Around 60 percent of the brick kilns in the country are being operated illegally without environmental clearance.   Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change Shahab Uddin gave this information on Tuesday in response to a tabled question of ruling party lawmaker Mamunur Rashid Kiran in Parliament. Read more: Govt may provide loans for producing eco-friendly bricks: Environment Minister The minister said that the total number of brick kilns in the country (June 2022) is 7881. Of these, 3,248 are being operated legally.  But 4,633 brick kilns are operating without environmental clearance. The minister said 41.2 percent of the brick kilns are legal and 58.8 percent are illegal. The minister said that from 2019 to 2022, some 1,772 drives were conducted and some of Tk 77.62 crore was collected from 3,37 brick kilns.  Read more: DCs asked to take steps against brick kilns Besides,  907 brick kilns were shut and 80 people were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. In response to the question of ruling party MP M Abdul Latif of the government party, the minister said that about 30,000 tonnes solid wastes are generated in the cities of Bangladesh every day.  In 2025, the quantity of daily waste will increase to 47,000 tonnes. The minister said that about 10 percent of  the solid waste is plastic.

The atmosphere in Parliament became very heated for some time over an apparently derogatory remark by a ruling party MP on Jatiya Party founder and ex. president, late HM Ershad. Ruling party MP from Lalmonirhat Motahar Hossain, while speaking at the thanksgiving motion on President’s speech, claimed that Ershad lost his security money in the January 5, 2014 election against him. His comments created anarchy in the House for some time. Jatiya Party MP Firoz Rashid stood and started to speak without the microphone and protested what he called the ‘derogatory remark’ from the ruling party MP. At one stage Deputy Speaker Shamshul Huq Tuku, who was in the chair, asked him to sit down and wait to be given the floor. But Rashid did not stop and at that time shouting from different directions was heard in the House. Motahar, who still had the mic, asked how Rashid expects to speak while another MP is speaking. Deputy Speaker at that time turned off all microphones, and gave the floor to Firoz Rashid for one minute. The Jatiya Party MP accused Motahar of lying. “His (Motahar Hossain) speech should be expunged and he should seek apology,” he said. Opposition Chief Whip Mashiur Rahman Ranga also threatened to leave the House, shouting without the mic. Deputy Speaker asked him to sit down and speak later on point of order. But Ranga did not pay heed to him and continued shouting. Read more: Parliament now a one-party club: Fakhrul At that stage, deputy speaker assured him that if there is anything objectionable it will be expunged. He also asked Motahar to stick to the agenda and gave the microphone back to him. At this point, speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was seen to enter the House hurriedly and taking her seat. She asked for calm and all to sit down. “There is a decorum in the House, now discussion on the President’s speech is going on, one person is speaking, if there are any objectionable words in that speech you can raise that and it will be expunged after scrutiny. For that you have to wait for sometime,” she said. She gave the floor to Motahar Hossain, and now he claimed that he did not say anything untrue. Standing on point of order, Firoz Rashid said that it is indecent to say anything derogatory against a dead person. “Mr Motahar should know that Mr Ershad never suffered defeat in the land of Rangpur,” he said. He also said that Ershad did not participate in the 2014 election. “There is no one in Rangpur who can inflict a defeat on Mr Ershad in Rangpur where he loses his security money, in any election. There should be a limit of audacity, we demand full expunge of this speech, otherwise he will face problems in the land of Rangpur,” he said. Read more: 21st Parliament session to continue till Feb 9 In the controversial 2014 election, Motahar got 189,814 votes in Lalmonirhat-1 constituency while Ershad got 5381 votes. Lalmonirhat is in Rangpur division.    

Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon on Monday said that the anti-corruption drive of the government has grinded to a halt. “Corruption is a part of development.  But those countries that are on the path of development have taken strict measures to prevent corruption,” he said. Rashed Khan Menon said this while participating in the discussion of the thanksgiving motion on the President's speech in the Parliament. He said that China has punished 150,000 persons for various terms on corruption charges.   “Which includes Politburo members.  Vietnam has sacked its deputy prime minister.  But what have we done in the case of ministers and bureaucrats? No we don’t,” he said. Also Read: 191 news portals to be blocked for anti-state propaganda: Info Minister Rashed Khan Menon said that he will not talk about defaulted loans and money laundering.   “There has been a lot of talk about this in Parliament.  In this case, the government's thinking is like that you can say whatever you want, bit I will not pay any heed,” he said. Rashed Khan Menon said that the US and western imperialism wanted to involve Bangladesh in their plot of war in Russia and Ukraine, whichnis leading the world towards third world war. “The Prime Minister has managed to keep Bangladesh away from it so far.  And this is why all those forces are so vocal about our elections and democracy.” Menon made it clear that Bangladesh's democracy and elections are its own affairs.   “They should rather take care of their own matters and talk about others later,” he added. Criticising BNP, Rashed Khan Menon said that they have given 27 points to repair the state is an attempt to take the state back to the 'illegal fifth amendment era'.   “Their 'Rainbow Nation' stands for  abolishing the verdicts of the war criminals trials.”  

