Chairman of Bangladesh Inland Transport Authority ( BIWTA) Commodore Arif Ahmed Mustafa said the activities of BIWTA should be upgraded to cater to the new realities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He said this in a workshop titled 'Workshop on the Fourth Industrial Revolution Strategy for Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority' held on Monday. Also read: ACC investigates corruption allegation against BIWTA’s additional director Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority in collaboration with the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) organised the workshop at the Muktijoddha Smriti Milonayoton at BIWTA Bhaban in the city. BIWTA is responsible for maintenance of river routes, dissemination of navigational and meteorological information, conducting hydrographic survey, carry out dredging activity to maintain river routes, operate inland river ports, conduct traffic surveys to establish passenger and cargo requirements. Also read: BIWTA falling short of target to restore abandoned waterways Given the lack of budgetary resources allocated to the sector, and complex work-nature of BIWTA, innovative approaches are required within the organization to deliver services efficiently to its service recipient and stakeholder, he said. BIWTA chairman said BIWTA has already pioneered some digital intervention in-line with the government's Digital Bangladesh vision. Automated river gauge, vessel traffic management, automated dredging mechanism, e-Traffic Management and digital dissemination of hydrography data has already been adopted by BIWTA. He said the Bangladesh government has already unveiled the Smart Bangladesh masterplan. Based on this vision, 'Smart Bangladesh' will be a high- income, poverty-free, developed nation, grounded in innovation, powered by technology that we are only beginning to understand such as Al and loT, and that will have a per capita GDP of $12500. Also read: Graft, inefficiency behind BIWTA’s failure in river digging, excavation: SCRF "In order to realize the Smart Bangladesh Vision 2041 and align with the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), BIWTA must come up with its own vision and strategy for the 4IR,' he also said. Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority has contracted the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) to leverage state-of-the-art Digitization approach and globally recognized e-Governance framework for providing BIWTA with an actionable Digitization roadmap for catering to the need of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The workshop discussed the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) on the inland water transport sector in Bangladesh. The workshop also explored how BIWTA can adopt 4IR technologies to improve its operations and services which will be of interest to all stakeholders in the inland water transport sector, including government officials, private sector representatives, and academics. Team leader of the Government Employee Management System of the Ministry of Public Administration Dr. Md. Abdul Mannan presented his speech on the widespread use of artificial intelligence. Joint Secretary and Member (Planning & Operation), BIWTA presided over the programme.

The Commercial Counselor of the US Embassy in Dhaka, John Fay, on Monday said Bangladesh would reap long-term benefits through US investment and access to the US market. He said this while speaking as the guest of honor at a seminar titled ‘Bangladesh-US Trade and Investment Opportunities’ organized by the Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) at its auditorium in Paltan. Fay said the US is the largest investor in several sectors in the country including energy, power, and technology. The agriculture sector is getting US support for technological, plant variety development, and production enhancement. Moreover, there are potential sectors for US investors such as export-oriented textile, man-made fiber–based apparel, leather, ICT, Pharmaceutical, and agriculture sectors, he pointed out. Trade expert Dr MA Razzque, Chairman of RAPID, a research organization, highlighted that the US market is a large source of Bangladeshi product export and more than 18 percent of total exports of the country happen in the US market. Read: UBS reaps $28B in new assets in 1Q; Credit Suisse deal looms He also illustrated that Bangladesh is the third largest manufacturing hub in Asia after China and Vietnam in terms of large-scale but lower-cost production. Razzaque also shows the US market has potential for Bangladeshi products as the market is very much diversified in export volume of Bangladeshi goods. Former IFC economist and Chairman of Policy Exchange Mashrur Reaz Bangladesh is getting the US and global entrepreneurs' attention as the country’s economy has grown an average of 7.1 percent in the last 10 years. Read: BGMEA chief for intensifying collaboration with S Africa to reap mutual benefits “Bangladesh already proved its ability as a prominent manufacturer in all weather and the country will be the 9th largest consumer market by 2030, which will be an important market for global manufacturers,” he said. Faruque Hasan, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), and Muhammad Ali Khokon, President of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) among others, spoke at the function. ERF president Mohammad Refyet Ullah Mirdha presided over the program while Secretary Abul Kashem was the moderator. Read more: India can reap benefits of Bangladesh’s connectivity outlook: Momen

Over 200 illegal shops were evicted during a drive conducted by Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) in Dhaka’s Banani area on Monday. DNCC extends anti-mosquito drive till Aug 31 During the drive, shops were evicted from both sides of the roads under ward-19, and a total of Tk 2.25 lakh was collected in five cases for illegally occupying footpaths, according to a press release. Executive magistrates Md Zulkar Nayan and Rakhi Ahmed conducted the drive. Over 200 shops burnt down in Krishi Market fire: DNCC CEO The drive to remove illegal structures on roads and footpaths will continue to reduce people’s suffering and ensure discipline, said Zulkar. DNCC bringing pesticide from Singapore to destroy mosquito larvae: Atiqul

Bangladesh ranked the 22nd among the world’s 50 most conflict-ridden countries, according to new research that measures political violence around the globe. Myanmar, with the highest number of armed groups in the world, topped the list with a rating of “extreme,” followed by Syria and Mexico. Ukraine, Nigeria, Brazil, Yemen, Iraq, Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia ranked the rest positions ranging from four to ten on the list with the rating of “extreme,” according to the data. On the other hand, superpower Russia ranked the 39th with the rating of “Turbulent”, the third of four categories with the top “extreme”. Bangladesh ranked 22nd with a rating of “high”, the second category. Afghanistan, neighbouring India and financially-stricken Pakistan ranked 13rd, 16th and 19th with the rating of “high” like Bangladesh.The United States ranked the last among the 50 most conflict-ridden countries. The U.S. ranking is driven by rising levels of political violence and a proliferation of far-right groups in the country in recent years, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). ACLED, a data collection, analysis and crisis mapping nonprofit based in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, gathers data for more than 240 countries and territories around the world. In one year to early September, it recorded over 139,000 incidents of political violence worldwide with an increase of 27 percent over the prior year. Read: Digital Quality of Life Index 2023: Bangladesh ranks 82nd, internet quality 5% lower than global average On the basis of four indicators — deadliness, danger to civilians, geographic diffusion and armed group fragmentation, the ACLED Conflict Index ranks every country and territory, using data collected for the past year. While most countries saw at least one incident of political violence over the past year, 50 were ranked the highest in terms of their levels of conflict, receiving ratings of “extreme,” “high,” or “turbulent.” The U.S. was rated as “turbulent,” along with 19 other countries, mostly in Africa and Asia, including Libya, Ghana and Chad. Sam Jones, head of communications at ACLED, said the U.S. placement on the list shows that political violence is not confined to poor or nondemocratic countries. “The U.S. is in the same turbulent index category as other countries that might be more traditionally understood as ‘conflict-affected’ like the Central African Republic … though, of course, it has a much lower overall ranking than such countries, which is important to note,” Jones told the media. Read: Bangladesh ranks top among the countries to receive free Covid vaccine from WHO: Health minister France was marked by violent anti-police riots this summer after police shot and killed a teenager in a Paris suburb, according to the data. Canada has seen a small but noticeable uptick in anti-LGBTQ demonstrations in recent years, a spillover from larger U.S. protests organized by far-right groups. Thomas Zeitzoff, a political violence expert at the American University in Washington, noted that recent elections in both France and Canada have been marked by vitriolic rhetoric. “It’s not the same level of violence [in France and Canada], but I think in general the U.S. is not isolated in that there is definitely … across the Western world … increased political contention,” Zeitzoff said. Read more: Bangladesh ranks 'first in the world' for breastfeeding ACLED has been tracking U.S. political violence since 2020, a year marked by a perfect storm of crises — a deadly pandemic, social justice protests and a divisive presidential election.

