27-12-2020

sunday

DhAkA : December 27, 2020; Poush 12, 1427 BS; Jamadi-ul Awal 11, 1442 hijri

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net

Regd.No.DA~2065, Vol.17; N o.255; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00

InternatIonal

UN chief condemns killing

of 3 peacekeepers in

Central African Republic

>Page 7

sports

Gutsy India bounce

back to skittle Australia

in second Test

>Page 9

art & culture

Sumi, Siam in

movie 'Damal'

>Page 10

DMP commissioner

for setting up

traffic police boxes

beneath flyovers

DHAKA : Dhaka Metropolitan Police

(DMP) Commissioner Md Shafiqul

Islam on Saturday suggested setting

up traffic police boxes and citizen

service centres in the unused spaces

beneath the flyovers.

The traffic police are the first

responders during an accident or

crime on the road. They step forward

to give first aid to the victims and

send them to hospital, Shafiqul said,

reports UNB.

"But these policemen have no place

to take shelter during storms and

rains. Also, traffic policemen suffer

from diseases as they do not have

enough toilets for them," the DMP

commissioner said while inaugurating

the traffic police box and citizen

service centre at Shantinagar intersection

in the city.

"So, traffic police boxes and citizen

service centres may be set up in the

unused spaces under the flyovers in consultation

with the city corporations."

All traffic boxes under the

Motijheeltraffic division will get first

aid boxes, fire extinguishers, stretchers,

potable water and other equipment.

People injured in road accidents

will get first aid services from

the traffic police boxes and citizen

service centres.

Bailey bridge collapse

snaps road links

with Rangamati's

Langdu, Merung

KHAGRACHCHARI : Road communications

with Longdu upazila and

Merung of Dighinala upazila with other

parts of the country remained suspended

as a bailey bridge collapsed on

Dighinala-Merung road at

Choumohoni in Dighinala upazila of

Khagrachchari district, reports UNB.

Shakil Mohammad Foysal, executive

engineer of Khagrchchari Roads and

Highways Department, said the bailey

bridge collapsed around 9:30 am when

two woods-laden trucks were trying to

cross the bridge at a time.

A human hauler, which was behind a

truck, also fell down, leaving its three

passengers injured.

A team of Khagrchchari Roads and

Highways Department visited the spot.

"It may take some days to resume the

communications," said Foysal.

However, no one was arrested as the

drivers of the two trucks went into hiding

after the incident.

Zohr

05:20 AM

12:03 PM

03:37 PM

05:24 PM

06:41 PM

6:39 5:20

Bangladesh records

lowest COVID-19

cases in 5 months

DHAKA : Bangladesh recorded 834

fresh novel coronavirus (COVID-19)

cases overnight, the lowest in nearly five

months, Directorate General of Health

Services (DGHS) said.

The DGHS in a press release, however,

said 30 more COVID-19 patients

died in the last 24 hours, increasing the

death toll from the pandemic to 7,428.

It said the recovery count rose to

4,50,488 after another 1,685 patients were

discharged from the hospitals during the

period. The release said the tally of infections

has surged to 5,0,80,99 as 834 new

cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours.

A total of 9912 samples were tested at

163 authorized laboratories across the

country during the time.

Of the total sample tests in the past 24

hours, 8.41 percent tested positive,

while 16.08 percent cases were detected

from the total tests conducted so far, the

release added.

Among the total infections, 88.66

percent patients have recovered, while

1.46 percent died so far since the first

TSC reconstruction

COVID-19 positive cases were reported

in the country on March 8.

Among the 30 deaths, 23 are male

and seven female, the press release said,

adding four are in their 40s, five in their

50s while 21 are above 60 years.

According to the division-wise data,

20 deaths took place in Dhaka division

and rests are in other divisions.

Among the total 7,428 deaths, 4,064

deaths occurred in Dhaka division,

1,386 in Chattogram division, 431 in

Rajshahi division, 523 in Khulna division,

236 in Barishal division, 290 in

Sylhet division, 336 in Rangpur division

and 164 in Mymensingh division,

according to the press release.

A total of 31,59,260 samples have so

far been tested since the detection of the

first COVID-19 cases in the country.

The DGHS said in order to make

treatment facilities easily available for

the COVID-19 patients, the government

has introduced telemedicine services

comprising 100 physicians for

round the clock in the country.

DU authorities seek opinion

from teachers, students

DHAKA UNIVERSITY : Dhaka

University (DU) authorities have sought

opinion from the teachers and students

of the university on TSC's 'overall development

and expansion initiatives' amid

criticism from different corners over the

matter, reports UNB.

Acting chief engineer of the university

sent a letter to the deans of all faculties

and the directors of different institutes on

Thursday seeking their views.

'Under the kind guidance of former

student of DU and Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina, initiatives have been

taken for the overall development and

expansion of TSC of Dhaka University.

The expectations and recommendations

of the esteemed teachers and students of

the university regarding the overall development

and expansion of TSC are being

invited, "reads the letter.

In the letter, the Acting Chief Engineer

also requested the Deans and Directors to

convey this to the teachers and students.

Teachers and students will be able to

submit their comments and recommendations

through (https://forms.gle/

GnfMKXKS1NBVZGND7) web link until

January 2, said the letter.

On September 21,2019 Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina said four large structures -

the National Museum, the Public Library,

the Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) of

Dhaka University and the DMCH - will

be reconstructed.

Sheikh Hasina said there were only

4,000-5,000 students when the TSC was

constructed in the 1960s. But the number

of DU students and teachers is now over

40,000. Besides, TSC auditorium and

cafeteria are decades old. Dhaka Medical

College Hospital (DMCH)

Sheikh Hasina said the TSC will be

reconstructed so that the TSC complex

can accommodate the huge

number of teachers and students,

offices of various cultural and sociopolitical

organisations.

An international standard auditorium

will also be constructed at the TSC, she

said, adding that a plan to develop the

TSC complex has already been prepared.

patrakhola Tea Garden Lake is the guest bird sanctuary. The lake is full of natural beauty, attracts a large

number of guest birds from Africa, Siberia, and Antarctica during the winter.

photo: pBA

Actor Abdul

Kader no more

Laid to eternal rest at Banani

TBT RepoRT

Popu lar actor Abdul Kader passed away

at a hospital in the capital on Saturday at

the age of 69. He breathed his last at

around 8:20am while undergoing treatment

at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka.

Abdul Kader

Abdul Kader, also very much popular

as 'Badi', was laid to rest at Banani

Graveyard in the capital on Saturday

afternoon.

Earlier in the day, the body of the

actor was taken at the Bangladesh

Shilpakala Academy (BSA) premises

and people from all strata of life paid

homage to him there.

The namaj-e-janaza of Kader was

held at a mosque close to his residence

at Mirpur in Dhaka after Johr prayer.

His daughter-in-law Zahida Islam

Jamie confirmed the matter to media.

>(Contd. on page-2)

The bailey bridge

at the intersection

of Boalkhali Union

in Dighinala

Upazila of

Khagrachhari

collapsed during a

truck crossing on

Saturday morning.

As a result,

communication

between Dighinala

Upazila and

Langadu Upazila

of Rangamati

District including

Merung Union is

completely cut off.

photo : pBA

Rice prices in Bangladesh

keep soaring

DHAKA : Rice prices in Dhaka have

increased by 28.06 percent over the

past year despite adequate reserve and

import of the staple, putting extra pressure

on the people hit hard by the coronavirus

pandemic, reports UNB.

Data of the state-run Trading

Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) from

December 22 showed that the price of

coarse rice increased by 47.69 percent

per kg while that of medium 23.33 percent

and the fine variety 17.14 percent

compared to the previous year.

Each kg coarse rice price rose to

Tk46-50 from Tk30-35 compared to

the previous year while that of the

medium variety went up to Tk53-58

from Tk40-50 and the fine one

increased to Tk58-65 from Tk45-60,

the TCB data showed.

Only a year apart, every litre of oil

now costs 22.65 percent more on average

in Dhaka's kitchen markets.

The TCB data revealed that a litre of

loose palm oil price increased 35.25

percent and super one 27.63 percent.

The loose soybean oil prices rose by

18.6 percent while the one-litre bottled

soybean price increased by 14.29 percent

and the five-litre bottled soyabean

oil went up by 17.46 percent compared

to the last year.

Meanwhile, potato prices increased

by 72.73 percent while lentil (medium

grains) rose 21.43 percent and large one

went up 17.39 percent compared to last

year, the TCB figures showed.

Visiting several kitchen markets of

the capital, including Kaptanbazar,

Anandobazar, Jatrabari Kachabazar,

and Sarulia kitchen market, the UNB

correspondent found most of the vegetable

being sold at high prices.

"Each kg of tomato now costs Tk100-

130, green chili Tk100-140, onion

Tk40-70, bean Tk40-65, cucumber

Tk40-60, old potato Tk40-50 and new

potato Tk55-80," said Nazrul Islam, a

retailer at Sarulia kitchen market.

Hasibul, a shopkeeper of Jatrabari,

said the lowest price of a kg of rice is

Tk55 in his shop. The fine variety of

Najirshail costs Tk62-68 a kg.

"We sell a litre of palm oil at Tk98,

soybean at Tk110 and mustard oil at

Tk140. Besides, we sell a kg of sugar at

Tk62-65 and flour at Tk30-35," he

added.

Lutfor Rahman, a resident of Demra,

said the prices of groceries are very high

now. Fortunately, he said, the prices of

some vegetables, including that of cauliflower,

cabbage, brinjal, papaya and

radish, came down during winter.

"We've to buy daily essentials to survive,

no matter how high the prices

are," he said. "We can't stop buying, all

we can do is reduce the amount."

Reach out to more people

through art: Doraiswami

DHAKA : Indian High Commissioner

to Bangladesh Vikram K Doraiswami

on Saturday laid emphasis on an

increased collaboration between

Bangladeshi and Indian young artists

to put together new ideas of art and

reach out to more people through art.

"I think through art, we hope to be

able to reach out to many more people,"

the High Commissioner said,

highly appreciating the artworks of

Bangladeshi artists.

Vikram Doraiswami, accompanied

by his wife Sangeeta Doraiswami,

made the remarks while visiting the

ongoing two-month long groupartexhibitiontitled

"SheikhHasina: On the

Right Side of History" featuring 21

artists at Cosmos Centre in the city.

Deputy Managing Director of

Cosmos Group Masud Jamil Khan

was, among others, present.

The High Commissioner said

Bangladesh is "uniquely talented" as

the quality of arts that they see in

Bangladesh are truly spectacular.

"This is the best time to celebrate our

art. I think this is an important moment

for us to celebrate art," he said adding

that Bangladesh is in a wonderful historical

juncture today and is set to celebrate

50 years of its Independence, 50

years of friendship between Bangladesh

and India in 2021; and ongoing celebrations

of the birth centenary of the

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The High Commissioner, impressed

by the 'wonderful art gallery', said the

centrality of arts is in the shared and

historical experience of Bangladesh

and India.

He said art is the most fundamental

expression by which they not only

assert identities but also maintain history,

culture and narrative.

Sharing how the two countries can

celebrate, Doraiswami said they are

open to have mutual exchange of art

and will be happy to have partnership

with Gallery Cosmos in organising art

exhibitions and art camps. "What we

need is ideas. There should be regular

programmes of art."

SuNdAY, dECEMbEr 27, 2020

2

Nayem Enterprise Showroom was inaugurated on the second floor of Polwel Super Market in the

capital on Friday by Abdul Qayyum Talukder, President of the market.

Photo : Courtesy

Univ students

distribute

blankets in

Panchagarh

RANGPUR : The University

Students' Association of

Atwari upazila yesterday distributed

blankets among 100

cold-stricken people in a

function held at Atwari

Model Pilot High School

ground in Atwari upazila of

Panchagarh.

Atwari Upazila Health and

Family Planning Officer Dr.

Md. Humayun Kabir was

present as the chief guest and

distributed blankets at the

function arranged maintaining

health directives of the

government in wake of the

coronavirus pandemic.

Former upazila

Muktijoddha Commander

Md Nazrul Islam,

Headmaster of Atwari Model

Pilot High School Md Abdur

Quddus and President of

Atwari Upazila Press Club

Md Yusuf Ali were present as

special guests.

Student of the Department

of Chemistry of Dhaka

University Md Naseeb Islam

Ovi delivered the welcome

speech in the function moderated

by student of the

Department of Geography

and Environmental Sciences

of Dhaka University Md

Salman Sayeed.

Among others, students of

the Department of Statistics

of Dhaka University Md

Mohirul Islam and Ibn Al

Maruf spoke. The chief guest

welcomed the laudable initiative

of the university students

and assured them of complete

support from the local

administration.

Ten members of 'robber

gang' held in Faridpur

FARIDPUR : Police arrested 10 suspected members of a

robbery gang from Hamirdi village in Bhanga upazila of

Faridpur on Saturday afternoon, reports BSS.

The arrestees were identified as Habib Munshi, 45, Sujan

Sardar, 39, Musa Bepari, 45, Obaidur Matubbar, 26, Islam

Mollah, 52, Belayet Sheikh, 45, Farid Khan, 48, Shahidul

Sheikh, 33, Badiul Alam, 50, and Palash Kar, 28.

Mohammad Jamal Pasha, Additional Superintendent of

Police (Administration and Crime) of Faridpur, said acting

on a tip-off police conducted the drive and arrested them.

Police seized some electronic gadgets, gold, ornaments, a

laptop and Tk 54,800 during the drive, he added.

The detainees are accused in two robbery cases filed with

Bhanga police station.

Actor Abdul Kader no more

>(From front page)

Kader was recently diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer

and later tested positive for Covid-19. He was shifted to the ICU

of Evercare Hospital in the early hours of Friday after his conditions

deteriorated.

The veteran actor returned home from Christian Medical Hospital

in India's Chennai last Sunday and got admitted to Evercare

Hospital in the capital where his coronavirus test result came out

positive the following day.

Kader went to Chennai on December 8 for treatment as he fell

sick and the doctors there diagnosed him with stage IV pancreatic

cancer which already spread to different parts of his body.

The doctors in Chennai could not provide him with

chemotherapy due to the actor's extremely weak and critical

health condition.Kader's family was waiting for further progress

of his ailing health so that he can be treated with chemotherapy

once his body regains strength, however, things went more critical

with him after being positive for COVID-19.

Born in 1951 at the Sonarang village of Tongibari Upazila in

Munshiganj, Abdul Kader obtained his Honours and Master's

from the Department of Economics at Dhaka University.

He is best known for playing "Bodi" in Humayun Ahmed's

iconic drama series "Kothao Keu Nei" and "Dulabhai" in

Humayun Ahmed's another popular drama "Nakshatrer Raat."

As a comedic actor, Kader had been regularly active in television

since the 90s' and also had been a regular cast as "Mama"

on the "Mama-Vagne" segment alongside actor Afzal Sharif on

Hanif Sanket's "Ityadi," the most popular magazine show in the

country.Kader was also a prominent actor and executive member

of drama troupe Theatre. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

expressed profound shock at his death.

Patiya MP

Shamsul Haque

tests Covid-19

positive

CHATTOGRAM : Shamsul

Haque Chowdhury, lawmaker

of Chattogram-12

and whip of the parliament,

tested Covid-19

positive on Saturday.

His son Nazmul Karim

Chowdhury Sharun confirmed

this saying: "My

father fell sick on

December 20 and provided

samples for Covid-19

testing on December 23."

"And he turned out to be

Covid-19 positive,"

Sharun informed.

Meanwhile, Covid-19

fatalities in Bangladesh

rose to 7,428 with 30

more deaths recorded

until Saturday morning.

The death rate stood at

1.46% and 834 new cases

pushed the caseload to

508,099, the Directorate

General of Health Services

said.

So far, 450,488 patients

- 88.01% - have recovered.

Obituary

Staff Correspondent: Md

Mizanur Rahman died of

irreversible cardiorespiratory

failure on Friday

morning at 11:45 amwhile

undergoing treatment at

Bangabandhu Sheikh

Mujib Medical University

Hospital (BSMMU) in

Dhaka.He was 50.

He left behind his wife,

one son, one daughter

and a host of relatives and

well-wishers to mourn his

death.

Md Mizanur Rahman was

the son of late Enayet

Hossain and Merejan

Begum. He hailed from

Suktagram village in

Kasiyani thana in Rajpat

union under Goplaganj.

He used to work at

Faridpur Municipality.

Mizanur's first namaz-ejanaza

was held at

Faridpur after Maghrib

prayer. Current mayor of

Faridpur along with officials

of Faridpur

Municipalitywas present

at the occasion.He was

buried at his family graveyard

at Suktagram village

at 9 am on Saturday.

It is to be noted that Md

Mizanur Rahman is the

cousin of Khaki Kamal

Hossain, General

Manager and Head of

Marketing of 'The

Bangladesh Today'.

His relatives, friends and

well-wishers are requested

to pray for the salvation

of the departed soul.

Bdjobs.com launched

new "i2i Career Advisor"

Leading job site, Bdjobs.com, in order to

make its job searching platform inclusive,

has launched the new "i2i Career Advisor"

to make the platform accessible by the

persons with disability in partnership

with Leonard Cheshire, Bangladesh

Business and Disability Network (BBDN),

CSID and CDD.

The i2i Career Advisor, a new, accessible

and inclusive digital platform, is opening

up career services and jobs for people

with disabilities in Bangladesh.

The new platform - which provides

information in Bangla and English and a

simple registration and assessment

process - is designed to support the

employment journeys of people with disabilities:

with valuable career advice,

counselling and skills training, and support

to search for, be matched with and

apply for new jobs.

The features include helping candidates

build profiles which attract top companies,

tips on successful job searching,

applications and interviews, advice on

suitable career paths, online support from

our partner CSID, support to follow up

job applications and help to ensure job

retention and satisfaction.

The i2i Career Advisor also updates

candidates, employees and employers

with the latest news, blogs, content and

learning resources on access to employment,

skills building and support for people

with disabilities, says a press release.

The i2i Career advisor launches alongside

a newly updated and accessible

Bdjobs.com, the job site used most by

GD- 1765/20 (12 x 4)

Bangladeshi employers, giving easy

access to job opportunities across the

country, and now extending their access

to opportunities to persons with disabilities.

