The portfolios of seven new state ministers have been distributed. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has distributed portfolios among seven new state ministers who have taken the oath of office at Ganabhaban. The Cabinet Division issued a gazette notification in this regard on Friday night (March 1). The seven new state ministers were sworn in by President Mohammed Shahabuddin at a Bangabhaban in presence of PM Hasina. The seven new state ministers and their portfolios are: MP Md Shahiduzzaman Sarker (Naogaon-2) has been the charge of State Minister for Planning, MP Md Abdul Wadud (Rajshahi-2)  has been made the State Minister for Rural Development & Cooperative Division, MP Md Nazrul Islam Chowdhury (Chattogram-14) will work as the State Minister for Labour and Employment, Reserved women's seat MP Rokeya Sultana has been the charge of State Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Begum Shamsunnahar has got the Education ministry, Begum Waseqa Ayesha Khan has been made the State Minister for Finance and Begum Nahid Izhar Khan has been pressed into the cabinet as State Minister for Cultural Affairs. Including the new members, the cabinet now consists of 25 full ministers and 18 state ministers. However, The 12th parliamentary elections held on January 7. Awami League formed the government for the fourth consecutive time after winning the election.  

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will lead a 36-member Cabinet, including 25 full ministers and 11 ministers of state.   Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain unveiled the names on Wednesday (Jan 10) evening. The ministers are—   AKM Mozammel Haque (Gazipur-1) Obaidul Quader (Noakhali-5) Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun (Narsingdi-4) Asaduzzaman Khan (Dhaka-12) Dipu Moni (Chandpur-3) Tajul Islam (Cumilla-9) Faruk Khan (Gopalganj-1) Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali (Dinajpur-4) Anisul Huq (Bahmanbaria-4) Hasan Mahmud (Chattogram-7) Abdus Shahid (Moulvibazar-4) Sadhan Chandra Majumder (Naogaon-1) RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury (Brahmanbaria-3) Abdur Rahman (Faridpur-1) Narayan Chandra Chand (Khulna-5) Abdus Salam (Mymensingh-9) Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury (Chattogram-9) Farhad Hossain (Meherpur-1) Md Faridul Haque Khan (Jamalpur-2) Md Zillul Hakim (Rajbari-2) Saber Hossain Chowdhury (Dhaka-9) Jahangir Kabir Nanak (Dhaka-13) Nazmul Hasan (Kishorganj-6) Architect Yafesh Osman (technocrat) and Samanta Lal Sen (technocrat)   The state ministers are—   Begum Simin Hossain Rimi (Gazipur-4) Nasrul Hamid (Dhaka-3) Zunaid Ahmed Palak (Natore-3) Mohammad A Arafat (Dhaka-17) Md Mohibur Rahman (Patuakhali-4) Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury (Dinajpur-2) Zahid Faruk (Barishal-5) Kujendra Lal Tripura (Khagrachhari) Begum Rumana Ali (Gazipur-3) Shafikur Rahman Chowdhury (Sylhet 2) and Ahsanul Islam Titu (Tangail-6)    

Three members of the current cabinet were deprived from the nomination of Awami league in the 12th national parliament election.  Party's general secretary Obaidul Quader announced the names of candidates at a press conference organized at Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital on Sunday afternoon. The Ministers of State who were dropped are Minister of State for Culture KM Khalid, Minister of State for Labor Begum Mannujan Sufian and Minister of State for Primary and Mass Education Zakir Hossain. According to the list, Khulna-3 Constituency MP, Minister of State for Labor and Employment Begum Mannujan Sufian did not get nomination. SM Kamal Hossain has been nominated for his seat. MP of Kurigram-4 Constituency, State Minister of Ministry of Primary and Mass Education Md. Zakir Hossain. Md. Biplab Hasan has been nominated for his seat. Md. Zakir Hossain was serving as a member of district Awami League and president of Roumari Upazila Awami League. He was elected in the 11th parliament elections.  Minister of State for Culture KM Khalid has been dropped from the race for MP nomination. In his place, Awami League has nominated Md. Abdul Hai Akanda. The party has finalized the list of candidates in consecutive meetings since Thursday, but it has not been officially announced so far. Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held an exchange meeting with the aspirants at Ganobhaban after 10 am on Sunday before the final candidate list was published.

G20 Ministers responsible for Energy underlined the importance of ensuring that the growing global energy demand is matched by sustainable and affordable energy supplies. The ministers aimed to advance technological collaboration and cooperation amongst G20 members, other international partners and multilateral institutions to strengthen energy systems with a view to ensuring energy security and stabilising energy markets, read the outcome document of the G20 Energy Transitions Ministers’ meeting in Goa on Saturday. During the meeting, the ministers emphasised the importance of maintaining undisrupted flows of energy from various sources, suppliers and routes exploring paths to enhanced energy security and markets stability, including through inclusive investments to meet the growing energy demand, in line with our sustainable development and climate goals, while promoting open, competitive, non-discriminatory, and free international energy markets. The G20 Energy ministers met under India’s G20 Presidency, with the theme ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ in Goa on July 22, 2023, with the aim to share, collaborate and build on the sense of responsibility and solidarity amongst the G20 members in accelerating the clean, sustainable, just, affordable and inclusive energy transitions, following various pathways, as a means of enabling secure, sustainable, equitable, shared and inclusive growth. “We attach importance to the promotion of dialogue between consumers and producers as well as global cooperation in the business sector, and the need for adequate energy investments towards sustainable, affordable, reliable, resilient, and cleaner energy systems,” the meeting’s outcome document read. The ministers acknowledged that certain minerals, materials and technologies are critical for energy transitions and there is a need to maintain reliable, responsible and sustainable supply chains of such critical minerals and materials, as well as semiconductors and related technologies, complying with the principles of market economy and international trade rules while respecting the sovereign rights of countries. The meeting brought together over 100 delegates from G20 member countries, special invitee countries, and several international organisations, as per a release by the Ministry of Power. The G20 ministers agreed to support voluntary and mutually agreed technology diffusion, skill development, beneficiation at source and increased flow of finance to address the lack of capital, human or technical resources; to produce them sustainably and with a view to enhancing local value creation through beneficiation. “We support research and development for increasing efficiencies, increasing scale of beneficiation at source, promoting circularity, and enabling sustainable alternatives to maintain, supply chain balances of such minerals and materials,” the outcome document read. The ministers reiterated the need to reduce the potential negative impacts on people and the environment and intend to leverage multilateral cooperation as well as cooperation between the G20 members. "In this regard, we take note of the Presidency documents: “Voluntary High-Level Principles for Collaboration on Critical Minerals for Energy Transitions” (Annex A) and the report 'Addressing Vulnerabilities in the Supply Chain of Critical Minerals'." The G20 ministers also agreed to recognise the role of grid interconnections, resilient energy infrastructure and regional/cross-border power systems integration, where applicable, in enhancing energy security, fostering economic growth, and facilitating universal energy access for all, in an affordable, reliable and sustainable manner.

Finance ministers and central banks' chiefs are discussing a wide range of topics, including the US debt standoff and preventing Russian sanction evasion. Measures to counter China were also reportedly being debated. Finance leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) are meeting on Friday, for the second day of a three-day summit in the coastal Japanese city of Niigata. The summit is setting the financial agenda for an anticipated meeting of the grouping's leaders in Hiroshima next week. What is on the agenda? On the agenda for Friday's talks are topics like support for Ukraine, global economic growth, inflation and the US standoff over raising its national debt ceiling. While China plays an important role in most of the issues, it was reportedly not listed as an official topic for the closed-door meetings.  However, some media reports said the finance ministers could debate, at least informally, possible investment controls against China. Another major topic that was set to dominate discussions was the domestic political standoff over the US debt ceiling and potential default. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that "a default is frankly unthinkable."  "America should never default. It would rank as a catastrophe," she told reporters ahead of the talks. Kazuo Ueda, Japan's central bank governor, said a US default "will become a big move and a big problem, and I think that the Fed alone, for example, may not be able to counteract it." Speaking on the sidelines of Friday's talks, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner told reporters he hopes that politicians in the US will make a "grown-up" decision on raising the debt ceiling, echoing concerns about an impact on the global economy. The financial leaders of the G7 advanced economies are also discussing measures to prevent Russia from evading sanctions imposed on Moscow over its war in Ukraine, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told reporters. The US said the G7 "will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes" to bring an end to the conflict. "We have taken a wave of actions in the past few months to crack down on evasion. And my team has traveled around the world to intensify this work," said Yellen. US seeking counter-China measures While the group's current chair, Japan, is seeking to diversify supply chains and reduce its heavy reliance on China, G7 countries have been seemingly wary of how far they could go in countering China. The US has pushed for stronger measures against Beijing. On Thursday, Yellen said many G7 members were concerned about China's use of "economic coercion" against other countries, and called for measures to counter such behavior. "We have been engaging in discussions with our G7 colleagues, and I would expect that that would continue these meetings, at least in some informal way," Yellen said on the US push to impose such curbs.

Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations on Tuesday reiterated the importance of a "free and open Indo-Pacific" and cooperating with India as well as reaffirmed their commitment to promoting cooperation in line with the ASEAN outlook on the Indo-Pacific. The comments mark the culmination of a three-day long meeting that were held in Karuizawa, Nagano in central Japan and comes ahead of the G7 leaders' summit to be held in Hiroshima this May. "We reiterate the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive, prosperous, secure, based on the rule of law, and that protects shared principles including sovereignty, territorial integrity and peaceful resolution of disputes, fundamental freedoms and human rights," the joint comminique stated. "We reaffirm individual initiatives of the G7 members and welcome those of our partners to enhance their engagement with the region. We underscore our commitment to further strengthening our 3 coordination among the G7 on the region, to working with regional partners, including ASEAN and its member states," it read. The G-7 ministers said they reaffirmed their unwavering support for ASEAN centrality and unity and our commitment to promoting cooperation in line with the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. The ministers also reaffirmed their partnership with Pacific Island countries and reiterate the importance of supporting their priorities and needs, in accordance with the Pacific Islands Forum's 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, including through the 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in 2024. "We welcome and further encourage efforts made by the private sector, universities and think tanks, which contribute to realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific," they said. On April 17, the second day of the G-7 foreign ministers' meeting, Japan's foreign minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, hosted the "Indo-Pacific" session which he explained his country's views "Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)" and the New Plan for a FOIP. The G7 Foreign Ministers expressed their support, according to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Hayashi also stated that, with the emerging and developing countries known as the "Global South" facing a variety of issues, the G7 intends to work together with them to tackle these issues. "Furthermore, in addition to underscoring the importance of cooperating with India, the G7 Foreign Ministers shared the view to increase engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, including ASEAN and the Pacific Island countries, and, as part of the G7 framework, to regularize discussions and strengthen cooperation in relation to the Indo-Pacific," the statement by Japanese ministry of foreign affairs read. Japan's PM Fumio Kishida had unveiled the Japanese plan for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) while delivering a speech entitled "The Future of the Indo-Pacific-Japan's New Plan for a 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific-Together with India, as an Indispensable Partner" at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) in New Delhi on March 20 this year. He had said "India is an indispensable partner" to achieve the objectives of FOIP. Meanwhile, at the G-7 ministers' meeting in Karuizawa, regarding Southeast Asia, Japanese foreign minister Hayashi stated the need for the G7 to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN in the medium and long term, while supporting ASEAN centrality and unity, and the importance of cooperating with ASEAN in line with the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP). The G7 Foreign Ministers meeting was presided by Yoshimasa and attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, Candian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, and Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Enrique Mora. Source: www.business-standard.com

Noting that India is the destination for businesses, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that the country has the right combination of factors that matter for a growing economy including a middle class, captive market with purchasing power, technology-driven public investment and products, digital infrastructure and rule of law. In her remarks during an interaction at the Raisina Dialogue here, Sitharman also said that there is no sector in India that is not available for the private sector and rejected opposition criticism that government is on a selling spree of public assets. "There is no sector in India that is not available for the private sector to be in function. Public sector policy is not a crazy one and the government is not selling out everything. Opposition fully understands the meaning but says we are selling them off. We are not selling them off," she said. She said India is putting across voice of the Global South at G20. Sithraman said that well-trained youth, middle class giving a captive market, technology-driven investment and public infrastructure were among reasons for India's sustained growth. Referring to climate finance, she said both adaptation and mitigation need to be discussed. "There is a greater readiness to discuss the Global South and their needs." Referring to AtmanirbharBharat thrust of the government, she said it is not a protectionist measure. "There are several ministers who are part of the G20 who have been speaking of friendshoring. India, today, is the destination for businesses. We have the right combination of things that matter for a growing economy--a middle class, captive market with purchasing power, tech-driven public investment and products. Digital infrastructure exists," she said. Friend shoring refers to relocating supply chains to countries with low risk of disruption from political factors or those considered political and economic allies. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had said during her visit to India last month that Washington is advancing an approach called "friendshoring" to boost resilience of its supply chains by strengthening integration with trusted trading partners including India. Sitharaman also said the way the government responded to COVID-19 pandemic and the necessities of sustaining growth have worked out really well.  Source: ANI

Ahead of the G20 Foreign Minister's Meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Argentina's Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero , Netherlands Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Wopke Hoekstra and South Africa 's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor . Jaishankar will chair two sessions at the foreign ministers' meeting on Thursday. Meanwhile, Jaishankar also received a Football jersey from his Argentina counterpart. "Delighted to meet DPM and FM of Netherlands @WBHoekstra today. Welcome his participation in #G20FMM A good discussion on technology, mobility and innovation. Exchanged perspectives on Eurasia and the Indo-Pacific," Jaishankar tweeted. "Always a pleasure to meet FM Naledi Pandor of South Africa. This time in New Delhi for #G20FMM. Discussed G20 focus areas and the agenda of our Ministerial. Also exchanged views on BRICS. Appreciated the growth in our bilateral relationship," he said in a tweet. The G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting (FMM) is scheduled to take place in physical format from March 1-2, 2023 in New Delhi under India's presidency. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the foreign ministers of the member countries of G20 and he will talk about India's growing influence globally. The March 1-2 meeting of the G20 foreign ministers will be held days after a meeting of finance chiefs of the bloc in Bengaluru. The New Delhi meeting will be attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. In all, representatives of 40 countries, including non-G20 members invited by India, and multilateral organisations will attend.

