foreign-affairs
UAE lauds Bangladeshi workers' contribution to its development
The UAE has highly praised the hardworking and adaptive aptitude of Bangladeshi workers and appreciated their remarkable contribution to the socio-economic development of the country in the last four and a half decades.
Md Abu Zafar, ambassador of Bangladesh to the UAE and permanent representative to the International Renewable Energy Agency, held a bilateral meeting with Saif Al Suwaidi, undersecretary of the Ministry for Human Resources and Emiratisation of the UAE, at the latter's office in Dubai recently.
The issue of the return of Bangladeshi nationals with UAE residence, stranded in Bangladesh due to Covid-19 related travel ban, was discussed.
They discussed the whole gamut of bilateral cooperation and engagement in the areas of the continued employment of the Bangladeshi workforce in the UAE and skill development before their arrival.
While thanking the UAE leadership for hosting Bangladeshi workers and taking good care of them even during the pandemic, Ambassador Zafar underscored the importance of job-centric training and orientation of the workers before their travel to the UAE and as on-arrival orientation on the workers' rights, working condition, the UAE language and culture.
He put special emphasis on the protection of the rights of vulnerable groups, particularly female domestic workers.
Bangladesh can either designate or set up dedicated training institutes in the country and also develop a suitable training module for workers wishing to take up employment in the UAE with the support of the Gulf nation's government and or private sector, Ambassador Zafar suggested.
Wau province Governor lauds humane services of Bangladesh peacekeepers
Governor of Wau State in South Sudan Angelo Taban Biajo has highly appreciated the role of the Bangladesh peacekeepers.
The Governor lauded the humane services offered by Bangladesh peacekeepers in Wau and expressed their desire to establish cooperation between Wau province and Bangladesh in different areas like education, ICT and agriculture.
The local Governor of Wau along with the provincial Ministers met Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen at the UNMISS compound in Wau province of South Sudan on Friday.
READ: Bangladeshi peacekeepers boost country's image globally through dedication, efficiency: FM
The Governor suggested that more female personnel may be deployed in the Bangladesh contingent.
The Foreign Minister visited the Bangladesh contingent (BANBATT 4) deployed in the Wau province of South Sudan.
Deputy Force Commander of UNMISS and other Bangladesh high officials of UNMISS as well as Bangladesh non-resident Ambassador to South Sudan and Foreign Ministry officials were present.
Upon his arrival at the UNMISS compound, the Foreign Minister was presented with a guard of honour by a smart contingent of the Bangladesh Peacekeepers.
The Bangladesh Contingent organized spectacular fits which were displayed by Bangladesh Peacekeeping members.
Both male and female performers displayed their acrobatic and defensive skills.
Dr Momen made an address to the Bangladesh Peacekeepers at the Bangladesh contingent.
Several Indians among 150 kidnapped by Taliban in Kabul: Reports
As many as 150 people, mostly Indian nationals, have been kidnapped by the Taliban from outside the Kabul airport, multiple media reports said on Saturday.
Though the Indian Foreign Ministry is yet to make any official confirmation, the Taliban have denied the reports. "The Indians have been taken to a nearby police station for questioning. They will be released soon," a Taliban spokesman told the Afghan media.
The Indians nationals were reportedly picked up by the Taliban a couple of hours after an Indian Air Force transport plane evacuated some 85 Indians from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
READ: Reports of targeted Taliban killings fuel Afghans' fears
"The aircraft has safely landed in Tajikistan. The plane will return to India after refuelling. A second aircraft is on standby at the Kabul airport for carrying out further evacuations," sources in Delhi told UNB.
On Tuesday, India evacuated all its diplomatic staff, including the Ambassador, from its embassy in Kabul on a special flight of the Air Force, some 36 hours after the Taliban seized the capital.
"In view of the prevailing circumstances, it has been decided that our Ambassador in Kabul and his Indian staff will move to India immediately," Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi tweeted that morning.
Though Afghanistan has closed its airspace for all civilian flights, military aircraft are still evacuating stranded foreign nationals with the help of the American troops stationed at the Kabul airport.
The Indian government has, meanwhile, introduced a new emergency category of e-visa to fast-track applications from Afghans seeking refuge in this country.
In the past two weeks, India has evacuated all its diplomatic staff and their families from its three consulates in Afghanistan -- Kandahar, Jalalabad and Herat.
