Education Minister orders closure of coaching business

January 14, 2019

Education Minister Dr. Dipu Moni has ordered to change the curriculum of textbooks, including stopping the coaching business, preventing question leaks, collecting additional money from educational institutions, and making education administration more effective. The minister gave these instructions to the officials at a meeting to review the overall activities with the eight wing heads of the secondary and higher divisions of the Ministry of Education at the Secretariat on Monday (January 14). Deputy Minister of Education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel was present at the time.

Several officials present at the meeting said that the new education minister held a meeting with the wing heads of the secondary and higher education departments of the education ministry for the first time on Monday after taking office. In the meeting, the wing heads highlighted all the achievements and successes of the last 10 years. Along with this, the existing problems were also mentioned. The meeting lasted from 11 am to 1:30 pm in the meeting room of the education ministry. The meeting was attended by heads and officials of the government-private school branches, two branches of the college branch, universities, development, administration, planning wings.

Deputy Minister of Education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel, who was present at the meeting, told reporters, "We believe in the continuity of development, so the trend of all developments in the education sector in the past will be maintained. We have been instructed to solve the existing problems quickly. We have also been instructed to be aware of our sense of responsibility."

Officials said that currently preventing the leakage of public examination question papers is a big challenge for the Ministry of Education. New steps have been asked to be taken in this regard. Extra money is being collected in various fields including admissions and form filling in various educational institutions. New steps have been asked to be taken to stop this quickly. The Education Minister has directed to work to make the education administration more effective in managing the education sector, stop the violence of the coaching business and formulate a modern curriculum. In addition, there was a discussion on implementing the Education Act, which has been stalled for a long time. The wing heads commented that if the Education Act is implemented, it will be possible to eliminate many existing problems.

Secondary and Higher Education Department Secretary Md. Sohrab Hossain told reporters that the overall activities of the Ministry of Education were presented to the minister. Along with this, current crises including question paper leaks were also discussed. The Education Minister has ordered to quickly alleviate these problems and make the education administration more effective.

The secretary said, "There has been a discussion about changing the curriculum of textbooks for our children. Therefore, a new curriculum has been asked to be created. Additional money is being collected in the name of various sectors of educational institutions. We have also discussed how it can be brought to a certain level."



Schedule of reserved seats on February 17

January 14, 2019

Dhaka: The schedule for reserved seats in the National Parliament will be announced on February 17, said Election Commission (EC) Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed.

He made this announcement at a press conference held at the Media Center of the Election Building on Monday (January 14).

Helaluddin Ahmed said, according to Article 65(3) of the Constitution, 50 seats have been set aside for reserved seats for women. We will inform those who have political parties by letter. They will send a letter to inform us whether they will form an alliance with any other political party for the election of women's seats. And those who are independent candidates, they must inform us by January 30 whether they will stand alone or in an alliance.

He said, the Election Commission has instructed, when we know by January 30 how they will conduct the elections, then we will prepare the voter list on February 12. The schedule will be announced on February 17. The detailed schedule will include the last date for filing nomination papers, selection of nomination papers and withdrawal of candidacy.



Voting through EVMs in all centers of Sadar Upazilas

January 14, 2019

Dhaka:

The Election Commission (EC) has decided to conduct all the voting in the upcoming fifth Upazila Parishad elections using electronic voting machines (EVMs).

EC Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed gave this information at a press conference held on Monday (January 14) after the commission meeting at the media center of Nirban Bhaban.

He said, "The Election Commission has taken the initial decision to use EVMs in Sadar Upazilas among the upazilas. In this case, the entire Sadar Upazila will be polled using EVMs."

Helaluddin Ahmed said that the schedule will be set in February and the voting will be held in five phases from the first of March.

In the 11th National Parliament election, the Election Commission conducted voting in all six constituencies using EVMs. Although the voter turnout was lower than expected, the EVMs were used.

For the first time, the election organizing body will be using EVMs to conduct voting in large-scale local elections.
The Election Commission has been conducting elections using EVMs since 2010.

The Election Commission is already manufacturing EVMs from Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory for large-scale machine voting. This time, voting will be held under party symbols in the upazila elections.



Process to bring back Tarique Rahman begins: Law Minister

January 14, 2019

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Haque said that the process to bring back BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, who is abroad, has begun.

He told reporters after inaugurating the four-month-long 38th basic training course for assistant judges/like-minded officials at the Judicial Administration Training Institute in the capital around 12:30 pm on Sunday (January 13).
He also said that the process has begun to bring back not only Tarique Rahman, but all criminals residing abroad. This process is ongoing.

The program was presided over by Justice Khandaker Musa Khaled, Director General of the Judicial Training Institute. The institute's Director (Training) Golam Kibria delivered the welcome speech.



Prime Minister to exchange views with all political parties

January 14, 2019

Dhaka: Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said that all parties should prepare now for the upcoming upazila elections. We hope that BNP-Unity Front and other parties will participate in these elections.

"We don't consider the opposition as weak. It's nice to see them contest the elections," he said.

He made these remarks at the beginning of a joint meeting at the Awami League central office on Bangabandhu Avenue at 11:30 am on Sunday (January 13).

The joint meeting was attended by the presidents, general secretaries, party MPs and other public representatives from the districts surrounding Dhaka. Obaidul Quader presided over the joint meeting.

Obaidul Quader said, before the 11th National Parliament election, Awami League President Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had invited all political parties for dialogue. 75 political parties including BNP, Oikyafront, Juktafront participated in the dialogue. The dialogue was held at Ganabhaban. Now the election is over. Our party president said in the joint meeting of the party's executive council and advisory council on Saturday (January 12) that he will invite and call those with whom he had the dialogue. He will exchange views with them on some issues and make arrangements for their entertainment. We have all agreed on this. Those who came to the dialogue then will be invited to the dialogue again. Everyone will be invited to Ganabhaban together. That will be announced very soon. There is Oikyafront, there is Juktafront, there are 14 parties, there is Jatiya Party, all other parties will be invited by letter.

In response to a question from journalists, the Awami League General Secretary said, Dr. Kamal Hossain made a mistake by uniting with BNP, which is Jamaat. If he makes this confession, the nation will be happy. Everyone knows that Jamaat is with BNP. Was he not aware of this? Jamaat is with BNP, it is not something new. He acted like 'I drank poison knowingly'.

The Awami League will hold a grand rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on January 19 after winning the 11th national election by a huge margin. The joint meeting was called to prepare for the grand rally.

In this context, Obaidul Quader told the leaders, "We want to celebrate the victory. We hope there will be a huge attendance at the rally. You will come to the rally with banners, festoons, and drums. Our party president, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, will give a guiding speech at the rally. She will give guidance on how the party and the government will run in the coming days."



Dhaka wins by 2 runs in a thrilling match

January 14, 2019

Rangpur Riders and Dhaka Dynamites faced off in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Friday at the Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. Batting first, Dhaka scored 183 runs. Batting in pursuit of a target of 184 runs, Rangpur Riders scored 181 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the allotted 20 overs. As a result, Dhaka Dynamites left the field with a 2-run victory.



Two arrested with weapons in Ramgati

January 14, 2019

Lakshmipur:

Police have arrested Jewel Rana Das (22) and Md. Jewel (14) with weapons in Ramgati, Lakshmipur. A country-made single-barrel gun, nine cartridges and three ramdas were seized from them.

Ramgati Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Arichul Haque confirmed the matter on Friday (January 11) afternoon.

Earlier, on Thursday (January 10) night, they were arrested with weapons from the Hazirhat area of Chargazi Union of the upazila.

The arrested Jewel Rana is the son of Krishna Chandra Das of Char Bagua village under Char Jabbar police station in Noakhali district and Md. Jewel is the son of Maksud Hawlader of the same village.

OC Arichul Haque said, "Based on a secret tip-off, they were arrested along with weapons in a raid. A case has been filed against them under the Arms Act in this incident. They have been sent to jail after being shown arrested in that case."



Everyone's cooperation is needed to prevent question paper leaks: Dipu Moni

January 14, 2019

Education Minister Dr. Dipu Moni said that there is work to be done in some areas of the Ministry of Education. They will be done with everyone's cooperation from the beginning. In addition, more cooperation from parents and students will be needed to prevent the biggest problem, which is question paper leakage.

The Education Minister said these things in response to questions from journalists at Chandpur Circuit House on Thursday afternoon.
He also said that the more demand there is for leaked questions, the more those who resort to dishonest means will try to find them. Our responsibility is to ensure that this does not happen in any way. And in this case, if teachers, guardians and students want, we will not accept these questions. If we make efforts, it will be possible to stop this. Even then, if anyone does it, they will be brought under the law.

Dipu Moni said, "We will work to fulfill the expectations of the people of the country. Along with this, the Ministry of Education will also work with the cooperation of everyone in the country."

