Day: February 10, 2023

Police recovered the body of a women hanging from a tree on Thursday morning at Dharalia village of Banaripara Upazila in Barishal district.

The deceased was identified as Jahan Ara Begum, 55, a resident of Swarupkathi area in Nesarabad upazila of Pirojpur district.

Md Momen Uddin, Inspector (Investigation) of Banaripara Police Station, said being informed by locals, police recovered the hanging body early morning.

Jahan Ara Begum had been suffering from mental illness for a long time which might be the cause of her apparent suicide, said the inspector adding that necessary steps will be taken after discussing with deceased’s relatives.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen will attend the eight ministerial conference of the “Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime” to be held in Australian city Adelaide on Friday.

Foreign Minister Momen is expected to highlight the steps taken by the government of Bangladesh in line with its zero tolerance policy against human trafficking, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Seheli Sabrin told reporters on Thursday afternoon.

She said the Foreign Minister is expected to hold a number of meetings including with his Australian and Indonesian counterparts on the sidelines of the conference.

Australia will welcome representatives from across the world to Adelaide for the ministerial conference.

This is the first time the Bali Process Ministerial Conference has been held outside of Indonesia.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will co-chair the conference with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

Momen to attend 8th Bali Process Ministerial Conf in Adelaide Friday

The Bali Process is the pre-eminent regional forum on these issues and brings together governments, senior officials and business leaders to build new connections and strengthen existing partnerships.

International cooperation is critical for tackling people smuggling, human trafficking and modern slavery, said the host country.

Australia is committed to working with partners in our region to build awareness and help countries strengthen their responses.

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Penny Wong said she looks forward to welcoming her Indonesian counterpart Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi to Adelaide and to reaffirming their close partnership.

“As co-chairs of the Bali Process, Australia and Indonesia work closely together to help countries in our region address the abhorrent crimes of people smuggling, human trafficking and other forms of modern slavery. “We will work to end modern slavery in every country,” she said.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh has in principle agreed for the co-deployment of Bangladeshi and Gambian troops in a suitable UN peacekeeping mission, following the permission of the United Nations.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday in principle agreed to work on a proposal of Gambia in this regard, when a Gambian delegation, led by its Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Mamadou Tangara met her at her official residence Ganabhaban.

PM’s Speech Writer Md Nazrul Islam briefed reporters after the meeting.

Dr Mamadou, who is now visiting Bangladesh as Special Envoy of the President of Gambia Adama Barrow, handed over a request letter of the Gambian President to Hasina over the co-deployment of troops.

The PM said the co-deployment of forces can be made following preparation of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) between two sides and getting permission from the United Nations.

The Gambian Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad highly praised the development of Bangladesh, particularly in the agriculture sector and its contribution to the worldwide peace-building.

The Gambian minister said Bangladesh is a small country having a large population, but there is no food shortage in the country.

Read more: PM Hasina unveils operation of 3 newly built rail lines

In this context, the prime minister said Bangladesh and Gambia can cooperate in the agriculture sector.

Noting that the African nation has a vast land, she said the Gambian lands can be cultivated under joint venture with Bangladeshi manpower and technology for mutual benefit.

She said Bangladesh was a food deficit country in the past, but the country attained food autarky as her government made enough investment in the agriculture sector, particularly research.

The PM said Bangladesh is the highest troops contributing country in the UN peacekeeping missions. Bangladesh wants peace throughout the world.

Hasina said her government has taken a policy not to leave a single piece of land uncultivated and the people are very responsive to the policy in order to raise food production now.

Turning to the Rohingya issue, the PM thanked and praised Gambia for standing beside the displaced people from Myanmar.

She said Bangladesh gave shelter to Rohingya people on humanitarian ground and will continue taking care of the displaced people during their stay in Bangladesh.

In 2019, Gambia filed a case with the International Court of Justice (ICT) in The Haque, the United Nations’ highest court, alleging that Myanmar is breaching the genocide convention.

