Author: Asian Bangla

Asianbangla, Patuakhali : A sixth-grader was killed after allegedly being raped by four unidentified people at her home in a remote village here on Tuesday night. The victim’s mother, who was at home with her two minor sons when the incident took place, was also sexually abused, alleged her relatives. However, police later detained her for “interrogation” and did not allow journalists to talk to her. The deceased, aged about 11, was a student of Mohipur Cooperative High School in Patuakhali’s Kalapara upazila. According to relatives, the girl’s mother was sleeping with her two sons aged 2 and 3 on…

Asianbangla Desk : “As in so many other developing societies of South Asia, in Assam too, myths and dogma take root, develop their own reality, and begin to dictate political debate unchallenged by the mainstream media, academia or larger intelligentsia. Such is also the case with what can only be called the myth of continuing Bangladeshi migration into Assam.” – Anindita Dasgupta, The Myth of the Assamese Bangladeshi The signals from India, albeit stemming unofficially but nonetheless from the mouths of Indian ministers and BJP high-ups, regarding the National Register of Citizens (NRC), sound ominous. From the threat of the ruling…

Asianbangla Desk : Malaysia is looking to cancel multibillion-dollar Chinese-backed infrastructure projects signed by the previous scandal-tainted government as it digs itself out of debt, Malaysia’s prime minister said yesterday during an extensive interview in which he also blasted Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya Muslims as “grossly unjust.” Ap, Putrajaya Mahathir Mohamad, at 93 the world’s oldest prime minister, spoke with The Associated Press days before he heads to Beijing for his first visit since returning to power in a stunning electoral upset three months ago. Mahathir blasted Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya Muslims and said he was “very disappointed” with leader…

Asianbangla Desk : At least 100 Afghan security forces have been killed as troops backed by US airpower struggled to push the Taliban from embattled Ghazni city, officials said yesterday, while residents reported food and medicine shortages four days after fighting began.Afp, Kabul The Afghan government said it had sent reinforcements to the strategic city, which lies barely two hour’s drive from Kabul on the main highway connecting the capital with the country’s south. US forces in Afghanistan said they had been conducting airstrikes daily since the fighting began. The assault, which the Taliban launched late Thursday, comes as the…

Asianbangla Desk : Former White House staffer and TV celebrity Omarosa Manigault Newman has released a recording of a private conversation with President Donald Trump after she was fired. Afp, Washington NBC’s “Today” program yesterday played the brief recording, in which Trump claims to have had no knowledge that she was sacked and expresses regret at the news. The recording is the latest volley from the disgruntled 44-year-old, once an ardent Trump ally, and represents another stunning breach of presidential trust. But it also appears to show a president who has little knowledge of what is happening inside his own…

Asianbangla, Dhaka : The central bank will take punitive actions against 10 private banks for failing to attain their farm loan disbursement target in the last fiscal year. The banks are AB Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Meghna Bank, Modhumoti Bank, NCC Bank, NRB Global Bank, Shimanto Bank, South Bangla Agriculture and Commerce Bank, Farmers Bank and Union Bank. As a punishment, the Bangladesh Bank will block 3 percent of the undisbursed farm loan amount of the banks from their current accounts with the BB. A BB official told reporter yesterday that the central bank would return the fund to…

Asianbangla Desk : Police commandos arrive to take their positions during the first session of the lower house of parliament, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 13, 2018. Photo: AP Dawn Online The first session of the 15th National Assembly ended yesterday after 328 members of the lower house of the parliament took oath following their election in the July 25 countrywide polls. Earlier, it was reported that 329 lawmakers would take oath but MNA Sahabzada Muhammad Mehboob Sultan from Jhang was unable to attend the session. Outgoing NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq administered the oath to the MNAs-elect in the 342-member…

‘ Asianabangla Desk : Egypt is yet to prosecute members of the security forces over a bloody 2013 crackdown on protesters that left hundreds dead, Human Rights Watch said yesterday, urging “justice” for the killings.Afp, Beirut Five years ago on August 14, 2013 security forces moved in to disperse a sprawling Islamist protest camp in Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya square demonstrating against the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi a month earlier. The US-based rights group says that at least 817 protesters died in a matter of hours in “the largest mass killings in Egypt’s modern history”. Since then hundreds of Islamists,…

Asianbangla, Dhaka : The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has ordered the telecom operators to introduce the minimum uniform call rate of Tk 0.45 a minute from today. The uniform charge will remove the call rate disparity and help the telecom watchdog establish a level playing field for all the operators, said Md Jahurul Haque, acting chairman of the commission. “The abolishment of the different call rates will put pressure on the mobile phone operators to improve their service quality to attract customers.” This is the first time in 10 years that the BTRC has revised the tariffs for voice…

Asianbangal, Dhaka : Veteran journalist Golam Sarwar, editor of Bangla daily Samakal, passed away last night at a hospital in Singapore. He was 75. Sarwar, also president of the Editors’ Council, breathed his last at Singapore General Hospital around 9:25pm (BST). He had been suffering from heart diseases and respiratory complications. He left behind his wife Saleha Sarwar, two sons, a daughter, and a host of relatives, admirers, well-wishers and fellow journalists to mourn his death. Sarwar suffered a heart attack on July 29 and was admitted to LabAid Hospital in Dhaka. He was taken to Singapore on August 3.…