People from all walks of life brought out a joyous procession in Pabna district town at ruling party Awami League's nomination of Md Shahabuddin Chuppu, a proud son of the soil, as the 22nd president of Bangladesh. The nomination leaves only the formality of the retired judge being declared as president on February 19th, the date set for the presidential election, with no other candidates in the fray. District unit Awami League organised the procession in the morning from the Awami League office which ended at the same place after parading different important places. They also distributed sweets among the local people including rickshawpullers, van pullers and shopkeepers. Also read: Profile of Md Shahabuddin Rezaul Rahim Lal, President of the district unit Awami League, said: “It’s a great day for Pabna residents.” He also thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for providing a party ticket to Shahabuddin as the next president of the country. Md Shahabuddin was born in Pabna in 1949 and was one of the first members of Pabna district Chhatra League, Awami League’s student wing. He would eventually become the unit’s president. In 1971, he was the convenor of the Swadhin Bangla Chhatra Sangram Parishad in Pabna, and took part in the Liberation War. Read More: Md Shahabuddin set to become next President of Bangladesh He became the president of the Pabna district Jubo League in 1974. He was imprisoned for three years following the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in August 1975. He was later appointed as the Law Ministry’s coordinator in the Bangabandhu assassination case. In 1982, he joined the BCS (Judicial) Department, and in 1995, he was elected General Secretary of the Judicial Service Association. He served as the chairman of the Judicial Inquiry Commission, which investigated murders, rapes, thefts, and other crimes by BNP-Jamaat alliance’s activists and leaders following the 2001 general election. Read More: ‘Everything is Allah’s will’: Md Shahabuddin, set to become next President of Bangladesh

A Pabna court on Thursday placed a Jubo League activist on a three-day remand in a case filed over killing a rickshaw-puller in the district’s Ishwardi upazila. The accused is Anwar Uddin, 42, a member of Ishwardi municipality Jubo League and also brother of ward councilor and local Awami League leader Kamal Uddin. Read more: Rickshaw-puller shot dead over “trivial matter” in Pabna Earlier in the day, police arrested another accused Ibrahim Hossain, 26, from Kushtia while Anwar was arrested on Wednesday noon from Armbaria area of Ishwardi. After the arrest, Anwar was produced before the court and was put on a three-day remand, Arobindo Sarkar, officer-in-charge (OC) of Ishwardi Police Station. Read more: AL activist shot dead in broad daylight at Pabna tea stall On January 4, rickshaw-puller Mamun Hossain, 26, was shot dead and two others were injured as Anwar opened fire following an altercation in Ishwardi. Ward Councilor Kamal Uddin and his nephew Hriday Hossain were arrested on January 6 from Shailpara area of the town.

Police on Wednesday recovered the body of a man from a pond after he went missing for five days in Pabna’s Ishwardi. The deceased was identified as Sumon Ali, 30. According to police, locals found Sumon’s body floating in a pond in the Paschim Para area and informed police. Later, police recovered the body. No injury mark was found on the body. Read more: Woman found dead in Chattogram water tank The body was sent to the Pabna General Hospital for autopsy, said Arbind Sarkar, officer-in-charge of Ishwardi police station.  

A rickshaw-puller was shot dead, allegedly by a local Jubo League activist, in Pabna’s Ishwardi over a trivial incident around 9pm last night. The deceased was identified as Mamun Hossain, 26, son of Manik Hossain of Piarkhali area of Ishwardi town. The accused are: Anwar Uddin, a member of Ishwardi Municipality Jubo League and also ward councillor, local Awami League leader Kamal Uddin’s brother; Hridoy Hossain, president of Ward No. 1 unit of Chhatra League, and Ibrahim, a Chhatra League activist. Parvez, an eye witness said, “We stopped a speeding three-wheeler and asked its driver why he was rushing. While stopping the vehicle, a human-hauler hit it from behind and its glasses were broken. Following the incident, the human-hauler driver tried to take away the three-wheeler driver’s license. Some of us tried to stop the altercation; rickshaw-puller Mamun was in the group. At one stage of the argument, the human-hauler driver angrily left the spot.” “Sometime later, Anwar along with a few people, including Hridoy and Ibrahim, came to the spot and asked me why we stopped the human-hauler driver. At the time, people nearby came forward and tried to stop them. At one stage of the altercation, Anwar took out a pistol and opened fire, leaving Mamun Hossain and Rocky Hossain injured. They also stabbed another person named Suman,” Parvez also said. Locals rescued them and took them to Ishwardi Upazila Health Complex, where a doctor declared Mamun dead. The injured were shifted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital as their condition was critical. Arbind Sarker, officer-in-charge of Ishwardi Police station, said they visited the spot after the incident. Additional police have also been deployed in the area. Process is underway for filing a case.  

