A bride in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, had a surprising experience on her wedding day when her groom got cold feet and refused to get married. Instead of accepting this rejection, the determined bride, dressed in her wedding attire, went on a pursuit spanning over 20 kilometers to find him and marry him.
When she received the news that her groom, with whom she had been in a relationship for two-and-a-half years, was not going to show up at the wedding venue, she took matters into her own hands and decided to search for him. Despite his claim over a phone call that he had gone to bring his mother to the venue, she didn’t believe him.
Eventually, they found the groom on a bus near a police station outside Bareilly city limits. The following two hours were filled with dramatic exchanges. Eventually, the bride, her family, and the groom’s family took him to a temple.
The groom’s family eventually agreed to the marriage, and the couple was wedded at a temple outside Bareilly city. Videos of the ceremony depict the groom, now dressed in regular clothes, going through the marriage rituals while their families watched.
The bride received praise for her bravery in “saving her marriage,” while the man was criticized by both families and onlookers for “running away from the responsibility of marriage” after making a promise to marry the girl.
Kim Taehyung, better known as BTS member V, is getting ready to make his long-awaited debut on the red carpet of the famous Cannes Film Festival. Monday, the international artist revealed on his Instagram stories that he would be on the red carpet at Cannes 2023, representing a well-known luxury brand.
V posted a picture of a sign that said, “Welcome to Cannes! We look forward to seeing you. Warmest, Peter Utz.” In the second shot, V was sitting on the beautiful French Riviera with Peter Utz while wearing a stylish leopard-print shirt and black pants.
Taehyung’s exciting showing at Cannes comes after news that BLACKPINK’s Jennie will also be there this year. BTS V and Jennie were said to have been seen walking around Paris holding hands, which made people wonder if they were dating.
In the meantime, V has been hard at work on his first solo record, which will come out later this year and is very much anticipated. As he starts his solo career, the talented musician is likely to make songs that fans will love.
Construction of Bangladesh’s first underground metro line begins in July:
A bilateral agreement has been signed with the contractor for the commencement of contract package-1 (land development of depot area) of Uttara route of Bangladesh’s first underground metro line MRT line-5. The work is expected to begin from July.
The agreement was signed between Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), TOA Corporation (Japan) and Spectra Engineers Limited (Bangladesh) at DMTCL Bhaban in the capital’s Uttara on Tuesday.
Six Bangladeshi peacekeepers to be honoured posthumously at UN HQ:
Six Bangladeshi peacekeepers will be honoured posthumously with the Dag Hammarskjold medal on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of UN Peacekeeping on Thursday. The UN Headquarters will observe the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers that day.
You can now watch IPL matches only at Tk 32 using MyGP’s sports pack:
Grameenphone, the leading mobile operator in Bangladesh, announced a partnership with T-Sports, the official broadcaster of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Bangladesh. The partnership will allow MyGP users to watch the IPL for as low as BDT 32 only.
The IPL is one of the most popular cricket leagues in the world, and MyGP is excited to offer its customers an affordable way to watch the matches. A range of attractive packs to enjoy IPL live is available through the app.
BTS’ V set to make his debut in Cannes Film Festival:
Global sensation and BTS member V, also known as Kim Taehyung, is gearing up to make his highly-anticipated debut on the prestigious red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival. Taking to his Instagram stories on Monday, the international artiste confirmed his appearance at the Cannes 2023 red carpet, representing a renowned luxury brand.
AI reimagines Bangladeshi actors as superheroes:
Now, an enthusiastic Facebook user named Kazi Shahriar Ahmed used his creativity by using mid-journey AI techniques to render pictures of the top Dhallywood celebrities, donning superhero costumes. His imaginative creations have sparked intrigue among social media users. The poster shared four visually stunning pictures featuring Jaya Ahsan, Arifin Shuvoo, Bidya Sinha Saha Mim, and Shakib Khan.
First Arab female astronaut reaches space station:
The International Space Station (ISS) has welcomed its first female Arab astronaut. Rayyanah Barnawi is one of two Saudis aboard Axiom Space’s second private mission, which launched from the United States on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday. The 34-year-old biomedical specialist aims to conduct stem cell and breast cancer research during her scheduled 10-day stay on the International Space Station.
On Thursday, the 75th anniversary of UN Peacekeeping, six Bangladeshi soldiers who died in the line of duty will be given the Dag Hammarskjold medal.
The International Day of UN Peacekeepers will be celebrated at the UN Headquarters on that day.
The six Bangladeshi peacekeepers who are among the 103 awardees are: Sainik MD Sharif Hossain, Sainik MD Jahangir Alam, and Sainik MD Jasim, who served with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA); LCPL Kafil Majum DER, who served with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS); SGT MD Manjur Rahman, who served with the UN Interim Security
According to the UN Information Centre in Dhaka, Bangladesh sends the most armed people to help keep the peace for the UN.
It sends more than 7,200 soldiers and police officers to Abyei, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Mali, South Sudan, and the Western Sahara to help keep the peace there.
In 1948, an important decision was made to send military monitors to the Middle East to watch how the Israel-Arab Armistice Agreements were carried out. This was the start of what would become the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization.
Since then, more than 2 million peacekeepers from 125 countries have served in 71 actions around the world.
At the moment, 87,000 men and women are serving in 12 war zones in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is going to lay a wreath at the United Nations Headquarters during a formal ceremony to honor the more than 4,200 UN troops who have died since 1948.
He will also be in charge of a ceremony in the General Assembly Hall where 103 military, police, and citizen peacekeepers who died last year while working for the UN will be given Dag Hammarskjold Medals.
In 2002, the UN General Assembly set up the International Day of UN Peacekeepers as a way to honor all the men and women who work in policing and to remember those who have died for the sake of peace.
A bilateral deal has been made with the contractor to start contract package-1 (land development of depot area) of Bangladesh’s first underground metro line, MRT line-5, on the Uttara route. The work is likely to start in July.
On Tuesday, the deal was signed by Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), TOA Corporation (Japan), and Spectra Engineers Limited (Bangladesh) at DMTCL Bhaban in the capital’s Uttara.
In order to finish MRT Line-5 from Hemayetpur to Bhatara by 2028, 10 contract deals have been set up. As part of this, a land development work deal for the depot area was signed on Tuesday as part of contract package-1.
This package will be worked on by TOA Corporation (Japan) and Spectra Engineers Limited (Bangladesh), as per the deal. Also, actions related to processing bids for other packages are being done at different stages.
From Hemayetpur to Bhatara, this project will build a metro train line that is 13.50 km underground and 6.50 km above ground. In between, there will be 14 stops for people to get on and off (nine underground and five above ground).
MRT Line 5 goes from Hemayetpur to Boliarpur to Bilamalia to Amin Bazar and Gabtoli. From there, it will go through Darus Salam-Mirpur 1-Mirpur 10-Mirpur 14, Kachukhet, and Banani to get to Banani.
The line will then go through Gulshan 2 and Natun Bazar on its way to Bhatara. From Hemayetpur to Amin Bazar and Bhatara, this part of the metro train will be above ground. From Gabtoli to Natun Bazar, there will be underground metro train.
