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‘Gram Adalat’ (village court), 8 other projects get Ecnec nod
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday cleared nine projects including a Tk 426-crore one to activate ‘Gram Adalat’ (village court) in a bid to enhancing the access of the rural poor and disadvantaged people to the justice system.
The approval came from the Ecnec meeting presided over by Ecnec chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the NEC Conference Room in the city’s Sher-e Bangla Nargar area.
“Today the meeting approved nine projects with an overall estimated cost of Tk 1,730.38 crore (only additional costs of revised projects were counted here),” said Planning Minister MA Mannan while briefing reporters after the meeting.
Also Read: Tk 4323-crore project to improve disaster preparedness, 7 others get Ecnec nod
Of the total cost, Tk 6,33.52 crore will be drawn from the national exchequer, while Tk 1.44 crore will come from the owned fund of the organisations concerned and the rest Tk 1,095.42 crore from the foreign sources.
Among the approved projects, five are revised projects and four are fresh ones.
The project titled ‘Activating Gram Adalat in Bangladesh (Phase-III)’ will be implemented by the Local Government Division at a cost of Tk 426.35 crore by June 30, 2027. Of the fund, the EU and the UNDP will provide some Tk 268.84 crore as project assistance.
The project will be executed in 4,457 unions of 465 upazilas under 61 districts. Of them, the maintenance activities of the already set up village courts in 1,416 unions under the first two phases will be run and the fresh court operation will be started in 3,041 other unions.
Three other fresh projects are Construction of 112 flats at Agargaon in Dhaka for government officials of Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat with an estimated cost of Tk 98.22 crore; Feasibility Study for Construction of Important Bridges on Rural Roads (Phase-II) project with Tk 80 crore; and the project for the Improvement of Equipment for Technical Education with Tk 98.01 crore.
The five revised projects include Sustainable Coastal and Marine Fisheries (1st revised) Project with additional cost of Tk 588.67 crore (now cost Tk 2,457.54 crore); Capacity Enhancement of Dhaka Metropolitan Police to Tackle Terrorism and Ensure Public Safety (1st revised) Project with additional cost of Tk 229.82 crore (now cost is Tk 309.48 crore); Countrywide Mobile Library (2nd revised) Project with additional cost of Tk 37.47 crore (now cost Tk 111.16 crore); and Installation of Prepaid Gas Meter for TGTDCL (3rd revised) Project with additional cost of Tk 174.39 crore (now cost Tk 928.23 crore).
Besides, the meeting cleared the Establishment of Dhaka Technical Teachers Training Institute (3 rd revised) Project with a cut of Tk 2.55 crore in the cost (Now cost is Tk 96.13 crore).
Former bureaucrat Md Nurul Amin made new BERC chairman
Former senior secretary Md Nurul Amin has been appointed as the chairman of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC).
Prior to the new position, the former bureaucrat, who hailed from Chandpur district, served as chairman of state-owned Karmasangshan Bank.
Nurul Amin last served the Planning Ministry as its senior secretary and retired from the job in April 2022.
A gazette notification, issued by the Energy and Mineral Resources division today(Tuesday), said Nurul Amin will serve the BERC for next three years from the date of his joining under a contractual agreement.
Earlier, the government had appointed three new members to the BERC. They are - Dr Md Helal Uddin, Abul Khayer Md Aminur Rahman and Dr Muhammad Yamin Chowdhury.
All of three appointees are retired bureaucrats.
The Chairman post of the regulatory authority as the post remained vacant since January 30 this year after completion of the tenure of BERC Chairman Md. Abdul Jalil.
BERC member Md. Kamruzzaman was serving as acting chairman of the regulatory body following retirement of Abdul Jalil.
Covid-19 survivors are at high risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases: Study
Individuals hospitalised with COVID-19 are at higher risk of diabetes, respiratory, and cardiovascular complications in following weeks, a study finds.
icddr,b and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) jointly organized a dissemination seminar titled “Long-Term Sequelae of COVID-19: A Longitudinal Follow-Up Study in Dhaka, Bangladesh” on Tuesday.
The seminar also presented a guideline titled “Long COVID Clinical Management Guideline for Physicians”.
The study was conducted at two COVID-19-designated hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh, between 15 December 2020 and 30 October 2021.
