Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday (November 12, 2023) urged the people to boldly face any situation saying that Bangladesh will surely overcome manmade disasters like arson violence. “We will take Bangladesh forward, surely overcoming manmade disasters like arson violence as we face the natural disasters. I would like to tell the countrymen to boldly face any situation,” she said. The premier was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Ghorashal-Palash Urea Fertilizer Factory (GPUFF) – the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia - in Narsingdi. She said Bangladesh will move forward commodity price hike has emerged due to external factors like wars, economic sanctions and global inflation. She once again called upon the people not leave even a single inch of land uncultivated to ensure Bangladesh would never need to beg anyone for food. Read: PM places 5 recommendations to end Israeli carnage in Palestine She said Bangladesh today is a developing country, which would move forward further and be Smart Bangladesh, having a smart population, smart government, smart economy and smart society. She said Bangladesh faced repeated obstacles in its development journey, but none could stop its progress. “None would be able to stop this progress of Bangladesh anymore,” she said. She said the Awami League refused a foreign proposal to sell gas abroad before the 2001 generation election. That caused her party’s defeat in the election. But BNP leader Khaleda Zia agreed to it and won the vote, she said. The PM said had she yielded to the pressure that day Bangladesh would not have seem such an excellent fertilizer factory today. Read: Vote for AL to help finish incomplete dev projects: PM Hasina A number of farmers were killed during the BNP regime as they had agitated demanding fertilizers in different places including Gaibandha and Tangail, she added. The PM said no shortage of urea fertilizer was seen anywhere in the country in the last 15 years thanks to its uninterrupted distribution and import of this fertilizer. “Now there is an enough stock of fertilizers in the country,” she said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday (November 12, 2023) opened newly built Ghorashal-Palash Urea Fertilizer Factory (GPUFF), the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia, which will reduce the country’s dependence on fertiliser imports and create jobs. The annual production capacity of the environment friendly and modern fertiliser factory in Narsingdi is some 1 million metric tons, capable of producing 2,800 metric tons of urea daily. the local demand for urea fertilizer is some 26 lakh metric tons annually. If this newly built plant goes in full swing production, some 20 lakh metric tons of urea will be produced yearly in the country.So, the factory will play a leading role in meeting the growing demand of urea fertiliser, ensuring supply of fertilizers to farmers at affordable prices, saving foreign currency by reducing imports and creating employment opportunities. Bangladeshi farmers need to use fertilizer and water efficiently: Experts Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) has implemented the 'Ghorashal Polash Urea Fertilizer Project' on 110 acres of land at a cost of around Tk 15,500 crore. The construction work for the project began on March 10, 2020. Out of the total project cost, TK 4,580.21 crore came from the government exchequer while Tk 10,920 crore from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFG Limited (MUFG) and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) as commercial loan. As per the instruction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2014, the industries ministry took an initiative to set up a new granular urea fertiliser factory at the place of the existing two fertiliser factories - Urea Fertiliser Factory Limited (UFFL) and Polash Urea Fertilizer Factory Limited (PUFFL) at Ghorashal under Palash upazila in Narsingdi district. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited (MHI) and China National Chemical Engineering No 7 Construction Co Ltd (CC-7) jointly constructed the factory, which will have an annual production capacity of 9.24 lakh metric tons. The daily production capacity of the new factory is about three times higher than that of the earlier two fertiliser factories. GPUFF is the first fertiliser factory in Bangladesh where the environmental pollutant Carbon-Di-Oxide (CO2) will be captured from the primary reformer flue gas and the production of urea fertilizer will be increased (about 10pc ) by using the captured CO2. The prime minister released a commemorative postage stamp, marking the inauguration of the factory. Earlier, PM Sheikh Hasina inspected the factory. Fertilizer price increased by 105% in Bangladesh since Russia-Ukraine war: Report

Six people were killed and 10 others injured in separate road crashes on Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Raipura and Shibpur upazilas of Narsingdi district on Friday night and early Saturday. In Shibpur upazila, three people were killed and seven others injured when a truck rammed a microbus on the highway at Srifulia in Shibpur upazila around 2 am. The deceased were identified as Efazul Haque, 50, son of Abul Kashem, Mostakim, 18, son of Efazul and Sagar Chandra, 32, son of Subhas Chandra of Chandpur district. Read: HC commutes death sentence of 4 in Narshingdi garment worker rape case Abul Kaheyr, sub-inspector of Itakhola Highway Police said the accident occurred around 2 am when the speedy truck hit the Narayanganj-bound microbus from Sylhet, leaving three people dead and three others injured. Read: 4 killed in Narshingdi road crash The injured were taken to Narsingdi 100- bed Hospital. The victims went to a shrine in Sylhet and met the tragedy accident while returning home by  the microbus. In Raipura upazila, three people were dead and three  injured when a truck hit a CNG-run auto-rickshaw on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway at Shimultoli in Raipura upazila of Narsingdi district on Friday. The deceased were identified as Dolna Begum, wife of Kashem; Arian, Dolna’s grandson, of Borochar village in Raipura upazila; and Rana Mia of Belabo upazila. Read more: 2 farmers die from snakebites in Dinajpur Quoting witnesses, Tapar Uddin, sub-inspector of Raipura Police Station, said the accident occurred at 9:45 pm when the truck crashed into a CNG-run auto-rickshaw carrying five people, leaving three dead on the spot and three others injured. The injured were taken to a local hospital.

Two security guards (Ansar members) were found dead inside Radhganj Bazar branch of Agrani Bank in Raipura upazila of Narsingdi on Wednesday morning. The deceased were identified as Tauhidul Alam, 24, of Faridpur, and Ranju Mia, 40, of Tangail. The bank authorities informed police after getting no response from the guards this morning. Read more: Arms snatched from Ansar members in Narsingdi Later, police recovered the bodies after breaking the gate of the bank around 11:30 am, said Azizul Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Raipura police station. “The details can be informed after an investigation,” said the OC. However, the bank authorities claimed that no money was stolen from the bank volt, he added.

A union parishad chairman was gunned down by criminals in Raipura upazila this afternoon. Md Zafar Iqbal Manik, 50, was chairman of the Mirza Char union parishad in the upazila. Unidentified assailants swooped on Manik and opened fire on him around 4pm, while he was going to attend an arbitration meeting, locally known as Salish, leaving him critically injured. The UP chairman was taken to the Narsingdi sadar hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival, said Narsingdi civil surgeon Dr. Md Nurul Islam. read more: Drug peddler snatched from police custody in Ctg; woman shot dead The body has been kept at the hospital morgue, he added. On information, a police officer has been sent to the spot, said Azizur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Raipura police station. Manik, also the president of the Union Juba League unit, was elected as a rebel candidate of Awami League from Mirza Char Union in the last elections. Manik and his rival Awlad Hussain Farooq had been at loggerheads over political issues for a long time. Read more: JCD leader shot dead in clash with cops over arrest of a BNP leader in Brahmanbaria

Expressing deep concern over the death of a man in police custody in Narsingdi, Manabadhiker Songskriti Foundation (Foundation for Human Rights & Culture), a human rights organisation, demanded a fair and neutral probe over the incident.     It is the duty of police to ensure security to people under their custody. MSF, a vehicle founded by rights icon Sultana Kamal after she left the Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), is demanding legal steps against those involved in the killing after the fair probe,” said a press release of MSF issued on Friday. Read: HC grants 6 months bail to accused Sylhet cop in custodial death case Earlier on Wednesday morning, police recovered the hanging body of the accused, Sujan Mia, from the washroom of Raipura police station on Wednesday. The body was found hanging from the ventilator of the washroom, with the shirt he wore.             Sujan Mia, son of Majibur Rahman of Raipura municipal area, allegedly stabbed and killed his wife, Lovely Akhter, on November 5. He was later arrested from the Atroshi area in Faridpur sadar upazila and remanded for two days.   The MSF release said the statements about the death of the accused cannot be credible in any way. It is being said his body was recovered from the washroom. Many people are kept detained there. So, it is quite impossible that nobody will notice such a serious incident. Read: Cop withdrawn over youth’s alleged custodial death in Lalmonirhat Though the district police formed the three-member probe body, the concerned authorities will have to be cautious to ensure the fair investigation. As per the constitution, the state is responsible for protecting the detained accused in custody. Therefore, legal action will have to be taken promptly against the persons responsible after the fair investigation is carried out, the MSF demanded.

Accomplished lyricist Omar Faruk Bishal was killed and another one injured when a covered van hit a motorbike on Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Raipura upazila of Narsingdi district on Monday. The accident occurred around 10 am at Marjal area when a covered van hit the motorbike while he was heading towards Dhaka from his village home in Narsingdi district, leaving Bishal dead on the spot and another injured, said sub-inspector Md Alamin of Bhairab Highway Police. The injured Imam Hossain was taken to a local hospital from where he was taken to Dhaka for better treatment. Also read: Father-son duo killed in Kushtia hit-and-run accident Bishal was a joint news editor of an online news portal gnews24.com. His first namaz-e-janaza was held at Dhukundi School ground in Raipura upazila around 4:30 pm. Later, he was laid to eternal rest at his family graveyard.

Four people were killed and three others injured as a truck hit them in Belabo upazila of Narsingdi district on Sunday morning. The deceased were identified as Abul Kalam, 36, Siddique Mia, 45, Abu Siddique, 38, and Nuru Mia, 45, of the upazila. The Bhairab-bound truck ploughed through a kitchen market on Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Mahmudabad, leaving three people dead on spot and four others injured, said Nur Hossain, sub-inspector (SI) of Bhairab Highway police. Nuru Mia died on the way to Bhairab Upazila Health complex while the others are undergoing treatment at the hospital, he added. Police seized the killer truck but its driver managed to flee. The bodies were sent to Narsingdi Sadar Hospital morgue for post-mortem, the SI added.

A team of Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU), a specialized unit of Bangladesh Police, has arrested a fugitive member of banned militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from Madhabdhi upazila in Narsingdi. The arrestee was identified as Md Afzal Hossain alias Limon, 38, of Gazipur. Limon  was the head of the Dawah wing of JMB in Gaibandha. Based on the secret information, the ATU members arrested him after conducting a drive on Wednesday evening, said Mohammad Aslam Khan, Superintendent of Police (Media & Awareness wing of the ATU). Read: JMB death row convict nabbed after absconding for years He was an accused in a case filed at Gobindaganj police station under the Anti-Terrorism Act in 2017. The trial of the case is underway. On February 11 in 2016, police conducted a drive at Buzruk Boalia Shilpapara area in Gobindaganj of Gaibandha where Limon was holding a clandestine meeting to carry out sabotage in Chattogram. However, Limon managed to flee the scene and since then he remained absconding, he added. Legal steps will be taken against the arrestee, said the official.

A van veered off the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in Narsingdi and ploughed into a group of people walking along the high-speed corridor on Thursday morning, leaving  five of them dead. Police suspect the van driver dozed off at the wheel. The deceased were identified as Faruq Mia,50, Mashakin, 45, Ripon Mia, 35, Shahjahan Mia, 50,  and Bacchu Mia,30, all residents of the district's Raipura upazila. Read: Road accidents kill 4, injure 7 in five districts The accident occurred around 8am when the driver suddenly lost the control of the speeding van and hit the pedestrians near the Mahmudabad Bazar Machine House area, leaving three of them dead on spot, said Mozammel Hossain, officer-in-charge of Bhairab highway police station. Two injured were rushed to Bhairab Hospital where doctors declared one of them dead on arrival and another after few hours of admission, he said. Read: 2 killed, 10 hurt in Rajshahi road crash The bodies have been kept at the hospital morgue for post-mortem, the OC added. "Legal steps are underway in this regard."