30-12-2020

wednesday

DhAKA : December 30, 2020; Poush 15, 1427 BS; Jamadi-ul Awal 14, 1442 hijri

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net

Regd.No.DA~2065, Vol.17; N o.258; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00

InternatIonal

Ohio police officer

fired in fatal shooting

of Black man

>Page 7

sports

Neymar in new

controversy over New

Year party rumors

>Page 9

art & culture

Alia Bhatt starrer film

'Gangubai Kathiawadi'

lands in legal trouble

>Page 10

HSC results in

Jan after issuance

of ordinance

DHAKA : Education Minister Dr

Dipu Moni has said the results of

the Higher Secondary School

Certificates (HSC) examinations

will be published after the issuance

ofan ordinance in this regard in the

first week of January, reports UNB.

"An ordinance will be issued as a

legal process for publishing the

results of the HSC exams as there

was no formal examination. The

results will be published after coordinating

the results of the JSC and

the SSC exams," said the minister

while speaking at a virtual press

briefing.

"Experts have given their opinions

over the coordination process

and if any student doesn't not get

his/her desired results then s/he

can apply to the board. I hope

there'll be no such incident," she

said.

The results will be published after

coordinating 75 percent of the SSC

and 25 percent from the JSC-JDC

results, Dipu Moni added.

The Higher Secondary Certificate

(HSC) and equivalent examinations

were postponed this year due to

Covid-19 situation.

Court orders to

attach flats, plot

of PK Halder

DHAKA : A court yesterday ordered

attachment of two Dhanmandi flats

and around six acres of land of former

managing director of NRB

Global Bank and Reliance Finance

Proshanta Kumar Halder alias PK

Halder.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions

Judge KM Imrul Qayesh passed the

order, allowing a plea of the Anti-

Corruption Commission (ACC).

Confirming the matter to BSS,

ACC lawyer Mahmud Hossain

Jahangir said the court ordered to

attach two flats situated at

Dhanmandi Road-39 and Road-6

areas, and the land at Rupganj

area.

The anti-graft body on January 8

filed a case against Halder for

amassing illegal wealth of around

Taka 274 crore.

He is accused of embezzling Taka

1500 crore from the International

Leasing and Financial Services Ltd.

Halder has allegedly embezzled

Taka 3,500 crore from different

financial agencies.

Zohr

05:21 AM

12:05 PM

03:35 PM

05:25 PM

06:45 PM

6:40 5:22

Next SSC exams in June,

HSC in July-August

2021: Dipu Moni

DHAKA : Education Minister Dr Dipu

Moni has said that the next Secondary

School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent

examinations will be held in June 2021

and Higher Secondary Certificate

(HSC) and its equivalent exams in July-

August.

She disclosed the government's plan

of holding SSC and HSC exams at a virtual

press briefing on the next year's

textbook festival and other education

related issues.

The government has decided to

reopen the educational institutions for

preparations of the SSC and HSC

examinees, the education minister said.

Before holding the next year's SSC

and HSC exams, Dipu Moni said, classes

on a short syllabus for SSC examinee

will be held from February to April

while classes on the short syllabus for

HSC examinees will be held from

February to May at the class rooms.

Speaking about the result of the HSC

exams of 2020, she said, "The results

have already been prepared for publish.

The results would be published in the

first week of January 2021 soon after

issuing an ordinance to this end".

The education minister also said that

the candidates of Junior School

Certificate (JSC) and Junior Dakhil

Certificate (JDC) exams- 2020 will be

given certificates from the respective

Global leaders to join

Bangladesh's carnival

on Mar 17-26: FM

DHAKA : Bangladesh has planned to

go all out with a big carnival with

heads of state and government from

March 17-26 marking the birth centenary

of Father of the Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman and 50 years of Bangladesh's

Independence next year.

During the outgoing year, the country

also had planned many big programmes

but Covid-19 has spoiled

everything, reports UNB.

"We expect some heads of government

on March 17-26. We have already

received some confirmations but it

depends on improvement in the Covid-

19 situation," Foreign Minister Dr AK

Abdul Momen told UNB at his residence.

He said Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi, Turkish President

Tayyip Erdo?an, President of the

Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih,

Nepalese President Bidya Devi

Bhandari and Bhutanese Prime

education boards with an ID card number

instead of roll number as the exams

were not held this year. About textbook

festival, Dipu Moni said, due to the

coronavirus pandemic, the textbook

festival will not be held on the first day

of the New Year this time. The textbooks

will be distributed at the respective

educational institutions, maintaining

the health guidelines, she added.

The textbooks will be distributed in 12

days among the students from class six

to nine to avoid any kind of gathering,

the education minister said.

State Minister for Primary and Mass

Education Md Zakir Hossen, Deputy

Minister for Education Mohibul

Hassan Chowdhoury and other senior

officials of the education ministry were

present at the briefing.

Every year, the SSC exams start on

February 1 and the HSC exams on April

1. If these dates coincide with public

holidays, the tests usually begin on the

following day.

But this year, all the public examinations

for 2020 were cancelled and the

SSC and HSC exams for 2021 is going to

be delayed due to the global pandemic

coronavirus as the government

declared closure for all educational

institutions on March 17, 2020. The

government has extended the holiday

in phases.

Minister Lotay Tshering are among

those leaders who have almost confirmed

to visit Bangladesh within the 10

days from March 17-26.

The Foreign Minister, however, said

the government does not want to do

any programme creating problems for

the people of the country amid the

Covid-19 pandemic.

The Foreign Minister said

Bangladesh will host the World Peace

Conference next year, marking the 50

years of Independence. "We're working

to find a suitable date and it'll be a gathering

of peace lovers across the world."

Dr Momen said Bangabandhu spent

his entire life to establish the rights of

people, end discrimination, empower

people and he was a believer of democracy,

the rule of law and people's power.

He said Bangladesh proposed hosting

the World Peace Conference next year

marking the 50 years of Independence.

"It'll be a gathering of peace lovers

across the world."

the second batch of 1804 rohingyas reached Bhasan Char in hatiyaupazila of noakhali from city's patenga

Boat Club under the supervision of the Bangladesh navy on tuesday.

photo : tBt

First ship docked

at Matarbari

deep seaport

shafiul alaM, Cox's Bazar Correspondent

Bangladesh's first-ever deep seaport in

Cox's Bazar's Maheshkhali has welcomed

the very first ship to its docks

Tuesday morning.

The vessel, 'Venus Triumph' bearing

the flag of Panama, arrived at the jetty

built for the Matarbari power plant

around 10:15 am Tuesday, according to

Chittagong Port Authority's Assistant

Harbour Master Captain Md Ataul

Hakim Siddiqui.

"After the vessel entered the port

canal at 9am on Tuesday, the pilots of

the port operated the ship and

anchored it to the jetty built temporarily

for the coal-fired power plant."

A second ship is scheduled to reach

the port through the channel on Jan 5,

he added. Chattogram port pilots then

escorted the ship to a jetty built for the

coal-based power plant.

Abul Kalam Azad, Executive Director,

Coal Power Generation Company,

Bangladesh, said that the joint venture

between the Prime Minister of Bangladesh

Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister of

Japan has played an important role.

Under this project, 1,200 MW power

plant, 14.3 km long 250 m for transporting

coal and oiland 18.5 m. Coal

and oil unloading jetty with deep channel

is under construction. The construction

of the jetty for unloading heavy

equipment including channels has

already been completed.

Earlier, a 14km-long channel-with a

width of 25 metres and a depth of 18

metres-was prepared for the ship. Ships

will now be able to enter the port jetty

from the Bay of Bengal through this

channel. The Marine Division of

Chittagong Port has set up six buoys to

guide ships to the port jetty through this

channel from the deep sea.

the "Venus

triumph"

hoisting the

panamanian

flag arrived at

Matarbari deep

sea port on

tuesday.

photo: tBt

1804 more Rohingyas

reach Bhasan Char

Manik Bhuiyan, noakhali Correspondent

The second batch of 1804 Rohingyas

reached Bhasan Char in Hatiyaupazila

of Noakhali from city's Patenga Boat

Club under the supervision of the

Bangladesh Navy on Tuesday 24 days

after the first group went there.

Earlier, the Rohingya people came to

Patenga from UkhiyaBalukhali camp in

Cox's Bazar and started their journey on

five naval ships for Bhasan Char at 9.20

this morning after an overnight stay at a

temporary transit camp at the BAF

Shaheen College.

The first batch of 1642 Rohingyas

arrived at Bhasan Char under the

Bangladesh Navy's supervision on

December 4 last, naval force sources said.

Alak Biswas, additional deputy commissioner

of Chattogram Metropolitan

police, told BSS that the second batch of

1804 Rohingyas reached Bhasan Char

at 11.30 am today from city's Patenga

Boat Club on five naval ships.

Around one lakh Rohingyas will go to

Bhasan Char in phases, sources said. As

part of it, in the first phase, about 3,500

Rohingyas have already gone there,

they said.

Food items have been stored in the

char for three months as initially,

cooked food will be provided to

Rohingyas by NGO's, sources added.

Representatives of 22 NGOs have

already started their respective works at

Bhasan Char to this end.

Jasmine Prema, chairperson of the

DHAKA : High Commissioner (HC) of

the Maldives to Bangladesh Shiruzimath

Sameer yesterday presented her credentials

to President M Abdul Hamid at

Bangabhaban.

Welcoming the high commissioner, the

President said Bangladesh as one of the

friendly countries, has been maintaining

an excellent bilateral relations with the

Republic of Maldives since its very beginning.

The bilateral ties have expanded

over the years in various fields, including

trade and investment, President's Press

Secretary Mohammad Joynal Abedin

told BSS after the meeting.

Noting that Bangladesh now has

many high quality institutions, including

medical, technical and technological,

in the field of higher education,

President Hamid urged the new HC to

take necessary steps on using these.

Social Welfare and Development

Organization, said that the government

and 22 development agencies have been

working to send Rohingyas to Bhasan

Char who wants to go voluntarily.

Before boarding the ship, the

Rohingyas were given tokens and keys

of the allotted houses after various data

entries, she said.

In addition to modern accommodation

for the Rohingyas in Bhasan Char,

educational institutions, hospitals, clinics

and playgrounds have already been

set up, she added.

Mohammad Samsuddauja, additional

commissioner of the government's

Refugee Relief and Repatriation Office,

said that buffaloes, sheep, ducks and

pigeons are being reared there for gearing

up economic activities.

"Different types of vegetables are

being planted. Paddy is also being cultivated

experimentally there," he

added.

He said that cluster villages have been

constructed in the project with the aim

of accommodating one lakh one thousand

360 Rohingyas. The number of

houses is 1,440 in 120 cluster villages,

he added.

He went on saying that the government

has provided infrastructure of 120

cluster villages on the 13,000-acre of

char land at a cost of Tk 3095 crore with

its own fund to accommodate more

than one lakh Rohynga people.

Maldives envoy presents

credentials to President

Bangladesh produces, the President

said, various international quality products,

including readymade garments,

medicines, ceramics, jute and jutemade

goods, leather and leather-made

products and plastic items.

"The Maldives can import these products

from Bangladesh, which will help

maintain the trade balance between the

two countries as well as increase bilateral

trade ties in days to come," he added.

The head of the state put emphasis on

the mutual visits of the representatives

belonging to the public and private sectors

between the two countries.

He said Bangladesh and the Maldives

are high vulnerable countries to the climate

change impact issue at present

and stressed the need for a joint-effort

to address this issue in different regional

and international forums.

WednesdAY, december 30, 2020

2

Leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra Maitri brought out a procession on the campus of Dhaka University on

Tuesday on the occasion of the 20th National Conference.

Photo : Star Mail

AL takes Victory Day programme

for Democracy today

DHAKA : Awami League will observe Victory Day for

Democracy today across the country marking the second

anniversary of party's victory in the 11th parliamentary election

on December 30.

The 11th parliamentary election was a milestone in the country's

history of democracy and development as Bangladesh

marched towards new journey of democracy overcoming darkness

of violent politics and domination of evil forces and

patrons of terrorists, militants and corrupt people through the

elections, said a press release of AL.

Marking the day, the party has drawn up programme including

a discussion at the party's Bangabandhu Avenue central

office at 3pm, said a press release.

AL's district, city, town, upazila and thana units will also

arrange identical programmes tomorrow.

Under the initiative of Dhaka City North unit of AL, a discussion

will be held at Krishibid Institution Bangladesh (KIB)

auditorium at 11am.

Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and

Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader will attend it as the chief

guest. Party's Presidium Member Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Joint

General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim and Organizing

Secretary Mirza Azam will join it as the special guests.

WHO chief speaks of 'personal

pain' over Ethiopia conflict

GENEVA : In rare, personal comments,

World Health Organization chief

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke

Monday of his "personal pain" over the

"worsening" conflict raging in his home

country of Ethiopia, reports UNB.

"In addition to Covid, 2020 has been

very difficult for me because my country

is in trouble," Tedros told reporters

in the UN health agency's last press

conference on the Covid-19 pandemic

of the year.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy

Ahmed, last year's Nobel Peace Prize

winner, ordered troops into the northern

region of Tigray on November 4,

saying the operation was in response to

alleged attacks on federal army camps

by the regional ruling party, the Tigray

People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

The fighting in Tigray has left thousands

dead, according to the

International Crisis Group think tank,

and sent tens of thousands of refugees

streaming across the border into

Sudan.

Tedros, the world's highest-profile

Tigrayan, told Monday's press conference

that he had many relatives in the

troubled region, "including my younger

brother, and I don't know where they

are."

"I have not communicated with them

because communication is not there."

Ethiopia restricted media access to

the conflict-hit region and Tigray was

under a total communications blackout

for six weeks as the conflict raged

between federal and regional forces.

Tedros, who for the past year has

been at the forefront of efforts to coordinate

a global response to the pandemic,

said the additional strain had been

tough personally. "As if Covid is not

enough I have that personal pain also,"

he said. "I worry about the whole country,"

he said.

"I cannot worry about my younger

brother or my relatives alone because

the situation is worsening."

Last month the Ethiopian government

accused Tedros, who from 2005-

2012 served as health minister under

then-TPLF leader Meles Zenawi, of lobbying

for and seeking to arm the

region's leaders.

Tedros denied those accusations in a

tweet last month, saying he had seen

the destructive nature of war as a child,

and had "used that first-hand experience

to always work for peace."

"There have been reports suggesting I

am taking sides in this situation. This is

not true," he wrote.

"I want to say that I am on only one

side, and that is the side of peace."

During Monday's press conference,

Tedros acknowledged that worrying

about both the pandemic and the conflict

in Ethiopia "has been tough".

But he ended his comments on an upbeat

note, voicing joy at becoming a grandfather

two months ago."I worry, considering the two

difficult situations that are happening, about

my granddaughter, but at the same time,

looking at her, I see hope."

Rawshan

Rahman dies

Rawshan Rahman Eva, the

wife of economic affairs adviser

to the prime minister Mashiur

Rahman, died at a hospital in

Dhaka on Monday.

She was 74, said a press

release.

Eva is survived by her

husband, a son and a daughter.

Prime minister Sheikh

Hasina expressed deep shock

and sorrow at the death of

Rawshan Rahman.

In a message of condolence,

she prayed for the eternal peace

of the departed soul and

conveyed deep sympathy to the

bereaved family. A number of

cabinet members expressed

profound shock and sorrow at

the death of Rawshan

Rahman.

The cabinet members, who

offered their condolences,

included agriculture minister

Abdur Razzaque, law, justice

and parliamentary affairs

minister Anisul Huq, foreign

affairs minister AK Abdul

Momen, and state minster for

civil aviation and tourism

Mahbub Ali.

GD- 1785/20 (10x 4)

GD- 1784/20 (12x 4)

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2020

3

Bangabandhu Parishad of Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC), held a human chain and protest

rally simultaneously in 35 places across Bangladesh on Tuesday in protest against the vandalism and devaluation of

the sculpture of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Photo: Courtesy

Human chain protesting against vandalism

of Bangabandhu's sculpture held at BADC

In protest against the vandalism and

devaluation of the sculpture of Father of

the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman, a human chain and

protest rally were held simultaneously in

35 places across Bangladesh on Tuesday.

Organized by Bangabandhu Parishad of

Bangladesh Agriculture Development

Corporation (BADC), the human chain

was attended by all levels of BADC officials,

employees, leaders of all professional

organizations including CBS, a

press release said.

The speakers at the occasion said that

"we immediately demand appropriate

punishment for the perpetrators of these

heinous and barbaric acts. At the same

time, there is a strong call for the eradication

of those who openly oppose cultural

freedom. They have chosen a time

when we are going to celebrate the birth

centenary of Bangabandhu and the golden

jubilee of independence. I wish the

107 landless

families to get

houses in

Sariakandi

BOGURA : A total of 107

landless and distressed families

of Sariakandi upazila of

the district are going to get

semi-pucca houses as a gift

from Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina on the occasion of

the 'Mujib Borsho' by next

January, reports BSS.

On behalf of Asrayan

Project-2 of the Prime

Minister's Office, the

Department of Disaster

Management (DDM) has

been constructing the houses

and each of the houses

will be built at a cost of Taka

1.71 lakh, said Sarwar Alam,

upazila project implementation

officer.

