Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (March 8) hoped that the women community will move forward in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution through the use of modern technology. The Prime Minister said this in a message given on Thursday (March 7) on the occasion of 'International Women's Day' on March 8. The PM said, "I am happy to know that 'International Women's Day' is being observed in Bangladesh as elsewhere in the world. On the occasion of this day, I extend my heartiest greetings and congratulations to all the women of the world. The theme of this year's World Women's Day is  'Women's equal rights, equal opportunities; The Prime Minister also hoped that Women's community will advance modern technology with their innovation. She said Awami League has been working to ensure equal participation of men and women in every steps. Various initiatives have been taken by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to advance women in the economic, social and political context of Bangladesh and to build a developed smart Bangladesh by 2041. Sheikh Hasina also said the mother and child support programme is being implemented to ensure mother and child health and make women self-reliant. Initiatives have been taken to market their products along with training programs at divisional, district and upazila levels so that every woman can prepare herself as an entrepreneur.

Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) today signed an agreement with France's Thales LAS to set up multi-mode radar with Communication, Navigation and Surveillance Air Traffic Management (CNS-ATM) system at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka.      CAAB chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mofidur Rahman and Thales LAS vice chairman Nicholas inked the deal for their respective sides at a city hotel.      State Minister for civil aviation and tourism M Mahbub Ali, civil aviation and tourism secretary M Mokammel Hossain and French Ambassador to Bangladesh Jean Marin were present to witness the signing ceremony.      Mahbub said that the country's airspace would be more secure and safe after installation of the modern radar.      Besides, he said, the new modern radar will help Air Traffic Control (ATC) to detect every single aircraft those flying over the country's airspace.      It will help the CAAB to increase its revenue, he said.     The new modern radar is expected to be installed within three years will comply with the international standard.      The project received approval from the cabinet purchase committee on June 8 this year. Source: BSS AH

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Thursday) said a disciplined and modern army always plays a very helpful role to consolidate the country’s democracy.  “That is why it's (army) leadership must be entrusted to professional and responsible officers who are always imbued with the ideology of the great War of Liberation and ready to sacrifice their highest for the protection of sovereignty,” she said.  The premier was addressing the Army Headquarters Selection Board-2021 at Army Headquarters Multi-Purpose Complex, joining virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.  Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed BSS about the meeting.     Mentioning that discipline is the backbone of the army, she laid emphasis on finding honest, disinterested, fair, people-friendly, humane and successful officers who demonstrated leadership in various fields of their career for the case of promotion.  Sheikh Hasina said she was happy to know that the promotion of army officers is being given following TRACE (Tabulated Record and Comparative Evaluation) method which reveals a comparative assessment of various aspects of their professionalism.  “At the same time, I believe the adjudicators by standing above their personal likes and dislikes would select the right person for promotion through wisdom and prudent analysis,” she said, adding, “You (adjudicators) just have to be neutral and influence-free to find out the capable leadership.”  The Prime Minister said appropriate officers should be promoted to various important posts such as command, staff, trainer, and it will increase the acceptance of all. She said the Awami League government always runs the country as the servant of the people, never as a ruler.  Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh Army had started its progress due to the sincere efforts of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In the continuation of the progress journey, the army has now become a highly professional, efficient and modern force due to intensive care from her government, she said. “Our army has been working very efficiently in various development and public welfare activities, including containing the recent coronavirus pandemic, which is really commendable. Not only at home, the army has brought a rare honor and dignity for the country from the world stage,” she said.  Chief of Army Staff General S M Shafiuddin Ahmed delivered the welcome speech at the meeting. The Prime Minister said in the last 12 and a half years, her government has carried out massive development in the three forces. She said in keeping pace with the developed world, the government has incorporated state-of-the-art weapons, military aircraft and helicopters as well as modern infantry gadgets and engineering equipment.  On the basis of the defense policy formulated by Bangabandhu, she said, they have formulated the new “National Defense Policy, 2018”, which has been approved by the cabinet.   Bangladesh has now become one of the highest contributors of peacekeepers in the world, she continued. Sheikh Hasina briefly highlighted her government’s development initiatives for the armed forces during 1996-2000 and 2009 to present.  She said they have established National Defense College (NDC), Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operations Training (BIPSOT), Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Bangladesh Peace Building Center (BPC), and new brigades, units and battalions.  She went on saying the government also procured a sufficient number of Armored Personnel Carriers (APC), Armored Recovery Vehicles (ARV), battle tanks, helicopters and other necessary armaments and equipment in the army.   The government formulated the “Forces Goal-2030” and has been implementing it with the aim of building a state-of-the-art, trained and up-to-date military force, she added. The Prime Minister said Bangladesh is ranked among the top five countries in the world in terms of economic progress and at present the country is the 41st largest economy in the world.  She underlined the successes of her government such as trimming down poverty rate below 20.5 percent, increasing per capita income to $ 2,227, implementation of mega projects which are progressing fast even during the coronavirus pandemic, modernization of all communication systems and sending Bangabandhu Satellite-1 into the space.  Sheikh Hasina said the government is celebrating “Mujib Barsho” in 2020-2021 and celebrated the golden jubilee of independence on March 18-26, 2021 where the world leaders highly praised Bangladesh's progress.  “We are working on the principle of ‘zero tolerance' to eradicate militancy, terrorism and drugs, and we have formulated the second perspective plan to achieve the 'Sustainable Development Goals' by 2030 and to build a hunger-poverty-free developed and prosperous Bangladesh by 2041. In addition, 'Bangladesh Delta Plan-2100’ has also been adopted,” she said. The Prime Minister said Bangladesh’s economy is moving up when the world is standing dormant in this Covid-19 gripped period. She said her government is providing homes to landless and homeless people while electricity has been provided to 99 percent of the people. Source: BSS AH

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged insurance companies to use modern information communication technology for ensuring corruption free better services to the people alongside making the masses aware about the benefits of having insurance particularly in bad times. “It is urgently needed to render all the insurance related services including disposing of the insurance claim to the people through using modern information technology,” she said. The premier also stressed the need for making the insurance (industry) dependent on technology capitalizing the benefits of digital Bangladesh She was addressing a function as the chief guest marking the first ever observance of the “National Insurance Day” at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the capital on Sunday. She said “The introduction of information technology will help reduce corruption and make easier the process of reaching the insurance services to the people.” In this context, the Prime Minister reminded the authorities concerned about launching of Bangabandhu Satellite-1, bringing all the unions across the country under broadband coverage and having available mobile phones in people’s hand. The premier urged the insurance companies to introduce the state-of-the-art technology Unified Messaging Platform (UMP) launched to protect the interest of the customers. She said the insurance companies will be brought under the automation system, adding that the system will be helpful for the development of the insurance sector alongside solving its problems. In this context, she added: “Introduction of the automation system in the insurance companies will help remove mistrust of the people on insurance while premium income of insurance companies and revenue income of the government will witness a growth.” The premier also handed over “Bima Padak” to five persons for their outstanding contribution to the insurance sectors. She earlier unveiled the covers of two books of the Bangladesh Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) titled “Bima Manual” and “Bima Nirdeshika”. A video documentary on the development of insurance sector was also screened on the occasion. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the function, while Senior Secretary of the Financial Institutions Division under the Ministry of Finance Md. Ashadul Islam and Chairman of Bangladesh Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) Shafiqur Rahman Patwary, spoke at the function. Bangladesh Insurance Association (BIA) President Sheikh Kabir Hossain, noted insurance personality Begum Faridur Nahar Laily and Bangladesh Insurance Forum (BIF) President BM Yusuf Ali also spoke. Describing the need of insurance in bad times, the premier asked the insurance companies to make the grassroots people aware about its benefit. She added: “Awareness regarding insurance in our country is indeed very low. Conduct a massive awareness campaign to let the people know the good side of the insurance.” Calling upon the companies to take the insurance concept to the masses, she said, “It will be easier to earn confidence and trust of the people at the villages as they are now very cautious.” She went on saying that the people who are using cars, in most of the cases they don’t have proper insurance and they carry a third party insurance paper. “But, they do not get anything when accidents occur,” she added. Referring to the fire incidents at jute godowns soon after the Liberation and several previous random fire incidents at garments factories, the Prime Minister said that some people at that time tried to take advantages of having insurance which came out through investigation. “You (insurance companies) have to send people for inspection with a background of having proper training and honesty,” she opined. Noting that the insurance industry can generate huge employment across the country, Sheikh Hasina asked the companies to appoint educated unemployed youths particularly females as agents of their organizations. “In this regard, all the insurance companies could work in unison,” she said. The premier said a directive has been issued to bring transparency in transactions in the insurance industry. The Prime Minister said the 1st March was declared as the “National Insurance Day” as on the day Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman joined the then Alpha Insurance as regional chief of East Pakistan in 1960. She said Bangabandhu conducted his political activities throughout the country in the name of boosting its activities at the grassroots by taking the advantage of being an insurance employee. Considering the importance of insurance industry in the socio-economic development of the country, Sheikh Hasina said the present government has given due importance to modernization and development of this sector. “Our government has been trying to develop the insurance industry. We enacted new Insurance Act 2010 in place of age-old Insurance Act of 1938,” she said. The Prime Minister said the government has also established autonomous regulatory body, Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA), dissolving the office of the chief controller of insurance and formulated “National Insurance Policy-2014”. “The IDRA has taken several effective steps to ensure inclusive insurance,” she added. Alongside the general insurance, she said her government has introduced insurance for the expatriate Bangladeshi workers with giving incentives from the public exchequer. Besides, Sheikh Hasina said, the Awami League government has taken initiatives to introduce agriculture insurance, health insurance, bhaban insurance and insurance of railway passengers. In this context she said, “We are going to introduce “education insurance” soon. A proposal has been made to introduce “Bangabandhu Education Insurance” and we are actively considering it.” Noting that the Bangabandhu government had issued “ Bangladesh Insurance (nationalization) Ordinance-1972″ for development of the insurance industry by giving due importance, she said, “Being an employee he knew what was required for the development of the sector.” Bangabandhu also formed four insurance corporations after the name of rivers, Surma, Rupsa, Teesta and Karnaphuli and formed “National Insurance Corporation” to control those, she mentioned. The premier said Bangabandhu later enacted “Insurance Corporation Act-1973 and formed Jiban Bima Corporation for life related insurance and Sadharan Bima Corporation for non-life insurance after breaking the four corporations and these two are now render insurance services to the masses. Realizing the importance of efficient workforce, she said that the Father of the Nation formed an autonomous body “Bangladesh Insurance Academy” for ensuring proper education and training to the insurance employees for overall development of the industry. Sheikh Hasina said Bangabandhu has given us the independence of the country, and our target is to transform Bangladesh into a prosperous and developed one as envisioned by him. Let’s work together to this end as we are going to celebrate the “Mujib Year” from 2020-2021 marking the birth centenary of Bangabandhu and the Golden Jubilee of independence,” She said. Source: BSS AH

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the Special Security Force (SSF) personnel to be equipped with knowledge and training over new technologies to thwart the constantly-changing pattern of crimes. “They (SSF members) will have to be equipped with knowledge over modern technologies. They must be aware about the new technologies being invented every day. They also need to have awareness about the crime [trend] being changed constantly, and about training [to deal with that],” she said. The Prime Minister said this while addressing a function marking the 33rd founding anniversary of SSF at the SSF Officers’ Mess in the city’s Tejgaon area on Saturday. Reports UNB. “The new technologies are improving the lifestyle of people and accelerating the development pace. On the other hand, various types of risk are emerging with the invention of new technologies. The patterns of terror activities are also changing constantly,” she said. Sheikh Hasina said new technologies create new scopes for the criminals who want to be involved in terror and militant acts as well as other social offences. “We must have the expertise to face these [new crimes]. We’ll have to remain updated,” she said pointing at the SSF and law enforcement agencies. The Prime Minister said her government is conscious about the misuse of technologies so that it can take proper action against those who will use those for evil purposes. She said the government always collects necessary and modern equipment for the SSF to deal with security risks. Noting that now it is the age of media, Hasina said crimes spread fast soon after the media publish reports on any new crimes. “So, the government should remain alert about crimes.” Hasina praised the SSF personnel for performing their duty with utmost competence and professionalism in ensuring security to VVIPs as well as foreign ones who visit Bangladesh. “I want this force (SSF) to be built as an ideal security force. Its development will continue to brighten the image of the country and the nation,” she said. The Prime Minister said maintaining a peaceful environment is badly needed for the development of a country. “We want to develop our country. One thing we need to keep in mind that it’s not possible to develop the country without a peaceful situation.” She said her government has relentlessly been working for the development of the country facing many odds and obstacles. On behalf of the SSF personnel, their Director General handed over an artwork and a photo book to the Prime Minister. Earlier, SSF Director General Major General Md Majibur Rahman delivered the welcome speech. The chiefs of the three services, Principal Secretary of the Prime Minister, PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim, other senior military and civil and SSF members were present. AH

Mayor candidate for Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) election Md. Atiqul Islam said, let’s all together meet the hope of this city. People commute within the city and the city itself wants some love. I want to build a healthy, movable and modern Dhaka city along with all people. He said these at a view exchange meeting in Siddhanta High School at Mirpur Mazar Road in the capital on Friday. Member of Parliament from Dhaka-14 constituency Aslamul Haque was the chief guest in the program. Md. Atiqul Islam said, I want cooperation from government and private institutions to build a moving, environment friendly and safe Dhaka. I need cooperation from all government organizations like DSCC-DMP, from all institutions and responsible persons. In the program Aga Khan Mintu was present as the special guest. Freedom fighter and former commissioner Mobasher Chowdhury, 7 number ward councilor Razia Sultana Eti, reserved women councilors of ward number 9, 10, 11 were also present on the occasion. AH