Day: June 22, 2024

Kathmandu: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has said existing ruling coalition would continue as per consensus. PM Dahal, who is also the Chair of CPN (Maoist Centre), made it clear that there was no problem in the current collation. "There is no pointing in making hurried remarks over government's sustainability because it is functioning with utmost consensus," he added. Addressing the 7th general convention of the Tamang National Front here today, PM Dahal reminded that political change was possible with the contribution of various ethnicities and nationalities. "The oppressed class, genders and regions have got opportunities, rights and justices due to the movement launched by the Maoist party," he added. The Maoist movement was not of a particular party and community but of all Nepali who wanted change. According to him, the party chose a peaceful political competition to protect achievements and prepare a base for socialism. He informed that special general convention would be slated af ter holding a meeting of the party central committee. Source: National News Agency RSS

Health Minister Dr Samanta Lal Sen today urged all not to be panicked over the venomous Russell's viper snakes. He joined a virtual meeting with civil surgeons, family planning officers, divisional directors, medical college hospital directors, and other health department officials across the country. In the meeting, the health minister discussed snakebite incidents and the Russell's viper sightings reported in several regions. Dr Sen said, "The most important task is take snakebite victims to a doctor at the quickest time . . . timely medical intervention can fully cure snakebite victims through proper treatment." He asked authorities of all public hospitals for keeping adequate stock of anti-venom for Russell's viper bites. Sen laid emphasis on launching a mass awareness campaign about doings of snake biting for saving lives of the people. Secretary of Health Service Division Md Jahangir Alam and director of Directorate General of Health Services Prof Dr Rubed Amin, among others, were present at meet ing. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

At a time when demand of dowry in one's marriage and subsequent violence meted out against women in case of denial are reported frequently, 21 couples here have tied dowry-free nuptial knots, spreading a message of urgency to unburden family from the longtime social ill. Departing from the archaic and elaborate customs and traditions, 21 couples in Dhanusha district got inter-caste marriage without dowry on Friday. The marriage event held in the community was not tawdry but brief. The couples got married at the Santa Rampal's Satlok Ashram of Belachapi of Mithila Municipality-2 in the district yesterday, marking the 627th Kabir Prakat Diwas. Invoking the deities and Saint Kabir's sermons and hymns and reciting mantras, a common marriage ceremony for nearly two dozens of couple was conducted within 17 minutes, shared Ishwor Dutta Bhatta, devotee of Santa Rampal. Community marriage ceremonies are held occasionally in the locality which is aimed at fostering social amity and harmony as the marriage sans dow ry system. These were also the inter-caste marriages. Kabir Prakat Diwas is being observed today to celebrate the manifestation of Saint Kabir nearly 600 years ago in what today is known as Varanasi (Benaras) in Uttar Pradesh, India. The marriage ceremony was organized in the presence of Madhesh Province's Speaker Ram Chandra Mandal, Province's Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh and representatives of various social organizations. Source: National News Agency RSS

