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Khaleda discharged from hospital
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia got back home on Sunday from the capital’s Evercare Hospital after treatment for 26 days for various health complications.
She was released from the hospital around 5pm as per the advice of the medical board formed for her treatment.
The BNP chief reached her Gulshan residence, Firoza, around 5:35pm.
Earlier, her late son Arafat Rahman Koko’s wife Syeda Sharmila Rahman Sithi went to the hospital to bring Khaleda back home.
Read: Khaleda to return home from hospital this afternoon
Party senior leaders, including secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, received Khaleda at her Firoza house as she got down from her vehicle holding one hand of Sithi.
Later, talking to reporters, Fakhrul said Khaleda returned home as she is now doing well. “We express gratitude to the Almighty Allah.”
He said the BNP chief also thanked people for their prayers seeking her recovery.
Her personal physician Dr AZM Zahid Hossain said the medical board formed at Evercare Hospital again suggested sending Khaleda to any advanced centre for treatment.
"The doctors of the medical board of Evercare Hospital have again recommended Khaleda to go to any developed country outside Bangladesh for her further treatment, follow-up at a multi-disciplinary advanced development centre… she needs very good qualitative medical treatment," he said.
Like her family members and the country’s people, Zahid said Khaleda also wants her proper treatment. “That’s why she has urged you all to pray for her.”
He said Khaleda’s health condition needs to be monitored very carefully as she has many health issues.
On October 12, Khaleda Zia was admitted to Evercare Hospital for the second time with fever and some other health problems.
Read: Khaleda’s biopsy report sent abroad for review: Dr Zahid
On October 25, the BNP chief underwent a surgery and biopsy test at Evercare Hospital as she had a small lump in one part of her body. Doctors said the biopsy report did not show any signs of cancer.
The BNP chief has been undergoing treatment under a medical board formed earlier. Her doctors said she has been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, ophthalmological and dental complications.
Her family applied to the government twice in May and August this year seeking permission to take her abroad for better treatment, but the government turned it down saying there is no scope for a convicted person to avail of such a scope.
On April 27, Khaleda was admitted to Evercare Hospital with Covid infections.
She received treatment there until June 19 for post-Covid complications and some other underlying health problems.
Jatri Kalyan Samity protests latest transport fare hike
Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (JKS) has protested the government’s decision to hike the diesel-run bus fare by 27 per cent per kilometre after the owners went on a wildcat strike against rise in fuel price.
The fare hike was announced on Sunday after a meeting with the bus owners in Dhaka. It prompted the owners to call off the strike enforced on Friday morning. It will be effective from Monday.
Read: Strike called off as bus fares raised
The JKS also protested its exclusion from the meeting.
It will hold a press conference on Monday to give details on its protest against the new fare, said the organization's Secretary General Mozammel Haque Chowdhury.
In a state JKS also said the government had illegally increased the price of diesel and kerosene by 23 per cent without holding a public hearing.
Strike called off as bus fares raised
After the government met their demand, Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association on Sunday called off the indefinite transport strike it enforced on Friday in protest against the fuel price hike and demanding increased bus fares.
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has increased the fares for intra-city and inter-district buses by 26.5% and 27% respectively following the demand of the bus owners.
The decision came at a meeting between the BRTA and the bus owners today (Sunday).
Khandaker Enayet Ullah, secretary general of the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, said the strike was called off today. "We've also instructed the owners to operate the bus from today."
Read: Transport strike enters 3rd day, badly affects normal life
From now on, the fare for inter-district buses will be Tk 1.8 per km with a 27% hike which was Tk 1.42 per km. The fare for intra-city buses would be Tk 2.15 per km – an increase from Tk1.70 -- with a 26.5% hike. The minimum fare would be Tk 10 for buses and Tk 8 for minibuses.
BRTA Chairman Nur Mohammad Majumdar said, "The notification will be issued after sending the proposal to the ministry today. These new fares will be effective from tomorrow (Monday)."
On Thursday, bus, truck and covered van owners called an indefinite nationwide strike from Friday in protest against fuel price hike.
Convenor of Bangladesh Truck-Covered Van, Tank Lorry and Prime Movers Owners and Workers Coordination Council Md Rustom Ali announced their decision on Thursday following an emergency meeting of the organization.
