United News of Bangladesh

Teachers and students of different departments of Dhaka University will hold a rally and form a human chain on Thursday protesting police attack on students and teachers.  "We, the teachers and staff of Economics Department of Dhaka University, will hold a rally on August 1 at 11am at the base of Oporajeyo Bangla on DU campus to protest the harassment and violence against students and teachers," said Professor Salim Raihan from Department of Economics. ‘Remembering Our Heroes’: Nationwide campaign announced for tomorrow He also urged teachers and staff of all other departments to join them. Additionally, the teachers and students of the Public Administration Department will form a human chain on the same issue at the same place at 12pm. Shehreen Amin Bhuiyan and Prof Dr. Nusrat Zahan Choudhury, faculty members of the department of Public Administration, suffered injuries while trying to save one of their students near the Supreme Court premises. The incident took place around 12:30pm on Wednesday while policemen tried to take one of the protesting students into custody.  Quota movement deaths: JU teachers, students hold silent march with mouths, eyes covered with red cloth Earlier, a number of teachers of Dhaka University came out on the road to join the 'March For Justice' led by students expressing their solidarity with the ongoing movement led by students of the country.

Dhaka dwellers remained stuck up for hours in severe traffic congestion on Thursday. Heavy traffic gridlock was seen in the capital's Uttara-Mohakhali, Uttara -Dhanmondi, Mohakhali-Tejgaon routes and some other roads in the afternoon. Wishing anonymity, a senior traffic officer of the Traffic Department, said there was an extra pressure on the roads as employees and staff of different government and private offices joined their work according to their normal schedule from Wednesday following the government’s decision. Besides, the disruption of metro rail service and elevated expressway due to vandalism there during quota movement added additional pressure on the roads, the official said. However, some alleged that the terrible congestion was created due to VVIP movement. Omar Sharif,  a private company officer, said it took almost 4 hours for him to go to Mouchak from Uttara . "Normally, I reach my office within one and half hours but today it was really terrible," he added. Businessman Ishtiaq Nasir said he needed over one hour to travel from Mohakhali to Tibbot due to traffic gridlock. He also added that he did not see this type of traffic jam in the last few months. Jahangir Alam, another private company employee, said a huge traffic jam killed his two hours to travel from Bijoynagar to Farmgate.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Wednesday filed a case against former managing director of Eastern Refinery Ltd Mohammad Rezaul Alam for amassing illegal assets and allegation of concealing the information. Assistant director of ACC Dhaka Sumitra Sen filed the case with Integrated District Office-1 under sections 26(2) and 27(1) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004. According to the case statement, Rezaul Alam concealed information regarding assets worth Tk 967,591 while he showed 2.52 crore in his asset statement submitted to the ACC on March 31, 2022. Additionally, the ACC’s investigation revealed evidence of assets worth Tk 14,299,050 that are inconsistent with his known sources of income. According to the ACC, an investigation into Rezaul Alam’s activities began in 2022. The commission uncovered allegations of embezzling Tk 40 crore through abuse of power from various institutions, which was used to acquire a luxurious three-story house in Dhaka and land in Chattogram, among other assets. The ACC’s then-Assistant Director Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman issued a notice regarding the asset statement following the discovery of these illegal assets on February 3, 2022.

The Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement has announced a nationwide campaign titled "Remembering Our Heroes," scheduled for Thursday. This information was disclosed in a press release sent by Rifat Rashid, co-coordinator of the movement. Hearing on writ petition seeking quota coordinators release not held The campaign is being organized in response to the mass killings, widespread arrests, attacks, cases of enforced disappearances, and the assaults on teachers that occurred in connection with the quota reform movement across the country, according to the press release. It also demands an investigation by the United Nations and fulfilling the nine-point demands of the students. Narsingdi farmer injured during quota protests dies at DMCH The press release outlines several activities for the campaign including recollections of the days and nights of repression, tributes from families and peers for the martyrs and the injured, art and graffiti depicting incidents of torture faced by the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement and creation of banners, posters, and digital portraits. From Riya Gope to PBI inspector, 17 killed in N'ganj during quota protests The Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement also called on students, teachers, guardians, intellectuals, professionals from all walks of life to take part in the campaign.

The process to ban Jamaat-Shibir is underway and notification can be issued anytime in this regard, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Wednesday. The minister came up with the remark while talking to reporters in his Secretariat office on Wednesday evening. Asked whether there will be new unrest in the country due to the banning of Jamaat-Shibir, the home minister said that Jamaat-Shibir has created this situation.  "We have come to know that Jamaat, BNP and other militant organizations were involved in the violence centering the student movement," said the minister. Questioned whether Jamaat-Shibir will be banned by tonight, the minister said, “A lot of things can happen, but still I would say it is in process. You will be notified when it happens.” Earlier on Monday, the Awami League-led 14-party alliance unanimously recommended banning Jamaat-Shibir after a meeting at the Gonobhaban.

August, the month when Bangladesh lost its founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, will begin on Thursday. A group of disgruntled army officers killed Father of the Nation along with most of his family members on August 15, 1975. The 15 August carnage is the ugliest chapter of the nation’s history as the self-confessed killers not only assassinated the nation’s founding father alone but also many others. The 15 August carnage martyrs included Bangabandhu’s wife Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib, sons Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal and Sheikh Russell, daughters-in-law Sultana Kamal and Rosy Jamal, Bangabandhu’s brother Sheikh Naser, brother-in-law Abdur Rab Serniabad, nephew and eminent journalist Sheikh Fazlul Huq Moni, his pregnant wife Arzoo Moni and military secretary Colonel Jamil were killed on the fateful night of August 15, 1975. Bangabandhu’s two daughters incumbent prime minister Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana escaped the assassination as they were in Germany. The month of August is also blackmarked with another conspiracy of assassination. The vested quarter, who assassinated Bangabandhu in 1975, also tried to kill Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina with grenades at an anti-terrorism rally at Bangabandhu Avenue on 21 August 2004. However, Sheikh Hasina narrowly escaped the attack suffering splinter injuries when 24 of her party men, including Awami League’s women affairs secretary Ivy Rahman, were killed and 500 others injured. The nation cannot ever forget this heinous attack. Every year, the ruling Awami League and its associate bodies chalk out month-long programmes on the occasion. This year there will be no different. Like in the previous years, different political and socio-cultural organisations, including the ruling Awami League (AL) and its associate bodies have chalked out month-long programmes to observe the month of mourning.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has directed banks to enter data on the issuance of import LCs and export LCs to the Foreign Exchange Dashboard of the central bank within eight hours of receiving the letter of credit (LC). The central bank asked banks to enter data on receiving any foreign currency payment for import or proceeds of export products on the dashboard within eight hours, according to a circular issued on Wednesday. The central bank in the circular said wrong information and delayed reporting on the central bank dashboard of foreign exchange create various problems in maintaining the balance of payment. The central bank has given this directive to get accurate export and import data information within a short time, it said.

Matiur Rahman, former member of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and much-talked- about in the recent goat incident, has gone on ‘early retirement’. The government has sent him on retirement after he applied for voluntary retirement. The Internal Resources Division (IRD) issued a notification in this regard on Wednesday. The development came when Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is investigating about sources of his huge amount of wealth. He remained absconding since the allegations of acquisition of illegal wealth surfaced in June. According to the order signed by IRD Deputy Secretary Makima Begum, due to the completion of 25 years of service, in view of his application, according to Section 33 (1) and Section 51 of the Public Service Act, 2018, retirement from government service has been granted from August 29. However, the retiree will not get financial benefits related to retirement (retirement leave, lamp grant, pension). Allegations of amassing illegal wealth surfaced after a video went viral showing Matiur’s son, Mushfiqur Rahman Ifat, buying a goat for Tk 15 lakh. Matiur has since faced severe criticism over claims of acquiring illegal wealth amounting to thousands of crores in Bangladesh, with alleged investments in Singapore, the United States, Canada, and the UAE. Amid widespread criticism and social media uproar over, Matiur Rahman, former president of the National Board of Revenue’s (NBR) Customs, Excise, and VAT Appellate Tribunal, was removed from his post and shifted to the Internal Resources Division of the Ministry of Finance.

German company ib vogt has signed a contract with state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) to set up a 50 MW solar PV power plant at Mirsarai Upazila in Chattagram. As per the contract, the German company will implement the project on 160 acres of land within 15 months and BPDB will purchase electricity from the plant over a period of 20 years at a rate of $10.94 per kilowatt hour (each unit). The tariff was announced as equivalent to Tk 8.75 per unit as per calculation of the exchange rate at Tk 80 per US dollar, although the current US dollar rate went to Tk 124 in the open market. This has been a solicited project which was won by the German company through a bidding process in 2019. But it took about 5 years for the sponsor to get land by purchase from the local owners. Currently, the plant will be set up at hilly area in Mirsarai upazila by the Sonagazi Solar Power Company, a subsidiary of the iv vogt. Initially Sonagazi was supposed to be the site for the project. But later it was changed by the sponsor company. Addressing the signing ceremony at Bidyut Bhaban, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid urged the German company to protect the hills while developing the project. “You must protect the hills although you are setting up an environment friendly project”, he told the function. Nasrul Hamid has also said that the government has set a goal to achieve “zero carbon” in the energy sector by 2050 under which 40 percent electricity will be generated from clean energy sources by 2041. Some 10,000 MW of solar power will be generated from solar power by 2030 which is now 600 MW, he added. The function was also addressed by Power Secretary Habibur Rahman and BPDB chairman Mahbubur Rahman.

Summit Group’s LNG terminal needs 10 more days to resume operation to supply imported LNG to the national gas grid. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said this at the side-lines of a contract signing ceremony at Biduyt Bhaban in the city on Wednesday. “Summit’s FSRU may take 10 more days to resume gas supply,” he said. The state minister’s remarks came against the backdrop of Summit Group’s floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), known as LNG terminal, failing to resume operation as per schedule on Tuesday. Officials said the LNG terminal, having 500 MMCFD gas supply capacity, remained out of operation since May 27 after it was damaged by Cyclone Remal. Following the damage, it was sent to Singapore and brought back to its operation site area in Maheshkhali after completion of the repair works. But again, it suffered a technical glitch just before resuming operation. Since then, over two months, it made several attempts to resume the gas supply, but failed. Due to the shutdown of Summit’s LNG terminal operation, the overall gas supply has declined by 500 MMCFD leading to a major impact on gas supply to power and industrial sectors. There are two LNG terminals across the country—one with 600 MMCFD capacity, owned by Excelerate Energy and another 500 MMCFD capacity, owned by Summit Group. The country’s ongoing gas crisis further intensified by the halt of Summit LNG terminal’s operation, said the officials. The country supplied 2637 MMCFD gas against a demand for about 4000 MMCFD on Wednesday.