Bangladesh Awami League, the traditional and oldest political party, was born on June 23 in 1949 and it became a popular political party among the mass people in this part of the world by way of immense sacrifices and utmost dedication of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who eventually became Bangabandhu and later Father of Independent Bangladesh. Now AL is invariable and also an inseparable part of Bangalee nation as the history of the party means the story of struggle and glory of the Bangalees. Awami League, which will mark its 75th founding anniversary tomorrow, was the torchbearer of glorious history and heritage of all democratic movements of this soil. The country achieved independence under the leadership of the oldest and biggest political party Awami League, which is also the pioneer of democratic and non-communal spirit of the country. From the very beginning, Awami League has been leading the socio-political trend of the country amid different struggles and movements over the seven decades. After the Liberation War, the party's leader Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman began to build Bangladesh with a non-communal spirit. Following the footprints of her father's ideology, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is taking ahead the country in an indomitable speed towards massive development and progress. On June 23 in 1949, a new political party named Awami Muslim League was formed from a meeting of the supporters of Hussein Shaheed Suhrawardy at the Rose Garden situated in KM Das Lane, old Dhaka. Coming out from Muslim League, progressive leaders and activists later formed Awami Muslim League. It was the first opposition party in the then East Bengal (later renamed as East Pakistan). Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Shamsul Haq of Tangail became the party's President and General Secretary respectively while Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was in jail, was made Joint Secretary. In a process of secularization, the word 'Muslim' was later dropped from the name of the party. Bangaban dhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman came to the leadership of Awami League in its 1966 Council. Later, he became the unparalleled leader of Bangalee nation and architect of independent Bangladesh and Father of the Nation. Awami League led the Mass Upsurge against the Pakistani occupation force in 1969, prompting it to join the Liberation War in 1971 to free the people from the centuries-old subordination. Awami League became leaderless after the assassination of Bangabandhu and most of his family members on August 15, 1975 and killing of four national leaders inside the Dhaka Central Jail on November 3 in the same year. Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina took the helm of Awami League after returning to the country in 1981. She again united the party. She has been leading the party for three decades and formed the government fifth times side by side with waging different democratic movements. After the independence, Awami League was in power around three and a half years before the assassination of Bangabandhu a nd five years from 1996 to 2001 under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina. The party is now running the country under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina after coming to power in 2009. After the defeat in the 2001 general election, Awami League waged a successful movement against the then BNP-Jamaat led alliance government. In 2007, the military-backed caretaker government declared a state of emergency. Awami League President Sheikh Hasina and top leaders of the party were arrested. As a result, the party was in crisis during that period. But, overcoming all hurdles and hostilities, Awami League and grand alliance under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina achieved a landslide victory on December 29, 2008 national election. On January 6, 2009, a grand alliance led by Awami League formed the government. Sheikh Hasina became prime minister for the third time when Awami League formed the government after winning the January 5, 2014 general elections. In the general election on December 30 in 2018, the people of Banglad esh again gave their absolute mandate to Awami League to form a government for a record third straight term. In the general election on January 7 in 2024, the people of Bangladesh again gave their absolute mandate to Awami League to form a government for a record fourth straight term. Awami League President Sheikh Hasina became the prime minister for the fifth time and fourth in a row. As per the electoral pledges, Awami League government has been working relentlessly to build a poverty and hunger free, advanced and ICT- based, prosperous Bangladesh and thus to turn the country into a developed 'Smart Bangladesh' by 2041. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Birgunj metropolitan city has announced to publish news bulletin in Bhojpuri language by establishing coordination with the Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS). The metropolitan city made such announcement in its policies and programmes unveiled for the coming fiscal year today. In the today's municipal assembly, Mayor Rajesh Man Singh said news bulletin in Bhojpuri language would also be published and disseminated from RSS, the State-run news agency of Nepal. He mentioned, "The metropolitan city has given priority to disseminate news in Bhojpuri language and incorporated it in the policies and programmes." Similarly, the policies and programmes have mentioned arrangement of pension to senior journalists as well as establishment of disaster relief fund to provide necessary support to media houses and journalists during disaster. Mayor Shrestha stressed the distribution of public welfare advertisement in a proportional manner to media houses that are registered and in operation in metropolis. The metropolitan city would also support for the institutional development of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Parsa. Source: National News Agency RSS

