bangladesh
Covid fatalities, infections in Bangladesh drop for 3rd straight day; 166 more die
Although the Covid-related deaths dropped to 166 in Bangladesh on Friday from 231 on July 19, the country’s health system still remained overwhelmed.
The country saw the below 200 fatalities for the third straight day.
Also, Covid-19 infections are at 81% of the peak now, with 9,632 new cases reported on average each day. The highest daily average was recorded on July 15.
Bangladesh recorded 6,364 new infections in 24 hours till Friday morning after testing 20,493 samples.
With Covid's Delta variant spreading fast, the country's fatalities had been hovering at nearly 200 for the last two weeks. It reported the highest daily Covid-19 fatality number – 231 – on July 19 and 13,768 infections on the 12th of the month.
There have been 1,146,564 infections and 18,851 coronavirus-related deaths here since the pandemic began, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read: Dhaka to receive 2.45 lakh AstraZeneca jabs from Tokyo Saturday
Meanwhile, the daily test positivity rate fell to 31.05% from Thursday's 32.19% when the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a 5% or below rate.
Amid growing concerns about the highly infectious Delta variant, Dhaka division reported the highest 60 deaths, Khulna and Chattogram 33 each, Rangpur 12, Barishal 10, Sylhet eight, Rajshahi seven, and Mymensingh three.
However, the death rate stood at 1.64% and the recovery rate rose to 85.35%.
So far, Bangladesh has administered at least 11,565,087 doses of Covid vaccines – enough to have vaccinated around 3.1% of the country's population, assuming every person needs two doses.
The government on Friday reimposed the countrywide strict lockdown following an eight-day pause for Eid-ul-Azha. The new restrictions will continue till August 5, unless extended again.
The country imposed its toughest lockdown at the start of July. Under the lockdown, people were only allowed to leave home to buy essentials and for emergencies.
Read: India working to resume vaccine export to Bangladesh, reiterates Doraiswami
With the recent removal of the curbs ahead of Eid celebrations, people were seen breaking Covid-19 rules while they were on the streets and in markets and malls.
At least 82.67 lakh subscribers of the four telecom operators left Dhaka during July 15-20 to celebrate Eid, according to Post and Telecommunication Minister Mustafa Jabbar.
The WHO has reported that globally, Covid-19 cases and deaths had soared after periods of decline, with the reversal spurred in part by the delta variant.
Remembering Tajuddin on his 96th birth anniversary
The 96th birth anniversary of Tajuddin Ahmad, the first Prime Minister of independent Bangladesh and one of the four national leaders, was observed on Friday.
Tajuddin, a great man and a political logician to the core, was born on this day in 1925 at Dardariya village in Kapasia, Gazipur.
Since the 1947 partition, Tajuddin Ahmad played a very important role in all movements from anti-communalism to the Language Movement to the 1971 Liberation War.
A close confidante of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Tajuddin was the general secretary of the Awami League in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Always actively associated with politics for the emancipation of people, he coordinated with Awami League’s election campaign in 1970, in which the party won a historic parliamentary majority to form the government.
Read: Tajuddin Ahmed’s 95th birth anniversary observed
Tajuddin had led the wartime provisional government during the Liberation War of Bangladesh 1971.
On December 22, 1971, Tajuddin returned to Dhaka after the war.
After the independence of Bangladesh, Tajuddin served as the Prime Minister till the historic return of Bangabandhu to his homeland on January 10, 1972.
Later, he served as the Minister of Finance and Planning in the cabinet of the Bangabandhu government. He resigned from the cabinet on October 26, 1974.
On November 3, 1975, four national leaders and heroes of the country’s Liberation War -- Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, Captain Mansur Ali and AHM Quamruzzaman -- were assassinated inside the Dhaka Central Jail.
The strong and unbending role Tajuddin had played during the Liberation War and the supreme sacrifice he made will always be remembered by this grateful nation.
Read: Tajuddin Ahmad's 95th birth anniv: LWM and Radio Shadhin to host online event
Liberation War Museum arranged a 48-hour online programme from Friday at 8pm, marking the 96th birth anniversary of Tajuddin Ahmad.
Filmmaker Tanvir Mokammel will deliver a speech on this virtual event, titled "Jonmodine Tajuddin Ahmad: Nisshongo Sarothi" and there will be a question-answer session at the end of the discussion.
Link to watch the documentary: vimeo.com/liberationwarmuseum
Zoom link for the discussion: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8520693449
Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi celebrates Eid
High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India Muhammad Imran has said Bangladesh is their "soul" no matter where they are in the world and emphasised working together.
"We have to work from our respective places to implement the vision of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he said while exchanging Eid greetings with the officials and staff of the high commission and their families.
