Bangladesh
BB asks banks to follow Covid guidelines till Feb 21
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has instructed banks to follow until February 21 the guidelines it issued earlier for operating banking activities to fight off Covid-19.
The payment system department of BB on Thursday asked banks to follow the guidelines till February 21 considering the present situation of Covid-19 pandemic.
On January 24, the central asked banks to operate those with half of their manpower as per the government’s instructions to prevent Covid-19 virus infection.
The central bank’s Department of Off-Site Supervision issued guidelines adding that banking activities should be conducted with half the staff through roster following the hygiene rules.
However, the concerned institution will be able to decide on its own need to continue the required banking services, it said.
The central renewed the instruction on Thursday and sent it to the top executives of banks to follow the hygiene rules for preventing the spread of coronavirus.
As per the guidelines, officers / employees doing office physically must be fully vaccinated.
Read: Bangladesh Bank announces 4 pc export subsidy on bicycle, cement sheet, and MS steel
It said officers / employees absent from the office at that time will be considered as working from home.
Officers / employees working from home will be stationed at their respective workplaces and will complete the official activities virtually (e-tendering, e-mail, SMS, WhatsApp and other means).
Hygiene rules must be followed by all officers / employees of banks-financial institutions. Customers who come to receive services must wear masks.
The central bank also instructed banks to keep enough money in the ATM outlets and Mobile Financial Service along with assigned adequate manpower for ensuring uninterrupted financial services to meet necessary cash demand of customers.
Bangladesh now an important economic, political partner: Germany
Germany has praised Bangladesh saying the economy of the “up-and-coming” country continues to grow rapidly, even during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the poverty rate has been halved since 2000.
“In a rapidly developing region, Bangladesh is now an important economic and political partner for Germany,” said the German Federal Foreign Ministry in a statement on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Germany.
By 2026, Bangladesh will have officially left the status of a Least Developed Country (LDC), and by 2041, the country aims to become a high-income industrialized country (HIC).
“For 50 years, Germany has been working closely with Bangladesh in development cooperation,” said the German foreign ministry on Thursday.
In 1972, Germany was one of the first countries in Europe to recognize Bangladesh.
Today, the focus of the bilateral cooperation lies on managing the consequences of climate change, as well as ways to achieve sustainable economic growth and stability in the region.
On 4th February 1972, the Federal Republic of Germany was the first European country to recognise Bangladesh and to establish diplomatic relations.
The existing Consulate-General in Dhaka was transformed into an Embassy and relations at ambassadorial level were established.
Read: No possibility of expansion of sanctions: Shahriar
Germany has contributed around 3 billion euros to bilateral development projects. The next bilateral consultations are scheduled for this year.
“The focus of the cooperation is adaptation to the consequences of climate change and climate protection measures aimed at making Bangladesh's dynamic growth sustainable,” according to the statement.
In addition, Bangladesh is a pilot country for the Federal Foreign Office in which it is successfully supporting measures for early warning and risk prevention in the event of natural disasters, it said.
Bangladesh is already exposed to a number of hydro meteorological and seismic risks and is increasingly having to cope with the consequences of climate change.
Some 10 per cent of the country is no more than one meter above sea level, and around 25 million people live in the coastal regions, according to the statement. “Their livelihoods are threatened by flooding, monsoon storms and soil salinization.”
Bangladesh's economic success is primarily based on its textile industry, which accounts for 10 per cent of the gross national product and 80 per cent of the export earnings - Bangladesh is the world's second largest exporter of textiles. Germany, as the second largest importer of products from Bangladesh, is a close economic partner of the country.
This also means that the German economy has the responsibility to work with the governments of both countries to ensure compliance with fundamental social and environmental standards in production. Germany and Bangladesh are therefore in close bilateral dialogue.
Despite its high population density, Germany said, Bangladesh welcomed over 900,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in 2017.
“Their situation remains extremely difficult. With more than 700,000 residents, the camp in Cox’s Bazar is the largest refugee camp in the world. Germany supports Bangladesh’s efforts through, among others, humanitarian assistance and development cooperation funds,” said the statement.
Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 33 more deaths with 11,596 fresh infections
Bangladesh reported 33 more Covid-linked deaths with 11,596 fresh cases in 24 hours till Thursday morning.
The daily positivity rate further dropped to 25.86 per cent from Wednesday's 27.43 per cent after testing 44,843 samples during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
On Wednesday, Bangladesh reported 36 more Covid-linked deaths with 12,193 fresh cases.
The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,494 while the caseload mounted to 1,835,776.
Among the new deceased, 22 were men and 11 women.
Eighteen deaths were reported in Dhaka division while six in Khulna, four in Rajshahi, two each in Chattogram Sylhet and one in Rangpur divisions.
Also read: Covid-19 restrictions extended until Feb 21
Meanwhile, the mortality rate further declined to 1.55 per cent.
However, the recovery rate also declined to 86.13 per cent with the recovery of 5,955 more patients during the 24-hour period.
In January, the country reported 322 Covid-linked deaths and 2,13,294 new cases while 19,112 recovered from the disease, according to the DGHS.
On January 28, Bangladesh logged its earlier highest daily positivity rate at 33.37% reporting 15,440 cases and 20 deaths.
Bangladesh’s total tally of Omicron cases reached 69 with the detection of five more cases till January 23, 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.
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.
Besides, the country registered the highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year, while the highest number of daily fatalities was 264 on August 10 last year.
Also read: Covid surge: Closure of schools, colleges extended until Feb 20
Extension of restrictions
The government has extended the period of the existing restrictions on people’s movement and other activities until February 21 and imposed two new ones considering the worsening Covid-19 situation in the country.
These restrictions will remain in force from February 7 to 21, said a notification issued by the Cabinet Division on Thursday.
The new restrictions are- gathering of more than 100 people in social, political, religious or state events will not be allowed in open places or indoors and those who will attend the events must bring Covid Vaccination Certificate or report of RT PCR test underwent within 24 hours.
Besides, in-person classes of schools, colleges and equivalent educational institutions will remain suspended during this period, said the notification.
On Tuesday, the government extended the closure of secondary and higher secondary-level educational institutions by two weeks until February 20.
Amid the growing concern over the Coronavirus’ new Omicron variant, the government on January 13 imposed 11-point restrictions.
No possibility of expansion of sanctions: Shahriar
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Thursday said there is no possibility to expand the US sanctions beyond the existing individuals in Bangladesh, noting that it will not have any impact on other areas.
“There’s no impact of it (sanctions) in other areas. I can tell you very confidently. Even, there’s no possibility of US sanctions’ expansion,” he said referring to their greater engagement with the US over the last one month and trashed the rumors around.
While responding to questions from reporters at his office, the State Minister also referred to rumors spread by some quarters, including BNP-Jamaat, on imposing further sanctions by the United Nations and the European Union (EU) and cited the examples of how the UN spokesperson and EU Ambassador in Dhaka responded to media queries.
Also read: No US plan to impose sanctions on Bangladesh: Congressman Meeks
“We’ve done many things and we’re still working on many issues. We remain engaged since the US imposed sanctions on individuals,” he said, adding that one thing is very clear that the conspiracy hatched against the country by the conspirators did not work.
The State Minister said the government wants to cooperate with RAB and will further strengthen it; and termed the US sanctions “unfortunate” and “disproportionate” action.
He said it is their responsibility to protect RAB and its officers as they are the partners of many success stories on the security front. “We’re trying to know more why the sanctions were imposed.”
Also read: No impact on European business interest in Bangladesh, says EU envoy about sanctions
The State Minister said they have discussed with legal experts to explore the available avenues to withdraw the sanctions. “We’re looking into legal issues.”
Shahriar said they had a very effective meeting with the EU where they discussed how the relationship between Bangladesh and the EU will look like after 2026.
24 eminent personalities named for Ekushey Padak
Twenty-four eminent personalities will get the country’s second highest civilian award, the Ekushey Padak, this year in recognition of their contributions to various fields.
The Cultural Affairs Ministry announced the names on Thursday.
Mostafa MA Matin (posthumous), and Mirza Tofazal Hossain Mukul (posthumous) have been selected for their roles in the Language Movement.
Zeenat Barkatullah is being recognised for her contributions to dance while Nazrul Islam Babu (posthumas), Iqbal Ahmed, Mahmudur Rahman Benu for music, and Khaled Mahmud Khan (posthumas), Afzal Hossain, Masum Aziz for acting.
Alhaj Md Motiur Rahman , Syed Muazzem Ali(posthumas), QABM Rahman, Amzad Ali Khandaker are being recognised for their contributions to the Liberation War.
Read: Bangla Academy confers eminent personalities with Awards, Honorary Fellowship for 2021
MA Malek is being recognised for contributions to journalism while Md Anwar Hossain for role in science and technology, and Prof Gautam Buddha Das for education.
SM Abraham Lincoln and Sangharaj Gyanasree Mahather will be recognised for their contributions to social work and Kamal Chowdhury, Jharna Das Purkayastha for contributions for language and literature.
Dr Md Enamul Huq, Dr Shahanaj Sultana and Dr Jannatul Ferdous as a team and Dr Abdus Sattar Mandal as an individual get the Ekushey Padak for their contributions to research this year.
2 sisters burnt as building catches fire in Ctg
Two women suffered burn injuries as a fire broke out in a flat at Rahattarpul under Bakalia police station in the port city on Thursday.
The victims are Sabrina Khaled,23 and sister Samia Khaled,18, daughters of Abdullah Khaled.
Senior station officer of Chandanpura Fire Service Md Shahidul Islam said the fire started on the fifth floor of the building around 11:15 am.
Also read: Fire breaks out near Bangabandhu National Stadium
Local people had doused the fire before the firefighters reached the spot, he said.
The injured women were admitted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital.
The fire might have originated from gas stove, said Shahidul Islam adding that three doors and windows of the flat and adjoining flats were damaged following an explosion after the fire incident.
Also read: Fire breaks out at Ctg vegetable oil factory
Covid-19 restrictions extended until Feb 21
The government has extended the period of the existing restrictions on people’s movement and other activities until February 21 and imposed two new ones considering the worsening Covid-19 situation in the country.
These restrictions will remain in force from February 7 to 21, said a notification issued by the Cabinet Division on Thursday.
The new restrictions are- gathering of more than 100 people in social, political, religious or state events will not be allowed in open places or indoors and those who will attend the events must bring Covid Vaccination Certificate or report of RT PCR test underwent within 24 hours.
Besides, in-person classes of schools, colleges and equivalent educational institutions will remain suspended during this period, said the notification.
Also read: Covid surge: Closure of schools, colleges extended until Feb 20
On Tuesday, the government extended the closure of secondary and higher secondary-level educational institutions by two weeks until February 20.
Amid the growing concern over the Coronavirus’ new Omicron variant, the government on January 13 imposed 11-point restrictions.
Also read: Covid in Bangladesh: Daily deaths hit 36 Covid situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported 36 more Covid-linked deaths with 12,193 fresh cases in 24 hours till Wednesday morning.
The daily positivity rate further dropped to 27.43% from Tuesday's 29.17% after testing 44,308 samples during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,461 while the caseload mounted to 1,824,180.
Meanwhile, the mortality rate further declined to 1.56%.However, the recovery rate also declined to 87.35% with the recovery of 4,203 more patients during the 24-hour period.
In January, the country reported 322 Covid-linked deaths and 2,13,294 new cases while 19,112 recovered from the disease, according to DGHS.
Worker dies from electrocution in city
A worker died of electrocution while working in a building in the city’s Ajimpur area on Thursday.
The deceased was identified as Salauddin, 28, son of Abu Mia from Kamrangirchar.
Also read: Dhaka e-way construction worker dies in freak accident
Slauddin got electrocuted while working with a drill machine in a building at China building lane in Lalbagh area around 8:30 am, said Alauddin, Salahuddin,s cousin.
He was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital in an unconscious condition where a doctor announced him dead, said inspector Md Bacchu Mia, in-charge of DMCH police outpost. The body was sent for an autopsy, he said.
Also read: Worker dies at Sitakunda shipyard
Bangladesh, Russian firms sign deal to launch Bangabandhu Satellite-2
Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited and Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of the Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos, have signed a memorandum of cooperation in relations to manufacturing and launching of Bangabandhu Satellite-2 Earth observation satellite system.Dmitry Loskutov, CEO of Glavkosmos JSC, and Dr Shahjahan Mahmood, Chairman and CEO of Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited, signed the memorandum on Wednesday. The two sides expressed their intentions to establish partnership relations to develop long-term, effective and mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of promotion of products and services of the Russian space industry in Bangladesh.
Also read: Bangabadhu satellite--2 to be launched in time: Mustafa JabbarThat includes manufacturing and launch of Bangabandhu Satellite-2 Earth observation satellite system, manufacturing of ground infrastructure (satellite ground stations) for acquiring Earth observation data from the Russian and foreign spacecraft, launch services, educational programs in space domains, commercial orbital flights and consulting services, Glavkosmos said, quoting the document.The memorandum of cooperation comes into effect from the moment of signing and will be valid until December 31, 2026.Glavkosmos' main task is to promote the achievements of the Russian rocket and space industry to world markets and to manage complex international projects. During its more than thirty-five-year history, the company has successfully fulfilled over 140 international contracts, including the launch of more than 170 spacecraft as a secondary payload.Since May 2021, Glavkosmos has been the official operator of Roscosmos trademarks.Roscosmos is a state corporation established in August 2015 to carry out a comprehensive reform of the Russian rocket and space industry.
Also read: Work on to build Bangabandhu Satellite-2: Mustafa JabbarBangladesh Satellite Company Limited, a state-owned company, was established to ensure manufacturing, launch, control, marketing and sales of national satellite capacity with satellite ground stations.
HC grants anticipatory bail to Prof Karzon in DSA case
The High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to Dhaka University professor Sheikh Hafizur Rahman Karzon for eight weeks in a case filed under the Digital Security Act.
A division bench of justices Jahangir Hossain Selim and Md Atoar Rahman passed the order while hearing his bail plea during a virtual hearing and also asked the law professor to surrender before the tribunal hearing the case by this period.
Barrister Omar Farooq appeared for the professor in the court while Deputy Attorney General Sarwar Hossain Bappi represented the state.
Also read: Remove Riaz's father-in-law's 'suicide' video from social media: HC
On July 22 last year, Prof Karzon wrote a post on Facebook that stoked a major controversy, forcing him to subsequently remove the same. He had also apologised for "hurting the religious sentiments of people".
However, on August 1, Amit Bhowmik, the general secretary of the central committee of the Bangladesh Hindu Juba Parishad, filed a case against Prof Karzon under the Digital Security Act alleging that his post had hurt the religious sentiments of people.
Also read:Court accept charges against 'Shishu Bokta' Rafiqul in DSA case