Bangladesh
Missing man found dead in Sylhet
Police recovered the body of a man from a haor in the Pirer Char area of Beanibazar upazila of Sylhet, a day after he went missing.
The deceased was identified as Dulal Ahmed, 40, son of late Gias Uddin of the area. He was a fugitive accused in a case filed by his wife.
Police said Dulal jumped into the water on Saturday afternoon when the law enforcers went on a search operation to nab him. Since then, he has been missing.
Read: Man hacked dead in Jashore
On Sunday morning, locals found his body floating in the haor and informed police.
On information, police recovered the body and sent it to Sylhet Osmani Hospital morgue for autopsy, said Hillol Roy, officer-in-charge of Beanibazar police station.
Brace for showers in next 24 hours: Met office
Expect a brief reprieve from the sweltering summer heat, as the weather department has predicted rain or thunder showers in parts of Bangladesh in the next 24 hours.
“Rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely to occur at most places over Khulna, Barishal and Chattogram divisions; at many places over Dhaka and Sylhet divisions and at a few places over Rangpur, Rajshahi and Mymensingh divisions with moderately heavy to heavy falls at places over the country" the Bangladesh Meteorology Department said in a weather bulletin on Monday.
Also read: Early monsoon showers likely over Bangladesh
"Day temperature may fall slightly and night temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country,” the department said.
The maximum rainfall for the last 24 hours till 9 am was recorded at 89 mm in Chandpur of Chattogram division.
Meanwhile, the trough of low extended from Bihar to North Bay across West Bengal and sourthern part of Bangladesh persists.
HC orders probe on ‘disappearance’ of birth and death registration info
The High Court has directed the government to investigate the disappearance of a large amount of birth and death registration information from the database stored on the server.
A HC bench of Justice Mojibur Rahman Mia and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the order after hearing of a writ petition filed in the public interest on Sunday.
The HC also issued a rule questioning why the government’s inaction to prevent the difficulties faced by the people in obtaining birth and death certificates and non-investigation of the disappearance of a large numer of information from the relevant servers should not be declared illegal.
Also read: Stern action against harassment in issuing birth certificates: Minister
At the same time, the HC asked why the creation of a central database should not be directed as Rule-19 of Birth and Death Registration Act-2019.
The LGRD Secretary, the Registrar General of the Birth and Death Registration of LGRD, the Director General of the Planning-Monitoring, Evaluation and Inspection Office and the Joint Secretary of the Law Department of the ministry have been asked to submit the probe report responding to the rule in four weeks.
Lawyer Md Tanvir Ahmed appeared for the writ petition in the court while Deputy Attorney General Bipul Bagmar represented the state.
Md Tanvir submitted legal notice in this regard on April 4 attaching a report published in a national daily on March 12 entitled 'Citizens in Extreme suffering with birth registration certificate' and on February 4, 'Birth Certificate: Birth registration information of millions of people in Bangladesh not listed on server'.
The report stated that the birth registration law was enacted in 2004 and came into force in 2006. Birth registration certificate is mandatory for various important activities including passport issue, marriage registration, admission in educational institutions, obtaining driving license, land registration.
In the beginning handwritten certificates were given. Then at the end of 2010 an initiative was taken to digitalise it.
At that time the government also provided a separate allocation for computer training to the registrars concerned. But not all the information was digitised at that time, especially of the city corporations and densely populated areas, the report said.
Also read:Birth Registration in Bangladesh: Application Process, Essential Papers
According to another report, the Registrar General's Office in charge of registration of births and deaths in Bangladesh and officials of the Dhaka City Corporation say that millions of people who had previously obtained birth registration certificates now need to be re-registered online as their previous registrations have disappeared.
The birth registration of these individuals has not been updated online and it will no longer be possible to transfer old data to the new server. Authorities concerned are also struggling to cope with the large number of online birth registrations of a large number of school students.
Man hacked dead in Jashore
A 33-year-old man has been hacked to death allegedly by miscreants following an altercation at Najir Shankarpur in Jashore town, locals said.
The deceased was identified as Afzal Hossain, a tea stall keeper of the area.
Also read: Woman, 2 daughters hacked dead in Manikganj: Husband held
Locals said 14-15 men, aides of Sujan alias Tera Sujan, stabbed Afzal from back at the Najir Shankarpur area around 8am on Sunday following an altercation between Sujan and Afzal a few days ago, leaving him seriously wounded.
When the locals came to resist the bid, they exploded two bombs and fled immediately, witnesses said.
Afzal was later rushed to Jashore General Hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.
Also read: Woman hacked dead in Joypurhat
There are several cases against Sujan who was released from jail around a month ago, said Tajul Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Kotwali police station.
“Drives are underway in the area to nab the killers,” said the OC.
Global Covid cases near 532 million
The overall number of Covid cases is fast approaching 532 million amid a rise in new infections in parts of the world.
According to the latest global data, the total case count mounted to 531,678,528 while the death toll from the virus reached 6,310,915 on Monday morning.
Also read: N. Korea moves to soften curbs amid doubts over COVID counts
The US has recorded 85,716,214 cases so far and 1,031,273 people have died from the virus in the country, the data shows.
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 43,153,043 on Sunday, as 2,828 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, 14 deaths from the pandemic registered across the country since Saturday morning took the total death toll to 524,586.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh registered 40 new Covid cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning taking the country's total caseload to 1,953,447, health authorities said.
The country's total fatalities remained unchanged at 29,130 with no new Covid deaths reported during the period.
