MNA National Desk: Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda on Saturday said that police do not arrest anybody without any reason, reported news agency. The CEC told at a briefing after ending a meeting with executive magistrates at commission’s Agargaon office in the capital. “Members of law enforcer are working under EC. EC ordered the policemen. Police gave us commitment and are working according to our instruction,” Nurul Huda said. “The Commission has given directives to the police. The police have also made commitments to us. They’re working accordingly,” he said. Nurul Huda said the government does not give any ...

MNA Sports Desk: Bangladesh have beaten West Indies for the first time ever on home soil to go 1-0 up in the Test series after winning the first Test at Chattogram’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium by 64 runs. Mehedi Miraz bagged the wicket of Jomel Warrican to break the ninth-wicket stand of 63 runs between him and Sunil Ambris. With 66 runs needed and Windies having two wickets in hand, Warrick mishit Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan took the catch at midwicket to send back Warrick after a fighting 41. Next over, Taijul Islam bagged his sixth wicket as West ...

MNA Exclusive Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday interacted with a diverse group of youths and listened to their dreams, hopes and aspirations about future Bangladesh. Demonstrating a strong sense of enthusiasm and vigour, around 150 young people selected from across the country, including professionals, job holders, entrepreneurs, students, sports and cultural personalities, and representatives of various youth groups and associations took part in the discussion, ‘Let’s Talk with Sheikh Hasina’, organised by the Centre for Research and Information (CRI), reported news agency. For the first time in Bangladesh’s political history, the Prime Minister directly talked to the youth ...

MNA Business Desk: Spain was standing between Theresa May and a Brexit deal as it threatened to derail an EU summit on Sunday if it does not get new assurances on having a say in the future of Gibraltar. As negotiations among Spanish, British and EU officials wore into Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he was ready to thwart his British counterpart May’s hopes of seeing EU leaders sign off on promises of close ties with London after Britain leaves the bloc in March if he did not get his way. Brussels diplomats and representatives of other governments ...

MNA National Desk: Though it will not send any observer team because of a lengthy preparatory process, the European Union (EU) will closely monitor the next national election in Bangladesh, reported news agency. The EU will be keeping eyes on the developments in the coming weeks, a diplomatic source said, adding that not sending an observer team does not mean that they are not going to follow the elections. Meanwhile, a delegation of European Parliament is scheduled to meet prime minister Sheikh Hasina at 6pm on Saturday, said an official. On the other hand, two election experts of the EU ...

MNA International Desk: China on Friday condemned the terror attack at its consulate in the Pakistani city of Karachi and asked Islamabad to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens in the country where it has multi-billion dollar investments. “China strongly condemns any violent attacks against diplomatic missions and have asked the Pakistani side to take measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens and organisations in the country,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said. Geng said three men tried to barge into the consulate who were later killed by Pakistani policemen. The spokesperson said that the Consulate staff were safe ...

MNA Entertainment Desk: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West on Wednesday donated $500,000 to firefighters and victims of a massive Southern California wildfire that came close to destroying the celebrity couple’s own multimillion-dollar mansion. Kardashian, appearing on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” said she and West hired private firefighters to protect their home and others in their neighborhood in rural Calabasas, north of Los Angeles. Kardashian, West and their three children were among thousands of people forced to evacuate their homes during the 93,000-acre (37,635-hectare) Woolsey fire two weeks ago that spread into coastal Malibu, destroying 1,500 buildings and killing three people. ...

MNA Education Desk: The results of the freshly held “Gha” unit admission test of Dhaka University were published on Monday afternoon (Nov 19) where 61.1 percent students passed. DU authorities retook the admission test of first-year honors programs for the 2018-19 academic sessions on November 16. A total of 16,181 students, who obtained pass marks in the previous test held on October 12, took part in the examination. Of them, 9,886 students secured the pass mark. To get the full results of the test, students can go to admission.eis.du.ac.bd, according to a press release issued by the public relations office ...

MNA Life Style Desk: Are you keen to start practising yoga at home but don’t know how to start? Here are some tips. Fix a time: First of all, make it a habit to practise yoga at a fixed time though you are doing it at home. This could be an hour just after you wake up or in the evening. Fixing a time will get you in a habit of doing yoga exercises every day without fail. Select your space: If you are doing yoga at home, there are chances you might be disturbed at activities of your family ...

