Bangladesh
Eminent photographer Golam Mustafa passes away
Golam Mustafa, the winner of Ekushe Padak 2018 and Shilpakala Padak 2016, died at his residence on Friday. He was 81.
He left behind wife, one son, one daughter, two grandchildren and three sisters, and a host of well-wishers to mourn his death.
He will be laid to rest at the Azimpur Graveyard (new).
READ: Eminent lyricist Fazal-e-Khuda dies of Covid-19
Mustafa, one of the frontline photographers during the inception of Bangladesh Television (BTV) back in 1964, had been serving as its Director of Photography and guest lecturer at the Architectural Department of North South University.
In its early days, BTV started its journey with just three newly-groomed photographers and Mustafa was one of them to take up the challenge.
He served BTV for 30 years and with his retirement he left behind a network well facilitated enough to accommodate 42 cameramen.
READ: Veteran journo Shahbuddin departs
Modi moved by Hasina’s thoughtful gift
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he is touched by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s “thoughtful gesture” of sending mangoes for him from Bangladesh.
Read: Sheikh Hasina gifts 2,600kg mangoes to PM Modi, Mamata Banerjee
“It was a pleasant reminder of your generous hospitality in Dhaka extended to me during my recent visit to Bangladesh,” he said in a letter sent to her Bangladesh counterpart.
Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed his government's commitment to progressing mutually beneficial cooperation between Bangladesh and India.
Despite the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Modi said the cooperation between the two countries has continued to flourish in all areas of bilateral relations. “I’m glad that follow-up discussions and initiatives have taken place despite these disruptions.”
Read: Humanity will overcome pandemic soon: Modi writes to Hasina
Earlier, leading Indian media carried stories with much interest on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's gift of sweet Haribhanga mango that she sent for Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other political leaders in India.
Some of the media outlets in India described the gift as “mango diplomacy” while Dhaka says it is just sharing happiness with friends and neighbours in this historic year.
Prime Minister Hasina on Sunday sent 2,600kgs of mango as a gift for Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, her counterpart Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of Tripura Biplab Kumar Deb and other Indian political leaders in India.
Read:India: Modi govt inducts 43 new Ministers in major Cabinet rejig
The care packages reached Kolkata on Sunday via Benapole Petrapol land border and were later transported to Delhi via train.
Bangladesh and India decided to commemorate December 6 as Maitri Diwas, the day when India recognised Bangladesh in the year 1971.
PM expresses grief at loss of lives in Rupganj fire
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday expressed profound shock at the loss of lives in a factory fire at Rupganj in Narayanganj.
The Prime Minister prayed for the salvation of the departed souls and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved families, said PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim.
READ: PM expresses condolences at passing of Monzur E Mawla
A massive fire swept through a seven-storey building housing a juice factory of Hashem Food Ltd at Bhulta Karnagop in Rupganj.
So far, the death toll from the fire reached 52 that broke out at 5pm on Thursday.
But the death toll might go up as the search operation still continues on the fifth and sixth floors of the building.
READ: PM expresses condolences at death of Talukder
Cop shunted out over death of Satkhira man
Assistant sub-inspector Subhash Sen who allegedly held back a biker carrying an oxygen cylinder for his dying father for two hours on Thursday, has been sent to the Satkhira police lines.
A three-member probe committee has also been formed by the police, officials said on Friday, in the wake of the death of Oliul Islam's father who had symptoms of Covid.
According to Oliul, he bought the oxygen cylinder from a local trader in the town for his ailing father who was recuperating at home.
On his way back home, ASI Subhash of Itagachha police outpost stopped Oliul’s bike around 11am and asked for documents which he forgot to bring in a hurry.
READ: Satkhira man dies as policeman pulls son over with oxygen cylinder
"The ASI demanded Tk1,000 as fine from me for being out amid the lockdown. I was pulled over for two hours as I neither had the money nor documents, even after explaining my situation. Later, the ASI settled for Tk200 as a local interfered. But my father had already died," Oliul said.
However, ASI Shubhash said, "I stopped Oliul as he was driving his motorcycle at a breakneck speed and had no documents. But I did not hold him back for too long when I came to know that his father urgently needed oxygen."
He was asked to return with the vehicle documents later, said the ASI.
Satkhira Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Delwar Hossain said, “We are probing the allegations. ASI Subhash has been relieved from his post and sent to the police lines."
READ: In Myanmar, the military and police declare war on medics
FM mourns loss of lives in Japan’s Atami
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has expressed deep condolences over the loss of lives at Atami in Shizuoka prefecture by a sudden landslide.
“It’s yet another manifestation of our inadequacies in the face of the vagaries of nature, often a result of climate change,” Dr Momen said in a message to his Japanese counterpart Motegi Toshimitsu.
Dr Momen conveyed heartfelt sympathies to the members of the bereaved families.
“The people of Japan have a very special place in our hearts. We’ll always stand by our time-tested Japanese friends who stood by the people of Bangladesh since our War of Liberation in 1971,” he added.
22 deaths in 24 hours: Kushtia records its highest daily Covid toll
Twenty-two more Covid-related deaths were recorded at Kushtia General Hospital in 24 hours till Friday morning, the district's highest single-day fatality figure this year.
Of the deceased, 12 were confirmed Covid patients while the remaining 10 showed symptoms of the virus, said Dr MA Momen, administrator of Kushtia General Hospital.
Read:17 more die of Covid at Kushtia hospital
Besides, the district logged as many as 220 fresh Covid cases in the past 24 hours. "A total of 792 samples were tested during the period," said Dr Momen.
The positivity rate in the district currently stands at 27.77%, which was 31.22% a day before. Besides, 280 patients with Covid symptoms are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital, the official said.
Read:Covid-19 takes away father, son same day in Kushtia
Dr Taposh Kumar Sarkar, resident medical officer of the hospital, said, “The number of Covid-19 patients is increasing by the day, forcing authorities to accommodate people on the floor of the corona ward. If the situation worsens further, it will be very difficult for us to handle the situation with this limited manpower.”
So far, 9,884 people have been found infected in the district, while 296 people have died of Covid-19. Some 6,275 people have recovered as of now.
Covid: 18 more patients die at Rajshahi hospital, fresh cases drop
Eighteen more Covid patients have died at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) in the past 24 hours, health officials said on Friday.
However, the district's daily new Covid cases has recorded a marginal decline, with 88 people testing positive for corona in 24 hours that's 8.41% less than a day before.
Read:Rajshahi Medical sees 22 deaths in single day
Hospital Director Brigadier General Shamim Yazdani said that three of the deceased were confirmed Covid patients, while the remaining showed symptoms of the virus.
Of the deceased, 10 were from Rajshahi district, two each from Chapainawabganj, Naogaon and Natore, and one each from Kushtia and Sirajganj districts.
Read:Rajshahi hospital sees record 25 Covid deaths in single day
"Meanwhile, 88 people have tested positive for corona at the hospital in the past 24 hours. A total of 479 samples were tested in two laboratories of the district during the period," the director said.
The positivity rate currently stands at 18.16%, which was 26.57% a day before.
Read:13 more die of Covid at Rajshahi hospital
Shamim Yazdani also said that 74 people have been admitted to the corona unit of the hospital in 24 hours. During the period, 52 people were discharged from the hospital after recovery.
Moreover, 501 people are currently undergoing treatment against 454 beds at the corona unit of the hospital. Among them, 20 patients are in the ICU.
6 of family hurt in Chattogram as cylinder leak causes fire
Six members of a family sustained burn injuries in a fire triggered by a cooking gas cylinder blast in their house in Chattogram's Satkania upazila on Thursday night, police said.
The injured have been identified as Sayed Ahmed, 65, Shahnewaz, 40, Md Helal, 36, Khaleda Begum, 45, Abdus Shukkur, 36, and Delwar Hossain, 50. Four of the injured have been shifted to the burn unit of Chattogram Medical College and Hospital after their condition worsened.
The accident happened at Sayed's house behind Montana Club in ward number 6 of the municipal area of Satkania.
Also read: 5 of a family burnt in Chattogram gas cylinder blast
"A leakage from the family's newly purchased cooking gas cylinder was the reason behind the fire, in which the six got burnt," said municipal panel mayor Saiful Alam Sohel.
Two units of fire fighters were pressed into service and it took them over an hour to douse the flames. "The injured were ushed to a local hospital," said senior station officer of fire service, Humaun Khan.
Medical officer of Satkania Upazila Health Complex, Abdul Ahad Idris, said, that of the the injured, four with 80-90% burns were referred to CMCH.
Also read: Gas cylinder explosion: 3, including 2 children, killed in Moheshkhali
Assistant sub-inspector at CMCH police outpost, Shilbrata Barua, said, that around midnight on Thursday, the four injured were admitted to the hospital.
Global Covid cases top 185 million
The second wave of the Covid pandemic continues its onslaught across the world amid speeding inoculation efforts. In fact, the global corona caseload has now topped 185 million.
The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stand at 185,489,255 and 4,009,084, respectively, as of Friday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 3,351,337,474 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe, as per the university data.
Also read: As global COVID-19 deaths top 4 million, a suicide in Peru
The US has logged 33,790, 114 cases and 606,468 deaths to date, according to the university data. The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world.
Brazil registered 1,733 more deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours, bringing the national death tally to 530,344, the health ministry said Thursday.
A total of 53,749 new infections were detected during the period, raising the total caseload to 18,962,786, the ministry said.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 30,743,013 on Thursday as 34,443 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, according to the federal health ministry.
Also read: India’s Bharat Biotech says vaccine 93.4% effective against severe COVID-19
Besides, 470 deaths due to the pandemic since Wednesday morning pushed up the total death toll to 405,527.
Covid-19 was first detected in the city of Wuhan, China, in late 2019, but the outbreak spread quickly across the globe in the first two-three months of 2020.
It was declared a global pandemic by the WHO on 11 March 2020.
Situation in Bangladesh
As coronavirus is spreading in Bangladesh faster than ever, the country logged record-high 11,651 cases and 199 deaths in 24 hours till Thursday morning.
The grim number of cases came after the test of 36,850 samples during the period, which puts the country’s case positivity rate at 31.62%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The new numbers took the country’s death toll to 15,792, while the caseload stood at 989,219.
Just a day before, the country counted the highest-ever 201 deaths from Covid-19, and record-high 11,525 cases on Tuesday.
Also read: Dhaka reemerging as Covid hotspot as battle plan ‘fails’: Experts
The country’s fatality rate remained static at 1.60% till Wednesday, said the DGHS.
So far, 856, 346 people have recovered from Covid, putting the recovery rate at 86.57%, which is declining unlike other indicators.
Death toll from Rupganj factory fire jumps to 52
The death toll from the factory fire at Rupganj, Narayanganj jumped to 52 as firefighters started tallying fatalities in the massive blaze.
“At least 49 bodies have been recovered from the debris of the building during the search operation,” said Abdullah Al Arefin, deputy assistant director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence in Narayanganj district.
Earlier, 3 deaths from the accident were confirmed by the authorities of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and US Bangla Medical College and Hospital Rupganj.
With the fresh ones, the death toll from the fire touched 52, said the UNB correspondent in Narayanganj.
Read: 6 of family hurt in Chattogram as cylinder leak causes fire
The massive fire that swept through the six-storey building housing a juice factory of Hashem Foods Ltd at Bhulta Karnagop in Rupganj, Narayanganj broke out at 5 pm on Thursday.