১৫ comments

1. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ২ জুলাই ২০২০ (২:৩২ অপরাহ্ণ)

   RMG exports drop 19pc in FY’20

   The country’s readymade garment (RMG) exports declined by 18.84 per cent to US$ 27.70 billion in the just concluded fiscal year (FY 2019-20).

   The sector had fetched $ 34.13 billion in the FY 2018-19.

   In the month of June 2020, the earning stood at $ 1.99 billion, showing an 8.56 per cent decline over that of the corresponding month of last calendar year, according to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

   The BGMEA made the disclosures, quoting the National Board of Revenue (NBR) data from June 01 to 29 last.

   The RMG fetched $1.23 billion and $374.67 million from RMG export in the months of April and May respectively in the just concluded fiscal year.

   During March to May this calendar year, apparel exports recorded 54.79 per cent decline over that of the corresponding period of 2019.

   When asked, BGMEA President Dr Rubana Huq said June export earnings represented an 8.5 per cent dip in year on year basis.

   “This is a true reflection of the reality. The July-September period is traditionally is the lean period for the industry. We will wait to see the impact,” she said.

   Work orders are coming in to the tune of 40-45 per cent compared to the usual flow.

   Explaining the overall negative growth over the fiscal, the BGMEA leader said there has been a fall in global consumption.

   “We were already experiencing a slowdown, Covid-19 pandemic made it even worse.”

   Going forward, the industry might see sales picking up seasonally during Christmas, Ms Huq said adding but a full recovery might take place as late as middle of 2021.

   The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), however, has proposed setting a $37.44-billion export target for fiscal year (FY) 2020-21, predicting a 13-per cent growth.

   The state-owned EPB has also projected an additional $7.6 billion in earnings from the export of services.

   More than 82 per cent of the proposed $37.44 billion export earnings are expected to come from the RMG sector.

   The bureau that is yet to publish the overall export earnings data of FY 2019-20, expects the export receipts to reach $33 billion in the final count.

   #RMG exports drop 19pc in FY'20, writes #MoniraMunni https://t.co/A1gc2ZYBW8 #Bangladesh #COVID19 #FE via @febdonline

   — masudkarim মাসুদকরিম (@urumurum) July 2, 2020

2. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ২ জুলাই ২০২০ (২:৩৯ অপরাহ্ণ)

   China’s Own Documents Show Potentially Genocidal Sterilization Plans in Xinjiang

   Ethnic minorities are being targeted by family planning departments as reproduction restrictions loosen on Han Chinese.

   “Performance targets:

   Target 1: target population for intrauterine contraception device placement 524 people

   Target 2: [target] population for sterilizations 14,872 people.”

   These are direct quotes from the 2019 family planning budget of Hotan, the capital city of a prefecture with a population of 2.53 million in in southern Xinjiang, China. The neighboring county of Guma, population 322,000, set a similarly precise “performance target” figure of 5,970 intrauterine contraception device (IUD) placements and 8,064 female sterilizations for that year.

   These two counties, predominantly home to members of the Uighur ethnic minority, planned to sterilize approximately 14 and 34 percent of women between 18 and 49—in a single year. Per capita, that represents more sterilizations than China performed in the 20 years between 1998 and 2018 combined. Documents from Xinjiang’s Health Commission indicate that this is part of a wider project targeting all of Xinjiang’s southern minority regions in 2019 and 2020.

   Since 2017, up to 1.8 million Uighurs, Kazaks, and other Turkic minority groups in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang have been swept up in what is probably the largest incarceration of an ethnoreligious minority since the Holocaust. Exile Uighurs and China researchers have described this campaign as a “cultural genocide.” Now, new research I published this month with the Jamestown Foundation provides strong evidence that Beijing’s actions in Xinjiang also meet the physical genocide criterion cited in Section D of Article II of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide: “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the [targeted] group.”

   Starting in 2018, a growing number of female former internment camp detainees testified that they were given injections that coincided with changes in or cessation of their menstrual cycles. Others reported that they were forcibly fitted with IUDs prior to internment or subjected to sterilization surgeries.

   That same year, published natural population growth rates (calculated as birth minus deaths, and excluding migration) in Xinjiang plummeted. In Kashgar and Hotan, two of the prefectures that make up the Uighur heartland, combined natural population growth rates fell by 84 percent between 2015 and 2018, from 1.6 percent to 0.26 percent. In some Uighur counties, 2018 saw more deaths than births. In 2019, Xinjiang’s birth rates declined by a further 24 percent, with ethnic minority regions seeing stronger declines between 30 and 56 percent. In contrast, birth rates across the whole country fell by only 4.2 percent between 2018 and 2019.

   Worryingly, most recent birth rate figures in Uighur regions are not being published. In an unusual development, Hotan’s annual report, always published in March or April each year, was not yet out by the end of June, but one of its counties reported a negative population growth rate. For the first time since its publication, Kashgar’s annual report did not disclose birth or death rates. However, its total population decreased compared to the previous year. Clearly, the government has something to hide. One minority region, Kizilsu, recently disclosed its 2020 natural population growth target: Shockingly, it was cut down to nearly zero.

   Given that Uighur birth rates remained stable even during the horrific years of the Cultural Revolution, the most recent declines signal a worrying new development. The campaign of mass internment would certainly negatively impact birth rates. However, by itself it cannot have depressed population growth to such low levels.

   Instead, comprehensive new evidence from government documents reveals a systematic state campaign of suppressing minority births, while simultaneously encouraging a mass influx of new Han Chinese workers and settlers.

   For years, Han Chinese officials and academics have lamented “excessive minority population” growth in Xinjiang. Li Xiaoxia, the director of the Institute of Sociology at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, wrote in 2017 that high Uighur population growth rates exacerbated spatial ethnic segregation, “strengthening the viewpoint that one ethnic group owns a [particular] land area.” Such sentiments are seen as dangerous, because they “weaken national identity and identification with the Chinese Nation-Race, impacting long-term rule and stability.”

   However, government efforts to enforce family planning targets were often met with failure. A 2013 World Bank report on vocational training needs in Xinjiang, compiled by two Han Chinese authors, states that “Xinjiang’s enforcement of family planning in rural and minority regions has been comparatively relaxed.” Many of Xinjiang’s officials and researchers blame this directly on the minorities’ predominantly Muslim faith. One of them wrote in 2016: “It is undeniable that a wave of extremist religious thinking has fueled a resurgence in birth rates in Xinjiang’s southern regions.”

   The campaign of mass internment that started in 2017 under Xinjiang’s current Party Secretary Chen Quanguo provided the ideal context for an unprecedented crackdown on minority birth rates. My research shows that the detentions have primarily targeted male heads of households. In some regions, government lists show that up to 50 percent of them had been sent to detention camps or prisons. With community leaders, religious authority figures, and husbands removed, nothing prevented the state from seizing complete control over female minority reproductive systems.

   In February, a leaked government document called the “Karakax List” (after its origin from Karakax County) showed the reasons given for hundreds of camp detainees being detained. Surprisingly, the most common reason was having had too many children. Frequently, the detainees had only had one more child than permitted by the state. Birth control violations were often the only stated reason for internment.

   In contrast, in January 2016 China abolished its one-child policy, and it has since encouraged its citizens to have two children in order to maintain positive population growth. Some provinces are doling out financial rewards such as tax breaks and wedding or childbirth subsidies in order to boost birth rates.

   The Karakax List indicates a spike in the number of Uighurs detained for birth control violations during the spring of 2018. During precisely that time, Xinjiang’s minority regions issued draconian new regulations for dealing with birth control policy violations, with three counties explicitly threatening violators with internment. Karakax County’s 2018 government work report proudly stated that by “severely curbing behaviors that violate birth control [policies], birth and natural population growth rates declined dramatically.” Between 2016 and 2018, Karakax’s natural population growth rate plunged by 83 percent.

   However, punishing birth control violations with internment has been just one of several strategies to suppress minority birth rates. The second approach was a mass deployment of IUDs, a widely used form of birth control around the world and the most commonly used form in China. In 2018, a stunning 80 percent of all newly placed IUDs in China were fitted in Xinjiang, even though the region only makes up 1.8 percent of the country’s population. By 2019, Xinjiang planned to subject over 80 percent of women of childbearing age in the rural southern four minority prefectures to “birth control measures with long-term effectiveness.” In Xinjiang’s minority regions, this term refers to either IUDs or sterilizations. One minority prefecture issued a related statement that women for whom the procedure wouldn’t pose medical risks must have IUDs placed “immediately,” and that the risks, known as contraindications, must be proved through a diagnosis certified by a higher health authority.

   Before long, requiring minority women to get IUDs was not enough. The third and most draconian birth prevention strategy—sterilizations—soon followed. Until recently, sterilization surgeries had been uncommon in Xinjiang in order to avoid offending the predominantly Muslim population’s religious sensibilities. Once the state began openly persecuting any form of religious behavior, this was no longer an issue. In 2018, the region performed over seven times more sterilizations per capita than the national average. Then, in 2019, when a growing number of male detainees were shifted from internment camps to either prisons or forced labor compounds, the state moved toward what appears to be a campaign of mass female sterilization.

   This campaign is part of a project titled “Free Technical Family Planning Services to Farmers and Pastoralists.” It provides free “birth control surgeries” specifically in Xinjiang’s southern Uighur regions. The project’s explicit aim is to reduce these regions’ 2020 birth and population growth rates by “at least” 0.4 percentage points below the 2016 level. The free “birth control surgeries” include IUD placements, abortions, and sterilizations. The project’s combined funding for 2019 and 2020 amounted to 260 million RMB, about $36 million, on the regional level alone.

   The evidence suggests that this campaign aims to sterilize some women with one or two children, and many or all women with three or more children. One Uighur county’s 2019 family planning policy explicitly stated that women with three or more children are to be sterilized. According to the 2010 national census, about 20 percent of all Uighur women across China had three or more children; in some predominantly Uighur prefectures, that share may be as high as 36.1 percent, which might explain Hotan City’s 34.3 percent sterilization target. In addition, in 2019 and 2020 Xinjiang budgeted about 1.5 billion RMB, over $200 million, at the regional level alone for financial rewards for women who supposedly voluntarily opt for IUDs or sterilizations even though they are legally permitted to have a third child.

   Together with local co-funding, the regionwide “free technical family planning” project has enough money to sterilize potentially up to nearly 200,000 or about 12 percent of all married women aged 18 to 49 years in rural southern Xinjiang. However, at least one minority prefecture received additional central government funding for this initiative, indicating that these estimates could be higher. There is also nothing to say that this campaign will end in 2020. Its obvious intermediate goal would be to sterilize the 20 percent or more of these women who have had more than two children, plus a percentage of those with fewer children.

   Along with the mass deployment of IUDs, this campaign enables the Chinese government to permanently maintain Uighur natural population growth rates at levels that are 85 to 95 percent below those of the past two decades. Xinjiang’s goal in Uighur regions is to achieve “zero birth control violation incidents”—not one minority child is to be born outside the will of the state. Such targets are no joke. Hotan prefecture’s 2019 birth control performance indicators mandated that the entire region, which has over half a million women of childbearing age, could have no more than exactly 21 birth control policy violations that year. Technically, the government can now dial minority birth rates up and down at will, like opening or closing a faucet.

   Unfortunately, it is unclear where all this will end. Numerically stagnant or declining populations are easier to control. Alarmingly, Xinjiang’s 2019 population growth rate was far below its original target.

   Under the one child policy, China had previously implemented repressive birth control measures. However, they were nothing close to now what is now seen in Xinjiang: punishing violators in extrajudicial internment camps, sterilizing up to a third of all women in a single year, sending women to family planning clinics with armed police forces, or setting near-zero population growth targets.

   A women who fled Xinjiang last year told the Associated Press that they would chant these lines during daily flag-raising events: “If we have too many children, we’re religious extremists. … That means we have to go to the training centers.” Soon after, she and hundreds of other Uighur women were taken to a hospital by armed police guards and forcibly fitted with IUDs. In 2019, Xinjiang’s population growth rate was far below its original target.

   Xinjiang’s birth prevention tactics are just one aspect of what appears to be a multipronged strategy of ethno-racial domination. Between 2015 and 2018, 2 million new residents moved to Xinjiang—all of them to regions dominated by China’s Han majority. The state promotes such in-migration through lucrative offers. In 2019, a Han Chinese-dominated region in Xinjiang sought to attract young families from eastern China (ages 35 and under) with promises of 5.8 acres of arable land, new apartments, government jobs with annual salaries of up to 102,500 RMB (about $14,000, above the national average), and additional monthly livelihood subsidy payments.

   Additionally, regional authorities actively encourage interethnic marriages between Han men and Uighur women in an apparent effort to dilute Uighur cultural identity and promote assimilation into the “Chinese Nation-Race.” The internment of vast numbers of ethnic minority men in camps and sites of coercive labor facilitate this process of what often appear to be coerced relationships.

   These findings indicate that Beijing is complementing its pursuit of cultural genocide in Xinjiang with a campaign of ethno-racial supremacy—a campaign that meets at least one of the five criteria for physical genocide specified by the U.N. It is high time that the international community takes decisive measures. The situation warrants an investigation into crimes against humanity, including an assessment whether Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang are gradually progressing from cultural genocide to a form of demographic genocide.

