres; ensuring creative practices, cultural activities and sports facilities for children and adolescents in every area; taking initiative to protect and create parks and playgrounds for the healthy lifestyle of citizens; developing a skilled workforce to take the optimum advantage of the fourth industrial revolution; keeping the websites of the government offices updated regularly and raising the progress and successes of the government’s development works for respective districts there; working to ensure safe use of IT and internet as well as taking initiative to prevent misuse of social media and rumours; strengthening vigilance to ensure that the law and order situation no way deteriorates; and paying attention so that none can hamper the communal harmony by spreading rumours.
The remaining directives are: raising awareness against drugs, militancy and terrorism; conducting mobile courts to prevent crimes like child marriage, eve-teasing, food adulteration, and counterfeit goods; strengthening monitoring to maintain uninterrupted supply of essential commodities in the market, prevent artificial crisis and keep commodity prices normal; taking strict measures to protect government lands, rivers, forests, mountains and natural water bodies; increasing the navigability of river through regular dredging works; planting palm trees in lightning-prone areas; taking special initiatives to develop and maintain the tourism industry, and develop new tourist spots; conserving the heritage and culture of a district; strengthening monitoring to ensure that government offices are run in a spirit of service and putting public interest above everything else; and becoming devoted to build developed, prosperous golden and Smart Bangladesh by 2041 through proper coordination of the activities of all the district-level government offices.
State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain, Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain, Principal Secretary M. Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Rajshahi Divisional Commissioner GSM Jafarullah and Deputy Commissioners of Narsingdi and Bandarban Abu Nayeem Mohammed Maruf Khan and Yasmin Parvin Tibriji spoke at the inaugural session of the conference.
This time there are a total of 26 sessions, including 20 working sessions, with various ministries in the DC Conference-2023 that will end on Thursday (January 26, 2023).
In the conference, the DCs meet the President, the Chief Justice and the Speaker, and exchange views with the relevant ministries for the implementation of various policies, strategies and instructions of the government.
They come up with various reform proposals based on the challenges they face, the experience they accumulate at the field level while implementing the government's various directives and policies.