21-08-2020

frIday

DhAkA: August 21, 2020; Bhadra 6, 1427 BS; Muharram 1, 1442 hijri

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net

Regd.No.DA~2065, Vol.17; N o.146; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00

InternatIonal

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Bangladesh reports

41 COVID-19 deaths

DHAKA : Bangladesh yesterday recorded

41 novel coronavirus (COVID-19)

deaths and 2,868 fresh cases overnight.

The recovery count rose to 1, 68,911 after

another 3,253 patients were discharged

from the hospitals during the period, a

press release of the Directorate General

of Health Services (DGHS) said.

"Forty-one more COVID-19 patients

died in the last 24 hours, increasing the

death toll from the pandemic to 3,822,"

the release said.

It said the tally of infections has

surged to 2,87,959 as 2,868 new cases

were confirmed in the last 24 hours.

A total of 14,059 samples were tested

at 91 authorized laboratories across the

country during the time.

Of the total sample tests in the past 24

hours, 20.40 percent tested positive,

while 20.46 percent cases were detected

from the total tests conducted so far,

the release added.

Among the total infections, 58.69

percent patients have recovered, while

1.33 percent died so far since the first

COVID-19 positive cases were reported

in the country on March 8.

Among the 41 deaths, 32 are male

and nine female, the press release said,

adding one is in his 20s, one in his 30s,

one in his 40s, eight in their 50s, while

30 are above 60 years.

According to the division-wise data,

19 deaths took place in Dhaka division,

eight in Khulna division and rests are in

other divisions.

Among the total 3,822 deaths, 1,831

deaths occurred in Dhaka division, 858

in Chattogram division, 250 in

Rajshahi division, 313 in Khulna division,

149 in Barishal division, 179 in

Sylhet division, 160 in Rangpur division

and 82 in Mymensingh division,

according to the press release.

Covid-19 : Tangail MP,

wife admitted to CMH

TANGAIL : Lawmaker of Tangail-7

constituency Akabbar Hossain and his

wife have been admitted to Combined

Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka as

both of them tested positive for coronavirus.

Mohammad Tahrim Hossain,

son of MP Akabbar and also the vicepresident

of the central unit of

Bangladesh Chhatra League,said his

father and mother Jharna Hossain

were taken to CMH on Wednesday

night as per the directive of the Prime

Minister, reports UNB.

They are now undergoing treatment

at the ICU of the hospital, he said.

MP Akabbar, also a freedom fighter

and his wife have been suffering from

respiratory problem, fever and sore

throat. Later, their samples were sent for

test at a private hospital on Tuesday and

the results came on Wednesday.

Zuma

04:18 AM

01:30 PM

04:35 PM

06:31 PM

07:48 PM

5:35 6:28

DHAKA : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

on Thursday asked the Bangladesh

Export Zone Authority (BEZA) to promote

small entrepreneurs, particularly

the young generation, alongside attracting

foreign investment.

"It (BEZA) will have to work in a way

so that foreign investment comes on one

hand and local people can invest on the

other, or we can promote small

investors. That means we need to attract

and promote our young generation," she

said while addressing the 7th meeting of

the BEZA Governing Board.

The Prime Minister said the young

generation should not only run after

jobs as they can do something (take ventures).

"We'll have to work keeping eyes

on these," she added. She joined the virtual

meeting from her official residence

Ganobhaban through a videoconference,

while other participants were connected

from the Prime Minister's Office

and the Cabinet Division office.

Sheikh Hasina said the government is

setting up special economic zones across

the country to attract investment, create

jobs and protect arable and forest lands.

"There's no doubt our economy is an

agriculture dependent one but we need

industrialisation at the same time.

Because, no country can make progress

without industrialisation," she said.

The Prime Minister said the government

has been on all-out efforts to gear

up industrialisation with a view to creating

jobs, enhancing production, raising

the purchasing power of people, fulfilling

local demands and boosting exports.

"While going for industrialisation,

we've to keep it in mind that arable lands

must be protected to ensure food security

for the growing population in a small

country like Bangladesh. It's

[Bangladesh] a delta nation. So, it's also

indispensable to maintain the balance of

nature. With eyes on these, we'll have to

create jobs simultaneously," she said.

Sheikh Hasina said the government

wants to set up special economic zones not

only in Dhaka or port areas but also across

the entire country as it has a goal to create

jobs for a huge population and use agricultural

goods as raw materials for the agricultural

industry or food-processed one.

The government, she said, has been

providing various incentives to attract

local and foreign investment.

Mentioning that Bangladesh has

already gained much progress in drawing

investments and building small

entrepreneurs, Sheikh Hasina hoped

that her government would be able to

continue this progress.

HC rejects Shipra's plea

seeking action against cops

DHAKA : The High Court on Thursday

rejected a writ petition seeking action

against two policemen who had posted

Shipra Rani Devnath's personal photos

on Facebook with provocative comments.

An HC bench of Justice JBM Hassan

and Justice Md Khairul Alam rejected

the petition saying 'not placed' before

the court, reports UNB.

Supreme Court lawyer Barrister

Manoj Kumar Bhowmik, said the writ

will be place before another HC bench

as the court rejected it.

On August 16, Supreme Court lawyer

Barrister Manoj Kumar Bhowmik filed

the writ petition and sought order for

taking action against the two policemen

after investigating the incident.

The writ also urged the court to seek

explanation as to why circulating the

personal images won't be declared illegal

and unlawful.

Six people, including Inspector General

of Police (IGP), Senior Home Secretary,

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of

Khulna Range Police, two top officers of

Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) were

made respondents.

While talking to reporters,

Barrister Manoj said he had filed the

writ petition on the basis of a report

published in an English daily on

Sunday titled "Cyberbullying now

adds to her trauma."

Quoting Shipra's brother Shuvojit,

the report stated that a group of people,

including some top-ranking police officials,

have been posting her personal

photographs along with provocative

comments on Facebook.

Superintendent of Satkhira Police

(SP) Mostafijur Rahman and PBI SP

Mohammad Mizanur Rahman Shelley

were named in the report.

Major (retd) Rashed Md Sinha was

killed in police firing at Baharchhara

police check-post on July 31.

Shipra Rani Devnath and Sifat, two

students of Stamford University in the

capital, were companions of Sinha in

his Cox's Bazar trip for making a travel

documentary.

Crews worked in blistering heat Wednesday to beat back wildfires that ignited across Northern

California, sending thousands of people from their homes into smoky air, briefly halting traffic on

an interstate and killing a pilot on a firefighting mission.

Photo : AP

Today, the infamous August 21 revisits the lives of the Bengali people. On this day in 2004, a grenade

attack in a Dhaka peace rally called on by Awami League, killed 24 high level party leaders and injured

400 other activists. Many dedicated supporters shielded with their bodies to protect the party president

and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Photo: Star Mail

Fake Covid-19 certificates

Charges framed

against Sabrina,

7 others

DHAKA : A Dhaka court on Thursday

framed charges against eight people

including JKG Health Care Chairman

Dr Sabrina Sharmin Hussain in a case

accusing them of issuing fake Covid-

19 certificates. All the accused pleaded

not guilty before the court of

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md

Sorafuzzaman Ansari.

The court fixed August 27 to start the

trial proceedings.

Others accused in the case are JKG

Healthcare's CEO and Dr Sabrina's husband

Ariful Haque Chowdhury, Arif's sister

Jebunnesa Rima, his accomplices

Sayed Chowdhury, Humayun Kabir and

his wife Tanzila Patwari and Shafiqul

Islam, Biplob Das and Mamunur Rashid.

On August 5, Md Liakot Ali, an

inspector of Detective Branch (DB) and

also the investigation officer (IO) of the

case, submitted the charge sheet before

the court.

According to the charge sheet, JKG

Healthcare has provided 27,000 coronavirus

reports without following proper

test procedures while most of them

were found false. The case was filed

against six people, including Ariful,

over issuing false Covid-19 test reports.

On June 23, police arrested six people,

including Ariful, Humayun Kabir and his

wife Tanjina Patwari, from JKG

Healthcare office at the Confidence Tower,

Gulshan in connection with the case.

Railway to operate more

36 trains from Aug 27

DHAKA : Amid the ongoing coronavirus

situation in the country, Bangladesh

Railway is going to operate thirty-six

more trains from next Thursday (Aug 27)

through maintaining the health guidelines

and physical distance.

The decision came following an office

order signed by Bangladesh Railway's

deputy director M Khairul Kabir.

These railway services are: Paharika

and Udyan on Chattogram-Sylhet-

Chattogram route, Egaro Sindhur Provati

on Dhaka-Kishorganj-Dhaka, Jamuna

express on Dhaka-Tarakandi-Dhaka

route, Egaro Sindhur Godhuli on Dhaka-

Kishorganj-Dhaka, Sonar Bangla express

on Chattogram-Dhaka-Chattogram,

Chattala express on Chattogram-Dhaka-

Chattogram route, Kortoa express on

Shantahar-Burimari-Shantahar,

Barendra express on Rajshahi-Chilahati-

Rajshahi, Silk city express on Rajshahi-

Dhaka-Rajshahi, Sagardari express on

Khulna-Rajshahi-Khulna, Dolonchapa

express on Shantahar-Dinajpur-

Shantahar, Dalarchar express on

Dhalarchar-Rajshahi-Dalarchar, Dhaka/

Chattogram Mail on Chattogram-Dhaka-

Chattogram, Dewanganj commuter on

Dhaka-Dewanganj Bazar-Dhaka, Balaka

commuter on Dhaka-Jaria Jhanjail-

Dhaka, Bogura commuter on Shantahar-

Lalmonirhat-Shantahar, Rocket express

on Khulna-Parbotipur-Khulna and

Chilahati express on Parbotipur-

Chilahati-Parbotipur route.

After suspending the passenger railway

services on March 24 due to the

spread of coronavirus, the operation of

first eight pairs or sixteen trains began

on May 31.

The railway resumed more twentytwo

train services for the second time

on June 3. The operation of four trains

was suspended again, said the railway

sources.

Meanwhile, a total of twenty-six train

services -twenty-four are intercity and

two commuter services-resumed on

August 16. The intercity train service

tickets will be sold online and mobile

apps, said the railway authority.

Only 50 per cent tickets of the total

seat capacity of the trains will be sold

and sale of all standing tickets for the

intercity train services will remain

stopped.

Railway is operating a total of 355

cargo and passenger trains-where 100

are intercity trains.

Govt plans to revitalise ICT sector

DHAKA : The government has taken a

series of mid-term plans to flourish

information communication and technology

(ICT) through spreading various

components of this sector across the

country.

Under the plans, there will be solarpowered

base stations in remote areas

of the country while modern telecommunication

facilities will be increased

through strengthening network coverage,

according to a government document,

reports UNB.

It says the 4G coverage and service

will be spread up to the union level in

addition to taking steps to start the

activities of setting up of 5G network.

More importantly, the document

says, initiatives will be taken to implement

the National Equipment Identity

Register (NEIR) under the plan.

The NEIR system solution would be

like a centralised database registry of all

mobile devices (IMEI), which keeps

information about all the mobile gadgets

within the country using all Mobile

Network Operators (MNO) Equipment

Identity Register (EIR). The information

about the unregistered devices can

also be detected by the operator's network.

The advantage in having the

NEIR is that it will empower each network

operator to restrict or prevent the

operation of any given mobile handset

throughout all MNO's network that are

linked to it.

According to the document, priority

will be given for the modernisation and

expansion of spectrum monitoring

management.

As per the Vision 2021, the document

says, the country will be turned into

'Digital Bangladesh' by 2021.

The Information and

Communication Division is implementing

various projects and programmes

like setting up hi-tech parks,

growing up skilled manpower through

ICT, establishing digital literacy centres

and digital content industries, stimulus

packages for ICT sector.

The Division is implementing these

for ensuring the universal usage of

everyone after digital transformation.

The government has also taken a

scheme titled 'Formulation of e-government

master plan for Digital

Bangladesh project' for skilled and

effective implementation of the 'Digital

Bangladesh' vision.

FridAY, August 21, 2020

2

Four storied iCt building of digraj degree College was inaugurated in Bagerhat yesterday.

Bangabandhu's killing designed to destroy

secular spirit of Liberation War: speakers

DHAKA : Speakers at a webinar said

the killers of Bangabandhu and the

conspirators tried to destroy the secular

spirit of 1971 Liberation War by

converting Bangladesh into an Islamic

Republic.

They laid emphasis on helping the

young generation know proper history

about how the killers of August 15, 1975

were rehabilitated and the activities of

the then governments after 1975.

The researchers and politicians

talked about the role of Khandaker

Mostaque Ahmed, General Ziaur

Rahman, HM Ershad and Khaleda Zia

with elaborate information and how

they rewarded the killers of August 15

saying these activities are needed to be

recorded for the next generation.

The speakers also spoke about the

roles of various countries at that time.

How Mostaque joined conspiracy to

overthrow Bangabandhu's government

and grabbed presidency, declared

martial law after the assassination of

Bangabandhu and the overthrow of his

government on August 15, 1975 were

discussed.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs M

Shahriar Alam, columnist and

researcher Syed Badrul Ahsan,

columnist Subhash Singha Roy,

Professor Shams Rahman and writer

and researcher Hasan Morshed joined

the discussion moderated by Prime

Minister's Special Assistant Barrister

Shah Ali Farhad.

The State Minister said the primary

destination of the killers was Bangkok

2 girls 'gang

raped' in

thakurgaon:

2 held

THAKURGAON : Two

young girls have reportedly

been gang raped by some

youths in Pirganj upazila of

Thakurgaon district, reports

UNB.

Police said the incident

took place on Monday and a

case was filed in this

connection against five

people the following day.

The accused are Nayan,

son of Altafur Rahman,

Farid Hossain, son of

Khalilur Rahman, Selim,

son of Fazlur Rahman,

Sabuj, son of Osman Ali and

Hiren Chandra Sheel, son of

Haridas Chandra Sheel of

Pirganj upazila.

Khairul Alam, officer-incharge

of Pirganj Police

Station, said Nayan, who

was an acquaintance of one

of the victims of

Ranishankoil upazila, asked

the victim to meet him in the

name of providing a good

job.

When the victim along

with another girl went to the

designated place, Nayan

along with four people took

them to the house of another

accused Sabuj tactfully.

Later, they violated the

two girls in turns.

On Tuesday, the two

victims returned home and

informed the matter to their

families. One of the victim's

father filed a case with

Pirganj Police Station.

Police arrested Nayan and

Sabuj in this connection.

and they were continuously rewarded

by Mostaque, Zia, Ershad and Khaleda.

On August 15, 1975, the Greatest

Bangalee of all time, Father of the

Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman along with most of his family

members was assassinated.

Eighteen members of Bangabandhu's

family including Bangamata Sheikh

Fazilatunnesa Mujib, three sons-

Captain Sheikh Kamal, Lieutenant

Sheikh Jamal and 10-year old Sheikh

Russel, two daughters-in-law Sultana

Kamal and Rosy Jamal, brother Sheikh

Abu Naser, peasant leader Abdur Rab

Serniabat, youth leader Sheikh Fazlul

Haq Moni and his pregnant wife Arzu

Moni, Baby Serniabat, Sukanta Babu,

Arif and Abdul Nayeem Khan Rintu,

among others, were also killed on that

fateful night.

Bangabandhu's Military Secretary

Brigadier General Jamil was also

murdered.

Several members of a family died in

the capital's Mohammadpur area by

artillery shells fired by the killers on the

same day.

Shahriar said the government knows

the location of two of the killers.

The fugitives are: Col (dismissed)

Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Lt Col

(relieved) Shariful Haque Dalim, Maj

(retd) Noor Chowdhury, Maj (retd)

Rashed Chowdhury and Risaldar

Moslehuddin Khan.

Noor Chowdhury is now in Canada

while Rashed Chowdhury in the USA

and other fugitives-Rashid, Dalim and

Moslehuddin are likely to be in

Pakistan, Libya and any African

country.

"We hope we'll be able to locate

them," Shahriar said adding that there

is a challenge as the killers changed

their names.

He said the government efforts will

continue until the fugitive killers are

brought back to execute court verdict.

Journalist Babrul Ahsan said the

killers of August 15 were seen again and

again after 1975 and they always

maintained a good connection with

Libya. The journalist also mentioned

the role of Pakistan, USA and Libya at

that time.

He also described how Zia, Ershad

and Khaleda built up friendship with

Pakistan. "We shouldn't forget who

played what role. Young generation

should know it. The history needs to be

recorded," said the senior journalist.

Shams Rahman also laid emphasis

on keeping the young generation

informed about the events. "It's

everybody's responsibility to keep

writing on those episodes."

Subhash Singha Roy described how

the conspiracy kept rolling before and

after 1975, formation of Freedom Party

and the killers of Bangabandhu were

given protection.

He said even the innocent students

were fed distorted historical facts.

The anti-liberation forces involved in

the carnage initiated the politics of

killing, coup and conspiracy in the

country right after the August 15, 1975.

Embankment breached, 20

villages inundated in Bhola

BHOLA : At least 20 villages have been

flooded after the Meghna River burst its

banks breaching an embankment in Bhola

Sadar upazila, reports UNB.

Ferry services on Bhola-Laxmipur route

and launches on Bhola-Barisal route have

been suspended due to inclement weather,

causing immense suffering for the

passengers of the routes, said KM Emran

Khan, manager of ferry service on Bhola-

Laxmipur route.

The 15-m embankment of Bangladesh

Water Development Board was breached at

Murad Chhabulla village in East Ilisha Union

of Sadar Upazila on Thursday morning, said

Executive Engineer Mahmud Hossain of

BWDB. Several villages in the area have been

flooded due to high tide, locals said.

Besides, Meghna River is flowing above

the danger level in Bhola since the morning,

flooding at least 20 villages near the

embankment.

According to local weather office, there was

moderate to heavy rains in the district since

Wednesday night.

The meteorological office has recorded

26mm rainfall till morning, pushing up

Meghna's water level.

When the tide came again in the afternoon,

the tidal water rushed through the broken

part and inundated a few villages.

Several thousand went under 3-4 feet

water. Croplands were flooded and fishes in

the ponds were washed away.

At least 20 villages of Rajapur, Dhania,

Kachia, Shibpur, Madarpur of Daulatkhan,

Char Hazari of Bhabanipur, Ward no 6, 7,

Syedpur, Charpata, Borhanuddin, Monpura

and Tajumuddin have been submerged,

leaving several thousand people marooned.

However, BWDB has taken initiative to

repair the embankment. They will repair the

damaged part quickly when the water

recedes, said the engineer.

