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Brace for more rains across Bangladesh
More rains are likely to lash Bangladesh in the next 24 hours, the weather department has predicted.
"Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at many places over Rajshahi, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions and at a few places over Dhaka, Khulna and Barishal divisions with moderately heavy to heavy falls at isolated places over the country," it said.
According to the weather bulletin from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, the maximum temperature on Thursday was recorded in Faridpur at 35.3 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature was 24.5 degrees in Nikli and Tetulia.
Read: Rain's coming, says weatherman
The day and night temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country, as per the weather bulletin
The axis of the monsoon trough runs through Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal to Assam across the central part of Bangladesh.
One of its associated troughs extends up to the Northwest Bay. Monsoon is less active over Bangladesh and weak elsewhere over the North Bay.
Police tow truck runs over Cambrian student in Gulistan
A 17-year-old student on a motorcycle was killed Thursday night after police said one of their tow trucks, also called wreckers, ran over him in the capital's Gulistan.
Tenth-grader Mahatab Ahmed Tahsin of Cambrian School and College's Keraniganj branch was from Lohajang, Munshiganj. He lived with his family in Dhaka's Wari.
The hit-and-run crash occured in front of the Paltan Maidan Outer Stadium at 9:30pm as a tow truck of police crushed Tahsin under its wheels, Bachchu Miah, in-charge of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) Police Outpost, said.
The critically injured Tahsin was rushed to DMCH where he was declared dead at 10pm. His sister Sabiha Jannat Arpa said: "I heard that a wrecker of the police ran over my brother in front of the stadium and sped away."
Tahsin's body was kept at the DMCH morgue for autopsy, Bachchu said.
Also read: CU student killed in Kolkata road accident
DNCC Mayor wants to get rid of electric rickshaws
Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Md Atiqul Islam on Thursday asked for the government's help to stop the use of electric rickshaws.
“Almost every locality in Dhaka city is filled with battery-run rickshaws nowadays. A battery-run rickshaw contains four batteries which keep charging throughout the night, consuming large amounts of electricity. The time has come to put an end to this practice,” Atiqul said.
Atiqul said this at DNCC’s budget meeting held at the Nagar Bhaban in Gulshan-2.
Replying to a question, Atiqul added that those who have electric rickshaws will revert to traditional rickshaws.
“Pedal-run rickshaws will remain available. So, there won’t be any problem for the rickshaw pullers,” Atiqul added.
DNCC’s Tk 5,048 crore budget for FY2022-23 has been approved at today’s meeting. Besides, the revised budget for FY2021-22 has also been approved at the meeting.
The meeting was presided over by DNCC Secretary Mohammed Masud Alam Siddique. DNCC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Md Selim Reza and Chief Health Officer (CHO) Brig Gen Md Zobaidur Rahman, among others, were present at the meeting.
Also read: Vehicles' movement in capital should be regulated based on number plates: Mayor Atiqul
FY23: Bangladesh Bank raises agro credit target to Tk30,911 crore
The Bangladesh Bank has announced a new agricultural credit policy with a target of disbursing a Tk30,911 crore loan in the fiscal year (FY) 2022-23.
The target is 8.88 percent higher than the previous year's Tk28,391 crore.
Considering increased demand, the central bank set a target of disbursing Tk11,758 crore in agricultural and rural loans by the state-owned commercial and specialised banks and Tk19,153 crore by the private and foreign commercial banks.
The Bangladesh Bank's Agricultural Credit Department Thursday announced the "Annual Agricultural and Rural Credit Policy and Programme" for FY23 with targeted credit disbursement.
According to the central bank's agricultural credit policy, agriculture has become more important amid the pandemic and the recent global situation. So, the Bangladesh Bank wants to support this sector through necessary financing.
The policy aims at increasing the flow of agricultural credit in rural areas for alleviating poverty, alleviating hunger and ensuring good health – the first three sustainable development goals (SDGs).
In FY22, all the scheduled commercial banks disbursed Tk28,834.21 crore in agricultural and rural loans against the target of Tk 28,391crore.
According to the central bank, 33.4 lakh people received agricultural and rural loans in the last fiscal year. Among them, 18 lakh were women who received Tk10,829.39 crore.
Also, around 25 lakh small and marginal farmers received around Tk20,182.30 crore loans from different banks.
Moreover, Tk19.59 crore was disbursed among 4,073 farmers in char, haor and less developed areas.
Also read: 91.46 pc agro credit disbursed till May: BB
United Hospital observes World Hepatitis Day
United Hospital Thursday observed World Hepatitis Day 2022.
With the theme "Hepatitis, Can't Wait," the day aimed to highlight the need to accelerate the fight against viral hepatitis and the importance of testing and treatment for the people who need it.
United Hospital conducted free health check-ups in a booth in the hospital lobby. More than 500 patients and their family members availed free check-ups throughout the day, according to a media statement.
Mahbub Uddin Ahmed, director of medical services of United Healthcare Services, inaugurated the booth.
