26-10-2022

WEDNESDAY

DHAKA : October 26, 2022; Kartik 10, 1429 BS; Rabi-ul Awal 29, 1444 Hijri www.thebangladeshtoday.com; www.bangladeshtoday.net Regd. No. DA~2065, Vol. 20; No.158; 12 Pages~Tk. 12.00

INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ART & CULTURE

Former US fighter pilot

West Ham see

who worked in China

off Bournemouth

Bobby passing

arrested in Australia

amid VAR storm

busy time

Zohr

>Page 7

Cyclone Sitrang damages Cox's Bazar Beach. Along with the destruction, the road has been

dilapidated. The beach has lost its beauty and turned into a wasteland. Photo : TBT

Not before Jan,

officials say about

IMF’s $4.5 bn

loan to BD

DHAKA : The US$4.5 billion loan Bangladesh

is seeking from the International

Monetary Fund (IMF) is unlikely

to arrive before January next year,

according to officials familiar with the

negotiations.

An IMF team is due to arrive in

Dhaka on Wednesday to start formal

talks on the terms of the loan Bangladesh

has sought under the Washington-based

lender’s Resilience and Sustainability

Trust (RST), which helps

member countries ensure sustainable

growth. With Bangladesh almost certain

to get the loan for its budget support

speculations are rife on when the

disbursement will start.

Dr Ahsan H. Mansur, the executive

director of the private research institute

Policy Research Institute (PRI)

and a former official of IMF told UNB

on Tuesday, “IF the government accepts

the IMF’s conditions, then it is

possible to get the first installment of

the loan at the beginning of next year.”

But if the government shows more

sincerity in fulfilling the conditions,

then there is a chance to get the first

installment by the end of this year, he

said.

“The IMF delegation is coming to

Bangladesh. This time, they will discuss

the terms of lending. How soon

the loan will be available depends on

the team’s report,” he added.

Bangladesh Bank officials working

on IMF loan say the deal is expected to

be finalized by December and it may be

presented at the IMF’s board meeting

in January.

In this regard, Bangladesh Bank

Chief Economist Habibur Rahman

said, “The IMF delegation’s report will

be submitted to the IMF board. Then

the loan will be available.”

However, it is difficult to say when

the first installment of the loan will be

available, he said.

04:46 AM

11:48 PM

03:48 PM

05:28 PM

06:50 PM

6:00 5:25

Death count from Cyclone

Sitrang stands at 29

DHAKA : At least 29 people died in 11

districts across Bangladesh as Cyclone

Sitrang made landfall and crossed Barishal-Chattogram

coast on Monday, leaving

a trail of destruction.

According to reports reaching the

UNB desk from its correspondents in

Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Brahmanbaria,

Cumilla, Narail, Sirajganj, Bhola, Barguna,

Munshiganj, Noakhali and Gopalganj,

most of the casualties were caused

by falling trees since Monday morning

as Bangladesh experienced moderate to

heavy rain throughout the day.

In Chattogram, bodies of eight workers,

who went missing on Monday night

after a dredger sank in the Bay of Bengal,

were recovered from the sea off the coast of

Mirsarai on Tuesday. Five of the deceased

were identified as Mahmud Molla, Alamin,

Imam Molla, Abul Bashar and Tarek. They

were residents of Patuakhali district.

The sand lifting dredger—Saikat-2--

was anchored, with the eight workers on

board, in the sea around 1000 feet away

from the embankment in Bashundhara

area of the upazila. But it sank when

the storm triggered by Cyclone Sitrang

intensified around 10 pm on Monday,

said Md Kabir Hossain, officer-in-charge

(OC) of Mirsarai Police Station.

Mirsarai police and fire service divers recovered

the bodies from the sunken dredger

around 2pm on Tuesday, the OC added.

At Sitakunda in Chattogram, the body of a

seven-month-old girl child was recovered

from a shipyard in the Bay of Bengal near

Bangladesh is better than many

countries amid global crisis : Hasan

DHAKA : Information and Broadcasting

Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday

said Bangladesh’s people are living in

better condition compared to many other

countries as the government is running

the state appropriately despite the coronavirus

pandemic and ongoing global

crisis induced by war.

“We are better than many countries

since the government of Bangabandhu’s

daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

is running the country very appropriately

amid the Covid-19 pandemic and war situation

in the world,” he said.

The minister said this while speaking

as the chief guest at the Bangladesh Press

Council Award-2022 distribution ceremony

at Tatya Bhaban in the city’s Kakrail area

this evening. Citing a report of a vernacular

newspaper, he said that many people in the

United Kingdom (UK) remain starving for

several meal times nowadays, but by the

grace of the Creator, such situation is yet to

be happened in Bangladesh.

Hasan, also ruling Awami League

(AL) joint general secretary, said, “A few

months ago, everyone in the US has been

the Kadamarsul area on Tuesday morning,

said Mahbub, sub-inspector (SI) of Kumira

Naval Police. The body of the child was

swept into the shipyard by the strong tide of

the sea, he added. The body was later sent

to Chattogram Medical College and Hospital

(CMCH) morgue, the SI said.

In Cox’s Bazar, two people, including a

Myanmar national, died in Teknaf upazila

during the cyclone.

The deceased were identified as Myanmar

national Shouming, 71, a cook of a ship,

and Sohena, 9, a resident of the upazila.

Myanmar national Shouming died after

falling from the deck of the ‘Zabuaung’,

a ship carrying goods from Myanmar to

Teknaf port as the cyclone hit Bangladesh

coast last night, said United Land Port

Manager of Teknaf Land Port Md Jasim

Uddin Chowdhury. Police recovered the

body of Sohena,who went missing during

the storm, from a pond of the upazila, said

Hafizur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of

Teknaf Model police station.

In Brahmanbaria, a man died and his

wifewwas injured as a tree fell on their

house during the storm in Kasba upazila

early Tuesday, said Kasba Upazila Nirbahi

Officer (UNO) Md Masud Ul Alam.

The deceased was identified as Joynal

Abedin Bhuiyan, a resident of the upazila.

In Munshiganj, a 28-year-old woman

and her four-year-old daughter were

killed when a huge tree collapsed on them

while they were asleep on Monday night at

Kanakshar village in Louhajang upazila of

the district.

asked to be economic in using electricity

through SMSs”.

Noting that Germany has never had a

single minute of blackout since the World

War II, he said after the beginning of

Ukraine war, Germany started load shedding

and power rationing. There was no

power shortfall in Australia, the minister

said, but now there is load shedding in various

places of the country, including Sydney.

“But in our country, Mirza Fakhrul

jumps at and talks about anything happened

a little, and those, who love to identify

themselves as intellectuals, appear on the

screen of television talk-shows after 12.00

midnight, creating noise for ears,” he said,

asking them to take the global context into

their account.

Citing an example, Hasan said inflation

has reached 80 percent in Turkey while

30 percent in Pakistan and 7 to 8 percent

in India.Inflation was lower in Bangladesh

before, but it has become a little higher in

the last one or two months, which was widely

criticized in media, he said, calling upon

journalists to consider the global context in

their write-ups.

>Page 9 >Page 10

Dredger sinks in

Bay during cyclone

8 bodies recovered

CHATTOGRAM : Bodies of eight workers,

who went missing after a dredger

sank in the Bay of Bengal during cyclone

on Monday night, were recovered from

the Bay off the coast of Mirsarai in Chattogram

on Tuesday.

Five of the deceased were identified

as Mahmud Molla, Alamin, Imam Molla,

Abul Bashar, Tarek of Patuakhali district.

The dredger named Saikat-2 was anchored

with the eight workers on board

around 1000 feet off the embankment

in Bashundhara area of the upazila and

sank in the sea when Sitrang hit Bangladesh

around 10 pm, said Md Kabir Hossain,

officer-in-charge (OC) of Mirsarai

police station.

Mirsarai police and fire service divers

recovered the bodies from inside of

the sunken dredger around 2pm, the OC

added. Dredger manager Rezaul Karim

said six more dredgers were kept in the

area adjacent to the embankment in

Bashundhara area. “All the other workers

moved to safer places but the eight workers

of the dredger did not come,” he said.

Cyclone impact

Dhaka commuters

suffer amid traffic

jam, waterlogging

DHAKA : Different roads in Dhaka went

under water due to heavy rains triggered

by Cyclone Sitrang, causing traffic gridlock

that left no options for commuters

but to suffer terribly.

Md Omar Faruq, a meteorologist of

Bangladesh Metrological Department,

told UNB that 255 mm rains were recorded

in 24 hours till 6am on Tuesday.

As Sitrang hit the country’s coastal areas

on Monday night, nearly all parts of

Bangladesh including the capital experienced

heavy rains and storm that uprooted

trees or killed people and disconnected

power transmission lines.

City Corporation workers were seen

removing uprooted trees from Dhaka

roads in the morning.

Office-goers and others remained

stuck on roads for hours in the morning

as traffic movement was slow due to waterlogging.

Roads and alleys were submerged by

rainwater in different areas including

Uttarkhan, Dakkhinkhan, Bhatara, Mohammadpur,

Badda, Azimpur, Demra,

Jatrabari and Jurain.

Different places from Khilkhet to Abdullahpur

remained waterlogged and the

ongoing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project

work only added to the commute woes.

Buses and private vehicles remained

stuck in a long tailback from Hotel Le

Meridien to Dhaka Airport road area as

movement was very slow from Abdullahpur

area near Tongi due to BRT project

work in the morning.

Meanwhile, the road in front of Bangladesh

Navy Headquarters remained

waterlogged in the morning- creating

another tailback for commuters heading

towards Banani from Khilkhet area

through the flyover.

Rishi Sunak becomes UK

PM, faces economic crisis

LONDON : Rishi Sunak became Britain’s third

prime minister of the year on Tuesday and

now must turn his attention to taming an economic

crisis that has left the country’s finances

in a precarious state

and millions of Britons

struggling to afford

food and energy bills.

Sunak, the U.K.’s

first leader of color,

met at Buckingham

Palace with King

Charles III, who had

just accepted the resignation

of Liz Truss. In

Britain’s constitutional

monarchy, the monarch

plays a ceremonial

role in appointing

government leaders.

Sunak - at 42 the

youngest British leader

in more than 200

years - is expected to

immediately begin appointing a Cabinet and

getting to grips with an economy sliding toward

recession. The third Conservative prime

minister this year, he will also try to unite a

governing party that is riven with divisions.

Sunak was selected as leader of the governing

Conservative Party on Monday as it

tries to stabilize the economy, and its own

plunging popularity, after the brief, disastrous

term of Liz Truss.

‘Without accountability,

political transition in Myanmar

won’t fix Rohingya issue’

DHAKA : State Minister for Foreign Affairs

Md Shahriar Alam has said that in the absence

of justice and accountability, a political

transition in Myanmar will not fix the

Rohingya issue.

“That is why, this time around, accountability

must be ensured, justice must be delivered,

and impunity must not be allowed

by the international community to ensure

the return of Rohingyas to their homeland

Myanmar,” he said.

Alam was speaking at a high-level panel

discussion, titled “5 years of the Rohingya

Crisis: Renewed Pledges towards Justice

and Sustainable Returns”, organised at the

UK Parliament by Bangladesh High Commission

in London on Monday.

The state minister said each year, under

the generous patronage of Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh spends USD

1.22 billion on food, shelter, health, education

and skills development of the Rohingyas.

The cost is increasing while international

assistance is decreasing, he observed.

After five long years of hosting Rohingyas,

it is unjust that only Bangladesh will

continue to carry this burden, he said. “We,

therefore, call upon more Commonwealth,

Hindu community celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights, in the

capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country. The picture is taken

from Kali Mandir of Ramna park yesterday. Photo : Star Mail

Rishi Sunak

Truss departed after making a public statement

outside 10 Downing St., seven weeks to

the day after she was appointed prime minister

by Queen Elizabeth II, who died two days

later. Truss offered a

defense of her low-tax

economic vision and

her brief term in office

before being driven

from the prime minister’s

official residence

for the last time.

“I am more convinced

than ever that

we need to be bold and

confront the problems

we face,” she said. She

stood by the free-market

principles of “lower

taxes” and “delivering

growth,” despite

the market mayhem

triggered by her Sept.

23 budget package.

Truss wished Sunak success as Britain continues

“to battle through a storm.”

Sunak’s top priorities will be appointing

Cabinet ministers, and preparing for a budget

statement that will set out how the government

plans to come up with billions of

pounds (dollars) to fill a fiscal hole created

by soaring inflation and a sluggish economy,

and exacerbated by Truss’ destabilizing

economic experiments.

OIC members and western countries to join

the ICJ case by the Gambia, which will expedite

the justice for Rohingyas and facilitate

their early return,” Shahriar Alam said.

The state minister commended UK’s

diplomatic leadership at the UN Security

Council as a penholder on Myanmar

and hoped to see the UK explore

all available Council tools to enforce

accountability, justice and sustainable

returns of the Rohingyas.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of

State for the Middle East, South Asia and

the United Nations at the UK FCDO, Lord

Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, paid tribute to

Bangabandhu for his lifelong struggle to establish

peace and justice and lauded Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina for showing “incredible

generosity and humanity” to host

and protecting over a million Rohingyas.

Lord Ahmad reassured that the UK,

as a long-standing friend and partner,

would continue support to Bangladesh to

find a durable solution to the persisting

Rohingya crisis.

Why Joj Mia should

not be given adequate

compensation : HC

DHAKA : The High Court on Tuesday

issued a rule asking the authorities concerned

why adequate compensation

should not be given to Md Jalal alias Joj

Mia who was wrongfully tried in August

21 grenade attack case and spent five

years in jail without committing any

crime. The court also questioned why

his wrongful arrest, arrest warrant and

imprisonment will not be declared illegal.

The HC bench of Justice Mozibur

Rahman Mia and Justice Kazi Ejarul

Haque Akondo issued the rule during a

hearing on a writ petition filed seeking Tk

10 crore as compensation for Joj Mia.

Barrister Humayun Kabir Pallab appeared

for the petitioner while Deputy

Attorney General Arobinda Kumar Roy

represented the state during the hearing.

On September 12, Supreme Court

(SC) lawyer Humayun Kabir Pallab filed

the writ petition with the High Court.

The petition also sought formation of

a committee headed by a retired judge of

the Appellate Division to identify those

who had tried Joj Mia in a false case.

weDneSDAy, OCTObeR 26, 2022

2

Due to the impact of Cyclone Sitrang in Kutubdia, there has been extensive damage to various parts

of the upazila, especially the homesteads, crops, fish and cattle outside the embankment. The worst

damage was reported in Ali Akbar Dale and Koyarible Union.

Photo: Abul Kashem

Emir of Qatar likely to visit Bangladesh

to take ties to new height

DHAKA : Emir of Qatar is

likely to visit Bangladesh after

the FIFA World Cup

tournament as he is very keen

to take the bilateral relations

with Bangladesh to a new

height.

The Emir has accepted the

invitation from the President

of Bangladesh to undertake

the visit.

Ambassador of the State of

Qatar to Bangladesh Seraya

Ali Mahdi Saeed Al Qahtani

conveyed it to Foreign

Minister AK Abdul Momen

on Tuesday.

The Ambassador handed

over the official acceptance

letter from Qatari Emir to the

Foreign Minister for onward

transmission to the President

during a meeting held at

Minister Momen's office at

the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs.

He handed over a replica of

the FIFA World Cup to the

Foreign Minister.

Momen expressed

satisfaction at the state of

excellent bilateral

engagements between

Bangladesh and Qatar in

various fields including

political, economic, defense,

manpower and trade.

The second Foreign Office

Consultations (FOC) in Doha

last month took up for

discussion many pertinent

issues of mutual interests

including recruitment of

manpower including doctors,

nurses, engineers, and

technicians to Qatar,

enhancing the current 'quota

of supply' of LNG to

Bangladesh, Bangladesh's

willingness to contribute to

Qatar's food security through

direct supply of food grains

and agro-products,

enhancing bilateral trade and

Qatari investment in SEZs

and Hi-tech Parks of

Bangladesh and a sustainable

solution to the Rohingya

crisis.

The Qatari Ambassador

responded that Qatar side

was satisfied at the outcome

of the FOC and both sides

were working on the

arrangement of the exchange

of high level visit between the

two countries' leadership.

Recalling his old memories

in Qatar and with Qatari

leadership, the Foreign

Minister appreciated the

socio-economic

developments that took place

in Qatar during the last two

decades and Qatar's rapid

progress in transforming

itself to a modern, developed

and forward-looking country.

The Minister also expressed

gratitude to Qatar for hosting

a large numbers of

Bangladeshi nationals in

Qatar who have been

contributing to the socioeconomic

development of the

two countries.

He stated that Bangladesh

has set up 100 Special

Economic Zones where

Qatari investors could invest

and urged the Ambassador to

explore the opportunity to

invest in various sectors

including the LNG and Power

sector.

In reply, the envoy

commended Bangladesh's

quest for development and

peace in its strides for

economic emancipation

under the capable and

courageous leadership of

Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina.

The Foreign Minister also

appreciated the Qatari

leadership for the country's

smart preparedness in

hosting the World Cup

Tournament in Doha in

coming November this year.

He expressed hope that the

two countries would engage

efforts in making the

upcoming high level visit

successful.

The envoy conveyed his

eagerness to work more

closely with Bangladesh side

in the coming days.

750 new Dengue patients

hospitalised in 24 hrs, no

death reported

DHAKA : Another 750

patients were hospitalised

with dengue in 24 hours till

Tuesday morning.

Of the new patients, 494

were admitted to different

hospitals in Dhaka and 256

outside it, according to the

Directorate General of Health

Services (DGHS).

A total of 3,416 dengue

patients, including 2,224 in

the capital, are now receiving

treatment at hospitals across

the country.

This year's death toll from

the mosquito-borne disease

in Bangladesh rose to 118 on

Monday with five more

deaths reported from Dhaka,

Khulna and Mymensingh

divisions.

With this the Dengue death

toll from Dhaka rose to 70, it

stood at four in Khulna and at

three in Mymensingh.

The dengue death toll

remained unchanged at 36 in

Chattogram division and at

five in Barishal division.

The Directorate has

recorded 32,716 dengue cases

and 29,466 recoveries so far

this year.

