Job seekers who were excluded from the 43rd Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) have demanded the publication of a new notification with their names included by next Sunday (January 5).

These demands were made at a press conference in front of the Central Library of Dhaka University (DU) on Thursday (January 2) afternoon.

A written statement was read out by Masuma Akhter, a gazette cadre of the 43rd BCS education cadre in the first phase and deprived of gazette in the second phase.

Chattagram: The court has rejected the bail application of expelled ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das, who was arrested in a sedition case filed at the Kotwali Police Station in Chattagram city.

On Thursday (January 2), the court of Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md. Saiful Islam gave this decision after hearing the arguments of both sides.

The matter was confirmed by Assistant Public Prosecutor of the Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court Md. Raihanul Wazed Chowdhury. He said that the court has rejected the bail application of accused Chinmoy Krishna Das in the sedition case of the Kotwali Police Station.

President of the Chattogram District Bar Association Nazim Uddin Chowdhury said that the bail hearing of Chinmoy Das' case was held today. There were lawyers on behalf of the accused. The state party opposed the bail. Since it is a sedition case, the court may not have granted bail.

Court sources said that Chinmoy Das' first lawyer Subhasish Sharma is currently in hiding as an accused in the case. And senior lawyer Rabindra Ghosh, who recently came to appear in the case on his behalf, is staying in Dhaka for treatment. Today, 11 lawyers came from the Supreme Court to represent Chinmoy. Advocate Apurba Kumar Bhattacharya, leader of the 'Sammilit Sanatani Jagran Jote', is leading this group of lawyers on behalf of the Lawyers' Unity Council.

On November 25, Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested in a case filed on charges of sedition in the Shahjalal International Airport area while returning from Dhaka to Chattagram. The next day, a clash broke out in the court premises over his rejection of bail. At that time, lawyer Saiful Islam was beaten and hacked to death. After the rejection of bail, Chinmoy Das' lawyers filed a bail application again on the same day, seeking a revision against the order. However, no hearing was held that day. After no lawyer appeared at Chinmoy's bail hearing on December 3, the court fixed the hearing for today (January 2). Later, Rabindra Ghosh made three applications on behalf of Chinmoy, including bringing forward the hearing for two consecutive days on December 11 and 12, but this was not done due to complications in the legal documents.

Dhaka: Former caretaker government adviser, BRAC chairman and PPRC executive chairman Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman has said that the government's major weakness is its inability to engage with businessmen. Urging those who will turn the wheels of the economy to sit in discussions, this eminent economist said that Sri Lanka has turned around despite being in an economic situation like ours. They have brought inflation under control strongly, it is not that it is impossible to control it.

Dr. Hossain Zillur said these things in an exclusive interview given to Ajker Patrika. The excerpts of the interview have been published for the readers of Barta24.com:

High inflation is still ongoing in the economy. Will it be possible to control inflation only with foreign loans?

Hossain Zillur: High inflation is not only due to the corruption of the previous government. This is due to the weakness in managing the economy and giving some kind of oligarchs the opportunity to control the entire market. Apart from this, there are some other issues. Why is the issue of high inflation still going on? To solve the issue of high inflation, the current government is also only thinking about how to fix some macro indicators of the economy. There are two aspects of inflation - one. Reducing inflation; two. Making arrangements for people's income. Along with that, the wheels of the economy must also turn. In this case, the weakness of the current government is that their connection with the business class is low. In many cases, it can be said to be absent. This is the big weakness of this government. The government is trying to control inflation by taking some steps. But along with reducing inflation, the wheels of the economy must be accelerated; but both in parallel. There is no attention to the second. And I can also see a lack of capacity.

Commodity prices cannot be reined in. In this regard, the Finance Adviser recently spoke about the power of the syndicate. Is the syndicate bigger than the state? What is the way to deal with the syndicate?

Hossain Zillur: Of course, there is a problem here. The syndicates or oligarchs—whoever we talk about, their influence is still very strong in the market. We have seen how the price of edible oil has increased recently. From there, we can say that the syndicates or oligarchs still have control.

The major weakness of the interim government is that they are not able to engage with the businessmen. Because, to control them, it is not enough for the central bank governor, finance or trade advisers to control the interest rate; the syndicates or oligarchs are few in number. Apart from that, there are many other groups. They have been turning the wheels of the economy for 15 and half years. In a word, we will put the entire private sector on a pedestal—that would be a foolish act. Of course, the oligarchs must be separated from their unreasonable influence. We have to sit in discussions with those who will turn the wheels of the economy. Sri Lanka can be a big example for us. They have turned around even in the same economic situation as us. They have brought inflation under control strongly. It is not that it is impossible to control it. The channels of dialogue with the private sector are weak here. That is a visible failure of this government. The government needs to be more proactive. The oligarchs have an influence in the import of food grains. Now, by excluding them, other small players can be included here. We need to work on how to make a strong place for them in the field. To get a solution, we have to engage with the people in that sector. There is no point in just blaming. In the end, people want a solution.

A general consensus was created in the movement to overthrow Sheikh Hasina. After the coup, there are divisions. Can we expect a national consensus on basic issues at all?

Hossain Zillur: During the previous government, a political culture was created with dictatorship; a general state of humiliation was created for the people; justice, skills, and talent were sent into exile. Then the consensus that that regime was ousted and that it should not return is still there. That means there is a consensus on what should not happen again. The consensus that you call division, I want to call it different opinions. I want to say, we need to have a consensus on what should happen.

The big challenge of 2025 is, which way should we move forward? How should we move forward? Now, one of the responsibilities of the interim government is to bring the differences into a tone of unity. At the same time, to strengthen the areas of trust that we want to do this. There are deficiencies in these areas. Now there are three circles; namely, the interim government, the political circles and the civil society, which must be active. The responsibility of ensuring how to move forward in the place of consensus and whether it will move forward correctly or not falls on the three circles.

15 reform commissions have been formed in the country. Will it be possible to clean up the political mess of 53 years by presenting reform proposals alone, or is it necessary to change the political culture of each party?

Hossain Zillur: Initiatives to change political culture must come from different quarters. My observation is that the reform commissions have been conducted in a bookish manner. Discussions with various stakeholders were very important. It would have been better if it had been done openly, not bureaucratically because it is necessary to create a credible consensus. The major responsibility of the interim government is that they will facilitate the places where political culture changes through their activities. When we talk about changing political culture, it is thought of in three ways. We have to do it. When we talk about changing the political culture, the responsibility for this falls on the activities of the interim government, and then the responsibility falls on the political parties. To what extent are they respectful of this desire that has been created in the public mind? To what extent are they able to bring their organizations under discipline regarding the occupation and litigation that they have to harass people. Then there is a kind of great responsibility of civil society because the places of accountability will not be only institutional. The voice of an alert, active civil society needs to be strengthened.

The Election Commission (EC) has published the draft voter list.

On Thursday (January 2), the Election Commission led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin published the list.

According to the published list, the total number of voters in the country is currently 12 crore 36 lakh 83,512. This year, 18 lakh 33 thousand 352 voters have increased. The voter growth rate is 1.5 percent.

The EC said that there are 6 crore 33 lakh 30,103 male voters in the country and 6 crore 3 lakh 52 thousand 415 female voters. There are 994 transgender voters.

The Election Commission said that the final voter list will be published on March 2. Before that, the last day to file claims and objections related to voters will be until January 17. And the last day to settle the hearing in this regard is January 30.