MNA Editorial Desk: We have often talked about the roles of people, leaders, government, political parties or election commission in elections, especially in a democracy. But the media and the election observers have to also play key roles in such events. With the 11th national election of Bangladesh in a month, different stakeholders have already started playing their parts which can be very vital in the outcome of that election. Though we just observe media as the news provider of elections but the role is much more which is similar in the case of election observers too. We do not ...

MNA International Desk: Human Rights Watch has asked Argentina to use a war crimes clause in its constitution to investigate the role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in possible crimes against humanity in Yemen and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Argentina’s constitution recognizes universal jurisdiction for war crimes and torture, meaning judicial authorities can investigate and prosecute those crimes no matter where they were committed. Human Rights Watch said its submission was sent to federal judge Ariel Lijo. Neither Lijo’s office nor the office of Argentina’s public prosecutor responded to requests for comment. HRW’s Middle East and ...

MNA National Desk: Electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be used in Dhaka-6 and 13, Chattogram-9, Rangpur-3, Khulna-2 and Satkhira-2 constituencies in the forthcoming general election as picked by the Election Commission. The Commission chose the six parliamentary seats out of 48 around 5pm on Monday through an open lottery in presence of journalists. On Saturday, the EC decided to use EVMs in all polling stations of the six constituencies located in city and district sadar areas during the 11th parliamentary elections slated for December 30. However, BNP even on Monday placed a demand before the Commission that it must refrain ...

MNA National Desk: Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Sadek Khan, whose rivalry centring the Awami League’s ticket for Dhaka-13 constituency led to deadly clashes, have pledged to work for fetch victory of the party’s boat logo. A joint general secretary of the party and a former state minister, Nanak is not on the list of Awami League (AL) candidates. The party has chosen Sadek, the general secretary of its Dhaka Metropolitan (North) unit, for the constituency which consists of Mohammadpur, Adabor and Sher-e-Bangla Nagar areas. However, Nanak was elected MP from the seat in the last two elections, reported news agency.

MNA Feature Desk:  Today is the 93rd birth anniversary of Munier Choudhury, an eminent educationist, playwright, and literary critic of Bangladesh. On the day in 1925, the playwright was born in Manikganj district. His ancestral home was in Noakhali district. His father, Khan Bahadur Abdul Halim Chowdhury, was a district magistrate. In 1952 he was arrested under the Preventive Detention Act for protesting against police repression and the killing of students on 21 February 1952. He remained in detention until 1954. While in jail he sat for the MA examination in Bangla, topping the list of successful candidates. In detention, ...

MNA Business Desk: In view of facilitating the individual taxpayers to file income tax returns, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has decided to extend the deadline by two more days until December 2. The decision came as November 30, the last day of submitting the tax returns, is Friday, a weekly holiday, and the next day is also a weekly holiday. According to the NBR officials, services offered at the weeklong Income Tax Fair, which ended on November 19, will be available at all field-level offices until December 2 starting from November 22, reported news agency. The NBR arranged ...

MNA Sports Desk: Babar Azam, who scored the first Test century of his career in the second Test match against New Zealand, hit out at Zainab Abbas over a tweet from the star Pakistani cricket anchor. Abbas, a popular anchor in Pakistan who has 1.12 million followers on Twitter, congratulated Babar on getting his first hundred. But Babar did not like a cheeky line in that tweet. ‘Well played @babarazam258 – loved how the boys went congratulating Mickey Arthur celebrating his ‘son’s’ century #PakvNZ,’ Zainab tweeted after Babar’s maiden hundred on Sunday. But the 24-year-old Pakistan batsman apparently didn’t like ...

MNA Education desk: The second release slip of online application into first-year honours courses of 2018-19 academic session at different colleges under National University (NU) will begin on 28 November. The admission process will continue till 12 midnight, an official release said Sunday. The candidates, who do not qualify in the merit list or do not get admitted, will be eligible for applying in the application. The detailed information regarding online application will be available on www.nu.ac.bd/admission.

MNA National Desk: BNP has started distributing nomination letters among its nominated candidates to contest in the 11th parliamentary elections. BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir started the process handing over the nomination letters of its Chairperson Khaleda Zia to Bogura BNP president Saiful Islam for Bogura-6 and to her adviser Helaluzzaman Lalu for Bogura-7 at 3:15 pm. Mirza Fakhrul broke down into tears while handing over the nomination letters of Khaleda Zia and could not speak for a while at that time. ‘May Allah help her get released from jail so that she could take part in the ...

