06-01-2021

Wednesday

DhAKA : January 6, 2021; Poush 22, 1427 BS; Jamadi-ul Awal 21, 1442 hijri

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net

Regd.No.DA~2065, Vol.17; N o.265; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00

InternatIonal

Australia vows not to

rush vaccine rollout,

citing UK 'problems'

>Page 7

Bangladesh reports

20 COVID-19

deaths

DHAKA : Bangladesh recorded 20

novel coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths

and 991 fresh cases overnight.

The recovery count rose to 4,62,459

after another 944 patients were discharged

from the hospitals during the

period, a press release of the Directorate

General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

"Twenty more COVID-19 patients

died in the last 24 hours, increasing

the death toll from the pandemic to

7,670," the release said.

It said the tally of infections has

surged to 5,17,920 as 991 new cases

were confirmed in the last 24 hours.

A total of 14,462 samples were tested

at 180 authorized laboratories

across the country during the time.

Of the total sample tests in the past

24 hours, 6.85 percent tested positive,

while 15.76 percent cases were detected

from the total tests conducted so

far, the release added.

Among the total infections, 89.29

percent patients have recovered, while

1.48 percent died so far since the first

COVID-19 positive cases were reported

in the country on March 8.

Indictment hearing

in Khaleda's Niko

graft case Jan 19

DHAKA : A court yesterday set

January 19 to hold a hearing on

charge framing in Niko graft case

against BNP chairperson Begum

Khaleda Zia and others.

Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of

Dhaka 9th special judge court passed

the order yesterday morning at the

newly built courtroom in front of

Keraniganj Central Jail.

Tuesday was fixed for holding

hearing on charge framing in the

case, but prime accused Begum

Khaleda Zia failed to appear before

the court on health ground and made

her lawyers to plead for time.

Allowing the defence plea, the

court then adjourned the hearing till

January 19.

The Anti-Corruption Commission

(ACC) filed the case against five

including Begum Khaleda Zia with

Tejgaon police station on December

9 in 2007, for abusing power in signing

a deal with Canadian company

Niko for exploring and extracting

gas.

The ACC on May 5 in 2008, submitted

the charge-sheet against 11

including Khaleda Zia.

The ACC accused them of incurring

a loss of more than Taka 13

thousand crore of state exchequer by

that deal.

Zohr

05:24 AM

12:08 PM

03:50 PM

05:30 PM

06:50 PM

6:42 5:27

sports

Langer says Warner

'very likely' to play

through pain

>Page 9

Vaccine delivery

Delhi says no reason for

Dhaka to be concerned

DHAKA : India has said there is no reason

for Bangladesh to be concerned

over the timely receiving of the Covid-

19 vaccine because India always prioritizes

its neighbours, reports UNB.

"We've seen the statement made by the

head of the Serum Institute of India.

There's no reason for neighbouring

Bangladesh to be concerned because

India has always considered its neighbors

on a priority basis. there'll be no exceptions

this time, too," a diplomatic source

in New Delhi told UNB on Tuesday.

Reiterating the highest priority India

attaches to Bangladesh under India's

Neighbourhood First Policy, Prime

Minister Narendra Modi, during a

summit meeting with Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina on December 17 last

year, assured that vaccines would be

made available to Bangladesh as and

when produced in India.

Both leaders also noted the ongoing

bilateral collaboration between the private

sector in this area.

The two countries exchanged views on

the situation of the ongoing Covid-19

pandemic in their respective countries

and expressed satisfaction at the manner

in which sustained engagement

between the two countries has been

maintained during this ongoing crisis.

Meanwhile, CEO of Serum Institute

of India (SII) Adar Poonawalla has

tweeted mentioning that they will clear

up any recent miscommunication.

"I would like to clarify two matters; as

Govt aims to recover imports

DHAKA : Although imports fell drastically

in the 2019-20 fiscal, the government

aims to turn things around aiming

for average import growth of 8% per

year over the next three fiscals, including

the current 2020-21.

The last quarter of the 2019-20 fiscal

(April-June) coincided with the peak of

the economic ravage brought on by the

coronavirus pandemic.

The 'lockdown' and other measures

implemented by governments worldwide,

including Bangladesh, in response

to the virus had a massive impact on

economic activity. Depressed demand,

fall in consumption and lower imports

all went hand-in-hand.

According to available data from the

country's central bank, Bangladesh's

imports (including both goods and services)

during the 2019-20 fiscal stood at

$55.6 billion (over Tk 471,000) down

from $62.9 b (over Tk 528,000 cr ) in

2018-19, reflecting a decrease of 11.6%.

Imports of EPZs in the 2019-20 fiscal

was Tk 25,631.7 crore, comparedtoTk

30,830 crore in 2018-19, a fall of nearly

17 percent, which means EPZ imports

there's confusion in the public domain,

exports of vaccines are permitted to all

countries and a joint public statement

clearing up any recent miscommunication

with regards to Bharat Biotech will

be made," he tweeted.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Dr AK

Abdul Momen cleared the confusion

about timely delivery of Covid-19 vaccine

to Bangladesh saying Bangladesh

will get the vaccine from India timely.

"A decision has been taken at the

highest level and that would be implemented.

Nobody has to worry or get

panicked," he told reporters sharing

the updates they received from the

Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

Dr Momen said they talked to the

Indian Ministry of External Affairs and

Indian High Commission in Dhaka once

they came to know about a media report.

He said Bangladesh and India will

get the vaccine at the same time.

"Bangladesh must not be concerned as

commitment has been made at the

highest level. Nothing to worry."

Apparently, there is a confusion

around amid a recent statement from

Serum Institute, India (SII) whereby

they stated that they will export the

Oxford-Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccine

only after fulfilling their domestic

demands in India.

Bangladesh has signed a deal with

SII and Beximco for receiving 30 million

doses of the said vaccine by the end

of January or early February.

fell proportionately more than overall

imports.

According to an official document, the

import growth projection for the running

fiscal has been fixed at 10%, followed

by 8% and 7% for 2021-22 and

2022-23 fiscals.

Imports for the 2019-20 fiscal were

preliminarily projected to grow 10%, but

later it was fixed at negative 10% due to

COVID-19 pandemic.

The import growth in 2018-19 fiscal

was 1.8%, according to officialnumbers.

It said that from the first half of the last

fiscal the economy showed sluggish trend

in import growth. The origination of coronavirus

in Wuhan in January and worldwide

lockdown added more woe to the

scenario. From July to March 2020 the

import amount was USD 43.58 billion

which is 4.81% lower than the previous

year's corresponding period.

The growth of overall Letter of Credit

or L/Cs opening for July to February

2020 was negative 1.04% while the

opening of L/Cs for capital machineries

was negative 0.57% and for import of

raw materials was negative 1.24%.

Dhaka South

City Corporation

evicted illegal

settlements from

the footpath

adjacent to

Shahbagh

footover bridge.

Photo : Star Mail

art & culture

Siam-Puja

teaming up again

in 'Sikander'

>Page 10

Qatari expatriates stranded in the country during the Corona epidemic holiday took a stand in front of the

Foreign Ministry on Tuesday for a 're-entry permit'.

Photo : Star Mail

HC imposes travel

ban on PK Halder's

mother, 24 others

DHAKA : The High Court (HC) yesterday

imposed a travel ban on 25 people

including Lilaboti Halder, mother of

former managing director of NRB

Global Bank and Reliance Finance

Proshanta Kumar Halder alias PK

Halder and former deputy governor of

Bangladesh Bank SK Shur.

A High Court division bench comprising

Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder

and Justice Ahmed Sohel passed the

order, ordering officials concerned to

take proper steps so that these 25 people

cannot leave the country.

The court also said the Anti-

Corruption Commission (ACC) can

quiz them as per law, if they find it necessary

for the sake of investigation.

The court came up with the order

after holding hearing on a petition filed

by five depositors of People's Leasing

and Financial Service. The five pleaders

are- Nashid Kamal, daughter former

chief justice Mustafa Kamal, valiant

Freedom Fighter and former director of

Dhaka University Physical Education

Center Showkatur Rahman, former

ambassador Raziul Hasan, housewife

Samia Binte Mahbub and one Md

Tariqul Islam.

The state and the ACC yesterday

informed the court about the progress

made in the case and the in the process

of sending the arrest warrant issued

against PK Halder, to the INTERPOLE.

The anti-graft body on January 8, 2020,

filed a case against Halder for amassing

illegal wealth of around Taka 274 crore. He

is accused of embezzling Taka 1500 crore

from the International Leasing and

Financial Services Ltd. Halder has allegedly

embezzled Taka 3,500 crore from different

financial agencies.

LoC projects

Bottlenecks to be removed

for timely implementation

An Indian state ruled by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist

party on Wednesday passed a law abolishing

state-run Islamic schools, saying

they provided sub-standard education.

Opposition politicians criticised the

move and said it reflected the government's

anti-Muslim attitude in the

Hindu-majority country.

More than 700 of the governmentfunded

religious schools, known as

madrasas, in northeastern Assam will

be shut by April, the state's education

minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the

local assembly.

"We need more doctors, police officers,

bureaucrats, and teachers, from

the minority Muslim community rather

than Imams for mosques," said Sarma,

DHAKA : Bangladesh and India have

emphasised that the procedural bottlenecks

will be removed through review

mechanisms to ensure the timely

implementation of the projects taken

under the Indian Lines of Credit (LOC),

reports UNB.

Bangladesh has requested the Indian

side for the enhancement of local material

content in the procurement process

and revision of the Indian Lines of

Credit (LoC) agreement.

The two countries noted that India-

Bangladesh development partnership

has grown significantly in recent years.

The government of Bangladesh and

government of India reviewed the

progress of Indian LoC-funded projects

during the first high-level project monitoring

committee meeting held virtually

recently.

The Indian government's total commitment

under LoCs to the government

of Bangladesh is USD 7,862 million,

including LoC of USD 500 million

granted for the procurement of defence

equipment, said the Indian High

Commission in Dhaka.

Out of 46 projects currently covered

under the three GOILOCs, 14 projects

are completed (USD 412.85 million), 8

projects are ongoing (USD 1,013.74

million), 15 projects are under tendering

(USD 3,195.44 million) and 14 projects

are under DPP (USD 3,081.34)

preparation stages.

In value terms, appx. 83% of the projects

are still at planning/DPP (appx.

41%) and tendering (appx. 42%) stages.

The Bangladesh government's project

agencies have awarded contracts of

value USD 1,276.39 million so far

which are appx. 17% of total GOILOC

portfolio.

Under such contracts, the disbursements

of value USD 719.78 million

(56% of the contract value) have so far

been made by Exim Bank of India.

Out of the first LoC, USD 200mn has

been converted into grant.

The high-profile project monitoring

committee is one of the several initiatives

taken jointly by both sides to expedite

the progress of the projects and

sort out the issues regarding the implementation

of LoC-funded projects and

suggest the way forward.

It was discussed that follow-up mechanisms

will be taken to expedite various

projects which are at different stages,

viz., at DPP preparation and tendering

stages.

Special focus will be given on expediting

the completion of preparation of

DPP for projects which have been identified

to be executed out of GOILOC

funds so that steps can be taken for the

early floating of tenders.

It has been agreed upon that steps

will be taken to ease the tendering

process, which will in turn speed up the

process of awarding of contracts to the

winning bidders and early implementation

of projects.

Indian state bans Islamic

schools, drawing criticism

a rising star in Modi's Bharatiya Janata

Party (BJP).

The government would convert them

to regular schools as education provided

in the madrasas could not prepare

anyone for "the temporal world and its

earthly concerns", he said.

Opposition politicians said the move

was an attack on Muslims.

"The idea is to wipe out Muslims,"

said Wajed Ali Choudhury, a lawmaker

from the opposition Congress party.

More than 100 retired senior civil servants

and diplomats on Tuesday urged

the BJP government in India's largest

state of Uttar Pradesh to repeal a new

law criminalising forced religious conversion

of brides, which is seen as

aimed against Muslims.

weDneSDAY, JAnUARY 6, 2021

2

BEZA gets $4.08b investment

proposals in 2020

DHAKA : Bangladesh Economic Zones

Authority (BEZA) has received investment

proposals amounting to around

US$4.080 billion in 2020 despite the

COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to various

steps of the government to keep

smooth the flow of investment.

BEZA is responsible for establishing

and managing state-run special economic

zones (SEZs) across the country.

Out of the investment proposals,

BEZA received around $3.150 billion

during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the $3.150 billion, around

$0.545 billion will come as foreign

direct investment (FDI) from different

companies in China, India, Australia

and the UK.

World-famous companies like Barger

Paints of the UK, Jiangsu Yabang

Dyestuff Company Limited, Jiehong

Medical Products (BD) Company

Limited and CCECC Bangladesh

Limited of China, Ramky Enviro

Services Private Limited of India,

German and India joint venture company

Fortis Group, HA Tech Limited of

Australia, Lizard Sports BV of

Netherland and Inter-Asia Group

Limited of Singapore are the major foreign

investors.

The local investors include Metro

Spinning Ltd, Maksons Spinning and

Textiles, Samuda Food Products Ltd,

Uttara Motors Ltd, Bangladesh

Garment Manufacturers & Exporters

Parents allege

madrasha charging

students for free

textbooks

JHENAIDAH : Many parents

of students have alleged that

Ghorashal Hamidia Dakhil

Madrasha in Sadar upazila

has asked them to pay

between Tk 350 and Tk 750

for government-approved

textbooks meant for free distribution,

reports UNB.

They also accuse Madrasha

superintendent Wazed Ali of

collecting Tk 50 from students

who have failed to return their

old textbooks. "On January 3,

when we had gone to collect

textbooks, the madrasha

demanded money," said a

parent, on condition of

anonymity.

Superintendent Wazed Ali

has, however, denied the allegation.

"Students have been

asked to pay admission and

tuition fees only. There must

be some misunderstanding,"

he said.

When contacted, Mozaffar

Hossain Palash, upazila secondary

education officer, told

UNB that legal action would

be taken against the madrasha

superintendent and others if

found involved in demanding

money for textbooks. "A probe

is already on," he said.

Association (BGMEA), Sayeman Beach

Resort Limited, Maf Shoes Ltd,

Bangladesh Garments Accessories &

Packaging Manufacturers & Exporters

Association (BGAPMEA), N.

Mohammad Plastic Industries Ltd, Ifad

Autos Limited, Runner Motors Ltd,

Saif Powertec, Delta Pharma Ltd and

Asia Composite Mills Ltd.

Talking to BSS, BEZA Executive

Chairman Paban Chowdhury said

beyond these investment proposals,

many world-renowned foreign companies

are coming with big investment

offers.

He said the investment proposals

during COVID-19 pandemic prove that

the economic zones of Bangladesh are

the greatest place for investment.

He further said that due to the sustainability

and long-term planning of

the present government, Bangabandhu

Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN)

has become known as an ideal place of

investment for domestic and foreign

investors.

If the flow of investment in BSMSN

continues, he said, it will be a challenge

for BEZA to give land to investors for

industrial use next year.

He mentioned that BSMSN will be

the next investment and trade capital of

Bangladesh.

The BEZA executive chairmen said

many entrepreneurs from home and

abroad have already started construction

work of their industrial units in the

economic zones, while many are taking

preparations to set up factories there.

He mentioned that the government is

providing all sorts of facilities to the

economic zones to ensure investmentfriendly

environment. "Both local and

foreign businesses who will invest in

the economic zones will enjoy the same

facilities," he added.

Chowdhury said BEZA governing

board has already approved the location

and amount of land in 97 economic

zones, of which 68 are public economic

zones and 29 are private economic

zones.

Among the economic zones, he said,

there are two public-private partnership

economic zones, 4 G-2-G economic

zones and three tourism parks.

In the meantime, a total of 7,315 acres

of land has been selected for lease in

favor of 172 investing institutions in five

economic zones (BSMSN,

Maheshkhali, Shrihatta, Jamalpur

Economic Zone and Sabrang Tourism

Park) with a proposed investment of

about $23.96 billion , he added.

Besides, he said, about $3.1 billion

has been invested in private economic

zones. As a result, the total investment

proposal stands at $27.07 billion and

the implementation of the proposed

investment will create direct employment

opportunities for about 10 lakh

people, he added.

Lalmonirhat: 75-yr-old

struggles to get two

square meals a day

LALMONIRHAT : "Click my

photos if you wish, but help

me repair my shanty. Every

time it rains, the roof leaks

and my shack gets filled up

with water," says 75-year-old

Kadu Begam, a resident of

Kashiram village in Kaliganj

upazila, reports UNB.

The hearing impaired lives

alone in the shack. "My husband

passed away some 15

years ago. And after I married

our only daughter off to

a man, there's literally no one

to take care of me," says

Begam.

Unable to walk due to old

age, Begam is often forced to

spend days without food.

"Often I go to bed with

hunger. Believe me, I don't

have enough money to

secure two square meals a

day. No one is there to help

me either"

Her story has left local residents

teary-eyed. "I urge

the authorities as well as the

rich to come forward and

help Begam," says a local

resident.

State Minister for Information Dr Md Murad Hasan addressed a discussion

meeting on the occasion of the death anniversary of Syed Ashraful

Islam.

Photo: PBA

Inflation eases to 5.29%

in December

DHAKA : The general point-to-point inflation

rate eased last month (December) as it came

down by 0.23 percentage point to 5.29 percentage

point in December, 2020, reports BSS.

"The General point to point inflation rate in

December, 2020 eased to 5.29 percentage

point," said Planning Minister MA Mannan

yesterday.

He said this while briefing reporters revealing

the monthly consumer price index after the

day's ECNEC meeting held at the NEC conference

room in the city's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar

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area. ECNEC Chairperson and Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina chaired the meeting virtually

from her official Ganobhaban residence.

The general point to point inflation rate

was 5.52 percentage point in November,

2020. The BBS data showed that the food

inflation declined to 5.34 percent in

December from 5.73 percent in the previous

month, while the non-food inflation

rate, however, increased slightly to 5.21

percent last month from 5.19 percent in

November.

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WeDNeSDAY, JANUARY 6, 2021

3

Father gets life

sentence for raping

own daughter

DHAKA : A man convicted of

raping his own daughter has

beensentenced to life in prison.

Md. Nejam Uddin, 40, a carpenter

of Vujpur, Chattogram

stood accused of raping his 12-

year-old daughter. Chattogram

Women and Children

Repression Prevention

Tribunal-7 judge Munshi

Abdul Majid found him guilty

in a judgment announced yesterday

The public prosecutor of the

tribunal Kh. Ariful Alam confirmed

the matter and said

Nejam is facing his sentence

under two separate sections,

reports UNB.

