Staff Reporter :
The health authorities have inoculated more than five crore of Covid-19 vaccines across the country so far, sources said.
Data of the Directorate General of Health Services showed that a total of 5,70,85,080 doses of Covid-19 vaccines has been arrived in the country so far.
Of them, a total of 5,02,45,255 shots of those jabs has been inoculated among the people.
As per this account, 68,39,825 doses of vaccines remained in the stocks.
The authorities have inoculate a total of 3,33,25,007 shots of vaccines as the first dose and 1,69,20,248 people got the second doses of the vaccines.
On the other hand, the country is set to receive 790,000 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine from Germany on Saturday.
Bangladesh currently is administering Covid-19 vaccines developed by four companies, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Sinopharm.
The data of the health authorities showed that the infection rate is in downward for several weeks.
It showed that as many as 24,670 samples were tested during the last 24-hour period, yielding an infection rate of 3.43pc.
With this, the daily test positivity rate has stayed below 5pc for 11 consecutive days, while the overall infection rate in the country stands at 15.96pc.
Officials from the health authorities said that the government has plan to start another mass vaccination campaign soon to keep the infection rate low.
Meanwhile, public health experts have stressed repeatedly to inoculate about 80 per cent of the people across the country for gaining herd immunity.
They suggested that the probable third wave also can be prevented as per the suggestion.
The experts said, people should follow health safety rules adequately while the government should ensure vaccination widely and isolation of identified new patients.
When contacted, Professor Dr. Be-Nazir Ahmed, former Director of Disease Control of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare told The New Nation, “The rate of caseload have found in down turn for several weeks that make everyone optimistic. In scientific view, it is high time to push the infection rate to zero percent by following the measures underlined by World Health Organisation carefully.”
The Professor said, “The infection rate has been reduced. That means, a small number of people are now being identified as Covid patient. The government should keep all of those patients in isolation strictly. If it followed properly, the infection rate will be zero percent shortly. It is scientific measure.”
He also suggested collecting more vaccines and inoculating minimum 80 per cent of the population of the country.
When contacted, Dr. Robed Amin, spokesperson of DGHS told The New Nation, “We have a plan to start another vaccination campaign to inoculate number of people at a time.”
He however said such a campaign would start after receiving numbers of vaccines.
Mohib’s murder
The authorities did not reveal the identity of the suspect but said he is currently being interrogated.
A group of unidentified gunmen killed the 48-year-old Mohib Ullah at a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhiya on Sept 30.
Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) and the United States (US) have condemned the killing of Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah and sought a proper investigation into it.
“The United Nations urges the Bangladesh authorities to undertake an investigation and to hold those responsible to account,” said Stephanie Tremblay, Associate Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General.
The UN also urged continued strong international support for the protection and support to the Rohingya communities anywhere in the world, including in Bangladesh.
“The UN continues to call for the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees and internally displaced persons. The UN will continue to firmly provide its support in this endeavour.”
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) also expressed its deep shock and sadness at the killing of Mohib Ullah.
Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken has called for a full and transparent investigation into the murder of Rohingya rights activist Mohibullah with the goal of holding the perpetrators of this heinous crime accountable.
“We are deeply saddened and disturbed by the murder of Rohingya Muslim advocate and community leader Mohibullah in Bangladesh on September 29. Mohibullah was a brave and fierce advocate for the human rights of Rohingya Muslims around the world,” Blinken said in a statement early Friday.
He recalled that Mohibullah had traveled to the Human Rights Council in Geneva and to the United States to speak at the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in 2019.
Mohibullah, 46, was the chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH).
“During his trip, he shared his experiences with the [US] president and vice president, and spoke together with other survivors of religiously motivated persecution,” read the statement.
Blinken said that they would honor his work by continuing to advocate for Rohingya and lift up the voices of members of the community in decisions about their future.
Condemnations have poured after Mohib Ullah was shot dead by some unidentified assailants at Kutupalong Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar at around 8pm on Wednesday, according to the police.
Several witnesses said they had recognized at least three attackers out of the 20-25 during the shooting, claiming them to be members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), the group responsible for launching violent attacks on the Myanmar security forces since 2016.
Last week, the United States announced nearly $180 million in additional humanitarian assistance for those affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and elsewhere in the region.
