United News of Bangladesh

The four-day annual conference of the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) is going to kick off tomorrow morning (March 3, 2024). Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to open it at 10:30 am at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka, said Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain while briefing reporters at the Secretariat on Saturday. He said a total of 56 ministries, divisions, organizations and the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) will take part in the conference. This time there will be a total of 30 sessions, including 25 working sessions, with various ministries in the DC conference that will end on Wednesday. On the occasion of the conference, the DCs will meet the Chief Justice and the Speaker and take instructions from them, said the cabinet secretary. Though every year there had been a session with the President, this time it was excluded due to the President's stay at abroad. In the conference the deputy commissioners will exchange views with the relevant ministries for the implementation of various policies, strategies and instructions of the government, he said. The secretary informed that they received 356 proposals from the DCs, divisional commissioners for the conference. The proposals included increasing public services, reducing public suffering, constructing roads and bridges, developing tourism, amending laws or rules and protecting public interest. Most of the proposals are related to the road transport and highways division. There are a total of 22 proposals in this regard, he said. It may be mentioned that the DCs conference is organised every year to exchange views between the policy-makers of the government and the DCs and to provide necessary directions.    

Bangladesh reported 34 more COVID-19 cases in 24 hours till Saturday morning. With the new numbers, the country's total COVID-19 caseload rose to 2,048,551, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The official death toll from the disease remained unchanged at 29,491 as no new fatalities were reported during this period. The daily case test positivity rate stood at 7.25 percent as 469 samples were tested, said the DGHS. The recovery and death rates remained unchanged at 98.39 per cent and 1.44 percent, respectively.

Fire fighters has doused the fire, which broke out at Gausul Azam Market in the capital's Nilkhet area on Saturday afternoon, within one hour. Sources at the Fire Service headquarters' control room said, the fire broke out around 4:36 pm. Two fire fighter units rushed to the spot and doused the flame at around 5:35 pm, said Fire Service Headquarters control room Duty Officer Ershad Hossain. The fire was originated due to electric short circuit and no causality was reported in the incident, he added.

State Minister for Commerce Ahasanul Islam Titu said that the retail price of edible oil will be Tk 163 per litre in the retail market. He said this to reporters after a program organised by women entrepreneurs at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Dhaka’s Agargaon on Saturday. The state minister said that 50000 tonnes of onion will come from India this week. As a result, the prices of onions will be under control in the market. Apart from this, in the next two days, edible oil will be sold at the rate of Tk 163 per litre in the retail market. He said that he had a bilateral discussion with India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal during the thirteenth ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.  There, India's commerce minister said that he had ordered to issue a letter to send 50,000 tonnes of onion to Bangladesh. They received that letter yesterday. The state minister for commerce said that onions will come to the country from this week. The government has taken the initiative to reduce the prices of certain types of dates in the market by giving duty exemptions. The state minister said, there are at least 10 types of dates in the market. Among these, an initiative has been taken to reduce the price of Zaidi dates, which come in sacks.    

Thirteenth Inter-school Bangla Olympiad 2024 has been completed with the distribution of more than 150 awards from 9 am to 3 pm at International Hope School premises in Uttara. The prizes were handed over to the winners at the International Hope School auditorium. Like every year, the Inter-School Bangla Olympiad was held in grand style with the participation of a large number of students from English medium and English version schools. Organized by International Hope School Bangladesh, the 13th Inter-School Bengali Olympiad was held in a very crowded event with the participation of 1628 students from 105 schools across the country. This time the International Mother Language Institute was the partner of this event. During the day-long program, contestants participated in age-wise categories of Essay Writing, Recitation, Dance, Singing, Drawing, Quiz and Present Speech. Competitions are held in a few categories in 7 categories – Essay, Recitation, Music, Painting, Impromptu Speech, Dance and Bengali Quiz. Director General of International Mother Language Institute Mr. Dr. hakeem Arif was present as the chief guest while Chairman of International Hope School Bangladesh Mr. Abdil Aziz Jaldoshov and Principal Roksana Zarin gave welcome speech. Ekushey medalist distinguished reciter Shimul Mustafa conducted the programme Apart from award distribution, there was a mesmerizing cultural performance by the winners of the recitation, music and dance competitions. In the recitation competition, Soma Advitya, a student of Sunnydale School, won first place in the recitation competition, Tazkia Humaira Adra of Abdul Quader Mollah College, Narsingdi first in the B category and Shamayla Chowdhury, a student of BF Shaheen English Medium School, won the first place in the C category. Indian student of Australian International School Semayuta Dheram, Sri Lankan student HPNH Nanayakkara of Gulshan branch of International Hope School Bangladesh who won the foreign student category in the music competition performed music. Sifat Rizwan Nafi, student of BF Shaheen English Medium School, first runner-up in category B, Ariba Shams, first runner-up of Summerfield International School, group A, Sumat Saqlain Pardika, first runner-up of Mastermind School, group C also performed music. International Hope School and Play Pen School won joint first place in Group A of the dance competition by performing team dance. Group dance was also performed by the students of First Navy Anchorage School and College B Group. Arav Ariz Haque of BF Shaheen English Medium School in Group A, Lami Najum of St. Joseph International School in Group B, Fabiha Tasneem of Halishahar Cantonment Public School and College in Group C won the first place in the Bangla Quiz competition. Sehrish Rahman of Australian International School won first place in drawing, Ranvijoy Dhar of Mastermind English School first in B category and Maisha binte Rashid of Navy Anchorage first in C category. Noor Nabi of South Point School and College and Fahmiah Fahreen of Play Pen School jointly won first place in Essay Competition, Abian Aydin of Cardiff International School and Uzayer Faraz Mansoor of Alor Dhara School jointly won first place in B category. Raisa Rahman of Navy Anchorage School won first place in Improvised Speech. Director general of the International Mother Language Institute Hakeem Arif said, "Bangla Olympiad is one of the best events in the country about Bengali language and culture. International Mother Language Institute has been associated with this glorious event since last year.We believe that these students will shine our face in the country and abroad in the future." Roksana Zarin, Principal of International Hope School Bangladesh, said, "International Hope School Bangladesh is happy and proud to organize this competition of Bengali language practice every year. In the meantime, the Olympiad has become a national competition of English schools. Not only nationally, I would say, Bengali Olympiad is spreading in the international arena as well. The judges of the competition were the country's best poets-literary-artists-educators. This year Ekushey medalist reciters Shimul Mustafa, Rupa Chakraborty, prominent.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is the leading risk factor for heart disease and accounts for more than 240,000 deaths annually in Bangladesh. This preventable cause of heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease can be tackled by strengthening the primary health care system and increasing allocation in the health budget. Such information was highlighted during a Meet the Press event titled "Improving Cardiovascular Health in Bangladesh" held at the InterContinental Dhaka in the capital on Saturday (02 March 2024).  The event was jointly organized by the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh (NHFB), PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress), Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), and Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL). “In Bangladesh, one out of every four adults has hypertension. Bangladesh has made rapid progress preventing deaths from infectious diseases. Now the country can also be a world leader preventing heart attacks and strokes. Bangladesh has made dramatic progress by increasing 20-fold the number of patients on treatment while also doubling the quality of treatment. Investing in the strengthening of primary care services to provide blood pressure treatment can prevent heart attacks and strokes, saving many lives,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives and former Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The prevalence of hypertension and other hypertension-related non-communicable diseases in Bangladesh is rapidly increasing due to an aging population, rapid urbanization, increases in sedentary lifestyle, processed food consumption, and other socioeconomic and lifestyle factors. To alleviate the burden of non-communicable diseases imposed by hypertension, it is imperative to control blood pressure within the primary healthcare system and ensure the necessary financing is in place to sustain this effort. Highlighting sodium as one of the major risk factors for hypertension, Dr Frieden said, “Government policies can reduce sodium intake and prevent hypertension. Globally, excess sodium consumption leads to almost 2 million deaths each year. Four out of five of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.”  Non-Communicable Disease Control Program (NCDC), Directorate General of Health Services (NCDC DGHS) of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the NHFB have been collaborating with RTSL, a global health non-profit organization, to implement a program that strengthens the detection, treatment and follow-up of hypertension in primary care since 2018.  “Substantial progress has been made over the past several years with the Bangladesh Hypertension Control Initiative,” said Professor Dr. Sohel Reza Choudhury, Head of Department of Epidemiology & Research, National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh. “The program is now active in 171 Upazilla Health Complexes and the blood pressure control rate has doubled from 26% to 52%. Scaling this program will mean more lives improved and saved throughout Bangladesh.” GHAI, along with its partners, also advocates for the improvement of cardiovascular health in Bangladesh. “Health programs must be comprehensive,” said Muhammad Ruhul Quddus, Bangladesh Country Lead of GHAI. “We look forward to supporting the continued progress in Bangladesh in controlling blood pressure, increasing medication access, and reducing salt consumption.” ABM Zubair, Executive Director of PROGGA, delivered the closing remark at the event.    

Salman F Rahman, Private Industries and Investment Adviser to the Prime Minister, on Saturday said the government wants to achieve a target of 30 percent adoption of electric vehicles in the country by 2030 and materialize Smart Bangladesh vision by 2041.  “For both these things to happen, it’s important that electric vehicles are made available in the country so that people can make smart choices by buying EVs in great numbers. For this reason, I welcome BYD’s move to open its first showroom in the country,” he said while inaugurating a showroom as the chief guest. Bangladesh's Fawzia Karim named among International Women of Courage Award recipients for 2024 Global NEV giant BYD officially opened its first showroom in Bangladesh, making it easier for conscious people to experience electric vehicles and contribute to sustainable living. The Bangladesh government has a vision to phase out traditional fossil fuel-powered cars and introduce electric vehicles instead to tackle carbon emission.  But the adoption of electric vehicles is still in the early phase owing to the lack of EVs in the domestic market.  This step (of opening up a showroom in the domestic market) will help in adoption of EVs in the country. CG Runner BD Ltd has taken the initiative to introduce global NEV giant BYD in the country.  The showroom is located in the Tejgaon industrial area in Dhaka (340, Haque Centre, Shahid Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani). Covering 8,400 square feet, it can accommodate 5 cars at a time.  At the beginning, the brand’s flagship model BYD Seal (sedan) with its two variants — Premium Variant with an extended milage of 570 Km (Rear Drive) and Performance Variant with a milage of 520Km AWD (All-Wheel Drive) — will be up for sale at the showroom.  Health Minister calls for Rajuk and Public Works Ministry to intensify inspections after Bailey Road Blaze The BYD SEAL showcases a distinctive "Ocean Aesthetics" design and seamlessly integrates a suite of state-of-the-art technologies developed by BYD including their e-platform 3.0, innovative CTB (Cell-to-Body) technology, Blade Battery and iTAC (intelligent Torture Adaptation Control). It comes with a slanted roofline, panoramic glass roof, short rear deck, waterdrop mirrors, wave waistline, and LED lights.   Customers can experience the cars in the showroom.  The showroom will house two charging stations (AC and DC) to be installed inside for the convenience of BYD car owners.  CG Runner BD LTD is planning to open more showrooms and service centers in near future so that the adoption of EVs can be expedited.

In the wake of the devastating fire on Bailey Road that claimed 46 lives, Health Minister Dr. Samanta Lal Sen has called for stringent action from Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) and the Public Works Ministry to avert future catastrophes.  Speaking on Saturday, the Minister expressed profound concern over the tragedy and the necessity for rigorous safety measures. “Rajuk and the Public Works Ministry must adopt a proactive stance to ensure such a tragedy is never repeated,” Dr. Sen remarked after his participation in the 23rd International Scientific Seminar held in Dhaka. He emphasized the critical need for these authorities to conduct thorough inspections to identify buildings at risk of fire. By doing so, Dr. Sen believes, the frequency of fire incidents can be significantly reduced in the future. In addition to fire safety, Dr. Sen addressed the state of healthcare facilities in Bangladesh, advocating for the coexistence of private and government hospitals to meet the public's healthcare needs. However, he insisted that all healthcare institutions must adhere to established regulations and standards. “The regulation of hospitals is non-negotiable. Our drive against irregularities and non-compliance in healthcare facilities will persist to ensure the safety and well-being of our citizens,” he affirmed.  

The two-day Zakat Fair 2024 began in Dhaka's Aloki Convention Centre with a call to the wealthy to contribute through zakat in order to eradicate poverty. Zakat could be an ethics-based instrument to transform financial inclusion to financial empowerment of the poor, said eminent economist and former advisor to caretaker government Professor Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman while speckling at the inaugural seminar "CZM's Zakat-based Programs: A pioneering Innovation for Poverty Alleviation".   Centre for Zakat Management (CZM) organised the event with the theme of 'Making a Difference with zakat'. Hossain Zillur Rahman said that globally financial inclusion is a popular term in the economy. "But zakat could play a major role in the case of financial empowerment of the poverty-stricken people".  Urging the zakat management authority to be more cautious about the management cost, he said, zakat could serve more people if management cost could be lowered. With Md Shahjahan Mia, Prof Emeritus of University of Southern Queensland of Australia, in the chair, the inaugural function was addressed among others by former chief election commissioner Justice Abdur Rouf, former executive director of Bangladesh Bank Abdul Awal Sarker, deputy managing director of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) Dr Fazle Rabbi Sadek Ahmed, former secretary of the government Arastu Khan, and Islamic scholar Prof Mokhter Ahmed. Aga Khan Academy's commitment to quality education aligns with Smart Bangladesh vision  A number of leading business houses including Rahimafrooz, Khadim Ceramics, Kohinoor Chemicals, Rahim Steel, South Bridge, Hajj Finance Company Limited, are sponsoring the Zakat Fair to facilitate people to know the details of business zakat calculation methods including the accurate calculation of personal zakat. Zakat Fair will remain open for all from 9 am to 7 pm. It will have stalls of various financial and zakat institutions including a zakat consultation desk, and stalls of various Islamic books. Justice Abdur Rouf said that zakat was introduced in Islam so that wealth accumulation only in the hands of a few wealthy people could be prevented.  Chief executive officer of CZM Dr Mohammad Ayub Mia said the organisation has so far had 15 lakh people in the last 15 years and now 12,000 people are regularly getting food support from the organisation. Abdul Awal Sarker said if zakat is properly collected, there would be a fund of Tk 80,000 crore annually which would be enough to utilise in alleviating the country's poverty.    A total of six sessions will be held during this year's Zakat Fair. A seminar on 'Importance of Zakat, Ushar and Waqf in Human Welfare' will be held for Khatibs and Imams at 11 am and a round table session on 'Role of Islamic Social Finance in Reducing Inequality' will be held in the afternoon on Sunday. Prof. Wahiduddin Mahmud, Chairman, Economic Research Group, will be present as the chief guest in the round table meeting to be chaired by Abdul Mueed Chowdhury, former advisor of caretaker government. Former chief election commissioner Justice Muhammad Abdur Rauf, former minister M Nuruddin Khan, Emeritus Professor Dr. Shahjahan Khan, Islami Bank's Consultative Forum Vice Chairman AKM Nurul Bulbul and many other eminent personalities of the society are expected to attend the Zakat Fair as special guests and speakers. 

Gazi Muhammad Jewel Rana, who used to  work as a chef in ‘Ambasia’ restaurant of blaze-hit Bailey Road building, met a dreadful death when he jumped off it in a desperate bid to save his life. The lone bread earner’s sudden death came as bolt from the blue for Jewel’s poor family. “My son has left us, what we’ll do now,” Jewel’s wailing mother Fatema Begum said when his body was taken to Madhukhali village in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali district on Friday from Dhaka Medical College Hospital. A pall of gloom descended the area when Jewel, 35, was laid to eternal rest at his family graveyard there after Asar prayers.  Owners of Chumuk, manager of Kacchi Bhai detained over Bailey Road inferno He along with his wife Rebeka Sultana, two children—Tasmim, 8 and Taifur, 3—used to live in an area in Dhaka near Baily Road. On the fateful night, Jewel jumped off the sixth-floor of the multi-storey building after breaking the windowpanes to save himself, Rakib Akon, nephew of Jewel, who used to work in the same restaurant, told UNB over phone. Rakib said when the fire broke out, he along with his uncle and another staff came down the fourth floor of the building. “At first, he and another one climbed down from the building using a dish cable. After breaking the windowpanes my uncle sat on an air-conditioner to jump from it but the air-conditioner collapsed,” said Rakib. Jewel got severe injuries on his head and body while falling from the building and died on the spot, he said. Local people said Jewel could not come to village for the wedding ceremony of her sister Hafiza one month ago as he failed to manage leave. He had a plan to come to his village before the month of Ramadan. Kawsar Gazi, a UP member of Mithaganj Union, said Jewel’s father is a day labourer and the family was dependent on Jewel’s income. Bailey Road Fire: 39 out of 46 bodies handed over to families Now the whole family is shattered over his unexpected death. Jahangir Hossain, Kalapara Upazila Nirbahi Officer assured that the local administration will provide necessary assistance to the family. At least 46 people, including 26 women and three children, were killed and 22 critically injured in the fire that broke out at the seven-storey ‘Green Cozy’ building on Bailey Road in Dhaka on Thursday night.