Bangladesh
For Moner School, Bangladesh’s Faizah wins Global Goals Changemaker Award
Fairooz Faizah Beether, the co-founder of Moner School, has won the 2021 Goalkeepers Global Goals Changemaker Award. This was announced by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Tuesday.
The 2021 Changemaker Award, which celebrates an individual who has inspired change using personal experience or from a position of leadership, recognises Faizah of Bangladesh for her work promoting good health and well-being, the Foundation said in a release.
Beether has co-founded Moner School, an online platform that aims to raise awareness around mental health and ensure equal access to mental healthcare across the country.
As part of its annual goalkeepers campaign, the foundation also announced the winners of three additional Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards.
Read:UN awards 110 Bangladesh Navy members for peacekeeping
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General, has been announced as one of the three winners of the 2021 Global Goalkeeper Award.
“By shining a light on the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on women and girls, former Under-Secretary-General Mlambo-Ngcuka has ensured that global and local efforts to battle Covid-19 must take into account the acute disparities they face,” said Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“She exemplifies the leadership we need in the fight for gender equality around the world.”
The 2021 Global Goalkeeper Award recognises a leader who has driven progress on a global scale toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
"This year’s award is being presented to Mlambo-Ngcuka for her unwavering global leadership on gender equality and continued advocacy to address the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on women and girls," the Foundation said.
Mlambo-Ngcuka, a former deputy president of South Africa, has dedicated her life to advancing social justice and working with civil society organisations.
During her tenure as the executive director of UN Women, she led work to strengthen and expand partnerships with government, male allies, and the media, all in service of advancing SDG 5, which aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Biman to resume Dhaka-New York flights soon: Momen
Biman Bangladesh Airlines will resume its direct flights between Dhaka and New York soon, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said.
The flight services between the two cities have remained suspended since July 2006.
The Foreign Minister expressed his optimism while briefing reporters at Lotte New York Palace on Monday on the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's participation at different events on the sidelines of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.
Read: Biman to restart Delhi, Kolkata flights within air bubble Sep 5
“Our Prime Minister came to New York by an aircraft of Biman yesterday (Sunday)…. Now our Biman has come here. Our expectation is that the operations of Biman would begin on this route in the near future,” he said.
The Foreign Minister said that Bangladesh also signed an agreement with the Federation Aviation Authority (of the US)."This is why, we can be optimistic."
The Prime Minister arrived in New York on Sunday by a VVIP chartered aircraft of the national flag carrier Biman, raising the image of Bangladesh to a new height.
Dr Momen said the entire entourage of the Prime Minister was given honour at the airport and faced no immigration hassle. All the entourage members left by cars directly from the airport. "Our prestige has increased due to Sheikh Hasina,” he added.
Read:Biman to resume flights to Delhi and Kolkata from Aug 22
He said the flight operations on the Dhaka-New York route were suspended many years ago. "Now the fleet of Biman has got expanded significantly with the addition of many new and latest aircraft, after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came to power."
“The good news is that they allowed Biman (to land at John F Kennedy Airport, New York). So, I hope that the operations of Biman flights would start in the near future, though we don’t know the exact date,” he said.
“If flights resume on this route of Biman, Bangladeshis living in the US will be very glad,” said the Foreign Minister.
Salman invites Saudi cos to invest in Bangladesh
Prime Minister's private industry and investment affairs adviser Salman F Rahman has invited Saudi firms to invest in Bangladesh, promising to set up a special economic zone (SEZ) for investors from the Kingdom.
During a discussion on Saudi-Bangladesh trade and investment, organised by the Bangladesh Embassy at Marriott Hotel in Riyadh on Monday night, Salman spelt out the steps taken by the Sheikh Hasina government to attract foreign investment.
Read:Govt to provide financial support to ensure compliance in industries: Salman F Rahman
He also offered to set up the SEZ for Saudi investors, as promised by the PM. "All facilities have been ensured for foreign investors," he said.
"Bangladesh is moving forward under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The government is working to make Bangladesh a high-income country by 2041 with the aim of building Bangabandhu's ‘Shonar Bangla’," Salman added.
Highlighting the friendly relations between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh's Ambassador in Riyadh Md Jabed Patwari BPM said that the economic ties between the two countries would be further enhanced in the days to come.
Read:Mediation, arbitration for commercial disputes not being used widely: Salman F Rahman
Executive chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Sirajul Islam, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) Sheikh Yusuf Harun, and CEO of the Bangladesh Public-Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) Sultana Afroz also spoke about the economic development and investment facilities in Bangladesh.
The meeting was also attended by various renowned businessmen, chamber representatives, investors and local Bangladeshi businessmen from Saudi Arabia.
Chattogram: Car importer held for duping bizman of Tk 27 lakh
Police have arrested a car importer in Chattogram for allegedly duping a businessman of Tk 27 lakh on the pretext of selling him a Toyota Allion.
Arifur Rahman Siddiqui owns NH Enterprise that deals in reconditioned sedans. He was nabbed from the Agrabad area of the city on Monday on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by a local court, police said Tuesday.
Read:Three arrested in joint drive against counterfeit medicines
Abul Kashem Bhuiyan, officer-in-charge of Double Mooring police station, said Arifur, the son of Mahbubur Rahman of Potia Junglekhain Union, had been on the run for several days.
According to Nizam Uddin, the complainant, he signed an agreement with Arifur for buying a 2016-make Toyota Allion for Tk 27 lakh on June 11, 2019.
As part of the pact, Nizam then paid Arifur Tk 7 lakh in cash. For the remaining money, he had issued a cheque.
But having failed to deliver the imported car to Nizam even after a year, Arifur agreed to return the money and issued a cheque for Tk 20 lakh in Nizam's favour in August last year. He had also promised to return the remaining money in cash, police said.
Read:Evaly CEO, chairman arrested from Mohammadpur residence
Bit the cheque was dishonoured and Arifur subsequently went into hiding. Left with no option, Nizam then moved the local court and the accused was asked to appear before the judge hearing the petition.
Arifur didn't respond to the legal summons thrice, prompting the court to issue a warrant for his arrest. "The accused will be produced in the court later in the day," the OC added.
Global Covid cases top 229 million
The pandemic still continues to devastate many countries across the world. In fact, the global Covid-19 caseload has now topped 229 million.
The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stand at 229,031,974 and 4,699,187, respectively, as of Tuesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 5,935,372,422 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe.
The US has logged 42,286,531 cases and 676,059 deaths to date, according to the JHU data.
Read: COVID has killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 flu
Brazil, which has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States and the third-largest caseload after the US and India, recorded 21,247,667 cases with 590,955 fatalities as of Tuesday.
India's Covid-19 total tally rose to 33,448,163 on Sunday, as 30,773 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, as many as 309 deaths due to the pandemic since Saturday morning took the total death toll to 444,838.
The country, however, recorded a 15% drop in fresh Covid-19 cases in the week ending Sunday, the lowest weekly count in more than six months, with Kerala numbers declining by a steep 21%.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh registered 26 more Covid-related deaths in 24 hours till Monday morning, the lowest in around four months.
The country last recorded 22 single-day Covid deaths on May 27 this year.
Besides, 1,555 more people came out positive with the virus during the 24-hour period when 27,431 samples were tested, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the latest figure, the daily case positivity rate rose to 5.67 percent from Sunday’s 5.62 percent.
Read: Covid daily-death toll in Bangladesh falls to 26
The fresh numbers took the country’s total Covid-19 fatalities to 27,251 on Monday, while the caseload mounted to 1,544,238, said DGHS.
Meanwhile, it said, the fatality rate remained static at 1.76 percent.
Besides, the recovery rate continued to rise as it reached 97.34 percent on Monday with the recovery of 1,565 patients during the 24-hour period.
So far, 1,503,106 people have recovered from the deadly virus infection, according to DGHS.
Hasina seeks SDGs roadmap for countries falling behind
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has underscored the need for charting out a bold and ambitious global roadmap to put the world back on the SDGs track so that no one is left behind as pandemic has pushed many countries way behind from the goals.
“We’ve already entered the Decade of Delivery and Action of the Agenda. Yet the goals seem to be far away for many countries ….the pandemic has pushed them further behind. We need to chart out a bold and ambitious global roadmap to put us back on the SDGs track,” she said.
The Prime Minister said this while attending the 9th Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development virtually on Monday.
Read:Hasina seeks stronger steps to address ‘planetary emergency’
Earth Institute, Columbia University, Global Masters of Development Practice, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network organised the conference on sustainable development.
Hasina said, “No country can achieve SDGs alone. We need enhanced global collaboration and solidarity to advance this agenda.”
To pull back the countries which are way behind the track of attaining SDGs in right time, Hasina proposed five specific points in this regard.