Read: 5.5% people of the country carriers of Hepatitis B virus: speakers
Interventional gastroenterologist and hepatologist Dr AQM Mohsen, also director of United Gastroliver Centre, and Dr Mohammed Mahbub Alam, senior consultant at gastroenterology and hepatology department, were present.
Also, United Hospital is conducting a week-long social awareness programme on the occasion of World Hepatitis Day.
Gastroenterologists and hepatologists of the hospital will attend seminars, free health check-up camps, and hepatitis awareness activities at various clubs, and corporate houses.
Govt presents low population to show high per capita income: Fakhrul
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday alleged that the government has kept the population low in the country in the just-published '6th Population and Housing Census 2022' only to show high per capita income.
“The country’s population is presented lower (than the actual figure) to show high per capita income. We usually calculate 18 crore people in our country. But it’ll be helpful to show much more per capita income if the population is counted 16 crore,” he said.
The BNP Secretary General made the remarks at a press conference at the party chairperson's Gulshan office in Gulshan reacting to the preliminary results of the census.
He also said the planning minister himself admitted that the census calculation was not correct. “The data was not collected properly by going from house to house."
Earlier on Wednesday, the provisional data of the '6th census was revealed by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
According to the preliminary report of the population and household census, the county’s total population is 16,51,58,616, with a 1.22 per cent growth rate in place of the previous 1.37 per cent.
Fakhrul said a national population census should be conducted properly by collecting authentic information from every house.
“But the government is misleading and deceiving people with incorrect information. The entire government is based on deception. It is a totally fake government,” he observed.
Read: AL's ‘mega corruption’ led country to edge of disaster: Fakhrul
Replying to a question, the BNP leader said the country has long been facing a political crisis as the government has destroyed democracy and the electoral system. “An election is the main road or gateway to democracy. People of the whole country are now saying one thing loudly that there can be no fair election in this country if the Awami League government remains in power."
Even, Fakhrul said, the Election Commission is being forced to say that the election will not be acceptable without the participation of the major parties. “Under such a situation, the government has started taking a strategy to bypass people’s demand and divert the issue to a different direction.”
About Mohiuddin Rony’s recent movement against various irregularities in the Bangladesh Railway, he said it was a part of Awami League’s strategy to confuse people.
“When Rony started the agitation, I said it would be seen very soon that this’s Awami League's strategy and finally it proved true. After ending his agitation, Rony entered the Awami League office. This is their strategy of diversion.”
Petrobangla to get Tk 2000 crore from GDF to import LNG
The Finance Ministry has given its consent to provide Tk 2000 crore to the Petrobangla from Gas Development Fund (GDF) to import liquefied natural gas (LNG).
An official order, a copy of it obtained by UNB, reveals that as per proposal of the Energy Division, the Finance Ministry agreed to provide the fund as loan to the state-owned Petrobangla.
The approval from the Finance Ministry came against the backdrop of the severe fund crisis the Petrobangla has been facing following the excessive price hike of gas in the international market as a fall out of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The price of LNG has crossed US$39 per MMBtu from below US$10 after the Russia-Ukraine war began on 24 February 2022.
About the Finance Ministry’s approval, Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) CAB Vice President M Shamsul Alam said this is an indication that the government is in a serious crisis in dealing with the energy sector.
Recently the Energy Division announced its decision not to import any LNG from the international spot market because of the price hike.
As a result, it has to go for reducing power generation from gas-fired plants that forced the power entities to resort to planned load shedding.
Read: Petrobangla building fire extinguished
However, it continued importing LNG from Oman and Qatar under long term contracts where price is fixed, but varies to some extent on different conditions.
Now, it’s not clear whether Petrobangla will use the new fund to resume import of LNG from the spot market or utilise it to import gas from long-term suppliers.
The Gas Development Fund (GDF) was created by the order of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) a few years back to allow the Pertrobangla to receive additional money with gas bills from the consumers to use the fund for gas exploration in the country.
The BERC also created some other funds by the consumers’ additional money and the regulator is highly against the use of such funds for any other purpose than gas sector development.
But all operation of such funds was taken up by the Energy Division. But the Petrobangla used some of the funds for different other purposes while deposited to the government exchequer as per a Finance Ministry order.
As per the current arrangement, if the Energy Division or Petrobangla wants to use the fund for any purpose, it has to take permission from the Finance Division.
The BERC is against the operation and control of the Energy Division on such funds.
The BERC in June directed state-owned Petrobangla to return a total of Tk 12,227.44 crore to its two original funds—the energy security fund (ESF) and the Gas Development Fund (GDF).
The energy regulator’s latest directive which came as the BERC Order No-2022/7, in detail, was released on June 27 and uploaded on its website on the same day.
As per the BERC Verdict, the Petrobangla has to return Tk 9227.44 crore to ESF Fund and Tk 3000 crore with interest to the GDF fund which the organization had taken away and used for different purposes.
The verdict did not dictate a specific date for the Petrobangla as to when it has to return the funds.
The order came as a follow-up of the public hearing on gas prices held on March 21 in the city’s BIAM Auditorium where different consumer right groups, including Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) termed the ESF and GDF fund as consumers’ money which they paid in addition to their bills for gas field development and security purposes.
