27-11-2021

Chile approves Covid
shots for childen
aged 3 and up
SANTIAGO: Chile on
Thursday announced it
would start vaccinating
children aged three and up
against the coronavirus,
after
successfully
innoculating around 90
percent of its initial target
population, reports BSS.
Children under the new
rollout will receive the
Chinese CoronaVac shot
already used for kids aged
six to 15, the Public Health
Institute said.
For 16 to 18-year-olds,
Chile uses the
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
The decision to use
different shots was based on
studies with CoronaVac in
China that showed the
Chinese vaccine had a
higher rate of adverse
reactions in older children
than in younger ones, the
institute said.
Chile joins Venezuela,
Colombia and neighbor
Argentina in vaccinating
children from age three.
Nicaragua and Cuba are
vaccinating toddlers as
young as two.
Younger children will also
start getting vaccinated in
Europe, where the EU's drug
regulator on Thursday
cleared the Pfizer/BioNTech
shot for use in children aged
five to 11.
Chile, with a population
of 19 million, has so far
vaccinated some 13.8
million people, over 90
percent of its target group of
adults aged 18 and older.
Some 1.75 million people
have contracted the virus in
Chile, and 38,000 have died,
according to official figures.
More than 50 reported
dead in Siberia coal
mine accident
GRAMOTEINO: More than 50
people were reported to have
died Thursday after smoke filled
a Siberian coal mine and a
rescue effort ended in tragedy,
reports BSS.
Senior managers at the mine
in Russia's Kemerovo region
had been detained for suspected
safety violations, after the latest
deadly accident to hit the
country's vast mining industry.
Russian news agencies
quoted local authorities as
saying that 52 people were dead,
including miners and six
rescuers who had been part of
an aborted search operation.
"According to preliminary
information, no one is left alive
in the mine," state news agency
TASS quoted a source in the
local emergency services as
saying.
The Listvyazhnaya mine,
near the town of Belovo in the
Kemerovo mining region, filled
with smoke in the early hours of
Thursday with 285 people
inside.
Most were able to evacuate,
but officials had said 35 miners
were unaccounted for. It was not
immediately clear what had
caused the accident, though
some Russian media reported
that dust in a ventilation shaft
caught fire, causing the mine to
fill with smoke.
The Asian Specialized Hospital in Chittagong has been awarded the World Confederation of Business Houston Award (BIZ)
for its contribution in the field of medicine. The award was presented at a ceremony held in St. Regis, Doha, Qatar recently.
Managing Director Lion Salauddin Ali received the award on behalf of Asian Specialized Hospital. Photo: S M Akash
Life becomes easier, safer as solar
lamps illuminate Raipura
NARSINGDI: Solar street lamps
installed in Raipura municipality make
the lives of locals easier as they can now
move within their locality safely at
nighttime, reports BSS.
In the last monsoon, when Mukter
Hossain was returning home from
Raipura town in a stormy night,
conventional street lights went out of
order suddenly due to power
disruption. He got panicked thinking
how he would go home in such a rainy
night as darkness shrouded
everywhere.
But, Mukter noticed that some solarpowered
lamps were illuminating on
the streets, which made him
encouraged to go home on foot under
the light as there was no vehicle on
roads because of bad weather.
A resident of Hasimpur of Raipura,
Mukter had returned home that night
without facing troubles despite the
adverse weather.
"Locals are getting benefited because
of the solar lamps installed by Raipura
municipality. Now they can return
home during night easily," he said.
Mukter recalled that once many areas
of Raipura town were robbery-prone
and the locals became anxious while
getting out of their homes in fear of
dacoits.
But, he said, the number of robbery
incidents declined significantly after
recent installation of solar-powered
street lamps, improving the law and
order situation.
About the benefits of the solar lights,
Mukter said: "A solar light was installed
near our community graveyard. If any
person dies in the evening, he or she
can be buried even at night, using the
solar lamp."
Raipura Pourashava under the Local
Government Division installed 160
solar-powered lamps in its area under a
Taka two-crore project titled 'Solarpowered
street lamps installation in
Raipura Municipality aiming to cope
with adverse impacts of climate
change'.
The project was implemented in
fiscal 2019-20 with financial support
from Bangladesh Climate Change Trust
Fund (BCCTF).
Joynal Abedin, a shopkeeper, said
when the sun sets, the lanes of his
locality would have gone under
darkness and people wanted to avoid
those lanes at night.
"After the evening, people did not
want to come to my shop in front of the
municipality office. But, now they visit
my shop until midnight after
installation of solar lights," he said.
Shukur Mahmud, an employee of
Maa Enterprise at Raipura Bazar, said
the solar lamps help improve security
here as people now can move in
Raipura town more safely.
"Now we feel more secured after
installation of solar lamps. We thank
Raipura municipality for this," he
added.
Despite getting benefited from the
solar lamps, locals are worried about
the sustainability of the lamps. "These
lamps are useful for us but we do not
know how long those would sustain,"
Mukter added.
