02-07-2022

SaTuRday

DhAkA: July 2, 2022; Ashar 18,1429 BS; Zilhaj 2,1443 hijri

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net

Regd.No.DA~2065, Vol.20; N o. 61; 8 Pages~Tk.8.00

InTeRnaTIOnal

NATO summit concludes

amid criticisms of bloc's

aggression

>Page 3

DHAKA : Fisheries and Livestock

Minister SM Rezaul Karim yesterday said

no cattle haat will be allowed along roads

and highways across the country to avoid

traffic congestion during the Eid-u l-Azha.

"The cattle markets must be arranged

at designated places," the minister said

while speaking at a seminar on 'Possibility

of Padma Bridge: Sacrificing with local

Zohr

03:47 AM

12:05 PM

04:41 PM

06:54 PM

08:20 PM

5:14 6:50

animals, farmers' problems and way forward'

at Jatiya Press Club in the capital.

Addressing as the chief guest, he cautioned

that each recognised market will

have veterinary medical management

from the Department of Livestock so that

no unhealthy and sick animal is brought

or could be sold.

"There will be arrangements for testing

animals at the markets free of cost," he

added. Rezaul said the Padma Bridge has

created unimaginable opportunities for

shifting sacrificial animals ahead of Eidul-Azha

and is playing a huge impact on

the Eid-oriented economy.

He said the Padma Bridge was built due

to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's foresight,

confidence, honesty, determination

and patriotism. The Padma Bridge has

opened up a new horizon of economic

development, the livestock minister said,

adding that this bridge has created a huge

potential for the country's people.

He said once people had to wait at ferry

ghats with sacrificial animals for two or

three days but now the bridge has created

opportunities for those who will bring

sacrificial animals to Dhaka and other

parts of the country. Rezaul said there is

no need of ferry to carry sacrificial animals

from the country's remote areas to

Dhaka or other places.

HealTH

Some pandemic

health habits that can

be kept

>Page 5

Advance train tickets selling have been started on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha. Tickets for July 5 have

been given on this day. However, on the first day of ticket sales, almost all tickets are sold out within

three hours.

Photo : Star Mail

Incessant rains

may lead to longer

duration of flood

DHAKA : Experts and officials are predicting

longer duration of flood as major rivers

and their tributaries in both Brahmaputra

and Meghna basins are overflowing due to

incessant rains.

"Both northern and northeastern parts

of Bangladesh this year witnessed severe

flooding, which is the worst one since

2004... The devastating flood started on

June 15 and it was getting improving trend

after a weeklong wrath of the deluge," an

official of Flood Forecasting and Warning

Centre (FFWC) told BSS.

But the flood situation in north and

northwestern is getting worse again after

swelling of major rivers as inside

Bangladesh and upstream regions recorded

heavy downpour in the past several

days, said Md. Arifuzzaman Bhuyan, executive

engineer of the FFWC.

Water levels at 61 river stations monitored

by Flood Forecasting and Warning

Centre (FFWC) have marked rise while 41

stations recorded fall.

Among the 109 monitored river stations,

seven have been registered steady

while water levels at eight stations are

flowing above the danger level, a bulletin

issued by the FFWC said. The Dharla at

Kurigram, the Brahmaputra at Hatia, the

Surma at Kanaighat, the Kushiyara at

Amalshid and Sheola, the Old Surma at

Derai, the Baulai at Khaliajuri and the

Someswari at Kalmakanda are flowing

above the danger level by 06cm, 21cm,

64cm, 84cm, 32cm, 17cm, 03cm and 38

cm respectively.

Significant rainfall was recorded at

some stations in different districts during

the last 24 hours ending at 9 am, on

Friday, the bulletin added.

A total of 122 mm (millimeter) rainfalls

were recorded at Jariajanjail and 53mm at

Lalakhal (Sylhet). Significant rainfalls

(mm) recorded during last 24 hours in

Sikkim, Arunachal, Assam, Meghalaya

and Tripura regions of North-East India,

the bulletin added.

A total of 41mm rainfalls were recorded

at Cherrapunji (Meghalaya), 109mm at

Jalpaiguri (West Bangal) and 98 mm at

Dibrugarh (Assam). Brahmaputa river is

in steady state, while the Jamuna river is

rising trend, the FFWC bulletin said

adding that both the rivers may rise in next

24 hours. The Ganges-Padma river is in

rising trend, which may continue in next

48 hours, it added.

No roadside cattle haat

will be allowed: Rezaul

Bangladesh reports

5 more Covid deaths

with 1,897 cases

DHAKA : Bangladesh registered five more

Covid-linked deaths with 1,897 new cases

in 24 hours till Friday morning amid an

upward trend of infections, reports UNB.

The fresh cases took the country's total

caseload to 1,975,682 the total fatalities to

29,154, according to the Directorate

General of Health Services (DGHS).

The daily case positivity rate slightly

dropped to 15.31 per cent from Thursday's

15.70 per cent as 12,403 samples were

tested during the period, said the DGHS.

Of the deceased three were men and two

women, all from Dhaka division.

On Thursday, the country recorded 2,183

cases with four deaths from Covid-19.

The mortality rate remained unchanged

at 1.48 per cent. The recovery rate declined

to 96.56 per cent from Thursday's 96.64

per cent as 248 patients recovered during

this period. In June, the country reported

18 Covid-linked deaths and 20,201 new

cases, according to the DGHS.

The country reported its first zero Covid

death in a single day on November 20 last

year, along with 178 cases, since the pandemic

broke out here in March 2020.

On January 28, Bangladesh logged its

previous highest positivity rate of 33.37

per cent. The country registered its highest

daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last

year and daily fatalities of 264 on August

10 in the same year.

Police intends to

become last resort

of public: IGP

RAJSHAHI : Inspector General of

Bangladesh Police (IGP) Dr Benazir

Ahmed said they are intended to

become the first and the last resort of the

public in general.

"All levels of police should come forward

and work together for the welfare

of the country to attain the cherished

goal. Police should stand beside the

peace-loving people," he added.

The IGP made the observation while

addressing a meeting at police line

parade ground to mark the 30th founding

anniversary of Rajshahi

Metropolitan Police (RMP) yesterday as

the chief guest.

Vice-chancellor of Rajshahi

University Professor Golam Sabbir

Sattar, Principal of Bangladesh Police

Academy Abu Hassan Tarique, Deputy

Inspector General of Police (DIGP) of

Rajshahi Range Abdul Baten and RMP

Commissioner Abu Kalam Siddique

also spoke.

IGP Dr Benazir Ahmed said the police

are doing well in many fields but there is

no end of good. Time has come to break

all the previous good records.

He said the country is going ahead

gradually under the dynamic and prudent

leadership of Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina. The country will become

a developed one by 2041 and the police

force must be prepared for that time.

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Bangladesh is a country of

communal harmony: Hasan

CHATTORAM : Information and

Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan

Mahmud said Bangladesh is a country of

communal harmony as people of different

faiths have been living on this soil in peace

from time immemorial. "Members of

Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Christian

communities have been living here from

time immemorial in amity and peace," he

said while opening a nine-day Ratha Jatra,

one of the major festivals of the Hindu

community, at the city's Probartak Sangha

crorssing.

Hasan, also Awami League joint general

secretary, said religion always works for

bringing peace and prosperity in the country

which eliminates terrorism, extremism

and fundamentalism.

He called upon all to avoid fundamentalists

who infuse fundamentalism in the

country. International Society for Krishna

Consciousness (ISKCON) brought out a

huge procession in which chariots of Sree

Jagannath (other name of Lord Krishno)

were pulled from ISKCON temple to

Nandankanon Tulshidam after parading

different city thoroughfares.

Thousands of Hindu devotees irrespective

of genders and ages including theologians,

hermits, hundreds of students from

different educational institutions joined

the procession in pulling the ropes of chariots

witnessed by onlookers and passersby

either sides of city streets.

SPORTS

Nadal and Swiatek survive

wobbles to progress at

Wimbledon

>Page 6

Remarks on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

Indian SC slams Nupur Sharma

NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court

(SC) of India yesterday came down

heavily on suspended BJP

Spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her

derogatory remarks on Prophet

Muhammad (PBUH) that sparks outrage

in India and across the world.

"The way she ignites emotions across

the country...This lady is single-handedly

responsible for what is happening

in the country. She should "apologise

to the whole country", the SC said

while hearing a plea by Ms Sharma to

transfer all FIRs filed against her

across the country to Delhi.

"We saw the debate on how she was

incited. But the way she said all this

and later says she was a lawyer it is

shameful. She should apologise to the

whole country," said Justice Surya

Kant.

Her comments showed her "obstinate

and arrogant character", the

Supreme Court said adding that

Sharma's "loose tongue has set the

entire country on fire".

The court however, underlined that

her (Sharma's) outburst is responsible

for the unfortunate incident at

Udaipur in the Indian state of Rajsthan

where a tailer was hacked to death by

two youths on Tuesday.

Nupur Sharma's offensive comments

during a TV debate earlier this month,

sparked massive protests in India and

several Gulf states including Qatar,

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran and

prompted them to summon Indian

envoys to lodge their protest for the

remarks of Nupur Sharma on the

Prophet Muahmmad (PBUH).

Later, the ruling BJP high command

suspended its National Spokesperson

Nupur Sharma over her controversial

remarks. The party also expelled Delhi

BJP's media in-charge Naveen Kumar

Jindal from primary membership of

the party.

According to media reports, during

hearing Nupur Sharma's lawyer said

she had not used her name on the petition

because of the threats. "She faces

threats or she has become a security

threat," the judges snapped.

The court snubbed Nupur Sharma's

argument on "equal treatment" and

"no discrimination", media report said.

"But when you file FIRs against others,

they are immediately arrested but

when it's against you nobody has dared

to touch you," NDTV reported quoting

the judges.

SATuRDAY, JulY 2, 2022

2

The installation of Rotary International Bangladesh District-3281 was held at Bangabandhu

International Conference Center in Dhaka on Friday afternoon.

Photo : Courtesy

Call for applying modern techniques

to boost mango production

RAJSHAHI : Using modern farming

technologies and techniques and

practicing post-harvest management

can be the best way of maximizing the

immense potentiality of mango

production in the region, including its

vast barind tract.

Utmost importance should be given

on bringing the growers under needbased

training and knowledge sharing

on using modern techniques and postharvest

management so that they could

be benefited more.

Scientists and researchers came up

with the observation while addressing a

daylong farmers training titled

"Modern Techniques and Post-harvest

Management in Mango Production" in

the city.

Fruit Research Station (FRS) of

Bangladesh Agriculture Research

Institute (BARI) organised the training

at its conference room discussing and

devising ways and means on how to

disseminate and reach modern mango

farming techniques among the

grassroots farmers.

Additional Secretary of the Ministry

of Agriculture Komolaranjan Das

addressed the opening ceremony as the

chief guest while Director General of

Bogra Young Men's Christian Association organized a youth workshop on Friday.

GD-1217/22 (5x4)

Bangladesh Sugar Crop Research

Institute Dr Amzad Hossain and

former Chief Scientific Officer of FRS

Dr Alim Uddin spoke as special guests.

With FRS Principal Scientific Officer

Dr Shafiqul Islam in the chair, Principal

Scientific Officers of On-Farm

Research Division of BARI Dr Saidur

Rahman and Dr Jagadish Chandra

Barman also addressed the session,

disseminating their expertise on the

issue.

Komolaranjan Das mentioned that

the field-level fruit researchers and

scientists should discharge their duties

with highest sincerity and honesty for

disseminating the information about

the modern methods and technologies

to the farmers.

He said large-scale promotion of biorational

pest management in mango

farming has become crucial for

boosting the mango production side by

side with reducing usages of toxic

chemical pesticides and different

insects and pests in the delicious fruit

cultivation of the region.

Mr Das urged the attending farmers

to follow the guidelines of the field-level

agricultural officials and scientists

during mango farming.

He said using chemical pesticides on

farm lands is always harmful to soil and

public health, crops and environment,

adding: "So, it is urgent for promoting

bio-rational pest management widely."

Dr Alim Uddin said BARI has

developed a number of bio-rationalbased

integrated pest management

technologies and has been reaching

those to farmers level through various

training and motivational

programmes.

There is no alternative to bring all the

mango farmers under requisite

awareness for promotion of modern

technologies to make the mango

harvesting and marketing process safe

and hygienic.

He said modern technologies need to

be promoted commercially in mango

orchards in Rajshahi and

Chapainawabganj districts during the

coming pre-harvest season to protect

mango from pest attack besides

facilitating the farmers to get quality

and better yield.

Mango is the leading seasonal cash

crop of the country's northwest region

and it dominates the economy in the

two districts which were famous for the

delicious fruit.

386 29.06.22

Photo : Azahar Ali

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International Rotary

will provide more

support to Bangladesh

The installation of Rotary

International Bangladesh

District-3281 was held at

Bangabandhu

International Conference

Center in Dhaka on Friday

afternoon.

The event was presided

over by Rotarian Shereen

Bon, it was addressed by

Holger Knaack, former

International President of

Rotary, Engr. MA Wahab,

District Governor, AKM

Mozammel Haque,

Minister for Liberation

War, Nurul Majid

Mahmud Humayun,

Minister of Industries,

Tipu Munshi, Minister of

Commerce, Dr. Enamur

Rahman, State Minister of

Disaster Management,

Governor (Elect)

Ashrafuzzaman Nannu,

former Governors and

other leaders.

Holger Knaack said the

world's largest Rotary

International would

provide more assistance to

Bangladesh

in

implementing future

humanitarian programs.

The ministers said it was

not possible for the

government to solve all the

problems. Rotary's work in

various natural calamities

including floods and

corona is commendable.

Regarding the Tk. 100

crore spent by Rotary for

public welfare in the last

financial year, the

ministers said it would

inspire other individuals,

organizations and

institutions.

