07-01-2021

Thursday, Dhaka, January 7, 2021, poush 23, 1427 BS, Jamadi-ul Awal 22 , 1442 Hijri
Bangladesh economy is
in good shape: Kamal
DHAKA : Finance Minister AHM
Mustafa Kamal yesterday reiterated that
the economy of Bangladesh is in good
shape as it is getting more dynamic and
stronger day by day and there is no mismatch
or distortion in the economy.
"We're immuned, our debt to GDP
ratio is less and we never fail in debt
servicing. Our fiscal and monetary policy
is aligned to the national budget and
the five-year plan. There is no distortion
or mismatch, so I think we're in good
shape. We're aware fully about the
demands of our people and thus we're
working for their satisfaction," he said.
The finance minister was talking to
reporters virtually after the day's meetings
of the Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs and the Cabinet
Committee on Government Purchase
(CCGP).
Turning to the buoyancy in inward
remittance flow, he said that over Taka
40,000 crore remittance came to
Bangladesh over the last six months and
at the year-end, this amount would
reach around Taka 70,000 to Taka
80,000 crore.
"Since remittances are now coming
through official channel, a great
dynamism has been infused in the economy
which has also some multiplier
impact. The country's economy is getting
more dynamic and stronger and I
think we've become successful in most
of the cases," he said.
Asked about the possible challenges of
the economy in the current year, he said
the economy of a country is dependent
on many parameters, but there have
been some changes in thoughts considering
the present pandemic situation
and thus the current budget will be
recast which is also very much rational.
"The whole of the world knows very
well the current situation and our goal is
to harness and exploit the available
resources to the satisfaction of the government
and the country's people and
thus try to gain maximum which the
government is doing nicely under the
able leadership of Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina," he said.
The finance minister said compared
to other neighboring countries,
Bangladesh is doing well and would
continue to do well as the premier has
been planning things in a pragmatic way
so that it becomes conducive to the welfare
of the people of the country.
He went on saying, "As a member of
her team, we're doing our works with
the available resources."
BREB on track to attain
100pc electrification
TBT REpoRT
The Rural Electrification Board (REB)
has been working relentlessly to realize
"electricity to every household", an initiative
envisioned by Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina . In the meantime,
100% electrification has been
completed in the grid area of
462 upazilas under the jurisdiction
of BREB. The Prime
Minister has inaugurated 100
percent electrification of 288
upazilas through a video conferencing
and the overall preparations
for the inauguration
have been completed in the
remaining 173 upazilas in last
December. The use of electricity is fostering
a push for socio-economic development.
At present, the total number of REB
subscribers is 03.05 crore, which is about
80% of the national subscriber base. 30
years from the agency's establishment till
2006, only 74 lakh customers were connected.
On the other hand, during the
tenure of the present government, 23.1
million new subscribers were provided
connectivity in just 12 and a quarter years
from 2009 to 2020. What does this imply?
It means up to 2008 only 26% of the people
in rural areas used to have access to
electricity. But look at the situation right
BREB Chairman Major
General Moin Uddin (Retd)
now. About 99% of the people have access
to the coverage of electricity provided by
BREB.
Rangabali, a remote area of coastal
Patuakhali, about 2.40 lakh consumers
are going to get electricity benefits as these
areas are included in the 100%
electrification program of rural
electricity. Rangabali happens
to be the only off-grid upazila in
Bangladesh. The electrification
activities are in full swing in 3
phases in those 1059 villages.
As of the first phase, electrification
of the grid is nearing
completion in 464 villages.
These are located in relatively
less remote areas. Apart from
29 remote villages, electrification activities
are underway in 364 villages. These 1030
villages will be connected to the grid via
submarine cable. The REB is determined
to supply electricity through solar minigrids
to the remaining 29 villages, mostly
in remote hilly, coastal and char areas
within the Mujib year.
In other words, it will be possible to
bring 100% people under the electricity
facility in the Mujib year declared as the
"best year" by REB. However, REB has
been implementing various projects to
See Page-2
police stopped the march of the Left Democratic Alliance towards the Election Commission on
Wednesday. Later they demonstrated in a nearby road.
photo: Star Mail
Bangladesh Air Force is replacing its contingent at the UN Mission in the Republic of Mali. As a part of
this, 110 Air Force staff left Dhaka in a rented flight on Wednesday.
photo: Star Mail
Narayanganj 7-murder
Nur Hossain
jailed for life in
arms case
NARAYANGANJ : A Narayanganj
court on Wednesday sentenced Nur
Hossain, death row convict of sensational
Narayanganj seven-murder case,
to life imprisonment in an arms case.
