United News of Bangladesh

Japan deployed an upgraded Earth observation satellite for disaster response and security after it was launched on a new flagship H3 rocket Monday. The H3 No. 3 rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center on a southwestern Japanese island and released its payload about 16 minutes later as planned, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said during a livestream. North Korea will try again to launch a military spy satellite in the coming days The Advanced Land Observation Satellite, or ALOS-4, is tasked primarily with Earth observation and data collection for disaster response and mapmaking. It's also capable of monitoring military activity, such as missile launches, with an infrared sensor developed by the Defense Ministry. The rocket appeared to fly as planned, and JAXA is expected to give further details at a news conference later Monday. The launch was initially planned for Sunday but was delayed due to bad weather at the launch site. The ALOS-4 is a successor to the current ALOS-2 and can observe a much wider area. Japan will operate both for the time being. Iran launches 3 satellites into space that are part of a Western-criticized program as tensions rise The launch was the third of the H3 system, after the successful one on Feb 17. and the shocking failed debut flight a year earlier when the rocket had to be destroyed with its payload — a satellite that was supposed to be the ALOS-3. Japan sees a stable, commercially competitive space transport capability as key to its space program and national security. North Korea's Kim says he'll launch 3 more spy satellites and build more nuclear weapons in 2024 JAXA and its main contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have been developing the H3 launch system as a successor to its current mainstay, H-2A, which is set to retire after two more flights. MHI will eventually take over H3 production and launches from JAXA and hopes to make it commercially viable by cutting the launch cost to about half of the H-2A.

The government will implement stricter measures to ensure telecom operators compensate for call drops, State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, said today. “Mobile network operators must compensate their clients financially if they do not deliver the promised services,” said Palak, adding that regular monitoring and audits will be conducted to enforce this. State Minister Palak highlights enduring Bangladesh-France partnership in satellite technology during meeting with Ambassador Palak made these remarks during a meeting at BTRC Bhaban in Agargaon, focusing on the service quality of mobile operators. “Clients are often dissatisfied with the services. Call drops have become a regular issue, making our consumers unhappy. According to the BTRC report, the quality of services is not satisfactory,” he noted. The government is committed to ensuring international standard mobile services. “We are working to guarantee that mobile operators provide the promised services and offer affordable internet to clients,” Palak added. 42% of SIMs inactive: Palak Emphasizing the development of a smart telecom ecosystem in Bangladesh, Palak said the government will not be satisfied until clients express positive reactions about call drops, regardless of the statistics provided by mobile operators over the next six months. Palak also mentioned that the government will take client feedback into account regarding internet speed. A technical inspection team has been formed for this purpose. Regarding the 5G network, Palak said that there is a specific target for the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and four mobile operators for the 5G rollout. He highlighted a directive from the Prime Minister to introduce 5G in airports, seaports, and key commercial and industrial areas, with a gradual rollout to other areas. 50 lakh people involved in online gambling: Palak He cited the anticipated opening of the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in October and directed mobile operators to ensure 5G network availability there by October 30. The meeting was presided over by BTRC Chairman Engineer Md Mohiuddin Ahmed and attended by top officials from mobile operators, including Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) President and Grameenphone CEO Yasir Azman, as stated in a PID handout.

Experts at a workshop on Sunday urged all ministries and agencies to integrate their services with the National e-Service Bus for enhanced interoperability and availability of government online services. They highlighted that 30 already-integrated services, such as the NID system, birth and death registration system, pay fixation system, e-primary system, and data analytics platforms, have significantly enhanced end-users' access and reduced database development costs. The workshop on Bangladesh National Digital Architecture (BNDA) was organised by the World Bank-financed Enhancing Digital Government and Economy (EDGE) Project of BCC at a city hotel. Chaired by ICT Secretary Md Shamsul Arefin, the programme was addressed, among others, by Executive Director of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) Ranajit Kumar, EDGE Project Director Md Shakhawat Hossain and BCC Senior Technical Specialist Farhad Hossain. General Manager of The Open Group India and President of Association of Enterprise Architect Dr Pallab Saha presented the keynote at the function participated by officials of different ministries and organisations of the government. Addressing the programme, Arefin said the verification of NID has been conducted 17.5 crore times using the National e-Service Bus, demonstrating the platform's efficacy in ensuring interoperability and availability of government services. He pointed out that certain government organisations have to spend a substantial amount of money for significant gathering information and developing separate databases for various tasks. “By establishing a connection with the National e-Service Bus, they could avoid redundant efforts and expenses involved in developing databases already available on the platform.” Arefin urged government agencies to align their software services with the guidelines and standards of the Bangladesh National Digital Enterprise Architecture (BNDA) and integrate them with the National e-Service Bus. This integration, he said would streamline operations, enhance data sharing, and promote a cohesive digital ecosystem throughout the government. With the objective of developing a whole-of-government approach, the BNDA platform aims to bring uniformity to software currently separately developed by different government agencies, enabling interoperability, he added.

