Young journalist Afzal Mohammad on Thursday died of COVID-19 at a hospital in the capital. He was 31.

The former Channel 9 reporter used to work as a senior research associate at Broadcast Journalist Centre, Bangladesh till his death.

After testing positive for COVID-19 on January 1, he was hospitalised on January 3 at Sheikh Russel Gastro Liver Institute and Hospital.

Afzal was a fourth batch student of Physics Department at Jagannath University.

Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh’s fatalities rise to 7,966

He was a permanent member of Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU). He will be laid to rest at his native village in Panchagarh on Friday.

DRU President Mursalin Nomani and General Secretary Mosiur Rahman expressed deep shock and prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul.

Various Bangladeshi sectors like agro-processing, readymade garments, textile, health, ICT, construction and infrastructure offer great investment opportunities for Turkish businesses.

“Dhaka is delighted to be a key partner under Turkey’s ‘Asia Anew’ initiative’,” Prime Minister’s Private Sector and Investment Adviser Salman Fazlur Rahman told a webinar on Thursday.

The “Turkey and Bangladesh: A New Era in Investment and Trade” was co-hosted by Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and DEiK - Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey.

“We’re proud to see many prominent Turkish companies have already been investing here and hope to see more in near future,” said DEiK President Nail Olpak.

Read Also: Bangladesh a rising star in South Asia: Turkish FM

Turkish Ambassador Mustafa Osman Turan said early investors will reap the benefits available in Bangladesh. “The Turkish government will continue to facilitate and support public-private and B2B partnerships in the coming days,” Turan said.

President of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) Sheikh Fazle Fahim said Bangladesh and Turkey may strategise through bilateral value chain initiative utilising Turkey’s technology and knowledge transfer through joint ventures.

Read Also: PM seeks Turkey’s involvement in ensuring Rohingya repatriation

He stressed joint investment and partnership in areas of joint R&D, skill, ICT, joint seed development, agro-food processing, MSMEs, tech start-ups, creative and cultural start-ups, construction, shipbuilding, textile, durable consumer goods, and service cooperation in logistics, hospitality, software, hardware, cyber security components, and defense among others.

BIDA Executive Chairman Md Sirazul Islam moderated the webinar while Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) Executive Chairman Paban Chowdhury, Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority Managing Director Hosne Ara, Public-Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) Chief Executive Officer Sultana Afroz; Nuzhat Anwar, Acting Country Manager (Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal) of International Finance Corporation, and Hülya Gedik, Chairperson of DEİK Bangladesh, among others, attended the webinar.

Also read: Turkey with Bangladesh in dealing with Rohingya crisis: Envoy

Bangladeshi filmmaker Monjurul Islam Megh has become the youth ambassador of Indian Children and Youth Film Festival 2021.

Megh told UNB that the festival’s director Shubham Apurwa invited him to participate in the upcoming festival as a youth ambassador.

Also read: Bangladeshi filmmaker Megh included in NIFF as Chief

“I have been selected as an ambassador for a festival for the first time. The feeling is different,” the filmmaker said.

“I previously served as a jury member in six international film festivals. Also, I joined international film festivals as a curator, delegate, and goodwill ambassador.”

Also read: Bangladeshi filmmaker Megh included in RIFF jury team

Also, Megh is a Bangladesh Government’s feature film fund winning screenwriter and filmmaker.

The filmmaker is one of the most well-known young film personalities in South Asia. He is also the director of the Cinemaking International Film Festival.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has asked the city dwellers to inform local police stations before hiring domestic helps, guards and gardeners to prevent incidents of robbery and theft.

Additional Commissioner (Detective Branch) AKM Hafiz Akhtar informed about the decision while briefing reporters at the DMP media centre on Thursday.

DMP is collecting updated information from every household as incidents of robbery and theft have been reported from parts of the capital city.

Also read: 58 arrested in DMP's 1-day anti-narcotics drive

“If you’re recruiting new housemaids, guards or gardeners, then you’ll have to inform us,” he said.

Hafiz noted that robberies and thefts usually increase in winter. To check the incidents, 32 DB teams conducted special operations in the capital simultaneously on Wednesday and arrested 34 people. Tools to cut grills and sharp weapons were recovered from them.

As part of the special drive, DB (Lalbagh Division) arrested six alleged robbers while they were preparing to commit robbery from Chakbazar, Lalbagh and Kamrangichar areas. Another team of DB (Motijheel division) arrested five suspected robbers.

Also read: DB arrests 6 'robbers' from Rupganj, Narayanganj

DB (Wari Division) arrested four thieves with 870kg electric wire from Shyampur, while DB (Tejgaon Division) arrested seven alleged robbers. DB (Uttara Division) arrested eight suspected robbers and DB (Mirpur division) arrested four other suspects in connection with a case filed at Pallabi Police Station.

Four cases were filed at local police stations in connection with arrest of the 34 robbers, Hafiz said.

Deputy Attorney General Debashish Bhattacharya has submitted his resignation.

Also read: 2 additional attorney generals resign

Debashish Bhattacharya said, “I resigned on Wednesday on personal grounds.”

Also read: Buet alumni demands VC's resignation

He was appointed as deputy attorney general on July 21, 2019.

Also read: DU VC's resignation demanded