24-09-2021

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2021
3
EfT becomes boon for retired
govt. employees
Secretary of Defence Ministry Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal ndc on Thursday addressing a seminar which was
organized on the occasion of announcing 'Survey Day' of Survey of Bangladesh.
Photo : ISPR
BSmmU's new specialized
hospital a symbol of close
ties with Korea: Envoy
DHAKA : South Korean Ambassador to
Bangladesh lee Jang-keun on Thursday
visited the construction site of the new
specialized hospital under Bangabandhu
Sheikh mujib medical University (BSmmU)
and said it will serve as a symbol of close
relationship between Bangladesh and Korea,
reports UNB.
"This Hospital will be the first specialized
hospital in Bangladesh for the treatment of
critical patients and serve as a symbol of our
close relationship and ever-strengthening
friendship," he said.
During his visit to the site, Ambassador
lee said it is the largest project in medical
area with Korea's support.
Vice-Chancellor of BSmmU Dr. md.
Sharfuddin Ahmed, Additional Secretary of
the ministry of Health md. Shahadat
Hossain, Chairman and Director of the
Project of BSmmU md. Zulfiqur Rahman
Khan and other staff of Hyundai
Development Corporation, Sunjin
Engineering and Samsung C and T were
present.
The project is funded by South Korea's
concessional loan, Economic Development
Cooperation fund (EDCf), with the total
cost of US$ 130,917,000.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the
construction was held in September 2018
with the presence of Prime minister Sheikh
Hasina.
The work is well in progress despite the
impact of COVID-19 and is expected to be
inaugurated soon, said the Ambassador.
South Korean companies, Hyundai
Development Company (HDC), Sunjin
Engineering and Samsung C and T are
involved in the implementation of the
project.
The hospital is designed to accommodate a
total of 700 beds and 5 specialized centers.
It will also be equipped with cutting-edge
medical devices and health information
system (HIS). The new hospital will feature
the largest medical service system in
Bangladesh.
The project goes beyond a mere
construction of the building.
Doctors and nurses of the BSmmU have
been invited to Korea for medical education
and training.
Hospital managers have also visited Korea
to participate in training in hospital
operation and management.
The health sector has long been one of the
priority areas of South Korea's ODA to
Bangladesh with an aim to help providing
quality healthcare services to Bangladesh
people, said the South Korean Embassy in
Dhaka.
South Korea established Bangladesh-
Korea friendship Hospital in 1998 in Savar
which added an Eye Care Unit to the hospital
recently.
The National Institute of Advanced
Nursing Education and Research (NIANER)
opened in 2016 with the support of KOICA, a
Korea's grant aid agency.
Korea invited so far more than 250
Bangladesh medical professionals to Korea
and provided education and training in
various areas of medical expertise.
Ambassador lee said, "South Korea
continues to commit to improving
healthcare service in Bangladesh through
various ODA projects so that Bangladesh
people can enjoy quality healthcare service
and health life."
BNP is more united now
than past: Rizvi
SHAfIqUl ISlAm (SHAfIq)
The senior joint secretary general of BNP
advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has strongly
criticized the recent statements of Dr.
Jafrullah Chowdhury, the founding trustee of
Gonoshasthya kendra, about the BNP.
Besides, under the leadership of BNP
chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and the
party's acting chairman Tarique Rahman,
there is a solid unity in the BNP now. Rizvi
remarked that BNP leaders are now more
united. He said this while talking to reporters
at his residence in the capital on Thursday
(September 23) morning.
Regarding Dr. Jafrullah Chowdhury, Rizvi
said, "We knew him as an accomplice of the
dictator Ershad." I knew the accomplice of
dictatorship. Now he is speaking of
democracy. People know what he has done
with Ershad regarding drug policy. Today has
become the conscience of the nation, who will
do or not? Who should do what? Beyond that
level, he is giving motivation for the purpose.
He said Dr. Jafrullah Chowdhury is a veteran.
He has contributed to the liberation war. But
it cannot be that you speak outside of all
norms. He sometimes spoke about the BNP
and the BNP leaders in a way that goes
beyond all civilization and elegance.
Rizvi said, Begum Khaleda Zia is out, or
free? He must know that. Khaleda Zia was
imprisoned, now under house arrest. She has
been kept in the residence with many
conditions. She can't go anywhere freely.
Now that she is free, it is up to her to decide
where and how to go. She has led the BNP for
a long time. The nation will never forget her
boundless courage in restoring democracy in
the country. The torture she is still enduring
is also part of a huge struggle to save
democracy. The whole nation knows that she
has been imprisoned on a false charge.
He also said Jafrullah Chowdhury should
know the condition of Begum Khaleda Zia
now. Even then, he sometimes made remarks
about Begum Khaleda Zia and acting
chairman Tareq Rahman that were not
tasteful. I think he said these things to please
any evil power.
3 held with 40,000
Yaba tablets in city
DHAKA : members of
mugda Police Station in a
drive on Thursday arrested
three people with 40,000
pieces of Yaba tablets and
seized a microbus used for
transporting the drugs from
mugda area in the city.
The arrestees were
identified as md Kamal,
mosammat Rahima Kamal
and md Rajib. Police
Inspector (operation) of the
mugda Police Station Ashish
Kumar Deb, who led the drive,
said acting on a tip off, a team
of police engaged in special
drives raided Uttar manda
area of the police station
around 6:10am on Thursday
and arrested the trio.
During the drive, police
recovered 40,000 Yaba pills
along with the microbus
used for transporting drugs
from their possession, he
said. The arrestees were
produced before the court
after filing a case with the
mugda Police Station in this
connection, Ashish added.
The drive was conducted
at the directive of Deputy
Police Commissioner of
motijheel Division of the
Dhaka metropolitan Police
md Abdul Ahad while ADC-
Sabujbag md Aktarul Islam
supervised it.
man held
with 25 gold
bars at Dhaka
airport
DHAKA : A man was
detained by Customs
officials at Hazrat Shahjalal
International Airport in
Dhaka on Wednesday night
for allegedly attempting to
smuggle in 25 gold bars
worth Tk 2 crore, reports
UNB.
The detainee has been
identified as md Ripon, a
resident of Cumilla district.
Deputy Commissioner of
the Dhaka Customs House
(preventive team) md
Sanoarul Kabir said that
based on a tip-off, officials
intercepted Ripon at the
airport around 11.15pm
upon his arrival from Riyadh
on a Saudi Airlines flight.
"Upon frisking, our
officials found the 25 gold
bars weighing 2.99kg
hidden in the sleeves of his
jacket. The estimated
market value of the seized
gold is Tk 2 crore," he said.
Ripon was later handed
over to the Airport Police
Station. A case will be filed
against him in this
connection, the official said.
LGRD Minister Tajul Islam addressing the concluding workshop of the EU Support to Health and
Nutrition to the Poor in Urban Bangladesh project at a city hotel yesterday. Photo : Courtesy
SHARIATPUR : The government's
Electronic fund Transfer (EfT)
endeavor as part of its 'digital
Bangladesh' campaign has been
godsend for retired public servants in
the district as elsewhere in the country
facilitating those senior citizens in
hassle-free pension withdrawal.
"Once, that was like a nightmare in
every month to withdraw my pension. I
used to need two to three days to get my
own money. But, now it's just a matter
of one time visit to bank to get the
money owing to digitization," said
Alauddin Ahmed, retired headmaster
of Pachukharkandi Government
Primary School of Naria Upazila in the
district.
Ahmed, who got retired from his
teaching profession in 2009, said,
before introducing the EfT system, the
retired employees had to visit the
Upazila accounts office first to submit
their accounts book for authorization
and wait till next day for getting the
authorization. "We could not withdraw
our pension money from the bank
without the authorization and we had
to take a long queue at the accounts
office at least two times every month to
get that," Ahmed said.
In case of sickness or ailment, he said,
the retired persons used to need
authorization to someone else to go
through the process on behalf of them.
"We had to spend a good share of our
pension money for transportation cost
for that manual bureaucratic tangles,"
Ahmed said conveying thanks to the
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina for
launching her one of the ten innovative
initiatives 'Digital Bangladesh'.
"Currently, I get notification in my
mobile through text message that my
pension money has been deposited to
my bank accounts. I can easily
withdraw money from the bank at my
convenient time," he said in a voice
with full of relief and satisfaction.
District Social Services Department
office sources said currently, a total of
3,065 retired officers and employees in
eight Upazilas of the district withdraw
their allowances through EfT system
managed by district and upazila
accounting offices.
Out of these 3065 senior citizens, 996
are residing in Sadar Upazila, 428 in
Jajira Upazila, 766 in Naria Upazila,
685 in Vedarganj Upazila, 350 in
Gosairhat Upazila, 460 in Damudya
Upazila while most of them are in their
70s.
The Bangladesh Electronic funds
Transfer Network (BEfTN) started its
'live Operation' in february 28 , 2011
aiming to lessening paper-based
payment methods and encourage
electronic payment methods for
secured, faster and cost-effective
transactions.
It is operated as a processing and
delivery center, providing service of
distribution and settlement of
electronic credit and debit instruments
among all participating banks.
Before the digitalization, the
beneficiaries used to face extreme
suffering to get their pension money
due to many constraints of the accounts
office mainly shortage of manpower.
Currently, EfT software now saves
both time and money of the elderly
retired persons through a hassle-free
automation service.
President of government employees'
welfare association of Bhedorganj
upazila veteran freedom fighter Hazi
Deen mohammad Sikdar said
government retired officials and staffs
in the district were forced to visit
upazila accounts office several times to
get their monthly allowances.
