Bangladesh

DHAKA, March 20 (Reuters) - At least five people died and dozens went missing after a small ferry packed with passengers collided with a cargo vessel and sank on Sunday on the Shitalakhsya River in central Bangladesh, the latest waterway tragedy to hit the nation.

Five bodies have been recovered after the ferry sank as it departed from the industrial district of Narayanganj, about 20 km (12.43 miles) from the capital Dhaka, to Munshiganj, said local police official Mohammad Moniruzzaman.

DHAKA, Mar 9 (NNN-BSS) – The carbon dioxide stripping tower, the first super-heavy equipment of Bangladesh’s Ghorashal-Polash Urea fertiliser project (GPUFP), the country’s largest and first ever, green fertiliser factory, was installed successfully yesterday.

Engineers and workers from China National Chemical Engineering & Construction Corporation Seven Ltd, successfully lifted and installed the tower, which is 68.5 metres high, and has a self-weight of 447.5 tonnes.

DHAKA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has brushed aside the claim that his country is falling into a Chinese "debt trap".

China's loans to Bangladesh only comprise a small fraction of the country's external debt, said the minister while speaking to reporters after attending a program in the capital Dhaka Saturday.

He said the "debt trap concern" was an apparent bid to smear China's Belt and Road Initiative and deter the cooperation between China and Bangladesh or other countries in the region and beyond.

DHAKA, Jan 31 (NNN-BSS) – The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continued to decline for the fifth consecutive day in Bangladesh, with over 12,000 new cases reported yesterday.

According to figures published by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the country confirmed 12,183 new COVID-19 cases and 34 more deaths yesterday, which has brought the death toll to 28,363.

The current positivity rate dropped to 28.33 percent in the past 24 hours, until 8:00 a.m. local time yesterday, according to the latest official data, taking the total caseload to 1,785,332.

DHAKA, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Bangladeshi state-run cellphone operator Teletalk has brought 5G experience for the visitors with technical support from Chinese telecom giant Huawei at the country's largest "Smartphone & Tab Expo 2022".

Speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the expo, Bangladeshi Post and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar said, for the first time, there is an opportunity for all interested visitors to get a 5G experience at this event. Anyone can take this experience from the Teletalk Bangladesh stall.

DHAKA, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh Railway has signed a deal with a Chinese firm to purchase 580 wagons to expand its freight train service capacity.

Bangladesh Railway and CRRC Shandong Co., Ltd. signed the deal at a ceremony held in the capital Dhaka on Tuesday.

Bangladesh's Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan, representatives from the Bangladesh Railway and the Chinese firm, among others, attended the ceremony.

The minister said the new railway wagons will help Bangladesh Railway further enhance the quality of domestic rail freight services.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A massive fire swept through a river ferry in southern Bangladesh early Friday, leaving at least 37 dead and 72 injured, as passengers jumped off the vessel and swam to the shore, officials said.

The blaze broke out around 3 a.m. on the MV Avijan-10 off the coast of Jhalokati district on the Sugandha River.

The United News of Bangladesh news agency quoted fire officer Kamal Uddin as saying the ferry was carrying 800 passengers from Dhaka, the capital, to Barguna, nearly 250 kilometres (155 miles) to the south.

DHAKA, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecasted 6.6 percent GDP growth for Bangladesh in the current fiscal year 2021-2022 (July 2021-June 2022).

The projection came after an IMF staff team, led by Rahul Anand, visited Dhaka from Dec. 5-19.

"Despite being hit by multiple waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, quick and decisive actions by the authorities, supported by the external environment, led to a much quicker rebound than Bangladesh's regional peers," the IMF team said in a statement posted on its website Sunday.

DHAKA, Dec 13 (NNN-BSS) – Bangladeshi Prime Minister’s ICT Affairs Adviser, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, yesterday inaugurated the 5G, or fifth generation mobile services, via a state-run cellphone operator, Teletalk, in collaboration with Chinese telecom giant, Huawei.

With the launch of the next generation services, mobile users in selected places in parts of the country will now have access to high-speed 5G Internet, through their mobile phones, at a relatively lower price.

Huawei Bangladesh provided infrastructure and technical support to Teletalk, for deploying 5G networks.

03 Dec 2021; MEMO: Bangladesh called on the international community to do more to achieve a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian crisis by recognising an independent State of Palestine and its rightful place in the United Nations (UN).

"The international community must make genuine efforts to address the root causes of the Palestinian crisis, and put an end to the Israeli aggression," said Bangladesh's Ambassador to the UN, Rabab Fatima, while addressing the UN General Assembly yesterday.