17-10-2021

Sunday

DhAKA: October 17, 2021; Kartik 1, 1428 BS; Rabi-ul-Awal 9,1443 hijri

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net

Regd.No.DA~2065, Vol.19; N o. 169; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00

international

Authorities call

fatal stabbing of UK

lawmaker terrorist act

>Page 7

Perpetrators of violence

during Durga Puja

will face the music,

warns Quader

DHAKA : The government is determined

to identify those behind the evil

move of disturbing communal harmony

in the country, Awami League General

Secretary Obaidul Quader said on

Saturday adding that the culprits will be

brought to justice through impartial

investigation, reports UNB.

Quader, also road transport and

bridges minister, was addressing the triennial

council of Rajbari District of the

ruling party. He said the attacks on mandaps

and Hindu homes during just concluded

Durga Puja celebration was preplanned

evil communal forces.

"There had been no violence or problem

during the Durga Puja of the Hindu

community in the last 12 years but this

time the evil communal forces have created

this misdeed in a planned manner,"

he lamented.

Referring to those who attacked

Hindu temples as enemies of the values

of the 1971 War of Liberation Quader

further said that unity and resistance

must be built against these evil forces.

He also commented that it is normal

for those who can't tolerate the development

of the country to get upset.

Quader also warned that those who

are repeatedly looking for opportunities

for violence through by capitalizing on

religious faiths will not be allowed to do

so. Trashing the allegation that the government

is involved in these atrocities,

the AL leader said BNP wants to take

advantage from this issue.

The government has no reason to be

involved in activities that destabilises the

country, he added. Quader said strict

organizational action will be taken against

those who sent disputes names to the

party's central committee as candidates

for the UP election. He said those who are

currently deprived of party nominations

have nothing to fear as Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina will evaluate their sacrifice

if they wait patiently.

DU to resume physical

classes from today

DHAKA : Dhaka University will resume

physical classes from Sunday, after nearly

18 months of Covid-forced closure,

reports UNB.

The decision was taken at a meeting of

the university's Academic Council on

October 7, UNB has learnt.

On October 5, the university reopened

its residential halls to its fourth-year

honours and master's students who got

at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Second- and first-year students were

allowed into the halls from October 10,

maintaining all Covid-safety protocols.

Earlier, on September 28, the Provost

Standing Committee and the Academic

Council made the decision to reopen

dorms at a syndicate meeting chaired by

the vice-chancellor. The dorms had

remained shut since March 20 last year

following the outbreak of Covid-19 in

Bangladesh, which prompted the government

to shut down all education

institutions across the country.

Zohr

04:43 AM

11:50 PM

03:55 PM

05:35 PM

06:50 PM

5:57 5:31

SPortS

Tigers out to beat

Scotland for a winning

start in T20 WC

>Page 9

Don't waste food as crisis

looms over many

countries:Hasina

DHAKA : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

on Saturday urged all to stop wasting

food as many countries in the world are

going to face a famine-like situation,

reports UNB.

"Wasting food has to be reduced.

There's a scarcity of food on one side of

the world and heavy wasting on the

other... there shouldn't be any food wasting,"

she said.

Sheikh Hasina said this while addressing

the World Food Day held at Hotel

InterContinental joining from her official

residence Ganobhaban.

The theme of this year is "Our actions

are our future-Better production, better

nutrition, a better environment and a

better life".

The Prime Minister urged scientists to

think about the reuse of excess food and

conduct research in this regard.

She asked all to remain vigil so that

Bangladesh never runs into a food crisis

and no one can conspire to push the country

into a famine. "All need to be watchful.

Inshallah, we'll fulfil the demand for food

and ensure food security."

Hasina added that there will be no

food scarcity in the country as the government

has taken numerous programmes

and projects in this regard.

Underlining the importance of

research, she said, "Research works

need to be carried forward as this is a

continuous process."

Talking about various types of researchdriven

inventions that the Bangladeshi scientists

achieved, including drought

resilience and flood resilience rice for

ensuring food security in the country, she

said, "I think the scientists of Bangladesh

are the best in the world."

The Prime Minister said the government

has introduced a land zoning system

to protect arable lands of the country.

"We'll surely go for development but

by preserving the arable lands," she said.

Hasina mentioned that the government

is taking various types of preparations

so that the country does not lag

behind in food production during the

upcoming fourth industrial revolution.

"Our aim is to ensure food security

along with nutrition. For that, we've

given importance to protein production,"

Hasina said.

Briefly describing the remarkable success

in Bangladesh's food production in

the last 12 years, Hasina said Bangladesh

will export food items to earn foreign

exchange after fulfilling the local

demand.

Bangladesh advances one notch

in global rule of law ranking

DHAKA : Bangladesh has moved up one

notch in a global ranking of countries

where the rule of law prevails, to 124th out

of 139 countries across the world, reports

UNB. Its overall score in the index however

declined to 0.40 from 0.41.

In South Asia, Bangladesh ranked 4th

among six countries in the Rule of Law

Index 2021 of the World Justice Project

(WJP), an independent advocacy group

founded in the United States.

Bangladesh's 124th position out of 139

territories worldwide and 4th out of six

countries in South Asia comes amid

declining rule of law scores across most of

the globe, with the Covid-19 situation

accentuating trends in weakening institutional

checks and diminishing civic space.

Like the previous year, the top three global

places for overall rule of law went to Denmark

(score 0.90), Norway (0.90) and Finland

(0.88) and Venezuela (score 0.27), Cambodia

(0.32) and the Democratic Republic of Congo

(0.35) this year too remained at the bottom of

the WJP index released on Thursday.

Othercountries in the top ten performers

in the index are Sweden (4th),

Germany (5th), Netherlands (6th), New

Zealand (7th), Luxembourg (8th), Austria

(9th) and Ireland (10th).

Despite the improvement, Bangladesh

remains just ahead of Afghanistan and

Pakistan (with the global rankings of 134th

and 130th respectively) in the South Asia.

Nepal topped in this region with the global

70th position, which was followed by Sri

Lanka and India with 76th and 79th positions

respectively.

Performance is determined using 44

indicators across eight main rule of law

factors, each scored and ranked globally

and regionally.

The factors are constraints on government

power, government openness, corruption,

fundamental rights, order and

security, regulatory enforcement, and

criminal and civil justice systems.

Bangladesh performed worst in fundamental

rights factor and then criminal justice.

Its score is 0.31 in fundamental rights

and 0.32 in criminal justice, 0.35 in absence

of corruption, 0.37 in constraints on government

powers, 0.38 in civil justice, 0.40

in regulatory enforcement, 0.42 in open

govt and 0.63 in order and security.

The WJP Rule of Law Index is a report

that measures the rule of law based on the

experiences and perceptions of the general

public and in-country legal practitioners

and experts worldwide.

Bangladesh

Awami League

has started

selling nomination

forms to select the

candidates for the

party symbol in

the 8th phase of

the municipality

and the third

phase of the

Union Parishad

elections

announced by

the Election

Commission.

Photo : Star Mail

art & culture

Dighi to starts

shooting for

'Srabon Jochonay'

>Page 10

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have arrested two drug peddlers along with Ice,

also known as Crystal Meth, weighting about 5.5 kilograms worth Taka 12 crore in a raid

from city's Jatrabari area.

Photo : Courtesy

Two drug peddlers

held with crystal

meth in city

DHAKA : Members of Rapid Action

Battalion (RAB) have arrested two drug

peddlers along with Ice, also known as

Crystal Meth, weighting about 5.5 kilograms

worth Taka 12 crore in a raid from city's

Jatrabari area. The arrested are Khokon, 33,

the main leader of 'Ice Drug Syndicate' and

one of his associates, Md Rafiq, 32.

Director of the Legal and Media Wing of

RAB Commander Khandaker Al Moin said

this at a press briefing held at RAB Media

Center in city's Karwan Bazar area yesterday.

Being informed, an elite team of RAB-

15, with the help of RAB headquarters'

detective branch, raided the area and

nabbed the duo with those illegal drugs in

the early hours of Saturday.

It was the biggest consignment of the

Ice in the country, RAB sources said.

RAB Commander Khandaker Al Moin

said the estimated market value of the drug

is about Taka 12 crore. They also seized a

foreign-made pistol, five bullets, two mobile

phones, three local and foreign SIM cards

and cash Taka 20,000. Legal action will be

taken in this regard, Moin added.

Medical student dies in

quicksand of Jamuna River

BAGURA : A student of Dinajpur

Medical College died after slipping into a

quicksand near the bank of Jamuna

River in Bagura on Saturday, police said,

reports UNB.

Md Mosabbir Hossain alias Fine, 22, a

second year student, went for a boat ride on

the river in the morning. He stepped into the

quicksand as he got down in the swallow

waters close to the river bank near Prem

Jamuna Ghat area in Sariakandi upazila.

Officer-in-Charge of Sariakandi

police station Mizanur Rahman said

Mosabbir was rescued from the quicksand

by locals and rushed to Upazila

Health Complex, where doctors found

him dead. His body was handed over to

the family members and a case of

unnatural death was filed in this regard,

said OC Mizanur.

Romania to recruit

40,000 foreign workers

Bangladesh to seize opportunity

DHAKA : Romania, a country in southeastern

Europe, has decided to recruit around

40,000 workers from abroad, paving the

way for Bangladesh to send more workers

to that country, reports UNB.

"This is a new area. We've already sent

around 1,000 workers. We can send more.

They've (Romania) decided to recruit

around 40,000 workers from abroad,"

said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul

Momen while talking about his recent visit

to Romania. He said the Romanian government

prefers govt-to-govt recruitment

as they feel more comfortable to recruit

people in a better regulated way.

"There's no space for illegal entry there,"

said the Foreign Minister, adding that

some 860 Bangladeshis entered Germany

from Romania illegally. These 860 people

will be sent back to Bangladesh from

Germany through International

Organization for Migration (IOM).

The Foreign Minister said Romania needs

construction workers, electricians, household

helpers, workers in manufacturing

units apart from doctors and nurses.

"They'll (Romania) identify in which

areas they need workers from Bangladesh

and in which area we can provide," Dr

Momen said, adding that they will have to

follow it up to reach an understanding.

The Foreign Minister said around 300

Bangladeshi workers are waiting for the

Romanian visas and it was raised with his

Romanian counterpart.

COP26 Regional Ambassador Ken

O'Flaherty has said it is possible for countries

like Bangladesh to significantly

expand its renewable energy sector as it

has been the cheapest option for new energy

in Asian countries, reports UNB.

"It's clear that over the next decade the

cost of renewable energy will continue to

fall. So countries which don't invest in

renewable energy risk losing competitive

advantage," he told UNB in an interview at

the British High Commissioner's residence

here.

Across the region, the envoy said, he is

seeing governments recognize the opportunities

offered by renewable energy and

said countries like Bangladesh can look

into potential cooperation at regional level

on hydropower.

He thinks the countries which want to

grow faster over the next decade will need

to be harnessing renewable energy.

Ambassador Ken said there is lot of

interest in investing renewable energy and

hydropower but what the investors need is

a clear signal from the government.

"We're working with the governments

like Bangladesh to ensure that there's a

clear framework for supporting that

Dr Momen said his Romanian counterpart

assured him of sending a team from

the New Delhi mission to provide emergency

services and issue visa quickly.

The Foreign Minister said Bangladesh

first opened its Mission in Romania in

1975 but it was shut in 1995 while

Romania closed its Mission in 2000.

"We've reopened the Mission recently,"

he said, adding that Romania will also

consider reopening its Mission in Dhaka

once the trade and investment ties expand

further between the two countries.

Foreign Minister Momen invited his

counterpart to visit Bangladesh along with a

business delegation. The Romanian Foreign

Minister happily accepted the invitation.

"It's a very successful trip. I'm very

pleased and in many ways it was a historic

visit, too," said the Foreign Minister.

This was his first official visit to Bucharest

at the invitation of the Romanian Foreign

Minister. This was also the first-ever visit at

the level of Foreign Minister since

Bangladesh's independence.

During his meeting with the Romanian

Foreign Minister, Dr Momen urged the

Romanian investors and companies to enter

into joint ventures or 100 percent owned

business ones in the 100 special economic

zones, which are currently being set up in

Bangladesh as well as in High-Tech Parks.

Foreign Minister Dr Momen also sought

support from Romania in questions of GSP

facilities in the European market.

Bangladesh can significantly expand

renewable energy : COP26 Envoy

investment in domestic and regional

power systems," said the envoy. Ken, who

was appointed UK government's COP26

Regional Ambassador to Asia-Pacific and

South Asia in March 2020, said renewable

energy is the cheapest source of energy

worldwide compared to coal.

Talking about clean and cheap energy,

he said they think there is a strong appetite

for it and they have seen countries in Asia

announcing their policies to move away

from coal. "We're seeing more and more

countries to adopt similar policies. I'm

very confident that ahead of COP26, we'll

see more countries in this region adopt net

zero target."

Ken laid emphasis on ensuring that

countries have access to climate finance to

help them take advantage of cheap, clean

energy. Responding to a question, he said

Bangladesh is already very active in climate

change arena and the country has a

lot to teach the world in building resilience

to climate impacts.

He said Bangladesh also has a role in terms

of raising the voices of vulnerable countries to

encourage the big emitters worldwide take

strong actions as consequences of climate

change is visible.

Jatiya Party chairman Golam Mohammad Quader addressed a meeting with Gazipur district Jatiya

Party leaders at his Banani office on Saturday.

Photo: PBA

DCCI expects Bangladesh's

economy rebound in 2021

by V-Shaped recovery

DHAKA : Dhaka Chamber of

Commerce and Industry (DCCI) has

expected that Bangladesh's economy

will rebound in 2021 propelled by V-

Shaped recovery.

A V-shaped recovery is characterised

by a quick and sustained recovery in

measures of economic performance

after a sharp economic decline.

Talking to BSS, DCCI President

Rizwan Rahman said despite COVID-19

stress, Bangladesh has registered

remarkable 5.47 percent GDP growth in

FY2021 respectively backed by strong

economic fundamental, international

trade base, resilience absorbing

economic shock and became the 3rd

largest growth performing economy in

2020 as per the International Monetary

Fund (IMF).

"More to that, Bangladesh's per capita

income is estimated to increase to US$

2,227 in FY2020-21 marking 9 percent

growth. While the global trade declined

by 5.3 percent (in 2020) Bangladesh

made 15.2 percent growth in export

trade. Our growth could have been

larger if the global supply chain system

remained uninterrupted," he added.

Following this growth momentum,

Rizwan expected that Bangladesh's

economy will rebound in 2021

propelled by V-Shaped recovery.

He said the consistent economic

performance enabled Bangladesh to

meet eligibility of the United Nations

Committee for Development Policy

(CDP) to graduate into a developing

country by 2026.

Robust economic progress will steer

Bangladesh to become a developed

country by 2041, he opined.

Witnessing the unprecedented

growth of Bangladesh, he informed that

Quicker vaccinations

key to pandemic

recovery: IMF

WASHINGTON: Accelerating

the pace of vaccinations

worldwide will be key not just

to containing the coronavirus

pandemic, but also to

resolving the speed bumps

besetting the global economic

recovery, IMF chief Kristalina

Georgieva said Thursday,

reports BSS.

Finance officials gathered

for the annual meeting of the

Washington-based crisis

lender have flagged

concerns about supply chain

bottlenecks that are pushing

prices higher. Those

disruptions stem from the

unprecedented situation

created by the pandemic.

leading Multination Corporations

(MNCs), like Goldman Sachs,

McKinsey, UBS are highly ambitious of

Bangladesh.

"HSBC projects Bangladesh 26th

largest economy by 2030, PWC projects

28th largest and 23rd largest economy

by 2050," he mentioned.

Rizwan Rahman, however, said that

the fully operational nine Export

Processing Zones (EPZs), plan for 100

Economic Zones (EZ), One Stop

Service, tax holiday facility up to 33

sectors, competitive labour force,

demographic dividend, political

stability, outstanding return, growing

infrastructure development,

technological advancement and

competitive investment incentives have

been considered as 'growth enablers' for

Bangladesh, branding Bangladesh as a

favourite destination for trade and

investment regionally.

Private investment to GDP ratio in

Bangladesh reached 23.63 percent

whereas overall investment to GDP

ratio reached 31.75 percent, he

informed.

He said the private investment to

GDP ratio is projected to 40 percent in

next decade, 32 percent with 8th fiveyear

plan as well as higher trade growth

around $100 billion targeted in 8th Five

Year plan.

"Diversified manufacturing and

service sectors especially Readymade

Garments (RMG) and textiles, leather

goods, pharmaceuticals, light

engineering, plastic products, agro and

food processing, IT,

electronics, 4IR technology and other

non-traditional and emerging

manufacturing sectors offer rewarding

and competitive investment leverage for

foreign investors and traders", he said.

Rizwan mentioned that the

confidence of the global investors in

Bangladesh has increased as some bold

and strategic reforms are consistently

being taken considering the changing

geo-economic dynamics and private

sector needs.

EZ is a milestone in industrial

ecosystem development which will act

as economic impetus for the country

attracting Foreign Direct Investment

(FDI), facilitating jobs creation,

promoting export diversification and

spilling positive impacts on local

industry.

"So far, 93 EZ sites were identified

which are in progress. BEZA has already

received investment commitments

from the world's leading companies,

like Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal,

Honda Motor Corporation, of Japan,

Procter and Gamble (P&G) invested in

EZs. Despite pandemic stress, FDI in

Bangladesh has reached to $2.37 billion

in 2020 amidst of global FDI downturn.

These endeavours caused paradigm

shift in the economic atmosphere of

Bangladesh upholding the inclusive

development spirit of the Father of the

Nation," he added.

To continue economic momentum

towards the trajectory by 2041, he said,

game-changing avenues of economy

ranging from substantial infrastructure,

industrial growth, infrastructure

development, digitalisation, market

concentration and blended and sizable

financing are essential.

"International trade of country

accounts for around 34 percent to GDP

performing indispensable roles to steer

our relentless socioeconomic

development spree," he added.

President of District Sports Association and Deputy Commissioner Md.

Ziaul Haque inaugurated the Zila Proshasok Gold cup Inter-Upazila

Football Tournament at Alhaj Mumtaz Uddin Football Stadium last

Saturday.

Photo : Azahar Ali

Dengue claimed 1 more life in Bangladesh,

183 more hospitalized in 24 hrs

DHAKA : Dengue has claimed one more life while 183 more

patients were hospitalized with the fever in Bangladesh in 24

hours till Saturday morning.

With this, the number of fatalities from the mosquito-borne

disease this year increased to 83, according to the Directorate

General of Health Services.

Among the new patients, 141 were undergoing treatment in

Dhaka hospitals while the remaining 42 cases were reported

from outside the division.

Among the deceased, 77 people died in Dhaka division alone,

two each in Chattogram and Khulna divisions and one each in

Rajshahi and Mymensingh division. Some 869 patients

diagnosed with dengue are receiving treatment in the country as

of Saturday morning.

Muslims are obligated

to maintain communal

harmony: Maizbhandar

DHAKA : Incumbent leader

of Islamic spiritual hub of

Maizbhandar Sayeed

Saifuddin Ahmed Al Hasani

yesterday said Muslims were

religiously obligated to

maintain interfaith harmony

in line with the directive of

holy Prophet Muhammad

(PBUH), expressing his deep

concerns over the recent

communal tensions

coinciding with the Durga

Puja.

"I call upon all keep

patience, respect law," he said

in a statement.

Ahmed said followers of

Islamic faith were particularly

obligated to maintain

interfaith harmony as "our

beloved holy Prophet (PBUH)

ensured the rights, safety of

different religions through the

'Charter of Medina'".

"Over the centuries Sufi

saints upheld the ideology

which established a strong

foundation of communal

harmony particularly in this

sub-continent. The gesture of

respect to other religions,

expresses the greatness of

one's own religion," he said.

He said insult of holy Quran

is undoubtedly a heinous

crime but it must be found out

who actually demeaned it and

exposed to stern punitive

actions after proper

investigation.

GD-1524/21 (12x4)

SUNDAY, OCTOBEr 17, 2021

2

Rangpur division records 5.32pc

Covid-19 positivity rate1

RANGPUR : Rangpur division recorded 5.32

percent Covid-19 positivity rate as five fresh cases

were reported after testing 94 new samples in the

division on Saturday.