The speakers called

upon the rich to stand by

the helpless people of the

country. They also

mentioned the need to

support Rotary's social

activities.

Classes of Haji Yunus

Ali School and College

resumes today

SAVAR : The teachersstudents

of Haji Yunus Ali

School and College in

Ashulia on Friday assured

the police of resuming the

class-activity from today

as the classes was stopped

in protest of the murder of

a teacher Utpal Kumar

Sarkar.

The decision was

announced after a viewexchanging

meeting

among teachers, students

of that school and Dhaka

District Police here.

Dhaka District

Superintendent of Police

Maruf Hossain Sardar was

present as the chief guest

at the meeting.

At the meeting, teachers

and students thanked the

police force as they

arrested the killer Jitu

quickly.

Jitu attacked on teacher

Utpal Kumar Sarkar with a

cricket stamp, striking him

on head indiscriminately

on the school field on June

25.

Utpal succumbed to his

injuries at Enam Medical

College Hospital on June

27.

Man held

with yaba in

Habiganj

HABIGANJ : Rapid Action

Battalion in a drive

arrested a man with 865

pieces of yaba tablets from

Madhobpur upazila of the

district on Thursday night.

The detainee was

identified as Sohel Mia, 28,

hailed from Bengaduba

village in the upazila.

Media Officer of RAB-9

Assistant Police Super

Soumen Mujumder said on

information they

conducted a raid at

Bengaduba village

Thursday night and

nabbed him with the yaba

tablets.

Later, Sohel Mia was

handed over to

Madhobpur Thana police.

Martin Raiser appointed

WB VP for South Asia

DHAKA : The World Bank (WB) has

appointed Martin Raiser, an economist and

development expert with almost two

decades of experience at the World Bank

Group, as its new Vice-President (VP) for

the South Asian region.

As the regional Vice President for South

Asia, Raiser will manage Bank relations

with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,

India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri

Lanka and oversee a portfolio of projects,

technical assistance and financial resources

worth almost US$55 billion, said a press

release.

"The World Bank has been a steadfast

partner in South Asia as the region faces

multiple crises, including the COVID-19

pandemic," said Raiser.

"I look forward to working together with

countries in the region to help address

these challenges while laying the

foundations and capitalizing on the

opportunities for green, resilient and

inclusive growth," he added.

Under Raiser's leadership, the World

Bank will continue to support the South

Asian region to address different macro,

On Thursday, Katiadi upazila administration organized a training workshop

at upazila parishad conference room yesterday on tobacco control.

Photo : Shah Sarwar Jahan

GD-1216/22 (6x3)

health and humanitarian crises while

advancing human capital development,

supporting climate resilience and

facilitating regional integration and

cooperation, according to the release.

Raiser has held several leadership

positions in the organisation. Prior to his

current role, he served as the World Bank's

Country Director for China and Mongolia,

and Director for Korea.

He has also held positions as the Country

Director for Brazil, Türkiye, Ukraine,

Belarus and Moldova as well as Country

Manager in Uzbekistan.

Before joining the World Bank, Raiser

worked for the Kiel Institute of World

Economics and the European Bank for

Reconstruction and Development, where

he was Director of Country Strategy and

Editor of the Transition Report.

A German national, Raiser holds a

doctorate degree in Economics from the

University of Kiel, Germany, and degrees in

Economics and Economic History from the

London School of Economics and Political

Sciences.His appointment is effective from

July 1, 2022, the release added.

Two-day robotics fair

ends at RUET

RAJSHAHI : A two-day robotics fair named

"Robotronics 2.0" ended at Rajshahi

University of Engineering and Technology

(RUET) on Thursday night with the call for

more expansion of robotic study and research.

Organised by the Department of

Mechatronics Engineering of RUET, the fair

was held here for the second time aimed at

creating a platform for robotics enthusiasts to

express their ideas, strengthen their working

skills in interactive sectors like electrical,

electronics, programming, communication

and control. The event made a platform for

the enthusiasts of robotics, electronics,

programming and mechanics. Officials from

renowned companies also enlightened the

event. Professor Emeritus of the Department

of Physics in Rajshahi University Arun Kumar

Bosak addressed the closing and prize-giving

ceremony as the chief guest while RUET Vicechancellor-in-Charge

Prof Selim Hossain

spoke as special guest with Head of the

Department Prof Sajal Kumar Das in the

chair.Students Welfare Director Prof Rabiul

Awal also spoke.In the fair, there were

varieties of robot-related events such as Robo

Wrestling, Mud Rover, Speed Battle, Poster

Presentation and Project Showcasing.

Dividing into 79 teams, around 300

students of 35 front-ranking universities from

across the country took part in the two day

fair-cum-competition.

Three winning teams were awarded with

prize money and certificates.

In his remarks, Prof Arun Bosak said the

importance and area of robotic study and

research has gradually been increasing across

the world. Tendency of using robots is

mounting in various fields from family to state

level, he added.

He hoped that the event will play a pivotal

role in preparing and expanding fields of

robotic study and research in Bangladesh.

Wide-ranging expansion of modern

information and communication technology

is very important to make the nation happy,

prosperous, educated and free from illiteracy,

he further said.

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SATURdAy, JUly 2, 2022

3

US President Joe Biden said the possibility of a chemical attack is a "real threat".

Photo: Reuters

NATO summit concludes amid

criticisms of bloc's aggression

MADRID: The 2022 Summit of the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(NATO) wrapped up here on Thursday

amid mounting criticisms of the

military alliance's increasingly

aggressive and destabilizing security

policies unveiled at the meeting,

reports UNB.

Twenty-two NATO members on

Thursday agreed to launch the NATO

Innovation Fund, a multi-sovereign

venture capital fund that will invest 1

billion euros (1.05 billion U.S. dollars)

in startups and other venture capital

funds developing emerging

technologies for both civilian and

military use.

NATO Secretary General Jens

Stoltenberg said at the fund's signing

ceremony that it would help transform

NATO's security environment and

strengthen its innovation ecosystem.

The fund's launch is the latest in a

long list of provocative security policies

adopted at the two-day NATO meeting.

NATO leaders on Wednesday agreed

to strengthen the alliance's forward

defenses, enhance the bloc's

battlegroups on its eastern flank and

increase the number of high readiness

forces to over 300,000.

On the same day, they approved the

military bloc's new strategic concept,

which calls Russia the "most significant

and direct threat" to NATO's security

and unjustly accuses China of posing

"systemic challenges."

NATO also invited Finland and

Sweden to join the alliance on

Wednesday.

In an explicit move to meddle in the

regional affairs of the Asia-Pacific,

NATO invited the leaders of Japan, the

Republic of Korea, Australia and New

Zealand to attend its summit for the

first time.

The four Asia-Pacific countries held a

four-way meeting on the sidelines of

the NATO Summit to discuss

strengthening ties with the alliance.

The United States, Japan and the

Republic of Korea also held a trilateral

meeting on the sidelines to discuss

issues related to the Democratic

People's Republic of Korea.

While Stoltenberg insisted that the

NATO meeting was focused on

"transforming and strengthening" the

alliance for the security of its members,

analysts and officials from non-NATO

countries have said that NATO is

inciting bloc confrontation with an

outdated Cold War mentality.

Chinese Foreign Ministry

spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Thursday

condemned NATO's new strategic

concept, saying the document distorts

facts, smears China's foreign policy,

makes irresponsible remarks on

China's normal military development

and national defense policy,

encourages confrontation and conflicts,

and is full of Cold War mentality and

ideological bias.

Zhao added that NATO claims to be a

regional and defensive organization,

but in fact, it has been transgressing

regions and fields, constantly waging

wars and killing civilians, and now

NATO has extended its reach to the

Asia-Pacific region in an attempt to

export the Cold War mentality.

Gilbert Achcar, a professor of

development studies and international

relations with the School of Oriental

and African Studies at the University of

London, told Xinhua on Thursday that

NATO's new strategic concept shows

the alliance is "going far beyond the

area of NATO into the Asia-Pacific."

"NATO has always been used by the

United States as a tool to perpetuate its

hegemony," Achcar added. "The United

States is trying to push Europe to take

part in its own policies, including in

East Asia."

New Zealand secures major

FTA deal with EU

WELLINGTON: New Zealand and

the European Union have concluded

negotiations on a major free trade

agreement (FTA), which covers

market access into 27 European

countries and removes duties on the

majority of products New Zealand

exports, reports UNB.

"Our EU-NZ FTA is expected to

increase the value of New Zealand's

exports to the EU by up to 1.8 billion

NZ dollars (1.12 billion U.S. dollars)

per year from 2035," New Zealand

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said

on Friday after the FTA signing in

Brussels.

"It's a strategically important and

economically beneficial deal that

comes at a crucial time in our

export-led COVID-19 recovery,"

Ardern said in a statement. The deal

delivers tangible gains for exporters

into a restrictive agricultural market.

It cuts costs and red tape for

exporters and opens up new highvalue

market opportunities, she said.

This is the fifth FTA New Zealand

has concluded in the past five years

and sits alongside upgrades to the

existing agreements with China and

Singapore, she said, adding that the

increase in market access means

73.5 percent the goals need more

ambitious and urgent action to

reduce the biggest risks such as

speeding, and increased financing

for sustainable and safe

infrastructure and investments in

cleaner mobility and greener urban

planning, the of New Zealand's

global exports are now covered by an

FTA, up from around 50 percent five

years ago.

The deal provides duty-free access

on 97 percent of the New Zealand's

existing goods trade to the EU

within seven years, 91 percent from

day one, said New Zealand Trade

and Export Growth Minister

Damien O'Connor.

However, the meat and dairy

industries, two of New Zealand's

major export sectors, were

disappointed as their gains in the

trade deal were very limited.

The EU is New Zealand's fourthlargest

trading partner with twoway

goods and services trade worth

17.5 billion NZ dollars (10.9 billion

U.S. dollars).

The New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, and her Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison.

The two countries have announced they are beginning free trade talks with the UK. Photo: AP

UN chief calls for more

holistic approach to

road safety

UNITED NATIONS: UN

Secretary-General Antonio

Guterres called for a more

holistic approach to road

safety, reports UNB.

He made the remarks at a

high-level meeting of the UN

General Assembly on

improving road safety on

Thursday .

Guterres said that road

fatalities are closely linked to

poor infrastructure,

unplanned urbanization, lax

social protection and health

care systems, limited road

safety literacy and persistent

inequalities both within and

between countries.

Meanwhile, he pointed out

that unsafe roads are a key

obstacle to development.

"Traffic accidents can

push entire families into

poverty through either the

loss of a breadwinner or the

costs associated with lost

income and prolonged

medical care," he said,

noting that developing

countries lose between 2 and

5 percent of GDP every year

because of them.

UN agencies have set goals

of cutting road traffic deaths

and injuries by half by 2030

and promote sustainable

mobility with safety at its

core.

To achieve the goals need

more ambitious and urgent

action to reduce the biggest

risks such as speeding, and

increased financing for

sustainable and safe

infrastructure and

investments in cleaner

mobility and greener urban

planning, the UN chief said.

"And we need to adopt a

more holistic approach to

road safety," he stated.

"This means better

integrating road safety in

national policies - from

education, health, and

transport to climate

mitigation, land-use

planning, and disaster

response," he said.

The secretary-general

called on all member states

to accede to UN road safety

conventions and implement

whole-of-society

action

plans, taking a strong

prevention approach.

He also urged all donors to

scale up much-needed

financial and technical

contributions through the

UN Road Safety Fund.

"Together, we can save

lives, support development,

and steer our world to safer

roads ahead, leaving no one

behind," he said.

Nuclear power can

secure energy

transitions: IEA reports

PARIS: The International

Energy Agency (IEA)

outlined that nuclear power

can help countries in

securing energy transitions,

reports UNB.

In its report titled "Nuclear

Power and Secure Energy

Transitions: From Today's

Challenges to Tomorrow's

Clean Energy Systems," the

IEA on Thursday said that

nuclear power can "reduce

reliance on imported fossil

fuels, cut carbon dioxide

emissions and enable

electricity systems to

integrate higher shares of

solar and wind power."

Without nuclear power,

the costs and complications

for building systems for

energy transitions are

important, the IEA noted.

A total of 32 countries

have nuclear plants and

nuclear power is the second

largest source of low

emissions power after

hydropower, the IEA said.

According to the IEA, with

the peak of oil, gas and

electricity prices, nuclear

power is "likely to be further

stimulated."

"In today's context of the

global energy crisis,

skyrocketing fossil fuel

prices, energy security

challenges and ambitious

climate commitments, I

believe nuclear power has a

unique opportunity to stage

a comeback," IEA Executive

Director Fatih Birol said in

the press release.

California first to cover health

care for all immigrants

SACRAMENTO: California will become the

first state to guarantee free health care for all

low-income immigrants living in the country

illegally, a move that will provide coverage

for an additional 764,000 people at an

eventual cost of about $2.7 billion a year,

reports UNB.

It's part of a $307.9 billion operating

budget that Gov. Gavin Newsom was

expected to sign Thursday. It pledges to

make low-income adults eligible for the

state's Medicaid program by 2024,

regardless of their immigration status. It's a

long-sought victory for health care and

immigration activists, who have been asking

for the change for more than a decade.

Nationwide, federal and state

governments join together to give free health

care to low-income adults and children

through Medicaid. But the federal

government won't pay for people who are

living in the country illegally. Some states,

including California, have used their own tax

dollars to cover a portion of health care

expenses for some low-income immigrants.

Now, California wants to be the first to do

that for everyone.

About 92% of of Californians currently

have some form of health insurance, putting

the state in the middle of the pack nationally.

But that will change once this budget is fully

implemented, as adults living in the country

illegally make up one of the largest group of

people without insurance in the state.

"This will represent the biggest expansion

of coverage in the nation since the start of the

Affordable Care Act in 2014," said Anthony

Wright, executive director of Health Access

California, a statewide consumer health care

advocacy group. "In California we recognize

(that) everybody benefits when everyone is

covered."

People living in the country illegally made

up about 7% of the population nationwide in

2020, or about 22.1 million people,

according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a

health care nonprofit. They are not eligible

for most public benefit programs, even

though many have jobs and pay taxes.

Immigrants have slowly been getting

access to some health care programs.

Eighteen states now provide prenatal care to

people regardless of their immigration

status, while the District of Columbia and

five states - California, Illinois, New York,

Oregon and Washington - cover all children

from low-income families regardless of their

immigration status. California and Illinois

have expanded Medicaid to cover older adult

immigrants.

In California, Republicans and

conservative groups have opposed

expanding health care to immigrants living

in the country illegally. Jon Coupal,

president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers

Association, said offering free health care will

make California "a magnet for those who are

not legally authorized to enter the country."

"I think many of us are very sympathetic to

the immigrant community, but we really

wish we had better control of who enters this

nation and this state," Coupal said.

California's expansion of Medicaid won't

be easy. A confluence of events, including the

state's slow rollout of the expansion and the

end of some federal pandemic policies, mean

about 40,000 low-income immigrants will

likely lose their health coverage for up to a

year in 2023 before being eligible to get it

back - illustrating the difficulty of navigating

the government-run health insurance

system that is supposed to make it easier for

people to get coverage.

Beatriz Hernandez came to the United

States in 2007 as a 11-year-old. California

taxpayers covered her health care expenses

when she was a child. She lost that coverage

once she turned 19 because of her

immigration status, but it was restored in

2020 when the state began covering lowincome

immigrants 26 and younger.

Hernandez turned 26 in February. She

hasn't lost her coverage yet because of

emergency federal rules during the

pandemic. But those rules could expire

later this year, making her one of the

estimated 40,000 people who will

temporarily lose their coverage before

California's new program starts on Jan. 1,

2024, according to an analysis by the

nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.

Hernandez lives in Merced in California's

Central Valley and works as an organizer

with the California Immigrant Policy

Center. She said her mother would benefit

the most from the expansion, having never

had health insurance since moving to the

U.S.

But for Hernandez, she's worried a gap in

her coverage would cause her to lose access

to the medication she takes to treat

depression. In the meantime, she's

scheduling as many appointments as she

can this year - including for the dentist,

optometrist and dermatologist - before she

loses coverage.

California Governor Gavin Newsom presented his 2021-2022 state budget plan at a

news conference in Sacramento .

Photo: AP

Hong Kong fishermen keep old

ways, 25 years after handover

HONG KONG: Ng Koon-yau calmly pilots his

small fishing boat through the azure waters of

the South China Sea. The 79-year-old has

been fishing ever since he can remember,

reports UNB.

Ng and his 76-year-old brother Ng Koonhee

came to Hong Kong from Taishan in

Guangdong province, across the border in the

Chinese mainland, as youngsters in the 1950s.

So did many others who settled in Hong Kong

after the 1949 communist revolution, when

the territory was a colony of Great Britain.

The move to Hong Kong was so long ago

that the Ngs don't remember exactly when

they arrived in Tai O, a remote and scenic

fishing village on the west side of Hong Kong's

Lantau Island.

They've worked side-by-side all along,

largely unaffected by decades of political

change, including campaigns that sometimes

spilled into the territory from the Chinese

mainland.

Many in Hong Kong worry that communistruled

China is exerting ever more control over

semi-autonomous Hong Kong, contrary to

promises from Beijing to respect Hong Kong's

civil liberties and its semi-autonomous status

for 50 years after Britain handed the city to

China 25 years ago, on July 1, 1997.

But Ng Koon-yau is fine with Beijing being

in charge.

"Hong Kong is part of China, and I've

never thought of moving anywhere else," he

said. "I hope that China will make Hong

Kong a better place, where everyone can

prosper. For us in Tai O, we wouldn't think

of moving away to live anywhere else."

Tai O's homes perched on stilts above its

small harbor, are a picturesque remnant of

skyscraper-studded Hong Kong's past.

Hundreds of years ago, before the British

colonists arrived in the mid-1800s, fishing

was a way of life here and in other villages in

the Pearl River Delta region.

But small-scale coastal fishing is a dying

industry in Hong Kong.

The Ngs used to ply the seas in a big vessel,

netting thousands of fish a day. Now they

keep only a small boat and haul in small

catches.

"Now there are fewer and fewer fish for us

to catch. The waters in the Pearl River Delta

and around Guangdong are so polluted, so

there are fewer fish," Ng Koon-yau said.

Younger Hong Kongers are moving on.

"In the 1960s, there were more than

10,000 people living here, but the

population has been gradually falling, with

the young people going off to work in the

city," Ng said.

"My sons have gone off to work in the city.

Now it's just us old people, and only about

2,000-3,000 living here," he said.

Tourism is now a big business for Tai O's

remaining residents: Selling dried fish

snacks and prawn sauce to visitors and

running sightseeing boats. One of the

attractions is to catch a sight of a pink

dolphin. Dwindling like the Tai O villagers,

some of the special dolphins are still left,

sometimes breaking the sea's surface within

view of the skyscrapers of the city.

SATURDAy, JULy 2, 2022

4

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com

Saturday, July 2, 2022

Upgrading keeping

of land records

The disputes over land involve the

greatest number of civil and criminal

cases in the country. Litigation over

land claims, ownerships and related

incidents keep engaged the greater part of

the capacities of the country's legal

systems. The amounts drained by litigants

in such land related hassles are also very

great. It would be possible to save a great

deal of precious resources as well as

energies and time both by individuals and

the legal system if these land related legal

and illegal disputes could be far limited in

number. But the doing of it requires

indispensably the upgrading of the land

administration or essentially the keeping,

using and retrieving land related various

records.

Presently, such records are kept in

primitive conditions by today's global

standards. Leaking roofs in ill maintained

record rooms destroy hand written records

of decades ago from wetting and

dampening. Besides, the present mode of

keeping the records provides lucrative

opportunities to their keepers in wasting

time in the name of searching for them and

also to tamper with them for the pecuniary

gains. The media reported recently how

records even disappear from record rooms

or falsified records are authenticated and

given in response to bribes to

unscrupulous record room keepers.

In fact, the entire system of land recording

and using the same is shot through with

scopes for corruption and taking of bribes .

Surveys to determine land ownership are

carried out at very long intervals but the

final records are not made available

promptly. Thus, the results of such surveys

carried out soon after the independence of

Bangladesh are yet to be finally published

and titles to property declared against the

new owners properly from changes of

ownership due to sale or inheritance.

For example, the Dhaka City Survey from

the land office was carried out more than a

decade ago. Its results were published and

circulated some years ago. But it is not

being enforced on flimsy grounds in many

cases. So, why was this survey conducted

anyway ? This situation provides the

opportunity to land office officials to

demand for mutation in each case of

registration and they make money under

the table from providing such dubious

mutation certificates that in turn

understandably lead to many litigations

later on. But all of these scopes for bribery

and paving the way for litigations can be

avoided from timely completion of survey

and publication quickly and 'finally' the

results and their strict enforcement at the

fastest.

Only a digitalized or computerized

manner of keeping land records for all

categories of users can be the effective

solution to many crimes, corruption and

troubles faced in this area. But the

digitalization process will not be completed

before the scheduled date of June 2024. So,

it needs to be expedited .

Government potentates say that they are

very keen for 'digital Bangladesh', a pet

slogan of the ones in power. But the greatest

awaiting field to benefit directly from

digitalization is the land records keeping

apparatuses. Clearly, the outmoded

processes need to give way to complete

digitalization at the soonest. A

comprehensive plan should be prepared for

the purpose and funds placed and utilized at

an early date for the plan to be implemented

all over the country at the soonest.

South China Sea: What could go wrong?

The Southeast Asian region is on

tenterhooks anticipating how rapidly

deteriorating US-China relations will

manifest in the South China Sea. There is

much that could go wrong and precious

little that could go right.

US-China relations are now the worst

since US president Richard Nixon opened

up modern relations in 1972. Both realize

their relationship is "defined by a

competition between different government

systems - authoritarianism and liberal

democracy." Worse, their conflicting ideas

of "the international order" and interests -

and their strategies to further them - are

coming face to face in the South China Sea.

Perhaps the most dangerous current

flashpoint is that exacerbated by intensified

Chinese military activities - especially those

of its air force - to the southwest of Taiwan

in what Taipei claims is its Air Defense

Identification Zone. This is likely a response

to recently enhanced US political and

military support for Taiwan.

In the early stages of a conflict, Taiwan's

military outposts on Pratas or Taiping in the

South China Sea could be targets. Taiwan's

response, with possible US backing, would

make them tripwires for a US-China clash.

Although this flashpoint is driven by China's

red lines on what it views as Taiwan's

movement toward independence, a military

confrontation could draw in US forces in

and near the South China Sea, setting off a

wider conflict.

Other possible triggers are embedded in

the conflicting claims to rocks, ocean space

and resources and the US public

commitment to back China's rival claimants

in the face of what it calls Beijing's

"bullying." China is baring its teeth. Rival

claimants are recoiling in fear and defiance.

The US is taking political advantage by

verbally supporting the "victims" of China's

actions. But in doing so, the US is making it

more difficult to demur or refuse requests

for military help from friends, partners and

allies that are being intimidated by China.

In one hypothetical scenario, the US is

dragged into a kinetic conflict with China

via its 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the

Philippines. The new Philippine leader,

On June 14, the Indian government

introduced the Agnipath scheme. The

new program aims to enroll youth

aged between 17 and a half and 21 years into

the Armed Forces for a service duration of

four years.

Briefing media in New Delhi along with all

three service chiefs, Defense Minister Rajnath

Singh told reporters that the youth selected

under this scheme will be titled "Agniveers."

After the completion of their four-year terms,

25% of the Agniveers will be retained or reenlisted

in the regular cadre, while the

remaining 75% of will be demobilized with an

exit package.

The soldiers will go through training for six

months and then will be deployed for three

and a half years. They will get a monthly

starting salary of 30,000 rupees (US$383),

along with additional benefits, which will go

up to 40,000 rupees by the end of the fouryear

service. The new Agnipath scheme will

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr - eager to

show his mettle and under pressure from

Americanophile military leaders - decides to

use the Philippine navy and coast guard to

confront the Chinese navy or coast guard.

A clash ensues. The Philippines asks its

US ally for backup. The US then has to

choose between a military clash with China

or losing its credibility in the region.

Similar situations could arise with other

rival claimants. In April 2020, the US sent

warships to back up a Malaysian-sponsored

oil rig being intimidated in Malaysia's

exclusive economic zone by a Chinese

government survey ship accompaniment by

several China coast guard ships. The US

Pacific Fleet commander, Admiral John

Aquilino, justifying the action, said: "The

Chinese Communist Party must end its

pattern of bullying Southeast Asians."

Other scenarios involve a clash arising

from US freedom of navigation operations

(FONOPs) challenging China's claims in the

South China Sea.

In October 2018, during a FONOP, there

was a near collision between the US

destroyer Decatur and a Chinese warship.

The Pentagon accused the PLA Navy of

"using an unsafe and unprofessional

maneuver" forcing the Decatur to change

course to avoid a collision. But China

believes that US FONOPs are a threat to its

sovereignty, integrity and security.

Then there is the constant danger of

another serious international incident

involving US and allies' close-in air, surface

and subsurface intelligence-gathering

probes along China's coasts. China

Agnipath scheme sheds doubt on India’s future

only be applicable for personnel lower than

officer rank.

The government's argument for such

radical reform is to cut the military's

expenditure on ballooning salaries and

pensions - which consume more than half of

the defense budget - and free up funds to

modernize the forces as well as "enhance the

youthful profile of the Armed Forces."

As soon as the program was announced,

massive protests began across all parts of

India. Taking objection to some of its

conditions, army aspirants and students have

been agitating in 11 states including Delhi,

Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar, Haryana,

Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya

Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand and Assam.

More than 60 railway coaches and 11 train

engines, tens of police vehicles, and

government buses have been set on fire all

across India.

In the southern state of Telangana, one

MARK VALENCIA

RAVI KANT

complains that they are a threat to its

security and sends warships and warplanes

to warn them off.

In 2001 a US intelligence plane and a

Chinese fighter jet collided off Hainan. The

Chinese jet crashed into the sea, killing the

pilot, and the damaged US plane made an

emergency landing on Hainan. The region

and the world held their collective breath

while cooler heads negotiated the release of

the crew.

In October 2018, during a FONOP, there was a near

collision between the US destroyer Decatur and a

Chinese warship. The Pentagon accused the PLA

Navy of "using an unsafe and unprofessional

maneuver" forcing the Decatur to change course to

avoid a collision. But China believes that US FONOPs

are a threat to its sovereignty, integrity and security.

LUKE COFFEY

There have been several near misses since

then and it seems like it is only a matter of

time before another such serious incident.

Indeed, on June 5, the Australian Defense

Ministry stated that on May 26 "a Royal

Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8A

maritime surveillance plane was

intercepted by a Chinese J-16 fighter

aircraft during a routine maritime

surveillance activity in international

airspace in the South China Sea region."

Australian Defense Minister Richard

Marles said the Chinese aircraft flew very

close to the P-8A, released flares, and then

cut across its nose and released a "bundle of

chaff" that was ingested by the P-8A's

engines. Australia said this was "dangerous"

and "threatened the safety of the aircraft

and crew."

China's Defense Ministry responded that

"the Australian military aircraft seriously

threatened China's sovereignty and security

and the countermeasures taken by the

Chinese military were reasonable and

lawful."

