After a few days of sweltering heat, there is a sudden rain in Dhaka. Gusty winds have been blowing with relief rains in different parts of the capital since 3 pm on Tuesday. Although the sudden rain brought relief to the public life, the pedestrians on the road suffered a bit. The sky was cloudy from 3 p.m. on Tuesday (April 16). Black clouds enveloped many parts of the capital. Half an hour later, it started raining in many places. Earlier, the Meteorological Department forecast storms with a speed of 80 kmph over five regions of the country including Dhaka. Meanwhile, rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary west or northwesterly gusty or squally wind speed 60-80 kph is likely to occur over the regions of Rajshahi, Dhaka, Faridpur, Kushtia and Comilla wherein riverports shall hoist cautionary signal no one, said a Met office bulletin issued this morning. River ports in these areas have been advised to keep hoisted Naval Warning Signal No 2. River ports in these areas have been advised to keep hoisted Naval Warning Signal No 2.

More than 20 lakh mobile phone SIM holders have left the capital in the last two days. This information has been found in the sources of mobile phone operators. Each SIM card has a code known as an IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) which uniquely identifies the SIM card itself. SIM holders are meant to be different people (unique user). They may be accompanied by elderly men, women and children, who do not use cell phones. As a result, it is difficult to get an estimate of how many people have actually left Dhaka. According to some sources, more than 20 lakh mobile SIM holders left Dhaka on April 6 and 7. At this time, more than 9.5 lakh SIM holders have entered Dhaka from different districts.  

Eid shopping has started in different markets of the capital. On the 7th day of Ramadan, crowds were seen in different markets including New Market, Gausia Market, Chandni Chowk, Mouchak Market, Eastern Plaza, Fortune Market, Bailey Road on Sunday (March 17) afternoon. Many brought their families. Eid shopping is being done in advance to avoid extra crowds. They are happy with their favorite product. However, buyers complain that the price of clothing is comparatively high. On the other hand, the sellers are expecting good sales on Eid after seeing such a crowd of buyers at the beginning of Ramadan. Junayat Hossain has been doing business in Mouchak Market for about eight years. He told Rtv News that business has not been good in the last few years due to various reasons including corona. Sales have been fairly good since the beginning of Ramadan. Sohrab, a businessman of New Market, said, "This time we have picked up some different designs keeping the demand of the buyers. There is a crowd of buyers at the beginning of Ramadan. We are very hopeful about sales this time.

Three more hospitals in the capital have been declared closed on the second day of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Of those, two are situated in Mohammadpur and one in Uttara. Two teams of the Directorate General of Health Services conducted a drive against illegal hospitals and diagnostic centres in the capital on Wednesday (February 28). DGHS Director (hospital and clinic) Dr Abu Hossain Mainul Ahsan confirmed the matter to the reporters. According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), a total of nine hospitals and diagnostic centres have been closed in the last two days during the ongoing drive.   

A huge gas blast in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, has killed at least three people and injured nearly 300. A lorry carrying gas exploded in Embakasi district at about 23:30 (20:30 GMT), "igniting a huge ball of fire", a government spokesperson said. Housing, businesses and cars were damaged, with video showing a huge blaze raging close to blocks of flats.   Earlier, the government had said the blast happened at a gas plant. The cause is still being established. Embakasi police chief Wesley Kimeto said a child was among those who died in the explosion, adding that the death toll could rise. The Kenya Red Cross said it had taken 271 people to hospital and treated 27 others on site.   The fireball from the blast had "spread widely", according to Isaac Mwaura Mwaura, the government spokesman, and a flying gas cylinder had hit a garments and textiles warehouse, burning it down. "The inferno further damaged several vehicles and commercial properties, including many small and medium sized businesses," he said in a statement. "Sadly, residential houses in the neighbourhood also caught fire, with a good number of residents still inside, as it was late at night." Witnesses told local media they had felt tremors immediately after the blast. Many of the injured are said to have inhalation injuries and they include at least 25 children, the Standard newspaper reports. One of those hurt, Boniface Sifuna, described what had happened to Reuters news agency: "I got burnt by an exploding gas canister as I was trying to escape," he said. "It exploded right in front of me and the impact knocked me down and the flames engulfed me. I am lucky that I was strong enough to get away." James Ngoge, who lives across the street from where the blast happened, told the AFP news agency that he was in his house at the time and "heard a huge explosion". "It felt like it was going to collapse. At first, we didn't even know what was happening, it was like an earthquake. "I have a business on the road that was completely destroyed."   A journalist for the Nation newspaper living in the area said everyone had left their houses after the blast. The Kenya Red Cross said on social media that crews had been "tirelessly battling the flames". Government spokesman Mr Mwaura said the blast scene had been secured and a command centre had been set up to help co-ordinate rescue operations. "Kenyans are hereby advised to keep off the cordoned area in order to allow the rescue mission to be carried out [with] minimal disruptions," he added. Source: BBC

