The death of a minor boy suffering from cold-related diarrhoea came in from Kurigram as a cold wave, sweeping over Bangladesh’s northern region, intensified.

Nine-month-old Atikul, son of Hasan Ali, resident of Char Sarkerpara in Jadur Char union of Roumari upazila, died at Kurigram General Hospital on Friday night, said civil surgeon Doctor Habibur Rahman.

Besides, 25 minors and six elderly people were admitted to hospitals in the last 24 hours. They have been suffering from cold-related diseases, mostly diarrhoea and pneumonia.

Since November 1 last year, the government reported 164,387 diarrhoea cases and five deaths. During this period, acute respiratory infection affected 67,954 people and killed 22. Other cold-related diseases affected 196,350 people and claimed the lives of 30 others, according to the government.

Kurigram has recorded 644 cases of ARI, 1,734 diarrhoea and 397 other cold-related cases since Nov 1. Atikul was the first person to die of diarrhoea in the district during this period.

Temperature dropped to 9 degrees Celsius in the district on Saturday morning, according to the weather office.

Kurigram’s Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Dilip Kumar Saha said they have already distributed 64,000 pieces of blankets, 2,000 packets of dry food and 1,500 dresses for children in the nine upazilas.

Meanwhile, the day’s lowest minimum temperature was recorded 6.4 degree Celsius in Panchagarh in the morning.

A woman who suffered severe burns in a fire that broke out at a slum in Mirpur’s Chalantika on Friday died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on Saturday morning.

The deceased was identified as Parvin, 35.

Md Bacchu Mia, inspector of DMCH police outpost, said Parvin had suffered 90 percent burns.

She succumbed to her injuries around 8am.

Fire Service and Civil Defence control room said the fire broke out at the slum on Mirpur-7 road around 4:11am and spread rapidly. It was extinguished around 9am.

Locals said more than 100 shanties were gutted in the fire.

A portion of the slum in Chalantika was destroyed in fire in August last year.

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in a drive arrested a suspected drug dealer with 1.8kg heroin from Thakur Joubon area in Godagari upazila on Friday night.

The 16-year-old suspect is a resident of the upazila.

Rab-5 said one of their teams raided the area acting on a tip-off and arrested the young man with the heroin.

The seized narcotic had a street value of about Tk 1.8 crore.

A case was filed.

Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka ranked fourth worst in the Air Quality Index (AQI) on Saturday morning.

It had an AQI score of 247 at 08:19am. The air was classified as ‘very unhealthy’.

Bosnia Herzegovina’s Sarajevo, Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar and China’s Xinjiang occupied the top three spots in the list of cities with worst air quality. They had AQI scores of 411, 266 and 255 respectively.

Everyone may experience more serious health effects when the AQI score is between 201 and 300.
 
The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.
 
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants - Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone (O3). The Department of Environment has also set national ambient air quality standards for these pollutants. These standards aim to protect against adverse human health impacts.
 
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution. The air quality usually improves during monsoon.

The UN Human Rights Office has called on Myanmar to immediately and unconditionally implement the top UN court’s order in full, consistently with its obligations under the Charter and the Court’s Statute.  
"The proceedings before the court are vitally important, opening up a path towards judicial determination of Myanmar’s possible responsibility as a state under the Genocide Convention for the acts of persecution and severe repression of the Rohingya," Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Liz Throssell said in a statement issued from Geneva on Friday.     

Alongside, other international investigative and accountability processes that are likewise ongoing, she said, the UN human rights office urged the authorities of Myanmar to cooperate fully with all of these inquiries, and at the same time to take active, effective steps enabling the Rohingya to live in peace and dignity in Myanmar, able to enjoy all their human rights.       
 
The UN Human Rights Office welcomed the order by the International Court of Justice that Myanmar must take “all measures within its power” to protect the members of the Rohingya group  from all future acts that may amount to genocide under the provisions of Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
 
The High Commissioner has repeatedly expressed serious concerns about the situation of the Rohingya following the repeated waves of violence suffered by them, most recently in 2016 and 2017.

She has frequently called for the full protection of their human rights, and genuine accountability for the serious violations and abuses they have endured.
 
As the Secretary-General noted yesterday, these provisional measures indicated by the Court are binding under international law.  

The UN Human Rights Office noted that the Court, for purposes of its decision on Thursday, repeatedly referenced the conclusions of the International Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, as well as the resolutions of the UN General Assembly addressing the situation of the Rohingya.

The Fact-Finding Mission last year concluded that there was a serious risk that genocidal actions directed at the Rohingya may recur.

More broadly, the Fact-Finding Mission also identified human rights abuses by the military against other ethnic minorities during decades of conflict.

Addressing these legacies of impunity remains an essential precondition to a future of sustainable peace and enduring justice for all people in Myanmar, according to a message received from Geneva.     
 
Under these measures, Myanmar is specifically ordered, in relation to the members of the Rohingya group on its territory, to take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts of genocide, as defined in the Convention, and to ensure that its military, as well as any irregular armed units which may be subject to its control, direction or influence, do not commit any such acts, or of conspiracy  to commit genocide, of direct and public incitement to commit genocide, of attempt to commit genocide, or of complicity in genocide.

Myanmar is also ordered by the Court to take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of genocide, as defined in the Convention, and to report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to the order within four months of the order, and every six months thereafter, until final decision of the Court on the case.