Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sought Australia's cooperation to increase agricultural production with technical expertise in the agricultural sector.

She said, we have to increase production because our land is decreasing, and people are increasing. Australia can help us in this, because Australia is very advanced in agricultural technology.

The Prime Minister said this during a courtesy call on Australian Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong at the Prime Minister's official residence Ganabhaban on Tuesday (May 21) afternoon.

She said that Bangladesh has been successful in agricultural production, because agricultural production has increased manifold in the last 15 years. But Australia can help Bangladesh increase production further.

At the end of the meeting the Prime Minister's speech writer Nazrul Islam briefed the journalists.

Work on the construction of the cancer, heart and kidney hospital building at a cost of Tk. 128 crore at Barishal divisional headquarter has been completed only 35 percent of the scheduled time in one year.

Although the Planning Commission has recently given instructions to complete the entire project by June 2025 by increasing the expenditure, doubts have arisen regarding the completion of the project within that extended period. The government decided to build 8 similar hospitals in all the divisional headquarters of the country for better treatment of cancer, heart disease and kidney. In light of this, a joint venture company named M/s Banga Builders and M/s Khan Builders-JV executed a contract with the Public Works Department(PWD) on July 19, 2021 for the construction of a 17-storey building at Sher- e -Bangla Medical College and Hospital Campus, Barishal. According to the contract, the work is to be completed on July 18, 2023.

But till May 22 of this year, the progress of the work of the organization is only 35 percent. Sources of the Barishal Public Works Department said that the construction company has already been paid Tk. 28 crore for the 460-bed hospital building. However, the arrears of the construction company are now more than Tk. 12 crore. According to a source, the pace of work has slowed due to non-allocation of funds. However, according to the Public Works Department, the construction company could not perform the work as per the contract. As a result, the funds did not come. We have written to the Ministry for Funding. Payment will be made to the construction company subject to receipt of funds soon.

It has been seen on the ground that only 6th floor of Barishal Cancer, Cardiovascular and Kidney Hospital building under construction has been completed. 7th floor roof casting will be completed in 1-2 days. The PWD officials themselves have doubts whether the construction of the entire building will be completed with the remaining 10 floors cast in the next two years. Several engineers, on the condition of anonymity, feel that there is no option for the construction company to work in wartime activities with the timely supply of funds for this purpose. However, after the construction of the roof up to 7th floors with two basements, the construction company claims that the main reason for the impasse is that the construction company has already owed more than Tk. 12 crore.

On April 29, the proposal related to the extension of the project cost with the increase of the project got the approval of ECNEC, but the related administrative approval is yet to be obtained. As a result, there is growing doubt about the completion of the construction work of Barishal Cancer, Kidney and Heart Hospital building on revised and increased project cost and time. With the extension of two years of this project of Tk. 100 crore the project cost has also increased to Tk. 128 crores.

In this regard, the Executive Engineer of Barishal Public Works Department said that if funds are available, it is possible to complete the work according to the extended schedule. For this purpose, we will create all kinds of pressure on the construction company. However, he admitted that although the amended project was approved in the ECNEC meeting on April 29, administrative approval has not yet been received.

It is to be noted that in the Barishal Cancer, Kidney and Cardiovascular Hospital building, apart from two basements, cancer unit from 2nd to 7th floor, kidney unit from 8th to 12th floor and cardiology unit from 13th to 17th floor are to be set up.

Compared to last year, the per capita income of the country's people has slightly increased to 2,784 US dollars in the current financial year. In the fiscal year 2022-23, the per capita income was 2,749 US dollars. As a result, the income increased by 35 dollars during the year. This per capita income has been calculated assuming a dollar price of 109 taka 97 paisa.

This information is learnt from a report given by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) on Monday (May 20).

According to the calculations of BBS, for the first time in the country, the average per capita income has crossed Tk. three lakh. The average per capita income of the current financial year is Tk. 3 lakh 6 thousand 144. In the last financial year (2022-23) the final per capita income in Taka was Tk. 2 lakh 73 thousand 360. That is, per capita income increased by 32 thousand 784 taka in one year.

Meanwhile, BBS says that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth will be higher in the current fiscal year than the previous fiscal year. The GDP growth in the current year will be slightly increased by 5.82 percent compared to the previous financial year which was 5.78 percent in the previous financial year 2022-23.

According to BBS data, the size of Bangladesh's GDP will increase to Tk. 50 lakh 48 thousand crores this year. In the previous financial year it was Tk. 44 lakh 90 thousand crores. In this financial year, the biggest shock is coming in the industrial sector. The growth of the industrial sector will decrease to 6.66 percent. In the previous financial year it was 8.37 percent.

In terms of growth, the agriculture sector was the worst at 3.21 per cent, compared to 3.37 per cent in the previous fiscal. However, despite the decrease in industry and agriculture, this government agency has given the impression that the growth of the service sector will increase compared to the previous year. They say that the growth of the service sector will increase to 5.8 percent, compared to 5.37 percent in the previous financial year. However, according to the World Bank, Bangladesh's biggest development partner, this growth will be even lower. They forecast 5.6 percent GDP growth in Bangladesh in 2023-24. According to the calculations of the World Bank, the growth of Bangladesh was 5.8 percent in the financial year ended 2022-23.

Incidentally, per capita income is not the income of an individual. Gross national income is calculated by including income from within the country as well as remittances i.e. income from expatriates. This is calculated by dividing the income per capita.

The High Court cancelled the admission of 169 students of the Class I of the school branch of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College for not complying with the age norms in the matter of admission and ordered to investigate the complaint of irregularities. The court has formed a committee headed by the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Education for the investigation.

A High Court bench of Justice JBM Hasan and Justice Raziq Al Jalil gave the verdict on Tuesday (May 21).

The parents of two admission-seeking students filed a writ on January 14. They complained that students outside the specified age were admitted.

Then on January 23, the High Court issued a ruling and ordered the cancellation of the admission. Later, the Viqarunnisa Noon School and College authorities canceled the admission of 169 students under DSHSE guidance.

Later, 136 parents filed another writ regarding the validity of cancellation of admission. The High Court issued a ruling on this on March 25. After hearing the separate rulings together, the High Court fixed the date for the verdict.

Lawyer Mohammad Rafiul Islam appeared on behalf of the principal of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College in the court. Lawyer Shamim Sardar heard on behalf of the two parents who applied for the writ. Deputy Attorney General Kazi Mainul Hasan stood for the state.

Senior lawyer Mustafizur Rahman Khan, accompanied by lawyer Khurram Shah Murad, heard on behalf of 136 parents who applied for the writ. Later, lawyer Mohammad Rafiul Islam told the media that the hearing was held simultaneously on the separate writs filed by the parents regarding the admission of students in the first class and the validity of cancellation of 169 admissions.