Day: April 25, 2024

Kathmandu: The Noor-Ganga Talent Award Guthi has decided to provide Noor-Ganga National Singing Award of Rs 100,000 to folk singer Raju Pariyar. According to member-secretary of the Guthi Yagya Prasad Sharma Pokharel, the Guthi decided to present Regional Literary Award of Rs 30,000 to literary writer from Palpa, Ram Bahadur Pahadi, National Emerging Talent Child Literature Award of Rs 25,000 to Soina Dahal of Morang and Regional Emerging Talent Singing Award of Rs 20,000 to Kushal Belbase of Arghakhanchi. The awards will be handed over on May 24. The Guthi has been awarding creative writers and artists who have been active in art, literature and culture for the past 30 years. Source: National News Agency Nepal

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today paid a courtesy call on the King and the Queen of the Kingdom of Thailand Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua and Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshan. The prime minister, who is on an official tour to Thailand, met the King and the Queen at Amphorn Satharn Throne Hall in Dusit Palace, according to PM's press wing. During the meeting, they exchanged greetings and discussed various issues related to bilateral matters. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina went to Thailand on Wednesday on a six-day official visit to Thailand at the invitation of her Thai counterpart Srettha Thavisin. In the morning, she attended the 80th Session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). During her visit on April 24-29, Sheikh Hasina will hold bilateral talks with Thai PM Thavisin. Bangladesh and Thailand will sign a number of cooperation documents including a letter of intent on negotiations for a free trade agreement between the two countries. Ba ngladesh and Thailand are likely to sign an agreement on visa exemption for official passport holders, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on energy cooperation while two more MoUs on tourism sector cooperation and duty related mutual cooperation to expand the relations. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Grade 12 examinations are taking place all over the country starting tomorrow. A total of 390,847 students including 196,914 female and 193,933 male students are attending the examinations that take place from 8:00 am to 11:00 am, Another, 100,650 students are appearing for the grade increment, according to Chairperson of the National Examinations Board, Dr. Mahashram Sharma, Students from 5,542 schools across the country are taking part in the Grade 12 exam. The examinations which will be conducted from 8 to 11 am will concluded on May 8. A total of 1526 exam centers have been designated including one in Japan. For the first time this year, the NEB has determined the examination centers of Kathmandu through a random selection process. The work of delivering the materials required for the exams, including the answer sheets to the exam centers has been completed while the question papers will be sent online with a 'time password', added Sharma. Source: National News Agency Nepal

An innovation showcasing was held on Bangladesh Open University (BOU) campus in Gazipur today. BOU APA Innovation Team in association with IQAC organized the exhibition while Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Syed Humayun Akhter inaugurated the event as the chief guest, said a press release. Twenty stalls of different schools of the university took part in the showcasing while School of Science and Technology secured the first position and School of Business became second. Besides, Open School and Jashore Regional Centre of the university secured the third position jointly. Later, BOU VC distributed prizes and certificates among the winners. BOU Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Administration) Professor Dr Nasim Banu, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Dr Mahbuba Nasreen, Treasurer Professor Mostafa Azad Kamal and Registrar Dr Md Shafiqul Alam were present on the occasions, among others. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

The District Court Rautahat has issued a verdict awarding life imprisonment to four persons, including former lawmaker Mohamad Aftab Alam. District judge Matrika Prasad Acharya handed down life imprisonment to Alam, his brother Mahatav, Badri Sahani and Sheikh Sheraj after finding them guilty in a case relating to bomb explosion and murder. However, another one implicated in the case, Mukti Shah has been acquitted. The bomb was exploded at Rajpurfardawa village of Rautahat on the run up to the election of then Constituent Assembly in 2064BS. Similarly, the case of six others absconding after the incident and accused of involvement in the crime has been put on hold. A case was filed in 2019 accusing 11 persons, including former lawmaker Alam of explosion and murder. Hearing on the case had concluded on Monday. Source: National News Agency Nepal

