27-07-2021

Tuesday, Dhaka : July 27, 2021; Srabon 12, 1428 BS; Zilhaj 16, 1442 hijri
BNP issues contradictory
statements over
lockdown:Hasan
DHAKA : Taking a swipe at BNP's criticism
about the lockdown, Awami League Joint
General Secretary and Information and
Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud
yesterday said BNP is issuing contradictory
statements over the lockdown.
"What is the planned lockdown of BNP?
Is it like keeping people hostage for 158
days from 2013 to 2015? Before imposing
the lockdown, they (BNP) said that the
country needs strict lockdown," he told
newsmen at a view exchange meeting at
the meeting room of his ministry at secretariat.
"After enforcing shutdown, BNP said
that it was unplanned. Then what is
planned lockdown?" he posed a question.
He said before issuing such statements,
BNP should bear in their mind that they
held the countrymen captive for 158 days
from 2013 to 2015 by enforcing hartals
and blockades. Presently, the government
announced the lockdown for saving the
life of people, he added. The lockdown
method, he said, has been adopted not
only in Bangladesh, but also in almost all
countries including the neighbours and
European countries. "Bangladesh is going
through the situation (COVID-19) for
about one and a half years. But, none died
of starvation," said Hasan.
He said there is no frustration among
the countrymen due to different steps
taken by the government and the party
farmers are preparing land for planting paddy. The picture was taken from Parael area of
Raninagar upazila of Naogaon district on monday.
Photo: PBa
Covid-19 Surge
Too many patients for
a few hospital beds
DHAKA : Faced with a severe shortage
of ICU and general beds the government
hospitals in capital Dhaka are struggling
to cope with a steady stream of Covid-19
patients, many of them coming from
outside the city in critical condition,
reports UNB
The rush has filled the Intensive Care
Units (ICUs) to the brim and forced the
authorities to admit patients more than
their capacity. And yet many have been
kept in the waiting list for a bed, while others
have simply been asked to hunt beds in
other hospitals. That includes even the
critical patients who need intensive care.
According to the Health Department,
there are 16 government hospitals in the
capital dedicated to Covid patients. Three
of these hospitals don't have any ICU.
Seven of the remaining 13 hospitals had no
ICU bed empty as of Saturday.
In the remaining six hospitals, only 40
ICU beds were available as of Saturday, said
the authorities adding things are changing
by hours. The pressure has mounted on the
Dhaka hospitals as patients are arriving
from other adjoining district hospitals for
shortage of ICU facilities there. The few ICU
beds are already full.
ICU beds are not easily available in the
(Awami League) as well. "Some people are
facing temporary problems. There is no
need to longer the shutdown, if the all people
follow the health code strictly," he
added. Castigating a comment of BNP secretary
general Mirza Fakhrul Islam
Alamgir, the minister said it is the party
(BNP) which did politics of violence.
"In fact, the people of Bangladesh didn't
see these types of violence like killing people
through arson attacks and hurling
petrol bombs on sleeping people before
2013, 2014 and 2015.
The world also didn't witness such
heinous crimes of burning people for politics
in the contemporary period," he
added.
"Now, if anyone in this lockdown is convicted
under a criminal case and if he/she
belongs to a political party, can't he be
arrested? Why they (BNP) took side of
criminals?" Hasan posed a question.
He said the court and the law would take
steps if any politician is accused of in a
criminal case. There is no relation among
the law and establishing justice and politics,
he added.
Replying to another query over COVID
19 situation, the minister said now the
people are not so much afraid like the
beginning of coronavirus.
Hasan urged all to maintain the health
code properly, saying: "My protection is
on my own hand."
districts. An average of 25 patients need
ICU in the hospitals designated for coronavirus
in the capital.
As per the Health Department, this
increasing number of Covid patients has led
hospitals to provide treatment to the patients
against the limited number of beds. Brig.
Gen. Nazmul Haque, director of Dhaka
Medical College Hospital, told UNB that
there is no scope for the ICUs to remain
vacant as the beds available are fewer than
the demand. Every day 60 to 70 new Covid
patients are being admitted. Some patients
have to be admitted even without a bed.
Some critical patients have to be transferred
to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn
and Plastic Surgery.
Dhaka Medical College Hospital has 705
general beds for Covid-19 patients.
Currently, 724 Covid patients are undergoing
treatment there. In other words, an
extra 19 patients are admitted against the
bed capacity. None of the 10 ICU beds are
vacant for patients.
Among the government hospitals in the
capital, Covid-dedicated Kurmitula
General Hospital is providing treatment to
about 50 additional patients against 265
beds. The other government hospitals
present a similar picture.
Dengue spike
123 more patients
admitted to
hospital in 24 hrs
DHAKA : Health authorities said 123
new dengue patients have been admitted
to hospital in 24 hours till Monday
morning amid a spike in the mosquitoborne
disease that spreads mainly during
monsoon, reports UNB.
