In 2010, Musa Ibrahim became the first Bangladeshi to raise the national flag at the top of Mount Everest, while Bangladeshi scientists successfully sequenced 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 achievement of reaching the summit of Mount Everest was a source of great pride and joy for Bangladeshis. The president of the North Alpine Club, Musa, received his education from Dhaka University and BRAC University and is originally from Lalmonirhat. Recently, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced in parliament that Bangladeshi researchers, specifically from Dhaka University's biochemistry and biotechnology departments led by Dr. Maqsudul Alam, have successfully sequenced the genome of jute. This discovery is expected to help improve the quality of jute fiber and allow it to grow in harsh weather conditions caused by climate change. In other news, Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus has been embroiled in controversy over allegations of misusing funds from Grameen Bank and attempting to cover up the matter. The documentary 'Caught in Micro Debt' by Danish journalist Tom Heinemann was broadcast on Norwegian state television NRK on Nov 30, bringing attention to the fund transfer issue that occurred 12 years ago. bdnews24.com was the first to report on the story in Bangladesh on Dec 1. Yunus called a media conference on Sunday to address the debate surrounding the 'channelled fund'. Grameen Bank claimed that the issue had already been resolved by the Norwegian government and the bank in 1998. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and several other ruling party leaders criticized the Grameen Bank chief and called for investigations. The Bangladeshi ship MV Jahan Moni was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea on December 5th near the Indian coast of Kochin. The ship, which has 26 Bangladeshis on board, including 25 crew members, has been taken to the Somali coast. There have been calls for the government to negotiate with the pirates and pay ransom. Relatives of the crew members who were captured are urging the government to take prompt action in order to rescue them. Two weeks ago, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni stated to the media that no government should pay ransom under any circumstances. The ship owner confirmed that negotiations with Somali pirates are currently taking place. In a similar incident, Somali pirates recently released a German ship after receiving a ransom of $5.5 million. The ship had been captured in May. The issue of sexual harassment towards women made headlines in newspapers after incidents involving stalkers resulted in the death of Mizanur Rahman, a college teacher in Natore, in October. The violence continued with the killing of Chanpa Rani Bhowmik in Faridpur on Oct 26, and Rupali Rani of Sirajganj tragically committing suicide after being kidnapped by an eve-teaser on Nov 1. In response to these incidents, the government, prompted by the High Court, made amendments to the law to allow for stalkers to be tried in mobile courts, which began operating in early November. The financial market of the country was thrown into chaos at the end of the year due to a sudden meltdown of share prices. This led to increased interest from the general public in investing in the capital market as several records of exchange were broken. Investors drove up share prices until the general index at the Dhaka Stock Exchange 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 on two occasions in the last month as the market showed signs of decline. On December 8 and 19, protesting investors vandalized windows, and threw bricks and bottles at the police following record falls in the market. The nation has adopted a comprehensive education policy for the first time ever. The National Education Policy was approved by the cabinet on May 31 and by parliament on Dec 7. Despite protests from some Islamic parties claiming that religious education opportunities will be diminished, the government refutes these claims and is focused on implementing the policy. The new policy will extend primary education to class VIII and eliminate the Secondary School Certificate exam. The policy includes plans to update text books and exam systems, as well as modernize madrasa education. Anthrax caused panic when over 500 people were affected in various districts. The government declared a red alert and began large-scale cattle testing nationwide, including in border areas where foreign cattle enter. Demand for cattle meat dropped suddenly, but by October the government declared the country anthrax-free. Butchers claimed that poultry traders intentionally caused panic for profit. Abdul Latif Biswas, the Livestock State Minister, supported their claims and stated that the government would look into the situation. BIMAN TAILSPIN occurred when pilots went on strike on Oct 26, resulting in the national carrier's operations coming to a halt. The strike, led by younger pilots, was called off after a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Oct 29, saving Biman Bangladesh Airlines from potential closure. On Oct 25, Biman suspended four pilots, including the acting president and general secretary of the pilots' association BAPA. BAPA made the decision to go on strike in response to a decision they were protesting. That same evening, 53 pilots called in sick. On October 20th, the 116-member BAPA group gave Biman a 24-hour ultimatum to meet their 5-point demand, which included cancelling the order to raise the retirement age of pilots from 57 to 62 years. The pilots also warned that they would not perform any duties beyond their contract with Biman if their demands were not addressed.