United News of Bangladesh

A policy dialogue titled “Empowering Change: Role of a Caucus for Disability Inclusion in SMART Bangladesh” was held at the Crystal Ballroom in Dhaka’s Hotel InterContinental on Thursday. Hosted by the SMART Bangladesh Network (SBN), in association with the Equal Bangladesh Campaign, Sightsavers, a2i, Idea Foundation, and InterContinental Dhaka, the event brought together key stakeholders to discuss the integration of disability inclusion into the national SMART Bangladesh agenda by 2041. The dialogue held significant importance as it addressed the critical need for inclusivity in the nation’s ambitious vision for 2041, said a media statement. This event provided a crucial platform for stakeholders from various sectors to discuss and strategize on integrating disability inclusion into national policies and development plans. The event was attended by 200 participants, including politicians, government officials, representatives from organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), and journalists. Huawei keen to develop DSE as a smart stock market Member of Parliament Md. Abul Kalam Azad was present as a chief guest at the event. Special Guests included K.M. Abdus Salam, Senior Secretary of the Bangladesh Parliament; Md. Shamsul Arefin, Secretary of the ICT Division; Md. Mokammel Hossain, Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism; and Amrita Rejina Rozario, Country Director of Sightsavers. The event was chaired by Mollah Mizanur Rahman, Joint Project Director at a2i (Joint Secretary). The agenda included discussions on the challenges and achievements related to disability innovation and the prospects of making SMART Bangladesh inclusive. Ms. Amrita Rejina Rozario, country director, Sightsavers Bangladesh, emphasised the necessity of revitalising and empowering this caucus to achieve the ambitious goals of a SMART Bangladesh. “To achieve the ambitious goals of a SMART Bangladesh, we must revitalise and empower this caucus. A rejuvenated parliamentarians’ caucus on disability can drive significant progress, addressing existing challenges and anticipating future needs in the disability sector.” Huawei ICT Competition: Bangladesh team sets out for global round Md. Shamsul Arefin, Secretary of the ICT Division, highlighted the government’s commitment, saying, “Integrating disability inclusion into our national agenda is not just a necessity but a moral obligation. We are dedicated to ensuring that SMART Bangladesh is accessible to all.” Reiterating the government’s vision, MP Abul Kalam Azad, said “By 2041, we envision a Bangladesh where every citizen, regardless of their abilities, can contribute to and benefit from the nation’s progress.” “Today’s dialogue is a significant step towards realizing that goal,” he commented. Harpic partners with SAJIDA Foundation to improve health hygiene for sanitation workers

Members of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) detained two Chinese nationals with 46 gold bars from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport  (HSIA) in Dhaka on Thursday. The weight of the seized gold bars is around 5.25 kg, with an estimated market value of around Tk five crore. The arrestees are Liu Zhenjilang and Chenzheng, both are Chinese citizens. According to the CIID headquarters, being tipped off, customs officials took a precautionary position at Hazrat Shahjalal Airport early Thursday. When a flight of Dubai Airlines landed at the airport at around 6:45 am, the officials challenged gold smugglers Liu Zhenjilang and Chenzheng. Later, they searched them and found three charger lights from their shoulder bags, followed by the recoveries of 46 gold bars kept hidden inside the batteries of the charger lights. Sabrina Amin, assistant director of the CIID (Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Circle), said a case has been filed with Airport Police under the Gold Smuggling Act against the arrested Chinese nationals. The seized gold bars are kept in customs warehouses, she added.

A court here on Thursday issued arrest warrants against five officials of Haque Food Industries Limited including its Managing Director Adam Tamizi Haque in a cheque dishonour case. The others accused are Deputy Managing Director of Haque Food Industries Limited Nusrat Akhtar Haque, wife of Tamizi Haque, Liza Akhter Haque, director of the company and another wife of Tamizi, GM (Finance & Accounts) Md Rezaul Karim and Senior GM (BD & Logistics) Mushfakur Rahman. Tangail Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate and Tangail Sadar Thana Cognisance Court Judge Md Mahmudul Mohsin passed the order this noon. Advocate MA Malek Adnan, the plaintiff's lawyer, said that Haque Food Industries Ltd. had business with KBC Agro Products (Pvt.) Ltd., a sister concern of Dhaka's Mahbub Group of Industries. During business, Haque Food took more than Tk 19 lakh to KBC Agro Products (Pvt.) Ltd. Later, the accused gave two checks to the KBC Company, which were bounced. Imran Hossain (Manager Recovery), filed a case in Senior Judicial Magistrate Tangail Sadar Thana Cognisance Court on December 7, 2023, accusing five people. The judge took cognizance of the case and ordered them to appear before the court on Thursday (May 23). “As the accused did not appear in the court, the judge ordered the issuance of an arrest warrant against them and fixed the next date of the case on August 21,” Advocate MA Malek said.