Also Read: Coronavirus can destroy the placenta and lead to stillbirths
The findings, based on the first five months of participant follow-ups, were recently published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia.
The study was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Alliance for Combating TB (ACTB) in Bangladesh activity.
The first of its kind in Asia, the study revealed that COVID-19 survivors carry a high burden of long-term effects of COVID-19 infection, often described as post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) or long COVID.
Professor Dr Shohael Mahmud Arafat, Chairman, Department of Internal Medicine, BSMMU; Professor Dr Chowdhury Meshkat Ahmed, Department of Cardiology, BSMMU, and Dr Farzana Afroze, Associate Scientist, Nutrition and Clinical Service Division, icddr,b and the principal investigator of the study presented key findings at the event.
Also Read: How Long Will Your COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccination Protection Last?
The researchers recruited clinically recovered individuals older than 18 years with RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 who sought care from the study hospitals with or without hospitalisation.
The 362 enrolled participants were given comprehensive in-person follow-ups at one, three and five-month post-recovery intervals to evaluate the presence or trajectories of PCS symptoms which include neurological, cardiac, respiratory outcomes, and mental health. The study participants will be followed up for 24 months.
The study revealed that COVID-19 survivors over the age of 60 are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular (hypertension, high pulse rate, edema), and neurological (peripheral neuropathy or numbness, tingling sensation, and pain in the hands and feet, taste, and smell abnormalities) complications when compared to the age group younger than 40 years.
The long-term effects of the disease also seem to differ by gender - the prevalence of developing post-COVID complications was found to be 1.5 to 4 times higher in females than in males.
Long-term complications in hospitalised patients and those needing intensive care were 2-3 times more likely than in non-hospitalized patients.
Hospitalised survivors with pre-existing diabetes had a 9 to 11 times higher possibility of having uncontrolled blood sugar with regular medication and hence required the administration of insulin therapy more often compared to those who did not require hospitalisation.
The new occurrence of diabetes was 10 cases per 1,000 person - among hospitalised patients, compared to none in the non-hospitalised group. Similarly, the new occurrence of renal impairment (high creatinine and proteinuria) and the increased liver enzyme were considerably high among COVID-19 survivors.
Most complications decreased over time in both groups, however, shortness of breath, fast pulse rate, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression did not decline significantly in the non-hospitalised group, even five months after recovery.
The results highlight the need for continuous follow-up and care of COVID-19 survivors. Older and hospitalised patients should be routinely monitored for cardiovascular complications, given their increased risk.
Professor Dr Shohael Mahmud Arafat presented the clinical management guideline for Long-COVID for physicians, which was developed jointly by BSSMU and icddr,b.
Professor Dr Md. Sharfuddin Ahmed, Vice-Chancellor of BSMMU, attended the seminar as special guest and appreciated the collaborative effort by scientists of icddr,b and BSMMU to understand and find solutions to long COVID complications.
Physicians from different medical colleges, representatives from BSMMU, icddr,b and media also attended the seminar.
The full findings of the study have been published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia in a paper titled “Features and risk factors of post-COVID-19 syndrome: Findings from a longitudinal study in Bangladesh”.
Govt to reduce hajj package cost: State Minister
State Minister for Religious Affairs Faridul Haq Khan said on Tuesday that the cost of Hajj package will be reduced a bit.
“We requested the Saudi government to lessen the cost of hajj packages and an announcement will come from the government on Wednesday in this regard,” he said while addressing an ‘intra- religious dialogue’ at the collectorate conference room of the district.
The Saudi government increased the cost by around Tk one lakh for each pilgrim as they added some new facilities for hajj pilgrims to the previous ones, he said.
On February 1, the government fixed at Tk 6, 83,018 as hajj cost for each pilgrim which was around Tk 1.61 lakh more the past year.
The increased hajj cost drew huge criticism as it is higher than that of the neighbouring countries .
Of them, an amount of Tk 1, 97,797 was fixed as airfare for each passenger.
Read more: No scope to reduce hajj flight fare this year: Biman MD
The High Court on March 14 questioned how common people will perform hajj at the cost of the package set by the government.
It questioned, “Why doesn't the government allocate budgets for the hajj like other countries in the world?”
