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Published : 14 Aug 2024, 12:28 AM
Shafiqul Alam, the bureau chief of news agency Agence France-Presse, or AFP, has been appointed the Press Secretary to Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus.
The Ministry of Public Administration in a notification confirmed the hiring on Tuesday night.
The senior journalist will serve in the position on a contractual basis and receive pay and perks equivalent to that of a government secretary.
Apurba Jahangir has also been appointed as deputy press secretary, and Shabbir Ahmed as assistant private secretary to the chief advisor on a contractual basis.
These appointments were announced in two separate notifications.
On Monday night, Alam had shared the news in a Facebook post, where he spoke of the ‘honour’ at being able to serve Yunus and the nation.
"Professor Muhammad Yunus has asked me to be his press secretary in the Interim Government. I am honoured to serve him and the nation," he said.
Reflecting on his 20-year tenure with AFP, Alam wrote: "AFP, my employers for 20 years, too wants me to stay with them. They are a big family. They've supported me all these years like a father supports his child."
Despite their longstanding relationship, Alam expressed readiness to take on the "challenging" role of press secretary.
"But I am ready to take up a new challenge," he added.
Alam began his journalism career as a sports journalist at the Bangladesh Observer.
After spending seven and a half years in sports journalism, he transitioned to business journalism at the Financial Express, where he worked for two and a half years before joining AFP on Jan 14, 2005.
During his two-decade tenure at AFP, Alam served as a correspondent for the first seven years and then as the bureau chief in Dhaka.
He completed his secondary education at Dhaka’s Motijheel Government Boys' High School, higher secondary education at Notre Dame College, and earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Dhaka.