The Ministry of Education has decided to reopen secondary schools, colleges, madrasahs, and technical educational institutions from April 28. Secondary and Higher Education Division of the ministry issued a notification today to this end. It said daily assemblies will remain suspended until the heat wave becomes tolerable. Academic activities will be held on every Saturday until further notice to make up the loss of lessons caused by closure of the institutions due to heat wave and other reasons. Academic activities which are performed outside of classrooms will remain limited. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Kathmandu: The government is going to review the legal system to address the problems seen in the financial cooperatives'. The government will also assist in the process of addressing the concerns of the depositors of the financial cooperatives. Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Government Spokesperson and Rekha Sharma shared that the cabinet meeting held today at the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers took a decision regarding this. The meeting also decided to appoint Sudarshan Dev Bhatt, judge of Patan High Court, as the chairperson of the appeals committee while also overseeing work at the same court. Similarly, the government has instructed the relevant agencies to take serious action to reduce the damage caused by incidents of fires and wildfires taking place in various places across the country, and bring the fire under control. Source: National News Agency Nepal

Criticising the recently released US State Department's 2023 Human Rights Report, a foreign ministry spokesperson today said it is apparent that the report mostly relies on assumptions and unsubstantiated allegations. "As such, some of the inherent and evident biases in the reporting pattern are quite evident", said spokesperson Seheli Sabrin at a press briefing at the foreign ministry here. She said the allegations are drawn from local and international non-government organizations (including anonymous sources), many of which are supported by the US government or related entities. Regrettably, she said, many of the improvements and achievements of the Bangladesh government have not been acknowledged in the report. "On the other hand, isolated and unfounded allegations continue to be flagged as part of a systematic trend", she added. Reading out a written statement, she said the report would make it evident that it is replete with references to individual reported or alleged incidents that were used to d raw broad, generalized inferences. "The Government of Bangladesh takes note of the US State Department's release of the Country Report on Human Rights Practices, 2023 and appreciates continued interest of the US administration in Human Rights situation across the globe," according to the statement. Seheli said, "No matter how much we aspire, human rights situation is not perfect anywhere in the world. Though human rights are non-hierarchical, fulfillment of them can be incremental as socio-economic constraints often put limit to the pace of realizing those rights." Bangladesh government has been doing its best to uphold human rights of its citizens. Indeed, under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, human rights situation has significantly improved in Bangladesh, she continued. Mindful of the areas that need further improvement, the current government, during its consecutive terms in the office since 2009, continued to invest in realizing meaningful advancement in human rights situation, she sa id. The spokesperson said any discerning observer would notice that such efforts resulted in significant improvement in women empowerment, gender parity, children's rights, rights of elderly persons, workers' rights, grievance redressal, access to justice, religious freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of assembly and so on and so forth. "It is to be made public yet again that contrary to what the Report claims, the former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia is a convicted person with suspended sentence under the Executive authority, and is definitely not under any form of 'house arrest", she said. One of the gross missing elements in the report is about the systematic campaign launched last year by the anti-state and anti-government elements during the lead up to the 12th National Elections in order to create unrest, violence and anarchy under different pretexts and using diverse interest groups, she added. While the report alleges the law enforcement for use of excessive force in som e cases, it fails to reflect the violence and vandalism perpetrated by BNP and its political allies, which often disrupted lives of general people and resulted in damage of public and private property. "It is ironic that when the State was engaged in protecting public life, order and property against such orchestrated campaign, it has been held responsible in the Report for even taking recourse to some lawful actions and remedies", the spokesperson said. This must be registered that the law enforcement agencies of Bangladesh exercised utmost restraints and dealt any law-and-order situation with full professionalism. "Coupled with government's sincere support and professional conduct of elections by the Election Commission, 28 of 44 registered parties participated in the 12th National Elections with 42% people exercising their voting rights despite boycotts from BNP and some other parties" she added. It is unfortunate that despite having a series of dialogues with the US authorities on human rights and lab our rights issues, a number of recurrent complaints or allegations have been flagged in the report discounting the state/ government perspective on those matters. For instance, the Rohingya people continue to be termed as 'refugees' or 'stateless persons', thus undermining their legitimate claims to be recognised as the citizens or residents of Myanmar. In another instance, certain ethnic minority groups continue to be labeled as 'Indigenous Peoples' contrary to the Constitutional provisions of the country, which often amounts to attempts to incite unwarranted tension and divisions. Again, in certain cases, the report tends to omit or neglect substantive evidence or information shared with the US authorities on individual cases. For instance, in the alleged killing of Messers Shaheen Miah and Mohammad Raju, information had been shared on the judicial proceedings that found the incidents to be within the purview of law. Yet again, she said, the judicial processes undertaken in the case of Jesmin Sultana w ere not adequately reflected in the report, especially the issue of ongoing due process. "Along similar lines, a number of cases have been flagged in the Report concerning labour rights issues, especially on trade union registration and activities, that have been discussed with the relevant US officials on a number of bilateral or plurilateral platforms" she said. As usual, the report wrongfully characterises lawful actions taken by the law enforcement authorities in case of unwarranted obstructions or vandalism carried out in the name of workers against factories, establishments, public properties, or management staff. The spokesperson observed that the report continues to maintain the trend of projecting incidents committed by private individuals or entities as part of systemic abuse of human rights, without often elaborating on the subsequent administrative and judicial measures taken to ensure redress and accountability. The report fails to appreciate, and rather undermines, a number of valued state i nstitutions, including the independent judiciary and certain statutory bodies, which is detrimental to the morale and functioning of such institutions, she added. In general, the government of Bangladesh takes note of the overall report and looks forward to remaining engaged with the UN Human Rights mechanisms, the US and other international partners, and stakeholders towards upholding its commitment to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by all citizens under any circumstances. The government of Bangladesh takes this opportunity to reiterate its concerns about the continued trampling of human rights in Gaza by the Israeli occupation force and hopes that the US will play a leadership role in the ongoing efforts of the international community to stop serious human rights violations, killing of innocent women and children, and crimes against humanity in Palestine. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Kathmandu: The Supreme Court has stayed the order to the Patan High Court to keep seven persons including CPN (UML) leader Top Bahadur Rayamazhi and former secretary Teknarayan Pandey in custody as accused in fake Bhutanese refugees scam. The bench of Justices Kumar Regmi and Tek Prasad Dhungana today denied the petition of the accused including Dr. Indrajit Rai, the advisor of then Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, the main accused in the Bhutanese refugee case, Keshav Prasad Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Sagar Rai and Sandesh Sharma to be released on bail. Rayamajhi and others had appealed to the Supreme Court against the orders given by District Court Kathmandu and High Court Patan earlier to send them to prison for investigation. The Court has however ordered to release Nepali Congress leader Angtawa Sherpa on bail. Similarly, the court overturned the High Court Patan order to keep Jima Sherpeni, Tenji Puti Sherpeni, Pemwa Sherpa, Jima Sherpa, Lamdopa Sherpa and Soni Sherpa in custody. Likewise, Govind Kumar C haudhary has also been asked to be released on bail. The Apex Court has also ordered to release Shamsher Miyan, the then Chair of the Central Haj Committee, on a general date. Source: National News Agency Nepal

