Others
Bangabandhu's less explored leadership qualities: Discussion to be broadcast Friday, Saturday
A unique discussion titled "Love, Peace and Freedom: The Philosophy of Bangabandhu" will be held Friday, highlighting Bangabandhu's odyssey towards the independence of Bangladesh.
The programme will bring a rare opportunity, especially for the young generation, to travel the pathway of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's journey towards the War of Liberation and nation-building, according to the Awami League.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for the ICT Division; Dr Fakhrul Alam, professor of Dhaka University and translator of Bangabandhu's autobiography "The Unfinished Memoirs;" Sayed Badrul Ahsan, senior journalist; and NM Zeaul, Alam, senior secretary at the ICT Division, will grace the occasion as guests. Barrister Shah Ali Farhad, special assistant to the prime minister, will preside over the programme.
Bangladesh High-Tech Park Authority and the ICT Division will jointly organise the talk show.
The programme will be broadcast Friday at 5:10pm, and Saturday at 1:10am from the Facebook pages of the Awami League and Ekattor TV.
"This discussion is for you if you are interested to discover how Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's personality traits juxtaposed steadfastness and kindness," according to the Awami League.
Bangladesh-India: Better cooperation to ensure more trade benefits
Bangladesh and India can reap more mutual trade benefits through better collaboration – namely, in the apparel and textile industry – Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan said Thursday.
"There are great opportunities for Bangladesh and India to complement each other in boosting apparel and textile business in both countries," he said.
The BGMEA president made the remarks as Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami paid a courtesy call on the BGMEA leaders at the office of the apparel industry's apex body.
BGMEA Vice-President Shahidullah Azim; directors Asif Ashraf, Md Mohiuddin Rubel, Tanvir Ahmed, and Abdullah Hil Rakib, Indian Deputy High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dr Binoy George, and Commercial Representative of the High Commission Dr Pramyesh Basall were also present at the meeting.
They discussed existing problems in export-import – namely, in ready-made garments (RMG) and textile industry – possible ways to address them, and potential areas of further collaboration between Bangladesh and India to derive mutual trade benefits.
Read: After 56 yrs, Bangladesh-India rail link to reopen Sunday
Dengue: 267 more hospitalized, no new death reported in 24 hrs
Although no death from dengue was reported in the past 24 hours till early Thursday, 267 more people were hospitalised with the mosquito-borne disease, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Among the new patients, 217 were admitted to government and private hospitals in Dhaka while the remaining 50 cases were reported from outside the division.
According to DGHS, 9,120 patients have been diagnosed with dengue this year and 40 among them died.
READ: Dengue: Fatalities rise to 38 with one more death
Of the deceased, 36 were from Dhaka city, two from Chattogram division, one each from Khulna and Rajshahi divisions.
Some 1,090 patients diagnosed with dengue fever are receiving treatment in the country as of Wednesday morning, DGHS said.
Of them, 965 patients are receiving treatment at different hospitals in the capital while the remaining 125 were listed outside Dhaka.
READ: Dengue: Death toll rises to 37 and 276 more hospitalized in 24 hrs
Health authorities have been recording over 200 dengue cases per day since August 1.
So far, 7,988 dengue patients have been released from hospitals after recovery, according to the DGHS.
The dengue outbreak has become a cause of major concern as the country is battling the deadlier Delta variant of coronavirus with its limited health care facilities for the last few months.
Covid-19: Daily case positivity rate drops to 13.77%
Bangladesh, currently seeing a downtrend of Covid-19 cases, detected 4,698 fresh cases in 34, 111sample tests in the last 24 hours on Thursday when case positivity rate dropped to 13.77%
The country last reported 13.39% daily case positivity rate on June 11.
Besides, 102 more deaths were reported during the 24 hours period according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh numbers took the country’s death tally to 25,729 and caseload to 1,482,628.
Read: Covid-19 : Positivity rate reduces further to 14.76 %, 114 more die
BGMEA opens PR and Media Lounge for journalists
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has set up a PR and Media Lounge for journalists covering the readymade garment industry of Bangladesh.
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan and High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Vikram K Doraiswami jointly inaugurated the PR and Media Lounge at BGMEA office in Gulshan on Thursday.
BGMEA Vice President Shahidullah Azim and Director Md. Mohiuddin Rubel were present at the inaugural ceremony.
This is a part of BGMEA’s efforts to build bridges between journalists and the RMG industry to facilitate proper flow of factual information so that real picture of the industry is depicted.
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said given the dominance of the RMG industry over the economy of Bangladesh, the sector has become an important beat for journalists at home and abroad.
"The apparel industry of Bangladesh has secured a prestigious position in the world and journalists have a significant contribution to the sector’s achievements. We hope journalists will continue their support to the industry through their factual, analytical and constructive reports," he said.
“We request the media to portray the true picture with reports based on facts and dispel misinformation about the RMG industry which is making a difference to millions of lives,” he added.
7 suffer burn injuries as building catches fire in city
Seven people including three women and a child sustained burn injuries when a fire broke out at a building in the city’s Pallabi area on Wednesday night.
The injured were identified as Roushanara Begum, 70, Rina Begum, 50, Shafiqul Islam, 35, son of Rina, Sumon, 40, a gas stove worker, Renu Begum, 35, Nazneen, 25 and her daughter Noushin, 5.
Read:College girl suffers burns as stalker sets her on fire in Manikganj
Inspector Bachchu Mia, in-charge of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital police camp, said the fire broke out on the ground floor of the six-storey building of Rafiqul Islam when worker Sumon was repairing a gas pipeline around 11:15 pm, leaving seven people injured.
Later, they were taken to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.
Read:Fire breaks out at Banani building; 2 girls dead
Rafiqul Islam, said, “We called a local gas stove worker as the gas flow in our building is low. The fire broke out suddenly when the worker lit fire to check gas flow.”
BNP knows it very well Zia’s body not there at Chandrima Udyan: PM
Referring to the recent clashes between BNP men and police at Chandrima Udyan, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday wondered why BNP activists engage in fights despite knowing it very well that Ziaur Rahman’s body is not there.
“BNP engaged in fights at Chandrima Udyan. Doesn't the BNP know that there's no grave or body of Zia, or Zia is not there? They know it very well! If so, why do they stage the drama? Khaleda Zia is also aware of it,” she said while addressing a programme virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.
Awami League (AL) Dhaka city north and south units jointly organised the memorial meeting at AL’s Bangabandhu Avenue central office on the occasion of National Mourning Day.
Read: BNP activists clash with police at Chandrima Udyan
Hasina said whether Khaleda Zia or Tarique Zia could claim that they saw Zia’s body in the box (which was brought from Chattogram) as a bullet-hit body can easily be recognised. “No one saw it as there was no body (of Zia) in the box,” she said.
The AL President said she heard from HM Ershad that there was a body with a combat dress in the box. "Don’t BNP men know that the President can’t wear a combat dress? Even then they haven’t given up the habit of engaging in clashes over there," she said.
Hasina, the eldest daughter of Bangabandhu, said the objectives of August 15 conspirators were to make Bangladesh a failed state, thwart the achievements of the (country’s) independence and destroy the ideals of the Liberation War.
She said the name of Bangabandhu that the conspirators erased from the history for 21 years is now internationally recognised. “Now no one can erase the name anymore…. The history they had distorted is now very clear to people,” she added.
Read: Aug 21 attack wouldn’t have been possible without then govt’s patronage: PM
40 ambulances arrive in Bangladesh
Forty more ambulances -- a gift from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- arrived in Bangladesh through the Benapole land port on Thursday morning.
Additional Commissioner of Benapole Customs House, Neyamul Islam said that the 40 ambulances entered Bangladesh in the morning from the Petrapole border on the Indian side.
Read: India sends 40 more ambulances to Bangladesh
"Necessary paperwork is underway to get the clearance done. Once complete, the ambulances will leave for Dhaka later in the day," he said.
According to the Indian High Commission, Prime Minister Modi announced the gift of 109 ambulances to Bangladesh during his state visit on March 26-27, to help bolster healthcare, especially in the shared effort to contain the Covid pandemic.
All the ambulances have ventilation support, said sources.
Read: 30 ambulances arrive in Bangladesh from India
So far, 71 ambulances have arrived in Bangladesh and the remaining are expected to come by mid-September.
Of these, the first ambulance arrived on March 21, 30 more ambulances arrived on August 7, and 40 on Thursday.
Global Covid cases near 214 million
The overall number of global Covid cases is fast nearing 214 million, as several countries continue their battle against the deadlier Delta variant of coronavirus even with mass inoculations underway.
According to US-based Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 214,840,644 and the death toll to 4,462,916 on Thursday morning.
So far, 5,035,870,728 vaccine doses have been administered across the globe.
The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has so far logged 38,221,908 cases. Besides, 632,262 people have lost their lives in the US to date, as per the JHU data.
Brazil, which has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States, and the third-largest caseload after the US and India, recorded 576,645 deaths and 20,645,537cases, respectively, Wednesday.
Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 120 more deaths, lowest in two months
Neighbouring India's total Covid cases surpassed 32.5 million on Wednesday. The country’s total death toll reached 435,758.
According to the World Health Organization, Covid-19 in India may be entering an endemic stage with a low or moderate level of transmission going on.
The endemic stage is when a population learns to live with a virus. It is very different to the epidemic stage when the virus overwhelms a population, reports Xinhua.
Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 120 more deaths, lowest in two months
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh logged 114 Covid-19 deaths in 24 hours until Wednesday morning amid a steady decline in both cases and positivity rate raising hope for further improvement.
This was for the second consecutive day that the number of fatalities stood at 114, the lowest in the past two months.
The number of fresh Covid cases is also seeing a downtrend as 4,966 people tested positive during this time compared to 5,249 the previous day.
The fresh numbers have pushed the country’s total fatalities to 25,627 and the cases reached 1,477,930, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The country last saw 112 coronavirus- related deaths on June 29, and the fatalities jumped to 264 on August 5 and 10 when the country was under a strict lockdown.
The latest cases were detected after testing 33,640 samples in 24 hours, which reduced the daily case positivity rate to 14.76 % from Tuesday’s 15.12% and Monday’s 15.54 %, according to the DGHS.
The recovery rate rose to 94.02%, but the case fatality remained unchanged at 1.73% compared to the same period.
The government will start administering the second dose of Covid-19 vaccines under its mass inoculation campaign on September 7, according to the head of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read:Take actions against Cumilla councilor for pushing Covid jabs: Probe
Bangladesh on August 7 kicked off its mass vaccination drive aimed at inoculating as many adults as possible in a short period of time.
Banned Indian drugs worth Tk 30 lakh seized at Benapole
A covered van carrying a large quantity of banned Indian drugs was seized by the customs IRM team at Benapole port Wednesday.
According to customs house sources, Deputy Commissioner (DC) SM Shamimur Rahman with IRM team after receiving a tip-off that a large consignment of banned drugs was being smuggled through Benapole port, raided the port and seized a large quantity of drugs in a covered van.
Read: 10 Bangladeshis who illegally entered India, return via Benapole
However, the driver and helper of the vehicle managed to escape.
Benapole customs house DC SM Shamimur Rahman, said a covered van with a large quantity of banned Indian medicines worth Tk 30 lakh was seized.
Operations were underway to nab main culprits of the smuggling gang, he said.