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Ensure wearing masks, social distance, health guidelines amid Covid surge in world: NTAC
Expressing deep concern over the recent surge of Covid-19 cases across the world, the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 recommended ensuring 100 per cent use of mask, social distance and maintaining health guidelines to contain the spread of the virus.
The recommendation was made at the 57th meeting of the committee on Sunday, said a press release signed by Dr Mohammad Shahidullah, president of the NTAC.
The committee also recommended creating awareness about the rising of Covid-19 cases through publicity.
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NTAC recommended ensuring Covid-19 negative certificates while entering Bangladesh from those countries where Covid-19 cases are on a rising trend.
It also suggested strengthening the screening of passengers at all ports.
The committee recommended ensuring wearing of masks in shopping malls, markets, shops and during travel in different parts of the country on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
It also asked the Islamic Foundation to ensure health protocols during Tarawih prayer and Eid Jamaat.
The NTAC also asked the Health Ministry to take steps to provide directives to tackle Covid-19 after arranging meetings with the hospitals and Directorate General of Health Services.
Zahid trashes TIB Covid report as non-transparent
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday said Bangladesh has bought corona vaccines at a lower price than other countries.
He made the remarks while briefing journalists about a recent report published by the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) at his ministry.
Expressing his disappointment, Zahid said Transparency International did a non-transparent job by publishing a false report.
He discounted some media reports that said Bangladesh had bought Covid-19 vaccines at the highest cost.
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“These are not true,” he firmly said, adding “If the World Health Organisation (WHO) provided the information, these are right.”
He claimed that Bangladesh provided corona vaccines to people at a lower cost compared to other countries.
Rejecting the TIB report, the health minister said any organization can publish its opinion. As a democratic country, Bangladesh always follows the laws. It can take legal action if needed.
He reaffirmed that Bangladesh is globally holding a prestigious position in Covid control and vaccination.
“We have developed our health sector during the Covid pandemic. Our vaccination programmes are much better than many other countries across the globe. We have jabbed 13 crore first doses, 11.60 crore second doses, and 1.19 crore booster doses. Around 96, 87, and 9 per cent of people have been inoculated in the first, second, and booster doses, respectively. So the country’s image has brightened.”
The minister claimed that the expenses of corona treatment are the same at the private and public hospitals.
“Private hospitals have provided treatment following our guidelines. Many doctors and nurses have sacrificed their lives for the patients during the corona pandemic. All have to be conscious of the image of the country,” he said.
Bangladesh, he noted, is now a role model to the world in Covid control. Prime minister has been hailed as a vaccination champion.
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Ruling out bribery on vaccination, he said the TIB report in this regard is baseless.
The health minister said, at first the government bought Covid vaccines from India. Then vaccines came from China under Government to Government (G2G) contract.
Bangladesh got Moderna, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca vaccines free of cost, he said.
country had received free vaccines worth Tk 40 thousand crores and spent only Tk 20 thousand crores for vaccine purposes. There is no scope for corruption, he claimed.
He further said the country faced an ICU crisis. But that had been settled amid the corona pandemic.
The ventilator is not a solution, he said, adding all ventilators were almost vacant.
Zahid said the TIB report mentioned 7.8 per cent of Covid-19 patients died without treatment in Bangladesh and there was no medicine. The real scenario is medicines were available in the country and mentioned death toll is imaginary.
People aged above 65 can’t perform Hajj this year: State Minister
Registered intending pilgrims aged over 65 will not be allowed to perform Hajj this year, said State Minister for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan on Monday.
“People aged above 65, who have already completed registration for Hajj cannot go to Saudi Arabia this year. The Saudi government has made the decision not only for us but also for the whole world.”
Also read: All preparations taken to ensure smooth hajj management: State Minister
He came up with the information while answering to questions from the journalists at a discussion titled ‘Digital Transaction in Nagad Islamic Financial Management’.
Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF) organised the discussion at the Secretariat.
The state minister said holy Eid-ul-Azha will be observed on July 9 (depending on the moon sighting). This year, a total of 57 thousand 856 pilgrims will be able to perform Hajj from Bangladesh.
He said, “Pilgrims could not perform Hajj in the last two years. By the blessings of Allah (God), we are going to perform Hajj this year. We will complete a bilateral agreement in this regard with Saudi Arabia soon.”
Faridul Haque said his ministry is working on the holidays including Friday and Saturday to ease the Hajj process within only 34 days as the time is too short this year.
Also read:57,856 Bangladeshis to perform hajj this year
BSRF President Tapan Biswas presided over the programme while Nagad Executive Director Mohammad Aminul Haque, Nagad Islamic Shariah Supervisory Committee Chairman Prof HM Shahidul Islam Barakaty, Islamic Foundation’s Imam Training Academy Director Md. Anisuzzaman Sikder, among others, spoke on the occasion.
Masudul Haque, general secretary of the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum moderated the discussion.
AQI: Dhaka’s air gets unhealthy again after improvement
Dhaka's air quality was reported unhealthy on Monday morning as it occupied the fifth position in the latest list of world cities with the worst air quality after it saw significant improvement in last week due to seasonal rains.
The city's AQI score was 159 at 9 am while it remained ‘moderate’(AQI between 50 and 100) last week due to rains and nor’westers .
Also read: AQI: Dhaka’s air remains unhealthy
Israel’s Jerusalem, India’s Delhi and Nepal’s Kathmandu occupied the first three spots, with AQI scores of 349, 195 and 178, respectively.
An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy', particularly for sensitive groups.
Similarly, an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'poor', while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents.
AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants -- Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.
Also read: No respite from unhealthy air as Dhaka ranks 2nd worst in AQI
A report by the Department of Environment (DoE) and the World Bank in March 2019 pointed out that the three main sources of air pollution in Dhaka "are brick kilns, fumes from vehicles and dust from construction sites".
With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction work, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources.
Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.
Global Covid cases top 509 million
The overall number of Covid cases has surged past 509 million amid a rise in new infections in parts of the world.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 509,518,136 while the death toll from the virus reached 6,217,886 Monday morning.
The US has recorded 80,984,914 cases so far and 991,254 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.
Also read: COVID shots still work but researchers hunt new improvements
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 43,057,545 on Sunday after 2,593 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the South Asian country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
This is the fifth consecutive day when the number of daily new cases has surpassed the 2,000-mark, after lower tallies were reported in recent weeks.
Besides, 44 deaths due to the pandemic recorded since Saturday morning took the death toll to 522,193.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the number of reported new COVID-19 cases worldwide decreased by nearly a quarter last week, continuing a decline since the end of March.
The Geneva-based UN health agency said in a weekly report that nearly 5.59 million cases were reported between April 11 and 17, 24% fewer than in the previous week. The number of newly reported deaths dropped 21% to 18,215.
WHO said new cases declined in every region, though only by 2% in the Americas. The report was dated late Wednesday and sent to journalists on Thursday.
Covid Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh logged 24 fresh Covid-19 cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning taking the total caseload to 19,52,556.
As per the latest government data, the country’s total fatalities remained unchanged at 29,127 as no death was reported during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Also read: Bangladesh must stay alert against Covid-19 infections: Minister
The daily positivity rate slightly dropped to 0.41 per cent from Saturday's 0.55 per cent after testing 4,708 samples during the period.
Besides, the mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.49 per cent.
The recovery rate rose to 96.97 per cent with the recovery of 329 more patients during the 24-hour period.
BGMEA wants illegal gas connections to be snapped
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has urged the government to disconnect all illegal gas connections in the country.
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan made the call as he met with Md Mahbub Hossain, senior secretary at the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, in the capital Sunday.
They discussed the present situation of the apparel industry, especially the current demand and supply of natural gas in the garment and textile industries and future scenarios.
Faruque said illegal gas connections deprive the government of a big revenue opportunity and also pose the risk of fire.
These connections take a large amount of gas, putting pressure on the mainline, and ultimately cause problems for the legal users, including the industrial sector, he added.
Inadequate gas supply and low pressure disrupt industrial production, hurting the export-oriented industries, including garment and textile sectors which have to maintain lead time in shipping goods, Faruque said.
He assured the senior secretary of all-out cooperation from the BGMEA to the government in its drive to snap unauthorised gas connections, especially in the industrial zones.
BGMEA Vice-President Shahidullah Azim and Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Managing Director Haronur Rashid Mullah were also present at the meeting.
Construction worker dies from electrocution in city
A construction worker died of electrocution in the city’s Natun Bazar area in Bhatara on Sunday evening.
The victim was identified as Md Limon, 25, son of Saiful Ali of Puti Nagraj village under Fulbari upazila of Kurigram district. He was residing in an under-construction building at Natun Bazar area.
The incident took place at an under-construction multi-storied building located on 100 Feet Road in Natun Bazar at around 6:00 pm.
Also read: Farmer dies from electrocution in Jhenaidah
Elder brother of the deceased, Rajibul Hasan, said that his younger brother Limon was working as a mason's assistant in an under construction 10-storey building in the 100 feet Road area of Natun Bazar.
When he tried to install an electric bulb on the third floor of the building, he fell unconscious due to electrocution as he touched a leak in the live wire at around 6:00 pm, said Rajibul, who is also working as a construction worker in the same building.
Limon was rescued and taken to the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital at 7.15 pm where the doctor on duty declared him dead after examination, Rajibul said.
Also read: Worker dies from electrocution in city
The body has been kept at the hospital’s morgue for autopsy, said Inspector Md. Bachchu Mia, in-charge of the DMCH police outpost.
WSIS 2022: Bangladesh's digital land tax system among champion projects
The digital land (development) tax system of the Ministry of Land has been chosen as one of the five champion projects of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 2022 contest in category seven: "ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life – E-government."
In the contest, four or five projects or initiatives in each of the 18 categories have been declared champions.
Out of these 18 categories of champion projects or initiatives, one best project or initiative in each category will be announced as the final winner of the WSIS Awards 2022 in the last week of May.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the nationwide online land development tax payment system on September 8, 2021.
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Bangladeshis largely depend on land for their livelihood and economic activities. But most of them have to go to the union land offices where they face great difficulties paying land tax.
So, many people do not show interest in paying land tax in time, hurting the government's revenue.
The commoners have a negative impression of land tax and land office as well.
Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Land digitised the land tax payment system.
Landowners can now pay land tax online from anywhere.
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The WSIS Prizes honour outstanding projects that leverage the power of information and communication technology to accelerate the achievement of sustainable development goals.
Increased awareness biggest success in dealing with autism: Saima Wazed
Awareness has been raised regarding Autism by involving the highest policy making level of the state, said Saima Wazed Hossain, a member of the World Health Organization's 25-member Expert Advisory Panel on mental health.
She made the observation during a 90-minute online discussion event, titled 'Pracheer Periye: Saima Wazed's Conversation with Stephen Shore on his Autobiography and Autism' on Sunday organized by Shuchona Foundation in collaboration with the Centre for Research & Information (CRI).
During the virtual meeting, 'Pracheer Periye' Bengali edition of acclaimed autism writer and US Professor Dr. Stephan Mark Shore’s book 'Beyond the Wall' was unveiled. He reflected on his experiences with autism during the event.
The book was translated under the initiative of the Suchona Foundation.
Also read: 'Pracheer Periye': Saima Wazed's conversation with Stephen Shore
Saima Wazed, also the daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, remarked that the biggest achievement Bangladesh had made in handling the autism issue is that the country's highest policy making level, especially the PM and other ministers getting involved in raising awareness about autism.
“There is also much progress in transitioning out of the stigma that people, in general, had about autism in the past”, she said.
“We have many limitations and those limitations have emerged as a kind of strength, which is also a big achievement in the autism awareness movement,” she added.
Expressing her optimism about the change in people's attitude towards autism, she said, "In Bangladesh, one of the core things we have achieved is national awareness and awakening to the fact that those on the autism spectrum are supposed to be part and parcel of society. There is the belief system that there should be more acceptance, there should be more assistance and there should be more opportunities."
Referring to the initiatives undertaken by the government, she said, "We have a strategic plan that's not just limited to one sector, not just the education sector or health sector, but across 20 different ministries and divisions. The government has adopted the multi-sectoral approach."
