Day: May 31, 2024

Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) has stood by the cyclone affected people at Mujibnagar union under Kalapara upazila in Patuakhali district. On Thursday, BCL leaders and workers led by its central general secretary Sheikh Wali Asif Enan distributed relief goods among the cyclone-affected people. On May 26, severe cyclone Remal hit the Bangladesh coast. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

World No Tobacco Day-2024 was observed in the district in a befitting manner. This year's theme of the day is 'Protecting children from tobacco industry interference'. On the occasion, a rally was brought out from the collectorate building premises which paraded the important streets and ended coming at the conference room of the deputy commissioner office this morning. After the rally, a discussion was held in the conference room of the deputy commissioner office this morning with deputy commissioner (DC) Abu Naser Bhuiyan in the chair. Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Md. Masudur Rahman, Additional District Magistrate Md. Arif Hossain, Deputy Director of Narcotics Control Department Md. Lutfar Rahman, Educationist Subidh Kumar Maitra, Principal Abdur Razzak and President of Natore Press Club Faraji Ahmad Rafiq Babon, among others, spoke. The speakers said tobacco farming is reducing agricultural land, increasing medical expenses while 1,61,000 people die every year due to tobacco-related disea ses in the country. They said everyone must speak out against tobacco to protect farmland and stop tobacco-related deaths and save children. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Litchi, the month-watering and delicious fruit, has arrived in the local markets here and farmers are very happy over this year's production as they are getting much yield beyond expectation. Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said the commercial cultivation of litchi started about 10 years back here and it has been increasing every year. Some 1,000 hectares of the land have been brought under litchi cultivation in the district this year, the officials added. However, litchi is cultivated on around 1500 hectares of land this year, unofficial sources claimed. There are five varieties of litchi-- local variety, China 2, 3 and 4 and Bombay-- are grown by the farmers here which are on great demand in the local markets. Local variety litchi is being sold a bundle of 50 pieces at Taka 90 to 100 in the local markets. Farmer Abdul Malek of Dangapara village under Debiganj upazila said: "I have sold my litchi orchard on two acres of land at Taka 0.3 million (3 lakh) to the who lesaler." Md Samchul Huque, deputy director of the DAE, Panchagarh, said: "This year's litchi production is very good. Production will be increased in future if the farmers used balanced fertilizers in their orchard." He, however, said that the DAE has been providing adequate necessary technical support to the growers in time. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

The government has increased the prices of diesel, kerosene, petrol and octane adjusting the prices with the global market. The government increased the fuel prices due to devaluation of Taka against US dollar and the new prices will come into effect on June 1, a press release said today. At the consumer level, the newly adjusted price of diesel and kerosene is Tk 107.75 per liter as Tk 0.75 has been increased per liter while the price of petrol is Tk 127 per liter after an increase of Tk 2.50 per litre. The adjusted current price of octane is Tk 131 per liter as Tk 2.50 has been increased per liter, the release added. The government has been adjusting fuel price every month on the basis of fuel price in global market since March, 2024. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

The members of the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in several anti-drug campaign arrested a total of 22 people on charges of selling and consuming drugs during the last 24 hours till 6am today. The DB in association with local police carried out the drives simultaneously at different parts of the metropolis from 6 am of May 30 to 6am today, according to a DMP release. In those separate anti-drug raids, police seized huge drugs from their possessions. During the anti-drug campaign, police seized 2719 pieces of contraband yaba tablets, 45 grams of heroin, 11.700 kilograms of cannabis (ganja) and 30 bottles of phensidyle syrup from their possessions, the release added. Police filed 16 separate cases against the arrestees in these connections with respective police stations under the Narcotics Control Act. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Two motorcyclists were killed in a road accident in front of New Market adjacent to Savar Bazar bus-stand area on the Dhaka- Aricha highway here last night. The deceased were identified as Nayeem, 30, and Jubayer, 32. Both were residents of Savar Bank Colony Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Savar Model Police Station said the accident occurred when a speedy truck hit a motorcycle from behind as it was moving towards Savar Bazar bus-stand, leaving rider Nayeem dead and injuring co- rider Jubayer on the spot. Later, critically wounded Jabayer was rushed to Enam Medical College Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, he said. "The victims hailed from Rajbari district and reportedly involved with cloth business," the OC said, adding that a case was filed in this regard. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

