National
PM Sheikh Hasina Launches Digital Stipend Distribution for Students
Today, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the stipend and tuition fee distribution for insolvent and meritorious students ranging from secondary to graduate levels, under the Prime Minister’s Education Assistance Trust (PMEAT). The ceremony was held at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium.
The prime minister announced that the funds would be directly transferred to the beneficiaries through a digital system. “I am very happy to disburse the money of stipends and tuition fees among the meritorious students through a digital platform,” she said.
Over Tk 2,208 crore will be distributed to more than 6.47 million students at the secondary, higher secondary, graduate, and equivalent levels.
In addition to the stipends, the prime minister awarded the Bangabandhu Creative Talent Search Award-2024 to 15 students and the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Scholar Award-2023 to 21 students. Each recipient of the Bangabandhu Creative Talent Search Award received a certificate and Tk 2 lakh, while each Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Scholar Award recipient received a certificate and Tk 3 lakh.
Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury, PM’s Education and Cultural Affairs Adviser Dr. Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, State Minister for Education Begum Shamsun Naher, and Education Secretary Suleman Khan also spoke at the event.
Three students, Nusrat Jahan Maliha from Hazaribagh Girls’ School and College, Atifa Rahman from Amena-Baki Residential Model School and College in Dinajpur, and Pinak Mugdha Das from Government Majid Memorial City College in Khulna, shared their experiences on behalf of the Bangabandhu Creative Talent Search Award-2024 recipients. Additionally, Dhaka University students Zarin Tasneem Raisa and Al Foysal Bin Kashem Kanon spoke on behalf of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Scholar Award-2023 recipients.
This initiative underscores the government’s commitment to supporting the education of underprivileged and high-achieving students across the country.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) has forecasted light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty winds at most places across the Rangpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Dhaka, Khulna, Barishal, Chattogram, and Sylhet divisions. Some areas may experience moderately heavy to very heavy rainfall, according to their latest weather bulletin released on Thursday.
Day and night temperatures are expected to remain nearly unchanged across the country.
The highest rainfall in the country over the past 24 hours was recorded in Kumarkhali, with 104mm of rain by 6 a.m. on Thursday.
The axis of the monsoon trough extends from India’s Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal to Assam, passing through Bangladesh, with one of its associated troughs stretching into the North Bay of Bengal.
The monsoon remains active over Bangladesh and moderate to strong over the North Bay region.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) has forecasted that the mild heat wave currently affecting parts of the country, including the capital, is expected to subside in most areas within the next 24 hours, starting from 9 am today.
“A mild heat wave is sweeping across the divisions of Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dhaka, Mymensingh, and Sylhet, as well as the districts of Jashore, Chuadanga, and Kushtia. It is likely to ease in most regions,” the department reported.
In addition, BMD predicted light to moderate rainfall or thundershowers, accompanied by temporary gusty winds, across most of Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dhaka, Mymensingh, Khulna, Barishal, Chattogram, and Sylhet divisions. Some areas are expected to experience moderate to very heavy rainfall.
Temperatures across the country may drop by 1-2 degrees Celsius during both day and night.
On Monday, Dinajpur in the Rangpur division recorded the country’s highest temperature at 38.6°C, while Bandarban in the Chattogram division saw the lowest temperature at 24.6°C early today.
Meanwhile, rainfall recorded in the past 24 hours, ending at 6 am today, reached 66 mm in Nikli of Dhaka Division.
The sunset in Dhaka is at 5:53 pm today, and sunrise is expected at 5:49 am tomorrow.
Two separate murder cases were filed today in connection with the deaths of a private service holder and a Madrasa student during the anti-discrimination student movement.
The first case was lodged by Ridwan Ahmed with Panchlaish police station, accusing former ministers Dr. Hasan Mahmud, Barrister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Naufel, and 127 others for the death of his nephew Sujan, 14. Sujan, the son of Belal Hossain from Beramara village in Noakhali’s Sadar Thana, was a student at Al Jamirul Hayat Madrasa in the city’s Chandgaon area. He was fatally shot in the Muradpur area on July 18.
The second case was filed by Jamal Uddin at Doublemooring police station, accusing 225 individuals, including Dr. Hasan Mahmud and Education Minister Barrister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Naufel, for the killing of his elder brother Alam, a private service holder, on August 5.