Health officials said the number of samples of

suspected Covid-19 patients has reduced largely

following improvement of the pandemic

situation during the last two months in the

division.

Earlier, the daily Covid-19 positivity rate was

5.32 percent on Friday, 2.24 percent on

Thursday, 3.14 on Wednesday, 3.67 percent on

Tuesday, 2.16 percent on Monday and 2.87

percent on Sunday last in the division.

The five new patients were reported after

diagnosing 94 samples at the Covid-19

Laboratory at M Abdur Rahim Medical College

(MARMC) in Dinajpur at the daily positivity rate

of 5.32 percent yesterday. "The five new Covid-19

infected patients include two each from Dinajpur

and Panchagarh and one from Nilphamari

districts," Principal of MARMC Professor Dr

Syed Nazir Hossain said.

On the other hand, no new samples were

tested at the Covid-19 Laboratory at Rangpur

Medical College (RpMC) in Rangpur yesterday.

"We did not conduct any test at the Covid-19

Laboratory at RpMC as only six samples were

collected today," Principal of RpMC Professor Dr

AKM Nurunnobi Lyzu told BSS at 6:50 pm.

Talking to BSS, Divisional Director (Health) Dr

Md Motaharul Islam said the number of Covid-

19 patients rose to 55,199 as five new positive

cases were reported yesterday from across the

division.

"The district-wise break up of total 55,199 patients

include 12,438 of Rangpur, 3,799 Panchagarh,

4,434 of Nilphamari, 2,737 of Lalmonirhat, 4,635 of

Kurigram, 7,588 of Thakurgaon, 14,712 of Dinajpur

and 4,854 of Gaibandha in the division," he added.

Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Md. Shahab Uddin

laid the foundation stone of Mamudataki Bazar development work in the

southern part of Baralekha upazila of Moulvibazar on Saturday. Photo: PBA

1321

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2021

3

Professor Dr. SM Mahbub Ul Haque Majumder, Pro Vice Chancellor, Mominul Haque Majumder,

Treasurer, Prof. Dr. Mostafa Kamal, Dean Academic Affairs, Professor Dr. Mohammad Masum Iqbal,

Dean, Faculty of Business and Entrepreneurship, Professor AMM Hamidur Rahman, Dean of the Faculty

of Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Dr. Engineer AKM Fazlul Haque, Registrar, Professor Dr.

AKM Fazlullah Haque, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Dr. Bellal Hossain, Acting

Dean of the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences and Syed Mizanur Rahman, Director of Student Affairs of

the University along with the freshers pose for a photograph.

Photo : Courtesy

DU Blue Panel

teachers association

condemn attacks on

puja mandaps

DHAKA : Awami Leaguebacked

Blue Panel teachers

association of Dhaka

University (DU) has

condemned the recent

incidents of vandalism and

arson attack on Durga Puja

mandaps across the country,

reports UNB.

The association, in a

statement issued on

Saturday, urged the

government to immediately

identify those responsible

for the violence and bring

them under the rule of law.

"A vested quarter wants to

destroy the country's

communal harmony.

Attacks on puja mandaps

and incidents of vandalism

and arson attacks on Hindu

businesses, houses, and

temples in different districts

of the country are part of

that design," read the

statement.

The Blue Panel observed

that a "particular political

party and its allies" are

trying to provoke the

Muslims against the Hindu

community.

"The people of this

country, irrespective of

religion, caste, and

community, have been living

side by side peacefully for

ages.

"Thus, just like the past,

the citizens of this country

will not be misled in the

name of religion," added the

statement. They said that

new laws, if needed, should

be passed to prevent any

further communal divide.

Several people were

reportedly killed and scores

got injured as clashes

erupted in different parts of

the country since

Wednesday following

tensions triggered by the

alleged desecration of the

Holy Quran in Cumilla.

DIU reopens physically

Daffodil International

University authorities

reopened its physical classes

for all students after 18

months of closure due to

Covid-19 outbreak on

Saturday as per government

decision. The campus has

become resonant again

through your footsteps of

17000 students after 18

months. Though the physical

classes and examinations of

all universities of the country

remain closed due to corona

pandemic, Daffodil

International University's

educational activities were not

closed for a day. All activities

have been completed through

online. This was made

possible by Daffodil

University's own invented

online platform, BLC. 80%

students of the university

completed 1st dose of Covid-

19 vaccine and 50 % students

have completed both the dose

and remaining 20 % students

have brought under

registration by this time.

This morning students were

received cordially in the main

gate of the university and

greeted with a rose stick.

Members of 34 different

socio-cultural organizations of

the university uphold their

presentation towards the new

comers. To commemorate the

arrival of the students after a

long vacation a 30 kg size cake

was cut and band party blew

their musical soiree.

Early in the morning many

students were seen waiting in

front of the main gate. As soon

as the gates were opened, the

students entered into the

campus in a festive mood. The

students started entering into

the campus showing their

vaccination cards and valid

university identity cards. The

university authority have

already installed hand

washing basins and kept hand

sanitizer at the entrance point

Daffodil International

University (DIU) organized

an 'Orientation' program for

the students enrolled in the

Fall-2021 semester at

ShadhinotaMilonayoton of

the university campus.

Professor Dr. M Lutfar

Rahman,

Vice

Chancellor,Daffodil

International University

greeted the students joining

virtually from Australia. The

program was also addressed

by Professor Dr. SM

MahbubUlHaqueMajumder,

Pro Vice Chancellor,

MominulHaqueMajumder,

Treasurer, Prof. Dr. Mostafa

Kamal, Dean Academic

Affairs, Professor Dr.

Mohammad Masum Iqbal,

Dean, Faculty of Business and

Entrepreneurship, Professor

AMM Hamidur Rahman,

Dean, Faculty of Humanities

and Social Sciences, Professor

Dr. Engineer AKM

FazlulHaque, Registrar,

Professor Dr. AKM

FazlullahHaque, Associate

Dean of the Faculty of

Engineering, Professor Dr.

Bellal Hossain, Acting Dean of

the Faculty of Allied Health

Sciences. The program was

conducted by Syed Mizanur

Rahman, Director of Student

Affairs of the University.

While addressing among

the students Professor Dr. M

Lutfar Rahman said that the

campus has become resonant

again through your footsteps

after 18 months. This is a

scene of great joy. The Corona

epidemic has robbed us of

many loved ones. Again, we

have achieved something

remarkable because of the

Corona epidemic. For

example, you will be happy to

know that even though the

university was closed in

Corona, our educational

activities were not closed for a

day. All activities have been

completed through online.

This was made possible by

Daffodil University's own

invented online platform,

BLC.He congratulated the

students for being admitted to

this pioneering university and

urged them to ensure the best

use of the facilities provided

by the university.

RU dorms to

reopen today

RAJSHAHI : Rajshahi

University (RU) is going to

reopen its student's

dormitories today after

around one and half years

closure due to the Covid-19

pandemic.

RU authority will also

resume its academic activities,

including class in-person, on

Wednesday next after the long

time suspension caused by the

pandemic.

The varsity authority took

the decision in its academic

council meeting held at the

Senate Building on September

30 last with Vice-chancellor

Professor Golam Sabbir Sattar

in the chair.

The meeting also took the

decision of cancelling the

scheduled summer and winter

vacations of the current year.

Meanwhile, the RU

authority has issued ten-point

directives after its decision of

resuming academic activities,

including classes.

A RU press release said the

directives must be followed by

the students during their

attending classes and staying

in dormitories.

Taking at least one dose of

Covid-19 vaccine for all

students has been mandatory.

Otherwise, none will be

allowed to enter dormitory

and classroom.

The students, who have yet

to complete registration for

inoculation, have been asked

to complete registration

before entering into the

dormitory and the classes. RU

ICT Centre will extend

cooperation to the students in

this regard.

The release also said the RU

authority has arranged a

Covid-19 vaccination

programme at its TSCC from

today to October 22 and the

students have been asked to

attend the centre with

registration copy.

Apart from this, the

students have been advised to

wear face masks and maintain

all other health rules during

staying in dormitories and

attending classes.

Preparatory meeting on the occasion of integrated admission test for honors in Noakhali Science

and Technology University.

Photo : Courtesy

Gonotantri

Party urges

all to stand

against

conspirators

DHAKA : Gonotantri Party

has called upon all people to

be united against conspirators

and evil forces who want to

tarnish the image of

communal harmony of the

country.

Gonotantri Party president

Barrister Arash Ali and

general secretary Dr Shahadat

Hossain made the call in a

statement received yesterday.

They said the festival of

Durga Puja is the biggest

festival of the Hindu

community in Bangladesh.

In the festival, a vested

quarter was engaged to

destroy the country's

communal harmony.

They demanded a proper

investigation into the Cumilla

incident and exemplary

punishment to those culprits

who were involved in the

misdeeds.

Scouts distributes hygiene products to 100

schools with Reckitt Bangladesh support

DHAKA : To support the government in

ensuring that proper hygiene practices are

being followed at the educational institutions,

Reckitt Bangladesh Friday handed over

hygiene products to the Bangladesh Scouts in

the capital for 100 schools across the country,

reports UNB.

The hygiene products were then distributed

by the Bangladesh Scouts to schools all over

Bangladesh.

"Ever since the government declared the

reopening of educational institutions, we have

prioritised the health and safety of students.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the work done

by the Bangladesh Scouts is more important

than ever," said Director General of the

Directorate of Secondary and Higher

Education Professor Syed Md Golam Faruk

while speaking as the chief guest at the

programme.

Addressing the discussion, Riaz Ahmed, film

actor and goodwill ambassador of Dettol

Harpic Porichchonno Bangladesh said: "A year

and a half has passed since students were last

physically present in school. It is crucially

important to ensure the health and safety of

our students at this time. I believe that these

safety products from Dettol Harpic will play a

significant role in ensuring the health of

students."

Kazi Nazmul Haque, the national

commissioner of the Bangladesh Scouts, said:

"Spreading awareness about the importance of

proper hand-washing has been an important

initiative by the Bangladesh Scouts for over 30

years. Each year we do the needful to expand

these activities and improve them. Reckitt

Bangladesh has long supported us in such

initiatives. We are grateful for Dettol Harpic's

contribution to ensuring the safety of

educational institutions."

Salahuddin Ahmed Tareq, marketing

manager of Reckitt Bangladesh, said: "Since

Covid-19 has not yet been completely

eradicated, it is advisable to ensure maximum

health care for students. We think that these

hygiene products will make it easier for

students to maintain their hygiene."

Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic,

educational institutions all over the country

were closed for almost one and a half years,

with classes being held online.

Now, with the declining number of Covid-19

cases, the government has re-opened schools

and colleges, bringing students back to physical

class attendance.

LGRD Minister Md. Tajul Islam addressed a seminar on the occasion of Golden Jubilee of

Independence and Mujib Year organized by Local Government Department at Hotel Sonargaon

on Saturday.

Photo : Courtesy

New 'Switzerland Corner' launched

at national Museum

DHAKA : The newly redesigned "Switzerland

Corner" at the World Civilization Gallery of the

National Museum of Bangladesh here was

launched today.

State Minister for Cultural Affairs K M

Khalid officially inaugurated the exhibition

corner along with Swiss Ambassador to

Bangladesh Nathalie Chuard. During the

inauguration, the state minister highlighted

the importance of further enhancing bilateral

relations between Bangladesh and Switzerland

and also expanding cooperation in the areas of

art and culture.

While inviting everyone to visit the corner to

learn more about her country, Ambassador

Chuard said the Swiss Corner at the National

Museum is a milestone of Switzerland's

growing ties with Bangladesh.

The Switzerland Corner, featured over 100

Swiss artefacts and multimedia displays,

provides a great opportunity to learn not only

BAROLEKHA

(MAULVIBAZAR) :

Environment, Forests and

Climate Change Minister M

Shahabuddin today said

the government will give

exemplary punishment to

the people involved in

vandalizing temples of

Hindu community in

different places across the

country during the Durga

Puja festival.

"The government will

ensure exemplary

punishment of the

perpetrators, who were

behind the conspiracy of

creating mayhem

throughout the country

ahead of celebration of

Durga puja," he said.

The minister made the

comment while addressing

a function after laying

down foundation stone of

development works at

Dhakshin bag Bazar of

Barolekha upazila under

Moulvibazar district here.

Shahabuddin said the

government led by Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina is

working relentlessly to

continue the pace of

development amid the

Covid-19 pandemic. "But

various conspiracies are

being made against the

government to halt the

country's progress," he

added.

Terming the violence as a

part of conspiracy against

the government, the

minister said the violence

which occurred during the

celebration of Durga puja is

part of the conspiracy

against the incumbent

about the country's longstanding and broadranging

partnership with Bangladesh, but also

about Switzerland's values.

This permanent exhibition, accessible to all

museum visitors, portraits the Switzerland's

unique characteristics - a dynamic and

prosperous country which is thriving on

innovation and its rich cultural heritage,

playing an active role in global affairs,

committed to sustainable development, said a

Swiss embassy's press release here.

This corner is launched at a time when

Switzerland and Bangladesh are gearing

towards celebrating the 50th anniversary of

their bilateral relations next year.

Over the past five decades, the relationship

between the two countries has expanded

manifold in the fields of humanitarian and

development cooperation, economic and

political relations as well as cultural exchanges,

said the embassy release.

Exemplary punishment to be

taken against perpetrators of

government.

"After identifying the

perpetrators, the

government will give

exemplary punishment to

those who were involved

with this heinous crime

held at the households,

temples and business

establishments of the

minority Hindu

community people," he

added.

LGED Executive

Engineer M Azim Uddin

Sarder, Barolekha Upazila

Executive Officer

Khondoker Mudassir Bin

Ali, Mayor of Barolekha

municipality Abul Imam M

Kamran Chowdhury and

Upazila Engineer Shamsul

Huq Bhuiyan, among

others, attended the

programme.

Bangladesh

reports 293

fresh cases, 6

deaths from

Covid-19

DHAKA : Bangladesh on

Saturday reported 293

COVID-19 cases while the

coronavirus claimed

overnight 6 lives.

"The country reported

1.88 percent COVID-19

positive cases as 15,65,174

samples were tested in the

past 24 hours, " Directorate

General of Health Services

(DGHS) said in its routine

daily statement.

In the past 24 hours, the

combined figure of

coronavirus in Dhaka city

and upazilas of Dhaka

district is 175 while three

COVID-19 deaths were

reported during the same

period.

The official tally showed

the virus killed 27,752

people and infected

15,65,174 so far, it added.

The recovery count rose

to 15,27,33 after another

442 patients were

discharged from the

hospitals during the past

one day.

The DGHS statistics

showed of the people

infected from the

beginning 97.58 percent

recovered, while 1.77

percent died.

The DGHS said among

the total 27,752 fatalities,

12,106 deaths occurred in

Dhaka division, 5,630 in

Chattogram, 2,033 in

Rajshahi, 3,580 in Khulna,

943 in Barishal, 1,260 in

Sylhet, 1,361 in Rangpur

and 839 in Mymensingh

division.

SUnDAy, OCTOBEr 17, 2021

4

China's interest in the Middle East: from barrels to bytes

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com

Sunday, October 17, 2021

Religious tolerance

Vandalism at Puja venues in Comilla and

similar scatted acts in a few other places

in the country could not mar the

overwhelmingly spontaneous and happy

celebration of the Durga Puja in Bangladesh as

a whole. This was singularly the positive aspect

of the celebration of the Durga Puja which is

the most widely awaited and celebrated

religious event of the Hindu community in

Bangladesh.

The happy celebration of the Puja was

possible because it had the support and

unstinted cooperation of all other communities

in Bangladesh including the dominant

Muslims, the people in general, the

government and law enforcement bodies.

Thus, despite the malevolent intentions of a

small minority quarter to spark off tensions

and violence centering on the observance of the

Puja, the same was foiled completely and

exemplified again the glorious spirit of religious

tolerance that is shared by the greatest number

of people in Bangladesh. It showed that it is

impossible for any tendentious quarter to try

and create any schism in this proud tradition

that Bangladeshis are proud of.

In next door India, the overwhelming Hindu

nation, praises came from diverse quarters for

this extraordinary manifestation of religious

tolerance that the Bangladeshi people showed

notwithstanding the provocations from behind

the wings. Indeed, Bangladesh today has a very

positive image in the world stage for certain

things, religious tolerance and harmony being a

main one of them.

Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina

underlined on Friday that none will be allowed

to even try to spoil the fine tradition of

communal harmony that Bangladeshis have

been well known for centuries. The PM also

underscored on the occasion that Islam as a

religion also puts the highest stress on religious

tolerance though some among the non

Muslims purposefully or unknowingly seek to

portray Islam as a religion of intolerance. But

the facts prove otherwise.

If Islam had been intolerant then today in

Arabia there would be no other religion but

Islam. The followers came to Prophet

Muhammed and sought his advise on how to

deal with the conquered Jews and Christians.

They were told by the Prophet that their lives

and well-being are as much held dear by him as

the Muslims and no non believer should be

persecuted or harmed in any way for his or her

religious belief. If they embrace Islam willingly

that would fine but no coercion would be

allowed in the matter.

Indeed this is the cardinal message of

religious tolerance that Muslims have carried

everywhere they went or conquered, The

Indian subcontinent was ruled for over seven

centuries by Muslim rulers. But their rule was

mainly characterized by good governance and

religious tolerance shown to their numerically

much bigger Hindu subjects.

Had it been otherwise, the far smaller number

of Muslims could not remain or flourish as

rulers. The greatest of the Muslim emperors in

this long period of Islamic rule, emperor

Akbar, was exceptionally noted for the extreme

tolerance he showed in all matters towards the

Hindus.

Bangladesh asa territory long under various

Muslim rulers acquired this tradition of

religious tolerance. Even before the birth of

Bangladesh, its founding father Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman, personified the right Islamic

principles and spirit of religious tolerance.

This was written large in the Bangladesh

Constitution that was introduced in the new

nation after 1971. Secularism as a state policy

was declared in the Bangladesh Constitution

after 1971 and was practiced not in words but

deeds. The military rulers after the

assassination of Bangladesh's founding father,

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, tried in vain to

banish the practice of secularism as state

policy.

But secularism as a cornerstone of state policy

has come back even stronger after the

daughter of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman returned to full powers and control

from the nineties. In today's Bangladesh

everyone is regarded and treated fairly and as

per the canons of law first as a human being

with basic human rights and on the basis of his

or her nationality as a Bengali but not

communally as a Hindu, Christian, Buddhist or

some other religious faith.

China's relations with the Middle

East have long revolved around

securing the energy it needs to fuel

its economic development. But in recent

years, Beijing has been securing another

critical resource from the region: data.

China's leadership understands that

data is the oil that fuels the Fourth

Industrial Revolution, the key to

achieving technological supremacy, and a

source of power in the digital age.

China's 2015 Action Plan to Promote

the Development of Big Data even

designated data "a fundamental strategic

national resource," calling for the country

to "comprehensively advance the

development and application of big data"

and "accelerate the construction of a

strong data country."

Under the umbrella of its Digital Silk

Road (DSR), a component of the Belt and

Road Initiative, Chinese companies have

been rolling out digital infrastructure that

facilitates the gathering, transportation,

storage, and processing of massive

amounts of data from partner countries.

Such infrastructure includes e-

commerce platforms, mobile payment

systems, intelligent data centers, fifthgeneration

telecommunication networks

(5G), undersea cables, satellites, cloud

storage, smart cities, and artificial

intelligence (AI). Since the DSR was

introduced in a white paper jointly issued

by China's National Development and

Reform Commission (NDRC), Ministry

of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of

Commerce in 2015, the initiative has

gained significant traction in the Middle

East. In Saudi Arabia, Huawei is working

with the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to

develop digital infrastructure designed to

streamline religious pilgrimages,

including control rooms in Mecca and

Medina reception centers.

In Dubai, the company is building a

Modular Data Center Complex at its

international airport and has teamed up

with the Dubai Electricity and Water

Authority (DEWA) to support the

construction of fiber-optic infrastructure

and video surveillance.

Huawei also plans to build the largest

solar-powered Uptime Tier III-certified

data center in the Middle East and Africa

at the United Arab Emirates' Mohammed

bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park and is

working with the Abu Dhabi City

Municipality (ADM) to construct a

Municipal Disaster Recovery Data

Center.

