Author: Arif ArifArman

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Bhutan is targeting the elimination of malaria by 2025. This is after missing two targets in 2018 and 2020. According to the health minister, cross-border issues in the south especially during the COVID-19 pandemic have hampered the country’s progress in achieving the status. Bhutan recorded nine malaria cases last year but the ministry is reviewing if those cases were from the community. Elimination of malaria does not mean total eradication of malaria. According to the Health Minister, malaria elimination status is achieved when the country does not report any indigenous or community cases. This means even if the…

ZOOMBANGLA DESK:Food Minister Sadhan Chandar Majumder today said the government is going to launch food friendly programme (FFP) for 50 lakh poor families across the country from March 1. “The government will provide 30kgs of rice monthly at a cost of Taka 15 per kg, to 50 lakh poor families under FFP which would be launched on Wednesday (March 1)”, he said while talking to the media after inspecting an Open Market Sale (OMS) programme at Atapotti and Rubir Mor area here. Side by side, the minister said OMS is an ongoing programme– It will continue as long as there…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: At least 27 migrants died after their boat sank at dawn off the Italian coastal city of Crotone in the southern region of Calabria, Italian media reported on Sunday. News agency ANSA said at least 30 people were believed to have drowned. The search for survivors was continuing, hampered by stormy seas. AGI news agency quoted a rescue worker as saying a baby of just a few months old was among the victims. It said the migrants’ vessel was overloaded and had split apart because of the violent waves. Italian coast guards declined to comment when contacted by…

Z00MBANGLA DESK: Novoair, one of the country’s private carriers, has decided to resume its flights on Dhaka-Barishal-Dhaka route from March 01. The airliner will operate flights to Barishal, the country’s south-central divisional headquarter on every Saturday, Monday and Wednesday, a press release said here today. Due to the passenger crisis, Novoair temporarily suspended flights on the route from August 01 last year, the release added. The airliner is currently operating flights from Dhaka on domestic routes to Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Sylhet, Jashore, Saidpur, Rajshahi and international routes to Kolkata. Besides, On November 17, 2022, the airline started transporting passengers directly…

ZOOMBANGLA DESK: The two-day Korean Cultural Festival organized by KOICA in collaboration with the South Korean Embassy and the Korean community ended here commemorating the 50th anniversary of the friendship between Dhaka and Seoul. The festival attracted a large number of people, who came to experience the best of Korean culture at the International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB), a press release issued by Korean Embassy here said. Newly appointed KOICA Bangladesh Country Director Taeyoung Kim expressed gratitude to the Korean Embassy and the local Korean community for their support, which contributed to making the festival a success. He said the…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The gap between the Pakistani rupee’s value in the interbank and open markets is rising again, creating a black market where the dollar is being traded at a much higher price, the Dawn reported. The development comes as the Pakistani Rupee gained strength, jumping from a record low of 276.58 on Feb 3 to 259.99 on Friday in the interbank market. In the open market, the rupee closed at 268 against the dollar, as reported by Dawn News. In the black market, however, the local currency is now changing hands at significantly higher rates of up to Rs300…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Water bodies, sand or dry river beds, and forests will decrease in Kaziranga while the area covered by grasslands and agricultural land will increase by 2050, a satellite data study has forecasted. A study “Land Use and Land Cover Change Monitoring and Prediction of a UNESCO World Heritage Site: Kaziranga Eco-Sensitive Zone Using Cellular Automata-Markov Model” carried out by researchers from the Geography Department of Gauhati University in collaboration with different institutions has attempted to analyse the land use land cover (LULC) change in the Kaziranga Eco-Sensitive Zone using remote sensing data. Satellite remote sensing and the geographic…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: China has agreed to loan Pakistan $700m (£580m) to help it weather its worst economic crisis in a generation, in a development that will intensify concern among western countries about cash-strapped Islamabad’s debt burden to Beijing. The loan comes on top of $30bn (£25bn) that Pakistan already owes China and Chinese commercial banks. Securing the financing will help to unlock bailout cash from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The news of the loan from ​​the state-owned China Development Bank came the day after Pakistan’s National Assembly unanimously passed a money bill to increase tax revenues. The IMF has…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Nearly 240,000 rescuers continue to work in quake-hit provinces in Turkey, though no survivors have been found recently. The number of people killed by the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria earlier this month has now passed 50,000, according to the latest figures from both countries. In Turkey alone, 44,218 people died as a result of the earthquakes, the country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said on Friday, while the latest announced death toll in Syria was 5,914. Syrian refugees in Turkey face return to quake-stricken areas end of list. The first earthquake on February 6 that…

INTERNATIONAL DESK:Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he plans to meet China’s leader Xi Jinping to discuss Beijing’s proposals on ending the war in Ukraine. Speaking on the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, he said the proposal signalled that China was involved in the search for peace. “I really want to believe that China will not supply weapons to Russia,” he said. China’s plan calls for peace talks and respect for national sovereignty. However, the 12-point document does not specifically say that Russia must withdraw its troops from Ukraine, and it also condemns the usage of “unilateral sanctions”, in…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed Friday to do everything to defeat Russia this year, as the first Leopard tanks arrived in Ukraine on the anniversary of the start of Europe’s largest conflict since World War II. Street protests against the Russian invasion were held in many European capitals to mark the anniversary, and fresh Western sanctions targeted Russia’s banks, military industry and semiconductor access. Meanwhile, the Group of Seven industrialised nations threatened embargo busters with “severe costs”. Poland sent the German-made Leopard tanks to help Ukraine repel Russian troops and deliver a “clear and measurable signal of further support”,…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Four years ago, the locally constructed Vande Bharat Express was unveiled as an emblem of Atmanirbhar Bharat. There are now 10 Vande Bharat Express trains operating on Indian Railways’ high-speed routes between various locations. On February 15, 2019, the inaugural Vande Bharat Express train travelled between New Delhi and Varanasi. The 7th Vande Bharat Express train in this series runs between Howrah and New Jalpaiguri and was launched on December 30, 2022, by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. Stations where the Vande Bharat Express stops on its New Jalpaiguri to Howrah route include Bolpur (Shantiniketan), Malda Town, and Barsoi…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: In order to quell tribal feuds, a jirga in Pakistan decided to demarcate land on the basis of Shariah which was held under the auspices of the local administration, reported Dawn. There is a land demarcation dispute between warring tribes of the Sunnikhel and Akhorwal tribes in the Kohat district. The warring tribes of the Darra Adamkhel tribal subdivision announced that the matter would be decided on the basis of Shariah in six months, reported Dawn. Darra assistant commissioner Ashrafuddin said that the armed men of the Sunnikhel and Akhorwal tribes would vacate their positions in the mountains…

INTERNATIONAL DESK :The Foreign Office on Thursday responded to US concerns over Chinese debt and emphasised that being a sovereign state, Pakistan exercises the right to choose its economic partners from around the globe on a mutually-beneficial basis. Responding to media queries during her weekly briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the Pakistani nation is proud of its friendship with China which has always stood by Pakistan whenever needed. “Pakistan being a sovereign state exercises the right to choose its economic partners from around the globe on a mutually-beneficial basis. We consider China as an all-weather strategic cooperative…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz, in a fiery speech on Thursday, came down hard on a “cabal of five”, among which were former and serving members of the judiciary, whom she accused of “conspiring” against PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif. Addressing a workers’ convention in Sargodha, Maryam — who is currently on a reorganisation tour to shape her party’s narrative — said: “Ever since this watch thief left the government, our ears are tired of hearing ‘there was a conspiracy, there was a conspiracy’.” Her watch-related jibe was aimed at PTI chief Imran Khan, who has acknowledged that…

ZOOMBANGLA DESK : Awami League (AL) General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today said the revolutionary change in country’s communication system during the tenure of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led government is visible. “Revolutionary changes in the road communication system are visible during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure,” he said while talking to reporters after inspecting the road safety awareness programme organized by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) at Matsa Bhaban More here. He said infrastructure development and bringing chaotic situation under control in country are now government’s priorities. The minister also underscored the need for raising…