2017 in Bangladesh explained

The year 2017 was the 46th year after the independence of Bangladesh. It was also the fourth year of the third term of the Government of Sheikh Hasina.

Incumbents

• President: Mohammad Abdul Hamid
• Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina
• Chief Justice: Surendra Kumar Sinha

Demography

Population, total

159,685,421
Population density (per km^2)	1226.7
Population growth (annual %)	1.1%
Male to Female Ratio (every 100 Female)	102.6
Urban population (% of total)	35.9%
Birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people)	18.5
Death rate, crude (per 1,000 people)	5.5
Mortality rate, under 5 (per 1,000 live births)	34
Life expectancy at birth, total (years)	72.1
Fertility rate, total (births per woman)	2.1

Economy

National Income

	Current US$	Current BDT	% of GDP
GDP	$249.7 billion
GDP growth (annual %)	7.3%
GDP per capita	$1,563.8
Agriculture, value added	$33.5 billion
Industry, value added	$69.3 billion
Services, etc., value added	$133.5 billion
Balance of Payment
	Current US$	Current BDT	% of GDP
Current account balance	style="text-align: right;"	-$6.0 billion
Imports of goods and services	$56.8 billion
Exports of goods and services	$39,170.4 million
Foreign direct investment, net inflows	$1,810.4 million
Personal remittances, received	$13,501.9 million
Total reserves (includes gold) at year end	$33,431.5 million
Total reserves in months of imports	6.8

Note: For the year 2017 average official exchange rate for BDT was 80.44 per US$.

Events

• 23 March – Bangladesh Police surrounded a suspected militant hideout in South Surma Upazila, Sylhet, Bangladesh. The police unit was reinforced with personnel from a rapid reaction battalion on the Friday.^[1]
• 25 March – Operation Twilight was launched by the 1st Para Commando Battalion of the Bangladesh Army under the command of Major General Anwarul Momen, GOC 17th Infantry Division in Jalalabad Cantonment. First the security forces established a three kilometre perimeter around the militant hideout. Then the operation was launched on Saturday morning at 8am.^[2] Two militants were killed in the initial attack, one of whom detonated a suicide vest. The commandos rescued 78 civilians who had been trapped in the building since Thursday.^[3]
• 26 March – While Operation Twilight was in progress, militants bombed a crowd of about 500–600 onlookers gathered near the cordon perimeter,^[4] which was about 400 metres from the militant hideout.
• 9 April – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made a landmark visit to neighboring India and signed 22 new deals and MoUs with India taking the Indo-BD bilateral relationships to a new height. This also included a defense cooperation, originally proposed by India.^[5]
• 30 May – More than 300,000 people are evacuated in Bangladesh as Cyclone Mora approaches.
• 13 June – At least 152 people are dead and dozens are missing in landslides caused by days of heavy monsoonal rain in Bangladesh.^{[6] [7] [8] [9]}
• 18 August – Flooding in South Asia has displaced tens of thousands of people and resulted in an estimated 500 deaths across India, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
• 27 August – Dozens of Rohingya Muslims fleeing renewed violence in Rakhine State are detained by Bangladeshi and Burmese authorities after they attempt to cross the border from Myanmar to Bangladesh. Many were en route to Kutupalong Refugee Camp, a refugee camp in Ukhia, Bangladesh, mostly inhabited by Rohingya refugees.
• 31 August – Twenty-six bodies of women and children are recovered after three boats carrying ethnic Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar sink in the Naf River in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar District.
• 5 September – More than 123,000 Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh due to escalating violence by the Myanmar Army.
• 6 September – Bangladesh accuses the Myanmar Army of laying landmines on the border between both countries to prevent the return of fleeing Rohingya refugees. Myanmar denies the Bangladeshi claims.
• 12 September – Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accuses the Burmese government of "atrocities" against the Rohingya people and calls for these alleged atrocities to stop.
• 16 September – Bangladesh announces plans to build a giant refugee camp the size of a small city to house nearly 700,000 Rohingya refugees.
• 28 September – At least 14 Rohingya people, including 10 children, fleeing violence in Myanmar are killed when their boat apparently hits a submerged object and capsizes just yards from the Bangladesh coast.
• 8 October – A refugee boat en route to Bangladesh from Myanmar capsizes, resulting in at least 12 deaths.
• 19 November – Chinese delegates visiting the Burmese capital of Naypyidaw propose a three-phase plan to resolve the conflict in Myanmar's Rakhine State. The governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh expressed support for the plan, which included repatriating refugees that have fled from violence in Rakhine State.
• 23 November – Bangladesh's Foreign Minister A. H. Mahmood Ali and Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi agree to return Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar in a two-month period. (The Australian)
• 2 December – Pope Francis ends his six-day trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh by visiting the Rohingya refugees in Dhaka.

