03-03-2022

thursdAy

DhAkA: March3, 2022; Falgun 18, 1428 BS; Rajab 29,1443 hijri

www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net

Regd.No.DA~2065, Vol.19; N o. 300; 12 Pages~Tk.8.00

InternAtIonAl

New Zealand protesters

burn camp after riot

police move in

>Page 7

sports

Tigers seek redemption

in T20 series against

Afghanistan

>Page 9

Arts & Culture

Apu, Joy stars

in 'Trap : The

Untold Story'

>Page 10

Zohr

Ambulance paramedics move an injured man on a stretcher, wounded by shelling in a residential area, at

the maternity hospital converted into a medical ward and used. Russian strikes on the key southern port

city of Mariupol seriously wounded several people.

Photo : AP

Election duty must

be performed

properly: CEC

DHAKA : Newly appointed Chief Election

Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal

yesterday said the election duty should be

performed with honesty, devotion and

sincerity.

"We must be aware of our responsibilities.

We have to try our best. If we get

involved in any misdeed, it will be an

extreme corruption, which is unforgivable,"

he said while speaking at a discussion

at the auditorium of Nirbachan

Bhaban here marking the National Voters'

Day.

Election commissioners Rashida

Sultana, Md Ahsan Habib Khan, Md

Alamgir and Anisur Rahman were present

at the meeting with (EC) Secretariat

Secretary Humayun Kabir Khandaker in

the chair.

Awal urged the officials of the Election

Commission to perform their responsibilities

remaining free from any influence

and greed.

"Otherwise, it will be corruption."

"The importance of the Election

Commission is immense in the formation

of Parliament and the government. It's not

just a matter of proud. It's a matter of nurturing

consciousness", he added.

The CEC said the March 2 is the

National Voters' Day and the theme of the

day is 'the pledge of Mujib Year is to protect

the people's rights to vote'.

"It is not merely a statement but a commitment

of the commission. If you make a

promise, you have to keep it in your

heart….at least, we have to try. We may

not be successful, but we have to abide by

the constitutional obligation bestowed

upon us for ensuring the people's voting

rights," he said.

Awal said the EC will do everything possible

so that voters can exercise their rights

without facing any obstacle.

05:08 AM

12:15 PM

04:22 PM

06:05 PM

07:20 PM

6:21 6:01

Russian forces escalate

attacks on Ukraine's

civilian areas

KYIV, UKRAINE : Russian forces escalated

their attacks on crowded urban areas

Tuesday, bombarding the central square

in Ukraine's second-biggest city and Kyiv's

main TV tower in what the country's president

called a blatant campaign of terror,

reports UNB.

"Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,"

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

vowed after the bloodshed on the square

in Kharkiv.

Ukrainian authorities said five people

were killed in the attack on the TV tower,

which is a couple of miles from central

Kyiv and a short walk from numerous

apartment buildings. A TV control room

and power substation were hit, and at least

some Ukrainian channels briefly stopped

broadcasting, officials said.

Zelenskyy's office also reported a powerful

missile attack on the site of the Babyn Yar

Holocaust memorial, near the tower. A

spokesman for the memorial said a Jewish

cemetery at the site was damaged but the

extent would not be clear until daylight.

At the same time, a 40-mile (64-kilometer)

convoy of hundreds of Russian tanks

and other vehicles advanced slowly on

Kyiv in what the West feared was a bid by

Russian President Vladimir Putin to topple

Ukraine's government and install a

Kremlin-friendly regime.

Russian forces pressed their assault on

other towns and cities across the country,

including the strategic ports of Odesa and

Mariupol in the south.

Day 6 of the biggest ground war in

Europe since World War II found Russia

increasingly isolated, beset by tough sanctions

that have thrown its economy into

turmoil and left the country practically

friendless, apart from a few nations like

China, Belarus and North Korea.

Many military experts worry that Russia

may be shifting tactics. Moscow's strategy

in Chechnya and Syria was to use artillery

and air bombardments to pulverize cities

and crush fighters' resolve.

The bombing on the TV tower came after

Russia announced it would target transmission

facilities in the capital used by Ukraine's

intelligence agency. It urged people living

near such places to leave their homes.

Overall death tolls from the fighting

remained unclear, but a senior Western

intelligence official estimated that more

than 5,000 Russian soldiers have been

captured or killed. Ukraine has given no

overall estimate of troop losses.

Britain's Defense Ministry said it had

seen an increase in Russian air and

artillery strikes on populated urban areas

over the past two days. It also said three

cities - Kharkiv, Kherson and Mariupol -

were encircled by Russian forces.

In Kharkiv, with a population of about

1.5 million, at least six people were killed

when the region's Soviet-era administrative

building on Freedom Square was hit

with what was believed to be a missile.

UK donates 1m more Oxford-AZ

jabs doses to Bangladesh

DHAKA : The United Kingdom (UK) has

donated another one million doses of

Oxford-AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine to

Bangladesh bilaterally.

The UK donated fresh consignment of

jabs arrived here on February 23, a British

High Commission press release said.

Prior to this, the UK donated over 4 million

doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to

Bangladesh in December 2021 through

COVAX facilities.

The vaccine donation would reinforce

Bangladesh's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic

as well as the country's economic

recovery that further strengthen "Brit

Bangla Bondhon" between the UK and

Bangladesh, said the High Commission.

"This support from the UK takes us one

step ahead to defeat the pandemic and further

strengthens our commitment to

stand with the people of Bangladesh to

recover faster and build a healthier and

prosperous future," said British High

Commissioner here Robert Chatterton

Dickson while receiving the fresh consignment

of inoculation.

Besides, the vaccine support, the UK's

Foreign Commonwealth and Development

Office (FCDO) created an enabling environment

for Bangladesh government to accelerate

and expand the vaccination program as

well as reduce the transmission of the infection

especially among the low-income people.

Since the pandemic started, the UK government

has reprioritised more than £55.9

million to fund Bangladesh's National

Preparedness and Response Plan to tackle

COVID-19 including support for Rohingya

refugees and the host communities.

Last year at the G7, the UK committed to

donate 100 million doses globally by June

this year, said the release.

Pry school students

return to campus

DHAKA : As physical classes resumed for

primary school students after yet another

Covid-induced closure, students were

excited to return to campus on Wednesday,

reports BSS.

All primary-level educational institutions

reopened on Tuesday after over a

month of closure due to a renewed surge

in Covid-19 cases largely due to the

Omicron strain. School staff, particularly

teachers, made an extra effort to give the

children a warm welcome, also ensuring

adherence to all Covid-safety protocols.

In view of the declining Covid cases

across Bangladesh, the government on

February 18 announced the resumption of

in-person classes at primary schools from

March 1. In-person classes at all secondary,

higher secondary and university-level educational

institutions resumed on February

22. On January 21, the government

announced the closure of all schools and

colleges in Bangladesh from January 21 to

February 6 amid the fresh surge in Covid-19

cases. The shutdown was extended till

February 20 for the safety of the students as

the virus continued to spread.

The following day, the Education

Ministry issued an 11-point directive,

including the resumption of online classes

for schools and colleges.

Russia-Ukraine conflict

BGMEA sees

challenges for trade

DHAKA : The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict

has emerged as a concern for the RMG

sector of Bangladesh, says the apex body of the

country's apparel industry on Wednesday.

Russia, a potential and emerging market

for Bangladesh RMG exports, has come

under a wide range of sanctions imposed

by a number of countries, said Bangladesh

Garment Manufacturers and Exporters

Association in a statement.

Especially blocking of Russian banks'

access to the SWIFT international payment

system appears to be a major challenge

for Bangladesh's trade, BGMEA

said. Bangladesh exported garments

worth US$ 593 million to Russia in 2020-

2021 fiscal year. BGMEA is now closely

observing the situation.

"We have advised our members to send

us information with regard to buyers they

are working with for exports to Russia,

overdue payments and details of the concerned

banks," said the BGMEA.

It also advised its members and exporters

to be in touch with their buyers and lien

banks and take necessary decisions based

on discussions with them. BGMEA has

also taken up the matter with the relevant

ministries of Bangladesh government,

particularly the Ministry of Commerce

and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Schools, universities to

compensate students for

learning losses:Dipu Moni

DHAKA : Those who failed to get vaccinated

during the 3-day mass vaccination

campaign against Covid-19 can still get the

1st dose at permanent centers across the

country, said the Directorate General of

Health Services (DGHS) on Wednesday,

reports UNB.

"We have vaccinated a large number of

people with the first dose through the

campaign. Even though, those who

missed the chance to get vaccinated can

come to our permanent centers ," Dr Md

Shamsul Haque, member secretary of

Covid-19 Vaccine Management Taskforce

Committee, said at the daily briefing on

the pandemic situation.

One can get vaccinated after registration

or through showing National Identity

Card (NID), he added.

Dr Shamsul Haque said, "There are

many factories in different areas adjacent

to the capital including Savar, Keraniganj,

DHAKA : With schools and universities

reopening, Education Minister Dipu Moni

on Wednesday said she hoped the academic

institutions would compensate the

students for learning losses caused by the

Covid-induced closure, reports UNB.

"The students have been going through

mental trauma for the past two years. Now

with the educational institutions across

the country reopening, efforts will be

made tomake up for the learning losses,"

she said.

"Though it is not possible to recoup the

losses in one academic year, it can be minimised.

Better days are ahead," Dipu Moni

told reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration

ceremony of the book distribution

activities of classes XI and XII at

National Curricula and Textbook Board

(NCTB) headquarters yesterday morning.

"In-person classes for primary school

students resumed on Wednesday while

physical classes at all secondary, higher

secondary and university-level educational

institutions resumed earlier. We hope

we can soon return to normal academic

activities," she said.

Dipu Moni also urged the authorities concerned

to make up for the teaching losses

endured by those who passed this year's

HSC, through adequate assignments.

Describing the demand of the students

of seven DU-affiliated colleges for separate

universities as "illogical", she said, "The

problem will be resolved soon and the

authorities concerned are taking an initiative

to reduce the session jam. Exam

results will also be published soon."

Earlier in the day, junior students were

excited to return to campus as physical

classes resumed in primary schools after

yet another Covid-induced closure

All primary-level educational institutions

reopened on Tuesday after over a

month of closure due to a renewed surge

in Covid-19 cases largely due to the

Omicron strain.

School staff, particularly teachers, made

an extra effort to give the children a warm

welcome, also ensuring adherence to all

Covid-safety protocols.

In view of the declining Covid cases

across Bangladesh, the government on

February 18 announced the resumption of

in-person classes at primary schools from

March 1.

Vaccine seekers can get 1st dose

at permanent centers:DGHS

Narayanganj, Gazipur and many people

remained out of the vaccination programme

there. The local authorities concerned

were asked to extend the vaccination

programme if needed, he said.

"From February 17 to March 1, we have

been able to vaccinate 32 lakh people with

the first dose."

Besides, 1.07 lakh people were vaccinated

with the 2nd dose while one lakh

received the booster dose during this period,

Dr Shamsul Haque added.

The government took the initiative to

administer at least 10 million Covid-19

vaccine doses on February 26 to achieve

the target of vaccinating 90 percent of people

in the country.

No vaccine registration or birth registration

certificate was required to get vaccinated

against Covid during this campaign.

Later, this campaign was extended till

February 28.

ThuRsDAY, MARCh 3, 2022

2

Principal Robert Robin Marandi addressing an orientation program for the students of class eleven

of YMCA public school and college, Bogura.

Photo : TBT

NEC approves Tk 2,07,550

crore revised ADP

DHAKA : The National Economic

Council (NEC) on

Wednesday approved Tk

2,07,550 crore revised

Annual Development Programme

(RADP) for the

current fiscal year, downsizing

the original ADP outlay

of Tk 2,25,324 crore, reports

UNB.

The approval came at a

meeting of the NEC

presided over by NEC

Chairperson and Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina. She

joined it virtually from her

official residence Ganobhaban.

Other NEC members,

AvBGmwcAvi/wewea/108

02/03/22

GD-373/22 (7x3)

including ministers and secretaries

attended the meeting

from the NEC Conference

Room at Sher-e-Bangla

Nagar and the Cabinet Division's

Conference Room at

the Bangladesh Secretariat.

"The NEC endorsed the

RADP slashing the original

ADP by Tk 17,774 crore,"

said Planning Division Secretary

Pradip Ranjan

Chakraborty at a press briefing

after the NEC meeting.

He said the number of

projects in the RADP

increased to 1,770 from 1534

in the original ADP.

The funding from foreign

GD-367/22 (4x3)

sources saw a cut of Tk

17,774.23 crore to stand at

Tk 70,250 crore while the

funding from the local

sources remained almost

unchanged at Tk 1,37,300

crore.

However, considering the

RADP allocation of Tk

9,613.68 crore for the

autonomous bodies and

corporations, the overall

RADP allocation for the current

FYFY22 stood at Tk

2,17,163.68 crore.

In the last FY2020-21, the

RADP was Tk 1,97,643

crore, said the planning secretary.

Ex-UP member

crushed under

train in Bogura

BOGURA : A man was

crushed under the wheels of

a train in Bogura Sadar

upazila on Wednesday

morning, reports UNB.

The deceased was

identified as Rezaul Karim,

55, former member of

Shakaria union parishad

under Sadar upazila.

According to witnesses,

Bonarpara-bound Karatoya

Express train hit Rezaul near

Knowledge Harbor School

and College of the upazila

around 9:30 am when he

was crossing the rail tracks,

leaving him dead on the

spot.

It was not clear whether it

was an accident or a suicide

incident.

ASI Abdul Awal of Naruli

police outpost of Bogura

Sadar police station said that

the body was recovered by

railway police.

Germany's

Scholz visits

Israel amid

Ukraine war,

Iran talks

JERUSALEM : German

Chancellor Olaf Scholz on

Wednesday visited Israel for

the first time since taking

office, days after Russia's

invasion of Ukraine and amid

international efforts to forge a

new Iran nuclear deal.

He toured Jerusalem's Yad

Vashem Holocaust memorial

with Prime Minister Naftali

Bennett, laid a wreath and left

a message in the guest book

stressing Germany's historical

responsibility toward the

Jewish state.

"The mass murder of the

Jews was instigated by

Germany," he wrote. "It was

planned and carried out by

Germans. Consequently,

every German government

bears

permanent

responsibility for the security

of the state of Israel and the

protection of Jewish life."

Bennett welcomed Scholz,

saying that "the Shoah, the

methodical destruction of the

Jews, is a wound that is the

basis of the ties between

Germany and Israel. From

this wound we have built

strong and significant ties."

The two heads of

government-both relatively

new to office following many

years under the political

veterans Angela Merkel and

Benjamin Netanyahu- met as

rapidly moving world events

test their leadership.

They have diverged on their

responses to Russia's war in

Ukraine. Scholz's coalition

government reversed a ban on

sending weapons into conflict

zones and halted the Nord

Stream 2 gas pipeline project

between Russia and

Germany.

He also pledged 100 billion

euros ($113 billion) this year

to modernise Germany's army

and committed to spending

more than two percent of

Germany's gross domestic

product on defence annually,

surpassing even NATO's

target. Israel has taken a

more conservative approach

to the Ukraine crisis, citing

its warm ties with both Kyiv

and Moscow.

National govt needed to create election atmosphere: Zafrullah

DHAKA : Gonoshasthaya Kendra

founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury on

Wednesday advocated for the formation

of a national government for two years to

create the proper atmosphere for a fair

and credible election in the country,

reports UNB.

"I think a national government should

be established for at least two years. If it's

not done, democracy won't be restored

and a fair election won't be possible in

any way in the country," he said.

Speaking at a discussion, he said

Awami League will benefit much if the

national government is established in the

country. "Awami League will also have a

representative in that government.

Maybe Sheikh Rehana can be the

representative. But it's a matter of Awami

League," he said.

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Rob)

arranged the discussion at the Jatiya

Press Club, marking the historic first flag

GD-369/22(5x4)

GD-372/22 (10x4)

hoisting day.

On March 2, 1971, then Vice President

of Dhaka University Central Students

Union (Ducsu) ASM Abdur Rob first

hoisted the country's flag adorned the

map of an independent Bangladesh at a

student gathering at Dhaka University.

About the probable format of the

national government, Dr Zafrullah, also a

freedom fighter, said all the major parties

will have representatives in it with some

notable citizens of the country.

He said the main objective of the

national government will be to establish

the truth and justice.

"If justice and fairness are established

in the country, then March 2, March 3

and March 7 will be observed officially,

and the true history of independence will

be known," Zafrullah observed.

Stating that one person did not liberate

Bangladesh, he said many people,

including Abdul Kader Siddique, Sirajul

Alam Khan, Ziaur Rahman and ASM

Abdur Rob, had contributions to it.

"A 30-year-old man, Abdur Rob, dared

hoist the flag at that time while Major

Ziaur Rahman declared independence on

behalf of Bangabandhu. Calling him (Zia)

a Pakistani spy and making derogatory

comments against him is a betrayal," he

observed.

Speaking at the programme, JSD

president Abdur Rob said the 'parasites'

and 'weeds' those who had no

contributions to the country's

independence are now in the government

and the cabinet. "They must be ousted

and thrown in the Bay of Bengal."

He said no national election will be

allowed to hold under the current Awami

League government since it remained in

power by indulging in 'vote robbery' at

night. "We don't accept this government.

They're thieves, robbers, murderers and

oppressors."

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THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2022

3

The Flag Hoisting Day commemorating the hoisting of the first national flag of independent

Bangladesh was observed yesterday with due respect on Dhaka University campus. Photo : Courtesy

Flag Hoisting Day’ observed at DU

DHAKA : The Flag Hoisting Day

commemorating the hoisting of the first

national flag of independent Bangladesh

was observed yesterday with due respect

on Dhaka University campus.

On March 2, 1971, independent

Bangladesh's national flag, with a yellow

map of Bangladesh inside a red disc in a

green ambience, was hoisted amid

cheers from the spirited students at a

massive gathering on the vibrant Dhaka

University campus, reports BSS.

The then Vice-President (VP) of

Dhaka University Central Students'

Union (DUCSU) ASM Abdur Rab

hoisted the National flag of independent

Bangladesh on behalf of Swadhin

Bangla Chhatra Sangram Parishad at

the historic Bot-Tola premises.

Marking the historic day of Bangalee

nation, DU Vice-Chancellor (VC)

World Wildlife

Day today

DHAKA : The World Wildlife

Day will be observed on March

3 (Thursday) across the globe,

including Bangladesh, aiming

to create awareness about

endangered animals and plants

and ways to fight against

wildlife crime, reports BSS

To mark the day, the

Ministry of Environment,

Forest and Climate Change will

arrange a discussion at Ban

Bhaban here at 10.30 am today.

