The first meeting of the newly formed National Logistic Development and Coordination Committee was held on Thursday when a decision was made to work on formulating a National Logistic Development Policy within a year.Prime Minister's Principal Secretary and National Logistic Development and Coordination Committee Chairman M Tofazzel Hossain Miah presided over the meeting at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). He said that National Logistic Development Policy will be formulated to facilitate and ease business and trade and increase investment with a view to achieving the national growth targets. He said that five sub-committees will also be formed to this end. The committee decided to work on ensuring efficient transportation of goods and services and upgrading the country's logistic sector into international standard. It will provide legal support to attract investment in the logistics sector and simplify the existing policy frameworks. It will also provide overall guidance in formulating logistics sub-sector based policies and development strategies. The committee will monitor, review and evaluate the overall progress of the implementation of the logistics development strategy. Read more: Initiative to develop logistics industry: Baby steps taken with World Bank guidance The committee decided to build an advanced and efficient logistic management system to reduce these negative effects. On January 22, the 29-member National Logistic Development and Coordination Committee was formed. Top officials of different government and private offices and export and import sectors joined the meeting. Director General of the Executive Cell of the Prime Minister's Office was made the member secretary of the committee while Bangladesh Bank governor, secretaries of different ministries, heads of different government bodies were made members of the committee.

A seminar on Bangladesh's development agenda and challenges was held at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Thursday; it discussed critical issues regarding the future development agenda of the country. The Governance Innovation Unit of the PMO hosted the seminar as part of a memorandum of understanding signed between the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation of Harvard Kennedy School and the Governance Innovation Unit of the PMO for the capacity development of Bangladesh civil service. Prime Minister's International Affairs Adviser Professor Gowher Rizvi spoke as the chief guest at the seminar. It was chaired by Governance Innovation Unit Director General Mohammad Abdul Latif. Faculty members from ASH Center for Democratic Governance delivered their speeches on public value and public administration, administrative reforms, the cost of climate change, disaster response and energy transitions. Read more: Bangladesh performing well in fulfilling SDGs, but many challenges ahead To discuss the Bangladesh development agenda and challenges, faculty members from different public and private universities such as the University of Dhaka, the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance of North South University, the Brac Institute of Governance and Development, the Center for Energy Research of United International University and researchers from the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and the Bangladesh Institute of Governance and Management participated in the discussion. Career bureaucrats from the PMO, the Ministry of Public Administration, the Ministry of Commerce and the Finance Division also joined the event. Read more: Bangladesh committed to path of sustainable development Faculty members from the Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre, Bangladesh Civil Service Administration Academy and the Institute of Public Finance were also invited.

Senior Secretary Tofazzel Hossain Miah has been made the new Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, replacing Ahmad Kaikaus. The Ministry of Public Administration issued a gazette notification in this regard on Wednesday, saying that Tofazzel has been transferred from his earlier position. In a separate gazette, the ministry said that Kaikaus has been appointed as an Alternative Executive Director at the World Bank’s headquarters in Washington on a contractual basis for three years. Read: Tofazzel made PMO Secretary The ministry made the change as the tenure of Kaikaus as Principal Secretary will expire on December 9. Prior to becoming the Principal Secretary, Tofazzel acted as Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office since January, 2021. He was promoted to Senior Secretary on 29 December, 2021.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed on Sunday told police to motivate the people to follow the government’s directives to tackle the transmission of coronavirus. He gave the directive to all metropolitan police, range and district police superintendents through a video conference from the Police Headquarters. A surge in infection prompted the Prime Minister Office (PMO) to issue an 18-point directive on March 29. The Cabinet Division gave an 11-point guideline on April 4. Also read: Bangladesh set to enforce nationwide lockdown Monday amid Covid surge Benazir emphasised motivating the people and not using force to implement the directives when the country enters a seven-day lockdown from Monday. The IGP said that like last year, the kitchen markets have to be set up in open space. Following health guidelines must be ensured there. About the quarantine of returnees, he said that if anyone comes from abroad, they have to undergo a 14-day quarantine. Also read: Govt issues gazette restricting people’s movement, other activities for 7 days Emergency services, factories and garments industries will remain open, he said, adding that public transport will be closed. The movement of vehicles carrying goods should be kept normal. He instructed police officers and the force to perform their duties following proper health guidelines. The IGP directed to strictly implement the 'No Mask No Entry' policy at all police installations. He also instructed the police officers to regularly disinfect all police installations. Also read: Restriction on gatherings, quarantine rule among PMO’s 18-point directive to contain Covid surge The IGP said that after coronavirus cases were first detected in the country in March last year, police stood by the people as a humanitarian force to tackle the crisis. He hoped that everyone would work together to curb the spread of coronavirus by implementing the government's orders to deal with the second wave.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has identified 29 districts, including Dhaka and Chattogram, with higher rates of Coronavirus transmission. The areas have been dubbed ‘risky places’ considering the high number of Covid-19 cases. Narayanganj, Gazipur, Nilphamari, Rajshahi, Naogaon, Sylhet and Khulna are also on the list of risky districts, according to DGHS. Also read: Proposed partial lockdown in areas with high Covid-19 cases: Health Minister Prof ABM Khurshid Alam, director-general of the health directorate, disclosed the findings after announcing an 18-point directive on behalf of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in a virtual press conference in the afternoon. "Considering the level of transmission, the local administration can decide whether lockdown is necessary for any certain area or not,” he said. “But there was no decision on announcing general holiday.”

Prime Minister's International Affairs Advisor Dr Gowher Rizvi on Wednesday said the government is the guarantor of social justice and governance is an indispensable element to ensure the equitable share of people's access and opportunity.

Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday night met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and discussed ways of strengthening cooperation between the two countries. 

Newly-appointed Chief of Naval Staff Mohammad Shaheen Iqbal was adorned with the rank badge of vice-admiral on Sunday morning at a function in presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Ganabhaban.

The government has rescheduled the office timing for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan from 9 am to 3:30 pm for all government, semi-government, autonomous and semi-autonomous institutions.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Friday refuted a report that only Army and Navy will distribute government-provided relief materials from now on. "This is totally false and fabricated," PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said in a statement.