Chattogram Shahi Jame Masjid Bill 2023 was passed in parliament on Monday, aiming to upgrade the mosque into a center that can play an important role in preaching and proliferation of Islam in this area. State Minister for Religious Affairs M Faridul Haque Khan moved the nill in the House and it was passed by voice votes. The mosque was built in 1667 during Mughal rule. The bill will replace the Chittagong Shahi Jame Masjid Ordinance 1986 which was promulgated during the military regime. Read moe: Parliament passes new national budget by voice vote It will provide for better management and maintenance of the Shahi Jame Masjid in Chattogram. Any person who wrongfully obtains possession of or retains, or, having in his possession, custody or control, wrongfully withholds, any asset or property acquired, or transferred to and vested in the foundation, under this proposed law, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

Sri Lanka's president suspended Parliament until Feb. 8, when he said he would announced a new set of long-term policies to address a range of issues including an unprecedented economic crisis that has engulfed the Indian Ocean nation for months. President Ranil Wickremesinghe issued an extraordinary decree suspending Parliament from midnight Friday. The government did not give a clear reason for the move, but Wickremesinghe' s office in a statement said his address to lawmakers on Feb. 8 will announce new policies and laws, which will be implemented until the centenary celebrations of Sri Lanka's independence in 2048. It is also widely expected that Wickremesinghe would announce his policies on sharing power with ethnic minority Tamils. A civil war between the majority Sinhala-controlled Sri Lankan government and ethnic Tamil rebels killed at least 100,000 people, according to U.N. conservative calculations, before it ended with the rebels’ defeat in 2009. Political analyst Jehan Perera said the president’s move to suspend Parliament is “to show that he is the authority.” He said that the suspension also “symbolises a fresh start” as the president gets the opportunity “to announce all the new things that are going to be done.” Also Read: Sri Lanka says debt-restructuring talks making progress Unsustainable debt, a severe balance of payment crisis on top of lingering scars of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a severe shortage of essentials such as fuel, medicine and food. The soaring prices triggered massive protests last year that ousted Wickremesinghe's predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Although there are some signs of progress, daily power cuts have continued due to fuel shortages and the government is struggling to find money to pay its employees and conduct other administrative functions. There's been a growing public displeasure over the government’s recent move to increase taxes and electricity bills in an apparent bid to obtain a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund. Also Read: Sri Lanka’s government cuts expenses as economy tanks Sri Lanka is effectively bankrupt and has suspended repayment of nearly $7 billion in foreign debt due this year pending the outcome of talks with the IMF. The country’s total foreign debt exceeds $51 billion, of which $28 billion has to be repaid by 2027. The government announced 6% cuts in the budgets of each ministry this year and plans to nearly half the size of the military, which had swelled to more than 200,000 personnel due to a long civil war. During the suspension of Parliament, the speaker continues to function and lawmakers keep their seats even though they do not attend any sessions.

A three-member team of Bangladesh Parliament on Friday participated in the 48th meeting of the Executive Committee of the Parliamentary Union of OIC Member States (PUIC) in Algeria. The head of Bangladesh delegation and also the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Md Shahiduzzaman Sarker spoke at the meeting, said a press release here. He requested the OIC to strengthen its support to Bangladesh over the peaceful repatriation of Rohingyas refugees to Myanmar from Bangladesh. Read more: Bangladesh seeks OIC’s help to continue Rohingya genocide case He also raised the Rohingya issue while talking to PUIC general secretary. Two other members of the Bangladesh team are Abu Reza Muhammad Nezamuddin MP and SM Shahjada MP.

There are some 1.7 million child workers in the country, and 1.2 million of them are engaged in hazardous work. State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Monnuzan Sufian said this in Parliament responding to a tabled question from Awami League MP Habib Hasan. She said that according to a 2013 survey of the Bureau of Statistics the number of child workers in the country is 1.7 million. Read more: Zakat Fund Management Bill passed in JS She also said that as per the survey in 2003, the number of child workers was 3.4 million. In response to another question of AL MP Abul Kalam Azad, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumdar said that at present there is no food shortage in the country. In the last fiscal year, 391.30 lakh metric tonnes of food grains including 380.48 lakh metric tonnes of rice and 10.82 lakh metric tons of wheat were produced. The minister also claimed that there is no danger of food shortage in the country even in the current financial year. Read more: Finance Minister places names of top 20 loan defaulters in JS In response to another question from AL MP M Abdul Latif, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said that currently 183 garment factories in Bangladesh have been recognised as green factories from the US Green Building Council (USGBC).

