Month: December 2021

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Movement to continue until govt falls: Fakhrul

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday said their ongoing movement will not stop until the fall of the current government.
“A warm-up for a movement has begun across the country. This movement won’t stop until our chairperson Khaleda Zia is freed and the fall of the current monstrous regime is ensured,” he said.
Speaking at a rally, the BNP leader also said democracy and people’s voting rights will not be restored in the country as long as Awami League stays in power.
“Let’s take a vow from this rally that we won’t return home from the streets until we can remove this regime from power and free our leader Khaleda Zia and send her abroad for treatment. Our movement will go on,” he said.
Thakurgaon district unit BNP arranged the rally on the premises of the public library in the district town, demanding Khaleda’s treatment abroad.
Recalling Khaleda’s role in different movements for the restoration of democracy and developing the country, Fakhrul said that leader has been now fighting for life for lack of advanced treatment.
“We urged the government to allow her to go abroad for treatment, but it’s not paying heed to our call,” he deplored.
The BNP leader said they have been carrying out a movement across the country for a month demanding Khaleda’s treatment abroad. “Movement doesn’t mean hartal and blockade. Thousands of people standing in rallies are loudly demanding Khaleda Zia’s release. It’s also a strong movement.”
He alleged that the current government has destroyed all the achievements of the country all the state institutions.
Fakhrul said freedom fighters did not liberate the country in 1971 to keep only a party and a person in power. “We liberated the country for democracy and having a democratic governing system.”
He said the government has been staying in power ‘using’ the state machinery by revoking the caretaker government system in 2012.
Referring to US sanctions on seven current and former officials of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the BNP leader said, “The sanctions need to be imposed on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as they acted at her behest.”
He said the government has ‘politicised’ the judiciary, administration and law enforcement agencies to hang onto power. “This regime has become a liability for us. We need to remove this government as soon as possible.”
Fakhrul said their party is observing December 30 as voting rights snatching day as Awami League took away votes at night on December 29 in 2018.
“We want to get back our voting rights, freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Journalists’ right to write freely has been snatched by enacting the Digital Security Act,” he observed.

SOURCE: UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH

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Business Post’s Rafikul wins reporting award from development journos

_: The Business Post’s Rafikul Islam, also UNB alumni has won the “DJFB Best Reporting Award-2021” for his outstanding reporting on social transformation and economic development of Bangladesh.
Planning Minister MA Mannan handed over a crest, financial grant and certificate for his report titled, “How youths are catalysing Bangladesh’s social transformation” at a programme organised by Development Journalist Forum of Bangladesh (DJFB) at NEC conference room in Dhaka on Thursday.
State Minister for Planning and Ekushey Padak-winning economist Dr Shamsul Alam, Distinguished Fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Md Mustafizur Rahman, and Executive Director of Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh Dr Ahsan H Mansur, among others, were also present there.
Rafikul received the award in the category of Print and Online on “Socio-economic development and macro-economy.’
Before joining at The Business Post, Rafikul Islam used to work at UNB and Dhaka Tribune. He also completed internship at Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).
Other winners are –M R Mashfe of Shomoyer Alo in Print and Online category while Hasanul Sawan of NTV and Tawhid Papon of Jamuna TV won the Electronic and Radio category.
SOURCE: UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH

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Bilateral trade with South Korea to reach a record high this year

