29-10-2021

friday

DhAkA: October 29, 2021; kartik 13, 1428 BS; Rabi-ul-Awal 21,1443 hijri

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net

Regd.No.DA~2065, Vol.19; N o. 180; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00

international

World faces growing

threat of'unbearable'

heatwaves

>Page 7

Conduct digital

survey to protect

forests : PM

DHAKA : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

yesterday directed the authorities concerned

to conduct a digital survey immediately

about the latest situation of all the

forests across the country to take effective

steps to protect the forests.

She gave the directive while chairing

the Cabinet meeting joining virtually

from her official residence Ganabhaban.

Other cabinet members were present at

the Cabinet division at the Bangladesh

Secretariat.

"The Prime Minister instructed to conduct

a digital survey immediately over all

the forests, maintaining coordination

among the Land Ministry and the

Environment and Forest Ministry as well

as the Deputy Commissioners concerned,"

said Cabinet Secretary

Khandker Anwarul Islam while briefing

reporters after the meeting.

He said the Primer stressed the need

for taking measures on completion of the

digital survey for permanent settlement

of the people who are now living inside

the forests.

The Cabinet Secretary said the Prime

Minister also directed the authorities

concerned to go for reforestation and to

engage the local people in it, sharing the

tree ownership with them.

If the local people can be engaged in

reforestation in the forest lands, they

would not damage the forests anymore,

she said.

Many people living in different forest

areas, including Modubangarh of

Tangail, Garo hills of Sherpur,

Chittagong Hill tracts and the

Sundarbans are badly suffering due to a

huge forest related case, said Anwarul,

adding that even a single person is facing

40-50 legal suits.

Paturia ferry capsize

5 more covered

vans rescued

MoniRul islaM MihiR,

Manikganj coRRespondenT

Five more covered vans were salvaged

in the second day of rescue operation at

Paturia ferry terminal in Manikganj on

Thursday. BIAWTA's rescue vessel

Hamza rescued these vans. Earlier, on

Wednesday the vessel rescued five

trucks and a motorcycle

Meanwhile, the rescue ship Prattoy

from Narayanganj was supposed to

reach Paturia on Wednesday night to

rescue the crashed ferry Shah Amanat.

Due to unknown reasons, the ship did

not reach at the ferry terminal accident

site till 12 noon on Thursday. That is

why the owners of the damaged covered

vans and trucks have expressed

doubts about the rescue of the ferry.

Ro-ro ferry Amanat Shah, carrying

more than 20 heavy and light vehicles

and some passengers, capsized in

Padma River at the Paturia ferry terminal

in Manikganj region of Bangladesh

on Wednesday. The mishap took place

at around 9:45am.

Zumma

04:48 AM

01:30 PM

03:48 PM

05:26 PM

06:45 PM

6:02 5:22

SPortS

Real Madrid

back on top after

Osasuna stalemate

>Page 9

12 to 17 years old to be

vaccinated:Zahid Maleque

asRaful islaM asRaf

Health and Family Welfare Minister

Zahid Maleque, MP, said, "School-going

children between the ages of 12 and 17

will be vaccinated soon from all over the

country. The vaccination program will

start from November 1 in 12 centers in

Dhaka and 21 centers outside Dhaka.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has

directed to increase the number of vaccination

centers." According to him, in

places where there is no air-conditioning

facility, immediate ventilation facilities

have been set up in Dhaka and vaccination

centers have been set up in all the

districts of the country. Health Minister

Zahid Maleque, MP, said this in response

to various questions of the journalists

present at the end of the cabinet meeting

at the Secretariat yesterday afternoon.

Pfizer vaccines will be given to 12-17 year

old school going children. Pfizer vaccines

require air-conditioning. Therefore, the

work of vaccinating children aged 12-17

years will be started in all the districts of

the country, gradually by fixing the

required air conditioning system, said

the Health Minister. The Pfizer vaccine is

now in hand. The health minister also

said that another 35 lakh doses of Pfizer

vaccine will arrive in the country next

November.

Mentioning that there is no vaccine crisis

in the country at present, the Health

Minister further said, "With this we now

have about 20 million doses of vaccine in

stock. I hope that the vaccine will continue

to come in the future. Therefore, it will

be possible to meet 50 percent of the government's

target for vaccination by

December."

Apart from vaccinating students aged

12-17, immunization activities for the

general public will also continue, the

minister said.

In this context, the Health Minister

said, "Today, tomorrow and the day after

tomorrow, the common people of the

country will be given about 6 million vaccines

as the second dose of corona. In

addition to the general public, immunization

activities for school-going children

will continue as usual."

Urge ASEAN, QUAD friends to

distance from Myanmar military

Dhaka to Washington

DHAKA : Bangladesh Ambassador to

the United States M Shahidul Islam has

said the USA can persuade its friends in

ASEAN and QUAD to distance themselves

from the Myanmar military

forces so that they refrain from culpability

in the genocide, reports UNB.

He sought more support from the

USA in resolving the Rohingya crisis

with mounting pressure on Myanmar.

"Bangladesh believes that the United

States can do more to mobilize international

pressure on Myanmar to end the

Rohingya crisis," said the Bangladesh

envoy while addressing a webinar.

The United States may bring the

Rohingya issue on the G-7 Summit

agenda to show the strong resolve of the

international community for a solution

to the Rohingya crisis, said the

Ambassador.

Atlantic Council, a leading think tank

based in Washington DC, in partnership

with Bangladesh Embassy in

Washington DC, hosted the webinar

titled "A new Bhashan Char agreement:

What now for the Rohingya in

Bangladesh" on Wednesday night.

Atlantic Council's South Asia Centre

featured Ambassador Shahidul Islam,

who delivered keynote speech on the

theme of the event and participated in a

question-and-answer session.

Senior Director of Atlantic Council's

South Asia Centre Irfan Nooruddin

gave an introductory remark while nonresident

senior fellow Rudabeh Shahid

moderated the event.

The United States may cancel all

types of preferential treatment, including

GSP facilities enjoyed by Myanmar,

said the envoy.

Apart from reintroducing all pre-2016

sanctions, entities involved in trade with

Myanmar need to be discouraged from

engaging with Myanmar, he said.

"The United States can also speed up

determination of genocide and crimes

against humanity against the Rohingya

as promised earlier."

Ambassador Islam said, "There's

nothing inherently wrong with any religion,

race, or nationality; the problem

emanates when these identities are

used to generate malice and hatred for

political or economic reasons."

He called upon the international community

to bring the traders of malice to

justice if to establish a rule-based international

order.

Among other aspects, Ambassador

Islam highlighted the genesis of the crisis,

the Bangladesh government's generous

welcoming of the Rohingyas who

fled widespread atrocities in Myanmar,

Bangladesh's sincere efforts to facilitate

their return to Myanmar, recent developments

in the camps, and the agreement

signed by Bangladesh government

with UN.

five more

covered vans

were salvaged

in the second

day of rescue

operation at

paturia ferry

terminal in

Manikganj on

Thursday.

photo : TBT

art & culture

Prova's new song'Ami

Shunechi SedinTumi'

>Page 10

Bangladesh on Thursday kicked off the second phase of its special

nationwide mass vaccination drive, aiming to inoculate 80 lakh

people with the second shot in a day.

photo : star Mail

Bangladesh kicks off

second phase of mass

vaccination drive

DHAKA : Bangladesh Thursday kicked off

the second phase of its special nationwide

mass vaccination drive, aiming to inoculate

80 lakh people with the second shot in

a day, reports UNB.

The 9am to 3pm vaccination drive is

actually part of the special campaign that

was first unveiled on September 27 to

mark Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's

75th birthday. "The health department

aims to inoculate 80 lakh people with the

second dose of a Covid vaccine in a day,

though the first-dose drive met its target in

two days," Dr Shamsul Haque of the

DGHS, told UNB.

"Vaccines have been distributed across

all the districts. The campaign will be held

in all city corporations, municipalities and

upazilas across the country and only the

second dose will be administered," said

Haque, also the member secretary of the

vaccination system.

Though the vaccination programme will

officially continue till 3 pm, the official said

that "if needed, the drive could be

stretched". "However, no eligible recipient

will be allowed to change the centre from

where they got the first dose." On

September 28, the first phase of the special

nationwide mass vaccination drive was

launched.

However, that target to inoculate 80

lakh people was not met in a single day.

Across eight divisions, 66,25,123 people

were vaccinated, "which is a record number

of jabs inoculated in Bangladesh in a

single day", the Directorate General of

Health Services (DGHS) had said.

Besides, 80,93,236 people were vaccinated

with the first dose under this campaign,

which spilled over to September 29.

So far, some 4,12,68,810 people have got

their first Covid shot, while 2,13,32,289

were administered the second dose till

October 28, according to the Health

Ministry. Bangladesh on August 7 kicked

off its mass vaccination drive to inoculate

some 35 lakh people in six days.

E-commerce Company to take

registration within 2 months

22 days public holiday in 2022

shafiqul islaM (jaMi)

The cabinet has directed to bring the e-

commerce companies under registration

within two months in the wake of fraud

and embezzlement of hundreds of crores

of TK by various companies including

Evaly. The directive was given at a cabinet

meeting chaired by Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina on Thursday. Cabinet

Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam told

a press conference at the secretariat after

the cabinet meeting. He said e-commerce

companies and those associated

with it have been asked to register within

the next two months.

The registration will be under the

Ministry of Commerce. During the registration

process, the companies have to

keep a deposit with Bangladesh Bank so

that if there is any problem, it can be

resolved from that deposit.

He also said that BFIU (Bangladesh

Financial Intelligence Unit), digital monitoring

platform and other intelligence

agencies have been directed to monitor

to stop irregularities in the e-commerce

sector. The secretary said there has been

talk of a wide-ranging campaign in the

cabinet discussions on registration,

adding that the government will not take

responsibility if anyone transacts outside

Rural Development

Tajul emphases on

collective efforts of

public representatives,

bureaucrats

TBT RepoRT

Local Government, Rural

Department (LGRD) and

Cooperatives Minister Tajul Islam

on Thursday has urged all the public

representatives and government

officials to work together to implement

Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina's vision "Amar Gram-

Amar Shohar' (My village-my

town).

"All challenges can be overcome

if everyone works together. We

have to be committed to implement

the initiative 'Amar Gram

Amar Shahar' as it is our responsibility

to make the earth a better

and beautiful one and gift it to the

new generation," he said.

The minister was addressing a

workshop on technical assistance

project of 'Amar Gram Amar Shohar'

organized by the Department of

Local Government Engineering and

Public Health Engineering at

Sonargaon Hotel in the capital.

Tajul said all modern civic amenities

such as employment, banking,

insurance, gas, water, electricity

and sanitation must be provided to

keep people in the village.

All infrastructure needs to be

implemented in a planned way with

collective efforts to complete the set

up of electricity, gas, water and sewerage

lines smoothly, he added.

He said, "Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina has taken the project to

ensure all urban facilities for rural

people to give them a better life. "

"After the implementation of the

initiative, there will be no discrimination

in facilities in rural and

urban areas," he added.

Senior Secretary of LGRD

Helaluddin Ahmed presided over

the program while IMED Secretary

Pradeep Ranjan Chakraborty,

Planning Commission Member

(Secretary) Mamun Al Rashid and

Ramendra Nath Biswas, JICA

Chief Representative Hayakawa

Yoho were present as special

guests.

the registered company.

It is to be noted that the e-commerce

business in the country has been growing

for several years now, when the epidemic

started, several new companies started

to flourish overnight. Complaints are

being made now. Many have bought

products at half price and then ordered

lakhs of TK from these companies in the

hope of selling at higher prices. But many

of them did not understand the product

even after waiting for months the company

is not returning their money. In these

cases, several cases have been filed

against various companies including

Evaly and E-Orange recently.

22 days of public holiday in 2022

Meanwhile, in the coming new year

Bangladesh will enjoy a total of 22 days of

public holidays, of which 8 days fall on

weekly holidays. A cabinet meeting

chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

on Thursday approved the 2022 holiday

list. Now the Ministry of Public

Administration will issue an order in this

regard.

Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul

Islam said that in 2022, there will be 14

days of general leave and the remaining

eight days will be given by the executive

order. Eight of these days fall on the weekly

holidays of Friday and Saturday.

fRiDAY, OCtObER 29, 2021

2

bKash initiates to improve agents' professional

skills and living standard

DHAKA : bKash has taken initiatives

to enhance professional skills of the

agents through organizing workshops,

teaching them to abide by the MFS

related regulations and improve their

living standards by introducing life

insurance, health insurance and

scholarship for children.

Since the inception of bKash, its

agents have been playing a pivotal role

in moving the MFS sector forward for

the last 10 years. The agents are

known as 'Human ATMs' as they

facilitate financial services to the

customers in every corner of the

country. Besides providing services,

they have been able to improve their

living standard as well, a press release

said.

Recently, bKash has organized

workshops with the Star agents

selected from all over the country to

train them on risk management and

professional skill development in the

93,113 school students

to get deworming pills

in Rajshahi city

RAJSHAHI: Rajshahi City

Corporation (RCC) will feed

deworming tablets to 93,113

students aged between five

and 16 years in the city,

reports BSS.

Along with primary and

secondary level schools, all

madrasas, mosque-based

schools and orphanages will

be brought under the

deworming tablet feeding

programme.

The campaign will be held

as part of the National

Worm Control Week- 2021

scheduled to be observed

from October 30 to

November 5.

Democrats offer mixed

messages as Biden

presses domestic agenda

WASHINGTON : The

White House and

Democratic congressional

leaders raced Wednesday to

resolve lingering disputes on

their giant social spending

plan before President Joe

Biden flies overseasalthough

several lawmakers

signaled that a deal by day's

end looked impossible.

House Speaker Nancy

Pelosi wrote to colleagues

that Biden's domestic

agenda was moving "closer

to passing," but a key

centrist senator later

dismissed a new tax on

billionaires to help pay for

the $1.5-$2 trillion package

as a non-starter.

Biden hopes to use

passage of the Build Back

Better Act as evidence of the

United States leading the

world on global warming

and other issues as he heads

to a G20 summit in Rome

and United Nations climate

gathering in Glasgow.

White House aides were

assessing the situation "hour

by hour," his spokeswoman

Jen Psaki told reporters.

Pelosi, the top House

Democrat, has given

lawmakers until at least the

end of Thursday to ready

their final language on the

historic bill targeting climate

change, child care, preschool

education and health

care.The mammoth package

is crucial to another big win

Biden had hoped to secure

before jetting off to Rome-a

$1.2 trillion infrastructure

bill to transform US roads,

bridges and broadband

access.

financial sector. The workshops have

been arranged in district cities across

the country to raise awareness about

the technical capabilities of agents,

Anti-Money Laundering and

Combating the Financing of

Terrorism (AML&CFT), business risks

and other relevant issues.

Besides, bKash has also taken

several initiatives to improve the

living standards of the agents.

Since October this year, bKash has

introduced life insurance and health

insurance coverage for Star agents.

Under the life insurance facility, the

agents will get natural death insurance

and accident insurance coverage.

There is also health insurance

coverage for an agent himself/herself,

spouse and two children under the age

of 18.

bKash has added a free of cost, 24-

hour specialist doctor's consultation

facility to protect the wellbeing of

agents. bKash agents can take this

telemedicine service by calling a

certain number.

bKash has introduced stipends for

SSC, HSC or undergraduate students

for the children of the Star agents.

It is noteworthy that the agents have

played a significant role in ensuring

MFS services under the emergency

situations of COVID-19.

Commenting on the initiative, Ali

Ahmmed, Chief Commercial Officer of

bKash, said, "Together, bKash and its

agents have been working relentlessly

for last ten years to take the MFS

sector of Bangladesh to a new height

where it stands today. From the very

beginning, bKash has helped the

agents to build sustainable business

through training, taking risk

management measures and ensuring

security. bKash agents are seamlessly

delivering services to the customers in

every corner of the country."

Govt works to check land

degradation: Shahab Uddin

DHAKA : Environment, Forest and Climate

Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin on

Thursday said the government is working

sincerely to prevent desertification, land

degradation and drought.

He made the remark while speaking at a

workshop titled 'National Roadmap for

Combating Land Degradation in Bangladesh'

at the Department of Environment (DoE) in

the city's Agargaon area, a ministry press

release said.

Addressing as the chief guest, Shahab

Uddin said the DoE has already formulated a

roadmap for building a land degradation-free

Bangladesh by updating the land use map,

identifying the causes and indicators of land

degradation, preventing degradation and

mitigation or reuse.

It will be possible to prevent land

degradation by working at the national and

divisional levels in a coordinated manner in

eight thematic areas identified in the roadmap

prepared to check land degradation, he said.

