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Cabinet nods 2 to 7 years’ imprisonment for election disruptions
The Cabinet on Tuesday in principle approved the draft of 'Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 2023' with a provision of two to seven years of imprisonment for hampering election observers and journalists to perform their “lawful” duty during the election.
The approval came from the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office in Dhaka.
“If anyone obstructs media workers and election observers to perform their lawful works, the person may face two to seven years of rigorous imprisonment,” said Secretary (Coordination & Reforms) at the Cabinet Division Mahmudul Hossain Khan while briefing reporters at the Bangladesh Secretariat after the meeting.
According to the draft law, an aspirant needs to clear all utility bills at least a day before the submission of nomination papers, otherwise the candidature would be canceled, he said.
The aspirant needs to attach a TIN certificate and receipts of tax payment with a nomination paper as well, said the Secretary.
As per the existing law, now a person shall be disqualified for election if he personally has failed to pay the telephone, gas, electricity, water or any other bill of any service providing organisation of the government seven days before the day of submission of nomination papers.
Besides, the Cabinet in principle approved the draft of the Land Development Tax Act, 2023 with a provision to collect land development tax through electronic system in every fiscal year instead of Bangla calendar year.
“All land development taxes will have to be paid online,” he said, adding that the owners of less than 25 bighas (8.25 acres) won’t require paying tax.
Mahmudul said the Union land assistant officer (Tahsildar) will prepare a list mentioning the specific amounts of tax for every landowner and send the list to the assistant commissioner (Land) to display it in the latter’s office. If anyone is aggrieved with the amount of tax, the person can lodge an objection before the AC land and also the district collector. The district collector will dispose of it within 15 days, he noted.
The Cabinet approved the President's draft speech to be delivered in the special session of the 11th Parliament.
The Parliament will go into a special session on April 06 next to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad.
IBBL launches Iftar distribution to 1 lakh pedestrians
Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) on Tuesday launched the Iftar distribution program in the month of Holy Ramadan.
Mohammed Monirul Moula, Managing Director and CEO of the bank inaugurated the program as chief guest in front of its head office complex at Dilkusha in Motijheel.
Under this program, the Bank will distribute Iftar items among more than one lakh pedestrian-fasting Muslims at 12 traffic points in Dhaka, Chattogram and Khulna City during the holy month of Ramadan, a press release said.
Muhammad Qaisar Ali and J Q M Habibullah, FCS, Additional Managing Directors, Md. Siddiqur Rahman and Mohammad Jamal Uddin Mazumder, Deputy Managing Directors, Mizanur Rahman, and Md. Maksudur Rahman, Senior Executive Vice President, Md. Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, Executive Vice President along with Executives of the Head office were present on the occasion.
Urgent, coordinated actions needed to curb air pollution in South Asia: World Bank
The countries of South Asia, regularly cited as the most polluted countries in the world, have economically feasible, cost-effective solutions available to achieve clean air in the region, but this requires them to coordinate policies and investments, according to the World Bank.
The global development lender on Tuesday launched its report “Striving for Clean Air: Air Pollution and Public Health in South Asia” in Dhaka, where it says concentrations of fine particulate matter such as soot and small dust (PM2.5) in some of the region’s most densely populated and poor areas are up to 20 times higher than WHO standard (5 µg/mᶾ).
The concentration of an air pollutants in an area is given in micrograms (one-millionth of a gram) per cubic meter air or µg/mᶾ.
In South Asia, pollution causes an estimated 2 million premature deaths each year and incurs significant economic costs. Exposure to such extreme air pollution has impacts ranging from stunting and reduced cognitive development in children, to respiratory infections and chronic and debilitating diseases. This drives up healthcare costs, lowers a country’s productive capacity, and leads to lost days worked, said the World Bank report.
“Air pollution creates a serious threat to public health and has major consequences on economic growth,” said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.
“Evidence shows that with commitment, the right actions, and policies, it is possible to tackle air pollution. Bangladesh has already taken steps to improve air quality management, including the approval of the Air Pollution Control Rules. Along with strong national actions, transboundary solutions will be important to curb air pollution. Through analytical work and new investments, the World Bank is helping Bangladesh reduce air pollution,” he said.
South Asia is home to 9 of the world’s 10 cities with the worst air pollution, and Dhaka is one of them.
Air pollution travels long distances, crossing national boundaries—and gets trapped in large “airsheds” that are shaped by climatology and geography.
The report identifies six major airsheds in South Asia where spatial interdependence in air quality is high. Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, share a common airshed that spans the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
Particulate matter in each airshed comes from various sources and locations, for example, in many cities, such as Dhaka, Kathmandu, and Colombo, only one-third of the air pollution originates within the city.
Recognizing the transboundary nature of air pollution, four South Asian nations—Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan—for the first time joined together to draw up the Kathmandu Roadmap for improving air quality in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and Himalayan Foothills, the report said.
