Bangladesh
Dr Qadri wins Magsaysay Award for developing life-saving vaccines
Bangladeshi scientist Dr Firdausi Qadri has been named for the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for being instrumental "in developing vaccines that have saved millions of lives".
The 70-year-old will be formally conferred the award -- the Asian equivalent of the Nobel -- at a ceremony on 28 November 2021, at the Ramon Magsaysay Center in Manila.
Read:BINA and scientist Dr Shamsun Nahar receive prestigious IAEA awards
Dr Qadri was born to a middle-class family in Bangladesh that encouraged women to pursue an education and a career.
She decided to specialise in medical research, earning a degree in biochemistry. Dr Qadri went on to earn a doctorate from Liverpool University in the United Kingdom.
Set on working in her homeland, she taught at a local university and in 1988, joined the International Centre For Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), a global health research institute based in Dhaka.
Pori Moni gets bail after a long wait
A Dhaka court on Tuesday finally granted bail to film actress Pori Moni in a case filed under the Narcotics Control Act, 26 days after her arrest.
Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Emrul Kayesh passed the bail order.
“Now there's no bar to release her from jail,” said her lawyer Mujibur Rahman.
Read: Court brings forward Pori Moni’s bail hearing to August 31
Pori Moni was granted bail on a bond of Tk 20,000 until police submit the chargesheet in the drug case.
On August 22, Pori Moni was sent to jail after inspector of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Kazi Golam Mostafa produced her in the court on completion of a one-day remand. No bail petition was submitted on her behalf on this day.
On August 22, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Emrul Kayesh set September 13 for hearing the bail petition of Pori Moni in the case.
Later, she appealed to the High Court challenging its validity. The interim bail of the actress was also sought in the petition.
The High Court on August 26 issued a rule seeking explanation as to why a lower court order fixing September 13 for hearing the bail petition of Pori Moni in a case under the Narcotics Control Act should not be cancelled.
The court also asked why the bail application would not be heard within two days.
Read: HC seeks explanation over delay in Pori Moni’s bail plea hearing
Pori Moni had been remanded thrice for interrogation by police since Rab arrested her on August 4 from her Banani residence.
Later, a case was filed against the popular Dhallywood actress for illegal possession of alcohol and drugs in her house.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was tasked with investigating the charges brought against her.
They took over the case from the Detective Branch (DB) of police and were carrying out the investigation.
Film actress Pori Moni and her associate Nazrul Islam Raj were ringleaders of an organised gang , said Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of Legal and Media Wing of Rab, in a media briefing on August 6.
Bangladesh Film Actors’ Association (Bangladesh Cholochitro Shilpi Samity) suspended the membership of Pori Moni two days after her arrest at a press briefing held at the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC).
Read:Investigation on Pori Moni and others in final stage, says CID chief
Expressing his frustration over the decision, Shakib Khan wrote from his official Facebook page: “I have noticed that after the arrest of Pori Moni only on the basis of allegations, the Film Actors' Association has hastily held a press conference and suspended her membership, without extending any hand of cooperation to her at this crucial moment.”
“This behaviour of the association is really very mysterious. Many conscientious senior-junior artistes and cultural activists have regrets about the issue. This is an inhumane treatment of the organization against her. The question remains, in whose interest is the current Film Artists Association?” Shakib Khan wrote on the post.
Xulhaz-Tonoy murder: Six sentenced to death by Dhaka court
A special court in Dhaka on Tuesday sentenced six people to death for killing journalist Xulhaz Mannan and his theatre-activist friend Mahbub Tonoy in 2016.
Judge Mojibur Rahman of the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal, also imposed a fine of Tk 50,000 on the convicts. However, the court acquitted two other accused in the case.
Read: Xulhaz-Tanoy murder: Charges pressed against 8
The convicts sentenced to death are Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haque alias Major Zia, Mozammel Hossain alias Simon, Arafat Rahman, Sheikh Abdullah, Md Asadullah, and Akram Hossain alias Abir. They are suspected to be members of the banned militant outfit Ansar-Al-Islam.
