Bangladesh
Worker dies as portion of under-construction storeroom collapses at Cumilla EPZ
A woman worker was killed and three people were injured as a portion of an under-construction garment storeroom collapsed at Cumilla Export Processing Zone (EPZ) on Saturday.
The deceased was identified as Josna Begum, 45, hailing from Pukur Par area in South Chartha of Cumilla.
Read: Helper killed, driver injured as 2 trucks collide in Chattogram
Witnesses said Josna had been working at NASSA Garment for long.
A board of the storeroom in the garment factory fell on Josna in the morning, leaving four workers injured.
Injured Josna was rushed to Comilla Medical College Hospital where doctors declared her dead.
Read: Member of online gambling gang held in Moulvibazar
General Manager of Cumilla EPZ Zillur Rahman confirmed the death and said it was an accident. Adequate compensation will be provided to the victim’s family, he added.
Business community’s role in Bangladesh’s economic success lauded
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Saturday appreciated the role played by the business community in the overall development of the country and making Bangladesh ‘the fastest-growing economy in the world’.
While inaugurating the national committee secretariat of International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICC,B) in the city’s Gulshan area, he wished that the business community together with the public sector will continue to work to fulfill the vision of Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina in making Bangladesh a developed country by 2041.
The Commerce Minister congratulated ICC, Bangladesh President Mahbubur Rahman, members of the executive board as well as the members patrons in setting up a state-of-the-art secretariat and expressed his hope that they will play a positive role in further development of the country.
Also read: Multiple initiatives taken to remain competitive in global market: Tipu Munshi
The Minister also launched ICC, B Business Directory which contains basic information about Bangladesh, information for trade and investment and FDI. The first directory was published in 2008.
ICC,B President Rahman said that they started their journey in a small office located on the premises of DCCI with 17 members.
Today, he said, ICC, B has 10 chambers of commerce and business association members under organization category (FBCCI, DCCI, MCCI, CCCI, FICCI, BAB, BIA, BGMEA, BKMEA and BTMA) and 128 members under corporate category (31 commercial banks, 7 non-banking financial institutions, 10 insurance companies, 5 law firms, 56 national companies and 19 transnational companies).
Rahman mentioned that ICC,B had so far organized seven international and regional conferences which were attended by heads of state, heads of governments, ministers, heads of international agencies, business leaders, professionals and experts from home and abroad.
The latest conference was held on December 10-12, 2019 and President Abdul Hamid inaugurated the conference, he noted.
Also read: Extensive research needed to unlock potentials of blue economy: Minister
Rahman acknowledged ICCB Founding Vice President late Latifur Rahman, AK Azad, Kutubuddin Ahmed, Anwar ul Alam Chowdhury (Parvez), Tapan Chowdhury. A.S.M. Quasem and Md. Fazlul Haque played the key role in mobilizing the resources for buying new office premises.
ICCB Vice President AK Azad recalled the role played by founding ICCB Vice President Latifur Raman for his guidance and continuous support to ICC Bangladesh in carrying out his various activities since the national secretariat was set up in 1994.
Dengue cases keep rising: 142 more hospitalized in 24 hrs
Bangladesh reported hospitalisation of 142 new dengue patients in 24 hours until Saturday morning.
Although dengue cases were supposed to drop ahead of winter, the country has been recording more than 100 dengue cases per day over the last few weeks.
Seventy two people were hospitalised with dengue fever on Friday.
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).
Also read: Dengue cases drop: 72 more hospitalized in 24 hrs
Of the deceased, 90 people died in Dhaka division alone, two each in Chattogram, Mymensingh and Khulna divisions and one each in Rajshahi and Barishal divisions.
Among the new patients, 104 are undergoing treatment in hospitals in Dhaka while the remaining 38 cases have been reported from outside the division.
Some 543 patients diagnosed with dengue are receiving treatment in the country as of Saturday.
Of them, 436 patients are receiving treatment at different hospitals in the capital while the remaining 107 were listed outside Dhaka.
Also read: Dengue: 129 more hospitalized in 24 hrs
Since January, some 26,201 patients have been admitted to different hospitals with dengue in the country. So far, 25, 586 dengue patients have left hospitals after recovery, said DGHS.
In September, the country recorded the highest number of 7,841 dengue cases of the current year with 23 deaths.
In October, the number of dengue cases came down to 5,604 with 22 deaths recorded.
Helper killed, driver injured as 2 trucks collide in Chattogram
A man was killed and another injured in a head-on collision between two trucks in Bandar area in Chattogram city.
The deceased was identified as Mohammad Sagar, 20, helper of a truck and son of Mohammad Badal of Bandartila area of the city.
Bandar Police Station OC Nizam Uddin said the the collision took place around 3 pm, leaving the helper and a driver injured.
Also read: Bank official killed in Magura road crash
The injured were admitted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital where doctors declared Sagar dead.
The driver named Abu Bakkar is currently undergoing treatment at the hospital, he said.
Also read: Driver, helper held over death of 10-year-old girl in city road crash
Young generation to forge greater Bangladesh-Japan cultural ties: Envoy
Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki has expressed his hope that the young generation will forge a greater Bangladesh-Japan cultural relationship as the two countries will celebrate the 50 years of diplomatic relations next year.
Ambassador Naoki took part in the cosplay competition as a judge and interacted with many anime fans. He thanked the AnimeCon Dhaka team for organizing this year’s event.
Read: Myanmar to take back Rohingyas gradually, hopes Foreign Minister
Zero death from Covid brings relief for Bangladesh
Confronting a tumultuous time since reporting its first death from Coronavirus on March 8, 2020 followed by the wrath unleashed by delta variant in 2021, Bangladesh finally reported zero death from the deadly virus in 24 hours till Saturday morning.
The country, however, logged 178 more infections during the 24-hour period.
Bangladesh recorded its first Covid cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18 of the last year.
The daily case positivity rate has declined to 1.18 per cent today from Friday’s 1.40 per cent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Also read: Bangladesh bracing for third Covid wave?
With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 27,946 while the caseload mounted to 1,573,889.
However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 per cent.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 15,107 samples, the DGHS added.
Besides, the recovery rate remained the same as 97.72 per cent with the recovery of 190 more patients during the 24-hour period.
Covid-19 Waves
On January 12 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City of Hubei Province in China.
On December 31, 2019, China reported to the WHO some cases of pneumonia with unknown causes.
Bangladesh was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic along with many other countries across the globe on March 8 last year when Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) reported the first three cases.
During mid-January to the first week of March, 2021 the infection rate remained below 5 and from the last week of March 2021, the infection and death toll gradually increased suggesting the start of the second wave of Covid-19 in the country.
Khaleda’s treatment abroad: Now BNP to hold rallies Monday
After a seven-hour mass-hunger strike on Saturday, BNP has decided to hold rallies across the country, including the capital, on Monday, demanding the immediate release of 'critically' ill Khaleda Zia for better treatment abroad.
Party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the programme while concluding their hunger-strike programme in front of BNP’s Nayapaltan central office.
He said their party’s all units of metropolitan cities and district towns and Upazila headquarters will hold rallies on Monday.
Read: BNP can bring foreign physicians for Khaleda: Law Minister
In the capital, he said, the programme will be held in front of the Jatiya Press Club at 10am.
“We’ll come up with the same demand in the rallies. If our demand is not met by the time, we’ll announce more programmes and free her and ensure her treatment abroad,” Fakhrul said.
Later, the BNP leaders broke the hunger strike by sipping water offered by Dhaka University ex-Vice-chancellor Prof Anwar Ullah Chowdhury around 4pm.
As part of a countrywide programme, hundreds of leaders and activists of the party and its associate bodies began the hunger strike in front of their Nayapaltan central office at 9am, demanding Khaleda Zia be allowed to go abroad for advanced treatment.
Several thousand BNP leaders and activists joined the programme.
BNP can bring foreign physicians for Khaleda: Law Minister
Law Minister Anisul Huq on Saturday said BNP can bring physicians from abroad for Khaleda Zia’s treatment if they want and there will be no obstruction from the government side.
“But BNP should keep in mind that the government won’t do anything going beyond the law as Khaleda has been convicted by a Bangladesh court,” he insisted.
The minister said this joining virtually an extended meeting of Awami league held at Akhaura municipality auditorium over the upcoming Union Parishad elections.
Also read: BNP starts hunger strike seeking Khaleda’s treatment abroad
Anisul Huq said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina out of humanity has done as much as she could do for the BNP chairperson to facilitate a convict following the law.
Member of online gambling gang held in Moulvibazar
The Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) of police have arrested a member of online gambling gang from Rajnagar College point area in Moulvibazar district .
The arrestee is Sanjay Chandra Dhar, 24, son of Samir Chandra Dhar of the area.
A team of ATU recovered two android phone sets used for running the gambling via the Binary application and four sim cards during a drive on Friday.
Also read: Clash over gambling: 1 killed, 15 hurt in Barguna
A case under the Digital Security Act has been filed against Sanjay at Rajnargar police station for illegal e-transaction, said an ATU media release.
The release also said the gang operates online gambling with Binary app which is available in google play store. Using this app they used to deceive people (players) and collect money through Bkash and Nagad.
Also read: HC declares all sorts of gambling illegal
Reduce fuel prices to facilitate economic recovery: BGMEA
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Faruk Hasan has urged the government to reconsider the decision of fuel price hike for creating a stable business atmosphere.
He said that the production and transportation costs of the RMG sector have increased by 5 per cent after the recent hike in diesel price, the BGMEA president said at a press conference in a city hotel on Saturday.
READ: Fuel prices hiked in line with global market: PM
“We haven't had much employment in the last two years because of Coronavirus. In order to increase investment and employment, it is necessary to facilitate business and continue existing policy,” Faruk Hasan said.