Bangladesh
5-member probe body formed over derailment of train in Cumilla
A five-member probe body was formed on Sunday to look into the derailment of nine bogies of a train at Tejer Bazar in Nangalkot upazila of Cumilla district on Sunday.Anisur Rahman, Chattogram Railway East division transport officer, was made the chief of the committee.Earlier in the afternoon, train communication between Dhaka and Chattogram was suspended as the Jamalpur-bound ‘Bijoy Express’ train from Chattogram veered off the tracks in the area after crossing Gunoboti rail station as the rail tracks bent due to hot weather.
Nine bogies of train derail in Cumilla; Dhaka-Ctg rail link suspendedAlready a relief train from Laksham reached the spot and the salvage operation will begin after the arrival of another relief train from Chattogram.A number of trains got stranded at different rail stations, causing immense sufferings to the commuters.
Man on tracks crushed under wheels of train in FeniAt least 20 people were slightly injured during the derailment, said witnesses.They were taken to different hospitals including the Nangalkot Upazila Health Complex.
Bangabandhu’s 104th Birth Anniversary observed in Myanmar
Bangladesh Embassy in Myanmar observed the 104th Birth Anniversary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and National Children's Day on Sunday with great enthusiasm.
On this occasion, Bangladesh Ambassador to Myanmar Dr Md Monwar Hossain made a declaration to sponsor an after school programme for the underprivileged students of a local school in Myanmar which is the first ever such initiative by the Embassy.
Monwar Hossain at the outset of his remarks paid deep tribute to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his martyred family members.
He also expressed his heartfelt greetings to all the children on this auspicious occasion.
Dr Monwar discussed the political principles of Bangabandhu which is peace and friendship within and among the countries of the world.
He also mentioned the firm standpoint of Bangabandhu for the oppressed people of the world.
While highlighting various qualities of Bangabandhu’s character, Bangladesh Ambassador to Myanmar said that the Father of the Nation demonstrated courage, leadership, honesty, respect for parents, charity, sacrifice and inclusiveness in his character at an early age.
He suggested that these unique characters of Bangabandhu should be instilled into our new generation.
Dr Monwar highlighted different initiatives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the wellbeing of children.
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He mentioned that today’s children will be the smart citizens of Bangladesh by 2041 who will lead the country.
He urged all to work together for building personality, help flourishing creativity and impart human qualities in children.
Later, the Ambassador handed over the prizes and certificates among the winners and participants of the Art Competition arranged on this occasion.
At the end of the programme Ambassador Monwar along with the children knifed a cake to celebrate the Birth Anniversary of Bangabandhu and National Children’s Day.
Program of the day also included hoisting of the national flag, placing of floral wreath at the portrait of the Father of the Nation, screening of a documentary and discussion meeting.
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Members of the Bangladesh community in Myanmar, representatives of UN agencies, Bangladeshi business entrepreneurs and officials of the Embassy attended the programme.
Indonesian Embassy to organise dialogue in Dhaka on “Democracy in Inclusive Society” Monday
The Embassy of Indonesia in Dhaka will organise a dialogue on “Democracy in Inclusive Society” at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) on Monday.
Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Bangladesh Heru H Subolo will deliver the opening remarks at the dialogue while Director, Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA) and former Chairman, National Human Rights Commission, Bangladesh Professor Mizanur Rahman will speak at the opening session.
Director General of Information and Public Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Siti Nugraha Mauludiah will deliver the keynote address.
Ambassador Heru H. Subolo hosted a social gathering followed by Iftar on Sunday as a preliminary program of the dialogue on “Democracy in Inclusive Society.”
BIISS Chairman Ambassador AFM Gousal Azam Sarker, former diplomats, Professor Mizanur Rahman, Dr Lailufar Yasmin, Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dhaka Ferdousi Shahriar and DG (Public Diplomacy wing) Seheli Sabrin, among others, were present.
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Indonesia has been championing inclusive democracy through its flagship program, Bali Democracy Forum since its inception in 2008.
Over the years, the forum has evolved and branched out to invite more parties including students, academicians, media, think tanks and civil society to join in on active discussions about safeguarding democracy.
Indonesia stands out for the principle of home-grown democracy, no finger pointing and no-one-size fits all approach to democratization, according to the concept note of the dialogue.
Indonesia has always been looking for new avenues to spread the importance of home-grown democracy, it reads.
Over the years, Bangladesh and Nepal have shown promises as new frontiers for blossoming democracy.
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Both are regular participants in Bali Democracy Forum and Nepal also had participated in the 2023 Bali Civil Society and Media Forum.
This shows a common vision to Indonesia’s: to proclaim the importance of the embodiment of a robust and inclusive society in the global level, as well as commitment to ensure that every party, regardless of age, gender, sex, orientation, race or religion will be granted equal participation, respect towards humanity and a guaranteed freedom of expression, said the concept note.
Both Nepal and Bangladesh are also rich with potential for partnerships between governments, universities, think tanks and civil society organizations.
They also are well equipped with rich diversities and thriving media and civil society. All three countries will benefit from the collaboration.