The Road Transport and Highways Division has projected that the MRT Line-5 project will cost Tk41,238.55 crore. Out of this, Tk12,121.50 crore will come from the Government of Bangladesh (GOB), and Tk29,117.5 crore will come from project aid.
The Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will pay for the project.
In recent years, the world has been amazed by how quickly Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been making progress. Deepfakes, DALL-E 2, ChatGPT, and other related developments have sparked a lot of debate about the ethics of AI, its possible uses, and where it’s headed in the future.
Now, a creative Facebook user named Kazi Shahriar Ahmed used AI methods while he was traveling to make pictures of the biggest stars in Dhallywood dressed as superheroes. People on social media are interested in what he comes up with.
The ad showed four pictures of Jaya Ahsan, Arifin Shuvoo, Bidya Sinha Saha Mim, and Shakib Khan that were very beautiful. He also asked his followers a question that made them think: “If Bangladesh had a Superhero Cinematic Universe, what superpowers would you want them to have?”
In the pictures, Jaya Ahsan’s short purple hair gave her a fierce look, while Bidya Sinha Mim’s short blue pixie cut gave her a foreign look.
The creative use of AI technology in these images has brought the idea of Bangladeshi superheroes to life, opening up a world of possibilities and fueling fans’ imaginations.
A team from Bangladesh has qualified for the World Cup of Pokémon, a worldwide online tournament put on by Smogon, the biggest competitive Pokémon community in the world.
At this year’s World Cup of Pokémon qualifiers, more than 200 players from 17 teams competed for the last three spots in the major knockout series. Each team represented a country or continent. Each player played two opponents, and the top three teams, based on their total score, moved on to the main game.
Team Bangladesh did the best in the qualifiers, beating countries like the UK, China, Brazil, Argentina, Greece, and South Korea with a 12-4 record. Starting on June 4, Team Bangladesh will be in the main rounds of the tournament with 15 other teams from the US, Latin America, Oceania, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, and more.
This tournament is being held by Smogon, an online community that runs and promotes a number of large-scale competitive Pokémon tournaments every year. About 18.5 million people visit their website every month. The matches are played on Pokémon Showdown, a browser-based game where anyone can make their own Pokémon teams and face each other. Every month, more than 10 million matches are played on Pokémon Showdown. There are more than 100 current formats, and each has its own sub-community.
As of May 2021, Pokémon is the most profitable media brand in the world, with a total income of $76.4 billion. Since November 18, 2022, when Pokémon Scarlet and Violet came out for Nintendo Switch, they have sold more than 22 million pieces.
Even though The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo host official Pokémon events called VGC (Video Game Championships), they are usually hard for Bangladeshis to get to because they are held all over the world. So, online fan groups like Smogon hold tournaments that anyone from anywhere in the world can join by using a browser-based simulator.
Bangladesh is trying for the 5th time to get past the qualifying round for the World Cup of Pokémon. The team members are all members of a Facebook group called “Bangladeshi Pokémon Battlers.” Since its start in 2012, this group has been a hub for local Pokémon fans and professional players.
Fans of the popular Netflix show “Squid Game” are eagerly waiting for the second season, but the show itself is getting its own reality show this year. “Squid Game: The Challenge” is the name of the television show based on the original show.
Media sources say that “Squid Game: The Challenge” will have 456 contestants play different games based on the original “Squid Game” series, plus many new games, for a grand prize of $4.56 million.
Stephen Lambert, Tim Harcourt, John Hay, and Toni Ireland, among others, will be in charge of this reality show version of the “Squid Game” series that doesn’t involve killing.
The first episode of “Squid Game: The Challenge” is set to air on Netflix in November. But there hasn’t been an official date set for the reality show yet.
Sunday, the law minister, Anisul Huq, said that the Digital Security Act will be changed in order to stop people from misusing it. This was reported by UNB.
“The Digital Security Act was not passed or is not being used to control freedom of speech or the media. Several things have already been done to stop people from abusing the rule. As part of these answers, the Digital Security Act will be changed in a few ways,” he said.
The minister said these things at a meeting in the Mohakhali neighborhood of the city called “Digital Security Law in Bangladesh and Freedom of Expression.” The program was put together by the UN’s Coordinating Office in Bangladesh and Brac University.
The government talked with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Office for a long time about the DSA and got some ideas, which are now being looked at, the minister said.
“Women are often abused online, and this is something that needs to be fixed. “The digital space will not be used in a way that hurts the reputation of the country, the government, or any individual,” Anisul Huq said.
The minister also said, “We need to protect our national interests and those who are targeted by digital threats and are most likely to be hurt by them. We need a DSA because of this.”
So, there is no chance that this law will be changed, the law minister said. “However, changes to the law are being looked at.” It needs to be thought about.”
Before the next general election, which will happen before or in January 2024, the US embassy in Dhaka told all US people living in the country to be careful.
Sunday, the embassy sent out a news release called “Demonstration Alert” with an important message.
In the release, the embassy asked US citizens to be careful because peaceful protests can turn violent if they turn confrontational.
So, they are asked to stay away from protests and be careful around big gatherings. They are also asked to review their personal security plans, stay aware of their surroundings, including local events, and listen to local news stations for updates.
It also said that political rallies and other events connected to the election had already started. As the general election gets closer, political gatherings and protests may happen more often or with more force.
In order to get men to help out more at home, Spain plans to release an app that will keep track of how much time each person of a household or family spends doing housework. Angela Rodriguez, Spain’s Secretary of State for Equality, told The Guardian about the change, which is seen as a way to improve gender equality. She says that the goal is to bring attention to the hidden “mental load” that women carry when it comes to doing housework.The plan was announced Tuesday in Geneva at a meeting of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
She told the UN Committee, “We’ll soon be releasing an app that lets people keep track of the chores that different family members do around the house. This way, we can see how many hours each of us spends doing housework and change the way we do it.”
She said that the new software, which cost a total of 2,11,750 euros to make, was made to make sure that every family member did their part. She also said, “We think this is an activity that could be used at home to figure out how to divide up chores between sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, flatmates, or life partners, since these tasks aren’t always split up evenly.” The app will work like Splitwise, which lets people split the cost of going out to eat or other costs.
Ms. Rodriguez said that the app will “bring to light all the invisible jobs that are necessary for a house to run well.” She gave the example that it could take 20 minutes to clean the kitchen, but it all depended on whether someone had made a shopping list or remembered to get dish soap.
Later, she wrote on Twitter, “All of those who are offended by the housework app are really offended by the idea that they might have to start helping out around the house.”
In a shocking turn of events, the internet is once again ablaze with controversy. This time, the target of outrage is none other than the esteemed vlogger, Rafsan TheChotobhai, and his recent series of India vlogs. But what could possibly be the cause of such uproar, you ask? Brace yourselves, for it is the mind-boggling revelation that Rafsan doesn’t understand Hindi!
Yes, you heard it right. The internet, ever ready to pounce on the next unsuspecting victim, has unleashed its fury upon poor Rafsan because he dared to venture into the heart of India without fluency in one of its many languages. It seems that a significant section of the online community has lost all sense of reason and perspective, choosing instead to fixate on this trivial detail as if it were an affront to the very essence of Indian culture.
