‘Sheikh Russel Day’ to be observed on Oct 18

‘Sheikh Russel Day’ will be observed on October 18 each year as the Cabinet meeting today approved a proposal on it.

Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam, after the weekly Cabinet meeting, said in a media briefing that the meeting also approved the proposal of listing it in “Ka kramic” (A Grade) to observe the day nationally on October 18.  

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired the meeting held at the Cabinet Division’s meeting room in the Secretariat, joining virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban.

The cabinet secretary said the ICT Division placed the proposal of observing ‘Sheikh Russel Day’, saying that they introduced the second phase of ‘Sheikh Russel Digital Lab’ project.  

Under the project, ‘Sheikh Russel Digital Lab’ to be installed at 5,000 educational institutions across the country. A total of 300 educational institutions will be turned into “School of Future” in line with the project.  

In the meeting, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs also said that they have been observing ‘Sheikh Russel Day’ on October 18 since the last 10/12 years.  

Both the ICT Division and Ministry of Women and Children Affairs made a proposal to list it as A Grade to create a huge impact among the children of the country, said the cabinet secretary.  

‘Sheikh Russel Day’ would be observed to mark the birthday of the youngest son of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.  

The Cabinet also gave the final approval to the draft of Bangladesh Supreme Court Judges (Remuneration and Privileges) Act, 2021 in order to replace the existing ordinance of 1978.  

A provision of cook allowance for the judges was incorporated in the draft law while the sumptuary allowance for the judges– the Chief justice, judges of the Appellate Division and the High Court– was increased, Anwarul Islam added.  

Another bill, the draft of Bangladesh Supreme Court Judges (Travelling Allowance) Act, 2021 was cleared by the meeting in a bid to replace an ordinance of 1976.  

“Only some minor changes were brought in the proposed law as allowances were increased slightly to make these time-befitting,” said the cabinet secretary.  

The Cabinet gave the final nod to the draft of Bangladesh Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Act, 2021 with a provision of allowing the government to form an ad-hoc committee for maximum one-year tenure to arrange the Bar Council election in an unusual situation.