Bangladesh
Govt: Switch off lighting until further order to save electricity
The government has imposed a bar on decorative illumination of houses, community centres, shopping malls, shopping centres, offices and residences until further order to save electricity.
Also read: Govt issues directives to celebrate Eid maintaining health protocols, austerityThe restriction was imposed on Thursday in the wake of an exorbitant rise in the prices of petroleum fuels on the global market, said a press release of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).
Also read: Govt mulls rescheduling office timing amid power shortage, says energy advisor
Special Chapainawabganj-Dhaka cattle train service stops day after launch
The special cattle train service on the Chapainawabganj-Dhaka route was cancelled on Thursday, a day after its launch for lack of cargo.
The Bangladesh Railway took the decision as no cattle trader showed their interest to transport sacrificial animals by the special train until 4.30 pm on Thursday, Chapainawabganj Railway Station Master Shahidul Alam told UNB.
On Wednesday, a special cattle train from Chapainawabganj left for Dhaka with 22 sacrificial animals for Eid markets.
Read: Special cattle train service starts on Chapainawabganj-Dhaka route
"The train left for the capital with 18 cows and four goats. The transportation cost for each cow was fixed at Tk591.50 and each goat at Tk296," Shahidul said.
The special service was launched on the Chapainawabganj-Rajshahi-Dhaka (Tejgaon) route on July 17 last year to transport sacrificial animals at a low cost considering the Covid-19 situation.
Govt issues directives to celebrate Eid maintaining health protocols, austerity
The Religious Affairs Ministry issued several directives regarding celebration of Eid-ul-Azha and offering prayers at Eidgah and mosques considering the overall situation in the country .
The ministry issued a notification in this regard on Thursday.
The ministry requested people not to use lights for decoration during Eid-ul-Azha celebrations
People have been asked to come for Eid prayers with ceremonial wash (Oju) done from respective houses. Authorities have been directed to provide soap, hand sanitizers at the washrooms of Eidgah and mosques to prevent the spread of Covid1-19.
Also read: Ensure uninterrupted ATM, POS, internet banking , MFS during Eid vacation: BB
They must wear masks while attending Eid congregations and cannot use cap, prayer mates kept at Eidgah or mosques, said the notice.
Social distancing and health guidelines to be maintained while performing Eid prayers and they must stand for prayers leaving one row empty, it said.
The ministry also requested the imams and religious leaders to conduct prayer seeking the Almighty’s blessings to protect everyone from the pandemic after the Eid prayers.
Also read: Skyrocketing fodder prices leave cattle farmers fretting ahead of Eid
The religious leaders, imams, mosque governing committees and local administrations have been asked to implement the directives. The ministry has also asked people to follow the guidelines of the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry for sacrificing animals on the Eid day.
NBR dreams to cross revenue Tk3.0 lakh crore in FY 22
The revenue collection of National Board of Revenue (NBR) has increased by 14 per cent to Tk 2.96 lakh crore in the fiscal year ending June 30, according to official data.
The earning is close to the NBR’s dream target of collecting Tk 3 lakh crore in a fiscal year.
The increase is attributed to growth in the volume of both export and import of the country.
Though the revenue generation increased by 14 per cent in FY 22, NBR missed to reach the fiscal target of Tk3.30 lakh crore. But the NBR collected revenue of Tk 36,000 crore more than the previous FY 21.
Also Read: NBR to install 10000 EFD to prevent VAT evasion
In FY 21, the NBR collected revenue around Tk2.60 lakh crore from income tax, Value added Tax (VAT) and customs duty against the revised target of Tk 3.1 lakh crore.
The Customs House, Chattogram has collected Tk 59,256 crore, which is the highest while another large Customs House in Benapole collected Tk 4,599 crore in the just-gone fiscal year.
The highest VAT has been collected by the Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU). The LTU unit has collected Tk 50,000 crore and LTU (income tax) department collected around Tk 25,000 crore.
The NBR officials said, businesses will submit VAT returns by July 15 around Tk 20,00 crore to 2500 crore.
Besides, the NBR hopes to realize VAT of several thousand crore which remains unrealized at some state-owned entities.
The revenue officials are expecting that the revenue collection will cross Tk 3.0 lakh crore in FY 22, if a portion of VAT is realized from the state-owned entities.
Narail teacher humiliation: Mirzapur United College governing body, another teacher show caused
The National University authorities on Thursday issued separate show cause notices to the governing body of Mirzapur United Degree College in Narail and one of its teachers over the humiliation of acting principal Swapan Kumar Biswas.
The decision was taken at the 229th syndicate meeting of the National University held on Wednesday night chaired by Professor Dr Mashiur Rahman, Vice Chancellor of the university, according to a press release issued on Thursday.
The authorities also expelled Md Rahmatullah Rony, a fourth year student Religious History and Culture Department of Government Brjalal College in Khulna, for his involvement in this incident.
Also read: Writ petition filed seeking judicial probe on Narail teacher humiliation
According to the decision, Aktar Hossain Kinku, assistant professor of Political Science Department of the college has been show-caused for his negative role on the day of the incident and the governing body of Mirzapur United Degree College has been show-caused for its inactivity.
They have been asked to respond immediately explaining why punitive measures will not be taken against them.
A committee formed to probe the incident on June 28 led by Brajalal College Principal Shari Atiquzzaman submitted its report at the syndicate meeting.
Contacted, Professor Aktar Hossain Kinku and advocate Achin Chakraborty, president of the governing body of Mirzapur United Degree College told UNB they are yet to receive any notice in this regard and will respond upon getting documents.
Md Mahmudur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge of Narail Sadar police station and investigation officer in the case said the four arrested accused -Shaon, Monirul, Rony and Rimon- were sent to jail on Thursday after being produced before a court.
Among them, Nur Nabi is currently on a three-day police remand which will end on Friday.
On June 18, a Hindu student of Mirzapur United Degree College made a post on Facebook supporting suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
Also read: One more held over Narail teacher humiliation
There was day-long unrest in the college over the post and rumours that acting principal Swapan Kumar Biswas had sided with the student, following which police escorted him out of the campus. At one stage, a group of people forced him to wear a garland of shoes.
A video of the incident also went viral on social media that sparked huge criticism.
Later, the accused, who made the Facebook post, was arrested and a case was filed against him under the Digital Security Act.
On June 26, two probe committees were formed led by Additional District Magistrate Jubayer Hossain Chowdhury and by Additional Superintendent of Police Md Riazul Islam.
On June 27, three more were arrested in another case filed at the Sadar Police Station police for setting teachers’ vehicles on fire and obstructing police duty.
Police also arrested Rahmat Ullah Roni, the prime accused in this case, from Khulna on June 29.
Chevron steps in to help flood-hit people of Sylhet
Chevron Bangladesh, the largest producer of natural gas in the country, has extended its support to flood-hit people of three districts of Sylhet division as part of the company's corporate social responsibility.
To support the flood-hit people of Habiganj, Sylhet and Sunamganj districts, Chevron Bangladesh recently provided one week's emergency supplies to around 14,000 families and additional 240,000 oral saline and water purification tablets.
Chevron Bangladesh provided support to the affected families currently staying in the flood shelters in the three districts in collaboration with local administrators and relief committees of the flood-affected areas.
Read: Chevron concludes community-based Jibika project
Muhammad Imrul Kabir, director of corporate affairs in Chevron Bangladesh, said: "As a socially responsible organisation, we must stand by the flood-affected families at this critical time. If we all work together, we can alleviate the suffering of the affected community."
TIB replies to Japanese ambassador’s criticism of a research report
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman has appreciated Japanese Ambassador Ito Naoki's expectations of evidence based arguments and said there is no scope of treating any aspect of this research unfounded.
"We want to assure him (Naoki) that globally accepted methodologies including data collection and validation procedures, and other standards of social science research were strictly followed while conducting the study," said the TIB executive director in response to comments made by the Japanese ambassador recently.
The Japanese envoy made some comments on TIB’s recent research report titled ‘Coal and LNG-based Power Projects in Bangladesh: Governance Challenges and the Way Ahead’ while speaking at the second Integrated Energy and Power Master Plan (IEPMP) preparation stakeholder meeting, as reported by the media on July 3.
The ambassador called upon Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) to “present evidence-based arguments.”
Read: Formulate guideline to end anarchy in foreign workers’ recruitment: TIB
He said, "Some description of a recent report by TIB, which came out in May this year… I'm not going into the details of the project… but when this report says Japan has been influencing Bangladesh (to use) obsolete technology, I found it's rather unfounded.”
Adding that the full report and executive summary were earlier sent to the ambassador, the TIB executive director in a statement pointed out that nowhere in the report did TIB say that Japan was influencing Bangladesh to use obsolete technology.