Telenor, Grameenphone, and Plan International have joined forces in empowering more than 2.35 million marginalised women and youth through "Digital Inclusion: Safe Digital Space for Girls and Youth Project". The initiative aims to enhance digital literacy, skills, resilience and create a safe online environment for the women and youth who often face socio-economic challenges, said a media statement on Thursday. As a part of this project, a team from Telenor, Grameenphone, and Plan International made a three-day visit to Savar, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, and Sunamganj on May 19, 20, and 21, respectively, reads the release. During their visit to Savar, Moulvibazar, and Sunamganj, the representatives engaged directly with project participants, gaining valuable insights into how access to digital tools and resources is positively impacting their lives. 80% of inland waterway workers suffer from skin and intestinal diseases: SCRF Moreover, under this project a dedicated effort has been made to bring positive change in the lives of eight marginalized populations: ethnic and religious minorities, people with disabilities, tea garden workers, transgender, people, people affected by climate change (Haor and Chor), female-headed household, street children and others as identified by the National Social Security Strategy; by equipping them with digital and online safety skills. The interventions include training on digital skills and online safety through in-person training, and awareness for local leaders and youth-led campaigns in the communities, radio programmes. Yasir Azman, chief executive officer (CEO) of Grameenphone, said, “I am happy to be part of this program dedicated to bridging the digital divide and ensuring that no one is left behind in Bangladesh's journey towards a digitally inclusive society. Our initiative will equip marginalized women and youth with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in today's digital landscape, empowering them to seize opportunities and contribute meaningfully to their communities and beyond. Kabita Bose, country director of Plan International Bangladesh, said, “As a children and girls rights organization, it is our pleasure to partner with Grameenphone and Telenor in introducing a program which addresses a rising issue of online safety and digital inclusion.” Trip to Bali: A Comprehensive Travel Guide Plan International Bangladesh along with its partners aims to work towards equity and equality for all children and youth in all their diversities and this initiative is a milestone for achieving that target, she added. Manisha Dogra, head of external relations at Telenor Asia, said “In today's world where the majority of the population relies on mobile phones for internet access, digital literacy is a critical skill. It's not just about knowing how to use a computer or smartphone; but being able to navigate the online world effectively and safely to access essential services, educational resources, and employment opportunities. By acquiring digital skills, the program participants can have a significant impact on Bangladesh's growing digital economy. These skills empower marginalized communities to actively participate in the socio-economic development of the country”. Alexander Letelier, Advisor-YEE and Digital, Plan International Norway, said “Under the project, till the date, 772,347 people have received training or education on digital skills like mobile operations, online safety, e-commerce, and navigating government services. Moreover, the outreach through community radio has extended to 520,000 people, broadening our impact to even the most remote areas.”

The plot to kill Jhenaidah-4 MP Anwarul Azim Anar was hatched two to three months ago, said Chief of the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Mohammad Harun-Or-Rashid. “It was planned in Dhaka but due to the strong surveillance of police in Bangladesh, the criminals planned to kill him in Kolkata. The murder plan was made at the two residences—Gulshan and Bashundhara-- of the mastermind Akhtaruzzaman,” he said while speaking at a press briefing held at DB office. “After killing the MP the criminals dismembered the body and then mixed turmeric powder after separating flesh from bone. Later, they put these into a bag and brought those out of the Kolkata flat, ” he said. However, it is not clear  where the body parts were dumped, he added. As part of their plan, the killers rented a flat in Kolkata on April 25 and the mastermind and two others went there on April 30, he said. They remained watchful for two months when Anar would come to Kolkata and on May 12, Anar went to his friend Gopal’s house there, said the DB chief. The mastermind hired two more persons—Jihad or Zahid and Siam and hired a vehicle to implement the plan. MP Anar  went to Kolkata on May 11 for medical treatment and he remained untraced since May 14. On Wednesday, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said Anwarul Azim was brutally killed at a flat in New Town, near Kolkata.