The 75th founding anniversary of ruling Awami League (AL), which led achieving country's independence through the 1971 Great Liberation War, will be celebrated across the country tomorrow. The party was established on June 23, 1949 as Awami Muslim League at Rose Garden in the capital's old part. But, later it appeared as Bangladesh Awami League (AL) to have a secular look. The Awami League is one of the oldest, non-communal, largest and leading political parties in the country. And the work of building a non-communal Bangladesh was first initiated by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. At the time of its establishment, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was in jail and he was made joint general secretary of the party then. The AL has taken elaborate programmes, marking its founding anniversary. The programmes include: hoisting of national and party flags at central and countrywide party offices at the dawn, paying tributes at Bangabandhu's portrait in front of the Bangabandhu Bhaban at 7am. On t he day, a discussion will be held at Suhrawardy Udyan at 3 pm followed by a cultural event. Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will preside over the discussion. Besides, a cultural programme will be held at Rabindra Sarobar and boat race and cycle rally will be arranged at Hatirjheel in the capital. On the same day, a delegation of Awami League (AL) Central Working Committee will pay rich tributes to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by placing a wreath at his mausoleum at Tungipara in Gopalganj. The delegation members included Awami League Presidium Member Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Muhammad Faruk Khan, MP, AL Central Working Committee Member Abul Hasnat Abdullah, MP, Presidium Member Shajahan Khan, MP, Organizing Secretary S M Kamal Hossain, MP, agriculture and cooperatives secretary Faridun Nahar Laily, MP, education and human resources affairs secretary Shamsun Nahar Chapa, MP, health and population Affairs Secretary Dr. Rokeya Sultana,MP ,AL central working co mmittee member Shahabuddin Farazi and others. Earlier, AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader announced a three-day programme to celebrate the 75th founding anniversary. The founding anniversary of the country's oldest political party will be celebrated at each union and ward as well. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma has clarified that the newly unveiled budget would not be a bone of contention among the coalition partners. In a press meet organized by the Press Centre in Dhangadi city today, Minister Sharma assured that efforts were being made to move ahead by correcting the weakness and addressing the grievances towards the Rs 1.86 trillion budget. Dubbing the newly unveiled budget a "balanced" one, Minister Sharma, also the Spokesperson of the government, claimed, "The budget is socialism-oriented and pays adequate attention to production." On a different note, the Minister ruled out possibility of alternative to the current coalition partners. Stating that since the incumbent government is being run in a coalition of various parties, she, however, mentioned that it would never be like the single party government. Minister Sharma further clarified that the ruling party CPN (Maoist Centre) is considering collaborating with the existing partners for an extended period of time. As for the early preparedness for disaster risk management, the Minister shared that an agreement had been inked with Radio Nepal, private and community radio and Nepal Telecommunications which will notify the community at risk of disasters in advance about natural disasters. "The incumbent government is sensitive towards disaster response efforts and set to deal with the disaster effectively," she reaffirmed. According to her, the private sector was enthused by the government's decision to mark the upcoming decade as the Information Technology Decade (2024-2034). She opined that if the information technology sector was developed and managed well, we could attract billions of money in the country. "The annual polices, programme and budget as well as the 16th periodic plan include IT related agenda. We are working towards developing and fostering technology sector, thereby envisioning to transform Nepal into an IT hub," she asserted. On the legislations about mass media and com munications sector, she pledged to revise and update the old laws. Source: National News Agency RSS

Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud today said Bangladesh has sought support from India to become a member of BRICS, a group of emerging-market nations - the acronym stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. "If BRICS decides to take a new member or partner, we want to be a part of the BRICS. We have sought support from India to this end (during the delegation level talks),"he said. He briefed media about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's engagements on her two-day state visit to India at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. The foreign minister said the delegation level talks featured many issues of bilateral interests that include joint management of 54 common rivers and their water sharing, connectivity, trade, security, border management, introduce of quota for Bangladesh to import essential commodities from India, quick medical visas for Bangladeshis and development of partnership. During the meeting, both sides have expressed their satisfaction as the bilateral relation s between Bangladesh and India has been strengthening and continuing to reach new height under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the last 15 years and Indian premier Narendra Modi in last 10 years. "Both sides have expressed their willingness to elevate further the relations," Dr Hasan said. Replying to a question, he said that Bangladesh and India have shared 54 common rivers. The matter of forming joint river management for the rivers has prominently come to the delegation-level talks, the foreign minister said. "Joint river management is important as it can help us to fight together the adverse impact of the climate change," he said. Replying to a query, Dr Hasan said Bangladesh is set to import electricity from Bhutan and Nepal and Bangladesh has already signed an agreement with Bhutan to this end. He said Bangladesh has talked about the matter with India and "India gave a very positive response". It is not enough to only produce electricity and it also requires a transmiss ion line to distribute the power, the minister said. Hasan said India has been currently working to set up a transmission line for 3000mw power. "India will facilitate Bangladesh from the transmission line to this end," he said. About killings at boarder, the foreign minister said both Bangladesh and India are politically committed to bring down the boarder killings to zero level. Both the countries have been working to decrease the killings in borders, he said. He continued they have sought to introduce a quota for Bangladesh to import essential commodities such as onion, oil, wheat, and sugar. "We have sought a specific quota for this purpose as they don't stop exporting essential items to Bangladesh," he said. Replying to a query, the foreign minister said Teesta project was also discussed during the bilateral meeting with India. India has expressed its desire to assist Bangladesh in the implementation of the Teesta project, he said, adding that other countries have also expressed their willingness to this matter. Technical committees of both the countries will sit together to pursue the matter, he continued. Dr Hasan also said India has expressed no objection to China to this end. The foreign minister said Bangladesh had sought help from India to send back 12 lakh forcibly displaced Rohingyas to their motherland Myanmar. Indian side said China has a role to play to this end, he said. In reply, Bangladesh Prime Minister said she will bring the matter to Chinese government as she will visit China soon, he said. In replying to a question, Mahmud said he himself brought the issue of resolving the existing problem over Indian medical visa for Bangladeshis by cutting the duration of issuing medical visas. Bangladeshis are currently facing problem in getting medical visas as it takes a long time, he said. The Indian Prime Minister already asked the authorities concerned to resolve the problem. India has been working to update their software and issue e-visas to resolve the problem, he said. Banglade sh High Commissioner to India M Mustafizur Rahman and PM's Press Secretary M Nayeemul Islam Khan were present during the briefing. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Kathmandu: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha has said government had prioritized increase in production and creation of jobs by intensifying socioeconomic transformation of the country. Addressing the 'Youth Leadership Summit-2024' organized jointly by the National Youth Council and the Federation of Youth Non-Government Association, Nepal here today, DPM Shrestha viewed time has come to end Nepalis' compulsion to go abroad for meeting basic needs. The budget for the coming fiscal year incorporated the issues of youth entrepreneurship, production increase and employment creation, he reminded. The DPM admitted that country failed to make an economic stride following the political change. "Let's evaluate it. But it is not good to forget the glorious history. We can move ahead by correcting mistakes," Shrestha laid emphasis. According to him, it is time to move country towards economic prosperity by protecting the political achievements. "Prosperity is possible only through econ omic progress," he added. Moreover, Shrestha viewed ideological and cultural transformation is the need of hour. "Political cleanliness is imperative," he said, urging all concerned to change political culture for country's economic strengthening. For building culture and cleanliness, youths have vital role, according to him. On the occasion, lawmaker Dr Toshima Karki viewed we have challenges, but these should be changed into opportunities. Youths have significant role to advance country. Youth-friendly policy and environments are equally necessary, she stressed. Similarly, Council's Vice Chair Surendra Basnet said Council was at work to orient youths towards entrepreneurship and self-employment with skill and capacity developments. Source: National News Agency RSS