The minister said effective efforts of all

stakeholders are needed to check land

degradation in the country.

To this end, he said, the Department of

Agricultural Extension (DAE), the Soil

Resources Development Institute, the Barind

Multipurpose Development Authority and

CEGIS are working with the DoE through the

Sustainable Land Management Project.

"There are many sustainable land use

technologies in Bangladesh through which we

will be able to reduce land degradation to

zero," Shahab Uddin said.

He said awareness and capacity building,

training programmes, scientific research and

initiatives will be taken to raise awareness

about the financial, social and environmental

benefits of sustainable land management

policies and uses.

Ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation

can make a significant contribution to

achieving desired goals, he said, adding, "We

call upon all to work together sincerely to

prevent land degradation in this country".

Deputy Minister for Environment, Forest

and Climate Change Begum Habibun Nahar,

Environment Secretary Md Mostafa Kamal,

Additional Secretary (Admin) of the ministry

Iqbal Abdullah Harun and Additional

Secretary (Development) Ahmed Shamim Al

Razi were present at the workshop with DoE

Director General Md Ashraf Uddin in the

chair.

A view-exchange meeting on "Role of Higher Education in Development of Unani-

Ayurvedic Medicine and Education" was held on Wednesday in capital. Photo : Courtesy

108,208 Coronavirus patients

cured in Khulna division

KHULNA : A total of 1, 08,208 Coronavirus

(COVID-19) patients were released after

their recovery among a total of 1,12,705

infected people in all ten districts of the

Khulna division till Thursday.

"The percentage of recovered

Coronavirus patients stands at 96 in the

division," Director (Health) of Khulna

division Dr. Ferdousi Akter told BSS today.

"We received 317 samples of suspected

coronavirus patients at KMC in Khulna and

other samples in Jashore and Kustia

laboratories in the last 24 hours, of those

twelve, were found COVID-19 positive,"

said Assistant Director (Health) of Khulna

division Dr. Ferdousi Akter said.

She informed that the total number of

infected persons rose to 112,705 after

testing their samples at the three regional

COVID-19 laboratories till 8am today, since

March 10, 2020.

Of the total 1,12,705 patients, 27,954 are

in Khulna, 21,711 in Jashore, 18,674 in

Kustia, 9,525 in Jhenaidah, 7,135 in

Bagerhat, 6,906 in Chuadanga, 6,896 in

Satkhira, 4,986 Narail, 4,760 in

Meherpur, 4,158 in Magura, she said.

At the same time, a total of 3,169

fatalities were reported with no more

death in the last 24 hours. The total

fatalities are 804 in Khulna, 779 in Kustia,

506 in Jashore, 266 in Jhenidah, 189 in

Chuadanga, 181 in Meherpur, 145 in

Bagerhat, 121 in Narail, 90 in Magura and

88 in Satkhira districts in Khulna

division.

Bangabandhu brought

identity of Bangalee's

nationhood: Info sec

DHAKA : Information and

Broadcasting Secretary Md

Mokbul Hossain yesterday

said Father of the Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman had

brought the identity of the

nationhood of Bangalees.

"Bangabandhu gave us an

independent and

sovereignty state. His

worthy daughter Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina is

working relentlessly to turn

the country into a developed

nation," he said, addressing

a campaign activity titled

'Agiye Jacche Bangladesh'

(Bangladesh is marching

ahead) at Wills Little Flower

School and College in the

city.

The campaign is being

conducted under a project

on the development of rural

people of Department of

Mass Communication

(DMC), said a release here.

DMC director general

Bidhan Chandra Karmaker,

district information office of

Dhaka division director Kazi

Golam Ahad, governing

body chairman of the school

Arifur Rahman Titu and

principal Md Abul Hossain

addressed the function as

special guests with project

director Mohammad Omar

Faruque Dewan in the chair.

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2021

3

Iraqi Charge d' Affaires in Dhaka Abdulsalam Saddam Mohaisen called on Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor

Prof. Dr. Md. Akhtaruzzaman on Thursday at the latter's office of the university.

Photo : Courtesy

Embrace employees

with disabilities, garment

industry urged

DHAKA : More differently

abled people should be

employed in the country's

growing garment industry,

based on their abilities and

not disabilities, reports

UNB.

The clarion call has been

given by as many as nine

associations of physically

challenged people, who met

the top honchos of the

Bangladesh Garment

Manufacturers and

Exporters Association

(BGMEA) and urged it to

play a proactive role in this

regard.

Representatives of the

nine associations met with

BGMEA Vice President

Shahidullah Azim

Wednesday and urged him

to encourage its member

garment factories to employ

more disabled people.

The representatives told

Shahidullah that "around 10

percent of the total

population in the country

are disabled to some extent

and they are often treated as

burden on families due to

lack of employment

opportunities".

Despite having the

provision of 5 percent rebate

on the total tax of a taxpayer

if 10 percent of the total

workforce are disabled

employees,

the

representatives said, many

employers are unable to

recruit physically challenged

people.

The associations said "if

the tax rebate rule is

amended to 2 percent of the

workforce, it will pave the

way for creating more

employment opportunities

for disabled people",

according to a statement.

BGMEA Vice President

agreed with their proposal of

amendment to the tax rebate

provision. "Many garment

factories in Bangladesh are

employing physically

challenged people. We will

request our members to

recruit more people.

Experts for technology adaptation, policy

reforms to face post-LDC challenges

DHAKA : Experts at a webinar yesterday

observed that product diversification,

technology adaptation, policy reforms and

domestic market development are essential

to face post-LDC challenges.

They made the observation at the webinar

on "LDC graduation of Bangladesh:

Transformation and preparedness" held on

the 3rd day of 'Bangladesh Trade and

Investment Summit 2021', said a press

release. The discussants identified some

issues, including technology adaptation,

technology transfer, equal treatment to all

export-oriented industries, tariff

rationalization, competitiveness in export

diversification, skill development, investing

in research and innovation, policy reforms,

tax incentives, FDI attraction and

competitive tax structure, to become

prepared for LDC graduation.

Dr Ahmad Kaikaus, principal secretary to

the Prime Minister, was the chief guest while

DCCI President Rizwan Rahman chaired

and moderated the session.

Dr Kaikaus said 81 percent of the GDP that

comes from the private sector reflects the

strength of its vibrancy. "We have to facilitate

private sector and have to make a strong

bond between the public and private sector

as private sector plays the major role in the

economic transformation in the country.

Entrepreneurs of Bangladesh are very hardworking

and resilient," he said.

Syed Manzur Elahi, chairman, Apex Group

and former Adviser to the Caretaker

Government said that many people always

talks about export diversification, but it is not

happening in reality. He said, "We have to

create jobs that helps alleviate poverty and it

is the duty of private sector to create jobs. For

creating jobs, country needs industries. Due

to our skill shortages, thousands of foreign

workers are working in Bangladesh and

remit about USD 5 billion every year.

Leather sector is a highly labour intensive,

capital intensive and this sector has a huge

scope of technology adaptation." Citing an

example of Vietnam in the leather footwear

industry, he said Bangladesh and Vietnam

stepped into this sector at the same time but

Vietnam is now exporting footwear worth of

US$16 to $17 billion whereas Bangladesh is

stuck around $1 billion. He said joint

ventures in the leather footwear sector will

strengthen this sector in Bangladesh. He

urged for a separate economic zone

especially for leather footwear industry. He

sought equal treatment and facilities for all

export-oriented industries like RMG sector.

Tapan Kanti Ghosh, secretary, Ministry of

Commerce, in his introductory remarks said

every graduating economy undergoes a

transitional process with a deep aspiration of

renewed economic journey.

Upon graduation, Bangladesh will come

across some key challenges including loss of

duty-free quota-free facility, increased tariff

rates, technological adaptation, increased

competition at both local and international

market, standard and quality, stringent rules

of origins, skills upgradation and trade and

industrial compliance issues, he added.

Alongside, he said, the graduation will also

generate ample of opportunities in many

respects including private sector

development, enriched industrial base,

investment and trade growth and local

market expansion and so on.

Moderator of the session, Rizwan Rahman

said technology transfer is no longer a choice

but a necessity now. He said Bangladesh's

economic condition is quite resilient and

progressive that after the graduation, the

country will be able to make its position

stronger.

But before that the first and foremost

thing is to ensure product diversification in

the export basket and technology

adaptation as well as domestic market

development, he said.

DMP Commissioner Shafiqul

gets one year extension

DHAKA : The government has extended one

year tenure of Dhaka Metropolitan Police

(DMP) Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam.

According to a notification issued by the

Public Administration Ministry in this

regard, the DMP commissioner will perform

his duty as Commissioner for the next one

year from October 30 or the date of joining.

Shafiqul joined the Bangladesh Police as

Assistant Superintendent of Police in the 8th

BCS (Police) cadre. During his career, he

served as the Superintendent of Police in

Narayanganj, Patuakhali, Sunamganj and

Cumilla districts.

Shafiqul, who becomes the DMP's 34th

Commissioner, was awarded the Bangladesh

Police Medal (BPM) more than twice for his

professionalism and skill.

He contributed a lot in Chattogram

Metropolitan Police as Additional

Commissioner and Commissioner. Shafiqul

served as DIG, Chattogram Range and

Dhaka Range with utmost efficiency and

reputation.

Dr. Imran Mahmud, Head of the Department of Software Engineering of Daffodil International University, Maruf

Hasan, Convener & Director of the Cyber Security Center, Rashed Kabir, Director, BASIS and ANM Shakawat

Hossain, Director, ISAS are speaking at the Meet the Press on 'Cyber Security Awareness Day-2021'. Photo : Courtesy

Bangladesh

reports 294

fresh cases, 6

deaths from

COVID-19

DHAKA : Bangladesh

yesterday reported 294

COVID-19 cases while the

coronavirus claimed

overnight six lives, reports

BSS.

"The country reported

1.50 percent COVID-19

positive cases as 19,535

samples were tested in the

past 24 hours,"

Directorate General of

Health Services (DGHS)

said in its routine daily

statement.

In the past 24 hours, the

combined figure of

coronavirus in Dhaka city

and upazilas of Dhaka

district is 182 while two

COVID-19 deaths were

reported during the same

period.

The official tally showed

the virus killed 27,847

people and infected

15,68,867 so far, it added.

The recovery count rose

to 15,32,695 after another

227 patients were

discharged from the

hospitals during the past

one day.

The DGHS statistics

showed of the people

infected from the

beginning 97.70 percent

recovered, while 1.77

percent died.

The DGHS said among

the total 27,847 fatalities,

12,141 deaths occurred in

Dhaka division, 5,654 in

Chattogram, 2,042 in

Rajshahi, 3,595 in Khulna,

945 in Barishal, 1,264 in

Sylhet, 1,363 in Rangpur

and 843 in Mymensingh

division.

Iraqi Charge d' Affaires

calls on DU VC

Iraqi Charge d' Affaires in Dhaka Mr.

Abdulsalam Saddam Mohaisen called on

Dhaka University (DU) Vice-Chancellor Prof.

Dr. Md. Akhtaruzzaman on Thursday at the

latter's office of the university. DU Registrar

Probir Kumar Sarker and Director of DU

Public Relations Office Mahmood Alam were

present on this occasion.

During the meeting they discussed matters of

mutual and common interest. They stressed

the need for undertaking joint collaborative

academic and research programs among

Dhaka University and the leading universities

of Iraq specially Baghdad University. They also

held fruitful discussion about the possibilities

of signing a MoU in this regard.

DU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Md.

Akhtaruzzaman said, Baghdad is the center of

ancient civilization. Dhaka and Baghdad have

common historical religious and cultural

heritage. These two brotherly nations always

RUET reopens its

dormitories after a

long closure

RAJSHAHI : Rajshahi University of Engineering and

Technology (RUET) has reopened its dormitories on

Thursday through maintaining health rules amid the Covid-

19 pandemic. The dormitories were reopened for the

convenience of the students after around one and half years

of unexpected closure caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Prior to this, necessary preparations, including ensuring of

conservancy, health instruments and isolation centre at

medical, were completed.Students Adviser Prof Rabiul Awal

told BSS that the students have started entering into their

respective dormitory from 8.00 am on Thursday through

submitting photocopies of their identity cards, corona

certificate or registration card. The RUET took the decision

in a meeting of its syndicate, highest policy making body of

the technological university, held early this month with Vicechancellor

Prof Rafiqul Islam Sheikh in the chair.

"We have reopened the dormitories for the greater interest

of the students," said Prof Islam, adding that many of the

departments are taking examinations in-persons at present.

So, reopening of the dormitories had become crucial as the

students were suffering a lot due to accommodation crises.

After completion of the on-going examination another

syndicate meeting will be held to take decision of reopening

of the classes in-persons in due time, Prof Islam added.

stand for global peace and prosperity, he

pointed out.

Iraqi Charge d' Affaires in Dhaka Mr.

Abdulsalam Saddam Mohaisen expressed

his willingness to send Iraqi students to

Dhaka University for higher education and

sought cooperation from DU VC Prof. Dr.

Md. Akhtaruzzaman. He also recalled the

historic visit of Father of the Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to

Baghdad in 1974 and lauded his leadership

in strengthening bilateral ties between the

two countries.

DU VC Prof. Dr. Md. Akhtaruzzaman

assured Iraqi Charge d' Affaires of providing all

possible support and cooperation for getting

admission of Iraqi students at Dhaka

University. He thanked him for his visit to and

keen interest in undertaking joint and

collaborative academic programs between DU

and Baghdad University.

15 BNP men

remanded over

clash with police

DHAKA : A court on

Thursday placed 15 leaders

and activists of BNP and its

student wing Jatiyatabadi

Chatra Dal on two-day

remand each in a case

lodged over clash with police

in capital's Nayapaltan area

on October 26, reports BSS.

Dhaka Metropolitan

Magistrate Asheq Imam

passed the order as police

produced 50 BNP men

before the court yesterday

and pleaded to place 15 of

them on seven-day remand.

The law enforcing agency

also had pleaded to keep 35

other behind the bars till the

end of the probe in the case.

The court, however,

adjourned the hearing till

Thursday as the proceedings

was suspended in honour of

eminent lawyer Abdul Baset

Majumder, who died

yesterday morning.

The arrest of the land grabbers in the Khalishakhali area of Debhata Upazila under Satkhira district

was demanded in a human chain program which was held in front of National Press Club

yesterday.

Photo : Courtesy

Bangladesh an attractive investment

destination: Korean envoy

DHAKA : South Korean Ambassador to

Bangladesh Lee Jang-Keun on

Thursday said Bangladesh is an

attractive investment destination for

Korea, reports UNB

Korean companies will find more

opportunities as the Government of

Bangladesh makes strenuous efforts to

improve business environment by

removing obstacles, he said at a country

lecture webinar titled "Exploring

Korea- Bangladesh Relations in the

Last Five Decades and Beyond."

Bangladesh Institute of International

and Strategic Studies (BIISS) organized

the event where the Ambassador

delivered his lecture as guest speaker.

He said the future of Bangladesh-

Korea relations looks very bright and it

will get brighter with diversified success

stories.

Director General of BIISS Major

General Md. Emdadul Bari delivered

the welcome address and Chairman of

BIISS Ambassador M. Fazlul Karim

presided over the session and delivered

the concluding remarks.

Ambassador Lee highlighted that

Bangladesh and Republic of Korea

enjoy friendly relations since the

establishment of their diplomatic

relations when the Republic of Korea

recognized newly independent

Bangladesh on 12th May 1972.

The year 2021 marks the 49th

anniversary of Korea's recognition of

Bangladesh.

He mentioned that during the past

five decades, the relationship between

two countries has expanded and

developed on every field of cooperation.

Since the early 1980s, Korea has been

the leading foreign investor in the RMG

sector of Bangladesh. Korea continued

to hold its position as a major foreign

investor in Bangladesh.

"Slow but steadily, more and more

Korean companies started investing in

different potential areas like

electronics, automobiles, and ICTs,"

said the Ambassador.

BIISS Chairman Fazlul Karim said

the year 2021 marks the 49th

anniversary of Korea-Bangladesh

relations and during the past five

decades the two countries have

developed and enjoyed strong ties and

partnership in every aspect and every

field of cooperation.

Aside from the conventional areas of

cooperation, he said, both nations are

enhancing their efforts to diversify

relations. "People-to-people contacts

are one of them."

BIISS DG Emdadul Bari said

Bangladesh and Korea have a cultural

affinity that can be tapped into to

nurture further cultural exchange and

people-to-people contact.

Besides, he said, with the rise of

Korean film industry, Korean culture is

earning a soft corner amongst our teens

and youth, many of whom already were

avid fans of K-Pop.

Govt inks $ 1126m loan

agreement with China

DHAKA : The Government of

Bangladesh and the Exim Bank of

China signed a loan agreement of

$1126.99 million loan on Tuesday to

implement the "Construction of

Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway"

project.

Additional Secretary of Economic

Relations Division Shahriar Kader

Siddiky and Deputy General Manager

of Exim Bank of China Zhang Tianqin

signed the agreement on behalf of their

respective sides, said a press release.

The main objective of the project is to

minimize the traffic congestion in and

around Dhaka-Ashulia areas.

This project will be connected to the

Dhaka Elevated Expressway and is

located within the alignment of the

Asian Highway.

fRIDAy, OCTOBER 29, 2021

4

The supply chain crisis has a silver lining

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com

Friday, October 29, 2021

Saving precious

agricultural lands

There should not be any doubt or hesitations as

regards the necessity of taking appropriate measures

to save agricultural lands in a land short densely

populated country like Bangladesh. Bangladesh with an

area of 147,570 sq. km. in total possesses about 20.16

million acres of cultivated area for over 164 million people.

But in reality the scale at which agricultural land is being

wasted every year there will remain nothing to be surprised

for one if agriculture meets serious setbacks in Bangladesh

sooner than later . An estimate shows that the gradual

decline of arable land in Bangladesh now is by 1 percent per

annum because of its increased use for commercial

purposes and the establishment of different kinds of mills

and factories together with new residential areas.

This percentage of agricultural land decline is supposed

to be increasing with the increasing pace of nonagricultural

economic progress of the country. If this trend

continues and not minimized or stopped the prices of food

and other necessary agricultural commodities will go

beyond control as increasing domestic agricultural

commodity production will become increasingly difficult

under limited land use for agricultural purposes.

Considering all these the government has undertaken a

master plan to build multistoried residential buildings on

cooperative basis for the accommodation of rural and

urban people to save agricultural land. The concerned

officials have claimed that through this scheme the

gobbling up of agricultural lands will notably decline

and side by side the maximum utilization of

agricultural resources of the country will happen. The

concerned officials have already discussed the matter in

the ECNEC meetings.

But it is true that other reasons behind the harming,

misuse and loss of agricultural lands do scarcely catch the

attention of the quarters who ought to be concerned. The

productivity of agricultural land is decreasing also because

of the repeated excessive use of chemical fertilizers every

year. Industrial wastes are being thrown in unplanned and

reckless manner on agricultural lands and adjacent

rivers. Building of unplanned residential

accommodations, roads and highways, bridges and

culverts, industrial establishments, brick-fields et

cetera are on the increase and causing serious damage

to and decrease of agricultural lands.

Moreover, the 'reckless' activities that are going on in the

private sector to establish housing estates for residential

purposes throughout the country by occupying agricultural

lands has raised the apprehensions that the possibility

of the availability of agricultural land will become a

serious issue in the near future. But no one, it seems, is

ready to realize that an agriculture dominated and

dependent country could one day face a great peril from

such a development.

About 80 percent of the people of the country still

depend directly or indirectly on agriculture. Though

there are no special social facilities in the countryside

for the peasant community to enjoy, yet they are

achieving unparalleled successes every year in

agricultural productions only because there are still

sufficient fertile agricultural lands for use.

It goes without saying that not only agricultural but

industrial development is also necessary in the country for

creating jobs, income and raising of the standard of living

of the people. But to improve both of these sectors what is

needed is harmonious development of these two sectors

with courage, sincerity of purpose, patriotism and well

planned concerted efforts. But if the political leadership

and the government officials fail in forward thinking to

check unchecked encroachment on limited agricultural

lands, then its results will be unfortunate for the country

even in the near future.

The plan to meet the habitation problems of the rural

population by constructing multistoried buildings and

other measures to preserve agricultural land will be

laudable if its result becomes visible through its

implementations in the true sense of the term. If a sincere

effort is made to achieve a harmonious balance between

agricultural and industrial development in the country,

then overall economic progress will be accelerated on

the one hand and likewise domestic food grain

production and production of other agricultural

produces will also increase.

The development of agro-based industry in the country

may help to preserve agricultural land. The countries

where agricultural land is meager, they have given

emphasis on industrializations of the economy to meet the

overall demand of their people. But in a country like ours

where the Creator has blessed us with fertile agricultural

lands, we need to industrialize and export but after giving

proper and due importance to agriculture. Only then it will

be possible for us to adequately and effectively rescue

agricultural land and make its appropriate use and benefit

the country in the practical sense.

We are to remember that agriculture is still the life line of

the Bangladesh economy with its tremendously hard

working peasant society. Their demand for existence is

bare minimum but contributions to the economy are

enormous. To be honest the urban population will be in

danger if the agricultural sector stops supplying their

daily necessities. From this point of view the urban

sector is totally dependent on the rural agricultural

sector but scarcely vice versa. And this is a long lasting

reality to continue.

Bangladesh as a whole cannot go on without keeping its

agricultural sector in good health . So, the imperative to

preserve agricultural land is irrefutable. Thus, our national

policy makers will have to give urgent and active attention

to this issue without wasting any time.

Several months ago, I warned that the

crisis in container ships could

jeopardize Christmas by leaving

retailers without enough goods on their

shelves. Since then, there have been

similar fears all over the media, due not

only to shipping problems but also to

shortages of truck drivers and unavailable

products. As we approach November, the

worst may be coming to the worst.

It is a classic supply-and-demand

mismatch. On the one hand, people

around the world managed to save more

than US$5 trillion during the lockdowns,

and have been wanting to spend some of

that now that some restrictions have been

lifted. This is why the global economy has

seen a strong recovery this year, with the

International Monetary Fund predicting

that global growth will be 6% for the year

as a whole. According to an intelligence

report shared with me by a shipping

broker, that extra demand translated into

more than 119 million shipping containers

between January and August, 6% higher

than the equivalent period in 2019.

Supply chains have not been coping

with this surge in orders. Ports have been

struggling to load and unload container

ships quickly enough, with nearly 600

container ships stuck outside docking

areas around the world - nearly double the

number at the start of the year.

Ports are understaffed because many

workers are being kept off site by Covid-19

restrictions. There are not nearly enough

containers, because ships that would

STAVROS KARAMPERIDIS

normally pick up empty containers to

return to ports in Asia have been sailing

back empty instead to minimize delays.

There are also not enough truck drivers

in numerous countries. It has become well

known that the UK is short by some

100,000 drivers, partly because of Brexit,

but Germany is short by around 80,000

drivers, while the European Union as a

whole is short by 400,000. This is making

the problems with containers worse.

For example Felixstowe, the UK's main

port for container ships, is full of

containers because there are not enough

drivers to pick them up. This delays

loading and unloading for vessels,

creating a four-to-seven-day wait. Big

shipping companies like Maersk have

been rerouting to continental ports

instead, where goods are reloaded on to

smaller ships to sail back to the UK - all of

which slows down deliveries considerably.

Another really important problem is a

lack of raw materials and components.

Suppliers have been caught short because

they did not predict such massive

demand, and are not as efficient as usual

because of Covid.

They have also been having to cope with

energy shortages in countries such as

China, as governments attempt to meet

carbon-emissions targets. This has meant

that many goods can't be finished, the

most recent high-profile example being

Apple reportedly stopping production of

10 million - 11% - of iPhone 13s because of

chip shortages.

From another private shipping report, a

group of global logistics CEOs were

recently asked when they expected to see

normalcy returning to supply chains, and

only 37% thought it would happen by the

end of 2022. The remainder were evenly

split between the first and second quarters

of 2023.

My view is that this is too pessimistic.

We are seeing the early signs of a global

recession, with China and the US slowing

down and central banks potentially about

to make things worse by reducing the

"money printing" that is quantitative

easing, and even raising interest rates.

DR. DANIA KOLEILAT KHATIB

Along with rising consumer prices, not

least for fuel, this will make people more

cautious about buying things. They will

start using some of that saved $5 trillion to

cover more urgent needs, so the demand

for goods will drop sharply as a result.

This will not happen quickly enough to

give supply chains much relief this side of

Christmas, but it will help them to

rebalance in 2022.

The supply of goods will also have

increased because of suppliers investing

in extra capacity in response to the current

shortfalls. For example, again from a

private report from a shipping broker,

container-shipping companies have

placed record orders for new vessels with

a total carrying capacity of 3.4 million

TEU (the standard measure of capacity in

shipping, which means "equivalent to 20

feet"). That's 22% of the entire worldwide

fleet. Another piece of good news

concerns decarbonization. Most container

ships still run on fossil fuels, with the

industry said to be responsible for almost

3% of global carbon emissions. Changing

this will cost many billions of dollars, and

a group of major companies including

Amazon, Ikea and Unilever has just

announced that it will only use ships with

zero emissions by 2040. In this context,

there is a silver lining to the fact that the

shipping problems of 2021 have made

freight rates extremely high - around 10

times their usual levels.

Source: Asia times

How Saudi Arabia is leading the global climate action

The Saudi Green Initiative Forum in

Riyadh has brought together world

leaders, public officials,

businessmen and climate activists to

chalk out the regional roadmap for

tackling the disastrous effects of global

climate change. Its highlight is the official

launch of the Saudi Green Initiative and

Middle East Green Initiative, unveiled by

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in

March.

The forum is also a prelude to the 26th

UN Climate Chance Conference, or

COP26, to be held Oct. 31-Nov. 12 in

Glasgow, which is expected to renew the

global commitment to realize the Paris

Agreement's goal of limiting the global

temperature rise by 2 C - ideally 1.5 C - by

reducing carbon emissions down to zero

by 2050.

In August, the UN Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change warned that

climate change is widespread, rapid, and

intensifying. Its destructive potential was

visible in this year's record-breaking

summer temperatures, flash flooding

across China, central Europe and the US

and forest fires on almost every continent.

Fortunately, 2021 has also turned out to

be a promising year, with the US rejoining

the Paris Agreement and the rest

of the world expressing greater resolve on

climate action at various world forums,

including the US Earth Day virtual

summit in April and the G20 Meeting on

Environment, Climate and Energy held in

July in Naples.

Since the use of hydrocarbons causes 80

to 90 percent of carbon emissions, oil

Why Turkey should swap military strikes for water diplomacy

Turkish President Recep Tayyip

Erdogan has voiced his anger over

the killing of two Turkish policemen

by Kurdish forces in Syria, describing the

attack as "the final straw" and warning

that Ankara will take decisive action to

eliminate what it views as a terrorist threat

against its citizens.

However, can Turkey be sure another

military campaign will serve its purposes,

especially in the lead-up to what appears

to be a tightly contested election? A

military strike can have unintended

consequences and might not be the best

choice, while any entanglement is unlikely

to foster the sense of stability necessary to

attract investors to the country. Since the

Turkish leader has been focusing on

attracting investment, a deal might be a

better alternative.

What can Turkey offer to turn its

adversaries into partners? Water.

Problems with water supply have grown

since 1975, when Turkey's dam

construction program cut the flow of

water to Iraq by 80 percent and to Syria by

40 percent. Studies have shown that the

Tigris and Euphrates basin, which covers

Turkey, Syria, Iraq and western Iran, is

losing water faster than any other area in

the world, except northern India.

They have also been having to cope with energy shortages in countries

such as China, as governments attempt to meet carbon-emissions targets.

This has meant that many goods can't be finished, the most

recent high-profile example being Apple reportedly stopping production

of 10 million - 11% - of iPhone 13s because of chip shortages.

giants like Saudi Arabia will have to lead

the global climate action. It is offering

such leadership through flagship projects

such as the SGI and MEGI as well as other

innovative ways to reduce the carbon

emitting potential of oil and

petrochemicals, besides undertaking

major wind and solar ventures to generate

renewable energy.

There are pragmatic reasons why Saudi

Arabia is doing so. First, the effects of

climate change are especially clear in the

Middle East, where drought and

temperatures in excess of 50 C have now

become the norm. In the past four

decades, average temperatures in Saudi

Arabia have risen by more than 2 C - three

times the current global average.

Second, under the Saudi Vision 2030,

the government is implementing major

reforms that aim to diversify the Saudi

economy away from the depleting oil

reserves. Almost 70 percent of its

population is under the age of 35. Hence,

the leadership has to act now to deal with

the socio-economic aspirations of the

youth bulge in future.

Since the use of hydrocarbons causes 80

To add to that, Syrian President Bashar

Assad's policies have focused on the urban

sector at the expense of rural areas. This

problem has been aggravated by the

conflict. As a result, basic commodities

have become more costly and the price of

bread has soared. Water scarcity in Syria's

northeast, a major agricultural area, has

contributed to instability. A RAND

Corporation study found that a secure

water supply is essential to prevent the reemergence

of Daesh. Water can be a

major factor in encouraging people to

return to their communities. During the

conflict, water has been used as a weapon

by the warring parties, while lack of access

to secure supplies has been cited as a

leading reason behind the rise in refugee

numbers as people abandon their

communities. Daesh cut off water supplies

ISHTIAQ AHMAD

to 90 percent of carbon emissions, oil

giants like Saudi Arabia will have to lead

the global climate action.

The holistic Saudi approach to climate

action also focuses on current action for

the sake of future generations. Apart from

the two green initiatives, three one-of-akind

climate ventures are worth

mentioning: The SGI includes the

planting of 10 billion trees in the

Second, under the Saudi Vision 2030, the government is implementing

major reforms that aim to diversify the Saudi economy away

from the depleting oil reserves. Almost 70 percent of its population

is under the age of 35. Hence, the leadership has to act now to deal

with the socio-economic aspirations of the youth bulge in future.

upcoming decades, the equivalent to

rehabilitating roughly 40 million hectares

of degraded lands. It also seeks to reduce

carbon emissions by more than 4 percent

of global contributions through an

ambitious renewable energy program that

will generate 50 percent of the Kingdom's

energy from renewables by 2030.

The MEGI, to be realized in

coordination with other Arab allies,

includes the planting of 40 billion trees in

the Middle East. Together, the 50 billion

tree planting program is the largest

reforestation program in the world and is

meant to restore an area equivalent to 200

million hectares of degraded land,

representing 5 percent of the global target

of planting 1 trillion trees and reducing

to northern Iraq in 2015. In Iraq, poor

governance has led to the targeting of

irrigation department officials and clashes

between rural clans. Water supplies in the

country are also under threat because of

the growing population. The current

water management infrastructure dates

back to the 1970s and is less efficient than

modern systems. More serious still, the

city of Mosul faces the threat of a dam

Problems with water supply have grown since 1975, when Turkey's dam

construction program cut the flow of water to Iraq by 80 percent and to

Syria by 40 percent. Studies have shown that the Tigris and Euphrates

basin, which covers Turkey, Syria, Iraq and western Iran, is losing

water faster than any other area in the world, except northern India.

collapse, a disaster that would affect 2

million people and kill hundreds of

thousands. Turkey is an upstream power

and, hence, has a valuable asset that can

be used to make people's lives easy or

difficult. Turkey is an upstream power

and, hence, has a valuable asset that can

be used to make people's lives easy or

difficult. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers

flow from the mountains of eastern

carbon emissions by more than 10 percent

of global contributions.

Saudi Arabia has introduced the

framework for the circular carbon

economy, which is endorsed by the G20

and which advocates the reduction,

recycling and reuse of carbon emissions

across industrial processes. Saudi

Aramco, the Kingdom's national oil

company, has undertaken several carbon

capture, utilization and storage projects to

turn carbon dioxide into useful and

saleable products.

It is already a pioneer in developing

hydrogen fuels and last year exported the

first shipment of blue ammonia - a much

cleaner fuel that is a byproduct of the oil

and gas industrial process - to Japan for

use in the latter's electricity generation

industry. It has joined hands with

Germany to build the world's largest

hydrogen plant worth $5 billion in

NEOM, the smart, zero-carbon city being

built on the Red Sea coast.

Saudi Arabia has also established its

niche in wind and solar energy. In August,

the Middle East's largest wind farm at

Dumat Al-Jandal began producing

carbon-free electricity, which will

eventually meet the energy needs of

70,000 homes. Acwa Power, a company

co-owned by Saudi Arabia's Sovereign

Wealth Fund, is building the world's

largest solar power project at Sakaka. A

$200 billion joint venture with Japan's

SoftBank, initiated in 2018, aims to build

several other solar projects.

Source: Arab news

Turkey into Iraq and Syria. Turkey can use

water to forge better relations with

Baghdad and entice the Kurdish factions

in the northeast of Syria into an

arrangement that guarantees its security.

Ankara would be better off entering into

an arrangement with the Kurds in Syria

under US mediation rather than looking

on as Assad agrees to a deal with the

Kurds via Russian efforts.

To build trust, a commission made up of

representatives from Turkey, Syria's

northeast and Iraq, with a rotating

presidency, could be created to manage

water across the three countries and

explore economically beneficial projects.