Environment, Forest and

Climate Change Minister Md

Shahab Uddin will join the

meeting as the chief guest,

while Chairman of

Parliamentary Standing

Committee on the ministry

Saber Hossain Chowdhury and

Environment, Forest and

Climate Change Secretary Md

Mustafa Kamal as special

guests. Wildlife trade is one of

the most profitable illicit trades

in the world, estimated at up to

US$ 10 billion annually. Illegal

wildlife trade of elephant ivory,

rhino horns, and tiger products,

is widespread in many

countries, particularly in Asia

and Africa.

Professor Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman

inaugurated a programme on the Bot-

Tola premises adjacent to Arts Building

by playing the national anthem.

Dr Akhtaruzzaman flanked by DU

Pro-VC (Academic) Dr ASM Maksud

Kamal, DU Pro-VC (Administration) Dr

Moammad Samad, DU Teachers

Association (DUTA) president Dr

Rahmat Ullah, General Secretary Dr

Nizamul Hoque Bhuiyan and others

hoisted the national flag of Bangladesh.

VC Akhtaruzzaman paid rich tribute

to father of the nation Bangabandhu

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, national four

leaders, liberation war martyrs and the

DUCSU and students' leaders, who

gathered at the Bot-Tola to hoist the

national flag of Bangladesh on March

02, 1971.

"The role and influence of father of the

DHAKA : The UAE

Ambassador in Dhaka

Abdulla Ali AlHmoudi

yesterday said the food

processing industry in

Bangladesh is promising for

the UAE investors.

He made this remark

during a courtesy call on the

FBCCI President Jashim

Uddin at FBCCI Icon on

Wednesday, said a press

release.

During the discussion, the

envoy said different

countries showcase their

goods at the pavilions in the

Global Village of Dubai.

The ambassador urged

Bangladesh to take

advantage of this.

"Bangladesh Pavilion in

the Global Village would

make it easier for tourists

from different countries,

including Dubai, to get

information about

Bangladeshi products," he

added.

Lauding the dedication of

the Bangladeshi people, the

ambassador said, the

number of Bangladeshis in

white color professions

including engineers, doctors

and nurses is increasing in

the UAE.

During the meeting,

FBCCI President Jashim

Uddin said that Bangladesh

has now become an

attractive investment

destination for global

entrepreneurs as the

country facilitates with

skilled workers, a huge

domestic market of 170

million people, ready

infrastructure in economic

zones and duty-free market

access for exports to various

countries.

nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman is shining and visible in every

verse, every moment, every background

and every event of our history", said

Akhtaruzzaman at the discussion.

With his dynamic and effective

leadership, Bangabandhu was the main

patron who was behind of gearing up

such movements, creating all the

necessary political and social

backgrounds and elements required for

country's independence, he added.

Bangabandhu directed the

construction and hoisting of the flag on

that time at Dhaka University through

his far-sighted plan, he furthered.

After the discussion on the

significance of the Flag Hoisting Day,

patriotic songs were performed at a

cultural event.

Bangladesh food processing

industry has huge

potentials: UAE envoy

The President called upon

the UAE investors to take

advantage of this

opportunity.

"There are opportunities

to enhance bilateral

investment relations with

the UAE in various sectors,

including food processing,

halal food and skills

development," he added.

The meeting also

discussed the UAE and

Bangladesh Business

Council to be inaugurated

this month.

Among others, FBCCI Vice

President MA Momen, Md.

Amin Helaly, Salauddin

Alamgir, Habib Ullah Dawn,

Director Md. Amjad

Hossain and Secretary

General Mohammad

Mahfuzul Hoque were also

present at the meeting.

Readers and buyers are not in a hurry as the duration of Amar Ekushey Book Fair has been extended.

Although the attendance of readers and writers is less in the afternoon, the book fair is full in the

evening.

Photo : Star Mail

BGB seizes smuggled

goods, drugs worth

over Tk 119cr in Feb

DHAKA : Border Guard

Bangladesh (BGB) members

seized smuggled goods

including arms and drugs

worth Tk 119.61 crore from

different parts of the country

including the border areas in

February.

The seized drugs include

15,57,716 Yaba pills, 4.170

kgs crystal meth ice, 2.100

kgs opium, 29,539 bottles of

phensidyl, 1,902 kgs

cannabis, 10.120 kgs heroin

and 1,52,787 injections, says

Public Relation Officer

(PRO) of the BGB

headquarters Md Shariful

Islam.

Other smuggled items

include 5.870 kg gold,

46.065 kg silver, 1,21,585

cosmetics, 12,179 imitation

jeweleries, 6,269 sarees,

20,474 three-piece sets, shirt

pieces, blanket, 2721 cubic

feet timber, 6,639 kgs tea

leaves, 19,410 kg coal, 2

touch stone statues, four

trucks, covered vans, four

private cars, microbuses, 16

pickups, 35 easybikes and 75

motorcycles.

Thailand reassures

support for Rohingya

repatriation

DHAKA : Thai deputy prime minister Don

Pramudwinai has reassured Bangladesh to

provide all possible support to ensure an

early, safe and dignified return of the

displaced Rohingya from Bangladesh, reports

BSS.

Pramudwinai, who is also foreign minister

of Thailand, made the assurance while

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud Bin

Momen requested him for utilizing Bangkok's

'friendship and influence' with Myanmar.

Masud made the call while he called on him

in Bangkok on Tuesday, a foreign ministry

press release received.

During the meeting, both of them

exchanged felicitations and greetings on the

occasion of the 50 years of bilateral relations

and stressed the importance of further

strengthening the existing excellent ties for

mutual benefit of the two friendly peoples.

Earlier on the same day, the Second round

of Foreign Office Consultations (FOC)

between Bangladesh and Thailand was held.

Bangladesh foreign secretary and his Thai

counterpart Thani Thongphakdi led their

respective sides during the FOC where the

entire gamut of bilateral relations between

the two countries was discussed.

Both the sides underscored an early

commencement of a joint feasibility study on

potentials of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

between Bangladesh and Thailand to forge a

'Strategic Economic Partnership'.

During the FOC, the Bangladesh side

reiterated its urge to Thailand to use its

leverage in advancing effective engagement of

ASEAN mechanisms in a fruitful manner in

expediting the repatriation mechanism of

Rohingyas.

The Bangladesh side observed, ASEAN

engagement in the repatriation process would

undeniably give a sense of safety and security

to Rohingya which may encourage them to go

back voluntarily to their homeland in

Rakhine.

The two sides also agreed to create further

synergies for a sustainable and inclusive

economic recovery and development by

properly implementing the Bio-Circular

Green Economic model and the Mujib

Climate Prosperity Plan in the respective

countries.

Information Minister and Broadcasting Dr Hasan Mahmud addressing a seminar as chief guest at

Bangladesh Press Club Institute.

Photo : PID

TCB to sell essential

items to 1cr people ahead

of Ramadan: Tipu

DHAKA : Commerce

Minister Tipu Munshi

yesterday said the state-run

Trading Corporation of

Bangladesh (TCB) would sell

essential items to some one

crore low-income group

people at low prices ahead of

the forthcoming holy month

of Ramadan."This time, TCB

will come to the market

increasing its capacity

around four times. Essential

items of the TCB will be

reached to one crore people

within the next one or one

?and a half months. I think,

around five crore people will

be benefited through the

initiative," he said.

The minister said this

while speaking at a press

conference after a meeting

held at the Secretariat on

keeping the commodities

prices in check during the

month of Ramadan.

TBT REPORT

Major General Shakil

Ahmed, SPP, NSWC,

AFWC, PSC has joined as

the new Director General

of Border Guard

Bangladesh (BGB) on 28

February 2022. He took

over the charge from the

outgoing Director General

of BGB, Major General Md.

Safinul Islam, BGBM

(BAR), NDC, PSC on the

afternoon of February 28,

2022. Prior to joining

Border Guard Bangladesh,

he served as the Adjutant

General of the Bangladesh

Army at the Army

Headquarters.


Ahmed was commissioned

in the Infantry Corps on 24

June 1986 with the 16th

long term course of

Bangladesh Military

Academy. In his long and

vivid career, he held

various important

positions at the command,

BNP spreading falsehood

against government: Hanif

DHAKA : Awami League (AL) Joint General

Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif yesterday

said BNP has been spreading falsehood

against the government through holding

rallies in front of Jatiya Press Club every day.

"BNP leaders are also telling lies about the

government and its activities in TV talkshows

every day to mislead the people," he

said. Hanif said this while talking to

journalists before joining a meeting of party's

leaders of Chattogram division and

Chandpur district at the AL's Bangabandhu

Avenue central office here.

He said Bangladesh is moving forward

under the dynamic leadership of Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina and per capita

income of the people has increased and

country's overall exports are on rising trend.

After the killing of Bangabandhu, BNP

founder Ziaur Rahman had tried to make

Bangladesh a province of Pakistan and at that

time, they not only banned the slogan of

Liberation War-Joy Bangla but also

forbidden the historic March 7 Speech of

Bangabandhu.

staff and trainer levels.


Ahmed has successfully

served as GOC 19th

Infantry Division,

Commander 99 Composite

Brigade and Commander

1st East Bengal Regiment.

He also served as Director

of the Defense Intelligence

Directorate, Counter

Intelligence Bureau,

General Staff Officer

Grade-1 of an Infantry

Division and Brigade

Major of an Infantry

Brigade. Major General

Shakil Ahmed has also

served as the Commandant

of the School of Infantry

and Tactics (SI&T). As an

Instructor, he has been the

Chief Instructor of SI&T,

Platoon Commander at

Bangladesh Military

Academy and Directing

Staff of the Armed Forces

War Course at National

Defense College, Mirpur.

As a peacekeeper, he was a

contingent member of

UNOSOM-II in Somalia

BNP that always practices evil politics is

now looking for an issue to attain its evil

purposes, he said, adding that AL leadersactivists

will have to build resistance against

conspiracies and ill politics of BNP.

He criticized BNP Secretary General Mirza

Fakhrul Islam Alamgir for spreading

confusion about the newly formed Election

Commission (EC) and urged the countrymen

not to be confused with the negative

propaganda of BNP against the EC.

AL advisory council member Dr Mohiuddin

Khan Alamgir, presidium member Mofazzal

Hossain Chowdhury Maya Bir Bikram, joint

general secretary Dr Dipu Moni, organizing

secretary Abu Sayeed Al Mahmood Swapon,

relief and social welfare secretary Sujit Ray

Nondi, science and technology affairs

secretary Abdus Sabur, information and

recharge secretary Dr Salim Mahmud,

Chandpur Zilla Awami League president

Nasir Uddin Ahmed, its general secretary Abu

Naim Patwari Dulal, Shafiqur Rahman, MP,

and Nurul Amin Ruhul, MP, among others,

were present.

BGB gets a new director general

and MONUC's force

logistics staff in Congo. He

has also served as

Contingent Commander

on BANBAT-3/23 at the

UNOCI Ivory Coast

Mission to the United

Nations. He held the

position of Director

General of the Immigration

and Passport Department

under the Ministry of

Home Affairs.


Ahmed holds higher

degrees in various

disciplines at home and

abroad. He holds a

Master's degree in National

Security and War Studies, a

Master's degree in

Strategic Studies, and a

Master's degree in Defense

Studies. He has also

participated in numerous

professional training

courses, seminars and

symposiums at home and

abroad. Dr. Shahnaz Shakil

is his wife. The couple have

a daughter and a son.

thurSdaY, March 3, 2022

4

Can Iran and US breathe life into nuclear deal?

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com

Thursday, March 3, 2022

Tormented by rising prices

Rising prices is now the subject of worried conversation everywhere.

Complete strangers when travelling together to a common destination

usually discuss the weather. Not anymore. Even between strangers, in

many cases these days, the first talking point turns out to be prices of basic

commodities - such as prices of the rice they must consume daily or the prices

of other kitchen items.

Two consequences in the main are noted from the rising prices. Firstly, the

price escalations have much increased the costs of living agonies of ordinary

people. The poor and the extreme poor comprise nearly half of the population.

Understandably, price increases tend to have the most unhappy effects on

them and this is more the case in the present price rises as prices of mainly

common but indispensable consumption items of the poor are rising. Thus,

the purchasing power of the poor is getting eroded. If the present conditions of

high prices persist, then the poor will be the poorer and poverty's pangs will

deepen in the country.

Besides, even in their poor state, the poor, when they are blessed with

relatively stable or improved purchasing power, they create demand for a large

number of goods and services beyond food and other basic things. The

production and marketing of these not so essential products then help to create

employment and income for people or the economy grows in the process. But

with their purchasing power getting badly battered, the poor or common

people are unlikely to demand such non essential items in good quantities and

hence a slump in their production can be expected with sorry consequences of

the same on their producers and sellers. Thus, overall deepening of the poverty

situation, worsening unemployment and economic stagnation are likely to be

the fallout from the unabated price rises of essential products.

One reaction to the rise in prices can be reduction of consumption . Such a

reaction may even lead to decrease in prices as sellers then respond to

consumer reaction by lowering prices in their bids to fast dispose off stocks of

goods with them. If goods do not sell at a brisk pace, business turnover declines.

But in the current price increases, this strategy of foregoing consumption to put

pressure on the sellers cannot apply for the simple reason that most of the

higher priced goods are considered as essential items by common people.

Thus, even the poor cannot postpone or reduce consumption of flour, rice,

cooking oil and other kitchen items as these are their basic consumption items.

A poor man confronted with the choice of buying a shirt or eating a square

meal, will likely decide to buy only food or food preparation items in

unchanging quantities no matter what the price. He might decide to forego

consumption of a new shirt but he is most unlikely to buy less rice or flour or

cooking oil because the costs of these are higher. People seem not to hesitate to

even, beg, borrow or steal, as the saying goes, to meet the needs of basic

sustenance in the form of food. Sections of businesses --dealing in essential

consumer products-- understand too well this psychology or vulnerability of

the consumers and have decided to exploit it to the utmost to squeeze out

supernormal profits.

Therefore, it needs no stretch of the imagination to realise the sufferings of

poor consumers. Even the middle classes, specially the lower middle classes in

urban areas-- who would be considered to have an existence above the poverty

line -- are getting affected by the price increases. The incomes of most middle

class families are limited in nature and family managers are finding their

backs to the wall trying to balance their budgets with their modest or static

incomes.

All concerned quarters are clanging their bells hard for the government to sit

up and hear the noises they are making to give them relief from price rises. But

so far, the response has not been proportionate to the outcry. Government

must demonstrate its adequate responsiveness to a demand which is central

to the needs of people and also in the vital interest of the economy.

There have been good sides to the economy's management in recent years

and the same were discussed appreciatively in the national press. Stable and

increasing foreign exchange reserve, better collection of revenues, rising

investment rate, etc., were in focus as the features of a resurgent economy. But

common people understandably have not so much interest in these macro

economic indicators. For them, the main down to earth concern is the cost of

essentials or daily consumables and the charges they have to pay for various

regular and unavoidable services. In other words, the costs of living for

common people is a very vital issue and government's creditable activities in

other spheres of the economy may be secondary to common people with costs

of living seen as their comparatively higher concern.

The Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) in its last stock taking

assessed that percentage increase of costs of living was well over the double

digits . Food prices that have a way of creating the justification for increasing

the prices of other commodities and services have been on the higher side all

throughout 2021. Besides, several increases in the charges of power, gas and

fuel oil also helped to raise production costs which in turn led to higher prices

and charges respectively of products and services. House rent, costs of

education, medical charges, etc., also rose notably. The higher price trends and

rising costs of living thereof remain unabated .

Government does not have a direct role to play in regulating prices these

days. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina referred to this aspect in her address to the

nation on last Monday. She drew attention to the rule that under the market

economy principles the country currently follows, there is no way for the

government to intervene so much in the market mechanisms. Prices are to be

left to the free play of market forces or the forces of demand and supply. This

must have been her implied contention. She also drew attention of countrymen

to tax rebate and duty reductions provided by her government to businesses

for the latter to pass on the benefits of the same to consumers in the form of

lower prices.

But free market principles in many countries are not meant to be freestyle

operation of traders or sellers. Government in these countries take steps

against undue profiteering. But this has not been the case in Bangladesh.

Government is seen as rather motionless as traders increase prices without any

justification for the same. Apart from words of advice to traders, government

seems to have no effective strategy in place as prices of goods get most

unreasonably increased by substantial margins and the high price lines are

retained.

The rate of inflation was very recently assessed to be nearly 8 per cent even

by official count, surpassing the previous five-year high at 7.92 per cent.

Independent and more reliable estimates of inflation are considerably higher

. Consumers of the more numerous humble category with limited purchasing

power in the country have been feeling the heat of substantially increased

prices of essential commodities. Prime Minister in her recent address to the

nation also sought to underline that one ought not to look at only price rises but

also take into account the rising purchasing power of the people to offset the

effect of price rises. But one wonders where from she got a clue in respect of the

higher purchasing power of common peopled when that power has diminished

substantially from rising prices and charges. No honest assessment will be able

to quite establish that there has been a general increase in the purchasing

power of poor people to even match or keep pace with the higher prices not to

speak of higher purchasing power enjoyed by them above the price increases.

The free market philosophy is ascendant in Bangladesh. But free markets are

found not devoid of regulatory attempts on the part of governments elsewhere,

specially when the same relate to goods regularly consumed by common

people with modest purchasing power. The market behaviour on the part of

traders clearly point to their illegal and unethical profiteering instincts.

Investigations from the media and other responsible sources drew the

attention of the government many times to deliberate hoarding and related

activities by a section of so called business operators to rake in unearned super

profits at the expense of the miseries of common people. Market economy

principles do not prohibit actions against hoarding and profiteering or the

application of the laws of the land in such cases. However, so far, no application

of these laws have been noted although their skilful application would not be

unjustified under the present conditions.

There has been also regular pleading in the press and elsewhere to revive

government's own extensive sale of essential goods at fair prices to take the

wind out of the sales of profiteers and hoarders. Full revitalisation and

operationalisation of the state owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh

(TCB) was suggested to this end. Government has only very recently gone for

half-hearted revival of TCB operations when it should have allowed full scale

resumption of its operations, long ago, to defeat the aims of the price

manipulators.

This photo released on November 5,

2019, by the Atomic Energy

Organization of Iran shows centrifuge

machines in the Natanz uranium

enrichment facility in central Iran. Iran

announced it had started gas injection into a

30-machine cascade of advanced IR-6

centrifuges in Natanz complex. Photo:

Atomic Energy Organization of Iran

The possibility of the Joint

Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -

the Iran nuclear deal - being revived, though

difficult, seems to have brightened in

February. The US may now also believe that

the potential loss of Russian natural gas and

oil due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war

needs to be offset by Iran returning to the

global oil market.

The nuclear deal could have been

accomplished much earlier if not for the Joe

Biden administration's unwillingness to

commit to the "way forward" offered by Iran

to stay in the deal for the remainder of

Biden's term as president, according to

Responsible Statecraft.

Former US President Donald Trump

pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in

May 2018 on the premise that he could get a

better deal than the one negotiated by his

predecessor Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, faced with the current reality

relating to the situation on the ground,

which shows Iran is unlikely to give up its

missile capabilities or pull back from

regional allies, Biden seems to have come

around to the original deal.

Iran is unlikely to remove the more

advanced centrifuges it now possesses and

uses after the Trump administration

unilaterally pulled out of the deal. Neither is

Iran likely to get an assurance that Trump or

a future US president who follows his lead

on foreign policy will not abandon the deal

again after the 2024 presidential election in

the United States.

The rest of the world is thus forced to live

in an era in which the United States, the

strongest military and economic power, is

no longer capable of committing to treaties,

whether on global warming or the nuclear

deal with Iran.

Washington was not alone in its

foolishness of pulling out of an agreement

like the Iran nuclear deal that sought to

impose the most stringent restrictions any

country had accepted on its nuclear

programs.

It was egged on, if not instigated, by Israel,

which wanted the United States to do what it

could not: remove the possibility of Iran

developing nuclear weapons and defang its

missile capabilities.

As most technologies required for nuclear

weapons or missiles are dual-use, these

Russian President Vladimir Putin

enters a hall before a meeting with

members of the Security Council via a

video link in Moscow on February 25, 2022

[Alexey Nikolsky/Kremlin via Reuters]

If it was not plain before, Vladimir Putin's

war on Ukraine and Ukrainians has

revealed these self-evident truths.

Columnists who, like me, flit, like

butterflies, from one "crisis" to the next, one

"outrage" to the next, one "scandal" to the

next, do not matter.

Analysts and ex-generals appearing on

cable news networks to speculate without

knowing do not matter.

The usual lineup of "think-tank"

strategists and "experts" appearing on cable

news networks to blabber on and speculate

without knowing do not matter.

Rich, vacuous television personalities

who know nothing about loss or sacrifice in

the midst of war do not matter.

The keyboard cavalry of smug,

perpetually wrong hypocrites who once

loved "regime change" and invading

sovereign nations before hating "regime

change" and the invasion of another

sovereign nation populated, this time, by

white Christians, do not matter.

Pedestrian, duplicitous politicians and

diplomats who spout banalities about

"geniuses", "freedom", and the sanctity of

"territorial integrity" and "international

law" do not matter.

All of the above who stampede to Twitter

every other moment to share their trite,

hyperbolic musings and "insight" about

Putin, war and Ukraine may think they

matter, but they do not.

People matter. Ukrainians matter and,

oh, how they matter.

The countless victims of Putin's war -

dead, injured, homeless and traumatised

Ukrainians - matter.

Still, Ukrainians have shown, by their fine

example, how courage and defiance matter.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr

Zelenskyy has, by his honourable example,

confirmed that true leadership and sacrifice

matter.

Zelenskyy has, by his honourable

example, confirmed, as well, that simple

words and acts of refusal matter.

Enlightened Russians who defy thugs and

restrictions would have converted Iran to a

second-class industrial power.

A set of Israeli military experts have now

come out saying that asking the United

States to pull out of the Iran deal was a huge

blunder, and the best course for Israel now

would be to work to reinstate the nuclear

deal. A report published in January by Ben

Armbruster in Responsible Statecraft, a US

website on international affairs, says: "The

head of Israel's military intelligence agency,

Major-General Aharon Haliva, has said that

the revival of the Iran nuclear agreement

would be better for Israel than if it were to be

allowed to collapse entirely."

If Iran had succumbed to the United

States and Israel's demands, it would have

given the Western powers complete military

control over West Asia, including its oil. This

would have been in line with former US

President Jimmy Carter's 1980 declaration -

the Carter Doctrine - that the Persian Gulf

region was of vital interest to the United

States, and the US would brook no

interference of any outside power in this

region.

The Carter Doctrine was similar to the

neocolonial Monroe Doctrine of 1823, which

declared that no foreign power could have

any military presence in the Americas, the

United States' backyard.

Trump's reimposition of more than 1,000

sanctions on Iran after walking out of the

nuclear deal was a heavy economic blow for

Iran. It was complemented by covert attacks

on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, which

included the sabotage of nuclear facilities

and the assassinations of nuclear scientists

in Iran. Major-General Qasem Soleimani,

the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary

Guard Corps' Quds Force, was assassinated

along with Iraqi militia commander Abu

Mahdi al-Muhandis in a US drone strike in

Baghdad in 2020.

Iran's response to these sanctions and

attacks has been equally forceful: The

country struck US bases in the region in

January 2020 using missiles, continued

supporting the Lebanese political-militant

group Hezbollah and the Syrian government

forces and continued to exert its influence

over Iraq.

After a prior warning to avoid casualties,

Iran's strikes on US bases showed America's

In Ukraine, Putin is bound to lose

intimidation to oppose war matter.

Kind, generous people who comfort and

help frightened strangers fleeing war

matter.

All refugees escaping the war, including

African children, women and men who,

shamefully, have had, again, to withstand

racism even at this dire moment, matter.

Intrepid (not racist) reporters risking

their lives to tell the truth about what is

happening in Ukraine and beyond, matter.

Angry people who have come together in

the streets across the globe - even in placid,

"neutral" Switzerland - to denounce and

reject war and, instead, call, as one, for

peace, matter.

For the little it may be worth, I do not

know what will happen in Ukraine in the

days ahead.

I do not know what will happen in Russia

in the days ahead.

I do not know what Putin may or may not

do in the days ahead.

I do not know whether or not Putin's mad

plans for Ukraine have gone awry.

I do not know what may or may not be in

store for a troubled world in the days,

weeks, months and years ahead because of

Putin's war on Ukraine.

But I do know this: Putin will not prevail.

Time and people of good and determined

will shall not let him prevail.

History tells us that fear and force, as

governing tools, inevitably lose their

potency. History also tells us that

understanding the value and necessity of

patience is key to beating the purveyors of

fear and force.

I remember when, not too long ago, the

columnists, the experts, the analysts, the

strategists, the generals and the politicians

were flummoxed to the point of shocked,

and welcomed, silence when the Berlin Wall

came down - bit by bit, brick by brick, slab

Prabir PurkaYaStha

andrEW Mitrovica

so-called anti-missile batteries are toothless

against Iran's latest missiles. Iran was

careful not to cause deaths, nor did it hit US

Navy ships in order not to start a war.

But its asymmetric war capabilities

showed that US and Israeli strategic assets

in the region were now within Iran's missile

range, and anti-missile batteries could not

protect these assets.

I have previously written about Iran

developing asymmetrical warfare

capabilities and the ability to use missiles,

drones and small naval boats to strike

opponents. Supplying Hezbollah and other

groups in West Asia such as Ansarullah or

the Houthis in Yemen with these kinds of

Yemen's infrastructure has been destroyed; the country

has dealt with a cholera epidemic and faced a water crisis

with no access to safe drinking water, and its schools, colleges

and health care facilities have been destroyed by

sustained Saudi and Emirati bombings.

technology has helped Iran vis-à-vis Israel

and Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis have shown they may suffer

heavy losses against the militarily superior

Saudi and the Emirati (UAE) forces, but

they have missile capabilities to strike back.

With Yemen, the argument of Houthi

attacks hitting civilians rings hollow, as the

Saudis and Emiratis have inflicted the most

savage attacks on civilians that the world has

seen in a very long time.

Yemen's infrastructure has been

destroyed; the country has dealt with a

cholera epidemic and faced a water crisis

with no access to safe drinking water, and its

schools, colleges and health care facilities

have been destroyed by sustained Saudi and

Emirati bombings.

Yemen's only recourse has been to hit

back at Saudi and UAE facilities - refineries

and airports - hoping to force them into

peace talks and settle the war.

Trump and the Israeli leadership had

assumed that the economic reverses of the

sanctions would drive Iran to surrender its

independent strategic nuclear role. Iran

initially refrained from breaching the

JCPOA agreement and asked the other

signatories, Germany, France, the United

Kingdom, Russia and China, to continue

trading with it.

Apart from China and Russia, the

European countries who were part of the

agreement gave "lip service" to continuing

with the JCPOA and reduced their trade

with Iran to a trickle. With the dollar

functioning as the international currency, no

other European country was willing to buck

by slab.

People who had crossed the fear barrier

into wild celebration of the destruction of all

that the Berlin Wall stood for did what was

considered, until then, impossible.

It was people - lots of them - who achieved

the impossible. They overwhelmed an

inhumane regime built on fear and force

that the columnists, analysts, strategists,

generals, and politicians insisted would last

for much longer than it did.

That fear and force were dispatched in

Berlin so quickly was proof that when fear

and force are challenged by enough people

seized with will and hope, change comes.

And, sometimes, it arrives fast and

i remember when, not too long ago, the columnists, the

experts, the analysts, the strategists, the generals and the

politicians were flummoxed to the point of shocked, and

welcomed, silence when the berlin Wall came down - bit

by bit, brick by brick, slab by slab.

unexpectedly.

Ukrainians, in and out of uniforms, have

seized on and demonstrated this will and

hope with a stirring and humbling

conviction.

They have rallied to their leader's call to

confront fear and force with will, hope and,

yes, weapons. They have confronted fear

and force with every means that a righteous

resistance permits.

Ukrainians are not "hanging on". They are

standing fast. They are testament, once

more, that fear and force will always lose

out.

Nazar Cherniha is one of the countless

Ukrainians who are standing firm. After

watching a Russian missile slam into an

apartment in Kyiv, Cherniha told the

Washington Post: "After tonight I am not

scared anymore. Fear disappeared." His

mother, Nataliya, is just as defiant. "The

people have really come together, and such

a unity can't possibly be defeated."

She is, of course, right.

Putin may have calculated that

Ukrainians would cower and capitulate and

that the rank, Soviet-style rhetoric meant to

smear a freely elected government as a

the United States sanctions in any serious

way.

This is where Iran started to ratchet up its

nuclear enrichment, both in quantity and

quality: how much uranium-235 it would

enrich and to what degree of purity. The Iran

nuclear deal had the following key features:

Iran's active centrifuges would have to

come down to about 5,000 from the more

than 19,000 centrifuges it had.

Uranium enrichment was capped at 300

kilograms at 3.67% purity.

No advanced centrifuges would be used

beyond IR-1 and Iran would have to

dismantle/mothball more advanced

centrifuges. Iran would have to modify the

Arak heavy reactor that could produce

weapons-grade plutonium and convert it so

it could be used for peaceful purposes.

At the time of the agreement, Iran had

stockpiled about 200kg of 20% enriched

uranium gas (200kg of uranium gas would

be 133kg of solid uranium), which was

shipped out to Russia.

In terms of nuclear-weapons

development, converting uranium to 20%

purity is nine-tenths of the work required to

reach weapons-grade uranium of 90%

purity. The bulk of the work involved in

building these weapons is therefore in

achieving 20% purity, and the rest is

relatively easy.

In centrifuges, uranium gas is spun to

separate U-238, the heavier isotope of

uranium, from U-235, which is lighter and

the fissile isotope used in the development of

nuclear weapons. The separation is done by

using a cascade of centrifuges and repeating

the process continuously.

This process is time- and energyconsuming

and requires a high degree of

automation. In Natanz, Iran, the Stuxnet

malware and a cyberweapon developed by

the United States and Israel were used to

destroy more than 10% of Iran's centrifuges

by attacking its Siemens controllers.

This attack was the first use of a

cyberweapon in the world.

In November 2021, the Atomic Energy

Organization of Iran said its stockpile of

20% enriched uranium had reached more

than 210kg, and 60% enriched uranium had

reached 25kg. The country also has put in a

new generation of more advanced

centrifuges and efficient IR-2m, IR-4 and

IR-6 centrifuges.

This capability is why there are arguments

that Iran has reached breakout capacity as it

has enough fissile material for a bomb and is

more advanced in its bomb-making ability

than it was during the original JCPOA as a

consequence of Trump's folly.

Source: Asia times

"junta" filled with "criminals" and "drug

traffickers" would work. If he did, he has

miscalculated - badly.

This so-called "student" of history has

forgotten the sharp lessons of recent

history.

It is easy to succumb to distorting hubris

and the irresistible impulse to invade and

impose your evangelical designs on another

people and their homeland, but it is much

more difficult to enforce those designs

without sinking, eventually, into quagmire,

retreat and defeat.

That is why, I think, Putin and his

surrogates have been reduced to shouting

clichés and revisionist nonsense and

making apocalyptic threats that suggest that

Russia's leader-for-life has slipped into a

dangerous and disconcerting hysteria.

Time, will and hope will change that, too.

We are watching it stir in Moscow and other

Russian cities. Principled Russians

continue to risk their freedom or worse

despite Putin's fear-and-force-fuelled edicts

that they remain quiet and at home.

Undeterred, they are on the street. We

owe these brave Russians our support and

gratitude for their fidelity to hope over fear,

to humanity over inhumanity, to peace over

war.

Meanwhile, one marquee and habitually

wrong American columnist who once

championed fear, force and "regime

change" in the Middle East and Afghanistan

and now opposes it when a European

nation is the target, recently wrote that the

world-wide-web may turn out to be

Ukraine's salvation.

Wrong again.

The worldwide web is a tool. It is how

people of goodwill and purpose - inside and

outside Ukraine - use it to battle fear and

force that may play a part in writing the

country's fate.

Ukrainians, I suspect, do not need

Twitter, Facebook, TikTok or Instagram to

fight for their dignity, freedom and

independence.

It is apparent to me, at least, that the will

to meet an occupying army head-on is

engrained in Ukrainians' minds, hearts, and

souls.

Source: Al Jazeera

THursDAy, mArCH 3, 2022

5

EmIlIE FIlOu

The boarding of Uganda Airlines flight

446 from Entebbe to Dubai was

momentarily disrupted at the end of last

year when two of the passengers started

hawking bush crickets in the aisles.

Their fellow travellers couldn't believe

their luck: nsenene are a prized delicacy

in Uganda, but despite November

usually being peak season for the

insects, there had been hardly any

around.

The video from the plane went viral;

there were grumblings about security

breaches, but Uganda Airlines seemed

sympathetic and spotted an

opportunity to turn the crisis into an

opportunity. "We understand that

[nsenene] was not in plenty this season,

hence the excitement. We are

considering adding nsenene to our

menu for regional and international

flights on request," it said in a

statement.

Nsenene are just one of 2,100 known

edible insect species, a quarter of which

are consumed in Africa. Most are highly

prized - often costing more than beef or

chicken by weight - and most are

harvested from the wild.

Catching them is often difficult, they

are seasonal and can be unavailable

when most needed, said Dorte Verner,

lead agriculture economist at the World

Bank's food and agriculture global

practice. They can also be overharvested

or contaminated with

pesticides.

However, with rising food insecurity,

safeguarding this nutritious source of

protein has become critical. "In 2021,

Are farmed insects the next big thing in food industry?

21% of people in countries affected by

fragility, conflict and violence did not

have access to nutritious food," said

Verner. "Also, food production per

capita has been falling since 2014."

Farming the insects is one solution. A

recent report, published by Verner and

World Bank colleagues, on the potential

of hydroponics and insect farming in

Africa, found 849 farms in 10 of the 13

countries they surveyed. While still in

its infancy - most farms were set up in

the last decade - the industry has clear

potential: not only would insects be

available all year, it would create jobs,

help manage food waste, which is used

as feed, and insect manure, or frass,

could create fertilisers.

The World Bank has estimated that

within a year, black soldier fly (BSF)

farming could generate crude protein

worth up to $2.6bn (£1.9bn) and

biofertilisers worth up to $19.4bn. The

process would recycle 200m tonnes of

crop waste.

Although the bulk of existing farms

produce insects for human

consumption, there has been growing

interest in insects as animal feed.

Demand has trebled in the last decade

in Kenya alone, and feed manufacturers

have been increasingly looking for

alternatives to soya and fishmeal, which

are plagued by volatile prices, variable

quality and poor environmental

records.

Nsenene, or bush crickets, are just one of 2,100 known edible insects species, a quarter of which are consumed

in Africa.

Photograph: Eugénie Baccot

Research suggests that animals fed

insect protein, notably BSF, achieved

faster growth rates and better-quality

meat than with soya or fishmeal.

Production costs are relatively stable,

and will go down as operations are

scaled up, said Talash Huijbers, founder

of InsectiPro, one of the largest BSF

farms in Kenya. "With the pandemic,

people are starting to appreciate the

value of local protein production," she

said. Shobhita Soor, head of Legendary

Foods, a palm weevil farm in Ghana,

has seen similar trends. Many of her

customers want to eat "made in Ghana"

products.

Soor's ambition is to "deliver the

nutrition of meat at the price point and

sustainability of plant", a mission that

has led to a relentless search for

efficiency gains. "Last year, we managed

to reduce our costs of production by

40%. If we want to be as ubiquitous as

chicken, it's incumbent on us to do the

R&D to continue to optimise our

production."

She is looking to raise $5m this year to

build her first large-scale plant, while

InsectiPro is planning an $11m

expansion: it has already opened two

more BSF facilities in Kenya and wants

to expand in Uganda and Rwanda.

Only 16 species are farmed in Africa,

but the International Centre of Insect

Physiology and Ecology in Kenya has

been looking at how to raise various

insect species since 2014 and has

trained thousands of would-be

"entopreneurs".

Publications such as the World Bank

report are vital to put insect protein on

the radar of governments - insects do

not appear in any national food

strategy. Other large development

finance institutions, such as the

International Finance Corporation and

the US Agency for International

Development, are also looking into

insect farming. Meanwhile, the World

Bank is planning pilot investments in

South Sudan, Malawi, Kenya and

Zimbabwe.

"From the number of meeting

requests I have received since the

publication of the report, I can tell you

that [people] are really interested," said

Verner.

Affordable analysis

of genomes key to

tackling diseases

ONyANGO NyAmOl

A project equipping

researchers with cheap and

accessible methods for

studying genetic materials of

large collections of bacteria

that cause diseases could be

critical in tackling future

global health challenges,

scientists say.

The 10,000 Salmonella

Genomes Project (10KSG)

could make bacterial genomic

data more accessible in lowand

middle-income

economies, especially in Sub-

Saharan Africa where 80 per

cent of the 77,000 global

annual deaths from nontyphoidal

Salmonella

bloodstream infections occur.

The collaboration of

scientists from 16 countries,

led by the Earlham Institute

and the University of

Liverpool in England, aims to

understand the genetic

makeup of bacterial strains

responsible for Salmonella

bloodstream infections in

Africa and Latin America. This

can increase understanding of

drug resistance and virulence

of the bacteria and help in the

development of vaccines.

"Infectious diseases cause a

huge health and economic

burden on low- and middleincome

countries," says Neil

Hall, director of the Earlham

Institute, a life science

research centre.

"Usually, the most effective

interventions involve public

health measures. However,

public health policy needs to

be well informed by good data

from genomic epidemiological

studies."

In less than a year, scientists

have analysed 10,000

Salmonella genomes from

Africa and Latin America for

as little as US$10 per genome

A project is aiding resource-limited scientists to analyse deadly microbes' genetic

materials .

Photo: Pixaby

or genetic material.

According to researchers,

large-scale bacterial genome

analyses have been possible in

only a few sequencing centres

globally until now and the cost

had been as much as US$100

per genome.

The 10KSG project, Hall

explains, has significantly

reduced the cost and

increased the large-scale study

of genetic materials present in

microbes, enabling many

more scientists to access the

technology worldwide.

Jay Hinton, a professor of

microbial pathogenesis from

the University of Liverpool,

says that for any vaccines to be

effective, there is a need to

know more about the bacteria

causing the disease.

"Our project has provided

the best understanding of the

Salmonella variants

responsible for bloodstream

infections in African countries

including Democratic

Republic of Congo, Gambia,

Mali, Malawi, Kenya, Senegal

and Uganda in recent years -

information that will be

invaluable for evaluating the

impact of the [Salmonella]

vaccine rollout," Hinton

explained.

Damaris Matoke-Muhia, a

molecular biologist at the

Kenya Medical Research

Institute (KEMRI), says that

people trained in sequencing

can train others, in order to

build a qualified workforce.

"Once the facilities are

equipped with sequencing

tools, it will help with

continuous sequencing of

genomes of interest and this

will stop the shipment of

samples that is usually done

due to lack of capacity,

including sequencing SARS-

CoV-2 variants," Matoke-

Muhia tells.

Sultan Mahmud Khan Rony: a

torch bearer for country’s youth

AzHAr AlI, BOGurA

COrrEsPONDENT

The Bogura District Awami

League Publicity and

Publication Secretary Sultan

Mahmud Khan Rony has been

spotlighted as the beacon for

the country's youth. He has

been polite and thoughtful

since his childhood.He is

dedicated to literature, culture

and sports. As per him, in order

to build a strong nation,

intelligence, tolerance and

innovative skills must be

awakened in the youth. Their

leadership will take the country

to the forefront of the world. In

this case, the most important

thing is to curate sports-loving

and culture-oriented minds

among youth. As a result, the

youth get the openness of life,

the formidable attitude of life

struggle, and gain success. By

them this society will become

free of drug abuse, terror, and

militancy.

Father of the Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman was a sports minded

and culture oriented person

from his childhood. He became

the leader of the nation at the

time when he first led a sports

team at his early age. In order

for this nation to be known as

the richest nation in the world,

the young people have to be

rony poses for a portrait.

managed properly. The youth

are the shining stars of the

country, nation and society, the

future leaders of the nation. In

order to make them drug free,

they have to develop sports and

culture. The country has

enough youth dependent

energy. It is our responsibility

Photo: TBT

to harness this power. It is with

this thought that Sultan

Mahmud Khan Rony, the

aspiring leader of the youth

society of Bogura, made such

an effort to build the youth

society as enlightened people.

He has continued to support

the neglected, miserable,

disenfranchised and coldblooded

people of the society.

He has distributed food

items, health items and cash

during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In particular, he provided

financial assistance to poor

meritorious students and

sports. In the past, this young

leader was former VP of

Bogura Government Shah

Sultan College Student

Parliament, GS, District

Chhatra League Social Welfare

Secretary, Joint Convener,

General Secretary, Municipal

Awami League Joint Convener

and now District Awami

League Publicity and

Publication Secretary. Besides,

he is currently directly and

indirectly involved with various

social, cultural and educational

institutions including panel

chairman of Bogura district

council, additional general

secretary of district sports

body, president of district

football association, life

member of Bogura Diabetes

Association

He has been able to place

himself in the heart of the mass

by his good behavior.

Especially the entrepreneurial,

sports-loving, literary-minded,

culture-minded people who are

creative thinkers, nurture him

as a source of encouragement.

EsTHEr NAkkAzI

Six African countries are to receive

technology that will enable them to

manufacture COVID-19 vaccines, in an

effort to reduce reliance on producers

outside the continent, the World Health

Organization (WHO) has announced.

Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South

Africa and Tunisia will get access to the

messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine

technology along with knowledge

needed to manufacture the vaccines

and support in training scientists, the

WHO said.

The rollout is part of a global initiative

aimed at helping low- and middleincome

countries to access the

technology for producing mRNA

vaccines at scale and to international

standards in order to stem the COVID-

19 pandemic.

MRNA vaccines, used by Pfizer-

BioNTech and Moderna for their shots,

work by instructing cells to produce a

protein which triggers an immune

response to fight viruses when they

enter the body. These two companies

have so far delivered the majority of

their doses to rich countries, leaving

lower-income countries out in the cold.

"No other event like the COVID-19

pandemic has shown that reliance on a

few companies to supply global public

Africa’s COVID-19 fight bolstered with tech transfer

goods is limiting, and dangerous," said

WHO director-general Tedros

Adhanom Ghebreyesu, at a ceremony

on Friday (18 February) hosted by the

European Council, France, South Africa

and the WHO during the European

Union-African Union summit in

Brussels.

The announcement was greeted with

excitement in Africa where only about

12 per cent of the population are fully

vaccinated against COVID-19,

according to data from the Africa

Centres for Disease Control and

Prevention (Africa CDC).

"I'm really pleased to see this

progress," said Africa CDC director

John Nkengasong." The way we fight

the next pandemic will be very

different because the continent would

have been producing diagnostics and

vaccines."

The development follows the creation

of an mRNA vaccine technology

transfer hub run by a WHO consortium

in South Africa, which will share

technical know-how with vaccine

manufacturers in the six countries.

The WHO and partners will train and

help build up the necessary workforce

across the value chain, said Tedros, with

a training hub to be announced in the

coming weeks.

South African president Cyril

Ramaphosa said that enabling Africa to

make its own vaccines meant "mutual

respect and recognition of what we can

all bring to the party, investment in our

economies, infrastructure investment

and, in many ways, giving back to the

continent".

He added: "Organisations such as

COVAX [the initiative for equal access

to COVID-19 vaccines] and Gavi [the

Vaccine Alliance] need to commit to

buying vaccines from our local

manufacturers. They need to buy them

from the locally produced hubs once

they get going."

Ramaphosa also called upon

European countries to approve an

intellectual property waiver on COVID

technology, which has been before the

World Trade Organization for over a

year.

"Governments that are really serious

about ensuring that the world has

access to vaccines should ensure that we

approve the TRIPS [Trade-Related

Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights]

waiver as we've put it forward," he

added.

Ultimately the mRNA tech transfer

hub will promote access to vaccines for

everyone, strengthen health security

and promote self-reliance for the future,

according to the WHO. It says the

technology can also be used for insulin

to treat diabetes, cancer medicines and,

potentially, vaccines for diseases such

as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.

"Diversifying mRNA vaccine

manufacturing capacity to low- and

middle-income countries should be a

global health priority," said Doctors

Without Borders (MSF), in response to

the WHO announcement.

"More regions producing mRNA

vaccines as essential preparedness

against infectious diseases could bolster

the response not only to COVID-19 and

future infectious diseases, but also

potentially to existing ones such as

malaria, tuberculosis and HIV."

German biotechnology company

BioNTech announced on Wednesday

(16 February) that it will create

accessible technology for mRNA

manufacturing in Rwanda and Senegal

in 2022 - with a fill-and-finish

collaboration in Ghana. Fill-and-finish

is the process of filling vials with vaccine

and finishing the process of packaging

the medicine for distribution.

Earlier this month Afrigen, which is

part of the WHO's South Africa

consortium, announced it had

developed its own version of an mRNA

shot, based on publicly available data on

the composition of the Moderna

vaccine, to be tested in the coming

months.

Patrick Tippoo, executive director of

the Africa Vaccine Manufacturing

Initiative (AVMI), told SciDev.Net that

while access to technology in terms of

written recipes and permission to use

them was important, Africa needed to

be confident of securing and sustaining

a market for its products.

The WHO has announced that six African countries are to receive technology

to enable them to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines. Photo: Hakan German

thursDAY, mArCh 3, 2022

6

Two more Covid-19

casualties in Rangpur

A discussion meeting on Bangabandhu and Bangladesh has been held at the initiative of Baraigram

upazila Administration of natore.

photo: Amor D Costa

Discussion meeting on Bangabandhu

and Bangladesh held in Baraigram

Amor D CostA, BArAigrAm CorresponDent

RANGPUR: Two more Covid-19

fatalities were reported during the last 24

hours ending at 8 am yesterday from

Rangpur division where the pandemic

situation continues improving

constantly during the last two weeks,

reports BSS.

Health officials said the number of

Covid-19 positive cases continues

declining as the spread of the lethal virus

has already become weaker in the

division.

"With the two more deaths reported

from Rangpur district alone, the total

number of casualties reached 1,282 in

the division," Divisional Director

(Health) Dr. Abu Md. Zakirul Islam

Lenin told BSS yesterday.

The district-wise breakup of the 1,282

fatalities stands at 300 in Rangpur, 84 in

Panchagarh, 92 in Nilphamari, 73 in

Lalmonirhat, 69 in Kurigram, 259 in

Thakurgaon, 340 in Dinajpur and 65 in

Gaibandha of the division.

The average casualty rate stands at two

percent in the division.

Meanwhile, 12 fresh Covid-19 cases

were diagnosed after testing 252 samples

at the 4.76 percent positivity rate on

Tuesday in the division.

Earlier, the daily Covid-19 positivity

rates were 4.93 percent on Monday, 2.56

percent on Sunday, 10.19 percent on

Saturday, 8.64 percent on Friday, 7.45

percent on Thursday and 8.50 percent

on Wednesday last in the division.

"With the diagnosis of 12 fresh Covid-

19 cases, the total number of infected

patients has reached 64,065 in Rangpur

division," Dr. Islam said.

The district-wise break up of total

64,065 patients include 14,943 of

Rangpur, 4,415 Panchagarh, 5,472 of

Nilphamari, 3,277 of Lalmonirhat, 4,973

of Kurigram, 8,577 of Thakurgaon,

16,903 of Dinajpur and 5,505 of

Gaibandha in the division.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, a

total of 3,37,195 collected samples were

tested till Tuesday, and of them, 64,065

were found Covid-19 positive with an

average positivity rate of 19 percent.

At the same time, the number of

healed Covid-19 patients reached 61,445

in Rangpur division with the recovery of

172 more patients on Tuesday.

The average recovery rate presently

stands at 95.91 percent.

Among the total 64,065 patients, 41

are under treatments at isolation units,

including six critical patients each at ICU

beds and High Dependency Unit beds,

after recovery of 61,445 patients and

1,282 deaths while 1,297 are remaining

in home isolation. "Meanwhile, the

number of citizens who got the first dose

of the Covid-19 vaccine rose to

1,32,15,406 and among them, 84,61,608

got the second dose and 3,90,688 got the

booster dose till Tuesday in the division,"

Dr Islam added.

Principal of Rangpur Medical College

Professor Dr. Bimal Chandra Roy told

the national news agency that the

number of Covid-19 cases is declining to

improve the pandemic situation in

Rangpur division in the last two weeks.

However, he suggested common

people abide by the health directives to

further reduce spread of the lethal virus

in the division.

A discussion meeting on

Bangabandhu and Bangladesh has

been held at the initiative of Baraigram

Upazila Administration of Natore.

Professor Abdul Quddus, Member of

Parliament for Natore-4 (Baraigram-

Gurudaspur) constituency and District

Awami League President, was present

RMCH counts two

more fatalities in

Covid-19 unit

RAJSHAHI: Rajshahi

Medical College Hospital

(RMCH) recorded two more

fatalities in its Covid-19 unit

during the last 24 hours till

9am yesterday, reports BSS.

RMCH Director Brigadier

General Shamim Yazdani said

both of the deceased were the

residents of Rajshahi and they

died with post-Covit-19

complexities.

Meanwhile, one more

patient was admitted to the

Covid-19 unit during the last

24 hours, taking the number

of admitted patients to 16,

including nine positive for the

lethal virus, at present.

However, two others

returned home after being

cured during the same time.

On the other hand, 34 more

patients were found Covid-19

positive after testing 319

samples in Rajshahi's two

laboratories on Tuesday,

showing a one percent

infection rate in Rajshahi,

while 28.35 percent in Natore,

11.11 percent in

Chapainawabganj and 10.45

percent in Joypurhat districts.

Boro cultivation

exceeds target in

Mymensingh

MYMENSINGH: The Boro

paddy cultivation target has

exceeded in all 13 upazilas of

the district during the current

season with fixing the

production target of 11,04,899

tonnes of clean rice, reports

BSS.

Department of Agriculture

Extension (DAE) has set a

target of cultivation of Boro

paddy on 2,60350 hectares of

land with the production

target of 11,04,899 tonnes of

rice.

The farmers have already

cultivated Boro paddy on

2,62,825 hectares of land. But

the target has exceeded by

2475 hectares.

DAE office sources said of

the total cultivated land, the

farmers cultivated Hybrid

variety on 74,485 hectares,

Opshee variety on 1,88,285

hectares and local variety on

55 hectares of land.

Deputy Director of DAE

Motiuzzaman said quality

seeds, fertilizers and other

logistic support were also

provided among the small

and marginal farmers to assist

them in boosting the

production.

He also said sub assistant

agriculture officers have been

monitoring and giving

necessary advice to the

farmers.

as the chief guest at the discussion held

at the Upazila Parishad meeting room

on Wednesday afternoon on the

occasion of the golden jubilee of

independence.

UNO MSt Mariam Khatun chaired

the occasion while among others,

Upazila Parishad Chairman Dr.

Siddiqur Rahman Patwari, Baraigram

Municipal Mayor Majedul Bari Nayan,

Upazila Awami League President

Abdul Quddus Miyaji, Gopalpur UP

Chairman valiant freedom fighter Abu

Bakkar Siddique, valiant freedom

fighter Abul Khair among others

spoke.

Human Rights Commission

exchanges views with UNO

in Banaripara

s mizAnul islAm, BAnAripArA CorresponDent

A view exchange meeting of the newly

formed committee of Bangladesh Human

Rights Commission, Banaripara branch was

held with Upazila Nirbahi Officer Ripon

Kumar Saha on Wednesday.

The Central Approval Copy of the Branch

Committee was formally handed over to

UNO at the meeting. Meanwhile, UNO

Ripon Kumar Saha assured full cooperation

A view exchange meeting of the newly formed committee of Bangladesh

human rights Commission, Banaripara branch was held with upazila

nirbahi officer ripon kumar saha on Wednesday. photo: tBt

National Voters’ Day

observed in Rajshahi

division

RAJSHAHI: The National

Voters' Day-2022 was

observed in the division as

elsewhere in the country

yesterday in a befitting

manner aimed at

spreading awareness

among the youth on

democracy, election and

voting rights, reports BSS.

Marking the day, 25 new

voters including some

transgender were given

smart cards aimed at

ensuring their basic rights.

On the day, a discussion

meeting was held at

Rajshahi Regional Election

Office in the morning with

a call to encourage the

common people to cast

their votes for

strengthening democracy

in the country besides

highlighting the

importance of the day.

Divisional Commissioner

GSM Zafarullah and

Commissioner of Rajshahi

Metropolitan Police Abu

Kalam Siddique addressed

the meeting as the chief

and special guests

respectively with Deputy

Commissioner Abdul Jalil

in the chair.

Additional Deputy

Inspector General of Police

Joydeb Kumar Bhadra and

Senior Election Officer

Saiful Islam also spoke on

the occasion.

This year's slogan of the

day is 'Mujib Year's

commitment is to protect

voting rights'.

Zafarullah said the

National Voters' Day will

make the young people

aware about the voting

rights to give democracy an

institutional shape.

He laid emphasis on

creating mass awareness

among the people on

voting rights through

to the Bangladesh Human Rights

Commission, Banaripara branch. During the

exchange of views, Commission President

ATM Mostafa Sardar, Secretary S Mizanul

Islam, Organizing Secretary Md. Zahid

Hossain, Vice President Maksuda Akhter,

Ruhal Amin Shuvo, Treasurer Md. Saiful

Islam, Executive Member Professor Emam

Hossain, Office Secretary Abdul Awal and

others were present.

making the National

Voters' Day a success.

The chief guest termed

the observance of the day

as a time-befitting decision

of the government as the

basic foundation of the

democratic culture and

development remained

hidden in the day's theme.

The spirit of this day

would get transmitted

among the people for

registration of new voters,

deletion of the names of

dead voters and transfers

the voters to desired

addresses, he added.

Earlier, they inaugurated

the day's programme

through releasing pigeons

and balloons.

District and upazila level

offices of the EC also

observed the day in all

eight districts under

Rajshahi division with due

manners.

National

Voters' Day

celebrated

in Kaunia

AshrAFul hABiB tushAr,

kAuniA CorresponDent

The National Voters' Day

has been observed

through various

programs organized by

the Kaunia Upazila

Election Office in

Rangpur with the theme

"Promise of Mujib Year, I

will protect the right to

vote".

District Awami League

Liberation War Affairs

Secretary

and

Muktijoddha Company

Commander Sardar

Abdul

Hakim

inaugurated the program

at the Upazila premises by

flying balloons on

Wednesday. Later,

colorful rallies and voter

lists were unveiled.

During the time,

Assistant Commissioner

(Land) Mohammad

Mehedi Hasan, Education

Officer Abdul Hamid

Sarkar, Upazila Social

Service Officer Samiul

Alam, Information

Officer Akter Jahan,

Election Officer Sumiyara

Parveen and others were

present.

National

Voters Day

celebrated

in Atrai

omAr FAruk, AtrAi CorresponDent:

National Voters' Day and

discussion meeting has

been held keeping in view

the theme "Promise of

Mujib Year, I will protect

the right to vote" at Atrai in

Naogaon on Wednesday

organized by the Upazila

Election Office at the

Upazila Parishad

auditorium.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer

Md. Iktekharul Islam

presided over the function

while among others, Md.

Abul Kalam Azad, Member

of Naogaon District

Council Md. Ferdousi

Yasmin R Chowdhury,

Upazila Women Vice

Chairman Md. Mamtaz

Begum, Former Freedom

Fighter Commander Md.

Akhtaruzzaman, Social

Service Officer Md. Abul

Salam,

Youth

Development Officer Md.

Fazlul Haque, Disability

Affairs Officer PM

Kamruzzaman, Abul

Hasan, Dr. Zakaria, Md.

Anwar were also present at

the occasion.

the national Voters' Day was observed through various programs organized by

the kaunia upazila election office on Wednesday. photo: Ashraful habib tushar

2,20,67,702 doses Covid-19

jabs inoculated in Rangpur

RANGPUR: Some 2,20,67,702 doses of Covid-

19 jabs were inoculated till Tuesday in

Rangpur division where the pandemic

situation is improving consistently during the

last two weeks, reports BSS.

Health officials said the Covid-19

vaccination campaign continues smoothly

through inoculation of eligible citizens with the

first, second and booster doses of the jabs in

the division.

Presently, citizens are being vaccinated with

five types of Covid-19 jabs from different

companies like Moderna, AstraZeneca,

Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinovac

across the division.

"Among the 2,20,67,702 crore doses of

innoculated jabs, 1,32,15,406 people got the

first dose and of them, 84,61,608 got the

second dose and 3,90,688 got the booster dose

RAJSHAHI: The government has, so far,

procured around 1.62 lakh tonnes of Aman rice

during the current procurement drive

contributing a lot towards ensuring food

security, reports BSS.

As part of the nationwide ongoing Aman rice

procurement drive, the government has

procured the food grain from all eight districts

in Rajshahi division. Faruque Hossain

Patwary, Regional Controller of Food, said they

procured around 1,62,312.85 tonnes of boiled

rice at the rate of Taka 40 per kilogram till

till Tuesday in the divsion," said Divisional

Director (Health) Dr Abu Md Zakirul Islam.

The first dose recipient 1,32,15,406 citizens

include 39,28,912 people vaccinated with

AstraZeneca Covid-19 jabs, 52,18,964 people

with Sinopharm,1,31,876 with Moderna,

19,53,025 with Pfizer-BioNTech and

19,82,629 with Sinovac Covid-19 jabs.

The second dose recipient 84,61,608 citizens

include 19,85,710 inoculated with AstraZeneca

Covid-19 jabs, 48,61,975 with Sinopharm,

1,27,554 with Moderna Covid-19 jabs,

14,86,137 with Pfizer- BioNTech Covid-19 and

232 with Sinovac Covid-19 jabs.

"Meanwhile, the 3,90,688 booster dose

recipients include 3,78,069 vaccinated with

AstraZeneca Covid-19 jabs, 9,529 with Pfizer-

BioNTech Covid-19 jabs and 3,090 with

Moderna Covid-19 jabs," Dr. Islam added.

Govt procures 1.62 lakh tonnes

of Aman rice in Rajshahi

Tuesday last.

He said the procurement drive of the newly

harvested rice is going on in full-swing

everywhere in the division that created a high

hope of ensuring food security.

Faruque Patwary said the government has

set a target of procuring 1,62,374 tonnes of

boiled rice during the current drive. He said

they will procure 2,904 tonnes of rice from the

growers directly. Contracts have been signed

with 3,951 millers for collecting 1,62,373.73

tonnes of boiled rice.

national Voters' Day was observed in Atrai in naogaon on Wednesday.

photo: omar Faruk

7

THUrSDAY, MArCH 3, 2022

Australians flee floods as toll

rises to 12, Sydney on alert

GRAFTON : Floodwaters crashed into

more towns on Australia's east coast

as a deadly storm front barrelled south

on Wednesday towards Sydney,

where the main dam began to spill

water.

The death toll rose to 12 in a weeklong

disaster that has washed cars

from roads and forced tens of

thousands of people to evacuate their

homes as waters lapped at balconies

and roofs. "This is terrible. This is

terrible. One life lost is too many,"

said New South Wales deputy premier

Paul Toole after confirming a third

death in the flood-hit town of Lismore.

After bringing havoc to Queensland,

the storm front moved southwards,

dumping vast quantities of water and

sparking a string of flood alerts in New

South Wales including Sydney,

Australia's largest city.

"Today, the focus is on Sydney. We

are expecting heavy rainfall over the

afternoon into the night and into

tomorrow," Toole warned in a news

conference.

Sydney's main Warragamba dam,

lying southwest of the city, had

reached capacity and started spilling

water in the early hours of Wednesday

morning, Toole said. He told residents

at risk to flee if they are told to do so.

"If you are getting a knock on the

door, if you are asked to leave, please

leave," Toole told a news conference.

"We are looking at substantial rainfall

over the coming days. We don't want

to see those images where people were

standing on the roofs of their houses,

not leaving and then having to be

rescued." In the coastal town of Ballina

in New South Wales, some 55 hospital

patients were evacuated overnighthours

before a high tide from the sea

combined with waters overflowing the

banks of Richmond River.

A "makeshift emergency

department" was set up in a Catholic

college for urgent cases, regional

health officials said.

New Zealand anti-vaccination demonstrators set alight their own protest camp outside parliament

Wednesday after riot police moved to end their weeks-long occupation of the legislative

precinct.

Photo : AP

Floodwaters crashed into more towns on Australia's east coast as a deadly storm front barrelled

south on Wednesday towards Sydney, where the main dam began to spill water. Photo : AP

Russia, Ukraine

ready for new

talks on war

MOSCOW : Russian and

Ukrainian officials say they

are standing by to resume

talks about their war, though

the time and place for

negotiations was unknown

and hopes for a breakthrough

remain low.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry

Peskov told reporters

Wednesday that "in the

second half of the day, closer

to evening, our delegation will

be in place to await Ukrainian

negotiators."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister

Dmytro Kuleba said

Ukrainian officials are ready

for new talks but said the

venue is undecided and Kyiv

won't accept any Russian

ultimatums.

Kuleba said: "Russia's

demands remain the same as

(Russian President Vladimir)

Putin announced in his

address before the war

started."

Peskov said Putin's culture

adviser Vladimir Medinsky

remains the main negotiator

for Russia.

The first round of talks on

resolving the Russia-Ukraine

war were held near the

Belarus-Ukraine border last

Sunday.

Hawaii to lift COVID-19

travel quarantine rules

this month

HONOLULU : Hawaii

plans to lift its COVID-19

quarantine requirement for

travelers this month,

meaning that starting on

March 26 those arriving

from other places in the

U.S. won't have to show

proof of vaccination or a

negative test to avoid

sequestering themselves

for five days.

Hawaii is the only U.S.

state to implement a

coronavirus quarantine

program of this kind.

Gov. David Ige said at a

news conference the

requirement saved lives

and was a major factor in

limiting the spread of

COVID-19 in the islands.

Hawaii has one of the

lowest coronavirus

infection rates in the

nation.

The quarantine period for

travelers lasted 14 days

when Hawaii first imposed

it in March 2020. The state

later created testing and

vaccination exemptions.

The state screened 11.3

million passengers since

the testing exemption was

launched in October 2020,

Ige said.

Those arriving in Hawaii

from outside the country

still must adhere to U.S.

federal guidelines, which

vary depending on

American citizenship.

International tourists do

not need to quarantine but

still need proof of

vaccination and a negative

test.

The governor said he

would maintain Hawaii's

indoor mask mandate at

least through March 25,

and would be evaluating

whether to lift it after that.

Hawaii is last state in the

nation with a statewide

mandate in effect.

The governor said state

Department of Health will

review recommendations

of the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention

before he decides, Ige said.

Ige said he wants to make

sure that public schools will

be able to continue with inperson

learning. He said

more people will be

traveling as spring break

comes, which could

increase the presence of the

coronavirus at schools.

"The pandemic is not

over. Tragically, we

continue to see those that

we know and love continue

to suffer from COVID-19,"

he said.

The governor said he was

proud of how the

community responded the

pandemic.

"It is about the people,

place and culture of all of us

here, coming from diverse

backgrounds but always

understanding that there is

a bigger reason to be willing

to sacrifice individual needs

to benefit the community,"

Ige said. "And over and

over again, we were willing

to do that."

Hawaii plans to lift its COVID-19 quarantine requirement for travelers this month, meaning that starting

on March 26 those arriving from other places in the U.S. won't have to show proof of vaccination or a negative

test to avoid sequestering themselves for five days.

Photo : AP

EU leader says

conflict must end

before discussion for

Ukraine'accession

BRUSSELS : Conflict should

end before Ukraine's

application to join the

European Union (EU) is

discussed, European

Commission President

Ursula von der Leyen said

here on Tuesday.

"Today, the European

Union and Ukraine are

already closer than ever

before. There is still a long

path ahead. We have to end

this war. And we should talk

about the next steps," von

der Leyen said when

addressing the European

Parliament plenary.

Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelensky on

Monday signed an official

appeal for the EU, asking for

an accession of Ukraine via a

new special procedure.

During the plenary on

Tuesday, Zelensky, who was

invited to make a speech

from Kiev via video link,

expressed his gratitude that

the EU countries were

unified in supporting

Ukraine but regretted that it

came after a high price was

paid.

European Council

President Charles Michel

responded by pledging to

look at the "symbolic,

political and legitimate

request" seriously, while

admitting the process will be

difficult.

Members of the European

Parliament on Tuesday

adopted a resolution that

called on the EU institutions

to work toward granting

Ukraine EU candidate

status, and stated that such

procedure should be in line

with proper EU terms.

Climate change to

uproot millions,

especially in Asia: UN

JAKARTA : The walls of

Saifullah's home in northern

Jakarta are lined like tree

rings, marking how high the

floodwaters have reached

each year-some more than

four feet from the damp dirt

floor.

When the water gets too

high, Saifullah, who like

many Indonesians only uses

one name, sends his family

to stay with friends. He

guards the house until the

water can be drained using a

makeshift pump. If the

pump stops working, he

uses a bucket or just waits

until the water recedes.

"It's a normal thing here,"

Saifullah, 73, said. "But this

is our home. Where should

we go?"

As the world's most

rapidly sinking major city,

Jakarta demonstrates how

climate change is making

more places uninhabitable.

With an estimated one-third

of the city expected to be

submerged in the coming

decades - in part because of

the rising Java Sea - the

Indonesian government is

planning to move its capital

some 1,240 miles (2,000

kilometers) northeast to the

island of Borneo, relocating

as many as 1.5 million civil

servants.

New Zealand protesters

burn camp after riot

police move in

WELLINGTON : New

Zealand anti-vaccination

demonstrators set alight

their own protest camp

outside parliament

Wednesday after riot police

moved to end their weekslong

occupation of the

legislative precinct.

Ending a previous lighttouch

approach, hundreds of

officers used perspex shields

and pepper spray to force

back protesters, who

responded by pelting them

with chairs, bottles and paint

bombs.

When it became apparent

that police were winning the

battle for control of the

makeshift tent city that

sprang up on parliament's

lawns three weeks ago, the

demonstrators torched it

themselves.

"This is not over," one man

yelled, while others chanted

"Shame on you" at advancing

officers as a thick pall of black

smoke enveloped the area.

Police deployed an earsplitting

sonic cannon to help

disperse the crowd and made

dozens of arrests in an

operation that began just

before dawn.

Speaking to reporters in

parliament after initial

skirmishes took place just a

few hundred metres (yards)

away, Prime Minister

Jacinda Ardern backed the

force's tough tactics.

She said what began as a

movement against

coronavirus vaccine

mandates- inspired by

similar protests in Canadahad

turned toxic, describing

demonstrators' conduct as

"disgraceful".

"The protest has been at

times violent. Increasingly

we find misinformation and

sadly conspiracy theories,"

she said, also labelling the

camp a health risk for

Wellington residents.

"It has become a location of

interest, we know Covid has

circulated within the protest

and there have been

hospitalisations as a result."

Biden vows to check

Russian aggression,

fight inflation

WASHINGTON : Addressing a concerned

nation and anxious world, President Joe Biden

vowed in his first State of the Union address

Tuesday night to check Russian aggression in

Ukraine, tame soaring U.S. inflation and deal

with the fading but still dangerous coronavirus,

reports UNB.

Biden declared that he and all members of

Congress, whatever political differences there

may be, were joined "with an unwavering

resolve that freedom will always triumph over

tyranny." He asked the lawmakers crowding

the House chamber to stand and salute the

Ukrainians as he began his speech. They stood

and cheered.

Biden highlighted the bravery of Ukrainian

defenders and the commitment of a newly

reinvigorated Western alliance that has worked

to rearm the Ukrainian military and cripple

Russia's economy through sanctions. He

warned of costs to the American economy, as

well, but warned ominously that without

consequences, Russian President Vladimir

Putin's aggression wouldn't be contained to

Ukraine.

"Throughout our history we've learned this

lesson - when dictators do not pay a price for

their aggression, they cause more chaos,"

Biden said. "They keep moving. And, the costs

and threats to America and the world keep

rising."

As Biden spoke, Russian forces were

escalating their attacks in Ukraine, having

bombarded the central square of country's

second-biggest city and Kyiv's main TV tower,

killing at least five people. The Babi Yar

Holocaust memorial was also damaged.

Biden announced that the U.S. is following

Canada and the European Union in banning

Russian planes from its airspace in retaliation

for the invasion of Ukraine. He also said the

Justice Department was launching a task force

to go after crimes of Russian oligarchs, whom

he called "corrupt leaders who have bilked

billions of dollars off this violent regime."

"We are coming for your ill-begotten gains,"

he said, pledging that the U.S. and European

allies were coming after their yachts, luxury

apartments and private jets.

"Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he will

never gain the hearts and souls of the

Ukrainian people," Biden said. "He will never

extinguish their love of freedom. He will never

weaken the resolve of the free world."

Even before the Russian invasion sent energy

costs skyrocketing, prices for American

families had been rising, and the COVID-19

pandemic continues to hurt families and the

country's economy.

Biden outlined plans to address inflation by

reinvesting in American manufacturing

capacity, speeding supply chains and reducing

the burden of childcare and eldercare on

workers.

"We have a choice," Biden said. "One way to

fight inflation is to drive down wages and make

Americans poorer. I have a better plan to fight

inflation. Lower your costs, not your wages."

Biden entered the House chamber without a

mask, in a reflection of the declining

coronavirus case counts and new federal

guidance meant to nudge the public back to

pre-pandemic activities. But the Capitol was

newly fenced due to security concerns after last

year's insurrection.

Set against disquiet at home and danger

abroad, the White House had conceived

Tuesday night's speech as an opportunity to

highlight the improving coronavirus outlook,

rebrand Biden's domestic policy priorities and

show a path to lower costs for families

grappling with soaring inflation. But it has

taken on new significance with last week's

Russian invasion of Ukraine and nuclear saberrattling

by Putin.

Nearly 836,000 refugees have

fled Ukraine conflict: UN

GENEVA : Nearly 836,000 refugees have now

fled the conflict in Ukraine for safety in

neighbouring countries, United Nations figures

showed Wednesday.

In all, 835,928 people have fled the country's

borders, the according to the website of the UN

refugee agency, UNHCR-a huge jump from the

677,000 announced Tuesday afternoon by

agency chief Filippo Grandi. More than half

have headed west into Poland.

Some 2,500 migrants storm

border with Spain's Melilla

MADRID : Around 2,500 migrants stormed

the border fence separating the Spanish

enclave of Melilla from Morocco on

Wednesday, with some 500 managing to cross,

officials said.

The incident took place at around 9:30 am

(0830 GMT), the Spanish government's local

delegation said in a statement, indicating

"nearly 500 of them entered" despite efforts to

stop them.

THuRSDAY, MARCH 3, 2022

8

Mercantile Bank Limited donated Tk.10 lakh to Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority for tree plantation

in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar at Mirsarai in Chattagram. Md. Quamrul Islam

Chowdhury, Managing Director & CEO of Mercantile Bank handed over the cheque to Shaikh Yusuf

Harun, Executive Chairman of BEZA in a program held at BEZA's head office in Agargaon recently.

In the first phase Mercantile Bank also donated Tk.10 Lakh more on 9th June 2021 as its social corporate

responsibilities. Abdul Azim Chowdhury, Executive Member (Administration & Finance),

Mohammad Hasan Arif, General Manager (Administration & Finance) from BEZA and FVP & Head

of Arambagh Branch Partha Sarkar and AVP & Head of ILM Division Tapon James Rozario from

Mercantile Bank Limited along with other officials from both organizations were also present in the

occasion.

Photo: Courtesy

World Bank announces more than

$1 bn in aid for Afghanistan

Brent oil breaks

$110 a barrel,

WTI up 5pc on

Ukraine conflict

HONG KONG : Brent crude

broke above $110 a barrel on

Wednesday and WTI was up

more than five percent as

Russia's invasion of Ukraine

continued to fan fears over

supplies of the crucial

commodity from the

resource-rich region, reports

BSS.

Brent climbed 4.88

percent to $110.09, while

WTI was up 5.06 percent at

108.64. Both are at more

than seven-year highs.

Vladimir Putin's incursion

into the neighbouring

country has seen world

powers impose strict, farreaching

sanctions on

Moscow in retaliation,

fuelling worries that exports

from Russia will be cut off.

Russia is the world's thirdbiggest

oil producer.

The conflict in eastern

Europe came as prices were

already soaring owing to

tight supplies and a strong

recovery in demand around

the world as economies

reopen from pandemicinduced

lockdowns.

Traders will be keeping a

close eye on a meeting of

OPEC and other major

producers, including Russia,

later in the day where they

will discuss whether to ramp

up output to temper the

price rises, which are helping

fan inflation.

Top oil producers likely to hold

course despite Ukraine war

VIENNA :Saudi Arabia, Russia and other top

oil producers are expected Wednesday to

agree to hold firm on only gradually opening

the taps despite Russia's assault on Ukraine

sending prices spiralling, reports BSS.

Both WTI crude and Brent broke above

$110 a barrel Wednesday. Brent is at a high

last seen in 2014, while WTI is at levels not

seen since 2013.

But analysts expect the 23-member

OPEC+ group at its monthly meeting

Wednesday to stick to a decision from last

year for an output target of 400,000 barrels

per day for April as well.

On Sunday, OPEC leader Riyadh

confirmed the commitment of the 13-

country group to the agreement with its 10

partners, led by Moscow, which faces

international criticism and sanctions over its

invasion of Ukraine.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

"affirmed the kingdom's keenness on the

stability and balance of oil markets,"

according to the Saudi Press Agency.

'Risk for disruptions' -

The gathering starts with a technical

discussion at 1:00 p.m. local Vienna time

(1200 GMT) followed by a formal meeting to

endorse any decision, scheduled for 1:30

p.m.

The meetings, held via video conference,

come a day after International Energy

Agency (IEA) countries agreed to release 60

million barrels of oil to stabilise global

markets. The United States will contribute

half of the amount, President Joe Biden

announced.

But the move has failed to assure markets,

and analysts have low expectations that

OPEC+ will take any decision to rein in

surging prices.

"The war in Ukraine is getting very ugly

and destructive and hostilities between the

West and Russia are intensifying. High risk

for disruptions to both crude and natural

gas," Bjarne Schieldrop of Seb said.

"Could OPEC help? Yes, but it will

probably choose not to," Ipek Ozkardeskaya

of Swissquote said.

'Paper promise' -

OPEC+ has so far resisted pressure from

major oil consumers, such as the US, to open

the taps more as some of its members,

including Nigeria and Angola, struggle to

meet quotas.

Between December and January, OPEC

members boosted their production by

64,000 barrels per day (bpd), far below their

400,000 bpd agreement, according to the

organisation's last monthly report.

"The pledge from OPEC+ to increase

supply is so far a paper promise... adding to

the shortness in the supply market and

further stoking the bullish price

environment," Louise Dickson of Rystad

Energy said.

The Organization of the Petroleum

Exporting Countries (OPEC), whose

secretariat is based in Vienna, had drastically

slashed production in 2020 as the Covid-19

pandemic began to spread through the

world, pummelling demand and prices.

Wednesday's meeting takes place at a key

moment as negotiations to revive the 2015

Iran nuclear deal are widely expected to

come to a head in the coming days.

The deal provided sanctions relief for

Tehran in return for strict curbs on its

nuclear programme but has been

disintegrating since former US president

WASHINGTON :The World Bank on

Tuesday announced more than $1

billion in humanitarian aid for

Afghanistan, stating the money will go

to UN agencies and international NGOs

while remaining "outside the control" of

the country's Taliban rulers, reports

BSS.

The reallocation from the Afghanistan

Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF)

follows the $280 million in ARTF funds

disbursed last December, and is aimed

at supporting the humanitarian

response over the critical winter

months.

The funds, to be delivered in the form

of grants, aim "to support the delivery of

essential basic services, protect

vulnerable Afghans, help preserve

human capital and key economic and

social services and reduce the need for

humanitarian assistance in the future,"

the Washington-based lender said in a

statement.

The bank suspended its aid to Kabul

late last August after the hardline

Islamist Taliban swept back into power.

ARTF is a multi-donor fund that

coordinates international aid to improve

the lives of millions of Afghans. It is

administered by the World Bank on

behalf of donor partners.

Until the Taliban took over, the ARTF

was the largest source of development

funding for Afghanistan, financing up to

30 percent of the government's budget.

Because the World Bank is unable to

provide money directly to the Taliban

regime-which is not recognized by the

international community-it has

redirected the funds to organizations

like UN childrens agency UNICEF in

response to the humanitarian crisis.

Afghanistan's population has faced

food shortages and mounting poverty

since the Taliban took over.

The objective of the new aid is to

"protect vulnerable Afghans (and) help

preserve human capital and key

economic and social services," the

World Bank said.

Toshiba CEO

resigns ahead

of vote on

spin-off plan

TOKYO : Toshiba's CEO

resigned on Tuesday, the

Japanese conglomerate said,

adding fresh uncertainty

after already revising plans

to split its businesses and

just weeks before a key

shareholder vote, reports

BSS.

Satoshi Tsunakawa had

been chief executive for less

than a year at the tech and

industrial giant, which has

lurched from crisis to crisis

in recent decades.

It comes ahead of an

extraordinary shareholder

vote on March 24 on

Toshiba's plan to spin off its

devices unit and sell "noncore"

business including

Toshiba Tec.

The proposal is a revision

of an earlier one to split into

three companies, which got

a mixed response, but

Tsunakawa's resignation

could spark another rethink

on the plans.

Toshiba said its new CEO

Taro Shimada would "lead

the company that will run

the energy and

infrastructure business"

after the electronic devices

segment is spun off in a

binding resolution to be

voted on in 2023.

Tsunakawa will continue

to serve as interim chair of

the board of directors,

Toshiba said in a statement.

The

sprawling

conglomerate dates back to

1875 and was once a symbol

of Japan's advanced

technological and economic

power, but it has been mired

in turmoil in recent years.

Having staged a recovery

after a series of scandals and

financial problems in the

2010s, it returned to the first

section of the Tokyo Stock

Exchange last year.

Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited has started two-month Foundation training

Course for Management Trainee Officers (MTO) of 2nd batch titled

'Foundation Training Course on Overall Bank Management' on 1 March.

Managing Director and CEO of the Bank Farman R. Chowdhury inaugurated

the training course as chief guest. AIBTRI Director General Md. Abdul

Awal Sarkar presided over the program.

Photo: Courtesy

Oil tops $110, equities sink

on rising Ukraine war fears

HONG KONG : Crude surged past $110 a

barrel Wednesday and equities sank with

investors growing increasingly fearful about

the Ukraine war's impact on global energy

supplies and the economic recovery, reports

BSS.

Vladimir Putin's invasion of his neighbour

has sent world markets into a spiral over the

past week, further fraying nerves on trading

floors caused by runaway inflation and tighter

central bank monetary policies.

The crisis has seen numerous countries

hammer Moscow with a series of wideranging

sanctions that have isolated Russia

and threaten to crash its economy.

The measures have injected a huge amount

of uncertainty into markets with supplies of

crucial commodities including metals and

grains soaring. The price of global staple

wheat is sitting at a 14-year high-having risen

30 percent in the past month.

But the main source of unease on trading

floors is crude, which has rocketed since

Russia began preparing to invade. On

Wednesday Brent topped $110 for the first

time since 2014, while WTI moved closer to

that figure. Incoming sanctions have fuelled

worries that exports will be cut off from

Russia, the world's third-biggest producer of

the commodity.

The conflict in eastern Europe comes with

prices already elevated owing to tight supplies

and a strong recovery in global demand as

economies reopen from pandemic-induced

lockdowns.

Traders will be keeping a close eye on a

meeting of OPEC and other major producers,

including Russia, later in the day where they

will discuss whether to ramp up output to

temper the price rises, which are helping fan

inflation.

In his State of the Union address, President

Joe Biden said the United States would join a

30-country deal to release 60 million barrels

to help temper the surge in prices, though

analysts have warned such moves would

likely only have a limited impact. The oil

price surge has compounded fears about

inflation as it sits at a 40-year high in the

United States and hurts Americans in the

pocket even as the economy rebounds from

the pandemic shock.

Modhumoti Bank Ltd handed over a cheque under Bank's CSR program amounting Tk. 1Crore (Taka One Crore

Only)as the Title Sponsor of "Dhaka Mayor Cup-2022" DSCC 2ndInter Ward Sports Tournament organized by

Sports & Cultural Standing Committee, Dhaka South City Corporation. In presence of Barrister Sheikh Fazle

Noor Taposh, Mayor, Dhaka South City Corporation, Md. Shafiul Azam, Managing Director & CEO of

Modhumoti Bank Ltd handed over the cheque in the press conference & trophy unveiling program held on

Wednesday, 2nd March 2022 at Mayor Mohammad Hanif Auditorium, Nagar Bhaban, Dhaka South City

Corporation. The tournament will start from 5thMarch 2022 where Sixty Two (62) Football teams and Forty

Eight (48) Cricket teams will participate from75 Wards of Dhaka South City Corporation. Farid Ahmed, Chief

Executive Officer (Additional Secretary), Dhaka South City Corporation, Md. Mokaddes Hossain Zahid,

Councilor Ward no. 24 & President, Sports & Cultural Standing Committee, Dhaka South City Corporation,

Dhaka South City Corporation, Shahnawaj Chowdhury, Deputy Managing Director& COO ofModhumoti Bank

Limited along with high officials of both the organizations, Councilor's of different wards of Dhaka South City

Corporation and other elites were present in the program.

Photo: Courtesy

Walton brand enters into Iraqi market

Started TV and washing machine exports

Bangladesh's electronics giant

Walton has commenced

exports of television and

washing machine under its

own brand logo to the Iraqi

market, an another milestone

towards achieving its vision 'Go

Global-2030' that means

becoming one of the best global

electronics brand by 2030, says

a press release.

Walton authorities made this

export announcement at a

programme held at Walton Hi-

Tech Industries PLC's

Headquarter on Monday last

(February 28, 2022).

During his visit to Walton

factory, Iraqi Head of Mission

in Dhaka Abdulsalam Saddam

Mohaisen inaugurated the

exports of Walton brand TV

and washing machine to Iraq.

Along with him, Iraqi Deputy

Head of Mission in Dhaka

Mohanad Al Darraji was also

present.

Walton's International

Business Unit (IBU) officials

informed that a renowned Iraqi

company named 'Noor Ishtar'

joined hands with Walton as a

business partner to sale and

market Walton TV and

washing machine in the Iraqi

market.

The Iraqi delegation was

welcomed at Walton factory

with flower bouquet by Walton

Hi-Tech Industries higher

officials, including Deputy

Managing Director Md.

Humayun Kabir and Alamgir

Alam Sarker, IBU Presient

Edward Kim, Senior Executive

Directors Col. (Retd.) S M

Shahadat Alam, Yusuf Ali and

Walton TV's Chief Business

Officer Engineer Mostafa

Nahid Hossain and IBU's Vice-

President Syed Al Imran.

The delegation enjoyed a

corporate video documentary

on Walton at the headquarter

conference room and then they

visited Walton's well-decorated

products display center as well

as some production units,

including refrigerator,

television and washing

machine. While expressing his

reaction at the briefing, Iraqi

Head of Mission Abdulsalam

Saddam Mohaisen said, "We

are very pleased visiting Walton

factory. You (Walton) are

encouraging bilateral business

through exports to Iraq. In

future, I will see more exports

from Walton."

He also noted that they are

trying to establish business

console between Iraq and

Bangladesh aimed to facilitate

bilateral trade and investment.

Iraqi Deputy Head of

Mission in Dhaka Mohanad Al

Darraji said, 'Walton is very

good and big factory. They

installed advance technologies

machinery in the

manufacturing plants. Walton

are exporting electronics

products to the European

countries. We will support

Walton to increase its export

volume to Iraq.'

Iraqi Head of Mission in Dhaka Abdulsalam Saddam Mohaisen, Deputy

Head of Mission in Dhaka Mohanad Al Darraji and Walton's higher officials

is inaugurating TV and washing machine export to Iraq through cutting ribbon.

Photo: Courtesy

thurSDAY, MArch 3, 2022

9

the tigers know that a winning start against Afghanistan in t20 series will be the toughest job for

them despite winning the three-match oDI series by 2-1.

photo: Ap

Tigers seek redemption in T20

series against Afghanistan

SportS DeSk

Bangladesh are eying to make a winning

start in the two-match T20 series against

Afghanistan, when they take on the

visitors today at Sher-e-Bangla National

Cricket Stadium, reports BSS.

The match which starts at 3 PM will be

aired live on Gazi TV and T Sports

Channel.

The Tigers know that a winning start

against Afghanistan in T20 series will be

the toughest job for them despite winning

the three-match ODI series by 2-1. While

the defeat at the last ODI match ruined

their momentum to some extent, their

track record against Afghanistan in this

format also dismal one.

Of the six encounters against this

opponent, Bangladesh won just two and

lost four matches, including being

whitewashed in a three-match series in

Hyderabad, India, the Afghans adopted

venue in 2018.

Last time the two teams met in this

format in a tri-nation series that also

included Zimbabwe in Bangladesh in

2019. Afghanistan in that double-leg

series beat Bangladesh by 25 runs at

Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium

but conceded a four-wicket defeat at

Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in

Chattogram. The two teams moved to the

final but the match was washed out and

they are declared joint-winner.

As per the stat, Bangladesh though won

the last match in this format but at

Mirpur venue, Afghanistan won their last

match.

Bangladesh beat teams like Australia

and Zimbabwe at Mirpur but at this same

venue, there were whitewashed at the

hands of Pakistan in their last series in

November last year. The stat proved

Asian opponents have always an edge

over Bangladesh in Mirpur venue.

Bangladesh though played the ODI

series in Chattogram, risked to play the

T20 series in Mirpur, largely due to seek

an improvement in this format with T20

World Cup in Australia later this year in

mind.

The Tigers particularly want to improve

their first powerplay record in T20

Rohit takes reins as India set for

new era in Kohli's 100th Test

SportS DeSk

Rohit Sharma begins a new era as India's Test

captain on Friday when the two-match series

against Sri Lanka begins, as predecessor Virat

Kohli makes a landmark 100th appearance,

reports BSS.

Rohit is now in charge across all formats,

succeeding Kohli who drove India up the world

rankings but failed to lift any international

silverware.

Rohit, 34, reasserted his white-ball

leadership credentials with a 3-0 Twenty20

sweep of Sri Lanka on Sunday that gave India a

record-equalling 12th straight win.

Batsman Shreyas Iyer lauded the new

captain for his hands-on approach with players

ahead of the match in Mohali.

"He is amazing. He thinks from a player's

point of view," Iyer told the Times of India

newspaper. "He has got that mindset, where he

connects to every individual and knows what

he needs from support staff and coaches. I

really respect him a lot."

The spotlight though will be on "King Kohli"

who shocked fans when he quit as Test skipper

following his 99th Test at the end of India's 2-1

series loss in South Africa in January.

The star batsman, who stepped down as

Twenty20 skipper last year and was then

sacked as ODI leader, led India to great heights

including a stay at the top of the Test rankings

for over three years.

But Kohli's inability to win a global trophy for

a cricket-obsessed India seemed to be his

undoing as leader and Rohit was an obvious

successor, having led Mumbai Indians to a

record five IPL titles.

At least fans will be allowed to see Kohli's

milestone after the Punjab cricket association

backtracked to allow crowds of up to 50

percent capacity in Mohali despite Covid-19

fears in the northern city.

India's new vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah, one

of several possible younger successors to Rohit,

said a win over Sri Lanka would be a perfect

"gift" for Kohli.

"It's a testimony of his hard work, of his

dedication to play 100 Test matches for your

country. So it's a great occasion," India's vicecaptain

Jasprit Bumrah told reporters.

He added that despite no longer being

captain, and being short of runs in recent

months, Kohli "will contribute a lot in the

future as well".

Iyer will be in contention for a place in the

Test eleven after his three successive unbeaten

half-centuries led India's T20 dominance in the

Twenty20 series.

Sri Lanka sit at the top of the ICC Test

championship points table with a 2-0 series

sweep of West Indies after depending on their

spinners in Galle, but the slow bowlers will not

find it easy against India's solid batting line-up.

India also possess a potent spin attack and

Sri Lanka's batsmen such as captain Dimuth

Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva will be

challenged by Ravichandran Ashwin and

Ravindra Jadeja operating on their home turf.

"Dimuth Karunaratne is one of the best Test

openers and he is going to be crucial up the

order," Sri Lanka's cricketer-turnedcommentator

Russel Arnold was quoted as

saying by cricket.com.

rohit Sharma begins a new era as India's test captain on Friday when the

two-match series against Sri Lanka begins, as predecessor Virat kohli

makes a landmark 100th appearance.

photo: Ap

cricket, which is the arena where they

time and again proved them to be

vulnerable. Bangladesh T20 captain

Mahmudullah Riyad said, this time they

will go into the game with a mindset of

making at least 40/45 runs in the first six

overs.

"It's the arena where we should

improve our game. We know a T20

World Cup is coming up and if we can't

improve in this arena, we'll fall in deep

problem. So the target is to score at least

40/45 runs in the first powerplay,"

Mahmudullah said here today.

Having said that he indicated, Munim

Shahriar, an uncapped player is highly

likely to make his debut given his ability

to play shots from the first ball in the first

powerplay.

Shahriar may not hit a big score but his

boldness to play his shot in the last Dhaka

Premier League T20 and BPL T20

proved him a player Bangladesh are

searching for in this format. He scored

runs at 152 strike rate in BPL and gave his

side Fortune Barishal always a whirlwind

start in the first powerplay.

Milan giants

play out dull

cup semi-final

stalemate

SportS DeSk

AC Milan and Inter Milan

played out a disappointing

goalless derby draw in the

first leg of their Italian Cup

semi-final on Tuesday,

reports BSS.

Milan, the nominal home

side at a boisterous San Siro,

had the better of the play

and opportunities but could

not convert their chances

into goals and head into next

month's second leg level

with their local rivals.

The away goals rule is still

in force in the Italian Cup

meaning Milan will have a

small advantage when they

are hosted by Inter for the

decisive clash.

"We played well, it was

difficult but we have another

leg to play," said Theo

Hernandez.

"We're giving our all and

having a great season. We

need to keep going and win.

We had a lot of chances, but

if you don't score you're not

going to win."

Serie A champions Inter

were poor and have now

failed to win in their last five

matches in all competitions

in a dip in form which has

also cost them their lead in

the league.

Inter, who are also goalless

in four games, are battling

for the Serie A title with

Milan and Napoli, who are

both two points ahead of

Simone Inzaghi's side and

face off in Naples on Sunday.

"We're still the best attack

in Serie A, we haven't scored

in four games but we'll be

back," said Inzaghi.

The winner of this tie will

play in May's final against

either Juventus or

Fiorentina, who will face off

in their first leg on

Wednesday in Dusan

Vlahovic's first match in

Florence since leaving for

Turin in January.

Doncic sparks

Mavs as Lakers

slump continues

SportS DeSk

Luka Doncic scored 25 points

as the Dallas Mavericks sent

the Los Angeles Lakers

spinning to a third straight

defeat on Tuesday, reports

BSS.

Doncic sparked a fourthquarter

fightback for Dallas,

transforming a six-point

deficit with just over seven

minutes remaining into a

five-point lead to help set up

a 109-104 Mavs win at the

Crypto.com Arena.

It was another frustrating

outing for LeBron James and

the Lakers, who had battled

back from a 21-point firsthalf

deficit to take the lead

after outscoring Dallas 31-14

in the third quarter.

Doncic was backed by

point guard Jalen Brunson

with 22 points while Dorian

Finney-Smith added 16.

The Mavericks improved to

37-25 to remain in fifth place

in the Western Conference

standings.

James led the scoring for

the Lakers with 26 points, 12

rebounds and five assists

while veteran Carmelo

Anthony added 20 for the

home side.

The loss saw the Lakers fall

to 27-34 in the conference

standings.

In Minneapolis, Karl-

Anthony Towns scored 39

points as the Minnesota

Timberwolves trounced a

depleted Golden State

Warriors 129-114.

Towns shot 14 of 22 from

the field and grabbed nine

rebounds while D'Angelo

Russell added 22 points and

Malik Beasley 20 from the

bench at the Target Center.

"Just trying to come out here

and lead by performance, and

do what I can," Towns said

after the win.

The Warriors were led by

Stephen Curry's 34 points,

but struggled to overcome

the absence of Draymond

Green, Klay Thompson and

Andre Iguodala.

Leicester dented Burnley's bid to avoid relegation from the premier League as Jamie Vardy

returned from injury to inspire a 2-0 win at turf Moor on tuesday.

photo: Ap

Vardy back with a bang as Leicester

dent Burnley survival bid

SportS DeSk

Leicester dented Burnley's bid to avoid

relegation from the Premier League as

Jamie Vardy returned from injury to

inspire a 2-0 win at Turf Moor on

Tuesday, reports BSS.

Brendan Rodgers' side stole the

points with two goals in the last eight

minutes as Vardy set up James

Maddison and then netted himself.

Burnley remain in the relegation

zone, one point below Everton, after

their three-game unbeaten run came to

an end in painful fashion.

A win or draw would have taken

Burnley out of the bottom three for the

first time since November.

But instead they will have to get over

a gut punch of a defeat that keeps their

top-flight status in severe peril.

"We weren't as good as we have been,

particularly in the first half. Without

being terrible, we just let soft things

against us, didn't play with enough

tempo," Burnley boss Sean Dyche said.

For Leicester, it was a welcome first

league win in six matches since they

Russian athletes' participation

at Paralympics under cloud

of Ukraine invasion

SportS DeSk

Beijing's Winter Paralympics

open Friday under the

shadow of Moscow's

invasion of Ukraine, with

questions remaining over

whether athletes from Russia

and its ally Belarus will be

barred from participating in

the Games, reports BSS.

