High Commission of India hosted an Iftar in Dhaka on 19 March 2024. The event was attended by over 400 distinguished guests from all walks of life including the government, legislature, judiciary, political parties, armed forces, civil society, academia, business, media and culture. In his welcome remarks, High Commissioner Pranay Verma highlighted the significance of Iftar in promoting the spirit of brotherhood and humanity. He underlined the deep bonds of friendship and cooperation between India and Bangladesh and reaffirmed commitment to further enrich the special and multifaceted ties, which are rooted in the shared sacrifices of 1971. High Commissioner noted that the Iftar gathering  also symbolized the deep bonds of people-to-people ties that form the very foundation of India-Bangladesh relations. Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament, Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Minister of Religious Affairs of Bangladesh Md. Faridul Haque Khan was the guest of honour.

High Commissioner Pranay Verma and Principal Staff Officer of Bangladesh Armed Forces Division, Lt. Gen. Shameem addressed the Seminar on Indian Defence Equipment - SIDE 2024 - hosted by the High Commission of India in Dhaka on 20 February 2024.  High Commissioner highlighted the advances made by the Indian defence industry over the last decade driven by Prime Minister Modi’s vision of “Make in India” and “Make for the World”, which has spurred unprecedented investments into the Indian defence manufacturing sector and has led to rising Indian defence exports. He described SIDE 2024 as a reflection of Indian defence industry’s interest in partnering with Bangladesh and to taking India-Bangladesh defence cooperation forward to the next level, including by utilizing the Defence Line of Credit of US$500 million extended by Government of India to Government of Bangladesh. He also noted that India is willing to share with Bangladesh wide-spectrum capabilities in defence manufacturing, including the most sophisticated technologies. He also proposed graduating the bilateral defence cooperation to the next level by building joint ventures in defence manufacturing.   A number of premier defence manufacturing companies of India, from both public and private sectors, participated in the event and made presentations showcasing a range of ‘Made in India’  defence equipment, technology and platforms. The seminar  was attended by representatives from Bangladesh Armed Forces as well as paramilitary and police forces.

In the midst of an overwhelming global anguish over the Israel-Hamas conflict, a minor but powerful wave of anger has been gathering pace across world capitals against Pakistan over the systematic assaults on Christians, especially the August attack on churches, pastors and devouts in Punjab province’s Jaranwala town. The Pak diplomatic missions have been rattled by the continuing protests in various capitals. Armed mobs, led by maulvis, attacked at least two churches, scores of houses of Christians and pastors over allegations of blasphemy against two Christians. Hundreds of people armed with batons and sticks attacked the Salvation Army Church and the Saint Paul Catholic Church, setting them ablaze. Another mob attacked private homes, torching them and breaking windows. The attacks had not only terrorised the minority community within the country but also Christian populations across the world. Across the global capitals, a continuing series of protests are being witnessed outside Pakistan consulates, demanding justice for the minority community and a stop to the continuing atrocities against Christians and other minorities. In Pakistan, a systematic campaign has been continuing against minorities with heinous blasphemy laws used as weapons of suppression. In Melbourne, over 50 Christians stood outside the Pakistan consulate demanding action against law keepers for their failure to protect the minorities. In Chicago, a delegation of Christian Pakistanis called on the counsellor to express their anger and dismay at the continuing assault on Christians and other minorities in Pakistan. In Glasgow, the Christian protesters met the Counsel-General of Pakistan and handed him a resolution demanding action against culpable security personnel for their failure to protect the Christian locality and churches. In Rome, a group of Christians protested against Pakistan for the Jaranwala attack. They plan to hold similar demonstrations at the Vatican and other places. In September, the Pakistan High Commission in London reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad that the Jaranwala incident had created a serious resentment in the Christian diaspora in the UK. The Pakistan diplomats in the US have expressed a similar sentiment on the Jaranwala incident. They have pointed out to Islamabad that the United States Commission on Religious Freedom has published two new reports on blasphemy laws.  The fact sheets state that over 95 countries, including Pakistan, have laws that criminalise expressions offensive to religious sentiments, figures and symbols. Such laws were incompatible with international human rights law, especially the right of freedom of religion and opinion. The fact sheet, in particular, raises serious concerns about new laws being introduced in Pakistan that target minority communities, especially the Ahmadiyyas. Source: greekcitytimes.com

Anti-Corruption Commission's Chief Lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Jia will not contest the 12th National Parliament Election. He said it to the reporters infront of Supreme Court premises on October 23.  Not only BNP leader Khaleda Zia, also including Awami League leader Haji Md. Selim and people who jailed for two years or above, will not attend the election.  

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus had reached to the head quarters of Anti-Corruption Commission to face the interrogation on Thursday, October 05.  After completed the interrogation his lawyer Abdullah Al Mamun told to the media that, "After receiving the notice from the ACC, my client came to the ACC office to present his statement, showing respect to the laws of the country." "This case is baseless and fictitious. It has no legal basis," he added. At 9.37 am he entered the acc office. In that time the current and former managing directors of Grameen Telecom was present.   On September 27, ACC Deputy Director Gulshan Anwar Pradhan issued the letters. Earlier on Wednesday, ACC secretary Md Mahbub Hossain told that they summoned the grameen officials and interrogated them for the sake of investigation. The three are - Grameen Telecom’s director Naznin Sultana, Nurjahan Begum and Hajjatul Islam Latifi.

Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has increased the price of Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) on Monday, October 2. The new price will be effective from Monday evening. The regulatory commision said in a press conference that, now the price of 12 litre LPG will be sold at tk 1,363 as tk 79 increased.  The retail point price of private LPG at the consumer level has been adjusted by Tk 113.61 per kg including VAT. Besides, the price of private LPG supplied in liquid form in the reticulated system has been adjusted by Tk 109.79 per kg including VAT. Besides, at the consumer level, the price of autogas has been adjusted by Tk 62.54 per liter including VAT.

Bangladesh Election Commission's (EC) National Identity Card (NID) server has been inaccessible since Tuesday (September 19) morning. NID Directorate General (DG) Humayun Kabir confirmed the Information today. He said, it will be accessble after 2 pm from tomorrow. In that time server will remain closed for the maintainance. NID Authorities apologized to the user of this server for the inconvenience.

Software engineer Jacky Jia has been paying more attention than usual to his stocks portfolio since China launched a torrent of measures aimed at boosting the beleaguered market in recent weeks. South China Monitoring Post Reported. Regulators have slashed the stamp duty on transactions, restricted divestments by major shareholders and taken tighter control of approving new share offerings in a string of actions that have taken the immediate sting out of the sell-offs that have roiled the onshore market. Having banked a reasonable return on the back of this, 45-year-old Jia is toying with the idea of investing a fixed amount of his salary in stocks every month going forward. But something is holding him back. Like many of the 220 million retail investors at home, he is not fully convinced the government’s efforts go far enough to set equities on a path to long-term recovery. “I’m about 60 per cent confident in the market,” said Jia, who works for a Japanese software company in Shanghai, in a recent interview. Despite the positive vibes on the policy front, “there’s no significant improvement in fundamentals,” he said. “The key issue is the lack of money and confidence. Of course, confidence matters more.” The task of restoring that confidence, among both retail and institutional investors, rests with the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the watchdog that oversees the nation’s US$10 trillion stock market. President Xi Jinping’s all-powerful Politburo made its move in a meeting in July, setting the tone for second-half economic policy. Sentiment has been shaky for some months, as expectations of a strong post-Covid economic recovery failed to materialise and top policymakers refrained from launching a policy “bazooka” to kick-start growth. The term “bazooka” is often used to refer to a large-scale stimulus package, similar to the one Beijing launched during the 2008 global financial crisis. The government has adopted a more piecemeal approach to economic stimulus. In the latest move, on Thursday, China’s central bank announced a fresh cut to the amount of cash banks must hold as reserves. Source: South China Monitoring Post

The High Court has directed the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to remove BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman's all speeches from online. More to Follow................  

Viva-voce of 43rd Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) will begin from September 3. Public Service Commission (PSC) have disclosed this information to media. Earlier on Sunday, the 43rd BCS written test results were published, total 9,841 candidates have passed the written exams. The written examinations of the 43rd BCS compulsory subjects were held between July 24 and August 4 last year. Please click the  link  to see the schedule of 43rd BCS Viva-voce.