The visiting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the upcoming national elections in Bangladesh must be free and fair.

The Prime Minister said these things during a session titled 'Conversation with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina' at the Qatar Economic Forum (QEF) on Wednesday (May 24) at a local hotel. Haslinda Amin, host and editor of QEF, moderated the session.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, "Under our government, elections will be free and fair." The people will decide who will run the country. It is the power of the people. So I want to ensure people's power. I want to give people their rights, so that they can choose their government.'

Regarding BNP's participation in the elections, the Prime Minister said, 'How can they participate? Because the country suffered a lot during their time. Our people suffered and at that time terrorism, corruption, nepotism, exploitation was everywhere. They never considered people.'

Awami League Chairperson Sheikh Hasina said that when her party came back to power, they ensured everything for the people. Election is the right of the people. Now people understand. If they vote for us, I'll be here, if not, no.

The Prime Minister said, think about the American presidential election, Mr. Trump has yet to accept the results. What can they say now? Whoever wants to send (observers), she has already told everyone - 'If they want to send observers, they can.'

Referring to China as one of Bangladesh's main development partners, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the main focus of bilateral relations should be the further development of the two countries.

China's Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister at Ganobhaban on Sunday. At that time, the Prime Minister said, 'Our main goal in bilateral relations between the two countries should be how we can develop the country.'

After the meeting, Prime Minister's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed the journalists.

The Chinese minister said that China is interested in strengthening cooperation with Bangladesh in various sectors, especially renewable energy and hi-tech.

He said, 'There is a possibility of further cooperation in this field.'

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh has allocated land in Bangladesh Economic Zone for Chinese entrepreneurs and they can set up industries there.

China's Deputy Minister congratulated Sheikh Hasina on behalf of the Chinese President and Prime Minister.

Appreciating the development of Bangladesh, he said that he visited Bangladesh about 10 years ago. However, this time Bangladesh has seen much better.

He said, Bangladesh has experienced unprecedented development under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina.

He said he visited the Padma Bridge and five other projects built with the help of China in Bangladesh.

The Prime Minister also extended his personal greetings to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

She said that around 6,000 Bangladeshi students are studying in China and many of them have returned to the country during the Covid pandemic.

Sheikh Hasina thanked the Chinese government for helping Bangladeshi students return to the country after the pandemic to continue their studies.

At this time, the Prime Minister's Ambassador-at-Large Mohammad Ziauddin, the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Tofazzel Hossain Mia, Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Maritime Affairs Unit) Rear Admiral (Retd) Md. Khurshed Alam and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen were present.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong arrived in Dhaka on Friday night on a two-day official visit.

A letter with a video of BNP leaders' provocative speech has been sent by Awami League executive committee member Mohammad A. Arafat to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

He said this through a Facebook post on Friday. BNP Secretary General Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP Standing Committee Member and Head of Foreign Affairs Committee Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, BNP Vice Chairman Aman Ullah Aman, BNP Standing Committee Member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain's speech has been mentioned in the letter, reports Daily Ittefaq newspaper.

This incident happened at a time when Bangladesh is preparing for the next general elections.

Source: Bangladesh Live News

People are increasing at an alarming rate. And because of this, there is a huge demand for food. To meet this demand, government and research institutes are constantly working to produce more productive seeds and food grains. Agricultural mechanization has begun. 'Mobile Crop Clinic' is going to be a new addition to Bangladesh's agriculture and development. It will chase the farmers. Will give necessary services and advice to farmers. This is what the project officials said.

According to Directorate of Agricultural Extension (DAE) sources, the project titled Agriculture and Rural Transformation for Nutrition Entrepreneurship and Resilience (Partner) will be implemented in 495 upazilas of 64 districts. Next July to June 2028 period. Estimated expenditure is around 6 thousand 911 crores. Out of this government funding is 1 thousand 151 crore 13 lakh taka. 5 thousand 759 crore 80 lakh taka (543 million dollars; IDA- 500 million and IFAD- 43 million) will come as project aid. Under this project, 253 vehicles with modern agricultural facilities will be purchased in 239 upazilas and 14 agricultural regions of the country.

