30-07-2021

friday
DhAkA: July 30, 2021; Srabon 15, 1428 BS; Zilhaj 19,1442 hijri
www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net
Regd.No.DA~2065, Vol.19; N o. 100; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00
international
Active COVID-19 cases
register increase for
second consecutive day
>Page 7
SPortS
Richarlison fires Brazil
into Olympics quarterfinals,
Germany out
>Page 9
art & culture
Nancy set to tie
knot again
>Page 10
Covid-19
Bangladesh
lowers vaccination
age to 25
DHAKA : The government has lowered
the minimum age limit for taking Covid-
19 jabs to 25 from 30 years in a bid to give
a boost to the lagging vaccination rates in
the country, reports UNB.
From now on, people aged 25 and
above are eligible to register for taking
vaccines through Surrokha app, said
sources at the health directorate on
Thursday. The official app, launched by
the ICT Division of Bangladesh for providing
the facility to register for vaccination,
also came up with the information.
Earlier on July 19, the government
lowered the age limit from 35 to 30 for
vaccine registration.
If anyone wants to get registered for
taking any Covid-19 vaccine, he or she
must provide the National Identification
number to verify. The following information
are available in the app.
National Identification Number, Date
of Birth, Mobile Phone number, Co-
Morbidity, Desired Address for
Vaccination Center, User consent for
receiving vaccine.
The application verifies the user by
sending an OTP to the given mobile
phone number and allow them to register.
The registrants can check their application
status, download Vaccine Card
and download Certificate in a later stage.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on July
15 said everyone above 18 years of age
will gradually be vaccinated in
Bangladesh.
"Arrangements are being made to
gradually bring all citizens above 18 years
under the Covid-19 vaccination programme
in order to revive the country's
education system," he said.
Covid-19
Daily toll remains
above 200; 15,271
more infected
DHAKA : As the Delta variant of Covid-19
engulfed the country, Bangladesh recorded
239 more deaths caused by the virus in
24 hours till Thursday morning.
Besides, 15,271 new people came out
Covid positive during the period after the
test of 52,282 samples, according to a
handout issued by the Directorate General
of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh cases took the country's Covid
death tally to 20,255 today while the caseload
to 1,226,253.
The country has been seeing nearly 200
deaths a day for the past two weeks, shattering
the records of daily cases and deaths
almost every other day.
Meanwhile, the daily test-positivity rate
declined slightly to 29.21% from
Wednesday's 30.12% while the World
Health Organization (WHO) recommends
a 5% or below rate.
However, the case fatality rate remained
unchanged at 1.65 % during the period,
said the DGHS.
The recovery rate too increased slightly
to 85.64 % from Tuesday's 85.54 % with
the recovery of more 14,336 patients.
Zumma
04:05 AM
01:30 PM
04:43 PM
06:48 PM
08:10 PM
5:26 6:44
In the continuous rain of the day, waist deep water witnessed on Majed Sardar Road in old Dhaka.
The locals have suffered in this.
Photo: PBA
People give a fig to govt's
lockdown rules in Dhaka
DHAKA : Even though the Covid-19
crisis is deepening, traffic on the streets
of capital Dhaka is increasing with
every passing day amid the lockdown
enforced to contain the highly transmittable
Delta variant of the virus,
reports UNB.
The number of vehicles and people
increased substantially on Dhaka streets
on Thursday, the seventh day of the 14-
day strict lockdown. Many people were
seen coming out and wandering without
any valid reason while health protocols
are hardly maintained in most cases.
However, the movement of private
vehicles has increased as many private
offices have arranged vehicles for the
movement of their own staff. But public
transport stayed off the roads as per the
directives of the government.
People were seen reaching their destinations
by rickshaws as it is available
during the lockdown.
Traffic inspector Asaduzzaman, said,
"The number of vehicles is increasing
day by day. We're checking every vehicle.
Those who failed to justify their outdoor
movement are fined and cases
lodged for violating lockdown rules."
As the highly transmissible Delta variant
continues to sweep through the
country, Bangladesh on Wednesday
logged 237 coronavirus-related deaths
in 24 hours.
With the new deaths, the country's
fatality figures have topped 20,016.
Bangladesh has been seeing nearly 200
deaths every day for the past two weeks
breaking the records of daily cases and
deaths almost every other day.
Besides, 16,230 more people came out
Covid positive after the test of 53,877
samples during the period, according to
the Directorate General of Health
Services (DGHS).
This was the highest-ever single-day
transmission after the country saw a
record 15,192 Covid cases on Monday.
With the new numbers, the total caseload
has mounted to 1,210,982.
Contract award for construction of
500-bed hospital gets Cabinet nod
DHAKA : A 500-bed hospital, tiled
"Bangabandhu Medical College and
Hospital" is going to be established in
Sunamganj as the Cabinet
Committee on Public Purchase on
Thursday approved a tender proposal
in this regard. A proposal to award
a Tk 266.17 crore contract to M Jamal
and Company for construction of the
hospital got the committee's approval,
reports UNB.
As per the government plan, the
Public Works Department (PWD)
under the Housing of Housing Public
Works will implement the project by
2024.
The Cabinet body also approved 6
more proposals including import of
fertilizer and printing of books for primary
education.
Bangladesh Chemical Industries
Corporation (BCIC) will import
30,000 metric tons of bulk granular
urea from Saudi Basic Industries
Corporation (SABIC) at Tk 123.55
crore under a state-to-state contract.
The Jamuna Fertiliser Company
Limited (JFCL), Jamalpur, received
the nod to purchase Reformed Gas
Waste Heat Boiler and relevant equipment
at Tk 56.65 crore.
The committee approved a proposal of
the National Curriculum and Textbooks
Board under the Ministry of Primary and
Mass Education to award a contract to
print, binding and supply of 3,77,65,616
copies of books for students of 3,4 and 5
classes at Tk 115.82 crore.
Agrani Printing Press and Kachua
Press and Publication won the contract
to supply the books through a
total of 68 lots.
A proposal of the Roads and High
Department received the approval of
the committee to award a Tk 655.50
crore contract to Spectra Engineers
Ltd for construction of a road from
Rajupara to Payra Port under the project
to construct first terminal and
other relevant facilities of the Payra
Sea Port.
The Committee approved a proposal
of Water Development Board to award
a Tk 155.43 crore contract to Joint
Venture of (1) BIC and (2) SSRI,
Dhaka for construction of rubber
dram and conducting dredging at
Mahananda River at Sardar upazila of
Chapainawabganj district.
A proposal of the Public Works
Department (PWD) received the committee's
approval to reduce the cost by
Tk 2.79 crore for the project titled:
Construction of Apartments for Low
and Middle Income People Uttara
Sector No-18.
Alarming Dengue spike
181 more patients
admitted to
hospitals in 24 hrs
DHAKA : Health authorities reported 181
new dengue cases in the last 24 hours till
Thursday morning, highest this year so far
amid a spike in the Aedes mosquito-borne
disease in the country, reports UNB.
Bangladesh has been seeing over 100
dengue patients for the last six days
adding worries to the country's health
services, already overwhelmed with growing
Covid cases and fatalities.
Of the new cases most were reported in
Dhaka while only 13 of them were reported
hospitalised outside Dhaka, said the
Directorate General of Health Services
(DGHS).
According to the (DGHS), currently 642
patients are receiving treatment at different
hospitals across the country, while just
23 of them were listed outside Dhaka.
Some 2,292 patients have been admitted
to different hospitals with dengue
since January - 1,646 of them have been
released after recovery.
The DGHS reported 1,193 dengue cases
and three confirmed dengue-related
deaths in 2020.
Official figures state 101,354 dengue
cases and 179 deaths were recorded in
Bangladesh in 2019.
Dengue fever was first reported in
Bangladesh in 2000, claiming 93 lives that
year. In the years that followed, the country
learned to deal with the disease much
better, but it did become endemic.
Fatalities almost fell to zero at one stage,
before surging again in 2018, leading to
the horrific crisis the following year.
We have failed to sell the PPP
idea properly: Mustafa Kamal
DHAKA : Finance Minister AHM
Mustafa Kamal has admitted that the idea
of public private partnership (PPP) has
failed to meet the expectation, reports
UNB.
"Actually, we could not sell the PPP idea
properly. But now work has started. We
have to give the time... Still we've been facing
that teething problems", he told
reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet
Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
on Thursday.
The Cabinet committee in principle
decided to drop a project "Construction of
Laldia Bulk Terminal" from the government's
PPP list. Now, the Chattagram
Port Authority (CPA) will implement the
project by its own fund.
Earlier, there was decision to implement
the project through PPP by the CPA
on 59.87 acres of land at Laldia Char area
on the right bank of the Karnaphuli River.
Kamal said the government believes it
would overcome the problems facing with
the PPP. He said now the government has
been implementing projects by its own
fund as there is no shortage of money.
"We need foreign direct investment
under PPP....the more FDI attraction
means the more benefits", he said.
"But we could not attract DFI as we didn't
have adequate infrastructures", he said
adding, infrastructures mean physical
and non-physical both.
The finance minister said the government
believes that as the country is having
infrastructures, there will be no problem
in attracting FDI and PPP projects.
Responding to another question, he
said that he would try to find out if money
from the government's stimulus package
was diverted to the country's stock market
as reported by media.
"I would inform you after my own finding
whether the allegation is true or not.
But so far the fund from stimulus package
is not supposed to go elsewhere is it was
provided to eligible beneficiaries from
specific targeted sectors.
Meanwhile, the CCEA approved a proposal
of the Ministry of Liberation War to
award the contract to an event management
company through direct procurement
method without tender process to
arrange the concluding programmers of
the golden jubilee of the independence
celebration with due manner to showcase
the country at home and abroad.
It also approved another proposal to
purchase Oracle Cloud for the Bangladesh
Data Centre Company Limited through
direct procurement method.
Muted response to e-commerce SOP
reflects recent troubles in the industry
DHAKA : The Commerce Ministry has
recently completed its task of formulating
a set of Standard Operating
Procedures for the e-commerce industry,
reports UNB.
Yet the muted response to the SOPs
reflect the significantly deeper concerns surrounding
the industry, that have come to
light recently in the form of troubling revelations
about some of its biggest players,
most notably Evaly, that have come straight
from investigations carried out by an
authority as important as Bangladesh Bank.
Given the seriousness of some of these
concerns and allegations, a set of guidelines
rooted in global best practices, that
would essentially allow the rapidly growing
industry to regulate itself.
Firms would be responsible for implementing
the SOPs within their own
organisations, while a failure to do so
would not carry the threat of incurring a
legal penalty. None of the SOPs in that
sense would be legally binding.
Although this kind of light-touch
approach can be entertained in a situation
where the assumption is that one is dealing
with good faith-actors, the recent revelations
regarding Evaly, that include possible
money laundering, have effectively blown
the credibility of such a working assumption
out of the water. It suggests the more
prudent route forward for harnessing the
sector's potential may well be regulatory
oversight by a competent authority.
Even so, the nearly 70-point SOP provides
a reflection of the issues pertaining
to e-commerce that vex even an administration
that projects itself as the handmaiden
of 'Digital Bangladesh'.
The most talked-about SOP states that
items sold on e-commerce sites must be
delivered to the buyer within a maximum
period of five days of the payment being
made, where the two parties to the transaction
reside in the same city.
When the two parties don't reside in the
same city, the maximum period allowed
for the seller to deliver the goods to the
buyer will double, to 10 days.
Additionally, it is stated that products
shall be handed over to the delivery men
or delivery agency within 48 hours of payment,
and it needs to inform the buyers
about it through telephone, e-mail and
SMS. In case of the daily essentials, the
delivery time would be shorter and it
would have to inform the purchasers
clearly about the delivery time while taking
the purchase order.
In the Corona situation, there are no tourists in Kuakata as there is a ban on travel. At low tide, when
you look at it from a distance, it looks as if the whole beach is covered with a red carpet. Actually, the
whole beach is covered with the beautiful fruits of the Sundarbans.
Photo: PBA

FRIDAY, JulY 30, 2021
2
123 mln rural people reached as IFAD
steps up fight against hunger, poverty
DHAKA : As the COVID-19 pandemic
raged around the world pushing
millions more people into hunger and
poverty, the UN's International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD)
increased its support for the most
vulnerable and marginalized people,
according to the IFAD Annual Report
2020 released on Thursday, reports
UNB
With 203 ongoing projects and total
financing of US$7.5 billion, IFAD was
able to reach 123 million people in 2020.
"Despite the challenges of 2020, we
remain convinced that our vision of a
world free of poverty and hunger is
attainable and should remain in focus,"
said Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of
IFAD.
"Doing more to build the resilience of
rural people does not only mean scaling
up investments. It also means going
further to reach the people most likely to
be left behind, to ensure the rural
women and men IFAD serves are better
prepared to overcome the challenges
they face."
As the impacts of the pandemic
threatened to roll back years of
development progress, disrupt food
Oxygen bank for
COVID-19 patient
opens in Debiganj
PANCHAGARH: Free oxygen
bank service for Covid -19
patients was opened in
Debiganj upazila, reports
BSS.
Civil Society, a volunteer
organisation, has taken the
initiative to provide oxygen to
the Coronavirus patients by
going to houses.
Three killed in
Cumilla road
accident
CUMILLA : Three persons
were killed and another was
injured when a covered van
hit a sand-laden tractor in
Harikhola area on the
Dhaka-Chattogram highway
under Chandina upazila of
the district yesterday
morning.
The deceased were
identified as Nurul Islam, 40,
son of Abdul Jalil, a resident
of Handikhola village under
Chandina upazila of the
district, Faizar Rahman, 40,
son of Abdul Khaleq of
Rangpur district and covered
van driver Liton, 40.
The injured was rushed to
Cumilla Medical College
Hospital in critical condition
Daily wagers Nurul and
Faizar were loading sand on
to the tractor trolley in front
of a market adjacent to the
highway in Handikhola
Mazar area at around 9am
when the Dhaka-bound van
crashed onto the tractor
trolley after its driver lost
control of the vehicle, said
Eliotganj highway police
outpost in-charge Ziaul
Haque.
GD-1151/21 (5x3)
system and cause a secondary "hunger
pandemic", IFAD country teams
immediately began working with
governments to adjust ongoing projects
so rural people could maintain their
income-generating activities and not be
forced to sell their meagre assets.
IFAD works in 35 countries across
Asia-Pacific, with 55 ongoing
programmes and projects for a total
investment of US$2.55 billion.
This includes an additional US$ 365.8
million approved in 2020.
Rural people in Asia and the Pacific
are facing a range of challenges and
threats, with climate-related hazards
being among the most severe.
For groups who have traditionally
faced exclusion, these threats are
exacerbated.
The impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic have added to existing
vulnerabilities, undermining food
systems and livelihoods in the region.
Building resilience to multiple threats
is a priority for IFAD in its work in Asia
and the Pacific.
Inclusion is a strong theme across our
portfolio, with women, youth and ethnic
minorities receiving particular attention.
In April 2020, IFAD launched the
Rural Poor Stimulus Facility (RPSF)
with support from its Executive Board
and member states such as Canada and
Germany that made contributions.
The Facility has helped rural people
hang on to their livelihoods in this
difficult period while also maintaining
the supply of food.
With supply chains and transportation
disrupted, small-scale farmers have
received seeds, fertilizer and other
support to continue planting and
production.
Support for digital services like e-
marketing and e-money were increased.
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia,
Nepal, Pacific Islands, Pakistan and
Papua New Guinea are among the
countries to receive assistance from the
RPSF.
In 2020 IFAD stepped up its work
with particularly marginalized groups
including women, youth, disabled
persons and indigenous peoples.
New grass-roots activities started, and
10 times as many people participated in
the Fifth Global Meeting of the
Indigenous Peoples' Forum as ever
before.
IPRS technology creates new hope
for fish farmers in Rajshahi region
RAJSHAHI: In-pond raceway system (IPRS), a
highly sophisticated innovative aquaculture
technology, has created a high hope among the
fish farmers in the region, including its vast Barind
tract, reports UNB.
The hope has been generated with the
breakthrough of launching an IPRS fish farming
venture at Noyagola Bolunpur, located in the
outskirts of Chapainawabganj district town,
around two years back.
Salient features of an IPRS are air-lift, bottom
aeration, cells and waste collection arrangements
that make this system unique ensuring optimal
water chemistry that allows super high density
stocking. Akbar Hossain, the owner of "Nawab
Matsya Khamar Prakalpa [Nawab Fish Farm
Project]" is using IPRS in his ponds producing
different carps, Tilapia and Pangas commercially.
He installed the system in 20 acres of his land
creating scopes of producing around 32 tons of
fish from every 250 cubic metres using the IPRS
promising a dramatic rise in fish production. In
the modern system, about 10,000 fishes can be
reared at a time in a bigha of water body against
hardly 300 to 400 fishes in the same area in
conventional method, Akbar, a national award
winning fisheries entrepreneur, said.
He said this is an environmentally friendly
aquaculture technology that can help to ensure
quality and safe seafood for human consumption.
Various types of fish species of different sizes can
be cultivated at the same time in the same pond.
"We have stocked Rui, Catla, Common Carp,
Grass Carp, Pangas, Tilapia, and Pabda species of
fish," said Akbar Hossain, adding depending on
market demand fish will be stocked in future on
the basis of trial specific species.
He is expected to harvest 2,000 tonnes of fishes
valued at around Taka 10 crore from the 20-acre
pond a year meaning that he will make a profit of
Taka five crore. District Fisheries Officer Dr
Amimul Ehsan, who is extending technical
support to the venture since its very beginning,
said all the conditions of Good Aquaculture
Practices (GAP) are being followed in Akbar's
farm.
Four people including a policeman have been arrested in
Raipura, Narsingdi with 50 kg of cannabis, a private car and a
motorcycle.
Photo : Moniruzzaman Monir
43 more test positive
for COVID-19 in
C'nawabganj
CHAPAINAWABGANJ: A
number of 43 more persons
tested positive for COVID-19
during the last 24 hours,
raising the total number of
infection to 4,905 in the
district, reports BSS.
During the this period,
349 samples were tested in
the district showing the
infection rate 12.32 percent,
Civil Surgeon Office sources
confirmed.
Among the newly detected
patients, 18 persons are from
sadar upazila, six from
Shibganj upazila, 15 from
Gomostapur upazila, three
from Bholahat upazila and
one is from Nachole upazila.
Of the total detected
patients of the district, 2,708
persons are from sadar
upazila, 852 from Shibganj
upazila, 655 from
Gomostapur upazila, 368
from Nachole upazila and
322 from Bholahat upazila.
Though there is the availability of rawhide and buyers, sellers are in awkward situation as rawhide
price is very poor.
