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UP chairman candidate killed: EC postpones polls in Pabna
The Election Commission (EC) has postponed the election for the post of Chairman at Bharara Union Parishad (UP) of Pabna Sadar Upazila following the death of a chairman candidate in a clash.
Pabna District Senior Election Officer Mahbubur Rahman said that if a candidate is killed in pre-polls violence, there is a provision to postpone the polls for that post as per the rules of the EC.
Police said a clash ensued between the supporters of independent chairman candidate Sultan Mahmud Khan and Awami League candidate Abu Sayed Khan over pasting posters at Bhatara village on Saturday.
READ: 7 arrested for attacking presiding officer in Cumilla UP election
During the clash the rival groups exchanged gunfire, leaving Yasin and 12 others injured, said Masud Alam, additional superintendent of Pabna police.
Yasin succumbed to his injuries on the way to Rajshahi Medical College, he said.
Nine of the injured were admitted to Pabna General Hospital and six of them later shifted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.
READ: Aushkandi UP election finally held: AL’s Delwar Hossain elected as chairman
ISA Secretary General lauds Dhaka’s leadership
International Seabed Authority (ISA) Secretary-General Michael W. Lodge has commended Rear Admiral (Retd) Md. Khurshed Alam, President of the council for the 26th session, for his “wisdom, patience and determined leadership.
Secretary-General Lodge said Khurshed Alam's leadership enabled ISA to “overcome numerous challenges” to keep the essential business of the council going by using the silence procedure.
He noted “the overwhelming support to the timely resumption of in-person meetings given by the Council members” and welcomed all members and observers back to the ISA headquarters at Kingston, Jamaica.
The 26th Session of the Council, ISA concluded on Friday under the Presidentship of Khurshed Alam, Secretary (Maritime Affairs Unit), Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
All 36 Member States of the Council attended the session either in-person or virtually. Among them, 25 Member States attended the session in-person.
The Council meeting will be followed by the meeting of the Assembly from December 13-15. Khurshed Alam will make a statement at the Assembly meeting as the President of Council on its work.
In 26th session, the Council approved applications for extensions of contracts in accordance with the procedures and criteria for the extension of an approved plan of work for exploration.
The Council also approved report of the Finance Committee on the issue of the equitable sharing of benefits and report of the Special Representative for the Enterprise.
It approved a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and International Seabed Authority (ISA).
The report of the Secretary General on the status of national legislation related to seabed mining and related matters were also approved by the Council.
READ: China lauds Bangladesh’s progress in socio-economic development, democracy
Roadmap for drafting regulations for exploitation of mineral resources in the Area was much discussed in the session, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Global Covid cases cross 269 mln amid scare over Omnicorn strain
Amid a global scare over Omnicorn, a new strain of Covid-19, the overall number of coronavirus cases has surged past 269 million.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 269,693,236 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,301,185 till Sunday morning.
The US has recorded 49,884,587 cases to date and more than 797,179 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data.
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,177,059 cases as of Friday, while its Covid death toll rose to 616,457.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,682,736 on Friday as 7,990 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data.
Besides, as many as 393 deaths due to the pandemic were reported since Friday morning, taking the total death toll to 475,128.
READ: Global Covid cases top 269 million
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported five more Covid-related deaths along with 177 fresh cases in 24 hours till Saturday morning amid the entry of its new variant, Omicron.
Bangladesh on Saturday reported the first two cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus.
With the latest cases, the daily-case positivity rate declined to 1.13 per cent from Friday’s 1.34 per cent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The total fatalities mounted to 28,022 while the caseload mounted to 15,78, 996, with the number of fresh cases.
READ: Global Covid cases top 268 million
Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 per cent during the period.
On Thursday, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic is apparently showing signs of easing.
Youth crushed under train in city
A young man was killed after being hit by a train in Shutki Potri area of Karwan Bazar in the city on Saturday night.
The deceased was identified as Sumon, 20, son of Jalil Molla of Joya village of Borhanuddin upazila in Bhola district.
Md. Bachchu Mia, inspector in-charge of DMCH police outpost confirmed the matter.
Sanaullah, a neighbor of the deceased, said Sumon worked as a delivery man of a cold drinks company. “He was hit by a train while crossing the level crossing."
Later, he was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.
The body was kept at the hospital morgue for autopsy, Bachchu Mia said.
Denied entry to Canada, UAE, Murad finally “coming back home” Sunday
Disgraced former State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr Murad Hassan is reportedly coming back home on Sunday morning, having failed to enter Canada and the UAE.
An Emirates flight carrying Murad is expected to reach Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 8:20am, a source at the airport told UNB on Saturday night.
A family member of the former state minister said Murad reached Dubai airport from Canada around 10:30pm (BST).
As he has no valid visa to enter Dubai, he may return home, his relative said, requesting anonymity.
Dr Murad Hassan left the country for Canada in an Emirates flight around 1:20am on Thursday night.
According to Toronto-based Bangla news portal thebengalitimes.com, Murad reached Toronto Pearson International Airport at 1.31am (Canadian time) on Friday.
Read: Former state minister Murad leaves country
Canadian immigration officials questioned the former Bangladeshi junior minister about various allegations, including harassing, humiliating and torturing women, against him in Bangladesh.
They also showed him various videos, photos and news on him, and wanted to know his version, the news portal said.
It said Murad was also asked about the reasons for leaving Bangladesh and coming to Canada, but he failed to give any “satisfactory answer”.
Murad was then flown back to Dubai in a return Emirates flight from the Canadian airport.
Asked about filing of a case against Murad under the Digital Security Act (DSA), Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters at a progarmme in Dhaka on Saturday that the state is not aggrieved with him.
Addressing a programme of Nirapad Sarak Chai at the Jatiya Press Club, he, however, said if one is aggrieved with Murad he or she has the right to file a case against the former state minister.
On Tuesday, Murad Hassan quit the cabinet following the instruction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for his offensive and indecent remarks on women.
Read: President signs resignation letter of Murad Hasan
Murad had been under increasing criticism by various quarters for his disrespectful remarks on women in an interview on social media. Several audios and videos containing indecent remarks by Murad Hassan also went viral on social media during the last few days.
Meanwhile, a two-year-old phone conversation of the junior minister with actor Mamnun Hasan Emon and actress Mahiya Mahi recently went viral on social media. In that audio clip, Murad made "derogatory comments" on the actress, threatened her and gave her an alleged indecent proposal.
On Wednesday, a writ was filed with the High Court challenging the legality of Murad Hassan’s MP post on the same ground.
Supreme Court Advocate Yunus Ali Akhand who filed the petition with the apex court also sought judicial investigation into the activities of Murad, also the MP of Jamalpur-4 constituency.
The HC bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah is likely to hear the writ next week.
Murad was also relieved from the post of Health and Population Affairs Secretary of Jamalpur district unit Awami League for damaging the party’s image and for his involvement in anti-disciplinary activities.
Govt working to increase urea production to reduce import dependency: Nurul Majid
Minister of Industries Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun on Saturday said the government has emphasized enhancing fertilizer production to reduce import dependency.
He said the country’s total annual demand of urea fertilizer is around 26 lakh metric tonnes, of which 16 lakh metric tonnes is being imported.
Enhancing urea fertilizer production, the government is implementing a project combining Polash and Ghorashal fertilizer factories of Narsingdi. Some 53 per cent development work of the project has been completed.
The industries minister on Saturday visited the construction work of the project and hoped that the production activities of urea from the factory will be started December 2023.
The project director, officials of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Limited and the ministry officials, among others, were present with the minister during his visit to Ghorashal.
We need to strengthen SMEs, agro-businesses for expanding economy: Tipu Munshi
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has said Bangladesh is an agro-based economy so both businesses and government need to give emphasis on this sector including product diversification.
Moreover, “we need to strengthen our SMEs for better expansion of our economy,” he said.
Tipu Munshi came up with the remarks while addressing as the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the new extended office space of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) namely “DCCI Gulshan Centre” on Saturday.
The Commerce Minister also emphasized to work more to do better in all business indices to be competitive in the international market.
He said that the new extension of DCCI (DCCI Gulshan Centre) in the north side of the city is a reflection of its strength and he hoped that DCCI will be able to serve the business community more in the days to come.
Read: Commodity prices to come down in line with global market rate: Tipu Munshi
Jaim Uddin, president of Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) said Bangladesh still lags behind in the logistic sector, but it is necessary to prioritize the logistic sector to attract foreign direct investment (FDI).
He said that removing traffic congestion in the Dhaka-Chittagong highway and ensuring faster services at the sea ports will help boost the economy.
Restaurant owners demand one-stop service for licensing, VAT for all food shops
Bangladesh Restaurant Owners Association (BROA) has introduced a one-stop service system for giving permission of restaurant business in the country and also bringing all food shops including street food sellers under value added tax (VAT).
They alleged that currently they have to apply to 11 government offices to get permission for the business which creates big hassle in running their ventures.
The demand was made at the 33rd Central Executive Council (Extended) meeting of the BROA at a community centre in the city on Saturday.
BROA president Osman Gani presided over the meeting while it was addressed by general secretary Imran Hasan, joint-secretary Firoz Alam Sumon, treasurer Taufiqul Islam, organizing Secretary Syed Mohammad Andalib, and chief adviser Khandaker Ruhul Amin.
The BROA leaders said that at present, it is necessary to work under at least 11 different authorities to run the restaurant sector.
They pointed out that every year they have to pay a good amount to different authorities to renew their business permission and trade licenses.
“In this process, we face huge hassles and sometimes it become unbearable to spend time and money in those offices," said Imrul Hasan.
“We need simplification of the process and one-stop service to smoothly run our business," he added.
All the permission should be given from a single department or authority under one stop service centre, he said demanding for a formation of a task force immediately to reform the licensing process.
The BROA leaders also suggested for renewal of all licenses with three years of validity.
They said the restaurant sector is one of the industrial sectors in Bangladesh and about 2 crore people are directly and indirectly involved in this sector.
The claimed that more than 4 lakh restaurants are being run in the country where 3 million workers are working. This sector is playing a huge role in agriculture, tourism, economy and employment. But the sector is being neglected by the authorities concerned as it is not treated an industry.
The BROA leaders also criticised bureaucracy for conducting mobile court operation without any specific policy.
They observed that seven government agencies operate mobile courts without any specific policy, which creates anarchy. “There should be a definite policy for the management of mobile courts," said a leader.
The leaders said all the restaurant businesses including street food shops should be brought under VAT registration to create level playing field.
Government to implement an action plan for sustainable plastic management: Environment Minister
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is going to implement an action plan for sustainable plastic management in phases.
The plan has been set as short term (2022–23), medium term (2024–26), and long term (2027–30).
The Environment Ministry has endorsed a roadmap through gazette notification to phase out single-use plastic in coastal areas.
The environment minister said this while attending as the chief guest a webinar on High level Policy Dialogue on the Global Agreement on Marine Litter & Plastic Pollutions for the upcoming fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly- UNEA 5.2 organized by Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO) on Saturday Evening.
Implementation of the action plan identifies policy and regulatory reforms and economic instruments, technology and infrastructure, and capacity building to design sustainable products, promote circular economy processes, encourage sustainable consumption, and thus ensure the waste management. The Action Plan is aligned to the 8th five-year plan, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other policies.
Read: Sustainable plastic management plan nears final stage
He said the ministry banned the use of plastic shopping bags, but this had limited results. In 2010, “Jute Packaging Act” was enacted to combat the use of plastics. The 8th Five-Year Plan (2020–2025) acknowledges that the dumping of household waste into water bodies and neighborhoods is a major source of air and water pollution.
Proposed Solid Waste Management Rules-2021 have drawn up under the Environmental Conservation Act 1995, which will be the overarching regulatory framework for plastic waste management in the country.
Shahab Uddin said in the Ministerial Conference on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution under the UN Environment Assembly, that Bangladesh emphasizes that global solidarity and the involvement of all stakeholders must be guiding principles.
Bangladesh also highlights the necessity for a Global Agreement, aligned with the 2030 Agenda to achieve the elimination or minimization of all negative impacts of plastic throughout its life cycle, including the significant reduction and progressive elimination of direct and indirect discharges of plastic into the environment, sustainable alternatives and the reduction of virgin plastic production.
Former Secretary & ESDO president Syed Marghub Murshed chaired the webinar while the Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh ITO Naoki and Additional Secretary (Environment) Md. Moniruzzaman spoke among others.
ESDO Secretary General Dr. Shahriar Hossain conducted an open discussion session where different experts and professors shared their opinion in plastic management at the webinar.
US itself is an extreme violator of human rights, says Hasan Mahmud
Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud on Saturday stated the sanctions of the US on Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) are one-sided and invalid, saying, “Human rights is extremely violated in the US.”
The minister made the remark while replying to journalists at a program of the University of Information Technology and Sciences (UITS) in the city’s Baridhara.
The United States on Friday imposed human rights-related sanctions on 15 individuals and 10 organizations on the occasion of International Human Rights Day.
Benzir Ahmed, current Inspector General of the Bangladesh Police and former Director-General of Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and six other individuals were among them, besides RAB as an organization.
Read: Sanctions on RAB: FM says impact on relations depends on US
The minister said the US also imposed sanctions on Narendra Modi but later he was given a red-carpet reception, which proves that such sanctions are in fact ineffective.
The minister also said that UN human rights experts urged the US government to end police torture and racial discrimination this year. The Guardian stated in an article that 55% of all deaths in police custody in the United States between 1980 and 2018 were "unreported" or "mislabeled," which means the exact cause of death was not disclosed.
Not only that, the world did not forget the tragic scene of a black man’s death at the hands of police on the streets of the United States last year, the information minister said.
“When Palestinian children hurled stones at Israelis, they fired at them. Above situation, the US has not imposed sanctions on the Israelis. On the contrary, if any country proposes condemnation of these human rights violations at the United Nations, the United States vetoes it."
So, it’s very clear that their ban is motivated, one-sided and ineffective, the minister stated.
Read: Dhaka trashes HR violation allegations against IGP, 6 others
However, Hassan Mahmoud said the United States is our development partner and our law enforcement and security forces have been working together to curb militancy and terrorism.
Vice-Chancellor of UITS Prof. Mohammad Solaiman, UITS Chairman and Founder of PHP Family Sufi Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Turan, deputy Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University Dr ASM Maksud Kamal were present on the occasion.