Bangladesh
Govt seeks amendment to Public Service Act to extend coverage
The Public Service (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was placed in Parliament on Tuesday seeking to make mandatory for the autonomous, legislative and local government bodies to take clearance from the Finance Division over financial expenditures.
State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain tabled the proposed legislation and it was sent to the respective scrutiny committee for further examination. The committee was asked to submit its report within 30 days.
Read more: Bill incorporating max 10 years’ jail for leaking PSC exam questions passed in parliament
In the existing Public Service Act, 2018, the Finance Division has authority over the financial matters of the government entities, officials and employees, but it was not clear what would be the involvement of the Finance Division regarding the autonomous, legislative and local government bodies.
The public universities, the Election Commission, or local bodies like city corporations and union parishads will have to take opinions of the Finance Division over their financial expenditures.
Read more: Bill placed in JS to establish universities in Meherpur, Naogaon
It had been mandatory too for the autonomous, legislative and local government bodies to take clearance from the Finance Division before, but the enactment of the existing law in 2018 made it unclear.
2 killed in Sirajganj road crash
Two people were killed and three others injured in a road crash on Sirajganj-Kazipur road at Chilgachha intersection in Sadar upazila of Sirajganj district on Tuesday.
The deceased were identified as Anwar Hossain, 42, son of Aynul Haque and Fazlul Haque, 30, son of Lal Chan of the upazila.
The accident occurred in the afternoon when a battery-run auto-rickshaw hit a motorbike and a human hauler coming from opposite direction, leaving one dead on the spot and four others injured, said Humayun Kabir, officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station.
Also read: Patient among 6 dead as ambulance crashes into truck in Shariatpur
The injured were taken to Sirajganj 250-bed Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib General Hospital where the doctors declared one dead.
A case was filed in this connection.
SSBCL Group, Brookes Education Group signs deal for opening a school in BD
SSBCL Group and Brookes Education Group have recently signed an agreement at Dhaka Intercontinental Hotel for opening a Brookes School in Bangladesh for facilitates Bangladeshi students with International Baccalaureate (IB), GCSE program, and provincial curriculums guiding students to top-tier universities around the world.
It’s really golden opportunities for Bangladeshi students to get a high quality International education in Bangladesh with affordable local cost, according to a press release issued on Tuesday.
Brookes Education Group spans across 4 locations world-wide offering bespoke experiences. Brookes is a home for every child.
Brookes global network offers a range of curriculums including the rigorous International Baccalaureate (IB), GCSE program, and provincial curriculums guiding students to top-tier universities around the world.
Brookes Education Group is a global network of schools connected through a common philosophy – inclusive, creative and personalized learning that enables young people to become caring and compassionate advocates for themselves and the world they live in.
Students are supported in a caring environment and given opportunities to learn about themselves and take actions in areas in which they are passionate to unlock their potential.
At the core of every program, is the importance of intercultural understanding, critical and creative thinking, service learning and personal development.
Brookes value innovation and welcome students into our interconnected educational network with campuses around the world and faculty who bring learning to life, challenging students to unlock and discover their innate potential.
Sumon Talukder ,Managing Director, SSBCL Group Mr. Granham Brown, CEO-Director, Mr. Jerry Salvador-Director Americas and New School Development, Mr. Kevin Skeoch-Director Asia Pacific other directors from SSBCL Group was present on this occasion.
END/UNB/MJ/MAS
Indian HC Pranay Verma visits Commonwealth War Cemetery in Chattogram
High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Pranay Verma on Tuesday visited the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Chattogram.
During his visit, the High Commissioner was accompanied by the commanding officers of the visiting Indian Coast Guard Ships ICGS Shaurya and ICGS Rajveer.
The cemetery originally had about 400 burials.
Read more: Indian war veterans to join Bangladesh’s Victory Day celebrations in Dhaka
BNP-police clash in Ctg: 4 cases filed
Four cases have been filed over the clash between police and activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in Kazir Dewri area of Chattogram.
Zahidul Kabir, officer-in-charge (OC) of Kotwali police station, said they filed the cases at the police station in the early hours of Tuesday against Metropolitan BNP convenor Shahadat Hossain, member secretary Abul Hashem, 90 others named and 500 unidentified people.
“After detaining 20 people during the clash, 16 people were shown arrested. Although drives were conducted at various places last night, no one was arrested,” said the OC.
These cases were filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act on charges of using explosives, attacking police and torching a motorcycle.
On Monday, BNP's Chattogram unit arranged a protest rally in front of the party office at Nasiman Bhaban on Monday to press home its 10-point demand and to protest electricity price hike.
Also Read: BNP-police clash leaves 12 injured in Chattogram
When BNP leaders and activists were going to join the rally around 3:30pm, police charged batons to disperse them, triggering the clash, said Idris Ali, former organising secretary of Chattogram unit BNP.
At least 7-8 BNP activists were injured as charged batons and fired shots, said the BNP leader.
However, Mostafizur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (South), said that police made arrangements for a peaceful rally but the BNP men attacked the police, leaving 5 policemen injured.
The BNP activists also set a police motorcycle on fire and vandalised several shops in the area during the clash, he added.
Motorcyclist killed in Dhaka road crash
A 26-year-old motorcyclist was killed as his motorbike collided with a CNG-run autorickshaw in the capital's Banasree area Monday morning.
The deceased was identified as Md Ashikur Rahman, son of AK Abdul Amin of Banasree Block-A.
Read more: Bangladesh 88th among 183 countries in road accident death rate: Minister
Hedayetul Islam Nayan, deceased's elder brother said, Ashikur went out in the morning and the accident occurred near Farazy Hospital.
He was rescued and first taken to Farazy hospital. Later, he was shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead around 11 am.
Read more: 3 motorcyclists dead in Jhenaidah road crashes
The body has been kept at the hospital morgue, said Inspector Bachchu Mia, in-charge of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) police outpost.
‘Drug trader’ held with 30,000 Yaba pills
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members detained a suspected drug trader along with 30,000 Yaba pills from Baroitoli area in Teknaf upazila on Monday night.
The arrestee is Sirajul Islam, 25, son of Mohammad Shah of Baroitoli village in the upazila.
Read more: Smuggled drugs, other goods worth over Tk 1,565 cr seized in 2022: BGB
Tipped-off, a special patrol team of BGB-2 conducted a drive at Sirajul's house and detained him along with the Yaba pills, said Lieutenant Colonel Sheikh Khalid Mohammad Iftekhar, commanding officer of BGB-2 Battalion.
During the drive, two mobile handsets and Tk 5,000 were recovered from the possession of the arrestee.
Read more: BGB seizes drugs worth Tk5.6cr in Cox's Bazar
Sirajul was handed over to Teknaf Model Police Station, he added.
Misconduct with B'baria Judge: HC orders removing video
The High Court on Tuesday directed the BTRC to remove a video containing the incident of misbehaviour of some lawyers with Brahmanbaria Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-1 Judge Mohammad Faruq during the court session.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) was asked to remove the video from all social media platforms as early as possible.
The HC bench of Justice JBM Hasan and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil passed the order.
Earlier, Bar Association president advocate Md Tanvir Bhuiyan, Secretary Advocate Md Akkas Ali and Zubair Islam appeared before the High Court.
Brahmanbaria District and Sessions Judge Sharmin Nigar sent a letter to the Supreme Court in this regard on January 9.
On January 5, the same bench summoned three lawyers including Brahmanbaria Bar Association president on January 17 for misbehaving with Judge Mohammad Faruq.
Those summoned were Bar Association president Advocate Tanvir Ahmed Bhuiyan, Secretary (Administration) Advocate Md Akkas Ali and Advocate Zubair Islam.
The court also issued a rule questioning as to why punitive action will not be taken against them on contempt of court charge.
On January 4, District Woman and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Mohammad Faruq sent a written complaint to the High Court to take action against those involved in this incident. Later, on the instructions of the Chief Justice, the Registrar General of the Supreme Court sent the written complaint of the judge to the HC bench.
On January 2, Bar Association president advocate Md Tanvir Bhuiyan, Secretary Advocate Md Akkas Ali and around 10-15 lawyers including Zubair Islam came and rudely asked the judge to leave the courtroom. Advocate Tanvir hurled abusive words at the court, as per the complaint.
HC summons DG of DGHS for not recruiting doctors to fill vacant posts in prisons
The High Court on Tuesday summoned the director general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) for not complying with its directive over recruitment of 48 doctors to the vacant posts in the prisons of the country.
The court asked him to appear before it on January 24 for an explanation.
The HC bench of Justice KM Kamrul Quader and Justice Mohammad Ali passed the order following a writ petition filed by advocate JR Khan Robin.
Read more: Nayapaltan clash: BNP's Salam, Annie get 6-month interim bail
JR Khan Robin said, on June 23, 2019, the court issued a rue asking the authorities concerned to submit a list on the capacity of prisons, the number of prisoners and doctors and the vacancies of doctors in all prisons across the country.
The jail authorities reported to the court in November 2019 that there were only 10 doctors against 141 posts in 68 prisons. After seeing the report, the High Court ordered recruitment of doctors in the prisons.
On September 21, 2021, it was reported to the court that 112 doctors were appointed in 68 prisons in the country against a total of 141 vacant posts.
Then the HC ordered the speedy appointment of doctors in the remaining vacant posts. But health authorities did not take any initiative in this regard.
Following an appeal, the court upheld the previous order on November 15 last year and ordered the Inspector General of Prisons and the Secretary to the Security Services Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs to submit a report on it.
Later, the Inspector General of Prisons submitted a report on December 13.
According to the report, 68 prisons and a prison hospital in the country have a total number of 141 posts of doctors at various levels. It was reported that that 93 doctors were appointed against 141 posts.
Later, the court ordered the recruitment of doctors to the remaining 38 vacant posts by January 7.
HC issues stay order on cancellation of Hero Alam’s nomination for Bogura by-polls
The High Court (HC) today has stayed the decision of the Election Commission to cancel the nomination papers of independent candidate Ashraful Hossain Alam, better known as "Hero Alam", for the upcoming by-election for Bogura-4 and Bogura-6 constituencies.
The court also issued a rule asking why the decision to cancel Hero Alam's nominations would not be declared illegal.
A High Court bench of Justice M Khairuzzaman and Justice Md Iqbal Karib passed the order following two separate writ petitions were filed by Hero Alam on Monday.
Read more: Is Hero Alam the problem or social media ?
Four people, including the chief election commissioner, election commission secretary, and district returning officer, were asked to reply to the rule.
Advocate Md Yarul Islam who appeared for the writ petitioner said there is no bar for Hero Alam to contest in the polls following the directive of the High Court.
Earlier, Hero Alam collected papers for contesting the upcoming by-elections for Bogura-4 and Bogura-6 as an independent candidate, but the nominations were turned down by the Election Commission.
Read more: Bogura by-election: Hero Alam's nomination cancelled again
Deputy Commissioner Saiful Islam said the nomination papers of eleven candidates, including Hero Alam's, were cancelled as the Election Commission found mismatched documents against their affidavits.