19-09-2021

Sunday

DhAkA: September 19, 2021; Ashwin 4, 1428 BS; Safar 11,1443 hijri

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net

Regd.No.DA~2065, Vol.19; N o. 143; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00

international

US panel backs

COVID-19 boosters only

for seniors, high-risk

>Page 7

SPortS

Out of this world'

Paralympians hailed as

records fall on day 11

>Page 9

art & culture

Jaya Ahsan

set to debut in

Bollywood

>Page 10

Bangladesh

dropped from

UK's Red List

ShAFiqul iSlAM (ShAFiq)

The United Kingdom has announced

that it will remove Bangladesh from the

"red list" of travel bans in Britain.

Bangladesh will no longer be on the UK

red list as a risky country in the Corona

situation from September 22.

The decision will take effect on the

same day at 4 am UK time (9 am

Bangladesh time). After about four and a

half months, Bangladesh is being

removed from the red list. The UK

Transport Secretary Grant Shaps made

the announcement on Friday (Sept 17).

The United Kingdom included

Bangladesh in the red list on April 9,

considering the high rate of infection

with the epidemic corona virus.

Although British nationals from countries

including Bangladesh, which are on

the red list for UK travel, can enter the

country, they have to stay in the mandatory

10-day hotel quarantine.

From September 22, any Bangladeshi

citizen will no longer have to stay in the

mandatory 10-day hotel quarantine when

traveling to the UK. Apart from

Bangladesh, seven other countries have

been dropped from the red list. These are

Turkey, Pakistan, Maldives, Egypt, Sri

Lanka, Oman and Kenya.

Earlier, on September 9, the fourth

strategic dialogue between Dhaka and

London was held in Britain. There, Foreign

Secretary Masood bin Momen requested

the United Kingdom to review the removal

of Bangladesh from the Red List.

Earlier, during a visit to the United

Kingdom, Foreign Minister Dr. Abdul

Momen, in a virtual meeting with British

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab (former),

requested that Bangladesh be

removed from the red list.

DU dormitories to

reopen on Oct 5

TBT REPORT

Dhaka University authorities have decided

to reopen its residential halls on

October 5 next for the master's and honours

final-year students who have taken at

least one dose of anti-Covid vaccine.

The decision was taken at a Syndicate meeting

held with VC Prof Aktheruzzaman in the

chair on Saturday. The university central

library, science library and the seminar rooms

of all departments will be reopened for students

from September 26 and those will

remain open from 10 am to 5pm, said DU Pro-

VC (Education) ASM Maksud Kamal.

He added that student IDs and the

proof of having at least one vaccine dose

will be strictly monitored by the university

authorities.

Aiming to raise health awareness, banners

and festoons will be hung at the visible

places of every residential hall and academic

building with guidelines for following

the hygiene rules. Upon getting vaccinated,

the dormitories will be reopened for

the honors 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students

in phases, the Pro-VC said.

According to the syndicate decision, residential

halls cannot be crowded as before

and no so-called 'Gono rooms' will be

allowed there to continue.

Zohr

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20-year masterplan

to revive Dhaka's

rivers in the works

DHAKA : A 20-year masterplan will be

adopted by the government to return life

to the rivers surrounding capital Dhaka -

by preventing their pollution, ridding

them of illegal occupation and long-term

beautification, reports UNB.

Work is already underway to remove

illegal establishments along the rivers

and building walkways and through

afforestation.

Besides, the government plans to generate

electricity from river waste and to

take steps in closing the sources of river

pollution, said sources within the

Ministry of Shipping. The masterplan

which also aims to increase the navigability

of rivers alongside preventing river

pollution and encroachment, is currently

in the final stages of being drafted.

The masterplan has been prepared by

reviewing the current situation of the

tributaries, rivers and canals of Dhaka

and the surrounding districts.

According to the draft plan, the status

quo will be developed in four steps, through

a 1-year crash program, a short term plan of

three years, a middle term plan of 5 years

and a long term plan of 10 years.

According to Bangladesh Inland

Water Transport Authority, around 113

acres of illegally occupied land belonging

to rivers has already been regained as

part of the process.

In the first phase, 10,000 boundary

pillars, 52-km walkways, 3 eco parks and

19 jetties will be constructed on the

banks of the rivers freed by the eviction

drive. The project will cost Tk 800 in

crore in the initial stage as per the draft,

added the sources.

Emphasis has been given to build ecoparks

on the banks of the Buriganga and

Turag to attract tourists.

Besides, there are plans to build a helipad

in Kholamora area of Keraniganj.

When contacted, the chairman of the

river protection task force committee,

LGRD Minister Md Tajul Islam, confirmed

the masterplan was in the works.

"The master plan has to be implemented

step by step. In the first stage the rivers

have to be dredged. The river beds have

become high due to siltation, they have to

be taken to the previous place.

E-commerce firms like Evaly,

E-orange to face stern action:DMP

DHAKA : Stern action will be taken

against e-commerce firms like Evaly and

E-orange, said AKM Hafiz Akhter, additional

commissioner (DB) of Dhaka

Metropolitan Police (DMP), reports

UNB.

"There are many organisations which

are involved in fraudulence like Evaly

and E-orange organisations. They are

involved in cheating customers through

offering prices lower than the market

prices. Investigations are on and action

will be taken after investigation," he said

while talking at a press briefing at DMP

media center on Saturday.

"We want good E-commerce platforms

flourish in the country," said

Hafiz. Evaly CEO Mohammad Rassel

and his wife Shamima Nasrin were

arrested after an aggrieved customer

Arif Baker lodged a case with Gulshan

police station accusing them and few

other company executives for embezzlement

and fraudulence.

Sub-inspector Ahidul Islam, the investigation

officer of the case, said the case

was registered over the allegation of

embezzlement of money and fraudulence.

Besides, the Bangladesh Financial

Intelligence Unit (BFIU), an arm of the

Bangladesh Bank that specializes in

financial crime investigations, directed

all commercial banks and financial institutions

through a common letter on

August 27 to freeze all the bank accounts

operated by top executives of Evaly.

The Directorate of National Consumer

Right Protection, a department under

the Commerce Ministry, received allegations

from consumers about "cheating"

by Evaly.

Bangladesh Bank officials said that

one of the major allegations against

Evaly is forcing its consumers to deposit

their money in the e-wallet of the firm

which was totally illegal.

On August 16, an aggrieved customer

of E-Orange, Md Taherul Islam, filed a

fraud case with Gulshan police station in

presence of 37 other customers who testified

against the accused.

Our national flower is water lily (Shapla). Every year during this season, water lilies start blooming in canals,

rivers and ponds. But this time also red autumn flowers have been born in the pond. The picture is taken

from Kalirbazar area of Fulchhari upazila of Gaibandha district on Saturday.

Photo: PBA

Vaccination of students

aged 12-17 to begin

within 20 days

MANIKGANJ : Vaccination of students

aged between 12 to 17 years will begin

within the next 20 days, said Health

Minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday,

reports UNB.

The minister announced this at a

meeting at Manikganj municipality

office premises.

"I had a conversation with the Prime

Minister today in this regard.

According to her decision, various

activities will begin from the next week

to vaccinate the children against Covid-

19," said the minister.

The children will be inoculated with

US-made Pfizer vaccine doses as it is

suitable for them, he said adding that

all arrangements have been made to

collect the vaccine doses.

As schools and colleges have already

been reopened bringing the children

under vaccination coverage is necessary

for their safety, he added.

The minister also said in the next campaign

more than one crore people will get

shots.

Already 2.5 crore people have

received the shots with 1.5 crore inoculated

with two doses, said Zahid

Maleque.

"We are trying to collect six crore more

doses of Covid vaccines worth Tk 3500

crore from China and a deal has been

signed with the World health

Organization (WHO) for collecting another

10 crore doses,"said the minister.

Even on holidays, there is severe traffic jam on the roads of the capital. The picture was taken

from Tejgaon in the capital.

Photo: PBA

Election is held under EC,

not govt: Hasan

Md Tuhin

Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr

Hasan Mahmud on Saturday said election

is held under the Election Commission

(EC), but not under the government.

"BNP leaders are issuing statements

through series of meetings that they

would not go for election under Awami

League government. But, the election is

held under the Election Commission,

not under any government," he said.

The minister made the remarks while

addressing a meeting marking the 29th

death anniversary of former lawmaker

Principal MM Nazrul Islam at

Brajagopal Town Hall in Char Fasson

upazila of the district.

Lawmaker of Bhola-4 constituency

Abdullah Al Islam Jakob addressed the

discussion with Principal Nazrul Islam

Foundation vice chairman Principal

Kaisar Ahmed Dulal in the chair.

Hasan, also Awami League joint general

secretary, said there is no benefit of

seeing the dream of the caretaker government.

No caretaker government will

be formed with inclusion of those persons

who talk in the television screen

after midnight, he added.

He said the administrative officials are

not under the government when the

Govt working to

constitute EC as per

constitution:Quader

DHAKA : Awami League general secretary

and Obaidul Quader on Saturday

said the concerned ministry is working

for the formation of the Election

Commission in line with the constitution,

reports UNB.

Quader, also the Road Transport and

Bridges Minister, came up with the

remarks while speaking at a meeting at

the party's central office. "The Election

Commission will be formed in accordance

with our constitution following the existing

legal process of our country. The concerned

ministry of the government is

working in this regard. " Quader said ahead

of the formation of the new Election

Commission next year, the BNP has started

a new conspiracy centering its formation.

Referring to BNP's representation in

Search Committee last time, Quader said,

"One of them is still there. He gave notes of

dissent, disagrees with the Election

Commission. That is the beauty of democracy.

However, from time to time he created

such a situation that put the Election

Commission under question. "

Quader said that the BNP is hatching a

series of conspiracies without practicing

internal democracy in the 'series' meeting.

polls are held and their responsibility

goes to the EC. The Election

Commission conducts the polls independently,

he added.

The government, he said, could not

transfer anyone including deputy commissioner,

police super or upazila nirbahi

officer. Everyone goes under the

EC, he added.

About the ongoing development, the

minister said the scenario of the country

and the people as well have been changed.

And the changed has been possible only

for the dynamic and farsighted leadership

of Bangabandhu's daughter Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina, he added.

He said the BNP leaders have told that

the government could not construct the

Padma Bridge. But, Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina has turned the myth into reality by

constructing the bridge, he added.

"Now, I'm waiting to see when the

BNP leaders will cross the river by their

vehicles," said Hasan.

The minister said many people couldn't

understand the meaning of 'Digital

Bangladesh' in 2008. "But, now the

'Digital Bangladesh' is not a dream,

rather it's a reality. Now people can

make their transaction staying at home

and students can fill up their admission

forms from anywhere," he added.

Dhaka receives 50

lakh more doses of

Sinopharm vaccine

DHAKA : Fifty lakh more doses of

Sinopharm vaccine arrived in Dhaka from

China early Saturday.

A regular flight of Biman Bangladesh

Airlines carrying the vaccine consignment

landed at Shahjalal International Airport

at 2am, reports UNB.

Chief Health Coordinator Dr Abu Jaher

received the vaccine consignment at the

airport. The vaccine doses are part of the

commercial purchase from China.

On September 11, Bangladesh received

around 54 lakh doses of the Sinopharm

vaccine from China.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently

told Parliament that the government had

made arrangements to get more than one

crore Covid-19 jabs every month.

According to the schedule received

from the company producing

Sinopharm, two crore shots will be

available every month from October

and six crore from December, she

added. On August 16, Bangladesh,

China and Incepta Vaccine Limited

signed a memorandum of understanding

(MoU) on the co-production of the

Sinopharm vaccine in Bangladesh.

suNDAY, sePTeMBer 19, 2021

2

Two of a family

killed in Sylhet

road accident

SYLHET : Two people of a

family were killed and four

others injured in a collision

between a private car and a

pickup van in Golapganj

Upazila of the district yesterday.

The deceased were identified

as Shafiq Uddin, 70, hailed

from Beanibazar Upazila and

his grandson Aryan, 01, reports

BSS.

Police said the accident

occurred at around 11:30 am

at Ranaping Fazilpur on

Sylhet-Jockyganj Highway.

Shafiq Uddin and Aryan were

brought at Golapganj Upazila

Health complex where duty

doctor Sharmin Akhter

declared them dead.

US-Bangla airlines to spread wings

to Male from November

DHAKA : The US-Bangla Airlines is going to

start operating flights to Maldivian capital of

Male, one of the popular South Asian tourist

destinations, from the third week of November

next.

"The US-Bangla is going to operate flights on

Dhaka-Male-Dhaka route four days a week for

travel-thirsty Bangladeshi tourists, as the only

local airline to make their travel smooth and

affordable," a press release od the carrier said

yesterday.

Apart from the tourists, the direct flight will

also fulfill the long-standing expectations of

the expatriate Bangladeshis living in the

Maldives.

The US-Bangla Airlines, the country's largest

private airlines in terms of fleet numbers, will

operate 164-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft from

Dhaka to Male.

The US-Bangla Airlines fleet consists of a

total of 14 aircraft, including 4 Boeing 737-

800s and 7 brand new ATR 72-600s.

Currently, the US-Bangla Airlines operates

international flights to Dubai, Muscat, Doha,

Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Chennai and

Guangzhou while its flights to Kolkata and

Bangkok have been temporarily suspended

due to travel bans amid the pandemic.

As part of its future plans, the US-Bangla

Airlines plans to launch flights to Colombo,

Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam soon.

In addition to international routes, the US-

Bangla currently operates flights to all

domestic routes from Dhaka in Bangladesh

while the carrier is going to start operation of

flights from Jashore to Chattogram and Cox's

Bazar and from Saidpur to Chattogram from

September nest.

Demanding effective management of medical equipments, a human chain was held in front of

National Museum yesterday.

Photo : TBT

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SUNDAY, SePteMBeR 19, 2021

3

Prof. Dr. Munaz Ahmed Noor,Vice Chancellor, Bangabondhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Digital

University (BDU) distributing "Best Achievers Award at a gala convocation OF Daffodil

International School for its O & A Level graduates to recognize their achievements. Photo: Courtesy

DIS holds Graduation Ceremony 2021

Daffodil International School (DIS)

arranged agala convocation for its O &

A Level graduates to recognize their

achievements on Saturday at 71

Milonayoton of Daffodil International

University.

Prof. Dr. Munaz Ahmed Noor, Vice

Chancellor, Bangabondhu Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman Digital University

(BDU) graced the occasion as the chief

guest. Al Mamun Bin Quddus,Regional

Development Manager, Bangladesh

and Nepal, Pearson Edexcel and

Shahin Reza, Country Manager,

Bangladesh, Cambridge Assessment

International Educationwere present

as the special guests.

Mohammad Nuruzzaman, Chief

Executive Officer of Daffodil Family

was present as the guest of honor. Dr

Md. Mahmudul Hassan, Principal,

Daffodil International School presided

over the Graduation Ceremony 2021

while Shahana Khan, Founder

Principal of the school attended the

program Among the students Mardia

and Arnika Dash Shurid spoke on the

occasionA total of 450 students were

awarded graduation in the program, a

press release said. Addressing as the

chief guest Prof. Dr. Munaz Ahmed

Noorterming the students as Digital

Generation said, you are enjoying the

highest benefits of digital age and we

are going through 4th Industrial

revolution era where Artificial

Intelligence (AI) has taken place a good

rule in the civilization.

AI is sometimes good for us and

sometimes it is challenging for us as it

stops jobs. Though every industrial

revolution stops jobs and create new

job opportunities.

He said, the present generation will

have to face lots of challenges of

choosing a profession or career while

after six years the present scenario will

be totally changed asRobots, Drone

and AI will capture a lot of areas of job.

Machine will become new human.

He urged the students to be more

prepared for those changeable

atmosphere and also urged to have to

have dream and have to spend some

time on it.

He advised the students not to run

after money rather achieve loyalty

which is very important skills to

become successful. Mohammad

Nuruzzaman, Chief Executive Officer of

Daffodil Family said that

IBA of Dhaka University is now

accepting highest number students

70% from English Medium Schools.

