16-10-2021 The Asian Independent

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
ASIA
16-10-2021 to 31-10-2021
7
3 in 10 people globally don't have basic
handwashing facilities at home: Unicef
United Nations. Globally,
around three in 10 people, or
2.3 billion, do not have handwashing
facilities with water
and soap available at home, the
Unicef said.
The situation is worst in the
least developed countries, with
over six in 10 people without
access to basic hand hygiene,
the UN agency said in a fact
sheet on Global Handwashing
Day, which falls on October 15.
According to the latest estimates,
two in five schools
worldwide do not have basic
hygiene services with water
and soap, affecting 818 million
2 more killed in fresh
communal violence
in Bangladesh
Dhaka. A three-member
probe body has been
formed after two more
persons were killed in a
fresh attack in
Bangladesh. The attackers
vandalised puja
mandaps and carried out
attacks on temples in
Noakhali's Begumganj
upazila during the celebrations
of Durga Puja.
The committee is
being headed by
Additional District
Magistrate Md Tarikul Islam,
confirmed Mohammad
Khurshed Alam Khan, deputy
commissioner of Noakhali district.
The committee was asked
to submit its report within
seven working days, he added.
A dead body of a youth
named Pranto Chandra
Namodas, 20, was recovered
from the pond adjacent to
ISKCON temple in
Chowmuhani early on
Saturday. Earlier, another man
was killed and 30 others were
injured after locals carried out
attacks on several temples in
Chowmuhani area of Noakhali.
Meanwhile, Asaduzzaman
Khan Kamal, the home minister
claimed everyone involved
in the communal attack will be
identified and punished under
the law. He said the government
is firmly determined to
ensure that people of all religions
can freely perform their
religious rituals.
Tazul Islam, Minister of
Local Government and Rural
Development of Bangladesh,
has called opon local public
representatives to be alert and
stand strong against those who
would seek to destroy communal
harmony.
"I am making a call to all
students, of which 462 million
attend schools with no facility
at all.
In the least developed countries,
seven out of 10 schools
have no place for children to
wash their hands.
One-third of health care
facilities worldwide do not
have hand hygiene facilities at
points of care where the
patient, health care worker, and
treatment involve contact with
the patient. The latest data
show that some progress has
been made since 2015.
The global population with
access to basic hand hygiene at
public representatives at the
city corporation, municipality,
upazila parishad, district
parishad and union parishad
level, and all other institutions...
Be ready," he said at an
event in Dhaka on Saturday.
On the eighth day of Durga
Puja, Quran was allegedly disrespected
at a temple in
Cumilla which led to attacks on
Hindu places of worship which
triggered clashes.
After that several incidents
occurred in Chandpur,
Chattogram, Cox's Bazar,
Bandarban, Moulvibazar,
Gazipur, Chapainawabganj and
other districts. The BGB personnel
have been deployed in
two dozen districts and security
was beefed up at puja venues.
Abu Sayeed Al Mahmud
Swapan, Whip of the National
parliament and organising secretary
of the ruling Awami
League, after visiting the
affected temples on Saturday,
said Friday's attacks on several
temples at Chowmuhani in
Noakhali were pre-planned. He
said, "A group of fanatic
Bangladeshis planned to destabilise
the country by carrying
out the attacks on the provocation
of the so-called prime minister's
spoiled child. It was not
an isolated incident."
China renews alert for cold wave
Beijing.China's National
Meteorological Centre (NMC)
on Saturday renewed a blue
alert for a cold wave, forecasting
low temperatures and gales
in vast regions of the country.
From 8 a.m. Saturday to 8
a.m. Monday, temperatures are
expected to drop by 6 to 10
degrees Celsius in parts of the
northern, northeastern, central,
eastern, southern and southwestern
regions, Xinhua news
agency reported citing the
Centre as saying.
Some areas in the provinces
of Shandong, Henan, Anhui,
Jiangsu and Zhejiang will see a
temperature decline of above
14 degrees Celsius, according
to the center.
It also forecasts strong and
gusty winds in most of the central
and eastern regions in the
upcoming days.
The Centre advised the public
to take precautions against
the cold weather and strong
winds and suggested traffic and
police authorities prepare for
icy road conditions.
China has a four-tier, colourcoded
weather warning system,
with red representing the most
severe weather, followed by
orange, yellow and blue.
Bill Clinton to receive treatment
in hospital: Spokesperson
home has increased from 5 billion
to 5.5 billion, or from 67
per cent to 71 per cent.
However, if current trends
persist, 1.9 billion people will
still not have access to basic
hand hygiene by the end of the
decade.
The cost to provide hand
hygiene in all homes in 46 of
the world's least developed
countries by 2030 is an estimated
$11 billion.
"Global response efforts to
the pandemic have created an
unprecedented time for hand
hygiene. Yet progress remains
far too slow for the most vulnerable,
underserved communities,"
Unicef WASH Director
Kelly Ann Naylor was quoted
as saying in a statement.
"Hand hygiene cannot be
viewed as a temporary provision
to manage Covid-19.
Further long-term investment
in water, sanitation and hygiene
can help prevent the next health
crisis from coming. It also
means fewer people falling ill
with respiratory infections,
fewer children dying from diarrhoeal
diseases, and more pregnant
mothers and newborns
protected from preventable
conditions like sepsis."
Washington. Former US President Bill
Clinton's health indicators are "trending
in the right direction", but he will continue
to receive treatment at a Southern
California hospital for one more night,
his spokesperson said.
Clinton, 75, was admitted on
Tuesday evening to the University of
California (UC) Irvine Medical Center
in Orange County for a non-coronavirus-related
infection, Xinhua news
agency reported on Saturday.
His white blood count has decreased
significantly, his spokesperson Angel
Urena said on Friday, adding that
Clinton will remain in the hospital
overnight to "receive further IV antibiotics".
Clinton was in an intensive care section
of UC Irvine Medical Center,
though not receiving "ICU care",
KABC-TV, the West Coast flagship station
of the ABC television network,
quoted an aide to the former
President as saying.
The aide told reporters at the
hospital that Clinton had a urological
infection that spread to his
bloodstream, but is on the mend
and never went into septic shock, a
potentially life-threatening condition.
Clinton was in Southern
California for a private reception
and dinner for the non-profit
Clinton Foundation.
After meeting friends in Orange
County on Tuesday, he reported
feeling fatigued, an aide to the former
President was quoted as saying
by The Los Angeles Times.
Clinton, a member of the
Democratic Party, served as the
42nd US President from 1993 to
2001.