   #China’s own documents show potentially genocidal sterilization plans in #Xinjiang https://t.co/a6RJ47XQEl

   — ICSF (@icsforum) July 2, 2020

3. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ৬ জুলাই ২০২০ (৪:৩৯ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

   বরেণ্য সাহিত্যিক অরুণ সেন আর নেই

   বাংলা ভাষার বরেণ্য সাহিত্যিক, সমালোচক ও গবেষক অরুণ সেন আর নেই। গতকাল শনিবার (৪ জুলাই) রাত সাড়ে ৯টায় কলকাতার নিজ বাড়িতে মৃত্যুবরণ করেছেন তিনি। বাংলাদেশের সঙ্গে নিবিড় সম্পর্কে যুক্ত এই সাহিত্যিক ক্যান্সারে আক্রান্ত ছিলেন।

   অরুণ সেনের জন্ম ১৯৩৬ সালে। পূর্বপুরুষ পূর্ববঙ্গের হলেও আজন্ম কলকাতাবাসী। কলকাতা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় থেকে এমএ শেষ করে কলকাতারই একটি কলেজে বাংলা ভাষা ও সাহিত্যের অধ্যাপনা করেন অবসরকাল পর্যন্ত।

   বাংলাদেশের সাহিত্যে তাঁর আগ্রহ ও চর্চার কারণে যাদবপুর বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের তুলনামূলক সাহিত্য বিভাগে বাংলাদেশ বিষয়ে অতিথি অধ্যাপক হিসেবে আমন্ত্রিত হন। সেখানকার কর্মসূত্রে বাংলা বিভাগের ওই বিষয়ের পাঠক্রম তৈরি করেন তিনিই। বাংলাদেশ ও তার সাহিত্য-সংস্কৃতি সম্পর্কে অনেক লেখালেখি, সেমিনারে ভাষণ বা পাঠ, বাংলাদেশ-বিষয়ক অনুষ্ঠানে অংশগ্রহণ ইত্যাদি ক্ষেত্রে তার সক্রিয়তা সর্বজনবিদিত।

   অরুণ সেন যে দুটি বিষয়ে অনেককাল ধরেই নিমগ্ন, তাঁর একটি বিষ্ণু দে, অপরটি বাংলাদেশ। এই দুই প্রসঙ্গে তাঁর বইয়ের সংখ্যাও বেশ কিছু। তাঁর অনন্য দুই কীর্তি- গবেষণাগদ্য ‘সেলিম আল দীন: নাট্যকারের স্বদেশ ও সমগ্র’ আর সম্পাদিত গ্রন্থ ‘মোহাম্মদ রফিক: নির্বাচিত কবিতা’।

   পশ্চিমবঙ্গের বিভিন্ন কলেজ ও বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের আলোচনা সভায় তিনি বাংলাদেশের সাহিত্য বিষয়ে বক্তৃতা দিয়েছেন বা নিবন্ধ পাঠ করেছেন। সেগুলোরই কয়েকটি নিয়ে তার বই সাহিত্যের বাংলাদেশ।

   বাংলাদেশ নিয়ে তাঁর কয়েকটি বই- দুই বাঙালি, এক বাঙালি, বাংলা বই বাংলাদেশের বই, দুই বাংলায় রবীন্দ্রনাথ ও অন্যান্য। এ বিষয়ে তার সম্পাদিত বই- বাঙালি ও বাংলাদেশ, দেশে বাংলাদেশে/বাঙালির আত্মসত্তার নির্মাণ, বাংলাদেশের নির্বাচিত উপন্যাস সংকলন ইত্যাদি। তার রচিত ও সম্পাদিত বইয়ের সংখ্যা ৪০ এর অধিক। পরিচয়, সাহিত্যপত্র ও প্রতিক্ষণ- এই তিনটি পত্রিকার সম্পাদনার সঙ্গে যুক্ত ছিলেন বিভিন্ন সময়ে।

   বাংলাদেশ ছাড়াও তার আরেকটি বিশেষ আগ্রহের বিষয় কবি বিষ্ণু দে। ১৯৭০ সালে প্রকাশ হয়েছে ‘বিষ্ণু দে’র বাংলাদেশ’ বইটি। সম্প্রতি বাংলাদেশের বাতিঘর থেকে বইটি পুনঃমুদ্রিত হয়েছে। বিভিন্ন বিষয়ে বাংলাগদ্য রচনার জন্য ২০১৫ সালে পশ্চিমবঙ্গ বাংলা আকাদেমি থেকে বিদ্যাসাগর স্মৃতি পুরস্কার পেয়েছেন এই নন্দিত সাহিত্যিক।

   বরেণ্য সাহিত্যিক অরুণ সেন আর নেই https://t.co/kAupLraQgq

   — masudkarim মাসুদকরিম (@urumurum) July 6, 2020

4. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ৮ জুলাই ২০২০ (৪:১১ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

   এন্ড্রু কিশোরের ‘জীবনের গল্প’ ফুরিয়ে গেল

   ক্যান্সারের সঙ্গে লড়াই করে হার মানতে হল জনপ্রিয় কণ্ঠশিল্পী এন্ড্রু কিশোরকে।

   জীবনের গল্প আছে বাকি অল্প, হায়রে মানুষ রঙিন ফানুস, আমার সারা দেহ খেয়ো গো মাটি, ডাক দিয়েছেন দয়াল আমারে, সবাই তো ভালবাসা চায়- এমন অনেক গান নিয়ে গত শতকের ৮০ দশক থেকে শুরু করে টানা অন্তত দুই দশক বাংলাদেশের চলচ্চিত্রে গানের জগতে ছিল তার রাজত্ব।

   ব্লাড ক্যান্সারে আক্রান্ত হয়ে নয় মাস ধরে ভুগছিলেন তিনি। বিদেশ থেকে চিকিৎসা নিয়ে ফিরে ছিলেন রাজশাহীতে চিকিৎসক বোনের বাড়িতে।

   সেখানে সোমবার সন্ধ্যায় তার মৃত্যু হয় বলে বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে নিশ্চিত করেছেন সংস্কৃতি প্রতিমন্ত্রী কে এম খালিদ।

   এন্ড্রু কিশোরের বয়স হয়েছিল ৬৪ বছর। তিনি স্ত্রী লিপিকা এন্ড্রু ও দুই সন্তান রেখে গেছেন।

   তার মৃত্যুতে শোক জানিয়েছেন রাষ্ট্রপতি মো. আবদুল হামিদ ও প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনা।

   এক শোকবার্তায় শেখ হাসিনা বলেছেন, এন্ড্রু কিশোর তার গানের মাধ্যমে মানুষের হৃদয়ে স্মরণীয় হয়ে থাকবেন।

   এক শোকবার্তায় এন্ড্রু কিশোরকে ‘যাদুকরী শিল্পী’ হিসেবে অভিহিত করেছেন বিএনপি মহাসচিব মির্জা ফখরুল ইসলাম আলমগীর।

   এন্ড্রু কিশোরের জন্ম ১৯৫৫ সালের ৪ নভেম্বর রাজশাহীতে; সেখানেই কেটেছে তার শৈশব ও কৈশোর।

   ছোট বেলা থেকেই সঙ্গীতে অনুরক্ত ছিলেন তিনি। প্রাথমিকভাবে সংগীতের পাঠ শুরু করেন রাজশাহীর আবদুল আজিজ বাচ্চুর কাছে।

   রাজশাহী বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে ব্যবস্থাপনায় পড়লেও গানই ছিল তার ধ্যান-জ্ঞান। মুক্তিযুদ্ধের পর তিনি রবীন্দ্রসংগীত, নজরুলসংগীত, আধুনিক গান, লোকগান ও দেশাত্মবোধক গানে রাজশাহী বেতারের তালিকাভুক্ত শিল্পী হন।

   একসময় গানের নেশায় এন্ড্রু কিশোর ছুটে আসেন রাজধানী ঢাকায়। চলচ্চিত্রে গান গাওয়া শুরু হয়েছিল ১৯৭৭ সালে; মেইল ট্রেন-এ আলম খানের সুরে ‘অচিনপুরের রাজকুমারী নেই যে তার কেউ’ গানের মধ্য দিয়ে। এরপর বাদল রহমানের এমিলের গোয়েন্দা বাহিনীতেও কণ্ঠ দেন তিনি।

   ১৯৭৯ সালে প্রতিজ্ঞা চলচ্চিত্রের ‘এক চোর যায় চলে’ গান গাওয়ার পর আর পেছনে ফিরতে হয়নি তাকে।

   তার গাওয়া ভালবেসে গেলাম শুধু, সবাই তো ভালবাসা চায়, আমার বুকের মধ্যে খানে, আমার বাবার মুখে প্রথম যেদিন শুনেছিলাম গান, ভেঙেছে পিঞ্জর মেলেছে ডানা, আমি চিরকাল প্রেমেরও কাঙাল, বেদের মেয়ে জোছনা আমায় কথা দিয়েছে- এমন অনেক গান এখনও মানুষের মুখে ফেরে। গান গেয়ে আটবার জাতীয় চলচ্চিত্র পুরস্কার জেতেন তিনি।

   ৯০ এর দশকের শেষ দিক পর্যন্ত চলচ্চিত্রের গানে একচ্ছত্র আধিপত্য ছিল তার। ওই সময়েও তার গাওয়া ‘পড়ে না চোখের পলক’ গানটি ছিল তুমুল জনপ্রিয়।

   বাংলাদেশে প্লেব্যাকে শীর্ষে থাকা অবস্থাঢ বলিউডের প্রখ্যাত সঙ্গীত পরিচালক রাহুল দেব বর্মনের ডাকেও এন্ড্রু কিশোর ভারতে যাননি বলে জানিয়েছেন তার বন্ধু আরেক কণ্ঠশিল্পী লীনু বিল্লাহ।

   বেশ কিছু দিন অসুস্থ থাকার পর এন্ড্রু কিশোরের ক্যান্সার ধরা পড়ে। গত বছর সিঙ্গাপুরে যান চিকিৎসার জন্য।

   চিকিৎসা শেষে পুরোপুরি সুস্থ হয়ে ১১ জুন তার দেশে ফেরার কথা থাকলেও ১০ জুন এক পরীক্ষায় তার শরীরে আবারও লিম্ফোমার অস্তিত্ব মেলে।

   সিঙ্গাপুরে নয় মাস ধরে চিকিৎসা নিয়ে গত ১১ জুন দেশে ফিরে পরদিন রাজশাহী নগরীর মহিষবাতান এলাকায় বোন শিখা বিশ্বাসের ক্লিনিকে ভগ্নিপতি ও চিকিৎসক প্যাট্রিক বিপুল বিশ্বাসের তত্ত্বাবধানে ছিলেন এন্ড্রু কিশোর।

   প্যাট্রিক বিশ্বাস ক’দিন আগেই গ্লিটজকে জানিয়েছিলেন, এন্ড্রু কিশোরের শারীরিক অবস্থা এখন সংকটাপন্ন। লিম্ফোমা ফিরে আসায় তার শারীরিক অবস্থার দ্রুত অবনতি ঘটছে। তার জন্য প্রার্থনা করা ছাড়া আর উপায় নেই।

   রোববার বিকালে এন্ড্রু কিশোরের শারীরিক অবস্থা আরও সঙ্কটাপন্ন হয়ে ওঠার খবর ছড়িয়ে পড়ে। তিনি কারও সঙ্গেই কথা বলতে পারছিলেন না।

   রোববার রাতে স্ত্রী লিপিকা এন্ড্রু স্বামীর ফেইসবুকে এক পোস্টে লেখেন, “এখন কিশোর কোনো কথা বলে না। চুপচাপ চোখ বন্ধ করে শুয়ে থাকে। আমি বলি কী ভাব, বলে, ‘কিছু না, পুরনো কথা মনে পড়ে আর ঈশ্বরকে বলি আমাকে তাড়াতাড়ি নিয়ে যাও, বেশি কষ্ট দিয়ো না’।”

   লিপিকা লেখেন, “ক্যানসারের লাস্ট স্টেজ খুব যন্ত্রণাদায়ক ও কষ্টের হয়। এন্ড্রু কিশোরের জন্য সবাই প্রাণ খুলে দোয়া করবেন, যেন কম কষ্ট পায় এবং একটু শান্তিতে পৃথিবীর মায়া ছেড়ে যেতে পারে।”

   প্যাট্রিক বিশ্বাস সোমবার সাংবাদিকদের বলেন, দুপুরে এন্ড্রু কিশোরের শারীরিক অবস্থার অবনতি হওয়ায় তাকে লাইফ সাপোর্টে রাখা হয়েছিল। সন্ধ্যা ৬টা ৫৫ মিনিটে তিনি শেষ নিঃশ্বাস ত্যাগ করেন।

   
   অবিস্মরণীয় এক কণ্ঠ
   সাবিনা ইয়াসমিন

   এন্ড্রু কিশোর আর নেই- খবরটি শোনামাত্র মনে হলো, আমার সত্তার একটি অংশের মৃত্যু হলো। যার সঙ্গে গানে গানে এতটা বছর পথ পাড়ি দিয়েছি, সে মানুষটি আমাদের মাঝে নেই, ভাবতে কষ্ট হচ্ছে। একসময় প্লেব্যাকের জুটি মানেই ছিল এন্ড্রু কিশোর-সাবিনা ইয়াসমিন। এ জুটির আজ [গতকাল] বিদায় হয়েছে। এটা যে কত বড় বেদনার, তা কোনোভাবেই বোঝাতে পারব না।

   আমরা একসঙ্গে অসংখ্য গানে কণ্ঠ দিয়েছি। আমাদের অনেক গানই শ্রোতারা গ্রহণ করেছেন। ব্যক্তি এন্ড্রু কিশোরের অনেক গান শ্রোতাপ্রিয় হয়েছে। তার অনেক গান সবসময়ই শ্রোতাদের মুখে মুখে ফেরে। সম্ভবত বাংলা ভাষায় এন্ড্রু কিশোরের জনপ্রিয় গানের সংখ্যা সবচেয়ে বেশি। এখনও কোথাও বেড়াতে গেলে প্রিয় মানুষের [এন্ড্রু কিশোর] গান শুনতে পাই। একসঙ্গে গান করতে গিয়ে দু’জনের বন্ধুত্বও গাঢ় হয়েছে।

   সে বন্ধুটি, সে মানুষটি ক্যান্সারে আক্রান্ত হওয়ার পরই আমি ভীষণভাবে ভেঙে পড়েছিলাম। কোনো কাজে মন দিতে পারছিলাম না। আমি নিজেও ক্যান্সারে আক্রান্ত হয়েছিলাম, সবার দোয়ায় ফিরেও এসেছি। কিন্তু এন্ড্রু কিশোরের বিষয়টি ভিন্ন। তার সমস্যা আরও জটিল ছিল। চিকিৎসাও ছিল ব্যয়বহুল। অর্থাভাবে তার রাজশাহীর বাড়িটিও বিক্রি করে দেওয়া হয়। বিভিন্নজন বিভিন্নভাবে সহায়তার হাত বাড়িয়ে দিয়েছেন প্রিয় শিল্পীর প্রতি। আমাদের প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনাও তার সাহায্যার্থে এগিয়ে এসেছিলেন। সিঙ্গাপুরের একটি হাসপাতালে দীর্ঘদিন চিকিৎসা চলছিল তার। এন্ড্রু্র কিশোরের শারীরিক অবস্থা কখনও ভালো, আবার কখনও খারাপ যাচ্ছিল। এ অবস্থার মধ্যেই করোনাকালে দেশে এসেছেন শ্রোতাদের ভালোবাসার টানে।

   মানসিকভাবে একধরনের প্রস্তুতি আমার, আমাদের ছিল; তিনি চলে যাচ্ছেন। তারপরও সত্যিই যখন সে খবরটি এলো, মনে হলো সব প্রস্তুতি ব্যর্থ। আমরা আমাদের অন্যতম সেরা কণ্ঠশিল্পীকে চিরদিনের জন্য হারালাম। এই কষ্ট আসলে তিনি যাওয়ার আগে বুঝিনি। এন্ড্রু কিশোরের প্রিয় হাসিমুখ খানি চোখের সামনে ভেসে আসছে। কতশত স্মৃতি যে মনে পড়ে। শুধু রেকর্ডিংয়ে যে অজস্র স্মৃতি আছে তা বলে শেষ করা যাবে না। তিনি ছিলেন স্বভাব রসিক, পরিমিত জীবনযাপন করতেন। পরিচ্ছন্ন মানসিকতার, নিজের পরিবার, স্ত্রী-সন্তানদের প্রতি তার সজাগ দায়িত্ববোধ তাকে অনন্য করে তুলেছিল। তিনি আড়ালে থাকতেই পছন্দ করতেন; হাজার হাজার জনপ্রিয় গান তার- কখনোই এ নিয়ে কোনো দম্ভ দেখিনি। বরং আমরা কথা তুললে তিনি লাজুক হাসিতে অন্য প্রসঙ্গে চলে যেতেন। এই তো সেদিনের কথা- সিঙ্গাপুরে অসুস্থতার মধ্যে মঞ্চে উঠেছিলেন এন্ড্রু কিশোর। গাইলেন গান! আর পাশে থেকে সেই দৃশ্য দেখে উচ্ছ্বসিত হয়েছেন তার সহশিল্পীরা!

   সিঙ্গাপুর বিজনেস সোসাইটি এবং বাংলাদেশ চেম্বারের আয়োজনে গেটওয়ে থিয়েটার হলে আয়োজন করা হয় ‘এন্ড্রু কিশোরের জন্য ভালোবাসা’ শিরোনামের সংগীতানুষ্ঠান। সেই অনুষ্ঠানে অনেক শিল্পীর সঙ্গে আমিও ছিলাম। বক্তৃতা দিতে গিয়ে এন্ড্রু কিশোর তার গাওয়া ‘জীবনের গল্প’ গানটির কয়েকটি লাইন গেয়ে শোনান। উপস্থিত সবার চোখ এ সময় ছলছল থাকলেও প্রিয় শিল্পীর গান শুনতে পেরে আবেগে ভাসেন তার সহশিল্পীরাও। সিঙ্গাপুরের ওই অনুষ্ঠানের পর এন্ড্রু কিশোরের সঙ্গে আর সেভাবে দেখা হয়নি।

   শুধু শিল্পী হিসেবেই নয়, মানুষ হিসেবে এন্ড্রু কিশোর ছিলেন বন্ধুদের কাছে অতিপ্রিয়। যে কোনো আড্ডায় তিনি ছিলেন মধ্যমণি। তার মৃত্যুতে বিশাল ক্ষতি হয়ে গেল সংগীতের। তার মতো শিল্পী ছিল বলেই বাংলাদেশের সংগীতাঙ্গনের ভিত অনেক মজবুত হয়েছে।

   সবেচেয়ে বড় যে গুণ ছিল এন্ড্রু কিশোরের- তা তার কণ্ঠের মাধুর্য। এত পৌরুষদীপ্ত আর তারুণ্যদীপ্ত ভরাট কণ্ঠ- পুরো বাংলা গানের সমৃদ্ধ ইতিহাসেই অতুলনীয়। তার কণ্ঠ চিরসবুজ। স্পষ্ট, নির্ভুল উচ্চারণে তার গান প্রজন্মের পর প্রজন্ম বাঙালির হৃদয় জয় করেছে। আরও একটি অসাধারণ গুণ ছিল তার- কণ্ঠের প্রাণদীপ্ততা। এত প্রাণবন্তভাবে গান গাইতেন যে, চল্লিশ বছরের গাওয়া তার কোনো একটি গানেও এন্ড্রু কিশোরকে আলাদাভাবে চিনতে আমাদের কারও কষ্ট হয় না। আমি জানি, তিনি চির স্মরণীয় হয়ে থাকবেন তার অমর কণ্ঠমাধুর্যের মধ্য দিয়ে। এমন অসামান্য শিল্পীর আসলে মৃত্যু হয় না। তিনি চির অমরের তালিকায় নিজের নাম লিখিয়ে স্বর্গবাসী হলেন। এন্ড্রু কিশোরের স্মৃতির প্রতি গভীর শ্রদ্ধা জানাই।

   এন্ড্রু কিশোরের জনপ্রিয় ১০ গান

   পৃথিবীকে চিরবিদায় দিয়েছেন এন্ড্রু কিশোর; কিন্তু তার গান এখনও ফিরছে মানুষের মুখে মুখে।

   দশ মাস ধরে ক্যানসারের সঙ্গে লড়াই করে হার মানতে হল জনপ্রিয় এই কণ্ঠশিল্পীকে।

   ৩০ বছরের দীর্ঘ ক্যারিয়ারে চলচ্চিত্রের অসংখ্য গানে কণ্ঠ দিয়েছেন এন্ড্রু কিশোর; মানুষকে ভাসিয়েছিলেন আবেগের স্রোতে। আটবার জাতীয় চলচ্চিত্র পুরস্কারও পুরেছেন নিজের ঝুলিতে।

   এন্ড্রু কিশোরের স্মরণে তার জনপ্রিয় ১০টি গান নিয়ে সাজানো হলো এ প্রতিবেদন।

   ১. জীবনের গল্প আছে বাকি অল্প

   ১৯৮৮ সালে মুক্তিপ্রাপ্ত ‘ভেজা চোখ’ চলচ্চিত্রে মনিরুজ্জামান মনিরের কথা ও আলম খানের সুরে এ গানে কণ্ঠ দেন এন্ড্রু কিশোর। শিবলী সাদিক পরিচালিত এ চলচ্চিত্রের মূখ্য ভূমিকায় অভিনয় করেছেন ইলিয়াস কাঞ্চন ও চম্পা।

   ২.হায়রে মানুষ রঙিন ফানুস

   সাহিত্যিক সৈয়দ শামসুল হকের কথা ও আলম খানের সুরে ‘বড় ভালো লোক ছিল’ চলচ্চিত্রের এ গানে কণ্ঠ দিয়ে ক্যারিয়ারের শুরুর দিকে শ্রোতামহলে সাড়া ফেলে দিয়েছিলেন এন্ড্রু কিশোর। মোহাম্মদ মহিউদ্দিনের পরিচালনায় ১৯৮২ সালে মুক্তিপ্রাপ্ত ছবিতে আনোয়ার হোসেন, প্রবীর মিত্র অভিনয় করেছেন।

   ৩. ডাক দিয়াছেন দয়াল আমারে

   মনিরুজ্জামান মনিরের কথায় ও আলম খানের সুরে গানটিকে ‘প্রাণ সজনী’ চলচ্চিত্রের এ গানে কণ্ঠ দিয়েছেন এন্ড্রু কিশোর। ছবিটি পরিচালনা করেন জহিরুল হক।

   ৪. আমার সারা দেহ খেয়ো গো মাটি

   প্রয়াত সুরকার আহমেদ ইমতিয়াজ বুলবুলের কথা ও সুরে ‘নয়নের আলো’ চলচ্চিত্রের গান এটি। ১৯৮৪ সালে মুক্তিপ্রাপ্ত ছবিটি পরিচালনা করেন বেলাল আহমেদ। অভিনয় করেছেন জাফর ইকবাল, কাজরী।

   ৫. বেদের মেয়ে জোসনা আমায় কথা দিয়েছে

   এন্ড্রু কিশোরের জনপ্রিয় গানগুলোর মধ্যে ‘বেদের মেয়ে জোসনা’ ছবির গানে তার সঙ্গে কণ্ঠ দিয়েছেন রুনা লায়লা। এ গানে ঠোঁট মিলিয়েছেন ইলিয়াস কাঞ্চন ও অঞ্জু ঘোষ। তোজাম্মেল হক বকুলের পরিচালনায় ১৯৮৯ সালে ছবিটি মুক্তি পায়।

   ৬. ভালো আছি ভালো থেকো

   কবি রুদ্র মোহাম্মদ শহীদুল্লাহর কবিতা থেকে গানটির সুর করেছেন আহমেদ ইমতিয়াজ বুলবুল।

   ৭. তুমি মোর জীবনের ভাবনা

   আহমেদ ইমতিয়াজ বুলবুলের কথা ও সুরে ‘আনন্দ অশ্রু’ চলচ্চিত্রের এ গানে কনকচাঁপার সঙ্গে যৌথভাবে কণ্ঠ দিয়েছেন এন্ড্রু ‍কিশোর। ছবিটি ১৯৯৭ সালে মুক্তি পায়।

   ৮. সবাই তো ভালোবাসা চায়

   গাজী মাজহারুল আনোয়ারের কথায়, আলম খানের সুরে ১৯৮৭ সালে মুক্তিপ্রাপ্ত ‘সারেন্ডার’ চলচ্চিত্রের এ গানে সাবিনা ইয়াসমিনের সঙ্গে যৌথভাবে কণ্ঠ দিয়েছেন তিনি। ছবিটি পরিচালনা করেন জহিরুল হক।

   ৯. আমার বুকের মধ্যেখানে

   ১৯৮৪ সালে মুক্তিপ্রাপ্ত ‘নয়নের আলো’ সিনেমার এ গানে আহমেদ ইমতিয়াজ বুলবুলের কথা ও সুরে কণ্ঠ দেন তিনি।

   ১০. বাবার মুখে প্রথম যেদিন শুনেছিলাম গান

   আহমেদ ইমতিয়াজ বুলবুলের কথা ও সুরে ‘নয়নের আলো’ চলচ্চিত্রে এন্ড্রু কিশোরের গানের ঠোঁট মিলিয়েছেন নায়ক জাফর ইকবাল।

   বিশেষ লেখা লিখেছেন সাবিনা ইয়াসমিন | অবিস্মরণীয় এক কণ্ঠ https://t.co/clic9k0XAn #এন্ড্রুকিশোর #সমকাল via @samakaltw

   — masudkarim মাসুদকরিম (@urumurum) July 8, 2020

5. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ১৫ জুলাই ২০২০ (৯:১৪ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

   Antibody tests were meant to be a game-changer. What went wrong?

   For weeks, the UK government suggested antibody tests may lead the country out of lockdown. Instead, the testing regime has been beset by problems and unclear priorities

   After falling ill in early March with mild cold-like symptoms, Stephen Graves couldn’t shake the niggling feeling that he may have contracted Covid-19. Like all UK residents who displayed coronavirus symptoms in early March, Graves wasn’t eligible for testing, which at the time was mainly limited to those in hospitals.

   On May 25 he ordered an antibody test from a private London clinic that would analyse a blood sample – taken from the tip of his finger – and tell him whether he had been infected with the virus that causes Covid-19, Sars-Cov-2. Four days earlier, the health secretary Matt Hancock had said at the daily Downing Street press conference that the government was considering “systems of certification” that might give people with antibodies more freedom to return to work. More than that, Hancock had already floated the idea weeks earlier, and since then the internet had been abuzz with speculation about whether such a scheme could, or should, ever be implemented.

   For Graves, who returned his finger-prick blood sample by post on June 13, the motivation was even more basic: curiosity. “If you had a cold during that early March period you’re sitting there going, ‘Well, did I have it or didn’t I?’ So that was the main reason I just wanted to find out,” says Graves.

   As it turned out, Graves is still in the dark about his result. Between ordering his test and returning it, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) asked companies to stop selling antibody tests using finger-prick blood samples as the tests had only been validated using blood taken directly from veins. Graves’ test result, which came back negative, could not be relied upon.

   For the many UK residents who ordered finger-prick antibody tests from Superdrug, Lloyds Pharmacy, Babylon Health and other private retailers, the experience was little more than an annoying inconvenience. But it was not the first time things had gone awry with the UK’s handling of antibody tests. In April, prime minister Boris Johnson had proclaimed a forthcoming shipment of Chinese antibody home test kits “as simple as a pregnancy test” (albeit one using blood, not urine) and having the potential “to be a total game changer.” In fact, the two million hastily-ordered tests never worked and officials were left searching for a way to get their money back.

   Deployed correctly, antibody tests are a powerful tool. They can tell us which areas have been hit hardest by the pandemic – they are how we know that, as of the end of April, about 17.5 per cent of Londoners had been infected with Covid-19, with considerably lower infection rates elsewhere. If we can establish the link between Covid-19 infection and immunity, antibody tests may one day be able to tell us who is less vulnerable to the disease. But in the UK, antibody testing has been plagued by the devils of over-promise and under-delivery. First dangled as a silver-bullet the antibody tests – like the NHS Covid-19 contact tracing app – risk becoming another would-be solution discarded by the wayside.

   Things started to go wrong with the UK’s approach to antibody testing almost as soon as the epidemic got underway, says Jon Deeks, professor of biostatistics at the University of Birmingham, who is currently analysing data about the accuracy of Covid-19 antibody tests used all over the world. As with so much of the Covid-19 response, it all comes down to testing – or the lack of it. It wasn’t until May 19 that the UK government opened up the testing criteria so that anyone aged over five with coronavirus symptoms could have a test. Before then swab tests – which test for the presence of the virus but can’t tell if you’ve had it in the past – were restricted first to those in medical settings, and then to key workers, their families and other groups. “We have a lot of consumer demand [for antibody tests] in the UK. And a large amount of it is driven by the fact that we didn’t have the capacity to test people when they had the disease,” Deeks says.

   As the number of UK Covid-19 cases started to spiral out of control in early March, officials were struggling to meet 5,000 coronavirus tests a day. At the same time, Germany was producing nearly 100,000 tests per week. While this had serious implications for contact tracing and measuring the extent of the disease spread, the limited testing created another problem: a vast group of people who suspected they’d had the virus, but couldn’t prove it.

   For certain diseases, knowing whether you’ve had it or not doesn’t matter an awful lot. People don’t usually clamour to know which specific virus caused them to have the sniffles or how many times they’ve had a tummy bug in the last three years. What difference does it make?

   But at the same time as tens of thousands of people were left unable to find out if their symptoms were caused by Covid-19, the UK government was starting to suggest that whether you had the disease or not in the past may matter a great deal. On April 2, Hancock said that the government was “looking at an immunity certificate,” adding that “people who have had the disease have got the antibodies and then have immunity can show that and therefore get back as much as possible to normal life”.

   The idea of combining immunity passports and coronavirus appears to have originated in the pages of the German newspaper Der Spiegel which on March 27 published an interview with researchers at Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig who were planning a large antibody study in Germany. Gerard Krause, the epidemiologist leading the research, said that the information could be used to issue “something similar to a vaccination certificate” that would give people exemptions on limits to their activities.

   By the time the article had made its way into the UK press, it was widely reported that the German government was considering the immunity passport scheme – although The Guardian noted on March 30 that the German government had made no comment on the proposal. Three days later, however, Hancock suggested that at least one national government really was considering the idea. Although he warned that the science around immunity passports was “too early”, the health secretary had raised the idea before an audience of millions that knowing your Covid-19 status could one day prove very important indeed.

   How antibody tests are talked about to the public is absolutely crucial, says Joe Fitchett, medical director at the UK-based medical device firm Mologic, which is in the late stages of developing and validating multiple antibody tests of its own. “Sometimes the use case might benefit the population and surveillance, but it might not necessarily make a difference at an individual level,” he says. To epidemiologists and public health officials, antibody tests are a powerful tool for tracking the spread of infections, but to an individual they may provide nothing more than a way to satisfy a lingering curiosity.

   If antibody tests were to be useful on an individual level, we’d need them to tell us something about whether someone who has been infected with Covid-19 is immune to the disease afterwards. And, right now, there isn’t enough evidence to give any clear answers. Fitchett says it’s still too early to tell whether people who have Covid-19 antibodies cannot contract the disease again. “This is a brand new virus that to our knowledge emerged at the end of last year. And so, by definition, we need to follow it over time.”

   There are promising signs that being infected with Sars-Cov-2 does provoke an immune memory that may help the body fight the virus if exposed to it for a second time. Experiments in macaque monkeys found that the animals were resistant to catching Covid-19 for a second time five weeks after being initially infected. Many immunologists are cautiously hopeful that the body can mount at least some kind of immune response to the disease.