A similar commission has been created for

the Mekong River to manage water

among Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Turkey could also help to upgrade aging

infrastructure in locations such in Mosul.

This could be done with US and European

assistance. Public-private partnerships

could be created to carry out such

projects, with Turkish companies joining

forces with local governments. These

deals would strengthen Erdogan's efforts

to attract investment to Turkey and bring

contracts to Turkish companies.

Source: Arab news

FRIDAY, OCTObeR 29, 2021

5

JORIS TeeR

What will Europe do if

Taiwan is attacked

Image the following scenario:

It's April 10, 2024 at 2:30 a.m.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark

Rutte convenes his cabinet to

discuss an emergency request

from the United States. After

years of provocations,

President Xi Jinping has acted:

China is attacking Taiwan.

President Joe Biden backs

Taipei and sends the U.S.

Seventh Fleet to the Taiwan

Strait.

The risks are great. The

situation is different from the

crisis in 1996, when Bill

Clinton ordered two carrier

battle groups - at the time, the

symbol of U.S. military

dominance - sail through the

Taiwan Strait to deter China.

Beijing could do nothing but

watch from the sidelines. This

time, China has a home game

advantage with its

sophisticated missile arsenal

threatening to sink U.S. aircraft

carriers.

The United States invokes

the AUKUS Pact, the threeyear-old

defense treaty

between the United States,

United Kingdom, and

Australia. Biden asks the

British aircraft carrier group to

execute a relatively low-risk

operation: a blockade of the

Malacca Strait to throttle

China's oil supply and trade.

The Dutch air defense frigate

Zr.Ms. Evertsen is part of the

British squadron. A nearby

French aircraft carrier group

and a German frigate receive

the same request.

The British join in. Do the

Dutch, French, and Germans

follow? Rutte speaks with

relevant ministers and security

advisers and tries to reach the

leaders of France and

Germany. Beijing is expected

to consider a blockade to be an

act of war. Can European ports

and gas network withstand

massive cyberattacks in

retaliation? Are European

ships sailing in the combat

range of the Chinese army base

in Djibouti and/or ships of the

People's Liberation Army

Navy? Will Dutch, German,

A Chinese J-16 fighter jet aircraft flies in Taiwan's ADIZ on October 4,

2021. Photo: ROC national Defense

and French nationals in China

stay safe? How will the

Netherlands and Europe still

get rare earth metals and

essential goods from China?

On the other hand, if the

Dutch, French, and Germans

deny the request, the American

reaction will not be kind. Will

Biden maintain the U.S.

security guarantee to Europe?

Will the more than 60,000

American soldiers remain on

the European continent? Given

the deplorable state of

European forces, there are

concerns that Russian

President Vladimir Putin could

pounce on the discord within

NATO to again create a fait

accompli on Europe's eastern

borders, like Russia did with

the annexation of Crimea in

2014.

A direct confrontation

between two nuclear great

powers is the geopolitical

doomsday scenario of our

time. It is uncertain whether

China will attempt to use force

to annex Taiwan, warnings

from U.S. Admiral Philip

Davidson that this threat will

manifest sometime in "the next

six years" notwithstanding. It is

also not entirely clear that the

Americans would intervene.

Wars, however, seldom

appear as thunderbolts from a

clear sky; they are usually

preceded by expressed

intentions to use force if

necessary, combined with the

steady build-up of military

capabilities. There is no

question that China is

becoming increasingly

assertive on the global stage

and increasingly aggressive in

its own region, while the U.S. is

increasingly taking initiatives

to counter China.

Both sides place a special

emphasis on the fate of

Taiwan. "Reunification" with

Taiwan is Xi's top priority,

directly linked to his mission to

achieve the "great rejuvenation

of the Chinese nation." During

the chaotic retreat from

Afghanistan, Biden spoke of

the United States' "sacred

commitment" to Taiwan, in the

same breath as the United

States' security guarantees to

NATO, South Korea, and

Japan. Last week, Biden

explicitly said the United States

would intervene if Taiwan

came under attack.

Then there are China's

rapidly expanding military

capabilities. Faced with U.S.

military dominance during the

1991 Gulf War and the Taiwan

Strait crisis in 1996, China

began to modernize its military

apparatus. At the 19th National

Party Congress in 2017, 2035

was officially established as the

moment to achieve this goal,

with China to be a "world

leading military power" by

2050. The main goal: to be able

to win a war in China's own

backyard.

In the last 10 years in

particular, this process has

taken off. Beijing invested

heavily in the mechanization

and mobility of its ground

forces and developed the most

sophisticated missile arsenal in

the world. China now has a

robust anti-access and area

denial capability, which is

military jargon for the ability to

deny adversaries (read: the

United States and its allies)

access to a region (read: the

Taiwan Strait). Finally, China's

unparalleled industry provides

the foundation for rapid

further expansion of its

capabilities. In 2020, China

built 40 percent of all ships

worldwide, while the U.S.,

U.K., France, and Germany

together accounted for less

than 1 percent.

How can Europe prepare for

this diabolical dilemma? First

of all, its leaders must

recognize that hard

competition between the great

powers is again one, if not the

most important, characteristic

of the international system,

just as it was during the Cold

War.

YuAn JIAng

Conventional wisdom holds

that best friends make the

worst enemies. Should China

keep this saying in mind

regarding its relationship

with Russia? Currently,

enmity between the two

partners seems a remote

possibility, especially after

President Vladimir Putin

praised Beijing openly at the

recent Russian Energy Week

conference. However,

despite the harmonious

public pronouncements,

Sino-Russian

rapprochement may not be

able to completely conceal

the emerging irritation of

Russian elites toward

Beijing.

Professor Alexander

Lukin's latest article in the

Washington Quarterly notes

this change. Back in 2018, his

book "China and Russia: The

New Rapprochement"

discussed the promise of

Sino-Russian cooperation. In

contrast, Lukin now frankly

admits that "any possible

changes in U.S. policy will

probably prove less of a

deterrent to further Russian-

Chinese rapprochement than

will Russian concerns over

China's

growing

assertiveness." He argues

that "the peak of Russian-

Chinese rapprochement has

probably passed."

This is not an uncommon

view among Western

scholars or pro-Western

Russian experts. However,

Lukin belongs to neither

category, and his background

gives special symbolic weight

to his argument.

Lukin served in the Soviet

Foreign Ministry and the

Soviet Embassy in China,

and was vice president of the

Russian Diplomatic

Academy. None of these

positions would have been

possible if Lukin were a pro-

Western liberal. On the

contrary, his past posts

indicate his profound

connections with the Russian

diplomatic establishment. In

a series of interviews with

Russian sinologists

conducted by the Carnegie

Moscow Center, Lukin was

one of the few experts able to

say how frequently top

Russian officials read

sinologists' works (the

answer: not frequently at all).

Meanwhile, Lukin enjoys

Is Russia starting to sour on China?

high prestige in China. He

received a medal from then

Chinese President Hu Jintao

for his "Outstanding

Contribution to the

Development of Sino-

Russian Relations," as well as

a medal from the Shanghai

Cooperation Organization on

its 10th anniversary for his

role in the SCO's founding

and development. He also

holds the post of chair

professor at Zhejiang

University. Again, all of these

honors suggest that Lukin is

both active in Chinese

diplomatic circles and

generally friendly toward

China.

Thus, arguably, Lukin's

view may represent a certain

shift in the thinking of some

Russian elites, who cannot

voice their concerns publicly

due to the necessity of

maintaining the superficial

harmony of Sino-Russian

relations. If Lukin's critique

is correct, beneath the

surface, Russian elites are

worried about China. While

there are many factors at play

in the relationship, one of the

most concerning for

Russians is China's rising

influence in Central Asia

Russian trade and

investment in this region

pales in comparison with

China, but both great powers

may welcome a prosperous

Central Asia, which in return

benefits them with less

terrorism or extremism.

However, recently China's

soaring power in Central Asia

has been diluting Moscow's

economic and military

institutions, which were built

to reintegrate this region

with Russia after the breakup

of the Soviet Union.

Economically, China's Belt

and Road Initiative (BRI) has

been overshadowing the

Russia-led Eurasian

Economic Union (EAEU).

Despite an agreement on

linking the two projects,

Beijing and Central Asian

members prefer to negotiate

on a bilateral basis,

essentially undermining

Russia's EAEU leadership

role. As Benno Zogg argued,

compared to the economic

power of China, "particularly

the volume of funds for

infrastructure in the

framework of the BRI, Russia

and its rigid, protectionist,

and politicized Eurasian

projects pale."

In this context, it is notable

that in June 2020, Russian

Foreign Minister Sergey

Lavrov did not attend the

BRI online ministerial-level

conference convened by

Beijing, but sent an

ambassador-at-large in his

place. It was the first time

Russia had sent such a lowranking

representative to a

BRI conference; Putin

himself previously attended

two BRI summits. Lavrov's

lack of participation could be

excused by the continued

pandemic disturbances, but

it may also subtly allude to

Moscow's dissatisfaction

with Beijing.

More crucially, the general

assumption that Moscow is

primarily responsible for

security in Central Asia has

been altered as well.

Currently, Beijing has been

not only offering weapons

and military training to

Central Asian states, but is

also sending the Chinese

army there. The China-built

military base in Tajikistan is

intended to defend Chinese

national interests in

Xinjiang, not diminish

Russia's role in Central Asia.

Yet, according to Alexander

Gabuev, neither Beijing nor

Dushanbe consulted with

A prominent Russian analyst thinks the high point of Sino-Russian cooperation

has passed.

Photo: RPPIO

Moscow on the base initially -

despite the fact that

Tajikistan has been Russia's

military ally since 1992, as a

member of the Russia-led

Collective Security Treaty

Organization (CSTO).

Moscow's later acquiescence

might have signaled its

waning determination to

stand up to Beijing in Central

Asia. Moscow's security role

in Central Asia is still greater

than Beijing's, but that

dominance is beginning to

erode.

STeve RAAYmAkeRS

The announcement of AUKUS, the

ground-breaking trilateral security

partnership between Australia, the

United Kingdom, and the United States,

on September 16 generated the expected

flood of discourse and debate in both the

specialist and general media. Most

coverage so far has been positive,

welcoming, and salutary, apart from the

understandable disappointment of the

French as their own submarine contract

was cancelled. Of course there has been

the predictably belligerent response from

China, and some expressions of concern

about a new regional arms race, which is

not new and is actually being driven by

the relentless military build-up of China

itself, with AUKUS as a partial response.

And there were the obligatory alarmist

comments from the Greens about nuclear

submarines as "floating Chernobyls" (a

label that has no real technical basis).

There was also some hand-wringing

about the parties left out of AUKUS. But

few have asked the question: Where are

the Canadians?

Canada is part of the core five-nation

Anglosphere with Australia, New

Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S., sharing

many historical, cultural, social, political

and legal similarities, liberal democratic

values, and parliamentary governments.

Today all five nations have trade-based

fee-market economies and successful,

vibrant, multicultural societies based on

immigration. They also share strong

military traditions and a legacy of

mutually supportive alliances forged in

the shedding of blood together, side-byside

in both World Wars, in Korea and

more recently in Afghanistan.

However, while being a member of the

Five Eyes intelligence-sharing

arrangement, Canada's formal defense

treaty obligations are limited to the

European-focused North Atlantic Treaty

Organization (NATO) and the North

American Aerospace Defense Command

(NORAD). Canada is not a party to any

formal military treaty, alliance or

construct in the Indo-Pacific region -

although it is definitely a Pacific nation.

The Pacific coast of Canada, all part of

the province of British Columbia, extends

for an aerial distance of 1,000 kilometers

between the U.S. states of Washington

and Alaska, on the same latitudes as the

northeast of China and the Russian Far

East. Due to its deeply incised geography

and over 40,000 islands of varying sizes,

the actual length of Canada's Pacific coast

is over 25,000 km, compared to

Australia's Pacific coastline of about

33,000 km.

Similar to Australia, Canada is a bulk

exporter of grains, mineral ores, coal, oil,

and liquid natural gas, primarily to Asian

markets, and a net importer of

manufactured goods, primarily from

Asian factories. Canada is thus

overwhelmingly dependent on Pacificbased

maritime trade, freedom of

navigation, and maintenance of the rulesbased

order of ocean governance,

security, and safety of shipping.

Canada is no less vulnerable than

Australia and the U.S., and far more

vulnerable than the U.K., to existing and

emerging security threats in the Pacific,

including not only the relentless military

build-up of China, but also by Russia in

its Far East region. The incursion of a

four-ship Chinese task force into the U.S.

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off

Alaska in late August should send a clear

signal to Canada also, given the close

proximity to Canadian waters. Like

Australia, Canada is subject to acts of

pressure and coercion by China,

including the politically motivated

detention of Canadians, believed to be in

retaliation for Canada's arrest of the CFO

of Huawei in Vancouver in late 2018, on

U.S. charges of breaching sanctions on

Iran.

Canada is more than the middle power

that Australia often claims to be. It has a

total land-area of nearly 10 million square

kilometers (the second largest after

Russia), compared to Australia's 7.7

million sq km; a total coastline of over

240,000 km (the longest in the world),

compared to Australia's 59,000 km; a

population of nearly 40 million,

compared to Australia's circa 25 million;

and a GDP of over US$1.7 trillion,

compared to Australia's US$1.4 trillion.

However, these non-trivial quantum

differences between Canada and

Australia are not matched militarily.

Canada is ranked 21st out of 140

countries in military strength while

Australia punches well above its relative

economic and population weight, being

ranked 19th. For 2020 the total Canadian

defense budget was US$22.8 billion, only

1.4 percent of GDP, while for 2021-2022

Australia's consolidated defense budget is

Why is Canada missing from

the Indo-Pacific?

It's time to bring Canada more fully and formally into the joint Indo-Pacific security fold. Photo: Collected

AU$44.6 billion (around US$32.4

billion), $10 billion more than Canada in

real terms and just over 2 percent of GDP.

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF)

encompasses around 107,000 total

personnel, comprising 72,000 active

troops and 35,000 reserves. With

Australia having slightly more than half

the population of Canada, total personnel

in the Australian Defense Force

compares very favorably at around

80,000, with 60,000 active troops and

20,000 reserves.

The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)

has approximately 377 aircraft, including

62 F18 Classic Hornet fighters, some

purchased secondhand recently from

Australia. While part of the F-35

Lightning development consortium,

Canada has not yet opted in to

purchasing the F-35, for better or worse.

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)

has a similar number of aircraft to the

RCAF at over 300, but with much greater

combat punch than the Canadians,

including Super Hornets and F-35s.

Unlike the RCAF, the RAAF has one of

the most advanced electronic warfare,

intelligence, surveillance, and command

and control capabilities of any air force

after the U.S. and U.K., and is also

making major efforts towards

autonomous aircraft and in the space

domain.

The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) has

64 ships, including 12 aging frigates and

four aging conventional submarines. It

has no destroyers and no amphibious

assault vessels. Canada is ordering up to

15 new frigates based on the British Type

26 Global Combat Ship, similar to the

nine new Hunter-class frigates being built

for Australia. By comparison, the Royal

Australian Navy (RAN) has 50 ships, with

more new ships and more up to date warfighting

capabilities than the Canadian

fleet. These include eight ANZAC frigates,

three Hobart-class destroyers, three

amphibious assault ships (two Canberra

and one Bay class), and six conventional

submarines. Fourteen new Offshore

Patrol Vessels are being built, and nine

new Hunter-class frigates and a variety of

other new vessels are on order. And now

eight nuclear-powered submarines are to

be developed for Australia through

AUKUS.

The Canadian Army has limited

armored mobility and no dedicated

attack helicopters, while the Australian

Army is expanding and updating its fleet

of Abrams main battle tanks, adding new

armored reconnaissance vehicles and

infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled

artillery and various missile systems, and

replacing its problematic European Tiger

attack helicopters with the venerable

U.S.-made Apache, among a range of

other advanced capabilities.

In addition to the above, perhaps the

most startling difference is that Australia

is extremely active in forming and

participating in, and indeed driving,

defense and security alliances,

partnerships, and cooperative

arrangements in the Indo-Pacific region.

These include the recently announced

AUKUS, the "Quad" with India, Japan,

and the U.S.; the ANZUS Treaty with

New Zealand and the U.S., which held its

70th anniversary in September 2021; and

the Five Powers Defense Arrangement

with Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore,

and the U.K., which obliges members to

"consult" in the event of external threats

against Malaysia and Singapore (but not

to the other members). Australia is also

strengthening bilateral defense relations

with Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines,

South Korea and others, including Fiji

and other Pacific Island countries.