The study only quoted relevant experts, according to whom old and brownfield boilers from China and Japan were being claimed as green technologies and thus Bangladesh was being used as a ‘dumping ground’ for surplus and unused coal technologies discarded by developed countries, TIB statement reads.
Zaman said, “On the other hand, the Ambassador stayed away from taking the opportunity to address the question of conflict of interest of Japan with respect to the IEPMP, an issue specifically highlighted in the TIB report, although the Ambassador mentioned that it was the third time that Japan was involved in preparing a master plan for the power and energy sector in Bangladesh”.
Providing technical support and consultancies by donors are unavoidable and often necessary components in donor-recipient relationships, he said.
"Japanese support in developing the IEPMP is therefore welcome, but they could have set a good example of a conflict of interest-free donor practice by facilitating a credible procurement process in which participation of entities having business and investment interest in the eventual implementation of the plan were to be prevented,” the statement said.
Flood: 2 more deaths push up toll to 112
Although flood situation continues to improve in most places, it claimed two more lives in Moulvibazar in 24 hours till Thursday morning, taking the total fatalities to 112.
Both of them drowned in floodwater, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The total deaths were recorded between May 17 and July 7, it said.
Among the total deceased, 85 people died by drowning in floodwater, 15 from lightning strikes, two from snake bites, one from diarrhoea, and nine due to other reasons.
Of the deceased, 59 people died in Sylhet, 40 in Mymensingh, 12 in Rangpur and one in Dhaka division, it said.
Among a total of 70 flood-hit upazilas, 33 are in Sylhet division, 16 in Rangpur division, 20 in Mymensingh division and one in Chattogram division.
Sylhet, Sunamganj, Netrokona and Kurigram are the worst-hit districts where 13, 11, 10 and 9 upazilas were affected by flood respectively.
Read: Bangladesh among global hotspots of series of floods: Study
Covid claims 3 more lives in Bangladesh infects 1,790 others
Bangladesh registered three more Covid-linked deaths with 1,790 cases in 24 hours till Wednesday morning amid rapid surge in new infections.
The fresh numbers took the country's total caseload to 1,986,490 and the total fatalities to 29,188, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily case positivity rate slightly declined to 16.54 from Wednesday’s 16.89 per as 10, 822 samples were tested during the period, said the DGHS.
Also read: Global Covid cases top 557 million
Among the deceased, two were women and one was a man. Of them, one each were from Dhaka, Chattogram and Khulna division.
On Wednesday, the country recorded four Covid-linked deaths with 1,728 cases.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.47 per cent. The recovery rate declined to 96.17 per cent from Tuesday’s 96.23 per cent as 678 patients recovered during this period.
In June, the country reported 18 Covid-linked deaths and 20,201 new cases, according to the DGHS.
The country reported its first zero Covid death in a single day on November 20 last year, along with 178 cases, since the pandemic broke out here in March 2020.
Also read: Bangladesh reports 4 Covid deaths with 1,728 cases Positivity rate now 16.89%
The country registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 in the same year.
Dengue: 31 new patients hospitalised in 24hrs
Thirty-one new dengue patients were hospitalised in 24 hours till Thursday morning as cases are on the rise in Bangladesh.
Of them, 28 were hospitalised in Dhaka division, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
As many as 132 dengue patients, including 124 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.
The dengue cases are rising in the capital allegedly due to insufficient measures taken by the two Dhaka city corporations for preventing mosquito-borne diseases like dengue.
Also read: Dengue: 32 patients hospitalised in Dhaka in 24hrs
On June 21, the DGHS reported the first death of the season from the mosquito-borne viral disease.
This year, the DGHS has recorded 1,347 dengue cases and 1,214 recoveries so far.
Dengue – a leading cause of serious illness and death in some Asian and Latin American countries – was first reported in Bangladesh in 2000 and claimed 93 lives. In three years, the fatality number almost fell to zero.
However, 105 dengue patients, including 95 in Dhaka division, died in 2021.
Dengue is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.
About 4 billion people, almost half of the world's population, live in areas with a risk of dengue, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Also read: Dengue: 46 more patients hospitalised
Each year, up to 400 million people get infected with dengue while approximately 100 million get sick from infection, and 40,000 die from severe dengue, it says.
"There is no specific treatment for dengue or severe dengue. Early detection of disease progression associated with severe dengue, and access to proper medical care lowers fatality rates of severe dengue to below 1 percent," according to the World Health Organization.