Dhaka, Jan 10 (UNB) - President Abdul Hamid on Thursday expressed deep shock at the death prominent lawyer of Kishoreganj Manoj Kumar Goswami.

In a condolence message, the President said Kishoreganj lost an honest and skilled lawyer with the death of Manoj Kumar Goswami.

President Hamid prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and expressed his deep sympathy to his bereaved family members.

Goswami, a member of Kishoreganj bar association, worked as a junior with President Abdul Hamid at Kishoreganj District Court almost a decade since 1984.
 

Dhaka, Jan 10 (UNB) – A two-member European Union (EU) election expert mission on Thursday held a meeting with BNP’s three female candidates who contested the 11th parliamentary election. 

The mission members, David Noel Ward and Eirini- Maria Gounari, went to BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office around 10am and had around an over a meeting with three BNP female candidates--Shama Obaid (Faridpur-2), Zeeba Amin Khan (Jhalakathi-2) and Rumana Mahmud (Sirajganj-2).

Asked about the meeting, Shama said the EU mission members wanted to know from them about their election experiences.

“We informed them the adversities we faced, the voting atmosphere, vote frauds and the activities of the ruling party and the administration and the law enforcers,” she said.

Shama said they also provided the EU team with various documents and video clips about the election irregularities.

The two-member election expert mission representing the European Union has been staying in Bangladesh since November 27 last.

Dhaka, Jan 10 (UNB) – Newly appointed State Minister of Shipping Ministry Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury on Thursday said the pending works of the ministry will be completed soon.

“I've a goal to implement the election manifesto of Awami League and all works will be implemented as per the manifesto,” said the minister while exchanging views with the officials of the ministry at the Secretariat.

The ministry will not only develop Blue Economic zones but also complete other pending works, he added.

A video prepared on the development and pending works of the ministry was screened before the ministry officials at the meeting.

Replying to a question about the PM’s remark on the performance of the new ministers, Khalid said, “Whatever the Prime Minister said is right and we'll accept the decision taken by her (Hasina).”

 “We'll work to take the country forward by building Sonar Bangla,” he added.

Dhaka, Jan 10 (UNB) – Bangladesh has ranked 97th in the updated Henley Passport Index, gaining three notches up from its previous ranking.

With visa-free access to 41 countries, Bangladesh is holding the 97th position jointly with Lebanon, Libya and South Sudan, according to the index released on Wednesday.

As for the neighbouring countries, Pakistan ranked 102nd (visa-free access to 33 countries), while India 79th (61 countries), Sri Lanka– 95th (43 countries) and Nepal took the 98thplace (40 countries) and Myanmar 90th position with visa-free access to 48 countries.

The Henley Passport Index is published since 2006 in cooperation with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest tourist information database.

According to the report, the Japanese passport, allowing its holders to visit 190 countries without a visa, leads the ranking, followed by the Singaporean and South Korean passports (189 countries).

The Asian nation has come out on top of the index, which is revised quarterly, for the second time in a row. China jumped almost 20 places in just two years, from 85th in 2017 to 69th this year.

European countries also performed favourably, with France and Germany filling the third position and Denmark, Italy, Finland and Sweden taking the fourth spot with visa-free access to 187 countries.

The United States ranked sixth along with the United Kingdom with visa-free access to 185 countries while Canada ranked seventh.

The 10 most powerful passports in the world are Japan (190 countries), Singapore and South Korea (189), France and Germany (188), Denmark, Finland, Italy and Sweden (187) while Luxembourg and Spain (186) on fifth position.

And, the five least powerful passports in the world are Afghanistan and Iraq (30), Somalia and Syria (32), Pakistan (33), Yemen (37) and Eritrea at the bottom with visa-free access to 38 countries.

Chapainawabganj, Jan 10 (UNB) – Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in a drive seized a pistol, bullets, three magazines and 25 bottles of contraband phensidyl syrup from Raghaboti along Singnagar bordering area in Shibganj upazila on Wednesday night.

A patrol team of BGB-53 challenged a man who was standing along the border with a bag around 7:30 pm, said a BGB press release.

Sensing danger, the man fled the scene leaving the bag abandoned.

Later, the BGB members recovered a pistol, three magazines, seven bullets and 25 bottles of phensidyl from inside the bag.