The saga began innocently enough, with Rafsan embarking on his Indian adventure armed with his trusty camera and an infectious enthusiasm. But lo and behold, when faced with the language barrier, he had the audacity to rely on translators or resort to speaking in English. Cue the collective gasps of horror from the hypersensitive masses.
Outraged comments flooded the online sphere, each one more indignant than the last. “How dare he not learn Hindi before coming to India?!” cried one self-appointed guardian of cultural purity. “This is cultural appropriation at its worst!” exclaimed another, who seemed to have missed the memo that Rafsan was there to document his experiences, not claim ownership of an entire civilization.
The irony, of course, is that Rafsan’s vlogs were filled with genuine curiosity, respect, and a desire to bridge the gaps between different cultures. But who needs rationality when you have the internet’s mob mentality on your side? Suddenly, everyone became an expert on language acquisition, asserting that Rafsan should have mastered Hindi overnight, as if linguistic proficiency were akin to microwave cooking.
Never mind that India is a diverse country with countless languages, dialects, and regional variations. Never mind that the ability to learn a language takes time, dedication, and often years of practice. Never mind that Rafsan was visiting India as a guest, appreciating its beauty and sharing it with his audience in the best way he knew how. No, none of that matters when there’s an opportunity to feel self-righteous and indignant.
So here we are, witnessing another episode in the never-ending saga of internet outrage. Rafsan TheChotobhai’s lack of Hindi fluency has become the ultimate sin, eclipsing far more pressing issues and rendering the internet’s collective sense of perspective as scarce as a snowflake in the Sahara.
An official said on Saturday that an ex-British Gurkha soldier with two prosthetic legs climbed Mt. Everest. He made history by being the first person in his group to climb the world’s highest peak with prosthetic legs. Hari Budhamagar, who is 43 years old, reached the top of the 8848.86-meter peak late Friday afternoon.
“Ex-soldier Hari Budhamagar made history on Friday when he became the first person with his condition to reach the top of Mt. Everest,” a Department of Tourism official said. Budhamagar, who lost both of his legs in the war in Afghanistan while fighting for the UK government as a British Gorkha soldier in 2010, climbed Mt. Everest with prosthetic legs.
He had planned to climb Mt. Everest in 2018, but he had to change his plans after the government made a rule that blind, double-amputee, and solo hikers couldn’t climb mountains, including Everest, in 2017.
A petition was brought against the ban, and in response, the Supreme Court issued an order in 2018 that cancelled the rule. This made it possible for Budhamagar to make history.
On Sunday, five people from outside of Nepal reached the top of Mount Everest.
This spring, Nepal gave out a high number of permits to climb Mount Everest: 466.
Nepal has eight of the ten highest mountains in the world.
Today, Aranyo Anawer’s picture “Maa” will have its world premiere at the 76th Cannes Picture Festival. Before the opening, the director, Aranya Anawer, and the producer, Pulak Kanti, were seen in the streets of Cannes wearing a panjabi and a lungi.
The movie will be shown at the Palais de Festivals of Cannes theater at 6:45 pm local time as part of the festival’s “marché du film.”
The director and producer of the movie “Maa” proudly waved the Bangladeshi flag as they walked the streets of Cannes. They wore traditional Bengali clothes like Punjabi, Lungi, and gamcha to honor their roots. This one-of-a-kind display was meant to show the world the rich history and uniqueness of Bangladeshi film.
Aranyo Anawer also wrote about his feelings on his Facebook page. He said, “Marche means to sell, and Marche du Film means the film market. Yesterday, I wore a lungi and Punjabi and spent the whole day in that market area. I was happy to sit in the booth for Bangladesh.
People who thought he walked the red carpet in traditional clothes were also wrong, he said.
“Please correct yourself if you call it the red carpet by mistake. I want to be true to myself. Please help me or don’t say anything.”
The movie “Maa” is about Bangladesh’s Liberation War, and Pori Moni plays a grieving mother in the main part.
Before, “Maa” was supposed to come out in the U.S. on May 19. But the rules say that a movie can’t come out in theaters before it’s shown at a festival. So, “Maa” couldn’t come out in local theaters until May 26.
The essay book “BTS: Seoul to Soul” by filmmaker Anarya Murshid about the famous Korean pop music group BTS came out on Friday.
A press statement said that the book about the rise of the Korean pop band is now on sale.
The book has stories about the trials of seven BTS members and lists their shows, albums, and awards. In the book, there was an important piece about the Korean Cultural Wave and the use of “soft power.”
“I’m making a movie about a Bangladeshi BTS fan’s cultural problem. “When we were getting ready to make the movie, I felt like I needed a book about K-pop,” Anarya said.
The book’s editor said that he also wanted to put out books that were about culture and diplomacy. His publishing house has also put out books like this in the past.
“I hope the book will help Bangladesh and Korea build a culture bridge that will last for a long time. “The book will also help the older generation see this generation in a good light,” Anarya said.
Fans of BTS can buy the book at Tobuo Proyas, Lalan, or Chandal Books.
OpenAI has put out a ChatGPT app for iOS and said that an Android version will be out “soon.” The app is free to use and syncs your chat data with the web. You can also use your voice to send messages, which is made possible by the open-source speech recognition model Whisper from OpenAI. The app can be downloaded from the App Store here and works on both iPhones and iPads. OpenAI says that the app will be released first in the US and then in other countries “in the coming weeks.”
OpenAI didn’t say before that there would be a mobile app, but given how famous ChatGPT is, it makes sense. The AI assistant came out in November, but its use took off quickly. Some outside reports say that by January of this year, the app had 100 million users, but OpenAI has never confirmed these numbers.
The launch of the app is interesting, given that OpenAI isn’t sure how to place ChatGPT in the market. Even though the chatbot started out as an experiment, it quickly found a consumer audience that uses it for everything from cheating on college writings to business applications. In February, OpenAI released ChatGPT Plus, a paid version of the app that gives users priority access and answers made with the company’s most recent language model, GPT-4. Each month, it costs $20.
Up until now, the best way to use OpenAI’s language models on a mobile device was to use the Bing app from Microsoft, which gives you access to the company’s GPT-4-powered robot. Microsoft has been using access to its chatbot as a way to get people to use Bing and Edge. If ChatGPT makes an official app, it’s possible that some of these users will switch to it instead. The start of an official ChatGPT should also stop people from signing up for the many spam and fake apps that claim to give access to the chatbot on mobile.
ChatGPT has the same problems on mobile devices as it does on the web, of course. These include the fact that the bot is likely to make up information and be sure of it, and worries about privacy. OpenAI just recently gave users the option to make talks private, and the app’s homescreen (shown above) still tells users not to share “sensitive info” on the app.
The fifth song of the second season of Coke Studio Bangla, “Deora,” came out on May 7 and has been the most popular thing on YouTube ever since. Incredibly, the song got over 21 million views in just 11 days, which was a new record for the site.
