Bangladesh
Armed Forces Day: Three services' chiefs call on President Hamid
Chiefs of army, naval and air staff on Sunday called on President Abdul Hamid on the occasion of Armed Forces Day at Bangabhaban.
Chief of Army Staff SM Shafiuddin Ahmed, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral M Shaheen Iqbal, and Chief of Air Staff Shaikh Abdul Hannan met President Hamid, who is also the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, at noon.
During the meeting, the president discussed various issues related to the military, his press secretary Joynal Abedin said.
President also expressed satisfaction over their activities and hoped that the new generation would be able to know about the contribution of the Armed Forces in the liberation war of the country through this.
On the occasion of the day, the President extended greetings and congratulations to the members of the Armed Forces.
Earlier in the morning, President Hamid paid tributes to the martyred members of Bangladesh Armed Forces in Dhaka Cantonment.
On this day during the Liberation War, Bangladesh Armed Forces -- comprising the army, navy and air force -- came into being and launched an all-out attack on the Pakistani occupation forces.
Since independence, this day has been observed as the Armed Forces Day every year.
He paid the homage by placing a wreath at the Shikha Anirban (flame eternal) in Dhaka Cantonment this morning and stood there in solemn silence for a while as a mark of respect to memories of the martyrs of 1971 Liberation War.
Later, a smartly turned out contingent of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force presented a salute on the occasion. President Hamid also signed the visitors' book there.
Earlier, on his arrival at Shikha Anirban, chiefs of the three services and the principal staff officer of the Armed Forces Division received the President.
Another elephant calf found dead in Cox’s Bazar
Forest officials have recovered another carcass of wild Asian elephant calf on Sunday from Islamabad hill at Eidgaon upazila in Cox’s Bazar.
According to locals, around 7 am some wood cutters found the elephant dead in a 2.5 feet deep hole and informed the forest department.
Md Alauddin, Rajghat bit officer under Fulchari range said the male elephant was approximately two years old and it was seven feet long, five feet wide and its trunk was 2.5 feet long.
Read: Another Asian elephant found dead, this time in Chakaria reserved forest
“The elephant might have died around Saturday night,” he said.
Faruq Ahmed Bulbul, another officer from the Fulchari range, said the elephant might have slipped into the hole while getting down the slope.
“The actual reason of death can be confirmed after the Cox’s Bazar upazila livestock officials conduct an autopsy but they have confirmed finding injury marks on its body,” said Dr Prantosh Chandra Roy Assistant Conservator of Forest of Fulchari range.
Read: Elephant carcass found along Sherpur border
Dipak Sharma Dipu, president of Cox’s Bazar Forest and Environment Conservation Council said in the last one year at least 10 elephants died in Cox’s Bazar.
He did not rule out planned killing of the calf too.
“Elephants are being killed all over the country due to forest grabbing, cultivation in forest land and for selling elephant teeth,” he said.
HC issues contempt of court rule against DoE DG, 3 others
The High Court on Sunday issued a contempt of court rule against four people, including the director general (DG) of Department of Environment (DoE) as they failed to submit a report on action taken against people occupying river banks and polluting the Bongshi River.
The other three accused are: the deputy commissioner of Dhaka, assistant commissioner (land) of Savar and officer in-charge of Savar Police Station.
The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman issued the rule and asked the four accused to respond to the rule.
Lawyer Mohammad Bakir Hossain Mridha appeared in the court for the writ petition while Deputy Attorney General Bipul Bagmar appeared for the state.
Read: HC seeks list of all the rivers and illegal occupiers from government
On December 2, 2019, following a writ petition, the High Court issued a rule along with an order, asking Bangladesh Water Development Board, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), DoE DG, Dhaka Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Dhaka district police, Savar upazila nirbahi officer, Savar AC (Land) and officer in-charge of Savar Police Station to submit the report within 30 days.
At the same time, a rule was issued asking why the inaction of the defendants in preventing occupation by filling up the Bongshi River banks should not be declared as 'illegal and out of legal authority'. The rule also asked why the construction work should not be stopped by filling the river banks with soil.
On October 28 the same year, a report on encroachment of the Bongshi River banks and pollution of the river was published in a national daily. The report said 65 individuals and organizations occupied the river in Savar.
Later, Barrister Md Bakir Hossain, a local resident of Savar, filed a writ petition with the High Court attaching the newspaper report.
However, no action was taken in this regard by the authorities concerned.
DPS STS ties up with TEDx
DPS STS School Dhaka will host "TEDxDPSSTSSchool" on November 27 in partnership with TEDx, an initiative curated by TED to spread impactful ideas.
Ridan Mehran Mahbub, an alumnus of DPS STS School, received the licence to organise the TEDx event.
The motivational event will feature renowned individuals from various fields, who will shed light on a range of topics to educate and entertain the young and aspiring attendees.
"I am proud and excited to hold the first TEDx event at DPS STS School. I believe that this event will greatly motivate the attendees, especially the young minds of the country, and prove to be an exceptional learning opportunity for them," said Dr Shivananda, principal of DPS STS.
With TEDx events, the spirit of TED is brought to local communities around the world.
Organisers of the events look to unravel new ideas and unfurl them among people by sparking conversations within communities, through knowledgeable and respected guest speakers.
TEDx events are organised independently under an official licence granted by TED.
The "TEDxDPSSTSSchool" event will be held at the senior campus of the school.
Health Minister criticizes BNP for not wearing mask at hunger strike
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Sunday criticized BNP for not following health rules at their mass hunger strike programme demanding Khaleda Zia’s treatment abroad.
“They always criticize government actions but they themselves didn’t wear masks nor maintained social distance,” said Zahid Maleque in a programme held at a city hotel.
On Saturday, the minister mentioned, Bangladesh saw the long-awaited day of zero Covid-linked death, and said this has been possible with everyone's cooperation.
Read: BNP starts hunger strike seeking Khaleda’s treatment abroad
“A political programme attended by thousands of people without wearing masks, including leaders, members of the party, may trigger Covid infections,” he said.
Minister Maleque said two things are clear from this: that the Covid situation has been so efficiently handled by the government that they did not feel the necessity of wearing masks.
Read: Police foil BNP's hunger strike prog in Khulna
“Another point is they criticize the government but they are the ones who don't maintain the health guidelines, and that’s the matter of concern,” he said.
The minister urged journalists to highlight the importance of maintaining health guidelines at religious and social programmes.
2 die from electrocution in the city
Two people died and another two were injured from electrocution in the city’s Satarkul area of North Badda area on Sunday afternoon, family said.
The deceased were identified as Ariful Islam Sohel, 32, a welding mechanic and Jahangir Alam, 32, his assistant.
Also read: 2 of a family among 3 die from electrocution in Bogura
Sohel, along with Jahangir, was workimg in his newly built enterprise Maa Engineering Workshop Grill and Welding in Satarkul area when the accident occurred, his family said.
Another two workers Ahad and Miraj were injured in the incident.
Also read: Youth dies from electrocution in Kushtia
Sohel and Alam were first taken to a nearby hospital and later to the emergency unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where the on-duty doctor declared both of them dead.
Bachchu Mia, police inspector at the DMCH police outpost said the bodies have been kept at the hospital morgue for autopsies.
HC allows two girls to stay with Bangladeshi father in custodial battle with Japanese mother
The High Court on Sunday ruled that the two children of Bangladeshi-born US citizen Imran Sharif and Japanese mother Nakano Erico will stay with their father.
Mother Eriko can exclusively meet the daughters, aged 11 and 10, three times a year for 10 days at a time and Imran will bear her travel and accommodation expenses, said the court.
The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman delivered the ruling until a writ petition by the mother is fully disposed.
If Eriko wants to meet her children beyond the court-prescribed time she has do it at her own expenses, the court said.
Imran Sharif was also instructed to allow the children to talk to their mother in video calls twice a month on holidays.
Read: HC directs lawyers to settle custody dispute over Japanese children in 12 days
Following the writ petition, the High Court also ordered Imran Sharif to give Tk 10 lakh to Eriko for the expenses she incurred to travel to Dhaka and stay here within seven days.
HC seeks list of all the rivers and illegal occupiers from government
The High Court on Sunday directed the government authorities to submit a proper list of the country's rivers and division-wise list of illegal occupiers.
The court asked the finance secretary, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), Water Development Board (WDB) and all the district commissioners to submit the lists within six months.
The HC bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Mia and Md Kamrul Hossain Molla passed the order during a hearing on a writ petition filed by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA).
Lawyer Syeda Rizwana Hasan represented BElA at the hearing while Deputy Attorney General Nowroz Md Rasel Chowdhury appeared for the state.
Read: 20-year masterplan to revive Dhaka's rivers in the works
Syeda Rizwana said there is an inconsistency regarding the number of rivers in Bangladesh.
“Even after the court passed many directions the river areas are determined wrongly which actually facilitates the illegal grabbing. At some places the action to evict occupiers is going on but not in all," she said.
According to the petition, WDB data says there are 405 rivers in Bangladesh while National River Conservation Commission (NRCC) mentions 707 and a private research says 1,182.
As the number of rivers remained undetermined, so did the number of illegal occupiers, it said.
NRCC data shows there are 57, 390 listed illegal occupiers while reports in national dailies exceed it.
Read: 60 illegal establishments evicted from Kirtankhola river banks
Recently the state minister for the shipping ministry told the Parliament there are 65, 127 river occupiers in the country.
BELA filed the writ in view of the discrepancy, Rizwana said.
Indefinite transport strike in Sylhet from Monday
Bangladesh Road Transport Workers' Federation (BRTWF) called an indefinite strike in Sylhet from Monday to press for their five-point demand.
All modes of public transport, including buses, CNG-run auto-rickshaws and freight trucks will stay off the roads in Sylhet from 6 am onwards, said BRTWF organizing secretary (Sylhet division) Zakaria Ahmed.
READ: 72-hr transport strike underway in Sylhet
"On November 9, we handed over a five-point demand to the deputy commissioner of Sylhet. As no initiative has been taken to meet those demands, all modes of public transport in Sylhet will be staying off the roads indefinitely from Monday as per our previously announced programme.”
READ: Commuters hit hard by transport strike in Khulna
Their demands are: Sylhet Regional Auto-tempo and Auto Rickshaw Driver Workers' Alliance must complete its triennial election and refund of cash collected as nomination fee as well as suspending the Deputy Director of Sylhet Regional Labor Department, withdrawal of the case filed against leaders of Sylhet District Bus, Minibus Coach-Microbus Workers Union; an end to the harassment of drivers by traffic and highway police in Sylhet; stopping toll collection on damaged bridges and ensuring parking facility for small vehicles.
Rupganj rice mill fire: Two injured workers die
Two workers have succumbed to burn injuries they suffered from a fire at City Auto Rice and Dal Mill in Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj on Saturday.
The deceased were identified as Hazrat Ali, 25, and Belayet Hossain,59.
They were being treated at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, said SM Ayub Hossain, resident surgeon of the hospital.
Hazrat Ali with 99 per cent body burn injuries breathed his last at 9:30 pm on Saturday while Belayet Hossain with 95 per cent burns died around 9 am on Sunday, he said.
READ: Fire at Gulshan high-rise brought under control
Meanwhile, Md Sirajul Islam, 60, another worker with 65 per cent body burn is undergoing treatment at the hospital in a critical condition, said the resident surgeon.
Four workers suffered burn injuries in a fire that broke out at City Auto Rice & Dal Mill at Rupshi area of Rupganj upazila in Narayanganj on Saturday around 2:30 pm.
Five units of firefighters managed to bring it under control around 5:30 pm, said Tanharul Islam, deputy director of Narayanganj Fire Service and Civil Defence.
Three of the workers with severe burns were sent to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital while Rana, 30, was admitted to a local hospital, he said.
READ: 4 workers burnt in Rupganj rice mill fire
The flames broke out from wheat sacks kept beside the boiler of the mill, said the Fire Service official.