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‘Mujibnagar Day’ observed by Bangladesh High Commission in Brunei
The High Commission of Bangladesh in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam observed the historic Mujibnagar Day with due solemnity and respect.
In the morning the high commission organised a programme with the expatriate Bangladeshi communities in attendance,according to a message received here.
The programme started with hoisting of National flag and continued with recitation from the Holy Quran, and observing one minutes silence for the salvation of the departed souls of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his family members, the four National Leaders of Bangladesh: Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Captain M Mansur Ali, and AHM Kamaruzzaman, and the martyrs of our glorious liberation war. The Bangladesh High Commissioner Nahida Rahman Shumona read out messages from the President and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh on the historic Mujibnagar Day.
The nation observes historic Mujibnagar Day
A documentary on Mujibnagar Day was screened, reflecting on the historical significance of the ceremonial formation of the provisional government of Bangladesh in the tiny mango grove-covered village in Baidyanathtala, now under Meherpur district.
The Bangladesh high commissioner enlightened the audience with factual analysis of the history of ‘Mujibnagar Day’ in particular, in relation to how important the formation and oath-taking of the provisional government was during that epochal moment in the history of the nation's independence movement and liberation war.
She paid tribute and homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, four national leaders and the martyrs of our glorious liberation war.
The high commissioner requested the Bangladesh community members to work hard with utmost sincerity and honesty so as to help materialize the vision of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to build ‘Smart Bangladesh’ by 2041.
Hasan Mahmud attends "9th Our Ocean Conference" in Greece
Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud has attended the "9th Our Ocean Conference Greece 2024" held in Athens on April 16-17.
He led a delegation at the Conference which is a regular platform for governments, international organisations, academia, private sectors and NGOs to come together with the aim of sharing a common vision for the protection of oceans and taking actions to support this vision.
The conference was inaugurated by the Greek President through a video message, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On the first day, apart from various plenary sessions on greening of the shipping sector, confronting plastic pollution, effective management of marine protected areas, ocean-climate nexus, the foreign minister participated in a high-level segment with the participation of Heads of State/Government, preceded by an event where the Geek Prime Minister delivered the keynote speech.
The foreign minister also took part in a working lunch hosted by the Greek foreign minister in honor of the participating toreign ministers.
9 BNP men land in Naogaon jail
In the morning of 16th April, on the sidelines of the conference, the foreign minister had a bilateral meeting with the Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis.
The ocean plays a key role in human existence; it is essential for people's survival, well-being and prosperity.
It provides food, regulates our climate, and generates most of the oxygen we breathe.
It also serves much of the world’s economy, supporting sectors from tourism to fisheries and to international shipping while it is connected to our culture and is a major source of inspiration.
Number of Benazir-like wealthy people increased: Rizvi
However, the health of seas and the ocean, and of marine ecosystems in particular, is threatened by unsustainable practices such as discharges of wastewater and marine litter, unregulated and unreported fishing, unsustainable shipping and tourism activities, said the speakers.
To mitigate the negative impacts from human interventions and improve the current state of our oceans, it is essential to join efforts on a global scale, they said.
Collaboration among nations, NGOs, private entities, academia, professional groups, civil society organisations and more, is of paramount importance for implementing effective solutions, fostering sustainable practices, and safeguarding the delicate equilibrium of oceans.
Read more: SeaKeepers Society: Making waves in ocean conservation
47 members of Myanmar border guards take shelter in Bangladesh again
Amid a conflict between the Myanmar military and the armed rebel group in Myanmar’s Rakhine, 47 members of Border Guard Police (BGP) took shelter again in Bangladesh on Wednesday , the authorities said.
So far, a total of 261 BGP members have taken refuge in Bangladesh, said Shariful Islam, public relations officer (PRO) of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
Earlier in February, 330 members of Myanmar security forces including BGP, army personnel and immigration officials had taken shelter in Bangladesh.
High-level BGB-BGP meeting begins
On February 15, they were handed over to Border Guard Police of Myanmar amid tight security.
BGB, BGP to work together to step up border security
The nation observes historic Mujibnagar Day
The historic Mujibnagar Day is being observed on Wednesday marking the formation of Bangladesh's first government that led the War of Liberation in 1971.
The day began with hoisting the national flag and placing wreaths at Mujibnagar Liberation War Memorial in Meherpur.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid tribute to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of the historic Mujibnagar Day.
Historic Mujibnagar Day tomorrow
She paid homage by placing a wreath at Bangabandhu's portrait in front of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi, Dhaka.
After laying the wreath, the prime minister stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect to the memory of Bangabandhu, the architect of independence.
Flanked by central leaders of Awami League, Sheikh Hasina, also the president of the party, placed another wreath at the portrait of Bangabandhu on behalf of Awami League.
JS passes Mujibnagar University, Meherpur Bill,2023
The government declared the day as a public holiday at Mujibnagar upazila in Meherpur district.
On the eve of the day, President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages.
Different socio-cultural and political organisations are marking the day with elaborate programmes.
National dailies brought out special supplements while Bangladesh Betar, Bangladesh Television, and private radio and television channels aired special programmes highlighting the significance of the day.
Similar programmes at district, upazila level, and Bangladesh embassies in different countries have been arranged to highlight the significance of the day.
Senior leaders of Awami League assembled at Baidyanathtala, a mango orchard, which was later named as Mujibnagar, in Meherpur district on April 17, 1971 to form the provisional government of independent Bangladesh in the absence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was arrested and flown to Pakistan after Pakistan military had cracked down on the Bangalees on the night of March 25, 1971.
Bangabandhu was declared the first President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, while Vice-president Syed Nazrul Islam became the acting president in the absence of Bangabandhu.
Tajuddin Ahmad was appointed the first Prime Minister, while Khandoker Moshtaque Ahmed, M Mansur Ali and AHM Quamaruzzaman were named cabinet members.
PM Hasina pays homage to Bangabandhu on Mujibnagar Day
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday paid tribute to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of the historic Mujibnagar Day.
She placed a wreath at Bangabandhu's portrait in front of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi, Dhaka.
After laying the wreath, the prime minister stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect to the memory of Bangabandhu, the architect of independence.
Mujibnagar Day to be observed tomorrow
Flanked by central leaders of Awami League, Sheikh Hasina, also the president of the party, placed another wreath at the portrait of Bangabandhu on behalf of Awami League.
On this day in 1971, Bangladesh's first government in exile was formed at the Baidyanathtala mango orchard in Meherpur, under the then Kushtia district.
The place was later renamed Mujibnagar as a tribute to Bangabandhu who was declared the president of the government-in-exile.
Mujibnagar Day observed in Washington
Syed Nazrul Islam was appointed the acting president in the absence of Bangabandhu.
Bangabandhu was arrested and taken to West Pakistan after the then Pakistani military regime launched a brutal crackdown in the night of March 25 in 1971.
Tajuddin Ahmad was appointed the first prime minister, while Captain M Mansur Ali and AHM Quamaruzzaman were made cabinet members.
The successful leadership of the core cabinet steered the Liberation War to victory on December 16 that year.
END/UNB/FF/F
No improvement in Dhaka’s air quality, still ‘unhealthy’
Dhaka's air quality has been identified as ‘unhealthy’ this morning.
With an air quality index (AQI) score of 159 at 08:56am, Dhaka ranked 4th on the list of cities around the world with the worst air quality.
Pakistan’s Lahore, Nepal’s Kathmandu and India’s Delhi occupied the first three spots, with AQI scores of 172, 167 and 163, respectively.
No improvement in Dhaka’s air quality, still ‘unhealthy’
When the AQI value for particle pollution is between 101 and 150, air quality is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, between 151 and 200 is ‘unhealthy’, between 201 and 300 is said to be 'very unhealthy', and a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants — particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2, and ozone.
Dhaka’s air quality 5th worst in the world this morning
Dhaka has long grappled with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in the winter and improves during the monsoon.
Palak delivers speech on Smart Bangladesh in Singapore
State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak has said Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, has declared her next vision to build Smart Bangladesh and it is to transform Bangladesh into an inclusive, innovative, sustainable, knowledge-based, smart nation.
While delivering a keynote speech in Singapore, he said Smart Citizens, Smart Economy, Smart Government, and Smart Society are the four major pillars of Smart Bangladesh.
"Based on those, we have different kinds of policies and partnerships with different stakeholders, like industry, academia, government, and international players," he said.
Back in 2008, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared her vision to build Digital Bangladesh. "Back then, we started introducing policies regarding Digital Bangladesh and started to collaborate with different stakeholders," Palak said. Over the 15 years of time, he said, they have been able to provide 2 million jobs, nearly $2 billion in export income from the IT sector, and develop nearly 7 lakh freelancers.
"Now, we are looking forward to introducing frontier technology-based government services and meeting the necessities of the private sector by developing our strategies and introducing new laws," Palak said.
Recently, he said, they introduced a cybersecurity law. "Now we are drafting our private data protection act, and are going to make an AI policy."
So far, 2500 government services have been digitized.
And nearly a thousand services are available online.
"We have introduced 52 thousand websites. We are combining AI tools to provide our government services. Recently, we have decided to introduce four pre-trained Transformer GPT services, including constitution, education, health, and investment," Palak said.
He said they have organized hackathon to capture the ideas of young entrepreneurs and innovators.
"We are connecting our private entrepreneurs with government mechanisms. This is how we are achieving all of these successes within a short period of time," Palak said.
IMF downgrades Bangladesh's GDP growth projection again for current fiscal
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) again has revised downward the growth forecast of Bangladesh's economy to 5.7 percent for the current fiscal year of 2023-24.
The IMF made the revised projection in its World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday (April 16).
The IMF growth forecast highlighted different global and local challenges, including persistently high inflation, unemployment, lower remittance flow, and a fell industrial investment target.
The global lender for the second time cut economic growth forecast for Bangladesh. In October last year, it projected 6 percent growth, cutting down its previous prediction from 6.5 percent for the FY2023-24.
The IMF growth forecast comes a week after the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Bangladesh's GDP will expand 6.1 percent in FY 2023-24, riding on exports.
Early this month, the World Bank said Bangladesh will register subdued growth for reduced private consumption affected by high inflation.
It said the GDP will expand 5.6 percent in FY 2023-24, which is below the average annual growth rate of 6.6 percent over the decade before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Action to be taken against unregistered online outlets: Arafat
Muhammad Ali Arafat, State Minister of Information and Broadcasting, has said that action will be taken against unregistered and illegal online portals. He said this during an exchange of views with the executive members of Online News Portal Association Bangladesh (ONAB) at the Ministry meeting room at the Secretariat today, Tuesday (April 16).
The state minister said, the government does not monitor or control, but there is some need for discipline. Many people are managing online media beyond the registration process. The media here is so free, open and independent that it can operate without registration and surveillance and control.
"I will say again, there is no question of control or surveillance. We don't support them, we don't want to do them. We don't believe in them. We believe in free media and independent journalism. However, many flashy, untrue, defamatory and disinformation campaigns are carried out through unregistered online portals. It is a good thing that journalists want to develop disciplined journalism," Arafat said.
He said,"We have 426 registered online portals. Of these, 213 are electronic and print media. And 213 online news portals. A few more are in process."
The State Minister of Information said that if new persons want to come up with an online news portal, they need to be given time to prove themselves.
"I think nothing is right illegally, they cannot play a positive role in society," Arafat said. "I will take action against them. And this is your (journalists) demand. As the state minister of the government, I declare to fulfill your demands. As a minister of state in the government, I announced that I will stop unregistered online, the headlines will be tomorrow - the government is strangling the media. I don't want that."
ONAB President Mollah M Amjad Hossain, Vice President Latiful Bari Hamim and Soumitra Deb, Joint Secretary Siddiqur Rahman and Ashraful Kabir Asif, Executive Members Nazrul Islam Mithu, Tauhidul Islam Mintu, Rafiqul Basar, Hamid Md. Jasim, Mohsin Hossain, Ayan Ahmed, Khokon Kumar Roy and others were present there.
Gas supply situation slightly improves, load shedding continues
The gas supply situation has improved to some extent but the country has still been reeling from load shedding.
The official data of state-owned Petrobangla shows that the gas supply has increased by 210 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) to 2,555 MMCFD on Tuesday from 2345 MMCFD on Monday.
Despite Summit’s LNG terminal resuming, gas supply still lags as Bibiyana goes on maintenance
It also shows that there is still a huge gap of about 1000 MMCFD gas between demand and supply of gas for power plants that resulted in the shutdown of a number of gas-fired power plants.
Official sources said the Chevron-operated Bibiyana gas field has returned to its full-scale production capacity of 1200 MMCFD gas. But it was producing 600 MMCFD gas against its full capacity.
Govt to import 3 cargoes of LNG to raise gas supply
“We’re now capable of supplying 1200 MMCFD gas. But the government is not receiving full supply from Bibiyana field. That's why the field was supplying 600 MMCFD gas,” an official of Chevron told UNB.
Petrobangla officials also admitted that they are not receiving full supply from Bibiyana field saying that power plant authorities said they have no further requirement for gas.
The country’s largest gas field Bibiyana went on a three-day scheduled maintenance on April 3 and came back to production on time, said the officials.
Ashulia to be without gas supply for 12 hours on Monday
They said the supply of imported LNG to the national grid also has increased as the country was getting 972 MMCFD gas from two LNG terminals at Maheshkhali against their capacity of 1,100 MMCFD.
Meanwhile, the data from state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) shows that the country was experiencing a huge load shedding due to shortages in supply from generation end.
The data shows that the day peak demand of electricity was 13,000 MW while evening peak demand of electricity was 15,000 MW.
In the daytime, the highest load shedding was recorded at 501 MW at 10 am on Tuesday morning when the country was generating 12,275 MW against demand for 12,800 MW.
Officials fear that the extent of load shedding may increase in the peak evening periods if hot weather conditions remain unchanged.