A terrible fire has occurred in Shorokhola of Bagerhat in the deep East Sundarbans.

On Saturday (May 4) around 4:30 pm, the fire broke out in the area between Amarbunia and Gulshakhali in the Chandpai range.

Chandpai Range Station Officer (SO) of East Sundarbans Anisur Rahman confirmed this information. He also said that this fire was started by the fire of Mauwal while collecting honey inside the forest.

Forest officer Anisur Rahman said that the forest guards of four outposts of the forest department along with two units of Bagerhat Fire Service have already started working to control the fire.

Member of ward number 8 of Nishanbaria Union of Morelganj upazila of Bagerhat Abu Taher Mia said that the fire broke out near Amurbuniya outpost, quite a large area. The fire has spread for at least two kilometers. We are trying to control it.

Deputy Assistant Director of Bagerhat Fire Service and Civil Defense Saidul Alam Chowdhury said that two units of Morelganj Fire Service reached the spot after receiving the information about the fire and started working to control the fire.

The Ministry of Education said that classes will continue from Sunday (May 5) in all educational institutions including secondary level schools, colleges and madrasas.

On Saturday (May 4), Information and public relations officer of the Ministry of Education MA Khair informed this in a press release.

It is said that all secondary schools and colleges of the country will be subject to compliance with the conditions of Notification No. 37.00.0000.071.04.002.02 (Part)-214 published by the Department of Secondary and Higher Education, Ministry of Education on April 25. , teaching activities will continue in madrasas and technical educational institutions.

Earlier, all educational institutions in the country were opened from April 28 due to severe heat wave. The next day, the High Court ordered the closure of classes in all primary, secondary schools and madrasas in the country. Later, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education announced the closure of primary schools across the country. However, the Ministry of Education announced the closure of secondary level educational institutions in some districts of the country step by step.

After the closure of educational institutions across the country due to severe heat wave, teaching activities in the classrooms of all secondary level educational institutions are starting on Saturday (May 04).

However, schools, colleges and madrasas will remain closed in 25 districts including Dhaka today due to intense heat wave. On the other hand, primary school teaching activities will start from Sunday (05 May).

Sources in the Ministry of Education said that the educational institutions were closed until last Thursday on the order of the court. Class activities will start simultaneously in all secondary and higher secondary schools of the country from Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education Farid Ahmed said that the primary schools which were closed till Thursday will be opened from Sunday as per the order of the court.

Schools and colleges were supposed to open on April 21 after the long holidays of Eid-ul-Fitr and Pahela Baishakh, but due to the heat wave across the country, it was delayed by a week. When schools and colleges opened last Sunday, some teachers and students fell ill due to extreme heat. Some deaths also occurred.

When the report in this regard was brought to the attention of the High Court, the bench of Justice KM Kamrul Quader and Justice Khizir Hayat gave an order with a suo moto rule. In view of the heat wave, all primary and secondary schools, higher secondary schools, colleges, madrasas and technical institutes were ordered to remain closed till last Thursday.

Schools, colleges and madrasas are closed in 25 districts today

Secondary schools, colleges, madrasas and technical educational institutions will be closed today in 25 districts of the country to ensure the health protection of students during the severe heat wave. This information was informed in the notification signed by MA Khayer, Information and Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Education on Friday (03 May).

Districts declared closed include all districts of Rajshahi and Khulna divisions (8 in Rajshahi and 10 in Khulna). Besides Dhaka and Tangail of Dhaka division, Chandpur of Chattogram division and Rangpur, Kurigram, Nilphamari and Dinajpur districts of Rangpur division. 

Bangladesh ranks 165th in the World Free Media Index with a score of 27.64. Bangladesh is ranked 165th out of 180 countries this year. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a France-based organization working on media freedom around the world, released the index on Friday (May 3).

Nepal has occupied the top position in terms of media freedom in South Asia; the country has occupied the 74th position with 60.52 points. Next is Maldives. The country is at the 106th position with 52.36 points. In this year's list, Bhutan fell from the first position and got the third place. The country is at the 147th position with 37.29 points.

Among South Asian countries, Bangladesh is ahead of only Afghanistan. Bangladesh is ranked behind India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan.

In South Asia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India are at the fourth, fifth and sixth positions respectively. The global position of these three countries is 150, 152 and 159 respectively.

India has got the 159th position two steps ahead of last year's 161st. Afghanistan ranks last among South Asian countries. 26 steps behind, the country's global position is 178th, only 19.09 points.

According to the report, the Asia-Pacific region ranks second in the world in terms of journalistic challenges. The report named Myanmar, China, North Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan as the most dangerous places to work for journalists.

Norway has retained its top position in the global index. Their points are 91.89. The rest of the top ten countries are Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Finland, Estonia, Portugal, Ireland, Switzerland and Germany.

Through the World Free Media Index, the extent to which journalists in different countries and regions of the world carry out their duties independently is verified. Five factors are taken into account in this index. These are political context, legal infrastructure, economic context, socio-economic conditions and security.

The report also states that free media around the world are facing threats from political authorities, as confirmed by the significant decline in the political index. The global average of this index has fallen by 7.6 percent this year.