Papua New Guinea has mobilized security forces after nationwide looting and violence. High employment and the rising cost of living has sparked frustration in the South Pacific nation. Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape declared a two-week state of emergency in capital Port Moresby on Thursday after widespread looting left at least 15 dead in the country. The prime minister's order states that more than 1,000 security personnel were on standby to "step in wherever necessary." Marape earlier Thursday said at a news conference that Port Moresby was "under stress and duress." At least 180 defense personnel were deployed after violence on Wednesday, according to earlier reports. "(The) situation report as of this morning shows tension in the city has subsided," Marape said at the news conference. “Police were not at work yesterday in the city and people resorted to lawlessness — not all people, but in certain segments of our city,” Marape said.   Riots set cities alight Violence erupted in Port Moresby on Wednesday after hundreds of police officers, soldiers, prison staff and public servants walked off their jobs in protest over a pay dispute.  Shops were looted and warehouses set alight in the capital, with similar rioting also reported in the country's second-biggest city of Lae. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that unrest had killed at least 15 people in Port Moresby and Lae. Many shops and banking services remain closed as business owners repaired damage. The Papua New Guinea government attributed the pay cut to an administrative glitch.   Tensions in the country have risen amid high unemployment and increased living costs. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appealed for calm. He said his government had not received any requests for help from its closest neighbor. Papua New Guinea, a country of 10 million, is the most populous South Pacific nation after Australia.

Arsonists torched two buses in the capital's Mirpur and Gulistan tonight, on the eve of BNP's dawn to dusk blockade. A parked bus of Trust Transport Services was set on fire around 10:30pm in front of Farmers Bank, Mirpur 13, said Kafrul Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Farukul Alam. On information, two fire engines went to the spot and brought the fire under control at 10:52pm, said Ahsan Habib, duty officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence control room. In Gulistan, a bus of Rajanigandha Paribahan was set on fire beside Gulistan toll plaza around 9:15pm. Two fire engines of Siddique Bazar Fire Station rushed to the spot and doused the blaze around 9:27pm, said Rashid Bin Khaled, duty officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence control room. There were no reports of casualties in the fires.

Three buses were set to fire at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram and Mohammadpur and Demra on Sunday morning amid BNP’s countrywide hartal.   According to the bus driver and passengers, the bus of “Shikor Paribahan” was set on fire around 8:56am in front of the south gate of Baitul Mukarram. Around 6am, another bus of “Swadhin Paribahan” was torched in Mohammadpur’s Bosila road bus stand area.  Besides this, a helper of a bus was burned to death and its driver was injured as miscreants set a bus of "Wasim Paribahan" on fire in Demra on early Sunday. 

The air quality of densely populated Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka continued to be in the 'unhealthy' zone with an AQI index of 183 at 9:45 am this morning.  Air quality index between 151 and 200 is considered as 'unhealthy' while 201-300 is 'very unhealthy', and 301-400 is considered 'hazardous', posing severe health risks to residents. According to UNB, Indonesia's Jakarta and India's Mumbai and Kolkata are second, third and fourth on the list with AQI scores of 169, 166 and 165 respectively. Air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, mainly due to increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections.

The earthquake was felt in the surrounding areas including the capital. On Friday, May 5, the earthquake was felt at 5.57 am.  No initial damage was reported. Bangladesh Meteorological Department said, "A magnitude of 4.3 earthquake was felt in the capital on Friday morning. Its origin was in the capital's Dohar area. According to United States Geological Survey (USGS), the magnitude of the earthquake was 4.3 on the Richter scale. The place of origin is the Dohar area of capital Dhaka. Most of the people in the capital were sleeping at that time.  However, many people woke up after that and started running here and there. Many people came down from the high-rise building, some panic also spread among them.