Water governance and the engagement of youth are crucial for future existence, said the speakers at the 8th International Water Conference held during January 23-25, 2023 in Sylhet. The conference, organised by ActionAid Bangladesh under the theme "Water and Rivers for Life and Living: The Role of Youth," brought the youth groups, policymakers, academicians, researchers, and practitioners, to a common platform to emphasise the importance of incorporating youth mobilisation on issues related to water and rivers. The programme emphasised five thematic areas – watershed history, morphology and changes; rivers as a living entity and anthropogenic impacts on water and rivers; youth engagement in water and river rights; transboundary rivers and water politics, and innovation: water, ecosystem and sustainable livelihoods. In the closing session of the conference, Saber Hossain Chowdhury MP, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, said the linkage between water and governance needs to be emphasised everywhere. "As we graduate from LDCs and more development takes place, water governance will continue to become a crucial component." On the first day of the conference, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen inaugurated the event through a video message. He said: "We believe sound water management can be an important factor for regional peace and solidarity." Read more: Transnational policies for water governance in S Asia stressed Imtiaz Ahmed, professor of the Department of International Relations, and director of the Centre for Genocide Studies, at the University of Dhaka said: "This year as we focus on the importance of engaging youth in ensuring river rights, policymakers should also think about how to mobilise student associations of the country to advocate for issues of rivers and environment besides their involvement in politics." "In addition, this regional conference opened a doorway to investigate commonalities of water and rivers of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and China," he added. ActionAid Country Director Farah Kabir said: "The multiple sessions of the conference created a space for sharing insights and best practices. This year we brought in the importance of youth participation while keeping the main focus on river and water as a part of our dreams, culture and lives and livelihoods." Read more: Climate change threatens access to water, sanitation

The first Sheikh Russel Youth Rapid Chess Championship 2023 organised by Sheikh Russel Chess Academy under the supervision of the Bangladesh Chess Federation will start Friday at 10am. Only players aged below 20 can participate in this day-long competition at the Bangladesh Chess Federation hall room of the National Sports Council in Dhaka. The prize distribution ceremony of the championship will also be held on the same day in the afternoon. KM Shahidullah, secretary general of Sheikh Russel Jatiya Shishu Kishore Parishad and vice-president of the Bangladesh Chess Federation, will be the chief guest at the prize distribution ceremony. Syed Shahab Uddin Shamim, general secretary of the Bangladesh Chess Federation and president of World Chess Federation (FIDE) Zone 3.2, will also be present. The competition will be held on a seven-round Swiss league system. The winners of this competition will get cash prize money of Tk20,000 in total. Read more: Bangabandhu 47th National Chess Championship begins on Thursday

The body of a youth was recovered from the Meghna on Sunday morning, four days after he went missing being chased by police in Daulatkhan upazila of Bhola. The deceased was identified as Noman, a worker of the upazila. Read more: Body of 7-yr-old boy found in Gazipur Police chased Noman and other people as they were allegedly gambling on November 24 at Patar Khal Machh Ghat by the river, said locals. Being chased by the police, they fell into the river and all, except Noman, could manage to swim ashore, said Zakir Hossain, officer-in-charge (OC) of Daulatkhan police station. Later, fire service and coast guard divers fished out his body from the river near the Machh Ghat this morning (Sunday), he added. A case has been filed at the police station in this regard, said the OC. Read more: Bangladeshi farmer’s body found along Feni border; BSF blamed Besides, a three-member probe committee headed by Lalmohan Circle Additional Superintendent of Police Zahurul Islam was formed to investigate the death. Meanwhile, two constables of Daulatkhan police station Md Russel and Md Sajib have been temporarily suspended and Daulatkhan police station Sub-Inspector (SI) Swarup Kanti Pal and Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Md Sohel Rana have been closed over the incident, said OC Zakir.

A 21-year-old man was stabbed to death, allegedly over playing billiards, at Namajgarh intersection in Bogura district town on Friday night. The deceased was identified as Habibur Rahman Bipul, son of Saiful Islam of the area. Sharafat Islam, additional superintendent of police (Sadar Circle), quoting witnesses, said some 6-7 people including Bipul, were playing billiards at an establishment named ‘Break and Run’, located in the area. At one stage, Bipul engaged in a heated argument with the other playmates as they asked him to stay off the game around 8:45 pm. Also read: University student’s body found at home in Natore Later, one Shakil, who was in the team, stabbed Bipul with a knife, leaving him injured, the SP said. Bipul was taken to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College and Hospital where the doctors declared him dead. “Police are trying to arrest those involved in the killing,” said Sharafat.  

