Bangladesh Bank has created a Tk 20 billion pre-financing fund for the export-oriented frozen food sector, according to a circular issued on Sunday. Funded from the central bank’s own resources, the three-year revolving facility aims to diversify exports, increase foreign-currency earnings, create employment and expand rural economic activity. The maximum interest rate for borrowers will be 7 percent.

The fund can finance processing and export-related activities involving frozen shrimp, fish and fish products, as well as other frozen foods. Eligible uses include buying raw materials, expanding and modernising factories, purchasing machinery, building cold storage facilities and restarting closed or partially operating factories. Financing is also available for solar power projects used in production, processing and storage, and for environmental damage mitigation.

Participating banks will pay 4 percent interest on pre-financing received from Bangladesh Bank before lending to customers at up to 7 percent. New factories may receive loans for up to seven years, including a one-year grace period, while renovation and modernisation loans may run for up to five years. Exporters with closed or partly closed operations due to working-capital shortages will receive priority, but defaulters and firms using similar ongoing public funds are excluded.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs-1 Humayun Kabir has been assigned expanded responsibilities, including assisting Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman in all matters during the minister’s absence. The Foreign Ministry announced the arrangement in a circular issued on Sunday. Kabir will take on the additional role while Khalilur Rahman spends extended periods abroad as president of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The circular said Kabir’s added duties are beyond the specific responsibilities assigned to the two state ministers under the Rules of Business, 1996. Khalilur Rahman became foreign minister after the BNP formed the government in February this year. On June 2, he was elected president of the 81st UN General Assembly session by secret ballot at UN headquarters, defeating Cyprus candidate Andreas S. Kakouris by 99 votes to 91.

Khalilur Rahman will serve in the UN role for one year from September 8 and is expected to stay for lengthy periods in New York and other countries. Humayun Kabir was appointed a technocrat state minister for foreign affairs in the August 21 cabinet reshuffle, while Shama Obaid Islam retained her post. A later circular designated Kabir as State Minister-1 and Islam as State Minister-2.

Speakers at a merit student reception in the Pirgacha উপজেলা পরিষদ auditorium on Saturday urged students to combine strong academic results with honesty, ethics, human values and patriotism. The event was organised by the Pirgacha উপজেলা branch of Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, where participants called on award-winning students to use their talent and qualifications for the welfare of the country and society.

Chief guest উপজেলা Jamaat amir Bazlur Rashid Mukul said students should devote their distinctive abilities to the future welfare of Bangladesh and develop into competent, responsible citizens. Jaksu executive member Abdullah Al Faruk stressed proper recognition of students’ abilities and their use in serving people. Rangpur district Chhatra Shibir president Hamidur Rahman said academic success alone was insufficient without honesty, morality and humane qualities.

Begum Rokeya University branch president Abdur Rakib Murad wished the students well in university life and encouraged them to contribute to state and social development through higher education. The reception presented honours to meritorious students. Pirgacha Sadar police station Chhatra Shibir president Rabiul Islam chaired the programme, which was attended by leaders and activists from different levels of the organisation and others concerned.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club in New Delhi cancelled a planned seminar featuring several leaders of Bangladesh’s banned Awami League after Delhi Police refused permission at the last moment. In a statement issued on Saturday evening, the club said the event could not proceed because police had declined to authorize it. The club had previously promoted the seminar on its X account, including a leaflet detailing the topic and proposed speakers.

Scheduled speakers included Selim Mahmud, the Awami League’s information and research secretary, along with human rights activists, researchers and former Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh Veena Sikri. FCC general secretary Prakash Nanda said police told organizers that permission was unavailable but declined to explain why the event had been stopped. Delhi Police made no formal statement on the matter.

A senior Delhi Police officer said police can cancel any event if there is concern that an unpleasant situation may arise. Attempts to obtain comments from multiple Awami League leaders were unsuccessful. Earlier this month, Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister, addressed another FCC seminar virtually, prompting an angry reaction from Dhaka and tensions between the two countries, according to the report.

Food Minister Afroza Khanam Rita said the government is working to dismantle warehouse syndicates and ensure that genuine beneficiaries receive the benefits of public food programmes. She made the remarks on Sunday afternoon after an unannounced inspection of the Beutha campus of Manikganj Sadar Local Storage Depot and Saturia Local Storage Depot in Saturia upazila.

During the visit, the minister inspected stocks of paddy, rice, wheat and flour, along with storage arrangements and grain quality. She discussed overall warehouse management and safe storage measures with relevant officials. Rita said her first priority was verifying that depots hold adequate food stocks and that stored grain remains safe and of acceptable quality.