Nine dead and 47

wounded in attack on

south Somalia hotel

MOGADISHU : Nine people

were killed and 47 wounded

Sunday in an attack on a hotel

in Kismayo, southern

Somalia, claimed by the Al-

Shabaab Islamist group, the

region's security minister

said.

The port city is the latest to

be hit following a recent

resurgence of attacks by the

Al-Qaeda-linked group,

which has mainly targeted the

capital Mogadishu and

central Somalia.

Sunday's assault began at

12:45 pm (0945 GMT) when

a booby-trapped car rammed

the entrance of Hotel

Tawakal. It ended around

7:00 pm after the attackers

were killed by security forces.

Among the casualties were

students leaving a nearby

school, Jubaland security

minister Yusuf Hussein

Osman told reporters. All four

attackers, including the

suicide bomber.

Nat'l moon sighting

committee meets today

DHAKA : A meeting of the National Moon

Sighting Committee will be held at Islamic

Foundation (IF) conference room in Baitul

Mukarram National Mosque today on the

moon sighting of Arabic month Rabius

Sani.

State Minister for Religious Affairs

Mohammad Faridul Haque Khan will

preside over the meeting to be held at 6pm

after the Magrib prayers, said a press

release.

If the moon of the holy month of Rabius

Sani is sighted anywhere in the sky of

Bangladesh, the people concerned have

been requested to inform through the

telephone numbers 02-223381725, 02-

41050912, 02-41050916 and 02-41050917

and send fax at 02-223383397 and 02-

9555951.

Or, they can contact with the Deputy

Commissioner of the respective district or

concerned Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO).

Due to the impact of Cyclone Sitrang, the tide in the sea has increased

and water is entering the locality through the barrage on Tuesday

morning.

Photo: Shibbir Ahmed Rana

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2022

3

DU VC Prof Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman inaugurated the 5th Bangladesh Robot Olympiad 2022

yesterday.

Photo : Courtesy

Inland water transport

operations resume as

Sitrang weakens

Dhaka: Inland water

transport operations resumed

on Tuesday morning after

being suspended for around

24 hours due to inclement

weather caused by cyclone

Sitrang.

Bangladesh Inland Water

Transport authority

(BIWTa) has ordered the

resumption of vessel

operations from 9.45am as

all the riverine ports now

come under local cautionary

signal number 1, said

BIWTa public relations

officer Mobarak hossain.

On Monday, at 10am,

BIWTa suspended the

operations of vessels on all

waterways across the

country. Sitrang crossed the

Barishal-Chattogram coast

near Bhola around midnight

on Monday but weakened

rapidly into a depression by

giving precipitation.

SC clears way for holding

Bangladesh Bank aD

recruitment test

Dhaka : The appellate

Division of the Supreme Court

(SC) yesterday cleared the

way for holding Bangladesh

Bank assistant director (aD)

recruitment test, which is

scheduled to be held on

October 28.

Justice M Enayetur Rahim

of appellate Division

Chamber Judge Court

yesterday stayed the October

23 high Court order that had

put the test on hold for one

month.

attorney General aM amin

Uddin took part in the hearing

for the state, while advocate

khan Mohammad Shamim

aziz argued for the central

bank. Barrister anik R haque

moved a petition filed in this

regard.

840 people were given shelter at Bangladesh Air Force Base Cox's Bazar on

Monday when the impact of cyclone Sitrang started. Photo : ISPR

Sightsavers and BBDN launch

new project

Recently Sightsavers and Bangladesh

Business and Disability Network

(BBDN) launched a project that falls

under the Futuremakers by Standard

Chartered initiative, which will support

youth with disabilities in the labour

market by providing them with

technical skills and employability

training, career guidance and job

placements. Sightsavers and BBDN, in

association with three local

organisations of people with

disabilities, Manikganj Disabled

People's Organization to Development,

Narayanganj

SadarUpazilaProtibondhiUnnayan

Parishad and Tangail Disabled Peoples

Organization to Development, have

started delivering the 18-month long

project from July 2022 in three

districts, Manikganj, Narayanganj, and

Tangail. By working under the

framework of Futuremakers by

Standard Chartered, Sightsavers and

BBDN will support 720 women and

men with disabilities to learn new skills

and improve their chances of securing a

job or starting their own enterprises,

without needing to relocate from their

homes.

Dr. Md. Mafizur Rahman, Managing

Director of SME Foundation graced the

national launching of Futuremakers as

No flooding, major damage in Bhasan Char,

Cox's Bazar Rohingya camps: OCha

Dhaka : No flooding or major damage

has been reported so far in the Rohingya

camps in Bhasan Char and Cox's Bazar

due to cyclone "Sitrang" that made landfall

in Bangladesh, says the United Nations

Office for the Coordination of

humanitarian affairs.

Cyclone "Sitrang" made landfall in

Bangladesh on October 24 with wind

speeds reaching up to 90 kilometres per

hour, OCha said in its weekly regional

humanitarian snapshot.

The UN, Red Crescent Movement and

national and international NGOs worked

closely with district commissioners from

low-lying coastal districts to mobilize

volunteers for early warning and

evacuation.

Warnings were issued for coastal

districts and maritime activities were

halted, while more than 219,000 people

evacuated to temporary storm shelters.

Relief operations have started with the

distribution of cash and dry food from the

government, according to the OCha.

although there is no official request from

the government for system-wide

international assistance, the humanitarian

community is working on the 72-hour

needs assessment, as well as coordinating

with their respective sectorial line

ministries to identify needs to inform the

the chief guest. ardashir kabir,

President of Bangladesh Employer's

Federation was present as a special

guest. Representatives from Standard

Chartered Bangladesh, Ministry of

Labour and Employment, Bangladesh

Bank, private employing companies,

organisations of people with disabilities

(OPDs) among others attended the

event.

When compared to their peers,

youths with disabilities are much less

likely to be employed or working in

appropriate conditions. The COVID-19

pandemic has made them even more

helpless, said amrita Rejina Rozario,

Sightsavers Bangladesh Country

Director in her opening remarks.

Speaking as the chief guest Dr. Md.

Mafizur Rahman said, "SME

Foundation prioritises women and

youth entrepreneurs in our

programming, and we will tie up with

Futuremakers by Standard Chartered

to identify areas of joint collaboration

especially identifying and providing

training to youth with disabilities in the

project districts."

Futuremakers by Standard

Chartered is the Bank's global initiative

to tackle inequality by promoting

greater economic inclusion across

markets. Futuremakers supports

response.

Bangladesh is hosting more

than 1.1 million Rohingyas in Bhasan Char

and Cox's Bazar Rohingya camps.

Graft case against

Mirza abbas to

continue

Dhaka : The appellate Division of the

Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed the

application for cancellation of a graft case

filed by the aCC against BNP's Standing

Committee member and former housing

and Public Works Minister Mirza abbas.

The appellate Division led by Chief Justice

hasan Foez Siddique passed the order

yesterday, stating that there is no obstacle to

continue the case against him in the judicial

court. after completing the hearing yesterday

the appellate Division fixed yesterday for

delivering the order.

aCC assistant Director Md Shafiul

alam filed the graft case against abbas at

Ramna police station on august 16,

2007, accusing him of acquiring assets

beyond known and concealing

information of Tk 33,48,581.

Earlier on November 11, 2018, the plea to

cancel the case was dismissed by the high

Court .

disadvantaged young people, especially

girls and people with visual

impairments, to learn new skills and

improve their chances of getting a job

or starting their own business. In 2021,

Futuremakers programmes reached

more than 304,000 young people, and

more than 849,000 young people

between 2019 and mid-2022 across 43

markets.

ardashir kabir said, even before the

COVID-19 crisis, young people in

Bangladesh were vulnerable in the

labour market and faced barriers in

their transition from education to

employment. Despite increased access

to education for youth, there remains a

mismatch between the skills that the

youth possess and the talents the

businesses need.

Utpal Mallick, Project Manager at

Sightsavers presented the keynote in

the event whereas ayon Debnath

from Sightsavers made a

presentation on Labour Market

assessment study report published

by Sightsavers. Golam kibria from

BBDN moderated a panel discussion

on creating employment

opportunities for persons with

disabilities. aziza ahmed, head of

Operations at BBDN concluded the

event with the vote of thanks.

Covid-19

Bangladesh

reports another

death, 185 cases

Dhaka : Bangladesh

reported another Covid-19-

linked death and 185 fresh

cases in 24 hours till

Tuesday morning.

The new figures rose the

country's total fatalities to

29,416 the caseload to

2,034,533, according to the

Directorate General of

health Services (DGhS).

The daily case test

positivity rate rose to 5.70

per cent from Monday's 4.65

per cent as 3,246 samples

were tested during the

period. The mortality and

recovery rates remained

unchanged at 1.45 per cent

and 97.25 per cent

respectively.

In September, the country

reported 40 Covid-linked

deaths and 13,251 cases.

Bangladesh-Vietnam

direct flights may

begin this year-end

Dhaka : Vietnamese budget

airline VietJet air plans to

start direct flights between

Vietnam and Bangladesh on

the hanoi-Dhaka route from

December 2022.

Initially, the operation will

start with chartered flights,

but there is a plan to start

regular flights in phases

based on passenger

demand, said Taslim amin

Shovon, director and CEO of

InnoGlobe Travel and Tours

Limited, the Bangladeshi

partner of Victoria Tour, at

an event in the capital on

Monday.

Besides, Vietnam's tour

operator company Victoria

Tour has also announced

various travel packages,

including visa processing, at

an affordable cost for

Bangladeshi tourists.

State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Enamur Rahman briefing

the journalists about cyclone Sitrang.

Photo : PID

Economic Ties

US Trade Show to demonstrate

commitment to support Bangladesh

Dhaka : US ambassador to

Bangladesh Peter D. haas will

inaugurate the three-day 28th US

Trade Show that will begin in the city

on Thursday demonstrating "US

commitment" to working in

partnership with Bangladesh.

The US Trade Show from October

27 to 29 will also demonstrate US

commitment to support Bangladesh's

continued growth and development,

economic diversification and

resilience to external shocks and

stressors, and support for an

economic development strategy that

adheres to the principles of broadly

shared prosperity for all.

The US Trade Show, to be held at the

Pan Pacific Sonargaon hotel, will

feature leading US companies in

Bangladesh, said the organizers at a

press conference on Tuesday.

It will also include US Embassy

seminars on US visas, higher education

opportunities in the United States,

USaID's activities supporting private

sector development in Bangladesh, and

intellectual property rights.

Quader asks aL men to stand

by cyclone victims

Dhaka : awami League General Secretary

Obaidul Quader on Tuesday urged the party

leaders and workers to stand by the people

badly affected by Cyclone 'Sitrang', claiming

that the Prime Minister Sheikh hasina's

government will always remain beside the

people, reports BSS.

he made this call while speaking at a press

briefing at his Secretariat office here.

Quader, also the Road Transport and

Bridges Minister said, BNP is a party whose

leaders have honey on their mouths but

poison in their hearts.

Commenting that the BNP leaders talk

about democracy but nurtures the practice of

looting and opportunity, he said the BNP

delivers the speaking of freedom but

patronises anti-liberation and communal

forces. The aL general secretary said the

BNP talks about the people's rights to vote

but the party held a voter-less polls on

February 15 in 2006 and enlisted about 1.25

crore fake voters during their regime.

Responding to the statements of the BNP

leaders, he said the aL had waged a

movement for the caretaker government to

establish the people's rights to vote and food

but the BNP at that time opposed it.

Quader said BNP chairperson khaleda Zia

then stated that none is impartial except

children and mad, but the BNP leaders are

now demanding that caretaker government.

The US Trade Show is organized in

partnership with the american

Chamber of Commerce (amCham) in

Bangladesh and will showcase the high

quality, innovative american goods

and services U.S. businesses offer in

Bangladesh.

Over 40 exhibitors operating in

Bangladesh, including in the energy,

banking and financial services, food

and beverage sectors, and more, will

display the products and services of US

brands.

This year's Trade Show is particularly

significant because it is the first US

Trade Show in Dhaka held in person

since the start of the COVID-19

pandemic.

It also falls during the 5oth

anniversary year of US-Bangladesh

bilateral relations, said the US Embassy

in Dhaka.

The United States is ranked as the top

export destination for Bangladeshi

products, and two-way trade between

the United States and Bangladesh

totaled $10.64 billion in 2021.

During the Trade Show, the US

Claiming that the BNP has stigmatized the

caretaker government system, he said, "Why

are they going backward now. actually BNP is

not farsighted but it is backward-looking one.

Opposing blindly is the only tool of BNP".

about the BNP's take-back, the minister

said the BNP's take-back means spike of

arson terrorism and corruption by hawa

Bhaban-khuab Bhaban. "The BNP leaders

now talk about electricity and foreign

reserves. Do they have no shame?" he

questioned. Quader said those who plunged

the country into darkness during their

regime when there was constant power

shortfall, are talking about electricity .

Blaming the BNP leaders, he said the

country's people have not yet forgotten the

cheating of BNP as they were deceived by

providing poles in the name of electricity.

The aL general secretary said there is no

shortage of power generation in the country

but there is a crisis of fuel which is prevailing all

over the world. "There was not such crisis

before. The government has brought cent

percent of the country under the electricity

coverage - but the government is still making

all efforts to resolve the energy crisis," he said.

Quader said the BNP leaders are busy in

criticising the government blindly without

understanding the existing global

situation, while they talked about the

foreign reserve.

Embassy will host four informational

seminars.

On Thursday at 3:00pm, the US

agency for International Development

(USaID) will lead a discussion on

USaID in Bangladesh: Supporting

Economic Growth and Engaging the

Private Sector.

On Friday, at 3pm, US Embassy

Dhaka Consular Officers and

Education USa advisors will

provide a joint presentation on the

free consultative education services

provided by the U.S. Embassy

through its Education USa

advising Centers across

Bangladesh, as well as the student

visa application process for study

abroad in the United States.

Following this session, US Embassy

Consular Officials will discuss the

process for applying for US visas,

including business, investor, and work

visas at 4:30pm.

On Saturday, at 4:30pm, Embassy

officials will join a panel presentation

seminar on intellectual property rights'

impact on cross-border business.

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter D. Haas will inaugurate the three-day 28th US Trade Show that

will begin in the city on Thursday demonstrating "US commitment" to working in partnership with

Bangladesh.

Photo : UNB

WeDneSDay, ocToBer 26, 2022

4

Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam

e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com

Wednesday, october 26, 2022

Health threat

from diabetes

The World Diabetes Day is observed in

Bangladesh regularly or anually. This

year's Day was observed on Wednesday.

Different programmes were carried out on

the occasion such as discussion meetings,

seminars, rallies, etc. But the observance of

days such as these are more rituals. The

same do not have so much of enduring

impact at the field level where so much

should be done to build barriers against this

most disease.

Diabetes does not kill quickly. Therefore,

people feel complacent to be proactive to

stop it from finding a foothold in one's body

or to treat it with great earnestness. But both

attitude can be fatal in the medium and

longer term. First of all unregulated diabetes

can reduce human vitality, curb their contribution

to working hours. Ultimately,

patients with the affliction may turn out to

be a liability in the medical, physical and

economic sense for their families and society

as a whole. Thus, the best course is to prevent

diabetes from finding a berth in the

body and if it is already entrenched then to

keep it under firm control.

But it is worryingly noted that the number

of sufferers from diabetes have soared in

Bangladesh in recent years. It was reported

on Wednesday that there are some 8 million

identified sufferers from diabetes in

Bangladesh.

However, the real number of total sufferers

could be greater in the background of the

disease not getting detected in so many

cases. Besides cases of juvenile diabetes is

also spreading fast, something unthinkable

even a decade ago. Indeed, diabetes appears

to be the single biggest health threat in

Bangladesh nowadays. People with diabetes

are seen to be increasing faster in number

in Bangladesh compared to other major diseases.

A country like Bangladesh with its modest

national health budget and meager resources

available at individual and family levels,

needs to concentrate more on the preventive

sides of diabetes so that people do not

acquire this serious health problem in the

first place and to train up the ones who get

the disease to keep it under control. If this is

done, then the expenditure of resources on

diabetes related illnesses can be reasonable

and diabetic patients can continue to lead

useful and productive lives.

Diabetes prevention involve eating more

healthfully, becoming more physically active

and losing a few extra pounds - and it's never

too late to start. Making a few simple

changes in lifestyle now may help one to

avoid the serious health complications of

diabetes down the road, such as nerve, kidney

and heart damage.

The first rule to prevent and control diabetes

is regular physical activity. Exercise

can help one to lose weight, lower blood

sugar and to boost sensitivity to insulin

which helps to keep blood sugar within a

normal range. Research shows that aerobic

exercise can help control diabetes, but the

greatest benefit comes from a fitness programme

that includes both aerobic exercises

and exercising with weights.

Foods high in fiber include fruits, vegetables,

beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds.

Regular consumption of these can help to

ward off diabetes in the first place or to control

the same if already developed.

Diabetes related information in

Bangladesh require regular and focused dissemination

in the mass media more so to

create greater awareness as diabetes is posing

as a serious and spreading health concern

in the country. As it is, such publicities

are only intermittent when the media needs

to campaign on a daily basis to alert people

about the disease.

A new era of paramilitary supremacy in Iraq

The actual occupant of the post,

Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani, is a

nobody with zero parliamentary

support who is entirely beholden to those who

placed him in power. There are excellent

reasons why hundreds of thousands of Iraqis

brought Baghdad to a halt in August over Al-

Sudani's candidacy.

In 2010, when Al-Maliki was prime

minister, he appointed Al-Sudani minister of

human rights - at a time when there were no

human rights to administer. During this black

phase of Iraq's history, Al-Maliki co-opted

militia forces such as Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haq, the

Mukhtar Army and the Imam Ali Brigades to

embark on bloody sectarian purges and to

assassinate journalists, activists and political

opponents. Al-Maliki weaponized the

judiciary against his enemies and purged

Sunni fighters who had risked their lives

combating terrorist groups.

As chairman of the commission for de-

Baathification, Al-Sudani assisted Al-Maliki

in purging hundreds of Sunnis and political

rivals from administrative roles. The Iraqi

Commission of Integrity estimated that $500

billion was corruptly siphoned off from the

Iraqi budget during Al-Maliki's tenure, much

of which went toward funding paramilitary

violence.

