foreign-affairs
India plans to raise Covid jab production: High Commission
India is looking at an increased monthly production of Covid-19 jabs, a larger basket of vaccine options and a larger proportion of its population fully vaccinated by the end of 2021.
This would translate to a larger potential to share vaccines with the world, contributing toward realisation of the Prime Minister’s vision of 'One Earth, One Health', the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said in a press release.
India’s Covid-19 vaccination drive has achieved a historic milestone of administering 1 billion vaccine doses. Around 75% of the eligible population (18+) has been given the first dose, while around 30% has been given both the doses.
Read:Indian high commissioner interacts with Buddhist community
India has achieved this mark of 1 billion vaccine doses in less than 40 weeks, said the High Commission.
This milestone exemplifies India’s prowess in various elements in the vaccination journey -- development of new vaccines, production of vaccines, deployment, and technology, it said.
India’s Covid-19 vaccination drive was launched on 16 January, 2021.
But preparations had begun way back in April 2020 with the establishment of the National Task Force for Focused Research on Corona Vaccine, the release said.
Today, India is the only country that has developed multiple vaccines across multiple platforms (Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin uses an inactivated virus platform, Zycov-D is a DNA vaccine, Covishield a viral vector vaccine, Gennova is in the running for being India’s first mRNA vaccine), according to the High Commission.
On the approval of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), three vaccines have been utilised in the programme -- Covishield produced by the Serum Institute of India in collaboration with AstraZeneca of the United Kingdom, Covaxin of Bharat Biotech International Limited and Sputnik V of Russia.
Read:Bangladesh receives 1 million doses of Sinovac vaccine
Nearly all of the 1 billion doses administered have been 'Made-in-India', except for a miniscule proportion of Sputnik V (approximately 0.4 million doses).
Moreover, the High Commission said, more than 95% of those vaccine doses have been delivered by India’s public health system, a testimony to its reach and robustness.
Nevertheless, it said, private healthcare outlets have also been included in the implementation of the vaccination drive.
Bangladesh learning a lot from China in poverty alleviation: Minister
Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni on Wednesday said Bangladesh has been learning a lot from its biggest development partner, China, in poverty alleviation.
“Both Bangladesh and China are among the most populous countries in the world and poverty alleviation is very important for both states,” she said while addressing a webinar as the chief guest.
At the same time, Dipu Moni said, other countries are learning from Bangladesh a lot on how it has progressed tremendously under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Referring to the deep-rooted ties between the two nations, the minister said people normally talk about the 46 years of diplomatic relationship between Bangladesh and China. “But, I believe, the friendship between the two countries goes at least 2,000 years back.
She appreciated Chinese outstanding contribution towards Bangladesh’s socio-economic and education sectors, and urged the Asian giant to strengthen it in the days to come.
Underlining the observations of some speakers, Moni said that for creating more skilled and time-befitting human resources Bangladesh is putting emphasis on technical and vocational education and training.
The webinar titled “Poverty Eradication: Experiences from Bangladesh and China” was held on the occasion of declaration of a 25-member and two-year-long executive committee of the Association of Bangladesh-China Alumni (ABCA).
Dipu Moni welcomed the newly-announced executive committee of the ABCA with Ambassador Munshi Faiz Ahmad as President of the association and Professor Dr Shahabul Haque as general secretary.
Dhaka-Beijing political trust continues to deepen: Envoy
Terming China the largest trading partner of Bangladesh, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming on Wednesday said the Bangladesh-China relations have achieved a rapid development.
"The political mutual trust between our two sides has continued to deepen, the cultural exchange and education cooperation as an integral part of our deeply-rooted bilateral relations, have been active and fruitful," he said.
Currently, the envoy said, China has become one of the top destinations for Bangladeshi students to study abroad and students are one of the main cornerstones of the friendship between the two peoples.
"All of you are well aware of the journey to development that our two countries are having together and shoulder to shoulder," said the Ambassador.
Indian high commissioner interacts with Buddhist community
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram K. Doraiswami on Wednesday visited Dharmarajika Buddhist Monastery on Prabarana Purnima, one of the holiest days, and interacted with the Buddhist community.
Doraiswami spoke of the eternal relevance of the message of righteous thought, action and nonviolence, and its impact on both Bangladesh and India.
Read: Indian High Commissioner celebrates Maha Ashtami in Kawran Bazar
Holy Eid-E-Miladunnabi observed in New Delhi
Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi on Tuesday observed holy Eid-E-Miladunnabi, the day of birth and demise of Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (PBUH) with due religious solemnity.
On this occasion, the High Commission held a discussion, doa, milad mehfil and special monajat.
Shaban Mahmood, Minister (Press) of the mission read out the message issued by President Md. Abdul Hamid and Nasir Uddin, First Secretary (Consular) read out the message issued by Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Deputy High Commissioner Md. Nural Islam conducted the programme where High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India Muhammad Imran along with all other officials of the mission was present.
Solshare to receive £300,000 as Earthshot finalist: UK envoy
The UK's Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office will provide £300,000 of financial support to Bangladesh-based Solshare, one of the 15 finalists in the inaugural Earthshot Prize competition.
British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson has made the announcement.
To mark the occasion, the British High Commissioner hosted a celebratory event where guests learned more about Solshare’s ground-breaking work to repair our planet, and the finalists received a personal message from HRH Prince William, who congratulated them on their fantastic achievement.
Congratulating Solshare, the High Commissioner said reaching the final three in the global Earthshot competition is a huge achievement for Solshare.
"I am delighted that FCDO will now provide £300,000 to a partnership between Shakti Foundation and Solshare, to help scale up their innovative model using rooftop solar home systems for peer-to-peer energy exchange networks, enabling poor households both to generate electricity from a renewable source and gain an income by selling their surplus energy to the national grid," he said.
The High Commissioner said Solshare’s innovative work will help Bangladesh move towards carbon neutrality and improve the lives and livelihoods of millions of Bangladeshis.
Launched by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in October 2020, The Earthshot Prize is the most prestigious global environment prize in history.
Bangladesh receives 1 million doses of Sinovac vaccine
Bangladesh on Tuesday received 1 million doses of Sinovac vaccine as a gift from the Chinese government.
This is the fifth batch of gifted Covid-19 vaccine doses from the Chinese Government to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh received four batches of gifted Chinese Sinopharm vaccine doses in May, June, and August of 2021.
US for opposing targeted violence, orchestrated hate
The United States has urged all to remain steadfast in opposing targeted violence and orchestrated hate, and work to ensure all are able to attend a religious service or celebration without fear of violence because of their faith.
“Everyone must remain steadfast in opposing targeted violence and orchestrated hate,” said the US Embassy in Dhaka in a statement on Tuesday.
The US Embassy sent their condolences to the families of victims of recent religious violence. “Freedom of religion is sacrosanct.”
Also read: PM orders stern action against those involved in communal attacks
The United States stands with Bangladeshis of all beliefs calling to preserve diversity, unity, and mutual respect, reads the statement.
Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government remains "concerned" that certain vested quarters are carrying out such pre-meditated attacks to gain some dubious political mileage.
"It is regrettable that the local elements that opposed Bangladesh’s independence 50 year ago are still propagating their toxic narratives to instigate violence, hatred and bigotry," MoFA said.
Also read: Rangpur: 1 arrested in Joypurhat under DSA, 42 for arson
When the people of Bangladesh were celebrating the Durga Puja in a joyous mood, there emerged reports of attacks on Hindu religious sites and idols in different parts of the country.
“My condolences to victims of recent violence affecting Durga Puja celebrations. UK stands with those working for religious tolerance and harmony, in Bangladesh and around the world," British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson tweeted on Tuesday.
Bangladeshi BiP users can share photos, videos as ‘status’
BiP’s mother company Turkcell keeps adding new features to BiP, a global life and communication platform home-grown in Turkey with recently launched the ‘status’ feature for its app.
Now, users can instantly share their videos and photos and add text to images, said a media release. Other users can also view them and comment on them.
The new feature allows BiP users to share their videos or photos, they can also upload fresh or previously archived images or videos from their gallery.
They can also see who has viewed their ‘status’. Those who share their status can see others’ status as well (from their contact list).
Read: Turkish BiP offers group calls up to 15 participants to brighten up this Eid
They can also enter their chat window and reply to other people’s statuses. On how users’ feedback helps improve BiP, the company’s Executive Vice President of Digital Services and Solutions, Ataç Tansuğ said that Turkcell always listens to its customers about their wants and needs and then creates products and services accordingly.
“We’re constantly updating and improving BiP – and rely on user feedback to do so. For example, our users have been demanding a ‘status’ feature for a long time, so we added one. In addition, we fine-tune all of our products and services per the latest requirements in both safety and privacy. We are investing in new security features at the moment; we aim to introduce end-to-end security by the end of this year," he said. Turkcell stores BiP users’ data at special high-security data centers across Turkey.
BiP’s latest version is available at GooglePlay AppStore, GooglePlay and Huawei AppGallery, please visit http://onelink.to/bip-id
Keep watch against further efforts to malign state institutions, country's image: Govt
The government has urged all concerned to uphold the spirit of tolerance, inclusivity, peace and pluralism and stand guard against further efforts to malign the state institutions and tarnish the image of the country. "The government remains committed to preventing the recurrence of such untoward incidents and would expect that further complication or misunderstanding would be averted through responsible and fact-based reporting through all media platforms," said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday. The government remains "concerned" that certain vested quarters are carrying out such pre-meditated attacks to gain some dubious political mileage. "It’s regrettable that the local elements that had opposed Bangladesh’s independence 50 year ago are still propagating their toxic narratives to instigate violence, hatred and bigotry," MoFA said.
Read:PM orders stern action against those involved in communal attacks They are trying to undermine Bangladesh’s secular, non-communal and pluralistic credentials in the international context by deliberately targeting one of the biggest religious festivals of the country, it mentioned. The government appreciated the Hindu community for concluding the festivities in a befitting spirit and also welcomed the overwhelming show of solidarity by people in general. When the people of Bangladesh were celebrating the Durga Puja in a joyous mood, there emerged reports of attacks on Hindu religious sites and idols in different parts of the country. The government "unequivocally condemned" those incidents and took "serious note of the reactions" from within and outside the Hindu community. As an immediate measure, MoFA said, the Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) forces were deployed in 22 districts of the country in aid of the civilian administration.