BNP on Tuesday chalked out a 13-day programme to observe the 42nd death anniversary of its founder and  leader Ziaur Rahman with due respect. The observance of the anniversary will begin on May 29 and end on June 10. The programmes were finalized at a joint meeting of the party and its associate bodies held at its Nayapaltan central office with BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in the chair. After the meeting, Fakhrul announced the programmes that include discussion meetings, seminars, photo exhibitions and wearing black badges, paying homage to Zia, and distributing food and relief materials among the destitute. Ziaur Rahman, a military-ruler-turned-president, founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in 1978. He was assassinated by a group of army officers at Chittagong Circuit House on May 30, 1981. As part of the programmes, black flags will be hoisted and party flags kept at half-mast atop the offices of the party, including its Nayapaltan headquarters, at 6am on May 30. Besides, party leaders and activists, led by senior leaders, will place wreaths at Zia's grave at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the morning. BNP and its associate bodies will arrange discussions on Zia’s activities, from May 29 to June 10 as part of the death anniversary programmes. The party leaders of Dhaka's south and north city units will distribute food and relief materials among the destitute in different parts of the city on May 30. The party's all district, city and thana units will also observe the day with various programmes.  

BNP  on Sunday announced a two-day programme to observe the  Shaheed Day and International Mother Language Day with due respect on February 21. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the programmes at a press conference after a joint meeting of the party’s different units at its Nayapaltan central office. Ekushey February will be observed simultaneously as Shaheed Dibash and International Mother Language Day on Tuesday in recognition of the Bengali nation’s supreme sacrifice to the cause of their mother tongue. In 1999, UNESCO declared the 21st of February as the International Mother Language Day. As part of the programmes, Fakhrul said their party will hold a discussion at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh on Monday, marking the day. He said they will keep their party and national flags at half-mast and hoist black flags at BNP Nayapaltan central office at 6 am on February 21. Also Read: BNP's movement to continue with all-district march on Feb 25 The leaders and activists of the party will also gather in front of Balaka Cinema Hall at Nilkhet at 6 :15am wearing black badges the same day under the leadership of the Fakhrul. Later, they will first offer fateha at the graves of Language Movement martyrs at Azimpur Graveyard and then go to the Central Shaheed Minar to pay tributes to the martyrs. Besides, BNP’s different units across the country will also observe the day with due respect through various programmes.  

The BNP Dhaka South City unit's march programme in the capital, that was scheduled to be held Thursday, has been postponed out of solidarity with the victims of the catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria earlier in the week. “Our senior leaders had a meeting on Wednesday night and decided to postpone the march, expressing the party’s profound shock and sympathy as a huge number of people were killed in the earthquake in Turkey and Syria,” BNP acting office secretary Sayed Imran Saleh Prince told UNB. He said their party leaders thought it would not be decent to hold the march programme on Thursday amid the news of deaths of thousands of people in tremor-hit Turkey and Syria. A fresh date for the march will be announced later. Bangladesh will observe a day state mourning on Thursday to condole the huge loss of lives in an earthquake in Turkey and Syria recently. Leaders and activists of BNP’s Dhaka South City unit were supposed to march towards the Jatiya Press Club (JPC) from Gopibagh in the capital at 2pm on Thursday, to press home the 10-point demand that is the centrepiece of their movement, topped by a non-party caretaker government under whom the next JS election would be held. On Tuesday, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the second phase of their party’s march programme in the capital. The party’s Dhaka North City unit is also scheduled to march towards Bosila Saat Rasta intersection from Shyamoli playground at 2pm on February 12. Earlier, leaders and activists of the party’s Dhaka north and south city units observed the march programme on January 28, 31, 30 and February 1, respectively, to push for their 10-point demand. With hope of finding survivors fading, stretched rescue teams in Turkey and Syria searched Wednesday for signs of life in the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by the world’s deadliest earthquake in more than a decade. The confirmed death toll approached 12,000, reported AP. Read more: Hope fading as death toll in Turkey, Syria quake pass 12,000

