Day: June 9, 2024

Kathmandu: The weather is presently partly cloudy in the hilly parts and clear in the rest of the country. This is due to the effect of local and westerly winds and low pressure area formed around Bihar, India, says the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. Later this afternoon, the weather will remain partial and generally cloudy in the hilly parts of Koshi and Bagmati and Gandaki and clear in the remaining parts of the country. There is a possibility of light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning at some places in the hilly parts of Bagmati, Gandaki and Koshi province. There is also possibility of storm in some places of Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Province. Similarly, the weather will remain clear tonight in hilly parts of Bagmati, Gandaki and Koshi, and partly cloudy in the rest of the country. There is a possibility of light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning at some places of Koshi province and one or two places of other provinces. In the next 24 hours, there is a possibility of light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning at some places in the hilly parts of Bagmati, Gandaki and Koshi provinces and one or two places in the remaining parts of those provinces. Source: National News Agency RSS

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi exchanged pleasantries after Modi's swearing-in ceremony here this evening. The foreign leaders, including Bangladesh Prime Minister, went to the oath-taking podium to greet Modi one after another as he took oath as the Indian premier for a third consecutive term. As the Bangladesh premier, clad in light purple, approached to her Indian counterpart, Modi extended his hand to Sheikh Hasina. They shook hands there. Both the leaders exchanged brief pleasantries and inquired about each other. Modi then showed the Bangladesh premier the banquet hall and accompanied to the dinner hosted by President Smt. Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan this evening. Bangladesh Prime Minister entered the Rashtrapati Bhavan to attend the oath-taking ceremony as the third foreign leader with her daughter Saima Wazed. Top leaders from Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, Mauritius, and Seychelles attended the swearing-in ceremony of Modi. The event wi tnessed a record presence of over 8,000 dignitaries. Bangladesh Prime Minister arrived in New Delhi on Saturday to attended the oath-taking ceremony of Modi cabinet. She is expected to leave the Indian capital for Dhaka tomorrow afternoon. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

A man was killed in a thunderbolt strike at Baniachang upazila of the district here this noon. The deceased was identified as Liton Mia, 24, hailed from Eralia village in the upazila. Local people said the incident occurred this noon when Liton was taking care of his ducks in Shahpur Haor during the rain. Liton died on the spot. Officer-in-Charge of Baniachang Thana Delowar Hossain said the family of the victim would get Tk 20000 as compensation from the local administration. The body was handed over to his family members for burial. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

45 verified Bangladeshi nationals who were imprisoned in Rakhine State of Myanmar returned home today as Myanmar Naval Ship UMS Chin Dwin carried them at Cox's Bazar. At the same time, 134 members of Myanmar defence forces including Myanmar Border Guard (BGP) and others who were forced to cross the border into Bangladeshi territory due to conflict in Rakhine state were sent back to Myanmar. UMS Chin Dwin with 45 Bangladeshis departed from Myanmar's Sittwe port on Saturday morning and arrived at Cox's Bazar and left Bangladesh with 134 repatriated members of Myanmar defense forces and others today, a foreign ministry press release said here. This procedure was completed as per the decision of the inter-ministerial meeting of the foreign ministry. Representatives of Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon and Bangladesh Consulate, Sittwe were present to coordinate with the local authorities, conduct verification process and issue Travel Permits in favor of the returnees. Foreign ministry Myanmar wing's director gene ral informed that the director of his wing received the Bangladeshis from the ship UMS Chin Dwin. Immigration, health check, other tasks and repatriation of the Bangladeshis and the Myanmar's defense forces members were completed with the help of the Home ministry, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Coast Guard, district administration, district police and other related authorities. So far this year, 752 members of Myanmar's BGP and defense forces have been provided shelter in Bangladesh and arranged their repatriation through bilateral initiative by the foreign ministry. A total of 218 Bangladeshis were brought back from Myanmar this year, including 173 Bangladeshi nationals who returned on April 24, 2024. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