Additional District and Sessions
Judge Begum Sabina Yasmin passed
the order while the accused Nur, the former
Narayanganj city councillor, was
present.
The court also cleared him of an extortion
charge, Additional Public
Prosecutor Jasmin Ahmed said.
On August 2, 2014, the law enforcers
recovered Nur's illegal weapon from a
crushed private car in the capital. A case
was filed with Siddhirganj Police Station
in this connection.
On August 22, 2017, the High Court
upheld the death sentence of 15 convicts,
including Nur and three Rapid
Action Battalion officials, and commuted
the penalty of 11 others to life term jail
in two cases filed over the seven-murder.
On April 27, 2014, Narayanganj City
Corporation panel mayor Nazrul Islam,
his three associates and driver were abducted
from Fatullah.
Also, senior lawyer at the District
Judge's Court Chandan Kumar Sarkar
and his driver were abducted on their
way to the capital.
Three days after the incident, the bodies
of six of them, including Nazrul and
Chandan, were recovered from the
River Shitalakhya.
The following day, the body of
Nazrul's car driver Jahangir was recovered
from the river.
Later, Selina Islam Beauty, the widow
of Nazrul, filed a case against six people
while Chandan's son-in-law filed the
other case.
Shariatpur amputee's
dream home is no
longer a dream
SHARIATPUR : A landless sexagenarian
amputee dependent on one
son-a van-puller by trade-as the 8-
member family's lone breadwinner
could hardly dream of living out his
days in a home to call his own, that too
built on a piece of land in his own
name.
But Hanif Matubbar, 65, is going to
do just that after the government came
forward to construct a modern home
on a two-decimal land for him, reports
UNB.
The government will also hand over
the ownership of the two-decimal land
to him.
Hanif Matubbar, 65, has been living
along with his big family in a shabby
hut on another person's land at
Afajuddin Munshikandi village of
Zajira upazila under Shariatpur district.
He used to be a day-labourer, but
gangrene put an end to his job
prospects 27 years ago, a double blow
to his life as he became unable to meet
the family expenses.
Eventually, he was forced to have his
right leg and fingers of the right hand
amputated 10 years ago due to gangrene,
leading to mounting the misery
Mongla port
DHAKA : Once a sleeping port,
Mongla is nowa vital part of
Bangladesh's economic infrastructure.
In fact, with the anchoring of the 117th
foreign vessel on New Year's Eve,
Mongla port touched a milestone in the
monthly statistics of handling shipments
in the past 70 years, surpassing
all its previous records, reports UNB.
A Panama-flagged ship, 'MV Wanda',
anchored at the port's Mooring Bay No
10 on Thursday night. The ship had left
the port of Georges Lasfar in Morocco
with fertilisers for unloading at Mongla
on November 23. With the arrival ofMV
Wanda, the port surpassed its previous
record of foreign vessel handling at106
in November 2020.
Harbour Master of Mongla Port,
Commander Sheikh Fokor Uddin said
that therecent dredgingon the tidal estuary
of the Bay of Bengal turned the corner
of navigabilityat theport."Not only
that, the increasing modern facilities at
the port have been prompting more foreignvessels
to anchor at Mongla."
Statistics show that the number of
ships arriving at the port has been
increasing with each passing year,
theHarbour Master said. "In2014-15fiscal,
some416 ships had docked at the
port. The figure rose to 482in 2015-16.
In the next financial year, some624 vessels
had arrivedwhile the number was
784in 2017-18. In2018-19, the number
of his family.
Hanif, a father of three daughters
and a son, forgot to see the dream of
having a house on his own land as his
son is the only bread earner for his
family.
Though his three daughters were
married off and live at their in-laws', his
household has 8 members including
his son's wife and four children. Let
alone the dream of having a good
house, it is even difficult for the family
to live hand to mouth with the small
income of a van-puller son.
But now the amputee person is going
to get a house with modern facilities
with a two-decimal of land under
Ashrayan-2, a housing project run out
of the Prime Minister's Office.
The construction of the tin-shed
pucca house on Khas land in
Karimuddin Matubbar Kandi village
under Senerchar Union of Zajira
Upazila has been completed.
The government will hand over the
house and land ownership to his family
in mid-January.
Like Hanif Matubbar, 10 homeless
and landless families are going to get
modern houses on the same site under
the Ashrayan-2 Project.