A youth was stabbed to death by some miscreants for protesting stalking of some female passengers in bus in the capital’s Asad Gate area on Tuesday. The deceased was identified as Md Rabbi Hossain, 22, from Shahid Nagar area of Lalbagh. According to police, Rabbi along with some other people went to visit a park in Dhamrai from Azimpur on two hired buses on Tuesday morning. While returning to the city, Rabbi had an altercation with Faruk and some other men as they were teasing women passengers in the bus. Read more: Youth stabbed to death in Dhaka's Sutrapur “At one point, Faruk called someone by phone and informed him about the incident. When the bus reached Asad Gate, some three to four people got into the bus and stabbed Rabbi indiscriminately, injuring him and another person named Shaon severely,” said Utpal Barua, Officer In-charge (OC) of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station. Utpal added that the injured were rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), where Rabbi died around 1:00am on Wednesday. The OC further said that the bus was filled with some shop workers from Gausia Market and some students from the New Market area.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday urged the youth to make greater efforts at boosting food and agricultural production to keep Bangladesh free from any worldwide famine and economic recession. “I would like to call upon our youth to take more initiatives for the production and processing of food items in their respective areas. If so, we'll be able to fulfill the local demand and also help other famine-hit countries,” she said. The premier was addressing the inauguration of the National Youth Day-2022 and the ceremony of National Youth Award-2022 at Osmani Memorial Auditorium through a virtual platform from her official residence Ganabhaban. She said different international organisations predicted that the worldwide famine might hit and many developed countries are also facing economic recession now. “To keep Bangladesh free from it (the brunt of any global famine and economic recession), every inch of our land should be cultivated. Besides, more steps should be taken to produce food items and processed food,” said Hasina. Read more: PM urges all to keep their houses clean to prevent dengue Noting that the youth is a very powerful force in Bangladesh, she said the soil of Bangladesh is very fertile and its biggest power is manpower. “We need to utilize this power,” she added. Zakir Hossain from Noakhali Sadar (1st position), Suraiya Farhana Reshma (2nd) from Sherpur of Bogura and Billal Miah (3rd) from Araihazar of Narayanganj received the National Youth Award under the successful self-employment category, while Rita Jasmine from Barishal Sadar (1st) and Abu Russell Huda (2nd) from Birol of Dinajpur received the award under the best youth organizer category. Besides, successful self-employed youths and youth organisers received the award under divisional quota. On behalf of the PM, State Minister for Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan Russel handed over the award to the recipients. Every award winner was conferred with a crest, a certificate and a cheque of award money. Youth and Sports Secretary Mesbah Uddin, and two award recipients Zakir Hossain and Rita Jasmine spoke on the occasion. Read more: Sajeda Chowdhury’s death is a great loss, PM tells JS The prime minister said the country’s young people and students will have to keep pace with new technology and new inventions in science in the world. “We want to develop our youth as trained and skilled manpower making it fit for the 4th industrial revolution,” she added. She said her government has been establishing different institutions including, hi-tech parks, software parks, IT training and incubation centres, specialized labs and union digital centres so that the youths can get training there. “I believe that our youth are very talented and they would be able to show their competence in every job,” she added. Pointing to the young generation, Hasina said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had presented a country for the nation and the country will have to be developed in the line with the spirit of the Liberation War. She said the youths who established themselves with self-employment have been keeping a huge contribution to the country’s economic progress. The PM said her government, coming to power in 1996, put emphasis on science, technical and vocational education and took different training programmes to develop the young generation. She said her government opened different sectors including television channels, radio, banks and insurances for the private entrepreneurs in a bid to create employment. So, the people now get its benefits, she added. The premier said the government is creating employment opportunities and generating jobs for the young generation. Read more: Bangladesh Navy deserves appreciation for ensuring maritime security while facing natural challenges: PM She said a process is on to prepare a database of the country trained youths. “If once the database is prepared, we can know who are employed or who are still unemployed and take step for creating job opportunities for the unemployed youths,” she added. PM Hasina said the government enacted the Youth Welfare Fund Act, 2016 and provided Tk 27.77 lakh as project-based donation to 14,668 youth organisations from the fund.

