Bangladesh
E-orange customers stage protests, police charge baton
Aggrieved E-orange customers staged demonstrations in the capital and tried to block a road near Matsya Bhaban, prompting the police to charge baton on them.
The customers staged the protests seeking their money back and the repatriation of the mastermind of fraudulent police inspector Sohel Rana.
Witnesses said the cheated customers of E-orange, an e-commerce platform, formed a human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club at noon.
When they tried to put barricades on the road near Matsya Bhaban around 1:30 pm, police charged baton and dispersed them.
Police detained three people from the spot for interrogation, Sazzadur Rahman, DMP Ramna Division deputy commissioner, told UNB.
“Thursday is the last working day of the week and there was huge pressure of vehicles on roads, so we didn’t let them block road,” he said.
During demonstrations, the protesters said as E-orange is a sister concern of Orange Bangladesh then it must bear its responsibility.
READ: E-commerce firms like Evaly, E-orange to face action: DMP
They also demanded the trial of all the cases related to E-orange in speedy trial tribunal and rejection of bail pleas of all the accused until the issue is settled.
A Dhaka court on September 2 sent the owner of virtual outlet e-orange Sonia Mehzabin, her husband Masukur Rahman and Aman Ullah, Chief Operating Officer of E-orange, to jail in a fraud case filed over the embezzlement of Tk 1,100 crore from consumers.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Baki Billah passed the order rejecting their bail petition when they were produced before it on completion of their 5-day remand.
Earlier on August 23, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Morshed Al Mamun Bhuiyan placed the accused on a 5-day remand in the fraud case.
On August 17, the court sent them to jail rejecting their bail prayers when they surrendered to Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Abubakar Siddique's court.
READ: Owner of e-orange.shop, 2 others land in jail
On August 16, an aggrieved customer of E-Orange Md Taherul Islam filed a fraud case with Gulshan police station in presence of 37 other customers who testified against the accused.
BSMMU’s new specialized hospital a symbol of close ties with Korea: Envoy
South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun on Thursday visited the construction site of the new specialized hospital under Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and said it will serve as a symbol of close relationship between Bangladesh and Korea.
"This Hospital will be the first specialized hospital in Bangladesh for the treatment of critical patients and serve as a symbol of our close relationship and ever-strengthening friendship," he said.
During his visit to the site, Ambassador Lee said it is the largest project in medical area with Korea’s support.
Vice-Chancellor of BSMMU Dr. Md. Sharfuddin Ahmed, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Health Md. Shahadat Hossain, Chairman and Director of the Project of BSMMU Md. Zulfiqur Rahman Khan and other staff of Hyundai Development Corporation, Sunjin Engineering and Samsung C&T were present.
Also read: Chevron provides Covid-19 support to community hospitals
Covid in Bangladesh: 24 die in 24 hours, lowest since May 15
Covid-19 killed 24 more people and infected 1,144 others in Bangladesh in 24 hours till Thursday morning.This is the lowest death toll in the country since May 15 when the country saw 22 single-day deaths.The latest cases were detected after testing 24,820 samples showing a slight fall in the daily-case positivity rate from Wednesday’s 4.79 percent to 4.61 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).According to the DGHS, the fresh numbers of deaths and cases took the country’s total Covid-19 fatalities to 27,337 while the caseload mounted to 15,48,320. However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 percent.
Also read: 'Rich man's disease': Curious case of Covid in Dhaka slums
Mia Seppo lauds Bangladesh’s Covid control
UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Mia Seppo has appreciated the joint efforts in testing, tracing and treating patients, and thus keeping the pandemic under control in Bangladesh.
"I’ve been delighted to see how the support provided by the United Nations and our partners has enabled the government to employ innovative methods of testing, tracing and treating patients, and thus keeping the pandemic under control in Bangladesh,” she said.
When Covid-19 arrived in Bangladesh in March 2020, Mia said, there were serious concerns over how the country’s health system would be able to cope with the overwhelming challenges posed by the pandemic.
Read: Climate crisis no longer a looming crisis: Mia Seppo
She made the remarks after a delegation from the Government, United Nations, and NGO partners observed efforts to combat COVID-19 transmission in Dhaka.
Senior Secretary of the Health Services Division Lokman Hossain Miah and Additional Director General of DGHS, Prof Dr Nasima Sultana also joined the field mission.
The Senior Secretary praised the Government’s partners for their support in containing the pandemic in Bangladesh.
With funding provided by the World Bank Pandemic Emergency Funding Facility, USAID and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom (FCDO), the government of Bangladesh, several United Nations agencies (FAO, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP and WHO), non-governmental and civil society organizations are conducting an innovative initiative to reduce the transmission of Covid-19 in communities across Bangladesh.
Read: World needs journalists more than ever: Mia Seppo
The programme – called the Community Support Team (CST) initiative – deploys teams of volunteers into low-income urban slum communities to help identify symptomatic Covid-19 cases and supports them and their families with home-based case management, hospital referral, telemedicine support, and screens for vulnerable individuals with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.
CST teams are also assisting households with on-the-spot vaccination registration and vaccine card printing.
The teams consist of local volunteers and trained community health workers from a variety of NGO partners, including BRAC, CDP, Himu, and Platform. CST members also distribute locally made cloth masks, provide counseling and guide communities on preventing the spread of the virus by maintaining strict health and safety measures.
15,000 people in Cox’s Bazar receive UNHCR’s aid1
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has distributed financial aid among 15,000 people in Cox’s Bazar.
UNHCR sent Tk 2500 each through bKash to the pandemic-hit most vulnerable individuals and people living in extreme poverty in Cox’s Bazar, said a media release on Thursday.
Especially, people who have lost their jobs during the pandemic, people with disability, the elderly, widows, hawkers, transgender, hotel staff received the financial aid.
READ: UNHCR issues non-return advisory for Afghanistan
Bangladesh Red Crescent Society carried out the project as local implementation partner of UNHCR.
Md. Kamrul Hasan, Divisional Commissioner of Chattogram formally inaugurated the financial aid disbursement through bKash at Cox’s Bazar DC Office recently.
Among others, Md Mamunur Rashid, Deputy Commissioner of Cox’s Bazar, Ita Schuette, Head of Office for UNHCR in Cox’s Bazar, Imam Zafar Sikder, Disaster Response Director of Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and Mehmud Ashique Iqbal, Vice President and Md. Somel Reza Khan, Deputy General Manager from Commercial division of bKash, were present.
READ: UNHCR ready to support rescue work after Rohingya boat capsize
Urgent action needed to end catastrophe in Myanmar: UN report
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Thursday said urgent action is needed to prevent the situation in Myanmar from spiraling into a full-blown conflict.
Her warning came in a new report from the UN Human Rights Office detailing widespread violations by the military against Myanmar’s people, some of which may constitute crimes against humanity or war crimes.
“The national consequences are terrible and tragic – the regional consequences could also be profound," Bachelet said.
“The international community must redouble its efforts to restore democracy and prevent wider conflict before it is too late.”
Released for the 48th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council, the report describes the situation in Myanmar, which is also facing an economy in freefall and the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic – as “a human rights catastrophe that shows no signs of abating.”
Relying heavily on the use of lethal force and mass arrests, military authorities have perpetrated the vast majority of human rights violations documented since the 1 February coup.
Serious violations have been committed – of the rights to life, liberty and security of person, the prohibition against torture, the right to a fair trial, as well as the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly. In recent weeks, there has been further intensification of military activity, as well as resistance by armed groups.
“There is no sign of any efforts by the military authorities to neither stop these violations nor implement previous recommendations to tackle impunity and security sector reform,” High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said.
“This underscores the urgent need for strong accountability measures. It also runs in the face of commitments made to ASEAN leaders to cease the violence and begin a constructive dialogue among all parties,” she added, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The report, which covers the period ranging from the coup until mid-July, is based on interviews with over 70 victims and witnesses to human rights violations, as well as remote monitoring, credible open sources, and meetings with a range of stakeholders.
When peaceful protests began nationwide in February, military authorities initially used less-lethal weapons in an unnecessary and disproportionate manner and conducted neighbourhood raids, creating an atmosphere of terror, it said.
But the tactics swiftly evolved into systematic, targeted killings and relying on lethal force - including semi-automatic rifles and snipers against protesters. More than 1,120 people have been killed since the coup.
In multiple incidents on 27 March, for example, as the nation marked Armed Forces Day, the military attacked peaceful protesters in 12 of Myanmar's 15 states, regions and union territory, killing at least 130 people in the single bloodiest day since the coup. Opening fire without warning, security forces shot people as they were running away or helping the injured. Among the dead were at least 17 children.
Victims of attacks carried out by security forces have often sustained wounds to their heads and torsos, indicating that they were targeted for maximum harm, said the report.
Security forces have attacked medical equipment and facilities and health workers.
The military has also used, against protesters, weapons that are designed to be employed in military confrontations.
On 9 April, security forces in the central town of Bago fired grenade launchers and artillery shells into residential areas where demonstrators had erected roadblocks, reportedly killing at least 82 people.
Military authorities have also arrested over 8,000 people, including elected officials, protesters and journalists during arrests and raids.
At least 120 people have reportedly died in custody, and some have been denied access to medical treatment.
Credible reports indicate that security forces have consistently used interrogation techniques that may amount to torture or ill-treatment, among them beating detainees, depriving them of food, water and sleep for days at a time.
The military's use of lethal force against protesters has prompted some opponents of the coup to take up arms, leading to clashes across the country.
Fighting between the military and ethnic armed groups has also increased exponentially since the coup, displacing thousands, particularly in Kayin, Shan and Kachin State, where the military has carried out indiscriminate airstrikes and artillery barrages, killing civilians.
SDGs performance: Hasina’s leadership earns huge appreciation
Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network Jeffrey Sachs has highly appreciated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her leadership in securing “tremendous” gains on different development and human indicators set out under SDGs.
“You’ve been in the leadership position during this time of tremendous progress. So, we wanted to give you personal congratulations as well,” said Jeffrey Sachs, a world renowned economist.
Lessons from Bangladesh’s progress in UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are something that the whole world is interested to know, Jeffrey mentioned.
A video of his remarks made recently at a programme was shared on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Branding Bangladesh as the “top performing” nation in attainment of SDGs, Sachs urged Hasina to share her perspectives for world leaders to help the world achieve the path of “progress” and “development”.
READ: Bangladesh performing well in fulfilling SDGs, but many challenges ahead
The Prime Minister was awarded with the ‘SDG Progress Award’ by the UN-sponsored Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) for Bangladesh’s steady progress in achieving the SDGs.
“One of the things that makes us so excited and we want to hear from you is the fact that when we analyze as the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network does each year, the country’s progress towards sustainable goals Bangladesh came first in the world in most progress between 2015 and 2020,” Sachs told an international seminar at the UN, according to the video.
Highlighting Bangladesh’s progress, the former adviser to three United Nations Secretaries-General, said, “I want to point out for listeners as we welcome you (Hasina). If you look at the facts of Bangladesh’s progress and development, they really are wonderful and striking.”
“For that achievement as well as wishing Bangladesh a happy birthday as this is a celebratory year, even though we’re in the midst of a big crisis globally and everywhere, we still want to celebrate Bangladesh’s achievement,” Sachs added.
Sachs tossed a few statistics to back his contention. In 1981, he said, the literacy rate was 29% of the adult population, in 2019 75% and in 1998, the completion at the lower secondary school was 50%, now it is 88%.
Electrification was only 14% of households covered in 1991 while now electricity access is 92%, he mentioned.
Mentioning a “seven-fold reduction” under-five child mortality, Sachs said one that is a particularly clear indicator of the great strides of wellbeing, the mortality rate for the children under 5 at independence was 222 children dying before their fifth birthdays of every 1000 births.
READ: UN adopts resolution on rapid technological change's impact on SDGs
Crediting Hasina’s leadership, he said, “You (Hasina) have been the prime minister for three consecutive terms and the other during 1996 to 2001, in between leader of the opposition in three parliaments, so you have been in the leadership of your country during this time of tremendous progress.”
3 members of robber gang held with arms
Detectives have arrested three suspected members of an inter-district robber gang along with arms in connection with robbery on Mouchak Flyover in the capital and Sanarpar area in Narayanganj district.
The arrestees are Jalil Molla, Riyaj and Dipu.
Read: Robbery at Sylhet ATM booth: 3 held in Dhaka, Habiganj
Additional Commissioner (DB) AKM Hafeez Akhter at a press briefing at DMP Media Center said detectives conducted drives and arrested them from different areas in Dhaka city, Savar and Jashore districts on Wednesday.
Two foreign pistols used in the robbery, 50 rounds of bullets, two motorcycles and Tk 1 lakh cash were seized from their possession.
A case has been filed at Kotwali police station over the seizure of arms, said the official.
Read:4 arrested over Chapai bus robbery
Earlier on August 28, six robbers followed a businessman's car on a motorcycle when he left Nihon Money Exchange in Motijheel with Tk 60 lakh. Later, the robbers stopped the car on Mouchak flyover and snatched the money after firing two rounds of blank shots.
On August 29, a case was filed in this regard at Ramna Model Police Station.
On September 4, the same gang robbed Tk 25 lakh from another businessman at Sanarpar in Siddhirganj of Narayanganj after following him from the city’s Motijheel area. A pedestrian was shot by the robbers as he tried to resist the snatching.
Read: Criminal wanted in robbery & murder case killed in Chattogram ‘gunfight’
Police said Detectives of Ramna Zonal Team started investigating the two incidents of robbery.
It was found in investigation that this group of robbers used to target people in the money exchange area who carry a large amount of money.
The information of the targeted persons was given to their associates and when they reached a convenient place they snatched his valuables and money at gun point.
US to provide $158 mn more for Rohingyas, host community
The United States will contribute nearly $180 million in additional assistance for the humanitarian crisis facing Rohingya in and outside Myanmar, and for Rohingya refugees and affected host communities in Bangladesh.
"Of this funding, nearly $158 million is for programmes inside Bangladesh," said Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Representative to the United Nations.
This assistance will save lives, she said, adding that it will provide protection, shelter, food, safe drinking water, health care, and psychosocial support.
It will support disaster preparedness and COVID-19 relief for Rohingya. And it will bolster access to education and skills training for Rohingya in Bangladesh – key for those who wish to pursue repatriation once conditions are suitable, said Ambassador Linda.
Bangladesh and its people have taken on an enormous responsibility in hosting refugees, she said.
"We stand with the Government of Bangladesh and with Rohingya in working toward the ultimate goal of the safe, voluntary, dignified, and sustainable return and reintegration of Rohingya refugees and internally displaced person," said Linda.
While they relentlessly pressure Myanmar’s military regime to stop its violence and return to the path to democracy, the international community must examine other durable solutions for Rohingya, she said.
"In the meantime, we all must give more. If you’ve already donated, we urge you to increase your commitment. And if you have not made a contribution, now is the time to join us," said Ambassador Linda.
For decades, Rohingya in Myanmar have faced a campaign of cruelty.
Torture, rape, arson, killings, massacres and ince the coup, the heartbreaking humanitarian situation has grown even more dire, said Linda.
"Nearly 900,000 Rohingya have been forced to take refuge in Bangladesh. We cannot ignore their plight," she said.
22-day ban on hilsa fishing from Oct 4
The Bangladesh government has imposed a 22-day ban on hilsa fishing, with effect from October 4.
Besides catching, the ban will be enforced on selling and transporting Hilsa to ensure the safe spawning of the popular fish during its peak breeding period. The ban will remain in place till October 25.
Read: Durga Puja: 23 tonnes of Hilsa sent to India through Benapole
The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Task Force held on Wednesday, with Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim in the chair, the government said in a release.
During the meeting, the Minister said that the government would take strict action against those "involved in harming the national interest of the country". He also urged people to make the ban a success.
The objective of the restrictions on fishing from October 4 to October 25 is to save the mother hilsa which lays eggs during the period.
Read: Govt to consult experts to boost Hilsa production: Dipu Moni
At the meeting, the Minister also urged all, including fishermen and their associations, to help make the countrywide programme a success.