A Jubo League leader was hacked to death and five others were injured in a clash between two groups of villagers over occupying a piece of disputed land in Pabna’s Chatmohar upazila on Friday. Anisur Rahman Anis was vice-president of Parswodanga Union Jubo League, and son of late Akbar Ali of Prabhakar Para village in the upazila. Anis was 50. Locals rushed him to the upazila health complex, but the doctors declared him dead on arrival. The injured are Jakirul Sarker, Badrul Islam, Aslam Hossain, Nahid Hossain, and Monsur Rahman. Jakirul, admitted at Pabna General Hospital, is said to be in critical condition. Locals said there was a longstanding dispute between Anis and one Aynal Haque over ownership of the land in question. On Friday morning, Anis started building a fence around it. The barbaric clash was triggered as when Aynal and his men tried to stop the fence from being put up. The injured come from both sides. Jalal Uddin, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Chatmohar Police Station, said that three people were detained immediately for interrogation. Due process to file a case in connection with the incident is being followed, the OC added.

Two farmers were killed and five others were injured as a truck hit a three-wheeler on Kashinathpur-Bogura highway in Santhia upazila of Pabna on Tuesday. The deceased were identified as farmers Munnaf Ali, 50, also the driver of the three-wheeler, and Ziaur Rahman, 45. The accident occurred this morning when the Bogura-bound truck hit the onion-laden three-wheeler on the highway in Patgari area, said Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Santhia police station. Read more: 5 dead, 4 injured in Narayanganj road accident Following the crash, the three-wheeler plunged into a roadside ditch, leaving seven of its occupants injured. The duo died on the way to Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College and Hospital, where the other injured were undergoing treatment, said the OC. Read more: 7 killed in road accidents in 3 districts