“Air pollution is not limited to a city, state, or national boundaries- it is transboundary in nature,” said Cecile Fruman, World Bank Director for Regional Integration for South Asia.
“South Asian Countries in the same airshed—common geographical areas that share the same air quality—can reduce the alarming level of air pollution only if they take a coordinated approach. By working together countries can get results better, faster and cheaper,” she mentioned.
Bangladesh and a few other South Asian countries have adopted policies to help improve air quality. But, along with taking action at the district and country level, it is also urgent that coordinated transboundary actions are taken with the neighboring countries. The report shows that current policy measures focused on power plants, large factories and transportation will only be partially successful in reducing PM2.5 concentrations across South Asia even if fully implemented.
To achieve greater progress, the focus of policymakers should expand into other sectors, particularly small manufacturing, agriculture, residential cooking, and waste management.
The report analyzes four scenarios to reduce air pollution with varying degrees of policy implementation and cooperation among countries. The most cost-effective scenario, which calls for full coordination between airsheds, would cut the average exposure of PM2.5 in South Asia to 30 µg/m³ at a cost of $278 million per µg/mᶾ of reduced exposure, and save more than 750,000 lives annually.
To this end, the report offers a three-phased roadmap:
Phase 1: Sets the condition for airshed wide coordination by expanding the monitoring of air pollution beyond the big cities, sharing data with the public, creating or strengthening credible scientific institutes that analyze airsheds, and taking a whole-of-government approach.
Also read: Dhaka's air quality still 'unhealthy' this morning
Phase 2: Abatement interventions are broadened beyond the traditional targets of power plants, large factories and transportation. During this phase major progress can be made in reducing air pollution from agriculture, solid waste management, cookstoves, brick kilns, and other small firms. At the same time, airshed-wide standards can be introduced.
Phase 3: Economic incentives are fine tuned to enable private-sector solutions, to address distributional impacts, and to exploit synergies with climate change policies. In this phase trading of emission permits can also be introduced to optimize abatement across jurisdictions and firms.
Arms case against Arav: Court sets April 13 for self-defence hearing
A Dhaka court on Tuesday fixed April 13 for hearing the statement of Rabiul Islam alias Arav Khan, a Dubai-based gold dealer and a fugitive in police officer murder case, in his self-defence in an arms case filed in 2015.
Judge of Dhaka Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court-6 Murshid Ahmed fixed the date after the hearing the statements from the witnesses in the case.
Advocate AKM Salauddin, a counsel for the state, said, “We expect that Arav Khan will surrender before the court by April 13 and give his deposition in self-defence.”
The court recorded statements of 10 witnesses out of 20.
According to the prosecution, Arav Khan went to his in-law’s house on January 28, 2015 to realise some money after issuing threat to his father-in-law Sekendar Ali. Later, he was arrested from his in-law’s house along with a revolver.
Also read: Interpol issues red notice against fugitive Arav Khan
Sub-inspector of DB police Sujon Kumar Kundu filed a case under the Arms Act against Arav.
On March 1, 2015, police submitted chargesheet against Arav in the case.
On May 10, 2015, the trial in the arms against Arav started. He also secured bail from the court on March 14, 2018 and since then he remained absconding.
On October 24, 2018, a court issued warrant for his arrest in the case.
On March 24, Interpol finally issued a red notice against Arav on its website in red notice list.
Interpol has accepted Bangladesh police's request to issue a red notice against him.
Earlier, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on March 18 said that efforts were underway to bring Arav Khan alias Rabiul Islamto the country through the international police agency Interpol.
6 more dengue patients hospitalised in 24 hours
Six more people were hospitalised with dengue in the 24 hours till Tuesday morning.
Of the new patients, five were admitted to hospitals in Dhaka and the rest outside it, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Twenty dengue patients, including 12 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.
Also read: Bangladesh reports zero dengue cases, deaths
So far, the DGHS has recorded 835 dengue cases, 806 recoveries, and nine deaths this year.
The country logged 281 dengue deaths in 2022 – the highest on record after 179 deaths recorded in 2019. Also, it recorded 62,423 dengue cases and 61,971 recoveries last year.
Bangladesh sees another Covid death, six cases in 24hrs
Bangladesh reported one more Covid-linked death and six new cases in 24 hours till Tuesday morning.
With the new numbers, the country's total fatalities rose to 29,446 and caseload to 2,038,014, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily case test positivity rate drop to 0.37 percent from Monday’s 0.63 percent as 1,428 samples were tested.
Also read: Bangladesh logs 4 more Covid cases: DGHS
The death and recovery rates remained unchanged at 1.44 percent and 98.47 percent, respectively.
Huawei to set up ICT Academy at CUET
Leading global ICT solution and equipment provider Huawei will be setting up its 6th ICT Academy at Chittagong University of Engineering andTechnology (CUET) soon to facilitate learning opportunities for the students and develop ICTtalents.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony was held at CUET campus on Tuesday, said a press release issued on Tuesday.