Leaders of the organization said the government raised the toll of Bangabandhu Bridge and Muktarpur Bridge from 257 per cent to 300 per cent “illogically” on November 2 and then it raised the prices of fuel, said a press release.
Transport movement had remained suspended for a long time due to Covid in the last two years. When the transport owners are trying to make a turnaround from their huge losses caused by Covid shutdown, the decision of raising bridge toll and fuel price was announced, they added.
12 crore vaccine doses to be administered by January: Health Minister
Bangladesh will administer at least 12 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines by next January, said Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Sunday.
The minister said "There is no shortage of vaccines in the country. There are over one crore vaccines in stock. All the people of the country can be vaccinated as per the instructions of the prime minister."
The minister made this remark while inaugurating DBL Pharmaceuticals at Gazipur on Sunday.
READ: DU to collaborate with AFC Biotech to develop Covid-19 vaccine
Zahid said the government has bought 21 crore doses of vaccine. From there, at least three crore doses of vaccine will arrive this month. Same number of doses are expected to next month.
At least seven crore doses of the vaccine have already been administered. If this continues, it will be possible to administer at least 12 crore doses of vaccine by January next year. "If that is done, it will be possible to reduce the death rate from Covid-19 to zero," said the minister.
The minister also claimed there has been no shortage of medicines throughout the Covid-19 pandemic across the country. These medicines were also sufficiently available at the village level.
Bangladesh also exports medicines after meeting 98 per cent of the domestic demand, the minister added.
"Pharmaceuticals are going to be one of the biggest sources of foreign exchange in the country, after the RMG sector. However, we are going to form a new drug policy to ensure that there are no adulterated drugs in the country," said the minister.
He further said no one will be able to increase the drug price in the country's market unnecessarily because of the new policy.
READ: No shortage of vaccines in Bangladesh: FM
The minister also visited different parts of the drug company on the inaugural event accompanied by the member of the Parliament Dr Habib E Millat, Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) Maj Gen Mahbubur Rahman and DBL Pharmaceuticals Chairman Abdul Wahed.
Tourists stranded in Cox’s Bazar moved out to Chattogram: Police
Some 288 tourists, who were stranded in the beach town of Cox's Bazar due to the ongoing transport strike, have been moved out to Chattogram with the help of the district police.
Acting Superintendent of Police Rafiqul Islam said they sent 288 tourists to Chattogram by police buses on Saturday and Sunday without charging any fare.
Most of the tourists came to Cox's Bazar on the weekend and those who were scheduled to leave Cox’s Bazar on Friday and Saturday faced sufferings as the long-haul buses did not operate due to the strike, Rafiqul Islam said.
Read: Tourist ship operations suspended on Teknaf-Saint Martin's Island route
Tourists have been requested to contact the district police lines for any kind of help, he added.
Deputy Commissioner of Cox's Bazar Mamunur Rashid, who is also the chairman of Beach Management Committee, said, “Transport strike is a national issue. We expect a quick solution from the government in this regard. We’ll take steps if the tourists seek any assistance.”
General Secretary of the Federation of Tourism Owners’ Association of Bangladesh Abul Kashem Shikder said the businesses related to tourism are also being affected due to the sudden transport strike.
There are now 15,000-20,000 tourists in Cox’s as the flow of tourists has declined due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.
Amid this grim situation, hoteliers have offered a 30 percent discount on hotel rents, he said.
Shikder said the situation had started changing and then came the transport strike dealing a severe blow to the business.
Superintendent of Cox's Bazar Tourist Police Mohammad Zillur Rahman said there are no stuck tourists now in Cox’s Bazar. Those who want to go back arrangements are being made for their return by the district police, he added.
Transporters went on an indefinite strike from Friday morning in protest against the recent fuel price hike, causing sufferings to commuters and inter-district passengers.
Covid claims 4 more lives in Bangladesh, infects another 178
Bangladesh logged four more Covid-linked deaths and reported 178 fresh infections in 24 hours till Sunday morning.
On Saturday, the country saw just a single death from Covid-19 which was the lowest in nearly 18 months along with 154 cases.
The fresh numbers took the total fatalities to 27,895 while the country’s caseload mounted to 1,571,013, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Also Read: Global cases near 250 million
Three of the deceased were men and one was a woman.
Meanwhile, the daily-case positivity rate slightly declined to 1.17 per cent from Saturday’s 1.18 per cent.
However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 per cent.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 15, 234 samples, said the DGHS.
Also, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.70 per cent with the recovery of 190 more patients during the period.
Also Read: Pfizer says COVID-19 pill cut hospital, death risk by 90%
So far, 30,871,022 people have fully been vaccinated in the country while 44,688,070 received the first dose as of Saturday, according to the DGHS.
Meanwhile, the campaign to vaccinate the school students of the 12-17 age group began in Dhaka on Monday.
The vaccination campaign will be conducted at eight centres in the capital although it was scheduled to begin at 12 centres in the city. Other centres did not get approval due to the lack of adequate facilities.
Dengue cases keep rising: 127 more hospitalised
Bangladesh reported 127 new patients being hospitalized with dengue fever in 24 hours till Sunday morning.
With no fresh death during the period, the number of fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease this year remained unchanged at 95, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read: Are COVID-19 boosters the same as the original vaccines?
Of them 87 people died in Dhaka division alone, two each in Chattogram, Mymensingh and Khulna divisions and one each in Rajshahi and Barishal divisions.
Among the new patients, 95 were undergoing treatment in hospitals in Dhaka while the remaining 32 cases were reported from outside the division.
Some 692 patients diagnosed with dengue are receiving treatment in the country as of Sunday.
Of them, 552 patients are receiving treatment at different hospitals in the capital while the remaining 140 were listed outside Dhaka.
Since January, some 24,645 patients have been admitted to different hospitals with dengue in the country. So far, 23,858 dengue patients have left hospitals after recovery, said DGHS.
Read: Diarrhea outbreak afflicts 160 people in Jhenaidah
In September, the country recorded the highest number of 7,841 dengue cases of the current year with 23 deaths.
In October, the number of dengue cases came down to 5,604 with 22 deaths recorded.
Correlation with climate change
A World Bank (WB) report released last week has found a wider link between the shifting climate conditions and the increase in dengue cases and some other diseases in Bangladesh.
It says with falling humidity levels, rising temperatures and increasing rainfall caused by climate change, the risk of dengue spread can be higher in the country, mainly in Dhaka and Chittagong cities, in the future.
Bangladesh has experienced a 0.5° Celsius increase in average temperature between 1976 and 2019 and is slowly losing the variations between seasons, the report added.
Summers are becoming hotter and longer while winters are warmer, and the monsoon seasons are being extended from February to October.
The report also predicted that average temperatures across Bangladesh will rise by 1.4° Celsius by 2050 while annual rainfall is likely to increase by 74 millimetres by 2040-2059.
Bus services resume in parts of Chattogram city
A section of bus owners resumed bus services in the port city on Sunday although the nationwide transport strike continued for the 3rd straight day.
A faction of bus owners association took the decision on Saturday.
However, passengers claimed the bus operators have doubled the fares.
Belayet Hossain, president of Chattogram Metropolitan Bus Owners Association, said, “Buses under the association are operating in the city to mitigate public sufferings.”
Admitting that the transport workers are charging double fare, Belayet said, “We resumed bus services to bring the situation under control and the situation will become normal within two or three days. We will take fare fixed by the government.”
Meanwhile, no long route buses left the terminals and many passengers were seen trying to reach their destinations by hiring CNG run auto-rickshaw paying double fare.
“We have decided to operate the bus services that are under association from Sunday," said Belayat Hossain, President of Chattogram Metropolitan Bus Owners’ Association in a note to journalists Saturday evening.
Also read: Strike to continue as transporters’ meeting with minister ends ‘inconclusively’
The peaceful strike was for decreasing fuel price or else increasing the transportation fares but some unidentified people are picketing on roads disguised as transport workers, he said.
The nationwide transport strike has seriously disrupted the movement of inbound and outbound goods-laden vehicles of Chattogram Port, bringing goods delivery almost to a halt.
On Wednesday (Nov 3), the government raised the prices of diesel and kerosene to Tk 80 from Tk 65 at the retail level.
The next day, convenor of Bangladesh Truck-Covered Van, Tank Lorry and Prime Movers Owners and Workers Coordination Council Md Rustom Ali announced their decision to go on indefinite strike, following an emergency meeting.
Also read: Day 2 of bus strike: Commuters' pain is auto drivers' gain
Transporters went on an indefinite strike from Friday morning in protest against the recent fuel price hike in Bangladesh.
Lack of democracy worsens situation in Bangladesh: Fakhrul
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday alleged that the government has created an ‘awful’ situation in the country by ‘obliterating’ democracy.
"There’s no democracy in the country while the judiciary has no independence. There’s no freedom of speech and press freedom. More than 35 lakh patriotic people have been harassed with false cases,” he said.
The BNP leader also alleged that the government is resorting to enforced disappearance, killing and repression to suppress its opponents. "A terrible situation has been created in the country as they (govt) have established a fascist rule.”
Fakhrul made the remarks while talking to reporters after paying homage to BNP founder Ziaur Rahman by placing a wreath at his grave at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar marking the ‘National Revolution and Solidarity Day’ remembering ‘civil-military uprising’ on November 17 in 1975.
Read: Fuel price hike to benefit “looters”: BNP
He said there is no alternative to forging a strong unity of people to ‘restore’ democracy and people’s rights in the country.
“On this day, we’ve taken a vow to unite the people of this country and all political parties and organisations to defeat the fascist government and release Begum Khaleda Zia (from jail),” the BNP leader said.
He said Bangladesh will surely stand on its own feet as an independent force again against hegemony and imperialism. “We’ll continue our struggle to turn Bangladesh into a democratic state."
Also read: Govt’s logic behind fuel price hike ‘unacceptable': Fakhrul
About the historic event of Nov 7, 1975, Fakhrul said the people had got a scope on that day to materialise the hopes and aspirations with which they fought for independence. “We’re able to consolidate democracy, our independence, and sovereignty under Ziaur Rahman through the civil-military uprising on November 7.”
He said Zia introduced multi-party democracy, free economy and created an opportunity to build a good society. “The biggest thing is that Bangladesh stood up again against socialism, hegemony while the freedom of press and judiciary were ensured…We remember this day repeatedly as it inspires us.”
The BNP leader alleged that Awami League usurped power and destroyed all achievements of the country and people’s all hopes and aspirations by establishing an autocratic rule. “They have ruthlessly destroyed all the pillars of the state with their own hands.”
Earlier, Fakhrul along with BNP standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and Nazrul Islam Khan went to Zia’s grave. They, together with some other party leaders, paid homage to Zia.
On this day in 1975, amid political turmoil, soldiers and civilians jointly freed then chief of army staff Ziaur Rahman from captivity in Dhaka cantonment, paving the path for Zia to come to power.
While BNP and its alliances celebrate November 7 as the National Revolution and Solidarity Day, the ruling Awami League and its front organisations consider it as the day of 'killing of freedom fighters'. Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Rob) observes it as the day of civil-military revolution.
Khaleda to return home from hospital this afternoon
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is going to return home this (Sunday) afternoon from the capital’s Evercare Hospital after treatment for 27 days for various health complications.
“Doctors have decided to discharge Madam (Khaleda) from the hospital as her condition improved,” her media wing member Sayrul Kabir Khan told UNB.
He said Khaleda is going to leave the hospital for her Gulshan residence in the afternoon.
Read: Khaleda’s biopsy report sent abroad for review: Dr Zahid
On October 12, Khaleda Zia was admitted to Evercare Hospital for the second time with fever and some other health problems.
On October 25, the BNP chief underwent a surgery and biopsy test at Evercare Hospital as she had a small lump in one part of her body.
Later, her biopsy report was sent to the USA and the UK for review.
Read: Transport strike enters 3rd day, badly affects normal life
The BNP chief has been undergoing treatment under a medical board formed earlier. Her doctors said she has been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, ophthalmological and dental complications.
Her family applied to the government twice in May and August this year seeking permission to take her abroad for better treatment, but the government turned it down saying there is no scope for a convicted person to avail of such a scope.
Earlier on April 27, Khaleda was admitted to Evercare Hospital with Covid infections. She received treatment there until June 19 for post-Covid complications and some other underlying health problems.