28-02-2021

Sunday, Dhaka, February 28, 2021, Falgun 15, 1427 BS, Rajab 15, 1442 Hijri
Covid-19 in Bangladesh
Daily infection
rate rises again,
fatalities fall
Dhaka : Bangladesh recorded 407
more Covid-19 infections until early
Saturday, meaning 545,831 people
have now tested positive for the virus
in the country since the start of the
pandemic, reports UNB.
and the daily infection rate rose to
3.30%, which was 3.13% on Friday.
also, the country saw five new
Covid-19 deaths, taking the national
tally to 8,400. and the fatality rate
stood at 1.54%, the Directorate
General of health Services said.
The overall infection rate stood at
13.54%. however, 496,107 patients -
90.89% - have recovered so far.
and 4,030,616 tests, including
12,348 new ones, have been carried
out since the first cases were reported
on March 8. Bangladesh launched a
countrywide coronavirus vaccination
drive on February 7.
By Saturday, 2,984,773 people had
received the first dose of the OxfordastraZeneca
vaccine. The second dose
has to be taken between 8 and 12
weeks of the first one.
The government is providing the
vaccine free of cost. It signed an agreement
with India's Serum Institute for
30 million doses of the vaccine.
The institute will provide five million
doses every month between January
and June. People, who are 40 or above,
can register for the vaccine at
www.surokkha.gov.bd. The on-spot
registration system has been scrapped.
health experts and the government
have been urging people to get registered
and follow safety guidelines even
after getting vaccinated.
Thousands of people who depend on public vehicles for their daily commute, have been hit hard by the
24-hour transport strike in Khulna.
Photo: Star Mail
assam CM for removing barriers
in export-import sector to boost
bilateral trade
NEW DELhI: The Chief Minister of
the Indian state of assam
SarbanandaSonwal has called for regular
contacts between the India-
Bangladesh trade representatives and
exporters for removing barriers in
export import sector to boost bilateral
trade.
"Regular communication and contacts
among the trade representatives
and people directly involved with
export and import between the two
countries are crucial to ease bilateral
trade and removing barriers in
import-export sector," he said.
The CM of assam has expressed the
views when Bangladesh high
Commissioner to India Muhammad
Imran called on him at his residence
on Friday, when they discussed various
bilateral issues with special focus
on export and import and bilateral
trade.
During the meeting, the Bangladesh
envoy referred to the present economic
progress achieved by Bangladesh during
Momen for stronger
BD-US economic ties
Dhaka: Foreign minister Dr ak abdul
Momen has said Dhaka wants stronger
economic relations with the United
States (US) along with more US investment
and leveraging tariff on imports
from Bangladesh, reports BSS.
Strong Bangladesh-US economic
relations are critical and Bangladesh
welcomes US investments, he said in a
meeting with US Chamber of
Commerce in Washington DC on
Thursday, a foreign ministry press
release said here yesterday.
The US Chamber of Commerce
organized a virtual discussion with
Foreign Minister Dr. Momen titled as
"Strengthening Bangladesh-US Trade
and Economic Cooperation".
During the discussion, the foreign
minister expressed Bangladesh's
desire to work closely with the Biden
administration on climate, trade and
investment, and security.
Momen called upon the US government,
to help US consumers and also
to assist millions of female workers in
Bangladesh's RMG sector, to put a
three-year moratorium on the tariff on
imports from Bangladesh.
he said the US companies can invest
in Bangladesh's renewable energy, shipbuilding
and recycling, automobile and
light engineering, chemical fertilizers,
agro-processing, pharmaceuticals,
ceramic and plastic goods, ICT, marine
resource extraction, tourism and medical
equipment sectors.
he also expressed his support for the
launch of the US-Bangladesh Business
the last couple of years under the able
leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh
hasina, daughter of Bangladesh's founding
father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman.
"Bangladesh has gone a long way
towards economic progress during
the last couple of years and now
remains on strong position economically,"
he said.
In this connection, he put emphasis
on enhancing people to people contacts
between the two countries
through youth and cultural exchange
programmes to let the people of the
Indian state of assam know how
Bangladesh has achieved the progress
especially in economic sector.
Earlier on Thursday, high
Commissioner Imran visited assam
and Meghalaya to witness various
important establishments built there
under Bangladesh-India joint initiatives.
as part of his visit, the
Bangladesh envoy also paid a courtesy
call on Deputy Chief Minister of
Council and highlighted partnership
opportunities in Bangladesh, opening
of the digital economy space, digital
payments and energy transition.