Judith Herbertson, Development

Director, Foreign, Commonwealth and

Development Office (FCDO) Bangladesh

said:"Our vision, like all of you, is a world

where all persons with disabilities are

engaged, empowered and able to realise

their rights as citizens. Programmes such

as Innovation to Inclusion give us the

opportunity to live our values

Employment, Government of Bangladesh

was the chief guest at the launching event.

Other speakers were Nasima Akter,

President, National Council of Disabled

Women (NCDW); Fahim Mashoor, CEO,

bdjobs.com; Sonia Bashir Kabir, former

CEO of Microsoft Bangladesh; Farooq

Ahmed, Secretary, Bangladesh

Employers' Federation (BEF); Dr Ashrafi

Ahmad, Joint Secretary, andmake sure

persons with disabilities are at the heart

of our work to build a more prosperous

and secure future for everyone."

Zahir bin Siddique, country representative

for Leonard Cheshire in Bangladesh,

said: 'People with disabilities, particularly

women, are widely excluded from

employment in Bangladesh, with unequal

access to job opportunities, services and

support.

'Inclusive digital approaches are more

and more important for people with disabilities

to overcome barriers and explore

new career opportunities.

ÒGg,Gm,Avi `icÎ weÁwßÓ

`icÎ wmwWD‡ji

g~j¨ (A‡diZ‡hvM¨)

Bangladesh's

energy regulator

urged to fix LPG

price through

public hearing

DHAKA : Speakers at a

webinar have urged the

energy regulator to fix the

price of liquefied petroleum

gas (LPG) in a rational way

through public hearing.

"We want the LPG price to

be fixed on equitable basis

protecting the interest of

consumers," said Ghulam

Rahman, president of

Consumers Association of

Bangladesh (CAB) while

speaking at the seminar tilted

"LPG Pricing Dilemma"

on Saturday.

Echoing the CAB president,

Prime Minister's

Energy Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-

Elahi Chowdhury said the

government wants the LPG

price not to fluctuate.

"Monthly fluctuation in

LPG price may create an

internal shock among consumers

that may not be

acceptable," he added.

The Energy Adviser said

the government's vision is to

reach commercial fuel to

rural areas as part of its

move to transform each village

as an urban township

that would ensure every

facility like in urban areas.

SuNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2020

3

Left to right:- 1st row- Anisul Huq, MP, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Mahbubur

Rahman, Chairman of the BIAC Board, Justice Md. Rezaul Hasan, Judge of the High Court Division, Supreme

Court of Bangladesh. 2nd row: Fida M. Kamal, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh and Former

Attorney General, Md. Moinul Kabir, Secretary, Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division of the

Ministry of Law, Ali Reza Iftekhar, Chairman of Association of Bankers, Bangladesh Ltd. and MD of Eastern

Bank Ltd. 3rd row: Nihad Kabir, President, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Dhaka and

Member of BIAC Board, Shams Mahmud, President, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Member

of BIAC Board, Muhammad A.(Rumee) Ali, Chief Executive Officer, BIAC.

Photo : Courtesy

Woman killed for dowry in Magura,

husband on the run

MAGURA : A 20-year-old woman has

been killed allegedly by her husband for

dowry in Raipur village of

Mohammadpur upazila, reports UNB.

Munira Khatun married to 25-yearold

Zia Munshi for barely four months,

was hit with a wood log by her husband

after a heated argument between them

over dowry turned violent on Friday,

police said.

Quoting local people, a sub-inspector

of Babukhali police camp, said that the

couple used to fight often as Zia was

demanding dowry from the first day of

marriage.

Arif Mollah, father of the woman,

alleged that Zia used to torture her

daughter for dowry since their

marriage. "On Friday morning, Zia had

called me to take our daughter back

home." "We have recovered the body

and sent it to the local hospital morgue

for an autopsy," said Tarek Biswas,

officer-in-charge of Mohammadpur

Police Station.

Efforts are on to nab Zia, he added.

Dowry is one of the most common

forms of gender-based discrimination

in Bangladesh. Every year thousands of

women face serious social,

psychological and physical tortures due

to dowry-related disputes.

According to Odhikar, a human

rights body, 5,699 women faced dowryrelated

violence from 2001 to 2017 and

the rate of homicides and suicides due

to dowry was also high during the

period.

Odhikar stated that at least 256

women faced dowry-related violence

while 129 women were killed or took

their own lives in 2017.

The amended Dowry Prohibition Act

2017 stipulates penalties of five years in

jail and Tk 50,000 in fine for

demanding, receiving and giving

dowry. In the old law, the punishment

for demanding, giving or receiving

dowry was a minimum one-year prison

term and a maximum of five years in

jail or up to Tk 5,000 fines or both.

Six brokers

arrested from

RpMCH

RANGPUR : The Detective

Branch (DB) of Rangpur

Metropolitan Police

(RpMP) yesterday arrested

six brokers from Rangpur

Medical College Hospital

(RpMCH) premises in the

metropolis.

"The brokers were

arrested as they were

involved in harassing,

threatening and cheating

patients, who came to

RpMCH and nearby clinics

and diagnostic centres for

treatments," Additional

Deputy Commissioner of

Police (DB and Media) of

RpMP Uttam Prasad

Pathak told BSS.

The arrested brokers are:

Sadekul Islam, 25, of

Kodomtoli area, Ekramul

Haque, 57, of CO Bazar

area, Syed Munna Mian,

52, of Shimulbag area,

Polashur Rahman alias

Polash, 52, of Keranipara

area, Yasin Islam alias Joy,

42, of Bahar Kachhna area

of Rangpur metropolis and

Haider Ali, 46, of village

Shiber Bazar in Rangpur

Sadar of the district.

Police sources said there

have been incidents of

cheating and harassment of

patients by brokers on

RpMCH premises and

adjoining areas in the

metropolis for a long time.

"Following these

allegations, the DB police

of RpMP conducted

sudden raid and arrested

the six members of some

organised gang of brokers

and fraudsters red-handed

from the RpMCH premises,"

Pathak added.

PM to inaugurate

Biman's new Dash

8-400 aircraft today

DHAKA : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will

inaugurate the Biman Bangladesh Airlines'

new Dash 8-400 aircraft today.

"The premier will formally inaugurate the

aircraft named 'Dhurbatara' at 11am through

a videoconferencing from her official

Ganabhaban residence," said a Biman's

press release.

The opening function of the new aircraft

will be held at the VVIP terminal of the

Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport

(HSIA), it said.

The premier has named the new aircraft

like the other new planes aircraft which have

already been added to the Biman's fleet.

Earlier, the national flag carrier received

the first Dash 8-400 aircraft out of three

made by De Havilland Aircraft of Canada, a

prominent aircraft-maker of the North

American country.

The Dash 8-400 aircraft is equipped with

eco-friendly and state-of-the-art facilities

arrived here on November 24, the release

said.

The Biman procured the three Dash 8-400

aircraft under the G2G (government-togovernment)

agreement between the

Bangladesh and Canadian governments.

With the addition of the new Dash plane,

the number of Biman's aircraft has been

raised to 19, including four Boeing 777-

300ER, four Boeing 787-8, two Boeing 787-

9, six Boeing 737 and three Dash 8-400, the

release added.

RMG workers block road

demanding payment of

dues in Gazipur

GAZIPUR : Traffic on Dhaka-Gazipur road

came to a halt for one hour as the workers

of a garment factory at Laxmipura area

under Gazipur City Corporation blockade

road for the third consecutive day on

Saturday, demanding payment of their

dues, reports UNB.

The garment workers of Style Crafts

Limited took to the streets around 9:30 am

demanding payment of salaries, overtime

allowance and maternity leave allowance,

halting traffic movement on Dhaka-Gazipur

road.

The workers have been staging

demonstrations since Thursday afternoon

and blocked the road till 9:30 pm on

Thursday. At one stage, the owners of the

factory announced to pay the salary of the

month of November by January 7 while the

salary of December within January 19.

They also suspended production in the

factory for Friday and Saturday amid

workers' unrest.

Despite the announcement from the

authorities concerned, the garment

workers resumed demonstrations on

Friday.

Samir Chandra Sutradhar, inspector of

Gazipur Industrial Police, said police are

trying to disperse them from the road.

Additional police have been deployed to

avert further trouble.

Janaza of Justice Abu Saeed

held on SC premises

DHAKA : The namaje-janaza of former

secretary of Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar

Association (1984-85) and former Supreme

Court (SC) judge Justice Abu Saeed Ahmed

was held on the apex court premises

yesterday.

The former judge died at his residence in

capital's Wari at around 1:30pm yesterday.

He was 82.

His namaj-e-janaza was held on the

Supreme Court premises after Juhr prayer

which was joined by Chief Justice Syed

Mahmud Hossain, judges of both the

divisions of the Supreme Court, Attorney

General and President of the Supreme

Court Bar Association AM Amin Uddin,

Secretary of the Supreme Court Bar

Association Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kajal,

senior lawyers and former and current

officials of various levels of the Supreme

Court Bar.

After the janaza, the chief justice and

Supreme Court Bar Association leaders

paid homage to the deceased by placing a

wreath at his coffin.

Barrister Masud Ahmed Sayeed Shibli,

former treasurer of the Supreme Court Bar,

also the son of Justice Abu Saeed Ahmed,

told BSS that his father was suffering from

various diseases due to old age.

He also said that Justice Abu Saeed

Ahmed, will be buried in the family

graveyard at his home in Kaliganj, Gazipur,

after the last janaza after Maghrib prayer.

Supreme Court Bar Secretary Barrister

Ruhul Quddus Kajal gave an account of the

career of Justice Abu Saeed Ahmed and

conducted the pre-janaza prayers in the

manner of the Supreme Court Bar.

Justice Abu Saeed Ahmed was born on 23

August in 1938 in an aristocratic Muslim

family in Dhaka.

Muktodhara's

executive Sajib

Saha's Sraddho

on Dec 30

DHAKA : Mutkodhara

Publications executive Sajib

Saha's Sraddho, a Hindu

ritual of inviting people to

feasts in the name of the

deceased, will be held at

Dhakeswari National

Temple on December 30.

Relatives, friends, wellwishers

and admirers have

been invited to join the

ritual, said a press release.

Muktadhara Publications

Deputy General Manager

Jaharlal Saha's younger son

Sajib Saha died of

coronavirus infection at a

city hospital on December 18

at the age of 38.

Srishti Human Rights Society Keraniganj Model Thana unit distributes winter blankets to 300

destitute families.

Photo : TBT

Sramik Karmachari Oikyo Parishad organized a human chain program yesterday to meet various

demands including launching closed jute-mill and sugarcane mill.

Photo : TBT

Two killed

in separate

mishaps in city

DHAKA : Two youths were

killed in separate incidents

in city's Jatrabari and Middle

Badda areas yesterday,

police and hospital sources

said.

In Jatrabari, an employee

of blacksmith shop (Badal

San Ghar) was electrocuted

while sharpening knives at

Bhai Bhai Super market.

Police Inspector Md Bacchu

Miah of Dhaka Medical

College and Hospital

(DMCH) outpost told BSS

that the victim was identified

as Rabiul Islam, 25, son

of Mohammad Manu Miah,

hailed from Rupganj Upazila

of Narayanganj district.

"Rabiul came touch a live

electric wire while sharpening

a knife at the shop at

about 11:30 am. Later he was

rushed to Dhaka Medical

College and Hospital where

doctor declared him dead,"

he added.

Meanwhile, a construction

worker identified as Zakir

Hawladar, 42, died after

falling from an empty elevator

while casting pillars of a

seven-storey building.

32 more test COVID-19

positive in Rangpur

division

RANGPUR : Thirty-two

more people were tested for

coronavirus positive

yesterday after testing their

samples at the two COVID-

19 laboratories in Rangpur

division.

Health officials said the 32

new cases were reported

after diagnosing 231 samples

collected from across the

division at the infection rate

of 13.84 percent.

Earlier, the daily infection

rates were 3.85 percent on

Friday, 10.10 percent each on

Thursday and Wednesday,

9.83 percent on Tuesday,

11.37 percent on Monday and

13.30 percent on Sunday in

the division.

Among the 32 new patients

diagnosed, only one hailing

from Gaibandha was

reported positive after

diagnosing 43 samples at the

COVID-19 Laboratory at

Rangpur Medical College

(RpMC) in Rangpur city.

On the other hand, 31 new

patients were reported after

diagnosing 188 samples at

the COVID-19 Laboratory at

M Abdur Rahim Medical

College (MARMC) in

Dinajpur.

"The 31 new COVID-19

patients include 22 of

Dinajpur, five of

Thakurgaon, three of

Panchagarh and one of

Nilphamari districts,"

Principal of MARMC

Professor Dr. Syed Nazir

Hossain told BSS after

completing the testing

process at 6:55 pm.

Divisional Assistant

Director (Health) and Focal

Person of COVID-19 for

Rangpur division Dr. ZA

Siddiqui said the number of

COVID-19 patients rose to

15,287 as 32 new positive

cases were reported.

"The district-wise break up

of the total 15,287 patients

stands at 3,905 in Rangpur,

764 in Panchagarh, 1,303 in

Nilphamari, 953 in

Lalmonirhat, 994 in

Kurigram, 1,475 in

Thakurgaon, 4,466 in

Dinajpur and 1,427 in

Gaibandha districts," Dr.

Siddiqui said.

Postpaid consumers

can turn into

prepaid meters

DHAKA : The post-paid

electricity bill payers will be

able to replace their meters

withpre-paid ones to escape

harassment regarding bill

payment, said Consumers

Association of Bangladesh

(CAB) on Saturday, reports

UNB.

Consumers will have to buy

the meters personally and

inform the local power

distribution office to get the

service, said a press release of

CAB.

The information was shared

in a programme organized

by CAB Chattogram

representatives at the

Executive Engineer's office of

Power Sales and Distribution

Division inKalurghat, on

Saturday.

The CAB leader alleged that

consumers are facing

numerous problems

regarding bill readings and

people are being burdened

with excessive bills.

Despite the government

having supplied the pre-paid

meters, the distribution

process is being delayed,

triggering additional suffering

to the consumers, they said.

SuNDaY, DeCembeR 27, 2020

4

No surprise that Trump's 1 for 60 in the courts

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Roots of the present

lie buried in past

No elected government during the last decade

and a half before the coming into power of

the present one in Bangladesh could show

even a semblance of honesty and character in

preserving the character of vital state institutions.

All of them had tampered with them in their bids

to leave behind vestiges of their control even at the

end of their tenures. But people's memories

regrettably are found too short. They complain

these days about the politicizing of the judiciary,

the administration and government services

without thinking who started this process and sort

of made the same a lasting feature of governance.

Undoubtedly, their ill practices only created the

compulsions or inducement on their successors to

follow in the same path on the plea of otherwise

risking political annihilation.

Thus, people are expected to look back and

correctly identify irresponsibilities. It would be

foolish if they are carried away by unfounded

thoughts that these are relatively new

developments and have no links to the past. They

should realize that the roots of the present in such

cases lie buried in the past. So, if reformations are

sought then the same should be carried out with a

proper perspective. Voters should start

demonstrating their consciousness that they want

the main political parties to commit themselves

irrevocably to completely depoliticize governance

systems from their first day on going to power.

Our people must not forget that under the past

elected BNP led governments, pervasive cases of

interfering with the normal functioning of state

institutions were noted. From the top levels of the

bureaucracy to the lower levels, party loyalists

were promoted to important positions. Even in the

recruitment of civil servants, those who were

certified underhand as party supporters, were

actually recruited. Thus, predominance of BNP

supporting civil servants at all levels, was assured

even after the BNP's giving up of power to contest

the elections. The rank and file of the police were

similarly structured to favour the BNP.

The politicising of the Election Commission (EC)

was too well known. From its controversial Chief

Election Commissioner (CEC) and the equally

suspect deputies, all of them were transparently

revealed to be brazen party supporters who were

most stubbornly carrying out the dictates of their

appointers.

The judiciary was similarly politicised. Judges

were also allegedly appointed with political

motivation by the second Awami League led

government. But such appointments and

arbitrariness in the selection of individuals

became rampant from the time of take over by the

second BNP led government of Begum Khaleda

Zia. People with poor or nondescript background

as advocates were suddenly and spectacularly

made judges of the highest court of the land in that

period. One of them who is still to clears charges

of using a forged certificate of the LLB exam, gave

the eyebrow raising judgment in a case against

former President Ershad, completing the hearing

and giving of verdict all on one day that seemed to

demonstrate so clearly that the haste was due to

the prodding of his political masters. The real

significance of such miscarriage of justice was that

the same led to a dismal erosion in the freedom

and quality of the judiciary, the last resort in

matters of getting justice by individuals as well as

collectively by the people in their best interests.

If these misdeeds were not done, then the nation

today would be running well on the high road of

normalcy and well-being in all respects. Successors

governments would not find either the excuse or the

temptation to follow in the same path for maintaining

their grip on power. Thus, there would be hardly

political conflicts of such a serious nature that we

witness now over such issues affecting so grievously

the economic and social life .

There would be no uncertainty and Bangladesh

would be only preparing itself to play the role of an

emerging economic powerhouse with a sound

and functional system of true democratic

governance. Thus, civil society must raise its voice

to impress on all political players that they must

start from a clean slate and refrain from doing

similar crimes of manipulating and harming vital

state institutions that would only allow a similar

crisis to form in the future to the great detriment of

the country.

Rudy Giuliani, personal lawyer of US

President Donald Trump, looks on

during an appearance before the

Michigan House Oversight Committee in

Lansing, Michigan on December 2. The

president's attorneys, led by Giuliani, have

made numerous allegations of election

fraud. Photo : AFP / Jeff Kowalsky

There was a while earlier this year when

various commentators and news

organizations were touting the story that

President Trump would never leave the

white house and somehow would hold

onto the presidency, turning the US from

a republic to a dictatorship.

The major news outlets - I think I can

refer to the New York Times here -

assured us that it was a difficult and

unlikely scenario. But I suppose that, as in

the case of the old monster movies at the

drive-in, we just like our summer thrills

and chills. What has happened is of

course vastly different.

To be honest, the present outcome, that

the President would flail about at the end,

and that it would all ultimately signify

nothing, was fairly predictable. This is not

to suggest that in principle the stakes are

not always high in such a situation, or that

we should not care or be wary - only that

it was never likely that Donald Trump

would manage to put together a credible

legal or defacto challenge to the imminent

end of his presidency. I do remember

saying something to that effect over the

last year. But admittedly I can be a bit of

a wet blanket at times.

