Condolences and tributes continue to pour for veteran left-leaning politician and 1971 freedom fighter Pankaj Bhattacharya, who passed away overnight at a private hospital in the capital at 83.
Immediately after his demise, people from all walks of life as well as different political parties and leaders expressed their shock and conveyed condolences.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed profound shock and sorrow at the death of Pankaj and prayed for salvation of the departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family.
Besides, different ministers, state ministers and noted politicians as well as renowned personalities and organizations also expressed profound shock and sorrow at the death of Pankaj.
Awami League (AL) Joint General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, AL Advisory Council Member and 14-Party alliance coordinator and spokesperson Amir Hossain Amu, AL Joint General Secretary and Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader,
Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal General Secretary and former industries minister Dilip Barua, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad President Fouzia Moslem and General Secretary Maleka Banu, Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigosthi President Professor Badiur Rahman and General Secretary Amit Ranjan Dey and Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) President M Hafizuddin Khan and General Secretary Badiul Alam Mozumder were among who condoled the death of Pankaj.
In their condolence messages, they recalled the contributions of Pankaj Bhattacharya to the great Liberation War as one of the organisers of Guerrilla Force and his active involvement in all mass movements of the country, including the student movements in the 60s.
They prayed for salvation of the departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family.
Pankaj was a vice-president of Student Union and later he became the executive president of the organization before the independence. Later, he formed a platform named Sammilito Samajik Andolan and also founded the Oikya National Awami Party, known as Oikya NAP in 2010.
Born in Noapara in the Raozan Upazila of Chattogram in 1939, Pankaj studied at different institutions in Dhaka and Chattogram when he was appreciated also as a good footballer and cultural activist alongside his role as a student political worker.
He was expelled from Chattogram Collegiate School in 1959 due to his involvement with the student movement.
President Mohammed Sahabuddin, now the resident of Bangabhaban, did his office for the first time with signing some important files on Monday evening.
Freedom fighter Sahabuddin is the 22nd President in the history of Bangladesh. He was replaced the outgoing President M Abdul Hamid through oath-taking ceremony at the Historic Durbar Hall of Bangabhaban Monday morning.
After swearing-in ceremony, the President went to his Gulshan residence.
Meanwhile, after the farewell reception at the quarter past two, Abdul Hamid left for his Nikunj residence.
President Sahabuddin family members, including wife Dr Rebecca Sultana and son Arshad Adnan Roni arrived at Bangabhaban at 08:50 pm in a motorcade procession from Gulshan residence.
Earlier, on the arrival of the Head of State at Bangabhaban, a smart contingent of the horse-mounted President Guard Regiment (PGR) welcomed the President at the main gate.
From there, they took them to the main building gate, where President Sahabuddin was greeted with flowers by the officials and employees of Bangabhaban.
Senior military and civil officials, including President Office Secretary Sampad Barua, Military Secretary Major General SM Salahuddin Islam, Press Secretary Md Joynal Abedin and Secretary (Attachment) Md Wahidul Islam Khan were present.
The President will be given a guard of honor by the PGR tomorrow at 10:30 am.
He will pay tribute to martyrs at the Savar Memorial Mausoleum at 11:38 am. He will also sign there a visitors book there.
Then the President will place wreaths at the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in front of Bangabandhu Bhaban of Dhanmondi at 12 noon.
Later, he will lay wreaths at Central Shaheed Minar.
The government will take action against the unscrupulous traders who attempt to increase commodity prices through different mechanisms, warns Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim.
“If any business community tries to make the commoners hostages through collusion, definitively the government will not spare them,” he said.
He also said market monitoring is not within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MoFL) but they will talk to the agencies concerned to thwart the syndicate, if there is any.
The minister came up with the warning while replying to a question from journalists on the unusual hike in prices of eggs in the local markets recently.
“On one hand we cannot force the producers to sell eggs at lower price than their operating cost, on the other we cannot spare the profiteering traders,” he said.
He was speaking as the chief guest at a seminar to observe the World Egg Day organised jointly by the Directorate of Livestock Services (DLS), World’s Poultry Science Association (WPSA) Bangladesh chapter and Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council (BPICC) at a city convention centre on Friday.
Professor Dr Md Bazlur Rahman Mollah of Bangladesh Agricultural University presented the keynote paper at the seminar.
