17-11-2021

wEDNESDAY, NOvEMBER 17, 2021
11
An open discussion meeting through ESDO-Educo funded project was also held at Ranisankail
Upazila on Monday.
Photo: Courtesy
India's COVID-19 tally at
34,456,401, new cases in
one day lowest in 287 days
NEW DELHI : India's
COVID-19 tally rose to
34,456,401 on Tuesday, as
8,865 new cases were
registered during the past 24
hours across the country,
showed the federal health
ministry's latest data,
reports UNB.
The number of new cases
registered in a day is the
lowest in 287 days.
Besides, 197 deaths from
the pandemic have been
reported since Monday
morning, taking the total
death toll to 463,852.
There are still 130,793
active COVID-19 cases in the
country, a fall of 3,303 active
cases during the past 24
hours. "India's active
caseload is the lowest in 525
days," said the federal health
ministry.
A total of 33,861,756
people have been
successfully cured and
discharged from hospitals so
far, out of whom 11,971 were
discharged during the past
24 hours.
6 teens injured in
drive-by shooting near
Denver area school
AURORA : Six teenagers were
wounded Monday in a drive-by
shooting in a park near a
suburban Denver high school,
but all were expected to survive,
police said.
The victims, who range in age
from 14 to 18, are all students at
Aurora Central High School in
Aurora, a diverse city east of
Denver, said police chief
Vanessa Wilson. She said she
needed everyone to be
"outraged" by what happened
and come forward with any
information they might have to
help police find those
responsible, reports UNB.
Wilson asked neighbors and
other bystanders to share any
videos or photos from phones
or house surveillance systems
that might help detectives
identify the suspects, who
haven't been apprehended.
UK declares £18m for 12 countries
to end child marriage
DHAKA : The United Kingdom has declared
£18 million of new funding through partners
UNICEF and UNFPA for 12 countries,
including Bangladesh to end child marriage,
reports BSS.
This investment will strengthen laws and
policies, improve girls' access to sexual and
reproductive health services, support girls to
access formal and informal education and
tackle the harmful beliefs underlying child
marriage, said a press release sending from
British High Commission.
The earlier support for this work has
already helped avert 25 million child
marriages over the last decade.
The UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on
Tuesday also launched a major global
campaign to stop sexual violence against
women and girls in conflict around the
world. Foreign Secretary announced that
women and girls will be at the centre of her
foreign policy priorities, with more than £20
million of new funding to help stop violence
against women and girls around the world.
Speaking at an event for the Gender
Equality Advisory Council (GEAC) -
established under the UK's G7 Presidency to
support women and girls around the world -
the Foreign Secretary, who is also the UK's
Minister for Women and Equalities, also
announced that the UK will host a global
conference next year to unite the world in
action to prevent sexual violence in conflict.
Under the UK's Presidency, G7 countries
have committed to get 40 million girls into
education and this year the UK hosted the
Global Partnership for Education Summit,
raising o2.9bn to get children into school.
This included £430m pledged by the UK,
said the release.
Leaf Collection Center was inaugurated to facilitate the storage of raw tea
leaves for small scale tea growers in Bandarban. Chittagong Area
Commander and GOC of 24 Infantry Division Major General Md Saiful
Abedin was the chief guest at the inaugural function at Sharan Para area of
Chimbuk Road on Tuesday morning.
Photo: Safayet Hossain
Despite mistrust, Afghan Shiites
seek Taliban protection
KABUL : Outside a Shiite
shrine in Kabul, four armed
Taliban fighters stood guard
on a recent Friday as
worshippers filed in for weekly
prayers. Alongside them was a
guard from Afghanistan's
mainly Shiite Hazara minority,
an automatic rifle slung over
his shoulder, reports UNB.
It was a sign of the strange,
new relationship brought by
the Taliban's takeover of
Afghanistan. The Taliban,
Sunni hard-liners who for
decades targeted the Hazaras
as heretics, are now their only
protection against a more
brutal enemy: the Islamic State
group. Sohrab, the Hazara
guard standing watch over the
Abul Fazl al-Abbas Shrine, told
The Associated Press that he
gets along fine with the Taliban
guards. "They even pray in the
mosque sometimes," he said,
giving only his first name for
security reasons.
Not everyone feels so
comfortable.
Syed Aqil, a young Hazara
visiting the ornate shrine along
with his wife and 8-month-old
daughter, was disturbed that
many of the Taliban still wear
their traditional garb - the look
of a jihadi insurgent - rather
than a police uniform.
"We can't even tell if they are
Taliban or Daesh," he said,
using the Arabic acronym for
the Islamic State group.
Since seizing power three
months ago, the Taliban have
presented themselves as more
moderate, compared with
their first rule in the late 1990s
when they violently repressed
the Hazaras and other ethnic
groups.
Open discussion meeting
of ESDO-Educo project
held
An open discussion meeting
through ESDO-Educo
funded project was also held
on Monday in Ranisankail
Upazila Parishad hall. Since
last February 2021, three
projects have been
implemented by SDO in
Ranisankail Upazila with the
help of Educo Bangladesh.
The projects have been
implemented in a total of 40
government primary schools
and concerned communities
in all the unions and
municipal areas of the
upazila, a press release said.
The project activities are
also being conducted
through joint planning and
consultation with
community and upazila level
project supporting
government and private
stakeholders. Beneficiaries
and service providers will
also have to accept
suggestions and complaints
on issues such as what
extent has the implemented
project contributed to the
development of benefited
children, adolescents and
youth. This will help in
expanding and refining the
project.
Md. Sharifullai Salam,
Project Coordinator, ESDO
moderated the occasion.
During the time, Upazila
Parishad Vice Chairman Mst
Shefali Begum, Upazila
Youth Development Officer,
Union Parishad Chairman
and
journalist
representatives Ranisankail,
Thakurgaon were present as
guests in the open
discussion.