Present government has amended in

Private University Act and opened the

door for English Medium Schools

allowing foreign universities to open

their study through Bangladeshi

institutions and Monash University has

started its operation which is first of its

kind in Bangladesh and Daffodil

International Academy is also in

pipeline through GreenWhich

University.

The graduation ceremony is a

consequential event and transition

point for an educational institute. It is

an experience of gratification to

assemble such programs for the

youthful and glaring graduates.

Daffodil International School (DIS)

always celebrates and concedes its

learners? triumph.

Govt. develops a campaign

strategy for the TVET institutes

Little Ducklings

moves to their

new premises

at Dhanmondi

DHAKA : An inauguration

ceremony was held on

Saturday to celebrate Little

Ducklings's move to

Dhanmondi from Lalmatia,

reports UNB.

A short discussion

meeting and milad mahfil

was organized on Saturday,

September 18, 2021 at their

new premises House No. 15,

Road No. 12, Dhanmondi in

the capital on the occasion of

the inauguration of Little

Ducklings, a Day-care

Center and Pre-School run

by Dhaka Ahsania Mission.

Executive Director Dr. M

Ehsanur Rahman, General

Secretary Dr. SM Khalilur

Rahman and President of

Dhaka Ahsania Mission Kazi

Rafiqul Alam were present

on the occasion. Officials

from various levels and

Institutions of Dhaka

Ahsania Mission including

Samiya Tasmeen, Program

Manager of Little Ducklings,

were present at the occasion

among others.

Bangladesh's SOLbazaar

among 15 finalists for

Earthshot Prize

DHAKA : SOLbazaar, Bangladesh, the

world's first peer-to-peer energy

exchange network in a country on the

frontline of climate change, has been

named as one of the 15 finalists for the

Earthshot Prize 2021, reports UNB.

The Earthshot Prize has announced its

first ever shortlist of 15 finalists, each with

a chance of winning £1million to support

their innovative environmental solutions

to the greatest challenges facing the

planet.

Five of these 15 finalists announced will

be awarded The Earthshot Prize and will

win £1million in Prize funding for the best

solutions of the five Earthshot goals:

Protect and Restore Nature; Clean our

Air; Revive our Oceans; Build a Wastefree

World; and Fix our Climate.

The Winners will be announced during

an awards ceremony on October 17 from

London's Alexandra Palace, broadcast in

the UK on BBC One and globally on

Discovery.

"Over half a century ago, President

Kennedy's 'Moonshot' programme united

millions of people around the goal of

reaching the moon. Inspired by this, The

Earthshot Prize aims to mobilise

collective action around our unique

ability to innovate, problem solve and

repair our planet," Prince William said.

"I am honoured to introduce the 15

innovators, leaders, and visionaries who

are the first ever Finalists for The

Earthshot Prize. They are working with

the urgency required in this decisive

decade for life on Earth and will inspire

all of us with their optimism in our ability

to rise to the greatest challenges in

human history."

Launched by Prince William and The

Royal Foundation in October 2020, The

Earthshot Prize is the most prestigious

global environment prize in history.

Like President John F. Kennedy's

'Moonshot' did almost 60 years ago, the

Prize aims to unleash an unprecedented

wave of innovation and leadership to

tackle the challenges posed by climate

change and the threats to our oceans, air,

and land.

DHAKA : The Department of Technical

Education (DTE),through the Skills 21

project, will start a year-round

campaign to increase the popularity of

TVET. The campaign strategy has been

developed with the assistance of the

International Labour Organization

(ILO), the implementor of the Skills 21

project funded by the European Union.

An orientation workshop was held in

Dhaka on implementing this campaign

strategy on Saturday, 18 September,

2021. Principals, Chief Instructors and

officials of various technical education

and training institutes, including

polytechnic institutes, technical schools

and colleges of the country and officials

of the Technical and Madrasah

Education Division (TMED) and DTE,

took part in the workshop.

The workshop was inaugurated by the

Secretary of the Technical and

Madrasah Education Division, Md.

Aminul Islam Khan. "Creating young

people's interest in technical education

is an important task at the moment," he

said. "Research is underway in

developed countries as well as in

developing countries to expand

technical education. The Government of

Bangladesh has also made it a priority in

the continuity of development. We want

mainstream students to be attracted to

technical education and help build a

skilled Bangladesh," he added.

Tuomo Poutiainen, Country Director of

the International Labour Organization,

said,"The awareness-raising could only be

effective when it reflects the stakeholders'

right messages, language, and

communication channels. The campaign

aims to use specific media to convey

particular messages to the audiences, such

as skills training, job opportunities, and

decent employment." Maurizio Cian, Head

of Cooperation of the European Union,

said at the workshop that the European

Union has been working since 2007 to

reform Bangladesh's technical

education system. Funding has been

provided to develop the National Skills

Development Policy-2011, NTVQF,

quality assurance system etc. The EU

envoy called for an effective awareness

campaign to give young people a clear

idea of technical education's scope,

effectiveness, context, and job

opportunities.

An orientation workshop was held yesterday in Dhaka on implementing a campaign strategy.

Other speakers at the workshop said

Bangladesh, as a country, is currently

feeling the urge to ensure maximum

utilization of demographic dividends. At

least two million young people enter the

labour market every year. The speakers

emphasized raising the standard of

technical education and training

institutions to turn them into skilled

people. I

t was informed at the workshop that

the pilot program is starting in the first

week of October at Sylhet Technical

School and College as part of a detailed

work plan across the country. This is

followed by campaigns at Bangladesh

Sweden Polytechnic Institute, Kaptai,

Rangamati and Gaibandha Technical

Training Center.

Field-level information and

recommendations will be integrated to

finalize the strategy for this

campaign.Based on the experience

gained after organizing the first part of

the program in three organizations in

Sylhet, Rangamati and Gaibandha, the

next part of the program will be

organized in four more partner TVET

institutes of the 'Skills-21' project.

Photo : Courtesy

An inauguration ceremony was held on Saturday to celebrate Little Ducklings's move to Dhanmondi

from Lalmatia.

Photo : Courtesy

Dengue: 2

more die, 232

new patients

hospitalized

DHAKA : Two more Dengue

patients died and 232 new

patients were hospitalized in

the country in 24 hours till

Saturday morning, said the

Directorate General of

Health Services (DGHS).

With the latest figure, the

number of fatalities from the

mosquito-borne disease

rose to 59 this year.

Among the new patients,

187 were undergoing

hospital treatment in Dhaka

while the remaining 45 cases

were reported from outside

the division, according to

DGHS. Some 1,197 patients

diagnosed with dengue fever

are receiving treatment in

the country as of Saturday

morning. Of them, 990

patients are receiving

treatment at different

hospitals in the capital while

the remaining 207 were

listed outside Dhaka.

Among the deceased, 54

died in Dhaka city alone, two

each in Chattogram and

Khulna divisions and one in

Rajshahi.

Some 15,460 patients have

been admitted to different

hospitals with dengue since

January. So far, 14,204

dengue patients have left

hospitals after recovery, said

the DGHS.

The number of dengue

patients hospitalized in a

single day was the highest

with 343 patients on

September 7.

BNP does not believe in

Liberation War spirits: Tipu

RANGPUR : Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi

on Saturday said leaders of BNP are hypocrites

as they do not believe in the spirit of the War of

Liberation though they call their leader (Ziaur

Rahman) a freedom fighter.

"BNP is not in favour of the War of Liberation

and does not speak for freedom fighters," Tipu

said while addressing a function to unveil the

book "Smritite Rananga"' at Town Hall in the

city as the chief guest.

The district administration and Rangpur

District Unit Command of Bangladesh

Muktijoddha Sangsad (BMS) organised the

function with Deputy Commissioner (DC) Md

Asib Ahsan in the chair.

Rangpur district administration has

published the book compiling Liberation War

time reminiscences of 72 freedom fighters

living in Rangpur metropolis.

The minister said the government led by

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has raised the

monthly honorarium of freedom fighters to

Taka 20,000 to help them live comfortably.

"BNP, the claimant of a party of freedom

fighters, did not say anything about the welfare

of freedom fighters. They claim their leader as

a freedom fighter, but they do not have the

claim in their minds. This is hypocrisy," he said.

Tipu said the defeated forces of 1971 had

killed Bangabandhu out of a dream of turning

Bangladesh into Pakistan again.

In the post August 15 scenario, the Joybangla

slogan became 'Bangladesh Zindabad'. It was

the first blow to the spirit of the War of

Liberation through the assassination of Father

of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman, he added.

"With the Joybangla slogan, freedom fighters

fought the War of Liberation," he said, adding

that Bangladesh was pushed backward for 21

years by killing Bangabandhu and keeping the

pro-Pakistani thoughts alive.

"But Bangladesh has now become a global

role model of development in the hands of

Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina.

Pakistan is now lagging behind Bangladesh in

all indices," he observed.

"When our foreign currency reserve stands at

48 billion US dollars, it is half in Pakistan. In

every respect, Bangladesh is now ahead of

Pakistan," Tipu said.

Recalling his memories in training camps of

the War of Liberation, he said, "The next

generations must be informed the correct

history of independence and War of Liberation

by inspiring them in reading Bangabandhu's

prison diary, unfinished autobiography and all

the books written about him," he said.

Later, the chief guest handed over the book

'Smritite Ranangan' to heroic freedom fighters.

Rangpur Metropolitan Police Commissioner

Mohammad Abdul Alim Mahmud, District

Awami League President Mamtaz Uddin

Ahmed, its General Secretary Advocate Rezaul

Karim Raju, former district unit commander of

BMS Mosaddek Hossain Bablu, City Awami

League President Shafiur Rahman Shafi and its

General Secretary Tushar Kanti Mandal

attended the function, among others.

DMP arrests 60 for

consuming, selling drug

DHAKA : In a regular anti-drug campaign,

the Detective Branch (DB) under the Dhaka

Metropolitan Police (DMP) has arrested 60

persons for consuming and selling drugs in

the capital city.

According to a DMP statement issued

yesterday, as part of the campaign, the police

raided different areas under various police

stations and detained 60 drug abusers and

recovered drugs from their possession from

6 am on September 17, 2021 to 6 am on

Saturday.

During the anti-drug campaign, police

seized 511 grams of heroin, 6.975 kilograms

of cannabis and 5,443 pieces of yaba tablets

from them, it said.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2021

4

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com

Sunday, September 19, 2021

Consolidating advance

in power sector

There has been certainly very notable

improvement in power supply. When load

shedding used to be awful during summer

time some ten years ago, the agonies from load

shedding have gone on progressively decreasing

in recent years. In recent summer seasons,

people in the country experienced much relief

from load shedding compared to the past.

In the beginning when the present government

took over, a number of quick rental power plants

were set up to satisfy emergency needs. Later

the regular plants have increased from 27 to 138

producing enough power to meet the total

demand.

From 4,942 mw power production in 2010,

total production of power has substantially

increased to 23,548 mw at present. This has been

a tremendous increase no doubt. Besides,

government retains the capacity to produce a

much greater amount of power if it wants to

depending on demand.

Thus. from a situation when a potential

subscriber had to wait years before getting a

connection, nowadays miking is heard in some

places of the country inviting subscribers to take

connection at the soonest. Electricity coverage

now includes 95 percent of the country's villages

with only 3 per cent left out.

But the experience in the power sector during

recent years has been also something like two

steps forward marked by a step backward . The

benefit from producing additional power was

seen curbed also by the intermittent

breakdowns of the ageing machinery in the older

plants.

According to media reports most of the

country's gas-fired power generating plants have

become too old and are unfit to properly utilize

their allocated amount of gas. Thus, the gas at

times had to be sent back for uses in other

sectors.

The country has five power plants aged over 40

years, 11 plants within 31 to 40 years, 23 plants

within 21 to 30 years, and 19 plants within 11 to

20 years. But the maximum acceptable lifetime

of any power plant is 20 years. Thus, tripping or

technical glitches in power plants often hamper

electricity generation.

So, it should be pretty obvious that the

overhauling, repairs and maintenance of the

older plants should be addressed with no less

priority than establishing new generation

capacities. If this is done, the benefits arising

from new generation capacities will be

sustainable as the total amount of power

production will continue to rise from older plants

not malfunctioning or operating efficiently and

not breaking down frequently needing repairs.

Thus, advances in the power sector will stand a

chance of being consolidated.

The very old power plants in Bangladesh are

seen retaining their operational life with

relatively lower costs and their thorough

overhauling would not involve amounts to be

considered as prohibitive either, according to

experts.

The older plants were generally set up in the

seventies by the Russians and they can be invited

to address the tasks of overhauling and repairing

them. Not only the Russians have exclusive

expertise in this field, they can be persuaded to

do the works under their bilateral technical

assistance programme or the cost may be

covered by a long term and easy repayment

loans from them.

No less important is to seek a comprehensive

improvement of the transmission lines which are

found to be rickety in many places. Power supply

with efficiency and without waste can be ensured

only through an efficient transmission and

distribution system. There are other forms of

system losses that should be also effectively

addressed.

All kinds of power saving lights and equipment

will have to be popularized. All of these activities

--taken up actively under a planned framework--

will contribute towards conserving power and

guard against waste as the output of power will

gradually go up from increased power

generation.

It is also imperative to give a spur to plans and

activities to increase production of solar power,

wind power and power from other renewable

sources. Power production from these sources

need to be a priority just like power production

from the conventional sources.

With the exception of a few, all

humans are weak in many

aspects. But what is the biggest

weakness of all humans, a weakness that

besets many of us except for a few

individuals who are saintly, pious and in

search of the truth? A philosopher says

that the biggest weakness of all

individuals is the love and insatiable

desire of accumulating material wealth.

Earning wealth through fair means is

not prohibited by Islam but the insatiable

thirst for getting too much wealth and

becoming obsessed with it is prohibited. It

affects an individual's spirituality and

health as well as society as a whole. It is

said that whoever is trapped in the love of

wealth is more likely to be involved in

corrupt practices such as bribery,

dishonesty, corruption, malpractices,

fraudulent earning etc.

These practices not only ruin the

hereafter, but also snatch a person's peace

of mind. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) is

believed to have said that "If the son of

Adam had a valley full of gold, he would

want to have two valleys. Nothing fills his

mouth but the dust of the grave, yet Allah

will relent to whoever repents to Him"

(Sahih al-Bukhari 6075, Sahih Muslim

1048). The "son of Adam" referred to in

the hadith indicates the perennial nature

of humanity which remains unsatisfied

with the wealth acquired.

Abundant wealth earned through illegal

means is not beneficial for anybody. It

stigmatises a person, which is not limited

Love of wealth

to him but extends to his family and

friends. He becomes arrogant with a

harsh attitude, he demeans other

members of society and lives a life of

constant insecurity. Though society shows

him false respect, it also raises questions

about his lifestyle as to how he lives

beyond his known sources of income. In

many cases his illegal wealth dissipates in

his lifetime or he leaves a legacy where his

heirs (sons and daughters) fight and

litigate in court for his bequeathed wealth

and sometimes the end result is total

destruction of the family.

Those obsessed with wealth are likely to

be involved in corrupt practices.

Keeping the present situation of our

society in view, there is a need for some

impartial and dispassionate analysis.

Much of Pakistan's population lives below

the poverty line but there are segments of

the population who live beyond their

resources. They are involved in a rat race

of accumulating wealth through illegal

means. The impact of materialism on

them is so strong that it drives out all other

AMIN VALLIANI

ARJUN GARGEYAS

considerations. They think that earning

more money through quick and illegal

means will provide them happiness,

satisfaction and a sense of security and

confidence. But the money earned

through wrongful means never gives them

happiness or satisfaction, rather it would

snatch what is available to them.

The Holy Quran has severely

reprimanded those who accumulate

wealth and think that it will last forever. It

says: "Woe to every slanderer, backbiter

who has gathered wealth and counts it. He

thinks that his wealth will make him last

forever! Nay but verily he will be thrown

into That which Breaks to Pieces" (104:1-

4).

