Prof. Yunus's Interim Government Swears in Key Advisers

Dr. Bidhan Ranjan Roy Poddar and Suprodip Chakma have joined Bangladesh's interim government led by Nobel laureate Prof. Dr. Muhammad Yunus. They were sworn in by the President of Bangladesh, Mohammed Shahabuddin, at the Darbar Hall. The council will assist Yunus following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation.

Dr. Bidhan Ranjan Roy Poddar and Suprodip Chakma were sworn in on Sunday as members of Bangladesh's interim government, led by Nobel laureate Prof. Dr. Muhammad Yunus.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered the oath to Poddar and Chakma while Chief Adviser Dr. Yunus attended the ceremony at the Darbar Hall of the Bangabhaban, according to the state-run BSS news agency.

On Thursday, most of the 16-member council of advisers took oath. Chakma, former Ambassador and Chairman of the Chattogram Hill Tracts Development Board, and Dr. Poddar, former director of the National Institute of Mental Health, missed Thursday's ceremony as they were out of Dhaka. Another adviser, freedom fighter Farooq-e Azam, also could not attend due to his absence from the capital.

Yunus, the 84-year-old economist, was appointed head of the interim government on Tuesday following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation amid widespread protests against her administration's controversial jobs quota system. Yunus took his oath on Thursday.