Gambian Defence Minister Sering Modou Njie, Foreign Senior Secretary Masud Bin Momen, Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division Lt Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman and PMO Secretary Mohammad Salahuddin were present during the meeting.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

A Khulna court on Thursday sentenced a man to life term imprisonment in a case over the killing of his wife around five years back.

Khulna Metropolitan Sessions Court Judge Mahamdua Khatun also fined the convict Tk 30,000, in default of which he will have to serve six more months’ imprisonment, the plaintiff’s Counsel KM Iqbal, also public prosecutor of the court, said.

The convict is Omar Faruk, son of Rustum Ali Farazi of Padiyadanga area under Khanjahan Ali police station in Khulna city.

According to the case statement, Faruk used to torture his wife Nupur over family feud since their marriage in 2015.

Nupur's father Khalilur Rahman came to know that her daughter’s body was lying in a garden on July 17, 2018.

Later he filed a murder case accusing Faruk in this connection.

Police pressed chargesheet against him on December 19, 2018.

After completing legal procedures, the court handed down the judgment in the presence of the accused.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday inaugurated simultaneous operation of trains on three newly built rail lines to ease the transportation of passengers and cargo on the Rooppur, Shasidal and Joydebpur routes.

She inaugurated the 69.20 km lines virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban.

The 11-km-long rail line for Rooppur has been constructed by the science and technology ministry at the cost of Tk 335 crore.

The construction work started in April 2018. It is a dedicated rail line for transportation of cargo to the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.

As part of the project, a new rail station was constructed near Hardinge Bridge. Besides, a 26.52-km-long dual-gauge rail line was set up, including siding and loop line from Ishwardi by-pass station to Rooppur plant.

Read more: Bangladesh, Gambia agree on co-deployment of troops in UN peacekeeping

The 11km-long dual-gauge double-line from Tongi to Joydebpur will help railway authorities to increase the number of train trips on the Dhaka-Tongi-Joyebpur route, which links the entire west zone of Bangladesh Railway.

The second line was built at the cost of Tk 1,300 crore under an Indian-funded project.

The sections of 14km-long dual-gauge double-line on the Dhaka-Chattogram route are Kashba to Mandabagh and Shashidal to Rajapur.

The construction was done under a project funded by Asian Development Bank.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

BNP’s March programme at union level on Saturday and in the capital on Sunday will remain unchanged though the party postponed Thursday’s similar protest, expressing deep shock and sympathy over the huge loss of lives in a catastrophic earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

Speaking at a press conference at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office on Thursday, party acting office secretary Syed Imran Saleh Prince said they observed mourning by postponing Dhaka South city unit’s March programme from Gopibagh to the Jatiya Press Club as over 15,000 people were killed in the devastating earthquake.

He said their party kept at half-mast the national and party flags atop of their party offices, expressing BNP’s profound shock and sympathy over the losses of huge lives in the earthquake.

A catastrophic earthquake and series of aftershocks hit Turkey and Syria, killing more than 16,000 people as rescuers pulled more survivors and bodies from beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings on Thursday, more than three days after the natural disaster.

Prince said their party leaders and activists will march at union level on Saturday as per the previous announcement to press home their 10-point demand, including holding the next general election under a non-party caretaker government and to protest the hikes in prices of utility services and all essential items.

Besides, he said the leaders and activists of BNP’s Dhaka North City unit will march towards Bosila Saat Rasta intersection from Shyamoli playground at 2pm on February 12.

Meanwhile, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir urged the leaders and activists of the party, its associate bodies and different units to and people from all walks of life to spontaneously participate in the March programmes to intensify the ongoing anti-government movement.

Earlier, leaders and activists of the party’s Dhaka north and south city units observed the Marches on January 28, 31, 30 and February 1, respectively, to push for their 10-point demand.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Weather may remain dry with temporary partly cloudy skies across the country, Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) said this morning.