Between January and November this year, the trade volume, according to the statistics by the Korea Trade Association, recorded 2.014 billion US dollars, 54.6% increase from the same period of last year which was 1.303 billion US dollars, said a South Korean Embassy release on Thursday.
Bangladesh’s export to South Korea increased by 35.8% with $498 million from $393 million in 2020 while Korea’s export to Bangladesh rose by 61.9% with $1.51 billion from $1.033 billion in 2020.
Bilateral trade has been stagnant at the level below $1.6 billion for almost a decade after it peaked at $1.872 billion in 2011.
Bangladesh’s export to Korea, which reached over $100 million in 2007 and $200 million in 2011, remained stagnant after it reached over $300 million in 2013.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh’s export to Korea, however, crossed over $400 million in 2019 and recorded $393 million in 2020. It is expected to go over $500 million by the end of this year.
The main export items of Bangladesh to Korea include garments, sports and leisure items and bronze scraps.
Garment exports, which accounts for 81 per cent of total export to Korea, increased by 32.4 per cent from the previous year with $442 million, while sports and leisure items skyrocketed by 92 per cent with $303 million. Export of bronze scrap rose by 175 per cent with $9.14 million.
Korea’s export to Bangladesh which peaked in 2011 with $1.63 billion has decreased to approximately $1.2 billion for many years and further deepened to $1.03 billion in 2020.
It might even be possible to surpass the level of 2011 by the end of this year. Major export items of Korea to Bangladesh are machinery, petrochemical products, steel and pesticides. Export of machinery rose by 107 per cent to $297 million which reflects the continued growth of Bangladesh’s manufacturing sector.
Petrochemical products increased by 64.2 per cent with $279 million. Steel export grew by 45.7 per cent with $190 million and pesticides by 68 per cent with $78 million.
South Korean ambassador Lee Jang-keun said that this year will mark a momentous turning point in the bilateral trade between the two countries overcoming the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and expect the bilateral cooperation will be further strengthened in the coming years.
He hoped that the Bangladesh business sector would take advantage of the preferential trade policy of Korea to Bangladesh which provides duty and quota free access to the Korean market by 95 per cent of the product since 2008.

SOURCE: UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH

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BB fixes loans at Tk 25,000 to Tk1.0 crore for CMSE under CGS

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has fixed Tk 25,000 to Tk 1.0 crore under credit guarantee scheme (CGS) for Cottage, Micro and Small Enterprises (CMSE) instead of Tk2.0 lakh to Tk 50 lakh segment.
Bringing more CMSE in the collateral free loans program under the CGS, the BB has made the latest correction of its earlier circular in this regard.
The central bank’s SME and special program department on Thursday issued a circular in facing criticism from deferent organizations’ and economists.
Following the change in CGS, more marginal self-employed people will be benefited as the loan’s minimum amount starts from Tk 25,000 only.
Banks do not have to maintain provisions for such loans as the central bank guarantees the repayment.
The central bank now hopes that banks will be interested in providing loans to CMS enterprises without collateral, since they longer have to worry about losses, nor about maintaining provisions.
But only new loans will qualify for the guarantee scheme. India has taken similar steps to counteract the pandemic fallout.
CMS enterprises will be able to avail Tk2 lakh-Tk50 lakh from the stimulus package, either for working capital or as term loans.
According to the central bank’s Monday circular regarding the credit guarantee scheme, this latest decision was made taking into consideration the impact of the virus on CMSMEs and the demand for short-term loans in the cottage, micro and small sector.
Under the new initiative, in addition to working capital, cottage, micro and small (CMS) enterprises will also receive a credit guarantee scheme for term loans.
This will make banks interested in lending to CMS enterprises without collateral and support the timely implementation of the stimulus package.
On 13 April, 2020, the government announced a Tk20,000 crore stimulus package for CMSMEs. But by end-December, only around half of the package had been disbursed.
Since banks failed to disburse the loan on time, the central bank announced several extensions, finally fixing March 2021 for the stimulus disbursement.
According to the credit guarantee scheme guideline for CMS enterprises, issued on 27 July last year, although many micro and small ventures are able to repay their loans, banks are reluctant to lend to them without collateral.

SOURCE: UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH

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Hasan Foez new Chief Justice of Bangladesh

Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, a judge of the Appellate Division, has been appointed the new Chief Justice (CJ) of Bangladesh.
Law and Justice Division of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs issued a gazette notification in this regard on Thursday.
The Chief Justice will take oath at Bangabhaban at 4 pm on Friday, said President’s Press Secretary Joynal Abedin.
Incumbent Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain went on retirement on Thursday as he turned 68.
According to Article 96 (1) of the constitution, a judge shall hold office until the age of 67.
Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain paid a farewell call on President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban on Wednesday evening.
Mahmud Hossain was appointed the 22nd Chief Justice of the country on February 2, 2018.
The post of the chief justice fell vacant when Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha resigned on November 10 in 2017.
Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, the senior most judge of the appellate division, had been carrying out the activities of Chief Justice since October 3 in 2017.

