Day: September 28, 2024

Staff Reporter : Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has urged a comprehensive overhaul of the Information Commission to protect it from partisan influence. The organization views this reform as crucial to building a “New Bangladesh” that guarantees freedom of speech and unhindered access to information. In a press statement on Friday, coinciding with the International Day for Universal Access to Information 2024, TIB emphasized the importance of moving away from past practices of withholding information. Instead, they advocated for the right...

Staff Reporter : Mahmudur Rahman, the editor of Amar Desh, returned to the country on Friday morning after spending over five and a half years in exile. He arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport from Turkey on a Qatar Airways flight at 9:20am. Leaders from the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists, Dhaka Union of Journalists, and the Bangladesh Sammilita Peshajibi Parishad welcomed him at the airport. Around a thousand people, including students, gathered outside the airport to receiveMahmudur Rahman. Coming...

Staff Reporter : A recent survey by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) reveals that only 29.39 per cent of users are satisfied with the quality of data provided by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). The survey, which included input from 1,333 users, also found that 55.59 per cent of respondents are somewhat satisfied with the statistics, while 11.64 per cent are somewhat unsatisfied, and 3.39 per cent are totally unsatisfied. The findings were released in a report...

Staff Reporter : BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday urged the government to withdraw all cases against the party’s acting Chairman Tarique Rahman to pave the way for his return to the country soon. “We asked the government that all cases against Tarique Rahman must be withdrawn soon so that he can return to the country. If the cases filed against BNP activists are not withdrawn, there will never be a neutral field for holding inclusive polls,”...

Staff Reporter : United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his “total solidarity” with Bangladesh’s interim government during a meeting with Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus at UN headquarters on Thursday. Guterres assured the UN’s full commitment to supporting the interim government’s reform initiatives, emphasising their importance in light of the recently adopted UN Pact for the Future. He noted that the pact, which addresses global challenges, is particularly relevant to Bangladesh’s needs, including access to concessional funding. During the meeting,...