Grameenphone has completed the distribution of 50,000 sets of medical-grade full set PPE to 12 hospitals selected by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Each set of PPE consists of protective coverall, KN 95 mask, latex gloves, and goggles, the company said in a statement.

The hospitals are – Kuwait-Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital, Kurmitola General Hospital, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka Mohanagar General Hospital, Mugda Medical College Hospital, Narayanganj 300-bed Hospital, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Sir Salimullah Medical College, Mymensingh Medical College, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College, Sheikh Russel Gastro Liver Institute and Hospital, and Infectious Diseases Hospital. 

“Grameenphone is thankful to all frontline heroes who have been fighting coronavirus. This is not an easy task by any means, and our health professionals are diligently working towards this noble cause. We believe that we will overcome as united force and support one another in every possible way. I am also thankful to DGHS, along with the people whose passion, commitment, and courage made this possible,” said Yasir Azman, CEO of Grameenphone,

Bangladesh’s confirmed coronavirus cases stood at 40,321 on Thursday with the detection of record 2,029 new patients in the last 24 hours. Fifteen more people died from the virus during this period, taking the death tally to 559.

Also read: Coronavirus cases in Bangladesh exceed 40,000, 15 more die in 24 hrs

Professor Dr AK Azad, Director General of Health Services (DGHS), thanked the mobile operator for well-timed and necessary initiative.

“During this ongoing pandemic, the safety of health professionals is of utmost importance, and this is a life-saving contribution from Grameenphone. I hope other organisations will be inspired and step forward with such initiatives,” he said.

Hundreds of doctors have been infected in Bangladesh. At the beginning of this month, Bangladesh Doctors Foundation said more than 600 physicians at both government and private hospitals got infected with coronavirus while treating patients.

Grameenphone has also extended support to 25,000 doctors selected by DGHS to treat COVID-19 patients by providing them with 30GB of data every month for the next six months at a token price of Tk 1 per month.

Also read: GP experiences revenue hike

GP, along with BRAC, has started the initiative ‘Dakche Amar Desh’ to donate cash for emergency assistance to 100,000 most vulnerable families across Bangladesh and is also encouraging other individuals and organisations to join the cause.

Search engine giant Google is celebrating the 121st birthday of Bangladesh’s National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam with a doodle.

Google Doodle made an alteration on its Bangladeshi homepage on Monday, showing the ‘Bidrohi Kobi’ (rebel poet) holding a green book at his middle age while the young poet standing steady inside the flame of the movement of independence.

Born on May 25, 1899 at Churulia village in Burdwan district of West Bengal in India, Nazrul had inspired people to fight with a bold voice against injustice and repression of the colonial rule through his writings.

Nazrul’s write-ups inspired Bengalis to join all democratic movements and battles, including the anti-British movement, the Language Movement, the mass uprising in 1969, and the Liberation War in 1971.

Nazrul’s rebellious writing—much of which he published in his own magazine, Dhumketu (The Comet)—resulted in frequent imprisonment, which in turn inspired one of his most well-known works, ‘Rajbondir Jobanbondi’ (The Deposition of a Political Prisoner, 1923).

He used his platform to combat bigotry in all its forms, and through his poetry supported the equality of women at a time when few of his peers were willing to do the same.

Also Read:Nazrul’s 121st birth anniversary Monday

Nazrul also wrote some 4,000 songs, which brought him national popularity and spawned an entirely new genre called Nazrul Geeti (Music of Nazrul).

For his incredible literary contributions, Nazrul was named the national poet of Bangladesh in 1972.

The bones of about 60 mammoths were found at an under-construction airport north of Mexico City, reports AP.

Archaeologists say the discovery was made near the human-built 'traps' where more than a dozen mammoths were found last year. This could possibly indicate that humans may have been smarter — and mammoths clumsier — than people had previously thought.

"There are too many, there are hundreds," said archaeologist Pedro Sánchez Nava, of the National Institute of Anthropology and History.

The institute began digging in three large but shallow areas in October, when work started to convert an old military airbase into a civilian airport. In about six months, the bones of 60 mammoths were found, and Sánchez said that the pace — about 10 mammoths a month — may continue.

The airport project is scheduled for completion in 2022, at which the dig will end.

The excavations were conducted on the shores of an ancient lake, once known as Xaltocan and now disappeared. The shallow lake apparently produced generous quantities of grasses and reeds, which attracted mammoths who often ate 150kg of the stuff every day.

"It was like paradise for them," Sánchez Nava said.

But the new excavations at the airbase have not yet turned up any of the distinct cut marks that would suggest human butchering of the animals.

Read Also:Russian scientists present ancient puppy found in permafrost

Sánchez said the most recently discovered mammoths had apparently got stuck in the mud of the ancient lake and died, or were eaten by other animals.

But the bones will be subject to further study because Sánchez said humans might have carved up the mammoths once they got stuck.

And, he said, ancient human could possibly have used the mud pools and flats around the lake shore as a sort of natural trap. "It's possible they may have chased them into the mud," he noted, adding, "They (ancient humans) had a very structured and organised division of labour" for getting mammoth meat.

The discovery also challenges the notion that mammoth was a chance, sporadic item on our ancestors’ menu.

Sánchez Nava said the large numbers of remains will allow scientists to research how mammoths fed and whether they were already suffering genetic inbreeding or decline, which could have contributed — along with human hunting — to their extinction on the mainland about 10,000 years ago.

Read Also:Fossil of extinct giant wombat discovered in Australia

Huawei in Malaysia on Wednesday introduced the Huawei ASEAN Academy, a training module to empower digital talent in the region.

Huawei aims to nurture 50,000 talents over the next five years and the academy will provide more than 3,000 ICT courses involving 100 skilled trainers to cherish digital talent, said a press release.

YB Dato Saifuddin Abdullah, minister of communications and multimedia of Malaysia said the Ministry and Huawei have had a long collaborative relationship in ICT since 2001 when Huawei Technologies was first established.

“We hope to have more successful collaborations in the future between both parties to steer digital economy in the right path,” he said.

The academy’s ICT training programs and courses are designed to target government bodies, industry professionals and university students, providing a holistic approach in growing the country’s ICT ecosystem.

The academy also provides multi-dimensional solutions for different types of talent and levels of need to ensure that these solutions effectively match the current talent gaps for enterprises.

Also read: Huawei provides aid to fight coronavirus

As a global leading ICT solution provider, Huawei advocates for an open, shared, ICT talent ecosystem that benefits all parties.

The Cyclone Amphan has left a heavy toll on the country's telecom network infrastructure, said Brig Gen S M Farhad (Retd.), AMTOB Secretary General on Thursday.

Mobile operators are committed to restore the disrupted telecom services, he said in a press release.

About 50 to 60 percent of mobile sites in Khulna, Barisal, Chattagram, Sylhet, Dhaka, Mymensingh, Rangpur, and Rajshahi had been badly affected by the cyclone, he added.

Electricity supply of many areas remained suspended in country's south-western belt, Farhad said adding that initially mobile operators used the backup battery and then switched to the generators to continue the service amid the cyclone.

“Since the affected mobile towers are mostly located in the rural areas, we need special support from the Palli Bidyut Samity to restore our service in the affected areas”, he said.

Besides, employees of mobile service providers are facing difficulties to move around the country due to restriction of law enforcement agencies due to coronavirus outbreak, Farhad stated.

“The cooperation from the authorities would be crucial for restoring the telecom infrastructure, which has become vital for the country in ongoing Coronavirus pandemic situation.”, he added.

Twelve people have been killed and three others injured as Cyclone ‘Amphan’ slams different coastal districts of the country on Wednesday evening.