Mayor Mohammad Hanif Memorial Foundation organized a human chain

program in the capital city yesterday demanding hang of main planners of

21 August grenade attackers. Photo : Courtesy

Photo : PBA

BLuE Mountains

(NZ) LiMitEd

postpones sand

supplying work

tBt desk: BLUE

Mountains (NZ) LIMITED

recently canceled all work

orders which were issued for

supplying sand at the solar

power project at Baradi

union in Narayanganj.

The company took the

decision as their Australian

consultant will not be able to

come to Bangladesh due to

the current COVID-19

pandemic around the globe.

Decision regarding the

matter will be taken if

overall coronavirus situation

improves. The company

requested all to contact the

following address if

necessary, Dr. Jamal Uddin

Ahmed, Director, BLUE

Mountains (NZ) LIMITED,

Dhanmondi, Dhaka, email:

ja7856436@gmail.com.

Physician dies

of Covid-19 in

Moulvibazar

MOULVIBAZAR : A doctor,

who was undergoing

treatment at a hospital in

Moulvibazar after being

infected with Vocid-19, died

on Thursday morning,

reports UNB.

The deceased were

identified as Dr Syed Akter

Hossain, deputy -director

(retd) of Family Planning

Department of Moulvibazar

hospital and a senior

member of District

Bangladesh Medical

Association (BMA).

Dr Roksana Wahid Rahi,

medical officer of District

Civil Surgeon office, said Dr

Hossain breathed his last

around 7 am at Mount

Edora Hospital in Sylhet.

He had tested positive for

coronavirus one week ago

and since then he was

undergoing treatment at the

hospital.

He was buried at his

family graveyard in

Rajnagar upazila of the

district.

Launch services

suspended on Paturiadaulatdia,

Aricha-

Kazirhat routes

MANIKGANJ : Authorities

on Thursday morning

suspended launch services

on Paturia-Daulatdia and

Aricha-Kazirhat launch

routes for inclement

weather. However, the ferry

services remain normal,

reports UNB.

Panna Lal Nandi,

supervisor of Paturia

Launch Ghat, said that the

services came to a halt at

8:30am to avoid risks amid

the stormy weather.

The launch service will be

resume when the weather

will be favorable again.

According to sources,18

launches operate on Paturia-

Daulatdia and 16 on Aricha-

Kazirhat routes.

tk 421-cr project to save Chandpur

town awaits approval

CHANDPUR : The district administration of

Chandpur has sent a project proposal with

an outlay of Tk 421 crore to the Ministry of

Water Resources for its approval to protect

the town from bank erosion by the Meghna

River, reports UNB.

Officials said riverbank erosion wreaks

havoc on the district town every year, leaving

thousands of people homeless.

Erosion by the Meghna River has taken a

serious turn over the last one week in Puran

Bazar area of the district town, forcing

hundreds of people to move their belongings

to safer areas.

A 25-metre area along the river has already

gone into the gorge of the mighty river while

another 100 metres stand threatened by

erosion.

The river was flowing 40.27 centimetres

above its danger level on Wednesday.

According to Chandpur Water

Development Board, the local

administration has taken the project to

permanently protect the residents and

establishments in the district town from

erosion.

The project has been sent to the Water

Resources Ministry and now the proposal is

under scrutiny, said an official at the Water

Development Board.

During a recent visit to the erosion-hit

area, Chief Engineer of Water Development

Board (Cumilla zone) Zahir Uddin Ahmed

said, "We've taken a project to protect the

district town from riverbank erosion

permanently. We've submitted the project to

the ministry concerned for its approval.The

project works include renovation of a 3.5-km

area of the town protection embankment."

"We've conducted a study on how to make

the embankment stronger after examining

the water flow of the Padma, Meghna

andDakatia rivers. Once the project is

implemented, the district town will be free

from riverbank erosion," said Zahid Uddin.

He said many parts of the bank protection

embankment have got damaged for lack of

maintenance and strong current during

monsoon.

Besides, he said, a 150-metre part at

Harishavha in Puran Bazar area collapsed in

2019, he added.

Although renovation work was carried out

on an emergency basis, now a 100-metre

area of the embankment are under threat of

erosion as many cracks have developed at

three points of the area, said Zahir Uddin.

The local administration has kept GO

sandbags ready in the erosion-prone areas to

protect the embankment, he added.

scotiabank in $127.4 mn us

settlement on rigged trades

The Bank of Nova Scotia will pay $127.4

million to settle charges of attempted market

manipulation and making false statements

to regulators, US authorities announced

Wednesday, reports BSS.

Between 2008 and 2016, four precious

metals traders with the Canadian bank

engaged in fraudulent trades in gold, silver,

platinum and palladium, according to the US

Justice Department.

The transactions were canceled out before

they were executed, but moved the market in

a way that benefited the traders' positions,

DOJ said in a press release.

"For the markets to work fairly, everyone

needs to be able to make trading decisions

with consistent, accurate information," said

US Attorney Craig Carpenito.

"In the conduct described here, four

Scotiabank traders attempted to rig precious

metals futures prices in their favor by placing

thousands of orders they knew they would

cancel before the trades were executed. In

this way, they sought to illegally manipulate

the market to their own advantage and to the

6-storey building tilts in

Chattogram, residents

evacuated

CHATTOGRAM : A six-storey building in Chattogram's

Patiya municipality tilted on Thursday, prompting the local

authorities to evacuate the residents to avert accidents.

Sixteen families lived in the building built by an

expatriatefive years ago.

Patiya Municipality Engineer Mizanur Rahman

Khandakar blamed flaws in construction for the tilting. Local

authorities have already sealed off the building, Rahman said

adding that the owner has been asked to demolish it.

House owner's brother Jahed said the building's

construction cost Tk 2 crore. It will be reconstructed

following the experts' suggestions, he said.

uK inflation jumps on virus

fallout, rebounding oil

Inflation in Britain rose to its highest level in four months in

July, fuelled by rebounding oil prices and businesses passing

on the costs of the coronavirus pandemic, data showed on

Wednesday, reports BSS.

The annual inflation rate, as measured by the UK's

Consumer Prices Index, rose to 1.0 percent in July from 0.6

percent in June, the Office for National Statistics said in a

statement.

It is the highest level since March and comes after inflation

slowed to a four-year low of 0.5 percent in May when Britain

was in coronavirus lockdown.

disadvantage of other traders."

Scotiabank reached a deferred prosecution

agreement with the DOJ to settle the

charges, agreeing to appoint an independent

monitor for three years and cooperate with

other ongoing investigations.

The Commodity Futures Trading

Commission (CFTC), which oversaw a

parallel civil case, rapped Scotiabank for

making "multiple statements" to CFTC staff

that "were later proven to be false," said a

CFTC press release.

"Entities seeking to cooperate with the

CFTC, like all others that interact with the

Commission, must tell the truth," said CFTC

enforcement director James McDonald.

"When entities are not completely truthful,

they will be penalized."

Scotiabank said it would comply with the

agreements.

"At Scotiabank, we understand that in

order to maintain the trust of our

stakeholders, we must adhere to tradingrelated

regulatory requirements and

compliance policies," a bank statement said.

Police arrested five persons from Fatullah of Narayanganj yesterday in

allegation of raping a garment worker.

Photo : star Mail

govt. increases

privileges for

FFs -Khaleque

KHULNA : Khulna Mayor

Talukder Abdul Khaleque

yesterday said present

government has increased

facilities for the freedom

fighters (FF) aiming to

honour country's great

heroes of the liberation war.

"The nation will honour

FFs forever as they infuse

their lives into liberation

war," he said this while

inaugurating a-three storied

construction works of

Shaheed Subeder Major

Joynal Abedin Government

Primary School at City's

Sonadanga area as chief

guest, reports UNB.

Local Government

Engineering Department

(LGED) as part of the

Nationalized project for

Government Primary

School Infrastructure

Development will

implement the project by

April, 2021 at a cost of TK

1.75 crore.

FRIDAY, August 21, 2020

3

A discussion meeting and doa mahfil were organized at the Ministry of Local government and Rural

Development.

Photo : Courtesy

'Jibon Kheya': Bidyanondo's another

humanitarian initiative

DHAKA : Bidyanondo Foundation, a

voluntary organisation, and

Bangladesh Coastguard are jointly

going to launch a floating hospital

'Jibon Kheya' to provide poor people

living along rivers with healthcare

services, reports UNB.

Officials at the foundation said 'Jibon

Kheya' is being prepared as their

workers are refurbishing a tourist boat

now anchored in the Rupsha River in

Khulna, said a press release.

After launching a 100-bed Covid

hospital in just 14 days ago in

Chattogram's Patenga jointly with the

Chittagong Metropolitan Police

(CMP), 'Jibon Kheya' would be another

milestone for Bidyanondo Foundation,

which always resorts to creative ideas

in serving humanity.

Salman Khan, a Bidyanondo

volunteer, said on Wednesday that

they hope to prepare 'Jibon Kheya' in a

week as workers and volunteers with

the guidance of the coastguard are

working hard to transform a 21-cabin

tourist boat into the hospital. The boat

is now anchored at jailkhana ghat in

Khulna.

He said the coastguard is preparing

the primary route plan to provide

services to the poor people living along

rivers and the agency would ensure

security of the boat. "Apart from

doctors and nurses, at least eight

support staff will be there onboard to

ensure medical services."

In a statement, Chairman of the

Bidyanondo Foundation Kishor

Kumar Das said they took the decision

of launching the floating hospital to

ensure healthcare services to the

coastal people who have no other

choices but to live with natural

disasters such as floods and cyclones.

"People are suffering for prolonged

monsoon floods and recent cyclones.

Such natural disasters leave a trail of

destruction, killing people, taking away

people's livelihoods and destroying

their crops and everything. Many

become climate refugees. Moreover,

diseases overshadow their efforts to get

back to normal life," he said.

Kishore said they just want to ease

the sufferings of such people to some

extent by launching this floating

hospital. "We always tried to establish

some examples in serving the people

who need help during tough time. The

government is doing its part, others

have also come forward, but we always

want to come forward in a more

meaningful and creative way. We're

trying to fill in the gap. Jibon Kheya is

just another such effort."

Furniture

factory

gutted in

N'ganj fire

NARAYANGANJ : A

furniture factory was gutted

in a fire that broke out in

Ruposhi Karnagop area of

Rupganj upazila in

Narayanganj on Wednesday

evening.

Abdullah Al Arefin,

deputy assistant director of

Narayanganj Fire Service,

said fire originated at the

factory of Hatim Steel

Structure Limited on the

ground floor of the threestorey

building around 7:31

pm. Later, the blaze

engulfed the other floors,

reports UNB.

On information, 10

firefighting units rushed to

the spot and brought the fire

under control at 10:5pm,

said Farhadul Alam,, control

room operator at Fire

Service Headquarters.

"The extent of fire is

massive on the second floor

as flammable materials

were stored there," Arefin

said adding that no casualty

was reported in the

incident.

IEDCR gets

new director

DHAKA : The government

on Wednesday appointed Dr

Tahmina Shirin as the

director of the Institute of

Epidemiology, Disease

Control and Research

(IEDCR), reports UNB.

The Health Services

Division issued a gazette

notification in this regard

and said the notification will

come into effect on

Thursday.

Dr Tahmina is virology

professor of IEDCR.

Youth hacked

dead in city

DHAKA : A young man was

hacked to death at Pashchim

Merul Badda in the capital

Wednesday night.

The deceased was

identified as Hiron Sardar,

30, son of Alauddin Sardar

in Shariatpur's Bhedarganj

upazila, reports UNB.

Ruma Akter, his sister,

said some unidentified

people hacked Hiron

indiscriminately in Merul

Badda area soon after he left

home around 8:30pm.

When he was taken to

Dhaka Medical College

Hospital doctors declared

him dead around 10pm,

Ruma added.

Inspector Bachchu Mia,

in-charge of DMCH,

confirmed the information,

saying the body was kept at

the hospital morgue.

Meanwhile, Inspector

Yasin Gazi of Badda Police

Station said Hiron is wanted

in several cases.

Kamal seeks more Korean

investment in Bangladesh

DHAKA : Finance Minister AHM Mustafa

Kamal on Thursday urged the newly appointed

Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-

Keun to play an important role in bringing

more Korean investors to Bangladesh. The

Finance Minister made the call during a virtual

meeting with the Korean Ambassador, said a

Finance Ministry press release.

The Finance Minister informed the

Ambassador that Bangladesh's economy is

making a rebound from the COVID-19

pandemic with the help of over Taka one lakh

crore stimulus packages announced by the

Prime Minister and this is a high time for

bringing Korean investment in the

construction, high-tech and manufacturing

GD- 1062/20 (10 x 3)

sector in Bangladesh. Referring to the success

of Korean giant's investment in the country,

Kamal called upon the Korean Ambassador to

play his due role in bringing more Korean

investors to the country.

The government, he said, has trust and

confidence over the works of Korean

construction firms in various public works and

Korean giant Daewoo is also showing interest

over the construction of third Meghna Bridge

to be implemented under the Public Private

Partnership initiative.

Echoing with the Finance Minister, the

Korean Ambassador assured that his Embassy

would play a role in bringing more FDI from

Korea to Bangladesh.

GD- 1059/20 (10 x 4)

GD- 1060/20 (5 x 4)

FrIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2020

4

Women journalists & Aug 14

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com

Friday, August 21, 2020

Comprehensive and integrated

energy planning

It is very important to address the overall energy situation

under a carefully considered master plan that would address

all sides to the development of energy sources. Once it is

firmed up as soon as possible and clear signals are received about

its full implementation, the same will raise investors' confidence

and accelerate the growth momentum in the economy. Essentially,

such a comprehensive plan for the energy sector must be an 'integrated'

one forging relationships in developmental activities

between the energy sector's sub sectors to lead cumulatively to a

desired outcome.

For example, both power generation and supply capacities have

increased a great deal. Serious load shedding is now more in the

imagination of people than a reality. But the dilapidated transmission

systems frustrate efficient distribution of power . Even after

additional generation of power, users cannot have the benefits of

the same all the time at all places as worn out transmission lines

fail to supply the additionally available power efficiently to them ;

the lines are found frequently getting disabled by accidents. Thus,

complete overhauling of the transmission lines needs to be a priority

as much as the on going all out drive to boost production of

power in tandem with targets

There will have to be comprehensive plans to know what the

effective demand for electricity is in the country and what would be

that demand, say, twenty-thirty years from now. More significantly,

it has to be similarly known how much of that power would be

aimed for production by using gas. And then it would be very

important to take stock of whether this amount of additional gas

would be produced in the coming years along with installation of

capacities to produce power from gas. In that case, matching

investments will have to be made in the gas sector in exploration

and production activities to find new deposits of gas and getting it

ready for supply to the power plants. In sum, there will have to be

synthesis in the operations of the two major sub-sectors in the

energy sector--power and gas -- so that the main goal of energy

availability for the users can be smoothly and progressively met.

The integrated policies in the energy sector must also examine

and clearly prepare a vision and guideline for the development of

energy sources in the other sub sectors such as coal, non conventional

power from wind, sun's rays, nuclear power, biofuel, etc.

Steps to be taken for the development of all of these alternative

energy sources should also be an integral part of the integrated plan

for the development of the energy sector as a whole. For instance,

plans should provide clear projections of the requirements of energy

to be met by the non conventional sources so that the same do

not conflict with planning objectives in the areas of the conventional

sources of energy.

According to reports, the country's lone crude oil refining plant,

Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) currently produces 1.5 million tons

of refined fuel oil and other petroleum products whereas the

annual demand for the same is 3.7 million tons. Thus, when production

at ERL has been remaining static or stagnant in the face

of rising demand, the state owned Bangladesh Petroleum

Corporation (BPC) has had no other option in this situation than

importing directly huge quantities of refined oil and other petroleum

products from international markets at higher prices in the

past. Clearly, the energy costs for the country could be much lower

if the ERL had been functioning at higher capacity.

According to various projections, the country's demand for

refined oil and other petroleum products would reach some 10 million

tons by 2030. In order to meet this demand, ERL needs to set

up its second refining plant at the fastest apart from carrying out

the urgent balancing, modernization and overhaul of the existing

plant. Government must mobilize funds on emergency basis for

the ERL's expansion and overhauling . The government may

decide to have long term contracts with suppliers of crude oil to get

the same at stable prices. But for receiving and storing of crude oil

also, the capacities of the ERL will have to be much increased and

improved.

Meanwhile, the country's own gas production must be increased

and also exploration activities to find more hydrocarbons. It seems

that pockets of oil in the existing gas fields have been already found.

Some of this oil, known as condensate, is already in use. More condensate

can probably be found in the existing gas fields and turned

into fuel oil for various uses. A major aim should be to use a bulk of

the produced gas in the country's road transportation sector by

replacing the use of imported diesel, petrol and octane with compressed

natural gas (CNG). The rate of CNG conversion of vehicles

will have to be speeded up for the purpose and the number of CNG

fuelling stations also must be simultaneously set up in greater number

so that the CNG converted vehicles can be serviced smoothly.

Conservation of power also must be recognized and addressed as

a priority under comprehensive energy planning. One may be

astounded to know how much of power is simply wasted every day

from keeping light bulbs switched on carelessly as the users have

underhand deals with meter readers to pay fixed amounts in bills

no matter how much power they consume.

Shopping malls remain lighted up long beyond authorized hours

and even the publicly operated street lights can be seen burning in

the day time because someone has had no time to switch them off

from a central control point.Easy bikes that run on power suck up

freely hundreds of megawatts of power from the supply lines for

charging their batteries. There is no regulation in the

matter.Unauthorized and temporary connections are taken from

power supply lines and there is hardly anycontrol over such

thieves. In sum, only from stopping such lack of care and stealing,

nearly one fourth of the current effective demand for electricity in

the country can be met.

Approximately 60% of our country's daily electric power consumption

is used to run electric motors. The digital intelligent

motor controllers (IMCs) when installed with an induction motor

provides optimal power management and results in energy savings

up to 40%. An IMC also can increase a motor's life by decreasing

its operating temperature. It is estimated that with the application

of IMCs, we can save up to 720 MW electricity daily.

Consumers in Bangladesh still are largely hooked to incandescent

bulbs (IBs). But the compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) can

give the same illumination as that of an IB with 80% less energy.

Moreover, the life span of CFLs are 10 times higher than IBs..

In Bangladesh, auxiliary consumption of the power plants is

about 6 to 7% of total generation. By proper energy auditing, energy

management and installation of the latest energy efficient

devices, auxiliary power consumption in the power plants can be

reduced significantly.

IT is a sign of the growing anarchy in the

country that the murder of a woman

journalist, Arooj Iqbal, in Lahore in

November 2019 should have become

controversial. Reporters without Borders

(RSF), a highly rated watchdog, insists that

she was killed because she was going to start

her own newspaper while the accused

challenged this version and got away by

paying compensation to the bereaved

family.

A week ago, RSF claimed that Arooj Iqbal

was killed to prevent her from publishing

her own newspaper and that the matter was

hushed up because of collusion between the

accused and the police. This version has

been rejected by the Pakistan Press

Foundation.

The facts of the case briefly are: Arooj

Iqbal started working for a newspaper Anti-

Crime published by one Dilawar. After she

had been at this job for 18 months Dilawar

married her. The marriage broke down

allegedly because of Dilawar's violent

behaviour towards her. She completed

preparations for bringing out her own

newspaper, Choice. One day before this

paper was to start coming out, Arooj was

shot dead.

The FIR filed by Arooj's brother accused

Dilawar, who was not arrested because he

was out of the country at the time of the

murder. However, an agreement was

reached at a panchayat managed by his

friends and he paid the bereaved family one

million rupees in compensation. Legal

opinion will endorse the RSF's repudiation

of the settlement under the Qisas and Diyat

law as any such proceedings could be valid

only if they had been held in a court of law.

When Dilawar paid diyat he accepted

responsibility for the murder and the law

should have taken its course. The obvious

conclusion is that the state, through the

government of Punjab, has a duty to reopen

the case.

The government's apathy towards women

journalists aggravates the plight of all

women in the country.

This case is an extreme example of the

threats to women journalists pointed out in

a joint statement by about 30 of them. The

allegations of attacks on women journalists

on social media are specific and grave. The

most significant part of the statement was

that the women journalists were being

prevented from exercising their right to free

speech and their right to participate in

public discourse. The statement had

accused members of the ruling party as

being their persistent denigrators.

The human rights minister has taken

notice of the complaint on social media as

well as during a parliamentary body

meeting with a delegation of the aggrieved

journalists on Tuesday. Unless some

meaningful action is taken against the

culprits who have been tormenting women

journalists, Shireen Mazari's gesture might

not even wash the tears of the victims of

harassment.

The government's apathy towards women

journalists aggravates the plight of all

women across the country. These

journalists understand the suffering of

womenfolk much better than their male

counterparts. The government does not take

I.A. rehMAn

GreGG JArreTT

women journalists' grievances seriously,

perhaps because it has convinced itself that

like other 'riff-raff', women journalists too

will get tired of shouting and things will

return to normal without any effort on its

part. The establishment ignores the fact that

unmitigated public grievances accumulate

in the minds of people and fuel their

alienation not only from the current

custodians of power but from the state itself.

It seems the government's contempt for

women journalists has its roots in its lack of

a forward-looking vision for the women of

Pakistan.

The same lack of vision characterised the

official part of the celebration of

Independence Day. The only positive

activity was the adoption of a resolution by

the National Assembly to the effect that the

Quaid-i-Azam's speech of Aug 11, 1947, may

be included in the country's educational

curriculum. This had been repeatedly

demanded by the defenders of the Quaid's

legacy. All those who have been delighted at

the passage of the resolution will have to

exert pressure on the establishment because

the strong lobby that wishes that the Quaid

had never made this speech will do

everything to obstruct the implementation

of the resolution.

What shocked many people was the fact

that they saw little of the Quaid-i-Azam on

TV channels. They saw again and again

Christopher Lee of Dracula fame strutting

across the stage. One is not comfortable

with the idea that Pakistan's children should

identify Jinnah with the face of Christopher

Lee. Live coverage of the Quaid's activities is

available with the information ministry. If it

was necessary to use filmed material on the

Quaid, much could be obtained from the

several documentaries made on the

Pakistan movement. The prime minister

spoke of a march to realise Jinnah's

Pakistan having begun. Even a layman

knows that the foundations of Jinnah's

Pakistan lie in citizenship-based

membership of a single nation in which all

citizens, regardless of caste, creed or colour,

are equal members.

Tailpiece: One of our federal ministers'

main duties is to discover in the prime

minister the qualities of head and heart and

of leadership which neither he nor anyone

else has suspected him of possessing.

Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari was

right up to a point in declaring that the

prime minister was the sole author of the

Kashmir narrative. So far no harm done.

But Ms Mazari went on to unburden her

spleen against the Foreign Office to an

extent that the worst critics of our foreign

policy would not like to do. The real target of

her outburst was Foreign Minister Shah

Mahmood Qureshi, and a broadside fired in

his direction would have been in order. But

she targeted the professionals at the Foreign

Office and thus violated a good convention

that forbids attacks on professional civil

servants who cannot return the

compliment. Let everybody try not to

extinguish the few of the hallowed

conventions that have survived in the state

of anarchy that exists in this country.

Source: Dawn

Schumer threat to Supreme Court justices might be a crime

Senate Minority Leader Chuck

Schumer, D-N.Y., stepped very close

to the line of felonious conduct.

Whether he crossed that line is debatable.

Speaking at a rally of abortion rights

supporters Wednesday in front of the

Supreme Court, Schumer deliberately

inflamed the crowd by taking direct aim

at two of the justices appointed by

President Trump - Neil Gorsuch and

Brett Kavanaugh. The rally was held as

the high court was hearing arguments on

a controversial Louisiana abortion access

law.

"I want to tell you Gorsuch," Schumer

said, "I want to tell you Kavanaugh. You

have released the whirlwind and you will

pay the price. You won't know what hit

you if you go forward with these awful

decisions."

What exactly was Schumer saying?

Was he implying that if the justices voted

in favor of the Louisiana law that

retribution in the form of violence should

or would be visited upon them? Did his

audience infer it?

An incensed Chief Justice John Roberts

responded with a rare rebuke of a

member of Congress when he issued a

statement that read, in part:

"Justices know that criticism comes

with the territory, but threatening

statements of this sort from the highest

levels of government are not only

inappropriate, they are dangerous."

Andrew McCarthy: Schumer threats to

justices in abortion case show Supreme

Court is a political institution

There is little question that Schumer's

statements were "threatening." Roberts

was also correct that the spoken words

were so incendiary in front of an enraged

crowd as to be "dangerous." The legal

issue is whether they rise to the level of

criminal threats, intimidation and

incitement.

Let's begin with the Constitution. The

right to free speech under the First

Amendment is not without its limits.

Individuals are not free to issue verbal

threats of physical harm. Several federal

statutes make it a crime to threaten

government officials, including judges.

A careful reading (or listening) of

Schumer's remarks reveals an obvious

threat. But a threat to do what? To

infuriate the crowd and incite violence?

To encourage or provoke an act of bodily

If the answers are yes, then criminal charges could conceivably

be brought. Yet, we all know that the reality is

quite different. no one expects the Justice Department to

bring criminal charges against the minority leader of the

U.S. Senate. Were it anyone else, the FBI and Justice

Department would be like wolves at the door.

Dr. John C. hUlSMAn

injury on the two Supreme Court

justices? This is unclear from the words

themselves.

In order for a threat to be criminal, the

harm must be specific and unequivocal.

For example, if a speaker were to say that

a person should be shot or his home set

ablaze, that would be clear and

unmistakable. In most cases - but not all

- vague or ambiguous words are not

enough.

Besieged by intense criticism, Schumer

claimed Thursday that his speech had

been misinterpreted and/or

misunderstood. He claimed that his "pay

the price" reference and the "you won't

know what hit you" remark were nothing

more than a personal estimation of the

"political consequences" that would

follow if the justices vote to uphold the

Louisiana abortion law.

"I shouldn't have used the words I did,

but in no way was I making a threat, I

never, never would do such a thing,"

Schumer said.

Thus, we are left with the vexing

dilemma of both meaning and intent.

Federal courts have long wrestled with

the question of what constitutes a "true

threat." Can it be determined by

Schumer's self-serving explanation after

the fact? No, according to most federal

courts.

The legal standard is not Schumer's

subjective intent. Rather, it is determined

objectively from the surrounding facts

and circumstances. That is, would a

reasonable person regard the statement

as a serious expression of a desire to

inflict bodily injury? Would that same

person reasonably fear for his or her

safety?

Source: Fox news

Beirut's tragedy was man-made

This past terrible Tuesday, a bloodied

young man stopped in a Beirut street

to speak to a Western reporter. In that

second, he spoke for us all in lamenting his

stricken city. "We're cursed. Even if this was

an accident, it is the last thing we could

afford," he said.

Of course, following the gargantuan

explosion - which killed hundreds, wounded

thousands and left more than a quarter of a

million people homeless - I felt for the young

man as well as his stricken country. But if he

was entirely right in his second point, that

the tragedy was absolutely the last thing his

hard-pressed country needed, surely he was

wrong to feel that hard-luck Lebanon is

cursed in some supernatural way. The

tragedy is that its calamities are almost

wholly man-made.

Take the likely cause of the explosion,

which was so vast that it obliterated whole

neighborhoods of the city near its epicenter

at the port, producing a sound so deafening

it could be heard in Cyprus 250 km away. A

huge store of the highly reactive chemical

ammonium nitrate - 2,750 tons - had been

stored in the port unsafely and quite

possibly illegally for fully six years. If this

amounts to an accident, it was an accident

waiting to happen.

The human rights minister has taken notice of the complaint

on social media as well as during a parliamentary

body meeting with a delegation of the aggrieved journalists

on Tuesday. Unless some meaningful action is taken

against the culprits who have been tormenting women

journalists, Shireen Mazari's gesture might not even wash

the tears of the victims of harassment.

The bleak truth is that Lebanon has been

rotting from within for quite a while in

political risk terms; plagued by a

fragmented elite that tends to see the

traditional, intricate division of its

government along religious and ethnic lines

as a sort of spoils system, rather than a

meritocratic calling.

The results of years of fecklessness are

plain to see in the country's cratering

economy. Nearly half of Lebanon's

population live below the poverty line, as

even official statistics make it plain that an

eye-watering 35 percent of its people are out

of work. Since March, Lebanon's currency,

the lira, has plummeted by a drastic 80

percent. In March, the country defaulted on

its debts for the first time. The present rate

of public debt amounts to $92 billion

overall, nearly 170 percent of gross domestic

product, which is one of the highest rates in

the world.

The hapless government, despite such

drastic realities, has been unable to reach a

deal for desperately needed funds with the

International Monetary Fund, as the

organization is leery of Lebanon's endemic

economic mismanagement and reputation

for corruption. So the former pearl of the

Middle East was already an economic

basket case, even before this week's tragedy.

Beneath all this economic haplessness lies

fundamental political dysfunction, both

within and without. Geostrategically,

Lebanon is deeply unlucky to share its

borders with both utterly chaotic Syria as

well as long-time nemesis Israel, with which

it is still technically at war. Even after the

brutal, complex civil war of 1975-1990, its

two neighbors occupied swaths of Lebanese

territory for close to a further 20 years.

While one can have only limited sympathy

for Lebanon's elite, it is also true that it is

next to impossible to run a country whose

basic territorial boundaries are incapable of

being secured.

If the country is threatened from without,

amounting to a failed state, major political

parties within the country also fail to put

Lebanon first. The Iranian-backed

Hezbollah, often the kingmakers of

Lebanese politics and always a major force

to be reckoned with, are far more interested

as to what their financier Tehran desires

than to the regeneration of the country as a

whole.

The former pearl of the Middle East was

already an economic basket case, even

before this week's explosion.

For example, in 2013, in accordance with

Iran's wishes, Hezbollah chose to fight

alongside the discredited Assad regime in

Syria, even though doing so served Iranian

interests and predictably hurt those of its

own country. Following Hezbollah's

intervention, a number of Gulf states leveled

sanctions against the Lebanese government,

hitting both its vital tourist industry and

halting remittances, another major source

of income as more Lebanese live abroad

than actually reside in the country.

In further disregard of Lebanese national

interests, predictably and catastrophically,

1.5 million refugees from the Syrian conflict

came over the border, swamping the

country. So even within Lebanon, one of its

major political parties demonstrably does

not champion the beleaguered country's

own interests.

Things finally came to a head in October

last year, when, with people utterly

disgusted by all of this, major protests arose

in more than 70 Lebanese towns, decrying

endemic corruption, endless austerity

without gain, and even the country's lack of

basic infrastructure; in Lebanon, the tap

water is not safe to drink and electricity

blackouts are a way of life.

Source: Arab news

FrIDAY, August 21, 2020

5

Pornhub needs to shut down

Kate ISaaCS

the news that 350,000 people - and

counting - have signed a petition calling on

Pornhub - the world's most popular porn

site - to stop posting non-consensual videos

and marketing them as "pornography" is

not surprising to me.

Pornhub's argument that "extremists"

are lobbying to shut them down is

ridiculous. I'm non-religious, liberal and

sex positive and in no way "anti-porn". I

started the #notYourPorn campaign after a

friend had her iCloud account hacked last

year.

Videos of her and an ex had been stolen

from her phone and then uploaded to

Pornhub. Pornhub is owned by a multinational,

multi-billion dollar tech company

called mindgeek. mindgeek have offices in

the uK, although they're registered in

Luxembourg and their main office is based

in montreal, Canada.

mindgeek's monopoly over the

commercialised porn industry is

staggering. Pornhub is not their only site -

they also own Youporn among others, and

also own production companies that make

pornography.

In one year there were 42bn visits to

Pornhub and 6m videos uploaded. to put

that into context that's 115m visits per day,

Peter Beaumont

a newly announced aid

programme that promises to

help workers in the

developing world supplying

goods to British high street

chains like marks & Spencer,

Primark and morrisons has

been condemned for using

taxpayers' money to "pick up

the bill" for improving

workforce conditions.

the £6.85m scheme,

announced on thursday by

international development

secretary anne-marie

trevelyan, is being

promoted explicitly as

benefitting British

consumers to ensure they

"can continue to buy

affordable, high quality

goods from around the

world".

trevelyan added: "this

new fund will strengthen

vital supply chains for uK

consumers, while

supporting some of the most

vulnerable workers in

developing countries. It will

make a real difference to

people in the uK and

abroad."

the statement from

trevelyan, headlined uK

aid to Protect High Street

Supply Chains, suggests that

the partnership - which will

see the uK government

contribute £4.85m - is

designed to "support

workers in developing

countries during the

coronavirus pandemic and

help keep some of the uK's

favourite products on high

street shelves", adding that it

would benefit nearly 1

million people.

the announcement of the

scheme follows mounting

which Pornhub points out it's the

"equivalent of the populations of Canada,

australia, Poland and the netherlands"

We have tried to have my friend's videos

taken down: we told the company that she

was underage, that she didn't consent to

being on their website and still it took

several weeks to remove it. unfortunately,

by then the damage was already done.

When one video had been removed, an

identical video with her full name attached

would pop back up again.

this cycle of reporting the video to

Pornhub, delayed removal and subsequent

re-uploading continued for months - until

she ended up on Pornhub's top five

trending videos in the uK. my friend fell

into a state of depression at the knowledge

that she had been reduced to a search term,

the #NotYourPorn campaign is calling on the ban the porn giant

Pornhub until it cleans up its non-consensual sexual abuse content

Photo: #NotYourPorn campaign

her body packaged up as porn and sold for

profit.

Since then I have worked with 50 women

who were turned into "porn stars'" without

their permission - some of whom were

under 18 - when videos of them were

posted on Pornhub without their consent.

Before you tell yourself that this would

never happen to you (because you wouldn't

be so careless as to have a video of yourself

like that in the first place) then I'd ask you

to consider Catherine's* case. Catherine got

concern over the welfare of

workers who supply British

companies amid the global

coronavirus pandemic,

which has caused slumping

sales and economic

hardship across the globe.

Critics, however, are

concerned by the framing of

the programme, pointing

out that the companies who

will benefit already have a

moral obligation to protect

workers in their supply

chain.

the fund, which will

operate in partnership with

charities like Care uK, the

Fairtrade Foundation and

ethical trade Initiative,

envisages helping suppliers

to the high street giants in

the developing world ensure

workers are adequately

protected from Covid-19.

Companies that will benefit

from the scheme include

m&S, Sainsbury's, tesco,

morrisons, Co-op and

Waitrose.

the scheme will focus

primarily on supply chains

and workers in myanmar,

Bangladesh, Kenya, uganda,

ethiopia, tanzania, rwanda

and Ghana. the uK imports

20% of its food and drink

from developing countries.

the coronavirus pandemic

has put many of these supply

chains at risk as factories

and farms worldwide have

been forced to close

temporarily.

the new Covid-19

vulnerable supply chains

facility will help to ensure

the steady supply of

products like vegetables,

coffee and clothes to the uK

high street. according to the

Department

for

International Development

(DfID) m&S and Care will

work together to improve

health services for 80,000

factory workers in

Bangladesh who keep the

chain's stores stocked with

clothes.

"the programme will

strengthen community

health care systems and

deliver targeted health

messaging in factories to

help employees keep

themselves and their

families safe. this is

expected to have knock-on

benefits for a further

300,000 people in

in contact with me when she found that her

ex had been secretly recording them having

sex, and without her knowledge uploading

these videos to Pornhub for glory - and even

a cash reward. When Catherine discovered

his Pornhub page, she found videos of what

appeared to be other unsuspecting victims

too, all promoted under "secret recording"

categories on the website. Secret recording

categories can still be found on Pornhub.

the issue has become more widely

known in recent months, with other

women coming forward. recently, rose

Kalemba shared with the BBC how her

rape at aged 14 was also uploaded to

Pornhub. rose described how finding her

rape on the porn website being used as

"content" forced her to re-live her

nightmare.

Within 24 hours of the article going live,

rose's full name appeared as a suggested

search term on Pornhub. the company say

that cases of child sexual abuse rarely

appear on the platform, but an

investigation by the #notYourPorn

campaign working with the times last year

found, with only a short search, a number

of child sexual abuse images on the site.

Disturbingly, these videos could be found in

under five minutes. tags like "stolen

drunken teen video" or "public flash to

young girl" and "young teen snapchat leak"

promoted these child abuse images even

further. although we reported these videos,

it took several days for any action to be

taken.

rose Kalemba experienced the same as

she pleaded with the site to take down the

videos of her rape telling Pornhub she was

a minor in the video. the headings the

videos of rose appeared under included

"teen abused while sleeping", "drunk teen

abuse sleeping" and "extreme teen abuse".

Similar categories with the same

sentiments are still promoted on Pornhub

today

Here in the uK we are now waiting to

hear what the new online harms bill will

offer in terms of regulating the porn

industry. there is no independent or

government-linked body which monitors

the content commercialised porn

companies are promoting.

Is DfID scheme serving

wealthy companies?

Bangladesh's poorest

communities," a DfID press

release read.

amid mounting concern

over the future and direction

of uK aid under Prime

minister Boris Johnson, the

move was described as a

"disgrace" by Labour mP

Kate osamor, a member of

the Commons International

Development Committee,

while international poverty

researcher Vidya Diwakar

described elements of the

Critics of the new DfID scheme say employers already have an obligation

to protect workers in their supply chains.