The High Court bench of Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Mohammad Ali came up with this observation while hearing a writ petition over revising the hajj package offered by the government this year.
The HC asked the authorities concerned to take initiative to cut the hajj cost following a hearing on the writ petition on March 15.
On March 17, the Ministry of Religious Affairs gave directives to the authorities concerned to rationally reduce the airfare of Biman.
On March 19, Biman Bangladesh Airlines Managing Director Shafiul Azim said there is no scope to reduce the fare of hajj flights this year.
4 more dengue patients hospitalised in 24 hours
Four more patients were hospitalised with dengue in the 24 hours till Tuesday morning.
Of the new patients, one was admitted to a hospital in Dhaka and the rest outside it, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Eighteen dengue patients, including 10 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.
So far, the DGHS has recorded 813 dengue cases, 786 recoveries, and nine deaths this year.
The country logged 281 dengue deaths in 2022 – the highest on record after 179 deaths recorded in 2019. Also, it recorded 62,423 dengue cases and 61,971 recoveries last year.
Islamic Foundation urges mosques to follow same procedure of ‘Khatam Taraweeh’
Islamic Foundation has urged the mosque authorities across the country to follow the same procedure of ‘Khatam Taraweeh’ during the holy Ramadan.
It made the call through a media release on Tuesday.
The release said Muslims recite a specific part of the Holy Quran during Taraweeh prayers in almost all the mosques of the country. But some mosques do not follow this, said the release.
But Muslims who travel different places can’t maintain continuity in the recitation of the Quran that creates dissatisfaction among them.
Read more: Offer Tarabi prayers at home: PM
The foundation requested to recite first nine paras of Quran in the first six Ramadans with 1.5 paras every day and 21 paras (one para each day) from the seventh Ramadan to complete the whole Quran recitation within the night of Shab-e-Barat.
Mosque committees, Imams and others concerned were requested to follow the procedure of reciting the Quran during Ramadan, it reads.
Ministry to sell meat, eggs at lower prices in Dhaka during Ramadan
Meat, eggs, and milk will be sold at lower prices in Dhaka from March 23, and it will continue till the 28th of Ramadan.
The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock will sell meat, eggs, and milk at 20 points in Dhaka to meet public demand during the holy month of Ramadan, Iftekhar Hossain, public relations officer of the ministry, told UNB.
Read More: Have enough stock, no scope of price hike during Ramadan: Tipu
Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim will launch the sale of these items -- beef, mutton, dressed broiler chicken, milk, and eggs -- formally at a function in Dhaka on Thursday.
The Department of Livestock will conduct the sales. However, prices of the items are yet to be fixed, he added.
These essential items will be sold at "cheaper prices" to facilitate households' protein intake throughout Ramadan, Iftekhar Hossain added.
Read More: If people don’t buy in excess, there will be no price hike of essentials ahead of Ramadan: Tipu Munshi
Walton Day celebrated across the country
Walton has celebrated Walton Day, the founding anniversary of the Bangladeshi global electronics and tech giant across the country on Monday.
On this occasion, various programs were held at Walton Headquarters, Corporate Office, Walton Mirpur Complex, Tangail Gosai Joair and all the sales and service outlets across the country. The programs included hoisting of the national flag and Walton flag, balloon flying, cake cutting, joyous rally and procession and cultural programs etc.
Walton was established on March 20, 1999. However, the journey of Walton started in 1977 with the sole efforts of late SM Nazrul Islam, founding chairman of Walton and an industrialist from Tangail.
On Monday (March 20, 2023) morning Walton Hi-Tech Industries PLC.'s Director S M Mahbubul Alam hoisted the national flag and Walton flag at Walton Corporate Office in the country. Then, he inaugurated the nationwide celebration festival by flying balloons with 'Walton Day' logo.
On the occasion of 'Walton Day', rallies and processions were simultaneously brought out across the country. More than 20 thousand sales and service outlets celebrated the day with customers and well-wishers through various day-long events.
Along with announcing the inauguration of 'Walton Day' celebration, S M Mahbubul Alam greeted and congratulated all the members of the Walton family, buyers, local and foreign distributors and well-wishers.
Walton Hi-Tech's Managing Director and CEO Golam Murshed said: “Walton Day is a day of great joy for us. Walton was established in the fiery month of independence. Congratulations and best wishes to the members of the board of directors, stakeholders, customers-well-wishers and members of the Walton family for bringing the company to where it is today.”
Unique's 585 MW Meghnaghat power plant to be ready by Oct, but questions hang over gas supply
Though Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited (UMPL) has completed 92 percent of the construction of its 585 MW gas-fired power plant and is getting ready to be addeds to the national grid by October, there is no certainty that it will get its requisite supply of gas to start operating.
The state's hydrocarbons agency Petrobangla, which had signed a gas supply agreement for the plant in July 2019, said until adequate gas is available it has no obligation to supply gas to the plant.
“We don’t have any obligation to ensure gas supply to the plant in this situation when adequate gas is not available,” said Petrobangla chairman Zanendra Nath.
He also claimed that the agreement with UMPL has the same provision as others that Petrobangla will supply gas depending on availability.
He said that only Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) can divert gas to this plant from any other plants from its total allocation.
Recently the US Ambassador Peter Haas urged the government to consider its efficiency to supply gas to the UMPL project.
During a visit to the plant on March 15, he said the power plant is highly efficient in terms of environment as it will generate electricity consuming half of the gas required for other power plants of similar capacity.
"This power plant will serve 700,000 homes using half of the gas compared to other power plants," Haas said.
Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited (UMPL), a consortium of Strategic Finance Limited, Unique Hotel & Resorts Limited and General Electric (GE) of USA, has been implementing the 584 MW Gas-based combined cycle power plant as independent power producer (IPP) at Meghnaghat in Narayanganj under a contract with the government.
State-owned Power Development Board (BPDB) will purchase electricity from the plant over a period of 22 years at a levelised tariff rate of around US cents 3.69 per unit (1 kilowatt-hour) if it is run by locally produced gas. Each unit is 1 kilowatt-hour.
The tariff would be US cents 6.80 per unit, if it is run by imported LNG.
State-run Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd (TGTDCL), a subsidiary of Petrobangla, will provide gas to the power plant, either local gas or LNG.
According to officials, the plant will consume about 100 mmcf gas per day.
Project officials said that about 92 percent of the total construction work has been completed and the plant will come into commercial operation in October 2023.
Mohd. Noor Ali, Chairman of UMPL said that it is a symbol of the capabilities of the private sector of Bangladesh. This is a highly efficient power plant and it will surely take top position in the demand order or merit order from the off-taker (BPDB).
UMPL Managing Director Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat acknowledged the contribution of US companies, including GE, in providing the latest technology gas turbines to Bangladesh's much-needed power infrastructure.
Mentioning the project as a lower carbon emitter, he said the project will be a big contributor to the commitment of Bangladesh to achieve nationally determined contributions as per Paris Agreement.
In this plant, GE’s latest 9HA.01 Gas Turbine has been used, which will operate at more than 62% efficiency whereas the traditional gas turbine efficiency is around 30-40 percent.
Deepesh Nanda, CEO of GE Gas Power, South Asia said, “GE Gas Power is committed to bring affordable, reliable and sustainable power generation technology to Bangladesh and has been contributing to transform the power sector in the country by offering advanced powering technology and power services solutions."
GE has been working as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the project.
Delimitation: 186 applications filed regarding redrawing of JS constituencies
The Election Commission has said 186 applications have been submitted so far regarding the redrawing of the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies.
“On February 26, the preliminary list of the boundaries of the parliamentary constituencies was published. The deadline for submitting claims and objections to the list was March 19. A total of 186 applications have been submitted during this period," the Election Commission's Joint Secretary SM Asaduzzaman told reporters on Monday.
The highest number of applications have been received in Comilla (84). The lowest number of applications have been filed in Mymensingh (1) and Chattogram (1).
Meanwhile, no applications were filed in Rangpur and Sylhet, Asadduzzaman said.
Among other districts, 43 applications have been received from Rajshahi, 29 from Barisal, 18 from Dhaka, and five each from Khulna and Faridpur.
Election Commissioner Anisur Rahman said: “The applications will be arranged based on constituencies. Then, the secretariat will work on how many objections have been received in which constituencies. The committee will then hold a hearing where the decision on any redrawing of constituencies will be made.”