As the first city to host both

Summer and Winter Games,

the National Stadium-known

as the Bird's Nest-will once

again light up for an opening

ceremony to welcome

hundreds of athletes from all

over the world.

Friday's celebrations could

be muted, with the lead-up to

the Games dogged by

controversy as the world

reacts with alarm to Russia

invading Ukraine.

That includes the

International Olympic

Committee (IOC), which on

Monday urged sporting

federations across the world

to exclude athletes from

Russia and Belarus, which

had hosted troops before the

invasion.

But it remains up in the air

if athletes from Russia-who

will compete for the Russian

Paralympic Committee

(RPC) following the country's

ban for state-sponsored

doping-and Belarus will be

barred from taking part in

the Games.

The International

Paralympic Committee will

have a meeting Wednesday

and a decision is expected by

the evening.

Much of the sports world

has reacted with solidarity to

Ukraine.

FIFA kicked Russia out of

the 2022 World Cup, while

rugby's world governing

body banned Russia and

Belarus from all

international rugby events

"until further notice".

Russian President

Vladimir Putin, an

accomplished judoka, was

also suspended as honorary

head of the International

Judo Federation.

With its civilian airspace

closed, half a million refugees

fleeing to neighbouring

countries, and Russian

troops closing in on Kyiv,

getting

Ukraine's

Paralympians to Beijing was

going to be a logistical issue.

Committee president

Andrew Parsons had said last

week it would be a

"mammoth challenge",

declining to comment

beat Liverpool on December 28.

"It has been a long time coming. It's

tough getting a big injury. To come

back and to be involved in both goals

and get the win, it's very good," Vardy

said after his first goal since December.

Rodgers added: "He's a real catalyst.

He makes runs and presses and is

normally in the right areas to score. To

have that quality and mentality back

will help us."

Leicester were first to threaten when

Youri Tielemans stole possession from

Dwight McNeil and tried his luck with a

long-range blast that cleared the bar.

Ricardo Pereira was much closer with

a snap-shot from just inside the area

that forced a fine save from Burnley

goalkeeper Nick Pope.

With Burnley defender Ben Mee

forced off with an injury before the

interval, the hosts were vulnerable and

Pope had to come to their rescue again.

Leicester forward Harvey Barnes cut

inside and unleashed a powerful strike,

but Pope was able to palm it away at full

stretch.

Connor Roberts drew a good stop

further for security reasons.

By late Tuesday, the

country's National Sports

Committee for the Disabled

confirmed its full team of 20

athletes and nine guides were

making their way to the

Games.

"I hope that tomorrow,

March 2, we will be in

Beijing," said Natalia Garach,

communications manager

for Ukraine's team.

The small Eastern

European country has

punched above its weight in

previous Paralympic Winter

events, with frequent

podium finishes in the

biathlon and ski events.

Neuroscience helping

Liverpool's quadruple

bid: Klopp

SportS DeSk

Jurgen Klopp said on Tuesday that neuroscience is helping

Liverpool's bid to win an unprecedented quadruple, reports

BSS.

Klopp's side won the first of the four major trophies they

are chasing this season with an 11-10 penalty shoot-out

victory against Chelsea in Sunday's English League Cup final.

Klopp believes his faith in cutting edge technology is

playing a role in his team's success.

The Liverpool boss engaged the services of German

company Neuro11 a couple of years ago to implement its

mental-strength training methods.

He has used the science to improve his squad's mindset at

all set-pieces, including penalties, with all 11 of their kicks

successful against Chelsea.

"Incredible impact. They are a fixed part of our coaching

staff. They are not here all the time, they are in Germany

obviously but they come over quite frequently," Klopp told

reporters on Tuesday.

"They were here for the last week, before that they were

here for five days.

"All the players are really excited about it and it's about

bringing specific players before a set-piece in the right

mindset by doing the stuff we do on the pitch."

from Leicester keeper Kasper

Schmeichel early in the second half.

Cornet was inches away from

breaking the deadlock when he

prodded just wide from McNeil's pass.

Vardy came off the bench for

Leicester in the 72nd minute as the

striker made his first appearance since

suffering a hamstring injury in

December. In Vardy's two-month

absence, Leicester had failed to win any

of their five league games.

He immediately had a sight of goal,

but hooked his volley well over.

Barnes' thunderous effort was

repelled by Pope, but Maddison finally

ended the Burnley keeper's resistence

in the 82nd minute.

Vardy controlled Schmeichel's long

punt forward and laid the ball into the

path of Maddison, who curled a superb

strike past Pope from the edge of the

area. Burnley's Wout Weghorst was

agonisingly close to turning in Ashley

Westwood's low cross.

But Vardy wrapped up the points in

stoppage time with a close-range

header from Barnes' cross.

THURSdAY, MARcH 3, 2022

10

Drama series ‘Cheater

and Gentleman’ to

air on march 12

TBT REPORT

Apu, Joy stars in 'Trap: The

Untold Story'

BT REPORT

Popular film actress Apu Biswas has paired up with

actor Joy Chowdhury in a new film titled 'Trap: The

Untold Story'. Filmmaker Deen Islam is directing the

movie.

The shooting of the film hasbegun at Bangladesh

Film Development Corporation (BFDC) from

Wednesday. 'Trap: The Untold Story' is the second

movie of Apu Biswas-Joy Chowdhury duo. The

shooting of their first film 'Prem Pritir Bondhon' by

Solaiman Ali Lebu has not been completed yet.

Besides, shooting of a song and some fighting scene of

the movie is yet to start.

Joy Chowdhury is very happy to pair up with Apu

Biswas again. He said, "I'm very happy that I will start

shooting for a new movie with Apu before completing

our first film 'Prem Pritir Bondhon'. The shooting has

begun yesterday (on Wednesday) at BFDC. The first lot

shooting will continue till March 15 at BFDC and

Uttara in the capital."

"Our first film 'Prem Pritir Bondhon' will be released

on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. I hope the audience will

accept the movie positively", he added.

Ezra hints at more of Ben's

'Batman' after 'The Flash'

Ezra Miller's latest social media

activity may have hinted that Ben

Affleck's Batman will continue

appearing in the DCEU after 'The

Flash'. The pair will share the

screen once again in Andy

Muschietti's upcoming Warner

Bros. film. However, if fans are

correct in their assumptions, it may

not be their last.

After co-starring in Batman V

Superman: Dawn of Justice and

Justice League, Affleck reunites

with Miller in The Flash as he

reprises his role as Bruce

Wayne/Batman. This is despite the

actor formally already leaving the

DCEU. His exit motivated Warner

Bros. to reboot the Caped Crusader

again with Robert Pattinson, who is

set to be introduced in Matt Reeves'

The Batman. However, Affleck may

not be bidding his DC superhero

role just yet, as Miller may have

hinted that The Flash won't be his

final outing as the Bat of Gotham

on the screen.

Taking it to his official Instagram

account, Miller posted a screenshot

of an article that talks about

Affleck's final appearance as

Batman in The Flash. The actor

then wrote over it with

"HAHAHA," as if mocking the

news.

It hasn't been long since Miller

also posted a cryptic video taking

on the KKK, and so without any

clear context from his latest post,

it's best not to assume what it

actually means. For what it's worth,

Affleck himself confirmed that The

Flash would be his final

performance as Batman, and

popular theory suggests that the

character would actually die in the

film. Instead, Michael Keaton's Bat

of Gotham, who will also be in The

Flash, will be the DCEU's primary

version of the iconic character.

Source: Variety

Four popular small screen actors Mir

Sabbir, Arfan Ahmed, Sazu Khadem and

AKM Hasan will be seen together in a new

drama series titled 'Cheater and

Gentleman'. The drama has been scripted

and directed by Sanjit Sarkar.

In the meantime, the shooting of a few

lots of the project has been completed. The

drama also stars Dr. Ejajul Islam, Abdullah

Rana, Faruque Ahamed, Urmila Srabanti

Kar, Nabila Binte Islam, Pran Roy, Airin

Tani and others. About the serial, Sanjit

Sarkar said, "I have always made dramas

on social content. The drama has a social

message. I hope 'Cheater and Gentleman'

Mahurat (inauguration ceremony) of the

government funded full-length children's

film 'Mike' based on the Bangabandhu's

historic March 7 speech was held on

Tuesday at Padma Life Tower in the city's

Bangla Motor area, reports BSS.

Writer and columnist FM Shahin and

Hasan Jafrul are jointly directing the movie

while Shahin is also producer of the film.

The cast of the film include actors Tariq

Anam Khan, Nader Chowdhury, Ferdous,

Tanvin Sweety, Jhuna Chowdhury, Iqbal

Ahmed and others.

Information Secretary Md. Mokbul

Hossain, Dhaka University Pro-Vice

Chancellor Prof Dr ASM Maksud Kamal,

Awami League (AL)'s Lakshmipur district

unit general secretary and Lakshmipur-2

lawmaker Advocate Nur Uddin Chowdhury

Nayan, valiant freedom fighter Mafijul

Haque Sarker, Chattogram South AL Joint

will be appreciated by the audience." Mir

Sabbir said, "Sanjit Sarkar is a talented

director. He always makes dramas based

on good stories. We all have enjoyed a lot

during the shooting. Hopefully 'Cheater

and Gentleman' will be an entertainment

piece." The drama serial revolves around a

village named 'Bhadun'. The natural

environment of the village is changing day

by day. Because, many urban people make

their farmhouses in 'Bhadun'. The story of

General Secretary Shahjada Mahiuddin,

Bangladesh Awami Jubo Mohila League

Vice-President Advocate Koheli Quddus

Mukti, Sheikh Russel Foundation, USA

President Dr Ferdous Khandker, monthly

newspaper Onno Desh editor Al Amin Babu

addressed the Mahurat ceremony at

bbarta24.net and IP TV Jagaran's office at

Padma Life Tower. Speaking on the

occasion, Information Secretary hoped

'Mike' film will be an extraordinary creation

on the spirit of Liberation War and it will

turn into an asset of the Bangali nation.

Mokbul Hossain said film is very strong

media which easily reaches to people of

other countries crossing the boundary of the

country where it is produced. Film reflects

lifestyle of people and their culture and

heritage to its audience, he mentioned.

He said lesser films were produced on the

Bangladesh's Liberation War but the spirit

the drama goes forward with the conflict

between the villagers and the people who

came from urban area.

'Cheater and Gentleman' will be aired on

RTV from March 12.

Sanjit Sarkar is a noted small screen

director of the country. He has directed

many popular television dramas including

'Eti Dula Bhai', 'Cheating Master', 'Mojnu

Ekjon Pagol Nohe', 'Mamar Barir Abdar',

'Polashpurer Nolok', and others.

of the war is very precious to the people of

Bangladesh.

The information secretary said the film

will focus on very time-befitting features.

Prof Maksud Kamal said anti-liberation

forces are still active to destroy the ideology

of the Liberation War. The defeated forces of

the Liberation War are still hatching

conspiracy to create unrest in the country, he

said. He underscored the need for instilling

the spirit of Liberation War into the minds of

the new generation by presenting true

history of the struggle for independence

through films and documentaries.

AL Central Working Committee Member

Advocate Sanjida Khanam, actors Nader

Chowdhury and Ahmed Gias, actress

Tanvin Sweety, online portal bbarta24.net

editor Bani Yasmin Hasi, Bangla Journal

publisher and editor Habibur Rahman

Romel, Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Press

Wing official Gul Shahana Urmi, Gourab 71

organizing secretary Rabiul Islam Rupom,

Bangladesh Chhatra League Organizing

Secretary Rakibul Islam Badhan were

present on the occasion, among others.

Madhuri says she felt independent in

US, could make decisions for herself

Actor Madhuri Dixit made her

OTT debut last week with

Netflix's Fame Game, where

she plays the role of a

Bollywood superstar. In a

career spanning almost over

four decades, Madhuri has

worked in more than 100

films, cementing her

superstar status in Bollywood.

However, in a recent

interview, Madhuri

mentioned that life as a star in

India wasn't easy for her.

Speaking to Bazaar,

Madhuri said that she grew up

in a very 'protected'

environment. She added that

her parents would accompany

her everywhere. Things

changed once she got

married, as she began making

decisions for herself. "I learnt

a lot about life living in the US.

When I was in India, there

would always be around 20

people fussing over me at all

times, but there I was very

independent," she said.

Madhuri mentioned that she

had to do everything on her

own, including bringing up

her children. Those

experiences came in handy, as

she says that she uses them

when playing a role.

Madhuri Dixit married Dr.

Shriram Nene in 1999, and the

couple has two sons, Arin and

Ryan. In an earlier interview to

indianexpress.com, Madhuri

Mahurat of

Liberation War

film ‘Mike’ held

revealed how her family kept

her grounded, despite her

superstar status. She had said,

"When I go in front of the

camera, I am a professional

actress and I know what I am

doing. I have read the script,

and I am playing that

character. I become that

character for the camera. But

once I am back home, I am a

normal person because that's

the way I've been brought up.

Even when I was working in

films, at the height of my

career, my mom used to scold

me to keep my room clean. I'd

tell her that I've people to clean

it for me, but she would say,

'No. It is your mess. You got to

clean it up yourself'. That's how

I am.

Source: Times of India

H O R O S c O P E

ARIES

(March 21 - April 20) : Today you might learn

something about a friend that could be rather

disconcerting, Aries. There could be a dark

side to this person that you weren't previously aware of, and

this could cause you to want to withdraw for a while and

reevaluate your involvement with this individual. When

considering it, remember that we all have our dark sides.

Could what you've discovered simply be this factor, or does

this go too far beyond it for you? Think about it!

TAURUS

(April 21 - May 21) : Outside responsibilities

might temporarily interfere with your love

life, Taurus. You may feel a strong desire to

get together with a love partner early in the

evening, but circumstances may necessitate your working

odd hours. This can be frustrating, as you've been looking

forward to this for a long time, but you could meet your

friend later in the evening. Don't be afraid to ask. Most

people understand when situations like this crop up.

GEMINI

(May 22 - June 21) : Today you're likely to find

your routine too boring for words, Gemini,

and may have a sudden powerful urge to cut

loose and play some serious hooky. Still, you

may feel the pull of obligation. This conflicted feeling should

pass. If it persists beyond today, however, you might need to

reevaluate certain areas of your life. There are lots of

opportunities out there, and life is too short to be stuck in a

situation that doesn't allow you to grow.

cANcER

(June 22 - July 23) : You could be feeling

especially sensual and passionate today,

Cancer, and you'll want to get together

with a love interest. However, other responsibilities

could get in your way. This could provide you with the

perfect excuse to sink into gloom, but don't fall into this

trap. Get whatever business you're facing handled and

out of the way. Or perhaps you can arrange to finish it

tomorrow. Then set up that hot date!

LEO

(July 24 - Aug. 23): You may feel a bit of

disappointment today, Leo. You might

tend to view whatever snags you've hit on

the path to accomplishing your goals as

personal failures, and if you let it, this idea could persist

with you throughout the day. Try to remain objective,

and don't lose sight of the big picture. You haven't even

lost a battle - at worst, it's a minor conflict! Chances are

that if you continue working hard you'll still win the war!

VIRGO

(Aug. 24 - Sept. 23): A rather disheartening

phone call could come to you today, Virgo.

This might bring news of a setback in one

of your projects that is only temporary but

nonetheless frustrating. You'll probably have to deal with

some trivial little details you'd rather not bother with,

and this could take up too much valuable time. Hang in

there - you're still doing well! Don't let your frustrations

get the best of you.

LIBRA

(Sept. 24 - Oct. 23): After the rush of

energy over the past few days, Libra,

today you may feel a powerful letdown.

Not every day can be filled with

adventure and excitement. For now, you just need to

take care of the routine matters that are a byproduct

of life on Earth. However, keep in mind that there are

many weekends coming up, and with the right kind

of planning you can get excitement back into your life.

ScORPIO

(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) : A goal that you've been

trying to reach may be temporarily

stalled, Scorpio, and you could be

tempted to slip into despair, wondering

if it will ever really happen. Remember that the

keyword for today is "temporary." Whatever obstacles

are in your way will eventually be overcome and your

goal should be to continue to advance in the direction

you want. In the meantime, take care of your chores.

SAGITTARIUS

(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21): Today you might realize

that you need to make a certain purchase,

Sagittarius. Perhaps your home or car

requires some important repairs, or maybe

some new equipment is necessary for your work. This could

prove rather disheartening, as it might involve spending

money that you'd rather use for something more exciting.

Think of the trouble this expenditure should save you,

however, and you'll see the value of it all.

cAPRIcORN

(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20): The weight of too many

responsibilities, perhaps involving family, a

job, or group affiliation, could be very much

on your mind today, Capricorn. You may feel like Atlas,

carrying the world on your shoulders! You're tired. Perhaps

you need to reevaluate your commitments - your innate

kindness may have caused you to make too many. Fulfill the

ones you have, but think twice before making any new ones.

You're important too, after all.

AQUARIUS

(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) : You may have your

ups and downs today, Aquarius. You

could get at least one phone call of the

"good news, bad news" variety, and this

could have your moods swinging back and forth like a

pendulum. Try to stay centered. Take the good news

as encouragement, and as for the bad news, try to

consider it objectively and figure out ways to turn it to

your advantage. There's always a way. Hang in there!

PIScES

(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20) : Normally you tend to be a very

spiritually oriented person, Pisces, but today you

might find metaphysical concepts of all kinds

rather baffling. Whether these are ideas you've

embraced for a long time or new ones you've just discovered, you

may find nagging little doubts creeping in, temporarily causing

your faith to waver. This is a healthy development, however. A

little doubt now and then can weed out concepts that don't work

for you and reaffirm your belief in others.

Illegal settlements have been demolished in Tangail yesterday. Photo : TBT

GD-375/22 (4x3)

GD-370/22 (5x3)

GD-376/22 (6x3)

959 24.02.2022

PANI-629/2021-2022

386

National Voters’ Day

observed in Rangpur

GD-374/22 (4x3)

GD-371/22 (5x3)

GD-368/22 (6x3)

ThursDAY, MArch 3, 2022

11

RANGPUR : The fourth National Voters' Day- 2022 was

observed with the theme of "Mujib Borsher Ongikar, Rokka

Korbo Votadhikar" (Mujib Year's commitment is to protect WASHINGTON : Moscow's war on Ukraine solutions.

voting rights) in the city yesterday, reports BSS.

and the ferocious financial backlash it's "We are actually in uncharted territory,"

The Rangpur Regional Office of the Election Commission unleashed are not only inflicting an said Clay Lowery, executive vice president at

with the assistance of the Divisional Commissioner's Office economic catastrophe on President Vladimir the Institute of International Finance, a trade

chalked out programs including bringing out a rally followed Putin's Russia. The repercussions are also group of global banks. "We know there are

by a discussion at the conference room of the Rangpur menacing the global economy, shaking consequences that we cannot predict."

