United News of Bangladesh

Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is under mounting pressure to resign amid a deepening political crisis sparked by a leaked phone call with Cambodia’s former leader, which has intensified tensions over a recent border dispute between the two countries. On Thursday, Paetongtarn publicly apologized after a key coalition ally withdrew support for her Pheu Thai Party-led government, citing the controversial recording. The prime minister has already been under fire from nationalist critics for what they see as a lenient approach toward Cambodia — a sensitive issue given the longstanding enmity between her father, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, and Thai right-wing factions. The latest row follows a deadly border clash on May 28 in a disputed area, which resulted in the death of a Cambodian soldier. Controversial Leak and Fallout Cambodia’s Senate President Hun Sen, who served as prime minister for decades, released the entire 17-minute phone conversation on Facebook after a shorter version had been leaked a day earlier. He said the call was recorded to prevent “misunderstanding or misrepresentation” and noted that he had shared it with over 80 individuals. In the recording, Paetongtarn is heard addressing Hun Sen as “uncle” while the two, speaking through interpreters, discussed easing border restrictions following the deadly skirmish. Controversy erupted after she referred to the Thai military commander stationed at the disputed zone as “an opponent,” which critics say signaled weakness and deference to Cambodia. Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters strive to set world record to honor her 80th birthday Paetongtarn defended her comments, stating they were part of a negotiation strategy aimed at de-escalating tensions and fostering peace. However, she announced she would no longer hold private talks with Hun Sen, accusing him of prioritizing domestic popularity over regional diplomacy. “It is now evident that his concern lies solely with boosting his image at home, with little regard for the consequences on bilateral relations,” she said. Thailand’s Foreign Ministry lodged a formal protest with the Cambodian ambassador, denouncing the leak as “a breach of diplomatic etiquette, a serious violation of trust, and harmful to neighborly conduct.” Paetongtarn has previously emphasized the personal ties between the Shinawatra and Hun families. Her father Thaksin and Hun Sen have long referred to each other as “godbrothers.” In 2009, Hun Sen controversially appointed Thaksin as an adviser to the Cambodian government, though Thaksin resigned shortly thereafter. Mounting pressure Hours after the leak, the Bhumjaithai party, the biggest partner in Paetongtarn’s ruling coalition, said it would quit because of the leaked phone call. The party's statement said the recording “posed an impact on Thailand’s sovereignty, territory, interests and the army.” The party called for Paetongtarn to take responsibility for the damage, although they did not say how. There has already been a rift between Bhumjaithai and Pheu Thai over reports that the former would be shuffled out of the powerful Interior Ministry. Several Bhumjaithai leaders are also under investigation over the alleged rigging of the Senate election in which many figures who are reportedly close to the party claimed a majority of seats. India and Canada to resume diplomatic ties nearly two years after Sikh Separatist killing The departure of Bhumjaithai left the 10-party coalition with 255 seats, just above the majority of the 500-seat house. Opposition leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut of the People’s Party on Thursday called for Paetongtarn to dissolve Parliament and hold a new election. He said the leaked phone call was “the last straw” that destroyed people's faith in her administration. Dozens of nationalists protesters gathered near the Government House on Thursday, holding Thai national flags and signs calling for Paetongtarn to resign. Some senators said they will file a motion to impeach her, and several other individuals also filed complaints over the matter to law enforcement agencies. People have also expressed concern that Paetongtarn’s comment towards the local army commander could potentially lead to a military coup. Her father, Thaksin, was ousted in a coup in 2006, and Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, became prime minister in 2011 and was also toppled by the military in 2014. The military said in a statement Thursday that it would like the people to “maintain confidence in the Royal Thai Army’s steadfast commitment to constitutional monarchy and its readiness to execute its constitutional mandate of protecting national sovereignty through established legal frameworks and institutional mechanisms."

An audio call record between Pankaj Debnath, ruling party lawmaker of Barisal-4 constituency, and Mehendiganj police station inspector (Investigation) Md Tauhiduzzaman has gone viral where Pankaj said that he has directed his followers to chop rival in the party including Mehendiganj municipality mayor. The call record has created much criticism among the party and netizens. In the one-minute nine-second-long audio clip, Pankaj Debnath was heard to say, “No matter the clash happened there. He is not a good man. If they want further clash, I have directed my men to chop everyone in front of them including the mayor. The man who has been chopped is bad and drug addicted. Isn’t it? I have directed my followers to ready for a future fight.” Party sources said two rival groups had taken preparation for further attack after an attack on Awami League activist Ratul Chowdhury on July 4. Following the incident, Pankaj Debnath called the police inspector and made the conversation. Read: AL MP Pankaj for deferring Dhaka city polls Acknowledging that he heard the audio call, Tauhiduzzaman said during the attack on Ratul Chowdhury, two rival groups were planning to attack each other. By this time, lawmaker Pankaj Debnath called him over the phone and the matter is a political one. Denying the allegation, Pankaj Debnath said, “Talukder Yunus and Kamal Khan are doing conspiracy against me. They have spread the call record by imitating my tone on the internet intentionally to tarnish my image.”   Mehendiganj municipality mayor and upazila Awami League general secretary Kamal Uddin Khan said, “We have informed the incident the high command of the party. As a responsible person, he (Pankaj Debnath) cannot give direction to chop anyone. He wants to control Awami League leaders and activists by doing the politics of arms.”       

Youth-centric technology brand realme recently broke into the top six smartphone vendors in the global rankings, according to the latest market insight from Counterpoint Research. It has also become one of the top smartphone makers in Bangladesh, according to Tim Shao, managing director of realme Bangladesh, who recently opened up about realme's growth, strategy and future plans in a candid conversation with UNB. Talking about realme's recent success, Shao said, "As a company we believe in the adage 'Dare to Leap.' We always embrace youth and youthful ideals. That’s why, we have a very young and vibrant team who are always in pursuit of exploring cutting-edge technology for our millions of young users." Read: Realme GT Master Edition at 12-month EMI facility in Daraz Speaking on the firm’s knack for innovation, he said, “Bringing the latest innovations for its users, realme was one of the first brands to introduce the 125W UltraDart charging technology, and phones equipped with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor. Our phones were one of the first in the world with a 64-megapixel camera. realme was the first to introduce concave vegan leather, brought together with light and matte materials in one design.” “Moreover, realme has a strategy of using the asset-light, short channel business models so that we can reach customers of different age groups and status. For example – we have inked different deals with e-commerce sites of Bangladesh so that they can get our smartphones at the best possible price.” Predicting the market trends for the next two or three years, Shao said that realme has observed that the modern smartphone users are very tech-conscious and want to experience cutting-edge technology, which is why the premium segment market will boom in the next two or three years. Read Realme becomes the first brand to update GT to Android 12 “In accordance with that, realme is going to plough its revenue back into innovation, beginning initially with the GT series, which will be the only flagship product line for realme in the future. Moreover, realme has introduced a new lifestyle brand ‘TechLife’ to accommodate emerging technologies (5G) and top-notch AIoT  (AI + Internet of Things) products,” Shao said. The company’s international expansion efforts continue unabated, but Bangladesh is already established as one of its leading markets. Shao plans to keep it that way.   “We embarked on a journey in Bangladesh in February 2020. realme is now focused on the Bangladeshi smartphone ecosystem. Our core markets are mainly located in Southeast Asia, India and Bangladesh, all of which are maintaining high growth rates. We want to ship 300 million handsets by 2023,” he said.   Read: realme UI 3.0: What's New and Eligible Phones Speaking on realme’s flat company structure which created a focused team of young people and plans for maintaining this culture as it grows bigger, Shao said, “We have a team of young people who truly understand the needs of young people and are bold enough to disrupt the status quo and make innovations.” Asked to reflect on how realme seeks to meet the needs of the consumers, he said, “Our strategy is youth-focused and we always listen to them and design our products in accordance with their preferences. Consequently, already 100 million youths around the world have chosen realme, including the youths in the Bangladeshi market.”   The brand has branched out from smartphones to being a lifestyle brand, selling both smartphones and AIoT products using the ‘1+5+T’ strategy. Regarding this strategy and sales response, he said, “AloT adoption and popularisation is a part of our long-term strategy. Under this new strategy, we will be releasing products in 5 categories - smart TVs, laptops, wearables, smart tablets, and smart earphones. These new lines of products will enrich the entire AIoT ecosystem and provide consumers with more choices for a tech trendsetter's lifestyle.” Read Realme launches flagship killer GT Master Edition, C21Y, C11 2021 , 4 AIoT products On popularising 5G for the youth and young professionals, market and the role 5G is set to play for the next generation of digital natives, Shao said, “There will be mass adoption pf 5G later this year, and it is here to stay. realme wants to establish itself as a populariser of 5G in the Bangladeshi market. So, realme is developing a diverse portfolio of 5G products to offer 100 million 5G phones in the next three years to the young users.”