Bangladesh'A=0
2 held with 40 gold bars worth over Tk 4 cr in Jhenaidah
Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) arrested two individuals along with 40 gold bars, weighing 4.63 kg from Choygharia in Maheshpur upazila of Jhenaidah district.
The arrestees were identified as Jashim Uddin, 53, son of Makbul Hossain and Humayun Kabir, 40, son of Akter Ali of the upazila.
Tipped off, a team of BGB-58 conducted a drive in the area and intercepted a motorbike carrying two people passing through the Palianpur bordering area around 4:30 pm on Tuesday, said a press release of BGB.
2 arrested with foreign cigarettes, gold bars at Ctg airport
Later, the BGB members arrested the duo while trying to flee the scene and seized the gold bars worth Tk 4.48 crore.
A case was filed with Maheshpur Police Station and the seized gold bars will be deposited to the Jhenaidah Treasury Office.
2 held with 20 gold bars in Joypurhat
The nation observes historic Mujibnagar Day
The historic Mujibnagar Day is being observed on Wednesday marking the formation of Bangladesh's first government that led the War of Liberation in 1971.
The day began with hoisting the national flag and placing wreaths at Mujibnagar Liberation War Memorial in Meherpur.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid tribute to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of the historic Mujibnagar Day.
Historic Mujibnagar Day tomorrow
She paid homage by placing a wreath at Bangabandhu's portrait in front of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi, Dhaka.
After laying the wreath, the prime minister stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect to the memory of Bangabandhu, the architect of independence.
Flanked by central leaders of Awami League, Sheikh Hasina, also the president of the party, placed another wreath at the portrait of Bangabandhu on behalf of Awami League.
JS passes Mujibnagar University, Meherpur Bill,2023
The government declared the day as a public holiday at Mujibnagar upazila in Meherpur district.
On the eve of the day, President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages.
Different socio-cultural and political organisations are marking the day with elaborate programmes.
National dailies brought out special supplements while Bangladesh Betar, Bangladesh Television, and private radio and television channels aired special programmes highlighting the significance of the day.
Similar programmes at district, upazila level, and Bangladesh embassies in different countries have been arranged to highlight the significance of the day.
Senior leaders of Awami League assembled at Baidyanathtala, a mango orchard, which was later named as Mujibnagar, in Meherpur district on April 17, 1971 to form the provisional government of independent Bangladesh in the absence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was arrested and flown to Pakistan after Pakistan military had cracked down on the Bangalees on the night of March 25, 1971.
Bangabandhu was declared the first President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, while Vice-president Syed Nazrul Islam became the acting president in the absence of Bangabandhu.
Tajuddin Ahmad was appointed the first Prime Minister, while Khandoker Moshtaque Ahmed, M Mansur Ali and AHM Quamaruzzaman were named cabinet members.
PM Hasina pays homage to Bangabandhu on Mujibnagar Day
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday paid tribute to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of the historic Mujibnagar Day.
She placed a wreath at Bangabandhu's portrait in front of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi, Dhaka.
After laying the wreath, the prime minister stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect to the memory of Bangabandhu, the architect of independence.
Mujibnagar Day to be observed tomorrow
Flanked by central leaders of Awami League, Sheikh Hasina, also the president of the party, placed another wreath at the portrait of Bangabandhu on behalf of Awami League.
On this day in 1971, Bangladesh's first government in exile was formed at the Baidyanathtala mango orchard in Meherpur, under the then Kushtia district.
The place was later renamed Mujibnagar as a tribute to Bangabandhu who was declared the president of the government-in-exile.
Mujibnagar Day observed in Washington
Syed Nazrul Islam was appointed the acting president in the absence of Bangabandhu.
Bangabandhu was arrested and taken to West Pakistan after the then Pakistani military regime launched a brutal crackdown in the night of March 25 in 1971.
Tajuddin Ahmad was appointed the first prime minister, while Captain M Mansur Ali and AHM Quamaruzzaman were made cabinet members.
