Bangladesh
Security beefed up in and around Khulna district jail
Security has been tightened at Khulna district jail considering the current situation in the country including the recent attacks in Narsingdi jail.
“Surveillance has been increased in and around the jail while the leave of all staff of the jail has been cancelled,” said Jail Super Md Rafiqul Kader.
However, the jail authorities also suspended the visit of the relatives of the jail inmates, he said.
“Everyone is performing their duties continuously. Additional police have been deployed at the main gate of the jail,” he said.
Security has been beefed up inside the jail and the law enforcement agencies have been kept on alert, he added.
Currently, there are 1,421 prison inmates in the jail against its capacity of accommodating 676 inmates.
Quota movement: PM witnesses damages at Setu Bhaban
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday morning visited Setu Bhaban to witness the extent of damage caused by attackers during the recent quota reform movement by students.
She went there at about 10am and inspected vandalised floors and premises of the building.
Minister of Road Transport and Bridges Obaidul Quader and other senior officials of the Ministry were present at that time.
They briefed the prime minister about the vandalism and arson attacks during which many vehicles parked there were set on fire.
On July 18, nearly 250-300 unidentified people stormed the Setu Bhaban, vandalised many vehicles, motorbikes, and ransacked different sheds and rooms. They later set those on fire. They attacked and beat many employees there.
Around 50 vehicles were torched at Setu Bhaban.
Earlier in the morning, the prime minister visited Pongu Hospital (National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation) to see the injured people there.
PM Hasina visits NITOR to see the injured of quota violence
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday morning visited National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR) to see the injured people who came under attacks during the recent countrywide violence.
She went to the NITOR, popularly known as Pongu Hospital, at about 9am and inquired about the condition of the patients who are now undergoing treatment there after being attacked during the student movement for reformation of quota in public service.
The premier gave the necessary instructions to the hospital authorities for proper treatment of the victims.
She also assured the injured people of extending all sorts of assistance to ensure their proper treatment.
Nitor Director Prof. Dr. Kazi Shamim Uzzaman apprised the prime minister of treatment of the victims.
The prime minister became emotional after seeing the condition of the injured people and was found trying her best to hold back tears.
Earlier, the prime minister visited the vandalised metro rail station at Mirpur 10 in the capital on Thursday morning and ransacked Bangladesh Television (BTV) Bhaban on Friday morning to see the extent of damages after these establishments came under attack during the violence.
She also visited Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on Friday morning and inquired about those who were admitted there for treatment of injuries they suffered during the violence.
Health Minister Dr Samanta Lal Sen and State Minister for Health Dr Rokeya Sultana accompanied the prime minister.
Environment Minister calls for accessible, transparent climate finance
Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury, called for the implementation of mechanisms that guarantee easy accessibility to climate finance for developing nations.
He highlighted the need for increased transparency in the allocation and distribution of these funds to ensure they effectively support the intended climate actions.
The minister said this while delivered a compelling speech at the opening day of the two-day Head of Delegation retreat program held in Shamakhi, Azerbijan on Friday.
The event, which brings together key international leaders, is focused on shaping the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance.
Furthermore, the minister underscored the importance of considering the unique needs of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the formulation of the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG).
He stressed the necessity of finalizing a clear definition of climate finance, ensuring that it comprehensively covers adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage.
The Head of Delegation program commenced with an in-depth discussion on setting the scene for the NCQG, which is poised to replace the current USD 100 billion climate finance goal set by developed countries for developing nations after 2025.
The discussions and insights from this retreat are expected to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of global climate finance, driving forward more equitable and effective support for vulnerable nations in their fight against climate change.
Dhaka's air quality remains 'moderate'
Dhaka has ranked 63rd on the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality with an AQI score of 51 at 09:08 am this morning.
Today’s air was classified as 'moderate', and even Dhaka’s air quality remained in moderate zone for the past few days, indicating an improvement of the air quality.
Indonesia’s Medan, Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Kinshasa, Indonesia’s Jakarta and Pakistan’s Lahore occupied the first, second, third, fourth spots in the list, with AQI scores of 193, 171, 156 and 138, respectively.
When the AQI value for particle pollution is between 50 and 100, air quality is considered ‘moderate’, between 101 and 150, air quality is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, between 150 and 200 is ‘unhealthy’, between 201 and 300 is said to be 'very unhealthy', while a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents.
The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.
The AQI in Bangladesh is based on five pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2, and ozone.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.
As per World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, mainly due to increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections.
Rioters, saboteurs will not be spared: DB chief Harun
Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Chief Harun-or-Rashid has stated that those who have committed acts of sabotage and killed police officers in the name of the quota movement will not be spared, no matter where they are.
He made this remark at a press conference held at the DB office in the capital on Friday.
The DB chief said that those who have killed police officers, murdered civilians, and conducted sabotage at government installations, including the metro rail, will face legal action. Those who led these activities and financed them or facilitated financial transactions will not be spared, no matter where they are.
Harun mentioned 'those people' conducted house-to-house raids with the aim of demoralizing the police. He stated that many police officers have sacrificed their lives for the people at various times, which is very painful for them. He said the quota movement has cost them three police officers, but it has not broken the morale of the police.
He also commented that the attacks and destruction were carried out in a planned manner to weaken the police.
Describing the incidents as premeditated murders and destruction under the guise of the quota reform movement, he said that BNP-Jamaat has repeatedly tried to unlawfully overthrow democratic governments or render the country ineffective. However, due to the police, they have repeatedly failed, which is why this time they targeted the police, he added.
He stated that these evil forces, the Jamaat-BNP circle, launched attacks in the areas of Shoni Akhra and Rayerbagh during the quota reform movement. They attacked police officers wherever they found them.