Dhiman Chanda Roy, project director
and former assistant engineer of
Raipura Municipality, said 160 solar
lamps were installed in the
municipality area under the Taka twocrore
project.
He said after implementation of the
project, the thieving and robbery
incidents have reduced significantly in
the town.
As a green technology, solar energy
helps cut carbon emission and cope
with adverse impacts of the climate
change and that is why the
Environment, Forest and Climate
Change Ministry stressed the need for
installation of solar lamps on streets,
Roy said.
Dr Muhammed Forruq Rahman,
manager-research and advocacy of the
Network on Climate Change,
Bangladesh (NCC, B), said as
Bangladesh's economy is currently
booming, energy needs to grow faster.
"Meeting the growing demand is a
core concern for Bangladesh. However,
Bangladesh energy mainly relies on
fossil fuels while more than 75 percent
of power is generated from natural gas.
Very recently, the government
instigated coal-based plants to produce
energy to fulfill its growing demand,"
he said.
Going forward, Bangladesh should be
looking for an alternative source - a
renewable source, Forruq said, adding
that Bangladesh needs to expand its
renewable energy market, by ensuring
technical and financial support from
the global community.
He said during fiscal 2019-20 with
financial support from the BCCTF,
some 12 solar-based projects were
approved.
Solar-powered street lamps
installation in Raipura municipality
would be a good example to promote
such activities throughout Bangladesh
avoiding fossil-based energy
dependence, the NCC,B manager said.
Bangladesh is eyeing to increase the
Under the government incentive and rehabilitation program in Rabi season, free distribution of
seeds and chemical fertilizers of various crops has been inaugurated among 2650 small and marginal
farmers of Gournadi upazila of Barishal on Friday.
Photo: Gias Uddin Mia
contribution of renewable energy to its
overall power generation to about 40
percent by 2050 from less than three
percent now.
As part of the target, Bangladesh's
INDC proposed for 12 million tonnes
unconditional reduction in GHG
emission from Business as Usual (BAU)
scenario by 2030 and a further 24
million tonnes conditional reduction in
GHG emission with support from the
international community taking the
base year 2011, according the Nationally
Determined Contributions (NDCs)
2021 submitted to United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC).
The National Solar Energy Roadmap,
2021-2041 has been drafted to frame a
long-term vision for the nation and set
possible capacity targets for the
country's solar energy initiative. The
roadmap outlines a few general as
well as specific and time-bound
measures to achieve the target by 2041.
22 more test
positive for Covid-19
in Rajshahi division
RAJSHAHI: Twenty-two more people
have tested positive for Covid-19 in seven
districts of the division on Thursday,
taking the caseload to 99,317 since the
pandemic began in March last year,
reports BSS.
However, the new positive cases show
a triggering trend compared to the
previous day's figure, said Dr Habibul
Ahsan Talukder, divisional director of
Health, adding that a total of sixteen
people were infected on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the recovery count rose to
95,701 in the division after 14 patients
were discharged from the hospitals on
the same day. The death toll reached
1,680, including 685 in Bogura, 323 in
Rajshahi with 205 in its city and 175 in
Natore as no new fatality was reported
during the last 24 hours span, Dr
Talukder added.
Besides, all the positive cases of Covid-
19 have, so far, been brought under
treatment while 23,084 were kept in
isolation units of different dedicated
hospitals for institutional quarantine. Of
them, 19,730 have been released.
Meanwhile, 50 more people have been
sent to home and institutional
quarantine afresh while seven others
were released from isolation during the
same time.
Drugs seized in
C'nawabganj
CHAPAINAWABGANJ:
Members of Border Guard
Bangladesh (BGB) seized
1,000 pieces of yaba tablets, 12
bottles of phensidyl, 300 grams
of heroin and nine bottles of
foreign liquor in two separate
drives from Chapainawabganj
frontier areas Thursday night,
reports BSS.
BGB said, being informed, a
patrol team of BGB 59
battalion from Ajmatpur
border out post conducted a
raid in Refugeepara frontier
area at 10pm and seized 1,000
yaba tablets and 12 bottles of
phensidyl in an abandoned
condition.
Later, another team of BGB
from the same BOP conducted
a raid in Tohakhana frontier
area at 11.15pm and seized 300
grams of heroin and nine
bottles of foreign liquor.
No Covid death recorded
in Manikganj for 77th
consecutive day
MANIKGANJ: The Covid-19
situation in the district is
continuing improving as no
death was recorded
yesterday for the 77th
consecutive day, reports
BSS.
District health department
sources said no new
infection was reported after
testing 25 samples at
Colonel Maleque Medical
College PCR Lab during the
last 24 hours till this
morning here.
Medical Officer of
Manikganj Civil Surgeon
Office Dr. Rounok Mushrafe
said a total of 8,214 persons
were detected Covid-19
positive in the district so far
after testing 48,022
samples.
SUTURDAY, NoveMBeR 27, 2021
7
Member of Parliament-15, Nilphamari-4 constituency Ahsan Adelur
Rahman Rahman Adel inaugurated the work of paving of Bahagili Steel
Bridge Bankim House Road near Magura GC (Kishoreganj-Taraganj) Road
and Janpad Road in Kishoreganj Upazila recently. Photo: Mafe Sheikh
Experts stress jackfruit processing
to ensure its value addition
RAJSHAHI: Agriculture experts and
researchers have unequivocally called for
promoting jackfruit processing for its value
addition and protection from being wasted
after the best uses of modern technologies,
reports BSS.
There are bright prospects of adding
value of the seasonal fruit so all the
government and non-government entities
concerned should come forward and work
together to materialize the existing
prospects.
They came up with the importance while
addressing a workshop titled "Value
Addition of Jackfruit through Postharvest
Technologies and its Marketing Strategy -
Ways to Move Forward" at Fruit Research
Station (FRS) here yesterday.
Postharvest Technology Division (PHTD)
of Bangladesh Agricultural Research
Institute (BARI) and NewVision Solutions
Limited hosted the workshop funded by
Postharvest Management and Marketing of
Jackfruits project of Krishi Gobeshona
Foundation (KGF).
PHTD Senior Scientific Officer Dr Golam
Ferdous Chowdhury and NewVision
Project Manager Kaiser Alam presented
two keynote papers on 'Postharvest Loss
Reduction Technologies of Jackfruit' and
'Value Chain Development and Marketing
Strategy of Jackfruit' respectively.
Additional Secretary to the Ministry of
Agriculture Kamalaranjan Das addressed
the meeting as chief guest, while PHTD
Chief Scientific Officer Hafizul Haque Khan
was in the chair.
FRS Principal Scientific Officer Dr Alim
Uddin welcomed the participants.
UK to ban travel from six
African countries due to
new Covid variant
LONDON: Britain on Thursday said it would ban travel
from six southern African countries, after South Africa
detected a new Covid-19 variant with a large number of
mutations, reports BSS.
"The early indication we have of this variant is it may be
more transmissible than the Delta variant and the vaccines
that we currently have may be less effective against it,"
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said.
Javid said the new variant, which South Africa
attributed to a surge in cases and had also been detected in
travellers from the country in Botswana and Hong Kong,
had not been found so far in Britain.
But he said British scientists were "deeply concerned"
and as a precaution a decision had been to suspend all
flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini,
Zimbabwe and Botswana from 1200 GMT on Friday.
"We will be requiring anyone that arrives from those
countries from 4:00 am on Sunday to quarantine in
hotels," he added.
"If anyone arrives before then they should self-isolate at
home and take a PCR test on day two and day eight.
"And if anyone has arrived from and of those countries
over the last 10 days, we would ask them to take PCR
tests."
Britain has been among the hardest hit by Covid-19,
with some 144,000 deaths since the start of the outbreak
early last year.
Positive cases remain stubbornly high -- more than
47,000 were recorded in a 24-hour period to Thursday --
but more than 80 percent of people aged 12 and
overdecision to use different shots was based on studies
with CoronaVac in China that showed the Chinese vaccine
had a higher rate of adverse reactions in older children
than in younger ones, have been double-jabbed with a
vaccine.
Nearly 29 percent have received a third booster dose, as
part of a government drive to ease pressure on hardpressed
health services during the winter months, when
other seasonal respiratory infections are high.
Britain's government was widely criticised for its travel
and quarantine policy earlier in the pandemic, Pourashava
under the Local Government Division installed 160 solarpowered
lamps in its area under a Taka two-crore project
titled 'Solar-powered street lamps installation in Raipura
Municipality aiming to cope with adverse impacts of
climat when it kept its borders open to foreign travellers
even as infection rates spiralled.
Dr Ferdous Chowdhury told the audience
that a jackfruit can weigh between 5 and 30
kilograms and contain hundreds of seeds
that are rich in protein, potassium, calcium,
and iron-all of which are important for
growth.
"It's a miracle. It can provide so many
nutrients and calories - everything," he
added.
Anyone might be surprised to know that
jackfruit - the national fruit of Bangladesh -
is a fruit in high demand all over the world,
he also said.
Reportedly, up to 50 percent of jackfruits
grown in Bangladesh valued at around
Taka 500 crore have been wasted because
the fruit is rotten if it's not eaten or
preserved within a few weeks, Dr Ferdous
said.
So, proper collection, management,
processing technology and conservation is
very important for substantial and
sustainable reduction of the yearly losses,
he continued.
The fruit itself is a good source of Vitamin
C, while the seeds are rich in protein,
potassium, calcium, and iron as about onefifth
of a pound of the fruit has
approximately 95 calories, he went on
saying. In his remarks, Kamalaranjan Das
said Jackfruit contains high-powered
antioxidants that protect the human body
from harmful cancer.
Taking part in open discussion, many of
the participants, including entrepreneurs,
bankers and government officials put
forward a set of recommendations on how
to promote jackfruit processing and its
marketing.