bangladesh
US ambassador hands over 2.5 million Pfizer vaccine doses to Bangladesh
US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R. Miller has handed over a donation of 2.5 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh, a gift from the American people.
The Pfizer vaccines build on earlier US COVID-19 vaccine donations for a total of 11.5 million doses donated by the U.S. government and the American people.
Read:Dhaka to receive 25 lakh more Pfizer vaccine doses Ambassador Miller and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director Kathryn Stevens handed over the vaccine donation to Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Syed Mojibul Huq and Director General at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Professor Dr. Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam during a ceremonial handover event at the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) headquarters in the city on Tuesday. “The United States is pleased to donate these additional 2.5 million doses of life-saving Pfizer vaccine to Bangladesh and continue our support to the national vaccination campaign. We are also proud to support the global COVAX vaccine initiative to make sure the proper infrastructure is in place to store and administer these Pfizer vaccines safely and effectively,” said Ambassador Miller. The U.S. government and Government of Bangladesh officials also toured the EPI COVID-19 vaccine storage facility where Pfizer doses are being stored in 26 ultra-cold freezers supplied through the global COVAX vaccine alliance partnership.
Mamata thanks Momen, highlights Bengal's proximity to Bangladesh
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has thanked Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen for his congratulatory message over her recent win in the assembly bypoll.
In her letter to Dr Momen, Mamata said that Bangladesh and Bengal "are very close to each other in terms of thoughts, consciousness and mind beyond geographical boundaries".
"People of Bengal have put their trust in us, they put their trust in us again. We will give due respect to this trust and love of the people. We will always be there by their side in happiness and sorrow," Mamata wrote.
Read: Mamata thanks Momen; highlights stronger bonding
She also greeted Dr Momen and his family members ahead of Durga Puja.
Earlier, Dr Momen congratulated the Bengal Chief Minister and her party Trinamool Congress for the win in the by-elections.
In his congratulatory message to Mamata, the Foreign Minister hoped that Bangladesh's relations with Bengal would be closer and complementary in the days to come in the interest of mutual welfare and development.
Mamata won the Bhabanipur assembly seat on Sunday by a record margin of 58,832 votes against Priyanka Tibrewal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
This victory ensured her continuance as the Chief Minister of West Bengal.
CJ Sinha corruption case: Spl court defers judgment to Oct 21
A special court in Dhaka Tuesday deferred to October 21 the pronouncement of its judgment in the graft case against former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha and 10 others.
As Dhaka Special Judge (Court-4) Sheikh Nazmul Alam Khan has gone on leave, acting judge Ali Hossain fixed October 21 as the new date.
Read: CJ Sinha case: Judgment on Oct 5
On September 14, the court fixed October 5 as the judgment day in the graft case filed against the former chief justice and 10 others for laundering Tk 4 crore. This was after both the state lawyer and the defence counsel concluded their arguments.
On August 29, seven of the 11 accused in the case pleaded "not guilty" in the case.
They are Mahbubul Haque Chisty, former audit committee chairman of Farmers Bank, former managing director of the bank AKM Shamim, first vice presidents Swapan Kumar Rat and Md Lutful Haque, and former SEVPs Gazi Salahudiin, Md Shahjahan and Niranjan Chandra Saha.
On August 24, the defence lawyers grilled the investigating officer of the case, Benazir Ahmed, the director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Some 21 witnesses had testified in the case.
On July 10, 2019, the ACC filed the case accusing former chief justice SK Sinha and 10 others of accumulating illegal wealth and laundering Tk 4 crore.
Read: Money laundering case: EX- CJ Sinha among 11 indicted
On September 25, 2019, the anti-graft body summoned five officials of Farmers Bank for interrogation over the deposit of Tk 4 crore in CJ Sinha’s account with the Supreme Court branch of Sonali Bank.
On December 10, 2019, the investigation officer in the case filed a chargesheet against the 11 accused. On August 13, 2020, a court framed charges against the 11, including Sinha.
Brace for showers in next 24 hours
Weathermen have predicted light to moderate showers for Bangladesh over the next 24 hours.