He said the tribunal additionally

fined the convict Tk

20,000 and also sentenced

him to life imprisonment

under section 9(1). Under

another section 9(4)(B) he is

liable to pay Tk 5,000 and sentenced

to five years in prison. If

he fails to pay, he would face

rigorous imprisonment for

another three years and three

months.

Eleven witnesses testified in

the case proceedings, he added.

According to the court statement,

Nejam sexually violated

his daughter severaltimes.

After theabuse came to light,

locals first resorted to local

Chairman Rustom Ali. Later

they handed him over to

Police.

Virtual 3-day international

B2B conclave underway

DHAKA : The first and largest 3-day international

business-to-business (B2B) virtual conclave

beganTuesday aimingto attract foreign

direct investment (FDI) in the country.

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry

(DCCI) organized the conclave titled "1st DCCI

Business Conclave 2021." In this 3-day conclave

227 companies from 10 countries will meet upto

January 7.

Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen joined

the inauguration ceremony as the chief guest

while Executive Chairman of Bangladesh

Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Md

Sirazul Islam was special guest, reports UNB.

Sirazul Islam said the economy of Bangladesh

is recovering despite of prevailing Covid-led

pandemic time. "Domestic market demand,

export and remittance increased remarkably

during the covid time. Amid the pandemic

Bangladesh earned USD 33.67 billion through

export in 2019-20. Bangladesh is ready for the

review for LDC graduation in 2021,"he added.

He added that the Business conclave will rejuvenate

the trade and investment in the country

as well as will create confidence among the foreign

investors.

"We invite foreign investors to invest in

Bangladesh in the sectors like ICT, pharmaceutical,

footwear, agriculture, ship-building, light

engineering and jute products," he said.

The Chairman said Matarbari deep sea port

will transform the investment landscape of

Bangladesh. At present 41 services are being

provided by the OSS and by this month 10 more

services will be added in the OSS. Addressing to

foreign entrepreneurs joined the B2B he said

our doors are always open for businesses so

please come and invest in Bangladesh.

DCCI President Rizwan Rahman said as the

global economy gradually endeavoursto alleviate

COVID induced crises, Bangladesh plans

trade and investment recovery strategies

accordingly. Bangladesh is ready for the world.

He also invited entrepreneurs from participating

countries in the B2B space to reap the dividends

of accelerated economic growth of

Bangladesh investing in promising manufacturing

sectors.

This international business conclave will

deepen economic ties of Bangladesh and participating

economies and will facilitate manifold

trade and investment opportunities for

Bangladesh as well as partner countries, he

added.

Chairman of BUILD Abul Kasem Khan said

Covid 19 affects all of us. "At present we need to

focus on job creation, sustaining businesses

especially SMEs, expansion of trade and ensuring

safety of the vulnerable people."

He said Bangladesh is now the 3rd fastest

growing country in the world and fastest in Asia

that is because of timely initiatives taken by the

government. Unemployment will be the biggest

threat in the new normal situation in the globe,

he apprehended.

Khan urged upon to frame out a global recovery

plan as a master plan with an aim to keep no

one left behind. To build a better and sustainable

future he stressed on taking a collective effort

from all stakeholders.

Shams Mahmud, Director and former

President of DCCI, said despite Covid 19 fallout,

technology has come up with new reality and

innovative ICT backed solutions and we have to

embrace the opportunity to cope with the new

normal situation. In addition, to increase trade

and investment and revive the global trading

network, we need to diversify our product basket,

trade destinations and innovative trading

mechanism.

At the chairman's Banani office auditorium on Tuesday, Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader addressed an

exchange meeting with Comilla district and metropolitan leaders.

Photo : Courtesy

Road accident kills

University student

in the capital

DHAKA : A university student

was killed in a road

accident at the Darussalam

technical intersection in

city's Mirpur area on

Monday midnight.

The victim was identified

as Ayesha Akter, 22,

daughter of Abul Kalam, a

resident of city's Rupnagar

Residential area in Mirpur.

According to police,

Ayesha was a sixth semester

law student of

Bangladesh University of

Business and Technology

(BUBT).

Darussalam Police

Station Duty Officer , Sub-

Inspector (SI) Mohammad

Yeahia told BSS confirmed

the matter to BSS.

Darussalam Thana police

rushed the spot immediately

after receiving the news

and recovered the body, the

official said.

The body was then sent to

the morgue of Shaheed

Suhrawardy Medical

College Hospital (SSMCH)

for autopsy.

Mirpur Darussalam

Police Station Sub-

Inspector (SI) Mohammad

Sohan Ahmed told BSS that

Ayesha was killed on the

spot when she was hit by a

vehicle between 1am and

2am on Monday.

The official said that

where Ayesha was going or

what vehicle hit her was not

known yet.

The exact cause of

death will be known after

the autopsy. Legal action

has been taken in this

regard, he added.

BIDA, StanChart announce

partnership to increase FDI

DHAKA : Bangladesh Investment Development Authority

(BIDA) and Standard Chartered Bank yesterday announced a

partnership to jointly promote Bangladesh as a preferred investment

destination and work together to bring in targeted global

investments to the country.

The first initiative to be undertaken through this partnership

will be the China-Bangladesh Investment Summit, scheduled to

be held on January 25, said a press release.

The virtual event will showcase the partnership potential

between Bangladesh and China and highlight the emerging

strategic opportunities in the highly promising Bangladesh-

China trade and investment corridor.

Over 300 delegates representing Chinese public and private

sectors, policymakers, investors, bankers and economists, along

with prominent leaders from Bangladesh's private and public

sectors are expected to be in attendance.

BIDA, the country apex investment promotion body, and

Standard Chartered, Bangladesh's largest global bank, will collaborate

on marketing and trade exchange initiatives that will

help companies invest in Bangladesh.

The partnership will also extend to knowledge exchange on

policies, regulations and procedures on investment issues and

potential investment opportunities in Bangladesh.

The partnership will leverage Standard Chartered's banking

networks both at home and abroad to target high value, high

technology and high impact investments, covering key priority

sectors such as agri-business, ICT, electronics, plastics, light engineering,

shipbuilding, tourism, renewable energy, power and

healthcare, along with a host of other growth areas.

Sirazul Islam, Executive Chairman of BIDA, said, "Foreign

direct investment (FDI) will be a key enabler for Bangladesh to

achieve sustained double-digit growth and the Sustainable

Development Goals by 2030, and become a higher income country

by 2041. While we continue to work to improve ease of doing

business and create a business-friendly environment to accelerate

FDI flow, we must at the same time take the story of a rising

Bangladesh to the world. Public and private sector collaboration

is now more important, as we look to overcome challenges of

Covid-19 and leverage the opportunities of the new normal."

Naser Ezaz Bijoy, CEO of Standard Chartered Bangladesh,

said, "Shifting patterns of globalization and the system

shock caused by the pandemic highlights the importance of

building resilience through diversification. With companies

looking to invest in diverse markets to build resilience and

leverage available resources and prospects, we have a

unique window of opportunity to expand our FDI."

Md Musharraf Hossain, Additional Secretary of BIDA,

delivered the welcome speech on the occasion. Enamul

Huque, Managing Director of the Standard Chartered

Bank and other senior officials of the bank were also present

on the occasion.

43% female

workers in

RMG victim of

malnutrition

Speakers said a large number

of workers at different industries

are suffering from malnutrition.

About 43% female

workers at ready-made garments

(RMG) sector are victim

of malnutrition.

Malnutrition can reduce the

working capacity of workers

and productivity by 20%.

Hence, it is very important to

implement the Plan of Action

(2021, 2041), taken up by the

government, and to ensure

nutritious foods for the workers

for achieving Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs),

they said.

They remarked addressing a

sensitization meeting titled

'Strengthening Workers'

Access to Pertinent Nutrition

Opportunities (SWAPNO)' at

City Inn Hotel in Khulna on

Tuesday. Department of

Inspection for Factories and

Establishment (DIFE) and

Department of Labour in association

with Switzerland-based

organization 'Global Alliance

for Improved Nutrition

(GAIN)' organized the event.

State Minister for Labour

and Employment Begum

Monnujan Sufian attended as

the chief guest, while Talukder

Abdul Khaleque, Mayor of

Khulna City Corporation, as a

special guest. A.K.M Mizanur

Rahman, Director General,

Department of Labour, Dhaka;

Dr. Md. Mustafizur Rahman,

Joint Inspector General

(Health), DIFE; Dr. Rudaba

Khondker, Country Director,

GAIN; Ismiel Hossain,

Divisional Commissioner,

Khulna; among others spoke.

State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak yesterday

distributed prize of the "National Cyber Drill-2020" competition.

Photo : Courtesy

BD to develop as world's

cyber security hub: Palak

DHAKA : State Minister for Information and

Communication Technology (ICT) Division

Zunaid Ahmed Palak yesterday said

Bangladesh in the Global Cyber Security

Index now lifted to 8th position from 73rd

and the country will be developed as the

world's cyber security service providing hub

in future.

The state minister was speaking as the

chief guest at the prize distribution ceremony

of the "National Cyber Drill-2020" competition

aimed at capacity building of government

and non-government organizations

on cyber security at the Idea Floor auditorium

at ICT Tower in Agargaon, said a press

release.

He said that young talents will be built up

in that way by taking various effective steps.

BGD e-Gov Cirt of Information and

Communication Technology Department

organized this competition on the occasion

of "Digital Bangladesh Day-2020".

Palak said cyber security was indispensable

to ensure social, political and economic

stability in the country, adding that the ICT

division has been striving hard to ensure

state and private cyber security.

He said training was being imparted

through digital security agencies to ensure

security in various sectors of the country

including banking, health and civil aviation.

Palak said 1,000 cyber security experts

will be built up in the country in the next

five years.

'Through this, the talented cyber security

personnel of Bangladesh will contribute to

the world in cyber security and will earn

huge foreign exchange by creating new

jobs in the country.

He said Bangladesh will keep the world

cyber risk free in future as it contributes to

the UN peacekeeping mission.

The award ceremony was presided over

by Md. Rezaul Karim, Director General, of

Digital Security Agency.

The 1st place in this national group

cyber drill competition was won by

Silicon Bits led by Animesh Khaskel, The

2nd place was bagged by Infinity Bytes

led by Md. Russell Bhuiyan and 3rd was

Heimdall led by Md. Khatib Al Fahad.

Later, the state minister handed over

prizes among the winners.

Kenya to stage drama on

Bangabandhu at university,

theatre and on buses

DHAKA : Kistrech Theatre International

in collaboration with Kenyan state-run

educational institute, Kisii University will

perform a play on Bangladesh's Father of

the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman on university campus, at theatre

and on buses in Nairobi and Kisii city in

October 2021.

Bengali-Swedish poet and playwright

Anisur Rahman has written the play, 'I am

Sheikh Mujib' which is an epic monologue

on Bangabandhu's life and works, said a

press release.

The play will be staged marking the birth

centenary of Bangabandhu.

Internationally well-known Kenyan theatre

academic, theatre director and poet

Christopher Okemwa is directing the play

along with two other plays by the same

author as part of the theatre course program

at his university.

Students of theatre at Kisii University

will study and research on Anisur's three

plays including, 'I am Sheikh Mujib',

'Dawit Isaak' and 'Minister and Wolf'.

Anisur Rahman is scheduled to make his

visit to Kenya to deliver lectures, take part

in views exchange and reading at Kisii

University and Kistrech Poetry Festival in

connection with the performance of the

plays. Recently, a leading theatre in

Kathmandu called the One World Theatre

premiered the play in Nepalese and

English language.

About the plays, Kistrech Theatre

International director and teacher of theatre

and poetry at Kisii University, Dr

Christopher Okemwa, said, "The play, 'I

am Sheikh Mujib', the epic piece, tells

insight of colonial as well as post-colonial

perspectives of Indian subcontinent, for

instance Bangladesh."

In all the three plays, human rights are

violated. "Human rights violation is a universal

theme and the plays are very relevant

to our society in Kenya and contain

suitable materials for our drama students,"

he continues.

The epic monologue, originally written

in Bengali, depicts the twentieth century

freedom struggle of the Indian subcontinent

through the voice of Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman - from British colonial times to

the first tentative years of independent

Bangladesh under his leadership. Along

the way, this political struggle was, to a

large extent, also about the right to one's

own language.

Quader urges

private varsities to

give importance to

research

DHAKA : Road Transport and

Bridges Minister and Awami

League General Secretary yesterday

called upon the private

universities along with the

public universities to lay more

emphasis on research work.

He made the call at the silver

jubilee of Asian University of

Bangladesh (AUB) joining it

virtually from his official residence

on parliament premises.

Quader urged the youth to

make their efforts to become

entrepreneurs without only

searching for jobs.

The government has been

promoting the youths to

become entrepreneurs and it

kept open multidimensional

opportunities for them to be

entrepreneurs, he added.

Former Rotary

governor, Jalal

Ahmed dies at 81

TBT DESK

Professor Jalal U Ahmed, a

former governor of Rotary

International in Bangladesh

has breathed his last on

Tuesday, January 5, 2021.

His Namaz-e-Janaza held

after Johor's call to prayer at

Baitul Ma'mur Masjid of

Nakhalpara. He was later

buried at the capital's

Azimpur graveyard.

Current governor, M

Rubaiyat Hossain; governor-elect,

Barrister Mutasim

Billah Farooki; governornominee,

Engineer M A

Wahab; and former governors

as well as other RI

Bangladesh officials have

mourned on his death, said a

press release.

His relatives, friends and

well-wishers are requested

to pray for the salvation of

the departed soul.

A sensitization meeting titled 'Strengthening Workers' Access to Pertinent Nutrition Opportunities (SWAPNO)' at City

Inn Hotel in Khulna on Tuesday.

Photo : Courtesy

wEdnEsdAY, jAnUARY 6, 2021

4

Geographically close, digitally closer: India and SE Asia

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Restrict tobacco industry in

growing and sustaining

THE World Anti Tobacco Day is ritually

observed in Bangladesh. But in seminars

and discussions meetings usually held on

the occasion, hardly positives can be cited by the

speakers about the situation in Bangladesh related

to tobacco consumption. It appears from various

studies, the smoking habit in Bangladesh instead

of declining is rather showing an uptrend specially

among younger people .

The tobacco producers in Bangladesh contend

these days that they pay good revenues to the

government and how smoking is related to a

business from the growers' to producers' level and

how the curbing of the same would reduce the

level of economic activities. But economists

maintain that economic activities that lead to

much greater social or economic or health costs

than the benefits they generate, are undesirable.

According to WHO, though Bangladesh earns

around Taka 2,400 crore per year from the

tobacco sector, country incurs a loss of some Taka

5,000 crore as treatment costs for fatal diseases

and subsequent death caused by smoking. And

experts in the country consider the WHO supplied

estimate as a conservative one ; they maintain

that the negatives from smoking are several times

higher than the ones stated in the WHO report.

Recently, tobacco producers are turning their

attention more to poor and developing countries

to expand their business because tobacco

consumption has been falling in the developed

countries due to greater understanding of the

health risks.

But in a country like Bangladesh, tobacco

producers with smart indirect publicities and

other enticing activities are trying to habituate

particularly the younger generation to become

smokers. This must have the most undesirable

impact on national health and productivity. The

youth of a country are its potential workforce. For

them to lose their vitality and health from a

negative habit can be most unfortunate.

Our government needs to discourage tobacco

consumption through penal taxes, greater antitobacco

publicity and a host of other innovative

measures. The government introduced some

years ago a law that provides for paying penalties

for smoking in open places.

But this law exists in paper only. Its enforcement

is not seen. The view of experts is that heavy taxes

on tobacco producers or cigarette makers can be

more effective to regulate smoking. But this

suggestion, too, appears not to have been

considered seriously.

In this backdrop, it was reported sometime ago

that the government was considering to make the

prevailing law related to tobacco consumption

stiffer through some amendments in it. The aim

would be to create provisions in the law for higher

fines for smoking in public places and for the

producers to display on cigarette packets clearer

warning about the risks of smoking.

But it is also imperative to discourage tobacco

cultivation in the first place to put a hard brake on

the malaise at source. It is noted that increasingly

farming areas in Bangladesh are being utilized for

tobacco cultivation as yields from tobacco

cultivation are seen as relatively more financially

gainful than growing other healthy crops. Thus, it

is so important that farmers should be motivated

to grow these other crops in place of tobacco. To

this end, the growers of the healthy crops will have

to be extended proper price supports and other

financial incentives to undercut the appeal of

tobacco growing. Government may also strictly

restrict the acreage under tobacco farming from

now on justifying the move also on the ground

that tobacco farming adds to toxicity of the soil.

As for the regulation on open smoking , in its

present form, the regulation is seen seldom

applied and remains mostly ignored by the

enforcers. So, this is the real challenge : stricter

enforcement of the anti-tobacco laws for the

gamut of these to bring about the significant

desired results.

Government should also consider creating

disincentives through appropriate fiscal policies

that would discourage the tobacco industry.

India has historically not been very

keen on sub-regionalism in South and

Southeast Asia because the gains it

would make seem to be lopsided

compared with the other smaller

countries that would gain access to the

large Indian market. It is mainly for this

reason that India has always shown more

interest in economically integrating with

Europe or the US than with the Southeast

Asian nations.

However, in the age of Globalization

4.0, it is important to harness the big

virtual markets in Asia that are brimming

with opportunities.

In fact, if India fails to participate in the

free-trade agreements in the region, its

loss might be intensified in the long run as

more countries join these FTAs. In this

regard, it is important to note that India's

non-participation in the Regional

Comprehensive Economic Partnership

(RCEP) may need a second look in the

future.

In order to create complex goods with

high-tech knowledge inputs, such

processes cannot be operationalized in

silos. Hence sub-regionalism is required

to facilitate knowledge transfer and

enhancement at both commodity and

market levels for economic convergence

between Asia and the West.

The Covid-19 situation has reshaped the

traditional sources of economic

advancement. This will definitely lead to

digitization making massive inroads into

the sphere of economic development due

to the restrictions on physical mobility.

This is largely due to a few factors. First,

a degree of insulation should exist in times

of unprecedented crises while the global

economy remains adrift. Second,

economies should be self-sufficient and

robust to sustain themselves amid

AFTER I had completed a

presentation on child sexual abuse,

a person from the audience came up

to me and said: "When we were young,

our maulvi sahib used to give us extra love

by hugging and touching us all over,

especially when he was happy. Was that

abuse?"