Washington doesn't define its bilateral relations with Dhaka by India, China, Russia, or any third country, the US embassy in Dhaka said today. "The U.S.-Bangladesh relationship is driven by our nations' shared history, common values, and future potential. U.S.-Bangladesh cooperation to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific is just one aspect of our wide-ranging bilateral relationship," said Maxwell Martin, an IPS expert at the US Embassy in media briefing of a selected group of journalist at the embassy here. Regarding relations in the region, he said, many countries, including the United States, have vital economic or people-to-people ties with China that they want to preserve. "Every nation will navigate its bilateral relations and interests differently. We do not expect every country to have the same assessment of China as we do," he said, adding that their China staretegy is separated from the Indo Pacific Strategy and has to do with investing, aligning and competing. Terming the US Indo-Pacific Strat egy (IPS) as a vision, Martin said that the IPS is not a military alliance, nor does it seek to become one. "It is defined by what we stand for, not what we are against. It is not a club one can join, but a vision shared by many nations and peoples," he said. The official said the Washington vision is not about forcing countries to choose between the US and any other partner rather it is about ensuring that the region is free and open so countries can freely make their own choices. Welcoming the release of Bangladesh's Indo-Pacific Outlook in April 2023, he said Washington and Dhaka have many common interests and look forward to engaging on them, particularly in building inclusive economic prosperity and environmental and social resilience in the face of 21st century transnational threats. He said the US wants Bangladesh to become a net security provider in the region in a responsible way. "Bangladesh has made a lot of progress over the years, and we are proud to be part of that effort. We would hope tha t the Bangladesh government sees the IPS as an opportunity to cooperate with us and our partners to help address some of Bangladesh's security concerns," said Martin. He said the Indo-Pacific Strategy is a "positive, progressive vision, comprised of five equally important and interconnected pillars". Talking about the role of civil society, private sector, and academia for the promotion of a free and open Indo Pacific, he said they see all of these entities and institutions playing an important role. The IPS expert said they want people to understand what the Indo Pacific Strategy is as sometimes there is confusion about it. "We want to expand and grow our cooperation and engagement with Bangladesh. We always say we are ready to move as quickly as the government of Bangladesh is, and will continue to have those discussions," he said. Regarding QUD, he said, it is not a military alliance rather it is a flexible grouping of nations with shared interests in the region. "QUAD is not something Bangladesh sho uld be afraid of. We understand that Bangladesh balances its relationship with us and others in the region," he said. Martin said they want to see a region where no country dominates and no country is dominated and this principle applies everywhere. As the world's most dynamic and fastest-growing region, the Indo-Pacific is a leading priority for US foreign policy and essential to shared global security and prosperity, he said. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Kathmandu: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has said areas for constructive transformation were identified for the implementation of development plans. The PM informed that 13 areas of transformation were identified for the implementation from coming fiscal year. Addressing the concluding meeting of the National Development Council on Thursday, PM Dahal viewed traditional style would not work to achieve development results. "The 16th periodic plan has finely identified the major agenda and challenges before Nepal's development process," he argued, adding that these agenda and challenges would be gradually addressed via policy and programmes and budget as well. The PM further argued the periodic plans must implement the transformation areas in order to achieve the ambition of 'good governance, social justice and prosperity'. The Head of the government also stated that the 16th periodic plan had incorporated estimate of necessary resources along with the strategies required to implement the pl ans. He underlined the need of collective responsibility, congruity among policy, policy, programmes and budget, and robust coordination and cooperation among three tiers of governments. The Prime Minister sought assistance from all sides including private sectors and development agencies to enforce the 16th plan effectively. Optimum use of available resources by maintaining fiscal discipline is equally imperative, Dahal reminded. Source: National News Agency Nepal