Read: Commuters suffer in gridlock after sudden shower’s relief
In its weather bulletin Tuesday, Bangladesh Meteorological Department said, "Light to moderate rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at most places over Rangpur division; at a few places over Dhaka, Mymensingh & Sylhet divisions and at one or two places over Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal & Chattogram divisions with moderately heavy to heavy falls at isolated places over northern part of the country,”
The axis of monsoon trough runs through Rajsthan, Hariyana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal to Assam across northern part of Bangladesh.
Read: Rain, thundershowers likely in parts of country
One of its associated troughs extends up to the North Bay. Monsoon is fairly active over Bangladesh and weak to moderate over the North Bay, the bulletin said.
Day and night temperatures may remain nearly unchanged over the country at 27.8 degrees Celsius.
Cox's Bazaar: Drugs worth Tk 2.7cr seized, 5 held
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has nabbed five suspected drug peddlers in Cox's Bazaar.
The arrestees have been identified as Md Shamsul Alam (25), Md Akhter Hossain (35) Md. Hossain (28), Md Jamir Hossain (50), and Md Kefayetullah (30).
Around 90,000 pieces of Yaba tablets worth over Tk 2.7 crore have been seized from their possession.
Following a tip off that a trawler carrying a huge consignment of counterfeit goods might arrive at Mistri ghat from Myanmar on Monday, a team from BGB-2 battalion Teknaf raided an anchored vessel, Colonel Mohammad Faisal Hasan Khan, the head of the battalion, told the media.
Read: 2.59 lakh Yaba tablets seized from 2 picnic buses in Chattogram
After a thorough search, the BGB personnel seized the huge quantity of Yaba tablets hidden inside the oil tank and took the five peddlers on board the vessel into custody.
In an unrelated incident, a patrol team of the BGB 2 battalion seized some 14,000 pieces of Yaba tablets near the Damdamia check post in Teknaf.
Sources said that the BGB personnel signalled a biker to stop for checking at the post but he abandoned the two-wheeler and disappeared in the mountains. A search resulted in the drug haul, the sources said.
Global Covid fatalities top 4.8 million
The global Covid death toll has now surpassed 4.8 million even with mass inoculations underway in several countries.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total caseload and fatalities from Covid stand at 235,388,343 and 4,808,855, respectively, as of Tuesday morning.
So far, 395,582,948 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe, as per the university data.
The US has logged 43,852,255 cases and 703,278 deaths to date, according to the university data. The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world.
Read: Global Covid-19 Update: World turning the corner, at last?
Brazil currently has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India.
Brazil has registered 21,478,546 cases so far. Its Covid-19 death toll has also risen to 598,152 as the country has been seeing a new wave of cases since January.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 33,834,702 on Monday, as 20,799 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, the health ministry data showed.
Besides, 180 deaths due to the pandemic were reported since Sunday morning, taking the total death toll to 448,997.
Situation in Bangladesh
Covid-19 claimed 18 more lives in Bangladesh, with 794 new cases being detected in 24 hours till Monday morning.
On Sunday, the country saw 18 Covid-related deaths and 617 cases.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 24,928 samples, which increased the daily case positivity rate to 3.19 percent from Sunday’s 2.90 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily case positivity rate in the country remained below 5 percent for the 12th consecutive day.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), if the daily-case positivity rate remains at 5 percent or below for 14 days, it is considered safe for mass unlocking.
The daily case positivity rate in Bangladesh reached its peak at 32.55 percent on July 24 this year.
The fresh numbers took the total fatalities to 27,591 while the caseload mounted to 15,58,758, said the DGHS.
However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 percent.
The recovery rate slightly increased to 97.49 percent, with the recovery of 834 more patients during the 24-hour period.
So far, 15,19,588 people have recovered from the deadly virus infections, the DGHS said.
Fire breaks out at Peninsula Chittagong
A fire broke out in the basement of a luxury hotel in the port city on Tuesday morning. Fortunately, no casualties have been reported.
Chattogram fire service officials told UNB that the fire started around 6.45 am at The Peninsula Chittagong and was contained within an hour and a half.
Shamim Ahasan Chowdhury, deputy director of the fire service, said, "Five fire tenders were pressed into service to bring the blaze under control."
Read: Angry ride-sharing biker sets bike on fire in Dhaka
"The extent of damage is yet to be ascertained. A probe has been ordered to find out the exact cause of the fire," he added.
Founded on July 25, 2002, The Peninsula Chittagong is the first and among the very few luxury hotels in the port city.
Located near the famous GEC circle of Chattogram, the hotel is popular for its delicious cuisine, top notch services and attractive outlets.
IU to reopen residential halls on Oct 9
After a gap of nearly 18 months, Islamic University (IU) in Kushtia is all set to reopen its residential halls to students on October 9.
Regular classes of all departments, however, will resume from October 20, IU information publication and public relations office director Ataul Hoque said.
Read:Islamic University waives transport, hall fees from period of Covid-19 closure
The decision to reopen the residential halls was taken at IU's 263rd syndicate meeting held at vice chancellor Professor Shaikh Abdus Salam's official residence Monday. The meeting was chaired by the VC.
Students will have to produce proof of at least one dose of a Covid vaccine to access the residential facilities and attend the classes, Ataul said.
The central library of the university, however, reopened on Tuesday.
Read: Islamic University to start final exams from Sept 12
"All arrangements have been made to reopen the residential halls. But no student will be allowed to stay at the ‘gana room’ as it could cause a surge in Covid infections, the vice-chancellor said.
Among others, IU pro-VC Professor M Mahbubur Rahman, treasurer Professor M Alamgir Hossain Bhuiya and acting registrar M Ataur Rahman were present at the meeting.
Last month, a group of students staged a protest on the campus, demanding the university reopen the residential halls to the students on September 30.
'Urgent global action needed to resolve Rohingya crisis'
Bangladesh has called on the international community and the regional countries to step up their efforts to resolve the Rohingya refugee crisis.
Expressing serious concern at the growing sense of hopelessness in the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh over the delay in repatriation, Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Rabab Fatima has said that urgent action is the need of the hour.
Read: Mohib Ullah murder: Another Rohingya suspect detained
"Creating a conducive environment in the Rakhine State and ensuring accountability for the horrendous crimes committed against them are critical in this regard,” she said, while delivering her statement at the 3rd committee general debate held at the UN headquarters on Monday.
“While Bangladesh is doing its best to ensure humanitarian assistance to the Rohingyas, including by ensuring vaccination of all the eligible Rohingyas, the ultimate solution to this protracted crisis lies in their safe, sustainable, and dignified return to Myanmar,” she said.
“We will work with the OIC and the European Union on the annual resolution in this Committee on the human rights situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar,” the diplomat added.
In her statement, Ambassador Fatima also outlined Bangladesh’s core priorities in the third committee this year.
"Apart from the resolution of Rohingya crisis, the key priorities of Bangladesh include ensuring vaccine equity, promoting women empowerment and addressing violence against women, ensuring rights of children including their right to education, protecting the rights and well-beings of migrant workers, and promotion and protection of human rights at the national and global levels."
Read: Rohingya leader Mohibullah assassinated -
Shedding light on the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on vulnerable people, the Ambassador called for greater solidarity and cooperation to promote an inclusive and resilient recovery.
“The pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities and exclusion both within and across our societies. And we believe that this Committee has a special responsibility to promote actions to protect the most vulnerable, and to help us chart a recovery that leaves no one behind,” she said.
Business expansion: Walton inks deal with Croatia's Smartphone I Tablet
Walton has expanded its business to Europe by exporting its brand televisions to Croatia, a country at the crossroads of central and southeast Europe on the Adriatic Sea.
The company recently inked a partnership deal with Croatian electronics brand Smartphone I Tablet Servis DOO.
Walton International Business Unit (IBU) President Edward Kim and Smartphone I Tablet Chief Executive Officer Mario Kralj signed the agreement virtually.
READ: Walton eyes to export 10 lakh compressors to Turkey by 2023
Aminul Islam, the IBU vice-president for Croatia, said: "The European country is a potential market for Walton with a large consumer base."
With 20 years of experience in the competitive market, Smartphone I Tablet is set to work as the distributor of Walton. The company has 33 per cent market shares in the TV and mobile segment in the Croatia market.
According to the partnership agreement, the electronics brand will market various products including, Walton brand televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, mobile phones and microwave ovens in Croatia.
Mario said, "We are working on expanding the market more in other European regions. Walton TV's quality and our long-standing business experience will work great in these competitive and developed markets."
READ: Walton brings Primo RX9
Walton is exporting TVs through over 100 business partners in different countries. It already expanded the TV export market to 12 European countries, according to a media statement.