MoFL Secretary Dr Nahid Rashid, DLS Director General Dr Monjur Mohammad Shahjada and President of BPICC and WPSA local chapter Mashiur Rahman spoke on the occasion, among others.
The Department of Livestock Services (DLS) and Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council (BPICC) brought out a procession from Manik Mia Avenue in Dhaka to mark the day.
The DLC and the BPICC brought out the procession with the aim to make people aware of the nutritional value of eggs and encourage them to eat eggs every day for increasing immunity.
Around 20,57,64,000 eggs were produced in the country in the 2021-22 fiscal year, DLS sources said.
The country produced 17,36,43,000 eggs in the fiscal year 2020-21 and the data shows that egg production increased by 3.21 crore.
According to the World Health Organisation (WTO), a person should eat at least 104 eggs per year to meet his or her demand for nutrition.
Livestock experts said the poultry sector is thriving fast to improve rural economy alongside increasing egg production to meet nourishment of the population contributing to attaining the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
“Consumption of egg is also contributing a lot to ensuring sound health for the people of all ages, including children, adolescents, pregnant mothers and women,” they added.
They said eggs are being produced abundantly in Bangladesh by adopting latest scientific technologies maintaining maximum safety for public health to meet nourishment of the population.
The minister in his speech also said prices of egg will be balanced through coordinated efforts of all stakeholders.
It is also necessary to keep in mind that the cost of production in the poultry sector has also increased in recent times, said the minister.
Dr Nahid Rashid said egg is like a ‘super food’ considering its nutritional value for human health.
“Egg is the most affordable animal protein,” she said, adding production cost of the essential item has increased in the country by several times in the recent years.
She also said the government is taking different schemes to make it affordable so people from all walks of lives can avail it.
There is also need for focusing on the scopes to export value added products made from eggs, she added.
Railways Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan on Wednesday said that Bangladesh Railway (BR) will start sale of advance tickets ahead of the holy Eid-ul-Azha from July 1 to make Eid holidaymakers’ journey smooth.
The minister made the announcement at a press conference held at the conference room of Rail Bhaban here.
The advance train tickets will be sold considering July 10 as the possible Eid day, the minister said, adding that advance tickets are usually sold five days before the Eid journey.
According to this decision, train tickets for July 5 will be sold on July 1 while tickets of July 6 will be sold on July 2, July 7 will be on July 3, July 8 will be on July 4 and July 9 will be on July 5.
Besides, return tickets for July 11 will be sold on July 7 while July 12 will be sold on July 8 and July 13 will be sold on July 9.
The return tickets for July 14 and 15 will be sold on July 11.
Sujan further said that train tickets for Eid will be available at 6 stations in Dhaka and Joydevpur Railway Station in Gazipur.
Tickets for the entire northern intercity train will be available at Kamalapur Railway Station, the central railway station in Dhaka, he added.
Train tickets for Rajshahi and Khulna will be available from Kamalapur Shohortoli Platform.
All intercity train tickets to Chattogram and Noakhali will be available from Dhaka Airport while people can buy tickets for Mymensingh, Jamalpur and Dewanganj trains from Tejgaon railway station.
Besides, tickets for Mohanganj -bound Mohanganj and Haor Express trains will be available at Dhaka Cantonment Railway Station while people can purchase tickets for Sylhet and Kishoreganj trains from Fulbaria Railway Station.
Railway Minister said that in case of ticket purchase, passengers will be able to purchase tickets by displaying a photocopy of NID or birth certificate at the counter.
Advance ticket sales on the app and website will start from 8 am to 4 pm.
Each ticket selling center will have a counter for women and persons with disabilities while each intercity train will also have separate coaches for women and specially-abled passengers only.
Sujan said a total of 26,713 tickets would be sold daily from Dhaka and half of it will be sold online.
He added that 67 extra train-bogies will be included to meet the rush of passengers.
He informed to the media that a total of 213 trains will be run on the occasion of the holy Eid.
He said one passenger can buy a maximum of 4 tickets, adding: “Advance tickets will not be refunded.”
He said six pairs of special trains will be operated on Eid occasion and no tickets will be available online for the Eid Special Train.
“People must collect those from the counters,” he said.
He said the Maitree Express and Bandhan Express will be closed from July 6 to July 14 and from July 7 to July 14 respectively.
Railway Secretary Humayun Kabir and senior officials were present on the occasion.