Rokeya University provides financial assistance to Abu Sayed's family
The administration of Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur (BRUR) has provided financial assistance to the family of Abu Sayed, a student of the university's English department who is widely acknowledged to have been the first victim of the quota reform movement to have died in police firing.
Abu Sayed was known to have been one of the movement's organisers in Rangpur. In death, he was to become one of its icons.
A delegation from the university handed over a cheque of Tk 7.5 lakh to his parents on Friday. Proctor Shariful Islam said that under the directive of the Vice-Chancellor, the university administration has been in constant contact with Sayed’s parents. He also stated that this assistance would continue.
Sayed's father said that Abu Sayed was the apple of his eye, and their family even relied on the money he made from private tutoring while completing his studies.
"Losing a child is an unbearable grief, and the hardest thing as a father was to carry my son's dead body on my shoulders. Now, I only ask everyone to pray for my son," he told newsmen.
He expressed that while they could not get their son back, having a job for a family member might help them manage better in their later years.
He added that every day someone from the university has checked on them, and many people, both known and unknown, have been helping them.
On July 16, Abu Sayed was killed in police firing during the quota reform movement. Not only was he the first reported death of a protester in police firing during the movement. A video of his apparent killing started doing the rounds on social media that very evening, and quickly went viral.
What it showed only served to fuel greater outrage among the protesters, and was arguably the clincher to forming a judicial commission into the six deaths that occurred that day.
The video showed a group of police converging on Sayed, who has seemingly broken away from the crowd and finds himself isolated on a side street in broad daylight, facing the police. He is gesturing defiantly, with his arms spread wide, egging them on almost, to take their best shot - the timeless gesture of the weak towards the strong, of the rebel towards authority.
Yet the most important thing to note here is that clearly unarmed, and on his own, Abu Sayed poses absolutely no threat to anyone, let alone the team of police approaching him - still a good 50-60 feet away. It is also worth remembering that at this point, the situation around the country is nowhere near the state of chaos witnessed later in the week. To reiterate, this is the first death in the movement, about to occur. You cannot excuse it on the pretext of 'the heat of the battle'.
But unfathomably, as the camera pans towards the approaching officers, one of them - for no apparent reason - is seen casually firing off a shot, as if at target practice. He uses a shotgun, which fires pellets, so the impact of the ‘rubber bullet’ isn’t immediately clear, but Sayed can be seen feeling something on his left side, just below the ribs - it's on his upper body, so the chances of death or blindness increase significantly. As with most shotgun rounds, you don't see profuse bleeding, but soon the protester falls to the ground and has to be carried away.
A student who took Sayed to the hospital, said, "Police were firing rubber bullets and tear gas at us. Sayed was hit in the chest and fell unconscious on the street. We took him to the hospital in a battery-run rickshaw. I tried to talk to him, but he did not respond."
Abu Sayed was declared dead on arrival at Rangpur Medical College Hospital, at 3.05pm on Tuesday, July 16.
Two minor girls drown in Kurigram village
Two minor children drowned in a river while taking bath in Kurigram's Ulipur upazila on Friday.
The deceased were identified as Meem, 11, daughter of Monnaf Mia and Habibur Rahman's daughter Hasi, 9, of Bagchir Kahmar Indararpar area of Dhamsreni Union of Ulipur Upazila.
Golok Chandra Barman, sub-inspector (SI) of Ulipur police station, said the two kids went to bathe in Buri Teesta river near their house around 1:30pm. Victim Hasi's grandmother Hasena Begum, 60, was accompanying them.
The two children dived into the water to take a bath. As they didn’t respond even after 15 minutes of diving, Hasi's grandmother started screaming.
Hearing her screaming, the surrounding people rushed and started searching in the water.
Later, they recovered the floating bodies of the children.
A pall of gloom descended on the area following the incident.
Setu Bhaban case: Former DUCSU VP Nur sent to jail
A Dhaka court on Friday sent former vice-president of Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) Nurul Haque Nur to jail in a case filed over vandalising and setting fire to Setu Bhaban in Dhaka on July 18.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shakil Ahammed passed the order as the investigating officer of the case Inspector Abu Said Mia produced him before the court after the end of his five-day remand in the case and pleaded to keep him behind the bars.
Earlier on July 21, the court put Nur, also member-secretary of a new political party, Gano Adhikar Parishad, on five-day remand.
On July 18, around 250-300 miscreants stormed into the premises of Setu Bhaban and carried out massive violences. A total of 32 jeeps, 9 pickups, 7 microbuses, 1 minibus, 5 motorcycles, 1 ambulance in the parking lot of Setu Bhaban were burnt.
Later, a case was filed at Banani Police Station following a complaint lodged by Rabiul Islam, the caretaker of Setu Bhaban.
According to the case statement, it caused a loss of approximately Tk300 crore.
In the same case, the court also remanded Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) Chairman and former MP Barrister Andaleeve Rahman Partho and businessman Rezaul Hasnat David for five days on Thursday.
BGB seizes snake venom worth over Tk16 crore
Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) seized snake venom worth more than Tk16 crore from the border area of Dinajpur's Birampur upazila in the small hours on Friday.
Acting on a tipped-off, a team of BGB-20 conducted a drive in the South Damodarpur area of Birampur Upazila of Dinajpur around 3am on Friday and seized the venom weighing around 2.466kg, Battalion Commander (Ordnance) Lt. Col. Nahid Newaz said in a press release this afternoon..
The confiscated snake venom was stored in two glass jars, he added.
No one could be arrested as the smugglers left the venom sensing the presence of the BGB, said the commander.