   Much of what we think we know about immunity to Covid-19 is based on our knowledge of other human coronaviruses, writes the Harvard epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch in the New York Times: “After being infected with SARS-CoV-2, most individuals will have an immune response, some better than others. That response, it may be assumed, will offer some protection over the medium term.” But for the most part, immunity to Covid-19 still remains a mystery. We don’t have reliable answers for some of the most important questions about the disease. How does immunity vary from person to person? Do we become less immune as time goes on? Is the level of immunity linked to infection severity? Are older people less likely to be able to mount an immune response?

   To put it bluntly, we know vanishingly little about immunity to Covid-19. And individuals won’t find any answers about immunity in their antibody test results. “It’s hopeful that antibodies are evidence that you are immune, but we don’t know how long that immunity lasts – if it’s there – and not all antibodies are what are called neutralising antibodies which are the ones which sort of eat up the virus,” says Deeks.

   The British government, however, has left little room for doubt. In late March, Johnson promised that an upcoming shipment of antibody tests would be a “game changer”. It was these tests – a shipment of two million from China – that he promised would be as simple as taking a pregnancy test. As The New York Times reported, the UK was asked to pay at least £16 million for the tests from two Chinese companies up front. An analysis by a laboratory at the University of Oxford, however, soon revealed that the tests were so inaccurate that they were of no use at all.

   After the disappointment of the Chinese tests, it would be another month before the government found another set of antibody tests to get excited about. On May 3 the Swiss healthcare firm Roche announced that the US Food and Drugs Administration had issued an emergency use authorisation for its antibody test. The press release announcing the news contained some impressive statistics suggesting that the test was 100 per cent sensitive, which would mean that it is always able to identify every single person who did have Covid-19 antibodies and give no false negatives.

   By the time they reach the popular press, statistics about test accuracy are often garbled beyond recognition, as statistician David Spiegelhalter warns in The Guardian. Very quickly, the Roche test was reported as being “100 per cent accurate.” Less than two weeks later, when the UK’s national coordinator of Covid-19 testing, John Newton, announced the results of Public Health England’s (PHE) analysis of the Roche test, the same “100 per cent accurate” claim led dozens of news reports about the new test. On May 15, the UK government closed a contract with Roche to buy £13.46 million worth of the tests until November 2020, with the possibility of extending the contract for another six months.

   But the results of PHE’s evaluation of the Roche test differed considerably from the firm’s press release. While Roche reported that its test never gave a false negative (100 per cent sensitivity), PHE’s evaluation found that it actually was only 83.9 per cent sensitive, rising to 86.7 per cent if the antibody test was conducted more than 21 days after the onset of Covid-19 symptoms. This means that sometimes the Roche test returns a negative result for antibodies even when an individual actually has been infected with Covid-19 in the past. The reason for the difference between the two evaluations, a spokesperson for Roche says, is because the company evaluated its test’s performance with blood taken two weeks after the individual had a positive Covid-19 swab test, while PHE’s baseline was two weeks after the first appearance of Covid-19 symptoms.

   Arguably, the more important statistic for this kind of test is its specificity, which is how often they give false positive results – telling someone they have Covid-19 antibodies when they really don’t. Sending someone back to work because you think they have antibodies against a virus would, obviously, be a very bad idea without a test you could trust to tell you that information (Tom Chivers has written about the perils of using tests in this way in UnHerd). Here, the Roche test performed even better than the company’s press release claimed, reaching 100 per cent specificity in the PHE evaluation, and it is this specificity measure that Newton was referring to and later was misreported as a “100 per cent accuracy” claim.

   Neither the Roche test nor one produced by Abbott, that the UK government has also bought at scale, meet the MHRA’s challenging targets of both 98 per cent sensitivity and 98 per cent specificity. This doesn’t mean that either test is useless – far from it – but it highlights the compromises that have to be made as governments scramble to get their hands on antibody tests as quickly as possible. “As is standard practice, contracts were only placed when Public Health England’s evaluation of each test was confirmed,” a DHSC spokesperson says, noting that the government also has contracts for antibody tests from Ortho Clinical and Siemens.

   In mid-May, with the government’s self-imposed target of 200,000 coronavirus tests (later changed to testing capacity) per day looming, this emphasis on speed may have been felt particularly acutely. The government was only able to meet this target at the end of May after including capacity for 40,000 antibody tests. At the end of May, NHS England instructed hospitals to begin mass testing of staff and patients, helping push the government over its target for the month.

   Fitchett says that this focus on rapid, automated testing may have meant the UK missed the opportunity to bring out antibody tests at an earlier stage. Mologic sent its laboratory antibody tests for validation by PHE on April 21, but that the validation was postponed while PHE prioritised the validation of antibody tests intended to work with automated platforms that can analyse up to 300 tests every hour. “They could have ramped up testing of NHS staff and patients in April whilst awaiting validation of the automated platforms,” Fitchett says. “What it points to in my mind is a focus on a more centralised testing strategy rather than a more distributed approach seen elsewhere.”

   It was these same tests that were quickly snapped up by high street pharmacies and private clinics and sold for use with finger-prick blood samples, before the MHRA said they could not be sold as the tests had not been validated for use with finger-prick blood samples. Despite this, some pharmacies still list the finger-prick test online, saying they are currently out of stock. “We’ve got a regulatory process which fails us. It doesn’t protect the public and it doesn’t help the government make wise decisions,” says Deeks.

   Fitchett says that the bumpy road that antibody tests have followed so far is partly due to the pressure of unrealistic expectations and lack of communication about how and where the tests could be most effectively put to use. In a pandemic, hype cycles run in fast-forward. “I think the pendulum is swinging, it’s swung towards over promise. It’s now swinging towards this perception that they’re completely useless. And I hope it will just level like it will with any diagnostic test in medicine, which is it has its uses under certain circumstances, depending on the question you want to answer,” Fitchett says.

   Kristal Ireland, who bought an antibody test from Babylon Health in mid-May, was looking for a little certainty about the future. “I just thought for me personally it would eliminate some of that fear of whether I did have it and whether I was going to get ill,” she says. Having been through lockdown with her young daughter, £69 seemed a small fee to pay for a little peace of mind. After milking the blood from three of her fingers, Ireland ended up receiving a refund instead of a test result.

   But even if she did test positive for Covid-19 antibodies, Ireland said it wouldn’t have changed her behaviour. Even though NHS England is delivering widespread antibody testing for its staff, it has emphasised that the tests don’t tell us anything about whether someone can be re-infected with the virus, whether they can pass it on to others, or if they have protective immunity. Perhaps the biggest problem at the heart of the antibody test rollout is that they are not capable of delivering the information that many people desperately want to know.

   After months of being told that antibody tests would be a gamechanger, and the key to unlocking, if not the country, then at least the lives of some individuals, we are faced with the reckoning that right now, such tests are of relatively little individual benefit. And while the government talked-up the individual benefits while overlooking their power as disease-tracking tools, people may be left wondering what all the fuss was about. “If there’s no decision that anyone should be making based on these tests, then why do it?” says Deeks.

   Remember when Boris Johnson promised antibody tests would be a "game changer?"

   I wrote about the perils of selling silver bullets in the midst of a pandemichttps://t.co/BR1ZgHfs2U

   — Matt Reynolds (@mattsreynolds1) July 7, 2020

6. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ১৫ জুলাই ২০২০ (৯:৪০ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

   শাহজাহান সিরাজ: স্বাধীন বাংলাদেশের ‘ইশতেহারে’ যার নাম জড়িয়ে

   ছাত্রনেতা ছিলেন, একটি রাজনৈতিক দল গঠনে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ভূমিকায় ছিলেন, হয়েছিলেন সংসদ সদস্য-মন্ত্রী, নানা ঘটনায় বিতর্কিতও হয়েছেন; তবে সব কিছু ছাপিয়ে স্বাধীন বাংলাদেশের ‘ইশতেহার’ পাঠকারী হিসেবে ইতিহাসে থেকে যাবেন শাহজাহান সিরাজ।

   মুক্তিযুদ্ধসহ বাংলাদেশের রাজনৈতিক ইতিহাসের নানা পর্বের সাক্ষী শাহজাহান সিরাজ দীর্ঘদিন ক্যান্সারে ভুগে মঙ্গলবার মারা যান। তার বয়স হয়েছিল ৭৭ বছর।

   মৃত্যুর সময় বিএনপির ভাইস চেয়ারম্যানের পদে ছিলেন শাহজাহান সিরাজ; তবে তার রাজনীতির হাতেখড়ি হয়েছিল অন্য মেরুতে।

   ১৯৪৩ সালের ১ মার্চ টাঙ্গাইলের কালিহাতীতে জন্ম নেওয়া শাহজাহান সিরাজ গত শতকের ষাটের দশকে ছাত্রলীগের মাধ্যমে রাজনীতিতে যুক্ত হন।

   ১৯৬৪ থেকে ১৯৬৭ সাল পর্যন্ত টাঙ্গাইলের করটিয়া সাদত কলেজ ছাত্র সংসদের দুই বার ভিপি নির্বাচিত হন তিনি। এরপর ঢাকায় এসে ঊনসত্তরের গণআন্দোলনের পর উত্তাল সময়ে ছাত্রলীগের নেতৃত্বের পর্যায়ে চলে আসেন।

   মুক্তিযুদ্ধের আগে ১৯৭০ সালে তিনি ছাত্রলীগের সাধারণ সম্পাদক নির্বাচিত হন।

   তখন ছাত্র আন্দোলনের পুরোধা হিসেবে ছাত্রলীগের যে চারজনকে ‘চার খলিফা’ বলা হত, তাদের একজন হলেন শাহজাহান সিরাজ।

   ১৯৭১ সালের শুরুতে স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধের প্রস্তুতি পর্বে ৩ মার্চ ছাত্র সমাজের পক্ষে স্বাধীনতার ইশতেহার পড়েছিলেন শাহজাহান সিরাজ।

   তখন ‘চার খলিফা’র অন্য তিনজন ছিলেন ডাকসুর তখনকার ভিপি আ স ম আবদুর রব, ছাত্রলীগের তৎকালীন সভাপতি নূরে আলম সিদ্দিকী এবং ডাকসুর তৎকালীন জিএস আবদুল কুদ্দুস মাখন (প্রয়াত)।

   একাত্তরের ৩ মার্চ পল্টন ময়দানে স্বাধীন বাংলাদেশের পতাকা ওড়ানো রব সহযোদ্ধা শাহজাহান সিরাজের মৃত্যুতে ব্যথাতুর মনে স্মরণ করেন সেদিনের ঘটনা।

   রব বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে বলেন, “সিরাজুল আলম খানের নির্দেশে স্বাধীন দেশের জাতীয় পতাকা ও জাতীয় সঙ্গীত নির্বাচনের যে পরিকল্পনা হয়েছিল, সেই পরিকল্পনার গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ভূমিকা পালন করেছিলেন শাহজাহান সিরাজ।

   “ঐতিহাসিক তেসরা মার্চ পল্টন ময়দানে স্বাধীন বাংলা ছাত্র সংগ্রাম পরিষদের লক্ষাধিক মানুষের জনসভায় ছাত্রলীগের সাধারণ সম্পাদক হিসেবে শাহজাহান সিরাজ স্বাধীনতার ইশতেহার পাঠ করেন। সেই ইশতেহার পাঠের মধ্য দিয়ে স্বাধীনতার কর্মসূচি ও আন্দোলন কীভাবে পরিচালিত হবে, সেটাও তিনিই পাঠ করেন। মুহুর্মুহু করতালি আর জনতার শ্লোগানে মুখর হয়ে গিয়েছিল পল্টন ময়দান।”

   ঊনসত্তরের গণআন্দোলন পরবর্তী সময়ে শাহজাহান সিরাজের ভূমিকা স্মরণ করে রব বলেন, “শাহজাহান সিরাজ ছাত্রলীগের রাজনীতিতে অসীম সাহসী সংগ্রামী হিসেবে আমার সাথে ছাত্র ও যুব সমাজকে সংগঠিত ও তাদের মাঝে স্বাধীনতার মন্ত্র ছড়িয়ে দেওয়ার ক্ষেত্রে যুগান্তকারী ভুমিকা রাখে। ছাত্রলীগের নেতৃত্বে থাকার কারণেই সিরাজুল আলম খানের নেতৃত্বাধীন স্বাধীন বাংলা নিউক্লিয়াসের সাথে তিনি যুক্ত হন।

   “১৯৬৬ থেকে শুরু করে ’৬৯ সালের গণঅভ্যুত্থান পর্যন্ত শাহজাহান সিরাজ, সৈয়দ স্বপন চৌধুরী ও আমি -আমরা তিনজন পাগলপারা হয়ে ঢাকা মহানগরীতে ছাত্রলীগ ও সাহসী নেতা-কর্মীদের সংগ্রহ করেছিলাম। সেই এক বিশাল ইতিহাস। কীভাবে মুক্তিপাগল ছাত্র-যুবাদের আমরা সংগ্রহ করেছি, তা এই মুহূর্তে আমি বলতে পারব না।”

   শাহজাহান সিরাজকে স্মরণ করে ছাত্রলীগের তৎকালীন সভাপতি নূরে আলম সিদ্দিকী ফেইসবুকে লিখেছেন, “স্বাধীন বাংলা কেন্দ্রীয় ছাত্র সংগ্রাম পরিষদের সদস্য সচিব, স্বাধীনতার ইশতেহার পাঠক, মুক্তিযুদ্ধের গর্বিত সংগঠক জনাব শাজাহান সিরাজ মৃত্যুবরণ করেছেন। তিনি ইহজগত হতে পরলোকে গমন করলেও স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ সংগঠনের গৌরবে চিরঞ্জীব ও কালজয়ী মহান নেতা হিসেবে তিনি অমর হয়ে থাকবেন।”

   মুজিব বাহিনীর কমান্ডার হিসেবে মুক্তিযুদ্ধে সক্রিয়ভাবে অংশ নিয়েছিলেন শাহজাহান সিরাজ।

   স্বাধীনতার পর ছাত্রলীগে ভাঙনে আলাদা হয়ে যান চার ‘খলিফা’; নূরে আলম সিদ্দিকী ও মাখন থাকেন আওয়ামী লীগে; আর রব-সিরাজ ভেড়েন জাসদে।

   বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা পরবর্তীকালে গঠিত আলোচিত দল জাসদের সহ সাধারণ সম্পাদক হন শাহজাহান সিরাজ। তখন তাকে কিছু দিন কারাগারেও থাকতে হয়েছিল।

   আওয়ামী লীগের সাবেক সংসদ সদস্য নূরে আলম সিদ্দিকী লিখেছেন, “রাজনীতিতে মতের ভিন্নতা থাকলেও ব্যক্তিগত জীবনে তিনি আমার সহোদরপ্রতিম ছিলেন।”

   স্বাধীনতার পর ঘটনা প্রবাহের প্রসঙ্গ টেনে রব বলেন, “স্বাধীনতার পর মুক্তিযুদ্ধের চেতনাভিত্তিক রাষ্ট্র প্রতিষ্ঠার জন্য জাতীয় সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল গঠনে ও আন্দোলন-সংগ্রামে শাহজাহান সিরাজ বিশাল ভুমিকা রেখেছেন।”

