National Citizen Party (NCP) convener Nahid Islam said the July charter will not include any ‘note of dissent’. 

Speaking at the inauguration of the University Teachers Forum (UTF) at Bangla Academy today (7 November), he said whatever is agreed upon will be ultimately finalised by the people.

He added that if the people demand it, those decisions will be implemented. He expressed hope that the country can soon move towards elections under the July Charter order and added that they [NCP] will move forward keeping the aspirations of the mass uprising in mind.

Nahid Islam said the next parliament and the reform council will include young people, teachers, women, minorities, and professionals, which will help achieve the goals of the July charter.

He also said that current demands should be met through a referendum first, and the process of issuing the July Charter order should be in the hands of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.

Nahid Islam added that the stakeholders of the July Uprising should have the opportunity to be in the next parliament. 

The new parliament and reform council will work on a new constitution, teachers’ participation is essential, and the National Citizen Party will try to ensure this, he further added.

TBS Report

07 November, 2025, 12:50 am

Last modified: 07 November, 2025, 12:54 am

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has announced a suspension of all transfers and postings of doctors working at government healthcare facilities, except in cases of national emergency.

The directive was issued in a circular signed by Mohammad Saiful Islam, joint secretary of the Health Services Division, yesterday (6 November).

According to the circular, physicians serving in medical colleges, specialised institutes, district and upazila hospitals, and other healthcare institutions — including professors, associate professors, and consultants — frequently apply for transfers or temporary appointments to higher positions or preferred workplaces.

However, as the promotion process is currently underway, it is not possible to process these applications at this time.

The ministry further stated that preparations are ongoing to introduce an automated transfer and posting system that will ensure transparency and efficiency, considering doctors’ preferences, BCS batches, and merit order once the promotion process is completed.

Until this automation system is launched, all manual transfer and posting activities will remain suspended except for those required under national emergency needs, the circular added.

Faced with droughts and sharper competition, Greek rice farmers are tapping into a new revenue stream: selling their cheap, broken rice to wedding goers instead of discarding it or using it for animal feed.

The tradition of tossing rice over newlyweds has become a wasteful problem in the Mediterranean country, say farmers, who estimate that nearly 200 metric tons of edible, full-grain rice are lost this way each year.

Under a new initiative, a cooperative in northern Greece’s Chalastra, a major rice-growing region, has since May sold over three tons of broken rice rebranded and sold in white sacks labelled “wedding rice”.

“When there is malnutrition… it is unfair to throw it away,” said Christos Gatzaras, a 52-year-old farmer and head of the cooperative’s rice producers.

Greece is the EU’s third-largest rice producer, exporting most of its 250,000-ton annual production. But the sector is struggling with fierce competition from low-cost imports from South Asia and recent droughts in Greece’s agricultural areas.

“We face many difficulties, the costs have spiked, we are under a lot of pressure,” said farmer Vasilis Matziounis, 34, who backs the initiative.

Tens of thousands of religious and civil weddings are held in Greece each year, and many foreign couples choose the scenic islands of Santorini or Mykonos as a marital backdrop.

Broken rice – damaged during harvesting or processing – accounts for roughly 9% of Greece’s rice exports and channelling it into weddings could help boost the sector.

“Some people will keep tossing edible rice,” said Giannis Gogos, head of sales at Chalastra’s primary cooperative. “But (this way) we can reduce the waste.”