Dhaka, Dec 11 (UNB) – Parveen Mahmud, FCA, a council member and former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB), has been elected Chairperson of the Board of Governors of UCEP Bangladesh for 2019-20.

At the 30th Annual General Meeting of the organisation held at its head office recently, Jitendra Lal Bhoumik was also elected vice-chairperson of the Board of Governors, said a press release on Tuesday.

Besides, Chakladar Mansurul Alam, FCA, Prof M Hafizul Islam, Mosleh Uddin Ahmed, Dr Rubana Ahmed and Uzma Chowdhury became members.

With outgoing Chairperson of UCEP Bangladesh Board of Governors AQ Siddiqui in the chair, the AGM was also attended by UCEP Bangladesh Association members, its Executive Director Tahsina Ahmed, directors and officials. 

Chattogram, Dec 11 (UNB) - A fugitive accused sustained bullet injuries in police firing after he allegedly swooped on law enforcers with a lethal weapon at Asadganj in the city early Tuesday that left three people, including two policemen, injured.

Mohammad Mohsin, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station, said a team of police conducted a drive in the area around 5:30 am to arrest wanted accused Azad.

Sensing the presence of law enforcers, Azad equipped with a sharp weapon attacked the policemen, leaving three people -- sub-inspector Abu Hayat, constable Mohammad Russel Miah and local Kafil Uddin -- injured.

At one stage, police opened fire in self-defence that left Azad injured.

The injured were taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

Azad was wanted in seven several cases, including of arms and drugs, said the OC.

Dhaka, Dec 11 (UNB) - Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken the charge of two more ministries on Tuesday after the government accepted the resignation of four technocrat ministers.

The Cabinet Division issued a gazette notification on Tuesday to this effect. It said the prime minister had distributed four ministries, previously headed by as many technocrat ministers, among her Cabinet colleagues. 

Sheikh Hasina will supervise the ministries of science and technology, and posts and telecommunications alongside her current portfolios.

Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain has been given the additional charge of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq will also lead the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Four technocrat ministers stepped down on November 6 ahead of the national election scheduled for December 30. Their resignations were accepted on Sunday.

Khulna, Dec 11 (UNB) – Although one year has passed, the ‘Bandhan Express’ running between Bangladesh and India has been incurring a loss of around TK 6 lakh on each trip for not having sufficient number of passengers.

The train has a total of 456 seats in 10 coaches but only some 100-120 passengers travel to India from Khulna on each trip, according to sources at the railways station.

The ‘Bandhan Express’ was formally started its journey on November 16, 2017 in a bid to ease communication between the two neighbouring countries. 

The train is fully air conditioned and the fare of cabin is Tk 2000 while chair Tk 1500 including travel taxes. But a traveller has to spend only Tk 600 to visit Kolkata from Khulna via Benapole Check Post, according to passengers.

Due to the high price of its tickets, the train has failed to attract passengers, they added.

The train runs two days a week and takes around four and half hours to reach Kolkata from Khulna although the distance is only 177 kilometres.

In last one year, a total 5,520 Bangladeshi passengers made journey to Kolkata by the train. On December 6, the train carried only 90 passengers, said Khulna Station Master Manik Chandra Sarker.

“However, the train requires some 350 litre of oil for the journey which costs around Tk 22,750,” he added.

From that trip, the authorities have collected only TK 1.95 lakh which was supposed to be Tk 8 lakh, the station master said adding that the railways authority incurred around Tk 6 lakh loss from that trip. 

Dhaka, Dec 10 (UNB) – The British Council has signed an agreement with Bangladesh Bank for setting up satellite library ‘British Council Library Corner’ at the central bank’s own library space.

Md Mahbubar Rahman Khan, General Manager of Bangladesh Bank Library, and Sebastian Pearce, Director (Examination) of British Council, were present and represented their respective organisations at the deal signing ceremony, said a press release on Monday.

Employees of Bangladesh Bank and their family members will be able to enjoy these books at their convenience.

The library houses the latest award-winning collections of UK’s best titles. 

The British Council Library and Cultural Centre has brought the concept of satellite libraries in order to spread these services and cater larger number of readers. 

The Bangladesh Bank Library corner consists of books on language, fiction, literature and a wonderful collection for the young readers. 

Fazle Kabir, Governor of Bangladesh Bank, officially opened the corner for the readers.

When speaking, he said, “The British Council expanded its friendship to Bangladesh Bank with this. There’re books which you only get to see at the British Council Library and they introduce you to diverse knowledge. It’s really amazing.”