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Two 'robbers' lynched to death in Narsingdi
Two suspected robbers were allegedly lynched to death by an irate mob in the Darikandi-Borochar area of Belabo upazila on Tuesday night.
The deceased were identified as Jewel Mia, 30, son of Ator Mia, and Nadim Mia, 30, son of Shahid Ullah of Lochonpur village in Raipura upazila of the district.
Shafayet Hossain, officer-in-charge of Belabo Police Station, said that the road stretching from Dorikandi bus stand to Borochar on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway is infamous for robberies.
Also read: 2 hacked to death in Pabna, Khulna
On Tuesday night, local people spotted a CNG-run auto-rickshaw, carrying some three to four armed men, in the area. Sensing danger, the locals raised an alarm.
Soon a mob gathered and signalled the auto-rickshaw to stop. The occupants of the vehicle panicked, got off the auto-rickshaw and tried to flee. After a brief chase, the locals caught two of them and thrashed them to death, the OC said.
Also read: Man arrested for killing wife, 2 others in Narsingdi
Later, the mob vandalised the vehicle and set it on fire, the official said.
On information, police recovered the bodies of the two men and sent them to the local hospital morgue for an autopsy.
Global Covid caseload nears 174 million
Notwithstanding a drop in the number of fresh cases in several countries, the global Covid-19 caseload is fast approaching the 174-million mark.
The global case count and fatalities stand at 173,887,864 and 3,744,378, respectively, as of Wednesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
To date, some 2,176, 376,755 people have been jabbed globally, as per JHU data.
The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has so far logged 33,390,694 cases and
598,323 deaths, Johns Hopkins figures reveal.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 28,996,473 on Tuesday, with 86,498 new cases reported in 24 hours, said the federal Health Ministry. This is the lowest single-day spike in India in more than two months.
Besides, 2,123 deaths were reported during the period, pushing up the death toll to over 350,000, according to the Ministry.
Brazil registered 2,378 more deaths from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 476,792, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
Also read: US to honour Bangladesh's request for AstraZeneca vaccine: FM hopes
A total of 52,911 new infections were detected during the period, raising the national caseload to 17,037,129, the ministry said.
Brazil has the world's second-highest Covid-19 death toll, after the United States, and the third-largest caseload, behind the U.S. and India.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh on Tuesday registered 44 more coronavirus-related deaths and 2,322 fresh cases in 24 hours, with the Covid situation worsening post the detection of the Delta variant in different parts of the country.
Read: In Khulna, a scramble for Covid hospital beds
Although district administrations have imposed restrictions in most of the frontier districts to bring the situation under control, the infection and death rates are on the rise.
The latest death toll pushed up the fatalities to 12,913. The Covid-19 death toll crossed the 12,000-mark in Bangladesh on May 11.
With the new cases, the total caseload rose to 8,15,282, said the Directorate General of Health Services.
Vaccination drive
Around 5,563 people have received the second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the past 24 hours.
A total number of 42,28,741 people have so far got the second dose of this vaccine, while the number is 58,20,015 for the first dose.
Besides, the total number of people receiving their first jab of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine reached 2,162 during the period.
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses bought from India's Serum Institute.
So far, four vaccines – Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield), Sputnik-V, Sinopharm, and Pfizer-BioNTech – have got the approval for emergency use in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, seven million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine reached Bangladesh, and the governments of India and China gave 3.2 million doses and 500,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine as gifts, respectively.
However, the country, the prime recipient of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the arrival of shipments from India.
US delivers emergency medical supplies
The United States, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), on Monday night delivered to Bangladesh its latest shipment of emergency medical supplies to save lives, stop the spread of Covid-19, and meet the urgent health needs of the Bangladeshi people.
This latest delivery brings the financial value of US pandemic assistance to Bangladesh to more than $84 million, tweeted US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller.
The emergency medical supplies include critical personal protective equipment for healthcare professionals and other frontline workers, as well as fingertip pulse oximeters.
Grameenphone contributes Tk 31.4 crore to Labour Fund
Amid the global pandemic, Grameenphone (GP) contributed around Tk 31.4 crore to the Bangladesh Labour Welfare Foundation Fund under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
A five-member delegation led by Grameenphone’s Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) Syed Tanvir Husain handed over the cheque to State Minister for Labour and Employment, Begum Monnujan Sufian at the ministry Tuesday.
READ: Grameenphone board approves 275% cash dividend
At the cheque handover ceremony State Minister for Labour and Employment and the Chairman of Bangladesh Labour Welfare Foundation Begum Monnujan Sufian said, “The government has formed a foundation fund under the Bangladesh Labor Act for the welfare of working people. During this disastrous time of coronavirus, around two thousand workers have been provided assistance worth Tk 6.25 crore from this fund,”
GP CHRO Syed Tanvir Husain said, “We believe that our humble contribution to the labour welfare fund will inspire many others to come forward and stand by the workers in need.”
Around 165 local, foreign and multinational companies, including Grameenphone, have been regularly contributing a certain portion of their dividends to this fund which is increasing every month.
READ: Grameenphone announces 15,500 4G towers in country
Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment K.M. Abdus Salam, Director General of Bangladesh Workers Welfare Foundation Begum Jebunnesa Karim, Shakila Zerin Ahmed, Director of Workers Welfare Foundation, Director-General of the Department of Labour Gautam Kumar, Grameenphone’s Head of Regulatory Affairs Hossain Sadat, HR Business Partner & Circle HR Head Yeasir Mahmood Khan, Grameenphone’s Industrial Relations Head K M Sabbir Ahmed and Md. Asaduzzaman a member of Grameenphone’s Industrial Relations Department were present among others at this event.
ACC files case against 17 people including 16 AB bank officials
Anti-Corruption Commision (ACC) on Tuesday filed a case against a total of 17 people, including 16 officials of AB Bank, on corruption charges and embezzlement of money.
Deputy Director ( Public Relation) of ACC Muhammad Arif Sadeq told UNB that from 2014 to 2017, these officials worked together to prepare work orders by abusing their power for fraudulent purposes.
Also read: ACC seeks wealth information of Rajuk engineer, 4 others
They withdrew TK176 crore using these fake documents and by giving seven illegal bank guarantees without the approval of the office was embezzled too.
A case has been registered against 17 people, including 16 officials of AB Bank for committing a punishable offense under Section 47 (48/47/471/09/109) and Section 5 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1948 by embezzling.
Also read: ACC sues Rajuk employee
The accused in the case are- proprietor of Ershad Brothers Corporation Ershad Ali, former Exrcutive Vice- President (EVP) and branch manager (now retired) of AB Bank A. B. M Abdus Sattar, former AVP and Relationship Manager Abdur Rahim, SVP and former Relationship Manager Anisur Rahman, AVP Ruhul Amin and Shahidul Islam, EVP and Head of CRM at head office Wasika Afrazi , former VP Mufti Mustafizur Rahman, former SE VP and head of CRM (now retired) Salma Akhter AVP OCRM Member of Head Office Mohammad Emarat Hassan Fakir, former Principal Officer, AB Bank (currently Principal Officer of Mutual Trust Bank) Touhidul Islam , member of SVP and CRM of AB Bank Shamim-e-Mershed, member of VP and CRM of the same bank at head Office Khandaker Rashed Anowar, member of AVP and CRM Sirajul Islam, VP and Member of Credit Committee of AB Bank Mohammad Mahfuz-ul-Islam, , former DMD and MD (now retired) and Head of Credit Committee of AB Bank Ltd ( Head Office) Moshiur Rahman Chowdhury, former MD (now retired) AB Bank Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury.
Another abused woman returns from KSA with baby boy
A 32-year old woman returned home with her 6-month old boy from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Her employer terminated her contract, she was abused, sent to jail and finally forced to leave.
Her crime was being a woman and she was punished for getting pregnant after repeated abuse of her foreign employer.
She is now worried about facing social stigma in the country and is currently clueless about how she will be received at home with the baby boy.
She said that she had been physically and mentally tortured ever since she reached Saudi Arabia back in Nov 2019.
At one point she became pregnant and was sent to a jail for the ‘crime.’ Her son came into the world when she was in jail.
Now she has been forced to return to the country after getting released.
“No one in my family knows about it. I can't go back to the family with him. The people of the society will not take it well,” she exclaimed.
Members of the Armed Police Battalion(APBn) on duty at the airport have handed her over to the BRAC Migration Program.
She is currently staying at a BRAC Learning Center.
Shariful Islam Hasan, Programme Head, Migration at BRAC said that such incidents are unfortunate.
“The incident should be investigated. Her employer should be interrogated and if needed a DNA test should be conducted to find out the paternity of the child. There have been 12 such similar incidents in the recent past. We try our best to stand beside the victims, but the government should be proactive in ensuring these incidents don’t take place in the first place,” he said.
Earlier in April this year, another Saudi Arabia-returnee woman abandoned her 8-month-old daughter at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport .
On May 26, a woman returned home from the Middle Eastern country after losing her mental stability.
According to media reports, she also delivered a child inside a Saudi Arabia jail.
Besides, another female domestic worker was forced to return home with her four-month-old daughter from Oman in February this year.
She said she was handed over to Oman police when she became pregnant at one stage. Her child was then born while in the Oman deportation camp.
Earlier, on December 16, 2020, another domestic worker named Guljahan Begum of Habiganj district was forced to return home from Oman with her three-month-old daughter.
Consumers to be urged to be more economical in power consumption
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has asked officials to encourage consumers to be more economical in consuming power and energy.
Conservative use of power and energy will not only make the people economically benefit, but also help improve the environment as well, he said, while addressing a workshop on “National Energy Balance: Bangladesh Perspective” in the city on Tuesday.
He underscored the need for launching a huge campaign to create awareness among the people about the benefits of conservation of power and energy.
Also read: Budget Power and energy sector allocation to increase by Tk 726 crore
Mentioning the existing target to reduce the primary energy’s use by 20 percent within 2030 as per Power Sector Master Plan, Nasrul Hamid said an initiative has been taken to update the target against the backdrop of changed scenario.
He said Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda) has been working to promote renewable energy and also for energy efficiency and conservation.
It’s now essential for all to use the energy efficient appliances, he added.
Also read: Bangladesh’s 40 percent power to come from renewables by 2041: Nasrul Hamid
The State Minister said the government's current target is to ensure the supply of quality and uninterrupted power to the people.
“We have to take initiative to increase the per capita electricity consumption from the current level of 512 kilowatt hours,” he said.
With Sreda Chairman Mohammad Alauddin in the chair, the function was also addressed by Power Secretary Habibur Rahman, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) Chairman ABM Azad,and chairman of Bangladesh Energy and Power Research Council (BEPRC) Satyajit Karmaker while Sreda consultant for energy efficiency and conservation promoting financing project Yoshihik kato made a keynote presentation on the topic.
A man held for alleged social media posts on militancy
Authorities said they held a 28-year-old man from the city on multiple allegations, including posting provocative posts on social media and uploading militancy-related pictures.
The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said Shohag Hossain was picked up on Friday (June 5) from Shymoli under Mohammadpur police station.
A mobile phone set was also recovered from his possession.
The man also faces allegations that he tried to spread militancy and misinterpretations of religion.
A case was filed under the Digital Security Act wth Ramna Model Police Station in regard to the allegations.
The DB produced Shohagh before a Dhaka Metropolitan magistrate court on Monday. The Magistrate granted police appeal for a 3-day fresh remand for interrogation.
Sources at the CTTC said, the Cyber Intel team of the City-Intelligence Analysis Division had been conducting online monitoring from March 1 to June 6 this year as part of regular cyber patrolling.
During the monitoring period, the Cyber Intel team detected that one Khalid Ibn Walid (Facebook Profile Link: https://www.facebook.com/shohagrana.rana.524) was trying to disrupt law and order, including spreading militancy, through his facebook ID by uploading various provocative and militant pictures.
Based on the allegation, a team of the CTTC conducted a raid at Shyamoli area in the capital at around 11:00 pm on June 5 and arrested Shohagh, said Sayed Nasirullah, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of City-Intelligence Analysis Division.
The police official claimed that during the preliminary interrogation, the accused had admitted his involvement in the alleged anti-state activity.
BGMEA seeks customs support for garment industry
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has urged the authorities to ease the export-import audit activities for the garment industry.
A delegation of BGMEA made the request during a meeting held recently with the Customs Bond Commissionerate Kazi Mustafizur Rahman at the CBC office.
The BGMEA delegation included Senior Vice President SM Mannan (Kochi), Vice President Md. Shahidullah Azim, Director Asif Ashraf, former Director Munir Hossain, Chairman of Mitali Group Syed Abu Yousuf Abdullah and Managing Director of Sparrow Apparels Shovon Islam (Shawn).
Also read: Bangladesh can earn at least $ 2bn more exporting non-cotton products: BGMEA chief
Additional Commissioners of Customs Bond Commissionerate Khaled Mohammad Abu Hossain and Md. Zakir Hossain were also present at the meeting, BGMEA said in a media release on Tuesday.
The BGMEA leaders said the Covid-19 pandemic created an unprecedented crisis in the RMG industry of Bangladesh and it was still struggling to recover from the massive impacts.
The support and cooperation of the Customs Bond Commissionerate would help the RMG industry to address the current challenges and turn around, they added.
Also read: BGMEA wants continuation of 0.5 per cent source tax
They requested for an interim arrangement to continue existing services for smooth export-import and bonded warehouse facility and remove hassle and penalty of the customs authority until re-fixation of the minimum limit of wastages in manufacturing knitwear.
The delegation also called for removing complexity in the process of including description of raw materials and other related materials with their HS code in bond licences.
