UN to raise pressure on Myanmar

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on July 1 said they will put more pressure on Myanmar to make it understand what it should do over the Rohingya issue. "We are keeping up pressure on Myanmar... we need to put more pressure on Myanmar to make them understand what they should do over this issue," Guterres said when he along with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office. The two visited Bangladesh to assess the needs and the plight of more than 1.1 million Rohingya refugees driven from their homes in Myanmar. Both the UN chief and the WB president assured Bangladesh of continued support in dealing with the Rohingya crisis and expressed their commitment to keep pressure on Myanmar to resolve the crisis.

Two pilots die as BAF plane crashes

Two Bangladesh Air Force pilots were killed when their training aircraft crashed in a water body in Jessore Sadar on July 1. The victims are: squadron leaders Md Serajul Islam and Enayet Kabir Polash. The aircraft, a K-8W, took off from BAF airbase BS Matiur Rahman on night training mission and crashed at Bukbhora Baor, read a text message sent by Lt Col Alamgir Kabir, director of Inter Services Public Relation Directorate. Namaj-e-janaza of the two pilots of Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) was held at the big top hanger of BAF base Bashar in Dhaka Cantonment on July 2. The two pilots were buried at BAF Shaheen graveyard with full military honour.

Committee formed for quota review

The government on July 2 formed a seven-member committee "to review or reform or cancel" the quota system for the civil service. The committee, led by Cabinet Secretary M Shafiul Alam, was asked to submit a report within 15 workings days, Mominul Hoque, senior information officer of the public administration ministry, told reporters. On June 30, as the leaders were about to hold a press conference to brief journalists on their next course of action at Dhaka University, they were attacked allegedly by Bangladesh Chhatra League men. Seven quota reforms protesters were injured. The following day, Chhatra League men reportedly launched an attack on the protesters in Rajshahi University. Four protesters in Dhaka came under attack at Shahbagh.

Money in Swiss Banks: Bangladeshis' deposits drop

Bangladeshi nationals' deposits in Swiss banks dropped 27 percent year-on-year in 2017 to 481.32 million Swiss francs or Tk 4,064 crore. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) came up with the data in its annual report titled "Banks in Switzerland 2017". The amount was Tk 5,575 crore in 2016 and Tk 4,423 crore in 2015, according to the report. The fall in deposits comes amid an ongoing global clampdown on the famed secrecy wall of Swiss banking system. Zaid Bakht, ex-research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), said many people are cautious about depositing money with Swiss banks possibly because of this clampdown. Money may have been deposited elsewhere, leading to a drop in the deposits in Swiss banks. The SNB report, however, does not shed light on the alleged black money held by Bangladeshis.