United News of Bangladesh

President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of Amena Begum, mother of Agriculture, and Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammed Aminur Rashid. In a condolence message, the President prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed his deep sympathy to the bereaved family. Amena Begum died of complications from old age at her residence in Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon at the age of 103.

Amena Begum, mother of Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammed Aminur Rashid, passed away at her residence in Dhaka on Tuesday. She was 103. Nizam Uddin Kaiser, a member of the minister’s family and president of Cumilla Modern High School Managing Committee, said she breathed her last at their Mohakhali DOHS residence in the afternoon. According to the minister’s relative Jasim Uddin, her namaz-e-janaza will be held at 2:00pm on Wednesday at her native village Paranpur under Baropara union of Sadar South upazila in Cumilla. She will be buried beside her husband’s grave at the family graveyard in the village following the janaza. Amena Begum was the mother of nine children – four sons and five daughters. Aminur was her fifth child.

Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan on Monday signed the condolence book opened at the Norwegian Embassy in Dhaka following the death of King Harald V of Norway. Norwegian Ambassador to Bangladesh Håkon Arald Gulbrandsen was present on the occasion. Signing the condolence book, the minister conveyed profound grief and sincere condolences on behalf of the government and people of Bangladesh to the Norwegian Royal Family, government and people. King Harald V died on August 28. The Norwegian Embassy in Dhaka opened the condolence book to allow people to pay their respects following his death.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has taken the seat next to Prime Minister and Leader of the House Tarique Rahman in Parliament following Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s assumption of office as President. The first sitting of the current parliament session began at 3:00pm on Thursday, with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad in the chair. Under the new seating arrangement, Salahuddin occupied the seat beside the Prime Minister, which was previously held by Mirza Fakhrul. Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood, Women and Children Affairs Minister AZM Zahid Hossain, Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan and Selima Rahman have been given seats in the front row. Amanullah Aman was also allocated a seat in the front row following the rearrangement.  

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister M Rashiduzzaman Millat on Monday said Cox’s Bazar International Airport will be inaugurated in October this year. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is scheduled to open the airport, he said during a meeting with members of the Aviation and Tourism Journalists Forum of Bangladesh (ATJFB) at the Secretariat. He said international airlines alongside Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate flights from Cox’s Bazar International Airport. “Several foreign airlines have already expressed interest in operating flights from Cox’s Bazar,” he said. The government has taken initiatives to launch direct international flights from Cox’s Bazar through discussions and coordination with international airlines, the minister said, adding that the process of signing the necessary agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) is underway. Regarding the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Millat said the government is working towards launching the terminal in December. “Necessary preparations are underway. An agreement with the Japanese consortium will be signed next month,” he said. Once operational, the third terminal will increase the airport’s passenger-handling capacity and improve service quality, enabling the airport to provide international-standard facilities, he added.  

Bangladesh on Tuesday officially launched the World Health Organization’s (WHO) SPECS 2030 Initiative, marking a major step towards expanding access to quality, affordable and people-centred eye care services across the country.  State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr MA Muhit launched the initiative at a function held at a city hotel. Speaking on the occasion, he said the government is planning to establish dedicated outpatient, inpatient and operating theatre facilities for eye care at the 151-bed hospitals being constructed at the upazila level. The state minister said the government is also finalising an integrated National Eye Care Plan, targeting around 1 million cataract surgeries, distribution of several crore pairs of spectacles and expanded treatment for diabetic retinopathy. “We are committed to taking modern eye-care services to the grassroots,” he said, adding that nearly 500 upazilas will eventually have access to advanced eye-care facilities so that people do not have to travel to district towns or Dhaka for treatment. Muhit said primary eye care will be incorporated into the training of around 100,000 health workers currently under the government’s recruitment process. The government also plans to strengthen regular cataract surgery and refraction services in at least half of the country’s districts by coordinating existing district hospital infrastructure, he added. He said the government has been coordinating with international and local organisations over the past six months to strengthen and expand eye-care services. The WHO SPECS 2030 Initiative, introduced globally in May 2024, seeks to improve access to refractive error services worldwide. It supports countries in achieving the first global target for refractive error endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 2021, a 40-percentage-point increase in effective refractive error coverage (eREC) by 2030. Orbis International Bangladesh played a key coordinating and convening role in bringing together government, WHO and other eye-health stakeholders and helped drive the process towards the national launch of the initiative. At the launch, WHO and government representatives stressed that addressing the existing gaps will require an integrated approach involving primary healthcare, trained personnel, referral systems, affordable spectacles, reliable data and stronger collaboration among government, WHO, NGOs, professional bodies, development partners and the private sector. The launch was preceded by a presentation on the global, regional and country perspectives of the SPECS 2030 Initiative by Dr Tashi Tobgay, Regional Adviser and Unit Head for NCD, Mental Health and Disabilities at WHO South-East Asia Region. Prof Dr ASMM Quadir, Director (In charge), National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital (NIO&H), and Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed, WHO Representative to Bangladesh, also addressed the launching event. After the launch, a panel discussion titled “Strengthening Eye Care Services with Specific Focus on Refractive Error and WHO SPECS 2030 Implementation in Bangladesh” was conducted by Dr Munir Ahmed, Country Director of Orbis International Bangladesh and Honorary Country Chair for Bangladesh of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). Panellists Max Tunon, ILO Country Director for Bangladesh; Rajesh Narwal, WHO Deputy Representative to Bangladesh; Indra Prasad Sharma, Regional Officer for South-East Asia, IAPB; and Johurul Islam Jewel, Senior Programme Manager, CSF Global, highlighted the need for workplace eye health, evidence-based policymaking, stronger workforce capacity, affordable spectacle provision and coordinated action across sectors. The SPECS 2030 framework is built around five strategic pillars and seeks to bring governments, professional associations, NGOs, academic institutions and the private sector together to expand access to refractive error services. The launch of the initiative is expected to provide a national framework for coordinating these efforts and developing an implementation roadmap towards the 2030 global target.   END/UNB/SI/AM

