24-03-2021

wednesday

DhaKa : March 24, 2021; Chaitra 10, 1427 BS; Shaban 9,1442 hijri

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.17; N o. 341; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00

InternatIonal

EU targets 11

Myanmar officials

over coup, crackdown

>Page 7

sports

Bangabandhu

Cup Int'l Kabaddi

begins Mar 28

>Page 9

art & culture

Mehazabien in

Biopic of Shakib

>Page 10

Bangladesh records

highest Covid cases

in 8 months

DHAKA : Some 3,554 people were diagnosed

with Covid-19 in Bangladesh in

the past 24 hours until Tuesday morning,

which is the highest in the number of

infection cases registered by the country

in a single day, reports UNB.

Bangladesh also recorded 18 more

Covid-related deaths during the period,

raising the death toll to 8,738.

With the fresh cases, Bangladesh saw the

worst daily increase since July 15, 2020,

pushing up the total infections to 525,994.

The infection rate jumped to 13.69 pc from

11.19 pc a day before.

A handout of the Directorate General

of Health Services (DGHS) said the

mortality rate in Bangladesh declined

to 1.51 percent which remained static at

1.52 percent for the past four days.

Bangladesh is seeing an alarming rise

in coronavirus infections in the last few

weeks after a downtrend in both the

death toll and new cases.

On January 19 last, Bangladesh

reported its virus infection rate just 5

percent and at one stage it fell below 3

percent. The virus cases have started

soaring again on February 9.

In Bangladesh, the DGHS media

release says, 525,994 patients - 91.12

percent - have so far recovered from the

virus infection, including 1,835 in the

last 24 hours.

Attack on Hindu houses

Prime accused put

on 5-day remand

SUNAMGANJ : A Sunamganj court on

Tuesday placed Shahidul Islam

Swadhin, the prime accused in a case

over the attack on Hindu houses in

Shalla upazila, on a 5-day remand.

The court also put 29 other accused in

the case on a 2-day remand each.

Judicial magistrate of Sunamganj

court passed the order, said inspector of

Sunamganj court police Md Selim

Newaz, reports UNB.

Members of Police Bureau of

Investigation (PBI) arrested prime

accused Swadhin,a member of

Sarmangal union parishad in Dirai

upazila,from Kulaura upazila in

Moulvibazar district on Saturday.

On March 17, Hefajat-e-Islam followers

vandalised several Hindu houses in

Sunamganj as a Hindu youth had "criticised

the party's Joint Secretary

General Maulana Mamunul Haque on

social media."

A young man from Hindu community,

Jhumon from Noagaon village

made a Facebook post on Tuesday

night. As the post went viral, police

detained him with the help of locals on

the same night.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina welcomed Bhutanese Prime

Minister Dr Lotay Tshering at the VVIP tarmac of the airport

presenting him with a bouquet.

Photo : Star Mail

Multiple people killed at

Colorado supermarket

BOULDER : A shooting at a Colorado

supermarket killed multiple people

Monday, including a police officer, and

a suspect was in custody, authorities

said. Boulder police Cmdr. Kerry

Yamaguchi said at a news conference

that the suspect was getting medical

treatment and there was no further

threat to the public but didn't give more

details on the shooting or how many

people were killed. Officers had escorted

a shirtless man with blood running

down his leg out of the store in handcuffs

but authorities would not say if he

was the suspect.

Investigators know how many people

died, but their families were still being

notified so the number of victims wasn't

being released yet, Boulder County

District Attorney Michael Dougherty

said.

"This is a tragedy and a nightmare for

Boulder County, and in response, we

have cooperation and assistance from

local, state and federal authorities,"

Dougherty said.

Yamaguchi said police were still

investigating and didn't have details on

a motive for the shooting at the King

Soopers store in Boulder, which is

about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest

of Denver and home to the

University of Colorado.

Dean Schiller told The Associated

Press that he had just left the supermarket

when he heard gunshots and saw

three people lying face down, two in the

parking lot and one near the doorway.

He said he "couldn't tell if they were

breathing."

Video posted on YouTube showed

one person on the floor inside the store

and two more outside on the ground.

What sounds like two gunshots are also

heard at the beginning of the video.

Law enforcement vehicles and officers

massed outside the store, including

SWAT teams, and at least three helicopters

landed on the roof. Some windows

at the front of the store were broken.

At one point, authorities said over a

loudspeaker that the building was surrounded

and that "you need to surrender."

Sarah Moonshadow told the Denver

Post that two shots rang out just after

she and her son, Nicolas Edwards, finished

buying strawberries. She said she

told her son to get down and then "we

just ran."

Once they got outside, she said they

saw a body in the parking lot. Edwards

said police were speeding into the lot

and pulled up next to the body.

"I knew we couldn't do anything for

the guy," he said. "We had to go."

James Bentz told the Post that he was

in the meat section when he heard what

he thought was a misfire, then a series

of pops.

PM Hasina welcomes

her Bhutanese

counterpart

DHAKA : A red carpet was rolled out at

Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport

(HISA) in Dhaka on Tuesday morning

as Bhutanese Prime Minister Dr Lotay

Tshering arrived here on a three-day

official visit. The Bhutanese Prime

Minister is the fourth among the world

leaders after that of the Maldives, Sri

Lanka and Nepal to attend the celebrations

of the birth centenary of

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

and the Golden Jubilee of the country's

independence.

The VVIP aircraft of Druk Air, carrying

the Bhutanese Prime Minister and his

entourage, landed at the airport at

9:30am. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

welcomed him at the VVIP tarmac of the

airport presenting him with a bouquet.

Dr Lotay Tshering was given an honour

guard by a smartly turned out contingent

drawn from the Bangladesh Army,

Navy and Air Force at the airport.

Both the Prime Ministers witnessed

the state honour from a makeshift dais

as the national anthem of the respective

countries was played.

Later, the Bhutanese Prime Minister

inspected the parade, reports UNB.

On the occasion, ministers, state ministers,

civil and military high officials were,

among others, present at the airport.

From the airport, the visiting

Bhutanese head of the government

went to pay tributes to the martyrs of

the Liberation War of Bangladesh by

placing wreaths at the National

Memorial in Savar.

Kotalipara plot

14 sentenced to death

Kotalipara plot: 14 sentenced to death

DHAKA : A tribunal in Dhaka on

Tuesday sentenced 14 people to death

in a sedition case filed over the murder

attempt on then Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina at Kotalipara in Gopalganj in

2000. Judge of Dhaka Speedy Trial

Tribunal-1 Abu Zafar Mohammad

Kamruzzaman handed down the verdict,

reports UNB.

The convicts are Mohammad Azizul

Haque alias Shah Newaz, Mohammad

Lokman, Yusuf, Moshaheb Hasan,

Anisul Islam alias Anis, Sarwar Hossain

Mia, Sheikh Mohamamd Enamul

Haque, Mafizur Rahman alias

Muhibullah, Mohammad Azhar, Tarek

Hossain alias Tarek, Rasheduzzaman,

Abdul Wadud Sheikh, Maulana Amirul

Islam and Maulana Rafiqul.

Of them, Azizul, Lokman, Yusuf,

Moshaheb, Anisul, Sarwar, Enamul

were tried in absentia.

According to the prosecution, police

found a 76-kg heavy bomb in front of a

shop adjacent to Sheikh Lutfur

Rahman Govt High School on July 20,

2000 where Hasina was supposed to

address a rally on July 22. Another 40-

kg bomb was also recovered by an

Army bomb expert squad from near the

Kotalipara helipad on July 23, 2000.

Later, Nur Hossain, sub-inspector of

Kotalipara Police Station, filed a case

under the Explosive Substances Act in

connection with the incident.

Besides, Munshi Atiqur Rahman, the

then assistant superintendent of Police

(CID), filed a sedition case. Three cases

were later filed in this connection.

Police pressed charges against 15 people,

including executed Harkat-ul-

Jihad (Huji) chief Mufti Abdul Hannan,

on April 8, 2001 in the sedition case.

On June 29, 2009, police submitted a

complementary charge-sheet implicating

nine more people.

Mufti Hannan was executed on April

12, 2017 over the grenade attack on

then UK High Commissioner Anwar

Choudhury at Hazrat Shahjalal Shrine

in Sylhet in 2004.

HC rules over launching

website for digital registration

of marriage, divorce

DHAKA : The High Court (HC) today

issued a rule asking authorities concerned

to explain in four weeks as to

why it shall not pass an order to launch

a website for digital registration of marriage

and divorce.

A High Court division virtual bench

comprising Justice Md Mozibur Rahman

Miah and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain

Mollah passed the order after holding

hearing on a writ filed in this regard.

The court in its order asked the Law and

Justice Division Secretary, Legislative and

Parliamentary Affairs Division Secretary,

ICT Division Secretary, Religious Affairs

Secretary and BTRC Chairman to reply

the rule.

04:45 AM

Zohr

12:10 PM

04:28 PM

06:14 PM

07:28 PM

5:58 6:11

A shooting at a crowded Colorado supermarket that killed 10

people, including the first police officer to arrive, sent terrorized

shoppers and workers scrambling for safety and stunned a

state that has grieved several mass killings. A lone suspect was

in custody, authorities said.

Photo : Internet

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2

Guests seen at the inaugural program of observing World Meteorological Day yesterday.

Night fruit market

inaugurates at

capital's Badamtali

Nakibul Ahsan Nishad;

JnUCorrespondent

Night fruit wholesale

market along with day fruit

wholesale market have

been inaugurated in

Sadarghat, Badamtali Fruit

Market area of the capital

to avoid traffic jams due to

the all-day fruit selling

market.

On Monday (March 22)

at 8 pm, the Dhaka

Metropolitan Fruit

Importer-Exporter and

Stockist

Traders

Multipurpose Cooperative

Society inaugurated the

night market. The market

will be open every night 10

pm to 6 am.

Deputy Commissioner of

Police Lalbagh Division

Biplob Vijay Talukder

inaugurated the night fruit

market.

Meanwhile in this

inaugural programme Hazi

MA

Mannan,

Commissioner Ward 32,

Biman Kumar Das,

Assistant Commissioner of

Police, Lalbagh Traffic

Department, Sirajul Islam,

President, Dhaka

Metropolitan Fruit

Importer-Exporter and

Sheikh Abdul Karim,

General Secretary were

present on the occasion.

Photo : ISPR

Asian markets mixed as

inflation spectre hangs

HONG KONG : Asian markets were mixed

Tuesday as investors struggled to build

momentum following recent sell-offs owing to

long-running fears that the expected global

recovery will force central banks to wind down

their easy-money programmes earlier than

hoped.

While Wall Street provided a positive lead

with all three main indexes posting healthy

gains, there is a reluctance on trading floors to

push a year-long rally any further, while a

stuttering vaccine rollout and new lockdowns in

Europe are adding to the angst.

Focus this week will be on the first joint

congressional testimony by Federal Reserve

boss Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary

Janet Yellen, who will answer questions on their

policy response to the pandemic.

It comes as markets are rattled by a sharp rise

in US Treasury yields in recent weeks that have

been fuelled by bets that the forecast strong

bounce in economic activity this year will fan

inflation and force the bank to lift interest rates

before 2024, as it has indicated.

The pair have repeatedly said they do not see

the spike in inflation lasting and will maintain

ultra-loose monetary policies - including recordlow

rates - until they have a grip on

unemployment, and price rises are above two

percent for an extended period.

Also on the radar this week is the auction of

seven-year US Treasuries, which will be

followed closely after last month's weak sale

sparked a sharp sell-off in bonds that sent yields

soaring - prices go in the opposite direction to

prices - and sparked a global market panic.

Night fruit wholesale market along with day fruit wholesale market

was inaugurated in Sadarghat, Badamtali Fruit Market area of the capital

on Monday.

Photo : TBT

Ukraine reports

record daily

virus deaths

KIEV : Ukraine on Tuesday

reported a record number of

new deaths from coronavirus,

with 333 fatalities over the

past 24 hours, as authorities

warned of a "very difficult

period" ahead.

Health Minister Maksym

Stepanov said that despite the

start of a vaccination

campaign the situation in the

ex-Soviet country was

"getting worse".

"We are entering a very

difficult period," Stepanov

told reporters.

As infections surge and the

vaccination drive stalls,

authorities in the capital Kiev

reintroduced coronavirus

restrictions Saturday.

The measures shut cultural

venues and large shopping

centres and limited

restaurants to takeouts.

Last week Prime Minister

Denys Shmygal warned of the

possibility of a new national

lockdown and urged regional

authorities to impose

stronger restrictions to curb

the spread of the disease.

The country has recorded

over 1.5 million infections and

more than 30,000 deaths

from the virus since the

pandemic began.

One of the poorest

countries in Europe, Ukraine

has an ageing healthcare

system.

Five dead in stampede while

mourning Tanzania's Magufuli

DAR ES SALAAM : A woman and four children

were killed in a stampede in Tanzania as crowds

rushed to mourn Tanzania's late president John

Magufuli at the weekend, a relative told AFP on

Tuesday.

A second woman was also missing after going

to Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Sunday,

where tens of thousands gathered to mourn

Magufuli whose sudden death after a mysterous

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short illness was announced last week."They

went to bid farewell at the stadium, but it turned

tragic when there was a stampede," Gerald

Mtuwa, a relative of the dead woman, told AFP

by phone from Dar es Salaam.

The children were aged between five and 12

years old, he said. The woman killed was mother

to two of them, while the other two were her

nephews.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCh 24, 2021

3

Conference underscores the need for

inclusive economy for micro-merchants

Air Commanding Officer of BAF Base Birsreshto Matiur Rahman Air Vice Marshal Muhammad

Kamrul Islam trophy to Md Shahjalal.

Photo : ISPR

CRI coordinator Tonmoy

becomes KASYP Fellow

DHAKA : Tonmoy Ahmed, a coordinator of

the Bangladesh Awami League's research

wing Centre for Research and Information

(CRI), has become the fellow of the Konrad

Adenauer School for Young Politicians

(KASYP), reports UNB.

"The struggle of our great leader,

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for

an independent Bangladesh taught me how

to connect with the people," Tonmoy was

quoted as saying.

Congratulating Tonmoy, Bangladesh

Awami League's International Affairs

Subcommittee Member Barrister Shah Ali

Farhad wrote, "Five years back, I was the

first from our party to attend this remarkable

fellowship. After Nadia Choudhury and

Seema Karim, now Tonmoy is the fourth

fellow of KASYP from our party. We are

lucky to be part of the extended KAS family."

German-based KASYP is a training

programme for young political leaders in

Asia.

It is designed to strengthen political parties

in Asia and to develop a cadre of accountable

and responsible young political leaders.

The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Political

Dialogue Asia introduced Tonmoy, after

being selected for the 12th batch of the

programme, through its facebook page.

Born and brought up in a small city called

Palashbari, Gaibandha district of

Bangladesh, Tonmoy was a student of

Bangladesh University of Engineering and

Technology, the Facebook post reads.

According to the KASYP, over the course of

this two-year programme, participants were

given the opportunity to learn about the

background necessary for the development

of mature democracies of local political

parties, internal dynamics and its impact on

the welfare of their constituencies, exercise

of leadership, electoral process and how

these can contribute to good governance.

By enhancing the skills and competencies

of political parties, the program helped

create a cadre of political leaders that will

make a difference within their political

parties and in their respective countries as

well, it said.

Communist Party of China

praises AL for contributions

to Bangladesh's progress

DHAKA : Appreciating the outstanding

achievements Bangladesh made over the

past five decades, Communist Party of

China (CPC) has said they "salute" the

Awami League for its important

contributions to the independence,

development and progress of Bangladesh.

"Both the CPC and the Awami League

shoulder the lofty responsibility of realising

the dream of national development and

creating a better life for all," the CPC said in

a congratulatory message to AL, reports

UNB.

Under the leadership of the Awami

League, Bangladesh now reaches a

crucial stage of national development

and is marching toward the realisation

of the "Sonar Bangla" dream, the

message reads.

The CPC said it stands ready to work with

the Awami League to implement the

important consensus reached between

leaders of two parties and two countries as

they make concerted efforts to build a new

type of party-to-party relations that seeks to

expand a common ground while reserving

differences and enhances mutual respect

and mutual learning.

"What we do together will go a long way

towards providing political guidance for the

alignment of our development strategies,

the promotion of our Belt and Road

cooperation and the deepening of China-

Bangladesh strategic cooperative

partnership.

We wish Bangladesh success and

prosperity and its people happiness," the

message reads.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of

the independence of Bangladesh, the

International Department of the Central

Committee of the Communist Party of

China (CPC) extended their heartfelt

congratulations to the Awami League and

the people of Bangladesh.

"It was 50 years ago that Bangabandhu

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman founded the

People's Republic of Bangladesh," the

message reads.

Over the past five decades, the CPC said,

Bangladesh has made remarkable

achievements in national development.

Bangladesh is hosting a 10-day special

programme marking the birth centenary of

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman and 50 years of

Bangladesh's Independence.

A human chain was formed in Rangpur protesting attack on a tv journalist.

Capital market is

now stronger than

before: Kamal

DHAKA : Finance Minister

AHM Mustafa Kamal

yesterday said the country's

capital is now stronger than

before as the government has

been working to build a strong

and stable stock market by

implementing

different

initiatives, reports BSS.

"The government is

providing all sorts of

supports to create a strong

capital market. The market

is now stronger than before.

If we can make strong the

capital market, our economy

will be accelerated," he said.

The minister said this

while speaking as the chief

guest at a virtual discussion

on "Golden Jubilee of

Independence:

Achievements and Prospects

of Bangladesh Capital

Market in light of the Vision

of Bangabandhu".

Dhaka Stock Exchange

(DSE) organised the

discussion marking the

'Mujib Centenary and

Golden Jubilee of the

Independence'.