   আবেগপ্রবণ হয়ে রব বলেন, “আমি আর শাহজাহান সিরাজ এক আত্মা। সবাই জানে আমরা দু‘জন নয়, আমরা একজন। সে আমার আন্দোলন-সংগ্রামের সাথী, আমার অনুভূতি, আমার চেতনার অংশ।”

   শাহজাহান সিরাজ: স্বাধীন বাংলাদেশের ‘ইশতেহারে’ যার নাম জড়িয়ে https://t.co/YtE3XHVaKD via @bdnews24com

   — masudkarim মাসুদকরিম (@urumurum) July 15, 2020

7. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ১৫ জুলাই ২০২০ (৯:৪৬ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

   পাঠাও সহ-প্রতিষ্ঠাতা বাংলাদেশি ফাহিম সালেহ যুক্তরাষ্ট্রে খুন

   মোবাইল অ্যাপভিত্তিক রাইড সেবাদাতা পাঠাওয়ের সহ-প্রতিষ্ঠাতা বাংলাদেশি বংশোদ্ভূত ফাহিম সালেহ যুক্তরাষ্ট্রে নিজের বাসায় খুন হয়েছেন।

   স্থানীয় সময় মঙ্গলবার বিকাল সাড়ে ৩টার দিকে নিউ ইয়র্ক সিটির ম্যানহাটানের অ্যাপার্টমেন্ট থেকে পুলিশ তার খণ্ড-বিখণ্ড লাশ উদ্ধার করে।

   নিউইয়র্ক পুলিশ জানায়, ফাহিমকে সুপরিকল্পিতভাবে হত্যা করা হয়েছে। বৈদ্যুতিক করাত দিয়ে ফাহিমের গলা ও শরীরের বিভিন্ন অংশ কেটে কয়েক টুকরা করা হয়েছে। খণ্ডিত অংশগুলো ব্যাগে ভরা ছিল।

   ৩৩ বছর বয়সী ফাহিম চট্টগ্রামের সন্দ্বীপের হরিসপুরের সন্তান আইবিএমের সফ্টওয়্যার ইঞ্জিনিয়ার সালেহ আহমেদের ছেলে। করোনাভাইরাস মহামারীর মধ্যে তিনি নিউইয়র্ক সিটির পাশে পোকিস্পিতে মা-বাবার সঙ্গে ছিলেন। কয়েকদিন আগে তিনি নিজের অ্যাপার্টমেন্টে ওঠেন।

   প্রাথমিক তদন্তের ভিত্তিতে পুলিশ কর্মকর্তারা বলছেন, গতবছর সাড়ে ২২ লাখ ডলারে ম্যানহাটানের লোয়্যার ইস্ট সাইডে সাফোক স্ট্রিটের ইস্ট হিউস্টন স্ট্রিটের ওপর কন্ডোটি (বিলাসবহুল অ্যাপার্টমেন্ট) কিনেন ফাহিম।

   স্বল্পভাষী, হাস্যোজ্জ্বল, বন্ধুবৎসল ফাহিমের মৃত্যু সংবাদে গোটা প্রবাসী মহল স্তম্ভিত। এই অল্প বয়সেই প্রায় ৫০ কোটি ডলার সম্পদের মালিক হলেও তার কোন অহমিকা ছিল না বলে তার প্রতিবেশী ও বন্ধু-বান্ধবরা জানিয়েছেন।

   পুলিশ কর্মকর্তারা জানান, আগের দিন থেকে ফাহিমের কোনো সন্ধান না পেয়ে তার ছোট বোন উদ্বিগ্ন হয়ে ভবনটির সপ্তম তলায় ফাহিমের অ্যাপার্টমেন্টে ছুটে যান। পরে তার ফোন পেয়ে সেখানে পুলিশ যায়।

   নিউ ইয়র্ক পুলিশের মুখপাত্র সার্জেন্ট কার্লোস নিয়েভেস বলেন, “ফাহিমের শরীর থেকে বিচ্ছিন্ন মাথা, বুক, দুই হাত ও দুই পা পেয়েছি কক্ষের ভেতরেই।”

   অ্যাপার্টমেন্টে ঢোকার মুখের সিটিটিভি ফুটেজ দেখে পুলিশ বলছে, সোমবার বিকালে ফাহিম এলেভেটর দিয়ে ওই ভবনে ঢোকার সময় তার পেছনেই একটি স্যুটকেস নিয়ে এক লোক ঢুকছিলেন। স্যুট পরা ওই লোকের মাথায় টুপি, মুখে মাস্ক ও হাতে গ্লভস ছিল। ফাহিম তার বাসায় ঢোকার সময়ে আক্রান্ত হয়ে থাকতে পারেন; পরে তাকে নিস্তেজ করা হয়ে থাকতে পারে।

   ঘাতককে খুবই চতুর প্রকৃতির হিসেবে বিবেচনা করছেন তারা। কারণ ফাহিমের খণ্ডিত দেহ ভরা ছিল প্লাস্টিকের ব্যাগে; পাশে পড়ে থাকা করাতে রক্ত ছিল না। তার অর্থ দাঁড়ায়, আলামত গোপনের চেষ্টা ছিল।

   ফাহিম নিউ ইয়র্কের একটি হাই স্কুলে পড়ার সময় ‘উইজ টিন’ নামে একটি ওয়েবসাইট তৈরি করে বেশ অর্থ আয় করে ব্যাপক সাড়া জাগিয়েছিলেন। এরপর ম্যাসাচুয়েটস স্টেটের বেন্টলি ইউনিভার্সিটি থেকে কম্পিউটার ইনফরমেশন সিস্টেমে স্নাতক করেন ফাহিম।

   উদ্ভাবনী মেধাসম্পন্ন ফাহিম কোনো কোম্পানিতে চাকরির চেষ্টা না করে মা-বাবার জন্মস্থান বাংলাদেশে ছুটেন। ২০১৫ সালে আরও দুই জনের সঙ্গে মিলে ঢাকায় মোটরসাইকেলে যাত্রী পরিবহনের অ্যাপ ‘পাঠাও’ চালু করেন। রাজধানী ঢাকা ছাড়িয়ে পাঠাও চট্টগ্রাম ও সিলেটে বিস্তৃত হয়। এক পর্যায়ে তা দেশের সীমানা ছাড়িয়ে নেপালেও সম্প্রসারিত হয়। এমন অবস্থায় ঢাকা ছাড়েন ফাহিম।

   ফাহিম সালেহর খুন হওয়ার খবর গণমাধ্যমে দেখেছেন পাঠাওয়ের প্রধান নির্বাহী কর্মকর্তা ও অন্যতম প্রতিষ্ঠাতা হুসেইন এম ইলিয়াস।

   বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে তিনি বলেন, “ফাহিম সালেহ আমাদের কো-ফাউন্ডার ছিলেন। কিন্তু ২০১৭ সালের পর থেকে তিনি আমাদের সঙ্গে নেই। নাইজেরিয়াতে একটি কোম্পানি চালু করেছিলেন তিনি। আমাদের এখান থেকে যাওয়ার পর তার সঙ্গে আর তেমন যোগাযোগ ছিল না।”

   ২০১৮ সালের জানুয়ারিতে নাইজেরিয়ায় লাগোসে যৌথ উদ্যোগে অ্যাপভিত্তিক মোটরবাইক রাইড সার্ভিস ‘গোকাডা’ চালু করেন ফাহিম। সেই ব্যবসা জমে উঠলেও নানা কারণে তা বছরখানেক পর বন্ধ হয়ে যায়।

   এরপর তিনি ক্যালিফোর্নিয়ার সিলিকন ভ্যালিতে একটি নতুন কোম্পানি চালু করেছেন বলে তার এক নিকটাত্মীয় জানালেও সে ব্যাপারে বিস্তারিত কিছু মিলেনি।

   ফাহিম বিনোদনমূলক অ্যাপারেটাস কোম্পানি ‘কিকব্যাকের প্রতিষ্ঠাতা ও এডভেঞ্চার ক্যাপিটলেরও সহপ্রতিষ্ঠাতা ছিলেন।

   মোবাইল অ্যাপভিত্তিক রাইড সেবাদাতা পাঠাওয়ের (@PathaoBD) সহ-প্রতিষ্ঠাতা বাংলাদেশ বংশোদ্ভূত ফাহিম সালেহ যুক্তরাষ্ট্রে নিজের বাসায় খুন হয়েছেন। https://t.co/KfBRLOnNWK via @bdnews24com

   — masudkarim মাসুদকরিম (@urumurum) July 15, 2020

   • 

     মাসুদ করিম - ১৬ জুলাই ২০২০ (৯:৫৯ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

     Man’s Dismembered Body Is Found in Luxury Manhattan Condo

     An electric saw was found near the man’s torso, law enforcement officials said. Units in the Lower East Side building have sold for more than $2 million.

     A man’s decapitated, dismembered body was found in an apartment in a luxury condominium building on Manhattan’s Lower East Side on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

     When detectives began investigating, they found the man’s torso and an electric saw nearby, two law enforcement officials briefed on the matter said. The man’s head and limbs were later found in the apartment, a Police Department spokesman said.

     There were several large plastic bags in the apartment, and it appeared that some effort had been made to clean up any evidence of what had happened, one law enforcement officials briefed on the matter said.

     On Wednesday morning the police identified the man as Fahim Saleh, a 33-year-old technology entrepreneur and the owner of the condo where the body was found.

     A man’s decapitated, dismembered body was found in an apartment in a luxury condominium building on Manhattan’s Lower East Side on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

     When detectives began investigating, they found the man’s torso and an electric saw nearby, two law enforcement officials briefed on the matter said. The man’s head and limbs were later found in the apartment, a Police Department spokesman said.

     There were several large plastic bags in the apartment, and it appeared that some effort had been made to clean up any evidence of what had happened, one law enforcement officials briefed on the matter said.

     On Wednesday morning the police identified the man as Fahim Saleh, a 33-year-old technology entrepreneur and the owner of the condo where the body was found.

     The medical examiner has not officially determined the cause of death — and has not specified how Mr. Salaeh was killed — but detectives had been investigating the case as a homicide, and on Wednesday morning they officially classified it as such.

     One of the law enforcement officials said a surveillance camera had captured video of Mr. Saleh in the building’s elevator with another person who was wearing a black suit and black mask.

     On the video, the elevator door opens and Mr. Saleh goes into the apartment, the official said. The masked person follows directly behind him, and the two immediately start to struggle, the official said.

     The sister is seen on the video arriving a short time later. There is a second way out of the apartment through a service entrance, the official said.

     Friends of Mr. Saleh described him as an ambitious man who ran every morning, kept a busy schedule of meetings and often traveled to Nigeria on business. He collected tech gadgets and lived alone with a small dog, Laila, which was found alive in the apartment, they said.

     According to a 2016 blog profile, Mr. Saleh was born in Saudi Arabia, and moved with his family quite a bit before settling in Rochester, N.Y., and, later, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

     The son of Bangladeshi immigrants, he learned to code and began to develop apps as a teenager, his friends said. After graduating from Bentley University in Waltham, Mass., he had early success with PrankDial, an app he invented for making prank telephone calls.

     Mr. Saleh’s ride-hailing motorcycle start-up, Gokada, began operating in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2018, and raised $5.3 million in venture capital in June 2019, according to the website TechCrunch. As in many large African cities, motorcycle taxis are common in Lagos because they can zip through traffic-clogged streets.

     Mr. Saleh told TechCrunch he planned to use the money to expand Gokada’s fleet and to offer goods and services to its drivers.

     “We’re going to start a Gokada club in each of the cities with a restaurant where drivers can relax, and we’ll experiment with a Gokada Shop, where drivers can get things they need on a regular basis, such as plantains, yams and rice,” Mr. Saleh told TechCrunch.

     The building where Mr. Saleh’s body was found, at 265 East Houston Street near Suffolk Street, is a 10-story, glass-and-brick structure that is among the high-end residential buildings that have risen in recent years in an area once defined by its tenement housing stock.

     Condos in the building feature Italian marble kitchens and master baths, white oak floors and asking prices in the $2 million to $2.5 million range, according to the real estate website StreetEasy. The website Curbed noted in a 2017 article that access to the building’s units was via a private, keyed elevator.

     On Tuesday evening, detectives and officers, including some with the Emergency Service Unit’s canine team, had the corner at East Houston and Suffolk Streets cordoned off.

     As some officers stood in front of the building, another led a German shepherd back and forth near the building, with the dog sniffing at garbage bags and a side entrance.

     Reporters and cameramen stood on Houston Street and across from the building on Suffolk, while patrons sat in the outdoor dining area of a Suffolk Street bar called Subject sipping drinks as more officers arrived.

     Leslie Feinberg, who owns the bar with Brian Grummert, said that as “a nosy neighbor,” she had walked over to take a look when police cars, ambulances and fire trucks converged on the apartment building several hours earlier.

     “I saw a young woman in hysterics” in the lobby, Ms. Feinberg said.

     “From my understanding, she found the victim,” Ms. Feinberg said, adding that men whom she took to be detectives had led the young woman from the scene.

     Ms. Feinberg said she had come to know many of the building’s residents during the three years she has operated the bar. She described them as mostly well-off professionals in their 30s and 40s.

     Word spread quickly that something bad had happened in the apartment building, she said.

     “This neighborhood is very tight-knit,” she said. “It seemed within moments everybody knew what was happening.”

     Her own reaction, Ms. Feinberg said, was “total shock.”

     “You kind of forget New York City is New York City sometimes,” she said.

     Report: How Gokada CEO was murdered by assassin after lawsuit on call app

     Fahim Saleh, chief executive officer of Gokada, was reportedly killed by an assassin in a “financially motivated” operation.

     Daily Mail is reporting that Saleh’s murder came as he is being sued over his prank call app by a man jailed for using the mobile tech.

     Saleh, aged 33, was murdered in his apartment on Tuesday. Gokada, his motorcycle-hailing company, helped residents beat road traffic in Lagos.

     He also had a prank call app in the US known as PrankDial which got him into trouble.

     According to Daily Mail, a former prison deputy director jailed for using the app to listen to employees talk about him during calls, sued Saleh, claiming the app deceived him to think such usage was legal.

     It also quoted police sources as saying his killer rode with him in the elevator up to his apartment where he got out and attacked him.

     “The killer, dressed in a mask, gloves and hat and wearing what police sources described as a ‘ninja outfit’, had a suitcase with him – presumably to remove his remains when he’d finished the job,” the report added.

     The killer was said to have abandoned the scene and escaped midway into the operation when Saleh’s sister showed up unexpectedly. He reportedly left his electronic saw behind.

     The New York Daily News reported that autopsy shows the assassin “stabbed him repeatedly in the chest to kill him”.

     It also quoted police sources as saying the killer “used a stun gun to incapacitate Saleh before murdering him.”

     “He was dressed like a ninja, full out, so you can’t even see his face,” it quoted a source as saying.

