Bangladesh
5 DCs, 2 Divisional Commissioners test positive for Covid-19
Five deputy commissioners and two divisional commissioners have tested positive for Covid 19, officials said on Monday.
Among those, two divisional commissioners are from Rajshahi and Barishal divisions while five deputy commissioners are from Cox’s Bazar, Chuadanga, Patuakhali, Laxmipur and Rajshahi.
All the infected were scheduled to join the three-day DC Conference beginning in Dhaka on Tuesday.
READ: Top Rajshahi officials test positive for Covid-19
Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said all DCs and gunmen were asked to conduct RT-PCR test before joining the conference.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to open it, said Anwarul Islam while briefing reporters at the Bangladesh Secretariat after the Cabinet meeting.
READ: Two India returnees test positive for Covid
The DC conference has already been shortened to a three-day one from five-day, which will take place at Osmani Memorial Auditorium instead of the meeting room in the Cabinet division due to the fresh surge of Covid-19, said the Cabinet Secretary.
BSF hands over 29 Bangladesh nationals to BGB as goodwill gesture in last 1 year
Over the past one year, a total of 29 Bangladeshi nationals "inadvertently crossed" the international border and all of them were handed over to Border Guard Bangladesh from India as a goodwill gesture.
Troops of Battalions under North Bengal Frontier Border Security Force (BSF) deployed on Bangladesh-India border in West Bengal are maintaining alertness of highest order along the international border to stop smuggling and infiltrations, BSF said on Monday.
They are also making efforts to maintain good relations with Bangladesh, said a media release.
Troops of Battalions under North Bengal Frontier BSF deployed on Bangladesh-India border in West Bengal under the leadership of Ajai Singh, Inspector General of North Bengal Frontier BSF are maintaining alertness on the border in order.
READ: BSF hands over to BGB 2 students held in Hili border
Earlier, BSF handed over two Bangladesh nationals to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) following a flag meeting as a goodwill gesture on Sunday.
Troops of BOP Hili-I, 61 Bn BSF deployed on Bangladesh-India border in Dakshin Dinajpur District of West Bengal apprehended two Bangladeshi nationals - 13-year-old Md Rifat Hassan, son of Md Arman and 14-year-old Md Ruhal Amin, son of Anwar Hussain.
READ: Cattle trader shot dead ‘by BSF’ along Naogaon border
Both of them are from Dinajpur district.
During questioning it was learnt that they "inadvertently crossed" the international border, BSF said in a media release.
Bangladesh experiences alarming week as Covid escalates
The Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh has taken an alarming turn again with health authorities recording 28,456 infections along with 49 deaths linked to it during the last seven days till Monday morning.
Since January 1, the country saw 38,478 infections and 82 deaths till Monday, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The surge in cases becomes more evident from the daily case positivity rate which sharply rose to 22.88 per cent on Monday from the reported 8.53 per cent on January 10.
Meanwhile, the recovery rate was showing a gradual fall as it stood at 95.62 per cent on Monday which was at 97.19 per cent just a week ago.
READ: Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Positivity rate hits 20.88 %
During the period, the fatality rate, however, declined a bit to 1.73 per cent from 1.76 per cent, which can be considered as a matter of relief till now.
Bangladesh reported 10 more Covid-linked deaths with 6,676 fresh cases in 24 hours till Monday.
The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,154 while the caseload mounted to 1,624,387on Monday.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s total tally of Omicron cases reached 55 with the detection of 22 more cases till Monday, according to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data.
On December 9 last year, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing.
READ: 22 lower court judges infected with Covid-19 during training
The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 last year along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.
Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 last year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 last year.
FBCCI calls for making law before formulating new industrial policy
The country’s apex business association FBCCI on Monday underlined the importance of having a legal basis for the upcoming industrial policy.
The suggestion came from speakers at the first meeting of the FBCCI Standing Committee on Industry and Industry Policy held at the FBCCI office.
It came as the government is going to formulate a new National Industrial Policy.
But due to lack of the legal entities, entrepreneurs are not able to take advantage of the many benefits of the current policy.
READ: Lockdown not a solution: FBCCI President
Members of the committee complained that there are controversies among different government policies, which deprive entrepreneurs to enjoy the policy benefits in many cases.
As a result, they said, local and foreign investment is being hampered, so is the Industrialization.
During the meeting, Mostofa Azad Chowdhury, senior vice-president of FBCCI and director-in-charge of the Standing Committee on Industry and Industrial Policy, said coordination among various ministries is essential for the implementation of industrial policy.
The ministries of finance, commerce and industry also need to be specialised, he noted.
He alleged that the entrepreneurs have to pay the high service charge even if they do not get any service in the BSCIC industrial city.
Sometimes the charge is hiked by 50 to 60 per cent without consulting the concerned industrialists. Industrialization is being hampered due to high land prices in various industrial cities of BSCIC, he added.
READ: Increased capacity of Ctg Port to cut cost of doing business: FBCCI
To protect their industry, many countries have imposed various restrictions on foreign products, including anti-dumping duties.
Mostofa Azad suggested taking the same measures to protect local ventures.
At the meeting, Shamim Ahmed, chairman of the standing committee and president of the Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the service sector contributes more than 50 per cent to the economy.
“But the draft industrial policy does not properly address this sector.”
Although public-private partnership plays an important role in the development of the economy, it is not mentioned in the industrial policy, he added.
He said foreign investors were being discouraged as there were many inconsistencies between the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) policies and industrial policy.
During the discussion on the draft of National Industrial Policy 2021, the members of the standing committee said that there is lack of coordination among different policies.
Industrial policy should be considered as the supreme policy. So the entrepreneurs can avail the benefits as per the provisions of the industrial policy.
Speakers at the meeting felt that the post- LDC challenges, diversification of export products, skilled manpower, ICT, SME sector should get priority in the upcoming policy.
Various countries are moving towards circular economies to ensure sustainable development and FBCCI is also working on this.
The speakers demanded that circular economy and logistics to be included in the forthcoming industrial policy.
Entrepreneurs also want to ensure easy availability of land and long-term credit for the industry.
BSTI's standard certificate is required to produce 227 products in the country. In contrast, only 55 products are required the same for import. Taking advantage of this inequality, many low-quality foreign products have taken over the domestic market, they complained.
To set up an industry, it takes 30 certificates and has to be renewed every year.
But in Vietnam this number is only five with no provision for renewal. In order to attract domestic and foreign investment, it was recommended to reduce the number of certificates to five and to cancel the provision for renewal.
Md. Salim Ullah, Senior Assistant Secretary (Policy), Ministry of Industries, highlighted various aspects of the draft industrial policy.
He said the next policy aims to increase the contribution of industry to 40 per cent in national income and the contribution of the labour sector to 40 per cent.
Among others, the meeting was attended by Co-Chairmen of the Standing Committee Md. Abdur Razzak and Asif Ibrahim, Directors of FBCCI Abul Kasem Khan, Dr. Nadia Binte Amin, former president of MCCI Dhaka Nihad Kabir, FBCCI Advisor Monjur Rahman and CEO of BUILD Ferdous Ara Begum.
Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Positivity rate hits 20.88 %
Bangladesh reported 10 more Covid-linked deaths with 6,676 fresh cases in 24 hours till Monday morning following a sharp rise in its infection rate.
The positivity rate in the country jumped to 20.88 per cent during the period from Sunday’s 17.82 per cent after testing 31,980 samples, according to the Directorate general of health Services (DGHS).
The country last logged 7,248 cases and 172 deaths on August 18, last year with a positivity rate at 17.67 per cent in 24 hours.
Bangladesh is currently seeing a surge of Covid-19 cases as health authorities registered 38,478 infections in the last 16 days since January 1.
The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,154 while the caseload mounted to 1,624,387on Monday.
Of the 42 deaths recorded from January 10 to January 16, some 26.2 per cent received Covid vaccines while 73.8 percent did not, the DGHS mentioned.
Comorbidities among the deceased patients increased 22.6 per cent this week compared to the previous one. Comorbidity means the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient.
Also read: Top Rajshahi officials test positive for Covid-19
Among the new deceased, six were women and four men.
Seven deaths were reported in Dhaka division while two in Chattogram and another in Barishal division.
The mortality rate declined a bit to 1.73 per cent.
The recovery rate further declined to 95.62 per cent with the recovery of 427 more patients during the period.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s total tally of Omicron cases reached 55 with detection of 22 more cases till Monday, according to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data.
On December 9 last year, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing.
Also read: Bangladesh reports 5,222 more Covid cases, 8 more deaths
The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 last year along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.
Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 last year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 last year.
Schoolboy killed in Dinajpur road crash
A 14-year old boy was killed in a road crash on his way to receive Covid-19 vaccine jab in Nawabganj upazila of Dinajpur on Monday.
The deceased was Hummayun Kabir, a student of class IX of Helencha High School and son of Shariful Islam Pradhan of Shibrampur village.
Also read: Dinajpur road crash leaves 2 dead
The accident occurred around 11 am when a sand-laden trolley truck hit an auto-rickshaw carrying Humayun and some six or seven of his classmates to Upazila Health Complex, said Bibhutibhusan Brati Ray, Sub-Inspector of Nawabganj police station.
Efforts are on to arrest the truck driver, said the SI.
Also read: Father, son killed in Thakurgaon road crash
22 lower court judges infected with Covid-19 during training
At least 22 judges of lower courts have been infected with Covid-19 during a training at Bangladesh Judicial Administration Training Institute, officials said on Monday.
The infected judges were from 43rd and 44th batches of the training, said director of Bangladesh Judicial Administration Training Institute, Mohammad Golam Kibria.
Also read: Top Rajshahi officials test positive for Covid-19
They were kept in isolation at the institute, he said.
The authorities concerned also suspended the training until further notice, as the judges got infected with the virus, he added.
The two-month long training of 70 judges of different Assistant Judges and Judicial Magistrates began on January 9.
