Md Yunus leads jumbo UNGA team, defies austerity rule

NEW DELHI: Bangladesh chief adviser Md Yunus is leading a 100-member delegation to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) that reportedly includes his two daughters. This comes amid an austerity plan put in place by the Yunus-led interim regime to reduce government expenditure.

According to the official travel booklet of the delegation, the number of travel companions, including security personnel and officials, is 62. But government documents show the number of total delegates at 104, a source claimed.

Among the delegates are four advisers to Yunus-Asif Nazrul, Md Touhid Hossain, Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan and Adilur Rahman Khan. The delegation also comprises six leaders from three political parties, including BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP acting chairperson's foreign affairs adviser Humayun Kabir; Jamaat-e-Islami's Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher and Mohammad Nakibur Rahman, who joined from the US; and National Citizen Party's Akhtar Hossain and Tasnim Jara, according to a report in Bangladesh daily Prothom Alo.