The Indian High Commission in Dhaka has voiced serious concern over the theft of a crown gifted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple in Satkhira. The high commission urged the Bangladesh government to conduct a thorough investigation, recover the stolen crown, and bring those responsible to justice.   “We have seen reports of the theft of the crown gifted by PM Modi to the Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple (Satkhira) in 2021 during his visit to Bangladesh,” said the High Commission in a formal message. Chinese Ambassador visits Grameen Bank's Jobra branch The crown, which adorned the deity at the historic Jeshoreshwari Temple in Satkhira’s Shyamnagar, was reported stolen around 2:30 pm on Thursday.  Modi personally placed the crown on the head of the goddess during his visit to the temple on March 27, 2021, as part of his official trip to Bangladesh.  

  High Commission of India hosted an ‘Open House’ on Tuesday for the Indian community members to address their grievances and receive suggestions on consular services. Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma joined the interactions and listened to the queries and concerns of the community members. He assured the community members that their grievances and suggestions would be taken into consideration and appropriate actions would be taken to address them. The ‘Open House’ was organized to provide a platform for the Indian community members to discuss various issues pertaining to consular services and to seek practical solutions to resolve them.

Indian High Commission in Dhaka welcomed the Bangladesh Youth Delegation members who returned home Thursday from India. The High Commission hosted a feedback reception for the Bangladesh Youth Delegation 2022 delegates. The delegates shared valuable experiences of their visit to India. The Deputy High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Binoy George and senior officials were present. On October 12, a 100-member Bangladesh youth delegation embarked on an eight-day visit to India. The High Commission of India in Dhaka organised a flag-off ceremony for the delegation members on October 11. The Bangladesh Youth Delegation this year had a mix of professionals from all walks of life and included participants from all over Bangladesh. Read: AKDN, Indian High Commission discuss collaboration in education sector in Bangladesh

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami has visited the Aga Khan Academy Dhaka, the latest addition to an integrated global network of non-profit, non-denominational, residential schools known as the Aga Khan Academies. The Aga Khan Development Network’s (AKDN) Diplomatic Resident Representative Munir M. Merali welcomed the the high commissioner on Sunday. Accompanying the High Commissioner were Shubham Yadav, Second Secretary (Projects & Acting Director, IGCC) and Rajinder Singh - Second Secretary (Education). During his meeting with the students of the middle-school, High Commissioner Doraiswami discussed the importance of a good education as a requisite to be able to participate in a globally integrated modern economy. As part of his engagement, Doraiswami encouraged students to be driven by their own imagination and pursue the best education possible – and become leaders in their careers of choice. In a meeting with the Academy’s teachers, Representative Merali introduced the High Commissioner to staff from India. He also met with the participants a part of the Academy’s Teacher Preparation Programme, which consists of local graduates who will train to become International Baccalaureate (IB) certified teachers and spend part of their programme at the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad in India, where they will be mentored by skilled IB teachers and gain hands-on knowledge inside and outside the classroom. Read: Canada's contribution to Bangladesh's development historic: GM Quader A week before, the Academy opened its doors for the first time to 575 students who began their first academic year at the new 17-acre, state-of-the-art, award-winning campus. The Academy in Dhaka follows the highly successful models established by the Academies in Mombasa, Kenya, Hyderabad, India and Maputo, Mozambique. Following the tour of the campus, Representative Merali, and High Commissioner Doraiswami discussed potential areas of collaboration to improve the quality of education and teaching in Bangladesh. Areas discussed include facilitating Bangladeshis selected to train at the Academy in Hyderabad, India and the Indian High Commission offering to provide language, arts, and cultural programmes for the students at the Academy in Dhaka. The High Commissioner also informed of a robust scholarship program sponsored by the High Commission that is available to all qualified Bangladeshi students who may wish to pursue higher education at some of the leading universities and educational institutes in India. On behalf of AKDN, Representative Merali conveyed his appreciation for the support accorded by the Indian government and the relevant local State authorities to the Network’s activities in India and thanked the High Commissioner for gifting the sanitizing machines and reading books to the Academy. The AKDN Forum Members also met and appreciated the visit of the delegation of the Indian High Commission to the Academy.

