Bangladesh
Well-marked low over Bay weakens
The well-marked low over the northwest Bay and adjoining West-Bengal-Bangladesh coast weakened into a low-pressure area and now lies over the North Bay and adjoining coastal areas of Bangladesh.
It will be weakened further and become insignificant, the Met office said.
Under its influence deep convection is continuing over the North Bay and adjoining coastal areas of Bangladesh.
READ: Cyclone Jawad: Over 1000 tourists stranded on St Martin's
Steep pressure gradient persists over North Bay.
Rain or thundershowers with temporary gusty or squally wind speed of 40-50 KPH is likely to occur over North Bay and adjoining coastal areas.
Maritime ports of Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Mongla and Payra have been advised to keep hoisted local cautionary signal number three.
READ: Cyclone ‘Jawad’ brewing in Bay of Bengal
All fishing boats and trawlers over north bay and deep sea have been advised to remain in shelter till further notice.
DSA case: Rajshahi Katakhali mayor put on 3-day remand
A Rajshahi court on Monday placed the mayor of Rajshahi's Katakhali Municipality Abbas Ali on a three-day remand in a case filed under the Digital Security Act (DSA).
Judge of the Rajshahi Metropolitan Magistrate Court-2 Shankar Kumar passed the order when sub-inspector Shahabul Islam, also the investigating officer of the case, produced him before the court with a 10-day remand prayer.
READ: Child dies hit by bus in Rajshahi
The court also rejected the bail petition of Abbas.
Advocate Pervez Toufik Zihadi stood for the mayor while Advocate Aslam Sarkar, Mozaffar Hossain and Musabbirul Islam represented the petitioner.
On December 1, Abbas Ali, was detained by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) from a hotel in Dhaka.
The detention comes days after he was booked under the Digital Security Act (DSA) over his alleged derogatory remarks on Bangabandhu and announcement to stop the construction of a mural of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahmna in the city.
A RAB team conducted a drive at Razmoni Ishakha hotel in Dhaka and detained Abbas.
Mayor Abbas, in his second term as mayor, came under fire after an audio clip of his remarks on Bangabandhu went viral on social media recently.
READ: Rangpur & Rajshahi may see drizzle in next 24 hours
"The Katakhali city gate will be built soon but the private contractor has submitted a design of Bangabandhu's mural to be installed at the gate," Abbas was heard as saying in the clip.
"It will be a sin if I allow construction of Bangabandhu's mural... it is not right as per the Islamic Shariah laws."
Abdul Momin, councillor of ward no 13 of Katakhali Municipality, lodged a complaint against Abbas under the Digital Security Act (DSA) at the Boalia police station, following which an FIR (first information report) was filed on that day.
Police arrested Liton, the personal assistant of Abbas, and following his confessional statement, cops came to know about the whereabouts of Abbas.
Nazmul Ahsan joins as new chairman of Petrobangla
Nazmul Ahsan, an additional Secretary of the government, has joined as Chairman of Petrobangla—the Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corporation—on deputation on Monday.
Prior to this assignment, Nazmul served the same organization as Director (Admin) and also Joint secretary of Energy & Mineral Resources Division (EMRD).
He joined in the 13th batch of Bangladesh Civil Service (Admin) cadre in 25 April, 1994.
Also read: Petrobangla to appoint foreign consultants towards amending Model PSC
During his career, he served in the field level administration at different capacities, including Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Khulna and Satkhira.
He also served in the Power Division and Energy & Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) in different positions.
Nazmul did his graduation and post graduation degree in Physics from Dhaka University.
Also read: Abdul Fattah joins Petrobangla as new chairman
ACC lodges graft case against a Titas gas company sales assistant, his wife
The Anti- Corruption Commission ( ACC) on Monday filed a case against an official of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited Syed Ayez Uddin Ahmed and his wife for alleged misappropriation of TK 1 crore 3 lakh.
Also read: ACC sues ex-jailer Sohel Rana for misappropriating Tk 2.74 cr
The case was filed with Dhaka Coordinated Office,ACC-1 primary investigation found evidence, ACC Deputy Director of ACC Public relation office Muhammad Arif Sadeq told UNB.
According to the case, sales assistant Syed Ayez and his wife Shahana Bilkis submitted their asset statement of TK 1 crore 17 lakh, which is much higher than their known source of income.
Also read: ACC sues Barguna’s Amtoli municipality mayor, wife
"Maitri Diwas" celebrated in Australia
Bangladesh High Commission and Indian High Commission in Canberra, Australia on Monday jointly celebrated "Maitri Diwas" (Friendship Day) and Golden Jubilee of Independence of Bangladesh.
On this historic day in 1971 India recognized Bangladesh as a sovereign and independent state which was designated as Bangladesh-India Friendship Day.
At the outset the guests observed one minute silence in honour of all Martyred who sacrificed their lives in liberation war in 1971.
Also read: December 6: "Maitri Diwas" to reflect deep, abiding friendship between Dhaka, Delhi
A video clip on Bangladesh’s heritage as well as social, economic and cultural linkages between Bangladesh and India was also screened.
Bangladesh reports four more Covid-linked deaths
Bangladesh logged four more Covid-linked deaths along with 277 fresh cases in 24 hours till Monday morning.
With the latest cases, the daily-case positivity rate increased again to 1.44 per cent from Sunday’s 1.03 per cent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 28,005 while the caseload mounted to 15,77,720.
Among the latest deceased, two each were men and women. Two deaths were reported from Dhaka division while one each was from Rajshahi and Mymensingh divisions.
Also read: Bangladesh's economy doing better to recover from Covid-19 shocks: WB Vice President
However, the mortality rate increased to 1.78 per cent during the period.
Of the 23 deaths recorded from November 29 to December 5, 21.7 per cent received Covid vaccines while 78.3 per cent did not, the DGHS mentioned.
Comorbidities among the deceased patients increased 8.9 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.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 19,237 samples, amid the growing concern over the new ‘Omicron’ variant of coronavirus.
Besides, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.77 per cent with the recovery of 326 more patients during the 24-hour period.
On November 20, Bangladesh logged this year’s first zero Covid-linked death with 178 cases.
Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 5 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
So far, 38,138,453 people have fully been vaccinated in the country while 65,081,645 received the first dose as of Saturday, according to the DGHS.
Among them, 113,983students, aged from 12-17, have fully been vaccinated while 931,473 students received the first dose so far.
Also read: No Covid lockdown right now in Bangladesh: Health Minister
No new lockdown
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Sunday ruled out any further Covid-induced lockdown in the country.
“The covid situation in Bangladesh is under control now and there’s no possibility to enforce any lockdown in the country,” he told reporters in Savar.
Zahid said there is no need to worry about the new coronavirus variant, Omicron, which has no presence in the country.
Man dies from electrocution in city
A 28-year-old man died from electrocution at a rickshaw garage in the city’s Uttar Badda area early Monday.
The deceased was identified as Maidul, a rickshaw puller and son of Ashek Ali of Sundarganj in Gaibandha district.
Also read: Construction worker dies of electrocution in the city
Inspector Bachchu Mia, in-charge of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) police outpost, said Maidul came in contact with an electric wire at the garage around 12:45 am and fell unconscious.
Later, he was taken to DMCH where doctors declared him dead around 1:45 am.
Also read: 2 die from electrocution in the city
13 stranded fishermen rescued from Bay
Coast Guard members on Sunday rescued 13 fishermen, who remained stranded in a fishing trawler for five days in the Bay of Bengal.
The fishermen went to the Bay of Bengal from Patharghata area in Barguna district on November 28 for fishing.
On December 1, their fishing trawler went out of order and they also lost their mobile network which forced them to stay in the Bay for five days.
Also read: Myanmar Navy frees 22 Bangladeshi fishermen
On Sunday, they got their network back and managed to call national emergency helpline number 999 and the 999 operators informed the matter to Coast Guard. After tracing the trawler the Coast Guard members rescued the stranded fishermen 15 km off Nijhum Dwip in Hatiya around 5:30 pm.
Also read: Hope fading fast for 32 fishermen missing for 6 days and counting
Dengue: 56 new patient hospitallised in 24 hrs
Fifty-six new dengue patients have been hospitalised in 24 hours until Monday morning, health authorities said.
The number of fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease remained unchanged at 98 in the current year as no fresh death was reported during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Ninety people died in Dhaka division alone, two each in Chattogram, Mymensingh and Khulna divisions and one each in Rajshahi and Barishal divisions.
Also read: Dengue: 68 more hospitalized in 24 hrs
Forty-three new patients are undergoing treatment in hospitals in Dhaka while the remaining 13 cases have been reported from outside the division.
Some 268 patients diagnosed with dengue are receiving treatment in the country as of Monday.
Of them, 192 patients are receiving treatment at different hospitals in the capital while the remaining 76 were listed outside Dhaka.
Since January, some 27,660 patients have been admitted to different hospitals with dengue in the country. So far, 27,294 dengue patients have left hospitals after recovery, said DGHS.
Also read: December gives Dhaka dwellers a break from heat, but not from dengue
Experts attribute the unusually high dengue cases during the dry season, mainly in Dhaka, to the prolonged rainy season, sporadic rainfall, and high humidity and temperature, Aedes mosquitoes' reproductive and behavioural changes caused by climate change and lack of people’s awareness and poor controlling measures by the two city corporations of the capital.
They also said the climate conditions of Bangladesh are becoming more favourable for the Aedes mosquitos to prevail in all seasons with high or low intensity mainly for the increase in temperature and breeding sources.
Woman dies, 2 hurt as tree branch falls on them in Brahmanbaria
A 65-year old woman died and two other people suffered injuries as a branch of a roadside tree fell on them in Nabinagar upazila of Brahmanbaria district on Monday.
The deceased was identified as Rahima Begum, a resident of Bholachang village in Nabinagar municipality area.
A branch of a dead tree of Roads and Highways Department fell on the three people around 11 am on Companyganj road, leaving them injured, said witnesses.
Read: 4 Banglalink officials get bail in case filed by James
The critically injured woman was rushed to Nabinagar Sadar Hospital where doctors announced her dead.
Nabinagar municipality mayor Shib Sankar Das said there are many risky dead trees like that beside Companyganj road which were not felled due to negligence of the Roads and Highway Department.
“The accident could have been avoided if steps were taken to fell those trees in time,” he said.
Shib Sankar Das said immediate steps will be taken to remove all the dead trees in the area.