A discussion programme titled ‘Present Crises of Muslim Ummah and Islamic Unity’ will be held on December 1 at BMA auditorium in Dhaka.

Iran Cultural Centre, Dhaka will organise the progrmme on the occasion of Holy Eid-E Miladunanbi.

Chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on Ministry of Planning, Abul Kalam Azad, will grace the occasion as chief guest while ambassador of Iran in Bangladesh Dr. Abbas Vaezi Dehnavi will be present as special guest.

Eminent Iranian scholars – Hujjatul Islam and R. Seyed Javad Mazloumi will be present as guests of honour in the discussion programme.

Senior lawyer of Bangladesh Supreme Court, advocate A. K. M. Badruddoza will present the keynote paper while Associate Professor of Department of Arabic of Dhaka University Dr. Abdullah Al Maruf will preside over the programme.

The programme will begin with an audio presentation on the issue.

The latest market figures indicate a giant increase in India’s imports of crude oil from Iran throughout October in yet another sign of success for the Iranian oil industry after the removal of sanctions that had decimated its exports for several years.

Figures released by Reuters show India imported 183,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and condensate – an ultra-light type of oil – from Iran.  The figure showed an increase of 88 percent compared to September, the news agency added quoting tanker data.

India’s imports of Iran’s oil over the same period were nonetheless lower than last year by 27 percent. The country’s imports of Iranian crude at the time stood at 250,000 bpd.

Last month, figures showed that Iran’s oil exports to its Asian buyers – China, India, Japan and South Korea – had increased in September to the highest levels in the preceding six months.

Iran’s oil exports to those countries over the period, as reported by Reuters, stood at above 1.9 million barrels per day (mb/d).  The figure indicated an increase of around 20 percent compared to August and marked a third straight monthly surge.

For several years before 2012 when Iran faced a series of draconian US-led sanctions, the country exported around 2.5 mb/d, with more than half going to Asia, mainly China, South Korea, India and Japan. The sanctions decreased exports to below 1 mb/d. After they were lifted in early 2016, Iran’s oil exports increased gradually and today stand at around pre-sanctions levels.

Iran’s biggest oil importer in Asia is China which is followed by India and South Korea and eventually Japan. / Press tv /

Iranians overseas can act as Iran’s tourism marketers and win a free air ticket to Iran for every five foreigners they direct toward the countryOver five million Iranians are living across five continents and provide a great opportunity for ICHHTO

S enior Iranian officials have discussed the potentials of Iranians living abroad in attracting foreign tourists to the country.

The discussion took place in a meeting held late last week between the officials of Tourism Department of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization and representatives of Foreign Ministry.

During the meeting, Mohammad Moheb-Khodaei, ICHHTO’s deputy for tourism, brought up the idea of offering incentives to Iranians overseas to encourage foreigners to visit the country, Mehr News Agency reported.

“This population can act as Iran’s tourism marketers and win a free air ticket to Iran for every five foreigners they direct toward the country,” he said.

To supply the funds for the scheme, the official proposed that half of the ticket price be paid by airlines and the other half by travel agencies and hotels across provinces.

“Provincial officials will also be tasked with identifying people living across the borders because the plan can help improve handicraft exports and tourism,” he said.

Moheb-Khodaei noted that although governmental support is required, the scheme relies heavily on the private sector. However, he did not provide details on the mechanism for implementing the scheme.

The scheme has already been mentioned by tourism officials in the media several times but it is still not clear how the potential tourists will be organized in tours and how the marketers can register info about the travelers they direct to Iran.

Ali Asghar Mohammadi, deputy for Iranian expatriates, said over five million Iranians are living across five continents and provide a great opportunity for ICHHTO, but the procedures of the scheme need to be clearly defined.

“It is essential to form a specialized team to study obstacles to the plans so as to resolve the issues from the starting point of travel at airports to the final stages,” he said, adding that collecting information about the Iranian elite and influential figures in other countries is among the Foreign Ministry’s plans.

Mohammadi also said ICHHTO can draw on the capacities of 100 consulates, 60 cultural and five scientific counseling offices of Iran, which are currently active overseas.

