United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh will observe International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on May 29. A number of activities will be arranged on the day, the Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) said in a release on Tuesday. Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Md Tajul Islam will attend the Peacekeepers Run-2024, as a chief guest. A programme commemorating the peacekeepers will be held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. The families and relatives of the injured and martyred peacekeepers will be honoured at the programme. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will join the programme as the chief guest. Special journals and supplements will be published by the national dailies to highlight the significance of the day and talk shows will be aired by TV channels, according to the release. Documentaries on Bangladesh's peacekeeping activities will also be aired. Members of the cabinet, ambassadors and high commissioners of different countries, UN resident coordinator in Bangladesh, chiefs of the armed forces, military adviser to the UN Peacekeeping Mission, members of parliament, Principal Staff Officer (PSO) of the armed forces, inspector general of police, senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, senior military and civilian officials including media personalities will be present at the programme. Currently, 6,092 peacekeepers are deployed in 13 countries, including 493 female peacekeepers. Since its inception, a total of 168 Bangladeshi peacekeepers have been martyred in UN peacekeeping missions. This year, three wounded peacekeepers are being honored. President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages in this regard. In his message, the president said since 1988, the highest standard of professionalism, devotion, bravery and outstanding contribution of the Bangladeshi peacekeepers in UN peacekeeping has upheld the image of Bangladesh at the international arena. The peacekeepers of Bangladesh have also been able to secure a dignified status in peacekeeping missions. Bangladesh is one of the largest troops contributing nations in the UN peacekeeping missions, he said. Utmost sincerity, discipline, efficiency and humanitarian activities have played an immense role to the success of our peacekeepers. “I firmly believe that Bangladeshi peacekeepers, performing their duties with honesty, efficiency and professionalism would be able to continue this trend in establishing world peace, harmony, and amity in the days to come. I wish the observance of the ‘International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers 2024’ a grand success,” he said. In her message, the Prime Minister said “I am hopeful that the courage and dedication of our peacekeeping members will elevate Bangladesh's standing as a formidable peacekeeping nation, tirelessly working to prevent conflicts, protect civilians, ensure human rights, and establish peace. Together, we will continue to enhance our country's image and make it shine brighter.” “I wish all the programs undertaken on the occasion of the ‘International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers-2024’ grand success and well-being for all peacekeepers,” she said.

The Parliament Secretariat Commission on Tuesday approved a Tk347.13 crore budget for Bangladesh Parliament to spend on its development and non-development activities for 2024-25 fiscal year. The approval was given at the 35th meeting of the Commission held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban with Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair. The budget for the running fiscal year was Tk 324.67 crore. The meeting also projected Tk 382.76 crore for 2025-26 fiscal year while Tk 420.97 crore for 2026-27 fiscal year. According to the meeting sources, the commission meeting has increased the amount of various types of allowance including entertainment by Tk 50. The meeting also discussed the implementation of the decisions of the last meeting. The committee expressed satisfaction with the progress of implementation of the decisions. Prime Minister and Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina, Finance Minister Abu Hasan Mahmud Ali and Opposition Leader GM Quader attended the meeting. Chief Whip Noor-e-Alam Chowdhury attended the meeting on special invitation.

The third phase of the country’s sixth Upazila Parishad Election is set to be held in 87 upazilas in the country on Wednesday. The voting will begin at 8:00am and will continue till 4:00 pm without any break. Elections to 19 Upazila Parishads postponed A total of 1,196 candidates are in the electoral race  against 261 posts of 87 Upazila Parishads. The candidates include 397 chairman contenders, 456 vice chairman and 299 women (reserved) vice chairman contestants. More than 2.08 crore voters – 1,06,40,347 males, 1,02,34,723 females and 114 transgender persons -- are registered under 7,450 polling stations in the 87  upazilas, according to the factsheets provided by the Election Commission on Tuesday. Among them, the electronic voting machines will be used at 16 upazilas in seven districts, while the traditional ballot papers in the rest upazilas. On April 18, the Election Commission announced the election schedule for 112 upazila parishads to conduct the balloting in the third phase. Upazila Election: Appellate Division upholds HC order validating candidacy of Shahadat But the commission later postponed elections to 24 upazila parishads on different grounds. Among them, the balloting in 22 upazilas was suspended due to cyclone Remal, one upazila (Raipura in Narsingdi) for the death of a candidate and another upazila for legal complexities. Besides, all the candidates against three posts – chairman and two vice chairman posts – were already elected uncontested finding no rival contender against their respective posts in Bhandaria Upazila of Pirojpur. A security team of 17-19 members would guard each polling station in the plain districts, while a security team of 19-21 members would protect a polling station in the Chittagong hill tracts and very remote areas. Any voter turnout percentage acceptable: Election Commissioner Alamgir This time, the Election Commission is arranging the sixth upazila parishad election in four phases.  The commission has already declared the election schedule to hold polls in some 480 upazilas out of the country's 495 upazilas. The first phase election was held in 139 upazila parishads of 59 districts on May last 8, while the second phase election in 156 upazilas on May 21 last . The 4th phase election to more than 50 upazilas will be held on June 5 next.

Despite measures taken by utilities under the Power Division, some 1.72 crore consumers still remain without electricity after cyclone Remal hit the country on Sunday. According to a Power Division press release, a total of 3.03 crore consumers were affected by the storm of which electricity supply was restored to 1.31 crore consumers, while 1.72 crore remained without power. It said that efforts are on to restore power supply to 80 percent of the customers by morning of Wednesday (May 29) through commissioning all 33 kV and 11 kV lines while 60 percent of them will get power by Tuesday night. The remaining 20 percent affected consumers will have to wait as their services were stopped and immediate measures will be taken to go to door to door to repair their meters. The Power Division said that as part of post-cyclone initiatives for remediation of damages by the Remal, Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) rapidly took measures in its areas under 80 Pally Bidduy Samities (PBSs) while West Zone Power Distribution Company (WZPDC) in its own operational areas through on-site monitoring. Giving a description of the damages, the Power Division said that a total 766 of 33 kV feeders were damaged of which 455 were recovered and remaining 311 unrecovered while 1105 substations of 33/11 kV were damaged of which 654 recovered and remaining 451 unrecovered. A total of 6235 of 11 kV feeders were destroyed of which 2384 was recovered and remaining 3851 were not, a total of 3833 electric poles  collapsed while 2567 were reapaired and remaining 1266 were not , while 2818 distribution transformer were damaged of which 1696 were restored and remaining 1122 were not. According to preliminary information, the cyclone Remal caused damages to electricity infrastructures worth Tk 103.33 crore. More than 30,000 manpower is working in the field, including the BREB's contractors. The total consumers of the WZPDC is 15.48 lakh of which electricity supply to 14.03 lakh consumers was restored  while 1.44 remained unrestored. The WZPDC’s infrastructures worth Tk 5.07 crore were damaged.

PKSF has gained national and international recognitions for its efficiency and capacity in poverty alleviation through employment generation, said State Minister for Finance Waseqa Ayesha Khan on Tuesday. “PKSF is working tirelessly to build a Bangladesh free from hunger and poverty, as envisioned by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,” she said at the closing ceremony of a project titled ‘Promoting Agricultural Commercialization and Enterprises (PACE)’, organised at PKSF Bhaban on Tuesday. She said this apex development agency established by the government is working for sustainable development of the microenterprise sector. Waseqa also said that PKSF’s outstanding work is undoubtedly playing a crucial role in achieving a Smart Bangladesh by 2041, as envisioned by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. PKSF implemented the PACE project from 2015-2023 to develop the microenterprise sector, particularly focusing on the commercial expansion of agri-related enterprises. The project – with a budget of USD 129 million – was funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Dr Nomita Halder appointed PKSF MD Dr Arnoud Hameleers, the Country Director of IFAD Bangladesh was present as a special guest. He stated that Bangladesh has reached the level of an ‘almost developed’ country and highlighted that PACE is the second highest quality project among nearly 700 IFAD-funded projects worldwide. He pledged that IFAD will continue to collaborate with PKSF to make Bangladesh’s agricultural sector more productive and sustainable. PKSF Chairman Dr M Khairul Hossain, also the chair of the programme, said that besides creating employment, the PACE project has increased people’s technical knowledge and given them the dream of a new life. PKSF launches $200mn project to transform rural microenterprise He noted that PACE has furthered the country’s stride to realize Bangabandhu’s dream of economic prosperity, and freedom from discrimination and deprivation for the people of Bangladesh. The Managing Director of PKSF, Dr Nomita Halder  said that under the PACE project, 88 sub-projects were implemented in 15 agricultural and 15 non-agricultural sub-sectors. 60% of the micro-entrepreneurs supported by this project are women, she added. Its Additional Managing Director Md Fazlul Kader gave a presentation on the success, achievements, and lessons learned from the PACE project. Board Members of PKSF, representatives of different development partners and PKSF’s Partner Organizations expressed their views during the open discussion session. Additionally, project participants shared their experiences, and a documentary on the project activities was showcased at the event.  