In Egypt, Huawei opened its first cloud

data center in February 2019. Meanwhile,

China State Construction Engineering

Corporation (CSCEC) is building an

entire city to serve as the country's new

administrative capital. The new capital is

expected to integrate a range of Chinese

smart-city tech.

According to research conducted last

year by the RWR Advisory, China has

exported smart-city technology to 15

countries in the Middle East.

The Israeli cities of Ashdod, Netanya

and Rishon Lezion have either

established partnerships or are planning

to establish partnerships with Chinese

tech companies on the smart-city front

and "maintain 'twin city' links with

Xiamen, Wuhan and Tianjin

respectively," according to the Institute

for National Security Studies.

Israel's Ministry of Labor, Social

Affairs, and Social Services, and even the

police and Israel Defense Forces, have

installed camera technologies from the

Chinese surveillance company Hikvision.

In Oman, Alibaba has signed an

agreement backed by the sultanate's

Ministry of Transport, Communications

and Information Technology to partner

with the corporations Datamount and

International Emerging Technology

Company to establish a cloud computing

center. Local companies will manage the

center, but the data will be stored on

Alibaba servers.

Alibaba has also been expanding its

presence significantly in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence

Authority (SDAIA) has signed an

agreement with Alibaba Cloud to

"empower Saudi cities with intelligencedriven

smart city solutions."

On the e-commerce front, both Alibaba

and Jollychic have become digital hubs

for commerce across the Middle East.

Alibaba, in particular, has been

expanding its influence by investing in

local enterprises. For example, the

Chinese tech giant increased its already

majority stake in the popular Turkish e-

commerce platform Trendyol in 2021 to

85.6%. Meanwhile, Jollychic's platform

has gained prominence in the UAE,

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman,

Bahrain and Lebanon, providing services

to 50 million users across the region. Of

its 1.5 million monthly users in 2018,

approximately half were in Saudi Arabia.

The company is also active in Jordan

thanks to its acquisition of local e-

commerce platform MarkaVP for an

undisclosed dollar amount in 2017.

Jollychic has extended its services by

creating a digital payment wallet and

plans to expand its ecosystem to include

on-demand food delivery, online travel,

and transportation booking.

In recent years, Chinese mobile

payment platforms have also made

inroads into the region. In 2018, Israel

Credit Card (ICC, CAL) and OneBill

partnered with Alibaba to introduce Ali-

Pay to the country. This development

establishes a foundation for future

engagement with Chinese QR code

payment methods like WeChat that may

be rolled out for the Israeli public in

future. In 2019, Jollypay received

authorization to be used in the UAE and

Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, WeChat-Pay

launched in Turkey in July 2020 to

facilitate transactions by mainland

Chinese tourists across the country.

Efforts along China's Digital Silk Road

are substantially data-driven and dataseeking,

centrally focused on the

aggregation (and disaggregation) of large

data sets feeding into Chinese machinelearning

initiatives. Sensors and cameras

embedded in smart-city infrastructure

transmit reams of data that can be used to

understand many dimensions of their

host societies.

DAlE AlUF

Meanwhile, end-user data from digital

payment and e-commerce platforms

creates rich maps of consumer behavior

that can serve as key economic indicators.

The collection of personal data can

train a machine-learning algorithm to

improve the quality of service provided to

others, including those who have not

shared their data. But such processing of

data can also raise serious privacy issues.

In nations with Chinese-built

infrastructure as well as Chinese digital

and telecommunications technologies, a

feedback loop can occur: Chinese

companies collect sensitive end-user data

from applications and structures that can

then be processed for use in various

sectors, including national security and

R&D (research and development) of

Chinese products and services.

These products and services can be

offered back to partner countries in

further iterations of BRI and the Digital

Silk Road. By harnessing the power of

data, China is able to understand facets of

the populations and geopolitics of nations

better than the governments of those

nations themselves.

Middle Eastern countries show less

concern regarding data transfer than is

seen in other parts of the world.

According to a 2021 report by Access

Now, a non-profit with a mission to

defend and extend the digital civil rights

of people around the world, "across the

Middle East and North Africa (MENA),

data protection legislation is still in its

infancy, and it remains a low priority."

As many countries in the region seek to

modernize and diversify their economies,

officials have welcomed cooperation with

their Chinese counterparts in the digital

realm. Discussing the arrival of Chinese

tech to Saudi Arabia, the country's

minister of communications and

information technology, Abdullah A

Alswaha, remarked, "We're very proud of

our strategic relationship with China …

and definitely they're helping us leapfrog

to becoming an innovation-based

economy." The US has not been as

enthusiastic as its Middle Eastern

partners about these developments.

Amid escalating tensions between the

world's two largest economies,

Washington has told Egyptian, Emirati

and Bahraini officials that Huawei 5G is a

"Trojan Horse" and that enlisting the

company to build their countries'

networks could threaten their ties with

the US.

Washington has also called for Israel to

limit its technology cooperation with

China. However, it seems Washington's

efforts have failed to achieve their desired

results. Huawei has teamed up with local

telecommunication providers in the

UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and

Lebanon to construct their 5G networks,

while Qatar's leading operator, Ooredoo,

has enlisted ZTE to assist with its 5G

rollout. Israel will not be enlisting

KEvIn P GAllAGHEr

Chinese companies to roll out its 5G

network. But it has welcomed Huawei's

participation in its solar-panel industry,

despite warnings from US officials that

"the data that is collected off of those

solar panels could be used to determine

other things."

Covid-19 has accelerated the need for

digital infrastructure and health-care

technologies, and much of the region's

tech ties with China have deepened.

Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), which

specializes in AI, is one company that has

made inroads throughout the Middle

East. In April 2020, BGI and Israel's AID

Genomics received approval from Israeli

and Palestinian authorities to establish

an emergency Covid-19 testing lab in

Gaza. Back in 2019, BGI signed a

cooperation agreement with Abu Dhabi's

Group 42. A year later, Group 42

announced that it would be establishing

an office in Israel.

BGI's expansion in the Middle East has

not escaped Washington's scrutiny.

American officials have described the

company as the "Huawei of genomics."

According to Bloomberg, the US has

raised concerns about the company with

its Middle Eastern partners, warning that

"Beijing could glean information of

intelligence value and share it with their

adversaries like Iran, one of China's top

trading partners in the region."

These concerns are not entirely

unfounded. A 2018 study published in

the journal Science revealed that with just

2% of the target population's genetic data,

researchers were able to identify almost

everyone in that population, including

those who had never undergone genetic

testing.

BGI maintains that its customers will

manage patient samples and access

patient data, not the company. BGI was

set to team up with Israel's MyHeritage, a

genealogy and health DNA testing

company, to build a coronavirus testing

lab in Israel, but Israel's Health Ministry

shelved the project for reasons

undisclosed.

Beijing has dismissed Washington's

criticism as a "purely groundless

accusation." China's Foreign Ministry

told Bloomberg that the US is nothing

more than "a thief calling the other a

thief," asserting that "the US government

has long been stealing the private

information of its own people and

foreigners."

Against the backdrop of a sweeping

crackdown on China's tech industry,

Beijing has implemented new data laws

to regulate how big tech companies' use

people's private information. But these

laws do not necessarily prevent the

government from acquiring such data.

Article 28 of China's Cybersecurity Law

remains in effect. The law states that

"network operators shall provide

technical support and assistance to public

security organs and national security

organs that are safeguarding national

security." As countries in the Middle East

become more entangled in China's

transnational digital infrastructure

network and welcome the many benefits

such digital integration affords, they must

also confront the challenges. Prioritizing

data protection is perhaps a good place to

start.

Source: Asia times

China's global climate change challenge to the West

In front of the world's leaders at the

United Nations General Assembly last

month, China's President Xi Jinping

pledged that his country "will not build new

coal-fired power projects abroad." This

decision is a major step towards aligning

global finance with our collective climate

and development goals and it could help

build momentum for private sector

defunding of coal energy production as well.

Since the global financial crisis of 2008,

China's two global policy banks, the China

Development Bank and the Export-Import

Bank of China, have brought a stepwise

increase in public finance for energy and

infrastructure that has been filling major

financial gaps and fostering economic

growth in emerging market and developing

countries.

At Boston University's Global

Development Policy Center, we compile

databases that track China's overseas

development finance in general and energy

in particular. According to our research,

these two banks provided upwards of

$460bn to foreign governments between

2008 and 2019, roughly equivalent to what

the World Bank has distributed during the

same period.

We also estimated that between 2007 and

2016, China's policy banks provided some

$197bn in finance to foreign governments

for energy - nearly matching the total

financing of all the major Western-backed

MDBs combined. In work with Princeton

In Egypt, Huawei opened its first cloud data center in February

2019. Meanwhile, China State Construction Engineering

Corporation (CSCEC) is building an entire city to serve as the

country's new administrative capital. The new capital is

expected to integrate a range of Chinese smart-city tech.

University colleagues, we found that

Chinese finance was the equivalent to 42

percent of the power generation capacity

financed by the 10 largest MDBs.

While China must be credited with filling

infrastructure finance gaps in a growthenhancing

manner, the composition of that

finance, especially in the energy sector, is

concentrated in heavily carbon-intensive

sectors. Coal, oil, gas, and hydroelectric

power in tropical forests dominate Chinese

energy financing. Such financing poses risks

to the global climate, public health, and

biodiversity. Around the time of the 2015

Paris Climate Agreement, most of the

MDBs started phasing out overseas coal

finance, and in May 2021 the G7 pledged "to

take concrete steps towards an absolute end

to new direct government support for

unabated international thermal coal power

generation by the end of 2021".

Then China's announcement came in

September this year. Initially, there was

some concern that the language of the

pledge did not appear as clear as that of the

G7. Some wondered if pledging not to

"build" new coal plants truly meant

financing coal. However, shortly after's Xi's

UN speech, the Bank of China announced

that it would stop financing overseas coal

mining and power plants this year. In one

fell swoop, China matched the G7 pledge

and upped the game to where the real action

is - in the commercial and private sector.

More than 80 percent of all newly added

coal generation capacity outside China

between 2013 and 2019 was financed by

non-Chinese entities. Among the largest

More than 80 percent of all newly added coal generation capacity outside

China between 2013 and 2019 was financed by non-Chinese entities.

Among the largest lenders to the global coal industry are Japanese

firms such as Mizuho Financial and SMBC Group and American financial

giants such as Citigroup, Bank of America, and JP Morgan.

lenders to the global coal industry are

Japanese firms such as Mizuho Financial

and SMBC Group and American financial

giants such as Citigroup, Bank of America,

and JP Morgan. The Bank of China was also

among the top lenders to the coal industry

until its recent pledge.

Now that the world's major governments

have led by example and banned overseas

coal plants, and the Bank of China has

joined them, it is time for the private sector

to follow suit. Without private financial

institutions buying into defunding coal

energy production, we will not meet our

global climate and development goals.

Moving forward, two things are

imperative. First, the West must put

pressure on the private sector to phase out

coal as well. Second, rather than turning off

the spigot, global financial actors need to

shift the composition of energy finance

towards cleaner energy such as wind and

solar power.

China and the West should not cut off

energy finance to countries in need. Rather,

they should replace coal finance with

support for wind and solar power, two

industries where China is most dominant.

In a recent paper, we found that there are

renewable energy opportunities worth $1

trillion in developing countries, based on

these countries' own plans through their

Nationally Determined Contributions for

the Paris Agreement. Given China's

dominance in these sectors and the prowess

of its policy banks, if it channels its

tremendous capital, technology and knowhow

towards these plans, it can dramatically

expand green energy access throughout the

developing world.

Such a move is not only good climate

policy, but good banking. The West should

follow suit.

Source: Al jazeera

sunDaY, oCToBer 17, 2021

5

CaTherine Pearson

The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention has included some mood disorders

on its list of underlying conditions that can

increase a person's risk of becoming severely ill

if they are infected with COVID-19.

Depression and schizophrenia spectrum

disorders are now among the health conditions

that appear on the CDC's list of factors that

qualify someone for a booster dose of the Pfizer

vaccine. The change, which the agency told

HuffPost it made Thursday, means that anyone

18 or over with one of those conditions is now

eligible for a third shot six months after getting

their second one.

For months, experts have implored the CDC

to include certain mental health disorders on

its list of underlying conditions. In a September

letter to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky,

which was shared with HuffPost, some of the

nation's top mental health organizations called

the exclusion "simply unacceptable."

"Officially designating mental illnesses that

have been confirmed by research to carry a

unique mortality risk during the pandemic for

prioritization by the CDC is the only

scientifically and morally defensible action to

take," said the group, which included Mental

Health America and the American Psychiatric

Association.

The letter cited striking research that shows

how closely linked certain mental health

disorders and severe COVID outcomes can be.

One study found that schizophrenia was the

second-highest risk factor for COVID-related

death, for reasons researchers do not yet

Mental health and COVID booster shot

The CDC added depression and schizophrenia to its underlying conditions list, further proving

that mental health is health.

Photo: Collected

understand. (The largest risk factor was older

age.) It's possible there is something about the

biology of schizophrenia that makes people

more susceptible to COVID-19 - perhaps some

kind of immune system disturbance,

researchers studying the connection have said.

Researchers are also exploring whether

medicines used to treat the condition may play

a role.

Other studies have found that people with

mood disorders such as depression have a

similar risk of hospitalization and death from

COVID when compared to those with

underlying health issues such as diabetes and

cancer - though, again, why that is remains

unclear. People with depression might have

some kind of impaired immune response, but

they're also at higher risk of other physical

health issues. Social determinants of health,

like poverty, might also play a role.

Mental health groups say the CDC's decision

to include certain mood disorders and

schizophrenia to its list of underlying

conditions is both welcome and overdue.

"Officially designating mental illnesses that

have been confirmed by research to carry a

unique mortality risk during the pandemic for

prioritization by the CDC is a scientific and

moral imperative. This action has the potential

to save many lives," Lisa Dailey, executive

director of the Treatment Advocacy Center,

said in a statement to HuffPost.

Schools, employers, and state and local

governments look to the CDC for guidance on

how people in high-risk groups can best protect

themselves - so including this new group of

people on the list has important practical

implications. It also ensures that people with

certain mood disorders and schizophrenia can

access booster shots if they decide to as their

immunity wanes over time. (Boosters are

currently only eligible for qualifying recipients

of the Pfizer vaccine, but the Food and Drug

Administration voted in favor of Moderna and

Johnson & Johnson boosters this week. The

CDC is expected to make its recommendations

shortly.)

"Now that some mental health conditions

have been added to the CDC's list of underlying

conditions, we recommend those living with

these conditions speak with their health

providers about whether a booster shot is

appropriate," Schroeder Stribling, president

and CEO of Mental Health America, said in a

statement to HuffPost.

And though this does not appear to be the

CDC's primary purpose in updating its list, the

change serves another important purpose as

well: It clearly sends the message that ? despite

the stigma that continues to surround it ?

mental health and physical health are not

separate.

"Mental health is health, and we applaud the

CDC for recognizing that, and following the

research, in this list of underlying conditions,"

Stribling said.

Experts are still learning about COVID-19.

The information in this story is what was

known or available as of publication, but

guidance can change as scientists discover

more about the virus. Please check the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention for the

most updated recommendations.

The best happiness advice

given in therapy

niCole Pajer

The road to happiness isn't always easy,

nor does it really have one final

destination. Joy exists on a spectrum.

And thanks to work, life and

relationship problems ? not to

mention, you know, an extremely

distressing global pandemic ? it can be

easy to fall on the lower end of the

spectrum more frequently.

A lack of contentment is one of the

most common overarching themes

people bring up in therapy.

Fortunately, mental health experts are

filled with wisdom and are able to offer

guidance on how to get there.

While it's best to seek tailored advice

from a therapist for yourself, it can be

helpful to see just how therapy has

helped people with this particular

issue. We asked people to share the

best advice on happiness they've

received in therapy. See below for some

mood-boosting inspiration.

Amber Robinson, a 31-year-old

licensed psychotherapist, may help

others with their mental health for a

living, but she learned a lot about

happiness going to therapy herself.

"The best advice I learned is that it is

OK if you're not OK," she said. "This

was so powerful to me because I spent

so much time resisting negative

emotions and feeling as though I

needed to be happy. In actuality,

sadness and anger are totally normal

and appropriate in certain situations."

Robinson now makes a point of

noticing if she is sad or upset and

allowing herself to feel those feelings.

"This acceptance has allowed me to

understand that things are really going

to be OK, and it makes the negative

emotion less powerful overall," she

explained.

Valerie Dauphin, a life coach and

author, was having a hard time feeling

happy due to decision fatigue. But she

received this valuable advice from her

therapist, which has led her to feel

much better about having to pick a path

to travel: "The most memorable advice

I received was, 'Whatever decision you

make, just line yourself up with it,'" she

explained.

This helped Dauphin take the stress

out of decision-making by learning that

she could be satisfied with any decision

she makes, as long as she was fully on

board with her reasons - and could

have her own back whatever the

outcome.

"I apply this advice every time I have

decisions to make, especially the more

substantial ones," she said. "I have

healthy confidence and feel solid about

navigating choices." Ravi Davda, a 32-

year-old marketing professional, has

found power in the concept of selfacceptance.

"This was difficult because, for me, I

was always questioning my actions. Am

I doing this right? Should I be doing it

another way? Is acting this way or

feeling this way right? Is it wrong?" he

said. His therapist explained that, as

humans, we're all just trying our best.

And we have to accept that sometimes

we will do things wrong and that

sometimes we won't feel our best.

"It resonated with me because for a

long time, I thought I needed to do

things differently," Davda explained. "I

thought that I had to be a certain way,

even if I didn't want to be. I felt bad

every time I felt low or down."

This advice has allowed him to trust

himself and his decisions and to trust

that he is doing his best. Kristin

Runyan, a 30-year-old digital

marketing professional, said she was

constantly under pressure when she

was growing up. "I wasn't allowed to

have flaws, and as a stereotypical Type

A personality, I am incredibly

perfectionistic," she said.

But there are so many things Runyan

wants to do in her life that require her

to do new things ? and when you do

something new, you will inevitably

make mistakes.

"Fear of making mistakes has held

me back from pursuing my dreams,"

she said. It was only when her therapist

urged her to occasionally fail that she

felt so much more inspired. "I

follow[ed] my dream of starting a

business with an environmental

Keep this wisdom from therapists tucked away for when you need a boost.

mission, [and] I had to accept

sometimes I would make mistakes,"

Runyan explained. "Adopting a

different mindset has allowed me to

begin embracing a growth mindset and

find joy in learning."

Amelia Alvin, a 44-year-old

psychiatrist, used to struggle with being

judgmental. "I spent half of my life

judging people over petty matters and

casual opinions," she said. Then her

therapist told her, "Life is too short to

hold grudges and hate people."

This, Alvin said, is the best happiness

advice she ever received. "I was bottled

up with bitterness until my therapist

made me realize negativity is not worth

holding up," she explained. Claire

Westbrook, a 31-year-old founder of an

LSAT prep course, learned the

importance of asking herself questions,

particularly when something was

bothering her.

"So many people flee from things

simply because they create negative

feelings, but they don't bother asking

themselves why," she said. "By asking

yourself why something is making you

sad, upset, angry or uncomfortable,

you're able to understand yourself

better and weaken its power over you."

This has helped her to drill down to

the root of a problem, work through it

and then feel happier after the fact.

Chantal Dempsey, a 46-year-old life

coach, was so inspired by this advice

she learned in therapy that she chose a

career out of bestowing this wisdom

upon others: "Every morning, make

sure you act and seem happy for the

first half-hour of the day when you get

to work, school or college," she said.

"After half an hour, because you have

created a nice vibrant energy around

you and people are nice to you, this, in

turn, makes you feel better," she

continued. "People are smiling to you,

they are happy to see you, which

changes your state and fills your

positivity and happiness pot."

This powerful statement greatly

impacted Jeanine Duval, who cofounded

and edits an online resource

for tarot and astrology enthusiasts.

Photo: internet

neck pain being, well, a pain in the neck? relieve the aches and muscle tension with these expertbacked

items.