After impressing with the advanced imaging capabilities of the CAMON 30 series, innovative smartphone brand TECNO has now introduced the 'Shot On CAMON Contest', marking its inaugural global photography competition. Anyone worldwide can participate in this contest, showcasing their creativity for a chance to win attractive prizes. The contest has secured Amateur Photographer, the UK's top-selling photography magazine, as its exclusive official media partner. To participate in the contest TECNO users must capture life's beautiful moments using TECNO phones. They should then share their images or videos (Instagram Reels) on Instagram, using the hashtags #ShotOnCAMON and #TECNOCAMON30Series. Top Home Skincare Devices in Bangladesh: Transform Your Beauty Routine Participants are also required to submit a high-quality version of their entries to the official competition via email at '[email protected]', according to a press release issued on Thursday. The organizers emphasized that the photography contest provides TECNO users with an opportunity to showcase their photographic talents. There are five categories in the contest for smartphone users interested in participating: Colorful Discovery, Super Night, Poetic Portrait, Creative Perspective, and Life in Motion (for short video works). Participants can select any of these categories, capture life's rich artistry through the innovative lens of the CAMON 30 series, and have the chance to win attractive prizes, including cash awards. Awards will be distributed across various categories, including TECNO Photography Master, Gold Prize, Silver Prize, Bronze Prize, TECNO Friend, and the London Photography Tour Award. A standout opportunity includes a cash prize of US$5,000 for the global winner of the TECNO Photography Master category. realme GT 6 5G Review: Is It a Flagship Killer? Besides, other winners will receive cash prizes, in addition to the opportunity for a photography tour in London. The winners of the Gold Prize, Silver Prize and Bronze Prize will be rewarded with attractive cash prizes of US$3,000, US$2,000 and US$1,000 respectively. Also, the top entries under the ‘London Photography Tour Award’ will win a chance to embark on a 3-day photography tour in London to explore London’s beauty. The competition also offers non-TECNO users a chance to win a new CAMON 30 Series smartphone and become a 'TECNO Friend'.

Ilya Sutskever, one of the founders of OpenAI who was involved in a failed effort to push out CEO Sam Altman, said he’s starting a safety-focused artificial intelligence company. Sutskever, a respected AI researcher who left the ChatGPT maker last month, said in a social media post Wednesday that he’s created Safe Superintelligence Inc. with two co-founders. The company’s only goal and focus is safely developing “superintelligence” - a reference to AI systems that are smarter than humans. The company vowed not to be distracted by “management overhead or product cycles,” and under its business model, work on safety and security would be “insulated from short-term commercial pressures,” Sutskever and his co-founders Daniel Gross and Daniel Levy said in a prepared statement. The three said Safe Superintelligence is an American company with roots in Palo Alto, California, and Tel Aviv, “where we have deep roots and the ability to recruit top technical talent.” Sutskever was part of a group that made an unsuccessful attempt last year to oust Altman. The boardroom shakeup, which Sutskever later said he regretted, also led to a period of internal turmoil centered on whether leaders at OpenAI were prioritizing business opportunities over AI safety. At OpenAI, Sutskever jointly led a team focused on safely developing better-than-human AI known as artificial general intelligence, or AGI. When he left OpenAI, he said that he had plans for a “very personally meaningful” project, but offered no details. Sutskever said that it was his choice to leave OpenAI. Days after his departure, his team co-leader Jan Leike also resigned and leveled criticism at OpenAI for letting safety “take a backseat to shiny products.” OpenAI later announced the formation of a safety and security committee, but it’s been filled mainly with company insiders.