SOURCE: UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH

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Law minister rules out urgent enactment of law on election commission

Law Minister Anisul Huq on Thursday ruled out an immediate enactment of a law on the formation of the Election Commission stating that such an important legislation can’t be done “overnight.”
“Yes, the constitution has provision to make the law and we want to do it. But since it’s a very important law it can’t be done overnight,” he told the members of Overseas Correspondents Association of Bangladesh (OCAB) at a briefing at National Press Club.
Detailing the process of the legislation the minister said that it has to go through drafting, approval of the Cabinet and then placing it on the law ministry website for eliciting public opinion before it can be placed in the parliament.
“We must go through this process considering the importance of the legislation,” he said.
Huq said under the current system the Election Commission is formed through a process initiated by the president in 2012. Political parties holding talks with the president can suggest their choices for chief election commissioner and four members. On the basis of the recommendations the president forms a “neutral and independent election Commission” through a search committee.
“Even though the process is not a law, but it has the force of law since all political parties previously had a consensus on it and it was acted upon twice. Two national elections were held under the Election Commission formed through the search committee,” the minister said.
His comments in reply to a question came amid an ongoing dialogue President Hamid has started with the political parties on the formation of a new EC as the current election watchdog ends its five-year term on February 15 next.
Almost all parties meeting the president so far have suggested enactment of the election commission law in the next session of the parliament to meet the constitutional requirement.
The law minister said the government will also wait to see the outcome of the president’s dialogue with the political parties registered with the Election Commission.
Bangladesh has 39 such registered political parties and nine of them have representation in the current parliament.

SOURCE: UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH

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School teacher killed in Cox’s Bazar road crash

A school teacher was killed and eight people were injured as a microbus collided with a passenger bus in Chokoria upazila of Cox’s Bazar on Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar highway on Thursday morning.
The deceased was identified as Md Nurul Alam, 40, a teacher of Bangdarban Cantonment School and College and son of Mostak Ahmed of Chokoria’s Binamara area.
Chiringa Highway outpost police inspector Jahangir Alam said the bus from Dhaka collided with the microbus coming from the opposite direction in Harbang Lalbridge area around 7 am.
One of the passengers of the microbus died on the spot and eight injured passengers were rushed to a hospital.
The driver managed to escape with the bus but the microbus has been seized, he said.

SOURCE: UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH

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DUTA election: AL leaning ‘Blue Panel’ wins all but one EC posts

Pro-Awami League “Blue panel” has swept the Dhaka University Teachers Association (DUTA) election winning 14 of the 15 executive committee posts for the year 2022.
The poll for DUTA election was held at Dhaka University’s teachers club between 10.00 am and 2.00 pm on Wednesday.
Awami League leaning ‘Blue panel’ and pro-BNP-Jamat ‘White pannel’ took part in the election.
The blue panel won 14 posts in 15-member executive committee while the ‘White’ panel got only one.
Prof Dr. Rahmatullah from Law Department was elected president for the 2nd consecutive term securing 945 votes while his rival Prof. Dr. Yarul Kabir of “White” panel polled 392 votes.
Prof Md Nizamul Hoque Bhuiyan of Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, won the post of general secretary with 970 votes, defeating Prof. Abdus Salam of the “White” panel who secured 381 votes.
Prof Dr. Sabita Rezwana Rahman was elected the vice president, Prof. Dr. Akram Hossen the Treasurer and dr. Abdur Rahim the joint secretary.
All the ten executive members elected from the “Blue” panel are: Dr. Shofiul Alam, Dr. Ishtiak Moin Soyod, Dr. Chandranath Poddar, Dr. Jinat Huda, Dr. Sadeka Halim, Prof. Lafifa jamal, Prof. Nasiruddin Munsi and Dr. Firoz Ahmed.
White panel candidate Prof Lutfor Rahman of Statistics department secured 806 votes to win an EC post.

SOURCE: UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH

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PM Hasina publishes SSC results

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday published the results of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and its equivalent examinations-2021.
She published the results, joining a function at Bangabandhu International Conference (BICC) virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban in the morning.
On behalf of the Prime Minister, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni received the results of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and its equivalent examinations-2021 and related statistics from the chairmen of all the education boards.
This year, 2,278,098 students –-1,155,096 boys and 1,123,002 girls– took part in the SSC and its equivalent examinations from 29,035 institutes under 11 education boards in the country.
The SSC and its equivalent examinations started on November 14 and completed on November 23 last with some 2.278 million students appearing in the exams.