Harbouring the future
of Bangladesh
stood912."
In the current fiscal, we hope the figure
will exceed 1,000,Commander
Sheikh added.
The foreign vessels that docked at the
port last year included container carriers,
car carriers, coal carriers, urea fertiliser
suppliers. The foreign vessels also
carried a nuclear reactor with other
equipment, goods of power plants and
railway cargo, cement clinker and LPG.
This gradual growth in shipments is
boosting activity around the export
zone. New industries are coming up,
creating more job opportunities, according
to officials.
Chairman of the Mongla Port
Authority, Rear Admiral M Shahjahan
said that "the navigability crisis at the
port is over". "Ships with 9.5 metres
drafting are now being able toanchor at
the port comfortably. We hope Mongla
port will be able to handle over 1,000
ships this fiscal."
The seaport that once faced closure,is
now keeping pace withChittagong,the
largest seaport of Bangladesh. And the
facilities offered by the portare nowharmonious
with other export zones.
Moreover, an agreement signed with a
Chinese company for Inner bar dredging
on December 30, will come into
effect fromthis month. Once complete, it
will pave the way for the portto become
an apt alternative to Chittagong port.
FF's civil gazette
verification in
Upazila to be
held on Jan 30
DHAKA : As part of revealing enrollment
of the real freedom fighters (FFs),
the government will verify the freedom
fighters list published under civil gazette
on January 30.
"The government will verify the list of
those freedom fighters who have been
enlisted under the civil gazette deviating
approval from section 7 (jha) of the
National Freedom Fighters Council Act
2002," according to a concerned ministry
release.At the upazila level, the verification
will be held at 10 am at the
offices of the Upazila Nirbahi Officer
(UNO) and for the city, it will be held at
the offices of the Deputy Commissioner
on the day.
The decision was taken at the 71st
meeting of the National FF Council held
on December 3.
The freedom fighters lists which will
be verified and detailed information in
this regard will be available on the website
of the Liberation War Affairs
Ministry (www.molwa.gov.bd) and the
website of the National FF Council
(www.jamuka.gov.bd).
The valiant freedom fighters under
the gazette have been asked to present
necessary documents along with witnesses
of at least three fellow fighters or
inmate trainees who are recognized by
Indian or Mukti Barta (Lal Boi).
Avijit murder trial
Testimony deferred
for nonappearance
of witnesses
DHAKA : A Dhaka Court yesterday
fixed January 13 for the testimony in
Blogger and Writer Avijit Roy murder
case.
The case was scheduled to testify in the
court of Judge Mojibur Rahman of the
Special Anti-Terrorism Tribunal in
Dhaka.
The state prayed time petition as no witness
appeared before the court yesterday
and the court granted the application and
fixed the new date.
According to the prosecution story,
Blogger and Writer Avijit Roy was
chopped and critically injured by a band
of miscreants near Suhrawardy Udyan in
the TSC area of Dhaka University on
February 26, 2015 at around 9:15pm.
He was rushed to Dhaka Medical
College Hospital (DMCH) where he succumbed
to his injuries at around 10:30pm
On February 27, Avijit's father, eminent
educationist Prof Ajay Roy, filed a murder
case with the Shahbagh police station.
On March 13, 2019, Dhaka
Metropolitan Magistrate Sarafuzzaman
Ansari filed a charge sheet in the court implicating
six persons in this connection.
Thirty-four people were made witnesses
in the case
Dhaka Special Anti-Terrorism Tribunal
Judge Majibur Rahman on April 11, 2019
accepted the charge sheet against six accused.
Baby born with
two heads in
Bangladesh
MAGURA : A woman has given
birth to a baby girl with two heads at
a hospital in Magura district, doctors
said on Wednesday.
The baby, which is actually conjoined
twin sisters who share a single
body, two arms and two legs, was
delivered by Caesareanat Jahan
Private Hospital in Sadar upazilaon
Tuesday.
The baby's mother, Sonali Begum,
and her husband Palash Molla, a
farmer, said they were worried about
the girl, after doctors described the
condition as one of the rarest forms
of birth defects.
According to family sources, Sonali
went to Faridpur Medical College
and Hospital for a checkup recently
but the doctors there had advised her
to visit the facility after six weeks.
However, on Tuesday, Palash
rushed his wife to Jahan Private
Hospital after she complained of
stomach pain.Doctors performed an
ultrasound on her and the Caesarean
a couple of hours later.
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