Fair Group has stood beside the youth of Bhutan for developing the technical skills.

In response to a request from the Bhutan Embassy in Dhaka on behalf of the Bhutan government, Fair Group organised a monthlong special internship program for them in smartphone, consumer electronics products and automobile maintenance and servicing.

Sunday (June 26) at an informal ceremony held at the Banani Autograph Office of the Fair Group, the internship certificates were handed over to eight young people from Bhutan by Ambassador Rinchen Kuentsyl and the Chairman of Fair Group , Ruhul Alam AL Mahbub. Do Young-A, Country Director of Korea Overseas Co-operation Agency in Bangladesh, KOICA, Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Rezaul Karim Lotus, President of Bangladesh DCAB, AKM Mainuddin, General Secretary, and General Hamid R. Chowdhury RCDS, PSC (Ret.) Hasnain Khurshid, Head of Communication and Corporate Philanthropy, Khandaker Hafiz Al Asad, Director, Fair Services Limited and Bijay Mukherjee, Head of Services, Fair Technology were present on the occasion.

Bhutan was the first country to recognise Bangladesh as an independent country. During the war of liberation, on 6 December 1971, Bhutan officially recognised Bangladesh.

Referring to the deep ties between the two countries, Ambassador of Bhutan Rinchen Kuentsyl said that Bangladesh's role in the socio-economic development of Bhutan is immense.

Expressing deep gratitude to the Fair Group on behalf of the Government and people of Bhutan, he said that Fair Group has provided hands-on education to the youth of Bhutan through internship programs.

He expressed confidence that they would return to Bhutan to be partners in socio-economic development.

Ruhul Alam Al Mahbub, Chairman, Fair Group, assured to continue the cooperation in the development of human resources in Bhutan.

He said Bangladesh-Bhutan friendship is eternal. He also said that skilled trainers will be sent from Fair Group if necessary to enhance the skills of the trainers in Bhutan. Fair Group's partner Fair Solutions, Mirpur Samsung Center, trained six young people of Bhutan on smartphones and consumer electronics products, and at Fair Technology Hyundai 3S Center in Tejgaon, two young people in Bhutan were trained in automobiles.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's pledge - 'Made in Bangladesh' Fair Group is continuously working to implement. They are producing South Korean famous Samsung smartphones and consumer electronics products at the Fair Electronics Factory in Shibpur, Narsingdi and marketing them all over Bangladesh.

The work of setting up a fair technology factory at Bangabandhu Hi-Tech Park in Kaliakair, Gazipur is now nearing completion, where they will soon be assembling South Korea's famous Hyundai SUVs and sedans.

The representatives of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner posted at Kolkata handed over 48 Bangladeshi teenagers who were trafficked to India with assurance of good work at different times through Benapole land port.

On Thursday (June 1) evening, Kolkata Deputy-High Commission Councilor Tusita Chakma handed over the smuggled Bangladeshis to the Benapole Immigration Police at the Zero Line after the formalities of the Petrapol Immigration Police in India. At this time, their relatives gathered at the border to have a glimpse of the returning children.

Justice and Care has received 25 children, Bangladesh Women Lawyers Association 15 children and Rights Jashore 8 children to provide legal assistance to returnee children. Their homes are in different areas of Jashore, Faridpur and Satkhira and Cox's Bazar districts.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Benapole Port Police Station Kamal Hossain Bhuiyan said that after the legal process, they have been handed over to 3 NGOs to be delivered to their respective family.

Rekha Biswas, the program officer of the NGO Bangladesh Women Lawyers Association, said that they have gone to India through brokers on different border routes of the country with the assurance of good work. At that time, the Indian police arrested them and put them to jail on the charge of illegal entry. Later, several Indian human rights organizations took them into custody after they were released from court to provide legal assistance. And with the cooperation of the governments of the two countries, they get the opportunity to return to the country with travel permits.

He also said that if the returned Bangladeshis seek legal assistance after identifying the smugglers, assistance will be provided.

President Md. Shahabuddin left Dhaka on Thursday night for Ankara on a six-day official visit to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

President's press secretary Zainal Abedin said, at the invitation of the Turkish government, the president will attend the swearing-in ceremony at the presidential complex in Ankara on June 3 at 5 pm (Turkish local time).

A VVIP aircraft of Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Flight No BG 207) President and his wife Dr. Rebekah Sultana and his entourage left Hazrat Shahjalal (RA) International Airport for Ankara Essenboga Airport at around 11 pm tonight.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Dean of Diplomatic Corps, Cabinet Secretary, Chiefs of the three services, concerned secretaries and other military and civilian officials bade farewell to the President at the airport.

Arriving at Ankara airport, Bangladesh Ambassador to Turkey Amanul Haque and representatives of the Turkish Foreign Ministry will welcome the president at 4:45 am local time.

According to the schedule provided by Bangabhavan, the President will attend a formal dinner hosted by President Erdoğan at Ankara's Cankaya Palace during the visit. He is scheduled to attend several programs with high level dignitaries.

During his visit to Turkey, the President will stay at the Sheraton Ankara Hotel in Ankara.

President Sahabuddin is scheduled to return home in a VVIP flight (Flight No BG 208) on the evening of June 6.

Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), believes that the measures announced in the budget are unrealistic in dealing with the ongoing economic crisis.

She said, in view of the ongoing economic crisis and problems, the overall economic indicators announced in the budget proposal, the assumptions used in those indicators and the estimates made for those indicators seem to us to be unrealistic and impossible to achieve.

Executive Director of the organization Dr. Fahmida Khatun said this.

She said that the solutions that have been proposed to curb the pressure of inflation and rising prices of products are not possible. They will not be able to bring the inflation rate down to 6 percent through them. The fiscal measures taken to curb inflation would have provided some relief by tax concessions on certain imported goods. But no such initiative was seen.

Dr. Fahmida said, we talked about increasing the tax-free life span. Here the tax free life limit has been increased from Tk. 3 lakh to TK. 3.5 lakh, which is very good. But besides that, the tax of 2000 taka regardless of the income seems inconsiderate. The obligation to pay this Tk. two thousand should be waived.

She said, besides, there is no action in the budget regarding the economic reforms that we had said. This budget has been formulated at a time when the IMF has different conditions. The IMF was mentioned three times in the budget presentation. But nothing is clear about the conditions. However, as we have seen, there is some indication of compliance with those conditions in the various targets.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has expressed hope that the per capita income of people in smart Bangladesh will increase to 12 thousand 500 US dollars.

The minister said this while presenting the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 in the Jatiyo Sansad on Thursday (June 1).

The finance minister said that in our smart Bangladesh, the per capita income will be at least 12 thousand 500 US dollars. Less than 3 percent of people will be below the poverty line. Extreme poverty will come down to zero.

He said, 'Inflation in smart Bangladesh will be limited to 4-5 percent. Budget deficit will be below 5 percent of GDP. The revenue-GDP ratio will be more than 20 percent. Investment will be 40 percent of GDP.

He hopes that 100% digital economy and science and technology based signature will be achieved in Bangladesh.

Healthcare will reach people's doorsteps. All the services required by the citizens will be at hand, including automatic communication system, sustainable urbanization. Paperless and cashless society will be created. Most importantly, a society based on equality and justice will be established in Smart Bangladesh, said the finance minister.

The minister said that the initiative to create 'Smart Bangladesh' will play an effective role in achieving the goal of a developed Bangladesh by 2041. Smart Bangladesh will be developed based on smart citizens, smart government, smart society and smart economy.