Such were the industrial-scale crimes

against human rights and interfaith

coexistence on Al-Maliki and Al-Sudani's

watch that, in 2014, Iraq disintegrated

altogether and much of the country became a

playground for the twin plagues of Daesh and

Al-Hashd Al-Sha'abi militias, which took

crimes against humanity to entirely new

levels of horror and cruelty.

As prime minister, Al-Sudani (a longstanding

member of Al-Maliki's Dawa party)

will be solely accountable to Al-Maliki and his

paramilitary Hashd allies who brought Iraq

back to the brink of civil war in their dogged

Adashboard at Cape Canaveral in Florida,

USA, shows the liftoff of a rocket carrying

South Africa's first homemade

nanosatellites on January 13, 2022. (Cape

Peninsula University of Technology/Twitter)

FILE - A dashboard at Cape Canaveral in

Florida, USA, shows the liftoff of a rocket

carrying South Africa's first homemade

nanosatellites on January 13, 2022. (Cape

Peninsula University of Technology/Twitter)

What will Africa look like by 2050? Will the

present tale of missed opportunities persist? Or

will the continent become a superpower

securing a pole position in the new race to reach

new frontiers of technology and of our

imagination? Will, it, for instance, become a

leading space-faring continent?

Today's forecasts paint a dire picture of the

continent's future. Conflict. Poverty.

Unemployment. The plagues of yesterday

creep into tomorrow. On the face of it, there

appears to be little reason to expect a miracle -

a sudden awakening that could herald the rapid

transformation that Singapore and South

efforts to secure his candidacy.

A large part of the blame for this disaster for

Iraqi democracy lies at the door of Muqtada

Al-Sadr, who until recently had the single

largest bloc in parliament. Had Al-Sadr

possessed a degree of patience and political

acumen, he could have overcome the Hashd's

blocking efforts and reached an

understanding with the Kurds, Sunnis and

independents to form a government. Instead,

he threw the mother of all political tantrums,

pulled his supporters out of parliament and

allowed the Hashd to acquire most of the

seats he vacated.

It initially seemed as if Al-Sadr possessed a

winning strategy, as he flooded the Green

Zone with his supporters in a bid to block Al-

Sudani's candidature and force early

elections. However, he then staged one of the

most humiliating climbdowns in modern

political history after Tehran coerced Al-

Sadr's theological superior, Ayatollah Kadhim

Al-Haeri, into withdrawing his support.

With both Al-Sudani and Rashid such weak

and malleable figures, it is clear who is

intended to govern Iraq next.

We should not discount the extreme levels

of bad blood between Al-Maliki and the

Sadrists, which at times has escalated into

assassinations and bloodletting among each

other's foot soldiers. In July, a recording was

leaked in which Al-Maliki, among other

insults, denounced Al-Sadr as "a hateful

Zionist." Temporarily reduced to enraged

BarIa aLaMUDDIn

impotence, Al-Sadr is probably biding his

time so that his next move inflicts maximum

damage on an Al-Maliki-brokered

administration.

Blame for this debacle also lies with the

Kurdish and Sunni political factions. They

know very well that Al-Maliki and the Hashd

have hostile anti-democratic ambitions for

Iraq, but they have allowed themselves to be

divided and bought off cheaply at the cost of

Iraq's sovereignty. While the Kurdistan

Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of

Kurdistan jostle over trivial appointments,

they risk losing Iraq altogether.

as prime minister, al-Sudani (a long-standing member

of al-Maliki's Dawa party) will be solely accountable to

al-Maliki and his paramilitary Hashd allies who brought

Iraq back to the brink of civil war in their dogged efforts

to secure his candidacy.

Korea, for instance, have gone through in the

past six decades.

Yet this pessimistic narrative has obvious

consequences. It scares investors. It

demotivates African expatriates who might

otherwise have considered returning home.

Most critically, it robs African youth of a chance

to dream of a better life right here on the

continent. All of this perpetuates a vicious cycle

where a presumption of future failures denies

Africa the opportunities and resources it needs

to truly deliver on the potential of its 1.2 billion

people - in turn reinforcing prejudices about

the continent.

In my new book, From Africa to Mars, I

counter this negative narrative. From Africa to

Mars tells the story of a technologically

advanced African continent that takes on a

seemingly impossible challenge: flying to Mars

within a decade. However, myriad challenges

arise causing the world to wonder: "Will they

make it on time?"

I sent an early version of the manuscript to a

friend based in the United Kingdom. When he

MoMo BerTranD

Former President Barham Salih was widely

seen as a trusted pair of hands. His successor,

Abdul Latif Rashid - an independent Kurd

whose main claim to fame is having once been

water resources minister - will struggle to

emerge from Salih's shadow. With both Al-

Sudani and Rashid such weak and malleable

figures, it is clear who is intended to govern

Iraq next. However, Al-Sudani is already

struggling to put together a Cabinet, amid

reports of fierce rivalry between Hashd

faction leaders over who gets to benefit from

key posts.

With the Hashd hemorrhaging popular

support over the past year, Tehran worries

about the future electability of its Iraqi

puppets. Hence, plotting is certainly already

afoot for how the next elections can be

undermined - either by preventing them

occurring at all or by seeking to dominate the

read through it, he noted that it felt somewhat

utopic. I asked him whether Iron Man or

Wonder Woman felt utopic too. He said no.

"It's Westerners. Flying cars. Lasers.

Interstellar travel. They can do all that," he said,

pausing and cocking his head before adding,

"Would you ever get on a rocket built by an

African?"

He probably meant it as a joke but his query

showed just how much the cancer of

stereotypes has metastasised. We live in a

world where tales of African genius are not just

missing, they are discouraged and

subconsciously banned.

A few years ago, I was working on a

communications campaign in Burkina Faso.

Our goal? To encourage youth in the capital,

Ouagadougou, to train for STEM careers. I

crafted a series of illustrated posters on the

outcomes of science and engineering studies.

In one poster, a child started as an electrician

and ended up as a space engineer. When I

shared the poster with colleagues, one sent a

reply that left me utterly shocked.

aftermath.

The worst fears for Iraq are being realized

and matters are set to deteriorate as militias

seek to reinforce their already unwieldy

presence at every level of this administration

in order to exact control and extract every last

corrupt dinar of public money. Outgoing

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi had

acted as a vital bulwark against Hashd

preeminence. Over the coming weeks, watch

these militias make a bonfire of his legacy.

Yet, at this moment of apparent victory,

these Hashd militias are looking nervously

over their shoulders. To the east of Iraq, for

the past five weeks a nationwide uprising has

been gaining momentum. Tens of thousands

of brave Iranian girls and women are burning

their hijabs and calling for the downfall of the

hated ayatollahs and Revolutionary Guard

commanders who control the Hashd.

The Iraqi Hashd and all Iran's other client

militias are living on borrowed time. Maybe

not this year, but sometime soon, enough

courageous Iranians will take to the streets to

erase their hated tyrant regime once and for

all. At that moment, the Hashd, Hezbollah

and the Houthis should ensure that their bags

are packed and plane tickets purchased;

because once their Iranian masters have been

vanquished, nobody will be there to protect

them from public wrath for the damage they

have wreaked upon their respective

homelands' sovereignty, stability and identity.

Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning

journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East

and the UK. She is editor of the Media

Services Syndicate and has interviewed

numerous heads of state.

Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning

journalist and broadcaster in the Middle

East and the UK. She is editor of the Media

Services Syndicate and has interviewed

numerous heads of state.

People thought Corbyn and I would crash the pound;

The real risk was Truss and her fanatics

We knew the markets would react

sharply to us and were prepared

for that. These free-market

zealots had no plan at all

London's Evening Standard newspaper,

with the headline "Pound hits all-time low

in backlash at Kwasi tax cuts" on display

outside the Bank of England

Watching the events since the

introduction of the "Not a Budget", I have

sat with my head in my hands. You could

almost weep for the lasting consequences

of this show of arrogance, ideological

obstinacy and incompetence. People's

homes, pensions and the public services

they rely upon are all now at serious risk.

It's hard to comprehend just how badly

they misjudged the situation and how little

they prepared for taking over the highest

offices of state.

In his brilliant book The Great Crash,

1929, the economist JK Galbraith advises

that to avoid a crash in the future you

should put in place a vast range of

institutional protections, but that the most

important protection is memory.

My first Labour party conference was in

1976 in Blackpool, when the Labour

chancellor, Denis Healey, burst into

conference amid boos and cheers to

announce the acceptance of an IMF loan to

prop up the government after a run on

sterling. The conditions of the loan were

interest rate hikes, cuts in public spending

and wage controls. The effect was to see

support for the Callaghan Labour

government drain away, over the next

three years, heralding the Thatcher era.

That experience was burned into my

psyche. So, when I became shadow

chancellor, I made it clear that I would

plan for every option - including a run on

the pound - if we were elected. At the time

I was accused of making a serious faux pas,

but I wanted the markets to know that we

had a serious plan for our economy

whatever was thrown at us.

Although I thought there would be some

initial turbulence in the markets, I didn't

believe that there would be a run. I toured

the City intensively to gauge what the true

reaction to the election of the Labour party

would be. Meeting numerous asset

managers and financial advisers, I

explained that there were many things in

our programme that they may not like,

including some renationalisations and tax

rises on the wealthiest, for instance; but

they were going to happen and there was

so much more on investment that would

give them real investment opportunities.

The response I got was that although

they definitely didn't like some of our

JoHn McDonneLL

policies, as long as there was certainty and

predictability they could live with it. They

could price in our policies into their

calculations and we would be able to

establish a working relationship. As long

as there were no major surprises, they

could understand our sense of general

direction and would not sabotage our

programme.

I had a team of advisers from the City

and with experience of working with me to

plan our steps into government and our

ongoing relationship with the market. We

received a weekly briefing from a

respected investment consultancy in the

How ironic that it should be a duo of free-market fanatics, Liz

Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, who would end up causing a run on the

pound. The 40-year neoliberal experiment has failed, and the

reaction from the markets to the last desperate attempt to save it by

Truss and Kwarteng has demonstrated that investors know it too.

City.

I also regularly met Mark Carney at the

Bank of England to brief him on our

programme and get feedback. We had a

very constructive and open working

relationship and I listened carefully to his

views. Before the elections I met with Tom

Scholar, the Treasury permanent

secretary, and his team to prepare for our

first budget and to commission the

necessary report from the Office for

Budget Responsibility. I found Scholar to

be a first-rate professional, very much in

the mould of Maurice Stonefrost, who I

worked with and served my

apprenticeship with at the Greater London

council.

How ironic that it should be a duo of freemarket

fanatics, Liz Truss and Kwasi

Kwarteng, who would end up causing a run

on the pound. The 40-year neoliberal

experiment has failed, and the reaction from

the markets to the last desperate attempt to

save it by Truss and Kwarteng has

demonstrated that investors know it too.

Unless wiser heads in the Tory party

prevail and there is a dramatic change of

course or change of personnel at the top of

this government, we face the prospect of

possibly two years of staggering from one

crisis to another with a relentless

deterioration in our economy, and the

potential for deep societal division leading

to outbreaks of large-scale protest,

perhaps even degenerating into riot.

People may not have agreed with my

aims or with Labour's programme at the

time, but I did not want anyone to be able

to accuse us of lack of preparation or

incompetence. My team and I were

genuinely ready for government.

You'll forgive me, I hope, for considering

what could have been.

John McDonnell has been the

Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington

since 1997. He was shadow

chancellor from 2015 to 2020

Will Africa send the first human to Mars?

She remarked that it was impossible for a

child in Burkina Faso to become a space

engineer. I informed her that the West African

nation was already building its first satellite,

Burkina Sat-1. Hence, there was no reason why

a Burkinabe child couldn't join the country's

nascent space programme.

Indeed, Africa's space sector is reaching new

heights. In January 2022, South Africa made

history by launching three nanosatellites that

were the first to be wholly designed and

produced on the African continent. Cocoa

farmers in Ghana will soon be able to receive

agricultural advice thanks to the SAT4Farming

initiative, a programme that leverages satellite

imagery to monitor environmental conditions

in the country. Angola's second

telecommunications satellite, Angosat-2,

launched last week.

Momo Bertrand has extensive working

experience in the United States, Europe, and

Africa. He currently serves as a Young

Professional (YP) at the World Bank.

WEDnESDay, oCtobEr 26, 2022

5

amanDa SCHuPaK

Who chooses what you eat? If your answer is "I do," you're

partly right. You may buy your own groceries and order your

own restaurant meals, but it's the food industry that

determines what is stocked on store shelves and listed on

menus.

"The institutions all around us affect food choice," said

Matthew Hayek, assistant professor of environmental studies

at New York University. Your choices are whittled down by

what's in the supermarket, your workplace or school canteen,

the restaurants in the strip mall on your way home, he said.

That means that for people who want to reduce the carbon

footprint of their diets, the greenest option isn't always on the

table. Or if it is, it isn't the most appetizing or convenient.

What we eat has an enormous environmental impact.

Scientists estimate that food production causes 35% of

planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, with meat

responsible for more than twice the pollution of fruits, grains

and greens.

In April, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

(IPCC) report urged world leaders, especially those in

developed countries, to support a transition to sustainable,

healthy, low-emissions diets to help mitigate the worst effects

of the climate crisis.

But the burden can't rest on individuals making personal

food choices, experts stress - producers, retailers, restaurants,

workplaces and government must help make plant-based

foods convenient, enticing and tasty.

Eating less meat is one of the most meaningful changes

people can make to curb greenhouse gas emissions, help

reduce deforestation and even decrease the risk of pandemiccausing

diseases passing from animals to humans, according

to the IPCC report.

The shifts needn't be extreme. Adopting a healthy

Mediterranean-style diet - rich in grains, vegetables, nuts and

moderate amounts of fish and poultry - could be nearly as

effective as going vegetarian or vegan, the report found. If

everyone met basic nutritional recommendations, which for

most people in developed countries means more fruit and veg

and less red meat, emissions could fall 29% by 2050,

according to one study.

"But it's hard for people to change their diets," said Caroline

Bushnell at the Good Food Institute, a non-profit that

advocates for plant-based and cultured meat.

Consumers often say they're motivated to eat more

healthily and more sustainably. But if given the choice

between a dish that's better for the planet but not especially

appetizing, and a mouth-watering, meat-heavy option, people

tend to listen to their gut, not their conscience.

It's like offering someone the choice between fries and a side

salad, Bushnell said. "Most people don't pick the side salad -

it's not really an equivalent option." GFI wants large food

manufacturers and processors to "change how the foods that

people love are made", she said. "Instead of advocating for

behavior change, we approach it from a supply side angle."

Big meat companies and consumer food brands are

Choose a climate-friendly

diets to make a difference

Scientists estimate that food production causes 35% of greenhouse gas emissions, and meat is

responsible for more than twice the pollution of plants.

Photo: Getty Images

banking on plant-based proteins and lab-grown meat to help

them respond to a growing appetite for more climate-friendly

foods and to cut their own emissions. McDonald's is testing

out the McPlant, while Burger King sells Impossible

Whoppers and its UK arm is aiming for half of its menu to be

plant-based by 2030. Ikea has promised the same in its

restaurants by 2025.

Perdue makes hybrid chicken-veggie nuggets for kids and

Tyson, which now calls itself a "protein" company, has

launched its own brand of plant-based products. Last year

JBS, the world's largest meat producer, acquired a cultivated

meat startup and plans to start selling lab-grown steaks,

sausages and hamburgers in 2024.

With more products to sell, retailers, too, need to push nonanimal

proteins. The UK's largest supermarket chain, Tesco,

for example, set a five-year goal to increase sales of plantbased

proteins by 300%.

Getting customers to put plant-based alternatives in their

shopping carts starts with placing those products next to

things they're alternative to, Bushnell said - meat-free burgers

near the ground beef, vegan cheeses among conventional

goudas and mozzarella - rather than relegating them to a

specialty section.

Placement in the refrigerated section was crucial to

bringing alternative milks mainstream. The tactic was

pioneered in the 1990s by the founder of Silk, who started

packaging his company's soy milk in traditional milk cartons

and persuading grocery stores to stock them in the dairy case.

Now cow milks mingle with a bevy of nut and grain milks and

90% of alternative milk sales come from the fridge rather than

the shelf-stable aisle.

The infiltration of alternative protein companies into

supermarket real estate has not been without pushback,

however. Several states, with pressure from farm

associations, have passed laws restricting the use of words

such as "burger", "sausage" and "hotdog" on plant-based

products, on the basis they could mislead customers. A

similar law was voted down in the EU, though the bloc still

prohibits labeling vegan products with dairy names.

"Consumers are not confused," Bushnell said. "They don't

think when they buy a plant-based hotdog it's a beef hotdog,

but they understand how to use it."

In 2020, the research non-profit the World Resources

Institute released a report looking at the most effective ways

to encourage people to eat less meat based on the psychology

of food choices. One of the strongest conclusions, the

researchers wrote, was "that decision-making around what to

eat is rarely a rational and carefully thought-through

process". People crave familiarity and are influenced by subtle

physical and linguistic cues.

The report advises those in the food industry to offer more

plant-based options, make them taste good and make them

sound good. While fried chicken is "crispy" and burgers are

"juicy", menus often describe plant-based options as

"healthy", "vegan" or "meat-free" - none of which, research

shows, makes people want to order them.

Using language to evoke flavor and mouthfeel (rather than

healthfulness or ethics) makes people substantially more

likely to order a vegetarian meal. When the cafes of UK food

retailer Sainsbury's renamed their meat-free sausage and

mashed potatoes "Cumberland spiced veggie sausage and

mash", sales shot up 76%.

Other linguistic nudges can promote veg options by

highlighting their environmental benefits. Among the most

effective messages in WRI's research were calls for people to

be part of something already happening: "90% of Americans

are making the change to eat less meat. Join this growing

movement." Or they were easy to understand comparisons:

"swapping just one meat dish for a plant-based one saves

greenhouse gas emissions that are equivalent to the energy

used to charge your phone for two years."

"Both of those are all about making an inconsequential

choice a bit more consequential," said Sophie Attwood, a

senior behavioral scientist at WRI.

It also helps, Attwood said, to put vegetable options at the

top of the menu and interspersed with, rather than segregated

from, meat dishes. Studies have found making vegetable

meals the default choice makes people many times more

likely to order them.

Companies and institutions can lower their emissions by

offering more plant-based meals. "They are the most

important changes that an organization can make. What are

you serving? What's the ratio of vegetarian to meat-based

dishes?" said Edwina Hughes, head of WRI's cool food

program, which has pledges from more than 50 organizations

to reduce the climate impact of their food by 25% by 2030.

