09-07-2021

FRIDAY, JULY 9, 2021
11
The Premier Bank Limited, one of the most renowned and well established private commercial
banks in Bangladesh, celebrated World MSME Day 2021 through virtual platform on Sunday, 27 July
2021 to maintain social distancing and safety practices. Husne Ara Shikha, General Manager, SME &
Special Programs Department, Bangladesh Bank attended the program as Chief Guest. M. Reazul
Karim, FCMA, Managing Director and CEO presided over the virtual program while Mohammed
Emtiaz Uddin, SEVP & Head of SME & Agriculture Banking Division hosted the program. In the virtual
celebration the top MSME clients from the 25 highest performing branches of the bank were
awarded in recognition of their steady growth and overall fiscal performance. During the program,
Husne Ara Shikha expressed her appreciation to Premier Bank for achieving all MSME related targets
set by Bangladesh Bank and for arranging such a wonderful program on World MSME Day.
Managing Director and CEO of The Premier Bank Limited, M. Reazul Karim, FCMA said that
Premier Bank has been working continuously towards establishing itself as the most SME friendly
bank in Bangladesh.
Photo : Courtesy
'Changed circumstances' for
Iran nuclear deal: US senator
VIENNA : Stalled efforts to revive the
2015 Iran nuclear deal must address
the "changed circumstances" since the
accord was negotiated, a US senator
from President Joe Biden's Democratic
party told AFP.
"There is a strong, almost universal
desire by Congress... to go beyond the
sunset dates that were included in the
JCPOA," said Senator Ben Cardin,
referring to dates in the deal beyond
which certain restrictions on Iran's
nuclear activity will no longer apply.
The 2015 deal delivered relief from
UN and Western sanctions for Iran in
return for strict curbs on the country's
nuclear programme.
However, it has been slowly
disintegrating since former US
President Donald Trump withdrew
from it in 2018 and re-imposed
sanctions on Iran. That prompted
Tehran to disregard several of the deal's
limits on its nuclear activities. The talks
in Vienna to revive the deal have made
little progress in recent weeks, and
Iran's latest breach was reported by the
International Atomic Energy Agency
Oil on troubled waters:
Row shows Gulf powers
on diverging paths
DUBAI : A startling public
row between Saudi Arabia
and brash neighbour the
UAE has exposed the steadily
diverging paths of once
inseparable allies who are
competing to profit from
what may be the world's last
oil boom, reports BSS.
Wrinkles in relationships
between the Gulf monarchies
are usually resolved behind
palace walls, but a fiery
debate over the future of
global oil production burst
into the open this week.
The United Arab Emirates
has bitterly opposed a
proposed deal by the OPEC+
alliance of oil-producing
countries, slamming it as
"unjust" and triggering a
stalemate that could derail
efforts to curb rising crude
prices amid a fragile postpandemic
recovery.That is a
rare challenge to Saudi
Arabia, the world's numberone
oil exporter-as well as the
Arab world's largest economy
and custodian of Islam's
holiest sites.
But the fault lines were
drawn before this week's
virtual talks. And while
observers say a full rupture is
unlikely, the new competitive
spirit will only intensify.
Saudi Arabia's ambitious
de facto ruler Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman and
the UAE's strongman Crown
Prince Mohammed bin
Zayed have long been seen as
the region's power couple,
known by their matching
initials-MBS and MBZ.
(IAEA) on Tuesday. Iran was intending
to produce uranium metal enriched to
20 percent, it said, prompting the
United States to respond by warning
Iran to stop what it called its nuclear
"brinksmanship". "Today is different
than 2015, when these agreements
were negotiated," said Cardin, a
member of the Senate's Committee on
Foreign Relations. "Circumstances
have changed and they require us to
respond to where we are today."
The process of reviving the JCPOA
had to address "issues beyond just
nuclear", he argued-including Iran's
alleged activities in the fields of
"ballistic missiles, terrorism and
human rights".
While not saying that these issues
had to be in the text of any revived
agreement, Cardin added that the US
and its allies needed "to have a pathway
towards resolving Iran's activities".
Iran has rejected any suggestion that
the JCPOA could be changed during
the talks, insisting instead on a US
return to the existing accord. Cardin
was in Vienna as part of a US
congressional delegation for a
programme that included a briefing
from IAEA Director General Rafael
Grossi. In a statement sent to AFP after
the meeting, Cardin said Grossi had
given the delegation "a comprehensive
report on the challenges of monitoring
Iran's nuclear program" and that they
had "a candid discussion about the
status of negotiations". In late
February, Iran limited the IAEA's
access to nuclear sites and a temporary
agreement on the issue of inspections
has since expired, with no indication of
if and when it will be renewed. Also part
of the delegation was Republican
Senator Roger Wicker. He told AFP he
had "voiced opposition" to a possible
return to the JCPOA and that
"virtually" all his Republican colleagues
in the Senate had "a high degree of
scepticism" that Iran intended to keep
to any nuclear-related commitments.