Unfortunately, most of the time,

children have no clue that they are being

abused. Although they feel

uncomfortable, they are often unaware

that this is unacceptable behaviour. The

perpetrator convinces the child that his

actions are just a form of warmth and

affection.

Child grooming is a process in which a

predator searches for and targets a

vulnerable child. They first cultivate a

trusting relationship with the child by

giving the child their time and attention.

Additionally, they often lure children with

money and gifts. As soon as the child

starts to believe the predator's affection is

genuine, the predator takes advantage of

the situation and begins to abuse the

child. The predator then convinces the

child that the abuse was consensual and

commands him to keep the secret

between themselves. At this point, the

child becomes entangled; he or she may

feel strong guilt and fear from the

predator's threats, and is deterred from

speaking about it. The resultant

psychological impact is so significant that

it affects the mental and physical health of

the child for a long time to come. Social

interaction, personal growth and school

encumbrances created by disruptions in

supply chains (such as in China).

Finally, countries should aim for

efficient production and consumption

processes in the long term - to be selfsufficient

and not contingent on other

countries for their needs, including

increased domestic production to cater to

widening consumption demands.

The launch of the Association of

Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Economic Community coupled with

contemporary digitization efforts in the

region would benefit the Indian

companies that rely on the intermediary

goods from Southeast Asia.

Increasing digitization of trade can also

offset the problems associated with

underdeveloped and ineffective border

procedures that often cripple the

networks between India and the Bay of

Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral

Technical and Economic Cooperation

(BIMSTEC) countries and the Cambodia

Laos Myanmar Vietnam (CLMV) nations.

At the 14th ASEAN-India Summit, an

ASEAN-India innovation platform was

established to facilitate commercialization

of low-cost technologies, and cooperation

in capacity building in solar energy.

Currently, India has extended a US$1

soUmYA BhowmiCk

billion line of credit for enhancing

physical and digital connectivity.

However, the conditionality that 85% of

the goods and services related to digital

projects have to be obtained from India

has deterred the countries of the region

from utilizing the offered line of credit.

India's AEP is also complementary with

Thailand's "Look West" Policy, and hence

the two countries resolved to extend

cooperation to enhance digital

connectivity at the recently concluded

eighth Joint Commission Meeting (JCM).

india's efforts in extending the digital connectivity to

neighboring countries have been appreciated by sri

Lanka, which is a leader in the technology sector in

BimsTEC. india has also pledged to deepen the e-governance

framework and the iT sector along with sri

Lanka, which is expected to strengthen trade between

the two countries.

kishwAR EnAm

Digital technology and services have

also powered India's financial technology

industry, which in turn has led to

increased inflows of foreign direct

investment. Singapore and India also

cooperate in the Network for Electronic

Transfers (NETS) of Singapore and the

National Payment Corporation of India

(NPCI) and are hence assimilating the

RuPay Network.

The government of Andhra Pradesh and

the Monetary Authority of Singapore in

2016 entered the FinTech Cooperation

Agreement to accelerate financial-services

innovation in both.

In the present context, opportunities for

collaboration between India and the

Southeast Asian nations exist in the

Predators around

performance are all severely affected by

this.

Studies that have been carried out on

the characteristics of child sex offenders

show that the predators do not fall into a

unifying category; therefore, there is no

easy way to identify them. They come

from all backgrounds, all social classes,

and all educational levels. Paedophiles are

people who are attracted to children, but

all child sexual offenders are not

paedophiles. There are other various

psychological, environmental and

situational factors that can make a person

a child sex offender. Studies conducted on

the subject have shown that some

predators may have been sexually abused

during childhood; others are unable to

find mates of the same age and find it

easier to unpack their frustration on a

child. A history of crime and substance

abuse is also sometimes found in

perpetrators. The frightening reality is

that child abusers are not only adults but

juveniles too - especially those belonging

to the adolescent age group.

Ashok swAin

Research has shown that the majority of

these cases - around 90 per cent - are

perpetrated by someone the child knows.

It could be a parent, a grandparent, an

uncle, a sibling, or some other relative,

neighbour, school or madressah teacher,

tutor, house help, shopkeeper, an

acquaintance, or a total stranger. It could

be anyone around your child.

The internet and especially the

unregulated dark web provide abundant

opportunities for criminals to exploit

children and use child sexual abuse as a

money-making business. Unfortunately,

there have also been many cases where

parents and acquaintances of children,

succumbing to poverty and greed, are

enticed by criminals to make videos of the

children. Moreover, the easy accessibility

of pornographic material and

objectionable social media content can

sometimes become an adjunct to the

reason for the crime.

The fact is that the majority of the abuse

occurs at home. Unfortunately, it is also a

fact that there are adult bystanders who

know that the child is being abused but

sectors of digital payments, cybersecurity,

fintech and digital content value chains.

Introduction of the goods and services

tax (GST) and the launch of initiatives like

"Digital India" in India and

complementary initiatives like the ASEAN

Single Shipping Market and "Digital

ASEAN" are likely to facilitate effective

cooperation between India and ASEAN.

Another important sector - agricultural

technology cooperation between India

and ASEAN for sustainable farming -

would be beneficial for the domestic

markets, and could contribute to the

regional agricultural value chains.

Additionally, India has a comparative

advantage in services with respect to

CLMV countries, and could extend its

cooperation as well as investments in

these ASEAN nations.

India's efforts in extending the digital

connectivity to neighboring countries

have been appreciated by Sri Lanka,

which is a leader in the technology sector

in BIMSTEC. India has also pledged to

deepen the e-governance framework and

the IT sector along with Sri Lanka, which

is expected to strengthen trade between

the two countries.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is

distinctly different from the previous ones

in terms of its pace, scope and impact.

However because of the lack of an

institutional focal point, international

cooperation in technology is challenging,

unlike other developmental domains.

Additionally, since digital evolutions are

rapid and intersect across various sectors,

a set rule or static policy may often be an

ineffective approach.

Source: Asia times

prefer to remain silent. The most common

reasons for not speaking up are economic

consequences, 'family honour', fear and

retribution, and not knowing what to do.

These children grow up in an

environment where there is a constant

threat of being abused by someone at

home and of not being supported by the

people they reveal their trauma to. This

trauma on a continuous basis overactivates

the fight-and-flight response of

the body, and the normal psychological,

social, cognitive, and physical

development of the child is put on hold.

The result may be a child who is destroyed

in every way possible.

We teach our children a lot about how to

deal with strangers but we do not prepare

them for a situation where they are stuck

with someone they know very well. When

targeted by abuse, if the child is not aware

of what a safe or unsafe touch is, they are

left confused and unable to comprehend

the reality of what happened.

Consequently, they are unable to

communicate the abuse and prefer to stay

quiet.

It is essential to understand that staying

quiet or silencing the child does not mean

that they will forget about what happened

to them. With no adult support,

psychological trauma can take over their

childhood and haunt them for their entire

life. Talk to your children, listen to them

and support them.

World needs to watch for these conflicts in 2021

Divers in 'Hanbok' send New Year

greetings from underwater at

South Korean aquarium

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid: A

timeline of achievements at the 15th year

of accession as Dubai Ruler

The year 2020 was probably the most

dreadful year for the world since the end

of the Second World War. The Covid-19

pandemic created devastating havoc

across the globe, killing nearly two million

people and triggering the deepest

worldwide economic recession in nearly a

century.

The world also experienced a number of

serious climate disasters like Cyclone

Amphan in the Bay of Bengal, several

catastrophic hurricanes and typhoons,

severe floods in Japan, China, Vietnam,

India, Pakistan, and South Sudan, forest

fires in the US West Coast and South

America, windstorms in Europe, and

locust swarms in East Africa and South

Asia.

The tragic combination of an

unprecedented pandemic and calamitous

Unfortunately, most of the time, children have no clue that

they are being abused. Although they feel uncomfortable, they

are often unaware that this is unacceptable behaviour. The

perpetrator convinces the child that his actions are just a form

of warmth and affection.

natural disasters, as some had hoped for,

wasn't able to bring good sense to warring

parties and didn't result in halting armed

conflicts around the world. The call of the

UN Secretary-General in March 2020 for

a global ceasefire to facilitate aid at the

time of pandemic also mostly fell in deaf

years.

The course of some of the conflicts, like

in Afghanistan, Libya, South Sudan, Syria,

Yemen, and Ukraine, took occasional

hopeful turns in 2020, but the long-term

sustainability of these developments looks

extremely doubtful. Moreover, in the last

year, the world witnessed several dormant

conflicts becoming active and violent

again.

The revival of a border clash between

China and India, a full-scale war between

Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the nearopen

war between the US and Iran made

the matters worse and raised serious

concerns about the peace and stability of

the world.

The victory of Joe Biden in the US

Presidential election and the arrival of

vaccines against coronavirus in the final

weeks of 2020 has brought new hopes for

a better new year. In spite of mutating new

Covid strains, the vaccine might be able to

contain the pandemic in the coming

months.

Biden administration has already

declared that the US is going to rejoin the

Paris Agreement, so the global alliance

against climate change might take a new

momentum. Some countries, particularly

China, have already started to recover

economically, and hopefully, the global

economic growth might gain some

impetus in 2021.

In spite of all these hopes of a revival of

multilateralism and a restart of the

economy, 2021 is still likely going to be a

very challenging year. The pandemic has

exacerbated food insecurity in different

parts of the world and it has significantly

increased vulnerability particularly

among the migrant population.

The legacies of 2020 might accelerate

mass hunger in some of the economically

poor and politically unstable countries in

Source: Dawn

the South in 2021.

Serious food and job crises and an

increasing number of climate changeinduced

natural disasters can potentially

also lead to political instability and

democratic decline in many countries.

Besides the threats of famine and

political instability, the international

community also this year needs to remain

watchful about four ongoing conflicts,

which are at high risk of diffusing and

infecting not only their respective

neighbourhoods but also seriously

affecting regional if not always global

security architecture.

Four years ago, the world was anxious

about North Korea's nuclear tests and

medium-range missile tests. Trump-era

had brought Kim Jong Un to the

negotiating table, but the diplomatic path

has failed after the onset of the Covid-19

pandemic. Kim is yet to acknowledge Joe

Biden's victory and will be the first foreign

policy challenge of the US President-elect.

Source: Gulf News

Doctors observing a Covid patient in the I.C.U.

Photo: AP

How infected you are with the

coronavirus?

Health Desk

As Covid-19 patients flood into

hospitals nationwide, doctors are

facing an impossible question. Which

patients in the E.R. are more likely to

deteriorate quickly, and which are most

likely to fight off the virus and to

recover?

As it turns out, there may be a way to

help distinguish these two groups,

although it is not yet widely employed.

Dozens of research papers published

over the past few months found that

people whose bodies were teeming with

the coronavirus more often became

seriously ill and more likely to die,

compared with those who carried

much less virus and were more likely to

emerge relatively unscathed.

The results suggest that knowing the

so-called viral load - the amount of

virus in the body - could help doctors

predict a patient's course,

distinguishing those who may need an

oxygen check just once a day, for

example, from those who need to be

monitored more closely, said Dr.

Daniel Griffin, an infectious disease

physician at Columbia University in

New York.

Tracking viral loads "can actually

help us stratify risk," Dr. Griffin said.

The idea is not new: Managing viral

load has long formed the basis of care

for people with H.I.V., for example, and

for tamping down transmission of that

virus. Little effort has been made to

track viral loads in Covid-19 patients.

This month, however, the Food and

Drug Administration said clinical labs

might report not just whether a person

was infected with the coronavirus, but

an estimate of how much virus was

carried in their body.

This is not a change in policy - labs

could have reported this information all

along, according to two senior F.D.A.

officials who spoke on the condition of

anonymity because they were not

authorized to speak publicly about the

matter. Still, the news came as a

welcome surprise to some experts, who

have for months pushed labs to record

this information. "This is a very

important move by the F.D.A.," said Dr.

Michael Mina, an epidemiologist at the

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public

Health. "I think it's a step in the right

direction to making the most use of one

of the only pieces of data we have for

many positive individuals."

The F.D.A.'s change followed a

similar move by the Florida

Department of Health, which now

requires all labs to report this

information. The omission of viral load

from test results was a missed

opportunity not just to optimize

strained clinical resources, but also to

better understand Covid-19, experts

said. Analyzing the viral load soon after

exposure, for example, could help

reveal whether people who die from

Covid-19 are more likely to have high

viral loads at the start of their illnesses.

And a study published in June

showed that the viral load decreases as

the immune response surges, "just like

you'd expect it to be for any old virus,"

said Dr. Alexander Greninger, a

virologist at the University of

Washington in Seattle, who led the

study.

An uptick in the average viral load

throughout entire communities could

indicate an epidemic on the rise. "We

can get an idea of whether the epidemic

is growing or declining, without relying

on case counts," said James Hay, a

postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Mina's

lab.

Fortunately, data on viral load - or at

least a rough approximation of it - is

readily available, built into results from

the P.C.R. tests that most labs use to

diagnose a coronavirus infection. A

P.C.R. test is performed in "cycles,"

each doubling the amount of viral

genetic material originally drawn from

the patient's sample. The higher the

initial viral load, the fewer cycles the

test needs to find genetic material and

produce a signal.

A positive result at a low cycle

threshold, or Ct, implies a high viral

load in the patient. If the test is not

positive until many cycles have been

completed, the patient probably has a

lower viral load. Researchers at Weill

Cornell Medicine in New York recorded

viral loads among more than 3,000

hospitalized Covid-19 patients on the

day of their admission. They found that

40 percent of patients with high viral

loads - whose tests were positive at a Ct

of 25 or below - died while in the

hospital, compared with 15 percent of

those with positive tests at higher Cts

and presumably lower viral loads.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2021

5

Covid Survivors long suffered by

loss of smell and taste

Roni Caryn Rabin

Until March, when everything started

tasting like cardboard, Katherine

Hansen had such a keen sense of smell

that she could recreate almost any

restaurant dish at home without the

recipe, just by recalling the scents and

flavors.

Then the coronavirus arrived. One of

Ms. Hansen's first symptoms was a loss

of smell, and then of taste. Ms. Hansen

still cannot taste food, and says she

can't even tolerate chewing it. Now she

lives mostly on soups and shakes.

"I'm like someone who loses their

eyesight as an adult," said Ms. Hansen,

a realtor who lives outside Seattle.

"They know what something should

look like. I know what it should taste

like, but I can't get there."

A diminished sense of smell, called

anosmia, has emerged as one of the

telltale symptoms of Covid-19, the

illness caused by the coronavirus. It is

the first symptom for some patients,

and sometimes the only one. Often

accompanied by an inability to taste,

anosmia occurs abruptly and

dramatically in these patients, almost

as if a switch had been flipped.

Most regain their senses of smell and

taste after they recover, usually within

weeks. But in a minority of patients like

Ms. Hansen, the loss persists, and

doctors cannot say when or if the

senses will return.

Scientists know little about how the

virus causes persistent anosmia or how

to cure it. But cases are piling up as the

coronavirus sweeps across the world,

and some experts fear that the

pandemic may leave huge numbers of

people with a permanent loss of smell

and taste. The prospect has set off an

urgent scramble among researchers to

learn more about why patients are

losing these essential senses, and how

to help them.

"Many people have been doing

olfactory research for decades and

getting little attention," said Dr.

Dolores Malaspina, professor of

psychiatry, neuroscience, genetics and

genomics at Icahn School of Medicine

at Mount Sinai in New York. "Covid is

just turning that field upside down."

Smell is intimately tied to both taste

and appetite, and anosmia often robs

people of the pleasure of eating. But the

sudden absence also may have a

profound impact on mood and quality

of life. Studies have linked anosmia to

social isolation and anhedonia, an

inability to feel pleasure, as well as a

strange sense of detachment and

isolation. Memories and emotions are

intricately tied to smell, and the

olfactory system plays an important

though largely unrecognized role in

emotional well-being, said Dr. Sandeep

Robert Datta, an associate professor of

neurobiology at Harvard Medical

School.

"You think of it as an aesthetic bonus

sense," Dr. Datta said. "But when

someone is denied their sense of smell,

it changes the way they perceive the

environment and their place in the

environment. People's sense of wellbeing

declines. It can be really jarring

and disconcerting." Many sufferers

describe the loss as extremely

upsetting, even debilitating, all the

more so because it is invisible to others.

"Smell is not something we pay a lot of

attention to until it's gone," said Pamela

Dalton, who studies smell's link to

cognition and emotion at the Monell

Chemical Senses Center in

Philadelphia. "Then people notice it,

and it is pretty distressing. Nothing is

quite the same." British scientists

studied the experiences of 9,000

Covid-19 patients who joined a

Facebook support group set up by the

charity group AbScent between March

24 and September 30. Many members

said they had not only lost pleasure in

eating, but also in socializing. The loss

had weakened their bonds with other

people, affecting intimate relationships

and leaving them feeling isolated, even

detached from reality. "I feel alien from

myself," one participant wrote. "It's also

kind of a loneliness in the world. Like a

part of me is missing, as I can no longer

smell and experience the emotions of

everyday basic living." Another said, "I

5

feel discombobulated - like I don't exist.

I can't smell my house and feel at home.

I can't smell fresh air or grass when I go

out. I can't smell the rain."

Loss of smell is a risk factor for

anxiety and depression, so the

implications of widespread anosmia

deeply trouble mental health experts.

Dr. Malaspina and other researchers

have found that olfactory dysfunction

often precedes social deficits in

schizophrenia, and social withdrawal

even in healthy individuals.

"From a public health perspective,

this is really important," Dr. Datta said.

"If you think worldwide about the

number of people with Covid, even if

only 10 percent have a more prolonged

smell loss, we're talking about

potentially millions of people."

The most immediate effects may be

nutritional. People with anosmia may

continue to perceive basic tastes - salty,

sour, sweet, bitter and umami. But

taste buds are relatively crude

preceptors. Smell adds complexity to

the perception of flavor via hundreds of

odor receptors signaling the brain.

Many people who can't smell will

lose their appetites, putting them at

risk of nutritional deficits and

unintended weight loss. Kara

Michele Miller developed anosmia following a bout with Covid-19

in March.

Photo: Joshua Bright

VanGuilder, who lives in Brookline,

Mass., said she has lost 20 pounds

since March, when her sense of smell

vanished. "I call it the Covid diet,"

said Ms. VanGuilder, 26, who works

in medical administration. "There no

point in indulging in brownies if I

can't really taste the brownie."