Before, “Bhaber Pagal” by Nigar Sumi and Jalali Set had 24 million views, making it the most watched song on Coke Studio Bangla.
But it’s important to remember that this song came out a year ago, while “Deora” got a crazy 21 million views in just 11 days. It is rare for any Bengali song, not just Coke Studio Bangla, to become so popular so quickly.
When “Deora” came out, it quickly went to the top of YouTube’s popular list and stayed there for a few days. As of right now, it is still a strong rival. It is currently the third most popular video on YouTube. The crowd doesn’t seem to be getting tired of the song.
“Deora” is popular outside of Bangladesh, which is an interesting fact. The song has gotten a lot of interest in India, and it’s even been heard in Tanzania, which is in Africa.
Kili Paul, a popular African content maker, used the song in a TikTok video that got over 1.2 million views in just one day. Also, social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are still full of reels, videos, and other artistic works that were inspired by the song. This huge number of responses shows how much of an impact the song has had on the internet.
“Deora” is a great mix of modern and traditional music. It was written by Fazlu Majhi and played by Pritom Hasan, Islam Uddin Palakar, and the Ghaashphoring Choir.
A few new lines have been added to the original song, and Pritom himself wrote the new parts.
“It’s pretty much how we expect or imagine it to be. It’s pretty much what we read in books or see in English movies or shows. Thanks to the internet and social media, we are much more aware of how things are in other parts of the world. Honestly speaking, I wasn’t too taken aback with the culture over here.”
This is how Faria Tahsin, who moved to England last year to pursue her postgraduate studies, described her overall experience of moving to a new country on her own for the first time after spending more than two decades in Bangladesh surrounded by family and friends.
But, with 70,000-90,000 Bangladeshi students from various parts of the country and growing up in different environments traveling overseas for higher education each year, does everyone find it so easy to cope with all the sudden changes that come with moving to a different country?
Definitely not. This is why, even 62 years after the first time it was coined by anthropologist Kalvero Oberg, the phrase “culture shock” comes up so frequently in our conversations. Loosely defined, culture shock is the feeling of disorientation that a person experiences when moving to a different cultural environment than their own.
When asked about their experience, students who have studied abroad or are currently doing so mostly talk about the positive aspects of moving to a foreign country, such as the opportunity to meet new people, the opportunity to see new places, and the satisfaction of being able to do whatever they want and whenever they want. What they leave out are the gut-punching shocks, unfamiliarity, and loneliness.
In February of this year, I moved to England to pursue a long-held ambition of becoming a Barrister. I had been mentally preparing for the move for over two years, and I had planned for it for the majority of my life. However, once here, I realized that no amount of mental or physical preparation would’ve been sufficient for such a significant change in my life.
The majority of what you will hear about this putting you in control of your life and giving you the freedom to do whatever you want is true. You don’t have to answer to anyone for your actions in a strange, foreign country.
Your parents will not be waiting for you at home, and they will not interrogate you as soon as you walk in the door, asking where you’ve been all day. They won’t even call you as frequently when you are out having fun with your friends or doing something else.
However, this feeling is accompanied by a sense of sadness that develops after a few days, when the sense of missing home sets in and the excitement of freedom fades. Trust me when I say that the honeymoon phase in this case does not last long.
No one will ask you if you ate today, if you’re feeling well. If you get sick, no one’s going to bring you soup in bed nor do you have the opportunity to lie all day in bed because you have chores waiting for you.
With no one to look after them, most students tend to let go of self-care when they move abroad. They forget to stick to a normal eating and sleeping schedule as these aspects are easy to overlook.
When I first moved here, I started eating unhealthy snacks instead of normal healthy meals, and this continued for a month, until it became a habit. For months, I couldn’t get back into my old routine, and because of this, I had almost no energy to do anything all day.
But, with time, I was able to pick up some tricks that helped me deal with the culture shock. I’d like to share my top five tips with the readers, especially those who are moving abroad to study, in the hope that they can benefit from my experience.
Gather as much information as you can about the place and its people beforehand:
This will help you adjust to your surroundings and interact with the locals to some extent. Not interacting with others can be a more serious issue for someone who has recently moved to another country than many people may realize.
With all of the additional challenges you will face, not talking will almost certainly lead to a decline in mental health. In fact, I’ve recently started taking therapy to deal with this.
Knowing about the place will save you from a lot of unnecessary troubles as well. For example, because I didn’t do enough research on the weather in the UK, I suffered from a skin condition for the first three months I lived here.
Learn to cook the foods you enjoy eating:
Learn to cook your favourite foods and get used to eating the same meals for a week because you won’t most likely have time to cook more than once a week. Learning to cook will also help you save a lot of money.
Understand the academic expectations:
As a student, you will most likely have to follow a completely different academic structure. This is going to take some time. The key to solving this puzzle is to not become frustrated and to give yourself that time.
You must also remember that it’s okay to ask for help. Professors and advisors are extremely helpful and will usually help you with whatever you need.
Never compare your progress to that of others:
Everyone is unique and learns at their own pace. So, our responses to change will undoubtedly differ from one another. When learning how to deal with culture shock, avoid comparing yourself to others, especially if they have previously visited that country.
Find stress-relieving techniques that work for you:
To say the least, adjusting to culture shock is a nerve-wracking ordeal. So, it is crucial that you find ways to relieve stress. Again, no two people are alike, so what works for one person may not work for another. Best of luck figuring out what works best for you.
The authors
Arafat Reza is a journalist and an aspiring legal academic.
Nafia Haque is a Research Associate at Stellar Chambers.
Footsteps Bangladesh, a renowned next-generation organisation, is extensively working to ensure safe water access in marginalised communities across the country through its venture Project Trishna.
Since 2015, Project Trishna has been working to create water accessibility by installing filtration units in government and non-government schools where safe water availability is very limited due to high levels of contamination.
Besides providing water facilities to schools children, thousands of people in several public places and government hospitals have been served every day through the water filtration units that Footsteps has provided.
Since last year, the project has expanded its operation by setting up tubewells in rural communities where the people struggle to meet their daily need for water in their regular activities. Till date, Footsteps impacted over lives of 3,00,000 people in 27 different districts through its projects.
Like every year, Footsteps has launched a month-long campaign in this holy month of Ramadan where they are accepting donations and Sadaqah from the loving hands of mass people. Taslima Begum is one of the beneficiaries whose family has been provided with a tubewell by a portion of the funds Footsteps collected from last year’s campaign.
Following this year, Footsteps is working diligently with an aim to ensure water accessibility for 5,00,000 people across Bangladesh this year only. With your participation in the campaign, you can spread and share their joy across boundaries where people are devoid of even the basic necessities of life.
Amal Foundation, a local NGO which mainly focuses on poverty alleviation in remote locations, has partnered with IPDC, a non-bank financial institution, to tackle child marriage which has been a pressing issue during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Both partners collaborated to develop a unique project to prevent child marriage: the IPDC Child Marriage Prevention Loan, powered by Amal Foundation, launched as a pilot project in the Bogura district in March 2022, said a press release.
