Bangladesh
State Minister Naheed shocked at Shib Narayan's death
Naheed Ezaher Khan, state minister of Cultural Affairs, has expressed profound shock at the death of the country's war-time national flag designer and valiant freedom fighter Shib Narayan Das.
In a condolence message, she prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family members.
In her condolence message, the state minister said that Shib Narayan will stay forever in the hearts of people and will be remembered for his works. "In his death, the nation lost an ideal patriot."
Shib Narayan Das, who had designed the first flag of Bangladesh just before the independence, breathed his last on Friday morning at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in the capital.
He was born in Cumilla to a martyr's family. His father Satish Chandra Das was captured and killed by the Pakistani army during the liberation war in 1971. He is survived by his wife Gitashree Chowdhury and their son Arnab Das.
PM Hasina urges farmers to form cooperatives to boost agri production
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday stressed the need for promotion of cooperatives in the agricultural sector in order to boost food production in the country.
“In fact we’ve to go for cooperatives. Though there is production through cooperatives, its sustainability has not actually been built as an intuition,” she said.
The premier was addressing an event arranged in Ganabhaban to exchange views with the central committee members of Bangladesh Krishak League on the occasion of its 52th founding anniversary.
She asked the leaders of Bangladesh Krishak League, an associate body of Bangladesh Awami League, to encourage the people to cultivate lands forming cooperatives among them.
No political case filed against BNP men: PM Hasina
“If we can do it, then we’ll never have any shortage of food anymore,” said Hasina.
Explaining the cooperatives system, she said the lands would be cultivated under the management of cooperatives and agricultural machines would be purchased and maintained under the cooperatives.
Under the system, the land owners would get a certain portion of profits, while farmers or labourers would receive another specific portion and the remaining share of the margin would be under the cooperatives for the management of agricultural inputs including machines, fertilizers, seeds, cultivation and irrigation, she noted.
The PM said her government took up ‘My House My Farm’ and established Palli Sanchay Bank to promote cooperatives.
Focusing on her government’s success in the agricultural sector, she said the production of food grains increased to 4.92 crore metric tons now from 1.80 crore metric tons in 2006 and 79 lakh hectare of lands are now under cultivation, which was only 28 lakh hectare of land at that time.
During the period, the fish production went up to 53.14 lakh metric tons from 21 lakh metric tons, while the number of domesticated animals now stands at 7.99 crore, which was 4.23 crore in 2006.
The prime minister said Bangladesh has been most successful in the field of agricultural research.
Gas supply to remain suspended for 2 hours Saturday in Narayanganj, adjoining areas
She said the people were once concerned just to manage rice and salt or rice and pulse for their families, but now they are concerned with the prices of fish, meat, chicken and egg.
She said the people now talk about fish, meat, egg and chicken, which means a development. The life of people has gone up many notches, she said asking the critics of her government to admit it.
Noting that the government is now providing Tk 26,000 crore to the agricultural sector, she highlighted her government’s different steps taken in the sector.
PM Hasina, also the President of Bangladesh Awami League, called upon all not to leave a single inch of land uncultivated and exercise austerity during use of resources amid the current global situation.
She greeted the leaders and activists of Bangladesh Krishak League on the occasion of its founding anniversary.
In the function, Krishak League leaders led by its president Samir Chandra also greeted the prime minister with a flower bouquet.
The AL president, Sheikh Hasina, gifted various types of vegetables grown inside the Ganabhaban complex to the Krishak League leaders.
Bangladesh Krishak League, an associate body of Bangladesh Awami League, was established on April 19, 1972.
No More WB-IMF Loans to avoid debt catastrophe
As the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings got under way in Washington civil society groups worldwide on Friday launched protests saying money borrowed from the lenders must not lead to debt catastrophe.
As part of that, civil societies in Bangladesh also organised a protest rally in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka on Friday.
