Bangladesh

DHAKA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank has approved 300 million U.S. dollars to help Bangladesh improve the efficiency of gas distribution and end-use through prepaid metering systems for residential and industrial consumers and reduce methane emissions along the natural gas value chain.

DHAKA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 people were killed and 45 others injured when a passenger bus veered off the road and fell into a waterbody in Bangladesh's Jhalokati district, a senior police official said on Saturday.

The passenger bus fell into the roadside waterbody in the district about 200 km south of the capital Dhaka on Saturday morning, leaving 13 passengers dead on the spot, Muhammed Afruzul Huqe Tutul, the district's police chief, told Xinhua.

DHAKA, Jul 17 (NNN-BSS) – At least three bodies were recovered, after a waterbus capsized in the Buriganga river, in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, last night, a police official said.

Shahinur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Dhaka’s Kotwali police station, said that, “the bodies of two men and a boy have so far been retrieved.”

According to the official, the boat carrying about 60 people, capsized following a collision with a sand-laden vessel on the river, at around 8:15 p.m. local time yesterday.

DHAKA, Jun 20 (NNN-BSS) – Bangladesh has formally requested to join BRICS, an acronym of five major emerging economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The request was put forward, following a meeting between Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, and South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, in Geneva last Wednesday, Bangladeshi newspaper, Dhaka Tribune, reported yesterday.

This year’s BRICS summit, scheduled to take place in South Africa in Aug, might include discussions about new membership, according to media.

DHAKA, Jun 18 (NNN-XINHUA) – Accompanied by high humidity levels, energy-starved Bangladesh has been experiencing brutal heatwaves since the country’s independence in 1971.

Officials at the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) said, heatwaves swept for 24 days in Apr and 22 days in May this year.

Also, they said, both Apr and May witnessed very low rainfall this year, compared to the average rainfall during the same period over the last 30 years.

FARIDPUR, BANGLADESH, June 11 (Xinhua) -- With rail laying starting for the last section of Padma Bridge Railway Link Project (PBRLP), the construction of a mega Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) railway line has entered the final phase.

The project, with a total length of 172 kilometers, under construction by the China Railway Group Limited (CREC) and funded by the Export-Import Bank of China, held a track-laying ceremony from Bhanga to Jessore section on Saturday.

DHAKA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina slammed a recent U.S. visa restriction for Bangladeshi individuals for "undermining the democratic election process."

"We will not be dependent on others. There is no point in fretting over who will not give us visas or who will impose sanctions," said Hasina on Saturday, as quoted by United News of Bangladesh.

DHAKA, May 21 (NNN-BSS) – Experts here yesterday said, there is no scientific evidence of the electromagnetic field emissions from cellphone towers causing adverse effects.

The opinion came up in a roundtable, organised by Telecom and Technology Reporters Network Bangladesh, with Chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, Shyam Sunder Sikder, being the chief guest, and senior officials and telecom vendors participated in the discussion besides government policymakers.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Rescuers on Monday evacuated about 1,000 people trapped by seawater 3.6 meters (12 feet) deep along western Myanmar’s coast after a powerful cyclone injured hundreds and cut off communications. Six deaths were reported, but the true impact was not yet clear in one of Asia’s least developed countries.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Rescuers early Monday evacuated about 1,000 people trapped by seawater 3.6 meters (12 feet ) deep along western Myanmar’s coast after a powerful cyclone injured hundreds and cut off communications. Damage and six deaths have been reported, but the true impact was not yet clear in one of Asia’s least developed countries.