Dhaka, Aug 21 – Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has submitted a report before a High Court bench stating that three mobile operators, Grameen Phone, Banglalink and Robi had given over Tk. 87.44 billion to Google and Facebook in last five years. Advocate AKM Alamgir Parvez Bhuiyan, counsel for the BTRC, submitted the report yesterday before the HC bench of ... Read More »
Daily Archives: August 22, 2019
4 more died of dengue, 1597 new patients recorded on Thursday
Dhaka, Aug 21 – Four more patients died of dengue in Dhaka and Barisal on Thursday, as hospitals across the country admitted a large number of dengue patients every day. Read More »
21 organisations transforming food systems
Danielle Nierenberg It’s hard to be hopeful around food and agriculture—the climate crisis, social and racial injustice, lack of opportunity for youth, political chaos, conflict, famine, hunger, and poverty can make it seem like there aren’t solutions. Read More »
Mominul glad as Bangladesh will play more Tests in coming days
Dhaka- In the last three years, Bangladesh played 21 Tests but in the next three years, they will play 32 Tests, including those of the World Test Championship and this has made left-handed top order-batsman Mominul Haque, who is often tagged as the Test specialist, happy. Bangladesh are currently gearing up for their new home season which will begin with ... Read More »
BFF picks 21 BPL booters for U-18, U-19 training
Dhaka – Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has selected 21 footballers from the just-concluded Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) for the ongoing residential training camp of Bangladesh Under-18 and Under-19 teams at BFF Fortis Football Academy in Beraid area of the capital. They will join the camp which began on April 4 last with some other 60 promising footballers picked up by ... Read More »
India’s ‘patriotism pop’ songs celebrate settling in Kashmir
New Delhi (AP/UNB) — The music videos began appearing on social media within hours of the announcement by India’s Hindu-led nationalist government that it was stripping statehood from the disputed region of Kashmir that had been in place for decades. The songs delivered a message to India’s 250 million YouTube users about moving to the Muslim-majority region, buying land there ... Read More »
PM inducts ‘Gaangchil’ 3rd Boeing 787-8 to Biman fleet
Dhaka, Aug 22 (UNB) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday directed the authorities concerned to improve the standard of passenger services of Biman Bangladesh Airlines so that it can brighten the country’s image abroad. “We hope you’ll uphold and enhance Biman’s reputation by improving the standard of its services for passengers,” she said. The Prime Minister was addressing a ... Read More »
Film on factory is first Netflix project endorsed by Obamas
New York, Aug 22 (AP/UNB) — A documentary about an Ohio auto glass factory that is run by a Chinese investor debuted Wednesday on Netflix as the streaming service’s first project backed by Michelle and Barack Obama’s new production company. Filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert said they learned of the Obamas’ interest after “American Factory” was shown at the ... Read More »
Two buses collide, kill 3, injure 30 others in Thakurgaon
Thakurgaon, Aug 22 (UNB) – A head-on collision between two buses on Thakurgaon-Panchagarh Highway left four people dead and 29 others injured on Thursday morning. The deceased were identified as Babul, 28, a minibus driver AbulKalam Azad, 50, son of Abdul Majid,Mojibur Rahman, 75, and Quamruzzaman, 35, of Sadar upazila. The accident took place at Salandar Bhutpara in the upazila ... Read More »
Aug-21 grenade attack: BNP says govt misleading people
Dhaka, Aug 22 (UNB) – BNP on Thursday alleged that the Prime Minister and some ruling party leaders are making ‘futile’ efforts to mislead people with their ‘false’ propaganda involving Khaleda Zia and her on Tarique Rahman with the August-21 grenade attack. Speaking at a press briefing at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office, party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi ... Read More »
‘Rohingyas refuse to go back’: Repatriation move fails again
Cox’s Bazar, Aug 22 (UNB) – Despite all the preparations, no Rohingya turned up on Thursday to avail of the “voluntary” repatriation offer given to them to go back to their place of origin in Rakhine State of Myanmar prompting the authorities to suspend the repatriation process for the day. While briefing reporters, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Abul ... Read More »
Puja, Taskeen pair up for ‘Shaan’
Entertainment Desk For the first time in their acting career, promising young artistes Taskeen Rahman and Puja Cherry Roy have paired up for a film. The duo will appear in the film titled ‘Shaan’ under the direction of by M Rahim. Stepping into the film industry with big hits, the artiste duo has also another thing common between them. During ... Read More »
Russia to send ‘Fedor’ its first humanoid robot into space
Russia was set to launch on today an unmanned rocket carrying a life-size humanoid robot that will spend 10 days learning to assist astronauts on the International Space Station. Named Fedor, for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research with identification number Skybot F850, the robot is the first ever sent up by Russia. Fedor was to blast off in a Soyuz ... Read More »
3 killed in Thakurgaon road crash
A head-on collision between two buses on Thakurgaon-Panchagarh Highway left three people dead and 30 others injured today morning. The deceased were identified as Babul, 28, a minibus driver Abul Kalam Azad, 50, son of Abdul Majid and Quamruzzaman of Sadar upazila. The accident took place at Salandar Bhutpara in the upazila around 10am. A Panchagarh-bound bus hit the Thakurgaon-bound ... Read More »
Dwayne Johnson returns to top of Forbes best-paid actor list
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has reclaimed his position as the world’s highest-paid actor, according to a Forbes rich list otherwise dominated by the cast of Marvel’s record-breaking “Avengers” films. Former professional wrestler Johnson raked in $89.4 million over 12 months, rising back to the number-one spot he last held in 2016. He placed second in both of the last two ... Read More »
Alpha now streaming on YouTube
Culture Desk Veteran filmmaker and thespian Nasiruddin Yousuff Bachchu’s art house feature film Alpha has been released on YouTube earlier this week. This is the director’s third feature film. In the film, Alpha, aka Artist, is a painter who lives in the middle of a lake, away from the bustle of the city. His peaceful existence is shattered when a ... Read More »
Murder accused killed in Mymensingh ‘gunfight’
Mymensingh, Aug 22 (UNB) – A man accused of murder was killed in a reported gunfight with police at Chakua Daria intersection in Gafargaon upazila early Thursday. The deceased was identified as Ekhlas Uddin, 32, son of Nurul Islam of Chakua village. He was wanted in two murder cases – the latest one was for killing an auto-rickshaw driver last ... Read More »
WHO says, drinking microplastics in water not look risky
Geneva, Aug 22 (AP/UNB) — The World Health Organization says the levels of microplastics in drinking water don’t appear to be risky, but that research has been spotty and more is needed into their effects on the environment and health. Microplastics are created when man-made materials break down into tiny particles smaller than about 5 millimeters (roughly one-fifth of an ... Read More »
Spacewalking astronauts add parking spot to space station
Cape Canaveral, Aug 22 (AP/UNB) — Spacewalking astronauts added another parking spot to the International Space Station on Wednesday. NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Andrew Morgan successfully installed a docking port delivered by SpaceX last month. It will be used by SpaceX and Boeing once they start launching astronauts to the orbiting lab late this year or early next year. ... Read More »
Tigress found dead in the Sundarbans: Likely cause old age
Bagerhat, Aug 21 (UNB) – A Royal Bengal tiger has been found dead in the Sundarbans under Sharankhola upazila here. Forest department workers recovered the carcass of the female tiger from Chhaprakhali area under Sharankhola range of the Sundarbans East Zone on Tuesday afternoon. Later, it was taken to the range office on Wednesday. The skin of the tiger, 3 ... Read More »
Traditional Khadi garment of BD under threat of extinction
Cumilla, Aug 22 (UNB) — Villages in some upazilas of the district were once abuzz with sounds of Khadi, or handspun fabric, being woven. But with the changing times, this traditional handloom cloth, spun into yarn on a spinning wheel, is slowly but surely heading towards extinction. Fearing for the worst, the Khadi weavers and traders have been demanding to ... Read More »
How to bring the Indus Delta back to life – Give it water
By Zofeen Ebrahim Reprint Karachi, Aug 21 2019 (IPS) – Gulab Shah, 45, is having sleepless nights. He and his family are worried about their imminent migration from their village in Jhaloo to a major city in Pakistan, thanks to the continued ingress of sea water inland. Read More »
BD HC unhappy over monopoly in manpower export to Malaysia
Dhaka, Aug 21 – The High Court on Wednesday expressed dissatisfaction over slow progress of the inter-ministerial committee’s investigation over the allegations of monopoly practised by 10 recruiting agencies engaged in recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia. Read More »
Assurances don’t satisfy Rohingyas: Repatriation uncertain
Dhaka, Aug 21 – Though the authorities are ready to start the Rohingya repatriation process today but the matter is still uncertain as they could not get any solid statement from the displaced people during their interview for their voluntary return. Read More »
ACC probe against 12 officials who wrongly implicated Jaha Alam
Dhaka, Aug 21 – The Anti-Corruption Commission filed departmental cases against its 11 officials who were investigating 26 corruption cases in which jute mill worker Jaha Alam was wrongly implicated and suffered in jail for three years. Read More »
New IPCC land report – contentious issues raised, resolved
Delhi, 21 August (Indrajit Bose) — Several contentious issues arose prior to the adoption of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Summary for Policy Makers (SPM) of the Special Report on Climate Change and Land. The SPM was adopted in Geneva, Switzerland, on 7 August, after a hectic week of negotiations on a line-by-line basis, between authors of the ... Read More »
Water pollution can reduce economic growth by a third: WB
Heavily polluted water is reducing economic growth by up to a third in some countries, a World Bank report said Tuesday, calling for action to address human and environmental harm. Read More »
Group art exhibition ‘Colours’ to open at AF Dhaka on Friday
The inaugural ceremony of the group art exhibition titled ‘Colours’ will be held at its La Galerie of Alliance Francaise Dhaka on Friday, 23 August at 5.30 pm. Read More »
Award-winning seed documentary showcases biofortification
Courtney Meyer What if, in harvesting maize, farmers could also be harvesting a sort of “medicine” for their children? Addressing and preventing micronutrient deficiencies through the development of more-nutritious maize and other staple crops drives the work of HarvestPlus. The program’s work is featured in an award-winning documentary by Iowa State University about the beauty and power of seeds. Read More »