Dhaka, Sept 20 (UNB) - Holy Ashura, commemorating the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA), will be observed in the country on Friday with due religious fervour and solemnity.

On this day in the Hijri year of 61, Hazrat Imam, the grandson of Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH), along with his family members and 72 followers embraced the martyrdom in the hands of Yazid’s soldiers at the desert of Karbala to uphold the teachings of the Prophet (SM). 

The day is a public holiday.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have issued separate messages on the occasion.

Shia community members will bring out Tazia processions in the city marking the day.

A Tajia procession will start from Imambara Husaini Dalan in Old Dhaka which will be escorted by law enforcers. 

Adequate security measures have been taken around Imambara Husaini Dalan to ensure smooth observance of Ashura.

Like previous years, nobody carrying bags, sharp weapons or flammable objects will be allowed to enter the venues of Holy Ashura programmes.

City dwellers have also been asked to refrain from lighting firecrackers on the day.

Bangladesh Betar, Bangladesh Television and private TV channels will air special programmes highlighting the significance of the day.

Dhaka, Sep 20 (UNB) – The real estate sector will get a boost if question is not raised about the source of income of the money spent for apartment buying, Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain said on Thursday.

The minister suggested of collecting tax on income without questioning about the source in case of home purchase. 

The minister was distributing prizes, introduced by Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (Rehab), among the journalists for their reports and visuals on real estate sector at CIRDAP auditorium.

He said along with the government employees, the government was working to provide low interest home loan benefits for all citizens of the country.

“We have to provide home loans to all the citizens with easy conditions and low interest, which we started introducing with the government employees. In the same way, the government will be able to reach its target of ensuring low interest loan for all the citizens”, he said.

Five journalists each of print and electronic media and 14 camera persons were awarded in the programme.

Dhaka, Sept 20 (UNB) - Under-five mortality rate in Bangladesh is 32 per 1000 live births, according to new mortality estimates released by Unicef, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Division and the World Bank Group on Thursday.

It has significantly reduced from 532,000 deaths in 1990 to 100,000 in 2017. Among them, little over half are newborns, who die in the first 28 days of their live, according to a report UNB received from New York.

The government has taken multiple initiatives to address the gaps in newborn care, such as launching National Newborn Campaign to promote affordable interventions at community and household level for essential newborn care for all newborns. 

In early September 2018, the government launched the National Newborn Health Programme that brings focus on the critical interventions to be scaled up in all 64 districts of the country.

 To save the lives of the sick and low-birth weight babies, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) is partnering with Unicef and partners to establish Special Newborn Care Units (SCANUs) in Bangladesh. 

The SCANUs provide specialised care for the sick and low-birth weight babies who are most vulnerable and bear the highest mortality risk. 

An estimated 6.3 million under-15 children died in 2017 or 1 every 5 seconds, mostly of preventable causes, according to the new mortality estimates.

The vast majority of these deaths – 5.4 million – occur in the first five years of life, with newborns accounting for around half of the deaths.

“Without urgent action, 56 million children under five will die from now until 2030 – half of them newborns,” said Laurence Chandy, Unicef Director of Data, Research and Policy. 

“We have made remarkable progress to save children since 1990, but millions are still dying because of who they are and where they are born. With simple solutions like medicines, clean water, electricity and vaccines, we can change that reality for every child.”

Globally, in 2017, half of all deaths under five years of age took place in sub-Saharan Africa, and another 30 percent in Southern Asia. In sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 13 children died before their fifth birthday. In high-income countries, that number was 1 in 185. 

“Millions of babies and children should not still be dying every year from lack of access to water, sanitation, proper nutrition or basic health services,” said Dr Princess Nono Simelela, Assistant Director-General for Family, Women and Children’s Health at WHO. 

“We must prioritise providing universal access to quality health services for every child, particularly around the time of birth and through the early years, to give them the best possible chance to survive and thrive.” 

Most under -5 children die due to preventable or treatable causes such as complications during birth, pneumonia, diarrhoea, neonatal sepsis and malaria. By comparison, among children between 5 and 14 years of age, injuries become a more prominent cause of death, especially from drowning and road traffic. 

Within this age group, regional differences also exist, with the risk of dying for a child from sub-Saharan Africa 15 times higher than in Europe.

“More than six million children dying before their fifteenth birthday is a cost we simply can’t afford,” said Timothy Evans, Senior Director and Head of the Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice at the World Bank Group. 

“Ending preventable deaths and investing in the health of young people is a basic foundation for building countries’ human capital, which will drive their future growth and prosperity.”

For children everywhere, the most risky period of life is the first month. In 2017, 2.5 million newborns died in their first month. 

A baby born in sub-Saharan Africa or in Southern Asia was nine times more likely to die in the first month than a baby born in a high-income country. And progress towards saving newborns has been slower than for other children under five years of age since 1990.

Even within countries, disparities persist. Under-five mortality rates among children in rural areas are, on average, 50 percent higher than among children in urban areas. In addition, those born to uneducated mothers are more than twice are likely to die before turning five than those born to mothers with a secondary or higher education.

Despite these challenges, fewer children are dying each year worldwide. The number of children dying under five has fallen dramatically from 12.6 million in 1990 to 5.4 million in 2017. The number of deaths in older children aged between 5 to 14 years dropped from 1.7 million to under a million in the same period.

“This new report highlights the remarkable progress since 1990 in reducing mortality among children and young adolescents,” said UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Liu Zhenmin. 

“Reducing inequality by assisting the most vulnerable newborns, children and mothers is essential for achieving the target of the Sustainable Development Goals on ending preventable childhood deaths and for ensuring that no one is left behind,” Zhenmin added.
 

Dhaka, Sep 20 (UNB) – Speakers at an award function on Thursday called for wider media focus on the concerns regarding extremism so that all stakeholders in the society can help promote peace and tolerance.

They called for greater role playing by the media in promoting the causes of peace and tolerance.

Society for Media and Suitable Human-communication Techniques (SoMaSHTe) with the support of USAID organized the programme at The Daily Star Centre in the city to award 13 Dhaka and Rajshahi-based mainstream journalists and citizen journalists for their works highlighting importance of defusing extremism and promoting peace in the country.

Masud Rana of Jago News 24, Jamil Khan of The Daily Star and Rashidul Huq Rusho of Ekattor Television received first, second and third prizes in mainstream media category while Hadisur Rahman, Raqibul Hossain and Malequzzaman Shaha got first, second and third prizes in citizen journalist category. 

With ex-chief information commissioner Dr M Golam Rahman in the chair the programme was attended by ex-VC of Dhaka University Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique as chief guest. Journalists Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, Syed Ishtiaque Reza and Ajoy Dasgupta, among others, also spoke at the programme conducted by SoMaSHTe Director Mir Masrur Zaman. Earlier another SoMaSHTe Mir Shahidul Alam delivered welcome speech.

In their speeches both Prof Arefin Siddique and Prof Golam Rahman stressed on the need for more media attention to the concerns about rise of extremism and said there should be media reports promoting the causes of peace and tolerance in the society.  

Some of the awardees also expressed their views on the theme of peace and shared some work experiences as well. 

Dhaka, Sept 20 (UNB) -Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday handed over the keys of residential flats located in the city’s Mirpur area to the families of two former national footballers and a hockey player.

The footballers are Sheikh Ashraf Ali and late Monem Munna and the hockey player is late Zahidur Rahman Pushkin.

The Prime Minister handed over the keys of the flats to Sheikh Ashraf Ali and Monem Munna's wife Yasmin Monem and Pushkin's wife Fahmida Rahman at a function held at the Prime Minister’s official residence Ganobhaban.

The flats were provided to them at the personal initiative of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for their outstanding contributions to the country's football and hockey.

President of Bangladesh Football Federation Kazi Salahuddin, former national footballer Abdus Salam Murshedy, MP, BFF Vice-Presidents Kazi Nabil Ahmed, MP, Awami League's Youth and Sports Secretary Harunur Rashid and BFF General Secretary Abu Nayeem Sohag were, among others, present on the occasion.