BNP on Tuesday planned a two-day programme, including rally and discussion, to celebrate its 44th founding anniversary on September 1. BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the programmes at a press briefing at the party's Nayapaltan central office. As per the programmes, the party flag will be hoisted atop the Nayapaltan central office and all other offices of BNP across the country at 6am on September 1. Other than that, BNP senior leaders will place wreaths and offer fateha at the grave of its founder Ziaur Rahman at 12pm on the day. Read:Won’t let sacrifices of slain leaders go in vain: BNP Later, the leaders and activists of the party will take out a rally in front of BNP's Naypaltan central office at 3pm, marking the day. The party will also arrange a discussion at 3 pm on September 2. BNP's associate bodies and all their units across the country will mark the day with due respect by holding various programmes, including discussions and rallies. On September 1, 1978, Ziaur Rahman formed BNP with a 19-point programme to build a self-reliant Bangladesh. BNP ruled the country for several terms. Apart from the founding anniversary programme, Rizvi said BNP’s Dhaka south and north city units will arrange a human chain programme in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office on August 30 marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

BNP on Wednesday turned down the government’s invitation to join the opening programme of the Padma Bridge because of an earlier alleged threat on the life of its chairperson Khaleda Zia. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the remarks at a press conference at the chairperson’s Gulshan office. “I would like to say it clearly that no BNP leaders and activists can ever go there at their invitation of those who kill people and want to drown the country’s former prime minister and the most popular leader, Khaleda Zia, in the Padma River and those who want to drown renowned person Dr Yunus who earned dignity for the country and is acclaimed all over the world,” he said. Earlier in the day, the government invited BNP to join the opening programme of the Padma Bridge on June 25. Dulal Chandra Sutradhar, a deputy secretary of the Bridges Division, went to BNP's Nayapaltan central office around 11am and handed over the invitation cards to party’s senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi. Read: Flood victims cry for relief amid govt’s inaction: BNP Seven BNP leaders--party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moin Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan and vice-chairman Hafiz Uddin Ahmed--were invited to participate in the inaugural programme of the much-awaited bridge. Talking to reporters, Dulal Chandra said he, on behalf of the Bridges Division, came to the BNP office with the invitation cards. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told a programme last month that Khaleda once said that the Padma Bridge would collapse while using it as it was being constructed with patchworks. “What should now be done to them? They should be taken to the Padma Bridge and pushed into the river from there,” she said. BNP has long been describing the PM’s remark as a death threat to Khaleda. Fakhrul also alleged that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina spread falsehood through her comment at her press conference that BNP had stopped work on the Padma Bridge construction. He showed feasibility study report carried out by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on the construction of the bridge at the Mawa-Jazira point during the BNP’s government in 2004. The BNP leader said their government also had discussions with ADB, the World Bank and JICA on funding for the bridge, but could not complete it for time constraints. Tarique never sought British Citizenship Fakhrul slammed the prime minister for her remarks that BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman became a British citizen abandoning the citizenship of the country, saying it is a ‘blatant’ lie. “We’ve earlier clearly said that our acting chairman has been there on asylum. There’s nothing to hide. He never applied for British citizenship,” he said. Fakhrul also said there is no option for Tarique but to take asylum to stay in the UK since the Bangladesh government has long been not renewing his passport. “So, there’s no logic to make such a comment (by PM). At a press conference earlier in the day, PM Hasina questioned under whose leadership BNP will take part in the next polls. “Will they show the fugitive (Tarique Rahman) as their leader? He becomes a British citizen abandoning the citizenship of the country,” she said. The prime minister asked the journalists to find out how a convict got British citizenship. Fakhrul said their party has not been facing any leadership crisis and Khaleda or Tarique Zia will be the prime minister if their party wins the next national polls. “That election must be held under a non-party neutral government. Otherwise, no election will be allowed to conduct in the country.” He said the ruling party has been talking about BNP’s leadership crisis only to deceive people.  “Our leadership has been fixed and there’s no leadership crisis in BNP. The BNP leader said it is rather Awami League that is facing a leadership crisis as there is no one after Sheikh Hasina to lead the party.