MNA National Desk: Police forces have to work in coordination with small teams of armed forces to be deployed in each district during the 11th national elections, said Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda, reported news agency. CEC told this during a special meeting of Election Commission on Thursday. Outlining 12 point-instructions, CEC said, “We did not ask anyone to collect information about voting officers visiting homes. Don’t do it. Voting officials get disturbed by this. We don’t want it.” “The people of the country expect that the commission will hold a fair election. So, we’ve taken all the necessary ...

MNA National Desk: The Election Commission today sat in a “special meeting” with the law enforcers to discuss their responsibilities ahead of the upcoming 11th parliamentary polls, reported news agency. The inspector general of police, metropolitan commissioners, deputy inspector general, and superintendent of police are attending the meeting that started at 10:30am at the Election Commission office. Yesterday, Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin said that some special instructions will be given during today’s meeting, such as expediting the process of illegal arms recovery, increase monitoring of bordering areas among others.

MNA Sports Desk: Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and elected to bat against West Indies in the first of a two-Test series in Chattogram on Thursday, reported news agency. Bangladesh have handed maiden Test cap to 17-year-old off-spinner Nayeem Hasan. Soumya Sarkar also has been included in the squad while Liton Das and Khaled Ahmed are out. Ariful Haque had to make way for skipper Shakib Al Hasan. Squads: Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Mithun, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Ariful Haque, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Syed Khaled Ahmed, ...

MNA International Desk: US chief justice John Roberts on Wednesday pointedly defended the independence of the federal judiciary a day after president Donald Trump called a judge who ruled against his policy barring asylum for certain immigrants an “Obama judge,” but Trump swiftly rejected the rebuke. The remarks by Roberts represented his first public response to Trump over the Republican president’s persistent criticism of the federal courts. Opponents of Trump have called his criticism of judges an attack on the rule of law in the United States. “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton ...

MNA National Desk: Kishore Bangla, country’s prominent monthly magazine for teens and children celebrated on the occasion of their executive editor Ahmed Riaz’s receipt of Unicef’s 14th ‘Meena Media Award’. It was given on November 20 at a hotel in the capital. Renowned children’s writer Ahmed Riaz won this prestigious award in the creative story category. It was his fourth time winning of this award. His nomination was for his small story titles ‘Aha’. He got the ‘Meena Media Award’ for the fourth consecutive time. Like every year, UNICEF has given this award to children and adults in various categories ...

MNA Feature Desk: The holy Eid-e-Miladunnabi, marking the birth and demise of Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH), was observed in the country on Wednesday with due reverence and religious fervour. Tens of thousands of Muslims with banners of different spiritual and social organizations like the Maizbhandar darbar and other spiritual hubs joined colouful street marches in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country chanting praising the prophet for his role for the mankind. On this day in 570, the 12th of Rabiul Awal of the Hijri calendar, Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) was born in Makkah of Saudi Arabia with divine blessings ...

MNA Business Desk: Indonesian state-owned train manufacturer PT Industri Kereta Api (INKA) has continued to maintain a potential market in Bangladesh and meet the high demand for trains in the country, an after sales staff of PT INKA Triono stated, reported news agency. “INKA first made a special train for Bangladesh in 2005. It was then continued in 2016, when we had the project to provide 150 trains, and now, the trains have already been operated in Dhaka,” he remarked. PT INKA has won a tender to supply 250 passenger trains to Bangladesh, and the initial delivery of the trains ...

MNA Science Desk: It may not change how you buy bananas, but scientists have voted to redefine the value of a kilogram, in what they called a landmark decision that will boost the accuracy of scientific measurements. Since 1889, a kilogram has been defined by a shiny lump of platinum-iridium kept in a special glass case and known as the International Prototype of the Kilogram. It is housed at the headquarters of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (whose French acronym is BIPM), just outside Paris. Members of the BIPM, which groups some 60 nations, agreed on Friday after ...

MNA Education Desk: The authorities of Islamic University (IU) in Kushtia will observe ‘University Day’ on 24 November on its 39th founding anniversary, reported news agency. The university day is supposed to be observed on 22 November as the university started its journey on that day in 1979. But this year, 22 November is weekly holy day of the university. So the authorities have taken decision to observe the day on 24 November instead of 22 November. On the occasion, an elaborate programme has been chalked out. The programmes include hoisting national and university flags in front of the university ...