As per the health experts, children are the most vulnerable group to infection with leprosy due to their immature immunity and exposure to intrafamilial contacts. The child proportion of cases of leprosy is a strong indicator of continued transmission of disease. Bangladesh is no exception, and the case of three-year-old Raima would bear out this fact surely. This baby was found suddenly suffering from severe fever in March, last year. After two days she was admitted to Chawkaria upazila health complex in Cox's Bazar district. After two weeks she was released from the health complex, but immediately after her release Raima was affected by leprosy. Leprosy did not just affect her health, she was also stigmatized. Such horrific experience of a child underscored the need for giving the top priority to bring down the incidence of leprosy that affects men, women and children. According to WHO, leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae that mainly af fects skin, peripheral nerves, mucosal surfaces of the upper respiratory tract and the eyes. A Contact Cohorts Analysis (COCOA) study, conducted in four districts of northwestern Bangladesh, found that leprosy can transmit from an infected person to another who shares the same home albeit to a lesser extent. The new findings during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic will help global health experts in fighting to eliminate the disease by coming up with new action plans. 'People who share a home with a person affected by leprosy do have only a low risk of contracting the disease,' said the report that appeared in The Leprosy Mission International (TLMI) website recently. Dr Cynthia Ruth Butlin of The Leprosy Mission England and Wales led the six-member research team that went through leprosy-related information of over 20 years in Bangladesh. The report said that members who share the same hole are at higher risk of infection than other members of their community. As the study provides new knowledge about the disease, TLMI is going to change its course of leprosy disease-related activities in Bangladesh. The practices in the country have already begun to change as MB houses receive regular follow up calls from the case workers. The regular follow up calls mean that TLMI Bangladesh can diagnose and treat leprosy infected people at an earlier stage than before, which reduces the chances of transmission within a household or community. According to national leprosy control reports, the region has high leprosy prevalence as it had 4.57/10000 leprosy cases in 1995 and in 2017 it was 0.74/10000. Health experts said leprosy can be cured now if the affected man or woman takes multi drug therapy following the suggestions of physicians. Leprosy is an infectious disease that causes severe, disfiguring skin sores and nerve damage in the arms, legs, and skin areas around the body, they said. They emphasized on creating much awareness among the people and building social movement without delay in a bid to build a leprosy f ree healthy nation in the days ahead. TLMI report shows that a leprosy infected person, undergoing Multi Drug Therapy (MDT) treatment will stop being infectious within 72 hours of starting treatment and, even before treatment, only a minority of those affected by leprosy are infectious. They suggested educating people about the early signs and symptoms of leprosy and to attempt to reduce any misconceptions or under fear about the diagnosis. They also recommended annual re-examinations, and priorities MB index households before PB index households in order to detect the highest number of new cases. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

