bangladesh
PM to visit Gopalganj through Padma Bridge on Monday
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will visit Tungipara upazila in Gopalganj on Monday through the Padma Bridge for the first time.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to UNB on Sunday that she will make the journey by road and will return by helicopter later.
According to the Gopalganj district information office, the PM will start for Tungipara at 7 am from Ganabhaban on Monday.
Also read: PM calls for best use of domestic resources for national development
After arrival she will place wreath at the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s mausoleum at 11 am and will offer offered Surah Fatiha and prayers.
She will join a milad mahfil arranged there and will meet the leaders of the district and upazila Awami League and its associate organisations at afternoon.
The PM will also visit Bangabandhu’s launch terminal in Tungipara and will depart for Dhaka at 2 pm.
The district administration has made all the necessary arrangements for the PM’s visit and the public entrance at Bangabandhu’s mausoleum was closed on Saturday evening.
Also read: PM calls Padma Bridge a milestone to change the fate of people: PM
For the next 24 hours from Sunday 5 pm to Monday 5pm opening of all kind of shops and vehicle movement will remain restricted at Patgati area of Tungipara, said the authority.
Govt to lower age bracket for children to punish teen gangs
As juvenile delinquency and teenage gangs marked a rise in the country, the government is going to reduce the legal age of children from 18 years by amending the Child Act 2013 so that legal action can be taken against them for serious offences.
Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque came up with the announcement after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Law and Order on Sunday afternoon.
He said the meeting held at the conference room of the Home Ministry presided over by him took the decision considering the incidents of juvenile crimes in the country.
Mozammel said different teen gangs have been indulging in various offences in the country. “So, in the context of our country, we think that some amendments should be made in the Children Act.”
As per international law, he said persons up to 18 years of age are children, and action cannot be taken against them. "But the context of our country does not match with the international perspective.”
Referring to the recent murder of a teacher by a 14-year-old tenth-grader student in Savar, the minister said action now cannot be taken against him as he is a child as per both the international and local laws.
“That’s why we think this act needs to be amended for practical reasons. From that point of view, we have drawn the attention of our wise law minister and through him we’re drawing the attention of the court," he said.
After the independence of the country, Mozammel said Bangabandhu enacted a law determining the age of children up to 14. “But it has now been made 18 years in accordance with international law. Considering that, we have sought the advice of the law minister on how to make new law in this regard.”
Replying to a question, he said their meeting decided to amend the Children Act 2013. “I personally think that children should be up to 14 years of age. But no decision was taken at the meeting in this regard. We only decided to reduce it from 18 years.”
The minister voiced concern that the number of teenage gangs is increasing while they are getting addicted to drugs. “Even, girls are also getting addicted to drugs, but they’re very few in number.”
Eight years back, the government enacted the Children Act 2013 repealing the 1974 Children Act with the aim of bringing the country in line with provisions of international instruments.
In the Act, the age of the child has been increased from 16 to 18 years.
As per the act, no child shall be sentenced to death and imprisonment for life or imprisonment, and only the Child Court is empowered to hold the trial of an offence if a child is a victim or a witness in a case.
Coast Guard rescues five stranded fishermen off Barguna
Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) Sunday rescued five fishermen from the Bay of Bengal after their fishing boat was stranded in the sea estuary.
BCG Station Nidraskina under the BCG South Zone spotted the boat while conducting an operation near Pakshidia in Barguna's Taltali at 2pm to seize returning boats that continued fishing defying a ban, Lieutenant Commander Khandaker Munif Taki, media officer at BCG headquarters, said.
Read: Councillor’s son arrested for killing wife in Chattogram
The fishermen said they were stranded after their boat's engine went out of order in Nidrarkhal.
"All the rescued fishermen are residents of the village Baro Ankujan Para of Taltoli. The rescued boat was sent back and fishermen to their families," Khandaker Munif said.
Malta to send team for hassle-free visa processing of 3000 Bangladeshis: FM
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Sunday said Malta agreed to send a consular team to Bangladesh to facilitate visa processing for Bangladeshis without any hassle.
Referring to his recent discussion with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Malta, Momen said the date of their arrival is yet to be fixed and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will further look into it.
Momen said at one stage Malta’s Deputy Prime Minister mentioned VFS Global, also known as "Visa Facilitation Services Global," but he suggested sending a consular team for a couple of weeks first.
Also read: Padma Bridge symbol of new Bangladesh: FM tells his Portuguese counterpart
“They agreed,” said the Foreign Minister, adding that around 3000 Bangladeshis are waiting for visas that need to get processed from New Delhi.
Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is an island country in the European Union consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea, and considered part of Southern Europe.
Foreign Minister Momen said recently Romania sent a similar consular team and processed around 4000 visas from Dhaka.
