03-09-2021

Friday, Dhaka: September 3, 2021; Bhadra 19, 1428 BS; Muharram 24, 1443 Hijri
BNP conspiring to regain
power illegally:Quader
DHAKA : Awami League General
Secretary Obaidul Quader on Thursday
said that BNP is conspiring against the
government, democratic institutions
and the election process to grab power
through undemocratic and unconstitutional
way, reports UNB.
Quader's hard-hitting statement came
a day after BNP Secretary General Mirza
Fakhrul Islam Alamgir accused the AL
government of snatching people's right
to vote, politicising the administration,
the judiciary and the Election
Commission in establishing a one-party
like regime in disguise.
Dismissing BNP's allegations Quader
counter attacked the opposition party
calling it undemocratic.
In his written statement the AL leader
said that the Zia-Mushtaq clique seized
power in an illegal and unconstitutional
manner through the assassination of
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family
members on Aug. 15 in 1975.
In the process they destroyed the democratic
spirit and the values of the 1971
Liberation War.
"Through a long movement and struggle,
the spirit of liberation war and democratic
values were re-established in this
country under the leadership of Sheikh
Hasina, daughter of Bangabandhu," he
said.
He added that today when the foundation
of democratic culture is well rooted
in the country, it is shameful for Mirza
Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to demand
restoration of democracy."
He referred to BNP participation in
the 2018 general election as what
Fakhrul said as part of a movement. This
statement made it clear that BNP joined
the polls not to win but to make it controversial.
He added that the election had
been most inclusive where all political
parties took part.
Quader said BNP and its top leaders
have repeatedly been rejected by the
people, but it is unfortunate that they
blame the Election Commission for their
defeat.
He said BNP, which was founded
unconstitutionally and undemocratically
by Ziaur Rahman, never believed in
democratic values. Zia seized power illegally
and established the party in that
manner, he said.
Since the beginning BNP has been an
undemocratic party, Quader said adding
the party tried to stay in power through
conspiracies and in unconstitutional
ways whenever they came to power.
Saying that the current EC's term is
due to end soon the AL leader alleged
that BNP has resorted to a ploy to make
the election of the next EC controversial.
He said the next EC will be appointed
through a search committee set up by
the President.
That is why BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul
Islam Alamgir is constantly misleading
the nation through false, baseless and
fabricated statements, Quader added.
Dengue
3 more die, record
330 patients
hospitalised
DHAKA : Three more people died of
dengue and a record 330 new patients
were hospitalised in the last 24 hours
until Thursday morning, said the
Directorate General of Health
Services (DGHS).
Of the new patients, 284 were in
Dhaka while the remaining cases
were reported from outside the division.
Earlier on Aug 17, 329 were hospitalised
with dengue in a single day,
which was the highest till date.
Some 1,262 patients diagnosed with
dengue fever are receiving treatment
in the country as of Thursday morning,
DGHS said.
Among them, 1,131 patients are
receiving treatment at different hospitals
in the capital while the remaining
131 were listed outside Dhaka.
According to DGHS, 10,981
patients have been diagnosed with
dengue this year and 48 among them
died.
So far, 9668 dengue patients have
been released from hospitals after
recovery, according to DGHS.
Health authorities have been
recording over 200 dengue cases per
day since August 1.
The dengue cases continue to rise
alarmingly when the country is battling
the deadlier Delta variant of coronavirus
with its limited health care
facilities for the last few months.
Waves slam along the shore near high tide as the remnants of Hurricane Ida leave coastal Massachusetts. Photo : AP
Nine dead as New York, New
Jersey hit by floods
NEW YORK : People in New York have
been sharing dramatic footage of floodwater
cascading into subway stations. In
this footage from Jefferson Street station
in Brooklyn, a man is seen braving
the sheets of water to exit the train. It
wasn't just subway stations that found
themselves under water - a terminal at
Newark airport in New Jersey was also
flooded. More than 300 flights at the airport
were cancelled on Thursday.
An overnight travel ban has been lifted
in New York City but officials are urging
people to remain indoors as emergency
workers begin to clear-up the city
and asses the damage caused to streets
and highways. Mayor Bill de Blasio's
office tweeted: "Stay home as much as
possible today until conditions
improve".
More than 100,000 homes began
Thursday morning without power
in New York, New Jersey, and
Connecticut, data shows.
According to information from
PowerOutage.us, 40,551 homes were
without electricity as of 08:22 EST
(13:22 BST).
About half the outages are in Dutchess
or Westchester counties. Two hours earlier,
the total number of homes without
power stood at over 45,600. In New
Jersey, over 60,000 homes were without
power. The outages are mostly located
in Sussex, Warren or Hunterdon
counties. Another 17,302 homes are
without electricity in nearby
Connecticut.
At 8pm on Wednesday night, torrential
rain began to fall as the Amtrak train
I regularly get between Washington and
New York approached New Jersey.
Suddenly my phone lit up with flash
flooding alerts, and the rainfall intensified,
vast sheets of water hammering the
side of the train.
"It's like a car wash", said the cafe car
attendant in wonder, as we stopped at
Metropark station. Soon came the
announcement of flooding on the tracks
ahead of us, making it impossible to
reach New York.
Passengers scrolled social media,
swapping tales of flooding at Newark
airport in New Jersey and streets underwater
in Brooklyn.
I called my husband at 1am and told
him I was stuck. There is no alternate
transportation, read a sign at Metropark
station. The roads around us were flooded
and there was no way out, so I settled
in for the night.
At 2am came the announcement that
our train was going back to Washington.
I changed trains to one bound for New
York - which still hadn't left as of 6.15am.
My husband is driving to get me -
though many roads are closed, he says.
This is the new world of extreme
weather, severe, exacerbated by climate
change. The extent of the rainfall caused
by the remnants of hurricane Ida in
Louisiana was unexpected, catching
forecasters and travellers out.
BD reports 88
Covid-19 deaths
TBT RePoRT
Bangladesh logged 88 Covid-19 deaths
and 3,436 cases in the last 24 hours till
Thursday morning showing a slight
upward trend from a day earlier.
Besides, The case positivity rate also
increased slightly to 10.40 per cent
from last day's 10.11 per cent, according
to Directorate General of Health
Services. Bangladesh logged 79 deaths
and 3,062 new cases respectively on
Tuesday morning. The fresh numbers
pushed the country's total fatalities to
26,362 , while the cases reached
15.07,116, according to DGHS.
The country last saw 112
Coronavirus-related deaths on June
29 and the upswing in the fatalities
reached its peak on August 5 and 10
when 264 deaths were recorded.
The new cases were detected after testing
33,035 samples during the last 24
hours, said the DGHS.
The recovery rate rose to 95.41 per
cent, while the case fatality remained
static at 1.75 per cent compared to the
corresponding period.
However, the situation was much
more catastrophic from June to the
better part of August as the country
experienced a surge of Covid-related
caseloads and deaths during that time.
Between May and June this year,
there was a 273% rise in monthly caseloads
and 162% in fatalities. In July,
there was a 150% increase in caseloads
and a 170% rise in deaths compared to
the previous month, according to the
World Health Organization (WHO).
View of development work at Gulistan Fulbaria area of Dhaka South City Corporation.
Photo: PBA
Dreams crumble to dust as
erosion sweeps away homes
KURIGRAM : Not only the Teesta, but the
Gangadhar river has also turned turbulent
in Kurigram. Over the past few
weeks, the raging river has swallowed
large swathes of land in Nageshwari, rendering
several families homeless.
Jalepara, Ramdatta and Raghurvita villages
are the worst affected.
This monsoon season alone, 50 families
have lost theirhomes and livelihoods due to
land erosion by the Gangadhar river. Every
year, the river is swollen by seasonal rains
and the erosion mainly takes place after the
water from the monsoon subsides and the
brittle soil on the banks collapses. Despite
the erosion eating into the village roads and
farm lands, local residents claim, no effective
measures have been taken by the
authorities yet, and they now live under the
fear of losing their lives too.
Many homeless people have now taken
shelter at Raghurvita Government Primary
School. Chandra and Bhanuram Biswas of
Jalepara are among the unfortunate ones.
"Every time, the river swallows our homes,
we are forced to start from the beginning.
This time, we have lost everything-house,
belongings and some money we had saved
for the rainy day," the duo said.
Kaledanga Jame Mosque, Ramdatta
Jame Mosque, Ramdatta Mahila Hafeza
Madrasa, Krishnapur Nurani Hafezia
Madrasa, and the only paved road in
Krishnapur now stand threatened by the
Gangadhar. Akmal Hossain, a public representative,
told UNB that the Water
Development Board didn't take any visible
steps this monsoon to prevent the problem
that has been prevailing for years now.
Officials of the Water Development
Board, however, said that a project for
protecting the riverbank from erosion has
already been sent to the higher authorities
for approval. "The proposal was sent to
the headquarters two years ago, but we
are still waiting for an approval. We need
Robust pension system requires
to avoid impoverishment
in old-age: Speakers
DHAKA : Speakers at a virtual webinar on
Thursday said, a robust pension system is
required to avoid impoverishment and
social distress in old-age, reports BSS.
'Timely and smart policy interventions
can help avert an impending pension
crisis. A fully funded pension system
should be introduced with options
of investment in stock or bonds', they
added. The speakers made these suggestions
at the virtual webinar on-'
Universal Pension System in
Bangladesh- A Path Breaking
Intervention', organized by the Institute
of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh
(ICAB) , said a press release.
Finance Division, Senior Secretary of
Ministry of Finance Abdur Rouf Talukder
attended the webinar as chief guest while
Chairman of Bangladesh Energy and
Power Research Council Satyajit
Karmaker and Finance Division
Additional Secretary (Regulation) Md.
