Bangladesh
World order always evolving: Roundtable
The world order, almost dictated and instigated by a wide range of factors and variables, is always evolving, leaving the realities of yesteryears in history and introducing newer dynamics, regimes and paradigms, speakers said at a discussion.
They said there are always newer trends emerging on the horizon, following the inclusions of the slightest of alterations in the spheres of politics, economy and strategy.
President of Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) Major General (retd) ANM Muniruzzaman and Editor of Dhaka Tribune Zafar Sobhan harboured and showcased similar sentiments in their opening remarks at the BIPSS-Dhaka Tribune roundtable titled, “Global Trends 2022” held at a city hotel on Sunday.
The roundtable was attended by a number of diplomats, scholars, security experts, and youth representatives from various disciplines.
Also read: Misinformation severe deterrence to progress: BIPSS President
BIPSS President Muniruzzaman highlighted the key facets and variables concerning global trends, the plausible economic shocks and the “consequences of consequences”.
“We live in an interconnected world. A scenario anywhere is a scenario everywhere,” he said while also mentioning that trade, economy, security and strategy are just a few issues that we have to tackle among many.
Muniruzzaman indicated that they are in the process of “global urbanisation” and talked about the emergence of megacities, especially in South Asia, and the overarching influence of this towards the global trends.
He discussed the global surge in populism, introduction of a data driven world, emergence of “disruptive technologies.”
Muniruzzaman elaborated that this year all need to revisit, rework and reinvigorate their relationship with the earth to overcome major pertinent security threats such as food, water and energy insecurities.
He said they ought to comprehend events that will shape the future and never rule out “Black Swan” incidents, like the possibilities of incidents like solar geomagnetic events that could potentially disrupt, or even destroy communications and other technology upon which we have become so dependent.
One of the keynote speakers and CPD Distinguished Fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya emphasised the major dimension in terms of economic and global trends, pandemic and vaccinations.
He also highlighted the existing disparity and the possibility that the inequity in terms of vaccinations might soldier on.
The economist identified the disruptiveness of the year 2020, and although things started to look up in the year 2021, that is slowly “withering away” with the emerging economic uncertainties.
He identified upcoming challenges for Bangladesh in the economic spectrum and the absolute need to remain vigilant to cope with these uncertainties.
Delving into the trends associated with technology and security, second keynote speaker Shafqat Munir, Research Fellow at BIPSS, highlighted the various potential flashpoints, introduction of newer domains of warfare, hybrid warfare and the unabated arms race.
The potential flashpoints that came to the forefront included Ukraine and European security, showcasing the absolute tension existent between Ukraine and Russia.
The Taiwan Strait also came on the front burner again with strong advocacy within Taiwan for independence, while escalating tensions with China.
Tensions also evidently escalated between China and India too, which has direct implications for Bangladesh.
Shafqat Munir also highlighted the other existing trends such as the unabated arms race slowly looming around the corner, the increased levels of contestation, militarization and competing strategies in the maritime domain.
He discussed the recurring frequency of hybrid wars and how it’ll be a “Game Changer” and highlighted the technological trends, emphasizing upon the role of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Augmented reality and how this whole technological trend will completely reshape our perception of reality.
He put forth the recommendation that Bangladesh ought to integrate Artificial Intelligence and Robotics into our daily lives to “Stay Ahead of the Curve.”
Also read: UN roundtable on climate: PM places 5-point suggestion to protect planet
Pondering upon the broader geo-political and strategic trends, the third keynote speaker, Dr. Lailufar Yasmin, Professor, at the department of International Relations, University of Dhaka, started with the emphasis of economics, the interconnected world that we live in, and the ‘Butterfly Effect’ in action, by exemplifying the outbreak of Covid-19 in Wuhan and it eventually caused political, social and economic challenges all over the world.
Highlighting environmental issues, she pointed to the dangers of climate change and change in weather patterns with the onset of extreme winters and extreme summers.
She also pointed out Ukraine, the Korean peninsula, China and Taiwan and their geo-political realities, the growing significance of the Bay of Bengal with mechanisms like AUKUS emerging on the scene. She also highlighted the conflicts and destabilizations, notably the recent developments in Burkina Faso.
On the social front, there was a growing aging population in western countries and the potential for Bangladesh to send semi-skilled labour in order to meet the consequent demand there, rather than the practice of sending unskilled labour.
Lailufar Yasmin also pointed to mental health issues during the pandemic, including the stress of joblessness and so on.
