2 injured in bomb blasts in Dhaka
Dhaka, Dec 3: Two people, including a Bangladesh Bank officer, riding their motorbikes home after work sustained injuries, as unidentified miscreants exploded two crude bombs in the capital’s busy Farmgate area, the police said. The incident took place in front of the Farmview Super Market at around 7.15 pm on Saturday. The injured are Mohammed Emdadul Haque Khan, 56, a joint director of Bangladesh Bank, and Mohammed Najmus Shahadat Alam, 38, an engineer of Samid Group. Sarwar Alam Khan, Inspector (investigation) of Tejgaon police station, said he heard about the explosion. A police team has been sent to the spot to investigate the matter, he added. No one was detained in connection with the incident, he said. Meanwhile, BNP-Jamaat activists set fire to three buses in Dhaka’s Gabtoli, Agargaon and Sayedabad areas on Saturday during the BNP’s 48-hour blockade. (IANS)
Indian Sikh pilgrim dies in Pakistan’s Punjab
Lahore, Dec 3: An Indian Sikh pilgrim, who was in his 70s, died reportedly due to cardiac arrest in Pakistan’s Punjab province capital Lahore, an official said on Sunday. Sardar Preetam Singh complained of pain in his chest on Saturday evening. He was taken to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore where doctors could not save his life, said an official of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, which looks after the affairs of the minorities’ holy places. He said the body of Singh was handed over to the BSF at the Wagah border where his wife was also present. Currently, over 2,500 Indian Sikhs are in Pakistan in connection with Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary festivities. A few days ago, an Indian Sikh family was looted by ‘robbers dressed in police uniforms’ in Lahore. Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi had ordered the Punjab police to arrest the culprits within 48 hours. However, no progress has been made in the case. (PTI)
North Korea’s spy satellite begins missions
Seoul, Dec 3: The office in charge of operating North Korea’s military reconnaissance satellite has commenced its mission, Pyongyang’s state media said on Sunday. The North successfully placed the reconnaissance satellite, Malligyong-1, into orbit on November 21 after two failed attempts, reports Yonhap News Agency. The North has since said that a “fine-tuning” process on the satellite was under way and the Malligyong-1 would begin its official mission on December 1. “The reconnaissance satellite operation office, organised at the Pyongyang General Control Centre of the National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA), started to discharge its mission on December 2,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The office will perform its mission as an independent military intelligence organization, it also said. The KCNA said the information acquired through the mission will be reported to “the relevant permanent executive department of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea and … offered to major units regarded as war deterrence of the state and the General Reconnaissance Bureau of the Korean People’s Army”. (IANS)