Bangladesh
Pilot suffers heart attack; Biman flight makes emergency landing in India
A Dhaka-bound Biman Bangladesh passenger flight made an emergency landing at an airport in India Friday after its pilot suffered a heart attack mid-air, officials said.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-8, was carrying 126 passengers from Muscat.
An aviation official told the media the plane was near the central state of Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur when its co-pilot contacted the air traffic controller in the eastern city of Kolkata for an emergency landing.
READ: Biman flight makes emergency landing at Dhaka airport
"The Kolkata ATC, in turn, asked the co-pilot to land at the nearest airport. Around 11.40 am, the passenger plane safely landed at Nagpur airport in the western state of Maharashtra," the official told the media.
The pilot was soon rushed to a nearby hospital, the official added.
READ: Biman aircraft makes emergency landing in Chattogram
Youth found dead at Barishal rehab centre
A 25-year-old youth was found dead under mysterious circumstances at a rehabilitation centre along Nobogram Road in Barishal in the early hours of Friday.
The deceased was identified as Chandan Sakar, 25, son of Chittaranjan Sarkar of the Barapaika area in Agailjhara upazila.
Read: 4 girls attempt suicide at Social Services Dept-run rehab centre
Chandan, a drug addict, was admitted to Holy Care Drug Rehabilitation Center on August 7, according to his family members, who suspect foul play.
Sarwar, a volunteer at Holy Care, said, "I was told around 3.15am that someone had ended his life in the washroom. I rushed there only to find Chandan hanging from the grille of the window with a towel."
On information, police took the body in their custody and sent it to the morgue of Sher-e-Bangla Medical College and Hospital for an autopsy.
Read:Youth found dead in Thakurgaon
Though, the rehab staff claimed that Chandan had committed suicide, the family suspect he was murdered.
One of his relatives said, "If Chandan had committed suicide, then why did the rehab staff bring the body down before the cops reached the spot."
Meanwhile, other patients at the rehab centre claimed that Sarwar, in charge of the volunteers, often beat them up. Chandan Sarkar was also thrashed around 10.30 on Thursday, they alleged.
Read:Father of Awami League leader found dead in a Barishal house, police suspect murder
Mainul Haque Tamal, manager of Holy Care, said that the body was taken away by police for post-mortem. "We will wait for the police probe."
Shahjalal Mallick, sub-inspector at Kotwali Model Police Station, said the body had bruises. "We will investigate the death," he said.
Diplomat article praises Hasina for ‘zero-tolerance-policy on terrorism’
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in power since 2009, has ruled Bangladesh with a “zero tolerance to terror” policy, says an article published by The Diplomat highlighting the situation in Afghanistan.
The article written by Subir Bhaumik, a former BBC and Reuters correspondent, particularly mentioned the efforts taken following the 2016 terror strike on an upscale Dhaka restaurant that left 23, including 18 foreigners, dead.
Read:Washington recommits to strong counterterrorism partnership with Dhaka
Her government has controlled the radical Islamist ecosystem with some tough policing, often triggering Western criticism over human rights violations.
Despite these efforts, over the last two years, the radical Hifazat-e-Islam, which controls a huge network of Qaumi madrassas (seminaries), unleashed a series of violent street protests, the article reads.
Like the Taliban, the Hifazat-e-Islam leaders oppose women’s empowerment and demand the enactment of blasphemy laws and a Shariah-driven polity, wrote the author of five books on South Asian conflicts.
They are in stark opposition to Hasina, who has restored much of her father’s secular dispensation and touted economic growth, gender empowerment, and protection of minorities, he mentioned.
The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan has thus sparked fears of history repeating itself in Bangladesh, the article reads.
Dhaka has carefully reacted to the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, but its worries as the world’s third largest Muslim-majority nation are evident.
“Bangladesh is carefully observing the fast-evolving situation in Afghanistan, which we believe, may have an impact on the region and beyond,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
India’s leading Bangladesh watcher, Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury, said: “Both Bangladesh and India will have cause for worry about the situation in Afghanistan. The Taliban takeover is a huge morale booster for all Islamist radical forces, so both India and Bangladesh have to fight the threat of radicalism together,” he said.
