Bangladesh
Kurigram: BSF hands over bodies of two minor siblings
India's Border Security Force (BSF) on Tuesday handed over to the Bangladesh authorities the bodies of two minor siblings, who went missing on Friday in the border area of Kurigram’s Phulbari upazila.
The deceased were identified as Parveen Khatun, 8, and Shakibul Hasan, 4. They were the children of Rahim Uddin of Poschim Shukati village in Nageshwari upazila.
Read: Cattle traders robbed of Tk 30 lakh in Meghna
The bodies were handed over around 8pm on Tuesday after Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) held a flag meeting with their Indian counterparts at Dharmapur border in Kashipur union.
On Friday, the two siblings went missing while crossing the Nilkumor river, after the BSF chased them as they were in a group trying to cross the border at Phulbari in Kurigram to sneak into Bangladesh illegally.
On Saturday morning, the BSF recovered the bodies and kept them in a morgue.
Over 7,200 cartons of foreign fags seized at Ctg airport
Customs officials on Wednesday claimed to have seized more than 7, 200 cartons of foreign cigarettes during a drive at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram.
Tipped off, a team of Customs officials seized the cartons from the green channel of the airport on Tuesday night, deputy commissioner of Chattogram Customs, Salauddin Rizvi, said.
The market value of the seized cigarettes is Tk 1.10 crore, he said. "Process is on to take legal action. However, no one was arrested in this connection."
Also read: Man detained with 11 gold bars at Sylhet airport
Cattle traders robbed of Tk 30 lakh in Meghna
A group of cattle traders returning home by a ferry after selling their cattle and goats was robbed of Tk 30 lakh by armed men in the Meghna river off the coast of Barishal on Tuesday.
Faruk Hossain, sub-inspector of Kaliganj River Police, said Aziz Shikdar, a cattle trader, along with 10-15 others, hired the vessel to go to Laxmipur Mollarhat from Char Ekokria for selling 28 cattle and 50 goats ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
Read: 7 injured in clash between rival BCL factions at Barishal University
While they were returning home after selling all the goats and 18 cattle, armed robbers got into the ferry in the Lalboya area around 6pm, thrashed them and decamped with the cash, the officer said.
"A probe is on," said SI Faruk.
Use gas & electricity judiciously: Nasrul
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has urged people to consume gas and electricity judiciously in the wake of rising outages in Bangladesh.
In a statement to media outlets, the Minister said that such situation will not continue for a longer period of time as 618 million cubic feet of gas will be added to the national grid through the drilling of 46 wells over the next three years while electricity from the second unit of Payra power plant, Rampal power plant and 1600 MW imported electricity from India will add to the national power grid.
The State Minister also explained the situation, saying that the pandemic has impacted everyone. "When everyone was trying to recover from the hit of the Covid-19, the Russia-Ukraine war has put the entire world in a deep crisis, which has not only impacted the developing countries, but also the developed world," he said.
"The impact of the world has created a huge volatility in the global energy market. The international food market is also in a dismal situation. This has put us in a dangerous situation," the Minister said in his statement which he also shared on his Facebook page.
Read: Electricity: Progress in pre-paid meter installation is slow despite high hope
"As you know, Bangladesh has recently achieved a milestone of 52 billion in exports. It means our industrialisation has surpassed all the times of the past in the last one century due to uninterrupted supply of gas and electricity,
"Before the 2008 elections, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had promised in her election manifesto to bring electricity to the doorsteps of all. We have implemented that vision. There is no alternative to the uninterrupted gas and electricity to improve human quality of life. We are moving towards achieving that goal. But due to the war, the rhythm suddenly dropped everywhere," he said.
Even developed and economically prosperous countries like Japan are not able to provide regular electricity to more than three and a half crore people, the Minister said. "The situation is similar in another developed country, Australia. I don’t want to mention the situation in India and Pakistan. Everyone has to go for rationing to manage the crisis."
The State minister said the country needs 1600-1600 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) to generate electricity "against which we can supply only 900 mmcfd gas". "We can't supply more gas as we have to give priority to agriculture and industry. Fertiliser is essential for agriculture. We also have to supply a huge gas for fertiliser production.'