She said the Manikganj Sadar and Saturia depots had sufficient stocks, with satisfactory quality of stored paddy, wheat and flour. Similar reserves exist in other districts, she said, adding that every district currently has adequate food supplies and no food shortage. She warned that legal action would be taken over irregularities, mismanagement or quality problems, citing action already taken after irregularities were found at a food depot in Ghior, Manikganj.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed on Sunday sought cooperation from all political parties to implement the July National Charter, speaking during a session of the national parliament. He also urged opposition parties to join the constitutional amendment committee and present their views and proposals through that forum.

Addressing opposition members, Ahmed said cooperation could not mean setting prior conditions that all demands must be met while declining to participate in the committee. He said the committee would record their statements and include all of their views in its report, allowing the nation to know their positions.

The minister described the constitutional amendment process as open, saying members could disagree on some issues and reach consensus on others. He said any proposal to add a new matter to the constitution would be considered seriously. Ahmed said the government would welcome opposition participation whenever it occurs, and ended his remarks by joking that he hoped he had not caused opposition members any distress.

Hasinur Rahman Bir Pratik, joint convener of the National Committee for Observance of the International Day Against Enforced Disappearances, strongly criticised the enacted law on disappearances at a brief gathering on Sunday afternoon. The event followed the submission of a memorandum to the Speaker at the National Parliament Building. He said the law was so flawed that even the home minister’s wife would be unable to prove that her husband had been forcibly disappeared.

Speaking to journalists after delivering the memorandum, Rahman said the delegation had approached the Speaker with high expectations and presented all of its points. According to him, the Speaker did not disagree with their concerns and assured them that he would make every possible effort on the matter. Rahman said the group did not want what he described as a defective law.

He said the group’s patience had limits and urged citizens to make all planned programmes successful in the interest of the country and its people, including a long march scheduled for the 5th. Representatives of several political parties and organisations were present at the gathering.

International Crimes Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Aminul Islam said on Sunday that isolated enforced disappearance cases from the Awami League’s roughly 15-year rule will be tried in criminal courts, not at the tribunal. Speaking to journalists at his office, he said the Prevention and Remedy of Enforced Disappearance Act-2026 classifies individual disappearance incidents as criminal offences subject to the relevant courts.

He said the tribunal can hear disappearance cases as crimes against humanity only when multiple incidents were committed on a widespread and systematic basis. Islam said the cases involving Ilias Ali and current Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed were being treated as part of such a pattern. By contrast, individual cases involving people taken into police custody and later charged cannot be brought under the widespread category, he said.

Islam also said multiple crossfire killings during the same period could be tried by the tribunal if they were widespread and systematically planned. He cited the case of Councillor Ekram as an example already brought before the tribunal. He added that proceedings in the Ziaul Hasan disappearance case were nearing completion, while testimony from more than five witnesses had been recorded in the cases involving Barrister Arman and Brigadier Azmi. A combined investigation is also underway into 250 missing victims.

Bangladesh’s Home Ministry has assigned three officers as new police superintendents in Narayanganj, Madaripur and Pirojpur, while transferring six others to various police units. The changes were issued in three separate notifications by the ministry’s Police-1 branch on Sunday. Deputy Secretary Tausif Ahmed signed the notifications by order of the President.

Madaripur Police Superintendent Md Habibur Rahman was posted as superintendent of police in Narayanganj. Police Bureau of Investigation Superintendent Md Fazle Elahi was assigned to Madaripur, while Dhaka Metropolitan Police officer Muhammad Talebur Rahman was posted to Pirojpur. Pirojpur Superintendent of Police Mohammad Manjur Ahmed Siddiqui was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department.

In other changes, Police Staff College Superintendent Shamima Yasmin was moved to TDS in Dhaka, DMP Deputy Commissioner Md Jasim Uddin to the Police Training Centre in Noakhali, and Rashida Begum to the Police Staff College. Wahidul Haque Chowdhury was named additional DIG of Tourist Police, while Nazmul Hasan was transferred to Khulna Metropolitan Police as additional police commissioner.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister M Rashiduzzaman Millat said the government is considering further reductions in Biman Bangladesh Airlines fares as the carrier expands routes and raises revenue. He made the remarks on Sunday in parliament while answering a supplementary question from ruling-party reserved-seat lawmaker Helen Jerin Khan, during a sitting chaired by Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram.

The minister said Biman initially charged Hajj pilgrims about Tk200,000, before the interim government reduced the fare to about Tk165,000. For the previous Hajj, the maximum airfare had been calculated at Tk154,000, while this year it was reduced to Tk130,000 through dynamic pricing. Decisions on further cuts will consider aircraft purchase plans and the reopening or full operation of routes.

Responding to opposition lawmaker Mohammad Mujibur Rahman on domestic fares, Millat said the actual Dhaka-Chattogram fare is about Tk6,400, not Tk12,000, excluding roughly 15% tax and other applicable charges. He said the government has taken measures against price manipulation and black marketing near departure times so passengers can buy tickets at government-set prices.

