The New Nation - Internet Edition

Annual Qirat, Azan competition of Navy concludes

Annual Qirat and Azan Competition of Bangladesh Navy concluded at the Sailors Colony Mosque, Mirpur in Dhaka on Friday. A total of 16 (sixteen) competitors from different ships and establishments of Bangladesh Navy participated in this competition.

M G Mostafa, CK-1 of BNS Haji Mohshin secured first position in Qirat, while MW Islam, LTOP of same base became second. M G Uddin, LREN of BNS Shaheed Ruhul Amin secured the third position in Qirat.

Meanwhile, in Azan competition M W Islam LTOP and M G Mostafa of BNS Haji Mohshin became first and second respectively. While, M M Zaman LROG of NBS Haji Mohsin and M A Hossain of BNS Shaheed Moazzem jointly secured the third position.

Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Sarwar Jahan Nizam distributed prizes among the winners as chief guest.

Principal Staff Officers of Naval Headquarters, Senior Officers and a large number of Naval sailors, among others, were present on the occasion.

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Prices of essentials lower at BDR-run sale centres'

BSS, Dhaka

Prices of essentials were cheaper in BDR- run sale centres and markets compared to those in the city's other markets yesterday, said a BDR market survey released here on Friday.

Flour in packet was sold between Taka 40 and 42 per kg in the ordinary markets, it said adding, the item was sold at Taka 42 in BDR-run open markets and Taka 35 in BDR-run sale centres. The price of one-kg flour in Kolkata is equivalent to Taka 20.68.

Coarse rice was sold at Taka 29 to Taka 32 per kg in different markets in the city. The item was sold at Taka 31.50 in BDR-run open markets and Taka 25 in BDR-run sale centres while the item is being sold at Taka 22.41 in Kolkata markets.

Lentil (imported) was sold in different city markets at Taka 82 to Taka 86 per kg which is Taka 72 in BDR-run sale centres and Taka 78.50 in Kolkata markets.

Onion (imported) was sold at Taka 16 per kg in BDR-run open markets. Price of onion was in other city markets ranged between Taka 16 and 18. The item is available in Kolkata at Taka 9.48.

The price of potato was sold in different city markets at Taka 13 and Taka 14 per kg, while it was Taka 12.50 in BDR-run open markets and Taka 10 in BDR-run sale centres. In Kolkata, the price of the item is Taka 8.62.

Sugar is being sold at Taka 34 to 38 per kg in different city markets against Taka 33.50 in BDR-run open markets. In Kolkata, its price stands at Taka 25.86.

Salt was sold at Taka 12 and 13 per kg in different city markets, while it was sold at Taka 9 per kg in BDR-run sale centers and Taka 15 at BDR run open markets. The item is available in Kolkata at Taka 10.50, the report said.

The price of soybean oil was sold between Taka 110 and Taka 112 per liter in the ordinary markets, while it is available at Taka 113 in BDR-run open markets. In Kolkata, the price of soybean oil is Taka 122.41 per liter.

Palm oil was sold between Taka 98 and Taka 106 per liter in the ordinary markets, compared to Taka 104 per liter in BDR-run open markets and Taka 96 per liter in BDR-run sale centres. In Kolkata, the price of palm oil is Taka 106.89 per liter.

Besides, Hilsa fish was sold in different markets at Taka 270 to Taka 320 per kg on Wednesday, the release added.

Disposal of hospital waste needs policy guideline

Bdnews24.com, Dhaka

The air is filled with putrid smell of waste strewn on the sidewalk, opposite Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Liquid waste oozing out of the dustbin-doubtlessly toxic-creeps up. Flies, mosquitoes and insects of all descriptions are all over the place with crows and dogs burrowing into piles of garbage for food.

Osman, a cleaner of Dhaka City Corporation, is found scavenging there interminably, collecting used bandages, empty packets of saline and syringes. He keeps sifting through the garbage.

"I manage to make a little extra money by selling what I can collect from hospital waste, which helps me to an extent to make ends meet somehow, because it's really difficult to manage with what the DCC pays me," Osman says.

Asked if he knows about the risks of handling the toxic stuff, Osman says he does not care.

"I have to survive first."

Cleaners of the hospital carry medical waste precariously to the dustbin placed opposite the hospital, facing serious health risks themselves.

Rag-pickers of every age rummage through the piles of mixed waste for used bandages, saline bags and syringes which are resold.

The same phenomenon occurs everywhere through the city, in waste dumps contiguous to hospital and clinics.

