06-05-2021

tHurSday

Dhaka : May 6, 2021; Baishakh 23, 1428 BS; Ramadan 23,1442 hijri

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net

Regd.No.Da~2065, Vol.19; N o. 29 ; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00

InternatIonal

India reports over

380,000 new cases, tally

at 20,665,148

>Page 7

SPortS

Manchester City ousts

PSG to reach first

Champions League final

>Page 9

art & culture

Shamim, Sarika's

new drama 'Faisa

Gechi'

>Page 10

Covid vaccine

stock running

out: DGHS

aShraful iSlam aShraf

Stock of the Covid-19 vaccine is

running out in Bangladesh as

there are only 14 lakh jabs in

government hands with no

sign in sight to get a fresh consignment

of it from India,

DGHS spokesperson Dr Robed

Amin said while speaking at a

virtual press briefing.

He said, "We had around

one crore and two lakh vaccines

in our hands...around 88

lakh jabs have already been

administered as the first and

second doses. Now we've some

14 lakh doses in stock."

He said there will be a vaccine

crisis if a fresh consignment

does not arrive in the

country before the existing

stock is exhausted. Robed said

58,19,719 people have so far

received the first dose of the

vaccine while 30,23,169 got the

second one.

As per official statistics, the

country lacks over 14 lakh second

doses of the vaccine to

administer those who received

the firstjab. Amid the vaccine

crisis, the government suspended

administering the first

dose of the coronavirus vaccine

on April 26. The DGHS

spokesman, however, hoped

that the county may get vaccine

doses from Chain before Eidul-Fitr.

Besides, he said, a process is

underway to give clearance by

the Health Ministry for procuring

Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.

Zohr

04:03 AM

11:59 PM

04:31 PM

06:32 PM

07:52 PM

5:22 6:29

Govt issues notification over

extending current restrictions

Shafiqul iSlam

Before upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr, the Cabinet

Division has issued a notification extending

the existing restrictions by another point. In

a notification issued on Wednesday (May 5),

the restrictions have been extended from

May 5 to May 16. It said that in view of the

current corona virus situation, the existing

restrictions have been extended from midnight

on May 5 to midnight on May 18 in

continuation of all previous restrictions and

activities.

New attached terms are:- (1) Officers and

employees of all government, semi-government,

autonomous and private offices and

banks and financial institutions must be at

their respective places of work (jurisdiction)

during the Eid holidays. (2) Shops and

shopping malls will be open as before from

10 am to 8 pm. Hygiene rules should be

160 Bangladeshi migrants return

from Libya with IOM support

DHAKA : International Organization for

Migration (IOM) facilitated the safe return of

160 Bangladeshi migrants stranded in Libya

under its Voluntary Humanitarian Return

(VHR) programme on Wednesday.

The flight carrying the returnees left

Benghazi, Libya on Tuesday and landed at

Dhaka's Hazarat Shajalal International

Airport (HSIA) on Wednesday, reports UNB.

The returnees including 159 men and one

woman were stranded in Libya due to the

COVID-19 pandemic and protracted political

instability. IOM assisted with the safe

return of these migrants in coordination

with the Embassy of Bangladesh in Libya.

The body of one Bangladeshi national

who died in Libya was also repatriated on

this flight. Prior to departure, the returnees

underwent health checks, were offered predeparture

transportation assistance, counselling

services and screened for underlying

protection vulnerabilities by IOM.

Given the current COVID- 19 situation, all

returnees were also provided with personal

protective equipment (PPE) and took a

COVID-test (PCR) prior to departure.

In Dhaka, government officials and IOM

Bangladesh staff received and supported the

migrants at the Hazrat Shahjalal

International Airport.

At the airport, the returnees each received

cash for transportation from IOM to help

them get home. Besides,, the returnees will

each receive a reintegration grant from

ensured in all shops and shopping malls.

Otherwise shops and shopping malls will be

closed immediately. (3) Inter-district public

transport will be closed. But after May 5

(from today), subject to proper hygiene,

public transport will be able to operate within

the district.

However, trains and launches will remain

closed as before. (4) The wearing of masks

must be 100% confirmed. If necessary,

legal action should be taken against those

who disobey the order through mobile

court. (5) Such social, political and religious

rituals should be stopped. (6) In order to

prevent COVID-19, the Ministry of

Information and the concerned city corporations,

including the municipality miking,

will take measures for the compulsory

wearing of masks in the city corporations,

district headquarters, municipal areas and

maintaining social distance.

IOM. Reintegration support is particularly

important for migrants who, in some cases,

have experienced physical and psychological

trauma while stranded in Libya.

One of the returnees said, "Life in Libya

was very dangerous as hostilities continued

there. I decided to return to my country as I

could not earn enough money. It was very

difficult to stay over there. I am grateful to

IOM and the Government of Bangladesh for

arranging my flight home. I am very happy

that I will see my family after years."

Giorgi Gigauri, IOM Bangladesh's Chief of

Mission said stranded Bangladeshi

migrants find themselves in precarious conditions

in Libya, and COVID-19 has exacerbated

their vulnerabilities.

"It is our number one priority to provide

these returnees with a safe and dignified

way to get home, and to support reintegration

into their communities. To do

this, we continue to work closely and constructively

with the Government of

Bangladesh, and I thank them for their

ongoing efforts."

IOM's Voluntary Humanitarian Return

Programme can be life-saving for migrants

stranded or in detention, especially in conflict-ridden

countries. Since 2015, a total of

2,942 Bangladeshi migrants have returned

from Libya through the Programme, which

is a part of the larger EU-IOM Joint

Initiative for Migrant Protection and

Reintegration.

Police activity in implementing 'lockdown' in the capital has decreased. People are moving at will. Traffic

jam has been seen on the roads. The picture is taken from Shahbag on Wednesday. Photo : Star mail

Raihan's death in custody

SI Akbar among six gets

charge-sheeted

SYLHET : Police have pressed charges

against six people, including the sacked

sub-inspector Akbar Hossain Bhuiya of

Bandarbazar Police outpost in connection

with the death of Raihan Ahmed at

the outpost last year, reports UNB.

The investigation team of Police

Bureau of Investigation (PBI) handed

over the chargesheet to Sylhet Court

Inspector Pradeep Kumar Das around

11 am on Wednesday, said superintendent

of PBI Sylhet Khaleduzzaman.

Court police will submit the

chargesheet before a virtual court.

The other chargesheeted accused are

sub-inspector Hasan Ali, assistant subinspector

Ahshque Elahi, constable

Harunur Rashid, constable Titu

Chandra Das of Bandarbazar Police

outpost and Abdullah Al Noman of

Companiganj who helped Akbar flee

the country. All the accused policemen

are behind bars.

On October 11 last year, Raihan

Ahmed, 34, a resident of Akharia in

Sylhet city, was beaten to death in

police custody.

His wife, Tahmina Akter Tanni, later

filed a case with Kotwali Police Station

the following day against a number of

unidentified people.

Four policemen, including then incharge

of Bandarbazar Police outpost

sub-inspector Akbar, were suspended

on October 12.

Govt is trying to procure vaccines

from other sources: Kamal

DHAKA : Finance Minister AHM

Mustafa Kamal on Wednesday said the

government is trying to procure

COVID-19 vaccines from other sources

which are acceptable and safe.

"We're not at all dependent on a single

source for vaccines (COVID-19).

The issue is very important as it's associated

with the lives and livelihood of

people……we're also trying to bring

such vaccines from those companies of

the world which are acceptable and do

not have any apprehension," he said.

The Finance Minister said this while

replying to questions from reporters

virtually after chairing a meeting of

Cabinet Committee on Government

Purchase (CCGP).

Replying to another question

whether the Serum Institute of India

would refund the money if they fail to

provide vaccines to Bangladesh, he said

discussions as well as negations are still

on with them.

"Once the government comes to

know about their final stance regarding

vaccines, then the decision in this

regard will be taken," Kamal said,

adding that the government would definitely

get back the money from Serum

Institute if they fail to provide the vaccines

as per the agreement.

The Finance Minister said contractual

obligations are there for both the parties

while the contractual obligation in

this regard for Serum Institute is to provide

vaccines to Bangladesh.

Replying to another question, he said

that the Serum Institute is yet to tell

Bangladesh that they would not be able to

supply the rest of the committed vaccines.

According to the tripartite agreement

between the Bangladesh government,

Beximco Pharmaceuticals and Serum

Institute of India, Bangladesh received 5

million doses of Covid vaccines in the first

phase and 2 million in second phase.

As per the agreement, Serum

Institute was to supply 5 million doses

every month. The Indian government

had sent 3.3 million doses to

Bangladesh as gift. So far Bangladesh

received a total of 10.3 million shots

from India.

AL to work as vanguard against

all conspiracies: Hasan

RAMADAn

Ramadan Date Sehri Iftar

23 May 06 03:53 AM 06:33 PM

24 May 07 03:52 AM 06:34 PM

25 May 08 03:51 AM 06:34 PM

indiscriminate deforestation is going on in the name of so-called beautification and establishment of restaurant in

Suhrawardy udyan of the capital. While the university is closed in lockdown, construction work has also started

on a large part of the park. in protest, several social organizations including anchor Bangladesh organized a

human chain on Wednesday.

Photo : TBT

DHAKA : Information and

Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan

Mahmud on Wednesday said Awami

League would work as vanguard

against all anti-state political conspiracies.

The minister made the comment

while addressing a function to distribute

Eid gifts, organized by Bangladesh

Krishak League (BKL) at Bangabandhu

Avenue in the capital as special guest.

Awami League Presidium Member

Matia Chowdhury addressed the programme

as the chief guest with BKL

president Samir Chanda was in the

chair.

Matia, in her speech, said Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina is working

round the clock for the welfare of the

people and the country.

"On the other hand, BNP's politics is

centering on the treatment of Begum

Khaleda Zia. From their statements, it

seems that there is no need of treatment

for the countrymen and no need of food

for them too. We couldn't understand

their attitude," she added.

Hasan said conspiracies against the

country are going on even in the prevailing

COVID 19 epidemic.

"When we were celebrating the golden

jubilee of the independence and the

birth centenary of Bangabandhu, then

mayhem was carried out across the

country from March 26 to 28 under the

banner of Hefazat. But, BNP and

Jamaat took part in the anarchy" he

added.

The minister said the Hefazat leaders

met with the home minister some

times. But the government is determined

in taking tough actions against

the all culprits.

"We would not trust anyone. We will

have to uproot all conspiracies and

obstacles," said Hasan, also AL joint

general secretary.

The minister said, "We did movements

and struggles when we were in

the opposition. Awami League formed

the government in 1996. I would like to

urge all leaders and activists to remain

alert against all conspiracies and to

work as vanguard."

Referring ro Begum Khaleda Zia's

treatment, Hasan prayed for her early

recovery.

"Our leader Bangabandhu's daughter

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has

shown her unprecedented generosity

by extending Begum Khaleda Zia's

release from jail," he added.

thursday, May 6, 2021

2

Who will authorize

From Page-12

He claimed that he had not made

any objectionable statement against

the port's hydrographer department,

adding that it appeared to be

a manipulation of a certain quarter,

nothing more than an attempt to

tarnish the reputation of the port

authorities. Each division of the port

authority complements each other,

in a word a family strong in building

a country, there is no disagreement

among themselves here. One thing

everyone should keep in mind is

that we, as the responsible person

follow the instructions of the appropriate

authority. The difference of

opinion here is that the port has no

role to play among the dredgers

concerned, and the sand that is to be

extracted is up to the district administration.

Asked about the same, Mohammad

Arif, chief commander of the

port authority's hydrographer

department, told The Bangladesh

Today over the phone that the

unloading of sand from the river

through the pipeline is allowed by

the port authority chairman if it falls

under the border of the port authority.

"As concerned department we

just sign for approval.If there is a

problem, the contract is not

renewed. However, as per the rules,

the hydrographer branch is responsible

for dealing the sand extraction

within the port area. But the estate

branch has allowed the unloading in

this case. I have just been told in my

signed letter as Chief Hydrographer

that the port leases sand from the

Shah Amanat Bridge on the Karnafuli

River to the Kalurghat Bridge

area according to the hydrographic

survey. Only the leaseholder

approved by the port can do the

dredging. An organization'sdredger

has been illegally installed in

Kalurghat Bridge area. This is

upsetting discipline in dredging

work. So, the unloading dredger

needs to be removed quickly. We

have requested the authorized officer

and executive magistrate to take

action for removal of unloaded

dredger. The rumors that there are

cold conflicts between the departments

run under our port authority

are not true at all. The whole port

family is working together to maintain

the reputation and responsibility

of the port authorities."

Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Office of the Upazila Engineer

220 hairdressers get humanitarian

assistance in Narail

NARAIL : A total of 220 hairdressers were given humanitarian

assistance from the Prime Minister's Relief and Welfare Fund

to mitigate their sufferings in the wake of the coronavirus

(COVID-19) pandemic in Sadar upazila of the district yesterday,

reports BSS.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mohammad Habibur Rahman

distributed the government assistance among them at a

function held at Narail Birshreshtha Nur Mohammad Stadium

ground in Sadar upazila of the district yesterday afternoon as

the chief guest with Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Salma Selim

in the chair.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Mohammad

Yarul Islam, District Relief Officer Mohammad Mizanur

Rahman, Nezarat Deputy Collector (NDC) Mohammad Zahid

Hasan, Hairdressers Samiti President Mrityanjay Shil, other

district administration officials, journalists and local dignitaries

were present on the occasion.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mohammad Habibur Rahman

said the district administration provided the assistance from

the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's relief fund and as a part of

the government's instant humanitarian support.

Under the programme, each of the 220 hairdressers people

was given 10-kg rice, one liter oil, one kg sugar, one kg pulse and

two soaps including masks free of cost, the sources said.

222

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THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2021

3

15,000 people received telemedicine

services of Jubo League

BAF Base Sergeant Zahurul Haque distributed relief among the destitute people in Noakhali yesterday.

Photo : ISPR

Momen greets Mamata

on polls victory

DHAKA : Foreign Minister

Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen has

congratulated India's

Trinamool Congress leader

Mamata Banerjee on her

party's victory in the West

Bengal Assembly elections.

"We are impressed with

your campaign and we are

thankful to you as you

spiritedly upheld the longcherished

values of Bengal

that Bangabandhu

spearheaded throughout his

life, 'the principle of religious

harmony and brotherhood,"

Momen said in a letter to

Mamata Banerjee.

He said the Trinamool

Congress has won the

support of the people for

forming the cabinet for the

third time in a row, which is

JASHORE : Police have

seized four passenger buses

in Jashore district for

allegedly violating lockdown

norms.

Acting on a tip-off, a police

team intercepted the four

buses-three near

Manirampur police station

and one from the New

Market area in Shyamnagar

upazila-on Tuesday night.

Upon checking, the police

team found that several

passengers were sitting

together and many of them

were not wearing masks or

adhering to other Covid

safety protocols.

Subsequently, the four

buses were seized, said

a reflection of the continued

confidence and trust of the

people of West Bengal in

Mamata's leadership.

"With your cooperation

and commitment, we are

confident to consolidate the

relations between the two

countries further and

resolve outstanding issues,"

said the foreign minister.

He said Bangladesh

remains committed to

continue to work together

for the benefit of the peoples

of two countries, particularly

through sharing of resources

and expertise.

Dr Momen said that

excellent bilateral relations

exist between Bangladesh

and India and the potential

areas of mutual cooperation

Mahbub Kabir, traffic

inspector of Jashore. Of the

four buses, two buses

belonged to 'Green Bangla

Paribahan'.

All the buses were on their

way to Dhaka.

And some 80-90

passengers had boarded the

buses, and most were not

adhering to Covid safety

protocols, police said.

However, the drivers and

helpers of the buses have not

been arrested, police said.

Public transport services

were suspended in

Bangladesh on April 5, with

the government announcing

a countrywide lockdown to

curb the spread of

between the two countries

have been further expanded

in recent years.

"In this special year, when

we celebrate the Golden

Jubilee of Bangladesh's

Independence and Mujib

Borsho, as well as 50 years of

Bangladesh-India

diplomatic relations, we

recall with gratitude the

support and sacrifice of the

people and political

leadership of India,

including the people of West

Bengal," he said.

He said the shared history,

culture, language, values

and ancestral linkages

between the peoples on both

sides of the border have

made the relations unique

and stronger.

