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Health Minister’s mother laid to rest
Fouzia Maleque, the mother of Health Minister Zahid Maleque, was laid to rest at their family graveyard in Manikganj Sadar upazila’s Garpara.
She was laid next to her husband Colonel Abdul Malek on Friday.
Fouzia Maleque breathed her last at the capital's AZM Hospital on Thursday evening.
The 84-year-old tested Covid-19 positive five months ago. Although the health minister's mother had recovered from Covid-19 infection, she was suffering from old age complications and asthma.
Born in Manikganj Sadar Upazila, Fouzia Maleque served as the director of different business houses such as Bangladesh Thai Aluminum, Rahat Real Estate and Construction, and Pristine Colour. She was also the founder director of Sunlife Insurance Company.
Khaleda Zia suffering from fever
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, who was admitted to Evercare Hospital in the capital over one and a half months ago, has been suffering from fever, the party's Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said Friday.
“She (Khaleda) has been suffering from fever from last (Thursday) night. Doctors are looking into the cause of the sudden fever,” he said.
Speaking at a press conference at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office, the BNP leader also said the party chief has been receiving medicine to recover from the fever alongside other diseases.
Fakhrul said the medical board formed by the hospital wills assess her condition on Friday.
He, however, said the former prime minister's overall health condition is fine as different parameters of her health are in good shape.
The 76-year-old BNP chief, who tested positive for Covid-19 on April 11, was admitted to Evercare Hospital on April 27 for a thorough checkup. She was shifted to the CCU with shortness of breath on May 3.
On April 28, a 10-member medical board, headed by Prof Shahabuddin Talukder, was formed for the treatment of Khaleda at the hospital a day after her admission there.
She tested negative for Covid-19 on May 8 -- 27 days after she had been infected with the virus -- but the BNP chief has been suffering from post-Covid complications.
The BNP chief’s family submitted an application to the government on May 6 seeking permission to send her abroad for advanced treatment but it was turned down as a convicted person cannot avail of such a scope.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government freed Khaleda from jail for six months through an executive order suspending her sentences on March 25 last year.
Bangladesh loses 31 more lives to Covid-19
Covid-19 claimed 31 more Covid deaths, including 10 each in Dhaka and Chattogram divisions, in the past 24 hours till Friday morning, pushing up the country's fatalities to 12,511.
Also, 1,358 people came out positive in 14,606 tests carried out during the same period, taking the country's caseload to 796,343.
The daily positivity rate rose to 9.30% from Thursday's 8.12%, said the Directorate General of Health Services.
Read: COVID-19: Bangladesh to receive over 1 lakh Pfizer vaccine on Sunday
The fatality rate remained static at 1.57% and the recovery rate stood at 92.45%.
The country has carried out 5,901,874 sample tests so far after reporting its first cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of the month.
Vaccination drive
The administration of the first doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has remained suspended in Bangladesh since April 26.
Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca shots, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India.
However, recently two other vaccines, Russia's Sputnik V and China's Sinopharm, got approval from the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) for emergency use in Bangladesh.
Read:Cabinet body okays proposal to procure 1.5 crore Chinese Sinopharm vaccine
The administering of the first doses of the Sinopharm vaccine started Tuesday.
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses bought from India's Serum Institute.
Bangladesh to receive 1 lakh-plus Pfizer vaccine Sunday
A flight of Qatar Airlines carrying a consignment of 100,620 doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine will arrive in Bangladesh Sunday.
On Thursday, Bangladesh approved the emergency use of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.
Cabinet body okays procurement of 1.5 crore Sinopharm vaccine
The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase Thursday gave final approval to a proposal of the health ministry to procure 1.5 crore Chinese Sinofarm Covid-19 vaccine.
As per the approval, the Health Services Division will procure a 1.5 crore vaccine in the next three months – June, July and August.
Read: Bangladesh approves emergency use of Pfizer vaccine
"Each month 5 million doses of vaccine will be imported from the Chinese firm," Dr Shahida Aktar, additional secretary to the Cabinet Division, told reporters.
Covid vaccination to get priority in budget FY22
A massive vaccination of the population for protection against Covid-19 infection will be the major focus of the Tk602,880 crore budget of the fiscal year 2021-2022. There will be a Tk10,000 crore special allocation for facing the impacts of Covid-19.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal will place the budget in Parliament on June 3.
'Bangladesh to see worst Covid outbreak by June-end'
With Covid cases keep soaring in frontier districts apparently because of the highly contagious Indian variant, experts fear that Bangladesh may face the worst outbreak of Covid-19 at the end of June next.
They said if the Indian variant can make its way into other areas from the bordering districts, Bangladesh is likely to witness more than 20,000 daily cases in early July, raising the fatality rate sharply.
Read: Bangladesh braces for worst Covid outbreak by June-end: Experts
Lack of necessary oxygen supply and other healthcare facilities may aggravate the situation, according to the experts.
They suggested putting the frontier districts, particularly where the virus infection rate has already gone up, under strict lockdowns like Chapainawabganj and halting inter-district public transport services to contain the virus locally.
COVID-19: Bangladesh to receive over 1 lakh Pfizer vaccine on Sunday
A flight of Qatar Airlines carrying a consignment of 1,00,620 doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine will arrive here on Sunday.
A press release issued by the Health and Family Welfare Ministry confirmed it on Thursday.
Earlier today, Bangladesh approved the emergency use of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in the country.
Also read: Bangladesh approves emergency use of Pfizer vaccine
The Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) issued a press release in this regard.
Recently two other vaccines , Sputnik V produced by Generium Joint Stock Company of Russia, and Sinopharm produced by Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co. Ltd of China got approval of DGDA for emergency use in Bangladesh.
Earlier on January 7, DGDA approved the emergency use of Covishield vaccine, also known as SARS Cov-2 AZD1222, Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine, produced by Serum Institute of India.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was the first coronavirus jab to show promising results in the latter stages of its testing process.
Also read: Bangladesh to get 106,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine on June 2: Health Ministry
It is a new type called an mRNA vaccine that uses a tiny fragment of genetic code from the pandemic virus to teach the body how to fight Covid-19 and build immunity, according to a BBC report.
The US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized storage of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at standard refrigerator temperatures for up to one month, in an effort to make the vaccine more widely available.
Govt to import German machine to clean up floating garbage: LGRD Minister
The government will import state-of-the-art machines from Germany to remove floating garbage dumps and hyacinths from the water bodies to strengthen the anti-mosquito drive, Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Minister Md Tajul Islam said on Thursday.
The LGRD Minister said this at a virtual inter-ministry meeting on destroying Aedes mosquito and prevention of Dengue.
He said the machine is being imported to destroy mosquito breeding zones and ensure proper water flow in canals and other water bodies in Dhaka and other city corporations.
“The machine is capable of removing dumps even one meter under water, besides cleaning above-water hyacinths”, said Tajul.
He said adequate insecticides, fogging machines and manpower have been ensured to destroy the Aedes mosquitos.
Meanwhile, mobile court drives will be conducted and legal actions will be taken against those who will be found responsible in breeding mosquitoes, he said.
City Corporations have authority to take legal action against any individual or organization who obstructs the process of destroying Aedes mosquito and prevention of Dengue disease, said the minister.
Buet students threaten class boycott if Abrar murder accused continues classes
Buet students formed a human chain today protesting against Ashikul Islam Bitu joining online classes despite his expulsion in 2019 for his alleged involvement in the killing of Abara Fahad.
The protestors threatened to boycott classes from May 30 if Bitu continues to participate in online classes.
“We’ll intensify our movement if the university does not take proper action over the matter,” the protesters said in a written statement.
Bitu, who was expelled for life, reportedly joined an online class of the chemical engineering department last Saturday with a 'stay order' from the court.
Health minister's mother Fouzia Maleque no more
Fouzia Maleque, the mother of Health Minister Zahid Maleque, passed away in the capital's AZM Hospital Thursday.
The 84-year-old Fouzia Maleque tested Covid-19 positive five months ago. Although the health minister's mother had recovered from Covid-19 infection, she was suffering from old age complications and asthma.
Fouzia Maleque was put on life support two days ago and breathed her last at 6:30pm today.
Born in Manikgonj Sadar Upazila, Fouzia Maleque served as the director of different business houses such as Bangladesh Thai Aluminum, Rahat Real Estate and Construction, and Pristine Colour. She was also the founder director of Sunlife Insurance Company.
Bangladesh approves emergency use of Pfizer vaccine
The government of Bangladesh has approved the emergency use of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in the country.
Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) issued a press release in this regard on Thursday.
This is the fourth Covid-19 vaccine approved for emergency use in Bangladesh.
Recently two other vaccines , Sputnik V produced by Generium Joint Stock Company of Russia, and Sinopharm produced by Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co. Ltd of China got approval of DGDA for emergency use in Bangladesh.
Earlier on January 7, DGDA approved the emergency use of Covishield vaccine, also known as SARS Cov-2 AZD1222, Oxford/ Astra zeneca vaccine, produced by Serum Institute of India.
Earlier on May 18, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said that the country will get at least 106,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine under the Covax facility.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was the first coronavirus jab to show promising results in the latter stages of its testing process.
It is a new type called an mRNA vaccine that uses a tiny fragment of genetic code from the pandemic virus to teach the body how to fight Covid-19 and build immunity, according to a BBC report.
The US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized storage of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at standard refrigerator temperatures for up to one month, in an effort to make the vaccine more widely available.
CPD: Integrated database needed for COVID-19 relief distribution
Speakers at a webinar on Thursday underscored the need for developing an integrated and updated database for effective distribution of relief among the poor badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
They said there is a lack of disaggregated national-level database which is required for effective distribution of various government supports provided to the poor and the vulnerable people.
These observations emerged at a virtual national dialogue titled “Relief Supports to Cope with COVID-19: How Effective Were They?” held virtually.
The dialogue was organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Oxfam in Bangladesh in association with Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh.
In a keynote presentation, Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow, CPD mentioned that higher allocation, both in terms of coverage and the amount of support provided to the affected population, is necessary in any emergency situation such as the current pandemic.
Higher unemployment, income erosion, switching to new jobs with lower pay and new dimensions of vulnerability such as emergence of 'new poor' during COVID type emergencies, should guide both targeting and allocation.
He further stated that, a massive awareness campaign about the relief support hotlines should be launched at the earliest.
"Adequate preparations should be there to avoid delays in delivering transfers/benefits,” he said.
Dr Md. Enamur Rahman, State Minister of Disaster Management and Relief, speaking as chief guest, said relief supports are being distributed and there are no complaints of people suffering from hunger.
He also stated that more emphasis will be given on making the relief distribution process more transparent.
Speaking as the Special Guest, A B Tajul Islam, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Disaster Management & Relief commented that both service providers and recipients need to take a moral high ground so that it becomes possible to distribute the relief supports to the most deserving.
Barrister Shameem Haider Patwary, MP, Member, Standing Committee on Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs recommended that the relief distribution should be based on the poverty scenario of each district.
Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor, Access to Information (A2I) Programme and Tanvir A Mishuk, Managing Director, Nagad delivered special comments at the dialogue.
Chowdhury highlighted the need for innovative ways to create awareness among the mass people about the relief programmes. Mishuk stated that use of technology to distribute the cash relief, has helped to ensure better transparency.
Dr M Abu Eusuf, Professor, Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka re-emphasised on the importance of a national household database and recommended for higher focus and coordination in this regards.
Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Team Leader of the Project, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Convenor, Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh chaired the session.
He pointed out that there is a lack of government and private initiatives to tackle the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“To distribute the relief to the ones actually in need, mass awareness and transparency is a must,” he said.
Dr Bhattacharya also stated that community-based organisations (CBOs), NGOs, media should work together with the government agencies to ensure transparency, accountability and monitoring in relief distribution.
Tanvir A Mishuk, managing director and co-founder of Nagad, the second largest mobile financial services and a financial service arm of Bangladesh Post Office said it seems that the government has shown considerable prudence for distributing the cash as relief assistance during the pandemic.
“With the decision being made in a very short time, the process has become transparent due to the involvement of MFS operators and no one has to go anywhere to get help, not even a penny of rickshaw fare has been spent.”
“We used to see the news of the theft of relief rice or other materials published on the newspapers. But this time there was no news of theft,” he said.
Echoing with Mishuk, Anir Chowdhury, policy advisor at Access to Information (A2I), said, "We have very important data in different companies and organizations. But there is no legal framework for using them yet. Work is underway to make them.”
Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director, CPD, and Dr Dipankar Datta, Country Director, Oxfam in Bangladesh shared their views at the dialogue.
This study focuses on three such major support programmes. These are: cash support of BDT 2,500 each to 5 million households, food (rice) distribution and cash support under Gratuitous Relief (GR).
Shirina Khanom, Sorwar Alam Mukul, Md. Shohidul Islam, Md. Sujaul Islam Suja, Most. Jahanara Begum, Mr Rakibul Hasan, Elias Kamal Babu, Hasanur Rahman Jhantu, Alamgir Kabir Mannu, Md. Sirajul Islam and Ms Amena Begam spoke on behalf of the CBOs of 13 districts.
They shared their experiences from the grassroots and stated that the beneficiary listing process is not always transparent and the relief supports must reach the people in need.
Gazprom obtains drilling works of 3 wells at Bhola gas field
Russian oil major Gazprom obtained a contract for drilling 3 wells at Bhola gas field at a contract value of Tk 648.39 crore (equivalent to about $77.184 million).
Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase in a meeting on Thursday approved a proposal of the stature-owned Petrobangla in this regard to award the contract to the Russian firm to do the job on a turnkey basis.
Another 4 procurement proposals from different ministries also received the nod of the committee in the meeting presided over by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.
Also read: Haripur Gas field: Drilling begins in 9th well
The Energy and Mineral Resources Division placed the Petrobangla's unsolicited proposal, based on Speedy Supply of Power and Energy Supply (Special Act) 2010, to the Cabinet Body for approval.
It means, the Russian firm was selected for the project through negotiation and without any competitive bidding process.
Gazprom will take over the drilling works from the Petrobangla’s subsidiary Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (Bapex) which discovered the Bhola gas field.
Mustafa Kamal said the Gazprom was picked up for the project since it is a reputed international firm having vast experience in this field.
Earlier, Gazprom had drilled a number of wells at different gas fields to enhance gas production. But many energy experts were critical over the contract value of the works of the Russian firm.
The Cabinet committee approved a proposal of the Roads and Highways Department to appoint Joint Venture of (1) SMEC International Pty Ltd, Australia (2) Swedish National Road Consulting AB, Sweden, (3) ACE Consultants Ltd., Bangladesh and (4) BCL Associates Ltd., Bangladesh at a cost of Tk 46.92 crore for its project - Installation of Excel Load Control Centre at the important points of highways.
A proposal of Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) received the nod of the committee to award a Tk 658.40 crore contract on G-to-G basis to Thales of France to set up radar system including CNS-ATM (Communications, Navigation and Surveillance-Air Traffic Management) at Shahjalal International Airport.
The Cabinet body also approved a proposal of the Water Resources Ministry to award Tk 367.28 crore contract to Khulna Shipyard Limited for 6.3 km river bank protection and 14.750 km dredging works of Arial Kha River in Madaripur district.