The life of the Holy Prophet is

exemplary in this manner. He was the

ruler of an Islamic state, having enormous

sources of wealth and power but he did

not give any importance to material

wealth. He did not accumulate but rather

distributed wealth among the needy. An

example of the Battle of Hunayn is most

pertinent.

It was fought by the Islamic army under

the leadership of the Prophet against the

Bedouin tribe of Hawazin and its

subsection the Thaqif in 630 CE in the

valley of Hunayn. The battle ultimately

ended in a decisive victory of the Muslims

who captured enormous spoils.

Thousands and thousands of cattle

including camels were captured but the

Holy Prophet did not keep anything for

himself nor gave it to his close

companions, but rather distributed it

among the novices.

The Quran also presents the example of

Qarun who was the richest man in the

time of Prophet Moses. He was so wealthy

that the keys of his treasures were carried

by a group of strong men (28:76-77). But

his excessive wealth with bags of gold,

silver and other precious gems earned

through wrongful means made him

arrogant and devoid of morals. He refused

to pay heed to the call of the Prophet

Moses and thought that his wealth would

remain forever.

His end was terrible. Such stories have

lessons for all of us. The wealth we earn is

a blessing if it is earned through legal

means and then used prudently. But one

should never develop an insatiable desire

to obtain excessive wealth through the

wrong means. Besides, everyone should

self-examine the sources of his or her

earning before the law of the land takes its

course.

Source: Dawn

Turning migrants back a sign of weakness in post-Brexit UK

For many of those in the UK who voted

to leave the EU in the 2016

referendum, controlling immigration

ranked highest in determining their choice.

"Enough," they would say, claiming that

there were too many European migrants

and non-integrated foreigners in the

country (the newly arrived Afghans could be

among those, of course, in addition to Iraqis,

Somalis, Yemenis and, recently, Syrians).

Brexit was supposed to draw the curtain

on this age-old problem, but clearly not, as

the country now seems to be on the brink of

breaking international maritime law in an

attempt to prevent migrants from reaching

its shores. This will impact the "Global

Britain" brand that this populist, right-wing

Conservative government is trying to

promote domestically and internationally.

More than 14,000 people have crossed

the English Channel to British shores in

small boats so far this year, which is 6,000

more than in the whole of 2020, according

to the Press Association. A record 828

people crossed from France on a single day

in late August, as traffickers took advantage

of the favorable late summer weather.

Though French police try to intercept

migrants before they set off on their journey

toward the English coast, controlling a 700

km-long coastline is not easy, despite

French-British cooperation and funds made

available by London to increase French

patrols and manpower in the area. The

French maritime authorities also have a

policy of not intercepting or turning back

migrant boats unless they are at risk or ask

for help, and usually they get escorted to

British waters as per their wishes, not back

How India could get involved in new AUKUS alliance

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is

heading to the United States to

participate in the first in-person Quad

summit to take place later this month.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue,

comprising India, Australia, Japan and the

United States, has been getting a lot of

media attention ever since it reconvened as

a potential alliance last year. With China

flexing its muscles in the Indo-Pacific

region, the Quad re-emerged as a

counterbalancing tool to the hegemony of

China in the region. However, this looks like

only the beginning of potential Western

coalitions as a response to China's influence

in the region. US President Joe Biden this

week announced a new alliance with the

United Kingdom and Australia known as

"AUKUS" specifically focusing on the

security aspect of the Indo-Pacific region.

The newly announced alliance appears to

be intended a base for all three states to

indulge in defense and technology

cooperation and to collaborate on governing

emerging technologies such as artificial

intelligence and cyberspace.

While India's involvement in the Quad is

needed, there are also pragmatic reasons for

India to work with the AUKUS states to

achieve their objectives. Modi's first face-toface

meeting with Biden could help make

India's case for getting involved with

AUKUS. The Quad, when first conceived,

Abundant wealth earned through illegal means is not

beneficial for anybody. It stigmatises a person, which is

not limited to him but extends to his family and friends.

He becomes arrogant with a harsh attitude, he demeans

other members of society and lives a life of constant

insecurity. Though society shows him false respect.

to France. That angers pro-Brexit

government officials like Home Secretary

Priti Patel, who accuses the French of taking

British money and shirking their

responsibility to stem the flow of people

willing to cross to the UK at any price.

France has rejected the latest proposed

solution, sanctioned by Patel, to send

migrants back where they came from -

usually to camps in the Calais area, where

many refugees congregate as they await the

chance to cross the Channel. French

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin was

dismayed by Patel's plan to break

international law, while also stressing that

his country would not succumb to London's

financial blackmail. This came after Patel

had alluded to her party's MPs that she

would suspend payments to France to step

up its police patrols unless there was an

increase in the number of migrants

intercepted.

To be fair, the problem of human

trafficking - with traffickers or criminal

gangs helping migrants stow away in trucks

or trains from the continent to the UK's

shores - has been an issue for the past three

had maritime security as one of its main

focus areas. With China building up its

naval capabilities throughout the last two

decades, the Quad aimed to build alliances

with the rest of the region in the form of joint

naval exercises and investments in

developing state-of-the-art naval fleets.

With critical technologies at the heart of

geopolitical rivalries during the past five

years, these emerging technologies remain

an immense strategic asset to different

states. Technology will likely be the future

battleground for geopolitical dominance,

with conventional warfare taking a back

seat. Cyber, space and communications are

emerging as potential areas of conflict

between states. AUKUS includes the United

States, which is the global leader in

technology innovation, but the UK and

Australia remain inexperienced players in

the technology domain. India, with its share

in the global technology ecosystem, could

MOHAMED CHEBARO

decades, and has been used for

electioneering purposes by all political

parties. To me, the problem is clearly not

with the migrants' arrivals or in turning

them back, but a broken immigration

system that is failing despite numerous

reforms. The system needs to meet the

country's ambition of attracting the best

talents and economic assets, while still

showing the compassionate side of a

tolerant and multicultural UK.

Many believe that the war of words with

France on migrants crossing the Channel is

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin was dismayed by

Patel's plan to break international law, while also stressing that his

country would not succumb to London's financial blackmail. This

came after Patel had alluded to her party's MPs that she would suspend

payments to France to step up its police patrols unless there

was an increase in the number of migrants intercepted.

unlikely to worsen an already lukewarm

relationship between post-Brexit UK and

the EU generally and France specifically

Many believe that the war of words with

France on migrants crossing the Channel is

unlikely to worsen an already lukewarm

relationship between post-Brexit UK and

the EU generally and France specifically.

Look, for example, at the so-called fishing

rights protests, the vaccine nationalism

saga, and Brexit's Northern Ireland protocol

and London's maneuverings to free itself of

certain clauses, even if it means breaking

international law. Or maybe Patel hoped

provide an immense advantage in terms of

both human resources and capital for

cooperation in emerging technologies.

This cross-border collaboration,

especially in strategic technologies, could

help states in the region address the threats

of attacks in the digital domain.

The region faces instability due to the

number of potential nuclear powers in Asia.

The threat of escalation to nuclear warfare

The Quad, when first conceived, had maritime security

as one of its main focus areas. With China building up

its naval capabilities throughout the last two decades,

the Quad aimed to build alliances with the rest of the

region in the form of joint naval exercises and

investments in developing state-of-the-art naval fleets.

looms large. A flurry of activity in

developing nuclear capabilities has been

seen in recent times. South Korea recently

tested a submarine-launched ballistic

missile (SLBM) despite not being a nuclear

state. North Korea responded by testing its

own ballistic missiles, as a possible arms

race develops in the Korean Peninsula.

What some observers have called China's

nuclear ambiguity and the possibility of

Pakistan's nuclear weapons reaching the

hands of extremists could pose significant

that her threats would magically deter

Syrians, Somalis, Sudanese, Iraqis, Iranians

and even Afghans from making the perilous

journey across the globe to reach British

shores out of fear of being sent back to

French waters by Border Force vessels.

Unfortunately, migration, which is part of

human nature, will not suddenly become

less attractive. People have roamed the

planet for millions of years in search of

shelter, food or to escape natural disasters

or, in today's world, persecution and

conflict. Thousands wait for years in Calais

after spending months, if not years, moving

between countries in the Middle East or

North Africa seeking the chance to cross the

Mediterranean or Eastern Europe en route

to countries such as the UK.

Patel must ask herself why so many want

to reach the UK. Is it due to the country's

lenient immigration and asylum laws? Is it

due to Britain's post-Brexit employment

opportunities? Or is it due to the country's

generous health, education and social

security systems? I would say maybe all of

the above.

Many companies in the UK today are

complaining about a shortage of truck

drivers, which has disrupted the supply of

vital daily supplies to supermarkets and

shops across the country. Previously, there

was a shortage of bar and restaurant staff,

and before that a lack of seasonal harvest

workers, perhaps due to the COVID-19

lockdown. Amid Brexit, there was even a

shortage of nurses and doctors at the height

of the pandemic.

Source: Arab news

threats to the region. The AUKUS alliance is

expected to focus on underwater defense

capabilities as a deterrence to the Chinese

military presence in the region. With

specific focus on developing nuclearpowered

submarines for Australia, this just

reaffirms Biden's evolving foreign policy as a

highly Indo-Pacific approach.

India, on the other hand, is one of the

most technologically developed nuclear

states in the region. It also has the

distinction of being one of the first nations to

undertake the development of nuclearpowered

submarines. The INS Arihant,

launched by India in 2009, was the first

ballistic-missile submarine developed by a

state other than the five permanent

members of the UN Security Council.

This kind of experience that India

possesses in the field of underwater warfare

and the proximity to the region should serve

as a major incentive for AUKUS and India

to collaborate on nuclear defense

capabilities with a focus on security and

stability in the region. The Covid-19

pandemic has led to a massive decline in

globalization and international trade.

Global supply chains were restructured to

protect domestic economies, leading to

shortages (such as the silicon-chip

shortage).

Source: Asia times

SuNday, SePTemBer 19, 2021

5

BriTTaNy WONG

Susan Smith, a pediatric ER physician in

the Midwest who's been in the medical

field for 30 years, wasn't expecting to

retire any time soon. But then COVID-19

hit. Smith has dealt with the long shifts,

the increasing influx of children sick with

the coronavirus, and the usual

emergency room traffic just fine. Dealing

with her young patients' vaccine-skeptic

parents is another story. Her experiences

with the adults have left her shocked,

disheartened and ready to leave a job she

once loved.

"Even though this will hurt me

financially, I'm done," Smith, 60, told

HuffPost recently. "I had hoped to do five

or possibly 10 more years, but the antivaxxers,

Trumpers and conspiracy

theorists have just worn me down."

"I love working with children and I

knew I was truly helping children and

their families and making a difference,

but not anymore," the doctor said.

In the last year and a half, she's dealt

with parents who shout and scream at

hospital staff about mask mandates and

safety precautions. Then there are the

parents who pass on websites and the

names of doctors they think Smith

should look up so that she can "educate

herself" and "know what's really going

on."

They're the minority of parents Smith

sees in the ER, but they're a vocal,

sometimes downright hostile minority.

One experience stands out more than the

rest: A mom brought her 2-year-old

daughter in because the girl wasn't

eating as much as she needed to be.

Smith and the woman were having a

fairly reasonable conversation about

what could be done when the woman let

it slip that she would never immunize

her daughter.

"She said, I won't do it because of the

'poison you doctors put in the shots,'"

Smith recalled the woman saying

verbatim. "I was incredulous and had to

confirm that she had actually said that

and meant me, as well as every other

pediatrician who administers vaccines,"

Smith said. "I asked her why she had

brought her 2-year-old daughter in to see

us with a mild chief complaint if she

'knew' we poisoned children. Why would

Health care workers were

already feeling burnout

Conspiracy theories and vaccine misinformation are wearing health care workers down.

Photo: Nathan Howard

she want to hear what we have to say?"

The woman didn't answer Smith, she

just held up her hand directly in front of

the doctor's face, mimicking a slapping

motion and telling Smith to "just do your

job."

Smith was gobsmacked by the

encounter, but even more taken aback by

her colleagues' blasé reaction to the

story. "Most didn't even act surprised or

bothered," she said. "They essentially

summed it up as 'that's just the way

things are nowadays' and told me to put

it out of my mind," Smith said.

But Smith couldn't stop thinking about

it: How starkly that interaction

contrasted with her experience with

parents in the past. How the woman

echoed, line for line, the anti-vaccine

conspiracy theories she'd seen

promulgated on Facebook.

"These days, we're supposed to do our

job exactly how they think it should be

done, based on what they've gleaned

from the internet and Facebook ? which

in their minds, supersedes our four years

of college, four years of medical school

and three to 10+ more years of

residencies and fellowships."

"And if they or their children do get

sick, they expect and know we will take

care of them," Smith added. "I'm just

tired of it." Eighteen months into the

pandemic, Smith's experience with

burnout ? because of the excessive

workload and emotional trauma of the

pandemic, but also because of run-ins

with anti-vaxxer patients ? is common

among medical workers.

Fifty-five percent of U.S. front-line

health care workers reported

experiencing burnout ? defined as

mental and physical exhaustion from

chronic workplace stress ? according to a

recent Washington Post/Kaiser Family

Foundation survey of 1,327 workers.

Sixty-two percent of the workers

reported some mental health

repercussions as a result of their

burnout. If not managed, mental health

professionals worry these issues could

flare into chronic psychological

problems: depression and anxiety or

post-traumatic stress disorder have all

been commonly reported among health

care workers during the pandemic.

Individual stories of doctors' and nurses'

suicides highlight just how dire an

emergency the COVID-19 pandemic has

been for front-line workers.

One April 2021 study by health care

jobs marketplace Vivian found that 4 in

10 nurses are considering leaving their

roles in 2021. That figure is even higher

among ICU workers.

Sam, a 46-year-old registered

respiratory therapist who works in the

Tampa Bay area, is among those who've

weighed leaving the field. Sam, who, like

many in this article, asked to use his first

name only out of concern for his

livelihood, told HuffPost he'd switch

careers in a heartbeat if he were younger.

On his days off, he mostly sleeps and

takes care of his two kids. "When I go

out, all I see are people walking around

without masks knowing that they

probably aren't vaccinated, and all I

think about is the hell I go through taking

care of people like that," he said.

To cope, Sam has started taking antianxiety

and depression medication. He

was seeing a therapist, but the surge in

Florida has kept him so busy, it's been

hard to keep up with appointments.

(According to the Florida Department of

Health's most recent weekly COVID-19

data report, the number of new cases has

dropped in the past week, but the weekly

death toll has risen. The state continues

to see a decline in vaccinations weekover-week.)

"Every day I work is a nightmare of

people dying and treating people close to

death," Sam said. "There aren't many

happy endings anymore. I see so many

unvaccinated people dying. Most of this

is unnecessary. I truly believe that

COVID is mostly a choice now."

Sam recalled a recent experience in the

ER when a physician he works with had

to tell a patient he was COVID-positive.

The patient cussed the doctor out, saying

it was all a hoax and that he was lying. A

few hours later, medical workers were

intubating him. The man never came off

the ventilator and died a few weeks later.

Watching so much unnecessary death

takes a toll on your mental health, Sam

said, but so does having to listen to

patients berate you and rant about the

vaccines. "We're ridiculed for wearing

masks and for being 'sheep' for heeding

CDC guidelines," he said. "I've been in

rooms where someone is less than a day

away from being intubated, and they are

FaceTiming their families, and the family

member is asking them if they want any

of that cattle dewormer."

He's referring to ivermectin, a drug

often used for deworming livestock that

has recently gained traction as an athome

coronavirus treatment, despite the

Food and Drug Administration warning

against its use for that purpose.

Sam said he can't understand why the

conspiracy-minded patients he treats are

willing to try everything but the one

thing that will save them. A recent

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention study found that

unvaccinated people are 11 times more

likely to die from COVID-19 and 29 times

as likely to be hospitalized for it as those

who are fully vaccinated.

"It's becoming very difficult to have

any empathy or sympathy for these

people," he said. "I have to fake it

sometimes." At this point, he's dealing

with his burnout by looking far into the

future.

