In 2010, Musa Ibrahim made history as the first Bangladeshi to raise the national flag at the top of Mount Everest. Additionally, Bangladeshi scientists achieved a significant milestone by sequencing the jute genome. However, the year was marred by a decline in Dhaka stocks and allegations of fund siphoning against Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. Despite these challenges, the scaling of Mount Everest by Musa Ibrahim on May 23 was a momentous occasion for Bangladeshis, marking a dream fulfilled. Musa, the president of the North Alpine Club, is originally from Lalmonirhat and has studied at both Dhaka University and BRAC University. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina announced in parliament on June 16 that Bangladeshi researchers, led by Dr Maqsudul Alam from Dhaka University's biochemistry and biotechnology departments, have successfully sequenced the genome of jute. This discovery is expected to help improve jute fiber and allow jute to grow in harsh weather conditions caused by climate change. Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus faced controversy as he was accused of diverting millions of dollars from Grameen Bank funds without informing Norwegian donors and trying to cover up the issue. On November 30, the Norwegian state television NRK broadcasted a documentary titled 'Caught in Micro Debt' by Danish investigative journalist Tom Heinemann, which brought the fund transfer issue to light 12 years after it happened. bdnews24.com was the first to report on the story in Bangladesh on December 1. Yunus called a press conference on Sunday to address the debate surrounding the 'channelled fund'. Grameen Bank, on the other hand, stated that the issue had been resolved by the Norwegian government and the bank in 1998. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other leaders from the ruling party criticized the Grameen Bank chief and initiated investigations. The ship MV Jahan Moni was recently hijacked by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea near the Indian coast of Kochin on December 5th. The ship, which has 26 Bangladeshis on board including 25 crew members, has been taken to the Somali coast. The government is being urged to negotiate with the pirates and pay ransom for the safe return of the ship and its crew. Relatives of the detained crew members are urging the government to take prompt action to secure their release. Two weeks ago, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni stated to the press that no government should negotiate ransom payments. The ship's owner has reported ongoing discussions with Somali pirates. In contrast, Somali pirates recently freed a German ship after receiving a $5.5 million ransom. The vessel had been seized in May. Stalkers are targeting women with sexual harassment, leading to tragic incidents that have made headlines in newspapers. The violence began with the death of college teacher Mizanur Rahman in October, followed by the killing of Chanpa Rani Bhowmik and the suicide of Rupali Rani in subsequent weeks. The government, under pressure from the High Court, took action by amending laws to allow for the trial of stalkers in mobile courts, which began operating in early November. The sudden drop in share prices at the end of the year caused chaos in the country's financial market. Interest in investing in the capital market increased due to several records of exchange. Investors drove up share prices until the general index at the Dhaka Stock Exchange suddenly plummeted in the second week of December, losing over 500 points in just one hour, shortly after reaching an all-time high. Frustrated and angry investors took to the streets twice in the last month as the market showed signs of decline. On December 8 and 19, protesting investors threw objects at the police as the market experienced a record drop in a single hour and the highest fall in a single day. The country recently adopted a comprehensive education policy for the first time, which was approved by the cabinet on May 31 and parliament on Dec 7. Despite protests from Islamic parties claiming reduced opportunities for religious education, the government denies these allegations and is focused on implementing the policy. Under the new policy, primary education will be extended to class VIII and the Secondary School Certificate exam will be eliminated. The policy will bring changes to textbooks and exam systems, as well as modernize madrasa education. Anthrax caused panic when at least 500 people were affected in multiple districts. The government declared a red alert and began large-scale cattle testing nationwide, including in border areas where foreign cattle enter. The demand for cattle meat dropped suddenly, but the government declared the country anthrax-free in early October. Butchers claimed that poultry traders intentionally caused panic to make profits. Livestock state minister Abdul Latif Biswas supported their claims and stated that the government will look into the issue. The national carrier, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, came to a standstill on Oct 26 due to a strike called by pilots. The strike, led by younger pilots, was called off after a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Oct 29, saving the airline from shutting down. Biman suspended four pilots, including the acting president and general secretary of the pilots' association BAPA, on Oct 25. The BAPA made a quick decision to go on strike in protest of a decision. That same evening, 53 pilots called in sick. On October 20, the 116-member BAPA group issued a 24-hour ultimatum to Biman to address their 5-point demand, which included canceling the order to raise the retirement age of pilots from 57 to 62 years. The pilots also warned that they would not fulfill any duties beyond their contract with Biman if their demands were not met.