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said that she stands ready for correction if the opposition parties can find out any failure of her government. She said this while responding to a question from Jatiya Party lawmaker Fakhrul Imam during PM’s question hour in Parliament. “People will judge the successes and failures. It is not my responsibility to judge that. Why should I fail if I work with honesty and specific goals for the welfare of the people?  Whether I've success or success, the people will decide,” she said.   Read more: Next stop, Smart Bangladesh: PM lays out renewed vision at BASA meet “Since you are so interested, please find out my failures, I will correct those," she told the JP lawmaker. She said that after the formation of the government, she has worked with the desire that the grassroots people will stay well.   “People are getting the benefits now. Elderly people will understand the radical changes that happebed in Bangladesh in the last 14 years,” she said. But, she said that today's generation will not realise that. In response to a question from ruling party MP AKM Rahmatullah, the prime minister said that after killing Bangabandhu, late Gen. Ziaur Rahman seized power illegally and freed the war criminals and rehabilitated them. By changing two clauses of the constitution, Zia allowed them to do politics and gave the right to vote.   “Many war criminals including Ghulam Azam were brought back from Pakistan and given citizenship.  Zia made war criminals as advisors and ministers," she said. Read more: PM directs DCs to increase food production, exercise austerity She said Zia’s wife Khaleda Zia also gave war criminals place in her cabinet after she came to power. “It is disgraceful for a nation to patronise war criminals like this. Genuine freedom fighters who did not agree to join hands with Zia were omitted from the list of freedom fighters. They were humiliated as Zia included the non-freedom fighters in the list of freedom fighters. They did not want to honour the real freedom fighters.” In response to ruling party MP Benazir Ahmed's question, Sheikh Hasina said that the corona pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have affected the global economy. “Bangladesh is no exception. Along with other overall economic and social negative effects, this has affected the market prices of daily necessities," she admitted. In reply to a supplementary question of ruling party MP Mozaffar Hossain, the PM said that Bangladesh's garment industry has expanded widely, but there is difficulties finding technical persons in there. “Many people are brought from abroad and given jobs," she said. In this connection, she said, her government has established textile universities and colleges In order to create skilled manpower in this sector. The prime minister said that at the moment the government has no plan to create any new cadre in the BCS. “But may consider it in future.”

The Zakat Fund Management Bill -2023 was passed in Parliament on Wednesay, aiming to make Zakat (obligatory charity in Islam)  an important tool to eradicate poverty from the country. As per the proposed Bill, it also aims to engage a zakat receiver in any profession or activity to make the person self-reliant and rehabilitated. State Minister for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan moved the bill and it was passed by voice vote. The proposed 'Zakat Fund Management Act, 2023' will replace the Zakat Fund Ordinance, 1982. Also read: JS passes bill to introduce Universal Pension Scheme The Bill said that there will be a Zakat Board consisting of 13 members. Religious Affairs Minister or State Minister will be the Chairman of that Board. Other members are-the Secretary of the Religious Affairs Ministry, an official from the ministry with minimum joint secretary level, an official of the Finance Ministry with minimum  joint secretary level, an official with minimum joint secretary level from the legislative and parliamentary affairs division, government selected five eminent islamic scholars (Fakih), two representatives from country’s trade body organisation and the Director-General of the Islamic Foundation. Their appointment will be valid for three years and they will hold at least two meetings per year. A fund will be formed called the Zakat Fund which shall consist of voluntary payment of Zakat by the Muslims. After the law is enacted, anyone from home and abroad will be able to give zakat at any government scheduled bank. The moneys credited to the Fund shall be kept in non-interest bearing accounts of scheduled banks. As per the objective of the Bill, Islam is a complete religion and way of life. Zakat is an important provision for the socio-economic welfare and security of people. Allah has made Zakat obligatory upon a compliant Muslim who possesses a Nisab amount of wealth as determined by the Shari'ah.  Zakat is a tool for poverty alleviation and rehabilitation. Zakat is not a voluntary donation, rather Zakat is a fixed portion of the wealth of the rich to be paid to the poor and needy by Allah.  Although zakat system has been in operation at the individual level for a long time in this country, the desired benefits were not being obtained from zakat due to various reasons.  Poverty was once possible to be eradicated throughout the Muslim world through the system of Zakat.  Therefore, the government formed the Zakat Board by enacting The Zakat Fund Ordinance, 1982 for the purpose of proper utilisation of Zakat and the permanent welfare of the destitute Muslims according to the provisions of Islam. The Zakat Fund Management Bill -2023 was placed in parliament in order to repeal the military regime ordinance in line with a verdict of the High Court.    

