A two-year-old UAE-based girl with a Pakistani passport has got a new lease of life after undergoing a rare bone marrow transplant in the south Indian state of Kerala. Kulsum, who is an Afghani but holds a Pakistani passport, underwent the procedure at Aster MIMS Hospital, Calicut. According to the healthcare group, this is the first successful bone marrow transplant performed on a child as young as Kulsum. Kulsum was diagnosed with congenital acute myeloid leukaemia. She had undergone four cycles of chemotherapy in Dubai. Her doctors suggested she undergo a bone marrow transplant, but the treatment procedure was not available in Dubai. The family faced multiple obstacles while seeking treatment in India with a Pakistani passport. Though Kulsum's family are Afghanis, her grandparents had come to the UAE decades ago for business. They travelled to the UAE with a Pakistani passport as they could not travel with an Afghani one at that time, according to Aster. Kulsum's father, Mohammed, was born in the UAE and acquired a Pakistani passport. After their travel was facilitated, Kulsum underwent intensive chemotherapy. When her symptoms subsided after her chemo, she underwent a hemopoietic stem cell transplant (bone marrow transplant). Mohammed donated stem cells to his daughter. Dr Azad Moopen, Chairman of Aster DM Healthcare, said: "It is common for foreigners to seek medical treatment in Kerala. However, in this case, despite such complex circumstances, it is an outstanding example of the fact that Kerala's healthcare has gained global attention."

The investigation team has seized the passport of Regent Hospital chairman Shahed Karim alias Md. Shahed. Another 23 cases were traced that were filed against him. With this the number of total cases stands at 56. After the operation of RAB at the Regent Hospital, the investigation team again conducted a drive in the hospital and Regent office based on the information provided by the accused who were put on remand. During the drive passports and other valuable evidences were recovered. RAB Executive Magistrate Sarwar Alam was present in the investigation team. He opened the sealed office. Sarwar Alam said, there were 32 cases against Shahed and after the drive another case was filed. Then complains arose from different sectors. The victims communicated with RAB and police stations. Lastly we could trace another 23 case. In total 56 cases were found filed against him and most of the cases were filed with complains of cheating and forgery. RAB headquarters legal and media wing director Lt. Colonel Ashik Billah said, we are giving our full effort to arrest Shahed. Read In Bangla Version AH      

The authority of Biman Bangladesh Airlines has informed that the reports that were published on different media about detaining and arresting of its pilot Captain Fazal Mahmud at Hamad International Airport in Doha are not true. The information came through a notice signed by Biman General Manager (Public Relations) Shakil Meraz on Friday. The notice said, Captain Fazal Mahmud went to Doha International Airport in Qatar without passport with a flight to bring back the Prime Minister from Finland. At present he is at Hotel Crown Plaza in Doha along with his passport. It said, there was no incident of detaining or arresting the Biman pilot at Doha immigration. In fact there was no incident of detaining or interrogating any pilot. As an Operating Captain Fazal Mahmud directed the BG-125 flight in Dhaka-Chattogram-Doha route on June 5. After landing in Doha he realized that his passport was not along with him. The notice also said, in this situation by not going through immigration he communicated with Biman Station Manager at Doha airport and with Dhaka office. During that period he was at a hotel in the airport. When his passport was sent yesterday he completed the immigration formalities and went to Hotel Crown Plaza selected for the Bangladesh Biman crews. Currently the pilot is in that hotel and according to the decision of Biman authority he will return to Dhaka by operating BG 126 flight from Doha in the night of June 10. AH   

A 4-member probe committee has been formed in connection with the incident of Biman Bangladesh Airlines pilot Fazal Mahmud’s arrival in Qatar without passport. The pilot was on duty to bring back Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the country. The committee was formed on Friday making cabinet division Additional Secretary Nasima Begum as the convener. The information came through a notice signed by cabinet division Senior Assistant Secretary Gazi Tarique Salman. The committee was asked to submit the report within three working days. According to the notice, home ministry public safety division Joint Secretary (Political-1) Md. Jahangir Alam has been made the member secretary of the committee. The other members of the committee are- home ministry’s security services division Joint Secretary (Political-4) Md. Helal Mahmud Sharif and Joint Secretary of civil aviation and tourism ministry Mustakim Billah Faruqi. The committee was directed to investigate the reason behind Captain Fazal Mahmud Chowdhury’s Doha visit without passport, to ascertain the responsible persons for negligence in duty at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and to determine the errors in the methods of activities by the immigration and passport directorate. On Wednesday night Captain Fazal Mahmud reached in Doha International Airport. There the immigration authority stopped him as he did not carry his passport with him. Although on the following day his passport was sent through another Qatar bound flight and he performed his immigration formalities. According to Bangladesh Biman source, Captain Fazal Mahmud went to Qatar on Biman Bangladesh Airlines Boeing 787 aircraft to bring back Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who was in Finland for official visit. The premier will make transit in Qatar while her way to the country. She is scheduled to return home on that aircraft on Saturday morning. AH   

