A 5-member investigation committee has been formed to investigate the Awami League's abuse of power, criminal misconduct, fraud, night voting, etc. in the 11th National Parliament election.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) gave this information on Wednesday (January 22).

In a statement, the ACC said that various irregularities in the 2018 Eleventh National Parliament election such as voting during the day at night, ballot fraud, showing more than 90% cast in some centers, extensive financial transactions, misuse of power to win candidates, etc. have been published in various media and some complaints have also been submitted to the ACC.

The complaint mentions the collusion of the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Obaidul Quader, DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia, RAB chief Benazir Ahmed, former IGP Shahidul Haque, Defense Affairs Adviser Tarek Ahmed Siddiqui, Public Administration Affairs Advisor HT Imam and the local administration.

In light of this allegation, the ACC has formed a 5-member investigation committee. It has been stated that the investigation team will submit a report after examining various videos, news broadcast in domestic and foreign media, and election results, and completing other necessary activities.

Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam said that there is a ban on spreading hate speech or hate speech by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is accused of crimes against humanity and genocide at the International Crimes Tribunal. Therefore, if anyone spreads it, legal action will be taken if necessary.

Addressing media personnel at the tribunal premises on Wednesday (January 22), he said, "Sheikh Hasina is sitting on foreign soil and making provocative statements about this government and the tribunal's trial process and the witnesses in the case, through various statements, which may affect the investigation of this case. We can see that through this behavior, she is making an attempt to sabotage this trial process."

Warning the media against spreading all the hate and hateful messages of Sheikh Hasina that may affect the trial process, he said, "Our goal is to ensure justice." Due to all these threats, witnesses may become afraid or lose interest in testifying, which is not at all desirable for a fair trial process.’

He sought the cooperation of the media and the people of the country at this time to preserve the dignity of the victims and injured people of the July-August genocide and to protect the process of getting justice.

It is worth noting that on December 5, the International Crimes Tribunal banned the dissemination of hate speech by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina through the media and social media.

In addition, the tribunal directed the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to remove the hate speech that has already been published on social media.

However, this ban has been sought on the dissemination of such statements by Sheikh Hasina that only spread hatred, so that it does not affect the work process of the tribunal or its investigation agency.

The National Board of Revenue has re-determined the VAT, supplementary duty, and excise duty rates of some goods and services in accordance with the 'Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty (Amendment) Ordinance 2025' to strengthen Bangladesh's own financial base.

On Wednesday (January 22), four notifications were issued reducing the VAT deduction rate and supplementary duty.

According to the notification, VAT has been withdrawn from four sectors - medicine, mobile phone and ISP services, restaurants, motor vehicle garages and workshops.

In the case of the pharmaceutical industry, it has been mentioned that in order to make medical services more accessible to all sections of the population, the increased VAT rate on the pharmaceutical industry at the business level has been completely withdrawn and the previous rate of 2.4% has been maintained.

In the case of mobile phone and IAP services, it has been mentioned that in order to continue the digitization activities of the country, the increased supplementary duty on services provided through the use of mobile phone SIM cards and the newly imposed supplementary duty on ISP services have been completely withdrawn.

In the case of restaurants, the additional VAT imposed on restaurants other than three-star, four-star, and five-star has been completely withdrawn. As a result, the cost of food in restaurants will not increase.

The increased VAT has also been withdrawn in the case of motor vehicle garages and workshops.

Sarjis Alam, one of the coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement, has stepped down from the July Shaheed Smriti Foundation.

He gave this information in a post on his Facebook profile on Wednesday (January 22) morning.

In the Facebook post, he wrote, I am no longer the general secretary of the July Shaheed Smriti Foundation. Changes have been made to the constitution, structure and working process of the foundation to accelerate the pace of this foundation.

From now on, the 'Executive Committee' will be responsible for managing the overall affairs of the entire office. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will serve as the head of the office there. Mir Mahbubur Rahman Snigdh is currently serving as the CEO. The 'Governing Body' will work on the policy making of the foundation. Where there are four advisors (Health, Social Welfare, Local Government, ICT) including the Honorable Chief Adviser.

There is no post called 'General Secretary' now.

The foundation first started providing financial assistance on October 1, and the office opened on October 15. I took charge as the general secretary on October 21. I served for about 2 months and 10 days until December 31. Then I stepped down from my duties. Finally, my signing authority was transferred on January 7 and I officially ended my duties.

Till December 31, out of the 826 verified martyr families, 628 were provided with financial assistance. In addition, out of the nearly 11,000 verified injured, about 2,000 were provided with financial assistance.

I served my duties as long as I could devote my maximum time to the foundation. When I felt that it would not be possible for me to devote the required time to the foundation from now on, I stepped down from my duties. For me, addressing my limitations and accepting or resigning responsibilities accordingly is not a weakness, but rather it takes honest courage. I tried to be honest with the responsibilities of my chair.