Awards and Recognitions

Independence Day Award

The award was given to fifteen people and an organization.^[10]

Recipients	Area	Note
Group Captain (retd) Shamsul Alam Bir Uttam	independence and liberation war
Ashraful Alam	independence and liberation war
	independence and liberation war	posthumous
	independence and liberation war	posthumous
	independence and liberation war	posthumous
	independence and liberation war	posthumous
	independence and liberation war
	medical science
	literature
	literature
	culture
	culture
Khalil Kazi OBE	social service
	research and training
	research and training	posthumous
	public administration	posthumous

Ekushey Padak

The award was given to 17 persons.^[11]

1. Sharifa Khatun, language movement
2. Shushama Das, music
3. Julhas Uddin Ahmed, music
4. Ustad Azizul Islam, music
5. Tanvir Mokammel, film
6. Syed Abdullah Khalid, sculpture
7. Sara Zaker, acting
8. Abul Momen, journalism
9. Syed Akram Hossain, research
10. Alamgir Muhammad Serajuddin, education
11. Jamilur Reza Choudhury, science and technology
12. Mahmud Hassan, social welfare
13. Omar Ali, language and literature
14. Sukumar Barua, language and literature
15. Swadesh Roy, journalism
16. Shamim Ara Nipa, choreography
17. Rahmatullah Al Mahmud Selim, music.

Sports

• Football:
  • The "Under-18" team became runner up in the SAFF U-18 Championship held in Bhutan and the "Under-15" team secured the third position in the SAFF U-15 Championship held in Nepal.
  • Dhaka Abahani won Premier League title.
• Cricket:
  • The Bangladesh cricket team toured India in February to play one Test match.^[12] India won the Test match by 208 runs.^[13]
  • Later Bangladesh toured Sri Lanka in March and April. The tour consisted of a series of two Test matches, three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and two Twenty20 internationals (T20Is).^{[14] [15]} The Test series was drawn 1–1,^[16] with Bangladesh winning the second match by 4 wickets. It was their first win against Sri Lanka in a Test match.^[17] The victory was their ninth win in Tests and their fourth overseas.^[18] The ODI series was drawn 1–1, with the second of the third match ending in a no result, due to rain.^[19] The T20I series also finished 1–1.^[20]
  • Bangladesh competed in the Ireland Tri-Nation Series in May against Ireland and New Zealand. They won 2 of their 4 ODIs in the tournament.
  • The Australia cricket team toured Bangladesh in August and September to play two Test matches.^[21] Bangladesh won the first Test by 20 runs, their first ever victory against Australia in a Test match.^[22] Australia won the second Test by 7 wickets, therefore drawing the series 1–1.^[23]
  • Then the Bangladesh team toured South Africa in September and October to play two Tests, three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and two Twenty20 International (T20I) matches.^[24] It was Bangladesh's first tour of South Africa in nine years.^[25] South Africa won the Test series 2–0,^[26] the ODI series 3–0^[27] and the T20I series 2–0.^[28]

Deaths

• 17 January – M. M. Ruhul Amin, former Chief Justice (b. 1942).^[29]
• 23 January – Mirza Ali Behrouze Ispahani, businessman (b. 1950)
• 5 February – Suranjit Sengupta, politician (b. 1945).^[30]
• 19 March – Zubaida Gulshan Ara, writer (b. 1943/44)
• 27 March – Mizu Ahmed, actor (b. 1953)
• 28 March – Ibne Mizan, film director (b. 1930)
• 21 April – Lucky Akhand, singer (b. 1956)
• 6 May – Mihir Kumar Nandi, singer (b. 1945)
• 17 May – Faruq Ahmed Choudhury, diplomat (b. 1934)
• 6 June – Latifur Rahman, former Chief Justice and Chief Advisor (b. 1936)
• 27 June – Sudhin Das, musician (b. 1930)
• 28 June – Nazmul Huda Bachchu, actor (b. 1938)
• 1 August – Harunur Rashid Khan Monno, industrialist and politician (b. 1932)
• 21 August – Abdur Razzak, actor (b. 1942)
• 30 August – Abdul Jabbar, singer (b. 1938)
• 15 September – Dwijen Sharma, writer (b. 1929)
• 19 October – Father Marino Rigon, missionary priest (b. 1925)
• 24 October – M. K. Anwar, politician (b. 1933)
• 3 November – Abdur Rahman Biswas, politician and former president (b. 1926)
• 24 November – Bari Siddiqui, singer-song writer and folk musician (b. 1954)
• 19 November – Akhtar Hameed Siddiqui, politician and former deputy-speaker of Jatiya Sangsad (b. 1947)
• 26 November – Rahija Khanam Jhunu, dancer (b. 1943)
• 29 November – Aminul Islam, academic (b. 1935)
• 30 November - Annisul Huq, entrepreneur, TV presenter and sitting Mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation (b. 1952)
• 15 December – A. B. M. Mohiuddin Chowdhury, politician and former city mayor of Chittagong (b. 1944)