     “He clearly knew what he was doing. We think his intent was to get rid of the body parts and go back and clean it up and make it look like nothing happened. He left before he finished the job.”

     No arrest has been made yet over Saleh’s killing but the New York Times reported that effort was made to “clean up any evidence”.

     “There were several large plastic bags in the apartment,” it quoted a law enforcement officer involved in the matter as saying, adding that “it appeared that some effort had been made to clean up any evidence of what had happened.”

     Hitman in a ‘ninja outfit’ who killed tech millionaire, 33, in ‘financially motivated’ murder escaped out of a service exit when the victim’s sister showed up – as it’s revealed he was being sued by a criminal jailed for using his prank call app

     Fahim Saleh, 33, was murdered and dismembered in his Lower East Side apartment on Tuesday afternoon
     A hitman dressed in a ‘ninja outfit’ and carrying a suitcase followed him out of the elevator into his apartment
     The killer had dismembered him but was interrupted when Saleh’s sister showed up at 3.30pm, cops say
     He fled out of a service exit and is now on the run; he left behind an electrical saw and Saleh’s body parts
     Saleh invested in ride-sharing apps in Nigeria and Colombia but he also had a prank call app in the US
     The app, PrankDial, was successful but also got him in trouble; he was being sued by someone over it
     A former prison deputy director used it to listen to employees’ calls where they talked about him
     He sued Saleh, claiming the app deceived him by making him think what he was doing was legal

   • 

     মাসুদ করিম - ১৭ জুলাই ২০২০ (১:৫০ অপরাহ্ণ)

     Remembering Fahim Saleh

     Absolutely devastated to learn about the death of Fahim Saleh, a founding member of the Pathao team.

     The last 36 hours have been unreal.

     Absolutely devastated to learn about the death of Fahim Saleh, a founding member of the Pathao team.
     Who was Fahim?

     Fahim was born in Saudi Arabia to Bengali parents. He grew up in the USA, and started working in tech while he was still a teenager. He was already successful before he even came to Dhaka – launching what is now known as Kickback Apps.

     He came to Bangladesh to find his roots and contribute for the country. He established HackHouse, an incubator. He started networking. That’s when me and Adnan first met him. I had made a site back then that got viral – istomorrowhartal.com – and that fascinated him. Adnan, Sadad and myself were doing our own thing- making websites and themes back then. However, Fahim was charismatic, energetic and an optimist. The kind of energy that is contagious. We joined forces.

     Together, and with a few more people we launched several projects in a short span of time: DhakaRides, Jaben, JeteChao and more.

     Pathao was the one the projects that took hold. The first six to nine months was gruelling. It was an unsexy tech-courier company running out of a literal garage in Chairman Bari (which is now a Pathao walk-in-support centre). We didn’t have much to show – but we had a common vision that pushed us forward. We had our highs and lows. And at our lows – he kept pushing us forward.

     Fahim and Pathao

     Fahim’s role was invaluable. He was the first “angel” money. We all brainstormed together on what Pathao might become. Back in 2015 – there weren’t many/any startups in Bangladesh. So we modeled together how we are going to grow the company. He helped me connect to our first seed investors.

     By 2016 we were hitting our stride. We started hiring employees, we bought a 100 bikes and launched Rides. Our drivers and customers were coming online. Everyday we hit a new daily best. It was beautiful.

     Fahim had a passion for building new products, finding untapped markets, and identifying promising founders. By 2017, Fahim started spending more time in New York. He established Adventure Capital, and became an angel investor in startups in Bangladesh and around the world. He invested in JoBike (bicycle-sharing startup) Jatri (public transport ticketing platform), and Alpha Potato (gaming company). He also backed PiCap, (ride-sharing company), and Muvo (micro-mobility solution) in Colombia. More recently in 2018, he founded and later became the CEO of Gokada, a ride-sharing and logistics platform in Nigeria.
     Fahim’s legacy in Bangladesh

     The Pathao that we know would not have come into being without Fahim. The tone of our company – celebrating iterative development, building fast, failing early, pushing boundaries – all stemmed because of him.

     Even as his interests took him far and wide – and away from operational or strategic involvement with Pathao – he remained an inspiration for us, the people on the ground. As a true visionary, he had gone on to build great things, but perhaps his greatest legacy is the community he created here at Pathao. He dared us to dream, to be bold, to be passionate, and to never stop moving. The creativity we foster and the relentless focus with which we move forward, is our finest tribute to him.

     Fahim, you will be missed.

     Absolutely devastated about the death of Fahim Saleh (@GokadaNG). I tried to write about how we started @PathaoBD together, but honestly, there are no words to capture the impact he has had on me, the company we co-founded with Adnan, and Bangladesh.https://t.co/0M7urQIWFN

     — Hussain M Elius (@elvista) July 16, 2020

   • 

     মাসুদ করিম - ১৭ জুলাই ২০২০ (৩:৪৬ অপরাহ্ণ)

     Suspect Is Arrested in Grisly Killing of Tech C.E.O. Fahim Saleh

     The personal assistant of a young tech entrepreneur who was found decapitated and dismembered in his Manhattan apartment this week was arrested early on Friday and is expected to be charged in the grisly killing, according to two officials briefed on the matter.

     The entrepreneur, Fahim Saleh, 33, was discovered dead on Tuesday afternoon by his sister inside his $2.25 million condo in a luxury building on the Lower East Side, the police said. She had gone to check in on him after not hearing from him for about a day.

     She found a gruesome scene: Mr. Saleh’s head and limbs had been removed, and parts of his body had been placed in large plastic bags. An electric saw was still plugged in nearby.

     The personal assistant, Tyrese Devon Haspil, 21, was expected to be charged in a criminal complaint with second degree murder and other crimes.

     Detectives believe that the motive for the killing stemmed from Mr. Saleh having discovered that the assistant had stolen tens of thousands of dollars from him, despite the fact that Mr. Saleh had not reported the man and had set up what amounted to a repayment plan for him to return the money, one of the officials said.

     Police were expected to announce the arrest at news conference on Friday.

     Investigators have also concluded that Mr. Saleh was killed on Monday, the day before his body was found, and that the killer used his employer’s credit card to pay for a car to a Home Depot, on West 23rd Street in Manhattan, to buy cleaning supplies to sanitize the crime scene, the official said. The killer returned to Mr. Saleh’s apartment the next day to dismember the body and clean up the crime scene.

     Detectives believe that the killer, dressed in a black three-piece suit, wearing a black mask and carrying a duffel bag, followed Mr. Saleh off an elevator in his building and into his apartment, a law enforcement official said. He used a Taser to immobilize Mr. Saleh and then stabbed him to death.

     Security video taken from inside the elevator shows the killer later using a battery-operated portable vacuum cleaner in an apparent effort to remove any traces of his presence, the official said.

     New York City’s medical examiner announced on Thursday that Mr. Saleh had died from multiple stab wounds to his neck and torso. Initially, a law enforcement official had described the killing as a “hit” and said it looked “like a professional job.”

     Detectives investigating the murder believe the killer’s work dismembering the body was interrupted when Mr. Saleh’s sister buzzed from the building’s lobby, another official said, prompting him to flee through the apartment’s back door and into a stairwell before the sister arrived.

     Mr. Saleh’s family said in a statement on Wednesday that the gruesome killing was so shocking it was unfathomable.

     “Fahim is more than what you are reading,” the family said. “He is so much more. His brilliant and innovative mind took everyone who was a part of his world on a journey and he made sure never to leave anyone behind.”

     Mr. Saleh was born in Saudi Arabia to Bangladeshi parents who eventually settled near Poughkeepsie, N.Y., a small city on the Hudson River.

     After graduating from Bentley University in Waltham, Mass., in 2009, he built an app called PrankDial that allowed users to send prerecorded prank calls. Mr. Saleh said he eventually built PrankDial into a $10 million business.

     Mr. Saleh went on to found Pathao, a motorcycle ride-sharing start-up in Bangladesh. He left that company in 2018 to begin a similar venture in Nigeria, an app known as Gokada.

     At the time of his death, Mr. Saleh was the chief executive of Gokada and oversaw a shift in its business during a turbulent time. In February, Nigerian officials began enforcing a ban on motorcycle taxis in major commercial and residential parts of the country’s largest city, Lagos.

     Gokada was forced to halt its ride-hailing business and laid workers off, but Mr. Saleh pivoted the company to focus on food and parcel delivery and business logistics.

     “Fahim’s passion for Nigeria and its youth was immeasurable,” Gokada said in a statement. “He believed young Nigerians were extremely bright and talented individuals who would flourish if just given the right opportunity.”

     Mr. Saleh was also the founding partner in a Manhattan-based venture capital fund, Adventure Capital, that invested in similar transit start-ups in Colombia and Bangladesh.

     Fahim Saleh's personal assistant stole from him but Fahim gave him a chance to pay it back and hadn't reported him. That was my friend, always seeing the best in others. He was killed for peanuts when he was a millionaire. https://t.co/mbYUUSZ9dC #FahimSaleh

     — Shreeya Sinha (@ShreeyaSinha) July 17, 2020

   • 

     মাসুদ করিম - ১৮ জুলাই ২০২০ (৮:৪৫ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

     Tech C.E.O.’s Former Assistant Charged With His Grisly Murder

     The police said the former employee, who had been fired for stealing $90,000, stabbed and dismembered Fahim Saleh in his Manhattan apartment.

     When a young tech entrepreneur with a history of doing business in Nigeria and Bangladesh was found dismembered this week in his multimillion dollar Manhattan condominium, the case at first seemed to have all the trappings of an international thriller.

     Someone in a black suit, a mask and latex gloves had followed the victim, Fahim Saleh, into his apartment while carrying a duffel bag, a security video showed. The person then subdued Mr. Saleh with a Taser, stabbed him to death and returned the next day to dismember him with an electric saw, the police said. One law enforcement official said it “looked like a professional job.”

     But instead of leading detectives toward Mr. Saleh’s overseas business projects, the evidence quickly pointed to someone close to home, the police said: his onetime personal assistant.

     On Friday, the former assistant, Tyrese Devon Haspil, 21, was arrested and charged with murdering Mr. Saleh, 33. Some investigators theorized that the suspect had tried to make the killing look like a professional assassination to divert attention from himself.

     “Mr. Haspil was Mr. Saleh’s executive assistant and handled his finances and personal matters,” the chief of detectives, Rodney K. Harrison, said at a brief news conference on Friday afternoon. “It is also believed that he owed the victim a significant amount of money.”

     According to three officials briefed on the matter, Mr. Saleh had discovered that Mr. Haspil had stolen roughly $90,000 from him. Though Mr. Saleh, who friends said was a generous man, fired Mr. Haspil, he did not report the theft, the officials said. He even offered to arrange a way for his former employee to work off his debt in what amounted to a payment plan.

     Mr. Haspil, a Long Island native who had recently attended Hofstra University, was arrested at 8:45 a.m. on Friday in the lobby of a building at 172 Crosby Street in SoHo, where he had been staying in an apartment with a female friend, one official said. New York detectives and federal agents from a U.S. Marshals Service regional fugitive task force took him into custody.

     “He tried to run,” said the building’s superintendent, who declined to give his name, explaining that he was not authorized to speak on behalf of the owner. The superintendent added that Mr. Haspil had arrived at the Crosby Street apartment at some point on Wednesday and that he was planning to leave on Monday.

     Mr. Saleh was discovered dead on Tuesday, when his cousin went to check on him at his $2.25 million condo in a luxury building on East Houston Street on the Lower East Side. The cousin, officials said, was worried after not hearing from him for about a day.

     When the cousin got to the apartment, the police said, she discovered a horrifying scene: Mr. Saleh’s head and limbs had been removed, and parts of his body had been placed in plastic bags designed for construction debris. An electric saw was plugged in nearby.

     Investigators have concluded that Mr. Saleh had been killed the day before, according to a fourth official with knowledge of the inquiry.

     A video shows the man the police believe to be Mr. Haspil following Mr. Saleh into his building and then into an elevator, where they appear to engage in small talk, the officials said.

     The suspect was dressed in a black three-piece suit and wore a black mask and latex gloves, the officials said. He was carrying a duffel bag.

     As the two men left the elevator, which opened directly into Mr. Saleh’s seventh-floor unit, the assailant fired a Taser into Mr. Saleh’s back, immobilizing him, law enforcement officials said. He then stabbed Mr. Saleh to death, wounding him multiple times in his neck and torso.

     After the attack, the suspect used a credit card to hire a car to go to a Home Depot, on West 23rd Street in Manhattan, and to buy cleaning supplies, the fourth official said. The next day, dressed in a gray hooded sweatshirt, the assailant returned to Mr. Saleh’s apartment to dismember the body and clean up the crime scene.

     Security video from inside Mr. Saleh’s elevator showed that the suspect used a portable vacuum cleaner, perhaps in an effort to remove residue that was left behind when the Taser was fired, the officials said.

     But while the assailant was cutting up the body, Mr. Saleh’s cousin buzzed the apartment from the building’s lobby. Before she got upstairs, the attacker fled through a back door and down a stairwell, officials said.

     Only four years ago, Mr. Haspil graduated from Central High School in Valley Stream, N.Y., where he won an award for website design, according to local news articles. In 2017, he entered Hofstra as a member of its class of 2021.

     Detectives believe that he began working for Mr. Saleh when he was 16, and eventually started managing some of his finances as well as taking care of personal matters, like caring for his dog. One official said Mr. Saleh paid him well enough that he was able to settle the debts of several members of his family.

     Mr. Haspil had recently lived on Woodruff Avenue in Brooklyn, where Kate Hain, one of his neighbors, said that nothing about him suggested he was capable of homicide.

     “He and his roommate seemed to keep to themselves and not cause any issues in the building,” Ms. Hain said. She added that Mr. Haspil had done “nothing unusual” in all the time he lived there.

     Mr. Saleh was born in Saudi Arabia to Bangladeshi parents who eventually settled near Poughkeepsie, N.Y., a small city on the Hudson River. In a statement earlier this week, his family called his death an “unfathomable” shock.

     After graduating from Bentley University in Waltham, Mass., in 2009, he built an app called PrankDial that allowed users to send prerecorded prank calls. Mr. Saleh has said he eventually built PrankDial into a $10 million business.

     Mr. Saleh went on to found Pathao, a motorcycle ride-sharing start-up in Bangladesh. He left that company in 2018 to begin a similar venture in Nigeria, an app known as Gokada. He was also the founding partner in a Manhattan-based venture capital fund, Adventure Capital, that invested in similar transit start-ups in Colombia and Bangladesh.

     Shortly after 5 p.m. on Friday, Mr. Haspil was led out of the 7th Precinct station house on the Lower East Side in handcuffs and a white jumpsuit. He declined to answer questions fired at him by reporters.

     Initially, a law enforcement official had described Mr. Saleh’s death as a “hit,” but some investigators now believe that Mr. Haspil may have tried to make the killing look like a professional assassination in an effort to trick detectives into thinking it was linked to Mr. Saleh’s business deals.

     Still, one investigator said that Mr. Haspil made “several rookie mistakes” — including buying a Taser online with his own credit card and signing for the package when it arrived in June.

     The superintendent at the Crosby Street apartment said the police told him that Mr. Haspil had also used one of Mr. Saleh’s credit cards to buy balloons to celebrate the birthday of the woman he was staying with. On Friday afternoon, the superintendent said, the balloons were still in the apartment.

     “The credit card was used to buy balloons, and this and that, because he was with a girl for her birthday,” the superintendent said. “How stupid can you be?”

     Fahim Saleh was killed by his 21-year-old PA. He found out the PA was stealing from him, but didn’t report him to the authorities. He “set up what amounted to a repayment plan for him to return the money.” Sometimes, our biggest weakness is our kindness.???? https://t.co/o1QaBTufVj

     — Gimba Kakanda (@gimbakakanda) July 17, 2020

8. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ১৬ জুলাই ২০২০ (৫:২২ অপরাহ্ণ)

   জেল থেকে অসুস্থ হয়ে হাসপাতালে, এবার করোনাতেও আক্রান্ত কবি ভারভারা রাও!

   সম্প্রতি জেলে থেকে প্রবল অসুস্থ হয়ে পড়েছিলেন তিনি। তাঁর শারীরিক অসুস্থতা নিয়ে শোরগোল পড়ে গিয়েছিল দেশজুড়ে। শেষমেশ তাঁকে হাসপাতালে ভরতি করা হয়েছিল। কিন্তু দুঃসংবাদটা এবার এসেই গেল। মারণ ভাইরাস করোনায় আক্রান্ত হয়েছেন কবি ভারভারা রাও। বিশেষজ্ঞদের মতে, জেলে থেকে-থেকে যে পরিমাণ অসুস্থ হয়েছেন রাও, তারমধ্যে করোনা আক্রমণ সামাল দেওয়া তাঁর পক্ষে কঠিন হয়ে উঠতে পারে।

   ১৩ জুলাই ৭৯ বছরের ভারভারা রাও’কে মহারাষ্ট্রের জেজে হাসপাতালে ভরতি করা হয়েছিল। জেলে থেকে প্রবল অসুস্থ হয়ে পড়েছিলেন তিনি। যদিও তাঁকে নিয়ে গুজব ছড়িয়েছিল, তাঁর মৃত্যু হয়েছে বলে। কিন্তু শেষমেশ তাঁর পরিবার ভার্চুয়াল প্রেস কনফারেন্স করে জানিয়েছিল, রাও জীবিত আছেন এবং বেঁচে থাকার লড়াই চালাচ্ছেন। কিন্তু এরই মধ্যে তাঁর করোনা রিপোর্ট পজিটিভ আসায় চিন্তায় রাও-এর অসংখ্য অনুগামী।

   উল্লেখ্য, এলগার পরিষদ মামলায় অভিযুক্ত ভারভারা রাও করোনাভাইরাসের হাইরিস্ক ক্যাটেগরিতে শুরু থেকেই ছিলেন। আর তাই ৭৯ বছরের কবির জামিনের দাবিতে মহারাষ্ট্রের মুখ্যমন্ত্রী উদ্ধব ঠাকরেকে চিঠি লিখেছিলেন তাঁর তিন কন্যা। শারীরিক অস্বস্তি এবং জেলের মধ্যে একবার অজ্ঞান হয়ে যাওয়ার কারণে এর আগেও জে জে হাসপাতালে ভরতি করা হয় তাঁকে। তাঁর মেয়েদের বক্তব্য ছিল, রাও হৃদরোগ, আলসার, উচ্চ রক্তচাপজনিত একাধিক সমস্যায় ভুগছেন। বর্তমানে করোনা সংক্রমণ পরিস্থিতির কথা মাথায় রেখে তাঁকে জামিন দেওয়া হোক। এর আগে ভারভারা রাওয়ের মুক্তির দাবিতে প্রধানমন্ত্রীকে চিঠি লিখেছিলেন ৪০ জন কবি। কিন্তু জামিন হয়নি রাওয়ের।

   এরই মধ্যে পুলিশের বিরুদ্ধে অভিযোগ উঠেছে বম্বে হাইকোর্টে তাঁর জামিনের শুনানির আগেই হাসপাতালে নিয়ে গিয়ে অসুস্থ বর্ষীয়ান তেলুগু কবি ভারভারা রাওকে ‘ফিট’ ঘোষণা করার চেষ্টায় রয়েছে পুলিশ। এমন অভিযোগ করেছে তাঁর পরিবারও। এমনকী জামিনের শুনানির আগে তাঁকে হাসপাতালে রেখে পুলিশ গোটা প্রক্রিয়াই বানচাল করে দিতে চাইছে বলে অভিযোগ উঠেছে। শুধু তাই নয়, কবির পরিবারের অভিযোগ, রাওয়ের শারীরিক পরিস্থতি সম্পর্কেও পরিবারকে কোনও তথ্য দেওয়া হচ্ছে না। শুধু তাই নয়, হাসপাতালে নিয়ে যাওয়ার সময়েও তাঁদের অন্ধকারে রাখা হয়েছে।

   রাওকে দ্রুত উন্নত হাসপাতালে স্থানান্তরিত করার ব্যাপারে মহারাষ্ট্র সরকার ও জাতীয় তদন্তকারী সংস্থা এনআইএ-কে আর্জি জানিয়েছেন ইতিহাসবিদ রোমিলা থাপার, অর্থনীতিবিদ প্রভাত পট্টনায়ক-সহ দেশের বহু বিশিষ্ট জনরা। তাঁরা এর আগে এ নিয়ে সুপ্রিম কোর্টে জনস্বার্থ মামলাও করেছিলেন। দিন দুই আগেই কংগ্রেস সাংসদ অধীর চৌধুরীও প্রধানমন্ত্রী নরেন্দ্র মোদীর কাছে আবেদন করেন। নরেন্দ্র মোদী চিঠিতে অধীর বাবু লেখেন, ‘এদেশে ৮১ বছর বয়সী এক ব্যক্তি জানেন না কী তাঁর অপরাধ, অথচ দীর্ঘ কয়েক বছর কারাগারে বন্দি করে রাখা হয়েছে তাঁকে, এখন চিকিৎসাটুকুও ঠিকভাবে না পেয়ে মানসিকভাবে অবসাদগ্রস্ত হয়ে পড়েছেন তিনি, তাঁর নাম কবি ভারভারা রাও।’ সেই কবি এবার অসুস্থ শরীরেই করোনায় আক্রান্ত হলেন। দুশ্চিন্তার প্রহর গোণা শুরু হল তাঁর অনুগামীদের।

9. 

   মাসুদ করিম - ১৮ জুলাই ২০২০ (৮:৩৮ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

   চলে গেলেন বিজ্ঞানী আলী আসগর

   দেশে বিজ্ঞান আন্দোলনের পুরোধা বিশিষ্ট বিজ্ঞান ব্যক্তিত্ব অধ্যাপক আলী আসগর আর নেই। তিনি ছিলেন একাধারে বিজ্ঞানী, গবেষক, জনপ্রিয় বিজ্ঞান লেখক ও সংগঠক। মস্তিষ্কে রক্তক্ষরণজনিত কারণে গতকাল বৃহস্পতিবার ভোর সাড়ে ৪টায় রাজধানীর ইউনাইটেড হাসপাতালে তিনি মারা যান (ইন্নালিল্লাহি … রাজিউন)। তার বয়স হয়েছিল ৮২ বছর। তিনি স্ত্রী ও দুই ছেলে রেখে গেছেন। গতকাল বিকেলে জানাজা শেষে রাজধানীর উত্তরা ৪ নম্বর সেক্টরের কবরস্থানে তার লাশ দাফন করা হয়েছে।

   অধ্যাপক আলী আসগর গণবিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের মেডিকেল ফিজিক্স ও বায়োমেডিকেল ইঞ্জিনিয়ারিং বিভাগের অধ্যাপক এবং বিভাগীয় প্রধান ছিলেন। খেলাঘরের সাবেক এই সভাপতি পদার্থ বিজ্ঞান সমিতির প্রতিষ্ঠাতা সভাপতি। তিনি বিজ্ঞান অলিম্পিয়াড কমিটির অন্যতম প্রধান। বিশ্বের বিভিন্ন বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে অতিথি শিক্ষক হিসেব পদার্থ বিজ্ঞান শিক্ষা দিয়েছেন। দেশীয় এবং আন্তর্জাতিক পর্যায়ে বিজ্ঞানবিষয়ক সংগঠনের নেতৃত্ব দেওয়া আলী আসগর শিশু কিশোর ও বয়স্কদের জন্য লিখেছেন শতাধিক বিজ্ঞানবিষয়ক গ্রন্থ। বাংলাদেশ টেলিভিশনে বিজ্ঞানবিষয়ক অনুষ্ঠান উপস্থাপনা করে সুনাম অর্জন করেন তিনি। ছিলেন মুক্তবুদ্ধির, উদার ও অসাম্প্রদায়িক মানুষ। মুক্তিযুদ্ধসহ দেশের সব অসাম্প্রদায়িক ও প্রগতিশীল আন্দোলনে বুদ্ধিবৃত্তিক অবদান রাখেন তিনি।

   অধ্যাপক আলী আসগর ১৯৬০ সালে ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় থেকে বিএসসি এবং ১৯৬২ সালে এমএসসি ডিগ্রি অর্জন করেন। এরপর ১৯৭০ সালে ইংল্যান্ডের সাউদাম্পটন ইউনিভার্সিটি থেকে তিনি পিএইচডি ডিগ্রি নেন। কাজের স্বীকৃতি হিসেবে বিভিন্ন পুরস্কার ও সম্মাননায় ভূষিত হন। এর মধ্যে উল্লেখযোগ্য হচ্ছে- বিজ্ঞানে অবদানের জন্য ড. মনিরুজ্জামান স্বর্ণপদক, বিজ্ঞানবিষয়ক লেখালেখির জন্য ড. কুদরত-ই-খুদা স্বর্ণপদক, দেশে বিজ্ঞানকে জনপ্রিয় করার ক্ষেত্রে অবদানের জন্য ডিপ্লোমা ইঞ্জিনিয়ার্স অ্যাসোসিয়েশন স্বর্ণপদক এবং বিজ্ঞান ও প্রযুক্তি ক্ষেত্রে অবদানের জন্য মার্কেন্টাইল ব্যাংক স্বর্ণপদক।

   জমাট পদার্থ, চৌম্বক বস্তু, মেডিকেল ফিজিক্স ও বায়ো ম্যাগনেটিজম তার নির্বাচিত গবেষণার বিষয়। তার শতাধিক গবেষণা প্রবন্ধ প্রকাশিত হয়েছে বিভিন্ন আন্তর্জাতিক ও দেশীয় জার্নালে। গবেষণা-শিক্ষকতার পাশাপাশি বিজ্ঞান গবেষণার পরিবেশ সৃষ্টি, উদ্ভাবনমূলক বিজ্ঞানচর্চার আন্দোলন গড়ে তোলার লক্ষ্যে তিনি নিরলস ভূমিকা রেখেছেন। বিজ্ঞান, প্রযুক্তি ও শিক্ষা বিষয়ে তার কয়েকশ’ প্রবন্ধ এবং ২০টির মতো বই প্রকাশিত হয়েছে। এর মধ্যে রয়েছে সময় প্রসঙ্গে, ভাষা ও বিজ্ঞান, বিজ্ঞান প্রতিদিন, বিজ্ঞানের বিচিত্র জগৎ থেকে, বিজ্ঞানের মজার প্রজেক্ট, বিজ্ঞান ও সমাজ, বিজ্ঞান ও প্রযুক্তির বিকাশের পথে, পরিবেশ ও বিজ্ঞান, বিজ্ঞানের দিগন্তে, বিজ্ঞান আন্দোলন উল্লেখযোগ্য।

   চলে গেলেন বিজ্ঞানী আলী আসগর https://t.co/HRxFICJzA6 via @samakaltw

   — masudkarim মাসুদকরিম (@urumurum) July 18, 2020

10. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ২০ জুলাই ২০২০ (৯:৩৭ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    Oceanic birds make unusual visit to Rajshahi
    May 30, 2020 17:46:04 | Updated: July 04, 2020 20:35:41

    Oceanic birds of four species are now on an unusual surprise visit to Padma River in this northwestern city, miles off the country’s southern coastlines, even where they are not generally seen.

    “The birds of four oceanic species are seen roving over the Padma River for the past one week and they were seen flying even yesterday . . . this is an unprecedented scene in the town,” a journalist and bird-watcher stationed in Rajshahi said.

    Rajshahi University’s zoology department professor Dr Aminuzzaman Mohammad Saleh Reza said all the four types of bird seen on the Padma were Oceanic birds which were not even reported to have been seen in Bay of Bengal coasts in Bangladesh bordering India, reports BSS.

    Two local bird watchers Dr Moinul Ahsan Shamim and Mustafizur Rahman first spotted the bird species in the Padma River and managed to take their photos instantly.

    Ornithologists immediately identified them as “sooty tern” (Onychoprion fuscatus), “bridled tern” (Onychoprion anaethetus), Long-tailed skua/jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus) and “wilson’s storm petrel” (Oceanites oceanicus).

    Experts speculated super cyclone Amphan that earlier this month ravaged Bangladesh coastlines bordering India might have caused their unprecedented surprise tour.

    The Amphan visibly took a relatively weird course making marks of its impact in Rajshahi region as well alongside the southern coastlines on May 20.

    Several experts said the birds possibly felt comfort to stop their forced long journey as the cyclone got weakened in Rajshahi but had the intensity of the storm prolonged, the winds might have drove them furthermore upstream.

    Reza said according to taxonomic studies, the sooty tern is a seabird of tropical oceans that breeds islands throughout the equatorial zone; bridled tern breeds in colonies on rocky islands while it nests in a ground scrape or hole and lays one egg.

    He said long-tailed skua/jaeger breeds in the high Arctic of Eurasia and North America, with major populations in Russia, Alaska and Canada and smaller populations around the rest of the Arctic and it is a seasonal migratory bird that winters in the south Atlantic and Pacific.

    Wilson’s storm petrel, Reza said, breeds on the Antarctic coastlines and nearby islands such as the South Shetland Islands during the summer of the southern hemisphere. It spends the rest of the year at sea, and moves into the northern oceans during the southern hemisphere’s winter.

    In the past, many of the estuarine birds were seen flying to the mainland rivers’ due to various natural disasters like cyclone, tornado, hurricane and other tidal surges but return to their habitats after the disasters.

    Ornithologists said Rajshahi region hosts scores of migratory birds during winter but none of them are oceanic birds.

    “These birds are likely to go back to their habitat following the downstream river channel . . . they may even stay here for a longer period if they get food for their survival,” Reza predicted.

    A research team earlier this year had spotted 37 bird species in different shoals (chars) in the Padma in the district during a weeklong survey ran by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) under its Bangladesh Wild Bird Monitoring Programme.

    Bangladesh Birds Club, Rajshahi Bird Club and Department of Forestry jointly supported the survey.

    oceanic birds make unusual visit to #Rajshahi https://t.co/04yK0tfUGM #Amphan #Bangladesh #FEothers via @febdonline

    — masudkarim মাসুদকরিম (@urumurum) July 20, 2020

11. 