A court here today placed police constable Kawser Ali on seven-day remand in a case lodged over murder of his colleague Monirul Islam in capital's Baridhara diplomatic zone last night. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Shakil Ahammed passed the order as police produced the rogue constable before the court and pleaded to place him on 10-day remand. Kawser at around 11 pm on June 8 went rogue and started random firing in front of Palestine Embassy here. His colleague Monirul received gunshot and died on the spot. A driver working for Japanese Embassy was also injured in the firing. Deceased's brother Md Mahbubul Haque filed the case with Gulshan Police Station. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury today said that the present government will increase the number of dredgers to make waterways and ports more navigable. "During the tenure of the present Awami League-led government, 38 new dredgers have been added to the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), increasing it to 45. The process of collecting 35 more dredgers is underway," he said. The state minister said these while speaking at a workshop on the Mongla- Ghasiakhali Canal Upgrading Project-Conceptual Study' organized by BIWTA and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at BIWTA Bhaban in the city's Motijheel area as the chief guest, according to a press release. There is no shortage of dredgers for digging waterways, as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led government has taken proper initiatives to this end, he said. "There are about 200 dredgers in the government and private sectors," he added. He said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh M ujibur Rahman procured seven dredgers in 1975 to maintain the navigability of waterways. After that, no governments or heads of state, except the Awami League-led government, procured any dredgers, Khalid added. With BIWTA Chairman Commodore Arif Ahmed Mustafa in the chair, the seminar was addressed, among others, by Shipping Ministry Senior Secretary Md Mostafa Kamal, BIWTC Member (Engineering) Mohammad Monowar Uz Zaman, and Institute of Water Modeling and director Rubayat Alam. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Livestock officials and experts claimed that there is no shortage of sacrificial animals for the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha which is scheduled to be held in next week as over 1.29 crore animals are ready for the upcoming qurbani festival. The estimated demand of livestock this year has been set 1.07 crore while almost 22.77 lakh livestock are surplus after fulfilling the actual demand of the sacrificial animals this year for the qurbani during the Eid-ul-Azha, according to the statistics released by the divisional livestock department. "We have no shortage of the livestock to meet the people's demand for the upcoming Eid as the country has 22 lakh 77 thousand and 973 additional number of livestock after fulfilling the quarbani demand", Director (production) Dr ABM Khaleduzzaman of the Department of Livestock Services (DLS). Every year sacrificial animals' demand usually is fixed by adding five percent extra of animals with the number of animals slaughtered in previous year. So, country's current sacrificial an imals demand stands at 1.07 crore for the qurbani in upcoming Eid-ul-Azha, said the DLS director. Of these sacrificial animals, 52 lakh 684 are bulls, one lakh 60 thousand and 320 are buffaloes, 68 lakh 50 thousand goats, 7 lakh 67 thousand and 743 are sheep and 1,850 are other species are ready for qurbani during the Eid-ulAzha, the second largest festival for the Muslim community across the world. "The price depends on demand and supply. Since we have made the statistics through surveys, there will not be much difference between demand and supply. It seems that the prices will be ok." "Necessary steps will be taken to ensure the safety of the market. There will be close monitoring at all levels until the end of Eid-ul-Azha," he added. He also expressed hope that the Qurbani market will be a friendly environment for both the buyers and sellers. In addition to this, the DLS officials said permanent veterinary doctors and mobile veterinary team will work at the cattle markets across the country including the permanent and temporary city cattle markets under the north and south city corporation area in the capital. The DLS official also said that farmers would not face taxation for selling animals from their homes this year and could not be coerced into selling the animals on the streets if they preferred distant markets. To enforce this, law-enforcing agencies, local government bodies, and municipal authorities will be vigilant, and any extortion attempts will be thwarted. The minister advised farmers to use digital payments to avoid carrying cash. Like previous years, selling sacrificial animals online will continue nationwide this year, benefiting both buyers and sellers. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Branches of the scheduled banks in the readymade garments (RMG) industrial areas will remain open on June 14-16 to facilitate payment of garment workers' salary, Eid bonus, allowances and export-import activities. Bangladesh Bank (BB) today gave the directive to the scheduled banks through a circular. The central bank has asked banks to continue operation before Eid-ul-Azha in the branches located near garment industrial areas in Dhaka city, Ashulia, Tongi, Gazipur, Savar, Bhaluka, Narayanganj and Chattogram ensuring adequate security. Eid-ul-Azha, the largest religious festival for Muslims, will be celebrated in Bangladesh on June 17. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury today said countrywide 4613 educational institutions are not under Monthly Payment Order (MPO) coverage. He said while responding to a star-marked query raised by treasury bench lawmaker M Abdul Latif which was tabled at the Jatiya Sangsad. The minister said in the light of the Manpower Structure of Private Educational Institutions (schools and colleges) and MPO Policy-2021, educational institutions are enrolled to MPO on the basis of the desired number of students, pass rate, availability and required qualifications. MPO enrolment of educational institutes is a continuous process, he said, adding enrolment process for educational institutions is now being conducted digitally through automation. He said non-MPO educational institutions across the country are included in MPOs through notification from time to time by the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education. Less than a month of the current financial year is left, he said, adding in this short time, t he government has no plan to include any new educational institution to MPO coverage. In response to another star-marked query of treasury bench lawmaker Md Siddiqur Rahman Patwary, the education minister said the government is sincere to solving the problem of delay in getting pension and welfare allowances by private institutes teachers. Due to lack of adequate financial allocation in this sector, it is taking much time and causing problems sometimes, he said. Meanwhile, in the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Education, detailed discussion was held on how the teachers quickly get their due money during retirement from the Non Government Teacher Employee Retirement Benefit Board and the Non-Government Teachers and Employees Welfare Trust. Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education formed a committee to resolve the problem and it also started working. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