The Child Marriage Prevention Loan (CMPL) is a conditional zero-interest microfinance loan that helps poor parents to start sustainable businesses if they meet the following three criteria.
The loan applicants must be parents of 12- to 18-year-old girl children. Secondly, the girls cannot be married before the legal age. Lastly, they must be educated until the end of high school.
IPDC and Amal acquire, validate, and authorise loan applications based on these criteria. Then, parents commit to marrying their daughters off only after they are of legal age and have completed high school, added the press release.
Teletalk’s mobile broadband service will effectively reach rural users now. The Government of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission have facilitated the state-owned Telecom operator with two projects to expand its network. Teletalk, having struggled to improve its coverage in comparison to that of multinational telecom providers, may benefit from these new investments.
“Expansion of Teletalk’s Mobile Broadband Network in Coastal, Hill Tracts, and Other Hard-to-Reach Areas” is a project that will deploy 420 new sites (2G/3G/4G) via a direct procurement Method with funding from the BTRC Social Obligatory Fund.
Furthermore, project “Expansion of Teletalk’s Network to Rural Areas and Network Readiness for 5G Services” will deploy 3000 new (2G/3G/4G) sites with other essential equipment using the Open Tender Method financed by the Government of Bangladesh
According to BTRC data, Teletalk’s customer base has grown by 80.6 per cent in recent years and with the upcoming projects will be able to expand its network coverage and provide affordable services to Bangladesh’s rural population.
If you ever wondered these questions, Matt Reeves’ The Batman portrays it perfectly! With every superhero movie plot focussing so much on the villain and his motives, this is a movie all about Batman, everything he is, everything that he stands for, but without neglecting the antagonist either. It shows Batmans principles, his methods, and the way he thinks. As weird as it sounds, I couldn’t spoil this movie for you even if i wanted to. This movie is an experience.
NOTE: This is a very dark and serious movie, not one with the usual comic book punchlines and laughs.
Started the movie thinking it’s interesting, went into it looks cool, then it went this is good, and at the end all I could think was this is Perfect. Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson brought to us a version of Batman never seen in movies, one that resembles the one we’re so used to seeing in comics and the animated shows.
It’s a crime, mystery, thriller, that portrays what we love about Batman, and if you’ve ever played any of the Arkham Games, you’ll really feel as if its a story in the game that you’re trying to solve. The plot isn’t exactly mind blowing, but it’s just right for what a comic book Batman movie should be like. A lot of references to source material, history lesson about the background of each character, and a few homages to the Batman mythos as well. Action sequences were very well done, very realistic, and the great cinematography work making the viewers feel the rush and emotions occurring in the scenes throughout.
Every actor and actress portrayed the characters incredibly, with Pattinson having one of the most natural and convincing Batman voice to date, and Collin Ferrel looking unrecognisable. Zoe Kravits as catwoman deserves a round of applause as well. Not to mention Paul Dano for his take on the genius psychopath.
If you’ve read this far and still haven’t watched the movie yet, you really should. Some people might not like the movie because of it’s dark and gloomy setting though.
It’s a 9/10 for me.
A solo Batman movie after 10 years, and it’s done the character Justice.
President Biden announced tough new sanctions on Thursday aimed at crippling Russian banks such as Russian banks and financial institutions, freezing assets of some elite businessmen of Russia, cutting off the Russian economy from much of the global financial system and preventing the country from importing technology critical to its defense, aerospace, and maritime industries.
John Tully/Getty Images
The new US sanctions include Russia’s two major financial institutions, which account for more than half of the country’s total assets. The Biden administration pledged to impose harsher economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which began on Thursday morning. The US government’s package is expected to echo throughout Russian businesses and households, whereas the financial consequences of Mr. Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has already begun to show with the Russian currency hitting record lows and stock prices to crash.
List of the US sanctions:
• Severing Russia’s global financial transactionsby adopting measures that cut off Sberbank’s access to dollar transactions, the US financial system has denied access to Russia’s largest financial bank, Sberbank, and its 25 subsidiaries. Sberbank controls approximately a third of the banking sector’s assets in Russia.
• Sanctions on Russia’s VTB Bank (VTB) and its subsidiaries, the world’s second-largest financial institution, have their assets frozen which are connected to the US financial system and barred US citizens from conducting business with them. VTB has almost one-fifth of Russia’s banking sector assets and is heavily exposed to the US and western financial systems.
• Similar full-blocking sanctions on assets from Bank Otkritie, Sovcombank OJSC, and Novikombank and dozens of its subsidiaries, with measures blocking any of these institutions as well as the assets that encounters the US financial system and forbidding Americans from doing business with them.
• New debt and equity restrictions on all transactions that are incoming, provision of financing, and other dealings in new debt and new equity issued by 13 Russian state-owned enterprises, including restrictions on all transactions in, provision of financing for, and other dealings in new debt and new equity issued by 13 Russian state-owned enterprises. On the list are Sberbank, AlfaBank, Moscow Credit Bank, Gazprombank, Russian Agricultural Bank, Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Transneft, Rostelecom, RusHydro, Alrosa, Sovcomflot, and Russian Railways. These businesses will be unable to raise money on the US market due to their projected assets of $1.4 trillion (about $4,300 per person in the US).
• Additional full-blocking sanctions against Russian leaders, Elites and their families, as well as people “who have profited at the expense of the Russian state.” The heads of Russia’s main financial institutions, as well as those in charge of supplying the funds required to finance the invasion of Ukraine, are among those targeted.
• Two dozen Belarusian individuals and entitieswere also sanctioned for supporting the attack on Ukraine. Two prominent Belarusian state-owned banks, nine defense firms, and seven individuals are among those affected.
• Russia’s military and Defense ministry restricted from buying nearly all US items and items produced in foreign nations using certain US-origin software, technology, or equipment.
• Defense, aviation, and maritime technology subject to Russia-wide restrictions aimed at choking off Moscow’s import of tech goods. That also includes a Russia-wide denial of exports of some technology. The US sanctions will also impose Russia-wide restrictions on some US technologies produced in other countries including semiconductors, encryption security, lasers, sensors, navigation, avionics, and maritime technologies.
• Licensing exemptions for countries that adopt export restrictions on Russia will be implemented, eliminating US licensing requirements for items produced in their countries. The EU, Australia, Japan, Canada, New Zealand and the UK have already communicated their plans for parallel actions.
The global economy remains precarious at the start of the third year of the pandemic, and many governments are grappling with the highest inflation rates in decades. At the same time, Ukrainian leaders and some US lawmakers urged Biden to go even further to punish Moscow and Putin for the attack on Ukraine.
There was disappointment that the round of sanctions unveiled by the US and Europe following the Russian invasion did not remove Russia from the SWIFT financial messaging system. Removal from the secure messaging system, which serves as the backbone of global banking payments, trades and currency exchanges, has long been viewed as the equivalent of a financial nuclear weapon — the harshest penalty that could be imposed on a country integrated in global markets.
A Bhelpuri-Panipuri wala mama in Dhanmodi area of Dhaka is so famous that he is available on Food Delivery platform Foodpanda as well.
He is seen setting up his stall near Dhanmondi Lake beside Road 5/A.