A Special prayer (Salat al-Istikharah) was offered on the ground of Gobindaganj Govt. College in the district this morning for rainfall. Like other parts of the country, all seven upazilas of Gaibandha district are witnessing severe heatwave. In Chapainawabganj, A traffic inspector of Bangladesh Land Port Athority working at Panama Sonamasjid Port Link Limited died reportedly by heart attack in extreme heat this afternoon at his office. The deceased was Md. Ruhul Amin, 47, son of Md. Korban Ali of Benapole municipality under Sharsha, Jessore district. Police and Panama sources said, finishing his round duty at noon he returned to his office and suddenly fell sick. He was rushed to the Shibganj Upazila Health Complex where doctor on duty declared him dead, officer-in-charge of Shibganj thana Md. Sajjad Hossain and senior manager of Panama Sonamasjid Port Link Limited Md. Tipu Sultan confirmed this. In Giabandha, due to heatwave, the normal lives of the people are being disrupted seriously because the peo ple cannot work in their respective field. The plants of boro paddy field are drying up due to severe heat wave making the farmers more worried about their families' food security. Besides, for sweeping over heat wave over the district, many people particularly the aged and children have been affected with heat relating disease like diarrhea. To get relief from the adverse situation, the people of Gobindaganj upazila have arranged the special prayer -- Salat al-Istikharah on the college ground with the hopes of rainfall from Allah, the Almighty. The prayer was held on college premises under the open sky. Maulana Abdus Salam Natori conducted the munazat. Similar prayer was also held on the ground of Islamia High School of the town here this morning. Our Netrakona correspondent reports, several hundreds of Muslims offered Namaj-e-Istikhar and special prayer seeking blessings of Almighty Allah for rain at local Muktarpara ground here at 11 am today. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha