Bangladesh
Rains likely in parts of country
Eight divisions of the country may witness light to moderate rain or thundershowers in 24 hours commencing 9 am, said Met office on Sunday.
According to a Met office bulletin, “Light to moderate rain or thunder showers with intense lightning flashes and temporary gusty/squally wind is likely at many places over Rangpur, Mymensingh and Sylhet divisions; at a few places over Rajshahi, Dhaka and Chattogram divisions 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.”
READ: Light to moderate rain predicted across Bangladesh
Trough of Westerly low lies over West Bengal and adjoining area with its extension to Northwest Bay.
Day and night temperature may remain nearly uncahanged over the country.
12,000 litres of edible oil seized in Chattogram
A team of Rapid Action Battalion and National Consumer Rights Protection (NCRP) in a drive seized 12,100 litres of edible oil from two warehouses at Bandartila Saltgola of Chattogram port city on Sunday.
A team of Rab and NCRP conducted a drive at Ishanmistrir Bazar in Saltgola and seized edible oil from a number of warehouses in the area, said Didar Hossain, assistant director of Chattogram, NCRP.
READ: Crackdown on hoarding: 51,956 litres of soybean oil seized in 3 districts
Later, they also slapped a fine of Tk 5 lakh on the owners of the two warehouses including Ilias Hossain for hoarding the oil illegally.
Earlier, the NCRP team seized 4500 litres of edible oil from different warehouses in Agrabad and Karnaphuli bazars on Friday and Saturday.
Perilous roads: 4 including 3 of family killed in Rajshahi
A day after a horrific road accident in Goplaganj that left nine people dead, four people including three members of a family were killed in another road crash on Rajshahi-Naogaon highway in Paba upazila on Sunday.
The deceased were identified as Aktar Hossain,35, his wife Bithi khatun,33, their daughter Mariam Jannat,4, of Niamatpur upazila and Abdul Mannan, 48 of Manda upazila in Naogaon district
Jahangir Alam, sub-inspector of Paba Police Station, said the accident occurred around 10:30 am near Aman Cold Storage when a soil-laden tractor hit two motorbikes coming from the opposite direction, leaving three people dead on the spot and another injured.
READ: Unidentified youth killed in train Accident
“Abdul Mannan, one of the bike riders and Mariam, Bithi pillion of another bike died on the spot. Mariam’s father Aktar was taken to Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries later around 5 pm,” said the SI
The family was heading towards Rajshahi to attend a wedding ceremony. The bodies will be handed over to family after autopsy,” he said.
Earlier, on Saturday, Nine people, including three couple, were killed and 30 others injured when a bus hit a car and then ploughed into a bike and a couple operating a paddy-cutting machine on a farm land along the Dhaka-Khulna highway in Gopalganj district
Road accidents in Bangladesh continue to claim hundreds of lives every year.
As many as 543 people, including 81 children, were killed and 612 others injured in 427 road accidents in April, the Road Safety Foundation said in its latest report, released on May 7.
The non-government organisation said 206 lives were lost in 189 motorcycle accidents, which is 37.93% of the total deaths. Also, 116 pedestrians and 87 drivers and their assistants were killed in March accidents.
On the other hand, accidents on waterways claimed at least eight lives while 23 were killed and five injured in train accidents across Bangladesh last month.
Female UP member ‘raped’ in Rajshahi: 5 held
A 47-year-old female UP member (reserved seat) has reportedly been raped by another UP member for two days in Mohonpur upazila of Rajshahi district.
The female UP member, mother of three children, lodged a complaint against five people including UP member Mojibor Rahman with Mohonpur Police on Friday, said officer-in-charge of the police station Touhidul Islam.
According to the complaint, Mojibur developed an extramarital relationship with the female UP member and took her to a house on Wednesday with a promise to marry her where he raped her for two days.
On Friday, Mojibor fled the house keeping the woman alone there.
READ: 3 arrested in Ctg over gang rape of girl who escaped from Cumilla
Later, Mojibor’s relatives drive her out of the house.
She then made a phone call to the national emergency help line 999. Later police took her to one stop crisis centre of Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital.
Police also arrested five people in this connection.
Efforts are on to arrest the accused, said the OC.
Dhaka's air quality improves remarkably
Dhaka's air quality continued to be in the ‘moderate’ zone on Sunday, mainly owing to rains in different parts of the country.
With an air quality index (AQI) score of 72 at 10.29am, the city ranked 23rd in the list of world cities with the worst air quality.
When the AQI remains between 51 and 100, the air quality is acceptable. However, there may be a risk for some people, particularly those who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.
India’s Delhi, the United Arab Emirates' Dubai and Indonesia’s Jakarta occupied the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 242, 186 and 162 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.
READ: Dhaka's air quality remains 'moderate'
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".
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.
Buddha Purnima today
Buddha Purnima, the biggest religious festival of the Buddhist community, is being celebrated across the country today (Sunday).
Buddha Purnima marks the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha. On this day in 563 BC, Buddha was born as Siddhartha Gautama in Kopilabostu at the foothill of the Himalayas.
He attained supreme enlightenment at the age of 35 and finally departed into 'nirvana' at the age of 80 in 483 BC.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages greeting the Buddhist community on the occasion.
President Hamid said, “Buddhist civilization and its culture have been deeply intertwined with the people of Bengal since ancient times. Paharpur and Mainamati Shalban Bihar are its shining examples.”
He urged the members of Buddhist community to celebrate Buddha Purnima maintaining health guidelines to prevent future spread of Covid-19.
READ: Buddha Purnima to be celebrated on Sunday
The Prime Minister urged all to work generously to further strengthen the practice and bond of harmony in Bangladesh in future.
“I hope that by upholding and nurturing the ideals of Gautam Buddha, everyone will play a role in building Bangladesh as a peaceful country,” she said.
Global Covid cases surpassed 521 million
The overall number of Covid cases has surpassed 521 million amid a rise in new infections in parts of the world.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 521,107,516 while the death toll from the virus reached 6,263,192 Sunday morning.
The US has recorded 82,437,716 cases so far and 999,570 people have died from the virus in the country, the data shows.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 43,119,112 on Sunday, as 2,858 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, nice deaths from the pandemic registered across the country since Sunday morning took the total death toll to 5,24,201 .
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported 22 Covid cases in 24 hours until Saturday morning which took the total caseload to 1,952,979.
With no new Covid death reported during the period for the 24th consecutive day, the total fatalities from the pandemic remained unchanged at 29,127.
READ: Global Covid cases near 521 million
The daily test positivity rate slightly increased to 0.55 per cent from Friday's 0.45 per cent as 3,965 samples were tested, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
On Friday, the number of cases was lower as only 18 new cases were reported.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.49 percent. The recovery rate rose to 97.24 percent as 220 patients recovered during this period.
Americans want to be part of Bangladesh's success story: Kelly
Ambassador Kelly Keiderling, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia and Public Diplomacy, has said the Americans want to be a part of the success story of Bangladesh that is becoming an economic power house.
Ambassador Kelly Keiderling highly appreciated the tremendous socioeconomic development Bangladesh has achieved in the span of a generation.
Millions of Bangladeshis came out of the poverty and the country now has entered into the middle income category, she added.
The Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington, D.C. celebrated the Bangla Naboborsho (Bengali New Year) -1429 and Eid reunion on Friday with much enthusiasm and fanfare, said the Embassy in a message on Sunday.
Kelly joined the event as the guest of honour.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the USA M. Shahidul Islam delivered the welcome remarks.
Diplomats from South Asian countries, officials of the US Government and State Department and a large number of guests from Bangladesh Diaspora also attended the joyful event.
READ: Highlight Bangladesh's success stories: FM to media
Bangladesh Ambassador Shahidul Islam narrated illustrious history of Bangla New Year celebration and said Pahela Baishakh is an integral part of Bengali culture and tradition, and the most universal festival of the nation.
On the other hand, he said, Eid-ul-Fitr is the largest religious festival for the Muslim majority population, reminding them of the virtues of self-purification, compassion and charity.
He noted that these two festivals are to celebrate the foundational values of the War of Independence, where people from all religious, racial and ethnic backgrounds would live in peace and harmony, as envisioned by our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Ambassador Islam said Bangabandhu's daughter, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has remained steadfast to uphold the secular and progressive ethos of the Bengali society, and her party Awami League has been a constant bulwark against the religious extremism in the society.
The key attraction of the program was a spectacular cultural show which highlighted some distinct aspects of celebration of Bangla New Year and Eid-ul-Fitr.
Four US State Department Officers recited poems and rhymes in Bangla in the cultural function which ended with performing of songs by noted Bangladeshi singer Anila Chowdhury.
As part of the celebration, a "Mangal Shobhajatra" was brought out from the chancery premises. The traditional procession ended at the same place after parading the nearby street of the Embassy.
Traditional Bangladeshi food items were served at the end of the programme which was highly appreciated by the foreign guests.
Country’s largest youth platform Young Bangla gets a big boost from PM Hasina
Posing for a photograph wearing a mask of Young Bangla, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has advanced the cause of the country's largest youth platform Young Bangla.
In a Facebook post, Radwan Mujib Siddiq, a trustee of Center For Reserach and Information that oversees activities of Young Bangla, posted the photo with his mother Sheikh Rehana and his aunt Sheikh Hasina.
Newly added members for Young Bangla, reads the post in caption.
Activists of the youth platform, comprising over 12,500 volunteers, are overwhelmed to get the prime minister as their latest member.
Launched in 2014, Young Bangla has been acting as a flexible space for the youth to come together into a network and collectively strive for achieving personal and national goals through sharing and cooperation.
Under one of its flagship initiative Joy Bangla Youth Award, named after the historic pro-Liberation wartime slogan Joy Bangla, the platform has so far recognized, groomed and showcased as many as 135 youth-led organizations
READ: Young Bangla gathers young artists to share their pandemic experiences
Through the award, Young Bangla is not just recognizong the efforts of youths in transforming the society but also enhancing the impact of the services they are already doing to their communities.
Joy Bangla Youth Award is the first of its kind in Bangladesh to offer a platform to the country's young changemakers, even from remote areas, so that they are exposed to the climate that best harnesses their talents.
The youth organizations that were previously working on individual levels are now united through this organization and their points are placed across to the policymakers, according to media reports.
Young Bangla has set the precedence of portraying history and advancing the spirit of the Liberation War through creative forms of storytelling such as Joy Bangla Concert, a remarkable music extravaganza in celebration of historic March 7 speech.
Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended Joy Bangla Concert, paying tribute to the Father of the Nation's 7th March speech.
Young Bangla members, numbering around 200,000, are elated and proud to have Sheikh Hasina supporting their cause, which is evident in their social media posts.
Youth killed in 'merciless' knife attack in Dhaka's Vatara
A 22-year-old youth was killed in a "swift, bloody and merciless" knife attack in Dhaka's Vatara Saturday night, police said.
Md Shanto, a mason, suffered serious wounds after being repeatedly stabbed by around seven locals – including Ramjan, Lalon, Emon – at 9pm, the deceased's friend Nurul Islam said.
"It was not possible to say who delivered the fatal blows. However, all of them shared a common intention: that Shanto should die, or suffer very serious injuries," he added.
Shanto's friends took him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where he was declared dead at 10:30pm, Inspector Bachchu Mia, in-charge of DMCH Police Outpost, said.
The body was sent to the hospital morgue for post-mortem examination, he added.
Also read: Youth killed over football match in Jashore