Top five percent contractors account for 26% market share of government procurement, according to a  Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) study unveiled today. Although the implementation of online-based government procurement (e-GP) in Bangladesh is almost a decade old, it has not been able to create an environment of fair competition, but the three-way nexus of government departments, political influential groups and contractors has given a new dimension to it, it said. TIB made the remarks at a press conference on the occasion of the release of a research report titled "E-Government Procurement in Bangladesh: Trends Analysis of Competitive Practices (2012-2023)". TIB rejects Cabinet-nodded Cyber Security Act-2023 “The e-GP process started as a very important positive step in Bangladesh, with the main goal of ensuring transparency and open competitive procurement in the public sector. E-GP has facilitated procurement processes, reduced processing costs, but market capture and monopolization in bid submissions and submissions has continued and has actually been institutionalised,” said TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman. "The main message of our report is that a kind of market capture process has become fairly institutionalized in the government procurement process. However, the main purpose of e-GP was to control and prevent this market share,” he said. The share of work of the top five percent contractors is increasing every year, on an average; about 30 percent of the work is in the hands of these contractors, said the TIB report. The share of work done by the top five percent of contractors is increasing every year. On an average, these big contractors are getting more than 26 percent of the work and the bottom 10 percent of the contractors are getting only two to three percent of the work, it said. TIB for formation of national green-skills strategy for youths  “Such a situation cannot in any way ensure the highest value of public money. We believe that due to political influence and three-way nexus of contractors with public procurement companies, on the one hand, the expected benefits of e-GP are not being achieved, on the other hand, there is a massive monopoly of the public procurement process,” he also said. “Overall, we believe that if there is a will, the authorities can identify the weaknesses in the procurement process and take adequate action through the analysis of the existing data in the government database,” added the TIB executive director. TIB urges involvement of relevant stakeholders in revising guidelines for foreign election observers At the time, TIB presented six recommendations for the consideration of the concerned authorities in the interest of making e-GP free and competitive. TIB Outreach and Communication Department Director Sheikh Manzur-e-Alam moderated the programme while Mohammad Touhidul Islam, coordinator of the same department, presented the keynote paper.

The Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Monday sought innovative suggestions from economists and sector experts to identify the reasons why inward remittance flow is not growing to the expected level, despite huge manpower export and students who stay back and work abroad. He said that the government will accept suggestions and advice to reform policy and increase desired remittance into the country. Kamal said this while speaking as the chief guest in the inaugural session of ‘Bangladesh’s Public Financial Reforms Initiatives’ in collaboration with the World Bank held in a hotel in Dhaka on Monday. Read: Islami Bank receives award for highest remittance collection Abdoulaye Seck, country director for Bangladesh and Bhutan of World Bank, Hisham Waly, Practice Manager, governance global practice-South Asia Reason, World Ban, Dr Md Khairuzzaman Mozumder, Secretary of Finance, among others, spoke at the function.The finance minister said the government is thinking of making structural changes to enhance inward remittance flow in the country. Read: August remittances slide to 6-month low clocking $1.6 billion He also mentioned that the expatriates were sending USD $2.0 billion and above remittances in the country in a month, if the flow continues, there would not be a foreign exchange crisis now. “But why it is falling despite manpower export and students going abroad increasing a significant number, we would like to know,” he said. Read more: Bangladesh received $1.97 billion remittance in July

Rights body Odhikar’s top officials Adilur Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Elan have filed an appeal with the High Court challenging the lower court order that sentenced them to two-year jail terms in a case filed under the now defunct Information and Communication Technology Act. They also filed a petition seeking bail in the case, said their lawyer Md Ruhul Amin Bhuiya. Also read: Fakhrul demands immediate release of Odhikar’s Adilur, Nasiruddin On September 14, a Dhaka court sentenced them to two years’ of imprisonment in a case filed over publishing a report about the death toll in clashes between police and Hefazat-e-Islam activists in the capital in 2013. Odhikar’s Adilur, Nasiruddin get 2-year jail in ICT case Dhaka Cyber Tribunal Judge AM Zulfiqar Hayat also fined the convicts Tk 10,000 each, in default, they will have to suffer one month more imprisonment. This was the maiden case filed under the Information and Communication Technology Act (ICT). ICT case against Odhikar’s Adilur: Verdict deferred to September 14 In 2013, Odhikar published a report on its website that claimed 61 people were killed at Hefazat rally at Shapla Chattar in the capital following a clash between Hefazat-e-Islam activists and law enforcement agencies on May 5, 2013. Detective Branch (DB) sub-inspector Ashraful Islam filed a general diary at Gulshan Police Station on August 10 of the same year. The GD was later registered as a case. On September 4 of the same year, DB inspector Ashraful Alam submitted a charge sheet against Adilur and Nasiruddin to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka. In 2014, the court framed charges against the two accused and ordered the trial to begin.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the number of dengue fatalities in the country has now crossed 928. With nineteen more deaths from dengue in 24 hours till Monday morning, the fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease in Bangladesh rose to 928 this year. During the period, 3,033 more patients were hospitalised with the viral fever, according to the DGHS. Read: Dengue death toll surpasses 900; over 3000 cases reported in 24 hrs Of the new patients, 801 were admitted to hospitals in Dhaka and the rest outside the capital--indicating a worsening situation across the country, DGHS said. A total of 10,147 dengue patients, including 3,622 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country. So far, the DGHS has recorded 190,758 dengue cases, 179,683 recoveries this year. Read more: Dengue claims 300 lives already in September

