Bangladesh
Cumilla councillor's murder: Prime accused killed in ‘gunfight’
The prime accused in the Cumilla ward councillor Syed Mohammad Sohel murder case was killed in a gunfight in Sadar upazila in the early hours of Thursday, police said.
The deceased was identified as Shah Alam, son of Janu Mia of Sujanagar upazila. Two policemen also sustained injuries in the exchange of fire, according to officials.
Read: Cumilla councillor killing: Two accused killed in 'gunfight' with cops
Acting on a tip-off, a local police team along with some detectives conducted a raid in the Chanpur Ratnabati Gumti Beribadh area of Sadar upazila around 1.30am, said Anwarul Azim, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Model Police Station.
Spotting the cops, Alam and his accomplices opened fire, forcing the cops to retaliate. Alam sustained bullet wounds in the exchange of fire, while the others managed to escape.
Alam was rushed to Cumilla Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival, police said.
"Two cops also received bullet wounds in the gunfight. One gun and some bullets were recovered from the spot," the OC said.
Global Covid cases surpass 263 million
The overall number of Covid cases has surged past 263 million amid the global scare over the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 263,428,782 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,223,644 Thursday morning.
Omicron raised alarm because of its sheer number of mutations, more than prior variants had. Possibly 30 are in a key place, the spike protein that lets the virus attach to human cells, reports AP.
The US has recorded 48,692,555 cases to date and more than 782,104 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data.
The US recorded its first confirmed case of the Omicron variant Wednesday — in a vaccinated traveller who returned to California after a trip to South Africa — as scientists around the world race to establish whether the new, mutant version of the coronavirus is more dangerous than previous ones, reports AP.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the United States’ top infectious disease expert, announced the finding at the White House.
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,105,872 cases as of Wednesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 614,964.
Brazil on Wednesday reported its third case of Omicron, after a Brazilian national who arrived from eastern Africa over the weekend tested positive.
Read: Why WHO skipped ‘nu,’ ‘xi’ for new COVID variant
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,596,776 on Wednesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 469,247.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh logged two more Covid-linked deaths along with 282 fresh cases in 24 hours till Wednesday morning.
With the latest cases, the daily case positivity rate rose to 1.50 percent from Tuesday’s 1.38 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 27,983 while the caseload mounted to 15,76,566 amid the growing concern over the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
On November 20, Bangladesh logged this year’s first zero Covid-linked death with 178 cases.
Bangladesh logged the highest number of daily fatalities at 264 on August 5 this year. Besides, the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
Read: What we know and don’t know on new COVID variant
So far, 3,69,63,122 people have fully been vaccinated in the country, while 6,17,32,437 received the first dose as of Tuesday, according to the directorate.
Youth dies after being hit by moving train
An 18-year-old male was killed after being hit by a moving train at the level crossing near the Malibagh Railgate area of the capital on Wednesday evening.
Md Hasibul Hasan Anik was the son of Shafiqul Islam of village Trimuni in Sharsha, Jashore. Shafiqul is a rickshaw puller.
Pedestrians tried to save Anik and first took him to the local hospital and then to the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where the on-duty doctor declared him dead at around 9:15 pm.
Inspector Md Bachchu Mia, in-charge of the DMCH police camp, said the body was being kept in the hospital morgue for postmortem.
Anik's uncle Asadul Islam said: "Hasibul worked as an electrician at Ibn Sinha Hospital in Dhaka's Malibagh. His co-worker Alam said the accident occurred as Anik went to buy groceries."
Pedestrian Sunny Jobayer, one of the passersby who ultimately took him to DMCH, said the youth's body was found in a bloody state right beside the rail tracks.
"When the on-duty traffic police was informed about the matter, he rescued the young boy in a bloody condition and told us to take him to the hospital. Later I brought him to a nearby local hospital and rushed him to the DMCH," Sunny said.
Mechanical glitch: Biman flight makes emergency landing in Chattagram
A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight carrying 42 passengers made an emergency landing in Chattogram on Wednesday night.
It safely made the landing at Chattogram’s Shahamanat Airport at around 9.40 pm, said civil aviation sources.
They also said there was a problem with the landing gear of the aircraft, and that meant airport authorities had to take some special precautions to prepare the landing strip for a safe landing. During this intervening period, the plane was forced to circle overhead for some time.
The pilots also took one attempt to size up the landing they would have to execute. After receiving the signal from the control room, they went ahead and landed the plane relatively safely in the end.
Omar Faruq, assistant manager of Biman Bangladesh, said that there was a problem in the landing gear of the aircraft and that's why it made an emergency landing. However, the first landing attempt was not successful.
He added that there were some 42 passengers on the flight. It had left Dhaka at 8.45 pm for Chattogram airport.
84% of women sexually harassed: Adv Salma Ali at BNWLA roundtable
Some 1,182 incidents of sexual harassments were recorded in the country in the first 10 months of the year (January - October).
Of these, 955 were rapes, 220 were gang rapes and 259 were attempted rapes. In other words, there are about four incidents of rape in a day.
At the same time, about 84% of women in the country have faced sexual harassment in some form or various forms -everywhere from the roads, in or on vehicles, at educational institutions, in the workplace of course and even at home.
The Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA) presented this information in a roundtable discussion titled 'Sexual Harassment in Bangladesh: Current Context and What to Do to Prevent It'.
The figures and statistics presented in the discussion were compiled from different national dailies and online news portals from January to October this year.
BNWLA president Advocate Salma Ali conveyed the information in her presentation at the capital’s National Press Club on Wednesday morning.
She said that at present, violence against women in the country is increasing at an alarming rate in every aspect. Now is the time for women to stand up.
'Bomb threat': Malaysian Airlines flight makes emergency landing in Dhaka
A Malaysian Airlines flight on Wednesday night made an emergency landing at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport as it was faced with a 'bomb threat' on board.
An official of the airport's Armed Police Battalion, requesting anonymity, said that a flight of Malaysian Airlines did indeed land in Dhaka at 9.55 pm. He did also reveal that a bomb threat was the cause , even though the credibility of the threat could not be established.
Teams from the ground at Dhaka's international airport were activated to deal with the threat, but till now the search inside the aircraft has failed to turn up anything. Besides airport security, Fire Service teams have been kept ready to deal with any emergency.
The search is still on, and the plane itself remains grounded for now. Its 135 passengers have disembarked.
Security in the area has been intensified.
'The Dependables' wins Unilever BizMaestros 2021
"The Dependables" of the North South University has won Unilever's BizMaestros 2021.
This is the first time that any team from North South has become the winner of the business case competition.
The team of Taher Shabbir Mahuwala, Afnan Sayed and Abrar Mahir Ahmed will now have the opportunity to represent Bangladesh at the Global Platform of Unilever Future Leaders' League in the UK's London.
They will compete against the brightest talents across the world for the global championship and also be forwarded in the recruitment process for Unilever Future Leaders Programme.
Takia Mosharref Borsho, Takia Mosharref Nobo, and Saziea Afrin Heme of "Code Red '' from the Islamic University of Technology became the first runner-up.
"Leftover Pizza" – the team of Nazmus Sakib, Saleh Al Mamun and Tajwar Mohammed Al-Amin – from the Jahangirnagar University was named the second runner-up.
All these contenders from the top three teams will now be provided with the opportunity to avail of an internship under the Unilever Leadership Internship Programme.
The grand finale of the competition was arranged Tuesday at a city hotel, where six teams were evaluated by a panel of business leaders and industry experts, including Rupali Chowdhury, managing director of Berger Paints Bangladesh, Syed Nasim Manzur, managing director of Apex Footwear, Zaved Akhtar, chief executive officer and managing director of Unilever Bangladesh, and KSM Minhaj, managing director of Unilever Consumer Care.
Zaved Ahktar said, "BizMaestros is grooming aspiring business leaders, which is fueled by Unilever Bangladesh's commitment of upskilling 1 million youth with future-fit skills by 2030. Seeing the talented finalists present realistic solutions to actual problems that the business faces is an indicator of how effective this competition is to prepare them for being the leaders of tomorrow."
To develop leadership quality and analytical skills for the future among the youths, BizMaestros kicked off on 17 October.
More than 340 students participated in the first round, where the three-member teams of final year undergraduates, submitted their unique solutions to the real business cases.
After a thorough assessment, the top 30 teams were forwarded to the semi-final and the top six teams to the final. The other three teams among the top six finalists were "Team Moho" and "Fan Club" from the Institute of Business Administration of Dhaka University, and "Team Sabertooths" from the East West University.
Border killing a tragedy; it must stop: Doraiswami
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram K Doraiswami has reiterated his country’s position regarding the killings along the Bangladesh-India border stating that it is a tragedy but it needs to be defined correctly.
“We repeatedly said border killing is a tragedy and it must stop. But we need to define it correctly,” he said, explaining that the people who get hurt or killed on the border are from both sides.
The High Commissioner said nobody wants anyone to get hurt on the border and both sides need to have much stronger efforts to address the complex issue looking at why people are carrying out illegal activities, including human trafficking, and find ways for closer cooperation.
Doraiswami was addressing a dialogue titled “50 Years of Bangladesh-India Partnership: Towards a Journey in the Next 50 Years” as the guest of honour on Wednesday evening.
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised the dialogue in collaboration with the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), India.
The High Commissioner laid emphasis on closer cooperation to make the border a core area of prosperity with more border haats, more cross-border economic activities which would be a huge opportunity to change the situation and solve the problem.
Read: Deal with border killing as per international law: BNP
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam spoke at the dialogue as the chief guest which was chaired by Prof Rehman Sobhan.
Kazi Nabil Ahmed, MP, CPD Distinguished Fellows Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya and Prof Mustafizur Rahman, former Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque, former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Veena Sikri, Executive Director, SANEM, Bangladesh Dr Selim Raihan, among others, spoke at the dialogue.
CPD Executive Director Dr Fahmida Khatun moderated the session while Director General, RIS, India Dr Sachin Chaturvedi delivered the introductory remarks.
Talking about future cooperation between the two countries, Doraiswami said they have a huge opportunity to look at young people as future drivers of business.
He laid emphasis on the simplification of the payment system and addressing the challenges on the logistics front and highlighted the opportunities through rail-based, land-based and river-based trade. “We’re more than ready (to work and make logistics simpler).”
23 noted citizens urge govt to let Khaleda go abroad for treatment
Twenty-three noted citizens on Wednesday urged the government to allow ailing Chairperson Khaleda Zia to go aboard for advanced medical treatment.In a statement, they also said if the government demonstrates a humane attitude towards Khaleda it will help create a better political culture in the country.“As per media reports, Khaleda Zia’s condition is now critical. She has long been suffering from various critical diseases while her condition has gradually deteriorated further after being infected with Coronavirus,” the statement reads.
READ: Khaleda’s treatment not possible in Bangladesh with foreign doctors: DAB
It said the BNP chief’s family has already requested the government to allow Khaleda to go abroad for her treatment. "We urge the government to consider this request cordially and give Khaleda Zia a scope to go aboard for treatment immediately.”Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, Prof Kamal Ahmed, Prof Swapan Adnan, photographer Shahidul Alam, Prof Parveen Hasan, Prof Asif Nazrul and Prof Shahnaz Huda, human rights activists Shirin Haque, Nur Khan Liton, Rehnuma Ahmed, Hana Shams Ahmed and women leader Farida Akhtar are among the signatories to the statement.Khaleda, a 76-year-old former prime minister, has been receiving treatment at Evercare Hospital for various health complications since November 13.Her medical board members on Sunday said she immediately needs to go abroad for better treatment as she was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis.
READ: Govt is a barrier to Khaleda’s treatment abroad, not law: Fakhrul
On behalf of her family, Khaleda's younger brother, Shamim Iskander, submitted an application to the Home Ministry on November 11 urging the government to allow her to go abroad for better treatment.However, Law Minister Anisul Huq said the government will consider Khaleda Zia’s appeal if she submits a fresh petition after returning to jail.
FAO launches training for nutrition master trainers
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, has launched a training programme for master trainers of Agriculture Ministry for building sector-wide pool of expert nutrition trainers.
The programme that emphasises capacity development of government officials through training of trainers (ToT) fits the broader agenda of the National Food and Nutrition Security Framework and the related United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 for Bangladesh.
READ: Bangladeshi young people coming up with innovative game-changing solutions: FAO
FAO experts stressed that the main output is to have trained Bangladesh Institute of Research and Training on Applied Nutrition (BIRTAN), Ministry of Agriculture officials across the country through this ToT workshop to support the government to spur nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific actions and further their successful implementation.
READ: Bangladesh elected FAO Council member