Dhaka, Feb 11 (UNB) – The cabinet on Monday approved the draft Hajj Package, 2019, fixing the minimum cost for a pilgrim at Tk 3,44,000, up by Tk 24,645 from the previous year under package- 2 of the government management.…
Category: Feature
Life tax exemption for women with 4 or more kids in Hungary
Hungary, Feb 11 (AP/UNB) — Hungary’s government is greatly increasing financial aid and subsidies for families with several children, the country’s prime minister said Sunday. The measures announced by Viktor Orban during his “state of the nation” speech are meant…
Saraswati Puja celebrated on RU campus
Rajshahi, Feb 10 – Saraswati Puja, the festival for worshiping Devi Saraswati, the Goddess of literature and culture of the Hindu community, was observed at Rajshahi University (RU) campus through socio-religious festivals and rituals on Sunday. Saraswati who is the…
Speech-impaired girl ‘raped’ in Satkhira
Satkhira, Feb 10 (UNB) – A speech-impaired girl was reportedly raped by the driver of Shyamnagar Upazila Nirbahi officer in the government quarter premises in upazila headquarters on Saturday. Police arrested driver Abdul Gaffar, 57, son of Gahar Gain of…
Hindu Community celebrating Saraswati Puja on Sunday
Dhaka, Feb 10 – Saraswati Puja, wworshipping the goddess of knowledge, wisdom and culture and one of the main religious festivals of the Hindu community, is being celebrated across the country on Sunday amid much enthusiasm, festivity and religious fervor.…
Halal Accreditation Scheme to expedite Bd exports
DHAKA, Feb 8, 2019 (BSS) – Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB) is goingto introduce ‘Halal Accreditation Scheme’ through the existing halalcertificate provider laboratories for increasing export of Bangladeshi halalproducts. The information came on Thursday from a closing function on “24th BABAssessor…
Empowered women driving Bd’s dev journey: Envoy to Holland
Dhaka, Feb 8 (UNB) – Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands Sheikh Mohammed Belal has said women in Bangladesh are driving its development journey in a bigger way as Bangladesh’s economic transformation is driven, in large part, by social changes, starting…
US envoy visits book fair; spends time with children
Dhaka, Feb 8 (UNB)–US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller along with his wife on Friday visited Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela and spent time with children at the children’s corner of the fair. Talking to reporters, Ambassador Miller said the…
Bishwo Shahitto Kendro turns 40
Dhaka, Feb 8 (UNB) – Seeking a better society of enlightened people, Bishwo Shahitto Kendro, one of the leading organisations of the country promoting literature among the people, celebrated its 40th anniversary on Friday. The day was commemorated with a colourful…
Apple releases update to prevent FaceTime eavesdropping
San Francisco, Feb 8 (AP/UNB) — Apple has released an iPhone update to fix a software flaw that allowed people to eavesdrop on others while using FaceTime. The bug enabled interlopers to turn an iPhone into a live microphone while…
‘What hell feels like’ – Acid violence in Cambodia
Sitting on a thin mattress on the floor of their home in a Phnom Penh slum, 3-year-old Molita delicately touches the scars that cover her mother’s back. In November 2014, when Molita was an infant, the owners of a neighbouring…
Female ASI ‘commits suicide’ in Bogra
Bogra, Feb 06 – A female assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Dhunat Police Station reportedly poisoned herself in an apparent suicide Tuesday. The deceased was identified as Rozina Khatun (30), assistant sub-inspector of Dhunat Police Station and daughter of Nannu Mia…
Madrasah teacher arrested for alleged rape of student
Dhaka, Feb 7 – The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested a Madrasa teacher for allegedly raping his student from Bancharampur of Brahmanbaria District on early on Thursday. The arrestee was Abdullah Al Mamun, a teacher of Tarimul Quarn Mohila Madrasa…
Truly global efforts must to abolish female genital mutation
NEW DELHI, Feb 6 2019 (IPS) – According to official data on the global prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) released by UNICEF there are 200 million women and girls in the world who have been cut. Shocking though this statistic is, it…
Pope publicly acknowledges clergy sexual abuse of nuns
Aboard The Papal Plane, Feb 6 (AP/UNB) — Pope Francis on Tuesday publicly acknowledged the scandal of priests and bishops sexually abusing nuns and vowed to do more to fight the problem, the latest sign that there is no end…
Crusade against sex edu undermines progress in Latin America
BUENOS AIRES, Jan 30 2019 (IPS) – The crusade against comprehensive sex education by conservative and religious sectors undermines progress in Latin America and could further drive up rates of teen pregnancy, communicable diseases and abuse against girls and adolescents. In…
Pope Francis celebrates historic Mass on Arabian Peninsula
Abu Dhabi, Feb 5 (AP/UNB) — Pope Francis ministered on Tuesday to the thriving Catholic community in the United Arab Emirates as he concluded his historic visit to the Arabian Peninsula with the first-ever papal Mass here. Cheers erupted inside…
Awkwafina, Tina Fey, Jennifer Lopez to present at Oscars
New York, Feb 5 (AP/UNB) — Tina Fey, Whoopi Goldberg and Brie Larson will be presenters at the 91st Academy Awards. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on Monday announced its first slate of presenters. Also among the…
DU female student kidnapping case: 4 asked to surrender
Dhaka, Feb 5 – The High Court on Monday asked four people to surrender before the trial court by Wednesday in a case filed for attempting to kidnap a female student of Dhaka University. The HC bench of Justice M…
Bangabandhu’s tallest sculpture to be built in Chuadanga
Chuadanga, Feb 4 (UNB) –The tallest sculpture of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the architect of the country’s independence, will be built in the district. Renowned sculptor Mrinal Haque will erect the 100-foot sculpture on a land…
Compatriots forced Bd women domestic help into illicit work
Bahrain, Feb 01 – Two pimps who locked a woman in apartments for three months and forced her to have sex with multiple men have been jailed for 10 years each. The Bangladeshi men, aged 29 and 44, were convicted…
Garo woman murder report March 5
Dhaka Feb 03 – A Dhaka court fixed March 5 for submitting the investigation report over the murders of a woman of Garo community and her daughter in Kalachandpur of Dhaka. Magistrate Debdash Chandra Adhikary of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate…
Meghan puts notes on bananas sent to needy women in Britain
London, Feb 3 (AP/UNB) — Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has written personal messages to women being helped by a charity that seeks to help sex workers break free from prostitution. Prince Harry’s wife took the unusual step of writing…
Doctor’s suicide: Police seek 7-day remand for wife
Chattogram, Feb 2 – Police have forwarded an application to take Tanzila Haque Chowdhury Mitu on seven-day remand in connection with the ‘suicide’ of her husband Dr Mustafa Murshed Akash for instigating his suicide. Chandgaon Police Station assitant Sub-inspector Abdul…
Home minister meets Hefazat chief Mufti Shafi
Chattogram, Feb 01 (UNB) – Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal met with Hefazat-e-Islam Ameer Allama Shah Ahmed Shafi at Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam, also known as Hathazari Madrasa on Friday. The minister paid the courtesy call at the…
33rd Bangladesh Poetry Festival 2019 begins
Dhaka, Feb 1 – The 33rd edition of ‘Jatiya Kobita Utshab’ (national poetry festival) started on Friday at the Dhaka University’s Central Library square. This year’s slogan of the two-day festival is ‘Bangalir joy kobitar joy’ (the victory of Bangali…
Month-long book fair marking Language martyrs’ Day begins
Dhaka, Feb 1 (UNB) – The month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair, a yearly event for booklovers and publishers, began on the Bangla Academy premises and at adjoining Suhrawardy Udyan in the city on Friday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the…
‘Living some sort of ‘captive life’, says PM Hasina
Dhaka, Feb 1 (UNB) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday lamented her inability to roam around the Ekushey Book Fair freely, saying she is now living some sort of a ‘captive life’. “When I was not in power, I…
Bd HC landmark verdict declares Turag river as living being
Dhaka, Jan 30 – In a historic verdict, the High Court on Wednesday declared the Turag River as a legal/juristic person or a living being to save the river from illegal encroachment. In its partial judgment, the HC bench of…
Grenade thrown into Philippine mosque kills two teachers
Zamboanga, Jan 30 (AP/UNB) — Authorities say a grenade was thrown into a mosque in the southern Philippines where Muslim teachers were sleeping, killing two and injuring four. Regional police Chief Superintendent Emmanuel Luis D. Licup said investigators are trying…