A madrasah teacher was killed as two motorcycles collided head on at Jhikra intersection under Nachole upazila in the district on Thursday. The deceased Md. Rezaullah, 56, son of Sultan Ali of Muncefpur under Gobratala union of Chapainawabganj sadar upazila. He was the assistant superintendent of Bhujoil Madrasah in Nachole upazila. Rezaullah co-rider Ataur Rahman was also injured in the accident. Immediately after the accident the injured were rushed to the Upazila Health Complex but as the condition of Rezaullah was critical, he was referred to the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH). He succumbed to his injuries on the way to the RMCH. Officer-in-charge of Nachole thana Md. Tarequr Rahman Sarkar confirmed the accident. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Joharin is the two-year old daughter of Reza and Khadija. She just loves to watch cartoons on smartphone. Whenever the baby cries, her parents immediately handover their smartphone to her and it works like magic. Joharin stops crying as soon as she gets the smartphone. It is often seen that the girl does not want to eat, mother Khadija tries to feed her quickly, keeping the baby busy with the smartphone. At the end, the situation is such that eating, sleeping, playing -- she wants a smartphone for everything. Her mother suddenly discovered one afternoon that Joharin's right eye was looking unusual. She rushed to the doctor with her tiny tot. After completing all procedures, the doctor said that the cornea of Joharin's right eye had moved due to constant staring at the smartphone for a long time. As a result, she was looking cross-eyed. In recent research, it was seen that on an average a child in Bangladesh uses a smartphone for around three hours a day. A significant number of children in the country use smartphones for even five hours a day on an average. The research found that the excessive use of smartphones by the parents, encourages their children to get addicted to the devices. According to paediatricians and mental health experts, children easily get addicted to smartphones through the excessive use of the device, and it is leaving a huge negative impact on the child's early social and emotional development, hampering the development of their multifaceted skills. According to the latest data of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the number of mobile phone users in the country is 183.8 million. Among them, currently the number of internet users is 13 crore 19 lakh, which is 32 percent of the total population. Meanwhile, 11 crore 97 lakh people use the internet on their mobile phone, which is 90.79 percent of the total internet users. Also, the number of smartphone users is 53 million. According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) statistics, as of 2 022, the total number of children aged five to 17 years in the country is 3.99 million. Among them, 41 percent above the age of five use the Internet. Recently, a group of researchers from Jahangirnagar University studied the effect of smartphone use on children. It shows that in Bangladesh, parents who use smartphones for three hours or more every day, the risk of their children becoming addicted to the phones is about 90 times higher than that of children who do not use the devices. Moreover, 92 percent of children use a parent's smartphone and eight percent of children have their own. In this research, it is also seen that whenever the child is crying, does not want to eat or whenever the parents want to finish their own work, they give smartphones to their child to keep him/her busy. The child is calmed down by showing cartoons on the phones. About the negative effects of smartphone use on children, one of the members of the research team Professor Dr Mohammad Nazmul Haque said: "Smartphone a ddiction has become a big problem nowadays. Smartphone-addicted children are 500 times more likely to develop mental health problems and 230 times more likely to have physical health problems than non-phone-addicted children. It has a variety of detrimental effects on the physical and mental health and cognitive development of pre-school children. However, 50 percent of mothers believe that their children can learn a lot using smartphones." Psychologists identify this attraction of children and teenagers towards mobile phones and the internet as internet addiction or mobile phone addiction. In this context, paediatrician and president of Bangladesh Children's Physicians Association Professor Dr Manjur Hossain said: "Dopamine neurotransmitter is released from brain cells while watching TV, mobile games or any kind of virtual entertainment. This dopamine transmits a good feeling to our mind. As a result, we become addicted very easily." Meanwhile, Associate Professor of Holy Family Red Crescent Med ical College, Dr Farzana Robin identifies internet addiction as not a disease but a major problem responsible for many diseases. Expert doctors are citing smartphone addiction as dangerous as drug addiction. According to a study by Public Health of England, if young children keep their eyes on mobile phones, television, video games or computers for a long time, they may suffer from inferiority complex, lose mental balance including depression and become addicted to pornography. During this time, there is a risk of various complications including irritability, headache, watery eyes, loss of appetite, obesity, behavioural changes and loss of vision. In addition, there is a direct relationship between video game addiction and autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit disorder, depression and severe depression in children and adolescents. According to mental health experts, excessive internet addiction causes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, disrupts language developme nt and increases the risk of damage to various parts of the eye, including the cornea-retina, and the highly harmful radiation from screens disrupts their brain development. Renowned mental health expert of the country and National Health Institute Prof Meghla Sarkar said many times parents' hand over a harmful thing like a mobile phone to the child to control his stubbornness or to reduce his mischief or to feed him. In order to reduce a temporary problem, they are getting involved in a big problem as mobile has a kind of addictive element. So naturally, when a child gets such an attractive and stimulating phone in his/her hands, their tendency to become addicted to it increases compared to adults. Therefore, handing over a mobile phone to a child at an early age means compromising with the elements of nature and environment from which his mental development and social skills were supposed to be formed. Therefore, in order to ensure the mental health protection of a mobile addicted child, the parents must first be aware that its excessive use is hindering the development of the child's mental health. In this case, first of all, as parents, they should stop handing mobile phones to the child for the purpose of playing or feeding them, try to create interest in him for socializing with outside children and above all to ensure that children participate in sports and creative social activities from an early age. Many people think that children and adolescents cannot have mental illness. However, scientific studies show that children are at risk of developing mental problems right from birth. Generally, children and teenagers of our country are suffering from various mental problems or diseases. Notable among these are hyperactivity, behavioural problems, bedwetting disorders, school retention/school phobias, restlessness or tension disorders, anorexia and food aversion disorders, and child development problems: autism spectrum disorders. Therefore, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ensured all the rights of children in the constitution to protect the future of the country. Under the leadership of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her government is conducting child nutrition-health-education programs with the aim of ensuring the overall development and empowerment of children in the implementation of the Vision 2021. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Seventh Five Year Plan has set targets for child health, education, nutrition, water and sanitation. Also, through the establishment of the 'National Council for Women and Children Development' (NCWCD), policy-making guidance is being given on the safety and security of women and children. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested an alleged drug peddler with 315 bottles of contraband phensidyl from Chapainawabganj sadar upazila last night. The arrested person was Md. Rubel Hossain, 32, of Kujail Dakkhinpara under Boraigram upazila in Natore district. RAB said, being informed, an operation team of RAB-5 conducted a raid in Moharajpur Fielderhat area under Moharajpur union of Chapainawabganj sadar upazila around 10.30 pm. Suspecting an autorickshaw, the RAB members detained it and after searching it they found the bottles of phensidyl in mango baskets. Later, the elite force handed him over to the Chapainawabganj Sadar Model Police Station with a case, the sources added. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