Selling bhelpuri and panipuri for 25-30 Taka, Mama said prices of commodities have gone up, that’s why he is also forced to increase prices of his bhelpuri and panipuri items.
He also takes order for Marriage and Holud events and sets up stalls in the event places as well.
COVID-19 has created a new chapter in the digital and e-commerce sectors all over the world; as well as in Bangladesh.
And, in this new chapter with the beginning of the New Year, a group of young and creative individuals has come up with an innovative business idea called Sell Bee.
‘???? ???’ is a ‘B2B2C’ (business to business to consumer) platform that handles all aspects of e-business. Bee360° and Bee180° are the two primary services that they offer. Bee360° is for those who want to start a new online business from scratch, while Bee180° is for those who already have a business and want to improve it.
Through these two prominent services mentioned above, they provide a wide range of facilities, such as Website, Product Supply, Product Packaging, Product Photography, Delivery System, Online Marketing & Boosting service, E-business Analysis, and Promotional Content.
Sell Bee is integrating all of these services under one roof, which makes an online trader’s work easier and motivates them to make more engagement with their business to accomplish their desired goals.
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Evaly is one of the most progressive online e-commerce marketplaces to exist in Bangladesh. Its rapid growth in popularity has steely changed the way e-commerce markets are viewed today.
Evaly ensures to be an online platform under which general consumers can buy and sell products with highly discounted price tags. Discounted entities were a notable deal that appealed to many, setting off Evaly’s profit records. By selling products way below the market price, Evaly has been operating at a net loss of 316.4 crores as of 14th March.
For the past two years, Evaly has faced immense backlash for its product delivery issues. Many customers had to pay for the product without receiving it, in months. Enraged, they sought out Evaly’s customer care, where they were ghosted from time to time. Several complaints were issued, even on Facebook pages, with no proper response from the e-commerce site.
Evaly’s cashback policy (100% to 150% cashback), gift cards, vouchers along with mind-boggling discounts, were placed on items for half the market value. Manufacturers provide a maximum input of 15% discount for their dealers. Evaly enlists inflated discount rates on products, luring consumers to easily fall victim to damaged goods. CEO, Mohammad Rassel directs the blame on systematic limitations.
Even after noticeable outrage, none of the customers filed an official case against Evaly, in hopes of eventually getting their product(s) or the ‘tantalizing’ cashback offer back.
A prolonged investigation was then commenced by the DNCRP, the Ministry of Commerce, the anti-corruption commission and the Bangladesh Bank where evidence of at least eight types of irregularities was found, with provisions for the imprisonment of seven years for such offence.
After receiving countless complaints from unsatisfied customers, BRAC Bank, Bank Asia and Dhaka Bank Ltd proceeded to temporarily suspend card transactions made with 10 e-commerce sites, including Evaly.
The Ministry of Commerce decided to introduce legislation regarding e-commerce market policies. Advanced payments made to the e-commerce merchants will be kept in the Bangladesh Bank, which will only be provided to the merchants or platforms after the customers receive their products. This protects buyer-seller contracts, ensuring satisfactory customer service and the overall wellbeing of the e-commerce market.
From the beginning of the early 1800s, a three-wheeler known as RICKSHAW is a popular meansof transport. Over the decades, rickshaws stood out as a representation of the South-Asian culture, lifestyle and soon, became part of an economical entity.
Innovation and convenience gave rise to the modified transport called Battery-Driven Rickshaws.The number of batter-driven rickshaws have exponentially increased in metropolitan cities like Dhaka – in the size of at least thousands.
Unemployed individuals, without sufficient technical skills and slight physical disabilities found jobs with these vehicles. These rickshaws, unlike the traditional ones operate in high speed, without much effort, the low fare just added to the popularity of these rickshaws.
Even though, it brought convenience and inclusivity, in terms of employment – these rickshaws also had a massive drawback. They gave rise to high levels of traffic, and heightened pollution rates.
Battery-run rickshaws were also suspected to be fatal to life, as they recorded multiple accidents.
The vehicle’s poor braking system on the front wheel and high centre of gravity allowed it to brake inadequately and often times, the entire rickshaw toppled over during turning. All of these meant that the vehicle did hold a lot of risk for its passengers
Battery-run rickshaws did open a lot of doors for people, however it came with a lot of unfortunate incidents too. Thus after taking into account the incidents that unfolded, the Home Minister of Bangladesh, Asaduzzaman Khan announced a ban on battery-run rickshaws on June 20th 2021 due to safety concerns and traffic congestion.
He said
“These vehicles are plying in different cities and this is a concern for the government,”
According to many people, a new improved design of the rickshaw could have been the answer to the problems, and not banning.
Will Harmony OS (operating system) be the 3rd major smartphone operating system? Will all Chinese branded smartphones run on Harmony OS soon? Will it be better than iOS or Android? Will Harmony OS help Huawei retain their lost market share?
All these questions have been asked for quite some time now, yet Huawei has been vague when it came to answering these questions publicly. Why have they kept consumers and tech enthusiasts in the dark like that? Your guess is as good as mine.
On 1st July 2021, Huawei announced that Harmony OS shall be coming to over 100 phones, tablets, smartwatches, and more devices without specifying what devices will be running this new OS. This is indeed a new OS developed by Huawei and has its own microkernel and is advertised to be open source. Huawei claims Harmony OS shall run on smart devices by Huawei somewhat like Apple’s Homekit which essentially allows users to control devices such as speakers, fans, home and room lighting via Bluetooth or NFC from a consumer’s phone and other smart devices.
The interesting factor is, all existing Huawei phones, tablets, smartwatch and any other smart devices shall run on Harmony OS in the near future. But Huawei’s phones and tablets are currently running on android at the moment and are dependant on the android OS kernel(s). Huawei’s smartwatch line isrunning their own lite OS and their other devices are running their own forked out software. So, essentially Huawei has just suddenly decided to call whatever OS their devices were running on to be running on Harmony OS for their next software update. This exposition does not make sense because essentially, Huawei is just running their devices on their old OS but has now just rebranded them under the umbrella OS name of Harmony OS.
So then, is Harmony OS just a gimmick? Not really. If your home has smart devices by Huawei such as Televisions, Refrigerators, Microwave ovens, Smart Speakers, smart led lights, etc, it should make connecting to them via your Huawei or tablet phone more seamless just like Apple devices connect to Apple’s Airpods instantly once you open the airpod’s case instantaneously for example. Or at least, that is the concept Huawei is trying to sell to consumers.
Under the hood, Huawei is focusing on what they call the “DSoftbus” technology who’s goal is to connect multiple devices into one network which will allow the user to use one device to control the others and it is advertised that the data sharing and between them should be faster and smooter.
Regarding Huawei phones and tablets running Harmony OS, they are still running on the android platform. Huawei currently runs a custom skin called EMUI on top of the android versions made by Google which adds a lot of features which Google’s own stock android OS or as we know it, Vanilla android. Other brands such as Xiaomi does the same with their MIUI or Samsung with their One UI. The difference here is that Huawei is moving more and more away from stock android which Google makes, and is looking more and more different after every iteration update. This is not exactly a bad thing as it sets apart Huawei from for example a stock android phone like Pixel or Nokia whose software are designed by Google and those brands make little changes to them. This may look like Huawei is fooling all of us by trying to sell Harmony OS as a new revolutionary operating system while on the inside it’s just another custom version of android but who knows, maybe in the future they might actually come up with an OS of their own.
