Eid-ul-Azha: BR to sell all advance tickets online from June 14

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Photo: collected (Representational image)

Bangladesh Railway will start selling advance train tickets from 14 June to tackle the home rush on the occasion of the upcoming Eid-ul-Adha.

The authorities will start selling tickets from June 14 at two different time slots to reduce the load on its server.

The West Zone will start selling tickets online at 8:00am while the East Zone will start at noon.

Moreover, BR will introduce a new train on the Dhaka-Chilahati route on June 4 and operate a total of eight special trains during the Eid rush.

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A lucky escape

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Mocha makes landfall in Myanmar, weakens; causes no serious damage in Bangladesh

Cyclone Mocha veered towards Myanmar and eventually made landfall there a few hours earlier than forecast and it did not cause massive damage that many in Bangladesh feared.

Around 13,500 houses were affected by the cyclone in Cox’s Bazar, including St Martin’s Island, and the Rohingya refugee camps. And some 15 to 20 people had minor injuries, said officials concerned.

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Mocha starts crossing Cox’s Bazar coast, wind speed up to 215 kmph: BMD

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

The very severe cyclone Mocha has started crossing Cox’s Bazar-north Myanmar coast and is likely to move north-northeasterly direction further and complete crossing Cox’s Bazar-North Myanmar coast near Sittwe of Myanmar by afternoon or evening on Sunday, according to the latest bulletin of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department on Sunday morning.

The maximum sustained wind speed within 74 km of the very severe cyclone centre is about 195 kph rising to 215 kph in gusts or squalls, said the bulletin.

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Mocha approaches coast with 200 kmph speed

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Screenshot from Windy.com

Cyclone Mocha is approaching the coastal areas of Bangladesh and Myanmar with a maximum wind speed of 200 kmph, said the latest weather bulletin of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department.

According to the bulletin, at 6:00pm, the very severe cyclonic storm was centred about 605km south-southwest of Chattogram port, 525km south-southwest of Cox’s Bazar port, 625km south of Mongla port and 565km south of Payra port.

It is likely to intensify further and move in a north-northwesterly direction and cross Cox’s Bazar-North Myanmar’s coast between 6:00am to 6:00pm tomorrow (May 14), according to BMD.

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Cyclone Mocha intensifies into ‘extremely severe cyclonic storm’: IMD

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Screenshot from Windy.com

Mocha has intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm over east central Bay of Bengal and was 760km south southwest of Cox’s Bazar at 2:30am (local time) today, according to the Indian Met Department’s last update.

It is moving north-northeastwards and likely to intensify further and cross Bangladesh and Myanmar coasts between Cox’s Bazar and Kyaukpyu in Myanmar around May 14 (tomorrow) afteernoon as a very severe cyclonic storm with maximum wind speed of 150-160 km per hour going up to 175 km per hour, reports our New Delhi correspondent citing the IMD.

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Bangladesh coastal areas are under danger signal number 8

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Photo: collected (Representational image)

Bangladesh is ready to evacuate about a million people in Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar as the very severe cyclonic storm over the east central Bay of Bengal looked ferocious with rapid intensification and is forecast to begin to have impacts on the south-east coast of the country from Saturday night.

The cyclone Mocha is heading for the Chattogram division, especially for Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh Meteorological Department announced on Friday afternoon, asking all fishermen over the north Bay of Bengal to seek shelter immediately, hours before raising the storm alert to great danger signal number eight for Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar and Payra ports and local warning signal number four for Mongla port.

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Rooftop solar panels a contemporary necessity

Speakers tell webinar

Photo: collected

In December 2020, a knitting factory in Kashimpur in Gazipur had a rooftop solar panel installed for 19.89 crore Tk, saving the company 3.19 crore Tk per year, according to a study.

The investment will be returned by 6.23 years, according to the study, after analyzing the electricity production data for the last two and a half years.

Dipal C Barua, chairman of Bright Green Energy Foundation (BGEF), presented the study findings at a webinar yesterday, titled “Power generation from rooftop solar energy and solution to power crisis”.

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Cyclone Mocha raises storm alert in Bangladesh

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Photo: collected (Representational image.)

The deep depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclonic storm, confirmed Bangladesh Meteorological Department in a special weather bulletin issued at 8:30am on Thursday.

The cyclone, named Mocha, moved north northwestard at about 6:00am, the BMD said.

The cyclone was 1,295kms south southwest of Chattogram port, 1,220 km south southwest of Cox’s Bazar port, 1,265 km south southwest of Mongla port, and 1,225 km south southwest of Payra port at 6:00 am, the BMD said.

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Low-pressure area over Bay could intensify further: Met office

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Representational image of a cyclone: NASA/International Space Station

The low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal has now turned into a well-marked low pressure, and could intensify further, the Met office said today.

A bulletin of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) said, “The low-pressure area over the Southeast Bay and adjoining south Andaman Sea has intensified into a well-marked low at midnight last night over the same area. It is likely to intensify further.”

The Indian Meteorological Department in its report last night said, “It is likely to intensify into a depression on May 9 over the same region and further into a cyclonic storm over Southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas of east central Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea on May 10.”

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Heat wave continues after a short break

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Photo: collected

A mild heatwave set in again on Saturday with chances of it continuing and intensifying in parts of Bangladesh over the next couple of days, according to the Met Office.

The cyclonic circulation formed in the Bay of Bengal, likely to develop into a low pressure with potentials of a cyclonic storm, is influencing the high land temperature, said weather forecasters.

Meteorologist Abdul Alim pointed out that, ‘The temperature will certainly rise over the next two days.’

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Inequitable, low wages continue to hit workers

Moinul Haque

Photo: Sony Ramany

Workers in Bangladesh suffer discriminatory wages due to the lack of a national minimum wage standard, trade union leaders and labour rights advocates said.

According to them, the prevailing wage-setting system in the country is discriminatory and against the interest of workers.

The May Day movement, trade union leaders said, was for an eight-hour workday with fair wages but the demand is yet to be fulfilled in Bangladesh.

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May Day today

Free trade unionism, workplace safety, wage hike demanded

Bangladesh along with the rest of the world is set to observe May Day today (Monday) with demands for ensuring workers’ rights, including rights to workplace safety and free trade unionism.

To observe the day, various labour bodies will hold rallies, bring out processions and organise discussions to press home their demands, including the national minimum wage of Tk 20,000 and workplace safety.

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SSC, equivalent exams begin today

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Photo: collected

The Secondary School Certificate and equivalent exams will begin today.

According to the education ministry, 20,72,163 candidates are likely to take this year’s SSC and equivalent exams.

The exams will be held on all subjects with full marks but on revised syllabuses.

They will be held in 3,810 centres across the country for students from 29,798 schools, madrasas, and technical institutions, and some 374 students abroad.

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Pahela Baishakh celebrated across Bangladesh

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Photo: courtesy of Sony Ramany

Bangladesh welcomed the Bengali New Year 1430 on Friday as Pahela Baishakh, the first day of the year, was celebrated in Dhaka as elsewhere across the country with festivity and enthusiasm by holding outdoor programmes amid tight security measures.

Different political and socio-cultural organisations and educational institutions in the capital and other places of the country organised various programmes, including music shows, traditional music performances, recitations, theatre shows, exhibitions and dances to mark the Bengali New Year.

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Nation celebrates Independence Day

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

The nation is celebrating 53rd Independence and National Day today in a befitting manner.

The government has undertaken elaborate programmes marking Independence and National Day, reports UNB.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid tributes to the martyrs of Liberation War — placing wreaths at the National Memorial in Savar this morning.

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Bangladesh enters metro rail era

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Bangladesh’s commuting system entered a new era on Wednesday as prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the first ever metro rail service in the capital.

She inaugurated the operation of the first phase of the project, Uttara to Agargaon, from Uttara sector-15 playground.

Marking the occasion, the prime minister also unveiled a commemorative stamp and a banknote.

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The WB will revive Dhaka’s rivers

$20b project plan

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Photo: collected

The World Bank will lead a $20 billion project to restore Dhaka’s five rivers.

“We see the World Bank’s imprint in countries where it has large-scale operations. Bangladesh lacks World Bank signage. It’s hard to spot the World Bank here,” Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal recalled his conversation with Hartwig Schafer, the WB’s former vice-president for South Asia. He asked Schafer to lead a landmark project in Bangladesh.

Kamal told a press briefing Sunday after meeting Schafer’s successor Martin Raiser, “Do something here so people remember the World Bank for ages.”

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Bangladesh lifts ban on visiting tourists

World Tourism Day today

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Photo: collected

The government is set to withdraw embargo on the visit of foreign tourists to Bangladesh as the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 on Monday recommended doing so if the tourists can show their ‘full vaccine certificates’ on arrival.

Civil aviation and tourism state minister Md Mahbub Ali said this at a press conference organised by the ministry at Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation in Agargaon of the capital ahead of the World Tourism Day today.

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UNICEF Bangladesh Ambassador Mim visits children affected by the floods

News Desk : dhakamirror.com

Photo courtesy: unicef

UNICEF National Ambassador for Bangladesh Bidya Sinha Mim is visiting Sylhet this week to meet children whose lives have been upended by floods that ravaged northeastern Bangladesh in May and June this year, according to a press release Thursday.

The widespread flooding affected the lives of 7.2 million people, including 3.5 million children, and caused a food, water and sanitation crisis. Families have been forced to abandon their belongings and seek shelter as hundreds of schools and medical facilities have been destroyed.

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