How does the coronavirus variant spread?

Apoorva Mandavilli

A more contagious form of the coronavirus has begun

circulating in the United States. In Britain, where it was first

identified, the new variant became the predominant form of

the coronavirus in just three months, accelerating that

nation's surge and filling its hospitals. It may do the same in

the United States, exacerbating an unrelenting rise in deaths

and overwhelming the already strained health care system,

experts warned.

A variant that spreads more easily also means that people

will need to religiously adhere to precautions like social

distancing, mask-wearing, hand hygiene and improved

ventilation - unwelcome news to many Americans already

chafing against restrictions.

"The bottom line is that anything we do to reduce

transmission will reduce transmission of any variants,

including this one," said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist

affiliated with Georgetown University. But "it may mean that

the more targeted measures that are not like a full lockdown

won't be as effective."

What does it mean for this variant to be more

transmissible? What makes this variant more contagious

than previous iterations of the virus? And why should we

worry about a variant that spreads more easily but does not

seem to make anyone sicker?

Many variants of the coronavirus have cropped up since

the pandemic began. But all evidence so far suggests that the

new mutant, called B.1.1.7, is more transmissible than

previous forms. It first surfaced in September in Britain, but

already accounts for more than 60 percent of new cases in

London and neighboring areas.

The new variant seems to infect more people than earlier

versions of the coronavirus, even when the environments are

the same. It's not clear what gives the variant this advantage,

although there are indications that it may infect cells more

efficiently.

It's also difficult to say exactly how much more

transmissible the new variant may be, because scientists

have not yet done the kind of lab experiments that are

required. Most of the conclusions have been drawn from

epidemiological observations, and "there's so many possible

biases in all the available data," cautioned Muge Cevik, an

infectious disease expert at the University of St. Andrews in

Scotland and a scientific adviser to the British government.

Scientists initially estimated that the new variant was 70

percent more transmissible, but a recent modeling study

pegged that number at 56 percent. Once researchers sift

through all the data, it's possible that the variant will turn out

to be just 10 to 20 percent more transmissible, said Trevor

Bedford, an evolutionary biologist at the Fred Hutchinson

Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

Even so, Dr. Bedford said, it is likely to catch on rapidly and

become the predominant form in the United States by

March. Scientists like Dr. Bedford are tracking all the known

variants closely to detect any further changes that might alter

A drive-through Covid testing site at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles

their behavior. So far, at least, the variant does not seem to

make people any sicker or lead to more deaths. Still, there is

cause for concern: A variant that is more transmissible will

increase the death toll simply because it will spread faster

and infect more people. "In that sense, it's just a numbers

game," Dr. Rasmussen said. The effect will be amplified "in

places like the U.S. and the U.K., where the health care

system is really at its breaking point."

The routes of transmission - by large and small droplets,

and tiny aerosolized particles adrift in crowded indoor spaces

- have not changed. That means masks, limiting time with

others and improving ventilation in indoor spaces will all

help contain the variant's spread, as these measures do with

other variants of the virus. So far, at least, the variant does

not seem to make people any sicker or lead to more deaths.

Still, there is cause for concern: A variant that is more

transmissible will increase the death toll simply because it

Photo: Mario Tama

will spread faster and infect more people. "In that sense, it's

just a numbers game," Dr. Rasmussen said. The effect will be

amplified "in places like the U.S. and the U.K., where the

health care system is really at its breaking point." The routes

of transmission - by large and small droplets, and tiny

aerosolized particles adrift in crowded indoor spaces - have

not changed. That means masks, limiting time with others

and improving ventilation in indoor spaces will all help

contain the variant's spread, as these measures do with other

variants of the virus. "By minimizing your exposure to any

virus, you're going to reduce your risk of getting infected, and

that's going to reduce transmission over all," Dr. Rasmussen

said. Some preliminary evidence from Britain suggests that

people infected with the new variant tend to carry greater

amounts of the virus in their noses and throats than those

infected with previous versions. "We're talking in the range

between 10-fold greater and 10,000-fold greater," said

Michael Kidd, a clinical virologist at Public Health England

and a clinical adviser to the British government who has

studied the phenomenon. There are other explanations for

the finding - Dr. Kidd and his colleagues did not have access

to information about when in their illness people were tested,

for example, which could affect their so-called viral loads.

Still, the finding does offer one possible explanation for

why the new variant spreads more easily. The more virus that

infected people harbor in their noses and throats, the more

they expel into the air and onto surfaces when they breathe,

talk, sing, cough or sneeze.

As a result, situations that expose people to the virus carry

a greater chance of seeding new infections. Some new data

indicate that people infected with the new variant spread the

virus to more of their contacts.

With previous versions of the virus, contact tracing

suggested that about 10 percent of people who have close

contact with an infected person - within six feet for at least 15

minutes - inhaled enough virus to become infected.

"With the variant, we might expect 15 percent of those," Dr.

Bedford said. "Currently risky activities become more risky."

The variant has 23 mutations, compared with the version

that erupted in Wuhan, China, a year ago. But 17 of those

mutations appeared suddenly, after the virus diverged from

its most recent ancestor. Each infected person is a crucible,

offering opportunities for the virus to mutate as it multiplies.

With more than 83 million people infected worldwide, the

coronavirus is amassing mutations faster than scientists

expected at the start of the pandemic. The vast majority of

mutations provide no advantage to the virus and die out. But

mutations that improve the virus's fitness or transmissibility

have a greater chance to catch on. At least one of the 17 new

mutations in the variant contributes to its greater

contagiousness. The mechanism is not yet known. Some data

suggest that the new variant may bind more tightly to a

protein on the surface of human cells, allowing it to more

readily infect them. It's possible that the variant blooms in an

infected person's nose and throat, but not in the lungs, for

example - which may explain why patients spread it more

easily but do not develop illnesses more severe than those

caused by earlier versions of the virus. Some influenza

viruses behave similarly, experts noted.

WeDNeSDAY, JANUARY 6, 2021

6

Rangpur Superintendent of Police Biplob Kumar Sarkar BPM (Bar), PPM chaired a meeting of

the Board of Directors of Police Lines School and College, Rangpur on Monday. Photo: TBT

Meeting of board of Directors of Rangpur

police Lines school and College held

tbt DesK:

a meeting of the board of Directors

of police Lines school and College,

Rangpur was held in the conference

room of Rangpur District police office

under the chairmanship of District

superintendent of police biplob

Kumar sarkar bpM (bar), ppM on

Monday.

the meeting was attended by Md.

anwar hossain, additional

superintendent of police

(headquarters), principal of police

Lines school and College prof. Dr. KM

Workshop on awareness on Covid-19 and

dengue prevention held in narsingdi

MD saLiM Mia, naRsinDi CoRResponDent:

a workshop has been held in narsingdi

with journalists to raise awareness on

corona virus (Covid-19) and dengue

prevention. Journalists from various

print and electronic media participated

in the workshop held at the conference

room of the District Civil surgeon's office

on tuesday morning.

at the present time, various workshops

Jalal Uddin akbar, gb Member, Vice

principal, teacher Representative and

officials of the organization.

the principal wished a happy

english new year to all present at the

meeting. afterwards, the new

admission of the third grade of police

Lines school and College, promotion of

other classes, admission of different

classes of vacant seats, retirement

gratuity facility of teaching staff, budget

of 2021, various ongoing development

projects of the organization were held.

at the end of the discussion with the

members of the gb, District

on coronavirus and dengue and other

infectious diseases are being presented at

the workshop. he also sought

cooperation to raise public awareness

against corona and dengue.

the day-long workshop was presided

over by Dr. Md. nurul islam, Civil

surgeon, narsingdi while among sadar

Upazila health and Family planning

officer Dr. Md. abu Kausar sumon was

present as the resource person. among

superintendent of police biplob

Kumar sarkar bpM (bar), ppM

provided directions to follow the

instructions of the Department of

secondary and higher education,

government of the people's Republic

of bangladesh, the overall aspects of

the issues including promotion and

admission of students in the next class

and publication of notices in

newspapers / websites.

principal professor Dr. KM Jalal

Uddin akbar thanked everyone and

declared the meeting closed.

A workshop has been held in Narsingdi with journalists to raise awareness on corona virus

(Covid-19) and dengue prevention on Tuesday.

Photo: Md Salim Mia

others, general secretary of narsingdi

press Club Mazharul parvez, veteran

journalist nibaran Roy, aK Fazlul

haque, bss representative abu taher

and others were also present at the

occasion.

it is organized by the Ministry of

health education and promotion's

Lifestyle, the health education bureau of

the Department of health, and the

Ministry of health and Family Welfare.

The feasibility of setting up a proposed high-tech park in the name of Sher-e-Bangla Abul Kasem

Fazlul Haque at Banaripara in Barisal district has been examined and inspected recently. Former

Awami League MP from Barisal-2 (Banaripara-Wazirpur) constituency Monirul Islam Moni led a

team consisting of Johra Begum, Deputy Secretary, Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority,

Department of Information and Communication Technology, Ministry of Information Technology,

visited the proposed site for setting up a high-tech park on the banks of Sandhya river at Sonahar-

Sakral village in Chakhar union of Banaripara upazila.

Photo: S Mizanul Islam

Court orders defendants to stop unauthorized

entry at Chandrakanta Memorial Church

staFF RepoRteR:

high Court and Lower

Court ordered the

defendants to stop

unauthorized entry and all

their activities at

Chandrakanta Memorial

Church which is situated at

guthia union in Uzirpur

upazila of barishal. notices

in this regard have been sent

by the court to all the

respondents and the

concerned departments.

the appellants are Church

pastor James ananda

biswas and hanson Daniel

hansda while the

defendants are Milton

samaddar, Liton samaddar,

asim samaddar, Dhijen

samaddar, timon

samaddar, saikat samaddar

gong.

the pastor of the church,

James ananda biswas said

that for the past 7/8 years,

misguided people have been

rejecting the rules and

activities of this church. the

circle has been trying to

transform the holy church

into a socio-economic

establishment. the group

has been abolishing the rules

and regulations of the

church, individuality and

ideology, took over the

religious institution and

turned it into a socioeconomic

institution and

beating up and torturing the

priests.

he further added that the

defendants are angry with us

because we are opponents of

the organization's ideology

Journalist Rony

distributes blankets

in Debiganj

Rahat hasan Rony, DebiganJ

CoRResponDent:

Rahat hasan Rony, joint

general secretary of Debiganj

press Club and upazila

correspondent of the

bangladesh today, has

distributed blankets among

cold hit victims in Debiganj

upazila of panchagarh on

tuesday. the blankets were

distributed among 70 people

from Rahat hasan Rony's

residence.

During the time, Rahat

hasan Rony's father retired

bank officer Md. samsul

huda bulbul, uncle salauddin

poplu, journalist nazmus

shakib Moon and nayan

Rahman took part in the

distribution of blankets.

'supply of safe

foods crucial for

building

healthier nation'

RangpUR: engaging

comprehensive efforts of all

concerned have become a

crucial to ensure strict

enforcement of the safe

Food act, 2013 and supply

of pure, hygienic and safe

foods for building a healthier

nation, reports bss.

the observation came at a

seminar on 'Food security'

arranged at the conference

room of the Deputy

Commissioner in

nilphamari district town on

Monday abiding by the

health directives during the

Mujib barsho.

the bangladesh Food

safety authority (bFsa) and

nilphamari district

administration jointly

organised the seminar for

officials of the departments

concerned, Consumers

association of bangladesh

(Cab) and civil society

members.

Chairman of bFsa Md.

abdul Kayowm sarker

attended the seminar

virtually as the chief guest

with nilphamari Deputy

Commissioner Md. hafizur

Rahman Chowdhury in the

chair.

Chandrakanta Memorial Church is situated in

Uzirpur upazila of Barishal.

Photo: TBT

have resisted their attempts

to exert unjust influence.

that it will not be possible

by us in any way. and to

sacrifice this life for the

protection of this church, i

will not back down. the

Defendants conducted

terrorist activities, beatings,

death threats and repeatedly

attacked the church with

terrorist forces many times.

they have made false

allegations against us in

various places. Defendants

formed a committee among

themselves in the church by

pabna district aL holds protest

rally against interference of

industrialists in politics

abDUL haMiD Khan, pabna CoRResponDent:

industrialist pintu

Chowdhury is an illegal land

and property grabber. he was

the first to import heroin in

pabna and taught the people

of pabna to consume heroin.

pintu Chowdhury has

destroyed the bnp in pabna,

again he has come to destroy

the awami League. the

speakers said this at a protest

rally of about 25,000 people

in front of the pabna district

awami League office at 11am

on tuesday.

abul Kalam azad babu,

valiant Freedom Fighter and

Vice president of pabna

District awami League,

forging the letter of the

ministry with the

connivance of individuals

and occupied the church. on

February 6, 2020, the DC of

barishal along with some

other people went to

Chandrakanta Memorial

Church and read out a letter

that directed the church

authorities to form a

managing committee for the

church. they claimed that

the letter was issued by the

Ministry of Religious affairs.

as the deputy commissioner

left, Milton and his group

presided over the rally

organized by the leaders and

workers of pabna District

awami League and allied

organizations. During the

time, District awami League

vice-president and

Chatmohar Upazila parishad

chairman abdul hamid

Master, District awami

League adviser abdur Rahim

pakon, District awami League

Joint-secretary former pp

adv. belayet ali billu, District

awami League publicity

secretary Kamil hossain and

District awami League

treasurer abdul hannan

were among others present at

the occasion.

pabna district awami

attacked and beat up priests

and those who opposed

them. they left after locking

down the pocket gate of the

compound and few rooms of

the adjoining buildings.

in the context of the writ

petition of the high Court,

the defendants will not be

able to interfere in any

matter of the church. apart

from this, the plaintiff will be

able to bring contempt of

court case. the letter was

sent to the Ministry and the

Deputy Commissioner of

barishal and Upazila

nirbahi officer, thana Chief

officer and to all the

concerned departments.

additional District

Magistrate Court on

27/10/2020 barred the

defendants for unauthorized

entry into the church.

according to local sources,

the church has been wellknown

since its inception.

some locals have resorted to

their nefarious intentions

and attempts to embezzle

the organization.

since its establishment,

the church has been one of

the most traditional

institutions in the region

and in bangladesh. but

after being misled, the

protesters started

conspiring to take over the

church with the

connivance of outsiders.

the cycle is so powerful

that they have managed

everything and continued

to try to make a profit.

Recently, this insidious

mahal has filed a false case

against the priests.

Rahat Hasan Rony, joint general secretary of Debiganj Press Club and upazila

correspondent of The Bangladesh Today distributed blankets among cold hit

people in Debiganj upazila on Tuesday.

Photo: TBT

League adviser valiant

Freedom Fighter abdur

Rahim pakon said the politics

of uprooting miscreants

started in pabna from today.

he questioned the thousands

of leaders and activists

present at the rally and said,

"pintu Chowdhury, you

introduce yourself as a

freedom fighter." i haven't

seen you on any battlefield.

We know why your brokers

made you a freedom fighter.

he said pintu Chowdhury

wanted to demolish the

Muktijoddha Complex

because he had occupied

some enemy property behind

the building.

Pabna District Awami League held a protest rally in front of its office in the district

Tuesday.

Photo: Abdul Hamid Khan

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2021

7

The WHO now says China has granted permission for a visit by its experts.

BEIJING: A year after the outbreak

started, WHO experts are due in China

for a highly politicised visit to explore

the origins of the coronavirus, in a trip

trailed by accusations of cover-ups,

conspiracy and fears of a whitewash,

reports BSS.

Under the global glare, Beijing

delayed access for independent experts

into China to probe the origins of the

pandemic, reluctant to agree to an

inquiry.

But the WHO now says China has

granted permission for a visit by its

experts, with a 10-person team

expected to arrive shortly for a five or

six week visit - including a fortnight

spent in quarantine.

Chinese authorities this week refused

to confirm the exact dates and details of

the visit, a sign of the enduring

sensitivity of their mission.

Covid-19 was first detected in the

central city of Wuhan in late 2019,

before seeping beyond China's borders

to wreak havoc, costing over 1.8 million

lives and eviscerating economies.

But its origins remain bitterly

contested, lost in a fog of

recriminations and conjecture from the

international community - as well as

obfuscation from Chinese authorities

determined to keep control of its virus

narrative. The WHO team has

promised to focus on the science,

specifically how the coronavirus

jumped from animals - believed to be

bats - to humans.

"This is not about finding a guilty

country or a guilty authority," Fabian

Leendertz from the Robert Koch

Institute, Germany's central disease

control body who will be among the

team to visit, told AFP in late

December. "This is about

understanding what happened to avoid

that in the future, to reduce the risk."

But doubt has been cast over what the

WHO mission can reasonably expect to

achieve and the state pressure they will

face, raising fears that the mission will

serve to rubber stamp China's official

story, not challenge it.

The upcoming visit will not be the

first time Covid-19 has brought WHO

teams to China. A mission last year

looked at the response by authorities

rather than the virus origins, with

Photo: NDTV

WHO experts to wade into tricky

territory in hunt for virus' origins

Russia

reports 518

coronavirus

deaths in 24

hours

MOSCOW :Russia's

coronavirus fatalities grew

by 518 in the past 24 hours

compared to 482 deaths

reported the day before, the

anti-coronavirus crisis

center told reporters on

Tuesday, reports BSS.

The conditional mortality

rate stands at 1.81%, as

follows from the data

provided by the crisis

center.

Another 75 fatalities were

recorded in Moscow, 73 in

St. Petersburg, 22 in the

Moscow Region, 21 in the

Rostov Region, while the

Nizhny Novgorod and

Sverdlovsk regions reported

18 deaths each.

Russia's coronavirus

recoveries grew by 22,632 in

the past 24 hours reaching

2,662,668. Recoveries have

surpassed 81% for the first

time since October 3.

Another 1,729 patients

recovered in St. Petersburg,

1,502 in the Moscow

Region, 469 in the Nizhny

Novgorod Region, 400 in

the Sverdlovsk Region and

375 in the Arkhangelsk

Region.

Russia's coronavirus cases

grew by 24,246 in the past

24 hours, reaching

3,284,384. According to the

crisis center, the growth rate

stands at 0.7%.

The lowest daily growth

rates were recorded in the

Tuva region (0.1%) and the

Altai region (0.2%).

