People's Republic of Bangladesh - News and Developments

Bangladesh Orders Universities to Close Early Amid Worsening Energy Crisis | Akashvani News

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Bangladesh has ordered all public and private universities to close from Monday, bringing forward the Eid al-Fitr holidays as part of emergency measures to conserve electricity and fuel amid a worsening energy crisis. The directive was issued by the education ministry to the University Grants Commission, instructing universities across the country to begin their Eid break earlier than scheduled. The move is aimed at reducing electricity consumption on campuses, which typically require large amounts of power for residential halls, classrooms, laboratories and air-conditioning.

Officials said the closure would also help ease traffic congestion, thereby cutting fuel consumption. Government and private schools in the country are already closed for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, meaning most educational institutions will remain shut during this period. The step comes as Bangladesh faces growing uncertainty over fuel and gas supplies following disruptions to global energy markets caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The country depends on imports for nearly 95 percent of its energy needs.

Authorities on 9 March also imposed daily limits on fuel sales after reports of panic buying and stockpiling. As part of wider austerity measures, the government has directed foreign-curriculum schools and private coaching centres to suspend operations temporarily to reduce electricity use. Severe gas shortages have already forced the shutdown of four of the country’s five state-run fertiliser factories, with available gas being redirected to power plants to prevent widespread outages.

Bangladesh has also turned to the spot market to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) at higher prices while seeking additional cargoes to bridge supply gaps.
 
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Bangladesh Orders Universities to Close Early Amid Worsening Energy Crisis | Akashvani News

newsonair.gov.in newsonair.gov.in

Bangladesh has ordered all public and private universities to close from Monday, bringing forward the Eid al-Fitr holidays as part of emergency measures to conserve electricity and fuel amid a worsening energy crisis. The directive was issued by the education ministry to the University Grants Commission, instructing universities across the country to begin their Eid break earlier than scheduled. The move is aimed at reducing electricity consumption on campuses, which typically require large amounts of power for residential halls, classrooms, laboratories and air-conditioning.

Officials said the closure would also help ease traffic congestion, thereby cutting fuel consumption. Government and private schools in the country are already closed for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, meaning most educational institutions will remain shut during this period. The step comes as Bangladesh faces growing uncertainty over fuel and gas supplies following disruptions to global energy markets caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The country depends on imports for nearly 95 percent of its energy needs.

Authorities on 9 March also imposed daily limits on fuel sales after reports of panic buying and stockpiling. As part of wider austerity measures, the government has directed foreign-curriculum schools and private coaching centres to suspend operations temporarily to reduce electricity use. Severe gas shortages have already forced the shutdown of four of the country’s five state-run fertiliser factories, with available gas being redirected to power plants to prevent widespread outages.

Bangladesh has also turned to the spot market to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) at higher prices while seeking additional cargoes to bridge supply gaps.
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Is India still selling oil & gas to these backstabbers?
 
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Bangladesh to buy J-10 fighter aircraft from China: Says, 'These planes shot down India's Rafales'; are China and Pakistan surrounding India?

Bangladesh eyes Chinese J-10 jets, cites unverified claims about Indias Rafales. Latest Updates. Bangladesh has prepared a draft agreement to purchase J-10CE fighter jets from China. This may seem like a routine development.
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Bangladesh has prepared a draft agreement to purchase J-10CE fighter jets from China.


This may seem like a routine development.

However, the argument given by Bangladeshi Minister Zahid Ur Rahman while announcing it is more concerning for India.

Rahman said, 'During the India-Pakistan war in May 2025, the Chinese J-10C shot down India's Rafales, and Bangladesh is now going to place its trust in the same jet.'

No deal has been finalised yet; only a draft has been prepared. According to the draft agreement...

