Author: Asian Bangla

Asianbangla, Dhaka : Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said the age limit for entry into government service would not be increased before the national elections. “That’s my hunch,” the minister told journalists yesterday after a meeting of the cabinet committee on economic affairs. Currently, the highest ceiling for joining government services is 30 years. Different media reported that the government would increase the age bar to 32 years. Asked, Muhith said, “I had a plan to raise the age bar. I also made a proposal to that end, but it did not materialise. “I have no objection to raising the…

Asianbangla, Dhaka : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left here for Kathmandu on Thursday morning on a two-day official visit to Nepal to attend the 4th Bimstec Summit. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) having seven Member States — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand — came into being on June 6, 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration. A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the Prime Minister and her entourage left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for Kathmandu at 8:05am. The flight is scheduled to reach Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu at…

Asianbangla, Dhaka : Pharmaceuticals export has crossed $100-million mark for the first time in the country’s history, according to the Export Promotion Bureau. Export earnings from the sector hit $103.46 million in 2017-18, up 16.03 percent from a year ago thanks to improved compliance by the local manufacturers. Shipment of pharmaceutical products registered an average 14.6 percent growth between 2011 and 2016. “Pharmaceutical companies have the potential to earn $1 billion a year through exports in the next five years, but the sector needs fiscal benefits and policy support to do so,” Abdul Muktadir, managing director of Incepta Pharmaceuticals, told…

Asianbangla Desk : The UN has found that the Myanmar military had planned the Rohingya genocide long before the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked the country’s security personnel, a justification put forward by Myanmar for the violent crackdown on the ethnic minority. “Although the Government [of Myanmar] has stated that ARSA burned Rohingya villages, the Mission found no such indication,” the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar said in a report. The Myanmar government, including its de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has repeatedly said that ARSA’s attack forced the army to launch the crackdown. The UN report found that…

Asianbangla Desk : UN Secretary General António Guterres on Tuesday called for ensuring accountability for the “horrendous persecution” of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and said there could be no excuse for delaying the search for dignified solutions that would allow Rohingyas to return home in safety and dignity. He made the call at a meeting of the UN Security Council, a day after the release of an independent United Nations investigation into human rights abuses carried out against Rohingyas. Guterres said that the disproportionate use of force against civilian populations and the gross human rights violations that followed could never…

Asianbangla Desk: Despite a recorded age of almost 118 years, Julia Flores Colque still sings with joy in her indigenous Quechua tongue. She was born on October 26, 1900 in a mining camp in the Bolivian mountains. At 117 and just over 10 months, she would be the oldest woman in the Andean nation and perhaps the oldest living person in the world. But Guinness World Records says it has received no application for her and Flores Colque doesn’t seem to care that her record hasn’t been confirmed. She hasn’t even heard of the reference book. Nowadays, Julia enjoys the…

Asianbangla Desk : Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday indicated that a no-deal Brexit would not be a disaster for Britain, playing down warnings of serious consequences for the UK economy. Afp, London May said she was confident of striking an acceptable new deal with Brussels as Britain prepares to leave the European Union in March. She cited WTO director general Roberto Azevedo as she made her case. “Look at what the director of the World Trade Organization has said,” she told British media on her tour of Africa. “He said about a no-deal situation that it would not be a…

Asianbangla Desk : Israeli forces demolished the home of a Palestinian who carried out a deadly knife attack in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, the army said yesterday. Minor clashes broke out between Palestinians opposed to the raid and soldiers in the West Bank early yesterday. Afp, Jerusalem

Asianbangla Desk : Indian police on Tuesday arrested five rights activists for suspected links to Maoist rebels in raids on their homes and offices in several places in the country. Police also accused the five of delivering speeches that triggered protests and violence between low-caste Dalits and right-wing groups near the western city of Pune in December. The government says Maoist rebels, who are active in several states, are India’s biggest internal security threat. The rebels, inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been fighting the Indian government for more than four decades, demanding land and jobs for tenant…

Asianbangla Dhaka : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said the government will take effective steps to create more specialist physicians to provide better medical services in the country. “We’ll take steps so that specialist physicians are created in all the fields of medical services, including ophthalmology and ENT (Otorhinolaryngology),” she said. The Prime Minister said this while inaugurating Community Vision Centres in 20 upazilas of eight districts centring Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Eye Hospital and Training Institute in Gopalganj through a videoconference from her official residence Ganobhaban aiming to provide better ophthalmological services among the local people. Sheikh Hasina…