25-09-2021

Saturday, Dhaka: September 25, 2021; Ashwin 10, 1428 BS; Safar 17, 1443 Hijri
An old woman is waiting for buyer with toys on the streets of the capital in search of a livelihood.
The picture is taken from Dhaka University area on Friday.
Photo: PBA
Dhaka, London
discuss shared
priorities ahead
of COP26
DHAKA : Bangladesh and the United
Kingdom have discussed shared priorities
ahead of COP26 and ways to resolve
the Rohingya crisis, reports UNB.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen
and Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon,
Minister of State Foreign
Commonwealth and Development
Affairs had a meeting in New York on
the sidelines of the United Nations
General Assembly (UNGA) and discussed
the issues of mutual interest.
Ahmad termed the meeting "productive"
on co-ordinating their efforts on
Afghanistan, supporting Rohingya
refugees and upholding human rights.
"We also discussed shared priorities
ahead of COP26," he tweeted.
DMP arrests 52
for consuming,
selling drug in city
DHAKA : Detective Branch (DB) of
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) have
arrested 52 persons for consuming and
selling drugs in the capital city.
According to a DMP statement
issued, the police raided different
areas under various police stations
and detained 52 drug abusers, recovered
drugs from their possession from
6 am on September 23, 2021 to 6 am
on Friday.
During the anti-drug campaign, police
seized 183 grams and 1,020 puria (small
packet) of heroin, 50.305 kilograms of
cannabis, eight bottles of phensidyle,
42,724 pieces of yaba tablets and 17 bottles
of local liquor from their possession,
it said.
Police filed 41 cases against the
arrestees in this connection with police
stations concerned under the Narcotics
Control Act.
Oil tanker fire:
missing worker's
body found on
Karnaphuli river
CHATTOGRAM : Naval police recovered
the body of a man from Bridgeghat
area of Karnaphuli River on Friday, two
days after he went missing from an oil
tanker that caught fire on the river in
Chattogram.
Nazrul Islam Saddam, 35, jumped
into the river to escape the fire caused by
an explosion on tanker 'OT Ocean" during
gas wielding work in its engine room
on Wednesday.
A worker named Junayed was burnt
to death on board the vessel. Several
others were injured.
But Nazrul was missing since he
jumped off the vessel.
ABM Mizanur Rahman, officer-incharge
of Sadarghat Naval Police, said
the body was sent to Chattogram
Medical College and Hospital for an
autopsy.
Bangabandhu, Bangladesh
and Liberation war are tied
to same thread: Khalid
COX'S BAZAR : Recalling the contribution
of Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman to the Bangalee nation, State
Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud
Chowdhury on Friday said that
Bangabandhu, Bangladesh and
Liberation war are tied to the same
thread. "Bangabandhu has given us
freedom through Liberation War.
Bangabandhu and Bangladesh are tied
to the same thread. Bangabandhu not
only thought about Bangladesh, he
also thought about the whole world,"
he said.
The state minister was speaking as
chief guest at the inaugural function of
'Biswa Jurey Bangabandhu o
Bangladesh Utshab' organized by
'Podokkhep Bangladesh' a cultural center
in Cox's Bazar on the occasion of
Mujib Year and the golden jubilee of the
country's independence, an official
handout said.
Thakurgaon, Sept 24 (UNB) -- Within
two weeks of the reopening of schools in
the country, five students of classes IV
and V have tested positive for Covid at a
primary school in Thakurgaon sadar
upazila.
This has prompted the authorities to
suspend all classes of IV and V grades at
Bahadurpara Government Primary
School in Thakurgaon sadar upazila with
effect from Thursday.
School principal Farhana Parvin said
that samples of the five girl students-two
studying in class IV and three in class V-
were sent for Covid-19 test on Monday.
The results came a day later.
"All the five students have been staying
at a government orphanage-
Thakurgaon Government Shishu
Poribar (girls) -- and of them, three are
aged between 10 and 12 years," said the
principal.
"Following a verbal direction from the
higher authorities, we have suspended
all classes of IV and V grades," she
added.
There are 426 students in the school
and of them, 84 are in class IV and 74 in
fifth grade. Meanwhile, the deputy
administrator of the orphanage said that
on September 17, only one student of
Hajipara Adarsha High School had fever
and cold, and "later these five students
also contracted the same".
From Monday to Wednesday, samples
of some 25 girls staying in the orphanage
were sent for Covid test and 13 of them
came out positive, including the five students
of Bahadurpara school, she said.
