Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said various social safety net programmes were undertaken to lift the poor people from the poverty line.

The Prime Minister said this when newly appointed High Commissioner of Brunei Darussalam Hajah Masurai Binti Haji Masri called on the PM at her Jatiya Sangsad office here yesterday evening.

The High Commissioner of Brunei said Bangladeshi expatriates are very hard-working.

The National Economic Council (NEC) yesterday approved an overall Revised Annual Development Program (RADP) outlay of Tk 1,19,296 crore for the current fiscal year (FY17), down from the original overall ADP size of Tk 1,23,345 crore.

The approval came from the NEC meeting held at the NEC conference room in the city with its Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

The Jatiya Sangsad yesterday passed the ‘Battalion Ansar (Amendment) Bill, 2017’ with a proposal to bring down service confirmation period of the members of the force from nine years to six years. Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan moved the bill and the House adopted it by voice votes.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali yesterday told Parliament that a total of 150 countries across the world have officially recognised Bangladesh as an independent nation. The Foreign Minister said Bangladesh has signed a total of 93 deals with India since 1972.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan yesterday informed the parliament that there was no existence of extra-judicial killing in Bangladesh. The Minister said, the present democratic government is firmly determined to establish rule of law and to protect people’s fundamental rights. The government does not support, approve, ratify or encourage extra-judicial killing anyway.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon yesterday said, the present government has been implementing a number of projects to flourish the tourism industry. Addressing a press conference at his office, he said internal cruise ship-Silver Discovery has started its activities in Bangladesh for the first time.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haq has said citizens who contributed to the Liberation War in 1971, staying abroad would be enlisted as freedom fighters. He told at a function in Sylhet on Monday night. The Minister further added that even those who contributed to the war of independence by writing, singing, playing and drawings would be recognized as freedom fighters in their respective fields.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda yesterday said his commission will take all-out measures to arrange free and fair elections in the country. The CEC said this while talking to reporters after attending a meeting at the conference room of Barisal Deputy Commissioner’s office.

State Minister for the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) Nasrul Hamid said the electricity tariff could come to a ‘rational’ level within the next four to five years when the mid-term and long-term planned base load low-cost power plants come online.

He was speaking at a press conference arranged on the eve of inauguration of eight power plants having the total generation capacity of 1,325 megawatts (MW), two electricity sub-stations and transmission lines, new electrification of one upazila and 100 per cent electrification of 10 upazilas across the country.

Deputy Managing Director of the IMF Mitsuhiro Furusawa said the garment sector of Bangladesh has progressed a lot over the years, and turning the factories into green units to save water, energy and the environment is a good initiative. The IMF official visited two green factories in Gazipur yesterday.

Bangladesh authorities have began a census of Rohingya refugees living in the country’s southeast as part of a move to relocate them to an island. Dhaka estimates 400,000 Rohingya refugees are living in the country, including nearly 73,000 who fled a military crackdown across the border since October.

Internet banking finds a fast rise, with over 41 per cent growth recorded in the country in 2016 in real-time fund transfers and e-commerce. A total of Tk 307.52 billion was transacted through internet banking in the past year, according to latest statistics obtained from the Central Bank this week.

 – Press Wing, London, 01 March 2017