He will enjoy the rank and status, salary-allowances and other facilities similar to a full minister, an official announcement said Thursday.

He has authored a number of books and is the founding editor of Contemporary South Asia, an academic and policy studies journal published from Oxford.

Rizvi earned a double first in BA honours and MA from the University of Dhaka and did his DPhil from Trinity College, Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, the newspaper said.