The total amount of debt to the top 20 defaulters is Tk 19,283.93 crore while the amount of defaulted loan is Tk 16,587. 92 crore. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal divulged the amount in parliament on Tuesday responding to a tabled question from ruling Awami League MP Shahiduzzaman Sarker. The finance minister placed the list the names of top 20 loan defaulters, amount of total debt and the amount of defaulted loans to them. He also informed the House that the total number of defaulters in the country is 7,86,065. According to the list, among the top 20 loan defaulters, the debt status of CLC Power Company Limited is Tk 1,732.92 crore while their defaulted debt is 1,649.44 crore. The debt status and amount of defaulted loan of 19 others are: Western Marine Shipyard Ltd, Tk 1,855.39 crore, defaulted debt, 1529.74 crore; Remex Footwear Ltd, Tk 1,077.63 crore, all those amount are defaulted loans; Rising Steel Company Ltd, 1,142.76 crore, defaulted debt, Tk 990.28 crore; Mohammad Elias Brothers (Pvt.) Ltd, Tk 965.60 crore, all those amount are defaulted loans. Rupali Composite Leather Wire Ltd.'s status and amount of defaulted loans are the same. Their defaulted debt is Tk 873. 29 lakh. Crescent Leathers Products Ltd.'s status and amount of defaulted loans is Tk 855.22 crore. The status and amount of defaulted loans of Quantum Power Systems Ltd. is Tk 811.33 crore. The debt status of Saad Musa Fabrics Ltd. is Tk 1,131.83 crore, the amount of their defaulted loans is Tk 776.63 crore. The status of amount of BR Spinning Mills Ltd. and the amount of defaulted loans is Tk 721 Crore 43 Lakh. The debt status of SA Oil Refinery Ltd. is Tk 1,172.69 crore. The amount of their defaulted loans is Tk 703.53 crore. Debt status of Maisha Property Development Ltd. is Tk 686.14 crore. The amount of their defaulted loans is Tk 663.18 crore. Read more: JP’s Rustum Ali Faraji blasts Finance Minister for his silence on state of economy Debt status of Radium Composite Textile Ltd. is Tk 770.48 crore. The amount of their defaulted loans is Tk 660.42 crore. Debt status of Samannaz Super Oil Ltd. is Tk 1,130.68 crore. The amount of their defaulted loans is Tk 651.7 crore. Manha Precast Technology Ltd.'s debt status and defaulted debt amount is Tk 647.16 crore. Asian Education Ltd.'s debt status is Tk. 653 Crores. The amount of their defaulted loans is Tk 635.94 crore. Debt status of SM Steel Re-Rolling Mills Ltd. is Tk 888.71 crore. Their defaulted loan amount is 630.26 crore. The debt status of Apollo Steel Complex Ltd. is Tk 872.72 crore. The amount of their defaulted loans is Tk 623.34 crore. Debt Status of Ehsan Steel Re-Rolling Ltd. is Tk 624.27 crore. Their defaulted loans amount is Tk 590.23 crore and the debt status of Siddiqui Traders is Tk 670.68 crore while the amount of their defaulted loans is 541.20 crore. In response to a question from reserved seat lawmaker from ruling party Nazma Akhtar, the finance minister told the parliament that there is no plan to waive interest on agricultural loans. Mentioning the reason for this, the minister said that banks give loans to farmers with money collected from depositors. As depositors have to be paid interest, it is not possible for the bank to waive the interest on the loan given to the farmers. Responding to a question from lawmaker Habibur Rahman, Kamal said that no loan has been received so far from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the current financial year (2022-23) while negotiations with the IMF regarding a loan are ongoing. “A loan of 300 million US dollars has been received from the World Bank in the current financial year. This loan is repayable in 30 years with a grace period of five years,” he said. Read more: 1st quarter performance of FY22-23 budget satisfactory: Finance Minister Replying a question from the ruling party lawmaker elected from Chattogram Md Abdul Latif's question, the minister said that the Japanese government has released 921.61 million US dollars for the overall development of Bangladesh till December of the current financial year. To a question of Jatiya Party lawmaker Syed Abu Hussain referring to the fact that the tax revenue was less than the target in the last financial year, Kamal said that the desired revenue collection has failed due to the post-Covid economic recession, Russia-Ukraine war, global monetary policy and austerity policy. In response to another question of Latif, he highlighted the various initiatives of the government to reduce the dollar crisis in the parliament. He informed that domestic banking units (local banks) have been given the right to raise foreign currency funds from their offshore banking operations, which will remain in force till June 30, 2023. In order to ensure a sufficient supply of edible oil, chickpeas, pulses, peas, onions, spices, sugar and dates at a bearable level during the month of Ramadan, all these products have been given a 90-day delay payment system to import these products, said the finance minister. It will remain in force till March 31, 2023. He said that with the aim of facilitating trade with China, the opportunity to trade with the country’s currency has been provided.