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Involving women in political parties guides country to more effective democracy: Speaker
Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said inclusion of women in political parties leads the country to a more effective democracy.
She said that more than half of the total population of Bangladesh are women and the number of women voters is more than men.
She made the statement while participating in the discussion titled 'Leveraging Parliamentary Democracy for Political Empowerment of Women: Bangladesh Perspective' organised by Bangladesh High Commission at Churchill Hall of the House of Commons, UK on Tuesday afternoon.
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According to a press release from the Parliament Secretariat, the speaker said that women should get a place in the judiciary, executive department and national parliament because of their qualifications.
She said that being the first woman Speaker is considered by many as a great example of women's empowerment.
“it is a symbol, which shows that if a woman can acquire enough qualifications she can reach the pinnacle of success.”
She said the state must adopt gender sensitive laws and policies for women's political empowerment.
Chaudhury said that if gender balance is maintained the empowerment of women in the country will be faster and gender responsive budgeting can play a helpful role in this regard.
She said that to ensure the political empowerment of women, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had made provisions for 15 reserved seats for women in Parliament.
Bangladesh committed to maintain human rights, rule of law: Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin says at UK House of CommonsCommons
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has increased the number of reserved seats for women to 50.
She said that the process of including more number of women parliamentarians in Parliament for direct elections is ongoing.
The Speaker later participated in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meeting.
After the meeting, she had a courtesy call and exchanged views with CPA Secretary General Stephen Twigg. Parliamentarians of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, diplomats, representatives from the Commonwealth countries, High Commissioner of Bangladesh in the United Kingdom Said Muna Tasneem were present at the event.
10 women awarded for outstanding contributions to aviation sector
Ten women have received the ATJFB Aviator Women's Icon Award for their outstanding contribution to the aviation industry in Bangladesh.
They were awarded this honour in a ceremony at the Samson H Chowdhury Auditorium of the Dhaka Club in the capital on Wednesday offered by the Aviation and Tourism Journalists' Forum of Bangladesh (ATJFB), an association of aviation and tourism journalists.
Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism Faruk Khan was present as the chief guest at the event.
The awardees were US-Bangla Airlines Deputy Managing Director (DMD) Dilruba Parveen in Aviation Entrepreneur category, Butterfly Park Chairman Monwara Hakim Ali in Tourism Entrepreneur category, Atab General Secretary Afsia Jannat Saleh in Leadership category, Green TV Executive Editor Nadira Kiron in Journalist category, Deputy General Manager of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Training Center Rashida Kabir Chowdhury in Aviation Trainer category, Tasmin Doja of Biman Bangladesh Airlines in pilot category, Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Share Tripe Sadia Haque in OTA Entrepreneur category, Samiya Halima Kabir, Aeronautical Engineer of Biman Bangladesh Airlines in Aeronautical Engineer category, Cabin Crew of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Farhana Islam Nusrat in Cabincrew category, and National Hotel and Tourism Training Institute (NHTTI) trainer Jaheda Begum received the award in the Culinary Tourism category.
Cabinet nods draft of Road Transport (Amendment) Act 2024 in principle
The Cabinet on Wednesday approved in principle the draft of Road Transport (Amendment) Act, 2024, reducing penalty mostly pecuniary ones for a good number of offences as well as making offences under two more clauses as bailable one.
The approval came from the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office in the city.
“The penalties for offences in 12 clauses have been changed in the proposed law,” said Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain while briefing reporters at Bangladesh Secretariat.
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Besides, crimes under two more clauses (84 and 98), which are now as non-bailable have been made bailable offences, keeping crimes under only the single clause (105) of the law has been kept as non-bailable one in the draft law, he said.
The existing Road Transport Act 2018 is being amended in line with the recommendations of the National Road Safety Council, he added.
According to the draft law, the crimes related to serious injuries or killing (under the clause 105) of a man caused by motor- vehicle driving would be treated as non-bailable offences.
The crimes for violation of directives related to technical specification and arrangement (under the Clause-84) and the offenses related to loss of lives and properties caused by driving with over-speed, overloading, risky overtaking or without control would be considered as bailable crimes.
The 12 clauses where the penalties have been changed are 69, 70, 71, 80, 81, 85, 86, 88, 89, 90, 92 and 98.
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The cabinet also cleared the draft of International Mother Language Institute (Amendment) Act, 2024 in a bid to create a trust fund to conduct research on near-extinct mother tongues, movements related to Bengali or other languages in the world.
Besides, the cabinet cleared the drafts of Christian Religious Welfare Trust (Amendment) Act, 2024, Hindu Religious Welfare Trust (Amendment) Act, 2024 and Buddhist Religious Welfare Trust (Amendment) Act, 2024.
“In the draft laws, no major change was brought. The post of secretary (chief executive) was renamed as executive director,” said the Cabinet Secretary.