Car tyres cause significant pollution

DamIan CarrInGton

Almost 2,000 times more

particle pollution is

produced by tyre wear than

is pumped out of the

exhausts of modern cars,

tests have shown. The tyre

particles pollute air, water

and soil and contain a wide

range of toxic organic

compounds, including

known carcinogens, the

analysts say, suggesting

tyre pollution could rapidly

become a major issue for

regulators.

Air pollution causes

millions of early deaths a

year globally. The

requirement for better

filters has meant particle

emissions from tailpipes in

developed countries are

now much lower in new

cars, with those in Europe

far below the legal limit.

However, the increasing

weight of cars means more

particles are being thrown

off by tyres as they wear on

the road.

The tests also revealed

that tyres produce more

than 1tn ultrafine particles

for each kilometre driven,

meaning particles smaller

than 23 nanometres. These

are also emitted from

exhausts and are of special

concern to health, as their

size means they can enter

organs via the bloodstream.

Particles below 23nm are

hard to measure and are

not currently regulated in

either the EU or US.

"Tyres are rapidly

eclipsing the tailpipe as a

major source of emissions

from vehicles," said Nick

Molden, at Emissions

Analytics, the leading

independent emissions

testing company that did

the research. "Tailpipes are

now so clean for pollutants

that, if you were starting

out afresh, you wouldn't

even bother regulating

them."

Molden said an initial

estimate of tyre particle

emissions prompted the

new work. "We came to a

bewildering amount of

material being released

into the environment -

300,000 tonnes of tyre

rubber in the UK and US,

just from cars and vans

every year."

There are currently no

regulations on the wear

rate of tyres and little

regulation on the chemicals

they contain. Emissions

Analytics has now

determined the chemicals

present in 250 different

types of tyres, which are

usually made from

synthetic rubber, derived

from crude oil. "There are

hundreds and hundreds of

chemicals, many of which

are carcinogenic," Molden

said. "When you multiply it

by the total wear rates, you

get to some very staggering

figures as to what's being

released."

The wear rate of different

tyre brands varied

substantially and the toxic

chemical content varied

even more, he said,

showing low-cost changes

were feasible to cut their

environmental impact.

"You could do a lot by

eliminating the most toxic

tyres," he said. "It's not

about stopping people

driving, or having to invent

completely different new

Emissions from tailpipes in developed countries are much lower in new

cars, with those in Europe far below the legal limit. Photo: Jacob King

tyres. If you could eliminate

the worst half, and maybe

bring them in line with the

best in class, you can make

a massive difference. But at

the moment, there's no

regulatory tool, there's no

surveillance."

The tests of tyre wear

were done on 14 different

brands using a Mercedes C-

Class driven normally on

the road, with some tested

over their full lifetime.

High-precision scales

measured the weight lost

by the tyres and a sampling

system that collects

particles behind the tyres

while driving assessed the

mass, number and size of

particles, down to 6nm.

The real-world exhaust

emissions were measured

across four petrol SUVs, the

most popular new cars

today, using models from

2019 and 2020.

Used tyres produced 36

milligrams of particles each

kilometre, 1,850 times

higher than the 0.02

mg/km average from the

exhausts. A very aggressive

- though legal - driving style

sent particle emissions

soaring, to 5,760 mg/km.

Far more small particles

are produced by the tyres

than large ones. This

means that while the vast

majority of the particles by

number are small enough

to become airborne and

contribute to air pollution,

these represent only 11% of

the particles by weight.

Nonetheless, tyres still

produce hundreds of times

more airborne particles by

weight than the exhausts.

The average weight of all

cars has been increasing.

But there has been

particular debate over

whether battery electric

vehicles (BEVs), which are

heavier than conventional

cars and can have greater

wheel torque, may lead to

more tyre particles being

produced. Molden said it

would depend on driving

style, with gentle EV drivers

producing fewer particles

than fossil-fuelled cars

driven badly, though on

average he expected

slightly higher tyre particles

from BEVs.

Dr James Tate, at the

University of Leeds'

Institute for Transport

Studies in the UK, said the

tyre test results were

credible. "But it is very

important to note that

BEVs are becoming lighter

very fast," he said. "By

2024-25 we expect BEVs

and [fossil-fuelled] city cars

will have comparable

weights. Only high-end,

large BEVs with high

capacity batteries will

weigh more."

Other recent research has

suggested tyre particles are

a major source of the

microplastics polluting the

oceans. A specific chemical

used in tyres has been

linked to salmon deaths in

the US and California

proposed a ban this month.

"The US is more

advanced in their thinking

about [the impacts of tyre

particles]," said Molden.

"The European Union is

behind the curve. Overall,

it's early days, but this

could be a big issue."

rICHa Syal

Blankets of thick gritty haze

and ominous orange skies

since early April have sent

thousands to hospitals and

resulted in at least four deaths

in Iraq and in Syria.

The apocalyptic scenes have

affected everyone. Hospitals

in Syria have been on standby

for residents unable to

breathe. Iraq forced schools

and offices to close in some

provinces, and on 16 May

declared a state of emergency.

In the Gulf states, flights were

halted in Kuwait, and both

Saudi Arabia and the United

Arab Emirates issued dust

storm alerts.

"The increasing frequency

of dust storms means more

problems, more loss of life

and property, and more

destruction," said Nasim

Hossein Hamzeh, a

researcher specialising in

dust projects at the Air and

Climate Technology

Company in Iran.

Dust and sand storms are

an

atmospheric

phenomenon, representing

one of the most severe, if

underrated, natural hazards

in dry regions. In the Middle

East, they frequently cover

arid and semi-arid land,

typically in late spring and

summer. This year has been

especially severe, experts say.

They have come far earlier

than normal, and are

spreading across a much

wider area.

"It is very concerning. Dust

Dust storms devastating

the Middle East

storms do not just impact one

country or specific location in

the world and can have farreaching

consequences

globally," said Muge Akpinar-

Elci, dean of the school of

public health at the University

of Nevada.

Dust particles can travel

thousands of kilometres. All

that is needed to trigger a

storm is wind, a source of dust

where there is little to no

vegetation, and dry

conditions. One of the most

common routes in the region

is when strong north-westerly

winds, known as shamal,

push cold air through the dry

and sandy soil areas of Iraq,

picking up dust between the

Tigris and Euphrates rivers,

and carrying it along to the

Arabian peninsula. This year,

the storms stretched to Saudi

Arabia over other Gulf states,

as well as cloaking parts of

Jordan.

Northern Iraq has been

particularly exposed,

witnessing a sandstorm

nearly every week since

March. In May, Issa al-

Fayyad, the director general

of the technical department

for the Ministry of

Environment, said the

country faced an average of

272 dust storms a year. He

predicts that it will grow to

300 days of dust a year by

2050, and warns that climate

change is the key factor in the

increase.

Mohammed Mahmoud, the

director of the climate and

water programme at the

Middle East Institute, warns,

similarly, that the once rare

occurrence will only be more

frequent as the climate crisis

increases aridity and warms

the already dry region, while

altering weather patterns to

create more storms.

"Just look to the sky. If the

visual of dark orange

apocalyptic skies isn't

enough, it's the net impact of

these multiple dust storms

happening in rapid order," he

said.

Riyadh, the capital of Saudi

Arabia, has been in dust

storms for more than 35 days

in the first four months of

2022, while the highest

number of days with dust

storms in the past four years

was 48 days in 2019,

according to the Royal

Commission for Riyadh City.

For Manna Alwadei at the

department of environmental

health at the Imam

Abdulrahman Bin Faisal

Heavy dust storm advances towards the shore in Kuwait City on 23 may.

University in Saudi Arabia,

"this year could be one of the

worst for Saudi Arabia, as

they occur more frequently

than before".

The consequences are

relentless. Alwadei's own father

was hospitalised due to asthma

exacerbated by the storms.

Impacts range from respiratory

illness to reducing crop yields

to lowering property values to

steering foreign workers away

from polluted places.

According to the United

Nations, dust storms cost the

region's economy $13bn

(£10.3bn) a year.

Given that storms can carry

harmful pollutants, exposure

to sandstorms can cause a

myriad of health problems. A

series of storms in May sent at

least 5,000 people in Iraq to

the hospital with breathing

issues, and led to the death of

one, the health ministry

spokesperson Seif al-Badr

said. Three others had died in

the eastern Syrian province of

Deir ez-Zor, the Associated

Press reported.

"The impact of dust storms

exceeds regional and

continental boundaries," said

Akpinar. "So this is not

somebody else's problem, this

is everyone's problem."

Photo: noufal Ibrahim

WeDNeSDAy, OCTOBeR 26, 2022

6

Digital certificates and smart ID cards have been distributed among valiant Freedom Fighters, at

Adamdighi, Bogura.

Photo: Soikat Khan

One more Covid-19

patient dies in Rangpur

RANGPUR:

One more

Covid-19 patient died during

the last 24 hours ending at 8

am today in Rangpur

division, reports BSS.

Health officials said the

new Covid-19 related

casualty was reported from

Dinajpur district raising the

total number of fatalities to

1,293 in the division.

Meanwhile, one fresh

Covid-19 case was diagnosed

after testing 17 samples at

the 5.88 positivity rate on

Monday. "With the diagnosis

of one new case, the total

number of Covid-19 patients

rose to 64,937 in the division,"

Divisional Director (Health,

In-charge) Dr Md Habibur

Rahman said. The total

number of recovered Covid-

19 patients remained steady

at 63,579 as no more

infected patients healed

during the last 24 hours in

the division.

At the same time, more

4,203 doses of Covid-19 jabs

were administered as the

first, second and booster

doses on Monday raising the

number of inoculated

vaccines to three crore 33

lakh 18 thousand and 981

doses in the division.

"Among the total

administered Covid-19 jabs

so far, 1,41,64,600 doses

were inoculated as the first

doses, 1,32,55,870 as the

second doses and 58,98,511

as the booster doses," Dr

Rahman said.

Man held with

2.15-Kg heroin

in Rajshahi

RAJSHAHI:

Members of

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)

in an anti-crime drive

detained an alleged drug

peddler with 2.15 kilograms of

heroin from a village in the

district last night, reports BSS.

The detainee was

identified as Mamun Mian,

35, son of Tunu Mian in

Baroghoria Bazar area

under Sadar upazila in

Chapainawabganj district,

RAB sources said yesterday

morning. On a tip-off, a

team of the elite force

conducted a raid in Abhoya

Kamarpara village under

Godagari upazila at around

8:30 pm and held him with

the contraband item.

The person along with the

seized goods was handed

over to Godagari Model

Police Station with a case.

3 members of a family

killed in Cumilla

CUMILLA: Three

members of a family were

killed after a tree fell on them

during the storm in

Nangalkot upazila of the

district last night, upazila

nirbahi officer (UNO) Md.

Raihan Mehbub confirmed

to BSS.

The deceased were

identified as Nizam Uddin,

28, his wife Sathi Akhter, 24,

and daughter Liza, 4.

The UNO said the tree fell

on a house at Hesakhal village

of the upazila around 9pm,

leaving the three members of

the house seriously injured.

Village police members forms

human chain in Joypurhat

MASRAKUL ALOM, JOyPURHAT CORReSPONDeNT:

The village police members organized a

human chain program in Joypurhat as a

central program to demand the

nationalization of the job of the law and

order-maintaining village police force of the

Union Parishad under the Ministry of Local

Government. Around 300 village police of all

union parishads of the district participated in

an hour-long human chain in front of the

office of the district commissioner on

Tuesday afternoon.

Bangladesh Village Police Force

Employees Union Joypurhat District Branch

President Elias Hossain, Vice President

Ruhul Amin, General Secretary Delowar

Hossain, Joint General Secretary Saiful

Islam, Organizing Secretary Dilip Kumar

and Women Affairs Secretary Rasheda

Begum and other leaders spoke during the

human chain movement.

The speakers in the human chain said that

the village police are recognized employees

of the republic. The members of the village

police engaged in law and order

maintenance at the marginal village level

perform 24-hour duty in about 70 types of

work under the government's instructions.

But we are deprived of fair value according to

labor.

A Daffadar of village police gets a salary

of only 7 thousand taka, and a Mahalladar

gets 6 thousand 500 taka. Local

Government Ministry bears 50 percent of

this salary and Union Parishad bears 50

percent from its own income. Among

these, even if we get the 50% from the

government in time, we do not get the

other 50% in time. We are living really

abysmal life due to the price hike in daily

amenities and our salary being due.

That's why we are demanding the

nationalization of our job to the government.

Under the leadership of the president of

Bangladesh Village Police Forces Workers

Association Joypurhat Branch, Elias

Hossain, a manuscript was given to Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina through District

Commissioner MD Shariful Islam.

The village police members organized a human chain program in Joypurhat as a

central program to demand the nationalization of their job. Photo: Masrakul Alom

Sunamganj Deputy Commissioner Md. Jahangir Hossain inspected the land

and houses provided as a gift from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the

landless and homeless families in the Adar Bazar area of Sunamganj Sadar

Upazila yesterday. Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Salma Parveen, Assistant

Commissioner Mohan Minji, Rangarchar UP Chairman Abdul Hai and other

dignitaries of the area were present in the inspection. Photo: AK Milon

Three including cops killed in Tangail road accident

TANGAIL: Two police constables and an accused of a case were killed and two others

injured when a microbus hit a truck from behind in Madhupur upazila of the district on

Monday night, reports BSS.

The deceased were identified as constables Nurul Islam and Sohel Rana of Narayanpur

Police Outpost in Jamalpur Sadar upazila and accused Lalan Mia. The accident occurred

on the Tangail-Jamalpur highway in Golabari area of the upazila around 8:30pm when the

policemen were returning to Jamalpur with accused Lalan after conducting his DNA test

in Dhaka, said sub-inspector (SI) of Madhupur Police Station Morshed Alam. Two died on

the spot, he said. The injured were taken to Madhupur Upazila Health Complex where

accused Lalan succumbed to his injuries. Seriously injured sub-inspector Azizul Islam and

the driver have been sent to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital for better treatment,

he added.

Freedom

Fighters get

smart ID cards

SOIKAT KHAN, ADAMDIgHI

CORReSPONDeNT:

Digital certificates and smart

ID cards have been

distributed among the best

children of the nation,

valiant Freedom Fighters, at

Adamdighi, Bogura. At 11

o'clock on Tuesday, digital

certificates and smart ID

cards were distributed

among 254 valiant Freedom

Fighters at Upazila Parishad

premises.

Digital certificates have

also been distributed

among 173 heirs of the

deceased freedom fighters.

Under the chairmanship of

Upazila Nirbahi Officer

Tuktuk Talukdar, Awami

League President and

Upazila Parishad

Chairman Sirajul Islam

Khan Raju officially

handed over these digital

certificates and smart ID

cards to the valiant

Freedom Fighters as the

Chief Guest.

Member of Bogura Zilla

Parishad and President of

Upazila Mahila Awami

League Manju Ara Begum,

Police Station Officer-in-

Charge (OC) Rezaul Karim

Reza, Vice President of

Upazila Awami League Abu

Reza Khan, Upazila Former

Commander Abdul Hamid,

Former Deputy Commander

Abir Uddin Khan,

Chatiangram Union Council

Chairman Abdul Haque Abu

were present in the

program.

Dredger capsized

during Sitrang

PATUAKHALI: Bodies of

eight workers, who went

missing after a dredger

sank in the Bay of Bengal as

Cyclone Sitrang hit the

coastal districts Monday

night, were recovered from

the Bay off the coast of

Mirsarai in Chattogram on

Tuesday, reports UNB.

Five of the deceased were

identified as Mahmud Molla,

Alamin, Imam Molla, Abul

Bashar and Tarek. They all

are from Patuakhali district.

The sand lifting dredger

(Saikat-2) was anchored,

with the eight workers on

board, in the sea around

1000 feet away from the

embankment

in

Bashundhora area of the

upazila and sank in the sea

during the storm triggered

by Cyclone Sitrang around

10 pm last night, Md Kabir

Hossain, officer-in-charge

(OC) of Mirsarai Police

Station, said.

Mirsarai police and fire

service divers recovered the

bodies from the sunken

dredger around 2pm, the

OC added. Dredger manager

Rezaul Karim said six more

dredgers were kept in the

area adjacent to the

embankment

in

Bashundhara area. "All the

other workers managed to

evacuate to a safe place

following the cyclone, but

the eight workers of the

dredger Saikat-2 did not

return."

Owner gets back his stolen

Smartphone

MAMUN MOLLA, CHUADANgA CORReSPONDeNT:

The police recovered the stolen mobile

phone of a young man in a smart operation

of Jibannagar police station through the allout

efforts of Chuadanga District

Superintendent of Police Abdullah Al

Mamun. Samrat (18), son of Sohag of

Dangapara under Jibannagar municipality,

went to work as a mason in Karpasdanga on

September 18, when his newly purchased

mobile phone was stolen. After searching in

different places, the mobile phone was not

found.

In such a situation, a general diary was

made on the matter after taking notice of the

Jibannagar Police Station. No. 902 dated

18/09/2022 Eng. In light of this, the matter

came to the attention of Chuadanga District

Police Superintendent of Police Mr.

Abdullah Al Mamun. He gave the

responsibility to Mr. Abdul Khalek and SI

Sajjad, Officer-in-charge of Jibannagar

police station, to solve it seriously. SI Sajjad

was able to recover the mobile phone with

the help of cyber crime team and

information technology of the district police.

Later, when Samrat, the owner of the stolen

mobile phone was shown the phone in the

light of GD, he identified it as his mobile

phone. At this time, in the presence of Mr.

Abdul Khalek, Officer-in-Charge of

Jibannagar Police Station, OC Investigation,

SI Sajjad and other officers, the mobile

phone was handed over to the owner.

The owner and his family members

expressed their sincere gratitude to the

Superintendent of Police.

Abdullah Al Mamun as the District

Superintendent of Police in Chuadanga has

earned a place of trust in the hearts of the

people by accomplishing several

achievements.

Notable among these are uncovering the

mystery of the murder of a sensational

businessman and his wife in Alamdanga, rearresting

the accused who escaped from the

court with handcuffs, arresting smugglers

with gold bars and recovering hundreds of

stolen mobile phones and returning them to

their rightful owners, including effective role

in suppressing drug terrorism and various

crimes in the district. He continues to be a

proud police officer.

Rightful owner Samrat gets back his stolen smarphone by the help of SI

Abdullah Al Mamun.

Photo: Mamun Molla

One arrested for raping a

70 year old woman

MASUDUL HASAN MASUD, BHUAPUR CORReSPONDeNT:

In Tangail's Bhuapur, a 70-year-old woman

was raped by a neighbor who called her for

work and held her hands and face in the

cowshed saying that her wife was not at

home. In this incident, on Monday morning,

Abdur Rashid, the brother of the old woman,

filed a rape case against the accused against

a person named

Ibrahim (45) at the

Bhuapur police station.

Police arrested him

later in the afternoon.

Earlier on October 13 in

Gabsara Union of

Upazila, the incident

took place in Jamura's

remote pasture area of

Megharpatal village.

The accused is the

son of Ibrahim Ashar

Ali. He is the father of

one son and one

daughter. According to

the complaint, the

accused Ibrahim came to the woman's house

at 9 am on October 13 and said that his wife

was not at home. Later, when he went home,

Ibrahim asked her to sweep the cow dung

and yard. The old woman was sweeping the

barn after cleaning the cows. At one point,

Ibrahim entered the cowhouse, threw her on

the ground, held her hands and face and

forcibly raped her. Later he threw her out of

the house. On his way out of there to his

house, she met a neighbor woman on the

road and informed him about the incident.

Then she went home and told her son's wife

the details of the incident.

Her brother Rashid informed the

community leader and the matabbars about

this. Later, instead of trying to mediate in a

domestic manner, they quarreled. The

victim's family did not get

justice in the arbitration.

The nephew of the old

woman Abu said that the

village arbitration was held

5 days after Ibrahim's

family was informed. The

arbitrators did not settle

and agreed to sit another

day. Ibrahim's family,

being brilliant, managed

the Matabbars. Confirming

this fact, local UP member

Alam Sheikh said, after

hearing the unfortunate

incident, I ask the victim's

family to take legal recourse

and I am assisting them as a public

representative.

In this regard, Bhuapur police station

officer-in-charge (OC) Mohammad Faridul

Islam said that the accused person Ibrahim

was arrested and sent to Tangail court after

getting the initial facts of the incident. And

the woman has been sent to Tangail General

Hospital for medical examination.

Bodies of eight workers, who went missing after a dredger sank in the Bay of Bengal were recovered

from the Bay off the coast of Mirsarai in Chattogram on Tuesday.

Photo: UNB

WedneSdAy, OCTObeR 26, 2022

7

Australia has arrested a former US Marine Corps fighter pilot following a request from Washington, officials in Canberra said Tuesday, as

Western governments scrambled to investigate reports that China has been poaching retired military personnel.

Photo : Internet

11 children killed in

school fire outbreak

in central Uganda

KAMPALA : Eleven children

were killed Tuesday in a

school fire outbreak in the

central Ugandan district of

Mukono, police said.

A police statement issued

here said the tragic incident

occurred at Salama School

of the Blind at about 1 a.m.

local time.

"The cause of the fire is

currently unknown but so

far 11 deaths as a result of the

fire have been confirmed

while six are in critical

conditions and admitted at

Herona Hospital in Kisoga,"

the statement said.

School fires are common

in Ugandan schools. The last

fire was in January when

four children died in a fire

outbreak in a school in

Kampala, Uganda's capital.

In 2018, at least nine

students were killed in a fire

that broke out at a high

school in central Uganda.

Before the 2018 incident,

another fatal school fire

happened in 2008, killing 19

pupils at Budo Junior

School in the Wakiso district

in the central region.

Meta confirms

WhatsApp outage,

working to restore

service

PARIS : US tech giant Meta

confirmed a global outage

was affecting its messaging

service WhatsApp on

Tuesday and said it was

working to restore the app

"as quickly as possible".

"We're aware that some

people are currently having

trouble sending messages

and we're working to

restore WhatsApp for

everyone as quickly as

possible," a Meta

spokesman told AFP.

Problems with the hugely

popular service were

reported by monitoring site

Downdetector and user

complaints on social media

on Tuesday morning.

Downdetector said

thousands of WhatsApp

users had been reporting

problems since 0717 GMT,

with a sharp spike

appearing on its dedicated

chart covering the past 24

hours.

Social media users said

they were unable "I think all

of us will have to

acknowledge that the Brits

have done something very

rare in the world, to place a

member of a visible

minority in the most

powerful office," he said.to

connect to the app or send

messages.

WhatsApp's parent

company Meta suffered an

unprecedented major

outage last year.

Former US fighter pilot who

worked in China arrested in

Australia

SYDNEY : Australia has arrested a former

US Marine Corps fighter pilot following a

request from Washington, officials in

Canberra said Tuesday, as Western

governments scrambled to investigate

reports that China has been poaching retired

military personnel, reports BSS.

Daniel Edmund Duggan appeared in court

in New South Wales on Friday, judicial

records show.

"An individual was arrested on 21 October

2022 pursuant to a request from the United

States of America for their provisional

arrest," the Australian attorney general's

department said in a statement.

"As the matter is before the courts, it would

not be appropriate to comment further."

Duggan is scheduled to appear in court

again in November.

Under a treaty with Australia, the United

States has 60 days following the arrest to

apply for Duggan's extradition.

Duggan ran a business called Top Gun

Australia, which billed itself as the country's

"premier adventure flight company".

On the company's web page, Duggan

described himself as a "former US Marine

Corps officer of over 12 years".

"As a highly trained fighter pilot, he flew

harrier jump jets off of aircraft carriers

tactically around the globe," the website

read.

Duggan has also worked in China.

Australia launched an investigation last

week into what its defence minister called

disturbing reports that China has been hiring

retired Western air force pilots to train its

military.

The British government has said it will take

"decisive steps" to stop Beijing from

headhunting former pilots after local media

reported more than 30 had accepted offers

worth upwards of o240,000 ($273,750) to

train China's air force.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday rebuilding Ukraine was a

"generational task" that must start immediately, even as Russia's invasion

rages on.

Photo : Internet

Rebuilding Ukraine a

'generational task' that

begins now: Scholz

BERLIN : German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

said on Tuesday rebuilding Ukraine was a

"generational task" that must start

immediately, even as Russia's invasion rages

on.

"What is at stake here is nothing less than

creating a new Marshall Plan for the 21st

century-a generational task that must begin

now," Scholz said as he opened an

international reconstruction conference for

Ukraine in Berlin.

Scholz said that rebuilding Ukraine

marked a "challenge for generations" but one

that also provided a chance to modernise its

infrastructure.

The task is "one that will require the

combined strength of the entire

international community but it is also an

opportunity for generations to come if we get

it right", he said.

Speaking at the same event, European

Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen

called the scale of destruction in the warravaged

country "staggering", with the

World Bank estimating the toll of the

damage at 350 billion euros ($345 billion).

"This is for sure more than one country or

one union can provide alone," she said. "We

need all hands on deck."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

was also addressing the one-day conference

hosted by the German government, via video

link.

He appealed to international supporters to

cover his country's $38-billion budget hole

for 2023, saying such assistance was

essential if Ukraine is to get back on its feet.

"At this very conference we need to make a

decision on assistance to cover the next

year's budget deficit for Ukraine," he said.

Biden calls Sunak rise

to UK prime minister

'groundbreaking'

WASHINGTON : President

Joe Biden called the choice

of Rishi Sunak as Britain's

first non-white prime

minister "groundbreaking"

Monday and the White

House said he'd reach out

in the near future to

congratulate the new

leader.

"It's pretty astounding, a

groundbreaking milestone

and it matters," Biden said

at a White House

celebration of the Indian

Diwali festival.

The White House said

that Biden was following

protocol by not calling and

officially

congratulating

Sunak, who is of Indian

descent, until he meets

with King Charles III on

Tuesday to get the goahead

to form a

government.

"President Biden looks

forward to speaking with...

Sunak in the upcoming

days and to our continued

close cooperation with the

United Kingdom," Press

Secretary Karine Jean-

Pierre said.

30 dead in Papua

New Guinea island

violence: police

PORT MORESBY : Thirty

people have been killed

and several more have

been injured in a wave of

intercommunal violence

on Papua New Guinea's

remote Trobriand Islands,

police said Tuesday.

The long-simmering

dispute between two local

football teams on sparsely

policed Kiriwina Island

first flared earlier this year

in the wake of the

country's general election,

Provincial Police

Commander Peter Barkie

told AFP.

When residents of three

villages stormed a

government office

Monday, police and "even

church elders could not

contain the fight and we

recorded 30 deaths and

several many injured", he

said.

Barkie said things "got

out of hand" after the

recent "destruction of food

gardens".

Additional forces are

now being sent from the

mainland.

The Trobriand Islands

are a group of low-lying

atolls in the South Pacific,

known for their ornate

coral gardens that produce

bananas, yams and taro.

In recent years, they

have struggled with a

growing population and

changing climate, which

has made harvests more

difficult.

Video games could improve

kids' brains: study

WASHINGTON : Parents often worry about

the harmful impacts of video games on their

children, from mental health and social

problems to missing out on exercise.

But a large new US study published in

JAMA Network Open on Monday indicates

there may also be cognitive benefits

associated with the popular pastime.

Lead author Bader Chaarani, an assistant

professor of psychiatry at the University of

Vermont, told AFP he was naturally drawn

to the topic as a keen gamer himself with

expertise in neuroimagery.

Prior research had focused on detrimental

effects, linking gaming with depression and

increased aggression.

These studies were however limited by

their relatively small number of

participants, particularly those involving

brain imaging, said Charaani.

For the new research, Chaarani and

colleagues analyzed data from the large and

ongoing Adolescent Brain Cognitive

Development (ABCD) Study, which is

funded by the National Institutes of Health.

They looked at survey answers, cognitive

test results, and brain images from around

2,000 nine- and ten-year-olds, who were

separated into two groups: those who never

played games, and those who played for

three hours or more a day.

This threshold was chosen as it exceeds

the American Academy of Pediatrics screen

time guidelines of one or two hours of video

games for older children.

Each group was assessed in two tasks.

The first involved seeing arrows pointing

left or right, with the children asked to

press left or right as fast as they could.

They were also told to not press anything

if they saw a "stop" signal, to measure how

well they could control their impulses.

In the second task, they were shown

people's faces, and then asked if a

subsequent picture shown later on matched

or not, in a test of their working memory.

After using statistical methods to control

for variables that could skew results, such

as parental income, IQ, and mental health

symptoms, the team found the video

gamers performed consistently better on

both tasks.

As they performed the tasks, the children's

brains were scanned using functional

magnetic resonance risks by using

concessional financing from its managed

trust funds comprising a loan of up to $20

million from the Australian Climate Finance

Partnership funded by the Australian

Government (ACFP); a loan of up to $5

million from the Clean Technology Fund

(CTF); and a grant of up to $3 million from

the Climate Innovation and Development

Fund, funded by Goldman Sachs and

Bloomberg imaging (fMRI). Video gamers'

brains showed more activity in regions

associated with attention and memory.

"The results raise the intriguing possibility

that video gaming may provide a cognitive

training experience with measurable

neurocognitive effects," the authors

concluded in their paper.

Right now it's not possible to know

whether better cognitive performance

drives more gaming, or is its result, said

Chaarani.

Singapore announced Tuesday it aims to achieve carbon neutrality by

2050, giving a firm date for the first time, and will look at using hydrogen

as a major power source.

Photo : Internet

Singapore targets net zero by

2050, eyes hydrogen power

SINGAPORE : Singapore announced

Tuesday it aims to achieve carbon neutrality

by 2050, giving a firm date for the first time,

and will look at using hydrogen as a major

power source.

The city-state targets for carbon emissions

to peak in 2030 at 60 million tonnes, a

reduction of five million tonnes from the

previous goal, Deputy Prime Minister

Lawrence Wong said.

The Southeast Asian nation also has plans

to look at developing low carbon hydrogen as

a major power supply in the long term.

"If technology continues to advance, we

foresee that hydrogen can supply up to half

of our power needs by 2050, alongside

domestic renewable energy sources and

electricity imports," Wong said at an

industry conference.

He added that Singapore would

experiment with key hydrogen technologies

to see how it can be implemented on a large

scale.

"We do not have the land for large solar or

wind farms, or fast flowing rivers for hydroelectric

power," said Wong, the country's

prime minister in waiting.

Green hydrogen is in sharp focus as

governments seek to slash carbon emissions

amid global warming and to safeguard

energy supplies hit by the invasion of

Ukraine by oil and gas producer Russia.

But the "hydrogen economy" has not fully

kicked into gear awaiting significant uptake

from high-polluting sectors like steel and

aviation.

"Many hydrogen technologies are still

under development, and a global supply

chain has yet to be established," the

Singapore government said in a statement.

"Nevertheless, there has been strong

interest internationally from the public and

private sectors to accelerate the

development," it added.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said

the low-lying island nation is especially

vulnerable to rising sea levels and defending

it from the threat is "existential".

India's Modi congratulates incoming

UK PM Rishi Sunak

NEW DELHI : Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi congratulated incoming

British premier Rishi Sunak on Monday on

winning the contest to become the leader of

Britain's Conservatives.

Sunak, 42, is the first British Asian to

become prime minister. He is married to an

Indian, Akshata Murty, the daughter of the

co-founder of IT giant Infosys.

"Warmest congratulations @RishiSunak !

As you become UK PM, I look forward to

working closely together on global issues,

and implementing Roadmap 2030," Modi

tweeted, referring to a plan for deepening

ties in trade and other areas.

He added: "Special Diwali wishes to the

'living bridge' of UK Indians, as we transform

our historic ties into a modern partnership."

Diwali is the Hindu festival being

celebrated on Monday. The "living bridge"

refers to ties between Indians in India and

people of Indian origin in other countries.

Sunak was born in Southampton, England.

His parents were born in east Africa and his

grandfathers were from pre-independence

Punjab in northern British India.

Indian newspapers have been closely

following Sunak's leadership bid, in the same

way as when Indian-origin figures-like

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella- become high

achievers abroad.

Alongside coverage of India's victory over

Pakistan at the cricket World Cup, front

pages on Monday reported that the "Indian

origin" Sunak was the frontrunner to replace

Liz Truss.

The prospect of someone with Indian roots

becoming prime minister of Britain-India's

colonial master until 75 years ago-also

enthused Indians on social media.

Shashi Tharoor, an opposition Indian

lawmaker and a fierce critic of British

colonialism, tweeted on Monday that Sunak

winning would be a welcome achievement.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2022

8

Chattogram AOTS Alumni Society (CAAS) organized a program on the occasion of '50 years of

Bangladesh-Japan Diplomatic Relations' at Radisson Blu Hotel, Chittagong on October 22, 2022. Ito

Naoki, Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh was present in the program as the chief guest and Ali

Hussain Akbar Ali, Chairman of BSRM was present as the special guest. Professor Dr. Md. Salim Uddin,

FCA, FCMA, Chairman, Executive Committee of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited and Professor of

Accounting Department, University of Chittagong presented an article titled "Contribution of Japan in

sustainable development of Bangladesh". Dr. Salim said that Japan played a vital role in attaining the

independence and post-independence development of Bangladesh. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

Rahman visited Japan and took various steps for development of bilateral relationship. He elaborated

the role of Japanese Embassy, JICA, JBIC, JETRO in increasing the record amount of Foreign Direct

Investment (FDI) in various sectors including infrastructure development and industrialization of

Bangladesh. Even after the Holey Artisan attack, Bangladesh-Japan bilateral relations remained warm.

It proves that Japan is a real friend of Bangladesh. Presided over by Engineer A U M Jubair, the program

was also addressed by Ichiguchi Tomohide, Chief Representative, JICA Bangladesh, Yuji Ando,

Country Representative of JETRO and Dr. AKM Moazzem Hossain, Advisor of AOTS. Photo : Courtesy

Social Islami Bank Limited (SIBL) opened its 177th branch at Domar, Nilphamari recently. Dr. Md.

Mahbub Ul Alam, Chairman of SIBL, was present as chief guest while Zafar Alam, Managing Director

and CEO of the Bank, presided over the program. Among others, Md. Shamsul Hoque, Deputy

Managing Director, Salim Reza, Panel Mayor of Domar Pourasava, Md. Shahriar Khan, Head of

Rajshahi Zone, Md. Moniruzzaman, Head of Marketing and Brand Communication and Saif Al-Amin,

Head of BC & GBD, bank officers, local businessmen, journalists, and dignitaries were also present at

the event. Manager of Domar Branch Md. Kabirul Islam expressed thanks & gratitude at the end of

the program.

Photo : Courtesy

NSU students to benefit from

MoU with Nagad

Mobile financial service of the

Post Office Nagad and leading

educational institution

North-South University will

operate a series of

programmes under a

memorandum

of

understanding (MoU) for the

benefits of the university's

students, a press release said.

The MoU was signed by

NagadFounder and

Managing Director Tanvir A

Mishuk and NSU Vice-

Chancellor Professor Atiqul

Islam at the NSU campus on

Tuesday.

As per the MoU, the NSU

students will be able to know

about internship and working

opportunities at Nagad.They

will also get the opportunity

to work jointly with Nagad in

preparing their thesis papers

that would include pragmatic

research.

Nagad Limited, too,will

carry out different

programmes and hold job

fairs on the NSU campus and

the university will publish

those news items on its

websites and social media

platforms and share with

different clubs of the

university.

Nagad and the university

will conduct leadership

training and research to

contribute to women

empowerment and gender

equity and build industryacademiapartnership.

Under

the deal, the two parties will

offer leadership certificate

programme and jointly work

to prepare its curriculum and

accomplish the overall task.

Nagad Executive Director

Maruful IslamJhalak,

Mohammad Aminul Haque,

Nagad's Chief Business

Officer Sheikh Aminur

Rahman, Chief Sales Officer

Md Shihab Uddin

Chowdhury, Director at HR

and Administration

department Shaharear

Sayeed, Solution and

Implementation Division

head ShovanSamaddarand

high officials from

Nagadwere present at the

signing ceremony.

Pro Vice-Chancellor of

North South University

Professor Dr. Ismail Hossain,

Professor Dr. Mohammad

Khasro Miah, Director of

Public Relations Jamil

Ahmed and Job Counsellor

from the Career and

Placement Centre Sadia

Sultana were also present

there.