The successful leadership of the core cabinet steered the Liberation War to victory on December 16 that year.
END/UNB/FF/F
No improvement in Dhaka’s air quality, still ‘unhealthy’
Dhaka's air quality has been identified as ‘unhealthy’ this morning.
With an air quality index (AQI) score of 159 at 08:56am, Dhaka ranked 4th on the list of cities around the world with the worst air quality.
Pakistan’s Lahore, Nepal’s Kathmandu and India’s Delhi occupied the first three spots, with AQI scores of 172, 167 and 163, respectively.
No improvement in Dhaka’s air quality, still ‘unhealthy’
When the AQI value for particle pollution is between 101 and 150, air quality is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, between 151 and 200 is ‘unhealthy’, between 201 and 300 is said to be 'very unhealthy', and a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants — particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2, and ozone.
Dhaka’s air quality 5th worst in the world this morning
Dhaka has long grappled with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in the winter and improves during the monsoon.
Natore District Chhatra League's general secretary dies
Shariful Islam Shahin, general secretary of Natore District unit of Awami League’s student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League, passed away at the age of 30 as his heart stopped functioning on Tuesday.
Shariful Islam Ramjan, general secretary of the district unit of Awami League, confirmed the matter saying that on Tuesday evening when Shahin felt unwell at his home in Krinjapur village of Sadar Upazila, his relatives rushed him to Natore Sadar Hospital.
As his condition deteriorated there, he was transferred to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital at night, where he succumbed to death, he said.
At night, leaders and activists of district Awami League, Chhatra League, and allied organisations rushed to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital hearing the death news.
Palak delivers speech on Smart Bangladesh in Singapore
State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak has said Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, has declared her next vision to build Smart Bangladesh and it is to transform Bangladesh into an inclusive, innovative, sustainable, knowledge-based, smart nation.
While delivering a keynote speech in Singapore, he said Smart Citizens, Smart Economy, Smart Government, and Smart Society are the four major pillars of Smart Bangladesh.
"Based on those, we have different kinds of policies and partnerships with different stakeholders, like industry, academia, government, and international players," he said.
Back in 2008, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared her vision to build Digital Bangladesh. "Back then, we started introducing policies regarding Digital Bangladesh and started to collaborate with different stakeholders," Palak said. Over the 15 years of time, he said, they have been able to provide 2 million jobs, nearly $2 billion in export income from the IT sector, and develop nearly 7 lakh freelancers.
"Now, we are looking forward to introducing frontier technology-based government services and meeting the necessities of the private sector by developing our strategies and introducing new laws," Palak said.
Recently, he said, they introduced a cybersecurity law. "Now we are drafting our private data protection act, and are going to make an AI policy."
So far, 2500 government services have been digitized.
And nearly a thousand services are available online.
"We have introduced 52 thousand websites. We are combining AI tools to provide our government services. Recently, we have decided to introduce four pre-trained Transformer GPT services, including constitution, education, health, and investment," Palak said.
He said they have organized hackathon to capture the ideas of young entrepreneurs and innovators.
"We are connecting our private entrepreneurs with government mechanisms. This is how we are achieving all of these successes within a short period of time," Palak said.
Ex-UP member injured in BSF firing at Lalmonirhat border
A former union parishad (UP) member was injured in firing by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) on the Lalmonirhat border near Aditmari upazila on Tuesday night.
The injured is identified as Saiful Islam Nannu, 50, son of late Gani Mia of Dulali village under Velabari Union of Aditmari upazila. He is a former member of Velabari Union Parishad.
Locals said that after bringing cattle from India in the evening, Saiful Islam Nannu along with several herdsmen were near the fence of Pillar No. 21 in the border area of Maldia in Taluk Dulali.
At that time, when the BSF targeted them and fired rubber bullets, Saiful Islam Nannu was shot and injured.
Upon receiving the news, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members rescued him and admitted him to Aditmari Upazila Health Complex in critical condition.