For three consecutive days, over 100
patients have been diagnosed with
dengue every day adding worries to the
country's health services, already overburdened
with growing Covid cases and
fatalities.
Across Bangladesh, some 468 patients
diagnosed with dengue are receiving
treatment as of Monday morning,
according to the Directorate General of
Health Services (DGHS). Most cases
have been reported in the capital.
DGHS reports 460 patients are receiving
treatment at different hospitals in the
capital, while just eight patients were
listed outside Dhaka.
Also of the new patients 120 were
admitted to the government and private
hospitals across Dhaka.
Some 1,802 patients have been admitted
to different hospitals with dengue
since January - 1,331 of them have been
released after recovery.
Dengue fever was first reported in
Bangladesh in 2000, claiming 93 lives
that year. In the years that followed, the
country learned to deal with the disease
much better, but it did become endemic.
Fatalities almost fell to zero at one stage,
before spiking again in 2018, leading to
the horrific crisis the following year.
Bagerhat residents
benefit from door-todoor
sale of essentials
BAGERHAT : Door to door sale of essentials
is gaining popularity in Bagerhat
Sadar Upazila, reports UNB.
People are happy that the vans (traditional
three wheelers) are carrying fish,
meat, local fruits, vegetables, grocery
items and all everyday-goods right to their
doorsteps amid pandemic.
This initiative was the idea of Bagerhat-2
(Sadar-Kachua) constituency Member of
Parliament (MP), Sheikh Sarhan Naser
Tanmoy, so that people don't have to go to
the markets which would eventually
decrease the chances of Covid-19 virus
spreading among the people. Implemented
by the district Juba League, 100 vans are
serving the 10 unions of the Sadar upazila.
Juba League leaders believe it would be
possible to keep people from the markets
and at the same time, the van pullers
would have a regular source of income.
The vans were seen with placards
inscribed Vrammoman Bazar (Mobile
Market) and louder whistles were given to
each van puller. Having this new job, a
source of income at this ominous time,
their faces glittered with smiles.
People from different walks of life have
welcomed this initiative. Bagerhat Sadar
Upazila Parishad Chairman and district
Juba League convener Sardar Nasir Uddin
said, the mobile market was launched as the
initiative of MP Sheikh Tanmoy. It was
implemented by Juba League, initially with
hundred vans in the upazila area which
would gradually be extended to other areas.
Rescuers waded through waist-deep mud in western india today to reach injured residents and start a massive
clean-up, as the death toll from monsoon-triggered landslides and floods climbed to 198.
Photo : aP
India begins landslide,
flood clean-up as deadly
monsoon rains ease
MUMBAI : Rescuers waded through
waist-deep mud in western India Monday
to reach injured residents and start a massive
clean-up after heavy monsoon rains
triggered landslides and floods that killed
159 people.
India's western coast was hit by severe
rainstorms over several days, with a quarter
of a million people evacuated from
their homes in three states and power cut
across vast areas.
Experts say climate change is increasing
the frequency and intensity of the annual
deluge-which is critical to replenishing
rivers and groundwater but also causes
widespread death and destruction.
"The focus has now shifted to evacuating
the injured and restoring electricity as
water levels recede," a National Disaster
Relief Force spokesperson told AFP.
"The rainfall has stopped in most places
and water levels have receded. We are helping
with clean-up, relief and restoration."
In the worst-hit state Maharashtra,
where the toll rose to 149 on Sunday, officials
said search operations were halted in
the hillside village of Taliye, southeast of
Shafiqul iSlam (Shafiq)
Bangladesh University Grants
Commission (UGC) Chairman Professor
Dr. Kazi Shahidullah said online education
has become a part of our lives in the
situation caused by the Corona epidemic.
So it is demand of time to increase the
quality of online education. You don't just
have to give lectures online. Rather, it is
important to ensure that students participate
in online learning activities as well as
verify their achievements.
Otherwise, online education will not be
effective. He was speaking at the inaugural
function of a workshop on open resource
creation, utilization and online education
activities for teachers of Bangladesh's
higher education institutions organized by
Virtual on Monday.
The five-day workshop, jointly organized
by UGC and the Commonwealth
Educational Media Center for Asia
(SEMCA) in Vancouver, Canada, was inaugurated
by UGC member Professor Dr. Md.
Sajjad Hossain, Professor Md. Abu Taher,
UGC Secretary (additional responsibilities)
Dr. Ferdous Zaman, Director of Semka,
Professor Dr. Madhu Parhar and Senior
Program Officer (Education) Dr. Manas
Ranjan Panigrahi. Mohammad Makshudur
Rahman Bhuiyan, Director (Addl
Responsibilities), IMCT Division, UGC, conducted
the workshop.