In the legal profession every lawyer has

had clients who talk big but, when it gets

down to the nitty gritty, can't or won't do

the hard work. One or two come to mind,

particularly, who were fond of telling

attorney friends I worked with (and me)

Tadawul passes 2020 test with flying colors

At Tadawul, the Saudi Stock

Exchange, they might be forgiven

for asking: "Crisis? What crisis?"

While the world struggled to deal with

the economic impact of the COVID-19

pandemic, and Saudi Arabia in particular

with the resulting fall in oil revenues, the

Kingdom's stock market had one of its

best ever years, becoming the leading

regional market for new listings, and

expanding its range of investment

offerings at a rapid pace.

In fairness, Saudi markets were only

following a global trend in which financial

markets - boosted by trillions of dollars'

worth of stimulus aimed at mitigating the

effect of the virus - largely ignored the dire

economic news.

Predictions that stock markets were due

a significant correction failed to

materialize. Despite the economic shock,

falling revenue and profits and general

uncertainty, corporate equities continued

to benefit from the global liquidity

phenomenon.

The TASI Index - which gauges the

performance of the biggest companies

listed in Riyadh - recovered from a big

downturn in spring to end the year

strongly, well above the 8,000-point level

for most of the final quarter.

The constituents behind that surge

reflected the way that the pandemic has

re-ordered investor and economic

priorities. The biggest gaining sectors

The writer is a health policy researcher

and faculty. This article draws upon a

policy analysis study led by the writer

for the World Bank.

IN Pakistan, political tensions between

the federal and provincial power centres,

often cloud on-the-ground technical

achievements. This diminishes critical

learning for the government to deliver

better.

When pandemics threaten to overwhelm

health systems, the crisis can catalyse new

partnerships across the public and private

sectors. In a decentralised Pakistan,

pandemic planning, boosting medical

supply chains and information sharing are

joint functions of the national and

provincial governments, whereas ensuring

service delivery, diagnostics testing, case

reporting as well as regulating services are

provincial functions.

So where does the private sector fit in this

administrative jigsaw? Pakistan's health

service delivery is dependent on private

hospitals providing 34 per cent of inpatient

admissions, private clinics providing 70pc

of front-line consultations, and private

laboratories over 50pc of the testing

capacity. In addition, the supply chain is

entirely reliant on private

manufacturers/distributors/wholesalers;

private transporters provide hospital

referrals in areas devoid of a government

they just did not want to do this or that

thing that counsel in no uncertain terms

advised and that I supported. Fairly basic

stuff. Make or break to the claim being

made.

The clients didn't want to not because

these things put any unreasonable burden

on them or were in any way unethical, but

because the clients could not comprehend

that, having made it as far as court, they

could still lose. So they thought these

things an unnecessary hindrance or

somehow beneath them and didn't do as

advised. And they lost.

One of the problems with narcissists

who get involved with legal cases is that

they quickly manage to convince

themselves they are experts who would

have made great attorneys and that there

is no way the courts are going to rule

against them. Most of the time, and

thankfully this time, that is a delusion.

One who wishes to use the courts should

generally study the claim first and save the

ill considered willfulness and pomposity

for later.

The US president likewise lacks the

skills and attention span to play the role of

plaintiff, either directly or through party

surrogates, in a case of any complexity or

serious moment. If he can't get what he

wants in a running twitter battle he

usually loses interest and the discussion

included consumer durables, food

retailing, software, services,

pharmaceuticals and healthcare. People

want to eat, shop and stay healthy during

the pandemic.

It is worth noting, however, that some of

the more significant sectors that make up

the index - such as real estate, banks and

energy - lagged behind, with single-digit

negative performances compared to the

big percentage gains by the others.

But overall market strength was enough

to persuade a raft of corporates that the

time was right to list their shares on

Tadawul. In this, of course, they were

following in the footsteps of Saudi

Aramco, which just over a year ago pulled

off the biggest initial public offering (IPO)

in history with its $29 billion share sale.

The Saudi market can take satisfaction

from having navigated one of the most

difficult years in investment history with

self-confidence and resilience.

GRaDY lOY

FRaNK KaNe

falls apart - the President's attention

diverted to some new "crisis."

When Roy Cohn was still looking after

then-real estate dealer Donald Trump, he

handled everything legal and Trump was

as a consequence a lot more effective in

litigation than he is now - although even

then he probably settled more than he

won.

Michael Cohen never supported the

Clearly Trump does not surround himself with lawyers who will tell

him what needs to be done - or even whether anything is worth

doing - where challenging the election is concerned. he is served

now by lawyers who either decline to do the things he wants - and

get fired - or do what he wants, but, given that what he wants is half

incoherent and legally unsound, make a right mess of it.

President on anything like that level and

was nowhere near as gifted as his

predecessor. And Rudy Giuliani, once a

very effective prosecutor, has developed

serious coherence problems of his own.

Clearly Trump does not surround

himself with lawyers who will tell him

what needs to be done - or even whether

anything is worth doing - where

challenging the election is concerned. He

is served now by lawyers who either

decline to do the things he wants - and get

fired - or do what he wants, but, given that

what he wants is half incoherent and

legally unsound, make a right mess of it.

It is no surprise that Trump attempted

to challenge the results. It should be no

surprise that no one in the government

would even consider trying to keep him in

office by extra-constitutional means. And

it is no surprise - given that the

increasingly out-of-kilter Giuliani is the

best or at least the most influential lawyer

There had been fear that such an

enormous flotation would drain liquidity

from Tadawul, but that did not happen.

In fact, the reverse was the case in 2020.

Saudi companies raised a total of $1.5

billion during the year, more than some

big European markets, in a vote of

confidence in the Kingdom's ability to get

through the pandemic crisis.

Perhaps the two most notable were the

Dr. Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services

In fairness, Saudi markets were only following a global trend in which

financial markets - boosted by trillions of dollars' worth of stimulus

aimed at mitigating the effect of the virus - largely ignored the dire economic

news. Predictions that stock markets were due a significant correction

failed to materialize. Despite the economic shock, falling revenue

and profits and general uncertainty, corporate equities continued to benefit

from the global liquidity phenomenon.

Shehla ZaIDI

Group and the BinDawood Holding

listings, which underlined the big

investment theme of the year: Anything

that facilitates medical wellbeing, like Al-

Habib, and access to the essentials of life,

like BinDawood's grocery retail business,

will command a premium in the markets.

Both listings were well in demand and

performed strongly in the aftermarkets,

raising the potential for further IPOs next

year. A number of big corporates have

signaled their intention to sell shares on

Covid & public-private partnerships

ambulance network, and private

institutions actively contribute scientific

knowledge. So, the private health sector

comprising philanthropic organisations,

for-profit organisations, industry, and

research hubs is not a sector to be ignored;

it must be powerfully steered to meet public

goals in times of crisis.

When pandemics threaten to overwhelm

health systems, the crisis can catalyse new

partnerships.

Sindh has the largest number of Covid-19

cases in the country - around 204,103 of

457,288 cases - and the highest

concentration of Pakistan's private sector.

Sindh's response during the first Covid-19

peak, based on public-private

collaborations, provides important lessons

for (i) the rest of the country on how to

rapidly escalate engagement with the

private sector during health emergencies,

and (ii) to institutionalise private

engagement for continuing Covid-19 waves

and future pandemics.

Notwithstanding the larger federalprovince

political ups and down, the Covid-

19 crisis opened a new window of joint

federal-provincial action within at least the

health sector to get the private sector on

board. The pandemic catalysed inclusive

advisory relationships with the private

sector through federal and Sindh-based

task forces for joint operations response.

The domestic private industry was boosted

by federal facilitation for the speedy

production of medical supplies, whereas

digitalised data-sharing of cases and

hospital capacity across private and public

providers guided evidence-based

procurement of medical supplies by the

federal and provincial governments. Private

expertise was mobilised by both federal and

Sindh-based task forces for quality

healthcare protocols.

The engagement in Sindh went deeper. In

Sindh, laboratory regulatory licensing was

fast-tracked, meaning that private

laboratories were able to take on 50pc of

testing requirements. Proactive

government negotiations in Sindh secured

enough treatment in local private hospitals

to meet surge capacity. Private hospitals

partnered with the provincial government

for critical-care training of public-sector

hospitals. Digital partnerships with private

firms in Sindh established virtual triaging

platforms, and call and referral centres

enabled swift hospital cross-referrals,

whereas telemedicine consultations by

private practitioners and public-sector

universities supported government

quarantine centres. A provincial Covid-19

relief fund in Sindh, jointly managed by

government and private philanthropies,

pooled private-public funding and procured

medical supplies.

he has still got at the moment who will still

listen to him, the erstwhile seemingly

competent Sydney Powell having gone

completely nuts of late - that the legal

cases he is bringing are all being

dismissed or otherwise defeated.

Attorney Sidney Powell, inside the

Republican National Committee

headquarters on November 19 in

Washington, speaks to the press about

various lawsuits related to the 2020

election. Photo?: AFP / Drew Angerer

/Getty Images / AFP

I will never say never. That would be

foolish. But at some point, we cross a line

where the chance he will do anything

significant in terms of refusing to

relinquish office is less than the chance of

a rogue asteroid strike. And if we have not

yet crossed that line, we must be getting

close.

And, for those who fear his 2024

prospects, take comfort from the fact that

these final flailings liberate more and

more Republican politicians from the

need for allegiance to the President. If

President Trump causes the Republicans

to lose control over the Senate, those ties

likely will be in ruins.

Senate majority leader McConnell - and,

yes, I know we are not supposed to like

him, either - has been showing extreme

impatience with the president. If

McConnell tries to override a final veto

over Covid-19 relief, that will certainly be

that.

All of which will make it much harder

for the president to organize a successful

candidacy for a second term as president

in 2024. It is amazing what a short

breathing space can accomplish.

Source: Asia times

Tadawul in 2021, while it is also expected

that the stock exchange will advance plans

for its own long-awaited IPO in the course

of the year.

The other big development by Tadawul

policymakers was the introduction of a

number of trading innovations in the

course of 2020.

The exchange introduced trading in

equity derivatives in the summer as part

of a strategy to attract more sophisticated

foreign investors to trade in Saudi stocks.

Instruments such as futures, options and

swaps are all part of the regular global

investor toolbox as methods of hedging

risk and enhancing liquidity.

The investment world welcomed

Tadawul's efforts in this direction, with

the proportion of shares held by

foreigners - including other Arab Gulf

investors - climbing steadily in the course

of the year.

There will be plenty of challenges in

2021, not least the lingering suspicion

among many analysts that global stock

valuations, Saudi included, have reached

historically high levels and are due some

kind of correction.

But the Saudi market can take

satisfaction from having navigated one of

the most difficult years in investment

history with self-confidence and

resilience.

Source: Arab news

Not all areas progressed during the

immediate fire-fighting response, and these

provide important benchmarks to take

forward the consolidation of the response

for ongoing Covid-19 waves and future

pandemic preparedness in the country.

First, the government hesitated to control

market rates at private hospitals and

laboratories - which is necessary to ensure

financial access for the less affluent - for fear

of private providers withdrawing the

needed treatment and hospital services.

Second, the government focus has

remained on engaging the hospital

industry, relatively overlooking general

practitioners. The role of GPs and their

integration into the downstream district

government response are critical for frontline

support, referral, risk communication

and tracing.

Third, while national medical supplies

production for PPE, handwashing and

testing kits was meaningfully boosted,

product regulation efforts are required to

counter the uneven quality of local supplies.

Lastly, while the government drew on

private clinical expertise, it must engage

epidemiologists and public health

specialists who are the cornerstone of

epidemic response management in any

country.

Source: Dawn

SundAY, deCeMBeR 27, 2020

5

Asian countries tap satellite data to fight COVID-19

FAtIMA ArkIN

Asia Pacific countries are

leveraging geospatial

information, digital solutions

and artificial intelligence to

enhance their response to the

ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

and to help meet the

sustainable Development

Goals (sDGs), according to a

new report.

"Data is now a strategic

asset," tiziana Bonapace,

director of the ICt and

disaster risk reduction

division of UN Economic and

social Commission for Asia

and the Pacific (UNEsCAP),

tells sciDev.Net. "With more

use, more value is added."

the report, which is the first

in a series of UNEsCAP

publications to assess

progress

towards

implementing the Asia-Pacific

Plan of Action on space

Applications for sustainable

What can heal an ailing earth?

PrAGAtI PrAVA

Forests provide us with one of

the best defences against

climate change. Increasingly,

however, a perception is

building - at least among a

part of the policy makers

across the world - that forests

are just a combination of trees

that are useful only to bring

down the carbon emissions.

Based on our interactions

with many young generation

folks, we have got this

realisation that "plantation"

or planting trees, which is a

form of environmental

fashion now is considered as

the most favoured for of

environmental activism

among these youth. It's

anyways more difficult to

conserve a forest than

planting trees.

A report published in

science, that made big

headlines last year, claimed

that there is scope of planting

500 billion trees over an area

of 1.7 billion hectares of land,

that's almost the size of the

U.s. this, the study claims,

would suck up some twothirds

of all carbon emissions

released by humans since the

Industrial revolution.

Governments, private

associations and companies

have so far pledged to grow

210 million hectares of trees.

While trees are important to

enrich all forms of

ecosystems, there have been

criticisms from various

Development (2018-2030),

highlights a number of

initiatives throughout the

region.

thailand, for instance, used

space applications to monitor

the local COVID-19 situation

and visualise the impact of

development policies. the

Geo-Informatics and space

technology Development

Agency analysed reduced

night-light images to monitor

the impact of lockdown

measures.

It also used satellite data to

monitor nitrogen dioxide

emissions and found that

since the beginning of the

year, most provinces in

thailand had fewer activities

that caused emissions. All this

data was integrated into a

newly created dashboard that

allows policymakers and

others to monitor the

pandemic, medical capacity,

supplies, consumer goods and

sections of society and experts

to the obsession with planting

trees. scientists and experts

have raised serious concerns

regarding the effectiveness of

such drives. they have said

that the science behind it

could be dangerously

misleading. In the name of

plantation and climate action,

often monoculture is

promoted, our own

experience has found out. In

many places, lands such as

grasslands like savannas,

Pampas, and similar

vegetation, including shrubs

surrounding natural forests

are judged as wasteland and

fast growing tree species are

planted to replace them in

order to meet plantation

targets. there have been

numerous examples of such

forced plantations, of alien

species, inside forest areas as

well. In India, such efforts by

forest departments have also

led to conflicts with the local

and indigenous communities

who protect forests for

generations and emphasise

more on the restoration of

degraded forests with native

biodiversity enriching species

that, to them, are much more

useful than alien species

which are good only for

timber value or carbon sink.

the

indigenous

communities, who make up

only 6 percent of the global

population, protect and cover

of the world. And for them

forestry is much broader a

concept than mere tree

preventive and precautionary

measures.

Last March, the Philippines'

Department of science and

technology - Philippine

Council for Industry, Energy

and Emerging technology

research and Development

(DOst-PCIEErD) solicited

proposals for projects that use

geospatial information in

response to COVID-19.

One of the proposals was

from the University of the

Philippines Diliman for an

online geographic system to

track information on medical

resources in local health

facilities. Dubbed 'tracking

for Allocation of Medical

supplies', the system uses

volunteered

and

crowdsourced data to provide

necessary support to ensure

proper allocation of medical

resources.

Now that the world is on the

threshold of vaccine

Satellite data is now being used in the Asia-Pacific region to monitor the

situation on the ground.

Photo: Pixabay

planting. While for most of

us, sitting in urban areas, far

away from natural forests,

trees are carbon sinks and

forests are picnic spots, for

these dwellers and protectors

of the resources, it is their

source of food, livelihood,

culture and water and much

more. It's a heritage, they feel

they have inherited from their

forefathers, and needs to be

protected not only for humans

but other species too. For this

article, we tried to capture

views from some of the

indigenous women in

Odisha's forested villages who

Inhabitants collect food grains, pulses, vegetables, greens, mushrooms,

tubers, nuts and meaty delicacies from their forests. Photo:L Ranjan Panda

have been leading local

conservation efforts.

"Forest is like my parents'

house. Whenever we feel

stressed, we go inside our

forest and feel like getting

embraced. We return

refreshed with all our

requirements - from food to

fuel - and much more," said

70-year-old shashi Pradhan,

who leads forest protection

initiatives in Dengajhari

village under ranpur block of

Nayagarh district and is

instrumental in protecting

700 hectares of forest in the

area.

Drought is a rare

occurrence in places having

dense forest cover. According

to shashi, who is the

President of Dengajhari

Mahila Jungle suraksha O

Parichalana Committee

(DMJsPC), a federation of

Dengajhari village women to

protect forests, "Earlier

availability, the need for

artificial intelligence

geospatial information

persists as countries plan for a

shift towards a "new normal,"

Enrico Paringit, executive

director of DOst-PCIEErD,

tells.

"this could mean the need

to develop tools to ensure

safety of public transport

systems and offices as the

economy is gradually being

opened for business. We also

need to develop intelligent

systems to monitor places of

commerce - systems that

detect and report compliance

to social distancing rules," he

adds.

Yet, despite notable

advances, significant

challenges remain that

prevent Asia Pacific countries

from taking full advantage of

digital solutions in their

COVID-19 responses.

Bonapace highlights major

issues: persistent and

significant capacity gaps and

limitations regarding the

technology applications and a

lack of guidelines and tools for

integrating geospatial,

statistical and other kinds of

data and information.

For Paringit, openness of

data and sustainability are the

two main challenges he sees in

scaling up digital solutions.

"there are concerns over

sustainability of platforms

developed during the

pandemic since it might die

down after the initial

requirements and needs have

been met and the business

case had not been thought out

in the beginning," he adds.

during 1970s, we used to

suffer from frequent droughts

as the four streams adjoining

our villages used to dry up just

a few weeks after the

monsoon retreated. the

cause, we realized, was the

denuded forests caused by

rampant timber smuggling.

With the forests, the streams

have reappeared. We brought

them back with our

conservation efforts. With

recharged streams, villagers

harvest good crops every

year."

shashi feels that the dense

forest cover has changed the

local climatic condition and

ensured good rainfall. "there

is hardly any instance of croploss

in the last one decade or

so", added shashi who bagged

several awards including the

Devi Award-2019 from the

New Indian Express Group.

"At present when the price

of potato is more than 45

rupees per kg (60 cents per

kg), it has no impact on us.

Besides, during the time when

the supply from West Bengal

got restricted and the price of

potatoes soared, it had no

impact on us. We consume

even more delicious roots

locally called Pichhuli, tunga

and kadaba," said Jamuna

Pradhan, who is 35 and a

member of the DMJsPC. In

1956, when the area faced a

deadly drought, her village

survived on boiled kadaba,

recalled shashi.

she named more than 20

varieties of greens that they

get from their forest.

Adhanga saga, Bhadalia saga,

sunsunia saga and kalama

saga are a few. she also

counted around 15 varieties of

fruits including chironjee,

kendu, dates, mangoes,

jamun that the forest provides

them with.

this variety of food is not

confined to a particular

cluster of forest only. Around

300 kilometers away, in the

similipal Biosphere, forests

provide more than 160 food

varieties to its dwellers. "Even

when during the rainy season,

our streams get flooded and

roads get washed away and

the sanctuary gets cut-off

from the rest of the world, we

don't worry about food. Forest

provides half of our required

edible varieties during rainy

season and ensures that we

focus on cultivation," said

kabita Jerai of Mandam, a

village inside the biosphere

reserve.

Malaria-infected children with no symptoms are super-spreaders of the disease, a study has revealed.

Copyright: Image by Ian Ingalula from Pixabay

Asymptomatic children could

be super-spreaders of malaria

EsthEr NAkkAzI

What dams in Chinese Bhramaputra means for India

DEVELOPMENt DEsk

At first glance, it looks like

another step towards the

realisation of an old

nightmare for India, and

especially for its Northeast.

On sunday, Chinese state

media reported that the

country's government had

cleared a proposal to begin

"hydropower exploitation in

the downstream of the

Yarlung tsangpo river"

during its next Five-Year Plan

period which commences in

2021. reports spoke of the

largest hydropower dam on

earth.

the Yarlung tsangpo is

generally identified as the

Brahmaputra in India. It

flows into Arunachal Pradesh

after a long journey through

tibet, and there its name

changes to siang. this then

becomes the Brahmaputra

when it reaches the plains of

Assam.

Anxieties abound in the

Brahmaputra Valley of

Assam, and in the siang

Valley of Arunachal, about

China's designs on the river

depriving these areas of their

lifeline. these anxieties have

long found resonance with

politicians, bureaucrats,

engineers and infrastructure

companies in the capital cities

of Dispur, Itanagar and Delhi.

It is a response based on a

misconception about the idea

of a river. the common image

of a river even among

journalists and strategic

affairs wonks is one that we all

drew as children in

kindergarten - one channel of

water flowing between two

banks. After all, if you live in

Delhi, the only river you have

around you is the sewer and

dry river bed that remains of

what was once the Yamuna. If

you live in Ahmedabad, you've

seen the canal that was the

school-age children with no malaria

symptoms could serve as superspreaders

of the disease, an observation

that could open a new chapter on malaria

control, a meeting has heard. the new

findings from a study that was conducted

in Uganda were reported at the virtual

annual meeting of the American society

of tropical Medicine and hygiene last

month.

"It is of great importance to understand

who transmits malaria. this is

particularly important in areas where

malaria control is successful," says teun

Bousema, a co-author of the study and

professor of epidemiology of tropical

infectious diseases specialised in the

biology and epidemiology of Plasmodium

falciparum at radboud University

Medical Center in the Netherlands.

Bousema tells that those running

control programmes need to know

whether malaria may come back and who

in the human community can cause

mosquito infections to help in

determining when disease control can

become less rigorous or when resurgence

is very unlikely.

"In some ways, our study is a blueprint

of what can be expected in other

countries where mosquito control is very

successful. Malaria will not disappear

completely. It will persist in some

populations," adds Chiara Andolina, a coauthor

of the study and a doctoral student

at the radboud University Medical

Center, who presented the findings at the

meeting. "We now have the first direct

evidence that even in places under very

intensive malaria control, a small number

of asymptomatic super spreaders can

quietly sustain transmission - and finding

and treating them could prove very

challenging."

researchers assessed the transmission

of malaria among children showing

symptoms of malaria and those who did

not present symptoms in tororo district,

eastern Uganda. the area has been

targeted with malaria control measures,

including regular distribution of

insecticide-treated bednets, indoor

residual spraying with insecticides and

access to effective malaria drugs.

researchers conducted regular tests for

evidence of malaria parasites on 531

people, including children aged five to 15

years old over a 24-month period.

According to the findings presented at

the meeting, a school-age child who

showed no symptoms despite harbouring

seven different variations of the malaria

parasite Plasmodium falciparum "was

responsible for 24.7 per cent of all

infected mosquitoes infections observed".

"In this unique longitudinal study, we

find that asymptomatic infections in

school-age children are responsible for

the majority of onward transmission

sabarmati. If you live in

Mumbai, there's only the

Mithi, nearly as mythical as

the saraswati. Guwahati has

the Brahmaputra itself, a

powerful channel of water

between two banks around 1.5

km apart, a perfect illustration

of the common idea of the

river, and of why that idea is

misleading.

seeing the Brahmaputra

almost anywhere else other

than Guwahati is a whole

other experience. In Upper

Assam, around the Dibru

saikhowa national park where

it takes the name

Brahmaputra with the

merging of the Lohit, Dibang

and siang, innumerable

braids and streams of water

flow into one another. the

river there is not a single

channel between two banks -

it is a shape-shifting network

of water that stretches for

miles. In monsoon, it can

easily expand to over 15 km in

width. If you stand on one

bank, you cannot see the

other.

this river is vastly different

from the Yarlung tsangpo in

tibet, known as the siang in

Arunachal Pradesh, which is

merely the longest among its

countless tributaries. We can

list the big ones - from the

Lohit, Dibang and Noa Dihing

at the foothills of eastern

Arunachal to the teesta in

northern Bangladesh - that

flow into the river of many

rivers that is the

Brahmaputra. however, any

such count too is misleading.

It's not only these big

tributaries that constitute the

Brahmaputra. the true

measure of the river's extent is

the "basin", which is the area

of land from which the water

flows into a particular river.

Every little stream and rivulet

in the Brahmaputra basin,

from tibet to Bhutan,

Assam, Arunachal Pradesh,

Nagaland, Meghalaya and

sikkim, eventually finds its

way into the Brahmaputra.

they are all part of it.

A mapmaking convention

developed to designate the

longest tributary of a river as

the river itself. thus, the

Yarlung tsangpo came to be

identified with the

Brahmaputra in British

colonial times, when

Northeast India's first maps

were drawn. But the tsangpo

is not the Brahmaputra; it has

barely 1/20th of the water of

China plans to build a dam on its side of Bhramputra.

events," the study adds. Bousema

explains: "they are very prone to

infection and keep their infections longer

because they have some level of

immunity that prevents symptoms but

not infection."

"Malaria-free school initiatives can

have an important impact. Not only for

school children but, as we show, also for

the wider community since they are

important transmitters of the infection,"

she adds. Andolina tells sciDev.Net that

such children can be easily targeted with

interventions such as medicines that can

prevent them from acquiring parasites at

all as they are easily accessible in their

schools. Lauren Cohee, a paediatric

infectious disease specialist at the

University of Maryland school of

Medicine in the United states, says that

the findings offer insights into malaria

control. "the extent to which

transmission may be driven by a small

number of highly infectious individuals is

surprising and may open a new chapter

for malaria control," adds Cohee.

But Cohee explains that the yardstick

used to measure malaria control

interventions has traditionally been how

many lives are saved or how many deaths

are averted.

"While this is clearly an essential

metric, policymakers should consider the

impact of control interventions on

transmission," Cohee adds.

the Brahmaputra measured

after the Brahmaputra

receives the teesta's waters.

the Chinese cannot steal

the whole Brahmaputra even

if they wish, for the simple

reason that it does not flow

there. the myriad channels

that feed it are mostly streams

that flow on the southern,

Indian side of the himalayan

watershed. the McMahon

Line that forms the disputed

boundary between India and

China in Arunachal Pradesh

largely follows this watershed.

It is the natural dividing line

in the high mountains where

the waters part, with all the

water on the southern slopes

flowing south, and all of that

on the northern side flowing

north.

Chinese plans of exploiting

the hydropower potential of

the tsangpo are not new.

they have been in the public

domain for a decade at least.

Engineers there have long

viewed the river's "Grand

Canyon" area around what is

called the "Great Bend" with

greedy eyes. In that area, the

tsangpo rapidly descends two

kilometers through a narrow

gorge in the remote east of

tibet.

Photo: Collected

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2020

6

The election of the traditional Barishal Press Club was with great enthusiasm recently.

Mustard flowers have spread in different fields in Chatmohar.

RafiqUl islaM Rony, Chat-

MohaR CoRResPondent:

Mustard flowers have

spread in different fields in

Chatmohar. the farmers

are dreaming of a new life.

farmers are working day

and night. it can be seen on

the ground that this year,

the fields of handiyal,

nimaichara, Chaikola and

Bilchalan of Chatmohar

have been covered with

yellow flowers of mustard.

Compared to other years,

farmers are dreaming of

good yield this year as there

is no insect attack in

mustard cultivation.

in comparison, mustard

cultivation has been much

better this year. Moreover,

due to timely application of

fertilizers and pesticides,

the farmers have not been

able to get any speed to

cultivate mustard.

Chatmohar Upazila

agriculture officer aa

Masum Billah said the

water level in the upazila

was delayed due to several

floods. Besides, many

Photo: Zihad Rana

negaban Montu president, Kazi Miraj

Gs of Barishal press club

Zihad Rana, BaRishal CoRResPondent:

the election of the traditional

Barishal Press Club has been

completed with great enthusiasm. the

voting continued from 5 pm to 8 pm. in

the election, adv Md ismail hossain

negaban defeated Kazi nasir Uddin

Babul, for the post of President, by 9

votes and got 40 votes. Kazi Miraj

Mahmud was elected as the General

secretary after defeating Kazi al

Mamun by 8 votes and getting 39 votes.

sM Zakir hossain and Pulak

Chatterjee have been elected as vice

presidents by defeating Mahmud

hossain Chowdhury and Gopal sarkar.

sM Zakir hossain got 45 votes, Pulak

Chatterjee 36 votes, Mahmud hossain

Chowdhury 35 votes and Gopal sarkar

26 votes.

M Mofazzal was elected as the Joint

General secretary with 39 votes. his

nearest rival Zakir hossain got 33

votes. Mosharraf hossain was elected

as treasurer with 39 votes. his nearest

rival Zia shaheen got 32 votes. Rubel

Khan was elected as library secretary

with 42 votes. his closest rival M. Miraj

hossain got 29 votes. sukhendu edbar

was elected as the literary and Cultural

secretary with 38 votes. his nearest

rival azad alauddin got 31 votes.

dewan Mohan was elected as the

sports secretary with 36 votes. his

closest rival Md arefin tushar got 34

votes. nasir Uddin was elected as office

secretary with 40 votes. his closest

rival M. lokman hossain got 31 votes.

adv nazrul islam Chunnu has been

elected as the executive member with a

maximum of 51 votes. after that

Mizanur Rahman got 48 votes, KM

nayan and nurul alam farid got 45

votes, sagar Vaidya got 35 votes,

Manabendra Botbal and syed dulal got

34 votes.

Chief election Commissioner MM

amjad hossain said that the journalists

of Barishal have elected the leadership

of the press club for the next one year

by casting their votes in a fair and

beautiful environment from 5 pm to 8

pm. he also said that the voting was fair

and beautiful like in the past.

Photo: Rafiqul Islam Rony

farmers` dreaming big amid

good yield of mustard

people could not plant

mustard seeds due to

waterlogging in the field.

6,200 hectares.

from the agriculture

office, 1,800 farmers of

has made the farmers

aware about the method

of mustard cultivation and

so this year mustard the upazila have been what to do in case of insect

cultivation has been less. given 1 kg of mustard attack. Moreover, the

so far mustard has been seeds and 20 kg of officials have been

planted in 5,900 hectares

of land in the upazila, the

target was set this year,

fertilizer. farmers have

been made aware of

mustard cultivation. he

providing all kinds of

assistance to the farmers

from the field all the time.

Chatkhil Press Club gets new committee

Rafiq Ullah KhoKon, ChatKhil CoRResPondent:

the bi-annual general meeting of Chatkhil

Press Club was held at the Press Club building

on friday morning. Press Club President Md

shoaib hossain Bulu chaired the occasion

while general secretary of the press club

Habibur Rahman was elected as

president and Shoaib Hossain Bulu

as general secretary of the new

managing committee of Chatkhil

Press Club recently. Photo: TBT

habibur Rahman presented the annual report

of the club. the members expressed

satisfaction over the development activities.

at the occasion, an 11-member managing

committee was formed with habibur Rahman

(daily sangbad) as president and shoaib

hossain Bulu (daily ittefaq) as general

secretary. other officials of the committee are

vice-presidentMd Rafiq Ullah Khokon (the

Bangladesh today), Co-General secretary

Gulzar hossain saikat (daily naya diganta),

finance editor Jasim Mahmud (daily our

new time), office secretary asheke elahi

(daily sangram).

the members are syed Mushfiqur Rahman

(daily lakhokantha), abdul quader siddiqui

Milon (daily Krishan), Muktar hossain Mukta

(daily Bhorer dak), anwarul haider (daily

samakal) and Mamun hossain (daily

Manabjamin).

fertilizing land after

soil test stressed to

boost production

RaJshahi: speakers at a

function urged the farmers to

fertilize their cultivable land

after necessary soil test to

protect its health and increase

production, reports Bss.

they viewed that soil

nutrients have gradually been

declining due to

disproportionate use of

fertilizer, creating a negative

impact on the soil productivity.

the farmers should maintain

soil health intact to boost

production to ensure food

security, they said.

they came up with the

observation while distributing

fertilizer recommendation

cards among farmers at the

function held in

Chapainawabganj on friday

afternoon.

the soil Resource

development institute (sRdi)

under its 'farmers service

Programme' hosted the card

distribution ceremony at the

conference hall of Regional

horticulture Research Centre

(RhRC). on the occasion,

around 70 farmers were given

the cards besides disseminating

ideas on how to avail facilities of

mobile soil test laboratory to

detect soil productivity and

degradation and fertilizer using

guidelines online.

RafiqUl islaM, shiBChaR

CoRResPondent:

Voluntary organization

'asroy' has distributed

winter clothes among one

hundred orphans and

children of extremely poor

families in different

orphanages of shibchar

upazila. the distribution of

winter clothes was

organized at the office of the

organization at Utrail

nayabazar in the upazila on

saturday.

according to the

organization, the

organization distributed 100

blankets among the children

of Madrasa plus orphanage

in different areas of the

upazila. the distribution of

winter clothes was

organized at the office of the

organization at around 10 in

the morning. at that time,

one blanket, biscuit and

travel expenses were

provided to each of the

children of the orphan and

extremely poor families

studying in the orphanage of

Remote Rangabali upazila

gets rural electricity

the hard to reach areas of

Rangabali under Patuakhali

district, lone off grid upazila in

the country, have finally been

brought under electricity

coverage, a press release said.

in a statement, Bangladesh

Rural electrification Board

(BReB) the state-run

organisation informed on

Wednesday about the

milestone achievement.

a total of 1059 villages in

the country including

Rangabali upazila are

considered as 'off grid' areas

representing the remote

territories from the mainland

and remained surrounding

with water and most of the

time.

the areas are surrounded

by rivers and the Bay of

Bengal.

BReB Chairman major

general (Retd) Moin Uddin

mentioned the electrification

of Rangabali upazila has set a

benchmark in electricity

supply to the remote area as

part of government vision of

cent percent coverage.

"BReB has completed cent

percent electricity coverage to

288 upazilas and 1059

villages will be connected

within MujibBorsho which is

expected to benefit around

250 thousand remotely living

people," he added. the staterun

organization is running

the project in three phases to

reach these 1059 off grid

areas. in first phase, some

646 villages have been

connected with 35 stations of

sub marine cable going

through 2 kilometer riverine

areas.

in the second phase, 90

thousand customers of 384

remotely located villages will

be connected. some 50

stations will be established

supported by submarine

cable under the project.

some 29 hard-to reach

villages will be covered with

electricity with solar-powered

station in the third phase of

the project within the timeline

of Mujibyear. in most of the

cases, natural calamities bar

uninterrupted power supply.

if the natural situation

remains normal, all villages

will be covered within

MujibBorsho.

according to latest data,

around 30.05 million

connections of BReB serves

180 thousand micro

industries, 13.5 thousand

medium enterprises and 375

big industries, 8 ePZs and

360 thousand irrigation

pumps alongside residential

customers.

BReB has been running

operations with 530 thousand

kilometer transmission lines

connected through 1070 substations.

to ensure uninterrupted

power supply, the

organization has introduced

different initiatives of alor

feriwala, Uthan Baithak

(yard Meeting), durjog e alor

Guerilla. Under the alor

feriwala programme, BReB

ensured 'connection' in short

time through 'spot metering'

system.

Winter clothes distributed among

orphans in shibchar

homeless people getting houses at

govt’s initiative: narsingdi dC

taRaK Pathan, Palash

CoRResPondent:

syeda farhana Kawnine,

deputy Commissioner

and district Magistrate of

narsingdi said that 'on the

occasion of Mujib Borsho,

the landless and homeless

are getting their dream

address with the great

initiative of the

government. each

homeless family is being

given a new home. not

only that, the government

is working tirelessly day

and night to improve the

living standards of the

marginalized people of the

country. People of all

classes and professions of

the country are getting the

benefits'.

she made the remarks

while addressing a

discussion meeting as the

chief guest after inspecting

construction work for 25

landless and homeless

families in Majherchar

village of Jinardi union in

Palash upazila on

saturday morning. she

further added that, 'in

order to stand tall as a

modern developing

Voluntary organization 'Asroy' has distributed winter clothes among one

hundred orphans and children of extremely poor families in different

orphanages of Shibchar upazila.

Photo: Rafiqul Islam

the madrasa.

the teachers of the

madrasa who came with the

children said, 'the blankets

country, first of all we have

to improve the living

standards of the

marginalized people of the

country. With that in

mind, Prime Minister

sheikh hasina started the

work of developing

BREB Chairman major

general (Retd) Moin Uddin

given to the children as

grants are very much in line

with the standards. Winter

is preventable. in fact, i

infrastructure in remote

rural areas of the country'.

Upazila nirbahi officer

Rumana yasmin presided

over the discussion while

among others, Upazila

Chairman syed Jabed

hossain, Jinardi Union

don't see anyone giving such

quality blankets. the

children will be able to study

while sleeping.

Parishad Chairman Prof

Kamrul islam Gazi,

Upazila assistant

Commissioner (land)

aminul islam and Upazila

female Vice Chairman

selina akhter were also

present at the occasion.

Syeda Farhana Kawnine, Deputy Commissioner and District

Magistrate of Narsingdi addressed a discussion meeting as the chief

guest after inspecting construction work for 25 landless and homeless

families in Majherchar village of Jinardi union in Palash upazila on

Saturday.

Photo: Tarak Pathan

SUNDAY, DECEMBEr 27, 2020

7

Another 32,725 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus

cases in the country to 2,221,312, according to official figures released Friday.

Photo : AP

UK records another 32,725

coronavirus cases, 570 deaths

LONDON : Another 32,725 people in

Britain have tested positive for COVID-

19, bringing the total number of

coronavirus cases in the country to

2,221,312, according to official figures

released Friday.

Another 570 have died within 28

days of a positive test, bringing the

total number of coronavirus-related

deaths in Britain to 70,195, the data

showed.

Earlier Friday, British Queen

Elizabeth II praised individuals and

communities across Britain and

beyond who rose up to the challenges of

the year marred by the coronavirus

pandemic.

Russia tops 3

million Covid-19

infections

MOSCOW : Russia on

Saturday passed three

million confirmed

coronavirus infections, as

authorities hold out against

reimposing a national

lockdown while the country

is battered by a second wave.

Official figures showed

that a total of 3,021,964

cases have been detected,

with 54,226 deaths.

In the past 24 hours,

29,258 new infections and

567 deaths were registered

in Russia, fourth on the list

of hardest-hit countries

worldwide.

Since winter began, each

week has brought new

records for new cases and

deaths, with epicentres in

capital Moscow and secondlargest

city Saint Petersburg.

Poorer regions of the

country, often less wellequipped

with medical

facilities, also report a

troubling picture.

Nevertheless, official

figures point to a lower

death rate from the virus in

Russia than in western

Europe or the United States,

something President

Vladimir Putin has boasted

about for months.

Putin said last week at an

annual press conference that

Russia had done a "better"

job managing the pandemic

than western countries.

But Russian authorities

only count as Covid deaths

those where an autopsy

confirms the virus was the

main cause.

Statistics agency Rosstat

in October recorded 50,000

more deaths than in the

same month last year.

And between March and

October, there were 165,000

excess deaths compared

with the same period in

2019, suggesting the true toll

of the pandemic is far higher

than authorities will admit.

Looking to protect a

suffering economy, Moscow

has so far refused to order a

new nationwide lockdown,

aiming instead to protect

people with mass

vaccinations using its

homegrown Sputnik V shot.

"Remarkably, a year that has

necessarily kept people apart has in

many ways brought us closer," she said

in her annual Christmas Day broadcast.

"In the United Kingdom and around

the world, people have risen

magnificently to the challenges of the

year and I'm so proud and moved by

this quiet indomitable spirit."

"Today our frontline services still

shine that light for us, supported by the

amazing achievements of modern

science, and we owe them a debt of

gratitude," she said.

London and many other parts of

England are currently under Tier Four

restrictions, the highest level in the

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

country, which require residents in the

areas to stay at home, with limited

exemptions. People are also urged to

work from home when they can, and

should not enter or leave those areas.

For those in Tiers One, Two and

Three, up to three households are

allowed to meet only on the Christmas

Day, while in Tier Four, people should

not mix with anyone outside their own

household, apart from support

bubbles.

To bring life back to normal,

countries such as Britain, China,

Germany, Russia and the United States

are racing against time to develop

coronavirus vaccines.

UN chief condemns killing of 3 peacekeepers

in Central African Republic

UNITED NATIONS : United Nations

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on

Friday strongly condemned the attacks by

unidentified armed combatants on UN

peacekeepers in the Central African Republic

(CAR), said his spokesman, reports UNB.

Friday's attacks on the national defense

and security forces of the CAR and the UN

peacekeeping force in the country left three

peacekeepers from Burundi killed and two

others wounded, said Stephane Dujarric, the

spokesman, in a statement.

The secretary-general expressed his

deepest condolences to the families of the

deceased peacekeepers, as well as to the

people and government of Burundi, and

wished a speedy recovery to the injured, said

Dujarric.

Guterres recalled that attacks against

UN peacekeepers may constitute a war

crime. He called on the CAR authorities to

investigate these heinous attacks and

swiftly bring perpetrators to justice, said

the statement.

The secretary-general reaffirmed the

continued commitment of the UN to

supporting efforts to advance peace and

stability in the CAR, it said.

Photo : AP

First Covid vaccine doses

arrive in France

PARIS : France's first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine were delivered early

Saturday to the Paris hospital system's central pharmacy outside the capital, an AFP

journalist saw. After more than 62,000 Covid-19 deaths in France, shots are set to begin with

people in two elderly care homes on Sunday, the same day the rest of the EU begins injections.

A refrigerated truck brought the roughly 19,500 doses from the Pfizer factory in Puurs,

northeast Belgium, to Paris, the capital's APHP hospital authority said, with pharmacy chief

Franck Huet calling it a "historic" moment in the pandemic.

After repackaging in Paris, the vaccines will be delivered to a long-term care unit at a

hospital in Sevran, outside the capital, and an old-age care home in Dijon, in eastern France.

The first EU deliveries come after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave the Pfizer-

BioNTech shot its green light on Monday and France's HAS health authority in turn on

Thursday. Countries are especially eager to begin their vaccination campaigns as a new strain

believed to be more infectious spreads from Britain. A first case was identified in France on

Friday.

Two Afghan

police killed as

Kabul hit by

bomb blasts

KABUL : Two Afghan

policemen were killed as

three separate "sticky

bombs" exploded in Kabul

on Saturday, the latest

violence to hit the Afghan

capital.

The policemen were killed

when a sticky bomb

attached to their pick-up

truck exploded in a central

district of Kabul, police

spokesman Ferdaws

Faramarz told reporters.

A civilian was also

wounded in the blast, he

said.

Two security personnel

were wounded in another

similar bomb attack

targeting a second police

pick-up truck in a western

district of Kabul, Faramarz

said.

He said a third bomb also

exploded in the city but

caused no casualties.

In recent months, Kabul

and several other provinces

of Afghanistan have been

rocked by deadly violence,

including bombings, rocket

attacks and targeted killings.

Several of these attacks,

especially in Kabul, have

been claimed by the jihadist

Islamic State group.

Journalists, politicians

and rights activists have

increasingly come under

targeted attacks as violence

surges in Afghanistan,

despite peace talks between

the government and the

Taliban.

Peace talks that started on

September 12 in the Qatari

capital Doha are currently

on a break until early

January.

Turkmenistan

president

claims licorice

can cure Covid

ASHGABAT : Well-known

for his baffling botanical

pronouncements,

Turkmenistan's President

Gurbanguly

Berdymukhamedov claimed

Saturday that licorice could

cure coronavirus, the latest

supposed miracle cure in a

country still claiming zero

cases.

"Scientists from every

country are looking for

effective cures, running

various studies, and one of

them could be licorice root,"

the leader of the

authoritarian ex-Soviet

country told ministers.

Without citing any

scientific evidence, former

dentist Berdymukhamedov

claimed that "licorice stops

the coronavirus from

developing" and "even a

weak concentration of a

water-based extract has a

neutralising effect."

Turkmenistan has

"sufficient reserves" of

licorice, he added, ordering

the national academy of

sciences to study the plant's

supposed health effects.

Berdymukhamedov had

already in March

recommended that people

"systematically" burn wild

rue, a strong-smelling plant

believed to have medicinal

properties, to combat the

coronavirus, sending prices

skyrocketing.

The leader has a long

history of moves aimed at

boosting his country's fauna

and flora. While global

health authorities have long

recommended wearing

masks, social distancing and

regular hand-washing to

slow the spread of the virus,

it took a July visit from a

World Health Organization

delegation for Turkmenistan

to adopt the measures.

But the government still

justifies mask-wearing as

protection against "dust"

and

unspecified

"pathogens", rather than

coronavirus. Non-food

shops and restaurants have

been closed since summer

and bus and train timetables

trimmed back.

Death toll from armed attack

in western Ethiopia climbs to

207: rights group

ADDIS ABABA : The death toll from the

recent armed attack in western Ethiopia's

Benishangul-Gumuz regional state has risen

to 207, the country's federal rights group

confirmed late Friday.

Among the victims were 133 adult men, 35

adult women, some 20 elderly persons as

well as 17 children, one of them a six-monthold

baby, the Ethiopian Human Rights

Commission (EHRC), a rights group

established by the Ethiopian parliament,

said in a statement late Friday, reports UNB.

Efforts are underway to identify the

victims with the help of survivors and

Identity Cards, the EHRC said, adding that a

committee comprising members of police,

regional authorities and the General

Attorney's Office has been set up to monitor

the identification, registration and burial of

victims.

A local official also informed the EHRC

that two victims died while receiving

treatment in Bulen Hospital on Thursday.

"The Ethiopian Human Rights

Commission (EHRC) continues to monitor

with relevant authorities the situation in

Benishangul-Gumuz region," the

commission said.

"In Bulen town, thousands of displaced

persons are currently sheltered in a primary

school and a meeting hall," the statement

added. The EHRC also urged relevant

authorities "to provide urgently needed

humanitarian assistance to the victims and

persons displaced by the attack."

The bloodshed occurred at around 10:00

pm local time (1900 GMT) on Tuesday and

was carried out by armed men who set fire

and shot at residents while they were asleep,

the commission confirmed on Wednesday.

The death toll from the recent armed attack in western Ethiopia's

Benishangul-Gumuz regional state has risen to 207, the country's federal

rights group confirmed late Friday.

Photo : AP

China hails its 'extraordinary' success

curbing virus ahead of WHO probe

BEIJING : China's ruling Communist Party

leaders have congratulated themselves on

their "extremely extraordinary" success in

handling the Covid-19 outbreak

domestically, ahead of a World Health

Organization probe into the disease's origins.

China faced a barrage of criticism at home

and abroad over its initial handling of the

virus, which emerged in the central city of

Wuhan last December.

China's Politburo, the top decision-making

body of the Communist Party, said late

Friday that the party leadership "played a

decisive role in leading … China in prevailing

over the rare risks and challenges this year."

"At the critical moment … the Party

Central Committee took a long-term view

…achieving an extremely extraordinary glory

in this extremely unusual year," state news

agency Xinhua reported, citing a statement

issued after the two-day meeting.

China has largely curbed the spread of the

virus, and was one of the only major

economies to report growth this year. But it

has been accused of covering up the initial

outbreak, and so contributing to the virus'

spread internationally.

At home, Beijing has attempted to stifle

criticism by punishing at least eight

whistleblowers.

A Chinese citizen journalist who reported

on Wuhan's outbreak, Zhang Zhan, has been

detained since May and is expected to go on

trial on Monday.

Zhang is a former lawyer who travelled to

the city in February to report on the chaotic

initial stages of the outbreak, through

livestreams and critical essays widely shared

on social media platforms banned in China.

The two-day Politburo meeting comes

shortly before an international team of WHO

experts is expected to arrive in China to

investigate the animal origins of Covid-19,

during which trip they will visit Wuhan.

An expert from the team told AFP this

week that the investigation was "not about

finding a guilty country or a guilty authority",

but about "about understanding what

happened to avoid that in the future".

Beijing has recently attempted to cast

doubts on the origins of the virus - the staterun

People's Daily newspaper said in a

Facebook post in early November that "all

available evidence suggests that the

coronavirus did not start in central China's

Wuhan".

China has also tried to enhance its soft

power push during the pandemic -

promising to share its vaccines with

developing countries, and engaging in "mask

diplomacy" - donating personal protective

gear to countries in need.

Inequalities between rich and

poor deepened during Covid-19

DHAKA : Inequalities between the rich and

poor worsened during the COVID-19

pandemic and poverty increased, for the first

time in decades. In part two of our series on

how the virus has changed the world, we look

at the ways the pandemic has pushed back

efforts to create more equitable societies.

Over the past 12 months, COVID-19 has

deepened those inequalities, a view

highlighted in February, by the UN's labourfocused

agency, ILO, which declared that the

two billion people working in the informal

sector were particularly exposed, reports UN

News.

In March, the agency followed up with

projections which suggested that millions

could be pushed into unemployment,

underemployment, or the grinding condition

of working poverty.

"This is no longer only a global health

crisis, it is also a major labour market and

economic crisis that is having a huge impact

on people", said ILO Director-General Guy

Ryder. The agency published

recommendations on ways to mitigate the

damage to livelihoods, which included

employee protection in the workplace,

economic and employment stimulus

programmes, and income and job support.

By April, the scale of global suffering became

apparent, with a UN-backed report showing

that poverty and hunger were getting worse,

and that countries already affected by food

crises were highly vulnerable to the pandemic.

"We must keep critical food supply chains

operating, so people have access to life

sustaining food", the study said, stressing the

urgency of maintaining the delivery of

humanitarian assistance "to keep people in

crisis fed and alive".

From using public transport as food hubs,

traditional forms of home delivery, and

mobile markets, communities have had to

find innovative ways to feed the poor and

vulnerable, whilst coping with COVID-19

restrictions on movement.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27 , 2020 8

BCB Ltd. has inaugurated its 68th Branch

‘Khutakhali Branch’ at Chakaria Cox's Bazar

The 24th Annual General Meeting of ACI Formulations Ltd was held through Digital Platform recently. M.

Anis Ud Dowla, Chairman of the company, presided over the meeting. The Audited Financial Statements for

the year ended 30 June 2020 together with Reports of the Directors and Auditors of the company were

approved by the shareowners in the meeting. They have also approved 20 per cent Cash dividend for the said

financial year. Shusmita Anis, Managing Director of the company, highlighted a few of the salient features of

the business and addressed the issues raised by the shareholders.

Photo: Courtesy

Bangladesh Commerce

Bank ( BCB) Ltd. has

inaugurated its 68th Branch

as "Khutakhali Branch" at

Chakaria, Cox's Bazar with all

the latest banking facilities

recently. The inauguration

program was presided by

Chairman of the Board of

Directors of the Bank Dr.

Engr. Rashid Ahmed

Chowdhury. The Member of

Parliament (MP) of Cox's

Bazar -1 Zafar Alam as Chief

Guest was present &

inaugurates the program.

Managing Director and CEO

of the Bank Mr. Omar

Farooque delivered his

speech as a special guest.

Additional Managing

Director of the Bank Zafar

Alam and Deputy Managing

Director Kazi Md. Rezaul

Karim also delivered their

speech on the occasion.

Among others Senior

Executives of the Head Office,

Manager of this Branch and

many prominent people of

the area and respected

customers were also present

on the occasion, a press

release said.

Member of Parliament

(MP) of Cox's Bazar -1 Zafar

Alam expressed his hope that

the Khutakhali Branch will be

able to win the hearts of the

customers by providing good

service. He hoped that this

new branch with the most

modern facilities would play

an appropriate role in

furthering the economy of the

region.

Dr. Engineer Rashid

Ahmed Chowdhury,

described Khutakhali as a

growing business area and

said that the branch is

committed to provide all

kinds of banking services to

the customers of the area

through banking rules. To

ensure the highest quality of

service to the customers, he

instructed all the officers of

the branch including the

branch manager.

Managing Director and

CEO of the Bank Mr. Omar

Farooque said that the

services of BCBL will be

spread out in all areas of the

country as well as he

emphasized on customer

service and informed all

present in the meeting about

various activities of the Bank

in all areas of business sector.

Finally, the great mercy of the

great Allah Ta'ala is sought for

the activities and progress of

the bank.

Lafarge Holcim Bangladesh Ltd(LHBL) recently organized a workshop with the engineers of Sylhet

City Corporation (SCC) where the need of sustainable construction was highlighted. Ariful Haque

Chowudhury, Mayor, Sylhet City Corporation inaugurated the workshop as chief guest. Nur Azizur

Rahman, Chief Engineer, SCC, Zafar Sadek, RSM, LHBL and Ali Ahammad, Sr. Manager-Technical

Services & CIAC Lab were present along with other officials of the company. Photo: Courtesy

Brothers Furniture is one of the best brands in the furniture industry in the world. In order to bring

the furniture industry to the doorsteps of the people, another new showroom of Brothers Furniture

was inaugurated at Shamoli on recently. The showroom was officially inaugurated by Chairman of

Brothers Furniture Ltd. Alhaj Habibur Rahman Sarkar, Director Sharifuzzaman Sarkar, head of

marketing Monirul Islam Bokshi. On the occasion of happy inauguration, there is a 5% to 15% discount

on all furniture purchases in that branch.

Photo: Courtesy

Social Islami Bank Ltd(SIBL) inaugurated 166th and 167th Branch respectively in Pragati Sarani,

Dhaka and Mirsarai, Chattogram recently. Managing Director & CEO Quazi Osman Ali inaugurated

the branches as chief guest from SIBL Head Office through virtual platform. Abu Naser Chowdhury,

Md. Sirajul Hoque and Md. Shamsul Hoque, Deputy Managing Directors, Abdul Hannan Khan,

Company Secretary, Md. Moniruzzaman, Head of Marketing & Brand Communication Division,

Sayed Mohammed Sohel, Regional Head (C.C), Chattogram, Md. Shakil Anwar, Vice President of BC

& GBD, Managers of Pragati Sarani and Boro Darogar Hat Branch, valued clients and local dignitaries

also attended the program virtually.

Photo: Courtesy

US Congress fails to agree

to boost stimulus checks

WASHINGTON :

Republicans on Thursday

blocked an effort to amend the

hard-won pandemic relief

package to more than triple

direct payments to struggling

Americans, something

demanded by President

Donald Trump, reports BSS.

After months of partisan

bickering, legislators late

Monday finally approved a

$900 billion stimulus package

to help families and

businesses struggling to

survive the hit to the economy

from the coronavirus before

millions lose their benefits.

The legislation includes

one-time payments of $600

to most taxpayers, but Trump

dropped a bombshell on the

celebrations this week,

hinting he might veto the bill

unless the amount was

increased to $2,000.

Democrats, who have been

pushing for months to

increase pandemic support,

cheered his statement, and

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

challenged Republicans to

support an amendment to

boost the dollar amount.

The Democratic-controlled

House of Representatives

held a Christmas Eve "pro

forma" session, normally a

brief affair with little business,

in an effort to win bipartisan

approval to send the revised

payments to Trump's desk for

signature.

But Republicans refused to

agree to the change. "So we do

not have unanimous

consent," said Michigan

Democrat Debbie Dingell,

who was acting as speaker pro

tempore.

Pelosi immediately

lambasted Republicans and

vowed to call the House back

on Monday to approve the

amendment in a regular

session.

"Today, on Christmas Eve

morning, House Republicans

cruelly deprived the American

people of the $2,000 that the

President agreed to support. If

the President is serious about

the $2,000 direct payments,

he must call on House

Republicans to end their

obstruction," she said in a

statement.

Later Thursday, Pelosi said

the bill has been sent to the

White House and called on

Trump to sign.

"The House & Senate are

now sending this important

legislation #ForThePeople to

the White House for the

President's signature. We

urge him to sign this bill into

law to give immediate relief to

hard-working families!,"

Pelosi tweeted.

The stakes are high,

especially if Trump vetoes the

bill: About 14 million

jobless workers will lose

their

pandemic

unemployment benefits right

after Christmas, and millions

more face losing their homes

when an eviction moratorium

expires at the end of the year.

Tokyo stocks open

higher in thin

holiday trade

TOKYO : Tokyo stocks

opened higher on Friday

supported by gains on Wall

Street in thin trade with

overseas investors absent for

Christmas holidays, reports

BSS.

The benchmark Nikkei 225

index was up 0.17 percent or

44.57 points at 26,712.92 in

early trade, while the broader

Topix index edged up 0.22

percent or 3.98 points to

1,778.25.

"Japanese shares are seen

supported by US rallies, but

trade is seemingly limited to

modest bargain-hunting with

a decline in the number of

market participants," senior

market strategist Yoshihiro

Ito of Okasan Online

Securities said in a

commentary.

Worries over a rise in new

coronavirus infections and its

impact on economic activity,

ahead of the year-end and

new-year holidays when

many people normally travel

in Japan, are weighing on the

market, he added.

"The 6th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Indo-Bangla Pharmaceuticals Limited was held on a digital

platform recently. The Meeting was presided over by Aziza Yeasmin, Chairman of The

Company."

Photo: Courtesy

Sterling, equities rise as Brexit

talks reach endgame

HONG KONG : The pound extended

gains Thursday and equity markets

mostly rose as Britain and the European

Union finally homed in on a Brexit trade

deal, while traders brushed off concerns

about the US stimulus package after

Donald Trump slammed it, reports BSS.

After months of painful, stuttering

talks, London and Brussels appeared on

the verge of signing an agreement as they

eventually found common ground on key

sticking points.

The two sides were working on the final

details of a deal early Thursday, ahead of

what negotiators hoped would be a predawn

breakthrough, helped by a series of

talks between Prime Minister Boris

Johnson and European Commission

chief Ursula von der Leyen.

"Brexit work will continue throughout

the night," EC spokesman Eric Mamer

tweeted just after 1:00 am (0000 GMT).

"Grabbing some sleep is recommended

to all Brexit-watchers at this point. It will

hopefully be an early start tomorrow

morning."

European officials had earlier

announced: "We are in the final phase."

A French government source said UK

negotiators had made "huge concessions"

on fisheries - the main point of conflict

that was holding up an agreement ahead

of Britain's departure at the end of next

week.

Sterling, which has swung wildly in

recent weeks as the talks ebbed and

flowed, extended Wednesday's rise of

more than one percent against the dollar,

while it was also holding similar gains

against the euro.

"So, the never-ending ebb and flow of

Brexit headline roistering might finally

see closure on the most widely contested

divorce in the history of humanity," said

Axi strategist Stephen Innes.

Optimism that the long-running saga

could be at its endgame also provided a

lift to European equities and Asia

followed suit with all markets in positive

territory.

However, Hong Kong was being

weighed by a fall of more than seven

percent in Alibaba shares after China said

it had launched a probe into the e-

commerce titan for "suspected

monopolistic practices", while authorities

were also holding "supervisory and

guidance" talks with the firm's financial

services subsidiary Ant Group.

Equity gains, however, remain tethered

by ongoing concerns about the surge in

virus infections around the world that are

forcing governments to impose fresh

containment measures, offsetting hopes

for the rollout of vaccines.

Analysts said that while Trump's

outburst against a $900 billion stimulus

agreement was holding up help for

American families, the general consensus

is that a package will eventually be

passed, and possibly with more cash

handouts.

SunDAY, DEcEmbEr 27, 2020

9

A resilient India bounced back from their embarrassing first Test exploits to bundle out

Australia for just 195 and take a grip on a riveting opening day of the second Test. Photo: AP

Gutsy India bounce back to skittle

Australia in second test

Covid forces FIFA

to postpone U-20,

U-17 World Cups

SportS DeSk:

FIFA has postponed next

year's U-20 World Cup in

Indonesia and U-17

tournament in peru until

2023 due to coronavirus,

reports BSS.

"the Covid-19 pandemic

continues to present

challenges for the hosting of

international sporting events

and to have a restrictive effect

on international travel,

explained football's governing

body in a statement on its

website.

"the global situation has

failed to normalise to a

sufficient level to address the

challenges associated with

hosting both tournaments,

including the feasibility of the

relevant qualification

pathways." It added that FIFA

looked forward to working

with both host countries "to

organise successful

tournaments" in 2023.

Liverpool can't force

players to stay: Klopp

SportS DeSk:

Jurgen klopp says he could not understand

why any player would want to leave Liverpool -

but he can't force anyone to stay if they do want

to depart the club, reports Ap.

Mohamed Salah has been at the centre of

transfer speculation with real Madrid,

Barcelona and paris Saint-Germain all linked.

Indeed, the 28-year-old left the door open to

a future move to Spain, while also expressing

his disappointment at not being made

Liverpool captain for the Champions League

dead-rubber with Midtjylland.

Goal can confirm that the reds are certain to

offer Salah a new contract at some point, with

his current deal running until 2023, and the

egypt forward has said he is fully focused on his

goal of breaking records at Anfield.

Speculation is sure to persist with the January

transfer window just around the corner but

klopp - who also addressed Salah's captaincy

concerns - believes the former roma star has

everything he needs on Merseyside.

"We could all look for something else if we

wanted to, but for me the only reason to leave

Liverpool at the moment is the weather!" klopp

smiled. "What other reason could there be?

this is one of the biggest clubs in the world. We

pay the money, maybe not the most in the world

but we pay good, we have a sensational stadium

with outstanding supporters all over the world.

our colours are red which is the nicest colour

anyway, so where are the reasons?

"You cannot force people to stay. We never

did, by the way. It's all about timing, the right

moment. We make changes and bring players

in, and if a player wanted to go then we wouldn't

stand in the way. It's just I don't understand

why they would want to." Liverpool have looked

in ominous form in the premier League of late,

and appear favourites to lift back-to-back titles

despite a number of injuries to key players.

klopp's side have Boxing Day off, with their

next fixture coming at home to West Brom on

December 27. Salah was rested for Liverpool's

last game against Crystal palace, but came off

the bench to score twice and register an assist in

their 7-0 win. Following the West Brom game,

Liverpool travel to Newcastle and Southampton

before an FA Cup trip to Aston Villa. A key

period follows at the end of January, with

games against Manchester United and

tottenham either side of a home fixture against

Burnley.

SportS DeSk:

A resilient India bounced back from

their embarrassing first test exploits to

bundle out Australia for just 195 and

take a grip on a riveting opening day of

the second test in Melbourne

Saturday, reports BSS.

After their horror show in Adelaide

last week, where they lost by eight

wickets and were skittled for 36 in their

second innings, the tourists were

desperate to start well in Melbourne.

And they delivered after Australian

captain tim paine won the toss and

chose to bat in front of 27,615 sociallydistanced

fans, just short of the

maximum allowed under coronavirus

restrictions at the Melbourne Cricket

Ground.

But on a pitch offering turn and

bounce, they found it hard going

against a high-quality attack led by

Jasprit Bumrah (4-56), ravi Ashwin

(3-35) and the impressive Mohammed

Siraj (2-40), making his debut for the

injured Mohammed Shami.

Marnus Labuschagne top-scored

with 48 but that was as good as it got,

with Steve Smith and Joe Burns among

those out for ducks.

It left Indian openers Shubman Gill,

also on debut, and Mayank Agarwal

needing to negotiate 40 minutes at the

end of the day against Australia's

world-class attack.

Agarwal was not up to the task,

trapped lbw by a Mitchell Starc

inswinger in the first over.

Gill was dropped on five by

Labuschagne but otherwise looked

comfortable, smacking five boundaries

to reach 28 and help steer India to 36

for one at close with the experienced

Cheteshwar pujara unbeaten on seven.

With Ajinkya rahane captaining the

side in place of Virat kohli, who has

returned home for the birth of his first

child, India got off to a perfect start,

grabbing Burns, Matthew Wade (30)

and Smith before lunch.

It left Australia in trouble but

Labuschagne rode his luck, surviving

two review decisions, to lead a recovery,

putting on 86 with travis Head (38).

Head had a nervous start but settled

down and grew in confidence, hitting

four boundaries before Bumrah enticed

an edge which carried to rahane at

gully, sparking a collapse.

Labuschagne looked set for a ninth

half-century but a brilliant catch by Gill

ended his vigil and handed Siraj his

first test wicket.

Allrounder Cameron Green ground

out 12 before he too fell to Siraj, then an

excellent catch by Hanuma Vihari off

Kane Williamson batted through to stumps and was unbeaten on 94.

Ashwin's bowling accounted for paine

(13).

Nathan Lyon hit a cameo 20 but

Australia's tail otherwise failed to wag.

With David Warner still injured, the

hosts went into the clash unchanged,

with Burns opening alongside Wade.

Burns hit an unbeaten 51 in Adelaide

to relieve some pressure after a long

lean spell, but his performance

Saturday will once more raise questions

over his place in the team.

He looked tentative against Bumrah

and got a nick to a delivery he should

have left.

rishabh pant, back behind the

stumps in place of Wriddhiman Saha,

took the catch and Burns was out

without scoring.

At the other end, Wade had an escape

on four when Gill narrowly missed a

catch at slip.He started finding the gaps

before attempting a big hit off Ashwin,

which proved his downfall for 30.

ravindra Jadeja took the catch, but

only just with Gill also underneath it.

the pair collided but Jadeja managed

to hang on.

Ashwin then claimed the crucial scalp

of Smith, who was undone by an offbreak

with pujara holding a catch at

slip after the world's top batsman faced

just eight balls.

New Zealand in recovery mode

after pakistan strike twice

SportS DeSk: k

ane Williamson and ross taylor were

tasked with restoring the New Zealand

innings after Shaheen Afridi struck

twice for pakistan early on the opening

day of the first test at Mount

Maunganui on Saturday, reports BSS.

New Zealand were two for 13 before

they rallied to be 55 for two at lunch

with taylor on 25 and Williamson on

19.

When Mohammad rizwan won the

toss and put New Zealand into bat he

said he wanted to take advantage of a

green surface offering pace and

movement and Afridi immediately

obliged.

tom Latham's first ball edge went

wide of the gully for four, he left the

second and the third-ball edge was

caught by Azhar Ali at third slip.

tom Blundell lasted 29 balls but

fared little better when he was out for

five, caught in the cordon by Yasir Shah

to give Afridi his second wicket.

It was a sharp reminder to New

Zealand that they faced a potent newball

attack after they lost the toss twice

against the West Indies earlier in the

month and won both tests by an

innings.

At the end of the first hour New

Zealand were 19 off 13 overs and Afridi

had two for 14 while Mohammad

Abbas had four maidens in his six over

spell.

But a bowling change after the drinks

break allowed Williamson and taylor

to bat with more freedom as 17-yearold

Naseem Shah and Faheem Ashraf

took over the bowling duties.

Williamson, though, had one close

call when Shah found an edge only for a

diving Shan Masood to put down a

difficult one-handed chance.

Photo: AP

The Egypt star has been at the centre of transfer talk recently but his manager thinks the Premier

League champions have plenty to offer.

Photo: AP

India to

increase IpL

to 10 teams

SportS DeSk:

the Indian premier

League is to be increased

from eight to 10 teams as the

world's richest twenty20

event seeks to cash in on its

growing television audience,

reports BSS.

the Board of Control for

Cricket (BCCI) in India

announced the move after

its annual meeting on

thursday but did not say

when the two teams would

start with media reports

claiming it would be in

2022.

the 14th IpL is scheduled

to start in March and the

tournament would need one

year to address tricky issues

around logistics, media

rights and planning for the

new outfits, cricket officials

were quoted as saying.

A bigger tournament

would almost certainly

mean a longer stay in India

for the top players from

around the world who earn

huge salaries.

India captain Virat kohli is

said to have earned $2.3

million playing 15 matches

for royal Challengers

Bangalore. Australia bowler

pat Cummins was the most

expensive foreign player,

costing kolkata knight

riders $2.1 million.

the BCCI said only he IpL

general council "will work

out the modalities regarding

scheduling for up to 10

teams." the 2020

tournament, won by the

Mumbai Indians, was held

in the United Arab emirates

after being postponed

several times because of the

coronavirus pandemic.

But Brand Finance said

the IpL was still a global

leader easily attracting the

best players from england,

Australia, South Africa and

West Indies.

pSG reportedly dump

tuchel, line up

pochettino

SportS DeSk:

paris Saint-Germain

have sacked coach thomas

tuchel with the club's

former defender and extottenham

boss Mauricio

pochettino lined up as his

replacement, according to

various media reports on

thursday, reports BSS.

the French champions

declined to make a

statement when contacted

by AFp to confirm the

shock Christmas eve axing

as claimed by L'equipe

newspaper, news outlet

rMC and German tabloid

Bild.

"No idea" a club

spokesman replied when

asked when the news

would be confirmed.

pSG forward kylian

Mbappe paid tribute to

tuchel on social media.

"Unfortuntately it's the

law of football but no-one

will forget your time here,"

the World Cup winner

posted on Instagram.

"You wrote a great line of

the club's history and I say

thank you coach," he

added.

pochettino, who spent

two years and a half as a

player at the club, could

take his first training

session on January 3 after

the winter break.

tuchel, 47, arrived at the

parc des princes on a twoyear

contract in 2018, and

guided the parisians to

their first Champions

League final last season.

But now, if the reports

are confirmed, less than

three months on from the

final defeat to Bayern

Munich in Lisbon, the

German has become the

first pSG coach to leave

mid-season since Antoine

kombouare was replaced

by Carlo Ancelotti in

December 2011.

tuchel, who is set to

depart six months before

the end of his deal, guided

pSG to a last 16 date with

Barcelona in this season's

Champions League despite

being plagued by injuries,

suspensions and

coronavirus infections.

And in contrast to his

predecessors, tuchel

appeared adept at manmanaging

his band of

superstar players, giving

Neymar back the smile that

was missing during the

Unai emery era.

the Qatari-backed club

however are thought to be

unhappy with recent

comments in the press by

tuchel, the most recent an

unauthorised interview

which appeared in the

German media on

Wednesday. - 'Angry' -

"We missed winning the

Champions League by one

match. And we never had

the feeling that we had

convinced people and that

they recognised our

performance. Sometimes

that makes you a little sad

or angry," he told Sport1.

He also complained

about the demands

imposed upon him.

"During the first six

months I was asking

myself 'am I still a

coach…or a minister of

Sport?'"

He was reportedly given

his marching orders less

than 24 hours after

Wednesday's 4-0 win over

Strasbourg which left them

a point off the top of the

table in Ligue 1 ahead of

the winter break.

If his dismissal is

confirmed he leaves pSG

with two Ligue 1 titles, a

French Cup and a League

Cup.

In 2017, he lost his job as

Borussia Dortmund boss

three days after guiding the

Bundesliga side to the

German Cup and

reportedly fell out with the

club's hierarchy.

the new man in the pSG

dug out when the season

resumes in the New Year

will be pochettino, rMC

suggest.

the Argentine, a popular

pSG centre-back between

2001 and 2003, left his

position as tottenham boss

in November 2019, six

months after leading them

into their maiden

Champions League final.

the 48-year-old

transformed Spurs'

fortunes during his fiveand-a-half-year

reign but

failed to win a trophy.

He has been heavily

linked with a return to the

premier League with

Newcastle if their proposed

Saudi Arabia-backed

takeover goes through,

while speculation over the

Manchester United job has

never gone away.

But now it appears he

will be leaving his London

home and finding fresh

accommodation across the

channel.

sUNDAY, DeceMBeR 27, 2020

10

Sumi, Siam in movie 'Damal'

TBT RepoRT

The film 'Damal' is being produced

by Impress Telefilm focusing on the

war of independence. The film is

being directed by young director

Raihan Rafi. Siam Ahmed is

playing one of the main characters

in this film. Shariful Raj, Bidya

Sinha Saha Mim, Shahnaz Sumi

and Syed Nazmus Shakib are also

starring in the film.

Recently, a top media report in

the country said that Bidya Sinha

Saha Mim is starring opposite Siam

in the film. Not at all, Shahnaz

Sumi will be seen in this film

opposite to Siam.

The film has been shot in

Syedpur and Parbatipur in North

Bengal for more than half a month.

This time, the 'Damal' team flew

three hundred and fifty kilometers

away from Dhaka to 'show' the

battle scene directly from the

ground.

Shahnaz Sumi confirmed the

news to the media. She said, 'Yes,

here I am acting opposite to Siam.

Although it cannot be said that way,

it is a liberation war based movie. It

is learned that Bidya Sinha Saha

Mim is starring opposite Shariful

Raj in the film. Sumi was present

there from 4th to 14th.

Note that actress Shahnaz Sumi

was in the top ten in season three of

Channel I's Best Dancer. That's

when she started walking in the

showbiz. Then she joined the

cinema with the experience of

drama and advertisement. Sumi's

starrer 'Iti, Tomari Dhaka' has been

released. Gias Uddin Selim's ' Paap

Punno ' is awaiting for release.

Meanwhile, Sumi has joined

Raihan Rafi's movie 'Damal'.

Sabbir Nasir's

'Abol Tabol'

released

Sabbir Nasir, popular singer released his

latest track 'Abol Tabol' on the occasion

of Christmas day.

"Abol Tabol" written by Shomeshwar

Oli and composed by the famous duo

Apeiruss' Sheikh Shafi and Sheikh

Saami Mahmud was released on Sabbir

Nasir's official Youtube channel,

according to a press release.

The music video was directed by "No

Dorai" famed director Taneem Rahman

Angshu.

The visual features Sabbir Nasir's

band "Blackmoon" and models Sudip

Biswas Deep, Sadika swarna, Shafi,

Saami among others.

Sheikh Saami Mahmud said about

the song, "We worked for a long time

TBT RepoRT

'Mayar Jonjal' (Debris of Desire), Aupee

Karim's feature film directed by Indranil

Roy Chowdhury and produced by the

joint production of Bangladesh and

India, has won the Best Feature Film

on this song. We tried to create a lot of

versions. Finally we decided to go on

with this version. Sabbir bhai did a

wonderful rendition of this song and

we also performed in the music video.

All in all this was an interesting project

indeed."

"This is my second work with

Apeiruss. This song has folk element. I

wish all of my fans a wonderful

Christmas and a happy new year, "said

Sabbir Nasir.

The artist came into limelight with his

popular songs 'Tumi Jodi Bolo,' 'Fagun

Asche,' 'Boishakhi Melai,' 'Tomra Hobo

Bole,' 'Horsho,' 'Mrito Jonaki,' 'Poka,'

'Amare Diya Dilam Tomare,' 'Jol Josna'

and several other songs.

‘Mayar Jonjal’ wins

Best Feature Film

Jury Award

Jury Award at Asiatica Film Festival in

Italy.

The 21st edition of the Asiatica Film

Festival started on 18 December in

Rome, Italy. The film won the prize out

of 9 films in the official selection of

'Encounter with Asian Cinema' category.

Due to the pandemic, the invited films

were shown through online screenings

this year. The festival lasted till 23

December.

The film is produced by Bangladeshi

filmmaker Josim Ahmed. "Any

attainment is a matter of joyous! Even

before this, this film has brought delight

from different festivals of the world. But

this time, the merriment is the most -

because wise judges have chosen it as

the best Asian film. We plan to release

the film in theaters in Bangladesh and

India next year," he said.

Aupee Karim has played the role of

'Soma' in this film. The story

highlighted - 'Soma', a woman with an

unemployed husband and a child and

hailing from Kolkata, got a job to teach

her child in English medium school.

Popular Kolkata actor Ritwick

Chakraborty has played the role of her

husband 'Chandu'.

Aupee Karim made her big-screen

debut in 2004 with the film 'Bachelor'

directed by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki.

After a long 16 years, Aupee is back on

the big screen with the movie 'Mayar

Jonjal'.

Actor Rajinikanth is ‘stable’

Superstar Rajinikanth, who was

admitted to Apollo Hospital in

Hyderabad on Friday, is "stable" as

per the hospital's statement

released on Saturday evening

The statement also mentioned

that the "reports of some of the

investigations done today have

come and there is nothing

alarming."

The full statement from the

hospital read, "Mr Rajinikanth is

stable. Reports of some of the

investigations done today have

come and there is nothing

alarming. A few more reports are

awaited. Based on the reports of

remaining investigations and his

blood pressure status overnight a

call will be taken tomorrow

morning on his discharge from the

hospital."

Earlier in the day, a statement

released by Apollo Hospital had

said that Rajinikanth's blood

pressure is still on the higher side,

but "under better control than

yesterday."

The full statement released on

Saturday morning read, "Mr

Rajinikanth who was admitted in the

hospital yesterday is progressing

well. He has had an uneventful night

and his blood pressure is still on the

higher side although under better

control than yesterday. His

investigations have not revealed

anything alarming so far. He is

scheduled for a further set of

investigations today, reports of

which will be available by the

evening. His blood pressure

medications are being titrated

carefully and he will be continue to

be under close monitoring. He has

been advised complete rest in view of

his labile blood pressure and visitors

are not being allowed to meet him.

Based on his investigations and

control of blood pressure, a decision

on his discharge will be taken by the

evening."

The 70-year-old actor began

shooting for his film Annaatthe in

Hyderabad from December 14.

Earlier this week, four crew

members of Annaatthe tested

positive for coronavirus. Following

the crew members' diagnosis,

Rajinikanth took the COVID-19 test

on December 22 and his result

came negative.

However, following 'severe blood

pressure fluctuations,' he had to be

hospitalised on Friday.

Source: gulfnews.com

Kanye West

releases

surprise album

on Christmas

Rapper-producer Kanye West dropped a surprise record,

titled 'Emmanuel', on Christmas Day.

According to Deadline, the five-song EP is "inspired by

ancient and Latin music." This is the second consecutive

Christmas release for West after last year's gospel-inspired

album "Jesus Is Born", which he recorded with his Sunday

Service Choir.

"Emmanuel", written and executive produced by West,

features the Sunday Service Choir on the entire project.

Described as a "celebration of the miracle of the birth of

Jesus Christ," the album include the Christian prayer

"Requiem Aeternam" ("Eternal Rest") and the choral work "O

Magnum Mysterium." The 43-year-old started his Sunday

Service events in early 2019 when he began hosting semiregular

gatherings featuring music.

The first public Sunday Service performance happened at

Coachella on Easter Sunday, 2019.

Source: gulfnews.com

H o R o s c o p e

ARIes

(March 21 - April 20) : You have strong

humanitarian instincts, Aries. You think

of your fellow humans more than most.

This, combined with your intuition and

empathy, makes you well suited for the healing

professions. If you've felt a bit disgruntled at work

lately, it may be that you're in the wrong career.

Consider training as a counselor or therapist. You

would be good at it and help a lot of people.

TAURUs

(April 21 - May 21) : You've been more

thoughtful lately and truer to yourself.

This is due to your recent introspection.

You really can change your life. All it

takes is time and commitment. You've made great

progress in your development. Continue on this path

and you will wind up in a much better place. Keep your

eye on the goal, but don't be so focused that you forget

to enjoy the journey.

GeMINI

(May 22 - June 21) : You're feeling confident

and more comfortable in your own skin than you

have in a long time, Gemini. You're so

accomplished, why are you the last one to

acknowledge it? Try to look up from your desk long enough to

socialize with friends and loved ones. You've been so focused on

work that your relationships may have suffered a bit. Spend some

quality time with those you care about, if possible.

cANceR

(June 22 - July 23) : It's time to loosen

up, Cancer. The planetary aspects bring a

new cycle of tolerance and

understanding your way. You could use a

bit of both. Take baby steps as you introduce the

kinder, gentler you to your friends and co-workers.

They won't accept a rapid transformation, but they

won't mind gradual changes. Listen more and speak

less. This can make a big difference in a relationship.

Leo

(July 24 - Aug. 23): Remember all

those resolutions you made in the past? It's

time to recommit to them. All signs indicate

that you need to take better care of yourself.

You've been so busy working that exercising has begun to

feel like a luxury you can't afford. Actually, exercise and

proper nutrition are luxuries you can't afford to ignore.

You're burning the candle at both ends. Stop before you

burn out completely!

VIRGo

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): This is an

auspicious time for you, Virgo. It gives you the

energy and enthusiasm to make the necessary

changes in your life. There is a lot of work to

do, but you're up to it! First focus on your relationships. Your

loved ones don't care about your professional successes. They

want (and perhaps need) to spend more time with you. Do

what you can to bring your life more into balance.

LIBRA

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): You have

tremendous creativity inside you, Libra.

Have you begun to use some of it? This

creative cycle will last for the next month

or so. Don't let it pass without taking advantage of it.

Use the other side of your brain for a change. Take up

sketching, painting, or fiction writing. What you do is

less important than doing something. The simple act

of creation unlocks the brain.

scoRpIo

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): Get excited because

this is going to be one great day!

Everything will go your way. It will seem

as if you simply can't lose. At work, team

members look to you as the leader. At home, family

members express gratitude and affection. You may be

tempted to try this luck at the casino, but don't be

impulsive. You're already a winner. You've earned this

shining moment.

sAGITTARIUs

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): This is a good day for quiet

contemplation, Sagittarius. You may have

worried about finances lately, but there's no

longer any need to concern yourself. All signs

indicate that your financial fortunes are about to change. You've

been working hard and should reap some rewards. Today's

aspects suggest that you will. Enjoy your newfound peace of mind,

but don't go out and use the credit cards in celebration!

cApRIcoRN

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): Capricorn, you're bound to

enjoy this day! It's full of possibilities and

opportunities. It may begin routinely, but

keep your eyes and ears open for hints of

change. Your new adventure may come about in a

mundane way. You might meet someone in line at the

store who becomes a business partner. Or maybe you will

meet a romantic interest at the ATM. Adventure is all

around. Trust that you will find it!

AQUARIUs

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) : Forget about work

for a change and focus instead on your

love life! This is one area that can really

use some attention. There's no sense

waiting for your partner to do it. It's up to you. Why

not book a romantic weekend? It will do wonders for

your relationship and add spark just by anticipating

the fun you will have. Your commitment should

mean more than your independence.

pIsces

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) : You greet the day

energized! Your confidence is at an all-time high

because of recent events. You have every reason

to be proud of what you've accomplished,

especially at work. But your love life could benefit from the same

level of commitment. Why not be proactive? Arrange a romantic

evening for you and your partner. What a difference a few hours

can make in your relationship!

SuNDAY, DeCeMBeR 27, 2020

11

Judge delays execution of only

woman on US death row

WASHINGTON : A federal judge said the Justice

Department unlawfully rescheduled the execution of the only

woman on federal death row, potentially setting up the

Trump administration to schedule the execution after president-elect

Joe Biden takes office.

U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss also vacated an

order from the director of the Bureau of Prisons that had set

Lisa Montgomery's execution date for Jan. 12. Montgomery

had previously been scheduled to be put to death at the

Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, this

month, but Mossdelayed the executionafter her attorneyscontracted

coronavirusvisiting their client and asked

him to extend the amount of time to file a clemency petition.

Moss prohibited the Bureau of Prisons from carrying out

Lisa Montgomery's execution before the end of the year and

officialsrescheduled her execution datefor Jan. 12. But Moss

ruled on Wednesday that the agency was also prohibited

from rescheduling the date while a stay was in place.

"The Court, accordingly, concludes that the Director's

order setting a new execution date while the Court's stay was

in effect was 'not in accordance with law,'" Moss wrote.

A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately

respond to a request for comment.

Under the order, the Bureau of Prisons cannot reschedule

Montgomery's execution until at least Jan. 1. Generally,

underJustice Department guidelines, a death-row inmate

must be notified at least 20 days before the execution.

Freedom fighter

buried with state

of honor

Md Salim Mia, Narsingdi

C o r r e s p o n d e n t :

ValiantFreedom Fighter

Md. Abdul Hai (70) of

Khidirkandi village of

Nuralapur union of

NarsingdiSadarupazila

has passed away. He left

behind his wife, one son

and five daughters.

He was buried at his

family graveyard after

janazaprayers at the

ground adjacent to

Khidirkandi Government

Primary School on

Saturday morning.

Turkey to

require negative

COVID-19 test

result for travel

ISTANBUL : Turkey is

enacting precautions for

international travel,

requiring a negative

COVID-19 test for passengers

to enter the country

starting Monday until

March.

Health Minister

Fahrettin Koca tweeted a

statement Friday saying

travelers would need to

present a negative result

from a PCR test taken in a

72-hour window to board

international flights en

route to Turkey.

Previously, tests weren't

required for travel to

Turkey.

The rule would apply to

all land and sea arrivals

starting Wednesday.

Travelers would be quarantined

at their destination

if they don't have test

results.

Travelers arriving from

the United Kingdom,

Denmark and South Africa

in the past 10 days would

have to show a negative

test result and go into

mandatory quarantine for

at least seven days until a

second test.

Turkey has among the

worst infection rates in the

world, with a weekly average

of more than 20,000

confirmed daily infections.

The delegations also

agreed to exchange all prisoners,

remove landmines

in cooperation with the UN

teams and the General

Intelligence Service, and

combat hate speech.

The total death toll is

19,371, according to official

statistics.

The growers are seen uprooting early potatoes

Because of the judge's order, if the Justice Department

chooses to reschedule the date in January, it could mean that

the execution would be scheduled after Biden's inauguration

on Jan. 20.

A spokesperson for Biden has told The Associated Press the

president-elect "opposes the death penalty now and in the

future" and would work as president to end its use in office.

But Biden's representatives have not said whether executions

would be paused immediately once Biden takes office.

Montgomery was convicted of killing 23-year-old Bobbie

Jo Stinnett in the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore in

December 2004. She used a rope to strangle Stinnett, who

was eight months pregnant, and then a kitchen knife to cut

the baby girl from the womb, authorities said.

Prosecutors said Montgomery removed the baby from

Stinnett's body, took the child with her, and attempted to

pass the girl off as her own. Montgomery's legal team has

argued that their client suffers from serious mental illnesses.

"Given the severity of Mrs. Montgomery's mental illness,

the sexual and physical torture she endured throughout her

life, and the connection between her trauma and the facts of

her crime, we appeal to President Trump to grant her mercy,

and commute her sentence to life imprisonment," one of

Montgomery's lawyers, Sandra Babcock, said in a statement.

Two other federal inmates are scheduled to be executed in

January but havetested positivefor coronavirus and their

attorneys are also seeking delays to their executions.

Over 100,000 New Yorkers suffer

from power loss on Christmas

NEW YORK : More than 100,000 New

Yorkers woke up Christmas morning on

Friday without electricity after a powerful

storm lashed the northeast of the United

States overnight.

Westchester, Rockland, Ulster, Orange and

Dutchess counties were particularly hard hit,

with 73,926 outages reported between the

five of them as of 10 a.m. on Friday, according

to PowerOutage.US, a service that tracks electricity

disruptions nationwide.

New York City fared much better with less

than 17,000 outages reported across the five

boroughs. Staten Island made up the bulk of

the Big Apple's outages, with some 3,500

reported disruptions, according to ConEd.

ConEd, which supplies electricity for the

city and most parts of Westchester, urged

customers to report outages for faster service

resumption. The company also warned customers

against touching or attempting to

move downed electrical wires.

Fueled by heavy rain and winds of up to 65

miles (105 km) per hour, the Christmas storm

also knocked out power for more than

49,000 New Jersey residents. Across the

northeast, more than 275,000 customers lost

power, according to PowerOutage.US.

The New York State Governor's Office said

the state deployed rescue teams to strategic

locations across the state in advance. The

teams stocked up on water pumps, power

generators and even blankets and pillows in

case of emergency.

"Everything is being done to prepare for

any potential impacts and the state stands

ready to support any of our local partners

who may need assistance," Governor Andrew

Cuomo said in a statement.

"In the meantime, I urge everyone to celebrate

smart and use caution if traveling over

the next 48 hours," he added.

Photo: Rashid Ahmad

After early success, S. Korea

sleepwalks into virus crisis

SEOUL : South Korea had seemed to be winning

the fight against the coronavirus:

Quickly ramping up its testing, contact-tracing

and quarantine efforts paid off when it

weathered an early outbreak without the economic

pain of a lockdown. But a deadly resurgence

has reached new heights during

Christmas week, prompting soul-searching

on how the nation sleepwalked into a crisis,

reports UNB.

The 1,241 infections on Christmas Day were

the largest daily increase. Another 1,132 cases

were reported Saturday, bringing South

Korea's caseload to 55,902.

Over 15,000 were added in the last 15 days

alone. An additional 221 fatalities over the

same period, the deadliest stretch, took the

death toll to 793.

As the numbers keep rising, the shock to

people's livelihoods is deepening and public

confidence in the government eroding.

Officials could decide to increase social distancing

measures to maximum levels on

Sunday, after resisting for weeks.

In the greater Seoul area, more facilities

have been designated for COVID-19 treatment

and dozens of general hospitals have

been ordered to allocate more ICUs for virus

patients. Hundreds of troops have been

deployed to help with contract tracing.

At least four patients have died at their

homes or long-term care facilities while waiting

for admission this month, said Kwak Jin,

an official at the Korea Disease Control and

Prevention Agency. The agency said 299

among 16,577 active patients were in serious

or critical condition.

"Our hospital system isn't going to collapse,

but the crush in COVID-19 patients

has significantly hampered our response,"

said Choi Won Suk, an infectious disease

professor at the Korea University Ansan

Hospital, west of Seoul.

Choi said the government should have

done more to prepare hospitals for a winter

surge.

"We have patients with all kinds of serious

illnesses at our ICUs and they can't share any

space with COVID-19 patients, so it's hard,"

Choi said. "It's the same medical staff that

has been fighting the virus for all these

months. There's an accumulation of fatigue."

Critics say the government of President

Moon Jae-in became complacent after swiftly

containing the outbreak this spring that

was centered in the southeastern city of

Daegu.

The past weeks have underscored risks of

putting economic concerns before public

health when vaccines are at least months

away. Officials had eased social distancing

rules to their lowest in October, allowing

high-risk venues like clubs and karaoke

rooms to reopen, although experts were

warning of a viral surge during winter when

people spend longer hours indoors.

Jaehun Jung, a professor of preventive

medicine at the Gachon University College

of Medicine in Incheon, said he anticipates

infections to gradually slow over the next

two weeks. The quiet streets and long lines

snaking around testing stations in Seoul,

which are temporarily providing free tests

to anyone regardless of whether they have

symptoms or clear reasons to suspect

infections, demonstrate a return of public

alertness following months of pandemic

fatigue.

UN welcomes

prisoner swap

between Libyan

parties

TRIPOLI : The United

Nations Support Mission in

Libya (UNSMIL) on

Saturday welcomed the

exchange of prisoners

between rival parties,

reports UNB.

"UNSMIL welcomes the

remarkable success registered

today by the exchange

of prisoners from both sides

under the supervision of the

Joint Military Commission

(5+5), and thanks to the

good offices of the tribal

sheikhs and elders," the UN

body tweeted earlier

Saturday.

"The Mission takes this

opportunity to urge both

parties to accelerate the full

implementation of the comprehensive

ceasefire agreement,

signed on October 23,

2020 in Geneva, including

the exchange of all prisoners,"

it said.

The eastern-based army

and the UN-backed government

had been engaged in a

deadly armed conflict for

more than a year in and

around the capital Tripoli,

which ended in early June

when the UN-backed government

announced its

takeover of all western Libya

after withdrawal of the eastern-based

army.

On Oct. 23, the Libyan delegations

to the 5+5 Joint

Military Commission talks

in Geneva signed a UNsponsored

permanent

ceasefire agreement.

Earlier in November, the

Joint Military Commission

agreed on terms for the

ceasefire implementation in

the country, including the

return of forces back to their

camps and the withdrawal of

foreign forces from conflict

lines.

Early potato

yeilding

begins in

Sirajdikhan

Rashid Ahmad, Munshiganj

Correspondent : Early potato

yeilding begins in

S i r a j d i k h a n U p a z i l a

ofMunshiganj.This crop is

being uprooted from the

croplands 15-20 days earlier

before it is matured. With a

view to earning high price

the growers are doing these

activities.

New potatoesare being

sold at taka 40-42 per kg.

Last week the price of per kg

potato was sold at 52-55 taka

but now it is decreasing.

With the yielding of more

potatoes the price of the

same will low down. The

potato growers of

Sirajdikhanupazila cultivated

potatoes earlier in the

month of Kartik and now in

the month of Poush they are

yeilding their crop two

weeks ago before it is

matured to get high price.

According

to

AED(Agricultural Extension

Dept.) a total of 10,000 hectres

of land was brought

under potato cultivation in

Sirajdikhanupazila this year.

UN says three

Burundian

peacekeepers killed

in C.African

Republic

NEW YORK : Three

Burundian peacekeepers

have been killed by "unidentified

armed combatants" in

the Central African

Republic, the United

Nations said Friday.

"Three peacekeepers from

Burundi were killed and two

others were wounded" following

attacks in the south

and centre of the country,

the UN said in a statement.

The assaults come a day

after major rebel groups

called off a ceasefire ahead of

national elections Sunday.

People are in fear as two banks of Shah Irani Mazar Dighi in verge of collapse.

Photo: Pradeep Kumar Debnath

Two banks of Shah Irani Mazar

Dighi in verge of collapse

Pradeep Kumar Debnath, Belabo

Correspondent : People on both sides of

the Dighi adjacent to the traditional Shah

Irani shrine at Habizpur village in

Belaboupazila of Narsingdi district are in fear

of collapse. The roads on both sides have

almost disappeared. If the embankment is

not provided on an urgent basis by the locals,

15/16 families may be drowned in the coming

monsoon. The adjoining government primary

school is also under threat of demolition.

It can be seen on the ground that the roots

of the old rows of trees on the shore are leaning

on the water without soil. Some trees are

lying face down in the water of the lake. The

roads on the banks of the lake are broken and

submerged. The remaining parts are also

slowly breaking down. There are fears that

several establishments, including homes and

educational institutions, will be destroyed.

There is a possibility that these will be broken

and submerged in the rain water. Panicked

people are rushing to various people, people's

representatives, government and private

offices in the hope of remedy. About 16/17

poor and middle class families live on both

GD- 1766/20 (6 x 3)

sides. Talks were held with Md. Swapan Mia,

Safiuddin Fakir, Aizuddin Fakir, Fulbanu,

Bakul Mia, Sharif Mia, Idris Ali, Imam Uddin,

Mazharul, Khokon, Rahmatullah, Masud,

Rehana Begum, Shamim Mia, the owners of

the house on the bank of Dighi. They said, "In

the last few years, about 600 feet of roads and

land adjacent to roads have been submerged

by an average of 7/8 feet of water. Now the

water is near our settlement Vita. Our houses

may collapse at any time. We are very

scared." In this regard, local UP member

Zakir Hossain said, 'I informed the chairman

of my union about this problem in my constituency

after I was elected. He is trying to

solve. When the current chairman of Patuli

Union Md. Ifranul Haque Bhuiyan Zaman

was contacted, he said, 'The lake is very deep.

The breakdown of its north-west coast.

To prevent this I appealed to the Deputy

Commissioner, along with the Chairman of

the District Council for the construction of a

guide wall. I was reassured. I hope it will be

done. "Upazila Engineer Md. Ariful Islam

said," We have not received any application in

this regard. If found, appropriate action will

be taken. "

Israel targets Hamas sites after

Gaza militants fire rockets: army

JERUSALEM : Israel has targeted a number

of sites in Gaza after Palestinian militants

fired rockets into the south of the country,

the army said Saturday.

The Israeli Defence Force said that three

Hamas targets - including a rocket manufacturing

site, underground infrastructure, and

a military post - had been struck.

"Hamas will bear the consequences for all

terror emanating from Gaza," the IDF said in

a tweet.

Sirens had sounded earlier in the southern

port city of Ashkelon and the area surrounding

the Gaza Strip, according to the army

statement.

"Two rockets were fired from the Gaza

Strip towards Israeli territory," a statement

from the army said on Friday, adding that

they were intercepted by the Iron Dome

Aerial Defence System.There were no

reports of damage as a result of the interceptions.

Israeli emergency medical services said a

few people were treated for going into shock.

The latest fire from the Hamas-ruled

Palestinian enclave came over a month after

one rocket was fired from the coastal strip

into Israel.

Hamas, considered a terrorist group by

Israel, seized control of Gaza from the rival

Palestinian movement Fatah in 2007 in a

near civil war.

Since then Hamas has fought three devastating

wars with Israel in the coastal territory

where about two million Palestinians live.

Israel has since maintained a crippling

blockade on the Gaza Strip to prevent

Hamas from arming.

Sunday, Dhaka, December 27, 2020, Poush 12, 1427 BS, Jamadi-ul Awal 11 , 1442 Hijri

Md. Jobaer Alam, the Chairman of the Department of Oceanography, University of Dhaka as well

as the Acting Editor of The Bangladesh Today greeted the Information Minister and Awami

League Joint General Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud with flower on Thursday. Recently, Md.

Jobaer Alam has been selected as a member of the newly formed sub-committee on Education and

Human Resources Affairs of Bangladesh Awami League.

Photo : TBT

Only sacrificing people to lead

AL : Dr Hasan Mahmud

DHAKA : Information Minister Dr

Hasan Mahmud yesterday said not the

opportunist and intruders but those

having sacrificing attitudes will be in

every level of leadership in Awami

League (AL).

"The workers who were beside the

party and our leader as well will come in

leadership. There is no scope to provide

leadership to the opportunists," he said,

addressing the triennial conference of

Duochachia upazila AL unit of Bogura

through online from his official residence

in the capital.

The minister said the intruders and

opportunists, who joined the party

with various motives in the last 12

years, must be kicked out after identifying

them.

Hasan said the country is moving

ahead indomitably to materialize the

dream of Father of the Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

under the dynamic leadership of his

Govt wants to incorporate

ADR in existing laws : Anisul

DHAKA : Law, Justice and Parliamentary

Affairs Minister Anisul Huq said that the

government under the dynamic leadership

of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is

working to incorporate Alternative

Dispute Resolution (ADR) provisions in

existing laws to make commercial dispute

resolution process easier.

The minister was speaking as chief guest

at the webinar:

'Celebrating the First Nine Years:

Impact of BIAC on Institutional ADR in

Bangladesh', organised by Bangladesh

International Arbitration Centre (BIAC)

marking its 9th founding anniversary yesterday.

In view of the ongoing circumstances

emerged from COVID-19, the government

has enacted 'Use of Information

Technology by the Court Act 2020' to

carry out trials through digital means.

"Our judiciary has already started conducting

court proceedings via video conferencing.

Suggested virtual ADR practices

can either be based on phone conferences

or internet supported video conferences,"

the law minister said.

"In view of the backlog of court cases

with over 3.6 million cases pending, ADR

is now imperative to take forward towards

our goal of economic development amid

the pandemic," he added.

The minister vowed to stand by BIAC in

all its promotional activities.

Justice Md Rezaul Hasan (M R Hasan),

Judge of the High Court Division,

Supreme Court of Bangladesh as special

guest explained provisions of ADR in the

Arbitration Act 2001 where institutional

role of BIAC has been indicated.

He gave suggestions for amendment of

the existing arbitration law so that

enforcement of foreign arbitral award is

simplified and quality of arbitrators is

ensured. Md Moinul Kabir, Secretary,

Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs

Division of the Ministry of Law described

BIAC as an iconic institution in promoting

arbitration and mediation.

Chief Executive Officer of BIAC

Muhammad A (Rumee) Ali gave the welcome

speech.

Judges, lawyers, business leaders, government

high officials, bankers, academicians

and representatives from diplomatic

missions, international organisations and

the media participated at the Webinar.

Chattogram wall collapse

crushes 2 workers to death

CHATTOGRAM : Two workers were

killed on Saturday as an under-construction

wall came tumbling down on them in

Chattogram city's Lovelane, reports UNB.

The deceased were identified as Md

Salauddin, 17, and Md Sukkur, 22.

A boundary wall crashed down on them

as they were working in an open space

beside the Election Commission office at

2:30pm, Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali

Police Station Md Mohsin said.

"Salauddindied on the spot and

whileSukkur was rushed to the hospital,

where he died of injuries."

(Bangabandhu) worthy daughter Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Comparing the development of

Bangladesh in different indexes with

that of Pakistan and India, the information

minister said Bangladesh has left

behind Pakistan in all indexes and

neighboring India in some indexes. But,

some (people) cannot tolerate the progresses

and they are busy in hatching

conspiracies, said Hasan, also Awami

League joint general secretary.

As per the conspiracies, he said, the

conspirators have intruded in Awami

League which is in power for three consecutive

times. But, the intruders are

being kicked out from the party after

being identified, he added.

Replying to a query about COVID-19,

the minister said the second wave of

coronavirus has started and Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina is dealing with it

very successfully.

"You saw that Bloomberg has published

a report recently where

Bangladesh's position in the sub-continent

is at the top in combating COVID-

19. And, Bangladesh's position is 20th

across the globe in combating coronavirus.

The report shows how we combat

the COVID-19 successfully," he

added.

Hasan urged all to maintain the

health code in combating the prevailing

situation.

AL Bogura district unit president

Majibur Rahman inaugurated the conference

with AL Dupchachia unit president

Mizanur Rahman Khan in the

chair.

AL organising secretary SM Kamal

Hossain, health affairs secretary Dr

Rokeya Sultana and central committee

member Shahab Uddin Farazi, among

others, addressed the conference as special

guests while AL Bogura district unit

general secretary Ragebul Ahsan Ripu

addressed it as the key speaker.

Britain and EU

release full text of

post-Brexit trade deal

Britain and the European Union on

Saturday published the full text of the

post-Brexit trade agreement aimed at

governing their relationship when the

UK definitively leaves the bloc's single

market in just five days' time.

The document, which is more than

1,200 pages long, lays out detail on

trade, law enforcement and dispute settlement

among other arrangements

between Britain and the EU after the UK

leaves the single market and customs

union on 31 December.

In the foreward to the copy of the text

published by the UK government,

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson

said the agreement had been "carefully

judged to benefit everyone" and preserve

"free trade for millions of people in

the United Kingdom and across

Europe".

"While we made our fair share of compromises

during the negotiations, we

never wavered from the goal of restoring

national sovereignty," he added.

Senior UK government minister

Michael Gove wrote in The Times newspaper

that Thursday's agreement would

allow Britain to bring "innovation and

investment to parts of the country that

have endured economic decline".

He added there were still "significant

changes" to be prepared for by businesses

in the short term.

To ratify the deal, Britain's parliament

has been recalled to sit on December 30.

A vote in favour is virtually assured after

the UK's main opposition Labour Party

said its MPs would back it.

Quader for giving

scopes to dedicated

workers in politics

DHAKA : Awami League General

Secretary and Road Transport and

Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday

called upon the party men to eliminate

corrupt persons and wrongdoers from the

party and give scopes to dedicated and

honest workers in doing politics.

"Corrupt people should be eliminated while

honest and dedicated workers should be

given scopes in politics. There should not be

any compromise with corrupt people," he

said while addressing a memorial meeting on

footballer Badal Roy. He joined it through a

videoconferencing from his official residence

on parliament premises.

Paying tributes to the memories of

iconic footballer Badal Roy, Quader said

Roy was a skilled footballer and sport

organizer as well as an honest person.

Many people in the sports arena think

that Abahani means Awami League and

Mohammedan means opponent of

Awami League but Badal Roy had proved

that there is no politics in sports, he

added. Quader said Roy remained

engaged with Mohammedan since the

beginning of his career in sports but from

his heart, he was a solider of Father of the

Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman's ideology.

Calling upon the sports organizers to

engage the youths in sports, Quader said

if the young generation cannot be

engaged in sports or cultural activities,

they could get involved in anti-social

activities or drug addiction.

He said it is sorrowful that some persons

are using sports federations for

gaining their person interests. Sports

federations must be kept free from corruption,

he said. Turning to coronavirus

situation, the minister said the

pandemic is not a crisis for an individual

or any group but for the entire

mankind, so everyone should maintain

health guidelines to check the transmission

of the deadly virus.

Dhaka, Dec 26 (UNB) - The reported

detection of a new Covid-19 variant in

Bangladesh having some similarities to

the one spotted in the UK has triggered

panic among people.

But health experts in Bangladesh

think this strain is less virulent since it

mutates with its local characteristics.

They advised people not to be worried

about it, but remain cautious, strictly

maintain health safety rules and avoid

public gatherings together with their

kids as children look vulnerable to this

variant. The experts urged the government

to stop flight operations with the

UK for a few weeks and strengthen

monitoring and screening at the airports

to prevent the import of the new Covid

variant identified in the UK which is up

to 70% more infectious than the previous

one.

On Thursday, scientists at the

Bangladesh Council for Scientific and

Industrial Research (BCSIR) said a new

strain of coronavirus detected in

Bangladesh in early November which

has similarities to the new variant of the

EU begins vaccine

rollout as new virus

strain spreads

virus found in the UK.

Dr Selim Khan, principal scientific

officer of the BCSIR, said they identified

the new strain through the latest

sequence of coronaviruses in the first

week of November.

He said they found the new strain

almost similar to the one identified in

the UK. "But it's not cent percent the

same." Public health expert MH

Chowdhury (Lenin), chairman of the

medicine department at the Health and

Hope Hospital, said the characteristics

of the new strain identified in

Bangladesh is not still clear.

"There weeks have elapsed since the

new strain identified in Bangladesh but

there're no big change in the virus infection,

mortality and severity rates. So, we

can say there's no reason to be panicked

over it," he said.

The expert said Bangladesh's new

strain is not completely similar to the

UK's one. "The UK's strain was originated

in Africa which can spread fast.

Though Bangladesh's strain is a bit similar

to the UK's one, it's characteristics

PARIS : The European Union began a

vaccine rollout Saturday, even as countries

in the bloc were forced back into

lockdown by a new strain of the virus,

believed to be more infectious, that continues

to spread from Britain.

The pandemic has claimed more than

1.7 million lives and is still running rampant

in much of the world, but the

recent launching of innoculation campaigns

has boosted hopes that 2021

could bring a respite.

Hours before the first vaccine doses

arrived in France, Paris' health ministry

confirmed late Friday that it had detected

its first case of the new variant in a citizen

returned from Britain.

Several countries have reported cases

of the new strain, which has sent jitters

through already overstretched health

services.

There was little sign of the usual

Boxing Day sale rush on the streets of

Sydney Saturday, as residents largely

heeded the state premier's request

they stay home faced with a new virus

cluster.

"Even when we entered the store there

were less than ten people," shopper Lia

Gunawan told The Sydney Morning

Herald after queueing up for the sales.

Even as some European nations eye a

post-Christmas return to harsh restrictions,

China's communist leadership

issued a statement hailing the "extremely

extraordinary glory" of its handling of

the virus that emerged in the country's

Hubei province last year, state news

agency Xinhua reported.

Across the world, people are being

urged to respect social distancing guidelines,

as the World Health Organisation

urged people not to "squander" the

"great, heart-wrenching sacrifices" people

had made to save lives.

The first French case of the new coronavirus

variant was found in a citizen

resident in Britain who arrived from

London on December 19, the French

health ministry said.

They are asymptomatic and self-isolating

at home in Tours in central

France, and contact-tracing has taken

place for the health professionals who

treated him.

The new strain of the virus, which

experts fear is more contagious,

prompted more than 50 countries to

impose travel restrictions on the UK,

where it first emerged.

But cases of the new variant have still

been reported worldwide: on Friday,

Japan confirmed five infections in passengers

from the UK, while cases have

also been reported in Denmark,

Lebanon, Germany, Australia and the

Netherlands.

South Africa has detected a similar

mutation in some infected people, but

on Friday denied British claims its strain

was more infectious or dangerous than

the one originating in the UK.

The closure of the UK-France border

for 48 hours led to a bottleneck of up to

10,000 lorries in southeast England,

with drivers stranded for days over the

festive period.

But the head of the Calais port operator

told AFP that after the port remained

open over Christmas specially, the "situation

should be completely taken care

of" soon.

The number of

patients suffering

from corona

in Dhaka hospitals

has started

increasing again.

There are

patients in

almost all the

beds of the

government

hospital.

Photo : Star Mail

New Covid strain in Bangladesh

Experts say no need to worry

are dissimilar in terms of virus transmission."

"If we examine the corona infection

rate over the last three weeks in

Bangladesh, we won't find any upward

trend. So, a static situation has been prevailing

in the country unlike in the UK,"

he observed.

Dr Lenin thinks the BCSIR should

work on the new strain further. "It's a

premature announcement that

Bangladesh's new strain is similar to the

UK's one. It has unnecessarily spread

panic among people."

ASM Alamgir, principal scientific officer

at the IEDCR, said people in Bangladesh

should not get worried about the new

strain found in the country.

"There're various mutations in

coronavirus proteins all over the

world. Changes are also taking place

in Bangladesh and the new change is

said to be similar to that in the UK.

That means it's not exactly the same

as in the UK," he said. Alamgir said

virus like Covid one used to mutilate

to survive.

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam, Executive Editor : Sheikh Efaz Ahmed, Managing, Editor: Tapash Ray Sarker, News Editor : Saiful Islam, printed at Sonali Printing Press, 2/1/A, Arambagh 167, Inner Circular Road, Eden Complex, Motijheel, Dhaka.

Editorial and News Office: Bangladesh Timber Building (3rd Floor) 270/B, Tejgaon I/A Dhaka-1208. Tel : +8802-8878026, Cell : 01736786915; Fax: + 880244611604, Email: Editor : editor@thebangladeshtoday.com, Advertisement: ads@thebangladeshtoday.com, News: newsbangla@thebangladeshtoday.com, contact@thebangladeshtoday.com, website: www.thebangladeshtoday.com

27-12-2020

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