coronavirus pandemic
Virtual Court Hearings: 6,542 people granted bail in 5 days
A total of 6,542 people secured bail after their petitions were heard by virtual courts across the country in five days as of Thursday.
Hearing on 14,340 bail petitions were held virtually during the period, said Md Saifur Rahman, special officer of Bangladesh Supreme Court.
Court operation remained suspended since March 26 but trial proceedings through videoconference began on May 11 during the general holidays to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Untimely Jamuna river erosion devours over 200 houses, renders many homeless
Over 200 houses and other establishments went into the gorge of the Jamuna River in the last few days until Saturday as untimely river banks erosion has taken a serious turn in Shahjadpur upazila of the district.
Besides, around 15,000 people are passing days in fear of losing their homesteads amid coronavirus pandemic.
According to the locals, more than 200 houses, crops and plants have already been washed away by the river.
Last year more than 400 houses, various educational institutions, a medical center, two Eidgah grounds, 50 handloom factories, 400 bighas of arable land, 3 km of kutcha roads, a graveyard, a cremation ground, a temple and many plants were washed away by the river.
The erosion-affected villages include Brahmangram, Arkandi, Baikhola, Ghatabari, Veka, Jalalpur, Chilapara and Hat Pachil, Ghatabari, Kuthipara and Pakurtala.
Local people said fear of river erosion gripped them more than coronavirus.
They said erosion causes havoc during monsoon each year in absence of any permanent solution to the problem.
For the last four years they have been demanding construction of an embankment but yet to get any solution, they said.
Shahjadpur upazila nirbahi officer Shah Md Shamsuzzoha said the Water Development Board has been informed about the problem. Besides, a list is being prepared to give relief to the families affected by the erosion, he said adding that aare being made to rehabilitate the victims on government land.
AKM Rafiqul Islam, sub-divisional engineer of the Sirajganj Water Development Board, said a project has been taken at a cost of around Tk 700 crore to prevent the river banks erosion in Shahjadpur upazila. The projects work include river banks protection dam construction, char dredging in 8.5km area from Brahmangram to Hatpachil, he said.
The work will start as soon as the project gets Ecnec approval, said the engineer adding that necessary steps are now being taken to prevent the erosion.
2 siblings among 3 die with fever, cold in Chattogram
Three people, including two brothers, died from fever and cold related problems at Chittagong Medical College Hospital on Friday.
The deceased were-Shah Alam, 33, his brother Md Shahjahan 30, residents of Purba Dewan Nagar of Hathazari upazila and Sumon Barua, headmaster of Mansurabad Government Primary School of Mirzapur union of the upazila.
According to Md Khorshed, a relative of the two brothers, said Shah Alam and his brother Shahjahan got admitted to the hospital on June 1 with fever, cold and breathing problem.
Their samples were collected for test but yet to get test the result, he said.
Shah Alam died around 1pm at the hospital while his brother around 10pm.
Meanwhile, Sumon Barua was admitted to the hospital on Thursday and died around 7pm.
According to Chattogram civil surgeon Dr Sheikh Fazle Rabbi, four people died with the same symptoms at the hospital in the last 24 hours till Friday night.
WHO advises people to wear mask in public places
The World Health Organization has changed its advice on wearing face masks and said people should wear fabric masks when social distancing is not possible, such as on public transportation and in shops.
AL MP along with 10 family members test Covid-19 positive in Chattogram
Mostafizur Rahman Chowdhury, Chattaogam- 16 MP of Awami League( Banshkhali constituency), and ten of his family members have been infected with coronavirus.
His wife, three daughters, one son-in-law, one grandchild, his assistant personal secretary and three domestic helps were diagnosed with coornavirus.
His APS AKM Mostafizur Rahman Russel said that they are taking treatment from their house in Nasirabad area in the city.
On June 1, total 16 samples were taken from his family. Among them, they tested positive.
All the family members are now in isolation, Russel said adding that the MP and other family members are doing well.
They are taking treatment as per the advice of the civil surgeon, he added.
Global coronavirus death toll near 4 lakh
The global confirmed coronavirus cases have exceeded 6.7 million globally, with over 394,787 fatalities, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University.
Pandemic poses enormous risk to around 1.2mn people in Cox’s Bazar: IOM
The coronavirus pandemic poses an enormous risk to around 1.2 million people in Cox’s Bazar including over 860,000 Rohingyas, said International Organization for Migration (IOM).
EALG project of UNDP joins fight against Covid-19
A Covid-19 response initiative has been launched in 251 unions of 18 Upazilas in the country to ensure that no one is left behind amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Efficient and Accountable Local Government (EALG) project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Government of Denmark repurposed the project activities and launched it on Friday through a virtual event.
EALG project, housed by the Local Government Division, has been working in 18 Upazilas of Khulna, Chandpur, Faridpur, Patuakhali, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Netrokona, Sunamganj and Cox’s Bazar districts since 2018 to strengthen the capacities of local government.
During this pandemic, the project has repurposed its budget to fight COVID19 by raising mass awareness, providing PPE, hand sanitizer, masks, gloves, soaps and setting up handwashing facilities, benefitting 500,000 people.
Helal Uddin Ahmed, Senior Secretary of Local Government Division attended the online launching event as the chief guest.
“These are unforeseen times, yet there has never been a better time to help those who are in need. With the economy gradually reopening, it is crucial to maintain health guidelines and stay cautious. EALG’s Covid-19 response initiatives will decrease the likelihood of people contracting the disease,” he said.
Montarin Mahal Aminuzzaman, Senior Adviser of DANIDA and Suzanne Mueller, Director of Cooperation, SDC, both highlighted the importance of raising mass awareness at union levels, ensuring personal safety.
“Adapting to the times and meeting the needs of our beneficiaries is necessary during this pandemic, especially as we remain committed to leaving no one behind. Transparency is extremely important while doing that,” said Sudipto Mukerjee, Resident Representative of UNDP Bangladesh.
“This is an opportunity as much as this is a crisis. This is an opportunity for transformative thinking for development, embracing the “new normal”. I salute all the frontline workers, who are working at the union level to protect people's lives,” Sudipto added.
The online session was moderated by EALG’s National Project Director Amitavh Sarker. Among others, UNDP’s Deputy Resident Representative Van Nguyen; Governance Cluster Lead, Mahmuda Afroz; Project Manager Shariful Hoque, and local government representatives were present.
Coronavirus in Bangladesh: confirmed cases exceed 60,000, over 800 dead
The health authorities of the country confirmed the detection of another 2,828 new coronavirus patients across the country in the last 24 hours on Friday, taking the number of confirmed cases in the country to 60,391.
COVID-19 fallout: Power transmission projects work to be delayed by a year
Although the government has relaxed the shutdown, enforced to curb the transmission of coronavirus, from May 31, still uncertainty looms large over resuming the field level works in the power transmission projects across the country due to upcoming monsoon .
“Now most of the ongoing projects will be delayed by at least a year as monsoon will start from July and field level works are not possible before the next winter”, said a top official of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB).
Field-level work on 25 ongoing power transmission projects remained suspended since the coronavirus outbreak in China in December last year, hitting hard the power sector development.
According to official sources, most of these projects were either awarded to Chinese contractors or their equipment were supposed to come largely from China.
“Neither the Chinese workers, nor the equipment are coming from China since the pandemic started in Wuhan,” said Golam Kibria, managing director of PGCB.
He said many Chinese companies are working as subcontractors as well in Bangladesh’s power transmission sector.
The top PGCB official said although coronavirus situation in China has improved, Chinese officials and workers, especially the technicians, are not coming back as the virus situation in Bangladesh is worsening.
“Finding no way, we had to suspend the field-level works on the transmission projects,” he added.