UGC Chairman Kazi Shahidullah said
Bangladesh has a number of challenges to
address in order to make its online education
program effective. Without ensuring
power supply in all parts of the country as
well as ensuring strong internet network
service, it will not be possible to bring all
Mumbai. Some 53 bodies have been
recovered in the village so far, with 17 people
still missing, after a large landslide
washed away people and homes on
Thursday.
In the neighbouring district of Satara, 29
people were killed in multiple landslides.
And in Chiplun, 24 hours of uninterrupted
rain caused water levels to rise by
nearly 20 feet (six metres) on Thursday.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav
Thackeray on Sunday described what happened
in that district as "unimaginable".
"The water level reached the ceiling of
my shop, there was so much water inside,"
a shopkeeper there told Indian news
broadcaster NDTV.
"We've seen floods before in 1965 and
2005, but this was worse than before,"
another resident added. Neighbouring
state Goa's Chief Minister Pramod Sawant
said the floods were the worst since 1982.
Further south in Karnataka state, nine
people died in flooding and four others
were missing, officials said. Authorities
were trying to restore power supply to the
affected districts.
UGC urges to ensure quality
of online education
students under online education.
Although the power supply situation has
improved significantly as a result of special
initiatives of the government, the internet
network is very weak in many places.
Moreover, many students do not have the
ability to purchase the device.
In this regard, UGC has made arrangements
to provide loans to the students of public
universities for the purchase of devices and
to provide internet services to the students at
affordable prices through mobile phone operators,
he said in his speech.
He said these educational activities
could not be implemented unless the
capacity of teachers about online and
blended learning was enhanced. Corona
will continue to run online education and
blended learning activities in the future.
To make this system sustainable, UGC is
working on a Blended Learning Policy.
Semka's director, Professor Dr. Madhu
Parhar emphasized on making education
related content accessible to all in order to
improve the quality of education. If lecture
notes, texts, assignment papers, power point
presentations, research papers etc. prepared
by the teachers of the university are open
then the teachers and students of other universities
of the same subject can use it as they
like. This will facilitate the spread of education.
He hopes the five-day workshop will
encourage teachers to create an open
resource policy for their university.
500 teachers from 10 universities of the
country are participating in this five-day
workshop. Bangladesh Open University
(BOU) Treasurer and Dean of the School
of Business, Professor Mostafa Kamal
Azad conducted the session on the first
day of the workshop.
Criticism of govt now
BNP's only political
programme : Quader
DHAKA : Awami League (AL) General
Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday said
constant criticism of the government has
now become BNP's only political programme.
"When almost all political parties of the
world are doing politics together for protecting
the lives of the people from the
ongoing coronavirus pandemic, at that
time the BNP is busy with spreading
venom against the government," he said
in a statement.
Quader, also the road transport and
bridges minister, issued the statement in
response to a statement given by BNP secretary
general Mirza Fakhrul Islam
Alamgir.
The AL general secretary said at the
present situation, political parties are
working shoulder to shoulder for the welfare
of the people in almost all countries,
many of which once witnessed severe
rivalry between the ruling parties and the
oppositions.
Experts for increased
rural digital connectivity
for poverty reduction
in APAC
DHAKA : Cross-sector collaboration is
needed to lower the costs of rural area connectivity
and improve digital literacy to
close the digital divide and drive economic
recovery during the pandemic, experts
said at a webinar recently, reports UNB.
The Financial Times and Huawei
organised the event "Strategies for
Addressing the Asia-Pacific Digital Divide
- Increasing Connectivity to Drive
Economic Recovery."
The Asia Pacific is speeding up for digital
transformation and underpinned by
dynamic markets and a young population.
The significant rift of digital access yet
hinders wider shares of digital benefits,
which in turn leads to slower recovery
from the pandemic. ICT leverages fundamental
ways to drive economic rebound.
"This starts with fair access to digital
services specifically on connecting the
unconnected," said Michael Macdonald,
the chief digital officer of Huawei Asia
Pacific.
The ICT talent shortage is one of the key
fields revealing the digital divide.
Poon King Wang, director of the Lee
Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities,
Singapore University of Technology and
Design, called for long-term strategies and
sustained support to upskill people across
generations and ensure the wellbeing of
workers in digital transformation.
In 2017, Huawei, the ICT Division of
Bangladesh, and Robi Axiata jointly
launched the Digital Training Bus project
to bring digital skills to women in the heart
of rural Bangladesh. More than 60,000
women have received training till now,
and 160,000 more will benefit from it by
2023.
To lessen the imminent labour deficit in
APAC, 400,000 more people are expected
to be digitally upskilled in the next five
years through Huawei educational flagship
programs such as Seeds for the
Future and ASEAN Academy, according
to Michael MacDonald.