Addressing the officials and staff of the mission, Muhammad Imran said: "Your children should be present at all the national functions of the mission. In this way, they will be able to know about the history and tradition of Bangabandhu, the great hero of Bangladesh's independence."
Also read: Muslims in Bangladesh celebrating another Eid-ul-Azha amid pandemic
Prof Yunus renews call for ensuring vaccine equality breaking profit wall
Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus has reiterated call for ensuring vaccine equality around the world noting that all the people need to be safe breaking the wall of profit.
“We’re talking much to make the vaccine patent-free. We’re working to get the patent out of the vaccine because the vaccine is a wall of profit and the wall of profit makes it tough for people to get the vaccine,” said Prof Yunus.
He made the remarks when asked about what he expects from the international community to ensure vaccines for all in a recent media briefing mentioning that they have been working for more than a year to ensure vaccine equality around the world.
Prof Yunus is all set to receive the Olympic Laurel as only the second person in history when the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics takes place on Friday.
“Bangladesh will be so proud of this award because Bangladesh is a country that doesn’t get close to an Olympic medal. But they have a cause for a celebration now. The whole world will watch a Bangladeshi receiving an Olympic award which will make every single person of Bangladesh proud of it. I believe it’ll be something that Bangladesh will remember for long,” said Prof Yunus during a virtual press meet.
Read: Patent-free Covid-19 vaccines: Yunus’ petition gets 1 million signatures
Senior journalist Ruhul Quddus no more
Muhammad Ruhul Quddus, a veteran journalist and senior member of the Jatiya Press Club (JPC), died from Covid-19 Wednesday.
The 66-year-old passed away at Suhrawardy Hospital and left behind his wife and two sons.
Ruhul last worked as a senior sub-editor at Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) and went to retirement four years ago.
He was also the founding secretary-general of the Bangladesh-South Africa Friendship Association and a producer and host of Bangladesh Television (BTV) programmes.
READ: Ex-IGP AYBI Siddiqui passes away
After graduating from Rajshahi University, he joined weekly Pabna Barta in 1980 as a journalist. Later, he worked for different media outlets including Dainik Bangla, and BSS.
Ruhul was laid to rest at his family graveyard in Pabna's Bera Thursday.
JPC President Farida Yasmin and General Secretary Elias Khan expressed deep shock at the death of the senior journalist.
READ: EX-MP Khurram Khan dies of Covid-19
The JPC leaders conveyed deep sympathy to his bereaved family and prayed for the salvation of the departed soul, said JPC Joint Secretary Mainul Alam in a message.
Food systems that ignore needs of poor are doomed to fail: IFAD
President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Gilbert F Houngbo on Friday said their attempts to create more equitable and sustainable food systems are doomed to fail if they ignore the challenges and needs of rural people in the world’s poorest countries.
“Rural people have long been sidelined in food value chains. While they toil to produce much of our food, too often they receive a pittance for their efforts and are left vulnerable to shocks,” said the President of IFAD, the UN agency which leads on tackling rural poverty and hunger.
READ: IFAD President lauds Bangladesh for significant projects implementation capacity
Ahead of the UN Food Systems pre-Summit that begins in Rome on Monday, he said this is a critical moment to address the inequity of food systems.
“Without concrete actions that result in real changes for rural producers, hunger and poverty will only grow, and increased instability and migration will follow,” he added.
Rural small-scale farmers produce about a third of global food, and supply up to 80 per cent of food in parts of Africa and Asia.
Although they play a major role in keeping food systems functioning, they themselves often go hungry.
In 2020, this was exacerbated by climate change, conflict, and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in a dramatic increase in global hunger, according to a report jointly released by five UN agencies including IFAD last week.
One in 10 now go hungry
At the pre-Summit (26-28 July), IFAD will join thousands of governments, companies, development agencies, farmers and civil society organisations to discuss ways to transform how we grow, process, sell and consume food to make it more sustainable and equitable.
The pre-Summit aims to establish a common vision, launch commitments and mobilize partnerships for financing.
“If we want to fix food systems, listen to the people who work in them,” said Houngbo. “Rural small-scale producers are the ones who understand their own challenges and can guide what solutions are needed.”
To gather input from rural producers across the world, IFAD launched its Rural Voices platform this week. Shirley Casachagua, from a remote area in Peru, is one of the contributors.
“No matter what continent, country or republic you live in, we are all children of the earth and we live off it,” she said. “I would like to ask world leaders to be a watchdog to large industries because they contribute more to climate change and this hurts all of us who live on the land.”
READ: IFAD names new country director for Bangladesh
IFAD has also collaborated with Farm Radio International to conduct surveys with remote rural people through radio programmes, and it has supported the organization of over 40 independent dialogues led by farmers’ organizations and Indigenous Peoples’ groups which will feed into the Summit process.
IFAD is calling for a number of key changes to food systems, including to commit financing and political will to ensure rural people can access the inputs, markets, financial services, technology and information they need to grow their businesses, adapt to climate change, protect the environment and biodiversity, and be more resilient to economic, health and weather shocks and to make food systems fairer and more equitable. Food systems depend on people’s labour, and those who work in them must earn decent livelihoods.
IFAD is also leading an initiative to unlock the potential of public development banks across the world to finance food systems transformation and help shift investments to more environmentally sustainable and fairer systems, and is hosting the official session at the pre-Summit: Mobilizing trillions for food systems transformation — financing for impact, leveraging the pivotal role of public development banks.
READ: IFAD to provide US$18.07mn to Bangladesh for COVID-19 recovery activities
Following the Food Systems Summit in September, countries will develop their own pathways to transform food systems, and IFAD will support its Member States to develop their strategies and put them into action.
India working to resume vaccine export to Bangladesh, reiterates Doraiswami
India, the world’s largest vaccine maker, is working to resume the export of Covid vaccine jabs to Bangladesh as vaccine production in India is growing rapidly.
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami reiterated this at Akhaura International Checkpost on his way back to Bangladesh from India on Friday morning.
Read:India trying to send vaccine jabs to Bangladesh soon: Doraiswami
The envoy said India is working to resume the vaccine supply to Bangladesh and the increased production of Covid vaccine is a positive sign.
"Hopefully, we’ll be able to send vaccine jabs to Bangladesh if vaccine production increases further. But I can't give any specific date in this regard," he told local journalists.
He said the trade volume between the two countries has increased despite the pandemic. "If our communication systems remain suitable, then we’ll be able to continue trading amid this pandemic."
Read:Doraiswami keen to push Covaxin as Covishield exports disrupted
Doraiswami also said India will be happy it can cooperate more with Bangladesh in their fight against Covid-19.
Akhaura Upazila Nirbahi Officer Rumana Akhter, officer-in-charge of Akhaura Police Station Md Mizanur Rahman and Immigration Police In-Charge Md Abdul Hamid others were present.
On July 18, the envoy went to New Delhi though Akhaura land port to discuss how India can expedite the supply of the remaining doses of Covishield jabs produced by Serum Institute of India.
Read:Greater trade, connectivity hold brighter future for Dhaka-Delhi ties: Doraiswami
Bangladesh was scheduled to get three crore doses of vaccines from India under a tripartite agreement signed last year. But New Delhi halted the export after sending only 75 lakh doses in March citing high domestic demand.
Covid claims 30 more lives in Khulna division
Khulna division has logged 30 Covid-related deaths in the past 24 hours, health officials said on Friday.
According to the health director's office, 11 people died in Kushtia, five each in Khulna and Jashore, three each in Meherpur and Chuadanga, two in Magura, and one in Jhenaidah districts.
The total death toll in the division has now crossed 2,093, said the health officials.
READ: Khulna division sees 40 new Covid deaths
However, the number of Covid cases in the division has increased. Some 361 people tested positive for Covid-19 during the period, according to the divisional health department.
Some 85,535 cases have been detected in 10 districts of the division since the onset of Covid, of which 59,115 patients have recovered so far.
READ: Khulna division logs 43 new Covid deaths
In Khulna division, the first case of Covid-19 was detected in Chuadanga on March 19, 2020.
Dhaka to receive 2.45 lakh AstraZeneca jabs from Tokyo Saturday
Some 2,45,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine are scheduled to arrive here on Saturday from Japan.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen will receive the vaccine doses that will come under COVAX facility.
A Cathay Pacific Airways flight will carry the vaccine doses that will land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the afternoon on the day.
Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki on Friday said Japan will provide in total 3 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Bangladesh.
20 hurt as ferry hits Padma bridge pillar
At least 20 people have been injured in a ferry accident in the Padma river in Munshiganj, officials said on Friday.
The accident occurred when a Ro-Ro ferry, named Shahjalal, crashed into a pillar of the Padma bridge near the Mawa area of Munshiganj around 9am.
Read:Ferry-launch suspended from Friday morning
Though the front part of the vessel has been mangled, there was no structural damage to the bridge, the officials said, adding that all the injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals.
Assistant general manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport and Communication, Shafiqul Islam said that the passengers fell over each other as the ferry hit the pillar.
"Some 33 vehicles that the ferry was carrying also sustained minor damages in the impact of the crash, which completely destroyed the pantry area of the vessel," he said.
Read:Eid-ul-Azha: People crowding Shimulia ferry terminal to go home
Master of the ferry, Abdur Rahman said the steering wheel got dislocated as the vessel's electrical circuit broke down suddenly and strong river current triggered the crash.
The bridge authority has expressed concern as three ferries have collided with the pillars this month only.