The delegation is in Europe for a series
of engagements including participating
in the Parliamentary Assembly of the
OSCE, which has its headquarters in
Vienna.
Afghan forces deploy to
counter Taliban assault
KABUL : Afghan authorities on Tuesday
deployed hundreds of commandos and
pro-government militiamen to counter the
Taliban's blistering offensive in the north,
that has seen more than 1,000
government troops flee into neighbouring
Tajikistan.
Fighting has raged across several
provinces, but the insurgents have
primarily focused on a devastating
campaign across the northern
countryside, seizing dozens of districts in
the past two months.
Last week, all US and NATO forces left
Bagram Air Base near Kabul-the
command centre of anti-Taliban
operations-effectively wrapping up their
exit after 20 years of military involvement
that began in the wake of the September 11
attacks.
"We are planning to launch a big
offensive to retake the lost territories from
the enemy," Fawad Aman, a spokesman
for the Ministry of Defence told AFP.
"Our forces are being organised on the
ground for this operation."
Hundreds of troops and progovernment
militiamen were deployed in
the northern provinces of Takhar and
Badakshan where the Taliban have
captured swathes of territory, often
without any fighting.
Afghan defence officials have said they
intend to focus on securing major cities,
roads and border towns in the face of the
Taliban onslaught, launched as US and
NATO troops pressed ahead with their
final withdrawal in early May.
The militants' successes have spurred
fears that Afghan forces are in crisis,
particularly now vital US air support has
been massively curtailed by the handover
of Bagram Air Base.
A foreign security analyst said on
condition of anonymity that the Taliban's
attacks in the north were to "crush some of
their old enemies" like the notorious
warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum.
"Last year, the Taliban had attacked
areas near cities like Lashkar Gah and
Kandahar in the south and they were
battered by US air strikes," the analyst
said.
"This time they went for the north and
have achieved tremendous success. The
timing of the assault in the north has been
right given the lack of US air power now."
Belarus opposition
figure Babaryko
jailed for 14 years
MOSCOW : A court in Belarus on Tuesday
sentenced one of strongman Alexander
Lukashenko's leading critics to 14 years in
prison on fraud charges.
"Viktor Babaryko was sentenced to 14
years in a maximum security colony," his
supporters said, using the 57-year-old's
Twitter account.
Former banker Babaryko was arrested in
June last year ahead of a disputed
presidential election that sparked
nationwide demonstrations which gripped
the ex-Soviet country for months.
Babaryko had planned to run in the
presidential race and was considered one of
the strongest opponents to incumbent
Lukashenko, who has been in power for close
to three decades.
Babaryko was accused of receiving bribes
and "laundering funds obtained by criminal
means" when he was head of
Belgazprombank, the Belarusian branch of a
bank belonging to Russian energy giant
Gazprom.
Brazil reports 1,648
more COVID-19
deaths
RIO DE JANEIRO : Brazil
registered 1,648 more
deaths from COVID-19 in
the past 24 hours, bringing
the national death toll to
528,540, the health ministry
said Wednesday.
A total of 54,022 new
infections were detected,
raising the total caseload to
18,909,037, the ministry
said.
Brazil has the world's
second highest COVID-19
death toll, after the United
States, and the third largest
caseload, following the
United States and India.
The South American
country, which is
experiencing a new wave of
infections with hospitals
overwhelmed by patients,
has a mortality rate of 251.5
deaths per 100,000
inhabitants, the ministry
said.
So far, more than 106.2
million doses of COVID-19
vaccines have been
administered nationwide,
and over 27.7 million people
have been fully vaccinated, it
added.
WHO urges 'extreme
caution' in lifting
Covid restrictions
GENEVA : The World Health
Organization on Wednesday
urged "extreme caution" for
countries considering lifting
Covid-19 restrictions,
warning that high vaccination
rates would not stop
transmission of the virus
increasing.
The UN health agency
urged governments not to
squander hard-won gains and
return to scenes of
overwhelmed hospitals and
exhausted health workers.
Asked about England's
plans to ditch most of its
coronavirus restrictions from
July 19, WHO emergencies
director Michael Ryan said: "I
would urge extreme caution
in the complete lifting of
public health and social
measures at this time,
because there are
consequences for that." WHO
figures show that globally,
after a decline in newly
reported cases for seven
consecutive weeks, there was
a slight increase in new cases
in the past two weeks.
Cases jumped 30 percent in
the WHO's European region
over the past week. European
countries have administered
70 vaccine doses per 100
inhabitants, according to AFP
figures. "Making assumptions
that transmission will not
increase because we're
opening up, because of
vaccine, is a false
assumption," said Ryan.
"Transmission will increase
when you open up, because
we don't have vaccines in
everybody... and we're still not
sure to what extent
vaccination protects against
the ability to be infected or
have onward transmission.
"With increased transmission
in the community, we then
put our most vulnerable at
risk again."
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Saudi prince sees Blinken
in low-key US reception
WASHINGTON : Saudi Arabia's deputy
defense minister met Wednesday with
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a lowkey
visit to Washington focused partly on
Yemen as the United States takes a greater
distance with its ally.
Khalid bin Salman-the younger brother of
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who
US intelligence says ordered the murder of
US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi-was
the highest-ranking visitor from the
kingdom to visit Washington since President
Joe Biden took office.
The State Department said the prince met
senior State Department officials Victoria
Nuland and Derek Chollet and that Blinken
participated in only part of the meetingsimilar
to Prince Khalid's reception a day
earlier at the Pentagon.
Blinken spoke with the prince about
"efforts to achieve a comprehensive,
nationwide ceasefire and transition to a
political process in Yemen," where Huthi
rebels have mounted a deadly offensive, the
State Department said in a statement.
The group also discussed "the need for
economic reform and humanitarian relief for
the Lebanese people and other key bilateral
issues, including human rights," a State
Department statement said.
The prince also met Tuesday with Jake
Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser,
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who discussed the "US commitment to help
Saudi Arabia defend its territory as it faces
attacks from Iranian-aligned groups," the
White House said.
As Crown Prince Mohammed retains the
title of defense minister for himself, it would
not be a breach of protocol for Prince Khalid,
his deputy, to lack full-fledged meetings with
cabinet members.
But the lateness of the trip also reflects a
hardening of US attitudes toward Saudi
Arabia under Biden, who took office vowing
to end the carte blanche to the kingdom
granted by his predecessor Donald Trump,
who visited Riyadh on his first foreign trip.
Biden declassified intelligence on the
killing of Khashoggi, who was strangled and
dismembered in the Saudi consulate in
Istanbul after writing critically of the crown
prince, and dialed down US support for the
Saudi offensive in Yemen, which the United
Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian
disaster.Upsetting some fellow Democrats,
Biden stopped short of imposing sanctions
on Crown Prince Mohammed over the
Khashoggi killing, saying it was inevitable to
deal with him.
Trump had condemned the killing of
Khashoggi, a contributor to The Washington
Post, but said Saudi Arabia's prolific
purchases of US weapons outweighed
human rights concerns.
Vaccines rushed to Sydney
as outbreak spirals
SYDNEY : Australia's prime minister
announced 300,000 coronavirus vaccine
doses will be rushed to Sydney Thursday, as
the country's largest city struggled to bring a
Delta outbreak under control.
As a citywide lockdown entered its third
week, there were signs of the outbreak
spiralling, with a record increase of 38 new
cases in the last 24 hours.
Scott Morrison said the situation in the city
was "very serious" and urged five million
Sydneysiders not to give in to fatigue and
obey stay-at-home orders.
The outbreak has nearly reached 400
cases, and is spreading quickly across the
largely unvaccinated city, putting Australia's
Covid-zero status at serious risk.
"We have come so far over these last 18
months, and now's the time to keep pressing
forward. Now is not the time to give in to that
frustration," Morrison told reporters in
Sydney.
Police announced they would be bolstering
patrols in the city's southwest to enforce
lockdown rules as case numbers rise.
Despite several outbreaks, Australia has
managed to avoid the worst of the pandemic
through snap lockdowns, intensive contact
tracing, and effectively shutting its borders to
the rest of the world.
After a top New South Wales health official
suggested it might be impossible to bring the
outbreak under control, regional leaders
threatened to cut Sydney off from the rest of
the country.
The premier of Western Australia vowed to
indefinitely extend a ban on travellers from
the city and surrounding New South Wales
"if they don't get it under control".
"I think that's a statement of the bleeding
obvious," Mark McGowan said.
Travel bans between states have become a
regular occurrence in Australia, but the
threat of closing borders until vaccines are
rolled out was a marked escalation.
Around eight percent of Australians have
been fully vaccinated-one of the lowest rates
among rich nations-and widespread
vaccination is not expected to be in place
until the end of 2021. Australian Medical
Association president Omar Khorshid
insisted "there was no alternative to
elimination" and said tighter restrictions
may be needed to stop community spread.