bangladesh
DU to hold UG admission test from Oct 1, affiliated college test from Oct 29
Dhaka University is likely to start the tests for first-year undergraduate admission for 2020-21 academic year from October 1 after a two-month Covid-induced delay, officials said.
The university’s Deans' Committee recommended the new date _ it was earlier scheduled to begin on July 31 _ at a meeting on Tuesday.
DU Pro-Vice-Chancellor (academic) Prof. ASM Maksud Kamal said the decision will be finalized after approval from Vice-Chancellor Prof. M Akhtaruzzaman on Wednesday, ensuring the exam dates don’t conflict with the university’s academic schedule.
According to the revised schedule, DU Ka Unit (science faculty) exam will be held on October 1, Kha unit (arts faculty) on October 2, Ga Unit (business faculty) on October 22, Gha unit (social science faculty) on October 23, and the general knowledge exam of Cha Unit on October 9.
The admission tests will be held in divisional cities across the country considering the pandemic situation.
Also read: HC questions exclusion of SSC-2016 passed students from admission test
The test for each unit will be marked out of 100. The Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) section will carry 30 marks and the written section 50 marks.
The remaining 20 marks will be awarded based on the applicants SSC and HSC grade point average (GPA).
The deans’ committee also decided to hold first-year undergraduate admission exams for the 2020-21 academic year for the seven affiliate colleges from October 29. It was scheduled to be held on October 1.
The exams for the science unit will be held on Oct 29, those for the art and social science unit on Oct 30 and those for the business unit on November 5.
Admission seekers can apply online starting from 4 pm on Saturday, July 10 and ending at midnight on Aug 20, Prof ASM Maksud, who is also chief coordinator of the affiliate colleges, told UNB.
Also read: JU admission seekers can pay application fees through bKash
The application fee for the 2020-21 academic year has been set at Tk 450 per student. The fees may be submitted through the state-run Sonali Bank’s Sonali Seba payment system and through mobile banking platforms bKash and Rocket.
In 2017, the government decided to bring seven colleges under Dhaka University's umbrella in order to improve the quality of education.
Since then, Dhaka College, Eden Mohila College, Begum Badrunnesa Government Girls’ College, Government Titumir College, Nazrul Islam College, Shaheed Suhrawardy College and Mirpur Bangla College have been affiliated with the university.
Vessels to operate at half capacity from July 14 midnight
Vessels will carry passengers at half of their capacities and maintain health guidelines from July 14 midnight to 6am on July 23, said Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA)Tuesday.
BIWTA issued a notice on vessel movement on Tuesday following a notification issued by the Cabinet Division on lifting restrictions for eight days ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
BIWTA requested vessel owners, masters, drivers, staff and passengers to follow the health guidelines during the period.
Also read: Bangladesh eases lockdown restrictions ahead of Eid
However, strict restrictions will resume from 6am on July 23, and will continue till August 5,midnight as per the Cabinet Division’s order.
During the period, BIWTA ordered all passenger carrying vessels (trawler, speedboat, launch etc) to suspend their movement in the inland waters.
Also read: Passenger vessel movement suspended in 7 districts
Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated on July 21 amid the Delta variant of Covid-19 wreaking havoc across the country, shattering records every day.
A record rise in the number of Covid cases and fatalities in recent days prompted the government to enforce a nationwide stringent lockdown suspending all outdoor activities unless there's an emergency.
552 arrested on 13th day of all-out lockdown
Police arrested 552 people in the capital for alleged violations of the strict lockdown rules on its 13th day on Tuesday.
The arrestees were out on the streets violating restrictions, said DMP Additional Deputy Commissioner (media) Iftekharul Islam.
Meanwhile, mobile courts collected Tk 2,14, 400 as fines from 119 rules breakers.
Also read: Bangladesh eases lockdown restrictions ahead of Eid
During this time, the Traffic Division collected Tk 14,38,000 from 696 vehicles as penalties for failing to comply with coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
Bangladesh is currently under a 14-day lockdown imposed to tame an alarming surge in the Covid infections across the country.
Also read: Lockdown Breaches: 708 arrested, Tk 5.5 lakh fined on day 11
The nationwide strict lockdown will continue until July 14 midnight.
Meanwhile, both Covid cases and fatalities continue to rage across the country.
Local administration to take decision on Eid prayer: Govt
Local administrations in consultation with public representatives and local elite will take decision on Eid congregation at mosques, Eidgahs or open fields considering Covid situation in their respective areas and maintaining recommended health guidelines.
The Religious Affairs Ministry issued some guidelines on offering prayers of Eid-ul-Azha on Tuesday.
As per the guidelines, no prayer mat will be allowed at mosques and mosques will be disinfected before prayers.
The devotees have been asked to bring prayer mats from home.
Also read: Covid lockdown: Govt. extends mandatory guidelines for mosques till July 14
The devotees must wear masks inside mosques and avoid using prayer mats and caps that were stored earlier there.
It also suggested devotees to go to mosques with wadu and wash their hands for 20 seconds with soap.
Soaps, hand sanitizers and water should be available at the place where people make Wadu or at the entrance of mosques or Eidgahs.
Devotees should maintain social distance following health guidelines.
Children, elderly people, people with physical ailment, and those involved in taking care of patients will not be allowed to attend Eid prayer.
Also read: Covid lockdown: Govt issues mandatory guidelines for offering prayers at mosques
All have to abide by the directives of the Health Service Division, local administration and law enforcement agencies.
Besides, the devotees were requested to shun handshaking and hugging after the Eid prayer which has been a common practice throughout the world.
The Religious Affairs Ministry urged Imams and managing committees of mosques to ensure proper implementation of the directives.
Nothing to be sceptical about Chinese vaccines: FM
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said there is nothing to worry about the safety of Chinese vaccines, mentioning that millions of people used the vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Listen, we heard the same when Covid-19 vaccine – AstraZeneca – first came to Bangladesh. So, there’s nothing to worry about (Chinese vaccines). WHO approved the vaccines,” he said when a reporter raised the issue.
Dr Momen referred to what he saw in video (fake) that 13 nurses turned senseless in the UK after taking AstraZeneca vaccine doses. “This kind of thing comes up.”
More than 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in China, according to international media.
Read: FM reassures on adequate vaccine supply from multiple sources
“There has been no problem for any of them (in China) who got vaccinated,” said the Foreign Minister, adding that there is no reason to get worried.
Fake currency notes recovery: Couple put on 2-day remand
A Dhaka Court on Tuesday placed a couple on a two-day remand each in connection with a case filed over recovery of Tk 43 lakh fake currency notes from their possession in the city's Badda area.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sadbir Yeasir Ahsan Chowdhury passed the order when DB Inspector Zahidul Islam also the investigation officer of the case produced them before the court with ten-day remand prayer.
Also read: Rupganj fire: Sajeeb Group chairman, sons among 8 put on remand
Those who remanded were identified as Rahim Sheikh and his wife Fatema Begum.
The court also sent three other accused in the case to jail. They are—Helal Khan, Anwar Hossain and Israfil Amin.
Detectives in a drive busted a fake currency note factory in the city's Badda area on Monday.
Also read: OC, Inspector suspended for ‘sexual assault’ during remand in Barishal
Police also arrested five people including the couple along with Tk 43 lakh fake notes, a laptop, two colour printer, glue, colour, paper, laminating machines and other fake note making materials.
A case was filed with Bhatara Police Station.
Bangladesh signs MoU with Malaysia on LNG supply
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bangladesh and Malaysia on cooperation in the supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) was inked virtually on Tuesday.
Under this MoU, Petronas LNG Ltd and Global LNG Sdn Bhd of Malaysia and Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) of Bangladesh are the designated entities in the LNG supply.
Also read: Cabinet body okays 10 proposals including import of petroleum fuel, LNG
Applications invited for PhD scholarship
Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ), Brac University has joined hands with Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), UiT - the Arctic University of Norway and Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Dhaka and offered a PhD scholarship for Bangladeshis.
The scholarship will be provided from the project “Statelessness in the Bengali Borderlands” funded by the Research Council of Norway.
Candidates must fulfill the general requirements for PhD admission to the University of Dhaka and the PhD scholarship is for a period of three years, full time, said a media release on Tuesday.
Soft copy of the application needs to be sent by August 7, 2021 and short listed candidates will be informed and invited for an interview.
25 km long tailback on Dhk-Ctg highway
Hundreds of vehicles and commuters got stuck for hours in a 25-kilometer long tailback on Dhaka-Chattogram highway on Tuesday due to repair work of Langalbandh Bridge in Narayanganj district.
Mohammad Maniruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Narayanganj Highway Police said the gridlock stretched from Shanir Akhra to Daudkandi in Cumilla.
Also read: Eid holiday rush leads to 12km tailback on Dhaka-Aricha highway
“The gridlock was caused by heavy pressure of goods-laden vehicles and others on Sonargaon-Nabiganj route. We are trying our best to ease the movement of vehicles,” he said.
Covid claims 203 more lives in Bangladesh, another 12,198 infected
Struggling with Covid-19’s grim second wave, Bangladesh lost 203 more lives to the deadly virus, while another 12,198 people contracted it in24 hours till Tuesday morning.
The new numbers took the country’s death tally to 16,842 and the caseload to 10,47,155, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh cases were detected after testing 41,755 samples during the period, pushing up the case positivity rate to 29.21%.
According to the DGHS, 2,339 people lost the battle to Covid-19 and 125,596 more got infected as of July13.
However, the case fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.61% during the 24-hour period.
The country saw a record number of 13,768 Covid cases on Monday and the highest-ever 230 deaths on Sunday.
Also read: Bangladesh eases lockdown restrictions ahead of Eid
So far, 889,167 people have recovered from the disease, taking the country’s recovery rate to 84.91%, which is on the decline compared to other indicators.
Of the latest deaths, 61 were reported in Dhaka, 53 in Khulna, and 30 in Chattogram divisions and 27 in Rajshahi. Besides, 15 people died in Rangpur, seven in Mymensingh and five each in Barishal and Sylhet divisions.
The country saw 2,404 Covid deaths in April, 1,169 in May and 1,884 in June, making those the most fatal months of this year. Also, July was the most fatal month in 2020, reporting 1,264 deaths followed by 1,197 deaths in June that year.
Lockdown eased
The government has decided to ease all lockdown restrictions in the country for eight days ahead of Eid ul Azha.
In a notification on Tuesday morning, the cabinet division said that the lockdown restrictions will be lifted from July 14 midnight to the morning of July 23.
However, strict restrictions will resume from July 23 and will continue till August 5, as per the order.
Also read: FM reassures on adequate vaccine supply from multiple sources
Earlier on Monday, it was reported that Bangladesh Railway is going to restore its passenger train services for eight days from July 15-22 across the country, keeping 50% of the seats empty apparently to facilitate the movement of people during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.
Public transport services and business institutions will also be allowed to function.
Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated on July 21 amid the Delta variant of Covid-19 wreaking havoc across the country, shattering records every day.
A record rise in the number of Covid cases and fatalities in recent days prompted the government to enforce a nationwide stringent lockdown suspending all outdoor activities unless there is an emergency.