"When this nightmare is over, I hope to

get the joy of helping others back to

somewhere close to what I had before,"

he said. Carlie Russell, a registered nurse

in the South Shore of Massachusetts, is

sticking it out, too, in spite of feeling

worn out.

Looking back to the start of the

pandemic in March 2020, Russell said

she genuinely felt that Americans were

on the same page and that collectively,

they'd fight the virus and the pandemic

would eventually reach an endpoint,

thanks largely to the development of a

vaccine.

Now, the vaccine is here - but the

endpoint is feeling more and more

elusive. "I never thought we would have

to convince people this disease was real

or that wearing masks is the best to help

people stay safe," she told HuffPost. "I

certainly know that I never thought it

would be as bad and as stressful as it has

been."

The easy ratio for perfectly

healthy kids’ lunch

Packing a nutritionally

balanced lunch that your kids

will actually eat can

sometimes feel like a

crapshoot - the second you

think you have your lunch

game on lock, that's the day

they'll come home with the

elaborate bento box you

packed them still intact.

As parents, we feel

responsible for our kids'

health and that

understandably translates

into a lot of stress over what

they're eating or not eating.

"Your job as a parent is to

offer healthy, nutritious foods

as often as possible, on a

consistent schedule," said

Aubrey Phelps, a functional

perinatal and pediatric

nutritionist. "But it's up to

your child to decide what to

do with them."

The best way to grow a

happy, healthy eater is to keep

offering what you'd ideally

want your child to eat - and

don't take it personally if they

choose not to eat it. When it

comes to school lunches,

Phelps recommends keeping

it simple: "Focusing on

specific vitamins or minerals

can miss the big picture," she

said.

The ideal school lunch

formula is often referred to as

the plate method - a visual

representation of what a wellrounded

meal looks like.

"Every child needs a healthy

balance of macronutrients

(protein, carbs, fat) and

vitamins and minerals,"

Nicole Avena, a New Yorkbased

health psychologist and

author of "What to Feed Your

Baby and Toddler," told

HuffPost. "The plate method

helps ensure that no one

nutrient is overpowering the

rest."

If your child has a lunch

that's mostly carbs or whole

grains and some protein, for

instance, they'll likely feel

tired in the afternoon. Carbs

not only make you sleepy due

to their ability to increase

tryptophan and serotonin

levels in the body (both of

which are sleep-inducing

compounds), but they can

quickly raise your blood

sugar, and the subsequent

drop can leave you feeling

tired, Avena said. Even a

larger portion of protein and

This is actually an example of what NOT to do.

smaller amount of carbs can

make your child sleepy.

"Proteins and fats are often

more difficult to digest than

carbs and nutrients that come

from fruits and vegetables,"

Avena said. "This can

potentially lead to fatigue,

since your body needs to use

up more energy during

digestion."

Making sure their lunchbox

contains every element of this

formula means your child will

consume the balance of

nutrients necessary to focus

and enjoy their school day

without feeling sluggish.

Let's break down the

formula. The biggest portion,

or half of the lunchbox, should

contain 2-3 different kinds of

vegetables and fruit -

preferably, two vegetables and

one fruit, as children's daily

intake of vegetables tends to

be lower than their fruit

intake, according to a 2019

review published in the

American Journal of Lifestyle

Medicine.

"Vegetables and fruit

provide antioxidants to fight

off disease, including vitamin

A for skin and eye health,

Photo: Claudia Totir

lutein for eye protection (from

blue light) and vitamin C for

immunity," said Amy Shapiro,

New York City-based

registered dietitian and

founder of Real Nutrition.

Produce is also rich in water

to keep kids hydrated, and

contains fiber for sustained

energy and improved

digestion. "Protein is the

nutrient that takes the longest

to digest, so having it as part

of your child's lunch will keep

them full and their blood

sugar stable," Shapiro said.

Depending on the type of

protein provided, it may also

contain amino acids for

growth and muscle repair,

zinc for immunity, and iron

and vitamin B12 for energy.

On to healthy fats: "Fat

helps to keep you full,

provides energy and allows

for the bioavailability and

absorption of many of the

vitamins we eat through other

foods," Shapiro said. "By

including fat in your child's

meals, you'll help them stay

full longer and be more

energized."

Enough fat is often cooked

into your food or a part of the

meal already, so it doesn't

necessarily need to be a

separate addition, Shapiro

said. (Eggs and nut butters,

for example, offer a one-two

punch of protein and healthy

fats.)

"Carbohydrates are broken

down into sugar in the body,

providing energy for

immediate use and reserves

for later use," Shapiro said.

"Ideally, whole grains or

whole wheat should be

included, as they're rich in

nutrients, digest more slowly

and are high in fiber to aid in

balanced blood sugar and

digestion."

They also contain B

vitamins, which are important

for energy and metabolism.

But if your child isn't the

biggest fan of whole grains,

don't fret: "Vegetables and

fruits also fit into the

carbohydrate category, so you

don't always have to think

about bread or grains if your

child doesn't like them,"

Shapiro said.

CarOliNe BOlOGNa

Travel can be very

unpredictable in the age of

the COVID-19 pandemic. As

vaccination rates rose and

cases fell in the spring and

summer, many popular

destinations opened up to

U.S. visitors, and people

started booking their longawaited

vacations

accordingly. But with

increased hospitalizations

and rising concerns about

variants in recent months, a

number of those same

destinations have imposed

new restrictions on

nonessential travel from the

States.

While this is disappointing

for would-be travelers, it's

particularly upsetting for

those who had already

booked their dream trips to

these places and now find

themselves unsure of how to

proceed. But the good news

is, they have options.

HuffPost asked experts

what travelers should do if

new restrictions in a

particular tourist destination

affect their upcoming travel

plans. Below, read their

recommendations for steps

to take if you find yourself in

this situation.

"If you've planned a trip to

a destination and you see a

headline announcing a

change, there are a couple

things you should do," Willis

Orlando, member operations

specialist at Scott's Cheap

Flights, told HuffPost. "First,

be thorough. Be sure to check

official government sources

as news headlines have

tended to oversimplify or

exaggerate restrictions."

Orlando advised consulting

the U.S. Embassy's website

for your given destination to

get complete, up-to-date

information. You may find

that your trip is still feasible

with the proper advance

preparation. It's also

important to do this research

periodically in the time

leading up to your travels. Be

prepared for further updates

or changes.

"Entry requirements and

restrictions can change

quickly, so make sure to

always check official

government sites a few days

before your departure," said

Konrad Waliszewski, cofounder

and CEO of the

travel app Tripscout. "Don't

rely on old blog posts or the

research you did while

Pandemic travel is all about flexibility and modified expectations.

Photo: Getty

What to do if a new travel ban

affects your upcoming trip

booking."

Once you understand the

rules in place at your

destination, determine what

the options are for your

bookings for flights,

accommodation and other

aspects of the trip.

"It really depends on what

the restrictions are," said Phil

Dengler, co-founder of The

Vacationer. "If it is a

quarantine rule for

international travel or

something else that will

severely affect your trip, you

need to be aware of refund

policies for your itinerary."

Flexibility is the name of

the game when it comes to

pandemic travel. "Ideally,

you book a stay at a hotel

offering free cancellations

close to the start of your

stay," Dengler. "Even if you

do not, you still may be able

to get your money back or

reschedule your stay. I

recommend asking the hotel

for a refund. If they say no,

ask about a credit to rebook

for different dates. If they

refuse to budge, dispute the

charge with your credit card

company."

With flights, he noted that

most major carriers no

longer have change fees, and

you may have the option of a

cash refund or an airline

credit. "The good news is

many rental car companies

allow you to cancel without a

fee as long as you did not

prepay your reservation," he

added.

Whatever travel you book,

go into it with modified

expectations. "Expect that

your plans could be canceled

or changed," Waliszewski

said. "Do not book anything

that's not able to be fully

canceled and refunded if new

restrictions or bans are put in

place. This will give you

peace of mind if you need to

make any last-minute

changes to your plans."

You may find through your

research that you won't be

permitted to enter your

destination of choice or that

you'll be subject to a

quarantine that makes the

trip you planned undesirable.

But you don't have to

completely give up on your

vacation.

"If you booked a ticket with

no change fees, you can look

to change your ticket to a

different destination," said

Orlando. "Amazing deals are

popping up regularly right

now. If, for example, you

were scheduled to go to

Amsterdam but feel deterred

by recent changes to entry

requirements, take a look at

other deals to Europe. A little

flexibility can go a long way,

and much of the world is, and

will likely continue to be,

open to vaccinated

Americans."

Look into the other

destinations your airline of

choice services, and if you

booked accommodations

through a hotel chain, see if it

has places to stay there as

well. You may be able to put

together a very similar trip.

When it comes to

nonrefundable airline tickets,

the situation may not be

completely hopeless if you

find your destination instates

a travel ban. You just have to

wait and hope for the best.

Even if the restrictions aren't

lifted, you may still be able to

get a refund in time.

"If you booked a ticket with

change fees, we recommend

that rather than canceling the

tickets immediately and

eating the cost, you are better

off setting a calendar

reminder for a date one or

two weeks before the trip is

scheduled as your final date

to cancel the trip if conditions

don't change," Orlando said.

"If you cancel the trip

voluntarily, the airline owes

you nothing, so there's

literally no benefit in

canceling too quickly," he

continued. "But by holding

out, you increase the odds

that the airline will cancel or

significantly alter your

itinerary. When restrictions

are put into place, airlines

often reduce the number of

planes they fly on the given

route, which increases the

odds of a schedule change or

cancellation. If they do so,

you are then entitled to a full

refund under federal law. A

little patience can save you

hundreds of dollars."

SUNDAY, SePTeMBer 19, 2021

6

Bogura Deputy Commissioner Md. Ziaul Hoque inagaurated Moonlight Children's Home, a modern

safe shelter for orphans, has been inaugurated at Nataipara Bogura recently. Photo: Azahar Ali

Bogura DC inaugurates Moonlight

Children's Home

AZAHAR ALI, BOGURA CORRESPONDENT

Moonlight Children's Home, a

modern safe shelter for orphans, has

been inaugurated at Nataipara

Bogura.Bogura

Deputy

Commissioner Md. Ziaul Hoque cut

the ribbon and inaugurated the

homes run by Moonlight

Development Society on Thursday

afternoon.

President of Moonlight

Development Society Zannatul Bakia

Moonmoon presided over the

function. Deputy Director of Social

RAJSHAHI: Five more deaths were

recorded at the Covid-19 unit of Rajshahi

Medical College Hospital (RMCH) in the

last 24 hours till 6am yesterday, raising the

fatality to 27 in last four days of this month,

reports BSS.

The previous day's fatality figure was also

five, while Friday's death cases from the

lethal virus was just four, the lowest-ever

since the second wave of coronavirus hit the

country around four months back.

Earlier, the number of casualties was 340

in August, 566 in July and 405 in June,

health officials said.

RMCH Director Brigadier General Dr

Shamim Yazdani told newsmen that

among the new five new deaths, two were

male and three female.

Three of the deceased were the residents

of Rajshahi and one each from Naogaon

and Pabna districts, he said.

"Among the deaths, two tested positive

for Covid-19 and three had its symptoms,"

he said.

Services Department Bogura Abu

Saeed Md. Kawsar Rahman, Upazila

Health and Family Planning Officer

Dr. Samir Hossain Mishu, General

Secretary of Bogura Press Club Arif

Rehman, Advisor Md. Enamul Haque,

Consultant Lamiha Hoque,

Coordinator Sohidul Islam, residential

student Sraboni Akhter, and many

others spoke as special guests.

Bogura Deputy Commissioner Md.

Ziaul Hoque said the present

government is working to build a

country free from hunger and

RMCH counts five more

deaths in Covid-19 unit

UTTAM SHARMA, BIRGANJ CORRESPONDENT

An awareness training on safe motherhood,

prevention of maternal and child mortality

was held in the meeting room of Birganj

upazila Health Complex, under the direction

of Upazila Family Planning Officer Md.

Zakirul Islam with various government and

non-government Awareness training has

Fourteen more patients were admitted to

the designated Covid-19 wards of the hospital

in the last 24 hours, raising the total

number of admitted patients to 286,

including 68 active cases.

Sixteen other patients are undergoing

treatment at the Intensive Care Unit of the

hospital. Eleven patients returned home

from the Covid-19 unit after being cured

during the time.

Yazdani said the infection rate has

decreased by 3.53 percent in Rajshahi compared

to the previous day.

A total of 14 people were diagnosed with

Covid-19 after testing 94 samples in

Rajshahi's two laboratories on Friday,

showing 10 percent positivity rate against

13.53 percent on Thursday.

Yazdani said the number of admitted

patients has declined during the last couple

of weeks. So, the number of designated

wards and beds in the hospital was

reduced, he added.

Traning on safe motherhood, prevention of

maternal and child mortality held in Birganj

been conducted with the stakeholders on

Saturday.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md. Abdur Quader

presided over the function and Upazila

Chairman Md. Aminul Islam was present as

the chief guest. Among others, female vice

chairman Mst Ayesha Akhter Brishti,

dignitaries from various unions and many

others were also present at the occasion.

poverty. Various steps are being

taken to improve the quality of life of

helpless people. Along with the

government, the rich also have to

stand by the helpless people.

Welcoming the activities of

Moonlight Children's Home, he said

that due to such initiatives, some

orphans have got the opportunity to

build their beautiful lives. They will

develop as human beings. At last, the

deputy commissioner visited the

children's home and spoke to the

children.

Awareness meeting

on implementation

of Fisheries Act held

in Char Fasson

MD TUHIN, CHAR FASSON

CORRESPONDENT

Awareness meeting on

implementation of

Fisheries Act was held on

the occasion of National

Fisheries Week with all the

warehouse keepers and

fishermen of Samraj

Fishery Ghat of Bhola

District under the initiative

of USAID Ecofish-2,

Project on Wednesday.

Al Noman Rahul, Upazila

Nirbahi Officer was

present as the chief guest

while Maruf Hossain

Minar, Senior Fisheries

Officer of the Upazila was

present as the special

guest, along all the

warehouse keepers and

fishermen including the

President of the

Fishermen's Association

were present.

The meeting was chaired

by Abdul Hai, Chairman,

Char Madras Union and

moderated by the World

Fish Representative. The

meeting highlighted the

Fisheries Act and policies

and emphasized the

importance of strong

influence and role of

warehouse keepers in its

implementation.

An awareness training on safe motherhood, prevention of maternal and child mortality was held in the

meeting room of Birganj upazila Health Complex recently.

Photo: Uttam Sharma

KSRM group takes responsibilty of

two helpless orphaned children

S M AKASH, CHATTOGRAM CORRESPONDENT

Yasin (12) and Golap (9), two orphans

of unfortunate Minu Akhter, who was

imprisoned on behalf of others,

KSRM Industrial Group is one of the

leading steel construction companies

in the country who took the

responsibility of educating and

supporting these orphans. Shahriar

Jahan Rahat, deputy managing

director of the company, expressed

interest in taking responsibility for the

orphans after the news broke in

various media, according to

Chattogram district administration

sources.

Mizanul Islam, media adviser to

KSRM, confirmed the matter to The

Bangladesh Today, saying the deputy

commissioner had already been

informed of the interest of the

company's deputy managing director

Shahriar Jahan Rahat. Basically, the

KSRM will decide what to do as per

the instructions of the deputy

commissioner. The KSRM authorities

want the two orphaned children of the

unfortunate Minu Akter not to fall

victim to the cruelty of the society, so

that they can grow up laughing and

playing like ten children. Don't let

them have a negative attitude towards

the world and life.

In this context, Chittagong Deputy

Commissioner Mohammad

Mominur Rahman said, the

renowned industrial group KSRM

wants to take overall responsibility for

the two orphaned children of Minu

Akter.I have already been contacted

more than once by KSRM. We will

assign some tasks to KSRM.