Don't incite

anarchy over

Narendra Modi's

visit: Quader

DHAKA : Awami League

General Secretary and Road

Transport and Bridges Minister

Obaidul Quader on

Tuesday urged all concerned

not to incite any chaos centering

Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi's forthcoming

visit to Bangladesh.

He made the call at a regular

press conference on contemporary

issues at his official

residence on parliament

premises.

Quader said a vested quarter

is hatching conspiracy to

thwart the Indian premier's

visit marking the birth centenary

of Bangabandhu and

golden jubilee of the independence

of Bangladesh.

Mentioning that India was

the main ally of Bangladesh

during 1971 Liberation War,

the minister said

Bangladesh invited the head

of the government of India,

not any particular individual,

on the occasion of the

twin celebrations.

Photo : Courtesy

United Nations Capital Development

Fund (UNCDF) organized a conference

styled as "Leaving No Micro Merchants

Behind in the Digital Era in

Bangladesh" at The Westin, Dhaka and

many other participants join online on

March 23, 2021, to showcase the work

and learnings gained from the

Merchants Development Driving Rural

Markets (MDDRM) initiative.

Facilitated and moderated by

UNCDF, the one-day conference was

organized in collaboration with its

consortium partners (DNet, BDMS,

and FBCCI), GIFT as the knowledge

and communications partners, and

Asiatic as the event partner.

Minister of State for Information and

Communication Technology (ICT)

Zunaid Ahmed Palak attended the

event as the chief guest while Industries

Secretary KM Ali Azam was the special

guest. Maurizio Cian, Head of

Cooperation of the Delegation of the

European Union to Bangladesh, and

Sudipto Mukherjee, Resident

Representative, UNDP, Bangladesh,

were guests of honor. The conference

was moderated by Maria Perdomo,

Regional Manager, Digital Hub for

Asia, Inclusive Digital Economies,

UNCDF.

Minister of State for Information and

Communication Technology (ICT)

Zunaid Ahmed Palak said, "MDDRM, a

project of UNCDF was started in 2017,

has overachieved with the help of

micro-retail management in

Bangladesh. With these interventions

marginalized people have been

recognized as the center of our

economy." This conference was

organized to explore emerging

opportunities in the pandemic era,

bring together global policymakers,

academics, industry, and digital

ecosystem leaders, and showcase the

activities conducted under MDDRM

(Merchants development driving Rural

Markets) initiative.

One of the panelist, Ms. Tina Jabeen,

CEO & MD, Startup Bangladesh said, "

We are establishing our startups with

funding in finance, education and

health sector."

As per the latest Oxfam report, the

top 1% of the population has more

wealth than the bottom 6.9 billion

people! The root cause of such

inequality and exclusion is the lack of

equal economic opportunity for people

at the bottom of the pyramid - small

merchants, farmers, and

entrepreneurs. Fortunately, in the past

few years, digital technologies have

helped level the playing field by

providing never before empowerment

to the micro-merchants and retailers at

the bottom-of-the-pyramid.

The next steps for policymakers and

private sector stakeholders would be to

build upon this trend of accelerated

digitalization. To support this

endeavor, United Nations Capital

Development Fund (UNCDF) has been

implementing the MDDRM

(Merchants development driving Rural

Markets) initiative since 2017 and has

reached out to 2 million retail micromerchants

in Bangladesh. This

initiative is funded by the European

Union. In partnership with DNet,

BDMS, and FBCCI, it is working on

spurring innovation for income

diversification, business growth, and

economic opportunities for micromerchants

in Bangladesh.

However, despite various initiatives

undertaken by the government,

development partners, and private

sector entities, there are major

constraints that need to be addressed,

such as gender participation in retail

businesses, digital use cases that

address both financial and nonfinancial

needs of enterprises, supply

chain integration with larger

companies, policy initiatives towards

formalization and how to benefit the

micro-merchants to recover from the

pandemic.

All these issues and topics were

underscored at the conference. Apart

from these, panel discussions on

'Digital Innovations for Microenterprises-

how to connect nonfinancial

services,' 'Agility and

Resilience of Small business amidst

and after the Pandemic,' 'Future of

Women in Retail Business in

Bangladesh,' and 'Policy Maker

Recommendations: Government

Actions to Facilitate cross-industry

collaboration for innovative financing

solutions for the last mile retail' were

also held at the conference.

Development partners, people from

the private sector, including FinTechs,

TechFins, FSPs, FMCGs, think tanks,

consulting firms, INGOs, and

representatives from all relevant

government agencies were present at

the conference.

State Minister for ICT Junaid Ahmed Palak addressing a conference titled 'Leaving No Micro

Merchants Behind in the Digital Era in Bangladesh' at a hotel yesterday. UN Capital Development

Fund (UNCDF) organized the conference.

Photo : Courtesy

10,000 coastal households get

climate resilient livelihood

DHAKA : Around 10,000 households of

the country's coastal belt have received

diversified and innovative climate

resilient livelihood under the Integrating

Community-based Adaptation into

Afforestation and Reforestation

(ICBAAR) Programme initiated in March

2017.

The information was revealed at a

recent workshop jointly organized by the

Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Ministry and the United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP) at

Patuakali, a UNDP press release said.

Bangladesh Forest Department and

UNDP, in collaboration with seven

ministries and departments of

government, with the financial support

from Global Environment Facility (GEF)

is implementing the project which will be

completed in March 31, 2021.

Participating at the two-day workshop,

beneficiary of Patharghata upazila

Rawshon Ara said: "Now we feel safer

from natural disaster than any time of the

past as green coverage is now affording

shade to cope with the possible

devastating consequences of natural

calamities."

Ruama, a beneficiary of Charfasson

upazila, said: "Our early days were not too

easy as there was no adequate livelihood

option. Now, we got new life from the

ICBAAR sorjone culture".

To help Bangladesh realise the full

adaptive potential of coastal greenbelts,

UNDP initiated ICBA-AR programme in

2017 aiming to increase species diversity

in the coastal forest, which will result in

enhanced socioeconomic benefits to local

communities from the forests.

The programme endeavors to enhance

resilience of climate vulnerable coastal

community through livelihood

diversification and by linking their

livelihood aspiration with coastal

greenbelt management.

The event shared success, innovation

and lessons of the project among key

stakeholders and takes their feedback on

formulating next generation project in

addressing multiple vulnerabilities of

climate change of coastal communities.

Stakeholders suggested designing

integrated project in coastal area through

linking people in co-management of

coastal mangrove and biodiversity

conservation.

They recommended including naturebased

solution and conserving village

mangrove patch in addressing climate

vulnerability. They also suggested

accounting role of coastal forest in

climate mitigation along with adaptation.

Chaired by Forest Conservator Harunur

Rashid Khan, the workshop was

attended, among others, by Environment,

Forest and Climate Change Secretary

Ziaul Hasan, Deputy Commissioner of

Patuakhali Matiul Islam Chowdhury and

UNDP's Programme Specialist Arif M

Faisal.

Over 100 participants, including upazila

nirbahi officers, upazila agriculture,

fisheries and livestock officers, forest

officials of five vulnerable coastal districts

participated in the workshop following

health guidelines.

Representatives from Cyclone

Preparedness Programme, Bangladesh

Water Development Board and NGOs,

elected chairmen, project officials and

beneficiaries also joined the workshop.

The project has reforested 650 hectares

of coastal greenbelt with 12 diversified

species to provide knowledge to the forest

officials for overcoming species

limitation.

Probe report in

ULAB student

rape, murder

case April 11

DHAKA : A Dhaka court on

Tuesday set April 11 for

submitting probe report in a

case lodged over rape and

subsequently murder of a

student of University of Liberal

Arts Bangladesh (ULAB).

Dhaka Metropolitan

Magistrate Nivana Khayer

Jessy passed the order as the

investigation officer failed to

submit the report.

According to the case

documents, victim's friend

Mortuja Raihan on January

28 took the victim to

Bamboo Shot Restaurant in

Uttara Sector-3, where their

other friends including

Farjana Zaman Neha were

already present and made

her to drink excessive

alcohol.

At one stage, the victim fell

sick and Mortuja took her to

their friend Tasfir's house.

There Mortuja raped her.

Next day they took her to

Ibn Sina Hospital and later

Anwar Khan Modern

Hospital, where she died

tow-day later.

On January 31, the

victim's father filed the case

with Mohammadpur Police

Station against four. An

unidentified person was also

made accused in the case.

Police arrested accused

Mortuja Raihan Chowdhury

and Nuhat Alam Tafsir on

that very day and they were

placed on five-day remand.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021

4

How China drew a red line in Anchorage

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Garbage management

in the city

Garbage disposal in Dhaka city, a city of well over

12 million people, remains archaic and ,

therefore, inefficient to say the least. According

to one reliable estimate, 5,000 tons of domestic refuses

are created every day in Dhaka city. Another estimate

says that annually about 9.7 million tons of solid

wastes are created in the city. From the figures, one

should have no difficulty understanding that garbage

disposal confronts the city with huge tasks to be

performed efficiently on a daily basis.

Presently, garbage disposal is carried out mainly by

trucks stopping near dustbins and using manpower to

load the garbage on the trucks for their ultimate

dumping at landfills. But these landfills are poorly

managed. Some of these are situated well within the

metropolitan areas and are a source of serious

environmental pollution for a large number of the city's

residents . Besides, these are landfills in name only

which are not leading to ultimate land formation from

maintaining them.

The best international practice nowadays is to sort

out the garbage and make best use of them that include

recycling. Advanced garbage management involves

separating them into different categories and making

commercial products out of them. For example, kitchen

refuses and other biodegradable forms of garbage can

be utilized to make organic composts that can be of

much value to farming specially safe farming with non

chemical fertilizers. Garbage of this type can be also

burnt to produce a considerable amount of power.

Other forms of garbage such as tin, rubber, plastics, etc.,

can be recycled to produce commercially valuable

products.

The most important aspect of such garbage

management is : the garbage is not allowed to be

stockpiled. From the collection stage, the same go

directly into recycling or production processes to make

useful products. Thus, the garbage just changes form

into new usable products and non piling up of the

garbage helps a great deal in keeping the environment

clean.

The establishing of a modern garbage disposal or

management system for Dhaka city with recycling and

reuse of the garbage at its core, has become imperative

for the sheer reasons of the present poorly managed

system and to cope with the future pressure to be

created from allowing garbage to accumulate in the

traditional manner.

It was heartening to note that the Dhaka City

Corporation ( DCC) sometime ago had an agreement

with the Japan International Cooperation Agency

(JICA) to set up a modern garbage recycling plant for

Dhaka city. Under this project, the garbage of the city

would be carried swiftly beyond the metropolitan areas

to well supervised sites. The garbage would be separated

there using latest technology. Some of it would be burnt

to produce power and the same could be added to the

distribution network of the Dhaka Electricity Supply

Authority (DESA). Other garbage like plastics, bottles,

tin cans, etc., would be separated and recycled to make

commercial products from the same.

But the point of worry is that this project is not being

pushed as hard as it should be towards its fastest

completion. Like many other ambitious and incomplete

projects, it is getting stalled by the bureaucracy and

vested interest groups who have a stake in maintaining

the present mode of garbage disposal. Therefore, the

challenge for the government is to overcome these

hurdles and introduce the modern system of garbage

management at the fastest.

While the news of the establishment of the garbage

recycling plant is a hopeful one, there is a lot that the

DCC can presently do to create some orderliness in the

disposal of garbages from the city. The recycling plant

will take some years to set up. Meanwhile, the DCC

management ought to work harder to get more out of its

garbage clearance squads. DCC authorities complain

about insufficient manpower and vehicles in these

squads. But the real reason for the present chaos and

inefficiency in garbage collection can be traced to sheer

apathy and corruption. DCC authorities need to take a

hard look at this situation and do something in response

In most cities of the world specially in capital cities,

the practice is to start garbage clearance from after

midnight till the small hours when traffic movement is

found to be thinnest. Besides, the garbage in those

countries is mandatorily carried by covered vans or the

like. Not only that, the roads and thoroughfares are

broomed and even washed with water sprays late in the

night. Thus, when the commuters hit the roads in the

early morning they find the roads and environment

quite clean .

Why can't we have a similar system for Dhaka ?

Where is the difficulty ? The same staff of the Dhaka City

Corporation (DCC) who are responsible for garbage

disposal, they can be obliged to work in the night instead

of the day time. And it should be inexpensive as well as

very easy to at least maintain tarpaulin covers on the

trucks filled with garbage when travelling to dumping

sites.

The Chinese delegation led by Yang

Jiechi (center), director of the

Central Foreign Affairs

Commission Office, and Foreign Minister

Wang Yi (second left) speak with their US

counterparts at the opening session of US-

China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in

Anchorage, Alaska on March 18, 2021.

Photo: AFP / Frederic J Brown / Pool

The verbal salvos between top American

diplomats and their Chinese counterparts

seemed more like testosterone-driven

exchanges between professional wrestlers

at the opening session of the US-China

high-level meeting in Anchorage, Alaska,

held last Thursday and Friday.

It was the first face-to-face meeting

between top American and Chinese

diplomats since President Joe Biden took

office on January 20.

The Chinese side was led by its top

diplomat Yang Jiechi, director of the

Central Foreign Affairs Commission

Office of the Communist Party of China,

and State Councilor and Foreign Minister

Wang Yi, and the US delegation was led by

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and

Biden's national security adviser, Jake

Sullivan.

Chinese state media outlets have called

the meeting a historic event, and of

course, it was a significant event setting

the stage for geopolitics and international

affairs in the future. It was perhaps the

first time US diplomats had had to face

such fire and fury from their counterparts

publicly since the collapse of the Soviet

Union. It was also probably the first time

China had challenged American

supremacy publicly.

East on the rise as global divide widens

Indo-Pacific tensions are increasing

dramatically. The Quad

(Quadrilateral Security Dialogue,

made up of the US, India, Japan and

Australia) is becoming a household

word. That is continuing the bifurcation

of the globe, which is impacting the

Middle East. The past week amplified

the divide, with confrontational

comments from Russian President

Vladimir Putin, Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan and several

high-ranking Chinese officials in the

talks with the US in Alaska.

America's doctrinal changes are the

most important to understand as to why

the East is making such amazing

progress, moving westward and into the

depths of the southern hemisphere,

including Latin America. This is not

new but it is accelerating because of the

pandemic.

US President Joe Biden's new Interim

National Security Strategic Guidance

appears to lower the relative strategic

importance of the Middle East. It goes

further than the 2017 National Defense

Strategy, which refocused America's

defense on major strategic competitors

China and Russia after two decades of

attempting to counter violent

extremism in the Middle East. Biden's

interim guidance states: "Our vital

national interests compel the deepest

connection to the Indo-Pacific, Europe,

and the western hemisphere." India,

New Zealand, the Association of

Southeast Asian Nations, the Pacific

Island states, the UK and the EU are all

As has become customary, this year's

Women's Day commemorations,

and specifically the Aurat March

event, resulted in considerable political

and cultural backlash from conservative

quarters. However, what made it

particularly dangerous this time around

was the concerted campaign by religious

parties, activists and various conservative

journalists to portray the event and event

organisers as promoters of blasphemous

discourse.

Given Pakistan's sordid history of

violence stemming from such

accusations, public authorities cannot

afford to stand on the sidelines and allow

both wilful misrepresentation of the

movement and unfettered propaganda

continuously emerging from various

organised elements. The safety of

organisers as well as the rights of citizens

are at stake here.

More broadly, the conflict around

advocacy of women's rights seems to be

deepening with each passing year. From a

situational perspective, some of this

exacerbation is likely associated with the

spread of digital media technologies.

People are coming into contact with

viewpoints and representations of

The US State Department released a

transcript of the top Chinese diplomats'

opening remarks outlining Beijing's

foreign-policy stance for the near future.

Although there was a heated exchange,

China drew a "red line" that will be the

core element of the geopolitical contest

between the world's two superpower

countries in the future.

There are at least seven takeaways for

international-relations students from the

war of words between two countries.

First, for China, neither the US nor the

Western world represents the whole

world's public opinion.

Yang said in his opening remarks, "We

hope that when talking about universal

values or international public opinion on

the part of the United States, we hope the

US side will think about whether it feels

reassured in saying those things, because

the US does not represent the world. It

only represents the government of the

United States.

"I don't think the overwhelming

majority of countries in the world would

recognize that the universal values

advocated by the United States or that the

DR. THEODORE KARASIK

highlighted ahead of the Middle East.

The Biden team refers to the

importance of the "rules-based

international order" for designing

policy options. Enacting those values

after the Trump administration is

making the Biden team look weak to

Washington's opponents. Such moves

involve boosting ties with both Moscow

and Beijing, particularly the former

given its now dominant role in the

Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

following this month's visit of Foreign

Minister Sergey Lavrov to the Gulf.

Events since the Biden administration

took office are accelerating the creation

of a new geopolitical environment

where key countries such as Russia,

China and Iran are moving away from

the West by showing America's

weakness. This behavior is not new. The

antecedents for bifurcation can be seen

in discussions over access to the SWIFT

banking network and increased

sanctions activity against these states.

In Iran's case, the situation is reversed,

which is part of the problem with the

UMAIR JAvED

"forever wars" adherents who fail to see

the big picture. The expansion of

logistical networks, combined with the

requirements of the post-pandemic

economic recovery period, is

accelerating the divisions. In other

words, the planet's economic center

now lies closer to Beijing than it does to

London. Iran stands to benefit from

such a shift and also from the desire of

the West to lift sanctions over time.

A global bifurcation is undoubtedly at

The Russian-Chinese relationship is tightening

and Middle Eastern states are developing

enhanced ties with both. The language of the

past few days shows little will to cooperate at

the peer-to-peer level, which will have a direct

impact on MENA conflicts and disputes.

the core of today's primary geopolitical

crisis. There is a string of countries that

are now linked by a desire to act against

the Biden administration. This

phenomenon is splitting the globe into

two halves, with the will to use business

as a political statement expressed

through sovereignty and other

associated rights in the postcoronavirus

international order.

