Bangladesh
Monsoon showers likely in parts of country
The weather department has predicted showers in parts of Bangladesh in next 24 hours commencing 9am on Sunday as monsoon is fairly active over the country and weak to moderate elsewhere over North Bay.
“Light to moderate rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at many places over Rajshahi, Rangpur, Dhaka, Mymensingh and Sylhet divisions; at a few places over Chattogram division and at one or two places over Khulna and Barishal divisions with moderately heavy to heavy falls at places over northern part of the country,” the department said in its bulletin.
Day and night temperatures may remain nearly unchanged over the country, it added.
Read: Showers likely to drench Bangladesh
The weather office recorded the highest rainfall at 90mm in Rajarhat of Rangpur division in 24 hours till 6am on Sunday.
The highest temperature was recorded at 36.2 degrees Celsius in Mongla of Khulna division, while the lowest temperature was recorded at 24.4 degree Celcius in Rajarhat of Rangpur division.
The axis of monsoon trough runs through Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal to Assam across northern part of Bangladesh.
One of its associated troughs extends up to Northwest Bay, as per the bulletin.
Dhaka's air quality turns 'good'
With an air quality index (AQI) score of 33, Dhaka's air quality turned 'good' Sunday morning.
The metropolis ranked 52nd in the list of world cities with the worst air quality at 10am.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered to be ‘good’ while between 50 and 100 ‘moderate’.
Chile’s Santiago, Peru’s Lima and China’s Shenzhen occupied the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 154, 128 and 126, respectively.
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.
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.
A report by the Department of Environment (DoE) and the World Bank in March 2019 pointed out that the three main sources of air pollution in Dhaka "are brick kilns, fumes from vehicles and dust from construction sites".
Read: Air quality remains 'moderate' in Dhaka
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.
Covid-19 vaccine consignment for kids arrive in Dhaka
Bangladesh has received 1.5 million doses of pediatric Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines donated by the United States.
This is the first shipment of specially formulated Covid-19 vaccines to protect children between the ages of 5-11 from the coronavirus.
More vacancies are scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks, according to the US Embassy in Dhaka.
Read: Children aged 5-12 to be vaccinated soon: Health Minister
USAID is providing support to train health workers to administer these vaccines safely and effectively, enabling the government of Bangladesh to begin rolling out a Covid-19 vaccination campaign for kids ages 5 and older in the coming weeks.
The United States has now donated nearly 74 million doses of Covid vaccines with more on the way.
Global Covid cases near 582 million
The overall number of Covid cases is now nearing 582 million amid a rise in new infections in Southeast Asia.
According to the latest global data, the total case count mounted to 581,804,304 and the death toll reached 6,419,097 on Sunday morning.
The US has recorded 93,069,863 cases so far and 1,055,051 people have died from the virus in the country, the data shows.
India's daily COVID-19 caseload Saturday remained above the 20,000-mark for the third straight day, officials said.
According to federal health ministry data released on Saturday morning, 20,408 new cases of COVID-19 were reported during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 44,000,138 in the country.
The number of cases reported on Saturday was almost similar to the daily caseload of Friday, which was 20,409.
Read: US rules out summer COVID boosters to focus on fall campaign
The country also logged 54 related deaths during the past 24 hours, pushing the overall death toll to 526,312 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.
With the increase in cases, the daily positivity rate stands at 5.05 percent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 4.92 percent, the ministry data showed.
Covid in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported three more Covid-linked deaths with 349 cases in 24 hours till Saturday morning.
The new numbers took the country's total fatalities to 29,288 and caseload to 2,004,892, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily case positivity rate rose to 6.64 percent from Friday's 5.84 as 5,256 samples were tested.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.46 percent. The recovery rate rose to 96.84 percent from Friday's 96.82 percent.
Ex-Barishal Mayor Kamal dies
Barishal City Corporation’s former Mayor and BNP leader Ahsan Habib Kamal passed away at a city hospital on Saturday night. He was 68.
Kamal breathed his last at 11pm while undergoing treatment at the United Hospital in the capital, said BNP media cell convenor Zahir Uddin Swapan.
He was suffering from kidney complications, Swapan added.
He is survived by wife, a son and a daughter.
BNP Acting Chairperson Tarique Rahman, Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee Member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy expressed deep shock at the death of Ahsan Habib Kamal.
Read: Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi passes away in NY
Kamal’s mortal remains will be taken to his home in Barishal city on Sunday.
His first namaz-e-janaza will be held at Barishal Zila School premises around 2pm this noon, said family sources.
Ahsan Habib Kamal is the former President of Barishal unit BNP and the former fisheries affairs secretary of BNP central committee. He was also a former chairman of Barishal Municipality.
5 killed in Gazipur road crash
Five people were killed as a bus crashed into a battery-run auto-rickshaw in Kaliakair upazila of Gazipur on Saturday night, police said.
The deceased were identified as auto rickshaw driver Nazrul Islam, 27, and its four passengers- Mehedi Hasan, 44, Atiqul Islam, 42, Saidul Islam, 27, and Shahin Uddin, 28.
The accident occurred around 10:30 pm when a speeding passenger bus of ‘Itihas Paribahan’ collided with the auto-rickshaw coming from the opposite direction at Makish Bathan in the upazila, leaving the auto-rickshaw driver and Mehedi dead on spot and three injured, said Abdul Bashar, officer-in-charge (OC) of Kaliakair police station.
The injured were rushed to Kaliakair Health Complex in critical condition where two of them succumbed to their injuries, said the OC.
Read: 11 tourists killed, 6 injured after train hits microbus in Ctg
Later, another was shifted to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital where he was declared dead, said Sub-Inspector (SI) of Kaliakair police station Rahat Akand.
The bodies were handed over to their respective families without post mortem, he added.
Police seized the killer bus but its driver escaped, said the SI.
Road accidents in Bangladesh
As many as 524 people including 73 children were killed and 821 others injured in 467 road accidents across the country in June alone.
Of these, 204 people died in motorbike accidents alone during this period, which is 38.93% of the total fatalities, the Road Safety Foundation said in its latest report released on July 4.
Besides, 107 pedestrians, 86 drivers and their assistants were killed in the accidents.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh witnessed 398 deaths on roads in 319 accidents in just 15 days during journeys before and after Eid-ul-Azha this year.
The accidents and deaths recorded on Bangladesh roads during Eid-ul-Azha were highest in the last 7 years, according to a report prepared by Jatri Kalyan Samiti, a passenger welfare organization.
Directive to restrict use of ‘Indigenous’ unconstitutional
Fifty eminent citizens of the country in a joint statement have said that the Information Ministry’s restriction to use the word ‘Indigenous’ is unconstitutional and tantamount to contempt of the court.
“The Information Ministry has sent a circular to all the television channel owners saying that they’ll have to broadcast the restriction on using the word ‘Indigenous’ to prevent those who’ll take part in programs commemorating the International Day of The World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9 from using the word. We find the restriction self-contradictory as the government which has imposed the restriction had used the word ‘Indigenous’ more than once in its election manifesto in 2008,” read the statement.
The statement added that in the country’s constitution, it has been stated that if any question arises over any subject mentioned in the constitution, it’s the Supreme Court which has the only jurisdiction to provide explanation on that issue, not any other institution. The Supreme Court itself had said in one of its verdicts that there is no constitutional bindings on using the word ‘Indigenous’, which goes against the restriction put out by the Information Ministry.
“The ILO convention 107 was signed by Father of The Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman-led government in 1972, where the word ‘Indigenous’ was not only used but the rights of all the indigenous people of the country were also recognized. In 2009, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had also emphasized on protecting the rights and dignity of the indigenous people in a speech,” adds the statement.
Read: Eminent citizens demand unconditional release of anti-Modi student protesters
The statement also says that the restriction by the Information Ministry also denied section 39 of the country’s constitution, which ensures the right to speech and the right of media.