MNA Life Style Desk: The winter months can put your hair and scalp under a lot of stress. Here are some key tips and tricks to keep your hair and scalp healthy during winter. While it is time to thank the stars for putting an end to all the sun damage that your hair was being put through, it is also time to start planning a hair care routine that is fit for winter. Control Frizz One of the most annoying things about winter is all of the static. The hoodies, sweater, scarves, gloves, and beanies all seem to gang ...

MNA Entertainment Desk: Bollywood actress Preity Zinta apologised on Tuesday over comments she made about India’s #MeToo movement that sparked a furor on social media. Zinta was accused of belittling victims after saying she wished she had faced sexual harassment. “My reason for saying ‘I wish something like this would have happened to me’ in the film industry with a smile was because I would have reacted and slapped the person,” she said. Zinta said she was a “huge supporter of the movement” and claimed that her comments, given in an interview with entertainment site Bollywood Hungama, were taken out ...

MNA National Desk: The Armed Forces Day was observed across the country on Wednesday with due solemnity and enthusiasm marking the establishment of Bangladesh military during the Liberation War. On this day in 1971, Bangladesh Armed Forces comprising army, navy and air force came into being and launched an all-out attack on the Pakistani occupation forces. Since the country’s independence, the day has been observed as the Armed Forces Day every year. The day’s programmes started with the offering of special prayers in mosques of all cantonments, naval outposts and establishments and air force outposts after Fazr prayers seeking divine ...

MNA National Desk: Noted photographer Shahidul Alam was freed from jail on bail on Tuesday night. He walked out of Dhaka Central Jail at Keraniganj around 8:25pm after his bail paper reached the prison, said jailer Mahbub Islam On November 15, the High Court granted bail to Shahidul Alam in a case filed under the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act for spreading ‘propaganda’ through his Facebook account during the student movement demanding safe roads. Earlier on October 7, the High Court issued a rule asking the authorities concerned to explain within seven days as to why Shahidul Alam, also ...

MNA National Desk: The Armed Forces Day will be observed across the country today with due solemnity and enthusiasm marking the establishment of Bangladesh military during the Liberation War. On this day in 1971, Bangladesh Armed Forces comprising army, navy and air force came into being and launched an all-out attack on the Pakistani occupation forces. Since the country’s independence, the day has been observed as the Armed Forces Day every year. The day’s programmes to start with the offering of special prayers in mosques of all cantonments, naval outposts and establishments and air force outposts after Fazr prayers seeking ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Hopefully Dec 30 is going to be another landmark in the political history of Bangladesh as the 11th national election is scheduled to be held on that day. Heavy movements and showdowns centering this important political event are going on. Awami League has started its nomination process immediately after election schedule declaration. Jatiyo Oikya Front and other parties followed soon. Aspirant nomination seekers, who started campaign in their respective areas even few months back, of two major alliances turned very active to portray their popularity which even resulted in violation of several rules and regulations of electoral ...

MNA International Desk: Pakistan reacted angrily Monday to criticism by President Donald Trump that the country had not done enough in return for years of US military aid and that the government had harboured Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida. In an interview with “Fox News Sunday” this weekend, Trump defended his decision early this year to withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars in security aid to Pakistan. “I ended it because they don’t do anything for us, they don’t do a damn thing for us,” he said. Trump also alleged that the Pakistani government had known bin Laden ...

MNA Science & Technology Desk: NASA is considering selling seats on the spacecraft that will ferry its astronauts to the International Space Station, offering rides to the public while opening another line of revenue as the agency attempts to broaden its appeal. On several occasions, Russia has flown wealthy individuals who paid millions for the ride to space. And a trio of private companies backed by billionaires, is also looking to fly tourists out of the atmosphere. But except for a couple of rare exceptions, such as Christa McAuliffe, the teacher who was killed when the space Shuttle Challenger exploded ...

MNA National Desk: BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s participation in the upcoming election is yet to be confirmed but the Election Commission has no objection to the use of her photo in the election posters of her party candidates. According to the election rules, only the election symbol, photos of the candidate and the party chief are allowed to be used in the campaign posters for parliamentary election. There is no restriction on the use of Khaleda’s photo in the campaign posters of her party candidates although she has been convicted in a case under the Penal Code, said Election Commission ...