The forum will focus on three elements, namely: role of the government, role of civil society, think tank and academicians; and role of media.
The dialogue will be conducted in a panel discussion format. The discussion will be divided into two sessions, each with two speakers and two discussants from each respective country.
The first panel will focus on the theme of “Revitalizing Pluralistic Democracy: Collaborations between Government and Non-State Actors in Democracy” and the second panel will take on the theme: “Democracy in the Digital Age.”
The dialogue will involve Bangladesh and Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, think tank, as well as universities, media and civil society organizations.
The outcome of the dialogue will be in the form of recommendations and plan of actions.
Potato growers urged to increase cultivation of high yielding variety: Agriculture Minister
Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdus Shahid urged the farmers to increase cultivation of high yielding variety potato to boost the production.“The current varieties cultivated in our country have become very old and the yield is low. Besides, potato cultivation is decreasing due to increase in the cultivation of mustard, maize and boro paddy, resulting in shortage of potato,” he said.“In such situation, if we can replace the low-yielding varieties with new high-yielding varieties, we will be able to produce potatoes in less land and export to other countries,” said the minister while talking to reporters after attending a view exchange meeting with the farmers at Parertong village in Sreemangal upazila.
200 metric tonnes of potatoes imported from India through Benapole portHe also visited some potato fields there.A total of 4.56 lakh hectares of land have been brought under potato cultivation every year with production of 1.4 crore tonnes of potatoes, the minister said. On average, 23 tonnes of potatoes are produced per hectare of land.Abir Hossain, project director of the production and preservation of quality seed potatoes and strengthening distribution at farmer level, said under this project, 14 varieties of potatoes were registered in the name of Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) from the Ministry of Agriculture in the last three years to find out the potato lifespan, yield, amount of dry matter, nutritional value and suitability for cultivation in domestic weather.
Potatoes already selling at Tk25 per kg in Dinajpur as import starts through HiliIn the past four years, the government distributed 4,200 metric tonnes of sunshine varieties of potato seeds among the farmers following its huge demand and this year the government is distributing 8,000 metric tonnes of potato seeds, he said.
Man killed by friend only for Tk 1000
After recovering the body of a 22-year-old mason on March 13 from Pabna's Soyghoria village, police said on Sunday that he was murdered by his close friend over money-related issues.
After killing Azad Hossain, 22, his friend Abdus Samad alias Somrat, 28, wanted to cover up the murder by dumping the body in a lychee orchard and covering it with dry leaves of the trees, said police.
Masud Alam, additional superintendent of police, said that Azad left the house with his motorcycle at 7:30 pm on March 11 and did not return. His father Abdul Hakim filed a general diary (GD) at Pabna Sadar Police Station on March 12 afternoon.
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On March 13, locals found the body in the lychee orchard next to the farm of Mosharraf Chairman of Soyghoria village of Dapunia Union and informed police.
On information, police recovered the body and sent it to Pabna General Hospital morgue for an autopsy. Later, a case was filed following the complaint of the victim’s father Abdul Hakim.
A joint team of Sadar Police Station and DB conducted a raid and arrested the accused Abdus Samad alias Somrat from his locality on Saturday afternoon.
During interrogation, Somrat confessed to the killing of his friend Azad.
Police said Somrat and Azad were close friends and worked as masons together. A month ago, Somrat took Azad’s motorcycle and got into an accident. Following the accident, Azad had to spend Tk 2000 to repair the motorcycle.
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Somrat gave Tk 1000 out of it. Later, animosity was created between the two friends over the remaining Tk 1,000. Since then, the accused Somrat had been looking for an opportunity to kill his friend Azad.
Around 8 pm on March 11, Somrat called his friend Azad and went to the litchi garden next to the Musharraf chairman's farm. At one stage of the conversation, Somrat stabbed Azad’s neck and eyes with a sharp knife.
After confirming his death, he dragged the body and covered it under the dry leaves of trees.
On Saturday afternoon, Somrat gave a confessional statement before the court.
Later, he was sent to jail.
Padma, Exim Bank to sign MoU for merger Monday
Padma Bank and Exim Bank will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) tomorrow (Monday) on merging Padma with Exim Bank Plc.
Ahead of merging with Padma Bank, Exim Bank has published price-sensitive information as per the approval of Bangladesh Bank (BB).
Company Secretary of Exim Bank Monirul Islam issued the notice containing price-sensitive information adding that the merger process will be completed after completing all formalities set by the regulator or the BB.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Swedish Minister Johan Forssell to visit Bangladesh March 18-21
Earlier on March 4, the BB Governor Abdur Rauf Talukder said in a meeting with a delegation of the Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB), an organization of bank entrepreneurs, that 7 to 10 weak banks would be merged with strong or good banks within this year.
“If the weak banks do not merge voluntarily during this period, they (BB) will be forced to merge from next year,” he said.
After that, Padma Bank and Exim Bank are the first to merge voluntarily.