If Tesla shareholders approve an all-stock compensation package for CEO Elon Musk that was thrown out this year by a Delaware judge, it would almost guarantee he would remain at the company he grew to be the world leader in electric vehicles, shifting to AI and robotics including autonomous vehicles, which Musk says is Tesla's future. If Tesla shareholders vote against restoring Elon Musk’s $44.9 billion pay package Thursday, the CEO could deliver on threats to take artificial intelligence research to one of his other companies. Or he could even walk away. Late Wednesday, Musk said on his social media platform X that early voting results indicated shareholders back his pay package and other company initiatives like re-incorporating Tesla in Texas by “wide margins.” Musk has run into trouble with statements about Tesla that he's made on X before he owned it and on Thursday, the company filed Musk's comments on preliminary results with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Shares of Tesla Inc., down 30% this year, rose sharply before the opening bell. Even if shareholders do officially approve his compensation package at Tesla's annual shareholders' meeting Thursday, which many analysts have said is likely, there would be uncertainty. Musk has threatened on X, his social media platform, to develop AI elsewhere if he doesn't get a 25% stake in Tesla (He owns about 13% now). Musk's xAI recently received $6 billion in funding to develop artificial intelligence. Wedbush Analyst Dan Ives said he expects the package to be overwhelmingly reapproved, ending a lot of uncertainty with Musk. “This issue has been an overhang on Tesla’s stock, and this will be important to move this distraction in the rearview mirror,” Ives wrote in a note to investors. Shares of Tesla Inc. have slumped this year with the company warning of “notably lower” sales growth in 2024. According to Musk, early indications suggest that shareholders also back the relocation of Tesla's legal home to Texas, and out of Delaware. The move is designed to escape from the Delaware court's oversight and possibly a ruling from Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick that invalidated Musk's pay package. In a January opinion on a shareholder lawsuit, the judge determined that Musk controlled the Tesla board and is not entitled to the landmark package once worth nearly $56 billion. Multiple institutional investors have come out against that sizeable payout, some citing falling vehicle sales, price cuts and the tumbling Tesla stock price. But Tesla's top five institutional shareholders, Vanguard, BlackRock, State Street, Geode Capital, and Capital Research either said they don't announce their votes or wouldn't comment. They control about 17% of the votes. Erik Gordon, a business and law professor at the University of Michigan, said individual shareholders are likely to vote for the package, and they own more than half of Tesla's shares. One institutional investor who came out against the package is California's State Teachers Retirement System. The large pension fund said Tuesday that it would vote against Musk's pay "based on its sheer magnitude, and because the award would be extremely dilutive to shareholders. We also have concerns with the lack of focus on profitability for the company.” In May, two big shareholder advisory firms, ISS and Glass Lewis, recommended voting against the package. But Tesla and Musk have unleashed a furious lobbying effort to get the package approved, in posts on X, television appearances and in proxy filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “Only 2 days left to protect & help grow the value of your investment in $TSLA by voting FOR ratification of the 2018 CEO Performance Award,” Tesla posted on X early Tuesday. Tesla Chairwoman Robyn Denholm, in a letter to shareholders, wrote that the package was approved by 73% of the vote six years ago. “Because the Delaware Court second-guessed your decision, Elon has not been paid for any of his work for Tesla for the past six years that has helped to generate significant growth and stockholder value. That strikes us — and the many stockholders from whom we already have heard — as fundamentally unfair, and inconsistent with the will of the stockholders who voted for it,” she wrote. Tesla has said the 2018 award incentivized Musk to create over $735 billion in value for shareholders in the six years since it was approved. If Tesla finalizes the vote on moving the company's legal home to Texas before the vote on Musk’s pay package, and it manages to file the paperwork in Austin and get approval of the move, then the effect of the Delaware court ruling could be in doubt. Reapproval of the pay package would then be done as a Texas corporation and could fall under the purview of Texas courts. Anticipating a quick move by Tesla, lawyers for the shareholder who filed the lawsuit seeking to block Musk’s pay deal, Richard Tornetta, filed motions in Delaware last month seeking an order stopping Tesla from trying to move the case. Tesla responded in letters to the judge that there is no cause for such concerns because they won’t seek a move. Besides, Tesla would still be a Delaware corporation at the time of this week's shareholder vote, they wrote. In an order denying Tornetta’s motions, Chancellor McCormick wrote that she interprets Tesla’s letters to mean it has no intention of relocating the case to Texas. “The defendants’ statements give me great comfort,” she wrote. Eric Talley, a Columbia University law professor, said the lawyers are unlikely to try to move the case because their livelihood is handling business cases in Delaware courts. But it’s also possible that the unpredictable Musk could change lawyers. McCormick, Talley said, is telling the lawyers “OK, I’m going to believe you, but I’m going to be really irritated if this is a big send up for these things that you said you’re not going to do.” Talley, who also is a Tesla shareholder and said at present he plans to vote against Musk’s pay, expects Tesla to follow through with appealing McCormick’s ruling to the Delaware Supreme Court.