Also read: Asaduzzaman Noor contracts Covid-19
DC conference starts Tuesday
The much-awaited annual conference of the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) begins on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to open it, said Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam while briefing reporters at the Bangladesh Secretariat after the Cabinet meeting.
The Cabinet meeting was held at the Cabinet room of the Jatiya Sangsad with the Prime Minister in the chair.
The DC conference has already been shortened to a three-day one from five-day, which will take place at Osmani Memorial Auditorium instead of the meeting room in the Cabinet division due to the fresh surge of Covid-19, said the Cabinet Secretary.
Read: Cabinet clears draft law over EC formation
Amid the surge of new variant Omicron, only 15 ministers and secretaries of 15 ministries have been invited to the inauguration ceremony, he said.
Besides, the DCs have been asked to do the RT-PCR test along with his gunman, driver and companions before joining the conference, he said.
Anwarul Islam revealed that till now two divisional commissioners and five DCs became tested with Covid-19 positive.
They are divisional commissioners of Rajshahi and Barisal and DCs of Cox’s Bazar, Rajshahi, Patuakhali, Laxmipur and Chuadanga.
Replying to a question regarding the use of virtual platforms against the backdrop of fresh surge of Coronavirus, he said “We actually don’t want to use technology as the Prime Minister talks and gives advice here.”
In this connection, he said they have shifted the conference to Osmani Memorial Auditorium considering the Covid-19 situation and only 64 persons will be allowed to the venue although it has the capacity to accommodate 700 people.
The cabinet secretary said President Abdul Hamid will deliver a speech virtually on Tuesday evening while Speaker of Jatiya Sangsad Dr Shirin Sharmin Choudhury and the Chief Justice are also scheduled to address it virtually on Wednesday.
Read: Held hostage by bureaucracy, bemoans ruling party MP
The issues including Covid-19, land management, law enforcement, strengthening activities of local government, disaster management, poverty reduction and employment at the local level, social safety net activities, ICT and e-governance, education, health, environment, physical infrastructure and development activities are expected to be highlighted during the three-day DC conference.
Held hostage by bureaucracy, bemoans ruling party MP
Nazim Uddin Ahmed, an Awami League MP from Mymensingh-3, on Monday came down heavily on bureaucrats saying that people have become hostage to bureaucracy.He also called upon all the MPs to raise their voice against the bureaucrats.Nazim Uddin made the remarks while participating in a discussion on the thanksgiving motion on the President's speech in Parliament."We’ve long been suffering from bureaucratic problems. The way bureaucrats speak, it seems MPs don’t have any value to them. We hardly get any respect when we visit them as members of parliament,” he said.Nazim said many development projects, including construction of a hospital, many schools and college buildings, roads and mosques taken in his constituency have stalled halfway.
Read: Cabinet clears draft law over EC formationHe said all the development works are on the way to closure one after another. Contractors allege that they are not getting their bills and without money they cannot carry out project works.“If this is the case, we won't be able to answer to people during polls as only two years are left for the next general election,” he told the House.Referring to the construction of a model mosque in his area, Nazim said the site for it was selected three years ago. Despite receiving a verdict from the Supreme Court, construction of the mosque has not started yet due to bureaucratic complications, he bemoaned.“When I asked about it, the project director says one thing, the deputy commissioner says another, and the Islamic Foundation replies in another way.”Nazim said an MP is hardly treated with the due dignity that he or she deserves. Even a messenger of any government department doesn’t properly evaluate the MPs. “We all have to raise our voice in order to get rid of this bureaucracy. We’re held hostage to bureaucracy. We all need to be vocal in order to get rid of this bureaucracy. I tell the members of parliament, please play a strong role to get rid of this bureaucracy,” he said.Alleging that propaganda and rumours are being spread through YouTube, Nazim Uddin demanded the government shutdown YouTube.
Read: AL ‘arbitrarily’ using bureaucracy: Fakhrul“I see on YouTube that Khaleda Zia is dying. Sheikh Hasina is going to be ousted tomorrow. Again I see the army chief being dragged down. This is the propaganda we see on YouTube. Where’re these coming from? Confusion is being spread in this way -- we don’t understand what the Ministry of Information is doing!” Nazim said.He urged the Ministry of Information to shut down YouTube, if necessary. “We shouldn’t compromise with criminals and anti-liberation war elements,” he added.
‘Police action’ on SUST students: Protest rallies held at DU
Different student organisations staged demonstrations on Dhaka University campus on Monday protesting the ‘police action’ on the students of Shahajalal University of Science and Technology (SUST).
Pragatishil Student Jote, an alliance of left-leaning organisations, held a protest rally at the foot of anti-terrorism Raju memorial sculpture at around 12.30 pm to express their solidarity with of the protesting students of SUST.
Dipak Shil, General secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra Union, said, " We observed the 50th anniversary of our independence but out universities are still under the clutches of culprits. Yesterday, SUST VC ordered police action on the students. Earlier, they were attacked by Chhatra League men too."
Also read: SUST students now demanding VC’s resignation
He condemned the attack on the students and demanded the removal of the SUST VC.