Bangladesh received $2.669 billion in remittances during the first 29 days of August this year, equivalent to Tk32,828.07 crore at an exchange rate of Tk123 per dollar. Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan confirmed the figures on Sunday. The inflow represents remittances sent by expatriate Bangladeshis to the country during the period.

Remittance inflows in the first 29 days of August were 22.30 percent higher than the $2.182 billion received during the same period in August last year. In the most recent three days, from Thursday through Saturday, the country received Tk2,632.20 crore in expatriate income, according to the central bank spokesperson.

From July 1 to August 29 of the current fiscal year, Bangladesh received a cumulative $5.527 billion in remittances. During the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, remittance inflows stood at $4.66 billion. The figures indicate a higher inflow of expatriate income in both the August comparison and the fiscal-year period cited by Bangladesh Bank.

Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will hold the first committee meeting under their Mecca Joint Defense Agreement on Monday in Istanbul, according to a Turkish Foreign Ministry source cited by Reuters on Sunday. Senior officials from the three countries are expected to gather for the meeting, following the agreement’s signing on August 7.

The agreement creates a new framework for defense cooperation among the three Sunni Muslim countries, which are concerned about the Iran war and regional conflicts. Its stated aim is to strengthen their collective deterrence against possible aggression. An armed attack on one member would be treated as an attack on all three, a principle described as similar to NATO’s Article 5 collective-defense provision.

Foreign and defense ministers and chiefs of staff from the three countries are expected to attend the Istanbul meeting. Discussions may focus on improving defense capabilities, increasing coordination among their armed forces, and joint production and technology development in the defense industry. International security conditions are also on the agenda. Turkey has said the pact could expand, with Egypt mentioned as a possible future member.

Bangladesh Under-19 defeated the Bangladesh Under-23 team by four runs in the second match of the Bangladesh Cricket Board-organised Game Development Trophy at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. Defending 226, the Under-19 side held their nerve until the final over to secure a dramatic victory for the team led by Farid Hasan Faisal.

The Under-19s were bowled out for 226 in 48.4 overs after Rabiu Hasan Anik made an unbeaten 65 from 82 balls, including five fours and a six. Abdullah Al Muhi scored 40, Ahsan Al Muminul 37 and Farhan Sadiq 29. Off-spinner Sheikh Parvez Jibon took three wickets for 38 runs, while Ahrar Amin Piyan and Azizul Hakim Tamim claimed two each.

Chasing 227, the Under-23s reached 126 for three but lost momentum despite contributions from Khalid Hasan, Kalam Siddiqi Elin and Rizan Hossain. They required six runs from the final over with one wicket remaining. Rahim Ahmed dismissed Rahin Ahmed lbw on the third ball of that over, finishing with four wickets for 52 and earning player-of-the-match honours.

The Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) has expressed deep concern and strong opposition to a Japan International Cooperation Agency-funded coastal road planned from Sugandha Point to Hotel Saymon in Cox’s Bazar. In a Sunday press release sent by its General Secretary Professor Md. Mosleh Uddin Hasan, the organisation urged authorities not to build the road in a way that damages beach dunes and the coastal environment. It called for planned, environmentally sound and climate-resilient development that protects the coast’s natural defences.

BIP said it was necessary to clarify whether constructing infrastructure in the sensitive dune area was justified when alternative locations may be available. The group also questioned whether alternative sites and designs had been adequately assessed. It raised serious questions over whether the Department of Environment had issued environmental clearance for the road, stressing that development in environmentally critical areas must follow applicable laws, regulations and approval procedures.

The organisation called for the ongoing construction work to be suspended immediately and for an independent, integrated reassessment of environmental, climate, disaster-risk and planning impacts. It also urged verification of required approvals, consideration of alternative locations and designs that preserve dunes and coastal ecosystems, and discussions with BIP and all relevant stakeholders.

Barcelona have agreed a deal with Arsenal to sign Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus after failing in their attempt to bring in Julian Alvarez. The Catalan club, seeking a striker during the summer transfer window, finalised an agreement with Arsenal, according to transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano. Jesus has already left for Spain to complete the required medical examination.

Arsenal have agreed to let Jesus leave for €10 million plus additional benefits, Romano reported. Barcelona had pursued Atletico Madrid’s Argentine forward Alvarez as their first choice throughout the summer, but Atletico made clear that he would not be sold. Barcelona then changed their plans and turned their attention to Jesus.

Jesus’ prospects of securing a place in Arsenal’s starting lineup had diminished following the arrivals of Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres. Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta had also indicated that the forward could leave the club. Barcelona are moving to further strengthen their attack after adding Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi.