Dhaka North City Corporation will be setting up holiday markets in all 54 wards under its jurisdiction, according to mayor Atiqul Islam. He said this while addressing the opening ceremony of a holiday market in the Agargaon area of the capital. The holiday market, an initiative of the DNCC and Oikko Foundation, will enable SME entrepreneurs to promote their products. It will be open to all every Friday and Saturday. “We organized this kind of market for the first time to promote the SME sector. If this pilot project runs smoothly, we will initiate setting up holiday markets like this in all 54 wards of Dhaka North,” he said. “Mainly SME entrepreneurs will sell their products in this market. There will be no middlemen, so they will sell their products directly to the customers at an affordable price,” he added. Mentioning that DNCC is working to restore the sidewalks as per the mayor’s election manifesto, he also said a pilot project for hawkers is underway at Mirpur 10. “Certain hawkers will be allowed there five days a week, after 4 p.m. We have also thought about establishing evening markets,” he said. Also read: Save our cities and people: DNCC mayor at COP27 In his inaugural speech, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi praised the initiative and urged involving more women entrepreneurs in all such initiatives. “Take steps so that women can come forward with their ventures,” he said.  Following the inauguration ceremony, the DNCC Mayor, along with the chief guest and other guests, visited the stalls. The market has a total of 100 stalls. SME entrepreneurs set up stalls for leather products, jute products, handicrafts, fashion and lifestyle products, home decor products, organic agricultural products, agricultural products, food, and beverages. Additional Police Commissioner of DMP Mir Rezaul Alam, Chief Executive Officer of Dhaka North City Corporation Selim Reza, and local councillors were also present at the ceremony.  

Climate change is seriously disrupting city life across the globe, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Md Atiqul Islam said Monday, urging everyone to work together to save cities and their people. No one is safe until everyone is safe, he added. He was speaking at the Blue Zone of the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) China Pavilion with C40 – a network of mayors of nearly 100 world-leading cities collaborating to deliver the urgent action needed right now to confront the climate crisis – in Egypt's Sharm El Sheikh. Atiqul spoke to the mayors of Chinese cities and representatives of other South-South cities. The Blue Zone is a UN-managed space where negotiations are hosted and, to enter, all attendees must be credited by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat.  This year there are 156 pavilions inside the Blue Zone, double the amount at Glasgow. Many UN agencies, countries and regions are being represented. Atiqul said: "Heatwaves, flooding, cyclones and salinity are making people leave their homes for cities in search of a living and livelihood. As mayors, we have responsibilities towards our cities and their people." Read more: Around 6500 become climate refugees in Bangladesh every year: Momen at COP27 The vital United Nations climate talks, billed as one of the last chances to stave off climate breakdown, are taking place from November 6-18 amid a multitude of competing crises, including the war in Ukraine, high inflation, food shortages and an energy crunch. Negotiators are spending frantic days discussing whether to formally consider the issue of loss and damage, or reparations, to vulnerable nations suffering from climate change, and the issues, which weighed on the talks for years at COP27. Read more: Bangladesh wants mechanism to address loss and damage financing by 2024  

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Md Atiqul Islam on Monday directed the Ward Councillors to hold a coordination meeting at least once a week to make the mosquito eradication and sanitation activities more dynamic and effective.  "We have come to perform responsibilities taking the mandate of the people. It is our responsibility to ensure the protection of the people. This responsibility must not be neglected in any way," he said while addressing the 11th corporation meeting of the 2nd council of DNCC at Nagar Bhaban of Gulshan-2 in the capital on Monday morning.    READ: Vehicles' movement in capital should be regulated based on number plates: Mayor Atiqul  The DNCC Mayor also instructed the Ward Councillors not to travel abroad without their permission.  At the meeting, considering the helplessness of the family of the deceased Md. Ahsan Kabir Khan who died in the accident, and also for continuation educational activities of children till they earn Masters or equivalent degree,  it decided to provide Tk 25,000 each month from the fund of the DNCC.    The corporation meeting was attended by all the councilors and senior officials of DNCC including Md. Selim Reza, Chief Executive Officer of DNCC. 

The plan to relocate Karwan Bazar, Dhaka's largest wholesale kitchen market, is in the final stages and the vacated location will be turned into an international-standard economic and business hub. Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Atiqul Islam said this to the media Saturday during the inauguration of a 10-day public awareness campaign on the use of masks at Karwan Bazar. A big wholesale kitchen market like Karwan Bazar should not sit in the centre of the capital, he added. Wholesale markets are set up in the peripheries of a city all over the world. Read: Workshop on APA, NIS held at Foreign Service Academy To cut traffic congestion in Karwan Bazar, the government decided to relocate the traders of the wholesale kitchen market of the area. "A campaign to encourage everyone to wear masks is being carried out in 54 wards of the DNCC, at public places including shopping malls, bus stands and kitchen markets," Atiqul said. "During the campaign, which will run till January 31, around five lakh masks will be distributed by 72 DNCC councillors."

Awami League (AL) mayoral candidate Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh on Sunday said he will work for the welfare of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) citizens, if he is elected in the upcoming city election.