What we are witnessing is a new

political atmosphere much different

from that seen in the Cold War, and it is

likely to become worse because of

deteriorating US-Russian relations and

Conservative anxieties

realities that they had very little

interaction with previously. Similarly,

cultural discourse by organised actors

interested in propagating particular ways

of seeing the world gains new outlets

through Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

This has proven to be true for cultural

organisers of all stripes, including

progressives who have otherwise faced

countless challenges in 'offline'

organising. Students in most big city

universities - not just elite private ones -

appear to be more aware of the language

of gender equality, for example, and the

associated politics around it than they

were at any point in the past. Some are

supportive, others ambivalent, and many

remain hostile.

The conflict around advocacy of

BHIM BHURTEL

opinion of the United States could

represent international public opinion,

and those countries would not recognize

that the rules made by a small number of

people would serve as the basis for the

international order."

Second, Beijing neither accepts US

interference in China's internal affairs nor

is willing to trade off its core interests such

as territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Wang warned, "Xinjiang, Tibet and

Taiwan are an inalienable part of China's

territory. China is firmly opposed to US

interference in China's internal affairs. We

have expressed our staunch opposition to

The US State Department released a transcript of the top

Chinese diplomats' opening remarks outlining Beijing's

foreign-policy stance for the near future. Although there

was a heated exchange, China drew a "red line" that will

be the core element of the geopolitical contest between

the world's two superpower countries in the future.

such interference and we will take firm

actions in response."

Third, the Chinese diplomats expressed

stiff disagreement with the US claim over

universal norms and values. Refuting

Blinken's claim of the "universal"

standards and values of human rights and

democracy, Yang said, "Our values are the

same as the common values of humanity.

Those are: peace, development, fairness,

justice, freedom, and democracy."

He added, "We believe that it is

important for the United States to change

women's rights seems to be deepening

with each passing year.

But it's not just growing situational

exposure and the faux marketplace-esque

features of digital media that are

responsible for the heightened anxieties

around Aurat March. There are also

categorical institutional and structural

factors at play.

Many other types of transformations, on the other

hand, are diffused and less visible at any given

point in time. These include shifts in attitudes and

preferences, the slow erosion of norms and their

replacement by new ones, the reflection of these

norms in the economy and other societal domains.

On the former, the history of religious

politics in this country is replete with

'issue-based' mobilisation by particular

political and social entities. Whether it

concerns the definition of who gets to be

called a Muslim by the state, or the nature

of the state's influence in the familial

sphere, or on the very nature of language

deployed to discuss religious figures, this

issue-based mobilisation helps religious

its own image and to stop advancing its

own democracy in the rest of the world."

For the Chinese, the US versions of

democracy and human rights are not

universal values. Yang said China would

not accept the standards of democracy

and human rights imposed by the US. He

further said, "the United States has its

style - United States-style democracy -

and China has Chinese-style democracy."

Fourth, China neither feels pressure

from the US alliance nor accepts the US

right to speak on behalf of others.

Responding to the second round of

remarks made by Blinken that China has

been coercing America's allies and

friends, and Sullivan revealing that the

secret of the US success in forging

alliances and partnerships was the

application of US values, Yang said, "As

long as China's system is right with the

wisdom of the Chinese people, there is no

way to strangle China. Our history will

show that one can only cause damages to

himself if he wants to strangle or suppress

the Chinese people."

Adding to this, Wang said, "If the United

States would indiscriminately protest and

speak up for those countries just because

they are your allies or partners, then it will

be very difficult for international relations

to develop properly."

He added, "So we don't think one

should be so testy as to accuse some other

country of coercion. Who is coercing

whom? I think history and the

international community will come to

their own conclusions."

Source: Asia times

America's attitude toward North Korea

and Iran, along with with a US domestic

situation that is prompting foreign

hedge fund managers to ask themselves

what the investment risks in America

are. The mind games are on, as Russia

stretches itself from the Arctic to

Antarctica and many locations in

between with both optics and a

presence.

The East-West split is about Russia

and China creating spheres of influence

that counter the West by emphasizing

their robustness against a "flaying,

divided West riddled with racism."

Other countries see Moscow and Beijing

as useful partners and moderators in the

many conflicts and other strategic

problems that are happening globally

right now, especially ahead of Lavrov's

visit to China this week. The Russian-

Chinese relationship is tightening and

Middle Eastern states are developing

enhanced ties with both. The language

of the past few days shows little will to

cooperate at the peer-to-peer level,

which will have a direct impact on

MENA conflicts and disputes.

For the emerging East, the global

bifurcation is becoming more

pronounced as time passes. As

geopolitics heightens the divide, the

impact on global relations will need to

be reconsidered, while avoiding

stereotypes of "good" and "evil." But,

then again, this is pathogen-driven

realpolitik.

Source: Arab news

parties and activists retain cultural

relevance in a country that has otherwise

not given them much formal political

space. Their vision for politics is thus

almost always reduced to these cultural

battles, since all other battles - on the

economy, foreign policy, countless

domestic affairs - remain monopolised by

mainstream parties and the state itself.

Aurat March thus provides these

organisational elements a chance to

reassert their vision on a societal domain

that has long been the arena of

conservative movements the world over.

An institutional reading of the backlash

also allows us to see the cynical way in

which particular messages and advocacy

efforts are misrepresented and, in some

cases, completely distorted. This suggests

that it's not just about competing cultural

visions, but also about enforcement and

subjugation of alternatives in a domain

the right-wing claims a monopoly on.

These distortions and misrepresentations

are thus carried out knowing full well that

they have the potential to result in

violence - the final act of asserting power

and enforcing subjugation.

Source: Dawn

WeDnesDAy, MARcH 24, 2021

5

Some Covid-19 patients developed parosmia

Alyson KRueGeR

Samantha LaLiberte, a social worker in

Nashville, thought she had made a full

recovery from Covid-19. But in mid-

November, about seven months after

she'd been sick, a takeout order

smelled so foul that she threw it away.

When she stopped by the house of a

friend who was cooking, she ran

outside and vomited on the front lawn.

"I stopped going places, even to my

mom's house or to dinner with friends,

because anything from food to candles

smelled so terrible," Ms. LaLiberte, 35,

said. "My relationships are strained."

She is dealing with parosmia, a

distortion of smell such that previously

enjoyable aromas - like that of fresh

coffee or a romantic partner - may

become unpleasant and even

intolerable. Along with anosmia, or

diminished sense of smell, it is a

symptom that has lingered with some

people who have recovered from

Covid-19.

The exact number of people

experiencing parosmia is unknown.

One recent review found that 47

percent of people with Covid-19 had

smell and taste changes; of those,

about half reported developing

parosmia. "That means that a rose

might smell like feces," said Dr.

Richard Doty, director of the Smell and

Taste Center at the University of

Pennsylvania. He noted that people

typically recover their smell within

months.

Right now, Ms. LaLiberte can't stand

the scent of her own body. Showering

is no help; the smell of her body wash,

conditioner and shampoo made her

sick. What's more, she detected the

same odor on her husband of eight

years. "There is not a whole lot of

intimacy right now," she said. "And it's

not because we don't want to."

"It's a much bigger issue than people

give it credit for," said Dr. Duika

Burges Watson, who leads the Altered

Eating Research Network at Newcastle

University in England and submitted a

journal research paper on the topic. "It

is something affecting your

relationship with yourself, with others,

your social life, your intimate

relationships."

"For me it's a freaking battle," said

Kaylee Rose, 25, a singer in Nashville.

She's been playing live music in bars

and restaurants across the country,

and walking into those spaces has

become unpleasant. "I was in Arizona

for a show, and we went into a

restaurant and I almost threw up," she

said. But having to deal with people's

reactions to her condition is almost

worse. "My friends keep trying to get

me to try their food because they think

I am exaggerating." Now she skips

most social gatherings, or goes and

doesn't eat.

Jessica Emmett, 36, who works for

an insurance company in Spokane,

Wash., got Covid twice, once in early

July and once in October. Parosmia

has been a lingering symptom. "I feel

like my breath is rancid all the time,"

she said.

Before she touches her husband, she

uses mouthwash and toothpaste. Even

then, she can't shake the feeling that

she stinks. And it's not just her breath.

"My sweat, I can smell it, and it's

altered a bit," she said. The result: a lot

Rose might smell like feces.

less intimacy. "There is no really

passionate, spontaneous kissing," she

said.

Her only consolation is that she's

Photo: caroline Tompkins

been with her husband for more than

20 years. "How would you explain this

to someone you are trying to date?" she

said. Dr. Burges Watson said she has

come across young people with

parosmia who are nervous to make

new connections. "They can be

repulsed by their own body odors," she

said. "They find it very difficult to think

about what other people might think of

them." When Ms. Rose first started

experiencing parosmia, her boyfriend

didn't understand it was a real

condition. And though more sensitive

to her needs now, it still can feel lonely.

"I wish for one meal he could be in my

shoes," she said.

She has also had family members

who think she is overreacting. She

remembers one day close to

Thanksgiving, when her mother

ordered her a special meal with a smell

she could tolerate, and her sister

accidentally ate it. A fight ensued. "My

sister thought I was being overly

sensitive," she said. "That was really

frustrating."

Many people with parosmia feel

isolated because people around them

don't get what they are going through,

Dr. Doty said. "They hope people can

relate to their problems, but often they

can't." Ms. LaLiberte said she can

finally sit next to her husband on the

couch. "I am still self-conscious about

myself though," she added. "Mine

hasn't improved yet."

Some parosmia sufferers have

turned to Facebook groups to share

tips and vent to people who can relate

to their symptoms. "I went to the

doctor, and the doctor legitimately

looked at me like I was a crazy person,"

said Jenny Banchero, 36, an artist in

St. Petersburg, Fla., who has had

parosmia since early September. "It

wasn't until I joined a Facebook Group

that I learned people take this

seriously."

Sarah Govier, a health care worker in

England who experienced parosmia

after getting Covid-19, created Covid

Anosmia/Parosmia Support Group

over the summer. "The day I opened it

in August, five or six people joined,"

she said. "By January we hit 10,000

people." Now it has nearly 16,000

members.

Another Facebook group, AbScent,

which was started before the pandemic

and is associated with a charity

organization, has seen increased

interest. "People are coming from all

over, from South America, Central

Asia, Far East Russia, the Philippines,

Australia, New Zealand, South Africa,

India and Canada," said Chrissi Kelly,

the founder of AbScent.

In March, Siobhan Dempsey, 33, a

graphic designer and photographer in

Northampton, England, posted to the

Covid Anosmia/Parosmia Facebook

group: "I'm happy to say that I have

now got 90 percent of my taste and

smell back after almost a year of

catching Covid." She was flooded with

congratulatory remarks.

It had been a long journey for her.

For months, everything had a burning,

chemical odor. Vegetables, which

made up most of her diet since she is a

vegetarian, were intolerable. "Anything

sweet was terrible," she said. "Dr.

Pepper, Fanta, it was disgusting."

In the past few weeks, however, she's

noticed a shift. "It sounds cliché, but this

past weekend in the U.K. was Mother's

Day, and my partner and 3-year-old boy

bought me flowers," she said. "I was like,

'These smell really nice.'"

Viable embryos spinning in vials in a mechanical womb.

Photo: collected

Scientists grow mouse embryos

in a mechanical womb

Gina Kolata

The mouse embryos looked perfectly

normal. All their organs were developing

as expected, along with their limbs and

circulatory and nervous systems. Their

tiny hearts were beating at a normal 170

beats per minute.

But these embryos were not growing

in a mother mouse. They were

developed inside an artificial uterus, the

first time such a feat has been

accomplished, scientists reported on

Wednesday.

The experiments, at the Weizmann

Institute of Science in Israel, were meant

to help scientists understand how

mammals develop and how gene

mutations, nutrients and environmental

conditions may affect the fetus. But the

work may one day raise profound

questions about whether other animals,

even humans, should or could be

cultured outside a living womb.

In a study published in the journal

Nature, Dr. Jacob Hanna described

removing embryos from the uteruses of

mice at five days of gestation and

growing them for six more days in

artificial wombs.

At that point, the embryos were about

halfway through their development; full

gestation is about 20 days. A human at

this stage of development would be

called a fetus. To date, Dr. Hanna and his

colleagues have grown more than 1,000

embryos in this way.

"It really is a remarkable

achievement," said Paul Tesar, a

developmental biologist at Case Western

Reserve University School of Medicine.

Alexander Meissner, director of genome

regulation at the Max Planck Institute

for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, said

that "getting this far is amazing" and that

the study was "a major milestone."

But the research has already

progressed beyond what the

investigators described in the paper. In

an interview, Dr. Hanna said he and his

colleagues had taken fertilized eggs from

the oviducts of female mice just after

fertilization - at Day 0 of development -

and had grown them in the artificial

uterus for 11 days.

Until now, researchers were able to

fertilize eggs from mammals in the

laboratory and grow them for only a

short time. The embryos needed a living

womb. "Placental mammals develop

locked away in the uterus," Dr. Tesar

said. That prevented scientists from

answering fundamental questions about

the earliest stages of development.

"The holy grail of developmental

biology is to understand how a single

cell, a fertilized egg, can make all of the

specific cell types in the human body and

grow into 40 trillion cells," Dr. Tesar

said. "Since the beginning of time,

researchers have been trying to develop

ways to answer this question."

The only way to study the

development of tissues and organs was

to turn to species like worms, frogs and

flies that do not need a uterus, or to

remove embryos from the uteruses of

experimental animals at varying times,

providing glimpses of development

more like snapshots than video.

What was needed was a way to get

inside the uterus, watching and tweaking

development in mammals as it

happened. For Dr. Hanna, that meant

developing an artificial uterus.

He spent seven years developing a

two-part system that includes

incubators, nutrients and a ventilation

system. The mouse embryos are placed

in glass vials inside incubators, where

they float in a special nutrient fluid.

The vials are attached to a wheel that

slowly spins so the embryos do not

attach to the wall, where they would

become deformed and die. The

incubators are connected to a ventilation

machine that provides oxygen and

carbon dioxide to the embryos,

controlling the concentration of those

gasses, as well as the gas pressure and

flow rate. At Day 11 of development -

more than halfway through a mouse

pregnancy - Dr. Hanna and his

colleagues examined the embryos, only

the size of apple seeds, and compared

them to those developing in the uteruses

of living mice. The lab embryos were

identical, the scientists found.

By that time, though, the lab-grown

embryos had become too large to survive

without a blood supply. They had a

placenta and a yolk sack, but the nutrient

solution that fed them through diffusion

was no longer sufficient.

Getting past that hurdle is the next

goal, Dr. Hanna said in an interview. He

is considering using an enriched

nutrient solution or an artificial blood

supply that connects to the embryos'

placentas. In the meantime,

experiments beckon. The ability to keep

embryos alive and developing halfway

through pregnancy "is a gold mine for

us," Dr. Hanna said.

The artificial womb may allow

researchers to learn more about why

pregnancies end in miscarriages or why

fertilized eggs fail to implant. It opens a

new window onto how gene mutations

or deletions affect fetal development.

Researchers may be able to watch

individual cells migrate to their ultimate

destinations.

AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine is

found to be 79pc effective

RebeccA Robbins

The coronavirus vaccine developed by

AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford

provided strong protection against Covid-

19 in a large clinical trial in the United

States, completely preventing the worst

outcomes from the disease, according to

results announced on Monday.

Although no clinical trial is large enough

to rule out extremely rare side effects,

AstraZeneca reported that its study

turned up no serious side effects or safety

issues. Officials and public health experts

expressed hope that the results would

shore up global confidence in the vaccine,

which was shaken this month when more

than a dozen countries, mostly in Europe,

temporarily suspended the shot's use over

concerns about possible rare blood

disorders.

The trial, involving more than 32,000

participants, was the largest test of its kind

for the shot. The vaccine was 79 percent

effective overall in preventing

symptomatic infections, higher than

observed in previous clinical trials, the

company announced in a news release.

The trial also showed that the vaccine

offered strong protection for older people,

who had not been as well represented in

earlier studies. But the fresh data may

have arrived too late to make much

difference in the United States, where the

vaccine is not yet authorized.

If AstraZeneca's vaccine is cleared for

use in the United States, it is unlikely to

become available before May. By then,

federal officials predict there will be

enough vaccine doses for all the nation's

adults from the three authorized shots.

Even so, industry analysts said the

results were better than expected, a

heartening turn for a shot whose low cost

and simple storage requirements have

made it the workhorse of the drive to

vaccinate the world.

The results could also help a campaign

by European lawmakers to buttress public

confidence in the shot, one that has

featured many political leaders

themselves being injected in recent days.

"The results from the U.S. trial of the

Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine give strong

evidence that the vaccine is both safe and

highly effective," Matt Hancock, the

British health secretary, said on Monday.

"Vaccines are our way out of this, so when

you get the call, get the jab."

AstraZeneca said on Monday that it

would continue to analyze the new data

and prepare to apply "in the coming

weeks" for emergency authorization from

the Food and Drug Administration. The

vaccine has already been approved in

more than 70 countries, but clearance

from American regulators would bolster

the vaccine's reputation globally.

The new data have been highly

anticipated because of the expectation

that the trial, designed to meet F.D.A.

standards, would be the best measure of

how well the vaccine works. The shot is

the backbone of vaccine rollouts in many

poor and middle-income countries.

"This is the vaccine that will likely

vaccinate the world," Ashish Jha, the dean

of the Brown University School of Public

Health, wrote on Twitter on Monday,

adding: "If you were rooting for global

vaccination, this is a good morning."

The interim results announced on

Monday were based on 141 Covid-19 cases

that had turned up in volunteers. Twothirds

of participants were given the

vaccine, with doses spaced four weeks

apart, and the rest received a saline

placebo. Volunteers were recruited from

Chile and Peru in addition to the United

States. None of the volunteers who got the

vaccine developed severe symptoms or

had to be hospitalized, a major selling

point for the shot. Five participants who

were given the placebo developed severe

Health workers administering AstraZeneca vaccine.

Covid-19, Ruud Dobber, an executive vice

president at AstraZeneca, told CNBC on

Monday.

The new results could help the vaccine

recover from the safety scare it has faced

in Europe. Regulators there initiated a

safety review after a small number of

people who had recently been inoculated

developed blood clots and abnormal

bleeding.

Most countries are now restarting use of

the shot, with some restrictions and a new

warning label, after the European Union's

drug regulator said on Thursday that a

review determined that the vaccine was

safe. The agency added that it would

continue to watch for any connections to

blood disorders, noting that any threat

would be very small, and that the shots

will prevent vastly more deaths than they

might cause. Nonetheless, the speed at

which several nations suspended use of

the vaccine reflected a skittishness about

its safety and effectiveness that contrasts

sharply with the confidence that has been

shown in other vaccines. Trust in the

vaccine has tumbled in Germany, France,

Italy, Spain and, to a lesser degree, Britain,

according to polls.

Participants who received the vaccine in

the trial had no increased risk of blood

clots or related illnesses. And a specific

search turned up no cases of cerebral

venous sinus thrombosis - blood clots in

the brain that can result in dangerous

bleeding - that raised some of the most

serious concerns in Europe.

Michael Head, a senior research fellow

in global health at the University of

Southampton in Britain, said that the

results could allay concerns not only in

Europe but also globally. He said that he

had received messages in recent days

from colleagues in Ghana, fretting about

how to explain the safety scare to people

who had been celebrating the vaccine's

arrival only weeks earlier.

Photo: Alessandro Grassani

WeDNeSDAY, MARCH 24, 2021

6

Awami League delegates' conference

held at nageshwari

BADSHAH SAyKoT, KURIGRAM CoRReSponDenT

A delegates' conference has been held

with Awami League workers of 4 unions

of nageshwari upazila of Kurigram.

Kurigram-1 Mp Aslam Hossain

Saudagar was present as the chief guest

at the conference held at JD Academy

ground in Vitarband Union of the upazila

on Tuesday afternoon. Mizanur Rahman

Bulbul, president of Vitarband Union

Awami League and principal of

Vitarband Degree College chaired the

occasion while among others, Veteran

Awami League leader Mojibur Rahman

Birbal, Upazila Vice Chairman

Roknuzzaman Shimu, Berubari Union

Chairman Motaleb Hossain, Awami

League leader prabhat Kumar Bhowmik,

Farhad Hossain Dhalu and others spoke.

Mp Aslam Hossain Saudagar said the

meeting was organized to motivate the

leaders and workers through the

conference. At the same time, he said,

various programs are being celebrated

nationally and across the country on the

occasion of Bangabandhu's birth

centenary and golden jubilee of

independence. With this, the antiindependence

forces can take various

tactics. He called upon the leaders and

workers of Awami League to remain

united for this.

A discussion meeting was held on the occasion of International Women's Day in Taraganj on

Tuesday.

Photo: Biplob Hosain Opu

pallishree holds discussion marking

Women's Day in Taraganj

BIpLoB HoSAIn opU, TARAGAnJ CoRReSponDenT

A discussion meeting was held on the

occasion of International Women's

Day. The meeting was organized by

pallishree's Creating Spaces project at

Belaichandi Sardarpara village in

Alampur Khodda in Taraganj,

Rangpur with oxfam Canada funding.

A discussion meeting on International

Women's Day and human rights was

held at Alampur Union on Tuesday.

The guests spoke on child marriage,

prevention of violence against women,

taking government benefits for socioeconomic

development, motivation of

students and coronary services.

During the time, Up member Badal

Sardar, Imam Kamruzzaman,

community party chief Alema Begum

and youth party chief Roni Mia, local

dignitaries. Lazina Akhter, project

officer, Creating Spaces project,

pallishree, highlighted various aspects

of the program.

A delegates' conference has been held with Awami League workers of 4 unions of Nageshwari upazila of

Kurigram.

Photo: Badshah Saykot

Terrorist held with foreign

SHAHID Joy, JASHoRe CoRReSponDenT

Members of the Jashore District

Intelligence Branch have arrested a

terrorist named Masud Rana (28) with

foreign weapon. He was arrested from

Birampur in the suburbs around 8.30

pm on Monday.

According to his confession, foreign

weapon was recovered from the base of

arms in Jashore

a mango tree at the house of his brotherin-law

Mahidul in enayetpur village of

Sadar upazila pm . The arrested accused

is the son of Shamsul Haque of

Birampur village in the suburbs.

DB police oC Tesoman Das said a

terrorist named Masud Rana was

arrested from Birampur area of the

suburb around 8.30pm on Monday in a

search operation for illegal weapons. In

his confession, his brother-in-law

Mahidul left a foreign pistol with

Masood Rana as he was in jail. The pistol

was recovered from the base of a mango

tree near the house of Masud Rana's

brother-in-law Mahidul in enayetpur

village of Sadar upazila. A case has been

registered under the Arms Act at

Kotwali Model police Station in this

regard.

Joypurhat's New Police Super Masum Ahmed Bhuiyan PPM inaugurated the distribution of masks and

public awareness campaign to create awareness among the general public against the increasing incidence

of coronavirus in Joypurhat on Monday.

Photo: Masrakul Alom

police holds awareness rally and

distributes masks in Joypurhat

MASRAKUL ALoM, JoypURHAT CoRReSponDenT

In Joypurhat, Covid-19 awareness rally

was brought out which paraded the main

roads of the city and ended at the central

mosque premises.

Joypurhat's new police Super Masum

Ahmed Bhuiyan ppM inaugurated the

distribution of masks and public

awareness campaign to create awareness

among the general public against the

increasing incidence of corona virus which

was organized by Joypurhat Sadar police

Station on Monday. During the time,

Additional Superintendent of police

(Administration) of Joypurhat Tariqul

Islam, Mayor of Joypurhat Municipality

Mostafizur Rahman Mestak, officer-in-

Charge of Sadar police Station AKM

Alamgir Jahan, General Secretary of

Joypurhat press Club KM Abdur Rahman

Rony and other police personnel were

present on the occasion.

He later distributed masks among bus

passengers, common people and

unmasked masses in various shops along

with police members and highlighted the

importance of wearing masks.

Bangladesh Coast Guard ship BCGS Shyamal Bangla in a drive arrested 15 dacoits along with local

weapons from Haimchar area of Meghna river on Monday night and in the area adjacent to Hijla Saheb's

char at Tuesday morning.

Photo: Courtesy

Bangladesh Coast Guard arrests 15 dacoits with local weapons

Bangladesh Coast Guard

ship BCGS Shyamal Bangla

conducted a special

operation in Haimchar area

of Meghna river on Monday

night and in the area

adjacent to Hijla Saheb's

char at Tuesday morning

and arrested 15 dacoits

including domestic weapons

and two wooden boats.

During the operation, 15

dacoits were arrested in

Haimchar, Hijla and Saheb

Char areas of Meghna river,

a press release said.

The arrested dacoits are

all residents of Hijla, Haim

Char and Saheb Char areas.

The arrested dacoits and

confiscated goods are being

handed over to Raipur

police station. Regular

operations have been and

will continue to be carried

out in the areas under the

purview of the Bangladesh

Coast Guard to maintain law

and order, public safety as

well as prevention of

kidnapping, robbery and

drug control.

Members of the Jashore District Intelligence Branch in a drive arrested a terrorist with foreign weapon

in Jashore on Monday.

Photo: Shahid Joy

Basic concept needed for attaining

success in banking sector

RAJSHAHI: All the bankers should

know the basic concept of banking and

be familiarized with it properly for the

sake of building cordial relation

between bank and its clients, as it is

inevitable for attaining success in the

banking sector, reports BSS.

There is no alternative to build

capacity for creating a client-friendly

atmosphere alongside attaining success

in their banking profession.

Senior executives and bankers made

this observation while addressing the

closing and certificate-giving ceremony

of a month-long foundation-training

course for 30 newly recruited officers of

Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank

(RAKUB) at its training institute here

on Monday.

RAKUB Chairman Roisul Alam

Mondal addressed the ceremony as the

chief guest virtually while Managing

Director Ismail Hossain and General

Manager Kamil Burhan Ferdous spoke

as special guests with principal of the

institute Subrata Sarker in the chair.

Besides, Senior Faculty Member

Iqbal Hossain and Faculty Members

Abdul Malek and Abdul Hamid also

spoke.

The senior bankers asked their newly

recruited colleagues to start their

profession through showing skills

during discharging duties as it is

inevitable for attaining success in the

banking sector for overall socioeconomic

development of the region.

They also urged the newly recruited

colleagues to make their banking

activities client-friendly so that they can

derive total benefits of the banking

services.

Innovative ideas and best uses of

those can be a vital means of delivering

farmer-friendly banking services to the

grass root clients to ensure their

welfare. They also viewed that there is

no alternative to promoting innovative

ideas and knowledge in the field-level

banking activities for infusing

dynamism into its services.

Roisul Alam Mondal highlighted the

importance of the bank in agricultural

development of northwest Bangladesh

and asked the officers to apply the

knowledge acquired from the training

in the professional field properly for

boosting agricultural production in the

region.

As the largest development partner in

the agricultural sector of the northwest

Bangladesh, RAKUB plays a vital role to

earn economic emancipation and free

the nation from poverty and hunger

through boosting credit-flow to the

potential agricultural fields.

WEDnESDAY, MArCH 24, 2021

7

The European Union and the United States imposed sanctions Monday on a number of Myanmar

officials accused of involvement in the country's military coup and the ensuing crackdown on protesters.

Photo : AP

EU targets 11 Myanmar officials

over coup, crackdown

BRUSSELS : The European Union

and the United States imposed

sanctions Monday on a number of

Myanmar officials accused of

involvement in the country's military

coup and the ensuing crackdown on

protesters, reports UNB.

The EU announced penalties on 11

officials, including 10 top military

officers. Most had already been

sanctioned by the U.S. The Biden

administration, meanwhile, targeted

two senior officials, including the

national police chief, and two military

units involved in the suppression of

protests.

Ten of the 11 targeted with asset

freezes and travel bans by the EU are

senior members of the Myanmar

Armed Forces. They include

Commander-in-Chief Min Aung

Hlaing and Deputy-Commander-in-

Chief Soe Win, the bloc's headquarters

said in a statement. The eleventh

person hit with sanctions is the head of

the election commission who canceled

last year's vote.

In a separate but coordinated action,

the State and Treasury departments hit

chief of police, Than Hlaing, and the

commander of the Bureau of Special

Operations, Lt Gen Aung Soe with

sanctions along with two military units.

"These designations show that this

violence will not go unanswered," the

State Department said.

Myanmar's military junta prevented

Parliament from convening on Feb. 1. It

claimed that last November's elections,

won by Aung San Suu Kyi's party in a

landslide, were tainted by fraud. The

election commission that confirmed

the victory has since been replaced by

the junta. The coup reversed years of

slow progress toward democracy in

Myanmar after five decades of military

rule. In the face of persistent strikes and

protests against the takeover, the junta

has responded with an increasingly

violent crackdown and efforts to limit

the information reaching the outside

world.

Internet access has been severely

restricted, private newspapers have

been barred from publishing, and

protesters, journalists and politicians

have been arrested in large numbers.

The statement, issued during a

meeting of EU foreign ministers, said

the sanctions are part of the 27-nation

bloc's "robust response to the

illegitimate over-throwing of the

democratically-elected government

and the brutal repression by the junta

against peaceful protesters."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken

said of the designations demonstrate

"the international community's

condemnation of the regime and

commitment to the people of Burma."

German Foreign Minister Heiko

Maas said that "what we are seeing in

the way of excesses of violence there is

absolutely unacceptable; the number of

killings has taken on intolerable

dimensions."

"We don't want to punish the

population in Myanmar with sanctions,

but those who are blatantly violating

human rights there," Maas told

reporters.

Germany extends virus lockdown

till mid-April as cases rise

Germany extended its lockdown

measures by another month and

imposed several new restrictions,

including largely shutting down public

life over Easter, in an effort to drive

down the rate of coronavirus

infections, reports UNB.

Chancellor Angela Merkel

announced the measures early

Tuesday after a lengthy video call with

the country's 16 state governors, nearly

three weeks after the two sides last

agreed on a plan paving the way to

relax some rules.

Since then, infections have increased

steadily as the more contagious variant

first detected in Britain has become

dominant. The restrictions previously

set to run through March 28 will now

remain in place until April 18. Regions

were the weekly number of new

infections exceeds 100 per 100,000

residents on three consecutive days

will face tougher rules, as agreed at the

previous meeting.

"Unfortunately, we will have to make

use of this emergency brake," Merkel

told reporters in Berlin.

The weekly infection rate per

100,000 people stood at 107

nationwide on Monday, up from the

mid-60s three weeks ago.

Officials agreed to largely shut down

public life from April 1-3, adding a

public holiday and shutting down

most stores for the period. Public

gatherings will be banned from April 1-

5, to encourage people to stay at home.

Amid concern over the rise in

Germans traveling abroad on holidays,

authorities also agreed on a blanket

requirement for air travelers to be

tested for COVID-19 before boarding a

flight to Germany.

Drawing up legally watertight rules

has proved a headache at times. A

court in Germany's most populous

state, North Rhine-Westphalia, said

Monday it struck down rules requiring

people to get appointments to visit

shops. It said they violated a

requirement that businesses get equal

treatment.

The state government promptly

reinstated the rules, tightening them

for some businesses - such as

bookshops and garden centers - that

were previously exempt.

According to Tuesday's agreement,

authorities will aim to offer free tests to

all students and teachers in German

schools, many of which have only

recently reopened after months of

remote teaching. Merkel said

Germany, which had comparatively

low deaths during the first phase of the

pandemic last spring, has seen

"successes but also of setbacks."

The country's vaccination campaign

has lagged far behind expectations,

with only about 9% of the population

receiving at least a first shot and 4%

receiving both doses by Sunday.

"We don't want our health system to

be overloaded," Merkel said, noting

that the new variant has caused severe

illness also in younger people who are

infected.

Germany extended its lockdown measures by another month and imposed several new restrictions,

including largely shutting down public life over Easter, in an effort to drive down the rate

of coronavirus infections.

Photo : AP

WHO: Global

coronavirus

deaths rise for 1st

time in 6 weeks

GENEVA : A top World

Health Organization expert

on the coronavirus pandemic

said Monday the weekly

global count of deaths from

COVID-19 is rising again, a

"worrying sign" after about

six weeks of declines, reports

UNB.

Maria Van Kerkhove,

technical lead on COVID-19

at the U.N. health agency,

said the growth followed a

fifth straight week of

confirmed cases increasing

worldwide. She said the

number of reported cases

went up up in four of the

WHO's six regions, though

there were significant

variations within each region.

"In the last week, cases

have increased by 8%

percent," Van Kerkhove told

reporters. "In Europe, that is

12% -- and that's driven by

several countries."

The increase is due in part

to the spread of a variant that

first emerged in Britain and is

now circulating in many

other places, including

eastern Europe, she said.

Boom in innovation for

overcoming disabilities: UN

GENEVA : Innovations aimed at helping

people overcome mobility, sight and other

disabilities have exploded in recent years,

and are becoming ever more integrated in

regular consumer goods, the United Nations

said Tuesday.

More than one billion people worldwide

currently need technology-based assistance

to overcome a disability - a figure expected to

double in the next decade as populations age,

UN data shows.

Meanwhile, only one in 10 people globally

currently have access to the assistive

products they need.

To meet the growing demand, innovations

in new assistive products have shown doubledigit

growth in recent years, according to a

fresh report from UN's World Intellectual

Property Organization.

"People living with impairments have long

relied on new technologies for increased

independence and fuller interaction with

their world," WIPO chief Daren Tang said in

the foreword to the report.

"From the invention of the crutch in

ancient Egypt through the simple prosthetics

of the Middle Ages to our latter-day Braille

tablets, we are now on the cusp of a future

where autonomous wheelchairs, mindcontrolled

hearing aids and wearables

monitoring health and emotion alleviate the

impact of human limitations."

A key finding in the report, he said, is "the

A top World Health Organization expert on the coronavirus pandemic said Monday the weekly

global count of deaths from COVID-19 is rising again, a "worrying sign" after about six weeks of

declines.

Photo : AP

UN chief

profoundly

concerned over

rising violence

against Asians

UNITED NATIONS :

United Nations Secretary-

General Antonio Guterres

on Monday expressed his

profound concern over the

rise in violence against

Asians and people of Asian

descent during the COVID-

19 pandemic, reports UNB.

The world has witnessed

horrific deadly attacks,

verbal and physical

harassment, bullying in

schools, workplace

discrimination, incitement

to hatred in the media and

on social media platforms,

and incendiary language by

those in positions of power,

said Farhan Haq, deputy

spokesman for Guterres, in a

statement.

In some countries, Asian

women have been

specifically targeted for

attack, adding misogyny to

the toxic mix of hatred.

Thousands of incidents

across the past year have

perpetuated a centurieslong

history of intolerance,

stereotyping, scapegoating,

exploitation and abuse, the

statement said.

The secretary-general

expressed his full support

for the victims and families,

and stood in solidarity with

all those facing racism and

other assaults on their

human rights.

"This moment of challenge

for all must be a time to

uphold dignity for all," the

UN chief said.

India's COVID-19 tally

reaches 11,686,796, death

toll crosses 160,000

India's COVID-19 tally

reaches 11,686,796, death

toll crosses 160,000

NEW DELHI : India's

COVID tally reached

11,686,796 on Tuesday

even as 40,715 new cases

were reported from across

the country, according to

the latest figures released

by federal health ministry.

Besides, 199 deaths since

Monday morning took the

death toll to 160,166. This

is the highest number of

deaths in a day this year so

far, reports UNB.

There are still 345,377

active cases in the country,

while 11,181,253 people

have been discharged so far

from hospitals after

medical treatment.

There was an increase of

10,731 active cases during

the previous 24 hours, out

of which a maximum of

5,124 cases were reported

from the southwestern

state of Maharashtra.

The number of daily active

cases has been on the rise

over the past few days,

even as another wave of

COVID-19 looms large in

India.

In January the number of

daily cases in the country

had come down to below-

10,000. As many as 9,102

new cases were reported

between January 25-26,

which was the lowest in the

previous 237 days. Prior to

that the lowest number of

daily new cases were 9,304

registered on June 4, 2020.

January 16 was a crucial

day in India's fight against

the pandemic as the

nationwide vaccination

drive was kicked off during

the day. So far over 48

million people have been

vaccinated across the

country.

Meanwhile, the federal

government has ramped

up COVID-19 testing

facilities across the

country, even as more than

235 million tests have been

conducted so far.

As many as 235,413,233

were conducted till

Monday, out of which

880,655 tests were

conducted on Monday

alone, said the latest data

issued by the Indian

Council of Medical

Research (ICMR) on

Tuesday.

NEW DELHI : India's

COVID tally reached

11,686,796 on Tuesday

even as 40,715 new cases

were reported from across

the country, according to

the latest figures released

by federal health ministry.

Besides, 199 deaths since

Monday morning took the

death toll to 160,166. This

is the highest number of

deaths in a day this year so

far, reports UNB.

There are still 345,377

active cases in the country,

while 11,181,253 people

have been discharged so far

from hospitals after

medical treatment.

There was an increase of

10,731 active cases during

the previous 24 hours, out

evolution toward mass use of assistive tech."

Using patent and other data, the report

found that more than 130,000 patents were

filed for conventional and emerging assistive

technologies between 1998 and 2020.

More than 15,500 of those filings were for

so-called emerging assistive technologies,

like assistive robots, smart home

applications, wearables for visually impaired

people and smart glasses.

That was eight times fewer than the

117,000-plus patents filed for conventional

technologies for well-established products

like wheelchair seats or Braille-enabled

devices.

But WIPO pointed out that filings for new

assistive technologies were growing 17

percent on average each year - three times

faster than the growth rate for conventional

technology filings.

The report found that China, the United

States, Germany, Japan and South Korea

were the countries where most innovation in

assistive technology was taking place.

Universities and public research

organisations are the most prominent when

it comes to filing patent applications for

emerging assistive technologies.

WIPO experts hailed how assistive

technologies were rapidly converging with

mainstream consumer electronics, paving

the way for a greater commercialisation and

lower prices.

of which a maximum of

5,124 cases were reported

from the southwestern

state of Maharashtra.

The number of daily

active cases has been on

the rise over the past few

days, even as another wave

of COVID-19 looms large in

India.

In January the number of

daily cases in the country

had come down to below-

10,000. As many as 9,102

new cases were reported

between January 25-26,

which was the lowest in the

previous 237 days. Prior to

that the lowest number of

daily new cases were 9,304

registered on June 4, 2020.

January 16 was a crucial

day in India's fight against

the pandemic as the

nationwide vaccination

drive was kicked off during

the day. So far over 48

million people have been

vaccinated across the

country.

Meanwhile, the federal

government has ramped

up COVID-19 testing

facilities across the

country, even as more than

235 million tests have been

conducted so far.

As many as 235,413,233

were conducted till

Monday, out of which

880,655 tests were

conducted on Monday

alone, said the latest data

issued by the Indian

Council of Medical

Research (ICMR) on

Tuesday.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021 8

Md. Khairul Islam

new General

Manager of BHBFC

Financial Institutions

Division has recently

promoted Md. Khairul

Islam as General Manager in

BHBFC. He completed his

BA & MA degree in

department of Philosophy

from Dhaka University. He

joined BHBFC in 1999 as an

Officer.

He held important

positions in different

departments through his

career successfully and took

part in various trainings,

seminars and symposiums.

He was born in an eminent

Muslim family at Debhata of

Shatkhira district.

BB to release Tk 50 notes

marking 'Golden Jubilee

of Independence'

DHAKA : Bangladesh Bank

(BB) is going to release

regular currency notes,

commemorative notes and

silver commemorative coins

of Taka 50 marking the

'Golden Jubilee of

Independence.'

The measurement of the

new note is 130 x 60

millimeter and the new note

will be available at BB's

Motijheel branch on March

28, said a press release.

Later, the note will be

available at all branches of

the central bank, the release

added.

Shasha Garments Ltd., a

Bangladeshi company, is

going to establish a garments

manufacturing industry in

Dhaka Export Processing

Zone with an investment of

US$ 5 million. This will be

their fourth industry in EPZs.

In presence of the

Executive Chairman of

BEPZA Major General Md

Nazrul Islam, SPP, ndu, afwc,

psc, G, an agreement to this

effect signed between BEPZA

and M/s Shasha Garments

Ltd. at BEPZA Complex,

Dhaka today (23 March

2021). Md. Mahmudul

Hossain Khan, Member

(Investment Promotion) of

BEPZA and Parveen

Mahmud, Managing Director

of Shasha Garments signed

the agreement on behalf of

their

respective

White House considering $3 tn

for US infrastructure: Reports

WASHINGTON : President

Joe Biden's administration is

considering spending $3

trillion on infrastructure in

the United States, split into

two bills that face narrow

paths to approval in Congress,

US media reported on

Monday.

The infrastructure plan

would follow the $1.9 trillion

American Rescue Plan Biden

signed earlier month, which

was aimed at helping the

world's largest economy

recover from the damage

done by the Covid-19

pandemic.

Biden, who took office in

January, vowed to pass a

second bill aimed at

improving infrastructure in

the United States and creating

jobs, and US media reported

that would likely be divided

up into two proposals costing

a total of $3 trillion.

"We'll use taxpayers' dollars

to rebuild America. We'll buy

American products,

supporting millions of

American manufacturing

jobs, enhancing our

competitive strength in an

increasingly competitive

world," Biden said in the

January speech announcing

the two plans.

However any new measures

could face tough odds in

Congress, where Democrats

hold a thin margin in the

House and are evenly split

with Republicans in the

Senate, forcing them to use a

special parliamentary

manuever to pass the

American Rescue Plan

without opposition support.

White House Press

Secretary Jen Psaki disputed

the reports, saying "President

Biden and his team are

considering a range of

organizations.

The company will produce

annually 6.75 million pcs of

Men's Pant, Women's Pant,

Boy's Pant, and Jacket

annually. M/s Shasha

Garments will create

employment opportunity for

potential options for how to

invest in working families and

reform our tax code so it

rewards work, not wealth."

"Those conversations are

ongoing, so any speculation

about future economic

proposals is premature and

not a reflection of the White

House's thinking," she said.

Citing people familiar with

the proposals, US media said

the new measure would be

broken up into two parts, with

the first being aimed at

improving infrastructure,

including a $400 billion

investment in fighting climate

change.

Also included would be

$200 billion for housing

infrastructure, $100 billion

for low-income homes and

2000 Bangladeshi nationals.

Among others, Member

(Engineering) Mohammad

Faruque Alam, Member

(Finance) Nafisa Banu,

Secretary Md. Zakir Hossain

Chowdhury, General

Manager (Public Relations)

$60 billion for green transit

networks. The second

proposal would focus on the

labor force, and pay for free

community college, prekindergarten

education and

paid leave. It would also

extend tax credits aimed at

fighting child poverty and

helping Americans afford

health insurance, according to

the reports.

The American Rescue Plan,

along with the $2.2 trillion

CARES Act passed in March

2020 and a $900 billion

measure passed in December,

have been credited with

helping the US economy avoid

a worse downturn after the

pandemic caused mass layoffs

and business closures

nationwide.

China's Baidu debuts in Hong

Kong after $3.1 bn IPO

HONG KONG : Chinese search engine Baidu debuted on

Hong Kong's stock exchange Tuesday after raising $3.1

billion in its initial public offering, the latest mainland tech

giant to flock to the financial hub.

Shares rose a modest 0.8 percent to HK$254 from their

listing price of HK$252 after the market opened.

Over the past 18 months Hong Kong has seen a flurry of

Chinese tech firms hold IPOs in the city, part of a drive to list

closer to home as relations between Beijing and Washington

sour.

Until the recent trade tensions, New York tended to be the

favoured place for those companies to raise international

capital.

But now Hong Kong is dominant, something Beijing's

authoritarian leaders have encouraged at a time when it is

also looking to rein in the influence of some Chinese tech

firms like Alibaba.

Last year Hong Kong raked in an impressive $49 billion in

IPOs.

Some of the debuts in Hong Kong are dual listings such as

Baidu, which is already traded on the Nasdaq in New York.

Others are purely Hong Kong listings such as the medical

arm of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com which raised $3.5

billion in its December homecoming.

Chinese companies looking at selling shares in the city

include Tencent's music group and video site Bilibili.

First Security Islami Bank Ltd. sponsored Bangabandhu First Security Islami Bank Under-17 District

Level Rugby Competition-2021. Shahazada Basunia, SVP and Head of Public Affairs &Brand

Communication Division of First Security Islami Bank Ltd., Moisum Ali, General Secretary, Bangladesh

Rugby Federationalong with other officials were present in the press conference organized in this

regard at Shahid (Captain) M. Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium, Dhaka.The competition will continue

for 5 months with the participation of schools, colleges and clubs in 21 Districts. Photo : Courtesy

Bangladeshi Garments Company to

mnvest US$ 5 million in Dhaka EPZ

Nazma Binte Alamgir,

General Manager

(Investment Promotion) Md.

Tanvir Hossain, General

Manager (Enterprise

Service) Md. Khorshid

Alam of BEPZA were present

at the signing ceremony.

Mercantile Bank Limited organized a virtual Training on Export Trade And EXP Reporting recently

(20.03.2021). Respective desk officials from divisions and AD branches of the bank participated in the virtual

sessions. A total number of sixty three officials attended the online program. Shamim Ahmed, DMD

& CAMLCO of the bank inaugurated the virtual training. In his speech he advised participating officers to

strictly maintain the guidelines of central bank on proper EXP reporting and its impact on regulatory

compliance in discharging their assigned responsibilities. Md. Mokaddem Ahmed, Joint Director,

Foreign Exchange Operation Department (FEOD) of Bangladesh Bank spoke as a resource person for the

virtual session. S.M. Mahbubul Alam, Vice President & Acting Head of International Division made the

concluding statements. Javed Tariq, Principal of MBTI moderated the online program. Photo : Courtesy

Basic concept needed for attaining

success in banking sector

RAJSHAHI : All the

bankers should know the

basic concept of banking and

be familiarized with it

properly for the sake of

building cordial relation

between bank and its clients,

as it is inevitable for attaining

success in the banking sector.

There is no alternative to

build capacity for creating a

client-friendly atmosphere

alongside attaining success in

their banking profession.

Senior executives and

bankers made this

observation while addressing

the closing and certificategiving

ceremony of a monthlong

foundation-training

course for 30 newly recruited

officers of Rajshahi Krishi

Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) at

its training institute here on

Monday.

RAKUB Chairman Roisul

Sri Lanka secures

$1.5 billion

Chinese loan

COLOMBO : Sri Lanka and

China have signed a $1.5

billion currency swap deal,

the island nation's central

bank said Tuesday, as it

struggles with a major

foreign exchange crisis and

debt repayments.

Colombo had been

negotiating for months to

secure credit from China - its

largest single source of

imports - as the island's

foreign reserves plummet

amid the pandemic.

Chinese influence in the

South Asian nation has been

growing in recent years,

through loans and projects

under its vast Belt and Road

infrastructure initiative,

raising concerns among

regional powers and

Western nations.

The Central Bank of Sri

Lanka said the three-year

swap arrangement for 10

billion yuan with the

People's Bank of China was

"with a view to promoting

bilateral trade and direct

investment for economic

development of the two

countries". Officials said

talks were also under way to

secure another $700 million

from the China

Development Bank.

Sri Lanka's economy was

already reeling from the

deadly 2019 Easter

bombings, with the

coronavirus epidemic and

lockdowns further weighing

on growth.

Alam Mondal addressed the

ceremony as the chief guest

virtually while Managing

Director Ismail Hossain and

General Manager Kamil

Burhan Ferdous spoke as

special guests with principal

of the institute Subrata Sarker

in the chair.

Besides, Senior Faculty

Member Iqbal Hossain and

Faculty Members Abdul

Malek and Abdul Hamid also

spoke.

The senior bankers asked

their newly recruited

colleagues to start their

profession through showing

skills during discharging

duties as it is inevitable for

attaining success in the

banking sector for overall

socio-economic development

of the region.

They also urged the newly

recruited colleagues to make

Powell sees 'strengthening' US

recovery but struggle continues

WASHINGTON : The US

recovery from the Covid-19

pandemic "looks to be

strengthening," Federal

Reserve Chair Jerome

Powell said on Monday, but

vowed the central bank

would continue its efforts

to aid racial minorities and

other groups hurt most by

the downturn.

In testimony released

ahead of his appearance

scheduled for Tuesday

before the House Financial

Services Committee,

Powell underscored that

the central bank would

continue policies like zero

interest rates that it rolled

out to aid the economy as

the pandemic hit, reports

BSS.

Those measures, together

with massive government

spending approved by

Congress, have helped keep

the US economy from an

even worse downturn,

though fears that an

improving economy could

cause the Fed to raise rates

have hurt Wall Street

stocks in recent weeks.

Powell acknowledged

that the economic recovery

"has progressed more

quickly than generally

expected," which he

credited to "unprecedented

fiscal and monetary policy

actions" that kept

their banking activities clientfriendly

so that they can

derive total benefits of the

banking services.

Innovative ideas and best

uses of those can be a vital

means of delivering farmerfriendly

banking services to

the grass root clients to ensure

their welfare.

They also viewed that there

is no alternative to promoting

innovative ideas and

knowledge in the field-level

banking activities for infusing

dynamism into its services.

Roisul Alam Mondal

highlighted the importance of

the bank in agricultural

development of northwest

Bangladesh and asked the

officers to apply the

knowledge acquired from the

training in the professional

field properly for boosting

agricultural production in the

businesses afloat.

"However, the sectors of

the economy most

adversely affected by the

resurgence of the virus, and

by greater social distancing,

remain weak, and the

unemployment rate - still

elevated at 6.2 percent -

underestimates the

shortfall," Powell said.

"We welcome this

progress, but will not lose

sight of the millions of

Americans who are still

hurting, including lowerwage

workers in the

services sector, African

Americans, Hispanics, and

other minority groups that

have been especially hard

hit."

As the Covid-19

pandemic began, the Fed

cut its benchmark lending

rate to zero and rolled out

trillions of dollars in

liquidity measures to keep

markets afloat.

Powell noted that many

of those programs have

already closed or "are

following suit imminently,"

while saying one

supporting the Paycheck

Protection Program of

loans and grants to small

businesses has been

extended for another

quarter.

Markets in recent weeks

have struggled as traders

region.

As the largest development

partner in the agricultural

sector of the northwest

Bangladesh, RAKUB plays a

vital role to earn economic

emancipation and free the

nation from poverty and

hunger through boosting

credit-flow to the potential

agricultural fields.

In this regard, he asked the

newly recruited senior officers

and officers to discharge their

duties with utmost sincerity

and honesty to brighten the

image of the bank.

The Main objective of the

training was to improve skills

and attitude alongside

enhancing professional

competence of the officers

through disseminating ideas

about

operation,

administration and other

related matters of the bank.

sold off bonds, sending

yields up, amid fears that a

$1.9 trillion stimulus plan

President Joe Biden signed

earlier this month would

overheat the economy and

cause inflation, making the

Fed raise rates.

Bond yields however

pulled back on Monday,

sending hard-hit tech

stocks higher at the close.

In the testimony released

after trading finished,

Powell signaled no changes

to the Fed's policy of letting

inflation rise to a sustained

2.0 percent level before

hiking rates, only

reiterating that "We are

committed to using our full

range of tools to support

the economy."

In her released testimony

ahead of Tuesday, Treasury

Secretary Janet Yellen said

she was "confident that

people will reach the other

side of this pandemic with

the foundations of their

lives intact.

"And I believe they will be

met there by a growing

economy. In fact, I think we

may see a return to full

employment next year."

She said one-in-ten

homeowners with a

mortgage were behind on

their payments, and almost

one-in-five renters were

behind on their rent.

WEDnESDAy, MARCh 24, 2021

9

Germany's national team coach Jochim Loew during training for the World Cup qualifications in

Prague.

Photo: Reuters

Germany seek redemption as

Loew starts swansong

SPORTS DESK

Germany will seek redemption for

November's humiliating thrashing

against Spain as Joachim Loew's squad

look to get the fans back behind them

by winning their first three World Cup

qualifiers, reports BSS.

Germany host Iceland in Duisburg on

Thursday before facing Romania away

on Sunday, then play North Macedonia

three days later back in Duisburg.

"We want to start the European

championship year with an

exclamation mark and please our fans

again," Loew said after naming

teenagers Jamal Musiala, 18, and

Florian Wirtz, 17, in his squad.

"Our ambition and goal is to get

ourselves into a good starting position

with three wins."

A fortnight ago, Loew announced he

will step down, after 15 years in charge,

following the European

championships, due to take place from

June 11-July 11.

He badly needs convincing wins to

restore their fans' faith in the

Mannschaft following November's 6-0

rout by Spain which handed Germany

their heaviest defeat since 1931.

In the aftermath, a survey of German

fans by magazine Kicker showed 89

percent felt Loew had failed to rebuild

the team since crashing out of the 2018

World Cup in the group stages.

As Germany team director Oliver

Bierhoff acknowledged Monday, the

Mannschaft must "set an example"

after the disgrace of the thrashing in

Seville.

It is a far cry from July 2014, when

Loew could seemingly do no wrong

after masterminding Germany's World

Cup triumph in Brazil.

The 61-year-old is desperate to end

on a high at the Euros after three lean

years which have badly tarnished his

glittering legacy.

The three World Cup qualifiers are

his last chance to look at options before

naming his squad for the European

championships.

He has high hopes for Bayern

Munich midfielder Musiala, who has

dual nationality and has opted to play

senior football for Germany despite two

appearances for England Under-21 last

November.

Likewise, Leverkusen's Wirtz, the

youngest ever scorer in the Bundesliga,

is considered a bright prospect and has

also been called up by Loew for the first

time.

The head coach wants to see his

players working hard in training to win

Cornwall blasts West Indies

back into contention

SPORTS DESK

Rahkeem Cornwall blasted a maiden Test

half-century and dominated an eighthwicket

partnership of 90 with Joshua da

Silva to lift the West Indies to 268 for eight in

their first innings, a lead of 99 runs, at the

close of the second day of the first Test at the

Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on

Monday, reports BSS.

Outstanding seam bowling by Suranga

Lakmal, who claimed his fourth five-wicket

innings haul in 64 Tests, had restricted the

home side to 171 for seven just after tea in

reply to the tourists' modest first-day effort

of 169.

However the burly Cornwall, selected

primarily for his off-spin bowling but also

well-known for his powerful hitting in the

domestic game, joined wicketkeeperbatsman

da Silva in first resisting the best

efforts of the Sri Lankan bowlers before

opening into an array of expansive strokes

upon the arrival of the second new ball.

His unbeaten 60 has come of 79 balls with

two sixes and nine fours embellishing an

entertaining innings.

Da Silva, who is already building a

reputation in his young international career

for featuring in useful lower-order

partnerships, was within sight of his second

Cornwall blasts West Indies back into contention.

Test half-century when he fell for 46 just

minutes before the close of play, caught

behind off fast bowler Dushmantha

Chameera attempting to ride a lifting

delivery over the slip cordon.

"I needed to get some runs because I

haven't been showing the best I can do with

the bat so far," said Cornwall in reflecting on

his innings. "I think we are in a very good

position at this stage of the match. We need

to come tomorrow and try and make the

most of the first hour, then we can set up the

match by having something to run at them in

the second innings."

Such a healthy advantage seemed out of

the realms of possibility with Lakmal in full

flow on the way to outstanding figures of five

for 45 off 24 accurate overs.

When he dismissed Jason Holder and

Alzarri Joseph in quick succession after tea

to complete the five-wicket haul, the Sri

Lankans may have even entertained the

prospect of erasing a minimal first innings

deficit before the end of the day.

But their enthusiasm gradually ebbed

away as the runs flowed and they now face a

challenging prospect on the third day to

mount the sort of second innings rearguard

that has been almost non-existent on a

miserable run which has seen them lose their

last four Test matches.

starting places for Germany.

"We want to see in the training

sessions and matches which players are

imposing themselves, who definitely

wants to be there," said Loew.

He has been able to call up five

Premier League players after Germany

relaxed some of the Covid-19 travel

restrictions at the weekend.

Nevertheless, Manchester City

midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, Chelsea

trio Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and

Antonio Ruediger plus Arsenal

goalkeeper Bernd Leno will be placed

in a 'working quarantine' within the

Germany camp.

The five will only be allowed contact

with other players during training,

team meetings and matches. Meals will

be taken separately.

"The situation is aggravated, but we

are not complaining," Bierhoff added.

There is also no room for Dortmund

captain Marco Reus who has struggled

for consistency after a lengthy injury lay

off.

Loew is also refusing to reverse his

2019 decision to end the international

careers of Thomas Mueller, Mats

Hummels and Jerome Boateng.

Mueller is in arguably the form of his

career with four assists in as many

Bundesliga games.

Photo: AP

Scotland to stand

against racism before

Austria qualifier

SPORTS DESK

Scotland's players will stand

against racism rather than

take the knee ahead of their

World Cup qualifier against

Austria, reports BSS.

Several Scottish

Premiership teams

including champions

Rangers and their Glasgow

rivals Celtic opted not to take

the knee before their games

last weekend.Rangers,

Celtic, Dundee United and

Motherwell all stood before

kick-off after deciding that

was a more appropriate way

to call for action and change.

Scotland will do the same

in Thursday's opening

World Cup qualifier at

Hampden Park.

Celtic and Rangers players

stood united in solidarity

with Glen Kamara after the

Rangers midfielder reported

"vile racist abuse" during a

Europa League clash.

UEFA is investigating the

matter after Slavia Prague

player Ondrej Kudela denied

the accusation.

Crystal Palace forward

Wilfried Zaha recently

became the first English

Premier League player to

stand instead of kneeling.

The gesture was originally

started last year to express

support for the Black Lives

Matter movement following

the death of George Floyd at

the hands of a white police

officer in the United States.

"I think recent events and

past events tell you that you

have to keep changing

people's mindsets and

reminding them," Scotland

manager Steve Clarke said

on Monday.

"The knee, when it was

first taken, was a really

powerful symbol. It has

maybe become a little bit

diluted.

Olympics: 500

foreign volunteers

may be admitted for

Tokyo Games

SPORTS DESK

Around 500 foreign

volunteers may be allowed

into Japan under special

entry rules to assist with

the Tokyo Olympic and

Paralympic Games this

summer, sources with

knowledge of the matter

said Monday, reports

UNB.

Local organizers have

ruled out accepting

volunteers from abroad, in

principle, as a precaution

to stop the spread of the

novel coronavirus, but

could make an exception

for roughly 500 people

with specialized skills

necessary for running the

games.

People whose roles

cannot easily be performed

by somebody living in

Japan, such as experts in

certain languages, will be

selected from a pool of

roughly 2,000 volunteers

living overseas.

According to the

organizers, foreign

nationals made up roughly

10 percent of a total

80,000 volunteers before

the pandemic forced the

one-year postponement of

the games.

The organizing bodies of

the Olympics and

Paralympics formally

decided Saturday that the

games will be staged

without overseas

spectators due to the

pandemic.

The government will

consider ways to permit

the entry of the specialist

volunteers from overseas.

Japanese citizens living

outside Japan are expected

to be allowed to volunteer.

Bangabandhu Cup Int'l

Kabaddi begins Mar 28

SPORTS DESK

Bangabandhu Cup 2021 International

Kabaddi Tournament will commence at the

Shahid Noor Hossain National Volleyball

Stadium in the capital on March 28, reports

BSS.

Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation is going to

arrange an international competition to

mark the golden jubilee of Bangladesh

Independence and Mujib Barsho after 8

years with the five-nation which will end on

April 2.

The last international kabaddi was held in

Dhaka in 2013 -- Independence and

National Day kabaddi for men in March and

International Invitation kabaddi for women

in August.

National team head coach Abdul Jalil told

that BKF is going to arrange an international

tournament for the first time with the

participation of national teams.

"The federation was earlier organised

several international competitions with the

participation of regional teams or clubs, but

this is for the first time national teams are

taking part in a meet," he said.

Hosts Bangladesh will lock horns against

European nation Poland, African nation

Kenya and two South Asian nations Sri

SPORTS DESK

China coach Li Tie is missing

several key players, including

forward Wu Lei, as he

attempts to stamp his mark

on the national squad ahead

of must-win World Cup

qualifiers in June, reports

BSS.

Injuries and other factors

mean that the former Everton

midfielder is unable to assess

his full range of options as the

squad embarks on two weeks

of preparations in Shanghai.

Li named four naturalised

players in a 28-man squad,

but only the Brazil-born

attackers Elkeson and Alan

Carvalho took to the field

when training began on

Sunday. Former England

youth defender Tyias

Browning and another ex-

Brazilian, Fernando, are

injured and will not feature,

while captain Hao Junmin

did not take part in the

session.

London-born former

Arsenal midfielder Nico

Yennaris was left out because

he had only recently returned

to China.

Experienced defender

Zhang Linpeng was also not

named in the squad, but the

most notable absentee is the

29-year-old Wu, who came

on as a substitute for secondtier

Espanyol on Sunday and

has not made the trip home to

China.

"We're in touch with Wu

Lei all the time," said Li,

adding that "although he's far

away, in Spain, he is still a

very important member of

our team".

Li, appointed in January

2020, conceded that "it's a

pity that lots of injuries

happened to players

recently". "In the past year I

can feel that all the players

cherish the national team

more and more and they have

a strong desire to join the

team," he added. "In training

and games, I can see that the

players are working really

hard," added the 43-year-old

Li, who because of the

coronavirus is yet to take

charge of China in a

competitive match since

being named coach in

January 2020.

Lanka and Nepal in the Bangabandhu Cup

Kabaddi after a 15-month break.

The round-robin league basis

tournament's fixture is yet to be decided.

Among the touring teams, Poland and Kenya

will arrive on March 25 while Nepal and Sri

Lanka on March 26.

BKF unveiled the logo at BOA auditorium

on Monday. State minister for youth and

sports Zahid Ahsan Russell, Mp was present

there as the chief guest. BKF president and

DG of RAB Chowdhury Abdullah Al-

Mamun, vice-president and Managing

Director of Janata Bank Limited Abdus

Salam Azad, general secretary and Deputy

Inspector General of Police Habibur

Rahman and joint secretary and Additional

DIG Gazi Mozammel Hoque were also

present there.

BKF general secretary Habibur Rahman

said that International Kabaddi Federation

appreciated them for organising the meet.

The technical director of International

Kabaddi Federation Dr E Prasad Rao was

expected to land in Dhaka on Monday.

Besides, India's Pro Kabaddi referees Ajith

Kumar and Kripa Shankar, two Sri Lankan

referees and two Nepalese referees are

expected to come for officiating matches

along with 12 Bangladeshi referees.

Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation is going to arrange an international

competition to mark the golden jubilee of Bangladesh Independence and

Mujib Barsho after 8 years with the five-nation. Photo: Courtesy

China coach Li Tie says 'door open

to everyone' as injuries strike

In this file photo taken on January 5, 2020,

coach of China men's national football team Li

Tie, answers a question during a press conference

in Beijing. - China coach Li Tie is missing

several key players, including forward Wu Lei,

as he attempts to stamp his mark on the national

squad ahead of must-win World Cup qualifiers

in June 2021.

Photo: AP

Sharjeel happy with Pakistan

welcome after return from ban

SPORTS DESK

Pakistan opener Sharjeel Khan said Tuesday he was delighted with the welcome he had been

given since being recalled to the national squad after completing a lengthy ban for spot-fixing,

reports UNB.

The 31-year-old was banned in 2017 for five years-with half the sentence suspended-for his

part in rigging Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches in the United Arab Emirates.

Although illegal in Pakistan, gambling on cricket is widespread with punters betting on

specific outcomes during the game-such as the number of no-balls or wides bowled in a

particular over. This gives individual players the opportunity to "spot-fix"-influencing the

lucrative betting market without, supposedly, affecting the overall outcome of the match.

Sharjeel was named earlier this month in the squad to play a series of Twenty20

internationals in South Africa and Zimbabwe next month.

Scotland to stand

against racism

before Austria

qualifier

SPORTS DESK

Scotland's players will stand

against racism rather than

take the knee ahead of their

World Cup qualifier against

Austria, reports BSS.

Several Scottish

Premiership teams

including champions

Rangers and their Glasgow

rivals Celtic opted not to take

the knee before their games

last weekend.

Rangers, Celtic, Dundee

United and Motherwell all

stood before kick-off after

deciding that was a more

appropriate way to call for

action and change.

Scotland will do the same

in Thursday's opening

World Cup qualifier at

Hampden Park.

Celtic and Rangers players

stood united in solidarity

with Glen Kamara after the

Rangers midfielder reported

"vile racist abuse" during a

Europa League clash.

UEFA is investigating the

matter after Slavia Prague

player Ondrej Kudela denied

the accusation.

Crystal Palace forward

Wilfried Zaha recently

became the first English

Premier League player to

stand instead of kneeling.

The gesture was originally

started last year to express

support for the Black Lives

Matter movement following

the death of George Floyd at

the hands of a white police

officer in the United States.

"I think recent events and

past events tell you that you

have to keep changing

people's mindsets and

reminding them," Scotland

manager Steve Clarke said

on Monday.

"The knee, when it was

first taken, was a really

powerful symbol. It has

maybe become a little bit

diluted.

"There have been some

high-profile cases recently

and the abuse is still there,

and it's not acceptable.

WeDNesDAY, MArcH 24, 2021

10

Mehazabien in Biopic of Shakib

TBT reporT

A film is being made with the

biography of the world's best allrounder

Shakib Al Hasan. The

work has already come a long

way. However, it is currently

closed due to Corona. The

information was given by the

world's number one star Shakib

himself.

Shakib Al Hasan said, 'The

work of the biopic went a long

way. The story was almost ready,

too. But now everything is

hanging because of Corona. If

everything was fine, the work

would probably have started by

Actor Yami Gautam celebrated

the completion of her shoot for

Abhishek Bachchan-starrer

Dasvi on Monday. The actor

took to Instagram to share a

couple of videos from the sets of

the film and thanked the team

for giving her an "unforgettable

experience".

"Annnnnd it's a wrap on

'Dasvi' for me !Saying goodbyes

on certain film sets are difficult

because of the amazing &

memorable teamwork you've

had ! Thank you so much

#TeamDASVI for this

unforgettable experience &

getting #JyotiDeswal really

close to my heart," she wrote as

the caption to her Instagram

post.

now.'

He came to the live show of

popular cricket-based online

portal CricketFrenji on March 20

and shared the information.

Meanwhile, speculations

have already started on social

media about who is acting in

the biopic to be made about the

life of Bangladesh Shakib Al

Hasan. Many fans have said

who can be Shakib and his wife

Shishir!

Almost everyone wants to see

actress Mehazabien Chowdhury

instead of Shishir because of her

similar appearance. Yash Rohan

and Ziaul Roshan got more votes

On Tuesday, the actor also

went live on the social media

platform to chat with her fans.

During the impromptu live

session, she spoke about Dasvi,

her next film A Thursday and

also urged her fans to make

sure to to wear a mask when

they are in a public space.

Talking about her role in

Dasvi, Yami said, "I play an IPS

officer in the film. The film is

based on the education system

in India. And while it is a social

drama, it is very entertaining

also. I am excited and happy

with the work because I have

not done this kinda role

before." She added that "It is

not easy for anyone to shoot in

the middle of pandemic but I

in the role of Shakib. As Shakib's

face and voice have more in

common with Rohan, the

turnout is a bit towards him.

However, Roshan himself is also

known for playing good cricket.

Biopics of cricketers are

nothing new. Earlier, many

legendary cricketers including

Kapil Dev, Mahendra Singh

Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar,

Azharuddin appeared in the

movie.

After dominating the cricket

field Shakib's life will now be

seen on the big screen. However,

no biopic of any Bangladesh

cricketer has been made yet.

Yami does happy dance as

she wraps Dasvi

guess, human mind adapts to

the new ways of life."

The Bala actor was at the

airport, waiting for her flight

back to Mumbai. "As soon as I

land, I will meet the team of A

Thursday. The shoot for the

project will start in two days,"

she informed her fans.

She also spoke about her idea

of choosing such varied scripts.

"My idea of signing these films

is to play a different character in

different genre, and I want to

work hard," Yami said sharing

that she always feel nervous

before starting a new film but as

soon as she "give my first shot, I

feel okay."

Yami also congratulated

Manoj Bajpayee, Vijay

Sethupathi and Dhanush for

their National Award win.

While she said she still has to

watch Bhosle, she praised

Vijay's Super Deluxe and

Dhanush's Asuran.

"As an actor, I feel happy and

inspired when I witness such

amazing work," Yami

concluded.

Apart from Dasvi and A

Thursday, Yami also has

Missing, an Anirudh Roy

Chowdhary film. The actor said

she is looking forward to the

film, which is going to be a

"hard hitting" thriller.

Source: Indian Express

Mosharraf Karim in

Hoichoi's web series

TBT reporT

Famous actor of Bangladesh

Mosharraf Karim. From

absolute zero he has touched the

sky of success. He has a lot of

fans in Bangladesh as well as in

India. A few days ago, his movie

'Dictionary' was released in

West Bengal. His performance

there was highly acclaimed.

This time Mosharraf Karim is

going to appear in India's

popular web platform Hoichoi.

He has acted in a web series.

Recently, some new projects of

Hoichoi were announced. There

TBT reporT

Shamsunnahar Smrity, known by her stage

name Pori Moni, is a Bangladeshi actress

and model. Her notable films include Aro

Bhalobashbo Tomay, Rokto, Pure Jay Mon

and Swapnajaal.

Pori Moni is going to appear at the Amar

Ekushey Book Fair on March 30 evening as

Mike Tyson is getting in the TV

drama ring against himself. On

the heels of Hulu's

announcement of a Tyson

miniseries to be made without

his involvement, the boxing

great said he's producing a

limited series starring Jamie

Foxx. Filmmaker Martin

Scorsese and Foxx also are

among the producers.

"I have been looking to tell

my story for quite some time,"

Tyson said in a statement on

Monday. He said he looks

forward to creating a series that

"not only captures my

professional and personal

journey but also inspires and

entertains."

