Power supply is likely to be restored in all areas of Dhaka city by 8pm, and in Chattogram by 9 pm today, ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak has said. National power transmission grid failed at 2:05pm today. The state minister shared the information on his verified Facebook page. Read: Power supply may fully be restored by 7pm today, Nasrul Hamid hopes Power supply has already been restored up to the Amin Bazar grid, he added. “Although a power grid trip takes one second, restoration is a long and complex process,” said Palak. Power grid engineers and technicians are working hard, he added, urging all to be patient without spreading rumours. The national power transmission grid failure caused blackout across Bangladesh, except some parts of the north. Read:National power grid failure: Blackout across Bangladesh According to officials at Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), the transmission line tripped somewhere in the eastern part of the country, especially districts on the east of Jamuna river. Following the national power grid failure, all power plants tripped one after another and electricity supply went off in Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Barishal and Mymensingh divisions.

ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak has said Bangladesh has only explored about 20 percent of its travel market while the rest of it remains unexplored. "Many foreigners and tourists are unaware of the beautiful destinations here. I hope that with the growth of ShareTrip and Startup Bangladesh, the tourism industry of the country will grow at the same pace," added. Palak was speaking at a programme in Dhaka Sunday night, marking online travel agent ShareTrip's third anniversary. Also read: Hi-tech parks to help Bangladesh become knowledge-based economy: Palak At the event, ShareTrip handed over awards to market players for their contributions to the travel and tourism industries during 2020-2021. Sami Ahmed, managing director of Startup Bangladesh, also attended the event as a special guest. ShareTrip Co-Founder and CEO Sadia Haque and founder Kashef Rahman were present. Sami said: "I am excited to announce Startup Bangladesh's investment in ShareTrip. Startup Bangladesh proudly welcomes ShareTrip to the family, an organisation that has accumulated 50 percent of the country's online travel market in only three years." Also read: Judiciary to be fully digitized within 2 years: Palak Sadia said: "We are an active changemaker in the travel ecosystem. We aim to revolutionise the domestic hotel industry, which is still at a very nascent stage in Bangladesh."

State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Zunaid Ahmed Palak on Sunday said Hi-tech parks will play an important role in building a smart Bangladesh and turning it a knowledge-based developed economy from a labour-dependent one. The ICT state minister said this while laying the foundation stone of a Hi-Tech Park in Singra upazila of the district on Sunday. The Hi-Tech Park will turn Natore a tech-based district which will create job opportunities for youths of the district, Palak said. The Hi-Tech Park will be built on nine acres of land at Sherkpul Mouja in the upazila involving Tk 190 crore with the financial assistance of the Indian government. Read: Hi-Tech Park to turn Khulna industrial area into tech-based zone: Palak The construction work of the park will be completed within two years. Once the Hi-tech Park is opened, some 1,000 young people can take training every year and it will help to create employment opportunities for 3,000 youths directly and indirectly. The state minister also unveiled the plaque of a modern Cineplex and a dormitory building there. Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram K. Doraiswami, Information and Communication Technology Department Senior Secretary NM Ziaul Alam, Managing Director of Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Bikarna Kumar Ghosh and officials concerned of the ICT division were, among others, present there.

State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Zunaid Ahmed Palak has said the country's judiciary system will be made fully digitized within the next two years. ‘E-Judidicary’, a project with a budget of Tk 2,224 crore is being undertaken aimed at making the judicial system fully technology dependent and making the process more cost friendly and time saving for people as well as making the process easier for judges and lawyers, he said. Palak said this while attending the inauguration programme of online cause list, judicial monitoring dashboard and My Court App in the city arranged jointly by the Law and Justice Division and UNDP Bangladesh. Also read: Present world is not of competition but collaboration: Palak He said, “Around 2,000 courtrooms will be digitized through this project and there will be an audio recording pool system at them. Besides, 14 central jails will be made digital. Camera trial rooms will be installed in 64 district jails so that inmates can participate in the hearing virtually.” Palak said state owned web-based video conferencing platform ‘Boithok’ app will be used to ensure confidentiality and a four tier data center will be established at the Supreme Court to ensure the sovereignty of judicial information. Also read: Palak asks youths to be self-employed in IT sector He said 2,000 laptops would be provided to judges, desktops for office staff and 75,000 lawyers and judges would be trained to ensure a digital justice system. In addition, a cyber cafe will be set up in each bar association with a video conferencing system. The state minister said the maximum use of technology in the Department of Judiciary and Health will be ensured in the current fiscal year after the construction of these infrastructures by A2I, UNDP and ICT departments.

