The names of 10 poets and writers were announced for the Bangla Academy Literary Award 2024 on Thursday (January 23). The list of names announced for that award has been postponed, said Cultural Adviser Mostafa Sarwar Farooqui.

He announced this in a post on his verified Facebook on Saturday (January 25) night.

In the post, he wrote, the list of names announced for the Bangla Academy Award has been postponed. It is also necessary to say that our first task is to quickly review the strange policies that allow such bizarre and quota awards. In addition, how will the Bangla Academy be run, what policies will it follow - all these have to be seen. We will now move towards radical reform of the academy. The country will be reformed, why not reform the Bangla Academy?

Earlier, on January 23, this award was announced in a notification signed by Director General Professor Mohammad Azam with the approval of the Bangla Academy Executive Council.

The awardees are - Masud Khan in poetry, Salim Morshed in fiction, Shubhashis Sinha in drama and dramatic literature, Salimullah Khan in essays/prose, Faruk Nawaz in children's literature, GH Habib in translation, Muhammad Shahjahan Mia in research, Rezaur Rahman in science, Mohammad Hannan in the Liberation War and Syed Jamil Ahmed in folklore. 

Addressing the student advisers, Mahmudur Rahman Manna, president of Nagorik Oikya, said, "You will change the country, make reforms, why would you cheat the people? You do not have neutrality in this. This is why Mirza Fakhrul Islam rightly said, if neutrality is violated like this, we may need a new neutral government."

He said this at a teachers' rally organized at the Engineer Institute Bangladesh premises in Ramna in the capital on Saturday (January 25) afternoon demanding the nationalization of teaching and staff jobs.

He said, for the past two days, there has been a debate in Bangladesh, which was not necessary. The question raised by your leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is reasonable. You will remain in the government, and you will also form a party, you will say men and women, it will not happen. It is not like three names will be associated with one of your names.

Students can definitely form a party, said Mahmudur Rahman Manna, commenting, "If you form a party, you can do it by announcing it, there is no prohibition in a democratic country. But you can form a party while in power or you are not forming a party right now, but when the party is formed, it will be seen that your name is included. Or if your name is added within 6 months of forming the party, then it will be understood that you have worked secretly from now until the new party is formed."

BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman was virtually present at the teachers' rally as the chief guest. Also present were the party's standing committee members Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moin Khan, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Begum Selima Rahman, Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Vice Chairman Barkatullah Bulu, former State Minister for Education and ERI Chairman Dr. ANM Ihsanul Haque Milon, Nagorik Oikya President Mahmudur Rahman Manna, among others.

The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement has called for a protest march and rally in protest against the rape and murder of a Bangladeshi woman in Bangaluru, India.

This news was reported on Saturday (January 25) morning from the official page of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.

The Facebook post mentioned that on Saturday (January 25) at 3 pm, a protest march and rally will be held at the Raju Sculpture of Dhaka University in protest against the rape and murder of a Bangladeshi woman in Bangaluru.

It is to be noted that the body of a 28-year-old Bangladeshi woman was found in Bangaluru, Karnataka state, India. The local police believe that she was raped and murdered.

The woman worked as a domestic worker in an apartment. The incident occurred on Thursday while she was returning home after work. On Friday morning, locals found her body in a deserted area. They immediately informed the police.

The woman's husband is a cleaner. She lived in North Bengaluru with her husband and three children. They have three children.

The court has issued arrest warrants against former Cox's Bazar Deputy Commissioner Ruhul Amin and former District and Sessions Judge Sadiqul Islam Talukder.

Judge Munshi Abdul Majid of the Cox's Bazar Senior Special Judge's Court issued the order on January 23. Confirming the matter, Public Prosecutor (PP) of the Cox's Bazar Court Siraj Ullah said that the court has issued arrest warrants against the accused after accepting the report submitted by the ACC regarding the fraud.