Police will not face any image crisis due to the US Visa policy, said Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun on Monday. “I think, the US visa policy won’t harm the image of police,” he said while talking to reporters after attending a seminar at Tourist Police headquarters in the city’s Paltan area. Govt has nothing to do about Khaleda’s treatment abroad: Law Minister The US Department of State on Friday that it is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on Bangladeshi individuals responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh. These individuals include members of law enforcement agencies, the ruling party, and the political opposition. Talking about possessing illegal arms, the police chief said the drive against illegal arms holders will be conducted , he said adding "We can’t reveal the plan now.” CEC replies to EU letter seeking cooperation in organising elections “We firmly believe that police can perform their duties properly during the next general election as police have taken some plan to seize illegal arms ahead of the election,” said the IGP. Replying to a question about their role during election, the police boss said the Election Commission (EC) has the responsibility to arrange the election and police will accomplish their responsibility as entrusted by the EC during the election. Governance expert Dr. Tofail Ahmed's new book launched Responding to a question over the death of a lawyer Bhuban Chandra Sheel who was shot by stray bullets in city’s Tejgaon area, the IGP said, “The Law and order situation is fully under control and the law enforcers are taking steps through investigation after the incident. I want to assure you (people) that no one will be spared, no matter if he/she is a member of the law enforcement agencies. Legal action will be taken against the criminals.”

Law Minister Anisul Huq on Monday said the government has nothing to do about BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s treatment abroad considering the legal aspect. “I have told it earlier that the BNP chief got the conditional release as per the section 401 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure which is a generosity of the Prime Minister. If any change is brought in this legal position then her conditional release has to be canceled first. Then other things may be considered in this regard,” he said.The law minister said these while talking to reporters at the Secretariat on Monday. No scope to make an arrest without warrant under Cyber Security Act: Law Minister On Sunday BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir issued an ultimatum to the government to take necessary steps to send Khaleda Zia abroad for better treatment within 48 hours, or be held responsible if anything happens to her.Replying to a question about Home Minister’s statement over Khaleda issue, Anisul said, “The application has to be sent to the Home Ministry first and the Home Ministry will send it to the Law Ministry and it depends on the opinion of the Law Ministry. I think that the government can’t do anything more as per the law.”Earlier on September 18, the Security Services Division under the Home Ministry issued a notification extending the suspension of Khaleda’s jail term by another six months.Khaleda Zia has to receive treatment in Dhaka, and she will not be allowed to go abroad during this period, said the notification. Application must be submitted to Home Ministry to allow Khaleda Zia to go abroad for better treatment: Law MinisterThe 78-year-old former prime minister has been suffering from various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung, heart, and eye problems.Since her conditional release in 2020, the BNP chief has been receiving treatment at the hospital under a medical board headed by cardiologist Prof Shahabuddin Talukder. Khaleda’s conditional release to be extended by 6 months: Law ministerKhaleda was sent to the Old Dhaka Jail after a lower court sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8, 2018. Later, she was found guilty in another corruption case the same year.Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government of Bangladesh temporarily freed Khaleda Zia from jail through an executive order suspending her sentence on March 25, 2020, with the condition that she will stay in her Gulshan house and not leave the country.END/UNB/M-MAS/FH