Another 409 patients were hospitalised with dengue in 24 hours till Friday morning. Of the new patients, 304 were admitted to different hospitals in Dhaka and 105 outside it, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). A total of 3,207 dengue patients, including 2,182 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country. This year’s death toll from the mosquito-borne disease in Bangladesh rose to 110 on Thursday with four more deaths reported from Dhaka and Mymensingh divisions. The dengue death toll in Dhaka division now stands at 66, in Mymensingh at two while it remained static in Chattogram division at 35, in Khulna at two and in Barishal division at five. The Directorate has recorded 29,107 dengue cases and 25,790 recoveries so far this year.

A second  Bangladeshi man in less than 3 weeks has lost a leg in a landmine explosion near the border with  Myanmar along Naikhongchhari of Bandarban. The injured was identified as Abdul Kader, 27, a resident of Chherakum area in Dochhari union under the upazila. Several organs of his body including eyes were also damaged in the explosion, Md Imran, chairman of the Union Parishad, told UNB. He was first rushed to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital in critical condition, the chairman said.   Kader stepped on the mine when he drifted across the border to bring back his cows around 8pm on Tuesday, said Mohammad Hossain, who brought him to the hospital. Read: Mine explosion inside Myanmar kills Rohingya teen, wounds another Dr Tarekul Islam, medical officer of the hospital, said Kader's leg was severed from the knee down and eyes were also damaged badly. He was shifted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital for better treatment as his condition was stated to be critical, he added. Mentionable, Rohingya teen identified as Omar Farooq was killed and another critically injured in a landmine explosion inside Myanmar along the country's border with Bangladesh early Sunday. On September 16, another Bangladeshi youth was seriously injured in a landmine explosion along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Naikhongchhari upazila of Bandarban. Also read: Rohingya man killed in Myanmar landmine blast near Bandarban Border Twelve mortar shells have been fired by Myanmar army on Bangladesh territory so far. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh warned Myanmar over it.

A seven-member Bangladesh Youth Chess team left Dhaka for Azerbaijan Friday (September 30) night to participate in the FIDE World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad beginning on Sunday (October 2) in the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. The seven-member Bangladesh team are: Non-Playing team captain & coach FIDE Trainer IM Abu Sufian Shakil, CM Manon Reja Neer, Md. Sajidul Haque, CM Sakline Mostafa Sajid, Swarnavo Choudhury, Jannatul Ferdousi and Omnia Binte Yusuf Lubaba.  Read: Dubai Open Chess: GM Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh in 3rd slotLeading under-16 chess players, representing 34 teams from 24 countries, will participate in the nine-round Swiss-League Basis competition

Defending champions Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP) and former champions Dhaka District reached the final round of the Al Arafah Islami Bank 27th National Youth Hockey Tournament 2022 with all win record beating their rivals comfortably in their 2nd matches at the Maulana Bhasani National Stadium here on Saturday. The national sports training institute team BKSP, which made a flying start crushing Narayanganj District by 12-0 goals in their first match, today (Saturday) outplayed Kishoreganj District by 8-0 goals. Saddam Khan struck three, Ramim Hossain, Sabedur Rahman Saju, Shimul Islam, Azizur Rahman and Aman Sharif scored one goal each for BKSP. Read: First phase of National Youth Hockey begins Thursday In the day's other match, Dhaka District crushed Gazipur District by 16-0 goals. Earlier in the tournament opener, Dhaka District outplayed Shariatpur District by 13-0 goals.  In the day's match, Rafiul Haque struck four goals, Shahadat Hossain scored three, Tanjil Rahman Ranok, and Mohammad Emon scored two goals each while Nazmus Sabit, Pavel Hossain Pappu, Wasim Ahmed, Shihab Ahmed and Shahruk Mia scored one each for Dhaka.  A record 57 teams, split into nine groups, are taking part in the first phase of the country wide meet. The nine zonal venues are: Dhaka, Mymensingh, Khulna, Narail, Dinajpur, Joypurhat, Faridpur, Cumilla and Chattogram.