bangladesh
Sustainable development: 'Creating social capital the need of the day'
Localisation, inclusiveness, and tolerance are necessary to create social capital, which is necessary for sustainable development in Bangladesh, speakers said at a virtual annual conference Wednesday.
Social capital has to be based on four principles of Bangladesh's Liberation War of 9171 and international commitments like the Grand Bargain, Development Effectiveness, and the Charter for Change, they said at the concluding day of the Bangladesh NGO-CSO Coordination Process (BDCSO Process) annual virtual conference.
Dr Atiur Rahman, former governor of the Bangladesh Bank and executive director of Unnayan Shamannay, chaired the programme.
Judith Herbertson, development director of the British High Commission in Dhaka, Ignacio Packer, executive director of the International Council of Voluntary Association, and Johannes van der Klaauw, country representative of the UNHCR Bangladesh, attended the conference as chief guests.
Read: Report: Bangladesh among 3 top performers in sustainable development
Atiur said, "Although there are vaccine apartheid and a lot of conflicts worldwide, it is a matter of pride that Bangladesh, with its limited capacity, has given shelter to millions of Rohingyas. There is little effort from international actors and developed countries on repatriation. It is a huge pressure on our economy, but we are committed to their dignity."
Johannes said they give high importance to the repatriation of Rohingyas. "UNHCR is fully with the government to contain criminal activities in the camp."
Judith said, "British people are committed to assisting localisation and local civil society. There are already joint need assessment and coordination structures with local NGOs/CSOs. And the British government wants to see a vibrant civil society here."
Sudhanshu Shekar Sing, executive director of Humanitarian Aid International India, Sharif Jamil, general secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, Murshed Alam Sarker, chairman of Credit Development Forum, joined the conference as special guests.
Read: Creativity must for sustainable development: Dipu Moni
Murshed Alam Sarker said international actors should not focus on the capacity deficit of Bangladeshi CSOs/NGOs. "They should leave the operational leadership to the local NGOs, instead."
AHM Bazlur Rahman, chief executive officer of Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication, said: "Localisation is also necessary to gear the NGOs up to prepare them for Bangladesh's post-LDC graduation."
The three-day annual meeting of the network of around 600 local and national NGOs-CSOs began on October 23 and concluded yesterday.
Joy’s Video: BNP-Jamaat responsible for recent communal violence in Bangladesh
Reiterating his mother and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s commitment to provide security for Hindus in Bangladesh, Sajeeb Wazed Joy has called for strong punishment for the perpetrators of the recent bout of communal violence in the country.
Calling the attacks on Hindu temples since October 13 as the most “deplorable in the country’s history”, Joy used his social media account to counter the "conspirators" who staged the drama of desecrating the Holy Quran at a Durga Puja venue in Cumilla.
Terming the alliance between Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat–e-Islami as the “evil ghosts of Pakistan in Bangladesh”, Joy held those radical parties responsible for the attacks on temples in as many as 12 districts across the country that left seven people dead.
He said those parties have a long track record for “playing the religion card” in the country’s politics.
“A vested quarter was pushing the country into the pit of darkness by misrepresenting Islam and instilling intolerance among people. BNP and Jamaat have always played their religion card, turning Muslims against non-Muslims and creating apprehension among people. This time it was no exception.”
Sharing a video of the violence, Joy dubbed the “recent spate of attacks as a deep rooted conspiracy against the country”.
Read: A series of rehabilitation steps taken for victims of communal violence
Only within 300 meters from the mandap is the residence of Cumilla City Mayor Monirul Haque Sakku, who has been nominated from BNP, the narration on the video added.
Elaborating on BNP’s role following the violence, he alleged that “this party is constantly blaming the government for the recent religious violence.”
"But, while people, in general, are coming to the street to protest against the communal clashes, BNP has not launched any protest. Rather, they are desperately trying to save the main culprit Iqbal who placed the Quran on the lap of a Hindu idol at the dead of the night."
On the involvement of the activists and leaders of Nurul Haq Nur's party behind the attack on temple in Chttogram, the video mentioned “Police arrested, by observing the CCTV footage, 10 people on charge of attacking the mandap at JM Sen Hall in Chittagong.
Among them, nine are the leaders and activists of different wings of the political party founded by Nurul Haque Nur, who has already played a vital role in the anti-government propaganda.
“In the past, BNP and Jamaat activists took to the street with the banner of Nur’s party and clashed with police only to foil the celebration of the 50th birth anniversary of Bangladesh. Centring that issue, Hefajat activists tried to create instability in the country”, the video narration read.
Reminding the inclusion of secularism as one of the founding pillars of Bangladesh by his grandfather, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Joy said, “Banganahdu established secularism as one of the pillars of the constitution. Bangabandhu initiated a culture of communal harmony in Bangladesh.”
Read: Communal violence: Citizens demand exemplary punishment for perpetrators
Joy referred to the rise of “Pakistan backed political parties and government in his country following the assassination of Banganahdu, along with most members of his family on August 15, 1975.
In the video Joy said “Following his( Bangabandhu’s) assassination, military rulers virtually ripped that constitution apart. That darkest period witnessed the rise of the Pro-Pakistan political party and the government. The spirit of the Liberation War was fading away.”
The secularism principle was removed from the Bangladesh constitution in 1977 by then president Gen Ziaur Rahman and replaced with a statement of 'absolute trust and faith in Almighty Allah'.
Islam was declared the State religion in 1988. In 2010, under Sheikh Hasina at the helm of the government, the Bangladesh Supreme Court restored secularism to the constitution, he mentioned.
Six officials promoted to secretaries
The government has promoted five grade-1 government officials to the rank of secretary.
The Public Administration Ministry issued a notification in this regard on Thursday.
According to the notification, Dr Amitabh Sarker, Chairman of Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) has been made Chairman (Secretary) of Land Appeal Board while Dr Shahnaz Arefin, Additional Secretary of cabinet Division was made the Secretary of Statistics and Information Division.
Read: Five officials promoted to secretaries
Besides, Abu Hena Morshed Zaman Director (Additional Secretary) of Central Medical Stores Depot (CMSD) was made the Secretary of Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division and Md Khalilur Rahman, Divisional Commissioner (Additional Secretary) Dhaka was made Secretary of Post and Telecommunication Division.
The notification said, Kazi Enamul Hasan, Additional Secretary of Economic Relations Division was made the Secretary of Ministry of Religious Affairs and Suleman Khan Additional Secretary of Commerce Ministry was made Chairman ( Secretary) of Land Reforms Board.
The order will come into effect soon.
Invest in infrastructure for potential halal market in Middle East: Speakers
Speakers in a virtual discussion on Thursday emphasized that Bangladesh has to invest more on infrastructure for potential halal business with the Middle Eastern region.
The volume of the halal market is growing in the Middle East, Europe and American regions sharply but Bangladesh cannot develop halal business outreach due to limited infrastructure, they said.
The discussion on “Shaping business landscape: economic cooperation of Middle East and Bangladesh” held on the 3rd day of ‘Bangladesh Trade and Investment Summit 2021’ was jointly organized by Ministry of Commerce and Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI).
Speaking as chief guest Economic Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister Mashiur Rahman said Bangladesh’s economic transformation is very fast, stable and steady.
He termed the present time as very favourable to invest in the infrastructure sector in Bangladesh.
“Sophisticated technological products, API and generic pharmaceutical, household electronic market are very potential sectors to invest in. To enter a market, it is essential to know the market first,” Mashiur said.
He also underscored chamber to chamber relation to boost trade with other countries.
DCCI President Rizwan Rahman in his brief presentation said that limited diversification of RMG and export products are challenges for export growth in the Middle Eastern countries.
Read: ‘Bangladesh can be global leader of halal products’
Bangladesh imports 19 per cent of its required mineral resources from the Middle East.
He also said unskilled labour is a challenge for manpower supply to the oil-rich region.
He also said that economic diplomacy should be strengthened by Bangladesh to ensure labour supply to the Gulf countries.
Middle Eastern countries can source diverse skilled and semi-skilled professionals in different sectors from Bangladesh to support their growing economic operations.
He also said that the Middle Eastern market is still untapped for the Bangladeshi entrepreneurs.
UAE Acting Ambassador to Bangladesh Abdulla Ali Al-Hamoudi said collaboration and partnership will expand the bilateral trade.
“We want to expand business, we want to deepen engagement through strategic partnership,” said the envoy.
He said Bangladesh-UAE business council will be formed in near future to strengthen bilateral trade relation.
Md. Fozlul Haque, Managing Director, Plummy Fashions Ltd. said UAE imports clothing worth of $2.5 billion every year and the GCC countries import clothing worth of $5.3 billion but Bangladesh share is less than 1 per cent.
Read: UAE keen to import halal meat, fish from Bangladesh
So, the Middle Eastern market is more or less untapped for Bangladesh, he said.
Haque invited the Middle Eastern countries to import more from Bangladesh as there are more than 150 green factories here.
