Bangladesh
Man held with 12 gold bars at Ctg airport
A Bangladeshi national was detained with 12 gold bars at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram Friday, Customs officials said.
The arrestee has been identified as Md Mizan Uddin, a resident of Fatikchari upazila, said Farhad Hossain, managing wing commander of the airport.
Also read: Youth held with 10 gold bars in Magura
Mizan arrived from Sharjah around 7.30 am on an Air Arabia flight. "The gold bars, weighing 1.4kg and worth Tk one crore, were found in his baggage during checking," said the official.
A case will be filed against the accused at Patenga police station in this regard, he said.
Also read: Man held with 1.24 kg gold, lead at Chattogram Airport
Young tourist drowns in Nikli haor
A 25-year-old tourist drowned and two others sustained injuries while bathing in the Nikli haor in Kishoreganj on Friday morning.
The deceased was identified as Akash, a resident of Dhaka.
Fire service sources said the three youths went missing while bathing in the haor around 9am.
Also read: Teen tourist goes missing in Bay of Bengal
On information, firefighters and locals fished out the body of Akash and rescued Tuhin, 25, and Hasib, 26 alive.
"The injured youths are undergoing treatment at Nikli upazila health complex," said Abujar Gifari, station officer of Kishoreganj Fire Service.
Also read: Stranded tourists rescued from Kaptai Lake after 999 call
3 held for thrashing disabled man in Bhola
Three people caught on video thrashing a disabled man in Bhola have been arrested, police said on Friday.
The arrestees have been identified as Taposh Mridha, Promila and Rina, all residents of Nomo village in Lalmohan upazila, said Md Maksudur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Lalmohan police station.
Police swung into action after the video of the incident went viral on social media.
Also read: Caught on video for thrashing thief, grocer held in Chuadanga
In the video, the three people could be seen brutally beating up Joy Chandra Mistry with sticks after tying him to a pole inside a temple in Nomo village.
Joy had to endure the torture till his father rescued him and took him to upazila health complex. His only crime was that he had slapped one of Taposh’s relatives Thursday morning, following an argument, locals said.
A case has been filed in this regard after the victim's father lodged a complaint against five people, said OC Maksudur Rahman.
Also read: Man arrested for thrashing two girls in Savar
Joy’s father Shyamol Chandra Mistry said, “They have tortured my son many times in the past as he is disabled and we are poor. I demand justice for my son.”
Worker killed in Kurigram road accident
A worker died after a paddy-laden truck he was traveling in flipped over and trampled him on Chandipur Bridge in Nageshwari upazila of Kurigram in the small hours of Friday.
The deceased was identified as Abdul Gafur, 50, a resident of Daknirpat village under the upazila.
Amzad Hossain, an eyewitness, said the accident occurred when the driver of the truck coming from Nageshwari lost control of the vehicle on Kurigram-Nageshwari road around 12.30am.
Also read: 20 injured as bus overturns in Jatrabari
After two hours of frantic efforts, the worker who lay trapped under the overturned truck was pulled out alive and rushed to Kurigram General Hospital. He, however, succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital.
"A probe is on," Nageshwari police station duty officer Selim Mia told UNB.
Also read: 7 killed as bus hits auto-rickshaw in Chattogram, 6 hurt
20 injured as bus overturns at Jatrabari
At least 20 people sustained injuries after a commuter bus overturned in the Bishwaroad area of Jatrabari in Dhaka on Friday morning.
The accident occurred around 6.30am when the driver lost control of the speeding bus, belonging to Bandhan Paribahan, moments after taking a turn at the busy Bishwaroad intersection, said Monir Hossain, one of the injured passengers.
Also read: Four killed in Barishal road accident
The injured were taken to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), and 18 of them are being treated at the emergency department, said Bacchu Mia, inspector in-charge of DMCH police outpost.
“At least three of the injured are in a critical condition,” he said, quoting the duty doctor.
Some of the injured have been identified as Omar Ali, 30, Monir Hossain, 35, Md Shafique, 32, Shahnaz Begum, 35, Md Rafi, 7, Md Jony, 25, and Munny Akter.
Also read: 4 killed in Habiganj road accident
Dhaka’s air quality is 'moderate'
Dhaka's air quality witnessed a marked improvement on Friday morning, after remaining ‘unhealthy’ a day before.
With an air quality index (AQI) score of 65, recorded at 10.40am, the metropolis ranked 22th in the list of world cities with the worst air quality.
An AQI between 50 and 100 is considered ‘moderate’ with an acceptable air quality. However, there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.
