Bangladesh
Budget’s highest priority is to tame inflation: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday told Parliament that the budget has given the highest priority to rein in inflation in the fiscal year beginning on July 1.
“I think the budget has been able to give the highest priority to firmly face (control high) inflation created due to the current global instability and the pandemic,” she said.
The premier was speaking during the general discussion on the national budget for FY2022-23 as the Leader of the House in the 18th session of the 11th Parliament.
She said the government has been able to give such a large budget of Tk 6,78064 crore despite an adverse situation caused by the Ukraine war that came close on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Many people couldn’t think that we would be able to place it (the budget), but we’ve been able to do it,” he said, extending her sincere thanks to the finance minister and all others involved in the budget preparation.
It is the 23th national budget placed by the Awami League government since the Liberation War and the 4th budget given during the current tenure of AL government, she noted.
“We’ll be able to implement the budget, placed for the 2022-23 fiscal year, successfully with an all-out support of the people,” said Hasina.
She said Bangladesh will have to go forward overcoming the adverse impacts of the war and coronavirus pandemic and it will be able to do so. “We’re making the impossible things possible by overcoming hundreds of obstacles at home and abroad, '' she said.
Bangladesh has successfully been able to maintain its economic progress when many developed countries are facing difficulties due to global instability, she added.
READ: PM: Connectivity is key to national development
She said the government is taking all necessary measures to control inflation fuelled by price-hike of goods in the global market.
The PM said the main strategy to keep the inflation under control would be -- raising the supply of goods and reducing the existing growth of demand. “To reduce inflation is our big target,” she added.
She said this week’s opening of the Padma Bridge to vehicular traffic is easing the supply of goods largely and will also help reduce the inflation rate because of a revolutionary change in the communication network.
Noting that the government is discouraging the import of luxury goods, the PM urged businesspeople to stop importing items which are not very essential.
PM Hasina said the government will take proper measures to reduce dependency on imported goods.
In this context, she urged all to go for the consumption of made-in-Bangladesh products and services.
Nothing to worry about foreign exchange reserve: PM
Sheikh Hasina said the country’s reserve of foreign currency has declined as the import of goods, largely capital machineries and fertilizers, went up after the Covid-19 restrictions.
She said the country will be benefited when the capital machineries are installed and the related industries go in operation. So, there is nothing to worry about it,” she added.
Though the reserve of dollars has declined slightly for this, it is not an alarming matter, said the prime minister, adding that the reserve came down to US$ 41.2 billion from US$ 48 billion during the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said the government has taken a number of measures to control the foreign exchange rate. The government enhanced the import duty on luxury goods, suspended the foreign trips of the government officers and employees, strengthened the Bangladesh Bank’s monitoring on illegal stock of dollars, and enhanced cash incentive to 2.5 per cent on remittance inflow in legal channels, she mentioned.
She said the government is not imposing the increased prices of fuels, electricity and gas on the people rather providing these at subsidized rates. But the amount of the subsidy is very high, she added.
Padma Bridge is symbol of our dignity: Hasina
Citing that the Padma Bridge was constructed with own fund of Bangladesh, Hasina said the bridge is the symbol of the heroic ability of the Bengali nation.
She again extended her sincere thanks and gratitude to the people of Bangladesh. “Their courage is my only resource,” she added.
Talking about the fresh wave of Covid-19 infection, the premier asked the people to follow the health protocols, as they did in the past, and receive the boaster doses of vaccines in order to retain the success of Bangladesh in facing the pandemic.
About the graduation of Bangladesh from a least developed country, she hoped that Bangladesh will be able to overcome the post-graduation challenges with remarkable success. “I hope that Bangladesh will set an example for development as a developing country across the world,” she added.
Master plan on blended education to be taken:
Sheikh Hasina said the government will put further importance to the standard technical and vocational education with a view to create skilled manpower in the country.
“We’ll take a master plan on blended education…. We’ve started to prepare a plan for blended education,” she said.
