BNP's Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury dropped their whole economic game plan at some conference in Dhaka, and the party is swearing they can pump out 10 million jobs within a year and a half if they win elections. The standing committee guy said they want Bangladesh hitting a trillion-dollar GDP status through actual investment instead of just piling up more debt, plus they are planning skill centers in every district to train workers for better-paying gigs overseas.
Khasru went off about how the economy needs to stop being this exclusive club where you need political connections to get anywhere. He wants cottage industries like blacksmiths and potters getting linked to Amazon and eBay so rural craftspeople can export straight from their...
Khaleda Zia is lying in a hospital bed fighting serious health problems, and people across Bangladesh are sending prayers regardless of which party they back. The former prime minister refused to bail on the country when military types tried pushing her into exile back in 2007, and that move basically saved opposition politics from collapsing entirely. She spent years getting locked up on charges everyone said were bogus, dealt with the pandemic while stuck under house arrest, and got denied proper medical treatment abroad until the government fell last year.
Random folks are camping outside Evercare Hospital while foreign governments offer help, and Chinese doctors volunteer their time. Her son is coordinating air ambulance plans from...
President Mohammed Shahabuddin put out a message saying he is worried about Khaleda Zia getting sicker while she is stuck in a private hospital getting treatment. The former PM and BNP boss is dealing with serious health problems, and Shahabuddin asked everyone across Bangladesh to keep her in their prayers for a fast recovery.
The president linked her situation to the whole democratic transition thing happening right now, and he called on God to help her get better. Khaleda Zia is currently receiving medical care at a facility in the capital.
Nepal's embassy set up shop at the charity bazaar thing FOSA runs every year, and they brought pashminas, handicrafts, and a bunch of traditional stuff that got people hyped. The food corner serving actual Nepali dishes ended up being the big draw at the event.
Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain and Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam swung by the stalls to check out what Nepal was showing off, and they chatted with embassy reps about the cultural display. The whole bazaar brings different diplomatic missions together to raise money for charity work in Bangladesh while showing off their home countries.
Club Notredamians Bangladesh wrapped up their President Cup Indoor Tournament after a month of games across table tennis, chess, carrom, pool, and snooker. The competition pulled 115 members from different graduating classes, and they added snooker for the first time this year.
Badrul Hassan from the 1991 batch won table tennis singles, while Jewel Gomez grabbed carrom singles. Md Saiful Alam Dipu took the inaugural snooker title, beating his 1998 classmate in the final. Brig Gen Refayet Ullah showed up to hand out trophies at the closing ceremony, with Agrani Bank's chairman also attending.
The sports committee got thanked for pulling everything together, and the president said they want to run these tournaments regularly because it...
Bangladesh dropped their first-ever U-21 Hockey World Cup game against Australia but made it interesting with a 5-3 scoreline that had Amirul Islam bagging three goals off penalty corner drag-flicks. The Aussies jumped ahead fast, and Dylan Brick plus Ian Grobbelaar kept piling on through set pieces before Bangladesh clawed back twice in the second half.
Amirul got player of the match even though his squad lost, and the whole performance had people talking about how the rookies hung tough against a top-tier program. Australia led 4-1 at halftime after Bangladesh whiffed on three straight penalty corners, but the underdogs kept pushing until the final whistle.
Next up is South Korea, which just got destroyed 11-1 by France in their...
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told reporters that Khaleda Zia cannot handle flying anywhere until her body stabilizes from the mess she is dealing with right now. The 80-year-old ex-PM got hospitalized after heart and lung infections turned into pneumonia, and she is stuck in the coronary care unit while doctors from home and overseas keep watch. BNP already lined up visa paperwork, air ambulance options, and talks with foreign hospitals, just in case things improve enough for her to bounce.
Tarique Rahman's adviser confirmed the family wants to ship her to London once she is strong enough to travel. Muhammad Yunus and his advisory council held prayers for her recovery while she battles a laundry list of chronic problems, like diabetes...
BNP rolled out a month-long celebration plan for Victory Day that kicks off at Kalurghat Radio Station in Chattogram, where Zia first announced independence back in 1971. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir laid out the whole schedule at a press conference in Gulshan, and he said this year hits different because the country just escaped what they are calling fascism. Freedom fighters and July movement kids will carry a torch through every major division, hitting up liberation war spots while blasting patriotic music and showing Zia family speeches.
The road show wraps up with a massive rally at Manik Mia Avenue when the torch finally lands in Dhaka. They are pushing their 31-point reform vision under a Bangladesh First theme song, and Fakhrul...
BNP keeps telling everyone to stop mobbing Evercare Hospital while Khaleda Zia gets treatment in the coronary unit, but party loyalists are not listening. People kept showing up from different neighborhoods asking about her condition after word spread that things got worse, and some prayer group called Moulik Bangla held a whole ceremony outside.
Party brass like Ruhul Kabir Rizvi admitted the crowd proves people genuinely care about their boss, but he also said it is messing up normal hospital stuff. Aminul Haque personally went down to ask folks to leave. The 80-year-old ex-PM is dealing with heart problems, lung infections, and pneumonia while doctors from Bangladesh and abroad watch her in the CCU.
Hospital staff have not dropped...
