Tag: Bangladesh newspapers

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Life Style

Air pollution linked to diabetes development: Study

Air pollution
Air pollution

Indian-origin researcher Sanjay Rajagopalan from the University Hospitals Harrington in the US has found that air pollution can play a role in the development of cardiometabolic diseases such as diabetes.

A study, published in the Journal of Clinical, discovered that air pollution was a risk factor that contributed to the common soil of other fatal problems like heart attack and stroke.

“In this study, we created an environment that mimicked a polluted day in New Delhi or Beijing,” Rajagopalan said.

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National

Pradeep made the fortune, his wife washed the dirt off it

pradeep
pradeep

While on duty, former officer-in-charge of Teknaf Police Station Pradeep Kumar Das, accused in ex-major Sinha Rashed Md Khan killing case, used to make money from bribes and corruptions.

His wife Chumki Karan, on the other hand, under the disguise of business had been legalising the ill-gotten property of her husband.

But their misdeed came to the fore after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) began an inquiry against their illegal wealth.

In the inquiry, the commission has found that Chumki amassed about Tk 3.95 crore of wealth from her husband’s “illegal income”.

Read More The Daily Star
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COVID-19 Health

Covid-19: 46 die; 2,265 infected; 2,952 recover in 24 hours

covid-19
covid-19

Forty-six people have died from Covid-19 in the country during the last 24 hours, according to a press release issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The total number of deaths has now reached 3,907 and the death rate stands at 1.34 percent.

Two thousand two hundred and sixty-five people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, adds the press release. 

With the fresh cases, the total number of positive cases so far in the country stands at 2,92,625 and the current positivity rate is 19.95 percent.

Read MoreThe Daily Star
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National

Families of Teknaf ‘Gunfight’ Victims: The false hope of ‘public hearing’

Families of
Families of

People taking turns to talk on a particular issue, placing testimonials, and administrators listening cautiously and coming up with certain commitments publicly is how a public hearing takes place.

And people in Teknaf turned up at the office of the in-charge of Rohingya Camp-23 at 10:00am yesterday expecting something like this.

But a public hearing is not what they got. At 11:25am, a high-level investigation committee, formed by the home ministry to investigate the killing of Major (retd) Sinha Rashed Khan in police firing, began a closed-door meeting at the office in Shamlapur area, only with a handful of preselected persons. The meeting continued till 4:40pm and those persons were sent home through a back door.

Read More The Daily Star
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National

FM seeks cooperation from diplomats in bringing back Bangabandhu’s killers

FM seeks
FM seeks

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Sunday sought cooperation from foreign diplomats in bringing back fugitive killers of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

He was addressing a virtual discussion with foreign diplomats stationed in Dhaka and New Delhi marking the National Mourning Day to commemorate the 45th anniversary of martyrdom of Father of the Nation.

Law Minister Anisul Huq and State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam also spoke at the discussion while Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen delivered the welcome remarks. 

Around 83 diplomats stationed in Dhaka and New Delhi joined the discussion hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

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Business

For China’s landlords, rent-to-riches dreams fade in red flag for fragile economy

For China’s
For China’s

Not yet 30, Beijing office worker Li thought she was already on her way up China’s private property ladder with two apartments bought and rented out. Then came the new coronavirus, jobless tenants leaving town and a rent falloff.

She’s one of millions of Chinese landlords who have bought apartments to let in a highway to the country’s growing middle class, many now facing a first slump in rental income.

Analysts say there’s little prospect of widespread mortgage defaults for now, and property prices continue to grow, albeit more slowly. But the rental woes underline China’s economic fragility, with the landlord legions already cutting back on spending amid their gloom.

Li, who declined to give her full name, said she had to almost halve the rent at one of her apartments between February and May to hang on to a tenant, while her own salary was slashed 25 per cent as her employer made coronavirus cutbacks.

Read More The Daily Star
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Business

Lufthansa cabin crew union members back cost cut deal

Lufthansa cabin
Lufthansa cabin

Cabin crew at Lufthansa have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a deal to stop pay rises and cut hours, the UFO trade union said on Saturday as the German airline battles to rein in losses due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Lufthansa reached the deal in June with UFO, which represents 22,000 cabin crew, to reap more than 500 million euros ($592.05 million) in savings from shorter hours and an equivalent cut in pay as well as a temporary reduction in pension contributions.

Last week, the airline put German workers on notice of compulsory layoffs, saying the slump in travel and slow progress in union negotiations meant cuts were unavoidable after the carrier lost 1.7 billion euros in a single quarter.

Lufthansa, which in June received a 9 billion euro government bailout to secure its future, said last week it expected capacity to recover to only around 50% of normal by the end of 2020 and to two thirds of last year’s level in 2021.

Read More The Daily Star
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Business

Malaysian economy shrinks most in over 20yrs

Malaysian economy
Malaysian economy

Malaysia’s economy suffered its worst contraction in more than 20 years during the second quarter, hit by a collapse in global trade and tough curbs to contain the coronavirus, the central bank said Friday.

The economy shrank 17.1 percent on-year in April-June — the first since the global financial crisis in 2009 and the deepest since the Asian financial turmoil 11 years before that — putting it on course for recession.

The reading was much worse than the 10.9 percent drop forecast in a survey by Bloomberg News, despite interest rates being cut to record lows.

It shrank 16.5 percent on-quarter.Wan Suhaimi Saidi, an economist at Kenanga Investment Bank, warned that the trade-dependent economy was  “heading into a recession since there is no sign of a full recovery in demand and business activity”.

Read More The Daily Star
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National

Health Sector Syndicate: Strange laxity let it off hook

Health Sector
Health Sector

Motazzaroul Islam Mithu might not have come this far had the Anti-Corruption Commission exercised due diligence years back.

Mithu, who has several medical equipment supplying companies including Lexicon Merchandize and Meditech Imaging Ltd, controls the tenders in the health sector, according to a letter of former CMSD director Brig Gen Md Shahidullah.

The syndicate of Mithu looted about Tk 450 crore without supplying any medical equipment to the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, reads the letter issued to the public administration ministry on May 30.

Read More The Daily Star
Categories
National

A beggar who helped others is set to receive bigger help from PM

A beggar who
A beggar who

Dhaka, Aug 15 (UNB) – The Sherpur beggar, who has earned praise for providing his savings for helping Covid-19-hit people, has drawn the attention of the Prime Minister and is going to receive a modern house as a gift from her on Sunday.

Keeping the sense of serving humanity above everything, the poor man, Nazimuddin, 80, donated Tk 10,000, saved for over two years seeking alms to build a new house in Jhenaigati upazila, to the UNO’s relief fund on April 21 last.

This exemplary and heartening instance touched the heart of the Prime Minister and prompted her to direct the authorities concerned to build a modern house with her personal fund for the poor man.

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