Also read: Lights of Vivid to return to Australia in COVID-19 revival
The daily test positivity rate slightly dropped to 0.79 percent from Saturday's 0.83 percent as 5,093 samples were tested, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.49 percent. The recovery rate rose to 97.39 percent as 215 patients recovered during this period.
AQI: Dhaka tops list of most polluted cities again
Dhaka has again topped the list of world cities with the worst air quality.
The capital's Air Quality Index (AQI) score was recorded at 162 around 8am on Monday.
Also read: Dhaka's air quality deteriorates again
India’s Delhi and Nepal’s Kathmandu occupied the next two spots, with AQI scores of 156 and 155, respectively.
An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy', particularly for sensitive groups.
Similarly, an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'poor', while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents.
AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants -- Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy during winter and improves during monsoon.
A report by the Department of Environment (DoE) and the World Bank in March 2019 pointed out that the three main sources of air pollution in Dhaka "are brick kilns, fumes from vehicles and dust from construction sites".
Also read: Dhaka's air still remains 'unhealthy'
With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction works, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources.
Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.
7 Rohingyas illegally entered from India held in Cox’s Bazar
Members of the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) on Sunday detained seven members of two families who took shelter in Lambashia refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar's Ukhiya who illegally entered from India.
The detainees were identified as Shajan,22, his wife Hamida Begum, 20, their son Ibrahim,3, Mohammad Tahir,33, his daughters Saima,5, and Ramina, 2, and Anwar Kalim,25.
Also Read: Rohingya girl held for faking identity at Ctg passport office
They were held from block F-14 of Lambashia Rohingya Camp-1 East on Saturday evening, said Naimul Haque, commander of APBn-14.
He said in primary questioning the detainees have accepted entering from India.
All the seven detainees have been transferred to the transit camp with the help of the Camp-In-Charge(CIC), said APBn commander Mainul Haque.
2 die as tractor plunges into roadside ditch in Manikganj
Two people died and another three were injured on Sunday as a tractor lost control and fell into a roadside ditch at Hatipara Bazar area in Manikganj Sadar upazila.
The deceased were identified as Aynal,35, and Miraz,32, from Basail upazila in Tangail, said Abdur Rauf, Officer-in-charge of Manikganj sadar police station.
Also Read: Truck driver killed in Lalmonirhat road crash
The accident occurred around 5:30 pm on Bartek-Beribadh regional road near Gonger Chawk as the tractor carrying electric poles fell into the ditch leaving two of the driver’s assistants dead on the spot.
The injured are currently admitted at Manikganj district hospital, said OC Abdur Rauf.
DGHS Drive: 116 unregistered hospitals sealed across the country
The local administrations of Faridpur, Bagerhat,Magura, Keraniganj, Thakurgaon, and Kurigram districts have shut at least 116 unregistered clinics, hospitals, and diagnostic centers following the directions of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS)on Sunday.
Of them 42 were sealed in Sherpur, 26 in Faridpur, 25 in Bagerhat, 15 in Magura, five in Keraniganj, and three in Kurigram according to local authorities.
On Thursday, DGHS directed the authorities concerned to close all unregistered clinics, private hospitals and diagnostic centres across the country within 72 hours.
No clinic, private hospital and diagnostics center will be allowed to run their activities until they get a license, said the health authority.
A team of the health service division led by Faridpur district Civil Surgeon Dr Md Siddiqur Rahman shutted down 26 diagnostic centers and clinics at sadar upazila, Modhukhali upazila, Boalmari upazila, Saltha upazila, Nagarkanda upazila, Bhanga upazila and Sadarpur upazila. Another 15 hospitals have been warned, said the authority.
Also Read: DGHS drive: 37 unregistered hospitals sealed across the country
Bagerhat District administration sealed 25 illegal hospitals and fined a total of 35 hospitals with Tk 5.22 lakh while conducting a drive in the nine upazilas of the district.
Magura Civil Surgeon Dr Md Shahidullah told UNB they have closed 15 illegal clinics and diagnostic centers while conducting a drive at different places in the district and arrested a fake doctor.
Md Moshiur Rahman, Keraniganj upazila health and family planning officer said on the second day of the drive five clinics and diagnostic centers have been shut and four of them have been fined with Tk 2.55 lakh. Also a fake doctor has been sentenced with six month’s imprisonment, he said.
Kurigram Civil Surgeon Monjur Murshed said they have sealed three hospitals in the Kurigram municipal area during a drive against the unregistered clinics and diagnostic centers.
Govt names bridge connecting Shariatpur and Munshiganj as ‘Padma Bridge’
The government has named the multipurpose bridge constructed connecting Shariatpur and Munshiganj districts on the Padma river as Padma Bridge.
The Road Transport and Bridges Ministry on Sunday issued a gazette notification in this regard following the direction of President Abdul Hamid.
“The under-construction bridge over the Padma River under ‘Padma Multipurpose Bridge Construction Project’ implemented by Bangladesh Bridge Authority under the Bridge Department of the ministry connecting Mawa point of Munshiganj and Jajira point of Shariatpur has been named the Padma Bridge,” said the notice.
Also Read: Hasina to unveil Padma Bridge on June 25
The order issued in the public interest will be implemented immediately, it said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate Padma Bridge on June 25 this year.
According to the progress report of the project received last April, work on the bridge was 92% complete. At the time, the work of river management was 90.50% done. In addition, the carpeting work of the main bridge was 66% complete.