Awami League (AL) President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina cast her vote at the Dhaka City College centre here this morning in the 12th Jatiya Sangsad election. She cast her franchise just after starting the balloting at 8 in the morning.   Dhaka City College centre falls under Dhaka-10 constituency comprising Dhanmondi, Hazaribagh, New Market and Kalabagan thanas. The prime minister arrived at the polling centre with her younger sister Sheikh Rehana, daughter Saima Wazed and Sheikh Rehana's son Radwan Mujib Siddiq at 7:55 in the morning.   Dhalywood actor Ferdous Ahmed who is contesting the polls on the Awami League ticket from Dhaka-10 constituency welcomed the premier at the centre. The balloting will continue till 4pm without any break as the EC has taken all-out preparations to hold the elections in a free, fair and peaceful manner across the country.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has warned of a record number of dengue cases this month (August).  According to the organisation, the rate of dengue cases in the country was much higher in July than in June. Even in August, this upward trend of dengue infection continues, which can surpass all previous records of dengue cases in the country. Director (MIS) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Md Shahadat Hossain presented the information at a virtual briefing on the ongoing dengue situation in the country on Wednesday afternoon. Dr Hossain said although dengue infection is stable in Dhaka city, the rate of infection outside Dhaka is still increasing.  “In the first eight days of August, 20,393 people have been diagnosed with dengue, compared to 43,854 cases last month,” he said.  Shahadat Hossain said, "The Department of Health and Health Ministry has been actively monitoring our health management issues, treatment and other management of hospitalised patients, so that patients can come to the hospital and get treatment. We're very careful about that.” According to the DGHS, the highest 424 patients in Dhaka city are admitted to Mugda Medical College Hospital. A total of 377 people are currently receiving treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, 273 in Mitford Hospital and 292 in DNCC-dedicated Covid-19 Hospital.  “We still have a lot of vacancies. Besides, patients can get admitted and get treatment in our medical colleges as well,” Dr Shahadat Hossain said.  The death toll from the Dengue outbreak across the country has surpassed 350 since January this year.  Twelve more deaths were reported in 24 hours till Wednesday morning, raising the fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease in Bangladesh to 352 this year. So far, the DGHS has recorded 75,069 dengue cases and 65,290 recoveries this year. Source: UNB

An university student was killed as a truck hit his motorcycle in capital's Rampura area around 3 am July 23.   The deceased has been Identified as Pulok Gomez (19), a student of a private university, son of Bitim Gomez from Kaliganj Upazila of Gazipur. He lived at Norda in old Dhaka. Pulok's brother-in-law, Roni said, he was returning home, in that time a truck hits his motorcycle. then he was taken to a private hospital. Later, he was shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital's (DMCH) emergency department.  

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today called upon youths to engage in nursing education and service on a large scale. "I will call on the youth folk to come forward to take nursing education and engage them in nursing service. It will not only create employment at home but also abroad," she said. The premier said this while addressing as the chief guest the second graduation ceremony of the Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib Memorial KPJ Nursing College at its campus here. She said she believed that today's graduate nurses will apply their acquired knowledge in the workplace. "Bangladesh is moving ahead in every field and we will also move ahead in this (nursing) field, and I want this," she said. Sheikh Hasina, also the chair of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust, said they will establish a medical college from the trust alongside this hospital and nursing college. Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib Memorial KPJ Specialized Hospital and Nursing College (SFMMKPJSH&NC) is named after Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib and was established by the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust. At the function, Chief Executive Officer of SFMMKPJSH&NC Mohd Taufik Bin Ismail delivered the welcome address, while graduate student of the second batch Anamul Huq also spoke. KPJ Healthcare Berhad President Norhaizam Binti Mohammad spoke as graduation speaker. Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque and Chairman of the Governing Body of SFMMKPJSH&NC Major General (Retd) Abdul Hafiz Mallick were present. At the ceremony, the prime minister distributed certificates among 210 graduates of the college She also handed over the Prime Minister's Award to six graduate students for their outstanding academic records. A documentary on Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib Memorial KPJ Nursing College was screened at the ceremony. The premier also inaugurated website, hospital management software and medical journal of the hospital.

