United News of Bangladesh

Schools, colleges, madrasas and technical educational institutions under the Education Ministry are likely to remain closed on Saturdays after Eid-ul-Azha, said Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury on Sunday. “As per the decision of the Ministry, classes at schools, colleges, madrashas and technical educational institutions are going on Saturdays from May 4 to recoup the losses caused by the heat wave-related closure,” he said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat. SSC, equivalent exams 2024: Significant gains for Madrasa Education Board Replying to a question over any decision to keep the educational institutions open on Saturdays, the minister said “Decision will be taken in phases regularly. The government decided to keep classes shut on Saturdays considering that the students will get time to complete their homework. Other reasons were also behind it. Since lost nine working days after the reopening of the educational institutions after the Eid holidays, that’s why arrangements were made after keeping the educational institutions open on Saturdays.” Though it is not the permanent decision of the ministry, discussions are going on with National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) and directorate offices in this regard as both teachers and students need rest. Referring to raising age limit for government jobs, Mohibul said after the Public Administration Minister's statement in Parliament, the letter recommending increasing the age limit for entry into the government job is no longer relavent. President urges enhanced supervision to improve university education quality “A vested quarter is involved in creating confusion over the issue. The job seekers are on a movement and they also blocked Shahbagh area to realize their demand on Saturday,” he said. Already the Public Administration Ministry clarified the decision of the state in principle at parliament but some still involved in destabilizing the country capitalizing the recommendation of the ministry, he added. “After discussion I came to know that only one percent of the job seekers are over 30 years old. It is clear how much it will increase if the age limit is fixed 35. I don't think we should make any more fuss about it,” said the education minister.    

  The Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) on Saturday launched its 7th Point of presence of National Internet Exchange (NIX) service for Mymensingh division in a bid to keep data within the country. Inspector General of the Directorate of Inspection of Factories and Establishments under the Ministry of Labor and Employment Md. Abdur Rahim Khan inaugurated the Smart Telecom service at Golden Tulip-The Landmark Hotel, Banani, Dhaka. The event was organized by Bangladesh Internet Service Providers Internet Exchange Trust. In his speech, Abdur Rahim Khan said that Prime Minister announced Digital Bangladesh now we are moving towards Smart Bangladesh. He said ISPAB's NIX across the country will protect us from the dangers of the Internet. This network will play an important role in establishing Smart Bangladesh protecting us from natural and man-made disasters, he stated. The NIX is the exchange point for passing internet traffic within the country. The service facilitates local content development, encourages local web hosting and reduces latency in domestic traffic, thereby saving international bandwidth and foreign currencies. The ISPAB has plans to set up points of presence (POPs) of service in all major cities by this year, according to ISPAB President Md Emdadul Hoque. “With this POP, our NIX service will be able to reduce international internet bandwidth purchase by 100GBPS in total, saving hundreds of crore of taka in the long run,” Bangladesh Internet Service Providers Internet Exchange Trust, owned by the association, will run the ISPAB’s NIX service. The international bandwidth consumption in Bangladesh now stood at 5,200Gbps, according to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.

State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Md Mohibbur Rahman has said that the recent heatwaves have been considered a disaster. He said that providing financial support of Tk 10,000 to 25,000 is not enough for casualties in any disaster. The government has plans to increase the amount of financial support, he said. He made the remarks while addressing a debate competition at the FDC Auditorium in the city on Saturday. Debate for Democracy organised the event, with its chairman Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiran in the chair. The state minister said that a list of people who died of heatstroke is being prepared. Those who have become unemployed due to extreme heat are being brought under the social safety net. Heatwave being considered a ‘disaster’: State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief He also noted that there is no plan to appoint any heat officer by the minister. “It is not enough to spray water through water cannons, rather, it has to be done in a more scientific way”, he said. He observed that the unnecessary use of glass without complying with building codes is one of the causes of overheating in buildings. Many educated people are also making such houses without complying with the existing law and turning their own houses into death traps, he noted. Chairman of Debate for Democracy Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiran said that the government does not have any accurate data of the people who died of heatstroke this year. He said there is also no information about their financial support. In the current reality, at least Tk 3 lakh should be paid to the families of those who die due to disaster. 66.9% of women don’t feel safe going to the shelter during a natural disaster: Report He noted that every year, extreme temperatures cost $2.7 billion in lost productivity. By 2030, it is estimated that the clothing industry alone will lose $6 billion due to extreme heat.  In this case, the workers of various industries including the garment sector are at risk of losing their jobs. Debaters from Dhaka College defeated debaters from Government Titumir College in the Shadow Parliament on “Unplanned Urbanisation is responsible for Unbearable Temperature Rise”. Judges in the competition were Professor Abu Muhammad Raees, Journalists Iftekhar Mahmud, Falguni Rashid, Deepak Kumar Acharya, Atiqur Rahman.