Also read: FM to attend UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon
7 killed in road accidents in 3 districts
Seven people died in separate road accidents in Faridpur, Sylhet and Chuadanga districts on Sunday.
In Faridpur, three people including a 30-year old woman and her 7-year old daughter were killed in separate road accidents.
Two of the deceased were identified as Suparna Biswas, wife of Prabir Biswas of Tungrail village in Boalmari upazila and their daughter Protyasha Biswas.
Also read: Mother, daughter among 3 killed in Faridpur road accidents
Suparna and her daughter were returning home on a paddled van with her daughter from Shasrail market around 2:30 pm when a recklessly speeding truck hit the van from behind near Kalimajhi brick kiln on Maijkandi-Bhatiapara regional highway, said Kalpana Mandal one of the witnesses.
The truck driver managed to flee along with the truck, leaving the duo dead on spot, said Md Abdul Wahab, Officer-in-Charge of Boalmari police station.
Meanwhile, Sajib Sheikh, 17, a construction worker was killed and two others were injured as he lost control over his motorcycle near Shyampur filling station in Sadarpur upazila headquarter.
In Sylhet, three people were killed as a motorcycle collided with a truck in Jaintapur upazila in Sylhet.
The deceased were identified as Jashim Uddin, 16, son of Abdul Ahad, and Azim Uddin,19, son of Shiraz Uddin, Fahim Ahmed Ami, 16, son of Subedur Rahman from Sylhet sadar upazila , said Golam Dastagir Ahmed, Officer-in-Charge of Jaintapur police station.
The accident occurred around 3 pm near Sylhet gas field on Sylhet-Tamabil highway leaving one of the motorcycle riders dead on spot.
Another motorcyclist died on the way to hospital while another severly injured rider died under treatment at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College and Hospital, said the OC.
Also read: 2 killed in separate city accidents
“Both the vehicles were seized but none has been arrested in this regard yet,” he said.
In Chuadanga, a seventh grader was killed hit by a tractor at Ramnagar intersection of Damurhuda upazila in Chuadanga
The deceased was identified as Al Amin alias Likhan, 14, son of Khandakar Mohammad Ashraful and a student of Memnagar high school, said AHM Lutful Kabir, Officer-in-Charge of Darshana police station.
Police said a mud-laden tractor hit the Likhan from the opposite direction on his way home from a coaching centre in the area around 10:00am leaving him spot dead.
Govt working to create database of journalists: Info Minister
Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud said on Sunday that the Press Council was working to create a database of journalists with a view to bring fake journalists to book.
“Once the database is created, identifying oneself as a journalist will become tough. As a result, the number of fake journalists will drop,” said Hasan.
Hasan was speaking at a views exchange meeting with the Editors Forum at his ministry’s meeting room.
Also read: BNP's statements outlandish, insane: Hasan Mahmud
During the meeting, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, Advisor of the Forum, said that journalists must work according to the spirit of the liberation war, while Rafiqul Islam Ratan, Convener of the Forum, said that there is no scope to air talk shows or news bulletins on the websites of newspapers or on online news portals according to the Printing Presses and Publications (Declaration and Registration) Act, 1973.
Leaders of the Editor’s forum submitted a 10-point memorandum to Hasan at the meeting. The demands include—refraining from providing government advertisements and supplements to and cancelling the registrations of irregular and weak newspapers, paying the outstanding advertisement bills, reorganizing the circulation-determining process of newspapers, not making unprofessional journalists the Editors of newspapers, designating VIP status to the members of the Editors Forum and enabling the Information Ministry to provide declarations to newspapers.
The Minister thanked the forum for agreeing with the Association of Television Channel Owners (ATCO) that talk shows and news bulletins can’t be broadcast by newspapers.
“Newspapers can publish short videos with their news, not talk shows or news bulletins. The existing law prohibits such practice,” Hasan said.
Also read: Online news portals cannot legally broadcast talk shows, bulletins: Hasan Mahmud
Member Secretary of the Editor’s Forum Faruk Ahmed Talukder, Advisors of the forum Azizul Islam Bhuiyan, Sharif Shahabuddin and Belayet Hossain, and Members of the forum Dulal Ahmed Chowdhury, Mir Moniruzzaman, Mofizur Rahman Khan Babu, Rimon Mahfuz, Nazmul Alam Toufiq and Jagdish Chandra Sarker attended the meeting.
ACC opens 12 more offices in different districts
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) opened 12 more integrated district offices on Sunday aiming to speed up the anti-graft drives across the country.
ACC chairman Moinuddin Abdullah inaugurated the Gopalganj office in Gopalganj while its secretary Mahbub Hossain joined the opening ceremony of Kishoreganj Coordinated office.