Prof. Dr. Mohammad Rafiqul Alam, Vice-chancellor of CUET, was present as the chiefguest while Director of South Asia Enterprise Partner Development andManagement Dept of Huawei,. Zhang Cheng (Justin); Najia Samantha Islam, Manager, Corporate Affairs, South Asia Public Relations Dept. and Register of CUET Prof. Dr.Sheikh Muhammad Humayun Kabir; Prof. Dr. Mohammed Moshiul Hoque, Dean, Faculty of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Prof. Dr. Quazi Delwar Hossain, Director, Panning & Development, along with other faculty members were present at the signing ceremony.
In the first stage, faculty members of CUET will be provided necessary training through this ICT academy to become certified instructors. Later on, these certified instructors will impart knowledge and provide training for the students.
Prof. Dr. Mohammad Rafiqul Alam, Vice-chancellor of CUET, said, “We are delighted tojoin hands with Huawei South Asia for establishing an ICT Academy in our campus.Industry-academia collaboration is very pertinent in the present context to producegraduates with the right set of skills for the evolving world. I hope this academy will playsignificant roles for preparing our students for the future world.”
Zhang Cheng (Justin), Director of South Asia Enterprise Partner Development andManagement Department, opined, “The world is changing owing to rapid digitalization. Huawei knows it and that’s why, we want to prepare talented individuals in a way so that they can thrive in the future world. For that to happen, it is important that they are equipped with proper ICT skills and an ICT ecosystem conducive for their learning is built.
Huawei has been taking various initiatives to enable this ICT ecosystem. In continuation of our efforts, we are setting up our 6th academy here at CUET.”
Huawei launched ICT Academy, an industry-academia cooperation project, back in2013.
Currently, Huawei has 1,500 such ICT academies in more than 90 countries,including the UK, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. In total, more than 927colleges and universities are involved in this initiative, helping thousands of learnersworldwide. Huawei South Asia has so far set up five ICT Academy at different universities of Bangladesh.
Fire at Badda’s sweetmeat shop doused
A fire that broke out in a shop in the capital's Badda area has been doused.
The fire broke out around 12:15pm at ‘Rajbhog Sweets’ at Post Office Lane in Maddya Badda, Fire Service Duty Officer Rahibul Hasan said.
On information, two firefighting units rushed to the spot and doused the blaze around 1:25 pm, he added.
The origin of the fire and the extent of damages could not be known immediately.
No casualties were reported.
Strawberry cultivation on fallow land brings success for Chuadanga’s Riton
Ruhul Amin Riton, an agricultural entrepreneur of Jibonnagar upazila in Chuadanga, has been successful in cultivating strawberry on fallow land commercially.
Strawberry has become a profitable crop in the country due to being an unconventional and high-value fruit. The nutrient-rich and juicy fruit has a huge demand in the country's market.
Riton, who hails from Laxmipur village in Chuadanga's Jibonnagar municipality area, said he cultivated strawberry commercially for the first time in November last year and took care of those regularly.
He planted 90,000 strawberry saplings on 40 bighas of land but 25,000 saplings died due to adverse weather and fungal diseases.
“In the first week of January 2023, flowers started to bloom. After a few days, the fruit started coming out. Strawberry can be collected from the end of January to the middle of April. Those are being sold at Tk 500-500 per kg in the market. Strawberries are sent to fruit shops at Kawran Bazar in Dhaka,” he said.
“It costs Tk 70,000-80,000 to cultivate strawberry on every bigha of land. So far, I have spent Tk 35 lakh. Ripe fruits have to be covered with plastic cups and regular care of the orchard is a must. Every day 250-350 kg of fruits are being plucked from the orchard. People are coming to the orchard everyday to see the strawberries,” said Riton.
“Although 25,000 saplings died, Riton was not disappointed. About 11,000 kg of fruit worth Tk 4 crore will be produced from 65,000 strawberry trees. An average of 60 workers work in the strawberry orchard everyday, “ he added.
BNP was invited for informal meeting, not for dialogue: CEC
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal on Tuesday said that the Election Commission (EC) invited BNP for informal meeting, not for any formal dialogue.
“We sent an invitation letter to BNP as they can participate in informal discussion, not formal dialogue,” said the CEC.
He said these while talking to reporters at a press briefing at the EC Secretariat in the capital.
"We have not invited them for dialogue. Dialogue is a formal matter,” he said.
Earlier on Thursday, the CEC sent a demi-official letter to BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir for taking part in a views-exchange meeting on the next national election.
The Current EC, led by Awal, held two rounds of talks with the political parties since its formation last year. However, BNP and some other political parties did not participate in the talks.
Mirza Fakhrul on Saturday said the Election Commission's (EC’s) letter inviting BNP to talks is nothing but the latest strategy of the government to hold another election depriving people of their voting rights.