The Commissioner of the Customs Bond Commissionerate assured the BGMEA delegation of cooperation to resolve the issues.
Multinational companies plan to cut suppliers who fail to curb carbon emission
Some 78 per cent multinational companies plan to remove by 2025 suppliers that endanger their carbon transition plan according to a study by Standard Chartered.
According to Carbon Dated, which looks at the risks and opportunities for suppliers in emerging and fast-growing markets as large corporates transition to net zero, MNCs expect to exclude 35 per cent of their current suppliers as they transition away from carbon.
The study also found that-- Supply chain emissions account for an average of 73 per cent of MNCs’ total emissions and More than two thirds (67 per cent) of MNCs say tackling supply chains emissions is the first step in their net-zero transition, rather than focusing on their own carbon output.
It also said that Suppliers in 12 key emerging and fast-growing markets can share in USD1.6 trillion worth of business if they can remain part of MNC supply chains.
According to the study the MNCs are increasing the pressure on their suppliers to become more sustainable, with companies based in emerging and fast-moving markets facing the biggest challenge.
Some 64 per cent of MNCs believe emerging market suppliers will struggle more than developed market suppliers to meet their emission reduction targets, with a further 57 per cent prepared to replace emerging market suppliers with developed market suppliers to aid their transition.
MNCs are concerned that emerging market suppliers are failing to keep pace with for two key reasons; insufficient knowledge and inadequate data. Some 56 per cent of MNCs believe that the lack of knowledge among emerging market suppliers (41 per cent for developed market suppliers) is a barrier to decarbonisation.
Also read: Carbon dioxide levels hit 50% higher than preindustrial time
With MNCs struggling with the quality of data, two-thirds are using secondary sources of data to plug the gap left by supplier emissions surveys. A further 46 per cent say that unreliable data from suppliers is a barrier to reducing emissions.
The study also reveals that the current approach taken by MNCs could create a USD1.6 trillion opportunity for the net-zero club: those businesses reducing emissions in line with MNC net-zero plans.
This represents a major opportunity for net-zero-focused suppliers across the 12 markets in this study, but also quantifies the potential losses to companies not embracing net-zero transition.
Market Annual export revenue at risk
China USD512.3bn
India USD273.7bn
Hong Kong USD205.5bn
Singapore USD146.6bn
South Korea USD142.5bn
The UAE USD119.6bn
Malaysia USD65.3bn
Nigeria USD34.3bn
South Africa USD33.7bn
Indonesia USD25.6bn
Bangladesh USD18.7bn
Kenya USD3.9bn
MNCs are also willing to spend more on net-zero products and services. Some 45 per cent said they would pay a premium, of 7 per cent on average, for a product or service from a net-zero supplier.
Also read: Carbon neutrality by 2050: The world's most urgent mission
MNCs are exploring other ways to help their suppliers’ transition to net zero. Some 47 per cent are offering preferred supplier status – a sales advantage – to sustainable suppliers, and 30 per cent are offering preferential pricing.
Some MNCs are going further, offering grants or loans to their suppliers to invest in reducing emissions (18 per cent) or data collection (13 per cent).
Bill Winters, Group Chief Executive of Standard Chartered said: “It’s no surprise that as multinational companies transition to net zero, they will have to ask to their suppliers to evidence their own transitions. However, suppliers – especially those in emerging and fast-growing markets - cannot go it alone.
“MNCs need to incentivise their suppliers to help them kick start their transition journey, but governments and the financial sector have a role to play too by creating the right infrastructure and offering the necessary funding.
“Decarbonisation is vital for the survival of the planet, but a vibrant trade ecosystem is essential for maintaining an interconnected global economy. We must work together to ensure the supply chain is decarbonised in a way that delivers shared prosperity across the world.”
Carbon Dated surveyed 400 sustainability and supply chain experts at MNCs across the globe.
Inflation declines to 5.26 in May
The inflation rate declined by 0.30 percent in May, 2021 as it came down to 5.26 percent from 5.56 percent in April 2021.
“The general point-to-point inflation rate in May 2021 fell to 5.26 percentage point,” said Planning Minister MA Mannan on Tuesday while briefing reporters after the Ecnec meeting.
Also read: Dhaka adopts 5.2% inflation target for 2022-23
He said the inflation rate decreased by 0.30 percent. “It’s good news. We’re happy,” he added.
The food inflation declined to 4.87 percent in May, 2021 from 5.57 percent in the previous month, according to the BBS data provided during the press briefing.
Also read: Coronavirus might have some impact on inflation: Minister
However, the non-food inflation rate went up slightly to 5.86 percent last month from 5.55 percent in April, 2021.