Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter on Monday said some 60 percent of cancer patients in the country are farmers, attributing their high risk of the disease to prolonged exposure to pesticides.
“Some 60 percent of cancer patients are directly involved in agriculture. The reason for this is that women are mixing pesticides and farmers are spraying these (on crops),” she said while addressing a dialogue in the capital.
Bangladesh Agricultural Farm Workers Federation organised the national dialogue on “Inclusive Labour Laws with International Standard and Legal Recognition of Workers in Agriculture and Informal Economic Sectors” at CIRDAP Auditorium.
The adviser said no remedial measures are being taken in this regard, though focus should be given on prevention of cancers among farmers.
Chief Adviser Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam today said the government has no relation with initiative of the proclamation of July uprising by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement on December 31. "This is a private initiative. We are considering it as a private initiative. It is not related to the government, and there is no involvement of the government with this," he told a press conference in front of the State Guest House Jamuna here this afternoon. Responding to a question, Deputy Press Secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad Majumder said, “Until the proclamation is made, it is not clear to us and we cannot clarify it." The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement is set to unveil the Proclamation of the July Uprising on December 31.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Sunday said it will launch an investigation into allegations of irregularities, corruption and embezzlement linked to the construction project of the Third Terminal at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.
ACC Director General (Prevention) Md Akhtar Hossain said this while briefing reporters outside the ACC headquarters in the capital, stating that project director AKM Maksudul Islam along with others, is accused of severe misconduct.
The allegations include abuse of power, fraudulent activities, and extensive corruption.
Bangladesh sent 9,91,713 workers overseas with employment abroad from January 1 to December 28, 2024.
"The trend of overseas employment is satisfactory as 9,91,713 job seekers went abroad with employment till December 28," an official of Bangladesh Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) told BSS today.
He said out of the total overseas job seekers, 9,31,533 were male and 60,180 were female went abroad with employment during the stipulated period.
According to the Bangladesh Bank latest data, expatriate Bangladeshis sent over US$2 billion remittances during the first 21 days of December in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
For the fiscal year, July-November worker-remittance inflows stood at $11.14 billion, reflecting around a 26 percent increase compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year, it said.