Bangladesh
Liquid oxygen import from India suspended at Benapole
Liquid oxygen import from India remained suspended at Benapole check-post for the past four days as the neighboring country has been struggling with shortage of oxygen amid the second wave of Coronavirus pandemic.
The last oxygen-laden tanker was unloaded on April 22 and last week 29 tankers with around 1,815 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen was imported from India through Benapole port, said Deputy Commissioner Mustafizur Rahman of Benapole Customs House.
Also read: Border with India to remain shut for 14 days: FM
Bangladeshi company Linde Bangladesh imported the liquid oxygen, he said.
Customs sources said every month around 30,000 metric tonnes of oxygen is imported from India as the country is one of the key exporters of oxygen to Bangladesh.
In recent times demand for oxygen cylinders increased rapidly due to the second wave of Coronavirus and the suspension also causing Bangladeshi traders a huge economic blow and crisis in the medical services.
Read Chandpur General Hospital to get oxygen plant
Representative of Indian oxygen importers and Bangladesh-India Chamber of Commerce Director Motiar Rahman said India currently suspended the export as the country witnessed a record number of infections and deaths in recent time.
Oxygen is the key factor for saving lives of Covid-19 infected patients, he said, hoping that India will resume the export for the sake of friendship between the two countries.
Linde Bangladesh is also planning to import oxygen from Singapore, he added.
Also read: Netherlands to ban flights from India over virus fears
Harvest inaugurated at crop field with Bangabandhu's mosaic
The harvesting festival of Guinness World Records winning crop field mosaic honouring Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Bangladesh was inaugurated at the Balenda village of Vabanipur union under Sherpur upazilla of Bagura on Monday.
National AgriCare Import and Export LTD provided the logistics and financial support for this project from its beginning.
Convener of the national committee of the project and Awami League joint general secretary Krishibid AFM Bahauddin Nasim inaugurated the Crop field mosaic honouring Bangabandhu while advisor of the national committee of the project and Awami League presidium member Jahangir Kabir Nanak was present as chief guest.
Awami League organizing secretary S. M Kamal Hossain, Awami League office secretary and special assistant to the Prime Minister Barrister Biplob Barua and Krishka League president Krishibid Sameer Chanda also took part in the harvesting festival.
Also read: Artwork on Bangabandhu, Filipino National Hero unveiled in Manila
130-140 women workers worked every day from January 29 to February 20 and they were accompanied by 15 to 20 male workers every day while land was leased from local farmers for this this project.
The area of Bangabandhu' portrait was 12 lakh 92 thousand square feet while the length of the grain painting was 400 meters and the width was 300 meters.
Also read: Bangabandhu, 4 national leaders remembered in Ottawa with profound respect
'Bangabandhu in crop fileld' has created a new history for Bangladesh by getting a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.The exhibition "Shassachitra Bangabandhu' also achieved the Guinness World Records on March 16 just before the birthday of Bangabandhu this year.
Every day hundreds of people used to flock to the project area to see the portrait of Bangabandhu in the crop field
Also read: Bangabandhu Bangladesh Games to continue until govt order comes: BOA Secy Gen
According to the Guinness World Records' website, the largest crop field mosaic (image) is 119,430.273 m² (1,285,536.75 ft²) and was achieved by AFM Bahauddin Nasim and KSM Mostafizur Rahman in an attempt organised by National AgriCare Import and Export LTD (all Bangladesh) in Bangladesh while earlier the record was held by Shanghai Lezhidao Tourism Development Company of China after it made a croanning 79,505.19 square metres in 2019.
Interest rates on Agri credits, pre-shipment loans further reduced
Bangladesh Bank has reduced the interest rates on both agriculture and rural credits and export-oriented pre-shipment support loans.
As per the new decision, the borrowers of the agriculture and rural credits will pay highest 8 percent interest instead of the existing 9 percent on their loans.
Besides, the borrowers of export-oriented pre-shipment credit will pay highest 5 percent interest instead of the existing 6 percent, said two separate circulars of the central bank.
Also read: Extended lockdown: Banks’ limited operation to continue until April 28
The circular, issued by the Banking Regulations and Policy Department, said the initiative for the agriculture and rural sector was taken as part of the support to bring back the productivity in the sector that was affected by the Covid-19 in 2020 like other sectors of the economy.
Mentioning the agriculture and rural sector as an important one for ensuring food security of the country, the circular said the new interest rate will be effective from April 1 this year.
It added that the highest interest rate for the sector was capped at 10 percent considering it a priority sector and then it was brought down to 9 along with all other interest rates except for credit cards from April 1 in 2020.
Read Interest rates of savings certificates not lowered: Govt
The other circular, issued by the same department, said the interest on credit for the pre-shipment facilities was re-fixed at 5 percent instead of existing 6 percent to ensure soft loan for the sector to attain further growth in export business.
It mentioned that a Tk 5,000 crore re-financing scheme was launched in 2020 to support the export-oriented industries against the effect of the Covid-19 to continue earning of foreign currency and bringing pace in the economy.
The circular said the banks will receive the loan from the central bank at a rate of 2 percent interest while they will disburse it at highest 5 percent interest with effect from April 1.
Also read: Inter-bank cheque settlement, e-fund transfer system resumed at BB
Vaccine is not the only solution: Quader
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader has reminded everyone that vaccine is not the only solution to the coronavirus problem.
"Vaccine won’t work if you don’t wear mask all the time," he said at a virtual views exchange meeting with officials of Comilla Road Zone, BRTC and BRTA on Monday morning.
He joined the meeting from his official residence.
Also read: 'Strict’ lockdown again if health rules violated: Quader
Quader urged everyone to stand by the people from their respective positions instead of doing politics.
“Life comes first before livelihood,” he said. “Everyone has to follow hygiene rules to save lives during the pandemic.”
The only vision of politics should be to stop this spread of the virus to save the people. Quader said that the government is also playing its role.
Also read: Quader to BNP: 'Stop paying lip service amid Covid-19'
He said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is supervising everything.
Dhaka mourns loss of lives in Indonesian submarine tragedy
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has expressed his deep condolences over the loss of lives following the disappearance of an Indonesian submarine.
Indonesia’s military on Sunday officially said all 53 crew members from a submarine that sank and broke apart last week are dead, and that search teams had located the vessel’s wreckage on the ocean floor.
In a message sent to Foreign Minister of Indonesia Retno L P Marsudi, Dr Momen conveyed heartfelt sympathies to the Indonesian Government and the brotherly people of Indonesia.
He expressed his deep sympathy to the members of the berived families.
Dr Momen hoped that the grief struck relatives of the fallen crew members of the submarine would have the strength to bear with the tragedy. He prayed for eternal peace of the departed souls.
He wished the Foreign Minister happiness, good health and long life.
Dr Momen expected continued peace and prosperity of brotherly people of Indonesia.
Chinese Defense Minister to visit Dhanmondi-32 Tuesday
Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on Tuesday morning highlighting the "steady and rapid progress" in Bangladesh-China military cooperation in recent years.
The Chinese Defense Minister will arrive at 10am and visit Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi-32 to pay homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a senior official told UNB.
Also read: China committed to remain engaged in future development
The Chinese Defense Minister will meet President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban at 3pm.
He will also have a meeting with Bangladesh Chief of Army Staff General Aziz Ahmed who visited China in November, 2019.
General Fenghe was appointed to head China's Ministry of National Defense at the 13th National People's Congress on March 19, 2018.
The visit is taking place when Bangladesh and China are in discussion on COVID-19 vaccine cooperation.
Earlier, Chief of Army Staff of Indian Army Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane visited Bangladesh this month.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has recently said he is willing to work with Bangladesh to further connect their development strategies, deepen practical cooperation across the board, and strive for new outcomes from the Bangladesh-China Strategic Partnership of Cooperation.
“China and Bangladesh are close neighbors and traditional friends. In recent years, China-Bangladesh relations enjoy a sound momentum of development, with strategic mutual trust being strengthened and cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative pressing ahead,” he said in a message to his Bangladesh counterpart Abdul Hamid.
Also read:Bangladesh, China discuss Covid vaccine assistance: Envoy
China’s Minister of Defence Fenghe is likely to go to Colombo, Sri Lanka from Dhaka on Tuesday before heading towards Beijing.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will have a virtual meeting with his counterparts in five South Asian countries including Bangladesh on Tuesday.
They will discuss issues related to "Emergency COVID-19 Vaccine Storage Facility" to help South Asian countries during emergency situation.
Bangladesh, in principle, has agreed on a Chinese proposal to set up an "Emergency COVID-19 Vaccine Storage Facility" to ensure quick supply of COVID-19 vaccine among the South Asian countries during any emergency need.
Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, which are not producing Covid vaccines, have also received a similar proposal from China and agreed on it.
“We said we don’t have any objection. We, in principle, like it (proposal). Any country might have an emergency need,” Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told reporters on Thursday.
Bangladesh received the proposal on April 15 and a Minister-level meeting will be held on April 27, he said.
The Foreign Minister said Bangladesh sought further details on the proposal noting that there was a meeting at secretary level in this regard.
Dr Momen said the Minister-level meeting will be held on Tuesday to discuss the proposal in detail.
Dr Momen said China will give 6 lakh doses of vaccine as a gift and hoped that Bangladesh will get a vaccine through commercial purchase soon.
Bangladesh has received 7 million of Oxford-AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine doses produced by Serum Institute of India (SII) vaccines through its contract. Bangladesh also received 3.3 million doses of vaccine as a bilateral partnership gift.
This is the largest amount sent from India to any country.
‘10 India returnee’ Covid patients flee Jashore hospital
Ten India returnees, who tested positive for coronavirus, have reportedly escaped from an isolated ward of the Jashore General Hospital.
The escapees have been identified as Fatema, 19, Ruma, 30, Shefali Rani, 42, Moni Mala, Nasima Begum, 50, Amirul, 52, Sohail, 17, Pradeep Biswas, 37, Vivekananda, 52, and Milon.
Also read:India records world's highest single-day spike in Covid cases
Hospital supervisor Dilip Kumar Roy told UNB that only two patients had fled and blamed the 'irresponsibility' of police for the incident.
Kotwali Police Station’s Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Tajul Islam said they are yet to receive an official complaint over the incident.
“We’ll look into it after getting a complaint," he said.
Civil Surgeon Dr Sheikh Abu Shahin said the matter is being taken “very seriously”.
Also read:Covid-19 turns India into vaccine importer from exporter
He said he went to the hospital on Sunday after hearing about the incident to talk to the supervisor. “It’ll be possible to trace them if the names and addresses given to the hospital authorities during admission are correct," he said.
Offer Eid-ul-Fitr prayer at mosques: Govt
The government has urged Muslims to offer Eid-ul-Fitr prayer at mosques instead of Eidgahs to contain the spread of Covid-19 as Bangladesh grapples with the second wave of the virus.
Eid prayers are traditionally offered in open places and attended by thousands of people. As Ramadan began on April 14, the Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest festivals of the Muslims, will likely be celebrated on May 13 depending on moon sighting.
In a circular on Monday, the Ministry of Religious Affairs said that considering the risk to lives, the worshippers are requested to hold congregations at mosques instead of open places.
Several congregations can be held at the mosque if necessary, it said, noting that carpets won’t be allowed to be laid out on the floor.
Before the prayers, the mosques should be completely disinfected and worshippers would have to bring separate prayer mats from their homes.
The latest decision required greater sanitation and social distancing measures. The elderly, children and those suffering from disease won’t be allowed to attend the prayers.
All worshippers must wear masks and cannot use scalp caps kept in the mosques.
Legal action will be taken if the directives are violated, the ministry warned.
The directive comes as the country grapples with the second wave of Coronavirus. Bangladesh registered 97 more Covid-19 deaths on Monday with 3,306 new cases.
Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 97 deaths
Bangladesh on Monday reported 97 more coronavirus-related deaths and 3,306 new cases as the country grapples with a second and deadlier wave of the virus.
The daily infection rate dropped to 12.82 percent from Monday’s 13.33 percent but the mortality rate rose to 1.49 percent.
So far 748,628 cases and 11,150 deaths have been confirmed, the Directorate General of Health Services said in a handout.
The number of recoveries now stands at 661,693 including 4,241 new cases. This means, 88.39 percent of the patients have recovered.
Also read: Lockdown to be extended up to May 5: State Minister
Bangladesh has so far tested 5,371,287 samples, including 25,786 in the last 24 hours.
Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
Deaths, cases soar in April
In the last 26 days, Bangladesh has seen 2,104 Coronavirus-related deaths and 133,851 new cases, making it the most fatal month since the outbreak began last year.
The virus claimed 568 lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Dhaka division remains the worst-hit region, registering most of the deaths – 6,514 or 58.42 percent.
Sixty-three of the 97 deaths reported today are from Dhaka division and 12 from Chattogram division.
Six each died in Khulna, Sylhet, four in Rajshahi, three in Barishal, two in Rangpur and one in Mymensingh divisions.
Lockdown extended
The surge in Covid infections prompted the government to go for a lockdown from early April. Having failed to achieve the intended result, it imposed a strict lockdown from April 11 and extended it to April 28.
On Monday, State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain said the government would extend the lockdown till May 5, as there is no improvement of the Covid-19 situation
However, shopping malls will remain open from 10am to 8pm during the extended period, he said.
Bangladesh shuts border with India
Bangladesh has closed its border with India for any kind of movement except that of cargoes for the next 14 days from Monday as the coronavirus situation in the neighbouring country goes out of control.
Recorded number of daily cases put unprecedented pressure on the hospitals and drained the oxygen supply, leading to many preventable deaths.
Also read: Global Covid crisis: Hasina recommends measures for ESCAP to attain quick recovery
Vaccination campaign
Bangladesh launched a vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses it purchased from the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd.
Bangladesh signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain.
The administering of the first dose will remain suspended from today.
DGHS DG Prof ABM Khurshid Alam assured that Bangladesh will get 2.1 million doses of vaccine by the first week of May.
So far, 5,818,400 people have received the first dose and 2,326,866 have got their second jab, according to official figures.
Lockdown to be extended up to May 5: State Minister
The government has decided to extend the current lockdown by another week until May 5 as there is no improvement in sight in the Covid-19 situation.
A notification in this regard is expected to be issued on Tuesday, said State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain.
Also read:Lockdown: Shops, shopping malls to reopen from Apr 25
However, shopping malls will remain open from 10 am to 8 pm during the lockdown, he said.
The decision has been taken considering the global Covid situation and the suggestions of health experts, said the state minister.