India has protested against the Facebook comments of Mahfuz Alam, an adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has lodged a formal protest with Dhaka over the issue, said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the country's Ministry of External Affairs.

The Indian media outlet 'The Hindu' reported this in a report on Friday (December 20).

The report said that in a recent Facebook post, adviser Mahfuz Alam had said that India should recognize the rebellion that forced the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign. In another post, he claimed that certain Indian territories should be part of Bangladesh. However, he later deleted the post.

In this regard, Jaiswal said, we have registered our strong protest on this issue on behalf of Bangladesh. We understand that the post mentioned has been removed.

Reminding leaders of neighboring Bangladesh of the importance of responsible comments, Randhir Jaiswal also said that New Delhi would like to advise all concerned to be responsible while making public comments.

Reiterating India's interest in improving relations with the interim government of Bangladesh, Jaiswal said that India has repeatedly indicated its interest in developing relations with the people and the interim government of Bangladesh. 

The West Bengal police have confirmed that the flesh and bones recovered from a septic tank in Kolkata's Sanjeeva Garden belong to Bangladeshi MP Anwarul Azim Anar through DNA tests.

A report in Hindustan Times, citing the Kolkata CID, said that the forensic examination of the body parts and the DNA of Anar's daughter Mumtarin Ferdous Doreen were found to be similar.

It is also known that Doreen came to Kolkata in late November. Her DNA sample was taken then. Then both the samples were sent for verification.

About four kg of flesh was recovered from the septic tank of the Sanjeeva Garden residence in Kolkata where the former MP was murdered. On the other hand, several human bones were recovered from the Bagjola canal in Bhangarh's Krishnamurthy area of South 24 Parganas district.

The recovered flesh and bones were sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for testing.

DNA testing was necessary to confirm whether the dismembered body was that of MP Anar or not. In that case, MP Anar's daughter Mumtarin Ferdous Doreen was supposed to come to Kolkata long ago, but it was postponed due to various reasons. Finally, she came to Kolkata last November and met CID officials and the investigating agency collected samples from her for DNA testing.

It is worth noting that on May 12, MP Anwarul Azim Anar came to India. He stayed at the house of his former acquaintance Gopal Biswas in Baranagar, West Bengal. The next day, on May 13, he left Gopal's house to go for treatment. But it was alleged that he was murdered that night in the 'BU-56' duplex flat of the multi-storey housing complex in Sanjeeva Garden, Newtown.

Like every year, The Economist has chosen the country of the year again. This time, the international media has announced Bangladesh as the country of the year for 2024.

This information was revealed in a report published by The Economist on Thursday (December 19).

This time, Bangladesh was on the list along with Syria, Argentina, South Africa and Poland. However after a ‘heated debate ‘among’ The Economist correspondents, Bangladesh was selected as the best country and Syria was the runner-up.

The report said, our winner this time is Bangladesh, which has overthrown a dictator. In August, student-led street protests ousted Sheikh Hasina, who ruled the country of 17 crore people for 15 years. As the daughter of the country's independence hero, she once led economic growth. But she later began to repress, rigged elections, sent opponents to prison and ordered security forces to shoot at protesters. Her rule was marked by massive embezzlement.

The report also said that Bangladesh has a history of retaliatory violence during power transitions. The main opposition BNP is corrupt. Islamic extremism is also a threat. But so far, their transformation has been promising. There is an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus, which has the support of students, the military, business and civil society. This government has restored order and stabilized the economy.

This government will have to fix relations with India in 2025 and decide when to hold elections. Before that, it will have to ensure that the country's courts are impartial and that opposition parties are given time to organize. None of this will be easy.

However, Bangladesh is our best country this year for ousting a dictator and moving towards a more liberal government.

In addition, Syria was named this year's runner-up, where Bashar al-Assad was ousted. Argentina, South Africa and Poland also made the list due to their economic reforms and the formation of new governments. The previous year, The Economist's country of the year in 2023 was Greece, which managed to emerge from a long financial crisis and a moderate government was re-elected.

The Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia celebrated International Migrants Day and National Expatriates Day-2024 with great enthusiasm and festivities, keeping in mind the theme of 'Expatriates' rights, our commitment, Bangladesh without discrimination, all of us'.

On the occasion of the celebration of the day, a day-long discussion meeting, documentary screening, honoring of expatriate Bangladeshis, cultural programs and raffle draws were organized at the G Tower Hall in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday (December 18) to recognize the contribution of expatriates and to involve them more in the country's development activities.

Among the more than five hundred guests present, the presence of more than two hundred expatriate Bangladeshi workers wearing T-shirts with the red-green colors of the Bangladesh flag added a unique dimension to the event.