“We strongly condemn the restriction by the Information Ministry. We urge the concerned authorities to refrain from issuing such misleading directives that disrespect the eminent citizens, journalists and intellectuals of the country. We demand for the removal of the circular immediately,” the statement concluded.
Sultana Kamal, a well-known rights activist, Khushi Kabir, Coordinator of Nijera Kori, Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, Trustee of Gonoshasthya Kendra and Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), among others, signed the statement.
RU female student's hanging body recovered; Husband arrested
A female student of Rajshahi University (RU) was found hanging at a residence in the district's Dharampur area on Friday midnight.
The deceased was identified as Mst. Rikta Akhter, 21, a second-year student of the Law department of the university and hailed from Jotpara village of Kumarkhali upazila in Kushtia.
She used to live in a rented house in the Dharampur area adjacent to the university with her husband Abdullah Ishtiaq Rabbi, also a second-year student in the university’s Applied Mathematics Department hailing from Porahati of Harinakundu Upazilla of Jhenaidah.
Quoting Rabbi, police said he found Rita hanging in their window on Friday night. Later, Rabbi along with his friend took her to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital where on-duty doctors declared her dead on arrival.
Read: Female CU student 'kills herself'
Rita's father Liakat Ali Joarder filed a complaint with Motihar police accusing Rabbi, said Anwar Ali Tuhin, officer-in-charge (OC) of Motihar Police Station.
Later, police arrested Rabbi and sent him to jail through a Rajshahi court, added the OC.
Child accidentally strangles himself while playing with rope
A nine-year-old boy breathed his last after accidentally strangling himself with a rope in the capital's Jurain on Saturday.
The deceased was identified as Arafat Islam Arzu, son of Azizul Haque, a trader of Siabnia village in Mongla upazila of Bogra district.
Arzu was a second grader at a local school. He lived with his family on the fourth floor of a four-storey building next to Muradpur High School in Jurain.
The incident took place on Saturday noon when the boy strangled himself while playing with a rope in the balcony of the house.
He was rushed to the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital where the doctor on duty declared him dead at around 2 pm, said Inspector Bachchu Mia, in-charge of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) police outpost.
Read: Child killed in Cox’s Bazar landslide
BSMMU prepared against Monkeypox: VC
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Vice-Chancellor (VC) Dr Md Sharfuddin Ahmed said on Saturday that his institution is fully equipped to control any crisis created by global health hazard Monkeypox.
The VC said this at a press briefing held at the Shaheed Dr. Milton hall of the university.
Sharfuddin said that the World Health Organization (WHO) has termed Monkeypox as an identifiable and expansionary disease.
“Around 17,000 people have been identified with Monkeypox worldwide till now. Although no Monkeypox case has been detected in Bangladesh yet, we’re being alerted about it. We’ll be able to tackle this disease if the countrymen avoid rumors and false alarms,” Sharfuddin said.
Sharfuddin added that the Prime Minister will inaugurate the country’s first super specialized hospital built under the supervision of BSMMU on August 28.
“This hospital is also a milestone for the government like the Padma Bridge. We’ll ensure that every patient can avail treatment at this hospital,” Sharfuddin added.
Read: BSMMU VC warns against excessive use of antibiotics
The VC also provided details about Monkeypox at the press briefing.
“Monkeypox is a DNA virus. A person contracts this virus by direct communication with a carrier of this virus or eating insufficiently cooked meat of an animal containing the virus. This virus can also be contracted from droplets of breathing. Around 26 percent people infected with Monkeypox are also identified with HIV virus and 90 percent patient infected with this virus is aged below 15 years,” said Sharfuddin.
Those infected with Monkeypox have to be treated in quarantine, said the VC.
BSMMU Pro-VC Prof Dr Saif Uddin Ahmed, Treasurer Prof Dr Mohammad Atiqur Rahman, Dean Prof Dr Debabrata Banik, among others, were present at the briefing.