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National

Major reshuffle at DGHS: 28 officials transferred

Days after Prof Abul Kalam Azad resigned from the post of director general and Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam was appointed as 27th DG of DGHS, 28 of its officials were transferred yesterday.

The development comes amid widespread criticism and scams related to Covid-19 tests.

DGHS Director (admin) Dr Belal Hossain issued a notice in this regard, asking the officials concerned to join their new …………

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COVID-19 National

AL MP Israfil Alam dies from Covid-19 infection

Md Israfil Alam, an Awami League lawmaker from Naogaon-6 constituency, died from coronavirus infection at a hospital in Dhaka today. 

The AL MP was undergoing treatment at Square Hospitals with respiratory problems where he breathed his last around 6:20am.

Israfil was admitted to the hospital for the second time on July 17 as he started coughing up blood, said his wife Sultana Pervin Beauty.

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COVID-19

Covid-19: Recovery rate still low in Bangladesh

Although the recovery rate of Covid-19 patients rose significantly over the last two months and stood at 48.6 percent in Bangladesh as of Saturday, it is still very low compared to the global average and most of the worst-affected countries.

According to the data of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), 88,034 coronavirus patients out of total 181,129 recovered in the country since the first three cases of the pandemic on March 8, while the recovery rate jumped to over 46 percent in the last two months from 2.11 percent on May 1.

On June 1, the confirmed coronavirus cases increased to 49,534 while the recovery rate to 21.39 percent.

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National

Sheikh Hasina reached new heights in the world

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has not stopped with the initiative to deal with the coronavirus. He has also been praised for global and regional initiatives. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh has also taken a leading role in the international initiative to invent corona vaccine. Bangladesh has announced to donate 50,000 US dollars to the ‘Global Citizen’ fund. Besides, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is also working to create funds for South Asian countries to deal with the economic adverse effects of coronavirus.

In the midst of the deadly coronavirus, another fatal disaster, the cyclone ‘Amphan’, had to deal with the situation with a strong hand. In such a situation, the national and international initiatives of Bangabandhu Kanya are being appreciated in many countries of the world.

In an article titled ‘Fighting Cyclones and Coronavirus: How We Evacuated During a Pandemic’ in the British daily The Guardian on June 3, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wrote, “Bangladesh has fought two dangers like super-cyclone Amphan and Covid-19.” We can teach others a lesson in dealing with similar dangers. ”At the World Economic Forum in April, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wrote a five-point proposal to the world on the Corona outbreak, saying,“ The world is fighting an unknown and unseen enemy today. This enemy has no boundaries, no class. The most unfortunate thing is that this enemy is showing the flaws of our management. In such a situation, we will be able to win the war against this Covid-19 not by being isolated, but by cooperating with each other. ‘
The world’s most popular Forbes magazine has named Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as one of the most successful women leaders in tackling corona. According to Forbes, a leading magazine in the economy, the United Kingdom has not yet been able to implement the steps taken at the beginning of the coronavirus infection in Bangladesh under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina. The US magazine wrote in an article on April 24 praising Bangladesh for moving forward under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, with more than 160 million people living in Bangladesh. Disaster is not a new phenomenon there. And the Prime Minister of Bangladesh did not make a mistake in taking a quick decision to deal with this corona. In early February, Sheikh Hasina took steps to bring back Bangladeshis living in China. As soon as the first infection was confirmed in early March, all educational institutions were declared closed and less important businesses were instructed to conduct online activities. He instructed thousands of people to quickly quarantine using machines for screening to identify corona patients at all international airports in the country, which Forbes author Avivah Wittenbagh-Cox noted, which the UK has yet to implement. Sheikh Hasina has also been praised by the World Economic Forum. In the last week of April, Sheikh Hasina attended a virtual conference titled ‘Enhancing Regional Co-operation in South Asia to Combat Covid-19 Related Impact on Its Economics’ organized by the World Economic Forum from Ganobhaban. He called on the world to unite at this conference. On June 4, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressed the Vaccine Summit organized by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization on a virtual platform. There he called for the rapid discovery of vaccines and called on world leaders to provide grants to raise funds for the organization. On May 25, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina about providing assistance in combating the coronavirus. According to Xi Jinping’s proposal, a team of Chinese experts later came to Bangladesh. Earlier on March 15, Sheikh Hasina called on SAARC leaders to take concerted action in the fight against Cavid-19 in a video conference from Ganobhaban.