Video streaming site Bongo is presenting seven original telefilms this Eid-ul-Fitr – combining works of Bangla literature and film through its based on books (BoB) project – among which "Charer Master" received applause from ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak for showcasing a non-nonsense story of Digital Bangladesh. Directed by Vicky Jahed, the telefilm is based on the novel of young writer Rahitul Islam, which features a young computer engineer who leaves his lavish city life and moves to the village to promote education in the rural area. After facing hurdles from society and personal life, the hero's journey ends with fulfilling his aim. Also read: Bongo introduces seven original telefilm adaptations Based on Books (BoB) this Eid The state minister was present as the special guest on Facebook live for a recent episode of "Bongo BoB Season 1 Limelight with Charer Master," broadcasted from the Bongo BoB Facebook page. Referring to the success of Digital Bangladesh in the story, Palak said, "While I interact with the young people during my visits to rural areas, I find that most of them aspire to come to the city or eventually go abroad as they think they might get better opportunities there." Read Best Bengali Thriller Movies in 2021 "Rahitul offers an exceptional example of a hero's journey, showcasing Digital Bangladesh that we dream of, which is very inspiring," he added.

State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak on Sunday said the participation of young entrepreneurs in F-commerce (Facebook commerce) is on the rise significantly. “At least 400,000 new entrepreneurs are engaged in F-commerce. Bangladesh Bank is going to arrange small loans at 4 percent interest for the entrepreneurs who are engaged in F-commerce and Startup business,” he said at a virtual conference. Also read: Govt planning to formulate data privacy protection law: Palak The e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) arranged the virtual conference on Rural to Global E-commerce Policy Conference. LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Tazul Islam inaugurated the event. Palak also highlighted different initiatives taken by the government for e-commerce and its entrepreneurs in the first session of the conference.  The LGRD minister said people are choosing e-commerce to sell and purchase goods, from food to luxurious products. “Though it (e-commerce) began small, now a sort of dependency (on e-commerce) has been created,” he said. Also read: Palak unveils software to bridge jobseekers with disabilities ... Addressing the function, Senior Secretary of Commerce Ministry Dr Jafar Uddin said the commerce ministry has formed a digital commerce cell to implement the digital commerce policy. “The work is on to finalise the digital commerce operation guidelines 2021. We keep the matter of inclusion of social media commerce entrepreneurs in the guideline under the consideration of the Commerce Ministry,” he said.  Chief executive officer of Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI) Obaidul Azam, deputy governor of Bangladesh Abu Farah Md Nasser and Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) Syed Almas Kabir, among others, spoke at the conference presided over by e-CAB president Shomi Kaiser, said a press release. Read Startup Bangladesh Ltd to invest Tk 100 crore for 50 startups marking birth centennial of Bangabandhu and Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh

Grameenphone has recently launched Grameenphone Explorers 2.0, the second batch of its youth-development initiative, to ensure the growth of skills and expertise among future leaders. The 12-week-long programme officially began with the orientation session on April 1. At the programme, ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak said, "Initiatives like Grameenphone Explorer 2.0 are key enablers that help devise how the youth of this country can prepare themselves to contribute to the growth of our great nation and unlock new opportunities for our future generations." Also read: Grameenphone announces 15,500 4G towers in country GP Explorers is an innovative upskilling initiative from Grameenphone – targeted to unleash the youths' potential and transform their mindset towards skills of the future. This year, GP Explorers 2.0 is set to feature a wide range of virtual and real-time engagements between the participants and mentors, focusing on building their communication proficiency, entrepreneurship skills, and digital skills. The programme also targets grooming their personalities to face the immensely competitive local and global job markets. Also read: Grameenphone provides Tk 30 crore to workers welfare fund Also,70% of the learning is designed to take place online with interactive digital tools, and 30% of live classes involve collaborative activities. GP Explorers 2.0 will also hold regular counselling and experience sharing sessions for the aspiring youths' deep cognitive support. Grameenphone CEO Yasir Azman said, "The first season of GP Explorers has seen significant impact from the three-month programme; the-then trainees are now confidently getting into corporate ecosystems. We are optimistic about finding more of such future leaders, this time with GP Explorers 2.0." Also read: Grameenphone introduces portable pocket router Over 1,400 students from 67 renowned educational institutions had applied to be a part of GP Explorers, from where only 357 were chosen to be eligible for the campaign, read a press release.

Winners of essay writing competition titled "What Liberation Means to Me?” have been announced and awarded.

In response to the devastation caused by torrential rain and monsoon floods in Bangladesh, Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Ltd has come forward to a public assistance appeal and aided relief supplies in flood-ravaged areas of Natore’s Singra upazila.