The 42nd death anniversary of Rear Admiral Mahbub Ali Khan, former chief of the Bangladesh Navy and former minister for communications and agriculture, will be observed on Thursday. Elaborate programmes have been chalked out to observe the day with due respect, both at home and abroad, said a press release. The day’s programmes will begin with the placing of floral wreaths at his grave, where Quran Khatam, Khawani and special prayers will be held. His grave is beside his favourite Naval Headquarters. On August 6, 42 years ago, Rear Admiral Mahbub Ali Khan, also the father-in-law of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, sacrificed his life while serving the nation. The Bangladesh Navy will pay tribute to him by laying a floral wreath at his grave in the morning. Food will also be distributed among underprivileged people, while special doa mahfils and prayers will be held after Zohr prayers at naval mosques across the country for the eternal peace of his departed soul. Quran Khatam, Quran Khawani, doa mahfils and special prayers will also be held at Mahbub Bhaban in the capital. Begum Mahbub Ali Khan has requested all well-wishers to pray for the deceased. A doa mahfil and special prayers will also be organised at SUROVI, a charitable organisation for underprivileged children founded by Begum Mahbub Ali Khan in 1979. Quran Khatam, Quran Khawani and doa mahfils will be held at several madrasahs and orphanages in Dhaka, including Jamia Qurbania Talimia Women's Madrasah and Orphanage at Bawniabad, Jamia Qurbania Arabia Madrasah and Orphanage at Bhashantek, and Sanmandi Khan Bari Daryl Quran Hafizia Madrasa and Orphanage in Sonargaon. Special prayers have also been arranged at numerous mosques in Dhaka, including the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque. The anniversary will also be observed in his birthplace, Sylhet, with doa mahfils, remembrance meetings, Quran Khawani and food distribution. Similar programmes have been arranged in Bogura and Jamalpur. Overseas, commemorative programmes, including Quran Khatam, doa mahfils and special prayers, will be held in Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Malaysia, China, South Korea, Singapore and the Maldives.

Ferdousi Shahriar, Additional Foreign Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, died on Wednesday while undergoing treatment at a hospital in the capital. She was 54. She breathed her last at around 4:30 pm at Bangladesh Specialized Hospital, the ministry said in a statement. Ferdousi Shahriar joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an Assistant Secretary on January 25, 1999. During her distinguished career, she served at several Bangladesh missions abroad, including in Bangkok, Rome, Manchester and Washington DC. She last served as Bangladesh's High Commissioner to Singapore. She is survived by her husband, three children and many well-wishers. Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam, Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir, Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam and officials and employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed deep sorrow at her death. They prayed for the eternal peace of her departed soul and conveyed their condolences to the bereaved family.

Senior journalist and Crime Reporters Association of Bangladesh (CRAB) executive committee member Abu Hena Rasel died at a hospital in the capital on Wednesday. He was 57. He breathed his last while undergoing treatment at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and Hospital at 1:20pm, according to CRAB. Rasel was taken to the hospital following a sudden chest pain while taking fuel for his bike at a filling station near the Asad Gate in the capital. He is survived by wife, a son, a daughter and a host of relatives and admirers. His first namaz-e-janaza was held on the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU) premises in the afternoon. Meanwhile, CRAB President Mirza Mehedi Tamal, General Secretary MM Badshah and other leaders expressed deep sorrow over the death of Rasel and conveyed condolences to his bereaved family. Rasel had been working as a special correspondent at the Khobor Sangjog. He earlier worked for several newspapers, including Bhorer Kagoj, Samakal and Kaler Kantho. He also served in various leadership roles at DRU and CRAB.

The 6th death anniversary of freedom fighter Shajahan Siraj, who read out the manifesto of Bangladesh’s independence at a historic rally in 1971, will be observed on Tuesday. Shajahan Siraj, a former minister and veteran politician, died in Dhaka on July 14, 2020 at the age of 77. Various programmes have chalked out by the Shajahan Siraj Foundation, Kalihati Shajahan Siraj College and Shajahan Siraj Welfare Trust to mark the occasion. The programmes include placing of wreaths at his grave at the Banani graveyard in Dhaka, recitation of the Holy Quran in Kalihati of Tangail and Dhaka, food distribution among needy children, and special prayers in mosques and temples of various unions in Kalihati. Shajahan Siraj College will organise a special commemorating meeting and prayers at 10am on the college campus in Kalihati. Shajahan Siraj played a very important role in the Six-Point Movement of 1966 and the Mass Uprising of 1969. On March 3, 1971, he read the manifesto of the great independence at a rousing rally of students and the public at Paltan Maidan. Shahjahan Siraj was one of the initiators of the formation of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) after independence and later joined the politics of BNP. He was elected as MP five times from the Tangail-4 (Kalihati) constituency. In his colourful political life, he served as state minister for shipping, and forests and environment minister.