See also

• 2010s in Bangladesh
• List of Bangladeshi films of 2017
• Timeline of Bangladeshi history

Notes and References

1. News: Bangladeshi Assault Kills 2 Militants but Fails to End Standoff. Manik. Julfikar Ali. 2017-03-26. The New York Times. 2017-03-26. Anand. Geeta. 0362-4331.
2. News: Blasts during Sylhet hideout operation kill 6. Prothom Alo. 2017-03-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20170812021711/http://en.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/news/143389/Blasts-during-Sylhet-hideout-operation-kill-4. 2017-08-12. dead.
3. News: Gunfire, blasts heard as Sylhet militant hideout siege enters third day. bdnews24.com. 2017-03-27.
4. News: Islamic State's Amaq reports bomb blast in Sylhet Dhaka Tribune. 2017-03-26. Dhaka Tribune. 2017-03-27. en-US.
5. News: BD, India sign 22 deals, MoUs . The New Nation . 9 April 2017.
6. News: 14 June 2017 . Landslide, floods kill 156 in Bangladesh, India; toll could rise . . Rima Paul and Zarir Hussain . . 14 June 2017 .
7. News: 13 June 2017 . At Least 68 Dead in Rain-Triggered Landslides in Bangladesh . . . 13 June 2017 .
8. News: 13 June 2017 . At least 68 killed in landslides in Bangladesh . . . 13 June 2017 .
9. News: 14 June 2017 . Bangladesh landslide toll reaches 152 . . PTI . . 15 June 2017 .
10. News: Independence Award 2017 announced. 17 February 2017. 17 February 2017. The Daily Star.
11. News: 17 named for Ekushey Padak 2017. The Daily Star. 12 February 2017. 12 February 2017.
12. Web site: BCB confirms four series with India, maiden Test tour in 2016 . 4 January 2016 . ESPN Cricinfo.
13. Web site: Jadeja, Ishant wrap up 208-run win . 13 February 2017 . ESPN Cricinfo.
14. Web site: Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka to commence on March 7th. 6 January 2017 . The Papare. 7 January 2017.
15. Web site: Bangladesh Cricket Upcoming Series Schedule 2017. Cricket Team News. 2020-01-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20170211080229/http://cricketteamnews.com/bangladesh-cricket-schedule-2017/. 2017-02-11. dead.
16. Web site: Tamim 82 seals Bangladesh's landmark win in 100th Test . 19 March 2017 . ESPN Cricinfo.
17. Web site: Sixteen years, 18 tries, one win . 19 March 2017 . ESPN Cricinfo.
18. Web site: Bangladesh caps 100th Test with landmark four-wicket win . 19 March 2017 . International Cricket Council.
19. Web site: SL break ODI drought to level series . 1 April 2017 . ESPN Cricinfo.
20. Web site: Shakib, Mustafizur deliver 45-run win for Bangladesh . ESPN Cricinfo . 6 April 2017.
21. Web site: Australia name strong squad for Bangladesh tour . 16 June 2017 . Cricket Australia.
22. Web site: Bangladesh claim historic first Test win over Aussies . 30 August 2017 . Cricket Australia.
23. Web site: Lyon, Warner power series-saving Australia victory . 7 September 2017 . ESPN Cricinfo.
24. Web site: Future Tours Programme . 16 January 2016 . International Cricket Council.
25. Web site: Bloemfontein, Potchefstroom to host Bangladesh Tests . 29 December 2016 . ESPN Cricinfo.
26. News: Kagiso Rabada stars as South Africa thrash Bangladesh to win series 2-0 . 8 October 2017 . BBC Sport.
27. Web site: Du Plessis injury mars SA claiming whitewash . 22 October 2017 . ESPN Cricinfo.
28. Web site: Tigers crumble before SA onslaught . 29 October 2017 . Sport24 . 30 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171030002957/http://www.sport24.co.za/Cricket/Proteas/tigers-crumble-before-proteas-onslaught-20171029 . dead .
29. Web site: Former Chief Justice MM Ruhul Amin dies . businessnews24bd.com . 17 January 2017 . 4 February 2017.
30. Web site: AL leader Suranjit Sengupta passes away . 5 February 2017. 8 February 2017 . thedailystar.net .