Bangladesh has ranked 97th in the updated Henley Passport Index, gaining three notches up from its previous ranking. With visa-free access to 41 countries, Bangladesh is holding the 97th position jointly with Lebanon, Libya and South Sudan, according to the index released on Wednesday. Reports BSS. As for the neighboring countries, Pakistan ranked 102nd (visa-free access to 33 countries), while India 79th (61 countries), Sri Lanka- 95th (43 countries) and Nepal took the 98th place (40 countries) and Myanmar 90th position with visa-free access to 48 countries. The Henley Passport Index is published since 2006 in cooperation with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest tourist information database. According to the report, the Japanese passport, allowing its holders to visit 190 countries without a visa, leads the ranking, followed by the Singaporean and South Korean passports (189 countries). The Asian nation has come out on top of the index, which is revised quarterly, for the second time in a row. China jumped almost 20 places in just two years, from 85th in 2017 to 69th this year. European countries also performed favorably, with France and Germany filling the third position and Denmark, Italy, Finland and Sweden taking the fourth spot with visa-free access to 187 countries. The United States ranked sixth along with the United Kingdom with visa-free access to 185 countries while Canada ranked seventh. The 10 most powerful passports in the world are Japan (190 countries), Singapore and South Korea (189), France and Germany (188), Denmark, Finland, Italy and Sweden (187) while Luxembourg and Spain (186) on fifth position. The five least powerful passports in the world are Afghanistan and Iraq (30), Somalia and Syria (32), Pakistan (33), Yemen (37) and Eritrea at the bottom with visa-free access to 38 countries. AH

Thousands of Bangladeshis are throng in the Bangladesh Consulate in Dubai and in the Embassy of Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi to get their passports and out passes. The authorities are about to scramble to face the pressure. The situation has turned into this stage after the UAE government offered opportunity to the illegal foreigners to be legalized. Like the many other countries Bangladeshis are residing in the UAE illegally. The government of the country offered impunity for the illegal residents to get legalized from August 1 to October 31. The impunity covers returning to their respective countries in the stipulated timeframe or being legal to live in the UAE. It has created much response among the Bangladeshis living there. The crowd used to gather in Bangladesh embassy in Abu Dhabi and in Bangladesh Consulate General office in Dubai. Ambassador of Bangladesh appointed in Abu Dhabi Mohammad Imran said in this regard, the amnesty of this period is not like other time. Earlier it was asked to leave the country after getting out pass but this time the Emirates government offered opportunity to the expatriates to be legal after obtaining visas while staying in the country. So the pressure is more in the embassy at present. He also said, we are working on to provide passports easily to the Bangladeshis residing here illegally to avail the opportunity. We have relaxed many documents for the applicants for passport. We think that thus we can meet the target in the stipulated time. About the sudden pressure the Consul General in Dubai S Badiruzzaman said, we faced some problem at the beginning as there was manpower problem but it became normal later. Badiruzzaman also said, with overall supervision of the consulate and the tireless efforts by the colleagues, journalists and community members we could manage to bring the recent service into a satisfied level. We are achieving our target. We want cooperation from all to end the task in a disciplined way. Bangladesh consulate general in Dubai so far issued 30 thousand 841 passports with reissue service. Of these there were 21 thousand 383 Machine Readable Passports and 7 thousand 849 hand written passports. More than half of the issued passport holders are staying illegally in the country. Of the hand written passport holders 10 percent are in police verification process and 2 percent passport seekers returned as they had no document. About out pass the consulate Labor Counselor ASM Jakir Hossain said, though at the beginning people collected out pass at a lesser number but later the crowd increased. I have so far issued out pass for 6 thousand 715 persons since August to till at present. AH                    

The High Court has ordered the government to return the seized passport of Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury. The High Court bench of Justice Muhammad Abdul Hafiz and Justice Bhishmadev Chakraborty passed the order following a review appeal. Meanwhile, the state has appealed against the verdict in the chamber court. Advocate Fazlur Rahman stood for Ariful while Deputy Attorney General Maniruzzaman Kabir represented the state. In this regard Maniruzzaman Kabir said, Mayor Ariful’s passport has been seized in May, 2017 following the High Court order as the court granted him conditional bail in connection with former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria murder case. The convocation program of Ariful’s daughter is scheduled to be held on September 10 in London. To take part in that program Ariful Haque appealed in the lower court to get back the passport but the court rejected his appeal on August 14. He appealed in the High Court seeking revision order of the lower court. Maniruzzaman also said, after hearing the appeal the High Court delivered order to return the passport to Ariful Haque for six months. We have also appealed to the chamber court against the order on Tuesday. AH

