06-10-2021

Wednesday, Dhaka: October 6, 2021; Ashwin 21, 1428 BS; Safar 28, 1443 Hijri
Hasina's climate leadership lauded
at CVF-COP26 dialogue
DHAKA : Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina's climate leadership and the
Mujib Climate Prosperity Decade Plan
2021-2030 have been highly praised at
the 4th CVF-COP26 Dialogue in
London, reports UNB.
Former British Prime Minister David
Cameron said Bangladesh as the CVF
Presidency should make a powerful
statement at the COP26 to ensure that
world leaders take heed of the extreme
climatic vulnerabilities of the 48 CVF
countries contributing less than 5% of
global emissions.
Recalling his visit to Bangladesh in
2017, Cameron praised Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina's leadership, paying tribute
to the country's economic progress
and development.
Maldives former President Mohamed
Nasheed came up with a strong opinion
that climate vulnerable countries should
be provided with fresh financing under
the loss and damage initiative in order to
avoid falling into debt due to climaterelated
loss and the impact of Covid on
the economy.
He suggested decolonizing climate
dialogue to give all parties a fair chance.
Bangladesh High Commission in
London in partnership with the Climate
Vulnerable Forum (CVF) Secretariat
organized the Dialogue recently, said the
Bangladesh High Commission in
London on Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul
Momen joined the dialogue virtually
from Washington DC while prominent
global climate leaders and eminent climate
experts including CVF Thematic
Ambassador on Ambition and former
Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed;
the UK's Shadow Secretary of State for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Edward Miliband; Commonwealth
Secretary-General Patricia Scotland;
and Chair of the CVF Expert Advisory
Group Prof. Dr. Saleemul Huq, participated
in the dialogue as co-panelists.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to the
UK Saida Muna Tasneem made a presentation
on the Mujib Climate
Prosperity Decade Plan 2021-2030,
announced by Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina at the CVF Leaders' Summit on 7
October 2020 under Bangladesh's CVF
Presidency during the Mujib Year.
Hajj management
in 2022 to be
tech-based : State Minister
DHAKA : As Hajj management in 2022
will be technology based, necessary
training will be given to pilgrims and
others concerned , said State Minister
for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque
Khan on Tuesday, reports UNB.
"Pilgrims will perform hajj using different
apps due to Covid-19 pandemic
and currently Umrah activities are being
performed by using apps in Saudi
Arabia," he said at a programme over
Hajj management at the conference
room of the ministry.
The junior minister also said that the
Saudi government also expressed its firm
expectation that the Hajj will be held in
2022 due to improvement in Covid situation.
Concerned officials, guides, representatives
of Hajj agencies and pilgrims will be
made aware of technology use in Hajj
management and steps will be taken to
give them training , he said.
Mozammel for renaming
organisations named after
anti-liberation people
NILPHAMARI : Liberation War Affairs
Minister AKM Mozammel Haque yesterday
said the names the organisations
named after anti-liberation people must
be changed. "It is a matter of disgrace for
the nation to have any organisation
named after any anti-liberation person
in independent Bangladesh. No organisation
can be named after any anti-liberation
person. The name of such organisations
should be changed," he said.
Mozammel was speaking at a freedom
fighters' rally here as the chief guest after
inaugurating newly constructed two
freedom fighters complexes at
Nilphamari sadar and Syedpur upazila.
He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is
working relentlessly to increase the status
and benefits of the valiant freedom fighters.
Works are underway to build 30,000
Bir Nibas (houses) for insolvent freedom
fighters, the minister said, adding that
free medical treatment is being ensured
for the freedom fighters.
Online lies leave 1 in 5 girls
in safety fear: Survey
DHAKA : False information online has left
one in five girls (20%) feeling physically
unsafe, according to The Truth Gap, a new
report by Plan International, reports UNB.
The research includes a landmark survey
of over 26,000 girls and young women from
26 countries, which also found that exposure
to lies and mistruths are having a profound
impact on how they engage with issues ranging
from Covid-19 to politics.
Plan International, which says the findings
lay bare the 'real life consequences' of misinformation
and disinformation on girls and
young women, is calling on governments to
educate children and young people in digital
literacy. One in three reports that false information
is affecting their mental health, leaving
them feeling stressed, worried and anxious.
In-depth interviews carried out by Plan
International suggest that girls are feeling
unsafe because online exchanges are
increasing social tensions within communities.
Others reported concerns about fake
events advertised on social media placing
them at physical risk, or unreliable medical
advice that could harm their health.