Chief minister N Biren has informed that the government would soon launch free coaching classes for technical education in order to promote technical education among the students and bring about a conducive environment in tune with the changing technological advancement in today’s world. The CM flagged off a team of 30 students of the state along with three faculty members on a five-day exposure tour to Nagpur, Maharashtra under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat – Yuva Sangam programme from the CM’s secretariat in the presence of Dr RK Ranjan union minister of state for education and external affairs Th Basanta kumar education minister and professor Krishnan Baskar director IIIT Manipur, Speaking on the occasion, Biren said that the state had created a vacuum in the higher education sector due to disturbances like bandhs, blockades and strikes in the past. But today, the government is putting efforts to bridge the gap by implementing schemes like the School Fagathansi and added that the government is going to start College Fagathansi to bring development in colleges. Speaking to the young students, who are taking part in the tour, Biren said that, “We need to know each other in order to achieve the goal of ‘One India, United India and Strong India’ as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is the main objective of the exposure tour”. He also mentioned about the free coaching classes for civil services aspirants and added that the new scheme is to promote technical education among the aspirants, who want to pursue higher studies in IITs, IIITs and NITs among others. Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister of state for education Dr RK Ranjan said the tour is a good opportunity for the young students and urged them to project their best behaviour, expose the very best of Manipur and to learn the best of the host state during the trip He said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is using the unity in diversity as a powerful plank to make a strong India and he has confidence in the youth of creating a united and strong India. A total of 30 students representing from various districts and institutions and three faculty members from NIT, Manipur, who will accompany the students, are travelling to Nagpur, Maharashtra as a first batch of the programme.  Around 1000 youths will participate in the pilot project of Yuva Sangam conceptualised by the ministry of education. Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Manipur is coordinating the programme in association with NIT, Nagpur. During their visit, the students will have a multi-dimensional exposure under five broad areas of tourism, tradition, development, technology and people-to-people connect. It’s a youth exchange programme where 70 students with five faculties from Maharashtra would also be visiting Imphal on February 27 and tour several parts of the state till March 3. Source: YENDA News Agency 

The health ministry is performing a master plan centering six medical college hospitals and nursing colleges. Already the feasibility project has been completed titled ‘Feasibility study for establishment of six medical college and hospitals’. Taka 4 crore 67 lakh was spent to execute the master plan. The aim of the feasibility project is to implement different plans to establish six medical college and hospitals in the proposed districts of Habiganj, Naogaon, Netrokona, Nilfamari, Rangamati and Magura. Six different projects will be taken under the master plan. Health Economics Institute of Dhaka University is working as the consultant firm in this project. In this regard health services division Additional Secretary (development) Md. Saidur Rahman said, six medical college hospitals and nursing colleges have been constructed. At present student are participating classes without academic buildings. AH     

Why is it that one candidate can win the popular note but another wins the electoral vote and thus the presidency? That’s how the framers of the Constitution set it up. This unique system of electing presidents is a big reason why Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016. Four candidates in history have won the popular vote only to be denied the presidency by the Electoral College. The Electoral College was devised at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. It was a compromise between those who wanted direct popular elections for president and those who preferred to have Congress decide. At a time of little national identity and competition among the states, there were concerns that people would favor their regional candidates and that big states with denser populations would dominate the vote. The Electoral College has 538 members, with the number allocated to each state based on how many representatives it has in the House plus its two senators. (The District of Columbia gets three, despite the fact that the home to Congress has no vote in Congress.) To be elected president, the winner must get at least half plus one — or 270 electoral votes. This hybrid system means that more weight is given to a single vote in a small state than the vote of someone in a large state, leading to outcomes at times that have been at odds with the popular vote. In fact, part of a presidential candidate’s campaign strategy is drawing a map of states the candidate can and must win to gather 270 electoral votes. In 2016, for instance, Democrat Hillary Clinton received nearly 2.9 million more votes than Trump in the presidential election, after racking up more lopsided wins in big states like New York and California. But she lost the presidency due to Trump’s winning margin in the Electoral College, which came after he pulled out narrow victories in less populated Midwestern states like Michigan and Wisconsin. It would take a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College — an unlikely move because of how difficult it is to pass and ratify constitutional changes. But there’s a separate movement that calls for a compact of states to allocate all their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, regardless of how those individual states opted in an election. That still faces an uphill climb, though. Source: UNB AH

