LDC5 Conference: PM Hasina leaves Dhaka for Doha

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka for Doha this morning to attend the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), to be held on March 5-9.

A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, carrying the prime minister and her entourage, departed Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11.15 am. The flight is scheduled to land at Hamad International Airport, Doha at 2:30 pm local time.

The PM is visiting Qatar at the invitation of Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

During her stay in Qatar till March 8, Sheikh Hasina will lead a high-level delegation and will hold bilateral meetings with her Qatari counterpart apart from her participation at the LDC5 conference.

She will also have a meeting with the Emir of Qatar. Bilateral issues including cooperation in the areas of energy sector will come up for discussion.

On Saturday afternoon, Sheikh Hasina will have separate meetings with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, UNGA President Csaba Korosi and UNDP administrator Achim Steiner at Qatar National Convention Centre (QCC).

On March 5, the PM will deliver a speech at the opening plenary meeting of the LDC5 Conference as a special guest at the QCC.

Then she will have separate meetings with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Secretary General of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Rebeca Grynspan, and Secretary General of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Doreen Bogdan-Martin.

Besides, the prime minister will also deliver a speech at a side event titled “Sustainable and Smooth Transition for the Graduating Cohort of 2021,” which will be arranged jointly by Bangladesh, Laos and Nepal.

On March 6, Sheikh Hasina will speak as the chief guest at a business summit, titled “The Rise of Bengal Tiger: Potential of Trade and Investment in Bangladesh” at the St. Regis Doha, will have meeting with Malawi President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, and participate in a side event tiled “Investment in Research and Development in LDCs for Smart and Innovative Societies” in the QCC. She will also join the Regional Envoy Conference at the place of residence.

On March 7, the PM will attend a high-level dialogue on “Enhancing the participation of LDCs in International Trade and Regional Integration,” hold meeting with Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation Dan Jorgensen, attend an event titled “Global Partnership for Smooth and Sustainable Graduation: Marching towards Smart Bangladesh” as the special guest in the QCC as well as join a civic reception to be hosted by the Bangladeshi community living in Qatar.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to leave Doha for Dhaka in the morning on March 8 (Wednesday).

At the LDC5 Conference in Doha, world leaders will gather with the private sector, civil society, parliamentarians, and young people to advance new ideas, raise new pledges of support, and spur delivery on agreed commitments, through the Doha Programme of Action.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

PM Hasina holds meeting with former British PM Sir Tony Blair

Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and Former British Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair had a breakfast meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday morning at her official residence Ganabhaban.

PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim, while briefing reporters, said that during the meeting the former British Prime Minister apprised Sheikh Hasina of the activities of his Institute.

PM Hasina appreciated the Tony Blair Institute’s mission to equip leaders and governments for the global future.

She recalled her various meeting with Tony Blair while he was the Prime Minister of Britain.

Karim said that both reviewed Bangladesh-UK relations.

They also talked about sports, particularly cricket, as the England cricket team is touring Bangladesh right now.

Principal secretary M. Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, PMO Secretary Mohammad Salahuddin and British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson were present during the meeting.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

2 burnt in AC blast at Dhaka’s Niketan area

Two people sustained severe burn injuries in an air conditioner (AC) blast in an apartment at Dhaka’s Niketan area early this morning (March 4, 2023).

The injured are 28-year-old Gopal Mollick and 20-year-old Mizanur Rahman.

Rashed Bin Khalid, a duty officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters, said the AC might have exploded from an electric short-circuit, on the fifth floor of the six-storey building on road 6 in Niketan around 6:15 am, leaving the duo critically injured.

On information, three firefighting units rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire around 6:53 am, he said.

The injured were sent to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, he said.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

‘Beware of scam! Registration for Joy Bangla Concert 2023 tickets free’: Organizers

Amid an overwhelming rush among young music lovers to secure tickets for the much-awaited Joy Bangla Concert 2023, the organizers have issued a scam alert.

Young Bangla, country’s largest youth platform that hosts the concert, issued an alert reminding everyone that registration for tickets is free, and urged all not to “purchase” tickets to Joy Bangla Concert 2023 if being offered.

The organizers also apologized for the inconvenience caused by an overwhelming response after registration was opened for free tickets to the concert, and informed that due to limited capacity at Dhaka’s Army Stadium, they can accommodate up to a certain number of music lovers at the venue.

This year, Joy Bangla Concert will be held on March 8, under the supervision of Centre for Research and Information (CRI). Young Bangla has been holding the rock concert since 2015 to instil the spirit of the Liberation War among youths.

Concert-goers are requested to log into ticket.youngbangla.org to avail their e-tickets. For registration, the participants will require their passport-sized photos and images of their ID cards. NIDs, ID cards of their educational institutions, passports, and driving licenses will be accepted.

Continuing the previous years’ trend, the concert this year is set to feature iconic and emerging bands of the country such as Artcell, Avoid Rafa, Lalon, Chirkutt, Cryptic Fate, Karnival, Meghdol, Nemesis and Arekta Rock Band.

Starting in 2015, in successive years, the country’s biggest concert for youths added some special features such as presentation of the coloured version of the speech in 2016.

The speech, transformed from black and white into colour, appeared onscreen before an audience of 30,000 youths at the concert.

Source: United News of Bangladesh