Regional Office.

financial markets and making life more For now at least, the damage to the overall

Deputy Commissioner Md Asib Ahsan jointly with perilous for everyone from Uzbek migrant global economy appears to be relatively

Rangpur Regional Election Officer G M Sahatab Uddin workers to European consumers to hungry slight, if only because Russia and Ukraine are

inaugurated observance of the day by releasing balloons with Yemeni families.

not economic powerhouses. Important as

a festoon on Rangpur Regional Election Office premises. Even before Putin's troops invaded they are as exporters of energy, precious

Later, a rally with participation of government officials and Ukraine, the global economy was straining metals, wheat and other commodities, the

employees, civil society members was brought out on the under a range of burdens: Surging inflation. two together account for less than 2% of the

streets to create awareness among youths on their voting Tangled supply chains. Tumbling stock world's gross domestic product. Most major

rights to give democracy an institutional shape.

prices.

economies have only limited trade exposure

Later, Rangpur Divisional Commissioner Md Abdul The Ukraine crisis both magnified each to Russia: For the U.S., it's 0.5% of total

Wahhab Bhuiyan virtually addressed the discussion as the threat and complicated the potential trade. For China, around 2.4%.

chief guest with Rangpur Regional Election Officer G M

Sahatab Uddin in the chair.

Rangpur Range DIG Devdas Bhattacharya virtually

participated in the discussion as special guest.

Deputy Commissioner of Rangpur Md. Asib Ahsan,

Superintendent of Police Md. Ferdous Ali Chowdhury and

District Senior Election Officer Farhad Hossain also

addressed the occasion.

The Senior District Election Officer delivered a welcome

speech narrating the importance of the day and necessity of

.821 01/03/2022 creating awareness among youths about their voting rights.

.820 01/03/2022

The speakers put emphasis on inspiring the voters in

exercising their voting rights to infuse democratic culture in

them for strengthening democracy to give democracy an

institutional shape.

The chief guest urged the officials concerned to create

social awareness and inspire the voters to cast their votes as

per their own choice to further strengthen the democratic

process.

Journalist Uday Hakim

joins Vista as

entrepreneurial director

DHAKA : Journalist Uday Hakim has joined Vista

Electronics Limited as an entrepreneurial director.

A function was organised at the corporate office of Vista

Electronics at Gulshan-1 in the capital on the occasion. The

Vista family cut a cake and greeted him with flowers on

Tuesday, reports UNB.

Uday Hakim was involved in journalism for 12 years when

he worked in Prothom Alo, Amar Desh, Channel I, CSB

News, Kaler Kantho and Risingbd, said a press release.

In 2010, he joined Walton and he was the Senior Executive

Director of Walton and the Advisory Editor of online news

portal Risingbd.com.

Vista started its journey in early 2021 with the slogan

'Excellence in Technology'. Vista has set up a factory at

Bangabandhu Hi-Tech Park in Kaliakair, Gazipur.

Russia takes aim at

urban areas; Biden

vows Putin will ‘pay’

KYIV, UKRAINE : Ukraine's leader decried Russia's

escalation of attacks on crowded cities as a blatant terror

campaign, while U.S. President Joe Biden warned that if the

Russian leader didn't "pay a price" for the invasion, the

aggression wouldn't stop with one country, reports UNB.

"Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget," Ukraine's

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed after Tuesday's

bloodshed on the central square in Kharkiv, the country's

second-largest city, and the deadly bombing of a TV tower in

the capital. He called the attack on the square "frank,

undisguised terror" and a war crime.

The assault on Kharkiv continued Wednesday, even as

Russia said it would be ready to resume talks with the

Ukrainian side in the evening. A Russian strike on the

regional police and intelligence headquarters, according to

the Ukrainian state emergency service. It said three people

were wounded.

The strike blew off the roof of the police building and set

the top floor on fire, and pieces of the five-story building were

strewn across adjacent streets, according to videos and

photos released by the emergency service.

In Wednesday's strikes, four people died, nine were

wounded and rescuers pulled 10 people out of the rubble,

according to the service.

Biden used his first State of the Union address to highlight

the resolve of a reinvigorated Western alliance that has

worked to rearm the Ukrainian military and adopt tough

sanctions, which he said have left Russian President Vladimir

Putin "isolated in the world more than he has ever been."

"Throughout our history we've learned this lesson - when

dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause

more chaos," Biden said. "They keep moving. And the costs

and threats to America and the world keep rising."

As Biden spoke, a 40-mile (64-kilometer) convoy of

hundreds of Russian tanks and other vehicles advanced

slowly on Kyiv, the capital city of nearly 3 million people, in

what the West feared was a bid by Putin to topple the

government and install a Kremlin-friendly regime.

The invading forces also pressed their assault on other

towns and cities, including the strategic ports of Odesa and

Mariupol in the south.

As the seventh day of the war dawned Wednesday, Russia

found itself increasingly isolated, beset by the sanctions that

have thrown its economy into turmoil and left the country

practically friendless, apart from a few nations like China,

Belarus and North Korea. Leading Russian bank Sberbank

announced Wednesday that it is pulling out of European

markets amid the tightening Western sanctions.

As fighting raged, the humanitarian situation worsened.

Roughly 660,000 people have fled Ukraine, and countless

others have taken shelter underground.

The death toll was less clear, with neither Russia nor

Ukraine releasing the number of troops lost. The U.N.

human rights office said it has recorded 136 civilian deaths,

though the actual toll is surely far higher.

One senior Western intelligence official estimated that

5,000 Russian soldiers had been captured or killed in the

biggest ground war in Europe since World War II.

Economic dangers from Russia’s

invasion ripple across globe

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Bangladesh Army to become

a global-standard force to be

emulated : Army Chief

DHAKA : Chief of Army Staff General S

M Shafiuddin Ahmed on Wednesday

said that Bangladesh army will be

developed to a level of global standards

so others can emulate it.

The army chief said this while

addressing the closing and award-giving

ceremony of Bangladesh Army

Firing Competition-2022 at Cumilla

Cantonment.

In his directional speech, General

Shafiuddin emphasized on training

and instructed all army personnel to

achieve maximum efficiency in firing

through rigorous training.

He expressed his firm belief that the

Bangladesh Army will always stand

by the government and the people in

facing any challenge of the country,

said an Inter Service Public Relation

(ISPR) Press Release.

Earlier, General Shafiuddin distributed

prizes among the winners as the

chief guest.

The firing competition started on 27

February last month under the overall

management of 33 Infantry Division.

Isolated BNP is afraid

of elections:Hasan

DHAKA : Information and

Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan

Mahmud yesterday said the BNP is

scared of elections as the party

becomes isolated from the people.

"BNP becomes isolated from the

countrymen. For this, they are afraid

of elections and raising various questions

over the Election Commission

(EC). They have no relations with the

people and they become isolated from

the countrymen due to their destructive

politics. That's why, they don't

want to take part in elections," he

said.

The minister stated these while

replying to a query of journalists at

Bangladesh Press Institute (PIB) in

the capital.

Hasan said, in fact, the BNP does

not want polls as their party leaders

are convicted that Begum Khaleda Zia

and Tarique Rahman could not take

part in the polls as per the

Constitution of the country. They

have no interest in elections as the

duo couldn't take part in polls, he

added.

In fact, he said, the demand of an

election-period government is nothing

but excuses. "You all know that

they (BNP) tried to resist the 2014

elections. Even, they declared not to

take part in the 2018's polls. But later

they took part in the polls (2018) to

make it (elections) controversial," he

added.

The minister said Dr Zafarullah

Chowdhury was addressed different

meetings of BNP and all know that

he is an advisor of BNP. The new

chief election commissioner (CEC)

has been made from his

(Zafarullha) list and he expressed

his satisfaction and urged all parties

including BNP to keep confidence

in the CEC, he added.

But now the BNP is also denying Dr

A total of 16 teams of Bangladesh

Army from different regions participated

in this competition.

In the competition, 7 independent

ADA brigade team became champion

and 11 infantry division team became

runners up.

Corporal Md Abdul Alim of 11

infantry division team was named 1st

Best and Soldier Tuhin Mia 2nd Firer

and Captain Syeda Rafia Zaman was

named Best Female Firer.

The ceremony was attended by senior

officers of the Army Headquarters

and Cumilla region as well as officers

of various units and organizations,

JCOs and other ranks of army members.

The professionalism of the army

and its skills in firing are very important.

Firing exercises are an integral

part of basic military training.

Everyone present at the event

expressed hope that this firing competition

would serve as a source of

inspiration in improving the quality

of training of the army.

Zafarullah, said Hasan, also Awami

League joint general secretary.

Earlier, the minister joined a seminar

organized by News Broadcasters'

Alliance (NBA) Bangladesh at an

auditorium of PIB.

In his speech, Hasan said about 34

crore people are speaking in Bangla

across the globe and the position of

the language is seventh in the perspective

of population. Great Poet

Rabindranath Tagore was the first

person who got the Nobel Prize outside

of Europe in literature, he added.

He said it is very important to present

pure Bangla in all sectors including

in news presentation and the

media houses have responsibility in

this regard.

The minister put emphasis on regular

training on this issue.

He said the journey of private television

in the country began after

Bangabandhu's daughter Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina assumed

office in 1996.

Currently, 45 television channels

got license while 35 are on air, he

added.

PIB director general Zafar Wazed,

journalists Syed Ishtiaq Reza and

Manash Ghose addressed it as special

guests with NBA president

Mumtahina Hasnat Ritu in the chair.

Presenter Jafar Sadiq presented the

keynote paper in the seminar.

Later, Hasan joined a function of

the daily 'Somoyer Alo' marking the

third founding anniversary of the

newspaper at its office at Bangla

Motor in the city.

He congratulated the editor, publisher

and the journalists on this occasion.

Publisher Gazi Ahmed Ullah, acting

editor Komalesh Roy and executive

editor Harun-or-Rashid, among others,

were present.

Direct

teaching has

started at

primary

schools across

the country

with

enthusiasm.

The picture is

taken from

Binapani

Government

Primary School

in Gopalgonj

Sadar Upazila.

Photo :

Star Mail

PM Hasina assassination attempt

Fugitive death row

convict held in city

DHAKA : Police have arrested a fugitive

death row convict in a case filed over the

attempt to kill Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina in 2000. Azizul Haque Rana alias

Shahnewaz alias Ruman was arrested

from Khilkhet Bazar in the capital on

Tuesday, reports UNB.

Police also seized two jihadi books, two

mobile phone sets, a pen drive and a computer

hard disk from his possession.

Police recovered a 76-kg bomb in front

of a shop adjacent to Sheikh Lutfur

Rahman Govt High School on July 20,

2000 where Sheikh Hasina was supposed

to address a rally on July 22.

Another 40-kg bomb was also recovered

by an army bomb expert squad from

near Kotalipara helipad on July 23, 2000.

Three separate cases were filed in this

connection.

On March 23, 2021, a Dhaka tribunal

sentenced 14 people to death in a sedition

case filed over the murder attempt on

Sheikh Hasina at Kotalipara in Gopalganj

in 2000. Mohammad Azizul Haque alias

Shah Newaz was among the condemned

convicts.

Azizul was tasked with planting bombs ,

said police after interrogation.

After primary interrogation, police

came to know that Azizul remained

absconding for 21years and continued his

activities secretly. He worked as shop

keeper, book seller, driver and printing

press worker to hide his identity.

Govt let loose

police against

BNP, alleges Rizvi

DHAKA : BNP senior joint secretary

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Wednesday alleged

that the government has let loose law

enforcers like "hyenas" against its leaders

and activists out of fear of facing public

wraths, reports UNB.

"The Illegal political forces are

always sacred of facing public wraths.

They get terrified with the loud voices

of people. That's why they've let loose

the law enforcement agencies like hyenas

to foil BNP's different programmes,"

he said.

Speaking at a press conference at

BNP's Nayapaltan central office, Rizvi

also said the government is shedding the

blood of opposition activists through

attacking political programmes of the

opposition by law enforcers at different

parts of the country.

He accused the government of establishing

its control over every constitutional

institution from the Election

Commission to the judiciary by appointing

people who hold the spirit of Awami

League. "The entire nation has been

colonised by the government by placing

its own people everywhere.

The BNP leader said the government

has obliterated democracy and snatched

the civic and voting rights of people by

usurping power.

"They (govt) are using the state

machinery to brutally suppress the

democracy-loving dissidents. The same

way, they're now using its cadres and

police force to obstruct BNP programmes

across the country," he

observed.

The BNP leader said police and the ruling

party cadres resorted to various

repressive acts to foil their rallies

arranged for protesting the hike in daily

essential in Dhaka's Savar, Patuakhali,

Magura and Jhalakati.

He said police attacked their party's

peaceful rally on Dhaka-Aricha Highway

in Savar without any provocation. "They

charged batons on our leaders and

activists, leaving at least 15 of them

injured."

Rooppur power plant not

to be affected directly by

War : Planning Minister

DHAKA : Planning Minister MA

Mannan on Wednesday said

Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant won't

be affected directly by the ongoing

Russian-Ukraine war as the project

is being executed completely under a

bilateral agreement with Moscow,

reports UNB.

"Equipment, manpower and

finance (for the project) are coming

through the single channel. No

third party is involved here. So, the

project will witness no direct

impact," he said while briefing

reporters after the meeting of the

National Economic Council (NEC).

NEC Chairperson and Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired the

meeting, joining it from her official

residence Ganobhaban. Other NEC

members including ministers and secretaries

attended the meeting from the

NEC Conference Room and the

Cabinet Division's Conference Room.

Replying to a question, whether the

meeting discussed the war and its

impacts on Rooppur plant, being

built by Russia, the planning minister

said Bangladesh is against any war.

"The prime minister has clearly said

we are a peace-loving country. We

want peace," he added.

Though they are fighting, both the

countries are the friends of

Bangladesh, he said.

"Ukraine is our friend. And Russia

has been our friend for a long time.

We always recognise the Russian role

in our Liberation War. We had been

able to achieve independence despite

Protest against

price hike : BNP

men clash with

police in Savar

SAVAR : Over a dozen of BNP activists

were injured in a clash with police on

Dhaka-Aricha Highway in Savar on

Wednesday as the law enforcers allegedly

obstructed them from bringing out a

procession to protest the growing prices

of commodities, reports UNB.

Former MP BNP leader Dewan

Mohammad Salauddin said when the procession,

which was brought out from his

residence around 11am, reached Dhaka-

Aricha highway police dispersed the BNP

men. Police charged baton on the BNP

leaders and activists when they tried to hold

a sit-in programme in front of Rangaban

Nursery, alleged the BNP leader.

BNP convener Khandaker Shah

Mainul Hossain Biltu and Ashulia Thana

BNP leader Jahangir Alam were among

the injured, he said.

Kazi Mainul Islam, officer-in-charge

(OC) of Savar Police Station, said two

policemen were injured as BNP activists

threw brickbats on them.

Police detained two BNP activists and a

case will be filed, the OC added.

Earlier, BNP senior joint secretary general

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi alleged that

Awami League is increasing the prices of

commodities and utility services through

forming a syndicate. "The government

has no interest in controlling commodity

prices as they are busy in suppressing the

opposition party."

On February 24, BNP and its associate

bodies worked out an 11-day countrywide

programme, including demonstrations,

to protest the growing price hike of

key commodities and utility services.

The programmes were also taken to

push for the party's demand for the sale

of necessary commodities by the government

at fair prices at the upazila level.

Beginning on February 26, the programmes

will continue until March 15.

The fishermen

are catching

small fish with

a thick net

in at Char

Bijoy area that

have floated

in the bosom

of the Bay

of Bengal

adjacent to

Kuakata.

These nets

have been

kept all over

the place.

Photo: PBA

Dhaka, Riyadh "dynamic partnership" to reach new

height under inspired leadership : Saudi envoy

having many barriers due to their

bold role," he added.

Mannan said if there is fire, its heat

must be felt. "But the matter that

needs to be considered is whether the

heat is burning us or our body hair. I

still think that as of now we've not

reached that stage," he said.

Noting that Rooppur Power Plant is

being implemented completely under

a bilateral agreement, he said, its

equipment, machineries and manpower

were brought through airway

even during the Covid-19 lockdown in

the world.

"So, there is no reason that these

things can't be brought now. The

project still doesn't get the touch of

such wind (impact of the war)," said

the minister.

He said if the war lasts long in

Ukraine, the experts and scholarly

persons may assess whether there

would be any by-product impact of

the war on the project.

War leaves no impact on economy

yet:

In reply to another question over

the impact of war on the economy of

Bangladesh, he said the economy still

doesn't see the impact of the war as

well.

"As per my observation, still there is

no impact of the war here in our

country. But I can't say about tomorrow.

As of now, I'm not seeing it. Of

course, there is the heat of the

Ukraine war. But our economy doesn't

feel it adversely right now," said

Mannan.

DHAKA : Saudi Ambassador to

Bangladesh Essa Yussef Essa Al

Dulaihan on Wednesday said the

"dynamic partnership" and longstanding

relations between

Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia will

further flourish and reach to a new

height, reports UNB.

"My utmost priority is to work for

the betterment of the people of

Bangladesh, maintain the good relationship

and take it to a new height,"

he said while briefing the journalists

at the new premise of the Saudi

Embassy in Dhaka.

Every year, the ambassador said,

150,000 Bangladeshis travel to

Saudi Arabia in order to perform

Hajj.

"We hope that, insha'Allah, after

getting back to the new normal we

will be able to accommodate the

Bangladeshi pilgrims like past

years," Al Dulaihan said.

In terms of manpower export, the

Saudi envoy said, solid contacts

have been developed between Saudi

Arabia and Bangladesh, which benefits

Bangladesh economy and the

lives of the migrant workers' families

as well.

The people of Saudi Arabia also

deeply acknowledge the contribution

of Bangladeshi workers towards

the development of the Saudi economy,

he said, adding that for both

countries, it is a "win-win" situation.

More than 2.3 million Bangladeshi

labours are employed in Saudi

Arabia in diverse fields, said the

Saudi envoy.

Despite the fact that recruitment

has been reduced or halted as a

result of the pandemic, Saudi Arabia

continues to take manpower from

Bangladesh, and the flights between

the two brotherly countries did not

stop or even suspended, he said.

During the last five years, the

envoy said, Saudi Arabia has issued

more than 1.4 million work visas

and on November 1 last year, they

issued almost 8,500 work visas in a

single day.

Now they issue 4000 visas every

working day. "We hope to keep this

trend going."

The embassy issued last week

more than 38000 work visas with a

new record of 12300 issued in one

working day.

To combat the Covid-19 pandemic,

the ambassador said, Saudi

Arabia through King Salman

Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center

provided medical commodity worth

US$ 1 million including 23 ventilator

set and more than 1.5 million

vaccines for Bangladesh.

He said Bangladeshis in the

Kingdom also received necessary

medical treatment for free assistance

as part of the Kingdom's

efforts in confronting Covid-19 pandemic

and distinguished relationship

between the two brotherly

countries.

"We are pleased to report that several

universities throughout the

Kingdom have raised the number of

scholarships available to

Bangladeshi students besides

employing faculty members," the

ambassador said.

03-03-2022

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