The power of Bangladesh passport is stronger at present in the world arena. Earlier using Bangladesh passport without visa people could travel 38 countries and now the number has increased. US based organization The Hanley and Partners has formulated an evaluation index through conducting a survey over 2 hundred countries of the world. The index was published on Tuesday with the latest information. There the position of Bangladesh was mentioned. According to the information of the organization, people of Bangladesh can travel 41 countries at present using their passports, which were 38 in the previous. That means, to enter those countries people need not to go through the visa processing- visa free access is prevailing there. Only passport will allow entering those countries. In the evaluation chart by the index, Bangladesh’s position made a rise. Bangladesh is placed at 94th position according to the index. It was 97 according to the earlier index. In the previous it was 95. The evaluation image of the Bangladeshi passport has increased. Lebanon, Libya and South Sudan are along with Bangladesh according to the new index. With help from the information of International Air Transport Association (IATA) every year Stanley and Partners formulates the index. Country wise score is given in the index. The score is given based on how many countries can people travel without visa or with the on arrival visa from a particular country. According to the index the most powerful passport in the world is Japanese passport. Germany and Singapore rank in the second position. People can travel 189 countries using Japanese passport. The number was 180 in the previous. People can travel 188 countries using German and Singaporean passport. The weakest passport holder countries are Afghanistan and Iraq. People can travel 30 countries using these passports. Using the Pakistani passport people can travel 33 countries. It is placed up of Syria and Somalia. India is in 79th position in the list. Indian people can travel 59 countries just using their passports. Visa free access for Bangladeshi passport in the following countries: In Asia- Bhutan, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and East Timor. In Africa- Cape Verde, Comoros islands, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Sicily, Saint Helena, Togo and Uganda. Benin, Rwanda and Somalia are included freshly in the list. In Caribbean area- Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent, Trinidad and British Virginia Island. In America- Bolivia. Besides in Oceania- Cook Islands, Fiji, Micronesia, South Pacific Niue, Samoa, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. AH              

Social Welfare Minister Rashed Khan Menon said that BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman surrendered his passport to save him. His comment came in while speaking to the newsmen after holding a view exchange and micro credit and financial assistance distribution program at the conference room of the Deputy Commissioner office in Faridpur on Friday. Rashed Khan Menon said, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was in exile for long time. She passed her time through different adverse situation. But she never surrendered her passport. The act of surrendering passport by Tarique Rahman proves that he is not loyal to the state. He also said, Tarique Zia went to London for treatment under bond. Why he has to seek political asylum there? Earlier the Social Welfare Minister distributed grants of 50 thousand taka each to 15 serious patients of kidney, liver, heart and other diseases. He also distributed micro credit of 30 thousand taka each to 5 recipients. Deputy Commissioner Umme Salma Tanzia and other high level officials of district administration were present during the program.      AH

‘Tarique Rahman is delivering false statement. He is taking part in different social programs. Also taking part in political programs. Later he handed over the passport.’ Sate Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said these at a press conference held at his Gulshan home on Monday. He presented a paper in the press conference regarding passport submission by Tarique Rahman. The State Minister unveiled a document which was sent from UK Home Office to Bangladesh High Commission. There were some names of Tarique Rahman and his family members. In the letter it was mentioned that the passports were deposited from Home Office to High Commission of Bangladesh. Shahriar Alam informed that Tarique Rahman handed over the passport four years ago. In reply of the question where he handed over the passport, he said, Tarique Rahman clearly handed over the passport to Bangladesh high commission. Earlier in a reception program to the Prime Minister in London organized by UK Awami League Shahriar said that Tarique Rahman gave up his Bangladesh citizenship by depositing his green passport to the high commission of Bangladesh in London. He also raised question, how Tarique Rahman perform his duty as the Acting Chairman of BNP? Aftermath BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi claimed that Tarique Rahman did not deposit passport. Rejecting the statement of State Minister which was published in the daily Kaler Kantho BNP said to the government, if Tarique Rahman deposits the passport in Bangladesh high commission in London then government should show it. On the other hand Awami League said to BNP, if Tarique has the passport then let him show it. Meanwhile, Tarique Rahman also sent legal notice to State Minister for Foreign Affairs through his lawyer on Monday. AH