According to him, the industrial

company will take the responsibility

of supporting the two children. On

behalf of the district administration,

we will keep them informed all the

time. In this regard, Minu Akhter's

lawyer Golam Mawla Murad told

"The Bangladesh Today" that such

generosity of KSRM is undoubtedly

worthy of praise, Through this,

Minu's two orphaned sons found a

safe haven. What could be happier

than this ? As far as we know, KSRM

has many examples and examples of

such generosity, they have been doing

a lot of humanitarian work for ages.

We hope that they will continue their

generous activities in the future as

well, which will serve as a beacon in

the backward society.

Incidentally, Minu Akhter, who was

abandoned by her husband, went to

jail on behalf of others, promising to

support her three children. It was

rumored that he would be released in

a short time, but after about three

years, the matter came to light. In this

context, Minu was released from jail

on June 16 after a long legal process

due to the efforts of some liberal

people including lawyers. Meanwhile,

Minu's daughter Jannat died due to

various shortages. Minu was

mysteriously released in a road

accident 13 days after his release. On

the night of June 28 Minu was hit by

a car in Arefin Nagar area of

Fauzdarhat link road of Bayazid

Bostami in Chittagong city. She was

seriously injured and the police

rescued him and admitted him to

Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

Minu died on the morning of June

29 while undergoing treatment there.

Mofidul Islam buried his body in

Anjuman a day later as he was not

identified. Later on the night of July 3,

the police and the family confirmed

that the body buried as unknown was

that of the unfortunate Minu.

Meanwhile, Minu's eldest son got a

job in Sholashahar tea shop. After

Minu's death, his eldest son Yasin

mysteriously disappeared. The news

was published in various media. The

administration is in shock. After that,

the police searched the Siddhirganj

Children and Adolescent Correctional

Center in Narayanganj. Minu's

youngest son Golap is in the shelter of

a day laborer uncle.

An awareness meeting on implementation of Fisheries Act was held on the occasion of National

Fisheries Week in Char Fasson upazila recently.

Photo: Md Tuhin

1193 people get

financial assistance

in Gaibandha's

Fulchhari

GAIBANDHA: A total of 1193

people got cash support in

Fulchhari upazila of the

district to pass their economic

hardship, reports BSS.

They were provided with

cash card on behalf of Income

Support Programme for the

Poorest (ISPP)-Jawtna

project being implemented in

the upazila.

A function organized by the

project implementation

committee was held on the

premises of upazila Parishad

on Friday afternoon.

Deputy speaker of the Jatiya

Sangshad and local lawmaker

Advocate Fazley Rabbi Miah

addressed the function

virtually joining from an

India's Hospital where he was

undergoing treatment.

Justice of the High Court

Division Muhammad

Khurshid Alam Sarker,

deputy commissioner Abdul

Matin, superintendent of

police Muhammamad

Towhidul Islam, upazila

chairman GM Selim Parvez

and Upazila Nirbahi Officer

(UNO) Abu Rayhan Dolon

spoke while project director

Dipak Chakrobarty presided

over the function.

After the meeting, 1193

beneficiaries of the project in

the upazila were distributed

cash card in second phase.

Earlier, as many as 8446

people got cash card in first

phase, sources said.

Some 20 crore, 12 lakh and

59, 100 Taka were given to the

beneficiaries of the upazila

under the project till June in

2021.

Managed aquifer recharge

can enrich underground

water in Barind

RAJSHAHI: Managed aquifer

recharge (MAR) can enrich

underground water in the

drought-prone Barind area

where two people has been

pioneer in the process

exploring the collecting and

conserving system of

rainwater, reports BSS.

Korneleus Tudu, 54, and

Paulus Tudu, 48, of Barsapara

village in Dewpara Union

under Godagari Upazila in

Rajshahi district, have been

harvesting rainwater and

inserting those to the

underground for the last

around four to five years.

They have arrangements of

harvesting all the rainwater

from the rooftop of their tinshed

house and later injecting

those to the underground.

Korneleus Tudu told BSS

that the continuous artificial

aquifer recharge has already

started benefiting them.

They are using the

conserved water for household

purposes through taps fixed in

the lower part of the tank.

Surplus water is being

preserved in the recharge tank

through another upper

portion wide pipe.

Tudu said they had to suffer

a lot due to the water crisis as

there was no water in handdriven

tube-wells from March

to June every year. But, the

trouble started tiding over for

promoting MAR, a modern

technology of artificial aquifer

recharge, at present.

Not only the two neighbours

but also many other

households, business

establishments and local

government institutions have

installed the similar technology

in the drought-hit area.

They are getting technical

and financial assistance from

the Integrated Water

Resource Management

(IWRM) Project for successful

and effective promotion of

MAR along with its operation.

sunDAY, sePtemBer 19, 2021

7

Dealing the White House a stinging setback, a government advisory panel overwhelmingly rejected

a plan Friday to give Pfizer COVID-19 booster shots across the board, and instead endorsed the extra

vaccine dose only for those who are 65 or older or run a high risk of severe disease. Photo : AP

US panel backs COVID-19 boosters

only for seniors, high-risk

WASHINGTON : Dealing the White

House a stinging setback, a

government advisory panel

overwhelmingly rejected a plan Friday

to give Pfizer COVID-19 booster shots

across the board, and instead endorsed

the extra vaccine dose only for those

who are 65 or older or run a high risk of

severe disease.

The twin votes represented a heavy

blow to the Biden administration's

sweeping effort, announced a month

ago, to shore up nearly all Americans'

protection amid the spread of the

highly contagious delta variant.

The nonbinding recommendation -

from an influential committee of

outside experts who advise the Food

and Drug Administration - is not the

last word. The FDA will consider the

group's advice and make its own

decision, probably within days. And the

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention is set to weigh in next week.

In a surprising turn, the advisory

panel rejected, 16-2, boosters for

almost everyone. Members cited a lack

of safety data on extra doses and also

raised doubts about the value of mass

boosters, rather than ones targeted to

specific groups.

California wildfires

burn into groves of

giant sequoia trees

CALIFORNIA : California

wildfires have burned into at

least four groves of gigantic

ancient sequoias in national

parks and forests, though

cooler weather on Friday

helped crews trying to keep

the flames away from a

famous cluster containing the

world's largest tree, reports

UNB.

The fires lapped into the

groves with trees that can be

up to 200 feet (61 meters) tall

and 2,000 years old,

including Oriole Lake Grove

in Sequoia National Park and

Peyrone North and South

groves in the neighboring

Sequoia National Forest.

The fire also had reached

the forest's Long Meadow

Grove, where then-President

Bill Clinton signed a

proclamation two decades

ago establishing a national

monument. Fire officials

haven't yet been able to

determine how much damage

was done to the groves, which

are in remote, hard-to-reach

areas.

"These groves are just as

impressive and just as

ecologically important to the

forest. They just aren't as wellknown,"

Tim Borden, sequoia

restoration and stewardship

manager for the Save the

Redwoods League, told the

Bay Area News Group. "My

heart sinks when I think

about it."

Flames were still about a

mile (1.5 kilometers) from the

famed Giant Forest, where

some 2,000 massive sequoias

grow on a plateau high in the

mountains of the national

park.

Firefighters have placed

special aluminum wrapping

around the base of the

General Sherman Tree, the

world's largest by volume at

52,508 cubic feet (1,487 cubic

meters), as well as some other

sequoias and buildings.

Then, in an 18-0 vote, it endorsed

extra shots for people 65 and older and

those at risk of serious disease. Panel

members also agreed that health

workers and others who run a high risk

of being exposed to the virus on the job

should get boosters, too.

That would help salvage part of the

White House's campaign but would

still be a huge step back from the farreaching

proposal to offer third shots of

both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines

to Americans eight months after they

get their second dose. The White House

sought to frame the action as progress.

"Today was an important step

forward in providing better protection

to Americans from COVID-19," said

White House spokesman Kevin

Munoz. "We stand ready to provide

booster shots to eligible Americans

once the process concludes at the end

of next week."

The CDC has said it is considering

boosters for older people, nursing

home residents and front-line health

care workers, rather than all adults.

The FDA and CDC will most likely

decide at some later point whether

people who received the Moderna or

Johnson and Johnson shots should

get boosters.

During several hours of vigorous

debate Friday, members of the panel

questioned the value of offering

boosters to almost everybody 16 and

over.

"I don't think a booster dose is going

to significantly contribute to controlling

the pandemic," said Dr. Cody Meissner

of Tufts University. "And I think it's

important that the main message we

transmit is that we've got to get

everyone two doses."

Dr. Amanda Cohn of the CDC said,

"At this moment it is clear that the

unvaccinated are driving transmission

in the United States."

In a statement, Kathrin U. Jansen,

Pfizer head of vaccine research and

development, said the company

continues to believe that boosters will

be a "critical tool in the ongoing effort

to control the spread of this virus."

Scientists inside and outside the

government have been divided recently

over the need for boosters and who

should get them, and the World Health

Organization has strongly objected to

rich nations giving a third round of

shots when poor countries don't have

enough vaccine for their first.

Crews watching weather as

wildfire burns near sequoias

THREE RIVERS : Crews were watching the

weather this weekend as they battled

California wildfires that have burned into

some groves of gigantic ancient sequoias as

they try to protect the world's largest tree.

The National Weather Service issued a

weather watch for critical fire conditions in

the Sequoia National Park in the Sierra

Nevada, where the Colony Fire was burning

about a mile from Giant Forest, a grove of

2,000 giant sequoias.

Firefighters have wrapped the base of the

General Sherman Tree in fire-resistant

aluminum of the type used in wildland

firefighter emergency shelters and to protect

historic wooden buildings, fire

spokeswoman Rebecca Paterson said.

The General Sherman Tree is the largest in

the world by volume, at 52,508 cubic feet

(1,487 cubic meters), according to the

National Park Service. It towers 275 feet (84

meters) high and has a circumference of 103

feet (31 meters) at ground level.

The Colony Fire is one of two lightningcaused

blazes, known together as the KNP

Complex, that have burned about 18 square

miles (46 square kilometers) of forest land.

The fires forced the evacuation of the park

this week, and parts of Three Rivers, a

foothill community of about 2,500 people

outside the park's main entrance. Crews

have been bulldozing a line between the fire

and the community.

Cooler, calmer weather and morning lowhanging

smoke that choked off air limited

the fire's growth in recent days but the

National Weather Service said a lowpressure

system will bring some gusty winds

and lower humidity through Sunday in the

fire area.

However, fire officials weren't expecting

the kinds of explosive wind-driven growth

that in recent months turned Sierra Nevada

blazes into monsters that devoured

hundreds of homes.

"There isn't a lot of extreme weather

predicted for the next few days, which is

good news, there's not a lot of big wind shifts

predicted. However, there's also no rain

predicted," fire information spokeswoman

Rebecca Paterson said. "So we're

anticipating that the fires are going to

continue to grow. Hopefully they're not

going to grow too fast."

Crews were watching the weather this weekend as they battled California

wildfires that have burned into some groves of gigantic ancient sequoias as

they try to protect the world's largest tree.

Photo : AP

Prosecutor: Jurors

conclude Durst heir

'killed them all'

INGLEWOOD : Robert

Durst's long, bizarre and

deadly run from the law

ended when a Los Angeles

County jury convicted him

in the murder of his best

friend more than 20 years

ago, reports UNB. The 78-

year-old New York real

estate heir, who was long

suspected but never charged

in the disappearance of his

wife in New York in 1982

and acquitted of murder in

the 2001 killing of a

neighbor in Texas, was

found guilty Friday of the

first-degree murder of

Susan Berman.

"Bob Durst has been

around a lot of years, and

he's been able to commit a

lot of horrific crimes,"

Deputy District Attorney

John Lewin said outside the

Inglewood Courthouse.

"Considering what he's

done, he got a lot more of a

life than he was entitled to."

Durst, who is sick and frail

and sat throughout the trial

in a wheelchair, was not

present when the verdict

was read. He was in

isolation at a jail because he

was exposed to someone

with coronavirus, an odd

twist on the jury's final day.

The global pandemic

significantly altered the

course of the trial,

suspending it in March

2020 after only two days of

testimony. After a 14-month

break, possibly the longest

in the U.S. legal system, the

case resumed in May for

four more months of

testimony.

R. Kelly behavior

mirrors abuse tactics,

expert witness says

NEW YORK : Prosecutors

inched closer on Friday to

concluding their case at the R.

Kelly sex-trafficking trial,

calling two final witnesses to

try to further cement

allegations he groomed young

victims for unwanted sex in

episodes dating to the 1990s.

One witness was a former

assistant for the R and B

singer who echoed testimony

of other ex-employee s

describing his mercurial

behavior and the control he

exerted on everyone around

him.

The other was an expert

witness on abusive

relationships who is to return

to the witness stand for crossexamination

on Monday

before the government rests.

The expert, psychologist

Dawn Hughes, testified about

studies showing that many

abusers systematically isolate,

demean, subjugate and spy

on their victims as means of

control - all tactics allegedly

used by Kelly. Generally

speaking, it isn't unusual for

powerful people like Kelly to

be surrounded by underlings

who "knew about it and didn't

do anything," Hughes said.

WASHINGTON : The Pentagon

retreated from its defense of a drone

strike that killed multiple civilians in

Afghanistan last month, announcing

Friday that a review revealed that only

civilians were killed in the attack, not

an Islamic State extremist as first

believed. "The strike was a tragic

mistake," Marine Gen. Frank

McKenzie, head of U.S. Central

Command, told a Pentagon news

conference, reports UNB.

McKenzie apologized for the error

and said the United States is

considering making reparation

payments to the family of the victims.

He said the decision to strike a white

Toyota Corolla sedan, after having

tracked it for about eight hours, was

made in an "earnest belief" - based on

a standard of "reasonable certainty" -

that it posed an imminent threat to

American forces at Kabul airport. The

car was believed to have been carrying

explosives in its trunk, he said.

For days after the Aug. 29 strike,

Pentagon officials asserted that it had

been conducted correctly, despite 10

Ex-Algerian president Bouteflika,

ousted amid protests, dies

ALGIERS : Former Algerian President

Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who fought for

independence from France, reconciled his

conflict-ravaged nation and was then ousted

amid pro-democracy protests in 2019 after two

decades in power, has died at age 84, state

television announced Friday.

The report on ENTV, citing a statement from

the office of current President Abdelmadjid

Tebboune, did not provide the cause of death or

information about funeral arrangements,

reports UNB.

Bouteflika had suffered a stroke in 2013 that

badly weakened him. Concerns about his state

of health, kept secret from the Algerian public,

helped feed public frustration with his 20-year,

corruption-tarnished rule. Mass public protests

by the Hirak movement led to his departure.

An astute political chameleon, Bouteflika had

been known as a wily survivor ever since he

fought for independence from colonial ruler

France in the 1950s and 1960s.

He stood up to Henry Kissinger as Algeria's

long-serving foreign minister, successfully

negotiated with the terrorist known as Carlos

the Jackal to free oil ministers taken hostage in

a 1975 attack on OPEC headquarters, and

helped reconcile Algerian citizens with each

other after a decade of civil war between radical

Muslim militants and Algeria's security forces.

"I'm a non-conformist politician. I'm a

revolutionary," Bouteflika told The Associated

Press on the eve of his first presidential victory

in 1999, after a campaign tarnished by fraud

charges that drove his six rivals to pull out of the

vote.

Upon taking office, Bouteflika promised "to

definitively turn the somber pages of our history

to work for a new era."

Born March 2, 1937, to Algerian parents in

the border town of Oujda, Morocco, Bouteflika

was among Algeria's most enduring politicians.

In 1956, Bouteflika entered the National

Liberation Arm y, formed to fight Algeria's

bloody independence war. He commanded the

southern Mali front and slipped into France

clandestinely.

After the war's end, Bouteflika became

foreign minister at just 25, at a time when

Algeria was a model of doctrinaire socialism

tethered to the Soviet Union. Its capital, Algiers,

was nicknamed "Moscow on the Med."

He kept that post for 16 years, helping to raise

Algeria's influence and define the country as a

leader of the Third World and the Non-Aligned

Movements. He was active in the United

Nations, and presided over the U.N. General

Assembly in 1974.