The government today appointed former chief justice Hasan Foez Siddique as the new director general (DG) of the Judicial Administration Training Institute (JATI). Law and Justice Division of the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry issued a gazette notification in this regard. Signed by Law and Justice Division secretary Md Golam Sarwar, the notification said the government appointed Justice Hasan Foez Siddique as the director general of the Judicial Administration Training Institute for one year from the date of his joining. He would get salary, allowances and other benefits similar to the chief justice of Bangladesh. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday urged for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and called for a political solution, while meeting with his United States counterpart Joe Biden, who is on a state visit to France. "After nine months of conflict, the situation in Rafah, and the human toll, are unacceptable," Macron said at a joint press conference. "It is intolerable that Israel is not opening all the crossing points to humanitarian aid, as the international community has been demanding for several months," he said. Biden said they would continue to work for the return of all hostages to their homes and for a ceasefire in Gaza. Biden's state visit comes two days after his participation in the ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings in France. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat today said the Bangladesh Journalist Welfare Trust (BJWT) is an evidence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led government's goodwill in protecting journalists. 'Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina believes in the expansion and freedom of the media and the welfare and protection of journalists too,' he said. The state minister said this while chairing the 30th meeting of the BJWT Trustee Board at his ministry's conference room in the Bangladesh Secretariat here this afternoon, according to a press release. Keeping pace with the expansion of the country's media in the last 15 years, he said, different initiatives have been taken for ensuring the overall welfare of the journalists. 'In 2014, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina established the BJWT by enacting the Bangladesh Journalists Welfare Trust Act. The formation of this trust proved that the government, led by her, is the journalist-friendly one,' the state minister said. Noting that the BJWT reg ularly provides financial assistance to destitute, insolvent and injured (in accident) journalists and families of deceased journalists, Arafat said the trust is going to provide Taka 2.08 crore as financial assistance to journalists and their families in the third and the last phase of the current financial year. Process is underway to launch a scholarship programme for meritorious children of journalists under the BJWT, he said, adding, these activities are the manifestation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government's commitment to ensure protection and welfare of the journalists. The state minister reiterated the need for ensuring more transparency and professionalism in selecting journalists in providing welfare grants from the trust. Senior Secretary of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Vice-Chairman of the BJWT Trustee Board Md Humayun Kabir Khandaker, trustee board members BJWT Managing Director Shubash Chanda (Badol), BFUJ- Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists President Om ar Faruque, Press Institute Bangladesh (PIB) Director General Zafar Wazed, Principal Information Officer (PIO) Md Shahinoor Miah, Joint Secretary of the Finance Ministry Mohammad Sadekur Rahman, BFUJ Secretary General Dip Azad, Dainik Sangbad Managing Editor Kashem Humayun, Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) President Sohel Haider Chowdhury and Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha's (BSS) Chattogram Bureau Chief Kalim Sarwar joined the meeting. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha