Bangladesh
Govt to soon fix prices of 9 daily essentials
The Bangladesh government will soon fix the prices of nine essential commodities, including rice and wheat, to ease public sufferings, a senior Minister has said.
"The Tariff Commission will determine the reasonable prices of these products in the next 15 days," Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi told reporters after a meeting at the ministry on Tuesday.
Read: Government cuts fuel prices by Tk5 per litre
These nine products are rice, wheat, flour, refined sugar, edible oil, lentils, onions, MS products (rods) and cement.
Legal action will be taken against anyone found charging more than the fixed price, the Minister warned.
HC summons BFIU chief over 'incomplete report' on black money in Swiss banks
The High Court has summoned the head of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) to explain an "incomplete report" filed in compliance with the Swiss envoy’s comment on black money stashed in Swiss banks.
A bench of justices Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Khizir Hayat passed the order on Tuesday, asking Md Masud Biswas to appear before it on Wednesday and explain the report -- filed in an affidavit form -- that contains no name, address or position of the person who submitted the same.
Submitting such a report is like taking an action but without any responsibility, the court observed during the hearing.
Deputy attorney general AKM Amin Uddin represented the state while advocate Khurshid Alam Khan appeared for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) during the hearing.
Khurshid said the report submitted by BFIU was not appropriate as it does not mention who submitted it and also doesn't contain any signature. "The HC was disappointed with the report," he said.
On August 10, the Swiss ambassador in Dhaka Nathalie Chuard said that they have been providing the Bangladesh government with all information regarding deposits of Bangladeshi money in Swiss banks, "but no request has been submitted regarding any particular account".
Read:Bangladesh money in Swiss Banks: Swiss envoy’s comment is embarrassing: HC
On August 11, the HC bench ordered the government and the ACC to explain why the government didn’t seek information of deposits of Bangladesh money stashed in Swiss banks.
On August 14, BFIU was asked to submit a report in this regard in the affidavit form.
On August 21, following the HC order, BFIU’s report was submitted stating that the information regarding deposits of 67 Bangladeshis in various Swiss banks was sought from the authorities concerned in Bern.
But the Swiss authorities only provided the details of one individual in this regard which BFIU also submitted to the ACC, BFIU said in its report.
According to the report, the Swiss bank published its annual report on June 16 this year. On the following day, the Swiss authorities were requested to provide necessary information about the money deposited by Bangladeshi banks and individuals in various Swiss banks through Egmont Secure Web (ESW).
However, Bangladesh has not yet received any information. BFIU even asked FIEU for this information on June 17 last, it added.
Lightning kills 2 brothers in Sunamganj
Two brothers died while another sustained injuries after being struck by lightning in Sunamganj district on Tuesday.
The deceased were identified as Khokon Mia and Jhilon Mia, residents of Bekhoijura village in Dharmapasha upazila, said Mizanur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Dharmapasha police station.
The tragedy occurred in the morning when the three brothers went to catch fish in Shaldigha Haor on a boat, said locals.
Also read: Patuakhali: Lightning strikes kill two in Galachipa
“Two brothers died on the spot and another was hurt. Locals later recovered the bodies,” said OC Mizanur.
Also read: Lightning strike leaves fisherman dead in Sylhet
It was end-of-mandate statement, not global report: UN rights office
The office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has regretted the “misinformation” regarding high commissioner’s end-of-mandate statement in Geneva on global issues, noting that it was not a "global report".
“We regret the misinformation. This was not meant to be a global report,” Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement on Tuesday.
As the High Commissioner had already extensively covered the human rights issues in Bangladesh, she chose to focus her 25 August end-of-mandate statement in Geneva on global issues (climate change, the food, fuel, finance crisis, civic space, etc.) affecting all countries - including Bangladesh - as well as the Rohingya anniversary which was on the day itself, said the spokesperson.
Also read: UN warns 6 million Afghans at risk of famine as crises grow
“As you must be aware, the High Commissioner extensively discussed her concerns about a wide range of human rights issues in her meetings with government, civil society and other interlocutors and in her end-of-mission statement in Dhaka,” she said.
Also read: UN agency to inspect Ukraine nuclear plant in urgent mission
The High Commissioner said in her statement in Dhaka, “acknowledging the challenges is always the first step to overcoming them” and the UN Human Rights Office stands ready to assist in following through on the recommendations made by the High Commissioner, as well as other work towards promotion and protection of human rights in Bangladesh.
Rampal Plant: Hasina, Modi to jointly announce completion of 1st unit in Sept
The first unit of the Maitree Super Thermal Power Plant will go into commercial operation early October in a major stride in growing Bangladesh-India power sector cooperation, officials said.
The unit-I of the 1320 (2x660) MW coal-fired power plant was successfully synchronized with the national grid on August 15.
After completion and “successful synchronization” of unit-I of the power plant, further synchronization related activities are currently being undertaken following which Unit-I will be handed over to the government of Bangladesh, said the officials involved in the project.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi are expected to jointly announce the completion of first unit’s construction during her visit to India first week of next month.
Why not cancel bail on ACC's plea, HC asks Samrat
The High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to expelled Jubo League leader Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat asking why his bail should not be cancelled in a money laundering case.
A bench of justices Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Khizir Hayat issued the rule on a plea by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) seeking cancellation of the bail.
The court fixed October 23 as the next date of hearing in the case.
Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan represented the ACC during the hearing.
On Monday, the ACC lawyer filed the plea after taking permission from the High Court bench of justices.