The High Commission of India in Dhaka celebrated the 8th International Day of Yoga (IDY) on Tuesday. Around 1000 people participated in doing Yoga together at the Shaheed Suhrawardy National Stadium in Dhaka, said a press release. Also read:Doraiswami hopeful of commercial screening of Indian films in Bangladesh

The Indian High Commission in Dhaka has said while restrictions have been placed on commercial exports of wheat from India, the instructions will not have any impact on shipments of wheat already contracted for export. The restrictions will not prevent the export of wheat to India's neighbours and other countries that might wish to procure Indian wheat to supplement their domestic food security policies, said the high commission. These measures have been taken to safeguard domestic food availability, mitigate food price linked inflation and support the genuine needs of India's neighbours and other countries with food security concerns, it added. Global wheat prices soared a record 6 percent Monday following India's decision to ban exports of the commodity. Friday, India said it was banning private exports to manage its food security in the face of lower production and sharply higher global prices. Also Read: India bans wheat exports The world's second-largest wheat producer Sunday said it would keep a window open to export wheat to food-deficit countries at the government level despite restrictions announced two days earlier. India's Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam told reporters the government would also allow private companies to meet previous commitments to export nearly 4.3 million tonnes of wheat until July. The country exported 1 million tonnes of wheat in April. India mainly exports wheat to neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.  

Indian High Commission in Dhaka has expressed deep sorrow at the demise of veteran journalist Peer Habibur Rahman. Journalist Rahman, an eminent political analyst and columnist, played an important role in development of journalism in Bangladesh and his legacy will continue to inspire across generations, the High Commission said in a message shared on its verified Facebook page on Sunday. Also read: Veteran journo Peer Habib passes away He died on Saturday while undergoing treatment at the Intensive Care Unit of private hospital in the city. The 58-year-old journalist and executive editor of Bangladesh Pratidin was suffering from cancer and kidney diseases. Also read: Indian High Commission hosts send-off reception for new ICCR scholars

Indian High Commission in Dhaka on Monday hosted a reception and cultural programme at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre as part of the first Bangladesh-India Friendship Day. Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhary graced the occasion as the chief guest. Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami was present. Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, senior representatives from the government of Bangladesh including Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament, the Chief of the Army Staff, Secretaries to the Government, senior officials, IGP of Police, leaders of business and industry, media, academia and civil society were present. Bangladeshi nationals selected for India’s highest civilian honours, in the years 2020 and 2021, were specially invited and felicitated in presence of the august gathering. Also read: Bangladesh to get increased cooperation from India: Shringla The day marks the recognition of an independent and sovereign Bangladesh, by India and Bhutan, fifty years ago – ten days before Bangladesh was actually liberated.

India is looking at an increased monthly production of Covid-19 jabs, a larger basket of vaccine options and a larger proportion of its population fully vaccinated by the end of 2021. This would translate to a larger potential to share vaccines with the world, contributing toward realisation of the Prime Minister’s vision of 'One Earth, One Health', the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said in a press release. India’s Covid-19 vaccination drive has achieved a historic milestone of administering 1 billion vaccine doses. Around 75% of the eligible population (18+) has been given the first dose, while around 30% has been given both the doses.  Read:Indian high commissioner interacts with Buddhist community India has achieved this mark of 1 billion vaccine doses in less than 40 weeks, said the High Commission.  This milestone exemplifies India’s prowess in various elements in the vaccination journey -- development of new vaccines, production of vaccines, deployment, and technology, it said. India’s Covid-19 vaccination drive was launched on 16 January, 2021.  But preparations had begun way back in April 2020 with the establishment of the National Task Force for Focused Research on Corona Vaccine, the release said. Today, India is the only country that has developed multiple vaccines across multiple platforms (Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin uses an inactivated virus platform, Zycov-D is a DNA vaccine, Covishield a viral vector vaccine, Gennova is in the running for being India’s first mRNA vaccine), according to the High Commission. On the approval of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), three vaccines have been utilised in the programme -- Covishield produced by the Serum Institute of India in collaboration with AstraZeneca of the United Kingdom, Covaxin of Bharat Biotech International Limited and Sputnik V of Russia. Read:Bangladesh receives 1 million doses of Sinovac vaccine Nearly all of the 1 billion doses administered have been 'Made-in-India', except for a miniscule proportion of Sputnik V (approximately 0.4 million doses).  Moreover, the High Commission said, more than 95% of those vaccine doses have been delivered by India’s public health system, a testimony to its reach and robustness. Nevertheless, it said, private healthcare outlets have also been included in the implementation of the vaccination drive.

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram K Doraiswami called on Chief of Naval Staff Admiral M Shaheen Iqbal Monday. They discussed the admiral's upcoming visit to India and increasing cooperation in the maritime realm, according to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.  During his first visit to India, the chief of naval staff will visit Navy Headquarters and Western Naval Command. Read: Bangabandhu, Gandhi share striking similarities in political philosophy: Doraiswami Doraiswami presented Admiral Shaheen a Bangla edition of "Operation X."  The book talks about the naval operations of the Mukti Bahini, which paved the way for Bangladesh's liberation in 1971. It will hit the book stands soon.  The Indian high commissioner also presented the chief of naval staff a 9 mm carbine machine gun used by naval freedom fighters.