Editor of United News of Bangladesh Farid Hossain and journalist Angur Nahar Monty have been elected president and general secretary respectively of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) Alumni Association, Bangladesh for the period 2024-26. The new committee of the association was formed at its biennial conference known as Connections at Sinha Lounge of Dhaka Club in the capital on Saturday. Mithu, Julhas elected OCAB president, general secretary Muhammad Rahmat Ali was elected as Senior Vice President while Zahid Newaz Khan as Vice President and Goni Adam, Nazneen Akhtar and Ranjan Sen were elected as Joint Secretary, Treasurer and International Affairs Secretary, respectively of the association. Besides, Azizul Islam Bhuiyan, Nazrul Islam, Dipankar Bar, Maruf Newaz, Mehedi Momen and Wares Hossain were elected executive members of the new committee. State Minister for Disaster Management discusses heatwave response and financial support The association also handed over ‘Ihsanul Karim Award’ for Media Excellence to eminent journalist Afsan Chowdhury for his valuable contributions. Forests, Environment and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury was present as the chief guest, while President of the Jatiya Press Club Farida Yasmin MP spoke as a special guest.   

Detective Branch (DB)of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) will take steps to cancel the fake certificates and mark sheets of the Technical Education Board. Harun-or-Rashid, Additional Commissioner and Chief of Detective Branch said this while talking to reporters at the DB office in the city on Saturday afternoon.  He said senior system analyst of the Technical Education Board AKM Shamsuzzaman and a few other officials sold certificates and mark sheets in exchange for money over the years. During the interrogation, Shamsuzzaman gave the information on how to identify those sold fake certificates. Now, we will give that information to the technical education board to take action for cancellation of those certificates, he added. The DB chief said that the technical education board's senior system analyst AKM Shamsuzzaman confessed that he sold fake certificates to around 5,000 people. Earlier on April 1, DB police arrested System analyst AKM Shamsuzzaman from the city's Kafrul area. Later, Sehela Parveen, wife of Ali Akbar Khan, chairman of Technical Education Board, was arrested on April 21 for her alleged involvement with the fake certificate-making syndicate. After the issue of his wife's involvement came to the fore, the Education Ministry made Ali Akbar OSD (Officer on Special Duty) remove his post of chairman of the technical education board.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of Haider Akbar Khan Rono, the advisor of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and one of the organisers of the great liberation war. In a condolence message, she prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family. Khan breathed his last in the small hours on Saturday at a Dhaka hospital.