About the MoU, Vice-

Chancellor of North South

UniversityProfessor Atiqul

Islam said, "Our students are

working all across the world

with dignity. I feel delighted

after listening that all the

Nagad higher management

personnel are alumni of

North South University. We

hope that this MoU will help

our present students and they

will be benefited from the

agreement. In future, we can

provide some other facilities

to our students with such

initiatives."

Nagad's Founder and

Managing Director Tanvir

AMishuk said,"As a former

student of North-South

University, I have a moral

responsibility to the

university. This MoU is part

of that commitment. Nagad

has been working for the

development and progress of

educational institutions as

reflected in the outcomes of

Nagad's efforts."

Many NSU students have

been working at Nagad from

the very beginning of its

journey and a number of high

officials of Nagad are alumni

of the university.

North-South University is

one of two Bangladeshi

higher educational

institutions that have been

recognised in Times High

Education World University

ranking recently. Nagad has

also been awarded as one of

the fastest-growingdigital

financial service companies.

It is expected that the

signing of MoU between the

two reputed organisations

will benefit both the

university students and

Nagad.

Bdjobs Job

fair kicks off

Thursday in

Khulna

DHAKA : Bdjobs.com is

going to organize a Job Fair

in Khulna on Thursday in

order to recruit 1,000

manpower.

The job fair will start at the

gymnasium hall adjacent to

Khulna District Stadium 9

am and will continue till 5

pm, said Mr. Prokash Roy

Chowdhury, Director of

Bdjobs.com in a press

briefing in the capital on

Tuesday.

He said, "The reality of our

job market is that even

though there are thousands

of unemployed job seekers

in the country, the

companies are not able to

hire the required manpower.

To solve this problem

bdjobs.com has been trying

to bring job aspirants and

employers under one roof

for the last 15 years by

organizing this job fair."

Prokash Chowdhury also

said that so far 18 thousand

job aspirants have registered

online and 22 to 25

thousand job aspirants are

expected to participate in

this fair.

On October 27 from 9 am

to 5 pm job aspirants can

submit the application form

at the stalls of the

participating companies.To

participate in the fair, job

aspirants have to register

online

at

www.bdjobs.com/jobfair.

Mosaddiq bin Kamal,

Mazharul Islam Manju,

Helal Uddin and

coordinator of the fair

Mohammad Ali Feroze were

also present at the press

briefing.

German business

morale slips

ahead of 'difficult

winter'

FRANKFURT : Business

confidence in Germany

weakened again in October, a

key survey said Tuesday, as

the country hurtles towards a

recession on the back of high

inflation and a raging energy

crisis.

The Ifo institute's monthly

confidence barometer, based

on a survey of about 9,000

companies, fell for a fifth

consecutive month to reach

84.3 points, down from 84.4

points in September.

The business mood

"continues to be grim", Ifo

president Clemens Fuest said

in a statement. "The German

economy is facing a difficult

winter."

German inflation hit a

record of 10 percent in

September, fuelled by higher

energy prices after Russia

halted gas flows through the

crucial Nord Stream 1 pipeline

amid tensions over the war in

Ukraine.

The German government

now expects Europe's biggest

economy to shrink by 0.4

percent in 2023, and the Ifo

survey is the latest in a series

of economic indicators

showing a gloomy outlook.

"Companies and

households are increasingly

suffering under higher energy

invoices and ongoing high

inflation, adjusting

consumption

and

investments," said ING

economist Carsten Brzeski.

DHAKA : The Bangladesh Garment

Manufacturers and Exporters

Association (BGMEA) signed a

memorandum of understanding (MoU)

with the Korea Federation of Textile

Industries (KOFOTI) to promote trade

and investment, particularly in the

apparel and textile industries, of the two

countries.

The MoU includes more cooperation

in the areas of exchange of information

and discussion of trade issues between

Bangladesh and South Korea.

The collaboration also seeks to

promote direct or joint venture

Evaly’s ‘Dhonnobad Utsab’

on 28 October

E-commerce company Evaly

is going to start its business

activities with a new

initiative. At the beginning

of the new journey, the

organization is going to

organize a 'Dhonnobad

Utsab' to express gratitude

to millions of Evaly

customers, merchants and

well-wishers across the

country, a press release said.

This 'Dhonnobad Utsab'

will start on October 28 at 10

pm on Evaly platform.

In this festival, customers

can buy the products of

famous and big brands of the

country from Evaly. There

are products From mobiles,

electronics, computer

accessories, home appliances

to lifestyle products like

clothes and shoes.

Brands like Walton,

Jamuna, Artisan, O'Code,

Viomi, Samsung, iPhone,

One Plus, Vivo are present

through these products.

Pick and Pay, Cash on

Delivery and Cash Before

Delivery; one can now shop

from Evaly using completely

risk-free methods from any of

these three payment modes.

Customers will also

receive a "star" for each

successful order delivered

when shopping from Evaly.

Evaly will give amazing

offers from time to time for

shopping at special discount

using earned stars.

Shamima Nasreen, cofounder

and current board

member of Evaly, calling for

a successful Dhonnobad

Utsab, said, "We strongly

believe that with time we will

be able to repay our past

debts." Evaly is now a brand

that is infused with the

passion and emotion of this

nation.

We now have two

independent directors; one

from e-cab and one from

commerce ministry. So now we

are under more responsibility

and accountability than ever

before.

Shamima also said, "we

have already said that from

now on we will no longer sell

products at a loss. But Evaly's

customers can't buy products

at attractive prices, that's not

it. We believe that by utilizing

the infrastructure of digital

Bangladesh and selling

products profitably using e-

commerce, we can give

customers the 'best price'

compared to the traditional

market. We are committed to

providing quality products at

comparatively affordable

prices. We will give utmost

importance to quick delivery

and customer service.

Shamima Nasreen also

said, "We are working

towards making Evaly the

most investment friendly e-

commerce. We are working

to deliver all previous orders.

We will work towards the

goal of contributing to the

prosperity of the country's

GDP, elimination of

unemployment and creation

of new entrepreneurs by

advancing this potential

sector with the help of Evaly.

We look forward to the

speedy release of our former

CEO Mohammad Rassel to

accelerate our momentum

and strengthen Evaly.

Bangladeshi company to

invest US$ 31.75 million

in Chattogram EPZ

Bangladeshi company M/s. Pacific

Attires Limited is going to set up a highend

garments manufacturing industry in

Chattogram Export Processing Zone

(CEPZ). This company will invest US$

31.75 million where 4994 Bangladeshi

nationals will get employment

opportunities.

Pacific Attires will produce annually

18.72 million pcs of Men/Women's

Formal Suits, Jackets, Coats, Dress Pants,

Casual Wear, Boys/Girls Casual Wear.

Mentionable, Pacific Attires Limited is a

sister concern of Pacific Jeans Group. This

group has 8 operational units in

Chattogram EPZ where around 31

thousand workers are working, a press

release said

Ali Reza Mazid, Member (Investment

Promotion) of BEPZA and Syed

investments from South Korea to

Bangladesh in non-cotton textiles, highend

garment items, woven textiles and

garments, skills development and

innovation. BGMEA President

Faruque Hassan and KOFOTI

Chairman Sang Woon Lee inked the

MoU in South Korea's Seoul Monday.

"South Korea is one of the emerging

markets for Bangladesh in the East

Asian region. As we have identified

innovation, diversification and

technological up-gradation as the key

strategic priorities for our future

growth, a collaboration between

Mohammed Tanvir, Managing Director of

Pacific Attires Limited signed an

agreement to this effect on behalf of their

respective organizations yesterday at

BEPZA Complex, Dhaka. The Executive

Chairman of BEPZA Major General Abul

Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman, ndc,

psc witnessed the agreement signing

ceremony.

Among others, Member (Engineering)

Mohammad Faruque Alam, Executive

Director (Administration) Md. Zakir

Hossain Chowdhury, Executive Director

(Public Relations) Nazma Binte Alamgir,

Executive Director (Investment

Promotion) Md. Tanvir Hossain and

Executive Director (Enterprise Services)

Md. Khorshid Alam were present during

the signing ceremony.

BGMEA signs MoU with KOFOTI

to promote trade, investment

Bangladesh and South Korea is crucial,"

Faruque said.

BGMEA Vice-President Shahidullah

Azim, Director Asif Ashraf, Korea

Trade-Investment Promotion Agency

Director General Jong Won Kim, Korea

Fashion Industry Association Vice-

President Kim Sung Chan, KOFOTI

Executive Vice-Chairman Soyoung

JOO, Korea Textile Trade Association

General Director Jung-kee Lee, DBL

Group Managing Director of MA

Jabbar and Hams Group Managing

Director Md Shafiqur Rahman were

also present.

kurt Zouma leads the celebrations after scoring West Ham's first goal.

West Ham see off Bournemouth amid VAR storm

SportS DeSk

West Ham United defender Kurt

Zouma's headed goal and a Said

Benrahma penalty in stoppage-time

sealed a 2-0 win over Bournemouth in a

scrappy Premier League tussle that was

marked by VAR controversy at the

London Stadium today, reports UNB.

Frenchman Zouma glanced the ball in

from close range on the stroke of halftime

after a goalmouth scramble with the

effort being allowed after a VAR check

despite a suspicion of handball by his

defensive partner Thilo Kehrer in the

melee.

There was precious little else for either

set of fans to get excited about as West

Ham held onto their lead despite some

nervy moments as Bournemouth finished

strongly.

The Hammers could breathe more

easily when Jordan Zemura was harshly

penalised for handball after another VAR

check went against the visitors and

Benrahma thumped in his first goal of the

season past substitute goalkeeper Mark

Travers.

Bournemouth could feel justifiably

'I am not retired':

Serena says

chances of a

return ‘very high’

SportS DeSk

Serena Williams yesterday

said she has not retired

from tennis and that the

chances of her returning

are "very high" after she

previously indicated that

she would step away from

the sport after last month's

US Open, reports UNB.

"I am not retired,"

Williams said at a

conference in San

Francisco while promoting

her investment company,

Serena Ventures.

"The chances (of a

return) are very high. You

can come to my house, I

have a court."

Williams, 41, said she

was "evolving away from

tennis" in an essay in

August and, while she did

not confirm the US Open

as her farewell event, she

was given lavish tributes

before each match in New

York and waved an

emotional goodbye after

losing in the third round.

The 23-time Grand Slam

champion, who took the

tennis world by storm as a

teenager and is considered

by many as the greatest of

all time, said not preparing

for a tournament after the

US Open did not feel

natural to her.

"I still haven't really

thought

about

(retirement)," Williams

said.

"But I did wake up the

other day and go on the

court and (considered) for

the first time in my life that

I'm not playing for a

competition, and it felt

really weird.

"It was like the first day of

the rest of my life and I'm

enjoying it, but I'm still

trying to find that balance."

frustrated that decisions went against

them but West Ham took advantage to

claim a fifth home win in succession in all

competitions to move up seven places in

the congested table from 17th to 10th with

14 points.

Bournemouth are 14th with 13 points

from 12 games.

The main talking point was the impact

of VAR in both goals and Bournemouth's

caretaker manager Gary O'Neil was so

angry about the first one that he was

booked for comments made to the

officials at halftime.

West Ham got their noses in front in

the 45th minute as Zouma nodded home

from in front of goal but the ball had been

propelled forward by Kehrer's hands

seconds earlier.

After a check by VAR it was deemed

that the accidental handball had not

directly led to the goal.

"There was a foul in the build-up and

it's a blatant handball, his hands move

towards the ball and change the flight of

it," O'Neil said.

"I'm not surprised because it's getting

ridiculous. We've had 10 VAR checks

photo: Ap

since I took charge and not one has gone

our way."

First half injuries

Bournemouth were not helped by

injuries during the first half to striker

Dominic Solanke and goalkeeper Neto,

who made one great save to tip over

Aaron Cresswell's shot.

West Ham were unable to make the

game safe, however, until another

contentious decision went their way.

Attempting to block a cross, a sliding

Zemura inadvertently blocked the ball

with his arm from close range.

Initially referee David Coote did not

award a penalty but after being asked to

check the VAR screen he changed his

mind.

Bournemouth did not really offer much

in the way of attacking threat and, while

West Ham had some breaks, manager

David Moyes said his side deserved the

points. "I thought we were good for

periods, I didn't think we were as good in

the final third," Moyes said.

"I think our performance deserved

more than a scruffy setpiece goal and a

penalty."

Simmons out as West

Indies coach after T20

World Cup exit

SportS DeSk

West Indies head coach Phil Simmons will

leave his post after the upcoming Test series

with Australia in the wake of the team's

disastrous Twenty20 World Cup campaign,

Cricket West Indies said Monday, reports BSS.

A statement from CWI said Simmons would

step down after overseeing the West Indies'

two-Test series against Australia, which gets

under way in Perth on November 30.

The announcement follows the West Indies'

humiliating first round exit from the T20

World Cup, which was sealed after a ninewicket

thrashing by Ireland in Hobart on

Friday. The team also suffered an

embarrassing loss to Scotland.

In a statement released by the CWI,

Simmons said that while the T20 debacle had

been "disappointing and heart-wrenching", he

had already been considering his position for

"some time".

"This is not a knee-jerk reaction, but a move

I have been considering for some time and now

is the time to make public that I will step down

as West Indies head coach at the end of the Test

series against Australia," said Simmons.

"It is earlier than hoped for, but I will now

focus my energies in Australia on continuing to

build on the excellent progress the Test team

has made," he added.

Simmons led the West Indies to victory in the

2016 T20 World Cup in India, and then

returned as coach for a second stint in 2019.

CWI President Ricky Skerritt thanked

Simmons for his contribution.

"Phil is a proud West Indian, with high ideals

and has never lacked motivation in guiding our

younger players on and off the field of play,"

Skerritt said.

"He brought valuable experience and

stability at a very important period of

transformation, including the most challenging

environment of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We wish him all the best in his future

endeavors."

Skerritt on Saturday vowed to carry out a

"thorough post-mortem" on "all aspects" of the

World Cup debacle.

"I am deeply disappointed with the

performance results of our team in Australia

and I appreciate the sense of utter frustration

that is being experienced by many," Skerritt

said.

Serena Williams is considered by many as the greatest women's tennis player

of all time.

photo: Ap

'Forget the controversies

and focus on football' at

Qatar World Cup,

says Zidane

SportS DeSk

French World Cup-winning

hero Zinedine Zidane said

Monday it was "time to forget

the controversies and focus on

the football" at the upcoming

World Cup in Qatar, despite

calls to boycott the

tournament over the Gulf

state's rights record and

treatment of migrant workers,

reports BSS.

"I hope France have a great

tournament but I don't know

yet if I will go to Qatar,"

former Real Madrid coach

Zidane, 50, said as he

attended the unveiling of his

own wax figure at the Musee

Grevin in Paris.

When asked about the

World Cup, which will begin

on November 20 after more

than a decade of controversy

since Qatar was named as

host, Zidane said the focus

should now be on the sport

"for all those fans who just

want to watch the football".

"In any case, it doesn't

matter what we say, it will

never be enough, or true or

the right thing to say," added

Zidane, who was

accompanied by his parents,

his wife and children.

Zidane, who helped lead

France to glory at the 1998

World Cup on home soil, was

an ambassador for Qatar's

successful bid to stage the

tournament.

When the tiny country was

named as host by FIFA in

2010 he declared himself

"very pleased" with the

decision.

No complacency

against Ireland,

says England

skipper Buttler

SportS DeSk

Captain Jos Buttler warned

his strongly fancied England

side on Tuesday they risk

getting "hurt" if they

underestimate Ireland at the

Twenty20 World Cup,

reports BSS.

England launched their title

charge by beating

Afghanistan by five wickets in

Perth on Saturday, with their

bowling and fielding

outstanding.

Sam Curran was the star

with an incredible 5-10 -- the

first England bowler to take

five wickets in a T20I.

In contrast Ireland, who

came through the preliminary

round, were thrashed by nine

wickets by Sri Lanka in

Hobart.

Despite the apparent gulf in

class-England are ranked

world number two and

Ireland 12 -- there will be no

complacency with only the

top two from the six-team

group progressing to the

semi-finals.

"We give them great

respect, we expect a really

tough game," Buttler said

ahead of Wednesday's clash

at Melbourne Cricket

Ground.

"We'll prepare well, we'll try

and turn up on the day and

assess conditions, see what's

in front of us, try and use our

talent as best we can on the

day to put pressure on them,

and try and win the game."

With Group 1 games to

come against defending

champions Australia, last

year's beaten finalists New

Zealand and 2014 winners Sri

Lanka, there could be a

temptation to rest players or

rotate bowlers.

But Buttler was adamant it

was important to field the

best team possible and avoid

any mishaps.

"In such a short

tournament, in must-win

games pretty much every

time, we try and get our best

team on... the best team on

the day due to conditions,

opposition," he said.

"Any time you take things

for granted or you don't

respect the opposition is

when you can get hurt.

WeDneSDAY, octoBer 26, 2022

9

Teams announced for

2022 LIV Golf Team

Championship in Miami

SportS DeSk

LIV Golf has announced the 12-team, 48-

player field set to tee off for its eighth and

final event of the year, reports UNB.

The 2022 LIV Golf Team Championship

will take place from Oct. 28 to 30 at Trump

National Doral Golf Club in Miami.

The iconic Blue Monster course will

stage the seeded three-day, knock-out

tournament featuring both match play and

stroke play, delivering the excitement of

head-to-head competition as teams

compete for a historic $50 million purse.

The strong field will feature four former

world No. 1s, seven top-ranked players

within their nations, 12 major champions

with a combined 22 majors won, 13

Olympians, and 14 different countries

represented.

The top 36 players in the LIV Golf

Invitational Series Individual Standings

(minimum four events played) qualify for

the Team Championship, with league

commitments and captains' selections

making up the remainder of the field.

LIV Golf chief executive officer and

commissioner, Greg Norman, said: "LIV

Golf has revived the sport in record time

during our beta-test season.

"Players are celebrating the team format

which is bringing new energy and

audiences to golf that the game deserves.

"It's fitting that we tie a bow on this

historic year with a dramatic and

innovative team championship that will

propel us into a team-focused league from

2023 onward."