Lag in pvt investment and its minimal contribution to GDP critical concern for South Asia’s job market: World Bank Economist
In addition, the global civil society will create a Twitter storm by posting their protest messages on Twitter Friday at 8 pm Bangladesh time. Their primary demand is that the illegitimate debt imposed on the people should be canceled immediately because the World Bank and IMF have reparations to pay.
The protest rally in Dhaka, jointly organised by the Asian People's Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), Bangladesh Farmers Federation, Coast Foundation, Waterkeepers Bangladesh, and CPRD, was chaired by General Secretary of Bangladesh Farmers Federation Zayed Iqbal Khan and moderated by Coast Foundation Director Mustafa Kamal Akand.
Coast Foundation Deputy Executive Director Sanat Kumar Bhowmik said in his speech that Bangladesh is offered a loan for the development of local communities affected by the Rohingya refugees and to deal with climate change mitigation.
"We are not responsible in any part for such problems. So why should we take a loan for this? Those who are responsible for this should compensate us instead,"he added.
Nearly 1 mln Bangladeshis at risk of poverty: World Bank
Ferdous Ara Rumi, general secretary of the World Rural Women's Day Observation Committee, said that developed countries like Germany pay an average of 1.5% interest on loans, and America gives 3.1%. In comparison, African countries pay an average interest of 11.6%, and Asian countries pay 6.5%. The poorer the country, the higher its interest rate. Because they are taking these higher-interest loans from private institutions as public institutions no longer lend to them, she said.
Zayed Iqbal Khan of the Bangladesh Farmers' Federation said that developing countries repay their debts mainly from export earnings. In the last decade, they have lost that ability. In 2010, developing countries' debt accounted for 71% of their exports, rising to 112% in 2022. They have already incurred and continue to incur more debt than their income, he added Mostafa Kamal Akand of the Coast Foundation said that developing countries are exhausting their resources to pay the interest on their debts. The 139 World Bank-borrower countries spend 35% of their revenue budgets on debt repayment.
Bank mergers could be counterproductive without international best practices: World Bank
Low-income countries (LIC) and lower-middle-income countries (LMIC) pay 57.5% and 44.5%, respectively, he said.
Kamal Akand also said "we refuse this public debt imposed on the poor because the World Bank and the IMF are responsible for their poverty."
Among others, CPRD's Sheikh Noor Ataiah Rabbi, and Bangladesh Bhumihin Samity’s General Secretary Engineer Foyej Ahmed Khan also spoke at the protest rally.
COVID-19: Bangladesh reports 16 more cases in 24hrs
Bangladesh reported 16 more COVID-19 cases in 24 hours till Friday morning.
With the new numbers, the country's total COVID-19 caseload rose to 2,049,816, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
5 more dengue patients hospitalised in 24hrs
The official death toll from the disease remained unchanged at 29,494 as no new fatalities were reported during this period.
The daily case test positivity rate was 4.12 percent as 388 samples were tested, said the DGHS.
Diarrhoea breaks out in Joypurhat, over 550 hospitalised over past one week
The recovery and death rates stood at 98.41 percent and 1.44 per cent, respectively.
Gas supply to remain suspended for 2 hours Saturday in Narayanganj, adjoining areas
Gas supply will remain suspended for two hours from 12 noon to 2 pm on Saturday (April 20) at different areas in Narayanganj district.
Gas supply situation slightly improves, load shedding continues
According to Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd, the areas where gas supply will remain off cover Nayapur, Qutubpur, Araihazar Road, Madanpur to Nangalband Bridge, Bandar, Kanchpur and Jatrapur.
Petrobangla seeks to complete drilling of 48 wells by 2025 to add 618 MMCFD gas to national grid
Regretting the temporary inconvenience of the consumers, Titas Gas Authority said the adjoining areas may experience low pressure problem in gas supply during the period
President mourns death of national flag’s first designer Shib Narayan
President Mohammed Shahabuddin has expressed profound shock at the death of the country's war-time national flag designer and valiant freedom fighter Shib Narayan Das.