Bangladesh Auto-Rickshaw Light Vehicle Transport Workers Federation (BALTWF) has demanded the implementation of law to issue formal appointment letters by the transport owners to drivers and other workers of the auto-rickshaws and light vehicles. Addressing  a discussion meeting at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), on  Thursday on the problems in transport sector and their solutions, the leaders of the transport workers federation said that unless and until the formal appointment letters are provided to the drivers and other workers in the sector, it will not be possible to ensure disciplines in the entire sector. Minister for Labour and Employment Nazrul Islam Chowdhury also addressed the event as the chief guest, organised by the BALTWF to commemorate the Historic May Day.The state minister said that recommendations of the BALTWF in regard to the solutions to the problems of the auto-rickshaw drivers and light vehicle transport workers will be conveyed to the government’s concerned authorities so that necessary actions could be taken to address the issue. With BALTWF president Abul Hossain in the chair, the event was also addressed by Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) Executive Director Syed Sultan Ahmed, BALTWF advisor Mostafa Alamgir Ratan, and general secretary Golam Faruk. The meeting was moderated by the central senior vice-president of the BALTWF Azizul Haque Salim. Golam Faruk presented a keynote paper where he focused on 10-point demands of the BALTWF. The 10-point demands include amendment to Section 21 of Road Transport Act 2018, implementation of the government decision to build separate lanes and dividers for light vehicles on highways to prevent road accidents, and eradicating all kinds of corruption, harassment and irregularities at BRTA regarding issuing licenses to drivers. Ensuring parking facilities for auto-rickshaws and light vehicles at important places in the city and elsewhere for the convenience of drivers and passengers, taking action against illegal toll collection by police and other agencies, introduction of rationing system for drivers and transport workers to provide essential commodities at low cost, ensuring membership to the Board of Trustees and Road Safety Council and allocating 5000 auto-rickshaws in Dhaka city and 4000 in Chittagong city to drivers are also among the demands.

Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) President Major General (Retd) ANM Muniruzzaman on Thursday said the nations of the global South are now asserting themselves in the world stage, reshaping international relations, and challenging the existing structure. "Historically, the group of nations that are marginalized are often overlooked," he said while speaking at a roundtable on “Rise of the Global South: Implications for the Global Order” organized by the BIPSS in Dhaka. Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Distinguished Fellow, BIPSS and former Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Group Captain (retd) Dr Mohammad Zahidul Islam Khan, Academic Visitor, University of Reading, United Kingdom & Registrar, American International University, Bangladesh and Dr Niloy Ranjan Biswas, Professor, Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka were the speakers who shared their knowledge regarding the discussion topic. Muniruzzaman said in the intricate tapestry of global geopolitics and geoeconomics, the emergence of global South represents a significant paradigm shift. He also mentioned the fact that the term ‘global South’ is not very new and even it did not exist before; but now the term is bringing many countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Caribbean region under one umbrella. The analyst said that an important aspect of this is the rise of China and India as both the countries are emerging economies and they now claim to represent the global South. “Both China and India have indicated that they would like to take the leadership of the global South”, Muniruzzaman added. He also said that the focus of the countries of the global south should be on the issues for which they need to collectively fight. “The Willy Brandt Commission of 1980 first laid the notion of north and south”, he further added. He also thinks that instead of north-south cooperation, we should look forward to south-south cooperation. Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury mainly highlighted the definition of the term global south, the relevancy of the theory of structural dependency to the term and the possibilities of the initiation of conflict between the north and south. He mentioned that the term ‘global south’ was first introduced during the new left movement of the 1960s. Dr Chowdhury said the dichotomy of ‘rich north’ and ‘poor south’ was first presented by an American capitalist. He added that the countries belonging to the south had put efforts to create a “New International Economic Order” which received very moderate success. “Global South is a value-free concept”, he said. He again illustrated that global south countries are seeking to create a level-playing field in terms of economic relations and developed countries have acquired much in expense of the underdeveloped countries. Group Captain Dr Mohammad Zahidul Islam Khan shared that at present the term ‘global south’ is being increasingly used because of the assumption that it will have impact on the global order, especially on the economic and security structure. “The discourse of global south has moved from development and cultural issues to geopolitical domain”, he said. He also raised questions such as what does the idea of global south stand for and is there any solidarity to transform the ideas into effective actions. Amidst many theoretical frameworks, Dr Zahidul focused on Immanuel Wallerstein’s World System Theory as the system of dividing the countries of the world under the titles core, periphery and semi-periphery has contributed to the idea of global south. According to him, the assessment of the growth of knowledge production around this idea would be possible by looking at the publications and blooming academic scholarships on it. Dr Niloy Ranjan Biswas stated that principally the term global south is conceptualized based on the structural theories of political economy and the idea is also often linked to Marxist understanding which ultimately leads to the conceptualization of global south mostly based on economic aspects. “We need to understand whether the construction of global south is an opposing binary of global north and whether the effort of creating global south is a deconstructing approach of opposing the good or bad of the global north”, he said. He particularly mentioned some core International Relations based concepts such as the Brundtland Commission Report which he found problematic as it took a very idealistic approach without a proper understanding of the concept. Dr Niloy also talked about the prospects for south-north-south triangular cooperation and mentioned that dangers can be posed by the rising trend of creating minilateral collaboration by two or three countries. During the interactive session, issues like future of the Rohingya people, Western influence over the scholarly works on global south, the prospects of merging both north and south together, heterogenous character of both global north and south, the possible solutions to stabilize the global order etc. were raised and discussed.

