Author: Asian Bangla

Asianbangla, Dhaka :Jahangir Fakir has spent the last 30 years of his life at the wheel as a professional bus driver. He believed his daughter Dia Khanam Mim would one day realise her dream of becoming a banker. Little did he know that her life would be cut tragically short by a reckless bus driver. “We tried our best to help her fulfil her dream. But all our hopes have shattered,” a grieving Jahangir Fakir told The Daily Star at the Kurmitola General Hospital. Mim, 17, was one of the two college students crushed to death by a bus yesterday on…

Asianbangla, Barisal : BNP-nominated mayoral candidate Mujibur Rahman Sarwar alleged that at least 50 polling agents of his party have been kicked out from different polling centres since voting in the Barisal City Corporation elections began this morning. Sarwar blamed the administration and police for the incidents while talking with journalists after casting his vote at Sayeda Mazedunnesa Secondary School polling centre in ward no 1 of West Kawnia in the city around 8:40am, reports our Barisal correspondent. While he was casting his vote, around 50 youths, some of them wearing boat symbol badges, rushed to the place complaining that…

Asian Bangla, Gazipur : The ‘human hauler’ vehicle, allegedly crushed and vandalised by BNP men and for which a case had been filed too, stands in perfect condition in front of the Tongi police station in Gazipur. The High Court stayed the Gazipur City Corporation polls for three months on Sunday following a writ petition seeking postponement by an Awami League man. The police filed a case naming 103 persons in connection with vandalising a human hauler and sabotage on Monday. Most of the accused are BNP mayoral candidate Hasan Uddin Sarkar’s relatives or members of his election affairs committee.…

Asianbangla Desk : Reporters Sans Frontières criticised the Information and Communication Technology Act in Bangladesh saying that media self-censorship is growing as a result of the endemic violence against journalists and media outlets in the country. Releasing its annual World Press Freedom Index 2018 today, Reporters Without Borders said, “In 2017, at least 25 journalists and several hundred bloggers and Facebook users were prosecuted under the Information and Communication Technology Act, which penalizes online content that is regarded as defamatory or blasphemous.” According to the Index, Bangladesh’s position remains unchanged at 146th place like previous year with 48.62 points. The…

Asianbangla Desk : The UN Security Council’s forthcoming visit to Bangladesh and Myanmar appears to be an opportunity for both the countries to garner the high-powered body’s support in favour of their respective strategies on the Rohingya issue. The high profile visit is taking place hot on the heels of the United Nation’s inability to take action against Myanmar for its alleged systematic Rohingya cleansing mainly due to the strong opposition from China and Russia. Led by the UNSC president, the 15-member team will arrive in Bangladesh on Saturday afternoon. It will leave for Myanmar on Monday morning on another…

Asianbangla, Dhaka : In reference to the recent debate over BNP acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, the chief for immigrations and passport department today said “citizenship does not depend on a passport”. “Aren’t there a lot of Bangladeshis living without a passport? Does it stand in the way of them being Bangladeshi nationals?” said Maj Gen Md Masud Rezwan, director general of the Department of Immigration and Passport. There is no relation between citizenship and surrendering a passport, he said. “Tarique Rahman is currently living in the UK without a Bangladeshi passport. He will have to come to Bangladesh, make a…

Asianbangla Desk : The European Union will extend its arms embargo on Myanmar for another year this week and may then move to target more Yangon generals with fresh sanctions, EU diplomats and officials said. The EU accuses Myanmar of “serious and systemic” human rights violations in a military operation in the country’s northwest last year that sent nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh. The EU arms embargo is now in place until the end of April and the diplomats and officials said it would be extended for another year before that deadline expires. It will also be…

Asianbangla, Dhaka : A top leader of banned Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh has secured bail in a militancy case using a fictitious guarantor in the bail bond. But Bulbul Ahmed Sarker, who according to police was the second-in-command of Chittagong JMB, could not come out of jail as he faces seven more cases, including for murder and possession of arms and explosives. The Metropolitan Sessions Judge of Chittagong granted him bail on November 18 last year in a case filed in 2012. Police arrested him based on information gleaned from another suspected JMB operative named Ershad Hossain Mamun. Mamun, who was…

Asianbangla, Dhaka : The International Crimes Tribunal -1 today sent former additional inspector general of police to jail in a case filed for allegedly committing crimes during the Liberation War in 1971. Police yesterday arrested Oahidul Haque, 69, from Gulshan area in the capital hours after the ICT-1 issued an arrest warrant against him in the case following a petition moved by Prosecutor Tureen Afroz.. A two-member tribunal led by Justice Amir Hossain sent Oahidul Haque to jail after he was produced before the court around 11:30am today, Tureen Afroz told. . The tribunal also asked the prosecution to submit…

Asianbangla, Dhaka : The launch of Bangladesh’s first commercial satellite, Bangabandhu-1, has been deferred. A scheduled launch of May 4 (USA time) has been deferred to May 7 for weather reasons, Mustafa Jabbar, ICT minister, told reporters at a programme today. He was talking at a discussion programme of Telecom Reporters’ Network at the office of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) this afternoon. Thales manufactured the 3.7 tonnes satellite a few months ago and kept it in a warehouse in Cannes. It will be launched from Florida. A new rocket would carry the satellite into space. In November 2015, the…