Two other accused in Sylhet MC College gang rape case made confessional statement under section 164 of the CrPC on Sunday. With these, all the arrested eight accused confessed to their crime in the court. Additional Judge Md Zihadur Rahman recorded statement of the accused Tarequl Islam Tareq and Metropolitan Magistrates Court-2 Judge Saifur Rahman that of Mahfuzar Rahman after Inspector Indranil Bhattacharya, investigation officer of the case, produced them before the courts.  Later, they were sent back to jail. Earlier, six accused in the cases delivered confession statements in the case on Friday and Saturday. They all tied up a man and raped his 19-year-old wife at the MC College dormitory on the night of September 25. After police rescued the couple, the victim’s husband filed a case with Shahporan Police Station in the early hours of Sept 26 against nine people mentioning the names of six. Eight of the accused in the case are currently in police custody. Source: UNB AH

Three Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leaders who were accused in the MC gang-rape case, delivered confession statements under section 164 before a Sylhet court on Friday. The trio were - Arjun Lashkar, Saifur Rahman and Rabiul Islam. Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate Court-1 Judge Zihadur Rahman recorded their confessional statements in the afternoon. Before that they were brought to the court premises with tight security after concluding their interrogation in remand. A Sylhet court on Tuesday (Sept 29) placed another three accused – Mahbubur Rahman Rony, Rajon and Ainuddin – on a five-day remand each in the case which will end on Saturday. Saifur Rahman, the key accused, Arjun Lashkar and Robiul Islam were placed on a five-day remand on Monday (Sept 28). The remand of the third accused, Tareq, and the sixth accused, Mahfuzur Rahman Masum, will end on Sunday.  A group of youths tied up a man and raped his 19-year-old wife at the MC College dormitory on Friday night. After police rescued the couple, the victim’s husband filed a case with Shahporan Police Station in the early hours of Saturday last against nine people mentioning the names of six. Eight of the accused in the case are currently in police custody. Meanwhile, the Education Ministry formed a three-member committee on Tuesday to investigate whether there was any negligence of the college authorities in the gang-rape incident at its college dormitory. The High Court on Tuesday formed an investigation committee to look into the incident. Source: UNB AH

The judicial inquiry team has visited the spot at Sylhet MC College dormitory where the incident of gang rape took place. The four member team reached the dormitory in the afternoon on Thursday. The team visited different halls including the newly constructed building of the dormitory. They collected different information and evidence of the rape incident. Earlier they held meeting with the principal of the institution. Then they went to the dormitory. The inquiry team is headed by Sylhet district and sessions judge Md. Bazlur Rahman. The other members of the team are- metropolitan magistrate Md. Abul Kashem, additional metropolitan sessions judge Mominun Nesa and additional deputy commissioner Sharmin Sultana. The High Court on September 29 ordered to form the inquiry committee to find out the culprits in connection with the crime. The committee was asked to submit report within 15 days. Mentionable, a young woman fell victim of gang rape at the MC College dormitory in the night of September 25. Later police rescued her and admitted at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital. On the following day victim’s husband filed a case with Shahparan police station mentioning six named and three unnamed accused. So far police have arrested eight persons in this connection. AH