In a condolence message, the president prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family members.
National flag’s first designer Shib Narayan passes away
Shib Narayan Das, who had designed the first flag of Bangladesh just before the independence, breathed his last at 9:25 am at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in the capital.
He was born in Cumilla to a martyr's family. His father Satish Chandra Das was captured and killed by the Pakistani army during the liberation war in 1971. He is survived by his wife Gitashree Chowdhury and their son Arnab Das.
Fire at Dhaka Shishu Hospital doused
A fire that broke out in the cardiac ward of Dhaka Shishu Hospital in the capital’s Agargaon area on Friday afternoon, has been doused, fire service said.
Five firefighting units doused the fire at 2:39pm, said Talha Bin Zasim, station officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD) headquarters media cell.
He said the fire originated in the cardiac ward on the fourth floor of the hospital around 1:47 pm.
The origin of the fire could not be known immediately, he added.
No casualties were reported.
No political case filed against BNP men: PM Hasina
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday said there are no political cases filed against opposition BNP leaders and activists.
“The cases against them (BNP) are related to different crimes. They committed offenses. So, legal action is being taken against them,” she said.
The premier made these remarks while addressing an event arranged in Ganabhaban to exchange views with the central committee members of Bangladesh Krishak League on the occasion of its 52th founding anniversary.
She said the cases should be disposed of quickly to ensure punishment for these crimes.
The PM said the cases were filed for commitment of crimes like arson violence, killing people, corruption, arms smuggling and grenade attacks.
Noting that BNP unleashed arson violence in 2013 and 2014 in a bid to resist the 2014 general election, she said they burnt 3800 cars, buses, launches and trains.
Talking about the violence before the recently held 12th parliamentary election, Hasina said they committed the 28th October incident and killed a mother and her child by setting fire to trains to thwart the polls.
“Should not show cases be filed against those who committed these things? Would people worship them?” she said.
She said today they are raising the issue everywhere that cases are filed against them. They have to be asked what the cases were filed for, she added.
Turning down the claim that 60 lakh BNP leaders and workers are in jail, the prime minister said that the jails of the country have no capacity to accommodate so many people.
“They’re claiming that their 60 lakh men are arrested, but we (our jails) don't even have such capacity (to accommodate so many people),” she said.
The premier said if so many BNP men are detained in jails, it means all who are now in jails are their men and there are no other criminals anymore there. “It means all criminals there (who are in the jails) belong to BNP,” she said.
Depicting the horrific scenes of violence and torture on Awami League leaders and activists during the BNP regimes, the PM said her government didn’t go to take revenge, but instead devoted its merit and power to developing the country and working for its people.
“It is lucky for them that we are in power. They still can get scope to talk (raise voice) as we are not revengeful like them. They talk all day using the loud speaker and then they say they don't get scope to speak,” she said.
President of Bangladesh Krishak League Samir Chandra presided over the function.
Bangladesh Krishak League, an associate body of Bangladesh Awami League, was established on April 19, 1972.
Bangladeshi workers must be protected from criminalisation in Malaysia: UN experts
UN experts on Friday expressed dismay about the situation of Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia, who had travelled there in the hope of employment after engaging in the official labour migration process.
“The situation of Bangladeshi migrants who have lived in Malaysia for several months or longer is unsustainable and undignified,” the experts said in a statement issued from Geneva.
The experts are Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences; Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; Gehad Madi, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants and Robert McCorquodale (Chair-Rapporteur), Fernanda Hopenhaym (Vice-Chair), Pichamon Yeophantong, Damilola Olawuyi, Elzbieta Karska, Working Group on business and human rights.
“Malaysia needs to take urgent measures to address the dire humanitarian situation of migrants and protect them from exploitation, criminalisation and other human rights abuses," said the UN experts.
