Calling on businessmen to invest in various sectors including power and energy on the basis of business competition, Power and Energy Adviser Dr. Faozul Kabir Khan said that the government has opened all businesses to get work through competition. Now the days of getting business through favors and recommendations are over.

He said this at a seminar titled ‘Rapid Transition to Renewable; Role of Domestic Financial Institutions’ organized by the Economic Reports Forum (ERF), an organization of economic journalists, on Saturday (November 30).

The energy adviser said that the private sector will have to set up power plants under the Merchant Power Plant (MPPP) policy, from which the government will buy a maximum of 10 to 20 percent of the electricity.

He said that currently the government guarantees the total purchase of electricity from IPP power plants set up under the Private Power Generation Policy.

He also said that under the new policy, private producers will have to pay wheeling charges and sell electricity through the government grid system to their own buyers. During the previous Awami League regime, banks financed many projects to show the people, not on the basis of the investors' wealth.

Stating that the scarcity of land has become the main obstacle in the promotion of solar power projects, Dr. Kabir said that a huge amount of land is lying unused and vacant in various government offices. These thousands of acres of land can be used for solar power plants.

Chaired by ERF President Md. Refayet Ullah Mirdha, the seminar was also addressed by Dr. Khandaker Golam Moazzem, Research Director of the Center for Policy Dialogue, Ashanur Rahman, Business Country Manager of City Bank, and Hasan Mehedi, CEO of Clean.

Gauranga Nandi, Chairperson of the Center for Environment and Participatory Research (CEPR), presented the seminar topic, moderated by ERF General Secretary Abul Kashem.

Specifying that Jamaat will work above party and religion for national interest, Bangladesh Jamaat Islami Amir Dr. Shafiqur Rahman said, we want to build a corruption-free Bangladesh. We want to establish justice where people will get their rights whether they want them or not.

He said these things as the chief guest at the district Jamaat workers’ conference at the Satkhira Government High School grounds on Saturday (November 30) afternoon.

Dr. Shafiqur Rahman said, people should become human beings by getting education. They should not become robbers with education. We want to build such an education system.

The Jamaat Amir said, mothers and sisters will be protected at home and at work. No one will be able to look down on them. There is propaganda against us that if we come to power, women will not be allowed to leave their homes. But I promise that this will not happen.

He also said, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) involved women in the most risky work. He involved women in the field of war. So who are we to detain them? They will dedicate themselves to the country according to their ability. We will not force them to wear clothes. They will be able to wear clothes as they wish.

We want a country where mosques, temples, monasteries and churches do not need to be guarded, he said, adding that our country is a wonderful garden of communal harmony. Sometimes, owls enter this garden. We have to be careful about them.

Referring to a cleaning worker who is also a VIP, he said, "We will not be able to leave our house if they do not clean for three days. So we have to give them dignity too. We want to build that Bangladesh of harmony. We want to work above party and religion in the national interest. We want to make this country the best country in the world. But a black vulture is circling in the sky. This vulture is occasionally swatting. So we have to be careful. No matter how we are provoked, we will not fall into the trap."

He said, "The people of Satkhira have sacrificed more lives than all the people in the entire country who have sacrificed their lives for the Quran, religion and the oppressed. That is why Satkhira's position is at a unique height for Jamaat." The Jamaat Amir said, "Our country has endless resources. But they are not being used. Those who are in charge of the savior, they are filling their pockets. The previous government oppressed the people of Satkhira. They murdered. They committed enforced disappearance. They did not give the rights of the people. They killed 57 army officers. They killed countless leaders and activists, including two Jamaat Amirs. From July 1 to August 5, the entire country was flooded with murder. Even after hundreds of oppressions, we did not escape. Those who love the country cannot escape. We want to build this country. We will not leave even an inch of this country's soil." Earlier, Jamaat workers and supporters from different upazilas of the district started coming to the conference venue since morning. By noon, the government high school grounds were filled to the brim. The conference was chaired by District Jamaat Amir Shahidul Islam Mukul and special guests included Central Working Committee member Principal Muhammad Izzatullah, Central Organizing Secretary Muhaddis Abdul Khalek, Central Working Committee member Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Central Majlish-e-Shura member Muhaddis Rabiul Basar, District Working Committee member and former MP Gazi Nazrul Islam and District Secretary Gazi Azizur Rahman.

Dhaka: In order to establish the rule of law, the judiciary must be separated from the executive branch, said Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refat Ahmed.

He said this at a workshop for young lawyers who joined the association in 2024 at the Supreme Court Bar Association building on Saturday (November 30).

Dr. Syed Refat Ahmed said that the Supreme Judicial Council has been formed to remove judges, which was previously with the parliament. A formal proposal has been made to the government to separate the judiciary.

Urging on young lawyers to work with integrity, the Chief Justice said that institutional self-governance is an integral part of the independence of the judiciary. Young lawyers must strive to uphold the dignity of the judiciary. Lawyers must work more responsibly in the recent incidents that have occurred in the court arena. Overall, the judiciary will move forward in coordination with the bar and the bench.

At this time, a minute of silence was observed in the incident of the murder of lawyer Alif in Chattogram. Later, a special prayer was held for those killed and injured in the movement around August 5.

It is worth noting that Chattogram lawyer Alif was also scheduled to attend the Saturday workshop.

At that time, Senior Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury of the Appellate Division, Justice Farah Mahbub of the High Court Division. Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman, President of the Supreme Court Bar Mahbub Uddin Khokon, and President of the Nationalist Lawyers Forum Advocate Zainul Abedin were present.

About 1,500 new lawyers from all over the country who had become new members of the bar were present at the event.

The verdict on the death reference and the appeal of the accused in the August 21 grenade attack case on Dhaka's Bangabandhu Avenue will be announced tomorrow, Sunday (December 1).

A High Court bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain will announce the verdict.

On Saturday (November 30), the defendant's lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir confirmed the matter.

Earlier, on October 23, the death reference and appeal hearing of the grenade attack case was sent to a bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain. The death reference and appeal hearing of the case began on October 31. After the hearing, the bench kept the case pending for the announcement of the verdict on November 21.

In the case discussed on October 10, 2010, the trial court sentenced 19 people, including former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar and BNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu, to death. 19 others were sentenced to life imprisonment. Several defendants appealed against the verdict, seeking acquittal, and the hearing ended last Thursday.

The defendants' lawyers said that BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman had no involvement in the August 21 grenade attack.
Incidentally, a grenade attack was carried out on a rally of the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina on August 21, 2004. 24 people, including party leaders and activists, were killed in it. On October 10, 2018, the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 delivered its verdict in the case filed in this incident (murder and explosives case). In the verdict, 19 people, including former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar and former Deputy Minister for Education Abdus Salam Pintu, were sentenced to death.

In addition, the trial court sentenced 19 people, including BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, to life imprisonment and 11 others to various terms of imprisonment and fines. After the verdict, the documents of the two cases, including the trial court's verdict, reached the High Court in 2018, which was registered as a death reference case in the relevant branch.