Representatives of various Malaysian immigration departments, local representatives of the International Organization for Migration, representatives of various embassies including Indonesia and Nepal, various expatriate Bangladeshi professionals, workers, leaders of the Bangladesh community and their Malaysian-origin spouses, students of various educational institutions, expatriate journalists, officials and employees of the Bangladesh High Commission and people from various walks of life were present at the event.

The event was presided over by Bangladesh High Commissioner to Malaysia Md. Shamim Ahsan. The keynote address of the event was delivered by Heba Abdel Latif, Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Malaysia, Syed Shariful Islam, Councilor (Labor) of the High Commission, Hariri Bin Harun, Head of the Foreign Workers Division of the Social Security Organization in Malaysia, Dato Fu Yang Hui, Representative of Employers in Malaysia, Sultan Ahmed, CEO of Agrani Remittance House, Badlur Rahman Khan, Bangladesh Community Leader in Malaysia, Saifullah Mansur, and Mehedi Hassan, Company Employee of Unique Selatan Sdn Bhd.

In addition, Md. Ali Haider Mortuza, CEO of NBL Money Transfer, Malaysia, and Saidur Rahman Farazi, CEO of CBL Money Transfer were present.

The event read out messages from the President, Chief Adviser, Foreign Affairs Adviser, and Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Adviser on the occasion. Then, special documentaries on the occasion of the day and the High Commission's activities for the welfare of expatriates were also screened.

In the discussion, Heba Abdel Latif, Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Malaysia, highly praised the Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia. He said that IOM is working closely with the Bangladesh High Commission and the Malaysian government to ensure the safety of the workers.

Hariri Bin Harun, Head of the Foreign Workers Division of the Malaysian Social Security Organization, said that Bangladeshi workers are playing an important role in the economic development of Malaysia. He also mentioned that the Malaysian Foreign Workers Division is working in solidarity with the High Commission to ensure the safety of the workers.

In his speech, the High Commissioner paid deep respect to the memory of all the martyrs of the Great Liberation War of '71 and the July-August Uprising of '24 and remembered the contribution of the brave fighters with gratitude. He extended his warm greetings to the Bangladeshi expatriates and visiting foreign guests present on the occasion of the day.

Shamim Ahsan said that the interim government of Bangladesh led by Nobel laureate Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus is firmly committed to the reconstruction of Bangladesh by ensuring good governance by bringing transformative reforms in important sectors. The High Commission is working sincerely as per the government's instructions.

He said that the Bangladeshi expatriates are playing an important role in the development of the host country Malaysia and Bangladesh. He said that Malaysia is the eighth largest investor in Bangladesh with a trade volume of about 4 billion dollars and the friendly relations between the two countries are strengthening day by day.

The High Commissioner urged the expatriates to send remittances through banks and said that sending money through legal channels will accelerate the country's economic development.

On the occasion of International Migrants Day and Expatriates' Day, the High Commission presented 18 successful expatriates, 3 institutions and 9 best remittance senders in 3 categories to expatriates living in Malaysia with honorary crests and certificates.

The awardees in the Education and Research category are: Sunway University Professor Saidur Rahman, Sabah University Professor Dr. Md. Lutfar Rahman, Sabah University Professor Dr. Md. Shafiquzzam Siddiqui, UTS University Associate Professor Dr. Abu Saleh Ahmed, Perdana University Professor Dr. Md. Nazmul Hassan Mazij, Islami University Professor AK Ahsanul Haque, Sunway University Professor Moeen Uddin Ahmed, University of Malaysia Sarawak Associate Professor Dr. Md. Rezaur Rahman.

The awardees in the Business category are: Altaf Khan, Md. Ruhul Amin Sarkar, Oli Islam, Dato Mizan and Mrs. Kohinoor.

In the professional category, the award was received by Selimul Hasnain Chowdhury. In the cultural category, the award was received by Dr. Marzia Jannat Mahua and Mrs. Shamima. In the social service category, Nusrat Sharmin and Brishti Khatun received the award.

Organization Category, Malaysia Bangladesh Forum Association, Dhaka University Alumni Association and Muslim Community of Bangladesh, Penang were awarded.

The top remittance senders awarded in the professional category were Abu Bakar Siddique, Dr. Mohammad Qutubur Rahman and Miss Jasmine Khan, while the top remittance senders awarded in the business category were Mohammad Al Amin Kazi, Md. Akter Hossain and Md. Aminur Rahman.

The awardees in the general worker category were Humayun Kabir, Md. Shahidul Islam and Sohel.

The honored expatriate Bangladeshis expressed their feelings and delivered speeches at the event. After the discussion program, a cultural program was organized with the performance of expatriate Bangladeshi artists. The colorful performances of the expatriate Bangladeshi artists in Malaysia in Bengali and Malay language and the colorful performances of the dance artists impressed the guests.