Moderate to thick fog may occur at places over the river basins and the southern part, and light to moderate fog may occur at places elsewhere during midnight till morning tomorrow, said the regular bulletin of BMD.

Night temperature may fall by 1 to 2 degrees Celsius and day temperature may remain nearly unchanged across the country.

The lowest temperature in the country was recorded at 14.0 degrees Celsius in Nikli in the 24 hours till 6 am today. The highest temperature was recorded at 31.8 degrees Celsius in Mongla.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

A fire that broke out in a plastic factory in the capital's Sowari Ghat area on Thursday afternoon has been brought under control.

The fire started around 4:46 pm on the ground floor of a four-storey building of the factory, said Anwarul Islam, warehouse inspector of the Fire Service and Civil Defense headquarters' media cell.

On information, four firefighting brought the blaze under control around 5:38pm, added the officer.

A probe has been ordered to ascertain the exact cause of the fire, he said.

No injuries or casualties were reported.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Ferry services on the Paturia-Daulatdia and Aricha-Kazirhat routes resumed this morning, after 3-4 hours of disruption caused by thick fog.

Ferry service on Paturia-Daulatdia route remained suspended from 6 am on Thursday due to poor visibility. Services resumed around 9 am today, said sources at Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) at Aricha point.

Besides, ferry services on the Aricha-Kazirhat route remained suspended from 4:15 am today due to dense fog. Later, the ferry services on the route resumed at 8:30 am.

Also read: Ferry services on Paturia-Daulatdia, Aricha-Kazirhat resume after 11 hours

Five ferries remained stranded in the middle of the Padma river on Paturia-Daulatdia route and one ferry on Aricha-Kazirhat route, causing immense sufferings to commuters.

Several hundred vehicles were seen waiting on both sides to cross the river.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

President Abdul Hamid on Wednesday urged the senior politicians to come forward to highlight the authentic history in front of the new and future generations to enrich them with the spirit of Liberation War and independence.

"If we want to enrich our new and future generations with the spirit of Liberation War and independence, we should tell them the authentic history of these things. And this is the responsibility of all of us," he said.

The President made the statement while delivering his speech at the publication festival of his two books 'Amar Jiban Niti, Amar Rajniti and 'Swapna Jayer Ichcha'. The event was organised at the Durbar Hall of Bangabhaban.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was present as the chief guest while Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury and Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique spoke as special guests.

He said that independence is the biggest achievement of the Bengali nation. Struggle of independence and liberation war is the most important chapter in the history of Bengali nation.

The two-time president referred to himself as a common man born in the remote areas of Hoar region and raised in the mud of Hoar, and said that he never did politics with the aim of getting or becoming something. His politics started from his school life.

"I have not seen Bangabandhu yet. But the noble call of the great man always exposed me to the spirit of the independence movement. The first meeting with Bangabandhu was in 1964. And from then on, my activities in the politics began."

"Bangabandhu's political philosophy and ideology became my path. He was one and only sources of the ideal and inspiration in the language movement of 1952, Anti-military movement of 1958, six points of 1966, 11 points of the Chhatra League, uprising of 1969, general election of 1970 and liberation war of 1971. And he is the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman," he added.

This senior politician also commented that Bangabandhu's ideals and inspiration have given him strength to face all the ups and downs in life, including facing extreme situation.

"I prefer to think of myself as a worker of Bangabandhu. Please pray for me so that I can uphold Bangabandhu's teachings and ideals and live as a soldier of Bangabandhu's ideals till the end of my life," he added.

He also thanked everyone who was directly or indirectly associated with the publication of his autobiographical books.

After inaugurating the Book Fair this year, the Prime Minister unveiled the autobiographical book 'Amar Jiban Niti, Amar Rajniti'.

Mentioning 'Bangabandhu is my political spiritual guide, my journey to the politics started under his guidance', the President said that he started writing the autobiographical book with the intention of presenting the history of his political life to the next generation.

