Bangladesh
Eminent lyricist Fazal-e-Khuda dies of Covid-19
Veteran lyricist and poet Fazal-e-Khuda, known for penning the patriotic song “Salam Salam Hajar Salam”, passed away in the early hours of Sunday after losing battle against COVID-19.
The noted lyricist breathed his last around 4 am at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in the capital, his son Sajib Onasis and daughter-in-law Farhana Tania told the media .
On June 29, Fazal-E-Khuda and his wife Mahmuda Sultana were diagnosed with coronavirus and started receiving treatment at their home. He was then taken to the hospital on June 30 due to breathing difficulties.
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Born in Banagram, Pabna on March 9, 1941, Fazal-E-Khuda is highly revered for writing the song “Salam Salam Hajar Salam”, which has been ranked number 14 to the 20 best Bangla songs of all-time in a 2006 survey by BBC.
The song, sang by late eminent singer Abdul Jabbar, is considered one of the best patriotic Bengali songs ever that transcend the emotion of honouring the sacrifice of the Freedom Fighters in the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh.
Some of his other notable songs include “Je Deshete Shapla Shaluk Jhiler Jole Bhashe”, “Bhalobashar Mullo Koto, Ami Kichu Jani Na”, "Bhabna Amar Ahoto Pakhir Moto" and “Kolshi Kaandhe Ghaate Jai Kon Ruposhi”, to name a few. He was a well-respected lyricist and was known for writing many other patriotic, modern, folk, and Islamic songs.
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Fazal-e-Khuda was listed as a lyricist on the radio in 1963 and was also listed as a lyricist on television the following year. Alongside his versatile career as a poet and author, he had served as the regional director of Dhaka Betar.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed profound shock at his death.
Couple held for torturing domestic help in city
Police arrested a couple allegedly for torturing a 12-year-old domestic help from the city’s Topkhana road on Saturday night, said police on Sunday.
The arrestees are Mohammad Tanvir Ahsan and his wife advocate Nahid.
A team of Shahbagh Police arrested the couple and rescued the victim from the house on Saturday night.
The domestic help, identified as Sweety, hailed from Mithamoin upazila of Kishoreganj district. She has been working there for nine months, said police.
The couple used to torture the girl over trifling matter,said police quoting the victim.
A neighbour of the couple posted the image of the victim with several injury marks, on the social networking site Facebook on Saturday night and sought help and legal action.
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A journalist found the post and sent it to the Media and Public Relations Wing of Bangladesh Police and sought action.
Also read: Viral: Woman tortured for failing to pay interest on loan
Police took action after one and half hours of the Facebook post.
Covid claims lives of 15 more people in Khulna
Fifteen more people have died of Covid-19 at three different hospitals in Khulna district in 24 hours till Sunday morning, health officials said.
Fourteen of them died of Covid-19 while the rest one died after showing Covid symptoms, said nodal officer at Khulna Corona Dedicated Hospital Dr Suhas Ranjan Haldar.
Of the total deceased, seven people died at the dedicated Covid facility of Khulna Medical College and Hospital, two succumbed to the virus at the corona unit of Khulna General Hospital and six at the private Gazi Medical College Hospital, he said.
READ: Khulna gasps for breath
According to him, 197 people are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital. Of them, 102 people are getting treatment in the red zone of the hospital, 55 in the yellow zone, 20 in ICU (intensive care unit), and 20 in HDU (high deficiency unit).
Some 35 people were admitted to the hospital during the 24-hour period, while 36 were discharged from the hospital, he said.
Gazi Mizanur Rahman, owner of Gazi Medical College Hospital, said six people died of Covid-19 during the period. Besides, some 115 people are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital, he added.
Moreover, two people died of Covid-19 at the corona unit of Khulna General Hospital while 65 people are undergoing treatment at the hospital, said Dr Kazi Abu Rashed, spokesman of the hospital.
