Bangladesh
Exams scrapped, students block busy Dhaka crossing
Students of seven government colleges affiliated to Dhaka University blocked the Nilkhet intersection on Saturday morning in protest against the government's decision to suspend exams.
Over 100 students took to the streets around 9am and staged demonstrations for nearly two hours, disrupting morning rush-hour traffic in the busy area.
A student, who did not wish to be named, told UNB that they were not intimated about the suspension of their exams earlier and they came to know about the same only after reaching the test centers.
After staging their protest till 11am, the students went to the Dhaka University campus to meet the controller of exams. Later they went to meet the Eden College authorities at the controller's request.
READ: Job seekers block city roads demanding extension of age limit for govt job
Government Bangla College student Rabeya said, "We blocked the busy Nilkhet crossing to protest the sudden suspension of our exams."
Vehicular movement on the busy road remained halted for two hours following the protest, causing immense sufferings to commuters.
READ: Students block Rampura road protesting SSC examinee’s death in road crash
Earlier on Friday, the government announced the closure of all schools, colleges and universities of the country from January 21 to February 6 in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Bangladesh.
BPL 2022: Sylhet bundled out for 96 vs Comilla
In their first match of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Saturday, Sylhet Sunrisers were bundled out for 96 against former champions Comilla Victorians at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
The Victorians won the toss and sent the Sunrisers to bat first. Inside the powerplay, Sunrisers lost only two wickets— Anamul Haque and Mohammad Mithun— both failed to reach a double-digit score.
The wicket was not ideal for the batters. It offered pace, swing, and spin altogether. But the Sunrisers batters were unable to show any resistance.
READ: T20 World Cup 2022: Bangladesh to Face India, Pakistan in the Super 12 Round
Colin Ingram was the highest runs getter for them scoring only 20 while their second-best runs came from extras.
For the Victorians, Nahidul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Shohidul Islam bagged two wickets each while left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam bowled four overs conceding only 10 runs and scalped a wicket.
On any other day, the Victorians would have suffered due to their bowling laced with indiscipline, but the lean display from Sunrisers’ batters might have saved them in this match.
Panchagarh shivers as cold spell continues
Residents of Panchagarh woke up to one of the coldest mornings ever on Saturday, with the minimum temperature dropping to 8.3 degrees Celsius in Tetulia.
The district has been experiencing bone-chilling cold for the last two days -- the minimum temperature was recorded at 11.2 and 10.1 degrees in Tetulia on Friday and Thursday, respectively.
Tetulia, the last border town in northern Bangladesh, is no stranger to extreme cold.
READ: Mild cold wave sweeps four districts
According to the daily weather bulletin of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), "Light rain is likely to occur at one or two places over Khulna, Barishal and Dhaka divisions."
Weather may remain mainly dry with partly cloudy sky elsewhere over the country. Light to moderate fog may occur over the country from Saturday midnight to Sunday morning, according to the weather bulletin.
Night temperature may rise by 1-2 degrees and day temperature may fall slightly over the country.
READ: Mild cold wave grips parts of Bangladesh
UNB Panchagarh correspondent reports:
The cold weather has disrupted normal life in the district, hitting the poor, children, the elderly and the daily wagers hard.
Mohammad Russel Shah, in-charge of Tetulia Weather Observatory Centre, said, “The temperature may remain unchanged in the next three to four days.”
7 die, 15 hurt in India highrise fire
At least seven people died and some 15 others sustained injuries in a massive fire that broke out at a residential highrise in the western Indian city of Mumbai on Saturday.
Officials said the blaze started on the 18th floor of Kamla complex in Mumbai's Tardeo area in the morning and soon engulfed the two upper floors of the 20-storey building.
Some 13 fire tenders were pressed into service but it took them nearly three hours to douse the flames, a senior police official told the local media.
READ: Footwear factory catches fire in city
"While seven residents lost their lives in the fire, the injured have been hospitalised. The condition of six of the injured is critical," the official said. "The remaining residents were safely evacuated."
Local TV channels beamed footage of white smoke billowing out of the highrise building, with firefighters using hydraulic cranes to evacuate the trapped residents.
"A probe has been ordered into the inferno," a fire official said.
READ: Fire at Postogola garment factory doused
Building fires are common in India, and are often attributed to poor maintenance and absence of basic fire safety systems. A number of people die in such fires every year.
Transgender beauty vlogger held captive, tortured in Dhaka
Transgender beauty vlogger Saad Mua has claimed that she was held captive and tortured by a man and a woman she met at a restaurant in the city's Bashundhara residential area four days ago.
In her police complaint, Saad claimed that the man and the woman later invited her to their house for lunch. And when she went to their house, the accused allegedly held her captive, snatched her bag and cell phone, and also tortured her.
Based on her complaint, a case was filed at Vatara police station against the accused on Friday.
Officer-in-charge of Vatara police station, Sajedur Rahman said that if the allegations turned out to be true, "then legal action will be taken against the accused".
In fact, on Friday night, Saad posted the photos of the two accused on her Facebook wall and narrated her ordeal on the social media platform.
READ: SaadMua: The First Male Beauty Blogger of Bangladesh
On Facebook, she identified the woman as Saima Sikder Nira, a student of Daffodil International University, and the man as Ishtiaq Fuad, a former Air Force official and a student of North South University.
Saad also wrote that the two were in touch with another man named Rafat Bin Nur on walkie-talkie and "their intention was to sell me". "I later came to know that Rafat is an Armyman and is currently out of the country on a mission."
READ: Stabbing leaves transgender woman dead in Cumilla: Police
Saad Mua makes various videos on beauty care, including makeup tutorials.
JU follows suit as Covid bites education once again
The Jahangirnagar University authorities on Friday announced suspension of all offline activities till February 6, in light of the latest surge in Covid-19 cases across the country.
However, online classes will be held and the dormitories will remain open during this period.
The decision came from an administrative meeting of the university.
READ: Jahangirnagar University students attacked
All educational activities like classes, tutorial, assignment and presentation will continue through online till further order but the final examinations will remain postponed.
Fresh dates will be communicated later on for those who have routine exams.
READ: Cumilla, Jahangirnagar university students protest DU student’s rape
If the situation does not become normal by this period, the final exams will be completed by applying online policy, it added.
Ice worth Tk 5cr seized in Cox's Bazar, 2 detained
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Friday detained two suspected drug smugglers in Cox's Bazar and seized one kg of crystal meth or ice worth Tk 5 crore from their possession.
The detainees have been identified as Syedul Amin, 34, son of Foyez Ahmed, and a teenager hailing from Ukhia upazila.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of BGB-30 raided the West Goalia area of the district's Ramu upazila and stopped a CNG-run auto-rickshaw around 5:45 pm for checking, said Mahmudul Hasan of BGB.
READ: Ice worth Tk 25cr seized in Cox’s Bazar
Being challenged by the BGB members, three occupants of the auto, including its driver, jumped into a nearby pond in a bid to escape.
Later, the BGB men detained two of them and seized ice worth Tk 5 crore from their possession. The detainees were later handed over to the local police.
READ: Crystal meth worth Tk 12.5cr seized in Teknaf
28-yr-old killed by cousins over old enmity
A 28-year-old man was killed allegedly by his cousins over an old enmity in the city’s Mohammadpur area on Friday night.
The deceased was identified as Amir Hossain, a resident of Shahid Nagar.
Inspector Bachchu Mia, in-charge of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital police outpost, said two men -- Kabir and Humayun -- stopped Amir near Aziz Khan Road and stabbed him indiscriminately.
READ: 3 “robbers” killed in lynch-mob attack in Narayanganj
A critically injured Amir was taken to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
Amir was the cousin of Humayun and Kabir. "Efforts are on to nab the accused," a police officer said.
READ: Locals set fire to truck that killed 2 youths on motorcycle in Kushtia
Dhaka is world's second-most polluted city
The densely populated capital of Bangladesh continues to dominate the list of cities with the worst air quality in the world.
On Saturday, Dhaka was ranked the world's second-most polluted city, as its air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 302 at 8.56am, which is considered ‘hazardous’.
Russia’s Krasnoyarsk and Pakistan’s Karachi occupied the first and third spots with AQI scores of 307 and 224, respectively, in the latest list of world cities with the worst air quality.
An AQI above 300 is considered 'hazardous' for everyone and doctors advise people to avoid all outdoor activities.
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 Public health issues like air pollution, environment not getting due attention
Global Covid cases surpass 345 million
Amid the global scare over the rising Omicron cases, the overall number of Covid cases has now surpassed 345 million.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 345,747,702 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,584,037 Saturday morning.
The US has recorded 70, 166,329 cases so far and 884,489 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 38,566,027 Friday as 347,254 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data.
Friday was the second consecutive day when over 300,000 daily cases were registered in more than eight months.
Besides, 703 deaths due to the pandemic since Thursday morning took the total death toll to 488,396.
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since last January, registered 23,766,499 cases as of Friday, while its Covid death toll rose to 622,875.
Read: Australian life expectancy rises despite COVID-19: study
Covid situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported 11,434 fresh cases with 12 deaths in 24 hours till Friday morning, with the infection rate marking a sharp rise.
The positivity rate increased to 28.49 % from Thursday’s 26.37% after testing 40,423 samples, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Bangladesh last logged 11,164 cases and 264 deaths on August 10 last year, with a positivity rate of 23.54% in 24 hours.
The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,192 while the caseload mounted to 1,664,616 on Friday.
Meanwhile, the mortality rate further declined to 1.69%.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s total tally of Omicron cases reached 64 with the detection of nine more cases till Thursday, 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: Covid-19 in Bangladesh: CJ hints at reverting to virtual trial proceedings
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.
New Restrictions
All schools, colleges and universities in the country will remain closed from January 21 to February 6 in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, the government announced on Friday.
The Cabinet Division issued a notification in this regard, imposing restrictions on the overall activities and movement of people in the country amid a worrying spike in Covid cases.
The notification asked all to wear masks and maintain health rules at public places like markets, shopping malls, mosques, bus stands, launch terminals, railway stations. Local authorities have been instructed to monitor and ensure compliance.