The CAB and other right groups pleaded with the BERC to return the amount to the original funds and ensure its use only for gas field development and the gas sector’s security purpose through a transparent way which will be monitored by consumers’ representatives.
BdREN to get low-cost bandwidth for digital education
The Ministry of Post and Telecommunication will provide internet bandwidth at a low cost to Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN,), an education network of the University Grants Commission (UGC), to provide easy internet facility to the students for digital education.
Post and Telecommunication Minister Mustafa Jabbar came up with the announcement at a virtual meeting with BdREN on Thursday.
While addressing the meeting as the chief guest, Mustafa Jabbar said there is no alternative to digital network expansion.
Also read: Freedom fighters to get smart ID cards, digital certificates
The Ministry of Post and Telecommunication has already introduced free high-speed wifi zones at 587 educational institutions across the country to provide internet facilities to the students.
The minister said the Department of Telecommunications is implementing a digital education system at 650 primary schools all over the country.
Also read: Banks must focus on digitalization, cyber security: BB Governor
Post and Telecommunication Secretary Md Khalilur Rahman presided over the meeting while UGC acting Chairman Dr Dil Afroza Begum, Post and Telecommunication Additional Secretary Md Mahbub-ul-Alam, BTCL Managing Director Rafiqul Matin, Submarine Cable Company Limited Managing Director AKM Habibur Rahman, BdREN Chief Executive Officer Mohammad Tawrit, among others, spoke.
BYLC Ventures hosts Cohort 5 selection bootcamp
BYLC Ventures organised a three-day selection bootcamp at its headquarters in Mohakhali from July 25 to 27.
Around 30 teams and 60 founders participated in the bootcamp.
Participants were selected from over 200 applications for Cohort 5 of BYLC Ventures' six-month accelerator programme.
From the 30 teams, an investment committee will select the top five, who will each receive Tk8 lakh seed funding and join the accelerator programme.
The bootcamp was inaugurated by Tahsinah Ahmed, executive director of BYLC, and included sessions featuring industry experts, including Shammi S Quddus, product manager at Google, Adnan Imtiaz Halim, CEO of Sheba Platform, and Nirjhor Rahman, CEO of Bangladesh Angels.
In the closing ceremony of the bootcamp, speakers encouraged the startup founders to develop business ideas that will contribute to social welfare and development.
Read: Tahsinah Ahmed made BYLC executive director
Dutch Ambassador to Bangladesh Anne van Leeuwen said: "I am hopeful that all of the startup founders present in this bootcamp will prove to be the parents of the inventions and provide solutions to the unique challenges Bangladesh is facing today."
Ejaj Ahmad, founder and president of BYLC, urged the startup founders to be persistent, patient and committed. "You cannot build a business without commitment. Think hard before you commit and once you commit, stay committed."
The bootcamp was supported by the IKEA Foundation and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Dhaka.
Local government representatives should earn dignity by their work for people: LGRD Minister
LGRD Minister Md. Tazul Islam on Thursday said local government institutions need to be accountable to people by providing better services to the community and the local representatives should earn dignity by their work for people.
“Capacities of the local government institutions (LGIs) of Bangladesh, their accountability and transparency have increased to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 after the successful implementation of the 5-year-long “Efficient and Accountable Local Governance (EALG)” project. Good practices should be replicated,” he said.
The minister while speaking at an event titled “Stakeholders’ Conference on Local Governance: Progress, Learning and Way Forward” organized by the Local Government Division (LGD) of the ministry and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC).
Addressing the conference as a special guest, Sudipto Mukerjee, Resident Representative of UNDP Bangladesh said EALG project has been working with the local government for the last five years to localize SDGs and build the capacity of Union Parishads and Upazila Parishad and provide policy support to the government for establishing effective local government systems, leaving no one behind.
He thanked Switzerland and Denmark for their support to implement the project and stressed the importance of continuing the support to the local government.
Read: LGRD Minister directs WASA to fix water price in capital rationally
Nathalie Chuard, Ambassador, Embassy of Switzerland said, “In relation to strengthening local governance in Bangladesh, we work with the government and development partners to ensure transparency, accountability, efficiency and inclusivity so that no one is left behind.”
“One of the key lessons we learned from EALG is that coordinated development planning and monitoring by the local government is crucial to ensure effective and optimum utilization of scarce resources and also avoid overlapping of activities,” she added.
Earlier, Md. Mozammel Haque, Programme Analyst, UNDP Bangladesh, presented the keynote paper on EALG Project and its Key Achievements.
Among others, Mohammed Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury, Secretary, Local Government Division, Shariful Hoque, Project Coordinator of the EALG Project, Deputy Director of Local Government from nine districts; Chairman & Vice Chairman of Upazila Parishads and Chairman of Union Parishads; Upazila Nirbahi Officers also spoke.
With support from the Embassy of Switzerland and Denmark, the Efficient and Accountable Local Governance (EALG) project of the Local Government Division and UNDP has been implemented in 251 UPs and 18 UZPs under nine districts.