The announcement did not

include when and on what

is also the series starring

Musharraf Karim.

The name of this series is

'Mohanagar'. It was built by the

country's talented playwright

Ashfaque Nipun. It is learned

that in the web series,

Mosharraf Karim will be seen in

the role of Dhaka Metropolitan

Police Officer Harun.

The poster of the discussed

web series has been published

on Instagram by OTT platform

Hoichoi. It has been seen in that

poster of Hoichoi, Mosharraf

Karim is looking at his mobile in

the gap of work while in the

Jamie Foxx to play Mike

Tyson in a limited series

on boxer's life

uniform of DMP. The caption

on Instagram reads: "The law of

destiny does not leave anyone

alone."Talented actor Shamol

she will be busy at BFDC all day. But it's

not like she will come there show her face

and leave. She will stay there for a long

time.

This is not her first time at book fair.

However, the purpose of this time is

absolutely exceptional. She has already

gone twice before to buy books but, now

she is going to shoot a movie there.

Yes, Pori will be busy shooting in the

crowd of the book fair organized at

Suhrawardy Udyan across the main

premises of Bangla Academy in the capital.

Confirmed the director of 'Mukhosh',

Iftekhar Shuvo and the actress as well.

Shuvo said, 'I will be shooting at FDC till

the evening of March 30. I will go to the fair

with the whole unit in the evening. We

have made all preparations and permission

in this regard. I know it will be very difficult

to do the job. Readers and publishers who

come to the fair may also have some

problems. But we all have to give time for

the need of some good scenes of the film.'

outlet it will be shown.

Tyson called this "perfect

moment" for the project, citing

the Legends Only League he

launched last November with

his exhibition fight against Roy

Jones Jr. The pay-per-view

event included other bouts and

music acts. Last month, Hulu

said it had ordered the eightepisode

series Iron Mike,

saying it would explore the "the

wild, tragic and controversial

Mawla is with Mosharraf Karim

in this web series. The release

date of the series will be known

soon.

Pori Moni to shoot for

'Mukhosh' in Book Fair

Pori Moni will not be alone at the book

fair, there will also be Mosharraf Karim,

Roshan, Tareq Swapan and Pran Roy along

with her. Everyone is playing a useful role

in the film 'Mukhosh ', Shuvo added.

As for Pori shooting at the book fair is

mixture of thrill and fantasy. 'I might not

write poetry, but from inside I have a

feeling of poet. But it's true, the book fair

always attracts me. Last, in 2015 I visit

there for the second time.

Every time I decide to go but couldn't

make time. I never thought I would have to

go to the fair to shoot a movie. I am thrilled

to even think of it,' Pori said regarding the

shooting.

The producer said that after the fair,

shooting will be held again on April 3 at

BFDC. Basically, the main shooting of the

film is ending there. Then he will shoot the

song after Eid-ul-Fitr and release on Eid al-

Adha. Iftekhar Shuvo is directing and

producing the government-funded film

'Mukhosh' for the 2019-20 financial year.

life and career" of a polarizing

athlete. A release date wasn't

announced.

Tyson took to social media at

the time to slam the

production, calling it "cultural

misappropriation" and saying

he wasn't being compensated

for his story. Hulu didn't

respond to a request for

comment on his remarks.

Source: Hindustan Times

H o r o s c o p e

ArIes

(March 21 - April 20) : There's an

emotional intensity inside you today that's

squirming to find a way out, Aries. Sudden

outbursts are likely, so take care to hold

your temper in check. Surround yourself with good

friends who can support your erratic feelings. Don't be

clingy. Seek friends who are thoughtful listeners, not

permanent crutches. They may be feeling the same strong

tension and don't need an extra burden.

TAUrUs

(April 21 - May 21) : Today may have

some crazy emotional ups and downs,

Taurus. There seems to be an intense

cloud seeping into every part of your day.

Don't try to fool people. They will see right through

you. Bursts of positive energy will pop out of nowhere

to remind you of your more important purpose. Try

not to get so bogged down in the heaviness of the day

that you fail to spot opportunities that arise.

GeMINI

(May 22 - June 21) : This day will be filled

with many exciting surprises for you, Gemini.

Approach it with gratitude and you will be

amazed at the number of things that just

naturally seem to flow your way. Your generous heart will be

rewarded in unexpected ways. Old friends are likely to show

up. Open yourself up to conversations. Act spontaneously

and with a great deal of passion.

cANcer

(June 22 - July 23) : There's a larger

trend operating in your life, Cancer. It's

asking you to break the rules and enter a

new realm - a new mindset or way of

living. Today that trend comes into focus, as emotional

outbursts call attention to the changes. Your heart may

want to go one way while your brain wants to go

another. Take deep breaths and infuse a wave of calm

into the situation before you proceed.

Leo

(July 24 - Aug. 23): Pour yourself a

comforting cup of tea today, Leo. Take

a hot shower or a long bath. In short,

pamper yourself. You may be picking

up on the extra tension of the people around you.

Be conscious of this and make a mental note to

strip away the garbage that others dump on you.

You're a sensitive individual. Pat yourself on the

back and look out for sudden moves from others.

VIrGo

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): It may be that people

are a bit upset by some of your recent actions or

words, Virgo. The offhand remark you made a

couple weeks ago is catching up to you. What

you may consider friendly, lighthearted sparring may actual do

a bit of damage to someone's sensitive emotions, especially

today. Think before you speak. Others might not have as tough

a skin as they seem to have.

LIBrA

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): This is an exciting

day for you, Libra. You can accomplish

quite a bit. Your intuition is especially

acute and your sensitivity is strong.

Computers might irritate you today. It's possible to

get all worked up if your laptop crashes. Save your

work often. Keep in mind that it's just a machine.

Don't let it get the better of you.

scorpIo

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) : You might be a bit

jittery, even without caffeine,

Scorpio. Sudden actions may cause

people to freak out, since people will

be on edge in general today anyway. Save the

surprises for another time. If you need to tell your

boss that you're going on vacation for a little

while, now isn't the time. There's a rough edge to

the astral energy. Relax to soothe your soul.

sAGITTArIUs

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): Things may be

coming at you from all angles today,

Sagittarius. Sooner or later you will be

forced to take action. It may seem like

the walls of the room are slowly caving in. The

pressure is building and the air is getting stagnant.

Go out for a run. Exercise will help you release some

of that pressure you feel.

cAprIcorN

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): You may be excited

about an idea today, Capricorn, but

unfortunately no one else may be. You

spring up with enthusiasm only to

smack into a brick wall. One side of you may be

communicative and witty while the other is

confused. The two sides aren't really connecting well,

so perhaps you should just lay low. Hold on to your

ideas, and save their presentation for a later day.

AQUArIUs

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) : Much of today will

be a continuation of yesterday, but

with perhaps a bit more intensity for

you, Aquarius. There's an added buzz

in the air, like static on a radio. This background

noise may not provide the best environment to

work in, but you should be able to navigate with no

problem. Tune out the chatter and move on.

pIsces

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) : Today is one of those

days when you might feel like four people

have a hold of each of your limbs, Pisces. The

people are tugging and you're getting

stretched in every direction. Someone wants you to go there,

someone wants you to come here. Take some time out for

yourself and clearly state your needs to others. Make it known

what the best situation for you would be.

weDNeSDAy, MARCh 24, 2021

11

Sweden airports to

charge high-polluting

planes more

STOCKHOLM : Sweden is

planning to introduce a

bonus-malus scheme at its

two main airports in relation

to the amount of greenhouse

gas emissions that aircraft

produce, the government

announced Monday.

"This means that take-off

and landing fees can be

more significant when a

plane's climate impact is

higher and they can be

reduced when the climate

impact is lower," said the

ministry of infrastructure,

describing the plan as a first

in Europe and possibly the

world.

The measure is set to go

into effect in July and means

that newer and more efficient

aircraft will benefit

from the scheme while older

planes will be hit with higher

fees.

The project, which must

be approved by parliament

and concerns Arlanda airport

in Stockholm and

Landvetter in Gothenburg,

also takes into account aircraft

that use bio fuels.

The government said the

project is still under discussion

and being fine-tuned.

Sweden is where the

flight-shame, or flygskam,

movement began in 2018

that heaped pressure on

people to stop flying in order

to lower carbon emissions.

According to a 2017 study,

air travel by every Swede is

responsible for about about

1.1 tonnes of CO2, a 50 percent

increase from 1990.

Russia, China reject

accusations of vaccine

opportunism

MOSCOW : Russia and

China on Tuesday rejected

accusations they were

seeking to use coronavirus

vaccines to project their

influence around the world.

Speaking to reporters after

talks with Chinese

counterpart Wang Yi,

Russian Foreign Minister

Sergei Lavrov insisted that

both countries were guided

by principles of "humanity"

rather than geopolitical

interests.

"Russia and China have

been models of openness,

cooperation, and mutual

assistance," Lavrov said in

the southern Chinese city of

Guilin in comments released

by his ministry.

When it comes to tackling

the coronavirus pandemic,

he said, it is important to be

guided by "humanity and

the interests of saving lives"

rather than "geopolitical

considerations and

commercial approaches".

"Everyone, including our

Western partners, who are

trying to make Russia and

China look like some sort of

opportunists in the field of

so-called 'vaccine diplomacy'

should absolutely remember

that," Lavrov added.

"This is absolutely

divorced from reality."

Wang said it was wrong to

suggest China was

"scheming to conduct some

kind of vaccine diplomacy",

accusing some countries of

"selfish mass hoarding of

vaccines".

"Our intention from the

start is to let more people

receive the vaccine as soon

as possible," he said.

"For China and Russia,

our choice is not to benefit

only ourselves, but rather to

help the whole world."

China, where the

coronavirus originated, has

been supplying several

countries with vaccines,

sometimes for free.

Russia has been proudly

distributing its Sputnik V

vaccine, named after the

first satellites launched by

the Soviet Union.

Critics in the West accuse

the two powers of using the

vaccines to extend their

global influence, while

Moscow and Beijing say

Western countries are

buying up and hoarding

vaccines, often to the

detriment of poor

countries.

As part of a 10-day program, on the occasion of the birth centenary of Father of the Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) celebrated

the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by laying a wreath

at the portrait of Bangabandhu on Dhanmondi No. 32 Road.

Photo: Courtesy

Children have stronger antibody

response to Covid: study

WASHINGTON : Children who are 10 and

younger produce more antibodies in

response to coronavirus infection than adolescents

and adults, a study showed Monday.

The authors of the paper, which appeared

in JAMA Network Open, said the finding

helped illuminate why children are less susceptible

to severe Covid-19 than adults -

though this is still an area of very active

research and many factors are believed to be

at play.

A team led by researchers at Weill Cornell

Medicine examined almost 32,000 antibody

tests from New York City between April and

August 2020, finding that a similar number

of the 1,200 children and 30,000 adults

showed signs of past infection - 17 percent

and 19 percent.

The scientists then examined a subset of

patients who tested positive - 85 children

and 3,648 adults - to determine the levels of

immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies.

This is a key type of "neutralizing" antibody

that binds to the spike protein of the virus,

preventing it from invading cells.

The 32 children aged one to 10 years

showed median IgG levels almost five times

higher than 127 young adults aged 19 to 24

years.

Finally, they focused on a subset of 126

positive patients aged one to 24 years, none

of whom had experienced severe Covid-19,

to further characterize the antibody

response.

In this final group, children aged one to 10

years had on average more than twice the

levels of IgG antibodies of adolescents aged

11 to 18 years, who in turn had more than

twice the average level of young adults aged

19 to 24 years. The authors wrote: "Our findings

suggest that the differences in clinical

manifestations of Covid-19 in pediatric

patients compared with adult patients could

be partly due to age-related immune

response."

The fact that children are less prone to

severe Covid-19 is in some ways counterintuitive,

given how much they are affected by

other respiratory illnesses, and many theories

abound.

A paper in Nature Communications last

month by researchers in Australia suggested

children have a more active "innate" immunity

- the immune system's first line of

defense which gets triggered before it raises

antibodies, and involves cells such as neutrophils

that patrol the body looking for

infections.

Another theory is linked to the fact that

children have fewer cell receptors in their

respiratory tracts called "ACE2" which the

coronavirus uses to gain entry to our cells.

One paradoxical result from the new

research was that antibody levels were lowest

for young adults but rose again with age -

despite the fact that we know older people

are more vulnerable.

The authors admitted they could not completely

explain this and suggested the reason

for higher hospitalization and death rates

among the elderly could relate to higher rates

of comorbidities.

Obesity, which is a major risk factor for

severe Covid-19, is associated with a phenomenon

called "cytokine storm" where the

immune system goes into overdrive, damaging

organs.

The fact that obese people have a higher

baseline level of the signaling proteins called

cytokines could also be associated with

heightened antibody production, the authors

wrote.

Microsoft to reopen HQ, step

up in-person work worldwide

WASHINGTON : Microsoft said Monday it

would start reopening its headquarters

offices next week and implementing a

"hybrid workplace" that brings back more

employees around the world after a year of

remote work during the pandemic.

The move is the first formal reopening plan

to be announced by Big Tech firms which

have kept most employees on remote work

where feasible during the past year.

"Our approach is data-driven and

research-backed," said a tweet from the tech

giant which employs some 160,000 people

worldwide.

"As of today, after over a year in which

most Microsoft employees have worked

remotely, several of our work sites around

the globe have reached a stage that meets or

exceeds government requirements to

accommodate more workers," executive vice

president Kurt DelBene said in a blog post.

"Currently, Microsoft work sites in 21

countries have been able to accommodate

additional workers in our facilities -

representing around 20 percent of our global

employee population. On March 29,

Microsoft will also start making this shift at

our Redmond, Washington, headquarters

and nearby campuses."

DelBene said the hybrid model would

allow flexibility in allowing some employees

to continue remotely while bringing back

some to the office when conditions permit.

"At each of our global work sites, the

hybrid workplace model strikes a balance,

providing limited additional services on

campus for those who choose to return,

while supporting those who need to work

remotely or feel more comfortable doing so,"

he said. "Our goal is to give employees

further flexibility, allowing people to work

where they feel most productive and

comfortable, while also encouraging

employees to work from home as the virus

and related variants remain concerning."

At the headquarters in the northwest state

of Washington "we've been closely

monitoring local health data for months and

have determined that the campus can safely

accommodate more employees on-site while

staying aligned to Washington state capacity

limits," DelBene added.

Microsoft will adjust levels of in-person

and remote work at each of its locations to

factor in health conditions, with various

stages of reopening. A company survey

found 54 percent of employees favored a

"soft open" which gives people the option to

spend a portion of time in the office.

UK unemployment dips

to 5.0%: official data

LONDON : Britain's unemployment rate

dipped to 5.0 percent in the three months to

the end of January, remaining close to fiveyear

highs on the fallout from the coronavirus

pandemic, official data showed

Tuesday,

The rate compared with 5.1 percent in the

three months to the end of December, the

Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

"The UK unemployment rate, in the

three months to January 2021, was estimated

at 5.0 percent, 1.1 percentage points higher

than a year earlier," the ONS said.

Analysts said that while the rate had steadied

thanks to the UK government's jobs support

package paying the bulk of wages for

millions of private-sector workers, unemployment

was set to shoot higher once the

taps are turned off.

First vaccines

arrive in Covid-hit

Papua New Guinea

PORT MORESBY : Papua

New Guinea received its first

batch of coronavirus vaccines

Tuesday as the country raced

to quell a Covid-19 surge overwhelming

its fragile health

system.

An initial shipment of 8,000

doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine

was flown in from neighbouring

Australia, earmarked

to protect badly hit frontline

hospital staff.

Prime Minister James

Marape greeted the grey air

force C-17 bearing the vaccine,

three mobile storage facilities

and a small team of Australian

public health specialists at

Jacksons International

Airport in Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea survived

a year without widespread

community transmission, but

the impoverished Melanesian

nation is now detecting hundreds

of cases each day.

Some hospitals have been

forced to turn away new

patients due to a lack of medical

staff, who are testing positive

in large numbers.

With the total number of

cases nationwide tripling in

the past month alone,

authorities at the weekend

approved a series of measures,

including shutting

schools and bars and barring

non-essential movement.

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UK marks one year since

first virus lockdown

LONDON : Britain on Tuesday marks the

anniversary of its first coronavirus lockdown

with a "National Day of Reflection", which

will see parliament hold a minute's silence in

tribute to the more than 126,000 people who

have died.

"A year on, it is right that we take a

moment to reflect on what we as a nation

have been through," said Lindsay Hoyle,

Speaker of the House of Commons.

"None of us has escaped the ordeal of

Covid-19 - from the shock of having our

liberty taken away, to the heartbreak of

losing someone we loved," he added.

Lawmakers from both the House of

Commons and the House of Lords will fall

silent to pay tribute to "the many lives lost

and the families that mourn them" and to

thank frontline health workers.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered an

initial three-week lockdown on March 23,

2020 as the pandemic took hold, shutting

"non-essential" shops and services, and

banning gatherings of more than two people.

"From this evening, I must give the British

people a very simple instruction - you must

stay at home," Johnson told the nation a year

ago. "Because the critical thing we must do is

stop the disease spreading between

households."

The country's death toll at that time was

335. A year later it stands at 126,172.

Justifying his action at the time, the British

leader called the pandemic "the biggest

threat this country has faced for decades"

and said the state-run National Health

Service (NHS) would be unable to cope

without radical measures.

On Tuesday, Johnson said the year that

followed had "taken a huge toll on us all" and

called the anniversary "an opportunity to

reflect on the past year - one of the most

difficult in our country's history".

"We should also remember the great spirit

shown by our nation over this past year," he

added.

Britain recorded its first coronavirus death

on March 5, 2020, but was criticised for its

light-touch approach to containing the spread

compared to more stringent measures

elsewhere.

The prime minister had promised to "turn

the tide" of the outbreak within 12 weeks of the

initial lockdown.But a year later, Britain is now

in its third national lockdown, having recently

been hit by its latest and deadliest wave.

Bomb blast attack in

south China kills four

BEIJING : Four people were killed when a

man detonated a homemade bomb in a village

government office in southern China, authorities

said, in a rare act of violent social protest.

A 59-year-old man suspected of being

responsible for the explosive device was also

killed in the explosion, local police said on their

official Weibo account, adding that five people

were wounded in the blast.

The incident happened near the southern

city of Guangzhou on Monday morning in the

tiny village of Mingjing, which has about 3,000

residents and is the intended site of a major

property redevelopment that involves relocating

locals.

A video shared on news site Jiemian showed

a destroyed office, with blood splattered on the

walls and at least two people motionless on the

ground.

Local media said the blast occurred at the village

committee office, which decides on matters

linked to land use.

Officials had given 270 acres of land to a

developer in Shanghai last year to recreate an

old village to attract tourists, according to

Guangzhou Daily.

The eight-billion yuan ($1.2 billion) project

involves relocating farmers already on the

land. Several people who claimed to be living

near the area said online that the attack was

triggered by a dispute over compensation.

AFP could not independently verify that the

two are linked.

It is unclear how many families are to be

relocated for the project.

Farmers in China have faced forced evictions

and illicit land grabs for decades as the country

raced to urbanise, frequently leading to social

unrest.

Local governments have taken land from

between one million and five million agricultural

workers every year between 2005 to 2015

- often in violation of national land-use laws

with little or no compensation - a study by the

University of Hong Kong found. In a major

shake-up of its property law last year China

gave judges greater independence when ruling

on such issues and curbing the influence of

local officials, but the judiciary is still ultimately

answerable to the Communist Party.

US health agency raises

'concern' over AstraZeneca

vaccine trial data

WASHINGTON : A US government agency

Tuesday raised concerns that AstraZeneca

may have included out-of-date drug data in

information provided during US trials for its

Covid-19 vaccine.

A monitoring board had "expressed

concern that AstraZeneca may have

included outdated information from that

trial, which may have provided an

incomplete view of the efficacy data," a

statement from the National Institute of

Allergy and Infectious Diseases said.

"We urge the company to work with the

DSMB (Data and Safety Monitoring Board)

to review the efficacy data and ensure the

most accurate, up-to-date efficacy data be

made public as quickly as possible."

The statement comes after AstraZeneca

said Monday that stage three US trials had

showed its Covid-19 vaccine was 79 percent

effective at preventing the disease.

AstraZeneca said it was preparing to

submit its findings to the US Food and Drug

Administration to authorize the shot for

emergency use.

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Sujon Chandra Barman

Executive Engineer

Field Maintenance division-2

Dhaka-WASA

Wednesday, dhaka, march 24, 2021, Chaitra 10, 1427 BS, Shaban 9, 1442 hijri

Listless Tigers concede

ODI series against NZ

SportS deSk

Bangladesh conceded the three-match

seriesagainst New Zealand after losing the

second ODI by five wickets at Hagley Oval

in Christchurch today. By virtue of the victory,

New Zealand took anunassailable 2-

0 lead. The third and final ODI is on

Friday in Wellington, reports BSS.

Bangladesh's sloppy fielding and putting

down several important catches at

various stages of the game contributed

in their yet another defeat despitecompiling

a competitive 271-6 on the board.

The Tigers sensed their first victory on

New Zealand soil when they reduced the

hosts to 53-3 in the 11th over but nothing

went right from them thereafter,

largely due to the lack of spirited effort.

New Zealand rode on their captain

Tom L atham's brilliant century overhauling

the target with relatively ease,

making 275-5 in 48.2 overs.

Latham was finally not out on 110 off

108, hitting 10 fours andconfirmed the

victory, flicking a delivery past fine leg

for boundary. But Latham, who is leading

the side in the absence of injured

Kane Williamson, survived twice on 58

and 67 in the space of just five balls.

Firstly off-spinner Mahedi Hasan

missed an easy return catch and there

after Mehidy Hasan Miraz put down a

catch at backward point off Taskin

Ahmed delivery.

The miss also cost Bangladesh a

boundary. With the side reeling to53-3,

Latham, aided by Devon Conway

Shafiqul iSlam

It is dream for millions of students of the country is to work

for the government. The gateway to this is to appear in the

Bangladesh Civil Service examination and pass all the phases.

The lucrative job is not easy to bag as one might have to

wait at least 3 years to get a final recommendation as a cadre.

For example, it has taken almost three years to complete the

preliminary, written and oral examinations and select the

candidates for this 40th BCS. After that, it will take at least

another year for the selected candidates to complete the various

processes including verification and health examination

through various agencies including the police and issue the

gazette by the government. That translates a young person

has to wait at least four years to get a job through BCS examination.

There is a growing frustration

among the youth for such

lingering timeline.

In such a situation, the PSC has

taken the initiative to select the

candidates by completing the

examinations of the four BCS's

within a year from the next BCS

exam. The PSC has prepared a

roadmap for this over a period of

time. The PSC published the notification

of the 40th BCS examination

in September 2016. After the

preliminary and written examination, the oral examination

has started on 16th February this year. The total number of

job seekers is 10,984.

According to the PSC, if the work continues as it is now, it

is possible to complete the oral examination and release the

final results by next June.

PSC chairman Sohrab Hossain Said that they will work

according to this roadmap from the 44th BCS. The task is difficult

but not impossible. He is trying his best to unravel the

four ongoing BCS exams.

Besides the 40th BCS, different modules of 41st, 42nd and

43rd BCS examinations are also underway. 2,166 people will

be recruited in different cadre categories through the 41st

BCS exam. Applications for the test began at the end of 2019.

The total number of applicants is 4 lakh 4 thousand 650 in

brought the side back in track, sharing113

runs for the fourth wicket.

Skipper Tamim Iqbal broke the partnership,

inflicting a run out onConway

who struck 72 off 93 with seven fours. It

was his maiden half-centuryin just the

second game.

With New Zealand still needing 106

runs to win, Bangladesh could haveput

pressure on the hosts had Mushfiqur

Rahim not shelled a catch of James

Neesham behind the wicket when he

was on just 3.

Neesham scored 30 off 34 and added

76-run with Latham for the fifth wicket

that edged the side closer to victory.

Mustafizur Rahman removed Neesham

but Latham and Darryl Mitchell sailed

the side home without furtherfuss.

Mustafizur and Mahedi took two wickets

apiece for Bangladesh.

Earlier, captain Tamim Iqbal hit 78

while Mohammad Mithun struck afluent

73 not out as Bangladesh compiled a

respectable total.

Tamim's 78 off 108 the included 11

boundaries was his 50th half-centuryin

ODI cricket and also was the cornerstone

in guiding Bangladesh to a strongtotal,

shrugging off the memory of 131 in

the first match in which theyconceded

an eight-wicket defeat.

Mithun played the key role at the

death with an unbeaten 73 off 57,clattering

six fours and two sixes. Even though

Bangladesh lost opener Liton Das for

naught after being sent to bat first,

Tamim kept the side unscathed.

tamim's 78

off 108 the

included 11

boundaries

was his 50th

half-century

in odi cricket

and also was

the cornerstone

in guiding

Bangladesh to

a strong total.

photo : BCB

Rohingya camp fire

Death toll

climbs to 11

Shafiul alam, Cox'S Bazar CorreSpondent

The bodies of 11 people, including that of

three women and two children, were

retrieved from the debris after a fire swept

through Balukhali Rohingya camp in

Ukhiya upazila of Cox's Bazar district on

Monday.

Seven people of the 11 deceased have

been identified and their identities will be

disclosed later, said Md Mohsin, secretary

to the Ministry of Disaster Management

and Relief, at a press briefing at the office

of Refugee, Relief and Repatriation

Commissioner in Cox's Bazar town on

Tuesday.

Some 9,300 shanties, 136 learning centers

and a police barrack were burnt into

ashes, affecting over 45,000 people, he

said. An 8-member probe body, led by

Refugee, Relief and Repatriation

Commissioner (RRRC) Shah Rezwan

Hayat, was formed to investigate the fire

incident, Mohsin said.

The investigation committee will submit

its report after three working days.

Earlier, Additional Refugee, Relief and

Rehabilitation Commissioner Md

Samsuddouza said seven firefighting

units put the fire under control around 10

pm on Monday. Members of the Army,

police, APBn, Red Crescent and volunteers

joined the firefighters and conducted

the rescue operation, he added.

Sihab Kaisar, assistant superintendent

of APBn-8 police, said a portion of APBn

barrack was also damaged in the fire

although the arms and other valuables

were removed safely from the barrack.

pSC to complete BCS exams within a year

the preliminary stage.

Two thousand doctors will be recruited for government

health facilities through the 42nd special BCS exam. The 200

marks preliminary test held on February 28. The PSC will

then select the final candidate with an oral test of 100 marks.

The application period for the 43rd BCS has been extended

by two months till March 31.

In reality, the universities will open on May 24. The government

has said that the application time for the BCS exam will

also be postponed in line with the announcement. The PSC

chairman said the application deadline for this BCS would be

extended.

According to PSC sources, their roadmap has set a target of

taking the preliminary examination and publishing the

results in 95 days, starting from the notification of the BCS

examination. The online registration

(application) activities will

continue for 30 days. The work of

preparing and moderating the

written examination (compulsory)

question papers will continue

during the preliminary examination

activities.

Then the entire written test will

be completed in 127 days. Of

these, written test of compulsory

subject will be taken in seven

days and written test of post

related subject will be taken in 12 days. The answer sheets of

the written test will be evaluated in a total of 75 days.

Other work will be done in the remaining days including

publication of written test results. The entire course of oral

examination has been taken for 110 days. Oral examination

will be taken in 100 days. In the remaining days, the final

results are to be published by doing ancillary works in the

roadmap of PSC.

The PSC basically selects the candidates according to the

demand of the government. The right to appoint a candidate

rests solely with the government. Asked whether the initiative

to complete one BCS exam in a year is possible, former cabinet

secretary Ali Imam Majumder told, first of all, he welcomes

this initiative. Second, a BCS should be completed

within a year and it is possible.

1.4 million with TB lost out on

treatment in first yr of Covid

DHAKA : An estimated 1.4 million fewer

people received necessary care for tuberculosis

(TB) during 2020 compared with

the previous year, because of Covid-19,

the World Health Organization (WHO)

said on Monday, reports UNB.

Latest data from the UN health agency

from more than 80 countries, showed a

reduction in treatment of 21 percent in

the first year of the pandemic, compared

with 2019, reports UN News. The

biggest differences were in Indonesia

(down 42 pc), South Africa (41 pc), the

Philippines (37 pc) and India (25 pc).

"The disruption to essential services for

people with TB is just one tragic example

of the ways the pandemic is disproportionately

affecting some of the world's

poorest people, who were already at higher

risk for TB," said Tedros Adhanom

Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

"These sobering data point to the

need for countries to make universal

health coverage a key priority as they

respond to and recover from the pandemic,

to ensure access to essential services

for TB and all diseases."

TB remains one of the world's deadliest

infectious killers. Each day, nearly

4,000 people die from TB and close to

28,000 people fall ill with this preventable

and curable disease. Global efforts to

combat it have saved an estimated 63 million

lives since 2000. Ahead of World TB

Day on Wednesday 24 March, WHO

pointed out that some countries have

LGD focuses 7

issues to reach

urban amenities

to villages

DHAKA : The Local Government

Division (LGD) is focusing on seven

issues to reach urban amentias to villages

as pledged in the electoral manifesto

of Awami League (AL).

The issues are rural communication,

rural growth centers and haats, rural

water supply and sanitation, waste

management, community space and

recreation, upazila master plan and

capacity building of Upazila Parishad-

Union Parishad.

The government has already

approved the action plan which has recommended

formulating 25 guidelines

or policies and conduct 36 surveys on

the implementation of 'My Village-My

City' pledge in these seven areas, LGRD

and Cooperatives Minister Md Tajul

Islam said.

To this end, he said, the government

has already taken a project titled 'My

Village, My Town Technical Assistance'

with a cost of Taka 26 crore for the formulation

of guidelines or policies and

conducting the surveys.

Local Government Engineering

Department (LGED) and Department

of Public Health Engineering (DPHE)

are jointly implementing the project

that will end in February 2022.

Under the project, the government

will appoint 13 consultants for overseeing

the formulation of guidelines or policies

as well as survey work.

Outlining the plan for turning villages

into towns, Md Tajul Islam told BSS in

an interview that 15 villages are being

taken up under the pilot project to

expand the modern city facilities to each

village and those services will gradually

be expanded to all other villages.

already taken steps to sidestep the impact

of the new coronavirus on the delivery of

TB services.

Successful policies have included

expanding the use of digital technologies

such as computer-aided diagnosis in chest

X-rays-particularly beneficial in countries

lacking sufficient numbers of trained radiographers-along

with the provision of

remote advice and support and providing

home-based TB prevention and care.

Despite these innovations, many people

who have the preventable disease are

still unable to access the care they need.

Globally, some 10 million people fall ill

with TB every year.

"WHO fears that over half a million

more people may have died from TB in

2020, simply because they were unable to

obtain a diagnosis," WHO said, adding

that this is by no means a new problem;

before Covid-19 struck, the gap between

the estimated number of people developing

TB each year and the annual number

of people officially diagnosed with the

virus was about three million.

"The pandemic has greatly exacerbated

the situation," the UN health agency

said. In new recommendations to help

health authorities tackle the problem,

the WHO urged systematic TB screening

for the following groups: household

and close contacts of people with TB,

people living with HIV, people in prisons

and detention centres, people

exposed to silica (mainly miners).

DHAKA : BNP Secretary General Mirza

Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday

alleged that the government is celebrating

the Golden Jubilee of Independence keeping

people and freedom fighters "away".

"The government is celebrating the

Golden Jubilee without people as it's

become isolated from them. The freedom

fighters have no place in the government's

Golden Jubilee celebration programmes.

Even, political parties have no presence

there," he said

The BNP leader said only foreign guests

are coming to Bangladesh to celebrate the

Golden Jubilee and they are being told

and shown that the country is on the crest

of development.

Fakhrul made the remarks while talking

to reporters after visiting BNP joint secretary

general Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel at

Holy Family Hospital in the city. Shoel has

been receiving treatment at the hospital as

he was injured during a clash with police

in front of the Jatiya Press Club on

February 28.

He said their party must welcome the

foreign friends and heads of governments

of five countries to Golden Jubilee celebrations.

But the BNP leader voiced anger as the

government has "restricted" them from

holding the programmes their party has

taken to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of

Independence on the "pretext of foreign

guests' presence. People's movement is

also being obstructed."

The BNP leader questioned the purpose

of Indian Prime Minister Narendra

Modi's upcoming visit to Bangladesh.

"Is the Indian Prime Minister coming

here to celebrate the Golden Jubilee, or is

he coming to carry out a campaign for the

West Bengal Assembly elections? We're

getting such an indication from Indian

Dhaka-Cox's Bazar

train service expected

to augment tourism

prospects

DHAKA : Unveiling a fresh route with

the potential of attracting both foreign

and domestic tourists, the government

is set to launch a Dhaka to Cox's Bazar

train service at the end of next year.

The fresh initiative is expected to further

boost tourism to the coastal beach

town famous for its long, unbroken

stretch of natural sandy sea beach, at the

southern tip of Bangladesh. The installation

of rail tracks for the route will be

concluded by December 2022, Railways

Minister Nurul Islam Sujan told UNB.

"Visitors will be able to travel on train

direct from Dhaka to Cox's Bazar next

year. Although the project term was

fixed until June 2022, I'm keeping six

months in hand," Sujan said.

Two Bangladesh Railway projects are

among the ten megaprojects sketched

by the government, the minister

informed, adding: "One is to install rail

tracks from Dohazari to Cox's Bazar."

Once it opens, the railway's expansion

in the tourism hotspot of the region will

be expanded significantly and at the

same time it will contribute for the

advancement of the country.

To attract the tourists railway stations

will be decorated lucratively and safety of

the commuters will be ensured, Nurul

Islam said. An iconic railway station will

be built spending Tk 215 crore in the shape

of an oyster where all international standard

facilities will be available, he said.

on the

occasion of the

arrival of the

indian

prime minister

narendra

modi, all kinds

of preparations

have already

been completed

by the

administration

in Satkhira.

photo :

Star mail

Govt celebrating Golden Jubilee

without people:Fakhrul

newspapers and our local newspapers," he

observed.

Referring to media reports, Fakhrul said

the main purpose of his visit is to see the

temples of their followers as part of a

move to appease the voters in West

Bengal.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on March

26 on a two-day visit to join the celebrations

of 50 years of Bangladesh's independence

and the birth centenary of

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman.

He is also scheduled to visit

Bangabandhu Memorial in Tungipara

and Orakandi, a sacred shrine of the

Matua community in Gopalganj, and

another temple in Sathkhira.

Fakhrul said their party has long been

saying the unsettled issues, including a fair

share of the waters of common rivers and

border killing, should be resolved to

improve further the bilateral ties with

India. "It should also be clear to people

about what we're gaining from increasing

the connectivity."

The BNP leader said their party thinks

border killings should be stopped immediately

as it is an inhuman act. "The government

cannot solve this problem

though it says it has a very strong friendship

with India."

He said the government has given India

the share of water of the Feni River unilaterally,

though it has failed to sign any deal

over the sharing of water of the Teesta

River. "A bridge is also being built for connectivity.

But there's no solution to our

basic problems."

Fakhrul said their party still hopes that

the government will solve the problems of

the country's millions of people by presenting

their demands in the right way.

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

24-03-2021

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