The recent atmospherics of the US-China

relationship make such incidents more

person was killed, while eight others were

critically injured after police opened fire to

control an angry mob that went on a rampage

at Secunderabad railway station. They were

demanding a rollback of the scheme - a

demand refused by the central government.

In a bid to pacify protesters, the

government announced that candidates aged

up to 23 years could apply under the scheme

in the first year and proposed to reserve 10%

of vacancies in the Ministry of Defense for

Agniveers. But these concessions were not

enough to satisfy the student demands.

More than 50,000 candidates have already

cleared physical and medical tests and have

been waiting for their appointment letters.

This sudden announcement seriously dashes

the hopes of not only those candidates but

millions of aspirants from whom getting a job

in the Indian forces is a matter of great pride.

As the days passed, protests intensified

across the country, but the most affected

likely. At the June 10-12 Shangri-La

Dialogue dustup between US Defense

Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese

Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe, the

latter warned that US attempts to form

exclusive blocks to contain China would

"split the region and undermine the

interests of all."

He said: "If you want to talk, we should

talk with mutual respect. If you want to

engage, we should seek peaceful coexistence.

If you want to cooperate, we

should seek mutual benefits and win-win

results. However, if you want confrontation,

we will fight to the very end."

A basic problem is that the US refuses to

recognize China as a peer. As Sourabh

Gupta of the Institute for China America

Studies says, "This has as much to do with

the difference in political systems as it has to

do with white ethnocentrism."

The hard reality is that both China and the

US (and its allies) realize that their

relationship has become a battle for

regional and global supremacy. Given that

context, Southeast Asia should indeed be

worried.

The best that can be hoped for is a

continuation of the leaky status quo. The US

and China have recognized the fragility of

the situation and are scrambling to try to

stabilize relations by setting a "floor" and

"guardrails" to prevent an incident from

spiraling into a wider conflict. So far they

have not reached agreement on such

measures.

Time and patience are running out and

tension is mounting. Given China's

ambitions and the US unwillingness to

compromise and co-exist with China, the

region and humanity may well suffer a slowmotion

Armageddon. The South China Sea

is where it may begin, or be avoided.

Mark J Valencia is an internationally

recognized maritime policy analyst,

political commentator and consultant

focused on Asia. Most recently he was a

visiting senior scholar at China's National

Institute for South China Sea Studies and

continues to be an adjunct senior scholar

with the Institute.

regions were the northern states of Uttar

Pradesh and Bihar. Young guys with sticks

were seen smashing stores and benches at the

railway stations across both states for three

days.

Close to 500 trains were canceled,

Internet services in 20 districts were

temporarily shut down, and vandalism of

public property and attacks on police

officers were quite common.

Protesters scoffed at the rationale being

given for the scheme that it will cut down the

defense pension bill, saying such talk doesn't

hold merit in a country where you become

eligible for life-long pension upon becoming a

member of Parliament or of a state legislative

assembly even for one day.

Ravi Kant is a financial writer with a

deep passion for technology and economics,

and also covers international politics and

cyber security.

NATO’s chance to chart a new path for its future

NATO leaders will meet in Madrid next

week at a crucial time for the

transatlantic alliance. It will be their first

summit since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in

February and NATO's defeat and withdrawal

from Afghanistan last year.

The main focus of the meeting will be

Ukraine. Russia's invasion has completely

altered the geopolitical landscape of the

transatlantic community. The consequences of

this war will not be fully felt or understood for

years. The alliance will want to take steps to

deal with the fallout from the conflict and to

prepare for new security challenges in the

future.

Also, considering the fragile security

situation in Europe, it will be very important for

all 30 NATO members to show cohesion and

unity. While some who have cozy economic

relations with Russia have caused some bumps

in the road for the alliance, for the most part

NATO members have been unified in their

response to Russia.

So as the war rages, there are four issues that

will dominate the agenda at the summit.

First and foremost is agreeing on ways to

help Ukraine while deterring further

aggression in eastern Europe. Since Russia

invaded, many NATO members have stepped

up to the plate to provide weapons and

ammunition. They have also deployed forces to

eastern Europe to bolster the alliance's flank

there.

However, some have done more than others.

Poland and the UK have contributed billions of

dollars' worth of equipment to the Ukrainians.

Smaller countries such as Estonia are the

biggest providers of weapons and military

assistance on a per capita basis. But Germany,

Europe's largest economic power, has underdelivered

on military support. Expect the

summit to be used to secure more concrete

pledges from NATO members when it comes

to providing more weapons and munitions to

Ukraine, and new measures to strengthen the

alliance's eastern flank.

NATO has done more than any other

organization to promote democracy, peace and

security in Europe and the broader

transatlantic community

The second issue to watch is the publication

of NATO's new Strategic Concept, its first since

2010. Had it not been for Russia's invasion of

Ukraine, this would have been the big news

from the summit. The Strategic Concept is the

premier policy document to guide the alliance's

role into the future. The current version is

woefully out of date. In the past 12 years there

have been major geopolitical crises such as the

so-called Arab Spring and its aftermath,

NATO's intervention in Libya, the defeat in

Afghanistan, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the

rise of Daesh, the rise of China, and COVID-19.

None of these issues were addressed in the

2010 Strategic Concept in any meaningful way.

Although it is 40 pages long, the words

"pandemic" and "China" do not appear. Of

course, Russia will be the main focus of the new

document, but it will be equally interesting to

see how other issues such as China and

engagement with the Middle East will be

addressed.

Third will be Sweden and Finland's NATO

membership application. In the aftermath of

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the two Nordic

countries have formally applied to join the

Also, considering the fragile security situation in Europe, it

will be very important for all 30 NATO members to show

cohesion and unity. While some who have cozy economic

relations with Russia have caused some bumps in the road for

the alliance, for the most part NATO members have been

unified in their response to Russia.

alliance. This is a historic moment in European

security matters. Both countries possess robust

military capabilities and decades of experience

working as partners with NATO. For historical

and political reasons they have remained

militarily non-aligned, but their partnerships

with NATO are currently the closest of any

nonmember states and the close relations go

back decades. However, Turkey has been

hesitant to support their applications for

membership and any addition of new

members requires unanimity. Ankara has

legitimate concerns about members of the

outlawed Kurdish separatist PKK group being

protected in Sweden. It is likely that this issue

will eventually be resolved, but it will take time.

Expect it to be hotly debated behind closed

doors.

Finally, as always, spending will be on the

agenda. As an intergovernmental security

alliance, NATO is only as strong as its member

states. At the 2014 summit in Wales, they

recommitted to spending 2 percent of GDP on

defense by 2024. Since then, NATO defense

spending has steadily risen, particularly since

Russia's first invasion of Ukraine in 2014. In

2021, eight members hit the benchmark of

spending 2 percent of GDP on defense (in 2014

only three did so). Russia's invasion has been a

wake-up call, and several more NATO

members are expected to hit the benchmark

soon.Since its creation in 1949, NATO has done

more than any other organization to promote

democracy, peaceand security in Europe and

the broader transatlantic community.

Ensuring that NATO can face the challenges of

the 21st century while being able to support

Ukraine in its time of need will be the main

challenge of the meeting.

The Madrid summit offers an important

chance for NATO's leaders to chart a path for

the future. They should not squander this

opportunity.

Luke Coffey is the director of the Douglas

and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy

at the Heritage Foundation. Twitter:

@LukeDCoffey

SAturdAy, July 2, 2022

5

Some pandemic health habits that can be kept

lydiA hAleS

We're two and a half years into

the Covid-19 pandemic and it

seems other viruses are

making a grab for the

spotlight. There are outbreaks

of hand, foot and mouth

disease at childcare centres

across the Northern Territory

and north Queensland,

soaring influenza case

numbers, and the emergence

of monkeypox in Australia

(though experts say it's

unlikely to take off).

The good news is that

continuing some of the health

and hygiene habits adopted

because of Covid will also

reduce the risk of contracting

other lurgies, experts say.

Studies have shown the

number of people soaping

their hands after a trip to the

toilet was low before the

pandemic: around one in four

globally, and one in two in

areas with good access to

hand-washing facilities.

This led to a lot of (grubby)

finger-pointing early in the

pandemic, with a deluge of

public messaging and

awkward celebrity videos

emphasising the importance

of washing your hands

thoroughly with soap and

running water for 20 seconds,

or using hand sanitiser if you

can't get to a tap.

Dr Kerry Hancock, an

Adelaide-based GP with a

special interest in respiratory

medicine, says although it's

now known that Sars-CoV-2

mainly spreads through the

air, hand hygiene is the

"cornerstone" of infection

prevention - and a simple way

to cut transmission of other

viruses and bacteria.

"It's such an easy thing to do,

to keep washing or sanitising

our hands before we eat or

touch things … but anecdotally

I think people aren't as

fanatical about it as they were

six months ago, at the peak [of

Covid cases] in South

Australia."

Associate Prof Holly Seale,

an expert in perceptions and

behaviours regarding

infectious diseases from the

University of New South

Wales, notes most people are

taught from childhood about

hygiene in the context of

protecting themselves - but

hand hygiene goes both ways.

Making sure your hands are

clean before a trip to the shops

or a ride in an elevator is

"certainly about protecting

other people as well".

However, wearing gloves to

protect yourself from germs

on surfaces, such as

supermarket trolleys, is

unnecessary, Seale says.

"People who wear gloves are

less likely to wash their hands

and may be increasing their

risk because they think their

hands are clean." Seale

recommends everyone over

six months old get the

influenza vaccine, which in

2022 is protective against four

strains.

In 2021, Australia recorded

zero flu deaths, with federal

health data from January to

early November clocking only

598 confirmed cases. In

contrast, three people have

died from influenza this year

to-date, and more than 47,860

people have caught it. "We've

had a couple of years where flu

hasn't really been around, and

there's certainly concerns that

people have lower levels of

Natural ventilation, such as opening a window, can help with airflow, particularly

in residential settings.

Photo: iStockphoto

protection," Seale said.

The federal government

already foots the bill for a flu

vaccine for those at high risk,

but the jab has temporarily

been made free for the general

population by all state

governments - so everywhere

except the Northern Territory

and the ACT - at time of

writing.

Seale calls this "a great

initiative" and one that might

"really shift people into

considering flu vaccination as

part of their normal practice.

Because once you've received

it once, you're more likely to go

back and get it again."

It may be worth making the

jab free long-term, Seale adds.

Along with the flu vaccine,

Hancock urges that everyone

stay up to date with

vaccination against whooping

cough (pertussis), a "nasty

illness" that erupts in Australia

every few years.

One of the biggest lessons of

Covid-19 has been the

importance of unwell people

staying away from work and

social events, says Associate

Prof Sheena Sullivan, an

infectious

disease

epidemiologist at the Doherty

Institute.

She hopes employers will

lead by example, which might

mean helping staff work from

home if well enough, or

addressing cultural barriers to

using sick leave - such as fear

of "letting the team down". But

casualised workforces and

areas people can't work from

home continue to present a

"real risk" to disease control,

and must be addressed by

government, Sullivan says.

"It became clear early in the

pandemic that a lot of people

who work with some of the

most vulnerable in our

communities are part of this

large casualised workforce,

who don't have sick leave

entitlements, and are

disincentivised from taking

time off … that includes people

who work in aged care and

disability care, as well as other

essential services such as

meatpacking."

Sullivan hopes that when

people must go out while they

have respiratory symptoms,

there will be a long-term shift

towards wearing masks out of

courtesy to others.

"I work with people who

understand viruses quite well

so it's an unusual

environment - but there are

people who, if they know

someone in their family is

unwell or they have

symptoms themselves, they

start wearing an N95 while

they're at work."

Seale suggests employers

provide free surgical masks or

respirators in case staff are

caught out by newly

developing respiratory

symptoms while at work.

AShley BroAdwAter

Have you ever had a long

string of nightmares and

didn't know what was

causing them? It's

frustrating. Nighttime is

supposed to be the time to

relax and recharge for the

next day, and it's hard when

your fears and anxieties

come with you.

We talked to a couple of

experts about unexpected

culprits, and we have some

bad news: Some pretty

common, relatable factors

(listed below) can trigger

nightmares. But don't worry

too much - we'll also cover

tips that can help you enjoy

your life while decreasing

the chance of a nightmare.

A night out at the bar can

be a lot of fun, but it may not

be so great when you're

trying to sleep later. While

alcohol can help you sleep

deeply at first, "as the blood

alcohol level reduces, the

reverse happens: There is

more shallow sleep and

more frequent waking. This

can lead to more REM [or

rapid eye movement] sleep,

which triggers nightmares

and vivid dreams," said Phil

Lawlor, a sleep expert at the

mattress company Dormeo.

Antidepressants and

opioids can also increase the

frequency of bad dreams.

"While it is not entirely clear

why this happens - there's

still so much we don't

understand about the brain -

the increased level of

neurotransmitters, such as

dopamine, that these

substances provide, create

changes in the way we

dream, often leading to

more vivid dreaming and

thus more intense

nightmares," said Verena

Senn, a sleep expert with

Emma Sleep who has

researched sleep and the

brain for almost 15 years.

Melatonin, a supplement

that can help you fall asleep,

can also cause bad dreams.

(You just can't win, it

seems!) "There is no

conclusive evidence as to

how melatonin affects our

dreams; however, there are

connections to high levels of

melatonin causing

nightmares because you are

less likely to leave enough of

the transition time between

Sneaky causes of having

being awake and being

asleep," Lawlor explained.

The fix: You can still have

that glass of wine at night (if

that's healthy for you

otherwise). Just drink it at

least four hours before bed,

according to Lawlor.

Addressing the

medication and supplement

side is a little harder since

you may need those things

to function. Ultimately, talk

to your doctor. "I would

recommend discussing

these concerns with your

doctor, as they are bestplaced

to help you

understand your options,"

Senn said.