Golam Mostafa attended as special guests.
They speakers also said, in FY 2019-
20 budget speech the Finance Minister
announced an 'Introduction of
Universal Pension Scheme' with the
rationale to provide wider coverage.
The Finance Division Senior Secretary
said, a modern and efficient pension
administration and management system
directly contributes to improved
services to civil servants.
'The Government of Bangladesh
(GoB) remains committed to modernize
the pension payroll and administration
as part of its commitment to achieve
good governance and efficient service
delivery in all areas,' he added.
The senior secretary also said, 'Upon
analysis and survey on the need to modernize
the administration of civil service
pensions, the Finance Division has
taken initiative to integrate payroll and
personnel records'.
ICAB President Mahmudul Hasan
Khusru said, Bangladesh's dual graduation
journey from a least developed country
to a developing country, and from a
low-income country to a lower-middle
income country, entails a need to design
and pursue policies that are commensurate
with the growing expectations of its
citizens for better social welfare and a
more economically secured life.
During this pandemic the inequality
between rich and poor has risen and created
yeaning gap as the middle-income
group people turned poor losing their
jobs. Inequality in Bangladesh is a cause
of serious concern, a Universal Pension
System could serve as a tool to reduce
this inequality in income distribution, he
suggested. Among others, ICAB CEO
Shubhashish Bose, World Bank Lead
Governance specialist Suraiya Zannath
Khan, ICAB Council Member and Past
President Dewan Nurul Islam and Vice
President Maria Howlader also spoke at
the webinar.
a permanent solution to the problem.
Temporary steps won't be effective unless
an embankment is constructed," saidsubdivisional
engineer Omar Faruk Md
Mokhtar Hossain.
On August 23, UNB reported how over
100 families in Ulipur upazila of Kurigram
district lost their homes to erosion by the
Teesta river in just one week. Villages like
Arjun in Daldalia Union and Gorai Pier,
Dalal Para, Hokdanga and Doctor Para in
Thetrai Union of the upazila have been hit
the hardest by the turbulent river.
Five educational institutions, two community
clinics, roads and one hundred
acres of arable land now stand threatened
due to the gushing water from the river,
locals said.
At least 500 families of these areas have
turned paupers as they lost their homes
and land this monsoon alone, the UNB
correspondent reported after visiting the
affected areas.
Elections to
161 UPs, 9
municipalities
on Sept 20
DHAKA : Elections to 161 Union
Parishad (UPs) in Khulna, Bagerhat,
Satkhira, Noakhali, Chattogram and
Cox's Bazar and 9 municipalities in
the country, which were postponed
due to the Coronavirus pandemic,
will be held on September 20 next.
Election Commission Secretary
Humayun Kabir Khandakar came up
with the information while talking to
reporters at the media center of the
Nirbachan Bhaban in city's Agargaon
area yesterday, reports BSS.
"EC has decided to hold polls in 161
UPs and 9 municipalities in the country
on September 20," he said.
The nine municipal are: Bhanga in
Faridpur , Nangalkot in Cumilla,
Chakaria and Maheshkhali in Cox's
Bazar, Sonagazi in Feni, Kabirhat in
Noakhali, Nawapara in Jashore,
Debiganj in Panchagarh and
Boalkhali in Chattogram.
12 AL men get bail in Barishal
BARISHAL : A Barishal court on
Thursday granted bail to 12 Awami
League leaders and activists in two
cases filed over the attack on the residence
of Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer
(UNO) Munibur Rahman on August
18, reports UNB.
Barishal Additional Chief Metropolitan
Magistrate Mohammad Masum Billah
passed the order, said General Register
Officer Khokon Chandra Das.
He said a petition was filed on August
29 seeking bail for the 12 accused.
City Awami League joint general secretary
Hasan Mahmud,its organizing
secretary and BCC Ward No 21 councillor
Sayeed Ahmed, relief secretary
Moazzem Hossain Firoj were among
those secured bail yesterday.
On August 15, the court granted bail to
nine other accused in the cases.
With these, all the 21 accused except
two got bail. Two other accused did not
get bail as they are undergoing treatment
in Dhaka. On August 22, a court rejected
bail plea of 21 Awami League men arrested
in connection with the cases filed over
the attack. A clash broke out between the
supporters of the AL, BCL and members
and Ansar when the former tried to attack
the residence of the UNO at Sadar Upazila
Complex in Barishal on August 18. Five
people suffered bullet wounds during the
clash. Of them two AL men lost their eyesights
later.
Earlier two separate cases were filed in
this connection. Upazila Nirbahi officer
Munibur Rahman of Barisal Sadar
Upazila and Assistant sub-inspector of
police Shahjalal Mallick were the plaintiffs
in these cases accusing the mayor
Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah and his men of
obstruction of government work and
attempt to murder.