A training aircraft's landing gear (wheels) split open forcing it to crash land during a training session at Rajshahi Shah Makhdum Airport on Saturday. All 3 crews including the trainer were unharmed.

Rajshahi airport police station’s officer-in-charge Nurul Amin said the S2-AFK training aircraft of Galaxy Flying Academy broke its rear wheel while landing in the middle of the runway. While trying to take off again it nosedived and broke the nose wheel too.

Also read: Pilot killed as BAF aircraft crashes in Tangail

Police said Galaxy Flying Academy’s chief flying trainer Captain Mashiur Rahman was flying the plane himself. Trainee Raihan Gafur and another crew was onboard too. Three of them barely survived the accident unharmed.

Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) have started extracting gas from a new part of the Haripur gas field located in Jaintapur upazila in Sylhet.

Gas extraction from the deepest layer- at a depth of 1,998 meters-  started on January 4.

Sources at BAPEX said even oil may be found in a layer at a depth between 2,072 meters and 2,094 meters underground, but the tunneling machine failed to dig that far,  getting stuck at 2,025 meters.

Also read: New gas reserve found in Cumilla

So avoiding the possible oil layer they decided to adopt the Drill Stem Test (DST) system to extract gas from four specific upper layers.

Sylhet Gas Fields Limited (SGFL) under the Petrobangla (Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corporation) is in charge of operating the well.

Former SGFL Director General Ali Iqbal, who is currently working as director general of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, said possible gas reserve will be measured and extraction will begin commercially after completing DST of all the layers.

Also read: Bapex finds new gas reserve in Brahmanbaria

Several companies under Petrobangla started tunneling at gas well number-9 last October 2, after triangular earthquake survey to determine the safest location in case of an earthquake.

The gas field in Haripur was discovered during the Pakistan era in 1955, starting production of gas to supply the Chhatak Cement Factory five years later.

On 8 May 1980, the SGFL was incorporated by the government of Bangladesh. On 23 December 1986, the company discovered the first oil field in Bangladesh at Well No. 7 in Haripur.

Also read: Haripur Gas field: Drilling begins in 9th well

SGFL is responsible for 5 gas fields in Sylhet division. On August 1, 2009 the company launched a condensate plant.

The company signed an agreement with PT Istana Karang Laut of Indonesia and Energypac Power Generation Ltd to further develop its condensate plant in August 2017.

The Forest Department has seized a drone from Supati area while filming in Sundarbans.

The drone was confiscated from a local tourist in the East division of Sundarbans under Sharankhola Upazila of Bagerhat district on Saturday morning.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Sundarbans East Division Muhammad Belayet Hossain said a tourist-launch named MV Tanguar Haor entered the Sundarbans through Sharankhola on Saturday morning with permission to stay for two days from the Forest Department. After reaching the Supati area, a tourist flew the drone and started filming. At that time, the security personnel of the Forest Department seized the drone.

Also read: Sundarbans reopens to tourists after 7 months

The drone is now at the office at Katka Sanctuary in the Sundarbans.

DFO Muhammad Belayet Hossain added that there were 50 tourists at the launch. They came to visit the Sundarbans through a tour operator. The man who flew the drone is a private bank official.

It is anomalous to fly drones without permission of the Ministry of Environment and Forest. The incident is considered as civil disobedience and a case has been filed under the Forest Act in this regard, DFO added

Also read: Golpata trees dying a slow death in the Sundarbans

Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) of the Sharankhola Range of the Eastern Sundarbans Joynal Abedin said that the tourist had admitted his mistake and lodged an appeal. He will be released after he pays a penalty.

The drone will be forfeited to the Forest Department.

Also read: Sundarbans fishermen remain a neglected lot

Prior to today, the forest department seized two drones from foreign nationals while filming in the Sundarbans back in 2016 and 2017.

Thousands of blankets allocated by Education Minister Dipu Moni for the cold-hit poor people of Chandpur Sadar and Haimchar were distributed on Friday.

Ruling Awami League’s Chandpur unit Vice-President JR Wadud Tipu inaugurated the blanket distribution on behalf of the minister.

Also read: Mild cold wave sweeps over country's north-western trajectory

The blankets were handed over to representatives the areas and leaders between Monday and Friday.

Dipu Moni’s representative Saifuddin Babu told UNB that the minister allocated the blankets for 14 unions under the Sadar upazila, 15 wards under the Chandpur municipality and six unions of Haimchar.

Also read: Mild cold wave sweeps Rangpur division, 8 districts

Meanwhile, the government has allocated 40,700 pieces of blankets for the poor people of the district. They have already been distributed.

A seventh grader from Sirajganj’s Belkuchi upazila was saved from early marriage at the intervention of the local administration on Thursday night.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Anisur Rahman went to the girl’s house with members of law enforcement. By then, preparations were underway to marry off the 14-year-old to a 25-year-old man.

A mobile court, led by UNO Anisur, stopped the child marriage and fined her father Tk 5,000.

Also read: Bangladesh has highest prevalence of child marriage in S Asia: UNICEF

The girl’s father also gave an undertaking that he would not marry her off until she reaches adulthood.

Child marriage in Bangladesh

A UNICEF report released in October last year noted that despite significant progress in recent years, Bangladesh has the highest prevalence of child marriage in South Asia and ranks among 10 countries in the world with the highest levels.

It called for accelerated action to end child marriage in Bangladesh by 2030.

Also read: 6 schoolgirls saved from child marriage in Sirajganj

The report, “Ending Child Marriage: A Profile of Progress in Bangladesh”, said the country will need to put in more efforts to bring change to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target to end child marriage by 2030, and the national target to end child marriage by 2041.

Progress must be at least eight times faster than the rate of the past decade to meet the national target, and 17 times faster to meet the SDG target, it said.

Also read: Satkhira child marriage rate 74 pc

While the prevalence of child marriage in Bangladesh has dropped from over 90 percent in 1970, it remains very high: 51 percent women who are currently aged 20-24 were married while they were still children.

As a result, the country is home to 38 million child brides who were married before their 18th birthday, including 13 million who married before the age of 15.

Also read: Eti evades child marriage to win three golds

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic now threatens to roll back progress on ending child marriage.