The PM said the government has taken a plan to increase the ICT-based employment to 30 lakh people by 2025
About the recent flood, she said there will be a fund of Tk 5000 crore to face disasters in the upcoming fiscal year. The government will also provide cash support to the flood-hit people whose houses were damaged, she said.
BTRC places indefinite suspension on GP SIM card sale
The telecom regulator has placed an indefinite suspension on the SIM card sale of Grameenphone for the operator's failure to provide quality service.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) imposed an indefinite suspension on Grameenphone as it is not providing quality service to its users despite repeatedly being asked to do so, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar told UNB Wednesday.
Also Read: 5G internet within December: BTRC
"The telecom company has no intention to provide quality service, as it is not doing anything to fix the problems that its subscribers are facing," he added.
"The BTRC placed the sale of Grameenphone SIM cards on indefinite suspension as we do not want new uses to face the same problems."
Youth dies as boat sinks in Sunamganj haor
A 22-year-old man died as a boat sank in Pagnar haor after in Jamalganj upazila of Sunamganj district early Wednesday.
The deceased was identified as Biptu Majumdar, 22, son of Bidhan Majumdar of Chamargaon village in the upazila.
Kajal Chandra Talukdar, chairman of Fenarbak union Parishad, said the boat carrying 21 passengers sank in the haor amid storm around 3 am.
Twenty people managed to swim ashore while Biptu drowned.
Later, his body was recovered from the Haor in the morning.
Sitakunda depot fire: Writ petition seeks Tk 2 crore compensation for each deceased’s family
A writ petition was filed with the High Court seeking its directive to the authorities concerned to pay compensation of Tk 2 crore to each deceased's family and Tk 50 lakh to each injured victim of depot fire at Sitakunda in Chattogram.
Supreme Court Lawyer Barrister Mohammad Humayun Kabir Pallab, Barrister Mohammad Kawsar, Barrister Mohammad Majeedul Quader and AKM Faisal Haque filed the writ petition on behalf of ‘Law and Life Foundation’ and ‘CCB Foundation’ on Wednesday.
Read: Legal action against depot fire culprits after probe, says IGP
The bench of Justice Mojibur Rahman Mia is expected to hear the writ petition on Thursday, said lawyer Humayun Kabir Pallab.
The writ petition sought the formation of an inquiry committee comprising of explosives experts, appropriate action against the culprits and necessary directives for providing the compensation.
Home Secretary, Disaster Management and Relief Secretary, Industries Secretary, Commerce Secretary, Director General of Fire Service and Civil Defense, Deputy Commissioner of Chattogram, Chairman and Managing Director of Smart Group, BM Container Depot were made respondents in the writ petition.
As per the writ petition, at least 50 people were killed and more than 100 injured in a fire at BM container depot in Chattogram’s Sitakunda on June 4.
The number of casualties in the fire increased due to the stockpiling of flammable chemicals by BM Container of Smart Group without disclosing it to the appropriate authorities. Many firefighters were killed and injured as the fire service did not have the necessary information on the chemicals which were stored there, it added.
Read:Container depot fire under control after 60 hours: Army
Besides, firefighters are unable to control fires caused by chemical due to lack of necessary training and modern equipment, it said.
Earlier, the Law and Life Foundation Trust and the CCB Foundation had served separate legal notices seeking compensation for the victims, said Barrister Pallab.
50 Years of Relations: Romania keen to deepen ties with Bangladesh
Bangladesh and Romania on Wednesday celebrated the 50 years of diplomatic relations with a vow to further deepen the relations on bilateral and multilateral fronts.
“As we celebrate 50 years of Romania-Bangladesh diplomatic relations, Romania stands ready to continue developing and deepening our very good relations with Bangladesh at bilateral and multilateral level,” the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted.
Romania was one of the first European states to recognize newly independent Bangladesh in 1971.
The traditional bilateral relations attained a renewed dynamic during the last 2 years, said a media release.
This impetus was reflected also in the substantial development of the diplomatic dialogue as well as the exchange of visits.
The year 2021 marked the fostering of the bilateral relations with the Romania visit of Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen at the invitation of his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu.
The visit represented the most significant diplomatic contact of high ranking officials in the last 30 years between Romania and Bangladesh, said the media release.
The re-opening in October 2020 of Bangladesh’ Embassy in Romania was another important moment in order to re-launch the bilateral relations.
READ: Momen thanks Romania for issuing visas from Dhaka
In 2022 the Romanian side organised a three-month temporary consulate in Dhaka in order to facilitate the granting of working visas for the Bangladeshi citizens.
The current objectives of the bilateral relation comprise deepening of the political dialogue and the sectorial economic cooperation, the launching of a joint economic cooperation commission and the organisation of a business forum for the promotion of trade exchanges.
There are new perspectives for cooperation in the culture, education, labour and consular domains as well as the enhancing of the legal framework in education and economy.
Romania and Bangladesh share a significant potential for economic cooperation, digitalization, cyber security, IT, technological transfer, agriculture, food industry and transport, said the media release.
Romania granted 50 thousand euro through UNICEF Bangladesh plan “2020 Join Response Plan for Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis” for water and education infrastructure.
No personal harm to anyone while recovering water bodies: LGRD Minister
LGRD Minister Md Tazul Islam said on Wednesday that the government doesn’t want to cause personal damage to anyone while recovering canals and river channels from illegal occupation.
Tazul was speaking at the inauguration of Dhaka South City Corporation’s (DSCC) re-excavation works on parts of Old Buriganga the capital’s Shahidnagar.
“Those who are enjoying benefits by illegally occupying the city’s rivers and canals may get disheartened after seeing our development works. But we have nothing to say to them except showing sympathy. We are doing these works because we think that the people will be benefitted through these measures,” said Tazul.
Emphasizing on the importance of freeing Dhaka’s waterbodies from illegal occupants, Tazul added that the government must recover the lost canals and rivers to turn Dhaka into a beautiful and liveable city.
DSCC mayor Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said that the re-excavation works of the old channel of the Buriganga River will be conducted following the RS map.
“Primarily, we’ll excavate 2.7km areas of the old Buriganga channel. We’ll also demarcate the area during this time. We’ll gradually excavate the entire channel following this process,” Taposh said.
Taposh also inaugurated a Garbage Transfer Center at the 62nd ward of the capital today. Kazi Monirul Islam Monu, Lawmaker from Dhaka-5 seat, Farid Ahammad, Chief Executive Officer of DSCC, Saleh Ahmed, Chief Engineer of DSCC and Councillors of respected wards, among others, were present at the event.
College teacher Utpal murder: Prime accused held in Gazipur
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) on Wednesday detained the prime accused in Savar college teacher Utpal Kumar Sarker murder case from Gazipur district.
The arrestee is a class IX student of Haji Yunus Ali School and College at Ashulia of Dhaka’s Savar upazila college.
Read: College teacher murder: Prime accused’s father arrested from Kushtia
Based on secret information, an operational team of the Rab-1 conducted a drive in Sreepur of Gazipur in the evening and detained the teenager around 7:00 pm, said ASP (media) Imran Khan of Rab headquarters.
Earlier, Ashulia thana police arrested the 9th grader’s father Uzzal Hossain , another accused of the case from Kushtia, four days after the teacher was beaten to death in broad daylight in Savar .
Uzzal was hiding with his family since the murder.
Although Uzzal was arrested his other family members managed to flee during a police drive.
Police said they recovered the cricket stump that was used in the killing.
According to Md Kamruzzaman, Officer In-charge (OC) of Ashulia police station, based on secret information Investigation Officer (IO) of the case Sub Inspector (SI) Emdad Hossain arrested Uzzal from Kushtia’s Kumarkhali upazila.
Police sent Uzzal to a court in Dhaka seeking a 10-day remand.
Students and teachers of the college alleged that the student killed Utpal, head of the disciplinary committee of the college, in a pre-planned way.
Read: College teacher ‘beaten by students with cricket stump’ dies in Savar
“Utpal sir had caught the student (prime accused) with a girl inside a classroom and informed the family of the girl about the matter, which had created anger in him. That’s the reason why the student beat up Utpal sir to death on the sports day,” said a student of the college.
According to the college authorities, no CCTV footage of the crime was found as the cameras recorded nothing at that moment due to power outage.
The college authorities suspect that the boy had disconnected the power supply before killing Utpal.
Utpal Sarker, 35, son of Ajit Sarker of Engeldani village under Sirajganj’s Ullapara police station, had been serving as a teacher of Haji Yunus Ali School and College for almost ten years.
Raushan hails Padma Bridge as a symbol of self-respect
Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Raushan Ershad on Wednesday hailed the Padma Bridge as a “symbol of our self-respect” and not just an infrastructure.
The Jatiya Party leader said this while taking part in the general discussion on the proposed budget for 2022-23 in the House.
"There was a lot of criticism centering it. The dream has finally come true. I extend my heartiest congratulations to the prime minister,” she said on her first appearance in the House in about a year.
Read:PM: Conspiracy delayed construction of Padma Bridge by 2 years
Raushan returned home from Thailand on Monday after seven months of treatment.
She thanked Hasina for her brave decision to build the bridge overcoming all hurdles.
"There was a lot of criticism centering it. The dream has finally come true. I extend my heartiest congratulations to the prime minister,” she said.
Raushan urged the government to take long-term steps to find a permanent solution to the country’s flood problem.
Physician who set herself on fire dies at DMCH
A physician who set herself on fire died at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) on Wednesday.
The deceased was identified as Aditi Sarkar, 38, a registrar of Pediatrics Department of Mitford Hospital.
Read: Narayanganj fire: 2 burn victims die at DMCH
She breathed her last around 10 am after suffering with 50 per cent burn injuries for five days , said Coordinator of Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (SHNIBPS) Dr Samanta Lal Sen.
Aditi set herself on fire at her home at Hare Street in the city Friday afternoon, said Kabir Hossain Hawladar, officer-in-charge (OC) of Wari police station.
She told the physicians of the Burn Institute that she had set herself on fire out of anger following an altercation with her husband, said the OC.
Aditi's husband engineer Manas Mandal claimed that his wife had been sick and upset for the several days.
Read:Prisoner dies at DMCH
As he returned home on Friday afternoon, he heard his wife screaming in the next room and found Aditi on fire. He poured water on her immediately, he claimed.
He managed an ambulance calling the national emergency service number 999 and took her to the burn institute, he added.
No personal harm to anyone while recovering water bodies: LGRD Minister
LGRD Minister Md Tazul Islam said on Wednesday that the government doesn’t want to cause personal damage to anyone while recovering canals and river channels from illegal occupation.
Tazul was speaking at the inauguration of Dhaka South City Corporation’s (DSCC) re-excavation works on parts of Old Buriganga the capital’s Shahidnagar.
“Those who are enjoying benefits by illegally occupying the city’s rivers and canals may get disheartened after seeing our development works. But we have nothing to say to them except showing sympathy. We are doing these works because we think that the people will be benefitted through these measures,” said Tazul.
Emphasizing on the importance of freeing Dhaka’s waterbodies from illegal occupants, Tazul added that the government must recover the lost canals and rivers to turn Dhaka into a beautiful and liveable city.
Read: Drive to be launched soon to free rivers surrounding Dhaka: LGRD Minister
DSCC mayor Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said that the re-excavation works of the old channel of the Buriganga River will be conducted following the RS map.
“Primarily, we’ll excavate 2.7km areas of the old Buriganga channel. We’ll also demarcate the area during this time. We’ll gradually excavate the entire channel following this process,” Taposh said.
Taposh also inaugurated a Garbage Transfer Center at the 62nd ward of the capital today. Kazi Monirul Islam Monu, Lawmaker from Dhaka-5 seat, Farid Ahammad, Chief Executive Officer of DSCC, Saleh Ahmed, Chief Engineer of DSCC and Councillors of respected wards, among others, were present at the event.