Eight former employees sued SpaceX and its CEO Elon Musk, alleging that Musk ordered them fired after they challenged what they called rampant sexual harassment and a hostile “Animal House”-style work environment at the company. The employees, who filed suit in a California state court, detailed their complaints in a 2022 open letter to management they shared via a company intranet. The next day, four of the plaintiffs were fired, they alleged; others were terminated later after an internal investigation. In January, the federal National Labor Relations Board filed its own complaint against SpaceX based on issues raised by nine fired employees. Among other workplace concerns, the open letter called on executives to condemn Musk’s public behavior on X — the platform then known as Twitter — and to hold all employees accountable for unacceptable conduct. Musk’s actions included making light of sexual harassment allegations against him — charges that the billionaire denied. “As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX — every tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company,” the open letter said at the time. The letter also referred to Musk’s actions as a ”frequent source of distraction and embarrassment.” The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary damages. The complaint drew connections between Musk’s behavior — in particular, his often lewd posts on Twitter — and the working environment at SpaceX. It states that one of the plaintiffs, Yaman Abdulhak, noted that many of the inappropriate examples cited in a 2021 “appropriate behavior” employee training “closely resembled the contents of Musk’s tweets.” Abdulhak sent examples of those tweets to the SpaceX human resources director, who took no action, the complaint stated. SpaceX did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment.

Apple has jumped into the race to bring generative artificial intelligence to the masses, spotlighting a slew of features Monday designed to soup up the iPhone, iPad and Mac. And in a move befitting a company known for its marketing prowess, the AI technology coming as part of free software updates later this year is being billed as “Apple Intelligence.” Even as it tried to put its own stamp on technology's hottest area, Apple tacitly acknowledged during its World Wide Developers Conference that it needs help catching up with companies like Microsoft and Google, which have emerged as the early leaders in AI. Apple is leaning on ChatGPT, made by the San Francisco startup OpenAI, to make its often-bumbling virtual assistant Siri smarter and more helpful. “All of this goes beyond artificial intelligence, it's personal intelligence, and it is the next big step for Apple,” CEO Tim Cook said. Apple expected to enter AI race with ambitions to overtake the early leaders Siri's optional gateway to ChatGPT will be free to all iPhone users and made available on other Apple products once the option is baked into the next generation of Apple's operating systems. ChatGPT subscribers are supposed to be able to easily sync their existing accounts when using the iPhone, and should get more advanced features than free users would. To herald the alliance with Apple, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sat in the front row of the packed conference, which was attended by developers from more than 60 countries. "Together with Apple, we’re making it easier for people to benefit from what AI can offer," Altman said in a statement. Beyond allowing Siri to tap into ChatGPT's storehouse of knowledge, Apple is giving its 13-year-old virtual assistant an extensive makeover designed to make it more personable and versatile, even as it currently fields about 1.5 billion queries a day. When Apple releases free updates to the software powering the iPhone and its other products this fall, Siri will signal its presence with flashing lights along the edges of the display screen. It will be able to handle hundreds of more tasks — including chores that may require tapping into third-party devices — than it can now, based on Monday's presentations. Apple's full suite of upcoming features will only work on more recent models of the iPhone, iPad and Mac because the devices require advanced processors. For instance, consumers will need last year's iPhone 15 Pro or buy the next model coming out later this year to take full advantage of Apple's AI package, although all the tools will work on Macs dating back to 2020 after that computer's next operating system is installed. The AI-packed