MNA National Desk: Awami League leader Professor Abu Sayeed, also a former state minister for information, has joined Gono Forum led by Dr Kamal Hossain. Prof Sayeed went to the Gono Forum office in Arambagh of the capital city at noon and joined formally. Professor Abu Sayeed collected the nomination papers from Gono Forum’s Arambagh office this afternoon, reported news agency. Professor Abu Sayeed had earlier bought nomination papers to contest the polls from Awami League but did not get the nomination. Shamsul Haque Tuku got the nomination for Pabna-1 from AL.

MNA National Desk: The Election Commission, or EC, is scrutinising 48 parliamentary constituencies for the potential use of electronic voting machines, or EVMs, on an experimental basis in the coming general election, reported news agency. Six of these seats will be selected for EVM use by lottery, said Election Commission Public Relations Joint Secretary SM Asaduzzaman said on Sunday. According to EC officials, the chief election commissioner, election commissioners, the EC secretary and other relevant officials have selected 48 seats that are eligible. The six seats will then be selected by random sampling. Though the seats are to be chosen ...

MNA International Desk: More than 200,000 Hindu activists and monks protesting near a disputed religious site in northern India dispersed peacefully on Sunday after demanding the government build a temple at the site of a 16th-century mosque. A similar rally in 1992 near Ayodhya led to a Hindu mob tearing down the mosque, sparking riots that killed about 2,000 people in one of the worst instances of communal violence in India since the 1947 partition. Tensions have again been running high ahead of the latest rally, with a heavy security presence at the site, reported news agency. Prime Minister Narendra ...

MNA Business Desk: The European Commission chief warned the UK parliament it should not count on any renegotiation ahead of Britain’s departure in March, as European Union leaders on Sunday approved a landmark agreement on Britain’s exit. After the rubber stamping, all eyes turn to British prime minister Theresa May to sell the deal to her recalcitrant parliamentarians over the next days and weeks — a huge task considering the intense opposition both her Convervative lawmakers and the political opposition have voiced toward the deal. It took leaders a matter of minutes at Sunday’s summit in Brussels to endorse a ...

MNA Tech Desk: Banglalink has officially released more than 50 exclusive albums on Banglalink Vibe, the world’s biggest Bangla music streaming app, to facilitate digital access for millions of music lovers to the newly released songs of popular artists. The announcement on the official release of the new albums was made at a press conference held at Lakeshore Hotel yesterday. Present at the press conference were Chief Commercial Officer of Banglalink, Ritesh Kumar Singh, Chief Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Officer Taimur Rahman, Digital Business and Global Partnership Director Gaurav Kakkar, Digital Services Director Abdul Muqit Ahmed, Head of e-Products Anik ...

MNA Sports Desk: Bangladesh national cricket team ODI skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has been nominated from ruling Awami League to join the race of 11th parliamentary polls from Narail-2 constituency. He was served the confirmation letter, from Awami Legaue central office at Bangabandhu Avenue Sunday (Nov 25) morning. Narail district AL leaders collected the final nomination paper on behalf of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. Party Office Secretary Abdus Sobhan Golap has forwarded the letter. Meanwhile, people from different walks of life of Narail congratulated the paceman upon bagging ticket from Awami League. AL started distributing the final nomination letters to the ...

MNA Life Style Desk: We were committed to shifting our entire social media strategy to grow our viewership and audience, while continuing to engage with our audience where, when, and how they wanted. To successfully do this, we spent the year experimenting with how to best deliver content on all platforms. Dont be afraid to like something openly, even if you are the first and no one else likes it. In life, we often are afraid of show our liking for something openly unless someone else does it first. Ditch that. Be eager to show your like of anything in ...

MNA Entertainment Desk: Ahead of their wedding, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas arrived at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in the early hours of Sunday. The couple, who was surrounded by a tight security looked all happy and elated as they were seen greeting fans and media with a big smile. The much-in-love couple walked holding hands and waved at the paparazzi. Recently, Priyanka and Nick celebrated Thanksgiving with their family. Fans of the duo have been in awe of them owing to their cute PDA and lovely pictures on social media. According to various reports, the two will be ...

MNA National Desk: Four senior Awami League leaders have been left out from the nomination for the upcoming 11th general election, reported news agency. The leaders are Awami League joint general secretaries  Jahangir Kabir Nanok (Dhaka 13) and Abdur Rahman (Faridpur 1), organizing secretaries BM Muzzammel Haque (Shariatpur 1) and AFM Bahauddin Nasim (Madaripur 3). The party has nominated unit Awami League General Secretary Sadek Khan for Dhaka 13, Monjur Hossain for Fraidpur 1, Abdus Sobhan Golap for Madaripur 3, Iqbal Hossain for Shariatpur 1. Awami League has determined which of its candidates will contest the upcoming 11th general election ...