Read: Five Eid congregations at Baitul Mukarram
About the current situation in Bangladesh, Nasdrul said that currently the daily gas production is 2300 mmcfd. "The rest of the demand is being met through imported gas. Even when the Awami League government assumed office in 2009, gas production was only 1744 mmcfd. We increased production capacity to 2,750 mmcfd. Until 2018, we had produced gas in this capacity. But unfortunately it’s true that our own gas production has started to fall due to the declining reserves in our fields."
He said that the country is receiving liquefied natural gas (LNG) under long-term agreements with Qatar and Oman. "In addition, we used to import LNG from the international spot market. Before the Covid-19, we imported per unit of LNG at US$4, but now the price has crossed $41. If we import LNG at such a high price, it will create a pressure on our economy. Not only the gas price, the prices of all kinds of energy have increased. In July 2021, per barrel of diesel was $77 which now has gone up to $171."
Reminding the situation before 2008 when there was no electricity for 16-18 hours a day, he said in that difficult times, "you have kept your trust in Sheikh Hasina". "Coming to power, the Awami League government has taken various short, medium and long term steps to develop the power sector."
He urged all to keep trust in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to overcome the crisis. “We will all overcome this crisis together."
Five Eid congregations at Baitul Mukarram
The Baitul Mukarram National Mosque is scheduled to host five congregations on Sunday on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival of the Muslims.
In a statement, the Islamic Foundation said that the first of the five congregations will be held at 7am.
The second will take place at 8am, the third one at 9am and the fourth one at 10am. The last one of the day will be held at 10.45am.
The foundation also fixed Imams and Mukabbirs for the congregations.
The holy Eid-ul-Azha, the second biggest religious festival of the Muslims, will be celebrated in the country on July 10 (Sunday) as the new moon of the Arabic month of Zilhaj was sighted in Bangladesh sky on Thursday.
The decision was made at a meeting of the National Moon Sighting Committee after reviewing information about the sighting of the Jilhaj moon, said Md Abdul Awal Hawlader, additional secretary to the Religious Affairs Ministry.
Also Read: Bangladesh celebrates Eid as pandemic fades
The meeting was held in the office of the Islamic Foundation at Baitul Mukarram with Awal Hawlader in the chair.
Man to hang for killing wife, daughter in Khulna
A Khulna court on Tuesday sentenced a man to death for killing his wife and one-year-old daughter over a family feud in 2015.
The condemned convict, Mahabubur Morol, is the son of Siraj Morol of Dumuria upazila of the district. He was tried in absentia.
Khulna Senior District and Sessions Judge Mir Shafiqul Alam handed down the punishment to Mahabubur and also imposed a fine of Tk 50,000.
According to the prosecution, Mahabubur married Reshma Begum in 2014. He used to torture his wife over small issues since their marriage.
Read: Mother-daughter duo killed in Dinajpur road accident
On August 31, 2015, an argument broke out between Reshma and Mahabubur as she wanted to go to her parent’s house with her daughter.
At one stage, Mahabubur strangled his wife and daughter to death and left the place hurriedly.
On September 1, 2015, Reshma’s father Abul Kalam lodged a complaint with the Dumuria police and a double murder case was registered.
On December 31 the same year, police submitted a chargesheet against Mahabubur.
Ahead of Eid PM declares MPO benefits for 2716 educational institutions
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday declared 2716 privately run educational institutions eligible for monthly payment order (MPO).
Under the MPO scheme the government pays 100 per cent of the basic salaries to the teachers of non-government institutions.
The PM made the announcement while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of country’s first campus-based business incubator ‘Sheikh Kamal IT Business Incubator’ at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) through video links from her official residence Ganobhaban.
Among the new MPO beneficiaries are 666 lower secondary schools, 1122 secondary schools, 136 higher secondary schools, 109 higher secondary colleges and 18 degree colleges.
The new MPO list also includes some 665 educational institutions under the vocational and madrassa education board.
These are 97 SSC vocational or Dakhil vocational, 200 SSC business management and technology, two diploma in agriculture, 264 Dakhil Madrassa, 85 Alerm Madrassa, six Farazi Madrassa and 11 Kamil Madrassa.
