28-05-2021

friday, Dhaka, May 28, 2021, Jaistha 14, 1428 BS, Shawal 15, 1442 hijri
AstraZeneca
Govt's desperate efforts yet
to yield any good news
DHAKA : Despite all-out efforts to get
AstraZeneca vaccine doses to meet the
immediate need of those yet to get their
second dose, there is no concrete outcome
yet, reports UNB.
Apart from India, Bangladesh reached
out to the United States and United
Kingdom to get the AstraZeneca vaccine
doses as 1.5 million people who have
received their first AstraZeneca jabs are
unlikely to get their second dose if the
government does not receive vaccine
doses from the countries it approached
including those from COVAX facility.
Asked whether Bangladesh is getting
AstraZeneca vaccine doses soon from
the US, a spokesperson at the US
Embassy in Dhaka said the US
President reaffirmed that commitment
by announcing that the US will provide
80 million doses of vaccine to support
global needs by the end of June.
But there is nothing specific yet on
how many doses Bangladesh will get or
when.
"We are working to provide the 80
million doses in the near future and are
evaluating the supply and will then
make a determination on distribution,"
he told UNB.
But Bangladesh informally came to
know that Bangladesh is not in the priority
lists as the US does not see any crisis
in Bangladesh considering the low
number of deaths and cases.
The US Embassy spokesperson said
the United States is committed to leading
the global response to the COVID-19
pandemic.
"Our overarching aim is to end the
pandemic as quickly as possible, and
that requires getting gas many people
vaccinated as fast as possible," he said.
In addition to distributing the 80 million
doses of vaccine, the United States is
the largest single donor to the global vaccine
initiative, COVAX, with $2 billion
already donated and plans to provide
another $2 billion through 2022.
"We will continue to work with and
coordinate closely with COVAX and
partner countries around the world to
support global vaccination efforts," said
the spokesperson.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul
Momen wrote to US Secretary of State
Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal BSD formed a human chain in front of WASA on Thursday protesting
increase of water price.
Photo : Star Mail
Gazprom obtains
drilling works of 3
wells at Bhola gas field
DHAKA : Russian oil major Gazprom
obtained a contract for drilling 3 wells
at Bhola gas field at a contract value of
Tk 648.39 crore (equivalent to about
$77.184 million), reports UNB.
Cabinet Committee on Public
Purchase in a meeting on Thursday
approved a proposal of the statureowned
Petrobangla in this regard to
award the contract to the Russian firm
to do the job on a turnkey basis.
Another 4 procurement proposals
from different ministries also received
the nod of the committee in the meeting
presided over by Finance Minister
AHM Mustafa Kamal.
The Energy and MineralResources
Division placed the Petrobangla's
unsolicited proposal, based on Speedy
Supply of Power and Energy Supply
(Special Act) 2010, to the Cabinet Body
for approval. It means, the Russian
firm was selected for the project
through negotiation and without any
competitive bidding process.
Gazprom will take over the drilling
works from the Petrobangla's subsidiary
Bangladesh Petroleum
Exploration and Production Company
(Bapex) which discovered the Bhola
gas field.
Mustafa Kamal said the Gazprom
was picked up for the project since it is
a reputed international firm having
vast experience in this field.
Earlier, Gazprom had drilled a number
of wells at different gas fields to
enhance gas production. But many
energy experts were critical over the
contract value of the works of the
Russian firm.
The Cabinet committee approved a
proposal of the Roads and Highways
Department to appoint Joint Venture
of (1) SMEC Int’l Pty Ltd, Australia (2)
Swedish National Road Consulting
AB, Sweden, (3) ACE Consultants Ltd.,
Bangladesh and (4) BCL Associates
Ltd., Bangladesh at a cost of Tk 46.92
crore for its project - Installation of
Excel Load Control Centre at the
important points of highways.
A proposal of Bangladesh Civil
Aviation Authority (BCAA) received
the nod of the committee to award a Tk
658.40 crore contract on G-to-G basis
to Thales of France to set up radar system
including CNS-ATM
(Communications, Navigation and
Surveillance-Air Traffic Management)
at Shahjalal Int’l Airport.
The Cabinet body also approved a
proposal of the Water Resources
Ministry to award Tk 367.28 crore
contract to Khulna Shipyard Limited
for 6.3 km river bank protection and
14.750 km dredging works of Arial Kha
River in Madaripur district.
Antony J. Blinken seeking vaccine doses
from them immediately.
After its request to the United States,
Bangladesh urged the United Kingdom
(UK) to help by providing vaccines to
meet emergency needs as the second
dose vaccination is disrupted in
Bangladesh.
"I'm not asking for too much, I'm only
asking for 1.6m AstraZeneca doses that
they have, they should immediately disperse
those to Bangladesh so these people
can have their second dose," said the
Foreign Minister.
