Role of library stressed in building society

The Rangpur city mayor, Sharfuddin Ahmed Jhantu, said on Thursday that the role of library is tremendously vital in the process of building a knowledge-based and enlightened society.

He called upon the people from all walks in the society, especially the young generations and students, for visiting the library regularly for acquiring knowledge.
The mayor said this while launching the construction works of foundation of the Pakuria Darbar Sharif Library as the chief guest in Radhaballov area of the city.

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Nepal’s Maoists urged to shun violence

The United Nations urged a group of hardline Maoists who are protesting against Nepal’s elections this month to respect people’s right to vote and not to intimidate voters through violence.
‘Everyone should respect the democratic right to take part in a peaceful, open and inclusive election,’ Jamie McGoldrick, the UN’s resident coordinator in Kathmandu, said in a statement.

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Iran says making headway in ‘tough’ nuclear talks

Iran and six world powers are making progress in talks aimed at ending a decade-long nuclear stand-off between Tehran and the West, but the discussions are ‘tough’, Iran’s foreign minister said on Thursday. Mohammad Javad Zarif made the comment to Reuters after a first session in the two-day negotiations in Geneva, which are seeking to build on a diplomatic opening after the June election of Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, as Iran’s new president.

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Robots to help elderly or paint nails

A Japanese elderly care company Asahi Sun Clean employee wearing a power suit, called ‘Muscle Suit’ powered by compressed air stored in an air tank on his back, lifts a fellow worker during a demonstration while auto parts maker NSK demonstrates a cane style navigation ‘LIGHBOT’ robot for elderly and handicaped people, equipped with a laser rangefinder to avoid obstacles, at the annual Internatinal Robot Exhibition in Tokyo on Wednesday.  

Pneumatic muscle suits and a walking stick that behaves like a guide dog competed for attention with an industrial robot that can paint fingernails at a huge expo in Tokyo Thursday.

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Thai protesters rally on eve of amnesty bill vote

Thousands of protesters rallied in several parts of Bangkok on Thursday on the eve of a key vote on a bill that would grant amnesty to leaders and others involved in often-violent political conflicts that have afflicted Thailand for nearly a decade.

The Senate announced it would move up the vote to Friday from Monday in an attempt to ease rising tension over the bill, which has already passed the more powerful lower house.

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Musharraf freed from house arrest

Pakistan has freed former president Pervez Musharraf from his months-long house arrest, days after he received bail in a case related to the death of a radical cleric, a prison official said Thursday.

Prison officials were withdrawn on Wednesday night from Musharraf’s home on the outskirts of Islamabad, where he has been held under arrest since April, prison official Wajad Ali said. Musharraf is now free to move around Pakistan, Ali said.

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