Three teachers of Dhaka University (DU) on Saturday expressed solidarity with the students who have been observing fast unto death since Thursday, demanding deferment of polls to the two Dhaka city corporations slated for January 30.

The teachers are Gobinda Mandal of Law department, Nepal Chandra Roy of Mathematics Department and Dr Mukul Kumar Baroi of Sculpture Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts.

Meanwhile, Dhaka University Journalists Association (DUJA) General Secretary Imran Hossain and Bijoy Ekattor Hall student Union also expressed solidarity with the students.

Bijoy Ekattor hall Union vice president Sajib Ur Rahman and general secretary Nazmul Hassan Nishan along with the other members expressed solidarity with the students around 2.30pm.

DU Vice-Chancellor Prof M Akhtaruzzaman and DU Teachers Association (Duta) President ASM Maksud Kamal also expressed solidarity with the protesters on Friday and urged the Election Commission to hold the polls on a different date.

Five protesting students fell sick on Saturday while ten others on Friday.

Country's first TEDx Gulshan was held  on Saturday at convention center in the city amid inspiring talks and reflective interactions  of 14 esteemed speakers that featured the intriguing theme ‘Innovation Enabling Social Change’.
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TED is the world’s most respected speaking platform featuring leading thinkers and doers starting from Bill Gates to UN Secretary-General to Shahrukh Khan as host/curator of TEDx in India.

President and Curator of TEDx Gulshan, Ashfaq Zaman, CPA  inaugurated the first TEDx Gulshan in Bangladesh- followed by a speech on Social Change by Vice President UN Global Compact Bangladesh & Vice President Bangladesh Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution Syed Tamjid -ur- Rahman,.

Oxford Scholar & Faculty Bobby Hajjaj, and International TEDx speaker, Retd Major Mohommed Ali Shah, who is also an Indian Army Veteran & Bollywood Actor, were the next two speakers.

Mohommed Ali Shah focused on how to get to a good idea and said the trick is to come up with lots of ideas and eliminate the bad ones.

Adviser to the  Prime Minister Salman F Rahman shared about the world of freelancing and how it emerged in Bangladesh.

He highlighted the challenges that caused a hindrance towards bringing money from abroad & how freelancing can be institutionalized to solve the prevalent manifold problems in this sector.

Country Director & CEO, Kazi IT Centre Ltd Zara Mahbub took the floor, followed by, Prof of Dept. of Physics of Shahjalal University of Science & Technology Dr. Yasmeen Haque who shared her breakthrough research in low-cost early-stage cancer detection.

Founder & Managing Director of Sohoz Maliha M Quadir spoke about ‘Gig Economy’ and focused on how it is addressing socioeconomic problems related to unemployment and underemployment especially among the youth who are the quickest to adapt to technology.
 
Group Director Rahimafrooz Bangladesh Ltd Niaz Rahim focused on how people should think big not only for themselves but also for others because that is the only way to strive.

Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor, a2i, PMO took the floor and shared with the audience the experience of 'Empathy Training' to civil servants in order to make them understand what normal people face at different institutes.

He pointed out how this has changed the mindset of civil servants and made them more empathetic towards the civilians and come up with ideas to ease the services.  

Other speakers were CEO of  10 Minute School Ayman Sadiq, Director, Office of External Affairs, North South University Dr Katherine Li, Vice Chairman Rupayan Group Mahir Ali Khan; Sausan Khan Moyeen of Enchanted Events & Prints; and Bibi Russell of Bibi Productions Fashion for Development.

Key partners of the event were Charity Right, Daraz, Mutual Trust Bank (MTB) and Rupayan Group. United News of Bangladesh (UNB) was the online news partner of the event.

TEDx Gulshan is true to the format of TEDx events is a platform for the people to spread their story that will be thought-changing for the attendees and creating a bridge connecting the thought leaders, academics, change-makers & entrepreneurs to bring about a social change.

TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.

These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x means 'independently organized TED event'. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.

Three new dengue patient were hospitalised in the last 24 hours until 8am on Saturday, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

In its regular update, the DGHS noted that currently 26 patients were being treated for dengue – 23 of them in Dhaka.

Bangladesh experienced a massive dengue outbreak last year.

Earlier this month, the government confirmed that dengue had claimed the lives of 164 people last year. The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) confirmed the number after reviewing 263 out of 266 reports of dengue-related deaths last year.

Last year, 101,354 people were hospitalised with dengue in the country. Of them, 101,037 made full recovery.

Since the beginning of this year, 156 dengue cases were reported. Of them, 130 had been discharged from hospitals.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral infection that usually causes severe flu-like symptoms, including high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pain, and a characteristic skin rash.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the incidence of dengue has grown dramatically around the world in recent decades that has put about half of the world's population at risk.

The WHO estimates that there are about 390 million infections every year.

According to the WHO, there is no specific treatment for dengue, but early detection and access to proper medical care lowers fatality rates below 1 percent.

As many as 5,383 cold-related cases were reported from across Bangladesh in the last 24 hours, the government said.

The new cases were recorded in 40 upazilas, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said in a regular update.

So far, 57 deaths have been confirmed due to cold-related illnesses since November last year.

Since then, 395,260 people had been affected by cold-related diseases. Of them, 62,793 were treated for acute respiratory infection or ARI, 152,654 others were affected by diarrhoea.

Five more students of Dhaka University fell sick on the third day of their fast unto death demanding deferment of polls to the two Dhaka city corporations slated for January 30.

The students are – Abhi Das Pritom of marketing, Arnob Hore of Leather Engineering Institute, Dipom, Tanvir Hasan Shaikat, of Theatre and Performance Studies, Akash Chowdhury of tourism and hospitality management.

Ten other students had fallen sick on Friday, the second day of the protest.

About 40 DU students went on hunger strike on the campus on Thursday afternoon demanding deferment of the polls that coincides with the Saraswati Puja.

The Election Commission (EC) announced the date on December 22 last year, triggering criticism and protests. Dr Kamal Hossain said the decision was unjust.

In Hinduism, Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge and learning, and the Puja is held at educational institutions. Polling stations will be set up at different educational institutions in the city during the polls, which, many fear will hamper the Saraswati Puja celebrations.

See also: Dhaka City Polls: 10 DU students fall sick during hunger strike

DU Vice-Chancellor Prof M Akhtaruzzman expressed solidarity with the students on Friday and said the students’ demand was logical.

“I urge the EC to defer the voting date considering the Saraswati Puja,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Chamber Judge is likely to hear an appeal challenging a High Court order the rejected a writ petition to defer the polls.