Former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who fought for independence

from France, reconciled his conflict-ravaged nation and was then ousted amid

pro-democracy protests in 2019 after two decades in power, has died at age 84,

state television announced Friday.

Photo : AP

France recalls ambassadors to

US, Australia over sub deal

PARIS : America's oldest ally, France,

recalled its ambassador to the United States

on Friday in an unprecedented show of

anger that dwarfed decades of previous rifts.

The relationship conceived in 18th century

revolutions appeared at a tipping point after

the U.S., Australia and Britain shunned

France in creating a new Indo-Pacific

security arrangement.

It was the first time ever France has

recalled its ambassador to the U.S.,

according to the French foreign ministry.

Paris also recalled its envoy to Australia.

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in

a written statement that the French decision,

on request from President Emmanuel

Macron, "is justified by the exceptional

seriousness of the announcements" made by

Australia and the United States. He said

Pentagon reverses itself, calls

deadly Kabul strike an error

civilians being killed, including seven

children. News organizations later

raised doubts about that version of

events, reporting that the driver of the

targeted vehicle was a longtime

employee at an American

humanitarian organization and citing

an absence of evidence to support the

Pentagon's assertion that the vehicle

contained explosives.

The airstrike was the last of a U.S.

war that ended as it had begun in 2001

- with the Taliban in power in Kabul.

The speed with which the Taliban

overran the country took the U.S.

government by surprise and forced it

to send several thousand troops to the

Kabul airport for a hurried evacuation

of Americans, Afghans and others. The

evacuation, which began Aug. 14,

unfolded under a near-constant threat

of attack by the Islamic State group's

Afghanistan affiliate.

McKenzie, who oversaw U.S.

military operations in Afghanistan,

including a final evacuation of U.S.

forces and more than 120,000 civilians

from Kabul airport, expressed his

Australia's decision to scrap a big French

conventional submarine purchase in favor of

nuclear subs built with U.S. technology is

"unacceptable behavior between allies and

partners."

Ambassador Philippe Etienne tweeted the

announcements are "directly affecting the

vision we have of our alliances, of our

partnerships and of the importance of the

Indo-Pacific for Europe."

The Biden administration has been in close

contact with French officials about the

decision to recall Etienne to Paris, National

Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne

said. "We understand their position and will

continue to be engaged in the coming days to

resolve our differences, as we have done at

other points over the course of our long

alliance," she said in a statement.

condolences to the family and friends

of those killed.

"I am now convinced that as many as

10 civilians, including up to seven

children, were tragically killed in that

strike," McKenzie said. "Moreover, we

now assess that it is unlikely that the

vehicle and those who died were

associated with ISIS-K or were a direct

threat to U.S. forces," he added,

referring to the Islamic State group's

Afghanistan affiliate.

Prior to the strike, U.S. intelligence

had indicated a likelihood that a white

Toyota Corolla would be used in an

attack against U.S. forces, McKenzie

said. On the morning of Aug. 29, such

a vehicle was detected at a compound

in Kabul that U.S. intelligence in the

preceding 48 hours had determined

was used by the Islamic State group to

plan and facilitate attacks. The vehicle

was tracked by U.S. drone aircraft from

that compound to numerous other

locations in the city before the decision

was made to attack it at a point just a

couple of miles from Kabul airport,

McKenzie said.

SUnDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2021

8

The 22nd Annual General Meeting of Bangladesh Commerce Bank Limited held through

Digital Platform recently. Dr. Engr. Rashid Ahmed Chowdhury, Chairman, Board of

Directors of BCBL presided over the meeting. Among others from the Board of Directors,

Md. Farhad Uddin , Khondker Sabera Islam, Mohammed Arshed, Dr. Mohammad Ayub

Islam, Md. Shafiqul Islam FCA, Humayun Bokhteyar FCA were present in the meeting.

Besides Omar Farooque, Managing Director & CEO and Sayed Md. Estencher Billah,

Company Secretary of BCBL along with various divisional head were also present in the

meeting.According to the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Bank and the

provisions of the Companies Act, Dr. Mohammad Ayub Islam and Md. Shafiqul Islam FCA

retired from the 'C' category and was re-elected.A significant number of shareholders participated

spontaneously in the meeting. The meeting discussed various business topics and

action plans for next year.The Managing Director gave thanks and best wishes to the present

shareholders and others. Finally, the President of the meeting announced the completion

of the meeting.

Photo: Courtesy

As pandemic roils economy,

more US workers call it a day

WASHINGTON : Prior to the

coronavirus pandemic,

Antonio Fernandez, 64, had

envisioned staying in his job

at Chevron in Houston for

perhaps another five years,

reports BSS.

"I probably think I had five

more years to work, at least,"

Fernandez said of his role

with the oil giant. "I wasn't

looking forward to being

retired."

But as with so many other

things, the pandemic is

remaking the playbook for

when to retire in the United

States.

Retiring older had been a

clear trend in the prepandemic

era of the world's

largest economy, sometimes

due to preference, but often

out of necessity.

Some have opted to stay

employed into their 70s to

maintain benefits in a country

where healthcare costs are

notoriously high. In other

cases, people were forced to

keep working after their

savings were hit by the 2008

financial crisis.

But since the spring of

2020, millions over the age of

65 have exited the workforce,

often earlier than expected.

In June alone, more than 1.7

million more older workers

than expected retired, said

Teresa Ghilarducci, a scholar

on labor and retirement at the

New School For Social

Research in New York.

After being laid off last fall,

Fernandez applied for other

jobs, but was not successful.

"I have mixed feelings," he

told AFP, adding that the

company mainly kept on

lower-paid staff, a shift from

its approach to earlier rounds

of downsizing.

"In the end, even though it

does not feel fair, it's not a bad

outcome for those like me

fortunate enough to have

enough years of service and

being relatively close to

retirement to receive a lump

sum pension boosted by the

low interest rates."

Departing early was also a

difficult for Brenda Bates.

After 43 years of work at a

nursing facility in Florida, her

job became much more taxing

during the pandemic when

she was required to wear a

mask and goggles.

Bates suffered a transient

ischemic attack, a stroke-like

incident with lingering effects.

After struggling for breath

during a swim, Bates

discussed options with her

husband.

"We made the decision to

do it for my health," Bates

said.

"Before the pandemic I

thought I would work at least

till I was 65 to get Medicare,"

she told AFP. "I love my job so

I expected to stay as long as I

really wanted to."

Bates is far from alone in

departing earlier than she

expected.

Whether due to fears of an

unsafe workplace or job loss

amid the economic upheaval,

"millions of older workers are

simply retiring and often

earlier than they are ready,"

Ghilarducci said.

Walton MD meets BSEC Chairman

Walton Hi-Tech to offload

more shares protecting

investors’ interest

Walton Hi-Tech Industries Limited decided

to offload more shares in the stock market

protecting the interests of general investors.

The sponsors-directors are planning to

invest the money they will receive from

shares offload in new industries. Golam

Murshed, Managing Director (MD) and

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Walton Hi-

Tech Industries Limited, in this regard called

on Bangladesh Securities and Exchange

Commission (BSEC) Chairman Prof Shibli

Rubayat Ul Islam, says a press release.

Earlier on Sunday (September 12), BSEC

requested three large-cap firms including

Walton to make sure that their sponsors

offload further shares in the secondary

market to increase the free-floating shares at

least up to 10% of the total shares. Following

the move, the share market witnessed a

negative impact, declining all the price

indexes on both the Dhaka and Chittagong

Stock Exchanges.

On Tuesday (September 14, 2021) Walton

MD met the BSEC chairman at his office in

the capital in this context. The main agenda

of the meeting was to reach an appropriate

decision over share offload preserving the

interests of shareholders. Sources said the

meeting was successful for which Walton

sponsors-directors decided to offload new

shares in the market.

According to sources, Walton Hi-tech

Industries currently has 0.97% free-float

shares in the market. The company will

offload more 4.03 percent shares in next

three years taking the Walton's tradable

share in the secondary market to 5%. After

that, the company will take decision about

offloading another 5% shares discussing

with the BSEC authorities.

Golam Murshed in this connection said:

Walton is conducting its overall activities

including business operations in accordance

with the rules and regulations of the capital

market. We met the BSEC chairman for the

interest of general investors and the overall

development of the market and the country.

The sponsors-directors of Walton had a

request to increase the free-float shares to 5

percent within the next 3 years. The BSEC

chairman has assured to consider it for the

sake of investors and the stock market.

Meanwhile, company secretary Rafiqul

Islam, FCS, said according to rule, sponsorsdirectors

can't offload shares during the lockin

period. However, the sponsors-directors

of Walton agreed to offload more shares with

special consideration at the request made by

BSEC and they have plans to invest the

received money from offloaded shares in

new industries.

Walton made its debut at the Dhaka Stock

Exchange on September 23, 2020, having its

total shares as 30 crore 29 lakh 28 thousand

adn 343. Demand for Walton shares has

been high among investors since its debut in

the market. Walton had a market

capitalization of Tk 7,633 crore at the time of

listing while the market capitalization of

Walton stood at Tk 40,831 crore according to

the last working day on Tuesday. This is

highest market capitalization as a

Bangladeshi company while second overall

after Grameenphone.

UK retail sales

drop as more

consumers eat

out: data

LONDON: British retail

sales fell last month as the

grocery sector was hit by

people returning to

restaurants and pubs after

virus curbs were lifted, data

showed Friday, reports BSS.

Sales by volume slid 0.9

percent in August from the

prior month, the Office for

National Statistics (ONS)

said in a statement, after a

2.8-percent drop in July.

Food store sales suffered

from the recovering

hospitality industry, which

was shuttered by lockdowns

during much of the

pandemic but reopened

earlier this year.

"Sales fell again in August,

though not nearly by as

much as July and, overall,

remained above their prepandemic

level," said ONS

statistician Jonathan Athow.

"Other data suggest that

the drop in food stores' sales

is linked to an increase in

eating out following the

lifting of coronavirus

restrictions."

Motor fuel sales rose on

the month as people

ventured out more after the

economy fully reopened in

July.

Overall retail sales are 4.6

percent higher than before

the start of the deadly

coronavirus outbreak.

However, Britain's

economic recovery is

flattening as a result of the

stubborn pandemic, supply

chain bottlenecks and the

elevated cost of

commodities.

Canada inflation

continues upward

rise in August

OTTAWA : Canadians paid

4.1 percent more for goods

and services in August than a

year earlier as inflation

continued to surge, the

government statistical agency

said Wednesday, reports BSS.

Since the onset of the

pandemic, durable goods

have been a major contributor

to increases in the consumer

price index.

Inflation rose faster in

August, Statistics Canada

said, led by higher costs of

passenger vehicles, furniture

and household appliances.

Prices for services also

accelerated for a fifth

consecutive month, it said.

Gasoline prices climbed a

whopping 32.5 percent, due in

part to lower global oil

production. New home prices

also continued to trend

upward. The lifting of travel

restrictions, meanwhile,

exposed pent-up demand for

trips, which drove up the cost

of hotel stays.

$12m seized from ex-officials as

cash crunch hits Afghanistan

KABUL : Afghanistan's central bank

said Wednesday that the Taliban had

seized more than $12 million in cash

and gold from the homes of former

government officials, as a financial

crunch threatens the Islamists' rule one

month after they took back power,

reports BSS.

Most government employees have

yet to return to work-and in many cases

salaries had already not been paid for

months-leaving millions scrambling to

make ends meet.

Even those with money in the bank

are struggling, as branches limit

withdrawals to the equivalent of $200 a

week-with customers having to queue

for hours.

And while remittances have resumed

from abroad, customers awaiting funds

at international chains such as Western

Union and MoneyGram complained

Wednesday that branches they visited

had run out of cash.

The bank has called on all

transactions in the aid-dependent

country to be made in local currency.

"All Afghans in the government and

non-governmental organisations are

asked to use Afghani in their contracts

and economic transactions," the central

bank said Wednesday.

The bank later issued another

statement saying Taliban fighters

handed over $12.3 million in cash and

gold seized from the homes of officials

from the former government-a large

part of which was discovered at the

home of former vice president

Premium smartphone

brand 'TECNO' has

recently introduced a

robust, new 3GB variant of

their Spark 7 smartphone

in Bangladesh, a press

release said.

The new TECNO Spark 7

3GB variant is loaded with

hosts of state-of-the-art

features that include 64GB

of internal storage, and a

long-lasting 6,000mAh

battery, in an effort to

provide its users with a

seamless entertainment &

browsing experience.

Its 6.5? HD+ Dot Notch

Screen ensures crystalclear

viewing experience

even from a difficult angle.

A sleek dimension of

164X76X9.5mm has given

the device a smooth yet

strong grip for the users.

Users can switch to their

desired operator with ease

given its dual Nano SIM

options. The 3GB variant is

also equipped with a 16 MP

Amrullah Saleh.

"The money recovered came from

high-ranking officials... and a number

of national security agencies who kept

cash and gold in their homes," the bank

said.

"It is, however, still not known for

what purpose they were kept."

Abdul Rahim, a demobbed soldier in

the former Afghan army, travelled

nearly 1,000 kilometres (600 miles)

from Faryab to the capital to try and

collect his backpay.

"The branches of the banks are closed

in the provinces," he told AFP

Wednesday, "and in Kabul, thousands

of people queue to get their money out."

"I have been going to the bank for the

past three days, but in vain." The

Taliban on Tuesday thanked the world

after a donor conference in Geneva

pledged $1.2 billion in aid for

Afghanistan, but the country's needs

are immediate. Donor nations,

however, want conditions attached to

their contributions and are loath to

support a regime with as bloody a

reputation as the Taliban.

The hardline Islamists have

promised a milder form of rule

compared to their first stint in power,

from 1996 to 2001, but have moved

swiftly to crush dissent-including firing

in the air to disperse recent protests by

women calling for the right to work.

Still, UN chief Antonio Guterres said

this week he believed aid could be used

as leverage with the Islamist hardliners

to exact improvements on human

AI dual camera with Quad

Flash and an 8-megapixel

selfie camera in the front.

This smartphone is

available in 3 stylish colors:

Magnet Black, Morpheus

Blue & Spruce Green.

Prior to the 3GB variant,

TECNO launched the

Spark 7 4GB smartphone

with a MediaTek Helio G70

Processor for gaming

enthusiasts. Both versions

are preloaded with features

such as Face Unlock and

eye-tracking autofocus as

well as camera modes

including Time-lapse,

rights.

"It is very important to engage with

the Taliban at the present moment," he

said.

On Wednesday, players from the

Afghan national girls' football team

arrived in Pakistan with their coaches

and families, fearing a crackdown on

sports.

Meanwhile, Iran became the latest

country to resume commercial flights

to Afghanistan, days after Pakistan

relaunched a service between

Islamabad and Kabul.

The United States said on

Wednesday another US citizen and two

US permanent residents had left

Afghanistan by land the day before.

At least 36 citizens and 24 permanent

residents have left the country with US

government assistance since the

military withdrawal at the end of

August, State Department spokesman

Ned Price said. "That will very much

continue," he told reporters.

One month into their second rule,

some Afghans are conceding there have

been some improvements in their lives

since the Taliban's takeover-not least

security in the capital, which for years

was plagued by deadly suicide bomb

attacks and targeted assassinations

blamed largely on the Islamist group.

Laalagha, a street vendor, said he was

no longer being shaken down by

corrupt police officers-although he had

switched to selling fruit as no one could

afford to buy his previous ware of

flowers.

Tecno introduces 3gb variant

of spark 7 in Bangladesh

Smile-shot, Super Night

Shot, Video Bokeh, and 2K

recording.

Both TECNO Spark 7

3GB and 4GB variants are

available all over

Bangladesh and priced at

Tk. 11,490/- and Tk.

11,990/- respectively.

A day-long managers' conference and business review meeting for Chattogram Division of Bangladesh Krishi

Bank (BKB) was held at Hotel Saikat auditorium recently. The Managing Director Shirin Akhter addressed

the conference as chief guest. She recalled the Father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

with earnest and best regards who established Bangladesh Krishi Bank in 1973 which is a 100% state owned

specialized bank in Bangladesh. All the employees of different levels of BKB are working restlessly to implement

SDG ensuring quality access to credit covering all the agri families under the programs of low cost interest.