Read: Repatriating laundered money morally unacceptable: Planning Minister
Commissioner (Investigation) Mojammel Haque Khan, Commissioner (Inquiry) and its director generals opened the other offices in different districts.
The new ACC offices was inaugurated in Narayanganj (Narayanganj and Munshiganj), Gazipur (Gazipur and Narsingdi), Gopalganj, Kishoreganj, Jamalpur (Jamalpur and Sherpur), Naogaon (Naogaon and Joypurhat), Kurigram (Kurigram and Lalmonirhat), Chandpur (Chandpur and Laxmipur), Bagerhat (Bagerhat and Satkhira), Jhenaidah (Jhenaidah, Magura and Chuadanga), Pirojpur (Pirojpur and Jhalokati) and Thakurgaon (Thakurgaon and Panchagarh).
Japanese firm urged to drop net-zero concept in preparing integrated energy master plan
Prime Minister’s Energy Advisor Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chodhury has asked the Japanese firm to drop the net-zero concept in preparing the integrated energy and power master plan (IEPMP) saying that this is not applicable for Bangladesh.
He made the call while addressing the second stakeholder meeting on IEPMP at hotel International Continental, Dhaka on Sunday.
The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) jointly organized the function. The JICA has been funding the project to prepare the IEPMP upto 2050.
Also read: Second stakeholder meeting on energy master plan Sunday, 'final report by Dec'
“Bangladesh is the least carbon emitting country. So, what is applicable for Bangladesh might not be applicable for other countries,” said Tawfiq Elahi.
At the same function, Japanese Ambassador Ito Noaki refuted an allegation of the Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) that Japan has been dumping obsolete technology and machines in the power sector in Bangladesh.
“I found this allegation unfounded”, said the Japanese envoy urging the TIB to publish detailed reports based on documents in this regard.
He said this is the third time the JICA team has been cooperating with Bangladesh to prepare a master plan for the power and energy sector.
Also read: Experts raise red flag over Bangladesh’s entry into Int’l Energy Charter Treaty
This plan will play an important role in the development of the energy and power sector in Bangladesh, he added.
The Japanese ambassador appreciated Bangladesh for canceling a number of coal-fired power plant plants and targeting 40 percent of electricity generation from renewable energy sources by 2041.
The function, with senior secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division Mahbub Hossain in the chair, was also addressed by power secretary Habibur Rahman, and JICA chief representative to Bangladesh Hayakawa Yuho.
JICA study team leader Ichiro Kutani made a presentation on the update on the proposed IEPMP while other members of the team made different presentation on different issues of the plan while Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) chairman Mahbubur Rahman, Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) managing director Bikash Dewan also took party in the discussion meeting.
In their presentations, JICA team members presented different forecasts on demand and supply of primary energy and electricity upto 2050.
They hinted that newer technologies will be applied in addressing demand and supply issues in the energy and power sector on the basis of the net-zero concepts where zero carbon emission will get highest priority.
Councillor’s son arrested for killing wife in Chattogram
Police arrested a councillor’s son over allegations of killing his wife on Saturday night.
The arrestee has been identified as Nawshadul Amin, son of Nurul Amin, councillor of Saraipara ward no 12 under Chattogram’s Pahartoli police station.
Prior to the arrest, police recovered the body of Rehnuma Ferdous, wife of Nawshadul, from Nurul Amin’s house on the same day.
Rehnuma’s family has alleged that the deceased was killed in a planned way.
“They(Nurul Amin’s family) are saying that my daughter committed suicide, which is nothing but a drama,” said Tareq Imtiaz, father of the deceased.
Read: Smuggled goods worth Tk 131.58 cr seized by BGB in June
Tareq filed a case accusing Nawshadul and his mother for the killing with Pahartoli police station, based on which the arrest was made, said Officer In-charge (OC) of Pahartoli police station Mostafizur Rahman.
“We will ask the court to take Nawshadul into remand,” added the OC.
College student electrocuted, another injured in Sherpur
A college student was electrocuted and his paternal uncle injured at Bhati Langarpara Charband of Shribardi upazila in Sherpur on Sunday.
The deceased was identified as Manjurul Islam Manju, 18, son of Monu Miah in the Bhati Langarpara Charband area. He was a second year student of Sherpur Government College while his uncle was Anwar Hussain.
Police and family members said Manju and Anwar went to their seedbed to water it by water pump in the area at around 8:00am.
Manju got electrocuted while repairing electrical wire of the pump, they said, adding that Anwar was also injured in the accident when he tried to save Manju.
Read: 3 electrocuted to death in Chapainawabganj
Later, locals rushed them to Shribardi upazila health complex where on-duty doctors pronounced Manju dead.
Biplob Kumar Biswas, Officer-in-charge (OC) of Shribardi police station said the victim’s family pleaded for not conducting an autopsy.
The OC said they would take measures after discussing with high officials.