Day: September 17, 2023

A freight train trial run was conducted successfully yesterday, on a section of the railway built under the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), via the Chinese-built Padma Bridge in Bangladesh.

Syed Ahmed, project director of Bangladesh Railway’s Faridpur Rail Project, told journalists that, the five wagons of the goods train carried 350 tonnes of stones during the trial run.

He said, the train at a speed of up to 80 km per hour, departed from Bhanga station in Faridpur district in central Bangladesh, yesterday morning, and returned to Bhanga station after reaching Mawa station.

Ahead of the BRI railway’s opening, the Bangladeshi government last week launched the first passenger train on a major part of the newly-constructed mega BRI rail line crossing Padma Bridge.

The 172-km railway via the bridge is one of the most significant projects under construction by the China Railway Group Limited (CREC), and funded by the Export-Import Bank of China.

Source: Nam News Network

The festival of ‘Teej,’ a big festival observed by Nepali Hindu women, is being celebrated in a grand manner, wishing for prosperous life and perpetual luck throughout the country today.

As per the tradition, women on this third day of dark half of the lunar month that falls in the Nepali month of Bhadau observe fasting and wish for a prosperous life while observing the festival.

The ‘Teej’ festival is also celebrated as ‘Haritalika’. All the Hindu Nepalese women offer prayers and worships at Pashupatinath Temple and other temples of Lord Shiva in other parts of the country.

According to the ‘Skanda Puran’ (a religious scripture of the Hindus), this festival got the name ‘Haritalika Teej’ as it was on this very day in the ‘Satya Yug’ (golden epoch of truth) that the daughter of the Himalayas, Parvati, was hidden by her maids because of her refusal to marry Lord Vishnu.

A day before ‘Teej’ on the night of the second day of the fortnight in the month of Bhadau, women enjoy a variety of delicious dishes known as ‘Dar’ at their parental home where they are especially invited for this purpose.

The women on the day of ‘Teej’ are seen engrossed in jubilant dancing and singing in a care-free mood.

Women put on bangles, ‘Pote’ (a necklace made of glass beads), ‘Tilahari’ and ‘Sindur’ (crimson powder) considered the symbols of good luck and dress themselves up in red saris or other red outfits and adorn themselves with different kinds of ornaments.

Women in the morning today take ritual baths and offer worship while in the evening they pay homage to Lord Shiva, light lamps and spend the night awake.

The next day, the last day of the festival is marked by the women performing religious and traditional rituals such as use of 108 stems of ‘Datiwan’ (a kind of holy plant) while bathing using mud. They also worship the legendary ‘Saptarishis’ (seven sages) and offer alms, thus completing the fast.

Both married and unmarried women perform various ‘pujas’ (worships) and observe fasting, praying for fulfillment of their wish for a happy and prosperous conjugal life.

As per the tradition, married women celebrate this festival wishing long life for their husbands while the unmarried women who worship Lord Shiva and Parvati are believed to find an eligible groom.

Source: National News Agency Nepal

A court here today placed six people including

four doctors on different terms of remand in a case lodged over the leakage

of question papers of centralised medical college admission test.

Of the six, founder of Three Doctors' Coaching Centre Dr Md Yunusuzzaman Khan

Tarim, 40, Dr Animesh Kumar Kundu, 33, and Dr KM Bashirul Haque, 48, were

placed on four-day remand, while Dr Zakaria Ashraf, 26, Motijheel Ideal

School and College teacher Maksuda Akter Mala, 52, and Zakia Ivana, 35, were

placed on two-day remand each.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Moinul Islam passed the order as police

produced them before the court and pleaded to place them on 10-day remand.

The court also sent Dr Nazia Mehjabin Tisha, 24, Moitri Saha, 27, Dr Sabrina

Nusrat Reza Tushi, 25, and Mustahin Hasan Lamia to jail in the case.

A total of 17 accused have given confessional statements in the case.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Two more factories have been certified by the

U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) with both receiving Gold rating and thus

taking the total number of LEED factories to 202 in the country.

Out of the number, 73 earned the prestigious Platinum rating, 115 Gold and 10

silver rating.

In 2022, Bangladesh had the highest number of factories being LEED certified

in a single year, said BGMEA president Faruque Hassan in a statement.

He said with 30 factories receiving LEED certification 2022, 15 were Platinum

and 15 Gold certified. Fast forward to August 2023, another 20 factories have

earned this coveted recognition in eight months of this year, with 13

achieving the esteemed Platinum rating and seven attaining the Gold rating.

Faruque said Bangladesh's RMG industry reached the landmark of 200 LEED

certified factories by USGBC last month while the country made a distinction

being the home to 13 of 15 globally highest-rated LEED Green Factories.

"Among these, one stands out as the highest-rated LEED Green Factory

globally. 500 more factories are in the pipeline to get the certification as

its happening gradually," he said.

The BGMEA president said Bangladesh's RMG industry has made all-out efforts

with commitment and determination to become sustainable in every respect,

especially in the workplace safety, workers wellbeing and environmental

areas.