Yep, your bedtime snack

may hurt you, too. "This is

because your body will be

working hard to break down

food and will send signals to

your brain to be more active,

which may trigger

nightmares," Lawlor said.

"Additionally, food can

interrupt sleep patterns due

to night sweats and acid

reflux. Sugary treats and

spicy foods can trigger more

brain waves; they are

directly linked to being sleep

disruptions."

Senn agreed. "No matter

what we eat, the closer we

indulge to our sleep time, the

nightmares

harder our body will be

working to digest while we

rest. Eating in the hours

before sleep is a habit that

will certainly cause sleep

disturbances and can trigger

nightmares," she said.

The fix: Listen, if you're a

nighttime snacker, we hear

you. Eating something

before bed can be

comforting and help ensure

you fall and stay asleep. So

how can you have the best of

both worlds? The timing of

when you eat matters. Eat

your last meal two to three

hours before going to bed.

As far as choosing the right

foods, it's a bit of a guessing

game - but only a little bit.

"There is not conclusive

evidence to prove that there

are specific foods that

directly help sleep. That

said, there are foods that

have been proven to

promote sleep and make

people feel drowsy," Lawlor

said.

He recommended

proteins such as chicken,

turkey, nuts and seeds. He

also recommended teas,

such as chamomile tea and

green tea, to reduce stress.

Lastly, he encouraged

consulting with your

dietitian or doctor before

Sad woman suffering while layin in bed at night.

making any major changes

to your diet.

Ah yes, the trigger you

probably don't want in your

life to begin with.

"Anxiety and stress caused

from traumatic or worrying

situations can trigger

nightmares because your

subconscious mind will turn

fearful thoughts into a

fearful story, and unpleasant

story," Lawlor said.

"During sleep, there is

elevated limbic activity. …

The elevated limbic activity,

particularly in the amygdala

[which is the part of the

brain that deals with

emotions] during REM

sleep, may therefore

exacerbate the emotional

intensity experienced during

dreams, which can cause

nightmares," Senn

explained.

The fix: Lawlor suggested

getting enough sleep since

sleep deprivation can lead to

both stress and nightmares.

Senn suggested not

engaging with scary books,

movies or games before bed

since they can trigger your

body's fight-or-flight

response. (That's a no on

"Texas Chainsaw

Massacre.")

Photo: Getty

SydNi elliS

Memory is a fickle thing. For

example, you may remember

something significant that

happened a decade ago, but

not what you had for dinner

last Tuesday. Or maybe you

are simply forgetful with the

little things, like misplacing

your keys, reading texts but

forgetting to respond, or

losing track of appointments.

Everyone forgets things

every now and then, but if you

are often forgetful - with

important things just out of

grasp in your mind or words

right on the tip of your tongue

- it can feel debilitating and

beyond frustrating.

Although some memory loss

and forgetfulness is normal

with aging, according to the

National Institute on Aging,

some things can exacerbate

your forgetfulness no matter

your age.

"There are a number of

common habits that can make

us more forgetful," said

Michele Goldman, a

psychologist and Hope for

Depression Research

Foundation media adviser.

Below, experts explain

several things you may not

realize you're doing that affect

your memory. If you've been

feeling more forgetful lately,

then keep reading to see if

you've developed any of these

habits.

Sleep has many health

benefits, including improving

memory. Not sleeping enough

can affect your ability to learn

new things by up to 40%, and

it can affect the hippocampus

part of your brain, which is

responsible for making new

memories.

"Sleep allows our brains to

restore," Goldman said.

"Certain stages of sleep,

including REM sleep, are

specifically associated with

memory consolidation or the

process of newly learned

information

being

transformed into long-term

memory."

The Sleep Foundation

recommends adults get about

seven to nine hours of quality

sleep a night. Not getting

enough sleep or having poor

quality sleep can make us

more forgetful because "the

new information we learn is

not being stored in our longterm

memory and is more

likely to be forgotten or lost,"

Goldman said.

Julia Kogan, a health

psychologist in Florida and

creator of the Master Stress

Method, said sleep is related to

attention and focus - two

things that are critical when it

comes to memory.

"If we are skipping on sleep,

we are less likely to be

attentive, focused and

energetic," she said. "If we are

lacking attention, then we are

unlikely to be able to retain

information well. Therefore,

those who regularly skip sleep

are more likely to be forgetful

since the attention parts of

their brain, especially in the

prefrontal cortex, are not

going to be as sharp."

Kogan said forgetfulness is

often "an attention problem."

She explained that being

attentive and focused is an

important part of

remembering information.

"If we did not fully pay

attention, are distracted, or we

are not in a mental state to

retain information, then we

are not going to fully attend to

the information, resulting in

what looks like forgetfulness,"

Kogan added.

Distraction can also happen

when you multitask. "Working

on various tasks at the same

time can actually lead to less

productivity and more

forgetfulness," Kogan said.

She recommends focusing on

one thing at a time. One way to

do this is by time-blocking at

work by splitting tasks into

manageable activities with

small breaks.

"This might look like 45

minutes of a specific task with

no interruptions or other

tasks, followed by a 5-to-10-

Common behaviors that make people forgetful

experts break down the habits that can negatively impact your memory and offer solutions on how to sharpen

your mind.

minute break," Kogan said.

"Exercise is important for

your overall health, including

your memory," said Valentina

Dragomir, a psychotherapist

and founder of PsihoSensus

Therapy and PsihoSensus

Academy. "Exercise increases

blood flow to the brain and

helps to protect brain cells.

Also, there is [research] that

shows sedentary habits are

linked to thinning in some

brain regions that are

important for memory."

"Regular exercise ? not

necessarily strenuous exercise

? helps reduce the risk of a

number of common illnesses

that are linked to memory

loss, including high blood

pressure, high cholesterol, and

diabetes to name a few,"

Goldman added.

Have you recently started

taking a new medication? This

could be affecting your

memory, too. "Medicines like

antidepressants, allergy

medications, blood pressure

stabilizers, and more can

affect memory due to their

sedative properties," said

Sanam Hafeez, a

neuropsychologist, teaching

faculty member at Columbia

University, and founder and

director of Comprehensive

Consultation Psychological

Services, P.C.

Other medications that can

make you more forgetful

include benzodiazepines,

cholesterol-lowering drugs,

antiepileptic agents, narcotic

painkillers, antihypertensive

drugs, incontinence

medications, antihistamines

and more.

"Some medications only

impair your memory when

you are taking them, and

others can have more longlasting

effects," she noted.

Talking to your doctor and

finding the best medication for

you and your lifestyle will help.

"Alcohol can damage brain

cells and lead to memory

problems," Dragomir said.

"According to research, longterm

drinking causes the brain

to decrease in size."

Kogan said those with an

alcohol use disorder or those

who binge drink are more

likely to experience short- and

long-term memory loss.

"When drinking, alcohol

impacts the hippocampus,

which is largely responsible

for learning and memory,"

Photo: Collected

Kogan explained. "Alcohol can

impact how the nerves in the

hippocampus communicate,

leading to forgetfulness."

She added, "People who

drink heavily tend to be

deficient in certain vitamins

and other nutrients, which can

also lead to forgetfulness."

Smoking is another habit to

kick if you want to improve

your memory. "Smoking

damages brain cells and stops

new ones forming in the

hippocampus, which leads to

forgetfulness," Dragomir said.

She also cited a study in the

Journal of Neuroscience that

shows "chronic exposure to

nicotine might impair brain

mechanisms related to

learning and memory."

"Smoking can impair lung

and heart function, which

slows oxygen transport to the

brain," Hafeez added. "Less

oxygen in your brain can lead

to less brain function, causing

memory loss."

The THC in marijuana may

also impact learning and

memory. "Marijuana has been

shown to produce short-term

issues with working memory

specifically, as well as

attention," Kogan said. The

problem is worse the more you

smoke. "In heavy users, it has

been shown that marijuana

can cause issues with learning

and memory for weeks after

cannabis consumption."

Food can impact our brain

as well. "What we ingest

impacts how we feel

physically, mentally and

emotionally," Goldman said.

"A diet that is lacking balance

can impact the body in a

negative way."

If you are looking for foods

to boost brain function,

Harvard Medical School

suggests opting for leafy

vegetables, fatty fish, berries,

tea and coffee, and walnuts.

Hafeez recommends also

"consuming a diet rich in antiinflammatory

foods." These

include fruits, vegetables,

whole grains, legumes and

healthy fats, among others.

Organization is important

when it comes to memory.

"We are much more likely to

forget things when our

external environment is in

disarray," Goldman said. "A

chaotic, cluttered, or

disorganized environment

works for some, but not for

most individuals."

She recommends finding a

system that works for you.

"Keep a notebook, create a

schedule, get a calendar -

whatever the system, be

consistent and follow

through."

Part of being organized is

finding a placed for

everything, including those

often-misplaced keys. "Set

specific places for items to

decrease the chance you will

lose them; for example, the

keys go on a hook by the door,

they are not placed down

absentmindedly when we

walk in and drop our

belongings," Goldman added.

"Both anxiety and

depression can impair

concentration, making it more

difficult to attend to small

details," Goldman said. "It can

be challenging to remain

organized; we might be easily

overwhelmed and lack focus."

Trauma survivors in

particular "tend to have

impaired memory," according

to Goldman. "The nervous

system is in overdrive trying to

ensure safety and protection,

which means non-lifethreatening

details are more

likely to be forgotten."

"Because stress, anxiety,

and depression can impact

attention, learning, and

memory, it is very important

to address these concerns in

order to sharpen our

memory," Kogan added.

"Those struggling with anxiety

and depression should seek

evidence-based treatments,

such as cognitive behavioral

therapy or acceptance and

commitment therapy."

One of the best things you

can do to combat forgetfulness

is to stimulate your brain.

"Keeping your brain active by

learning new things, playing

games, reading, or other

stimulating activities is a way

to keep the 'muscles' of your

brain in shape," Goldman

said.

The American Psychological

Association recommends

taking "mental snapshots" of

things in life, like where you

parked, to pull up in your

brain when you forget. It also

suggests training your brain

through mnemonic devices

and vanishing cues or using

technology to help you

remember things.

"Think of your brain and

memory as something that

must be used and exercised

like any other part of the body

or it will atrophy," Hafeez said.

SATURDAY, jULY 2, 2022

6

IgaSwiatek and Rafael Nadal are the form players heading into Wimbledon.

Photo: AP

Nadal and Swiatek survive wobbles

to progress at Wimbledon

SPORTS DESK

Rafael Nadal was again forced to dig

deep to reach the Wimbledon third

round on Thursday as women's top

seed IgaSwiatek survived a stumble to

win her 37th match on the spin, reports

UNB.

The Spanish second seed, chasing a

calendar Grand Slam, recovered from

losing the third set for the second

straight match to beat Lithuanian

journeyman RicardasBerankis 6-4, 6-

4, 4-6, 6-3. Earlier, Spanish 17th seed

Roberto Bautista Agut became the

third potential dangerman in Nadal's

half of the draw to pull out with

coronavirus, following the withdrawals

of 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini

and 2017 finalist Marin Cilic.

Nadal has also benefited from a shock

first-round exit for Canada's sixth seed

Felix Auger-Aliassime, who took him to

five sets at the French Open.

Nadal looked comfortable in the first

two sets against Berankis but was

broken in his first service game of the

third set and could not claw his way

back.

But the Spaniard regrouped and

raced into a 3-0 lead in the fourth set,

sealing the match with an ace after it

resumed under the roof following a

sharp rain shower.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion,

More than 80 arrests

over Morocco football

violence

SPORTS DESK

Moroccan police have

arrested more than 80

football fans after violence

broke out following soccer

championship matches in

Casablanca and Oujda, local

media reported Thursday,

reports BSS.

In Casablanca, police

arrested 45 people on

Wednesday night, including

31 minors, suspected of

committing "acts of

violence" and "causing

material damage to public

property," according to

police sources quoted by

Moroccan media.

The incidents took place

during and after a match

between Raja of Casablanca

and the Royal Armed Forces

(FAR) team, they said,

adding that four police

officers were injured by

stone-throwing and two cars

were damaged.

In the western city of

Oujda, 39 supporters were

arrested Wednesday night

for acts of "violence", "theft"

or "possession of bladed

weapons" on the sidelines of

the match between

Mouloudia of Oujda and

Wydad of Casablanca,

media reports said.

The clashes saw 69 police

officers lightly injured and a

guard hospitalised.

The incidents come after

March football violence in

Rabat and Agadir that led to

eight fans receiving prison

terms ranging from four

months to one year.

Moroccan football has

seen several such incidents

of violence in recent years,

often involving ultras

supporting Casablanca's two

main teams, Wydad and

Raja.

who has not played at Wimbledon since

reaching the 2019 semi-finals,

admitted he needed to step up his game

as he prepares to face Italy's Lorenzo

Sonego.

"I didn't play much on grass in three

years," he said. "It gives me the chance

to keep going, so very happy for that.

"I need to improve. The fourth set

was much better.... I have to keep

working, be humble, even when things

are not going well."

StefanosTsitsipas and Australian

maverick Nick Kyrgios remain two of

Nadal's biggest challenges and they will

meet in a mouthwatering contest on

Saturday. Kyrgios was on his best

behaviour on court as he steamrollered

Serbian 26th seed Filip Krajinovic 6-2,

6-3, 6-1 in just 85 minutes.

The 27-year-old, who made the

quarter-finals on debut at the All

England Club in 2014, did not face a

single break point.

"I just wanted to remind everyone

that I am pretty good," he said. "I was

nowhere near my best in the first round

but today I was in my zone."

Kyrgios's five-set opening win over

Paul Jubb of Britain was marred by his

admission that he spat in the direction

of fans, accusing them of being

disrespectful.

"There was just nothing the media

possibly could tell me I did wrong

today," he said. "I just know that you

can't possibly ask me anything and stir

anything up." Late Thursday, Kyrgios

was fined $10,000 for Tuesday's

incidents.

Fourth seed Tsitsipas had few

problems in defeating Australia's

Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.

"I feel like everyone here knows who

Nick is," said the Greek player.

"We have had many great matches

against each other. I respect him for his

game and the way he fights when he

wants to."

Swiatek streak -

Poland's Swiatek needed just over

two hours to see off Dutch lucky loser

Lesley PattinamaKerkhove 6-4, 4-6, 6-

3.

Swiatek was in early trouble before

winning four games in a row to take the

first set but went down a break in the

second and could not recover.

In the end, though, Swiatek took

charge in the decider, breaking for a 3-

1 lead and closing out the match.

She surpasses Monica Seles' 36-

match winning streak from 1990 and

matches Martina Hingis's 37-match

winning run from the beginning of the

1997 season.

"I would say the grass is pretty tricky

for me, I'm not going to lie," said

Swiatek, who faces France's Alize

Cornet next.

Kevin Durant asks for trade

from Brooklyn Nets

SPORTS DESK

Kevin Durant may be taking his quest for

more titles elsewhere. Durant has requested

a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, according to

a person with direct knowledge of the

decision that undoubtedly will have teams

scrambling to put together offers for the

perennial All-Star, reports UNB.

The Nets have been working with Durant

to find a trade partner, and he has multiple

teams on his preferred list, according to the

person who spoke to The Associated Press

on condition of anonymity Thursday

because neither the player nor Brooklyn

revealed any details publicly.

ESPN first reported Durant's trade

request, citing Phoenix and Miami as two of

his preferred destinations. The bombshell

came just hours before the NBA's free-agent

period for this summer was set to begin. The

news also came exactly three years to the day

after Durant announced that he was joining

Brooklyn in a social-media post - a move that

came June 30, 2019.

Durant is a 12-time All-Star, four-time

scoring champion, three-time Olympic gold

medalist and two-time NBA champion -

those rings coming with Golden State, the

team he was with before joining Brooklyn.

He has four years and nearly $200 million

remaining on his contract, which means that

it may take a haul of players, draft picks or

possibly both for a team to acquire him.

Durant has played 14 seasons, not

including one year when he sat out while

recovering from a torn Achilles. He has

averaged 27.2 points in his career - over that

span, only LeBron James, at 27.3 points per

game, has averaged more.

And even at his age - Durant will turn 34

on Sept. 29, around the time training camps

open this fall - he is still one of the best

players in the game, his 6-foot-10 frame

making his jump shot almost unstoppable by

any defender.

Durant spent three seasons with Brooklyn,

not playing in the first of those years while he

recovered from the Achilles injury. He

averaged 29.9 points in 55 games last season,

after leading the U.S. to Olympic gold at the

Tokyo Games last summer.

United States' Kevin Durant (7) is a 12-time All-Star, four-time scoring champion,

three-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time NBA champion. Photo: AP

FIFA lifts

Pakistan football

suspension

SPORTS DESK

FIFA, the governing body of

world football, said on

Thursday that it had lifted

its suspension of the

Pakistan Football

Federation (PFF) imposed

for "undue third-party

interference, reports UNB."

Pakistan was suspended

in April 2021 after a dispute

over a 'normalisation

committee' imposed by

FIFA to ensure its rules

were being followed.

FIFA had refused to

recognise the 2018 election

of Ashfaq Hussain Shah as

president of the PFF.

They suspended Pakistan

after Hussain Shah briefly

threw the normalisation

committee out of PFF

headquarters.

That suspension was

lifted by the Bureau of the

FIFA Council on

Wednesday.

"The decision was taken

after FIFA received

confirmation that the

normalisation committee of

the PFF had regained full

control of the PFF's

premises and was in a

position to manage its

finances," FIFA said in a

statement.

It warned that Pakistan

could be suspended again

as a result of "any undue

interference in its affairs or

action that could hinder the

fulfilment of the mandate of

the normalisation

committee."

Thursday was the

deadline for the committee

to compete its 'tasks', which

include fresh elections' but

FIFA said that because that

was "now no longer

realistic" its mandate was

extended until "30 June

2023 at the latest."

Australia crush Sri Lanka after

Lyon and Head spin web

SPORTS DESK

Nathan Lyon and part-time spinner Travis

Head wrecked Sri Lanka on a treacherous

track to help Australia to a 10-wicket win

inside three days of the opening test in Galle

on Friday, reports UNB.

The tourists were in the box seat once they

carved out a first innings lead of 109 in the

spin-dominated, low-scoring contest at the

Galle International Stadium.

Lyon (4-31) combined with spin partner

Mitchell Swepson (2-34) to mow down Sri

Lanka's top order and Head polished off

their tail to skittle out Sri Lanka for 113 in

their second innings.

Opener David Warner needed four balls to

seal the win, smashing a six off Ramesh

Mendis to bring up the victory.

Skipper DimuthKarunaratne's 23 was the

highest tally on Sri Lanka's sorry-looking

scorecard, with all 10 batsmen dismissed by

the spinners.

Lyon finished with a match-haul of nine

wickets but Cameron Green was named man

of the match with his high score of 77.

Earlier, Australia had added eight runs to

their overnight score before losing their last

two wickets and being bowled out for 318.

Sri Lanka gave an early indication of how

they wanted to bat in their second innings

when their openers milked 17 runs from the

opening over off Mitchell Starc.

That approach was fraught with risks

and when Australia captain Pat Cummins

introduced spin from both ends after three

overs, Sri Lanka's batting order simply

caved in.

Karunaratne fell after his attempted sweep

against Lyon resulted in a bottom-edge,

while opening partner PathumNissanka (14)

completely missed the ball trying to play the

same shot against Swepson.

Head, who had gone 26 tests without a

wicket, also got the ball to turn viciously as he

dismissed Dinesh Chandimal and

Dhananjaya de Silva in his first over.

He struck twice in his third over too as Sri

Lanka were bundled out in 22.5 overs - their

shortest ever completed test innings.

Galle also hosts the second and final test

from July 8.

Australia's players celebrate after the dismissal of Sri Lanka's

OshadaPiyumal Fernando (not pictured) during the third day of first

cricket Test match between Sri Lanka and Australia at the Galle

International Cricket Stadium in Galle on Friday.

Photo: AP

Tigers take on Windies in 1st T20

to back in winning way

SPORTS DESK

Leaving behind the horrible Test

memory, Bangladesh are solely focused

on to hit back in winning way, as they

take on West Indies in the opening game

of the three-match T20 International

today (Saturday) at Windsor Park in

Dominica, reports BSS.

The match which starts at 11.30 PM

as per Bangladesh Time will be aired

live on T Sports Channel.

After being whitewashed in twomatch

Test series, it's high time for

Bangladesh to bounce back but things

are not going well for the Tigers, who

just won one in last 10 matches in this

format. That lone victory came against

Afghanistan at home. Before that they

were whitewashed in three-match T20

series at home against Pakistan and lost

all of the five Super 12 matches in T20

World Cup.

Nevertheless, Bangladesh will draw

inspiration from their T20 record

against West Indies as they are finding

a right combination for the upcoming

T20 World Cup in Australia.

Last time when Bangladesh toured in

West Indies in 2018, they won the

three-match T20 series by 2-1 after

being swept in Test series, although the

T20 series was held in USA. Moreover,

while Bangladesh boast a disastrous

record in T20 format, their win-loss

ratio against the two -time Champions

West Indies is something to savour.

They played 13 matches against the

Caribbean side, winning five, losing

seven while one was abandoned.

Overall Bangladesh played 125

matches in this format, winning 44 and

losing 79. Two of matches fetched no

result.

But what ailed Bangladesh in the

shortest format of the cricket is their

clarity of the game. They appeared not

to find a way to how to play this formatsometimes

they went for aggressive

brand of cricket, only to find them

being slumped miserably and

sometimes, they remained too

watchful, something didn't match T20

style.

Bangladesh batting coach Jamie

Siddons, the Tigers need to find

something between the aggression and

caution.

Siddons said the Bangladesh could

make it big without hitting big actually,

because naturally the player from this

region was not strongly built to hit sixes

nonchalantly like the Caribbean or

players from other European and

Australian countries.

"As a nation, I don't think we

[Bangladesh] have many big players. If

you look at players like Jos Buttler,

Glenn Maxwell and more, they are over

six feet tall. But we have to find other

ways too," Siddons said.

"I don't think we need to put massive

totals on the board, but we should put

good totals. Singles and two are very

important and also boundaries as well.

Hitting fours is almost as good as

hitting big sixes and I think we should

focus on that," Siddons added.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taskin

Ahmed were included in the T20 team

at the eleventh hour and could be

slotted into the first XI straightway. If

so, Miraz will play his first T20 match

after four years, while for Taskin it will

be first match in this format this year.

There is also AnamulHaqueBijoy who

played his last T20 International match

in 2019.

As this series is seen as a preparation

platform for the T20 World Cup, West

Indies brought up numerous changes

to their squad, where some big guns are

missing. But still they have firepower in

batting and bowling to dent

Bangladesh's hope.

Bangladesh: Mahmudullah Riyad

(captain), MunimShahriar, Liton Das,

AnamulHaqueBijoy, Shakib Al Hasan,

Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain

Saikat, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Mehidy

Hasan Miraz, Mahedi Hasan,

Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam,

Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed

West Indies: Nicholas Pooran (capt),

Rovman Powell (vice-capt), Shamarh

Brooks, AkealHosein, Alzarri Joseph,

Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Obed

McCoy, Keemo Paul, Romario

Shepherd, Odean Smith, Devon

Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr, Dominic

Drakes (reserve player).

Danes search Bahrain Victorious

riders' hotel ahead of Tour

SPORTS DESK

The Bahrain Victorious team at the Tour de France was raided

by police for the second time this week on Thursday, a day

before the tour's grand start in Denmark. The team confirmed

in a statement that the hotel rooms and vehicles of riders and

staff in suburban Copenhagen were searched by Danish officers,

and they "fully cooperated with all the officers' requests, and the

search was completed within two hours. No items were seized

from the team, reports UNB."

Danish police acted at the request of French prosecutors,

Copenhagen police spokesman Dannie Rise said in a statement,

referring further questions to the French police. Hotel manager

Jeroen Bishop told Danish media police arrived shortly before 6

a.m. local time (0400 GMT), that there were uniformed and

plainclothes officers, and "all went quietly and calmly."Bahrain

Victorious performance manager Vladimir Miholjevic said later

at a news conference that no more information was available for

now. "We'd like to have more details from the investigation,

only so that we can be able to understand such action,"

Miholjevic said. "In this moment the team is fully focused on the

big race in front of us and achieving our sports goals."

On Monday, riders and staff from Bahrain Victorious had

their homes searched by police before they left for the Tour de

France. The team said it felt the timing of the searches was

"aimed at intentionally damaging the team's reputation."

Jack Haig and Damiano Caruso have been selected to lead

Bahrain Victorious. The team also includes Jan Tratnik,

KamilGradek, Fred Wright and Luis Leon Sanchez, as well as

2021 stage winners MatejMohori? and Dylan Teuns.

SatURDay, JULy 2, 2022

7

Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim addressing a seminar at National Press Club yesterday.

Crypto rules to make Europe a

global leader as prices plunge

LONDON Europe has moved to lead

the world in regulating the

freewheeling cryptocurrency industry

at a time when prices have plunged,

wiping out fortunes, fueling skepticism

and sparking calls for tighter scrutiny,

reports UNB.

European Union negotiators

hammered out the final details for a

provisional agreement late Thursday

on a sweeping package of crypto

regulations for the bloc's 27 nations,

known as Markets in Crypto Assets, or

MiCA.

"In the Wild West of the cryptoworld,

MiCA will be a global standard

setter," the lead EU lawmaker

negotiating the rules, Stefan Berger,

said in a news release. The EU's crypto

rules "will ensure a harmonized

market, provide legal certainty for

crypto-asset issuers, guarantee a level

playing field for service providers and

ensure high standards for consumer

protection."

Like the EU's trendsetting data

privacy policy, which became the de

facto global standard, and its recent

landmark law targeting harmful

content on digital platforms, the crypto

regulations are expected to be highly

influential worldwide.

The EU rules are "really the first

comprehensive piece of crypto

regulation in the world," said Patrick

Hansen, crypto venture adviser at

Presight Capital, a venture capital

fund.

"I think there will be a lot of

jurisdictions that will look closely into

how the EU has dealt with it since the

EU is first here," Hansen said.

He expected authorities in other

places, especially smaller countries

that don't have the resources to draw

up their own rules from scratch, to

adopt ones similar to the EU's, though

"they might change a few details."

Under the Markets in Crypto Assets

regulations, exchanges, brokers and

other crypto companies face strict

RAB-13 arrests

three cheats in

Rangpur

RANGPUR : Members of

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)

arrested three presumed

cheats on charges of cheating

common people promising

them jobs from Mithapukur

upazila here on Thursday

night.

The detainees were

identified as Md. Ahsanul

Islam alias Miru, 50, of Pirganj

upazila and Md. Enamul

Haque, 37, and Md. Raju

Miah, 32, of Mithapukur

upazila in the district.

"On the basis of an allegation

lodged by a man, an

operational team of the Crime

Prevention Specialised

Company (CPSC) of RAB-13

arrested the cheats while

realizing money from the man

from the spot," said a press

release issued.During

interrogation, the arrested

admitted that they had been

cheating people promising them

jobs in different government

organisations by realizing huge

money from them for a long

time."With assistance of the elite

force, the victim filed a case

against the arrested persons with

Mithapukur Police Station in this

connection," the release added.

rules aimed at protecting consumers.