Also present at the event were Chandpur Deputy Commissioner Md. Majedur Rahman Khan, Additional Superintendent of Police Md. Mizanur Rahman, Sadar Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) Kaniz Fatema, District Awami League Organizing Secretary Tafazzal Hossain Sdu Patwari and others.



Meghna bank protection dam is necessary to protect Kamalnagar

January 14, 2019

Lakshmipur:

The river has left thousands of families in Kamalnagar upazila of Lakshmipur destitute due to river erosion during the monsoon season. It has swallowed many government and private establishments. Due to continuous erosion, one-third of the upazila is now under the river.

In the past one and a half years, the one-kilometer bank protection dam in the upazila has collapsed at least eight times. The people of this township are now terrified of river erosion. To prevent erosion, another eight-kilometer dam is needed here before the next monsoon season.

To protect themselves from the terrible erosion, the residents of Kamalnagar have organized programs like human chains, meetings and road blockades. In the face of demands, the construction of a one-kilometer bank protection dam was completed last year. Just one kilometer of dam is not enough for Kamalnagar.

The second phase of the Kamalnagar riverbank protection dam is scheduled to begin, but it has not yet seen the light of day. If the second phase of the dam is not started soon, there is a risk that the dam that has been built will also disappear into the river. This will pose a serious threat to several unions including the upazila headquarters.

On the spot, it was seen that the designated one-kilometer dam in the Matabbarhat shore protection dam area is almost destroyed. In the last one and a half years, the dam has collapsed at least eight times. There are concerns about the dam in the coming monsoon season. If the damaged dam is not repaired and more dams are not built on both sides, a great danger will befall Kamalnagar. In such a situation, it is necessary to build more shore protection dams on an urgent basis.

Locals said that the construction of a one-kilometer bank protection dam during the last monsoon saved several areas including Matabbarhat Bazar. The dam is also under threat due to the lack of second-phase work. It is urgent to repair the bank protection dam and build another eight kilometers of dam before the next monsoon. People in the affected areas say that candidates have assured necessary measures to prevent erosion of the Meghna before the 11th National Parliament elections. Now the locals want the elected parliament members to fulfill their promises.

Kamalnagar Upazila Awami League Organizing Secretary and a victim of river erosion, Saifuddin Azam, said that although the main development project proposal (DPP) had instructions to build a second phase of about eight and a half kilometers of dam in Kamalnagar from the 2016-17 fiscal year, work has not yet started due to the negligence of the authorities and lack of proper steps. If the initiative to build the dam is not taken soon, Kamalnagar will be swallowed up by the river.

The day after being elected as a member of parliament from the Grand Alliance of the 11th National Parliament, he met with leaders and activists at Hazirhat Bazaar and assured them that river erosion work would be prevented in a road meeting.

Earlier in 2014, the government allocated Tk 198 crore for the Meghna River bank protection dam. With the allocated money, one kilometer of dam in Kamalnagar, three and a half kilometers in Ramgatir Alexander and one kilometer in Ramgatirhat Masghat area were to be constructed. On February 1, 2015, the 19th Engineering Construction Battalion under the supervision of the army started the construction of the dam to prevent erosion in the Alexander area and successfully completed three and a half kilometers.

Meanwhile, Narayanganj Dockyard Engineering Limited got a one-kilometer work in Kamalnagar for Tk 48 crore of that allocation. Two years after the allocation of money, the company started work with Western Engineering in early 2016. That year, the work was stopped due to pressure from the locals because it started work with low-quality sand and geo bags. At that time, the local people formed a human chain to protest the irregularities and demand proper work. Later, although one kilometer of work was done despite irregularities, the dam collapsed eight times in one and a half years.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Ramgati-Kamalagar river bank protection dam at a public meeting in Lakshmipur on March 14, 2017. At that time, she assured of the second phase of work. Locals expect that the second phase of work will begin soon to prevent erosion.



Two and a half maunds of jatka along with electric net seized in Ramgati

January 14, 2019

Lakshmipur:

10,000 meters of illegal current nets and 100 kg of jatka were seized in the Meghna river of Ramgati upazila of Laxmipur.

The upazila administration conducted this operation on Wednesday (January 9) afternoon.

Ramgati Upazila Assistant Fisheries Officer Kamal Hossain said that a team of Ramgati Coast Guard conducted raids in different parts of Meghna river. In the raid, 10,000 meters of jatka was seized and 10,000 meters of coarse nets and ai maan jatka were seized.

He also said that the illegal nets, including the distribution of the Jatka local orphanage, were seized and destroyed in the Alexander Launch Ghat area.