Thanking everyone, Zafar Sobhan ended on a rather ambivalent note, highlighting the change in terms of dynamic and paradigms and saying that “We can’t talk of 2022 in isolation. It is the start of a new world. The pandemic has put the world in a deep freeze from which we are now emerging.”
Judge’s observation: Active role of OC Pradeep, 2 others proved over killing Sinha
Cox's Bazar District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Ismail on Monday observed that the killing of Maj (retd) Sinha Mohammad Rashed Khan was premeditated.
His observation came before delivering judgment in the sensational murder of the retired major at a police check post in Teknaf on July 31, 2020."I have tried to find out the details of the Major Sinha murder", he said. “Three members of APBN were in charge. The trio first released Sinha's car after stopping it, but the police stopped it again and shot him within 10 to 20 minutes".
Also read: Sinha murder: Ex-OC Pradeep, Liakat sentenced to death; 6 get life termThis proves that Sinha's assassination was a premeditated murder, said the judge.According to the observation Liaquat Ali fired four times at Sinha. Liaquat admitted to shooting Sinha thinking he had a pistol in his hand. Eventually OC Pradeep reached the spot and kicked the left side of Sinha's chest.Similarly, in the statement of SI Nanda Dulal Rakshita proved that he played an active role in the murder.Earlier in the day, the judgment of Sinha murder case was read out at a Cox's Bazar court in presence of 15 accused in the case.The accused were brought to the court from Cox's Bazar district jail at 2 pm on Monday.Judge Mohammad Ismail started to read out the judgment when the accused were produced before the court, said Public Prosecutor Faridul Alam.Of the 15 accused, 12 gave confessional statements before court during the trial except ex-OC Pradeep Kumar Das, Constable Sagar Dev and Rubel Sharma.
Also read: Sinha murder verdict: Security beefed up in Cox’s BazarOther accused in the case are- Inspector of Baharchara Police outpost Liakat Ali, sub-inspectors Nandolal Rakkhit and Tutul, assistant sub-inspector Liton Mia; constables Shafanur Karim, Kamal Hossain, Abdullah AL Mamun, , Md Rajib and Md Abdullah, ASI of APBN Md Shahjahan and Nurul Amin, Md Nizamuddin and Ayaz Uddin.Meanwhile, security was beefed up in Cox’s Bazar town ahead of the delivery of judgment.Additional police personnel were deployed in and around the court premises while a number of check-post were set up at different points.The movement of pedestrians around the court was also restricted.On January 12, the Cox’s Bazar court fixed Monday for delivery of the judgment.On July 31, 2020, Sinha was shot dead at the Shamlapur police check-post in Baharchhara Union of Cox's Bazar while returning to town after filming for a documentary.On August 5, 2020, Sinha's sister, Sharmin Shahriar Ferdous, filed a case with Teknaf Senior Judicial Magistrate Court accusing nine members of law enforcement agencies of being involved in the killing, including former officer-in-charge of Teknaf model police station Pradeep Kumar Das and Baharchhara police outpost inspector Liakat Ali.On December 13, same year, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) submitted a charge sheet against 15 people, including ex-OC Pradeep, police source Ayaz and three APBn members, in connection with the case.On June 27, 2021, a Cox’s Bazar court framed charges against them.
Mahbubur Rahman appointed as new BPDB chairman
Engineer Md Mahbubur Rahman has been appointed as new chairman of the Bangladesh Power Development Board. He joined the new post on Monday.
He served as Member (Company Affairs) of the organisation before being elevated to this position.
He is the 38th chairman of the BPDB, the state-owned principal organisation in the power sector.
According to the BPDB release, Engr. Md Mahbubur Rahman was born in Shariatpur district on 1 September, 1963. He obtained B.Sc. Engineering (Civil) degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 1986. He did his M.Sc. Engineering (Hydro-Power) degree from the Norwegian University of Engineering & Technology, Norway in 1995 with a full scholarship from the Norwegian government.
Also read: Deal period with rental, quick rental power plant owners can’t be extended: BPDB Chairman
Mahbub later obtained an MBA degree from Bangladesh. Besides, he also completed various professional courses from Oxford University of the United Kingdom, Kochi University of Japan and Melbourne Institute of Technology of Australia.
He joined Siddhirganj Power Station of Bangladesh Power Development Board on September 1, 1986 as an Assistant Engineer. Later he worked as Sub-Divisional Engineer and Executive Engineer at Siddhirganj 210 MW Thermal Power Station Construction Project, as Director IPP Cell-1, Director IPP Cell-3 and as Chief Engineer Private Generation. Later he also served as Member (Distribution) of BPDB.
Also read: BPDB’s extra purchase order of petroleum puts BPC in trouble
US donates another 10mn doses of Pfizer to Bangladesh
The United States has donated an additional 10 million (1 crore) doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh as a gift from the American people.
Delivered via COVAX, these donations of Pfizer vaccines bring the total U.S. government vaccine contribution to more than 38.6 million (3.86 crore) doses.
“With the latest spike in COVID-19 infections, the United States is redoubling our efforts to help Bangladesh turn the tide against this surge," said U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Helen LaFave on Monday.
These doses will help expand vaccinations for students and those who are awaiting their first doses, while enabling vulnerable people to receive boosters to protect themselves against the growing presence of the Omicron variant, said the US diplomat.
Read: US donates additional 9.6 million Pfizer vaccine doses to Bangladesh
This delivery of Pfizer vaccines is part of the United States’ commitment to lead the global COVID-19 response by donating a billion doses of Pfizer vaccine around the world through 2022.
The US side says millions more doses are scheduled to arrive here over the coming months.
In addition to vaccine donations, the United States continues to work closely with Bangladesh to support the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign and strengthen the government’s response to the pandemic.
The United States has provided training to over 7,000 healthcare providers on the proper management and administration of vaccines.
To date, the United States has contributed over $121 million in COVID-related development and humanitarian assistance through USAID, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This assistance has saved lives and treated individuals infected with COVID-19, strengthened testing capacity and monitoring, enhanced case management and infection prevention and control practices, and improved the supply chain and logistics management systems.
U.S. support has also "protected" front line workers and increased the public’s knowledge on how to better protect themselves from infection.
The United States has donated $4 billion to support the worldwide COVAX effort, which includes support for ultra-cold chain storage, transportation, and safe handling of COVID-19 vaccines, making the United States the world’s largest donor for equitable global COVID-19 vaccine access.
Trawler capsize in Dakatia River: 4 detained
Police detained four people after a trawler sank in the Dakatia River off the coast of Chandpur early Monday following a collision with a sand-carrying vessel(bulkhead), leaving five people dead.
The detainees are workers of the bulkhead Md Jabed, Abul Bashar , Md Yunus and Didar, said Md Mujahidul Islam, Officer-in-Charge of Chandpur naval police station.
“Four workers of bulkhead MV Iqbal Hossain-1 were held for interrogation and a case will be filed in this regard,” he said.
Also read: 5 die as trawler sinks in Dakatia River
Bangladesh reports 31 more deaths as Covid havoc continues
Bangladesh logged 31 more Covid-related deaths, with 13,501 fresh cases in 24 hours till Monday morning.
The daily positivity rate rose again to 29.77 from Sunday’s 28.33 per cent after testing 45,358 samples during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
On Sunday, Bangladesh saw its highest in the last four months 34 deaths with 12,183 fresh cases.
The country last reported 31 covid-related deaths on September 28 last with 1,310 cases, taking the positivity rate to 4.49%.
On Friday, Bangladesh logged its earlier highest daily positivity rate at 33.37% reporting 15,440 cases and 20 deaths.
The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,394 while the caseload mounted to 1,798,833.
Read: Global Covid cases top 374 million amid Omicron spread
Of the 140 deaths recorded from January 24 to January 30, some 22.1 per cent received Covid vaccines while 77.9 percent did not, the DGHS mentioned.
Comorbidities among the deceased patients declined 4.4 per cent this week compared to the previous one. Comorbidity means the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient.
Among the new deceased, 20 were men and 11 women.
Sixteen deaths were reported in Dhaka division while five in Khulna, three each in Rangpur, Mymensingh, two in Chattogram, one each in Rajshahi, and Sylhet divisions.
Meanwhile, the mortality rate further declined to 1.58 per cent.
However, the recovery rate also declined to 87.18 per cent with the recovery of 2,568 more patients during the 24-hour period.
Omicron Cases
Bangladesh’s total tally of Omicron cases reached 69 with the detection of five more cases till January 23, according to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data.
On December 9 last year, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing.
The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 last year along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.
Besides, the country registered the highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year, while the highest number of daily fatalities was 264 on August 10 last year.
Sinha murder: Ex-OC Pradeep, Liakat sentenced to death; 6 get life term
A Cox’s Bazar court on Monday sentenced former OC Pradeep Kumar Das and police inspector Liakat Ali to death and six others to life term imprisonment in the Maj (retd) Sinha Mohammad Rashed Khan murder case.
The six lifers are constable Sagar Dev, sub-inspector Nandolal Rakkhit, constable Rubel Sharma, Nurul Amin, Md Nizamuddin and Ayaz Uddin.
District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Ismail pronounced the judgment in presence of all the 15 accused, said Public Prosecutor Faridul Alam.
The court, however, acquitted seven other accused.
Also read: Sinha murder case verdict being read out
The 15 accused were brought to the court from Cox's Bazar district jail at 2 pm.
Of the 15 accused, 12 had given confessional statements before court except Pradeep, Sagar Dev and Rubel.
Detective police arrest 8 ' robbers' in city
Detective branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested eight suspected robbers from the city’s Mohammadpur area, including the ringleader of the metropolitan and inter-district robber gang, said a press release on Monday.
The arrestees are Md. Mozammel Hossain Apple, Haji Md. Jahangir Alam, Md. Jamir Khan, Md. Mujibur Rahman Majid Moktar, Md. Masum Gazi, Shafiqul Kharadi, Md. Quddus Ali and Md. Kauchar Mia.
Read: 5 held with 18,600 Yaba pills in city
The detectives also recovered a microbus used for robbery, a gun, a wireless set, one handcuff, 2 fake DB jackets and four sharp weapons from their possessions, the release added.Tipped-off, a team of DB (Tejgaon division) conducted a drive in Bosila area of c Mohammadpur on Sunday night and arrested them along with arms and other equipment.According to the press release, the gang carried out several robberies in the last few months across the country.Several retired and suspended members of various law enforcement and military forces were involved in the ring, it added.
Sinha murder case verdict being read out
The judgment in Maj (retd) Sinha Mohammad Rashed Khan murder case is being read out at a Cox's Bazar court in presence of 15 accused in the case.
The 15 accused were brought to the court from Cox's Bazar district jail at 2 pm on Monday.
District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Ismail started to read out the judgment when the accused were produced before the court, said Public Prosecutor Faridul Alam.
Of the 15 accused, 12 gave confessional statements before court except ex-OC Pradeep Kumar Das, Constable Sagar Dev and Rubel Sharma.
Other accused in the case are- Inspector of Baharchara Police outpost Liakat Ali, sub-inspectors Nandolal Rakkhit and Tutul, assistant sub-inspector Liton Mia; constables Shafanur Karim, Kamal Hossain, Abdullah AL Mamun, , Md Rajib and Md Abdullah, ASI of APBN Md Shahjahan and Nurul Amin, Md Nizamuddin and Ayaz Uddin.
Read: 5 die as bulkhead hits trawler in Dakatia River
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in Cox’s Bazar town ahead of the delivery of judgment.
Additional police personnel have been deployed in and around the court premises while a number of check-post were set up at different points.
The movement of pedestrians around the court is also being restricted.
On January 12, the Cox’s Bazar court fixed Monday for delivery of the judgment.
On July 31, 2020, Sinha was shot dead at the Shamlapur police check-post in Baharchhara Union of Cox's Bazar while returning to town after filming for a documentary.
On August 5, 2020, Sinha's sister, Sharmin Shahriar Ferdous, filed a case with Teknaf Senior Judicial Magistrate Court accusing nine members of law enforcement agencies of being involved in the killing, including former officer-in-charge of Teknaf model police station Pradeep Kumar Das and Baharchhara police outpost inspector Liakat Ali.
Read: Export-Import through Benapole land port suspended
On December 13, same year, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) submitted a charge sheet against 15 people, including ex-OC Pradeep, police source Ayaz and three APBn members, in connection with the case.
On June 27, 2021, a Cox’s Bazar court framed charges against them.
Export-Import through Benapole land port suspended
Export-import activities between Bangladesh and India through Benapole land port remained suspended since Monday morning due to an indefinite strike called by Petrapole port workers of India.
Karthik Chandra Chakraborty, general secretary of Indian Petrapole C&F Agent Staff Welfare Association, said the strike was called protesting various harassment by theb LP manager at Petrapole port.
"We are already in business trouble due to Covid-19 outbreak. In addition, the new LP manager is harassing traders by enforcing new rules at entry points,"he added.
Read: Gas supply suspended in B’Baria as pipeline gets damaged
He also said that no transport staff is allowed to enter ICP and port without a unique card.
However, the loading and unloading process at our port is going on at a normal pace, said Mamun Tarafdar, deputy director of Benapole port.