Dr. Vikram Chandra, a physician at the emergency department of Aditmari Upazila Health Complex, said that injured Saiful Islam Nannu was shot in the back. He has been referred to Rangpur Medical College Hospital after initial treatment.
Confirming the incident, Major Mofazzal Hossain, commander of the 15th Battalion of BGB in Lalmonirhat, said, "I have heard that one person was injured in BSF firing at the border. The name and address are being collected."
Child dies after being slapped for not eating
A five-year-old girl hit a wall and died after being slapped by her father in the Barabazar area under Hazaribagh police station of the capital on Tuesday.
The deceased name is Jannatul (5), the only daughter of Md Rasel, a Laguna driver of Dakshin Aicha Upazila of Bhola district.
Her uncle Md Rahad said that Jannatul was not eating properly. Because of this, her father got angry and slapped her but she got injured by hitting her head against the wall. She later died while being taken to the hospital.
Noor Mohammad, OC of Hazaribagh Police Station, said that the child's mother has filed a murder case against the child's father in Hazaribagh Police Station. The child's father, Laguna driver Md Rasel has been arrested.
The body has been kept at the hospital morgue for post-mortem, said SI Nadir Shah, Sub-Inspector of Hazaribagh Police Station.
IMF downgrades Bangladesh's GDP growth projection again for current fiscal
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) again has revised downward the growth forecast of Bangladesh's economy to 5.7 percent for the current fiscal year of 2023-24.
The IMF made the revised projection in its World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday (April 16).
The IMF growth forecast highlighted different global and local challenges, including persistently high inflation, unemployment, lower remittance flow, and a fell industrial investment target.
The global lender for the second time cut economic growth forecast for Bangladesh. In October last year, it projected 6 percent growth, cutting down its previous prediction from 6.5 percent for the FY2023-24.
The IMF growth forecast comes a week after the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Bangladesh's GDP will expand 6.1 percent in FY 2023-24, riding on exports.
Early this month, the World Bank said Bangladesh will register subdued growth for reduced private consumption affected by high inflation.
It said the GDP will expand 5.6 percent in FY 2023-24, which is below the average annual growth rate of 6.6 percent over the decade before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Action to be taken against unregistered online outlets: Arafat
Muhammad Ali Arafat, State Minister of Information and Broadcasting, has said that action will be taken against unregistered and illegal online portals. He said this during an exchange of views with the executive members of Online News Portal Association Bangladesh (ONAB) at the Ministry meeting room at the Secretariat today, Tuesday (April 16).
The state minister said, the government does not monitor or control, but there is some need for discipline. Many people are managing online media beyond the registration process. The media here is so free, open and independent that it can operate without registration and surveillance and control.
"I will say again, there is no question of control or surveillance. We don't support them, we don't want to do them. We don't believe in them. We believe in free media and independent journalism. However, many flashy, untrue, defamatory and disinformation campaigns are carried out through unregistered online portals. It is a good thing that journalists want to develop disciplined journalism," Arafat said.
He said,"We have 426 registered online portals. Of these, 213 are electronic and print media. And 213 online news portals. A few more are in process."
The State Minister of Information said that if new persons want to come up with an online news portal, they need to be given time to prove themselves.
"I think nothing is right illegally, they cannot play a positive role in society," Arafat said. "I will take action against them. And this is your (journalists) demand. As the state minister of the government, I declare to fulfill your demands. As a minister of state in the government, I announced that I will stop unregistered online, the headlines will be tomorrow - the government is strangling the media. I don't want that."
ONAB President Mollah M Amjad Hossain, Vice President Latiful Bari Hamim and Soumitra Deb, Joint Secretary Siddiqur Rahman and Ashraful Kabir Asif, Executive Members Nazrul Islam Mithu, Tauhidul Islam Mintu, Rafiqul Basar, Hamid Md. Jasim, Mohsin Hossain, Ayan Ahmed, Khokon Kumar Roy and others were present there.