Bangladesh Sangbadpatra Shilpa Parishad placed a 14-point demand including the payment of all outstanding advertisement bills owed by newspapers to government agencies, including the DFP, by next June. If not, the leaders of this organisation of editors and publishers warned of waging a systematic movement to realise their demands from next July. The demands were articulated during an emergency meeting addressing the ongoing problems of the newspaper industry and its solutions at the Daily Industry newspaper office in Dhaka on Saturday with the organization’s president Dr. Enayet Karim in the chair. The General Secretary of the Bangladesh Sangbadpatra Shilpa Parishad, Yunus Sohag, put forward the demands during the meeting. Other demands included the formulation of policies for the equitable distribution of government advertisements, abolition of advance income tax and service charge on advertisement bills, ending price discrimination of government advertisements in English and Bengali newspapers, introducing government advertisement prices on online portals of registered newspapers, and increasing the rate of government advertisements based on market inflation. The demands also included the provision of low-interest loans for the newspaper industry, accommodation for journalists-employees, a special allocation of Tk 5,000 crore, the introduction of a special pension scheme for journalists and media workers, repeal of all black laws including the Digital Security Act, and providing VIP status to all editors. The leaders expressed their concern, stating that without timely payment of outstanding advertising bills, it would be challenging to sustain publications and pay journalists' salaries. Editors and publishers sought government intervention and cooperation, particularly from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Information Minister, to sustain the newspaper industry. The meeting highlighted that more than 700 media-listed newspapers in the country owe approximately Tk 2500 crore for advertising bills from the government agencies. Therefore, Tk 5,000 crores are required to clear these outstanding bills and cover bills for the next financial year to sustain the newspaper industry. Dr. Enayet Karim, the president of the organization and the editor of the Daily Industry, informed the meeting that previously, newspaper advertisement bills were settled every three months. However, as this trend has ceased, the arrears have now reached Tk 2,500 crore. The meeting was attended by, among others, Md Faruk Alam Talukder, Chairman of Dainik Alor Jagat; Md Fojlur Rahman Zulfiker, Editor of Dainik Diner Alo; Md Abdul Awal, Editor and Publisher of Dainik Sangbad Protikkhon; Dr Khan Asaduzzaman, Editor and Publisher of Bangladesh Samachar; Ayon Ahmed, Editor of Protidiner Chitra; Md Habibur Rahman, Chief Editor of Dainik Bhorer Somoy; Asaduzzaman Swadin, Executive Editor of Dainik Alor Jagat; and Md Hafiz Ul Islam, Executive Editor of Dainik Shuvo Din.

Bangladesh-India relation should not depend on which party is in power in the country, it is a permanent bond based on mutual benefits, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury said on Saturday. The friendship between Bangladesh and India will last through constructive dialogue and cooperation to face mutual challenges and for regional development, he said. He was speaking at the biennial general meeting of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) Alumni Association, Bangladesh and Ihsanul Karim Award for Media Excellence held at the Dhaka Club on Saturday evening. Minister Saber Chowdhury said that development journalists play a leading role in addressing environmental challenges and the socio-economic progress of the country. He said that media workers play an important role in the practice of sustainable development and the formation of public opinion. He urged the media to report on the improvement of the country's environment. Chaired by former Managing Director of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha Azizul Islam Bhuiya, President of National Press Club Farida Yasmin, Editor of United News of Bangladesh Farid Hossain, General Secretary of the organization Zahid Newaz Khan and Central Committee Treasurer Animesh Biswas, among others, spoke on the occasion. Afsan Chowdhury, Bangladesh's prominent Liberation War researcher, columnist, Ekushey medalist veteran journalist, was awarded the Ihsanul Karim Award for Media Excellence this year. A cash prize of Tk1 lakh, crest and certificate were given as awards. Earlier, a 13 members new committee was formed for the period 2024-26 of IIMC Alumni Association, Bangladesh with Farid Hossain as its president and Angur Nahar Monty as general secretary in the biennial general meeting.

Zimbabwe national cricket team joined a celebration hosted by the International School Dhaka (ISD) in Dhaka on Saturday and engaged in a range of activities with students, parents and ISD staff. Celebrating the true sense of belonging within the school and the wider community, International School Dhaka came up with its colorful ISD Fair 2024. This fun-filled whole-day event was held at the school campus which was open to everyone to enjoy. It was an excellent opportunity to build long lasting connections within the immediate school community as well as the wider community, said the participants. The guests enjoyed the amazing lineup of stalls from delectable dishes to handmade crafts. To conclude the event on a high note, renowned musician Shawon Gaanwala and his team presented a captivating band performance, playing for the cheering crowd! Steve Calland-Scoble, Director, ISD said, “In our 25th anniversary year, it was a pleasure to see so many members of our community coming together to enjoy such a vibrant day outdoors. We organized this fair to bring people together and celebrate the bonds we share. We hope to be able to continue this for many years to come.”  

No fresh death due to dengue was reported in Bangladesh in the past 24 hours till Saturday morning, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). However, 17 patients were hospitalised with viral fever during this period, according to the DGHS. Of them, nine were admitted at the hospitals in Dhaka city, while the rest were outside the capital. Currently, a total of 127 patients are receiving treatment at hospitals across the country. So far, 2,414 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. Last year’s September was the deadliest month for the dengue outbreak, with 396 fatalities and 79,598 cases, according to DGHS data.