The accused are charged of forging the plaintiff's signature and documents and removing their names in a case of embezzlement of Tk. 20 crore for the acquisition of land before the construction of a thermal power plant in Matarbari, Maheshkhali, Cox's Bazar.

The other accused are Mostaq Ahmed Chowdhury, a lawyer at the Cox's Bazar District and Sessions Judge's Court, Swapan Kanti Pal, a Nazir at the Deputy Commissioner's Office, and Zafar Ahmed, a stenographer at the District and Sessions Judge's Court.

It is learned that Riaz Uddin, the investigation officer of the case and the Assistant Director of the ACC's Cox's Bazar Integrated District Office, submitted a report to the district's Senior Special Judge's Court on July 1 and applied for the issuance of arrest warrants, bail and attachment warrants against the accused.

According to court sources, on November 19, 2014, Kaisarul Islam Chowdhury, a resident of Matarbari, filed a case against 28 people at the Cox's Bazar Senior Special Judge's Court, accusing the then Deputy Commissioner Ruhul Amin of embezzling about Tk. 20 crore for the acquisition of land for the construction of a thermal power plant.

The court took cognizance of the case and ordered the ACC to investigate. Immediately after the case, the then District and Sessions Judge Sadiqul Islam Talukder sent the documents to the ACC head office, excluding the name of the first accused, Ruhul Amin. But after learning about the fraudulent omission of the name of the Deputy Commissioner from the case, Kaisarul Islam filed another case in the same court a few days later. In that case, seven people, including Deputy Commissioner Ruhul Amin and District Judge Sadiqul Islam Talukder, were accused. After investigating that case, the ACC submitted an investigation report against five people to the court on July 1.

In this case, former Deputy Commissioner Ruhul Amin has been accused of assisting the other accused in various ways in forging the plaintiff's signature and documents. At the same time, two accused have been recommended for exemption from the case. They are Abdur Rahim, the public prosecutor of the Cox's Bazar court, and SM Shah Habibur Rahman, the former Additional Deputy Commissioner (Education and ICT).

In the report, the ACC said that when the case of Kaisarul Islam was registered in the criminal application register, there were 28 accused including Deputy Commissioner Ruhul Amin. But three pages were changed and the name of accused number one Ruhul Amin was omitted. Accused number two Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Zafar Alam was made the number one accused. The plaintiff's forged signature was also given in it. The entire document was sent to the ACC with cuts and erasures. The plaintiff's forged signature was proven by the handwriting experts of the CID. ACC and court sources said that 1,414 acres of land was acquired for the construction of the Matarbari power plant. Of this, Tk. 237 crore was allocated as compensation for the shrimp enclosure, houses and infrastructure. Tk. 46 crore was allocated as compensation for the acquisition of the shrimp enclosure. Of this, Tk. 19 crore 82 Lakh out of the compensation of Tk. 46 crore was withdrawn and embezzled by showing 25 fake shrimp enclosures.

According to the district administration, checks of about Tk. 23 crore were initially distributed for compensation for the acquisition of shrimp enclosures. Later, three checks were canceled. After that, several cases were filed against those who took and gave the remaining Tk. 19 crore 8 Lakh 20 thousand. On December 7, 2014, another case was filed against the accused including former Deputy Commissioner Ruhul Amin at Cox's Bazar Sadar Model Police Station. After a long investigation, the ACC found evidence of embezzlement of about Tk. 20 crore.

In this case, the court rejected the bail application on May 22, 2017 and sent Ruhul Amin to jail. Earlier, he was dismissed from his job. However, Ruhul Amin is currently on bail. In the same case, the ACC arrested Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Zafar Alam from Segunbagicha in Dhaka on May 9, Abul Kashem Majumder, former high-ranking assistant of the district administration's land acquisition branch, former surveyor Fakhrul Islam and Cox's Bazar court lawyer Nur Mohammad Sikder from Cox's Bazar town on April 3. The case is currently pending trial at the Chattogram Divisional Special Judge's Court.