Photo: thein Zaw

scheme as unlikely to be

effective.

"It is a disgrace that the

government is funnelling the

aid budget into the pockets

of wealthy businesses like

morrisons and Primark at

the same time as it cuts

poverty reduction

programmes in some of the

poorest countries on earth,"

said osamor.

She added that uK

businesses "have an

obligation to ensure their

workers operate in safe

Covid-secure environments"

and said that many of the

comapanies involved in the

scheme "make hundreds of

millions in profit each year;

the uK taxpayer should not

be picking up the bill when

they finally decide it's time to

improve conditions for their

workforce."

"It is clear that Boris

Johnson poses a huge threat

to the uK's status as a leader

in international aid

spending. Following on from

the decision to scrap DfID,

and then cut aid funding by

£2.9bn it looks increasingly

likely that the focus of uK

aid in the coming years will

be on commercial

investment rather than

alleviating poverty and

hunger."

Diwakar, a researcher with

the Chronic Poverty

advisory network, while

welcoming some of the

commitments contained in

the programme, questioned

both what the

announcement meant in

terms of signalling for uK

aid policy after DfID merges

with the Foreign office

(FCo) and questioned the

practicality of some

measures.

"I think any new

programme that comes out

now needs to be considered

in the light of the merger

with the FCo. What I think

is worrying is whether this

signals a new direction of

where

decisions

underpinning aid flows is

going. Whether aid

programming will be seen

more in terms of benefit to

uK employers rather than a

more principled approach.

India recorded a daily new infection record of 67,000 on thursday.

India's invisible catastrophe should brought to light

amrIt DHILLon

Where better to seek

sanctuary from a virus roaring

through a crowded metropolis

than a remote mountainside

with views of the Himalayas?

this was the reasoning that

prompted Lalit upreti, 34, to

leave the Indian capital, Delhi,

where he works as a cook, two

months ago to return to his

hamlet Khankari in

uttarakhand, near the

country's border with nepal.

Here, he thought, his family

would be safe.

on 7 august, he attended a

health camp organised by the

village council. "I went for the

heck of it, I had no symptoms

but thought why not?," said

upreti. apart from checking

for monsoon-related

ailments, local health officials

took swabs for Covid-19.

to his surprise, upreti's

name appeared on the list of

four villagers who tested

positive. "Here? I couldn't

believe it. We are so cut off.

We don't even need to go

shopping for vegetables

How seals assisted an Antarctic ice study

oLIVer WHanG

at the bottom of the planet is the

Southern ocean, its waters cold and

roiling and sheathed with ice many

months of the year. the edge of the ice

cover, which melts during summer and

forms again in winter, is called the

marginal ice zone, and it is incredibly

difficult to study. Large icebreaking

ships, which have traditionally been

used for research in the region, cannot

consistently observe small-scale ocean

activity. and sea gliders - small,

relatively cheap instruments that sink

in the water and bob back up

periodically - don't work under the ice.

"It's a blind spot of knowledge in our

climate system," said Sebastiaan Swart,

an oceanographer at the university of

Gothenburg in Sweden.

What is known about the marginal

ice zone is that it is an important

storage system for carbon and heat

emitted by humans. the global ocean

as a whole stores more than 90 percent

of earth's excess heat, and the Southern

ocean is the portal through which

much of this heat is transferred from

the atmosphere. this makes ignorance

because we grow our own," he

said.

With a mild fever and an

upset stomach, upreti was

taken to a quarantine facility

the following night. as India's

positive cases hovered around

2.4m, there are growing fears

that the virus's impact on

rural communities could be

devastating.

the country seems to be

entering a dangerous new

phase of rising infections in

small towns and villages such

as Khankari. "Khankari is

tiny. If my little outpost can

get four cases, then it can

sneak into every village in the

country. I can't sleep at night

when I think of what might

have happened if we hadn't

caught those four cases," said

rajan Singh negi, the village

head of Khankari who

organised the health camp..

Some 600 million Indians

live in in rural areas, and fears

are rising that they could be

overwhelmed by an invisible

catastrophe, where many will

die without testing or

treatment. Data from the

national Family Health

Survey-4 showed that only

about 25% of rural Indians

have access to public

outpatient (oPD) healthcare..

there are also grave

concerns for around 70% of

India's elderly population,

who live in villages. Comorbidities

abound and are

often left untreated because

medical services are far away.

India's top epidemiologist

Jayaprakash muliyil, who

believes up to half of India's

population (670 million

people) will get the virus, says

that most people with comorbidities

in rural India fail

to get treatment.

"this group, and the elderly,

are more prone to getting the

virus. With limited resources,

their families will not rush an

elderly person to hospital if

they have a fever," said

muliyil. "they will be allowed

to die. that is the reality in

rural India where life

expectancy is 65."

Since the deaths will be

spread out across huge

geographical districts, some

of the region particularly worrisome.

But Dr. Swart and Louise Biddle, a

researcher also at Gothenburg, found a

way around this methodological

roadblock in a paper published in may.

to do so, they turned to unique organic

instruments that can gather consistent

information from under the ice:

southern elephant seals.

Seals in the Southern ocean have

been monitored for decades. Small

sensors and trackers that are attached

to their bodies and the tops of their

heads, like tiny hats, transmit

information from dives - depth, lateral

distance, water temperature, salinity -

that gets filed into open-access

databases. a typical southern elephant

seal is a masterful diver, and spends

around 90 percent of its time

underwater foraging for fish and squid,

only surfacing for a couple minutes

between expeditions to catch its breath

before sinking back down to the inky

depths.

Because of the frequency of these

dives, seal data, like sea glider data, can

reveal small eddies and flows in the

water. these water fluxes result from

many of the same forces, including

Photo: Money sharma

as big as 10,000 sq km

(London is 1,572 sq km),

muliyil says the real scale of

the human tragedy will only

emerge much later, if at all.

anecdotal evidence also

suggests that daily wage

labourers will not reveal their

symptoms for fear of

separation from their families,

the stigma, and losing their

wages by being quarantined.

"People in the rural areas

are hiding their symptoms

and are not coming forward to

get tested even when the

testing van is reaching the

village," said Dr ravindra

Sharma, a senior medical

officer in Lakhmipur Kheri

district, in India's most

populous state, uttar Pradesh,

which

neighbours

uttarakhand.

at the other end of the

country concern about rural

outbreaks worried many in

the southern state of Kerala,

where a wedding and a

funeral attended by one

family in one of the state's

most remote villages, Valad,

led to 236 new cases.

A male southern elephant seal on south georgia Island. the seals have become scientific collaborators,

helping track under-ice ocean currents in Antarctica's marginal ice zone. Photo: Alamy

winds and heat gradients, that create

large currents like the Gulf Stream, but

are far smaller and called submesoscale

flows. Some are only the length of a

football field and last no more than a

day.

as tiny as they are, submesoscale

flows have a direct effect on what Dr.

Swart calls the "window between the

atmosphere and the whole ocean." this

window is known as the mixed layer, a

sliver of water on the surface whose

depth and stratification determines

how much heat and carbon are

absorbed by the ocean; the deeper and

more well-mixed the layer, the wider

the window opens and the easier it is

for the ocean to absorb heat and carbon

from the atmosphere. Submesoscale

flows change this depth and

stratification, and thus the aperture of

the window.

Without the technology to peer under

the ice cover, no one knew what kind of

submesoscale flows were occurring in

the marginal ice zone. Scientists

guessed that the ice would dampen the

strength of the eddies, "but we didn't

even have the observations to show if

they were even there," said Dr. Biddle.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2020 6

City Corporation fails to recover evicted

land in Rajshahi metropolis

Gaibandha Superintendent of Police Mohammad Touhidul Islam held a press briefing after

recovering 1 auto bike, 1 easy bike and 5 motorcycles stolen from different areas of Gaibandha

district on Thursday.

Photo: Rafiqul Islam

Gaibandha police hands over stolen

auto bike, motorcycles to owner

Rafiqul islam, gaiBandha CoRRespondent:

dB police recovered 1 auto bike, 1

easy bike and 5 motorcycles stolen

from different areas of gaibandha

district while gaibandha

superintendent of police

mohammad touhidul islam handed

them over to the real owners at the

police office on thursday.

a press briefing was held in the

conference room of the

superintendent of police on the

initiative of the district police. during

the time, superintendent of police

mohammad touhidul islam, dB oC

mostafizur Rahman, officer-in-

Charge of sadar police station Khan

md. shahriar were present at the

occasion.

according to the press briefing, the

detectives of gaibandha district have

been able to recover a total of 16

motorcycles including 1 auto bike

and 1 easy bike by conducting raids in

different parts of the district this

year. among them, 5 motorcycles

including 1 easy bike were handed

over on thursday through legal

process after searching for the real

owner. the owners of easy bikes and

motorcycles were momin mandal of

gobindganj in gaibandha,

prabhanjan Kumar Roy of

sundarganj, abdus salam

Khandaker of uttar gidari in sadar

upazila, afzal hossain and mahbub

hasan of mithapukur thana in

Rangpur and Ripon mola of shibganj

in Bogura district.

Rafiqul alam, Rajshahi CoR-

Respondent:

in order to widen the roads

in sector 1 of the sub-city of

ward 14 of the city as a model

of urban development

housing on both sides of the

road and to free more than the

prescribed amount of

government land, Rashahi

City Corporation and housing

surveyed 11 road widening

activities. Residents of 130

houses on both sides of 10

roads are cooperating in

paving the road by removing

illegal structures built on

government land and the

construction work of the

roads is progressing at a fast

pace.

only 8 houses from B-590

to B-597 are unwilling to

follow the instructions of the

city corporation. after visiting

the area it was revealed that

the B-590 house was the

ancestral property of

mokammel ali, a deputy

assistant engineer in the

engineering department of

the Rajshahi City

Corporation, which he

inherited. engineer

mokammel ali, being a

personally pro-Bnp official,

occupied the government

land in front of the house

during the tenure of former

city corporation mayor

mosaddek hossain Bulbul

and built two commercial

rooms with 4-storey

foundation with RCC pillars.

the family has plans to

increase the room up to 4th

floor. the investigation also

revealed that the design of the

house number B-590

approved by the Rajshahi

development authority for

the construction of a 3-storey

building is illegally being

carried out at a slow pace up

to 4 storey. to stop the

construction of illegal

commercial rooms, on

24/1/2016, the residents of

the area made an application

to the national housing

authority Rajshahi executive

engineer parimal Kuri with

the picture of the 2 rooms

under construction and on

31/1/2016 to the chairman of

the Rajshahi development

Deputy assistant engineer of engineering department of the Rajshahi

City Corporation, Mokammel Ali, is not following the instructions of

the city corporation and constructing illegal structure on government

land in Rajshahi.

authority.

on behalf of the national

housing authority, three

engineers and an authorized

officer of the Rajshahi

development authority, abul

Kalam azad, came to the spot

and ordered to stop the

construction work by

occupying the government

land. When contacted with

engineer mokammel ali

regarding the matter, he said,

"the house is my father's work.

talk to people who live in that

house, but if they have built a

house in the government land,

they will remove it." everyone

should cooperate in urban

development. Besides, the

owner of B-590/2 house

south of our house, journalist

Rafiq alam, who has occupied

a few feet of government land

with a fence, also thinks that it

should be demolished.

after visiting the spot, the

owner of the plot B-590/2,

Rafiq alam, could not be seen.

When contacted with him on

his phone and was asked the

reason for the construction of

the border wall by occupying

the government land, he said

that 'i have given the

boundary wall but if the road

is needed, i will break it on my

own initiative.

after a long wait of 3 years,

the residents of the area are

reluctant to vacate the illegal

government premises. on

18/7/2019, the residents of

the area again applied to the

mayor ahm Khairuzzaman

liton to vacate two illegal

commercial rooms under

construction and pave the

road as per the design of the

housing. the applicants have

kept the receipt copies of the

individual applications made

in 3 institutions.

the owner of the house

number

B-597,

superintendent of Rajshahi

divisional health office, dr.

abdul matin Khokon has

been renting a house in a

government place for the last

20 years. the health- official,

who is currently facing

criticism across the country,

has rented a mess over City

Corporation's drain,

occupying a space 10 feet wide

in the east-west and 50 feet

long in the north-south. the

front road was submerged in a

little rain and caused misery

to the people.

on august 4, Rajshahi City

Corporation's magistracy

department held a campaign

and announced that illegal

establishments will be evicted

Photo: Rafiqul Alam

from B-590 to B-597 within

august 9. in addition, if

additional illegal activities are

not removed on their own

initiative, Rajshahi City

Corporation will remove them

with a bull dozer, which may

increase the amount of

damage.

according to the sources,

Ward no. 14 Councilor anar

and deputy assistant

engineer of Rajshahi City

Corporation mokammel ali

had given the go-ahead to stop

the eviction campaign for the

third time.

When contacted with Ward

Councilor anar about the halt

in the removal of red-marked

parts of the house from B-590

to B-597, he said there was no

reason to stop the illegal

eviction but a little delay. it's

just happening.

Regarding the matter, Chief

engineer Khairul Bashar said

that eviction activities have

not stopped. illegal

occupations will be removed

by freeing government land at

any cost and there is no

chance of adopting dual

policy. Rajshahi City

Corporation will follow the

same policy.

Jashore University of Science and Technology (JUST) has distributed 4,000 reusable

masks and 1,000 hand sanitizers to protect the health of working people in different areas

of Jashore on the occasion of the 45th martyrdom anniversary of Father of the Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Thursday. The distribution of masks and hand

sanitizers was inaugurated at Bangabandhu's mural premises at Bakultala in Jashore city.

It was presided over by the Vice-Chancellor of JUST Prof. Md. Anwar Hossain while

Jashore Deputy Commissioner Md. Tamizul Islam Khan was present as the chief guest at

the occasion.

Photo: Shahid Joy

Muktagaccha

municipal mayor

suspended

m. Yousuf, muKtagaCha

CoRRespondent:

mymensingh

muktagachha municipal

mayor shahidul islam has

been suspended. on

Mymensingh Muktagachha

Municipal Mayor Shahidul Islam

Wednesday, the ministry of

local government, Rural

development and

Cooperatives issued a

circular signed by the

deputy secretary of the

ministry md. faruk hossain

dated 19/06/2020 from the

municipal department-1

Branch of the local

government department.

it is mentioned in the

circular that a case was filed

against the mayor of

muktagachha municipality

of mymensingh district md.

shahidul islam in

muktagachha police station

under case no-6, date:

6/2/2015 under section 15

(3) of the special powers

act. as the charge sheet no.

146/15 of the case was

accepted by the wise court,

the government thinks that

the criminal activities

committed by the mayor of

the municipality are against

the public interest including

the municipal council.

according to section 31 (1)

of the local government

(municipality) act 2009,

muktagachha municipal

mayor md. shahidul islam

was suspended from the

post of mayor.

BU to inaugurate central

mosque today

the activities of the central mosque of Barishal

university will be inaugurated by performing asr

prayers on friday. after the inauguration, special

prayers will be offered in memory of the victims of the

grenade attack on august 21, 2004 and for the injured

including prime minister sheikh hasina, a press release

said.

the inauguration of the mosque and the prayers and

munajat organized in remembrance of 21st august will

be attended by Barishal university Vice-Chancellor of

the university professor dr md sadequl arefin. the

construction work of three-storey mosque was built at a

cost of around tk 7 crore, started in january 2016.

T-Aman cultivation goes in

full swing in Jamalpur

jamalpuR: transplanted aman (t-aman)

cultivation in the district is going on in full swing shortly

after receding the flood water, reports Bss.

department of agriculture extension (dae) office

sources said the farmers in the district shortly after

receding flood water are now found busy in planting t-

aman paddy. the office said farmers already planted t-

aman on 62600 hectares of land till yesterday.

according to dae office sources , this year the target of

t-aman cultivation was fixed at 106300 hectares of land

against 106185 hectares of land last year.

the sources said t-aman cultivation includes ; hibreed

on 16500 hectares, high yielding variety on 68200

and local on 21600 hectares.

upazila wise breakup of the land is as follows: 30220

hectares in jamalpur sadar, 15050 hectares in

sarishabari, 16420 hectares in melandah, 9680 hectares

in islampur, 8600 hectares in dewanganj, 13675

hectares in madarganj and 12655 hectares in Bakshiganj

upazila.

A view exchange meeting was held between the concerned dealers and supervising officers

for the smooth distribution of food items of the food-friendly program in Narail on

Thursday.

Photo: Humaun Kabir

Food dealers, supervising officers holds

view exchange meeting in Narail

humaun KaBiR, naRail CoRRespondent:

a view exchange meeting was held

between the concerned dealers and

supervising officers for the smooth

distribution of food items of the foodfriendly

program in narail.

deputy Commissioner anjuman ara

addressed the meeting as the chief

guest at the sadar upazila parishad

auditorium on thursday organized by

the food department. during the time,

district food Controller (acting)

sheikh monirul hasan, officer-in-

Charge of sadar food Warehouse

tarun Bala and food inspector sabina

Yasmin Ratna addressed the occasion

which was chaired by sadar upazila

nirbahi officer salma selim.

FRIDAY, AUgUST 21, 2020

7

Iran has unveiled two new missiles amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States,

reported Iran State TV.

Photo : AP

Iran unveils 2 new missiles

TEHRAN : Iran has unveiled two new

missiles amid heightened tensions

between Iran and the United States,

reported Iran State TV.

State TV said officials unveiled the

two new missiles on Thursday - National

Defense Industry Day in Iran, reports

AP.

They are named after top Iranian

Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia

leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis,

who were killed outside Baghdad's

international airport in a U.S. strike in

January.

The "Martyr Hajj Qassem" surfaceto-surface

ballistic missile has a 1,400-

kilometer (870-mile) range, according

to the semi-official Fars news agency.

State TV said the "Martyr Abu Mahdi"

naval cruise missile has a 1,000-kilometer

(620-mile) range.

State TV said the "Martyr Hajj

Qassem" missile was not intercepted by

a defense system during a test.

Also on Thursday, Iran unveiled a

fourth-generation light turbo-fan

Thai students jeer education

minister as protests escalate

Hundreds of high school students besieged

Thailand's Ministry of Education and

harangued and booed the education minister

when he came to speak to them, in the latest

in a growing series of anti-government

protests, reports UNB.

The students demanded a better education

and said the administration of Prime Minister

Prayuth Chan-ocha was not competent to

deliver it and should resign.

About 400 students wearing school uniforms

with white ribbons, a symbol of the

protest movement, joined in anti-government

chants and gave three-fingered salutes,

a sign of resistance to oppression borrowed

from "The Hunger Games." Some tied white

bows to the gates of the ministry.

When Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan

and his aides appeared, a chorus of

jeers rose from Wednesday's crowd. He tried

to talk to some students near the front of the

group, only to be roundly scolded and told he

was late so should go to the back.

It was a remarkable response to an authority

figure from students schooled in a system

that stresses deference and respect for elders.

He did as instructed, going to the very

back of the group, then sat down and listened

patiently to those there, writing down

their complaints and responding, while

sweating heavily in the afternoon sun.

Six years ago, Nataphol took part in largescale

street protests that helped trigger the

army coup that brought Prayuth to power.

Some student protesters blew whistles as he

spoke, a disruptive tactic his own movement

had used in 2014.

"I'm happy that they dare to speak out and

that they are interested in politics at this age,

as long as their ideas are beneficial to the

country," he said just before leaving. "They

are the future and my future depends on

them."

Many pupils seemed unimpressed, jeering

him again and making thumbs-down gestures.

Protests at high schools began last week

with students showing support on their campuses

for a growing wave of anti-government

demonstrations led by university students.

"If we carry on protesting just within our

school grounds other people won't be aware

of it. The wider we spread awareness the better

for the cause," one 15-year-old said.

The student-led protests are becoming

the most serious threat yet to Prayuth's

rule. As army chief, he seized power in the

2014 military coup and then retained it in

a 2019 election widely seen as rigged to all

but guarantee his victory. But with key

Cabinet posts still in the hands of former

generals, people are weary of the military's

continuing influence on the running of the

country and of Prayuth's leadership and

performance.

The economy has struggled to compete

with its neighbors, even before the heavy

damage inflicted by measures to counter the

coronavirus pandemic.

The administration's image has also been

tarnished by corruption scandals for which

no one has been held accountable.

The student protests have declared three

core demands: holding new elections,

amending the military-imposed constitution

and ending the intimidation of critics of the

government. Protest leaders triggered controversy

earlier this month when they

expanded their original agenda, publicly criticizing

Thailand's constitutional monarchy

and issuing a 10-point manifesto calling for

its reform.

Hundreds of high school students besieged Thailand's Ministry of

Education and harangued and booed the education minister when he came

to speak to them, in the latest in a growing series of anti-government

protests.

Photo : AP

engine for its advanced drones.

Iran also inaugurated the production

line of its domestically produced "Owj"

engine for the Iranian-made twin-seat

Kowsar fighter jet.

Iran routinely unveils technological

achievements for its armed forces, its

space program and its nuclear efforts.

President Donald Trump pulled the

U.S. out of the nuclear agreement

between Iran and six major powers,

known in 2018, and tensions between

the two countries have escalated since.

India reports

record number of

new infections

NEW DELHI : India has

recorded another record

number of new coronavirus

infections over the

past 24 hours as it ramps

up testing to more than

900,000 a day.

The 69,652 new cases

reported Thursday push

India's total reported cases

past 2.8 million, of which 2

million have recovered.

The Health Ministry says

another 977 coronavirus

fatalities were recorded in

the past 24 hours, raising

total deaths to 53,866.

India has conducted 3

million tests for the virus,

but experts have urged

increasing its testing

capacity greatly, given

India has the world's second-highest

population of

1.4 billion people.

It has the third-most

reported cases in the world,

behind the United States

and Brazil, and has the

fourth highest number of

reported deaths behind the

U.S., Brazil and Mexico.

India's nationwide lockdown

imposed in late

March began easing in May

and is now largely being

enforced in high-risk areas.

More local transmissions

of COVID-19 reported

in Myanmar, 396

cases in total

Myanmar reported two

more locally transmitted

cases of COVID-19 on

Thursday morning, bringing

the total number of

infections in the country to

396, said a release from the

Health and Sports Ministry,

reports UNB.

One patient is a 41-yearold

male living in Sittwe

township of Rakhine state,

and he was under quarantine

due to the close contact

with recently confirmed

case.

The other is a 29-year-old

female living in the same

township who was under

investigation as she did not

have either recent travelling

history or close contact with

the confirmed patient.

Myanmar has detected

local transmissions again

after last local case was confirmed

on July 16.

US Covid-19

cases reach

5.5 mln

NEW YORK : The number

of confirmed COVID-19

cases in the United States

reached 5,505,074 as of

Wednesday, according to

the Center for Systems Science

and Engineering

(CSSE) at Johns Hopkins

University, reports UNB.

Besides, thel death toll

reached 172,418 as of 1:27

p.m. local time (1727

GMT), according to the

CSSE, reports Xinhua.

The hardest-hit U.S.

state of California reported

640,722 cases, followed

by Florida with 584,047

cases, Texas with 569,331

cases, and New York with

426,571 cases, the tally

showed.

Other states with over

180,000 cases include

Georgia, Illinois, Arizona

and New Jersey, according

to the CSSE. The United

States remains the worsthit

nation, in terms of both

the caseload and death

toll.

Meanwhile, the number

of confirmed coronavirus

cases in the world reached

22,325,761 with 786,258

deaths, according to the

data.

Harris makes

history in

accepting VP

nomination

WASHINGTON : Kamala

Harris has made history

night as the first Black

woman to accept a spot on a

major party's presidential

ticket, reports UNB.

In her highly anticipated

address capping the third

night of the virtual Democratic

National Convention,

Harris mixed her polish as a

former prosecutor with

deeply personal tales of her

upbringing to argue that she

and Joe Biden can rejuvenate

a country ravaged by a

pandemic and deeply divided

by partisan bitterness.

Harris evoked the lessons

of her late mother, Shyamala

Gopalan, a biologist and

Indian immigrant, saying

Wednesday that she instilled

in her a vision of "our nation

as a beloved communitywhere

all are welcome, no

matter what we look like,

where we come from, or who

we love."

Trump

US demands restoration of

UN sanctions against Iran

The United States will demand Thursday

that all United Nations sanctions

be reimposed against Iran, President

Donald Trump announced Wednesday,

a move that follows America's

embarrassing failure to extend an arms

embargo against Tehran, reports UNB.

The administration's insistence on

snapping back international sanctions

against Iran sets the stage for a contentious

dispute. It's possible that the

U.S. call will be ignored by other U.N.

members - an outcome that could call

into question the U.N. Security Council's

ability to enforce its own legally

binding decisions.

"Two years ago I withdrew the United

States from the disastrous Iran nuclear

deal, which was a product of the Obama-Biden

foreign policy failure - a failure

like few people have seen in terms

of the amount of money we paid for

absolutely nothing and a short-term

deal," Trump said.

He pledged that under his administration,

Iran will never have a nuclear

weapon.

"If and when I win the election, within

the first month, Iran will come to us

and they are going to be asking for a

deal so quickly because they are doing

very poorly," he said, adding that sanctions

have crippled Iran's economy and

limited the amount of money it can use

to support militant groups.

Trump said Secretary of State Mike

Pompeo will travel to New York on

Thursday to present the U.S. demand

to reimpose the sanctions, accusing

Russian opposition politician

Navalny poisoned, hospitalized

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny

was put on a ventilator in an intensive care

unit of a Siberian hospital after falling ill

from suspected poisoning during a flight, his

spokeswoman said Thursday morning,

reports UNB.

The 44-year-old foe of Russia's President

Vladimir Putin felt unwell on a flight back to

Moscow from Tomsk, a city in Siberia, Kira

Yarmysh said on Twitter. "The plane made

an emergency landing in Omsk. Alexei has a

toxic poisoning," Yarmysh tweeted.

She told the Echo Moskvy radio station

that Navalny was sweating and asked her to

talk to him so that he could "focus on a sound

of a voice." He then went to the bathroom

and lost consciousness.

Yarmysh says the politician must have

consumed something from the tea he drank

this morning. "Doctors are saying the toxin

was absorbed quicker with hot liquid," she

tweeted, adding that Navalny's team called

police to the hospital. The politician is in

grave condition, Russia's state news agency

Trump weighs F-35 jet sales to

UAE over Israeli objections

President Donald Trump said Wednesday

the U.S. is considering selling advanced

American F-35 warplanes to the United Arab

Emirates over the objections of Israeli Prime

Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reports

UNB.

Trump told reporters at a White House

news conference that the Emiratis had

Iran of significant non-compliance with

the 2015 nuclear deal.

The Trump administration wants to

reimpose all international sanctions

that had been eased under that deal.

Other nations claim the U.S. has no

standing to make the demand because

the Trump administration pulled the

U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal two

years ago.

Pompeo and Trump have made no

secret of their intention to invoke the

rare and controversial diplomatic move

in the wake of the administration's

defeat at the United Nations last week

on extending the arms embargo. The

U.S. won just one other "yes" vote, with

China and Russia opposed and the 11

other members abstaining.

As with the arms embargo, Russia

and China bitterly oppose reimposing

sanctions on Iran. So do other Security

Council members, including U.S. allies

Britain and France, a dispute that could

result in a battle over the legitimacy of

the U.N.'s most powerful body.

"Iran's support for its proxies in Syria

only helps to bolster the Assad regime

and undermine the U.N. process," said

U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft in

remarks at Wednesday's council meeting

on Syria. "How will giving Iran

access to more weapons serve the interests

of international peace and security?"

The Trump administration seeks

to reimpose all U.N. sanctions against

Iran under the so-called "snapback"

mechanism that was approved with the

2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and

Tass reported, citing the chief doctor at the

hospital. Last year, Navalny was rushed to a

hospital from prison where he was serving a

sentence following an administrative arrest,

with what his team said was suspected poisoning.

Doctors then said he had a severe

allergic attack and discharged him back to

prison the following day.

Navalny's Foundation for Fighting Corruption

has been exposing graft among government

officials, including some at the highest

level. Last month, the politician had to shut

the foundation after a financially devastating

lawsuit from Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman

with close ties to the Kremlin.

The most prominent member of Russia's

opposition, Navalny campaigned to challenge

Putin in the 2018 presidential election,

but was barred from running.

He set up a network of campaign offices

across Russia and has since been putting forward

opposition candidates in regional elections,

challenging members of Russia's ruling

party, United Russia.

expressed interest in buying "quite a few" of

the stealth fighter jets. He said such a sale

was "under review" given the new dynamic

between Israel and the UAE since the two

nations agreed to normalize relations last

week. Perhaps just as important, Trump

said, is that the UAE can afford to buy the

planes.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. is considering selling

advanced American F-35 warplanes to the United Arab Emirates over the

objections of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo : AP

six major powers. Under the deal,

Tehran received billions of dollars in

sanctions relief in exchange for curbs

on its nuclear program. The "snapback"

mechanism was created in the event

Tehran was proven to be in violation of

the accord.

While other members of the U.N.

Security Council say the U.S. no longer

has any say regarding the Iran deal, the

Trump administration argues that it

retains its standing as an original participant

in the accord and as a permanent

member of the Security Council

that endorsed the agreement.

Trump said that when the United

States entered the deal, it was clear that

the U.S. always would have the right to

invoke a reimposition of the U.N. sanctions.

That's not how other countries

see it.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi

said that since the U.S. is no longer a

party to the nuclear deal it "has no right

to demand the Security Council to activate

the rapid reinstatement of sanctions

mechanism." Russian Foreign

Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the

Trump administration of unleashing a

politically motivated campaign against

Iran and called for "universal condemnation"

of the U.S. attempt to impose a

permanent arms embargo on the

Islamic Republic. Speaking to reporters

Wednesday, Pompeo defended the U.S.

decision to invoke the snapback provision.

It's unclear whether other members

of the council can stop it through

technical procedural means.

FRIdAY, AUGUsT 21, 2020

8

James surprises

fans with new

look

Mahi casted in “Ashirbad”

instead of Apu

TBT REpoRT

Finally, Mahiya Mahi became

the heroine of the governmentsponsored

film 'Ashirbad'. And

for the first time in this film,

Roshan and Mahi are paring up.

The film's producer Jennifer

Ferdous confirmed Mahir's news

on Wednesday (August 19)

night.

In the 2019-2020 financial

year, 16 full-length films have

been given grants by the

government. One of these is

'Ashirbad '. Its producer and

story is by Jennifer Ferdous. It

will be directed by National Film

Award winning producer

Mostafizur Rahman Manik.

Producer Jennifer said, "I have

been looking for a heroine for the

role of Subarna character, the

main female character in

Ashirbad since I got the

government grant." Finally we

signed Mahiya Mahi. So far, the

heroes and heroines have been

finalized, the names of the rest of

the actors will be announced

soon.

Mahi said that the character

of Subarna in this film is the

character of a student of Dhaka

University based on the

liberation war. The film is being

made with the turbulent

politics before the liberation

war and the liberation war. She

is thrilled to be in the main

character.

Earlier, Apu Biswas was

finalized for the film last Sunday

(August 15). There was also a

formal agreement with her. But

at the end, it was heard that Apu

has not being taken in the film.

Producer Jennifer said that Apu

Biswas was contracted for the

film but was dropped due to

unprofessionalism. She was

urged not to discuss about the

movie right now, but she let

everyone know about it on

Facebook.

Earlier, Apu had claimed that

she was not left out. She herself

has stepped out from the movie.

Apu said, I left the film for

personal reasons. I have been

given some conditions for acting

in the movie, which cannot be

accepted at this time of my

career. It felt insulting to me as

an actress. So through peaceful

discussions with the producer

and director, I have informed

that it is not possible for me to

cast in the movie. This is normal

in a career. Everyone was

requested not to spread rumours

regarding the matter .

Amitabh Bachchan gears up for

Kaun Banega Crorepati 12

TBT REpoRT

Popular singer Mahfuz Anam

James after a long five months,

Thursday (August 20) at noon

finally broke the silence and

came on Facebook.

He posted a picture of the new

look on his Facebook. The

bearded black-and-white film

received more than 10,000 likes

within an hour of post. The

image has been shared by more

than 1600 people. There are

more than seven hundred and

fifty comments!

Most of his comments are like,

'Guru will be seen on stage

again, this is not the last

meeting' or 'Guruji live forever

for one crore years, may the

world be healthy'. InshaAllah,

the concert will be sung again.

Thousands of devotion at your

feet. '

The country was hit by the

coronavirus in February. From

then on, basically everyone

started to be imprisoned at

home. Gradually the situation

worsen and the lockdown came.

Since then, people from almost

all over the country have spent

time sitting at home. As a result,

many have taken a long break

from work.

The same situation is with

Mahfuz Anam James, the

popular band star of Nagar

Baul. No songs, no concerts. No

busyness. He spent a long time

sitting at home in his terrible

silence. During the last five

months, many stars news has

been heard. But is where James

or how he is.

Apurba finally

returning to work

TBT REpoRT

Small screen 'superstar' Ziaul

Farooq Apurba has spent a lot of

time working before Eid. So he has

been on leave for almost three weeks

of Eid. Especially spent happy time

with his son and rested.

The star is returning to work after

shaking off the holiday mood of Eid.

It is learned that he is taking part

in the shooting of the drama titled

'Troll' next week. The drama is

written by Sharup Chandra Dey and

directed by Sanjay Samaddar.

Tasnia Farin will be seen with

Apurba in this drama.

The producer said, 'We will start

shooting next week. Apurba Bhai

and Farin will be seen as couple in

this drama. Not only that, there are

about 40 artists in the 90 minute

drama. This is the story of a silent

killer. There are many surprises in

the story. '

"Honestly, I didn't want to go back

to work this month," Apurba said. I

wanted to take some more time. I

really enjoyed spending time with

Ayash. But at the end of the day I

have to go back to work. Several

good job offers have already arrived.

I'm thinking of doing those. And

next week I will shoot the drama

'Troll'. '

"I tested corona again before

returning to work," he said. Even

after finishing work before Eid, I did

the test once, negative result came

every time. Even then, I will try to

work carefully. '

Live Technologies is producing the

90-minute thriller drama 'Troll'. It is

said that it will be released on

YouTube very soon after the

shooting.

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan is all set

to resume the shoot of popular quiz show Kaun

Banega Crorepati season 12. The actor shared the

update on his blog, where he mentioned that the

preparation to start the shoot of KBC promos and

the show has already begun.

Emphasising on the safety measures being

taken for the shoot, senior Bachchan wrote, "lots

of prep and presentation for the starting of KBC

promo shoots and the KBC itself .. detailed

protocol of how its all going to be done with

maximum safety precautions.."

He added, "life shall never be the same again ..

perhaps .. or how we conduct ourselves in these

times of pandemic."

In May, Amitabh Bachchan shot for the

registration promos of Kaun Banega Crorepati.

The actor had then shared how he completed the

shoot in just one day. "So yes I worked. Got a

problem with that, keep it to yourself then.

Damned if you pour it out here in this locked in

condition. Sufficient precaution, as much that

could be taken, was taken. And what had been

scheduled for two days, was completed in one

day. Starting 6 pm, ending a short while now," Big

B had written on his blog.

The Gulabo Sitabo actor recently recovered

from COVID-19. He was diagnosed with the virus

on July 11 and was admitted to Mumbai's

Nanavati hospital for three weeks. He was

discharged from the hospital on August 2 after

testing negative for coronavirus.

Source: indianexpress.com

Embarrassed about

starring in ‘10 Things

I Hate About You’

Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt

says he used to be

"embarrassed" about starring in

the acclaimed teen comedy 10

Things I Hate About You.

A modern take on the

Shakespearean comedy, The

Taming of the Shrew, the movie

was the actor's earliest lead roles.

He would go on to star in diverse

films including Inception, 500

Days of Summer and The Dark

Knight Rises.

Directed by Gil Junger, 10

Things I Hate About You also

launched the careers of

Hollywood stars Heath Ledger

and Julia Stiles.

As someone who was inclined

towards watching arthouse

films like Billy Bob Thorton's

Sling Blade and Quentin

Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs,

Gordon-Levitt said he was

initially "not sold" on the 1999

movie. "I was going to arthouse

cinemas and watching movies

coming from Sundance (Film

Festival) and watching Sling

Blade and Reservoir Dogs and

Soderbergh and Tarantino, and

that's what I wanted to do.

"I know this sounds weird to

say or it sounds like I'm not

grateful, (but) I was always a little

embarrassed before then. I was

mostly embarrassed about 10

Things I Hate About You, to be

honest. I was," the actor told

Vanity Fair magazine.

Gordon-Levitt, 39, said when

he got an opportunity to work on

Sundance films Brick and

Mysterious Skin, he felt he was

doing "what I wanted to do".

"They felt like a reflection of me

and the art that I liked. When I

look back now, I'm kind of equally

proud of all those things, but

subjectively at that time … it was

really meaningful to me," he said.

The actor, however, added that

shooting for 10 Things I Hate

About You was an "incredible"

experience.

Source : indianexpress.com

H o R o s C o p E

ARIEs

(March 21 - April 20) : Try not to lose

sight of your own projects or desires,

Aries. There's a great deal of power and

manipulative energy in the air today

that could throw you off course if you aren't careful.

Have confidence in yourself and don't back down if

things get too confrontational. Take control of the

car you're driving instead of just coasting

haphazardly down the hill.

TAURUs

(April 21 - May 21): Recharge today by

getting outside and stretching your

arms to the sky, Taurus. Be proud

and courageous. You have the power

to turn an unhealthy situation into a positive one,

but first you must get rid of all self-doubt. If you

don't have confidence in yourself, it will be hard

for others to have confidence in you. Make sure

you let the world know exactly where you stand.

GEMINI

(May 22 - June 21): Difficult

predicaments could arise today if you

try to exert your will over others

without having the most honorable

intentions, Gemini. It could be that you're using

someone else's fear of you to control him or her.

This doesn't make for a healthy relationship. Try

not to snap at others. Make allies, not enemies, and

you'll find that you will have nothing to fear.

CANCER

(June 22 - July 23): The fire within you is

raging today, Cancer, and you should

be careful how you wield this power.

Be proud and triumphant. Walk with

your shoulders back and head high. Freedom is

important, but make sure that others don't

interpret it as you not caring about a person or

situation that's actually quite meaningful to you. Let

your heart speak openly and honestly.

LEo

(July 24 - Aug. 23): There may be a

great deal of fuss over something that

seems quite insignificant to you, Leo.

Try to see the beauty and importance

of everything around you. At the same time, make

sure you give yourself enough credit for being the

person you are. Egos are apt to go through a bit of a

transformation that will affect the way you react to

the outside world.

VIRGo

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): Things are coming

to a critical point for you today, Virgo,

and you may find that other people

openly object to your actions. It's OK to

be a bit selfish if the situation is appropriate. Look at

yourself in the mirror and be proud of the person you

see. Try not to get lost in the group or think that your

personal success and happiness depend on the

success of others.

LIBRA

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): Feel free to speak

more loudly today, Libra. You'll find that

things fall into place more easily if you

speak your thoughts outwardly and

directly in the presence of others. Bring your internal

power under your control instead of becoming a victim

of the control games played by others. Your sincere

heart is easily manipulated, so be careful that you

aren't getting the short end of the stick.

sCoRpIo

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): You should bask in

a glorious splendor today, Scorpio.

There's a great deal of power at your

disposal. You'll find your ego is healthy,

charged, and ready for the battlefield. Work lovingly

with the energies that surround you. There's a great

deal of fire in the air that will aid your pursuit of

happiness. Don't settle for anything less than the best,

because you're worth it.

sAGITTARIUs

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): Add more

sunshine to your day, Sagittarius. It

may be time to stir up your inner

passion and let it speak with greater

confidence than you have been lately. Make

sure you heal yourself by letting the people

around you hear your truth loud and clear.

Don't play games in order to please others. Stay

true to yourself above all else.

CApRICoRN

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): You'll find that your

spark can easily turn potential energy

into kinetic energy, Capricorn. Don't

underestimate the power of your words.

Realize the profound impact they have on others and

take responsibility for their consequences. Try to use

them sparingly if you can. Speak half as much as you

normally would, but make each sentence resonate

twice as powerfully.

AQUARIUs

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19): Don't dwell on your

fluctuating moods today, Aquarius.

Look at the larger trends and how

positive elements are coming together

in your favor. Stay optimistic and remember that

you were put here for a reason. Respect and honor

your values by staying in tune with yourself and the

world around you. There's a profound power in

your stillness, so cherish all moments of silence.

pIsCEs

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20): This is your day to

shine in all your glory, Pisces. There's

no need to hold anything back. You'll

find that you have a great deal of love

to share. Your heart is likely to go to extremes today

in order to prove its love, passion, and affection.

Make sure that this energy that's so true to your

core is appreciated and reciprocated by the people

with whom you share it.

FRiDAY, AuGuST 21, 2020

9

Pakistan's 10-year run under

threat in final Test

Serge Gnabry was the hero as Bayern Munich defeated a game Lyon 3-0 to book their place in the

Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain.

Photo: AP

Lyon 0-3 Bayern Munich: Serge Gnabry

double sets up PSG showdown

SportS DeSk:

Serge Gnabry was the hero as Bayern

Munich defeated a game Lyon 3-0 to

book their place in the Champions

League final against paris Saint-

Germain, reports Ap.

Five days on from the 8-2

obliteration of Barcelona, Bayern

avoided an upset against a Lyon side

who had shocked Manchester City to

reach Wednesday's semi-final at the

estadio Jose Alvalade.

Germany winger Gnabry, a scorer in

the Barca rout, was influential,

smashing in a stunning 18th-minute

opener following a lively Lyon start

before adding a much easier second.

the prolific robert Lewandowski

added his 55th goal of an incredible

season in the closing stages for the

Bundesliga champions.

Lyon found some encouragement in

the second half but there is little doubt

Bayern deserve their spot in the

showpiece on Sunday, when they will

aim to complete a second treble in

seven years.

Memphis Depay shot wide when

attempting to round Manuel Neuer

following a rare thiago Alcantara error

and karl toko ekambi struck the post

as Lyon threatened dangerously early

on the break.

Leon Goretzka's scuffed effort had

Anthony Lopes scrambling before

Gnabry darted in from the right and

fired an unstoppable effort into the

top-left corner to open the scoring in

sensational fashion.

Gnabry tested Lopes again with a

stinging drive and doubled the lead by

tapping in after Lewandowski

uncharacteristically made a hash of

Ivan perisic's low centre.

Marcelo headed Lyon's first effort on

target in the 56th minute, while

ekambi wastefully shot their second

straight at Neuer one on one after

being found in the area by Houssem

Aouar. philippe Coutinho brilliantly

controlled and finished thomas

Muller's pass, only to be flagged offside

after a slight touch from Goretzka.

But Bayern did have a third when

Joshua kimmich's delivery was met by

a thumping header from Lewandowski

for his 15th Champions League goal of

the campaign

Hansi Flick has completely reenergised

a Bayern side many had

written off under Niko kovac since

assuming the reins, at first

temporarily, in November.

Bayern now stand on the cusp of a

famous treble and a sixth title in

europe's premier competition. A firedup

pSG will have something to say

about that, though, in what promises to

be a thrilling final.

there was a comical moment in a

news conference post-Barca where

Muller twice attempted a 'Lewan-goalski'

gag that did not quite land.

Fortunately, on the pitch his teammate

Gnabry did find the intended

target with a goal worthy of any

Champions League semi-final. His

second was all about being in the right

place at the time, but all evening

Gnabry's presence caused Lyon's

defence problems.

pep Guardiola received criticism for

his tactics in City's shock loss to Lyon

but early doors that his conservatism

was not entirely misplaced.

the difference on this occasion is

Lyon missed two great chances prior to

Gnabry's opener, which set Bayern to

cruise control. Had they scored either

of those then who knows? ekambi was

guilty on one of those occasions and

again in the second half on a

disappointing night.Bayern can now

begin preparations for Sunday's final at

the estadio da Luz, where they face

pSG searching to become champions

of europe for a sixth time. Lyon's

gallant run is over and they must get

ready for a new Ligue 1 campaign.

SportS DeSk:

pakistan head into Friday's third

test at Southampton facing a first

series defeat against england in 10

years, reports BSS.

the tourists are 1-0 down in a

three-match campaign after a threewicket

defeat in the first test at old

trafford, a match where pakistan

were on top until the closing stages,

was followed by a draw in a second

test at Southampton where neither

side had a chance of victory in a

match blighted by bad weather.

there had been concerns that, as

happened to the West Indies' fast

bowlers during their 2-1 defeat by

england in a preceding behind closed

door series that marked international

cricket's return from lockdown,

pakistan's quicks would be worn out

by three back-to-back tests.

But the lack of action in the second

match - pakistan had bowled just 43.1

overs in england's first innings when

a draw was agreed - should mean a

first-choice pace attack of Shaheen

Afridi, Mohammad Abbas and

Naseem Shah are all fit and firing for

Friday's finale at the Ageas Bowl.

pakistan coach Misbah-ul-Haq was

confident fatigue would not have

been an issue in any event, with the

former captain, in a blog for the

pakistan Cricket Board's website,

writing that "fitness has been an

important part of our strategy as a

team" since he took charge in

September.

Despite little play in the second

test, Misbah was heartened by the

determination of Mohammad

rizwan, who top-scored with 72, the

resilience of pakistan's top-order in

"testing conditions" and the fact an

attack featuring leg-spinner Yasir

Shah took four wickets. - 'Big game' -

"the seamers also bowled really

well…that last session, even as the

game drifted towards a draw, gives us

a lot of confidence going into the last

test," Misbah added. "It's a big game

and we want to end the series on a

good note."

Meanwhile england face another

selection dilemma.

there will be a strong temptation to

stick with the tried and tested pace

trio of James Anderson, Stuart Broad

and Chris Woakes, so effective in the

kind of overcast english conditions

that are likely to be a factor in the

third test as they were in the second.

But with english cricket constantly

obsessing about the next Ashes

series, a 2021/22 tour of Australia,

team management would like to give

express fast bowlers Jofra Archer and

Mark Wood more test-match game

time before they head 'Down Under'.

"It's very difficult," said england

coach Chris Silverwood.

"You look at what you need for the

here and now and you look down the

line for what we potentially need (in

Australia).

"It's a difficult balance to

get…there's various factors we look

at and pace is one of them: it's pace,

movement, bounce, left or right

arm…all these things come into

account."

Another, immediate, issue is that

Friday's match could be played on a

used pitch if the weather means the

Ageas Bowl ground staff do not have

enough time to prepare a fresh

surface after the second test finished

on Monday.

the delays in that match, including

stoppages for bad light when the

floodlights were on full beam, could

see the currently rigid 11:00am local

(1000 GMt) start time for a test in

england brought forward, as

happens in other countries where

there is a more flexible approach.

"the earlier start time makes a lot

of sense to me," said Silverwood, with

both england and pakistan staying in

'bio-secure' onsite hotels. "What is

the harm in starting at 10:30am

(0930 GMt)? "But I've had no official

word it'll happen.

"We're all here anyway. We're all on

the ground, so it wouldn't be very

difficult to make it happen."

The Spaniards' success in Europe's second-tier competition is no longer a surprise despite the continued

churn of players and coaches without the wealth of the continent's superclubs. Photo: AP

Discarded by Spain and Real Madrid,

Lopetegui finds salvation at Sevilla

SportS DeSk:

two years on from the

embarrassment of being sacked as

coach of his country on the eve of a

World Cup, Julen Lopetegui has

rebuilt his reputation to take Sevilla

back to a sixth europa League final in

14 years.

the Spaniards' success in europe's

second-tier competition is no longer a

surprise despite the continued churn of

players and coaches without the wealth

of the continent's superclubs.

However, a return to the europa

League final for the first time since

2016 on top of a first top-four finish in

La Liga for three seasons, is sweet

vindication for Lopetegui after a

nightmare few months in 2018

threatened to derail his coaching

career.

Hopes were high that the former

real Madrid and Barcelona goalkeeper

could produce one last hurrah from

Spain's golden generation that had

won three major tournaments from

2008 to 2012 ahead of the World Cup

in russia.

Spain were unbeaten in Lopetegui's

20 games in charge of the national

team, including impressive wins over

Argentina, Italy, Belgium and eventual

world champions France.

But he paid a heavy price for his own

misjudgement and the politics of

Spanish football as he accepted the role

as Zinedine Zidane's successor at real

Madrid days before the tournament

got underway. Furious Spanish

federation president Luis rubiales

fired him two days before Spain's

opening match against portugal in a

move that did neither side much good.

Lopetegui returned home a haunted

figure as he was presented at the

Santiago Bernabeu just a day later and

Spain limped out on penalties to

russia in the last 16 after winning just

one match in four.

the decision to take the Madrid job

was even more misguided as Lopetegui

lasted just 14 games and was sacked

again by late october.

Pakistan head into Friday's third Test at Southampton facing a first series defeat against England in 10

years.

Photo: AP

McMillan could take over

as Bangladesh batting

consultant for SL series

SportS DeSk:

Bangladesh Cricket Board

could rope in New Zealand's

Craig McMillan as their test

batting consultant in case

Neil Mckenzie opts out of

the upcoming Sri Lanka

tour, reports Cricbuzz.

Mckenzie, who was

Bangladesh's test batting

consultant during their

series against India in 2019,

looks highly unlikely to tour

Sri Lanka, considering the

fact that Bangladesh are

expected to travel nearly one

month ahead of the series in

order to adapt to the

conditions and start their

preparations.

the board's cricket

operations chairman,

Akram khan, confirmed

that they have approached

McMillan to take over the

role on a "short-term basis".

He also added that they are

trying to convince Mckenzie

to tour Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh are expected to

play three tests in Sri Lanka,

with the series set to start on

october 24.

"His [Mckenzie] chances

of going to Sri Lanka are 50-

50," Akram told Cricbuzz.

"We are trying to convince

him [Mckenzie] as we want

him, but he does not seem to

be keen, and if that is the

case, we will have to find

someone as a replacement,

but he will be appointed on a

short-term basis. We are

talking with a few other

candidates and McMillan is

one of them, but nothing is

finalized at the moment... we

are hoping to sort out the

matter soon," he added.

Paul, Hetmyer

get Guyana off

the mark

SportS DeSk:

Shimron Hetmyer

continued to soar in his flying

start to the Caribbean

premier League, as he

followed up his 63 off 44 on

the opening day with a 44-

ball 71 on just the second as

Guyana Amazon Warriors

opened their account for the

season. Hetmyer's effort

came after keemo paul (4 for

19) and Imran tahir (2 for

18) swept the carpet from

under St. kitts and Nevis

patriots' feet, restricting them

to just 127 for 8 in their 20

overs, reports Cricbuzz.

Chris Lynn and evin

Lewis's slow and cautious

start gave away that the

trinidad pitch had a bit of

sluggishness to it, and Chris

Green - who put the patriots

in to bat first - took early

advantage of it. If the twopacedness

wasn't enough,

Green brought on Imran

tahir early on to unsettle the

big-hitting Aussie who has

often shown susceptibility to

spin bowling. the move

worked like a charm as the

leggie lured Lynn to chase

after a ball bowled outside

off-stump and going further

away from the righthander.Lynn's

attempt to

smash it over the off-side

field was futile as Green took

a regulation catch at mid-off.

though Lewis shook off the

early pressure in Naveen-ul-

Haq's 18-run over, Nicholas

pooran's sharp glovework

behind the stumps ended the

resurgence quickly.

the batting side still had

enough to call it a good start -

54 for 2 in 6 overs - but paul

stepped in to puncture any

hopes of consolidation. the

patriots went from 53 for 2 to

83 for 5, and needed a 28-run

alliance between Ben Dunk

and rayad emrit to salvage

something from the first half

of the fixture. paul broke that

stand too, and finished with a

four-fer, leaving patriots to

defend a sub-par total of 127

for 8.

Sheldon Cottrell put the

bowling side on the right path

early on with Brandon king's

early dismissal, but Hetmyer

turned a slow start into a

solid one, courtesy rayad

emrit's 17-run over. the

pitch still had something in it

for the bowlers to keep them

in the reckoning.

Chandrapaul Hemraj's

dismissal following a run-aball

19 gave them an opening,

but Hetmyer stood firm in

the way of a batting collapse.

He took it upon himself to

steer his team away from

trouble, starting by scoring

the bulk of the runs in a 37-

run third-wicket partnership

with ross taylor during

which he reached his second

successive half-century. It

took a bit of yes-no

miscommunication between

the two to let the patriots

back in the game when taylor

was sent packing - run out in

the 13th over.

After a forgettable first

over, emrit returned to turn

the screws further on the

chasing side, dismissing

Nicholas pooran for a firstball

duck. though at 96 for 4

there was a sense of balance

in the game, the excessive

dew however tipped the

scales in the batting side's

favour. Hetmyer took

advantage of Cottrell's clear

struggle with gripping the

ball and turned the

accumulating pressure over

to the opposition with a six on

the last ball of the 15th over

that brought down the

equation for his side to just 18

off 30 balls.

that was further dwarfed

to 10 within the first three

balls off the next over from

emrit, but the mediumpacer's

strong comeback led

to a belated batting wobble.

emrit dismissed Sherfane

rutherford and paul off

successive deliveries, and

Dominic Drakes ended

Hetmyer's innings in the

following over but it was too

little too late as romario

Shepherd sealed the game

with a four in the 17th over.

Brief Scores: Guyana

Amazon Warriors 131/7 in 17

overs (Shimron Hetmyer 71;

rayad emrit 3-31) beat St.

kitts & Nevis patriots 127/8

in 20 overs (evin Lewis 30;

keemo paul 4-19, Imran

tahir 2-18) by 3 wickets.

FrIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2020

10

DSE ends week in green

Country's premier bourse, Dhaka

Stock Exchange (DSE) closed week

carrying the gaining streak of previous

session, reports BSS.

At DSE, the broad index, DSEX

settled at 4794.06 points on Thursday,

last working day of week, with a little

gain of 3.39 points or 0.07 percent.

Besides, two selective indices, Blue

Chip index, DSE30 and Shariah index,

DSES also went up by 2.61 points and

5.93 points to settle at 1647.06 points

and 1100.33 points respectively.

On the DSE trading floor, a total

number of 184,178 trades were

executed in recent trading session with

a trading volume of 357.08 million

securities.

On the other hand, DSE's turnover, a

crucial indicator of the market, stood at

Taka 9.36 billion from Taka 11.49

billion in the previous session.

Losers took lead over gainers as out

of 355 issues traded, 125 securities

gained price while 186 declined and 44

remained unchanged.

The market-cap of DSE increased

slightly to 3,597 billion which was Taka

3,592 billion in the previous session.

The top 10 gainers were Fu Wang

Food, LafargeHolcim Bangladesh,

Daffodil Computer, Agni System,

Dragon Sweater, AFC Agro, BD

Finance, Coppertech, Power Grid and

Desh Garments.

Beximco topped the turnover chart

followed by Beximco Pharma, IFIC,

Orion Pharma, LafargeHolcim

Bangladesh, Active Fine, BSCCL,

Square Pharma and Indo-Bangla

Pharma.

The top ten losers were SEML FBSL

Growth Fund, Prime Insurance, CAPM

BDBL Mutual Fund, CNA Tex, EBL 1st

Mutual Fund, Vanguard AML BD

Mutual Fund-1, Golden Son, SEML

IBBL Shariah Fund, CAMP IBBL

Mutual Fund ad Northern Insurance.

On the other hand, port city bourse,

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also

closed trading at red from the green in

previous session. CSCX and CASPI

declined by 6.63 points and 14.23

points to stand at 8277.38 points and

13712.76 points respectively.

At CSE, a total of 14,151,364 shares

and mutual funds of 264 companies

were traded, of which 100 issues

advanced while 129 declined and 35

issues remained unchanged.

A day long workshop on 'Awareness on Shariah Compliant Investment' of First Security Islami

Bank Ltd was held recently by using digital platform. Syed Waseque Md. Ali, Managing

Director of the bank inaugurated and Professor Dr. Mohammad Gias Uddin Talukder,

Chairman of Shariah Council conducted the workshop. Among others, Md. Zahurul Haque,

Deputy Managing Director, Different Zonal Heads and Divisional Heads along with other officials

were participated the workshop.

Photo: Courtesy

Fed officials say US

economy probably

needsmore aid

Federal Reserve bankers

voiced fear the US economy

would need more aid to

weather the coronavirus

downturn as provisions of a

key spending measure

expired, according to meeting

minutes released Wednesday,

reports BSS.

The rate-setting Federal

Open Market Committee

(FOMC) held a regularly

scheduled meeting in July as

the coronavirus pandemic

was causing one of the

sharpest economic downturns

the United States has seen in

recent history, with tens of

millions of people losing their

jobs since mid-March.

Congress also authorized

the $2.2 trillion CARES Act

spending measure at the

pandemic's onset that

included loans and grants to

small businesses, extra money

for unemployed people and

direct payments to all

Americans, measures that

have been credited with

blunting the pain somewhat.

The FOMC cut its

benchmark lending rate to

zero while rolling out trillions

of dollars in liquidity as the

pandemic intensified. At the

July meeting, they kept the

rate unchanged but the

meeting minutes show some

FOMC members worrying

Asian markets dropped Thursday

after a sobering Federal Reserve

assessment of the US economic

outlook, as talks on a stimulus that

bank officials say is needed remain

deadlocked, reports BSS.

World equities have surged from a

March bottom thanks to a wall of cash

support from the Fed and other central

banks, but with the multi-trillion-dollar

fiscal rescue hammered out earlier this

year now running out, US lawmakers

are under pressure to stump up more.

While Democrats and Republicans

dig their heels in on a new package, the

chances of anything coming soon are

slim.

With the coronavirus continuing to

ravage the country and containment

measures keeping businesses closed,

minutes from the Fed's July meeting

showed it was concerned about the

recovery as help for small businesses,

extra money for the jobless and direct

payments to all Americans come to an

end.

"A number of participants observed

that, with some provisions of the

CARES Act set to expire shortly against

the backdrop of a still-weak labour

market, additional fiscal aid would

likely be important for supporting

about what would happen

when the stimulus measures

ran their course.

"A number of participants

observed that, with some

provisions of the CARES Act

set to expire shortly against

the backdrop of a still-weak

labor market, additional fiscal

aid would likely be important

for supporting vulnerable

families, and thus the

economy more broadly, in the

period ahead," according to

the minutes.

The US saw a surge in

weekly jobless claim filings

after businesses closed to curb

transmission of COVID-19.

That wave has subsided since

peaking in late March, with

claims dropping below the

one million mark for the first

time in the most recent week

that ended August 8.

FOMC members "generally

agreed that prospects for

further substantial

improvement in the labor

market would depend on a

broad and sustained

reopening of businesses,"

which would "depend in large

part on the efficacy of health

measures taken to limit the

spread of the virus," the

minutes said.

Fed officials including Chair

Jerome Powell have

repeatedly called for more

support for the economy

walloped by the pandemic,

but hopes for a new spending

bill dimmed in recent weeks

as Democrats and

Republicans in Congress have

failed to reach an agreement

despite lengthy negotiations.

In an analysis, Oxford

Economics said the minutes

"showed just how concerned

the Fed was about the

economic toll inflicted by the

coronavirus pandemic.

"FOMC members saw

significant downside risks to

the outlook, and those risks

have increased given the

failure of policymakers to

enact further relief measures."

FOMC members also took

notice of the unequal impact

of the downturn, saying that

employment losses were

concentrated among lower

wage workers, particularly

those in the services industry

or other jobs where social

distancing is difficult.

Such work is

"disproportionately held by

African Americans,

Hispanics, and women, (and)

these portions of the

population were bearing a

disproportionate share of the

economic hardship caused by

the pandemic," the minutes

said.

vulnerable families, and thus the

economy more broadly, in the period

ahead," according to the minutes.

Policymakers added that the

"prospects for further substantial

improvement in the labour market

would depend on a broad and

sustained reopening of businesses",

which would "depend in large part on

the efficacy of health measures taken to

limit the spread of the virus".

Bank boss Jerome Powell has led

repeated calls for more government

support for the economy.

The bank is likely more worried

about the pace of the recovery "given

the stalemate on fiscal stimulus in

Washington", Marvin Loh, at State

Street, said.

"The Fed will continue to do what it

can, but it does feel that fiscal is as

important in the recovery process as

monetary, and their tools to get funds

to Main Street remain constrained."

The minutes sent US markets, which

had been enjoying more gains, into the

red on concerns the bank would not be

providing any more of the easing

measures that have kept stocks afloat

for so long.

And Asia followed suit.

Hong Kong shed 1.8 percent and

US, China to hold

call on trade in

'near future':

official

Beijing and Washington

will soon hold a call on trade,

China's commerce ministry

said Thursday, after reports

that planned high-level talks

on the "phase one" trade

agreement between the two

countries were postponed,

reports BSS.

The US and China signed

the accord in January,

bringing a partial truce in

their lingering trade war,

and obliging Beijing to

import an additional $200

billion in American products

over two years, ranging from

cars to machinery to oil to

farm products.

The phase one deal also

called for officials to hold a

"check in" every six months -

but neither government has

confirmed that the talks

were planned or later

postponed.

"The two sides have

agreed to hold a call in the

near future," Ministry of

Commerce spokesman Gao

Feng said at a press briefing

Thursday when asked if

trade talks would be

rescheduled.

He didn't give any further

details.

US Trade Representative

Robert Lighthizer and

Treasury Secretary Steven

Mnuchin reportedly were

scheduled to hold a video

conference with China's Vice

Premier Liu He last

weekend according to the

reports, including from

Bloomberg.

Asian markets track US losses as

Fed raises economy concerns

Tokyo went into the break 0.7 percent

lower while Shanghai and Sydney each

shed 0.9 percent.

Taipei and Seoul both lost more than

two percent, and Singapore was off

more than one percent. Manila and

Wellington were also well down.

"Without the Fed air balloon floating

markets… stocks are temporarily

succumbing to forces of gravity," said

Stephen Innes at AxiCorp.

But he added that with borrowing

costs expected to sit around record lows

for up to three years, "it is unlikely US

stocks will have to deal with a

particularly deep or intense air pocket

as the wall of money argument seems

always to win out".

Adding to the downward pressure

were ever-present China-US tensions,

with the White House on Wednesday

withdrawing from three bilateral deals

with Hong Kong on extradition and

taxation over the city's controversial

security law.

The move comes after the US revoked

Hong Kong's preferential trade status

and is the latest blow to an increasingly

fractious relationship between the

superpowers that has fanned concerns

about their crucial trade pact signed in

January.

COVID-19 & economic

cost of Lockdown

Bangladesh economy grew

by 5.24 per cent in FY20

despite COVID-19 pandemic

against 2 per cent growth

forecast by World Bank and

IMF. The government has

set the GDP growth target

for FY21 at 8.2 percent,

which under present COVID

scenario will be difficult to

achieve, according to ICC

Bangladesh quarterly News

Bulletin (April-June 2020)

published recently, a press

release said.

The COVID-19 is an

unprecedented health and

economic crisis, affecting the

lives and livelihood of

workers, as well as the

continued operations of

businesses globally. By its

nature the disease knows no

national borders.

The governments around

the world are putting in

place measures to address

the unprecedented health,

social and economic impacts

of COVID-19. The G20,

along with the WHO, IMF,

World Bank Group, United

Nations and other

international organizations,

are mobilized to take active

steps to overcome the

pandemic, and the

International Chamber of

Commerce (ICC) is

collaborating as a trusted

business advisor with many

of these engaged

stakeholders.

ICC welcomed steps to

fight COVID-19 and stem

human and economic losses

at the conclusion of the

virtual G20 Summit held on

26 March, including the

G20's commitment to ease

the flow of essential medical

equipment and maintain a

bold and large scale fiscal

stimulus in the global

economy. ICC has written to

G20 Trade Ministers with a

roadmap for G20 countries

to use trade policy to fight

COVID-19 and rebuild the

future. Countries around the

world are implementing

economic and fiscal policy

stimuli, including

Opec ministers stuck to

an agreement to lower oil

production at a monthly

meeting Wednesday,

underlining that only

strict compliance could

restore stability to prices

undermined by the

coronavirus pandemic,

reports BSS.

Ahead of a virtual

meeting of OPEC and

non-OPEC producers,

Russian Energy Minister

Alexander Novak had

welcomed data showing

producers had by July

implemented 95 percent

of the cuts agreed.

Following the meeting,

the oil cartel said in a

statement that figure was

as high as 97 percent if

Mexico was included,

welcoming "significant

performance in overall

emergency tax measures to

support their economies

under the pandemic.

To control the spread of

pandemic, government

announced countrywide

lockdown from 26 March,

making the whole economy

virtually a standstill. The

shutdown has left a huge

number of people

unemployed as they are

dependent on daily income

for their livelihood.

According to Bangladesh

Institute of Development

Studies (BIDS) survey,

Bangladesh will have 16.4

million new poor in 2020

due to the impact of

pandemic.

The Economist

Intelligence Unit forecast on

26 March that the global

economy is expected to

contract by 2.2 per cent in

2020. This is likely to affect

its garment exports to major

G-20 countries such as

Germany, Italy, UK and the

conformity".

Nevertheless, "100%

conformity from all

participating countries…

and compensating for the

shortfalls in May, June

and July 2020 is not only

fair, but vital for the

ongoing rebalancing

efforts and to help deliver

long-term oil market

stability," it added.

The coronavirus

pandemic slammed the

global economy earlier

this year, plunging oil

prices

into

unprecedented negative

territory before top

exporters Saudi Arabia

and Russia agreed to put

aside their differences

and make common cause

to halt the slide.

Now, "there are some

signs of gradually

US. Due to depressed oil

prices Middle East and

North Africa region will also

face lower growth. For these

reasons, Bangladesh's

remittance inflow, export

earnings, industrial

production and services

sector are going to be

seriously affected.

However, surprisingly

remittance inflow recorded

an all-time high of US$ 18.2

billion in FY20 and on the

other hand export earnings

have registered a sharp

decline of nearly 17% at

$33.67 billion in FY20 due

to cancellation and/or

reduced export orders of

garments, which accounts

for 84 percent of total

national exports. Experts

consider that country's

export diversification is

urgently needed. At the

same time FDI dropped by

14 percent to $3.73 billion in

the 11 months of the FY 20.

Prime Minister Sheikh

improving market

conditions," OPEC said.

"Nevertheless, the pace

of recovery appeared to

be slower than

anticipated with growing

risks of a prolonged wave

of COVID-19," it added,

highlighting oil market

"fragility… and

significant uncertainties".

Algerian Energy

Minister Abdelmadjid

Attar said Nigeria and

Iraq were two laggards in

implementing their share

of cuts, news agency APS

reported.

"We have to ensure the

total respect of the

OPEC+ accord," Russia's

Novak had said earlier.

Saudi Energy Minister

Abdulaziz bin Salman -

half brother to de facto

Saudi ruler, Crown

Hasina has announced

stimulus packages of Tk.

677.5bn (approx. USD8bn)

planned to implement in

immediate, short and long

phases through four

programs (increasing public

expenditure, formulating a

stimulus package, widening

social safety net coverage

and increasing monetary

supply). The Prime Minister

also announced a number of

social safety packages

including direct cash

assistance for informal

sector workers; health

insurance for health workers

and bankers in case of

COVID-19 infected, special

honorarium for bankers,

health workers and others

and cash payment in case of

death.

Bangladesh Bank

announced moratorium on

loan payments until 30

September 2020 and that

such borrowers will not be in

default. Government

announced details of its BDT

50bn (approx. USD595m)

stimulus package for exportoriented

industries. This

includes assistance towards

salaries and funding of 2

year loans to factory owners

at 2% interest.

Like most other emerging

economies, Bangladesh has

to tackle a number of key

issues in order to achieve the

desired GDP growth which

include healthcare,

sustainable export, FDI and

remittance flow. Besides, in

order to maintain

sustainable growth and

order to keep the supply

chains functional and cost

effective, it is very important

to save MSMEs (micro,

small and medium

enterprises).

Therefore, timely

implementation and

ensuring that the various

stimulus packages

announced by the

Government and the

Bangladesh Bank are availed

by the most desired will be

very crucial.

OPEC singles out laggards

over oil production cuts

Prince Mohammed bin

Salman - had hailed

"significant improvement

in the fundamentals of

the global oil markets"

over the past three

months.

"We see encouraging

signs that energy demand

is recovering, as

economies continue to

re-open in many parts of

the globe," he said in

opening remarks to the

meeting.

But he added that he

hoped stragglers would

catch up by the end of

September.

In its statement, OPEC

said "underperforming"

countries must submit

plans for how they will

compensate for their

overproduction by August

28.

FRiDAY, AUGUST 21, 2020

11

A discussion meeting was held in the capital city marking National Mourning Day.

Photo : TBT

Zia was one of Bangabandhu killing

masterminds: researchers

DHAKA : Researchers and political

analysts at a webinar said BNP founder

Ziaur Rahman was one of the

masterminds behind the killing of

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

They observed that not only

Khondaker Mostaq and some army

officers were involved in the killing of

Bangabandhu but the August 15

carnage of 1975 took place as a result of

many international intrigues.

With support from the Centre for

Research and Information (CRI),

Bangladesh Awami League arranged

the webinar titled 'Post-75 Bangladesh:

Rehabilitation of Bangabandhu's

killers' in the city on Wednesday

evening.

Speaking at the webinar, State

Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar

Alam said: "Personally, I will never

claim myself as a successful state

minister for foreign affairs unless all the

killers of Father of the Nation are

brought to justice."

Researcher and columnist Syed

Badrul Ahsan said many people think

that the US government knew about

the August 15 incident.

After the assassination of

Bangabandhu, the killers had met

Philip Cherry several times at the

embassy, while Farooq Rahman met

Belarusian president urges

western powers to focus on

their own problems

MINSK Belarusian

President Alexander

Lukashenko said

Wednesday that western

leaders should focus on their

own problems rather than

the political situation in

Belarus, state news agency

BelTA reported.

GD- 1063/20 (6 x 3)

Gaddafi, he added.

"In 1973, he (Farook) had planned to

do something. They had taken shelter

in Libya and maintained the Libyan

connection," Ahsan said.

Former student leader Subhash

Singh Roy said Ziaur Rahman had

made the Indemnity Ordinance into an

act in 1979 aiming to block the trial of

the Bangabandhu's killers.

Then in 1996, he said, the Awami

League came to power and the law

minister of the AL government

introduced the 'Indemnity Repeal Bill

1996' in parliament and the BNP

lawmakers walked out from the House.

Roy said giving indemnity is a bad

habit of BNP since its birth.

Writer and researcher Hasan

Morshed said from August 15, 1975 to

November 3, 1975, the killers of

Bangabandhu had absolute power.

"Within a week after Bangabandhu's

assassination, Ziaur Rahman was made

the army chief. The Bangabandhu's

killers wanted to leave the country for

the United States, but the United States

did not give them asylum. Then they

went to Libya via Bangkok," he said.

"On August 3, 1976, the

Bangabandhu's killers formed a

political party - Freedom Party -

headed by Syed Farooq, one of the

killers of Bangabandhu," Morshed said,

adding that other killers, including

Bazlul Huda and Rashid, joined the

party.

He said HM Ershad brought these

killers back to the country and gave

them a chance to form a party.

Prof Shams Rahman, a teacher of

Austrian's RMIT University, said the

killing of Bangabandhu was part of a

blueprint. Both Khondaker Mostaq and

General Zia and some ambitious

military officers were involved in the

blueprint.

He said according to various

information already published, the

United States was also involved in the

assassination of Bangabandhu.

Prof Shams said American journalist

and researcher Lawrence Lifschultz in

an interview had claimed that the then

US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger

hated Bangabandhu and was also

involved in the conspiracy of Mujib's

killing.

Moderated by Special Assistant to the

Prime Minister Barrister Shah Ali

Farhad, the webinar was broadcast live

on the Facebook and Youtube pages of

Awami League, Bijoy TV and the

Facebook pages of bdnews24.com,

banglanews24.com, Bhorer Kagoj,

Samakal, Jugantar, Ittefaq, Sarabangla,

Jagonews24.com and Bangladesh

Journal.

World's largest wealth fund

yo-yos in first half

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the

world's biggest, posted both record

quarterly gains and losses in the first half,

yo-yoing on market volatility during the

COVID-19 pandemic, reports BSS.

After haemorrhaging 1.35 trillion kroner

(117 billion euros) in the first quarter of the

year when the pandemic put the brakes on

the world economy, the fund saw its value

soar by 1.10 trillion kroner in the second

quarter as markets recovered, boosted by

budgetary and monetary policies.

"The first quarter was historically the

fund's worst quarter in terms of returns" in

Norwegian kroner, the deputy chief

executive of the fund, Trond Grande, said

as he presented first half

results.

"Meanwhile the second

quarter was the most robust

quarter ever," he added.

The fund, created in the

1990s to help grow the

state's oil revenues,

nonetheless lost 188 billion

kroner (18 billion euros,

$21 billion) in the first half

of the year.

Its overall value, which

totalled 10.4 trillion kroner

(989 billion euros) at the

end of June, depends on the

portfolio's returns as well as

costs, currency rates, and

government withdrawals

such as recently to ease the

economic impact of the

pandemic.

As stocks account for 69.6

percent of its investments,

the fund closely follows the

markets.

After "a dramatic fall on

all the world's markets" in

early 2020, the

investments showed "a

surprisingly quick

rebound" before the

summer, especially in the

United States, Grande said.

Invested in more than

9,200 companies, the fund

controls about 1.5 percent

of the world's market

capitalisation.

"Even though markets

recovered well in the

second quarter, we are still

witnessing considerable

uncertainty," Grande said.

US-Bangla to

resume Dhaka-

Doha flights

from Aug 31

DHAKA : After about five

months of flight suspension

due to coronavirus

pandemic,theUS-Bangla

Airlines announced

t o r e s u m e o p e r a t i o n s

onDhaka-Doha route from

August 31.

It willoperate flightson the

routetwice a week following

all health and travel

guidelines of Bangladesh

and Qatar governments,the

company said in a

statementon Thursday.

The Doha-bound flights of

Boeing 737-800 aircraft will

leave Dhaka at 7:30pm on

Mondaysand Fridays.

The return flight will leave

Doha at 11:50pm (local

time) on the same day, said

thepressrelease.

US-Bangla Airlines has 13

aircraft,includingsixbrand

new ATR 72-600,threeDash

8-Q400 andfourBoeing 737-

800.

The airlinesis currently

operating one weekly flight

from Dhaka to Guangzhou,

China and two weekly flights

to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In addition,itis operating

special flights to facilitate

passengers stranded at

various destinations around

the world and to transport

cargo

during

thecoronaviruspandemic.

Man kills

wife, jumps

off train in

Gazipur

GAZIPUR : A man died

after jumping off a running

train in Kamalpur area of

Kaliakoir upazila on

Thursday after killing his

wife over family feud, police

said, reports UNB.

The deceased were

identified as Dulal Uddin,

40, son of Sunam Uddin,

resident of Chandra

Mandalpara and his second

wife Ayesha Begum, 25.

Monowar Hossain

Chowdhury, officer-incharge

of Kaliakoir Police

Station, said Dulal

strangulated his wife at

night and later he killed

himself by jumping off the

train in the morning.

The OC said that Dulal's

first wife also took her own

life over family feud seven

years ago.

Dulal's 13-year-old

daughter Dulon Akhter

Shifa said that her father left

house in the morning after

taking Tk100 from her.

Later he said over phone

around 9am that he killed

her mother and he is going

to kill himself.

She said she tried calling

him later but could not get

through.

On information, Gazipur

railway police recovered

Dulal's body from the area

and sent it to Dhaka Medical

College Hospital.

His wife's body was sent to

Gazipur Shaheed Tajuddin

Medical College Hospital for

autopsy.

GD- 1061/20 (4 x 4)

Fed minutes show

uncertainty surrounding

U.S. economic outlook

WASHINGTON : U.S. Federal Reserve

officials believed that uncertainty

surrounding the economic outlook

remained "very elevated," with the path of

the economy highly dependent on the

course of the virus, according to the

minutes of the Fed's latest policy meeting

released Wednesday.

"Several risks to the outlook were noted,

including the possibility that additional

waves of virus outbreaks could result in

extended economic disruptions and a

protracted period of reduced economic

activity," said the minutes of the central

bank's meeting held on July 28-29.

At the meeting, the Federal Open Market

Committee (FOMC), the Fed's policysetting

body, kept its benchmark interest

rate unchanged at the record-low level of 0-

0.25 percent while warning that a recent

resurgence in COVID-19 cases nationwide

is starting to weigh on economic recovery.

Participants continued to judge that it

would be appropriate to maintain this

target range until they were confident that

the economy had weathered recent events

and was on track to achieve the

Committee's maximum employment and

price stability goals, the minutes said.

"Members agreed that the ongoing public

health crisis would weigh heavily on

economic activity, employment, and

inflation in the near term and was posing

considerable risks to the economic outlook

over the medium term," according to the

minutes.

The minutes also highlighted the need for

a new round of fiscal relief, noting that

"additional fiscal aid would likely be

important for supporting vulnerable

families, and thus the economy more

broadly, in the period ahead."

An extra 600 U.S. dollars in weekly

unemployment benefits expired at the end

of July, but Democratic lawmakers and the

Trump administration remain deadlocked

over the next COVID-19 relief package, with

both sides blaming each other for making

little progress.

The impasse over the renewal of the

expiring programs that mitigated the

economic impact of the pandemic

threatens to undo the stimulus effect of the

programs and exacerbate the economic

damage from the lockdown, according to a

study recently released by the Peterson

Institute for International Economics.

"U.S. policymakers should at least

maintain the earlier levels of income

support to prevent further induced

economic damage. In the current

depressed state of the economy,

destimulation is a very poor policy choice,"

the study said.

Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal

Reserve Bank of Boston, meanwhile, noted

that while the fiscal and monetary stimulus

has been significant, it cannot fully offset

the economic drain caused by the public

health crisis.

"Limited or inconsistent efforts by states

to control the virus based on public health

guidance are not only placing citizens at

unnecessary risk of severe illness and

possible death-but are also likely to prolong

the economic downturn," Rosengren said.

Aman paddy transplantation

nears completion

in Rajshahi

RAJSHAHI: Aman paddy seedlings

transplantation in Rajshahi is in the final

stage as most of the farmers already

completed their transplantation activities

amidst suitable climate conditions with

frequent rainfall, sources said, reports BSS.

Farmers are now very much pleased with

the present lucrative market price for the

latest harvested Boro paddy in the entire

region including its vast Barind tract.

After getting the profitable price of their

paddy they are seen bustling with farming of

transplanted aman paddy with more

attention.

Nurul Islam, 48, a farmer of Puthiya area,

has cultivated aman paddy on five bigha of

land saying many of his co-villagers are seen

humming towards aman paddy farming as

they got good price of boro paddy.

Another farmer Ashraful Islam, 37, of

Gollapara village under Tanore Upazila, said

he has cultivated aman paddy on six bigha of

land after the best uses of rainfall that saved

him from extra cost for irrigation.

The appropriate timeframe of the paddy

seedlings transplantation is

up to August 20 while only

its late varieties, developed

by Bangladesh Rice

Research Institute (BRRI),

could be transplanted by end

of this month, said Dr

Aminul Islam, Chief

Scientific Officer of BRRI,

here today.

"Timely transplantation of

aman paddy seedlings is

very important for healthy

growth leading to optimum

yield in the area," he said.

He said some of the farmers are expecting

transplantation of seedlings after harvesting

of Aush paddy and receding the existing

floodwater. "We have some late varieties for

them," Dr Islam added.

He said BRRI has developed seven

modern paddy varieties for Aman season

creating high hope among the farmers in

general in the region.

The varieties like Brridhan 56, Brridhan

66, Brridhan71, Brridhan75, Brridhan80,

Brridhan87 and Brridhan90 are

comparatively high yielding, drought

tolerant and takes short time to get matured

than local variety 'Swarna' which is prone to

various diseases, he continued.

Dr Islam said farmers have been

encouraged to cultivate the latest varieties

through various interventions including

block demonstration, plots projection and

supplying of seed free of cost.

He also said the modern varieties have

opened up doors in enormous prospects of

food security along with mitigating the crises

of irrigation water.

friday, Dhaka, August 21, 2020, Bhadra 6, 1427 BS, Muharram 1, 1442 Hijri

Russia ships reactor vessel, steam

generator for first unit of Rooppur Npp

DHAKA : AEM-Technology, part of

Rosatom machine-building division -

JSC "Atomenergomash, has announced

the shipment of the first key elements

of the nuclear island of the first

Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP).

Rosatom is the Russian state nuclear

energy working as contractor of

2400MW RNPP under a state to state

deal.

Rosatom in a statement said that a

VVER-1200 reactor and a steam generator,

manufactured at the

"Atommash" plant in Volgodonsk, the

largest nuclear engineering production

site in Russia, were shipped to the

NPP construction site.

The Rooppur NPP consists of two

units with a capacity of 1200MW each

and will be put into operation according

to the following schedule: the first

unit will start working in 2023, and the

second one in 2024.

General Director of JSC

"Atomenergomash" Andrei Nikipelov

said, "Manufacturing equipment with

high quality and in time is one of our

main priorities."

He said that despite a number of

restrictions due to the coronavirus, they

managed to ship the first reactor vessel

for RNPP according to the contractual

obligations.

The equipment will travel another

14,000 kilometers by sea to the RNPP

construction site by the end of this year,

he said, reports UNB.

Nuclear power plants on the base of

the VVER-1200 reactor are characterised

by an unprecedented level of

safety, which allows them to be classified

as generation "3+".

This has been achieved by the introduction

of new "passive safety systems"

which are able to function without

operator intervention even when the

station is completely de-energised.

The life cycle of the reactors is 60

years with the possibility of further

extension, Rosatom said.

The transportation of massive equipment

(the weight of the reactor vessel is

333.6 tons, the steam generator - 340

tons) is a complex logistic operation.

UN features Bangladeshi

architect Rizvi as 'Real Life Hero'

DHAKA : The United Nations has featured

Bangladeshi architect Rizvi

Hassan as 'Real Life Hero' on its website,

to appreciate his contribution in

building a safe space for Rohingya

women refugees. Rizvi is the driving

force behind the construction of a safe

space for Rohingya women and girls, in

Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, site of the

world's largest camp for displaced people,

and home to around a million

Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar,

reports UNB.

He collaborated with the NGO Brac

and Unicef to create a community center

of safe space for women and girls in

a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar.

The centre, designed and built by

Rohingyas, provides counselling and

training to the women and girls.

Hassan shares his story as part of the

#RealLifeHeroes campaign, by the UN

Office for the Coordination of

Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), ahead

of this year's World Humanitarian Day,

on August 19.

He said when he was growing up in

Dhaka, he had an interest in art and science.

Later, his sister helped him to discover

architecture as a field to explore

both interests at the same time.

"And as I started studying architecture,

I found out it could be a lot more,"

he said.

Rizvi worked for a contemporary

architecture firm for a short while, until

he realized he had to be involved in

something that has more to offer, he

said.

Then the young architect started

working with BRAC on documenting

cyclone shelters in Cox's Bazar, and

came to know others who were working

in different sectors on the refugee context

there.

Rizvi said "We started sharing ideas

on what can be done and how we can

contribute, and came up with few projects

that we could collectively design. As

we started working, other organizations

became interested in collaborating."

The Safe Space project came about

when aid workers involved in genderbased

violence discussions in the

refugee camp in Cox's Bazar reported

that, based on their findings, the community

needed a safe space for women

and girls to receive psychosocial support,

skill training etc.

"We decided to create a building that

provides a vibrant interior space and

the rooms which separates it from the

outside creating a screen itself. The oval

shape, with a series of columns, are considered

to withstand strong winds, in a

cyclone-prone area," he added.

Rizvi wanted to make an impact on

the lives of marginalized people. That is

why he loved doing the work.

"On this particular project, we

received very positive feedback from

the refugees, NGOs and the host population.

It has become so popular that

members of the local Bangladesh community

also wanted to use the facility,"

Rizvi said.

From the "Atommash" site, the reactor

vessel and the steam generator were

separately transported by special automotive

equipment to the pier of the

Tsimlyansk water reservoir in

Volgodonsk, in order to then sail to

Novorossiysk, and from there - via the

Black Sea and the Suez Canal - to the

construction site - to Bangladesh.

In total for two power units of the

Rooppur NPP, JSC "Atomenergomash"

will manufacture over 14 types of

equipment, including equipment for

the reactor building: reactor vessels,

sets of steam generators, main circulation

pipelines, main circulation pumps,

pressure compensation system equipment,

emergency cooling systems and

passive protection of the core, etc., as

well as equipment for the turbine hall

building: high-pressure heaters, vacuum,

condensate and feed pumps,

equipment for separation systems and

reheating of the turbine unit. In total

during 2018-2022 over 13,000 tons of

unique equipment will be manufactured

and shipped.

Global sea level to

rise by over 10cm

in 80 years: study

COPENHAGEN : Ice sheets covering threequarters

of Greenland, the world's largest

island, are melting so rapidly that global sea

level could rise as much as 10 to 12.5 centimeters

by the end of this century, according

to new study, reports Xinhua.

A prediction was made from the findings

of an international team of researchers,

including representatives from the Danish

Meteorological Institute (DMI).

The results are published in the

International Journal of Climatology.

"If global warming continues as beforewhat

we call the high emission scenario,

then the temperature is likely to rise by a further

4.0 to 6.6 degrees Celsius by the year

2100," climate researcher Ruth Mottram

said in a DMI press release on Tuesday.

"Such a rise in temperature is significantly

greater than we expect for the

overall global temperature rise over the

same time period, reflecting the fact that

the polar regions are very vulnerable to

climate change," he said.

Researchers used the latest available

global and regional climate modeling

tools to calculate the extent the melting

of Greenland's inland ice would contribute

to the global sea level, by examining

the precarious relationship

between the change in summer temperatures

in Greenland and the ice's surface

mass-balance over the last 30 years.

"Our research shows that we should

expect an increase of 10 to 12.5 centimeters

in global sea level by the year 2100

as a direct result of increased ice melting

and loss of surface mass from the

Greenland ice sheet alone," said

Mottram.

pedestrians and vehicles are crossing beside a damaged slap in Shonir Akhra originally setup by Dhaka

WASA. it poses sheer risk and narrowing down the road causing enormous traffic jam. photo: Star Mail

Vakurta, a remote village in Savar was inundated by flood water a few weeks ago. Though the water level

has started to decrease people are sensing another threat: river erosion.

photo: Star Mail

Sinha murder case

Court sends 7 including

4 cops to jail

SHAfiUL ALAM, Cox'S BAzAR CoRRESpoNDENT

A Cox's Bazar court on Thursday has

sent seven people, including four

accused policemen and three other suspects,

to jail following the completion of

their interrogation conducted by Rapid

Action Battalion (RAB) in connection to

the murder case of Major (retd) Sinha

Md Rashed Khan.

The court of Senior Judicial

Magistrate Tamanna Fara h of Teknaf

upazila in Cox's Bazar passed the order

after Rapid Action Battalion produced

them before the court around 12:00pm,

said Pradip Kumar Das, police inspector

of Cox's Bazar court.

The seven accused are Assistant Subinspector

Md Liton Mia, Constable

Safarun Karim, Constable Kamal

Hosen, Constable Abdullah Al Mamun

and three witnesses of the case filed by

police following the incident of killing-

Nurul Amin, Nizam Uddin and Md

Ayesh.Previously on August 12, senior

judicial magistrate of Cox's Bazar court

granted a seven-day remand for the

accused policemen and the witnesses.

On August 18, the same judge granted a 7-

day remand for three members of Armed

Police Battalion (APBn), all of whom were

on-duty at Shamlapur Police Investigation

Centre on the night of July 31.

The same day, three top accused in the

case-suspended officer-in-charge of

Teknaf Police Station Pradeep Kumar

Das, inspector Liakat Ali and sub-inspector

Nanda Dulal Rakshit-were taken into

RAB custody for interrogation.

It is be noted that Major (retd.)

Sinha was shot dead at Shamlapur

check post on the night of July 31 on

his way back to Nilima Resort in

Himchhari area of Cox's Bazar on

Marine Drive after filming a video on

Marishbunia hill in Teknaf.

Anti-independence activists

conspiring despite highest

benefits: Tajul

DHAKA : Despite living in an independent

country and enjoying all the

benefits gained by father of the

nation Bangabandhu Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman, the anti-independence

forces and his killers are

conspiring to hinder the country's

development progress.

This was stated by Minister for

Local Government, Rural

Development and Cooperatives Md

Tajul Islam on Thursday , while

attending as the chief guest at an

online discussion meeting and

prayer mahfil titled 'Bangabandhu

and Bangladesh', said a release.

The meeting was organized by the

Ministry of Local Government,

Rural Development and

Cooperatives on the occasion of 45th

Martyrdom Anniversary of Father of

the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman and National

Mourning Day 2020.

"The country under the leadership

of Father of the Nation Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman had achieved

unprecedented development in just

three and a half years of independence.

If it had continued,

Bangladesh would have been transformed

into a developed and prosperous

'Sonar Bangla' long ago",

said Tajul.

Stating General Ziaur Rahman to

be directly involved in the assassination

of Bangabandhu, the minister

also said that Ziaur Rahman rewarded

the murderers of the Father of

the Nation with the highest privileges

of the country, said the

release..

Mentioning the ceaseless development

progress of Bangladesh under

the leadership of Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina, heurged the whole

nation to respond to the call of

Sheikh Hasina and build

Bangabandhu's 'Sonar Bangla'.

Speaking as the special guest,

State Minister for Local

Government Rural Development

and Cooperatives Swapan

Bhattacharya said, "Speaking of

Bangladesh, the name of

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman inevitably comes up",

added the release.

The state minister also said that

Bangabandhu had never strayed

from the path of truth and justice.

Helaluddin Ahmed, senior secretary

of the local government division

, said in his speech that there had

been repeated attempts to assassinate

Bangabandhu even before

August 15, but he never compromised

in the interest of Bangladesh

even when he went to the gallows.

Mayor of Dhaka North City

Corporation (DNCC) Md Atiqul

Islam, Mayor of South City

Corporation (DSCC) Barrister

Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh were also

present as guests of honor at the

meeting.

Senior officials of various departments

and agencies and representatives

of local government bodies

were also present, among others.

ACC to quiz

Sabrina, 5 others

at jail gate

DHAKA The Anti-Corruption

Commission (ACC) will interrogate six

people including JKG Healthcare

Chairman Dr Sabrina Arif Chowdhury

at the jail gate on three working days.

Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special

Judge KM Imrul Qayes passed the

order, allowing a plea of ACC deputy

director and investigation team officer

Selina Akhter Moni.

The ACC official filed the plea to interrogate

the accused at jail gate in a case

lodged over embezzling money by conducting

false coronavirus (Covid-19)

test. The other five accused are-

Sabrina's husband and JKG CEO Ariful

Haque Chowdhury, ASM Sayeed

Chowdhury, Humayun Kabir Himu,

Tanjina Patwari, and Jebunnesa Rima.

Earlier in the day Dhaka Metropolitan

Magistrate Sorafuzzaman Ansari

framed charges against eight including

Sabrina and Ariful in a case lodged over

issuing fake coronavirus (Covid-19) test

reports.

Money-laundering cases

Destiny MD

denied bail

DHAKA : The High Court (HC) on

Thursday turned down the bail petitions

of Destiny Group managing

director Rafiqul Amin in two moneylaundering

cases filed by the Anti-

Corruption Commission (ACC).

The virtual bench of Justice Md

Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice

Ahmed Shohel passed the order and

directed the subordinate courts to dispose

of the cases within six months,

reports UNB.

Advocate Abdul Matin Khasru

appeared for the accused, Md

Khurshid Alam Khan for ACC and

deputy attorney general AKM Amin

Uddin Manik represented the state.

On July 31, 2012, the ACC filed the

two money-laundering cases against

Destiny-2000 chairman and group

managing director and 20 others on

charge of misappropriating investors'

money amounting to Tk 3,285 crore.

Environment Minister

Shahab Uddin recovers

from Covid-19

DHAKA : Environment, Forests and

Climate Change Minister Md Shahab

Uddin has recovered from Covid-19,

reports UNB.

He returned to his official residence

on Bailey Road after he was released

from the Combined Military Hospital

(CMH) on Thursday, saidDipangkar

Bor, senior information officer of the

ministry. He will take necessary treatment

at home isolation for next two

weeks under the supervision of doctors.

Doctorssaid that the minister is

now out of danger. He tested positive

on August 12 and later he was admitted

at the hospitalas per the instruction

of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Bangladesh coronavirus fatalities

surpassed 3,822 on Thursday after

the health authorities announced 41

new deaths.

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21-08-2020

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