With this new funding, the total humanitarian assistance by the US reaches more than $1.5 billion since August 2017, when over 740,000 Rohingya were forced to flee ethnic cleansing and other horrific atrocities and abuses in Rakhine State to safety in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, read the statement.
The US also demanded that the military junta immediately stop the violence, release all those unjustly detained, restore its path to democracy, and implement Asean’s Five Point Consensus.
“Many of those who led the [February 1] military coup in Burma are the same individuals responsible for the atrocities against Rohingya, as well as atrocities and other human rights abuses against members of other ethnic and religious minority groups,” the State Department said on September 22.
In the last few months, the US imposed sanctions on several military rulers and related entities, freezing any of their US assets and barring Americans from dealing with them.
Disposing of death
being commuted. That means many people have to stay in condom cells unnecessarily due to the delay in the trial system.
Shukur Ali, Nuruddin Sentu, Azanur Rahman, Mamun Hossain and Kamrul Islam were sentenced to death by a Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal in Kushtia on February 4 in 2009 in a case filed for abduction, rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl.
After the verdict all the five convict were kept in the Kushtia district jail’s condemned cell as per rule. The apex court, nevertheless, recently commuted the death sentence of three convicted persons and ordered to transfer them to the regular cell from the condemned cell of the jail. But in the meantime they passed 12 years in the condemned cell.
Challenging the trial court conviction, the accused filed appeal petitions and upon hearing the High Court in 2014 upheld the sentence.
In the meantime, one of the convicted persons, Kamrul, died and remaining four convicts filed appeal with the Appellate Division challenging the High Court judgment.
After hearing on the appeal petitions, the Appellate Division on August 18 in 2021 affirmed the death penalty of Shukur Ali and commuted death sentences of three others to life imprisonment in the case filed in 2004.
The Appellate Division of the SC also asked the jail authorities to shift the three convicts, Nuruddin Sentu, Azanur Rahman and Mamun Hossain, whose death sentences were commuted, in the regular cell from the condemn cell.
A five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain delivered the verdict after hearing separate appeal petitions filed by the convicts challenging the High Court judgment that confirmed their death sentences in the case.
According to a Supreme Court statistics as of September 14 this year a total of 2153 death row convicts are confined in the condemn cells of the 68 jails across the country.
Recently three other death row convicts, Zillur Rahman, Md Abdul Basir and Md Shah Alam, filed a with petition with the High Court seeking its direction upon the respondents to release them from death cell and to keep them with inmates in separate arrangement, providing with facilities of sports, exercise and other regular facilities until their order of sentences attain finality by judicial and administrative forums.
They also prayed to the court to issue a ruling upon the respondents to explain as to why the actions of the respondents confining them in death cell as death row convict before attaining finality of their sentence by the judicial and administrative forums shall not be declared illegal.
Upon hearing the petition the High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman sought a report on the types of facilities provided to the convicted inmates incarcerated in condemned and other cells in jails across the country.
The court directed Attorney General AM Amin Uddin to submit the report obtaining information from the concerned jail authorities. The court adjourned the hearing on the petition till October 31.
Former Law Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed said, “At the time of appeal in the higher judiciary the convicts may submit petition to be kept themselves out of the condom cells before the trial get its finality. In that case the court can take it into consideration.”
DU comes alive
Many of the students were found revising lessons for the last time, sitting under the trees or on the sidewalks. A combination of nervousness and enthusiasm defined the atmosphere.
“We waited for a long time, and finally the day of the admission test has come. I have prepared well, but even then, it is normal to be a little nervous about the admission test. This exam will decide my fate in higher education,” said Farhan Shihab, who graduated in HSC from RAJUK Uttara Model College.
They could not sit for the HSC exam in a traditional way under the changed scenario caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but had to study a lot to take part in the admission test, said Fahim Rahman, a former student of Mahbubur Rahman Molla College in Dhaka.
“I came a bit early as the campus is a little far from home. I like the campus, but I’m feeling a bit nervous about the test,” said Abdullah Tanim, a former student of Tamirul Millat Kamil Madrasa in Tongi.
Some of the students came from other divisions to attend the exam in Dhaka, as they mentioned Dhaka as their preferred centre while filling out the admission form.
Meher Nigar Bithee, who studied at Cumilla’s Juranpur Ideal University College, came to Dhaka with her father a day prior to the admission test just to be at the centre on time.
