Day: March 5, 2022

The golden jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence was marked by the Bangladesh High Commission in the UK and the borough of Camden with an event at the British Museum in London recently.

This is the first time that Bangladesh’s independence has been celebrated at the British Museum, the High Commission said in a press release on Saturday.

As part of the event, the British Museum was illuminated in the colours of Bangladesh’s national flag — red and green.

Speaking on the occasion, Bangladesh High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Saida Muna Tasneem, said that “50 years ago, the people of Bangladesh made supreme sacrifice and shed blood to earn our freedom and independence under the charismatic leadership of Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who founded Bangladesh as a democratic, secular, progressive and inclusive people’s republic”.

“Today, Bangladesh’s emergence as one of Asia’s most prosperous and resilient nations under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina continues to be guided by our 1971 War of Liberation values,” she said.

Expressing deep gratitude towards the enterprising British-Bangladesh community in the UK, the High Commissioner said “the British-Bengali Community built the most invincible overseas front of the Bangladesh War of Liberation in 1971 and continues to remain the strongest pillar of connectivity and historic friendship between our two commonwealth nations”.

Bangladesh 50 at British Museum: An event to remember

Leader of Opposition and local MP member Sir Keir Starmer, who was present at the event, said, “Bangabandhu, the Founder of Bangladesh, had a very special relationship with Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson that epitomized the close bonds between our two countries. Under my leadership, the Labour Party will continue to deepen and strengthen this link.”

He also recalled his visit to Bangladesh in 2016 and expressed hope for revisiting again.

The Labour leader also inaugurated a commemorative art exhibition on ‘Bangabandhu and Britain: Bangladesh 50 at the British Museum’, organised by the High Commission to mark the Birth Centenary of Bangabandhu.

Speaking at the event, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said that UK citizens and the diaspora community played an important role in Bangladesh’s independence in 1971 “and continue to play a significant role in the great relationship between our two countries”.

“In London, those of Bangladeshi heritage have made and continue to make a hugely positive contribution,” he said.

Speaking on occasion, British Museum Director Hartwig Fisher said: “We are honoured to host the celebration of Bangladesh 50 at the British Museum, which is the UK’s number one visitor attraction.” He said the museum displays historic artefacts from Bangladesh and continues to collect contemporary art and objects from Bangladesh.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow would consider any third-party declaration of a no-fly zone over Ukraine as “participation in the armed conflict.”

Speaking at a meeting with female pilots on Saturday, Putin said Russia would view “any move in this direction” as an intervention that “will pose a threat to our service members.”

“That very second, we will view them as participants of the military conflict, and it would not matter what members they are,” the Russian president said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pushed NATO to impose a no-fly zone over his country, warning that “all the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you.”

NATO has said a no-fly zone, which would bar all unauthorized aircraft from flying over Ukraine, could provoke widespread war in Europe with nuclear-armed Russia.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to leave for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Monday on a four-day bilateral visit as the two countries eye to elevate their ties to a comprehensive partnership with deeper political engagement.

Sheikh Hasina will visit the UAE at the invitation of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and vice-president of the UAE.

Trade, commerce, investment, manpower and cooperation in other potential areas will be discussed during the visit, officials said.

Bangladesh and the UAE already reviewed their relations, especially ahead of Sheikh Hasina’s visit to the Gulf country.

At the state guesthouse Padma, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen will brief the media about the visit at 3pm Sunday.

He held a bilateral meeting with his UAE counterpart Abdullah-bin-Zayed Al Nahyan in Dubai last month and discussed the issues of mutual interest and upcoming visit.

Acknowledging the existing “excellent” ties between Bangladesh and the UAE, they underlined the need to work together in all potential areas for the benefit of the two peoples.

The two sides are discussing ways to enhance air and maritime connectivity, especially establishing direct shipping links between their seaports and introducing direct cargo flights to maintain seamless and uninterrupted supply chains.

They are also willing to explore new contours of collaboration in agriculture, food security, culture, science, innovation and technology – with a focus on ICT, IoT and digitalisation – to elevate their ties to a comprehensive partnership.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces were holding key cities in the central and southeastern part of the country Saturday, while the Russians were trying to block and keep encircled Kharkiv, Nikolaev, Chernihiv and Sumy.

“We’re inflicting losses on the occupants they could not see in their worst nightmare,” Zelenskyy said. He alleged that 10,000 Russian troops were killed in the 10 days of the war, a claim that could not be independently verified. The Russian military doesn’t offer regular updates on their casualties. Only once, on Wednesday, they revealed a death toll of nearly 500.

“This is horrible,” Zelenskyy said. “Guys 18, 20 years old … soldiers who weren’t even explained what they were going to fight for.”

Source: United News of Bangladesh

The Islamic State says a lone Afghan suicide bomber struck inside a Shiite Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar during Friday prayers, killing at least 56 worshippers and wounding 194 people.

The Islamic State affiliate in the region known as Islamic State in Khorasan province and headquartered in Afghanistan claimed Friday’s devastating attack in a statement translated by the SITE Intelligence group.

The statement was posted on the group’s Amaq News Agency. The statement identified the attacker as Afghan, posted his picture and said “Islamic State fighters are constantly targeting Shi’ites living in Pakistan and Afghanistan despite the intense security measures adopted by the Taliban militia and the Pakistani police to secure Shi’a temples and centers.”

The carnage at the mosque buried deep inside the narrow streets of Peshawar’s old city was horrific.

According to the spokesman at Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital, Asim Khan, many of the wounded were in critical condition. Scores of victims were peppered with shrapnel, several had limbs amputated and others were injured by flying debris.

Peshawar Police Chief Muhammed Ejaz Khan said the violence started when an armed attacker opened fire on police outside the mosque in Peshawar’s old city. One policeman was killed in the gunfight, and another police officer was wounded. The attacker then ran inside the mosque and detonated his suicide vest.

The suicide bomber had strapped a powerful explosive device to his body, packed with 5 kilograms (12 pounds) of explosives, said Moazzam Jah Ansari, the top police official for Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province where Peshawar is the capital.

The device was hidden beneath a large black shawl that covered much of the attacker’s body, according to CCTV footage seen by The Associated Press. The footage showed the bomber moving quickly up a narrow street toward the mosque entrance. He fired at the police protecting the mosque before entering inside.

Within seconds, a powerful explosion occurred and the camera lens was obscured with dust and debris. Ansari said the crudely made device was packed with ball bearings, a deadly method of constructing a bomb to inflict the most carnage spraying a larger area with deadly projectiles. The ball bearings caused the high death toll, Ansari said.

Local police official Waheed Khan said the explosion occurred as worshippers had gathered in the Kucha Risaldar Mosque for Friday prayers. There are fears the death toll could still rise further, he added.

Ambulances rushed through congested narrow streets carrying the wounded to Lady Reading Hospital, where doctors worked feverishly.

Shayan Haider, a witness, had been preparing to enter the mosque when a powerful explosion threw him to the ground. “I opened my eyes and there was dust and bodies everywhere,” he said.

At the Lady Reading Hospital Emergency department, there was chaos as doctors struggled to move the many wounded into operating theaters. Hundreds of relatives gathered outside the emergency department, many of them wailing and beating their chests, pleading for information about their loved ones.

Outside the mosque, Shiites pressed through the cordoned-off streets. Kucha Risaldar Mosque is one of the oldest in the area, predating the creation of Pakistan in 1947 as a separate homeland for the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent.

The prayer leader, Allama Irshad Hussein Khalil, a prominent up and coming young Shiite leader, was among the dead. Throughout the city, ambulance sirens could be heard.

Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the bombing. His national security adviser, Moeed Yusuf, said the bombing was a “heinous terrorist attack” and promised that those behind the carnage would “be brought to justice.

“We will not allow our gains against terrorism and our internal security to be compromised at any cost,” Yusuf tweeted.

Retired army officer Sher Ali who had been inside the mosque at the time of the explosion was injured by flying shrapnel. He made a impassioned plea to the Pakistani government for better protection of the country’s minority Shiites.

“What is our sin? What have we done? Aren’t we citizens of this country?” he said from inside the emergency department, his white clothes splattered with blood.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, saying the perpetrators were intent on “sowing discord among Muslims.” In a statement on the ministry’s website, spokesman Saeed Khatizadeh expressed his hope that Pakistan’s government would put an end to such attacks with “firm actions,” without elaborating.

In majority Sunni Pakistan, minority Shiites have come under repeated attacks. Also, in recent months, the country has experienced a significant increase of violence and dozens of military personnel have been killed in scores of attacks on army outposts along the border with Afghanistan.

Many attacks have been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, who analysts say have been emboldened by the Afghan Taliban seizing power last August in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has urged Afghanistan’s new rulers to handover Pakistani Taliban militants who have been staging their attacks from Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban have said their territory will not be used to stage attacks against anyone, but until now have not handed over any wanted Pakistani militants.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday intensified a crackdown on media outlets and individuals who fail to hew to the Kremlin line on Russia’s war in Ukraine, blocking Facebook and Twitter and signing into law a bill that criminalizes the intentional spreading of what Moscow deems to be “fake” reports.

The moves against the social media giants follow blocks imposed on the BBC, the U.S. government-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and Latvia-based website Meduza. The government’s sweeping action against the foreign outlets that publish news in Russian seeks to establish even tighter controls over what information the domestic audience sees about the invasion of Ukraine.

The state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said it cut access to Twitter and Facebook in line with a decision by the prosecutor general’s office. The watchdog has previously accused Twitter of failing to delete the content banned by Russian authorities and slowed down access to it.

Twitter said in a statement Friday afternoon that while the company is “aware of reports” that its platform is blocked in Russia, it has not been able to confirm whether this is the case.

The bill, quickly rubber-stamped by both houses of the Kremlin-controlled parliament and signed by Putin, imposes prison sentences of up to 15 years for those spreading information that goes against the Russian government’s narrative on the war.

The question regarding Russia is no longer “what we do to stop disinformation,” former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said on Friday. “The question has to be how do we promote information inside Russia — and I don’t have the answer.”

Multiple outlets said they would pause their work inside Russia to evaluate the situation. Among them, CNN said it would stop broadcasting in Russia while Bloomberg and the BBC said they would temporarily suspend the work of their journalists there.

Russian authorities have repeatedly and falsely decried reports of Russian military setbacks or civilian deaths in Ukraine as “fake” news. State media outlets refer to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation” rather than a war or an invasion.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the lower house of parliament, said the measure “will force those who lied and made statements discrediting our armed forces to bear very grave punishment.”

“I want everyone to understand, and for society to understand, that we are doing this to protect our soldiers and officers, and to protect the truth,” he added.

The law envisages sentences of up to three years or fines for spreading what authorities deem to be false news about the military, but the maximum punishment rises to 15 years for cases deemed to have led to “severe consequences.”

In blocking Facebook, Roskomnadzor cited its alleged “discrimination” of the Russian media and state information resources. The agency said in a statement that the restrictions introduced by Facebook owner Meta on the Russian news channel RT and other state-controlled media violate Russian law.

“Obviously Putin is shutting these people down because he is afraid. He wouldn’t be shutting them down if everything was going peachy keen,” McFaul said during a call with reporters and experts hosted by Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center. “This is an indicator of his state of mind.”

Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said tweeted in response to Russia’s action that “millions of ordinary Russians will find themselves cut off from reliable information, deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and friends and silenced from speaking out.”

“We will continue to do everything we can to restore our services so they remain available to people to safely and securely express themselves and organize for action,” Clegg added.

The Russian media blocks on the five foreign media organizations are among the most influential and often critical foreign media publishing in Russian.

Roskomnadzor said those media had published “false information” on subjects including “the methods of carrying out combat activities (attacks on civilians, strikes on civil infrastructure), the numbers of losses of the Russian Federation Armed Forces. and victims among the civilian population.”

BBC Director-General Tim Davie said the legislation “appears to criminalize the process of independent journalism.”

“The safety of our staff is paramount and we are not prepared to expose them to the risk of criminal prosecution simply for doing their jobs,” he said.

Davie said the BBC’s Russian-language news service would continue to operate from outside Russia.

Earlier in the day, the BBC posted instructions on Twitter about how Russian readers could work around the block by using apps or the “dark web.”

“Access to accurate, independent information is a fundamental human right which should not be denied to the people of Russia, millions of whom rely on BBC News every week. We will continue our efforts to make BBC News available in Russia, and across the rest of the world,” the BBC said.

Earlier this week the BBC said it was bringing back shortwave radio transmission to Ukraine and parts of Russia so people can listen to its programs with basic equipment.

Some well-known media outlets within Russia have chosen to close rather than face heavy restrictions on what they can report. News website Znak said it was closing Friday morning, shortly after the parliament approved the draft bill. On Thursday, Russia’s top independent radio station Ekho Moskvy was closed and independent TV station Dozdh suspended operations after receiving a threat of closure from the authorities.

The authorities also pressed ahead with a sweeping effort to target human rights organizations.

Authorities raided the offices of Memorial, one of Russia’s oldest and most prominent human rights organizations. According to Memorial members, police didn’t provide any explanation and there were no warnings.

“The police refused to let me and the lawyer in without explanation, and when I tried not to let in the reinforcement officers who arrived in bulletproof vests and masks, they threatened to use force if I did not let them in,” the chairman of International Memorial Yan Rachinsky said. “This is the level of justice today in the capital of Russia.”

Another leading human rights group, the Civic Assistance, also saw its Moscow office raided.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Online and offline digital content and file-sharing platform SHAREit is contributing to improving Bangladesh’s digital infrastructure by making e-commerce and mobile financial service platforms serve underserved consumers.

As Covid hit, the use of online platforms exponentially grew with a significant surge in online shopping and payments.

Taking that into account, SHAREit has collaborated with brands like e-commerce platform Daraz and mobile financial service provider Nagad to understand and reach the potential customer base.

It also facilitates the growth of other app-based businesses through its ad platform by curating campaigns to help brands reach out to an incremental and almost untapped audience.

To do this, SHAREit emphasises its localisation efforts, analysing the cultural background and language environment of a target market and adapting the app’s design, interaction, and functionality accordingly.

“SHAREit unlocks the ability for many types of phones to share many types of content without the need for an internet connection or mobile data consumption and is downloadable for free,” Karam Malhotra, partner and global vice-president of SHAREit Group, said.

“Earlier, people were happy to play a 10MB game. Now, they’re not happy playing anything less than a 1GB game,” Karam says. “It went from Nokia’s Snake to Call of Duty. The amount of data users required grew by 100x.”

Malhotra adds that the quality of mobile internet connectivity remains poor in emerging countries, and people there also worry about the high cost of mobile data consumption.

These challenges around downloading content from the internet have shut people out from participating fully in the digital economy. An alternative for sharing content and apps would make a difference.

“Near-distance peer-to-peer is the world’s leading offline-online social ecosystem,” Malhotra says. “SHAREit enables a digital economy we don’t even know about.”

A study by Google ​shows that most people discover new apps through friends and family.

Malhotra says: “Every popular game has at least 30 imitators. How do you know which is the legitimate one that doesn’t have viruses, malware, or spyware? You ask your friend.”

Peer-to-peer sharing also organically improves digital literacy as friends trust and teaches each other about how apps work.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

UNESCO World Heritage Sites are places of natural beauty and historical significance that are chosen by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for their outstanding universal value. Currently, there are 1,054 World Heritage Sites in 167 countries, and more are being added all the time. Among those 1,054 sites, 897 cultural, 218 natural, and 39 mixed properties. Let’s get to know details about world heritage sites in Ukraine.

What are the Seven UNESCO World Heritage sites in Ukraine?

Ukraine has seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These are treasures of world culture and history and include ancient monasteries, fortresses, and natural wonders.

Kyiv: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kyiv Pechersk Lavra

Constructed in the 11th century, St. Sophia Cathedral is a superlative example of Byzantine architecture and one of Ukraine’s most recognized landmarks. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990 for being an outstanding architectural masterpiece that profoundly marked the history and culture not only of Kyiv but substantially transformed Ukraine. The cathedral is located in the midst of a complex of monastic buildings constructed in the 17th and 18th centuries in Ukrainian Baroque style.

Read Top 10 Historical Mosques in Bangladesh

The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is a world-renowned monastic ensemble that has been in operation since the 11th century. Throughout its history, the lavra has undergone many changes and continued to grow in size and stature. Today, it is a major tourist attraction in Kyiv and remains an important spiritual center for Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Church of the Saviour at Berestove, adjacent to the Lavra, was added to the site in 2005 as part of an effort to restore and preserve cultural heritage sites.

Lviv – the Ensemble of the Historic Centre

Lviv, one of the most beautiful and historically significant cities in Europe, is located in western Ukraine. Lviv’s architecture and urban planning are based on a unique mixture of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque styles. The Historic Centre of Lviv, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the best-preserved medieval city centers in Europe.

The city has a long and complex history, shaped by the interactions of the different communities that have lived there over the centuries. These include various Christian groups, Muslims, and Jews, all of which have contributed to the city’s unique character. Further, the architecture in the city reflects a blend of Eastern European and Italian/German influences. It is a prime example of a residence of the Ukrainian gentry and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.

Struve Geodetic Arc

The Struve Geodetic Arc that stretches 2,820 kilometers (1,750 mi) from Hammerfest, Norway, to the Black Sea through Ukraine is one of the longest triangulation networks in the world. Established by a German astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, between 1816 and 1855. The arc was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

Virgin Beech Forests of the Carpathians

The virgin beech forests of the Carpathians are among the last surviving beech forests on earth. Their collection of ancient beeches is located in Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine. The virgin beech forests have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007. This site showcases the postglacial expansion process of European beech from a few isolated refuge areas in the Alps, Carpathians, Dinarides, Mediterranean, and the Pyrenees. The temperate forests on this site provide an excellent example of how species can recolonize and spread following a mass extinction event.

Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans

The Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans was constructed in the late 19th century for the Eastern Orthodox metropolitan bishop, who resided in the region while it was under the rule of Austria-Hungary.

The complex, designed by Czech architect Josef Hlávka, is built in the historicist style and features elements of Byzantine, Gothic, and Baroque architecture. It was used as the bishop’s residence until World War II. Later it was transferred to Chernivtsi University in 1955. UNESCO declared Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans a world heritage Site in 2011.

Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora

The city dates back to the 5th century BCE when it was founded by Dorian Greeks on the coast of the Black Sea. In the following centuries, it was home to Greek, Roman, and Byzantine communities in the Black Sea region. However, by the end of 15th century, the place was abandoned. This site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013.

Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine

The wooden churches of the Carpathian Region are part of one of the most historic religious traditions in Europe. This property includes 16 wooden churches in the Carpathians, eight of which are in Ukraine. The churches in this area were built between the 16th and 19th centuries by the Greek Catholic faiths and the communities of Eastern Orthodox. Orthodox ecclesiastical traditions combined with local influences the design. UNESCO declared it as a world heritage site in 2013.

Final Words

These sites are a testament to the country’s rich history and cultural diversity and attract tourists from all over the world. Whether you’re interested in history, nature, or architecture, there’s something for everyone in Ukraine’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

The number of people who had left Ukraine reached 1.45 million as Russia’s war on Ukraine entered Day 10 Saturday, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The UN migration agency, citing figures from government ministries in countries where they arrived, said 787,300 of them went to Poland.

Around 228,700 fled to Moldova, 144,700 to Hungary, 132,600 to Romania and 100,500 to Slovakia.

Nationals of 138 countries crossed Ukraine’s borders into neighbouring nations, the IOM said.

The military offensive in Ukraine has destroyed civilian infrastructure and civilian casualties and forced people to flee their homes seeking safety, protection and assistance.

In the first week, more than 1 million refugees from Ukraine crossed borders into neighbouring countries, and many more are on the move both inside and outside the country.

As the situation continues to unfold, an estimated 4 million people may flee the country, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR)

In light of the emergency and paramount humanitarian needs of refugees from Ukraine, an inter-agency regional refugee response is being carried out, in support of refugee-hosting countries’ efforts, it says.

The regional refugee response plan brings together the UN, NGO and other relevant partners and primarily focuses on supporting the host country governments to ensure safe access to the territory for refugees and third-country nationals fleeing from Ukraine, in line with international standards.

It also focuses on the provision of critical protection services and humanitarian assistance, while displacement dynamics and needs continue to grow exponentially.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

FBCCI President Md. Jashim Uddin on Saturday called upon the entrepreneurs of garments and textile industries to diversify their investments and brand Bangladesh in a new way.

The president made the call at the first meeting of the standing committee on RMG, knitwear and sweaters at the FBCCI office.

He said that most entrepreneurs are interested in investing in cotton-based garment and spinning sector.

“However, now the demand for manmade fiber clothing is increasing in the world market, and the price is also higher,” he said.

The President urged the entrepreneurs in the readymade garments and textile sectors to invest in the man-made fiber sector.

He mentioned that exporters are gradually losing the advantage of cheap power, energy and labour.

Despite being the second largest exporter of readymade garments, he said, Bangladesh mainly exports relatively cheap garments.

Jashim Uddin said that the prices of raw materials are constantly rising. Therefore, in order to continue to growth of the industry, exporters must now focus on exporting high value garments, he said.

Speaking as the chief guest at the meeting, the president said a safety council has been set up at the FBCCI to ensure the safety of non-export-oriented factories.

The Safety Council is working with BIDA to secure all the industries in the country, he added.

Faruque Hassan, chairman of the committee and president of BGMEA, said a study is going on to explore the new items which the producers might be good at, and also to identify the new opportunities to expand their investments.

“Exporters are often reducing the prices of their products by competing with each other,” he said.

The BGMEA president called for an end to the competition.

Meanwhile, BKMEA executive president Mohammad Hatem proposed to form different sub-committees on the banking and financial sector, power and energy, finance ministry and labor ministry to solve problems of the garment industry.

The members of the committee present at the meeting said that harassment of the Customs and Bond Commissionerate is now the biggest problem for them.

Businessmen are also facing hurdles in importing various raw materials due to HS code complications.

Entrepreneurs also think that the law needs to be amended for wastage recycling.

FBCCI Director and Director-in-Charge of the Standing Committee on Land Ports, Bijoy Kumar Kejriwal said the committee would do its utmost to help resolve any issues regarding land port.

FBCCI Director Harun Or Rashid, Secretary General Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque, Standing Committee Co-Chairman Abdullah-al-Mahmud Mahin, Enthekhabul Hamid Apu, Shams Mahmud, Fazle Shamim Ehsan, Mohammed Kamal Uddin, Anjan Shekhar Das, Humayun Kabir Selim were also present among others.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

A vessel carrying over 600 metric tonnes of coal to Dhaka has capsized in the Passur river near the Sundarbans in the district’s Mongla upazila.

The accident occurred off the Mongla port on Thursday, officials said on Saturday.

The Dhaka-bound ‘MV-Naumi’ sank in the river as a crack had developed in the vessel, said deputy harbour master of Mongla port, Captain Shahadat Hossain.

Fortunately, all the 10 crew members of the vessel were rescued by local fishermen and the Coast Guard.

“Already, a notice has been issued to the owner of the vessel to take steps within 15 days to remove the vessel from the river,” said Captain Shahadat.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

A 15-year-old girl was rescued from a house in the West Pirmahalla area of Sylhet on Friday night.

The kidnapper, identified as Nur Islam, 20, son of Abdus Chattar of Debipur village in Chandpur district, was also arrested from the same house, police said.

According to the Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP), Nur Islam abducted the girl and confined her to his house. Victim’s family filed a kidnapping case in this regard.

Later, police raided the place at around 8:45 pm on Friday and rescued the girl and arrested Nur Islam.

The victim has been sent to the OCC department of Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital for treatment.

The accused was brought before the court on Saturday.

Source: United News of Bangladesh