United News of Bangladesh

Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen visited the month-long ‘Amar Ekushey Boi Mela’ Friday afternoon. He accompanied by his spouse came to the fair to visit it and gifted books to children after buying from stalls. Upon his arrival at 3 pm, the ambassador was welcomed by a lion dance and other Chinese traditions in front of the China Book House, (stall no 791-792). After exchanging greetings, Yao entered the Chinese stall and gave books to children from it. Later, he visited other stalls on the fair premises of Bangla Academy and Suhrawardy Uddyan and bought two books from two stalls. After visiting the fair, the ambassador shared his feelings with the media about his visit. He said, “This is the second time I’m visiting this book fair with my wife. I’m very happy to see most of the books written in Bangla which is also an indicator of enriched Bangla culture and literature. There are cultural presentations I think this will help to enrich both Bangla and Chinese cultures.”

Two people, including a woman, died in separate road accidents in Chapainawabganj Sadar upazila on Friday morning. The deceased were identified as Khairunnesa, 65, wife of Ruhul Amin of Chaipara Nimgachhi area of Sadar municipality and Rafi, 8, son of Kawsar of Kalinagar area of Shibganj upazila of the district. Confirming the accidents, Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mintoo Rahman said a sand-laden truck ran over the woman while crossing a road in the Malopara area around 11 am, leaving her dead on the spot. The body was sent to the Sadar hospital morgue for an autopsy, he said. Meanwhile, a speeding motorbike hit an autorickshaw carrying the boy from behind at the Shibtala intersection of the district headquarters around 10:30 am, leaving him critically injured. He succumbed to his injuries on the way to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital from Sadar Hospital, the OC said. Legal action will be taken in this regard, he added.

Within a few hours of the decision to hike the price of sugar, the government on Thursday night shifted from its move considering the arrival of the holy Ramadan and suffering of people. A media release signed by Industries Ministry’s Senior Secretary Zakia Sultana on Thursday night said that the retail price of per kilogram of sugar will be sold following the previous price at TK 140. New market price of per kg sugar Tk160 Earlier in the morning, the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industry Corporation (BSFIC) set the maximum retail price of the state-owned mills producing sugar at Tk 160 per kg, an increase by Tk 20 per kg. Onion, sugar likely to be imported from India before Ramadan: State Minister The notification stated that the sale price of sugar produced by the BSFIC had been fixed in line with the product's international and domestic market price. Bangladesh seeks to import more onion and sugar from India before Ramadan

Warning that strict actions would be taken against irregularities in the health sector, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Samanta Lal Sen said on Thursday private medical centres, clinics and diagnostic centres will have to abide by the government rules to run operations from now on. “This is the reason--we have been noticing that some unscrupulous people are doing business with the lives of the people by opening hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centres everywhere for business interests without caring the government rules,” he said. Health Minister lauds country's doctors for skills, talent after successful separation of conjoined twins at BSMMU The minister said this in a special statement on Thursday afternoon. Samanta said there are 1200 unregistered health centres with no skilled physicians, nurses and technicians, raising concerns over how those are running and availing patients. 98 percent of the country's demand for medicine is produced locally: Health Minister He informed that they have already shut 1000 unregistered healthcare centres in the country and efforts were underway to close the rest ones. The minister said they have set a 10-point guideline for the private healthcare providing institutions while strict actions including cancellation of licensces will be taken if the instructions are ignored. Health Minister briefs JS on ongoing efforts to curb dengue epidemic Here the guidelines are mentioned below 1. The copy of the license of the private clinic,hospital and diagnostics must be permanently displayed in a visible place in front of the main entrance of the institution. 2. For all private health care institutions, there should be one designated responsible information officer or employee for storing and supplying all the information of that organization and his photo and mobile number should be displayed in a visible place. 3. Organisations that have the name as diagnostic and hospital but only diagnostic or hospital licence cannot provide the services mentioned in the name in any way without having a licence. 4. In the case of diagnostic centre or pathological laboratory, no other examination can be done in any way except the prescribed examination in the category in which the license is obtained and according to the category, pathology or microbiology, biochemistry and radiology specialists will be appointed. 5. In the case of private clinics or hospitals, all the conditions should be mandatorily implemented according to the type of license and the number of beds. 6. All doctors engaged in hospitals or clinics and diagnostic centres must preserve copies of professional degree certificates, updated registration of BMDC and appointment letters. 7. In the case of a hospital or clinic, for any type of operation or surgery or procedure, the registered physician must be kept as the surgeon's assistant. 8. Under no circumstances can anesthesia be provided in chambers or diagnostic centers except in licensed or registered hospitals and clinics. No operation or surgery or interventional procedure can be done without a BMDC recognised specialist anesthetist. 9. All private registered or licensed hospitals or clinics must comply with the Labour Room Protocol. 10.Operation theatres in registered or licensed hospitals or clinics must adhere to the Operation Theatre Etiquette.

Two people were killed and two others injured as a fuel-laden lorry knocked down a human hauler from behind in Ishwarganj municipality of Mymensingh district on Thursday. The deceased were Abdus Sattar, 60, son of late Amir Uddin and Rabin Miah, 20, son of Abdul Motaleb, hailing from Gouripur upazila and Ishwarganj municipality under the district respectively. The injured are human hauler driver Akash Miah and its passenger Shahina Parven, 30. Police and witnesses said the speeding lorry crashed into the human hauler from behind when it was dropping passengers in Rahmatganj area under Ishwarganj municipality on Mymensingh-Kishoreganj regional road in the afternoon, leaving four people injured. The injured were rushed to Ishwarganj upazila health complex where physicians declared Sattar dead upon arrival, they said. Later, the injured were shifted to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital where Rabin succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment and the rest were receiving treatment, they said. Confirming the matter, Ishwarganj police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Farid Ahmed said they seized both the vehicles in this connection. Though the lorry driver managed to flee, a legal process was underway in this connection, he added.

The number of registered fishermen in the country is 18.03 lakh, Minister of Fisheries and Livestock Resources Minister Abdur Rahman told Parliament on Thursday. He said this while replying to a question of Awami League MP elected from Bagerhat HM Badiuzzaman. The number of registered fishermen in the whole country including coastal area fishermen is 18,03,418. “Out of this, 14 lakh ID cards have been issued,” the minister said. In response to a question from ruling party MP elected from Gaibandha-3 Umme Kulsum Smriti, the minister said that under the Livestock Department the Livestock Research Institute produces 17 types of vaccines for 15 deadly infectious diseases of cattle and poultry. All these vaccines are distributed among the marginal farmers at a subsidised price fixed by the government, the minister said. He said that the government has produced and distributed some 32.86 crore doses of cattle and poultry vaccines in the financial year 2022-23, especially among the marginal farmers aiming to make the vaccines available.

State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat on Thursday said that the current government always welcomes constructive criticism. The government just wants to challenge misinformation and disinformation with true information, he said. The state minister said this in an interview with visiting German journalists at his ministry office in the Bangladesh Secretariat this noon. The journalists included Richard Beil, Michael Stang, Susann Kreutzmann, Aljoscha Hartmann, Julia Theres Held, Natalie Mayroth and Benjamin Bernd Thomas. Asked about Bangladesh's recent reaction over Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) latest report and ranking on Bangladesh’s press freedom released in 2023, Arafat said, “I did not criticise the report and ranking published on the RSF website, but presented factual information as the report is available on the website till 2024.” The RSF report contains a lot of wrong information, he said, adding, “In response, I have presented the facts to the media with evidence and sent a letter to the RSF in this regard."

The newly elected executive committee of the Forum for Energy Reporters Bangladesh (FERB), an organisation of the energy reporters, called on State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid at his office at the ministry on Thursday. Welcoming the FERB leaders, the state minister said that journalism has a big role in the development of the country. "They can help prevent disinformation through accurate reporting. No one is above any error. So, a correct reporting can play a major role in making correct decision", he added. He said the people will be benefited if the journalists report on the basis of facts. He observed that the power and energy sector has many technical issues for which the journalists need training to understand the sector better. "Training on technical issues will help improve their skill in journalism", he said, adding that the Power and Energy Ministry will extend cooperation and take necessary measures to arrange training programmes on technical issues. FERB Chairman Md. Shamim Jahangir, Executive Director Serazul Islam Siraj, Vice Chairman Lutfar Rahman Kakon, Director (Development & Finance) Hasnain Imtiaz, Director (Research & Training) Nazmul Haque Likhan, Director (Data Bank) Md Yamin and Executive Members – Hasan Azad, Shahed Siddiqui and Faiz Ahmed Khan Tushar were present on the occasion. END/UNB/SH/JA

An official of the Department of Environment (DoE) and his wife have died due to sudden illness in the city, police said. But the reasons have remained unclear. Police said they need to wait to have a clear picture. The deceased were identified as Nazmul Ahsan, Director (Dhaka region) of the DoE, and his wife Nahid Binte Alam (48). Police said that doctors declared Ahsan dead after he was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon while his wife died on Thursday morning as she was undergoing treatment in the hospital. The bodies were sent to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital morgue for postmortem. Quoting family members, Officer-in-charge of Mirpur Model Police Station Munshi Sabbir Ahmed said both Ahsan and his wife became seriously sick at their residence of Mirpur-2 Government officers' staff quarters. Ahsan was rushed to Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital on Wednesday afternoon, when the duty doctor declared him dead. His wife was admitted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) on Wednesday night. She died there at 9:30 am on Thursday, the OC said. When asked about the cause of their sudden illness, the OC said that the actual reason behind the illness will be known after getting the postmortem reports.

Public Administration Minister Farhad Hossain on Thursday said that some 3,58,237 persons have been appointed in various government institutions during the last tenure of Awami League (2019-2023). The minister disclosed this information in response to the question of independent MP elected from Kishoreganj Sohrab Uddin. He said that In the last five years, some 20, 264 people have been appointed under the Ministry of Public Administration.  Under this ministry, 1,341 people have been appointed from Chattogram while  1,235 persons were appointed from Dhaka. He said that the lowest 34 people appointed were from Bandarban while the second highest 67 people were from Meherpur district.