BIFPCL celebrates Bangabandhu’s birthday
Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt.) Ltd., (BIFPCL) has celebrated the birthday of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
On this occasion, Managing Director, BIFPCL Sangeeta Kaushik along with senior officials of the company placed floral wreath at the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Bangabandhu's 104th birthday and National Children’s Day at Bidyut Bhaban, Dhaka on Sunday.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Swedish Minister Johan Forssell to visit Bangladesh March 18-21
UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, together with the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell and UNDP Assistant Secretary General Ulrika Modéer, will visit Bangladesh on March 18-21.
The visit takes places on the occasion of Crown Princess’s role as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is the first visit she makes in this capacity.
The purpose is to learn about the development journey of Bangladesh and study the progress and challenges in the implementation of the SDGs, focusing on climate, gender equality, the green and digital transition and the role of the business sector, said the Swedish Embassy in Dhaka on Sunday.
The Crown Princess and the delegation will hold talks with representatives of the Government of Bangladesh, entrepreneurs, organisations, development partners and youth.
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They will participate in events focused on the business sector’s role in promoting the green and digital transition.
A series of field visits will centre around themes such as climate adaptation, digitalisation and local solutions.
The delegation will also visit southern Bangladesh, including the Rohingya Refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.
“I look forward to visiting Bangladesh together with the Crown Princess in her role as Goodwill Ambassador for UNDP and with Ulrika Modéer, Assistant Secretary General at UNDP. The Swedish government actively contributes to the implementation of Agenda 2030,” says Forssell, who makes his first visit to the country.
Sweden and Bangladesh’s partnership goes back more than 50 years and consists of long-term development cooperation and extensive trade, he said.
"Bangladesh has made an impressive development journey in recent years and is expected to transition from a low-income country to a middle-income country in 2026. The business sector, including Swedish companies, plays an important role in promoting the green and digital transition, which contributes significantly to job creation and sustainable growth,” Forssell continues.
The Crown Princess returns to Bangladesh almost two decades after her first visit in the country in 2005.
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She then spent three days primarily following up on Swedish development cooperation in the northwestern parts of Bangladesh.
The Crown Princess was appointed UNDP Goodwill Ambassador in October 2023.
The Crown Princess plays a key role in increasing awareness and engagement for the Sustainable Development Goals and a sustainable future where no one is left behind.
Sweden was one of the first countries to recognise Bangladesh.
In 2022, the two countries celebrated 50 years of bilateral relations.
Sweden’s development cooperation with Bangladesh goes back to independence in 1971.
The ties are vibrant and multifaceted covering development cooperation, trade and investments, and people-to-people engagement.
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The Swedish Government is reforming its development assistance to meet the challenges of our time, where needs are extensive, and the funding gap is growing.
The new reform agenda focuses on a long-term perspective, transparency and effectiveness.
Trade, private investments, loans and domestic resource mobilisation are components necessary for countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
President hosts milad mahfil at Bangabhaban
President Mohammed Shahabuddin hosted a milad and doa mahfil at Bangabhaban after Zohr prayers on Sunday.
The special doa and milad mahfil was organised at durbar hall to mark the 104th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the "National Children's Day- 2024".
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A special munajat was offered seeking eternal peace of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members who were brutally assassinated along with him on the fateful night of August 15 in 1975.
The special doa was offered seeking divine blessings for peace and prosperity of the country and welfare of people.
Pesh Imam of Bangabhaban Jam-e-Masjid Mufti Maulana Saiful Kabir conducted the munajat and milad mahfil.
Before the doa and milad mahfil, employees of Bangbhaban organised a discussion programme on the life and works of Bangabandhu at noon.
President's Secretary Wahidul Islam Khan, Military Secretary Major General SM Salah Uddin Islam and Press Secretary Joynal Abedin delivered their short speeches.
Speakers urged all to work unitedly under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to materialise Bangabandhu's dream to build hunger-free "Sonar Bangla".
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Before this, a video on the life and works of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was screened.
President's family members, secretaries concerned, civil and military officials and employees of the Bangabhaban attended the munajat.
State agencies working to bring down commodity prices: State Minister for Commerce
State Minister for Commerce Ahasanul Islam Titu on Sunday said that the prices of essential commodities will return to reasonable level as the state agencies are working in this regard.
He said this while talking to reporters after a discussion meeting organised by the Ministry of Commerce at TCB Bhavan, Karwan Bazar in the capital, making Bangabandhu’s 104th birth anniversary.
The minister said the Department of Agriculture Marketing (DAM) has fixed the prices of 29 essential commodities.
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“The DAM has its committees at the district, upazila, and central level. Our responsibility will be to monitor the prices of produts from producer level to wholesale and then to retail level,” he said.
Now the DAM, Directorate of Consumer Rights Protection Affairs, UNOs, and DCs will all coordinate together to bring down prices of daily necessities.
Hopefully, the price will come down to a logical level, he pointed out.
Amid soaring prices of commodities, the government has fixed prices of 29 essential products, including onion, broiler chicken, mutton, beef, and eggplant, at retail, wholesale, producer and production levels.
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In a circular issued on Friday (15 March), the Department of Agricultural Marketing requested the authorities concerned to sell the products at the newly fixed rates.