News in brief
Tenure of CDA chief extended
The government has extended the tenure of Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) Chairm an Abdus Salam by two more years. The Public Administration Ministry issued a notification on Monday in this regard. The extension comes into effect from the date of his joining of the office, said the notification. It is for the fifth time that the government has extended his tenure since his first appointment. Abdus Salam was given contractual appointment as the CDA chairman on April 23, 2009.
UNDP, ICT Division to sign MoU today
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Dhaka office and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Division will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) today.
This new partnership between UNDP and ICT Division will help Bangladesh transition to a smarter, more inter-connected, and knowledge-driven society, said an official. The partnership seeks to place ICT at the heart of the countrys national development efforts, fostering innovation to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, the official said. State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak and Country Director, UNDP Bangladesh Sudipto Mukerjee will attend the signing ceremony to be held at the Software Technology Park, Janata Tower in the capital at 10am.
Yaba found in prisoners rectum
Some 150 yaba pills were recovered from the rectum of a prisoner at Sylhet Central Jail on Monday.
Senior Jail Super M Sagir Mia said prison guards challenged Rubel, an accused in a robbery case, at the jail gate following suspicion when he was being taken to the prison from a local court. Later, the yaba tablets were recovered from his rectum after frisking his body. Rubel, son of Nur Uddin of Karikuna village in Biswanath upazila, landed in jail after being arrested under section 54. Later, he was shown arrested in a robbery case.
Speaker off to Australia
Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury left Dhaka for Australia to join a meeting of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) there.
Dr Shirin, also the Chairperson of CPA Executive Committee left Dhaka for Australia on a five-day visit, said a Parliament Secretariat handout on Monday. She was scheduled to attend CPA Mid-Year Executive Committee Meeting being held from April 24 to 28 at Darwin, the capital of Australian northern territory. The Speaker is expected to return home on April 28.
4 held with 900 yaba tablets
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested four members of a family including two women with 900 yaba tablets in the district Monday night.
The arrested were Nasima Begum, 50, wife of Razzaque Ali, their sons Jewel, 30, and Ismail Hossain, 28, and Ismails wife Sultana Khatun, 23. On a tip-off, a team of the elite force conducted a sudden raid in the house of Razzaque Ali at Ashgram village under Paba upazila around 11.30 pm and seized the contraband drugs after searching the house. The RAB team nabbed the four persons on charge of their involvement in yaba trading and trafficking. A case was recorded with the police station concerned in this connection.
Call to reduce land acquisition complexities
Land Minister Shamsur Rahman Sherif on Monday asked the authorities concerned to reduce procrastination and complexities in land acquisition as it is casting a negative impact on foreign investment.
We must get rid of procrastination and legal complexities in land acquisition. Many foreign investors have taken back their funds for the problem, he said. The minister came up with the remark while addressing a meeting of the central land allocation committee at the Land Ministry. He also focused on bringing dynamism in land acquisition process to speed up development activities. The meeting decided to acquire 24.5739 acres of land for various development activities.
Independent/agency