The points are: Ensuring vaccines for everyone, everywhere, closing the huge resource gap in implementing the 2030 Agenda, focusing on job creation, social protection, women empowerment, and science, technology, and innovation to deal with the impacts of the pandemic, making Covid-19 recovery measures complementary with climate actions and focusing on enhanced monitoring and support mechanism for SDGs implementation.
Hasina said the UN should have enhanced coordination in this regard. “It’s also imperative to ensure there’re adequate and timely support measures to withstand emergencies and shocks to avoid any slide back.”
She said scaling up preparedness for pandemic and other emergencies should be done with a priority at every level as the pandemic has upset the whole world, claiming countless lives and taking its toll on livelihoods.
Read: Hasina places six proposals to make world more liveable
Hasina also mentioned Bangladesh’s achievements in MDGs were highly significant and it was recognised by the international community as a “development miracle”. “Our SDGs journey builds on the successes of MDGs.”
About the climate change, she said Bangladesh is the pioneer in climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts and it has recently submitted an ambitious and updated NDC.
According to the Sustainable Development Report 2021 published by the University of Cambridge, Bangladesh has improved the most on the SDG Index since 2015.
“Bangladesh is now among the five fastest growing economies in the world, and ranked 41st in terms of GDP. The UN recommended Bangladesh to graduate from the LDC category this year.”
She said the government has taken up a coordinated effort involving the government, the private sector, the civil society, and other stakeholders to ensure the “whole of society engagement”.
To reach the people who are the furthest behind, she said the government has put additional focus on localizing SDGs. “We’ve have launched SDGs tracker. This serves as a data storehouse to monitor real-time progress of our SDGs.”
Read:Hasina leaves for US on first foreign trip since Covid
She said the government has invested heavily in the infrastructure capacity and is launching mega infrastructure projects like the Padma Bridge, Dhaka Metro rail, Karnaphuli Tunnel and the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.
“Women have been mainstreamed in national development and economic activities. And they are now the backbone of certain vital sectors, such as the RMG,” she added.
Hasina said the investment in digitisation and connectivity has spurred the digital economy, youth-led innovations and transformative socio-economic changes. “This is now also helping us tackle the Covid-19 pandemic better.”
PM plants tree at UN gardens, dedicates those to Bangabandhu
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday planted a honey locust tree and unveiled a bench at UN gardens and dedicated these to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of his birth centenary.
She planted the deciduous tree at the North Lawn of the United Nations Headquarters in the morning (local tome).
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said the United Nations had recognized Bangladesh on September 17 after its independence. Immediately after getting the recognition, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman came to the UN and made his speech here on September 25 and which was delivered in Bengal.
READ: Durga Puja: PM donates Tk 3 crore
“So, today a bench was dedicated to his name and a tree was planted in a very nice place here in the same month of September. The tree can survive for more than 100 years, which will continue spreading the message of peace,” she said, adding the bench and tree stand together to epitomize the values of peace.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam and Bangladesh Permanent Representative to UN Ambassador Rabab Fatima were, among others, present.
Locust trees are a type of fast-growing flowering plant, belonging to the family of plants known as Fabaceae. Almost all Locust trees can survive for more than a hundred years and their wood is deemed harder than the strongest deciduous trees.
The Prime Minister arrived here on Sunday to attend the 76th session of the United Nation General Assembly.
READ: PM arrives in New York to attend UNGA
She will attend the opening session of the UNGA general debate on Tuesday (September 21) and will address the general debate on September 24.
Besides, Sheikh Hasina will join a number of sideline events in the UNHQ and will have talks with some leaders from September 20 to 24 during her stay in New York.
Sylhet: Workshop on fact-checking, verification techniques for health journalists held
Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) organised a two-day-long workshop in Sylhet city on fact-checking and verification techniques of health journalism.The Asia Foundation-supported workshop took place during September 20-21. It aimed to enhance the capacity of journalists, working to create and publish objective, insightful and influential news on health management.It also wanted to encourage the journalists to acquire modern knowledge and skills in data verification and presentation in creating neutral and balanced health reports.Twenty journalists from national dailies, online news portals, and television channels participated in the workshop.Abu Rushd Md Ruhul Amin, the senior news editor of Banglavision, Al Azad, CEO of Syltv, discussed the issues.Md Zakaria, senior program manager of The Aisa Foundation, was present in the training and highlighted the importance of fact-checking and verification, especially in health journalism during the Covid-19 Pandemic.The workshop focused on health journalism in the current context, reliable sources, sources in health journalism, information verification techniques; and media monitoring techniques for misinformation published through social media, and sensitivity of Covid reporting.Participants were also provided with insights into the importance and strategies of misinformation, disinformation, mal-information prevention, and the use of infographics in reporting, as well as various means of enhancing national and international communication in health journalism.
