Bangladesh
4 Health Ministry employees suspended over missing of 17 files
Four employees of the Health Education and Family Welfare Division under the Health Ministry have been suspended in connection with the missing of 17 files from the ministry.
Secretary to the Division Md Ali Nur confirmed the matter to reporters at the secretariat on Tuesday.
The four suspended staffers are computer operators Ayesha Siddika and Josef Sardar of Procurement and Collection Unit-2, office assistant of administration-2 unit Badal Chandra Goshwami and 3, office assistant of administration -3 unit Mintu Mia.
Also read: Missing files: Health Minister calls it “unexpected”
The four-member probe committee formed by the ministry over the incident identified the four staffers.
On October 27, it was revealed that 17 files of the Health Ministry had gone missing from the ministry’s Health, Education and Family Welfare division.
A General Diary (GD) was registered with Shagbagh Police station in connection with the the missing of files the following day.
Also read: Missing Files: 3 more Health Ministry officials taken into custody
Covid claims 2 more lives and infects 213 in Bangladesh
Bangladesh recorded two more Covid-linked deaths and reported 213 fresh infections in 24 hours until Tuesday morning, authorities said.
The daily-case positivity rate slightly dropped to 1.03 per cent from Monday’s 1.32 per cent.
The fresh numbers took the total fatalities to 27,922 while the country’s caseload mounted to 15,72,501, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Also read: Covid jabs for city’s slum dwellers start on Tuesday: Health Minister
However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 per cent, according to DGHS.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 20, 764 samples, it said.
Besides, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.71 per cent with the recovery of 223 more patients during the 24-hour period.
Also read: Bangladesh can produce Covid vaccine, let us do it: PM
Next year’s public exams won’t be held as per schedule: Dipu Moni
There is no scope to hold the public examinations in the next year as per schedule, said Education Minister Dipu Moni on Tuesday.
“It is not possible to hold the public examinations of 2022 in time but the delay will not be like that of this year’s SSC examinations,” she said.
“Measures will be taken to make up the losses caused by delay in holding the SSC examinations and the students will not face any problem,” she added.
Also read: Students to get new textbooks in time next year: Dipu Moni
The Education Minister came up with the information while replying to a question from local journalists when visiting Chandpur Hasan Ali Government High School exam center on Tuesday.
The much-awaited Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and its equivalent examinations began in the country on Sunday, maintaining health protocols.
Usually, the SSC examinations are held in February but this year the exams were delayed due to the pandemic.
Regarding vaccination of students she said, “The Health Ministry is trying to vaccinate all the HSC examinees. Though we don’t have sufficient infrastructures in every district to continue the inoculation drive with Pfizer vaccine but the authorities concerned are trying their level best.”
A campaign to vaccinate school students, aged 12-17, against Covid-19 kicked off at 12 centers in Dhaka on November 1.
Also read: Still unsure about dropped out students’ number: Dipu Moni
Some 40,000 students will be vaccinated every day under the campaign.
However, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the officials concerned to increase the number of centres across the country under this campaign.
Tangail lawmaker Ekabbar Hossain passes away
Ekabbar Hossain, member of parliament from Tangail-7 constituency, passed away at a hospital in city on Tuesday. He was 76.
Ekabbar, also the president of Mirzapur upazila unit Awami League, breathed his last around 2 pm while undergoing treatment at Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka, said his son Barrister Tahrim Hossain Simanto.
He left behind his wife, one son, two daughters and a host of relatives to mourn his death.
Also read: Late artist Qayyum Chowdhury’s wife Tahera Khanam passes away
Ekabbar, also a valiant freedom fighter, returned from the constituency winning the four successive general elections in 2001, 2008, 2014 and 2018.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed deep shock at the demise of the Ekabbar Hossain.
She prayed for the eternal salvation of the departed soul and expressed sympathy to the bereaved family.
Also read: Noted physicist Dr Harun-ar-Rashid passes away
3214 acres of railway land under illegal occupation: Minister
Some 3214 acres of land of Bangladesh Railway are now under the clutches of land grabbers across the country, Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan told Parliament on Tuesday.
“The amount of unused (fallen) land of Bangladesh Railways is 10,843.15 acres and 3,213.78 acres of land remain under illegal occupation,” he said replying to a written question from BNP MP Aminul Islam (Chapainawabganj-2).
Read: Public Debt Bill lands in Parliament
Of the illegally occupied land, the highest 620 acres are in Rajshahi district, 321 acres in Rajbari, 282 acres in Sirajganj, 280 acres in Bagerhat, 210 acres in Kurigram, 183 acres in Chattogram, 154 acres in Faridpur, 143 acres in Pabna, 128 acres in Gaibandha, 113 acres in Nilphamari, 106 acres in Lalmonirhat, 103 in Jhenaidah and 56 acres in Kushtia.
The amount of illegally occupied land is less than 50 acres in other districts, according to the statistics placed by the Minister in the House.
Responding to a starred question from Jatiya Party MP Shameem Haider Patwary (Gaibandha-1), the Railways Minister said drives are being conducted to recover the grabbed railway land.
Read:Patents bill placed in Parliament
In reply to a written question from Awami League MP Didarul Alam (Chattogram-4), the Railways Minister said the government will collect 400 more modern coaches –-200 broad-gauge and 200 meter-gauge—for Bangladesh Railways within the next two years with the fund of European Investment Bank and the Tenders Financing.
He said a project is underway now to collect 150 meter-gauge and 100 broad-gauge passenger coaches from South Korean and China respectively.
PM to meet press over UK-France visit Wednesday
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will address a press conference at 4:00 pm on Wednesday on the outcome of her two-week visit to the United Kingdom and France, PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said on Tuesday.
Sheikh Hasina went on the foreign visit on October 31 and returned home on November 14.
Read:France showers immense honour on PM Hasina
In the UK the prime minister attended the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) at Glasgow in Scotland and Bangladesh Investment Summit 2021 in London. During her visit to France she handed over the first Unesco-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy as well as joined the 75th founding anniversary event of Unesco and the Paris Peace Forum in Paris.
Sheikh Hasina also had meetings with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, French Prime Minister Jean Castex, French Prime Minister Jean Castex, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and other heads of state or government.
Read: Unite for common good: Hasina to global leaders
Besides, she had meetings with UK's Prince Charles, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland, Bill Gates, as well as other important dignitaries from different organisations and business bodies.
The PM joined three civic receptions accorded to her by the Bangladeshi expatriates living in Scotland, London and Paris.
‘TikTok’ video maker held in city
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have arrested a TikTok video maker from the city’s Mohammadpur area allegedly for cheating people using fake identity in social media platforms.
The arrestee is Md Abdur Rakib alias TikTok Raj, 26, son of late Abdur Rahim of Naogaon’s Niyamatpur.
Read:5 criminals including TikTok Hridoy’s aide held in city
According to a media release of Rab Headquarters, a team of Rab-2 and Rab-5 arrested him after conducting a drive in Mohammadpur area on Monday.
During the drive, a mobile phone, seven SIM cards, memory card, Rab uniform, fake ID card, whistler, boots etc. were seized from his possession.
During primary interrogation, Tiktok Raj confessed to his involvement in various criminal activities in the virtual world with his fake identity as a ‘member of law enforcement agency’.
He used to develop illicit relationship with women alluring them in social media platform and realized money after blackmailing them, said the press release.
Read:TikTok out-of-control: Teen goes for shoot, gets raped
Tiktok Raj, who works as a security in a hotel in Bogura, used to threaten them of circulating their indecent photos on social media platforms to realise money from them.
Legal processes are underway in this regard, said the release.
Khaleda has to go back to jail for permission to go abroad: Law Minister
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq on Tuesday said the government will consider BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s appeal to go abroad for medical treatment if she makes a fresh petition after returning to jail.
“No fresh order can be given over a solved petition anymore. If she applies again after going to jail, then we will consider it. But there is no scope to consider any fresh step under the section 401 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in these circumstances,” he told Parliament.
The Law Minister said this replying to the remarks of BNP MP Rumeen Farhana during the discussion over a proposal to send the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition (Remuneration and Privileges) Bill, 2021 to the Scrutiny Committee.
Read: Khaleda critically ill, says Fakhrul
During the discussion, Rumeen demanded the government allow Khaleda Zia to go abroad for medical treatment considering her physical condition. The BNP MP said the government has the authority to give Khaleda Zia the scope under section 401 of CrPC.
Anisul Huq suggested Rumeen Farhana to see the decisions given under the same section of CrPC in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
Security to Bangabandhu’s family: JS passes SSF Bill
The Special Security Force Bill, 2021 was passed in Parliament on Tuesday incorporating the issue of providing security to the family members of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and very important persons.Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq, who is in charge of the Prime Minister's Office in Parliament, moved the Bill and it was passed by voice vote.
Read: JS passes Leader and Deputy Leader of Opposition (Privileges) BillThe proposed law was brought up as the existing law “the Special Security Force Ordinance, 1986” was void following a verdict of the higher court.The new law was drafted revising the existing one. Only one thing was included here, which is providing security to the family members of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and very important persons.Bangabandhu’s family members means his two daughters, grandchildren, and in some cases, spouses or issues of the grandchildren.
Read: Public Debt Bill lands in ParliamentThe very important persons defined by the government through gazettes, heads of the foreign states or governments will be given security under the draft law.In the case of providing security to the Bangabandhu’s family members, the Special Security Force Bill, 2021 will be given priority no matter whatever is there in the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Family Members Security Act, 2009.
Khaleda critically ill, says Fakhrul
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday demanded the government immediately allow their party chief Khaleda Zia to go abroad for advanced treatment on humanitarian ground as she is critically ill.
“Khaleda Zia is so ill that I can’t understand you. For the first time she sat in a chair from the bed at CCU (of Evercare Hospital) yesterday (Monday). She’s very weak,” he said.Speaking at a doa mahfil, he also said doctors advised sending her abroad as there is no advanced centre in Bangladesh for treating Khaleda’s multiple critical diseases.
“We demand the government immediately allow her to receive treatment abroad. You (govt) please do it on humanitarian ground in line with her family’s application,” the BNP leader said.
Read: Khaleda’s family seeks permission yet again to send her abroad
Stating that Khaleda is a leader of democracy, he warned that the government will have to shoulder all the responsibilities if anything bad happens to her for barring her from going abroad for treatment.
Fakhrul hoped that good sense will prevail upon the government to permit the BNP chief to go abroad for receiving treatment in any advanced centre.
BNP arranged the programme on the ground floor of its Nayapaltan central office seeking speedy recovery of Khaleda.
Referring to a fresh application to the government by Khaleda’s family seeking permission to send her abroad for treatment, Fakhrul said, “We’ve been repeatedly talking about the issue, but she's not given that scope.”
He alleged that the BNP chairperson was sent to jail by convicting her in ‘false’ cases as part of a plot to remove her from politics. “There’s now a plot to eliminate her life.”
“We pray to the Almighty Allah so that she recovers soon not only for BNP and her family but also for the country and its 16 crore democracy-loving people. She is the leader who struggled for democracy most of her life,” the BNP leader said.
On behalf of the family, Khaleda's younger brother, Shamim Iskander, submitted an application to the Home Ministry on Thursday urging the government to allow her to go abroad for better treatment.
Khaleda, a 76-year-old former Prime Minister, was readmitted to Evercare Hospital on Saturday six days after she had returned home from the hospital.
Read: BNP’s countrywide doa mahfil seeking Khaleda’s recovery
The BNP chief's physicians said she has been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, ophthalmological and dental complications.
A physician at her medical team said Khaleda is now suffering from a critical cardiac problem while her blood sugar is out of control and hemoglobin level in her blood has dropped.
The BNP chief’s family applied to the government twice in May and August earlier, seeking permission to take her abroad for better treatment, but the government denied it, saying that there was no scope for a convict to get such an opportunity.