  • Bangladesh will buy around 20 to 24 'J-10CE' fighter jets from China. The entire deal is worth approximately $2.2 billion, or around ₹210 billion.
  • Each jet costs $62.7 million, or approximately ₹5.95 billion. Including the cost of pilot training, spare parts, maintenance support, and other expenses, each jet will cost Bangladesh $115 million, or around ₹10.92 billion.
  • Bangladesh will pay the entire amount by 2036, that is, over ten years. However, it is not yet clear when Bangladesh will receive the jets.
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Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Friday said the global power and fuel crisis is also affecting Bangladesh, while the government is working to address the situation.

He made the remarks at a cheque distribution ceremony for mosques and temples in Dhaka-17 constituency at the BNP chairman’s office in Gulshan.

The prime minister said the government is trying to explore 130 gas wells as part of efforts to address the energy crisis.

“Some unscrupulous people are engaging in illegal activities involving gas, as they do with oil and electricity,” he said.
 
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Fifty Seven people - all suspected to be Bangladeshis -- have been detained by the Railway Protection Force or RPF at Guwahati's Kamakhya railway station this evening.

The group was caught from the Brahmaputra Mail train at Maligaon Kamakhya Railway station. The RPF suspects that they had fled from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.

Over the last two days, at least 17 Bangladeshi nationals were arrested in separate operations in Guwahati. They have been accused of making illegal entry to India, said Kulendra Nath Deka, a senior police officer.

Deka said on Tuesday, five Bangladesh nationals were caught from the general coach of the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express during routine checking near the Paltan Bazar railway station.

They had entered India through Dawki in Meghalaya and reached Guwahati on October 5 and had stayed in a hotel.

Police sources have said during interrogation, one of the arrested people told informed about the hotel. After examining the CCTV footage and other evidence, the police registered a case at Pan Bazar Police Station.
 
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Bangladesh warns of legal action after Muhammad Yunus heckled at NYC airport

Bangladesh former interim government chief Muhammad Yunus was heckled by alleged Awami League supporters at New York's JFK Airport. Zahed Ur Rahman said the incident would not go unanswered.
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An adviser to Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Tuesday warned of legal action after former interim government chief Muhammad Yunus was heckled at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport by people described as supporters of the disbanded Awami League.

Zahed Ur Rahman said the incident would not go unanswered and said the government saw it as "Awami League terror". Videos of the confrontation, in which Yunus was shouted at as he arrived at the airport, went viral on social media.

Addressing a media briefing hours after the incident, Zahed said, "It will not go unchallenged," and added that "definitely legal proceedings will be initiated against those committing this offence".

He also said, "I want to tell the Awami League members living in different countries that if they attempt such actions, they will not go unchallenged. There is no question of that," referring to the case of actress and activist Ajmeria Haque Badhon, who was harassed in Italy.

A key aide in the past interim regime, Lamiya Morshed, was seen walking alongside Yunus carrying his luggage, while another man was pushing him in a wheelchair as he came out of the airport.

The protesters then appeared at the scene and shouted, "You are a terrorist, murderer!", "Why you come here?", and "You killed thousands of police officers in my country", while Yunus looked bewildered and remained silent.

The escort then quickly turned the wheelchair around inside the terminal to shield him from the verbal abuse.

According to reports, Yunus travelled to the US on a private visit a month after he skipped a scheduled appearance at a key World Health Organisation conference in Berlin on health grounds. The reports said the cancellation came amid strong pushback and petitions from several Europe-based organisations and expatriate Awami League supporters.

Yunus and his former interim government are also facing intense public, legal and political criticism over their handling of Bangladesh's measles outbreak, which has officially claimed 1,170 children's lives so far.

UNICEF said in May this year that it had warned the interim government at least "10 times" about the impending outbreak after delays in vaccine procurement. The crisis worsened after the interim government stopped procuring vaccines through UNICEF and switched to an open tender system. Vaccine supplies then ran out as bureaucratic delays in adopting the new system deepened the crisis.

After Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government was toppled, an interim administration led by Yunus assumed office on August 8, 2024, and governed Bangladesh for the next one and a half years. In 2025, Hasina was tried in absentia by a special tribunal and sentenced to death. The interim government also disbanded the Awami League and sought her extradition from India.

