bangladesh
Gopalganj gang rape: Prime suspect arrested
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on Thursday arrested the prime accused in a case over the gang rape of a woman in Goplaganj's Kashiani upazila on May 6.
The arrestee is Asad, 40, son of Nurul Islam of Ramnagar area in Bagharpara upazila of Jashore district.
Tipped off, a team of RAB-6 conducted a drive in Ramnagar area on Thursday noon and arrested Asad, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-6 Jashore Camp Company Commander M Naziur Rahman said in a press briefing.
However, law enforcers are trying to arrest the four other accused in the case.
Earlier, the woman was reportedly raped by five men at Pingulia village in Goplaganj's Kashiani upazila.
According to the case statement, the victim was acquainted with a person named Mohin, 38, of Faridpur district.
On May 6, suspect Mohin asked the victim to meet him at Gopalganj Bhatiapara area. When the woman went to meet him there, Mohin and the other accused first took her to Lohagara Park in Narail district. On the way back, the suspected rapists, led by Asad, took her to a banana orchard in the area and raped her before fleeing the scene.
Later, a case was filed with Kashiani police station following a complaint lodged by the victim.
"Asad admitted his involvement in the gang-rape during the preliminary interrogation," said the RAB official.
The arrestee was handed over to Kashiani police station in Gopalganj, he added.
SCC elections: nomination papers of 5 mayoral, 11 for councillor candidates cancelled
Nomination papers of five mayoral candidates were cancelled during the primary scrutiny in the upcoming Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) elections slated for June 21.
Also, nomination papers of six candidates for the posts of general councillor and five for reserved councillors were scrapped, confirmed Syed Kamal Hossain, an official (media cell) of Sylhet regional election office, but he didn’t elaborate in this regard.
The aspiring candidates whose nomination papers were cancelled will get a chance to appeal against it within the next three days, he said.
Of the submitted 11 nomination papers for the mayoral post, cancelled independent candidates are Mohammad Abdul Mannan Khan, Samsun Nur Talukder, Mawlana Jahid Uddin Chowdhury, Md Shahjahan Miah and Moshtak Ahmed Rouf Mostafa.
On the other hand, nomination papers of Awami League-backed Md Anoruzzaman Chowdhury, Jatiya Party-sponsored Nazrul Islam Babul, Islami Andolan-nominated Hafiz Mawlana Mahmudul Hasan, Jaker Party’s Md Jahirul Alam, independent Mohammad Abdul Hanif Kutu and Md Saleh Uddin Rimon were declared valid.
Earlier till the last day (May 23) of submission of the nomination papers, a total of 387 aspiring candidates including 11 for mayoral post submitted their nomination papers.
Eighty-nine nomination papers for the post of reserved seats and 287 for general ward councilor were submitted.
May 25 was scheduled to scrutinise the nomination papers and the last day of withdrawal of the nomination papers has been set for June 1.
The symbols will be distributed among other candidates on June 2.
A total of 4, 86,605 voters are expected to cast their votes using the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at 190 polling centres in the city.
Agent banking and digital financial service made impressive role in financial inclusion, speakers tell workshop
Speakers on Thursday highlighted the transformative role of agent banking in rural areas and said its impact on financial inclusion is impressive for the economy.
They said Bangladesh made remarkable strides in reducing poverty and improving the socio-economic status of its rural population over the past five decades.
However, access to finance remains a significant constraint to sustained development in these regions, with Micro Finance Institutions.
The speakers said this in a workshop titled ‘Scope and Possibilities of Digital Financial Services in Bangladesh’ organised Policy Research Institute (PRI) for journalists in the capital on Thursday.
Two separate presentations were placed in the workshop on ‘Agent Banking: Progress, Challenges and Way Forward’ by Dr Ahsan H. Mansur, Executive Director, PRI, and ‘Impact of Digital Financial Services on Households and firms: Empirical Evidence from Bangladesh’ by Dr. Bazlul H. Khondker, Director, PRI.
Mansur underscored that Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) charging high-interest rates. In light of this, the agent banking model has emerged as a vital solution, offering cost-efficient financial services to unbanked communities across the country.
Dr. Ahsan Mansur highlighted the success of agent banking, emphasising its presence in rural areas where agents, who are community members, build trust with customers.
