BNP chairperson and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia turns ‘77' on Monday. The party will only arrange doa mahfils across the country on Monday seeking long life and early recovery of Khaleda. BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Sunday said their party’s all city, district, upazila and thana units will arrange the doa and milad mahfils at their offices seeking the salvation of the departed souls of the party leaders and activists who died in the ongoing democratic movement and the recovery of those injured.  He made the announcement at a press conference at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office.  “Our beloved leader’s (Khaleda’s) 77th birthday is tomorrow (Monday).  Begum Khaleda Zia is an embodiment of the hopes and aspirations of the democracy-loving people of this country. All her life she struggled and did politics for democracy,” Rizvi said. He alleged that Khaleda has been kept in jail so that the government can continue its ‘illegal activities. "We demand her unconditional release." Read: Khaleda turns ‘76’ Saturday As in the last six years, the party has no programme to cut any cake to celebrate the birthday in the early hours of Monday. . Contacted, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told UNB that they have no programme, except doa mahfil,  to celebrate Khaleda’s birthday as she is sick. Besides, he said they have not been celebrating her birthday for the last few years with any programme as per Khaleda’s directives. “We only pray for her wellbeing on the day.” Amid criticisms by Awami League leaders for celebrating her birthday on the National Mourning Day, BNP marked her 71st, 72nd and 73rd, 74th, 75th and 76th birthdays by holding doa mahfils instead of cutting any cake. Khaleda was sent to Old Dhaka Central Jail she was convicted in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case by a lower court on February 8, 2018. On March 25, 2020, the BNP chief was released from jail upon an executive order on some conditions considering her age and humanitarian ground following an application by her family.  According to BNP’s website, Khaleda Zia was born to Iskandar Majumder and Taiyaba Majumder on August 15, 1945, in Dinajpur district. She is the fourth among her four sisters and two brothers. Meanwhile, the nation is set to observe the National Mourning Day on the same day commemorating the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members on August 15, 1975. Khaleda and her party used to observe August 15 as her birthday since 1991 amid controversy over her date of birth. Awami League leaders have long been claiming that her birthday is September 5, 1945, as per her marriage certificate while August 19, 1946, as per her first passport. Khaleda herself put the date as August 9, 1944 while registering for her matriculation exams, they said.

Covid-19 in Bangladesh claimed 25 more lives and infected 1,212 others in 24 hours till Monday morning.  The fresh cases were detected after testing 27,287 samples keeping the daily case positivity rate at 4.36 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).  With this, the daily case positivity rate of Covid-19 in the country remained below 5 percent for the seventh consecutive day. READ: Global Covid cases approach 232 million   According to the World Health Organization (WHO), if the daily-case positivity rate remains at 5 percent or below for 14 days is considered to be safe for mass unlocking.  The fresh numbers reported today took the total fatalities to 27,439 while the caseload mounted to 1,552,563, said the DGHS. However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 percent. READ: Covid daily death toll falls to 21 in Bangladesh  The recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.43 percent with the recovery of 1,202 more patients during the period. So far, 1,512,681 people have recovered from the deadly virus infections, the DGHS added.

The High Court on Monday sought a report on the kind of facilities provided to the convicted inmates incarcerated in condemned and other cells in jails across the country. The court directed Attorney General AM Amin Uddin to submit the report obtaining information from the concerned jail authorities. The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Mostafizur Rahman sought the information during a hearing on the writ petition filed challenging the legality of keeping death penalty convicts in condemn cells. The court adjourned the hearing on the petition till October 31. Lawyer of the petitioner Mohammad Shishir Monir said the number of death penalty orders at the lower courts has increased along with the number of crimes. As the death reference cases do not get dismissed in time a defendant has to spend ages in a condemned cell, he said. The attorney general said the condition in jails has changed a lot with time as inmates can buy food from the canteen, and can use other facilities like using cell phones. A senior justice of the HC bench then suggested keeping a record of the increased facilities in different cells of the jails across the country throughout the last few years. The attorney general then prayed for time till the next hearing to submit the report. READ: HC orders investigation on assets and bank accounts of Rajarbagh Pir On September 2, three convicts condemned to death incarcerated at Chattogram Jail filed a writ petition challenging the legality of keeping a death-row convict in condemn cell before the completion of trial and clemency appeal to the President being dismissed. The writ petition said the death penalty is not effective until the High Court approves it. Yet after High Court’s approval, a convict can appeal to the appellate division for reviewing the order and the chance to appeal for clemency to the President. READ: HC grants anticipatory bail to 11 lawyers in a DSA case Until completion of this process, keeping convicts in condemned cell violates their basic right provided by paragraphs 27,31, and 32 in the constitution.

The government is going to enforce a “strict lockdown” on a limited scale from Monday as the Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus is spreading fast in the country. The Cabinet Division issued a circular in this regard on Sunday. The lockdown will remain in force from 6 am on June 28 to 6am on July 1, the circular said. It said the movement of all modes of public vehicles except goods-laden ones and rickshaws will go under the restriction and the members of law enforcement agencies will ensure it through regular patrolling.   All shopping malls, markets, recreation centres, resorts, community centers, tourist spots will remain shut during the lockdown. Hotels and restaurants will remain open from 8am to 8pm with online/takeway services. Government and private offices will run with only necessary staff and they will arrange transport services for office staff. A greater campaign will be launched to ensure use of masks while legal action will be taken, if needed, said the circular added. READ: It’s not a lockdown, but a ‘joke’: Fakhrul The government is set to enforce an all-out lockdown from July 1 to bring the Covid situation under control. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting, chaired by Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, on Saturday evening. The repeated lockdowns have become a threat to the livelihoods of many in Bangladesh while disrupting travel and social life. However, experts hope that stricter rules will bring positivity rates and fatalities down as the country is battling to get a second coronavirus wave under control. The National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 pandemic on Thursday recommended imposing a "nationwide shutdown" for two weeks considering the worsening Covid-19 situation in the country. READ: No lockdown for health sector: Minister Community transmission of the highly transmissible Delta variant of coronavirus might be the reason behind the current Covid-19 situation in the country, said the committee. It used the example of India to emphasise that no step other than a "complete shutdown" might be enough to prevent the spread of the Delta variant. The death toll from Covid-19 in Bangladesh crossed 14,000 on Saturday as health authorities reported 77 fresh deaths. READ: 61 lakh Ansar VDP members ready to enforce lockdown, says its director general Besides, the daily caseload fell sharply, with 4,334 new cases pushing up the total caseload to 8,83,138. On Friday, health authorities reported 5,869 new cases.