The airport heckling, the warning of legal action and the renewed focus on Yunus's record have again brought attention to the sharp political divisions around Bangladesh's former interim administration.
 
Even days abuse India, odd days make requests.


A 10-member Bangladesh delegation led by Ayesha Akhter, additional secretary to the Ministry of Commerce in Bangladesh, attended the meeting in New Delhi and called for the removal of restrictions on its exports through Indian land ports. In 2025, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in India announced new port restrictions on the import of certain goods from Bangladesh to India.

Bangladesh has called for the removal of restrictions on its exports through Indian land ports, the withdrawal of anti-dumping duties on Bangladeshi jute products and PET film, and the continuation of tariff preferences after graduating from the least developed country (LDC) category. Some of these restrictions came into force during the rule of the interim regime led by Muhammad Yunus between August 2024 and February 2026.

The issues featured prominently at the 16th meeting of the Bangladesh-India Joint Working Group (JWG) on Trade, which began in New Delhi on October 8, Bangladesh Sangbad Sanstha (BSS) reported.

A 10-member Bangladesh delegation led by Ayesha Akhter, additional secretary to the Ministry of Commerce in Bangladesh, attended the meeting in New Delhi.

In May 2025, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in India announced new port restrictions on the import of certain goods from Bangladesh to India.

While India had earlier allowed all exports from Bangladesh without restrictions, the transit and market access to the North East had been restricted by Bangladesh. Sources said at that time that the measure by India restored equal market access for both countries. India placed restrictions on readymade garment imports from Bangladesh to only two seaports - Nhava Sheva and Kolkata - as a reciprocal measure to Bangladesh imposing similar trade restrictions on Indian yarn and rice.

In June 2025, New Delhi ordered that jute from Bangladesh would not be allowed to enter India through land ports on the India-Bangladesh border, and the notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade at that time stated that the restrictions would apply across all land and sea ports except Nhava Sheva sea port in Mumbai.

These decisions affected India-Bangladesh trade, especially at land ports on the border.

In August this year, India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, held a courtesy meeting with the Minister of Commerce, Industries, Textiles & Jute of Bangladesh, Khandaker Abdul Muktadir.

Since the change of government in Bangladesh, there has been an effort to improve ties and rebuild the relationship, with Trivedi focusing on people's issues rather than political agendas like the issue of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Discussions on various aspects of bilateral economic and commercial cooperation between India and Bangladesh were held at the meeting, and High Commissioner Trivedi emphasised the important role of businesses and the private sector in steering the economic partnership for mutually beneficial trade and investment. A broad gamut of issues of mutual interest and mutual benefit was also discussed.

The discussions also highlighted the importance of strong people-to-people ties as an enduring foundation of India-Bangladesh relations, and the need to further deepen connections between the business communities, professionals and people of the two countries.

At the meeting of the Bangladesh-India Joint Working Group (JWG) on Trade, Bangladesh sought a review of existing restrictions on its goods entering India through land ports, alongside the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers that limit access to the Indian market.

India has not decided on the requests made by Bangladesh, but it has sought the revival of border 'hats' or markets and integrated check posts and land customs posts which were shut during the tenure of the interim government as ties deteriorated due to the Yunus government's anti-India policies.

New Delhi has proposed removing restrictions on exports of cotton yarn and other products to Bangladesh through certain land ports.

India wants to ease barriers to exports from Northeastern Indian states to Bangladesh, improving regional connectivity and expanding multimodal transport.

However, recent developments have shown that India and Bangladesh are working towards restoring bilateral trade. Last week, a barge carrying 540 metric tons of methanol left the Bogibeel Terminal in Dibrugarh for Dhaka, Bangladesh, with Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, flagging off the vessel DLB Patkai.

The two sides further discussed improving the efficiency of trade routes, including the Akhaura-Agartala link, strengthening rail connectivity and resolving issues related to border hats.
 
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