Latest news with #Chittagong
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Yahoo
Leopard attack clip shot in India, not Bangladesh
"Human fight with leopard at Lakshmipur brick kiln," reads a Bengali-language Facebook post from June 28, 2025, referring to a coastal district in Bangladesh's Chittagong division (archived link). The accompanying clip shows a man arm-wrestling a big cat while a crowd hurls stones and bricks from a distance. The video circulated with similar claims elsewhere on Facebook after a leopard was spotted in Chittagong Hill Tracts, raising hopes among conservationists (archived link). Leopards are listed as vulnerable as a species globally, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but critically endangered in the South Asian country of more than 170 million people, warning its population may no longer be viable. Previous reports of the elusive cats had been based on paw prints and fleeting sightings in the forest, according to a zoologist Monirul Khan from Jahangirnagar University. A reverse search of keyframes on Google found the video in a report from Indian news outlet NDTV on June 25, 2025 (archived link). "Man fights leopard bare-handed in Lakhimpur Kheri," the clip's text overlay says, referring to district in India's Uttar Pradesh megastate that has a similar-sounding name to Lakshmipur in Bangladesh. People in the video are heard shouting in Hindi. Several Indian media organisations reported the incident and featured similar visuals (archived here and here). An officer at Uttar Pradesh's forest department confirmed the incident occurred in Lakhimpur Kheri, in a brick kiln in Baburi village. "Villagers alerted the forest department, leading to the leopard's swift tranquilisation and transfer to forest department's treatment centre," forest ranger Rajesh Dixit told AFP on July 8. "Some forest officials also sustained injuries during this operation."
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Yahoo
Leopard attack clip shot in India, not Bangladesh
"Human fight with leopard at Lakshmipur brick kiln," reads a Bengali-language Facebook post from June 28, 2025, referring to a coastal district in Bangladesh's Chittagong division (archived link). The accompanying clip shows a man arm-wrestling a big cat while a crowd hurls stones and bricks from a distance. The video circulated with similar claims elsewhere on Facebook after a leopard was spotted in Chittagong Hill Tracts, raising hopes among conservationists (archived link). Leopards are listed as vulnerable as a species globally, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but critically endangered in the South Asian country of more than 170 million people, warning its population may no longer be viable. Previous reports of the elusive cats had been based on paw prints and fleeting sightings in the forest, according to a zoologist Monirul Khan from Jahangirnagar University. A reverse search of keyframes on Google found the video in a report from Indian news outlet NDTV on June 25, 2025 (archived link). "Man fights leopard bare-handed in Lakhimpur Kheri," the clip's text overlay says, referring to district in India's Uttar Pradesh megastate that has a similar-sounding name to Lakshmipur in Bangladesh. People in the video are heard shouting in Hindi. Several Indian media organisations reported the incident and featured similar visuals (archived here and here). An officer at Uttar Pradesh's forest department confirmed the incident occurred in Lakhimpur Kheri, in a brick kiln in Baburi village. "Villagers alerted the forest department, leading to the leopard's swift tranquilisation and transfer to forest department's treatment centre," forest ranger Rajesh Dixit told AFP on July 8. "Some forest officials also sustained injuries during this operation."
Arab News
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
‘Bay of Bengal live': Bangladeshi fishermen go viral showing life at sea
DHAKA: When Shahid Sardar started his Facebook page four years ago, he wanted to share his experience aboard a fishing boat. He did not expect the millions of views he would soon attract as he tapped into a content niche that is rapidly gaining popularity among Bangladeshis: life at sea. Sardar, 35, lives with his wife and son in the coastal Chittagong district in south-eastern Bangladesh. He started to work as a fisherman in 2013, after leaving a job at a hospital canteen in the capital, Dhaka. As the chief cook on a vessel with a 50-member crew, Sardar sails across the Bay of Bengal on month-long voyages in search of fish. When his videos documenting deep-sea fishing methods and daily life on the boat began gaining traction, he expanded his content to show various marine species found in Bangladeshi waters — many of which are not widely known. 'I think people generally enjoy fish, especially the kinds caught at sea, which are not usually found in local markets,' Sardar told Arab News. 'The beauty of the deep sea also draws people to my videos. For most viewers, these sights are rare and unfamiliar. They don't have this experience themselves.' Posting as BD Fisherman on Facebook, he has more than 360,000 followers. His other account, Fisherman Shahid, has another 240,000. When two of his videos went viral in December 2023, Facebook approved monetization for his page. 'My first video that went viral showed a bulk of yellowfin tuna and some shrimp. The fish were just dropped on the deck ... it was the rainy season. People liked that video a lot. Within 24 hours, it got 3 million views,' he said. 'As I started receiving some money from the videos, I became more motivated to keep uploading and people started liking my videos more and more.' He now earns an average of about $500 a month from his two pages. That is in addition to his salary of $120 per voyage, plus bonuses based on the catch — about 60 cents per tonne of fish sold in the market. 'In my locality, everyone knows me as Fisherman Shahid. Wherever I go, people come to me just to know how they can earn through making videos and posting them on social media platforms,' Sardar said. 'Recently, the friends of my 7th-grader son also visited my home to learn about my video making.' While for fellow fishers, Sardar's content has been an inspiration to start their own pages, for some other followers, like Zaved Ahmed, a Bangladeshi migrant worker in Saudi Arabia, watching his videos is a reminder of his own roots. 'I was born in Cox's Bazar, a coastal area of Bangladesh, and fishing was our family's profession. Since 2023, I have been living in Jeddah, which is on the coast of the Red Sea. It seems that sea life is something in my blood. That's why I love watching Sardar's videos,' he said. 'Whenever I watch his videos, my mind travels to the sea with the fishing boat, as if I were experiencing it with my own eyes.' But most of those who follow Sardar and other fishermen-influencers have never experienced life at sea. Watching it on their mobile or laptop screens helps them connect with the sector that each year contributes about 3.5 percent to Bangladesh's GDP and is the main source of animal protein in the Bangladeshi diet. 'I think most people generally love the sea, but they don't have the opportunity to witness the mysteries of the deep sea,' said Karimul Maola, a follower of Sardar from Chittagong. 'Through Sardar's videos, I've learned about many seafish that were previously unknown to me. Also, his videos have given me some idea about how a fishing vessel normally operates — something most people don't know about.' There is a similar sentiment among the followers of other Bangladeshi fishermen who have shot to social media fame. On the page of Ehsanul Haque Shaon, a fisherman who has 172,000 followers on Facebook, one follower says watching his video was 'like the Bay of Bengal live in front of my eyes!' while another says in amazement that watching the content made them realize that 'life is very interesting.' 'How we survive on a boat in the Bay of Bengal,' a video on Fishiib, a YouTube channel focusing on showing the life of fishermen in the Bay of Bengal, has received more than 10 million views in six months. 'I am truly amazed by how these fishermen adapt to life at sea. They face constant challenges like harsh weather and limited resources, yet they find ways to survive and thrive,' one viewer said. 'Their resilience and ability to work together as a community is truly inspiring. It's a glimpse into a way of life that most of us can only imagine.'
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bangladesh's biggest port resumes operations as strike ends
Bangladesh's biggest port resumed operations on Monday after customs officials called off a strike that had disrupted the export and import of goods for around 48 hours. Sehela Siddiqa, Joint Tax Commissioner and secretary of the NBR Reform Unity Council -- a platform of protesting workers -- confirmed the resumption of activities at Chittagong and all other ports. "The ports are now fully functional and operating across the country," Siddiqa told AFP. "All employees have returned to work." A section of employees at the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the country's tax collection authority, has been protesting for over a month against a move by the interim government to reform the agency. The government's proposal includes abolishing the NBR and establishing two separate bodies to handle tax policy formulation and tax collection. Over the weekend, some NBR staff launched what they called a "complete shutdown", stopping work in a range of departments, including customs. The workers resumed duties after the government threatened tough action. The deadlock ended late Sunday night after hours of intensive negotiations between NBR staff and the Ministry of Finance, mediated by business groups. Senior NBR official Hasan Muhammad Tarek Rikabdar said they called off the strike after positive pledges from the government. "We welcome the government's decision to form an advisory committee for reforms in revenue management, and we hope to contribute to the process by actively participating in it," he told reporters on Sunday night. Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched a probe against six NBR officials, including Rikabdar, for allegedly amassing illicit wealth. They were accused of facilitating tax evaders in exchange for bribes. "Based on verified allegations, the ACC initiated the investigation," ACC Director General Md Akhter Hossain said. sa/pjm/dhw
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bangladesh's biggest port resumes operations as strike ends
Bangladesh's biggest port resumed operations on Monday after customs officials called off a strike that had disrupted the export and import of goods for around 48 hours. Sehela Siddiqa, Joint Tax Commissioner and secretary of the NBR Reform Unity Council -- a platform of protesting workers -- confirmed the resumption of activities at Chittagong and all other ports. "The ports are now fully functional and operating across the country," Siddiqa told AFP. "All employees have returned to work." A section of employees at the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the country's tax collection authority, has been protesting for over a month against a move by the interim government to reform the agency. The government's proposal includes abolishing the NBR and establishing two separate bodies to handle tax policy formulation and tax collection. Over the weekend, some NBR staff launched what they called a "complete shutdown", stopping work in a range of departments, including customs. The workers resumed duties after the government threatened tough action. The deadlock ended late Sunday night after hours of intensive negotiations between NBR staff and the Ministry of Finance, mediated by business groups. Senior NBR official Hasan Muhammad Tarek Rikabdar said they called off the strike after positive pledges from the government. "We welcome the government's decision to form an advisory committee for reforms in revenue management, and we hope to contribute to the process by actively participating in it," he told reporters on Sunday night. Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched a probe against six NBR officials, including Rikabdar, for allegedly amassing illicit wealth. They were accused of facilitating tax evaders in exchange for bribes. "Based on verified allegations, the ACC initiated the investigation," ACC Director General Md Akhter Hossain said. sa/pjm/dhw Sign in to access your portfolio