updates coming to the next versions of Apple software are meant to enable the billions of people who use the company's devices to get more done in less time, while also giving them access to creative tools that could liven things up. For instance, Apple will deploy AI to allow people to create emojis, dubbed “Genmojis” on the fly to fit the vibe they are trying to convey. Apple's goal with AI “is not to replace users, but empower them,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, told reporters. Users will also have the option of going into the device settings to turn off any AI tools they don't want. Monday's showcase seemed aimed at allaying concerns Apple might be losing its edge with the advent of AI, a technology expected to be as revolutionary as the 2007 introduction of the Phone. Both Google and Samsung have already released smartphone models touting AI features as their main attractions, while Apple has been stuck in an uncharacteristically extended sales slump. Thousands around the world report ChatGPT outage AI mania is the main reason that Nvidia, the dominant maker of the chips underlying the technology, has seen its market value rocket from about $300 billion at the end of 2022 to about $3 trillion. The meteoric rise allowed Nvidia to surpass Apple as the second most valuable company in the U.S. Earlier this year, Microsoft also eclipsed the iPhone maker on the strength of its so-far successful push into AI. Investors didn't seem as impressed with Apple's AI presentation as the crowd that came to the company's Cupertino, California, headquarters to see it. Apple's stock price dipped nearly 2% Monday. Despite that negative reaction, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives asserted in a research note that Apple is “taking the right path.” He hailed the presentation as a “historical” day for a company that already has reshaped the tech industry and society. Besides pulling AI tricks out of its bag, Apple also used the conference to confirm that it will be rolling out a technology called Rich Communications Service, or RCS, to its iMessage app. The technology should improve the quality and security of texting between iPhones and devices powered by Android software, such as the Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel. The change, due out with the next version of iPhone's operating software, won't eliminate the blue bubbles denoting texts originating from iPhones and the green bubbles marking text sent from Android devices — a distinction that has become a source of social stigma. In another upcoming twist to the iPhone's messaging app, users will be able to write a text (or have an AI tool compose it) in advance and schedule a specific time to automatically send it. Monday's presentation marked the second straight year that Apple has created a stir at its developers conference by using it to usher in a trendy form of technology that other companies already had employed. Last year, Apple provided an early look at its mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, which wasn't released until early 2024. Nevertheless, Apple's push into mixed reality — with a twist that it bills as “spatial computing” — has raised hopes that there will be more consumer interest in this niche technology. Part of that optimism stems from Apple's history of releasing technology later than others, then using sleek designs and slick marketing campaigns to overcome its tardy start. Bringing more AI to the iPhone will likely raise privacy concerns — a topic that Apple has gone to great lengths to assure its loyal customers it can be trusted not to peer too deeply into their personal lives. Apple did talk extensively Monday about its efforts to build strong privacy protections and controls around its AI technology. One way Apple is trying to convince consumers that the iPhone won't be used to spy on them is harnessing its chip technology so most of its AI-powered features are handled on the device itself instead of at remote data centers, often called “the cloud.” Going down this route would also help protect Apple's profit margins because AI processing through the cloud is far more expensive than when it is run solely on a device. When Apple users make AI demands that requiring computing power beyond what's available on the device, the tasks will be handled by what the company is calling a “private cloud” that is supposed to shield their personal data. Apple's AI “will be aware of your personal data without collecting your personal data,” Federighi said.