HC sought report on facilities for inmates in jail
The High Court on Monday sought a report on the kind of facilities provided to the convicted inmates incarcerated in condemned and other cells in jails across the country.
The court directed Attorney General AM Amin Uddin to submit the report obtaining information from the concerned jail authorities.
The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Mostafizur Rahman sought the information during a hearing on the writ petition filed challenging the legality of keeping death penalty convicts in condemn cells.
The court adjourned the hearing on the petition till October 31.
Lawyer of the petitioner Mohammad Shishir Monir said the number of death penalty orders at the lower courts has increased along with the number of crimes.
As the death reference cases do not get dismissed in time a defendant has to spend ages in a condemned cell, he said.
The attorney general said the condition in jails has changed a lot with time as inmates can buy food from the canteen, and can use other facilities like using cell phones.
A senior justice of the HC bench then suggested keeping a record of the increased facilities in different cells of the jails across the country throughout the last few years.
The attorney general then prayed for time till the next hearing to submit the report.
READ: HC orders investigation on assets and bank accounts of Rajarbagh Pir
On September 2, three convicts condemned to death incarcerated at Chattogram Jail filed a writ petition challenging the legality of keeping a death-row convict in condemn cell before the completion of trial and clemency appeal to the President being dismissed.
The writ petition said the death penalty is not effective until the High Court approves it. Yet after High Court’s approval, a convict can appeal to the appellate division for reviewing the order and the chance to appeal for clemency to the President.
READ: HC grants anticipatory bail to 11 lawyers in a DSA case
Until completion of this process, keeping convicts in condemned cell violates their basic right provided by paragraphs 27,31, and 32 in the constitution.
UN awards 110 Bangladesh Navy members for peacekeeping
Some 110 members of the Bangladesh Navy engaged in the UN peacekeeping mission in Beirut, Lebanon have been awarded the Peacekeeping Medal recently.
Maritime Task Force (MTF) Commander of the United Nation's Interim Force in Lebanon Rear Admiral Andreas Mugge presented the medal to the officers and sailors of the Bangladesh Navy warship 'Sangram' in recognition of their work in peacekeeping missions there.
Among others, Commander-in-Chief of the Lebanese Navy Captain Commodore Haissam Dannaoui, Bangladesh Ambassador to Lebanon Maj. Gen. Mohammad Jahangir Al Mustahidur Rahman and representative of Bangladesh Navy Headquarters Commodore Sayed Mohammad Moniruzzaman were present at the medal presentation ceremony in Beirut, Lebanon on 17 September, says an Inter Service Public Relation (ISPR) Press Release on Monday.
READ: Focus on maritime security, peacekeeping, terror as India enters UNSC presidency
At the Medal Parade programme, MTF Commander Rear Admiral Andreas Mugge thanked all members of the Navy deployed in the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for the successful conduct of the mission. He also thanked all the members of the Navy for their tireless and dedicated contribution to the cause of peace in the world.
He urges all to take special care while maintaining special health awareness due to the recent outbreak of the global epidemic Covid-19.
He expressed his gratitude to the Navy and the Government of Bangladesh for the continued success of the Bangladesh Navy in UNIFIL as per the UN mandate and expressed strong hope that this trend would continue in the future.
It may be mentioned that the Bangladesh Navy has been participating in the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon since 2010 with the dedicated efforts of the present Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. As a member of the Multinational Maritime Task Force in Mediterranean, the only Bangladesh Navy warship among subcontinent is engaged in establishing world peace.
The currently deployed ‘Sangram’ warship is working efficiently to prevent the infiltration of illegal weapons and ammunition into Lebanese territory. Besides, the ship is also conducting maritime interdiction operations in Lebanese waters, surveillance of suspicious ships and aircraft, rescue operations on wrecked ships and providing necessary training to Lebanese naval personnel.
READ: Women’s Groups Call for UN Peacekeeping Force in Afghanistan
For the last 11 years since its deployment in Lebanon, the members of the Navy have been fulfilling their responsibilities with utmost sincerity, dedication and efficiency. This proud participation of the Navy has enhanced Bangladesh's image and reputation in the international arena.