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (October 19, 2022) said that the government has imposed austerity in some areas, but that does not mean people of Bangladesh will not get electricity. “People are getting electricity and that will continue, but we all have to maintain austerity… we are maintaining austerity in some cases. We are compelled to do so under the circumstances,” she said. The Prime Minister said this while inaugurating the installation of a reactor pressure vessel at the second unit of the 2,400 MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP). She joined the programme virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban while it was held at Ishwardi in Pabna. The prime minister said the government’s target was to provide electricity for all. “We have kept our promise. We have been able to provide electricity to every house in Bangladesh. And we have succeeded in illuminating Bangladesh,” she said. In this connection, she said problems erupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. Read: PM inaugurates installation of 2nd reactor at Rooppur nuclear power plant “…Prices were hiked in every sphere, including transportation. As a result, developed countries are facing various problems. They have also focused on savings in every sphere of life. We are not lagging behind either…. The world is now a global village, and one is dependent on other. When the entire world is suffering from economic recession, we will have to endure that blow too,” she observed. “We have also initiated austerity measures,” she said. “That, however, does not mean people of the country will not get electricity.” PM Hasina said Bangladesh sets an example in the world in the use of nuclear power for development and peaceful purpose. She said the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project is being implemented ensuring overall safety. Once the project is fully implemented, Bangladesh would march further ahead, she added. Read Power crisis: Parts of Dhaka to experience up to 8-hour load shedding The PM said that the nuclear power plant project will play a pivotal role in establishing a developed and prosperous Bangladesh through implementation of the long-term perspective plan for 2021-2041. She described electricity generated from nuclear power plant as “environment friendly”. She hoped that the first unit of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will come into operation next year, while the second unit will begin electricity generation in 2024 and a total of 2400 MW of electricity will be generated from the two units together. She said that Bangladesh has already been recognised as a developing country because of tireless efforts of her government. Highlighting success stories of her government over the last three terms, Hasina extended her thanks and gratitude to all concerned, particularly the Russian engineers and Bangladeshi experts and scientists working in the nuclear power project. Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman, Director General of Russia’s Rosatom State Corporation Alexey Likhachev and Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology Ziaul Hasan also spoke at the event. A documentary on the 2,400 MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant was also screened at the programme.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Oct 19, 2022) inaugurated the installation of the second and final reactor at the country's first Rooppur nuclear power plant. The reactor pressure vessel was installed at the second unit of the 2,400 MW Rooppur nuclear power plant (RNPP). She joined the programme virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban while it was held in Ishwardi of the northern district of Pabna. The country’s lone nuclear power plant, being constructed at Rooppur in Ishwardi at a total cost of US$ 12.65 billion, has two units with a power generation capacity of 1200 MW each. Read: Bridge cranes installed at Unit 2 of Rooppur NPP In October last year, the prime minister  inaugurated the reactor pressure vessel of the plant's first unit. According to the Rosatom, the Russian contractor of the project, the VVER-1200 reactor vessel passed the input control in accordance with all regulatory requirements before its installation Wednesday. Rosatom officials said the operation to install the VVER-1200 reactor vessel of the second power unit in the design position was carried out in several stages. A Liebherr-11350 heavy crawler crane lifted the reactor vessel onto the transport portal of the power unit. Read PM to open installation of reactor pressure vessel at Rooppur Power Plant's 2nd unit Wednesday Then, on a special transport trolley, it was moved to the central hall of the reactor compartment. Further, with the help of a polar crane, the reactor vessel was turned into a vertical position and installed on a support ring in the reactor shaft. According to the RNPP officials, the first unit of the project has already made 70 per cent progress in physical work, and with the installation of the reactor pressure vessel at the second unit the project will have overall 53 percent of physical work completed. “With the installation of the reactor pressure vessel, the project’s second unit’s physical work will achieve over 45 per cent of the target”, Dr Md Shawkat Akbar, the project director in the country’s biggest scheme in power generation, told UNB on Tuesday. Read Fourth Russian shipment for Rooppur arrives at Mongla Port The government undertook the project in 2009 and after a long discussion signed an $11.385 billion credit agreement with Russian Federation on July 26 in 2016 to implement the project through appointing the Russian state nuclear energy firm—Rosatom--as its contractor. In addition, on August 6, 2019, Bangladesh signed a nuclear fuel supply agreement with Russia for the project. Under the deal, the Russian state-owned nuclear fuel firm TVEL Joint Stock Company will supply nuclear fuel for the entire life span of the power plant. Read Rooppur NPP: Hydro-accumulators’ testing begins in Russia Each unit of the power plant will have to reload one-third of the total required nuclear fuel after every 18 months and the first, second and third reloads will be provided by the Russian firm free of cost. Each reloading of nuclear fuel will cost $62 million, equivalent to Tk 550 crore. Shawkat  informed that after the installation of the pressure vessel at the second unit, the major work that will remain unfinished include pre-operational testing and fuel loading. “We hope, we’ll perform these work by June next year”, he said adding, some more work will be required to be completed before commissioning the project. Read Manufacturing of hydro-accumulators of Rooppur NPP underway “Construction of power grid line and building of communication and security systems are among the important work required to be completed before mid 2024”, he said. The second half of the year 2024 is set to be the deadline to start commercial operation of the 1200 MW first unit of the nuclear power plant while the second unit in 2025, said  Shawkat, also managing director of the Nuclear Power Company Bangladesh Limited (NPCBL), a dedicated company to deal with nuclear power plant. Initially, a target was set to start the commercial operation of the first unit from 2022 and second unit from 2023 and then the target was deferred. Read Auxiliary reactor building construction at Rooppur unit-1 ends ahead of schedule Officials of the NPCBL said about 14,000 foreign workers from different western countries, including Russia and Belarus, are now engaged in the Rooppur nuclear power plant project under the contractor and its sub-contractors to execute different works.

The bodies of two youths, who went missing two days ago, were recovered from the Jamuna River in Nagarbari river port of Pabna on Monday. The deceased were identified as Panna Sadar, 28, and his cousin Ashiq alias Piyash Sheikh, 20, of the district. The bodies were found floating in the river near Pratappur Jame Masjid around 7am shortly after the departure of a cargo vessel docked there, said Nagarbari Naval Police Outpost in-charge Shariful Islam. The duo went missing after jumping into the river from a boat on Saturday fearing collision with a vessel near Nagarbari river port. The bodies will be handed over to their respective families after completing legal procedures, said the official.

An Awami League activist was shot dead publicly in broad daylight by unidentified assailants in Hemayetpur upazila of Pabna on Friday. Saidur Pramanik, 50, was a resident of Hemayetpur. He was an executive member of Pabna Municipal unit of AL, said the unit's president Advocate Taslim Hasan Sumon. Read: BNP politician, his manager shot in Khulna Police said some assailants shot Saidur dead in what seemed to be a targeted assassination around 1pm, at a tea stall in Char Bangabaria of the upazila and fled the scene immediately. Hearing gunshot, locals rushed to the spot and found Saidur dead, according to Pabna Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Masud Alam. Read: Indigenous man shot dead in Bandarban Police were deployed at the spot and brought the situation under control, the officer added.