Currently, the model has reached an impressive 16.5 million (1.6 lakh and 50 thousand) clients, a testament to its effectiveness in providing financial services to previously underserved regions.
Moreover, agent banking has witnessed significant growth among women, addressing accessibility challenges faced in regions where cultural norms restrict women's mobility.
“Despite its accomplishments, agent banking faces certain challenges that need attention,” Mansur pointed out.
Dr. Bazlul H. Khondker illustrated the progress of an ongoing study of PRI that seeks to assess the economic impact of financial inclusion in Bangladesh from a macroeconomic perspective.
The study aims to estimate the impact of financial inclusion on growth, poverty, inequality, rural investment and major macroeconomic variables using Financial Social Accounting Matrix (FSAM).
The FSAM will incorporate financial sector variables into the real Social Accounting Matrix or SAM (2017) to estimate the impact of DFS on the economy.
The study also found that 91 percent of entrepreneurs had to start business with personal or family savings, or by borrowing from friends or family, without any financial support from formal financial sources and credit.
Around 82.25 percent CMSMEs stated they require additional financial support for future growth. As preferred sources of financing, around 42 percent mentioned MFIs, followed by 25.53 percent, state-owned and 21.28 percent private banks.
“There is a need for financing the rural cottage, micro and small firms for their business expansion and sustainability. If MFS and formal financial sources can meet that demand, there is huge potential for growth in the rural economy”, said Dr. Bazlul Khondker.
Border guards’ regional conference ends in Cox’s Bazar
A two-day regional commander-level border conference ended on Thursday with the participation of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Border Guard Police (BGP) of Myanmar inTeknaf Upazila of Cox’s Bazar district.
A 15-member Bangladesh delegation led by Brigadier General Nazm-Us-Sakib, regional commander of BGB Cox’s Bazar, participated in the conference.
On the other hand, BGP No.1 commander Brigadier General Htet Lwin is leading the 16-member Myanmar delegation.
Various issues including drug trafficking, intrusion, inter-state terrorism, border security, information exchange, coordinated patrolling, mutual trust building were discussed in the conference.
Mango export begins with 10 tonnes to 4 countries
The Mango export procedures officially started this year with exports of 10 tonnes of mango to four countries on Thursday. This year the target for export is 4,000 tonnes--double than last year’s.
Agriculture Secretary Wahida Akter inaugurated the mangoes export programme at the central packing house in the city's Shyampur area on Thursday morning.
Agriculture Ministry Additional Secretary Rabindra Shree Barua, Director General of The Department of Agricultural Extension Badal Chandra Biswas, Director of The Field Wing Tajul Islam Patwari, Director of Mango Export Project Arifur Rahman, President of Bangladesh Fruits, Vegetables and Allied Products Exporters Association Jahangir Hossain, among others, were present at the program. Exportable Mango Production Project and Bangladesh Fruits, Vegetables and Allied Product Exporters Association jointly organised the event.
"Bangladeshi mangoes have a good reputation all over the world. More than 24 lakh tonnes of mangoes are produced in the country. Last year, only 1,757 tonnes of mangoes were exported,” the Agriculture Secretary said.
“We are the seventh largest mango producer in the world, but we export very little. Export growth needs to be accelerated further,” Wahida Akter said, adding that all kinds of obstacles towards mango export will be addressed.
If necessary, packing houses will be built near the production sites, she said.
The Ministry of Agriculture has implemented the Exportable Mango Production Project in 2022 -2027. The total cost of the project is Tk 47 crore. The project is being implemented in 46 upazilas of 15 districts of the country.
2 college students killed in Kushtia road accident
Two motorcyclists were killed in a head-on collision between their motorbike and a bus near Paikpara Mirzapur village in Kushtia’s Khoksa upazila.
The deceased were identified as Abu Musa ,18, and Parvez Hossain,18. Both of them were class XI students of Abu Taleb Degree College in Shomspur upazila.
SI Mozammel Haque of Khoksa Police Station, who was present on the spot, said the highway police will prepare a report and decide on whether a case should be filed or not.
According to witnesses, the Kushtia-bound motorcycle collided with the bus coming from the opposite direction, leaving them dead on Kushtia-Rajbari road around 1:30pm.
The bus driver and other staff fled the spot following the accident.
18 BNP activists arrested in Sirajganj
Police arrested 18 BNP leaders and activists conducting several drives across five upazilas in Sirajganj district.
The arrestees include district BNP vice president Amar Krishna Das, Kawakola union president Badal Mandal Gutu, Kalia Haripur union organizing Secretaries Monir Hossain Khan and Mamun alias Pora Mamun and others.
Sirajganj Additional Superintendent of Police (Administration and Finance) Md Hannan Mia said police conducted several drives in Sirajganj Sadar upazila, Raiganj upazila, Tarash upazila, Shahjadpur upazila, Belkuchi upazila and Enayetpur police station areas arrested 18 leaders and activists of BNP.
Bangladesh reports 68 more Covid-19 cases
Bangladesh reported 68 more Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours till Thursday morning.
With the new numbers, the country's total caseload rose to 2,038,809, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
However, the official death toll from the disease remained unchanged at 29,446 as no new fatalities were reported.
The daily case test positivity increased to 5.25 percent from Tuesday’s 4.23 percent as 1,294samples were tested.
The recovery rate remained unchanged at 98.4 percent. However, the death rate also remained unchanged at 1.44 percent.
Bangladesh registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 in 2021 and highest number of fatalities of 264 on August 10 the same year.
Gazipur City Corporation election: Voting ends with no reports of violence
Voting in the Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) election concluded with no reports of violence amid tight security measure on Thursday.
Beginning at 8 am, the voting continued till 4 pm without any break.
Counting of votes began shortly after the voting ended.
Early voting has been peaceful and the law and order situation is also good, said Zayeda Khatun, an independent mayoral candidate in the Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) elections.
She made the remark while talking to reporters after casting her vote at Kanaia Government Primary School polling station around 10 am.
There has been no complaint so far against the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), she said adding “I am hopeful about my victory in the election.’
Meanwhile, Gazipur City Corporation's (GCC) former mayor Jahangir Alam also cast his vote at the same polling station with his mother.
Eight candidates are contesting for mayoral posts in the election and there are 248 councillors and 79 female councilor candidates.
A total of 11,79,476 voters were eligible to vote and of them, 5,92,762 were men and 5,86,696 were women, and the number of transgender people was 18.
A total of 13,000 law enforcers have been deployed to maintain law and order during the election, said Commissioner of Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP) Molla Nazrul Islam on Wednesday.
Twenty platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members have been deployed alongside 30 teams of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and Ansar members, said Returning Officer Faridul Islam.
China to set up agricultural machinery factories, industrial parks and research centres in Bangladesh
China has expressed keen interest to set up agricultural machinery manufacturing factories in Bangladesh, agro-industrial parks for agro-processing, and agricultural technology cooperation center for training of scientists and joint research.
Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen made the proposal at a meeting with Agriculture Minister Md Abdur Razzaque at the Secretariat on Thursday morning.
Welcoming the China's offer, the agriculture minister said the Bangladesh government will provide all kinds of assistance.
The minister also requested the Ambassador to provide more scholarships in the field of higher education for Bangladeshi scientists.
He said Bangladesh wants to maintain good relations with all countries keeping the national interest first.
“Bangladesh-China relations are very important for economic development and peace and stability in the region. There are many opportunities to boost cooperation in the field of agriculture between Bangladesh and China,” Razzaque said adding, “Cooperation in the agriculture sector will take Sino-Bangladesh bilateral relations to new heights.”
The agriculture minister also asked for China’s support to help repatriate the Rohingya people.
"Bangladesh is a small country with a population of 170 million. In such a situation, it is very difficult to ensure food, shelter, medical, and security for one million Rohingyas. Moreover, Rohingyas are also a threat to the security of the country,” he said.
In response, the Chinese ambassador said, “China is working sincerely to find a permanent solution to the Rohingya problem.”
While talking to reporters regarding the new US Visa policy for Bangladesh ahead of 12th parliamentary election – to be held later this year or earlier next year – the minister said, “The government is not worried and does not feel pressure about the US visa ban warning. This is a warning to everyone. It also applies to BNP.”
The minister also said that the new visa policy will discourage evil forces, unconstitutional forces in the country who want to come to power without elections following Pakistani style .
The minister said the next parliamentary elections will be held through a democratic process, adding that the Election Commission will hold the elections with the help of the government as per the constitution.