Australia is also enhancing the latter

through increased soft power via

international development aid under the

so-called Pacific Step-up.

By contrast, despite being a Pacific

nation and being no less vulnerable to

security threats in the Pacific as outlined

above, Canada is notably "missing in

action" from all of the above

arrangements. Canada is also largely

missing from the Pacific in terms of

international development aid, with only

$11.86 million spent in the Pacific Islands

in 2019 compared to Australia's $865

million, New Zealand's $253 million, and

China's $169 million that year.

The last major Canadian effort in the

region was the highly successful and

much acclaimed Canada-South Pacific

Ocean Development Program (C-SPOD),

which ran from 1990 through 2004. The

program assisted all 14 Pacific Island

countries that are members of the Pacific

Islands Forum with ocean governance,

marine resource management,

sustainable fisheries, and maritime

industries. I had the pleasure of working

with C-SPOD for two years on the

maritime element, based out of Samoa.

FRIDAY, OCTOBeR 29 , 2021 6

20 more infected with

Covid-19 in Chattogram

CHATTOGRAM: Twenty more people have been

found infected with Covid-19 and one died of the

lethal virus in the last 24 hours till last morning in

the district as the infection rate stands at 1.09

percent, reports BSS.

Civil Surgeon's Office sources said 1,883 samples

were tested during the time. So far, 102,202 people

have been infected with the deadly virus here.

The Covid-19 situation is improving consistently

during the last few months, Civil Surgeon Dr Ilias

Chowdhury told BSS.

"The number of cured patients from the lethal

virus stood at 87,775 in the district with the

recovery of 41 more patients in last 24 hours," Dr

Ilias said, adding that the percentage of recovery

rate is 85.91.

With one more new fatality due to the virus

recorded during the period, the death toll stood at

1,321 in the district.

Rupali Welfare Trust provided

stipends in Madhukhali

SHAHjAHAN HELAL, MADHUKHALI

CORRESPONDENT

Rupali Welfare Trust of Gajna

Union of Madhukhali Upazila

provided stipends among the

students with the aim of

developing intellectuality.

The occasion was held at

Gajna Purna Chadra

Multipurpose High School

premises on Thursday. Gajna

Purna Chadra Multipurpose

High School Headmaster AH

Wahab Mollah presided over

the ceremony while Upazila

Chairman Md Shahidul Islam

was present as the chief guest.

Among others, Rupali Kalyan

Trust founder freedom fighter

Iftikhar Azam Nilu, Balswar

Rupali Kalyan Trust President

MA Manjur Rahman Mollah,

General Secretary Sukhan

Majumder were also present at

the occasion.

Out of 30 selected meterious

students of 6th to 10th class of

Ghajna Purna Chadra

Multipurpose High School, each

of them has been given a cash of

Tk 2,000.

Members of Bangladesh Coast Guard in a drive seized 49,200 yaba tablets from an area adjacent to

Dakshin Para Ghat of St. Martin on Thursday.

Photo: Courtesy

BCG seizes 49,200 yaba

tablets in St. Martin

On the basis of secret information, a

special operation was conducted on

Thursday in the area adjacent to

Dakshin Para Ghat of St. Martin

under the leadership of Lt. M. Tareq

Ahmed, Station Commander of BCG

Station St. Martin, a press release said.

Lt. Khandaker Munif Taki, media

officer at the Bangladesh Coast Guard

BISHWANATH UPAZILA CORRESPON-

DENT

Bishwanath Upazila

Chairman S M Nunu Mia in

an exclusive interview said

that 'On 15 August 1975,

Bangabandhu was

assassinated along with his

own family by the defeated

forces of national,

international and

independence. The dark age

began in Bangladesh. After

the assassination of

Bangabandhu, Ziaur

Rahman illegally seized

power through various

processes.

He was the illegitimate

president. He killed

hundreds of pro-liberation

young officers working in the

army through so-called

coups inside the army with

the aim of seizing power.

Besides, four and a half lakh

Awami League leaders and

activists were arrested across

the country. Apart from this,

incidents of disappearance,

murder and torture were

going on. At that time, 591

officers of the Air Force were

killed in one day. At that

time Ziaur Rahman used to

run the country with curfew

from 10 pm to 5 am. His

power partners were the

anti-liberation forces and the

so-called ultra-revolutionary

right-wing forces.

Ithat dark age, when the

Awami League was hesitant,

when the steamroller of

misrule was running over the

leaders and workers, when

they were conspiring to

remove the party from the

soil, the leaders and workers

were actually looking for

another Bangabandhu. And

the leaders and workers of

Awami League could see that

image of Bangabandhu only

in the people's leader Sheikh

Hasina according to their

aspirations. Leader of the

people Sheikh Hasina set

foot on the soil of Bangladesh

ignoring the fear of death.

And through this, the people

of Bangladesh started

dreaming against Zia's

misrule. Sheikh Hasina

came among the Bengalis

that day as the beacon of

headquarters, confirmed the

information on Thursday.

During the time hee informed that a

man was seen walking with a sack on

his shoulder in the area adjacent to the

southern suburbs of St. Martin at

about 12:10 am during the operation.

When his movement seemed

suspicious, coast guard members

PM Hasina is one of the most unique

leaders of the world: S M Nunu Mia

Bangladesh. Today's Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina of

that time rose in the sky of

Bengal as a bright star of

Bangladesh. After the arrival

of Sheikh Hasina in

Bangladesh, all the proliberation

people started

uniting around her. Sheikh

Hasina was the first to fight

for the right to vote and rice.

Zia-Ershad Then Khaleda

Zia, who was in power for

about 26 years, had to fight

against them. It was this evil

force that assassinated

Bangabandhu on August 15,

1975, the power that wanted

to bring Bangladesh back to

the fold of Pakistan, turned

Bangladesh into a

dysfunctional state, deprived

the people of their

democratic rights.

Sheikh Hasina got the

vitality to do politics from the

people of Bengal. With that

vitality, she wanted to work

for the realization of his

father's dream. That dream

is being realized today. The

trial of war criminals and

Bangabandhu has been held

today as the people's leader

Sheikh Hasina came to

Bangladesh. Zia-Ershad-

Khaleda destroyed the wartorn

Bangladesh that

Bangabandhu had built on

economic foundations.

Sheikh Hasina has

transformed that country

into a developing country in

the court of the world. Under

her leadership, Bangladesh

has been established as a role

model for development.

That Bangladesh has been

established as a country of

prosperity in the world court.

The people of Bangladesh

have got the right to vote and

rice because the leader of the

people Sheikh Hasina has

come. Today, Bangladesh

has entered the age of

electricity, satellite in the

house, Bangladesh has

entered the age of nuclear

and submarine, Ganges

water agreement has been

signed, Hill Peace Agreement

has been signed, border

agreement has been signed,

maritime boundary has been

conquered.

Bangabandhu's daughter

has brought health care to

the doorsteps of the people.

Has done about 16 thousand

community clinics. Elderly

and widows are getting

allowance. With the return

of the people's leader Sheikh

Hasina, the dream of the

people of Bengal is to have a

Padma bridge, a metro rail,

and a six-lane Dhaka-

Chittagong. Besides, her

government is leading the

Karnafuli Tunnel, 100

economic zones, which will

provide employment to

about 10 million people.

Bangladesh has turned

around under the leadership

of Sheikh Hasina.

Leader of the people

Sheikh Hasina is moving

forward to build the golden

Bangladesh

of

Bangabandhu's dream. But

still her path is thorny, still

not smooth. Even today

those conspirators are

conspiring. Representatives

of those who killed

Bangabandhu and those who

opposed the great liberation

war; Representatives of

those who planned to

assassinate Sheikh Hasina

on August 21, 2004 are

conspiring again today. We

have seen that after the

arrival of the people's leader

Sheikh Hasina in the

country, it was planned to

assassinate her not once or

twice, but 21 times. The final

attack was in 2004.

Attempts were made to

assassinate Sheikh Hasina by

throwing grenades. People

have confidence and trust in

Sheikh Hasina. I think

Sheikh Hasina is a blessing

for Bengalis. Sheikh Hasina

is the symbol of development

of Bangladesh, the symbol of

prosperity, the symbol of

democracy, the symbol of

honesty.

signaled him to stop, but he fled into

the jungle leaving behind the sack.

The bag was later searched and

49,200 pieces of yaba tablets were

seized in an abandoned condition.

He added that the seized yaba has

been handed over to Teknaf Model

Police Station for further legal

action.

Experts stress

breastfeeding to

provide infants

with necessary

nutrients

RAjSHAHI: Experts have

underscored the need for

breastfeeding to provide

infants with essential

nutrients for their sound

physical and mental

development, reports BSS.

Media can play a vital

role in disseminating the

valuable information on

breastfeeding to encourage

mother to feed only breast

milk to babies until at least

six months from their birth

instead of providing other

food, they said.

The speakers also

emphasised ensuring

breastfeeding corners in

hospitals, health

complexes, clinics and

other workplaces so that

mothers can breastfeed

their babies any time.

They came up with the

observation while

addressing a meeting titled

"Protect Breastfeeding: A

Shared Responsibility" at

the conference hall of the

city bhaban on Wednesday

afternoon.

Rajshahi

City

Corporation (RCC) hosted

the meeting on the

occasion of World

Breastfeeding Week-2021

discussing and devising

ways and means on how to

ensure breastfeeding for

babies.

RCC Chief Executive

Officer Dr Sharif Uddin

and its Secretary Moshiur

Rahman addressed the

meeting as chief and

special guest respectively

with Chief Health Officer

Dr Anjuman Ara Begum in

the chair.

Veterinary Surgeon Dr

Farhad Uddin and Dr

Ummul Khayer Fatima

and Project Managers Riaz

Uddin Ahmed and

Moniruzzaman Morol also

spoke.

Speakers said public

awareness is crucial to save

children from being

infected with malnutrition.

Breastfeeding can reduce

the rate of malnutrition

among children, they

opined.

Rupali Welfare Trust of Gajna Union of Madhukhali Upazila provided stipends among the students

on Wednesday.

Photo: Shahjahan Helal

Covid-19 cases cross 55,300

in Rangpur division

RANGPUR: The number of

Covid-19 cases has crossed the

55,300 mark in Rangpur

division where the overall

pandemic situation continues

improving during the last

more than two months,

reports BSS.

"The number of Covid-19

cases reached 55,310 with

diagnosis of 10 new patients

after testing 383 samples at

the positivity rate of 2.61

percent on Wednesday,"

Rangpur Divisional Deputy

Director (Health) Dr Abu Md

Zakirul Islam told BSS.

The district-wise break up

of total 55,310 patients

include 12,463 of Rangpur,

3,806 Panchagarh, 4,442 of

Nilphamari, 2,739 of

Lalmonirhat, 4,638 of

Kurigram, 7,619 of

Thakurgaon, 14,744 of

Dinajpur and 4,859 of

Gaibandha in the division.

"Meanwhile, no Covid-19

infected patient died during

the last 24 hours ending at 8

am yesterday for the fifth

consecutive days in the

division where the total

number of casualties

remained steady at 1,240," he

said. The average casualty

rate currently stands at 2.24

percent in the division.

The district-wise break up

of the 1,240 fatalities stands at

293 in Rangpur, 80 in

Panchagarh, 89 in

Nilphamari, 68 in

Lalmonirhat, 69 in Kurigram,

252 in Thakurgaon, 326 in

Dinajpur and 63 in

Gaibandha of the division.

"Since the beginning of the

Covid-19 pandemic, a total of

2,92,273 collected samples

were tested till Wednesday,

and of them, 55,310 were

found Covid-19 positive with

an average positivity rate of

18.92 percent in the division,"

Dr Zakirul said.

Divisional Director (Health)

Dr Md Motaharul Islam told

BSS that the number of healed

Covid-19 patients reached

52,990 with recovery of six

more patients on Wednesday

raising the average recovery

rate to 95.81 percent in the

division.

The 52,990 recovered

patients include 11,378 of

Rangpur, 3,677 Panchagarh,

4,347 Nilphamari, 2,625

Lalmonirhat, 4,527 Kurigram,

7,295 Thakurgaon, 14,355 in

Dinajpur and 4,786

Gaibandha districts in the

division.

Among the 55,310 patients,

56 are undergoing treatments

at isolation units, including 10

critical patients at ICU beds

and eight at High Dependency

Unit beds, after recovery of

52,990 patients and 1,240

deaths while 1,024 are

remaining in home isolation.

"Meanwhile, the number of

citizens who got the first dose

of the Covid-19 vaccine rose to

46,45,501, and among them,

21,42,695 got the second dose

of the jab till Wednesday in

the division," Dr Islam added.

Talking to BSS yesterday,

Chief of Divisional

Coronavirus Service and

Prevention

Task Force and Principal of

Rangpur Medical College

Professor Dr. AKM

Nurunnobi Lyzu said the

Covid-19 situation is

improving during the past

couple of months.

"However, everyone

should remain careful and

properly abide by the health

directives and hygiene rules

to contain further spread of

the deadly virus in the

division," he said.

450 flood, river

erosion victims

get assistance

in Gaibandha

GAIBANDHA: A local nongovernment

voluntary

organization has provided

health protection materials

and cash support to 450

flood and river erosion

victims of Sadar upazila in

the district, reports BSS.

The SKS Foundation

handed over the assistance

to the victims of Kamarjanui,

Mollarchar and Gidari

unions of the upazila under

its Emergency Flood

Response programme-2021

with the financial support of

donor Organization-Save the

Children.

This was disclosed by

senior project coordinator

(SPC) SK Mamun in a

workshop held at the

conference room of Sadar

upazila administration of the

district on Wednesday.

UNO Rafiul Alam attended

the function as the chief

guest and upazila project

implementation officer

Anisur Rahman spoke as the

special guest.

A discussion meeting was held on the occasion of Kanthal Union Parishad election in Mymensingh's

Trishal upazila. The discussion meeting was organized by Awami League of Fatma Nagar Railway

Station Union of Bikal Union last Wednesday with the aim of winning the Bangladesh Awami League

nominated chairman candidate. The chief guest was Hafez Maulana Ruhul Amin Madani MP,

Member of Parliament for Mymensingh-6 Trishal constituency while he keynote speaker was Dr.

Sheikh Kabir Raihan, AL nominated candidate.

Photo: Mominul Islam

From Death Valley to the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent to sub-Saharan

Africa, global warming has already made daily life unbearable for millions of

people.

Photo : Courtesy

World faces growing threat

of 'unbearable' heatwaves

LONDON : From Death Valley to the Middle

East, the Indian subcontinent to sub-

Saharan Africa, global warming has already

made daily life unbearable for millions of

people.

And if nothing is done to slow climate

change, the record temperatures and deadly

heatwaves it brings will only get worse,

experts warn.

"Climate (change) is sort of steroids for the

weather. It's loading the dice to make these

sort of extreme events be more common,"

said Zeke Hausfather, a climate expert at the

Breakthrough Institute in California.

The hottest place in the world is officially

Death Valley, California.

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There too, temperatures are rising.

"If you look at the average temperature in

Death Valley for a summer month (...) it has

gotten much warmer in the last 20 years

than it was before," said Abby Wines,

spokesperson for the Death Valley National

Park.

This summer, for the second year in a row,

the area registered an astonishing 54.4

degrees Celsius. If confirmed by the World

Meteorological Organization, it would be the

hottest temperature ever recorded with

modern instruments.

According to the US climate agency NOAA,

July 2021 was the hottest month ever

recorded on Earth.

Israel OKs some 3,000 new settler

homes, despite U.S. rebuke

JERUSALEM : Israel approved about 3,000 new settler

homes in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, a day after

the United States issued its strongest rebuke yet of such

construction. It was the biggest announcement of settlement

plans during the Biden administration.

The plans were approved by a Defense Ministry

committee, according to a security official who was not

authorized to speak publicly and did not provide further

details. The anti-settlement group Peace Now also confirmed

the approvals.

The decision marked the latest boost for Israel's halfcentury-old

settlement enterprise on occupied lands the

Palestinians seek for a state. Successive Israeli governments

have expanded settlements, making an internationally

backed two-state solution - a state of Palestine arising

alongside Israel - increasingly impossible, reports UNB.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the

international community to take a "decisive stance" on the

Israeli decision, which he said amounted to a "message of

disdain for the efforts of the U.S. administration."

The Trump administration had tolerated settlement

growth and abandoned the decades-long U.S. position that

the settlements were illegitimate. Israel embarked on an

aggressive settlement spree during the Trump years,

advancing plans for more than 12,000 settler homes in 2020

alone, according to Peace Now, the highest number since it

started collecting data in 2012.

Wednesday's decision was bound to raise friction with

Europe and the United States.

Only a day earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken

had protested the plan during a phone call with Israeli

Defense Minister Benny Gantz, according to a senior U.S.

official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Also on Tuesday, the U.S. State Department said it was

"deeply concerned" about Israel's plans to advance new

settlement homes, including many deep inside the West

Bank. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters

in Washington: "We strongly oppose the expansion of

settlements, which is completely inconsistent with efforts to

lower tensions and to ensure calm and damages the

prospects for a two-state solution."

UN envoy blames

Syria for failure of

constitution talks

UNITED NATIONS : The

U.N. special envoy for Syria

said Wednesday the Syrian

government's refusal to

negotiate on revisions to the

country's constitution is a key

reason for the failure of talks

last week that left the road

map to peace in the conflicttorn

country in question,

reports UNB.

Geir Pedersen expressed

his disappointment to the

U.N. Security Council,

saying the parties also failed

to agree to meet again

before the end of the year.

But he said he will continue

to engage with all "to

address the challenges that

have arisen," saying it is

urgent to produce results.

Pedersen said the

government delegation

presented a proposed

constitutional text on Syria's

sovereignty, independence

and territorial integrity on

Oct. 18, representatives of the

exiled opposition presented a

text on the armed forces,

security and intelligence

agencies on Oct. 19, while

civil society groups submitted

a section on the rule of law on

Oct. 20. The government

submitted a second text on

terrorism and extremism on

Oct. 21, he said.

Pedersen said the

government and opposition

co-chairs were unable to

agree on how discussions

should progress further at a

plenary meeting Oct. 22, but

they did agree that the

parties, which include civil

society representatives, could

present further material.

"In that meeting, the

delegation nominated by the

government stated that it had

no revisions to present of its

draft constitutional texts and

that it did not see any

common ground," the U.N.

envoy said.

He said the opposition

presented proposed

amendments to all the

proposals to try to build

common ground, and some

civil society representatives

also presented revised

versions.

The end result, Pedersen

said, is that the 45-member

drafting committee was "not

able to move from submitting

and discussing initial draft

constitutional texts to

developing a productive

textual drafting process."

Despite the failure, Pedersen

said he remains convinced

"that progress on the

constitutional committee

could, if done the right way,

help to build some trust and

confidence."

"But let me stress that this

requires real determination

and the political will to try to

build some common

ground," he said.

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Israel approved about 3,000 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank

on Wednesday, a day after the United States issued its strongest rebuke yet

of such construction. It was the biggest announcement of settlement plans

during the Biden administration.

Photo : AP

we`ÿ r/Rb-258(2)/28/10/21

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Recovery plans

still short on

renewable

energy: IEA

PARIS : Clean energy remains

just a tiny part of the

pandemic economic recovery

plans despite some

improvement, the IEA said on

Thursday as it warned carbon

dioxide emissions were set to

rebound, reports BSS.

Investments in clean

energy-whether it is

renewable production,

electric vehicles or efficiency

measures-represent only 3

percent of the $16.9 trillion

mobilised globally for

recovery plans, the Int’l

Energy Agency said.

That is an improvement

from the 2 percent when the

IEA first issued a report on

the subject in July.

"Recovery plans globally

are still insufficient to put

emissions into structural

decline," said the Parisbased

agency, which advises

governments of industrialised

nations on energy policy.

Moreover, it warned that

"lead times on many

recovery measures prevent

them from reining in the

immediate rebound in CO2

emissions, which is set to be

the second largest in

history."

Over the longer term, the

IEA said that absent

significant steps by nations

"global emissions are set to

continue to diverge sharply

from a path consistent with

net zero emissions from the

energy sector by 2050."

The IEA's warning comes

just days ahead of a G20

leaders summit, as well as the

COP26 climate summit in

Glasgow, which is being billed

as crucial for the long-term

viability of the Paris climate

deal meant to limit global

warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The agency says some

$470 billion has been

earmarked by governments

for clean energy projects

through 2030, a 20 percent

increase from July.

But it noted a growing divide

between certain advanced

economies (such as the US,

France, Japan and Britain) and

less wealthy nations where

green investments are sorely

necessary.



Spain’s jobless rate falls as

tourism picks up

MADRID : Spain's

unemployment rate fell in

the third quarter as the

relaxation of pandemic

restrictions allowed a

recovery in its key tourism

sector, official statistics

showed Thursday.

The jobless rate declined

to 14.57 percent in the

July-September period

from 15.26 percent in the

previous quarter, national

statistics office INE said.

The unemployment rate

remains above the 13.78

percent rate recorded in

the fourth quarter of 2019

before the pandemic hit

Spain.

The INE jobless figures

The 328thmeeting of the

Board of Directors of

Shahjalal Islami Bank

Limited (SJIBL) held

recently at Corporate

Head Office of the Bank

by maintaining proper

hygiene and social

distance. On the other

hand, a few number of

Director of the Bank

participated in this

meeting through digital

platform (with a Video

Conference).The meeting

was presided over by the

Chairman of the Board of

Directors Mr. Md.

Sanaullah Shahid. The

Board approved a

number of investment

proposal and reviewed

various issue related to

policy of the Bank, a

press release said.

Among others the Vice-

Chairmen of the Board

Md. Harun Miah & Md.

Abdul Barek, Directors

Abdul Halim, Mohiuddin

Ahmed, Akkas Uddin

Mollah, Khandaker Sakib

Ahmed, Engineer Md.

Towhidur Rahman,

Mohammed Golam

Quddus,

Fakir

Akhtaruzzaman, Tahera

Faruque, Jabun Nahar &

Fakir Mashrikuzzaman,

Independent Directors

Ekramul Haque, K. A. M.

Majedur Rahman &

Nasir Uddin Ahmed, the

are based on surveys,

which provide a more

reliable indication of

unemployment as many

people who jobless are not

eligible for benefits.

The bulk of the new jobs,

377,200, were created in

the service sector which is

dominated by tourism.

The industrial sector

added 63,000 jobs while

agriculture shed 49,600

posts.

Before the pandemic hit

in spring 2020, Spain was

the world's second-most

popular

tourist

destination after France,

and the sector accounted

for around 12 percent of

328th Board Meeting

of Shahjalal Islami

Bank Ltd. held

Managing Director &

CEO M. Shahidul Islam

and the Company

Secretary of the Bank

Md. Abul Bashar were

also present in the

meeting.

the economy. The Spanish

government has said it

was hoping to attract

around 45 million tourist

visits this year,

approximately half the

figure for 2019. The

Spanish economy

contracted by 10.8

percent in 2020, one of

the worst results among

industrialised countries,

but it returned to growth

in the second quarter this

year.

The statistics office is

set to release gross

domestic product data for

the third quarter on

Friday.

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9

real Madrid returned to the top of La Liga on Wednesday, despite being held to a goalless draw by

osasuna.

photo: Ap

Real Madrid back on top after

Osasuna stalemate, Falcao rolls

back the years against Barca

SportS DeSk

Real Madrid returned to the top of La

Liga on Wednesday, despite being held

to a goalless draw by Osasuna, but

Barcelona dropped to ninth after losing

1-0 to Rayo Vallecano, with Radamel

Falcao scoring the winner, reports BSS.

Karim Benzema struck the bar in the

second half at the Santiago Bernabeu

but Osasuna could have won it too, with

Kike Garcia missing the best chance of

the game when he hit the post from five

yards.

Madrid jump above Sevilla, Real

Betis and Real Sociedad - all four of

them with 21 points - on goal difference

while Osasuna sit sixth after extending

their strong start to the season.

"La Liga is very even, there are lots

of teams up there. I don't think it's

going to take 100 points to win it this

season," said Carlo Ancelotti.

The 35-year-old Falcao continues to

roll back the years at Rayo after scoring

his fourth goal in six games for his new

club and surely the sweetest, coming

against Barca, whom he last scored

against in 2013.

Memphis Depay missed a penalty at

a bouncing Vallecas as Barca's

miserable start to the season under

Ronald Koeman took another turn for

the worse.

After losing the Clasico at home to

Real Madrid on Sunday, Barcelona

now sit ninth in La Liga, six points off

the top and, most concerningly for the

board, the gap growing between them

and the top four.

"It says we're not well," said

Koeman. "The team has lost balance in

the squad, lost very effective players,

which shows. In recent years other

clubs have strengthened every season

and we haven't, which also shows."

Barca president Joan Laporta was

squeezed in amongst the home crowd

and cannot have been impressed by

another limp display that hardly

suggested this team's form is about to

improve.

Asked if the result could affect his

future, Koeman said: "I don't know."

Rayo stay above Barca, and only two

points off fourth, maintaining their

perfect record at home this term with a

fifth win out of five. Falcao joined on a

free transfer in the summer and after

shirts with his name on the back sold

out, he has so far lived up to the hype.

Only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel

Messi have better goals per game ratios

in La Liga than Falcao, who replaced

Sergio Aguero at Atletico Madrid in

2011, and now faced the Argentinian

again. The last time Aguero and Falcao

were on the same pitch together they

scored two goals each in a 5-3 win for

Manchester City against Monaco, but

this was Falcao's night.

At 35 years and 220 days, he is the

oldest player to score four or more

goals in his first six games for the same

club in La Liga this century.

Sergio Busquets was at fault for the

goal, robbed of the ball in midfield and

giving Oscar Trejo the opportunity to

free Falcao, who looked to have let the

moment pass, only to twist past Gerard

Pique and finish into the far corner.

Barcelona had been sloppy, with

Philippe Coutinho and Depay

particularly wasteful in possession, but

they should have levelled when Depay's

cross found Sergino Dest six yards out

but he ballooned over.

Dest missed a similar chance in the

Clasico on Sunday.

With 20 minutes to go, it looked like

they finally had the breakthrough as

Depay felt the back of his leg clipped by

Oscar Valentin.

Khaled Mahmud appointed

technical director of

Bangladesh women's team

SportS DeSk

Bangladesh Cricket Board

have appointed Khaled

Mahmud as the technical

director of the women's

national cricket team for the

upcoming ICC World Cup

qualifier, scheduled from

November 21, reports AP.

Mahmud, who is a former

national skipper and acted as

national team's interim head

coach and presently a director

of BCB, will be with the

national women's team

during the tournament.

BCB women's wing

chairman Nadel Chowdhury

disclosed the development to

Cricbuzz on Wednesday. 'We

have appointed him(

Mahmud) as our technical

director for the upcoming ICC

World Cup qualifier,'' Nadel

told Cricbuzz.

We are hoping that his

presence in the dressing will

certainly have an impact on

our women cricketers and he

can guide them with all his

experiences. We are expecting

that he will be available

during the qualifier with us,''

he added.

Mahmud is already

working with the women

cricketers in the skill camp in

Mirpur.

The BCB women's wing

boss added that the board has

appointed Mahmudul Imon

as head coach of the national

women's team while

Nasiruddin Faruk will act as

his deputy.

Xavi leads candidates

to replace sacked

Koeman at Barcelona

SportS DeSk

Barcelona are looking for a new coach after

they sacked Ronald Koeman with the

Spanish giants ninth in La Liga and third in

their Champions League group, reports

BSS.

A dire financial situation has hung over

the club in recent months, causing Lionel

Messi to join Paris Saint-Germain in

August. Barcelona are 1.35 billion euros in

debt. Any successor would have to work

within those economic constraints, bring

back a more attractive style of football and

significantly improve results.

Most importantly, Barcelona president

Joan Laporta will want to see greater

assurances that the team will finish in La

Liga's top four. Failing to qualify for next

season's Champions League would only

deepen the club's financial crisis.

AFP Sport looks at three leading

candidates to become Koeman's successor:

Xavi is currently in charge of Qatari side

Al Sadd and would be a hugely popular

choice with the Barca fans, given his

glittering career at the Camp Nou as an elite

midfielder.

There is also the belief that the 41-year-old

would instil an attractive style similar to the

one played by Barcelona when he was there

under Pep Guardiola.

But Laporta has reportedly had

reservations about appointing Xavi in the

past, not least because of his lack of

experience. Xavi might also be reluctant to

join, with the club in such a financial mess

and now without his former team-mate

Messi.

He is though the clear favourite to take the

reins. Gallardo has been manager of River

Plate for seven seasons and long been

touted for a move to one of Europe's biggest

clubs, including Barcelona.

The 45-year-old Argentine has won 12

trophies in his time in charge of River and

believes in a modern, eye-catching playing

style based on possession football and

counter-pressing.

Hiring someone without coaching

experience in Europe would be a risk,

however, and it could also be difficult to

persuade Gallardo to leave the Buenos Aires

giants mid-season.

Ten Hag has become one of the most

highly rated coaches in the world for his

work at Ajax, taking them to two Dutch

titles and a Champions League semi-final in

2019.

The 51-year-old Dutchman would

continue a long tradition of moves between

Ajax and Barca, with the clubs united by

their adoration of Johan Cruyff.

Ten Hag is a disciple of attractive,

possession football but he is also fiercely

loyal to Ajax and is not believed to be keen

on leaving after signing a contract until

2023 last summer.

Also has admirers in the Premier League,

reportedly including Manchester United.

Nice, Marseille draw

1-1, two months after

game kicked-off

SportS DeSk

Nice and Marseille drew 1-1 in

French Ligue 1 on

Wednesday, two months after

the original fixture was

abandoned due to crowd

trouble, reports BSS.

The rescheduled game,

played behind closed doors at

Troyes, saw Nice take the lead

through Amine Gouiri after

just six minutes.

Dimitri Payet levelled for

Marseille just before the halftime

interval. "The draw

seems the fairest outcome,"

said Marseille cach Jorge

Sampaoli.

"In the first half Nice

produced a lot more, but in

the second half we had

control and we could have

scored a second goal."

However, Nice coach

Christophe Galtier said he

was disappointed not to have

take all three points.

"There is frustration and

disappointment for my boys.

With our scoring chances, I

believe that my players

deserved to win," said Galtier.

In the first game between

the two sides on August 22,

hosts Nice led the

Mediterranean derby 1-0 at

the Allianz Riviera with 15

minutes left when Payet fell

after being struck by a bottle

as he went to take a corner.

Payet threw a bottle back

into the crowd as team-mates

came across to remonstrate

with home fans behind the

goal.

Supporters streamed onto

the pitch and a melee ensued

involving players, staff, fans

and stewards. The match was

halted for more than an hour

and finally abandoned just

before midnight local time

after the away side refused to

return to the pitch.

WI bring in Holder in place

of injured McCoy

SportS DeSk

West Indies have brought in former captain

Jason Holder to their T20 WC squad as a

replacement for the injured left-arm seamer

Obed McCoy, reports AP.

McCoy, who played in West Indies'

opening fixture against England, has been

ruled out of the remainder of the tournament

due to a right shin injury.

Holder's addition to the squad has

officially been approved by the ICC. He was

already in the UAE as a travelling reserve

and is available for selection in West Indies'

next fixture, against Bangladesh on Friday

(October 29).

"Jason Holder has been in the UAE for a

while now and will fit quite well into the team

unit," Roger Harper, CWI's lead men's

selector said. "He is an experienced and

knowledgeable cricketer who we know will

be eager and excited to grab the opportunity.

"McCoy did really well in the T20Is earlier

this year and adapted well in the opening

match against England. He was a key

member of the bowling unit and it's

unfortunate he won't be able to take any

further part in the tournament. We wish him

a speedy recovery and hope to see him back

on the field ready to go again in the near

future."

Defending champions West Indies have

lost their opening two games after being

bowled out for a meagre 55 in a six-wicket

defeat to England, followed by an eightwicket

defeat at the hands of South Africa.

Jason Holder has been in the UAe for a while now and will fit quite well

into the team unit.

photo: Ap

Xavi is currently in charge of Qatari side Al Sadd and would be a hugely popular choice with the

Barca fans.

photo: Ap

Trumpelmann leaves Scotland

with a lot to reflect on

SportS DeSk

If there have been the highs of

beating Bangladesh in Oman,

there have also been the lows

of 60 all out against

Afghanistan. After an

impressive show to progress

to the Super 12 stage, Scotland

were given a harsh reality

check. Even before Rashid

Khan could come into the

attack, Scotland were left five

down. Needless to say, Kyle

Coetzer's men came into the

contest struggling with batting

insecurities, reports AP.

Scotland's two collapses - 53

for 6 against Bangladesh and

60 against Afghanistan - had

come against the spinners.

And hence, when Matthew

Cross stressed there wasn't too

much reflection on what

happened in Sharjah, there

was a reason behind it.

Namibia were always going to

pose a different challenge with

their left-arm pacers and it

wasn't a surprise that Cross

sounded quietly confident

given Namibia was a team

that "they know a bit more

about, and expect a better

performance".

On Wednesday though,

things went pear-shaped for

Scotland in the very first over

the match. Ruben

Trumpelmann knocked over

George Munsey, Calum

MacLeod and Richie

Berrington in the opening

over of the game to leave

Scotland reeling at 2 for 3. The

highlight of Trumpelmann's

opening burst - where he

bowled three overs - was the

way he kept the batters

guessing.

The opening ball - which

Munsey chopped on - was

outside off and moving away

from the left-hander. He got

the ball swinging back in to

MacLeod, and delivered two

wides down the leg side while

trying to find his line - but

pushed one across to catch the

outside edge. Berrington, the

stand-in captain on the night,

was lbw first ball to another

delivery moving in as

Trumpelmann ended his

opening spell with figures of 3

for 11 in 3 overs, including 13

dot balls. The pressure built by

the opening burst meant

Scotland's opening boundary

came only in the fifth over and

they had to endure another

dismal powerplay with 22 for

4 on the board after the first

six. Trumpelmann became

the first bowler to bag three

wickets in the opening over of

a men's T20I fixture. For those

familiar with the story of

Namibia cricket, it wasn't a

surprise that the left-arm

pacer is delivering at the world

stage. The early promise he

showed while representing

South Africa Universities

translated into first-class

success for Northerns, where

he bagged 41 wickets from 17

matches at 24.75.

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FRIDAY, ocToBeR 29, 2021

10

Nisho-Farin's new web series 'Syndicate'

TBT RepoRT

Popular actress TasniaFarin will be teaming up

with Afran Nisho in the new web series 'Syndicate'

directed by Shihab Shaheen.The producer said that

the shooting of the series will start from December

in different locations of the country including

Dhaka.

The director said that there will be many

surprises in his new series. For now, he has

revealed the names of Nisho and Farin.

Regarding 'Syndicate', Shihab Shaheen said,

'This is a crime thriller genre series. I have tried to

differentiate between the story and the

characterization.It will have a lot of atmosphere

that today's viewers like to see. A lot of great artists

will work.I hope I can come up with a great series. '

Actor Bhumi Pednekar has

been cast in filmmaker

Anubhav Sinha's upcoming

sociopolitical drama Bheed,

co-starring Rajkummar Rao.

The film will be jointly

produced by Sinha and

Bhushan Kumar, who

previously backed the

filmmaker's Thappad.

Sinha, known for films like

Mulk and Article 15, said

Pednekar fit the bill for Bheed

as she is an assured actor and a

woman with a mind of her

own.

"That's the quality this

character needs to have. I

couldn't have asked for a

better cast. These are

performers who not only shine

every time they are on screen;

they elevate the written word

to create magic on screen. I am

blessed to have the team I am

working with," the director

said in a statement.

Pednekar, star of films like

Saand Ki Aankh and Dolly

Kitty AurWohChamakteSitare,

He added, "The word syndicate is negative,

behind which is corruption. All these corruptions

will come up in this story. '

Earlier, star actor Afran Nisho played the role of

Khal Nayak in the web series 'Marichika' directed

by Shihab Shaheen.Praise for his performance has

been heard in the audience of two Bengalis.Again

he is going to work on Shihab Shaheen's web series.

On the other hand, Tasnia Farin has already

achieved skyrocketing success on the small screen.

She has also worked on several web platforms.This

time she will appear with Nisho in 'Syndicate'.

Talking about working on the series, Tasnia Farin

said, "Things are going very well on the OTT

platform now.I have also received a good response

to the number of works I have done.Shihab

Shaheen 'Syndicate' series will also be excellent.

Bhumi Pednekar joins Anubhav

Sinha's Bheed

said she is honoured to team

up with Sinha for the project.

"He shares my value system

in believing that movies have

the power to shift mindsets. As

artists, the responsibility of

telling such stories lies with us.

Same goes for Bhushan Kumar

who allows his writers,

directors and actors to be

gutsy, giving them the

confidence like being the

inspired producer he is. This is

a crackling subject and I can't

wait to get on to the journey of

this film," the 32-year-old

actor said.

The sociopolitical drama will

be shot across Lucknow, where

Sinha recently conducted an

elaborate recce.

Kumar, who is backing the

film through his production

house T-Series, said he is

extremely proud of Bheed and

the subject it tackles.

"Anubhav Sinha's process of

working is so effortless that I

couldn't have asked for a

better partner at work. Bheed

is another one of those

projects I am super proud of.

It's a hard hitting story and he

has brought on board

exemplary actors. Bhumi is a

fantastic performer and there

couldn't have been a better

choice for the role," he said.

The film is expected to go on

floors in November.

Source: The Indian Express

Prova's new song'Ami

Shunechi SedinTumi'

TBT RepoRT

Popular model and actress Sadia

Jahan Prova is very popular.

Although she started with

modeling, at one stage she has

established herself as an

actress.Prova has been busy

with acting for a long time.

Everyone who knows this

beautiful actress also knows that

Prova has skills in singing. Her

mother wanted her to be a

singer. The new news about her

is that Prova has recently came

in front of the audience with her

singing skill. She has covered the

famous song sung by Mausumi

Bhowmik, a talented singer from

Kolkata 'Ami Shunechi Sedin

Queen of pop Madonna

shared the update with a

series of selfies and one

picture showed her reading a

draft of her script for her

upcoming biopic, which she

has "almost finished" writing.

Madonna wrote alongside

the Instagram post: "Grateful

for the success of 'Madame X',

that my script is almost

finished, and for the support

of my beautiful children!"

'Madame X' is her recent

concert documentary, which

was directed by Ricardo

Gomes and showcased the

pop star's tour, reports

femalefirst.com.

In addition, the 'Like A

Virgin' singer referenced

screenwriter Erin Cressida

Wilson, who wrote 'Secretary',

in the hashtags, and Erin

featured in one of the photos

included in the post.

Last week, Madonna said

that the writing process had

proven "challenging" and "like

Tumi'. Prova has published the

song on her own YouTube

channel. Prova herself has

become a model in the video of

this song.

Prova wrote in the description

box on YouTube - I finally got

the courage to cover my favorite

song. Song is my first love and

affection. I haven't practiced for

many years but I'm back. It's just

experimental. Hope everybody

loves it.

Regarding singing, Prova told

The Bangladesh Today, "I have

been singing since my childhood

with the encouragement of my

mother." She wanted to make

me a musician. But I do not like

songs.I used to hum in front of

psychotherapy".

She said: "Writing my script

is the most draining,

challenging experience I've

ever had. It's kind of like

psychotherapy in a way,

my friends, they used to praise

me, they used to encourage me.

Prova said that she sang the

song 'Ami Shunechi Sedin Tumi'

as a hobby. She calls this her first

attempt in singing.In this

regard, Prabha said, I did the

song to verify myself.One day I

recorded the song in the studio

of singer Imran.Then I saw that

it was not bad. Later I published

because I have to remember

every detail from my

childhood till now.

"Remembering all the things

that made me decide to be

who I am, my journey as an

it on YouTube.

It is learned that Prova

released the song on October

22.Imran has arranged the new

music of the song 'Ami Shunechi

Sedin Tumi'. Video edited by SM

Tushar. In addition to the lyrics

and melody of the original song,

the song was sung by popular

Kolkata singer Mausumi

Bhowmik.

Mehzabin with new look

TBT RepoRT

Mehazabien Chowdhury is a

popular actress, model, and the

winner of Lux Channel I Superstar

2009. She is busy shooting dramas

throughout the year. Recently, this

star was seen in a new outfit. She

has published some pictures of

great looks with blue hair.

In the pictures she was seen

sitting on a ladder with a different

makeover along with a caption

mentioning the name of the

popular video game titled 'The

King of Fighters '96 and she was

dressed as one of the female

popular character name Leona

Heidern. Who overcame many

obstacles and reached the final

destination.

The actress has surprised the

audience with her new look and it

has done for a Television

Commercial (TVC) for the

promotion of a new Smartphone

Techno Mobile.

Regarding the context the actress

said, 'I work with a lot of thought

in advertising. In that case I also

have to be a little more careful

while working. I only work in

TVC's if I like it. I like the storyidea

of this advertisement and

everything related to it. '

"The King of Fighters" franchise,

owned by SNK, is one of the most

popular fighting game franchises

in the world, spawning millions of

fans, dozens of instalments and

hundreds of memorable

characters.

Madonna almost finished with

biopic screenplay

artist, my decision to leave

Michigan to go to New York,

all the things that happened to

me when I was young and

naive, my relationships with

my family and friends,

watching many of my friends

die sometimes, I have writing

sessions where I go to bed and

I just want to cry. You know

what I mean?

"The thing is, I realise I

forgot a lot of things, and

reliving, digging deep, trying

to recall emotions that I felt in

certain moments, both joyful

and traumatic experiences I

realise I've lived a crazy life."

It was announced that she

will be co-writing the script

with Diablo Cody, who won an

Academy Award for the 2007

movie 'Juno'.

Casting has not yet begun

but Madonna has been listed

as a co-screenwriter, producer

and director.

Source: India Today

H o R o s c o p e

ARIes

(March 21 - April 20) : You have a strong

sense of self. You take charge of

situations instead of letting them take

charge of you. But this sense of

independence and self-confidence may threaten other

people. There are some who feel secure knowing that

you rely on them. This is one of those days when you

may feel a few growing pains as shifting personalities

clash with comfortable behavior patterns.

TAURUs

(April 21 - May 21) : You may feel like a

mediator between two camps, or you

may be the one in a struggle that needs

mediation. The big problem with the

tension today is that one side could be headstrong and

bound to the facts and the truth, while the other is

bound to a broader perspective, not necessarily a

realistic one. Facts could get twisted in all directions

depending on who's delivering them.

GeMINI

(May 22 - June 21) : Be careful about

taking everything as a personal offense.

Others' inconsiderate actions may hurt

you emotionally, but they don't have to. As long as

you're able to maintain a healthy perspective on the

situation, you'll see that many of the behaviors that

upset you result from someone else's insecurities as

opposed to their lack of affection for you.

cANceR

(June 22 - July 23) : Difficult tension

may be frustrating for you to handle.

You may wonder why everyone can't

just get along. The answer may seem

simple to you, with your easygoing attitude.

Unfortunately, there are big egos and unrealistic

attitudes involved that make it difficult for other

people to see things so simply. You may find that the

best you can do is take a step away from the fire.

Leo

(July 24 - Aug. 23): Tension may

arise among friends when someone

suddenly feels like an ignored third

wheel. People tend to pair up. Do

what you can to stay on topics to which

everyone can contribute equally. Staying united

is key. Together you're extremely powerful

allies, while divided you're each other's worst

enemies.

VIRGo

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): Your lively,

imaginative spirit is in tune with the

collective. The need for a worldly

consciousness and evolving humanity has become more

obvious to you as time goes by. These issues come up today,

but don't be surprised if you get a reality check. Your

dreams may be unrealistic. Someone could try to burst your

bubble, so be careful. Don't lose sight of your goals.

LIBRA

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): Just when you slow

down, simplify, and plan, things start to

pick up again. Your imagination starts to

fly. Stabilization hinders your creative

spirit. The last thing your artistic mind wants to do is

slow down. Resolving this inner conflict may be hard,

but it's possible. These two sides are on the same team,

not opposing ones. If they work together, you can both

achieve both goals.

scoRpIo

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): Your sense of play

might get you into trouble. This

sort of attitude could run up against

someone who's trying to stay on

task and take things seriously. It may be

difficult for you to know how far to push a

situation. You may want to force the other

person to join your escapades, but you also see

the need to settle down and get serious.

sAGITTARIUs

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): Gadgets and new

devices that are supposed to make it

easier to accomplish certain tasks may

actually cause more confusion. You're

often a big fan of doing things the old-fashioned way.

Even though people may laugh at you, you tend to

insist that the old way is the best way. Take your time

to complete chores and tasks today.

cApRIcoRN

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20) : Be careful about

going overboard with your sarcasm.

Some people take your comments

seriously. Not everyone understands

your humor. This could make communication

unclear at times. Deliver a straight story without

exaggeration or embellishment thrown in to make

things juicier. Don't just tell the truth - tell the whole

truth. You'll feel better about the situation.

AQUARIUs

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) : Self-image could

be a difficult issue for you. Perhaps

you've painted a false picture of yourself

lately. In an effort to cover your

insecurity, you may not have expressed how you feel

to some people. When you look in a mirror, you may

find that the person you see is quite different than the

person other people see. This conflict may put you in

some uncomfortable situations.

pIsces

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) : You may feel like

there's absolutely nowhere to turn.

Reality is a scary thing to face. The last

thing you want to do is be serious. But

you're finding it difficult to get satisfaction from your

fantasy world. Your dreams beckon to you, but you're

afraid to give in to that temptation because you feel a

strong sense of duty to other people and places.

fRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2021

11

People cannot be tortured:

Khulna Range DIG

Shahid Joy, Jashore Correspondent

Khulna Range DIG Dr Khandaker Mohid

Uddin BPM Bar has instructed the people

not to be tortured in any way and to have

zero tolerance against drugs.

He emphasized this during his visit to

Jashore District Police Reserve Office, A

Circle Office and Kotwali Model Police

Station. Expressing satisfaction with the

district police for all the inspections, he

thanked them all.

At the beginning of the annual

inspection, Khulna Range DIG inspected

the parade at the Police Lines ground and

received greetings. During the time,

Additional Superintendent of Police, A

Circle Mohammad Belal Hossain

conducted the parade as the parade

commander. At the end of the visit, he

expressed his satisfaction and gave

directions to the officers and forces

present. He then addressed the special

welfare meeting of the district police at

Police Lines as the chief guest. Jashore

Police Super Proloy Kumar Joardar, BPM

(Bar), PPM chaired the function.

Addressing the officers and forces at the

welfare meeting, the DIG said Jashore is

one of the five largest districts in

Bangladesh. As soon as the Inspector

General took charge, he made a great

effort to take the Bangladesh Police to a

special place. And all the police members

are comrades in that war.

During the time, CID Jessore Special

Superintendent of Police Zakir Hossain,

PBI Jashore Superintendent of Police

Reshma Sharmin, Additional

Superintendent of Police (Administration

and Crime) Mohammad Saiful Islam,

District Special Branch (DSB) Additional

Superintendent of Police, Mohammad

Jahangir Alam, Additional

Superintendent of Police A Circle

Mohammad Belal Hossain, Additional

Superintendent of Police B Circle Mukit

Sarkar were among others also present at

the occasion.

Khulna Range DIG Dr Khandaker Mohid Uddin BPM Bar received an

honorarium crest during his visit to Jashore Police Lines ground

recently.

Photo: Shahid Joy

Antidepressant reduced

Covid-19 hospitalisation

risk: study

PARIS : Treating high-risk

Covid-19 patients with the

antidepressant fluvoxamine

may reduce the risk of

prolonged hospitalisation

by up to a third, a large-scale

study showed Thursday.

Authors said the research

could help boost low-cost

protection against severe

sickness or death in

countries that have yet to

receive adequate vaccine

doses during a grossly

uneven rollout.

Fluvoxamine is

traditionally used to treat

mental health conditions

such as depression and

obsessive-compulsive

disorders and was selected

for trial due to its antiinflammatory

properties.

Many problems stemming

from Covid are caused by

swelling as the immune

system over-reacts to the

infection.

Writing in the journal The

Lancet Public Health,

researchers from North and

South America, described

results in nearly 1,500

Covid-19 outpatients in

Brazil.

Of the 741 people that

received fluvoxamine, 79 --

just over 10 percent- had an

extended stay in hospital.

Of the 756 who received a

placebo, 119 (15.7 percent)

were hospitalised.

Authors said that

administering fluvoxamine

resulted in a relative

reduction

in

hospitalisations of 32

percent.

"Covid-19 still poses a risk

to individuals in countries

with low resources and

limited access to

vaccinations," said Edward

Mills of McMaster

University, co-principal

investigator on the trial.

ASM Mohiuddin Monem, Chairman of Service Engine Ltd. and Additional Managing

Director of Abdul Monem Limited, won the "Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Industrial

Award 2020" by securing 1st place in the Hi-Tech category. Photo : Courtesy

Locals of Hariyarkuthi union want

chairman like Babul again and again

Biplob Hossain Opu, Taraganj Correspondent

There was no union like us who were passing

days struggling. The MP-Minister did not

have a good relationship with the previous

chairman of us. That's why our previous

chairman didn't even contact the MPminister.

The previous chairman has been

empty-handed and the union has not done

any work. And after Babul became the

chairman, I saw that the road was paved.

Mosques, temples, roads are being worked on.

We want to make Babul chairman by voting.

We want such a chairman again and again.

Shahidul Islam, a day laborer in the area,

was standing on the side of a new paved road

in Kharuvaj Para.

Not only Shahidul, these words can be

heard in different hats-bazaars,

neighborhoods of the whole union. In the last

Union Parishad elections of 2016, Harun ur

Rashid Babul, the nominated chairman

candidate of Awami League in Hariyarkuthi

Union, won by a huge margin with the boat

symbol. Since then, the whole union scene has

changed. Old age allowance, widow

allowance, disability allowance along with

roads, bridges and culverts and small village

roads have also got a touch of development.

Hariyarkuthi Union is an example of a union

that can be improved so much in 5 years.

Harian ur Rashid Babul, chairman of

Hariyarkuthi Union, said, "People of my

union know how much I have developed

Hariyarkuthi Union since I became the

chairman." In the five years since I became

chairman, the development of my union has

not been as great as it has been in 25 years.

The people of the whole union also know what

development my previous chairmen have

done to the union. After I became the

chairman, I raised the plight of the people of

my union with our MP. He has visited my

union many times. And he gave a lot of

development projects in my union.

Locals of Hariyarkuthi union of Taraganj upazila recently accorded a reception

for the UP chairman Harun ur Rashid Babul. Photo: Biplob Hossain

Democrats offer mixed

messages as Biden

presses domestic agenda

WASHINGTON : The White

House and Democratic

congressional leaders raced

Wednesday to resolve

lingering disputes on their

giant social spending plan

before President Joe Biden

flies overseasalthough several

lawmakers signaled that a deal

by day's end looked

impossible.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

wrote to colleagues that

Biden's domestic agenda was

moving "closer to passing," but

a key centrist senator later

dismissed a new tax on

billionaires to help pay for the

$1.5-$2 trillion package as a

non-starter.

Biden hopes to use passage

of the Build Back Better Act as

evidence of the United States

leading the world on global

warming and other issues as

he heads to a G20 summit in

Rome and United Nations

climate gathering in Glasgow.

White House aides were

assessing the situation "hour

by hour," his spokeswoman

Jen Psaki told reporters.

Pelosi, the top House

Democrat, has given

lawmakers until at least the

end of Thursday to ready their

final language on the historic

bill targeting climate change,

child care, pre-school

education and health care.

The mammoth package is

crucial to another big win

Biden had hoped to secure

before jetting off to Rome-a

$1.2 trillion infrastructure bill

to transform US roads, bridges

and broadband access.

The bills are linked because

the Democratic left flank in the

House is withholding its green

light on the Senate-passed

infrastructure legislation until

progressives have seen a final

text on Build Back Better, their

top priority.

Weeks of negotiations

between the party's left and

center have yet to produce

consensus even on the price

tag of the social welfare

package, let alone the

provisions it should include or

how to pay for it.

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Friday, Dhaka: October 29, 2021; Kartik 13, 1428 BS; Rabi-ul Awal 21, 1443 Hijri

23 organizations receive 'Bangabandhu

Sheikh Mujib Industrial Award 2020'

DHAKA : A total of 23 entrepreneurs and

organizations of the industrial sector

under seven categories on Thursday

received the "Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib

Industrial Award 2020".

Industries Minister Nurul Majid

Mahmud Humayun handed over the

awards to the representatives of the organizations

at a function at the Osmani

Memorial Auditorium in the city.

State Minister for Industries Kamal

Ahmed Mojumder and president of the

Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of

Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Md

Jashim Uddin attended the function as

special guests.

Industries Secretary Zakia Sultana

presided over the function.

The Ministry of Industries has introduced

the award for the first time marking

the birth centenary of Father of the Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

In his speech, Nurul Majid Mahmud

Humayun said the Industries Ministry has

introduced the award for the first time to

recognize the contribution of industrial

AL to handle with

an iron hand if

BNP resorts to

anarchy: Quader

DHAKA : Awami League General

Secretary Obaidul Quader on

Thursday warned that the AL would

handle the BNP with an iron hand if it

resort to any sort of terrorism and create

public sufferings in the name of

movement. He made the remark while

speaking at a press conference on contemporary

issues at his official residence

here.

Quader, also the road transport and

bridges minister, said holding meetings

and rallies is a constitutional right of citizens.

He said if the BNP does not get

approval for holding rallies, the party

would allege that the government does not

believe in democracy.

"And, once the government gives the

BNP clearance to hold a rally, it ruins public

properties. The BNP's programme

means creating panic among people," he

added.

The AL general secretary said by carrying

out attacks on police at the city's

Nayapalton on Tuesday, the BNP proved

that it is unable to hold a peaceful political

programme.

It is necessary to examine whether BNP

had any agenda behind its so-called harmony

rally held on Tuesday, he said.

In fact, Quader said, the BNP's politics

means attack, clash, conspiracy and terrorism,

and the party cannot come out of

this circle.

Noting that the government wants a

competitive election, he said the Awami

League does not make scores on the

empty field but the BNP has been practicing

this since its birth.

"The country's people are yet to forget

the February 15 election held in an

empty field," the AL general secretary

said. He said the BNP leaders are making

various statements to conceal their

failures and evade the criticism of their

supporters.

The next general election will be held

under the Election Commission, not

under the AL government, he said.

entrepreneurs and to encourage their creativity.

"We have introduced the award marking

the birth centenary of Father of the

Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman. Deep respect and love for

Bangabandhu has inspired us to take this

initiative," he added.

Zakia Sultana said the awards have been

given to entrepreneurs and organisations

to recognise their contribution to industry

and to encourage creativity.

The first prize in each category of the

awards is Taka three lakh and a 25 gram

gold-plated crest. The second prize is Taka

two lakh and a 20 gram gold-plated crest,

and the third prize is Taka one lakh and a

15 gram gold-plated crest.

In the large industries category, Square

Pharmaceuticals Limited secured first

place, followed by Jaj Bhuiyan Textiles

Mills, and Aduri Apparels Limited and

Universal Jeans Limited jointly won third

place.

Auko-Tex Limited and Fortune Shoes

Limited jointly secured first position as

Waste-to-energy

DHAKA : As city authorities are struggling

to catch up with the growing waste

management problem, the government

is trying to handle it shifting its focus on

waste-to-energy projects, but the projects

taken so far failed to make any

breakthrough.

Two much-sought waste-to-energy

projects - one in Dhaka and another in

Narayanganj - could not start the ground

work even after getting the approval

from the Cabinet Committee on Public

Purchase a year ago.

Dhaka, the national capital that generates

some 6,000 tons of garbage every

day, is expected to see a sea change in

garbage disposal once the proposed

waste-to-energy plant at Aminbazar

could be implemented.

The 42.5MW Aminbazar project,

aimed at using the garbage of Dhaka

North City Corporation (DNCC), got the

clearance from the committee on

November 12, 2020 while the 6MW

plant received its nod on September 16,

2020 to be set up at Jalkuri,

Narayanganj.

Both the build-own-operate (BOO)-

basis projects will generate electricity

using the incineration technology where

the garbage will be burnt to create heat

for the power generation.

the projects, the state-owned

Bangladesh Power Development Board

(BPDB) will purchase electricity under

long-term agreements. But no such

power purchase agreement (PPA) has so

far been signed with any of the sponsor

companies.

According to official sources, both the

projects were awarded to two Chinese

medium-scale industries. Rahimafrooz

Renewable Energy Limited ranked second,

while Madhobdi Dying Finishing

Mills Ltd came in third in this award category.

Winners in the small-scale industries

category are Aman Plastic Industries, first

position, SR Handicrafts second, and Alim

Industries Limited, third.

In the micro-industries category

Karukola came in first, followed by Trim-

Tex Bangladesh and Janata Engineering

in second and third place respectively.

In the hi-tech industries category,

Service Engine Limited was first, Super

Star Electronics Limited second, and Mir

Telecom Limited, third.

In the handicraft industries category,

Classical Handmade Products BD

secured first position, followed by Ayojon

which came in second, and Sonargoan

Nakshi Katha Mohila Unnoyon

Organization was third. For cottage

industries, Cumilla Arts and Crafts

gained first place, while Rongmela Nari

Kollayan Sangstha (RKNS) was second,

and Agroz came in third.

Bangladesh's two

dream projects face

speed bumps

firms - China Machinery Engineering

Corporation (CMEC) got the Aminbazar

plant while a joint venture of

Consortium of UD Environmental

Equipment Technology Co Ltd,

Everbright Environmental Protection

Technology Equipment (Changzhou)

Limited and SABS Syndicate got the

Narayanganj plant.

As per the proposal, the Aminbazar

project will be implemented under a tripartite

agreement where DNCC will supply

a certain quantity of solid municipal

waste and lands.

CMEC will set up the plant on a buildown-operate

basis. BPDB will purchase

electricity for a 25-year period at US

$21.78 cents, equivalent to Tk 18.295 per

unit.

The government will have to spend Tk

15,325.43 crore to buy electricity from

the project over a period of 25 years.

On the other hand, the Consortium

will set up the 6MW power plant at

Jalkuri in Narayanganj. Narayanganj

City Corporation (NCC) will collect

garbage from its areas and supply it to

the power plant for power generation.

BPDB will purchase electricity for a

period of 20 years from the plant at US

20.91 cents per kilowatt hour (each unit)

which is equivalent to Tk 17.60.

The government will have to pay Tk

1665.48 crore to the private sponsor of

the plant for the total purchase of electricity.

After the cabinet body approval, BPDB

moved to sign the PPA with two firms to

facilitate them to start the physical

works to implement the projects, official

sources said.

Although the water level has decreased, there has been severe erosion in the Teesta river. In the last

one week, more than 400 houses have been destroyed in several points in 9 unions of Rajarhat,

Ulipur and Chilmari upazilas of Kurigram district.

Photo : Star Mail

Winter has already started in the northern districts of the country. Farmers are busy tending the land

on winter mornings. The picture is taken from Dhunat upazila of Bogura on Thursday. Photo: PBA

JS body seeks report

on Ro Ro ferry

mishap in Manikganj

DHAKA : The Parliamentary Standing

Committee on Ministry of Shipping on

Thursday asked the authorities concerned

to submit a report over the cause behind

the Ro Ro Shah Amanat ferry accident that

took place at Paturia ferry ghat in

Manikganj district yesterday.

The parliamentary watchdog came up

with the direction at its 36th meeting at the

Jatiya Sangsad (JS) Bhaban with committee

Chairman Major (Retd) Rafiqul Islam,

Bir Uttam, in the chair.

Committee members Md Mazaharul

Hoque Prodhan, Shajahan Khan, Ranajit

Kumar Roy, Dr Shamil Uddin Ahmed

Shimul, Md Aslam Hossain Saudagar and

SM Shahjada joined the meeting.

A sub-committee consisting of four

members has been constituted for submitting

a report to ascertain the cause of the

Ro Ro Shah Amanat ferry accident.

Committee member Shajahan was made

the convener of the sub-committee.

The remaining members are: Ranajit,

Shamil Uddin and Aslam.

The committee members recommended

taking necessary steps to enact a single law

for all seaports.

Besides, they also recommended taking

appropriate steps to make all rivers of

the country free from the occupiers in

phases and present a presentation on the

overall activities of the National River

Conservation Commission (NRCC) at

the next meeting.

The meeting also discussed in detail the

'Mongla Port Authority Bill, 2021'.

Secretary to Shipping Ministry

Mohammad Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury,

chairmen of Mongla Port Authority and

NRCC, Additional Secretaries to

Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs

Division and Ministry of Shipping and

officials concerned of the JS secretariat

were also present.

Six officials

promoted to

secretaries

DHAKA : The government has promoted

five grade-1 government officials to the

rank of secretary.

The Public Administration Ministry

issued a notification in this regard on

Thursday, reports UNB.

According to the notification, Dr

Amitabh Sarker, Chairman of Bangladesh

Agricultural Development Corporation

(BADC) has been made Chairman

(Secretary) of Land Appeal Board while Dr

Shahnaz Arefin, Additional Secretary of

cabinet Division was made the Secretary of

Statistics and Information Division.

Besides, Abu Hena Morshed Zaman

Director (Additional Secretary) of Central

Medical Stores Depot (CMSD) was made

the Secretary of Implementation

Monitoring and Evaluation Division and

Md Khalilur Rahman, Divisional

Commissioner (Additional Secretary)

Dhaka was made Secretary of Post and

Telecommunication Division.

The notification said, Kazi Enamul

Hasan, Additional Secretary of Economic

Relations Division was made the Secretary

of Ministry of Religious Affairs and

Suleman Khan Additional Secretary of

Commerce Ministry was made Chairman (

Secretary) of Land Reforms Board.

The order will come into effect soon.

Additional €12 mn to be

provided for Rohingyas,

host community: EU

DHAKA : European Commissioner for

Humanitarian Aid and Crisis

Management Janez Lenarcic has said the

European Union (EU) decided to increase

their humanitarian assistance by an additional

€12 million - €10 million for the

Rohingyas and host community in

Bangladesh, and €2 million will go to

Myanmar for displaced people in Rakhine

State.

During his visit, Lenarcic shed light on

the Rohingya crisis and the prospect of the

return of the Myanmar nationals to their

homeland.

"This requires the additional engagement

of the international humanitarian

community, including the donor agencies

and the government of Bangladesh to continue

to provide support to the Rohingya

community," said the European

Commissioner, adding that the EU will do

its part. He appreciated Bangladesh's

progress in disaster preparedness and

assured continued support from the

European Union (EU).

"I'm looking forward to our continued

cooperation. In this area also, Bangladesh

DHAKA : The implementation of Indian

Line of Credit (LoC) projects in

Bangladesh will get a momentum as many

of those would now hit the execution

stage, said Pankaj Kumar Singh, Adviser

of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

"Many projects under Indian LoC will

now hit the execution stage as solid tendering

and contracting of those have been

done," he said.

Pankaj said this while interacting with

local media at the Indian High

Commission in Dhaka yesterday evening

after a two-day 19th LoC Projects review

meeting with the government of

Bangladesh. Saroj Khuntia, General

Manager, EXIM Bank India also spoke on

the occasion.

The 19th India-Bangladesh LOC Review

Meeting was held in Dhaka on 27-28

October 2021, to review progress of 43

projects being taken up for implementation

under GoI Lines of Credit (LOCs)

extended to the Government of

Bangladesh. Sridharan Madhusudhanan,

Joint Secretary (DPA-I), Ministry of

External Affairs, Government of India led

the Indian delegation and the Bangladesh

delegation was led by Md Shahriar Kader

Siddiky, Additional Secretary, ERD,

Ministry of Finance, Government of

Bangladesh.

Representatives of Indian companies

executing the LOC projects in Bangladesh

also participated in the meeting.

Pankaj said out of the total amount of

$7.862 billion committed against three

LoC projects, the disbursement to

can count the solidarity of the European

Union," he said in a video statement

Wednesday night on his Bangladesh visit.

The European Commissioner said he is

pleased to see the progress Bangladesh

made in disaster preparedness and the

good progress in training first responders

to fire incidents.

Lenarcic said Bangladesh is facing multiple

challenges and risks, and many of

these are connected with the climate crisis

- floods, cyclones and other natural disasters.

The European Commissioner arrived

in Bangladesh on October 26, and his visit

focused on European Commission

Directorate-General for Humanitarian

Aid and Civil Protection (DG ECHO) support

activities.

So far, ECHO has delivered almost €30

million in support to Bangladesh this year.

Lenarcic also visited the Rohingya

camps in Cox's Bazar and saw disaster

preparedness initiatives in Dhaka and surrounding

areas. On Wednesday, the

European Commissioner met State

Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shariar

Alam at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Many Indian LoC projects

will hit execution

stage: Pankaj Singh

Bangladesh have so far reached $865 million

and it is expected to reach the landmark

of $1 billion by the end of this fiscal

year (FY22).

Mentioning that Bangladesh is the single

largest recipient of Indian LoC projects

with a portfolio of $7.862 billion, Pankaj

said so far some 14 projects have been

completed out of 43 projects under the

three LoCs.

He informed that the Indian LoC to

Bangladesh bears an interest rate of 1 percent

having a grace period of 5 years to be

repaid in 20 years.

The Adviser of the Indian Ministry of

External Affairs noted that it usually takes

time in Bangladesh from identifying a

project to the execution stage and this

needs to be done in a less timeframe.

"We've to push or accelerate the contracting

process," he added.

Pankaj also opined that the project

preparation stage needs to be expedited.

Asked about the Indian LoC projects

which would be completed soon, Pankaj

said that they are hopeful that the Khulna-

Mongla Railway project would be completed

by the end of next year.

Besides, he informed that around 85

percent of the Rooppur Nuclear Power

Evacuation project has so far been completed

while the remaining 15 percent

work would be done within the next few

months.

Apart from this, Pankaj was also hopeful

about the completion of the street lightening

project in Chattogram within the stipulated

timeframe.

29-10-2021

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