    মাসুদ করিম - ২১ জুলাই ২০২০ (১১:৩২ পূর্বাহ্ণ)

    The Inexorable Collapse of Lebanon

    Once celebrated as the Switzerland of the Middle East, Lebanon is facing a severe crisis. Its economy is collapsing, while electricity and adequate medical care are hard to find. The state has completely failed its people.

    It was a rather harmless beginning, as it so often is in Lebanon. Two-year-old Walid al-Manna was tired, perhaps unsurprising given the summer heat. But just a few hours later, he was no longer eating and was growing increasingly listless.

    At midday last Sunday, his parents brought him to a doctor in their neighborhood of Kubba, located in the center of the Lebanese city of Tripoli. Due to the ongoing economic crisis, it was the last medical practice still operating in Kubba. The doctor said the boy’s condition was serious, likely pneumonia, and he had to be taken to the hospital immediately. He also said that he had nothing to give to the boy except for a bit of the pain medication paracetamol.

    The boy’s father called the only public hospital in the city, but was told there were no beds available. He then began calling around to all of the some 20 private clinics in the city, but got the same answer everywhere he tried: Sorry, we are no longer accepting patients due to supply shortages. The family then began calling hospitals across northern Lebanon, before expanding their search around the rest of the country. They ensured each hospital that they were able to pay for treatment – but they were unable to find a single one that could help.

    Walid was almost completely inert when his father Bilal al-Manna and some of his friends took him to the public hospital at 10 p.m., simply marching through to the intensive care unit. “The doctor really tried to help,” says al-Manna. “He took an X-ray of the lungs and even performed a coronavirus test, which turned up negative.”

    Initially, al-Manna was told that the ventilator was defective, and then that there was no oxygen available. At 4 a.m. on Monday morning, Walid al-Manna slipped into a coma. Two hours later, he was declared dead.
    Anger Yielding to Fear

    Later that day, relatives, friends and neighbors carried the boy to his grave. They stood around the small bundle on the table, wiping the tears from their eyes. The imam quietly recited the funeral prayer, the father gave him a final kiss on the forehead and then the shroud was folded closed. His son would still be alive, said his father, if he had received treatment – if clinics were still accepting patients.

    But the little boy’s death did not produce a wave of protests, as similar cases had done in the past. It is as though the anger has yielded to fear – the fear of being dragged into the maelstrom that is accelerating by the day, pulling more and more people into hunger and desperation. It is a maelstrom that has hit Tripoli the hardest, Lebanon’s second-largest city, with an estimated population of 500,000.

    It is a quiet tumble into the void. The country is imploding, with hardly any electricity or diesel available and almost no replacement parts for generators. Medical equipment is no longer coming into the country because the importers have gone bankrupt, and there is a lack of medicines.

    “In 14 days, we will close everything down except for chemotherapy and a handful of emergency procedures,” says the surgeon Mustafa Allouch, a former member of parliament who is now a spokesman for the city’s private clinics. They are no longer able to pay their suppliers, he says, and the government owes the clinics millions of dollars for the treatment of public officials and soldiers. “We can’t go on.”

    For many years, Lebanon was the exception, an oasis of relative calm in a war-torn region. Whereas neighboring Syria plunged into civil war, Lebanon saw the steady growth of a strong middle class after its own civil war ended in 1990. There was a construction boom, and luxury hotels for Gulf tourists contributed to a booming economy. Freedom of opinion and a flourishing cultural life were more prevalent here than elsewhere in the region.
    Systemic Collapse

    Part of the economic upswing, however, was consistently rooted in the illusion of a strong currency. At the end of 1997, the Lebanese pound was pegged to the U.S. dollar, at a rate of 1 to 1,500. Banks paid up to 10 percent interest rates on deposits and loaned their own capital to the central bank for even higher rates – a situation that led a succession of governments to accumulate one of the highest sovereign debt loads in the world.

    The system collapsed in October, and suddenly, there were no more dollars available, at least not at the official rate. What began with a relatively harmless downturn in the exchange rate quickly became an avalanche – and that in a country that imports almost all of its goods. Clothes, food and fuel became more and more expensive, unaffordable for most – a situation that pushed stores and companies into bankruptcy and the people into poverty.

    The coronavirus has exacerbated the crisis, even if case numbers in the country are low. But during the three-month lockdown, the hotels and restaurants suffered and Lebanese living abroad were unable to return home – and unable to bring their money with them.

    Public schools and hospitals have been largely neglected by the state over the last 30 years, leaving education and medical care up to the free market, which is now pulling those private clinics and schools into bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the Lebanese pound continues to plunge.

    When the crisis began, tens of thousands of people across the country took to the streets, demonstrating against the banks and corrupt politicians. The revolution, as they called it, had begun, and it was centered in Tripoli. DJs set their systems up on balconies and the crowds danced in protest – even including young women, which is unusual for the conservative city.

    The protesters demanded the installation of a technocrat cabinet, the return of the billions that corrupt politicians had misappropriated and reforms to the country’s election laws. At that time, the pound had already fallen to half of its previous value. Tens of thousands of people gathered in Sahat al-Nour Square in Tripoli, with many camping out in tents. In winter, when the exchange rate continued to fall, the first bank branches went up in flames. Tires were burned in the streets and demonstrators blocked the roads.
    A Kind of Ghost Town

    Today, the pound is only worth a sixth – on good days, a fifth – of its previous value. Bank deposits, salaries, pensions – they have all shrunk to breadcrumbs. But these days, protests are nowhere to be seen. Citing the need to implement measures to counter the coronavirus spread, the military and state security agencies cleared al-Nour Square a few months ago. Now, even though coronavirus measures were lifted several weeks ago, the square remains empty. Only the barricaded bank entrances, fortified with graffiti-covered steel plates, recall the popular uprising. People seem to have capitulated in the face of the crisis.

    Tripoli has essentially become a kind of ghost town. Life continues on the surface, with people out and about and cars on the roads, though fewer than normal. But entire rows of shops are locked up, while in others, shopkeepers sit around for hours waiting for a customer to show up, or they just sit on the sidewalk outside because there is no electricity to light the interiors.

    The meat in the last remaining butcher shops is bright pink, as though it has been thawed and refrozen several times, and there are no more bananas available in the city. In front of a mosque in the city center, an imam is trying to sell corona masks that nobody wants to buy. Price tags are changed daily, while in the cafés, elderly men sit for extended periods in front of a single espresso, saying nothing. Nobody is yelling, nobody is protesting any longer. Everyone is doing their best to keep their composure, as though they were extras in their own downfall.

    The protesters demanded the installation of a technocrat cabinet, the return of the billions that corrupt politicians had misappropriated and reforms to the country’s election laws. At that time, the pound had already fallen to half of its previous value. Tens of thousands of people gathered in Sahat al-Nour Square in Tripoli, with many camping out in tents. In winter, when the exchange rate continued to fall, the first bank branches went up in flames. Tires were burned in the streets and demonstrators blocked the roads.
    A Kind of Ghost Town

    Today, the pound is only worth a sixth – on good days, a fifth – of its previous value. Bank deposits, salaries, pensions – they have all shrunk to breadcrumbs. But these days, protests are nowhere to be seen. Citing the need to implement measures to counter the coronavirus spread, the military and state security agencies cleared al-Nour Square a few months ago. Now, even though coronavirus measures were lifted several weeks ago, the square remains empty. Only the barricaded bank entrances, fortified with graffiti-covered steel plates, recall the popular uprising. People seem to have capitulated in the face of the crisis.

    Tripoli has essentially become a kind of ghost town. Life continues on the surface, with people out and about and cars on the roads, though fewer than normal. But entire rows of shops are locked up, while in others, shopkeepers sit around for hours waiting for a customer to show up, or they just sit on the sidewalk outside because there is no electricity to light the interiors.

    The meat in the last remaining butcher shops is bright pink, as though it has been thawed and refrozen several times, and there are no more bananas available in the city. In front of a mosque in the city center, an imam is trying to sell corona masks that nobody wants to buy. Price tags are changed daily, while in the cafés, elderly men sit for extended periods in front of a single espresso, saying nothing. Nobody is yelling, nobody is protesting any longer. Everyone is doing their best to keep their composure, as though they were extras in their own downfall.

    The Association of Dentists of Tripoli has organized a protest rally. Yahya Hassan, a doctor and civil rights activist, arrives in a Porsche Cayenne SUV, with others showing up in their BMWs or Mercedes. But don’t let that fool you, Hassan asserts. “Our accounts have been frozen, and we are unable to import anything.” Filling compound has become so expensive that no one can afford treatment. Just getting a single tooth fixed is the equivalent to a worker’s entire monthly salary, so no one is coming.” Banks only provided loans in dollars, and “they are now six times as expensive. We can’t pay them back anyway.”

    The dentists have invited a Harvard-educated Lebanese banker to the rally to explain the crisis to them. Nicolas Chikhani rapidly outlines the creation of the bubble that could have been seen if anybody had wanted to. “On what basis could the central bank pay 15-percent interest to the banks? Our government doesn’t produce anything. Technically, the banks, the central bank and the state are bankrupt. Their debts are higher than their assets.”

    The astronomical interest rates on bank deposits was the bait everyone was more than happy to swallow. But it was like poison for an already restricted economy because hardly anyone was still investing, with most preferring to collect interest instead.
    Left to Their Own Devices

    Despite interruptions from power outages, Chikhani speaks about central bank head Riad Salamé, who seemed to conjure up money by magic – money that is now gone. But the details of Salamé’s complicated system of “financial engineering” are too complicated for the audience, even for doctors. When Chikhani finishes, they ask: “Now what about the dollar?” They want to know when the storm will pass – they are looking for a miracle. The economist can only shake his head: “Nothing will stop the collapse of the pound,” he says.

    In Beirut, the government’s talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been suspended without any results. Even after weeks of talks, the Lebanese either could not or would not quantify the individual debt levels of banks, the central bank and the government. The differences in estimates between the two sides are in the double-digit billion range.

    Leading the charge in opposing any audit of the government’s finances has been Nabih Berri, speaker of Lebanese parliament and one of the country’s wealthiest politicians, with an alleged $78 million in assets. But without transparency and without reforms, neither the IMF nor the European Union or even the country’s former mandate power, France, will be willing to grant billions to save this corrupt system.

    Meanwhile, in Tripoli as elsewhere in the country, people have been left to their own devices. Only a few private soup kitchens are providing for the growing number of needy, but they are having trouble soliciting donations. “We distribute food to neighborhoods we’ve never been to before, where no one has ever gone hungry,” says Fida Hajjeh, the manager of the NGO Sanabel Nour. “There are so many people crowding in front of our distribution site that we have had to call the army at times to contain the crowd. But then the officers demanded bribes from us. Now, we’ve hired security guards.”

    Across the country, police are registering a “new form of theft,” an official told the news agency AFP. “It involves baby milk powder, food and medicines.”

    Tripoli is home to the two richest men in the country, the Mikati brothers, who together are worth around $4.5 billion. They are keeping a low profile these days and it isn’t even known if they are still in the country.
    A Product of Lobbying

    Their wealth comes from the country’s most successful mobile phone company, and Najib, the younger of the two, served for years as prime minister. “I have spoken to him several times in recent months,” says a frustrated Mustafa Allouch, the surgeon. “He promised to help, but he isn’t doing anything. Nor are the other superrich. This state just doesn’t work. It never has.”

    Lebanon never grew together as a nation, Allouch says, adding that it was pieced together by France a century ago from the leftovers of the Ottoman Empire. Ultimately, he says, it was the product of lobbying by rich merchants, particularly in Beirut. “But we have never felt like we belonged together.”

    Shiites, Sunnis, Maronites, Armenians, Greek-Orthodox Christians or Druze: All groups eye the others with suspicion, he says, their leaders stirring up fear of the others and only joining together to plunder the state. “We’re a kind of Frankenstein with make-up,” Allouch says.

    The radiance of Lebanon, and the myth of a “Middle Eastern Switzerland,” has always been fragile, and no city has experienced this as painfully as Tripoli. Here, in a kind of remake of the civil war that continued for years until 2014, the inhabitants of the two poorest quarters would fire shots back and forth at each other: the Alawites from Jabal Mohsen and the Sunnis from Bab Tabbeneh.

    The people in Bab Tabbeneh have always been poor, says Hassan Shair, a shopkeeper, but now everyone is in debt and more and, he claims, more people are resorting to theft to survive. A week ago, he says, he watched as a man with four children stood in the street screaming that he needed bread. Three days ago, he says, the battery was stolen out of his van. “It’s a disaster,” he said. “I can’t afford a new one.” He says that only drugs remain cheap, for whatever reason, and the number of junkies is growing.

    “Hey, Ahmed!” He pulls a staggering adolescent with glazed eyes from the sidewalk into his store, “Look at him: all strung out!” Ahmed says nothing, looks confused for a moment, stumbles back out into the open and disappears.

    There is an uproar outside, with a group of women making a ruckus and throwing rice into the street. It sounds not unlike a wedding, but all there is to see is just a man in sweatpants. He was released early from prison – because of the coronavirus pandemic, but also because the state can no longer feed the inmates.
    Watching His Country Fall Apart

    “We’re all going to go crazy here,” says Shair. “Or we’ll starve. Or both.”

    A muscled man in a wheelchair pushes himself down a street, almost everyone greeting him as he rolls along: “Hey Toufic, how are you?” For years, Toufic Allouch has mediated between the different sides, traveling all over the country in that role, seeking to do his part to overcome the constantly bubbling mistrust born out of all the unresolved mistrust of the civil war. He took part in the fighting himself in Tripoli, until he was gunned down in 1983 by a group of drunken young Lebanese serving the Iraqi Baath Party.

    Six of the seven marksmen were killed by his friends in retaliation, Allouch recounts soberly. At some point, though, he took a stance against the violence. He became an internationally successful wheelchair basketball player and coach and even joined football star Zinédine Zidane for dinner on one occasion. Now, though, he is in Tripoli watching his country fall apart.

    He says he can hardly blame the men who sought to kill him for throwing their allegiance behind the Iraqi dictator back then. Even today, very few Lebanese identify themselves with their country. “I was prepared to die for the Palestinian cause,” he says.

    His brother Mustafa, the surgeon, meanwhile, was more loyal to the Soviet Union than to Lebanon. Today, he says, it is Hezbollah that sees itself more as an Iranian spearhead than as a Lebanese party. “The roots are all the same: We want to be everything but Lebanese.”

    Still, he says, the country’s collapse and the lack of overseas interest in Lebanon’s fate does have, at best, one silver lining: A resumption of the civil war seems unlikely for now. “Who could afford it?” Allouch says with a laugh. “A single Kalashnikov costs $2,000 to $3,000.” Even a war must be paid for.

    Corona, Hunger, Versorgungskrise: Der Libanon zerbricht https://t.co/QPQweQmBF9 via @spiegelonline | Foto: Stadtteil Bab al-Tabana in Tripoli: "Wir können nicht mehr" Foto: Jacob Russel / DER SPIEGEL pic.twitter.com/DmHQXjqYCC

    — masudkarim মাসুদকরিম (@urumurum) July 20, 2020