Zia and Akram are currently on the run.
LPG prices to go up again from Sept 1
Consumers will have to pay a higher price to buy liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as the cost of the imported gas continues to rise across the country as the energy regulator on Tuesday announced its new price in line with the international market.
As per the new price, consumers will have to pay Tk 1,033 for a 12 kg LPG from September 1 instead of Tk 993, up by Tk 40.
Last month, the price was raised by Tk 102 for the same quantity of LPG and the prices of other quantities raised at the same ratio.
The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) announced the new price of LPG adjusting it with Saudi Contract Price (CP) as the local LPG operators import the bulk petroleum gas from the Middle East.
“As the price of Saudi CP has gone up internationally, so we have to follow it in fixing the new price,” said BERC chairman Abdul Jalil, adding, "If the price comes down, we will act accordingly."
However, the price of LPG of the state-owned LP Gas Company Ltd will remain the same at Tk 591 for 12.5 kg LPG as it sells products from condensates produced in local gas fields and has no relation with Saudi CP.
Some 20 private companies dominate the local LPG market with more than 95 per cent market share through an annual import of 1.2 million metric tons while the LP Gas Company supplies only 25,000 mts.
Based on the Saudi CP, the BERC also refixed the price of auto gas price at a higher rate of Tk 50.56 instead of Tk 48.71 per litre.
BERC Md Abdul Jalil announced the new LPG price through a virtual briefing while other members of the commission were present online.
Usually, Armaco, the largest company of Saudi Arabia, announces its CP for bulk LPG at the concluding state of every month for the next month’s transactions.
Most Bangladeshi private companies import their bulk LPG from the Middle East on the basis of Saudi CP and market it locally.
The BERC for the first time fixed the retail-level LPG price on April 12 after holding a public hearing to comply with a High Court order.
Teen drowns saving friend in Sylhet
A teenager drowned in a Sylhet pond on Monday evening trying to rescue one of his friends in distress.
The deceased was identified as Habibur Rahman Mahi (16).
According to eye-witnesses, a group of teens decided to take a bath in the village pond in Mukitla of Sylhet's Lakshanaband union following their evening games.
Read:Mentally disturbed woman drowns baby in Kushtia, held
Suddenly, one of the teens started struggling in the waters of the pond. Seeing his friend in distress, Habibur dived deep under water to rescue him.
Though he managed to save his friend, Habibur himself drowned.
On information, a team from Gopalganj Fire Service immediately rushed to the spot and started a rescue operation, only to recover the body of Habibur hours later, Golapganj Model Police Station officer-in-charge Mohammad Harunur Rashid Chowdhury told UNB.
Drowning in Bangladesh
Drowning is the leading cause of death for children under five in Bangladesh.
According to Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey (BHIS), nearly 17,000 children drown annually, an average of around 46 each day, in the country. That has led to it being described as a 'Silent Killer'.
Read: 3 Rohingya children drown at Bhashanchar
A cross-governmental taskforce was established on drowning prevention – led by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with representation from 12 departments. The task force is working to prepare a ‘National Drowning Reduction Strategy’.
According to the WHO’s latest estimates, drowning is the cause of 235,000 deaths every year. Many countries, including Bangladesh, report drowning as a leading cause of childhood mortality, particularly in children under the age of five.
Stay alert as anti-liberation forces conspiring against Bangladesh: Hasina
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday urged all to remain alert as anti-liberation forces along with their companions are still conspiring against Bangladesh taking assistance from abroad.
"War criminals, defeated forces, August-15 killers and their children are still conspiring against Bangladesh. They’re plotting against the country," she said.
Read: Bangladesh to be turned into a global aviation hub: Hasina
The Prime Minister said this while addressing a programme of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) at Krishibid Institution, Bangladesh (KIB) marking the National Mourning Day.