Police seize four buses

for violating lockdown

norms in Jashore

coronavirus.

On April 30, the transport

owners' association urged

the government to

immediately resume bus

services in the country. The

association also demanded

food assistance for the

unemployed transport

workers.

On May 3, the government

decided to allow the intradistrict

public transport

services with effect from

May 6 after extending the

ongoing lockdown till May

16.

The decision was taken at

the weekly cabinet meeting,

chaired by Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina.

Swechhasebok

League gives

health equipment

to DRU

DHAKA : Awami

Swechhasebok League

(ASL) yesterday handed

over health protective

gears to Dhaka Reporters'

Unity (DRU) for its

members.

President and General

Secretary of ASL Nirmal

Ranjan Guha and Afzalur

Rahman Babu respectively

provided the safety gears

from their organisation.

The ASL leaders handed

over several cartons of

sanitizers and surgical

masks to the front-liners.

Nirmal Ranjan Guha said

following the instruction of

Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina, the ASL has been

distributing relief materials

among the poor and needy

people across the country

during the coronavirus

pandemic.

Besides, free oxygen and

ambulance service are alao

being continued, he said.

"Our support to

journalist community will

be continued in the future,"

the ASL president added.

Chaired by DRU

President Mursalin

Nomani, the programme

was moderated by DRU

general secretary Moshiur

Khan.

Among others, DRU

organising secretary

Mainul Hasan Sohel, office

secretary Md Zafar Iqbal,

former president Rafiqul

Islam Azad, former general

secretary Syed Shukur Ali

Shuvo, former organizing

secretary Sheikh Jamal,

members Mostafa Kamal,

Fasih Uddin Mahtab and

central committee member

of ASL Asaduzzaman Asad

were present.

LGRD Minister Tajul Islam addressing a virtual meeting jointly organized by Save the Children and

Bangladesh Institute of Planners.

Photo : Courtesy

The 'Telemedicine Service Team'

formed by the Bangladesh

AwamiJuboLeague provided free

telemedicine services to 15,000 people

in this crisis of Corona.On Monday,

April 5, under the direction of

Bangladesh AwamiJubo League

President Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash

and General Secretary Alhaj Md.

Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, a

telemedicine team was formed with

more than 100 doctors to provide free

medical services / health services

during the Corona epidemic, a press

release said.

Dr. Khaled Shawkat Ali, Presidium

Member of Jubo League is acting as

the Chief Coordinator of the

Coordinating Committee for

Emergency Telemedicine Services. Dr.

Helal Uddin, Health Secretary Dr.

Farid Raihan, Deputy Health Secretary

Dr. Mahfuzur Rahman Ujjwal, Co-

Secretary Dr. Manjurul Islam Bhuiyan

Rafi, Executive Member Dr.

Aurangzeb Aru and Executive Member

Dr. Md. Raihan Sarkar Rizvi are acting

as the coordinator-organizational

secretary.

The team is made up of dedicated

Jubo League doctors from different

parts of Bangladesh.

The telemedicine team of

Bangladesh AwamiJubo League has

been working tirelessly day and night

and has so far provided medical

services to about 15,000 people by

telephone. The telemedicine team of

Jubo League has stood by the helpless

sick people even in the dead of night.

In this regard, Bangladesh

AwamiJuboLeague President Sheikh

Fazle Shams Parash said, "If we cannot

stand by the people during this disaster

and epidemic, when will we stand?

From this feeling or consciousness, the

doctors of Jubo League are providing

free telemedicine services to the people

day and night. There is a representative

of the professional community in the

committee of Jubo League. There are

10-15 doctors in the committee of our

Jubo League. All of them are

established doctors. We've been able to

provide telemedicine services to

15,000 (fifteen thousand) people this

year, and we're proud to be able to

provide free healthcare to our doctors

because we can serve them. They are

working relentlessly on this. In the

meantime, we are beginning to reap

some benefits. Our telemedicine team

will continue their great work during

the Corona epidemic. "

Bangladesh AwamiJubo League

General Secretary Alhaj Md. Mainul

Hassan Khan Nikhil said, "We are on

the side of the people on the

instructions of state leader Sheikh

Hasina and on the advice of Jubo

League President Sheikh Fazle Shams

Parash. "Telemedicine services have

been launched so that the helpless

people can seek the advice of doctors.

We are successful only if the people get

some benefit. More than 15,000 people

have already received Jubo League

telemedicine services."

According to the information

provided by the doctors of the

telemedicine team, besides all kinds of

corona related treatments, the

telemedicine service team of

JuboLeague is providing various

medical services including maternity

and child, diabetes, high blood

pressure, kidney complications and

dental problems. People from remote

areas of Bangladesh, especially in

places where people are deprived of

medical services near their homes due

to lockdowns, have also received

medical services at their fingertips due

to the medical services of this

telemedicine team of JuboLeague.

Expatriate Bengalis from Bangladesh

as well as from outside Bangladesh are

seeking advice from doctors through

telemedicine.

Mural of Haji Muhammad Mohsin inaugurated at DU Mohsin Hall. DU VC Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman

inaugurated the mural yesterday.

Photo : Courtesy

Speakers for pandemic-focused

budget in FY22

Dhaka: Speakers at a webinar Tuesday

stressed the need for framing a COVID-19

pandemic focused budget for the next

fiscal year giving the highest priority to

the health sector to mitigate the healthrelated

risks alongside focusing on sound

macroeconomic management, widening

social safety nets, raising the tax-GDP

ratio and generating more employments,

reports UNB.

They also emphasised strengthening

the ongoing vaccination programme,

carrying on necessary tax reforms as well

as reducing the corporate tax rates,

ensuring proper budget implementation

and quality spending of development

projects, addressing the livelihood issues

in the context of pandemic, prioritising

the CMSMEs and bringing the education

sector under the purview of the stimulus

packages.

The recommendations came up with at

a webinar on 'Macroeconomy:

Expectations from National Budget 2021-

22' jointly organised by the Institute of

Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh

(ICAB) and the Economic Reporters'

Forum (ERF).

The Economic Affairs Adviser to Prime

Minister Dr Mashiur Rahman agreed

with the suggestions to enhance

budgetary allocation on the health sector

and thus strengthen the ongoing

vaccination campaign.

Stressing the need for carrying out

necessary reforms in the financial sector

and in the revenue sector, he said reforms

in the capital market and bond market is

also necessary to attract the large scale

investors.

Mashiur noted that if the lion's share of

the deficit financing could be made

available from the foreign sources then its

impact on the domestic sector would not

be that much.

He also stressed the need for boosting

confidence among the businesses and

investors, attracting more FDI, ensuring

skills development and sound basic

education up to the secondary level.

Distinguished Fellow of CPD Prof Dr

Mustafizur Rahman emphasised on

generating more employments, giving

relief to the import substitute industries

through taxation, revisiting the import

regulations, enhancing quality

expenditure, and ensuring necessary

reforms.

He was also critical about the scope for

whitening black money in the budget

saying it is an injustice to the honest

taxpayers.

Executive Director of PRI Dr Ahsan H

Mansur proposed allocating Tk 15,000

crore for vaccination in the next budget

and that fund should be made available

from day one.

For the new poor being created from

the impacts of the pandemic, he said only

cash support is not enough for them,

rather some permanent measures should

be awarded.

The renowned economist also

suggested addressing the livelihood

issues due to the pandemic, prioritising

the SMEs in the stimulus packages,

focusing more on expenditure and said

the budget deficit could be stretched from

7 to 8 percent.

Executive Director of SANEM Dr Selim

Raihan called for expanding economic

operations and not having an obsessed

mindset on growth, rolling out social

safety net schemes for the urban poor,

boosting business confidence through

necessary measures, increasing budget

implementation and ensuring some

visible reforms.

Former adviser to the caretaker

government Rasheda K Chowdhury said

that the next budget should be a

pandemic-focused one while the

education sector should be brought

under the stimulus package as the losses

to this sector is huge and it is invisible.

"Education sector must not be less

prioritised," she said.

Chairman of PEB Dr M Masrur Reaz

suggested for bringing around 50 percent

of the country's population under the

vaccination programme in the next one

year, otherwise, the revival initiatives and

recovery would be much tougher.

He also proposed allocating one

percent of GDP as social safety net for the

poor as well as awarding another

stimulus for the SMEs, especially for the

small and micro-entrepreneurs.

Senior research fellow of BIDS Dr

Nazneen Ahmed strongly advocated for

reducing the corporate tax rate,

prioritising those development projects

which are nearing completion, keeping

budgetary allocation on creating health

awareness as well as on health disaster

management, making cheaper the

internet facilities and also making

available the gadgets for the poor

students.

Youth dies falling off

rickshaw in city

DHAKA : A young man on Tuesday

night died after falling off a moving

rickshaw at Dhanmondi in the capital.

The deceased was identified as

Nadeem Hossain (30), son of Mahmud

Bhuiyan of Dilsadhpur village in

Laxmipur Sadar upazila.

Dhanmondi police sub-inspector

Subrata confirmed the incident saying

his body was kept in Dhaka Medical

College Hospital morgue.

Quoting the locals, he said Nadeem

fell from a moving rickshaw on

Dhanmondi Road No. 32 at around

9.30 pm and was taken to the hospital

with serious injuries.

The duty doctor at Dhaka Medical

College Hospital emergency unit

declared him dead at 10.30 pm.

Nadeem's brother-in-law Iqbal Hossain

Babu said Nadeem lived at Shukrabad

in Dhanmondi. He was the third

between two brothers and two sisters.

ThUrSday, May 6, 2021

4

Modi's Covid catastrophe sows seeds of a backlash

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com

Thursday, May 6, 2021

Make easier the

owning of houses

Owning a house or a piece of land in Dhaka city is

probably the greatest aspirations of individual

families who form the city's current population

of over 15 million people. But some 65 per cent of these

families live in rented dwellings of various types. And

the costs of rented premises have been far outpacing

the growth in income of households.

House rent has only gone on rising sharply without a

pause in recent years. Similarly, land prices as well as

of apartments offered by developers in the city have

skyrocketed in contrast to couple of decades ago. Thus,

even for those in the middle class bracket --who earn on

average one lakh taka per month-- owning a house or

a piece of real property has become like chasing an

unrealistic ambition.

All of these hard facts of life were stated in a

publication sometime ago by Power and Participation

Centre (PPRC), a non governmental organization. The

gist of it were published in a report in a daily newspaper

although these are hardly new revelations to the non

privileged ones in the city who are compelled to pay a

lion's share of their earnings on rents only.

No easy solutions are in sight for the problem is

mainly tied up with inflation. The current rate of

officially estimated inflation in Bangladesh is some 6

per cent whereas the private but reliable estimates are

notably higher. Till inflation can be kept on a leash over

the long haul while economic growth, earnings and

savings of people are allowed to increase significantly

over time, this chasm between the demanded price of

real property and the ability to buy them by ones who

are not super rich, will not be bridged.

Meanwhile, government may opt for some stop gap

measures. It can increase the activities of the

government operated House Building Finance

Corporation (HBFC) to help the extension of its

activities among a larger number of clients. More

important would be HBFC scaling down its interest

rate charged on loans to a substantially lower amount.

As a government body with public welfare in mind, it

should not be so commercially operated but with the

spirit of functioning only a little above the break-even

point to maximize not profits but welfare. HBFC itself

can perhaps acquire long term loans at nominal

interests from the World Bank (WB) and other

international agencies for boosting its resources and

lend the same to people by passing on the benefits of

the same to them through charging lower interest. It

should also provide loans to buy lands.

Government should be also prepared to take some

fiscal measures like decreasing amply taxes to be paid

while transferring ownership of land in order to help

reduce land price. Government's policies should

similarly help the realtors to be enabled to develop less

costly housing units for selling of the same at relatively

lowered or affordable prices to their buyers.

Reportedly and according to the association of real

estate developers, REHAB, thousands of built flats

cannot be handed over to buyers because these cannot

be served with gas and power connections due to

shortages of both. Thus, the real estate developers as

well as buyers are facing difficulties as their liabilities

have sharply accumulated . It is imperative that

government should take very urgent measures to

supply gas and power to this sector on a highly

preferential basis .

There are also other things to be done. For example,

the registration fee for real estate is already considered

as very high. The inability to pay such high fees

frustrates many otherwise intending buyers from

buying real estate. REHAB and its customers say that it

should be maximum 5 per cent to really create a big

enough stimulus among the prospective buyers to

press ahead with their buying plans.

REHAB leaders are of the view that unless a section

of the income tax rules which in the past provided for

not questioning the source of wealth in relation to

buying of houses, if this rule is not reintroduced, then

potential clients will continue to shy away from buying

flats or houses. So, they are pleading for its abolition.

In the case of cement the import of which is

subjected to restrictions, REHAB has asked for a

withdrawl of such restrictions along with lower duties

on the imported cement so that the housing and

construction sector can benefit from adequate

availability and reasonable price of this basic building

material.

Government provides cash incentives for some

export products to provide incentives to exporters to

export more and earn more foreign currency . REHAB

leaders are for similar giving of cash incentives to them

as they make sales of real property to Bangladeshis

living abroad. The cash incentives will give a spur to

selling real estate among overseas buyers leading to

growth in the industry. The sales, on the other hand,

will also add to the country's foreign currency reserve.

REHAB has also demanded that government should

explore the ways and means of extending long term

housing loans at nominal interests to encourage

greater housing and construction activities.

In what is widely being interpreted

as a popular verdict on Narendra

Modi's handling of the Covid crisis

in India, voters in West Bengal have

returned the incumbent chief minister,

Mamata Banerjee, and her regional

Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Defeat for Modi's party has come

despite a massive campaign by the

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but also

significant attempts to suppress

criticism both at home and

internationally for perceived

mishandling of the country's second

wave of Covid-19.

In June 2020, despite evidence of

rising numbers of infections across the

country, the BJP government lifted

draconian lockdown regulations. This

allowed huge election rallies and

religious festivals such as the

enormous Kumbh Mela - criticized

both inside and outside the country as

"super-spreader events" - to take place.

The result has been more than 20

million confirmed cases of Covid and

more than 222,000 deaths.

And, across India - as the number of

people being hospitalized with Covid

rises daily, putting health services

under unprecedented strain - ordinary

citizens and healthcare organizations

have been forced to turn to Twitter and

other social media platforms to

crowdsource help for medication,

oxygen cylinders, hospital beds and

other necessities.

These problems have brought intense

scrutiny of the Modi government from

around the world. A number of major

international newspapers have carried

articles accusing Modi of mismanaging

the crisis.

One in particular, in The Australian -

Australia's influential national

broadsheet newspaper - which stated

that this "crisis of epic proportions"

was due to "arrogance, hypernationalism

and bureaucratic

incompetence" irked the Indian

government to the extent that the

Indian high commission in Canberra

sent a note to the paper's editor urging

him to print a retraction.

The article had previously been

printed in the UK's Sunday Times

newspaper.

But if it is unable to silence its critics

abroad, the Modi government is

pulling out all the stops to stifle dissent

at home. Twitter has come under fire

for deleting a number of critical tweets

following legal requests by the Indian

government.

The government was acting under the

Information Technology Act 2000,

which allows authorities to order

blocking of public access to

information to protect "sovereignty

and integrity of India" and maintain

public order.

Withheld tweets included messages

from a lawmaker, an opposition leader,

a film-maker and an Oxford law

student.

At the end of April, a young man

tweeting about needing oxygen in

order to get help for his grandfather

was arrested in the north Indian state

of Uttar Pradesh, which is seeing the

highest number of daily cases. He was

charged with "fearmongering" under

the colonial era Epidemic Diseases Act

Saba hUSSaIn

of 1897.

Meanwhile, the BJP chief minister of

Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath,

recently issued threats to seize

property of those spreading "rumors"

about oxygen shortage. "There is no

shortage of beds, oxygen and lifesaving

drugs in the state," he said.

The crackdown on Twitter follows

similar actions taken during the

massive farmers' strike earlier this

year.

In a powerful critique in India's

One in particular, in The australian - australia's influential

national broadsheet newspaper - which stated that this "crisis of

epic proportions" was due to "arrogance, hyper-nationalism

and bureaucratic incompetence" irked the Indian government

to the extent that the Indian high commission in Canberra sent

a note to the paper's editor urging him to print a retraction.

Telegraph newspaper, writer and filmmaker

Ruchir Joshi wrote of the

country's turn into an "autocratic

Hindu rashtra" (or Hindu state)

through a "brazen weaponization of the

investigative agencies in the open

service of the ruling party" while

"maintaining the fake image of a

functioning democracy."

The crisis threatens to undermine a

carefully orchestrated image of Modi.

He was elected prime minister in 2014

on a wave of Hindu nationalism, based

on his majoritarian, business-friendly

platform, but whose Hindu

supremacist overtones also promoted

widespread social divisions in

India.Modi and his team have taken

pains to associate the public image of

India with that of Modi and his

government. This has meant that some

of Modi's followers have been

encouraged to interpret legitimate

dr. MaJId raFIzadeh

political criticisms of the BJP

administration as criticisms of the

Indian nation itself.

On social media supporters of the

BJP frequently use phrases like "antinational",

urging critics of the

government to "go to Pakistan", an old

trope often leveled at Muslim critics of

the BJP.

In keeping with the volatility of the

public mood, a more recent variant of

this strategy has been the government

calls for unity which tend to portray

dissenting views expressed by citizens

as being socially divisive and hence

dangerous. Meanwhile, when Modi

made a speech to the country on April

20 about the growing crisis, he

appeared to by trying to pass

responsibility for action on to

individual citizens.

In his Maan ki Baat (Speaking from

the Heart) broadcast, Modi said: "I

request young colleagues to create

small committees in their societies,

localities and apartments and help

others in following the Covid

discipline." He added: "If we do this,

then governments will not need to

create containment zones, impose

curfew or lockdown."

As Indian journalist Rana Ayyub

wrote in Time magazine recently: "At

this critical juncture in its history,

Indians have been left to fend for

ourselves."

Perhaps the election result in West

Bengal at the weekend is an

indication that Indian voters are

beginning to do just that. As a popular

bangla song, Nijeder Gaan (Our Own

Song), which was released in the runup

to the poll, warns Modi: "Not a word

from you, not a word. We can think for

ourselves what is best for us."

Source : Asia Times

Iranian regime set to address deep internal divisions

When the Iranian regime

assumed power following the

events of 1979, the theocratic

establishment was mainly governed by

one political faction: The Islamic

Republican Party, ruled by the founder

of the regime, Ayatollah Khomeini.

Almost all political leaders were united

under the leadership of the supreme

leader at the time.

However, after the death of Khomeini,

new political parties began emerging

and labels such as "reformists,"

"moderates," "pragmatists" and

"principlists" began circulating in media

outlets. These became a popular way to

characterize Iranian politicians

domestically and internationally.

This new phenomenon assisted the

regime for a while. First of all, the

establishment was able to give ordinary

people false hope that the reformists or

moderates could bring about the

political, social and economic change

that they, particularly the youth,

desired. This increased voter turnout as

millions went to the ballot box to elect

political figures such as Mohammed

Khatami and Hassan Rouhani. In

return, the regime could also use the

high voter turnout to project the idea

that it enjoys legitimacy.

Secondly, the new political factions

enabled the government to falsely

project to the rest of the world the image

of a vibrant and functioning democracy.

Finally, the new factions and labels

became instrumental in the supreme

leader and the Islamic Revolutionary

Guard Corps (IRGC) achieving their

revolutionary objectives. One

prominent example was the important

role the moderates played in lifting

sanctions against Iran in 2015 by

negotiating the Joint Comprehensive

Plan of Action nuclear deal. The

different factions also allowed Supreme

Leader Ali Khamenei to evade

accountability and responsibility, as he

could blame the moderates or the

reformists for all the country's

economic, social and political failures.

The reality is that Iran's so-called

moderates have long been a critical part

of the regime's political establishment.

Many of them, including current

President Rouhani, were robust

supporters or founding fathers of the

regime's Shiite theocracy. These

moderates, such as the late former

President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani,

were once called "hard-liners."

To be a politician in Iran, your loyalty

to the core pillars of the political

establishment should be firmly proven.

Vilayat-e Faqih is the foundation of the

political thought expounded by

Khomeini - it forces a guardianshipbased

political system on the people,

requiring that a Shiite religious figure be

the leader of the nation.

Political factions in Iran share the

common interest of ensuring the

survival of the regime. The only

difference between the hard-liners,

reformists and moderates is the

methods they prefer to employ. In other

words, the means to ensure the end are

different, but the end is the same for all

of them.

The moderates now want more power

and a bigger stake in the political

establishment.

Nevertheless, while these different

political factions were previously

successfully managed by the regime,

their differences are now spiraling out of

control, deepening internal division and

endangering the hold on power of the

To be a politician in Iran, your loyalty to the core pillars

of the political establishment should be firmly proven.

Vilayat-e Faqih is the foundation of the political

thought expounded by Khomeini - it forces a guardianship-based

political system on the people, requiring

that a Shiite religious figure be the leader of the nation.

regime. For example, the statecontrolled

newspapers, which used to

publish the same argument across the

board, are now daily filled with

criticisms and attacks against different

political factions.

The moderates have long acted as

puppets for the IRGC and the supreme

leader and held ceremonial positions

with no power, but they now want more

power and a bigger stake in the political

establishment.

A key example is the leaked recording

of Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

He said in the leaked tape: "I have

Readers’ Corner

Final Solution for Air Pollution

sacrificed diplomacy for the military

field, rather than the field servicing

diplomacy." And he complained: "In the

Islamic Republic, the military field

rules." Zarif and his ostensibly moderate

political party might even have selfishly

orchestrated this whole incident in

order to distance the foreign minister

from the regime, as they are sensing that

the regime is at the end of its power and

a potential revolution could overthrow

it. In governments that are unpopular

and close to being toppled, many

opportunistic politicians will attempt to

distance themselves from the regime in

order to advance their political and

financial interests in the post-revolution

era and to evade prosecution.

Those who have the final say over

Iran's foreign and domestic policies -

Khamenei and the senior cadre of the

IRGC and its elite branch the Quds

Force - will most likely act to eliminate

this division, which has served them

well for a long time but is now

threatening the regime's control. The

supreme leader, the IRGC and the Quds

Force will most likely try to fill all

branches of the government with hardliners

and military leaders. If they place

such a figure as the next president, they

will have succeeded at controlling all the

governmental branches.

Internal division has become a real

danger to the Iranian regime, but the

supreme leader and the IRGC's senior

cadre will most likely act quickly, crack

down on such divisions, and attempt to

fill the presidential role with a hardliner.

Source : Arab News

WahSeKaLanee, ParIhan ehSan adrITa and MIFTahUL Jannah

Air pollution has created a big hole

in everyone's heart in today's

world. Air pollution has been

tremendously increasing in

Bangladesh causing a lot of problems.

The main reason we believe it

increasing is because of car emissions

and factory gases. These are releasing

large amounts of gases and chemicals

causing great harm to the mankind,

environment and all living things we

are surrounded by around. For this,

every day, bad news are reaching us

unfortunately. It has been increasing a

lot lately

Some of these effects include Acid

Rain. Smog effect. Deterioration of

fields. Extinction of animal species.

Respiratory health problems.

Deterioration in building materials.

These are the most basic effects and

scientists have been trying to find a

solution to this issue. But fortunately,

there is a solution which can be used to

reduce these effects. Daily pollution

exposures can get into the brain and

impact brain cells.

The effect can be cell death, leading

to neurodegenerative disorders, like

Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

These exposures can also induce

sensitization. When this occurs, these

people describe a heightened sense of

smell and develop symptoms after

exposure to numerous different

chemicals commonly found in the air.

CATALYTIC CONVERTERS and

SCRUBBERS. Catalytic converters are

devices attached to the back of cars to

reduce car emissions and chemicals

getting released from the car. Moving

onto scrubbers now, scrubbers are

machines which are used in factories to

reduce the amount of chemicals and

gases released from factories. Chemical

reactions taking place in these devices

making it possible to be carried out.

We hope that everyone starts using

these two devices to reduce air

pollution considering the number of

incidents taking place based on air

pollution.

ThuRSDAy, MAy 6, 2021

5

RAchel NuweR

In an important step toward medical approval, MDMA, the illegal

drug popularly known as Ecstasy or Molly, was shown to bring

relief to those suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder

when paired with talk therapy.

Of the 90 people who took part in the new study, which is

expected to be published later this month in Nature Medicine,

those who received MDMA during therapy experienced a

significantly greater reduction in the severity of their symptoms

compared with those who received therapy and an inactive

placebo. Two months after treatment, 67 percent of participants in

the MDMA group no longer qualified for a diagnosis of PTSD,

compared with 32 percent in the placebo group.

MDMA produced no serious adverse side effects. Some

participants temporarily experienced mild symptoms like nausea

and loss of appetite. "This is about as excited as I can get about a

clinical trial," said Gul Dolen, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins

University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the

research. "There is nothing like this in clinical trial results for a

neuropsychiatric disease."

Before MDMA-assisted therapy can be approved for therapeutic

use, the Food and Drug Administration needs a second positive

Phase 3 trial, which is currently underway with 100 participants.

Approval could come as early as 2023.

Mental health experts say that this research - the first Phase 3

trial conducted on psychedelic-assisted therapy - could pave the

way for further studies on MDMA's potential to help address other

difficult-to-treat mental health conditions, including substance

abuse, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobias, eating disorders,

depression, end-of-life anxiety and social anxiety in autistic adults.

And, mental health researchers say, these studies could also

encourage additional research on other banned psychedelics,

including psilocybin, LSD and mescaline. "This is a wonderful,

fruitful time for discovery, because people are suddenly willing to

consider these substances as therapeutics again, which hasn't

happened in 50 years," said Jennifer Mitchell, a neuroscientist at

the University of California, San Francisco, and lead author of the

new study.

But some mental health experts urged restraint. Allen James

Frances, a professor emeritus and the former chair of psychiatry at

Duke University, who was not involved in the new study, warned

that new treatments "are never as wonderful as first they seem."

"All new treatments in medicine have always had a temporary

halo effect by virtue of being new and by promising more than they

can possibly deliver," Dr. Frances said. Unlike traditional

pharmaceuticals, MDMA does not act as a band-aid that tries to

blunt symptoms of PTSD. Instead, in people with PTSD, MDMA

combined with therapy seems to allow the brain to process painful

memories and heal itself, Dr. Mitchell said.

Critically, MDMA taken in isolation, without therapy, does not

automatically produce a beneficial effect. "It's not the drug - it's the

therapy enhanced by the drug," said Rick Doblin, senior author of

the study and director of the Multidisciplinary Association for

Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit research group that sponsored and

financed the clinical trials.

A psychedelic drug may cure PTSD

The scientist, Jennifer Mitchell said, MDMA combined with therapy seems to help the brain process

painful memories and heal itself.

For this process to work, a person must be primed to engage with

their trauma. Participants first undertook preparatory sessions

with two trained therapists. Then in three sessions of eight-hours

each, spaced a month apart, they received either an inactive placebo

or MDMA. Neither the participants nor the therapists knew which.

While most participants correctly guessed whether they received a

placebo or MDMA, this did not undermine the study's results or its

methodology, which was agreed to in advance by the F.D.A.

Scott Ostrom, who participated in the study, had suffered from

PTSD since returning home from his second deployment in Iraq in

2007. For more than a decade, he experienced debilitating

nightmares. "Bullets would dribble out of the end of my gun, or I'd

get separated from my team and be lost in a town where insurgents

were watching me," he said.

Mr. Ostrom's days were punctuated by panic attacks, and he

dropped out of college. He pushed friends and family away, and got

Photo: Anastasiia Sapon

into an unhealthy romantic relationship. He was charged with

assault and attempted suicide. Therapy and medication did not

help. But after participating in the trial, he no longer has

nightmares. "Literally, I'm a different person," he said. During his

first of three sessions in early 2019, lying on a couch with eye

shades, and in a lucid dreamlike state, Mr. Ostrom encountered a

spinning, oily black ball. Like an onion, the ball had many layers,

each one a memory. At the center, Mr. Ostrom relived the moment

in Iraq, he said, that "I became the person I needed to be to survive

that combat deployment." Over the next two sessions, Mr. Ostrom

engaged with "the bully," as he calls his PTSD alter ego, and asked

permission for Scott to return.

Mr. Ostrom, 36, now works steadily as an HVAC specialist and

owns a home near Boulder, Colo., which he shares with his

girlfriend, Jamie Ehrenkranz, and his service dog, an English lab

named Tim.

"The reason I like calling this medicine is it stimulated my own

consciousness's ability for self-healing," Mr. Ostrom said. "You

understand why it's OK to experience unconditional love for

yourself." Merck pharmacists invented MDMA, which is short for

3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine, in 1912. But the

compound was largely forgotten until 1976, when Alexander

Shulgin, a well-known psychedelic chemist, synthesized MDMA

and tried it himself. Realizing that his discovery could have

therapeutic value, Dr. Shulgin shared MDMA in 1977 with Leo Zeff,

a psychotherapist who introduced it to other mental health

professionals. Over the next eight years, hundreds of therapists and

others administered an estimated half a million doses of MDMA.

Some reported that, in just a few sessions with the medication,

patients achieved an amount of progress that normally took years.

In the early 1980s, however, MDMA escaped from the clinic to

the dance floor, where it became known as Ecstasy. In 1985, the

Drug Enforcement Administration criminalized MDMA as a

Schedule I substance, defined as having "no currently accepted

medical use and a high potential for abuse."

Some mental health professionals continued to administer

MDMA-assisted therapy underground, but most stopped. The

numbers of scientists who pursued studies with MDMA also

dwindled. But a few individuals continued to push strongly on

behalf of MDMA research, including Dr. Doblin, who founded his

association in 1986 to focus on developing MDMA and other

psychedelics into medications approved by the F.D.A. It took nearly

two decades to overcome alarmist claims about Ecstasy's dangers,

including that it ate holes in users' brains, to finally gain approval to

begin studies. Research in animals and humans confirms that

MDMA produces no neurotoxic effects at the doses administered

in clinical trials.

Ecstasy or Molly, on the other hand, can be adulterated with

other potentially dangerous substances, and users may take far

higher doses than are safe. In 2011, MDMA accounted for 1.8

percent of all U.S. drug-related emergency department visits,

according to a database maintained until that year by the Substance

Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. In Europe,

MDMA was responsible for 8 percent of drug-related emergency

visits to 16 major hospitals in 10 countries from 2013 to 2014.

Scientists still do not fully understand the source of MDMA's

therapeutic effects. The substance binds to proteins that regulate

serotonin, a neurotransmitter that can, among other things, lift

mood. Antidepressant medications like Prozac bind to these same

proteins and block their reabsorption of serotonin, but MDMA

takes this process further, causing the proteins to pump serotonin

into synapses, strengthening their chemical signal.

MDMA also elevates levels of oxytocin, dopamine and other

chemical messengers, producing feelings of empathy, trust and

compassion. But its primary therapeutic effect may come from its

seeming ability to reopen what neuroscientists refer to as a "critical

period," the window during childhood when the brain has the

superior ability to make new memories and store them. Evidence

from a mouse study published in Nature in 2019 indicates that

MDMA may return the adult brain to this earlier state of

malleability.

The rise of robot in surgery

cADe MeTz

Sitting on a stool several feet from a

long-armed robot, Dr. Danyal Fer

wrapped his fingers around two metal

handles near his chest. As he moved the

handles - up and down, left and right -

the robot mimicked each small motion

with its own two arms. Then, when he

pinched his thumb and forefinger

together, one of the robot's tiny claws

did much the same. This is how

surgeons like Dr. Fer have long used

robots when operating on patients. They

can remove a prostate from a patient

while sitting at a computer console

across the room.

But after this brief demonstration, Dr.

Fer and his fellow researchers at the

University of California, Berkeley,

showed how they hope to advance the

state of the art. Dr. Fer let go of the

handles, and a new kind of computer

software took over. As he and the other

researchers looked on, the robot started

to move entirely on its own.

With one claw, the machine lifted a

tiny plastic ring from an equally tiny peg

on the table, passed the ring from one

claw to the other, moved it across the

table and gingerly hooked it onto a new

peg. Then the robot did the same with

several more rings, completing the task

as quickly as it had when guided by Dr.

Fer.

The training exercise was originally

designed for humans; moving the rings

from peg to peg is how surgeons learn to

operate robots like the one in Berkeley.

Now, an automated robot performing

the test can match or even exceed a

human in dexterity, precision and

speed, according to a new research

paper from the Berkeley team.

The project is a part of a much wider

effort to bring artificial intelligence into

the operating room. Using many of the

same technologies that underpin selfdriving

cars, autonomous drones and

warehouse robots, researchers are

working to automate surgical robots too.

These methods are still a long way from

everyday use, but progress is

accelerating.

"It is an exciting time," said Russell

Taylor, a professor at Johns Hopkins

University and former IBM researcher

known in the academic world as the

father of robotic surgery. "It is where I

hoped we would be 20 years ago."

The aim is not to remove surgeons

from the operating room but to ease

their load and perhaps even raise

success rates - where there is room for

improvement - by automating

particular phases of surgery.

Robots can already exceed human

accuracy on some surgical tasks, like

placing a pin into a bone (a particularly

risky task during knee and hip

replacements). The hope is that

automated robots can bring greater

accuracy to other tasks, like incisions or

suturing, and reduce the risks that come

with overworked surgeons.

During a recent phone call, Greg

Hager, a computer scientist at Johns

Hopkins, said that surgical automation

would progress much like the Autopilot

software that was guiding his Tesla

down the New Jersey Turnpike as he

spoke. The car was driving on its own,

he said, but his wife still had her hands

on the wheel, should anything go wrong.

And she would take over when it was

time to exit the highway.

"We can't automate the whole

process, at least not without human

oversight," he said. "But we can start to

build automation tools that make the

life of a surgeon a little bit easier." Five

years ago, researchers with the

Children's National Health System in

Washington, D.C., designed a robot that

could automatically suture the

intestines of a pig during surgery. It was

a notable step toward the kind of future

envisioned by Dr. Hager. But it came

with an asterisk: The researchers had

implanted tiny markers in the pig's

intestines that emitted a near-infrared

light and helped guide the robot's

movements.

The method is far from practical, as

the markers are not easily implanted or

removed. But in recent years, artificial

intelligence researchers have

significantly improved the power of

computer vision, which could allow

robots to perform surgical tasks on their

own, without such markers.

The change is driven by what are

called neural networks, mathematical

systems that can learn skills by

analyzing vast amounts of data. By

analyzing thousands of cat photos, for

instance, a neural network can learn to

recognize a cat. In much the same way,

a neural network can learn from images

captured by surgical robots.

Students and teachers watched as the da Vinci Research Kit conducted the peg transfer.

Photo: Sarahbeth Maney

even a gentle session of leg lifts set off an exaggerated nervous system reaction in older women with

rheumatoid arthritis.

Photo: Getty Images

People having rheumatoid

arthritis should avoid exercise

GReTcheN ReyNolDS

Exercise can feel more

difficult and draining than

usual if you have rheumatoid

arthritis, and it's not just

because of the stiff and

painful joints caused by this

autoimmune disorder. In a

groundbreaking new

experiment involving older

women and exercise,

researchers found that even a

gentle session of leg lifts set

off an exaggerated nervous

system reaction in those with

rheumatoid arthritis. Light

exercise also negatively

affected the inner workings of

their muscles and blood

vessels.

The findings build on

earlier research about

rheumatoid arthritis and the

nervous system and raise

pressing new questions about

the best and safest ways for

people with this disorder or

similar autoimmune diseases

to become and remain active.

Anyone who has

rheumatoid arthritis or is

close to someone who has it

knows the havoc it creates in

the body. Immune cells

mistakenly attack healthy

tissue, especially in joints,

causing swelling, pain and

deterioration, along with fullbody

inflammation and

fatigue. Rheumatoid arthritis

also often results in

cardiovascular disease, which

initially puzzled doctors, since

the misguided immune cells

do not directly target the

heart or arteries.

But in recent years,

researchers discovered that

people with rheumatoid

arthritis tend to have

unusually twitchy

sympathetic nervous systems.

The sympathetic nervous

system is the portion of our

internal wiring that

stimulates the fight-or-flight

response, biochemically

alerting our brains, heart,

muscles and other bodily

systems to brace ourselves for

impending danger. The

opposing parasympathetic

nervous system, the Matthew

McConaughey of our internal

biology, lulls us, sending

signals that quiet the

sympathetic upsets.

But in rheumatoid arthritis

patients, researchers found,

the sympathetic system

seems stuck in overdrive,

keeping people's internal

operations constantly on

edge. A result is a high risk for

elevated blood pressure and

heart rate, even when people

are resting quietly, which

contributes over time to

cardiovascular disease.

Few of those earlier studies,

though, looked at exercise,

which also raises blood

pressure and heart rates and

changes nervous system

reactions. Some past studies -

and considerable anecdotal

evidence - had indicated that

people with rheumatoid

arthritis feel more fatigue

during and after activity than

other exercisers. Their heart

rates and blood pressures also

remain stubbornly elevated

for longer after workouts. But

what might be going on inside

their nerves and muscles

leading to these reactions has

been mostly unclear.

So, for the new study, which

was published in February in

The Journal of Physiology,

scientists at the University of

São Paulo in Brazil decided to

ask people with rheumatoid

arthritis to do a little

resistance training. Turning

to patients at the university's

rheumatology clinic, they

recruited 33 older women

with rheumatoid arthritis and

another 10 older women

without the condition, to

serve as controls. Most of

them, in both groups, were on

various medications.

They invited all of their

volunteers to the lab, drew

blood, asked about their

current pain levels, tested

blood pressure and other

health markers, and gently

embedded tiny sensors

beneath the skin in one leg to

measure nervous system

activity. Finally, they asked

each woman to complete leg

lifts with that leg, using a

standard weight machine set

to a low resistance. The

women were supposed to lift

repeatedly for three minutes -

although some quit earlier

than that - while the

researchers tracked their

blood pressures, nervous

system reactions, and

markers of muscular

response, during and

immediately afterward.


6

Farmers harvesting Boro paddy

with jubilation in Rajshahi

Construction work of Sutang Bridge is going on in Shayestaganj of Habiganj district under the supervision

of Upazila Engineer. On the spot, Upazila Engineer Md. Faruk Ahmed said that the government

has allocated about Tk five crore for the construction of the bridge. The contractor is continuing

the construction work of the bridge as per the allocation. Deputy Assistant Engineer Majeedul

Islam said the construction of the bridge would be of great benefit to the people here. We see the

quality of work from the present during construction work. The construction work of the bridge is

progressing fast in accordance with the regulations.

Photo : Mamun Chowdhury

1,400 Imams, Khatibs get food

support in Rajshahi

RAJSHAHI : Farmers have started

harvesting and threshing Boro paddy in

full-swing with satisfactory yield and

market price everywhere in the region

including its vast Barind tract.

At present, farmers are seen reaping

some high yielding and short duration

varieties like BR-28, Brridhan-81 and

Brridhan-86. The other varieties will be

cut within the next couple of weeks as

most of paddy in the fields is now at the

ripening stage.

Muhammad Moniruzzaman, a

farmer of Bijoynagar village under

Godagari upazila, is now happy with his

satisfactory production of paddy. He

has harvested 20 to 22 maunds of

paddy from a bigha of land.

"I have completed harvesting and

threshing of my paddy of two bigha of

land three days ago," said another

farmer Ahammed Hossain of

Krishnapur village in Tanore Upazila.

He has got 21 maunds of paddy from

each bigha of land even after paying the

labourers 20-kilograms of paddy for

each 100 kgs of paddy for harvesting

and threshing purposes.

Hossain is very much hopeful about

earning a good profit by selling paddy

as its price in the market is also

satisfactory.

He said the newly harvested paddy is

being sold at Taka 1,030 to 1,055 per

maund in the local markets.

Talking to BSS Hossain said

prolonged drought and absence of

rainfall increased the cost of irrigation

but the pest infestation in the paddy

was less due to drought that is why the

production of paddy was good this year.

Sub Assistant Agriculture Officer

Atanu Sarker told BSS that the farmers

are now delighted over their yield,

adding : "Suitable climate conditions

and government support to the farmers

are being adjudged as the main reasons

behind the good yield.'

Meanwhile, the Boro farming has

exceeded the target by 6,783 hectares of

land in Rajshahi division this season as

the farmers have cultivated paddy on

more lands compared to the previous

season because they are happy with the

selling price of transplanted Aman

paddy at present.

Department of Agricultural

Extension (DAE) has set the target of

producing 35.24 lakh tonnes of paddy

from 8.10 lakh hectares of land in all

eight districts of the Rajshahi division

during the current season.

But the farmers have brought 8.17

lakh hectares of land generating scopes

of additional rice production, officials

said.

Sirajul Islam, Additional Director of

DAE, said 24,600 small and marginal

farmers were given support with seed

and fertilizers in the division under the

government's agriculture incentive

programme to boost the Boro rice

production.

Jakir Hossain, 54, a farmer of

Hatibandha village under Godagari

Upazila, has cultivated paddy on 20

bighas of land this season whereas the

previous season's acreage was 15

bighas.

Good yield and enhanced selling

prices of both paddy and straw have

encouraged him to cultivate paddy on

more lands.

"I have sold only straw worth around

Taka 75,000 in addition to the paddy

last season," Hossain said, adding

many of his co-villagers have attained

success in paddy farming.

Currently, businessmen and

wholesalers purchase paddy and straw

from the farmers' field directly as the

grassroots growers are being benefited

in many ways, said Hossain.

He added that the price of both paddy

and rice during the previous Boro,

Aush and Aman seasons were seen

increased as a result of governmentlevel

rice procurement drives inspiring

the farmers to cultivate Boro paddy on

more lands.

"I have got a better price of the latest

Aman paddy. So, I have cultivated Boro

paddy on 10 bighas of land," said Abu

Rahman, a farmer of Gubirpara village

under Tanore Upazila, adding the

farmers are happy over paddy

cultivation.

Abul Kashem, a farmer of Mayamari

village under Niamatpur Upazila, said

he has cultivated paddy on 18-bigha of

land this season.

In the previous year, farmers have

produced 34.23 lakh tonnes of Boro

rice from 8.03 lakh hectares of land in

all eight districts under Rajshahi

division.

RAJSHAHI : A total of 1,400

Imams, Khatibs, Muezzins,

Khadems and Hafezs of all mosques

in the city were given food and

financial assistance as Eid greetings

to make sure their celebration of the

Eid-ul-Fitr, reports BSS.

Each of them was given Taka 1500

and a food package containing eight

kilograms of rice, one kilogram of

aromatic rice and sugar each, two

kilograms of pulse, one liter of

edible oil and 500 grams of

vermicelli.

With the direction of Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina, the

religious leaders were given the food

support on behalf of Shaheed

Kamaruzzaman and Jahanara

Zaman Foundation.

Rajshahi Mayor AHM

Khairuzzaman, who is the elder son

of Shaheed AHM Kamaruzzaman

and Jahanara Zaman, formally

distributed the support at the city

bhaban conference room yesterday

afternoon.

Speaking on the occasion, Mayor

Liton said the present government

under the dynamic leadership of

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has

been working relentlessly to ensure

food security to the jobless and

other hardest-hit people amid the

present troubled time.

Around 20,000 poor, helpless,

distressed and other less-incoming

and rootless people will get

humanitarian aid to mark the

forthcoming Eid-ul-Fitr in Rajshahi

city.

Mayor Liton said they are

extending food assistance and cash

support to the jobless and other

hard-hit people since the pandemic

began continuously.

He urged all other development

and volunteer organizations to

stand beside the jobless people to

reduce their financial hardships

being caused by the pandemic.

An investigation committee formed by the Madaripur district administration has come to the spot and

started investigation into the accident of a speedboat with a bulkhead at Kanthalbari Ghat at Shibchar in

Madaripur on the Shimulia-Banglabazar water route.

Photo : Rafiqul Islam

Parliament Member Md Shah E Alam distributed Eid gifts of Prime Minister among the destitute people

in Banaripara yesterday.

Photo : S. Mizanul Islam

Farmers urged to cultivate zinc

enriched paddy profusely

GAIBANDHA : Agri

experts in a function here

urged the farmers to

cultivate zinc enriched

paddy innovated by

Bangladesh Rice Research

Institute (BARI) on larger

scale to meet the demand

of zinc of people and build

a healthy nation.

Zinc enhances immune

system as it may also be

very important for

reproductive health,

proper growth and

development in children,

bone health, vision,

hearing, digestion, skin,

and hair growth, they said.

They made the

comments while

addressing a Field Day on

the harvest of BRRI Dhan-

74 and BRRI Dhan-84 in

the land of farmer Yakub

Ali at Chhoto Doulatpur

village under Khordo

Komorpur union of

Sadullapur upazila here on

Tuesday afternoon.

RDRS Bangladesh, a

reputed non-government

organization in north

Bengal of the country,

organized the function in

cooperation with Harvest

Plus to inspire the farmers

to cultivate the paddy

varieties.

District seed certification

officer agriculturist

Showkat Osman attended

the function as the chief

guest and agricultural

extension officer of

Sadullapur upazila

agriculture office Abul

Kalam Azad spoke as the

special guest.

Presided over by Gouri

Rani, leader of Khordo

Komorpur Nari Unnayan

Sangstha formed by RDRS

Bangladesh, the function

was also addressed among

others by sub assistant

agriculture officer of the

upazila agriculture office

Younus Ali, agriculture

Research and development

officer of Harvest Plus Md.

Rahul Amin.

The speakers said that

the newly innovated paddy

will play a vital role in

meeting zinc and protein

deficiency in human body,

especially for children and

women.

19 fined for breaching

COVID-19 safety rules

in Bhola

BHOLA : Three mobile

courts of the district

administration fined 19

people Taka 8,400 in

different upazilas,

including the district

headquarters, for

breaching Covid-19 safety

rules and violating the

conditions of the ongoing

lockdown to prevent

coronavirus infection.

According to the district

administration sources,

three teams conducted the

raids in two upazilas,

including the district town,

and fined 19 people Taka

8,400 for not wearing

masks, not maintaining

social distance, violating

the rules of the ongoing

lockdown and moving

outside without any

reason.

500 jobless people get Taka 500 each

in Chandanpat union

RANGPUR : A total of 500 jobless and

distressed people of Chandanpat

union in Sadar upazila here received

Taka 500 each as general relief (GR) in

the wake of the second wave of the

COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday.

Officials said the Ministry of

Disaster Management and Relief

allocated Taka 1.90 crore as GR for

distribution among 38,000 jobless

people with Taka 2,50,000 for 500

jobless people in each of the 76

unions in the district.

Besides, the ministry allocated Taka

26 lakh as GR cash for distribution

among 5,200 jobless and needy people

with Taka 500 each by the Rangpur

City Corporation, district

administration and three

municipalities across the district.

"We already distributed Taka

92,50,000 among 18,500 COVID-19

affected jobless people with Taka 500

each in the district where as the

process continues," District Relief and

Rehabilitation Officer ATM

Akhteruzzaman told BSS.

On Tuesday, Chairman of

Chandanpat union in Sadar upazila

Amenur Rahman distributed Taka

500 among each of the 500 jobless

people in a function at the union

parishad premises abiding by the

health directives in the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic.

Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Israt

Sadia Shumi, Sadar Upazila Project

Implementation Officer Abdul Matin,

Sadar Upazila Cooperative Officer and

Tag Officer for Chandanpat union Md

Jahangir Alam and all members of the

union attended the function.

After getting Taka 500 as GR in cash,

a number of jobless men and women

of the union expressed their happiness

and thanked Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina for standing beside them

during the pandemic situation.

In Morelganj of Bagerhat, the government has started purchasing boro paddy at Tk 27 per kg.

Upazila Chairman Adv. Shah-e-Alam Bachchu officially inaugurated the program on

Wednesday.

Photo : M Palash Sharif

ThUrSDAY, mAY 6, 2021

7

India's COVID-19 tally reached 20,665,148 on Wednesday with as many as 382,315 new cases registered

during the past 24 hours, confirmed the federal health ministry.

Photo : Internet

Biden aims to

vaccinate 70%

of American

adults by July 4

WASHINGTON : President

Joe Biden on Tuesday set a

new vaccination goal to

deliver at least one shot to

70% of adult Americans by

July Fourth as he tackles the

vexing problem of winning

over the "doubters" and

those unmotivated to get

inoculated.

Demand for vaccines has

dropped off markedly

nationwide, with some states

leaving more than half their

available doses unordered.

Aiming to make it easier to

get shots, Biden called for

states to make vaccines

available on a walk-in basis

and he will direct many

pharmacies to do likewise.

His administration for the

first time also is moving to

shift doses from states with

weaker demand to areas with

stronger interest in the shots.

"You do need to get

vaccinated," Biden said from

the White House.

India reports over

380,000 new cases,

tally at 20,665,148

NEW DELHI : India's COVID-19 tally

reached 20,665,148 on Wednesday with as

many as 382,315 new cases registered

during the past 24 hours, confirmed the

federal health ministry.

Besides, 3,780 deaths were also reported,

taking the death toll to 226,188, reports

UNB.

There are still a total of 3,487,229 active

cases in the country, with an increase of

40,096 active cases through Tuesday, as

16,951,731 people have been cured and

discharged from hospitals so far across the

country.

The COVID-19 figures continue to peak in

the country every day. The federal

government has ruled out imposing a

complete lockdown to contain the

worsening situation though some states

have imposed night curfews or partial

lockdowns.

Delhi has been put under a third

successive lockdown till May 10.

While some school examinations are

cancelled, others have been postponed in

the wake of COVID-19 situation.

The number of daily active cases has been

on the rise over the past few weeks. In

January the number of daily cases in the

country had come down to below 10,000. As

many as 9,102 new cases were reported

between January 25-26, which was the

lowest in the previous 237 days. Prior to that

the lowest number of daily new cases were

9,304 registered on June 4, 2020.

January 16 was a crucial day in India's

fight against the pandemic as the

nationwide vaccination drive was kicked off

during the day. So far over 160 million

vaccination doses (160,494,188) have been

administered to the people across the

country.

Online registration began last Wednesday

for vaccinating people aged above 18. This is

the third phase of COVID-19 vaccination,

which began on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the federal government has

ramped up COVID-19 testing facilities

across the country, even as over 294 million

tests have been conducted so far.

Facebook board's Trump decision

could have wider impacts

WASHINGTON : Since the day after

the deadly Jan. 6 riots on the U.S.

Capitol, former President Donald

Trump's social media accounts have

been silent - muzzled for inciting

violence using the platforms as online

megaphones, reports UNB.

On Wednesday, his fate on Facebook,

the biggest social platform around, will

be decided. The company's quasiindependent

Oversight Board will

announce its ruling around 9 a.m. ET.

If it rules in Trump's favor, Facebook

has seven days to reinstate the

account. If the board upholds

Facebook's decision, Trump will

remain "indefinitely" suspended.

Politicians, free speech experts and

activists around the world are

watching the decision closely. It has

implications not only for Trump but

for tech companies, world leaders and

people across the political spectrum -

many of whom have wildly conflicting

views of the proper role for technology

companies when it comes to

regulating online speech and

protecting people from abuse and

misinformation.

After years of handling Trump's

inflammatory rhetoric with a light

touch, Facebook and Instagram took

the drastic step of silencing his

accounts in January. In announcing

the unprecedented move, Facebook

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the risk of

allowing Trump to continue using the

platform was too great.

"The shocking events of the last 24

hours clearly demonstrate that

President Donald Trump intends to

use his remaining time in office to

undermine the peaceful and lawful

transition of power to his elected

successor, Joe Biden," Zuckerberg

wrote on his Facebook page on Jan. 7.

A day before the announcement,

Trump unveiled a new blog on his

personal website, "From the Desk of

Donald J. Trump." While the page

includes a dramatic video claiming, "A

BEACON OF FREEDOM ARISES"

and hailing "A PLACE TO SPEAK

FREELY AND SAFELY," the page is

little more than a displays of Trump's

recent statements - available

elsewhere on the website - that can be

easily shared on Facebook and

Twitter, the platforms that banished

him after the riot.

While Trump aides have spent months

teasing his plans to launch his own

social media platform, his spokesman

Jason Miller said the blog was

something separate.

"President Trump's website is a great

resource to find his latest statements

and highlights from his first term in

office, but this is not a new social

media platform," he tweeted. "We'll

have additional information coming

on that front in the very near future."

Since the day after the deadly Jan. 6 riots on the U.S. Capitol, former President Donald Trump's

social media accounts have been silent - muzzled for inciting violence using the platforms as

online megaphones.

Photo : Internet

Greece plans

five-year bond

to help pay for

pandemic aid

ATHENS : Greece plans to

issue a five-year bond in its

third debt sale this year as it

seeks to bolster its public

finances during the Covid-19

pandemic, the country's

debt agency said.

In a statement issued on

the Athens stock exchange

late Monday, the Greek debt

agency said that banks,

Barclays, BofA Securities,

Citi, Commerzbank, Morgan

Stanley and Societe

Generale would lead

manage the new five-year,

euro-denominated bond.

"The (syndicated)

transaction will be launched

in the near future, subject to

market conditions," the

statement said. Greece has

already raised 6.0 billion

euros ($7.2 billion) via 10-

and 30-year bond this year,

shoring up its financial

reserves to help pay for the

state aid made available to

businesses during a sixmonth

pandemic lockdown

India's virus surge

damages Modi's

image of competence

NEW DELHI : India's hospitals were packed

with coronavirus patients, relatives of the

sick scrambled to find supplies of oxygen,

and crematoriums were running near full

capacity to handle the dead.

Yet despite those clear signs of an

overwhelming health crisis, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi pressed ahead with a

densely packed campaign rally, reports

UNB.

"I have never seen such a huge crowd

before!" he roared to his supporters in West

Bengal state on April 17, before key local

elections. "Wherever I can see, I can only see

people. I can see nothing else."

As another deadly wave of COVID-19

infections was swamping India, Modi's

government refused to cancel a giant Hindu

festival. Cricket matches, attended by tens of

thousands, carried on, too.

The catastrophic surge has badly dented

Modi's political image after he drew praise

last year for moving quickly to lock down

India's nearly 1.4 billion people. Now, he's

been called a "super-spreader" by the vice

president of the Indian Medical Association,

Dr. Navjot Dahiya.

With deaths mounting and a touted vaccine

rollout faltering badly, Modi has pushed

much of the responsibility for fighting the

virus onto poorly equipped and unprepared

state governments and even onto patients

themselves, critics say.

"It is a crime against humanity," author and

activist Arundhati Roy said of Modi's

handling of the virus. "Foreign governments

are rushing to help. But as long as decisionmaking

remains with Modi, who has shown

himself to be incapable of working with

experts or looking beyond securing narrow

political gain, it will be like pouring aid into a

sieve."

The 70-year-old, whose image as a

technocrat brought him deep approval from

a middle class weary of corruption and

bureaucratic dysfunction, has been accused

of stifling dissent and choosing politics over

public health.

When the official COVID-19 death toll

crossed 200,000 - a number experts say is a

severe undercount - Modi was silent.

His government says it is on a "war footing,"

ramping up hospital capacity, supplies of

oxygen and drugs.

India's hospitals were packed with coronavirus patients, relatives of the sick scrambled to find supplies

of oxygen, and crematoriums were running near full capacity to handle the dead. Photo : Internet

Terror attack

leaves 4 soldiers

killed, 6 injured in

SW Pakistan: army

ISLAMABAD : Four soldiers

were killed and six others

injured in an attack by

Afghan terrorists near the

Pakistan-Afghanistan border

in Pakistan's southwest

Balochistan province on

Wednesday, a Pakistani

army statement said, reports

BSS. The attack took place

when Pakistan's paramilitary

troops Frontier Corps (FC)

personnel were engaged in

border fencing activity along

the border in Zhob district of

the province, the military's

media wing Inter-Services

Public Relations (ISPR) said

in a statement.

"Terrorists from across

Afghanistan ambushed FC

troops moving for fencing…

FC troops responded

promptly," the statement

added, without mentioning

the loss reported on the

militants' side.

The injured soldiers were

sent to a military hospital in

the provincial capital of

Quetta, said the statement.

The Pakistani army is

fencing Pakistan's nearly

2,600-km border with

Afghanistan, and according

to military sources, around

90 percent of work on the

fencing has been completed.

According to earlier

statements by the ISPR, the

fence is being erected to stop

terrorist activities, militants'

infiltration from the border

and illegal activities

including smuggling from

Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials and

experts believe that a

significant reduction in

militancy along the border

areas will be witnessed after

the completion of the fencing

process.

Iraq pushes vaccine rollout amid

widespread apathy, distrust

BAGHDAD : Iraq's vaccine roll-out had been

faltering for weeks. Apathy, fear and rumors

kept many from getting vaccinated despite a

serious surge in coronavirus infections and

calls by the government for people to register

for shots, reports BSS.

It took a populist Shiite cleric's public

endorsement of vaccinations - and images of

him getting the shot last week - to turn things

around.

Hundreds of followers of Muqtada al-Sadr

are now heading to clinics to follow his

example, underscoring the power of

sectarian loyalties in Iraq and deep mistrust

of the state.

"I was against the idea of being vaccinated.

I was afraid, I didn't believe in it," said

Manhil Alshabli, a 30-year-old Iraqi from

the holy city of Najaf. "But all this has

changed now."

California governor candidate

brings bear to rally

LOS ANGELES : One of the many Republican

candidates vying to replace the governor of

California in an upcoming vote caused a stir

Tuesday by bringing a bear to his political rally.

John Cox is campaigning on the theme of

"beauty and the beast" - the "beauty" being

current Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom,

known for his primped appearance in the state

that is home to Hollywood.

Cox has cast himself as the "beast" who will

shake up politics in the most populous US

state, where a brown bear features prominently

on its flag.

"The beautiful politicians have failed

California," Cox said during a rally in

Sacramento, the state capital. "We need big,

beastly changes to save it. I'll cut taxes, make

California more affordable and shake up

Sacramento."

For a publicity stunt, Cox brought a Kodiak

bear, considered the largest ursine species, to

his rally. The bear, named "Tag," weighs about

1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) and was born in

captivity and trained to appear in films and

"Seeing him getting the vaccine has

motivated me," said Alshabli, speaking by

phone from Najaf where he and many other

al-Sadr loyalists got their shots, Alshabli

compared it to soldiers being energized

when they see their leader on the front line.

Iraq has grappled with a severe second

wave of the coronavirus pandemic. New case

numbers spiked to over 8,000 per day last

month, the highest they have ever been. The

surge was driven largely by public apathy

toward the virus. Many routinely flout virusrelated

restrictions, refusing to wear face

masks and continuing to hold large public

gatherings.

Daily rates have decreased in the last week,

with 5,068 new cases reported on Monday.

Iraq's Health Ministry has repeatedly tried

to reassure Iraqis that the vaccines are not

harmful.

television series.

Tag displayed a locally appropriate laid-back

attitude Tuesday, content to wait patiently for

the end of Cox's speech, munching on snacks

given by his trainer or grooming himself with

his tongue.

But the use of a bear for political and

publicity purposes caused an outcry among

animal rights advocates, such as PETA, who

said it was "unfortunate and shameful that Tag

the Kodiak bear has been exploited in this

way." "Bears need to be left alone, not confined

to an open pen on asphalt and wheeled out for

events," the NGO said on Twitter, urging

"anyone with an ounce of decency to keep wild

animals out of their publicity stunts."

A Republican-backed effort to recall

Newsom, fueled by his handling of the

coronavirus pandemic, has forced a special

election that is set to be held later this year.

California allows voters to hold a referendum

on replacing its governor if they can gather the

signatures of 12 percent of previous voters,

which the campaign succeeded in doing.


8

11th Annual General Meeting of Islami Bank Capital Management Limited (IBCML) was held on Tuesday,

4 May 2020 on virtual platform. Professor Md. Kamal Uddin, Ph.D, Director of IBBL and Chairman of

the Board of Directors of IBCML presided over the meeting. It was attended by Md. Joynal Abedin,

Directors of the Bank and IBCML, Muhammad Qaisar Ali and Md. Omar Faruk Khan, Additional

Managing Directors of IBBL and Directors of IBCML, Md. Ashraful Haque, FCA, CFO of IBBL & Director

of IBCML and among the shareholders Md. Mosharraf Hossain, Deputy Managing Director of IBBL, Md.

Saleh Iqbal, RDS & UPDS Project In-charge of IBBL and Md. Altaf Hossain, Senior Executive Vice

President of IBBL, Mohammad Abdur Rahim, FCA, Managing Director and CEO of IBCML, Abu Syed Md.

Nahid, ACS, Company Secretary of IBCML among others. The meeting unanimously approved the

Financial Statements of IBCML for the year ended 31 December 2020.

Photo : Courtesy

Premier Bank's 9th EGM & 22nd

AGM held in digital platform

The Premier Bank Limited, one of the

most renowned and well established

private commercial banks in

Bangladesh, held its 9th EGM and 22nd

Annual General Meeting online on

Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at 11 AM and

11:30 AM, respectively.

It is worth mentioning that the

participants and Shareholders present in

the AGM duly approved all agenda

including audit report and 12.50% cash

and 7.50% stock dividend for the year

2020.

Honorable Chairman of the Bank and

Freedom Fighter, Dr. H. B. M. Iqbal,

Vice Chairman Moin Iqbal, along with

members of the Board of Directors such

as Abdus Salam Murshedy, MP; B.H

Haroon, MP; Mohammad Imran Iqbal,

Jamal G Ahmed, Shaila Shelley Khan,

Independent Director Naba Gopal

Centering the imminent Eidul-Fitr

this month, the

Bangladeshi super brand

Walton has offered 'Eid

Mega Sale' with lucrative

discount facility on its

produced world-class

android smart and LED

television, says a press

release.

Under the 'Eid Mega Sale',

customers are offered

Walton's FHD (Full High

Definition) WD43RS model

of 1.09 meter or 43-inch

Smart TV, priced at Tk

39,400, at discounted price

of Tk 32,900. And, 813

millimeter or 32-inch's

WD32RS21 model Smart TV

worth of Tk 25,900 are

offered to customers at Tk

22,900 as well as Tk 20,500

priced WD32F110 model of

LED TV are offered at Tk

17,900. The offer will be

continued till May 17, 2021.

Apart from these,

customers can buy any

model of Walton brand's

Smart and LED TV at

interest-free 6-month

installment or 12-month

EMI (Equal Monthly

Installment) facility.

During the coronavirus

pandemic situation,

customers can get free home

delivery of Walton TVs with

cash-on-delivery as well as

easy installment facility as

soon as they make a call to

any nearest Walton

showroom.

Banik, Alternate Director A.H.M

Ferdous, Honorable Advisor

Muhammed Ali and Managing Director

and CEO M. Reazul Karim, FCMA, were

present along with shareholders.

As the president of the ceremony, Dr.

H. B. M. Iqbal, the honorable Chairman

of the Bank informed the shareholders

that Bangladesh, along with the entire

world is going through the turmoil

caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite the covid-19 pandemic, Premier

Bank continues growth in different

parameters. The Chairman deeply

appreciated the participation and

support of the customers and

shareholders and wished for good health

and safety for everyone, and encouraged

all bank officials to work hard towards

an even better operating profit for the

coming year.

Walton TV Chief Executive

Officer (CEO) Engineer

Mostafa Nahid Hossain said,

Walton has been

manufacturing and

supplying world-class and

European standard slim,

sleek and stylish designed

televisions at the national

and international market.

And thus, Walton TV became

the top selling brand in the

local market and also secured

about 50 percent market

share at home.'

He added that Walton TV

witnessed about 85 percent

sales growth in the January

to April period of 2021 over

the previous year's

corresponding period.

In this Ramadan , he

Md. Ziaur Rahman

joins Prime Bank

as DMD, CAMLCO

&CRO

Md. Ziaur Rahmanhas

joined Prime Bank Limited

asthe Deputy Managing

Director (DMD),Chief Anti

Money Laundering

Compliance Officer

(CAMLCO) and Chief Risk

Officer (CRO), a press

release.

Rahman has more than

26 years of diversified

experience in banking

industry, such as Eastern

Bank Limited, NRB Bank

Limited and Dhaka Bank

Limited. Prior to his

joining Prime Bank

Limited, he served at

Dhaka Bank Limited as

Senior Executive Vice

President.

Rahman did his

Bachelors and Masters

degree from University of

Dhaka.

‘Eid Mega Sale’ with special discount

offered on Walton TV

informed, Walton set a target

of selling out 50,000 units of

TVs. And thus, Walton has

launched the latest smart TV

operating system Android 8,

outstanding picture quality,

Dolby sound system and

voice control smart TVs to

meet this sales target.

Besides, Walton has started

the 'Eid Mega Sale' benefits

to give buyers the

opportunity to buy Walton's

smart and LED TVs at special

price.

Walton TV's Product

Manager Tanvir Mahmud

Shuvo said that during this

Coronavirus pandemic, we

are giving free home delivery

services to Walton TV

customers from nearby

showrooms. Customers can

buy Walton TV with cash-ondelivery

and installment up

to 6 months or EMI facility

up to 12 months at zero

interest. Walton TV has easy

installment facilities of

maximum 48 months with a

down payment of only BDT

999. Customers will enjoy

free installation facility on

smart and LED TVs of 43

inches or more.

Walton TV has a 6-month

replacement benefits with a

4-year replacement

guarantee in panel, a twoyear

spare parts warranty

and a five-year free service.

There are 76 service centers

across the country under the

ISO standard service

management system for fast

after-sales service.

World Bank initiative yields creative solutions

to plastic pollution in Bangladesh

DHAKA : The World Bank yesterday

awarded four winning teams of the

competition titled 'Plastic Circularity

Innovation Challenge'.

The competition sought innovative

solutions to combat plastic pollution in

Bangladesh.

The contest asked for innovative

solutions in two categories: i)

collection/sorting, recycling of lowvalued

plastics and single use plastics

and ii) digital technology solutions in

coping with plastic pollution such as

mobile apps, said a World Bank press

release.

A three-member panel of judges

included Ahsan Khan Chowdhury,

chairman and CEO of PRAN-RFL,

Cyrill Gutsch, CEO, Parley for the

Oceans, and Marina Tabassum,

founder and principal architect of

CSBIB holds Webinaron ‘Cash

Waqf and Sadaqa-e-Jariah’

Central Shariah Board for

Islamic Banks of Bangladesh

(CSBIB) arranged a webinar

on "Cash Waqf and Sadaqa-e-

Jariahin Human Welfare:

Role of The Central Shariah

Board" on May 5, 2021 at

11:00am.Chairman of

Executive Committee of the

Central Shariah Board Prof.

Md. Anwarul Azim Arif

inaugurated the webinar

while Chairman of the Board

Dr.

Mohammad

GiasUddinTalukder presided

over it. Professor of

University of New Orleans,

USA, M. Kabir Hassan, Ph.D,

presented the keynote paper

in the webinar. Former

Chairman of the NBR Dr.

Muhammad Abdul Mazid

was the Chief Guest and

Chairman of the Fiqh

Committee of the Central

Shariah Board Principal

Sayed Kamal UddinZafree

was the Chief Discussant in

the webinar. Honorable

guests of the webinar

included Adviser of the

Central Shariah Board Mr.

Shah Abdul Hannan, Ex-

Secretary of the Ministry of

Finance Arastoo Khan,

Executive Chairman of Board

of Governors of SEACO

Foundation Salahuddin

Kasem Khan, Vice Chairman

The country's leading

online and mobile appbased

service provider

Shohoz has handed over

insurance cheques to the

families of Md. Yasin Ali

and his wife Hosneara

Feroza, who were

deceased in a road

accident at the Dhaka-

Bogra highway in

February.

In

collaboration with Sunlife

Insurance Company Ltd.

and SR Travels, formal

transfer of insurance

cheques has been

completed at Shohoz

office in compliance with

the required hygiene

rules. Yasin Ali and his

wife Hosneara Feroza's

two daughters Mehnaz

Tabassum and Fatema

Tasnia received the

cheques on behalf of the

family of the deceased.

Yasin Ali and his wife

Hosneara Feroza lived in

Bogura with their family.

They were both returning

to Bogura from Dhaka at

the time of the accident

and bought tickets online

from Shohoz platform. At

the time of purchase of

the ticket, both of them

had availed insurance

facility from Shohoz

platform for BDT 10 per

person.

It is to be noted that the

passengers are getting the

opportunity to avail the

insurance facility from the

online ticketing service

provider Shohoz for only

Marina Tabassum Architects.

The short-listed teams made

presentations yesterday virtually in

presence of the judges.

"The government of Bangladesh is

committed to reduce pollution and

ensure sustainable green growth. We

are taking a range of actions to curb

pollution and improve waste

management," said Ziaul Hasan,

secretary, Ministry of Environment,

Forest, and Climate Change.

"It is encouraging to see that our

youths are so well plugged into the issue

and bringing pragmatic solution to beat

plastic pollution," he added.

"Addressing plastic pollution is a

critical development agenda for

ensuring green and smart growth.

In Dhaka city alone, plastic waste has

gone up from 178 tons per day in 2005

of the IBCF A K M Nurul

Fazal Bulbuland Director

General of Training &

Research Inst. of AIBL Abdul

Awwal Sarker. Market

Leaders included Managing

Directors of different banks.

Panel discussants included

Vice-Chairman of the Central

Shariah Board Mawlana M

Shamaun Ali, Faqih Members

of different banks, General

Manager of Bangladesh Bank

Mr. Md. GolzareNabi and

others. Secretary General of

BDT 10 extra per person

along with the bus ticket

money. If a passenger dies

in an accident while

traveling with an

insurance facility of only

BDT 10, the family of the

deceased will be paid up

to a maximum of BDT

150,000 for insurance. In

this connection, the

families of the Md. Yasin

Ali and his wife Hosneara

Feroza handed over a

total of BDT 3,00,000.

Director (Tickets) at

Shohoz Shakil Jowad

Rahim; Director (Sales) at

Shohoz Md. Taslimur

Rahman; Director

(Growth) at Shohoz Saiful

Mohammad Shafique;

Managing Director of SR

CSBIB Md. Abdullah Sharif,

CIPA, CSAA, acted as

moderator of the webinar.

The discussants said helping

hands should be extended to

distressed people side by side

with giving priority to

agriculture, health, SME etc.

in Islamic banking.

Particularly time-befitting

research of Islamic banking

and finance should make the

best use of the sectors like

cash Waqf (endowment) and

Sadaqa-e-Jariah' (constant

Travels (Pvt.) Ltd. G.

Rahman Shohid;

Assistant Managing

Director, Group &

Bancassurance Division

of Sunlife Insurance

Company Ltd. Shahadat

Hossain Shohag and

other concerned officials

were attended the cheque

handover ceremony.

In addition to availing

the insurance facility on

Shohoz platform, the

passengers will also get

the opportunity to avail

the above-mentioned

insurance facility in case

of direct or offline

ticketing from the ticket

counter of SR Travels

(Pvt.) Ltd., Saintmartin

Travels, Royal Coach,

to 646 tons per day in 2020," said

Mercy Tembon, World Bank Country

Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Congratulating the winners, Tembon

added: "We all are very impressed with

the creative and practical solutions

proposed to beat plastic pollution.

The World Bank looks forward to

continue working with the government

of Bangladesh, private sector, and civil

society groups towards the sustainable

management of plastics."

Since 2019, the World Bank has

partnered with the Department of

Environment (DoE) and the Ministry of

Environment, Forest and Climate

Change (MoEFCC) to organize a series

of events on "Sustainable Management

of Plastic to Leverage Circular Economy

and Achieve SDG in Bangladesh." This

was the fourth event in the series.

donation). Otherwise,

objectives of Shariahcan not

be achieved. Affluent people

will have to take up real steps

to face the post-COVID-19

situation. They also called to

participate in Sadaqa-e-

Jariah through providing

Central Shariah Board with

cash Waqf and one-time

donations to carry out various

programs of acquiring

knowledge including Shariah

research and human resource

development.

Shohoz handed over the insurance cheque to

the family of the deceased in road accident

Orin Travels, Manik

Express, Kotalipara

Starline, Tungipara

Express, Saintmartin

2020 (Pvt.) Ltd., M.R

Enterprise and Shuvo

Basundhara Paribahan as

well.

Beside insurance facility,

safety is always the high

priority at Shohoz for the

valued passengers. And for

that, Shohoz follows the

necessary hygiene rules

when buying tickets offline

for their consumers.

Ensuring mask wear,

regular hand sanitation

and maintaining a certain

distance, all the activities

related to ticket booking

are handled by Shohoz.

ThURSDAY, MAY 6, 2021

9

Manchester City's Riyad Mahrez, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring his sides second goal

during the Champions League semifinal second leg soccer match between Manchester City and Paris

Saint Germain at the Etihad stadium, in Manchester, Tuesday.

Photo: AP

Manchester City ousts PSG to reach

first Champions League final

SPORTS DESK

By the time Riyad Mahrez completed

the counterattack that sealed

Manchester City's spot in a first

Champions League final, it looked so

effortless overcoming a Paris Saint-

Germain lineup that lost its cool and

composure, reports UNB. "Then they

lost their nerve and started to kick us

and it was good," Mahrez said.

It was the Paris-born winger who

netted twice before PSG had Angel Di

Maria sent off. City won 2-0 to

eliminate last season's finalists 4-1 on

aggregate on Tuesday. "They had the

red card," Mahrez said, "and after, it

was more comfortable for us."

It's been anything but comfortable for

City getting a shot at lifting European

football's top prize for the first time

despite 13 years of lavish investment.

Even reaching this semifinal required a

fight in court to overturn a ban from

this season's Champions League for

breaching UEFA's financial rules.

And it's only two weeks since the Abu

Dhabi-owned team exposed itself to

fresh sanctions for joining a brief, illfated

bid to split to help form a

breakaway European Super League.

Now City could win the competition it

tried to leave in what could be an all-

English final on May 29 in Istanbul if

Chelsea overcomes Real Madrid on

Wednesday. Chelsea and Madrid

played to a 1-1 draw in the first leg.

"Of course, we've invested money in

the last decade since Sheikh Mansour

took over the club, but it's not just

about this," City manager Pep

Guardiola said. "If you want to think it's

just about money, it's OK. But there is a

lot of incredible things behind the

scenes." It's not just City that's endured

Probe after US

player racially

abused at

Futsal event

SPORTS DESK

US Soccer said Tuesday

an investigation had

been launched after an

American player was

racially abused by a

Nicaraguan opponent

during a regional

qualifier for the FIFA

Futsal World Cup,

reports BSS.

A statement from US

Soccer said CONCACAF

had opened an

investigation into the

alleged incident, which

occurred at Tuesday's

game between the

United States and

Nicaragua in Guatemala

City, won 4-2 by the

United States.

"Language and

behavior of this nature

are unacceptable," US

Soccer said. "Bigotry,

prejudice and hatred

will never have a place in

our game or our society.

"US Soccer took action

by filing an official

report with Concacaf

and was subsequently

informed that an

investigation will begin

immediately."

Futsal is a five-a-side

version of football

played indoors on a

smaller pitch roughly

the size of a basketball

court.

frustration in its quest to win the

biggest prize in European football.

Guardiola, a Champions League

winner as Barcelona coach in 2009 and

2011, has been waiting a decade to

return to the final. He fell short three

times with Bayern Munich and has

taken until his fifth season at City to

even reach the semifinals.

"To reach the Champions league final

is so difficult," Guardiola said. "It's the

toughest one, but we did it."

City is now accustomed to success _

sitting on the brink of its third Premier

League title in four seasons after

already collecting the League Cup last

month. But its only continental title

came with the now-defunct European

Cup Winners' Cup in 1970.

"This club needed the final, these

players needed the final," City defender

Kyle Walker said. "For these players to

not be in a Champions League final is a

disappointment every year."

PSG missed out on a second shot at

lifting a first European Cup after losing

last season's final to Bayern Munich,

and Mauricio Pochettino's lineup is

even struggling to defend the French

title. "Disappointed and very sad," said

Pochettino, who lost the 2019

Champions League final as Tottenham

manager. "We played well but we didn't

have the luck that you need in football."

And in the clash of European

football's Gulf-funded big-spenders, it

was the Qatari visitors from Paris on

the backfoot quickly in Manchester.

After scoring City's winner in Paris

last week, Mahrez took only 11 minutes

to score in the second leg. The move

began with a long ball by defender

Oleksandr Zinchenko running onto a

long ball from goalkeeper Ederson.

"It's something we work on all the

Strycova doesn't plan to return after giving birth.

time," Mahrez said, "and today it

worked good."

Zinchenko passed to Kevin De

Bruyne, whose shot was blocked by

Keylor Navas but Mahrez was alert to

the rebound to put the ball through the

goalkeeper's legs on a field covered in

the remnants of a spring hailstorm.

Mauro Icardi was proving ineffective

in a PSG attack shorn of Kylian

Mbappe, who wasn't fit enough to start

and never entrusted with being

deployed from the bench. There were

headers over from Marquinhos and

Neymar but PSG could find no way past

a defense that had Ruben Dias proving

such a robust barrier.

The PSG back-line was easier to

breach, which happened again in the

63rd minute. There was a surging run

down the left flank by Phil Foden before

a combination with De Bruyne and a

cross delivered for Mahrez to sweep

into the net.

"We fought to the end," PSG

midfielder Marco Verratti said. "When

you play against big teams, it's

impossible to attack for 90 minutes

without suffering. We have to accept

that." The frustrations of PSG were

clear, even without any crowd to create

any intimidating atmosphere. The

visitors finished the game with 10 men

just like in the first leg after Di Maria

was sent off with 20 minutes to go for

kicking at Fernandinho.

PSG turned on the referee, with

midfielder Ander Herrera in a postmatch

interview accusing Bjorn

Kuipers of directing an expletive at PSG

teammate Leandro Paredes. It wasn't

heard by Pochettino.

"Maybe UEFA will investigate the

situation," he said. "But now I think

that is not an excuse."

Former top-ranked

doubles player Barbora

Strycova retires

SPORTS DESK

Barbora Strycova, a former top-ranked

doubles player and Wimbledon singles

semifinalist, has announced her

retirement,reports UNB.

"Until now, tennis was the only world I

knew," Strycova said in a statement on

Tuesday.

"I have always had enormous love for this

amazing sport. Even though all the pain,

tears, renunciation and sweat, all the great

moment(s) and victories were worth it."

The 35-year-old Czech player previously

announced her pregnancy. She is due in

September and doesn't plan to return after

giving birth.

"I never planned to end my career during a

pandemic," she said. "However, some

moments in life just can't be planned and I

am super excited for my next life role as a

mom."

Strycova won two WTA singles titles and

31 in doubles.

She was at her best at Wimbledon in 2019,

when she won the women's doubles with

Hsieh Su-wei to become No. 1 and reached

the singles semifinals, losing to Serena

Williams. Her career-high in singles was No.

16.

In 2016, she teamed up with Lucie

Safarova to win the bronze medal at the Rio

de Janeiro Olympics.

Photo: USA Today Sports

Players get proper run in Pakistan team

if close to captain: Junaid Khan

SPORTS DESK

Discarded left-arm pacer Junaid Khan

believes players remain insecure about

their future in Pakistan cricket, alleging

that most cricketers get a proper run in

the national team if they are close to the

captain and team management, reports

UNB.

The 31-year-old, who has picked up

nearly 190 wickets in 22 Tests, 76 ODIs

and 8 T20 matches, has not been

selected for any format for his country

since May, 2019.

"It is like if you are on good terms

with the captain and team

management then you will probably get

a proper run in all formats to prove

your worth," he said in an interview to

the CricketPakistan.com website.

"If you don't have close relations with

them then you are in and out." He

lamented that he wasn't given a long

run despite being a consistent

performer.

"I used to be part of the national team

in all three formats. I used to ask for

rest but I wasn't given rest.

"Then came a time when I got in the

bad books and was being ignored due

to likes and dislikes. I was performing

but was not being given a proper

chance," he said.

Junaid said despite being the second

highest wicket taker after Hasan Ali in

the Champions Trophy in 2017, he was

excluded from the squad, including for

Strycova doesn't plan to return after giving birth.

ECNEC approves

186 Sheikh Russel

mini stadium

construction projects

SPORTS DESK

The Executive Committee of

the National Economic

Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday

has approved Sheikh Russel

Mini Stadium construction

project at 186 upazilas across

the country at a cost of Taka

1,650 crore, proposed by the

Ministry of Youth and Sports,

said a Ministry of Youth and

Sports press release, reports

BSS. Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina presided over the 24th

ECNEC meeting, held at the

NEC conference room at Shere-Bangla

Nagar, through a

video conference from

Ganabhaban.

After the ECNEC meeting,

the State Minister for Youth

and Sports Mohammad Zahid

Ahsan Russell, MP, said the

ECNEC meeting has approved

the Sheikh Russel Mini

Stadium construction project

at 186 upazilas across the

country at a cost of Taka 1,650

crore proposed by the Ministry

of Youth and Sports (MOYAS).

The State Minister said:

"This is undoubtedly a big

good news for the sports arena.

I would like to express my

sincere thanks and gratitude to

our sports-friendly Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina for her

continuous support in giving

the right direction to our

sports." Russell also hoped to

be able to start the

construction of these stadiums

in a very short time after the

formalities.

"I believe that these

stadiums will play an

important role in spreading

sports in remote areas of the

country and will create a

renaissance in the country's

sports arena," Russell

concluded.

the World Cup 2019, after being

initially named in it.

"I just got into the bad books of

selectors that is all."

Junaid, however, made it clear he

had not given up hope of playing for

Pakistan again and was very much

active on the domestic front for his

province.

"I am regularly playing domestic

cricket and I believe if selection is done

justly I should be in consideration."

Junaid said selection in Pakistan

cricket depend on which city the player

belongs to.

"If you belong to a big city, then

people raise their voice for you. People

like me and Yasir Shah are from Swabi.

There is no TV channel or media

person from Swabi, so there is no

pressure on selectors regarding our

selection from the media," he said.

Junaid said he had "got a great offer

from the United States of America

(USA)" but he refused.

"I am being offered more money than

what I earned while playing for

Pakistan during my peak. However, I

refused the offer as I still want to

represent Pakistan," he said.

He also felt that young pacer,

Shaheen Shah needs to be given proper

breaks or he would break down.

"Shaheen definitely needs rest. The

management needs to make sure he

doesn't bowl a lot during the net

sessions. Shaheen probably doesn't

want to rest himself because he might

have fear of losing his place to a

youngster, who might perform in his

place.

"He must be thinking they might

drop him from one format if he doesn't

perform in a few matches," he added.

The fast bowler said in Pakistan

cricket experienced players are

dropped if they don't perform in a

couple of games.

"In our culture, even if a player

performs for six years and then doesn't

do well in two games, he is replaced by

a new player who has done well in only

a few games.

"Everyone forgets that player's

performances for the last six years and

instead prefers younger talent. So our

players are insecure about losing their

place," he added.

He also called on the Pakistani

selectors and management to learn

from the way other countries were

managing the workload of their fast

bowlers.

"We should learn about managing

workload from England. During their

recent Test series against India, they

rotated James Anderson and Stuart

Broad.

"Broad and Anderson would rest

even after taking five or six wickets in

the previous match. That is because

they are secure of their place in the

team. They know they will play in the

future matches," he said.

Photo: USA Today Sports

IPL's foreign cricket

stars scramble to

escape Covid-hit India

SPORTS DESK

Cricket authorities in Australia and New

Zealand rushed to evacuate star players from

Covid-hit India on Wednesday, after the

lucrative Indian Premier League was

abandoned, reports BSS.

Cricket Australia said plans were under

way to fly 38 players and staff - including

superstars Steve Smith, David Warner and

Pat Cummins - to the relative safety of the

Maldives or Sri Lanka in the next "two to

three days."

The Indian Premier League, the world's

richest Twenty20 cricket tournament, was

suspended on Tuesday and players were sent

home, as India battles a massive surge in

coronavirus cases.

But Australian cricketers found themselves

in limbo - they are banned from returning

Down Under until at least May 15 after

Canberra slammed shut its borders and

threatened anyone entering from India with

jail time.

The group is likely to be chartered back to

SPORTS DESK

The Bangladesh national cricket team returned

to the country today after yet another

disappointing foreign tour, reports BSS.

This time they lost a two-match Test series in

Sri Lanka by 1-0. It might be an expected result

given Bangladesh's history in longer version

format and their recent form but this time they

got a home-like condition in Sri Lanka. And also

the expectation got higher when they drew the

first Test by showing some good performance in

batting. But they couldn't show the same

intensity in the second Test and lost this by 209

runs. However all of the Bangladesh players

Australia once the ban has been lifted, with

the help of the Board of Control for Cricket in

India (BCCI).

"The BCCI is working through

arrangements to repatriate all the players,

the support staff, and umpires

commentators as quickly and safely as

possible," said Nick Hockley, Cricket

Australia's interim CEO.

They are "working to move the entire

cohort out of India… the BCCI has been

working on a range of options. That's now

narrowed down to the Maldives and Sri

Lanka."

But the group departing India will not

include 79-Test veteran Michael Hussey, the

Chennai Super Kings batting coach, who has

tested positive for coronavirus and will

remain in isolation.

"His symptoms are relatively mild," said

Todd Greenberg, the Australian Cricketers'

Association chief executive.

"So he's okay, he's in for a stint of isolation

in his hotel room for at least 10 days, but he's

in pretty good spirits."

Tigers returns after disappointing

tour in Sri Lanka

and staff including the head coach Russell

Domingo returned to the country through a

chartered flight. They in fact left the country for

Sri Lanka also through chartered flight.

Domingo was supposed to go to South Africa

from Sri Lanka but due to strict quarantine

issues, he opted out of that idea and returned to

Bangladesh.

The players and the support staff however

went straight to their home and they would

have to stay home quarantine for 14 days but

the BCB is trying to relax it, by talking to the

health department since the players would have

to join the practice session for the upcoming

three-match ODI against Sri Lanka at home.

THURsDAY, MAY 6, 2021

10

'Rickshaw Girl' in Oscar

qualifying film festival

TBT RepoRT

The 93rd Oscars was held a few

days ago. Although Bangladeshi

cinema took part in this event, it

was eliminated in the

preliminary selection. So the

question arises, how is Amitabh

Raza's 'Rickshaw Girl' going to

the Oscars?

'Rickshaw Girl' has recently

been nominated for screening at

the Durban International Film

Festival in South Africa. The

movie will also compete in the

competition section of the

festival. In this context, producer

Amitabh Reza Chowdhury said,

'the film has been nominated for

competition and screening at the

Durban Film Festival. With this

recognition, the film qualified for

the Oscars.'

The movie 'Rickshaw Girl' has

been co-produced. One of its

producers is Eric J Adams of

United States. Amitabh Reza has

revealed the news about the

Oscars quoting him.

The Durban International

Film Festival will be held from

July 22 to August 1.

The film is based on Mitali

Perkins, an American writer of

Indian descent. Starring Novera

Ahmed in the lead role, the film

tells the story of a brave

Bangladeshi girl who disguises

herself as a boy and starts

driving a rickshaw to help her

struggling family.The others are

Champa, Momena Chowdhury,

Naresh Bhuiyan and Allen

Shuvro. The movie has not been

released yet.

Previously, "Transit" by Ariq

Anam Khan and "Life in Other

Words" by Abrar Athar were also

screened at Oscar qualifying

festivals.

Shamim, Sarika's new

drama 'Faisa Gechi'

TBT RepoRT

Shamim Hasan Sarkar and

Sarika Sabah are two popular

small screen actors of the

country. The pair has presented a

number of good dramas to the

audience. The duo has also

created a number of fan and

followers through their fabulous

performance.

Now, the artistes will be seen in

a new drama titled 'Faisa Gechi'.

Rashidur Rahman has written

the drama while Soumitra Ghosh

TBT RepoRT

Popular singer Shams Sumon's

last original song titled Somoy

was released in January this

year. The song created hype

among the listeners. On the

occasion of coming Eid, the

singer is going to release three

new songs on own YouTube

channel, Third Note

Entertainment. These songs

are: Hothat Ekdin, Dure Sore

Jai and Khunje Firi. Shahid

Mahmud Jongi wrote lyrics of

Hothat Ekdin, while singer

Sumon himself composed its

tune. Raihan Khan directed a

drama titled Durer Somoy will

be aired in singer Sumon's

YouTube channel. Dure Sore

Jai is the title song of the

drama. Written by Roman,

Sumon also composed its tune

while Arafat Bosnia arranged

its music.

The song Khunje Firi was

jointly penned by Shams

Sumon, Arafat Bosnia and

Rahat. Arafat Bosnia composed

its music, while Shams Sumon

lent his voice for all these songs.

Sourin is his co-singer of

Sumon in Hothat Ekdin.

Sumon is very much excited

with these three new songs.

While talking in this regard he

said, "Khunje Firi is a pop genre

song of 80s, which is a new

initiative for the present

generation. Hothat Ekdin is a

romantic duet song and Dure

Emon has directed it. About the

drama, Emon said, "Faisa Gechi

is a comedy genre drama.

Shamim and Sarika are two

popular actors in this time. I have

cast them in my drama for the

sake of the characters. I hope the

audience will enjoy their

performance."

Shamim said, "It is my first

work under the direction of

Emon. I've played the role of

Siam in the drama. The story of

the drama is very good and the

entire shooting unit was well

Sore Jai is also a romantic song,

which has been composed to

keep in mind romanticism

among the listeners of all ages. I

am very much optimistic about

these three songs. In fact, I gave

a lot of effort for these songs."

Sumon also said Raihan Khan

made music videos of songs

Dure Sore Jai and Hothat

Ekdin, while Imran Kabir

equipped. We have tried our level

best to portray ourselves

according to the characters."

Sarika said, "After about one

month break, I've stood before

the camera. The shooting of the

drama took place at a location in

the capital recently. In the time

of shooting, we were very

conscious due to ongoing corona

situation. I'm very optimistic

about the drama." The drama

will be aired on a YouTube

channel on the occasion of

upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr.

Three new songs for

Eid by Shams Sumon

Himel made video of the song

Khunje Firi.

Basically Shams Sumon got

popularity to render song in

popular magazine show Ittyadi

in 2010. According to him,

Naquib Khan is his mentor in

music. Sumon secured the

second position in the final

round of Star Search organised

by Benson & Hedges.

It's been almost a year since fans saw Avneet

Kaur dazzle on the small screen, but the

actor makes sure to update them about

everything she is up to through her social

media posts. Even as her followers can't get

enough of the gorgeous photos she keeps

sharing on Instagram, Avneet has now

posted pictures of herself flaunting a new

haircut, which has left fans stunned.

Avneet took to Instagram to share photos

of the new look that shows her sporting

bangs. The actor captioned the photos,

"Gave myself a new haircut. How's it?" Soon

after, her fans filled the comments section

with lavish praise for her, calling her a

"princess", referring to her on-screen

character of Princess Jasmine in SAB TV's

Aladdin - Naam Toh Suna Hoga. Some also

felt that Avneet's "cuteness" was back with

the new haircut. After the photos, Avneet

Kaur also posted an Instagram reel fulfilling

requests from fans who wanted to see her

shoot reels with the new haircut. While

Avneet quit Aladdin in 2020 owing to health

issues, she has continued to entertain fans

through various music videos.

The actor was last seen in "Dekhe Saare

Khwaab" opposite Siddharth Gupta earlier

this year. In fact, Avneet has starred in

several music videos recently like "Kinne

Saalan Baad", "Tenu Ni Pata" and T-Series'

"Tera Hoon Na".

Besides television, Avneet Kaur has

dabbled in films and web series. She made

her Bollywood debut in Rani Mukerji's

Mardaani (2014). The actor's last big-screen

project was the actioner's sequel, Mardaani

2, in 2019. She made her OTT debut with

Zee 5's Babbar Ka Tabbar in 2018.

Source: Indian Express

I'm in the worst shape of my

life: Will Smith

Hollywood star Will Smith has done a reality check on

his fitness, confessing he is in the worst shape ever. In

an Instagram image posted on Monday, Smith appears

in a more regular frame than his usual muscular self,

report agencies.

"I'm gonna be real wit yall-I'm in the worst shape of

my life," he wrote as caption.

Actor Joel Kinnaman laughed and wrote:

"Hahahahaha". Filmmaker Ava DuVernay said: "I see

no "worst" here." "Hahahhahahaha that face is fits the

caption so well," wrote DJ Steve Aoki.

Rapper and actor Ludacris could not control his

laughter looking at his picture and dropped laughing

emojis on the commenting section.

American singer-songwriter Harry Hudson called

Smith a "genius". Singer Sonna said: "You're Will

Smith!! You can be in whatever shape you want."

Grammy-nominated American rapper, DJ Lana

Michele Moorer, better known by her stage name MC

Lyte brushed it off and said: "Lies".

Source: Hindustan Times

Avneet Kaur gets

a new haircut,

fans say 'our

princess is back'

H o R o s c o p e

ARIes

(March 21 - April 20) : There's an

emotional intensity inside you today that's

squirming to find a way out, Aries. Sudden

outbursts are likely, so take care to hold

your temper in check. Surround yourself with good

friends who can support your erratic feelings. Don't be

clingy. Seek friends who are thoughtful listeners, not

permanent crutches. They may be feeling the same strong

tension and don't need an extra burden.

TAURUs

(April 21 - May 21) : Today may have

some crazy emotional ups and downs,

Taurus. There seems to be an intense

cloud seeping into every part of your day.

Don't try to fool people. They will see right through

you. Bursts of positive energy will pop out of nowhere

to remind you of your more important purpose. Try

not to get so bogged down in the heaviness of the day

that you fail to spot opportunities that arise.

GeMINI

(May 22 - June 21) : This day will be filled

with many exciting surprises for you, Gemini.

Approach it with gratitude and you will be

amazed at the number of things that just

naturally seem to flow your way. Your generous heart will be

rewarded in unexpected ways. Old friends are likely to show

up. Open yourself up to conversations. Act spontaneously

and with a great deal of passion.

cANceR

(June 22 - July 23) : There's a larger

trend operating in your life, Cancer. It's

asking you to break the rules and enter a

new realm - a new mindset or way of

living. Today that trend comes into focus, as emotional

outbursts call attention to the changes. Your heart may

want to go one way while your brain wants to go

another. Take deep breaths and infuse a wave of calm

into the situation before you proceed.

Leo

(July 24 - Aug. 23): Pour yourself a

comforting cup of tea today, Leo. Take

a hot shower or a long bath. In short,

pamper yourself. You may be picking

up on the extra tension of the people around you.

Be conscious of this and make a mental note to

strip away the garbage that others dump on you.

You're a sensitive individual. Pat yourself on the

back and look out for sudden moves from others.

VIRGo

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): It may be that people

are a bit upset by some of your recent actions or

words, Virgo. The offhand remark you made a

couple weeks ago is catching up to you. What

you may consider friendly, lighthearted sparring may actual do

a bit of damage to someone's sensitive emotions, especially

today. Think before you speak. Others might not have as tough

a skin as they seem to have.

LIBRA

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): This is an exciting

day for you, Libra. You can accomplish

quite a bit. Your intuition is especially

acute and your sensitivity is strong.

Computers might irritate you today. It's possible to

get all worked up if your laptop crashes. Save your

work often. Keep in mind that it's just a machine.

Don't let it get the better of you.

scoRpIo

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) : You might be a bit

jittery, even without caffeine,

Scorpio. Sudden actions may cause

people to freak out, since people will

be on edge in general today anyway. Save the

surprises for another time. If you need to tell your

boss that you're going on vacation for a little

while, now isn't the time. There's a rough edge to

the astral energy. Relax to soothe your soul.

sAGITTARIUs

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): Things may be

coming at you from all angles today,

Sagittarius. Sooner or later you will be

forced to take action. It may seem like

the walls of the room are slowly caving in. The

pressure is building and the air is getting stagnant.

Go out for a run. Exercise will help you release some

of that pressure you feel.

cApRIcoRN

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): You may be excited

about an idea today, Capricorn, but

unfortunately no one else may be. You

spring up with enthusiasm only to

smack into a brick wall. One side of you may be

communicative and witty while the other is

confused. The two sides aren't really connecting well,

so perhaps you should just lay low. Hold on to your

ideas, and save their presentation for a later day.

AQUARIUs

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) : Much of today will

be a continuation of yesterday, but

with perhaps a bit more intensity for

you, Aquarius. There's an added buzz

in the air, like static on a radio. This background

noise may not provide the best environment to

work in, but you should be able to navigate with no

problem. Tune out the chatter and move on.

pIsces

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) : Today is one of those

days when you might feel like four people

have a hold of each of your limbs, Pisces. The

people are tugging and you're getting

stretched in every direction. Someone wants you to go there,

someone wants you to come here. Take some time out for

yourself and clearly state your needs to others. Make it known

what the best situation for you would be.

thursday, May 6, 2021

11

GAIBANDHA : Boro paddy

procurement drive of food

department began in Sadar

upazila of the district on

Tuesday amid much

enthusiasm.

Sources said the

government has fixed a

target to procure a total of

18302 tonnes of paddy from

the farmers of the district

through 12 purchasing

centers during the current

Boro season.

On Tuesday afternoon,

Boro paddy procurement

drive was launched at local

supply depot (LSD) near

Superintendent of Police

(SP) office of the town here.

A discussion was held on

Boro paddy procurement

drive begins in Gaibandha's

Sadar upazila

the premises of LSD on the

occasion.

Sadar Upazila Nirbahi

Officer (UNO) Md Rafiul

Alam attended the function

as the chief guest while

Upazila Food Controller

Mofakkharul Islam presided

over the ceremony.

Later the UNO formally

inaugurated the drive

through purchasing paddy

from the farmers.

Earlier, the farmers'

applied for the registration

to sell their paddy through

online apps namely

"Krishoker Apps" and the

farmers selection was made

through online lottery

system in cooperation with

respective upazila

administration.

Talking to the BSS, District

Food Controller Reajur

Rahman Raju said as many

as 3017 tonnes of Boro

paddy would be procured

from the Sadar upazila this

year.

Price of per kg of Boro

paddy has also been fixed at

TK 27 and the procurement

drive in other six upazilas of

the district would begin

immediately, he concluded.

cvwb-837/2020-2021

GD-788/21 (8x3)

MP Durjoy distributes

food among Shibalaya

distressed people

MANIKGANJ : Food items

were distributed among

1000 people of Shibalaya

as the Eid gift on the

Belayet Hossain High

School premises yesterday.

Lawmaker of Manikganj-

1 constituency A M Naimur

Rahman Durjoy

distributed the food items

among the distressed

people in line with the

direction of Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina.

Durjoy said the food

items have been

distributed to reduce

people's sufferings on the

eve of holy Eid-ul-Fitr.

He also urged the people

to celebrate the holy Eid by

maintaining social

distancing, government

health guidelines and

wearing masks to save

themselves from the

COVID-19.

Manikganj district

Awami League Finance

Secretary Abdur Rahim

Khan, Shibalaya Upazila

General Secretary of

Awami League Abdul

Kuddus, Member of

Manikganj Zila Parishad

Abul Bashar, Shibalaya

Upazila Vice Chairman

Lalon Fakir, Woman Vice

Chairman Luna Akter,

former Upazila Vice

Chairman Ali Ahsan

Mithu, Shibalaya Upazila

Jubo League Joint

Convener Abul Bashar and

Shibalaya Model Union

Parishad Chairman Alal

uddin Alal among others

were present on the

occasion.

GD-784/21 (5x4)

-2173 02

2971

Khulna Mayor

distributes food

among 100

disabled people

GD-787/21 (10x3)

KHULNA : Mayor of

Khulna City Corporation

on Wednesday distributed

foodstuffs among 100

physically challenged

persons amid COVID-19

pandemic as the

government continues

distributing aid among

destitute people.

The Mayor handed over

rice, pulse, oil, sugar,

potatoes, suji and salt

among disabled distressed

people on Shaheed Hadis

Park premises in the city

strictly following health

safety guidelines set by the

government.

During the distribution

of relief materials, Mayor

Khaleque said everybody

should come forward side

by side the government to

distribute food items to

reduce hardship of helpless

people amid Covid-19

pandemic.

"Everyone has to follow

proper government

hygiene rules to protect

themselves from the

coronavirus, he said,

adding that Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina stood

beside unemployed and

helpless people.

Officer of city unit Red

Crescent Society Md

moinul Islam Palash,

among others, were

present.

GD-790/21 (10x4)

thursday, dhaka, may 6, 2021, Baishakh 23, 1428 BS, ramadan 23, 1442 hijri

at a workshop near mawa Shimulia ghat, a speedboat with a capacity of 4 people originally is being

built for the capacity of 30 passengers at the tip of the administration's nose.

photo: pBa

Who will authorize sand

unloading in Karnafuli

banks?

S m akaSh, Chattogram CorreSpondent

The Chattogram Port Hydrographer

branch has instructed to remove it on

an emergency basis, a rumor is circulating

among the beneficiaries that

there is a cold war between the two

agencies.

The High Court has given a verdict

to evict the reckless illegal occupants

of the Karnafuli River. The eviction

drive is underway following the directions

of the High Court. Chattogram

port and district administration are

conducting joint eviction drive.

The state minister of Shipping also

directed not to lease the river bank at

an event held at the port. However, on

January 8 the deputy manager

(estate) of district administration

Zillur Rahman signed an order allowing

an organization to unload sand in

the Boalkhali area of the riverfor three

months. The lease has now expired.

The approval was given on four conditions.

It is allowed the extraction of

sand from the Volgate through the

pipeline. The condition is that sand

cannot be piled within 50 meters from

the river bank. The river bank cannot

be filled. Also, if the river bank is damaged

due to unloading, appropriate

compensation has to be paid. The port

authority has also allowed a company

called M/s Homeland Builders to use

the river bank outside the authorized

vendor of the port. The deputy manager

has again fined the dredger authorities

one lakh taka for violating the

terms and conditions. Meanwhile, the

lessees of the leased vendors of the

port have objected to this. In their

opinion, the deputy manager allowed

unloading of sand outside the rules. It

is against the port law to allow any

organization other than the port lessee

to unload in the port area. It can be

seen on the ground that at least 10

sand supplier bases have been built on

the banks of Karnafuli river in the area

of Kalurghat bridge. Prominent environmentalists

have similarly claimed

that the three-month permit from the

port violated the conditions and indirectly

facilitated the occupation of the

river bank.

In a response, the port Deputy

Manager (Estate) Zillur

RahmansaidThe Bangladesh Today,

"The company has got a lease to

extract sand from Balumhal-1 under

the district administration, in which

the government has received revenue."

We as the port authority have

given permission for sand extraction

for three months (i.e. till 31st March).

In the meantime this permission has

not been renewed but their dredgers

have been fined by the magistrate for

violating the terms and conditions.

Even after this, if anyone questions the

responsibility of the port authorities, it

is really sad.

Contd on page-2

PM sets instance of humanity by standing

beside people during pandemic: Quader

DHAKA : Awami League General

Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday said

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has set an

example of humanity by standing beside

the vulnerable people amid the ongoing

coronavirus pandemic.

"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has set

an example standing by the humanity in

danger. After 1975, no head of the government

or political leader set such an

instance," he told a function through

videoconferencing from his official residence

yesterday morning.

The AL's Relief and Social Welfare Sub-

Committee arranged the function at 23

Bangabandhu Avenue aiming at supplying

oxygen cylinders to various hospitals

across the country and distributing food

aid to the helpless and poor people.

Hinting at BNP, Quader said the party

has no work without criticising the government

and even it failed to set an example

by standing beside people amid the

COVID-19 pandemic.

As per the directives of Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina, he said, the AL leaders and

workers have stood by the helpless people

across the country.

"But a quarter is giving only lip service

sitting in Dhaka…even they have been

instigating violence during this coronavirus

crisis," he said. Stressing the need

for carrying out countrywide awareness

campaigns on COVID-19, the AL general

secretary said many people are moving

from one place to another amid the lockdown,

while 26 people lost their lives in

waterway accident in the Padma River.

Terming it a sorrowful incident, he said

one can deceive the government but death

cannot be deceived at all.

Quader, also the road transport and

bridges minister, asked the homebound

people not to take risk in going home

ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.

"What is the value of a festival if you lose

your life in going home? If you survive, you

will be able to do a lot of fun in the future.

Everyone should remember that life is the

first and then livelihood," he added.

AL presidium members Begum Matia

Chowdhury and Abdur Rahman, its

organising secretary Advocate Afzal

Hossain, relief and social welfare secretary

Sujit Roy Nandi, health affairs secretary

Dr Rokeya Sultana, education affairs secretary

Samsunnahar Champa, and Dhaka

South City AL general secretary Md

Humayun Kabir and its vice-president

Advocate Nurul Amin Ruhul, MP, were

present, among others.

Banks to operate from

10 am to 2 pm from

Thursday

DHAKA : Banks will operate from 10

am to 2 pm from May 6 to 16 for normal

transactions as the government has

extended the ongoing lockdown to contain

the Covid-19 transmission.

However, banks will remain open

until 3:30 for conducting other necessary

activities.

Bangladesh Bank issued this instruction

in compliance with the directives of

the Cabinet Division, said central bank

circular on Wednesday, reports UNB.

Normally, banks operate from 10 am

to 4 pm everyday.

Earlier, banks were operating from 10

am to 1 pm keeping office open until

2:30 pm for other necessary works as

per the directives of the government.

According to a Bangladesh Bank circular,

banks will keep open its branches

located from May 10-13 at the industrial

areas to facilitate salary disbursement

for workers and employees of the

export-oriented garment Industries

(depending on the moon sight for Eid).

It said all other instructions will

remain unchanged as per the circular of

April 13 where it was said that banks can

keep one non-AD branch open within 2

km radius in the city corporation areas

and in upazila level one branch of each

bank can open on Thursday, Sunday

and Tuesday.

The banks have to take measures to

provide transport facilities for the staff

during the period.

The BB circular also said, during the

banking transaction hours, the banks

have to ensure different kinds of services

including clearing of cheques, withdrawal

and deposits of money, money

transfer, release of remittance, encashment

of different instruments and also

receipt of the payments of bills of different

utilities.

2 'Neo-JMB members'

held in city

DHAKA : Members of Counter

Terrorism and Transnational Crime

(CTTC) unit under Dhaka Metropolitan

Police (DMP) have arrested two suspected

members of the banned militant

group 'Neo-JMB' from the city's Matuail

area, reports UNB.

One of the arrestees was identified as

Sakib Ahmed Chowdhury alias Jaki

while the other's name was not disclosed.

Tipped off, a team of Investigation

Division of the CTTC unit conducted

drives in Matuail area under Jatrabari

police station on Tuesday and arrested

the duo along with two mobile phone

sets, said Additional Deputy

Commissioner (ADC) of the DMP

(Media) Iftekhairul Islam.

Sources at the CTTC said the arrestees

are active members of banned militant

group Neo-JMB.

They gathered at Matuail to plan sabotage

in Dhaka city, they said.

The arrested militants have been

involved in carrying out propaganda on

social media like Facebook and other

online platforms inspired by violent

extremist ideology. The accused used to

communicate online with members of

various levels including the top leaders

of the Neo JMB.

Corona out of control

due to government's

negligence:Fakhrul

Shafiqul iSlam

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul

Islam Alamgir has said that the corona

virus situation of Bangladesh has gone out

of control due to indifference, incompetence

and negligence of the government.

He said they (the government) are corrupting

about the treatment. Corona is

also lying about the statistics. The BNP

secretary general said this while addressing

a virtual program as the chief guest on

Wednesday (May 5) afternoon. The inaugural

event of the 'ZRF Treatment App'

was organized by the Ziaur Rahman

Foundation (ZRF) as part of ongoing

activities during the catastrophic coronavirus

disaster.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that

the corona situation have gone out of control

since the beginning of the epidemic

due to indifference, incompetence and

incompetence of the government. They

are corrupting the treatment. We have

seen that the hospital has disappeared.

The government is creating a mountain of

corruption in the medical sector. The

health sector is now extremely fragile.

That is why the whole nation and the

country is in danger today.

He said the government has announced

some incentives due to Corona. But nothing

was done there for general peoples.

They have also committed corruption with

that incentive. In fact, this government is

isolated from the people. In this situation,

what the Ziaur Rahman Foundation is

doing is undoubtedly worthy of praise.

Because they has been doing this kind of

service work under the leadership of its

President Tareq Rahman since its establishment.

Since the beginning of corona

ZRF has done countless activities. The

foundation is still there for the poor and

helpless people. Now they have launched a

treatment app named after the late Shafiul

Bari Babu.

Efforts intensified to get

Oxford-AstraZeneca

vaccines from US: FM

DHAKA : Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul

Momen on Wednesday said the government

has intensified its efforts to have

vaccine jabs from the United States (US)

as it will share up to 60 million doses of

its Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine

with other countries, reports UNB.

"We're expecting it (vaccine) much,"

Dr Momen told reporters at his residence

adding that Bangladesh Ambassador to

US M Shahidul Islam is in touch with the

officials concerned of the US government.

The Foreign Minister said US

Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller is

likely to meet him on Thursday to have

an update on the overall issues, including

oxygen supply to Bangladesh.

"But we've heard that their priority is

India and Brazil as many people died in

these two countries recently," he said.

Dr Momen said the Indian diaspora is

strongly lobbying with the US government

so that the US sends a whole lot of

vaccine doses to India. "They're very

powerful. One lady is taking the lead."

He also requested the Bangladeshi

diaspora to approach the US government

so that they feel the urgency with communication

from all sides.

Dr Momen said the United States

assured the world of making Covid-19

vaccines available for other countries,

including in Bangladesh, once they have

surplus reaching the level of mass vaccination

in the US.

"I can assure you when we can reach

the level of the critical mass vaccination

and we've surplus, we'll absolutely make

vaccines available in whatever different

ways," said John Kerry, the US Special

Presidential Envoy for Climate told

reporters during his recent visit to

Bangladesh.

Dr Momen said they had received proposals

from other sources like receiving

vaccines from some European countries

which they are not using.

"But their total amount of available

vaccines is very small in size whereas we

need 2 lakh vaccines per day," he said

adding that the possibility of that front is

not very bright.

The Foreign Minister reiterated that

the Chinese government is working to

start delivering 5 lakh doses of vaccine as

a gift before Eid al-Fitr as two dates are

mentioned - May 10 or 12.

He said Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka

Li Jiming recently informed them that

vaccines will start arriving here before

Eid while the Health Minister Zahid

Maleque shared a more specific date-

May 10.

Responding to a question, the Foreign

Minister said the government is not shifting

its attention from India as there is an

agreement with Serum Institute of India

to get 3 crore doses of vaccine.

He said India is yet to reply as

Bangladesh sought at least 30 lakh doses

of vaccine under the agreement to

address the immediate demand in

Bangladesh. "We'll procure vaccines

wherever we get those."

Mamata Banerjee sworn in

as Bengal CM

NEW DELHI : Mamata Banerjee,

affectionately called Didi, on

Wednesday took her oath as the chief

minister of the eastern Indian state of

West Bengal for the third time, reports

UNB.

The 66-year-old firebrand politician

was administered the oath of office by

West Bengal,Governor Jagdeep

Dhankhar at 11am (India time) at Taj

Bhavan (governor's house) in state

capital Kolkata.

"My first priority is tackling Covid. I

will go to Nabanna (state secretariat)

now and hold a meeting about the

measures we are taking about this crisis,"

she said immediately after her

oath taking ceremony.

Bucking anti-incumbency, Mamata

scripted history on Sunday by single

handedly pulling off an astounding

victory in the assembly election. She

not only staved off a massive challenge

from India's ruling BJP but also decimated

the Left Front.

Though her party swept back to

power with a resounding majority of

213 seats in the 292-member assembly,

Mamata lost her own seat in

Nandigram to her former protegeturned-rival

Suvendu Adhikari by a

thin margin of around 2,000 votes.

"This is Bangla's win... this is

Bengal's win... this is your win. This

win has saved Bengal, it has saved the

culture and tradition of Bengal," she

said, addressing a press meet on

Sunday evening.

Mamata, however, made it clear in

that presser only that she would challenge

the result in a court of law. "How

come the Election Commission

reverse the results in Nandigram after

formally announcing it? We will move

court."

In Nandigram, the Election

Commission initially announced that

Mamata had won by 1,200 votes but

subsequently declared Adhikari as the

winner. The polling officer also rejected

a plea for a recount of votes.

The BJP though has made major

gains in Bengal, winning some 77

seats. In 2016, the party had just three

legislators in the state. However, the

Left Front has failed to grab a single

seat this time. The Left Front ruled

Bengal for 34 years-from 1977 to 2011.

In fact, West Bengal witnessed the

most high-profile contest in India's

recently held state elections. While

Mamata harped on being Bengal's

daughter, the BJP asked people to vote

for "change and socio-economic development"

after 50 years of Communist

and Trinamool Congress rule.

the bridge over the canal adjacent to dalbuganj Bazar in kalapara upazila of patuakhali has

now become a death trap.

photo: pBa

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

06-05-2021

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