The Information Center on Nuclear Energy in Dhaka (ICONE) hosted a special event for the women employees of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Novo Theatre and Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) on Saturday. The event was a part of the programme dedicated to the International Mother’s Day, said a Rosatom press release. ICONE Dhaka with the support from by Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) and Rosatom State Corporation of Russia, the contractor of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, has been working to generate public interest in science and technology and at the same time create awareness about the safety of nuclear technology and its versatile use in different spheres of life. Md. Abdur Razzaque, Director General of the Novo Theatre in his speech on the occasion reminded the women employees of their role in building a better nation. Naima Yeasmin, a successful woman employee, spoke about how a working woman can maintain a balance between her official responsibilities and her own children. READ: ICONE launches 5-day ‘Nuclear Bus Tour’ She advised her female colleagues to spend quality time with children besides performing their official duty, as it is essential for healthy mental growth of the future generation. Women employees along with their children visited different facilities at the ICONE and took part in interesting games like NPP Duel, Guess the Country by Flag, Chronograph etc. and a quiz competition on Marie Curie, the “Mother of Radiation”. Winners were awarded souvenirs and prizes.

Telecom operator Banglalink has completed the first season of "Digirevolution," a virtual skill development programme for students, through a closing ceremony. Erik Aas, chief executive officer, and Monzula Morshed, chief human resources and administration officer, of Banglalink, and all the programme participants were present at the event in the capital. Students from more than 35 universities from all over the country were shortlisted for the virtual programme. READ: Breaching copyright law by Banglalink: Hearing on charge framing in 2 cases on May 26 They were upskilled on various contemporary telecom, digital, and business topics in business intelligence and analytics, digital marketing, UI and UX, content marketing, design thinking, and agile project management. Following each session, the participants went through an evaluation process.  Monzula Morshed said: "Digirevolution helped the participants learn professional digital skills much needed in the workplaces of today." Read Development sector: 'Young job-seekers should learn soft, technical skills to thrive' "We believe that empowering local talents with contemporary learning experiences will result in a well-equipped workforce in our telecom and IT industries."

BNP on Wednesday chalked out a two-day programme to observe what it calls “National Revolution and Solidarity Day” marking “civil-military uprising” on November 7, 1975’. BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the programmes at a press conference at the party's Nayapaltan central office. Read: BNP rules out possibility of any talks with govt As part of the programme, he said, their party flag will be hoisted atop all the BNP offices across the country on the morning of November 7 while BNP leaders and activists will place wreaths and offer fateha at the grave of late President and party founder Ziaur Rahman at 11 am. The party will also arrange a discussion at Mohanagar Natya Mancha on November 6 to mark the day. Besides, BNP’s associate bodies and all units across the country will hold various programmes, including discussions, cultural programmes, photo exhibition and publishing supplements in newspapers. Read: None of those involved in Cumilla incident to be spared: Obaidul Quader Amid political turmoil, soldiers and civilians on November 7, 1975 jointly freed then chief of army staff Ziaur Rahman from captivity in Dhaka cantonment, paving the path for Zia to come to power. While BNP and its alliances celebrate November 7 as the “National Revolution and Solidarity Day”, the ruling Awami League and its front organisations consider it as the day of 'killing of freedom fighters'. Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Rob) observes it as the day of “civil-military revolution”.    

Monash College Diploma (MCD) orientation, a programme organised by the Universal College Bangladesh (UCB), was held in the capital recently. Dr Sandeep Ananthanarayanan, chief executive officer of STS Group [Monash College programmes (UCB)], Professor Sarwar Ahmed, dean of academic affairs, Shafik Waes, manager of academic administration, Mostafizur Rahman Mridha, head of IT; lecturers Habiba Kibria and Samia Afroz were present. The guests welcomed the students and delivered speeches explaining different issues, such as academic integrity and misconduct, MCD policies, and essential academic tools necessary for the programme.  MCD is equivalent to the first year of Monash University. Students who will be completing this programme at the UCB can jumpstart their study in the second year of Monash University upon fulfilling the entry requirement of the university with all the credits transferred. READ: UCB workshop on effective note-taking ends on high note Students completing this diploma will also have the scope to transfer their credit to other desired universities.  Along with these, the UCB is also offering a foundation year. Monash University Foundation Year Orientation was held recently for its first batch. Students of the first batch already started attending classes on September 7.   Sandeep Ananthanarayanan said, "I welcome all the students who have enrolled for the MCD programme. One thing I can assure you is that this is the beginning of a new and exhilarating journey of life, which will take all of you to the path of future success."  READ: Khagrachari: UCB gives Tk2.1 crore agricultural loan to 71 farmers  Sarwar Uddin said, "The students at the UCB will not only get the opportunity to learn from highly-qualified teachers, but it will also open up many doors for the learners in the foreign universities including Monash College Australia."  