She joined the programme virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.
Hasina said the evil forces are pampered by some international forces which had acted against Bangladesh’s Liberation War. "The nation must remain alert about it."
Referring to the nation-building hectic efforts of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, she said the defeated forces staged the August-15 massacre when they saw Bangladesh cannot be stopped from its economic march forward. "We’ve to move forward keeping that in our mind."
Hasina said the defeated forces took their revenge with the August-15 carnage and distorted the history of Bangladesh after that, its struggle to liberation and independence.
The Prime Minister alerted all that Bangladesh has many enemies and massive hurdles in every step of its development journey.
"Our path of progress is not smooth. It’s rather full of hurdles, but we’ve to move forward overcoming all the odds and obstacles, and we’re doing that," she said, adding Bangladesh has stood out on the world stage in the last 12 years.
Talking about Ziaur Rahman and his engagement in the Liberation War in 1971, Hasina said there is no instance that Ziaur Rahman fired a single shot at the Pakistani forces.
"No one can prove that."
Read: Promote small investors: PM to BEZA
She mentioned that Mustaq, Rashid and Farooq during their interviews with the BBC admitted that Ziaur Rahman was always with them. "Zia was the source of all power (for them), he betrayed," she said.
The PM said she sometimes thinks that these people, who had always visited Bangabandhu’s house for various purposes, including personal matters, killed the Father of the Nation. “How could they do that!”
The Prime Minister highlighted the sacrifice of her mother Bangamata Fazilatunnesa Mujib saying that her mother was beside Bangabandhu throughout her life.
"My father could fully engage in the service of the country as he got such a companion beside him…this is a rare instance," she said.
Sheikh Hasina, the chief patron of BCL, asked the BCL activists and leaders to work for the country being imbued with patriotism and follow the ideals of the Father of the Nation.
Awami League presidium members Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman, BCL president Al Nahean Khan Joy and general secretary Lekhak Bhattacharjee also spoke at the programme.
At the beginning of the programme, a one-minute silence was observed to show respect to the martyrs of the August 15 massacre.
The Prime Minister, earlier, unveiled the covers of books titled ‘Matribhumi’ and ‘Joy Bangla Magazine’.
Ferry hits Padma Bridge again
Ferries continue to crash into the under-construction Padma Bridge.
In the latest accident, a ferry, Birshreshtha Jahangir, hit the span between the second and third pillars of the bridge in Louhaganj on Tuesday morning. Fortunately, there were no passengers on the vessel.
Read: 20 hurt as ferry hits Padma bridge pillar
In fact, this is the same ferry that hit pier 10 of Padma Bridge on August 9, injuring five passengers and causing damage to three vehicles it was carrying. The ferry was heading to Paturia on Tuesday after repairs at Simulia Ghat when the accident occurred.
The ferry’s mast was broken following the latest collision, our correspondent reports.
Span is the distance between two intermediate supports for a structure. A mast, on the other hand, is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre line of a vessel.
Syed Tajul Islam, chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), told UNB that the mast on the top of the ferry collided with the span between pillars 2 and 3 of Padma Bridge and broke.
However, it is unclear whether Padma Bridge has suffered any damages.
Read: Munshiganj: Another ferry hits Padma bridge pier -
"The accident occurred because of the negligence of the master of the ferry. The mast was supposed to be lowered before crossing the bridge. Without doing so, the mast broke after hitting the span of the bridge," the chairman said.
“It's a small matter. But we will still investigate it thoroughly,” he added.
On July 20 and 23 also, the 16th and 17th pillars of Padma Bridge were hit by ferries.
There have been five more cases of ferries hitting the pillars of the bridge this year. General diaries have been filed, inquiry panels have been formed and ferry drivers suspended over these accidents.
It may be mentioned here that authorities have suspended ferry services on the Shimulia-Banglabazar route since August 18 to avoid such accidents.
Int'l support architecture for Asia-Pacific LDCs need of the hour: Momen
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has called for stronger policies and support measures for the least developed countries (LDCs).
Addressing the opening session of the four-day Asia-Pacific Regional Review Meeting in Geneva on Monday, the Minister, in fact, urged the global community to chalk out a new international support architecture for the LDCs as well as the graduating LDCs.
Read: FM to attend series of programs in Switzerland, Netherlands
The Asia-Pacific meeting, jointly convened by the Bangladesh government, UN-OHRLLS and UN-ESCAP, was held in preparations for the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (UNLDC-5) slated for January in Qatar.
Speaking at the event, Dr Momen lauded the remarkable progress made by the majority of the LDCs in the Asia-Pacific, particularly in reducing poverty and investing in human resources and infrastructure.
He shared the graduation story of Bangladesh under the dynamic, bold and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which has witnessed the per capita income reaching $2,227 and reduction of poverty to 20.5 percent. Rabab Fatima, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN in New York, chaired the opening session, while several top leaders, including Volkan Bozkir, President of the UN General Assembly, Collen Vixen Kelapile, President of the ECOSOC, Eisenhower Mkaka, Foreign Minister of Malawi and Chair of the LDCs, and Faruk Kaymakci, Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkey, spoke at the event.
Global Covid cases top 217 million
The global Covid-19 caseload has now surged past 217 million, with the world still struggling to contain the second wave of the pandemic.
The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stand at 217,080,846 and 4,509,821 respectively, as of Tuesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 5,237,961,694 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe.
Read: Covid-19: India entering 'endemecity', 26.8% of world fully vaccinated
The US has logged 39,057,368 cases and 638,711 deaths to date, according to the JHU data.
Brazil currently has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India.
The country has recorded 20,752,281 cases with 579,574 fatalities so far, according to the health ministry.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 32,737,939 on Monday morning as 42,909 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry's data.
Besides, 380 deaths due to the pandemic were reported since Sunday morning, taking the total death toll to 438,210 -- the world's third-highest after the US and Brazil.
Read: Bangladesh reports 94 Covid-related deaths as case positivity rate drops to 12.07%
Meanwhile, Covid-19 in India may be entering a stage of ‘endemicity’ where there is low or moderate level of transmission going on, Chief Scientist at the World Health Organisation Dr Soumya Swaminathan said over the weekend.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that endemic “refers to the constant presence and/or usual prevalence of a disease or infectious agent in a population within a geographic area".
Situation in Bangladesh
Covid-19 claimed 94 more lives in Bangladesh and infected 3,724 more in 24 hours till Monday morning, with the daily case positivity rate falling to 12.07%.
The country last saw 12.33% daily case positivity rate on June 10.
Read: After two months, Barishal sees a day with no Covid deaths
The new numbers have taken the country’s death tally to 26,109 and the caseload to 1,497,261, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 30,855 samples.
Meanwhile, the recovery rate rose to 94.97 percent, while the case fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.74% during the period.
Seven more die of Covid at Kushtia hospital
Seven more people have died of Covid-19 at Kushtia General Hospital in the past 24 hours, officials said on Tuesday morning.
Covid fatalities in the district was just one the previous day, which gave hope to its residents that the worst was over.
Read: Mentally disturbed woman drowns baby in Kushtia, held
Besides, 45 people emerged positive for Covid in the district during this period, after 259 samples were tested. The positivity rate currently stands at 17.37%.
Statistics officer of Kushtia General Hospital Md Mejbaul Alam said that a total of 80 people with Covid symptoms are currently undergoing treatment at the leading medical facility.
The number is significantly low compared to that of July and the better part of August when almost all the 250 beds of the hospital used to be occupied with Covid patients.
Read: Eight more die of Covid in Kushtia
So far, 17,688 people have been infected with the virus in the district, while the death toll reached 724 on Tuesday.
On the other hand, 12,308 people have recovered from Covid to date.