Foreign minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen in an immediate response to the media after the announcement of the new visa policy of the United States for Bangladesh on Wednesday.

Momen said, the visa policy of the US government can be helpful to us so that no one can obstruct the commitment and position of fair elections through incendiary movement.

United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has announced a new visa policy aimed at free, fair and peaceful national elections in Bangladesh.

The US Secretary of State said on Wednesday, "I am announcing today the new visa policy under Section 212(a)(3)(c)(3c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to support the goal of making the upcoming national elections free, fair and peaceful in Bangladesh." Under this policy, the United States may impose visa restrictions on any Bangladeshi individual deemed responsible or involved in obstructing Bangladesh's democratic election process.

Current and former Bangladeshi officials-employees, members of pro-government and opposition political parties and members of the law enforcement, judiciary and security forces have been included under this new policy, the US Secretary of State said.

A related statement issued later by the US Embassy in Bangladesh said that acts that obstruct the democratic election process include vote rigging, voter intimidation, violence against people's freedom of association, the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly, and various other actionsPreventing political parties, voters, civil society or the media from airing their views through adoption.
Blinken said that free and fair elections are the responsibility of everyone, including voters, political parties, government, security forces, civil society and the media. I announce this policy to extend our support to all those who want to advance democracy in Bangladesh.

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.

Former lawmaker of the Netherlands Harry van Bommel yesterday urged Pakistan to formally declare the atrocities it committed during the Liberation War as genocide.

Harry van Bommel, who is heading a three-member European team to investigate the genocide committed by Pakistan in 1971, also urged Islamabad to clear its position on the issue.

The two other members of the team are genocide scholar Dr Anthonie Holslag and political analyst Chris Blackburn.

"It should be wise for the Pakistani government to come to terms with reality and … formally declare that there was a genocide in 1971," said the former Dutch MP, reminding Pakistan of its obligations as a civilised country.

"It is important for Pakistan to take a clear position regarding the 1971 genocide. … It was not a massacre, it was genocide," he said, arguing that internationally renowned institutes have already confirmed it as a genocide using empirical methods based on UN criteria.

He also urged the Pakistani government to accept the "scientific conclusion".

He came up with the remarks at a view exchange meeting at Chattogram Press Club while replying to a question from a journalist.

The team is part of an initiative of the European Bangladesh Forum (EBF) which is eyeing to get world recognition of the genocide.

In Bangladesh, the team has met with victims and witnesses of the genocide, researchers, journalists, academics, policymakers, and government representatives. They have also collected evidence and recorded statements in support of the genocide.

In the press meeting, Dr Anthonie Holslag and Chris Blackburn shared their field experiences with the journalists.

British EBF chairman Ansar Ahmed Ullah and Dutch EBF chairman Bikash Chowdhury Barua also spoke.

Harry van Bommel said he and his team would work on the findings and present those to the UK and Dutch press.

"We will come to Bangladesh again if needed. We will do whatever we can to get the recognition soon," he said.

Chattogram Press Club president Salauddin Reza presided over the programme while general secretary Deb Dulal Bhoumik and senior leaders of the press club were present at the event.

Source: Daily Star