Read:Hard-and-soft approach needed to counter terrorism: CTTC chief
Former Indian Foreign Secretary Krishnan Srinivasan said the “expected apprehensions” in India and Bangladesh were understandable, but he pointed to the success of both Delhi and Dhaka in fighting terror and developing economically.
“The Taliban takeover is unlikely to make a material difference,” he said in an interview, insisting that India and other governments have to deal with the Taliban. “Keeping them at arm’s length for fear of terror will only be counterproductive.”
Indeed, there are reports that India has begun engaging with the Taliban for the first time.
But Bangladesh’s government seems more cautious, worried that any outreach to the Taliban might boost the radicals back home, Subir Bhaumik wrote in his article titled "Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan Stokes Bangladesh’s Terrorist Fears."
On August 15, 1975, a cable of army men assassinated Bangladesh’s founding father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with much of his family, he mentioned.
The military rulers who took over and ruled Bangladesh for the next 15 years legitimized the pro-Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami, introduced constitutional amendments that undermined the country’s secular democratic polity, and finally declared Islam as the state religion of Bangladesh, wrote the journalist.
On August 21, 2004, Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina, then opposition leader and now prime minister, barely survived a grenade attack on her rally.
The attack left 24 Awami Leaguers dead and more than 500 injured. One of Hasina’s bodyguards, Mahbubur Rashid, was killed.
Read: Netherlands-based Diplomat Magazine runs cover story featuring Hasina
The 1975 coup was led by disgruntled junior army officers, but the 2004 grenade attack was carried out by Islamist Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami (HUJI) militants, he mentioned.
A Dhaka court verdict on the attack held senior functionaries of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP)-Jamaat-e-Islami coalition, including Tarique Rahman, responsible for using the HUJI jihadis to wipe out the top Awami League leadership, Subir Bhaumik wrote.
ADB okays $1.78 billion for Dhaka-Sylhet trade corridor
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday approved a $1.78 billion multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) to improve mobility, road safety, and regional trade along the Dhaka-Sylhet trade corridor in Bangladesh.
The SASEC Dhaka-Sylhet Corridor Road Investment Project will be delivered in four tranches, according to the global lender.
The $400 million first tranche of the MFF will help finance the initial works of the major contracts for the widening of about 210 km of National Highway 2 along the Dhaka–Sylhet corridor from two to four lanes. It will include 60 km of footpath, 26 foot bridges, and 13 overpasses.
Its design will have features responsive to the needs of the elderly, women, children, and the differently abled, as well as disaster and climate risks.
READ: ADB lowers its economic growth forecast for developing Asia
The government will fund $911 million of the total project cost of $2.69 billion. Apart from the MFF, ADB will also provide a $1 million technical assistance grant from its Technical Assistance Special Fund and an additional $2 million grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, financed by the Government of Japan, to support capacity building of the Roads and Highways Department on road safety and maintenance, climate change, and gender equality and social inclusion.
The Dhaka-Sylhet corridor, once complete, will support a new trade route connecting Chattogram port with India’s northeastern states through the three land ports of Akhaura, Sheola, and Tamabil, and from there to Bhutan and Myanmar.
The corridor is also the centerpiece of the Bangladesh government’s planned Northeast Bangladesh Economic Corridor, which aims to promote key industries in the area, such as energy generation and production of construction materials, and to better integrate them with the rest of the economy in the country.
Grameenphone, UNDP join hands to make Bangladesh's youth future-ready
To equip the country's youth with skills for the jobs of the future, Grameenphone and UNDP are all set to launch a unique virtual learning series.
Titled 'Get Future Ready: Need for Skills', the virtual learning MasterClass series is part of their commitment made on World Youth Skills Day. The sessions will be held from August 28 to September 25.
Read: Grameenphone, Brac team up to support Covid-hit families
A pool of prominent industry leaders and experts will guide the participants with the aim to enable economic opportunities for all, especially in the post-pandemic era.
Sudipto Mukerjee (Resident Representative, UNDP Bangladesh), Rubana Huq (Past President, BGMEA), Ridwan Kabir (Vice President, AT&T), Zaved Akhtar (CEO, Unilever), and Yasir Azman (CEO, Grameenphone) will interact with participants on Zoom.
The speakers will discuss various aspects of inclusion, entrepreneurship, global professional scenario, innovation, leadership, and other business and career highlights.
Selective university students currently doing the Communication Skills, Digital Marketing & Entrepreneurship course under GP Explorers – a skills-led digital academy by Grameenphone – will join the sessions.
Read: Grameenphone receives Asian Leadership Awards 2021
“We have the crucial advantage of a demographic dividend, which we need to utilise to the fullest,” said a Grameenphone representative.
"Through sessions like masterclass, our youth will get the opportunity to connect and learn directly from a handful of distinguished professionals. They can ask questions to satiate all their queries, from which other young audiences watching the live sessions can also benefit. Hopefully, this is going to be an immensely fruitful initiative for all of us,” he said.
UNDP’s Resident Representative Sudipto Mukerjee said, “This series of MasterClass, will orient young people to the kinds of soft skills and values which are increasingly considered essential in any workplace and in turn equipping them to become good professionals.
"UNDP is working with all development actors including the private sector to co-create platforms to help youth to not only access more dignified economic opportunities but through that becoming better able to contribute a modern and prosperous Bangladesh for all”.
Read: UNDP launches 'MyResponse' campaign against cyberbullying
The first session of the series shall be conducted by Mukerjee on August 28 from 7.30pm.
All sessions of the MasterClass series will be broadcast live on Grameenphone, UNDP, and Prothom Alo’s Facebook platforms.
Protect & evacuate all media personnel from Afghanistan, journo bodies urge G7
More than 50 civil society and journalists’ organisations, including ARTICLE 19, have urged the G7 countries to ensure the protection and subsequent evacuation of all media personnel from war-ravaged Afghanistan.
The group of leading industrial nations -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the USA and the European Union (EU) -- is preparing to hold an online summit on the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.
Read: Evacuation flights resume in Kabul after deadly bombings
Ahead of this summit, the rights bodies operating at the international level, in a joint letter, have asked the G7 countries to make a clear and explicit commitment to taking journalists as an urgent priority, ensure their protection and evacuate them and their families from Afghanistan.
Faruq Faisel, the Regional Director for ARTICLE 19 South Asia, in a separate statement said, “ARTICLE 19 expresses solidarity with Afghan citizens, millions of whom are now living in abject fear."
ARTICLE 19 is committed to working with partners to support journalists and media workers, human rights defenders and women’s rights activists, academics, writers, artists and educators, all of whom are at serious and immediate risk of targeted violence at the hands of the Taliban.
“G7 members must increase their current support for those journalists and media workers at risk... and pay particular attention to the situation of women with immediate priority.
Read: What's happening with Afghanistan evacuations?
"G7 governments must ease visa restrictions for these people and their families seeking asylum as well as simplify and secure the process for visa application, and collaborate with third countries when possible," Faisel said.
ARTICLE 19 also urged the international community to ensure the continuation of the negotiations for a government based on the participation of all parties in Afghanistan and hold the Taliban accountable to its responsibilities to respect international human rights law.
Remembering Nazrul, a poet par excellence!
Friday marked the 45th death anniversary of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, widely revered for his limitless contribution to Bengali literature.
To commemorate the life and works of the rebel poet, different organisations and institutions organised multiple programmes throughout the day.
In the morning, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs paid its tribute to the poet by placing floral wreaths on his grave beside the Dhaka University Central Mosque.
State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid Cultural Affairs Secretary Md Abul Monsur, Bangla Academy Director General Nurul Huda, Bangla Academy Secretary AHM Lokman, Kabi Nazrul Institute Executive Director Mohammad Zakir Hossain all paid tributes to the rebel poet.
Also read: Chhayanaut's 4-day virtual tribute to Nazrul concludes
Around 10am, a webinar was organised by Kabi Nazrul Institute, followed by a cultural programme. The online programmes -- streamed live on the institute’s Facebook page -- was joined by Khalid as the chief guest while Secretary Mansur and Kazi Nazrul's granddaughter Khilkhil Kazi were virtually present as special guests.
Kabi Nazrul Institute’s trustee board member Sayeda Motahara Banu and Cultural Affairs Additional Secretary Manirul Alam also participated in the discussions at the virtual programme, presided over by the institute’s Executive Director Mohammad Zakir Hossain.
Dhaka University also organised a virtual event at 10.30 in the morning. Presided over by Vice-Chancellor Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman, the programme was joined by National Professor Dr Rafiqul Islam.
Bangla Academy is also slated to hold a virtual event on its Facebook page at 4pm, which will be joined by Khalid as the chief guest. The event will be chaired by Bangla Academy Chairman, National Professor Dr Rafiqul Islam, while Director General Nurul Huda will deliver the welcome speech.
Professor Syed Azizul Huq will read an essay at the event, while Professor Khaled Hossain will participate in the discussion.
Also read: Jaago Nari: Arnob's tryst with Nazrul geeti
The country’s leading cultural institution, Chhayanaut will also stream an online programme, ‘Milone Birohe Nazrul’, on its Facebook group and YouTube channel at 9pm.
Besides, several television channels, radio stations and online platforms will broadcast special programmes commemorating the life and works of Kazi Nazrul.
Known and regarded as the ‘rebel poet’ for his iconoclastic and majestic literary creations, Kazi Nazrul was born in Churulia village of Burdwan in the Indian state of West Bengal in 1899.
According to the Nazrul Institute, Kazi Nazrul wrote 2,600 songs, 600 poetry, three novels, and 43 articles in a career spanning 21 years before losing his speech.
After the death of his father, Kazi Nazrul obtained a job as a caregiver and also worked as a muezzin at a mosque to support his family. At the age of nine, he had to drop out of school to join a Churulia-based professional ‘leto' company.
He was introduced to Bangali and Sanskrit literature while working for the group. He returned to school a year later and enrolled at Matharun English School, but dropped out again in Class VI due to poverty.
After a while, police officer Kazi Rafizullah took him in at his home in Trishal, Mymensingh, and enrolled him in Class VII at Darirampur School.
Serving the British Army in 1917 as a soldier, Kazi Nazrul started his literary career within a few years. His cult-classic poem ‘Bidrohi’ (The Rebel) was published in 1921. A year later, he started a fortnightly magazine named ‘Dhumketu’ (The Comet).
His nationalist participation in the Indian Independence Movement landed him in the hands of colonial British authorities on several occasions.
While in prison, Kazi Nazrul authored the 'Rajbandir Jabanbandi' (Deposition of a Political Prisoner), and his creations later encouraged Bangladesh Liberation War.
Freedom, humanity, love and revolution are the constant themes in Kazi Nazrul's majestic literary creations. He was against all sorts of religious, caste-based, and gender-based discrimination and extremism.
He wrote short stories, novels and essays, but his songs and poems are his most critically acclaimed literary creations. He popularised Bengali ghazal melodies, and is noted for his liberal usage of Arabic and Persian terms in his writings.
Kazi Nazrul created a new genre in music called ‘Nazrul Geeti’, a collection of 4,000 songs that he wrote and created the music for, many of which were recorded on HMV.
In 1942, Kazi Nazrul began to lose his voice and memory due to an unexplained ailment. Later, a medical team in Vienna identified his illness as Pick's disease, a rare and incurable neurodegenerative disease.
His family travelled to Bangladesh at the invitation of then Bangladeshi government and settled down in Dhaka in 1972. For his iconic contribution to Bangla literature and culture, Dhaka University awarded him an honorary post-doctoral degree in 1974. He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 1976.
Kazi Nazrul breathed his last in Dhaka on August 29, 1976.
Global Covid cases top 214 million
The pandemic continues to devastate many countries across the world. In fact, the global Covid-19 caseload has now topped 214 million.
According to US-based Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 214,514,191 and the death toll to 4,472,870 on Friday morning.
So far, 5,079,847,363 vaccine doses have been administered across the globe.
Also read: What is Covid-19 vaccine passport?
The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has so far logged 38,374,252 cases. Besides, 633,479 people have lost their lives in the US to date, as per the JHU data.
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 577,565 deaths and 20,676,561cases, respectively, Thursday.
Neighbouring India's total Covid cases reached 32,558,530 on Thursday. The country’s total death toll reached 436,365.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh, currently seeing a downtrend in Covid-19 cases, detected some 4,698 fresh infections in 34,111 samples tested in 24 hours till Thursday morning.
Also read: India may be entering endemic stage of Covid: WHO
The case positivity rate has now dropped to 13.77% The country last reported 13.39% daily case positivity rate on June 11.
Besides, 102 more deaths were reported during the 24-hour period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh numbers took the country’s death tally to 25,729 and the caseload to 1,482,628. The recovery rate rose to 94.38%, but the case fatality also rose to 1.74%.
US-Bangla to run Jashore-Chattogram-Cox's Bazar, Saidpur-Chattogram flights
US-Bangla Airlines will operate flights from Jashore to Chattogram and Cox's Bazar, and from Saidpur to Chattogram.
The private carrier will start operating flights from Jashore and Saidpur to Chattogram on September 30 and from Jashore to Cox's Bazar on October 1.
The airline will initially operate flights from Jashore to Chattogram three days a week, flying from Jashore to Chattogram Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday at 9:15am. It will leave Chattogram's Hazrat Shah Amanat International Airport for Jashore at 5:10pm on the same day.
Read US-Bangla Airlines to operate regular flights to Muscat from Sept 1
Also, the private carrier will run flights to Chattogram three days a week from Saidpur, the only airport in the north. It will fly from Saidpur to Chattogram Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday at 10:45am. The airline will leave Chattogram for Saidpur at 12:35pm on the same day.
In addition, US-Bangla will operate four-days-a-week flights from Jashore to Cox's Bazar. Initially, it will leave Jashore for Cox's Bazar Saturday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1.45pm; and it will leave Cox's Bazar for Jashore at 3.25pm.
Read: US-Bangla Airlines enters 8th year
The minimum fare from Jashore to Chattogram, including all taxes and surcharges, is Tk6,000, and the return fare is Tk12,000.
In addition, the minimum fare from Jashore to Cox's Bazar is Tk6,500, and the return fare is Tk13,000. The minimum fare from Saidpur to Chattogram is Tk6,200, and the return fare is Tk12,400.
Also, US-Bangla plans to operate flights from Saidpur to Cox's Bazar, Sylhet to Chattogram and Cox's Bazar soon.
Read NOVOAIR to operate six flights daily to Cox’s Bazar
US-Bangla owns 14 aircraft, including four Boeing 737-800s, six brand new ATR 72-600s and three Dash 8-Q400s, according to a press release.
Bangabandhu's less explored leadership qualities: Discussion to be broadcast Friday, Saturday
A unique discussion titled "Love, Peace and Freedom: The Philosophy of Bangabandhu" will be held Friday, highlighting Bangabandhu's odyssey towards the independence of Bangladesh.
The programme will bring a rare opportunity, especially for the young generation, to travel the pathway of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's journey towards the War of Liberation and nation-building, according to the Awami League.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for the ICT Division; Dr Fakhrul Alam, professor of Dhaka University and translator of Bangabandhu's autobiography "The Unfinished Memoirs;" Sayed Badrul Ahsan, senior journalist; and NM Zeaul, Alam, senior secretary at the ICT Division, will grace the occasion as guests. Barrister Shah Ali Farhad, special assistant to the prime minister, will preside over the programme.
Bangladesh High-Tech Park Authority and the ICT Division will jointly organise the talk show.
The programme will be broadcast Friday at 5:10pm, and Saturday at 1:10am from the Facebook pages of the Awami League and Ekattor TV.
"This discussion is for you if you are interested to discover how Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's personality traits juxtaposed steadfastness and kindness," according to the Awami League.