bdnews24.com means credibility in the face of challenges, says BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul

"Amidst much unrest and a lot of challenges, bdnews24.com is managing to work with credibility,” he said on Sunday.

He joined an array of guests from diverse backgrounds at the Radisson Blu hotel for the ‘Terrific Ten Years’ celebrations of Bangladesh's premier bilingual news provider.

"As a modern information technology-driven medium, bdnews24.com undoubtedly is doing commendably well. I, on behalf of the BNP and in my personal capacity, extend greetings to the journalists, employees and workers and everyone associated with bdnews24.com," he said.

BNP Standing Committee Member Khandaker Mosharraf also attended the 10th anniversary event.

He said, "bdnews24.com has been leading from the front among the internet newspapers since its inception. It is contributing as a credible medium spreading the identity of Bangladesh across the world.”

“I hope this will continue in the future," he said.

Another Standing Committee member, Abdul Moyeen Khan, and central leader Khairul Kabir Khokon also joined the 10-year celebration of Bangladesh’s first internet newspaper and dotcom company.

A host of politicians and policy makers, artists and business leaders, cultural activists, lawyers, judges and journalists and a whole cross section of representatives influencing agenda setting and discourse altering process in the country were a be a part of the evening celebrations.

bdnews24.com started its journey in the first half of 2005 as a news agency, gathering and distributing news for other media houses. A trendsetter from the very inception, BDNEWS collected and distributed news through the internet at a time when its contemporaries were still making do with teleprinters.

In 2006 BDNEWS underwent a thorough overhaul in its ownership and management.

Under the stewardship of journalist Toufique Imrose Khalidi, the new management took the giant leap forward in re-branding the organisation as bdnews24.com.

A spokesperson for bdnews24.com remembers, "That year when the country was reeling in violence and indirect military rule, when there was violence and deaths on the doorsteps, bdnews24.com threw open content to eager readers and thus began the journey of the country's first internet newspaper."

At least 50 photographs published on bdnews24.com in 30 frames have been displayed on the walls of the ballroom depicting major moments in the political history of the country along with events that captured the collective imagination in the bygone decade.

The 2007 arrests of Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina and her BNP counterpart Khaleda Zia have been portrayed in the pictures. A photograph in the collection also shows a special moment of Jatiya Party leader H M Ershad during a 2012 public rally.

The pictures also recapitulate the 2012 Bangladesh trip of Hillary Clinton as US secretary of state.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair, India's Congress party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and football icon Lionel Messi have also been portrayed in the pictures during their tour of Bangladesh.

The 2012 attack on Buddha Viharas in Ramu, the 2007 Dhaka University students' skirmish with the army, the 2013 Hifazat-e Islam public gathering have also found place in the photo gallery.

Humayun Ahmed's shoot of his last movie is also among the photo collection.

The entrance to the ballroom has a digital screen displaying snapshots of the radical, ground-breaking journey of bdnews24.com.