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Bangladesh Bank suspends interest on bank loans for April-May period
Bangladesh Bank has suspended all kinds of interest on bank loans for from April 1 to May 31 as businesses have been hugely affected by coronavirus outbreak.
A circular issued by the central bank’s Banking Regulations and Policy Department (BRPD) to all banks of the country said the Bangladesh Bank has decided that interest on all kinds of bank loans have to be transferred as interest-less blocked.
“This blocked interest should not be realised from borrowers until further order and such kind of interest should not be transferred to the income of the banks,” said the Bangladesh Bank.
Autorickshaw, tempo workers ‘not getting food aid’
An organisation of autorickshaw and tempo workers said its members are not getting food aid from the district administrations although the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MDMR) in a letter on March 29 asked them to extend support.
An official document, received by UNB, shows the MDMR issued a letter to all deputy commissioners (DCs) asking them to prepare a list of all the daily wage earners who lost their employments due to Covid-19 to provide them food support.
It said the Prime Minister has asked to provide food support by preparing a list of beggars, day labourers, rickshaw pullers, van drivers, transport workers, restaurant workers, vendors, teastall owners, especially those who depend on their daily earnings.
Besides, food support has to be provided to people including agriculture workers by preparing city corporation, municipality and union parishad-based lists.
“This lists have to be prepared in coordination with affluent people, organisations and NGOs who are also providing support so that any duplication could be avoided,” mentioned the letter signed by Md Shah Kamal, senior secretary of the ministry.
Mentioning the directives of the letter, leaders of Bangladesh Auto-rickshaw-Autotempo Transport Workers Federation (BAATWF) alleged that as a transport sector workers association, they submitted a list of auto-rickshaw and auto-tempo workers to the district administrations to help them enlist their names in their lists.
“But so far we got no response from DC offices except in few districts,” Golam Faruk, BAATWF general secretary, told UNB.
“Even we submitted our area-based workers list to DC office in Dhaka and Dhaka North and South City Corporations, but so far got no response,” he added.
He said drivers of CNG-run auto-rickshaws are passing days in misery as they have been left without work amid the nationwide shutdown aimed at curbing coronavirus.
Faruk said like other vehicles, three-wheelers also remained off the streets after the government shut all modes of transportation across the country from March 26.
Usually, auto-rickshaw drivers earn money on a daily basis. They have no work now, putting the drivers and their families in serious trouble.
Normally, an auto-rickshaw driver earns about Tk 500 a day after meeting others expenses, including deposit to auto-rickshaw owner, he added.
Accused in Kadamtali rape case put on 3-day remand
A Dhaka court here on Sunday placed an accused of a rape case, on a three-day remand for violating a six-year-old girl in city’s Kadamtali area.
JU teacher files complaint against chief security officer
A professor of Jahangirnagar University has filed a written complaint about the chief security officer of the university, Sudipto Shaheen, for disrespecting him and former students of the university.
COVID-19: 406 inmates freed from Dhaka, Rajshahi jails
A batch of 406 inmates who were booked for minor offences, were released from Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj and Rajshahi jails on Sunday.
Dhaka Jail Superintendent Iqbal Ahmed said 385 prisoners were freed following the instruction of the Home Ministry due to coronavirus pandemic.
211 killed in road crashes in one month despite ‘lockdown’
A total of 211 people were killed and 227 others injured in 201 road accidents across the country in the last one month amid the ‘lockdown’ enforced on March 26, said Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, a passengers’ welfare platform, on Sunday.
Jatri Kalyan Samity came up with the statistics in a press statement after monitoring local, regional and online newspapers.
According to the statistics, 50 drivers, 64 pedestrians, 22 women, 12 students, two transport workers, 18 children, one activist from political party, two members of law enforcement agencies, three teachers and one journalist were among those who died during the period.
Meanwhile, 14 people were killed and five others injured in 13 road accidents on April 23, showing the highest number of accidents in just one day, the release added.
It said eight people were killed and two others injured in eight accidents occurred on waterways during this period.
On March 23, the government declared general holidays from March 26 to April 4, aiming to protect people from being infected by the fast spreading virus as elsewhere in the world.
Later, the holidays were extended five times until April 25 -- first from April 5 to April 9, then from April 10 to April 14, later from April 15 to April 16, then again from April 17 to April 25 and finally from April 25 to May 5.
It also suspended mass transport operation to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
Lalmonirhat father, son recover from coronavirus
A man and his seven-year-old son returned home after recovering from coronavirus on Sunday after a 22-day treatment at Lalmonirhat Sadar Hospital.
The hospital authorities released Kamrul Islam, 37, and his son Salman Hossain around 1pm, said Civil Surgeon Nirmolendu Roy.
Kamrul was diagnosed with coronavirus after returning from Narayanganj. Later, his son also tested positive.
They were released as their samples were found negative for COVID-19 in two separate tests.
Currently, one patient of the district is undergoing treatment at the hospital, said the civil surgeon.
Confirmed coronavirus cases in Bangladesh jumped to 9,455 after the health authorities announced 665 new cases in the last 24 hours till Sunday.
Besides, two patients died during the period, raising the death toll in the country to 177.
Retail sector counting huge losses as lockdown persists ahead of Eid
Thousands of employees of small enterprises in the retail sector are faced with the prospect of redundancy if shops do not reopen before Eid.
Monirul Islam new Bangladesh Ambassador to Egypt
The government has appointed Md Monirul Islam, now Bangladesh Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to African Union, as the next Bangladesh Ambassador to Egypt.
Ambassador Islam is a career foreign service officer who belongs to the 10th batch of Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) Foreign Affairs cadre.
In his diplomatic career, Ambassador Islam served in various capacities in Bangladesh missions in Singapore, Bandar Seri Begawan, Madrid, Beijing, Ottawa and Brasilia, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.
He served as the Bangladesh Consul General in New York and Bangladesh Ambassador to Morocco with concurrent accreditation to several West African countries.
At the headquarters, he worked in various capacities in different wings of the Foreign Ministry.
Ambassador Islam obtained his Bachelor (honours) and Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Dhaka.
He also had a Master’s degree in Foreign Affairs and Trade from the Monash University, Australia.
As a career diplomat, Ambassador Islam had professional training in Canberra, New Delhi, Hawaii and Beijing, among others, and had participated in several international conferences as a member of Bangladesh delegation.
No dengue patient at hospitals
For the first time in more than a year, the health authorities said there is no dengue patient at the hospitals.
No new dengue case was reported in the last 24 hours till 8am on Sunday, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said in a regular update.
Since the beginning of this year, 296 dengue cases were reported. All of them had been discharged from hospitals.
Bangladesh experienced a massive dengue outbreak last year when 101,354 people were hospitalised. Of them, 101,037 made full recovery.
According to official figures, the mosquito-borne disease killed 179 people in 2019.