EU member states are divided on the cap, with Germany, Austria and the Netherlands skeptical of the policy. Talks will resume on Monday, with France a key player in the final negotiations. EU ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday delayed the final decision on a proposed cap on natural gas prices to next week, despite the urgency of the issue.  The European Commission proposed the price cap last month following the economic upheaval caused by Russia reducing gas supplies to Europe, hiking up energy prices. What happened during Tuesday's EU meeting? The ministers agreed on two other measures to mitigate the bloc's energy shortage: joint gas purchases as well as accelerated authorizations for renewable energy installations would be adopted as soon as the price cap was finalized.  "I was hoping to open a Champagne today to celebrate the agreement. But apparently, we still need to keep the bottles in the fridge for a while," said Czech Industry Minister Jozef Sikela. Poland currently holds the EU presidency and chaired the discussions.  He told journalists, "Our aim is to approve all three items in a package on Monday," when the talks on the price cap resume.  The commission had suggested a price cap of €275 ($292) per megawatt hour, but only if the price remained above that level for at least two weeks, and then only if the price for liquified natural gas (LNG) went above €58 for 10 days within that same two-week period.  To reach a deal, the EU ministers need to agree on how high the price limit should be, to which gas contracts it should apply and what safeguards to enact, such as the EU's authority to suspend the cap immediately in case of unwanted consequences.  Cap exposes 'fragile balance' in EU  Some countries, including Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, fear that the gas price cap might risk supplies going to higher-paying markets.  "We have made progress, but we are not done yet. Not all questions could be answered today," German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said after the meeting, which overran by hours as country delegates hunted for a compromise. Other states, including Greece, Belgium, Italy and Poland are urging for a cap, claiming it would protect their economies from high energy prices.  "European citizens are in agony, European businesses are closing and Europe has been needlessly debating," Greek Energy Minister Konstantinos Skrekas said on Tuesday ahead of the meeting.  "The time for consultation has run out," the Italian minister for European affairs, Raffaele Fitto, said as he went into the meeting. Both sides could each have enough votes to block a deal, with France potentially proving to be decisive in the final negotiations on Monday.  Sikela said the price cap was "extremely sensitive" and had exposed a "fragile balance" in the European Union. "Some of the countries believe that if we are wrong with the mechanism, it can basically cause like a much bigger problem that we want to prevent," he said.

Myanmar’s military junta has not sent a representative to a special meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers to discuss the political crisis in the country. Foreign ministers of Southeast Asian nations met in Jakarta on Thursday to discuss how to start a stalled peace process in crisis-hit Myanmar. In recent weeks, Myanmar has seen some of the deadliest incidents since the military coup in February 2021. The meeting is taking place in the Indonesian capital without a representative of Myanmar's military junta and comes ahead of next month's  Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders' summit. What is ASEAN hoping to achieve for Myanmar? ASEAN has said that it is "gravely concerned" over the rising human rights abuses in Myanmar, but its attempts to resolve the crisis are yet to yield results. A five-point ASEAN plan from April 2021 would be one of the key focuses of Thursday's emergency meeting, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has said. The five points include: an immediate cessation of violence; dialogue among all concerned parties;  the appointment of an ASEAN special envoy for mediation; increased aid;  and a visit by the special envoy to Myanmar to meet all stakeholders. The 10-country bloc's peace effort is the only official diplomatic process on the table. However, with the junta not willing to put the plan into practice, the process has so far been a failure. The United Nations has supported the ASEAN plan but international patience is fraying amid suspicions that generals in Myanmar are paying lip service in order to buy time to consolidate power and suppress opponents ahead of an election in 2023. With the ASEAN summit due in November, the bloc may need to come up with a new strategy ahead of the annual meeting, if it wants to remain credible as a mediator. What is the situation in Myanmar? According to a local monitoring group, over 2,300 people have been killed in the military's brutal clampdown on dissent since the coup. Violence has escalated in recent weeks. Incidents include the bombing of the country's largest prison and an air strike in Kachin State on Sunday which, as per local media reports, left at least 50 people dead. Myanmar's generals have been barred from several high-level ASEAN meetings since the seizure of power.