Momen highlighted the leadership
of Prime Minister Sheikh hasina for
her vision for economic growth and
transforming Bangladesh into a developed
country by 2041.
Nisha Biswal, senior vice president
(South asia) of US Chamber of
Commerce and former assistant secretary
of state opened the discussion
highlighting how Bangladesh has set a
path towards strong economic growth
and thus the interest from american
corporates engagement with
Bangladesh is growing.
The discussion, also featuring
Bangladesh ambassador to the US
Shahidul Islam and US Department of
State Deputy assistant Secretary
Laura Stone, focused on Bangladesh's
role as an evolving trade partner both
globally and regionally through
increasing US-Bangladesh bilateral
economic activities. Corporate leaders
from different sectors, including energy,
banking, insurance, digital economy,
financial services, healthcare,
aerospace and defense, and others
actively participated in the discussion.
The foreign minister is currently visiting
Washington DC on an official trip
to reach out the new US government
to further enhance the bilateral relations
and to convey Bangladesh's willingness
to work closely with the new
Biden administration.
Meghalaya, PrestoneTynsong at the
latter's office.
During the meeting, the high
Commissioner laid emphasis on different
bilateral issues including further
expansion of cooperation in various
sectors between the two countries.
The Bangladesh high Commissioner
saw himself the various activities of
Dawki-Tamabil custom port immigration
centres on Thursday and
exchanged views with the local government
representatives, lime
exporters and custom officials there.
During his four-day tour in the
two Indian north-eastern states, the
Bangladesh high Commissioner
paid courtesy calls on Meghalaya
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and
visiting Indian Lok Sabha Speaker
Om Birla. he also met Governor of
assam Jagadish Mukhi on Tuesday
and Governor of Meghalaya Sattya
Paul Malik on yesterday
(Wednesday).
9 hC benches to
conduct physical
courts from today
Dhaka: a total of nine benches have
been formed for conducting judicial
activities at the high Court (hC)
Division of the Supreme Court physically
from today.
The benches were formed as per the
specific judicial jurisdiction bestowed
upon Chief Justice Syed Mahmud
hossain, an official statement signed by
Deputy Registrar of the hC Division of
the Supreme Court Mohammad
aktaruzzaman Bhuiyan said here yesterday.
The benches comprise Justice Md
Imdadul haque azad, Justice Md ataur
Rahman khan, Justice Syed
Mohammad Ziaul karim, Justice
Sheikh abdul awal, Justice Sheikh
hasan arif and Justice ahmed Sohel,
Justice Md RuhulQuddus and Justice
kaziIbadat hossain, Justice SM
Mujibur Rahman, Justice khijir ahmed
Chowdhury, especially for civil cases,
and Justice Mohammad khurshid
alamSarker.
The benches will start judicial activities
at 10.30am on Sunday.
Earlier, on May 10, the Supreme
Court issued practice directions for the
appellate Division, high Court Division,
and the subordinate courts and tribunals
for hearing cases virtually amid
the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ferry services
resume on
aricha-kazirhat
route after 20 yrs
Dhaka : after nearly two decades,
ferry services resumed on the arichakazirhat
route on Saturday, reports
UNB.
State Minister for Shipping khalid
Mahmud Chowdhury inaugurated the
ferry services on the route at aricha
point in Manikganj district this morning.
With the resumption of the ferry services,
commuters can reach kazirhat in
just one and a half hours from aricha
point while the return journey will take
just an hour and 20 minutes.
The water boat services on the route
were officially relaunched with one Ro-
Ro and two medium-sized ferries.
While a passenger bus will have to pay
Tk 2,060 to cross the river, a truck driver
will have to shell out Tk 1400. Tk
1,000 has been fixed for a microbus, Tk
680 for a car, Tk 100 for a bike and Tk
25 will be charged from each commuter
for using the services.
Manikganj-1 MP Naimur Rahman
Durjoy, chairman of Bangladesh Inland
Water Transport authority
Commodore Golam Sadeque and
chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water
Transport Corporation Syed
MohamamdTajul Islam were present at
the inauguration ceremony.
The ferry service has been relaunched
as a government's gift to people travelling
to the north-western part of the
country on the birth centenary of the
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The aricha-kazirhat river route will
be considered an important link
between the northern-western region
and Dhaka and heavy vehicles of
Bangladesh armed forces as well as
vehicles heading to Ruppoor Nuclear
Plant will be allowed to cross the river
using the ferry services.
Dhaka : The International
Organization for Migration (IOM) has
launched a 24-month project for returning
migrants and vulnerable host communities
to use the troubled time to do
something crucial, even though it may
not pay off for years, reports UNB.
The project called "Building Social
Cohesion in host Communities in Cox's
Bazar through Skills Development" is for
acquiring the skills needed to land and
keep a job in the future, IOM said.
"We are committed to working with
our partners to build the resilience of
returning migrants and foster social
cohesion among their communities of
return," explained Patrick Charignon,
IOM Cox's Bazar Transition and
Recovery Programme Coordinator.
"We are convinced that through this
project we can provide unemployed
community members the skills needed
to build better futures for themselves,
their families and their communities."
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit
Bangladesh harder than any tropical
cyclone. Instead of uprooting trees and
hurling powerful tides from an angry
sea, what's been uprooted are entire
livelihoods-as well as the families trying
to survive in one of the world's most
crowded countries, said a media release
on Saturday.
Returning migrants and host communities
in the southernmost district of
Bangladesh are feeling the worst of the
onslaught.
There, some 700,000 people have lost
their source of income, just since the
mid-March 2020 COVID-19 outbreak.
Shimul (red silk
cotton) flowers
appear in trees
along with the
advent of
spring. The
photo was
taken from
Dhanutupazila
in Bagura on
Saturday.
Photo: Star Mail
IOM launches livelihoods project
for returning migrants, host
communities in Cox's Bazar
almost one year later, most have limited
access to jobs. Women are less likely
than men to secure any job at all.
adding to the struggle for jobs are the
many migrants forced home as jobs are
lost overseas.
according to the Ministry of
Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas
Employment, over 400,000 migrant
workers have returned to Bangladesh
since March 2020.
The ripple effect is not only heightened
competition for work, but also a collapse
of a local economy due to inability to pay
back loans-including funds borrowed to
go abroad for work.
The primary driver of migration from
Cox's Bazar district is the lack of employment
opportunities. Sadly, the current
pandemic is further threatening the welfare
of millions of people in the country,
where there have been large-scale
redundancies of workers, especially in
the garment sector. Now, there is widespread
food insecurity.
according to the Bangladesh Bureau
of Statistics, Cox's Bazar is one of the
lowest-performing districts in
Bangladesh in terms of education and
skills training, with about 33 per cent of
the population living below the poverty
line.
Through the project, over 200 community
members will receive skill development
and livelihoods support.
To ensure the sustainability of the initiative,
the project will encourage the
trained beneficiaries to conduct their
own training sessions for other community
members.
Tulips bloom an
unconventional startup story
Dhaka : Think of tulips and you will
probably think of the Netherlands. But
move over the European country. a dazzling
display of the flowers has now
enveloped the landscape of Gazipur on
Dhaka's outskirts-thanks to the country's
first tulip garden there, reports
UNB.
In fact, a local flower farmer, Md
Delowar hossain, has made this possible.
Last year, he brought a thousand bulbs of
tulip from the Netherlands for experimental
cultivation. and this year, the plants
produced by the bulbs have bloomed in
his garden-'Moumita Flowers'.
"Tulip gardens in the Netherlands or
kashmir in India have been recognised
as tourist spots. This is also possible in
Bangladesh through extensive farming
of local tulips," says Delowar, who has
now started selling the flowers in the
domestic market.
Popular as cut flowers as well as ornamental
garden plants, tulips are oval
shaped flowers that are available in a
wide shape of colours, including red,
pink, yellow and white.
a marvelous sight to behold,
Delowar's tulip garden has already
become popular in the region. People
from Dhaka and adjoining areas have
been making a beeline to the garden
daily since it was thrown open for visitors
recently.
Not only the general public, VIPs like
the Bangladesh Education Minister,
agricultural Minister and local MPs
have visited Delowar's 'Moumita
Flowers'.
To meet the growing demand for
tulips, Bangladesh imports the flowers
from India, the Netherlands and China.
But Delowar says adequate domestic
production could well meet the country's
demand for tulips.
"Imported tulips are sold at Tk 700-
800 per hundred pieces in Bangladesh,
which means if the local ones are sold
even at Tk 400-500 per hundred pieces,
our farmers will earn huge profits. I am
willing to extend help to people keen on
tulip farming,"Delowar says.
Thanks to his tulip garden, 30 people
in the area have got employment opportunities.
Of course, he has also earned a
profit of Tk 40 lakh. "as tulips grow best
in cold weather, I think Panchagar
would be the best place for tulip cultivation,"Delowar
says.
During his recent visit to the tulip garden,
agricultural Minister Dr abdur
Razzaque said, "We want to utilise the
economic possibility that has been seeded
by Delowar's dream."
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.
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