Among others, Sadia
Karim, Md. Mostafizur
Rahman and Motahar
Hossain were present as the
representative of Educo
Bangladesh while Nirmal
Kumar Majumder, Md.
Kariful Islam and project
staffs were present as the
representative of ESDO.
Kona represents
Bengali culture
in USA
Rokibul Hoque Dipu,
Magura Correspondent
Mahmuda Yasmin Kona is the
daughter of Fashiar Rahman
and Shamshunnahar Lucky of
Magura town. She is a student
of mass communication and
journalism department in
Bangladesh University of
professionals (BUP).
From her childhood Kona
was fond of recitation and
dancing. She was student of
Magura Shipakala academy
and recitation club Kantabithi.
After admission in BUP she
got involved in BUP literature
club and film club. She
became popular in the
university within very short
time for her different cultural
performance. In the mean
time Troy university of
Alabama state in USA called
her for scholarship in cultural
exchanging. Kona applied for
the scholarship. Through
different tests, 3 candidates
were selected from
Bangladesh for the
scholarship. Fortunately Kona
became one of the scholarship
holders.
Now Kona is performing
her cultural activities in
different cultural centers in
USA. Thousands of American
spectators as well as Bengali
spectators are enjoying
Bengali culture performed by
Kona.
Rangpur records no Covid fatality
for 12th consecutive day
RANGPUR: No fatality due to Covid-19 was
recorded for the 12 consecutive days on
Monday in the division where the pandemic
situation continues improving during the
last more than two and a half months,
reports BSS.
Health officials said the total number of
Covid-19 fatalities remained steady at 1,243
in the division.
The district-wise break up of the total
death stands at 293 in Rangpur, 80 in
Panchagarh, 89 in Nilphamari, 68 in
Lalmonirhat, 69 in Kurigram, 254 in
Thakurgaon, 327 in Dinajpur and 63 in
Gaibandha of the division.
"The average fatality rate currently hovers
at 2.24 percent in thebdivision," Acting
Divisional Director (Health) Dr Abu Md
Zakirul Islam told BSS yesterday
Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 cases
reached 55,465 as six new patients were
found positive after testing 246 samples here
while the positivity rate is 2.44 percent on
Monday.
Earlier, the daily Covid-19 positivity rates
were 1.07 percent on Sunday, 2.94 percent
on Saturday, 3.38 percent on Friday, 3.79
percent on Thursday, 2.48 percent on
Wednesday and 2.76 percent on Tuesday last
in the division.
The total Covid-19 infected patients
include 12,485 of Rangpur, 3,818
Panchagarh, 4,455 of Nilphamari, 2,743 of
Lalmonirhat, 4,645 of Kurigram, 7,648 of
Thakurgaon, 14,805 of Dinajpur and 4,866
of Gaibandha in the division, Islam said.
"Since the outbreak of the pandemic, a
total of 2,97,206 collected samples were
tested till Monday, and of them, 55,465 were
found Covid-19 positive with an average
infection rate of 18.66 percent in the
division," he said.
Meanwhile, the number of healed Covid-
19 patients reached 53,272 with recovery of
12 more infected patients on Monday in the
division where the average recovery rate
currently stands at 96.05 percent.
The 53,272 recovered patients include
11,548 of Rangpur, 3,680 Panchagarh, 4,355
Nilphamari, 2,625 Lalmonirhat, 4,527
Kurigram, 7,334 Thakurgaon, 14,408 in
Dinajpur and 4,795 Gaibandha districts.
Among the 55,465 patients, 44 are under
treatments at isolation units, including 12
critical patients at ICU beds and five at High
Dependency Unit beds, after recovery of
53,272 patients and 1,243 deaths while 906
are remaining in home isolation.
"Meanwhile, the number of citizens who
got the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine rose
to 59,08,884, and among them, 34,28,349
got the second dose of the jab till Monday in
the division," Dr Islam added.
Talking to BSS, Chief of Divisional
Coronavirus Service and Prevention Task
Force and Principal of Rangpur Medical
College Professor Dr AKM Nurunnobi Lyzu
said the Covid-19 situation continues
improving in the division. "Despite the
improved pandemic situation, common
people should remain aware and properly
abide by the health directives to prevent
another probable spread of the deadly virus
during this winter," he said.
UN Security Council
extends mandate of
mission in South Sudan
UNITED NATIONS : United Nations Security
Council on Monday extended the mandate
of the United Nations Interim Security
Force for Abyei (UNISFA) until Dec. 15,
2021.
Unanimously adopting Resolution 2606
and acting under Chapter VII of the Charter
of the United Nations, the council reaffirmed
all previous resolutions and presidential
statements concerning the situation in Abyei
and along the border between Sudan and
South Sudan, underlining the importance of
full compliance with and implementation of
these. The council recognized that the current
situation in Abyei and along the border
between Sudan and South Sudan continues
to constitute a threat to international peace
and security.
It decided to remain actively seized of the
matter. UNISFA was set up by the Security
Council in June 2011 after a flare-up shortly
before South Sudan's independence.
An advocacy meeting on the code of conduct for the upcoming Union Parishad
elections has been held at Muksudpur in Gopalganj. The meeting was organized
by the Upazila Election Office on Tuesday. Gopalganj District Election
Officer Muhammad Faizul Mollah was the chief guest at the briefing held at
Faruk Khan Auditorium of the upazila while Upazila Nirbahi Officer Jobaer
Rahman Rashed presided over the function. Photo: S M Nazrul Islam
GD-1687/21 (5x3)
Mahmuda Yasmin Kona is now performing
Bengali cultural activities in different cultural
centers in USA.
Photo: TBT
GD-1688/21 (7x3)