Kuwait’s Kuwait city, Indonesia’s Jakarta, and India’s Delhi occupied the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 166, 161 and 154, respectively.
Also read: Dhaka’s air quality turns 'unhealthy' again
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.
Also read: Dhaka’s air quality remains ‘moderate’
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy during winter and improves during 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".
With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction works, 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 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.
Mild heatwave to continue in Bangladesh
No relief is in sight as the mild heat wave sweeping through some districts of Bangladesh is likely to continue, says the weather department.
However, light to moderate rains or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty winds is likely to occur at many places over Rangpur, Mymensingh, Barishal, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions, according to Bangladesh Meteorological Department.
Showers are also expected to occur at a few places over Dhaka, Rajshahi and Khulna divisions with moderately heavy falls at isolated places over the country, the department said in its bulletin.
The mild heat wave sweeping over the districts of Rajshahi and Pabna may continue, according to the weather office.
Read: Heat wave likely to prevail two more days, says weather expert
Day and night temperatures may also remain nearly unchanged over the country.
Thursday's maximum temperature was recorded in Rajshahi at 37.5 degrees, while the minimum was recorded in Rangamati and Feni at 25 degrees.
The sun rose on Friday at 5.23am and it will set at 6.47pm.
Govt to build 1,000 flood shelters: Enamur
The government will build 1,000 Mujibkilla (shelters for disaster-affected people) and Bonna Ashrayan Kendra (shelters for flood survivors) across the country to mitigate the sufferings of people during a natural calamity.
This was announced by State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief, Md Enamur Rahman, on Thursday.
"Besides, the government has initiated a project to carry out dredging to deepen the riverbeds, eventually aimed at reducing loss of lives and properties," he said.
Enamur said these at a roundtable, titled 'Sudden Flood in North-South Region: Malleable, action and rehabilitation' held in the office of Daily Kaler Kantho in Dhaka.
Private development organisation BRAC and Kaler Kantho jointly organised the programme that was also attended by the president of the Standing Committee for Disaster Management and Relief Ministry, AB Tajul Islam.
BRAC Disaster Risk Management Programme director Sajedul Hasan, Flood Forecast and Precautionary Centre deputy divisional engineer Sardar Udoy Raihan, and officials of north-south district administrations were among others who attended the roundtable.
Read: No visible progress made in repatriation of Rohingyas: Minister Enamur
The Minister said some 80 to 90% of land in Sylhet and Sunamganj went under water during the recent floods as these districts didn’t witness such flooding in 122 years.
"The gruesomeness of the floods won’t be seen in flood-prone 40 districts once the Delta Plan 2100 of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is implemented," he said.
Tajul Islam, on his part, said general people would be involved in tackling the disasters.
Speakers at the roundtable also underscored the need for special measures for pregnant and breastfeeding women during a natural disaster.
ADB to help govt recover losses from flood
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has assured the government to provide all sorts of cooperation to help recoup the losses from the recent flood across Bangladesh including Sylhet.
Edimon Ginting, country director of ADB, made the assurance during a courtesy call on LGRD Minister Md Tajul Islam at the latter’s office on Thursday.
In the meeting, the minister briefed the country director about the damages, including roads, bridges, culverts, water, and sanitation system due to the flood and various measures taken by the government to recover the losses as early as possible.
He said ADB always stands beside Bangladesh with help to build rural infrastructures, and in many sectors including water resources, agriculture, education, transport, and fuel.
The minister thanked the regional money lender for its positive role to achieve the sustainable development goals of the country.
In response, Edimon Ginting has expressed his keen interest to work with the government on a rehabilitation programme in flood-affected areas.
Mentioning that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been working relentlessly to build a developed country within 2041, Ginting said Bangladesh has become a role model of development in the world.
Feni madrasa teacher held for sodomising minor student
Police arrested a madrasa teacher from Daganbhuiyan upazila in Feni for alleged sexual assault on an eight-year old male student on Thursday.
The teacher was identified as Mowlana Abdul Jalil,21, resident teacher of Kawmi and Hafezia Madrasa in Bhabanipur village in Rajapur union.
“The accused teacher has been on the crime for a long time. Recently the student refused to go back to the madrasa after the vacation ended. As his parents inquired, he informed them of the matter, “ said Joynal Abedin Mamun, Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Rajapur.
Md Hasan Imam, officer-in-charge of Daganbhuiyan police station said the teacher was arrested after a case was filed by the student’s father with police.
“The man used to threaten to beat the boy and swear by religion to force upon him. He has been jailed by the court and the boy has been sent to hospital for medical tests,” said the OC.