The General Manager of Chattogram Division Mohammad Shafiul Azam presided over the conference.

Among others, Chief Regional/ Regional Managers, Corporate Branch Heads, Divisional/Regional Audit

Officers and concerned officials of the division were present on the occasion.

Photo: Courtesy

SunDAY, September 19, 2021

9

the successful staging of the paralympics during a pandemic was lauded

as "remarkable" on Saturday as records tumbled on the final day of track

and field action in tokyo.

photo: Ap

Out of this world' Paralympians

hailed as records fall on day 11

SportS DeSk

The successful staging of the Paralympics

during a pandemic was lauded as

"remarkable" on Saturday as records

tumbled on the final day of track and field

action in Tokyo, reports BSS.

International Paralympic Committee

spokesperson Craig Spence hailed "an

amazing team effort" that had enabled the

Games to take place and said the athletes'

performances had been "out of this world".

"It's remarkable. There were doubts in the

past two years when I thought these Games

weren't going to happen," Spence told

reporters.

"A lot of people thought it was impossible

to stage the Olympics and Paralympics

during a pandemic. We took our inspiration

from our athletes."

At the Olympic Stadium on day 11,

Britain's Hannah Cockroft won her seventh

Paralympics gold in the T34 800m 1min

48.99sec, obliterating her own Games record

set in Rio by almost 12 seconds.

She crossed the line almost the length of

the finishing straight ahead of compatriot

Kare Adenegan, who took silver and Alexa

Halko of the US.

"I don't think it will ever sink in," Cockroft

said of winning her second Tokyo gold and

seventh in all.

"Not many athletes get the privilege of

doing this for 10 years or get to stand on the

podium that many times," added Cockroft,

who also won the T34 100m in Tokyo to add

to her three golds at Rio 2016 and two from

London 2012.

American Nick Mayhugh said he wanted to

be like his hero "Usain Bolt" after smashing

his own world record set only the day before

to take gold in the men's T37 200m in

21.91sec.

"I know I'll never be able to run 9.5 for the

100m, but I want to be the

Usain Bolt of the Paralympics," the former

footballer who also took gold in the 100m,

Friday's night's 4x100m universal relay and

had a silver in the 400m.

"I want to be that standard for kids looking

up and to know that even if you are disabled

there isn't a negative connotation to it.

"You set your own limits. You believe in

yourself and you set your own barrier and

surpass it. Usain Bolt did exactly that with

me. He was my greatest inspiration so thank

you to him."

Deng Peicheng upset Australian world

record holder James Turner to win the

men's T36 100m gold in a new Paralympic

record of 11.85sec, sparking wild

celebrations from the ecstatic Chinese

athlete.

The first tennis gold of a busy final day of

action went to Australia's Dylan Alcott who

defended his Rio title in the men's quad

singles final 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 against Sam

Schroder of the Netherlands.

Mexican teen boxer dies

of injuries suffered in ring

SportS DeSk

Jeanette Zacarias Zapata, an 18-year-old boxer from Mexico,

died Thursday, five days after she was knocked out in a fight,

promoter Yvon Michel said, reports BSS.

"It is with great sadness and torment that we learned, from

a representative of her family, that Jeanette Zacarias Zapata

passed away this afternoon at 3:45 p.m.," a statement from

Groupe Yvon Michel said.

Zapata took part in the GYM Gala International Boxing

event Saturday in Montreal, losing to Marie Pier Houle in the

fourth round of a welterweight match.

A left uppercut and right hook from Houle dazed Zapata in

the fourth round.

She did not answer the bell for the fifth round of the

scheduled six-round professional bout, and after she

appeared to have a seizure she was stretchered out of the ring

and taken to hospital.

"The entire team at Groupe Yvon Michel team is extremely

distressed by this painful announcement," the promoters

said in their statement offering condolences to the fighter's

family and in particular her husband, Jovanni Martinez.

Wenger calls for World

Cup every two years

SportS DeSk

Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has

called for the World Cup to be held every two

years in an interview with French sports

daily L'Equipe published on Friday, reports

BSS.

The 71-year-old Frenchman, who is now

director of development at FIFA, also called

for a single annual period of international

qualifiers in a global football calendar.

"The principle would be a grouping of

qualifiers every year, and at the end of the

season a major competition, World Cup or

continental championship," said Wenger.

"Between the two qualifying windows, the

player would stay in his club all year round.

"There must be less of a mix in the

calendar between the periods of club football

and periods of international football, and

therefore fewer. transcontinental trips for

the players, for example."

Wenger said he would like to see a single

international window, perhaps in October,

with fewer qualifying matches.

"For the players, there will be no more

matches, and there will be compulsory rest

after the final stages, at least 25 days," said

Wenger who

sees his proposed new format coming into

action in 2028, two years after the 2026

World Cup in North America.

"What people want today are high-stakes,

easy-to-understand competitions," he said,

insisting there is "no financial intention

behind it".

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sUNDAY, sepTeMBeR 19, 2021

10

Diti's last film finally

gets censor clearance

TBT RepoRT

Late actress Parveen Sultana

Diti's last film, titled 'E Desh

Tomar Amar', has finally received

censor certificate around five

years after her death. Zayed Khan,

the lead actor of the film and the

general secretary of Bangladesh

Film Artistes' Association,

confirmed the news on Friday.

The patriotic film directed by FI

Manik was given the censor

certificate by Bangladesh Film

Development Board on

September 16, he said.

Zayed said that the shooting of

the film started around 10 years

ago. "It feels good to know that the

film will finally be released after so

many years," he added.

"This film is very close to my

heart. For this film, I had to cut my

long hair short after a long time.

TBT RepoRT

The project is memorable for me

because two of my co-artistesactress

Diti and actor Miju Ahmed

are no longer with us. I have lots of

memory with them. In 'E Desh

Tomar Amar', I have shot most of

the sequences with Mizu Ahmed.

I really miss them," shared Zayed.

"Diti was an amazing actress. I

have learnt a lot working with her.

I have made a lot of memories

with her on the set," he added.

The actor further said that the

film was shot in 35mm format

and digitized later.

Talking about the plot of 'E Desh

Tomar Amar', Zayed said: "The film

is a complete package of

entertainment. With the story based

on patriotism, the film has patriotic

songs and actions scenes as well. I

have undergone a hard training for

the action sequences. I think the

audience will like the film."

Actress Diti began her journey

in the film industry with the talent

hunt competition 'Notun Mukher

Sondhane' in 1984. Her debut

film was 'Dak Diye Jai,' directed

by Udayan Chowdhury, which

was never released.

She appeared on the silver screen

with the Azmal Huda Mithu

directed film 'Ami Ei Ustad.' Having

acted in around 200 films, she

bagged the National Film Award for

her extraordinary performance in

Subhash Dutt's 'Swami Smriti' in

1987.

The celebrated actress died on

March 20, 2016 after a long battle

with brain cancer.

Jaya Ahsan

set to debut

in Bollywood

Jaya Ahsan, a popular actress of two Bengals,

is going to set foot in Bollywood. She is going

to make her debut in B-Town by starring

opposite famous actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

According to Indian media reports, Jaya and

Nawazuddin are teaming up in a Hindi web

series, produced by Sayantan Mukherjee. The

producer wants the work of the series

completed before next year's Durga Puja.

The series will be based on the novel 'Sada

Ami Kalo Ami' written by Runu Guha Niyogi,

a controversial police officer of the 1967

Naxalbari movement. The whole series will be

shown through the eyes of the controversial

police officer.

Ranit Roy will be seen in the role of Runu

Guha. Apart from this, initial talks have been

held with Sabyasachi Chakraborty.

This series is going to be made in Bengali,

Hindi and English. According to Sayantan,

Nawaz will be Charu Majumdar here. Jaya will

be his wife Leela Majumder.

The director said if 'Sacred Games' in the

background of Mumbai or 'Mirzapur' in plot of

Uttar Pradesh could be made, then why would

Bengal be left behind? It is time to highlight

the history of the West Bengal movement. I

selected this novel from that place.

Ranit Roy, Sabyasachi Chakraborty,

Shaswat Chatterjee and many others can be

seen in different characters in the series. There

could also be a bunch of Bollywood stars

including Paresh Rawal and BomanIrani,

whose names will be announced later.

The three seasons of the series will tell the

story of the leftist movement around the world

from 1947 to 2010.

I choose a good

screenplay and strong

character: Mithila

TBT RepoRT

Popular Dhallywood actress and

singer Rafiat Rashid Mithila is

currently staying in Kolkata with

her husband Srijit Mukherjee.

The multitalented artiste is

signing one movie after another

in Tollywood. After 'Mayaa' and

'A River in Heaven', recently she

has signed up for young director,

producer Arunava Khasnobis

directorial anthology film titled

'Nitishastro'.

For a long time Arunava, who

has been working as an assistant

director is coming up with this

film. It is a combined project of

four short films. Apart from

Mithila, there are Emon

Chakraborty, Bidipta

Chakraborty, RajtavDutt,

Fardeen Khan

set to make

comeback in

films after 11

years in 'Visfot'

Bollywood actor Fardeen Khan, who

was last seen in the film Dulha Mil Gaya 11

years ago, is all set to make his comeback

to the movies with Sanjay Gupta's

upcoming film Visfot with co-star Riteish

Deshmukh.

Visfot is the official remake of the

Venezuelan film, Rock, Paper, Scissors

(2012) which was selected as the country's

entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar

at the 85th Academy Awards.

Fardeen and Riteish were last seen

together in Heyy Babyy and will be

teaming up for this film after a gap of 14

years, reports ANI.

As per reports, the thriller, to be shot in

Mumbai in the next couple of weeks,

thrives on the collision between the city's

stark contrasts - the chawls of Dongri and

the highrises. Fardeen and Riteish's

characters will be seen on opposite sides

of the fence.

Source: Times Of India

Shantishal Mukherjee and others

will be acting in this film. Singer

Emon is making his acting debut

with this film.

Regarding the context, Mithila

told the media, "Everyone in

Bengal is not well acquainted

with the work yet. At the

moment I am choosing a job

after seeing a good screenplay

and strong character.'

Mithila will be seen playing the

character of a doctor in the short

film titled 'Dhee', along with

Basavadatta Chatterjee. The

shooting of the film will start

from next week. One story will

be shot in Bolpur and the other

three in Kolkata.

Meanwhile, a double biopic is

being made about Madan Mitra, a

Trinamool MLA from Kamarhati

in Kolkata. Mithila will act in one

of them, directed by RajarshiDey.

Who is also Mithila's debut of

director of 'Mayaa'.

According to a source, Madan's

biopic features Mithila in the role

of West Bengal Chief Minister

Mamata Banerjee. However, the

director has not yet announced

the character of Mithila in the

movie.

Meanwhile, Mithila's husband

Warrior director Gavin O'Connor

recently opened up about his

planned 'Suicide Squad' sequel

and why he ultimately departed the project.

"What happened there was I wrote a deal

to write a script, and they knew what I was

writing," O'Connor said in an interview

with The Playlist. "At that level, with those

kinds of movies, with that budget, no one's

just going off and writing something

without walking them through what the

movie's gonna be, and everyone was cool

with it."

O'Connor further explained, however,

that the vision for the film changed

following a change in leadership at DC,

which no longer wanted the project to be

dark. "What happened was during the

latter part of writing the script there was a

whole regime change at DC, and when that

happened, they wanted it to be a comedy,

and I'm like, 'I'm not writing a comedy,'"

the director explained. "I mean, it [was]

fun, but it's not a yuk-fest.

And the new regime wanted a different

movie than I was writing."

When asked if he was interested in seeing

James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, or

Srijit Mukherjee, India's National

Film Award winning director, is

very happy and recently shared

the news of Mithila's upcoming

film titled 'Nitishastra' on social

media. Captioning, 'Mithila's

achievement is greater than

mine. Coincidentally, she is my

wife.'

The shooting of the film will

begin from mid-September.

However, Mithila's slot is

scheduled on September 25.

Gavin explains why

WB rejected his

'Suicide Squad 2'

helming a different superhero film,

O'Conner said "no" to both, explaining, "I

have no interest [to see it], to be honest...

''m just doing my own thing."

It was announced back in 2017 that

O'Connor had signed on to write and direct

a sequel to David Ayer's 2016 DC Extended

Universe film 'Suicide Squad'. He, of

course, departed the project, with DC and

Warner Bros. nabbing 'Guardians of the

Galaxy' director Gunn, who went on to

write and direct a reboot, The Suicide

Squad. Gunn is also currently working on

'Suicide Squad' spinoff series,

'Peacemaker'.-Screen Rant

In related news, O'Connor recently

revealed that he's working on a new series

that will serve as a spiritual sequel to 2011's

Warrior. While the film followed MMA

fighters Tommy (Tom Hardy) and Brendan

(Joel Edgerton), the 'Warriors' series will

follow two different female MMA fighters

who compete in Sparta MMA competition.

Directed by James Gunn, 'The Suicide

Squad' is in theaters now. 'Peacemaker' is

expected to premiere on HBO Max in

January 2022.

Source : Deccan Chronicle

H o R o s c o p e

ARIes

(March 21 - April 20) : You might

do some writing today, Aries,

perhaps creative or letters.

Whichever it is, you might find that

all that comes out are gloomy accounts of

whatever's happening now. This may not reflect

your true state of mind. If you can't come up

with anything pleasant to write about, perhaps

you'd better wait until later!

TAURUs

(April 21 - May 21) : A friend may have

some outrageous, unworkable ideas

for making money, Taurus. No matter

what they involve, you'll probably start

by listening just to be polite and then end up

wondering if your friend is still on this planet. This

isn't a good day to get involved in anything risky. If

asked, make your excuses. "Risky" is too mild a

word for this proposal!

GeMINI

(May 22 - June 21) : Career matters might

be very stressful today, Gemini. Your

generally penetrating mind is clouded by

strong feelings about whatever you're doing and confused

by differences of opinion among your colleagues. This could

drive you crazy. Relax! The world won't come to an end if

everything you need to do isn't done today. Sometimes it's

easier to do something when it's OK if you don't do it!

cANceR

(June 22 - July 23) : Some new

concepts involving the sciences that

you're trying to study may be difficult,

Cancer. You might be a little impatient

with yourself, viewing this confusion as a symptom

of mental dullness. These ideas could just be new to

you. Don't be afraid to ask someone to explain

things. There are times when hearing it makes it

more understandable than reading it.

Leo

(July 24 - Aug. 23): Some vivid

dreams could shed light on something

you've been trying to find, Leo. This

could be a lost object or an obscure

piece of information. Whatever it is, you might wake

up with some new ideas on where to look for it.

Chances are it's hidden in an obvious place full of

similar things. Don't hesitate because of the

unorthodox source of your insight.

VIRGo

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): A social event

could put you in touch with a magnetic

woman who has a lot of interesting stories

to tell, Virgo. She probably exaggerates, so don't take

every detail as fact, but you'll enjoy meeting her anyway.

Don't commit to any proposal that you and she work on

a project together. She can be very convincing, but you'll

need to think about it carefully before deciding.

LIBRA

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

be trying to do some in-depth

research, Libra, but don't be surprised

if what you're looking for proves

difficult to find. You could get sidetracked by other

interesting subjects related to what you're doing.

Don't be upset with yourself. Finding what you need

won't be easy. Enjoy the side roads and go back to

your search tomorrow.

scoRpIo

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): Act without hesitation

today, Scorpio, especially if you're following

unfamiliar directions or exploring new

territory. This may not seem like the best

advice, but this is a day for saying an unflinching yes to all

manner of proposals that come your way, even if some are

unclear. Scorpio excels at this type of test. Expect to be at the

head of the class by the end of the day!

sAGITTARIUs

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): Today a charismatic,

artistic woman could visit your home,

Sagittarius. She could have a lot of ideas to

discuss, perhaps proposing that you work

on a project together. This might be a good

idea, but don't commit to it now. Your friend has a way of

getting people all excited and clouding their judgment.

