Awami League to strengthen own organization to dismantle Hefazat fort



Shahjahan Molla, Senior Correspondent, Barta24.com, From Chittagong
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The base of Hefazat-e-Islam is Hathazari in Chittagong. The Huzurs of Hathazari have put the government in an embarrassing situation at various times. Hefazat-e-Islam had been wreaking havoc on the recently during arrival of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Many fresh lives were lost in that ordeal. Therefore, the Awami League is ready to deal with Hefazat politically. However, in that case, Hefazat is not the target; the main target is to strengthen the allied organizations of the Awami League. If that can be done, then the Awami League will take the opportunity to hit two birds by one stone. On the one hand, Hefazat will be cornered and Awami League will have a strong foundation in that area. Therefore, Abu Saeed Al Mahmud Swapan, the organizing secretary in charge of the Chittagong division, has started the organizational tour with the target of holding a meeting of each unit to strengthen the allied organizations of the party.

Abu Saeed Al Mahmood Swapan, Whip and Organizing Secretary of the Jatiya Sangsad, sat at the Chittagong Circuit House and said, "We have not had an MP in Hathazari for a long time. It is a big crisis." That is why there is no coordination with the administration.

Due to not being an MP for a long time, the activities of the ‘boat’, the activities of the Awami League is not there. As a result, social relations have become cleric-centric in various ways, where clerics rule has been established.

He said socially there are more Qawmi madrasas there. There is not just one Hathazari Madrasa, there are a few Qawmi Madrasas. A Huzur-centric social system has been created. They are now engaged in anti-national activities with anti-Awami stance. We have to convince our leaders and workers that they are not masters, they are religious businessmen.

Organizing secretary Swapan said another problem was that allied organizations did not convene for a long time. Allied organizations have come to a standstill. It must be remembered that the fighting force of any organization is the allied organizations. The last conference of Awami League was also held in 2019, but Thanas did not give full committee of Awami League. There is also such a conference-centric gap. Thana Awami League will form a full committee within the next 20 days.

"My target is Hathazari Drive by the end of this month," he said. The main thing is that if we can strengthen our organization there rather than the Hefazat issue, then the Hefazat will be cornered. My target is not Hefazat, my target is my party. We held this meeting to strengthen my party. Besides, we are asking the MPs who are there to increase their communication a little because when they go, our activists will be encouraged, energized, inspired.

We can't even hold a conference because of the Corona situation. The absence of the conference has created a kind of resentment among the leaders and workers, which I do not have a place to express. So our goal is to have unit and ward meetings by October. Then I will hold a Thana conference in November and a conference of the metropolitan Awami League in December subject to the permission of the leader. I don't have a magic wand in my hand, I want to proceed in this way, said Swapan.

   

Dhaka is the sixth most polluted city in the world, Seoul is on top



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com
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Today, Dhaka is sixth in the list of the most polluted cities in the world. The air quality of the capital has become 'unhealthy' with an Air Quality Index (AQI) score of 172 at 6:50 am today.

South Korea's capital Seoul topped the air quality index with 343. South Korea's Incheon, Pakistan's Lahore, Vietnam's Chiang Mai and India's Delhi occupy the second, third, fourth and fifth places in the list with AQI scores of 217, 187, 179 and 177 respectively.

An AQI score between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy' for sensitive groups. An AQI score between 201 and 300 is considered 'very unhealthy'. And an AQI between 301 and 400 is considered 'hazardous', posing a serious health risk to residents.

AQI in Bangladesh is determined based on 5 parameters of pollution, namely - Particulate Matter (PM10 & PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone (O3).

Dhaka has been suffering from air pollution for a long time. Its air quality generally becomes unhealthy during winters and improves slightly during monsoons.

In March 2019, a report by the Department of Environment and the World Bank stated that the three main causes of Dhaka's air pollution are brick kilns, smoke from vehicles and dust from construction activities.

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Taka 400 crores laundered through digital Hundi, controlled by Dubai



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com
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Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested 5 people for allegedly laundering around Tk. 400 crore abroad through Digital Hundi using Mobile Banking Service (MFS).