For the LIV Golf Invitational Series

Team Standings, points were awarded to

teams based on their finish at each

tournament, with values ranging from 32

Brooks koepka celebrate winning the LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah

team competition. photo: Ap

Formula E to make South

Africa debut in Season 9

of World Championship

SportS DeSk

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is set to race

in Cape Town, South Africa for the first time on Feb. 25

following approval at the FIA World Motor Sport Council

meeting, reports UNB.

Cape Town joins Hyderabad, India, and Sao Paulo, Brazil,

as new cities scheduled to hold races in Season 9 of the ABB

FIA Formula E World Championship, which opens in

Mexico City on Jan. 14 next year.

Alberto Longo, co-founder and chief championship officer

of Formula E, said: "We are excited to announce Cape Town

as a new destination for our series in Season 9.

"Our local partners are working incredibly hard to bring an

ABB FIA Formula E World Championship race to the city

and we cannot wait to see the futuristic Gen3 race cars

competing against the iconic natural backdrop of Table

Mountain."

In further updates to the provisional Season 9 calendar,

Berlin will now host a double-header race weekend on April

22 and 23 while the two races previously announced for

Seoul have been removed from the calendar. Locations for

rounds 10 and 13 in the 17-race season are being finalised and

will be announced at a later date.

"Renovation work at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, the

venue for our first races in South Korea earlier this year,

means we cannot return to the same location next season as

originally planned and so we are exploring other options in

South Korea to replace this venue.

"We are also in active discussions with more world cities

and venues to host an event on the other date without a

confirmed location," Longo added.

Season 9 marks the beginning of the Gen3 era in Formula

E. The third generation of race car in the championship, the

Gen3, is the fastest, lightest, most powerful and efficient

electric race car ever built.

points (first place) to nought (ninth to

12th).

Following the seventh and final regular

season event, team standings determined

seeds one to 12 for the Team

Championship. Top-seeded four Aces GC

(152 points), second seed Crushers GC

(96), third seed Fireballs GC (93), and

fourth seed Stinger GC (72) earned a bye

and automatically advance to Saturday's

semi-finals.

The remaining highest-ranked teams,

starting with the fifth-seeded Smash GC,

led by captain and four-time major winner

Brooks Koepka, will select their opponents

for Friday's quarterfinal matchups. These

selections will be announced on Oct. 26 at

a live press conference at Doral featuring

the team captains for seeds five to 12.

That morning, players will learn their

opponents for Friday's singles matches

and foursomes matches. Captains will be

matched up against one another and all 32

players will compete simultaneously in a

shotgun start.

Following competition on Friday, team

captains for the top four seeds and

captains for the four quarterfinal match

winners will convene and select their

opponents for Saturday's semi-final

round, with the highest-ranked teams

selecting their opponents.

On Sunday, the 16 players from the four

semi-final winners will compete in a

shotgun-start round of stroke play. Players

will compete in twosomes, team captains

will play together, and all scores will count

toward a team's cumulative score.

At the end of Sunday's round, the team

with the lowest score is the LIV Golf

Invitational Series Team Champion.

Pre-World

Cup schedule

is 'crazy,' says

Azpilicueta

SportS DeSk

Chelsea defender Cesar

Azpilicueta said the number

of games being crammed

into the schedule ahead of

the World Cup next month

is "crazy" and that player

welfare is being jeopardized,

reports UNB.

Azpilicueta's teammate

N'Golo Kante has been ruled

out of the World Cup after

undergoing an operation on

a hamstring injury, while

Reece James is in a race to

be fit for the tournament

after injuring his knee.

Chelsea have three league

fixtures, two Champions

League games and a League

Cup tie before the World

Cup in Qatar begins on Nov

20. "It's difficult and it's sad

because as players you want

to go to the World Cup, but

we have this schedule where

we have to play for our club

and do our best," Azpilicueta

told reporters today.

"We are fighting a lot for

player welfare because the

schedule is crazy.

Sometimes we have to

consider everything and I

think we are in

conversations with Fifa. It's

difficult because I

understand that the fans

want to see football.

WEdNEsdAY, OcTOBER 26, 2022

10

Black Adam was nearly rated R, but

Dwayne Johnson's movie being PG-13

prevents a future problem for the DCEU,

especially before a Superman fight.

Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam nearly

had an R-rating, but its official PG-13

rating prevents future DCEU problems.

The debut of The Rock's anti-hero brings

expectations of him helping usher in a

new era for the shared universe. It seems

that this nearly included another more

adult DCEU movie, as Black Adam

originally received an R-rating from the

MPAA due to the movie's high violence.

The DCEU has made R-rated movies

before, including recently with The

Suicide Squad. However, going back to

this more mature rating would have

been a big mistake, as it would have

created a major problem for Black

Adam's future.

Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam nearly

had an R-rating, but its official PG-13

rating prevents future DCEU problems.

Bobby passing

busy time

TBT REPORT

Eamin Haque Bobby,

better known as Bobby,

is a Bangladeshi film

actress and film

producer. She made her

acting debut in Khoj:

The Search. Bobby is

passing busy time with

movie work. In the

meantime, she has

finished shooting and

dubbing for Shamim

Ahmed Roni's 'Abar Tora

Manush Ho', Saikat Nasir's

'Paap' and Rashid Palash's

'Moyurakkhi'.

He said that the shooting of

the poster for the movie 'Paap'

and 'Moyurakkhi' will be done

in the meantime.

Meanwhile, she will work in

three films of Kolkata-based

filmmaker MN Raj. But

Bobby said that everything

is not finalized yet. Jeet

from Kolkata will star opposite

to Bobby in one of these movies,

Ankush in another. The actress

had signed a contract long ago

for another movie named 'Life is

Beautiful'. Although the shooting

is planned to start at the end of

November this year, the date has

not been finalized yet.

Meanwhile, Bobby has also

worked on OTT platforms. She

got a lot of praise when she came

for the promotion of the movie

called 'Surovi'. She is also

interested in working through

this medium if she gets a good

story and character.

Regarding the current

busyness, Bobby said, 'Work was

stopped for a long time due to

Covid. Now I have started

working in full swing. The stories

and characters of all the movies I

have completed are amazing. I

really enjoyed shooting. I hope

the audience will like the movies

when they are released.

Black Adam’s rating prevents

future DCEU problem

The debut of The Rock's anti-hero brings

expectations of him helping usher in a

new era for the shared universe. It seems

that this nearly included another more

adult DCEU movie, as Black Adam

originally received an R-rating from the

MPAA due to the movie's high violence.

The DCEU has made R-rated movies

before, including recently with The

Suicide Squad. However, going back to

this more mature rating would have

been a big mistake, as it would have

created a major problem for Black

Adam's future.

The potential R-rated Black Adam

movie would also hurt the future fight

between The Rock's Black Adam and

Henry Cavill's Superman. There is

almost no scenario imaginable where

Superman stars in an R-rated movie, so

the Black Adam fight would have to

come in a PG-13 movie. Since his

violence is what almost gave Black Adam

an R-rating, there is a suggestion his

fighting would have to change then when

going against Superman. Toning down

Black Adam's violence and strength

when he goes up against his most

powerful opponent would not make any

sense, though. Superman deserves Black

Adam's full strength as shown in the

movies. Now instead of having to figure

out creative ways to explain Black

Adam's scaled-down violence, the

Superman fight can proceed as normal.

The Rock continues to tease his desire to

fight Henry Cavill, but no official

announcement has been made.

Audiences are most likely to see Black

Adam and Superman fight in Black

Adam 2 or the latest attempt to make

Man of Steel 2. Either DCEU movie

should retain a PG-13 rating and allow

the heavyweight DC characters to square

off in an epic blockbuster setting without

worry about how Black Adam's violence

stacks up to a prior R-rated appearance.

Source: Collider

Asif records maiden

untitled duet with

Kabir Suman

TBT REPORT

Popular Bangladeshi singer Asif Akbar

has lent his voice along with renowned

Indian singer Kabir Suman for the first

time in a duet song. The song was

recorded on Sunday night and will soon

be released on YouTube.

Previously, Asif provided vocals for six

songs written and composed by Suman.

The most recent one was a single titled,

'Ekushey February er Daak', in

celebration of International Mother

Language Day. The track was released

on February this year.

The song was written and composed

by renowned musician Kabir Suman,

and arranged by Ujjal Sinha.

The lyrics of the song go as, 'Asif

Ekhon Ekannoy, Kabir Cholche

Tiyattur, Cholte Cholte Raat Furoy, Raat

Perolei Ashbe Bhor.'

"Kabir Suman doesn't care about any

doubts as he is a legendary singer, Kabir

Suman. I consider myself lucky to have

had the chance to work with him. This

will remain a milestone in my career,"

said Asif. "Kabir Suman wanted me to

sing a duet with him. I was so full of joy

as I saw his excitement while singing the

song. I think I might have done

something good in life for which I got

this chance as a reward. I am going

towards success gradually by the grace

of the Almighty," he added.

The music arrangement of the song

Music is my dream: SD Sagar

TBT REPORT

Since childhood, I dreamed of

becoming a musician. I have always

been a dreamer of music, now doing

music as well as composing. Rather

than singing I am doing the melody

and composition of other people's

songs. These words are by SD Sagar, a

popular vocalist and composer of the

time. The musician shared his dreams

and reality with The Bangladesh

Today.

Born and brought up in Tazumuddin

Thana of Bhola district, this artist

started singing at the age of 14/15

years. Sagar first learned singing from

his elder sister and close relative and

local music teacher Saikat.

Later, he learned music at Barishal

Tansen Sangeet School and

Chhayanaut in Dhaka. He also

completed a three-year advanced

music course at the Indira Gandhi

Cultural Center (Indian High

Commission). Along with singing,

Sagar obtained a B.Sc. Engineer

(Electro Mechanical) degree. But now

Jacqueline not cooperating with

investigation in con man case

Enforcement Directorate (ED) informs the court that Jacqueline

Fernandez allegedly tried to flee India. Jacqueline Fernandez has been

making headlines for her personal life after she was named in the

chargesheet filed by Enforcement Directorate in conman Sukesh

Chandrasekhar's Rs. 200 cr extortion and money laundering

case. On Saturday, Jacqueline was summoned by Delhi's Patiala

House Court in the connection with Rs 200 crore extortion case

as her interim protection bail got extended till November 10.

Now, Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed the court that the

Kick actress allegedly tried to flee India.

According to PTI, the ED alleged Jacqueline has not been

cooperating with the investigators. The actress reportedly

wanted to leave India, but she could not do so as her name

was on the lookout circular (LOC). "Jacqueline is no

ordinary person but a Bollywood actress with huge financial

resources and hence high stature and influence," said the

ED said in the court document. Further, the agency

said that when Jacqueline was made to sit face-to-face

with other accused in the case and presented with

evidence, the actress refused to cooperate and

showed behaviour that was not helpful to the

investigation.

Nora Fatehi was also questioned by the Delhi

Police EOW (Economic Offences Wing) in

connection with Rs. 200 crore money laundering case

this popular man said that music is his

profession and addiction.

In 2014, SD Sagar made his way into

the music industry with the song

"Premer Ghuri" written and composed

by him. The music of the song was

composed by Waheed Shaheen. Sagar

and Sonia of Close-up One lend their

voices. The song was released in the

market through the album Aral.

The album had a total of five original

songs; Sagar also featured Nirjhar,

Konal, Farabi and Brishti as co-artists.

The album was released under the CD

Choice banner.

After the success of the mixed album

in the year 2015, Sagar released a solo

album titled Samshay under the

banner of CD Choice. So far, about a

hundred original songs in SD Sagar's

voice have been released on various

platforms. Some of these songs have

gained popularity.

Popular songs include Bolna Tui

Bolna, Cholo Priya Cholo, Tor Chokay

Porlo Chok, and many more songs.

In addition to the audio market, SD

Sagar also played the playback of the

has been done by Uzzal Sinha. The song

will be released on the YouTube channel

of ARB Entertainment.

Kabir Suman recently performed in

Dhaka after 13 years at the event 'Kabir

Suman Live in Dhaka' which took place

at the Engineer's Institute. The concerts

were set to mark the 30-year

anniversary of Kabir Suman's popular

album 'Tomake Chai'. He arrived in

Dhaka on October 13 and performed on

October 15, 18, and 21. Not just the

performances, but also sharing his views

and thoughts in between the songs

film, among which the song of the film

Bajey Selay has been released. The title

of the song is Tor Chokay Porlay

Chokh, where the tune and music was

composed by Ahmed Humayun.

linked to jailed conman Sukesh

Chandrashekhar. Besides this, Nikki Tamboli

and Chahatt Khanna's names have also

cropped up in the case. The EOW had also

questioned Jacqueline's stylist Leepakshi

Ellawadi.

Meanwhile, on the work front,

Jacqueline was last seen in Attack:

Part 1 alongside John Abraham,

Rakul Preet Singh, Prakash Raj,

and Ratna Pathak Shah in the

lead. Recently, she also made

a special appearance in the

Kannada film Vikrant

Rona's song Ra Rakkamma.

Currently, she is awaiting

the release of Ram Setu,

which is scheduled to

release on 25 October 2022.

It will also feature Akshay

Kumar and Nushrratt

Bharuccha in key roles.

Apart from this, the

Bachchhan Paandey actress

will also feature in Rohit

Shetty's Cirkus alongside

Ranveer Singh, Pooja Hegde,

and Varun Sharma, which

is scheduled to release on

23 December 2022.

Source: Hindustan

Times

H O R O s c O P E

ARIEs

Your head should be quite clear today,

Aries, and your witty comments will

be met with appreciation and

laughter. Your smile will delight

everyone you encounter. Don't be afraid to let your

feelings out to those who need to hear them. Focus

your energy on the ones you love. Your heart is

warm and generous, so share it with other people

today.

TAURUs

Don't worry about probing too deeply

today, Taurus. Trust people more than

you normally would. You will find that

things go much more smoothly if you

approach them from a neutral or positive and not

accusatory position. Listen to the people you care about

the most. They're trying to convey important

information. You might not want to hear it now, but in

the long run, it's in everyone's best interests that you do.

GEMINI

You might consider taking a short trip

today, Gemini. Perhaps you need to get

out of the house and go across town.

Whatever it is, introduce your brain to a

new reality. It's time to expand and explore. You itch

to see new places and experience new things, either

physically or mentally. Perhaps a religious sanctuary

or quiet place in grove of trees is what you need in

order to quench this inner thirst.

cANcER

Your mind might be stimulated today,

Cancer, so stay alert and open to new

information. If you feel tired, take a

short nap. It's better to operate at top

speed and full capacity than go through your day

only half present. Don't rely on external stimulants

like caffeine to pick you up. These things will

deceive your body and do damage to your nervous

system.

LEO

Communication is flowing smoothly

today, Leo, so take advantage of this

and get the word out. It's important

for you to make connections with

other people now. Run with your instincts and

feel free to enter into debates. Your words and

tone of voice are very convincing. You could sell

anything to anyone today.

VIRGO

Don't let fear of failure or fear of

success hold you back, Virgo. Even

though you may feel a natural

tendency to want to shrink into the

background and take the easiest route, you might

be sacrificing your true purpose when you do.

Become the leader instead of following the leader.

Rid yourself of all fear and take control of your

destiny.

LIBRA

Powerful thoughts are running

through your brain. You will find that

this information can be transforming,

Libra. The key is to learn from others

and incorporate opposing viewpoints into your state

of mind. Don't automatically disregard the opinion

of another just because it contradicts your own

beliefs. Teamwork is the name of the game on a day

like today.

scORPIO

Information coming your way today

might be unreliable, Scorpio. It could be

hard for you to take a solid hold on the

messages you get. Keep in mind that

there are important answers waiting to be heard. These

answers will come to you when you least expect them.

Keep your mind open to new possibilities and the path

will open up and become clear. Don't compromise your

consciousness with abusive substances.

sAGITTARIUs

Be careful about being manipulated by

another person today, Sagittarius. It's

possible that someone is putting words

in your mouth in order to get you to act

a certain way. Don't fall into this trap. Be your own

person and think for yourself. Your mind is

susceptible and vulnerable now. Use your eyes and

ears as a filter and don't let people unload their

garbage on you.

cAPRIcORN

Information you receive today may get

you stirred up, Capricorn. Remember

that it takes two to start an argument.

You play an equal part in any

disagreement. If you want to promote peace and

harmony, your words and body language must

show this. If peace and harmony aren't your

ultimate goal, you may need to look inside yourself

to explore the reasons why.

AQUARIUs

There's a great deal of power to your

words today, Aquarius, so be careful

how you use them. You may end up

manipulating another's choices if you

aren't careful with your conduct. Make sure you give

others the freedom and empowerment to decide

things for themselves. Be open and honest about all

the facts that might influence their decisions in any

way.

PIscEs

Answers may not be crystal clear

today, Pisces. They probably won't be

laid out in a neat and organized

manner. Get out in the open air and join friends

for a long bike ride. Fly a kite or feel the wind blow

through your hair on top of a mountain peak. The

answer is flowing through the air around you.

Stop looking down at the ground for the

information you seek.

WeDNeSDAy, OCTObeR 26, 2022

11

Inaugural ceremony of the month-long campaign program of Dhaka Ahsania Mission on Tuesday on

the occasion of 'National Road Safety Day-2022' and 'World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic

Victims-2022'.

Photo : Courtesy

Six Palestinians

killed in Israeli

raids in West Bank

NABLUS : Six Palestinians

were killed and nearly 20

others injured early Tuesday

in sweeping raids by Israeli

forces in the occupied West

Bank, the Palestinian Health

Ministry said. Israeli Prime

Minister Yair Lapid said that

Wadih Al Houh, a militant

leader of a new coalition of

Palestinian fighters dubbed

"The Lions' Den", had been

among those killed in the

northern West Bank city of

Nablus.

The Palestinian health

ministry initially reported

three dead and 19 wounded,

three of them seriously, shot

"by Israeli fire in Nablus".

Later statements said that

two more Palestinians had

died in Nablus, while

another Palestinian was also

killed in overnight clashes

near Ramallah'Lion's Den'",

describing it as a

"headquarters and a

workshop for making

weapons" of the militants.

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Ethiopia rivals gear up for

South Africa peace talks

NAIROBI : Negotiators from the Ethiopian

government and Tigrayan rebel authorities

were readying Monday for peace talks in South

Africa aimed at finding a peaceful solution to

the brutal two-year war.

The African Union-led negotiations have

been flagged to start Monday, after a surge in

fighting that has triggered alarm in the

international community.

Kindeya Gebrehiwot, a spokesman for the

rebel authorities in Tigray, announced their

delegation's arrival in South Africa in a tweet

late Sunday.

"Pressing: immediate cessation of hostilities,

unfettered humanitarian access & withdrawal

of Eritrean forces. There can't be a military

solution!" he added.

Addis Ababa said in a statement its

delegation had left for South Africa on Monday

morning, adding: "The government of

Ethiopia views the talks as an opportunity to

peacefully resolve the conflict and consolidate

the improvement of the situation on the

ground."But it also said its forces "have

continued taking control of major urban

centres in the past few days", without

identifying them.Last week, the government

vowed to take control of airports and other

federal sites in Tigray from the rebels as

Ethiopian and Eritrean troops seized towns in

the region including the strategic city of Shire,

sending civilians fleeing.

Fighting resumed in August, shattering a

five-month truce, and has seen the return of

the Eritrean army in support of Ethiopian

forces and their regional allies.

In two years, the conflict in Africa's second

most populous country has left millions in

need of humanitarian aid, and according to the

United States, as many as half a million dead.

The South African government itself has not

confirmed the talks or disclosed a venue.

Abiy, who sent troops into Tigray in

November 2020 promising a quick victory

over the northern region's dissident leaders in

the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF),

had said Thursday the war "would end and

peace will prevail".

"Ethiopia will be peaceful, we will not

continue fighting indefinitely," said Abiy, who

won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his

rapprochment with Eritrea.

International calls for a ceasefire and a

withdrawal of Eritrean troops have grown

since the AU failed earlier this month to bring

the warring sides to the negotiating table.

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DAM demands prompt

implementation of

Road Transport Act

Everyone must come

forward to implement the

Road Safety Act. Prompt

dissemination and

implementation of rules and

regulations of RTA-2018 is

required for proper

enforcement of the law.

Speakers said this at the

inaugural ceremony of the

month-long campaign

program of Dhaka Ahsania

Mission on Tuesday on the

occasion of 'National Road

Safety Day-2022' and

'World Day of

Remembrance for Road

Traffic Victims-2022', a

press release said

A B M Amin Ullah Nuri,

Secretary of Road Transport

and Highways Division, was

present as the chief guest in

the program while Director

of Dhaka Ahsania Mission-

Health and Wash Sector

Iqbal Masud presided over.

Chairman of Bangladesh

Road Transport Authority,

Nur Mohammad

Mazumder, Executive

Director of Dhaka Transport

Coordination Authority,

Sabiha Parveen and

Bangladesh Country

Coordinator of Global

Health Advocacy Incubator,

Shariful Alam were present

as special guests as well.

Sharmeen Rahman,

Project Coordinator, Road

Safety Project of Dhaka

Ahsania Mission said,

according to the World

Health Organization, about

25 thousand people die in

road accidents in

Bangladesh every year.

Death and injuries from

road crash could be reduced

to a great extent by taking

specific measures. One of

which is to emphasize on

prompt formulation of rules.

She also said that free

health camp and eye

examination for the drivers,

Candle Lit Ceremony to

remember the victims of

Road Crashes, and

motorcycle rally are the

main events of the monthlong

Road Safety campaign

program of Dhaka Ahsania

Mission.

Post-Diwali Delhi

wakes to toxic

firecracker smog

NEW DELHI : New Delhi

woke to toxic smog on

Tuesday after Diwali

revellers defied a

firecracker ban and risked

jail to celebrate the annual

Hindu festival.

According

to

international monitoring

company IQAir, harmful

PM 2.5 particles surged to

350 on the air quality

index-more than three

times the reading a day

earlier.

The reading for the

particulates-so tiny they

can penetrate deep into the

lungs and enter the

bloodstream-is more than

23 times the recommended

daily maximum set by the

World Health Organization.

The PM 2.5 reading had

eased to around 145 by

mid-morning, still nearly 10

times the WHO limit.

A report by IQAir in 2020

found that 22 of the world's

30 most polluted cities were

in India.

New Delhi imposed a ban

on the sale and use of

firecrackers last month and

announced that those

flouting the ban could face

up to six months in jail.

Many of the Indian

capital's roughly 20 million

residents were still able to

get hold of firecrackers,

setting them alight into the

early hours.

However, broadcaster

NDTV reported that Delhi's

pollution levels after

Monday's Diwali

celebrations year were the

lowest in four years. The

festival fell relatively early

this year in mild weather.

Delhi chief minister

Arvind Kejriwal said

residents were "working

hard" and that there had

been encouraging results.

Russia's defense chief warns

of 'dirty bomb' provocation

KYIV, UKRAINE : Russia's defense chief

alleged Sunday that Ukraine was preparing a

"provocation" involving a radioactive device,

a stark claim that was strongly rejected by

U.S., British and Ukrainian officials amid

soaring tensions as Moscow struggles to

stem Ukrainian advances in the south.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu

made the allegations in phone calls with his

counterparts from the United States, Britain,

France and Turkey, reports UNB.

Russia's defense ministry said Shoigu

Farmers of Faridpur's Saltha and Nagarkanda upazilas have suffered heavy losses

due to Cyclone Sitrang. About 20,000 hectares of ripe Rupa Aman paddy fields

have been submerged due to continuous rains. Photo: Md. Shofiqul Islam

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voiced concern about "possible Ukrainian

provocations involving a 'dirty bomb,'" a

device that uses explosives to scatter

radioactive waste. It doesn't have the

devastating effect of a nuclear explosion, but

could expose broad areas to radioactive

contamination. Russian authorities

repeatedly have made allegations that

Ukraine could detonate a dirty bomb in a

false flag attack and blame it on Moscow.

Ukrainian authorities, in turn, have accused

the Kremlin of hatching such a plan.

Wednesday, Dhaka : october 26, 2022; kartik 10, 1429 BS; rabi-ul-Awal 29 , 1444 Hijri

Newly appointed

Nepalese

Ambassador

Ghanshyam

Bhandari met

prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina

at her official

residence-

Ganabhaban

on tuesday.

photo : pID

80 lakh people remain

without electricity,

says Nasrul Hamid

DHAKA : State Minister for Power,

Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul

Hamid said on Tuesday that some 80

lakh (8 million) consumers remained

without electricity across the country

after Cyclone Sitrang hit Bangladesh.

"Of this, some 60 lakh (6 million) are

under the Bangladesh Rural

Electrification Board (BREB) and the remaining

consumers are of other organisations

like Nesco and WZPDCO,"he told

reporters at his ministry on Tuesday.

He noted that power supply to 70 percent

of the affected areas will be possible

to restore by Tuesday evening while the

rest 30 percent will get electricity by

Wednesday afternoon. Currently, the

total power consumers are 4.8 crore (48

million) across the country.

Nasrul Hamid said the power supply

was disrupted mainly by the falling of

trees on the transmission and distribution

lines. He said that many electric

poles were uprooted by the cyclone

that caused blackout in many areas.

The state minister, however, said the

total damage was not calculated yet. "It

will take some more time to get a complete

picture of the damages", he said.

T20 World Cup

Australia beat

Sri Lanka by

7 wickets

SportS DeSk

Defending champions Australia beat

Sri Lanka by seven wickets in T20

World Cup, reports UNB.

Earlier, Charith Asalanka's 38 not

out off 25 balls helped Sri Lanka put up

a fighting 157 for six against Australia

in the T20 World Cup here on

Tuesday.

Defending champions Australia produced

a disciplined bowling effort for

the majority of the innings before

Asalanka propped up the total on a

quick pitch.

The last four overs yielded 46 runs

for Sri Lanka including a 20-run final

over from Pat Cummins.

The left-handed Asalanka launched

into Cummins in the 20th over, hitting

a sublime straight six besides a pull for

a boundary. Chamika Karunaratne

gave Asalanka good support with an

unbeaten 14 off seven balls.

Australia need to win this game following

their loss to New Zealand.

Early on, the Sri Lankan innings

could never get the momentum after

Australia put them into bat.

After Kusal Mendis fell cheaply,

Pathum Nissanka (40 off 45 balls) and

Dhananjaya de Silva (26 off 23) shared

a steady 69-run stand off 58 balls before

regular fall of wickets derailed the

Sri Lankan innings.

De Silva fell to a brilliant running

catch in the deep from David Warner,

who was a livewire on the field, leaving

Sri Lanka at 75 for two in the 12th over.

Nissanka attempted a suicidal single

to throw away his wicket and it was followed

by a flurry of wickets to leave the

Asia Cup winners struggling at 120 for

six. All the Australian frontline pacers-

Josh Hazlewood, Cummins and

Mitchell Starc-picked up a wicket each.

Cummins' final over effort spoilt his

overall figures.

Nepal will export up to 50

MW electricity to Bangladesh

for now, envoy tells PM

DHAKA : Nepal will initially send 40-50

MW electricity to Bangladesh but promised

to supply more after a big power project

being implemented in the Himalayan

nation will be completed, newly appointed

Nepalese Ambassador Ghanshyam

Bhandari said on Tuesday.

PM's press secretary Ihsanul Karim told

reporters that the diplomat made the

comment when he met Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina at her official residence-

Ganabhaban on Tuesday. The Nepalese

envoy said that his country is currently

implementing a mega power plant project.

"After completing that project Nepal

will be able to export more electricity to

Bangladesh," Karim quoted the

Ambassador as saying.

Bangladesh is eager to buy 500MW

electricity from 900MW Upper Karnali

hydropower project, which will be developed

by India's GMR Group.

Ghanshyam Bhandari also expressed

his country's interest to use Banglabandh

Land Port of Bangladesh for trading as

Anisul emphasizes regulatory

authority for tax lawyers

this port is located nearer than Burimari

port. He Appreciated Bangladesh's cooperation

towards Nepal, saying that many

Nepalese students study in Bangladesh for

higher degrees.

Sheikh Hasina congratulated the

newly appointed ambassador and

assured of cooperation during this

term in Bangladesh. She recalled

Nepal's support to Bangladesh during

its Liberation War in 1971 with arms

and ammunition to the Freedom

Fighters, which she said was very

much important for the country.

She emphasised on Bangladesh's connectivity

among the countries in the

region, especially with Nepal, Bhutan and

India. She also said that stronger bilateral

trade between Bangladesh and Nepal was

very important.

The Prime Minister recalled the recent

visit of Nepalese President in Bangladesh

during Mujib Borsho programme, saying

it added impetus to the bilateral relations

of the two countries.

DHAKA : Law, Justice and Parliamentary

Affairs Minister Anisul Huq yesterday laid

emphasis on a strong regulatory authority

for tax lawyers as they (lawyers) have an

important role in revenue collection.

"Honest and efficient tax lawyers are

working as an assisting force in the country's

revenue collection. If they continue to

work with honesty and efficiency, on one

side the revenue collection will go up, and

the respect and importance of their profession

will also increase. But we need a

strong regulatory authority for them," he

said.

The minister said this in a meeting with

the leaders of Bangladesh Tax Lawyers'

Association (BTLA) at the ministry conference

room, an official release said.

Anisul Huq at the meeting advised them

to increase the standard of their regulatory

agency. He also assured them about giving

standard books and notes for the

library of Bangladesh Tax Lawyers'

Association.

Law and Justice Division Secretary Md

Golam Sarwer, BTLA president Md

Sohrab Uddin, secretary general Md

Khorshed Alam, former presidents Syed

Iqbal Mostafa and AKM Azizur Rahman,

Dhaka Taxes Bar Association president

Abu Amzad, general secretary Md Zakaria

Khan and former social welfare secretary

Md Mamunur Rashid were present at the

meeting, among others.

Australia's captain Aaron Finch (left) bump fists with teammate David Warner

during the ICC men's twenty20 World Cup cricket match against Sri Lanka at

the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, UAe.

photo: Ap

Cyclone Sitrang

Two villages flooded

in Bagerhat as

dam collapses

BAGERHAT : Two villages under Sadar upazila

were flooded as a flood protection dam along the

Bhairab River collapsed due to the heavy pressure

of tidal surge, rendering several hundred people

of Machidanga and Polghat villages marooned.

Besides, 1200 thatched houses were damaged

and a number of trees have been uprooted during

the storm. A vast tract of Sharankhola, Morelganj,

Rampal and Mongla upazilas were also inundated

due to the tidal surge caused by the cyclonic

storm Sitrang.

Those who have taken shelter at the 344

cyclone centers are now returning to their respective

houses on Tuesday.

Due to the tidal surge, 1000 fisheries enclosures

and 800 ponds of different areas have been

washed away, incurring a loss of Tk 2 crore, said

District Fisheries Officer ASM Russel.

Azizur Rahman, deputy director of Department

of Agriculture Extension (DAE), said 1,385

hectares of land have been affected by the storm.

Seven ponds of the Sundarbans were also

affected by the cyclone Sitrang as the saline water

entered into the pond.

Sheikh Russel, a resident of Majhidanga village

said they are living under ankle-to-knee deep

water and they have no place to cook food.

He also demanded a sustainable dam along the

river bank.

Deputy Commissioner of Bagerhat District

Azizur Rahman, said a number of trees were

uprooted and 1200 thatched houses were damaged

in the district.

Heavy rains and wind triggered by Cyclone Sitrang uprooted trees in many parts of

Dhaka. the cyclone also felled utility poles.

photo : tBt

Govt is taking steps to check

lead pollution: minister

DHAKA : Environment, Forest

and Climate Change Minister Md

Shahab Uddin yesterday said the

government is taking initiatives to

protect people from lead pollution.

"The Department of

Environment (DoE) frequently

conducts drives against illegal

battery manufacturing and recycling

activities. However, only

enforcement may not bring the

desired results rather we need

massive awareness," he told a

seminar.

The seminar titled 'Lead poisoning

in Bangladesh: Research

Evidence for Urgent Action' was

held at Sonargaon Hotel in the

capital, organised by the

Directorate General of Health

Service and UNICEF.

Speaking as the chief guest,

Shahab Uddin said people should

know that 'Lead' is a silent killer

as it affects almost all body parts.

He said the neurological toxicity

of lead is inflicting permanent and

devastating damage to young children's

body and brain development.

The environment minister

urged media, civil society, NGOs

to play an important role in making

people aware of adverse

effects of lead pollution.

He said lead free fuel is being

4 lakh coastal people took

refuge at Ashrayan homes

during Sitrang : PMO

DHAKA : Some 4 lakh people

across Bangladesh's vast coast

did not require going to cyclone

shelters as Cyclone Sitrang hit

the country on Monday thanks

to the disaster-resilient houses

under the Ashrayan-2 project.

Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina gifted those houses to

the landless people.

They took refuge in 61, 378

Ashrayan houses, which were

distributed among the landless

and homeless families in the 19

coastal districts in four phases

over the last two years.

During the Cyclone Sitrang,

tens of thousands of neighbours

also took shelter in the semipucca

houses, said officials at

the Prime Minister's Office

(PMO).

The disaster-resilient houses

also helped reduce the extent of

damage of domestic animals

and other property during the

cyclonic storm.

According to the PMO's monitoring

cell, a total of 219,690

used in vehicles due to initiatives

taken by the government.

The government has incorporated

the lead emission standard

for industrial discharges in the

Environmental Conservation

Rules, 1997, he said.

About 85 percent of the total

global lead use is found at battery

factories while lead use in paints

and spices is also a great concern,

Shahab Uddin said.

He said the government first

issued an SRO in 2006 and again

in 2021, emphasising the environmental

clearance for safe disposal

of lead acid battery, environmentally

sound recycling, and duties

and responsibilities of battery

breakers, distributors, dealers

and importers.

Director General of National

Consumer Rights Protection

Directorate AHM Safikuzzaman,

Additional Secretary of Ministry

of Health and Family Welfare

Nilufar Nazneen, Executive

Director of ICDDR,B Dr Shams El

Arifin and UNICEF Bangladesh

Representative Sheldon Yate

spoke at the seminar with

Director of Health Department Dr

Aminul Islam in the chair.

Representatives of various

ministries, departments, NGOs

and development partners were

present.

people and 45,442 cattle were

evacuated to the cyclone shelters

in the 19 coastal districts

during the cyclone. But there

are 7,490 shelters with total

capacity of nearly 43 lakh people

in the coastal areas.

The Ashrayan project is a

housing scheme of the Prime

Minister's Office, which is being

implemented with an objective

to build homes for the homeless

and displaced people throughout

the country.

Under the project, 6,941

houses were distributed in

Patuakhali district, while 4,834

in Barishal, 2,600 in Barguna,

1,842 in Jhalakathi, 4,867 in

Pirojpur, 3,529 in Bhola, 2,662

in Shariatpur, 3,805 in

Gopalganj, 2,794 in Bagerhat,

829 in Narail, 3,950 in Khulna,

2,153 in Jashore, 2,906 in

Satkhira, 1,659 in Feni, 3,688 in

Noakhali, 3,228 in Lakshmipur,

408 in Chandpur, 5,043 in

Chattogram and 3,640 in Cox's

Bazar.

Generator stator

installed at unit

2 of Rooppur

Power Plant

DHAKA : A generator stator was installed in the

turbine hall of unit two of the under-construction

Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP).

According to a message received, the installation

works have been completed by the specialists

of the VdMU Branch, part of the Rosatom

Engineering Division.

"The stator converts mechanical energy generated

by the rotation of the turbine into electrical

energy. Besides, it is the heaviest element

among the power unit equipped with a weight of

over 440 tones.

That is why the installation of the Generator

Stator into the designated position is extremely

important. Its successful completion makes

possible installation of the main equipment of

the turbine hall", said Alexei Deriy, Vice

President of ASE and Director of the Rooppur

NPP Construction Project.

He said the two power units of Rooppur NPP

to useTZV-1200-2 turbine generators developed

and manufactured by Power Machines,

Russia.

The Rooppur NPP with two generation 3+

VVER-1200 reactors with a total capacity of

2400 MW is being constructed under the

Russian design. The Russian VVER-1200 reactors

have been functioning in two power units of

Novovoronezh NPP, Russia, which is the reference

project of Rooppur NPP. This reactor fully

complies with all international safety requirements.

Rosatom State Corporation Engineering

Division is the general designer and contractor

of Rooppur NPP. The company ranks first in the

world in terms of order portfolio and the number

of NPPs constructed simultaneously across

the world.

26-10-2022

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