“I couldn’t attend any coaching due to a surge in coronavirus cases, but prepared at home,” she said.
“I tried my best to prepare her for the test. I hope her dream comes true,” said Bithee’s father Md Giasuddin.
The HSC and equivalent exams were scheduled to be held in April 2020 but were postponed several times with the onset of the pandemic. The exams could never be held albeit the pandemic ebbed to a certain extent. The authorities then published results for the students based on the average of their performance in JSC and SSC exams in January this year.
The entrance exam to Dhaka University was originally scheduled to be held in October or November in 2020, which is now being held a year later.
The exam for Kha unit of the arts faculty will be held on Oct 2, Ga unit of business studies on Oct 22 and Gha unit of social science faculty and coordinated department change exam on Oct 23.
A total of 324,340 students applied for 7,148 seats under five units of Dhaka University this time.
Setting up the admission test centres across the divisional cities in the changed circumstances has been quite a challenge for them, said Dr Mihir Lal Saha, dean of the Faculty of Biological Sciences.
“We have prepared accordingly. Our teachers reached the centres with the question papers yesterday. Universities in the divisional cities have cooperated with us a lot,” he said.
The university has a ‘zero tolerance’ policy against any forgery in the admission test, said DU Vice Chancellor Prof Md Akhtaruzzaman.
“No scope for cheating exists in the admission test.”
21 more die
With this, the daily case positivity rate of Covid-19 in the country remained below 5 per cent for the ninth consecutive day, reports UNB.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), if the daily-case positivity rate remains at 5 per cent or below for 14 days it is considered to be safe for mass unlocking.
The fresh numbers took the total fatalities to 27,531 while the caseload mounted to 15,56,758, said the DGHS.
However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 per cent.
The recovery rate slightly increased to 97.44 per cent with the recovery of 960 more patients during the period.
So far, 15,16,901 people have recovered from the deadly virus infections, the DGHS added.
Japanese Princess
financial problems – she had reportedly taken a loan from her ex-fiancé and not paid him back.
The palace denied the delay was linked to this, though Crown Prince Fumihito said it was important for the money issues to be dealt with before they got married.
Princess Mako will reportedly forego a traditional lump-sum payment of up to 150 million yen ($1.3m; £0.97m) which is typically given to a member of the royal family upon their departure from the household.
She is also expected to skip the usual rites associated with a royal family wedding. If she skips both the payment and the rites it will make her the first female member of the royal family to do so.
Under Japanese law, female imperial family members forfeit their status upon marriage to a “commoner” although male members do not.
Presentational grey line
‘The Harry and Meghan of Japan’
Mariko Oi, BBC News
Kei Komuro was already a controversial figure, but when he landed in Tokyo earlier this week ahead of the wedding announcement he caused a media frenzy – because of his ponytail.
In a country where appearance plays a big part in people’s impressions, some in Japan felt that his new hairstyle was further proof that he was not fit to marry Princess Mako.
It shows the kind of scrutiny and public pressure the pair have been under since they announced their engagement. Reports of his mother’s financial issues and allegations that his royal connection got him into his US law school have made headlines.
But the couple’s supporters give him credit for withstanding the intense media obsession that comes with being engaged to a member of the country’s royal family.
That, and their decision to live in the US, has earned them the nickname “Harry and Meghan of Japan”.
Though they are much more low-profile than the British royals, their relationship playing out in the open is a rare spectacle for the world’s longest running hereditary dynasty.
85 more news
The ministry has published the approvals in two separate orders and asked the portals to complete registration within 20 working days submitting the fees determined by the government.
The online news portals include EN Prothom Alo, Prothom Alo epaper, Daily Star epaper, Shongbad, Independent24, News Today, Khoborpatra, Daily Nawroj online portals.
Of the approved news portals, 62 are online versions of daily newspapers and 23 are online news portals.
Until November 29, 2020 the government approved registration to online portals of 92 daily newspapers and 82 online newspapers.
Applications of 2,000 more online news portals are currently under processing at the Ministry.
On September 28 this year, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to implement an order of the High Court started closing unregistered news portals and few registered ones got closed during the process.
Later the registered news portals were opened and 14 more days were sought from the court to close the unregistered ones.