There are about a thousand hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres in the capital, according to a research conducted by PRISM Bangladesh, an NGO dealing with waste management.

About 500 tonnes of medical waste is generated everyday by these health-service facilities and only half of it is disposed of.

About 20 percent of medical waste spreads viruses and bacteria-based diseases. Personnel responsible for disposal of these toxic matters run the risk of catching diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis, tetanus, and of developing chronic problems of the liver, eye and skin, experts say.

Dr Nazrul Islam, chairman of the Virology Department at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University says medical waste has to be disposed of in accordance with the prescribed ways as they pose serious threats to human health, if handled casually or unprofessionally.

"Hospital waste may be a very dangerous source of viruses and bacteria. These things should be handled with care," he says.

A tired-looking Hekmat Ali, a man in his 50s, has been working for almost 36 years at the Chest Diseases Hospital in Mahakhali.

Ali coughs every once in a while, his eyes looking like they will bulge out.

Ali says he has been handling hospital waste for quite a long time. "I was very healthy when I started working here. But now I have diphtheria," he says.

Another cleaner, Shafiqur Rahman, says doctors in this hospital use masks and gloves. "But when we ask for these, they say they're not required."

Cleaners of several hospitals in the city attend to their regular duties facing serious health risks. Zahed, another cleaner at a clinic, says there are about 40 cleaners at the clinic.

"We have to work for eight hours a day at a stretch. There's no break for having a meal even during the duty hours for us," he says, while requesting not to mention the name of the hospital.

Zahed comes from a village in Jamalpur district. Cleaners like him have to take out waste matters from operating theatres and patients' rooms. They do so barehanded and no-one takes the minimum precaution of using gloves or masks for safety.

There are three incinerators at DMCH meant for disposing of waste and all of them have been out of order for the last three and a half years. An incinerator set up at the city's Suhrawardi Hospital two years back is yet to be commissioned. The only incinerator in the private sector is at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, which is also out of order.

Masudur Rahman, the top official of the waste management wing of DCC, says PRISM Bangladesh, an NGO, has been handed the job of hospital waste disposal.

"Several private clinics and hospitals have sought the help of PRISM for the purpose for which they have to pay certain fees. The government hospitals, however, do not avail themselves of this assistance, as they have no budget allocation for waste management," he says.

Torhit Kanti Biswas, working with PRISM Bangladesh, echoes the DCC official regarding government hospitals' inability of accessing such services.

"Our waste management project kicked off in 2005 and now we manage waste matters generated by 256 clinics and hospitals in Dhaka," he says.

Biswas, coordinator of the project, says an inter-ministerial committee is working towards bringing the state-run hospitals under their umbrella with regard to waste management.

The government's environment department has, meanwhile, initiated a training programme at the DMCH for professionals in the medical waste management.

Steps were taken in 2001 to draft a law governing the disposal of such harmful waste matters. Provisions of Tk 50,000 financial penalty and cancellation of business licence for non-compliance were incorporated in the draft, which was not progressed any further.

Death toll rise to 48 from launch capsize in Kishoreganj

UNB, Kishoreganj

The death toll from Monday's launch capsize in Nikli upazila rose to 48 with the recovery of two more bodies on Thursday night.

The deceased were identified as Moni Mia, 20, of Bajitpur and Ripon, 26, of Tarail.

Mithamoin-bound launch MV Chandpur, carrying more than 150 passengers, was caught in a storm and capsized in Ghorautra River near Singpur of Nikli upazila on Monday (May 12) afternoon. Earlier, bodies of 46 passengers were recovered.

The one-member committee headed by Nikli UNO Kazi Saiful Islam has made its inquiry report public saying that the reason of capsize was mainly due to overloading of passengers and goods by the launch.

Meanwhile, the district administration provided Tk 4,000 as grant to each of the 33 families of the capsize victims. Remaining families will also be provided with the money.

Officer in-charge of Nikli thana Jahangir Hossain said a police boat was patrolling the river looking for more bodies.

Nikli thana SI Nuruzzaman filed a case against launch driver Humayun, he added.

UNB, Dhaka

Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury Friday said six decades ago the sufferings of the Palestinians began with the establishment of the State of Israel in their midst, and since then their pains have only mounted.

In a statement, he said it is obvious that the only solution to the problem of West Asia lies in having a separate independent state for the Palestinian people with Jerusalem as its capital. "Only then can the adherents of the three great religions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism will be able to live together in peace and harmony with one another in that holy land from where those faiths emanated," he said.