Resident medical officer of
Thakurgaon Modern Sadar Hospital
Rakibul Alam Chayan said the 13 girls
are being treated in isolation wards.
"They are doing well."
Assistant education officer of the
The Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has
taken Bangladesh to new height by taking
up various development projects
including construction of Padma Bridge
and deep-sea port at Matarbari, Khalid
said.
"Bangabandhu was a friend to the
whole world while Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina is the mother of humanity,"
he added. 'Podokkhep Bangladesh'
President Badal Chowdhury presided
over the programme.
Member of Parliament Asheq Ullah
Rafiq, chairman of Bangladesh
Telecommunication Regulatory
Commission (BTRC) Shyam Sunder
Sikder, Mayor of Cox's Bazar Mujibur
Rahman, Jatiya Kabita Parishad
Presidium Member Aslam Sani, Cox's
Bazar district unit president of AL
Tofail Ahmed and Cox's Bazar district
Chhatra League president of AL SM
Saddam Hossain also spoke on the
occasion.
Five girl students contract
Covid in Thakurgaon school
upazila, Momtaz Ferdous said," We have
suspended the classes of fourth and fifth
grades at Bahadurpara school for a week
after being informed."
Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO)
Abdullah Al Mamun said, "We are keeping
a vigil on all students attending
schools across the upazila."
On September 12, after nearly 18
months, primary, secondary, and higher
secondary schools in Bangladesh
reopened with some Covid-safety protocols
in place.
4 killed in Khulna
road crash
KHULNA : Four people were killed as a
CNG auto rickshaw plunged into a ditch
after being hit by a truck on the Khulna-
Satkhira Highway at Dumuria upazila of
Khulna on Friday, reports UNB.
The deceased were identified as CNG
driver Ilias Sardar, 45, son of Zakaria
Sardar of Sharafpur in Dumuria,
Reshma Khatun, 32, daughter of
Mohiuddin of Rudaghara village. The
identities of two others are yet to be
known.
The accident occurred when a sandladen
truck hit the CNG on Khulna-
Satkhira Highway near east Jilerdanga
area around 2pm and then the CNG
plunged into a roadside ditch.
After four hours of frantic effort, the
fire service recovered four bodies from
the ditch at 6 pm. However, the CNG
could not be recovered.
Obaidur Rahman, Officer-in-charge of
Dumuria Police Station, said they
detained the truck driver Rakib Sheikh
over the accident.
Bogura fish farmer claims of
discovering artificial breeding
of kakila a year before BFRI
DHAKA : Recently Bangladesh
Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI)
claimed success in its quest for artificial
breeding of endangered indigenous
species of fish, Kakila.The institute,
which has won the Ekushey Padak in
native fish conservation research,
claims to be ahead of the world in discovering
the insemination process for
Kakila.
However, Abdul Ohab, a fish farmer
from Bogura, denounced this claim as a
rip off to the marginal fish farmers, and
that he was the first one who found success
in this process a year before BFRI.
The farmer told UNB he informed
the BFRI officials then about his discovery
of artificial breeding of Batashi
and Kakila fish. He even announced his
success at the time through a social
media post which was featured in local
news media.
Abdul Ohab also shared a screenshot
of a BFRI senior official liking his post
in social media with UNB.
In that Facebook post dated July 13,
2020 seen by UNB (available for viewing
on his timeline) Abdul Ohab writes,
"From personal experience of collecting,
rearing and artificially breeding I
can surely say that this species of fish is
on the verge of extinction. This sensitive
fish may die even with the slightest
mistake while carrying it to the river
bank from the water."
Authentic journalism
helps
taking country
forward: Sadhan
RAJSHAHI : Food Minister Sadhan
Chandra Majumder, MP, said authentic
and objective journalism always helps
take the country forward successfully.
He said journalists are the conscience
of the nation and they can open the eyes
of the society and the state as well
through their objective reporting.
The minister came up with the observation
while addressing the closing and
certificate-giving ceremony of a threeday
long journalists training course in
Naogaon district on Friday as the chief
guest.
Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB)
organized the training at Technical
Training Centre (TTC) in Naogaon town.
A total of 35 journalists of both print and
electronic media joined the course.
Food Minister Sadhan Majumder said
there will be competition among the
journalists in terms of who will collect
news first and will broadcast or print
first. He also expected the local journalists
will play a vital role towards publishing
development reports of Naogaon
district for taking it forward.
The minister said the journalists are
working as frontline fighters amid the
Covid-19 pandemic besides they are
motivating the public in general towards
following health rules which is absolutely
laudable. Minister Sadhan Majumder
urged the journalists to play an effective
role to make the Naogaon town free
from drug-addiction.
He also attached some images of his
discovery, which are shared with this
story. "Facing many difficulties like
keeping the hormone level in control
through pushing injections under
water, determining the gender of the
fish, yet I'm content that I finally found
success in inventing the artificial breeding
process that may save this fish from
getting extinct." Due to the egg being
big in size, Ohab couldn't collect more
than 60-80 eggs from a fully grown
female Kakila fish.
The eggs started hatching after 108
hours in 27-27.5 degree Celsius temperature,
Ohab wrote in his post.
According to him the most challenging
part of commercial farming of this
fish would be low egg or pollen production
and low hatching rate as the eggs
become more prone to infection by bacteria
and fungus during the long hatching
period.
If a solution for problems like Kakila
fish's high death rate while transporting
the brood stock is not found, protecting
this species will not be possible,
he said.
M Kabir, a marine biologist and senior
official of the fisheries department
told UNB he was informed about Abdul
Ohab's invention and said, "It's nothing
but a waste of money and time to do a
research that has already been done a
year back."
Afghanistan: Executions
will return, says senior
Taliban official
The Taliban's notorious former head of
religious police has said extreme punishments
such as executions and amputations
will resume in Afghanistan.
Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, now in
charge of prisons, told AP News amputations
were "necessary for security", reports
BBC.
He said these punishments may not be
meted out in public, as they were under
previous Taliban rule in the 1990s.
But he dismissed outrage over their
past public executions: "No-one will tell
us what our laws should be."
Since taking power in Afghanistan on
15 August the Taliban have been promising
a milder form of rule than in their
previous tenure.
But there have already been several reports
of human rights abuses carried out
across the country.
On Thursday, Human Rights Watch
warned that the Taliban in Herat were
"searching out high-profile women,
denying women freedom of movement
outside their homes [and] imposing
compulsory dress codes".
And in August, Amnesty International
said that Taliban fighters were behind
the massacre of nine members of the
persecuted Hazara minority.
Amnesty's Secretary-General Agnès
Callamard said at the time that the
"cold-blooded brutality" of the killings
He said a good researcher must have
knowledge of other research done in
that particular topic which researchers
of BFRI did not follow.
"This kind of research done to find
artificial breeding process is a routine
work for the researchers in this sector,
not a very incredible innovation
the way BFRI researchers are
announcing it to be," said the marine
biologist.
However, head of the BFRI
research team and chief scientist of
Jessore substation Dr Md Rabiul
Awal Hossain claimed they were the
first in Bangladesh to discover the
process for the artificial breeding of
Kakila fish. He also said information
of no other country doing such
research on this species has been
found so far.
When asked, Director General of
BFRI Yahia Mahmud agreed with the
research team head's claims.
According to BFRI DG, discovering
the process for the artificial breeding of
Kakila fish is the 31 st success story of
BFRI in its quest for conducting such
research to save 64 endangered indigenous
species of fish.
"I'm not informed of any local or
marginal farmer finding success in
identifying the breeding process before
our research team," said BFRI DG
Yahia Mahmud about Ohab's claim.
was "a reminder of the Taliban's past
record, and a horrifying indicator of
what Taliban rule may bring".
Days before the Taliban took control of
Kabul, a Taliban judge in Balkh, Haji
Badruddin, told the BBC's Secunder
Kermani that he supported the group's
harsh and literal interpretation of
Islamic religious law.
"In our Sharia it's clear, for those who
have sex and are unmarried, whether it's
a girl or a boy, the punishment is 100
lashes in public," Badruddin said. "But
for anyone who's married, they have to
be stoned to death... For those who steal:
if it's proved, then his hand should be cut
off."
These hardline views are in tune with
some ultra-conservative Afghans.
However, the group are now balancing
this desire to appeal to their conservative
base with a need to form connections
with the international community - and
since coming into power, the Taliban
have tried to present a more restrained
image of themselves.
Turabi, notorious for his harsh punishments
for people caught listening to
non-religious music or trimming their
beards in the 1990s, told AP that although
harsh forms of punishment
would continue, the group would now
allow televisions, mobile phones, photos
and videos.
Paddy straw is being taken by boat for cow-food in the char areas. The picture is taken from Gurudashpur of
Natore on Friday.
Photo: PBA