A fisherman died in the impact of a collision between a speedboat of the Fisheries Department and a fishing boat in the Sreepur area of the Kalabadar River in Mehendiganj Upazila of Barishal.

The accident occurred on the Kalabadar River at around 8 pm on Monday (March 3). The deceased fisherman has been identified as Miraj Fakir (30). He is the son of Fakhrul Fakir, a resident of Miarchar area of the upazila.

Sukanta Kumar Roy, Marine Fisheries Officer of the Mehendiganj Upazila Fisheries Department of Barishal, said that at that time, a team of eight members of the Fisheries Department went on an operation in a speedboat on charges of throwing prohibited barrier nets. During the operation, 8-10 fishermen's boats came and attacked their speedboat. At one stage of the collision, a boatman climbed onto the speedboat and Miraj Fakir fell into the river. He was later rescued and taken to Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital, where the doctor on duty declared him dead.

Enamul Haque, inspector of Kaliganj Naval Police outpost in Mehendiganj, Barishal, said, "I have heard that a fisherman died in a collision between a speedboat and a fishing boat collision. Naval police have been sent to the scene."

There is tension in the area over the incident. Law enforcement is said to be working to control the situation.

Dhaka: Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has approved the proposal to rename the country's only satellite (Bangabandhu Satellite-1) to Bangladesh Satellite-1

The government's Ministry of Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology issued a notification in this regard on Monday (March 3).

The notification signed by Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology, said that the Honorable Chief Adviser has approved the proposal to rename Bangabandhu Satellite-1 (BS-1) to Bangladesh Satellite-1 (BS-1).

In this situation, a request has been made to take further necessary steps in this regard. Earlier, it was decided to change the name of Bangabandhu Satellite-1 in the Advisory Council meeting.

It is worth noting that the Bangabandhu Satellite was launched in 2018 through a project of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. On January 31, 2022, the ownership of this satellite was transferred to a new company, BSCL. This company was formed to operate the satellite. BSCL is an organization under the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. The Bangabandhu Satellite was built by a company named Thales Alenia Space of France. With this launch, Bangladesh's name was added to the satellite club as the 57th country.

Dhaka: The Bangladesh Foreign Ministry has said that the allegations made by Trump that two Bangladeshi organizations, whose names no one has even heard of, received 29 million dollars are not true.

The Foreign Ministry gave this information in a press release on Monday (March 3).

The Foreign Ministry said that a 29 million dollar project titled 'Strengthening Political Landscape (SPL) in Bangladesh' funded by USAID has been implemented in Bangladesh. Recently, US President Donald Trump gave some information about this project, which has created widespread confusion in the public mind. In this context, the Foreign Ministry has investigated the matter.

The investigation revealed that during President Trump's first term, USAID selected Democracy International (DI), registered in the United States, to implement this project. In the wake of the call for project proposals, many international organizations participated in the tender process and USAID made the decision by following a transparent competitive process. After signing the agreement in March 2017, DI started implementing the project. Later, the project period was extended and its funds came in phases.

Research shows that during President Trump's first term, Democracy International, registered in the United States, started implementing the SPL project in Bangladesh. Therefore, the allegation that it was provided to an organization owned by two individuals in Bangladesh is not true. In fact, such projects are implemented through the bilateral Development Objective Assistance Agreement (DOAG) between Bangladesh and the United States. In this case, individuals have no power to do anything.

Initially, the SPL project had a duration of 5 years and a budget of 14 million dollars. The project was managed by USAID and financed by USAID and the UK's development assistance agency DFID (now FCDO). DFID's commitment to finance this project was 10 million dollars.

The main objective of the SPL project was to reduce political violence and increase peace and harmony, create peaceful coexistence between political parties, increase the capacity of parties, improve the practice of internal democracy in parties, and encourage the development of representative leadership. Under the project, DI also conducts survey activities in Bangladesh. It is noted that USAID projects are required to follow the US government's financial management policy. This includes strict adherence to the financial audit process. Documents related to this are retained even after several years of the project's completion. Re-audits are conducted if necessary.

Dhaka: NCP to start organizational activities by paying tribute to the martyrs of the Great Liberation War at the National Memorial and the July Uprising at the Rayerbazar Massacre Ground.

The National Citizens Party (NCP) announced this information through a notification on Monday (March 3) night.

The notification said that the leaders of the National Citizens Party, NCP, will pay tribute to the martyrs of the Great Liberation War at the National Memorial in Savar at 7 am on Tuesday. After paying tribute, the leaders will visit the graves of the martyrs of the 24th student-public uprising at 10 am in Rayerbazar in the capital. The central members will be present at both the programs under the leadership of the convener of the National Citizens Party, Mr. Md. Nahid Islam and member secretary Akhtar Hossain.

It is worth noting that the organization made its debut in a grand ceremony at Manik Mia Avenue on February 28. After that, a partial convening committee of 217 members was approved. Several NCP leaders have said that the organizational scope will be expanded by prioritizing four issues.