Nearly 120 million vaccine doses will be available for the national Covid vaccination programme in June, the Union ministry of health and family welfare announced on Sunday even as both companies supplying the jabs are looking at ramping up their production capacity to 110-120 million doses from the existing 75-80 million. At least 60 million (60,960,000) doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be supplied to the states and Union territories for vaccination of the priority groups of health care workers (HCWs), frontline workers (FLWs), and people aged 45 years and above as free supply from the central government channel. Apart from that, close to 59 million (58,610,000) vaccine doses will be available for direct procurement by the states and private hospitals, reports the Hindustan Times. READ: India's COVID-19 tally crosses 28 million as daily cases fall “In June 2021, close to 120 million (119,570,000) doses will be available for the national Covid-19 vaccination programme… Vaccination is an integral pillar of the comprehensive strategy of the government of India for containment and management of the pandemic, along with test, track, treat and Covid-appropriate behaviour. As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the government of India has been supporting the states and UTs by providing them Covid-19 vaccines free of cost,” the health ministry said in a statement. The ministry, however, did not share a state-wise break-up of the number of vaccine doses allotted for the month of June. According to reports, Serum Institute of India’s chief executive officer, Adar Poonawalla, informed Union home minister Amit Shah that the company would be ramping up vaccine production in June by around 90-100 million doses. SII locally produces the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine under the brand name Covishield. On April 16, the ministry of science and technology in a statement also announced that it would help double the production capacity of India’s first make-in-India Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, by May-June, 2021, from the existing 10 million doses per month. Bharat Biotech co-developed Covaxin with the Indian Council of Medical Research. The allocation of supplies through the government of India channel to the states and Union territories is decided based on the consumption pattern, population, and vaccine wastage. The supply details are shared in advance for 15/30 days, to ensure better planning and delivery of vaccines. “The supplies are being fast ramped up by the manufactures, so more vaccine doses will be available in weeks to come. The doses need to be effectively distributed also at the state level keeping the current supply scenario in mind. The priority has to be covering the country’s high-risk population -- health care, and frontline workers, and those above 45 years of age,” said a senior central government official, requesting anonymity. From May 1 this year, 50% of the available doses are being earmarked for the states as free of cost supply from the government of India channel, while the remaining 50% is available for direct procurement from manufacturers by the states and private hospitals under the Centre’s “Liberalized Pricing and Accelerated National Covid-19 Vaccination Strategy” . “Visibility for availability of vaccines for the entire month of June 2021 has been provided well in advance to States/UTs by Union Government as communicated to States and UTs vide letters of Union Health Ministry dated 17th May 2021, 27th May 2021 and 29th May 2021… States have been requested to direct the concerned officials to ensure rational and judicious utilization of allocated doses and minimize the vaccine wastage,” the health ministry statement said. The delivery schedule for the current lot of supplies will also be shared with the states in advance. In May, a total of 79 million (79,405,200) doses were available for the national Covid vaccination programme, of which 40 million (40,349,830) doses were made available by the Centre to the states free of cost. In addition, 39 million (39,055,370) doses were also available for direct procurement by the states as well as private hospitals. READ: India's COVID-19 tally rises to 27,369,093 Experts say vaccination needs to be scaled up. “All vaccines are effective in reducing severity of the disease, and death; therefore, it is important to vaccinate people as fast as possible, especially the country’s vulnerable population,” said Dr GC Khilnani, former head of the pulmonology and sleep medicine department at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi.