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News<br />
9<br />
MONDAY, AUGUST 7, <strong>2017</strong><br />
DT<br />
Joining Arab states, Israel<br />
plans to ban al-Jazeera<br />
• Tribune Desk<br />
WORLD <br />
Israel said Sunday it plans to ban<br />
Qatar’s flagship al-Jazeera news<br />
network from operating in the<br />
country over allegations it incites<br />
violence, joining Arab nations that<br />
have shut down the broadcaster<br />
amid a separate political dispute,<br />
reports the Associated Press.<br />
Communications Minister Ayoob<br />
Kara said he plans to revoke<br />
the press credentials of al-Jazeera<br />
journalists, effectively preventing<br />
them from working in Israel.<br />
Kara said he has asked cable and<br />
satellite networks to block al-Jazeera<br />
transmissions and is seeking<br />
legislation to ban them altogether.<br />
The minister, a member of<br />
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s<br />
Likud Party, gave no timetable<br />
for such measures.<br />
Doha-based al-Jazeera did not<br />
immediately respond to a request<br />
for comment. Its Arab and English<br />
channels reported the news.<br />
Walid al-Omari, the broadcaster’s<br />
bureau chief in Jerusalem, said<br />
on air that his office has not been<br />
informed by Israeli officials of any<br />
possible measures the government<br />
might take.<br />
Communications<br />
Minister Ayoob<br />
Kara said he plans<br />
to revoke the press<br />
credentials of al-<br />
Jazeera journalists<br />
Al-Jazeera, a pan-Arab satellite network<br />
funded by the Qatari government,<br />
already has been targeted by<br />
Arab nations now isolating Qatar<br />
as part of a months-long political<br />
dispute over Doha’s politics and alleged<br />
support for extremists.<br />
Jordan and Saudi Arabia have<br />
recently closed al-Jazeera’s local<br />
offices, while the channel and its<br />
affiliate sites have been blocked in<br />
Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates,<br />
Egypt and Bahrain.<br />
“Lately, almost all countries in<br />
our region determined that al-Jazeera<br />
supports terrorism, supports<br />
religious radicalisation,” Kara said.<br />
“And when we see that all these<br />
countries have determined as fact<br />
that al-Jazeera is a tool of the Islamic<br />
State, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran,<br />
and we are the only one who have<br />
not determined that then something<br />
delusional is happening here.”<br />
American viewers became familiar<br />
with al-Jazeera after the attacks<br />
of September 11, 2001, when<br />
its golden-hued Arabic logo became<br />
synonymous with video messages<br />
by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin<br />
Laden. That sparked frequent complaints<br />
by then-President George<br />
W Bush’s administration. The station<br />
defended its policy, saying the<br />
messages were newsworthy.<br />
Al-Jazeera was the first Arab satellite<br />
news channel to offer a range<br />
of views outside of heavily censored<br />
state media across the region<br />
and extensively covered the 2011<br />
Arab Spring. It also was the first<br />
Arab-owned news outlet to host<br />
Israeli officials and commentators,<br />
which some analysts note coincided<br />
with Qatar’s ties with Israel at<br />
the time. •<br />
Muktamoni in her hospital bed at DMCH<br />
Muktamoni out of danger<br />
• Tribune Desk<br />
CURRENT AFFAIRS <br />
Muktamoni is now out of danger<br />
after her surgery, said Dr Samanta<br />
Lal Sen, coordinator at the National<br />
Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery<br />
of Dhaka Medical College Hospital<br />
(DMCH).<br />
“Her wounds have been dressed<br />
today. She is speaking normally. In<br />
regard to her surgery, there is nothing<br />
to be concerned about,” the<br />
doctor said on Saturday.<br />
Muktamoni is an 11-year-old girl<br />
who has been suffering from a mysterious<br />
disease that resulted in a<br />
malignant growth on her right arm.<br />
MEHEDI HASAN<br />
A team of specialist doctors of<br />
the DMCH burn and plastic surgery<br />
institute and the anaesthesia department<br />
conducted her operation on<br />
Saturday.<br />
Muktamoni’s father Md Ibrahim<br />
said the doctors were taking<br />
good care of his daughter. He asked<br />
everyone to pray for her.<br />
Last month, DMCH doctors identified<br />
the mysterious illness afflicting<br />
Muktamoni as lymphatic malformation.<br />
The affliction has resulted in a<br />
malignant growth on Muktamoni’s<br />
right arm, rendering her bedridden<br />
for the last two years. •<br />
This article was first published on<br />
banglatribune.com<br />
Drilling starts at<br />
Shahbajpur<br />
East-1 well<br />
• Tribune Desk<br />
ENERGY <br />
Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration<br />
and Production Company<br />
Ltd (Bapex), Bangladesh Gas<br />
Fields Company Ltd (BGFCL)<br />
and Sylhet Gas Field Ltd (SGFL)<br />
have inked an agreement with<br />
Russian energy giant Gazprom<br />
for drilling 10 wells.<br />
Of the wells, the Bapex, a<br />
Petrobangla subsidiary, owns<br />
four wells (Shahbazpur-3 and<br />
4, Semutang-6 and Begumganj-3),<br />
says a press release. .<br />
Srikail 4 well was drilled by<br />
Gazporm, which has already<br />
completed 15 wells, among<br />
them Bapex has 5 wells and<br />
the other two companies have<br />
10 wells.<br />
The Bapex has planned to<br />
dril 108 wells (53 exploration<br />
wells, 35 development wells<br />
and 20 work-over wells) to<br />
provide 1000 million cubic<br />
feet of gas to the national grid<br />
by 2021 for the implimentation<br />
of short, medium and longterm<br />
gas production plans.<br />
In order to implement Vision<br />
2021, the prime minister<br />
gave an approval on 10 special<br />
initiative projects taken up by<br />
Bapex on 12-05-2016 under the<br />
“ Increasing supply of electricity<br />
and fuel (Special provisions)<br />
Act, 2010”.<br />
Among the 10 projects, the<br />
plan for drilling 23 exploration<br />
wells, 2 development wells and<br />
3 work over wells under the<br />
Rupkolpo-1 to Rupkolpo-7 within<br />
the tenure of the government.<br />
In this regard, Bapex has recruited<br />
three group of contractors<br />
on the turn-key basis for<br />
drilling 13 exploration wells.<br />
Two exploration wells<br />
(Shahbazpur East-1 and Bhola<br />
North-1) and two work-over<br />
wells have been planned to be<br />
drilled under the Rupkolpo 4<br />
drilling project.<br />
On May 5, 2016, the premier<br />
had approved the drilling of<br />
the two wells.<br />
In the context, Bapex’s Addendum-<br />
6 has been signed<br />
with Gazporm, with a contract<br />
value of $ 33.2 million. Under<br />
the agreement, the drilling of<br />
Shahbajpur East-1 well was inaugurated<br />
yesterday. •