READ: 10 more Covid patients die in Khulna
Amid an alarming surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths over the past few weeks, Khulna division is now clamouring for oxygen -- a component key in saving the lives of critical patients.
While few hospitals in Khulna division have already run out of the life-saving gas, many other medical facilities are operating on the edge due to an acute shortage of oxygen.
Read: Khulna Division sees highest daily death toll of 32 in single day
During the past week, seven Covid-19 patients have died at Satkhira Medical College Hospital in Satkhira district due to the unavailability of oxygen. A probe was ordered into the deaths on June 30.
Kushtia records its highest Covid daily deaths of 21
Twenty-one more Covid-related deaths were recorded in Kushtia in 24 hours till Sunday morning, the district's highest single-day deaths this year.
Of the total deaths, 19 people died at the Corona unit of Kushtia General Hospital while the rest two died in Kumarkhali upazila, said Dr MA Momen, the administrator of Kushtia General Hospital.
Thirteen of them died of Covid-19 while the rest died after showing Covid-19 symptoms, he said.
Besides, the district logged 193 fresh Covid cases in the past 24 hours till Sunday morning.
"A total of 609 samples were tested during the period," said Dr MA Momen.
Read:Kushtia hospital sees 8 new Covid deaths
The case positivity rate in the district currently stands at 31.69%.
So far, 8,475 people have been found infected in the district while 230 people died of Covid-19.
Some 5,689 people have recovered as of now.
Besides, 273 patients are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital with Covid symptoms.
Read: Covid-19 claims 9 more lives in Kushtia
Dr Taposh Kumar Sarkar, resident medical officer of the hospital, said, “The number of Covid-19 patients is increasing here day by day, forcing authorities to accommodate patients on the hospital floor. If the situation worsens further, it will be so tough to handle the situation with its limited manpower.”
Also read: Kushtia records its highest daily caseload
‘Extortionist’ beaten dead in Chandpur
A local ‘extortionist’ was beaten to death at Srirayerchar in Matlab (North) upazila of Chandpur district on Saturday.
The deceased was identified as Mamun Bepari, 38, son of Mohammad Ali of Gazaria in Munshiganj district.
Quoting workers at the bulkhead, Sirajul Islam, in-charge of Beltoli River Police, said Mamun along with his associates went to the Dhangona River to collect toll from trawlers in the afternoon.
At one stage, Mamun engaged in an altercation with workers and assaulted them.
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Outraged by his attack, the workers with the help of local people caught Mamun and gave him a good thrashing, leaving him seriously injured.
He was taken to Gazaria Health Complex where doctors declared him dead.
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Later, Mamun’s followers swooped on Santoshpur village under Baganbari union and vandalised 5-6 houses.
Nine people were injured during the mayhem.
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Thakurgaon records 132 fresh Covid cases, 7 deaths
Thakurgaon logged 132 fresh Covid cases and seven deaths in 24 hours till Sunday morning.
The new cases of infections were detected after the test of 386 samples, said civil surgeon Dr Mahfuzar Rahman Sarkar.
"The new cases have pushed up the district’s positivity rate to 46.15%," he said.
Of the total infected people, 46 were from Sadar upazila, 15 from Baliadangi, 21 from Pirganj, 40 from Ranishankoil and nine from Haripur upazilas of the district.
So far, some 3735 people in Thakurgaon have been infected with the virus, while 94 have died of Covid.
Also read: Thakurgaon records highest single-day rise in Covid cases at 109
Some 2261 people have recovered from the deadly virus as of now.
Meanwhile, the local administration has filed 32 cases and fined people Tk 28,100 for flouting lockdown rules on Saturday.
Also read: Cattle markets in Thakurgaon closed for a week due to Covid-19
The government imposed a nationwide lockdown on July 1 for one week to break the chain of Covid transmission.
Read:Thakurgaon seals border areas to contain Covid
Global Covid -19 cases approaching 184 million
The global corona caseload is fast approaching 184-million mark as the virus continues to spread across the world amid mass inoculations.
The total caseload and fatalities now stand at 183,404,186 and 3,969,635 respectively as of Sunday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
As of now, 3,161,952,595 vaccine doses have been administered across the world.
The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has so far logged 33,713,729 cases, according to JHU.
Besides, 605,493 people have lost their lives in the US up to now.
Read:Bangladesh sees record high daily Covid cases of 8,822; 115 more die
Brazil has the world's second highest Covid-19 death toll after the United States, and the third largest caseload following the United States and India.
The South American country has recorded 523,587 deaths while the total caseload counted 18,725,042 as of Sunday morning.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 30,502,362 on Saturday as 44,111 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, India's federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, 738 deaths due to the pandemic since Friday morning took the death toll to 401,050.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is currently seeing the most alarming spike since confirming its first cases in March last year, as over 100 deaths were reported at a stretch for a week until Saturday.
Read:10 Covid deaths reported in Chattogram in a day
As of Saturday morning, 134 more people died of the virus in 24 hours till Saturday morning while 6,124 new cases were reported, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The number of daily deaths remained above 100 after logging 119 deaths on June 27, and the country also saw the highest 143 deaths on Thursday.
With the new numbers, the country’s death toll now stands at 14,912 while the caseload at 936,256.
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Bangladesh has received 2.5 million doses of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine under the COVAX facility and 2 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine (commercially purchased from China) on Friday night and Saturday morning.
MetLife launches insurance industry's 1st paperless agent recruitment process
MetLife Bangladesh has enabled the insurance industry's first paperless agent recruitment process through its dedicated platform MetLife Agent Recruitment Solution.
Through the end-to-end digital and paperless agent recruitment process, candidates can apply online, complete their training, and digitally sign their contracts to start their careers as MetLife's insurance agents.
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This fast and convenient process does not require the candidates to visit MetLife offices physically to submit their papers.
Once onboarded, the new agents can get the required mentorship through experienced agents and start reaching out to customers through MetLife's digital sales tools.
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MetLife Bangladesh Chief Executive Officer Ala Ahmad said: "During this Covid-19 crisis, more people are becoming interested in alternative career options. Also, having the ability to operate virtually is now a core requirement for any people-focused organisation."
MetLife serves over 1 million customers in Bangladesh with more than 17,000 agents, read a press release.
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Missing Chattogram expat found dead after 3 days
The body of a 50-year-old expat, who went missing three days ago in Chattogram's Fatikchhari, was found Saturday, police said.
Abdus Salam returned home from Oman two months ago. As the expat could not go back to the Gulf country due to the pandemic, he got into a lot of debt while trying to meet his household expenditure, the locals said.
Also read: Missing expatriate found dead in Chandpur corn field
The debt burden took a toll on Salam's mental health and he had been ill for the last several days.
Datmara union parisahd member Abdul Hakim said, "Salam had left his house in the night three days ago. The expat's family could not find any trace of him after that. However, they did not file any general diary (GD) with police in connection with the incident."
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Bhujpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge said, "The badly decomposed body of the expat was found today in the morning near his house. We recovered the body after being informed. Salam has been missing for the last three days. However, the cause of his death could not be confirmed immediately."
Rickshawpuller electrocuted while charging his vehicle's battery
A rickshaw puller was electrocuted to death in the Sonir Akhra area of the capital on Saturday evening.
The deceased was identified as Md Jalal, 40.
He used to pull battery-driven rickshaws in Dhaka.
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According to sources, the deceased came in contact with a live electric wire while charging the battery of his rickshaw in Gobindopur garage of Sonir Akhra.
He was rushed to the emergency unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where the on duty doctor declared him dead at around 9 pm.
Sub inspector Bachchu Miah, also in-charge of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) police camp confirmed the information to UNB.
Also read: Mother, daughter electrocuted in Chattagram
Md Al Amin, nephew of the victim, also backed up the incident.
He also added that the deceased left behind his wife and two children.