Companies issuing or trading crypto

assets such as stablecoins - which are

usually tied to the dollar or a

commodity like gold that make them

less volatile than normal

cryptocurrencies - face tough

transparency requirements requiring

them to provide detailed information

on the risks, costs and charges that

consumers face.

The rules will help novice crypto

investors avoid falling victim to frauds

and scams that regulators have warned

are widespread in the industry.

"That's a huge benefit in this space,

especially for someone who has

absolutely no idea where to go to or

who to seek out or where to put my

money into," said Jackson Mueller,

director of policy and government

affairs at Securrency, a blockchain

infrastructure company.

Providers of bitcoin-related services

would fall under the regulations, but

not bitcoin itself, the world's most

popular cryptocurrency that has lost

more than 70% of its value from its

November peak.

To address concerns about the

carbon footprint left by bitcoin mining,

which guzzles massive amounts of

electricity for "proof of work"

computer processing to record and

secure transactions, crypto companies

will have to disclose their energy use

and prominently display information

online about their environmental and

climate impact.

Negotiators exempted NFTs, or nonfungible

tokens, which have boomed

over the past year. The EU said that

unlike cryptocurrencies, the digital

assets, which can represent artwork,

sports memorabilia or anything else

that can be digitized, are unique and

sold at a fixed price. But it left room to

reclassify them later as a crypto asset

under MiCA or as a financial

instrument.

The European rules are aimed at

maintaining financial stability - a

growing concern for regulators amid a

string of recent crypto-related crashes.

For example, the stablecoin TerraUSD

imploded last month, erasing an

estimated $40 billion in investor funds

with little or no accountability.

The meltdowns have spurred calls

for regulation, with other major

jurisdictions still drawing up their

strategies. In the U.S., President Joe

Biden issued an executive order in

March on government oversight of

cryptocurrency, including studying the

impact on financial stability and

national security.

Last month, California became the

first state to formally begin examining

how to broadly adapt to

cryptocurrency, with plans to work

with the federal government on

crafting regulations.

The U.K. also has unveiled plans to

regulate some cryptocurrencies.

A few European countries, like

Germany, already have basic crypto

regulations. One of the EU's goals is

bringing rules in line across the bloc, so

that a crypto company licensed in one

country would be able to offer services

in other member states.

The EU rules, which would still need

final approval and are expected to take

effect by 2024, include measures to

prevent market manipulation, money

laundering, terrorist financing and

other criminal activities.

The EU also provisionally agreed

Wednesday on new rules subjecting

cryptocurrency transfers to the same

money-laundering rules as traditional

banking transfers.

When a crypto asset changes hands,

information on both the source and the

beneficiary would have to be stored on

both sides of the transfer, according to

the new rules. Crypto companies

would have to hand this information

over to authorities investigating

criminal activity such as money

laundering or terrorist financing.

Navy report: Multiple errors poisoned

Pearl Harbor water

PEARL HARBOR : A Navy investigation

released Thursday revealed that shoddy

management and human error caused fuel to

leak into Pearl Harbor's tap water last year,

poisoning thousands of people and forcing

military families to evacuate their homes for

hotels, reports UNB.

The investigation is the first detailed

account of how jet fuel from the Red Hill Bulk

Fuel Storage Facility, a massive World War

II-era military-run tank farm in the hills

above Pearl Harbor, leaked into a well that

supplied water to housing and offices in and

around the sprawling base. Some 6,000

people suffered nausea, headaches, rashes

and other symptoms.

After months of resistance, the military in

April agreed to an order from the state of

Hawaii to drain the tanks and close the Red

Hill facility. A separate report the Defense

Department provided to the state

Department of Health on Thursday said

December 2024 was the earliest it could

defuel the tanks safely.

The investigation report listed a cascading

series of mistakes from May 6, 2021, when

operator error caused a pipe to rupture and

21,000 gallons of fuel to spill when fuel was

being transferred between tanks. Most of this

fuel spilled into a fire suppression line and sat

there for six months, causing the line to sag. A

cart rammed into this sagging line on Nov.

20, releasing 20,000 gallons of fuel.

The area where the cart hit the line isn't

supposed to have fuel, and so the officials

who responded to the spill didn't have the

right equipment to capture the liquid.

"The team incorrectly assumes that all of

the fuel has been sopped up," Adm. Sam

Paparo, the commander of the U.S. Pacific

Fleet, told reporters at a news conference.

About 5,000 gallons wasn't recovered.

"Meanwhile, over the course of eight days,

that fuel enters into this French drain that is

under the concrete and seeps slowly and

quietly into the Red Hill well. And that fuel

into the Red Hill well is then pumped into the

Navy system," Paparo said.

Red Hill officials thought that only 1,618

gallons had leaked in the May spill and that

they recovered all but 38 gallons. They

noticed that one of the tanks was short

20,000 gallons but believed it had flowed

through the pipes and didn't realize it had

flown into the fire suppression line. They

didn't report the discrepancy to senior

leadership.

After the November spill when people started

getting sick, the military moved about 4,000

mostly military families into hotels for months

while they waited for their water to be safe again.

The report said officials defaulted to assuming

the best about what was happening when the

spills occurred, instead of assuming the worst,

and this contributed to their overlooking the

severity of situation.

Paparo said the Navy was trying to move

away from that. He called it an ongoing process

"to get real with ourselves" and "being honest

about our deficiencies."

Photo : PID

Man held with

yaba tablets in

Barguna

BARGUNA : District

Department of Narcotics

Control in a drive held a drug

peddler with 300 pieces of

yaba tablets and two grams

Ice

(crystal

methamphetamine meth) in

the district town yesterday.

The detainee was identified

as Md Sogir, 37.

Sub-Inspector of Barguna

district Department of

Narcotics Jakir Hossain said

on information they searched

Sogir's house located in Choto

Labon Gola area yesterday

morning and found the yaba

tablets and Ice. A case was

filed under Narcotics Control

Act against him.

Fairs & discussions

mark DU's anniversary

celebrations

DHAKA : The country's

most coveted Dhaka

University (DU) observed its

102nd birth anniversary on

Friday through day-long

programmes.

DU Vice Chancellor Prof

M o h a m m a d

A k h t a r u z z a m a n

inaugurated the celebration

programmes by cutting a

102-pound cake at the

central field of the university

campus around 10am.

He then hoisted the

national flag as well as flags

of the country's oldest

university and halls in the

presence of students,

teachers and other

university staff.

DU

pro-VC

(administration) Prof

Muhammad Samad, pro-VC

(education) Prof ASM

Maksud Kamal, proctor Prof

AKM Golam Rabbani and

registrar Prabir Kumar

Sarkar were present on the

occasion.

A three-day researchpublication

fair was also

inaugurated at the central

ground of the university.

The fair has 10 pavilions for

faculties and one for

institutes.

The Vice-Chancellor also

inaugurated a discussion

meeting on 'Research and

innovation: Industryacademy

cooperation' at the

auditorium of Teacher

Student Center (TSC) at

11.30am.

BOU to launch bachelor

programme in KSA soon

DHAKA : Bangladesh Open University

(BOU) Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Syed

Humayun Akhtar has said the university

will soon launch bachelor programme (BA

and BSS) for Bangladesh expatriates in the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He made the remarks while speaking at a

recent virtual view-exchange meeting on the

activities of BOU's Nish-2 programme with

the Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia, a

press release said.

Humayun said the BOU is going to

introduce bachelor programme - Bachelor

of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Social Science

(BSS) - outside the country so that the

Bangladeshi expatriates, who are called

remittance fighters, can become educated

through this programme and can live with

dignity there.

It is possible to increase the country's GDP

with getting the remittance fighters

educated through the BOU programme, he

said.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

Dr Mohammad Javed Patwary, BOU

SSHL's Dean Professor Md Jahangir Alam,

Dean of Open School Prof Sabina Yasmin,

Acting Director of Information and Public

Relations AFM Mezbah Uddin and Deputy

Chief of Mission of the Bangladesh Embassy

Abul Hasan Mridha, among others, spoke at

the meeting.

11 fresh Covid-19 cases diagnosed

in Rangpur division

RANGPUR : A total of 11 fresh Covid-19

cases, highest number in a day in recent

months, were diagnosed after testing 618

new samples in Rangpur division on

Thursday.

Health officials said new Covid-19 cases

have been reported everyday since last

June 22 in the division.

The new 11 infected patients are two

from Rangpur, one from Nilphamari and

eight from Dinajpur districts.

"With the diagnosis of the 11 fresh cases,

the total number of Covid-19 patients rose

to 64,192 in the division," Divisional

Director (Health) Dr. Abu Md. Zakirul

Islam told BSS.

The total number of recovered patients

of the lethal virus remained steady at

62,785 as no more patients healed during

the last 24 hours ending at 8 am on

Friday. The number of casualties also

remained steady at 1,284 as no new death

was reported during the period.

Meanwhile, more 13,570 doses of

Covid-19 jabs were administered on

Thursday raising the number of

inoculated vaccines to two crore 99 lakh

three thousand and 717 doses in the

division.

Among the 13,570 doses of the jabs

inoculated on Thursday, 532 were

administered as the first doses, 1,467 as

the second doses and 11,571 as the booster

doses.

"Till Thursday, a total of 1,35,60,920

people got the first doses of Covid-19 jabs,

and of them, 1,30,11,718 got the second

doses and 33,31,079 got the booster

doses," Dr. Islam added.

Dr. Islam called upon citizens to

sincerely abide by the health directives

and wear masks while remaining outside

to remain safe as the number of Covid-19

cases is rising again in the country.

Russian missiles kill at least

19 in Ukraine's Odesa region

KYIV: Russian missile attacks on residential

areas in a coastal town near the Ukrainian port

city of Odesa early Friday killed at least 19

people, authorities reported, a day after Russian

forces withdrew from a strategic Black Sea

island, reports UNB.

Video of the pre-dawn attack showed the

charred remains of buildings in the small town

of Serhiivka, located about 50 kilometers (31

miles) southwest of Odesa. The Ukrainian

president's office said three X-22 missiles fired

by Russian bombers struck an apartment

building and two campsites.

"A terrorist country is killing our people. In

response to defeats on the battlefield, they fight

civilians," Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff to

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

said.

Ukraine's Security Service said 19 people

died, including two children. It said another 38,

including six children and a pregnant woman,

were hospitalized with injuries. Most of the

victims were in the apartment building,

Ukrainian emergency officials said.

The airstrikes followed the pullout of Russian

forces from Snake Island on Thursday, a move

that was expected to potentially ease the threat

to nearby Odesa, home to Ukraine's biggest

port. The island sits along a busy shipping lane.

Russia took control of it in the opening days

of the war in the apparent hope of using it as a

staging ground for an assault on Odesa. The

Kremlin portrayed the departure of Russian

troops from Snake Island as a "goodwill

gesture" intended to facilitate shipments of

grain and other agricultural products to Africa,

the Middle East and other parts of the world.

Ukraine's military claimed a barrage of its

artillery and missiles forced the Russians to flee

in two small speedboats. The exact number of

withdrawing troops was not disclosed.

The island took on significance early in the

war as a symbol of Ukraine's resistance to the

Russian invasion. Ukrainian troops there

reportedly received a demand from a Russian

warship to surrender or be bombed. The

answer supposedly came back, "Go (expletive)

yourself."

Zelenskyy said that although the pullout did

not guarantee the Black Sea region's safety, it

would "significantly limit" Russian activities

there.

"Step by step, we will push (Russia) out of our

sea, our land, our sky," he said in his nightly

address.

In eastern Ukraine, Russian forces kept up

their push to encircle the last stronghold of

resistance in Luhansk, one of two provinces

that make up the country's Donbas region.

Moscow-backed separatists have controlled

much of the region for eight years.

Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai said the

Russians were trying to encircle the city of

Lysychansk and fighting for control over an oil

refinery on the city's edge.

"The shelling of the city is very intensive,"

Haidai told The Associated Press. "The

occupiers are destroying one house after

another with heavy artillery and other weapons.

Residents of Lysychansk are hiding in

basements almost round the clock."

The offensive has failed so far to cut

Ukrainian supply lines, although the main

highway leading west was not being used

because of constant Russian shelling, the

governor said. "The evacuation is impossible,"

he added. But Russian Defense Ministry

spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Friday that

Russian and Luhansk separatist forces had

taken control of the refinery as well as a mine

and a gelatin factory in Lysychansk "over the

last three days." Ukraine's presidential office

said a series of Russian strikes in the past 24

hours also killed civilians in eastern Ukraine -

four in the northeastern Kharkiv region and

another four in Donetsk province.

Russian bombardments killed large numbers

of civilians earlier in the war, including at a

hospital and a theater in the port city of

Mariupol.

. On the occasion of Dhaka University Day, a rally was brought out at the campus yesterday. Photo : Courtesy

Saturday, Dhaka : July 2, 2022; Ashar 18, 1429 BS; Zilhaj 2, 1443 Hijri

UN maintains strong relationship

with Bangladesh: Brandt

DHAKA : Executive Board President of

UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS Yoka

Brandt has said the UN has a "strong

relationship" with the government of

Bangladesh and wants to further build on

that to facilitate the achievement of the

Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

"We are here to see how we can work

together more efficiently to that end,

especially as the country is poised for

LDC graduation," said Brandt, also

Permanent Representative of the

Kingdom of The Netherlands to the UN.

A high-level delegation of the Executive

Board of UNDP (United Nations

Development Programme), UNFPA

(United Nations Population Fund) and

UNOPS (United Nations Office for

Project Services) visited Bangladesh on a

week-long mission to see the projects

implemented by the UN and met the government.