The encouraging thing about Harmony OS is, other Chinese brands which manufacture phones are also testing Harmony OS on their phones to test how it performs, kind of like in a beta testing phase. If that works out, maybe someday Chinese brands will all release phones running Harmony OS instead of android. This has huge potential for the Chinese smartphone market as it is still the biggest smartphone market in the world right now where Huawei still dominates the market with the biggest percentage of the consumer smartphones as per counterpointresearch.com where it was reported Huawei, in 2020 held around 40% of the market share in the first 3 quarters of 2020, and 30% in the last quarter.
Another point to note is the fact that what Harmony OS is trying to achieve here is not new. Apple already is trying this out with their Apple Homekit, Samsung has their Samsung Smart Home and Xiaomi has the option for this too with their MI Home app which allows it to control all Xiaomi gadgets and appliances from the user’s phone via Bluetooth or NFC. All of them tries to provide consumers a seamless smart home experience by allowing them to control smart home devices.
In conclusion then, no Harmony OS is not a new revolutionary OS as Huawei hyped it out to be. They are still dependant on the android platform quite heavily and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future as easter eggs show Huawei will be updating existing devise which are eligible to the Android 12 version coming soon. The only new difference in Harmony OS over EMUI are in visual changes and the name changing. Will this help Huawei win back their lost glory and the huge loss they suffered by having to sell their sub-brand Honor? Only time will tell, but for now, from a consumer standpoint, Harmony OS does not bring enough to the table to be considered something revolutionary (yet).
In a world filled with creativity and productivity, freelancing has opened up a wide window for enthusiasts who want to lead a life out of the box. In Bangladesh where the job market is so saturated, freelancing has raised numerous opportunities for the youths of the country. The top future-proof freelancing skills are apprehended in the following.
Website development: This freelance skill will surf up the waves of demand, both in the present and in the future. As organisations and entrepreneurs are shifting their paradigm towards online-oriented business strategies, website development is at the top of freelancing skills. Not to mention the aspects uprising of COVID-19 which initiated e-commerce more than ever in Bangladesh.
Data engineering: Data engineers focus on the applications and harvesting of big data. Creating mechanisms for collecting and validating data is the responsibility of a data engineer. They are hands-on information processing professionals with tasks that range from data storage to data manipulation. Data engineering has been the leading factor behind the growth of many ventures that have found success in recent years and sooner or later Bangladesh will have to walk the same path.
Social media specialisation: Social media is the best place to grow and extend the consumer base for digital businesses. A specialist who can correspond to the growth of the business in social platforms can build up an infrastructure for the new ventures.
Creative writing: Every business in Bangladesh thrives to have some qualifiedindividuals who can back up the digital contents, website, and articles that are publishedfrom the organisation to be top-notched. That’s when a creative writer comes to play.Writing articles, blogs, news and contents about the products and services in an appealing way is the goal of every creative writer.
Expertise in Cybersecurity: As businesses are emerging from left and right in the digital platform,like the traditional form of businesses, digital businesses also need a wall of protectionfrom extremities. That’s why cyber-security planted a stronghold in the freelancingmarket.
In the recent conflict between Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and Hamas over a “rocket war”, the true victims out of this conflict were innocent civilians and children mainly. As reported by the BBC, the fighting lasted for 11 days before both parties to the conflict engaged in talks resulting in a ceasefire.
Gaza’s health ministry reported that at the least 243 people has been killed by IDF airstrikes, this number includes at least 100 women and children. The IDF claimed it has killed 225 Hamas “militants” in these 11 days. Meanwhile, Hamas has declined to give any data on the number of casualties they suffered. In stark contrast, during the same 11 days, the Times of Israel reported that Israel bore the brunt of a total of 1,300 rocket attacks by Hamas and Israel’s Medical services reported that these rocket attacks caused 12 casualties in addition to further damage to social infrastructure.
What is behind Israel’s low casualty rate? 1,300 rocket attacks over a period of 11 days in theory would have done far more damage to any other nation than what Israel suffered. This is all due to Israel’s much hyped “Iron Dome” system which neutralised 90% of the rocket attacks by Hamas in this conflict which is no easy task given these rocket attacks focus more in saturating the Iron Dome System with sheer number of rockets to the Iron Dome System cannot neutralise all the rockets from hitting their targets. In the recent conflict, out of the 1,300 rockets fired, only 200 managed to land in Southern Israel. In this article, I shall attempt to explain the mechanism behind the Iron Dome System and how it operates.
An interesting point I would live to draw to the reader’s attention is the fact that many of these rockets fired at Southern Israel by Hamas are quite primitive in design with unreliable guidance systems, some being as small as 90 centimetres. So, more often than now, neither Hamas or the IDF has any clue where these rockets will exactly land. These rockets may hit a populated market, a hospital, explode mid-air or even land in a farmland.
This is exactly where the Iron Dome System comes in to take out as many of these rockets as possible to reduce civilian casualties and infrastructure and economic damage to the Israeli state. This even poses a risk to the residents of Gaza itself as it has been observed that about 200 rockets in the recent conflict risked landing and exploding inside Gaza itself due to their primitive design and unskilled personnel manning these rocket batteries.
The Iron Dome System, affectionately called as the shield that defends Israel is truly a modern 21st Century engineering marvel in the defence industry. To keep it simple, this systems are divided and organised as “Battery Clusters” which includes the operating personnel, radars and an interceptor missile launcher. Currently, Israel has 10 batteries in service around their major cities and populated areas. Israel plans to increase this number to 15 in the future.
First step of the Iron Dome System is to detect incoming rockets by use of their radars which are constantly scanning the skies for incoming threats. In the second step, the command centre determines the size, trajectory, and possible place the incoming rocket might land at. And finally, one of the 10 Iron Dome missile battery shall launch an “interceptor missile” in response to the incoming threat which is essentially a rocket launched to destroy the incoming rocket in a hope to destroy it mid-air.
The feature that makes the IDF’s Iron Dome System stand out is the fact it is one of the few missile defence interceptor systems right now that can specifically counter the threat of short-range rockets and missiles. This is something that even the more costly and much hyped Patriot Missile Defence System which the defence forces of the USA and their other NATO allies rely upon are not capable of handling.
In conclusion, the Iron Dome not only intercepts 90% of the rockets fired by militants at Israeli occupied lands, but additionally it does buy crucial additional time for the residents of their land to run to and reach their designated bomb shelters as the Iron Dome tries to delay the other 10% of the rockets from reaching their targets which has proven invaluable not only saving lives but also reducing economic and infrastructure damage to civilian majority areas.
Amazon, one of the world’s most influential tech giants recently acquired Business Identification Number (BIN) from the National Board of Revenue (NBR) in Bangladesh.
Around the same time, Google obtained BIN as well. This is the first-time non-residential companies registered for BIN in this country.
This news was met with a lot of excitement, especially when people thought Amazon was bringing their e-commerce services. Much to their dismay, no such thing is happening. The move was just to ensure business continuity of their AWS (Amazon Web Services).
AWS is a secure cloud services platform of Amazon offering multiple services including compute power, data processing. It is trusted by many firms, as it saves their time, money and potential. The use of AWS is not only limited to firms, people using subscriptions of google drive and google cloud also use this.
Amazon and other tech giants earn around Tk3000 crore in Bangladesh from these services of AWS. Until now, payment for this by Bangladeshi customers used to be done by international credit cards.
However, there are allegations that many use illegal channels for this, which is not compliant with NBR regulations.
Getting BIN means, now the payment of the services can be done by cards of any Bangladeshi bank or Mobile Bank, without any need of currency exchange. However, with every payment 15% VAT will be charged and the money from the VAT will go to the government reserve.
Upon asking on whether this move will change the way in which Amazon works in Bangladesh, the VAT online project director said “Amazon will continue in the same way as before, but the process will now be compliant with regulations “
According to industry experts, in the near future Amazon doesn’t have any plans of bringing their e-commerce services to Bangladesh. The registration was done to ensure business continuity of their AWS.
More commonly recognized as Black Fungus, Mucormycosis is a rare condition of fungal infection, surfacing among recovered or recovering COVID-19 patients. Originally caused by moulds formed in decaying organic compounds, it is labelled as a non-contagious infection but is potentially fatal.
How does it spread?
The infection spreads from airways to body tissues, causing necrosis of skin cells (blackening). Coronavirus, Diabetes, poor immune system, liver or cardiac defects, excessive use of steroids amplifies chances of being infected. Dirty oxygen cylinders, humidifiers and unsanitary conditions contribute to the accelerated growth of the number of cases, experts say.
India is currently facing the worst phase of COVID-19 as the second wave circulated. The given circumstances of diabetic patients, unhygienic medical equipment and lower oxygen concentrations create an ideal habitat to be infected by the fatal disease. 900,000 cases of Black Fungus have been recorded in India, with an alarming 50% fatality rate.
QUAD (The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) is an informal strategic dialogue between the USA, Japan, Australia and India.
The idea for the QUAD Group is attributed to former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who mooted it in 2007.
However, its origins can be traced back to the 2004 Tsunami when Japan, the US and Australia conducted the relief operation in India and its neighbouring countries.
It came into being presumably as an indirect response to China’s growing economic and military might in the South China Sea. Thus China issued formal diplomatic protests to the members of the QUAD
Due to which Australia backed out from the QUAD followed by an intermission of QUAD.
Currently, QUAD members see the informal alliance as a vision for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific maritime navigation.QUAD aims for a maritime goal of upholding international maritime laws in China’s maritime borders.
However, the QUAD was reinstated in 2017 by the Trump administration and Prime Minister Abe which was regarded as a response to China’s belt and road initiative.
It also has economic cooperation goals, especially during natural disasters and handling the current Covid-19 pandemic by producing the vaccine.
On the other hand, China has responded diplomatically warning other nation’s not to join the QUAD alliance as QUAD plus one member.
Dark requires none; it exists on its’ own, surviving and thriving on deceit and other’s ignorance. However, light does not exist alone, it is present in hearts even in the darkest of days, and it symbolizes empathy and a way out, as every living being anxiously waits for light.
If you are stuck home during this Eid, allow yourself to experience the new hit Netflix show, which has a mixture of action, adventure, character depth, dark world building, deep rooted drama story, with bits of comedy and light tones as well.
The Netflix series Shadow and Bone revolve around the time-honoured theme where there is the light of hope and the Shadow Fold, a vicious, malevolent passage separating the East and West Ravka. The passage is full of horrifying, blood-thirsty creatures called volcras. Shadow and Bone is a fantasy story based on the mythical land of Ravka, where people with magical powers named Grisha exist.
The protagonist Alina grows up in an orphanage in East Ravka while living as an average human without powers with only her best friend Mal is her only support there. Things take a turn after she accidentally discovers that she is not just an ordinary human. After the fated incident, Alina has to come to terms with who she is and deal with entering a whole new world to find the mysteries of the Fold.
Meanwhile, on the west side of the Fold, in Ketterdam, there are people called the Crows (Kaz, Jesper and Inej) -a group of thieves, assassin and a spy, who are out to secure a job that would give them immense wealth to last them a lifetime. They later find the job has a close connection to the Shadow Fold as well.
The show indeed succeeded in building up the suspense in every episode and keeping viewers captivated for what’s about to follow next. The thrilling plot leaves viewers wary of every character and in constant conflicts on which side to pick.
Conventionally, when the genre is fantasy, we don’t expect reality or relatability, but Shadow and Bone undoubtedly brings everything into the mix.
The show finds many women on their journey of empowerment, Alina, as she learns that she needs to become an entirely different person, Inej, who makes up her mind to do what she wants to do and not just follow Kaz. Even though we have a lot of series in this particular field, the unique aspect about Shadow and Bone is that it takes a step-by-step approach, making it believable and inspiring the viewers to go on their journey of empowerment with the belief that it is possible.
Shadow and Bone also manages to portray the significance money hold for people in different classes of society. For one person, having money meant freedom from a life she was forced to live, and for another, a life where he could fulfil his every desire. Some glimpses of class struggle are vaguely shown in the show when we see people in the lower socio-economic hierarchy being frustrated at the upper class for not giving them equal respect. The cracks of modern-day progressive society are also present in the show. Even though society should be equal for everyone in the status quo, we still see powerful people preying on vulnerable ones as they don’t answer to anyone. Shadow and Bone give us an escape from the stressful lives that we lead and urges us to think about the social issues that plague our lives, touching on topics that are sometimes considered taboo.
Through the mixed heritage of Alina, the series manifests the alienation that people with cross-cultural identities experience. A sense of helplessness and the value of freedom is also expressed in the show through the plight of a character who was a victim of human trafficking. This show offers a bit of respite for anyone who may feel similar, empathizes with them, and presents a way out. The show did have some romance, showing how complicated feelings can lead to complex relationships and chemistries between different people. This is something Netflix seems to be doing quite often recently. Jesper’s sexuality as a queer person was revealed in the show, but the showrunners didn’t expand on it. Overall, romance lovers may be a bit disappointed, but season 2 promises to have a fair share, expanding on the chemistry introduced with the characters.
One of the fantastic things about this show was that every character had a story to tell. Be it Genya, the Grisha tailor who could wipe out every ugly scar except the ones in her life, and Zoya – the Grisha who pined for a person for years but didn’t hesitate to go against him when her conscience told her to. With the multitude of character development and character story the show never gets monotonous, as the viewer discovers new gripping details all the time.
The show has the optimum amount of edge-of-your-seat moments and just enough reality to keep viewers delighted but not overwhelmed. Thus, even if you absolutely detest an imaginary world, watch this show as a touch of truth will keep you hooked, and who knows, you may even start to like fantasy!
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