Photo: Collected

Getting relieved from

neck pain

sTePhanie Barnes

Neck pain is an extremely common

problem; it's estimated about 80%

of people will experience it at some

point in their life.

And it's no surprise it's so

common, considering all the time

we spend on our computers and

mobile devices. The issue is

prevalent in folks who spend long

hours with their necks bent

forward, which is otherwise known

as "tech neck" or "text neck." Neck

pain can also be caused by other

moves or injuries. Anyone who has

ever slept the wrong way knows that

it's actually pretty easy to hurt your

neck unintentionally.

"With over 300 muscles in the

neck, it is common to irritate or

'over-stretch' a muscle from overuse

or overexertion such as turning the

head side to side," said Rahul Shah,

a board-certified orthopedic spine

and neck surgeon in New Jersey.

"Additionally, neck pain can come

from causes that go beyond the

muscles and tendons within the

neck. Other causes of neck pain can

include irritation of the neck joints,

arthritic bone spurs, and disc or

spinal cord problems."

So how do the experts handle this

issue? Below are a few products

doctors personally recommend. (Of

course it's always best to chat with

your physician about your specific

case; if your neck pain isn't getting

better within a few days, reach out

to your doctor to see what they can

do.)

HuffPost may receive a share

from purchases made via links on

this page. Every item is

independently selected by the

HuffPost Shopping team. Prices

and availability are subject to

change.

This contraption might look kind

of intimating, but it comes highly

recommended by several doctors,

including Ai Mukai, a boardcertified

physical medicine and

rehabilitation physician at Texas

Orthopedics in Austin. Mukai said

the Thera Cane is usually her go-to

recommendation for "trigger point

and muscle-based pain" but you

should go slow.

"It's important to read the

instructions that come with the

massager because you can definitely

overdo it and cause more pain and

also realize it's meant more for

trigger point release - so to apply

pressure and wait for it to release

rather than constant movement and

massaging," she said.

For years, Tiger Balm has been a

go-to for pain relief. Kristina

Hendija, a family medicine

practitioner and medical adviser to

Beardoholic, said topical creams

like Tiger Balm are easy to apply

directly to your neck and they get

the job done.

"Topical analgesics such as this

are handy and easy to use," she

explained, adding that this is a great

option if you're sensitive to

medication since "only the skin

absorbs the medicine directly onto

the affected area."

If pain relief creams aren't your

thing, consider picking up a bottle

of over-the-counter pills like

Tylenol. Mukai said Tylenol, as well

as NSAIDs like ibuprofen and

naproxen, can be taken sparingly as

needed for pain. Just don't exceed

the dosage on the bottle, and talk to

your doctor if you have health

problems like kidney issues.

Daniel A. Barone, a neurologist,

doctor of sleep medicine and author

of "Let's Talk About Sleep," said the

ideal pillow is "one that is firm

enough to allow for the head, neck

and spine to be in alignment."

One option is the Miski Memory

Foam Pillow, which is a cervical

neck pillow that comes highly

recommended by Hendija. She said

a neck pillow can help keep the

proper C-angle of the cervical spine.

With a memory foam pillow, the

spine can be aligned even during

sleep.

Hendija also recommended the

Sunbeam Heating Pad, which is a

hot compress pad that "can

naturally relieve muscle tension and

improve blood flow to the target

area." "Using a dedicated heating

pad product can help deliver gentle

and controlled heat to the area,

unlike using DIY hot compress such

as bottles, where the heat is directly

on the skin," she said.

Ben E. Paxton, a diagnostic

radiologist at Vascular &

Interventional Specialists of

Prescott in Arizona, recommended

Viopatch Herbal Pain Relief

Patches. He said these patches are

specifically designed to provide

long-lasting relief associated with

muscle strains and stiffness.

"It contains a blend of herbal

ingredients that provide a soothing

sensation from the neck to shoulder

with its cooling property, this offers

great comfort and reduction of

pain," he said. "This can work for up

to 12 hours without the need for

reapplication. It is waterproof, nongreasy

and easy to apply."

SUnDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2021 6

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister, Md Shahab Uddin MP as the chief guest laid the foundation

stone for the development work of Dakshinbhag Bazar in Barlekha on Saturday.

Photo; Abdur Rob

27133 hectares of land

brought under T-Aman

cultivation in Manikganj

MANIKGANJ: Farmers are

expecting excellent production

of Transplanted Aman (T-

Aman) rice as the plants of the

paddy are growing well thanks

to favorable weather alongside

providing agri-inputs, reports

BSS. Md. Shahjahan Ali

Biswas, Deputy Director of

DAE said, "Our field level

officials are extending all

necessary supports including

agri-inputs and proper use of

fertilizers in the land according

to fertility.

Farmers are cultivating highyielding

varieties of rice

including BRI- 49, BRI-39,

BRI-51, BRI-52 and BINA-7.

Nazirshail, Rajbhog, Kotoktara,

Pajam and Dapo are popular

local varieties, the sources

added.

Voluntary Social Organization 'Sonali Swapno' organized a quiz, poetry songs and ghazal competitions for

the students of 8 educational institutions in Dhamoirhat on Saturday.

Photo: Rejaun Alam

Call to stand

beside visually

impaired people

RAJSHAHI: Speakers at a

participatory discussion

unequivocally called for

standing by the visually

impaired people to facilitate

them to lead normal life,

reports BSS.

They observed that the

differently able people are

subjected to repression and

oppression by their

surroundings since

childhoods because of their

disability.

Side by side with the

government's initiative,

community support is

crucial for improving their

living and livelihood

conditions as they are an

integral part of the society,

they mentioned.

The observations came at

the function to mark the

World White Cane Safety

Day- 2021 held at the

conference hall of Primary

Teachers Institute on Friday

afternoon.

Rajanigandha Protibandhi

Unnayan Sangstha (RPUS)

organized the meeting in

association with Rotary Club

of Padma Rajshahi (RCPR)

with the call of ensuring

legitimate rights of the

visually impaired people.

This year's theme of the

day is - "Digital Sadachari,

Nirapodey Poth Choli".

On the occasion, 30

visually impaired people

were given smart white

canes. Rajshahi Mayor

AHM Khairuzzaman Liton

addressed the meeting as

the chief guest, while RPUS

President Asaduzzaman

Chowdhury was in the

chair.

Cumilla incident is a conspiracy

against govt: Minister

ABDUR ROB, BARLEKHA CORRESPONDENT

Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Minister, Md Shahab Uddin, MP said that te

government is making major developments

across the country today. Prime Minister

has been working day and night to continue

this trend of development. But a group is

conspiring to obstruct the development of

the government. The incident that is

happened in uomilla during the Durga Puja

is part of a conspiracy against the

government. Strict answer will be given

against the conspiracy.

He said this while speaking as the chief

guest at a brief meeting held on Saturday

afternoon after laying the foundation stone

of the development work of Dakshinbhag

Bazar in Barlekha upazila. Department of

Public Works is implementing the project at

a cost of TK 44 lakh 41 thousand 490.

Earlier the minister laid the foundation

stone for the development of Kanthaltali

Mamantaki Bazar in Barlekha. Department

of Public Works is implementing the project

at a cost of Tk 48 lakh 49 thousand 594.

During the time, LGED's executive

engineer Md. Azim Uddin Sardar, Barlekha

UNO Khandakar Mudassir bin Ali,

Municipal Mayor Abul Imam Md Kamran

Chowdhury, Principal (Acting) of Nari

Shiksha Academy Degree College AKM

Halal Uddin, Upazila Engineer Samsul

Haque Bhuiyan, Police Station OC Jahangir

Hasan Sardar were among others also

present at the occasion.

Experts attribute surface

water conservation to

mitigate Barind water crisis

RAJSHAHI: Surface water conservation is of

essence of mitigating the water crisis, which is

being deepened due to deficit of rainfall, in the

region, including its vast Barind tract, reports

BSS.

Jahangir Alam Khan, Coordinator of

Integrated Water Resource Management

(IWRM) Project, said inadequate rainfall has

been escalating the crises in the region for the

last few years.

Local meteorological office recorded 1,400

millimeters of rainfall in a year on an average

here for the last around 30 years.

In the last five and a half month from May to

October 14 last, the met office registered

1,432.8 millimeters of rainfall in Rajshahi, said

Debal Qumar Moitra, Observatory staff of

Rajshahi Meteorological Office.

Jahangir Khan said prospects of boosting

irrigation by surface water is very bright in

Rajshahi Barind area as it has scores of natural

water bodies which remain in uncared and

derelict condition at present.

He said they are motivating and encouraging

more than 12.58 lakh community people of

2.66 lakh households towards promoting and

using the surface water resources to reduce the

pressure on underground water under the

IWRM project. The project is being

implemented in around 1,280 drought-hit

villages under 39 union parishads and three

municipalities of eight upazilas in Rajshahi,

Naogaon and Chapainawabganj districts since

2014, reports BSS.

The existing adverse impact of climate

change is putting local people into trouble

since the hand-driven tube-wells are not

functioning here in the dry season, he added.

Khan mentioned that there are around

10,000 ponds, 200 canals and ten other big

sized waterbodies in the barind areas including

Beelbhatia, a vast water body and wetland of

around 6,388 acres, at Bholahat upazila in

Chapainawabganj.

Tens of thousands hectares of farmlands can

be irrigated round the year through using

conserved water of the beel if it is re-excavated.

There is another four to five kilometer long

water body at Rohanpur in Gomastapur

upazila of the same district. If it is reexcavated,

around 10,000 hectares of land of

25,000 farmers can be brought under surface

water irrigation.

Apart from this, the two-kilometer

Chowdala-Boalia canal remained in derelict

condition for a long time. Around 150 hectares

of farmlands can be irrigated with water from

the canal if it is renovated. Transformation of

all the existing underground water-based

irrigation into surface water ones can be

crucial of lessening the gradually mounting

pressure on groundwater.

Khan said that the gradually declining water

resources are posing a serious threat to the

living and livelihood conditions of the

marginalized and other less-income group

families in the water-stressed area.

He, however, said rainwater harvesting can

be indispensible for easing living and

livelihood conditions of people through

mitigating the water crises in the Barind area.

Time has come to extend necessary

knowledge and devices to the communities to

make them capable of availing the

opportunities of rainwater harvesting

technologies.

Meanwhile, Barind Multipurpose

Development Authority (BMDA) has started

implementing a project titled "Small irrigation

through pond re-excavation and surface water

augmentation" recently.

BMDA Executive Director Engineer Abdur

Rashid said the five-year project is being

implemented in 43 drought-prone upazilas

with an estimated cost of around Taka 128.19

crore.

15th anniversary

of 'Rampur Ekota

Sangha'

celebrated in Ctg

S M AKASH, CHATTOGRAM

CORRESPONDENT

The celebration of the 15th

founding anniversary of

'Rampur Ekota Sangha', a

traditional social

organization of Chattogram

city, was held amid much

enthusiasm on Friday.

The ceremony was

inaugurated by Md. Nur

Uddin Shahed, founder of

the popular organization

and was presided over by

Md. Abdul Awal Rupu,

president of the organization

and Md. Ali, chief adviser of

Ekota Sangha was present as

the chief guest at the

occasion. Jasim Siddiqui,

columnist of local daily

Azadi was present as the

keynote speaker and Md.

Hamid Ali, the main patron

of the organization was the

special guest.

Among others, Vice

President Ujjal Kumar Nath,

Joint General Secretary Md.

Aminul Islam Dipu,

Organizing Secretary Tushar

Kanti Nath, Board of

Directors members Raisul

Islam Munna, Abdul Aman

Rafat, Shahajan Badshah,

Md. Imran, Soleiman

Badshah Rakib were also

present at the occasion.

Quiz Competition

held at the initiative

of 'Sonali Swapno'

in Dhamoirhat

REJAUN ALAM, DHAMOIRHAT

CORRESPONDENT

Voluntary

Social

Organization 'Sonali

Swapno' has organized quiz,

poetry songs and ghazal

competitions for the

students of 8 educational

institutions in Dhamoirhat

on Saturday to increase

general knowledge including

education and development

of society.

Founder of the

Agradighun Bohumukhi

High School Organization

Asadur Rahman Shahin

chaired the occasion while it

was inaugurated by ex

principal of Sapahar

Chowdhury Mohila College

Md Abdul Jalil.

During the time,

Agradighun UP Chairman

Md Salah Uddin, Chairman

of Chittagong National

Crime Reporters Unity Md

Mokhlesur Rahman, Acting

Headmaster of Baritala

Academy Jinnatul Parveen

Dolly were among others

also present at the occasion.

RMCH counts

three more

deaths in

Covid-19 unit

RAJSHAHI: Rajshahi

Medical College Hospital

(RMCH) recorded three

more fatalities in its Covid-

19 unit in the last 24 hours

till 6am yesterday, taking

the death toll to 60, so far,

this month.

However, the previous

day's fatality figure was six,

while on October 3 last the

death figure was just one,

which was the lowest-ever

fatality in the hospital since

the second wave of the

pandemic hit the country

around six months back.

Earlier, the number of

casualties was 167 in

September, 340 in August,

566 in July and 405 in

June, health officials said.

RMCH Director

Brigadier General Shamim

Yazdany told journalists

that two of the deceased

were the residents of

Rajshahi, while another

from Pabna districts.

Among the new fatalities,

one was tested positive for

Covid-19, while two others

were suffering from its

symptoms. Of the afresh

deaths, two were male and

another female.

Rangpur records no Covid

casualty for 4th consecutive days

RANGPUR: Rangpur division recorded no

Covid-19 related causality for the fourth

consecutive days on Friday as the pandemic

situation continues improving in the last two

months, reports BSS.

"Earlier, no Covid-19 fatality was recorded

on May 16 last and on September 12, 13, 14, 20,

22, 26, 29 and 30 and October 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10,

12, 13 and 14 last in the division," Divisional

Deputy Director (Health) Dr Abu Md Zakirul

Islam told BSS yesterday, reports BSS.

The number of Covid-19 fatalities remained

steady at 1,238 in the division.

The district-wise break up of the 1,238

fatalities currently stands at 293 in Rangpur,

80 in Panchagarh, 88 in Nilphamari, 68 each

in Lalmonirhat and Kurigram, 252 in

Thakurgaon, 326 in Dinajpur and 63 in

Gaibandha of the division.

The average fatality rate currently stands at

2.24 percent in the division.

Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 cases

reached 55,194 as 10 new patients were

diagnosed after testing 188 samples of

Rangpur division at the daily positivity rate of

5.32 percent on Friday.

"The district-wise break up of total 55,194

patients include 12,438 of Rangpur, 3,797

Panchagarh, 4,433 of Nilphamari, 2,737 of

Lalmonirhat, 4,635 of Kurigram, 7,588 of

Thakurgaon, 14,712 of Dinajpur and 4,854 of

Gaibandha in the division," he added.

Divisional Director (Health) Dr Md

Motaharul Islam said a total of 2,88,459

collected samples were tested till Friday, and of

The 15th founding anniversary of 'Rampur Ekota Sangha', a traditional

social organization of Chattogram city, was held amid much enthusiasm

on Friday.

Photo: S M Akash

PRADEEP KUMAR DEBNATH, BELABO CORRESPONDENT

Situated on the opposite side of the main

gate of the Belabo Upazila Complex building

on the banks of the Arial Khan River, in a

picturesque setting, 'Obakash' is a sight to

behold. Built in 2015, this leisure center is

now known as one of the entertainment

centers for the beauty thirsty.

This wonderful leisure center has been

built on the side of Belabo-Poradia road for

the purpose of bringing peace and

enjoyment of nature to the guests and

common people who come to the upazila for

various activities and trips from far and wide.

The center is located on the south-east side

to alleviate the fatigue of the weary traveler,

to relax mentally, to take a break in the midst

of busyness, to be fascinated by the form of

paradise in leisure, in the midst of modern

architecture and suitable scenery.

The recreation center was built under the

supervision of UNO Sultana Razia under the

direction of the then Deputy Commissioner

Abu Hena Murshed Zaman. It was built at a

cost of Tk 15 lakh with the funding of Belabo

Upazila Parishad. In the winter vacation

them, 55,194 were found Covid-19 positive

with an average positivity rate of 19.13 percent

in the division.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19

pandemic, the number of healed patients

reached 52,715 with recovery of 17 more

infected patients on Friday in the division

where the average recovery rate currently

stands at 95.51 percent. The 52,7158 recovered

patients include 11,209 of Rangpur, 3,654

Panchagarh, 4,341 Nilphamari, 2,625

Lalmonirhat, 4,527 Kurigram, 7,232

Thakurgaon, 14,341 in Dinajpur and 4,786

Gaibandha districts in the division.

Among the 55,194 patients, 46 are

undergoing treatments at isolation units,

including six critical patients at ICU beds and

seven at High Dependency Unit beds, after

recovery of 52,715 patients and 1,238 deaths

while 1,195 are remaining in home isolation.

"Meanwhile, the number of citizens who got

the first dose of the Covid- 19 vaccine rose to

42,93,943, and among them, 18,61,864 got the

second dose of the jab till Friday in the

division," he added. Chief of Divisional

Coronavirus Service and Prevention Task

Force and Principal of Rangpur Medical

College Professor Dr. AKM Nurunnobi Lyzu

said the Covid-19 situation continues

improving satisfactorily in Rangpur division.

"However, everyone should remain careful

and properly abide by the health directives,

hygiene rules, wear masks and maintain

physical distance to contain further spread of

the deadly virus in the division," he added.

Obakash’ a safe haven for

comfort, peace and beauty

center, the visitors are easily fascinated by

the beautiful beauty of the morning, the

dawn sky, the fog shrouds and the sweet

sunshine. In the summer, the rain-soaked

south wind brings peace and comfort to the

weary traveler. The leisure center has

facilities for visitors and pilgrims to rest, a

beautiful canopy, a stone paved bathing

ground, which has gradually descended into

the waters of the soft clear Arial Khan.

There are pleasure boats for river trips,

beautiful bird watching spots, the whole

'leisure center' has been brought under

CCTV cameras for safety. College student

Delwar Hossain Apon, who came to visit on

vacation, said, "I feel very good coming on

vacation.

Thanks to the upazila administration for

creating such a beautiful leisure center in the

countryside area. Belabo Upazila Nirbahi

Officer Md. Akhter Hossain Shahin said, "In

this age when we are very much in the throes

of nature destruction, the atmosphere that

this Kranti Holiday Center has brought for

people and nature is like a sigh of relief on a

restless road."

Leisure center 'Obokash' has been built on the side of Belabo-Poradia road

for the purpose of bringing peace and enjoyment of nature to the guests in

the upazila.

Photo: Pradeep Kumar Debnath

SunDAY, OCTOBEr 17, 2021

7

Authorities call fatal stabbing of

UK lawmaker terrorist act

LEIGH-ON-SEA : A long-serving

member of Parliament was stabbed to

death Friday during a meeting with

constituents at a church in England, in

what police said was a terrorist

incident. A 25-year-old man was

arrested in connection with the attack,

which united Britain's fractious

politicians in shock and sorrow.

Counterterrorism officers were

leading the investigation into the

slaying of Conservative lawmaker

David Amess. In a statement early

Saturday, the Metropolitan Police

described the attack as terrorism and

said the early investigation "has

revealed a potential motivation linked

to Islamist extremism."

Amess, 69, was attacked around

midday Friday at a Methodist church in

Leigh-on-Sea, a town about 40 miles

(62 kilometers) east of London.

Paramedics tried without success to

save him. Police arrested the suspect

and recovered a knife.

They did not identify the suspect,

who was held on suspicion of murder.

Police said they believed the suspect

acted alone, and were not seeking

anyone else in connection with the

killing, though investigations continue.

The slaying came five years after

another MP, Jo Cox, was murdered by

a far-right extremist in her small-town

constituency, and it renewed concern

about the risks politicians run as they

go about their work representing

voters. British politicians generally are

not given police protection when they

meet with their constituents.

Tributes poured in for Amess from

across the political spectrum, as well as

from the community he had served for

decades. Residents paid tribute to him

at a vigil at a church in Leigh-on-Sea.

"He carried that great East London

spirit of having no fear and being able

to talk to people and the level they're

at," the Rev. Jeffrey Woolnaugh said at

the vigil, attended by about 80 people.