Apple's annual World Wide Developers Conference on Monday is expected to herald the company's move into generative artificial intelligence, marking its late arrival to a technological frontier that's expected to be as revolutionary as the invention of the iPhone. The widely anticipated display of AI to be embedded in the iPhone and other Apple products will be the marquee moment at an event that traditionally previews the next version of software that powers the company's hardware lineup. And Apple's next generation of software is expected to be packed with an array of AI features likely to make its often-bumbling virtual assistant Siri smarter, and make photos, music, texting — and possibly even creating emojis on the fly — a more productive and entertaining experience. True to its secretive nature, Apple hasn't provided any advance details about Monday's event being held at the company's Cupertino, California, headquarters. But CEO Tim Cook has dropped strong hints during the first few months of this that Apple is poised to reveal its grand plans to enter a space that has been fueling an industry boom during the past 18 months. AI mania is the main reason that Nvidia, the dominant maker of the chips underlying the technology, has seen its market value rocket from about $300 billion at the end of 2022 to about $3 trillion. The meteoric ride allowed Nvidia to briefly surpass Apple last week as the second most valuable company in the U.S. Microsoft earlier this year also eclipsed the iPhone maker on the strength of its so-far successful push into AI. But analysts have been have been getting increasingly worried that Apple may be falling too far behind in the rapidly changing AI space, a concern that has been compounded by an uncharacteristically extended slump in the company's sales. Both Google and Samsung already have released smartphone models touting AI features as their main attractions. That's why analysts such as Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities view Monday's conference as a potential springboard that catapults Apple into another robust phase of growth. Ives believes infusing more AI into the iPhone, iPad and Mac computer will translate into an additional $450 billon to $600 billion in market value for Apple. Monday's conference “represents the most important event for Apple in over a decade as the pressure to bring a generative AI stack of technology for developers and consumers is front and center,” Ives wrote in a research note. Apple definitely could use the boost that AI may be able to provide, particularly for its 13-year-old assistant Siri, which Forrester Research Dipanjan Chatterjee now calls an “oddly unhelpful helper.” Meanwhile, OpenAI's ChatGPT is getting increasingly conversational — so much so that it recently sparked accusations of intentionally copying a piece of AI software voiced by Scarlett Johansson — and Google last month previewed an AI “agent” dubbed Astra that can seemingly see and remember things. Besides using AI to spruce up Siri, Apple may also team up with OpenAI to bring some elements of ChatGPT to the iPhone, according to a wide range of unconfirmed reports leading up to Monday's conference. This will be the second straight year that Apple has created a stir at its developers conference by using it to usher in its entrance into a trendy form of technology that other companies already had been making inroads. Last year, Apple provided an early look at its mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, which wasn't released until early this year carrying a $3,500 price tag that has been a major impediment to gaining much traction. Nevertheless, Apple's push into mixed reality, tweaked with a twist that it bills as “spatial computing,” has raised hopes that what is currently a niche technology will turn into a huge market. Part of the optimism stems from Apple's history of releasing technology later than others and then using sleek designs and services combined with slick marketing campaigns to overcome its tardy start to unleash new trends. “Apple’s early reticence toward AI was entirely on brand,” Forrester's Chatterjee wrote in a preview of the developers conference. “The company has always been famously obsessed with what its offerings did for its customers rather than how it did it.” Bringing more AI into the iPhone, in particular, will likely raise privacy issues — a topic where Apple has gone to great lengths to assure its loyal customer base that it can be trusted not to peer too deeply into their personal lives. One way Apple could reassure consumers that the iPhone won't be used to spy on them is to leverage its own chip technology so most AI-powered features are handled on the device itself instead of remote data centers, often called “the cloud.” Going that route also would help protect Apple's profit margins because AI technology through the cloud is far more expensive than when it is run solely on a device.

The government has unveiled an ambitious vision to transform the nation into “Smart Bangladesh” by 2041, emphasizing digital skills and digital IDs for its citizens. Central to this vision are four key pillars: Smart Citizens, Smart Economy, Smart Government, and Smart Society. By focusing on these areas, the government aims to ensure that at least 90 percent of citizens are digitally literate and 95 percent possess digital IDs. In a recent document submitted to the Parliament, the government detailed its strategy, giving top priority to the skill development of citizens. “Digital literacy of at least 90 percent of citizens will be ensured by 2041 by developing digital skills at all levels of society through the introduction of a digital curriculum,” the document stated. To support this transformation, the government plans to provide high-speed reliable broadband internet connectivity and ensure every citizen has access to at least one digital device. By 2041, 95 percent of citizens will be able to access services through their digital IDs. The document highlights the role of informed citizens in creating public-private services through e-participation. “Together, citizens and the government will create necessary policies,” it added. This initiative also includes campaigns to foster a digital and equitable mindset across the nation. By 2041, the government aims for at least one member of every family to have access to smart employment and entrepreneurship development facilities. Additionally, the goal is to increase smart device usage to 80 percent by 2031 and 100 percent by 2041. A key component of this plan is the universal use of Smart IDs for receiving citizen services, with a gradual increase in usage to 100 percent by 2041. The document also mentioned the acceleration of activities by the 12 sub-committees under the National Task Force on Blended Education to implement a comprehensive Blended Education and Skill Master Plan. Awami League’s manifesto for the 12th National Parliamentary Election outlined this comprehensive plan to build a “Smart Bangladesh,” placing significant emphasis on the youth and detailing both immediate and future plans for the nation’s progress. The manifesto underscores the commitment to leveraging the potential of the youth to drive the country towards a technologically advanced and economically prosperous future.