Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) chief executive and Supreme Court lawyer Syeda Rizwana Hasan commented that Bangladesh has become an experiment ground for multinational companies.

Stating that the multinational companies are working to take agriculture away from us and from the farmers, she said, the multinational companies sought approval of genetically modified brinjal in 3 countries. The countries are - India, Philippines and Bangladesh. India did not approve but Bangladesh did. Now multinational companies are seeking permission from Golden Rice. Nature is being oppressed by political economic considerations.

She said these things at a discussion meeting on the urgent issue of GM crops, golden rice and Bt brinjal: Resolving the necessary issues in Bangladesh introduction at Tafazzal Hossain Manik Mia Hall of the National Press Club on Monday (May 6).

Farida Akhtar, executive director of the non-governmental organization UBINIG (Policy Research on Development Options), said that the health and environmental risks of golden rice as a GM crop, its effectiveness and whether there is any need for this rice at all have not yet been answered. We thank the Ministry of Environment for taking time to consider its safety aspects and not yet giving approval. But companies and entrepreneurs are chasing it. They want to influence the government directly.

She also said that golden rice is controversial all over the world. It was said to have been approved in the Philippines but has now been revoked and Filipino farmers have launched a massive movement against it. So there is no point in giving approval to Bangladesh by taking the example of Philippines. Most of the farmers in Bangladesh cultivate BRI 29. There are no patents. The farmer keeps the seeds himself or buys them from the market. They can cultivate this paddy independently. So what will happen to the fate of millions of farmers in Bangladesh if the ownership of this rice goes to a foreign company? The Ministry of Agriculture must answer this question. The Ministry of Agriculture's job is to look after the interests of Bangladesh's agriculture and farmers, not the interests of companies.

Speakers raised various questions to the government in the interest of the people before introducing controversial GM crops in Bangladesh.

>> Is there any need at all to introduce golden rice paddy and Bt. brinjal in agricultural diversification countries?

>> Whether Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) have any data on the potential environmental, health and other risks of GM crops, scientists worldwide have agreed.

>> Why is the production of vitamin A rich vegetables, fruits, greens, etc. not being supported in the country instead of introducing golden rice on the pretext of vitamin A deficiency?

If the patent of BRRI 29 is given to the Syngenta company, will not the right of billions of farmers of the country to cultivate this variety of rice be undermined? Why is this rice given to multinational companies?

But brinjal is being introduced on the pretext of reducing pesticide use, while pesticides and herbicides are widely used in all types of hybrid crops, from rice? Why are they not being stopped?

Federation President Badrul Alam, Chief Executive of Citizen Initiatives Zakir Hossain and Executive Director of Anti-GM Morcha Ibnul Sayed Rana also spoke at the discussion meeting.

Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain said that the fire in the Sundarbans has not been completely extinguished, but it is under control. The Sundarbans will be kept under close observation for a few more days.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan informed the Prime Minister about the Sundarban fire in the cabinet meeting on Monday (May 6). The Cabinet meeting was held at the Prime Minister's office under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Mahbub Hossain, Cabinet Secretary told the Journalists at the Secretariat that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wanted to know the latest status of the fire that broke out in the Sundarbans. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan informed about this.

In response to a question from journalists, the Cabinet Secretary said that the fire that remains dormant in any leaf will rekindle. So close monitoring will be done for the next 7 days. Then the decision will be made in the light of the situation. He also said that the Ministry of Home Affairs, Fire Service is working round the clock.

He also said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed satisfaction with the role of the Home Ministry and Fire Service in bringing the Sundarban fire under control.

There was norwester along with hail storms across the capital. The rain was accompanied by heavy winds.

A tree fell down on the way from Kakrail Mosque to Matsya Bhavan during heavy rain.

Traffic Sergeant Zafar Imam, who is in charge of this road, removed the broken trees and branches alone.

This incident happened on Sunday (May 5) around 11:30 pm.

Traffic almost came to a standstill during the storm due to the falling tree of the Directorate of Public Health Engineers. At this time, traffic jams were created in the surrounding area.

Later, Traffic Police Sergeant Zafar Imam came from Matsya Bhavan to the spot and cleared the branches and normalized the traffic.

When asked about this, Traffic Police Sergeant Zafar Imam said, "People were trying to reach their destinations like crazy in the rain and storm." In the meantime, there was a traffic jam on the road. After going to the spot; I saw a tree lying down. I tried to remove the branches and the tree alone in the rain storm.'

The Election Commission (EC) has directed ministers and members of parliament not to participate in the campaigns of candidates for the upcoming Sixth Upazila Parishad elections.

Deputy Secretary of EC election management Atiyar Rahman sent a letter to the returning officers on Sunday (May 5) to implement the directive.

It has been said that in the sixth upazila parishad election honorable members of parliament and government beneficiaries may send a letter to the returning officer to refrain from participating in the election campaign by going to the election area and referring to the provisions of the upazila parishad code of conduct. The commission gave its decision.

In this regard, Rule 22 of the Upazila Parishad (Election Conduct) Rules, 2016 states, (1) Government beneficiary very important persons and no government officer or employee shall participate in campaigning or election activities in the constituency during the pre-election period: Provided that, if such person is a voter of the concerned constituency, he can only go to the polling station to cast his vote.

During the pre-election period, no contesting candidate or any other person, or organization on his behalf can use government propaganda machine, government vehicles, use any other government facilities and government officials or employees for election purposes.

Election Commission is conducting polling in four phases in 476 upazilas out of 495 upazilas. Election time for 19 upazila parishads has not yet taken place, later voting will be held in all those parishads.

According to the schedule announced by the EC, polling will be held in the first phase in 150 upazilas on May 8, in the second phase in 160 upazilas on May 21, in the third phase in 112 upazilas on May 29 and in the fourth phase in 55 upazilas on June 5. In the first phase, 22, 24 in the second phase, 21 in the third phase and two upazilas in the fourth phase will be conducted in electronic voting machines (EVM).