United News of Bangladesh

The Christian community in Bangladesh is all set to celebrate Christmas, as elsewhere across the world, on Sunday to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ.Christmas, the biggest religious festival of the Christians, is the celebration of rebirth, a new beginning, forgiveness and peace, and renewing relationship with God and fellow human beings. Decoration of Christmas trees with colourful lights, special prayers, giving gifts to children and exchange of pleasantries are the main features of the day's festivities. Christmas carols and hymns will be sung before and after the prayer sessions at the churches across the country. President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages on Christmas eve Saturday.   Read more: Christmas day being observed President Abdul Hamid wished: “May Christmas bring endless joy and welfare to everyone including the Christian community. May everyone's life be filled with happiness and prosperity.”  The Prime Minister wished peace, welfare and prosperity to all citizens including the Christian community on the eve and urged for collective effort from all for making a prosperous, non-communal and peaceful nation.  The President will host a reception at Bangabhaban on the occasion on Sunday evening. Secretaries, military officials and distinguished persons of the Christian community, religious leaders and professionals will join the reception. Later, President Abdul Hamid along with the guests will join a tea party.  Read more: Christmas Day being celebrated Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar and private TV channels and radio stations will air special programmes highlighting the significance of the day.

With two more deaths reported from dengue in 24 hours till Saturday morning, the official death toll from the mosquito-borne disease rose to 274 this year. During this period, 89 more patients, including 59 in Dhaka city, were hospitalised, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). A total of 501 dengue patients, including 297 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country. Read more: Bangladesh reports 39 more dengue cases The DGHS has recorded 61,972 dengue cases and 61,195 recoveries so far this year.

Bangladesh reported seven more Covid cases in the 24 hours to Saturday morning. With the new numbers, the country's total caseload rose to 2,037,018, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). However, the official death toll from the disease remained unchanged at 29,438 as no new fatalities were reported. Read more: Bangladesh reports zero Covid death, eight new cases The daily case test positivity rose to 0.78 percent from Friday's 0.37 percent from as 894 samples were tested during the period. The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.45 percent while the recovery rate slightly declined to 97.56 percent, respectively. In November, the country reported 10 Covid-linked deaths and 1,345 cases. Bangladesh registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 the same year.

Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday asked party leaders and activists to remain united in order to resist conspiracies and advance the country towards prosperity. “There will be blows and conspiracies, but AL leaders and activists will remain united and move forward facing adversity,” she said. The ruling party chief was delivering her inaugural speech at the 22nd national council of the country's oldest political party — aiming to elect new leadership. Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the council by hoisting the national flag at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan. The theme of this year's council is “Development journey under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina with the determination to build a developed, prosperous, and smart Bangladesh of Bangabandhu’s dream”. Sheikh Hasina reiterated that Bangladesh will never move back. “InshAllah we will materialize the dreams of the Father of the Nation,” she said. She said that the economy is heading in the right direction. “Only AL can advance a country and develop it,” she added. Also read: Stop provoking war: PM makes call to world leaders from AL’s nat’l council

Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today made a call to world leaders not to provoke Ukraine-Russia war and end it immediately. “I will urge the world leaders, stop the Ukraine-Russia war, stop provoking them. We want peace,” she said. The ruling party chief was delivering her inaugural speech at the 22nd national council of the country’s oldest political party, aiming to elect new leadership. The theme of this year's council is “Development journey under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina with the determination to build a developed, prosperous, and smart Bangladesh of Bangabandhu’s dream”. Read: All religious faiths in Bangladesh enjoy their rights equally: PM Sheikh Hasina said that all countries are independent and all have the right to act independently. Saying that Bangladesh does not want war, she added that the country also does not want sanctions. “We do not want war, we do not want sanctions… war causes suffering for humanity,” she added. In this regard she recalled the experience during the Liberation War in 1971. “We know the adversity of war, we experienced that in 1971,” she said. Sheikh Hasina mentioned that women are affected the most during wars and children are also negatively impacted. “Their (women and children) human rights are violated, children are suffering from the cold winter… We do not want war,” she said. Read: Make sure people don’t suffer amid global crisis: PM Hasina urges local representatives The PM said that Bangladesh was just coming out from the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. “This war is just demolishing all our advancements,” she said.

The depression over southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining area moved west-northwestwards at 6 am on Saturday. It is likely to move west-southwestwards afterwards, said a special bulletin of Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD). All fishing boats and trawlers over north Bay and deep sea have been advised not to venture into the depression area. Depression over southeast Bay of Bengal intensifies

Dhaka, December 24 (UNB)- A three-day-long nonfiction book fair will start on 26th December. The fair is being arranged by Faculty of Business Studies of Dhaka University and Bonik Barta. The fair will start at 10 am on December 26 and will conclude on December 28 at the premises of Business Faculty of Dhaka University. Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University Prof Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman will inaugurate the fair. The fair will be open to visitors from 10 am to 8 pm on those days. Buyers can books at maximum 30% commission rate. A total of 39 publications and research agencies will take part in the book fair. Fair arrangement committee has decided to introduce 'nonfiction book of the year award' for first time. A Jury board has been formed to choose the best nonfiction book from the fair.  

Immigration Police of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Friday obstructed Japanese citizen Nakano Erico and her two daughters while leaving the country. Imran Sharif, the children’s father, informed immigration police around 12 am and the authorities concerned barred Erico from leaving the country with her daughters. Talking to UNB, Imran said Erico tried to leave the country with their daughters. “I personally arrived at the airport and showed the court copy that issued an order that the two girls won’t be allowed to leave the country” “A woman, identified as Nasrin, helped Erico. When she sensed danger, she managed to flee the scene,” he said. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on June 2, rejected Erico’s petition seeking an order to go abroad with her daughters. Also read: SC rejects Japanese woman’s plea to go abroad with her kids

The 22nd National Council of Bangladesh's oldest political party Awami League kicked off this morning -- aiming to elect new leadership. The theme of this year's council is “Development journey under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina with the determination to build a developed, prosperous, and smart Bangladesh of Bangabandhu’s dream”. Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the council by hoisting the national flag and releasing pigeon, baloons at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan. AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader accompanied her at the time. After hoisting the national and party flags, a cultural event was held. Also read: 22nd Nat’l Council: Awami League councilors start thronging Suhrawardy Udyan Obaidul Quader presented the report of general secretary while AL Office Secretary Barrister Biplab Barua presented the death references, which was followed by one-minute silence. AL Publicity and Publication Secretary Dr. Abdus Sobhan Golap conducted the programme. AL presidium member and reception committee convener Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim delivered the welcome address. As part of maintaining austerity due to  the global economic crisis, the council was arranged in a simple manner. Previous councils were held over two days, but this time, the council go on for one day to minimise costs. The 21st council of the party was held on December 20-21, 2019.      

Dhaka’s air quality continues to be in the 'unhealthy' zone. With an air quality index (AQI) score of 196 at 9:25 am on Saturday, Dhaka ranked third in the list of world cities with the worst air quality. India’s Kolkata and Ghana’s Accra occupied the first two spots, with AQI scores of 228 and 196 respectively. An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy', particularly for sensitive groups. Similarly, an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'poor', while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents. Also read: Dhaka's air quality turns ‘very unhealthy' this morning AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them. In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants -- Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone. Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon. Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.