Sheikh Hasina’s five proposals to the world: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given five proposals to the World Economic Forum against Corona. One of the five proposals made by the Prime Minister is to ‘think anew to eliminate inequality’. In the proposal, the Prime Minister said, “Poverty and inequality will increase very fast in this society we know.” In the last decade, we have been able to lift half of our poor people out of poverty. Many of them will return to poverty again. People will fall into the trap of debt. Eighty-five percent of our people are employed in the informal sector. Our SME (loan system) is hurting badly. This situation is not very different from other countries in South Asia or countries in Africa. And that’s why everyone in the world should think about how to make people better now. We need to think about how to tackle inequality, help the poor and take our economy to the pre-covid (before Covid-19 infection) stage. In his second proposal, he said, “Strong global leadership like the G-7, G-20 and OECD is needed.” The Prime Minister wrote in his explanation that a multilateral management led by the United Nations must come forward. In this case, I am referring to Professor Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum’s Infectious Diseases as the focus of the Global Risk Report 2020. The plight of the global health sector is highlighted here. And that is why the formation of forums like the Quid Action Platform and the Regional Action Group is the right move at this time. I believe, as well as the UN as an additional initiative

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National

8 teams to monitor cattle markets in city

The ministry of fisheries and livestock has formed eight teams to monitor the activities of the veterinary medical teams and hygiene issues at the city’s cattle markets during Eid-ul-Azha, reports UNB.

A deputy secretary of the ministry will lead each team, a ministry press release said on Sunday.

The department of livestock formed 18 veterinary medical teams and one specialist veterinary medical team………….

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Business

Vendor has been paid in full, but NBR is still without a successful online tax return filing system

Everything was going well for the online tax return filing project until the end of 2019.

The first online tax return filing scheme — Bangladesh Integrated Tax Administration System (BITAX) — completed on June 2018 and the National Board of Revenue’s agreement with the vendor expired on 29 November 2019.

Just a month later, the first blow came from the then NBR Chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan.

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COVID-19

Covid-19: 1,333 people aged above 60 have so far died

Fifty-four people have died from coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, Dr Nasima Sultana, additional director general (administration) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), said during a briefing today.

The death toll now stands at 2,928 and the death rate at 1.31 percent.

Two thousand two hundred and seventy-five people have tested positive for Covid-19……..

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National

Fire aboard Sylhet-bound Kalni Express intercity train

A fire broke out on a Sylhet-bound intercity train, Kalni Express, in Brahmanbaria this afternoon.

The fire originated at a place between two compartments of the train around 4:45pm, while the train was crossing a place near Talshahar Railway Station in Ashuganj, said Rafiqul Islam, station master of Talshahar Railway Station.

The passengers panicked when a fire broke out between bogies ‘Ta’ and ‘Tha’ of the train. The train was stopped by pulling the chain, and the fire was doused…

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Science Tech Technology

China launches first-ever independent mission to Mars

China successfully launched an unmanned probe to Mars on Thursday in its first independent mission to another planet, a bid for global leadership in space and a display of its technological prowess and ambition.

China’s largest carrier rocket, the Long March 5 Y-4, blasted off with the probe at 12:41 p.m. (0441 GMT) from Wenchang Space Launch Centre on the southern island of Hainan.

The probe is expected to reach Mars in February……………

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Science Tech Technology

Myanmar joins band of Asian nations launching satellites

Myanmar is preparing to launch its first-ever satellite, joining an unlikely coalition of nascent space nations aiming to protect millions from environmental disasters.

The future “super constellation” of micro-satellites from nine Asian countries will track typhoons, seismic activity and water flows, as well as provide data on land use, the growth of crops and disease outbreaks.

It is the first space venture for Myanmar,……..