Led by the board's President Yoka

Brandt, the delegation arrived in Dhaka

on June 25 and left on July 1, according

to UNDP. Foreign Secretary Masud Bin

Momen said the UN has been a strong

development partner for Bangladesh,

and this mission is giving the scope to

review and evaluate areas that need to be

focused.

"It is a very timely visit. The UN has

been a partner of the Government and

the people of Bangladesh since 1971, and

this mission will allow us to take stock of

Ctg Port handled

recorded 32.55 lakh

TEU containers in

2021-22 fiscal

CHATTOGRAM : Chattogram Port has

made a new record by handling over 32

lakh TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units)

of containers during the fiscal 2021-22.

According to the Chattogram Port

Authority (CPA) data, a total of

32,55,358 TEUs of containers were handled

through the country's prime seaport

during the fiscal 2021-22.

Meanwhile, Chattogram Port has also

handled 30,97,236 TEUs of containers

during the fiscal 2020-21.

CPA Secretary Omar Faruk told BSS

that Chattogram port has also handled 11

crore 81 lakh 74 thousand 160 tonnes of

cargo goods in the outgoing fiscal

through 4231 ships.

Chattogram Custom House has collected

revenue of Tk 59,256 crore in the

fiscal year 2021-22 against the target Tk

64,065 crore.

A total of TK 51 thousand 57 crore was

collected by Chattogram custom house

1n the previous financial year, the

sources added.

3 more Bangladeshi hajj

pilgrims die in Saudi

Arabia in two days

DHAKA : Three more Bangladeshi hajj

pilgrims have died in Saudi Arabia's

Mecca in the last three days, according to

Bangladesh Hajj Management Portal,

reports UNB.

Fatema Begum, 60, was from Dhaka,

Rafiqul Islam, 47, from Sirajganj, and

Md Abdul Gafur Miah, 62, from Tangail.

Fatema and Rafiqul died Thursday and

Gafur Tuesday in Mecca, according to

the hajj management portal.

The causes of their deaths could not be

immediately determined, it added.

where we stand and guide our future

interventions," said UN Resident

Coordinator Gwyn Lewis.

Brandt was accompanied by

Ambassadors and Permanent

Representatives of Guatemala, Sweden,

and Bulgaria to the UN, respectively Luis

Antonio Lam Padilla, Anna Karin

Enestrom and Lachezara Stoeva;

Ambassador and Deputy Permanent

Representative of Kenya to the UN

Njambi Kinyungu; International Aid

Researcher at Qatar Fund for

Development (QFFD) Mashael Muftah;

Deputy Secretary of the Executive Board,

Dalita Balassanian, Chief of the UNFPA

Executive Board Branch, Samuel

Choritz; and the Head of the UNOPS

New York Board and External Relations

Office, William Axelsson.

The mission began with a meeting with

the UN Bangladesh Country Team headed

by the UN Resident Coordinator,

Gwyn Lewis.

They also visited the Ministry of Health

and Family Welfare and Ministry of

Foreign Affairs on the second day before

flying off to Cox's Bazar to see project

activities. The mission visited UNDP's

Solid Waste Management and Disaster

Risk Management activities, UNFPA

Women Friendly Space/Women-led

Community Centers, and a Health Clinic

implemented by UNOPS in the Rohingya

camp; learned about a joint UN interagency

initiative on Sustainable

Development Goal localisation; and met

with district representatives and

Refugee, Relief and Repatriation

Commissioner (RRRC). They also

observed the UNDP's District

Development Plan initiative and Climate

Displaced Communities; and the Health

and Gender Support joint programme of

UNFPA and other agencies in Cox's

Bazar. Following their return to Dhaka,

the delegation visited the Directorate

General of Drug Administration to see

UNOPS activities and attended several

meetings with the Economic Relations

Division (ERD) of the Ministry of

Finance, the Local Government Division,

Ministry of Disaster Management and

Relief, Forest, Environment and Climate

Change, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

They also learned about UNDP's

Aspire to Innovate (A2I) programme and

how it's supporting the country to make

Bangladesh more digital.

The delegation also visited the

National Resilience Programme

(NRP), a partnership with the

Government of Bangladesh and

UNDP, UNOPS and UN Women and

visited urban slums, which demonstrated

a UNFPA-WFP joint programme

on menstrual health and

hygiene support for adolescent girls

and the joint UNDP and UNV National

Urban Poverty Reduction Programme.

Clear wages, Eid bonus

soon: RMG workers

DHAKA : The garment workers on

Friday staged a demonstration in the city

demanding the immediate payment of

the salary of June along with Eid bonus.

Garment Sramik Karmachari Oikya

Parishad (GSKOP), an alliance of 20

worker associations, arranged the

demonstration in front of the National

Press Club.

Addressing the function, the leaders of

the workers also demanded introduction

of dearness allowance to match with

market prices of daily essentials, the

ration system for workers to buy some

essential commodities at subsidized

prices, and ensuring the accommodation

for workers at low rent.

GSKOP joint coordinator Karmul

Ahsan, general secretary of Garment

Sramik Front Selim Mahmud, President

Eid-ul-Azha: Thakurgaon's Barakat

ready to invade cattle market

THAKURGAON : In Thakurgaon,

Barakat is the talk of the town ahead of

Eid-ul-Azha.

Barakat is no ordinary bull, but a

neutered male popular for its meat. The

big bull weighs around 28 maund.

Its owner farmer Zillur Rahman said

that he reared the bull in his dairy in

Dhumunia Shahpara village of Pirganj

upazila of Thakurgaon along with twenty

more cattles.

"I spend around Tk 600 a day to feed

this huge bull," he told UNB.

Zillur set up a small cattle farm in his

homestead in 2011. "For more than four

of Motherland Garment Sramik

Federation Saleha Islam Santona,

President of Garment and Dorji Sramik

Federation Mohammad Rafiq spoke at

the programme presided over by another

GSKOP joint coordinator Abdul Wahed.

The labour leaders claimed that the

garment factory owners are now having a

very good time amid the depreciation of

taka against dollar and the rise of purchase

orders. But the garment workers

are now facing the worst time due to

price hike of daily essentials and the

tremendous work pressure.

They also claimed that it is leant that

some factories would not pay the 100 pc

salary of June before the Eid-ul Azha.

The leaders demanded the payment of

the entire salary and full-fledged Eid

bonus soon, said a press release.

years, I have been rearing Barakat. The

bull eats different types of foods including

wheat bran, rice bran, maze, dried

hay and raw grass," he said.

"If any buyer from outside Rangpur

division buys the bull, I will deliver it at

my own cost, " added Zillur.

Besides, the bull gets showers several

times a day.

Everyday locals throng Zillur's dairy to

catch a glimpse of the big bull.

According to sources at the Thakurgan

Livestock and Fisheries Department,

enough sacrificial animals are available

in the upazila this year.

The Ratha Yatra (journey of chariot), one of the major festivals of the Hindu community, began

yesterday in Chattogram city amid religious fervour and festivity.

Photo : Star Mail

Colleagues pay tribute to the two police officers killed on the sixth anniversary of the horrific militant attack on

the Holy Artisan Bakery. In memory of the two officers, they paid their respects on Friday with flowers in front

of the new building of Gulshan Police Station.

Photo : Star Mail

Foreign envoys

remember those

killed in Holey

Artisan attack

DHAKA : Foreign envoys stationed in

Dhaka on Friday paid homage to 22

people who lost their lives during the

Holey Artisan Bakery attack on July 1,

2016.

To mark the sixth anniversary of

the attack, Japan's Ambassador to

Bangladesh Ito Naoki, Indian High

Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram

Kumar Doraiswami, US Ambassador

to Bangladesh Peter Haas joined the

Italian embassy in Dhaka in honoring

the individuals who lost their lives.

"We remember Abinta Kabir, a

U.S.-Bangladeshi dual citizen and

student at Emory University, as well

as her Emory classmate Faraaz

Hossain, who even when given the

chance to save himself chose to

remain with his friends," said the US

embassy in Dhaka.

They also remembered Tarishi Jain,

a sophomore at Berkeley and graduate

of the American International

School in Dhaka who had returned

for a summer internship in Dhaka.

"We also remember the courage of

the two police officers killed and the

25 officers wounded," said the US

Embassy.

On this solemn occasion, the US

reaffirmed their commitment in their

united effort to combat terrorism.

"May all those lost rest in peace."

During the attack on Holey Artisan,

22 people, including 17 foreigners and

two police officers, were killed on July

1, 2016.

In memory of the victims of the

Holey Artisan attack, Doraiswami

paid tribute at the memorial at the

Italian embassy, at the site of the outrage,

and at the police memorial in

Gulshan, Dhaka

Present fire service more

modernized: DG

RAJSHAHI : Director General of Fire

Service and Civil Defense Directorate

Brigadier General (DG) Main Uddin said

the present fire service has become more

modernized during periods of the present

government.

Modern machines and instruments

were added and the firefighters have

become more competent after taking

part in foreign training.

He made this observation while

addressing a darbar meeting at the divisional

headquarters of Fire Service and

Civil Defense (FSCD) here Thursday as

the chief guest.

DG Main Uddin mentioned that the

firefighters have been playing a vital role

towards mitigating various disasters

including the natural ones.

Capacity of fire service and civil

defense members has been enhanced to

a greater extent during the recent past

years and hoped that the ability would be

enhanced furthermore in the days to

come.

He urged his subordinate colleagues to

perform duties with utmost sincerity and

honesty after the best use of the knowledge

acquired from various training for

Colombo Port offers special berthing

facilities to Bangladeshi vessels

DHAKA : Sri Lanka's state-owned Jaya

Container Terminal at Colombo Port has

offered priority berthing facilities to

Bangladeshi feeder vessels, reports UNB.

Chairman of Sri Lanka Ports Authority

(SLPA) Prasantha Jayamanna has

recently announced it at a discussion in

Colombo, according to a message

received here on Friday.

He briefed Bangladesh about the present

facilities as well as ongoing and future

expansion plan of Colombo Port which

would increase their container handling

capacity to 15 million TEUs once completed

in 2025-26.

Bangladesh High Commission has

been pursuing this priority berthing issue

with SLPA for long, said the nessage from

the mission.

Bangladesh High Commission to Sri

Lanka organized in Colombo a stakeholders'

consultation forum recently on

enhancing shipping connectivity

between Chattogram and Colombo Ports

pursuant to observance of the First

Economic Diplomacy Week.

The purpose was to facilitate greater

understanding of operational issues

between Chattogram and Colombo Ports

and ensure greater connectivity and supply

chain security and stronger partnership

between the two ports.

Representatives from port authorities

of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, terminal

operators, main line operators, feeder

operators, freight forwarders as well as

users of the two ports presented their

respective perspectives.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Sri

Lanka Tareq Md Ariful Islam shared

Bangladesh's remarkable economic

developments and the potential it holds

for Colombo Port.

overall development of the nation.

Main motto of the fire service is speed,

service and devotion and the job nature

of the organisation is different to many

other jobs. This matter should be kept in

mind always, he added.

DG Main Uddin said performing

duties with devotion is a moral obligation

towards substantial reduction of both life

and assets losses caused by any fire incident.

He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

is very positive towards the development

of the force (FSCD) along with its modernization.

He recalled that the firefighters made

supreme sacrifice at the time of serving

people and the nation will remember

their contribution forever.

With FSCD Deputy Director Mamun

Mahmud in the chair, Assistant Director

Didarul Alam, Sub Assistant Director

Zakir Hossain and Senior Station Officer

Abdur Rouf also spoke.

Later, the DG inaugurated the newlyconstructed

conference hall, visited

Rajshahi University Fire Station side by

side and saw the site for Rajshahi divisional

training centre.

He also mentioned of the changes in

the global logistics operations due to the

pandemic and now the war, the resultant

trends in shipping and necessity of offer

of possible incentives from Colombo

Port.

The Chairman of SLPA, private terminal

operators and Sri Lankan shipping

community assured of giving continued

priority to Bangladesh users, according

to Bangladesh High Commission in

Colombo.

Referring to the recent negative media

reporting on Colombo Port, they clarified

that that their Port's operation remains

unaffected by the crisis situation in the

country.

Both sides emphasized the importance

of real time communication among all

the stakeholders of the two countries.

Representative of Chattogram Port

Authority shared that Bangladesh's container

traffic through Colombo Port has

increased significantly last year.

Representatives of Bangladesh stakeholders

shared the users' perspective

about Colombo Port, emerging trends

and challenges in shipping operations.

In the interactive session that followed,

the panelists from both sides responded

to the queries from the participants

which cleared many of the issues involving

Chattogram-Colombo connectivity.

It was physically attended by senior

representatives from the Sri Lankan

shipping community.

From Bangladesh side, Senior

Executive Director of Karnaphuli

Group and HR Lines Anis Ud Dowla,

Head of Operation and Marketing of

Mohammadi Group and Country

Head of DSV Logistics joined through

zoomlink.

Sylhet Flood

37,000 people still

living in shelters

SYLHET : More than 37,000 people still

remained in shelter centres in flood-hit

Sylhet after devastating floods swept

through several parts of Bangladesh leaving

95 people dead.

According to the Sylhet district administration,

there are now 439 shelters in

Sylhet district where 37,176 people are

still staying in these shelters, reports

UNB.

Almost 30 lakh people have been rendered

homeless and as many as 40,091

houses destroyed in the recent floods in

Sylhet, sources said on Thursday.

All the 13 upazilas of the district,

including five municipalities, have been

affected.

The district administration has distributed

relief materials among the

flood victims.

Sources said Tk 1.92 crore in cash,

1,612 metric tonnes of rice and 19,918

packets of dry food have been distributed

among the flood-affected people in the

district.

According to the Water Development

Board, the water level of Surma River has

gone down by 10 cm at Kanaighat Point

and 4 cm at Sylhet Point at 12pm today.

However, the water level of the

Kushiyara River is stable.

02-07-2022

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