Shakhawat Hossain Sharif, the related officer of the project, said that through the crop clinic service, the agricultural extension workers in the upazilas will appear in the farmer's field and provide the farmers with information related to crop diseases and insect control. Apart from this, other services including immediate detection of adulterated fertilizers, soil sampling, seed testing, and emergency crop surveillance and forecasting will be provided.

Under the partner project, agricultural services will be delivered to the doorstep of farmers in 239 upazilas of the country. For this purpose, a total of 253 'Mobile Crop Clinic Vans' will be procured including 239 and 14 in agricultural areas. About 70 lakh rupees have been allocated to buy each car. This vehicle or 'Mobile Crop Clinic Van' will be procured through international tender. About 177 crore rupees have been allocated for this purpose.

Shakhawat Hossain Sharif also said that the 'mobile crop clinic van' will run only if there is a disease in the crops in the remote areas of the upazila or if the farmer needs any service. It is a special type of customized vehicle, which includes mini soil testing lab, pest identification kit, disease diagnosis kit, seed testing equipment and sample collection and storage facilities.

According to DA sources, the project will play an important role in the implementation of the SDGs, future plans and Delta Plan-2100, including the implementation of the National Agricultural Policy-2018 action plan (2020) and the Good Agricultural Practices Policy 2010, in the transformation of the agricultural sector into commercial agriculture, including ensuring food security in the country.

Notable activities of this mega project include enhancement of three lakh hectares of fruit and vegetable arable land through Good Agricultural Practices certification; Increase of 400,000,000 arable lands including development of new varieties of high-yielding rice and non-rice grain crops resistant to climate shocks; Use of advanced and efficient irrigation technologyBringing one lakh hectares of new arable land under irrigation through; Various programs including 'Krishak Smart Card' to 2 crore 27 lakh 53 thousand 321 farmer families across the country in order to build Smart Bangladesh.

The seven agencies of the Ministry of Agriculture are Directorate of Agricultural Extension-DAE (Lead Agency), Directorate of Agricultural Marketing (DAM), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Bangladesh Rice Research Institute respectively. (BRRI) and Varendra MultipurposeDevelopment Authority (BMDA) will implement this mega project.Badal Chandra Biswas, director general of the Department of Agricultural Extension, said that due to the current reality, including the Ukraine-Russia war, vehicles could not be provided to all upazila agricultural offices. But we are trying to deliver the car quickly.

Hopefully, in the recently passed Ekneke partner project, an allocation has been kept for buying a vehicle (mobile crop clinic van).

Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen said, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was vocal in favor of world peace and has struggled throughout his life to get the just rights of people.

He said this in the video message posted on social media on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Bangabandhu’s receiving the Julio Curie Award.

Dr. Momen said, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bangabandhu's Julio Curie Award receiving in all our missions abroad. The Julio Curie Award was the recognition of the work of the Father of the Nation and the first international honor for Bangladesh.

He said Bangabandhu was imprisoned for demanding Bangla as the state language. Bangabandhu could not accept the discrimination between East and West Pakistan, torture and oppression of the majority Bengalis. In his historical March 7, 1971 speech, Bangabandhu called for freedom for the oppressed, exploited and deprived people of Bengal. Responding to Bangabandhu's call, the people of Bengal fought a long nine-month war to liberate the country.

The foreign minister said that after the establishment of independent Bangladesh, he announced the foreign policy of "friendship with all, enmity with none".

He said, Bangabandhu is not among us today, but with his message of peace, Bangladesh got the status of the number one peacekeeping country in the United Nations under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for establishing lasting peace in the world. It has introduced a 'Culture of Peace' to establish sustainable peace in the world.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Bangabandhu’s receiving the Julio Curie Award, our commitment will be to work for the establishment of lasting peace in the world. Only then will Bangabandhu's dream be achieved.

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was awarded the 'Julio Curie' Peace Award by the World Peace Council on 23 May 1973.