Nation welcomes 2019 amid tight security

Risingbd Desk: The nation bids adieu to the outgoing year 2018 forgetting all odds and sorrows of the past and welcoming 2019 with new hopes at mid night tonight through different programmes along with the global community.

Jubilant people, particularly the youngsters, joined different New Year programmes when the clock strikes 12 midnight. The landslide victory of Awami League in the 11th Jatiya Sangsad election is expected to add new zeal to the New Year celebration across the country.

As 2018 draws to a close, New Zealand will be among the first few countries to usher in the New Year. The New Zealand Herald reported that hundreds of people are already heading into the city centres to start their celebrations as they welcome the New Year.

Celebrations then move across the world — to Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and finally the Americas.

Dazzling light shows bid adieu to 2018.

On this special occasion, people conveyed their best wishes to their friends and beloved ones through greeting cards and using different messaging applications and social media platforms.

Corporate and government officials and various organisations also did the same thing as they do every year to greet their nearest ones.

In separate messages, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina greeted the countrymen on the eve of New Year 2019.

The day is also a moment of looking back to the outgoing year for reviewing the successes and failures and planning strategies to reach new goals for the New Year, with accomplishing the unfinished tasks those need to be done in the coming days.

The year 2018 was a significant year for Bangladesh as the country saw many successes in major areas including politics, economy, agriculture, combating terrorism and driving the IT sectors towards attaining the middle-income status. The country was totally peaceful in the political landscape in 2018.

The peaceful political situation allowed the country’s economy to grow faster.

Marking the day, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) drew up multi-tiered security measures. It banned holding of any programme at open places for the sake of overall security and law and order, according to the DMP.

DMP permissions will be needed to celebrate the 31st night inside residences. “If you take permission, DMP will ensure security of your programme,” the DMP said.

Police personnel in uniform or plainclothes were deployed and members of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit, SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) and bomb disposal team discharged duties at different city points to ensure safety._BSS


risingbd/Dhaka/Jan 1, 2019/AI