More than a quarter (28%) of those surveyed
have been led to believe a myth or 'fake
fact' about Covid-19, and one in four (25%)
have questioned whether to get vaccinated
against the virus.
One in five (19%) say mistruths are so rife
that they have distrusted election results,
while one in five (18%) have stopped engaging
in politics or current affairs as a result.
Girls and young women from low- and
middle-income countries were more likely to
be affected by unreliable or false information
online, and twice as likely to have questioned
whether to get the vaccine (31%) than those
in high income countries (16%).
In the first large-scale global study to examine
the gendered impact of misinformation
and disinformation online, it was found that
nearly nine in 10 (87%) of girls and young
women think it has had a negative impact on
their lives. Globally, there was no online source
that the majority of those surveyed trusted to
provide reliable information.
The most trusted source was mainstream
news media, selected by 48%, above educational
institutions, family members and
national governments.
The survey found that Facebook was the
social media platform that girls believe to
have the most misinformation and disinformation,
selected by 65% of respondents, followed
by TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube -
all at 27%.
According to Charlotte, 23, from Wales,
the abundance of false information on the
internet can leave people "very, very vulnerable".
"I think sometimes there's that lack of
accountability in the online world where
people can just do things without getting
repercussions," she explains.
Bhagyashri Dengle, Executive Director of
Gender Transformative Policy at Plan
International, said the internet shapes girls'
opinions about themselves, the issues they
care about and the world around them.
"Our research makes clear that the spread
of false information online has real life consequences.
It is dangerous, it affects girls'
mental health, and it's yet another thing
holding them back from engaging in public
life." Every day, girls and young women in all
their diversity are bombarded online with
lies and stereotypes about their bodies who
they are and how they should behave.
"Images and videos are manipulated to
objectify and shame them. Rumours are
spread as a form of abuse. And girls have
very real fears that fake events and profiles
will lure and trick them into danger offline,"
Dengle said.
As part of its Girls Get Equal campaign,
Plan International is supporting girls worldwide
in calling on governments to take
immediate action to increase children and
young people's digital literacy, equipping
them with the knowledge and skills to identify
false information and engage confidently
in online spaces.
The organisation's survey found that seven
out of 10 girls and young women (67%) have
never been taught how to spot misinformation
or disinformation at school.
Mia, 20, from Kenya said: "We're in a
world where everything is being done on the
internet. We're doing everything digitally. So,
I think [digital literacy] should be taught in
the schools from...the primary schools to secondary
schools to universities.
The people of the Golakhali village of Shyamnagar in Satkhira are constantly fighting for their lives.
Natural disasters, cyclones, tidal surges, river erosion bring curses in the lives of people in the area
almost every year. Not just natural disasters, man-made disasters cause terrible disasters in their
lives due to the extreme indifference of the Water Development Board.
Photo: PBA
Sylhet hospital
India hands over
2 Life Support
ambulances
SYLHET : Indian High Commissioner to
Bangladesh Vikram K. Doraiswami on
Tuesday handed over two Life Support
ambulances to the Sylhet Osmani Medcial
College and Hospital and Khadimpara 31-
Bed Hospital, Sylhet Sadar.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul
Momen joined the function held at the
Sylhet Osmani Medical College and
Hospital (SOMCH).
The brand new ambulances, fitted with
modern, critical life-saving equipment, can
be used by paramedics and first responders
to provide quality emergency care and
trauma life support to patients en-route to
hospital for treatment.
These ambulances are part of the overall
programme for supply of 109 Life Support
ambulances, as announced by Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his
state visit to Bangladesh in March 2021.
India has assisted Bangladesh in its fight
against Covid-19 in a wide variety of
means, including the supply of PPE kits,
medical equipment, testing kits, vaccines,
and through capacity-building and experience-sharing
workshops.
Bangladesh too responded when India
needed assistance during the second
wave of Covid earlier this year.
As a close friend of Bangladesh,
India remains committed to doing all
it can to assist Bangladesh, within the
limits of its capacity, in its response to
improving public health and welfare of
its people, said the Indian High
Commission in Dhaka.
Sundarbans tourism
Now focus on automation
to improve services
KHULNA : The government will launch
a pilot project in December next, aiming
to bring tourism management in the
Sundarbans under automation with a
smart app, reports UNB.
Using the app, 'Sundarbans', one can
get all the travel formalities done sitting
at home. This will not only save the time
of travellers but also ensure hassle-free
booking process and make things easier
for the forest department to provide better
services to tourists.
According to the Forest Department,
this automation programme on
Sundarbans travel management is being
implemented under the Skill
Development Project of Mobile Games
and Applications by the Department of
Information and Communication
Technology.
Mihir Kumar Dey, the forest conservator
of Khulna region, said, "The
Sundarbans tourism management is
being automated as part of building a
Digital Bangladesh. It's being implemented
under the A2I programme of the
Prime Minister's Office."
This will further improve the tourism
activities of the forest department and
will benefit all those involved in tourism.
A tourist from any part of the country
or abroad can access all the information
about Sundarbans travel through this
app. Here one can find the lists of
tourism centres and vessels, including
the addresses and phone numbers of
vessel owners and other information as
this mangrove forest has certain tourist
attractions for one or three-day trips.
If a tourist wants to visit the
Sundarbans for just one day, he or she
can enter the apps and click on the oneday
travel option and the names of
Karamjal, Harbaria, Kalagachia and
Shekhertech tourist centers will come.
The place of departure and the names,
addresses and vessel fares will be displayed
in detail.
Two hundred tourists can travel
together every hour through the one-day
tourist centre as it is aimed at preventing
crowds and maintaining biodiversity of
the forest.
In the case of more than 200 tourists
per hour, they will be registered for the
next hour. This is how 1,600 tourists can
visit the Sundarbans in eight hours every
day.
Similarly, those who want to visit the
Sundarbans for three days can also see
the names of Katka, Kachikhali, Dublar
Char and Nilkamal (Hironpoint) tourist
centres and access the names and
addresses of the vessels, names of their
owners and the number of seats available.
Dr Abu Naser Mohsin Hossain,
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of
Sundarbans West Division and the focal
person of the automation project, said
about 1.5 to 2 lakh of tourists visit the
Sundarbans every year.
Progress at snail's pace 2 years
after govt opens smart prepaid
gas metres to private competion
The construction work of the newly constructed third exit terminal at Hazrat Shahjalal International
Airport in the capital is progressing at a fast pace. Photo: PBA
DHAKA : Two years after the government
opened the prepaid gas metre market to the
private completion, none has been able to
enter the fray due to lack of enough preparation,
reports UNB.
The government's policy, announced in
2019, initially got enthusiastic response.
Many local and foreign companies came
forward to enter the lucrative market with
import, development, manufacturing, marketing
and supply of smart prepaid gas
metre for consumers. None of these companies
has so far succeeded in their ventures.
Officials at the state-owned Petrobangla,
responsible for setting the standard and
technical specifications for the metres, said
they are still hopeful about the arrival of the
private sector.
"Already a good number of companies
made demonstrations of their metres and
those were enthusiastic. We hope they will
be able to meet our standard and technical
specifications and finally come to the market",
said Habib Uddin Ahmed, general
manager (engineering), and head of the
technical committee of the Petrobangla.
He, however, said it takes some time to
meet our compliances as the things are new
and such ventures involve huge investment.
Many of the companies are studying the
market first and then they will either move
for importing metres or setting up plants to
manufacture locally. So they need time for
their preparation, he added.
Sources said local Beximco and
Bangladesh Smart Electrical Company Ltd.,
a joint venture of West Zone Power
Distribution company and Chinese firm
Hexing Electrical Co. Ltd, are among those
showing interest in the business.
They said the Energy and Mineral
Resources Division under the Ministry of
Power, Energy and Mineral Resources took
up the move for opening smart prepaid
metre market for private sector in 2019.
After a long discussion with the stakeholders,
it published a gazette notification on
December 4 in 2019 setting a detailed standard,
technical specifications and compliances
for the smart pre-paid metres.
It also invited private companies to come
to the market with their own devices by taking
approval from the Petrobangla.
The Energy and Mineral Resources
Division brought some amendments to the
previous specifications and published the
new gazette "Policy on Purchase and
Installation of Prepaid / Smart Gas Metres
from Open Market at Residential Level,
2019 (Amended 2021)" on Sep 23 this year.
About the private sector's involvement in
smart pre-paid metre, State Minister for
Power, Energy and Mineral Resources
Nasrul Hamid said the government opened
the market for the private sector for pre-paid
gas metres following success in prepaid electricity
meters.
"Actually if the market is open for all, it
will create a competition and ultimately
price of metres will come down automatically",
he said. He also mentioned that initially
Titas Gas's each prepaid metre costs $80.
"Now, we hope, this cost will come down to
$30 if a fair competition is ensured", he told
UNB.