Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today announced providing prize money to all the players of the Bangladesh Women Football Team in recognition of clinching maiden title of the SAFF Women's Championship beating Nepal by 3-1 goals, after returning home from the USA. The Prime Minister is now in New York, USA to attend the 77th session of the United Nation General Assembly (UNGA). Sheikh Hasina also declared to give houses to women football team players who requires homes. She asked all concerned to collect necessary information about those who need homes to take next course of action. PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim confirmed BSS. Earlier, on Wednesday the Premier directed the authorities concerned to take necessary measures to build a house for Rupna Chakma, the goalkeeper of the Bangladesh Women Football team, in her Rangamati village home. Rupna Chakma was judged as the best goalkeeper in the SAFF Women's Championship, 2022. Sheikh Hasina gave the directive of building a house for Rupna Chakma as a picture of her dilapidated house having been viral on social media brought the premier's attention. The prime minister's fresh directive on building houses for the women footballers who needs came as a news on necessary of a house of another player drew her attention. The SAFF champions were received warmly after their return home on Wednesday as a victory parade on an open-deck bus was arranged for them. The bus was decorated with images of the footballers along with a big image of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina holding a football. Bangladesh beat Maldives, Pakistan, India and Nepal on their way to the ultimate victory. Bangladesh scored 23 goals in the event and conceded only one in the final. Source: BSS AH

        48 houses have been constructed and 176 are under construction under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir. Anil Singh, President, Municipal Committee Parole, said, “44 beneficiaries of Municipal Committee Nagari Parole have been issued the second instalment of Rs 22,30,000 for construction of pucca houses under the PMAY and My Town My Pride.” “238 beneficiaries were selected under the Yojana and were given the financial assistance to construct a pucca house. Out of which, 176 houses are under construction and 48 have been completed so far,” Singh further added. One of the beneficiaries, Geeta Kumari, said, “We are very thankful to the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi for the financial assistance given to construct our house which was otherwise impossible as we hardly earn enough to feed our family.” Another beneficiary, Sushma Devi, said, “No other government has done such good work for us and we are thankful to the PM for implementing such scheme.” Source: ANI  

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Thursday) said some people have broken with hammer and shovel the houses, given by her to homeless people as the gift of Mujib Borsha under Asrayan-2 project, and published pictures of the broken homes in media.     "It's totally unbelievable that they could crack the houses deliberately in this way...Their names have been traced out through investigation and I have the whole report," she said while presiding over an Awami League Central Working Committee (ALCWC) meeting at her official residence Ganabhaban in the capital.      Terming the attitude of some unscrupulous people as "disgusting", Sheikh Hasina said, "The most unfortunate thing is that when we decided to give house to every person, I saw the houses to collapse in a few places. I surveyed different places after seeing such pictures."     "Some people coming from different areas have broken the houses and published pictures of those in media. The names of those have been unearthed through investigation and I have the full report," she said, mentioning that around one and a half lakh houses have been built in different areas.      "The houses were being constructed for the poor people. It is understood easily that the houses can be broken in this way by looking at the pictures. The media captured it and published it but they did not dig out how it happened (the houses were broken)," she added.      The premier said as many as 600 houses have been built in one place and a few of those have developed crack due to landslides caused by heavy rainfall. "And we found nine places where there were some allegations of corruption. That is only in nine places but elsewhere I have seen that everyone has worked sincerely," she added.      The head of government said UNOs, DCs and other government employees had the responsibility of overseeing those and many of them came forward to help build the houses and many have provided bricks at a very little cost.     "In this journey, everyone's cooperation and sincerity is more prominent. But there are some evil-intellect persons... that is the most painful thing," she continued.      Sheikh Hasina said, "When it is the house of the poor, then how can they put hand on it. However, we've dealt with it but our leaders and activists need to be more vigilant."      She also said that after seeing or knowing such incidents, the local Juba League and Awami League leaders visited the spots and they were supervising those and sending pictures, and that is how it is being done. Source: BSS AH

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Thursday) said that she has released Taka 1000 crore to construct 50,000 more houses for the homeless and landless people. “Marking the Mujib Borsho, today, I released Taka 1,000 crore for constructing 50,000 more houses for the homeless and landless people. We are constructing one lakh more homes for them,” she said. The Prime Minister was speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of the newly-elected Mayor of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) Rezaul Karim Chowdhury and 55 ward councilors, including 14 councilors in reserved seats at Osmani Memorial Auditorium , joining virtually from her official Ganabhaban residence in the capital. She asked the public representatives to find out the homeless and landless people in their localities as the government is committed to give homes to every homeless and landless people within the Mujib Borsho which has been extended till December 16 this year. “Our target in the Mujib Borsho is that none will remain homeless and landless in Bangladesh,” she said. Extending heartiest greetings to the newly elected mayor and councilors of Chattogram City Corporation, she called upon the public representatives to make their all out efforts in serving the people and building the nation. She also asked all public representatives including lawmakers, upazila chairmen, municipality mayors and councilors, union parishad chairmen and members to take measures to motivate the people of their localities about taking the Covid-19 vaccine. “I urge all the public representatives to make sure that the people of your localities can receive vaccines in due time. Motivate them in receiving the vaccine,” she said. The Prime Minister asked the public representatives to make sure that the advancement of the country continues in future and to oversee the measures taken by her government for ensuring the overall socio-economic development of the country so that those could be completed in the quickest possible time. Source: BSS AH

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Saturday) inaugurated the distribution of 66,189 houses as part of her government’s campaign to bring all landless and homeless families under housing facility on the occasion of the “Mujib Borsha”. For the first time in the world such a large number of houses are being distributed among the landless and homeless people at a time, signaling how the government proceeds to tackle the issue of homeless people. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina joined the houses handing over ceremony virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban. The government has built 66,189 houses at a cost of Taka 1,168 crore for homeless people on the occasion of the Mujib Borsha. Some one lakh more houses will also be distributed among those people in the next month. Besides, Ashrayan Project under the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) rehabilitated 3,715 families by constructing 743 barracks under 44 project villages in 36 upazilas in 21 districts during the Mujib Year. Armed Forces Davison is constructing barracks for landless and homeless families. The Ashrayan Project has prepared a list of 885,622 families in 2020, including 293,361 landless and homeless families, and 592,261 families having 1-10 decimal land but no housing facility. Ashrayan has also rehabilitated 320,058 landless and homeless families from 1997 to December 2020. On the other hand, Ashran-2 project (July 2010-June 2022) has a target to rehabilitate 250,000 landless, homeless and displaced families at a cost of Taka 4,840.28 crore. Ashrayan has already rehabilitated 192,277 landless and homeless families across the country from July 2010 to June 2019. A total of 48,500 landless and homeless families have been rehabilitated in barracks and 143,777 families having own land (1-10 decimal) but no capacity to construct houses in semi-barracks, corrugated iron sheet barracks and specially designed houses. In addition, the government also constructed 20 five-story buildings at Khurushkul in Cox’s Bazar for 600 families, who are climate refugees as a special gift by the Prime Minister. Armed Forces Division is also implementing more 119 multi-storey buildings and related activities through Detailed Project Proposal (DPP). Source: BSS AH

Some 200 houses were put under lockdown in different parts of capital Dhaka on Tuesday as a number of residents from those areas tested positive for coronavirus. Officer-in-charge of Chawkbazar Police Station Moudud Hawladar said they locked down 150-200 houses on the first lane and second lane of Khawaza Dewan alley in Old Dhaka from 5pm. Besides, four other houses in Gulshan, Badda, Nikunja and Bashundhara areas were also put under lockdown as Covid-19 cases were reported from those areas, said Deputy Commissioner (Gulshan division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Sudip Kumar Chakraborty. Five more people died from coronavirus in Bangladesh in the last 24 hours till Tuesday, raising the total death toll to 17. Besides, 41 other people tested positive for Covid-19 during the period, taking the number of such cases in the country to 164. Source: UNB AH

State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman on Sunday said some 4,000-5,000 houses were damaged by cyclonic storm ‘Bulbul’ which lashed the country’s coastal districts early Sunday. “The damage by cyclone ’Bulbul’ was much lesser as the wind speed was only 80km-90km per hour,” he said while addressing a press briefing at the Secretariat on the post-cyclone situation. The state minister also said two people were killed 30 others injured during the cyclone. However, four people were killed in Bagerhat, Khulna and Patuakhali districts as cyclone ‘Bulbul’ hit Bangladesh in the early hours of Sunday, according to unofficial estimate. Besides, two more people, who took shelter in cyclone centers, died of cardiac arrest after being panicked in Patuakhali and Satkhira districts. The cyclone uprooted trees, damaged dwellings and croplands in different coastal districts, including Pauakhali, Bhola and Satkhira and Khulna. Enamur said the exact extent of damage will be informed later based on the information to be provided by the deputy commissioners concerned. He said over 2,106,918 people were evacuated to some 5,787 cyclone centers in the coastal areas. The cyclone made landfall in Khulna and adjoining southwestern part of the country before weakening into a deep depression. The cyclonic storm, which turned into ‘severe’ from ‘very severe’ on Saturday night, completed crossing the West Bengal-Khulna coast near the Sundarbans around 5am and then weakened further into a deep depression. Source: UNB AH

The Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) on Sunday raided two houses of film producer and businessman Aziz Mohammad Bhai in the city’s Gulshan area and found huge foreign liquor and casino equipment there. A DNC team started the drive at Aziz’s Gulshan-2 house around 4:30pm, Khurshid Alam, DNC Assistant Director (Dhaka-Metro north), told UNB. He said they first raided a flat located on the third-floor of a six-storied building and then the rooftop of another six-storey building owned by the noted businessman, and seized huge foreign liquor, shisha and casino equipment. Kurshid said they also arrested two caretakers--Nabin and Pervez-- during the drive. He, however, said Aziz Mohammad was not there at the houses. Source: UNB AH

Hundreds of chemical jars and containers are being removed from the underground warehouse of Wahed Mansion at Churihatta of Chawkbazar in old Dhaka. Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) is removing the jars and containers. While visiting Wahed Mansion DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokon confirmed the matter to journalists on Saturday. He said, the activities for relocating chemical factories from old Dhaka have begun through relocating chemical ware house from Wahed Mansion. Our relocating activities will continue till the chemical exists. The Mayor said, give us information in which houses there are chemicals. Action will be taken against the owners if chemical materials are found in any house. After visiting Churihatta area of Chawkbazar in the capital on Saturday morning Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said, City Corporation is directed to relocate the chemical warehouses from Chawkbazar area at the primary stage. They are preparing the list. At first from Chawkbazar and then from whole old Dhaka chemical warehouses will be relocated. Meanwhile, DSCC investigation committee has said that the fire at Chawkbazar spread fast due to presence of chemicals. On Friday an 11-member investigation committee of DSCC visited the spot. After the visit one of the prominent members of the committee and Fire Service Director Lt. Col. SM Julfikar Rahman said to the newsmen, the fire originated from gas cylinder blast. But there were huge chemicals and inflammable materials in the building. And for that reason the fire spread such fast and terrible way. 67 people were killed in the devastating fire at Churihatta area of Chawkbazar in old Dhaka on Wednesday night. Death toll may rise in this connection. Several people are also undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Burn Unit. AH   

Fire at Mirpur 12 is now under control. 23 units of fire service worked to control the fire and at around 7:20 am on Monday morning after three hours of drive brought the fire under control, said Fire Service and Civil Defense Duty Officer Mahfuz Riben.   He could not immediately tell the cause of the fire. At the capital's Mirpur 12, there was a terrible fire in the Ilias Ali Mollah slum area at around 3:30 am on Monday.   Many local youths and locals of the area tried to bring the fire under control as well. It became very difficult to collect water except water from the cantonment. Besides, water was being provided from the water tank of surrounding area. Thousands of houses were burnt down. There are seven to eight thousand houses in the slum. At least 25 thousand people live in this slum. FU