23-01-2019

UNITING PEOPLE EVERYDAY
WeDneSDAy, DHAKA, JAnUARy 23, 2019, MAGH 10, 1425 BS, JAMADIUL AWAL 16, 1440 HIJRI
Railway Police conducted eviction drive on both side of the rail line at Gopibag, Dhaka on
Tuesday.
Photo: Star Mail
Indian govt says it's
not party to
Rohingya movement
DHAKA : The Indian
Ministry of External Affairs on
Tuesday said their government
is not a party to movements of
Rohingyas mentioning thatit is
aware of media reports of
alleged movement into
Bangladesh by some such persons,
reports UNB.
"Government (India) is not a
party to such movements," said
the MEA Spokesperson inresponse
to a question about the
presence of "Rohingya"
refugees stranded on the India-
Bangladesh boundary in
Tripura.
The spokesperson said they
will work with their neighbours
to handle such matters through
mutual consultation.
"Government is aware of the
presence of 31 persons originally
from Rakhine State in
Myanmar, currently at the Zero
Line on the India-Bangladesh
border," said the MEA
spokesperson.
Move underway to install pre-paid power
metres in Cumilla, Mymensingh
DHAKA : A move is underway to install
pre-paid metres for electricity consumers in
Cumilla and Mymensigh regions as part of
the government's plan to gradually replace
all the post-paid electricity metres, reports
UNB.
According to official sources at the Power
Division, state-owned Power Development
Board (PDB), which is responsible for power
distribution system in Cumilla and
Mymensingh regions, will implement the
pre-paid meter project.
They said the PDB has already selected
Chinese firm Shenzhen Star Instrument Co.,
Ltd (Sh.Star) through a tender process to
supply, install and provide post-installation
services to the consumers.
A top official at the PDB said the Chinese
firm will supply a total of 150,575 pre-paid
meters by December 2019 under the project
which received approval of the Executive
Committee of the National Economic
Council (Ecnec) in November 2013 with a
total cost of Tk 132.49 crore.
German donor agency-KfW will finance Tk
104.04 crore while the government will provide
Tk 18.26 crore and PDB itself will
finance Tk 10.19 crore to implement the project.
Of the total pre-paid metres, 70,250 will
be installed in Cumilla region while 80,325
in Mymensigh region.
A senior official of the Power Division said
the tender proposal was sent to the Cabinet
Division for placing it to the Cabinet
Committee on Public Purchase.
"Once the proposal is approved by the
Cabinet body, the PDB will sign an agreement
with the Chinese contractor to award
the contract for the project," he said.
He also noted the Chinese contractor will
set up vending stations for re-charging the
pre-paid cards and provide IT-related services
for the next five years after the metre
installation. Power Division officials said the
government is moving with a plan to replace
all the post-paid electricity metres with preypayment
metres in order to digitalise the bill
payment system.
Human-centred agenda needed
for decent future of work: ILO
DHAKA : The ILO Global
Commission on the Future of Work
has called on governments to commit
to a set of measures to address the
challenges caused by unprecedented
transformational change in the world
of work, reports UNB.
Co-chaired by South African
President Cyril Ramaphosa and
Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan
Löfven, the commission outlined
a vision for a human-centred
agenda that is based on investing in
people's capabilities, institutions of
work and in decent and sustainable
work.
A universal labour guarantee, social
protection from birth to old age and an
entitlement to lifelong learning are
among 10 recommendations made in a
landmark report by the International
Labour Organization's Global
Commission on the Future of Work,
ILO said on Tuesday.
Managing technological change to
boost decent work, including an international
governance system for digital
labour platforms, greater investments
in the care, green and rural economies,
The Ancient Portraits of
Fayuum Mummies
INTERESTING NEWS
These haunting portraits of long-dead
men, women and children come from a
vast region known as the Fayuum Basin,
located immediately to the west of the
Nile south of Cairo. Watered by canals
diverting the Nile river, this sprawling
oasis is one of the most fertile region in
Egypt with rich agricultural land and a
large saltwater lake that has been providing
the local population with fresh
fish since ancient times. It was in
Fayuum where farming first developed
in Egypt, and during Roman occupation,
Fayuum was one of the breadbaskets of
the Roman world.
It was also during this period—from
first through the third century AD—a
unique art form developed and flourished
in Roman Egypt—mummy portraits.
For three centuries, the people of
Fayuum not only embalmed their dead
but also painted a startlingly realistic
portrait of the deceased, in wooden
boards, which they placed over the
mummy wrapping like a mask.
The portraits always depicted the subject
from mid-chest level. The head
would be slightly turned towards the
viewer and big soulful eyes gazing
straight back. From the realistically rendered
shadows and highlights, one can
tell that the portraits were lit often with
a single source of light which have
caused many to suspect that these lifelike
images were painted while the people
were still alive, possibly for the sole
purpose of adorning their mummy.
a transformative and measurable
agenda for gender equality and
reshaping business incentives to
encourage long-term investments are
among the recommendations.
"Countless opportunities lie ahead to
improve the quality of working lives,
expand choice, close the gender gap,
reverse the damages wreaked by global
inequality. Yet none of this will happen
by itself. Without decisive action
we'll be sleepwalking into a world that
widens the existing inequalities and
uncertainties," the report stresses.
It outlined the challenges caused by
new technology, climate change and
demography, and calls for a collective
global response to the disruptions they
are causing in the world of work.
Artificial intelligence, automation
and robotics will lead to job losses, as
skills become obsolete.
However, these same technological
advances, along with the greening of
economies will also create millions of
jobs - if new opportunities are seized.
The report is the culmination of a 15-
month examination by the 27-member
commission, which is made up of leading
figures from business and labour,
think tanks, academia, government
and non-governmental organizations.
"The ILO Global Commission
Report on the Future of Work is a vital
contribution to global understanding
of the changes occurring - and that will
continue to unfold - in the world of
work," said Ramaphosa.
"The report should stimulate
engagement and partnerships within
and between national and regional
jurisdictions to ensure that the global
economy and global society becomes
more equitable, just and inclusive. At
the same it should inspire global action
to contain or eliminate challenges that
humanity has inflicted on itself in the
course of history."
Löfven, for his part said: "The
world of work is undergoing great
changes. They create many opportunities
for more and better jobs. But governments,
trade unions and employers
need to work together, to make
economies and labour markets more
inclusive. Such a social dialogue can
help make globalisation work for
everyone."
Fakhrul talking
deliriously
after 'shameful'
election loss:
Obaidul
DHAKA : Awami League
General Secretary Obaidul
Quader on Tuesday said
his BNP counterpart
Mirza Fakhrul has been
talking deliriously since
his party's shameful defeat
in the December-30
national election, reports
UNB.
"BNP's condition resembles
a bullock-cart stuck in
the mud as seen in Joynul
Abedin's painting," the
minister told journalists
after visiting Bangladesh
Road and Transport
Corporation (BRTC) office
in the city's Motijheel
area.
"Taking part in the
upcoming upazila elections
is BNP's political
right, not a chance. So,
they've to take a decision
now," he said.
He also mentioned that
had Awami League been
in BNP's position it would
not have boycotted the
election.
During his maiden visit
to the BRTC headquarters
after taking office as transport
minister for the second
term, Obaidul urged
the officials to eliminate
corruption from the corporation
and transform it
into a profitable enterprise.
Khalid for expansion of land
ports to ease export-import
DHAKA : State Minister for Shipping
Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury yesterday
said the land port facilities will be
expanded to ease export-import
through the ports for flourishing trade
and commerce and strengthening
regional relations.
"Land ports are playing an important
role for the country's economic
progress. Development activities of the
land ports are underway to ease
export-import by road to expand
export-import and regional trade and
strengthen relations between neighboring
countries," he told a viewexchange
with officials and employees
of Bangladesh Land Port Authority at
its office here.
Khalid said at present the country has
23 land ports while 12 ports- Benapole,
Bhomra, Burimari, Akhaura,
Nakugaon, Tamabil, Sonahat,
Sonamasjid, Hili, Teknaf, Bibirbazar
and Banglabandha remain active.
Developments of Bilonia,
Gobrakura-Karaituli, Ramgarh,
Chilahati, Tegamukh, Doulatganj,
Sheola, Dhanuakamalpur, Balla,
Darshana and Biral land ports are
underway, he said.
He said Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina's government brought a total of
12 land ports under gazette in 2001.
But only two were kept active from
2001 to 2008 during the BNP-Jamaat
alliance and military backed caretaker
government, he said.
Since Awami League led grand
alliance government assumed office in
2009, a total of 11 ports were brought
under gazette.
The meeting was told foundation
stone of headquarters of Land Port
Authority will be laid at its own land at
Agargaon in the capital to further boost
up activities of the land ports.
Shipping Secretary Md Abdus
Samad and Bangladesh Land Port
Authority Chairman Tapan Kumar
Chakravorty were present in the meeting.
Students of Dhaka University formed a human chain at the foot of Aparajeyo Bangla on Tuesday demanding
punishment of suicide instigators of Taifur Rahman Protik.
Photo : TBT
Bangladesh at risk as Greenland ice
melting faster: Scientists
DHAKA : Greenland is melting faster
than scientists previously thought, with
the pace of ice loss increasing four-fold
since 2003, new research has found,
reports UNB.
The research provides fresh evidence of
the dangers posed to vulnerable coastal
places as diverse as Bangladesh, Miami,
Shanghai and various Pacific islands as
climate change shrinks the world's landbased
ice, reports the Guardian citing the
study.
The study, published in Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences, used
data from Nasa's gravity recovery and climate
experiment (known as Grace) and
GPS stations scattered across Greenland
to analyze changes in ice mass.
Enormous glaciers in Greenland are
depositing ever larger chunks of ice into
the Atlantic ocean, where it melts. But
scientists have found that the largest ice
loss in the decade from 2003 actually
occurred in the southwest region of the
island, which is largely glacier-free.
This suggests surface ice is simply
melting as global temperatures rise, causing
gushing rivers of meltwater to flow
into the ocean and push up sea levels.
South-west Greenland, not previously
thought of as a source of woe for coastal
cities, is set to "become a major future
contributor to sea level rise," the research
states. This suggests surface ice is simply
melting as global temperatures rise, causing
gushing rivers of meltwater to flow
into the ocean and push up sea levels.
Overall, the scientists said, the melt of
Antarctica added water equivalent to 13.2
millimetres of sea level rise over the past
four decades.
Arctic ice loss has tripled since the
1980s, with melting in places such as
Greenland and Alaska providing the
greatest instigator of sea level rise while
destabilising the very ground underneath
four million people's feet.
"We knew we had one big problem
with increasing rates of ice discharge by
some large outlet glaciers," said Michael
Bevis, lead author of the paper and a professor
of geodynamics at Ohio State
University.
"But now we recognise a second serious
problem: increasingly, large amounts
of ice mass are going to leave as meltwater,
as rivers that flow into the sea."
Antarctica is becoming an increasing
concern, however, with ice vanishing at
its fastest rate in recorded history. The
world's largest expanse of ice is now losing
around 219bn tonnes of ice a year, a
trajectory that would contribute more
than 25cm to total global sea level rise by
2070.
Should the entire west Antarctic ice
sheet collapse, sea levels would balloon
by around 3.5m, albeit over a lengthy
timeframe.
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