Bangladesh
Sylhet-3 by-election postponed until Aug 5
The High Court on Monday stayed the by-election to Sylhet-3 constituency till August 5 due to the worsening Covid situation in the country.
The virtual HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim passed the order following a writ petition filed over the election.
Read:Sylhet Regional Election Officer dies of Covid
The election was scheduled to be held on July28.
Earlier in the morning , Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir, on behalf of six Supreme Court lawyers and seven local voters, including Saleh Ahmed, filed the writ petition seeking stay of the polls.
Read: Sylhet scenario as strict lockdown resumes
Besides, a legal notice was issued to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on Sunday to suspend voting in the polls.
The Sylhet-3 constituency fell vacant after MP Mahmud Us Samad Chowdhury died of coronavirus on March 11.
Khulna division sees 46 Covid deaths amid deepening crisis
Khulna division has logged 46 new deaths linked to Covid-19 and 249 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, health officials said on Monday.
According to the health director's office, 13 people died in Kushtia, 11 each in Khulna and Jashore, 2 each in Narail, Magura,3 each in Bagerhat and Meherpur and 1 in Jhenaidah.
Read: Khulna division logs 45 more deaths
Besides, 1,186 people tested positive for Covid during the period.
Some 88,248 cases have been detected in 10 districts of the division since the onset of Covid in Bangladesh. Among them, 62,582 patients have recovered and 2,217 died to date, according to official data.
Read:Covid claims 30 more lives in Khulna division
In Khulna division, the first case of Covid-19 was detected in Chuadanga on March 19, 2020.
Man held with currencies of 8 countries at Dhaka airport
Airport Armed Police Battalion (AAP) members on Monday morning detained a man along with currencies of eight countries worth Tk 2.5 crore from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
The detainee was identified as Jahangir Gazi, 36.
Read: Three held with Tk 8cr-worth liquid gold at Dhaka airport
Additional Superintendent (media) of AAP Md Jiaul Haque said tipped off, they detained Gazi right after he completed his boarding pass and initially recovered 50,000 Saudi Riyal from his possession.
“Later we scanned all of his belongings and recovered the rest of the currencies,” he added.
Covid: 12 more die in Kushtia
Twelve more Covid-related deaths were recorded at Kushtia General Hospital in 24 hours till Monday morning.
Of the deceased, 11 were confirmed Covid patients while the remaining three showed symptoms of the virus, said Dr MA Momen, administrator of Kushtia General Hospital.
Read:19 more die of Covid at Kushtia General Hospital
Besides, the district logged 223 fresh Covid cases in the past 24 hours after testing 666 samples during this period, said Dr Momen.
The positivity rate in the district currently stands at 33%.
Read: Covid claims 17 more lives in Kushtia
Besides,190 patients with Covid symptoms are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital, the official said.
So far, 13,442 people have been found infected in the district, while 310 people have died of Covid-19.
18 more die in Barishal division as Covid havoc continues
Barishal division has logged 18 new Covid related deaths in the past 24 hours, health officials said on Monday morning.
Of them, 10 died at Sher-E-Bangla Medical College and Hospital (SBMCH), 1 in Patuakhali and 7 in Barguna.
Read: Barishal logs 13 new Covid deaths
Besides, 841 people have tested positive for Covid in the division in the past 24 hours, the officials said.
Of the fresh Covid cases in the division,382 have been identified in Barisal district alone. So far, 12,684 people have been infected with Covid-19 in the district.
Read: Barishal division logs 19 new Covid deaths
So far, some 29,752 active patients have been identified in the division and 17,964 of them have recovered.
Divisional Health Director Dr Basudev Kumar Das said that 428 patients have died of Covid-19 in the division so far.
According to SBMCH authorities, 47 more patients were admitted to the hospital in 24 hours till Monday morning.
Besides, 283 Covid patients are currently undergoing treatment at the corona unit of SBMCH.
AL activist hacked dead in Khulna
A 45-year-old man was hacked to death in Dighalia upazila of Khulna early Monday.
The deceased was identified as Yasin Sheikh, 45.
Read: 3 to die for murder in Khulna
He was an Awami League activist working for Farhana Halima, the party’s candidate in the upcoming Senhati Union Parishad poll.
The victim's family claimed that he was killed in an attack by rivals centering the election.
According to locals, he was stabbed at 3 am by unidentified criminals. Later they rushed him to Dighalia upazila health complex where a doctor declared him dead.
Officer-in charge of Dighalia Police Station(Investigation) said police have launched an operation to arrest the attackers.
Read: Another police informer murdered in Khulna
The body has been sent to the morgue of Khulna Medical College Hospital for autopsy, he added.
UNO breaks up picnic organised in brazen breach of lockdown
In the midst of the strictest phase of COVID-19 restrictions imposed in the country since the start of the pandemic, one group of 50-60 people somehow found it appropriate to organise a picnic - and not even be discreet about it.
The strictness of the restrictions of course reflect the severity of the outbreak and how that has shifted. It shouldn't take an epidemiologist to tell us that Bangladesh is currently experiencing the worst phase of its entire outbreak.
The daily numbers coming out of DGHS, and out of them three in particular, are stark enough to not require expert interpretation of what they mean from a public health perspective.
The fact is that the number of deaths due to COVID-19 being reported on each day, the number of new cases, and the latest positivity rate (the percentage of tests returning positive for the virus), are all pointing in the wrong direction, and they've done so for quite a prolonged period now.
Yet as if oblivious to it all, this group of people hired out a trawler for the day, and blaring loud, incongruous picnic music on the vessel's PA system, set sail on Sunday morning down a famous canal in Chandpur.
Read: Covid-19 in Bangladesh: 200+ deaths, 11,291 new cases recorded
That they would be so brazen about it would prove their undoing however, as word started going around almost immediately of this blatant breach of the emergency restrictions.
By mid-day, Matlab Dakkhin UNO Fahmida Haque, assuming her executive magistrate powers leading a mobile court, was able to reach the spot on the Boaljuri canal that they were in.
There she broke up the picnic with other officials and made five of the organizers pay a penalty of Tk 11,500 against five cases of violating lockdown rules by organising a public gathering and playing loud music on speakers.
During the raid, the UNO seized the food catered for the picnic party and later distributed it among some local orphanages and madrasahs - fashioning a good ending to a story that could so easily have been sordid.
Financial support to vulnerable countries must for effective climate adaptation: Shahab
Long-term and adequate financial support is a prerequisite for achieving the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), part of the Paris Agreement, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin said Sunday.
Both technical and financial support will have to be provided to the most vulnerable developing countries for the effective implementation of prioritised adaptation actions, he said while addressing the plenary session of "The July Ministerial" of the COP26 Presidency in London.
Read: Climate adaptation: Bangladesh for making finance more accessible
Bangladesh is in the process of formulating the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) to reduce vulnerability to the impacts of climate change by enhancing adaptive capacity and resilience, the minister said.
"However, we are aware of the lack of resources for the NAP implementation. We must consider the adequacy and effectiveness of support for adaptation," he added.
Read: Dhaka for greater partnership for accelerating climate adaptation in S Asia
PM sends mangoes to Indonesian president
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sent 1,000kg of mangoes for Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
The Bangladesh Embassy in Jakarta received 1,000kg of mangoes from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a gift for Indonesia.
Also read: Sheikh Hasina gifts 2,600kg mangoes to PM Modi, Mamata Banerjee
The embassy in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia handed over 1,000kg of Bangladeshi mangoes for the president at Merdeka Presidential Palace in Jakarta recently.
Presidential palace protocol of the president secretariat, personal officer staff of the president and protocol officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia received the gift.
Also read: 300 kgs of mangoes handed over to Tripura CM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier sent mangoes for South Asian leaders, including Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maldives' President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
International Umrah pilgrimage resumes on August 10
Saudi Arabia will allow pilgrims living outside the country to undertake the Umrah pilgrimage, starting August 10.
The country Sunday announced the resumption of Umrah service for pilgrims worldwide from 1st Muharram 1443 after the end of the Hajj season, according to state press agency SPA.
Meanwhile, Umrah for Saudi citizens and residents in the Kingdom restarted today.
Read: With pandemic in mind, pared-back hajj in Mecca for 2nd year
In early July, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah stopped receiving applications for Umrah to prepare for Hajj, which began on the 17th of the month.
However, from Sunday, Umrah agencies have been allowed to issue visas.
All countries have been allowed to send direct flights except for nine. Pilgrims from India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and Lebanon will need to undergo a quarantine of 14 days in a third country before arriving in the Kingdom.
Read: Grand Mosque in Macca receives 1st batch of pilgrims as Hajj begins
Also, it has been made mandatory to be vaccinated against Covid-19 with complete doses of either Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or J&J; complete doses of China's vaccines with a booster shot of either Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or J&J.
Umrah is a voluntary Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina undertaken any time of the year. In February last year, it was suspended over fears of the Covid-19 outbreak.
However, the Kingdom reopened Muslim holy sites for Umrah after a six-month pause in October same year.
Read Pilgrims return to Mecca for ‘umrah’ after 7 months