Bill Clinton to spend

another night

hospitalized for infection

IRVINE, United States :

Former US president Bill

Clinton will spend another

night in hospital, a

spokesman said Friday, as he

undergoes treatment for a

reported case of sepsis.

"All health indicators are

trending in the right direction,

including his white blood

count which has decreased

significantly. In order to

receive further IV antibiotics

he will remain in hospital

overnight," said Clinton

spokesman Angel Urena.

Clinton, who led the United

States from 1993 to 2001, was

admitted Tuesday evening to

the UCI Medical Center in

Irvine, south of Los Angeles.

Urena said that Clinton, 75,

was responding well to

treatment for a non-Covidrelated

blood infection.

The New York Times,

quoting an aide, said the

former president had been

hospitalized after a urological

infection developed into

sepsis.

Sepsis is an extreme bodily

reaction to infection that

affects 1.7 million people in

America every year, according

to the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention.

A long-serving member of Parliament was stabbed to death Friday

during a meeting with constituents at a church in England, in

what police said was a terrorist incident. A 25-year-old man was

arrested in connection with the attack, which united Britain's

fractious politicians in shock and sorrow. Photo : Internet

"Not all politicians, I would say, are

good at that."

Conservative Prime Minister Boris

Johnson said he and his Cabinet were

"deeply shocked and heart-stricken."

"David was a man who believed

passionately in this country and in its

future, and we've lost today a fine

public servant and a much-loved friend

and colleague," Johnson said.

The prime minister would not say

whether the attack meant politicians

needed tighter security, saying, "We

must really leave the police to get on

with their investigation."

Amess had been a member of

Parliament for Southend West, which

includes Leigh-on-Sea, since 1997, and

had been a lawmaker since 1983,

making him one of the longest-serving

politicians in the House of Commons.

A social conservative on the right of

his party, he was a well-liked figure

with a reputation for working hard for

his constituents and campaigning

ceaselessly to have Southend declared a

city.

Amess, who leaves a wife and five

children, was knighted by Queen

Elizabeth II in 2015 for his service,

becoming Sir David.

Flags at Parliament were lowered to

half-staff amid a profusion of questions

about lawmakers' security.

"This is an incident that will send

shockwaves across the parliamentary

community and the whole country,"

House of Commons Speaker Lindsay

Hoyle said. "In the coming days we will

need to discuss and examine MPs'

security and any measures to be taken,

but for now, our thoughts and prayers

are with David's family, friends and

colleagues."

Moderate earthquake rocks

Bali, killing at least 3

DENPASAR : Three people were killed

and another seven were injured when a

moderately strong earthquake and an

aftershock hit Indonesia's resort island

of Bali early Saturday.

The quake hit just before dawn,

causing people to run outdoors in a

panic. It struck just as the island is

beginning to reopen to tourism as the

pandemic wanes.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the

magnitude 4.8 quake was centered 62

kilometers (38.5 miles) northeast of

Singaraja, a Bali port town. Its shallow

depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) may

have amplified the amount of damage.

A magnitude 4.3 aftershock followed.

That quake was relatively deep, at 282

kilometers (174 miles).

Gede Darmada, head of the island's

Search and Rescue Agency, said the

agency was still collecting updates on

damage and casualties.

He said the injuries included broken

bones and head wounds.

The earthquake triggered landslides

in a hilly district, killing at least two

people and cutting off access to at least

three villages, Darmada said.

It toppled homes and temples in

Karangasem, the area closest to the

epicenter, killing a 3-year-old girl who

was hit by falling debris, he said.

Houses and government facilities

were damaged in Trunyan and in

Kintamani villages, a popular

sightseeing destination with a stunning

lake.

Known as the "island of the gods,"

Bali is home to more than 4 million

mostly Hindu people in the mainly

Muslim nation. It is famed for its

temples, scenic volcanos and beautiful

white-sand beaches.

On Thursday the island reopened to

international travelers for the first time

in more than a year after Indonesia's

COVID-19 caseload declined

considerably.

The country has had around 1,000

cases a day in the past week after

peaking at around 56,000 daily new

cases in July.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 270

million people, is frequently struck by

earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and

tsunamis because of its location on the

"Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and

fault lines that arcs the Pacific.

The last major earthquake was in

January when a magnitude 6.2

earthquake killed at least 105 people

and injured nearly 6,500. More than

92,000 people were displaced after it

struck Mamuju and Majene districts in

West Sulawesi province.

Three people were killed and another seven were injured when a moderately strong earthquake and

an aftershock hit Indonesia's resort island of Bali early Saturday.

Photo : Internet

MSF continues to

provide assistance to

Afghans: aid agency

ZKABUL : Doctors Without

Borders, an international

medical aid agency also

known by its French language

acronym MSF, continued to

address Afghans' need,

according to a statement

posted on the agency's

website.

"In August 2021, the

Islamic Emirate of

Afghanistan (also known as

the Taliban) entered the city

of Kabul as the government

collapsed. MSF teams have

stayed in place and continue

to provide care," the

statement said.

The agency said that as

people struggle to access

medical care in Afghanistan,

the MSF remains to address

people's needs. "MSF focuses

on emergency, paediatric,

and maternal healthcare in

Afghanistan, which has one of

the highest maternal

mortality rates in the world,"

the statement noted.

"We work in one hospital in

Helmand province in

collaboration with the

Ministry of Public Health. We

also run a maternity hospital

in rural Khost province, a

drug-resistant tuberculosis

program in Kandahar, and a

trauma center in Kunduz. We

treat malnourished children,

who have been displaced, in

Herat province, where we

also run a COVID-19

treatment center," according

to the statement. Attacks on

MSF hospitals have occurred

in recent years.

Shenzhou-13

astronauts enter

space station

core module

BEIJING : The three Chinese

astronauts onboard the

Shenzhou-13 spaceship

entered the country's space

station core module Tianhe

on Saturday, according to the

China Manned Space Agency

(CMSA).

After Shenzhou-13

successfully completed a fast

automated rendezvous and

docking with the space station

complex, which is composed

of the core module Tianhe

and the cargo crafts

Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3,

the Shenzhou-13 crew

entered the orbital capsule

from the return capsule of the

spaceship.

After a series of

preparations, Zhai Zhigang

opened the hatch of the

Tianhe core module. At 9:58

a.m. (Beijing Time), Zhai

Zhigang, Wang Yaping and

Ye Guangfu entered the core

module one by one.

The trio is the second batch

of crew in China's space

station. Wang Yaping is the

first female astronaut

onboard the station.

They will carry out

relevant work as planned,

the CMSA said.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan : The

Islamic State group on Saturday

claimed responsibility for a suicide

bomb attack on a Shiite mosque in the

southern Afghan city of Kandahar that

killed at least 41 people and injured

scores more.

The Friday assault came just a week

after another IS-claimed attack on

Shiite worshippers at a mosque in the

northern city of Kunduz that killed

more than 60 people.

In a statement released on its

Telegram channels, the jihadist group

said two Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K)

suicide bombers carried out separate

attacks on different parts of the mosque

in Kandahar-the spiritual heartland of

the Taliban-while worshippers prayed

inside.

The group, a bitter rival of fellow

Sunni Islamist movement the Taliban,

which swept back to power in

Afghanistan in August as the United

States and its allies withdrew, regards

Shiite Muslims as heretics.

UK-based conflict analysis firm

ExTrac said Friday's assault was the

WTO again fails to agree on

Covid vaccine patent waiver

GENEVA : The World Trade Organization

said Friday its member nations had again

failed to agree to suspend intellectual

property rights for Covid-19 vaccines, with

some countries doubting a deal could be

reached unless certain delegations make "real

compromises".

South Africa and India have called for

intellectual property rights to be temporarily

lifted for coronavirus vaccines during the

pandemic in order to boost production and

address the gaping inequality in access

between rich and poor nations.

However the idea has met with fierce

opposition from pharmaceutical giants and

their host countries, which insist patents are

not the main roadblocks to scaling up

production and warn the move could hamper

innovation. Pressure is mounting for an

accord with just weeks left before the WTO's

12th ministerial conference, which runs from

November 30 to December 3 in Geneva. The

council of the WTO agreement on Trade-

Related Aspects of Intellectual Property

Rights (TRIPS) met on Wednesday and

Thursday to try to make progress on the issue.

The WTO works by consensus-all 164

member states must agree to any deal.

In a statement on Friday, the WTO said the

council had not reached a deal. The statement

said that some members had "flagged the risk

of not achieving an outcome unless

delegations are able to make some real

compromises."

"A positive and meaningful outcome...

would not only send a powerful message of

global solidarity, but would also be proof that

the WTO has the ability to respond to a major

global crisis," those members added.

The TRIPS council chair and Norway's

WTO ambassador, Dagfinn Sorli, admitted

the body "is not yet in a position to agree on a

concrete and positive conclusion".

He said the council will continue to consult

member states on how to reach consensus

before the ministerial conference in Geneva.

Further talks are also scheduled for October

26. Numerous countries have backed South

Africa and India's call for coronavirus patents

to waived, as has the World Health

Organization and many non-profits.

Covid vaccination rates are on average 30

times higher in rich countries than in poor

countries. Many rich countries are now

considering rolling out third doses of vaccines

while billions of people have yet to get access

to a first.

WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said

the yawning chasm in vaccination rates

between the haves and the have nots was

"devastating for the lives and livelihoods of

Africans" and "morally unacceptable".

The World Trade Organization said Friday its member nations had again

failed to agree to suspend intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines,

with some countries doubting a deal could be reached unless certain

delegations make "real compromises.

Photo : Internet

Russia says it chased out US

navy ship from its waters,

Washington denies that

WASHINGTON : Moscow said Friday that one

of its warships chased away a US Navy

destroyer after it attempted to violate Russia's

territorial waters in the Sea of Japan, but

Washington denied this.

The incident took place as Russia and China

were conducting naval exercises in the area.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a

statement that at around 5 pm local time

(0800GMT), the destroyer USS Chafee, which

had been operating in the Sea of Japan for

several days, "approached the territorial

waters of the Russian Federation and

attempted to cross the border."

Russia's Admiral Tributs destroyer issued a

warning to the US ship "about the

inadmissibility of such actions."

However, the USS Chafee ignored the

IS claims deadly suicide attack on Shiite

mosque in Afghanistan's Kandahar

first by IS-K in Kandahar, and the

fourth mass casualty massacre since

the Taliban took Kabul. ExTrac

researcher Abdul Sayed told AFP the

attack was "challenging the Taliban

claims of holding control on the

country. If the Taliban can't protect

Kandahar from an IS-K attack, how

could it protect the rest of the country?"

Inside the mosque, after the blast, the

walls were pockmarked with shrapnel

and volunteers swept up debris in the

ornately painted prayer hall. Rubble lay

in an entrance corridor.

In the wake of the explosions,

Kandahar police chief Maulvi

Mehmood said "a brutal attack has

been witnessed on a Shiite mosque as a

result of which a huge number of our

countrymen have lost their lives".

In a video statement, Mehmood said

security for the mosque had been

provided by guards from the Shiite

community but that henceforth the

Taliban would take charge of its

protection. Hafiz Abdulhai Abbas,

director of health for Kandahar, told

AFP 41 people had been killed about 70

warning and "took action to violate the

national border of the Russian Federation,"

according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

"Acting within the framework of the

international rules of navigation, the Admiral

Tributs set a course for ousting the intruder

from the Russian territorial waters."

After that, the USS Chafee turned around

and set off "on the opposite course" when it

was less than 60 meters away from the

Russian ship. The US Navy dismissed the

Russian account as "false."

It said in a statement that its ship "was

conducting routine operations in international

water in the Sea of Japan" when a Russian

destroyer came within approximately 65 yards

of the USS Chafee "while the ship was

preparing for flight operations."

wounded, according to hospital

information. At least 15 ambulances

were seen rushing to and from the

scene, as Taliban security cordoned off

the area.

"We are overwhelmed," a doctor at

the city's central Mirwais hospital told

AFP. "There are too many dead bodies

and wounded people brought to our

hospital. We are expecting more to

come. We are in urgent need of blood.

We have asked all the local media in

Kandahar to ask people to come and

donate blood."

Eyewitnesses spoke of gunfire

alongside the explosions, and a security

guard assigned to protect the mosque

said three of his comrades had been

shot as the bombers fought their way

in. Sayed Rohullah told AFP: "It was

the Friday prayer time, and when we

were preparing I heard shots. Two

people had entered the mosque.

"They had opened fire on the

guards and in response the guards

had also opened fire on them. One of

them committed a suicide blast

inside the mosque."

SuNDAY, OCTOBeR 17, 2021

8

Managing Director of Karmasangsthan Bank, Md. Abdul Mannan and executives of the Bank paid a rich

tribute to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by placing wreaths at his grave

at Tungipara in Gopalganj. They offered prayer for the departed soul of Bangabandhu and other martyred

members of his family who were killed on 15 August 1975.

Photo: Courtesy

Bitcoin tops $60,000 on

US fund approval hopes

NEW YORK: Bitcoin breached the $60,000

mark for the first time since April on growing

optimism that American regulators will

greenlight the first US futures exchange-traded

fund for the cryptocurrency, reports BSS.

The digital currency was up more than 40

percent from a month ago, reaching $62,253 at

2050 GMT, according to Bloomberg News

data, which reported that the US Securities and

Exchange Commission could allow the ETF to

trade next week.

The SEC has rejected attempts to create a

Bitcoin ETF since 2013.

"An SEC Bitcoin ETF approval is a watershed

moment for the crypto industry as this could be

the key driver for getting the next wave of

crypto investors," said Edward Moya, senior

market analyst at OANDA.

An ETF is a financial instrument that can

include different assets and be traded on an

exchange like other securities. A futures ETF

means the product will be bought or sold at set

price at a later date.

The SEC fuelled speculation of the imminent

approval after writing the following advice on

one of its accounts on Twitter: "Before

investing in a fund that holds Bitcoin futures

contracts, make sure you carefully weigh the

potential risks and benefits."

The ETF would add to an eventful year for

the world's leading cryptocurrency, which hit a

record high at $64,870 in April and became a

legal tender in El Salvador, the first country to

adopt it officially.

China, meanwhile, has cracked down on

trading and mining cryptocurrencies, which

are created through solving complex

World Sight Day celebrated

with various activities

October 14th, 2021 marks

the World Sight Day, which

is an annual day of

awareness celebrated on

second Thursday of October

each year to focus awareness

on blindness and vision

impairment. Like all other

parts of the world, the Day is

also being observed in

Bangladesh with necessary

arrangements and activities.

Marking the celebration of

the Day, National Eye Care

of the Directorate General of

Health Services, Ministry of

Health and Family Welfare

and International Nongovernment

Organisations

(INGOs) Forum for Eye

Health have jointly

undertaken different

initiatives to raise awareness

on blindness and vision

impairment across the

country, a press release said.

The theme of this year's

World Sight Day is 'love your

eyes'.

According to the World

Health Organisation more

than 2.2. billion people, a

quarter of the world's

population, have a visual

impairment, with four times

as many people affected in

low- and middle-income

countries. Nearly everyone

on the planet will experience

an eye health issue in their

lifetime and more than a

billion people worldwide do

not have access to eye care

services.

Over half of this vision loss

is preventable or treatable,

but a lack of quality eye care

services means that many

people don't get the care

they need. And countries are

losing out as a result, as it is

estimated that the

productivity loss of visual

impairment and blindness is

$410.7 billion globally each

year.

On the 23rd of July 2021,

the United Nations General

Assembly adopted the

'Vision for Everyone;

accelerating action to

achieve the Sustainable

Development Goals'

resolution committing the

international community to

eye health for the 1.1 billion

people living with

preventable sight loss by

2030. The resolution was

unanimously adopted by all

193 countries of the United

equations-an endeavour that consumes

enormous amounts of energy.

Bloomberg, which cited unidentified people

familiar with the matter, reported that unlike

past Bitcoin ETF applications that the SEC

rejected before, the proposals made by

financial firms ProShares and Invesco are

based on futures contracts.

The proposals were filed under mutual fund

rules that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has said

provide "significant investor protections", the

news agency reported.

"This is a key development for the crypto

space as it would allow many investors who

were on the fence to enter the market in more

traditional ways," said Walid Koudmani,

analyst at XTB online trading.

An ETF would reassure investors "about

previously associated risks such as lack of

regulations and the possibility of having their

wallet hacked", Koudmani said.

There are ETFs that include Bitcoin in other

countries but getting one in the United States

would take the cryptocurrency to another level.

"In America's case, it's the largest, most

important market. To date, they (traditional

investors) haven't had a simple vehicle in which

to invest in Bitcoin," Charlie Erith, CEO of

ByteTree Asset Management, which specialise

in cryptocurrencies, told AFP

Erith cautioned that "the impact on the

market might be overblown. You might see a

short selloff but it won't be meaningful".

But, he added, "long term, it's an important

development. It signals that authorities are

getting more comfortable with people owning

cryptoassets".

Nations. The adoption of

this resolution, and the

committee through which it

was adopted, makes it clear

that eye health is a priority

development and human

rights issue in the present

world.

National Eye Care is

arranging rally, discussion

meeting, advocacy &

awareness programs

thorough electronic, print &

social media. 130

Community Vision Centres

at upazila health complexes,

64 district hospitals & base

Hospitals (Medical College

Hospital) are also

celebrating this day with

different activity under the

guidance of National Eye

Care. National &

International NGO's

US stocks rise

again, finish

with weekly

gains

NEW YORK : Wall Street

stocks scored another

winning session Friday

following good economic data

and earnings, concluding a

positive week on a strong

note, reports BSS.

US retail sales posted a

surprise 0.7 percent increase

in September, according to

government data, pushed by

broad gains that extended

beyond gasoline and autos.

The better-than-expected

report, coupled with strong

earnings from Goldman

Sachs, lifted stocks further

after major indices surged

more than 1.5 percent on

Thursday.

"The US economy has lost

some luster, but demand

appears resilient in the face of

lingering supply-chain

disruptions," said Greg Daco

of Oxford Economics.

"With the health situation

having

improved

considerably over the past few

weeks, consumer spending is

firming and high-frequency

data points to an acceleration

in employment growth."

The broad-based S&P 500

finished at 4,471.37, up 0.8

percent for the day and about

1.8 percent for the week.

working in eye care sector of

Bangladesh are also

organizing different

programs themselves & also

through their partner

hospitals in co-ordination

with National Eye Care to

mark this day.

Emphasizing the

significance of the Day,

Health Minister Zahid

Maleque MP says: "World

Sight Day is an important

day for Bangladesh as this

day reminds us of the

importance of sight and eye

health. The Ministry of

Health and Family Welfare

has adopted various

initiatives including raising

awareness about receiving

eye heath care treatments

from the eye health facilities,

said the health minister.

Biden signs

debt increase

bill into law

WASHINGTON: US President

Joe Biden signed into law

Thursday a bill to lift the

nation's borrowing authority,

averting the threat of a firstever

debt default-but only for a

few weeks, reports BSS.

On Tuesday the Democraticcontrolled

House of

Representatives voted along

party lines to pass the stop-gap

$480 billion hike, which

advanced from the Senate last

Thursday after weeks of heated

debate.

Without this increase in the

debt limit, the Treasury warned

that the federal government

would be incapable of securing

and servicing loans after

October 18. This would have

reverberated around the world

as an economic catastrophe.

This increase in the debt

ceiling "is expected to be

sufficient to allow the Federal

Government to continue to

meet its full commitments

through early December," the

White House said in a one

sentence statement

announcing Biden signed the

bill.

The new arrangement

merely kicks the can down the

road, possibly to complicate

another major funding

deadline-a shutdown that

would begin from December 3

when the government's coffers

theoretically run out.

On the occasion of the

centenary of the birth of

Father of the Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman, a tree

distribution program was

organized by the

LankaBangla Foundation at

the head office of Dhaka

North City Corporation

(DNCC) near Gulshan. With

the theme "Let's plant trees

to build Bangabandhu's

dream country", Khwaja

Shahriar, Managing

Director and CEO of Lanka

Bangla Finance Limited

inaugurated the program by

handing over saplings to

Dhaka North City

Corporation's Md. Selim

Reza, Chief Executive

Officer and Brigadier

General Md. Zobaidur

Rahman, Chief Health

Officer, a press release said.

Through this program,

various types of tree saplings

will be provided as gifts to

children under the age of

two who are born and living

in the area under Dhaka

North City Corporation. The

Lanka Bangla Foundation

will work with Dhaka North

BEIJING: China's economic growth is

expected to have slowed further in the

third quarter, according to an AFP poll of

analysts, with a mounting energy crisis

and property market tremors casting a

pall as the country's post-Covid recovery

lost steam, reports BSS.

While the world's number-two

economy bounced back quickly from the

coronavirus outbreak last year, with

gross domestic product growth

returning to pre-pandemic levels,

economists say further slowdown is

"inevitable".

Growth is forecast to come in at 5.0

percent on-year for July-September by

the 12 analysts polled by AFP,

representing a sharp slowdown from the

7.9 percent clocked in the previous three

months.

They also downgraded their full-year

growth expectations to 8.1 percent, from

the 8.5 percent predicted in a July poll.

Official figures will be released on

Monday.

Analysts said China's growth

slowdown mainly stems from policy

tightening this year in key areas

including the property sector and a drive

to cut emissions.

Residential real estate activity has

slowed with tightened regulations and

credit policies for developers, along with

guidance to banks to slow mortgage

lending, according to Oxford Economics.

The travails of property giant

Evergrande-which is struggling under a

US jobless claims dip below

key pandemic threshold

WASHINGTON: New

applications for US

unemployment benefits

dipped below 300,000 for

the first time since the

pandemic began, a milestone

in the labor market's recovery

from the devastation wrought

by the virus last year, reports

BSS.

President Joe Biden

heralded the data as a victory

for his policies.

The tally of weekly

applications for jobless aid

became one of the most

visible signs of economic

ravages of Covid-19, as the

total surged into the millions

in March 2020.

Claims have declined

steadily this year as vaccines

allowed employers to rebuild

their staff, and the total

dropped to 293,000 in the

week ended October 9, the

lowest level since the crisis

started, the Labor

Department reported

Thursday.

"With both Covid-19 cases

and unemployment claims

declining, it is clearer than

ever that America is in the

midst of an historic economic

recovery-one that continues

to lead the world," Biden said

about the data.

Since taking office in

City Corporation (DNCC) to

distribute saplings for the

next 5 years.

The main objective of this

tree distribution program of

the LankaBangla

Foundation is to encourage

all to plant trees on their

own initiative to make the

golden jubilee of

independence and the birth

centenary of the Father of

the Nation special

meaningful with the aim of

greening Dhaka city,

increasing the forest

resources of the country and

January, Biden has staked his

presidency on both fighting

off Covid-19 and revitalizing

the economy through

massive spending bills, one of

which he succeeded in

passing, though two others

aimed at infrastructure and

social programs remain

mired in Congress.

Even as claims inch closer

to 256,000, the level on

March 14, 2020, the last week

of normalcy before the

pandemic shutdowns began,

American workers face

headwinds.

These include supply

chains snarls that have

pushed prices up, as well as

the Delta variant of the virus,

which has fueled a spike in

cases in recent weeks though

that now appears to be

ebbing.

Nonetheless, Ian

Shepherdson of Pantheon

Macroeconomics said the

labor data predict that better

days are ahead.

"Claims won't keep falling

at the pace seen over the past

couple weeks, but the trend

clearly is downwards and as

the economy re-emerges

from the Delta wave, layoffs

will decline further," he wrote

in an analysis.

Applications from workers

maintaining environmental

balance etc. Moreover,

LankaBangla Foundation

has been organizing tree

distribution programs in the

country every year as part of

its Corporate Social

Responsibility (CSR)

activities to prevent land

degradation, fruit

production, long term

environment and

biodiversity conservation.

Along with other senior

officials of both the

organizations there also

present on the occasion

mountain of debt worth more than $300

billion-is dragging down sentiment

among prospective buyers, it added.

Christina Zhu, of Moody's Analytics,

said a slowdown in property investment

and house prices could hit growth as real

estate investment accounts for a large

share of fixed asset investment, which

she said accounts for more than 40

percent of total GDP.

"The two major risks for the remainder

of the year are the property market debt

problem and power shortages," Zhu

added.

Power rationing in recent weeks, along

with surging raw material costs and the

government's climate push, have led to

reduced mining activities and

manufacturing production.

Such disruptions "will not only put

pressure on (the) domestic labour

market and consumption, but also have

ripple effects on global trade and prices",

Zhu warned.

But UBS economists believe Beijing

will further fine-tune policies to avoid a

sharp power crunch, having already

introduced guidelines to raise coal

production and imports.

The actual hit to GDP will depend on

how this is managed, they added.

Meanwhile, the government is trying

to recalibrate the economy to one driven

by consumers and away from

investment and exports.

But officials presently have to walk a

fine line between supporting growth and

seeking jobless benefits

remained elevated for much

of 2020 before vaccines

brought a decisive decline

this year, though the fastspreading

Delta variant's

wave of infections arrested

that progress in recent weeks.

Initial claims last week fell

by 36,000 from the prior

week, while the report said

another 21,624 claims, not

seasonally adjusted, were

filed under the now-expired

Pandemic Unemployment

Assistance program, which

was created to aid freelance

workers not normally eligible

for aid.

All told, more than 3.6

million people were receiving

jobless benefits under all

programs as of the week

ended September 25, the

latest for which data was

available.

"The claims data are

consistent with an improving

employment situation,"

Nancy Vanden Houten of

Oxford Economics said in an

analysis.

"We expect further

progress in the months ahead

as the health situation is

improving following the

surge in cases over the

summer from the Delta

variant."

LankaBangla distributes tree

were Dhaka North City

Corporation's Lt Col Md.

Golam Mostafa Sarwar,

Deputy Chief Health

Officer; Dr. Md Emdadul

Haque, Health Officer and

LankaBangla Finance's

Mostafa Kamal, Head of

Board Secretariat and

Regulatory Affairs;

Mohammad Hafiz Al Ahad,

Head of Human Resources

and Muhammad Habib

Haider, Head of General

Infrastructure and

Services.

China growth dips to 5pc in third

quarter on energy woes: AFP poll

keeping a lid on inflation with factory

gate prices rising at their fastest rate in a

quarter of a century.

Despite still-strong foreign demand,

factors like extreme weather and fresh

virus outbreaks, on top of energy

shortages and the cooling housing

market have all weighed on China's

economy, said Gene Ma, head of China

research at the Institute of International

Finance.

Flooding shuttered coal mines earlier

this month, while extreme weather has

destroyed crops and a series of regional

lockdowns have brought large cities to a

standstill with just a handful of Covid-19

cases.

"China's remarkable post-Covid-19

recovery ran out of steam by the summer

of this year," he added.

Consumption remains a drag with

passenger car sales likely plunging in

September, said Hao Zhou, senior

emerging markets economist at

Commerzbank.

Regional lockdowns and a "zero

Covid" strategy would also have weighed

on the services sector, as well as

disposable income, Zhou added.

"Hence, further economic slowdown

looks inevitable," he said.

Some have called for more targeted

policy support.

The key, said DBS bank senior

economist Nathan Chow, is to "alleviate

cash flow pressure for the affected

sectors and companies".

SunDAY, oCtoBer 17, 2021

9

tigers are keen to make a winning start to the twenty20 World Cup as they take on Scotland today

at Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Muscat, oman.

photo: BCB

Tigers out to beat Scotland for

a winning start in T20 WC

SportS DeSk

Putting behind their disappointing

performance in the warm-up games,

Bangladesh are keen to make a winning

start to the Twenty20 World Cup as they

take on Scotland today at Al Amerat

Cricket Ground in Muscat, Oman,

reports BSS.

The match starts at 8 PM (Bangladesh

Standard) and will be aired live on Gazi

TV and T Sports.

It will be Bangladesh's first match in

Group B which looks set to be hotly

contested in the first round of the ICC

Men's T20 World Cup 2021 as apart

from Bangladesh and Scotland, Oman

and Papua New Guinea also battle it out

to qualify for the Super 12.

The teams will play each other once in

a round-robin format from 17-21

October, with the top two advancing into

the next stage.

Bangladesh qualified by virtue of their

world ranking and entered as favourites

to top the group.

Scotland basically are the main

opponent of Bangladesh in their Group B

of first round, considering their strength

and cricket tradition. They also will be

high on confidence following their win

against Netherlands and Namibia in the

two official practice games.

Scotland earlier met Bangladesh just

once in this format in 2012 at Hague,

Netherlands and won that game by 34

runs thanks to a 58 ball-100 of Richie

Berrington, who is still a key player of the

side.

The Tigers indeed left the country high

on confidence, following their seven wins

in the last 10 games against teams like

Australia and New Zealand. Beforehand,

they also won a three-match series

against Zimbabwe by 2-1 in Zimbabwe.

Even though they won their maiden T20

series against Australia and New Zealand

at home in a designed pitch, the team

management argued the winning spree

would keep Bangladesh bolstered

psychologically.

This seemed to work well when they

crushed Oman A team in a practice

game, putting up score above 200. But

after two defeats in ICC organized official

practice games, things look ominous for

Bangladesh.

Bangladesh's four-wicket defeat to Sri

Lanka though could be defendable, they

looked out-of-sort and jaded in excellent

batting pitch against Ireland before losing

it by 33 runs. Ireland put up 177-3 before

restricting Bangladesh to 144-7.

The defeat at the hands of the Irish not

only was disappointing but also is

believed to cause a huge mental

breakdown.

Apart from Soumya Sarkar and Nurul

Hasan Sohan, no batsmen could show

their consistency while in bowling fast

bowler Taskin Ahmed only looked like a

bowler to cause some trouble for the

batsman in benign pitch. The most

disappointing figure is fast bowler

Mustafizur Rahman, who looked like an

ordinary bowler when his cutter and

slower delivery didn't work.

Bangladesh will hope that the return of

regular Mahmudullah Riyad and ace

allrounder Shakib Al Hasan would

bolster their batting and bowling.

Mahmudullah skipped the practice

matches due to his back pain while

Shakib was busy with IPL commitments.

Shakib had already joined the team

bubble in Oman after the IPL final which

his side Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lost

to Chennai Super Kings.

However the Tigers' stat in T20 cricket

is not up to the mark. They so far played

113 matches and won 41. They had lost a

staggering number of 70 matches while

two matches fetched no result.

The Tigers so far played 25 matches in

the World Cup of this shortest version of

cricket and won just five-four of which

came in the qualifying round. They won

only one match against the West Indies

in the tournament proper.

Squad: Mahmudullah Riyad

(Captain), Naim Sheikh, Soumya Sarkar,

Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur

Rahim, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan

Sohan, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Nasum

Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman,

Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed,

Mohammad Saifuddin, Shamim

Patwari, Rubel Hossain.

Guardiola wants Sterling to stay

and fight for Man City future

Azarenka books

spot in WTA

Indian Wells final

SportS DeSk

Victoria Azarenka, who is

trying to become the first

three-time WTA winner in

Indian Wells, punched her

ticket to Sunday's final by

rallying to beat former French

Open champion Jelena

Ostapenko 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 on

Friday, reports BSS.

Two time Australian Open

winner Azarenka continued

her solid play in the California

desert as she goes for her first

title of 2021 and 22nd of her

career.

The 32-year-old arrived in

the semi-finals without

dropping a set and after losing

the first one to Ostapenko on

Friday night she settled in and

found her form. Azarenka will

face either Ons Jabeur of

Tunisia or Paula Badosa of

Spain, who squared off in the

other semi on Friday night at

the Tennis Garden stadium.

Azarenka is seeking to win

the tournament for the third

time after victories in 2012

and 2016. She is the only

former champion left in either

the women's or men's field

and with another victory can

separate herself from a group

of women who have won the

trophy twice that includes

Martina Navratilova, Serena

Williams and Maria

Sharapova.

Azarenka clinched victory

on her first match point when

Ostapenko slammed a

forehand into the net.

This was the second career

meeting between the two but

the first on hardcourt so it

took Azarenka time to feel her

opponent out and figure out

what her weaknesses.

Ostapenko controlled most

of the first set, breaking

Azarenka in the second game

to go up 2-0. She then held

serve to jump out to a 3-0 lead

using her powerful ground

strokes to move the

Belarussian around the court.

Saudi-owned Newcastle begin

bold bid for 'superpower' status

SportS DeSk

A new era beckons for Newcastle on Sunday

when a packed St James' Park will witness

the Magpies' first match since a takeover led

by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund took

control of the club, reports BSS.

Amanda Staveley, one of Newcastle's new

directors, says the consortium's ambition is

to turn the struggling club into Premier

League champions within the next decade.

But there is a stark contrast between where

Newcastle are ahead of Tottenham's visit to

Tyneside this weekend and where the Saudi

Public Investment Fund (PIF) wants to take

them. Newcastle sit second bottom of the

table, without a win in their opening seven

league games this season.

Steve Bruce will take charge of the 1,000th

match of his managerial career against

Tottenham after he was given a reprieve on

Friday amid speculation he was set to be

sacked. However, a statement issued by

Du Plessis stars as Chennai down

Kolkata to win fourth IPL title

SportS DeSk

Faf du Plessis smashed an attacking halfcentury

to help Chennai Super Kings thrash

Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs and clinch

their fourth Indian Premier League title on

Friday, reports BSS.

Du Plessis' 86 off 59 balls guided Chennai

to 192-3, a total their bowlers defended by

restricting Kolkata to 165-9 in the final in

Dubai. Opener Venkatesh Iyer smashed a

32-ball 50 but the knock was not enough to

stop Chennai's M.S. Dhoni from a landmark

win in his 300th match as T20 skipper.

Shardul Thakur took three wickets

including twin strikes in one over to hurt

two-time champions Kolkata who came into

the final on the back of four successive wins.

Spinner Ravindra Jadeja and pace bowler

Josh Hazlewood took two wickets each.

Eoin Morgan's Kolkata won the toss and

elected to field but their bowlers failed to get

Staveley suggested it remains a matter of

when, not if, Bruce is dismissed. "Change

does not always happen overnight -- it

demands time and that we follow a carefully

considered plan and strategy," she said.

"Steve has been very professional in our

dealings with him and he and his coaching

team will take the team on Sunday. If we

make any changes going forward, Steve will

be the first to know."

Most Newcastle fans will shed no tears

when Bruce's time in charge comes to an

end. A recent poll from the Newcastle United

Supporters Trust found that 94 percent of

fans wanted him to resign.

Bruce's continued presence is unlikely to

sour a jubilant atmosphere among the fans.

Thousands descended on St James' Park

when the takeover was finalised just over a

week ago, celebrating the end of Mike

Ashley's miserable 14-year reign as owner, as

well as the potential of becoming one of the

most powerful clubs in Europe.

a wicket until the ninth over and took a

hammering in Dubai.

Ruturaj Gaikwad fell for 32 off spinner

Sunil Narine but Du Plessis kept up the

charge to raise his fifty with a six amid

raucous support for Chennai at a nearly

packed stadium.

The South African veteran smashed seven

fours and three sixes and put on key

partnerships with Robin Uthappa, who

made 31, and Moeen Ali, who hit an

unbeaten 37 off 20 balls.

Du Plessis was out on the final ball off pace

bowler Shivam Mavi. Narine was two-time

champions Kolkata's best bowler with

figures of 2-26.

Kolkata started strongly with Iyer and

Shubman Gill, who made 51, putting on a

quickfire opening stand of 91.

But Chennai hit back with Thakur's twin

strikes in one over including Iyer's key wicket

as wheels came off the Kolkata chase.

SportS DeSk

Pep Guardiola says he wants

Raheem Sterling to fight for

his place at Manchester City

after the frustrated forward

admitted he "would be

open" to leaving the Premier

League champions, reports

BSS.

England forward Sterling

has been with City since

2015, when he moved from

Liverpool, and has won

three Premier League titles

with the club.

However, the 26-year-old

has made just two league

starts this season, struggling

with his form and fierce

competition from attacking

stars including Phil Foden

and club record signing Jack

Grealish.

Speaking at the FT

Business of Sport US

Summit on Thursday,

Sterling, who has been

linked with a loan move to

Barcelona, said: "If there

was the opportunity to go

somewhere else (for more

game time), I would be open

to it at this moment in time.

"As I said, football is the

most important thing to me

-- challenges that I have set

myself from a young age and

dreams as well, to play

abroad."

But Guardiola told

reporters on Friday that he

wanted Sterling to stay with

City.

"Raheem is our player and

will hopefully be an

incredibly important player

for us," he said.

"Some players want to

play all the time but I can't

assure them of that. Always

they have to speak on the

grass -- not Raheem, all of

them.

"What I want from

Raheem and everyone is for

them to be happy." Despite

his few starts, Sterling,

whose deal with City runs

until 2023, said he would

not be running to

Guardiola's office to demand

more playing time.

Sterling, who starred for

England at Euro 2020, could

be in line for a rare start on

Saturday against Burnley

after City winger Ferran

Torres suffered a fractured

foot while playing for Spain

in the Nations League.

Guardiola revealed he

expects the forward to be

sidelined for up to three

months.

There have been reports

Torres picked up his injury

against Italy in the Nations

League semi-final but still

played against France in the

final.

But Guardiola denied

having any issues over how

the player was handled by

his national team.

"Injuries can happen

here, at home, the national

teams. It happens. I know

the manager from Spain

(Luis Enrique), he treats

Ferran as best as possible,"

he said.

"He doesn't want him to

get injured. They try to take

care but sometimes it

happens."

City will also be without

Brazil pair Ederson and

Gabriel Jesus for Saturday's

match after both played for

their country against

Uruguay on Thursday.

Guardiola said he did not

know whether they would be

available for the Champions

League match in Bruges on

Tuesday.

england forward Sterling has been with City since 2015, when he

moved from Liverpool, and has won three premier League titles with

the club.

photo: Ap

Chennai Super kings thrash kolkata knight riders by 27 runs and clinch their fourth Indian

premier League title on Friday.

photo: Ap

Fallen ex-champions Sri Lanka embark

on World Cup road to redemption

SportS DeSk

Sri Lankan legend Aravinda de Silva admits

there have been "issues with discipline" but

the country which won the T20 World Cup

seven years ago is on the way back, he says,

reports BSS. Also unable to shrug off

corruption scandals, Sri Lanka fell outside

the top eight when qualifying was decided for

the upcoming World Cup, condemning them

to the preliminaries against outsiders such as

the Netherlands, Ireland and Namibia.

But as part of an overhaul, de Silva, vice

captain of the side that won the 50-over

World Cup in 1996, was brought in to head

Sri Lanka's cricket committee.

Another legend, Mahela Jayawardene, a

member of the side that triumphed at the

T20 World Cup in 2014, has been drafted in

to mentor the team competing in the United

Arab Emirates and Oman -- to give

"confidence and support". On the field, allrounder

Dasun Shanaka is the latest to take

on the captain's role to bring order.

"I think people have to understand it's a

very young side," de Silva told AFP ahead of

Sri Lanka's opening World Cup fixture,

against Namibia on Monday. Shanaka "has

done well up to now", he added.

"So I guess we need to back these guys. I

think there were certain issues with

discipline and things like that.

"And the biggest issue is I think the

cricketer should be allowed to play cricket;

and the administers should look at and focus

on their administrative stuff."

Sri Lanka is overhauling the domestic

cricket structure to produce players for the

national team, the 55-year-old said.

"If you look at the Sri Lanka team, they've

got talent, but maybe some of the positions,

the way they approach the game in the

batting lineup, could be changed to be that

"Those kinds of thinking comes through

experience and also understanding the game

very well." According to de Silva, most

coaches and selectors do not have enough

T20 experience, but Jayawardene has been a

top player and head coach for Mumbai

Indians in the Indian Premier League.

"We wanted him to spend some time and

talk about the situations, how to handle

those situations. These young boys need to

understand all those and how they should be

approached in a certain situation." - 'Never

win another World Cup' -

De Silva and former Australian star Tom

Moody introduced new performance- based

contracts for players that were initially

rejected. Angelo Mathews, whose annual

contract was reduced by $50,000 a year and

withdrew from national duty in July for

"personal reasons", has returned to the

squad -- though not for the World Cup.

PSG scrape victory with

late Mbappe penalty

SportS DeSk

Kylian Mbappe converted a

soft late VAR penalty award to

give a Paris Saint-Germain

side missing Lionel Messi and

Neymar a 2-1 win over Angers

in Ligue 1 on Friday, reports

BSS.

PSG had to come from

behind, with Danilo Pereira

heading in the equaliser

midway through the second

half after Angelo Fulgini had

given the away side the lead at

the Parc des Princes.

Mbappe then finished

emphatically from the spot

with three minutes left after

Angers defender Pierrick

Capelle had been penalised

for a handball only seen by the

referee following a review of

the images.

Beaten at Rennes in their

last game before the

international break, Mauricio

Pochettino's PSG side have

now won nine of their 10

Ligue 1 outings this season

and are nine points clear of

Lens in second.

The victory, which PSG will

say was deserved on the

overall balance of play, came

without their South American

stars who were in World Cup

qualifying action across the

Atlantic less than 24 hours

earlier.

sUNDAY, ocTobeR 17, 2021

10

Dighi to starts shooting

for 'Srabon Jochonay'

TbT RepoRT

Dhallywood young actress and

model Prarthana Fardin Dighi

has started the shooting of the

film titled 'Srabon Jochonay'.

Director Abdus Samad Khokon is

making the movie based on the

novel by fiction writer Imdadul

Haque Milon. It has received a

grant from the government in the

fiscal year 2020-2021.

Regarding the shooting

director Abdus Samad Khokon

said has started from October 15

in the DOHS area of Mirpur.

Dighi will be seen in a character

named Mou in the film.

Dighi regarding working in the

new movie said, 'For the first

time I am working in cinema

under the direction of respected

Abdus Samad Khokon Uncle. I

like the character very much. 'I

am going to be the heroine of

Imdadul Haque Milon's story,

that's why I'm very interested in

the job. Moreover it is a grant

movie; I hope the project will be

great.'

I have prepared myself for the

role of Mou, before going to the

shoot. I'll try to give my best and

I believe that if everyone

cooperates, I will be able to

complete the work well.

She made her debut as a

heroine with two films titled

'Tumi AchoTumi Nei' and

'Tungipara'r Miya Bhai'of Tungi

Para'.

Her performance in the film

titled 'Tungipara'r Miya Bhai' has

been highly praised. Currently

the actress is acting in

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman's biopic directed by

Shyam Benegal. Her new film

titled 'Chithi' is also awaiting

release.

H o Roscope

ARIes

(March 21 - April 20) : Someone

you love dearly could provide

inspiration for creative activity of

some kind. You might write a song or poem about

your friend, draw or paint a portrait, or cook a special

meal. Don't hesitate out of shyness or

embarrassment. Your friend will be touched. Your

efforts will be appreciated and contribute a great deal

to the permanence of your friendship.

TAURUs

(April 21 - May 21) : A

forthcoming social event that you're

planning to host in your home could

inspire some minor redecorating

today. You might decide to repaint or add some new

plants or pictures. Your aesthetic sense is good, so

don't put it off. Do it while your imagination is

flowing freely. You'll be very happy with the results,

and they won't be lost on your guests!

LIbRA

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): Today you could

meet with a female acquaintance that

you know through a group. By the end

of the day, this person could turn from casual

acquaintance to firm friend. You'll find that this

woman is not only a warm and kindhearted person

but also that your backgrounds and interests dovetail

closely. The only caution is that this person is tough

where business is concerned!

scoRpIo

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): Don't be

surprised if you feel a powerful

affection for someone you've met

at work. This could be a friendly

affection or it could be stronger than that. If the

latter, it might not be a good idea to express this

emotion overtly. The feeling could pass as

quickly as it came, or the person might be

emotionally unavailable. Be discreet!

Monir Khan's 'Buker

Vitore Agun Lage'

TbT RepoRT

Popular vocalist Monir Khan at the

end of the break, he has been

singing regularly since last year.In

the meantime, his several songs

have been released.

On Thursday (October 14), the

artist's 'MK Music 24' YouTube

channel released a sad romantic

song titled 'Buker Vitore Agun

Lage'. The song was written and

composed by Milton Khandaker.

TbT RepoRT

A full-length film titled 'Chandrabati Kotha'

on the life of medieval Bengali poet

Chandrabati, released in theatres across the

country on Friday. Directed by N. Rashed

Chowdhury the film was released in

Bashundhara City, Shimanto Shambhar,

Sony Square Mirpur, SKS Tower Mohakhali,

Jamuna Blockbuster and Cine Scope

Narayanganj at the Star Cineplex in the

capital on Friday.

For almost a year this film was stuck in the

Bangladesh Film Censor board, on February

26 this year it got clearance. Earlier, the

world premiere of 'Chandrabati Kotha' was

held at the Kolkata International Film

Festival in November 2019 with a screening

in the competition section. Meanwhile, the

film has been screened at several film

festivals around the world.

The story of the film 'Chandrabati Kotha'

revolves with the elegiac life of Chandrabati,

16th century woman poet of Bengali

The Hindi remake of Vikram Vedha starring

Hrithik Roshan has gone on floors. The actor

along with the makers made the announcement

of commencing the film's shooting on Dussehra,

on Friday. The movie also stars Saif Ali Khan.

Hrithik took to his Instagram stories and

shared the news by posting photos of sunrise,

From now on, the singer wants

to keep himself busy with singing.

In this context, Monir Khan said,

'I regularly publish songs for the

audience. Besides, the puja was

going on, the situation in Corona is

also becoming normal - all these

are the reasons for releasing the

song. '

Incidentally, Monir Khan is

regularly releasing songs for the

listeners on YouTube channels

'Monir Khan' and 'MK Music 24'.

'Chandrabati Kotha', the first

feminist poet's film released

presumably from the sets. He wrote, "Sharing

my love with all beginning a new 1st day today."

The words in the second picture said, "Good

luck."

Soon after, the film's production banner Y Not

Studios also shared a photo of the clipboard and

wrote, "It begins! #VikramVedha."

The Tamil film Vikram Vedha released in

2017 and received a thumbs-up from the

audience and critics. It was said to be inspired

by the Indian folktale Baital Pachisi.

The original

action-thriller

starred R

Madhavan as a

police inspector

named Vikram

while Vijay

language. She is best known for her womencentered

epic Ramayana. Her father

Dijabangshi Das was also a poet. Chandrabati

falls in love with another poet, Jayananda.

But he leaves her for another woman.

Heartbroken Chandrabati confine herself

inside a Shiva temple and start rewriting the

Ramayana.

Produced by government-funded

Mangrove Pictures and Bengal Creations,

'Chandrabati Kotha' stars model and actress

Doyle Mash as Chandrabati and Imtiaz

Barshan as Jayananda. The film also stars

Dilruba Hossain Doyel, Jayanta

Chattopadhyay, Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed,

Gazi Rakayet and others.

Presented by Bashundhara LP Gas Limited

and distributed by Jaaz Multimedia,

'Chandrabati Kotha' is going to be released in

prominent theaters across the country. The

entire film was shot at an actual location in

Kishoreganj, the birthplace of Chandrabati.

The ordinary people of the village also acted

in the film as Palakar or Bayati.

Hrithik starts shooting for Vikram

Vedha remake on Dussehra

Sethupathi played Vedha, a gangster and a drug

smuggler. The film was directed by Pushkar and

Gayathri, who will also helm the Hindi remake.

In the meantime, Hrithik Roshan also has

films like Fighter alongside Deepika Padukone.

The sequel of his last release War will go on

floors next year. The next installment in his

superhero franchise, Krrish 4 was also

announced recently.

Source : The Indian Express

GeMINI

(May 22 - June 21) : An increased

level of ESP and imagination could

have you feeling more creative and

artistic. You might want to channel

this energy into writing, painting, or adding touches to

your living room. You're likely to be especially attuned

to the thoughts and feelings of others, particularly

family. You could grow closer, especially if you sense

what they need even before they do.

sAGITTARIUs

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): If you've been

thinking about a job change or even a

new career, a chance interaction could

provide the opportunity. However,

Sagittarius, remember, "If something seems too good

to be true, it probably is." Get the facts as clearly as you

can. Consider all the ins and outs before committing

yourself or getting too excited about it. If you still

want to pursue the opportunity, go for it.

'I was really

tripping out…'

cANceR

(June 22 - July 23) : You might

be distracted by daydreams of a trip

you're planning to take, Cancer. A

friend could phone and want to

discuss it, which doesn't help. Visions of faraway

places and exciting pastimes may dance in your

head, and routine tasks seem incredibly tedious

and unworthy of attention. It's best to get them

done if you can. Then you can fantasize about your

vacation without guilt!

Leo

(July 24 - Aug. 23): Today's

energies will bring good fortune

and success. New opportunities

to increase status and income

could come your way. You could make some

new friends at the same time, including

someone older than you who could be a

potential love partner. This should prove to be a

fortunate day for you, from friendship to

romance to education to business.

VIRGo

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): An older visitor

might come to your door today,

Virgo. You aren't likely to be too

thrilled about this, but you will be

able to play the good host anyway. Romance and

sociability may be a bit limited by obligations to

family, particularly parents, but don't let it get you

down. You may be stuck at home tonight.

cApRIcoRN

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): Worries about

relatives or friends could plague you

throughout the day, Capricorn.

Perhaps you aren't sure what's wrong

and so you feel helpless. Whatever vague worries you

may have, don't try to figure out the truth without

knowing the facts. You could make mountains out of

molehills. This isn't a good day to run errands. Delays

and obstacles could cause a lot of frustration and

wasted time.

AQUARIUs

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) : The desire to

beautify your home could hit you

full force today, Aquarius. Perhaps

you're expecting future visitors or

house guests and want to make a good impression.

You could prowl through online antique stores

looking for knickknacks. You might set your sights

on doing something a bit more ambitious than you

originally planned. Enjoy yourself but be careful.

You don't want to tire yourself out.

pIsces

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) : Have you been

thinking about adopting a pet? If so,

today is a great day to go to the shelter

and rescue one. You'll know which

one to choose, as the animal will probably choose you!

If this is what you want, don't let minor objections get

in the way. A pet can be a wonderful source of

companionship, entertainment.

Actress Kristen Stewart, who

portrays Princess Diana in the

new biographical drama film

'Spencer', says it was a nervewracking

experience, and the

anxiousness led her to develop a

pain in her jaw.

Stewart told "I had TMJ (her

jaw stayed shut) to the point

where I was like, completely

locked up. I was like, 'Huh, I

guess I'm really nervous' - I was

really tripping out until we

started."

Kristen Stewart shared that she

didn't actually know a huge

amount about the Royal Family

before she accepted the role, as

per reports from

femalefirst.co.uk.

Kristen Stewart said: "I didn't

have the most developed or

defined relationship with the

Royal Family in generally. I didn't

grow up following the sort of

saga. Obviously I do live on

planet earth, and her impact was

so immense and emotional, even

for somebody who was seven

when she passed away."

Stewart did a lot of research

before she started shooting the

new movie.

The actress even took to

watching 'The Crown' as part of

her preparations for the role.

She said: "I read everything, I

wanted every photo … watched all

the interviews that I could get my

hands on.

"I watched 'The Crown', I

watched every iteration of

interpretation. I just tried to

absorb her in an emotional and

general way, and then trust

the process, and expect her to

show up."

She also felt a need to

"protect" the late Princess.

Kristen Stewart added: "I

had to just not focus on

other people's idea of her,

and really focus on my own.

And that in itself was just so

distinct and specific to me."

Source: BBC

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2021

11

Afghan pomegranate

pickers jobless as fruits

rot at shuttered border

KANDAHAR :Afghanistan's

festive pomegranate season

has begun, but this year

thousands of tonnes of the

juicy red fruit risk rotting on

trucks blocked at Pakistan's

frequently shuttered borderleaving

thousands of farm

workers unemployed,

reports BSS.

With its tart and crunchy,

ruby-red seeds locked inside

a leathery red rind, the

pomegranate is renowned

for its health benefits, and is

one of the most important

crops in the country's south.

But the fruit is ripening as

Afghanistan finds itself

engulfed in a multitude of

crises that have

metastasised since the

Taliban seized control two

months ago.

"We have 15,000 farm

workers in this region who

have been laid off because

the trade has been paralysed

and the fruit is rotting," Haji

Nani Agha, who heads the

Fresh Fruits Union in

Kandahar, told AFP.

In the shade of

pomegranate shrubs, the

melon-sized fruits fill burlap

bags and crates being loaded

onto trucks soon to head

towards the Spin Boldak

border with Pakistan.

Saudi air defenses

destroy Houthi drone

targeting Jazan

RIYADH: Saudi air defenses

intercepted a Houthi drone

aimed at Jazan, the Arab

coalition said early Saturday.

The Houthis consistently

target civilian infrastructure

in the Kingdom using

explosive drones.

The Kingdom has labeled

Houthi attempts to target

civilians as war crimes.

Earlier this month, attacks

on Abha and Jazan airports

in southern Saudi Arabia

sparked widespread

condemnation of the militia's

tactics of targeting civilian

sites.

The Arab coalition has

been fighting the Iran-backed

Houthis, after the militia

seized Yemen's capital,

Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia as repeatedly

said the only way to a

peaceful Yemen is through

dialogue, and has called on

the Houthis to end the

fighting. The Riyadh

Initiative, which was launch

by the Kingdom in March,

includes a nationwide

ceasefire and a plan to reopen

Sanaa airport. The plan has

been rejected by the Houthis.

US Trade Representative

signals shift on WTO

dispute resolution

GENEVA: US Trade

Representative Katherine

Tai on Thursday signaled a

shift in Washington's stance

on the World Trade

Organization's dispute

resolution process, saying

the US wanted to thaw

relations with the global

trade body, reports BSS.

"We all recognize the

importance of the WTO, and

we all want it to succeed,"

Tai said in a speech before

The Geneva Institute's

Geneva Trade Platform.

Under then-president

Donald Trump, the United

States brought the WTO's

dispute settlement system to

a grinding halt in December

2019 by blocking the

appointment of new judges

to the key Appellate Body.

Tai, appointed by Trump's

successor Joe Biden,

indicated Washington is

looking to boost ties and

improve how trade conflicts

are settled by the WTO.

"We believe we may

succeed in reforming the

negotiating pillar if we create

a more flexible WTO, change

the way we approach

problems collectively,

improve transparency and

inclusiveness and restore the

deliberative function of the

organisation," she said.

A discussion meeting was held in Joypurhat on the occasion of World Food Day 2021 organized

by the district administration on Saturday. Additional Deputy Commissioner Mohiuddin

Jahangir addressed the conference as the chief guest under the chairmanship of Bablu Kumar

Sutradhar, Acting Deputy Director, District Agriculture Extension Department at the DC's conference

room.

Photo: Masrakul Alom

NASA to launch Lucy probe to

investigate Jupiter asteroids

WASHINGTON : NASA was set Saturday to

launch a spacecraft called Lucy on a 12-year

mission to explore for the first time a group

of rocky bodies known as the Jupiter Trojan

asteroids, gathering new insights into the

solar system's formation.

The Atlas V rocket responsible for

propelling the probe was scheduled to take

off on Saturday at 5:34 am local time (9:34

am GMT) from Cape Canaveral.

Named after an ancient fossil of a prehuman

ancestor, Lucy will become the first

solar-powered spacecraft to venture so far

from the Sun, and will observe more

asteroids than any probe before it-eight in

all.

Additionally, Lucy will make three Earth

flybys for gravity assists, making it the first

spacecraft to return to our planet's vicinity

from the outer solar system.

"Each one of those asteroids, each one of

those pristine samples, provide a part of the

story of the solar system, the story of us,"

Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator

of NASA's Science Mission, told reporters on

a call.

Lucy's first encounter will be in 2025 with

asteroid Donaldjohanson in the Main Belt,

between Mars and Jupiter. The body is

named for the discoverer of the Lucy fossil.

Between 2027 and 2033, it will encounter

seven Trojan asteroids-five in the swarm that

leads Jupiter, and two in the swarm that

trails the gas giant.

The largest of them is about 60 miles (95

kilometers) in diameter.

Lucy will fly by its target objects within 250

miles (400 kilometers) of their surfaces, and

use its onboard instruments and large

antenna to investigate their geology,

including composition, mass, density and

volume. The Jupiter Trojan asteroids,

thought to number well over 7,000, are

leftover raw materials from the formation of

our system's giant planets-

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Scientists believe they hold vital clues

about the composition and physical

conditions in the protoplanetary disk from

which all the Sun's planets, including Earth,

formed.

They are broadly grouped into two

swarms-the leading swarm is one-sixth a lap

ahead of Jupiter while the trailing swarm is

one-sixth behind.

"One of the really surprising things about

the Trojans, when we started to study them

from the ground, is how different they are

from one another, particularly with their

colors," said Hal Levison, the mission's key

scientist.

Some are grey, while others are red-with

the differences indicating how far away from

the Sun they might have formed before

assuming their present trajectory.

Lucy the fossil was discovered in Ethiopia

in 1974 and helped shed light on human

evolution. The space mission's name was

chosen with the hope that it will shed light on

the solar system's evolution.

The paleoanthropologists who discovered

the hominin remains named her after the

Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with

Diamonds" which they were playing loudly

at the expedition camp.

Lucy the probe will in fact be carrying a

diamond beam splitter into the sky-the Lucy

Thermal Emission Spectrometer (L'TES),

which detects far infrared radiation, to map

asteroid surface temperatures.

By measuring the temperature at different

times of day, the team can deduce physical

properties such as how much dust, sand or

rock is present.

US offers to pay relatives of 10 killed

in botched Afghan drone strike

WASHINGTON : The United

States said Friday it has

offered to pay unspecified

compensation to relatives of

10 people in Afghanistan

including seven children who

were killed by mistake in a US

drone strike as American

forces were completing their

withdrawal.

In a statement the

Pentagon also said it was

working with the State

Department to relocate to the

United States any of those

relatives who wish to leave

Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

The offer to pay these

people was made Thursday

in a meeting between Colin

Kahl, the under secretary of

defense for policy, and Steven

Kwon, the founder and

president of an aid group

active in Afghanistan called

Nutrition and Education

International, the Pentagon

said in a statement.

That organization

employed Ezmarai Ahmadi,

who was wrongly identified

as an Islamic State militant

by US intelligence on August

29 during the final days of the

chaotic US evacuation from

Kabul.

US intelligence tracked his

white Toyota for eight hours

before targeting the car with a

missile, killing seven children

and three adults, including

Ahmadi.

US Central Command

commander General

Kenneth McKenzie said at

the time that American

intelligence had seen the

vehicle at a site in Kabul that

had been identified as a

location from which IS

operatives were believed to

be preparing attacks on the

Kabul airport.

Three days earlier an

Islamic State-Khorasan

suicide bomber had killed

scores at the airport,

including 13 US service

members.

But last month US officials

conceded the drone attack

was an error. In the meeting

Thursday "Dr. Kahl noted

that the strike was a tragic

mistake and that Mr.

Ezmarai Ahmadi and others

who were killed were

innocent victims who bore no

blame and were not affiliated

with ISIS-K or threats to US

forces," said a statement

attributed to Defense

Department spokesman

John Kirby.

"Dr. Kahl reiterated

Secretary of Defense Lloyd

Austin's commitment to the

families, including offering

ex gratia condolence

payments," he added

without saying how much

money was offered.

Last month relatives of the

people killed in the attack

demanded compensation

and a face to face apology.

Austin has apologized for

the botched attack. However,

Ahmadi's 22-year-old

nephew Farshad Haidari

said that was not enough.

Global shortages cloud

outlook for powerhouse

Germany

FRANKFURT: Global

shortages in industrial

components and raw

materials are weighing on

Germany's export-driven

economy, threatening to

brake the recovery from the

coronavirus pandemic,

reports BSS.

The country's leading

economic institutes (DIW,

Ifo, IfW, IWH and RWI) are

expected to revise down

their growth expectations

for Europe's biggest

economy on Thursday.

When the think tanks last

published their biannual

forecasts in April, they

predicted that gross

domestic product would

grow by 3.7 percent in 2021,

after the pandemic caused

the economy to shrink by 4.9

percent in 2020.

Since then, shortfalls in

materials and logistic

logjams have taken the wind

out of Germany's sails.

Earlier this week, the

International Monetary

Fund downgraded its own

global economic forecasts,

pointing the finger at supply

chain disruptions.

Asian markets rally as

earnings temper

inflation, taper worries

HONG KONG - Asian markets

extended a global rally Friday

on optimism for corporate

earnings after a strong start to

the reporting season, while

traders cheered better-thanexpected

data indicating the US

recovery remains on track

despite inflation concerns and

the imminent end to cheap

cash, reports BSS.

Central banks around the

world are preparing to-or in

some cases have started-winding

back the vast financial support

put in place at the start of

the pandemic, which has

helped economies rebound and

pushed equities to record or

multi-year highs.

Soaring prices, supply chain

snarls and a brewing energy crisis

caused by the reopening

from lockdowns have put

increasing pressure on finance

chiefs to act sooner than they

had expected to prevent inflation

from getting out of control.

And that has put a brake on a

market rally that had lasted for

a year and a half.

The mural of the late Hossain Tawfiq Imam was unveiled by his son Tanvir Imam, re-elected Parliament

Member for Sirajganj-4 (Ullapara) constituency at Ullapara rail station area on Saturday. During the

time, Upazila Nirbahi Officer Dewan Moudud Ahmed, College Principal Md. Abu Jafar, Upazila Awami

League President Faisal Qadir Rumi, Secretary Golam Mostafa and Upazila Mohila Vice Chairman Ribli

Islam Kobita were among others also present at the occasion.

Photo: Badrul Alam Dulal

2023 must remain 'common

goal' for global minimum

tax: French minister

WASHINGTON - French economic minister

Bruno Le Maire said Thursday that implementing

a global minimum tax in 2023 should remain

a "common goal," though he acknowledged taxing

global tech giants remains an issue, reports

BSS.

The deal brokered by the Organisation for Economic

Co-operation and Development (OECD)

and announced Friday sets a global tax of 15 percent

and is aimed at stopping international corporations

from slashing tax bills by registering in

nations with low rates.

A deal by 2023 "must remain our common goal

for the concrete implementation of the international

agreement on taxation," Le Maire told AFP

in Washington on the sidelines of annual meetings

of the IMF and World Bank.

The 136 nations now on board with the global

tax agreement represent 90 percent of global

gross domestic product.

On Wednesday, Italian economic minister

Daniela Franco indicated at the end of a G20

meeting in Washington that both parts of the deal

will be operational by late 2023 or early 2024.

"There are two aspects: the taxation of digital

giants and the minimum taxation to avoid tax

optimization," Le Maire said.

"On the first part, to implement it concretely,

the United States needs a two-thirds majority (in

The newly appointed chairman of Bangladesh Press Council Justice Md

Nizamul Haque Nasim has paid homage at the tomb of Father of the Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Tungipara in Gopalganj on

Saturday. During the time, Former Chairman of the Press Council Justice

Momtaz Uddin Ahmed, Secretary of the Press Council Md. Shah Alam and

Tungipara Upazila Nirbahi Officer AKM Hedayetul Islam were among others

also present at the occasion.

Photo: Mahadi Hasan

Lebanese Christian group denies Hezbollah

claim it planned Beirut bloodshed

BEIRUT: The head of the

Christian Lebanese Forces

party (LF) denied late on

Friday his group had

planned street violence in

Beirut that killed seven

people, and said a meeting

held the day before was

purely political, reports Arab

News.

Thursday's violence,

which began as people were

gathering for a protest called

by Shiite Muslim group

Hezbollah against the judge

investigating last year's

Beirut port blast, was the

worst in over a decade and

stirred memories of the

country's ruinous sectarian

civil war from 1975-90.

Samir Geagea told Voice of

Lebanon International radio

that a meeting held on

Wednesday by a political

grouping the LF belongs to

had discussed action options

should Iran-backed

Hezbollah succeed in efforts

to remove the judge.

Geagea said the option

agreed upon in that event

was to call for a public strike,

and nothing else.

The powerful Hezbollah

group stepped up

accusations against the LF

on Friday, saying it killed the

seven Shiites to try to drag

the country into a civil war.

The violence, which

erupted at a boundary

between Christian and Shiite

neighborhoods, has added

to concerns over the stability

of a country that is awash

with weapons and grappling

with one of the world's worst

ever economic meltdowns.

Asked whether the

presence of LF members in

the areas of Ain Al-

Remmaneh and Teyouneh,

where the shooting erupted,

Congress). It will be difficult, we know it," he

said.

"We agree with US Treasury Secretary Janet

Yellen that as long as there is no US agreement,

as long as there is no concrete implementation of

this first pillar on digital taxation, France will

keep its national digital taxation," he added.

France had adopted a national tax in July 2019

of three percent on the turnover made in the

country by digital giants exceeding 750 million

euros of global activity, which includes the

largest tech firms Google, Apple, Facebook and

Amazon.

Le Maire's Italian counterpart said that the

G20 expected that national taxes would be

removed by 2024.

For the second part, a minimum 15 percent tax

on multinationals, "things can go much faster,

and we must from 2023 be able to have the very

concrete implementation of this pillar... which

will avoid tax optimization," Le Maire said in the

interview.

Yellen said Sunday she was "confident" Congress

would pass legislation to implement the

global tax agreement.

For France, "the revenue from pillar one is

about 350 million euros," Le Maire told

reporters Wednesday. "For pillar two, it will be

several billion dollars of tax revenue."

meant the incident was

planned, Geagea said they

were always present in these

areas.

The security coordinator

in the party contacted the

authorities when they heard

a protest was planned and

asked for a heavy military

presence in the area "as our

priority was for the

demonstration to pass by

simply as a demonstration

and not affect civil peace,"

Geagea said.

Geagea said his party was

assured that would be the

case. "The army has arrested

snipers so they need to tell us

who they are and where they

came from." Nineteen people

have been detained so far in

relation to the incident.

Sunday, Dhaka: october 17, 2021; Kartik 1, 1428 BS; Rabi-ul Awal 9, 1443 Hijri

Govt urged to strengthen vigil

against import of substandard

electronics, electrical products

DHAKA : Speakers at a webinar on

Saturday urged the government to

strengthen monitoring measures against

the import of the substandard electronics,

electrical home appliances and products

like LED bulbs, reports UNB.

"There is some monitoring from the

BSTI at the domestic production level.

But monitoring against the import of

substandard products is very weak. As a

result, people are being cheated into

buying some substandard foreign products",

said Nurul Aktar, CEO and director

of the Energypac, a leading firm in

the country's energy sector, while speaking

at the online seminar.

The webinar, organized by Energy and

Power magazine, with its editor Mollah

Amzad Hossain in the chair, was also

addressed by chairman of the

Sustainable and Renewable Energy

Development Authority (Sreda)

Mohammad Alauddin, additional secretary

of the power division of ministry of

power, energy and mineral resources

ATM Mostafa Kamal, advisor of

Consumers Association of Bangladesh

(CAB) Prof M Shamsul Alalm, former

Prof of BUET Nurul Islam, chief business

officer of Walton Hi-tech Anisur

Rahman and programme coordinator of

German agency GIZ Al Mudabbir Bin

Anam.

Deputy director of Bangladesh

Standard and Testing Institution (BSTI)

Rahima Talukder made a presentation

on the topic: "Energy Efficiency and

Product Labelling" in the seminar.

Speakers at the seminar opined that

National Board of Revenue (NBR)

should have a bigger role to prevent the

import of substandard products as many

private importers are importing inefficient

electric and electronic appliances

in CKD (completely knocked down) in

bulk dodging the authorities concerned.

"They sell those in the public spot in

broad daylight, but there is no action

Seven people were killed after a sand-laden truck hit a bus

from behind in Telerghat area in Trishal upazila of

Mymensingh district on Saturday. Photo: TBT

20 yr plan to increase gas

extraction locally

DHAKA : Keeping 2041 in mind, the

state-owned oil and gas exploration

company Bapex has undertaken a 20-

year future plan for further natural gas

extraction to ensure energy security in

the country. "The government has

decided to dig wells going deep layer as

the shallow reserves of many gas fields

have dwindled. For this, Bapex is bringing

rigs with a capacity of 7,500 meters

digging," an official familiar with the

process told BSS.

He said currently about 2,600 mmcfd

gas is being extracted daily from 20 discovered

gas fields out of 28 existing fields. The

ongoing gas crisis and rise of energy prices,

including liquefied natural gas (LNG),

have accelerated the Bapex to implement

its plan, the official said.

Talking to BSS, State Minister for

Power, Energy and Mineral Resources

Nasrul Hamid said the state-owned

Bapex has taken the opportunity to

increase its capacity and experience to

extract gas and drill various gas wells.

"The present government has undertaken

onshore plan to drill 41 (subject to

mature prospect) exploration wells,

development of 45 wells and work over

29 wells by 2041," he said.

Nasrul said the government reviewed

model PSC-2012 and onshore model

PSC-2019 along with offshore model

PSC-2019 have been formulated separately,

adding, "A new bidding round

will be announced after improvement of

coronavirus situation further."

According to Bapex sources, at present

about 2,600 mmcfd gas is being extracted

daily from 20 gas fields out of 28.

Wells or fields that were left unused for

fear of accidents due to high pressure,

now advanced technology will be used to

dig those wells and fields.

In places where Bapex does not have

the capacity to survey and drill for gas

wells, it was decided to partner with foreign

companies for drilling, sources said.

Managing Director of Bapex

Mohammad Ali said a decision was

taken to dig wells at a depth of more than

5,000 meters at Srikail North,

Mobarakpur South East-1, Titas deep-1,

Bakhrabad deep-1, Rashidpur deep-1 in

the first phase.

"We have a plan to complete the digging

within the next three years

(December 2024). After successfully

completion Sunetra-deep1, Shailkupa-1

and Savar-Singair-1 will be dig under the

second phase," he said.

Ali said the Bapex has a plan for exploration

in hill tracts areas with the help of

some foreign companies under Joint

Venture Agreement (JVA) method with

Bapex, adding, "A letter was sent to the

ministry for administrative approval and

near future we will invite expression of

interest (EoI) to select JVA partner."

"We have also a plan to conduct 2D

seismic survey at 11,000 line km and

another plan for 3D seismic survey for

3500 square km," he added.

The Bapex sources said a memorandum

of understanding (MoU) was

signed between Japanese company

Mitsui Well Exploration Company

(MOECO) and Bapex to search in Blocks

8 and 11 (Jamalpur, Kishoreganj and

Netrokona).

Since independence, 68 oil and gas

exploration wells have been drilled in

the country, while Indian state of

Tripura did 160 exploration wells at the

same time. Of these, 33 have been excavated

in the 17 years under Awami

League tenure.

Now the Ministry, Petrobangla and

Bapex are working to ensure energy

security in the country and energy exploration

in the map area of the country

under the direction of the Prime

Minister.

Bapex is being strengthened financially,

mechanically and manpower.

The first well was drilled in

Bangladesh in 1910. Since then, only 95

exploration wells have been dug in 110

years. In this way 28 gas fields have been

discovered.

against that business", said a speaker.

Sreda chairman Mohammad

Alauddin said standardization and

labelling in energy efficiency is important,

specially, in achieving the sustainable

energy goals.

Appreciating the BSTI's move to introduce

QR code in energy and electronic

products will help implement the government's

programme on energy efficiency.

Prof Shamsul Alam said substandard

products are sometimes being imported

in connivance with the help of the vested

interest groups in government's policy

making level.

So, awareness should come from the

top level of the government to ensure

standard and efficiency in the products,

he added.

Rahima Talukder said it needs to create

awareness among the masses about

the standards and energy efficiency to

become successful in this regard.

7 die after truck

crashes into

bus in Trishal

TRiSHAl CoRReSPoNDeNT

Seven people were killed and 10 others

injured in a deadly road accident in

Trishal upazila of Mymensingh district

on Saturday.

Identities of the deceased could not be

known immediately.

Trishal Police Station officer in-charge

Main Uddin said a sand-laden truck hit

a bus from behind in Telerghat area in

the afternoon, leaving five dead on the

spot and 10 injured.

The injured were rushed to

Mymensingh Medical College Hospital

where two others died, he said.

The drivers of the two vehicles have

been absconding since the accident, he

added.

Mymensingh Fire Service duty officer

Selim Mia said a unit was sent to the

scene after receiving information from

locals. Five people were killed in the

spot. Two more died after being taken to

hospital. Traffic on the highway was

closed for about an hour after the accident.

Govt working to

ensure nutritious

food for all: Razzaque

DHAKA : Agriculture Minister Dr Md

Abdur Razzaque today said that the

present government is working relentlessly

to ensure safe and nutritious food

for all, says BSS.

"The present government is working

relentlessly to ensure safe and nutritious

food for all. Therefore, pragmatic efforts

are being made for better production of

the crops," he said.

The minister, also the Awami League

(AL) presidium member, was speaking

at a technical session titled 'Valo

Uthpadone Valo Pushti, Ar Valo

Poribeshei Unnoto Jibon' on the occasion

of World Food Day-2021 at a city

hotel as the chief guest.

The event was organized by the

Ministry of Agriculture and the Food

and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of

the United Nations.

Production activities have already

started in accordance with good agricultural

methods, he said, adding that if the

crop is produced in compliance with

these methods, the nutritional value of

the food will remain intact and the environment

will not be harmed.

The government is taking and implementing

effective initiatives in agricultural

mechanization, commercialization

and processing, he said.

The government has laid emphasis on

increasing the export of agricultural

products and producing high-value

crops, he added.

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu

addressed the event virtually while Senior

Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture

Mesbahul Islam presided over it. Food

Secretary Dr Mosammat Nazmanara

Khanum spoke it as special guest.

Followers of Hindu religion have staged a protest procession in Chaumuhani Bazar of Begumganj

upazila of Noakhali violating section 144 issued by the administration on Saturday. Additional police,

RAB and BGB were deployed in the area. During the time 49 people were arrested. Photo: TBT

Dhaka bound migration

snags for plan work: Taposh

DHAKA : Mayor of Dhaka South City

Corporation (DSCC) Barrister Sheikh

Fazle Noor Taposh yesterday said Dhakabound

migration will enforce snag for

implementation of development work.

"If Dhaka bound migration is not stopped

then the development plan work will face a

barrier," he said while addressing a seminar

at hotel Pan Pacific Sonargaon.

Local Government Division and Water

Aid Bangladesh jointly organised the seminar

titled "Achievement of Water Supply,

Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) during the

last 50 years and Future Plan" on the occasion

of the Golden Jubilee of Independence

and Birth Centenary of father of the Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Tajul

Islam spoke as the chief guest in the seminar.

Senior secretary Helaluddin Ahmad

presided over it, which was attended by

DNCC Mayor Md Atiqul Islam as the special

guest.

Barrister Taposh said, "Dhaka is a city of

21 million people today. Will it be 30 million

in 2030 and 50 million in 2041? But

the problem will not be solved. We have to

Anti-liberation forces out to create

communal violence:Tazul

DHAKA : Local Government, Rural Division (LGD) organized the seminar at

Development and Cooperatives Minister Hotel Sonargaon in the city.

Md Tazul Islam yesterday said communal Noting that unprecedented developments

have been achieved in all sectors,

and anti-liberation forces are engaged in

destroying country's all achievements by including education, health, food, water,

creating communal violence.

security, infrastructure and communication,

Tazul urged all the people of the coun-

"Today, the country is a role model of

development for world as all Muslims, try to be united and resist the conspirators.

Hindus, Buddhists and Christians are Speaking about the WASH programme,

working together. But, the country's enemies

are trying to destroy this unity and development has taken place in the sector.

the LGRD minister said unparalleled

communal harmony," he said.

The government is now working with a

The minister came up with the statement

while addressing a seminar titled Development Goals (SDGs)-2030 and the

specific plan to attain the Sustainable

"50 years achievements in water, sanitation

and hygiene (WASH) sector and Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor

targets of 2041.

future plans", said a press release.

Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh and

Marking the country's golden jubilee of Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Md

independence and birth centenary of Atiqul Islam addressed the seminar as

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh special guests with LGD Senior Secretary

Mujibur Rahman, Local Government Helal Uddin Ahmed in the chair.

BRAHMANBARIA : Each day more

than 10,000 people in Brahmanbaria

Sadar's North and South Poirtola use a

tottering wooden bridge to move

around, reports UNB.

For over three years the Poirtola villagers

have been using the wooden

bridge as a shortcut way to the bypass

road.

The narrow wooden bridge is held on

tree trunk pillars. As a result no vehicle

can pass over this rickety bridge, which

is adjacent to the South Poirotola cemetery

on the Town Khal (canal).

ensure the benefits of a better Dhaka for

20 million dwellers first, that's why we

need to ensure jobs, employment and

other facilities in the country's villages."

"When we can stop pace of migration to

Dhaka then we can ensure facilities to

dwellers for 21 million in 2030," he said.

Taposh said Dhaka bound migration

can be stopped only after implementation

of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's vision

of 'turning villages into town'. The mayor,

however, said Dhaka dwellers will get better

civic services by 2030.

He said around 95 percent house owners

do not maintain septic tanks and 99.99 percent

do not maintain soak wells but homeowners

need to take steps to ensure those.

According to the Local Government

(City Corporation) Act, 2009, application

and permission for reconstruction of

buildings has to be obtained from the City

Corporation, but it is provided by RAJUK

till to date, Taposh added.

"We have formulated a policy and sent it

to the Ministry. The Ministry is reviewing it.

We will get it by December and then it will

be implemented from next year," he said.

People of the area for a long time have

been demanding for a paved cementand

concrete bridge.

This wooden bridge has been connected

to the city bypass road from Hazrat

Sheikh Jalal shrine gate.

According to the locals, they face

heavy traffic if they use the Gokorno

road to get to the bypass. So, the villagers

are more comfortable using the wooden

path than the street.

Before the bridge was built the villages

used boats to reach the bypass to avoid

extra traffic and save time.

Tipu for expulsion

from party if anyone

rebels against boat

RANGPUR : Commerce Minister Tipu

Munshi has said if anyone goes beyond

the party's decision and becomes a rebel

against the boat, he will be expelled from

the party.

"The leaders and workers of Awami

League (AL) and its associate bodies

should work together on behalf of the

party nominated candidate in the

upcoming union parishad (UP) elections,"

he said.

Tipu said this while addressing an

extended meeting with leaders and

workers of Pirgachha upazila AL at Apu

Munshi Cold Storage Foundation auditorium

in Nabdiganj area here on

Saturday afternoon as the chief guest.

President of Pirgachha upazila AL

Taslim Uddin presided over the meeting

participated by leaders and workers

from across Pirgachha upazila.

President of district AL Mamtaz

Uddin Ahmed, General Secretary

Advocate Rezaul Karim Raju, Joint

General Secretary Mazed Ali Babul,

Office Secretary Amin Sarker and

Pirgachha AL General Secretary

Abdullah Al Mahmud Milon addressed

as special guests.

The minister said, "You will take advantage

of the party. Again, you will take a

stand against the nominated candidate of

the party. It will not be accepted. If anyone

does so, he will be expelled with deprivation

of all privileges of the party."

He said the decision taken by the party

in the UP elections should be respected.

Now, the internal division must be forgotten

and remain united in the interest

of development of the area.

"Remember, the victory of the boat

means victory of development," he said.

Addressing those deprived of nomination,

Tipu said, "Many people may have

grief over nomination. But, we all work

for the party and the country. So, in the

interest of the country, we have to be

united in favour of the boat."

Later, the minister visited the underconstruction

building of Apu Munshi

Charitable Cancer Hospital being built

by the 'Apu Munshi Foundation' after

the name of his late son Apu Munshi.

He also distributed prizes among the

winners of the final match of the traditional

rural game of Ha-Du-Du in a

function held at the Jamanbish Dakhil

Madrasa ground in Pirgachha upazila as

the chief guest.

10 thousand people in B’baria

dependent on a tottering bridge

About three years ago, Al Noor Peyara

Jame Mosque authorities built the 100

feet long and 6 feet wide wooden bridge

for the devotees to get to the mosque.

Now, people from all walks of life

including market, school and office

goers use this wooden bridge.

North Poirtola resident Abu Taher

Miah said that the people of the area

have to face traffic jams and accidents on

Gokorno road. Moreover, the condition

of the road is also bad. People are able to

move safely through the wooden bridge

inside and out of the village.

17-10-2021

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