The visit of Belgium's Queen Mathilde to Bangladesh will aid in the repatriation of Rohingyas, said Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday. "Her visit will be beneficial in getting a better response from the international community. Repatriation is the only solution to the Rohingya crisis. The Queen's visit will also help with the repatriation process," he told reporters on Tuesday. The minister said that het visit will also play a vital role in developing Bangladesh-Belgium relations. UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) advocate Queen Mathilde visited Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar district on Tuesday. Hasan Mahmud along with others accompanied the Belgian queen during her visit to the camps. She visited a learning centre, participated in a session with women working on preventing gender-based violence, interacted with women learning new skills, joined a short briefing on the work on mental health, and spoke with mental health volunteers. Read more:Queen Mathilde's visit highlights "heightened importance" of SDGs, showcases Bangladesh’s dynamism: UN Queen Mathilde ascended to the throne in 2013. She is the honourary president of both Child Focus, a foundation for the missing and sexually exploited children, and UNICEF Belgium. In 2001, Queen Mathilde established the Princess Mathilde Fund (now the Queen Mathilde Fund) to promote the care of vulnerable people. As an SDG Advocate, she is particularly focused on mental health.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud on Thursday said legal action should be taken against Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and others who he said are lying about the government that saved Tk 20,000 by procuring free Covid vaccines. Hasan Mahmud made the remark while replying to journalists at the seminar room of the ministry. Hasan quoting the health minister at a recent briefing said “We have given 25 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines worth Tk 20,000 crore. Bangladesh had started the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 when 130 countries across the globe could not.” Read: Momen hopeful of early signing of Teesta; India looks forward to Hasina’s visit The health minister said the government has spent Tk 20,000 for supply, inoculation and management of the vaccine and saved Tk 20,000 of the state by procuring the vaccine free of cost, said Hasan. The information minister alleged TIB has distorted this statement of the health minister. “Being a developing country Bangladesh has provided the vaccines free of cost which was not possible for even many developed countries, he said. “The mortality rate from Covid stands at 1.5 per cent but according to TIB report it’s 7.8 per cent which proves the unprofessionalism of this body. Some 30,000 people have died from Covid in the country to date but according to TIB’s speculated data the number will be 1.5 lakh.” Read: Journos call for ending hassles of passport seekers “TIB has intentionally published the fictitious data in the name of research to blame the country and badmouth about the government in haste without any proper research. BNP Leader Rizvi also talked about this using the TIB data as source like an illiterate”, he added. “Legal actions should be taken against everyone who indulged in spreading these lies. Legal notice will be sent to TIB if necessary,” said Hasan.