Wait until she leaves and take some time to think. You'll

be in a better space then.

cApRIcoRN

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): You'll want to jump into

action today, Capricorn. Feel free to order

others around for a change and delegate. An

aggressive approach is exactly what's called

for, and you have the ability to deliver the goods. Trying to

do everything yourself may seem like a great idea at first,

but you're better off enlisting help so others can feel

involved and you can concentrate on doing a better job on

fewer tasks.

AQUARIUs

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) : Have you recently

purchased something you wanted

that's more of a luxury than a

necessity? Today you might feel guilty

about it. It may have temporarily strained your

budget. Don't even think about taking it back!

Sometimes luxury items can lift the spirits. Payday

will be around again before you know it.

pIsces

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) :Attempts to balance

emotions with logic may not succeed today,

particularly where family is concerned,

Pisces. Members of your household may be

upset, and you might not be able to cheer

them up. Perhaps all you can do is leave them alone for a

while to think. Only they can understand their feelings

and discern the right way to proceed. Let them know you

care, then back off.

SunDAY, SePTeMBeR 19, 2021

11

BASIS's 22nd

AGM held

DHAKA : The 22nd Annual

General Meeting (AGM) of

the Bangladesh Association

of Software and Information

Services (BASIS) was held

yesterday at RAOWA

Convention center in city's

Mohakhali area.

The meeting highlighted to

continue the contribution of

BASIS on the path to build a

digital Bangladesh.

At the same time, the

participants at the meeting

urged all to prepare the

nation for the Fifth Industrial

Revolution side by side facing

the challenges of the Fourth

Industrial Revolution from

now on, said a press release.

BASIS president Syed

Almas Kabir presided over

the AGM while Shoeb

Ahmed Masud, Vice

President (Admin) of BASIS

briefed the members about

BASIS 2020's activities

through his presentation.

Mushfiqur Rahman, Vice

President (Finance) of BASIS

presented the audit report for

the year 2019-2020. After the

presentation, a significant

number of members took

part in the discussion session

and gave their views.

Agriculture Minister and Awami League presidium member Dr Abdur

Razzaque answered reporters' questions at the Tangail Circuit House on

Saturday afternoon.

Photo : TBT

No more caretaker government

in country: Razzak

DHAKA : Agriculture Minister Dr M Abdur

Razzak yesterday said no caretaker government

would be formed in the country in violation of the

constitution.

"There will be fair and neutral elections in the

country through the Election Commission as per

the constitution and no election would be held

under any caretaker government," he said.

Razzak, also an Awami League presidium

member, said this while speaking as the chief

guest at a function to distribute relief as the gift

from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina among the

people affected by Covid-19 at Madhupur

Municipality Auditorium in Tangail yesterday

morning, said a press release.

"BNP is now an isolated party and afraid to

participate in the election... They are trying to

come to power by hatching conspiracy without

participating in the elections" he said.

"But if they want to come to power, they have to

participate in the polls and get the people's

mandate," he added. The minister said the way

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stood by the poor,

helpless and distressed people during the corona

pandemic and provided food aid was

unprecedented in the world.

BADC organizes training on skill

development for officials

MYMENSINGH : A six-day

long training on Geographic

Application and E-filing

(GAE) for skill development of

BADC professionals began on

Saturday at Duldia BADC

Seminar Bhavan in

Mymensingh yesterday noon.

Environmental and

Geographic Information

Services organised the

training programme under

Small Irrigation Development

Project of Mymensingh

division and Tangail and

Kishorgonj district of Dhaka

division.

Member Director Small

Irrigation Engineer Ziaul

Haque inaugurated the

training programe as chief

guest.

The seminar was attended

by BADC Chief Engineer

(Construction) Ferdous ur

Rahman, Chief Engineer

(Minor Irrigation) Lutfar

Rahman, Chief Engineer

(Conservation and Factory)

Shahab Uddin Talukder and

CEG Director Motaleb

Hossain Sarkar. Project

Director and Superintendent

Engineer Badrul Alam

presided over the inaugural

session.

The workshop was attended

by 24 executive engineers,

assistant engineers and

deputy assistant engineers of

BADC Small Irrigation Project

from Mymensingh, Sherpur,

Jamalpur, Netrokona,

Kishoreganj and Tangail

district.

BADC sources said the

training will ensure skill

development and

accountability of the officers

concerned.

It will also help expedite the

irrigation activities in the

agricultural sector and e-filing

process.

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Sunday, Dhaka: September 19, 2021; Ashwin 4, 1428 BS; Safar 11, 1443 hijri

TBT RePoRT

A brother and sister are playing with sand on the beach. The picture is taken from Zero Point on

Kuakata Beach on Saturday afternoon.

Photo: PBA

Hopelessness the key to

suicidal tendency : Speakers

DHAKA : Professor of Dhaka University

Clinical Psychology Department Kamal

Chowdhury said suicide is a symptom of

depression, not a disorder, and identified

"hopelessness" as a major cause of

suicide.

"This hopelessness, which leads to suicide,

is the beginning of depression.

Therefore, professional counselling is

necessary to overcome this depression,"

he said.

The psychologist said when the family

breaks up, the support structure declines

steadily. "Slowly, people are isolated,

that is, depression is caused."

He said they need to concentrate on

Upazila-level suicide prevention, establish

the national suicide prevention aid,

hold trainings and workshops in

schools, and familiarize the dimension

of mental health more, reports UNB.

He was addressing a webinar josted by

ACTIONISTS on Friday night titled

"Bangladeshi People Suicidal tendencies

and suicidal behavior."

ASM Amanullah, Professor,

Department of Sociology, Dhaka

University and Sharin Shahjahan

Naomi, Assistant Professor, Asian

Government wants to stop the

freedom of media: Rizvi

University for Women were present.

The programme was conducted by Dr.

Fatima Zohra, Assistant Professor,

Department of Psychiatry, BSMMU and

coordinated by A.N.M Fakhrul Amin

Forhad, founder of ACTIONISTS.

Professor ASM Amanullah said during

this Corona outbreak many students

have dropped out, and there is a strong

possibility that they may never return.

"Alternative livelihoods must be

arranged in order to bring them back.

They must be given income so that

they can look for your family and

study. There must be more workplaces.

With women, we need to work

more. It is only then that suicide can be

prevented," he said.

Sharin Shahjahan Naomi said in all

cases of the Corona epidemic, isolation

has been imposed and people's direct

contact with others has decreased,

which has a significant impact on their

mental health.

"People may commit suicide as a

result of these factors. Also, when family

and friends frequently mention, 'You're

not good enough'- it leads someone easily

to commit suicide," she added.

BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul

Kabir Rizvi has said that the government

is now making various black laws to stop

the freedom of the media. He said the

court was trying to shut down the online

news portal. Bangladesh Bank is harassing

journalists with letters to silence them.

Basically, they are taking these steps to

silence the people. They want to shut the

mouth of the media.

Rizvi said government ministers,

starting from the prime minister, have

been slandering President Ziaur

Rahman, Begum Khaleda Zia and

Tarique Rahman, losing the trust of the

people. But the people are rejecting their

slander with hatred.

He was speaking at a rally in

Nayabazar area of the capital's Old

Dhaka on Saturday afternoon in protest

of slander against BNP founder and former

president Ziaur Rahman, BNP

chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and acting

chairman Tarique Rahman.

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said that the present

voterless government is a champion

in corruption but has failed in all

other sectors.

During the tenure of this government,

a record of corruption has been set in the

history of Bangladesh. Now there is no

soil under their feet. The world community

has also turned its back on them.

Along with the demands of the people of

the country, other countries of the world

are also demanding for the establishment

of democracy in Bangladesh.

Various human rights organizations,

including the United States, the United

Kingdom, and the European Union, are

pushing for a stronger democracy.

InshaAllah, democracy will return to

Bangladesh under the leadership of BNP

Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman.

Covid-19

35 more die

TBT RePoRT

Bangladesh witnessed 35 more Covidrelated

deaths with 1,190 fresh cases in

24 hours till Saturday morning, said

the Directorate General of Health

Services (DGHS).

It is lowest death toll from Covid in

three months. The country recorded

the same number of fatalities on

Wednesday.

The new cases were detected after

testing 19,668 samples which again

declined the daily case positivity rate

to 6.04 per cent from Friday's 6.49 per

cent, said the DGHS.

The case positivity rate fell to 5.98

per cent on Thursday which was lowest

of the country in around six

months.

The fresh numbers of death took the

country's total fatality to 27,182 while

the caseload mounted to 1,541,300.

Meanwhile, the fatality rate remained

static at 1.76 per cent, said the

DGHS. Besides, the recovery rate continued

to increase by reaching 97.23

per cent on Saturday with the recovery

of 1,645more patients during the 24-

hour period.

Goalanda fisherman

earns Tk 25,000

with one Catla

GOALANDA (RAJBARI) : Gurudev

Haldar, a local fisherman, caught an

18.2-kg Catla fish from the Padma

River at Char Karneshna in Goalanda

upazila early Saturday to change his

fortune.

Talking to local newsmen, the lucky

fisherman of Pabna Kajirhat said he

along with his associates went out on a

predawn fishing mission in the river.

At one stage, Gurudev and his men

netted the giant Catla and later sold it

in an auction fetching a huge amount.

Mohammad Chandu Mollah, a local

fish trader, bought the fish at Tk 25,400

-- Tk 1,400 per kg - in the auction at a local

fish market adjacent to Daulatdia

Ghat in the morning. Now Chandu expects

to sell it at Tk 1,500 per kg.

About the river condition and availability

of fish, Chandu said, "The river

water has started receding with the

weakening of monsoon, and many fish

like Catla, Rui, Boal, Pangas are now

found in abundance. Fishermen from

Manikganj and Pabna districts are

having a good time with amazing

catches," he said.

DU mulling over

ways to implement

its dope test

The Dhaka University authorities recently

decided to conduct dope tests on freshers

in a bid to keep the campus free of drugs.

But the authorities are still not sure how

the decision will be implemented. A section

of students welcomed the decision

saying it will help to reduce the number of

drug addicts in the campus while some

said the decision goes against 'personal

freedom', fearing that authorities could

use the system to harass and oppress students.

The decision was taken in principle

at a syndicate meeting chaired by Vice

Chancellor Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman on

September 1, confirmed Dr ASM Maksud

Kamal, pro-vice chancellor (education).

"Now, the committee will formulate policies

on the process, facilities, and its implementation,"

Prof Maksud told UNB.

A seven-member committee was

formed to formulate a policy for conducting

dope tests with Dhaka Medical College

Principal Dr Titu Miah as its convener.

Dr Titu Miah, convenor of the newly

formed committee, told UNB that under

the system, dope tests would be conducted

in the university during the recruitment of

teachers and admission of new students

every year.

"Additionally, students can be tested

once a year in phases. However, the decision

must be taken according to the capability

of the university, which is absent

now. This will require equipment and

manpower. We are working on whether

the dope tests will be done at the university

or any other institution, and how the

decision can be implemented," he added.

"Primarily we talked with Bangabandhu

Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital

and they agreed to collaborate with us but

further decision will be taken after approval

of the university authorities," Dr Titu Miah

also said.

"Freshers or teachers have to pay their

own fee for the dope test, with which they

have to collect dope test certificate before

completing enrollment. Dope test would

be mandatory for all types of recruitment

in the university," he further explained.

Asked about what decision would be

taken for those who test positive in the

dope test, Dr Titu Miah said, "It is not final

yet. University authority will take decisions

in this regard. Maybe they have to

take pre admission and post admission

counselling from the university."

Dr Mohammad Humayun Kabir, professor

of the Department of Islamic

History and Culture and a Syndicate

member, said that the Deans' Committee

had recommended that the dope test be

carried out on freshers.

"However, I think Bangladeshi facilities

do not have such capacity to carry out

dope tests on 7,000 freshers and provide

results within two months," he remarked.

A special report from an August 25 Deans'

Committee meeting was submitted to the

Syndicate in which the committee made a

few recommendations about dope tests of

students, Humayun Kabir revealed.

The recommendations of the Deans'

Committee include developing DU's own

system for dope testing, and signing MoU

with those who have the ability to carry

out dope testing. Accordingly it also proposed

that a committee be formed for

these purposes.

It was learnt that the fifth meeting of the

Cabinet Committee on Law and Order last

February 17, chaired by Liberation War

Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque,

had decided to make dope testing compulsory

during the admission of students in all

universities and educational institutions.

Hefazat leader

held in city

DHAKA : Detectives in a drive arrested a

leader of Hefazat-e-Islam from the city's

Mugda area on Friday night. The arrestee

was identified as Rezwan Rafique.

Tipped off, a team of DB Motijheel

division conducted a drive in the area

and arrested Rezwan in the night,

said DMP Additional DC (media)

Iftekharul Islam.

UN chief for

ending gender

pay gap

DHAKA : UN Secretary-General

Antonio Guterres has called for dismantling

the discrimination and harmful

gender stereotypes that contribute to the

gender pay gap, reports UNB.

"Addressing the COVID-19 pandemic

offers a generational opportunity to

write a new social contract that upholds

women's human rights, including the

right to equal pay," he said in a message

on Saturday.

This is a matter of justice and a

responsibility for all, said the UN

Secretary General marking the

International Equal Pay Day.

He said COVID-19 pulled back the

curtain on a gross injustice: the lack of

compensation for the work of raising

children and caring for people who cannot

look after themselves, which is largely

done by women.

By pushing care work out of the formal

economy and into the home, Guterres

said, the pandemic has exacerbated the

gender pay gap.

Many women are struggling to hold

down paid jobs while raising children,

dealing with online school, and

caring for sick or vulnerable family

members without material compensation,

he said.

"Investing in the care economy helps

bridge the pay gap by creating new, sustainable

jobs while freeing women up to

participate in the paid workforce," said

the UN chief.

At the same time, he said, most frontline

health workers battling the virus are

women.

They often earn less than men, lack

decision-making power, and suffer

greater exposure to violence and harassment,

said Guterres.

"I was vividly reminded of women's

dual roles when I spoke with a health

worker in Ghana, Scholastica Dery.

"As frontline workers, we are the

majority," Guterres quoted Dery as saying.

"Combining this with our household

duties is not easy, but we are determined

to do it."

Despite equal pay laws, women earn

an average of just 80 cents for every dollar

men earn for work of equal value,

said the UN chief.

"That figure is even less for women of

colour and those with children," he said.

Missing tourist's dead body recovered from

Cox's Bazar beach, four detained

ShAfiul AlAm

The body of a young tourist has been

recovered from the Bakkhali estuary on

Cox's Bazar beach; Police have arrested

four friends of the tourist killed in the

incident. Cox's Bazar District

Administration Tourism Cell Executive

Magistrate Syed Murad Hossain said the

body was found floating in the sea at the

mouth of the Bankkhali River in

Nazirartek area of Cox's Bazar town at

1pm on Saturday. The deceased was identified

as Meher Farabi Avro, 27, son of Ibn

Mizan Alfa of Qutub Ali police station in

Jessore district.

Detained others are, Masudur

Rahman's son Raihan Uddin, Md.

Mumin Uddin's son Rohan Uddin,

Shawkat Hasan's son Muhibul Hasan

and Mahfuzur Rahman Khan's son

Fardin Khan Aranyak. They came to visit

Cox's Bazar with Meher Farabi Avro.

Earlier on Friday afternoon, a 27-yearold

tourist named Rafiq Ishik died while

taking a bath in the sea at Sea-Gull Point

on Cox's Bazar beach. He is the son of

Kasaddus Jamal of Qutub Ali police station

in Jessore district.

According to administration officials,

Rafiq went to bathe in the sea with Ishik

and Meher Farabi Avro. On Friday afternoon,

beach lifeguards rescued Rafiq

Ishik, but Meher Farabi Avro was missing.

They went out to bathe in the sea

with 8 friends who came to visit. But

other friends did not inform the administration

about the rescue of one friend

and the disappearance of another.

GD–1355/21 (8X4)

19-09-2021

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