When approached, a UK government
spokesperson told UNB that the UK
government does not have a role in the
production or distribution of
AstraZeneca's vaccines or their supply
contracts.
The spokesperson said the UK has
played a leading role in championing
global access to coronavirus vaccines.
The UK is one of the largest donors to
COVAX, providing £548 million to
deliver more than a billion vaccines to
lower-middle income countries this
year.
5 of a family burnt
in Chattogram gas
cylinder blast
SM AkASh
Five members of a family sustained
burn injuries after a gas cylinder exploded
at a house at Friport Kalshidighirpar
in the port city early Thursday.
The injured are Mohammad Royel,
30, his wife Nazu, 28, their two children
Lamia, 3 and Zihad, 6 and his brother
Shipon, 30. Zahirul Islam, in-charge of
Chattogram Medical College and
Hospital police camp, said the gas cylinder
of the house went off with a big bang
around 3 am, leaving five members of
the family injured.
Later, they were taken to Chattogram
Medical College and Hospital. The condition
of three members of the family is
stated to be critical, said doctors.
Govt to import German
machine to clean up floating
garbage: LGRD Minister
DHAKA : The government will import
state-of-the-art machines from
Germany to remove floating garbage
dumps and hyacinths from the water
bodies to strengthen the anti-mosquito
drive, LGRD Minister Md Tajul Islam
said on Thursday.
The LGRD Minister said this at a virtual
inter-ministry meeting on destroying
Aedes mosquito and prevention of
Dengue. He said the machine is being
imported to destroy mosquito breeding
zones and ensure proper water flow in
canals and other water bodies in Dhaka
and other city corporations.
HC turns down
writ seeking
cancellation of
MBBS admission
test results
DHAKA : The High Court on Thursday
rejected a writ petition seeking cancellation
of results of the MBBS admission
test for 2020-2021 academic year and
formulation of a new merit list.
The virtual court of Justice M
Enayetur Rahim and Justice Sardar
Mohammad Rashed Jahangir passed
the order. The hearing of the writ petition
ended on Monday.
Additional Attorney General SM
Munir and Deputy Attorney General
Bipul Bagmar represented the state
while Barrister Mohammad Humayun
Kabir Pallab appeared for the writ petitioner.
Earlier on May 20, a writ petition was
filed over the matter by Barrister Pallab
on behalf of 324 admission seekers.
It claimed that the results published
on April 4 contained "numerous errors
and major inconsistencies".
Waste no more will
remain in DSCC
open areas:Taposh
DHAKA : Mayor of Dhaka South City
Corporation (DSCC) Barrister Sheikh
Fazle Noor Taposh on Thursday said
that there won't be any more waste in
the open in Dhaka city as DSCC has
taken plans to manage city waste in a
modern and systematic way.
"We efficiently conducted waste management
activities last year. Our goal is to
have a central waste disposal center in
each ward. We don't want to see open
space filled with waste in Dhaka city anymore,"
Taposh made the remarks at the
inauguration ceremony of the Interim
Waste Transfer Center at Ward 40 of the
city yesterday, said a press release.
"We have made a new schedule for
waste management in the city.
According to the schedule, the registered
primary waste service providers
of each ward will collect waste from
houses, establishments, business
establishments and take it to the central
waste transfer center and from
there we will be taken to the waste
depositing land," he said.
Mentioning that steps have been
taken to set up central waste transfer
centers in each ward by next December,
he said, "We will procure 30 compacts
by next year, through which we will be
able to take the waste directly to the central
waste management centre, as these
wastes during monsoon flows into the
sewers and cause water logging there."
Postal service must be
reached to the people:PM
RAfiqUl RAfiq A khAn
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has
directed to bring the postal service to the
doorsteps of the people at the grassroots
level. She made the remarks while
attending the inauguration ceremony of
the newly constructed 14th story headquarters
of the Postal Department, 'Dak
Bhaban', via video conference from
Ganobhaban on May 27. The Prime
Minister said the postal service should
be brought to the doorsteps of the people.
"The authority has to take that step
now. Under the Universal Postal Union,
we have bilateral agreements with various
countries to deliver postal services to
customers through modernization.
Since online selling is gaining popularity,
it should not be left behind in the post
office. The postal department needs to
take more action in this regard."
Regarding the newly constructed
post-office building, she said, "the building
has been of high quality with all
kinds of facilities, so as to increase customer
service. And I have taken this
measure to use modern technology."
Sheikh Hasina said, "in fact, everyone
is forgetting the letter box. Now everyone
either sends an SMS or e-mail or
sends a message. There are not many
letters now. Don't forget that.... when
you see this building, it looks like there is
a letter box."
Apart from the various initiatives
taken by Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
for the development of the postal
department after independence, she
also highlighted various steps taken by
the Awami League government for the
development of the postal department.
Earlier we had set up about five thousand
digital centers all over Bangladesh.
At the same time, we started working to
digitalize the post offices. We have
already undertaken the construction of
38 model post offices.
But we want to do it all over the country.
Many will be able to earn money by
working from home. With that there will
be employed, people will also get the
service. We have to make that arrangement
too, Sheikh Hasina said.
At the postal building in Dhaka's
Agargaon, the Minister of Posts and
Telecommunications Mostafa Jabbar,
State Minister for Information and
Communication Technology Junaid
Ahmed Palak, Secretary of the
Department of Posts and
Telecommunications Afzal Hossain and
other senior officials were present in the
inaugural ceremony.
Covid-19 vaccination to take priority
in the upcoming national budget
DHAKA : As its theme goes the upcoming
national budget for fiscal 2021-22
will be a deft exercise on saving lives
while creating more avenues for livelihoods
to cope with the economy-crippling
pandemic, reports UNB.
A massive vaccination of the population
for protection against Covid-19
infection will be major focus of the Tk.
602,880 crore -budget themed as
"Priority on lives and livelihoods,
tomorrow's Bangladesh."
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa
Kamal will place the budget in the
Parliament on June 3 under the shadow
of the pandemic sweeping the world.
Bangladesh has been one of the first
countries which began free Covid-19
vaccination in the first week of
February.
Overcoming a disruption in the shipment
of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs
from India's Serum Institute, Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina's government
has launched a huge drive to procure
vaccines from alternative sources like
China, Russia, the US and the UK.
The good news is China's Sinopharma
vaccines are on way, while Russia's
Sputnik V jabs are also likely to hit
Bangladesh shore any time soon.
Keeping the massive vaccination in
mind the revenue target for the next fiscal
has been set Tk 389,078 crore,
which is 11.02% of the GDP,
according to the Finance Ministry and
National Board of Revenue (NBR)
sources.
Villagers have rescued two Chital deer from the locality of
Mathbaria upazila in Pirojpur. Two deer were rescued
from Ulubaria and Golbunia villages of the upazila on
Thursday morning. The deer were later handed over to
forest officials.
Photo : Star Mail
Of the total amount, Tk 330,078 crore
will be contributed by the NBR. The
amount is 9.5% of the GDP.
In the proposed budget the deficit will
be Tk 213,802 crore which will be 6.1%
of the GDP. The deficit will mainly be
filled from the banking sector as there is
sufficient liquidity in the sector.
The government has targeted to borrow
some Tk 100,000 crore from there
while Tk 30,000 will come from savings
certificates and rest of the money will
come from foreign grants and loans.
The government is thinking to
increase the interest rates of the savings
certificates to attract more investment
here.
The GDP size for the next fiscal has
been set at Tk 34,73,911 crore.
GDP growth for the coming fiscal estimated
at 7.2% while the GDP for the
running fiscal has been reduced to 6.1%.
In the budget proposal for 2020-21
fiscal the GDP was estimated 8.2%, but
due to the second wave of coronavirus
and government imposed lockdown it
has been reduced to 6.1%.
Finance Ministry sources said that the
economic recovery was not fully done
due to the coronavirus, especially the
second wave.
They said that trade and business,
tourism sector, transportation and
restaurant business are the worst affected.
"As a result, the GDP growth will not
be at the desirable level," a senior official
in the Finance Ministry said.
The inflation rate for the next fiscal
would be the same as this year, 5.3% as
the government is expecting a good production
of food in the country like the
previous year.
Sources said that the possibility of
increase the fuel oil price is thin due
to the second wave of coronavirus
across the globe and the domestic
market will get the benefits of this
lower fuel price.
Priority will be given to health, agriculture,
food, disaster management and
employment in the coming budget to
offset the impact of coronavirus in the
quickest possible time.
There will be Tk 10,000 crore special
allocation for facing the impacts of
COVID-19 in the budget.
The social safety net will be expanded
with Tk 125,000 crore which is 30%
higher than the current fiscal.
Meanwhile, the government has
approved the Annual Development
Programme (ADP) involving Tk
225,324 crore for 1,426 projects for the
2021-22 fiscal year with focus on transport
and communications, power,
housing, education and health sectors.
Besides, Tk 11,469 crore also was allocated
for autonomous entities.
Of the Tk 225,324 crore, an amount of
Tk 137,300 crore will come from internal
sources while Tk 88,224 crore from foreign
sources. Of the Tk 11,469 crore of the
autonomous entities, the internal sources
will provide Tk 6717 crore while the foreign
portion will be Tk 4751crore.