The decision over the recruiting of government officials under 13th to 20th grade through the Public Service Commission (PSC) will be taken within three months after reviewing the recommendations of the committee, said Public Administration Minister Farhad Hossain on Tuesday. “A committee has been formed led by the Additional Secretary of the ministry which submitted a report on January 11 recommending recruitment of government officials under 13th -20th grade through PSC. A scrutiny is underway in this regard,” he said during a dialogue organized by the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF). Decision to increase age limit for govt jobs up to PM, says Public Administration Minister BSRF president Fasih Uddin Mahtab and its general secretary Masudul Haque administered the programme. “We’ll take a final decision over it as there was some complexity in it as well as some technical problem,” he said. Mentioning about the purchasing of 261 vehicles for the field level officers, the minister said “We have enough work. Of these, 61 will be allocated for DCs while the rest for UNOs and the UNOs should work properly. But they need vehicles. Each vehicle will be purchased at Tk 35,38,720. Government has to provide tax Tk 1,10,31,280. NBR and the Finance Ministry got the money.” 3,58,237 persons appointed for govt jobs in 2019-2023: Public Administration Minister Referring to the punishment of government officials, some 121 government officials have been punished in the past ten years. From 2019 to 2024, investigations were carried out against 178 government officials under Grade-1 to Grade-9 and divisional cases were filed against them, he said. Among the 178 government officials, the highest punitive action was taken against 22 people, light punishment against 69 and 77 were relieved from the charges, said the minister. From 2014 to 2014, allegations have been brought against 351 government officials from grade-1 to grade-9 over the past ten years. Of them, 41 received severe punishment and 140 received light punishment while 170 were discharged, he added.

A delegation from the National Defence College (NDC), led by Major General SM Kamrul Hassan, along with two senior directing staff of the rank of Major General, visited the BGMEA Complex in Uttara, Dhaka on Tuesday. The 120-member delegation included senior officers from the Bangladesh Army, Navy, Air Force, and Civil Service, as well as senior military officers from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Kuwait, Kenya, China, South Sudan, Tanzania, Nepal, Jordan, Mali, Oman, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Zambia, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. BGMEA President S. M. Mannan (Kochi) welcomed the NDC delegation. The BGMEA President urged the NDC delegation members to promote the success stories of Bangladesh's garment industry internationally from their respective positions. BGMEA Senior Vice President Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, Vice President (Finance) Md. Nasir Uddin, Vice President Abdullah Hill Rakib, and Directors Haroon Ar Rashid, Shams Mahmud, Abrar Hossain Sayem, Nusrat Bari Asha, Md. Mohiuddin Rubel, Md. Nurul Islam, and Md. Rezaul Alam (Miru) were also present. The purpose of the NDC delegation's visit was to learn about Bangladesh's garment industry and BGMEA's efforts in its development. The BGMEA President briefed the delegation on the garment industry's significant contributions to Bangladesh's socio-economic development, poverty alleviation, and women empowerment. During the meeting, BGMEA leaders discussed the vision for the RMG industry and the initiatives undertaken by BGMEA for sustainable development. They also informed the delegation about key industry priorities, including product diversification, technological advancement, and skill development to maintain competitiveness. The NDC delegation praised the progress of Bangladesh's garment industry, especially the eco-friendly industrialization efforts in the sector. Major General SM Kamrul Hassan commended BGMEA's initiatives for the development of the garment industry in Bangladesh. He expressed optimism that the industry would be able to achieve its goal of 100 billion dollar in garment exports by 2030, according to BGMEA. Before their visit to the BGMEA Complex, the NDC delegation toured 4A Yarn Dyeing Ltd. in Savar.