Another 3,649 cases were

confirmed in St. Petersburg,

1,131 in the Moscow Region,

405 in the Nizhny Novgorod

Region, 392 in the

Sverdlovsk Region and 390

in the Voronezh Region.

At present, 562,210

people in Russia continue

treatment.

another in the summer laying the

groundwork for the upcoming probe.

But this time the WHO will wade into

a swamp of competing interests, stuck

between accusatory Western nations

and a Chinese leadership determined

to show that its secretive and

hierarchical political system served to

stem, not spread, the outbreak.

It is unclear who the experts will be

able to meet when they arrive in

Wuhan to retrace the initial days and

weeks of the pandemic.

Inside China, whistleblowers have

been silenced and citizen journalists

jailed, including a 37-year-old woman

imprisoned last week for four years

over video reports from the city during

its prolonged lockdown.

Outside, responsibility for the virus

has been weaponised.

From the outset, US President

Donald Trump used the virus as

political bludgeon against big power

rival China. He accused Beijing of

trying to hide the outbreak of what he

dubbed the "China virus" and repeated

unsubstantiated rumours it leaked

from a Wuhan lab.

Under mounting pressure to speed up coronavirus vaccinations, Australian

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday said he would not take "unnecessary

risks" and emulate Britain's emergency drug approval. Photo: AP

Australia vows not to rush vaccine

rollout, citing UK 'problems'

SYDNEY : Under mounting pressure to speed

up coronavirus vaccinations, Australian Prime

Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday said he

would not take "unnecessary risks" and

emulate Britain's emergency drug approval,

reports BSS.

While vaccinations are already well

underway in many countries, Australia's

pharmaceutical authority is not expected to

rule on candidate drugs for around another

month, and is aiming to administer the first

doses by the end of March.

Pressed about that seemingly sluggish

timetable, Morrison - who early in the

pandemic boasted Australia would be "at the

front of the queue" for any vaccine - suggested

virus-ravaged countries like Britain had been

forced to take risks with emergency approvals.

"Australia is not in an emergency situation like

the United Kingdom. So we don't have to cut

corners. We don't have to take unnecessary

risks," the conservative leader told local radio

3AW. Australia had largely eliminated

community transmission but is currently

battling to contain small clusters of the disease

in the country's biggest cities, Sydney and

Melbourne. Around 26 people are currently in

hospital nationwide with the disease.

He said Britain, with almost 60,000 cases of

Covid-19 a day was "in the very early phases" of

the vaccine rollout and "they've had quite a few

problems, and they're doing it on an

emergency basis".

"They're not testing batches of vaccines

before they're disseminated across the

population, is my understanding," Morrison

said, insisting Australia would carry out such

testing. The Australian premier has for weeks

said that mass-vaccination efforts in Britain,

the United States and elsewhere would provide

Australia with more data about the safety of the

vaccines than clinical trails could. Australia -

with a population of around 25 million - has

agreed to buy almost 54 million doses of the

University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine,

with 3.8 million to be delivered early this year.

It also reached an agreement for 51 million

doses of Novavax this year, 10 million doses of

the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine early this year,

and had invested in a domestic University of

Queensland vaccine that was scrapped while

still in trials.

Trump calls on Georgia runoff

voters to ‘save’ America

DALTON: President Donald Trump on

Monday implored Georgians to "save"

America and re-elect Republicans in

two runoffs that will determine US

Senate control and could decisively

impact the start of Joe Biden's White

House tenure, reports BSS.

"Our country's depending on you.

The whole world is watching the people

of Georgia tomorrow," Trump, who still

refuses to concede defeat in the

presidential election barely two weeks

before he leaves office, told a raucous

crowd in the town of Dalton.

Tuesday's twin Senate runoffs are

"your last chance to save the America

that we love," the president said. "If you

don't show up, the radical Democrats

will win."

Georgia has not elected a Democrat

to the Senate in 20 years. But if Jon

Ossoff, a 33-year-old documentary

producer, and pastor Raphael

Warnock, 51, both win, Democrats will

control the Senate, handing Biden all

levers of political power in Washington.

Trump, still scheming to reverse his

election defeat and lashing out at

Republicans who oppose his efforts,

jetted to Georgia amid a scandal over

his blatant attempt to pressure state

officials here to reverse the certified

vote and hand him victory.

While he did repeatedly urge

supporters to vote Tuesday for

Republican Senate incumbents Kelly

Loeffler and David Perdue, both

wealthy businesspeople-turnedpoliticians,

he also embraced the

politics of grievance.

In his 81-minute speech he rattled off

a long list of complaints about

"massive" voting irregularities in

Georgia and other swing states where

he was defeated.

"There's no way we lost Georgia," he

said to a loud cheer from supporters,

most of whom were maskless and

appeared unconcerned about a lack of

social distancing due to the

coronavirus.

"They're not taking this White

AL-ULA : Gulf leaders flew to Saudi

Arabia Tuesday for a summit that could

yield more breakthroughs in a regional

crisis, after Riyadh re-opened its

borders to Doha despite lingering

enmity between the neighbours.

Saudi Arabia led a coalition of

countries in the Gulf and beyond that

cut ties and transport links with Qatar in

June 2017, charging that it was too close

to Iran and backed radical Islamist

groups - allegations Doha has always

denied.

Those countries, along with Oman

and Kuwait which have mediated

between the two sides, will meet in the

Saudi city of Al-Ula, after the overnight

concessions raised hopes for a wider

deal. "Confidence building measures

seem to start with Saudi and Qatar, but

the rest will join even if later," said

Kuwait University assistant professor

Bader al-Saif.

"Any step toward reconciliation is

better than no step at all. The Gulf

Cooperation Council (GCC) requires a

major reset and can offer much more

than it has." Washington has intensified

pressure for a resolution to what Doha

calls a "blockade", insisting Gulf unity is

necessary to isolate US foe Iran as the

curtain falls on Donald Trump's

House," he said of Biden's Democrats.

"We're going to fight like hell!"

Biden, who takes over the White

House on January 20, also flew

Monday to Georgia, stumping in the

capital Atlanta in a more subdued event

for Warnock and Ossoff.

"It's a new year, and tomorrow can be

a new day for Atlanta, for Georgia and

for America," the 78-year-old told

cheering voters at a drive-in rally.

He attacked Trump for relentlessly

"whining" about unproven election

fraud instead of improving the nation's

coronavirus pandemic response.

"I don't know why he still wants the

job, he doesn't want to do the work,"

Biden said.

Georgia has been reliably Republican

but Biden beat Trump by nearly 12,000

votes in the Peach State in November's

election, and polls have the Senate

races neck-and-neck.

Republicans hold 50 seats in the 100-

member Senate. A victory in just one

runoff would give them a majority - and

the ability to thwart Biden's agenda.

presidency. Jared Kushner, Trump's

son-in-law and senior adviser who

shuttled around the region to seek a

deal, will attend the signing on Tuesday

of the "breakthrough" agreement, a US

official said.

"The Trump administration will claim

this as another victory for sure," said

Royal United Services Institute analyst

Tobias Borck, stressing that the two

sides have not yet normalised relations.

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Ahmad

Nasser Al-Sabah announced on state

television late Monday that "it was

agreed to open the airspace and land

and sea borders between the Kingdom

of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar,

starting from this evening".

Drivers south of Doha on the usually

calm Salwa highway towards the Saudi

border at Abu Samra sounded their

horns and waved their arms from their

car windows in the wake of the

announcement, an AFP correspondent

reported. The Saudi-led GCC hawks,

along with Egypt, in 2017 closed their

airspace to Qatari planes, sealed their

borders and ports, and expelled Qatari

citizens. An information battle raged

online with the two camps trading

allegations and barbs, deepening the

resentments. Observers have warned

A Democratic sweep would result in a

50-50 split, with Democrats holding

the tie-breaking vote in incoming Vice

President Kamala Harris.

Loeffler attended Trump's highenergy

rally and briefly addressed the

crowd.

Perdue, though, is in quarantine after

contact with someone who tested

positive for Covid-19, and he dialed in

virtually to say Georgians need to "hold

the line."

Randy Stelly, 68, said he drove "800

or 900 miles" from Texas to see Trump,

and that the president should "never

concede, ever."

The Georgia rallies come a day after

The Washington Post published the

shocking recording of a telephone call

between Trump and Georgia Secretary

President Donald Trump still refuses to concede defeat in the

presidential election.

Photo: NDTV

of State Brad Raffensperger.

On the tape, Trump tells

Raffensperger he wants to "find 11,780

votes" - one more than Biden's margin

of victory in Georgia - and makes vague

threats that Raffensperger could face "a

big risk" if he fails to do so.

Gulf leaders, Kushner, converge

on Saudi Arabia for crisis talks

Spain jobless

grew by 23%

in 2020

MADRID : The number of

registered jobless in Spain

jumped by nearly 23 percent

in 2020, with the country

suffering one of the hardest

economic blows from the

coronavirus pandemic,

government figures showed

Tuesday, reports BSS.

By the year's end, the

number of people out of

work had risen by 724,532

from the figure a year earlier

to 3,888,137, labour

ministry data showed.

In December alone, an

extra 36,825 people

registered as unemployed.

At the height of the

pandemic in March and

April, that figure stood at

nearly 600,000 people.

AvBGmwcAvi/wewea/05

05/01/21

GD-26/21 (4 x 3)

that the UAE could be the spoiler for

reconciliation attempts, having heaped

criticism on Qatar and its leadership

since the spat erupted.

The UAE and Qatar in particular

remain divided over Doha's perceived

support for movements aligned to the

Muslim Brotherhood and the two

countries' backing for rival groups in the

Libya conflict.

The diplomatic freeze has only served

to make Qatar more self-sufficient and

push it closer to Iran, observers say. It

has also hurt Saudi strategic interests.

Analysts say that Riyadh lifting the

ban on Qatar using its airspace, borders,

and waterways could have been at the

insistence of Doha, before the emir

agreed to attend the summit.

Any rapprochement may however

prove to be preliminary, analysts and

diplomats have said, with the

underlying factors remaining

unaddressed, and few expect a

comprehensive resolution to the row.

At the start of the crisis, the boycotting

countries issued a list of 13 demands to

Doha, including the closure of pan-Arab

satellite television channel Al Jazeera,

undertakings on "terror" financing, and

the shuttering of a Turkish military base

in Qatar.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2021 8

China to ensure grain security

with new measures

Mercantile Bank Ltd donated Tk.15.00 lac to National Heart Foundation Hospital & Research

Institute Feni to purchase a ETT Machine recently.Md. Shahadat Hossain, Head of Feni branch

handed over the cheque to Bahar Uddin Bahar, secretary of the Hospital Managing Committee at the

Hospital premises in Feni. S M Nur Uddin Babul, Vice President, Md. Farid Ahmed Bhuiya, Joint-

Treasurer from hospital side and Monowar Hossain, HOB, Dagonbhuiyan branch, Md. Zahid

Hossain, HOB, Chhagalnaiya branch, Md. Ziaul Karim, HOB, Rajnagar SME/Krishi Branch, Zia

Uddin Ahmed, HOB, Munshirhat branch and Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, HOB, Koraish Munshi

branch from Mercantile Bank were present on the occasion.

Photo: Courtesy

Top Peugeot

shareholders

approve merger

with Fiat

PARIS : The main

shareholders in Peugeot

owner PSA gave the green

light on Monday to the

group's merger with Fiat

Chrysler (FCA), one of the

last steps towards creating

the world's fourth largest

automaker, reports Reuters.

At a special shareholder

meeting, the deal to form

Stellantis, the new company,

was backed by more than

99% of the votes cast by

investors with double voting

rights.

These include PSA's top

stakeholder, the Peugeot

family, as well as China's

Dongfeng, while a broader

shareholder meeting was

underway on Monday and

FCA investors were also due

to vote on the agreement.

"We are ready for this

merger," PSA Chief

Executive Carlos Tavares

told the online meeting,

adding the final date for the

closure of the deal would be

announced shortly if all

shareholder approvals were

granted.

The shareholding structure

will be altered as part of the

merger, and existing double

voting rights - which are

accrued over time and give

investors more weight in

decisions - will not be carried

over.

Tavares, who will take the

helm of the merged group,

will have to revive the

carmaker's fortunes in China,

rationalise a sprawling global

empire and address massive

overcapacity, as well as focus

like rivals on creating cleaner

cars.

Stellantis will have 14

brands, from FCA's Fiat,

Maserati and U.S.-focused

Jeep, Dodge and Ram to

PSA's Peugeot, Citroen, Opel

and DS. PSA has

traditionally been more

focused on Europe.

Singapore's economy suffers

worst decline in 2020

Singapore's economy suffered its worst

annual contraction ever in 2020 as the

coronavirus pandemic hammered the citystate's

vital trade and tourism sectors, official

data showed Monday, reports Asia times.

But the 5.8% decline was not as bad as

feared - official forecasts had predicted a fall

of up to 6.5% - as economic activity picked up

with the easing of curbs.

The financial hub plunged into its first

recession since the 2008 global financial

crisis in the second quarter when the

government closed most workplaces as part

of drastic measures to contain infections.

One of the world's most open economies,

Singapore is seen as a bellwether for the

health of global trade, and its economy's

dramatic deterioration rang alarm bells.

But curbs were eased in the second half of

the year and key sectors of the economy,

such as manufacturing, have started to

recover.

In the fourth quarter, the economy shrank

3.8% year-on-year, less than expected,

according to preliminary growth data

Japan's Prime Minister

Yoshihide Suga © speaks during

a press conference in Tokyo on

Monday. Suga said he was

considering declaring a state of

emergency in the greater .

Tokyo stocks began the

new year in volatile form,

starting the Monday session

up but quickly sinking on

reports Japan may call a state

of emergency over surging

coronavirus cases, reports

Asia times.

The volatile start came as

local media widely reported

that Prime Minister

Yoshihide Suga was

considering issuing a regional

state of emergency for Tokyo

and surrounding areas as the

nation continues to log record

numbers of daily coronavirus

infections.

Suga did address a press

released by the trade ministry.

Song Seng Wun, a regional economist with

CIMB Private Banking, said the contraction

was not as bad as feared due to strong

exports of some goods. Song said he expects

a "rebound of around 6%" this year.

"We are seeing businesses continuing to

benefit from the further easing of restrictions

and stronger global demand for (microchips)

and medicines," he said.

Singapore's small economy is typically hit

first by external shocks before ripples spread

across the region. However, it usually also

recovers quickly from any downturn.

The city-state won praise for keeping the

pandemic in check in the early stages only for

serious outbreaks to emerge later in crowded

dormitories housing low-paid migrant

workers.

But its outbreak has slowed markedly in

recent weeks, and only a handful of cases are

being recorded a day.

Authorities last week began a coronavirus

vaccination campaign, making it among the

first Asian nations to roll out inoculations.

Expected virus emergency

call hits Tokyo stocks

conference and said he was

considering declaring a state

of emergency in the greater

Tokyo area over a "very

severe" third wave of

coronavirus infections.

Regional governors,

including Tokyo's Yuriko

Koike, on Saturday jointly

urged the national government

to declare a state of emergency

to slow the spread of Covid-19.

But the pandemic has

already caused severe

economic suffering to many

people, and Suga has been

reluctant to issue fresh

measures that could further

damage the economy.

The benchmark Nikkei 225

index started the first trading

day of the year up 0.53% but

within an hour it was down

1.07%, or 292.88 points, to

27,151.29. The broader Topix

index, which had also started

higher, gave up 1.32%, or

23.80 points, to 1,780.88.

The dollar stood at 103.05

yen, compared with 103.28

yen seen Thursday in New

York ahead of the new year

break.

Analysts have generally

kept an optimistic outlook for

the Japanese market in the

long run, although they

warned about a possible

correction phase through

March after strong gains seen

in recent weeks.

"The market opened with

buy orders leading the way,"

Okasan Online Securities said

in a note. "But many

investors wanted to monitor

the spread of the coronavirus

infections as well as the

outcome of the US Senate

runoff elections."

World stock markets kick off

2021 at record highs

LONDON : World stock

markets hit record highs on

Monday, the first trading day

of the new year, as investors

hoped the rollout of vaccines

would ultimately lift a global

economy decimated by the

COVID-19 pandemic, reports

Reuters.

The Chinese yuan surged

nearly 1% against the dollar,

while the greenback plumbed

its lowest levels against a

basket of peer currencies

since April 2018. Bitcoin

hovered above $32,000 on

the back of a blistering 800%

rally since mid-March.

European stocks opened

higher, with Britain's FTSE

100 gaining 1.75%, Germany's

DAX up 1.1%, Spain's IBEX

up 1.3% and Italy's FTSE MIB

rising 0.7%. [.EU]

MSCI's All-Country World

Index, which tracks stocks

across 49 countries, hit a

record high and was up nearly

half a percent on the day after

the start of trading in London.

"The year kicks off as 2020

ended, an everything rally

with the double V dichotomy

(virus vs. vaccine) seeing the

hopes that either things get

worse and stimulus ramps up

or things get better and, well,

things get better so long as

there's no hint of liquidity

withdrawal and a taper

tantrum," a trader said.

Asian stock markets also

gained, although Japan's

Nikkei 225 index shed early

gains, falling 0.4% after

Prime Minister Yoshihide

Suga confirmed the

government was considering

a state of emergency for

Tokyo and three surrounding

prefectures as the coronavirus

spreads.

Despite the optimism over

vaccines, investors are still

sounding caution over the

path of the virus, which

continues to spread amidst

the discovery of a new strain.

"The virus retains the upper

hand for a while longer," said

Karl Steiner, chief quantiative

strategist at SEB, noting that

vaccinations have had an

uneven start, characterized by

vaccine shortages, vaccine

resistance and delays.

Britain began vaccinating

its population with the

COVID-19 shot developed by

Oxford University and

AstraZeneca on Monday.

With the lag between a full

vaccine rollout and a global

economic recovery, investors

will count on central banks to

keep money cheap.

"We continue to believe

that equities have further

room to rise in 2021 as

monetary and fiscal stimulus

measures provide a tailwind,

and we anticipate significant

earnings growth as the global

economy recovers," said

Mark Haefele, chief

investment officer at UBS

Global Wealth Management.

Minutes of the Federal

Reserve's December meeting

are due on Wednesday and

should offer more detail on

discussions about making

their forward policy guidance

more explicit and the chance

of a further increase in asset

buying this year.