Also read: MPO for new educational institutions to be announced this month: Dipu Moni
Along with unveiling the Sheikh Kamal Business Incubator the PM also inaugurated Sheikh Jamal Dormitory and Rosy Jamal Dormitory
7 injured in clash between rival BCL factions at Barishal University
Seven students were injured in a clash between two rival factions of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) over establishing supremacy at Barishal University early on Wednesday.
Proctor Khorshed Alam of Barishal University said that Amit Hasan Raktim and Maidur Rahman -- supporters of State Minister for Water Resources Zahid Faruk -- and Mohiuddin Ahmed Sifat and Syed Rumman — supporters of Barishal City Corporation mayor Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah -- had been at loggerheads over establishing dominance on the campus for long.
Read: Man to hang for killing wife, daughter in Khulna
As a sequel to the enmity, the supporters of two BCL factions had heated arguments in the early hours of Wednesday. The same turned violent when members of the two groups attacked each other, leaving seven people, including Maidur, Mohiuddin and Rumman, injured.
The injured were taken to a local hospital, university authorities said.
On information, police rushed to the campus and brought the situation under control. "No one has been arrested," a police officer said.
Mother-daughter duo killed in Dinajpur road accident
A woman and her 12-year-old daughter riding pillion on her husband's bike were killed after being hit by a speeding truck near M Abdur Rahim Medical College in Dinajpur in the early hours of Wednesday.
The deceased were identified as Beauty Begum, 35, and her daughter Fahima, all residents of Pashtikari village in Bholahat upazila of Chapainawabganj.
Read: Three bodies fished out of Barishal river
The accident occurred when the speeding truck crashed into the bike around 5am while they were on their way home for Eid, leaving the duo dead on the spot, said Asaduzzama, inspector (investigation) of Kotwali Police Station.
Beauty’s husband Mohammad Hossain and their minor son also sustained severe injuries in the accident. "They are being treated at M Abdur Rahim Medical College Hospital," he said.
"Efforts are on to nab the truck driver who sped away after the accident," the inspector said.
PM unveils country’s first business incubator aimed at building smart Bangladesh
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday inaugurated the country’s first campus-based business incubator named after her martyred brother and heroic Freedom Fighter Sheikh Kamal at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET).
Sheikh Kamal IT Business Incubator is aimed at developing skilled graduates and successful entrepreneurs in the IT sector to help build a “smart Bangladesh” by 2041.
It will encourage research and innovation at the university level to meet the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Read: Govt banking on increased consumption and investment as drivers of growth in 2022-23
The incubator also aims at enriching the industry-academia collaboration as well as unleashing Bangladesh's global opportunities in the IT sector.
Joining the programme virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban the premier also inaugurated Sheikh Jamal Dormitory and Rosy Jamal Dormitory at CUET.
State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak delivered the welcome speech at Ganabhaban.
Under the Tk 117-crore Sheikh Kamal IT Business Incubator project a 10-storey incubation building comprising 50,000 square feet and a 6-storey multipurpose training centre of 36,000 square feet have been constructed on five acres of land on CUET campus, according to official documents.
There are Startup Zone, Idea / Innovation Zone, Industry-Academic Zone, Brainstorming Zone, E-Library, Data Center, Research Lab, Bangabandhu Corner, Exhibition Center, Video Conferencing Room, Meeting Room inside the Incubation building.
Read: Residents of 13 villages in Sunamganj long for a concrete bridge
The incubator also hosts an Artificial Intelligence (AI) lab, a machine learning lab, a big data lab, an optical fiber backbone, a sub-station and a solar panel to facilitate the work of entrepreneurs and researchers.
It also has separate corners for banks and IT firms, state-of-the-art cyber cafes, food courts, cafeterias, recreation zones, maker spaces, display zones, press or media coverage zones, own parking facilities, etc.
Besides, the multipurpose training building has a well-equipped auditorium with a capacity of 250 people and eight separate computer lab-cum-seminar rooms with a capacity of 30 people.
Two separate four-storey dormitory buildings (each for female and male) on an area of 20,000 square feet have been constructed. Each dormitory has 40 rooms.
A state-of-the-art research lab with two mini supercomputers will also be set up soon.