Read: HC rejects Hallmark chairperson’s bail plea in graft case
On August 22, Judge Asad Md Asifuzzaman of Dhaka Special Judge Court-6 granted bail to Samrat in the money laundering case.
The court granted him bail till September 19 considering his poor health condition on a Tk 10,000 bond.
With this, Samrat has secured bail in four cases and there is no legal bar to his release, said his lawyer Ehsanul Haque Samazi.
The judge had also asked him to submit his passport to the court as his bail condition, and he was also asked to take the court's permission to go abroad.
Samrat secured bail in a drugs case on April 11 and in an Arms Act case and the money laundering case on April 10.
The expelled Jubo League leader was under treatment at the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) hospital from November 24 last year.
In October 2019, Rab detained Samrat and his associate Enamul Haque Arman from Chauddagram in Cumilla.
Rab raided his Kakrail office the next day. Huge quantities of foreign liquor, pistols, and two hides of kangaroo were seized from his office.
Read: ACC goes to HC seeking cancellation of Samrat’s bail
He was later sentenced by a mobile court to six months in prison under the Wildlife Conservation Act.
Abdul Khaleque, deputy assistant director of Rab-1, lodged two complaints against Samrat at Ramna police station under the Arms and the Narcotics acts. Arman was made an accused in the narcotics case.
Shekhar Chandra Mallik, a sub-inspector, submitted a chargesheet against Samrat in the Arms Act case.
The ACC lodged a complaint against him for acquiring assets worth Tk 2.94 crore beyond his known sources of income.
Rashedur Rahman, sub-inspector of CID, registered a case against him at the Ramna police station for laundering Tk 195 crore to Malaysia and Singapore. Last November, the investigating officer in the case submitted a chargesheet in the court.
Six of family injured in gas pipeline explosion in Keraniganj
Six members of a family suffered critical burn injuries in an explosion in the gas pipeline of their house in the Jinjira area of Keraniganj early on Tuesday.
The injured are Begum, 60, Iduni Begum, 50, Sonia Akter, 26, Md Sahadat Hossain, 20, Maria Akter, 8, and Md Yasin, 12.
The explosion occurred around 4.30am in the family house in Jinjira's Mandail, said Mamun Ur Rashid, officer-in-charge of Keraniganj Model police station.
Also read: 3 of family die from electrocution in Cumilla
The injured were rescued and rushed to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery under Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), he said.
“The condition of the injured in is critical,” said Bacchu Mia, in-charge of DMCH police outpost.
Also read: 3 of family killed in Pabna road crash
HC rejects Hallmark chairperson’s bail plea in graft case
The High Court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of Hallmark Group chairperson Jasmine Islam in a graft case filed over embezzlement of nearly TK 86 crore from a bank.
A division bench of justices Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Khizir Hayat rejected the bail plea of Jasmine.
Advocate Mansurul Haque Chowdhury appeared for the businesswoman, while advocate Khurshid Alam Khan represented the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Read: Wrongful imprisonment: Appellate Division orders Brac Bank to compensate Jaha Alam
Earlier on March 10, 2019, the High Court granted bail to Jasmine in the case of embezzlement of Tk 85.87 crore from Janata Bank via a fake letter of credit.
Later, the ACC filed a petition challenging the bail order.
After hearing the appeal, the Appellate Division cancelled her bail and asked her to surrender within four weeks, on June 16, the same year.
Jasmine, also the wife of the Hallmark Group managing director Tanvir Mahmud, subsequently surrendered before the lower court and applied for bail in the High Court.
Read: ACC goes to HC seeking cancellation of Samrat’s bail
The High Court then issued a rule over her bail plea.
On November 1, 2016, Joynal Abedin, deputy assistant director of the anti-graft body, filed the case against 16 people, including Jasmine, at Motijheel police station in Dhaka.
Later that day, the ACC arrested her from the capital`s Bangsal area.
Rains likely to quell heat in Bangladesh
As high temperatures continue to bake large parts of Bangladesh, the weather department has predicted showers across the country in the next 24 hours.
"Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty winds is likely to occur at many places over Rangpur, Mymensingh and Sylhet divisions, and at one or two places over Rajshahi, Dhaka, Khulna, Barishal and Chattogram divisions with moderately heavy falls at places over northern part of the country", the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) said in its forecast on Tuesday.
Also read: Met office forecasts rain across Bangladesh
The Met office recorded the highest 59mm of rainfall in Mymensingh district in 24 hours till 6am on Tuesday.
The mercury reached 36.5 degrees Celsius – the highest – in Rajshahi, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 25 degrees in Rangpur and Chattogram divisions.
Meanwhile, the axis of monsoon trough runs through Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal to Assam across central parts of Bangladesh.
Also read: Rains to drench Bangladesh in 24 hours
Monsoon is less active over Bangladesh and weak to moderate elsewhere over the North Bay, as per the bulletin.
Dhaka’s air quality is ‘good’
Dhaka’s air has turned more breathable.
With an air quality index (AQI) score of 33, the capital’s air quality was marked 'good' again on Tuesday morning. The metropolis was ranked 58th in the list of world cities with the worst air quality at 9am.
Kuwait’s Kuwait City, Pakistan’s Lahore and Israel’s Jerusalem occupied the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 153, 153 and 148, respectively.
Also read: Dhaka's air quality turns 'good'
An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy', particularly for sensitive groups.
Similarly, an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'poor', while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents.
AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.
Also read: Dhaka's air back to 'unhealthy' zone
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants -- Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.
With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction work, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources.
Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.