The government is not embarrassed about former Army chief Aziz Ahmed and former IGP Benzir Ahmed issue as the government has the courage to bring them to justice, said Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader. The government didn’t give them a chance to go scot-free. The government is uncompromising on corruption, he said. Govt takes zero tolerance policy against offenders: Obaidul Quader He made the remarks at a press conference at the Awami League president's office in Dhanmondi in the capital on Tuesday noon. “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is known as an honest Prime Minister worldwide, and her popularity in Bangladesh stems from her integrity and hard work. The government is always ready to take action against corruption,” he said. Fakhrul blaming India over MP’s death not justified: Quader Mentioning that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is investigating the issue, Quader said, “ACC is independent. Sheikh Hasina has given ACC the freedom. ACC has informed that investigations into the illegal assets of Benzir Ahmed are still ongoing and further investigations will be conducted.” “As an investigation is ongoing, they will have to face trial. No criminal will be spared under Sheikh Hasina's rule. Former army chief Aziz Ahmed - if he is a criminal, ACC can investigate him. If he is a criminal, he must face punishment. Whoever he may be,” Quader said. Quader expresses discontent over NBR’s move to impose 15% VAT on Metro rail Mentioning the Buet student murder case and Biswajit case, Quader further said, “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is the only politician in the country in the last 75 years who does not forgive even her own party members if they are criminals. She has proven this.

After a request of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), the regulator of stock markets, has instructed to freeze beneficiary owners (BO) accounts of former Inspector General of Bangladesh Police Benazir Ahmed and his family members. Court orders confiscation of more assets of ex-IGP Benazir, his family members The officials of BSEC said that the regulator has already asked the Central Depository Bangladesh Ltd (CDBL) for preventing them from trading shares in the stock market and liquidating investments. The CDBL usually facilitates the transfer and settlement of shares and other securities against BO accounts. The ACC recently requested the BSEC to freeze the BO accounts after a Dhaka court, last week, ordered the confiscation of the former IGP's assets in connection with corruption allegations. Court orders confiscation of ex-IGP Benazir’s properties Benazir is accused of amassing illegal assets worth hundreds of crores of taka at home and abroad through power abuse, irregularities, and corruption. The properties were registered in his name and his wife and three children. The ACC requested the operation of BO accounts in the name of the former IGP, his wife, and children, sources said.

A total of 3.70 lakh positions out of 19.151 lakh government jobs remain vacant, Public Administration Minister Farhad Hossain said today. The minister revealed this information during a dialogue organized by the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF). Addressing a question about women lagging behind in the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS), the minister noted that out of 58 secretaries under Public Administration, 11 are women. Besides, there are 75 female additional secretaries, 164 female joint secretaries, 394 female deputy secretaries. Additionally, there are 658 senior assistant secretaries, seven female deputy commissioners, 151 female UNOs, and 88 female AC land officers. State Minister for Public Administration showcaused for violating electoral code of conduct “We are making progress in women empowerment, with women constituting 29 percent of government job holders,” he stated. “In the 35th BCS, 27.95% are female governments officials, in 36th BCS, the number of female officials are 26.22%, in 37th BCS, 24.37% are female officials, 26.91% female officials found in 38th BCS, the rate of female officials in 40th is 26.03% and in 41st BCS the number stands at 26.71%,” he said. In the 29th BCS, 46.81% females were appointed as government officials while the rate surpassed to 49.02% in the 42nd BCS, said the minister. The minister said, even after the cancellation of 10 percent women quota, women are getting recruitment as before. There was no disruption here. From the 40th BCS, there is no quota for women, he said, adding that the rate of women in BCS has not decreased. A total of 26-27 percent women were recommended for each BCS, he said. PM Hasina distributes 'Bangabandhu Public Administration Award to 28 officials, 2 departments   Responding to a question about allegations against 351 government officials from grade-1 to grade-9 over the past ten years, Farhad Hossain said that 41 received severe punishment and 140 received light punishment. In total, 181 officials were punished, while 170 were discharged. Regarding concerns about not maintaining policy in promotions, the minister assured, “Promotions and postings are conducted following proper policies. We have a well-ordered system. It’s important to consider various factors such as officers studying abroad under government scholarships, assignments in embassies abroad, and health issues of some officers. We take all these factors into account. BSRF president Fasih Uddin Mahtab and its general secretary Masudul Haque administered the programme. Over 3.55 lakh posts vacant in public administration: State Minister