"The unparalleled green transformation is a testament of our visionary

entrepreneurship showing resilience, flexibility, mindset toward positive

changes and capability to adapt," he added.

He said this international recognition not only highlights the dedication,

but also showcases the country's potential as a leader in sustainable

manufacturing practices.

"The perception about the industry among the global community has changed

significantly," he said, adding that Bangladesh is no more known as a

producer of basic items and workplace hazards.

In the past decade, the garment manufactures laid a strong foundation in

workplace safety, transparency and developing an ecosystem to support growth.

The BGMEA in this regard has taken a strategic vision 2030 which is firmly

rooted in sustainability involving economic, social and environmental

priorities.

"We're making our association, BGMEA, as a futuristic organisation. We

established a Center for Innovation, Center for Efficiency and Center for OSH

to foster innovation in every segment of the trade," he said.

Faruque said the BGMEA has also established the Textile Technology Business

Center (TTBC), an offspring of the Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PaCT)

project that serves as a knowledge hub on resource efficiency, and business-

to-business linkages with local and international technology suppliers.

It helps the factories to decarbonise and adopt resource efficiency measures

to reduce climate footprint. "We established Responsible Business Hub Unit in

BGMEA to strengthen the capacities of our manufacturers to adapt and comply

with the globally emerging due diligence. We're establishing a digital data

platform to baseline and monitor improvements of ESG practices at factories,"

he continued.

Faruque said in recent times, a good number of international customers

visited Bangladesh with topmost delegation from their organisations.

"They expressed their deep satisfaction on the progress we made and informed

their position to further grow sourcing from Bangladesh," he added.

The BGMEA president also believed that Bangladesh going forward would

continue to focus on its core accomplishments which have placed the country

uniquely in the global apparel marketplace.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

The National Local Government Day-2023 was

observed in the district as elsewhere in the country today in a befitting

manner.

This year's theme of the day: "Efficient Architect of Service and

Improvement, Local Government in Development-Innovation".

Marking the day, the district administration chalked out elaborate programmes

in association with Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and local

government institutions.

In the morning, a grand rally was brought out from the Shaheed Minar Premises

of the Poura Park of the town here.

Whip of the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) and local lawmaker Mahabub Ara Begum Gini

formally inaugurated the rally as the chief guest.

Speaking on the occasion, she said the government led by Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina took initiative to observe the day across the country to

inspire the public representatives and officials of local government

institutions from City Corporation to Union Parishad (UP) to do welfare works

for the people.

Accordingly, the day is being observed in the country for the first time, she

also said.

The government has given emphasis for overall development of local government

institutions of the country considering the interest of the country's people.

The elected public representatives and the officials of local government

institutions are working relentlessly to attain the cherished goals and to

build Sonar Bangla as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman, she continued.

"Since 2009 , the government had constructed 75,825 kilometers of roads in

the country," she said, adding that 4,35,307 meters of new bridges and

culverts had also been built in the last 14.5 years side by side with

constructing and expanding 1,767 UP complex buildings.

The whip also hoped that the bond between the local government and mass

people will be strengthened and service delivery will become easy and hassle-

free by observing the day.

Later, the whip led the rally that ended at the same venue after parading the

main roads of the district town.

After the rally, the whip also visited the stalls set up at the initiative of

Gaibandha Municipality and Union Parishads and talked to the owners of the

stalls.

Deputy Director (DD) of Local Government Division here Md. Shariful Islam,

Sadar Upazila Parishad Chairman Shah SarwarKabir, Executive Engineer of LGED

Sabiul Islam, Sadar UNO Mahmud Al-Hasan, NDC Jewel Miah accompanied by the

whip during her visit.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Minister of Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan said there is no alternative to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for building Bangladesh as a developed nation.

"There is no alternative to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina building a developed and enlightened Bangladesh," he told a gathering after opening a newly-constructed building of Dular Hat Police Station under Char Fasson upazila here this afternoon.

"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has fulfilled all the promises she made previously . . . And people are getting the benefits of the 'Digital Bangladesh' envisioned by her."

Referring to the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad polls in Bangladesh, he said "Ahead of the elections, a vested quarter is hatching a conspiracy to create anarchy and carry out arson attacks in the country," he said.

"But the countrymen are well-aware of these people's terror acts. People have now understood very well that they want destruction, not development. The countrymen don't want to go back to darkness anyway and they want to enlighten Bangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he added.

The Bangladesh Awami League (AL) always believes in the people's power and their mandate as well, Asaduzzaman said, adding that the people are AL's main strength.

Organized by District Police Administration, the programme was attended by Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Mahiduzzaman.

Local lawmaker Abdullah Al Islam Jacob, Barishal Range of Police DIG Jamil Hasan, Deputy Commissioner Arifuzzaman, and Upazila Parishad Chairman Joynal Abedin Akhan, among others, spoke on the occasion.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Awami League (AL) Presidium Member Jahangir Kabir Nanak today said if the BNP creates anarchy across the country in the name of Road March, the government will take actions against them.

