Syed Abdal Ahmed appointed PID principal information officer

Syed Abdal Ahmed, executive editor of the daily Amar Desh, has been appointed principal information officer of the Press Information Department on a one-year contractual basis.

The Ministry of Public Administration issued a notification today (26 April), stating the post carries Grade-1 status equivalent to a secretary.

According to the notification, he must relinquish any employment or professional engagement with any other profession, business, or government, semi-government or private institution or organisation.

A two-time elected general secretary of the Jatiya Press Club, Abdal Ahmed also served as deputy press secretary to then prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia during 1992–96.

He received the Philips Award in 1989 for investigative reporting, along with the ESCAP-FEJ Award and Dhaka Reporters Unity Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025.

Born on 28 November 1962 in Nasirpur village of Nasirnagar upazila in Brahmanbaria, he studied at Shaistaganj High School and Brindaban Government College in Habiganj.

He completed BSc (Honours) and MSc in chemistry from Jahangirnagar University and began his journalism career in 1982 as a university correspondent for Dainik Bangla, serving there in various roles until 1997.

He later worked at Amar Desh, BSS, Janakantha, Dinkal and the weekly Bichitra. He is a life member of Bangla Academy.

He also served as a member of the Media Reform Commission under the interim government led by Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus.

Currently, he is executive editor of Amar Desh and acting editor of the children's monthly Tuntuni. He has authored more than 20 books.