Bangladesh
Fuel supplies hit as tanker workers go on strike in Khulna
Fuel supplies to 10 districts in Khulna and five in Faridpur were disrupted on Tuesday, as oil tanker workers here launched an indefinite strike over an attack on one of their union leaders.
The strike began around 8am, as the tanker workers refused to refill or transport oil from Padma, Meghna and Jamuna depots, demanding the arrest of assailants who attacked their union leader on Monday.
Read: Be ready to fight if enemy attacks peace-loving Bangladesh, PM urges armed forces
Meanwhile, a case was filed against two men and 12 unidentified people at the Khalishpur police station in connection with the assault, following a complaint from the victim’s brother on Monday night, said Md Kamal Hossain, the officer-in-charge.
On Monday, around 12pm, some people attacked Al Amin, the line secretary of the Tank-Lorry Workers' Union at the Kashipur Banglar Mor area.He was subsequently admitted to Khulna Medical College and Hospital with severe injuries.
“The workers have vowed to continue the strike until the assailants are arrested and brought to justice. They are currently demonstrating in front of the union office,” said Mir Moksed Ali, president of Khulna division's Tank-Lorry Workers' Union.
Read: Indefinite bus strike in Sylhet from Tuesday
Around 1pm on Monday, the workers blocked the Notun Rasta intersection in the city in protest against the attack and dispersed only at 4 pm after getting assurance from the authorities, he said.
OC Kamal said that "we are conducting raids to arrest the accused".
Be ready to fight if enemy attacks peace-loving Bangladesh, PM urges armed forces
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday asked the armed forces to remain ever prepared to thwart any threat to the country’s Independence and sovereignty.
“We have to remain prepared. If enemy from outside attacks us we must resist that in a befitting manner,” she said while inaugurating the Sheikh Russell Cantonment at Jazeera in Shariatpur.
She joined the programme virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.
The prime minister said Bangladesh believes in 'friendship to all, malice to none', the foreign policy formulated by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“We do not want to fight with anyone. We will not engage in war, but we have to remain prepared,” she said.
In this connection, she said the government has taken steps to upgrade the armed forces through training and more resources.
Chief of Army Staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed also spoke at the programme. Hasina listed the measures the Awami League government had taken after coming to power in 1996 for the first time in 21 years.
The government, she said, adopted the development and modernization plan of the Armed Forces and established National Defence College and Military Institute of Science and Technology in 1998 while Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operations Training and Armed Forces Medical College in 1999.Besides, she said that the then AL government first recruited female officers in Army, Navy and Air Force in 2000.The PM said that after winning consecutive elections since 2008 the government has been implementing short, medium and long term plans to build a trained and up-to-date armed forces.
For this “Forces Goal-2030”has been launched on the basis of National Defence Policy-1974 formulated by Bangabandhu, she said.In addition, she said, the government established Bangladesh Peace Building Center in 2016 and formulated ‘National Defence Policy, 2018.She extended her gratitude to the Chief of Army Staff and members of Army for naming Mawa and Jazeera cantonments as “Sheikh Russell Cantonment”.
Brace for showers in 24 hours!
A bout of summer rain or thundershowers in the next 24 hours may bring the much-needed relief to people of seven divisions of Bangladesh.
Yes, according to the weather department, rain or thundershower activity is expected to occur at a few places over these seven divisions -- Sylhet, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Khulna, Barishal, Chattogram and Dhaka.
According to a Met office bulletin issued on Tuesday morning, showers might occur at a few places over Sylhet division and at one or two places over Rangpur, Mymensingh, Khulna, Barishal, Chattogram and Dhaka.
However, the weather may remain mainly dry with partly cloudy sky elsewhere over the country, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) forecast.
Read: Warmer weather ahead as spring begins
Besides, a mild heat wave is sweeping over the districts of Faridpur, Rajshahi, Khulna, Jashore, Chuadanga and Kushtia, and it may continue, said the weather office.
Day and night temperatures may remain nearly unchanged over the country.
The trough of westerly low lies over the sub-Himalayan West Bengal and adjoining areas. The seasonal low lies over the South Bay, according to the forecast.
Global Covid cases near 482 million
The overall number of Covid cases is fast approaching 482 million amid a rise in new infections in parts of the world.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 481,965,679 while the death toll from the virus reached 6,127,067 Tuesday morning.
The US has recorded 79,995,485 cases so far and 977,687 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.
The number of new coronavirus cases globally increased by 7% last week, driven largely by rising infections in the Western Pacific, even as reported deaths from Covid fell, the World Health Organization said.
Also read: Much of Shanghai locked down as mass COVID-19 testing begins
There were more than 12 million new weekly cases and just under 33,000 deaths, a 23% decline in mortality, according to the UN health agency’s report on the pandemic issued late Tuesday, reports AP.
Confirmed cases of the virus had been falling steadily worldwide since January but rose again last week, due to the more infectious omicron variant and its subvariant BA.2, in addition to the suspension of Covid protocols in numerous countries in Europe, North America and elsewhere.
China has reported more than 56,000 confirmed cases nationwide this month, reports AP.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 43,021,722 on Monday as 999 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, 94 deaths due to the pandemic were reported since Saturday morning, taking the total death toll to 521,098.
Meanwhile, Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January last year, registered 9,923 cases and 86 more deaths from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections to 29,852,341 and the national death toll to 659,012, the Ministry of Health said Sunday.
Also read: Bangladesh reports first death from Covid after four days with 81 fresh cases
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh logged 81 fresh Covid cases in 24 hours with one death till Monday morning, after reporting zero fatalities for the last four days.
The fresh numbers took the country’s total caseload to 19,51,363, while the death toll mounted to 29,119.
On Sunday, the number was lower as 43 new cases were reported with no new deaths.
The daily positivity rate rose a bit to 0.86 per cent from Sunday’s 0.54 per cent after 9,397 samples were tested during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Besides, the mortality rate remained unchanged too at 1.49 per cent.
The recovery rate rose to 96.28 per cent with the recovery of 993 more patients during the 24-hour period.
President asks stakeholders to come forward to protect haors
President Abdul Hamid asked all concerned to come forward to protect the resources and environmental balance of the haor area.
He said this while exchanging views with eminent persons of different classes and professions including the people's representatives of Itna upazila of Kishoreganj this evening.
In an exchange of views held at the President Abdul Hamid Auditorium in Itna in the evening, the President said that the canals and rivers in the haor area are gradually filling up due to sand coming along the upstream slope. This is destroying the ecological balance of the haor area as well as the livelihood of the people.
READ: President visits development projects in Kishoreganj
Mentioning hoars as unique natural resources in Bangladesh, President Hamid said the environment issue should be given priority in any development project in the Haor area.
Local MP Rezwan Ahmed Tawfiq was present at the time.
UN finds link between widening inequalities and vaccine access
Only a tiny proportion of Covid vaccines have been administered in developing countries, leading to a widening gap between rich and poor, according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
In September 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for 70 percent of the global population to be vaccinated by mid-2022.
At that point, just over three percent of people in low-income countries had been vaccinated with at least one dose, compared to 60.18 percent in high-income countries.
Six months on, the world is nowhere near reaching that target.
The overall number of vaccines administered has risen dramatically, but so has the inequality of the distribution – of the 10.7 billion doses given out worldwide, only one percent has been administered in low-income countries.
This means that 2.8 billion people around the world are still waiting to get their first shot.
Vaccine inequity jeopardises the safety of everyone, and is largely responsible for growing inequalities between – and within – countries.
Not only does this state of affairs risk prolonging the pandemic, but the lack of equity has many other impacts, slowing the economic recovery of entire countries, global labour markets, public debt payments, and countries' ability to invest in other priorities.
Two years on from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, poorer countries are finding it harder than ever to recover economically, labour markets are suffering, public debt remains stubbornly high, and there is little left in the coffers to invest in other priorities.
READ: G7 must ensure vaccine access in developing countries: UN experts
A new analysis by UNDP shows that most of the vulnerable countries are found in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Chad, where less than one percent of the populations are fully vaccinated. Outside of Africa, Haiti and Yemen are still to reach two percent coverage.
The study, released this month, shows that, if low-income countries had the same vaccination rate as high-income countries in September last year (around 54 percent) they would have increased their GDP by US$16.27 billion in 2021.
The countries calculated to have lost most potential income during the pandemic, due to vaccine inequity, are Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
This lost income could have been used to address other pressing development challenges in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that make up the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the organisation’s blueprint for a future that is fair for people and the planet.
In South Sudan, for example, the costs associated with Covid-19 vaccinations could have covered all social assistance programmes and education expenditure in the country, while in Burundi, the costs could have provided healthcare for some 4.7 million people.
While the protracted lockdowns put in place worldwide hurt workers everywhere, those in developing countries were, again, disproportionately affected. Richer countries softened the blow by boosting economic support to both formal and informal workers, while in low-income countries, support declined between 2020 and 2021.
Urgent access to vaccines and financing – such as the grants and concessions proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – is, according to the analysis, essential for the poorest countries, alongside support that is tailored to the situation faced by each individual nation.