Sulaiman Al Jedaie, Managing Director, Saudi Industrial Export Company said that they are interested to invest in the food processing sector in Bangladesh and export to Latin American and African markets.
Shamim Ul Huq, Country Director, DP World, said that there are massive scope of increasing bilateral investment between the Middle East and Bangladesh.
K Mahmood Sattar, Chairman, RSA Advisory and RSA Capital and Tajwar M Awal, Director, Lal Teer Seed Ltd, among others, took part in the discussion.
Be careful during winter about Coronavirus: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday urged all to maintain health protocols like wearing masks to check the recharge of Coronavirus in the upcoming winter as the virus hits many countries of the world at this time.
“I urge all to remain careful so that Coronavirus cannot resurge in any way. You’ll have to wear facemasks always,” she said, adding that the virus has again hit many other countries including the USA, England and Europe in the world with the advent of winter.
The Prime Minister said this while receiving 2645,000 blankets for the destitute from the Bangladesh Association of Bank (BAB) for her relief godown ahead of winter.
She joined the blanket handover ceremony, held at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.
Read: Bangladesh reports 6 more Covid deaths, 294 fresh cases
Noting that the season changes in October-November here, which is a very critical time for the outbreak of influenza and cough, she urged people to take precaution to prevent influenza and cough in this transitional period between the cold and hot seasons.
Hasina also asked people to keep vitamin C-enriched fruits in their food menu to enhance their immunity against the coronavirus alongside maintaining the health protocols.
She said the government has successfully been able to keep the coronavirus under control.
The PM reassured that all those who are eligible for vaccination according to WHO would be brought under vaccination by the middle of the next year.
Read: Conduct digital surveys to protect forests: PM
She thanked the representatives of the private banks for donating the blankets and cash for the poor. "You people are always coming forward to help the poor."
On behalf of the Prime Minister, her Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus received the blankets and a cheque of Tk 10 lakh for the PM's Relief and Welfare Fund from 37 private banks.
BAB Chairman Nazrul Islam Majumder spoke at the function while top representatives from the banks were present.
E-orange owner Sonia, 2 others remanded again
A court here on Thursday placed e-commerce platform eorange.shop owner Sonia Mehzabin, her husband Masukur Rahman and Chief Operating Officer Aman Ullah on a one-day remand in a fraud case filed with Hatirjheel police station.
Dhaka Chief Metroploitan Magistate court Judge Shahidul Islam passed the order after Sup-Inspector Subrata Debnath, also investigation officer of the case, submitted a petition seeking a 5-day remand for the accused.
The court also rejected bail petition submitted by the defense lawyer advocate Mamunur Rashid.
Read: Owner of e-orange.shop, 2 others placed on 5-day remand
On October 7, Sazzad Islam, a Dhaka College student, filed the case with Hatirjheels police station as he, his brother and a friend didn’t receive products from eorange.shop after paying Tk 1.2 crore.
On August 16, an aggrieved customer of E-orange, Md Taherul Islam, filed a fraud case with Gulshan police in presence of 37 other customers who testified against the accused.
The following day, Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Abubakar Siddique's court sent Sonia and her husband to jail rejecting their bail prayers when they surrendered.
Read: Owner of e-orange.shop, 2 others land in jail
On August 18, company’s COO Aman Ullah was arrested.
On August 23, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Morshed Al Mamun Bhuiyan placed the accused on a 5-day remand in the fraud case.
Later, several cases were filed against them with police stations and court and they were placed on remand several times for interrogation in those cases.
Cooked-up stories shared on social media to embarrass govt: FM
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday said some enthusiastic media and individuals are unfortunately spreading cooked-up stories of deaths and rapes on religious minorities basically to embarrass the Sheikh Hasina government that is committed to religious harmony.
He said all the perpetrators have been arrested and are now in police custody while the houses that were burned down have been rebuilt and everyone got compensation.
“Till to-date six people died during recent religious violence,” Dr Momen said in a message shared with the media.
Read: HC orders judicial probe into attacks on Hindus in 6 districts
Among the dead, he said, four are Muslims and they were killed by police when they tried to torch the houses of the Hindu community, and two Hindus died - one a normal death and another by drowning.
“None was raped and not a single Mandir was torched or destroyed. However, a couple of deities or Goddesses were vandalized,” he said.
In recent years, Dr Momen said, there has been a proliferation of Puja venues in every place, including individual houses, as the government pays money for every Puja venue and there is a shortage of police personnel to monitor all of them on a 24/7 days a week.
Also read: Communal violence: Citizens demand exemplary punishment for perpetrators
To avoid such incidents of abuse, he said, the Puja organizers should not leave their venues unattended.
The Foreign Minister said a drug-addict person reportedly left a copy of the Holy Quran near the foot of a deity when there was no worshipper or organizer at the Puja venue and another person took a photo of it and put it up on the social media Facebook that sparked outrage leading to vandalism and ransacking.
Conduct digital surveys to protect forests: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday directed the authorities concerned to conduct digital surveys immediately to know the latest situation of all the forests across the country so that effective steps can be taken to protect the country’s forests.
She gave the directive while presiding over the virtual Cabinet meeting from her official residence Ganobhaban. Other cabinet members were connected from the Bangladesh Secretariat.
“The Prime Minister issued an instruction for conducting digital surveys immediately on all the forests, maintaining coordination among the Land Ministry and the Environment and Forest Ministry as the deputy commissioners concerned,” said Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam while briefing reporters after the meeting.
She stressed the need for taking steps on completion of the digital surveys for permanent settlement of the people who are now living inside forests.
The Prime Minister also directed the authorities concerned to go for reforestation and engage the local people in it, sharing the ownership of trees with them.
Read: UN chief in plea for saving forests
Contract signed with UCPL to set up power plant in Anwara
Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) on Thursday signed a power purchase agreement with United Chattogram Power Limited (UCPL) to set up a 590 MW gas-based combined cycle power plant in Anwara, Chattagram.
As per the contract, the UCPL, a subsidiary of United Group, has the option to operate through natural gas, if available, or through imported re-gasified liquefied natural gas (R-LNG).
The UCPL will set up the plant on 12.5-acre of land in Anwara and start commercial operation by January 28, 2026.
Also read: Bangladesh to extend deal with India on power import
Two Japanese firms will have 40 percent stake in the project while United Group will hold the remaining 60 percent, BPDB officials said.
Under the PPA, the state-owned principal entity in the power sector will purchase electricity from the plant over a period of 22 years at a tariff of US Cents 3.6867 (equivalent to Tk 2.95) per kilowatt hour if the plant is run through natural gas.
If it uses R-LNG, the tariff will be US Cents 6.8043, equivalent to Tk 5.44) per kilowatt hour (each unit).
At a function at Biduyt Bhaban, chairman of United Group and managing director of UCPL Mainuddin Hasan Sharif and BPDB secretary Saiful Islam Azad signed the contract on behalf of their respective sides.
Also read: Bangladesh to formulate integrated energy-power sector master plan with focus on 3E+S concept
Power secretary Habibur Rahman and BPDB chairman Belayet Hossain spoke on the occasion while other senior officials of the power division, BPDB and UCPL were present at the function.
Two more contracts—implementation agreement (IA) with Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) and gas supply agreement (GSA) with Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited -- were also signed at the function.
Dengue: 173 more hospitalized in 24 hours
Bangladesh reported hospitalization of 173 new patients with Dengue fever in 24 hours till Thursday morning.
With no fresh death reported, the number of fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease this year rose to 89, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Of the deceased, 82 people died in Dhaka division alone, two each in Chattogram and Khulna divisions and one each in Rajshahi, Barishal and Mymensingh divisions.
Also read: Dengue: 1 more dies, 184 patients hospitalized
Among the new patients, 139 were undergoing treatment at hospitals in Dhaka while the remaining 34 cases were reported from outside the division.
Some 851 patients diagnosed with dengue are receiving treatment in the country as of Thursday.
Of them, 688 patients are receiving treatment at different hospitals in the capital while the remaining163 were listed outside Dhaka.
Since January, some 23,227 patients have been admitted to different hospitals with dengue in the country. So far, 22,287 dengue patients have left hospitals after recovery, said DGHS.
In September, the country recorded the highest number of 7,841 dengue cases of the current year with 22 deaths.
Correlation with climate change
A World Bank (WB) report released recently has found a wider link between the shifting climate conditions and the increase in dengue cases and some other diseases in Bangladesh.
It says with falling humidity levels, rising temperatures and increasing rainfall caused by climate change, the risk of dengue spread can be higher in the country, mainly in Dhaka and Chittagong cities, in the future.
Also read: Dengue: 1 more die in Bangladesh, 179 new patients hospitalized
Bangladesh has experienced a 0.5° Celsius increase in average temperature between 1976 and 2019 and is slowly losing the variations between seasons, the report added.
Summers are becoming hotter and longer while winters are warmer, and the monsoon seasons are being extended from February to October.
The report also predicted that average temperatures across Bangladesh will rise by 1.4° Celsius by 2050 while annual rainfall is likely to increase by 74 millimetres by 2040-2059.