Awami League General Secretary, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said that the toll income from Padma Bridge has been Tk. 1,648 crore in two years.

He said this in a press briefing after the board meeting at Setu Bhavan in Banani of the capital on Tuesday (June 25).

Obaidul Quader said that the much awaited Padma Bridge has been built at a cost of Tk. 32,605 crore and he said that he is already enjoying the benefits of this bridge. In the last two years, 3 crore people and 1 crore 2.7 lakh vehicles of South Western region of the country have crossed through this bridge. From which the total toll collected is more than Tk. 1 thousand 648 crore.

The Bridge Minister said that according to the agreement with the finance authority, Tk. 948 crore has already been paid. A check of Tk. 314 crore will be handed over to the Finance Division through the Prime Minister for the 7th and 8th installments on June 27.

Referring to Padma Bridge, he said, today is a historic day. Two years ago today, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina auspiciously inaugurated the completion of the Padma Bridge on the Padma River, our much awaited bridge. Padma Bridge is the golden harvest of Sheikh Hasina's courageous leadership. By building this bridge with her own money, she set a shining example of ability.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, some people become greedy. The greed for money increases so much that he has to part with the country while leaving the country and keeping it abroad. What is the profit of making that money?

The prime minister said this to a reporter's question about the country's banking sector at a press conference on her visit to India at Ganabhaban on Tuesday (June 25) at 11 am.

Sheikh Hasina said, many people think that making money is like an addiction. This is real. However, I will say that we are taking measures to solve the problems that exist. We have also made laws for that.

The head of government said that during the Awami League government, we have opened the most private sectors. Yes, some are doing well; some are doing badly in the banking sector. At times many cannot run properly. This is the traditional rule. If a bank becomes weak, it is co-opted or merged with another bank. In other words, it is the responsibility of the state to protect those who deposit there. That is what is being tried.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited New Delhi on June 21 on a two-day state visit at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This is the first bilateral visit by a head of government to India after the BJP-led coalition formed the government for the third consecutive term in the Lok Sabha elections.

Also, the visit was Sheikh Hasina's second visit to the Indian capital in less than 15 days, as she was among the dignitaries invited to Modi's swearing-in ceremony on June 9.

During the Prime Minister's visit, Dhaka and New Delhi signed 10 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), including seven new and three renewals, to further strengthen the growing relationship between the two neighboring countries.

China is interested in continuing all possible cooperation for the development of Bangladesh in the coming days. Liu Jianchao, the visiting Minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said that his country attaches great importance to the development of relations with Bangladesh. China will support the development of Bangladesh.

The Chinese minister expressed this interest during a courtesy meeting with President Md.  Sahabuddin on Tuesday (June 25) at Bangabhaban.

Later, the President's press secretary Zainal Abedin briefed the journalists.

Liu Jianchao praised the development of various sectors of Bangladesh, especially infrastructure development, information technology, communication, energy and tourism.

Welcoming the Chinese minister at Bangabhaban, President Md. Sahabuddin said that China is one of the most important development partners of Bangladesh. He said that China's cooperation in implementing various mega projects of Bangladesh including Padma Setu Rail Link, Karnaphuli Tunnel and Elevated Expressway has accelerated the economic development of Bangladesh.

Mentioning the long-standing relationship between Bangladesh and China, the head of state hoped that China's development partnership with Bangladesh would become stronger in the future.

The President wants China's support for Bangladesh to become a partner member of BRICS, an alliance of emerging economies.

Referring to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's possible visit to China next month, the President hoped that the relationship between the two countries would reach new heights through her visit.

In the meeting the President emphasized on increasing people-to-people contact to expand bilateral relations in various fields including trade and investment.

Mentioning that the Rohingya in Bangladesh is now a big problem, he sought China's full cooperation in solving this problem.

The President recently mentioned the visit of a delegation of Awami League to China. He said that this visit will play a positive role in increasing understanding and cooperation between the Communist Party of China and Bangladesh Awami League at the political level and in the development of both countries.

The concerned secretaries of the President's office were present during the meeting.

The Ministry of Education has decided to drop the hotly debated 'Story of Sharifa' from the seventh class 'History and Social Science' book. In the book that will be printed for next year, this story will be replaced by a new story about the third gender population or the transgender population. The Ministry of Education has taken this decision based on the recommendations given by the expert committee.

Recently, the Ministry of Education informed the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) about this instruction.

NCTB Chairman (Routine Duties) Professor Md. Mashiuzzaman  confirming the matter said, we received a letter about this. The letter asks for the story to be corrected, modified, or replaced with a new story. There we will put a story about the transgender community.

Earlier, in the current year, the students of class VII will study the new curriculum textbooks 'History and Social Science; when you get it, many debates start. The debate started with a story named 'Sharifa's story' there. The story depicts the story of boy to girl.

After the debate started across the country, the Ministry of Education formed a five-member committee to review the 'Sharifa story'. Five months later, last May, the committee sent a recommendation to the Education Ministry to drop the story.