Bangladesh reported 30 more Covid cases in the 24 hours to Friday morning. With the new numbers, the country's total caseload rose to 2,036,760, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). However, the official death toll from the disease remained unchanged at 29,436, as no new fatalities were reported. The daily case test positivity rose to 1.14 percent from Thursday's 0.99 percent as 2,633 samples were tested during the period. The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.45 percent, while the recovery rate rose to 97.53 percent. Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees one more death, 32 more cases In November, the country reported 10 Covid-linked deaths and 1,345 cases. Bangladesh registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 the same year.

One hundred and eighteen more people were hospitalised with dengue in the 24 hours to Friday morning. However, the official death toll from the mosquito-borne disease remained unchanged at 263 – the highest on record after the 179 deaths recorded in 2019 – as no fatalities were reported during this period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). A total of 1,217 dengue patients, including 692 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country. The DGHS has recorded 59, 813 dengue cases and 58,333 recoveries so far this year. Read: Dengue death toll now 263 with three more deaths Bangladesh is being hit hard by a recurrence of an outbreak of dengue, the disease that is endemic to the country. Doctors and health experts say that measures taken by the city corporations and other authorities are not proving to be effective. The publicity and drives carried out by the authorities to destroy larvae of Aedes mosquito are proving to be inadequate.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah Friday called on everyone to identify the corrupt and ostracise them. He made the call while standing in a human chain formed in front of the ACC headquarters in the capital's Segunbagicha, marking International Anti-Corruption Day, which is observed globally on December 9 to raise awareness of corruption and of the role of the Convention in combating and preventing it. The anti-corruption watchdog chief said: "Once Bangladesh ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Things have changed now. But corruption cannot be rooted out overnight. It will gradually disappear." Read: ACC to investigate 3 Islamic banks over scam Requesting everyone to identify the corrupt, he said: "You know who the corrupt are. Boycott them socially." International Anti-Corruption Day is being observed in eight divisions, 64 districts and 495 upazilas of the country. International Anti-Corruption Day seeks to highlight the crucial link between anti-corruption and peace, security, and development. At its core is the notion that tackling this crime is the right and responsibility of everyone, and that only through cooperation and the involvement of every person and institution can we overcome the negative impact of this crime. Read: Basic Bank loan scam: HC orders ACC to complete probe in 3 months States, government officials, civil servants, law enforcement officers, media representatives, the private sector, civil society, academia, the public and youth alike all have a role to play in this.

Cyclonic storm Mandous over the Southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining area has moved west-northwestwards and intensified into a severe cyclonic storm over the same area. "There is no possibility of the severe cyclonic storm lashing the Bangladesh coast, and it is likely to cross over India's Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu coasts. It may weaken into a cyclone and then into a deep depression while making landfall," Meteorologist AKM Nazmul Haque of the Bangladesh Meteorology Department (BMD) told UNB. Read: 1,000 more cyclone shelters to be set up: Enamul The maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Mongla and Payra have been advised to keep hoisting distant warning signal No. 2, meaning a storm – wind speed of 62-88km per hour – has formed in the distant deep sea; ships may fall into danger if they leave the harbour. As of 6am today, the storm was centred about 1690km southwest of Chattogram port, 1640km southwest of Cox's Bazar port, 1560km southwest of Mongla port and 1565km southwest of Payra port. "All fishing boats and trawlers over North Bay and deep sea have been advised to come close to the coast and proceed with caution. They were also advised not to venture into the deep sea," the BMD said. Read: After playing down chances of Sitrang, Enamur now warns of December cyclone "The sea will remain very rough in areas near the cyclone centre, with the sustained wind speed within a 64km radius rising up to 117kph in gusts."

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday said the post of deputy leader in Parliament will be fulfilled by a woman again. “We’ve almost fulfilled Begum Rokeya’s dreams as we, four key persons, in Parliament– the Speaker, the Leader of the House, the Leader of the Opposition and the Deputy Leader of the House were women. Unfortunately, our deputy leader Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury passed away a few days ago. We’ll fulfill the vacant post by a woman again,” she said. The premier was speaking at a programme arranged in the city’s Osmani Memorial Auditorium to celebrate Begum Rokeya Day-2022 and distribute Begum Rokeya Padak-2022. Hasina handed over the prestigious medals to five women for their outstanding contributions towards the society, women education and women empowerment. The Women and Children Affairs Ministry organised the event marking the 142nd birth and 90th death anniversary of Begum Rokeya Shakhawat Hossain. Read more: PM hands over Begum Rokeya Padak to 5 women The PM focused on her endeavours to ensure the presence of women in different sectors and posts, including the higher court, the armed forces, Border Guard Bangladesh, the posts of secretary, deputy commissioner (DC), superintendent of police (SP) and even Officer In-charge (OC) after formation of her government in 1996 and 2009. “Today there is the presence of women everywhere,” she said. “We’ve largely implemented dreams of Begum Rokeya. Had she (Begum Rokeya) been alive today, she would be happy,” said  Hasina, adding that the AL government established a college and university after her (Rokeya’s) name and also arranged training for women in her birth place.    The five noted women who received Begum Rokeya Padak this year are --Rahima Khatun from Faridpur for her contribution to women's education; Prof Kamrun Nahar Begum (Advocate) from Chittagong for her contribution to the establishment of women's rights; Farida Yasmin from Khulna for her special contribution to women's socio-economic development; Dr Afroza Parveen from Narail for her contribution to the enlightenment of women through literature and culture; and Nasima Begum from Jhenaidah for her contribution in rural development. Read more: Don’t allow arsonists, anti-liberation forces to assume power: PM Dr Afroza Parveen, on behalf of recipients, shared her feelings on this occasion. Each recipient received a gold medal, a cheque for Tk 4 lakh, and a certificate of appreciation. State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Fazilatun Nessa Indira chaired the event, while women and children secretary Md. Hasanuzzaman Kallol delivered the welcome speech. The PM said Begum Rokeya had dreamt that one day women would be judges, magistrates, take different responsibilities and be present everywhere. “We’re on the way now to gradually attain what she had desired,” she said. Recalling the women’s participation in the country’s freedom struggles, S Hasina said both men and women had also equally joined the Language Movement in 1952. She said the contribution of Begum Rokeya is there behind today’s achievements over women education and awakening of women. “Hadn’t she received education and taken steps for women's education breaking the stalemate, none of us could be in our present positions,” she said. She said Begum Rokeya showed the women the path of standing on their own-feet by receiving education and attaining economic-dependency. The premier asked all to value the household work as the management of household affairs is a huge task but remains uncounted. She highlighted different steps implemented and taken by her government for the wellbeing of the women. “We’ve started construction of hostels for employed women even in district and upazila level,” said Sheikh Hasina.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday handed over the Begum Rokeya Padak 2022 to five women for their outstanding contributions towards society, women's education and women empowerment. Sheikh Hasina distributed the Padak at a programme in the city's Osmani Memorial Auditorium, marking the 142nd birth and 90th death anniversary of Begum Rokeya Shakhawat Hossain. The women and children affairs ministry arranged the event to celebrate Begum Rokeya Day 2022 and distribute Begum Rokeya Padak 2022. Read more: Arun Kumar, Anwara Syed, Md Eunus win Geetanjali Sammanana Padak Rahima Khatun from Faridpur received the award this year for her contribution to women's education, Professor Kamrun Nahar Begum (Advocate) from Chattogram for her contribution to the establishment of women's rights, Farida Yasmin from Khulna for her special contribution to women's socio-economic development, Dr Afroza Parveen from Narail for her contribution to the enlightenment of women through literature and culture, and Nasima Begum from Jhenaidah for her contribution to rural development. Dr Afroza, on behalf of the recipients, shared her feelings on this occasion. Each of the recipients received a gold medal, a cheque for Tk4 lakh, and a certificate of appreciation. Read more: 5 personalities receive Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib Padak State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Fazilatun Nessa Indira chaired the event, while Women and Children Secretary Md Hasanuzzaman Kallol delivered the welcome speech.

A woman in Dhaka's Hazaribagh committed suicide Thursday after killing her two children, police said. The bodies of the woman and her children were found at a rented house in the Gadighar area of Rayer Bazar of Hazaribagh around 10pm, Officer-In-charge (OC) of Hazaribagh Police Station Saidul Haque Bhuiyan said. "We're suspecting that a domestic dispute led to the killing and the suicide. We're currently trying to find out the identities of the deceased and the cause of the death of the children," the OC added. Read: Ninth-grader ‘kills self’ in Barishal

Icddr,b Diagnostic Laboratories opened a specimen collection booth inside Gulshan Lake Park in Dhaka in partnership with the Gulshan Society Thursday. The specimen collection booth inside Gulshan Lake Park will operate from 7am to 2pm every day, throughout the year. Anyone will be able to use the specimen collection booth by walking in, without any prior appointment. Barrister Sarwat Siraj, secretary general of Gulshan Society, Dr Tahmeed Ahmed, executive director of icddr,b and Dr Dinesh Mondal, acting senior director of the laboratory sciences and services division of icddr,b, inaugurated the booth. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between icddr,b and Gulshan Society on the occasion. Read: icddr,b, B-SCAN to initiate WASH assessment for people with disabilities, older people Sarwat said: "Gulshan Society is committed to ensuring community engagement in all our activities. This collaboration will bring world-class services of icddr'b to the doorstep of Gulshan residents." Dr Tahmeed said, "This specimen collection booth is a reaffirmation of icddr,b's commitment to helping strengthen the healthcare services of Bangladesh. We are very grateful to Gulshan Society for providing us with this wonderful facility for specimen collection, which I know will help this community greatly."

After holding a meeting for two hours with Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Khondker Golam Faruk on Thursday night, BNP leaders are yet to decide where they will hold their upcoming divisional rally in Dhaka—Kamlapur Stadium or Mirpur Bangla College Ground. After the meeting, BNP Vice President Barkat Ullah Bulu told UNB that they were going to visit the two venues and will finalise their decision about holding the rally in any of the venues in consultation with their party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and the standing committee members. Read: Nayapaltan clash: 445 BNP activists including Rizvi, Annie sent to jail, 2 get bail “We’re now going to visit the two venues and if we can choose any one of them then we’ll talk to our party senior leaders,” Bulu said. Bulu said that they also discussed with DMP authorities about Wednesday’s police action, raid at their party office and arrest of their party leaders and activists. “We told them (DMP officials) to reopen our office and they (Police) said that the office will be reopened and BNP leaders and activists can go there,” Bulu added. The BNP leader further said that they raised the issue of the release of their arrested party leaders during the meeting. In return, DMP officials said that two of the arrested leaders have already received bail and police won’t file remand prayers against the rest and the arrested BNP leaders may get bail soon. Earlier, a six-member BNP delegation led by Bulu went to the DMP Commissioner’s office and held the meeting. The BNP delegation included Advocate AJ Mohammad Ali, Advocate Ahmed Azam Khan, Prof Dr AZM Zahid Hossain and Barrister Kaysar Kamal. Read: No rally to be allowed on streets: Home Minister On Wednesday, police fired teargas and used batons during a clash with BNP activists at Nayapalton, leaving a man dead and 50 others injured. Police arrested over 150 BNP leaders and activists including BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, its south city unit convenor Abdus Salam, joint secretary general Khairul Kabir Khokon,  north city unit convener Amanullah Aman after conducting  a drive in the BNP office. The clash broke out around 3 pm when slogan-chanting BNP leaders and activists took position outside the party office and defied police order to leave the place, witnesses said.

A validation workshop was held on the updated Climate Change Gender Action Plan (CcGAP) Thursday at a Dhaka hotel to share the updated CcGAP 2022 with a wide range of officials and practitioners in climate change and gender. UN Women in partnership with Bangladesh Climate Change Trust (BCCT) under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) with technical support from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS), and Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research (C3ER) drove the update process. The first CcGAP was produced in 2013 when the attempt was to align it with the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP 2009). The MoEFCC took the initiative to revise it as a lot of advancements had taken place since at the international and national levels, such as Goal 13 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Paris Climate Agreement, Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan, Delta Plan, Perspective Plan, and National Adaptation Plan (NAP). Read: Dnet arranges workshop on responsible digital citizenship The CcGAP needs to align with all these key drivers for climate change to make the plan effective and thus enhance the process of gender mainstreaming into the national policies, strategies, and sectoral plans. Managing Director (Additional Secretary) of Bangladesh Climate Change Trust (BCCT) Nurun Naher Hena attended the event as chief guest. Chaired by Diya Nanda, deputy country representative of UN Women, Nayoka Martinez Backstrom, first secretary (environment and climate change) at the Embassy of Sweden, Raquibul Amin, country representative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Md Khairuzzaman, director (planning, development, and negotiation) of BCCT), and Dilruba Haider, programme specialist of UN Women, spoke at the event. Read: Nagad holds workshop on prevention of money laundering, terror financing Nurun Naher said: "We need to develop action plans and toolkits like Climate Change Gender Action Plan to ensure development projects and policies related to climate change and other sectors are gender-responsive. That's how the gap with regard to gender integration into mainstreaming sectors like climate change can be addressed." Nayoka Martinez said: "The updated Climate Change Gender Action Plan has proposed a number of indicators. An evidence-based monitoring mechanism would strengthen the process of tracking progress that would also enable the implementation of the action plans." Diya said: "Integration of sex-disaggregated data is critical to mainstream gender in the sector-specific policies and strategies. Women are disproportionately affected due to societal norms, systemic gender inequalities, reproductive obligations, and so on." "So, collection of Sex, Age, and Disability Disaggregated Data (SADDD) in every aspect is crucial to address the different needs and vulnerabilities of different groups of marginalised people."