"I am very grateful to my wife for inspiring me to start writing. Late Mainuddin Uddin Khandkar also played a significant role in this regard," he added.

In order to spread the ideals of Bangabandhu from generation to generation, Hamid called on all those who came close to Bangabandhu to write autobiographies.

In addition, the first and second volume of the book entitled 'Swapna joyer Ichcha' is basically a collection of speeches given on various occasions during 2013-2018. The book was compiled and edited by the Press Wing of Bangabhaban.

After the welcome speech, Bangabandhu's close companion and longtime political colleague of the President, a member of the advisory council of Bangladesh Awami League Tofail Ahmed discussed the two books. First Lady Rashida Khanam gave the vote of thanks.

Director General of Bangla Academy Mohammad Nurul Huda delivered the welcome speech in the publication ceremony.

Later, the visual documentary on the glorious history of Bangabhaban was displayed on two side screens of the stage. Then, a brief cultural soiree was held by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy there.

On the occasion of the conclusion of the first session of the 11th National Parliament in 2023, a cultural programme and dinner was organized in honour of the Prime Minister, Speaker, Ministers, Members of Parliament.

For more than a long month, a discussion was held on the President's speech in the National Parliament. In the discussion, the parliamentarians gave their well hought--out views on various issues related to the interests of the country and the people.

Hamid asked all to continue the development work in their respective areas with more sincerity and compassion for the welfare of the people.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

An estimated 27.3 million people watched President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on television, the second smallest audience for the annual event in at least 30 years, the Nielsen company said on Wednesday.

It was also down nearly 28% from the 38.2 million people who saw Biden's address in 2022.

The only smaller audience since 1993 was the 26.9 million who watched Biden's address to Congress in 2021 — not officially a State of the Union speech, since he had just taken office a few months earlier. That speech was delivered on the unusually late date of April 28.

Nielsen did not have figures available from before President Bill Clinton's first address to Congress, which reached 66.9 million people in 1993, when entertainment options were fewer.

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of the people who watched Biden's speech were 55 and older, Nielsen said. Only 5% were young adults under age 35.

The speech was carried live on 16 television networks.

Biden's largest audience came on Fox News Channel, where the speech was seen by 4.69 million people, Nielsen said. ABC had 4.41 million viewers for Biden, NBC had 3.78 million, CBS had 3.64 million, MSNBC had 3.55 million, CNN had 2.4 million and the Fox broadcast network had 1.66 million.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh police has become a symbol of people's trust and love, Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Thursday.

"The CID of Bangladesh police is the highest investigative agency with modern technology, specialised knowledge and skills", the minister speaking as the chief guest at a certificate distribution programme on ‘Money Laundering Prevention and Financial Crime Investigation,” at Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters on Thursday.

The intelligence agency has investigated many crucial cases including the brutal assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members, the murder of Ahsanullah Master, MP from the Gazipur-2 constituency, the Pilkhana murder case, Chattogram's Ten truck arms case, the 21 August grenade attack case, with great skill and professionalism.

Besides, CID is playing an important role in the socio-economic development of the country in the efficiency and effectiveness of organised crime, forensic departments and other units.

The programme was presided over by the CID Chief, Additional IG, Mohammad Ali Mia.

Among others, Senior Secretary of the Public Security Department, Md Aminul Islam Khan, Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun and Additional IG Md Monirul Islam were present as the special guests on the occasion.

In his speech, the CID chief said that there is no alternative to smart policing in building a smart Bangladesh. Anti Money Laundering and Financial Crime Investigation Course started in October last year with the aim of building smart police. Some 450 people were trained on Money Laundering Prevention and Financial Crime Investigation through this 4-month course, he said.

He also said that CID is jointly launching operations in coordination with Bangladesh Bank and other units to stop money laundering, hundis and other financial crimes.

Source: United News of Bangladesh