Thirty-one more people were hospitalised with dengue in 24 hours till Thursday morning. Of the new patients, 5 were admitted to hospitals in Dhaka city and the rest outside it, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Currently, 131 dengue patients are receiving treatment at several hospitals across the country. So far, 2,714 dengue cases have been reported since January 1, 2024, said DGHS. Last year, a total of 1,705 people lost their lives due to dengue, making it the deadliest year on record. The DGHS recorded 321,179 dengue cases and 3, 18,749 recoveries last year, according to DGHS data.

More than 25 percent area of DSCC will be brought under afforestation, said Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said on Thursday. “And Dhaka South City Corporation will stand first to achieve the target of 25 percent afforestation announced by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” he said. He said these at the opening ceremony of the 'Tree Plantation and Sapling Distribution Programme' organised by Dhaka Metropolitan South Chhatra League on Nagar Bhaban premises Thursday morning. Taposh said, "Our afforestation was below 10 percent. It has now reached 17 percent through implementation of  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's announcement,. But to combat the effects of climate change, she directed us to increase our afforestation from 17 to 25pc.” At that time, he expressed his optimism to achieve the target through their ongoing projects and activities and with the united efforts of Dhaka Metropolitan South Chhatra League. He also urged the leaders of Mahanagar South Chhatra League to plant trees in Osmani Udyan and Panthkunj Udyan and on both sides of Adi Buriganga Channel, Shyampur, Jirani, Manda and Khalunagar Canal. He distributed saplings among the student affairs secretary of Metropolitan South Chhatra League and Khilgaon Model College Chhatra League unit. Later, he planted a sapling of Krishna on the premises of Nagar Bhaban. At that time, Metropolitan South Chhatra League announced that they would plant 2 lakh trees in the Dhaka South City Corporation area.

Dr Fahmida Khatun, executive director of Center for Policy Dialogue, a private think tank, on Thursday said that financial sector in Bangladesh suffers from lack of good governance and accountability. The central bank has closed its doors for journalists to facilitate the financial oligarchy, she said while speaking on a keynote at a dialogue on ‘What Lies Ahead for the Banking Sector in Bangladesh?’ “The country's financial sector depends on banks. The role of this sector is the most important in the development of the country. But fragility has appeared in that banking sector. There has been a loss of good governance and accountability,” she pointed out. Tk 22,776: CPD recommends min wage for tannery workers amid rising costs Dr Fahmida said loan approval, rescheduling, write-off, and foreclosure are all being done in the banks whimsically. The central bank is not acting independently under external pressure not on their will. This situation should be changed. She said that when wrong information is published, the policy measures will be wrong depending on it. Real-time information has to be provided on the websites of the central banks for the development of the financial sector. Instead, the central bank has decided to restrict media’s access to it making information and data gathering difficult for journalists, she said. Dr Fahmida said it is difficult to restore the good governance of the banking sector when the regulatory body (BB) itself can’t work independently. “They (central bank) themselves are being subordinated to a department of the Ministry of Finance, and they are not independent. In this situation, there is no alternative to form an independent banking commission to restore the health of the banking sector,” she suggested. 34% of Bangladesh's revenue spent on debt repayment: CPD “The commission should have the power to work independently and highlight the overall health of the banks,” she said. In a paper presented at the dialogue, CPD illustrated that the total volume of non-performing loans (NPL) in the country has more than tripled in the last ten years, from Tk 42,725 crore in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011-12 to Tk 1,45,633 crore in Q2 of FY24. Both public and private banks are in the same position. However, foreign sector banks are performing well in regard to bank management. The liquidity crisis is gradually emerging in Islami Bank. Liquidity in Sharia sector banks was 39 percent from January 2011 to December 2016. However, from March 2017 to February 2024, the bank's liquidity fell to 25 percent after changing the operational leadership in January 2017. Professor Mostafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow of CPD said, that if the banking sector has to be pulled out of this situation, political decisions must be taken from the highest level, and transparency and accountability must be ensured. CPD wants adjustment in capacity charges instead of raising power tariff to reduce subsidy Because, “We have seen in the past that the privatization of profits and the nationalization of losses of the banking sector,” he pointed out. MA Mannan, former minister of planning, Barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud, deputy leader of opposition in the parliament, Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, former governor of Bangladesh Bank, Dr Ahsan H. Mansur, executive director of PRI, Mohammad Nurul Amin, former chairman, Association of Bankers, Bangladesh, among others, spoke at the event.