They noted that many migrants find on arrival in Malaysia that they do not have employment as promised and are often forced into overstaying their visas.
Consequently, these migrants risk arrest, detention, ill-treatment and deportation, the experts said.
They expressed concern that large sums of money were being generated through the fraudulent recruitment of migrant workers by criminal networks operating between Malaysia and Bangladesh.
Migrants were being deceived, recruited by companies that are frequently fake, and obliged to pay exorbitant recruitment fees which pushes them into debt bondage, the experts said.
“We received reports that certain high-level officials in both Governments are involved in this business or condoning it. This is unacceptable and needs to end,” the experts said.
“Perpetrators of these exploitative recruitments must be held accountable,” they said, adding that so far action taken against these private businesses and fraudulent recruitment companies have been wholly insufficient, both in Bangladesh and Malaysia.
“Meanwhile, vulnerable migrants have been criminalised and some have faced severe reprisals for reporting the exploitation suffered,” they said.
They urged Malaysia and Bangladesh to investigate and address the situation.
'Malaysia must govern labour migration more effectively by adopting adequate safeguards,” the experts said, urging the country to fulfil its obligations under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to protect migrant workers against human rights abuses by businesses operating in Malaysia and ensure that these businesses respect human rights.
Malaysia must also step up efforts to identify, protect and assist victims of exploitation, enforce existing legal protections against trafficking in persons and uphold the country’s international human rights obligations, they said.
The experts have previously engaged with the Governments of Malaysia and Bangladesh on these issues.
Temple fire: BGB deployed after mob attack kills two youths in Faridpur
Border guards were deployed on Friday after an angry mob beat two construction workers to death following a fire in a temple in Dumain union under Madhukhali upazila of the district, authorities said.
Five more workers who sustained severe injuries in the mob attack, have been undergoing treatment in a local hospital.
A tense situation has been prevailing in the area since last night's incident with all male members belonging to the Hindu community fled their homes, local administration said.
The deceased were identified as Ashraful, 21, and his younger brother Ashadul, 15, sons of Shahjahan Khan of Ghoperghat village under Naowarpara union of the upazila.
Faridpur Deputy Commissioner Md Qamrul Ahsan Talukdar said a fire broke out at Kali idols of the Barwari temple in Hindu-dominated Panchpalli village on Thursday evening.
Hindu residents became angry over the incident and they locked seven workers on suspicion of their involvement in the desecration of the idols.
The workers were constructing a wash block at Panchapalli Government Primary School, 20 yards off the temple.
On information, Madhukhali police and upazila administration officials rushed to the spot but the mob also confined them, the official said. With the help of Faridpur District Sadar and Rajbari District Police, the besieged people were rescued after a few hours.
Seven workers were rescued with injuries, four of them in a state of unconsciousness. The injured were taken to Madhukhali Upazila Health Complex and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College Hospital in Faridpur, the DC said, adding that two of the injured succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment.
Meanwhile, three platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members led by a magistrate were deployed along with police to ease the tensions in the Dumain area, he said.
According to the DC a three-member committee has been formed to investigate the incident.
District Superintendent of Police Md Morshed Alam said they fired blank shots to bring the situation under control as hundreds of people took part in the attack. Several policemen were injured by the brickbats hurled by the agitators.
No arrests have been made in this connection and the situation is currently under their control. Police will remain deployed until the situation returns to normal, the SP said.
One of the injured workers Liton Mollah said noticing the fire they also took part in extinguishing it along with the locals. But the agitated people suspected the workers and tied their hands and feet and beat them up.
A large number of angry people attacked them with sticks, rods and bricks. They vandalised the doors and windows of the school, he narrated.
Local Dumain union parishad chairman said being informed from Ajit Babu, a member of ward number 1, he rushed to the spot and found thousands of people and tried to calm them. But it seemed that the situation was beyond control.
The chairman said he then informed the administration and the UNO who could bring the situation under control.