The data calendar includes

a raft of manufacturing

surveys across the globe,

which will show how industry

is coping with the spread of

the coronavirus, and the

closely watched ISM surveys

of U.S. factories and services.

Chinese factory activity

continued to accelerate in

December, though the PMI

missed forecasts at 53.0.

Japanese manufacturing

stabilised for the first time in

two years in December, while

Taiwan picked up.

China will advance technological

innovation in the seed industry and

improve farmland conservation in

2021 to ensure grain security, the

country's agriculture minister said,

reports BSS.

Calling seeds the "chip" of

agriculture, Tang Renjian, Minister of

Agriculture and Rural Affairs, vowed to

make the development of the seed

industry a major task of the country's

agricultural and rural modernization.

Tang urged technological

breakthroughs in seeds, calling for

efforts to strengthen the establishment

of seed banks, the foundation of

innovation in the seed industry.

China's current crop germplasm pool

stores 440,000 pieces of crop

resources. A new crop germplasm pool

capable of storing 1.5 million pieces of

various crops will be put into operation

in 2021, with the pool capacity the

highest in the world.

Apart from boosting the seed

industry, Tang underscored efforts for

farmland conservation to ensure grain

production. The total arable land shall

not be less than 1.8 billion mu (120

million hectares), a red line set by the

Chinese government, and efforts

should be made to prevent the use of

arable land for non-farming purposes,

said Tang.

China has added 80 million mu of

high-standard farmland that can

Top US executives

demand Congress

certify Biden victory

NEW YORK : An array of

prominent US business

executives on Monday called

for Congress to certify Joe

Biden as the new US

president, writing in a joint

letter that it is time "to move

forward, reports BSS."

The letter, signed by more

than 170 executives in

industries ranging from

finance and sports to

technology and media,

condemned any attempt to

thwart the certification process

as "counter to the essential

tenets of our democracy."

"This presidential election

has been decided and it is

time for the country to move

forward," read a copy of the

letter released by business

advocacy group Partnership

for New York City.

"Congress should certify the

electoral vote on Wednesday,

January 6."

Certification is generally a

formality - but more than 100

Republican members of the

House and about a dozen

Senate Republicans have said

they plan to raise objections

on Wednesday.

Tokyo shares

open lower on

Wall Street loss,

virus fears

TOKYO : Tokyo stocks

opened lower on Tuesday

after falls on Wall Street on

continued jitters over the

spread of the pandemic and

ahead of key US Senate runoff

elections, reports BSS.

The bellwether Nikkei 225

index dropped 0.34 percent, or

92.73 points, to 27,165.65 in

early trade, while the broader

Topix index fell 0.26 percent,

or 0.26 percent to 1,789.91.

The dollar stood at 103.16

yen, nearly flat from 103.14

seen Monday in New York.

The weak start of the Tokyo

market stems from overnight

falls on Wall Street, where the

Dow Jones index gave up 1.3

percent as market participants

watched the all-important

Georgia Senate runoff elections

that will decide the balance of

power in Congress.

Also concerning investors was

the outlook for the pandemic as

British Prime Minister Boris

Johnson announced a sweeping

lockdown to slow the spread of

the disease.

Japan's Prime Minister

Yoshihide Suga also

announced Monday that he

was moving to issue a

localised state of emergency

for the greater Tokyo area,

which continues to see record

daily infection figures.

ensure stable grain yields despite

droughts or excessive rain in each of the

last two years. The country plans to add

100 million mu of such farmland in

2021, according to Tang.

The added value of tourism and

related industries in China amounted

to roughly 4.5 trillion yuan (US$690

billion) in 2019, official data shows.

The volume accounted for 4.56% of

China's GDP in 2019, up 0.05

percentage points from a year earlier,

according to calculations from the

National Bureau of Statistics.

Specifically, 31.3% of the total added

value of tourism and related industries

came from shopping, the largest

contributor, while the added value of

traveling came in at 1.21 trillion yuan in

2019, accounting for 26.8 % of the total.

Other aspects of tourism such as

entertainment and accommodation

registered rapid added value growth in

2019, respectively increasing 12.9%

and 10.4% from a year earlier.

China's central bank on Monday

conducted 20 billion yuan of reverse

repos to maintain stable liquidity in the

banking system. The interest rate for

the seven-day reverse repos was set at

2.2 %, according to a statement on the

website of the People's Bank of China.

Meanwhile, 160 billion yuan of

reverse repos matured on the same day,

resulting in a net liquidity withdrawal

of 140 billion yuan from the market.

Online games developed by Tencent

were reinstated on the app store of

Chinese telecom giant Huawei late on

Friday hours after being removed over

a cooperation dispute.

Huawei earlier in the day said the

removal of the games was in response

to a "big change" by Tencent on

December 31 to how the companies

work with each other, without offering

details. In a statement, the company

said its decision followed an

assessment by its legal team and was

based on the premise that Tencent is

unilaterally asking to discontinue

cooperation.

Tencent explained its products were

taken down because of the "the failure

of Huawei's mobile game platform to

renew its contract with our Mobile

Game Promotion Project Agreement as

scheduled."

Tesla Inc on Friday said it has started

taking orders for its China-made Model

Y sport-utility vehicles (SUVs), with a

30% price markdown.

The delivery to customers is set to

start this month, as the US electric

vehicle maker expands sales in the

world's biggest car market.

According to its China website, the

starting price for Tesla Model Y's Long

Range version, built in its Shanghai

gigafactory, is set at 339,900 yuan,

compared with 488,000 yuan quoted

in presale orders six months ago.

Nilufer Zafarullah elected as the

Chairman of ESTCDT of IUB

Nilufer Zafarullah has been

elected as the Chairman and

Md. Tanveer Madar has been

elected as the Vice Chairman,

of the Education, Science,

Technology and Cultural

Development Trust

(ESTCDT), the founding trust

of Independent University,

Bangladesh (IUB) and Ctg

Independent University

(CIU) for 2021 - 2022 , a press

release said.

Zafarullah is a pioneering

business woman in the

country who is currently

holding the position of the

Chairperson of Midland Bank

Ltd. An Architect by

profession, Nilufer Zafarullah

has contributed to education

and development sectors

remarkably for more than 25

years. Nilufer Zafarullah was

the Member of the

Bangladesh Parliament in the

9th & 10th Parliament.

Md. Tanveer Madar started

Nilufer Zafarullah

his own Logistics and allied

Companies in 1987 as the

Managing Director and later

formed an association of the

Int’l Freight Forwarders as its

General Secretary.

Madar is now the Chairman

of Hellmann Worldwide

Logistics, the Jt. Venture

partner Company of

Germany. He is associated

with many others Voluntary

Organizations.

Md. Tanveer Madar

Members of the ESTCDT

of IUB will predominantly

focus on world-class higher

education and researches

for the scholars and its

students. IUB went global by

creating affiliations and

introducing exchange

programs with globally

reputed universities and other

educational institutions that

is now being strengthened

further.

Reliance Jio sees rivals'

hand in tower sabotage

Telecom companies are now hurling

allegations and counter-allegations after

farmers started venting their anger at India's

richest man Mukesh Ambani and his

businesses - they see him and Gautam Adani

as the main beneficiaries of the proposed

farm bills, reports Reuters.

Nearly 1,500 towers belonging to Ambani's

Reliance Jio, India's leading player in terms

of subscriber base, have been interfered with

by agitators in the state of Punjab.

Reliance Jio has complained to the

Department of Telecommunications and the

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India,

accusing rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone

Idea of trying to sabotage its network under

the guise of the farmers' protest.

"As a result of false and frivolous

communication that Reliance will be an

undue beneficiary of the farm bills passed by

Parliament, Reliance Jio's

telecommunications network is being

targeted by the protesters and the same is

being disrupted and permanently damaged,"

Reliance Jio said.

The telecom giant claimed there was an

outage in its 1,504 towers in Punjab - nearly

15% of the total number of its towers in the

state - and 85 towers in neighboring

Haryana state. These towers have suffered

physical damage, power disruptions or the

theft of generators, and the company fears

that similar attempts are being made in

other states.

Bharti Airtel has written to the telecom

department, slamming the charges raised by

Reliance Jio, which it called baseless and

outrageous. In its letter, it said Reliance Jio

had not provided any evidence to

substantiate its allegations against its rivals.

The complaint should be dismissed "with

the contempt that it deserves," it said.

A Vodafone Idea spokesperson also

deplored the "false and baseless allegations"

made by Reliance Jio. "Vodafone Idea will

never be part of any such activity which has

an impact on network installations of any

operator in the country. It seems a fictional

conspiracy theory to implicate and cause

damage to VIL," the company said.

It condemned the acts of vandalism

against the telecom infrastructure, which is

said also disrupted essential services.

Reliance Jio also demanded that the

mobile number portability process in Punjab

and Haryana be suspended until the

situation stabilizes. On various social media

platforms, people are running campaigns

urging users to junk Reliance Jio mobile

phone connections and avoid patronizing

Reliance retail outlets.

On Twitter, they are running hashtags like

#boycottJiosim and #BoycottAmbaniAdani.

This has led to a rise in users seeking to move

to other networks.

Earlier, Reliance Jio had complained to the

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India,

accusing its rivals of running an unethical

and anti-competitive Mobile Number

Portability campaign to capitalize on the

ongoing farmer protests.

"They are inciting the public by making

preposterous claims that migrating Jio

mobile numbers to their networks would be

an act of support to farmers' protests,"

Reliance Jio's letter had stated.

Both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea

rubbished the allegations.

In a recent report released by the Telecom

Regulatory Authority, Reliance Jio

continued to be the largest player in the

country with a subscriber market share of

35.2% in September and a revenue market

share of 38.2% in the second quarter.

WeDNesDAY, JANUARY 6, 2021

9

Williamson's 238 was followed by tons from Nicholls and Mitchell.

Williamson’s 238 tops off New

Zealand's run feast

SpOrtS DeSk:

Shan Masood's third duck on the trot

to end his wretched tour compounded

pakistan woes as the visitors trailed New

Zealand by a massive 354 runs at stumps

on Day 3, having conceded a first innings

lead of 362. kane Williamson's fourth

test double lit up a gloomy, overcast day

in Christchurch as the home team piled

on runs and records before declaring the

first innings on 659/6 that also included

a 112-ball maiden hundred for Daryl

Mitchell and a brilliant 157 from Henry

Nicholls, reports Ap.

the day wholly and solely belonged to

the home side, who took one step closer

to that test Championship finale as

Williamson and Nicholls added 114 runs

in the morning session, without being

separated to take their lead past 100.

Nicholls moved into his 90s with the first

runs of the morning after pakistan

opened with three maidens on the trot.

Williamson then deservingly pushed his

team into the lead in an expensive

Shaheen Afridi over as pakistan tried to

trap the kiwi skipper on the legside and

conceded eight byes in the process.

pakistan's bowling plans, however,

didn't yield desired results and the one

chance Mohammad Abbas created was

spilled again by Azhar Ali at gully to

reprieve Nicholls on 92.

the duo then kept ticking off the

milestones, adding to pakistan's

frustration. Nicholls raised his seventh

test century with a beautiful drive

through the covers off Abbas in his

following over. At 272 runs, the pair had

recorded the best fourth wicket

partnership ever for New Zealand, and

at 293, it was the best partnership in any

test at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

Upon adding 11 runs to his overnight

score of 112, Williamson ticked off

another milestone in his illustrated

career as he became only the third New

Zealand batsman to climb the 7000-run

peak in test cricket.

Nicholls, batting with a calf niggle,

stepped on the accelerator right after

reaching triple figures more out of

necessity. He took a liking to the

directionless bowling of Naseem Shah

and Faheem Ashraf with a flurry of

boundaries to quickly catch up with his

skipper and take New Zealand past 350

in their first innings. Williamson

brought up his 150, and New Zealand's

400, right at the stroke of lunch.

the post Lunch session was frequently

interrupted by rain and standing

ovations - first when Nicholls edged off

Abbas to walk back on 157, and then

every time Williamson ticked off a

milestone. But there was hardly any

respite for pakistan even after they had

Photo: AP

gotten past the record 369-run fourthwicket

partnership - the third best for

New Zealand for any wicket.

rain held up play for nearly half an

hour post which Afridi sent Watling

packing on 7, even though he was also

dropped in his short stay in the middle.

But that brought Mitchell to the crease,

who kicked off in the same vein where

Nicholls had left. For pakistan, it was

only an extension of the morning session

where Williamson continued with his

on-drives and pulls for fun and Mitchell

feasted on an exhausted bowling attack

to notch up his first test hundred off just

112 balls.

the second break momentarily had

Williamson stranded on 199 but it

wasn't a long delay this time. the New

Zealand skipper equaled Brendon

McCullum's record of four double

centuries for the country with a single,

and another applause followed on 205,

when he had recorded the highest test

score against pakistan for any New

Zealand player. Abbas and Afridi,

meanwhile, went back to the short ball

ploy in search of a wicket. However,

Mitchell pulled those away

authoritatively to quickly move into the

40s. He got to his second test fifty off

just 71 balls, dominating the century

stand with Williamson that came off just

133 balls.

rusty' Liverpool stumble again

in Southampton defeat

SpOrtS DeSk:

Jurgen klopp admitted Liverpool are

suffering a "rusty moment" after a 1-0

defeat at Southampton extended the

defending champions' winless run in

the premier League to three games,

reports BSS.

Danny Ings's stunning secondminute

goal earned three points which

moved Southampton into sixth and led

to Saints manager ralph Hasenhuttl

breaking into tears of joy on the final

whistle.

Liverpool remain top of the table on

goal difference over Manchester

United, but have now played a game

more than the red Devils, who they

face in their next league game at

Anfield on January 17.

"that's a rusty moment we have to

admit it," said klopp, whose side last

failed to win in three straight premier

League games back in May 2018.

"Only if you know the problem can

you solve the problem, we are not blind.

We have to fight and play through this."

A first league defeat in three months

may hasten Liverpool's search for a

centre-back in the January transfer

window.

Without the injured Virgil van Dijk,

Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, klopp

started two of his first-choice

midfielders from their title-winning

campaign, Fabinho and Jordan

Henderson, together at the heart of his

defence.

Southampton had not scored in their

last three games to temper their hopes

of a push for european football, but

took just two minutes to break the

deadlock in style through former

Liverpool striker Ings.

trent Alexander-Arnold did not deal

with James Ward-prowse's angled

free-kick into the box and Ings perfectly

hooked his shot over Alisson Becker

into the far corner. "It's not only the

slow start, but the slow start made life

massively difficult tonight," added

klopp. Southampton had key

absentees themselves with goalkeeper

Alex McCarthy missing due to a

positive test for coronavirus, while

Oriol romeu, Jannik Vestergaard and

Che Adams were out injured.

Fraser Forster was making his first

Saints appearance since May 2019, but

the former england international was

rarely tested to earn his clean sheet.

'perfect gameplan' the visitors could

easily have found themselves 2-0 down

before the break when Southampton

substitute Nathan tella was inches

away from his first senior goal.

If klopp's men were too passive in the

first-half, they started the second-half

with the intensity they have made their

trademark in recent seasons as

Southampton were pinned inside their

own half.

Sadio Mane was the visitors' biggest

threat on his return to St Mary's as Jack

Stephens made a last-ditch challenge to

block his route to goal before kyle

Walker-peters was lucky to escape

without conceding a penalty for

obstructing another burst from the

Senegalese into the box.

thiago Alcantara was making just his

second Liverpool start since a muchanticipated

move from Bayern Munich,

but even the Spaniard's range of

passing could not cut through

Southampton's determined defence.

"I started believing we can do it in the

92nd minute, not earlier," said

Hasenhuttl. "they are so strong in front

you always believe something can

happen.

"We had to have a perfect gameplan

today and luck. Without luck against

such a team you cannot win."

Mane had Liverpool's only shot on

target 15 minutes from time when his

tame effort was easily held by Forster

low to his left. Southampton could have

sealed a huge win moments later when

Alisson was caught well off his line by

Yan Valery, whose shot lacked the

power to beat Henderson in a race to

the goal line.

Liverpool so often dug themselves

out of problems with late goals in

romping to the title last season, but

have failed to do so over the festive

period, also dropping points against

struggling West Brom and Newcastle.

United and Manchester City now

hold the upper hand in the title race

as they can both move ahead of

Liverpool should they win their

games in hand.

Liverpool remain top of the table on goal difference over Manchester United, but have now played a game

more than the Red Devils, who they face in their next league game at Anfield on January 17. Photo: AP

Australia coach Justin Langer on Tuesday said David Warner was "very, very, very likely" to play the

third Test against India.

Photo: AP

Langer says Warner ‘very likely’ to play through pain

SpOrtS DeSk:

Australia coach Justin Langer on

tuesday said David Warner was

"very, very, very likely" to play the

third test against India, with Will

pucovski shaping as his opening

partner after being given the all-clear

from a concussion, reports BSS.

Warner missed the first two tests

with a groin injury, but looks almost

certain to return for thursday's

crucial clash in Sydney, with the fourtest

series locked at 1-1.

"He looks like he's moving pretty

well. He's very determined to play,"

said Langer. "I'd say he's looking very,

very, very likely to play the test

match."

But he added: "He's going to be

playing through pain though. It's not

so much in the muscle but in the

tendon area."

Joe Burns opened with Matthew

Wade in the opening two tests in

Adelaide and Melbourne, but after a

run of poor scores has been axed.

It opens the door for pucovski to

make his debut after Langer said an

independent neurologist had cleared

him of any lingering damage after the

latest in a series of concussions.

"Will has still got a few boxes to tick

today then we weigh up whether this

test match is right, or the next test

match is right. time will tell," said

Langer.

pucovski, 21, has a long history of

being hit on the helmet, and has also

dealt with mental health issues.

But Langer said his mind has been

put at ease by the neurologists' allclear

on Monday.

"the real heartening thing for him

is that while he's had a few

concussions in the past … it's not

necessarily going to have any longterm

impact on him," he said.

"And I think when you can put your

mind at rest with that then that's a

real positive for him.

"He's in a great frame of mind, he's

incredibly positive about playing

cricket, he's trained hard this week

and, as he and I have discussed a

number of times, the only way to get

back on the horse is to get back on the

horse," he added.

If pucovski plays, Wade will almost

certainly drop back to his more

accustomed number five position

with allrounder Cameron Green

retained at six.

Australian Open

forced to switch player

quarantine hotel

SpOrtS DeSk:

Australian Open organisers

were forced to find new

quarantine accommodation for

players tuesday after a hotel

pulled out, reportedly because

of concerns from residents,

reports BSS.

Organisers of the year's first

tennis grand slam confirmed

they had secured new hotel

accommodation after

Melbourne's the Westin

cancelled plans to house tennis

players during two weeks of

quarantine ahead of the

tournament.

"Several hotels in Melbourne

have already been secured,

including a replacement for the

Westin, to safely accommodate

the international playing

group," organisers said in a

statement.

Local media reported that a

legal threat from several

permanent residents in the

luxury hotel had scuppered the

plan to host players there.

the news comes 10 days

before the first players are

expected to arrive in the city.

the start of the opening

Grand Slam of 2021 has already

been delayed until February 8,

to allow players to undergo a

mandatory 14-day quarantine

imposed on all overseas arrivals

before taking part in a week of

warm-up tournaments.

Melbourne only emerged

from a months-long lockdown

in October following a second

wave of Covid-19, complicating

planning for the Grand Slam.

Olympic super-fan

determined to welcome

world to tokyo

SpOrtS DeSk:

Whistle-blowing, flag-waving super-fan

kyoko Ishikawa has attended every Summer

Olympics in the past 30 years - and the tokyo

resident doesn't plan on missing out on a

Games in her home city, reports BSS.

the 51-year-old can't wait to welcome the

world to tokyo, even though surging infections

and skyrocketing costs have convinced many

other Japanese that the event should not go

ahead this year.

"the Olympics are amazing," said Ishikawa,

who has become a familiar face at Olympic

venues with her traditional Japanese outfit and

'hachimaki' headband, adorned with her

country's red-and-white flag.

"the power of diversity. the energy of

diversity. the Olympics are only three weeks,

but within that short period you get a

concentrated picture of the whole world," she

told AFp.

A third wave of coronavirus infections is

causing jitters in Japan, with prime Minister

Yoshihide Suga announcing Monday that he

was considering declaring a state of emergency

in the greater tokyo area.

A recent poll by public broadcaster NHk

revealed that a majority of people in Japan

oppose holding the postponed tokyo 2020

Games this year, with most favouring another

delay or outright cancellation.

But Ishikawa - a successful businesswoman

with her own It company, who transforms

herself into an exuberant uber-fan every four

years - is of a different opinion.

Her obsession began on a 1992 backpacking

trip to Barcelona, where she managed to buy a

cheap ticket to the Olympic opening ceremony

and was blown away by the atmosphere.

the next day, she had a chance encounter

with Naotoshi Yamada, a fellow Japanese who

had attended every Olympics since the 1964

tokyo Games and who took her under his

wing.

together, Ishikawa and Yamada - known in

Japan as the 'Olympic Grandad', in his

trademark gold top hat - travelled to every

Summer Olympics that followed, turning

heads and making friends wherever they went.

Yamada died in 2019 aged 92, leaving his

dream of watching a second tokyo Olympics

unfulfilled.

"It was such a pity, because the tokyo

Olympics would have been the completion of

his life as an Olympic fan," said Ishikawa.

"Without that, there's no closure.

"I want to try to take on his legacy and his

spirit. Of course, I can't be him, so I'll try to do

my best and do it my way. He's passing the

baton but the role is different."

Ishikawa says she was excited when tokyo

was awarded the Games but also knew it would

be difficult to get hold of tickets in Japan, where

demand was initially sky-high.

She and her family applied for the maximum

60 tickets each in the first lottery with no luck.

In the second lottery they got one ticket

between them, for wrestling.

Now that 18 percent of tickets sold in Japan

will be refunded after buyers asked for their

money back, Ishikawa is confident she can lay

her hands on more.

But she is more concerned about the

possibility of the event not taking place at all.

Organisers last month unveiled a raft of virus

countermeasures aimed at holding the Games

safely, from banning cheering in stadiums to

asking fans to download tracking apps on their

phones.

WeDNesDAY, JANUARY 6, 2021

10

Selim back to direction

with 'Parabasi Megh'

TBT RepoRT

Siam-Puja teaming up again

in 'Sikander'

TBT RepoRT

Popular star of Dhaka cinema Siam

Ahmed and actress Puja Cherry.

There performance has won the

hearts of millions of fans. That's

why Siam-Puja is going to reunite

in a new movie to entertain the

audience once again.

The name of the new movie is

'Sikander'. The movie is being

TBT RepoRT

Emerging actor Arfin Xunayed started working in

media since 2015. He started his debut with a short

film. He then drew the attention of directors within a

short time. In 2016, he acted in the drama 'It's My Life'

directed by Tapu Khan. It was released on YouTube.

Then he did not have to look back. In the meantime,

Xunayed has acted in several television dramas. Apart

from this, he has also included his name in modeling.

He is currently working on several fashion

photoshoots. Arfin Xunayed was born in the capital's

Mirpur on 19th of September although his village home

is at Tungipara in Gopalganj. When he was a child, he

moved to Saudi Arabia with his parents where he grew

produced by Bengal Multimedia.

'Sikander' is directed by Zubair

Alam, which is his first film. The

shooting of Siam-Puja's 'Sikander'

is scheduled to start in the second

week of March as heared.

Director Jubayer Alam told the

media about the shooting of the

movie, I will go for shooting in

March. I am creating a different

look of Siam. It is not a personcentered

movie. It is a specific plot

base story. Everything is one

hundred percent final. I will let

know everything at the end of this

month nothing before that.

Siam Ahmed and Puja had earlier

teamed up and acted in 'PoraMon-

2' and 'Dahan'. The two pictures

were quite acclaimed after their

release. Another of their movies

'Shaan' is under way.

Dream of becoming a good

actor : Arfin Xunayed

up. He spent his school and university life in Saudi

Arabia. He has an elder brother,a younger brother and

a lovely sister. Xunayed returned to country in 2010. A

great passion for cricket was developed in him during

his childhood time. His interest in cricket increased as

days passed by. He dreamed of becoming a cricketer.

Being born in Gopalganj, Xunayed was lucky to get in

touch with Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. Seeing his strong

interest to cricket, Mashrafe used to inspire him. He

calls Mashrafe as 'Kaushik Bhai'. All his dreams about

cricket were ruined as he sustained a sudden injury.

Since then, he started weaving dreams over acting.

Xunayed said "We call Mashrafe 'Kaushik Bhai'.

Kaushik Bhai has supported me much. He also

encouraged me. But I had to leave the game due to my

injury. My dream of becoming a cricketer did not come

true as my luck did not favour me. I have been

cherishing a dream of doing something for the country

since my childhood. I decided to act when my dream of

becoming a cricketer did not favor me.

At present, Xunayed has two web series and two

television plays in his hands. A drama starring him is

going to be released in this January. Xunayed's full

concentration revolves around acting. Talking about

his future plans, Xunayed said, although I started

working in media with YouTube, my target was the big

screen. And I am preparing myself for that goal. I'm

currently spending time with several dramas and

fashion photo shoots. "I know it's very difficult to get

myself on the big screen now," he said. But I do not

want to give up. I will try my best, the rest depends on

luck. "I want to be a good actor. I want to move ahead

slowly with the love and blessings of everyone." This

time Xunayed is going to act in a new drama. He will

act in Sajib Chishti's play 'Sori Mirabai'. Model, actress

Shimu Khan Shelley will play the role of Meera in the

drama. Another important character will be played by

the model of the time, Arfin Xunayed.

Shahiduzzaman Selim, a popular theatre, television and

National Film Award winning actor has come up with a drama

again after almost a year under his own direction. The name of

the drama is 'Parabasi Megh'. The drama is composed by

Mansurur Rahman Chanchal and was created for promotion

on Channel I. Besides directing, Shahiduzzaman Selim has

also acted himself. The cast of the drama included, Irfan

Sajjad, Ashna Habib Bhabna.

Shahiduzzaman Selim said, drama 'Parabasi Megh' is a love

story. On the 21st of February last year, he made the drama

'Raat Jagania'. It was aired on Channel I and featured Nazia

Haque Orsha. The talented actor of the theatre group 'Dhaka

Theater' is also directing a drama 'Ekti Loukik Othoba Oloukik

Steamer' on the stage. The drama is composed by Anon

Zaman. Yesterday, this talented actor has set foot in his sixties.

Shahiduzzaman Selim said, 'Birthdays really remind me of my

parents. I remember when I was a child, my parents would not

let me out of the house on my birthday. I got more birthday

greetings now, especially on Facebook. This time he said that I

had no desire to go out on birthday. So on this special day I had

spend time sitting at home. The day was celebrated with my

family. ' Meanwhile, Shahiduzzaman Selim, Muhammad

It is well known that the

upcoming Batman film stars

Robert Pattinson but a recent

article in the New York Times

by Brooks Barnes suggests

that there might be more than

one Batman film in the works.

The article in question has

Barnes interviewing Walter

Hamada, president of DC

films, as they discuss the films

and spin-offs that Warner

Bros is planning for theatres

and its streaming service.

A section of the article read,

"To make all the story lines

work, DC Films will introduce

movie audiences to a comics

concept known as the

multiverse: parallel worlds

where different versions of

the same character exist

simultaneously. Coming up,

for instance, Warner Bros.

will have two different film

sagas involving Batman -

played by two different actors

- running at the same time."

The "two different film

sagas" suggested to the

Mostafa Kamal Raj took part in the shooting of the ongoing

drama series 'Family Crisis' aired on NTV monday at a

shooting house in the capital's 300 feet. However, he did

not shoot yesterday. On the last day of last year, the first

screening of Rana Masood's short film 'Atar' starring

Shahiduzzaman Selim was held at the Public Library in

Shahbag. The actor has been especially praised for his

performance in that film.

Meanwhile Selim-starrer films 'Poran' and 'August 1975' are

waiting for its release. Shahiduzzaman Selim is a noted actor of

the country. He started his acting career in television through

his role in the drama 'Jonaki Jwoley' in 1989.

He won the Bangladesh National Film Award for Best

Actor in Negative Role for his performance in the film

'Chorabali' in 2012. He is currently the president of Obhinoy

Shilpi Shongho.

Alia Bhatt's 'Gangubai Kathiawadi'

to release this year

Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt-starrer "Gangubai

Kathiawadi", directed by celebrated filmmaker Sanjay Leela

Bhansali, will arrive in cinema halls this year, the makers

announced on Friday.

The film has been adapted from one of the chapters of

noted author Hussain Zaidi's book, "Mafia Queens of

Mumbai".

The drama features Bhatt as Gangubai, one of the most

powerful, loved and respected madams from Kamathipura

during the 1960s. In an eight second video shared on

Instagram, the filmmaker's banner - Bhansali Productions -

announced that the movie will come out sometime this

year. "Brave, bold and ready to take over 2021 with fire in

her eyes and fierceness as her style #GangubaiKaithiawadi

awaits to reign over the coming year," the production house

captioned the video.

According to a source close to film's production, the

movie's shoot was resumed at Film City in suburban

Mumbai from October last year and it's near completion.

"Gangubai Kathiawadi" was earlier scheduled to arrive in

Another Batman

franchise in the works?

readers that there is going to

be one more Batman

franchise. Brooks took to

Twitter to clarify that he was

referring to the upcoming

Flash movie where multiple

actors, including Michael

Keaton and Ben Affleck, will

play Batman.He tweeted,

"Been offline (moving

apartments) and return to see

this Michael Keaton

craziness. I was referring to

the *one film* that Keaton

has been announced as being

in, not a set of his own

Batman films. If I had info on

him beyond "The Flash," I

would have obviously put it in

my article."

It has been announced by

The Flash director Andy

Muschietti that Ben Affleck

and Michael Keaton will play

Batman in the film as Ezra

Miller's Barry delves into a

multiverse. Andy had

previously told Vanity Fair,

"This movie is a bit of a hinge

in the sense that it presents a

story that implies a unified

universe where all the

cinematic iterations that

we've seen before are valid.

It's inclusive in the sense that

it is saying all that you've seen

exists, and everything that

you will see exists, in the same

unified multiverse."

Robert Pattinson-starrer

The Batman, directed by Matt

Reeves, is scheduled to

release in March 2022.

Source: technocodex.com

theatres on September 11 in 2020 but was delayed to the

coronavirus pandemic. Bhansali is co-producing the film

with producer Jayantilal Gada's Pen India Limited, PTI

reported.

Source: timesofindia.com

H o R o s c o p e

ARIes

(March 21 - April 20) : Close

relationships should grow closer today,

and new relationships become close

ones. You're likely to feel extremely warm

and loving toward most of the people you know, and

they should reciprocate that feeling. Romantic

relationships, especially, could grow more intimate

and physical. You like the way you feel, Aries, but want

to express it outwardly through gifts or intimacy.

TAURUs

(April 21 - May 21) : Relations with

family or other members of your

household should be especially warm

now. Mutual goals and shared wins and

losses are likely to bring you closer. Communication

with friends and other acquaintances should be open

and honest without being blunt, Taurus, providing you

with a rewarding day. You probably won't spend much

of your day alone. Make the most of it.

GeMINI

(May 22 - June 21) : You should feel loving

today toward just about anyone you like and

respect. Clear communication with friends, lovers,

and children could enhance your understanding

of them, and vice versa. The bonds in these relationships will be

strengthened, perpetuating the good feelings you've felt all year.

Current bonds grow more devoted, while new ones become close.

Keep the lines of communication open.

cANceR

(June 22 - July 23) : Powerful feelings of

love well up today, particularly toward

family members. Communication between

you and those you love is likely to be

heightened, Cancer, as you learn to speak your mind while

not being too blunt. Romantic matters could thrive now,

as you will be in the mood to physically express your

feelings. Old friends form stronger bonds, while you

discover common interests with new friends.

Leo

(July 24 - Aug. 23): Messages from

close friends expressing their love and

admiration for you may seem to arrive

out of the blue. Your accomplishments

over the past few weeks may have caused them to see

you in a new light. Today you will experience the full

force of their feelings. The doors of communication are

open for you. You could decide to spend the day

getting to know your friends all over again.

VIRGo

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): You're always one

to face things logically, Virgo, and today you

turn that logic, along with your intuition,

toward reassessing some of your values.

Your judgment is especially acute, so any decisions you

make or any new avenues you want to explore are likely to

be just what you need now. Relations with friends, lovers,

and family should be warm, loving, and close.

LIBRA

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): You're likely to feel

especially friendly and outgoing today,

Libra. People you meet, particularly

through groups, are likely to be

strongly attracted to you. Friendships,

partnerships, and romantic relationships should

continue to grow closer, enhanced by your high

level of communication. In the evening, go out with

those you love. Your bond will be stronger for it.

scoRpIo

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

warm and romantic mood today,

Scorpio. You will want to schedule an

intimate evening with your partner,

but you probably won't feel like staying in. You

desire an evening out, perhaps to a restaurant,

concert, or play. Regardless of how you usually feel,

tonight you won't have any reservations about

showing affection in public. Enjoy your evening.

sAGITTARIUs

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): The mutual exploration of

spiritual and intellectual ideas could bring

you closer to friends and lovers. Fascinating

discussions open new horizons to all

participants. You may be overcome by the strong feeling of

unity. By day's end, you could experience a strong spiritual

longing to study whatever the topic of conversation was.

Don't hesitate. It can only help you grow.

cApRIcoRN

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): You feel especially sexy

right now. A powerful feeling of love

and a need to physically express it could

be with you all day. If you're involved,

you want to spend a romantic evening with your

lover. If you aren't, you could channel the energy into

creative activities. Romantic novels and movies are

poor substitutes for the real thing, Capricorn, but if

they're all that's available, go for it.

AQUARIUs

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) : Close relationships

could lead to a feeling of spiritual unity

today. In fact, Aquarius, you might feel as

if those who share your interests are

actually your family now. If you're involved, expect to

experience warm and passionate feelings toward your

partner. If not, don't be surprised if someone new

comes on the scene. Shared intellectual interests might

be what bring you together.

pIsces

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) : Love, sex, and romance

are on your mind today, Pisces, so you will

want to spend as much time as possible with

your lover. You could also grow closer to

your friends, resulting in a powerful feeling of unity. Right

now you have the gift of being able to exercise good

judgment when it comes to values in life. If decisions need

to be made along this line, this is the time to make them.

wednesdAY, JAnUARY 6, 2021

11

Britain locks down over virus surge

despite new vaccine rollout

A mobile court in Tangail's Mirzapur has fined four illegal sawmill traders Tk 40,000 for not having

a license.

Photo : TBT

Kenya reopens schools after

10-month virus closure

NAIROBI : Millions of Kenyan pupils

returned to school on Monday for the first

time since classes were dismissed 10 months

earlier due to the coronavirus pandemic,

reports BSS.

Mask-wearing students had their temperatures

checked before entering school to repeat

their lost academic year, in what was both a

relief and a concern to their parents.

"As a parent I am pleased that the children

are back in school," said mother Hildah

Musimbi.

"At the moment we have got a lot of fear

because we really don't know if other children

in school have the virus or even if the teachers

have the virus, or even if the support staff in

school have the virus."

Kenya shut schools in March 2020 when

the new coronavirus arrived in the country,

and partially re-opened to select classes in

October.

All primary and highschool students

returned on Monday, while universities and

colleges were free to open and would do so on

varying dates.

"We are happy to be back in school, that was

a long break," Mercy Nderi, a pupil at

Kasarani Primary School in Nairobi said.

Teachers turned back students who were

not wearing facemasks, while struggling to

maintain social distancing in crowded classrooms.

"It is difficult because we don't have sufficient

desks to ensure we keep children one

metre (yard) away from each other but we are

trying our best," said Mvurya Mumbia, a

headteacher at Voi Primary School.

When schools were partially re-opened in

October, there was a spike in COVID-19 cases,

with pupils and teachers falling ill and at least

one school principal dying.

Kenya has had almost 97,000 cases and

over 1,600 deaths since the start of the outbreak,

with a surge in its positivity rate of up to

20 percent in October decreasing to below five

percent in the past week.

"The turnout is good and as you have seen,

apart from crowding, all students are wearing

their masks and teachers are ready to teach so

let us support them," Education Minister

George Magoha said when he toured Olympic

Primary School in Nairobi's Kibera slum, the

largest in the country with 4,700 pupils.

"There is no reason why parents should fail

to send children to school," he said.

"We have put in place adequate safety measures

but they need to ensure they give them

masks."

US extends Iraq

sanctions waiver

for further 3

months

BAGHDAD :The US has

granted Iraq a three-month

extension to a sanctions

waiver allowing it to import

Iranian gas, an Iraqi ,

reports BSS.

The move represents a

welcome reprieve for a country

that relies heavily on its

neighbour for energy supplies.

Iraq buys gas and electricity

from Iran to supply about

a third of its power sector,

worn down by years of conflict

and poor maintenance

and unable to meet the

needs of the country's 40

million population.

The US blacklisted Iran's

energy industry in late 2018

as it ramped up sanctions,

but granted Baghdad a

series of temporary waivers,

hoping Iraq would wean

itself off Iranian energy by

partnering with US firms.

The latest extension

extends into the start of US

President-elect Joe Biden's

mandate, as the administration

of President Donald

Trump departs the White

House on January 20.

The new exemption,

which is longer than previous

extensions, was granted

after "long discussions", the

official told AFP on condition

of anonymity.

The reprieve, however,

does not solve all of

Baghdad's energy problems.

Tehran has demanded

nearly $6 billion in unpaid

gas bills from Baghdad,

recently reducing its supply

to Iraq over the arrears.

India records

lowest daily

cases in over

six months

NEWDELHI: India recorded

16,375 new cases of coronavirus,

the lowest in over six

months, taking the country's

COVID-19 caseload to

1,03,56,844, according to the

Union Health Ministry data

updated on Tuesday, reports

BSS.

The death toll increased to

1,49,850 with 201 new fatalities,

the data updated at 8 am

showed

The number of people who

have recuperated from the

disease surged to 99,75,958

pushing the national recovery

rate to 96.32 per cent, while

the COVID-19 case fatality

rate stands at 1.45 per cent.

The COVID-19 active caseload

remained below 3 lakh

for the 15th consecutive day.

There are 2,31,036 active

coronavirus infections in the

country which comprises

2.23 per cent of the total caseload,

the data stated. India's

COVID-19 tally had crossed

the 20-lakh mark on August

7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40

lakh on September 5 and 50

lakh on September 16. It went

past 60 lakh on September

28, 70 lakh on October 11,

crossed 80 lakh on October

LONDON: Schools and colleges

across Britain closed on Tuesday

ahead of a national lockdown as the

country battled to control surging

coronavirus cases that are threatening

to overwhelm its healthcare system,

reports BSS.

The tough new measures were

announced Monday even as Britain

began rolling out the Oxford-

AstraZeneca shots, a possible gamechanger

in fighting Covid-19 worldwide,

and as vaccine programmes in

the United States and Europe stumbled.

Scotland began its lockdown

Tuesday, while Prime Minister Boris

Johnson said all of England, the

UK's largest nation, would close

down from Wednesday - possibly

into mid-February.

The latest virus moves are aimed at

containing a severe wave of infections

with a new coronavirus strain

believed to spread faster.

"With most of the country already

under extreme measures, it's clear

that we need to do more, together, to

bring this new variant under control

GD-25/21(6x4)

29, 90 lakh on November 20

2101-91 GD- 21/21 (9.5x 3)

and surpassed the one-crore

mark on December 19.

GD- 24/21 (7x 4)

while our vaccines are rolled out,"

Johnson said in a televised address.

Similar to a first March-June lockdown

last year, the new moves

include the closure of schools and a

ban on leaving home for all but exercise

and essential shopping.

As Britain ramped up its inoculation

programme Monday with the

shots developed by the University of

Oxford and AstraZeneca, pressure

was growing on European authorities

to speed up their vaccine

approvals process.

The European Medicines Agency is

yet to approve the Moderna vaccine,

and it has said a decision on the

AstraZeneca jab is unlikely in

January.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel

and state leaders were expected

Tuesday to extend a shutdown in

Europe's top economy as coronavirus

deaths mounted despite tough

restrictions in the run-up to the holidays.

The ease of storage and use of the

Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine compared

with the Pfizer-BioNTech and

Moderna alternatives could mean

greater access for less wealthy

nations in the fight against the coronavirus,

which has infected more

than 85 million people with more

than 1.8 million known deaths.

Mexico on Monday followed India

in approving the Oxford-

AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency

use.

The efforts to accelerate vaccinations

come as concerns grow about

the potentially more transmissible

variant spreading out of control.

The Chinese firm Sinopharm said

Monday its vaccine - with a claimed

effectiveness of 79 percent - remains

effective against the new variant.

In the United States, the worst-hit

nation in the world, the rollout of

vaccines has been plagued by logistical

problems and overstretched hospitals

and clinics.

But authorities also face the challenge

of conspiracy theories spread

on social media that could increase

vaccine hesitancy and outright rejection

- and even sabotage. That threat

was illustrated last week in the US

04 04/01/2021

Wednesday, Dhaka, January 6, 2021, Poush 22, 1427 BS, Jamadi-ul Awal 21 , 1442 Hijri

Why Kushtia Medical

College Project missed

deadlines: asks PM

DHAKA : The unusual delay in implementation

of Kushtia Medical College

Establishment Project has irked Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The Prime Minister expressed displeasure

when the project's second revision

was put forward for the approval of the

Executive Committee of the National

Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday.

TheEcnec meeting sent back the second

revision of the Kushtia Medical College

Project directing the authorities concerned

to investigate promptly as to why

the project could not be completed yet.

But Ecnec cleared sixother projects

involving an estimated cost of Tk

9,569.23 crore.

The weekly Ecnec meeting was held at

NEC Bhaban with Ecnec Chairperson

Sheikh Hasina in the chair. The Prime

Minister joined the meeting virtually

from her official residence Ganobhaban.

"The Prime Minister expressed serious

dissatisfaction and annoyance over

the delay in project works," said

Planning Minister MA Mannan while

briefing reporters after the meeting.

Sheikh Hasina said it is in no way

acceptable as the project could not be

completed in so many years.

The Prime Minister directed the

Planning Minister to investigate it thoroughly

soon by the IMED

(Implementation Monitoring and

Evaluation Division) and otheragencies

concerned. "Give me itsreport and then

I'll consider it,"she was quoted as saying.

The Planning Minister said the

Kushtia Medical College Project started

in 2012 and it was supposed to be

complete by 2014 but it could not be

finished despite extension of its deadline

several times and the latest deadline

was 2019.

Now the second revision of the project

was placed seeking extension of the

project deadline up to 2023, but the

Ecnec meeting sent it back, he said

adding that the progress of the project is

not satisfactory.

Mannan said the Planning Ministry will

send its probe team soon to Kushtia to

investigate the delay in the project works

thoroughly. The probe report will also be

shared with the media after placing it

before the Prime Minister, he said.

Missions to Mars, the

Moon and Beyond Await

Earth in 2021

About a month after the new year has

started on Earth, three spacecraft will pull

into the vicinity of Mars. These explorers,

which launched in July last year, will be

heralds of a busy year of space exploration,

launches and astronomical occurrences,

reports CBNC.COM

What follows is a preview of some of

2021's most notable expected events.

Private companies and the world's space

agencies are likely to announce more.

The United Arab Emirates, China and

the United States all launched robotic

missions to Mars last summer, seeking

shortened voyages during the period

every two years when Earth is closest to

the red planet. The three spacecraft will

join a bustling community of explorers

either in orbit or on the planet's surface.

The first to arrive will be the Emirati

Hope orbiter, the first deep space explorer

of the Arab country's small but ambitious

space program. The mission will

study the Martian atmosphere, sending

valuable data back to scientists on Earth.

It is to reach its destination on Feb 9.

China's Tianwen-1 mission is to arrive

at Mars on Feb 10. After orbiting the

planet for a time, it will send a lander

containing a rover to the surface in May.

Landing intact on the solar system's

fourth planet is perilous, and only NASA

has done it more than once. A successful

landing there would extend China's

record of impressive spaceflight

achievements, especially after last year's

Chang'e-5 mission to the lunar surface

came back to Earth with a fresh cache of

moon rocks.

Soon after, on Feb 18, NASA's

Perseverance rover will arrive and

plunge toward the surface of Mars. If it

lands successfully, the rover will seek

signs of extinct life in a dried out crater

lake and riverbed. But first it will deploy

Ingenuity, a small helicopter. That

device has its own mission of carrying

out the first powered flight from the surface

of another planet.

While China has landed spacecraft on the

moon three times in the past seven years,

NASA has not landed there since 1972, the

last Apollo mission. That could change in

2021, deepening the commercial transformation

of American space efforts.

NASA has in the past decade relied on

private companies to build and operate

spacecraft that could ferry cargo, and

now people, to the International Space

Station. It is trying a similar approach

with Commercial Lunar Payload

Services. The program has contracted

with a number of private companies to

build robotic lunar landers that will

carry cargo from NASA and other customers

to the moon's surface.

A trawler carrying more than two hundred passengers sank when it collided with a sea-going fishing

trawler on its way to Noakhali district chairman ghat from Monpura in Bhola. More than two hundred

passengers were rescued for a short time.

Photo : Star Mail

DIG Habib for

implementation

of new road

transport act

DHAKA : Deputy Inspector General

(DIG) of Police, Dhaka Range, Habibur

Rahman yesterday instructed policemen

to take all-out preparation for implementing

the new Road Transport Act.

He also directed all police officials to

be more active and make the policemen

more public oriented.

He made the remarks while addressing

monthly crime review meeting of

November at the conference room of

Dhaka Range today, said a press release.

Expressing satisfaction over disposal of

arrest warrants, the Dhaka Range DIG

hoped that all police in the range will perform

their duties with dedication, honesty

and professionalism to maintain ongoing

peaceful law and order situation.

In the meeting, directives on different

types of cases were issued to the officers

after holding elaborate discussion on

crime situation of November 2020.

In last November, 2614 cases were

filed with different police stations of

Dhaka Range, which was an increase of

156 cases compared to October and a

decrease of 57 cases from November

2019. Of which 728 cases were filed over

drug recovery which was increase of 144

in October and 418 in November 2019.

Eighteen cases have been filed in the

arms recovery which was a decrease of

eight cases compared to November 2019.

In November, 9683 arrest warrants were

received from courts while 9,874 were implemented,

increasing 191 disposal of arrest

warrants compared to Nov 2019.

Conducted by Additional DIG (crime)

Md Zihadul Karim, Additional DIG

(Administration and Finance) of Dhaka

Range, Additional DIG (Operation and

Intelligence), Superintendent of Police of 13

districts and Supeintendent of police (Media),

among others, attended the meeting.

Dhaka seeks proactive support to deal

with climate change, migration issues

Bangladesh bets big on

Covid vaccines

DHAKA : The government has

approved the first revision of the Covid-

19 Emergency Response and Pandemic

Preparedness Project, raising its cost by

Tk 5,659.07 crore mainly for the procurement,

preservation and distribution

of Covid vaccines.

The Executive Committee of the

National Economic Council (Ecnec)

approved the revised project at its weekly

meeting on Tuesday. Ecnec also

cleared five other development projects,

including three fresh ones.

The meeting was held at NEC Bhaban.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired

the meeting, joining it virtually from her

official residence Ganobhaban.

"Seven projects of six ministries were

placed before today's meeting. But one

project was not considered for approval.

The total estimated cost of the six

approved projects is Tk 9,569.23 crore

(only additional costs of three revised

projects were counted here)," said

Planning Minister MA Mannan.

He was briefing reporters after the

meeting. Of the amount, Tk 3,867.58

crore will come from the government

fund, while Tk 5,701.65 crore from foreign

sources, he said.

The Minister said the Ecnec sent back

Kushtia Medical College Establishment

Project directing his ministry to investigate

the project thoroughly as to why it

was not completed yet after its implementation

started in 2012, reports UNB.

Talking about the Covid-19 project,

Member of the Planning Commission

Abul Kalam Azad said apart from

procuring, preserving and distributing

the Covid vaccines, the other major project

operations include installation of

modern microbiology laboratories

alongside PCR machines at 27 medical

college and hospitals in the country.

Besides, RT-PCR kits, antigen kits and

health safety kits will also be procured

under the project alongside setting up

Biosafety Level-3 Labs at IEDCR and

Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and

Infectious Diseases (BITID),

Chattogram.

He said 10-bed Intensive Care Unit

(ICU) and 20-bed Isolation Units would

be set up at 43 district Sadar hospitals

under the project.

The other major project operations

include setting up 10-bed ICU units at

10 medical college and hospitals and 5-

bed ICU units at infectious disease hospitals

in Dhaka and Chattogram, setting

up 7 medical screening units at 5 port of

entries, setting up infectious disease

units at 27 medical college and hospitals,

setting up infection prevention and control

units at 62 district hospitals, setting

up medical waste management plants at

10 medical college hospitals and 10 district

hospitals, installing central liquid

medical oxygen system at 30 government

hospitals.

According to the project factsheet provided

by the Planning Commission, the

project has been revised for inclusion of

installation of Vaccine Testing Lab

(WHO maturity level-3) through

strengthening the National Control

Laboratory of the Drug Administration,

inclusion of recruitment of necessary

manpower and trainings to check

COVID-19, inclusion of US$ 100 million

to be financed by Asian Infrastructure

Investment Bank (AIIB) as co-lending

with the World Bank and US$ 500 million

by the World Bank against the corona

vaccine procurement.

Azad said the government aims to give

Covid-19 vaccines to around 13.76 crore

people of the country. But the people

aged below 18 would not be brought

under the vaccine coverage except for

certain reasons.

Some TK 4,236.43 crore will be spent

on procuring, transporting, distributing

the vaccines while the frontline workers

like health workers, law enforcers,

media personnel would get the vaccines

on priority basis, he said.

Report in rape

abetment case

against Nur

Jan 21

DHAKA : A court yesterday set

January 21 to submit report in a case

against six including Dhaka

University Central Students' Union

(DUCSU) former vice-president (VP)

Nurul Haque Nur for alleged abduction,

rape, abetting rape and offences

under Digital Security Act.

Tuesday was set for the submission

of the investigation report in the case.

But, Dhaka Metropolitan

Magistrate Begum Yeasmin Ara set a

new date as the investigation officer

of the case did not submit the report.

On the night of September 20, a

case was filed with Lalbagh Police

Station against Nur for his alleged

involvement in provoking a rape incident.

According to the case, the incident

took place at Sadarghat Hotel and

Restaurant in Kotwali police station

area.

The time of the rape incident has

been mentioned in the case from

7:40 pm to 8:30 pm on February 9,

2020.

Hasan Al Mamun, convener of the

Bangladesh Student Rights Council,

was made the main accused in the

case.

The other accused are: Saiful,

Nazmul, Hasan Al Mamun, suspended

convener of Bangladesh Sadharan

Chhatra Odhikar Sangrakkhan

Parishad Nazmul Hasan Sohag and

its joint convener and DU student

Abdullah Hil Baki.

58 arrested in

DMP's 1-day

anti-narcotics

drive

DHAKA : Dhaka Metropolitan Police

(DMP) in ananti-narcotics drive in

the capital Mondayarrested 58 people

on for selling or consuming drugs.

Local police stations and the

Detective Branch (DB) of the DMP separately

carried out the simultaneous

drive starting at 6:00 am on Monday,

said DMP Deputy Commissioner

(Media) Walid Hossain.

A total of 697 Yaba tablets, 263.5

gm heroin, 12.160 kg hemp, and 395

bottles of Phensedyl were recovered

from the arrestees' possession, he

said.

Meanwhile, Officer-in-charge (OC)

of Pallabi Police Station Kazi Wazed

Ali said based on a secret information,

a special team of the police station

raided New Sagupta residential

area at around 1:40 pm on Monday

and arrested two alleged drug dealers

identified as-Abdus Salam, 55, and

Md Badsha Mia, 55, and seized 390

bottles of Phensedyl from their possession.

In another separate drive, a team

of Jatrabari police station conducted

a raid in front of Dhania College Gate

at around 6:05 pm on Monday. The

police team arrested Md Jahangir

Alam, 40, along with 8 kgs of hemp,

said the OC of Jatrabari Police station

Md Mazaharul Islam.

DHAKA : Dhaka has sought "effective

and proactive" support from the international

community to deal with the climate

change issues noting that nearly 25

to 30 million people of Bangladesh will

be uprooted from their sweet homes if

there is a one-metre rise in sea level.

"Bangladesh cannot handle such a

huge uprooted population alone... we

need effective and proactive support

from the international community,"

said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul

Momen.

He said Bangladesh wants to see more

tangible outcomes from this year's

Global Forum on Migration and

Development (GFMD)so that people all

over can understand the significance

and benefit of having GFMD.

The Foreign Minister was addressing

the virtual Pre-GFMD 2020 National

Consultation, organized by

Parliamentary Caucus on Migration and

Development on Tuesday.

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen,

former Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul

Haque and President, Bangladesh

Association of International Recruiting

Agencies (BAIRA) Benjir Ahmed, MP

among others spoke at the event.

Dr Momen said Bangladesh is the

host of 1.1 million Rohingyas who were

forcibly displaced from their ancestral

homes.

Again, he said, Bangladesh is one of

the most vulnerable countries due to climatic

change. "A large number of our

population is being displaced due to

erratic climate changes every year and

we call them climate migrants."

Currently, the minister said, it is in the

high priority of the government of

Bangladesh to skill its prospective

migrant workers and up skill and re-skill

the returnee migrants for a successful

migration journey through training and

capacity building.

"Simultaneously, we're focused on

taking advantage of technology for the

welfare of the migrant workers at all

stages of migration, especially during

their stay abroad," Dr Momen said.

He said the government has also been

working to improve the data management

by developing a more comprehensive

database and connecting various

ICT-based information services to provide

assistance for the aspirant and

returnee migrants and to ensure their

protection.

One of the fishing

tools is

made of

bamboo pole is

being sold at Tk

25-300 in the

Karwanbazar

of the capital

city as the

water level in

the canal, beel

decreases in

winter season.

Photo : Star

Mail

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam, Executive Editor : Sheikh Efaz Ahmed, Managing Editor: Tapash Ray Sarker, News Editor : Saiful Islam, printed at Sonali Printing Press, 2/1/A, Arambagh 167, Inner Circular Road, Eden Complex, Motijheel, Dhaka.

Editorial and News Office: Bangladesh Timber Building (3rd Floor) 270/B, Tejgaon I/A Dhaka-1208. Tel : +8802-8878026, Cell : 01736786915; Fax: + 880244611604, Email: Editor : editor@thebangladeshtoday.com, Advertisement: ads@thebangladeshtoday.com, News: newsbangla@thebangladeshtoday.com, contact@thebangladeshtoday.com, website: www.thebangladeshtoday.com

06-01-2021

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