"Those days of hardship are over as
currently we are able to know that our
money has been deposited at our bank
accounts through our mobile phone,"
he said.
Retired military personnel veteran
freedom fighter Jane Alam munshi
echoed Sikdar, saying before
commencing the digital payment
system, withdrawing the pension
money was a name of extreme suffering
for any retired person like me. District
Accounts Office Auditor firoz Ahmed
said currently, district and upazila
accounts offices are disbursing all
allowances through EfT.
He said the pension and fund
management department update the
list of retired personnel and send it to
the district accounts office after every
five to six months.
"Before introducing the EfT system,
we had to work in three fronts to
disburse the allowance money to the
individuals. Now, the finance ministry
provides the fund to the respective
bank accounts of the beneficiaries
through Bangladesh Bank," Ahmed
said. Earlier, he said, the elderly people
had to visit his office at least twice in a
month for getting their allocated
money but now they don't need to visit
even once. "Digitization is a blessing for
these respected elderly citizens of our
society. Thanks to our Honorable
Prime minister," said the auditor.
After inception, the EfT is gaining
popularity among the corporate and
government bodies as salary of more
than 28 ministries and concerned
offices are now being paid through the
system.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud addressing the biennial general meeting
of Rajshahi Division Journalist Association-Dhaka.
Photo : TBT
Bangladesh reports 1,144 fresh
cases, 24 deaths from COVID-19
DHAKA : Bangladesh on Thursday reported
1,144 COVID-19 cases while the coronavirus
claimed overnight 24 lives.
"The country reported 4.61 percent
COVID-19 positive cases as 24,820 samples
were tested in the past 24 hours," Directorate
General of Health Services (DGHS) said in
its routine daily statement.
In the past 24 hours, combined figure of
coronavirus of Dhaka city and upazilas of
Dhaka district is 620 while seven COVID-19
deaths were reported during the same
period.
The official tally showed the virus killed
27,337 people and infected 15,48,320 so far,
it added.
The recovery count rose to 15,07,789 after
another 1,653 patients were discharged from
the hospitals during the past one day.
The DGHS statistics showed of the people
infected from the beginning 97.38 percent
recovered, while 1.77 percent died.
The DGHS said among the total 27,337
fatalities, 11,910 deaths occurred in Dhaka
division, 5,532 in Chattogram, 2017 in
Rajshahi, 3,542 in Khulna, 930 in Barishal,
1,238 in Sylhet, 1,343 in Rangpur and 825 in
mymensingh division.
Dengue: 254 more hospitalized,
no death reported
DHAKA : Another 254 new dengue patients
were hospitalized across the country in 24
hours till Thursday morning, reports UNB.
The number of fatalities from the
mosquito-borne disease remained static at
59 as no fresh death was reported during the
period, said the Directorate General of
Health Services (DGHS).
.Among the new patients, 197 were
undergoing treatment in Dhaka's hospitals
while the remaining 57 cases were reported
from outside the division.
Some 1,049 patients diagnosed with
dengue are receiving treatment in the
country, it said. Of them, 836 patients are
receiving treatment at different hospitals in
the capital while the remaining 213 were
listed outside Dhaka.
Among the deceased, 54 died in Dhaka city
alone, two each in Chattogram and Khulna
divisions and one in Rajshahi.
Some 16,705 patients have been admitted
to different hospitals with dengue since
January. So far, 15,597 dengue patients have
left hospitals after recovery, said DGHS.
The highest number of dengue patients
hospitalized in a single day so far this year
was 343 patients on September 7.
In August the country recorded the highest
number of 7,698 dengue cases of the current
year.
In July, 2,286 people were diagnosed with
dengue and 12 died while in June 272 cases
were recorded with no deaths.
Auction of broken down
vehicles kept inside Ctg
port recommended
DHAKA : Parliamentary
Standing Committee on the
ministry of Shipping on
Thursday recommended
taking necessary action for
auctioning vehicles left
nonfunctional inside
Chattogram Port area.
The recommendation
came from the 34th meeting
of the committee held at
Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban here
with Committee Chairman
major Rafiqul Islam in the
chair. The committee also
expressed satisfaction on
overall activities of the
Chattogram Port Authority.
During the meeting, the JS
committee discussed
'mongla Port Authority Bill,
2021' as the bill had been
placed in the Jatiya Sangsad.
Committee members -
State minister for Shipping
Khalid
mahmud
Chowdhury, Ranjit Kumar
Roy, mahfuzur Rahman, Dr
Samil Uddin Ahmed
Shimul, m Aslam Hossain
Sawdagar and Sm Shahjada,
among others, attended the
meeting.
The parliamentary
committee elaborately
discussed present activities,
existing problems and
solution of the Chattogram
Port Authority along with
financial expenditure of the
projects undertaken
between the periods of July
2016 and June 2020.