Bangladesh Bank sets qualifications of independent directors for NBFIs
Bangladesh Bank has specified the qualification of independent directors for non-banking financial institutions (NBFI) in order to ensure good governance in the financial institutes.
The central bank in a directive said that a maximum of 15 directors including two independent directors can be appointed for an NBFI in the country.
The independent directors should have a bachelor's degree with a minimum of 10 years of professional experience, a minimum age of 45 years and a maximum age of 75 years.
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“Monthly salary will be a maximum Tk50,000 depending on ability. No person who has an interest or apparent interest in any financial institution can be eligible for an independent director,” said the directives.
The Financial Institutions and Markets Department of the central bank issued guidelines on the experience and suitability of independent directors. The new directives will come into effect immediately.
The central bank said the independent directors must be from faculty of business education of public/ autonomous/ private universities, or experienced teachers in business administration, management, law, and information technology, persons engaged in the legal profession.
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Besides, individuals with professional degrees in accounting engaged in the accounting profession, experienced bankers, Ministry of Commerce, Experienced officers of the Financial Institutions Division, Finance Division, Ministry of Industry, and Ministry of Law can be considered on a priority basis.
Khaleda Zia to be taken to hospital after Iftar for health checks-ups
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will be taken to Evercare Hospital
In the capital after iftar on Wednesdays for health checks-ups.
BNP Chairperson’s personal doctor AZM Zahid Hossain confirmed the matter and said after 33 days she is going to the hospital to undergo some medical tests.
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Her medical board will decide whether she needs to be hospitalised further after observing her health condition and assessing the test reports.
On January 11, the BNP chief returned home from Evercare Hospital after receiving treatment for various health complications for over five months.
Since then, she has been receiving treatment at her Gulshan residence under the medical board that was formed earlier at the Evercare Hospital.
On August 9 last year, she was admitted to the hospital as she fell sick.
The 78-year-old former prime minister has long been suffering from various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, and issues related to kidney, lung, heart, and eye.
On October 26, three US specialist doctors completed the hepatic procedure known as transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS procedure) to stop water accretion in Khaleda Zia’s stomach and chest, and bleeding in her liver.
Khaleda’s doctors have been recommending sending her abroad since she was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in November 2021.
The BNP chief’s family also sought permission from the government on different occasions, but the Law Minister said Khaleda has no scope to go abroad for treatment as she was released on conditions suspending her sentence in corruption cases.
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Since her conditional release from jail in 2020, the BNP chief has been receiving treatment at the hospital under a medical board headed by cardiologist Prof Shahabuddin Talukder.
Khaleda was sent to the Old Dhaka Jail after a lower court sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8, 2018. Later, she was found guilty in another corruption case the same year.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government temporarily freed Khaleda Zia from jail through an executive order suspending her sentence on March 25, 2020, with the condition that she stay in her Gulshan house and not leave the country. That has since been extended multiple times to keep her out of jail.
CNG stations to remain closed for 6 hrs, not 5 hrs
As per the latest decision of the government, CNG stations will remain closed for 4 pm to 10 pm instead of 6 pm to 11 pm every day until April 6 this year in order to resolve the low pressure problem in gas supply.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid announced the new decision on Wednesday after a meeting with officials of his ministry and subordinate bodies.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Division issued a notice in this regard.
CNG stations change their timings
From now, the CNG stations will remain closed for 6 hours every day instead of previous 5 hours.
On Tuesday, the timing was changed saying that the CNG stations will remain off from 5 pm to 10 pm instead of 6 pm to 11 pm.
But within a day, the decision has been changed.
Nasrul also said that the CNG stations will remain open for 24 hours from 7 April to April 18to facilitate transport movement during the Eid journey.
From April 19, the CNG stations will remain closed from 6 pm to 11 pm, said the notice.
He announced that the irrigation pumps will run from zero hour to 6 am.
Movement of public transport, private vehicles, CNG auto-rickshaws to be allowed on Jan 7
He also advised people to use LPG gas instead of natural gas as gas crisis will persist in the month of Ramadan.
Nasrul said that one LNG terminal, out of two, will remain closed which results in lower supply of imported gas to the national grid.
35 years after Sagira Morshed murder, 2 get life imprisonment
In a landmark decision on Wednesday, a Dhaka court convicted Anas Mahmud, also known as Rezwan, and Maruf Reza in the 1989 murder of Sagira Morshed, sentencing each to life imprisonment. The case, which has captivated public interest for over three decades, reached a pivotal moment as the Dhaka Special Judge Court-3, led by Judge Mohammad Ali, also imposed a Tk 50,000 fine on each convict.
Meanwhile, three other suspects were acquitted due to insufficient evidence. They are: Hasan Ali Chowdhury, 70, Sayedatul Mahmud alias Shaheen, 64, and Mantu Mandal.