Photo : Rafiqul Islam
Best use of land crucial
for sustainable food
security'
RANGPUR : Amid changing
climate and Covid-19
pandemic, ensuring best use
of land has become crucial to
enhance crop output adopting
newer cropping patterns and
technologies for ensuring
sustainable food security.
Talking to BSS, Agriculturist
Dr Md Abdul Mazid, who got
the Independence Medal-
2018 (food security), termed
the issue of food security as a
vital global issue amid the
Covid-19 pandemic now when
the changing climate
continues threatening
agriculture.
"We must make best use of
lands to keep food production
increasing onward braving the
Covid-19 pandemic and
adapting to adverse impacts of
climate change that continues
affecting agriculture and other
sectors globally," he said.
Under changing climatic
conditions, Bangladesh is
moving toward the right
direction in ensuring best use
of lands to increase food
production consistently in the
last twelve years on its way to
achieve agricultural
sustainability.
Responding to the repeated
calls of Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina, farmers, common
people and char dwellers are
cultivating various crops on
the mainland, homesteads,
roadside areas, char lands and
dried up riverbeds to increase
crop productivity.
Dr Mazid, also a former
Chief Scientific Officer of
Bangladesh Rice Research
Institute (BRRI), said
Bangladesh is now producing
around four crore tonnes of
food grains annually making
the country self-reliant on
food for its 17-crore
population.
GD-1150/21 (6x4)
BB continues 'expansionary and
accommodative' mood in MPS for FY22
DHAKA : Like the previous one, Bangladesh
Bank has continued the 'expansionary and
accommodative' mood in monetary policy
statement (MPS) for the current fiscal 2021-
22 (FY22), reports BSS.
"BB's monetary policy stance for FY22 is
designed to continue the ongoing
expansionary and accommodative mode
supporting the disrupted economic recovery
process while maintaining appropriate
cautions for overall price and financial
stability," said BB Governor Fazle Kabir at a
written statement.
He said BB's annual monetary and credit
programs for FY22 are outlined making sure
that there is enough room for money and
credit growth to sufficiently support the
targeted nominal GDP growth while
remaining vigilant about commodity and
asset price movements.
In case of any unexpected price pressure
development or formation of any sporadic
asset price bubbles due to the presence of
ample excess liquidity in the banking system,
BB will not hesitate to take appropriate policy
action if required, throughout the year ahead,
he added.
The BB chief informed that the
programmed growth of broad money (M2) is
set at 15.0 percent which is consistent with
the targeted real GDP growth and CPI-based
average inflation ceiling based on the
assumption that some additional monetary
supports are needed for maintaining desired
income velocity of money and
accommodating nearly 17.8 percent domestic
credit (DC) growth in FY22.
The public and the private sector credit
growth are projected to be annually grown by
32.6 percent and 14.8 percent respectively at
the end of June 2022, he added.
He said the projection of public sector
credit growth is made based on the
Government's expected borrowing needs
from banks as envisaged in the national
budget for FY22.
Two held with heroin,
ambulance in Gaibandha
RANGPUR : Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-13
arrested two presumed drug traders and
seized 410 grams of heroin and an ambulance
from Palashbari upazila town in Gaibandha
district yesterday.
"The elite force had information that two
drug traders were coming from Rajshahi to
Rangpur using an ambulance as a means of
transporting drugs to evade the eyes of the law
enforcement agencies amid stronger vigilance
during the lockdown," said a press release
issued.
Based on the information, an operational
team of the Crime Prevention Company
(CPC)-3 of Gaibandha Camp of RAB-13 set up
a check post at Palashbari point on the Bogura-
Rangpur highway and challenged the
suspicious ambulance.
After searching the ambulance-cum
microbus, the elite force arrested the two
persons and seized 410 grams of contraband
heroin, the vehicle with its key and five mobile
phone sets and cash money from their
possessions.
The seized heroin, packed in four mini
packs, was put inside an artificial leg of one of
the two arrested persons to evade the eyes of
the law enforcement agencies while carrying
those to their destinations.
The arrested persons are driver of the
ambulance Md Bulbul Ahmed, 40, and its
helper Md Azizur Rahman, 35, of Rajshahi
district.
During primary interrogation, the arrested
persons admitted their involvement in drug
trading for a long time and successfully
trafficked heroin adopting the same practice
from Rajshahi to Rangpur in the past.
"After filing a case in this connection against
the arrested people, the elite force handed over
them to Palashbari police station in Gaibandha
today," Assistant Director (Media) of RAB-13
Flight Lieutenant Mahmud Bashir Ahmed told
BSS at 5 pm.
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1405 27/07/2021

FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2021
3
DAE confirms record 23 maunds
Aus paddy output per bigha land
On Thursday, webinar titled 'Rising Teen Gang-Culture and Violence in Bangladesh: Revisiting
Juvenile Delinquency from Sociological Lens' was held at BUP.
Photo : Courtesy
DHAKA : At least 23 maunds of paddy
has been produced in one bigha of
land which is a record in country's Aus
production, reports BSS.
The Department of Agricultural
Extension (DAE) confirmed this after
harvesting the crop on a
demonstration plot at Charmansha
village under Rajapur union of Bhola
on Wednesday.
"A record yield has been achieved
from BRRI hybrid-7, an Aus variety,
while the country's average Aus
production was not more than 10-12
maunds (one maund equals 37.32 kg)
in a bigha," according to the official
data revealed by the DAE.
M Yanur Rahman Biplob, a farmer
of village Charmansha of Rajapur
union under Bhola district, planted
BRRI hybrid-7 variety seed on 8
hectares of land on April 8 and then
seedlings were transplanted on May 3.
About 110 days later, almost 7 tonnes
of paddy on a hectare of land or at least
23 maunds on a bigha was reaped after
harvesting the crop on July 28. The
yield was 4.60 tonnes per hectare in
form of rice, the DAE disclosed at a
function.
Chaired by Abu Mohammad Enayet
Ullah, Deputy Director of the DAE in
Bhola, the programme also joined
virtually, among others, by DAE's
Director General M Asadullah,
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute
(BRRI) Director General Dr M
Shahjahan Kabir and DAE's field
service wing Director AKM Manirul
Alam.
Per hectare production cost was
Taka 60,000 and farmer's net profit
was Taka 70,000 when the farmer
sold the paddy at a cost of Taka 750 per
maund. Farmer's estimated net profit
from Aus production on 8 hectares of
land was Taka 5,70,000.
Free BRRI hybrid-7 variety seeds
have been distributed among the
farmers in Bhola free of cost and the
variety was cultivated on 198 hectares
of land, said DAE deputy director of
Bhola Abu Mohammad Enayet Ullah.
"The crop cutting result of
BRRIhybrid-7 variety is optimistic
...we will take necessary steps to
enhance cultivation of the variety,"
said DAE DG.
BRRI Director General said that the
yield of the variety is more than other
varieties cultivated during the Aus
season, adding, "We will be more
careful to disseminate the variety
among the farmers through the
Bangladesh Agricultural Development
Corporation (BADC)."
Hasina pays
tributes to
Dr Samad
DHAKA : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
on Thursday paid tributes to Dr Syed
Abdus Samad, Bangabandhu's private
secretary, as he died on Wednesday.
On behalf of the Prime Minister, her
Military Secretary Major General Naquib
Ahmed Chowdhury paid homage by
placing a wreath on his coffin at
Baridhara Jam-e-Masjid and Islamic
Centre in the capital at 10am, said the
PMO Press Wing.
Dr SA Samad, also former Principal
Secretary to the Prime Minister and a
valiant freedom fighter, died at his
Baridhara residence on Wednesday at the
age of 79.
In a condolence message on
Wednesday, Hasina recalled his
contributions to the process of the Ganges
Water Sharing Treaty with India and
CHT Peace Accord.
Samad, a life-long bachelor, was the
PM's Principal Secretary during Sheikh
Hasina's first government.
In 1971, the CSP officer joined the then
Mujibnagar government leaving the
Pakistani side when he was the ADC in
Rangamati.
Samad will be laid to rest at his family
graveyard in Gafargaon upazila of
Mymensingh following a second nanaz-ezanaja
after Zohr prayers.
Floods, landslides hit
Rohingya camps
hard: UNHCR
DHAKA : More than 12,000 refugees
have been affected, while an estimated
2,500 shelters have been damaged or
destroyed by heavy downpours, the
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has
said.
In the last 24 hours alone, over
300mm of rain fell on camps hosting
more than 8 lakh Rohingya refugees -
nearly half the monthly rainfall
average for July in one day.
Three days of heavy monsoon rains
and strong winds pelted massive
refugee sites in Bangladesh's Cox's
Bazar Tuesday, causing flash floods
and landslides; the situation is further
compounded by the Covid-19
pandemic, the UNHCR said.
More rains are expected in the next
few days, with the monsoon season
stretching over the next three months,
the UN agency added.
There is currently a strict national
lockdown in response to rising cases
across the country.
In support of the government-led
response, the UNHCR's network of
emergency response teams have been
deployed, to provide immediate
support and assistance to affected
families and to those forced to
temporarily relocate.
Teams are also assessing the
damage to shelters and initiating
immediate shelter repairs and site
improvements.
Refugee volunteers trained by the
UNHCR, and partners are also
working day and night in heavy rain to
help families in urgent need. In some
cases, this has involved rescuing
refugees from shelters destroyed by
landslides.
So far, more than 5,000 refugees
have temporarily relocated to other
family member's shelters or
communal facilities.
The adverse weather, latest
landslides and floods further
exacerbate the suffering and massive
humanitarian needs of the Rohingya
refugees in Bangladesh.
To date, the 2021 Joint Response
Plan for the Rohingya humanitarian
crisis in Bangladesh has received only
$274 million, roughly 30% of the $943
million required for the response this
year.
Swapan Bhattacharjee, MP State Minister for the ministry of Local Government, Rural Development
& Cooperatives on Thursday inaugurated the "Integrated Digital Service Delivery Platform" program
yesterday.
Photo : Courtesy
Bangladesh seeks US partnership
in vaccine production
DHAKA : PM's Adviser for Private
Industry and Investment Salman F
Rahman has sought the assistance
from the US government to encourage
their vaccine-producing companies to
partner with capable pharmaceutical
companies in Bangladesh, reports
UNB.
Recalling the two countries' close
cooperation in combating Covid-19
since the early days of the pandemic,
Adviser Rahman stressed scaling up of
the global production of the Covid-19
vaccines and other pandemic
management equipment to tackle the
virus.
He also stated that Bangladesh is
ready to make necessary investments
for the capacity enhancement of
pharmaceutical companies for such
partnerships.
Adviser Rahman and Senior Official
for Economic Growth, Energy, and the
Environment of the US Department of
State Ambassador Marcia Bernicat
discussed ways to have stronger
collaboration on Covid-19 front.
Bangladesh and the US have
expressed willingness to work more
closely to fight against the Covid-19
pandemic, including partnership, in
vaccine production.
The meeting held at the US
Department of State in Washington,
DC on Tuesday was a follow-up of the
first Bangladesh-US Economic
Partnership Meeting, held virtually on
September 30, 2020.
The participants of the follow-up
meeting expressed satisfaction over the
ongoing economic cooperation
between the two countries and
progress made in the areas of
collaboration identified during the
2020 Partnership Meeting.
They also underlined the need for
remaining engaged through different
institutional mechanisms and beyond
to further deepen the partnership
between the two friendly governments.
The adverse impacts of the Covid-19
pandemic on public health as well as
the global economy were discussed at
length during the meeting.
Adviser Rahman thanked the US
government for providing more than
5.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines
to Bangladesh through COVAX.
Ambassador Bernicat appreciated
the Bangladesh government's efforts to
contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus
in the country and stated that the US
would prioritize Bangladesh in its plan
for expanding production of PPE as
well as Covid-19 vaccines and
therapeutics.
Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed MP provided oxygen concentrator and oxygen cylinder
at Kaliganj Upazila Health Complex in Lalmonirhat district for emergency medical services of helpless
patients affected by Covid-19. On Thursday the minister was present as chief guest virtually from
the official residence of the capital city.
Photo : Courtesy
Webinar at
BUP
The Department of
Sociology under Faculty of
Arts and Social Sciences of
Bangladesh University of
Professionals (BUP)
arranged a webinar titled
'Rising Teen Gang-Culture
and Violence in Bangladesh:
Revisiting Juvenile
Delinquency from
Sociological Lens' on
Thursday, a press release
said.
State Minister, Ministry of
Ministry of Social Welfare,
Md. Ashraf Ali Khasru, MP
joined the webinar as the
chief guest while BUP VC
Major General Md
Moshfequr Rahman, SGP,
SUP, ndc, psc joined as the
special guest. BUP Pro-VC
Professor M Abul Kashem
Mozumder, PhD joined the
webinar as the guest of
honor and Professor Mehtab
Khanam, PhD, Honorary
Professor, Dept. of
Educational
and
Counselling Psychology,
Faculty of Biological
Sciences, University of
Dhaka presented the
keynote paper. Brigadier
General A.K.M. Iqbal Azim,
ndc, psc, G+, PhD., Dean,
FASS moderated the
webinar.
Chief guest Md. Ashraf Ali
Khan Khasru MP said that
this teen gang culture is an
alarming signal for our
society, and we should
ensure various social
movements to combat such
an evil sign. Professor Dr.
Mehtab Khanam, the
keynote speaker of the
webinar, mentioned that it is
our collective failure as
students, teachers, parents
and civil society of the
country. She also focused on
the point that children
should not be bounded
within books rather they
should be given practical
exposure in terms of extracurricular
activities, sports
and indoor games for better
mental health. She
emphasized building
healthy family life, providing
proper training on parenting
and teaching pedagogy.
Muted response to e-commerce SOP
reflects recent troubles in the industry
DHAKA : The Commerce Ministry has
recently completed its task of formulating a set
of Standard Operating Procedures for the e-
commerce industry, reports UNB.
Yet the muted response to the SOPs reflect
the significantly deeper concerns surrounding
the industry, that have come to light recently in
the form of troubling revelations about some of
its biggest players, most notably Evaly, that
have come straight from investigations carried
out by an authority as important as
Bangladesh Bank.
Given the seriousness of some of these
concerns and allegations, a set of guidelines
rooted in global best practices, that would
essentially allow the rapidly growing industry
to regulate itself.
Firms would be responsible for
implementing the SOPs within their own
organisations, while a failure to do so would
not carry the threat of incurring a legal penalty.
None of the SOPs in that sense would be legally
binding.
Although this kind of light-touch approach
can be entertained in a situation where the
assumption is that one is dealing with good
faith-actors, the recent revelations regarding
Evaly, that include possible money laundering,
have effectively blown the credibility of such a
working assumption out of the water.
It suggests the more prudent route forward
"Prerona Mask", made by the specially-abled
individuals under Prerona Foundation's 'Amra
Shikhi, Amra Pari' programme, is now available
on popular e-commerce platform Daraz.
Interested customers can visit -
https://www.daraz.com.bd/shop/preronafoundation
to view and purchase their favourite
fabric facemasks. The programme aims to
facilitate the economic inclusion of the country's
marginalised communities and create
opportunities for the citizens to contribute
towards a more equitable society through
meaningful purchase, a press release said.
Since COVID-19 has disrupted our usual dayto-day
chains of activities, humankind has been
compelled to follow certain health-measures to
contain the spread of the virus. But the initial
impact of the lockdowns and other regulations
has weakened the economic balance for
numerous communities, especially for those
living on the fringes of the society. Even after
more than a year, the marginalised communities
are still struggling today to make their ends meet
for harnessing the sector's potential may well
be regulatory oversight by a competent
authority.
Even so, the nearly 70-point SOP provides a
reflection of the issues pertaining to e-
commerce that vex even an administration
that projects itself as the handmaiden of
'Digital Bangladesh'.
The most talked-about SOP states that items
sold on e-commerce sites must be delivered to
the buyer within a maximum period of five
days of the payment being made, where the
two parties to the transaction reside in the
same city.
When the two parties don't reside in the
same city, the maximum period allowed for the
seller to deliver the goods to the buyer will
double, to 10 days.
Additionally, it is stated that products shall
be handed over to the delivery men or delivery
agency within 48 hours of payment, and it
needs to inform the buyers about it through
telephone, e-mail and SMS. In case of the daily
essentials, the delivery time would be shorter
and it would have to inform the purchasers
clearly about the delivery time while taking the
purchase order. The Digital Commerce
Standard Operating Procedure was designed
in line with the National Digital Commerce
Policy 2020 (Amended). And the SOP was
gazetted last July 4.
Prerona Foundation and Daraz collaborate
to support specially-abled individuals
amid the pandemic. Throughout the time,
Prerona Foundation has remained active with its
various development programmes, and is
working to provide necessary assistance,
including capacity development and market
linkage to provide these communities with
livelihood opportunities.
As Prerona Foundation joins hands with Daraz
Bangladesh, one of the leading online
marketplaces in the country, it is expected that
their team effort will further promote the concept
of meaningful purchase.
Prerona Masks are 4-layered fabric facemasks
designed for both men and women. A wide range
of fashionable, trendy, and comfortable masks
are available on Daraz, which complies with the
World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines
for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
production. Certified by Bangladesh
Government-authorised certification agency, the
masks come equipped with 2 inner layers of
polypropylene, a metal nose clip for secure fit,
and soft ear-loop for greater comfort.

frIDAY, JUlY 30, 2021
4
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam
e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com
Friday, July 30, 2021
Pushing forward our
Delta Plan 2100
Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding
with the Netherlands some years ago. Called the
Bangladesh Delta plan 2100, it envisages the
establishment of cooperation with the Dutch in all respects
of water management from 50-100 years. One would only
wish for the best for this plan and for it to continue because
Bangladesh stands to be benefited immensely from it.
Information-- indicating the future of Bangladesh most
of the time -- appear to be short of hope. It is generally
made out that the future of the country is rather hopeless.
Far too many people are already seen living in this tiny
country in the physical sense. Thus, anxiety is expressed
about the living space for this population which would
become even greater in the future not to mention finding
the means of sustenance for the growing number.
But Malthus and all other prophets of doom have been
proved wrong in the context of Bangladesh. Bangladesh's
population nearly doubled in the last three decades.
However, so did its food production. Agricultural
production has been more than keeping pace with
population growth.
Thus, Bangladesh has not become a failed state like
Sudan or Somalia. It is still a land of hope for its
hardworking and resilient people. If only its political
leadership improved in their sincerity to truly lead the
country in the desired path, then, as most Bangladesh
watchers say, this country could achieve a much higher
level of economic progress by now.
As for the other formidable worry - land shortage - there
is good news waiting for this country. Although there has
been a long standing projection about a part of
Bangladesh's coastal areas sinking into the sea in the near
future from the greenhouse syndrome, regularly received
satellite imageries and other tangible supporting evidences
suggest that Bangladesh is rather about to receive the gift
of a huge land mass from its adjoining sea.
The size of this land mass, eventually, could be as big as
the present size of Bangladesh or even bigger. But it will
depend considerably on what the Bangladeshis themselves
do-- like the people of the Netherland did --for lands to rise
from the sea and for the same to be joined to the mainland.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
is no doubt the most authoritative forum as regards
worldwide climate change and its consequences. But only
last year, IPCC had to eat its own words and confess that
some of its projections were flawed such as the imminent
disappearance of the Himalayan glaciers that could most
dramatically raise sea levels in the South Asian region.
Scientific data also indicate that nothing can be absolutely
said, yet, about the extent of sea level rise or the height of
its occurrences in different parts of the world.
Thus, it may eventually become quite possible for
Bangladesh to gain in elevation or new lands in its coastal
area in the likelihood of deposition of silt in its coastal
areas being faster or greater than the anticipated sea level
rise in this region.
Unfortunately, nothing has been noted so far in the
country's annual development plans (ADPs) to the
effect that the government is paying 'enough' attention
to this issue. No substantial allocations have been
made over the years to build dams and other
structures to put a pace on the process of accretion of
coastal lands. Let us hope that the agreement signed
with the Netherlands will reverse this trend.
Already, substantial territories have surfaced in the
coastal areas of Bangladesh. Some of these places have
completely surfaced and have human habitations on
them while others remain submerged during tides to
emerge with the ebbing of the tide. The latter types of
accreted lands are likely to gain in elevation to be
permanently joined to the mainland. Indeed, a part of
present day Bangladesh including the districts of
Faridpur, Barisal, Noakhali, Patuakhali, etc., were
formed in this manner over time.
Lands have already emerged from the sea in the coastal
areas and more lands from the sea will hopefully rise in the
future. But the natural process is a long one. It can be
hastened and the technology for it is not so prohibitive or
complex either. For Bangladesh, it involves only
quickening the process of accretion by establishing
structures like cross dams to speed up the rate of
deposition of silt in areas that have accreted or nearly
accreted.
The country is likely to get a generous response from the
international community in matters of fund availability
and technical supports if it can show that it is really keen
to accrete more lands and has put the endeavor under a
systematic policy framework.
Netherlands is one country which has the most
experience in getting lands out of the sea. It had a situation
worse than Bangladesh in the sense that much of it was so
low lying and below the sea level that even high tides and
storms in the sea led to its severe flooding and continuing
inundation. Today, the Dutch have not only solved these
problems through sophisticated engineering works, they
have permanently reclaimed vast stretches of lands from
the sea and are keeping them dry for various uses within
secure barriers or sea walls.
Bangladesh can certainly gain from engaging the
Netherlands in doing similar work for it. If we can play the
Netherland card well, then in the near future we can also
expect to sustainably get huge lands from the sea. Not only
in land reclamation, the Dutch help will prove to be
invaluable in all fields of water management such as
fighting flood, river training, etc.
Tunisia's president steps in due to Ennahda's failings
The last time protesters amassed
along Habib Bourguiba Avenue in
Tunis, Tunisia was in the throes of a
revolution that unseated strongman Zine
El-Abidine Ben Ali and dismantled his
fearsome police state. Last weekend, as
people gathered in front of parliament,
dissatisfaction with the ruling Ennahda
party and Prime Minister Hichem
Mechichi grew so great that President
Kais Saied invoked an emergency article
of Tunisia's constitution.
He dismissed parliament and several
key ministers and deployed the hitherto
apolitical army onto the streets. In what
was the region's only successful
democracy in the wake of the tumult of
the so-called Arab Spring, recent events
paint a stark picture.
Returning to his family home for lunch
and refusing to stay in the presidential
palace, the law professor-turnedpresident
does not fit the profile of the
archetypal Arab strongman. However,
after having campaigned on a populist
ticket, he has quickly become known as
"Robocop," with his staccato addresses in
formal Arabic in regards to law and order
issues suggesting that the events of this
week were perhaps inevitable.
Recent developments cannot, however,
be viewed in isolation. In April, Saied
raised eyebrows when he declared that his
powers as commander of the armed forces
also covered the internal security forces,
threatening to draw the sensitive Interior
Ministry into the political arena and
potentially dividing the security
establishment.
This should have served to warn the
country's warring factions that sustained
political squabbling, coupled with a
worsening public health crisis, might steer
the country toward executive rule.
The government proved to be
completely incapable of dealing with the
stagnant economy and an alarming
coronavirus disease outbreak.
To Saied, the author of several books on
Tunisia's government, including "General
Provisions of the Constitution," the
constitutional mechanisms with which to
take power would have been incredibly
clear. Though recent clashes between
supporters of Saied and those of Mechichi
and Ennahda have typified the political
chasm that divides Tunisia today, they
only explain one of the many issues with
the post-revolution political setup.
According to Yasmina Abouzzohour of
the Brookings Doha Center: "The yearlong
power struggle at the top can also be
taken as a failure on the government's
ZAID m. BelBAGI
part. Infighting between the legislative
and executive branches, as well as major
divides within parliament, have all but
paralyzed the political process and made it
difficult to implement much-needed
systematic reforms."
To Saied, the constitutional
mechanisms with which to take power
would have been incredibly clear.
North Africa expert and chairman of
Cross-border Information Jon Marks
said: "Tunisia has a peculiar and
complicated political culture that has been
ill-suited to developing an economy,
which is continually getting worse and
meeting the problems that caused the
Arab Spring. Their constant bickering has
resulted in successive governments who
have been unable to resolve the constant
political crises that have exacerbated
social division."
This summary of the root of the political
stagnation in the country highlights the
serious impact of the divisions between
the middle class, academics, a socially
conservative working class and politically
DoN mClAIN GIll
mobilized unions on the country's urgent
problems.
Culture wars have typified Tunisian
politics over the last decade, with laws
concerning the private lives of citizens
taking center stage ahead of urgently
needed economic reforms and job
creation. While Saied has been criticized
for his forceful deployment of
constitutional privilege,
Ennahda's decade as Tunisia's foremost
political force has become synonymous
with a continued failure to translate the
great hope of the country's revolutionary
generation into economic well-being.
Despite being well placed across
government and key institutions and
organizations, the party's record is one of
misappropriation of the generous aid
Tunisia has received, while also
politicizing its position within Tunisia
internationally to such an extent that the
country has become host to several
foreign powers and their respective battles
for regional dominance.
The once fiercely independent Tunisian
political class, which led African efforts at
decolonization, has now become a pawn
for the ambitions of foreign powers at the
expense of the lives of ordinary Tunisians,
which still have not improved.
Zaid M. Belbagi is a political
commentator, and an adviser to
private clients between London
and the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC). Twitter: @Moulay_Zaid
Time to renew multilateral leadership on climate crisis
Bolstering India-Japan partnership in Russian Far East
On July 20, Indian Foreign
Secretary Harsh Shringla stated
that India and Japan are willing to
enhance cooperation through
investments and joint projects in third
countries, including the strategically
located and resource-rich Russian Far
East.Moreover, he outlined the deepening
multidimensional partnership between
India and Japan has the "potential to
shape a multipolar world that is more
peaceful, secure and sustainable."
India and Japan are major Asian
powers that seek to maintain the stability,
peace, and order of the continent. Aside
from their political clout and military
capabilities, both countries possess
significantly large economies. Russia can
benefit from this by bolstering its
partnership with India and Japan as it
seeks to improve the political-economic
environment in its Far East region.
The Russian Far East constitutes more
than one-third of the country's total
territory. It is also abundant in natural
resources and is critical to preserving
According to Yasmina Abouzzohour of the Brookings Doha
Center: "The year-long power struggle at the top can also be taken
as a failure on the government's part. Infighting between the legislative
and executive branches, as well as major divides within
parliament, have all but paralyzed the political process and made
it difficult to implement much-needed systematic reforms."
The events of the past year are a stark
reminder of the need for global
action on climate change and
environmental protection.
A global pandemic, with its likely source
in increased interaction between wildlife
and humans, has brought the world's
economy to its knees, put a strain on the
social fabric across the globe, and claimed
millions of lives so far.
In Southeast Asia and indeed across the
globe, natural disasters have again taken a
heavy toll. Even nations at an advanced
stage of development, equipped with the
best capacities and technologies, have
been increasingly impacted by climaterelated
disasters affecting their
infrastructures, food and health systems,
and ecosystems.
Some commentators and decisionmakers
have seen this unprecedented
crisis as a sign of failure of international
cooperation and multilateralism, and are
promoting more isolationist policies.
Even before the pandemic struck, an
increase in commercial and geopolitical
tensions was already a concern,
particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.
These approaches are fundamentally
misguided. Our economies and societies
have become closely interconnected, and
advances in digital and transportation
technologies will only reinforce this trend.
Multilateral action is complex and can
often be frustrating when the national
interests of nearly 200 states are at stake.
But we are acutely aware by now that
certain challenges are global in nature and
require global solutions.
Environmental and climate-change
issues offer plenty of examples. The
oceans, our river basins, the air we
breathe, and the biodiversity we rely on
for our economy, our health and our
scientific progress know no borders. We
also know that multilateral action can
work. Joint action on threats to the ozone
layer, under the 1987 Montreal Protocol,
has led to a significant drop in ozonedepleting
substances. The ozone layer is
recovering and based on current trends,
the World Meteorological Organization
foresees an end to the "ozone hole"
phenomenon over Antarctica by 2060.
It is worth reviewing the key success
factors in this case.
First, the Montreal Protocol addressed a
scientifically recognized challenge of
global scale, with implications for human
health. Second, it benefited from
increased consumer awareness of the
harmful effects of ozone-depleting
substances, thanks to effective education
and awareness campaigns.
Third, after some initial resistance,
industry leaders invested in research and
development and were able to deploy
alternative technologies within a few
years.
And last but not least, the Montreal
Protocol came about as a result of decisive
leadership from key developed nations, in
a spirit of multilateralism, which included
financial and technical support for
developing countries to make the shift to
more environmentally friendly
technologies. Many of these ingredients
are again present, to address larger
environmental and climate change
challenges.
Scientific evidence of the impacts of
environmental degradation and climate
change on human development is
overwhelming. Global awareness of these
issues is reaching unprecedented levels as
impacts on health, access to water, food
systems and migrations, just to name a
highly important Asian trade routes.
However, despite its geopolitical and
economic importance, the Russian Far
East continues to face underdevelopment,
which has been a point of concern for
Moscow.
The region's history of socio-political
issues coupled with economic constraints
serves as a challenge for Moscow's
interests to maintain the stability, unity,
and peace throughout the country.
Accordingly, these factors have prompted
the Russian government to spearhead
policies to prioritize the development of
the Far East in 2006.
A major milestone toward the growth
profile of the Far East was reached a few
years later through the government's
"Pivot to the East" strategy, which
encompassed a series of initiatives for the
development of the region. The Far East
was to act as a link between businesses in
Russian mega-regions and companies in
East and South Asia.
Furthermore, the strategy also aimed to
increase investments in the Far East to
SAY SAmAl
few, are becoming more and more
obvious. Particularly encouraging is the
engagement of youth. In Cambodia, a
recent study found that 75% of young
people under 25 were motivated to take
action or had already acted to fight climate
change.
The private sector is gradually coming
on board. Many industry leaders now
recognize the opportunities of the green
economy. Investments in the
development and implementation of
sustainable energies and other climatefriendly
technologies are booming, and
sustainable finance is gathering pace.
In the last few months, we have seen
encouraging signs of leadership from
The Cambodian government fully appreciates the multilateral support
received as the country successfully transitioned to a new era of
peace and stability. We are now in a position to play an active role in
these multilateral mechanisms, as demonstrated by our contribution
to United Nations peacekeeping operations, and our active
participation in environmental and climate-change conventions.
some of the world's leading economies,
including announcements of carbonneutrality
targets by Japan and China,
and the European Green New Deal.
Most recently, the decision of the United
States to rejoin the Paris Agreement on
climate change and its commitment to
achieve net zero emissions of greenhouse
gases by 2050 have the potential to reinvigorate
global action on climate
change. Strong partnerships with climatevulnerable
nations must be a key
component of that response.
Multilateral action allows all nations, no
matter how small, to chip in and
contribute to a solution. It has a multiplier
effect, which makes possible results that
leading world or regional powers may not
be able to achieve on their own.
The Cambodian government fully
appreciates the multilateral support
enhance economic activity and growth.
However, the situation in Ukraine that
erupted in 2014 led to attempts from the
United States and the European Union to
isolate and impose sanctions of Russia.
These circumstances added more impetus
to Russia's pivot to Asia. Furthermore, the
role of the Far East became more
emphasized.
However, as Russia pivots to Asia, it is
faced with a worrying new reality in its Far
East - China's economic and military rise
and its proximity to the region. The
population of the Far East is only a little
over 6 million. Moreover, the population
in the region is on a downward trend due
to low birth rates and migration to other
parts of Russia.
This phenomenon is being exacerbated
by the influx of Chinese migrants in the
area. Furthermore, the large empty spaces
in the Far East have been increasingly
utilized by Chinese businesses. This
reality may greatly affect Russia's security
perception in the long term.
Despite being strategic partners, the
received as the country successfully
transitioned to a new era of peace and
stability. We are now in a position to play
an active role in these multilateral
mechanisms, as demonstrated by our
contribution to United Nations
peacekeeping operations, and our active
participation in environmental and
climate-change conventions. The
submission of our updated 2030 targets
under the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change is the most recent
example of this commitment, and
Cambodia is currently working on its own
Long Term Low Emissions Development
Strategy. As mentioned recently by our
prime minister at the P4G Summit in
Seoul, Cambodia, as ASEAN chair for
2022, will work with all members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations to
implement the agreed comprehensive
Covid recovery framework, including
clear commitments on sustainable,
resilient and climate-smart recovery.
At the global level, a successful COP26
in Glasgow will be essential to increase
momentum. We call on all parties to
finalize negotiations on the rulebook for
the implementation of the Paris
Agreement on climate change.
Governments and private investors alike
need this clear framework to get more
ambitious projects moving on the ground.
After a forced period of economic
slowdown and self-reflection in 2020, this
year must mark a new beginning on how
the international community addresses
the global environmental and climatechange
crises. Cambodia stands ready to
do its part. We look forward to renewed
global leadership and commitment to
multilateral action from our partners.
Collectively, we must seize this
opportunity, to help our people and our
planet thrive.
Say Samal is Minister of
Environment, The Royal
Government of Cambodia.
level of mistrust due to a complex history
and China's increasing footprints in
traditional Russian spheres of influence
have warranted evaluation. Accordingly,
Moscow has further pushed for the
diversification of partners in its Far East
as it worries about a demographic and
economic imbalance in the region.
India and Japan have continuously
collaborated on a variety of
infrastructural, investment, and security
projects throughout Asia and beyond.
Both major democracies have highlighted
the need for transparency, peace, and
development in every joint project that
they have undertaken.
In recent years, the Russian Far East has
become a significant area for cooperation
between the two countries.
Don McLain Gill is a resident fellow at the
Manila-based International Development and
Security Cooperation (IDSC) and the director for
South Asia and Southeast Asia at the Philippine-
Middle East Studies Association (PMESA). He is
also a geopolitical analyst and an author

fridaY, julY 30, 2021
5
US-South Korea alliance needs reaffirmation
SukjOOn YOOn
After 70 years of partnership, it's time
for an overhaul of the South Korea-U.S.
alliance. The two need a complete
rethink about North Korean military
threats, which have become much
more diverse. Besides the legacy threat
of conventional military attack from the
North, South Korea and the United
States now confront a nuclear threat
and also the prospect of asymmetric
attacks through cyberspace and by
other non-conventional means.
South Korea and United States
Forces Korea (USFK) are currently
based around tit-for-tat legacy
operational concepts designed to push
back North Korean mass and
distributed threats. But today, the allies
need to deal with North Korean
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),
artillery, main battle tanks (MBTs),
missiles, and special forces; they also
need to distinguish a full-scale attack
from provocations intended to send a
political message.
North Korea has prioritized its
nuclear weapons development over its
conventional military capabilities, so
most of their conventional weapons
and systems appear to be obsolete, and
the ROK-U.S. alliance therefore has a
high degree of confidence in its ability
to counter North Korean conventional
military capabilities. In general, North
Korean weapons can only target fixed
ground facilities and still have limited
precision and lethality. But North
Korea has recently developed some
new conventional weapons and
systems, notably the 600 mm "superlarge
multiple rocket launcher," the
KN-23 improved short-range ballistic
missile, and the Pukguksong-3
submarine-launched ballistic missile
(SLBM). These emergent threats are
serious, and need a response from
South Korea's Ministry of National
Defense (MND).
ROK's Defense Reform 2.0 is
focusing on how to adapt technologies
of the "fourth industrial revolution,"
such as artificial intelligence, virtual
reality, and augmented reality, to
the rOk-u.S. alliance must change as well to keep pace. Photo: dominique a. Pineiro
retrofit existing weapons and systems,
but this is inadequate. Rather than
adapting civilian technologies for
military purposes, South Korea needs
to develop dual-purpose technologies
developed for and driven by military
requirements.
North Korea is close to achieving its
long-term goal of becoming a fully
capable nuclear power, and is also
enhancing its cyber warfare capability.
The North conducts frequent
cyberattacks, recently including those
on the Korea Atomic Energy Research
Institute, Daewoo Shipbuilding &
Marine Engineering Corporation, and
Korea Aerospace Industries. Existing
South Korean cyber defenses are
incapable of effectively countering such
attacks.
North Korea also conducts
psychological warfare, for example by
denying responsibility for sinking the
ROKS Cheonan in 2010 and accusing
the South Korean military instead. This
campaign has aggravated the suffering
of victims' families and exacerbated
political polarization in South Korea.
North Korea's asymmetric threats
will require some new thinking, going
beyond the traditional conceptual
scenarios. South Korea's response
needs to be practical, effective, and
proportionate to the severity of the
provocation. Unfortunately, however, it
seems that the ROK military and USFK
are currently experiencing considerable
difficulty in moving toward this kind of
a more realistic approach, which
requires changing their tactical
doctrines and evolving new operational
concepts. A range of novel scenarios
needs to be modeled, involving both
symmetric confrontations and
asymmetric attacks in the electronic,
space, and cyber domains. The military
strategy of the ROK-U.S. alliance is
now heavily dependent upon the
electronic interconnection of weapons
and systems, such as UAVs/UUVs and
Joint All-Domain Command and
Control (JADC2) networks. These are
vulnerable to new types of attack, for
example, electromagnetic pulse
weapons, which North Korea will likely
seek to acquire.
There is also another reason to
propose an urgent review of existing
military scenarios. On May 21, at the
Biden-Moon summit in Washington,
D.C., the South Korean president
agreed to participate in the U.S.-led
Indo-Pacific Strategy. Many military
experts have interpreted this to mean
that the ROK-U.S. alliance will no
longer be focused entirely on the
military situation of the Korean
Peninsula. In the future, the South
Korean military and Combined Forces
Command (CFC) of the two countries
could become involved in military roles
and missions throughout the wider
Indo-Pacific region, perhaps in the
South China Sea or the Taiwan Strait.
In that case, the ROK-U.S. alliance
surely needs to be adapted to
encompass new concepts of joint
operation and new doctrines.
The ROK-U.S. military alliance has a
long and successful history. It is a great
alliance, but in the contested and
complex military environment of
today's Korean Peninsula, the CFC
needs a new approach to sustain the
alliance into the future. We must
address the weaknesses and
constraints which undermine the
effectiveness of the current ROK-U.S.
alliance.
First, we need to invest not just in
preparing for symmetric and legacy
threats, but also for asymmetric threats
across an all-domain battlespace.
North Korean conventional threats are
well understood after seven decades,
but asymmetric threats from North
Korea are increasing, and poorly
characterized. So far, the allies have no
substantial countermeasures in place.
Second, rather than prioritizing or
revitalizing the ROK defense budget, it
needs to be recapitalized, to allow the
development of new doctrines and
operational concepts, and to build the
appropriate platforms. The
recapitalization should include
integrating the Command and Control
(C2) chains of South Korea and the
United States to counter new and
emerging threats, and Moon's rigidly
scheduled OPCON transfer plan must
be abandoned.
Third, now that South Korea has
bought into the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific
Strategy, the integrated ROK-U.S. C2
will be conducting more diversified
missions and roles, whether for the
military situation of the Korean
Peninsula or for crises and
contingencies at regional flashpoints,
such as the South China Sea and
Taiwan. A bilateral Combined Forces
Combat Development Command
between South Korea and the United
States should be established to prepare
for overseas expeditionary joint
military operations beyond the Korean
Peninsula.
At his May 21 summit with Biden,
Moon agreed that ROK armed forces
will join with USFK as part of a wider
Indo-Pacific Strategy. What does the
ROK-U.S. alliance need to get ready for
in new military situations beyond the
Korean Peninsula, and how can the
current CFC evolve the necessary new
operational concepts?
First, the ROK-U.S. alliance needs to
build a bilateral and integrated JADC2
network incorporating South Korea's
C2 and ISR to improve joint combat
capabilities and enhance survival
prospects in the event of a North
Korean massed military attack against
major fixed targets across the Korean
Peninsula. Although USFK is being
equipped with JADC2 capability under
the National Defense Authorization Act
for fiscal year 2022, it is imperative that
the ROK armed forces are not left
behind. For ISR, South Korea should
accelerate its development of XLUUVs
capable of monitoring newly-built
North Korean ballistic missile
submarines from the near seas of North
Korea before oceangoing operations
begin.
Second, the Ministry of National
Defense should recapitalize its budget
to develop a new concept of
combined/joint coalition operations
between South Korea and the United
States to encompass next-generation
platforms such as Manned and
Unmanned Team (MUM-T),
sophisticated ISR sensors similar to the
U.S. Army AN/TPQ-53 radar to create
a Korean version of the Israeli Iron
Dome, and integrated C2 networks
capable of being adapted for theaters
beyond the Korean Peninsula.
Third, now that ROK forces are going
to be operating together with USFK as
part of a wider Indo-Pacific Strategy,
the ROK-U.S. alliance needs to
establish a new conceptual basis for a
bilateral combined defense posture
that can respond either to threats from
North Korea or to regional crises.
Taliban may ally with China and
Russia to offset the US influence
Getting close to indonesian provinces is a key goal of Chinese diplomacy and crucial for the implementation of the Belt
and road initiative.
Photo: Collected
The growing Chinese partnership
with Indonesia
MuhaMMad zulfikar rakhMat
In the midst of growing ties between
China and Indonesia, one facet has been
largely overlooked: the increasing
partnership between both countries'
provinces. As a trading partner and
export destination as well as the second
largest investor in Indonesia, China has
begun to look at the economic potential
in a number of provinces in the
archipelago. This month, for example,
the Central Sulawesi provincial
government signed a cooperation deal
with China in the agricultural sector,
especially the cultivation of soybeans in
the region. Under the agreement, Beijing
is expected to provide assistance for
soybean seeds and agricultural
technology.
It is, however, important to note that
China's ties with Indonesian provinces
are not a new development. Rather,
China has been cultivating such
relationships for several years, especially
since the Belt and Road Initiative began
to be implemented in Indonesia.
For instance, China has also shown a
great deal of interest in West
Kalimantan. During a webinar entitled
"Exploring the Economic Potential of
China-West Kalimantan Post Pandemic"
early this year, it was shown that the ties
have been going on for some time. The
deputy governor of West Kalimantan,
Ria Norsan, said that there are 10
leading West Kalimantan export
commodities sent to China, including
mining goods, fishery products, and
crude vegetable oil. Both sides are also
reportedly planning to expand their ties
in the furniture sector.
Some provinces have additionally
established sister province cooperation
with their counterparts in China. Besides
Jakarta's relationship with Beijing, West
Java province has established sister
province ties with Guangxi, Chongqing,
Sichuan, Henan, and Heilongjiang.
These agreements have resulted in
closer ties in the fields of agricultural
culture, tourism, and manufacturing
industry.
In September 2019, the Chinese
province of Shandong started
cooperation with the Riau Islands in the
development of Special Economic Zones
(SEZs) in Bintan, namely in Galang
Batang. In the same year, Lumajang
District of East Java Province also
discussed ties with Tianjin in the fields of
investments, tourism, and exports.
Bengkulu is another province that has
forged its own ties to China. China has
helped with the construction of
Bengkulu's Electric Steam Power Plant
(PLTU), which will have an impact on
the economic growth of the province.
Further, in 2019, representatives from
Bengkulu and China met to discuss the
possibility of future cooperation,
especially in the agricultural sector, with
coffee commodities as the focus.
Not far from Bengkulu, China has also
sought to cooperate with South Sumatra
and Lampung provinces. With
Lampung, for instance, China has
partnered with the Lampung
Agricultural Technology Study Center
(BPTP) on the monitoring and
evaluation of hybrid rice development
cooperation activities since 2013. The
partnership also includes training
researchers and other relevant
stakeholders and the development of
laboratories and other supporting
facilities.
Moreover, Bali has also been in
cooperation with Yunnan Province in
the economic and tourism fields since
2013. In 2019, there was a plan for the
two provinces to open a direct flight to
pave the way for more expansive
business and people-to-people
exchanges.
East Java has also cultivated ties with
Chinese provinces, especially Shanghai,
Tianjin, Guangxi, Shandong, Zhejiang,
and Jiangxi. Many Chinese companies
have also made investments in East
Java. While a Chinese consulate has
been established in East Java's capital,
Surabaya, the province has also founded
the Center for Exchange and
Cooperation in Tianjin, with various
activities being organized such as a
Chinese Cultural Knowledge
Competition. In addition, parliamentary
representatives from East Java
frequently exchange working visits with
their Chinese counterparts.
North Sumatra has also cooperated
with China in recent years. This is
particularly apparent with the presence
of Chinese investments in the province,
such as China Harbor Engineering Co.
Ltd., which invested in the Medan-
Kualanamu Airport toll road project. In
addition, Shanghai Electric Power
Construction Co. Ltd. invested in the
2×150 power plant project in the Medan
Industrial Estate, and Guangdong Power
Engineering invested in the first phase of
the 2×150 MW Pangkalan Susu power
plant project. Not only that, ties have
also expanded into the fields of trade
and education, so that the provincial
government agreed to open direct flights
to Guangzhou, Xiamen, and Chengdu in
China.
Catherine Putz
Concluding her remarks at a special
session of the Joint Coordination and
Monitoring Board (JCMB), a platform
for strategic coordination between the
Afghan government and international
donors on which Afghanistan continues
to rely, the United Nations Secretary
General's Special Representative for
Afghanistan Deborah Lyons said that at a
time when half of the Afghan population
faces extremely dire circumstances,
"Afghan leaders with us need to decide
whether to subject Afghanistan to further
generations of war, or to reach political
compromises that will allow the country
to breathe again, to rest, and to rebuild."
Earlier in July, after giving remarks
about the U.S. withdrawal from
Afghanistan, U.S. President Joe Biden
responded to a question regarding how
serious a factor Afghan government
corruption was in "this mission failing
there" by first pushing back - "Well, first
of all, the mission hasn't failed, yet" -
before noting that there's been
corruption in all parties to the Afghan
conflict. "The question is, can there be an
agreement on unity of purpose?" Biden
also commented that the negotiations
between the Afghan government and the
Taliban hadn't quite worked out as
planned, "So the question now is, where
do they go from here?"
Talks between Afghan government
and Taliban negotiating teams, which
began last September, have made scant
progress beyond what media heralded as
a "breakthrough" in December 2020
setting rules and procedures for the talks.
Since then, while the sides have met
several times, a mutual agenda has not
been agreed upon and the Taliban have
continued to make military gains. Last
week, representatives from the Afghan
government and the Taliban met again in
Doha and once again failed to make
progress.
Yet consensus seems to remain that
negotiation is the only way out of the
conflict for Afghanistan. If only the
Afghan government can attain Biden's
"unity of purpose" and translate that into
some kind of unity with the Taliban. But
questions of unity apply to the
international community, too.
Lyons, in her recent remarks, said that
to "address Afghanistan's longer term
issues peace negotiations must proceed
in earnest and with real sincerity so that a
sustainable, inclusive, and equitable
peace can be reached." She went on to
note that the "world has now recognized
that the Taliban must be a partner in
Afghanistan's transition to self-reliance"
but that no major international donor
would finance the repression of women.
Earlier in her remarks, Lyons had
commented that while the Taliban had
gained "a certain legitimacy" by
participating in negotiations with the
Afghan government, "legitimacy is
premised on their commitment to a
political negotiation with the
Government of Afghanistan, a
commitment which their battle-focused
strategy casts into doubt."
But the international community isn't
necessary unified with regard to
Afghanistan. The United States and its
allies may be, but it's not really a unipolar
world anymore. There are plenty of
cleavages for the Taliban to exploit, most
prominently between the United States
and China.
Talks in Doha have taken a backseat to
Taliban delegations jetting around the
region for other discussions. As Lyons
was making her remarks, the Taliban's
chief negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani
Baradar met with Chinese Foreign
Minister Wang Yi in Tianjin. Baradar's
meeting with Wang came two days after
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy
Sherman visited the city for what turned
out to be fairly contentious talks, after
some drama over whether they'd happen
at all. Sherman went back to Washington
with two lists of Chinese "grievances."
the consensus is that negotiation is the only way out of the conflict for afghanistan, but that only holds
true if the international community is united.
it's not. Photo: Pixabay

FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2021
6
Coast Guard rescues 14 fishermen
alive from Bay of Bengal
on July 25, 2021, a fishing boat
named FV rajiya-2 set sail from the
Mahashekhali Ghat at tajumuddani
upazila in Bhola to catch fish in the
Bay of Bengal. the incident took
place at Sokaitli Channel, Sandwip
police Station, Chattogram, 2 days
after the boat capsized in the sea, a
press release said.
Members of Bangladesh Coast
Guard were able to rescue 14 people
alive from the sea. rescuers rescued
in the mountains were brought to
the BCG outpost in Sarkai. Media
officer Lt M abdur rauf confirmed
the incident to the Coast Guard east
Zone and said that 14 people were
rescued unharmed in a fishing boat
and provided first aid and food.
the Coast Guard continues to
conduct and will continue to
conduct regular rescue operations in
the coastal areas, including in the
areas of disciplinary control, public
safety as well as forest kidnapping,
anti-robbery and drug control.
Under the leadership of Mayor Taposh, Councilor Asaduzzaman Asad of Ward 21 has
formed Team 21 to tackle dengue.
Photo: Courtesy
team-21 determined to tackle dengue
amid coronavirus pandemic
tBt report
the planned and efficient timely
actions of asaduzzaman asad,
Councilor, Ward 21, dhaka South City
Corporation, has already been highly
appreciated. in continuation to this
extensive activities are underway to
control dengue in Shahbagh, tSC and
Shaheed Minar areas, the heart of
dhaka city.
under the leadership of Mayor
taposh, Councilor asaduzzaman
asad of Ward 21 has formed team 21.
proper planning is needed to prevent
this waterlogging and to combat
dengue. and a clean and vibrant
dhaka will be built with the help of
cleanliness of one ward and the
support of the people. that's the way
team 21 is. team 21 is therefore
always dynamic and one of the
examples to move the stagnant
dhaka.
Members of Bangladesh Coast Guard in a drive rescued 14 fishermen from Chattogram's Sandwip upazila
on Wednesday.
Photo: Courtesy
In observance of the 27th founding anniversary of Bangladesh Awami Swechchhasebak League and the
birthday of Bangabandhu's grandson Sajib Wajad Joy, a discussion meeting was held at the office of district
Awami League in Joypurgat on Wednesday.
Photo: Masrakul Alom
Swechchhasebak League holds
discussion meeting in Joypurhat
MaSrakuL aLoM, Joypurhat CorreSpondent
on the occasion of the 27th founding
anniversary of Bangladesh awami
Swechchhasebak League and the
birthday of Bangabandhu's grandson
Sajib Wajad Joy, a discussion
meeting was held at the office of
district awami League in Joypurgat
on Wednesday.
district Swechchhasebak League
president Lecturer aeM Masud raza
presided over the function while
district awami League president and
Zila parishad Chairman arifur
rahman rocket delivered the
keynote address.
among others, district awami
League General Secretary Zakir
hasan Mandal, Sadar upazila
parishad Chairman SM Salaiman ali,
former district awami League Vicepresident
Mala Shamsul alam, adv.
napadranath Mandal pp were also
present at the occasion.
one dies, 113 more
test positive for
Covid-19 in Bhola
BhoLa: a number of 113
more persons were diagnosed
with CoVid-19 positive in the
last 24 hours in the district
after testing 250 samples at
Bhola 250-bed General
hospital CoVid-19
laboratory, reports BSS.
among the new positive
cases, 44 are in Sadar upazila,
16 in Borhanuddin upazila, 12
in Lalmohan upazila, 25 in
Charfashion upazila and eight
each in tajumuddin and
daulatkhan upazilas of the
district, civil surgeon of the
district dr. k M
Shafiquzzaman told BSS last
afternoon.
Meanwhile, one person has
died with coronavirus
infection in the last 24 hours
in the district, he said.
the total number of
infected people in the district
stood at 3,513 while the
number of recovery cases at
2,340, the civil surgeon said.
Meanwhile, a total of 48
patients recovered from
CoVid-19 in the last 24
hours.
a total of 31 persons have so
far died of CoVid-19 in the
district, he added.
dr. k M Shafiquzzaman
said infected 71 persons are
now undergoing treatment at
Bhola 250-bed General
hospital, rest of the infected
persons are now undergoing
treatment at home quarantine
under the supervision of
doctors from their respective
upazila health complexes.
35.40pc Covid-19 positivity
recorded in rangpur division
ranGpur: rangpur division recorded 35.40
percent Covid-19 positivity rate as 120 fresh
cases were reported after testing 339 newly
collected samples at the two Covid-19
laboratories yesterday, reports BSS.
"the Covid-19 positivity rate continues
showing a rising trend in recent weeks in the
division," Focal person of Covid-19 and
assistant director (health) for rangpur
division dr Za Siddiqui told BSS.
earlier, the daily positivity rates were 28.02
percent on tuesday, 26.92 percent on
Monday, 27.36 percent on Sunday, 27.38
percent on Saturday, 25.27 percent on Friday
and 38.40 percent on thursday last in the
division. .
among the 120 new patients, 79 were
reported positive after diagnosing 151 newly
collected samples at the Covid-19 Laboratory
at rangpur Medical College (rpMC) in
rangpur city at the daily positivity rate of
52.32 percent yesterday.
"the 79 new patients include 39 from
rangpur, 18 from kurigram, nine from
Lalmonirhat and 13 from Gaibandha districts,"
principal of rpMC professor dr. akM
nurunnobi Lyzu told BSS at 7:25 pm.
on the other hand, 41 new patients were
reported after diagnosing 188 samples at the
Covid-19 Laboratory at M abdur rahim
Medical College (MarMC) in dinajpur at the
daily positivity rate of 21.81 percent yesterday.
"the 41 new Covid-19 infected patients
include 24 from dinajpur, eight each from
thakurgaon and panchagarh and one from
nilphamari districts," said principal of
MarMC professor dr. Syed nazir hossain.
talking to BSS, divisional director (health)
dr Md Motaharul islam said the number of
Covid-19 patients climbed to 42,358 as 120
new positive cases were reported today from
across the division.
rt pCr Lab inaugurated in pabna
aBduL haMid khan, paBna CorreSpondent
after a long wait, the rt pCr lab of Corona
test was finally launched in pabna. the lab
was inaugurated by pabna Sadar Mp and
district awami League General Secretary
Golam Farooq prince as the chief guest on
Wednesday.
Speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural
function, Golam Farooq prince said that it
was possible to get state-of-the-art rt pCr
lab in pabna due to the full cooperation of
prime Minister Sheikh hasina.
pabna Medical College principal prof. dr.
Bulbul hasan presided over the inaugural
function while among others, pabna-
Sirajganj reserved women's seat Mp nadira
yasmin Jolly, pabna district Council
Chairman and district awami League acting
president rezaul rahim rahim Lal, deputy
Commissioner Biswas russell hossain,
Superintendent of police Mahibul islam
khan and Civil Surgeon dr Manisar
Chowdhury were also present at the
occasion.
it is to be noted that the people of pabna
have suffered a lot in the corona test as there
was no corona test lab in pabna during the
last one year. Samples from here were sent
to rajshahi - Sirajganj and even kushtia. it
would have taken a long time to get the
result.
With the financial support of the donor organization JICA and the development of Asia Arsenic Network-
Bangladesh, the project "Improving the Water Supply of 8 Upazila Public Complexes and 250 Bed
Hospitals in Jashore and the Medicinal Practices" SS Rolling Phones were provided to ensure the social
distance of all the recipients outside the Jashore Upazila Health Complex on Wednesday. Dr. Mir Abu
Maud, Upazila Health Officer received the fences. During the time, Assistant Surgeon Dr. Adnan Imtiaz
Rahman, Rashida Khatun and other officials including Hygiene Promotion Supervisor Mujibar Rahman
Dabbrat Ghas Sumon and Rifat Ara Remu were present on behalf of the project. Photo: Shahid Joy
RT PCR lab was inaugurated by Pabna Sadar MP and District Awami League General Secretary Golam
Farooq Prince in Pabna on Wednesday.
Photo: Abdul Hamid Khan

frIDAY, JUlY 30, 2021
7
India logged 43,509 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to
3,15,28,114, while the active cases registered an increase for the second consecutive day, according
to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
Photo : AP
Active COVID-19 cases register increase
for second consecutive day
NEW DELHI : India logged 43,509
new coronavirus infections taking
the total tally of COVID-19 cases to
3,15,28,114, while the active cases
registered an increase for the second
consecutive day, according to the
Union Health Ministry data updated
on Thursday.
The number of people who have
recuperated from the disease surged
to 3,07,01,612, while the case fatality
rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data
stated.
The death toll climbed to 4,22,662
with 640 fresh fatalities.
The active cases have increased to
4,03,840 and comprise 1.28 per cent
of the total infections, while the
national COVID-19 recovery rate
was recorded at 97.38 per cent, the
data updated at 8 am showed.
The daily positivity rate was
recorded at 2.52 per cent, the
ministry said, adding the weekly
Taliban surge poses
'existential crisis':
US watchdog
WASHINGTON : The Afghan
government faces an
"existential crisis" after the
Taliban doubled their attacks
following the February 2020
US deal with the insurgents, a
watchdog report said
Thursday.
The report said Taliban
attacks on Afghan targets
surged from 6,700 in the three
months up to the Doha
agreement to 13,242 in the
September-November 2020
period.
Attacks have stayed above
10,000 in each subsequent
three-month period, according
to the report by the US Special
Inspector General for
Afghanistan Reconstruction
(SIGAR).
While the rise in attacks had
long been clear, data had not
previously been available to
demonstrate how intense the
rebels' offensive had become.
The United States agreed to
withdraw all troops from
Afghanistan in expectation the
Taliban would negotiate a
peace deal with the Kabul
government.
Since then the Talibangovernment
talks have stalled
but the US has steadily pulled
out troops to a level of only
several hundred now, with an
August 31 deadline for full
withdrawal.
The SIGAR report makes
clear that the Doha agreement,
instead of propelling Taliban-
Kabul talks, unleashed an
offensive that caught
government forces unprepared
and increased the number of
civilian deaths.
Over January-March of
2020, there were only 510
civilian deaths and 709
casualties, the report said,
quoting data from the US-Nato
joint force in Afghanistan.
After that the numbers
surged, hitting 1,058 deaths
and 1,959 injured in the third
quarter that year and
continuing at high levels.
positivity rate was recorded at 2.38
per cent. An increase of 4,404 cases
has been recorded in the active
COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24
hours.
Cumulative vaccine doses
administered so far has reached
45.07 crore under the nationwide
vaccination drive.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed
the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30
lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on
September 5 and 50 lakh on
September 16. It went past 60 lakh
on September 28, 70 lakh on
October 11, crossed 80 lakh on
October 29, 90 lakh on November 20
and surpassed the one-crore mark
on December 19. The country
crossed the grim milestone of two
crore on May 4 and three crores on
June 23.
As many as 17,28,795 tests were
conducted on Wednesday taking the
total cumulative tests conducted so
far for detection of COVID-19 in the
country to 46,26,29,773.
The ministry said the 640 new
fatalities include 286 from
Maharashtra and 131 from Kerala.
A total of 4,22,662 deaths have
been reported so far in the country
including 1,32,145 from
Maharashtra, 36,456 from
Karnataka, 33,995 from Tamil Nadu,
25,049 from Delhi, 22,755 from
Uttar Pradesh, 18,109 from West
Bengal and 16,286 from Punjab.
The ministry stressed that more
than 70 per cent of the deaths
occurred due to comorbidities.
"Our figures are being reconciled
with the Indian Council of Medical
Research," the ministry said on its
website, adding that state-wise
distribution of figures is subject to
further verification and
reconciliation.
Sydney police call
for military to
enforce lockdown
SYDNEY : Police in Australia's largest city
have requested military help to enforce a
coronavirus lockdown as infections in
Sydney reached a new record Thursday.
Commissioner Mick Fuller said New
South Wales police had asked for 300
Australian Defence Force personnel to be
deployed "to boost its operational
footprint".
The city of five million people is in its
fifth week of a lockdown that is set to run
until the end of August.
Stay-at-home orders have failed to
reduce new infections to zero, and
compliance has been patchy.
Sydney residents are only allowed to
leave their homes for exercise, essential
work, medical reasons, and to shop for
necessities such as food.
But for weeks, parks and beach
promenades have been filled with
Sydneysiders drinking coffee and chatting
with friends.
Police have increasingly been doling out
fines to those violating the restrictions and
Fuller said those efforts would be stepped
up in the coming days.
Last weekend thousands of people
gathered in central Sydney to protest
against the measures, and further
demonstrations have been mooted.
Police have also requested more powers to
shut down businesses that they say are not
abiding by rules on social distancing.
On Thursday state premier Gladys
Berejiklian warned that the outbreak-which
began mid-June when a driver for an
international flight crew contracted the
virus-is "likely to get worse".
Officials announced 239 new infections in
Sydney, a record for this outbreak, which
now totals 2,810 cases.
With under 14 percent of the Australian
population vaccinated, many experts have
warned that Sydney's lockdown could run
for months more.
Supplies of Pfizer-BioNTech shots are low
and there has been widespread scepticism
about the AstraZeneca jab, slowing the
vaccine rollout.
Police in Australia's largest city have requested military help to enforce a
coronavirus lockdown as infections in Sydney reached a new record
Thursday.
Photo : AP
Should vaccinated people
mask up with COVID-19
cases rising?
NEW YORK : Should
vaccinated people mask up
with COVID-19 cases rising?
Yes. In places where the
virus is surging, the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention recommends
that vaccinated people return
to wearing masks in public
indoor places.
The CDC recently
announced the updated
guidance, citing new evidence
that vaccinated people who
get breakthrough infections
could carry enough virus in
their noses and throats to
infect others.
COVID-19 vaccines greatly
reduce the chance of severe
illness and death and remain
effective against variants,
including the now
predominant delta variant.
But it's still possible to get
infected.
Masking could prevent the
spread of the virus to children
too young for vaccination and
people with weak immune
systems, reports UNB.
In short, the vaccine
protects you. A mask protects
others in case you are
carrying the virus without
knowing it.
You can find out your
county's level of coronavirus
transmission at the CDC's
COVID-19 data tracker
website. The CDC
recommends indoor masking
in areas where transmission
is substantial or high. Those
areas are marked in orange
and red on the site.
Forest fire near
Turkish resort
kills three
ANKARA : Three people were
reported dead Thursday and
more than 100 injured as
firefighters battled blazes
engulfing a Mediterranean
resort region on Turkey's
southern coast.
Officials also launched an
investigation into suspicions
that the fires that broke out
Wednesday in four locations
to the east of the tourist
hotspot Antalya were the
result of arson.
Turkey's disaster and
emergencies office said three
people were killed-including
an 82-year-old who lived
alone-and 122 injured by the
fires.
"Treatment of 58 of our
citizens continues," it was
quoted as saying by the
Anadolu state news agency.
The fires affected a sparsely
populated region about 75
kilometres (45 miles) east of
Antalya-a resort especially
popular with Russian and
other eastern European
tourists.
WASHINGTON : Hoping to set a model
for employers nationwide, President
Joe Biden will announce Thursday that
millions of federal workers must show
proof they've received a coronavirus
vaccine or submit to regular testing and
stringent social distancing, masking
and travel restrictions, reports UNB.
An individual familiar with the
president's plans, who spoke on
condition of anonymity to confirm
details that had yet to be announced
publicly, emphasized that the new
guidance is not a vaccine mandate for
federal employees and that those who
decide not to get vaccinated aren't at
risk of being fired.
The new policy amounts to a
recognition by the Biden
administration that the government -
the nation's biggest employer - must do
more to boost sluggish vaccination
rates, as coronavirus cases and
hospitalizations rebound, driven largely
by the spread of the more infectious
delta variant.
Biden has placed the blame for the
resurgence of the virus squarely on the
shoulders of those who aren't
vaccinated.
"The pandemic we have now is a
pandemic of the unvaccinated," Biden
said during a visit Wednesday to a truck
plant in Pennsylvania, where he urged
the unvaccinated to "please, please,
Biden woos working class with
new 'buy American' efforts
MACUNGIE : President Joe Biden checked
out the big rigs at a Pennsylvania truck
factory on Wednesday and promised
workers that his policies would reshape the
U.S economy for the working class - a
message clearly aimed at a group of voters
who have drifted to Republicans.
Biden highlighted new "buy American"
rules from his administration that he said
would put a new muscle behind an initiative
that he argued had become a "hollow
promise" in recent years.
"They got a new sheriff in town," Biden
said after touring Mack Truck's Lehigh
Valley operations facility. He said the effort
would help create jobs, a central thrust of his
administration's "build back better"
program. Administration officials, who have
made manufacturing jobs a priority, believe
Democrats' political prospects next year
might hinge on whether Biden succeeds in
reinvigorating a sector that has steadily lost
jobs for more than four decades.
Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush,
Barack Obama and Donald Trump each said
his policies would save manufacturing jobs,
yet none of them broke the long-term trend
in a lasting way.
The administration is championing a $973
8.2 magnitude earthquake
off Alaskan peninsula,
tsunami warning
WASHINGTON : A shallow 8.2 magnitude
earthquake struck off the Alaskan peninsula
late Wednesday, the United States
Geological Survey said, prompting a
tsunami warning.
The earthquake hit 56 miles (91
kilometers) southeast of the town of
Perryville, the USGS said, with a tsunami
warning in effect for south Alaska and the
Alaskan peninsula.
The US government issued a tsunami
warning for Alaska's southeast.
"Hazardous tsunami waves for this
earthquake are possible within the next
three hours along some coasts," the US
Tsunami Warning System said in a
statement.
Perryville is a small village about 500
miles from Anchorage, Alaska's biggest city.
A 7.5 magnitude earthquake caused
tsunami waves in Alaska's southern coast in
October, but no casualties were reported.
Alaska is part of the seismically active
Pacific Ring of Fire.
Alaska was hit by a 9.2-magnitude
earthquake in March 1964, the strongest
ever recorded in North America. It
devastated Anchorage and unleashed a
tsunami that slammed the Gulf of Alaska,
the US west coast, and Hawaii.
More than 250 people were killed by the
quake and the tsunami.
shallow 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the Alaskan peninsula late
Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey said, prompting a tsunami
warning.
Photo : AP
Biden to launch vaccine push for
millions of federal workers
please, please" get a shot. A day earlier,
he mused that "if those other 100
million people got vaccinated, we'd be
in a very different world."
The administration on Wednesday
was still reviewing details of the
expected guidance, and significant
questions about its implementation and
scope remained. It was unclear whether
the president would issue similar
requirements for the military and how
federal contractors would be affected.
The administration is announcing the
move now with the hope that it will give
agencies enough time to craft their own
guidelines and plans for
implementation before workers return
fully to the office.
The announcement is expected to
come as part of broader remarks
Thursday that Biden promised would
outline "the next steps in our effort to
get more Americans vaccinated."
The individual said the conversation
around the new vaccine guidance had
been in the works for some time and
was intended to provide an example for
private companies to follow as they get
ready for workers to return this fall. But
it's just the latest policy shift from the
administration during a week of new
coronavirus mitigation efforts, as the
White House grapples with a surge in
coronavirus cases and hospitalizations
nationwide driven by the delta variant
billion infrastructure package, $52 billion for
computer chip production, sweeping
investments in clean energy and the use of
government procurement contracts to create
factory jobs.
On the visit, Biden heard about Mack's
electric garbage trucks.
"The ability to build and sell these new
trucks would be helped by the president's
proposed investment in buy American
production incentives for domestic electric
vehicle manufacturing," said White House
deputy press secretary Karine Jeanne-Pierre.
The plant was neatly organized, with the
thousands of truck parts organized in aisles
and the hulls of half-finished trucks awaiting
the president's inspection. The plant was
silent other than the whir of fans. Work was
halted as part of a two-week hiatus during
which Biden visited.
The president won Lehigh County in the
2020 election, but he is facing the perpetual
challenge of past administrations to revive a
manufacturing sector at the heart of
American identity. Failure to bring back
manufacturing jobs could further hurt
already ailing factory towns across the
country and possibly imperil Democrats'
chances in the 2022 midterm elections.
and breakthrough infections among
vaccinated Americans.
On Monday, the Department of
Veterans Affairs became the first federal
agency to require vaccinations, for its
health workers. And on Tuesday, the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention reversed its masking
guidelines and said that all Americans
living in areas with substantial or high
coronavirus transmission rates should
wear masks indoors, regardless of their
vaccination status.
With the latest CDC data showing
that Washington, D.C., is facing
substantial rates of transmission, by
Wednesday reporters and staff were
again masking up at the White House.
The new guidance on vaccinations for
federal employees reflects the reality
that Biden's national vaccination drive
has fallen short of his goals.
Public opinion seems to have
hardened around the vaccines, with a
recent poll from The Associated Press-
NORC Center for Public Affairs
Research finding that among American
adults who have not yet received a
vaccine, 35% say they probably will not,
and 45% say they definitely will not.
"Doing more of the same just will not
work," said Dr. Leana Wen, a former
Baltimore health commissioner who's
become a leading public health
commentator on the pandemic.

FriDAY, JulY 30, 2021
8
IPRS technology creates new hope
for fish farmers in Rajshahi region
Piloting of digital mobile apps named "BKB APPs" of Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) is inaugurated at the
bank's Head Office on Wednesday. This apps has been developed for making financial transactions easy
and rapid for all the customers under financial inclusion & quality access to credit program. The
Chairman of the Board of Directors Md. Nasiruzzaman formally inaugurated the ceremony. The
Managing Director of the bank Md. Ali Hossain Prodhania, Deputy Managing Director Shirin Akhter and
all the General Managers along with concerned officials were present on the occasion. Photo : Courtesy
Double tax and bandits on the
Pakistan-Afghan trade route
CHAMAN, Pakistan : The Taliban's
capture of a key Afghan-Pakistan border post
has sent trucking costs soaring, with
insurgents and government officials
separately taxing traders, and bandits
demanding bribes to allow safe passage of
goods.
Thousands of vehicles cross daily from
Chaman in southwestern Pakistan to Spin
Boldak on the other side, carrying goods
destined for Kandahar, Afghanistan's
second-biggest city.
On the way back they usually ferry
agricultural produce bound for Pakistan's
markets or ports.
The bilateral trade-worth hundreds of
millions of dollars a year if not more-ground
to a halt earlier this month after the Taliban
seized the dusty border town, but resumed
this week with the insurgents seemingly
firmly in charge.
They have captured a vast swath of the
country since early May after launching a
series of offensives to capitalise on the final
stages of the withdrawal of foreign troops.
While they have not yet taken any
provincial capitals, they have captured a
string of key border posts-with Iran,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Pakistanwhich
provide vital revenue from customs
duties on goods arriving in the landlocked
country. "We loaded grapes in Kandahar and
on the way we have been extorted at least
three times," trucker Hidayatullah Khan told
AFP at Chaman.
JibanBima premium payment
now in Nagad
Nagad, the mobile financial
service of Bangladesh Post
Office, has tied hand with the
JibanBima Corporation, staterun
life insurance provider of
Bangladesh, to facilitate the
insurance premium payment
for the customers, a press
release said.
From now on, Nagad users
can pay the insurance premium
of Jiban Bima Corporation
from their account sitting
anywhere, anytime, which will
eliminate the need to visit any
physical location and can save
time, money and effort.
The partnership is essentially
more valid since cashless
transection is beneficial during
the ongoing pandemic.
Nagad and Jiban Bima
Corporation has signed a deal
in this regard Tuesday at Jiban
Bima Head Office in the capital
where the insurance company
Chairman Md. Maksudul
Hasan Khan was the chief guest
and Managing Director of the
insurance company Md
Zahurul Haque also present.
Nagad Chief Executive
Officer Rahel Ahmed and
JibanBima Corporation
General Manager (Finance and
Accounts) Sheikh Kamal
Hossain signed the agreement
for their respective
organizations.
Nagad CEORahel Ahmed
said, "Nagad was started two
years ago as the part of the
"Sometimes they charge 3,000 rupees
($20), somewhere else 2,000 rupees, and in
some other place 1,000 rupees," he said.
That was on top of the taxes he had to pay
Taliban officials in Spin Boldak and Afghan
government customs officials who have
opened shop in Kandahar.
Nissan sees return to
annual profit after
strong Q1 results
TOKYO : Crisis-hit Japanese carmaker
Nissan upgraded its annual outlook
Wednesday, projecting a return to the black,
after a strong first quarter performance
fuelled by a recovery from the coronavirus
pandemic, reports BSS.
Nissan now forecasts a 60 billion yen
($546 million) net profit for the year to
March 2022, compared with its earlier
estimate of a 60 billion yen net loss.
For the three months to June, the firm
logged a 114.5 billion yen net profit,
compared with a 285.6 billion yen net loss in
the same period last year.
It also tipped stronger annual sales after its
quarterly sales surged 71 percent to 2.0
trillion yen.
In the year to March 2021, Nissan had
trimmed its annual loss after weathering the
impact of virus lockdowns but stopped short
of turning a profit.
Digital Bangladesh revolution
of the Honorable Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasian. We
are very happy today with this
collaboration with one of the
pioneer insurance company of
the country and now our users
can pay their premium anytime
effortlessly."
He said, "Although the
mobile financial service of the
country started about a decade
back, but with innovative
solution Nagad has acquired
more than 5 crore customers
within such a short time along
with daily transection of Tk 700
crore. With the revolutionary
solution like digital KYC we
have reduced the registration
hassle which helped the
Fast-growing,
controversial
Robinhood set
for market debut
NEW YORK : Robinhood
has said its mission is to
"democratize finance for all,"
and that stretches to its plan
for the company's debut on
public markets Thursday.
The online investment
platform, which is expected
to begin trading under the
ticker symbol "HOOD" on
the Nasdaq, has set aside up
to 35 percent of the shares
under its initial public
offering for sale to its users.
Individual investors are
normally excluded from
IPOs, making Robinhood's
move the latest rupture with
tradition in its speedy rise
that has only accelerated
during coronavirus
pandemic. On Wednesday
night, the company said it
raised $1.9 billion in an
initial public offering priced
at $38 per share, at the low
end of the range in its
prospectus.
The firm, whose
commission-free stock
trading model has been
copied by some rivals, had
$81 billion in assets under its
custody at the end of March,
up from $14.2 billion at the
end of 2019.
financial inclusion in the
country."
Jiban Bima Corporation
Managing Director, Md
Zahurul Haque, has marked
this collaboration with a staterun
mobile financial service as
a milestone and said, "We hope
majority of our premium
collection of Tk 700 crore
comes through Nagad. As we
both are state-run
organization, it will ultimately
help the government and the
people."
Stressing on more digital
innovation like Nagad, Jiban
Bima Corporation Chairman
Md. Maksudul Hasan
Khansaid, "Such innovation
proves that we have already
passing the Digital Bangladesh
era which was a government
vision. Now more innovation
should come and such
collaboration should get more
publicity."
Nagad's Chief Marketing
Officer Sheikh Aminur
Rahman, Chief Sales Officer
MdShihab Uddin Chowdhury,
JibanBima Corporation
General
Manager
(Development and ICT) were
present in the occasion among
others.
Earlier,Nagad has joined
hands with MetLife insurance
for premium payment channel
and currently so far the state
owned mobile financial service
also has partnership with27
insurance companies for
collecting their premiums
through Nagad.
RAJSHAHI : In-pond raceway system
(IPRS), a highly sophisticated
innovative aquaculture technology, has
created a high hope among the fish
farmers in the region, including its vast
Barind tract.
The hope has been generated with
the breakthrough of launching an IPRS
fish farming venture at Noyagola
Bolunpur, located in the outskirts of
Chapainawabganj district town,
around two years back.
Salient features of an IPRS are air-lift,
bottom aeration, cells and waste
collection arrangements that make this
system unique ensuring optimal water
chemistry that allows super high
density stocking.
Akbar Hossain, the owner of "Nawab
Matsya Khamar Prakalpa [Nawab Fish
Farm Project]" is using IPRS in his
ponds producing different carps,
Tilapia and Pangas commercially.
He installed the system in 20 acres of
his land creating scopes of producing
around 32 tons of fish from every 250
cubic metres using the IPRS promising
a dramatic rise in fish production.
In the modern system, about 10,000
fishes can be reared at a time in a bigha
of water body against hardly 300 to
400 fishes in the same area in
conventional method, Akbar, a national
award winning fisheries entrepreneur,
said.
He said this is an environmentally
friendly aquaculture technology that
can help to ensure quality and safe
seafood for human consumption.
Various types of fish species of different
sizes can be cultivated at the same time
in the same pond.
"We have stocked Rui, Catla,
Common Carp, Grass Carp, Pangas,
Tilapia, and Pabda species of fish," said
Akbar Hossain, adding depending on
market demand fish will be stocked in
future on the basis of trial specific
species.
He is expected to harvest 2,000
tonnes of fishes valued at around Taka
10 crore from the 20-acre pond a year
meaning that he will make a profit of
Taka five crore.
District Fisheries Officer Dr Amimul
Ehsan, who is extending technical
support to the venture since its very
beginning, said all the conditions of
Good Aquaculture Practices (GAP) are
being followed in Akbar's farm. Talking
to BSS, he said establishing
raceways/channels in a big pond and
maintaining continuous water flow in
those raceways is the main principle of
IPRS. Outer area of the raceways is also
facilitated by continuous circular water
flow. Simultaneously, a mechanized
feeding system and removal of all waste
materials are also ensured.
Sufficient dissolved oxygen supply,
continuous water exchange in the
raceway and regular removal of
pollutants make the system similar to a
natural water stream. Amid these
special arrangements, fishes feel
convenient, swim freely as they are in
their natural home and they can be
cultivated at super high density.
"Export-quality fishes are being
produced," Dr Ehsan said, adding IPRS
SAN FRANCISCO :
Facebook on Wednesday
reported its profit doubled in
the recently ended quarter
as digital advertising surged,
but warned of cooler growth
in the months ahead in an
update which sent its shares
sinking.
Profit jumped to $10.4
billion on revenue of $29
billion, a 56 percent increase
from last year, mainly from a
jump in ad revenues,
Facebook said in its second
quarter report.
The number of people
using the social network
monthly climbed to 2.9
billion, a year-over-year gain
of seven percent. And some
3.5 billion people used at
least one of the company's
apps including Instagram,
WhatsApp and Messenger.
"We had a strong quarter
as we continue to help
businesses grow and people
stay connected," Facebook
chief executive Mark
Zuckerberg said in an
earnings release.
However, Facebook shares
slipped some four percent as
the tech giant warned that
growth was expected to slow
due to regulatory actions
and a tweak to the Apple
iPhone operating software
that could hurt its ad
targeting.
"We continue to expect
increased ad targeting
headwinds in 2021 from
regulatory and platform
changes, notably the recent
iOS updates," Facebook said
in the earnings release.
The move by Apple early
this year has sparked a rift
with Facebook and other
tech rivals and could have
major implications for data
privacy and the mobile
ecosystem.
Apple began requiring
apps to tell users of its
mobile devices what
tracking information they
want to collect and get
permission to do so.
Opting out of being
tracked makes it harder for
companies such as Facebook
to target the ads on which
they depend for revenue.
"This has been very
challenging for advertisers
is a visually attractive and most
scientifically advanced aquaculture
practice for farmable carps and
catfishes. In the modern system,
optimal water chemistry, particularly
sufficient dissolved oxygen, is ensured
by maintaining interrupted water flow
and waste disposal management. It
eventually allows a suitable
environment for super high density fish
stocking. Fishes are stocked in the
channels or raceways installed in the
pond, he added. He viewed that
adverse impact of climate change and
land and water resources scarcity have
become the crucial challenges in the
field of fish farming in the region at
present and IPRS can be the best ways
of facing both the challenges smartly.
Recent introduction of the advanced
technology can be considered as a
golden milestone in aquaculture
progress and mechanization in
Bangladesh and it can play a frontline
role in global freshwater aquaculture in
near future.
Divisional Deputy Director of the
Department of Fisheries Tofaz Uddin
told BSS that successful promotion of
IPRS can be the effective means of
limiting frequent digging of ponds on
cultivable lands. There is no alternative
to using technology in the farming
sector.
If the farm is built with IPRS
technology, more fish can be found in
less space. It will not be necessary to dig
thousands of ponds by destroying
croplands.
Jashore Zone of islami Bank Bangladesh limited organized Business Development Conference at
virtual platform recently. Mohammed Monirul Moula, Managing Director and CEO of the Bank
addressed the program as chief guest. Abu reza Md. Yeahia and Md. Mostafizur rahman Siddiquee,
Deputy Managing Directors, Mohammad Jamal uddin Mazumder, Salim Anwar, Mohammad Sayeed
ullah and G. M. Mohd. Gias uddin Quader, Senior Executive Vice Presidents of the bank addressed
the conference. Presided over by Md. Maksudur rahman, Head of Jashore Zone, Head of Branches
and officials under the Zone attended the conference.
Photo : Courtesy
China tries to ease
investor fears over
crackdown: report
BEIJING : Beijing
scrambled to calm investors
after a crackdown on some
of China's biggest firms
rattled markets with
regulators calling bankers in
for a last-minute call
Wednesday night,
Bloomberg reported.
The call hosted by the
China Securities Regulatory
Commission included
executives of international
investment banks,
Bloomberg added.
The business models of
private tutoring firms were
obliterated by a shock
announcement on Saturday
that they must become nonprofits,
sending stock prices
crashing.
A source with knowledge
of the call on Wednesday
told Bloomberg that bankers
were given the impression
that the sudden edicts for
education companies were
not going to ripple out to
other industries.
The crackdown on the
sector is the latest in a series
of new rules for industries
ranging from education to e-
commerce.
Facebook doubles profit,
but sees cooling growth
and we're working with
them to help navigate these
changes," Facebook chief
financial officer David
Wehner said on an earnings
call.
The results come with
Facebook and other large
tech firms facing heightened
scrutiny from antitrust
enforcers in the United
States and elsewhere for
their dominance.
Facebook won dismissal of
a case brought in US federal
court last year, but
authorities are seeking to
refile the case which could
potentially lead to a breakup
of the social media giant.
Facebook is on track to
bring in more than $100
billion in annual ad revenue
for the first time, according
to industry tracker
eMarketer.
Google is the top digital ad
publisher with nearly 29
percent of the market, with
Facebook having the second
largest share just shy of 24
percent, eMarketer
reported.

fRiDAY, JUlY 30, 2021
9
Richarlison is now the leading scorer in the tournament with five goals after his hat-trick
against Germany.
Photo: AP
Richarlison fires Brazil into Olympics
quarter-finals, Germany out
SPORTS DESK
Richarlison continued his fine form at
the Olympics with a double as Brazil
eased into the quarter-finals after a 3-1
win over Saudi Arabia on Wednesday,
as Germany exited the men's
tournament and hosts Japan
progressed with a thrashing of France,
reports UNB.
Reigning champions Brazil, who won
gold for the first time on home soil in
Rio de Janeiro five years ago, finished
top of Group D and will face Egypt in
the last eight on Saturday.
Matheus Cunha put them ahead in
Saitama on Wednesday, but Abdulelah
Al-Amri's goal brought the Saudis level
before the half-hour mark.
A draw would have been enough for
Brazil to go through as group winners,
but Richarlison netted in the 76th
minute and again in injury time.
The Everton forward is now the
leading scorer in the tournament with
five goals after his hat-trick against
Germany.
The Germans, runners-up to Brazil in
2016, bowed out after a 1-1 draw with
the Ivory Coast.
Germany had to win to progress, but
Benjamin Henrichs' own goal midway
through the second half proved costly.
Eduard Lowen's equaliser shortly
afterwards set up a tense finale, but the
Ivorians held on to seal second spot in
the group and a quarter-final against
Spain.
The Spaniards are one of the gold
medal favourites after naming a strong
squad featuring six members of the
team that reached the Euro 2020 semifinals.
But they scored only twice in the
group stage, with a 1-1 draw against
Argentina enough to edge them
through.
Real Sociedad midfielder Mikel
Merino put Spain in front in the 66th
minute. Tomas Belmonte netted a late
equaliser for Argentina but the point
sealed 1992 champions Spain first
place in Group C.
Egypt set up a dream clash with
Brazil by seeing off Australia 2-0 with
goals from Ahmed Yasser Rayan and
Ammar Hamdy.
France humbled by Japan -
France had given themselves hope of
progressing from Group A when
Andre-Pierre Gignac scored a hat-trick
in a 4-3 win over South Africa.
But they crashed out as their defence
proved fragile again in a 4-0 loss to
Japan.
The home side, who reached the
semi-finals in London in 2012, made it
three wins from three and booked a
match against New Zealand.
Real Madrid youngster Takefusa
Kubo netted for the third straight
match before former Marseille
defender Hiroki Sakai's tap-in doubled
the lead.
Substitutes Koji Miyoshi and Daizen
Maeda added to France's blushes as
youngster Randal Kolo Muani was sent
off on a miserable evening for Les
Bleus.
South Africa's slim hopes of reaching
the quarters were ended by a 3-0 loss to
Mexico in a game which ended with
both teams a man down.
The Mexicans will take on South
Korea on Saturday, in the same half of
the draw as Brazil and Egypt.
South Korea finished top of Group B
after a 6-0 thrashing of 10-man
Honduras and were joined in the
knock-out stage by the Kiwis, who
played out a goalless draw with
Romania to finish above their
opponents on goal difference.
Australia athletes isolating at Olympics
as US pole vaulter Covid positive
Kurtis Marschall in action at the Australian championships in April.
Marschall trained with US pole vaulter Sam Hendricks before Hendricks
tested positive for Covid-19.
Photo: AP
SPORTS DESK
Multiple members of
Australia's track and field
team were placed in
isolation on the eve of the
Tokyo Olympics athletics
competition on Thursday
after US pole vaulter Sam
Kendricks tested positive for
coronavirus, reports BSS.
Athletics Australia said
members of the team were
isolating after US chiefs
confirmed two-time world
champion Kendricks was
out of the Tokyo Games after
a positive Covid-19 test.
"Members of Australia's
track and field team at the
Tokyo Olympic Games are
isolating in their rooms as a
precautionary measure
following news of a Covidpositive
finding with a
member of the US track and
field team," Athletics
Australia said in statement.
"Members of the
Australian track and field
team are now undergoing
testing procedures in line
with Australian Olympic
team protocols."
The statement did not say
how many athletes were
involved but the Sydney
Morning Herald reported
the entire 63-strong track
and field team had been told
to isolate.
Kendricks earlier became
the latest high-profile
withdrawal from the
Olympics after testing
positive for coronavirus.
"We are saddened to
confirm that Sam Kendricks
tested positive for Covid-19
and will not compete in the
Olympic Games Tokyo
2020," the United States
Olympic and Paralympic
Committee said on Twitter.
Organisers announced a
daily record of 24 new
Games-related cases on
Thursday, three of whom are
athletes, taking the overall
number of positive cases to
193.
The figures do not include
all cases at airports and in
training camps. - Dressel
gold chase -
In Olympics action, US
swim star Caeleb Dressel
notched his second triumph
of the Games to stay on track
for a potential six golds.
Dressel arrived at the
Olympics tipped to push for
a Michael Phelps-style
medal haul and already has
two wins under his belt, with
a potential four to come.
The 24-year-old powered
to the wall in the men's
100m freestyle in a new
Olympic record time of
47.02sec to dethrone
Australia's Kyle Chalmers.
Dressel, who spearheaded
the United States to the
4x100m relay title earlier
this week, will also race the
50m freestyle and 100m
butterfly and could feature
in two other relays.
The swimmer, who won
two relay golds in Rio, said
he was proud to claim his
first individual title.
"I didn't want to admit it
but now I did it I can admit
it, it's a lot different," he said.
"You can't rely on anyone
else. It's just you in the
water, there's no one there to
bail you out. It's tough. It's
really tough. So I'm happy to
actually do it."
Dressel's 13 world titles
have prompted inevitable
comparisons with Phelpswinner
of eight Olympic
golds at the 2008 Beijing
Games and 23 in total.
Only Phelps, Mark Spitz
and Kristin Otto have won
six or more golds at a single
Olympic Games in
swimming.
Robert Finke won another
gold for the United States in
the men's 800m freestyle
while Australia's Zac
Stubblety-Cook claimed the
men's 200m breaststroke
gold in a new Olympic
record time of 2:06.38.
China's Zhang Yufei took
gold in the women's 200m
butterfly and China rounded
off the morning session by
smashing the world record
in the 4x200m women's
freestyle relay, finishing
ahead of the United States
and Australia.
Pollard shines before
West Indies and Pakistan
T20 abandoned
SPORTS DESK
Persistent rainfall forced the
abandonment of the first
T20 International of a fourmatch
series between the
West Indies and Pakistan as
a no-result at Kensington
Oval in Barbados on
Wednesday, reports BSS.
After steady rain delayed
the start of play by almost
three hours and reduced the
match to nine overs-perside,
West Indies totalled 85
for five batting first.
Captain Kieron Pollard
top-scored with an unbeaten
22 while seamer Hasan Ali
led the bowling effort for the
visitors with figures of two
for 11 off two overs.
However the rains
returned just as the home
side's innings was coming to
an end and after some
deliberation the umpires
announced
the
abandonment of the match.
With the series already
reduced from a five-match
contest due to a Covid 19-
enforced delay during the
preceding One-Day
International series against
Australia at the same venue,
this latest setback leaves the
series now as a best-of-three
duel. The remaining
matches will be played at the
Providence Stadium in
Guyana starting on
Saturday.
PSV advance in
UEFA Champions
League play-offs
SPORTS DESK
PSV Eindhoven advanced to
the Champions League's
third qualifying round after
beating hosts Galatasaray 2-
1 to win the second round tie
7-2 on aggregate, reports
UNB.
Noni Madueke's deflected
shot eight minutes before
half-time on Wednesday put
PSV ahead on the night and
captain Marco van Ginkel
extended the lead from a
Mario Gotze cross just
before the hour-mark.
The visitors were reduced
to ten men when Olivier
Boscagli picked up a second
yellow card for a foul on
Mbaye Diagne in the 73rd
minute.
Substitute Diagne then
volleyed in an eye-catching
goal 11 minutes later, but it
was a mere consolation for
Galatasaray.
PSV will face Danish side
Midtjylland in the next
round, while Galatasaray
dropped into the third
qualifying round of the
Europa League, where they
will meet St Johnstone of
Scotland.
BCB head curator
Gamini not part
of Australia series
SPORTS DESK
Bangladesh chief curator
Gamini de Silva won't be
available in the field during
the upcoming home series
against Australia as he is not
part of their bio-bubble,
confirmed a Bangladesh
Cricket Board official on
Wednesday, reports UNB.
The Sri Lankan arrived in
Bangladesh on Wednesday
and went straight to the
Sher-e Bangla National
Stadium, raising quite a few
eyebrows considering a
strict bio-bubble is
maintained since July 21
that saw 140 people related
with the series being part of
it.
"He came to see the pitch
and went back home
afterwards. He had to see
the pitch with his own eyes.
Because it is an open space
he came with his car and
went inside through the Iron
Gate and after seeing the
pitch went back to his
home," the official informed.
"From now onwards he
will conduct the next course
of action through phone
from his home," he added.
Sri Lanka level Covid-hit T20
series with two balls to spare
SPORTS DESK
Disciplined bowling and Dhanajaya de
Silva's unbeaten 40 helped Sri Lanka to a
series-levelling four-wicket win over India in
the Covid-19 delayed second Twenty20
international on Wednesday, reports BSS.
Chasing 133 for victory, Sri Lanka
depended on an unbeaten 28-run seventhwicket
partnership between De Silva and
Chamika Karunaratne, who made 12, to
achieve their target with two balls to spare in
Colombo.
De Silva kept his nerve in the 34-ball knock
after Sri Lanka were in trouble at 105-6 and
along with Karunaratne, who hit a timely six
in the penultimate over, helped the hosts
level the three-match series at 1-1.
"I always thought and knew it was about
one big over. I decided to bat till the end. We
held our nerves today," said man of the
match De Silva. "It is always tough against
India."
Sri Lankan bowlers led by Akila Dananjaya
kept India down to 132-5 after the tourists
fielded four debutants following virus
positive Krunal Pandya and eight of his close
contacts forced to sit out, which was
postponed hours before the scheduled start
on Tuesday.
Dananjaya, who bowls a subtle mix of
Disciplined bowling from Akila Dananjaya.
finger spin and wrist spin, returned figures of
2-29 including the key wicket of skipper
Shikhar Dhawan, bowled for 40.
The left-handed Dhawan put on a brisk 49-
run opening stand with debutant Ruturaj
Gaikwad (21) and carried on in the same vein
with Devdutt Padikkal (29), also playing his
first T20 on what seemed a sluggish pitch.
But Wanindu Hasaranga bowled the
left-handed Padikkal in the 16th over with
his leg-spin as India found it tough to
push the run rate.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson
and debutant Nitish Rana also failed to
boost India's total as they fell to
Dananjaya and pace bowler Dushmantha
Chameera respectively.
"I thought if we could contain them to a
low total, we could chase it," said skipper
Dasun Shanaka.
Avishka Fernando was out early for 11
off pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar in
the Sri Lankan chase, but Minod Bhanuka
hit a brisk 36.
Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun
Chakravarthy hurt the middle-order with
key strikes including Shanaka for three
before De Silva hit back and completed the
win."I am very proud of the boys because we
gave a very good fight," Dawan said of his
young team.
Photo: AP
China's Zhang Yufei wins
butterfly gold
SPORTS DESK
China's Zhang Yufei proved untouchable in
the women's Olymic 200m butterfly final
Thursday, blasting to the gold medal in the
third fastest time ever, reports BSS.
The 23-year-old has been in red-hot form
this year and hit the wall in a new Olympic
record time of 2mins 03.86sec ahead of
American Regan Smith (2:05.30) and teammate
Hali Flickinger (2:06.65).
Victory comes as a timely boost for China,
who now have their first swimming gold
medal in Tokyo to add to one silver, which
Zhang won in the 100m fly, and a bronze.
Zhang, a sprint free and fly specialist, had
been one of only two women to crack
Olympic organisers
defend coronavirus
measures as cases rise
SPORTS DESK
Tokyo Olympics organisers dismissed any
link to rising coronavirus cases in Japan on
Thursday after reporting 24 infections
among Games participants, the highest yet,
reports BSS.
At least 193 athletes, media and Olympic
employees and contractors have now tested
positive for the virus, according to Tokyo
2020 figures that do not include some cases
at airports and in training camps.
On Wednesday, Japan reported 9,583
cases nationwide, the first time the figure has
topped 9,000, with cases also at a record
level in Tokyo.
International Olympic Committee
spokesman Mark Adams said there was
nothing to suggest a link between the Games
and the rising figures.
"As far as I'm aware there's not a single
case of an infection spreading to the Tokyo
population from the athletes or Olympic
movement," he told reporters.
"We have the most tested community
probably anywhere... in the world, on top of
that you have some of the toughest lockdown
restrictions in the athlete's village," he added.
Organisers also insisted the Games is not
putting additional pressure on Japan's
medical system, as experts warn the rising
number of cases could lead to a healthcare
2:06.00 this year, with Flickinger the other.
Her Olympic record at the Tokyo Aquatics
Centre was also the quickest time posted in
12 years.
The 23-year-old exploded from the blocks
to pull more than a second clear at the first
turn and she was motoring at world record
pace when the race reached halfway.
Flickinger, who took silver at the 2019
World Championships, was Zhang's closest
challenger going into the last length but she
was unable to close the gap and was pipped
to silver by Smith at the end.
Zhang will hope to claim her third
individual medal in the 50m freestyle, which
starts on Friday.
crisis.
Only two people associated with the
Games are in hospital, they said, and half of
all those needing care are being looked after
by their own medical teams.
"Of 310,000 screeening tests, the rate of
positivity is 0.02 percent," Adams added.
Of the Olympic participants reported
positive, 109 are residents of Japan, with the
rest coming from abroad.
The comments come with rising concern
in Tokyo and beyond about a rapid rise in
new infections, spurred by the more
contagious Delta variant.
Tokyo is already under a virus state of
emergency that shortens restaurant and bar
opening hours and bars them from selling
alcohol, and three neighbouring regions are
now expected to impose the same measure.
But experts say the limits do not appear to
be working, and have warned people not to
drop their guard.
"The current situation is the worst ever," a
top government advisor on the virus warned,
according to national broadcaster NHK.
Shigeru Omi, a former top WHO official,
added that since the government and
Olympic organisers had decided to go ahead
with the Games, "it is their responsibility to
do everything they can... to prevent
infections and a breakdown in medical
services".

FRIDAY, JuLY 30, 2021
10
Emon- Airin to pair up in
'Kagoj the Paper'
TBT REPORT
Actor Mamnun Hasan Emon and actress Airin
Sultana are going to pair up in a new film. They
will be seen in the thriller-action-romantic
story 'Kagoj the Paper'. It will be directed by
producer Ali Zulfikar Zahedi. The story and
screenplay have also been created by the
producer himself.
This is going to be the second movie of Emon-
Airin duo. Earlier in 2018, they acted together
in the movie 'Akash Mahal' directed by Delwar
Jahan Jhantu.
Recently, a poster of the movie 'Kagoj the
Paper' was published on the net arena. Emon in
a black coat and Airin in a white sari looks eyecatching.
Pictures of some books can be seen in
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is all about
the suspense, thrills, Easter eggs and well
characters that become benchmarks for
many reasons. It's been 10 years that we
have met Chris Evans' Steve Rogers, aka
'Captain America'. There cannot be anyone
else we would have imagined playing the
character, and the love for Steve is immense.
But one of the most burning questions that
have stayed unanswered for a decade now is
about Rogers' virginity.
Yes, you read that right. If you are saved
from the question then you have not been
consuming enough MCU content. 'Captain
America', aka Steve's virginity time and
again, has been a topic of huge discussions
and debate. Go on the internet, there are
theories on the times he probably got laid
too. In that case, when the writer of the flick
the poster.
"The story of the movie is centered on a
writer," Emon told. I am going to play a nice
character. I hope the audience will get a good
movie as a gift. '
Airin Sultana said, 'The thoughts of a writer
will reflect his point of view in this movie. I
believe viewers are going to get a movie with
a new story and they will get exceptional
message and entertainment by watching the
movie. '
Producer Ali Zulfikar Zahedi said, "The plan
was to start shooting the movie after Eid. But
now it is not possible due to lockdown.
However, I will start shooting as soon as the
situation is normal. The scenes of the movie
will be finished by working continuously.
Is Evans' 'Captain
America' AKA Steve
Rogers virgin!
TBT REPORT
has decided to confirm whether he is a virgin
or not, we are ought to listen.
Of course, the scrawny kid from Brooklyn
had minimum to no chance with ladies, but
went he attained his bulkier self and the
moment he was shown to the world, do you
think anyone could resist? There's also the
part where he was stuck in the ice for 70
years to win a dance with his Peggy Carter,
but what followed was also dramatic
enough. So the question still stands, is Chris
Evans' 'Captain America' aka Steve Rogers
virgin?
Answering it as per Comicbook are 'The
First Avenger' writers Christopher Markus
and Stephen McFeely. The duo is now MCU
Veteran and has penned 'Thor: The Dark
World', 'Captain America: Civil War',
'Avengers: Infinity War' and 'Endgame'.
Bhabna not
eligible for
vaccine due
to age
Renowned actress Ashna Habib Bhabna did not do
any shooting amid the Covid outbreak though many
stars were shooting after taking permission amid the
last time's lockdown before holy Eid-ul-Azha.
Bhabna is still unaware of working at risk, as
government has already announced a lockdown to
curb the Covid outbreak. She is complying that rule
and thinks every human being should abide by the
government regulations."
Currently the actress is busy with her studies as she
is graduating from a university in London. She had to
give her exams online. Due to the pandemic it is not
possible to go out there.
Bhabna said that she is taking "precautions to
protect" herself and doing everything she needs to do
to keep herself fit. 'I want to get the vaccine jab. But I
can't get the vaccine jab due to my age. I am not
eligible within the age limit set for the vaccine jab,"
she added.
Nancy set to tie
knot again
TBT REPORT
National Film Award winning singer Nazmun Munira Nancy is
getting married for the third time. The popular singer has planned
to forget the past and start a new life.
It is learned that she is going to get married in September. I don't
want to tell you who I am going to marry right now. Will report the
matter later. At present the overall preparations for the wedding are
going on.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday (July 28) at noon, Nancy wrote on
social media Facebook with status, 'Separation in family life means
mental harassment, comments from distant relatives in the family,
dirty words from the society ... etc.
But self-reliance can make this difficult time easier. That's what
happened to me. It is better for two people to be separated with
respect, not to cause annoyance to each other. I started the journey
in a new way. That's why I say, separation is sometimes sweet. '
Divorce with second husband Zaid has been completed recently.
Now I want to move ahead with new life and don't want to look back.
Big B starts shooting for Deepika,
Prabhas-starrer sci-fi film
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Saturday began filming for a
multilingual sci-fi movie, headlined by actors Prabhas and Deepika
Padukone, in Hyderabad. Filmmaker Nag Ashwin, known for
helming the National Award winning 2018 biographical drama
Stephen first to express his opinion stars
Steve did lose his virginity. "I think he loses
his virginity. Why do people think he's a
virgin? I think if you look like that, and
you're going city to city, and you're signing
autographs. The likes of the ladies you're
signing autographs for. I gotta imagine that,
"McFeely said.
Source: Indian Express
Aries
Act on your instincts and you
won't go wrong, Aries. You may
need to give up control and put
logical thinking aside. Let the
wind take you where it will. Explore your
feelings and how others influence them. It will
be just about impossible to solidify any plans
today. You're better off exploring options and
comparing notes with others. Don't
pigeonhole yourself into one way of thinking.
Taurus
You have the missing piece that
people need in every situation today,
Taurus. Engage in light conversation
in social situations, and turn your
charm up high. You have the ability to make favorable
impressions on just about everyone, so set the day off
on the right foot. Get out of bed earlier than usual and
get your blood pumping with a brisk walk around the
neighborhood.
Gemini
People may want to talk a great deal,
but they're avoiding their feelings
today, Gemini. Put your emotions on
the back burner and let your mind
take over. Deal with the facts and make sure your
emotions don't interfere with the information you
receive. Things can get clouded if you don't stay true
to the communication that's taking place. Be
conscious of the impact of your words.
cancer
You should be able to evaluate your
emotions from a detached
perspective today, Cancer. Use this
opportunity to take action based on
what you discover. Make sure your actions are
based on practicality and you aren't acting rashly in
response to someone else's hasty maneuvers. You
will be amazed at the incredible things that develop
if you think first.
Leo
If you're talking about another
person today, Leo, don't say
anything that would upset them if
they were standing next to you.
Gossip may run rampant, but that's no excuse to
contribute to it. Be aware that what you say has
a strong impact on the people around you. It's
likely to spread to many more ears than you
think.
Virgo
It's important to take action on a day
like this, Virgo. Trust yourself and
your instincts. Often you have the
perfect counsel for everyone but
you. Keep in mind that you might have to turn to
others for the best advice for you. Talk things out
and then take action. Hesitation will only have
negative consequences. You have all the facts you
need.
'Mahanati', is directing the project, which has been tentatively titled
'Project K'.
According to the makers, Ashwin will be canning crucial
sequences featuring the 78-year-old icon and other actors during
the film's first shooting schedule at Ramoji Film City (RFC).
Prabhas took to Instagram and shared an image of the film's
clapperboad.
"On this #Guru Purnima, it is an honour for me to clap for the
guru of Indian cinema! It now begins!! #Projectk," the 'Baahubali'
star wrote. Bachchan shared the same picture on his Instagram
page, saying it was his privilege that Prabhas gave the clap for his
first shot.
"For the Mahurat shot of #ProjectK.. What an honour to be
behind the clap being given by the icon that created cinematic
magical waves throughout the country and the world with
'Bahubali,'" he wrote.
H O ROscOPE
Source: Times Of India
Libra
You might be unfocused and
confused about which way to go,
Libra. Your baffled look isn't
giving others much confidence
in your ability to make a good decision. Don't
feel obliged to stay in an unhealthy situation.
It may be time to let go and break some ties to
things that are no longer working for you. Feel
good about extracting yourself from old
habits.
scorpio
It's important to get outside and feel
the wind, Scorpio. Reconnect with
nature and be aware of the four
elements, especially the air. Take deep
breaths and fill your lungs with the energizing life
force. Imagine yourself on a mountain looking over a
vast ocean. Expand your awareness so that nothing
escapes your attention. Keep your head clear of
clutter and be open to new adventures.
sagittarius
Make practical use of the thoughts
you've synthesized in the last few
days, Sagittarius. Stretch your
boundaries and extend your
wisdom to the people around you. This is a day to
take action. Connect with your heart and move
forward with your plans. We normally think of our
hearts as soft, tender, and vulnerable. Think of
your heart today as tough, strong, and
adventurous.
capricorn
This is an important day to
make valuable connections,
Capricorn. You will be engaged
in fast-paced, witty
conversations and debates from which you
can learn a great deal. You're good at seeing
both sides of an issue. The problem is that
this can lead to indecisiveness and an
inability to commit. Choose a path and stick
to it.
Aquarius
It may be hard for you to get a handle
on things today, Aquarius. Your focus
seems to jump from one problem to
the next without finding resolution.
This isn't a day to find a solution. You're better off
researching, questioning, and gathering facts. Keep
your channels of communication open, and don't try
to pin anyone down for answers. You'll accomplish a
lot by keeping active and light.
Pisces
You might come across strong opposition
today. Someone may seem to want to cut
straight through to your heart, Pisces. In
reality, this is a message reminding you to
think about things in terms of the collective, the oneness of all.
Be aware of a greater perspective in which you see more than
just your side of the issue. Discuss the issues with others before
making any major decisions.

FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2021
11
Three persons were killed and another was hurt after a speeding van ploughed into a tractor trolley parked
along the busy Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Chandina upazila early on Thursday. Photo : Star Mail
Teenager dies
in Lebanon
wildfires
BEIRUT : A teenager was
killed as he joined
volunteers battling forest
fires in northern Lebanon,
where firefighters were
struggling Thursday to
protect homes from the
blaze.
The 15-year-old was one of
several residents of the
Qubayyat area in Lebanon's
remote Akkar region "who
rushed to the scene to help
douse the flames," Lebanese
civil defence said.
The youngster died on
Wednesday, hours after the
fire started spreading.
The state sent helicopters
but struggled to contain the
fire, which was still raging on
Thursday.
According to the Lebanese
Red Cross, another eight
people were hospitalised as a
result of the fire, which
forced several inhabitants to
evacuate their homes.
"The situation on the
ground is frightening,"
Agriculture Minister Abbas
Mortada told AFP. "The fire
is huge, it has destroyed vast
forested areas and is now
threatening homes."
Colombia expels
German who took part
in anti-govt protests
BOGOTA : Colombian
immigration authorities said
Tuesday they had expelled a
German woman who took
part in demonstrations
against the government of
President Ivan Duque.
Rebecca Sproesser "was
carrying out activities that
had nothing to do with her
status as a tourist, and which
could affect the civil order
and peace," said the
immigration authorities in a
statement justifying "the
decision to expel her."
Sproesser regularly
uploaded photos and video
of demonstrations to her
social media networks, in
which she met with
members on what she called
the "front line" of protests in
the southwestern city of Cali.
On Friday, she said on
Facebook she had been the
victim of an attack in the city,
which has been the epicenter
of anti-government protests
that left more than 60 dead
in three months.
Delta variant drives virus spread
to three China provinces
BEIJING : China Thursday reported small
coronavirus outbreaks driven by the Delta
variant in three provinces as a cluster linked
to an eastern airport spreads despite mass
testing and a vaccination drive.
The flareup, which began after nine
workers at the Nanjing airport tested positive
on July 20, has since seen 171 cases detected
in Jiangsu province, while infections have
spread to at least four other provinces.
It is geographically the largest spread for
several months, challenging China's
aggressive containment efforts which have
relied on mass testing, lockdowns and swift
contact tracing.
The virus first emerged in the central city of
Wuhan, but China has extolled its success in
largely extinguishing the pandemic inside its
borders, allowing the economy to rebound.
The new outbreak, coupled with cases
seeping over the porous border with
Myanmar, is threatening that record.
Officials in Jiangsu have locked down
hundreds of thousands of residents, Lu Jing,
a member of the epidemic prevention
taskforce told reporters Thursday.
"Internet cafes, gyms, cinemas and karaoke
bars and even libraries in Nanjing have been
shut down," he said. The city has tested all 9.2
million residents twice as officials rush to
curb the spread of the disease, he said adding
the highly contagious Delta variant is posing
challenges to containment efforts.
The southwestern province of Sichuan
reported three new cases Thursday while
Beijing reported one locally transmitted case,
the first in six months.
The patient living on the outskirts of the
Chinese capital had tested positive after
returning from a theatre festival at a tourist
hotspot in central China, health officials said.
Meanwhle, a high-end hotel in downtown
Beijing has been locked down after media
reported an imported case was found among
the guests.
Police and workers wearing PPE suits and
disinfectant hoses were seen outside the
Legendale Hotel on Thursday.
Most of the patients testing positive in the
latest outbreak have already been vaccinated,
raising concerns about the efficacy of vaccines
against new variants.
China is racing to vaccinate at least 65
percent of its 1.5 billion population by the end
of the year.
The country has given out some 1.5 billion
doses of the vaccine as of Wednesday, the
National Health Commission said, without
offering details on the number of people fully
vaccinated.
Turkey courts Biden with
Kabul airport offer
ANKARA : Turkey is offering to protect Kabul's
strategic airport after US forces leave in what
experts view as a high-risk bid to improve
Ankara's strained ties with Washington.
Keeping the air hub safe from advancing
Taliban forces became a major issue after US
President Joe Biden called an end to
Washington's 20-year involvement by
ordering all troops out of Afghanistan by the
end of next month.
Hamid Karzai International Airport offers
the safest route for embassy staff and
humanitarian aid to reach the war-torn
country.
Its fall could leave Afghanistan largely cut off
from the world.
Ankara's surprise proposal gave Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a chance to
build a rapport with Biden during their first
meeting at a NATO summit in June.
The offer meets two of the Turkish leader's
objectives: warm chilly ties with Western allies
and avert an influx of refugees by keeping aid
routes open.
"Turkey has a vested interest in
Afghanistan's stability," said Magdalena
Kirchner, Afghanistan country director at
German foundation Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
Turkish officials play down the diplomatic
aspects of the mission and stress the
importance of relieving the suffering in
Afghanistan.
"Our objective is to make sure Afghanistan is
not closed to the outside world, that it is not
isolated," a Turkish diplomatic source said.
The United Nations this month said 18
million people-or half the Afghan populationneeded
assistance, while half of all children
under the age of five suffered from acute
malnutrition.
While Washington still views Turkey as an
important ally in a volatile part of the world,
relations have been bedevilled by disputes,
including Ankara's acquisition of a Russian
missile defence system.
Washington sanctioned Ankara for the
purchase last year.
"The main factor behind the airport
proposal... is Turkish-American relations:
Ankara hopes to regain favour with
Washington after a string of diplomatic crises,"
analyst Salim Cevik wrote in a paper for
Germany's SWP think tank.
The Turkish source refused to give details on
what Ankara wanted from Washington in
return for its continued presence in
Afghanistan.
But Erdogan has said that Turkey requires
US logistical support and funding. The sides
have reportedly made progress during closeddoor
talks between their militaries.
The Turkish leader has also mentioned
possible Hungarian and Pakistani involvement
in the mission.
A human chain was held at Mongla press club premises yesterday on the occasion of International Tiger
Day-2021.
Photo : PBA
France to introduce anti-Covid
pass for cafes, trains from Aug 9
PARIS : France will from August 9
enforce new legislation that will make a
health pass compulsory to visit a cafe,
board a plane or travel on an inter-city
train, the government's spokesman said
Wednesday.
The legislation passed by parliament
at the weekend has sparked mass
protests in France but the government
is determined to press ahead and make
the health pass a key part of the fight
against Covid-19.
A valid health pass is generated by two
jabs from a recognised vaccine, a
negative coronavirus test or a recent
recovery from infection. The legislation
also makes vaccination compulsory for
health-workers and carers.
The pass has already been obligatory
from July 21 for visits to museums,
cinemas and cultural venues with a
capacity of more than 50 people.
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal
said it would also be obligatory in cafes,
restaurants, flights and inter-city trains
from August 9.
Rising infections driven by the Delta
variant, with an average of 19,000 daily
cases -- 97 percent higher than a week
ago-means that the health situation in
France "is continuing to get worse and
remains worrying", he added.
Attal's announcement came as data
showed 50 percent of France's adult
population were now vaccinated with
two jabs. The government's health pass
strategy makes vaccination its numberone
weapon in the fight against Covid-
19.
Attal stressed that there would be a
degree of tolerance in the initial phase
from August 9. Transport minister
Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said authorities
wanted to have "a good level of control
without making the lives of travellers
difficult".
Ahead of the return to school after
summer holidays, Education Minister
Jean-Michel Blanquer said secondary
school and college students would only
be pulled from classes when fellow
pupils tested positive if they themselves
had not been vaccinated.
He said 6,000-7,000 vaccine centres
would be deployed around schools to
help teenagers get their jabs.
France's health authority on
Wednesday approved giving the
Moderna jab to 12-17 year olds, after a
similar ruling on the Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine in mid-June.
The implementation of the health
pass legislation will come four days after
the Constitutional Council, France's
highest constitutional authority, issues
its ruling on the legislation on August 5.
The Council has the power to send
laws back to the legislature and
government for changes but the
government appears confident it will
receive the green light.
The plans have proven hugely
controversial, prompting two weekends
of protests that on Saturday saw over
160,000 rally nationwide and dozens
arrested.
President Emmanuel Macron said at
the weekend that refusing to be
vaccinated amounted to
"irresponsibility and egoism".
Health officials meanwhile declared
a health emergency in the French
Caribbean overseas territories of
Guadeloupe, Saint Martin and Saint
Barthelemy Wednesday in order to
limit people's movements as cases
surge there.
IPDC Finance Limited has signed an agreement with Bangladesh Bank under the "Credit Guarantee
Scheme" (CGS) in a brief agreement ceremony, maintaining safety standards. The Credit Guarantee
Scheme will ease existing credit availing process for the CMSMEs in the country's far-flung areas,
ensuring economic development of those regions. Photographed from left to right in the front row:
Md. Oliul Islam, Joint Director, CGS Unit, Bangladesh Bank; Md. Nazrul Islam, Deputy General
Manager, CGS Unit, Bangladesh bank; S.M. Mohsin Hossain, General Manager, CGS Unit, Bangladesh
bank; Mominul Islam, Managing Director and CEO, IPDC Finance Limited; Rizwan Dawood Shams,
Additional Managing Director, IPDC Finance Limited; Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman Shawon,
Head of SME, IPDC Finance Limited. From left to right in the back row: Bipul Deb, Executive, IPDC
Finance Limited; S M Mahamudul Farid, Assistant Manager, IPDC Finance Limited. Photo : Courtesy
England to allow
unquarantined
travel from US and
EU if jabbed: govt
LONDON : People fully
vaccinated in the United
States and European Unionexcept
France-will be
allowed to travel to England
without having to
quarantine on arrival, the
UK government announced
on Wednesday.
"We're helping reunite
people living in the US and
European countries with
their family and friends,"
Transport Minister Grant
Shapps tweeted, adding that
the policy will come into
force from 4:00 am (0300
GMT) on August 2.
Travellers fully jabbed
with a vaccine approved by
the United States Food and
Drug Administration or the
European Medicines Agency
will be able to travel from
any country on the British
government's "amber"
traffic light list without
having to self-isolate at
home for 10 days.
They will still need to do a
pre-departure test and take
another test on day two after
arriving in England.
Separate rules will
continue to apply for those
arriving from France.
Those travelling from an
amber list country, which
includes most of Europe and
the US, who are not fully
vaccinated will still have to
quarantine on arrival.
The government also
confirmed the restart of
international cruises.
"This is progress we can all
enjoy," wrote Shapps.
Britain is in the midst of
another wave of the virus
due to the so-called delta
variant, although case
numbers have dropped over
the past week, while its
vaccine drive has seen more
than 70 percent of adults
fully jabbed.
GD-1152/21 (9x3)
37(2) 13
28

friday, Dhaka : July 30, 2021; Srabon 15, 1428 BS; Zilhaj 19, 1442 Hijri
Poor hosts fume as Rohingyas start
grabbing local labour market
COX'S BAZAR : An anger is growing among
poor hosts as the Rohingyas, living in
Bangladesh's tourism hub of Cox's Bazar,
are increasingly joining the local labour
market, leaving many locals out of their jobs
and small businesses, reports UNB. The
host communities claimed that Rohingyas
can easily come out from their camps and
get engaged in work at the local labour market
with their increased presence.
"You need to pay a local labourer Tk 600
a day and you can do the same job engaging
a Rohingya with only Tk 200-300.
Naturally, the Rohingyas get a preference
when someone hires a day-labourer," one of
the locals told UNB, wishing not to be
named. Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million
Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar district and
Bhasan Char. The UN is likely to begin its
operational activities in Bhasan Char in
September if the current negotiation ends
with the signing of a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) in August.
Palangkhali UP chairman in Ukhiya upazila
M Gafur Uddin Chowdhury said locals are no
longer getting desired jobs as Rohingyas are
preferred for lower wages. "Even, no one is
stopping it... even the Rohingyas are getting
involved in small businesses."
Hamidul Haque Chowdhury who works
to protect the interests of locals said the
Rohingyas are even working in various
NGOs. "They also work in various shops and
doing household works. I myself saw them
doing all this," he told UNB, adding that
Rohingya workers and employees are outnumbering
the locals. Mohammad Shamsu
Douza, Additional Refugee Relief and
Repatriation Commissioner, said they have
no such information that the Rohingyas are
working in various NGOs.
"Probably, the Rohingyas are working as
volunteers. They might work as labourers
outside the camps but we've no such information.
You (journalists) have better
sources to know about that," he told UNB.
Douza said they will take proper steps if
they find authentic information that the
Rohingyas are working for NGOs.
When approached, the spokesperson at
the UN refugee agency - UNHCR- said:
"Livelihoods and skills training opportunities
provide refugees with a sense of purpose
and autonomy while they are in exile,
while preparing for return to and reintegration
in Myanmar when conditions allow
them to return home.
As Rohingya refugees are not allowed to
work in Bangladesh, humanitarian actors
working in Cox's Bazar engage volunteers
from the refugee community for specific
activities in the camps and provide them with
a modest stipend for doing so," he said.
Delhi records zero Covid-19
fatality third time
NEW DELHI : No death due to COVID-19
was recorded in Delhi on Thursday, while
51 fresh cases were reported with a positivity
rate of 0.08 per cent, according to data
shared by the city health department.
This is the third time, since the starting
of the second wave of the pandemic in the
national capital, that zero fatality has been
logged in a day.
On July 18 and July 24 too, no death due
to COVID-19 was recorded, according to
official data, while 51 and 66 cases were
reported, respectively.
On March 2 this year, the national capital
had reported zero death due to the
virus. On that day, the number of singleday
infections stood at 217 and the positivity
rate was 0.33 per cent. The second
wave swept the city during April-May period.
On Thursday, the city registered 51
cases and zero fatality, while the positivity
rate stood at 0.08 per cent, according to
the latest bulletin.
The death toll in the city on Wednesday
had stood at 25,049. On Wednesday, the
city had registered 67 cases and three fatalities,
while the positivity rate was 0.09 per
cent. The infection rate which had reached
to 36 per cent in the last week of April, has
come down to 0.08 per cent now.
On February 16, ninety-four people
were diagnosed Covid positive while the
daily tally was 96 on January 27, according
to official figures.
Despite fall in daily cases in the last several
days, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
had recently cautioned that the chances of
the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
were quite real, while he asserted that his
government was preparing on a "warfooting"
to combat it.
The Delhi Disaster Management
Authority (DDMA) recently had passed a
colour-coded response action plan under
which curbs will be implemented in accordance
with the severity of the COVID-19
situation here to deal with a possible third
wave of the pandemic.
Delhi had been reeling under a brutal
second wave of the pandemic that is
sweeping the country, claiming a massive
number of lives daily, with the recent oxygen
supply shortage issue at various hospitals,
adding to the woes.
Since April 19, both daily cases and single-day
deaths count had been spiralling
up, with over 28,000 cases and 277 deaths
recorded on April 20; rising to 306 fatalities
on April 22. On May 3, the city registered
a record 448 deaths, as per the official
data.
However, the number of cases have
shown a downward trend and the positivity
rate too has been shrinking in the last
several days. The number of deaths per
day, has also been showing a decline in the
last couple of days.
On May 15, Kejriwal had said, "The virus
is reducing in Delhi slowly and steadily,
and I hope it diminishes completely and
does not rise again.
DU teachers to get
grants on each
published research
DHAKA : The Dhaka University (DU)
authorities have decided to provide grants
to its teachers and researchers on each
research published in international journal
with impact factor.
The decision was taken at university's
syndicate meeting with university Vice
Chancellor Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman in the
chair, said a press release. Only those
researches published in any international
journal and have impact factor will be
nominated for grants, read the release.
The initiative was introduced to increase
the quality and scope of basic and applied
research among the teachers and
researchers of the university, it added.
Teachers and researchers have been urged
to increase their concentration and efforts
to conduct some quality researches.
BERC increases
LPG cylinders
prices again
SHAfiqul iSlAM (SHAfiq)
The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory
Commission (BERC) has adjusted the
price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
at the consumer level due to rising
prices in the world market. In the private
sector, the price of 12 kg cylinder
LPG including VAT has been increased
from TK 891 to TK 102 to TK 993. This
is the highest retail price, effective from
August 1.
And the price of LPG of the stateowned
company has not changed as the
cost has not changed at the production
level. The official price of 12 kg LPG has
remained at TK 591. The new price of
LPG used in vehicles is TK 48.71 per
liter. Earlier it was 44 TK.
Energy regulator authority BERC
announced the new prices at an online
press conference on Thursday. On
April 12, the company set the price of
LPG for the first time in the country.
Since then, prices have been adjusted
once a month.
It is learned that the main ingredients
for making LPG are propane and
butane imported from different countries.
Saudi Aramco publishes the price
of these two components of LPG every
month. This is known as Cargo Price
(CP). BERC has adjusted the price of
LPG in the country based on this Saudi
CP base price.
BERC chairman Abdul Jalil
announced the price at a press conference.
Also present at the time were
BERC members Mohammad Abu
Farooq, Maqbool E Ilahi Chowdhury,
Mohammad Bazlur Rahman, Md.
Kamruzzaman were present the briefing.
At the beginning the secretary of
the commission Rubina Ferdousi welcomed
everyone.
LPG suppliers companies proposed a
price hike at BERC last December. The
technical evaluation committee formed
by BERC evaluated their proposal.
Then on January 14, BERC held a public
hearing on setting the price of LPG.
Ambulance, relatives of the patient, volunteers, trolleys, media workers in front of the emergency
department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Relatives of the patient with asphyxia are coming
out of the ambulance looking for the trolley. The picture is taken on Thursday. Photo : Star Mail
Crowds are increasing at vaccination centers in various hospitals and health complexes. The line
is being long. Hygiene and social distance are being neglected in the extra crowd. The picture was
taken from Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Thursday.
Photo : Star Mail
Humayun for implementing
projects within stipulated time
DHAKA : Industries Minister Nurul
Majid Mahmud Humayun yesterday
asked officials concerned to implement
all the projects within the stipulated
time.
"Officials concerned will have to
continue the work of the project without
any excuse. The work of the project
should be taken forward in compliance
with all kinds of hygiene rules in
the Corona epidemic," he said.
The minister said this as the chief
guest at a virtual meeting of the
Ministry of Industries to review the
Revised Annual Development
Program (RADP) of the Ministry of
Industries for the fiscal year 2020-
2020.
Humayun said wherever the project
land acquisition has been completed,
the tender process needs to be started
quickly. Noting the scope of work, the
industries minister said the Ministry
of Industries has to fulfill the multifaceted
responsibilities of the government.
"So, we have to fulfill the responsibilities
entrusted to us by following the
hygiene rules," he added.
State Minister for Industries Kamal
Ahmed Mojumder was present as the
special guest at the function presided
over by Industries Secretary Zakia
Sultana.
Out of 48 projects in FY 2020-21, 15
projects have been completed.
Kamal Ahmed Mojumder said
arrangements should be made to
make every institution profitable in
the new financial year.
Ongoing projects need to be properly
implemented, he added.
Mask more effective than
Covid vaccine: Quader
DHAKA : Awami League General
Secretary Obaidul Quader has urged
the people to wear masks for protection
against Covid infections saying that the
mask is more effective than the vaccine.
Quader was addressing a function at
Bangabandhu Avenue on Thursday
organized by the party's relief and
social welfare sub-committee on the
occasion of distributing Covid safety
materials among party's delegates. He
asked the sub-committee to form teams
at grassroots level to motivate people to
wear masks properly.
"We must build fortress of awareness
in every house," he said.
Saying that BNP is constantly lying
about vaccines, the AL leader said the
country has enough jabs it needs now
and more vaccines will come from different
countries in phases.
Quader expressed hope that there
would be no crisis with the vaccine.
Responding to a question from
reporters about wealth statements
from MPs and ministers Quader said
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is running
an honest and transparent government.
Her government's stance
against irregularities and corruption is
very strict and clear.
Quader said that no one including the
MPs and ministers is above accountability
and the Anti-corruption
Commission (ACC) is free to investigate
and take action against any crimeas an
independent body.
The AL leader said that the ACC has
already taken action against many leaders
and activists and MPs, adding that
the government has not interfered to
protect anyone. He said none should
have any objection in submitting the
statement of assets. "I am ready to give
the statement of my wealth myself," he
said.
Quader also said that the ACC can
also take action if it finds any discrepancy
in the tax returns filed every year.
Awami League Presidium Member
Begum Matia Chowdhury presided
over the function.AL leaders Abdur
Rahman, SM Kamal Hossain, Sujit Roy
Nandi, Reazul Kabir Kausar and Syed
Abdul Awal Shamim, Kulsum Smriti
MP,President of the Institute of
Diploma Engineers MA Hamid and
General Secretary Shamsur Rahman
also spoke. Later, the leaders distributed
corona protection materials
among the delegates.
Owners urge govt
to reopen factories
amid lockdown
DHAKA : Business leaders on Thursday
requested the government to reopen garment
factories and other industries amid
the countrywide stringent lockdown,
reports UNB.
BGMEA President Farooq Hasan disclosed
the information to the reporters
after a meeting with Cabinet Secretary
Khandaker Anwarul Islam at the
Secretariat.
"We have requested the government to
reopen industries. The cabinet secretary
will take a quick decision after talking to
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he said.
He hoped that the government will consider
their request.
The government reinforced 14-day strict
lockdown restrictions following Eid vacation
till August 5.
Unlike the all out restrictions before Eid,
mills and factories were instructed to
remain closed during this time.
There are speculations that the government
might extend the lockdown as the
Covid infections are at its peak shattering
records of highest single day transmissions
and deaths every other day.
Muhith admitted
to CMH with
Covid
DHAKA : Former Finance Minister
AMA Muhith, who tested positive for
Covid-19 three days ago, has been
admitted to the Combined Military
Hospital, Dhaka for better treatment.
Muhith was initially taking treatment
at home and then admitted to the CMH
at 3pm on Thursday.
"There's no complication. He's doing
fine but a bit weak. He has been admitted
to the CMH at the Prime Minister's
directive for his better treatment," an
official told UNB.
The 87-year-old former finance minister,
known for his urbane manner,
tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday.
Those who are praying for him and
arranging doa any mahfil in Sylhet
have been requested not to crowd
anywhere and maintain safe physical
distance.
His elder son, Shahed Muhith, has
also tested positive for Covid-19.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Dr AK
Abdul Momen urged all to pray for his
brother's quick recovery.
He also requested all not to crowd
but maintain health guidelines while
arranging any doa mahfil in Sylhet and
elsewhere in the country.
Ferry services on
Shimulia-Banglabazar
route suspended
MUNSHIGANJ : Ferry services on
Shimulia-Banglabazar route were suspended
on Thursday noon due to
stormy weather, reports UNB.
Mohammad Shafiqul Islam,
Assistant General Manager of
Bangladesh Inland and Water
Transport Corporation (BIWTC)
Shimulia Ferry Ghat, said the ferries
on the route were operating with risk
due to strong current in the Padma
river since morning.
Around noon, the authorities suspended
the ferry services due to
strong current in the river. Some 600
vehicles were seen waiting on the both
sides for crossing the river, he said.
Besides, several hundred people
from southern and eastern parts of
the country were also seen waiting on
the ferry ghats to cross the river.
The maritime ports of Chattogram,
Cox's Bazar, Mongla and Payra have
been advised to hoist local cautionary
number three as the well marked low
over southwestern part of Bangladesh
and adjoining area now lies over western
part of Bangladesh and adjoining
West Bengal.
"Under its influence, deep convection
is taking place and a steep pressure
gradient lies over North Bay and
adjoining areas," said a Met office bulletin.
Squally weather may affect the maritime
ports, North Bay and adjoining
coastal areas of Bangladesh, it said.
All boats and trawlers over North
Bay have been advised to remain close
to the coast and proceed with caution
till further notice.