SOURCE: UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH

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SSC results: Barishal, Cumilla shine with 90.19% and 96.27% pass rates

The Barishal Education Board recorded 90.19% pass rate on average while Cumilla Education Board 96.27% in this year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and its equivalent examinations.
“In Barishal, 10,219 students achieved GPA 5,” said Barishal Education Board controller Arun Kumar Gyne.
As in previous years, he said, girls performed better compared to boys as the pass rate of girls and boys are 91.25% and 89.17% respectively.
“The overall pass rate of Cumilla Board is 96.27%. Some 14,626 students secured GPA 5 while 2,11,503 came out successful in this year’s SSC and its equivalent examinations,” said Mohammad Asaduzzaman, the controller of Cumilla Education Board.
Besides, the number of institutions with 100% pass rate is 355 out of 1,755 institutions under the board.
The results of this year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and its equivalent examinations were published on Thursday, showing an average pass percentage of 93.58.
The pass rate of SSC examination is 94.08 percent while that of madrasa 93.33 percent and technical 88.49 percent.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina published the results, joining a function at Bangabandhu International Conference (BICC) virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban in the morning.
This year, 2,240,395 students –-1,142,094 boys and 1,098,301 girls– took part in the SSC and its equivalent examinations from 29,035 institutes under 11 education boards in the country. Of them, 2,096,546 successfully cleared the exams.

SOURCE: UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH

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Study Group ties up with Florida Atlantic University

Study Group, an international education provider in Bangladesh, recently announced a new partnership in North America with the Florida Atlantic University (FAU).
The FAU is ranked as a top public higher education institution by US News and World Report.
The university holds more than 30,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. Also, it offers over 4,800 internship placements to support graduate employability at global companies, including Google, Apple, General Motors, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Emma Lancaster, CEO of Study Group, said: “The Florida Atlantic University, with its excellent main campus location in Boca Raton and strong investment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs – is expected to become a popular choice for international students planning to study in the US.”
“Study Group’s international marketing, student recruitment, and admissions expertise will support the Florida Atlantic University to achieve its international student recruitment goals, which also benefits the whole university community. This is an excellent opportunity for Bangladeshi students to learn from their global peers in a highly connected world.”
Srini Bandara, regional director of Study Group South Asia, said: “We are delighted to be able to partner up with the Florida Atlantic University. We hope that this collaboration will allow Bangladeshi students to kickstart their academic journey with a world-renowned university.”

SOURCE: UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH

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Average 93.58 pass percentage in SSC, equivalent exams

The results of this year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and its equivalent examinations were published on Thursday, showing a pass percentage of 93.58.
The pass rate of SSC examination is 94.08 percent while that of madrasa 93.33 percent and technical 88.49 percent.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina published the results, joining a function at Bangabandhu International Conference (BICC) virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban in the morning.
On behalf of the Prime Minister, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni received the results of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and its equivalent examinations-2021 and related statistics from the chairmen of all the education boards.
This year, 2,240,395 students –-1,142,094 boys and 1,098,301 girls– took part in the SSC and its equivalent examinations from 29,035 institutes under 11 education boards in the country. Of them, 2,096,546 successfully cleared the exams.
The number of institutions with 100% pass rate is 5,494 while the number of institutions with zero pass is 18.
The pass rate in Dhaka Board is 93.15% while 96.27% in Cumilla Board, 90.19% in Barishal Board, 93.9% in Jashore Board, 96.78 in Sylhet Board, 97.52% in Mymensingh Board, 94.71% in Rajshahi Board and 94.80% in Dinajpur Board.
The SSC and its equivalent examinations started on November 14 and completed on November 23 last with some 2.278 million students appearing in the exams.
The examinations were held with short syllabuses on three elective subjects on a group basis.
Last year’s HSC examinees were evaluated on the basis of their results of JSC and SSC exams, a decision which received a mixed reaction.
Educational institutions across the country were closed in March last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the closure was extended several times.

SOURCE: UNITED NEWS OF BANGLADESH