"The BNP can observe any kind of political programme as the incumbent government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina believes in democracy," he told journalists during a visit in the city's Mohammadpur Krishi Market where a devastating fire broke out in the early hours of Thursday, leaving nearly three hundred shops gutted.

Expressing optimism that the BNP would observe their Road March peacefully, Nanak said if the BNP does not join the upcoming general election, there will be no existence of the party in future.

"We hope that the BNP will participate in the next general election," he said.

Nanak also urged traders of the market to find out the reason behind the fire by forming a small probe committee.

He assured the shopkeepers that the government would take prompt measures which are convenient for the shopkeepers so that the hardship of traders would be eased soon.

Dhaka North City Corporation's councillors - Sayed Hasan Nur Islam, Asif Ahmed Sarker and President of Dhaka City North Chhatra League President Reaz Mahmud, among others, accompanied him during the visit.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

The ekShop, an innovative initiative of Aspire to Innovate (a2i), has won the United Nations (UN) 'SDG Digital GameChangers Award' in recognition of reducing the distance between villages and cities by reaching e-commerce services to the remote areas of Bangladesh.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) jointly gave the award to the 'ekShop' as the champion in the 'Game Changer for Prosperity' category, said an a2i press release here today.

a2i Policy Advisor Anir Chowdhury, Head of Commercial Strategy Rezwanul Haque Jami and Programme Associate (Outreach and Resource Mobilization) Md Sahariar Hasan received the award on Saturday at a function at UN Headquarters in New York as part of the UN's dedicated SDG Action Weekend.

The SDG Digital GameChangers Award was given to individuals and organizations working on digital solutions to accelerate progress on global goals. The ITU and the UNDP, backed by other partners and supporters, presented the SDG Digital GameChangers Award in five categories- People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Pioneer.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out by the UN and adopted by countries worldwide in 2015 are far from being achieved. Accelerating progress on the 17 Goals and 169 associated targets will depend on rapid digital uptake combined with continuous technological innovation.

As government and business leaders from around the world gathered for the United Nations General Assembly, a new UN-led partnership honoured digital innovators dedicated to SDG success.

The ekShop's equitable e-commerce model empowers small and medium-sized businesses, refugees, and those facing digital disparities, particularly in the least-developed countries, making a significant impact as a proven digital public good in mitigating the digital divide.

It's a great achievement for Bangladesh and will encourage others to develop a sustainable economic system for the SDGs all over the world.

The ekShop is Bangladesh's first rural-assisted e-commerce platform, with the aim of delivering daily-necessary products to people's doorsteps easily and quickly. At present, more than 12,000 rural artisans are selling products through this e-commerce platform.

The ekShop has already delivered more than 80 lakh products to different parts of the country through cash on delivery.

A seller who wants to sell his products can join the ekShop himself. They can also display their products for sale on any e-commerce site associated with the ekShop. This work can be done by the seller himself.

Again, in this case, they can take the help of the entrepreneurs at Union Digital Centre.

Besides, the ekShop has also a delivery management system. This service was launched during the COVID-19 situation. Any e-commerce organization or entrepreneur can deliver their products to customers through this service.

The Post and Telecommunication Division has been added to this platform, along with various product delivery organizations in the country. The various government entrepreneurial institutions have also been brought under the umbrella of the ekShop.

The initiative has been taken to reduce digital disparity by replicating the ekshop's model not only in the country but also in underdeveloped countries.

The ekShop's model is being replicated to reduce the digital divide, particularly in South Sudan, Yemen, Turkey, and Somalia. This model has also been launched in a province of the Philippines. The UN is helping to roll out this model outside the country.

The a2i, a whole-of-government programme implemented by the ICT Division and Cabinet Division, supported by UNDP Bangladesh, catalyzes citizen-friendly public service innovations simplifying government and bringing it closer to people. It supports the government to be at the forefront of integrating new, whole-of-society approaches to achieve the SDGs.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

State minister for social welfare Ashraf Ali Khan Khasru today said Bangladesh has witnessed massive development during the regime of the present government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the country is known as a 'role model of development' in the world.

"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is steering the nation towards progress and prosperity by implementing massive development programmes in all the sectors, including health sector, so the country has now become a 'role model of development' in the globe" he said while speaking as the chief guest at a function marking the 5th founding anniversary of Netrakona Medical College here.

He urged the people of all walks of life, including students, teachers and guardians, to cast their votes for "boat" the electoral symbol of Bangladesh Awami League, to continue the current development spree of the country and transform it into a 'smart and developed country' within 2041.

Chaired by principal of the Netrakona Medical College Dr. Shamol Kumar Paul, the function was addressed, among others, by Sajjadul Hasan, MP, chairman of Netrakona zila parishad Asit Kumar Sarker Sazal, police super Netrakona Foyaz Ahmed, mayor of Netrakona municipality Nazrul Islam Khan, civil surgeon Dr. Salim Mia and member secretary of Netrakona district press club Advocate Habibur Rahman.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha