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Bangladesh going for green energy to mitigate climate change impact: Minister
Bangladesh is focusing on renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation to mitigate the adverse impact of carbon emissions, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md. Shahab Uddin has said.
Speaking at a briefing at COP26 press conference room at Glasgow on Monday, the minister reiterated that Bangladesh has been making the efforts despite being one of the least emitters in the world.
Read: COP26: Time running out in Glasgow, as delegates wrangle over details
He said in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) update submitted in August this year, “We have put forward enhanced emission reductions by 2030 amounting to around 90 million tons of CO2 equivalent in combination of conditional and unconditional commitments,”
He, however, lamented that the global community still lacks a sense of urgency and a true commitment to implementing the Paris Agreement so that countries like Bangladesh can have a sustainable future.
In this regard he said that commitment to limit the global warming to 1.5℃, NDC ambition, common timeframe for NDCs as well as decision on Long Term Finance (LTF) are not decided yet.
“One crucial demand is definition of Climate Finance, which is yet to be agreed upon. There is no clear roadmap on $100 billion mobilization and new quantified goal. Urgent and adequate replenishment for Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund is also looked-for,” he said.
Shahab Uddin mentioned that Bangladesh has recently scrapped 10 coal-based power plant projects worth USD10 billion. The country has also joined the global leaders’ declaration to end and reverse deforestation by 2030.
Bangladesh, he said, has installed more than 6 million solar home systems in off-grid areas, and more than 4.5 million improved cooking stoves have been distributed in rural areas.
Read: UNDP, BWJA seal deal to address, redress violence against women
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presented clear and concrete proposals from Bangladesh and as the President of Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) on November 1, the minister mentioned.
Bangladesh looks forward a balanced and fair outcome at Glasgow by strengthening a “common global commitment” for leaving a healthier planet for our future generation, he said.
Deputy Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Begum Habibun Nahar, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Secretary Mostafa Kamal, delegation members Dr Quazi Kholiquzzaman and Prof. Dr. Ainun Nishat were present at the briefing.
Schoolboy killed in wall collapse in city
A schoolboy was killed when a portion of a wall collapsed on him on a road near Azimpur Westin School in the city on Tuesday.
The deceased was identified as Zihad, 7, a class one student of a school in Azimpur and son of betel nut seller Nazir Hossain of Nawabganj upazila.
Read: SSC examinee hacked to death in Chudanga
Inspector Mohammad Bachchu Mia, in-charge of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) police outpost, said a portion of a concrete wall fell on Zihad while he was going to school with his father, leaving him critically injured.
Later, he was taken to DMCH where doctors declared him dead.
PM leaves London for Paris
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left London on Tuesday morning for Paris to attend the 75th Anniversary of UNESCO and distribute the first-ever UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for Creative Economy.
During the Paris tour, Sheikh Hasina will also have meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and French Prime Minister Jean Castex.
"A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the Prime Minister and her entourage left Heathrow International Airport at 9:24am (local time),” PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the United Kingdom Saida Tasneem Muna saw her off at the airport.
Earlier Sheikh Hasina, also the President of Bangladesh Awami League, talked to her party leaders and activists from the expatriate community, who came to her place of residence --Claridge’s Hotel-- in London to see off her, said Ihsanul Karim.
The PM told them that she could not meet all physically due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation and she would do that when the situation becomes normal.
The aircraft will land at De Gaulle International Airport at 11:15am local time, where Bangladesh Ambassador Khandaker Mohammad Talha will receive her.
Later, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be given a warm reception at Elysee Palace, the official residence of French President Emmanuel Macron, when she arrives there.
The French President would receive the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina upon her arrival at the palace.
Read:Hasina for changing traditional lens of Bangladesh-UK relations
A red carpet will be rolled out there to welcome Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina while the Presidential guard will also give a salute to her.
Both the Bangladesh Prime Minister and the French President will have a tete-a-tete followed by witnessing the signing of MoUs/TCA/TA.
Hasina will also join a launch to be hosted by Emmanuel Macron and visit the Guard of Honor to be given by the Republican Guard at the Elysee Palace.
Later, the Prime Minister is scheduled to go to the Matignon, the official residence of the French Prime Minister.
Upon her arrival at the Matignon, French Prime Minister Jean Castex would receive and welcome her with a bouquet of flowers.
Read:World must share responsibility of climate migrants: Hasina
On November 10, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury and Dassault Aviation president Eric Trappier, Thales president Patrice Caine will call on her at her place of residence.
She will have a meeting with the French business organisation MEDEF’s high-profile delegate.
French Minister Florence Parly will also meet her.
Later in the afternoon, she will visit the French Senate where she will receive an official reception during the ongoing Senate Session.
On November 11, Sheikh Hasina will attend the Paris Peace Forum.
Later, she will go to attend the Unesco-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy at Unesco Headquarters. From there she will go to Elysee Palace to attend the dinner to be hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in honour of her.
On November 12, Sheikh Hasina will go to the Paris Peace Forum and attend a high-level panel discussion on South-South and Triangular Cooperation.
Later she will go to the Unesco Headquarters to attend the inaugural session of the 75th Founding anniversary of Unesco and she will deliver her speech there.
She will participate in the dinner to be hosted by Unesco director general Audrey Azoulay in honour of the head of the governments and states.
On November 13, Sheikh Hasina will attend a civic reception to be accorded to her by the expatriate Bangladeshis living there.
At 4pm (local time), she will depart De Gaulle International Airport by a VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines and land at Hazrat Shahjalal Airport at 10 am (local time) on November 14.
Earlier, on November 3, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in London, the capital of the United Kingdom, from Glasgow after attending the World Leaders Summit at the COP26 and other events.
On October 31, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reached Glasgow on a two-week visit to the United Kingdom and France.
Man held with 8k Yaba pills at Dhaka airport
A Saudi Arabia-bound passenger was arrested with 8,000 Yaba pills at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Tuesday, officials said.
The arrestee has been identified as Md Ohidul Shikdar, a Bangladeshi national.
Read: BGB recover 70 thousand yaba worth Tk 2.1 core from Naf river
Sources said airport officials detected the narcotics (in tablet form) while frisking Ohidul just before he was about to board an Emirates Airlines flight to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia at 7.30am.
Group Captain AHM Touhid-ul Ahsan, Executive Director of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, said they seized 8,000 Yaba pills hidden in 40 packets from the possession of the passenger.
Legal processes are underway in this regard, he added.
Global Covid cases top 250 million
The overall number of Covid cases has surged past 250 million amid the global race to vaccinate masses against the infectious disease.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 250,314,842 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,055,334, Tuesday morning.
The US has recorded 46,613,052 cases to date and more than 755,631 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 21,886,077 cases as of Tuesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 609,573.
Read: Bangladesh ‘braces for Covid’s winter wave’; experts urge caution
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,366,987 on Monday as 11,451 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data.
Besides, as many as 266 deaths due to the pandemic were reported since Sunday morning, taking the total toll to 461,057.
In Europe, Germany’s coronavirus infection rate climbed to its highest recorded level yet on Monday, as what officials have called a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” gathers pace, reports AP.
The disease control center of Germany said on Monday that 15,513 new Covid-19 cases were reported over the past 24 hours — down from a record 37,120 on Friday, but figures are typically lower after the weekend. Another 33 deaths were recorded, bringing Germany’s total to 96,558.
Germany has struggled to find ways to pep up its much-slowed vaccination campaign. At least 67% of the population of 83 million is fully vaccinated, according to official figures, which authorities say isn’t enough. Unlike some other European countries, it has balked at making vaccinations mandatory for any professional group.
According to AP, Russia’s coronavirus task force reported 39,400 new infections and 1,190 deaths on Monday — slightly lower than the record 41,335 new cases Saturday and the record 1,195 deaths reported on Thursday. Russia has the worst death toll in Europe by far, and is one of the top five hardest-hit nations in the world.
The task force has been reporting around 40,000 new cases and over 1,100 new deaths each day since late October.
Meanwhile, Russians went back to work on Monday after a mandated, nine-day break, with authorities expressing uncertainly whether the measure helped tame a record-breaking surge of coronavirus infections and deaths.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh logged six more Covid-linked deaths and 215 fresh cases of the infection in 24 hours till Monday morning.
The new casualties marked a slight increase from Sunday’s four deaths and 178 cases.
Meanwhile, the daily case positivity rate also rose to 1.28 percent from Sunday’s 1.17 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh numbers took the total fatalities to 27,901 while the country’s caseload mounted to 1,571,228.
Read: Pfizer says COVID-19 pill cut hospital, death risk by 90%
On the 44th epidemiological week of the pandemic from November 1 to 7, Bangladesh saw 74.1 percent comorbidity in the 27 Covid-linked deaths.
The comorbidity rate has increased 23 percent from the previous week, the directorate said.
Comorbidity means the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient.
Of the 27 deceased, 23 didn’t receive any vaccine against Covid-19 while three were fully vaccinated and another received the first dose.
However, on Monday the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 percent.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 16,812 samples, said the DGHS.
Also, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.70 percent, with the recovery of 209 more patients during the period.
Government approves registration to 14 IPTVs
The government has approved the registration of 14 Internet Protocol TV or IPTV to broadcast online.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued a notification in this regard on Monday.
IPTV is the process through which contents published in television are broadcast using internet protocol network.
According to the notice in the first phase- moviebangla.tv, jagoron.tv, ruposhibangla.tv, hernet-tv, matientrtainment.tv, flixsrk.tv, rajdhani.tv, voicetv, jatvbd, news21bangla.tv, jagoroni.tv, shobuyprime.tv, deshbandhu.tv, chdnews24.tv got approval.
The approved IPTVs were asked to follow National Broadcast Policy, 2014, National Online Mass Media Policy, 2017 and other policy, guidelines, notifications issued by the ministry in producing and broadcasting programs.
The ministry also asked the IPTVs to maintain existing Copyright Act, Censorship codes and to submit the registration fees and annual fees to reissue it fixed by the commission.
On September 29, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) shut 59 unregistered and illegal IPTVs.
Truck and freight transport leaders also withdraw strike
Leaders of freight transport owners-workers association postponed their strike after a meeting with Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal at the secretariat on Monday night.
Coordinator of Bangladesh Truck, Covered Van, Tank Lorry, Prime Mover Owners and Workers Coordination Council Hossain Ahmed Majumder said that they have agreed to postpone the strike after the home minister's assurances to meet their demands.
Read:Strike called off as bus fares raised
The meeting at the secretariat started at 8 pm in the evening.
In accordance to the three-point demand of the association, the government has agreed to increase the transportation fare in proportion to the increase in diesel price.
The association’s demand to cut increased toll on two bridges has also been agreed with.
The third point in their charter of demands was an end to multiple points of taxation, that they describe as ‘extortion money, for the vehicles carrying freight at the entry points of the city corporation areas and the municipalities. This demand has also apparently been met at the meeting.
The Minister said, "We think their demand is a logical one and that’s why we are recommending all the stakeholders including BGMEA, BKMEA, and FBCCI, who are receiving the services to logically increase the fare for transporting goods in discussion with the leaders of the association.
Read: Transport strike enters 3rd day, badly affects normal life
Today's discussion has been fruitful, he said, adding that the leaders (owners-workers) have agreed to withdraw the strike, he added.
Earlier on Friday, the association enforced the strike and kept freight transports suspended till today, demanding complete withdrawal of the Tk 15 increase in the price of diesel and kerosene.
Notable works of Bengali literature to be translated to Korean: KM Khalid
State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid on Monday said significant books in Bengali are being considered to be translated into Korean language and the translation department of the Bangla Academy will take necessary steps in this regard.
The State Minister shared this information while attending the award giving ceremony of the "Ujan Book Review Contest 2021" for two translated books 'Korean Poetry' and 'Korean Story' as the chief guest.
The two books were published by the publishing house Ujan, in collaboration with the Literature Translation Institute, Korea at the Poet Sufia Kamal Auditorium of the Bangladesh National Museum in Shahbagh.
Read: Poet Nurul Huda appointed Bangla Academy director general
At the event, KM Khalid said that South Korea is a true friend of Bangladesh. After independence, South Korea extended its helping hand in rebuilding the country, and 2023 will mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and South Korea.
He also added that South Korea is the third largest development partner of Bangladesh, with about 75,000 jobs filled by Bangladeshis at the Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) in Chittagong, and about 20,000 Bangladeshis working in South Korea.
Moreover, about one and a half thousand Bangladeshi students, teachers and researchers are pursuing higher studies at various levels in Korea’s world class education system. “Overall, South Korea is one of the leading development partners of Bangladesh,’ Khalid said at the event.
Mentioning that Bangla Academy is an organization dedicated to the development of the Bengali language and culture established in the context of the Language Movement of 1952, Khalid expressed his hope that the academy would be able to fulfill its major objective.
Read: 10 picked for Bangla Academy Literary Award
Chaired by Director General of Bangla Academy Poet Muhammad Nurul Huda, the event was also joined by Lee Jang-Keun, Ambassador of South Korea to Bangladesh, as the special guest speaker.
Chanda Mahbub, translator of 'Korean Poetry', Saraishwarya Muhammad, translator of 'Korean Story', poet Sohail Hasan Ghalib and translator Sheuli Fateha also spoke on the occasion.
At the ceremony, KM Khalid also handed over the prizes to the three winners of the book review contest and ten selected participants.
Top India honours for ex-diplomat Syed Muazzem Ali & scholar Enamul Haque
India Monday conferred the coveted Padma awards on two eminent Bangladeshis -- former career diplomat Syed Muazzem Ali and scholar Dr Enamul Haque.
Muazzem Ali, a former High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India, was given Padma Bhushan for Public Affairs posthumously by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi, and his wife Tufa Zaman collected it on his behalf.
Muazzem Ali was associated with starting energy cooperation and land connectivity between Bangladesh and India, according to the Padma Bhushan citation.
READ: India honours Bangabandhu with Gandhi Peace Prize
President Kovind also presented Padma Shri for Archaeology to Dr Enamul Haque -- "a distinguished archeologist and a highly respected cultural activist in Bangladesh", as per the citation.
While Padma Shri is India's fourth-highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award. The Padma awards seek to recognise achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved.
Monday's ceremony was attended by Indian Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
"Attended the Padma Awards ceremony earlier this evening. Congratulations to those who have been conferred the #PeoplesPadma," Modi tweeted, after the ceremony.
READ: Bangladesh Mission in Italy honours top remittance senders
More than 115 others, including former Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and former Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, also got the Padma awards at the ceremony, which was delayed this year due to Covid. Both the former Ministers were given the award posthumously.
2 DU students endure night of torture at Surjo Sen hall
Two residential students of Dhaka University’s (DU) Surja Sen Hall hall have allegedly been tortured by two Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists for not attending guestroom and political programmes.
They were tortured from 2.30 am to 4.30 am early Monday, in room no. 351 of the dorm.
The torture victims are Ariful Islam, third-year student of Anthropology Department and Tariqul Islam, third-year student at the Department of Theater and Performance Studies. They are roommates staying in room no. 327.
The victims in this regard submitted written complaints to the university proctor.
DU Proctor Prof AKM Golam Rabbani told UNB, “The victims have lodged written complaints. The incident took place at Surja Sen Hall. That is why I have asked the hall administration to take action.”
The accused are Sifat Ullah Sifat, fourth-year student of the Department of Women and Gender Studies, and Mahmudur Rahman Orpon, fourth-year student of the Department of English for Speakers of Other Languages under the Institute of Modern Language (IML).
READ: DU student found dead at Dhaka hotel
Both the accused are residential students and followers of BCL hall committee candidate Imran Sagar.
According to the victims, they were called to participate in guestroom and political programmes at the hall a few days ago, but they failed to take part due to departmental examinations. Following this incident, Sifat and other accused later threatened to remove them from the hall.
On Monday, Sifat forcibly took them to room no. 351 of the dorm and together with Mahmudur tortured them. The victims were allegedly beaten with an iron rod.
The torture continued till 4.30 am and they were threatened to leave the dorm as well, claimed Tariqul and Ariful.
READ: DU students to undergo dope tests
Attempts were made to contact Sifat and Palash over the allegations but they did not respond.
Neither did Hall Provost Dr Maqbool Hossain, respond to phone calls.