Ishraque Hossain resigns as state minister to continue anti-drug drive

Fifteen cantonment boards across Bangladesh have added 19 civic services to the government's myGov platform, opening 185 online application forms to the public, the military's public relations directorate said on Monday.

The services include citizenship, inheritance, character and family certificates, trade licences, identity-card services, water and electricity connections, and vehicle passes. They also cover permission to dig up or cut a road, licences for rickshaws, vans and auto-rickshaws, approval to keep pets, and enrolment of developers.

Citizens can now apply from home, pay fees online where applicable and receive certificates with QR codes. They can track the progress of an application and give feedback on the service, while the boards can receive, verify, investigate and dispose of applications on the same platform.

The project began with a pilot in February 2025, when two services of the Dhaka Cantonment Board were put on myGov. After that, officials reviewed 63 services offered by the other 14 boards and selected 19 basic services for digitalisation.

Three workshops in March reviewed the services, and seven regional workshops in June and July finalised the forms, fees and procedures. In August and September, 140 officials and staff, including cantonment executive officers, were trained to run the system.

The Directorate of Military Lands and Cantonments implemented the project under the supervision of the Cabinet Division, with support from the Aspire to Innovate (a2i) programme. The launch was held in a virtual ceremony on Monday afternoon, with a2i Project Director Muhammad Anwar Uddin as chief guest and DMLC Director General Shamim Ahmed in the chair.

Officials said the change is meant to cut repeated trips to cantonment board offices, reduce the time and money applicants spend, and make service delivery more transparent and accountable. The platform is also expected to reduce paperwork in the boards' own work.

Bangladesh's first nuclear power plant is moving into its power start-up phase, a step that could eventually put the first Rooppur electricity on the national grid, project officials said.

A project official told Dhaka Tribune that the start-up would begin at zero to one per cent of power, likely on 25 October, and then rise in stages. Reaching about 35 per cent of capacity could take around 40 days if tests go to plan, which would allow an initial supply of about 300 megawatts in December.

The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority approved the B-2 sub-stage for Unit 1 on 8 October, clearing the first controlled nuclear reaction. Unit 1 reached first criticality at 3:34pm on 11 October, meaning the reactor began a self-sustaining chain reaction at very low power.

Before any electricity reaches the grid, operators must complete reactor physics tests, raise thermal power, synchronise the turbine and obtain a trial operational licence from the regulator. The power start-up comes first; trial operation, known as Stage D, follows and could last around 10 months.

During that trial phase, output will be raised and lowered to test the plant and the grid's ability to absorb it, and the reactor may be shut briefly for checks. Bangladeshi operators will work alongside the Russian contractor during the period.

The International Atomic Energy Agency will send an Emergency Preparedness Review mission to Bangladesh from 8 to 18 November. Science and Technology Ministry secretary Md Anwar Hossain said the country needs coordinated agencies, trained staff, written guidelines and round-the-clock radiation monitoring to meet international standards.

Rooppur has two Russian-designed VVER-1200 units, each with a capacity of 1,200MW. Once both are running, the plant is meant to supply 2,400MW. The project has been delayed more than three years, and its cost has risen to about Tk 1.39 trillion, largely because of the taka's fall against the dollar.

Officials have stressed that December is a target, not a fixed date. A single failed test could force engineers to correct the problem and repeat the check, pushing the commissioning schedule back.