A total of 2,28,485 children would be administered Vitamin A Plus in the district during the Vitamin A Plus campaign tomorrow. Medical officer of the Civil Surgeon's office Dr Rakibul Islam disclosed this in an opinion exchanging meeting held at the conference room of Chapainawabganj municipality on Thursday afternoon. He said that in all the five upazilas of the district, the campaign would start at 8 am and continue till 4 pm in 1,165 centres. He added that 2,00,220 children from 12 to 59 months would be given red coloured capsules and 28,265 children from six to 11 months would be given blue coloured capsules. Vitmin A helps children in their proper development, increases their protective powers against diseases and also reduces the risk of death, Dr Rakibul Islam said. Latest News Most View 20 drown in boat accident in eastern Afghanistan: provincial official China making youth unemployment a 'top priority' Thailand's Wichanee leads US Women's Open as Korda misses cut Notorious Canada serial kil ler dead after prison assault Biles dominates on first day of US Gymnastics Championships Two electrocuted in Chapainawabganj Michelle Obama's mother Marian Robinson dies at 86 Tight race as Iceland elects new president Biden calls Trump 'reckless' over attacks on court S andP downgrades French credit rating in blow to Macron Japan crypto exchange says lost $300 mn bitcoin in 'leak' Hindu holy city votes as India's six-week election ends 5.9-magnitude quake hits Nagqu in Xizang: CENC Malaysia's median monthly wages up 4.9 pct in December 2023 McLaughlin-Levrone sets world leading time on 400m hurdles return Boeing will try to launch its first crew on Starliner, again Austin says US 'can be secure only if Asia is' Djokovic eyes Federer record and French Open last 16 spot Dortmund dream of shocking Real Madrid in Champions League final Trump campaign announces $53 mn raised after conviction All Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

A court here today placed three accused in a case lodged over the murder of Awami League lawmaker of Jenaidah-4 Anwarul Azim Anar in Kolkata, India, on five days of fresh remand each. The three accused are Tanvir Bhuiyan, Shimul Bhuiyan and Silisti Rahman. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shanto Islam Mallik passed the order as police produced the trio before the court after end of their eight-day remand in the case and pleaded to place them on eight-day remand afresh. Earlier on May 24, the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Dilruba Afroz Tithi placed them on eight-day remand. A separate court on May 23 set July 4 for submitting probe report in the case. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mahbubul Haque passed the order, accepting first information report (FIR) in the case. Victim's daughter Mumtarin Ferdous Dorin filed the case on May 22 with the capital's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station. Anwarul, a three-time MP and also president of Kaliganj upazila unit Awami League, went to India on May 12 on a pe rsonal visit to receive treatment. He went missing on May 13 after going out of the flat where he was residing in Kolkata's Borah Nagar area. According to the Kolkata police sources, Anwarul was taken to a flat in New Town in Kolkata, where he is believed to be strangled to death and his body was cut into pieces. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha