Author: Asian Bangla

(For Professor Fakrul Alam: A Belated Birthday Wish) T. S. Marin (This is for Professor Fakrul Alam: A Belated Birthday Wish) Sir: What is that book you are reading? Me: It is this sweetest fantasy novel — by a very famous German author… Sir: Aah! Marin and her fantasies! Me: (aside) What are you saying, sir? I nearly fell off my unicorn! I Before I begin fan-girling over my Fairy Godfather, to quench the curious bibliophiles (like yours truly), the book I had been carrying around that day was Cornelia Funke’s The Griffin’s Feather! Now, without further ado, I must…

Sohana Manzoor Lina slumped into the chair as Chameli left her room. She did not know how to tell her mother that she did not like to visit Reba Auntie’s house. Reba Auntie was her mother’s best friend and Lina had been visiting her old fashioned house with a delightful orchard since childhood. It had not been such a big problem when Lina was a tiny tot, in fact it was a welcome thought to her child’s heart. But lately it had become a source of tremendous discomfort and terror. Lina’s mother had been planning on a whole day retreat…

Asianbangla Desk :The 77th death anniversary of the Bard of Bengal Rabindranath Tagore is being observed on Monday. Different organisations are holding many programmes while television channels are airing special productions based on Rabindranath Tagore’s works. Bangla Academy will hold a solo lecture and a cultural function at Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad auditorium on the academy premises at 4pm. Besides, Shilpakala Academy, Shishu Academy and different government and non-government institutions and cultural organisations have drawn up various programmes marking the day. Tagore was a poet, visual artist, playwright, novelist, as well as a composer whose works reshaped Bangla literature and…

Asianbangla Desk: Russian hackers who penetrated hundreds of U.S. utilities, manufacturing plants and other facilities last year gained access by using the most conventional of phishing tools, tricking staffers into entering passwords, officials say. The Russians targeted mostly the energy sector but also nuclear, aviation and critical manufacturing, Jonathan Homer, head of Homeland Security’s industrial control system analysis, said during a briefing Wednesday. They had the capability to cause mass blackouts, but chose not to, and there was no threat the grid would go down, the officials said. Instead, the hackers appeared more focused on reconnaissance. The 2017 attack prompted a…

Asianbangla Desk :Rescue teams search for victims in the rubble caused by an earthquake at a Mosque in North Lombok, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 6, 2018. Lading-Lading, Aug 7 (AP/UNB) — Indonesian soldiers have pulled a man alive from the rubble of a large mosque flattened by an earthquake, while thousands of homeless locals wait for aid and stranded tourists camp at beaches and in the lobbies of damaged hotels. The north of the island of Lombok has been devastated by the magnitude 7.0 quake that struck Sunday night and rescuers are faced with thousands of damaged buildings while still struggling…

Asianbangla Desk :Twin Northern California blazes fueled by dry vegetation and hot, windy weather grew Monday to become the largest wildfire in state history, becoming the norm as climate change makes the fire season longer and more severe. The two fires burning a few miles apart and known as the Mendocino Complex are being treated as one incident. It has scorched 283,800 acres (443.4 square miles or 1,148.4 square kilometers), fire officials said Monday. The fires, north of San Francisco, have burned 75 homes and is only 30 percent contained. The size of the fires surpasses a blaze last December…

Asianbangla Desk : Iran said yesterday the United States was “isolated” in its hostility to the Islamic republic, as it braced for the return of sanctions against a backdrop of political turmoil inside the country. “Of course, American bullying and political pressures may cause some disruption, but the fact is that in the current world, America is isolated,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. Washington is set to reimpose sanctions on Iran today following President Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal in May — a move opposed by all…

Asianbangla Desk : The earthquake that rattled Indonesia on Sunday is one of many deadly quakes to strike the vast archipelago nation since 2004. Here is a recap. Indonesian rescue personnel work on a collapsed mosque in North Lombok yesterday, the day after a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the area. Photo: AFP Source: AFP – 2004 – On December 26 a massive earthquake measuring 9.1 on the open-ended Richter scale strikes off the coast of Sumatra and triggers a tsunami that kills 220,000 throughout the region, 168,000 in Indonesia alone. It is the world’s third biggest quake since 1900, and…

Asianbangla, Dinajpur: The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) seized necessary documents of the Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited (BCMCL) yesterday. During a visit to the site, a two-member team, which arrived here on Sunday afternoon, seized the documents. Kazi Shafiqul Alam, a director of ACC and supervisor of another three-member probe body investigating the coal scam, led the team. Shamsul Alam, deputy director, was the other visiting member. They talked with all the officials of different tiers of BCMCL who have been working at the mine, Kazi Shafiqul Alam told reporters at the mine site. They also visited the 17-acre coal yard,…

Asianbangla, Dhaka : It is heartening to see police checking documents of vehicles on the streets as part of their announced Traffic Week that began across the country on Sunday.” It is inspiring that they are doing the job with sincerity. And it is more so because of the slogan that the police have used this time: “Traffic discipline is a symbol of a civilised nation [ ট্রাফিক শৃঙ্খলা একটি জাতির সভ্যতার প্রতীক]”. All these are what the country needs today to check thousands of unnecessary and avoidable deaths on roads and numerous mutilations and injuries. But may we ask a…