Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Abu Nayeem noticed an acrid smell of gas right after stepping inside Pashchim Talla Baitus Salam Mosque of Narayanganj on Friday night to say the Esha prayers. The smell became so overpowering that it made it difficult for him to stay inside for long.

The committee formed to probe the killing of retired army major Sinha Md Rashed Khan was unable to obtain the call recordings of around 30 people related to the incident and will mention it as a “limitation” of the investigation when submitting its findings to the home ministry tomorrow.

The gate to the emergency unit of Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery was packed with relatives of Narayanganj mosque blast victims, journalists and curious onlookers on Friday night.

Many BNP leaders and activists believe that the party must move forward without its partners from the 20-party Alliance and Jatiya Oikyafront.

A technical committee of the telecom regulatory commission also found that Rohingyas of Ukhia and Teknaf upazilas of Cox’s Bazar were using around three lakh mobile connections of local carriers.

With Khaleda Zia’s suspension of jail sentence ending in less than a month, her family members and lawyers are preparing documents to seek extension of the government order through which she was released for six months.

At least 3,500 private medical facilities did not bother to apply for renewing their licence by the deadline that passed on Sunday.

The BNP is likely to take part in the upcoming local government elections and the by-polls for parliamentary seats “if the situation returns to normal.”

BNP leaders and activists are keen to see party Chairperson Khaleda Zia actively involved in politics again, but their desire is not likely to be met anytime soon.

Experts warn of worsening Covid-19 situation as thousands are leaving city areas in crowded vehicles to celebrate Eid in their village homes, ignoring social distancing and sometimes not wearing masks.

Arif Motahar, the founding chairman of Hotel Regency, was recently diagnosed with Covid-19 though he has not left his hotel for the last two months.

Some government-approved laboratories are using a single kit for RT-PCR testing of two samples for the novel coronavirus -- a novelty practice that several experts termed not only unscientific and unethical but also something that risks producing faulty results.

The private hospital in Cumilla has not renewed its licence since 2018. The government has not signed any deal with it for Covid-19 treatment.

Although poor syntax and spelling in the labelling are hardly indicative of a face mask’s ability to protect people, they certainly point to a questionable provenance.

Although plasma therapy holds hope for the treatment of critical Covid-19 patients, indiscriminate use of it in the absence of a guideline is posing serious health risks in the country, experts said.

While the number of infections and deaths from Covid-19 continues to rise in the county, the health directorate mulls over suspending operations of some hospitals dedicated to treating coronavirus patients due to a “lack of patients”.

The director general of the health directorate has replied to the health ministry’s letter saying that its MoU with Regent Hospital on treating Covid-19 patients was signed following directives of the immediate past health secretary.

Two thirds of the country’s over 15,000 private clinics and diagnostic centres have been running without any valid licence since 2018 facing almost no consequences.

More than five lakh Covid-19 testing kits have been lying in the warehouses of several companies in the capital for the last couple of months.

Government data shows the reproduction rate of the novel coronavirus has declined over the past few weeks, but experts doubt it, saying the number of Covid-19 tests has been inadequate to come to such conclusions.