Many, for example, have benefited from vaccination campaigns undertaken by international organizations, and this experience can inform the way that Covid-19 vaccinations are conducted.
And the Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity, developed by UNDP, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the University of Oxford, is helping researchers and policy-makers to run their own analysis, and develop the programs that can most effectively benefit their citizens, and go some way to addressing global inequality.
Missing Bangladeshi journalist found in Libya after 5 days
Bangladeshi journalist Zahidur Rahman, who went missing in Libya five days ago, has been found.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, who is in Sri Lanka now, on Monday confirmed that Zahidur, a special correspondent of private TV channel NTV, was found.
Bangladesh Ambassador to Libya Major General SM Shamim-Uz-Zaman conveyed the updates to Foreign Minister Momen in the evening.
The Libyan authorities told him that the Bangladeshi is in their custody.
Zahidur's family said he flew to the UK on March 3 and reached Libya's capital Tripoli on March 21.
READ: Coronavirus: Bangladeshi journalist dies in New York
The journalist went missing on March 23, Zahidur's wife Taslima Rahman said.
A day before he went missing, Zahidur took several photos at Green Square in Tripoli on March 22.
Taking photos is banned in Tripoli and that may be the reason for the journalist going missing.
Seminar held to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic relations with Germany
The German ambassador to Bangladesh, Achim Tröster, has stated that Germany is creating a special kind of climate development partnership with Bangladesh to assist in mitigating the looming threat of climate change.
He made this statement while giving a speech at a seminar titled “Celebrating 50 Years of German – Bangladesh Diplomatic Relations”.
The seminar was hosted by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) and took place on 28 March at the Six Season Hotel, Dhaka. On this day, 50 years ago, East Germany recognised the independence of Bangladesh, becoming the first European nation to recognise Bangladesh as an independent nation.
To commemorate the occasion, CGS, in partnership with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Bangladesh, organised the event where the ambassador was a guest of honour.
The other guest of honour was Lt. Col. Muhammad Faruk Khan (Retd.) MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and former Minister. He made a brief statement emphasising the need for further collaboration between Bangladesh and Germany.
Felix Kolbitz, Resident Representative, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Bangladesh, and Dr Manjur A Chowdhury, Chairman, Centre for Governance Studies (CGS), gave their opening remarks in the program.
The keynote speech for the event was presented by Md Touhid Hossain, former Foreign Secretary of the Government of Bangladesh. The Keynote paper was titled “Prospects and Challenges in Bangladesh’s Relationship with Germany and the European Union on its 50th Anniversary of Independence.”
British-Bangladeshi Shahnan Bakth elected City of London councillor
Shahnan Bakth has become the second British-Bangladeshi to be elected as a councillor to the City of London.
Shahnan, 39, was an independent candidate in Broad Street in the City of London Common Council election.
"The City of London is divided into 25 wards. Between two and ten councillors are elected to represent each of the city corporation's 25 wards, depending on the size of the electorate," Shahnan's father Shahagir Bakth said.
READ: Four British-Bangladeshi women win in UK snap polls
To decide who would run the Square Mile, the City of London went to polls on March 24.
The 2022 election results saw independent councillors retain control of the city.
Broad Street is Shahnan Bakth's ward. He is a vice-chairman of an investment bank there.
Born and raised in the UK, Shahnan's ancestral home is in the Arpinnagar area of Sunamganj municipal town.
His father Shahagir Bakth, who now lives in the UK, was a professor at Sunamganj Government College. Shahagir moved to the island nation in northwestern Europe in 1973, according to family sources.
He is the former chairman and current chief adviser of the British-Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce.
Sri Lanka lauds PM Hasina’s efforts in combating terrorism
Sri Lanka has highly appreciated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s policies and measures in dealing with terrorism while the two South Asian countries eye to work more closely on potential areas to have a stronger bilateral relationship.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen had a meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart Admiral (Professor) Jayanath Colombage in the Sri Lankan capital on Monday and discussed issues of mutual interest.
The two Foreign Secretaries laid emphasis on bringing more momentum in the bilateral relations through expeditious convening of meetings of various bilateral forums, including the Preferential Trade Agreement.
At the meeting they pledged to continue the current trend of relations and to continue cooperative relations in international forums.
READ: Bangladesh’s relations with Sri Lanka will grow further, Hasina says in a video message
During the bilateral meeting, the two Foreign Secretaries expressed satisfaction over the ongoing close ties and communication between the two countries, despite the Covid-19 overcrowding.