United News of Bangladesh

Another Bangladeshi youth was shot dead by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) along Aunghorpota border in Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat early Sunday within a week of killing a Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) member by them along Jashore’s Benapole border . The deceased, Rafiul Islam Tuklu, 33, is son of Afzal Hossain of Dangarpara village under Dahagram union of the upazila. Locals said a gang of five to six smugglers were trying to cross the border between Bangladesh and India early this morning. Sensing the presence of the traffickers, members of the BSF-6 Battalion opened firing, leaving him dead on the spot, they said. Commander Amanuzzaman Aman of the BGB-51 Battalion in Rangpur said the youth was killed inside the India territory, 100 to 150 yards off the border. Later, the BSF members took away the body, he said, adding that a commander-level flag meeting will be held in this connection. The body will be handed over by BSF after autopsy, the BGB officer added.

The northern districts of Dinajpur and Panchagarh have been shivering with severe cold as the country’s lowest 5.3 and 5.5 degree Celsius temperatures, respectively, were recorded in the districts this morning, significantly disrupting daily life. As per the government’s previous directive, all primary and secondary-level schools and madrasas have remained closed due to the bone-chilling cold. Most people of the northern districts have been staying indoors, and vehicles were seen running with headlights on the streets due to poor visibility. Read: As cold weather continues, Dhaka’s air quality still ‘unhealthy’ Low-income people were seen burning straws at various intersections and tea shops in both districts. Dianjpur Meteorological Office’s official Asaduzzaman Babu said they recorded a 5.3 degree Celsius temperature at 9 am while it was 5.5 degree Celsius at 6 am. He said the district’s temperatures had been fluctuating from 6 to 12 degrees Celsius before today but it dropped to 5.3 degrees this morning. Md Rasel Shah, officer-in-charge of Tetulia Meteorological Observatory, said this year’s lowest temperature 5.5 degrees Celsius, also lowest in the last five years in the district, was recorded at 6 am today. The temperature recorded yesterday was 7.2 degree Celsius. Read: Weather forecast: Fog across the country with light rain in Ctg, BMD says The frosty cold wind blowing from the north and dense fog are making the nights exceptionally difficult, he said. On the other hand, Chuadanga has also been shivering in severe cold, at 7.1 degrees Celsius, at 9 am. A mild cold wave has been blowing over the district as the temperature dropped below 9 degrees. The temperature may drop further tomorrow and there is a possibility of rain in a day or two, according to the Met Office. Rakibul Hasan, officer-in-charge of Chuadanga First Class Meteorological Observatory, confirming the temperature said that the humidity in the air was 92 percent and this situation may persist for another day or two, he said. 

An unidentified youth was killed when a truck carrying bricks ran him over on Dhaka-Aricha Highway in Jaynabbari area in Savar last night, said police. Local highway police said the accident happened around 11 pm when the Aricha-bound truck ran him over in front of Chalantika Housing in Jaynabbari area, leaving him dead on the spot. Sub-inspector Jillur Rahman of Savar Highway Police Station confirmed the matter, saying that the body was brought to the police station from the spot. Though the truck could be seized, its driver managed to flee, he said, adding that they were trying to identify the youth.

After the Jatri Kalyan Samity and the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority produced wildly divergent figures for the number of deaths in the country from road accidents in 2023, a third organisation, the Road Safety Foundation's annual report on the same topic assumed greater importance. According to BRTA, as many as 5,024 people died in 5,495 road accidents across the country in 2023 while Jatri Kalyan Samity, a platform advocating passenger welfare, in a recently released report put the death toll at 7,902 from 6,261 road crashes - a difference of almost 3000. Now RSF, another civil society platform advocating safe roads, have come out with their report, which says 6,524 people, including 974 women and 1128 children, were killed and 11,407 others injured in 6911 road accidents in 2023. The death toll put out by RSF is almost exactly halfway between the BRTA and JKS numbers, and thus can only further confuse the public on how many people actually died in accidents. Prof A I Mahbub Uddin Ahmed, chairman of the Road Safety Foundation, formally disclosed his oreganisation's report at a press conference at its Dhanmondi office on Saturday. The RSF prepared the data based on reports published by nine national dailies, seven online news portals and electronic media and also on its own sources. JKS used largely the same methods. BRTA's data was collected from 64 districts after cross-checking with other stakeholders such as police, district administration, hospitals and mass media. In any case, the sheer distribution between the three numbers can only lead to more questions on how these numbers are being collected and their veracity. RSF's casualties by vehicle type According to the vehicle-wise statistics of fatalities in accidents, motorcyclists and riders are 2,487, which is 38.12% of total deaths , bus passengers are 274 , which is 4.19%, truck-pickup-covered van-tractor-trolley-lorry riders are 384 (5.88%), private car-microbus-ambulance-jeep passengers 229 (3.51%), three-wheeler passengers (easybike-CNG-autorickshaw-autovan-mixer-tempu-laguna) 1209 (18.53%), locally manufactured Passengers vehicles (Nasiman-Kariman-Bhatvati-Alamsadhu-Pakhivan-Chander Car-Mahindra-Tomtom) killed 296 (4.53%) and Bicycle-Pedal Rickshaw-Rickshaw van riders 193 (2.95%).

A woman reportedly hanged herself after killing her two children following a family feud at a house in Dumuria upazila of Khulna district on Saturday. The deceased were identified as Doly Begum, 38, wife of Mannan Sarder, a resident of Kamalpur village in the upazila, and her two children---six-year-old daughter Fatema and seven-month-old son Omar. On information, police rushed to the spot and recovered the bodies after breaking down the door of the room, Khulna Additional Superintendent of Police Mo Asif Iqbal said. He said police suspected that Doly might have killed her children before committing suicide between 8 am and 11 am over a family feud. “We are investigating the incident and the exact reason behind it will be known subject to investigation,” the police officer added.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Samanta Lal Sen has said healthcare services have to be improved at the grassroots level for the overall improvement of the country's medical system. “My aim is to improve healthcare services for reducing the sufferings of the common people,” he said. The minister said this while visiting Chittagong Medical College Hospital and Chittagong Medical University this afternoon. “We are working to remove the shortage of ICU and I hope the ICU shortage will be removed in future,” he added. Regarding sending doctors to rural hospitals, the health minister said, "We will work to send and keep doctors at the local hospitals but at the same time we have to keep in mind the safety of the doctors." "We will not lag behind in people's health care, we have started working, and we will move forward," he hoped. Earlier, the Health Minister visited Sitakunda Upazila Health Complex of Chittagong on Friday morning and exchanged views with various local health workers, doctors and nurses in the afternoon.

A passenger bus caught fire in the capital's Shahbagh area on Saturday night. The fire broke out at around 11:25 pm, said Mustazirur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Shahbagh Police Station. On information, a firefighting unit rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire. The fire might have originated from a technical fault, added the OC. Police are investigating the matter, he said. However, no causalities were reported in the fire.

The inner and outer parts of the steel structure of the Passive Heat Removal System (PHRS) Deflector were installed in the design position of unit 2 of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Project in just two days, which is a record for such operation, said Rosatom, the Russian contractor of the project. The PHRS operates without human interference and any power supply source. “Installing two parts of PHRS Deflector in the design position in two days is a record”, said Alexey Deriy, ASE Vice President and Director of Rooppur NPP construction project. The next step is the installation of steel structures of PHRS deflector service platforms and installation of air ducts of the passive heat removal system, he added. According to Rosatom, the Deflector is a metal cylinder made of stainless steel, which weighs 215 tons and has a diameter of about 25.5 meters. Installation of the PHRS Deflector takes place in two stages and is a complex job. The maximum allowable deviation during the installation of heavy steel structures weighing 135 and 80 tons on the spherical surface of the reactor building dome is 10 mm. The inner and outer parts of the deflector were installed in the design position at an elevation of +64.5 meters. Now the reactor building is 74.85 meters high. Two lead geodetic engineers, a team of five highly qualified welders, and 42 installers of steel structures were engaged in the works. The PHRS deflector is an aerodynamic structure designed to augment thrust in the ventilation channel and to increase the efficiency of the ventilation system. Operation of the entire system is based on natural circulation rules: the atmospheric air comes into heat exchangers, is heated up, then rises through air ducts to the outlet header located on top of the dome and returns to the atmosphere, thus cooling down the reactor compartment. Rooppur NPP has two units of Generation 3+ VVER-1200 reactors with a total capacity of 2,400MWe and is being constructed under the Russian design that fully complies with all the international safety requirements. The life cycle of the reactors is 60 years with the possibility of extension of the service life for another 20 years. The project is implemented by the Rosatom Engineering Division.

The construction work of a 6 kilometre long permanent embankment supported by GO bags on the left side of the erosion-prone Jamuna River to protect residents of two upazilas in Tangail and Manikganj was inaugurated on  Saturday. Thousands of people living in Salimabad, Balarampur and Nischintapur areas under Nagarpur upazila of Tangail district and Charkatari areas under Daulatpur upazila in Manikganj will get relief of the river erosion if the construction work of the dam is fully completed. International  Oceanography Conference underway in Cox's Bazar, ends today State minister for commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu inaugurated the construction work, under 'Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program (Project-02)' of the Ministry of Water Resources, at Nishchintapur Bazar end of the river. Warning of strict action against those who will commit irregularities in building the embankment, Titu thanked the authorities concerned for chalking up the initiative to save thousands of lives and properties from the erosion. He said the construction work of the dam started through dumping GO bags in the river while CC blocks will be developed later. Prepare action plan to bring fallow land under cultivation: Agri Minister Lands of many people may be needed for building the permanent dam beside the river. Those whose land will be used by the government will be compensated by listing them through the UNO, he said, requesting all not to obstruct the work. Titu said that he has a plan of building a ring road from Bangabandhu Bridge to Aricha Ghat. Earlier while talking to reporters, the newly appointed state minister said they in coordination with the concerned ministries and departments including the Commerce Ministry have been working to tame high prices of commodities following the directive from the premier. Blaming the Ukraine-Russia and Israel and Palestine wars post the Covid-19 pandemic responsible for the price hike, he said his government has sincerely been working to keep the prices of essentials at tolerable levels for the needy people. 513 students commit suicide across Bangladesh in 2023:Aachol Foundation He called upon the business people to keep prices of commodities under control ahead of the holy Ramadan by making less profit.

A two-day International  Oceanography Conference began in Cox's Bazar on Saturday. Speakers urged every country to come forward to take timely initiatives and proper planning and implementation to prevent pollution and protect the sea resources. Prepare action plan to bring fallow land under cultivation: Agri Minister Md Ali Hossain, Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, inaugurated the conference as the chief guest. He said the government has taken various projects around the Bay of Bengal region. 513 students commit suicide across Bangladesh in 2023:Aachol Foundation The steps taken by the government for the development of the blue economy will benefit Bangladesh as well as regional countries, he said. Oceanographers from 12 countries and students from different universities took part in the two-day conference. As cold weather continues, Dhaka’s air quality still ‘unhealthy’