The heart-wrenching incident took place on Siddheswari Road in Dhaka, on July 25, 1989, when Sagira Morshed was fatally shot in a brutal attack as she was on her way to pick up her daughter from Viqarunnisa Noon School and College. According to eyewitness accounts, two assailants on a motorcycle attempted to steal her gold bangles, ultimately shooting her as she tried to escape. Morshed succumbed to her injuries en route to the hospital, marking a tragic end to what initially appeared as a daylight robbery.
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The case initially saw slow progress, with Salam Chowdhury, Morshed’s husband, filing a complaint with the Ramna Police Station. It wasn’t until a significant High Court directive that the investigation was handed over to the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), unveiling the deeper, darker motives behind Morshed’s murder.
In a stunning turn of events, PBI’s diligent investigation revealed that the murder stemmed from an internal family dispute, rather than a random act of violence. This revelation was further solidified when two of Morshed’s relatives, Dr. Hasan, her brother-in-law, and his wife Shahin Chowdhury, confessed their involvement in orchestrating the murder, prompted by familial discord.
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The breakthrough came when Dr. Hasan, after years abroad, was arrested and brought before the magistrate’s court, confessing to the crime and highlighting the complexity and depth of the family feud that led to Morshed’s untimely death.
Dhaka’s air ‘unhealthy’, 7th worst in the world this morning
Dhaka ranked seventh on the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality, with an AQI score of 160 at 9:06 am onWednesday.
Dhaka’s air was classified as 'unhealthy', according to the air quality index.
Pakistan’s Lahore, India’s Delhi, and Iraq’s Baghdad occupied the first three spots on the list, with AQI scores of 294, 201, and 171 respectively.
When the AQI value for particle pollution is between 101 and 150, air quality is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, between 150 and 200 is ‘unhealthy’, between 201 and 300 is said to be 'very unhealthy', while a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents.
Dhaka’s air quality 5th worst in the world this morning
The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.
The AQI in Bangladesh is based on five pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2, and ozone.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.
As per World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, mainly due to increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections.
Dhaka’s air quality 4th worst in the world this morning
ADB approves $71 million loan to improve flood control, water resources management in Gopalganj and Madaripur
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $71 million loan to improve flood control, irrigation, and water resources management in rural communities in Gopalganj and Madaripur districts in Bangladesh to strengthen their preparedness and resilience to the effects of climate change.
According to an ADB release, The project is expected to benefit more than 600,000 people and will introduce climate-resilient flood control, drainage, and irrigation (FCDI) measures and reduce saline intrusion.
It will adopt nature-based solutions to strengthen FCDI infrastructure and improve drainage in four sub-basins.
The project will develop and enhance integrated water management plans, construct training centers for water management organisations, and other community infrastructure.
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The project will promote participatory water resource management to foster local ownership and ensure sustainability.
It will strengthen the capacity of water management groups in the design, construction, and operation and maintenance of the facilities and support the establishment of joint management committees.
Support will be extended to form water management organisations in four subproject areas targeting women’s membership.
The project will also build the capacity of the Bangladesh Water Development Board to improve coordination of government agencies concerned with water resources management, supervise the activities of water management organizations, and integrate climate adaptation in its operations.
Based on the Global Climate Risk Index, Bangladesh is ranked seventh in terms of vulnerability to climate risk. Bangladesh faces increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather and slow-onset climate events.
Without effective adaptation measures, the country could lose about 30 percent of agricultural gross domestic product by 2050 because of climate variability and extreme events impacting rural communities, especially women, who depend on climate-sensitive agricultural practices and natural resources for their livelihoods.
ADB Senior Project Management Specialist Pushkar Srivastava said that the project will sustain the gains achieved under the ADB-financed Southwest Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project, which has improved agricultural production, improved community infrastructure, and increased rural households’ incomes.
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“This ADB additional support will further boost economic growth and productivity, increase incomes and sustainable livelihoods, especially for women and vulnerable groups, and reduce poverty in rural areas of southwest Bangladesh,” Srivastava said.
Extortion will not be tolerated: IGP
No extortion will be tolerated in any sector including transportation of goods and strict action will be taken against extortion, said Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun on Tuesday.
He asked the field-level police officers to perform their duties with sincerity to control the prices of commodities.
The IGP came up with the information while talking to reporters after attending a meeting on overall law and order situation, security and traffic management at Police Headquarters on Tuesday.
He also stressed the need for market monitoring and smooth movement of goods-laden vehicles.
The IGP asked all to remain alert so that no one can create any issue ahead of Ramadan and Eid.
"The officials have to remain active so that no vested quarter can disrupt communal harmony or create any unwanted incident through rumours and propaganda in the cyber world," he said.
The IGP directed all concerned police units, including highway police, district police, to take preparations from now on to ensure smooth journey of homebound people during Eid-ul-Fitr.
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He also directed the highway police to take measures so that they cannot transport passengers on the roof of buses or trucks.
In addition to performing regular duties during Ramadan, the IGP asked all to be careful and vigilant during Ramadan, Iftar, Tarabi and Sehri.
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