Shakil gets

thrilled getting

computer as

gift from PM

CUMILLA : Shahadat Hossain

Shakil, a resident of

Mughaltuli in Cumilla, was

thrilled when he got a computer

from Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina as a gift.

"I'm very happy to receive the

gift from the Prime Minister. I

pray to the Almighty for her

good health and long life," said

Shakil as Cumilla Deputy

Commissioner Abul Fazal Mir

on behalf of the premier handed

over the computer to him on

Monday. On December 7,

Shakil, son of Abdul Halim,

sent a SMS to the Prime

Minister's mobile phone,

which he collected from website,

with an appeal for a computer.

Later, Shakil received

a call from the Prime

Minister's Office on Dec 8.

Later, Cumilla Deputy

Commissioner's Office contacted

with him on Monday

and handed over the computer

worth Tk 45,000 as a

gift from the Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina.

government to take a firm stand against

their heinous conspiracy as well as the

conscious role of the citizens of

Bangladesh.

Md. Sayedul Islam, Chairman

(Additional Secretary) of BADC said at

the human chain and protest rally that

Bangabandhu means Bangladesh. If

Bangabandhu had not been born,

Bangladesh would not have been independent.

He is the symbol of our freedom

and sovereignty, the undisputed

leader of the freedom struggle, he is our

pride. Hitting on the sculpture of

Bangabandhu means hitting on

Bangladesh. The defeated forces and

fanatics of 1971 carried out this heinous

attack.

Ripon Kumar Mandal, president of

Bangabandhu Parishad, BADC, said at a

human chain and protest rally that the

defeated forces of 1971 must be defeated

by uniting. We have to think about why

Bangladesh was hit in that December by

hitting the sculpture of Bangabandhu. If

Bangabandhu is attacked, Bangabandhu

Parishad will prevent it.

At the occasion, Ripon Kumar

Mandal, Acting President of

Bangabandhu Parishad, BADC,

Dhirendra Chandra Debnath, Vice

President,Palash Hossain, Vice

President, Md. Monirul Islam Sohel,

President of BADC CBA and convener of

the organizing committee Md. Zainul

Abedin were among others present at

the occasion.

It is to be noted that on the night of

December 4, 2020, miscreants vandalized

the under construction sculpture of

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the intersection

of five roads in Kushtia city. In the

wake of the storm of protests that erupted

across the country, Bangabandhu

Parishad, BADC held a protest program.

On the occasion of the 106th birth anniversary of Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, a day-long

Zainul Utsav-2020 has been celebrated at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University on

Tuesday. On this occasion, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Md.

Akhtaruzzaman laid a wreath at the tomb of Shilpacharya.

Photo : Courtesy

Integrated development must

for effective local govt bodies

RAJSHAHI : Speakers at a participatory meeting

yesterday unequivocally called for ensuring

transparency, accountability and citizens' participation

in different development works is vital to

establish good governance in the local government

institutions.

Integrated development planning can be a

vital means of making the existing local government

institutions and the Upazila Parishad

and Union Parishad (UP) in particular effective

and accountable.

The discussants came up with the observations

while addressing the annual coordination meeting

of the 'Integrated Development under

Efficient and Accountable Local Governance

(EALG) Project' held at the conference hall of

Deputy Commissioner (DC) office.

District administration arranged the meeting

in association with the United Nation

Development Programme (UNDP) and Swiss

Agency for Development and Cooperation-SDC.

The speakers observed effective and meaningful

UZPs and UPs is the precondition to reasonable

improvement of living and livelihood conditions

of the grassroots population. So, there is no

alternative to make those up to the mark.

Deputy Commissioner Abdul Jalil addressed

the meeting as the chief guest with deputy director

of Local Government Division Shahana

Akhter Jahan in the chair.

More than 80 persons comprising UZP

Chairmen and Vice-chairmen, Upazila Nirbahi

Officers, UP Chairmen, upazila officials from all

eight line departments and members of the civil

society joined the meeting.

Deputy Director of the Department of

Agriculture Extension Shamsul Haque, Deputy

Director of the Department of Family Planning

Dr Abdul Mannan, Executive Director of Local

Government Engineering Division Saniul

Haque, Deputy Director of the Department of

Women Affairs Shobnom Shirin and Upazila

Chairman Anil Kumar Sarker also spoke.

District Facilitator of EALG Project Abu Hena

Mostafa Kamal illustrated the aims and objectives

of the project and its implementation strategy

during his multimedia presentation.

DC Abdul Jalil stressed the need for strengthening

local government institutions for strong

democracy and its institutionalisation at the

grassroots level which is important for achieving

the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He also said strengthening local governance

has been a key focus of the government of

Bangladesh and called for greater youth participation

in local governance for attainment

of the SDGs."Youth participation is very

important for local governance in attaining

SDGs, and leaving no one behind, you have to

work for it," he added.

Kamal Mojumder

for strengthening

technology-based

industrialization

DHAKA : State Minister for

Industries Kamal Ahmed

Mojumder yesterday directed

the new Bangladesh Small

and Cottage Industries

Corporation (BSCIC) officials

to intensify the technologybased

industrialization in line

with the fourth industrial revolution.

New BSCIC officers need to

acquire the ability to provide

appropriate services to entrepreneurs

in the workplace, he

said.

The state minister came up

with the instruction at the

inaugural function of the

basic training course for the

first class new officers of

BSCIC and training course

for women entrepreneurs as

the chief guest.

He also urged the BSCIC to

consolidate its activities in

setting up new industrial

cities in potential areas.

Mojumder said that after

completion of land development

in the industrial cities,

plots will be allotted to the

entrepreneurs and all services

required for the operation

of industrial factories must be

ensured there.

According to the SME

Policy-2019, the contribution

of the SME sector to GDP has

been targeted to increase to 32

percent by 2024, he added.

He called upon the BSCIC

officials to perform duties

with sincerity and dedication

in achieving the goal.

BSCIC chairman Md.

Mostaq Hasan NDC attended

the program as special guest

with its director Md. Khalilur

Rahman in the chair.

Mild to moderate

cold wave may

continue

DHAKA : Mild to moderate

cold wave is sweeping over

Khulna division and the regions

of Madaripur, Gopalgonj,

Srimangal, Rajshahi, Ishurdi,

Badalgachi, Dinajpur,

Teaulia, Rajarhat, Barishal

and Khepupara and it may

continue at some places.

Minimum temperature of

the country was recorded yesterday

7.3 degrees celsius at

Srimangal and Chuadanga

and maximum temperature

29.0 degrees Celsius at Teknaf

on Monday, according to the

Bangladesh Meteorological

Department (BMD).

Weather may remain dry over

the country. Moderate to thick

fog may occur at places over the

river basins of the country and

light to moderate fog may occur

elsewhere over the country.

Night and day temperature

may remain nearly unchanged

over the country. Ridge of subcontinental

high extends up to

West Bengal and adjoining

area. Seasonal low lies over

South Bay.

JU bans 31st

night celebration

at campus area

SAVAR : The authorities of

Jahangirnagar University

have imposed restrictions on

31st night celebration on the

eve of New Year 2021 this

year on the campus amid

COVID-19 outbreak.

An office order signed by

the university's acting registrar

Rahima Kaniz on

Monday said that no camp firing,

cultural program would

be allowed on the campus and

all campus surrounded shops

must close their doors before

the evening on the day.

The authorities also have

taken proper security measures

ahead of New Year celebrations

such as imposing

restriction on mass gathering,

showdown and the outsider's

entry during the day,

the notice reads.

The university administration

also urged Ashulia police

station to deploy additional

police force with the proctorial

body in order to avoid any

unexpected occurrence during

the security patrolling, the

statement added.

Corona puts children at

serious risk of malnutrition

DHAKA : The coronavirus has put the entire

world at serious risk. The virus which was first

detected in Wuhan, China, has become a pandemic

for the whole world. In the socio-economic

crisis caused by the Corona surge, 3.9

million children under the age of five in South

Asia could suffer from malnutrition this year.

These can worsen mental and physical wellbeing

of children, reports BSS.

Referring to the study report, the United

Nations International Children's Emergency

Fund (UNICEF) has warned that children will

be more vulnerable to the pandemic than any

other disease.

According to the study published in Lancet,

children around the world are more likely to be

at risk of serious illness from the lethal virus.

Stuck Qatar Bangladeshi Expatriates formed a human chain in front of

National Press Club yesterday to meet their various demands. Photo : TBT

To establish "Khondaker Ahmed Muktadir and Mosammat Khodeza Begum

Scholarship" a cheque for Tk. ten lac was handed over by Gaohar Ahmed, the Donor

of the "Khondaker Ahmed Muktadir and Mosammat Khodeza Begum Scholarship",

for the students of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology at AUST Campus

on Tuesday. The fund will arrange scholarships annually for the meritorious students

of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) of AUST. Prof. Dr.

Muhammad Fazli Ilahi, Vice-Chancellor, AUST, Prof. Dr. Mustafizur Rahman,

Treasurer, AUST, Dr. Md. Mosharof Hossain, Registrar, AUST, Dr. Mohammad

Shariful Alam, Head of CSE were present at the ceremony. Photo : Courtesy

HC dismisses bail plea

of JKG's Sabrina

DHAKA : The High Court (HC) yesterday

dismissed a bail plea of JKG

Healthcare Chairman Dr Sabrina Arif

Chowdhury in a case lodged over issuing

fake coronavirus (Covid-19) test reports.

"Not pressed," said the order passed by

the High Court division bench comprising

Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain and

Justice KM Zahid Sarwar.

Confirming the matter to the newsmen,

Deputy Attorney General Md

Monirul Islam said now the accused

would not be able to come out on bail.

The proceedings of the case is now

going on at the trial court and 13 out of

the total 43 witnesses have so far testified

in the case against eight people including

Dr Sabrina and her husband and JKG

CEO Ariful Haque Chowdhury.

The court on August 20 framed

charges against the eight accused in

the case.

More than half of this - about 58 percent (3.9

million) - will be in south Asian countries.

UNICEF described the illness as very risky as

children become more vulnerable to Corona

due to extreme malnutrition. As a result, they

become very thin and weak. This put the child's

life at risk and hinders their sound physical

growth and mental development.The study

says children under the age of five more likely

to be malnourished this year in low and middle-income

countries due to the Covid surge.

This problem will become much more evident

in South Asia as health services was stopped

for long in the region due to outbreak of the

virus. Officially vaccination for children and

feeding of vitamin were discontinued for several

months.

Mujib Barsha : Webinar lauds Bangabandhu's

leadership, Hasina's dev focus

DHAKA : Speakers on Tuesday lauded

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman's leadership quality and

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's politics of

development highlighting how Bangladesh is

marching towards Sonar Bangla as dreamt by

Bangabandhu.

They were addressing a webinar titled,

'Liberation of Bangladesh and the Dream of

Sonar Bangla' organised by the Bangladesh

Embassy in Amman, Jordan as part of the

'Mujib Barsha Webinar Series'.

Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen

MP was the chief guest while Palestinian

Foreign Minister Dr Riad Maliki attended as

the special guest. Dr. Momen gave a

historical overview of the struggle of

Bangalees for their independence led by

Bangabandhu with the necessary contexts.

He also noted how the unfinished work of

Bangabandhu are now being adopted and

put into action by Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina.

He also spoke on the urgency of the

repatriation of the Rohingyas to their

homeland in Myanmar.

The Palestinian Foreign Minister Dr. Maliki

expressed his high respect for Bangabandhu

while lauding the model of inclusive

development championed by Bangabandhu

and now being succesfuly implemented by

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

He wholeheartedly appreciated the

unflinching support Bangabandhu always

afforded to the Palestinians and their

aspirations for statehood, a policy which has

been strongly maintained by his daughter

Sheikh Hasina.

The other six accused are- Abu

Sayeed Chowdhury, Humayun Kabir

Himu, Tanjila Patwari, Biplob Das,

Shafikul Islam Romeo and Jebunnesa.

Investigation agency detective branch

(DB) of police on August 5 filed

charge-sheet in the case.

The investigation officer (IO) and DB

inspector Liakat Ali in the chargesheet

accused Sabrina and JKG CEO

Ariful of being the masterminds

behind the scam and the others as

their cohorts.

One Kamal Hossain filed the case

with Tejgaon Police Station on June 15

for issuing fake Covid-19 test reports.

JKG Healthcare run by Ariful and his

wife Dr Sabrina, was realising money

from the suspected patients for coronavirus

test, whereas the company had

inked a deal with the government to

conduct the test free of cost.

WedNeSdaY, deCemBeR 30, 2020

4

Europe’s watershed year

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Sino-Indian rivalry

over Bangladesh

In Bangladeshi geopolitics, India has always been

at the center while the United States has had

leverage. Other regional powers such as China

used to be on the periphery. Historically Bangladesh

has more cultural and societal links with India.

India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are collectively

known as a subcontinent. However, India's posture

and tactics created uneasiness among ordinary

Bangladeshis.

China's economic engagement with South Asian

countries - with the exception of long-time partner

Pakistan - only began to ramp up in the last two

decades. In this short period of time, China has

emerged as a top trade partner for Bangladesh. In

2015, ChinabecameBangladesh's top trading

partner, knocking India out of the position it had

held for 40 years. Imports from China represent 34

percent of Bangladesh's total.

As a member of China's Belt and Road Initiative,

Bangladesh has seen an influx of Chinese

investment in recent times. Beijing's support of

Bangladesh was evident in the 27 agreements for

investments and loans signed by the two countries -

worth some $24 billion - when President Xi Jinping

visited in 2016. Along with an earlier $13.6 billion

investment in joint ventures, those deals brought

Chinese investment in Bangladesh to a total of $38

billion, the largest sum ever pledged to Bangladesh

by a single country.

This large amount of Chinese investment in

India's most trusted, friendly neighbor made New

Delhi feel it was falling behind. Therefore, in

response, India announced $5 billion in loans for

Bangladesh in 2017, which is the largest amount

ever invested by India in Bangladesh.

As a rapidly developing economy Bangladesh is in

dire need of investment, while China and India both

see investment in Bangladesh as a way to extend

their influence. Bangladesh is seizing the

opportunity and using both China and India to fill

its FDI deficit.

There is also a strong security dimension to these

relationships. Bangladesh is surrounded by India

on three sides, and their shared 4096-kilometer

land border is the fifth-longest in the world. The Bay

of Bengal, located to the south of Bangladesh, is a

frontier that is watched over by the comparatively

powerful Indian Navy. Bangladesh also has a

maritime dispute with India in the strategic Bay of

Bengal.

China has become Bangladesh's top source for

arms imports; and Dhaka likewise is China's

second-largest arms export destination in the

world, behind Pakistan. Bangladesh accounts for 20

percent of all Chinese arms sales. Beijing has

provided Dhaka with five maritime patrol vessels,

two submarines, 16 fighter jets, and 44 tanks, as well

as anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles. Most

recently, in 2017 the Bangladesh Navy took delivery

of two Chinese submarines at a minimum price.

This agreement made India uncomfortable; thus

New Delhi expressed interest in offering submarine

training for the Bangladesh Navy. Again, while

China and India seek to expand their influence in

the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh is using both to make

necessary improvements to its military.

If the China-India strategic rivalry intensifies, both

countries will double down on their approach to

bringing strategically located Bangladesh into their

own orbit. China, along with increasing investment,

may also open its economy to billions of dollars in

imports from Bangladesh, which will help the

country to diversify its exports to a new destination

beyond North America and Europe. On the Indian

side, New Delhi may ramp up the diplomatic and

cultural ties with Bangladesh. India and China will

do their best to edge each other out in their

competition for dominance in the Bay of Bengal and

will try to squeeze an economically weak

Bangladesh.

However, Bangladesh should be aware that both

India and China will be primarily self-serving in

their investments. To avoid being a passive victim of

this geopolitical competition in the Bay of Bengal,

Bangladesh should use its strategic piston tactfully.

One way of getting the most out of India-China

competition is to remain elusive, without showing a

preference between the two giants. Maintaining

good working relations with both India and China is

crucial for an economically and infrastructurally

weaker Bangladesh.

In 2020, people around the world

experienced life in slow motion, even

as political developments accelerated.

For the EU, navigating the COVID-19

crisis has been challenging, yet despite

much naysaying, Europeans not only

stuck together but grew together, forging

a more cohesive bloc. In 2021, global

cooperation ought to make a strong

comeback, and the EU should continue to

pursue "strategic autonomy" so that it

can safeguard its citizens and interests in

the years and decades ahead.

It is a truism that 2020 marked a

watershed. In fact, the world has been

undergoing several tectonic shifts for

years now, including but not limited to

growing public distrust, polarization and

identity politics, tepid economic growth,

rising debts and deepening inequality.

We have witnessed the weaponization of

interdependence. Trade, technology,

investment, tourism and other former

venues of deepening cooperation have

become instruments of power and

domains of intense competition.

This was the big picture that we in the

EU leadership saw when we took office in

December 2019, just before conditions

became even more challenging. For

Europeans, it looked as though

everything we held dear was being

contested, be it multilateral cooperation;

solidarity between countries, generations

and individuals; or even basic respect for

facts and science. In addition to several

crises brewing in the EU's neighborhood

and the escalation of Sino-American

tensions, we were hit suddenly by

COVID-19, which has compounded all

the other longer-term challenges Europe

faces. There is no denying that the EU

struggled during the early days of the

pandemic. We were ill-prepared, and

many member states were initially

inclined to let everyone fend for

themselves. But genuine acts of solidarity

soon followed, with many countries

taking patients from, and sending

emergency equipment to, those most in

need. Then the EU-level measures kicked

in. The European Central Bank provided

massive liquidity, and the European

Commission authorized member states

to incur large deficits to support their

economies.

The discussion quickly turned to how

the EU could provide fiscal support to the

hardest-hit countries, and these debates

culminated in a historic "recovery fund."

An unprecedented €1.8 trillion

($2.1 trillion) was allocated for a new

"Next Generation EU" instrument and

the bloc's next seven-year budget.

Moreover, two longstanding economicpolicy

shibboleths were shattered. For

the first time, EU leaders agreed to issue

largescale common debt and allow for

fiscal transfers, provided that spending is

aligned with the twin priorities of

funding a green transition and securing

Europe's digital future.

On the international front, the EU's

position has been clear: A "pandemic

world" needs multilateral solutions. We

have lived by this motto even when

others were going it alone. Our May 2020

virtual pledging conference to raise funds

for vaccine research was a perfect

demonstration of the EU's unique

strengths. While the US and China were

proverbially at each other's throats,

Europe stepped up to lead on this critical

issue. Moreover, we did so in a

quintessentially European way (call it

"Multilateralism 2.0"), working with not

only governments, but also foundations

and the private sector.

Since the summer, Europe has suffered

a second wave of infections and struggled

with renewed lockdowns. Although we

have far more knowledge about COVID-

19 and how to treat it, "pandemic fatigue"

is widespread. Worse, the initial

economic rebound appears to be fading,

indicating that the crisis will continue to

dominate our lives for months - and

perhaps years - to come. As such, we

must keep mobilizing across all of the

relevant domains, from public health and

the economy to security and global

governance.

Revitalizing multilateralism will be a

top priority for the EU in 2021. Obviously

we cannot achieve this alone, but we

anticipate that we will have more

partners in the year ahead than we did in

2020. With Joe Biden succeeding Donald

Trump as president, the US is expected to

rejoin the Paris climate agreement,

JOSeP BORReLL

restore its support for the World Health

Organization, return to the Iran nuclear

deal and adopt a more constructive

stance within the World Trade

Organization.

America's return to the global stage will

serve as a much-needed shot in the arm

for multilateralism. We hope that others,

including China and Russia, will follow

suit in reversing their selective and selfserving

approach to multilateral

cooperation in the UN and elsewhere.

The pandemic has underscored the

need for European strategic autonomy, a

concept that originated in defense circles,

but that now extends to public health and

many other domains.

To be sure, pleas for "rules-based

cooperation" often sound less inspiring

than bombastic appeals to "take back

control." We must ensure that

multilateralism delivers tangible results

for citizens. No one will be safe until we

have a reliable vaccine, so the paramount

america's return to the global stage will serve as

a much-needed shot in the arm for multilateralism.

We hope that others, including China and

Russia, will follow suit in reversing their selective

and self-serving approach to multilateral

cooperation in the UN and elsewhere.

JaWed NaqvI

questions on vaccination are who will get

what, when and how. There is a serious

risk of "vaccine nationalism" or "vaccine

diplomacy," with rich and powerful

countries forcing themselves to the front

of the line. In early 2020, some countries

used "mask diplomacy" to extract

political concessions in exchange for

critically needed personal protective

equipment. The EU will insist on the

opposite approach: Vaccines must be

treated as a global public good and

distributed based on medical needs.

The second big multilateral priority for

2021 is climate change, another area

where the EU has shown leadership.

Having already set a 2050 carbonneutrality

target, we are close to an

agreement on a binding commitment to

reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions

by 55 percent by 2030. Moreover, these

efforts seem to have inspired others:

China has signaled its intention to

become carbon neutral by 2060, and

Japan and South Korea have said they

will do so by 2050. We now need the US,

India, Russia, Brazil and other big

emitters to get onboard.

Climate change is the existential

challenge of our time. As with COVID-19,

the warning signs are visible for all to see,

and there is a solid scientific consensus

about what to do. The difference, of

course, is that there will never be a

vaccine for climate change, so we must

bend the curve of GHG emissions as fast

as possible. Finally, at the same time that

we pursue multilateralism, we must build

a capacity to act autonomously when

necessary. As I argued a year ago,

Europeans must confront the world as it

is, not as we wish it to be. The EU must

"learn to speak the language of power."

The pandemic has underscored the

need for European strategic autonomy, a

concept that originated in defense circles,

but that now extends to public health and

many other domains. We have learned

the hard way that there are costs to

depending on just a few suppliers of

critical goods, especially when the

supplier is a country whose value system

is fundamentally at odds with our own.

The solution to this problem is

diversification and, when necessary,

shorter supply chains.

This is not just about market failures in

medical supplies. Strategic autonomy is

about how Europe can address

vulnerabilities across a wide range of

areas, from critical technologies and

infrastructure (such as digital networks

and cloud computing) to rare earths and

the raw materials needed for the green

transition. We must avoid excessive

dependence on external suppliers in

these strategic sectors. The point is not to

embrace autarky or protectionism, but to

safeguard our political independence so

that we remain masters of our own

choices and future.

Some elements of this strategy were put

in place in 2020. Europe now has a

mechanism to screen foreign investments,

and we have begun to address the

distorting effects of foreign subsidies. We

are also boosting the international role of

the euro, and preparing additional

measures on issues such as government

procurement. As matters stand, the EU

procurement market is almost totally

open, while that of some others remains

almost completely closed. We must either

ensure reciprocity or take steps to restore

balance.

Source: Arab news

Land grab dressed as nationalism

THE Modi government has

proposed the setting up of a new

waqf board for Jammu and

Kashmir. Muslim waqf boards, or trusts,

are rich in land, and land is in heavy

demand by Indian corporates. The

tycoon who cobbled support for

Narendra Modi's rise as prime minister

himself bought waqf land in Mumbai for

a pittance to build a multistoried home

considered by many to be an aesthetic

eyesore.

On the other side of the bargain, the

bodies of fabled Muslim actors and

actresses, musicians and singers -

Madhubala, Naushad and Mohammed

Rafi among them - were removed from

their resting places to create room for

newer arrivals, such is the pressure on

waqf land.

The land where Babri Masjid had stood

belonged to a waqf. Now, the land

belonging to Kashmiri Muslims appears

to be in the cross hairs of corporate

conquests of fertile farmlands, virgin

forests, of rivers and mountains.

Kashmir is rich in all these.

This was how colonialism expanded in

India. From a wider lens, both

colonialism (British traders) and today's

nationalism (Indian traders) are/were

similar in their greed for land with both

asserting claim to what belonged to

others, one by flaunting the national flag,

the other with the help of the gunboat.

Nehru and Gandhi became nationalist

icons in popular reckoning and the

peasants the spoilers.

Nationalism curiously also reminds

one of the house servants of the Iranian

elite. The rich Iranians would nurture

this habit of leaving, say, a cooked whole

chicken wrapped in cellophane in the

kitchen garbage so that the cleaner in the

morning would admire the master's

affluence. The cleaner and the master

were both proud Persians.

Closer home, in the name of the

nation's progress, movie actor Shahrukh

Khan has been advocating online school

curriculum with a special app he claims

has all the answers to a schoolgoer's

queries, mainly targeting students who

are not able to leave their home because

of the virus. The poorer majority who

inevitably have little if any access to

electricity leave alone a laptop, that too

one with a costly app supported by a

smart guide like Khan, can smack their

lips in celebration of the new India that

excludes them. Nationalism is akin to the

Stockholm syndrome, with the

oppressed loving the oppressor.

It's a fact that nationalism is classdriven.

Gandhiji stopped Indian

peasants from going on the warpath

several times, once by calling off a civil

disobedience movement because the

peasants burnt down a British police

station. He dispatched Nehru to Rae

Bareli to rein in restive peasants fighting

British-backed zamindars. Gandhi once

got off the train in Ayodhya to chide

peasants for being ready for class

violence. Nehru and Gandhi became

nationalist icons in popular reckoning

and the peasants the spoilers, not

different from the way today's protesting

farmers are vilified daily as traitors by

TV anchors loyal to the rulers in New

Delhi. With Switzerland's ageing

population there would be no Swiss left

to run their country, I needlessly ribbed

a Swiss journalist once. "Who cares?"

was the tart reply, her tone closely

resembling the message of the 19thcentury

Urdu poem Banjaranamah, a

celebration of the gypsy worldview, a

close variation of essential Buddhist

thought. "Not an inch of our sacred land

will be conceded," proclaimed the Indian

soldier not long ago to a melee of very

proud Indian tourists at the Nathu La

border with China. His Chinese

counterpart seemed accustomed to the

earnest gush of nationalism from across

the barbed wire, which he too must have

vented occasionally but probably without

the need to remove his smile.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

projected himself as an opponent of

expansionism he obliquely accused

With Switzerland's ageing population there would

be no Swiss left to run their country, I needlessly

ribbed a Swiss journalist once. "Who cares?" was the

tart reply, her tone closely resembling the message

of the 19th-century Urdu poem Banjaranamah, a

celebration of the gypsy worldview, a close variation

of essential Buddhist thought.

China of pursuing. Modi's fellow rightwing

nationalist, a former chief minister

of Maharashtra, however, was sanguine

the other day that he would soon make

Karachi part of India, staying on course

with the RSS idea of Akhand Bharat - unquartered

India - that goes beyond

Gilgit-Baltistan in its expansive quest,

east and west.

Be that as it may, the Nathu La pass

bordering Tibet was part of the

autonomous kingdom of Sikkim before

Indira Gandhi grabbed it in 1975 just

before declaring the emergency. Her

successor Morarji Desai apologised for it.

Her father Jawaharlal Nehru sent the

army to take Goa from the Portuguese

who had been in occupation of the

coastal enclave since 16 years before the

first Mughal ruler rode into Delhi. The

Portuguese represented colonial power,

and Nehru the nationalist end of the

stick for Goans. Like colonialism,

nationalism concocts its own history.

Consider the fact that the Portuguese

brought green chillies to India and

Indians have deluded themselves into

believing it was integral to ancient

Indian kitchens. Those who live in the

belief that the spicy nihari or qorma are

Muslim or 'Mughlai', therefore foreign,

need only look at the Uzbeks,

predominantly of Mongol or Mughal

extraction. There's no concept of hot

pepper, certainly not in the national

dish, the pilaf, which consists of bland

horsemeat sausages to garnish the beef

and rice dish. Indians corrupted it into

pulao - todaywith hormone-injected

chicken, mostly - as they did Uzbek

samsa, which became samosa.

Allama Iqbal wrote a popular

nationalist poem in praise of India but

the British knighted him. Iqbal's poem to

Lenin was overlooked, and the

description of colonialism as an

invention of Satan's capitalist conquests

wasmissed. Came Sahir Ludhianvi from

the leftist corner and turned Iqbal's

gushing patriotism on its head. "I am its

nightingale and India is my garden," said

Iqbal. Sahir, writing in postindependence

India noted the land grab

his country had become. "Jitni bhi

buildingein theen, sethon ne baant li

hain, footpath Bambai ke hain aashiyan

hamara." (Capitalists have cornered

every building in Bombay. Lesser ones

live on footpaths.)

The ongoing farmers' siege of Delhi is

of a piece with their heroic struggles

against colonialism and now they're

challenging an equally exploitative class

of state-backed businessmen whose class

interest is dressed as nationalism.

Source: Dawn

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBEr 30, 2020

5

Post-Covid syndromes include Psychotic Symptoms

5

Pam Belluck

Almost immediately, Dr. Hisam Goueli could tell that the

patient who came to his psychiatric hospital on Long Island

this summer was unusual.The patient, a 42-year-old physical

therapist and mother of four young children, had never had

psychiatric symptoms or any family history of mental illness.

Yet there she was, sitting at a table in a beige-walled room at

South Oaks Hospital in Amityville, N.Y., sobbing and saying

that she kept seeing her children, ages 2 to 10, being

gruesomely murdered and that she herself had crafted plans

to kill them.

"It was like she was experiencing a movie, like 'Kill Bill,'"

Dr. Goueli, a psychiatrist, said.The patient described one of

her children being run over by a truck and another

decapitated. "It's a horrifying thing that here's this wellaccomplished

woman and she's like 'I love my kids, and I

don't know why I feel this way that I want to decapitate

them,'" he said.

The only notable thing about her medical history was that

the woman, who declined to be interviewed but allowed Dr.

Goueli to describe her case, had become infected with the

coronavirus in the spring. She had experienced only mild

physical symptoms from the virus, but, months later, she

heard a voice that first told her to kill herself and then told her

to kill her children.

At South Oaks, which has an inpatient psychiatric

treatment program for Covid-19 patients, Dr. Goueli was

unsure whether the coronavirus was connected to the

woman's psychological symptoms. "Maybe this is Covidrelated,

maybe it's not," he recalled thinking.

"But then," he said, "we saw a second case, a third case and

a fourth case, and we're like, 'There's something

happening.'"Indeed, doctors are reporting similar cases

across the country and around the world. A small number of

Covid patients who had never experienced mental health

problems are developing severe psychotic symptoms weeks

after contracting the coronavirus.

A 36-year-old nursing home employee in North Carolina

who became so paranoid that she believed her three children

would be kidnapped and, to save them, tried to pass them

through a fast-food restaurant's drive-through window.

A 30-year-old construction worker in New York City who

became so delusional that he imagined his cousin was going

to murder him, and, to protect himself, he tried to strangle

his cousin in bed.

A 55-year-old woman in Britain had hallucinations of

monkeys and a lion and became convinced a family member

had been replaced by an impostor.Beyond individual reports,

a British study of neurological or psychiatric complications in

153 patients hospitalized with Covid-19 found that 10 people

had "new-onset psychosis." Another study identified 10 such

patients in one hospital in Spain. And in Covid-related social

media groups, medical professionals discuss seeing patients

Severe psychotic symptoms are being reported worldwide.

with similar symptoms in the Midwest, Great Plains and

elsewhere. "My guess is any place that is seeing Covid is

probably seeing this," said Dr. Colin Smith at Duke

University Medical Center in Durham, who helped treat the

North Carolina woman. He and other doctors said their

patients were too fragile to be asked whether they wanted to

be interviewed for this article, but some, including the North

Carolina woman, agreed to have their cases described in

scientific papers.

Medical experts say they expect that such extreme

psychiatric dysfunction will affect only a small proportion of

patients. But the cases are considered examples of another

way the Covid-19 disease process can affect mental health

and brain function. Although the coronavirus was initially

thought primarily to cause respiratory distress, there is now

Photo: Internet

ample evidence of many other symptoms, including

neurological, cognitive and psychological effects, that could

emerge even in patients who didn't develop serious lung,

heart or circulatory problems. Such symptoms can be just as

debilitating to a person's ability to function and work, and it's

often unclear how long they will last or how to treat them.

Experts increasingly believe brain-related effects may be

linked to the body's immune system response to the

coronavirus and possibly to vascular problems or surges of

inflammation caused by the disease process.

"Some of the neurotoxins that are reactions to immune

activation can go to the brain, through the blood-brain

barrier, and can induce this damage," said Dr. Vilma Gabbay,

a co-director of the Psychiatry Research Institute at

Montefiore Einstein in the Bronx.

Brain scans, spinal fluid analyses and other tests didn't find

any brain infection, said Dr. Gabbay, whose hospital has

treated two patients with post-Covid psychosis: a 49-year-old

man who heard voices and believed he was the devil and a

34-year-old woman who began carrying a knife, disrobing in

front of strangers and putting hand sanitizer in her food.

Physically, most of these patients didn't get very sick from

Covid-19, reports indicate. The patients that Dr. Goueli

treated experienced no respiratory problems, but they did

have subtle neurological symptoms like hand tingling,

vertigo, headaches or diminished smell. Then, two weeks to

several months later, he said, they "develop this profound

psychosis, which is really dangerous and scary to all of the

people around them."

Also striking is that most patients have been in their 30s,

40s and 50s. "It's very rare for you to develop this type of

psychosis in this age range," Dr. Goueli said, since such

symptoms more typically accompany schizophrenia in young

people or dementia in older patients. And some patients - like

the physical therapist who took herself to the hospital -

understood something was wrong, while usually "people

with psychosis don't have an insight that they've lost touch

with reality."

Some post-Covid patients who developed psychosis

needed weeks of hospitalization in which doctors tried

different medications before finding one that helped.Dr.

Robert Yolken, a neurovirology expert at Johns Hopkins

University School of Medicine in Baltimore, said that

although people might recover physically from Covid-19, in

some cases their immune systems, might be unable to shut

down or might remain engaged because of "delayed

clearance of a small amount of virus."

Persistent immune activation is also a leading explanation

for brain fog and memory problems bedeviling many Covid

survivors, and Emily Severance, a schizophrenia expert at

Johns Hopkins, said post-Covid cognitive and psychiatric

effects might result from "something similar happening in

the brain."

Amid pandemic make vaccination

a priority

Paula Span

Peggy Stein, 68, a retired teacher in

Berkeley, Calif., skipped a flu shot this

year. Her reasoning: "How could I get

the flu if I'm being so incredibly careful

because of Covid?"Karen Freeman, 74,

keeps meaning to be vaccinated against

shingles, but hasn't done so. A retired

college administrator in St. Louis, she

quipped that "denial has worked well

for me these many years."

Sheila Blais, who lives on a farm in

West Hebron, N.Y., has never received

any adult vaccine. She also has never

contracted the flu. "I'm such an

introvert I barely leave the farm, so

where's my exposure?" said Ms. Blais,

66, a fiber artist. "If it's not broke, don't

fix it."

While older adults await vaccination

against Covid-19, public health officials

also worry about their forgoing,

forgetting, fearing or simply not

knowing about those other vaccines -

the ones recommended for adults as we

age and our immune systems weaken.

"There's a lot of room for

improvement," said Dr. Ram Koppaka,

associate director for adult

immunization at the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention.The

proportion receiving the shingles

vaccine, a fairly recent addition to the

list, has inched up, but by 2018 only

34.5 percent of people over 60 had

been vaccinated.

Moreover, Dr. Koppaka pointed out:

"When you look deeper, there are

longstanding, deep, significant

differences in the proportion of Black

and Hispanic adults getting vaccines

compared to their white counterparts.

It's really unacceptable." Close to 40

percent of non-Hispanic whites had

been vaccinated against shingles, for

instance, compared with fewer than 20

percent of Blacks and Hispanics.One

might expect a group who can recall

polio fears and outbreaks of whooping

cough to be less hesitant to get

vaccinated than younger cohorts.

"You'll probably have a different

concept of vaccination from someone

who never experienced what a serious

viral illness can do," Dr. Koppaka said.

When it comes to the Covid-19

vaccine, for instance, only 15 percent of

those over 65 say they would definitely

or probably not get it, compared with

36 percent of those 30 to 49, a Kaiser

Family Foundation tracking poll

showed earlier this month. (Ms. Stein,

Ms. Blais and Ms. Freeman all said they

would happily accept the Covid

vaccine.)

But for other diseases, vaccination

rates lag. Given that older people are

more vulnerable to severe illness from

them, why the gaps in

coverage?Internists and other doctors

for adults don't promote vaccines

nearly as effectively as pediatricians do,

said Dr. William Schaffner, an

infectious disease specialist at

Vanderbilt University. Older patients,

who often see a variety of doctors, may

also have trouble keeping track of when

60 to 70 percent of the population needed to acquire resistance to

the coronavirus to banish it.

Photo: Collected

they got which shot.

Experts fear that vaccination rates

may have fallen further during the

pandemic, as they have among

children, if older people wary of going

to doctors' offices or pharmacies

skipped shots.Financial and

bureaucratic obstacles also thwart

vaccination efforts. Medicare Part B

covers three vaccines completely:

influenza, pneumococcus and, when

indicated, hepatitis B.

The Tdap and shingles vaccines,

however, are covered under Part D,

which can complicate reimbursement

for doctors; the vaccines are easier to

obtain in pharmacies. Not all Medicare

recipients buy Part D, and for those

who do, coverage varies by plan and

can include deductibles and co-pays.

Still, older adults can gain access to

most recommended vaccines for no or

low cost, through doctors' offices,

pharmacies, supermarkets and local

health departments. For everyone's

benefit, they should.

Influenza An annual shot in the fall -

and it's still not too late, because flu

season peaks from late January into

February. Depending on which strain is

circulating, the vaccine (ask for the

stronger versions for seniors) prevents

40 to 50 percent of cases; it also

reduces illness severity for those

infected.

Thus far this year, flu activity has

remained extraordinarily low, perhaps

because of social distancing and masks

or because closed schools kept children

from spreading it. Manufacturers

shipped a record number of doses, so

maybe more people got vaccinated. In

any case, fears of a flu/Covid

"twindemic" have not yet been realized.

Nevertheless, infectious disease

experts urge older adults (and everyone

over six months old) to get flu shots

now. "Flu is fickle," Dr. Schaffner said.

"It could take off like a rocket in

January."

Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis. A

booster of TD vaccine every 10 years,

to prevent tetanus and diphtheria. If

you've never had the Tdap vaccine -

which adds prevention against

pertussis - that's the one you want.

Although pertussis, better known as

whooping cough, occasionally shows

up in adults, newborns are

particularly at risk. Pregnant women

will ask expectant grandparents to get

a Tdap shot. Because it is covered

under Part D, a pharmacy is the best

bet.

Pneumococcus. "It's a pneumonia

vaccine, but it also prevents the most

serious consequences of pneumonia,

including meningitis and bloodstream

infections," Dr. Koppaka said.People

over 65 should get the polysaccharide

formula - brand name Pneumovax -

but there are certain circumstances,

such as immune-compromising

conditions, to discuss with a health care

provider.

Those over 65 may choose, again in

consultation with a provider, to also get

the conjugate pneumococcal vaccine

(brand name Prevnar), which provides

some additional protection. If so,

C.D.C. guidelines specify which vaccine

to take when.

Blood samples sit alongside trays of monoclonal antibody in a lab.

Photo: Gabby Jones

How much herd immunity is enough?

Donald G. McNeil Jr.

At what point does a country achieve

herd immunity? What portion of the

population must acquire resistance to

the coronavirus, either through

infection or vaccination, in order for the

disease to fade away and life to return to

normal?

Since the start of the pandemic, the

figure that many epidemiologists have

offered has been 60 to 70 percent. That

range is still cited by the World Health

Organization and is often repeated

during discussions of the future course

of the disease. Although it is impossible

to know with certainty what the limit

will be until we reach it and

transmission stops, having a good

estimate is important: It gives

Americans a sense of when we can hope

to breathe freely again.

Recently, a figure to whom millions of

Americans look for guidance - Dr.

Anthony S. Fauci, an adviser to both the

Trump administration and the

incoming Biden administration - has

begun incrementally raising his herdimmunity

estimate.

In the pandemic's early days, Dr.

Fauci tended to cite the same 60 to 70

percent estimate that most experts did.

About a month ago, he began saying

"70, 75 percent" in television interviews.

And last week, in an interview with

CNBC News, he said "75, 80, 85

percent" and "75 to 80-plus percent." In

a telephone interview the next day, Dr.

Fauci acknowledged that he had slowly

but deliberately been moving the goal

posts. He is doing so, he said, partly

based on new science, and partly on his

gut feeling that the country is finally

ready to hear what he really thinks.

Hard as it may be to hear, he said, he

believes that it may take close to 90

percent immunity to bring the virus to a

halt - almost as much as is needed to

stop a measles outbreak.

Asked about Dr. Fauci's conclusions,

prominent epidemiologists said that he

might be proven right. The early range

of 60 to 70 percent was almost

undoubtedly too low, they said, and the

virus is becoming more transmissible,

so it will take greater herd immunity to

stop it. Dr. Fauci said that weeks ago, he

had hesitated to publicly raise his

estimate because many Americans

seemed hesitant about vaccines, which

they would need to accept almost

universally in order for the country to

achieve herd immunity.

Now that some polls are showing that

many more Americans are ready, even

eager, for vaccines, he said he felt he

could deliver the tough message that the

return to normal might take longer than

anticipated."When polls said only about

half of all Americans would take a

vaccine, I was saying herd immunity

would take 70 to 75 percent," Dr. Fauci

said. "Then, when newer surveys said

60 percent or more would take it, I

thought, 'I can nudge this up a bit,' so I

went to 80, 85."

"We need to have some humility

here," he added. "We really don't know

what the real number is. I think the real

range is somewhere between 70 to 90

percent. But, I'm not going to say 90

percent."Doing so might be

discouraging to Americans, he said,

because he is not sure there will be

enough voluntary acceptance of

vaccines to reach that goal. Although

sentiments about vaccines in polls have

bounced up and down this year, several

current ones suggest that about 20

percent of Americans say they are

unwilling to accept any vaccine.

Also, Dr. Fauci noted, a herdimmunity

figure at 90 percent or above

is in the range of the infectiousness of

measles."I'd bet my house that Covid

isn't as contagious as measles," he

said.Measles is thought to be the world's

most contagious disease; it can linger in

the air for hours or drift through vents

to infect people in other rooms. In some

studies of outbreaks in crowded military

barracks and student dormitories, it has

kept transmitting until more than 95

percent of all residents are infected.

Interviews with epidemiologists

regarding the degree of herd immunity

needed to defeat the coronavirus

produced a range of estimates, some of

which were in line with Dr. Fauci's. They

also came with a warning: All answers

are merely "guesstimates."

"You tell me what numbers to put in

my equations, and I'll give you the

answer," said Marc Lipsitch, an

epidemiologist at Harvard's T.H. Chan

School of Public Health. "But you can't

tell me the numbers, because nobody

knows them." The only truly accurate

measures of herd immunity are done in

actual herds and come from studying

animal viruses like rinderpest and footand-mouth

disease, said Dr. David M.

Morens, Dr. Fauci's senior adviser on

epidemiology at the National Institute

of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

When cattle are penned in corrals, it is

easy to measure how fast a disease

spreads from one animal to another, he

said. Humans move around, so

studying disease spread among them is

far harder.The original assumption that

it would take 60 to 70 percent immunity

to stop the disease was based on early

data from China and Italy, health

experts noted.

WeDneSDAY, DeCeMBeR 30, 2020

6

Members of BCG Station Chandpur under Dhaka Zone in a drive on arrested 2 people along with 75 lakh meters

of illegal current net from Gachatala Bridge area adjacent to Wireless Junction on Tuesday. Photo: Courtesy

Bangladesh Coast Guard seizes

huge quantity of illegal nets

A special operation was conducted by

BCG station Chandpur under dhaka

zone on tuesday morning to curb the use

of illegal nets on the basis of secret

information in the area of Gachatala

Bridge adjacent to Wireless Junction.

during the operation, two persons were

arrested with a truck (dhaka metro-no-

15-42-62) heading towards harina from

munshiganj with an illegal current net of

75 lakh meters, a press release said.

the arrestees were identified as md.

Arif (32), son of Akbar sikder, from

Abdullahpur area of munshiganj and md.

Abdul Barek (42), son of Abdul mannan

Bepari from pathak kandi village of

madaripur. the seized nets were later

destroyed by fire in the presence of the

executive magistrate and the upazila

senior Fisheries officer. the two

detainees were fined tk 5,000 each by a

mobile court through an executive

magistrate.

the Coast Guard has continued and

will continue to conduct regular

operations in the areas covered by the

Bangladesh Coast Guard to maintain law

and order, ensure public safety as well as

curb kidnapping, robbery, drug control

and fishing with illegal current nets.

Bridge built over Chela canal brings

light of hope of rural people

Aminul islAm Azir, ChhAtAk

Correspondent:

the people of the area are

dreaming of developing a beautiful

bridge over the Chela canal in

Bhatgaon union of Chhatak upazila

of sunamganj with the aim of 'village

will be city' announced by the prime

minister.

Built by the local government

department, this beautiful bridge is a

beacon of hope for the affluent rural

people of the area. the bridge was

officially inaugurated by supreme

Court Justice Barrister iman Ali on

october 5 last year. sunamganj

deputy Commissioner Abdul Ahad

and other government officials were

present at the inaugural function.

the 6-meter-long bridge was built

over the Chela canal on the moinpur-

Aliganj road in the Anujani area of

the Jalalpur-Baratuka road under

the important bridge project. the

local government department wants

to complete the construction and

renovation work of the connecting

road of the girder bridge constructed

at a cost of tk 3.24 crore by next

June. to this end, a delegation led by

lGed sunamganj executive

engineer mahbub Alam inspected

the road adjacent to the bridge on

Wednesday. Chhatak upazila

engineer Abul mansur mia, deputy

Assistant engineer rajat kanti das

and other people of the engineering

department were present at the time.

the road to be constructed will

cross the north side of the bridge

through the village of Chelarpar and

meet the bridge adjacent to moinpur

Bazar. once the work on the link

road is completed, a large population

of several villages including

moinpur, kurshi, Chelarpar,

Anujanani will be able to enjoy easy

travel facilities. in addition,

hundreds of students from 2 high

schools, 2 primary schools and 2

madrasas located on the side of the

road will be relieved of their

hardships and farmers will be able to

take advantage of marketing their

produce as there are a few small and

big hats and bazaars along the road.

Currently, school-madrasa students

and locals are looking at the bridge as

a beacon in the area. shamsul islam,

nazmul hossain and Golap mia of

Chelarpar village, who are expecting

benefits, said that the construction of

Anujani Bridge is the result of long

standing demand of the locals.

Freedom fighter Abdul khalik, dr.

noor Ali of Anujani village, kibria

said, this bridge will improve the

living standard of the rural people of

this area. it will be possible to take

the sick patient to the medical center

easily. Anujani Bridge is a milestone

in the development of the present

rural-friendly government. mahbub

Alam, executive engineer of lGed

sunamganj, said the bridge was built

keeping the alignment of the road.

road construction has been delayed

due to successive floods. road work

will begin soon. he expressed hope

that the road work would be

completed by next June.

Golam kabir mollah elected mayor

for second time in a row

milon siddiki, dhAmrAi

Correspondent:

municipal Awami league

president Golam kabir

mollah has been elected

mayor for the second

consecutive term in dhamrai

municipality election. Golam

kabir mollah has been

elected mayor by winning

through huge margin of

votes.

After the victory of the boat

symbol in the last election,

the municipal mayor Golam

kabir mollah was widely

discussed through various

developmental activities. to

maintain the continuity of

development, this time the

Awami league nominated

him again for the boat

symbol, and the loclas were

satisfied with the

development activities and

elected Golam kabir mollah

as the mayor for the second

time in a row with 23,110

votes.

meanwhile, the nearest

rival Bnp-backed mayoral

candidate dewan nazim

uddin monju got 1,503 votes

and the other rival islami

Andolan Bangladesh's

mayoral candidate Qazi

shawkat hossain got 262

votes.

the total number of voters

in dhamrai municipality is

42,644. of these, three

mayoral candidates got

24,885 votes. in this

election, voting was held

peacefully by eVm system.

district administration stand beside

cold-hit people in dighinala

ABdul JAlil, diGhinAlA Correspondent:

Blankets have been distributed

among cold-hit people at the initiative

of khagrachhari district administration.

deputy Commissioner pratap Chandra

Biswas distributed blankets among the

poor people of taidupara, Jharnapara,

milon karbari, seemana para and

rathichandra karbari para areas at the

raninagar police will be for

the people: oC

s m sAiFul islAm, rAninAGAr

Correspondent:

md. shaheen Akanda, a new

officer in charge of raninagar police

station, said police would work

alongside the people to maintain

law and order including the safety

of raninagar residents. in that case,

if the people become aware and

inform their problems directly to

the police station, legal action will

be taken in case of urgent

investigation. i will work with local

school groundsof seemana para school

in dighinala on tuesday afternoon.

during the time, blankets were

distributed among more than 300 coldhit

people. poor people were happy to

get blankets in winter.

deputy Commissioner pratap

Chandra Biswas said, 'winter is more

prevalent in the hilly areas. Blankets are

distributed among the cold-stricken

journalists, civil society, political

leaders, the business community

and the people to prevent drug

terrorism and child marriage.

he added that the law will operate

at its own pace. i will not bow down

to any particular group in its proper

application in the public interest.

the government will keep me in this

police station for a few days, i want

to give legal services to the people as

a police of humanity. even if i leave,

people can say that the police do a

good job. he made the remarks at a

people every year. in the first phase of

this year, 18,500 blankets have been

distributed in the entire district at the

initiative of the district administration.

more blankets will be distributed in

phases. '

during the tiem, dighinala upazila

nirbahi officer mohammad ullah,

local up members were present at the

time.

Khagrachhari Deputy Commissioner Pratap Chandra Biswas distributed blankets among cold-hit

people in various areas of Dhighinala on Tuesday.

Photo: Abdul Jalil

view exchange meeting with

journalists at the raninagar press

Club's own building on tuesday

afternoon.

press Club president sm saiful

islam presided over the meeting

while among others, oC

investigation tariqul islam,

General secretary of the press Club

ohedul islam milon, former

president harunur rashid, former

General secretary shahidul islam

and shah rukh hossain Ahad were

also present at the occasion.

The spectacular bridge built by the local government department, is a beacon of hope for the affluent

rural people of Bhatgaon union of Chhatak upazila of Sunamganj. Photo: Aminul islam Azir

846 homeless people to get brick-built houses in Gaibandha

GAiBAndhA: A total of 846 homeless

people of all the seven upazilas of the

district will get brick built houses having

shed with corrugated iron sheets free of cost

from the government this year, an official

said, reports Bss.

district and upazila administrations are

implementing the construction works of

the houses under the Ashrayan project-2 of

the prime minister office (pmo).

After completion of the construction

work, the houses would be handed over to

the homeless people. Among 846 homeless

people, 105 will get brick-built houses in

sadar upazila, 272 in sundarganj upazila,

120 in Gobindaganj upazila, 179 in

sadullapur upazila, 75 in Fulchhari upazila,

35 in shaghata and 60 in palashbari upazila

deputy Commissioner (dC) Abdul

matin himself is superintending the

construction works. talking to Bss, Abdul

matin said with the completion of the work,

the houses would be handed over to the

selected beneficiaries formally.

Apart from this, more 17 houses were

also being built at the direct supervision of

the district administration with the

financial support of the solvent and well-off

persons of the district, he said. hearing the

news of providing houses to homeless

people free of cost, a number of

beneficiaries burst into tears with joy and

happiness and wished good health and

long life of prime minister sheikh hasina.

they also thanked the premier for

building brick built houses for them.

Md. Shaheen Akanda, a new officer in charge of Raninagar Police Station held a view exchange meeting with

journalists on Tuesday.

Photo: TBT

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2020

7

A vigil is held for Andre' Hill at the Brentnell Community Recreation Center on Columbus.

Ohio, Saturday, Dec. 26, 2020. The police chief of Columbus, Ohio, recommended on

Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020, that the officer who shot and killed Hill, a 47-year-old Black man,

earlier this week be fired.

Photo : AP

Ohio police officer fired in fatal

shooting of Black man

OHIO : A white Ohio police officer was

fired Monday after bodycam footage

showed him fatally shooting 47-yearold

Andre Hill - a Black man who was

holding a cellphone - and refusing to

administer first aid for several minutes,

reports UNB.

Columbus police officer Adam Coy

was fired hours after a hearing was held

to determine his employment,

Columbus Public Safety Director Ned

Pettus Jr said in a statement.

"The actions of Adam Coy do not live

up to the oath of a Columbus Police

officer, or the standards we, and the

community, demand of our officers,"

the statement read. "The shooting of

Andre Hill is a tragedy for all who loved

him in addition to the community and

our Division of Police."

Coy remains under criminal

investigation for last week's shooting.

The decision came after Pettus

concluded a hearing to determine

Russia reports

562 new

coronavirus

deaths in past

24 hours

MOSCOW : The number of

coronavirus-related

fatalities in Russia went up

by 562 in the past 24 hours,

compared to 487 on

previous day, taking the total

to 55,827, the national anticoronavirus

crisis center told

reporters Tuesday, reports

UNB.

The provisional death rate

stands at 1.8%. In particular,

St. Petersburg reported 79

deaths, followed by Moscow

(75), the Moscow Region

(24), the Rostov Region

(23), the Sverdlovsk Region

(17) and the Altai Region

(16).

Russia's coronavirus cases

rose by 27,002 to 3,105,037

in the past 24 hours, the

anti-coronavirus crisis

center said on Tuesday.

The number of new daily

coronavirus cases is the

lowest since December 16. A

total of 27,787 cases were

identified on December 28.

According to the crisis

center, the coronavirus

growth rate has been at or

below 0.9% for three days.

In particular, 5,641

coronavirus cases were

recorded in Moscow in the

past day, 3,757 in St.

Petersburg, 1,547 in the

Moscow Region, 497 in the

Nizhny Novgorod Region,

401 in the Sverdlovsk

Region, and 394 in the

Pskov Region.

There are currently

553,027 active coronavirus

cases in Russia.

Russia's coronavirus

recoveries grew by 24,874 in

the past 24 hours. A total of

2,496,183 people have

recovered by now, the anticoronavirus

crisis center told

reporters on Tuesday.

According to the crisis

center, recoveries have risen

to 80.4% of the total number

of infected individuals.

whether the actions taken by Coy in the

moments before and after the fatal

shooting of Hill on Tuesday were

justified. The public safety director

upheld the recommendation of Police

Chief Thomas Quinlan, who made a

video statement Christmas Eve, saying

he had seen enough to recommend Coy

be terminated.

Quinlan expedited the investigation

and bypassed procedure to file two

departmental charges alleging critical

misconduct against Coy in the death of

Hill. "This is what accountability looks

like. The evidence provided solid

rationale for termination," Quinlan said

after Coy's termination Monday

afternoon. "Mr. Coy will now have to

answer to the state investigators for the

death of Andre Hill." Members of the

local Fraternal Order of Police attended

the hearing on behalf of Coy, who was

not in attendance, according to a

statement from Pettus' office. "Officer

Coy was given the opportunity today to

come and participate," Brian Steel, vice

president of the police union, told

reporters Monday. "He elected not to

participate. I do not know why ... I

would have liked to have him here, but

it's his decision."

Coy and another officer responded to

a neighbor's nonemergency call after 1

a.m. Tuesday about a car in front of his

house in the city's northwest side that

had been running, then shut off, then

turned back on, according to a copy of

the call released Wednesday.

Mayor Andrew Ginther said it remains

unclear if that car had anything to do with

Hill. Police bodycam footage showed Hill

emerging from a garage and holding up a

cellphone in his left hand seconds before

he was fatally shot by Coy. There is no

audio because the officer hadn't activated

the body camera; an automatic "look

back" feature captured the shooting

without audio.

Twenty-three people died in a road accident in central Nigeria on Monday

with 22 others injured, according to local police.

Photo : AP

23 killed in road accident

in central Nigeria

LAGOS : Twenty-three people died in a road

accident in central Nigeria on Monday with

22 others injured, according to local police,

reports BSS.

The accident, which involved a truck,

occurred along the Bokani-Makera road in

the Mokwa local government area of Niger

state in the middle belt region of the country,

according to Adamu Usman, police chief in

the state.

He told reporters in Minna, the state

capital on Monday that the truck loaded with

dozens of cows and 45 persons skidded off

the road and somersaulted into a bush after

the loss of control by the driver.

Usman said the truck was coming from

Dadin Kowa, in the northwest state of

Kebbi state, en route to Lagos, the

country's economic hub when the incident

occurred.

The bodies of the deceased and those

wounded have been transferred to a local

hospital, he said, adding failure of drivers to

obey traffic rules and regulations led to the

tragedy.

Deadly road accidents are frequently

reported in Nigeria due to bad roads,

overloading and reckless drive.

5 killed, 2 injured in

southern Somalia blast

MOGADISHU : At least five people were on Monday evening killed and two others injured in

a blast along the road in Dhobley town in the Lower Juba region in southern Somalia, an

official confirmed on Tuesday.

Mohamed Hassan, governor of Dhobley said that the blast was a landmine planted at the

roadside which hit a vehicle passing by the area, causing casualties.

"Five people who were on the bus died at the scene and two other passersby got injured,"

Hassan said. He added that the blast took place near the town of Taabto, northeast of Dhobley

with witnesses in the area saying they heard a huge blast. "We heard the sound of a big

explosion, people said it caused many casualties," Garad Dhaqane, a witness said.No one

claimed responsibility for the latest incident but al-Qaida allied group al-Shabaab has

conducted similar attacks in the past.

India records

lowest daily

COVID-19

cases in 187

days

NEW DELHI : The daily

new COVID-19 cases in the

country touched a new low

with less than 16,500 new

cases being added to the

national tally after a gap of

187 days, the Union Health

Ministry said on Tuesday.

The daily new cases were

16,922 on June 25.

India's active caseload has

fallen to 2,68,581 as on date.

"The share of active cases

in the total cases has further

compressed to 2.63 per cent

of the cumulative caseload,"

the ministry said.

A net decline of 8,720

cases has been recorded in

the total active cases in a

day, it stated.

With the rising recoveries

and decline in daily new

cases, India's cumulative

recoveries are inching closer

to 1 crore, the ministry said.

The total recovered cases

have crossed 98 lakh

(98,07,569).

The gap between

recoveries and active cases

continues to grow and

presently stands at

95,38,988, it underlined.

A total of 24,900 cases

have recovered in a span of

24 hours. The ministry said

that 77.66 per cent of the

new recovered cases are

observed to be concentrated

in 10 states and UTs.

Maharashtra has reported

the maximum number of

single-day recoveries with

4,501 recoveries. Kerala

follows with 4,172 new

recoveries. Chhattisgarh

recorded another 1,901 daily

recoveries.

South Africa imposes new virus curbs

as WHO warns of worse pandemics

JOHANNESBURG : South Africa banned

alcohol sales and made masks mandatory in

public from Tuesday after a surge in

coronavirus cases, as the World Health

Organization warned that pandemics far

more deadly than Covid-19 may lie ahead.

Nations around the world are struggling

with winter spikes in infections that have

pushed the global caseload close to 81

million, even as the rollout of vaccines

gathers pace in North America and Europe.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa

on Monday announced a ban on selling

alcohol and said face masks will be

compulsory in public after his nation became

the first in Africa to record one million cases.

"We have let down our guard, and

unfortunately we are now paying the price,"

said Ramaphosa, blaming "super-spreader"

social events and an "extreme lack of

vigilance over the holiday period" for the

spike. Ramaphosa said data showed

"excessive alcohol consumption" leads to an

increase in trauma cases reported at

hospitals, causing an "unnecessary" strain on

public health facilities.

Surging cases also forced authorities in Rio

de Janeiro - one of Brazil's worst-hit cities -

to announce Monday that they will block

access to beaches on December 31 to prevent

crowds celebrating New Year's Eve.

And in Spain, where the death toll has

topped 50,000, the health minister said the

government would set up a registry of people

who refuse to be vaccinated, and share it

with other European Union member states.

Vaccinations in Spain and other EU

countries started over the weekend, and

authorities fear vaccine hesitancy and

rejection could hamper those efforts -

especially because of misinformation

campaigns on social media.

That was not a concern with 75-year-old

Jacques Collineau, resident of an old

people's home in Joue-les-Tours, France.

"Fear? Fear of what? I've been vaccinated

for the flu before, now it's the same thing,"

Collineau said as he got the shot on Monday.

"We don't make vaccines to kill people, we

make vaccines to try to save them."

South Africa banned alcohol sales and made masks mandatory in public

from Tuesday after a surge in coronavirus cases, as the World Health

Organization warned that pandemics far more deadly than Covid-19 may

lie ahead.

Photo : AP

More England Covid patients in

hospital than at April peak

LONDON : England is "back in the eye"

of the coronavirus storm, health chiefs

warned Tuesday, with as many patients

in hospital as during the initial peak in

April. A new strain of the virus appears

to be behind the recent upsurge in

cases, heaping further pressure on the

state-run National Health Service

during its busiest winter period.

NHS England figures showed there

were 20,426 Covid patients in the

country's hospitals on Monday,

compared to the 18,974 peak recorded

during the first wave.

The number of positive tests

recorded over a 24-hour period also hit

a new high of 41,385 Monday,

according to government figures,

although testing is now much more

extensive.

However, case figures do not include

Scotland and Northern Ireland, which

did not report over the Christmas

period. "Many of us have lost family,

friends, colleagues and - at a time of

year when we would normally be

Belarus starts

coronavirus

vaccination

with Sputnik V

MOSCOW : Belarus on

Tuesday began a vaccination

drive against coronavirus

using the Sputnik V jab,

becoming the first country

outside Russia to use the

vaccine developed by

Moscow.

Belarus, with a population

of around 9.5 million people,

has registered more than

188,000 cases of

coronavirus infections and

nearly 1,400 deaths.

"Today the first vaccine

shipment has arrived in

Belarus," said the Russian

Direct Investment Fund

(RDIF) which financed

Sputnik V, reports BSS.

RDIF spokesman Arseny

Palagin did not say how

many doses had been sent to

Belarus. Belarus Health

Minister Dmitry Pinevich

said health workers and

teachers would be among

the first Belarusians to be

inoculated.

celebrating - a lot of people are

understandably feeling anxious,

frustrated and tired," said NHS

England chief executive Simon Stevens.

"And now again we are back in the

eye of the storm with a second wave of

coronavirus sweeping Europe and,

indeed, this country."

Britain is pinning its hopes on its

mass vaccination programme, with the

Oxford/AstraZeneca jab expected to

receive approval shortly, according to

reports.

"We think that by late spring with

vaccine supplies continuing to come on

stream we will have been able to offer

all vulnerable people across this

country Covid vaccination," said

Stevens. "That perhaps provides the

biggest chink of hope for the year

ahead." Health trusts have been told to

begin planning for the use of

Nightingale field hospitals, the

temporary facilities created during the

first wave that have largely gone

unused. London and southeast

England are currently bearing the

brunt of the outbreak, with paramedics

in the capital saying they are receiving

up to 8,000 emergency calls each day.

London Ambulance Service said

Boxing Day - December 26 - was one of

its "busiest ever days".

A further 357 people testing positive

for the virus were announced on

Monday to have died, bringing the UK

total to 71,109, the second worst toll in

Europe.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has

been under fire for his government's

handling of the pandemic, and is now

under pressure to introduce even more

social restrictions, including school

closures after the Christmas break.

More than 24 million people - 43

percent of England - are already living

under the tightest level of regional

restrictions. The outbreak has hit

Premier League football giants

Manchester City, leading to the

postponement of their game with

Everton on Monday night.

UN chief calls for making 2021 "year

of healing" in New Year message

UNITED NATIONS : United Nations

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on

Monday called on the international

community to make 2021 "a year of healing"

in his video message for the new year.

"Together, let's make peace among

ourselves and with nature, tackle the climate

crisis, stop the spread of COVID-19, and

make 2021 a year of healing," the UN chief

said. "Healing from the impact of a deadly

virus. Healing broken economies and

societies. Healing divisions. And starting to

heal the planet," the secretary-general

added, noting that "that must be our New

Year's Resolution for 2021."

Noting that 2020 has been "a year of trials,

tragedies and tears," Guterres said that

"COVID-19 upended our lives and plunged

the world into suffering and grief."

"So many loved ones have been lost - and

the pandemic rages on, creating new waves

of sickness and death," he said.

The top UN official stressed that "poverty,

inequality and hunger are rising. Jobs are

disappearing and debts are mounting.

Children are struggling. Violence in the

home is increasing, and insecurity is

everywhere."

On a positive note, the UN chief said that

"a New Year lies ahead. And with it, we see

rays of hope."

"People extending a helping hand to

neighbors and strangers; frontline workers

giving their all; scientists developing

vaccines in record time; countries making

new commitments to prevent climate

catastrophe," the secretary-general

elaborated.

"If we work together in unity and

solidarity, these rays of hope can reach

around the world," he said. "That's the lesson

of this most difficult year."

"Both climate change and the COVID-19

pandemic are crises that can only be

addressed by everyone together - as part of a

transition to an inclusive and sustainable

future," Guterres said.

Noting that the central ambition of the

United Nations for 2021 is to build a global

coalition for carbon neutrality - net zero

emissions - by 2050, the UN chief

underscored that "every government, city,

business and individual can play a part in

achieving this vision."

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30 , 2020 8

Islamic Finance and Investment Ltd (IFIL), country's first Shariah Based Non-Bank Financial Institution

(NBFI), has won the 'Best Quality Management Body Bangladesh 2020' awarded by world renowned

Magazine 'Business Tabloid-UK'. Rezakul Haider, Chairman of the Board of Directors of IFIL and Managing

Director & CEO A. Z. M. Saleh are seen with the Trophy and Certificate of the award. Photo: Courtesy

BCB Ltd. has inaugurated its 69th Branch

"Dewan Bazar Branch" at Chattagram

Bangladesh Commerce Bank

(BCB)Ltd. has inaugurated its 69th

Branch as "Dewan Bazar Branch" at

Chattagram on 29th December 2020,

Thuesday in virtual platform with all

the latest banking facilities. The

inauguration program was presided by

Omar Farooque Hon'ble Managing

Director & CEO of the Bank. The

Chairman of the Board of Directors of

the Bank Dr. Engr. Rashid Ahmed

Chowdhury as Chief Guest was present

& inaugurates the program. Additional

Managing Director of the Bank Zafar

Alam delivered his speech as a special

guest. Deputy Managing Director Kazi

Md. Rezaul Karim also delivered their

Padma riverbank turns attractive tourist

spot after RCC's beautification work

RAJSHAHI : Padma

riverbank adjacent to the

Shaheb Bazar area of the

divisional town has turned

into an attractive tourist and

recreational spot as the

Rajshahi City Corporation

(RCC) recently implemented

a beautification project

there.Under the project

amusement spots, open

stage, gallery, park, bridge,

walkway and other needbased

infrastructures were

constructed at a cost of

around Tk 42.2 million,

reports BSS.

City Mayor AHM

Khairuzzaman Liton during

a visit to the site on Sunday

expressed his firm resolve to

restore the scenic beauty of

the river bank and enhance

the cleanliness drive in the

area to facilitate large

numbers of people to enjoy

their visit in a comfortable

atmosphere.

He inspected construction

works of two over-bridges

adjacent to the respective

sluice gates on the river

banks which are being built

at a cost of around Taka 94

lakh.

Mayor Liton said the new

infrastructure and facilities

are encouraging an increased

speech on the occasion. Among others

Senior Executives of the Head Office,

Manager of this Branch and many

prominent people of the area and

respected customers were also present

on the occasion, a press release said.

Dr. Engr. Rashid Ahmed Chowdhury

expressed his hope that the Dewan

Bazar Branch will be able to win the

hearts of the customers by providing

good service. He hoped that this new

branch with the most modern facilities

would play an appropriate role in

furthering the economy of the region.

He also described Dewan Bazar as a

growing business area and said that the

number of people to pass

their leisure with families

and friends enjoying the

beauty of the Padma.

Borokuthi river bank and

Lalon Shah River Resort

were also decorated with a

new look to attract more

visitors and facilitate the

cultural organisations to

arrange various programmes

to attract the visitors.

Some renovation works are

going on and those works are

expected to be completed

within the next couple of

months.

Meanwhile, the

Bangladesh Water

Development Board

(BWDB) has also

implemented a riverbank

protection project adjacent to

the city under which

protection works on 2,650

metre areas from Bulanpur

to Harupur.

Superintending Engineer

Mukhlesur Rahman said

river protection works from

Harupur to Sonaikandi were

completed to protect more

than 5.0 km area from

erosion.

Bangabandhu Hi-tech

Park is also being

constructed near the

protected area; he said

adding that the entire area

has become an amusement

park upon successful

completion of the 5.0km

bank protection work.

Apart from this, Rajshahi

city has got a new look amid

a massive plantation of fruit

and forest trees and

decorative plants and trees

and other beautification

works drawing the attention

of the commoners,

particularly the visitors.

Some 32,446 trees were

planted besides creating

scores of green zones

through councillors, officers

and employees of the city

corporation. Tree plantation

activities on vacant places,

road dividers and footpaths

are being conducted in the

current year. 6,000 flower

and other ornamental and

decorative tree saplings were

already planted till August

last, he added.

Now, road dividers and

islands on around 24-

kilometer roads in the city

were greened. Varieties of

decorative and beautification

trees were planted on the

dividers, islands and

footpaths of the city's main

roads.

branch is committed to provide all

kinds of banking services to the

customers of the area through banking

rules. To ensure the highest quality of

service to the customers, he instructed

all the officers of the branch including

the branch manager. Managing

Director and CEO of the Bank Omar

Farooque said that the services of BCBL

will be spread out in all areas of the

country as well as he emphasized on

customer service and informed all

present in the meeting about various

activities of the Bank in all areas of

business sector.Finally, the great mercy

of the great Allah Ta'ala is sought for

the activities and progress of the bank.

Vietnam's industrial

production up 3.36

pct in 2020

HANOI : Vietnam's

national index of industrial

production rose 3.36 percent

year on year in 2020,

according to the country's

General Statistics Office on

Tuesday, reports BSS.

The processing and

manufacturing sector, the

main driver of the surge, went

up 5.82 percent, contributing

1.25 percentage points to the

overall growth.

The electricity production

and distribution sector grew

3.92 percent, contributing

0.19 percentage points, and

water supply and waste

management grew 5.51

percent, contributing 0.04

percentage points.

Regarding key products,

between January and

December,

phone

components witnessed the

largest year-on-year output

expansion at 22 percent,

followed by television sets (up

20.7 percent), and rolled steel

(up 16.4 percent).

Industrial products with

significant output reductions

included refined sugar (down

22.9 percent), beer (down

13.9 percent), liquefied

petroleum gas (down 13

percent) and crude oil (down

12.6 percent).

Jobless Americans may have to wait

for desperately needed help

WASHINGTON: The United States

government has agreed to another

massive stimulus package to keep its

listing economy afloat as the

coronavirus pandemic rages on, but

help for the unemployed people most in

need may not come right away, reports

BSS.

Congress's decision to wait until the

last minute to pass the $900 billion

measure, followed by President Donald

Trump's days-long hesitation to sign the

bill into law, means two programs

supporting millions of unemployed

Americans briefly expired, and experts

warn states may take weeks to restart

payments.

"Everything about unemployment

insurance and having 53 different

systems is difficult, and it does means

some states may drop the ball," said

Michele Evermore, senior policy analyst

at the National Employment Law

Project.

The new stimulus measure follows up

on the CARES Act passed in March, a

massive bill that expanded benefits to

freelance workers and allowed

unemployed people to receive aid for an

extended period of time.

But those programs expired on

December 26, a victim of both the

months Congress took to reach its

agreement last week and the president's

refusal to sign it before finally

capitulating on Sunday.

The hold-up may have cost

unemployed people a week of benefits,

and could lead to a gap stretching as

long as three weeks in which the jobless

won't get paid, experts say - the last

thing Americans who have been out of

work for months need.

"I've been running with zero income

for the past couple of weeks. Anytime

that you don't have income hurts," said

Carson Noel, an Arizona resident who

hasn't been able to work in the live

events industry since the pandemic

struck and used up all of his benefits in

October.

The world's largest economy ground

to a sudden halt in March when states

ordered businesses shut to stop the

transmission of Covid-19 - efforts that

did grievous economic damage and

didn't prevent the country's outbreak

from becoming the largest on the planet.

Costing $2.2 trillion, the CARES Act

has been credited with keeping the US

from an even worse downturn, in part

by supporting consumption through the

expanded unemployment programs.

The new package "providing

coronavirus emergency response and

relief" is part of a larger spending bill

and gives jobless people an extra $300

in weekly payments.

Americans will also get stimulus

checks totaling as much as $600 per

person, though Trump has called for

them to be raised to $2,000.

It also extends until March 14

programs created under the CARES Act

for the long-term unemployed and gig

workers like 51-year-old Noel, who was

evicted from his apartment after using

up all of his benefits in October.

Now living with a family member, he

relies on his dwindling savings to get by,

and though the restoration of the

unemployment payments is a relief, he'd

rather be working.

"I don't want to sit at home," he said.

Unemployment aid in the US is

administered by individual states and

territories, and many systems are

overwhelmed and reliant on badly

outdated technology that few believe

can easily reactivate a benefit program

that had just been deactivated.

"The fact that they have to roll

everybody off and they have to roll

everybody back on, it's not going to go

smoothly in any circumstances," said

Andrew Stettner of progressive think

tank The Century Foundation, which

estimated 12 million people were

depending on these programs that

would have lapsed had the new stimulus

bill not been passed.

Prime Bank launches real-time

remittance service; RemitPrime

Prime Bank has recently

launched a state-of-the-art

real-time remittance service-

RemitPrime- for its

subsidiaries in Singapore and

the United Kingdom (UK).

This is the first real-time,

online platform launched by a

Bangladeshi Bank abroad, a

press release said.

Through RemitPrime, the

expatriate Bangladeshis can

transfer remittance in realtime

to any account of Prime

Bank and to any bKash wallet

across the country. For all

other banks, remittance will

be transferred instantly as per

the BEFTN* transaction

cycle. Along with the

remittance, the new service

also ensures payment of 2%

incentive instantly*.

RemitPrime also provides

real-time information on the

transaction to its users.

The expatriates from

Bangladesh, India, and the

Philippines, residing in

Singapore, can now send

money to their respective

home countries through

RemitPrime services by

downloading Prime Bank's

Interment Banking mobile

app 'Prime Bank App' from

'Apple's App Store' and

'Google's Play Store' or by

logging

in

www.remitprime.com. Prime

Bank has plans to extend its

online remittance payment

services to major remittance

corridors like US, EU, Gulf

Countries, Japan, Korea,

Malaysia and so on.

Prime Bank's Acting

Managing Director and CEO

Faisal Rahman said, "Our

customers maintaining

account with Prime Bank will

enjoy real-time fund transfer

against their remittance from

abroad. We also can make

transfer to bKash Accounts in

real-time with RemitPrime.

With this new service, our

customers are enjoying the

convenience of receiving

remittance at their doorsteps

round-the-clock. We believe

these services will inspire

expatriate Bangladeshis to

send more money through

legal channel and boost up

the flow of remittance into the

country. The remitters from

other major corridors like

KSA, Malaysia, and other

countries will also receive

similar facilities soon."

Highlighting the

capabilities of the

RemitPrime mobile

applications, Shams Abdullah

Muhaimin, Prime Bank's

Head of Transaction Banking,

said: "RemitPrime platform is

built on a machine learning

technology which has

automated majority of

manual activities. The system

can process thousands of

transactions in minutes with

real-time fund transfer to

beneficiary accounts 24X7.

The mobile app version of the

application is first of its kind

launched by a local bank into

overseas. The system can now

be offered as a white-label

solution to different overseas

remittance service providers

working in Bangladesh

corridor."

Prime Bank has two

remittance subsidiaries, one

is in Singapore - Prime

Exchange Co. Pte Ltd- which

has 3 branches located at

Desker Road, Jurong East

and at Joo Koon. Another is

in the UK named PBL

Exchange (UK) Ltd having

three branches in London,

Birmingham and Oldham

and 35 agent locations well

distributed throughout the

UK. This new service has

already gained huge

popularity among the

expatriates in Singapore who

are relying on the online

service to send money to their

near and dear ones in

Bangladesh quickly,

especially at this time of

COVID-19.

Social Islami Bank Ltd (SIBL) inaugurated 58, 59 60, 61 and 62nd Subbranches respectively in

Marichcha Bazar, Jumchari Bazar of Cox's Bazar, B Ed. College Road and Saltgola of Chattogram

City Corporation and Churamon Kati of Jashore recently. Managing Director & CEO Quazi Osman

Ali inaugurated the subbranches as chief guest from SIBL Head Office through virtual platform. Abu

Naser Chowdhury, Md. Sirajul Hoque and Md. Shamsul Hoque, Deputy Managing Directors, Md.

Moniruzzaman, Head of Marketing & Brand Communication, Sayed Mohammed Sohel, Regional

Head (C.C), Chattogram, Md. Shakil Anwar, Vice President of BC & GBD, Manager of Cox's Bazar,

Chawkbazar, Sheikh Mujib Road and Jashore Branch and local dignitaries also attended the program.

Photo: Courtesy

WEdNESdAY, dECEMBER 30, 2020

9

Stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane led India to a dominant eight-wicket win over Australia in

the second Test Tuesday.

Photo: AP

Neymar in new controversy

over New Year party rumors

SpoRtS DeSk:

Brazil's star footballer

Neymar is at the center of a

new controversy after several

Brazilian media reported that

he's organizing a huge New

Year's eve party despite the

coronavirus pandemic, a

claim his lawyers denied,

reports BSS.

Acelmo Goes, a columnist

for the o Globo newspaper,

wrote that the paris Saint-

Germain forward is hosting

500 people for a week-long

party at his luxury beachside

mansion near Rio de Janeiro

that started on Saturday and

will last until New Year's Day.

Neymar, who is no stranger

to controversies over his

parties, allegedly even

installed soundproofing

equipment to try to avoid

bothering his neighbors.

Leo Dias, a columnist for

the Metropoles website who is

renowned for his scoops on

celebrities, even named the

artists due to perform at

Neymar's party, such as

Ludmilla and Wesley Safadao.

Guests' mobile phones are

allegedly due to be confiscated

on the door to prevent any

evidence finding its way onto

social media.

Brazil has suffered the

second-largest number of

Covid-19 related deaths in the

world with more than

191,000, while 7.4 million

people have contracted the

virus.

A specialist events agency,

Agencia Fabrica, released a

statement confirming it had

been contracted for a New

Year's event in the Costa

Verde region where Neymar's

villa is located "that will host

around 150 people… while

respecting all the health rules

determined by the public

bodies."

But Neymar's lawyers

denied a party had been

planned or that the Agencia

Fabrica event was related to

the football star.

"No! this is a Fabrica event.

It is not related to Neymar,"

they told AFp.

Neymar's villa is in

Mangaratiba, a small town in

an area of luxury seaside

resorts in Rio de Janeiro state.

the local town hall has

pleaded with its 41,000

inhabitants not to hold end of

year parties and has erected

barriers to prevent people

congregating.

"We don't have any

information about this party,"

the town hall said in a

statement sent to AFp.

Neymar, who hasn't played

since December 13 when he

injured his ankle against

Lyon, hasn't commented on

the party and in recent days

has posted pictures of his

family on social media

without commentaries.

His Mangaratiba mansion

is located on a 10,000 squaremeter

(107,600 square feet)

plot of land that includes a

heliport, sports pitches, spa,

sauna, massage parlor,

gymnasium and dining areas.

It's where he previously

spent his time recovering

from injuries and also where

he headed from March to

June when the coronavirus

was raging in France leading

to the suspension of

professional football.

Resilient India thump Australia

in second test to silence critics

SpoRtS DeSk:

Stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane led

India to a dominant eight-wicket win

over Australia in the second test

tuesday, levelling the series 1-1 and

capping an extraordinary turnaround

after their record collapse in the

opening game, reports BSS.

Rahane, deputising during Virat

kohli's paternity leave, hit an unbeaten

27 in Melbourne - after a century in the

first innings - as India reached the

meagre target of 70 for the loss of two

wickets.

It capped a remarkable comeback for

an Indian side desperate to make

amends after losing in Adelaide by

eight wickets, when they posted their

lowest ever score of 36 and were widely

criticised at home.

And they bounced back without

superstar and batting maintstay kohli,

who has returned home for the birth of

his first child.

"Really proud of all the players," said

Rahane.

"I want to give credit to the debutants

(Mohammed) Siraj and (Shubman)

Gill, the character they showed after the

Adelaide loss was great to see.

Character was important for us."

kohli, watching at home in India,

tweeted his congratulations.

"What a win this is, absolutely

amazing effort by the whole team," he

said. "Couldn't be happier for the boys

and specially Jinks (Rahane) who led

the team to victory amazingly."

Under the mild-mannered Rahane,

India battled hard to dismiss Australia

for 195 in the first innings and then

posted 326 in reply.

Australia resumed their second

innings on day four on 133 for six with

a two-run lead, and their hopes resting

on 21-year-old rookie all-rounder

Cameron Green.

He made 45 as they battled to 200

before tail-ender Josh Hazlewood was

the last man to fall before lunch.

Siraj took 3-37 with Jasprit Bumrah,

Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin

grabbing two each.

Rahane and Gill (35) then saw India

home, but not before some nervous

moments.

Mitchell Starc got a nick from the outof-form

Mayank Agarwal (5), which

tim paine caught, then pat Cummins

snared Cheteshwar pujara for three,

edged to Green at gully.

It left India on 19 for two before they

regained their composure to seal the

win.

"Very disappointed, played poor

cricket, sloppy cricket," said Australia

captain paine.

"Let's not take anything away from

India, they forced us to make mistakes.

they bowled beautifully, we haven't

adapted as well as we would've liked.

"Disappointed as a batting group, but

two tests to go."

Australia collapsed to 99 for six in the

run chase on Monday before Green and

Cummins knuckled down to weather

18 overs and steer them to stumps.

Green showed glimpses of his magic,

cutting Ashwin and driving Bumrah

beautifully for fours, while also

exhibiting patience.

Chelsea failed to ease the mounting pressure on manager Frank Lampard as Aston Villa came from

behind to earn a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Monday.

Photo: AP

Chelsea fail to lift pressure on Lampard, Covid

spike causes Man City postponement

SpoRtS DeSk:

Chelsea failed to ease the mounting

pressure on manager Frank Lampard as

Aston Villa came from behind to earn a

1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Monday,

as a coronavirus outbreak at Manchester

City caused their clash at everton to be

postponed, reports BSS.

Lampard's men have now won just

one of their last five league games to fall

six points behind leaders Liverpool in

sixth and having played a game more

than the champions.

Chelsea also trail Villa on goal

difference, despite Dean Smith's men

having two games in hand, and the

visitors were well worthy of a point.

"Now it's a tough moment and you

have to fight through it," said Lampard.

"Nobody let me down tonight, everyone

worked, we just didn't quite get the rub

of the green." Lampard was able to make

six changes from the side beaten at

Arsenal 48 hours ago. olivier Giroud

was one of those drafted into the side

and the French international proved his

worth with a precise near post header

from Ben Chilwell's cross to open the

scoring with his ninth of the season.

By contrast, Smith made just one

enforced change from the team that

played for 45 minutes with 10 men in

Saturday's 3-0 win over Crystal palace.

But Villa showed no signs of fatigue in

the second-half and levelled when

Anwar el Ghazi turned home his fifth

goal in as many games from Matty

Cash's cross five minutes into the

second-half. "I'm still yet to see a player

carried off the pitch with exhaustion,"

said Smith. "I'm a big believer in you

want to play every game and if they are

doing well keep playing them." - Covid

outbreak at Man City -

For just the second time since the

2019/20 premier League match season

resumed in June, a match was

postponed due to coronavirus infections

after a spike at City.

the Manchester giants announced on

Christmas Day there had been positive

tests at the club for players kyle Walker

and Gabriel Jesus and two staff

members.

Brazil's star footballer Neymar is at the center of a new controversy after several Brazilian

media reported that he's organizing a huge New Year's Eve party despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Photo: AP

Real resume

Atletico chase

as Messi absent

for Barca

SpoRtS DeSk:

Real Madrid will attempt to

sign off the year with a sixth

win on the bounce as Zinedine

Zidane's in-form side

continue their pursuit of La

Liga leaders and city rivals

Atletico Madrid on

Wednesday, reports BSS.

Defending champions Real

are level on 32 points with

Atletico but have played two

games more than Diego

Simeone's men ahead of their

trip to elche.

karim Benzema has been

the driving force behind Real's

excellent December run,

claiming key goals in wins

over Athletic Bilbao, eibar

and Granada after securing

the club a spot in the

Champions League knockout

phase.

eden Hazard is also in line

to feature after recovering

from his latest injury setback.

the Belgian was an unused

substitute in last week's

victory over Granada and has

made just three league starts

this campaign.

Real coach Zinedine Zidane

hopes the short festive break

afforded to his players over

Christmas will not interrupt

the momentum built over a

domestic five-game winning

streak.

"We're going to keep

working hard. We have an

awful lot of games, we should

be pleased with what we're

doing," said Zidane.

"We're going to lose games

again, but we're going to try to

win as many as possible.

From time to time it's

inevitable."

Atletico have responded

well to the 2-0 defeat by Real

earlier this month that

snapped their 26-match

unbeaten league run.

Masked and muted olympics

will still dominate crowded

2021 in sports

SpoRtS DeSk:

the rescheduled tokyo olympics will be the

centrepiece of a crammed sporting year in 2021

as sports administrators who had their

calendars wiped away by the coronavirus

pandemic try to fill the gaps even as a second

wave hits, reports BSS.

While the Games will still be called the 2020

olympics, they have been changed by Covid-19.

tokyo organisers and the Japanese

government are struggling with increased costs

and, despite the growing possibility of

vaccination, whether to allow foreign visitors

and what safeguards and restrictions will apply

to spectators and participants.

In early December, organisers said the

delayed Games will cost at least an extra $2.4

billion as the unprecedented peacetime

postponement and a raft of pandemic health

measures inflate a budget that was already over

$13 billion.

enthusiasm appears to have waned in Japan.

A poll in July showed that just one in four

people wanted to see the Games held in 2021 -

and a majority backed either further delay or

cancellation.

"Whether it's seen as too much or that we

have done well to contain the costs, I think it

depends on how you look at it," said tokyo

2020 Ceo toshiro Muto.

organisers have reduced the number of free

tickets, scaled down the opening ceremony and

made savings on mascots, banners and meals,

but so far have cut just $280 million.

"It will be simple rather than festive, but I

hope it will be something moving that

encourages people through the power of sport,"

he said.

the organisers are determined to go ahead

next year, even if the pandemic has not

receded.

they want to welcome foreign spectators and

plan to waive quarantine requirements.

they plan to require fans to wear masks, to

refrain from cheering and keep their ticket

stubs for contact tracing.

Athletes will be asked to arrive late and leave

early, minimise their time in the olympic

village, refrain from speaking loudly, avoid

physical contact and wear masks when not

competing or training. they will be screened on

arrival and undergo tests every four to five

days.

"I think the Games will go off," World

Athletics president Sebastian Coe said this

month. "What nobody is clearly across at the

moment, is… whether we are going to have a

stadium populated by good, noisy, passionate

fans."

the challenge for the organisers is

considerable, since the Games bring together

11,000 athletes from 206 countries,

accompanied by at least 5,000 officials and

coaches, 20,000 media representatives and

60,000 volunteers.

Meanwhile, other sports, desperate to make

up for lost time are, for the most part,

manoeuvering to minimise overlaps between

their revamped schedules and the olympic

behemoth.

the National Basketball Association, which

only finished its coronavirus-hit 2019-20

season on october 12, agreed with its players

union to start the new season on December 22,

cut the regular season by 10 games and end it

on May 16.

this was partly to allow players to compete in

tokyo, although since the playoffs are

scheduled to continue until July 22, the day

before the Games start, some of the biggest

stars could still miss tokyo.

one event that has not, so far, publicly

rethought its plans is the other marquee

casualty from the summer's sporting wipeout:

the european football championships.

Still called euro 2020, they are scheduled to

stick to the planned 12-city format but some

member nations have reportedly been urging

UeFA to put all the matches in one country.

the significance of the olympics goes beyond

sports.

Following on from the diplomatic gestures at

the pyeongchang Winter Games in 2018, there

is talk of inviting North korean leader kim

Jong Un to the tokyo Games and holding a

summit with South korea, China, the United

States and host Japan.

Another dominant theme in 2020,

opposition to racism, threatens to cause

friction in tokyo.

In early December, Coe pointedly gave the

World Athletics president's award to tommie

Smith, peter Norman and John Carlos, the

three 400m runners who raised a fist in a black

power salute on a medal podium protest at the

1968 Mexico City Games.

"Sadly, their cause and what they so bravely

stood for has not been consigned to the history

books," said Coe.

WeDNesDAY, DeceMBeR 30, 2020

10

Digi

You are not

with me

since 9 yrs

TBT RepoRT

Award of Cinemaking Int’l Film

Festival announced

TBT RepoRT

The award of three-day Cinemaking

International Film festival has been

announced, reports UNB.

'The Single Tumbler' from Sri Lanka

was awarded the Best International

Film while 'A biography of Nazrul'

directed by Ferdous Khan bagged 'Best

Bangladeshi Full-length film' award.

The festival started on December 24 in

the outskarts of the capital ciry Dhaka

and ended on December 26. CIFF

founder and Festival Director

Monjurul Islam Megh informed that

150 films from 54 countries and 27

films from Bangladesh has been

selected for competition in 11

categories in this time. Among them, 17

international films were awarded as

best award from eight competition

categories.

Ten international best awards were

given in the main competition section

for International Feature film

Competition. "Girl and the Sea"

directed by Azizzhan Zairov and

Mukhamed Mamyrbekov from

Kazakhstan were announced as Best

Asian film while Apurba Kishor Bir

won Best Asian director for

"Antardhwani" from India.

"I'Father', directed by Mark Norfolk

from Kosovo was selected as Best

European Film while Gultekin Bayir

bagged Best European Director for "Bir

Denizcinin Dogum Gunu" from

Turkey. Yashpal Sharma for acting in

the "Mooso the Mouse" and Swapna

Pati for acting in the "Antardhwani"

from India were awarded as Best

International Actor and Best

International Actress respectively.

"The Final Code" from Italy will

receive the Best Original Score while

Best Cinematography for "Boluomi"

from Taiwan and Best Screenplay for

"Colorless Dreams" from Uzbekistan

Alia Bhatt starrer film

'Gangubai Kathiawadi'

lands in legal trouble

were announced in the competition.

"Endless Walk" directed by Yan

Paing Htum from Myanmar bagged

the title of Best international mobile

film while Best Bangladeshi mobile

was film "Mother" directed by Anondo

Khaled.

"The Fiber" directed Nubelia Leyva

Ferrer and Sorangel Solano Clever

from Cuba gained the title of Best

International Short film while the

festival announced Best Bangladeshi

short film "Separation" directed by

Aparajita Sangita.

Best International Documentary

were "A Gift from God" directed by

Jorgen Lorentzen, Nafise Ozkal

Lorentzen from Norway while Best

International Kids award were achieved

by Filmmaker Sandro Kintsureshvili for

"Take It" from Georgia. The festitival

was organised by Dhaka Festival while

Festival Partner was Mashud moncho

and Rushda Film.

Alia Bhatt-starrer Gangubai

Kathiawadi has landed in a legal

soup. A case has been filed against

Alia, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali

and writer Hussain Zaidi by

Kathiawadi's adopted son Babuji

Rawji Shah, reported

IndiaToday.in.

In his complaint, Shah alleged

that the movie and its source

material - the book Mafia Queens

of Mumbai by author Hussain

Zaidi - are defamatory in nature.

The petition further stated that it

infringes upon Babuji Rawji Shah's

right to 'privacy, liberty and selfrespect'.

Shah has stated that he is being

constantly ridiculed by the

members of his locality ever since

the first poster of the movie was

released.

Babuji Rawji Shah's lawyer

Narendra Dubey said that a

criminal complaint can be filed

against everyone named in the

petition for "defamation, indecent

representation of women, and

circulation of obscene and indecent

material."

The first hearing of the case

happened on December 22 this

year. The defendants have to

respond by January 7, 2021.

Gangubai Kathiawadi marks the

first collaboration of Alia Bhatt and

Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Source : India Today

Actress Prarthana Fardin Dighi,

National Film Award winning child

artiste is now a full-fledged heroine. She

is now busy with several movies works

after a long break. She was upset and not

feeling well as she lost her mother on

December 29. The memory of her

mother made her emotional.

Once upon a time, Dighi used to go to

the shooting set holding her mother's

hand. Her mother's dream was 'one day

her daughter would dominate the silver

screen as an actress'. That dream was

fulfilled, however, she could not see her

daughter's success. She passed away on

TBT RepoRT

National Film Award winning director

Mostafizur Rahman Manik is going to

start the 2009 film 'Monpura'. In the

film, Krishnakoli's popular song 'Jao

Pakhi Balo Tare' became popular among

29 December 2011.

Remembering her mother's

memory, Dighi posted a picture with

her mother on Facebook with a status

on Tuesday.

She wrote, "Yesterday was my

mother's 9th death anniversary. It's

been nine years, mother, you are not

with me.

I miss you every moment. I love you

so much. I urge all to pray for my

mother." Actress Dighi started her

career on the silver screen as a child

the viewers. This time the movie is being

made under the title of this song.

Mahiya Mahi and Fair and Handsome

winner AK Azad Ador are going to act for

the first time in the film. The shooting of

the film will start from January. Song

recording and pre-production work is

"Contagion" might be nine years old, but

Steven Soderbergh's well-received

pandemic thriller became one of 2020's

most-discussed films as the coronavirus

pandemic swept throughout the United

States. Soderbergh revealed during a

recent interview on the Happy Sad

Confused podcast that he is developing a

"philosophical" sequel to "Contagion"

alongside Scott Burns, who served as

screenwriter on the 2011 film. The

project appears to be in its early stages

and will unlikely be a direct sequel to

"Contagion," but Soderbergh noted that

it may touch on similar themes and ideas.

"I've got a project in development that

Scott Burns is working with me on, that's a

kind of philosophical sequel to 'Contagion,'

but in a different context," Soderbergh said.

"You'll kind of look at the two of them as

kind of paired, but very different hair

colors. So, Scott and I had been talking

about, 'So, what's the next iteration of a

'Contagion'-type story?' We have been

working on that; we should probably hotfoot

it a little bit." "Contagion" centered on

a fictional viral outbreak in the United

States, the chaos that ensued, and the

government's attempts to handle the

situation. The plot of "Contagion"

contained more than a few parallels to

artist. Since then, she has won the

hearts of millions of fans. She gained

fame in a short time through her

skillful acting in several movies.

Dighi's mother Doyel was a silver

screen actress. She has acted in many

movies including 'Rajlakshmi-Srikanta'.

Born on 25 September 1966 in

Bikrampur, Dhaka, Doyel made her bigscreen

debut in 1982 through the film

'Chandranath' directed by Chashi Nazrul

Islam. Her last film was 'Kabuliwala'

directed by Kazi Hayat.

Mahi-Ador

in ‘Jao Pakhi

Bolo Tare’

going on now. Director Mostafizur

Rahman Manik said, "I am going to

make the film with the story of a

completely rural background. Love and

separations are the main issues. For a

long time no perfect village movie was

made in Bangladesh. Moreover, I have

never made such a movie. It can be

called a challenge.

Ador said, my first movie is with

director Manik. He is a renowned

director. I learned a lot from him. Hope

everybody enjoys the movie.

Steven Soderbergh Working on

'Philosophical' Sequel to 'Contagion

the real-world coronavirus pandemic,

which caused the film to skyrocket in

popularity earlier in the year.

"Contagion" enjoyed a spike in views

through FandangoNOW and iTunes

shortly after the pandemic began

spreading throughout the United States.

Soderbergh and the "Contagion" cast

have shared their thoughts on the

coronavirus in recent months.

Soderbergh, who said he was taken aback

by the United States' response to the

pandemic earlier in the year, began

leading a Director's Guild of America

committee regarding safe filming

practices in April. "Contagion" cast

members such as Matt Damon, Laurence

Fishburne, Kate Winslet, Marion

Cotillard, and Jennifer Ehle recorded

safety PSAs earlier in the year, while Ian

Lipkin, who served as a medical

consultant on "Contagion," stressed the

dangers of the pandemic after he

contracted the coronavirus in March.

Source: indiewire.com

H o R o s c o p e

ARIes

(March 21 - April 20) : Intense emotions

are apt to dominate the scene today,

Aries. Don't do anything halfway. It's

time to give it your all or nothing. You

have the power to cut to the heart of the issue. Don't

hesitate. If you meet opposition, stay strong. There's

a valuable lesson to be learned. If you're being true to

yourself, you should have no trouble overcoming any

obstacle that stands in your path.

TAURUs

(April 21 - May 21) : There's an

overwhelming intensity about the day

that might make it difficult for you to

maintain the peace, Taurus. Strong

opinions and courageous emotions are clashing in a

climactic fashion. You might find yourself in the

middle of conflicting forces if you aren't careful.

Make sure you take care of yourself and your needs

before you try to patch up things for everybody else.

GeMINI

(May 22 - June 21) : You may feel extra selfconfident

today, Gemini, making you more

able to say and do the things you might

normally keep inside. Be warned, however,

that you're apt to run into some powerful, unexpected

opposition. The genius in you wants to come out and show

others what you're made of, but other people may have reason

to find fault. Don't let others' disapproval hinder your progress.

cANceR

(June 22 - July 23) : You might find

that others' strong opinions dictate

today's actions, Cancer. The

atmosphere is quite intense, so you

might want to lay low and let others have their

way. Don't try to put up a fight. Unexpected

opposition may come out of nowhere and take

control. There's a powerful force at work asking

you to do things with more passion than usual.

Leo

(July 24 - Aug. 23): Create your own

reality, Leo. It could be that you have the

puppet strings in your hands, but you're

too afraid to use them. Don't shy away

from responsibility. Take your time and don't lose

sight of your goals. The stakes are extra high today, and

you will find that the slightest movement is magnified

several times over. Be careful how you use your words.

They won't be taken lightly.

VIRGo

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): Things that you

thought were obvious may not seem quite as

clear as you'd like them to be, Virgo. Be

aware that there may be some intense

opposition to your plans. Take care of other people and their

emotions. You will find that a wall might suddenly go up,

putting a harsh barrier between you and your goals.

Consider your heart as well as your head.

LIBRA

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): Other people may

tend to snap under the emotional

pressure of the day, Libra, but you're well

suited to soar through with flying colors.

You're ruled by your emotions and you have no

problem navigating rough waters. Other people may

look to you for strength and support. Trust yourself

and try not to get lured off course by conflicting

opinions that don't seem to sit right with you.

scoRpIo

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22): There's a need for

decisive action today, Scorpio, and

you're the one fit for the job. Strong

wills and forceful opinions will win

out. Others aren't likely to be easily manipulated.

Everyone has a voice, and they won't be afraid to

use it. Make sure that you speak up on your

behalf or your best interests may be lost. Stand

up for yourself. It's now or never.

sAGITTARIUs

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): There may be tension and

opposition today, Sagittarius, so be prepared. It

could seem like everyone wants to rattle your

cage. Stand strong. There are forceful opinions

crying out to be heard. The more stubborn you are, the harder it

will be for important information to flow freely. Protect your

interests by standing your ground, but make sure you don't step on

other people's toes in the process.

cApRIcoRN

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): What ails you now can

be eliminated if you're willing to stand

up and say exactly what needs to be

said, Capricorn. Going with the flow

may be an easy route to follow, but it might not

always take you down a path that leads to the

fulfillment of your dreams. Be a bit more aggressive

about your position today and outwardly project

yourself as the true master of your destiny.

AQUARIUs

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) : It takes two to

tango, Aquarius. Remember that life

isn't a one-way street. There needs to be

a bit of give and take if you expect others

to treat you the way you want to be treated. Don't let

people take control when it comes to taking charge of

your own life. Others may be emotional and

stubborn. Don't waste your breath with useless

drivel. Say something meaningful.

pIsces

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) : It may be hard to resolve

anything today, Pisces. It could be that

there's an overwhelming resistance making it

difficult to act according to plan. Today isn't

a good day to fight. If things don't seem to be going your

way, don't push it. Trying to strong-arm the situation will

only aggravate things and make them worse. You may need

to make some compromises in order to maintain the peace.

WednesdAY, december 30, 2020

11

More England Covid patients

in hospital than at April peak

LONDON : England is "back in the eye" of

the coronavirus storm, health chiefs warned

Tuesday, with as many patients in hospital as

during the initial peak in April.

A new strain of the virus appears to be

behind the recent upsurge in cases, heaping

further pressure on the state-run National

Health Service during its busiest winter period.

NHS England figures showed there were

20,426 Covid patients in the country's hospitals

on Monday, compared to the 18,974

peak recorded during the first wave.

The number of positive tests recorded over

a 24-hour period also hit a new high of

41,385 Monday, according to government

figures, although testing is now much more

extensive.

However, case figures do not include

Scotland and Northern Ireland, which did

not report over the Christmas period.

"Many of us have lost family, friends, colleagues

and - at a time of year when we

would normally be celebrating - a lot of people

are understandably feeling anxious, frustrated

and tired," said NHS England chief

executive Simon Stevens.

"And now again we are back in the eye of

the storm with a second wave of coronavirus

sweeping Europe and, indeed, this country."

Britain is pinning its hopes on its mass vaccination

programme, with the

Oxford/AstraZeneca jab expected to receive

approval shortly, according to reports.

"We think that by late spring with vaccine

supplies continuing to come on stream we

will have been able to offer all vulnerable

people across this country Covid vaccination,"

said Stevens.

"That perhaps provides the biggest chink

of hope for the year ahead."

Health trusts have been told to begin planning

for the use of Nightingale field hospitals,

the temporary facilities created during

the first wave that have largely gone unused.

London and southeast England are currently

bearing the brunt of the outbreak, with

paramedics in the capital saying they are

receiving up to 8,000 emergency calls each

day.

London Ambulance Service said Boxing

Day - December 26 - was one of its "busiest

ever days".A further 357 people testing positive

for the virus were announced on

Monday to have died, bringing the UK total

to 71,109, the second worst toll in Europe.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been

under fire for his government's handling of

the pandemic, and is now under pressure to

introduce even more social restrictions,

including school closures after the Christmas

break.

Natundhara Bangladesh (NDB) organized a street rally yesterday to reduce the daily

necessaries price.

Photo : TBT

we`ÿ r/Rb- 463(2)/29/12/2020

GD- 1783/20 (6 x 3)

Soldier charged with murder after

three dead in US shooting

WASHINGTON : A US

Green Beret has been

charged with murder after a

shooting at a bowling alley

over the weekend left three

dead in Illinois, the state

attorney said Monday.

A further three people

were injured when a man

opened fire in Rockford's

Don Carter Lanes bowling

alley on Saturday night.

Duke Webb, 37, has been

charged with three counts of

first-degree murder and

three counts of attempted

first-degree murder and

denied bail, State Attorney J.

Hanley said in a press conference.

The highly decorated

Green Beret was assigned to

the US Army's 7th Special

Forces Group, based in

Florida, and had served four

Afghan tours.

Hanley named those killed

as Thomas Furseth, 65, from

Machesney Park in Illinois,

Jerome Woodford, 69, and

Dennis Steinhoff, 73, who

were both from Rockford.

Of those wounded, the

state attorney said a 16-yearold

girl was stable, while

another teen - a 14-year-old

boy - and a 62-year-old man

remain in a critical condition

in hospital.

"The defendant admitted

to the shootings, and directed

officers to the locations of

the firearms he used,"

Fiji reviews quarantine

processes before

reopening border

SUVA : Inbound passenger

flights to Fiji will resume on

Tuesday with new adaptations

to border quarantine protocols,

according to the COVID-19

Risk Mitigation Taskforce.

The Fiji Broadcasting

Corporation reported that in

light of the discovery of a potentially

more contagious strain of

coronavirus in Britain, Fiji's

Health Ministry has completed

its extensive review of its border

quarantine processes.

The Health Ministry said the

entry swab test will be conducted

over day three and four as

this will reduce the risk of a false

negative result and improve the

ability to identify cases of

inflight transmission.

Stricter in-room quarantine

protocols will be enforced, with

no outdoor activity for new

arrivals until a negative entry

swab test result is received and

heightened COVID-safe measures

will be implemented for all

border health unit personnel

and hospital isolation unit

frontline staff. The COVID-19

Risk Mitigation Taskforce said

the new strain of virus appears

to be more transmissible.

However, it is transmitted in

the same manner as the existing

strain, and it is not considered

more dangerous to

human beings.

Hanley told the press conference.Two

weapons were

recovered at the scene.

Webb was on leave and

reportedly visiting family at

the time of the attack.

He is due to appear again

in court on February 16, and

could face life imprisonment

without parole if convicted.

A decorated Special Forces

assistant operations and

intelligence sergeant, Webb

finished his most recent tour

of Afghanistan in July, US

media said.

GD- 1782/20 (6 x 3)

Wednesday, dhaka, december 30, 2020, poush 15, 1427 bS, Jamadi-ul awal 14 , 1442 hijri

People reaping benefits of

democracy: PM Hasina

DHAKA : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

on Tuesday said the people of the country

are now reaping the benefits of democracy

as they got back their state power from

the cantonment, reports UNB.

"Military dictators had grabbed state

power frequently in the past...once

the state power was in the cantonment...

As a result, there was no

(required) pace in development,"

she said.

The Prime Minister said this

while addressing the National

Economic Council meeting virtually

from her official residence

Ganobhaban. The meeting

approved the 8th Five-Year Plan

(2021-2025).

As the state power came back to

the mass people, they are now

enjoying their democratic rights

fully, Sheikh Hasina said.

"General people are getting the

benefits... rural people are getting

the benefits...that's the main

thing," she said.

Hasina said she believes that the

8th Five-Year Plan will be very

much effective to attain the desired

development of the country.

In this connection, she mentioned that

the government is implementing the UNformulated

Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs). "But coronavirus has created

a problem, this is not for us alone, it's

for the whole world."

50 journalists

killed in 2020,

most in countries

'at peace': RSF

At least 50 journalists were killed

worldwide in 2020, according to the

second part of the annual round-up

of abusive treatment and violence

against journalists, published on

December 28 by Reporters Without

Borders (RSF). While the number of

journalists killed in countries at war

continues to fall, more are being

murdered in countries not at war.

RSF tallied 50 cases of journalists

killed in connection with their work

from January 1 to December 15,

2020, a number similar to 2019

(when 53 journalists were killed),

although fewer journalists have been

in the field this year because of the

Covid-19 pandemic.

More journalists are being killed in

countries considered to be "at peace."

In 2016, 58% of media fatalities took

place in war zones. Now only 32% of

the fatalities are in war-torn countries

such as Syria or Yemen or in countries

with low or medium-intensity conflicts

such as Afghanistan and Iraq. In other

words, 68% (more than two thirds) of

the fatalities are in countries "at

peace", with highest casualties in

Mexico (eight journalists killed), India

(four), the Philippines (three) and

Honduras (three).

Hasina said the government has been

able to reduce the poverty rate significantly,

while the GDP has been great

enabling Bangladesh to fulfil the all criteria

to emerge as a developing one. "But

coronavirus stalled everything."

prime minister Sheikh hasina presided over the meeting of

the neC via video conference from ganobhaban on

tuesday.

photo : Star mail

The Prime Minister said when the

entire world got stalled completely,

Bangladesh had been able to carry on its

economic advancement-at least on a limited

scale. "Maybe we couldn't achieve the

fixed goals."

Hasina said the GDP target for

Sale of warm clothes

gearing up as mercury

starts falling

DHAKA : Sale of winter clothes is gearing

up in the capital city's markets and elsewhere

in the country as the mercury has

started falling at the advent of winter.

People are visiting different shopping

malls and makeshift shops for buying

winter clothes. Seasonal traders who sell

shirts, pants and panjabis at the city's

makeshift shops around the year, are

now selling colourful winter clothes and

blankets.

During the visit to different makeshift

markets it was found that being unable

to overlook the sellers' beckoning,

pedestrians stop for a while and skim

through the new winter collections.

There are various types of garments

such as shawls, sweaters, headbands,

caps, mufflers, fur-lined coats and cardigans

are being sold at these makeshift

cloth stores, roadside pushcarts and

shopping malls.

"Demand for warm clothes is increasing

as the winter intensifies. But the

price of winter garments has also gone

up this year as production dropped this

season with the companies facing difficulties

in importing fabrics, threads and

other accessories in time due to the global

pandemic COVID-19," said Md.

experimental planting of black fragrant paddy has started in Chapainawabganj.

Bangladesh was 8.2% for the last fiscal

but there was a pandemic across the and

the global economy had come to a standstill.

"As in the global village, Bangladesh

also faced some problems."

The PM went on saying: "Taking risks,

all are working in their respective

fields. As a result, we've been able

to maintain the pace of advancement."

She expressed her gratitude to

the people of the country for electing

her government for the third

consecutive time and for that it has

been able to take long-term development

plans for the country.

Hasina said the government has

taken Five-Year plans-Vision 2021

and Vision 2041 apart from Delta

Plan 2100.

"To execute these visions and

plans what we need is the Five-

Year plans. We've implemented

the 6th and 7th Five-Year plans,

we're taking the 8th Five-Year Plan

today, we'll take ahead the development

phase by phase for the

Vision 2041," she said.

By the time, she mentioned, the

government will require to implement

more Five-Year plans.

"We'll be able to build Bangladesh as a

developed and prosperous country if the

future governments, no matter whether

we'll be there in power, formulate these

Five-Year plans," she said.

Ruman, who was selling sweaters near

Gulistan's pavement.

He said the price of normal gents'

sweater is Tk 350 this year which was Tk

200 in last year and the price of ladies'

normal shawl is Tk 600 this year which

was Tk400 last year.

Retailers at Mouchak Market said

they sell local and imported blankets of

different types and sizes. This year, the

prices of blankets are higher than the

previous years.

Sirajul Islam, a trader in the market,

said as well as local blankets, they are

selling Korean and Spanish blankets

also. This year, the price of large size

Korean blankets is varying from Tk1600

to Tk 6000 depending on the quality.

The price of large size Spanish blankets

is between Tk 4,500 and Tk 8,000

this year which was between Tk 3500 to

Tk 6000 last year.

Arefin Rahat, a private university student,

came to Nujahan market from

Motijheel area to buy a jacket.

"There are different designs of jacket

in the market but the price is almost

double. The denim jacket which was

sold at Tk 1,000 last year is now being

sold at Tk 2,000," he said.

photo: Star mail

Covid-19 in Bangladesh

Death toll

exceeds 7500,

new cases 1,181

DHAKA : Bangladesh saw the death of

30 more people from Covid-19 and 1,181

new infections in the last 24 hours until

Tuesday, reports UNB.

The number of deaths rose to 7,509

since the first cases were reported in the

country on March 8.

With 1,181 new infections the country's

total caseload stood at 510,080,

said the Directorate General of Health

Services.

So far, 3,199,115 tests have been carried

out. The overall infection rate stood

at 15.98 % and the death rate at 1.47

However, 454,563 patients - 88.91% -

have recovered up to now.

Bangladesh is seeing 3,002.01 infections,

2,669.09 recoveries and 44.09

deaths per million.

The country's infection number

reached the 5,00000-mark on

December 20. The first death was

reported on March 18 and the death toll

exceeded 7,000 on December 12.

The government has been warning of

a second wave of Covid-19 in winter and

urging people to follow health safety

measures. It has also adopted a "no

mask, no service" policy.

Bangladesh will get Covid-19 vaccines

for around 4.5 crore people by May-

June next year, Cabinet Secretary

Khandker Anwarul Islam said recently.

"We will get 3 crore doses of vaccine

for 1.5 crore people at the end of January

or early February next year and 6 crore

doses for 3 crore people by May-June."

India lifts ban on

onion export

HILI (DINAJPUR) : India withdrew its

ban on onion export on Monday, nearly

three and a half months after imposing

it abruptly which sent the commodity's

price through the roof in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh will resume onion import

through Dinajpur's Hili land port on

January 1 next, officials here said,

reports UNB.

The decision was announced through

a notification from India's Ministry of

Commerce and Industry. Businessmen

at the Hili port have confirmed the

development.

Onion prices jumped sharply in

Bangladesh after India banned export of

the popular kitchen item on Sept 14 in

the pretext of local shortage and price

hike.

The abrupt move pushed up onion

prices in the Bangladesh market, forcing

the country to import the item from various

othersuppliers to meet the demand.

Mobarak Hossain, an onion importer

at Hili, said they received a letter from

Indian traders around 10pm on the

export ban withdrawal.

"They're allowing onion export from

Jan 1 but since it's a weekly holiday, the

import will begin from Jan 2," he said,

adding that they are preparing to open

LCs. But since no price has been fixed, it

is assumed that the onion will have to be

imported within US$300.

"The prices will fall to Tk20-25 per kg

in the retail market once the imported

onion hits the market," Mobarak said.

Meanwhile, Hili port importerexporter

group President Harun ur

Rashid said they would decide on onion

import after meeting Indian traders.

'Without a culture of criticism,

beauty of democracy will not

exist': Hasan Mahmud

Saidur rahman Sakib, WeSt Chattogram CorreSpondent

Commenting that Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina has introduced a culture of

appreciating criticism, Information

Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud said, "today

you will see BNP's Fakhrul Islam

Alamgir criticizing the government in

harsh language every morning.

Competing with that again, Rizvi Ahmed

held another press conference at noon.

Besides, going to the press club,

Gayeshwar once again said in a

speech, we have no right to speak! '

The government is constantly being

harassed and again they say they have

no right to speak. What language is

used to criticize the government in television

talk shows today? We think

there should be this criticism. Without

this criticism the beauty of democracy

will not exist.

Information Minister further said, 'we

have always noticed that when there is a

crisis situation in the country or in the

world, there is an ambush on how to use

it to create instability in the society, to

spread fear."

They create unrest in the society by

serving false news. He has tried in the

beginning even in coronavirus.But the

ADB inks deal with

Bangladesh for rural power

supply improvement

DHAKA : The Asian Development

Bank (ADB) and Bangladesh on

Tuesday signed agreements for $200

million additional loans, including

$130 million concessional loan, to

improve access to efficient and reliable

electricity supply in rural areas

in Bangladesh, reports UNB.

The additional loans will scale up

the ongoing $616 million

Bangladesh Power System

Enhancement and Efficiency

Improvement Project, which ADB

approved in 2017, according to an

ADB release.

Fatima Yasmin, Secretary,

Economic Relations Division (ERD),

and Manmohan Parkash, Country

Director, ADB, remotely signed the

loan agreements on behalf of

Bangladesh and ADB respectively.

Md. Khayrul Hasan, Member

(Finance), Bangladesh Rural

Electrification Board (BREB), the

implementing agency of the project,

signed the project agreement.

The additional ADB assistance will

finance installation of an additional

990 kilometers (km) of 33 kilovolt

(kV) and 3,000 km of 11 kV below

distribution lines and associated

facilities, including 51 units of 33

kV/11 kV substations in rural areas

in Khulna division. This will result in

increasing electricity access to

150,000 rural households.

The improved access, quality, and

reliability of the electricity supply in

information

minister dr hasan

mahmud as the

chief guest

addressed a gathering

of journalists

and a biennial conference

at

bangabandhu hall

held at the initiative

of Chittagong press

Club on tuesday.

photo : Saidur

rahman Sakib

mainstream media took a hard line

against it and to prevent rumors from

spreading. That is why rumors or false

news did not work during coronavirus

time. I thank everyone involved in the

media for this. '

The information minister said this

while addressing a gathering of journalists

and a biennial conference at

Bangabandhu Hall at the initiative of

Chittagong Press Club. Information

Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud was present

as the chief guest at the biennial

conference of Chittagong Press Club

on Tuesday.

Farid Uddin Chowdhury, General

Secretary of Chittagong Press Club

gave the welcome address at the function

presided over by Ali Abbas,

President of Chittagong Press Club

and moderated by Nazrul Islam, Joint-

Secretary.

Among others, Former president

Abu Sufian, former president Kalim

Sarwar, senior vice-president of the

club Salahuddin Md Reza and general

secretary of the journalists' union Md

Mintu Chowdhury were among others

also present at the occasion.

rural areas will help reduce household

consumption of kerosene for

cooking and lighting to reduce

household fuel expenditure as well

as the burden of household chores;

catalyze energy-based economic

activities to raise household

incomes; and improve the educational

and medical environment.

Farmers will reduce fuel expenditure

for irrigation by switching

diesel-powered pumps to electric

pumps, which will help to reduce

production costs.

ADB Country Director Manmohan

Parkash said thataccess to electricity

in rural areas is a prerequisite to

improved quality of life, enhanced

economic activities, industrial and

agriculture productivity, and essential

services, such as health care, and

education.

"Uninterrupted and reliable electricity

supply can expedite economic

recovery of the country from the

losses of the coronavirus disease

(COVID-19) pandemic by powering

critical activities including food supply

services, digital education, online

businesses, and essential household

activities."

Appreciating the government's

success in enhancing access to

power, Parkash said that the project

will help Bangladesh achieve its goal

of providing electricity for all by

2021, and related sustainable development

goals.

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam, Executive Editor : Sheikh Efaz Ahmed, Managing, Editor: Tapash Ray Sarker, News Editor : Saiful Islam, printed at Sonali Printing Press, 2/1/A, Arambagh 167, Inner Circular Road, Eden Complex, Motijheel, Dhaka.

Editorial and News Office: Bangladesh Timber Building (3rd Floor) 270/B, Tejgaon I/A Dhaka-1208. Tel : +8802-8878026, Cell : 01736786915; Fax: + 880244611604, Email: Editor : editor@thebangladeshtoday.com, Advertisement: ads@thebangladeshtoday.com, News: newsbangla@thebangladeshtoday.com, contact@thebangladeshtoday.com, website: www.thebangladeshtoday.com

30-12-2020

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