CID Chief Additional IGP Mohammad Ali Mia informed this in a press conference at CID headquarters on Thursday (March 28) afternoon.

The arrested are - Nasim Ahmed (62), the owner of Tasmia Associates, Fazle Rabbi Sumon (32), the territory sales manager of Agent SIM, Md. Kamruzzaman (33), Zahir Uddin (37), representative of Jet Robotics Apps Bangladesh and Khairul Islam alias Pius (34).

Additional IGP Mohammad Ali Mia said, a gang has smuggled around Tk. 400 crore abroad through digital Hundi using mobile banking services. Five members of this gang were arrested during the operation.

He said that Tk. 400 crores illegally came to Bangladesh through Jet Robotics app in the last few months. Police traced the app through intelligence.

He also said that the money of this gang was transacted from the Chattogram based distribution house. Five members of the gang were arrested in separate raids in Dhaka and Chattogram on Wednesday night.

He said that Tk. 28 lakh 51 thousand cash was seized from them at the time of arrest. He said that they used to rent development agent SIMS and deliver money through them to the grassroots level.

The head of CID said that Mamun, the master of this gang lives in Dubai. He is using agent SIM here. This app used for smuggling cannot work outside 48 SIM along the specific link sent from Dubai. Only seven people can enter this app.

Referring to this as a modern form of Hundi business, he said, money is being circulated in the country through this app by blocking remittances coming to Bangladesh. Already we got 5-7 more such organizations who are working like this.

He said, in the last three months, Tk. 400 crores have been hindered from coming to Bangladesh through Jet Robotic Apps. Five people using these apps have been arrested and their devices seized.

He said, Chattogram's development distribution house Tasmia Associates company has 1000 Bkash Agent SIMs. These agent SIMs who are not performing well, the agent SIMs provide DSOs to the users of Jet Robotic Apps.

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Demand for punishment for those responsible for electrocution death in Moulvibazar



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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The death of 6 members of the same family due to electrocution in Moulvibazar is very shocking and heartbreaking. The chairman of the National Human Rights Commission Dr. Kamaluddin Ahmed said that the main responsible person and institution should be brought under accountability.

He made this comment at a discussion on 'Role of Media in Protection of Human Rights and Consumer Rights' organized by 'Business Digest' at a hotel in the capital on Thursday (March 28).

The Chairman of the Human Rights Commission said, after investigating the incident of Moulvibazar, appropriate legal action should be taken against those responsible and necessary measures should be taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. We could not do anything for one family, but we have to do for hundreds of such families.

He also said that the issue of rights is directly and indirectly the daily practice of the media. Media can question all the irregularities; make people aware of their rights and duties and play an important role in establishing rights. We can carry out reformative activities only in view of the news published in the media.

Dr. Kamal Uddin Ahmed called on the media workers to take all-out efforts to spread the necessary knowledge about the constitution, law and rights among the people.

At one stage of the discussion, he said about the recurrence of fires, we have not learned proper lessons from the big fires and explosions in Nimatli, Newmarket and Bangabazar in the past years. Had we taken effective measures, recurrence of fires could have been prevented.

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Suggestion to introduce Human Rights Wing in the Foreign Ministry



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recommended setting up a new wing on human rights to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The suggestion was made at the parliamentary committee meeting held at Jatiya Sangsad Bhavan on Thursday (March 28). After the meeting, this information was informed in a press release of the Parliament Secretariat.

The meeting recommended taking necessary steps to recognize March 25 as International Genocide Day. A proposal was made in the meeting to visit the Rohingya camps Kutupalong and Bhasanchar with the members of the Standing Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Chairman of the committee AK Abdul Momen chaired the meeting and members of the committee and Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud, Shahriar Alam, Nahim Razzak, Nizam Uddin Jalil, Nurul Islam Nahid, Habibur Rahman, Saimum Sarwar, Zara Zabeen Mahbub took part in the meeting. #

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