Having accomplished her higher education in psychology and mental health in the US, Saima Wazed set off on raising awareness about children with autism in Bangladesh by establishing the voluntary organization Suchona Foundation. She is also the president of the National Advisory Committee on Autism in Bangladesh.
Also read: Autism: Saima shares Bangladesh's good practices with global community
Dr. Stephen Shore was diagnosed with “atypical development with strong autistic tendencies” and nonverbal at the age of four. He completed his doctorate in special education at Boston University. Stephen now works as a clinical assistant professor at the Ruth S. Ammon School of Education at Adelphi University, teaching courses in special education and autism as part of his work on empowering people on the autism spectrum to develop their capacities to the fullest.
Owing to his experience of cross-country tours, he shared his observation during the event, talking about striking similarities in the behaviors of children with autism across the world. He, however, also referred to the uniqueness of every such child, stressing the need for assistance to help them thrive through skills.
Honorable Speaker of the National Parliament of Bangladesh, Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, also spoke at the meeting, saying that a workshop on Neurodevelopment Disorder in 2015 at the national parliament. Saima Wazed presented the keynote at the workshop.
She appreciated an array of initiatives undertaken by the Suchona Foundation under the leadership of Saima for people with special needs. She also showered her praise on Saima for pioneering the awareness-raising campaign on ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder in Bangladesh.
Ashrayan-2: 32,904 families to get homes ahead of Eid
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the distribution of houses among 32,904 landless and homeless families across the country under the third phase of the Ashrayan-2 Project on Tuesday ahead of Eid-Ul-Fitr.
According to sources at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Prime Minister will join the inauguration programme virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban at 11am.
She will be connected virtually with Kaichail union of Nagarkanda under Faridpur district, Gourichonna union of Barguna Sadar under Barguna district, Khokshabari union of Sirajganj Sadar under Sirajganj district and Barkhain union of Anwara Upazila under Chattogram district.
This will be part of the government’s initiative to provide houses to all landless and homeless families on the occasion of “Mujib Borsho” as the Prime Minister has mentioned several times that no one in the country will remain without a home.
Also read: Ashrayan-2: 59 Bede families dream of a new life with permanent homes
PMO Senior Secretary Md. Tofazzel Hossain Miah in a press briefing held at the PMO said that each unit has two rooms, a kitchen, a toilet and a veranda costing Tk 2,59,500 without tax and VAT.
“The amount is Tk 3,30,000 with tax and VAT,” he said.
Alongside the houses, the ownership documents of a two decimal land will be given to each family.
In the first phase the government has given 63,999 houses on January 23, 2021 while 53,330 houses on June 20, 2021.
In the third phase approval has been given to build 65,674 houses while 32,904 houses will be handed over on Tuesday.
The number of allocated single houses in 2021-22 fiscal is 1,83,003 worth Tk 3972.07 crore.
The number of specially designed houses for the island areas is 1242. Portable houses are given to homeless families staying in Char lands so that they can move their houses during soil erosion.
The PMO senior secretary said that the recovered Khas lands from the illegal occupation across the country is 5512.04 acres with an estimated price of Tk 2967.09 crore.
The government purchased 168.32 acres of land for the Ashrayan project till now which cost Tk 115.33 crore.
The Ashrayan Project also rehabilitated 5,07,244 landless and homeless families from 1997 to December 2022.
“The houses and lands are being given to the poor families as part of the government’s aim to ensure that none will remain homeless,” the PMO senior Secretary said.
There is no such instance in the world where so many houses with land ownership are provided to the homeless families at a time, he said.
“The Prime Minister is setting the example in the world by giving houses to so many homeless families,” he said.
None will remain homeless in the country, he quoted the Prime Minister as saying.
Also read: 3rd phase of Ashrayan-2: some 65,474 families to get sustainable houses
So, the government will continue allocating funds for houses for the homeless families until their right of accommodation is ensured, he added.
Describing Ashrayan project as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s model for inclusive development, Md. Tofazzel Hossain Miah said, “The living standard of a person improves radically (after getting a permanent house). It will help implement eight targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”