“Facilities for issuing electronic visa to Iran have been set up in 47 spots across the world, which can help ICHHTO implement the scheme,” he said, not mentioning the names of countries with the facility.

The Foreign Ministry has promised to study ways in which it can support the scheme, referred to as “virtual tour operators”.   / Financial tribune /

Literacy rate in Iran has increased by 2.85 percent between 2011 and 2016, director of the Literacy Movement Organization said.

“Some 5.8 million people are purely illiterate and 11 million are functionally illiterate,” Ali Baqerzadeh said, without mentioning any figures on the literacy rate.

Official figures released by the Statistical Center of Iran, published in March 2017, indicate that some 87.6 percent of the Iranian population aging over 6 are literate. The number reflects a 2.8-rise compared to the 2011 census results.

While Iranian students shine at international Olympiads and Iran has advanced notably in terms of scientific publications and research output worldwide, many choose to drop out of schools, he regretted.

Despite the fact that students are provided with free of charge schooling on average many are likely to drop out of school after 8 years of attending school, he stated.

There are 781 million adults over the age of 15 estimated to be illiterate, of which 496 million were women, the World’s Women 2015 report found. Women made up more than half the illiterate population in all regions of the world. Moreover, as per another report by UNESCO, 250 million children are failing to acquire basic literacy skills. This results in an exclusion of low-literate and low-skilled youth and adults from full participation in their communities and societies.

According to the Literacy Foundation illiteracy in individuals stems from different, generally inter-related causes which, together, create a series of often insurmountable barriers for those concerned.

Parents with little schooling, lack of books at home and lack of stimulation as to the importance of reading, doing badly at or dropping out of school, difficult living conditions, including poverty, learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, dysorthographia, etc. are the most frequent causes of illiteracy in adults.

Literacy is a driver for sustainable development in that it enables greater participation in the labor market; improved child and family health and nutrition; reduces poverty and expands life opportunities,

Beyond its conventional concept as a set of reading, writing and counting skills, literacy is now understood as a means of identification, understanding, interpretation, creation, and communication in an increasingly digital, text-mediated, information-rich and fast-changing world. / Tehran times/

‘Light Sight’, an animated short film by Moslem Tabatabei won 5 international awards.

The 7 minute animated short film Light Sight directed by Moslem Tabatabaei vied at 28 international film festivals during the past month, and won 5 different awards.

The awards won by Light Sight are as follows:

Best animation award at 2017 Ratma Film Festival, England.

Award of excellence at 2017 Say It in Eight Student Film Festival, the United States.

Best animated short film award at 2017 London Eye International Film Festival, England.

Best animated short film at the 3rd Greenwich Village Film Festival, the United States.

Best animation award at Cardiff International Film Festival, England.

Light Sight is about a characted called M.E. who is born in a room lit with a light hanging above it. Attracted to the light, he is distracted by glowing balls covering the walls around. He starts playing with the balls that obey the movements of his hands, and tries to summon the hanging light similarly. In trying to reach the light, however, h is buried under the balls and is only rescued by the light.

Attracted to the light even more, he tries again to catch the light with the balls preventing him from doing so. / Mehr news /

M ore than 28,000 foreign tourists spent at least a night in Iranian free trade zones in the first seven months of the Iranian year (ended Oct. 22), marking a 34% growth compared with the same period of last year.

The government had set a goal of attracting 23,000 foreign tourists in the seven-month period, according to a report released by the High Council of Free Trade Zones and Special Economic Zones.

Iranian FTZs hosted 39,000 foreign travelers in the previous fiscal year (ended March 2017), whereas the number is expected to reach 43,000 by March 2018, Dolat.ir reported.

Iran has seven FTZs, Kish Island and Qeshm Island in Southern Province of Hormozgan, Chabahar Port in Sistan-Baluchestan, Arvand in Khuzestan, Anzali Port in the northern province of Gilan, Maku in West Azarbaijan and Aras in East Azarbaijan.

The released data do not specify the share of each zone from the total number of foreign visitors, though Kish and Qeshm have always outperformed other areas, thanks to their rich infrastructural developments.

Figures released by local officials also show that in the six months ending Sept. 22, the number of foreign travelers to Chabahar and Anzali increased by 23% and 11% respectively. / Financial Tribune /