At least nine people were killed and several others injured as a microbus, carrying a bridal party, plunged into a river after a bridge collapse in Amtali upazila of the district today. The deceased were identified as Rubia ,45, wife of Rakibul Howladar, Raiti Khan,22, wife of Sohail Khan, Fatema,35, wife of Babul Matbar, Shahnaz Akhtar, 37, wife of Abul Kalam, and her two daughters Tahiyat Mejbin, 7, and Tasfia Mubassera, 12, Farida Begum,48, wife of Fazlur Rahman Khan, residents of Kokararchar village of Shibchar upazila in Madaripur district, Zakia, 35 , wife of Zahirul Islam and her daughter Rukaid Islam, 5, resident of Taktabunia village of Amtali Upazila Haldia Union in Barguna district. The accident occurred when they were going to attend a wedding ceremony in Amtali Municipal Town on a microbus while crossing the connecting bridge of Chawra Union and Haldia Union of the upazila around 2:30 pm this afternoon as the bridge collapsed into the Subandhi river, leaving at least 20 people injured, office r-in-charge (OC) of Amtali Police Station Kazi Tofazzal Hossain Tapu said. Later, fire service and police personnel rescued the injured and took them to Amtali Upazila Health Complex where on-duty doctor declared nine of them dead, he said. Golam Sarwar Tuku, MP of Barguna-1 constituency and Deputy Commissioner Rafiqul Islam visited the spot. The bodies will be handed over to theirs family members after legal process, The OC added. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Local levels of Kanchanpur district have been urged to boost financial status of the freed Haliya. Submitting a memorandum to the nine local levels in the district, National Haliya Freed Society, Kanchanpur chapter demanded to bring a plan of employment programmes like income-generation, skill development and enforce them accordingly. The Society demanded the local levels to make arrangement of livelihood of the freed Haliya in their policies, programmes and budgets, said Society Chair CB Luhar. The memorandum asked the local governments to approve rehabilitation procedures for education, health and employment to the formerly bonded labours. Free education along with scholarship in higher education, technical education and vocational training by determining quota for the freed Haliya and their children were essential, they reminded. Luhar further said they had put forth the demand of guaranteeing inclusive and proportional representation of the freed Haliya community in leadership and decision-making lev els in different committees as well as to forward construction of infrastructures making master plan for the protection of the settlements. Dalit rights activist Antaram Od explained that it was main responsibility of local government to mainstream the backward communities like freed Haliya by empowering them through financial, social and political schemes. Not addressing freed Haliya's demands is against the sentiment of the constitution, he underlined, adding they should not be deprived of social, political and cultural rights. There are 2,699 freed Haliya families in the district. Source: National News Agency RSS