MNA National Desk: Awami League has determined which of its candidates will contest the upcoming 11th general election under the party banner, reported news agency. The party already started distributing letters to the nominees. The process began around 10am, on Sunday, at the party’s central office on Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka. The nominees include Sheikh Hasina (Gopalganj 3 and Rangpur 6), Obaidul Quader (Noakhali 5), Mujibul Haque (Comilla 11), Dr Dipu Moni (Chandpur 3), SM Rezaul Karim (Pirojpur 1), Saifuzzaman Shikhar (Magura 1), Sheikh Fazle Noor Tapash (Dhaka 10), Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal (Dhaka 12), Sadek Khan (Dhaka 13), and Aslamul ...

MNA Sports Desk: Australia on Saturday trump England in an eight-wicket win to put their hands on the ICC Women’s World T20 title for a fourth time. Choosing to bat at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua England began promisingly with 12 runs in the first over. But that remained their best of the innings. Elyse Villani held on to a skyer to extend Tammy Beaumont’s disappointing tournament, and Georgia Wareham’s rocket throw from mid-on caught Amy Jones short of her crease at the non-striker’s end, ICC reports. But for those, Australia were unusually sloppy on the field, the nerves ...

MNA Exclusive Desk: Protesters in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state demonstrated on Sunday against the planned repatriation of Rohingya Muslims from Bangladesh, referring to them as “runaway refugees”. About 100 people led by Buddhists monks marched through the state capital Sittwe holding red banners and chanting slogans, reported news agency. “All the people of the nation are responsible to protect the security of the country,” one monk said, according to a Facebook live streaming of the protest. “There will be no benefits to us or our country if we accept the Bengalis,” he added, using a derogatory term for the Rohingya ...

MNA Business Desk: European Union leaders meet Sunday to approve a historic Brexit deal, which British Prime Minister Theresa May said would deliver her country a “brighter future”. At a special summit in Brussels that was almost derailed by a row over Gibraltar, the other 27 leaders will gather to sign off the agreement before May joins them to mark the milestone. Forged during 17 months of tough negotiations, the deal covers financial matters, citizens’ rights, Northern Ireland and a transition phase, and sets out hopes for future security and trade ties. But it is not the final stage, as ...

MNA International Desk: French President Emmanuel Macron came down heavily at demonstrators who clashed with police in Paris during the latest protests sparked by rising fuel prices. “Shame on those who attacked” officers, he tweeted. “There is no place for violence in the [French] Republic.” There was chaos on the Champs-Elysées on Saturday as police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters. The demonstrations had been billed by the “yellow vest” movement as “act two” in a campaign that began a week ago, BBC reports. Named after their distinctive high-visibility attire, the protests initially focused on a rise ...

MNA Feature Desk: To commemorate this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign is calling upon us to stand in solidarity with survivors and survivor advocates and women’s human rights defenders who are working to prevent and end violence against women and girls. Our duty is not only to stand in solidarity with them but also to intensify our efforts to find solutions and measures to stop this preventable global scourge with a detrimental impact on women’s and girls’ lives and health. The last year has been extraordinary in terms of the awareness ...

MNA Education Desk: Gold Bangladesh, a debate organization of Rajshahi University (RU), organized a 2-daylong 4th national debate fest, with the vision of preparing knowledge and leadership skills based new generation, at the university Teachers Students Center (TSC). RU pro-vice-chancellor Prof Dr Ananda Kumar Saha inaugurated the program as chief guest. After that colorful rally was started on the campus and marching deferent roads that terminated in front of university’s Kazi Nazrul Islam auditorium. Besides, student advisor Prof Dr Laila Arjuman Banu, former student advisor Prof Dr Golam Sattar Tipu, were present as special guests. Sohrab Hossain, president of “Gold ...

MNA Science & Tech Desk: The first flight of a SpaceX rocket tailored to fly astronauts to the International Space Station is set for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on7 January, NASA said. The launch test is a crucial milestone in the space agency’s Commercial Crew Program, which aims to launch humans to space from US soil for the first time in nearly a decade. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration said SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft – which will shuttle three astronauts to space from the same launch pad that sent Apollo 11’s three-man crew to the ...

MNA Entertainment Desk: Special attention as well as adequate measures have been taken for the security of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan as a regional outfit, Kalinga Sena, has issued threats to throw ink on him. The Kalinga Sena, a fringe outfit in Odisha, has threatened to throw ink on the actor’s face for distorting history in his film Ashoka that was released 17 years ago, reports news agency. It also threatened to show him black flags on his arrival during the inauguration of the Men’s Hockey World cup scheduled to be held at Kalinga Stadium in the city on ...