In a security advisory last week, the Indian Embassy in Kabul asked all Indian nationals visiting, staying and working in Afghanistan to keep themselves updated on the availability of commercial flights and make immediate arrangements to return to India.
The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan on Sunday evening, with the US troops virtually ending their 20-year military presence in the South Asian country.
READ: How social platforms are dealing with the Taliban
India is particularly worried about the implications of the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan, given the fact that it has so far infused over three billion USD worth development aid into that country and the horrific memories of the Taliban's role in the hijacking of an airliner in 1999.
South Sudan names road after Bangladesh
The South Sudan government has named a road in its capital Juba as "Bangladesh Road".
It was constructed with the help of the Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Engineering contingent.
The Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Engineering contingent received lots of applause from the people and the government of South Sudan for their pro-people construction works, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen met with the South Sudanese acting Defence Minister Gen. Chol Thon Balok at his office in Juba on Friday.
READ: Bangladeshi peacekeepers boost country's image globally through dedication, efficiency: FM
Global Covid cases near 211 million
With the highly contagious Delta variant spreading rapidly across several countries, the global Covid-19 caseload is also fast approaching the grim milestone of 211 million.
The total caseload and fatalities stand at 210,820,517 and 4,414,840, respectively, as of Saturday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 4,867,004,474 vaccine doses have been administered across the globe.
The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has so far logged 37,613,490 cases, according to JHU, while 627,843people have lost their lives to Covid to date.
Brazil currently has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India.
READ: Global Covid cases near 210 million
The country has recorded 20,528,099 cases with 573,511 fatalities so far, according to the health ministry.
The third worst-hit country, India's Covid-19 tally rose to 32,358,829 on Friday, while the death toll from the virus mounted to 433,589.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh added 145 fatalities, lowest in 48 days, to its national tally Friday, as Covid deaths continue to fall for the third straight day and cases remain below the 8,000 mark since August 14.
The country reported 134 Covid deaths on July 3, the highest fatality number – 264 – on August 5 and 10, and 16,230 infections on July 28.
Bangladesh is now reporting 7,191 new cases on an average each day – 50% of the peak. The highest daily average was reported on August 3.
It recorded 5,993 new cases Friday after testing 34,892 samples, down from 8,465 logged a week earlier on August 13.
The country has been experiencing a surge of Covid-related caseload and deaths since June 2021.
Since the beginning of the vaccination programme, the government has administered at least 22,413,079 doses of Covid jabs – enough to have vaccinated around 6.7% of the country's population, assuming every person needs two doses.
READ: Global Covid cases top 209 million
Getting vaccinated prevents severe illness, hospitalisations, and death, and with the Delta variant, this is more urgent than ever, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Bangladesh to get 781,440 AstraZeneca doses from Japan Saturday
Bangladesh will receive 781,440 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Japan Saturday.
A flight of All Nippon Airways, carrying the vaccine shots, left Japan's Narita International Airport Friday.
The vaccine doses are scheduled to arrive at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Saturday on a flight of Cathay Pacific.
Read: Bangladesh to resume administering AstraZeneca jabs Monday
With this shipment, the total amount of dispatched vaccines from Japan as of today stands at over 2.4 million.
This delivery is a part of Japan's commitment to supplying over 3 million doses of vaccine under the WHO-COVAX mechanism.
Read: Over 1.6 million AstraZeneca doses received from Japan
Bangladesh Ambassador to Japan Shahabuddin Ahmed was present at the airport during vaccine dispatch.
Counsellor (Labour) Md Zakir Hossain and First Secretary (Political) Arif Mohammad were also present at that time.
Bangladeshi peacekeepers boost country's image globally through dedication, efficiency: FM
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said Bangladeshi peacekeepers have enhanced the country's image internationally through dedicated and efficient services in the UN peacekeeping missions.
He identified the participation of Bangladeshi peacekeepers as an opportunity to project the image of the country abroad.
Read: Nature of peacekeeping has changed: FM
The foreign minister visited Bangladesh peacekeeping contingents in South Sudan Thursday.
He visited the Bangladesh Engineering Construction Unit and Bangladesh Marine Forces Unit deployed in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in Juba.
During his interaction with the peacekeepers, Dr Momen mentioned the role of the government in enhancing the participation of Bangladeshi peacekeepers in the UN missions.
The minister said the government also sent Formed police units (FPUs) to different UN missions who have earned a lot of reputation with their performance.
"Bangladesh is now the top troop-contributing country to the UN peacekeeping operations owing to the efficiency, acumen and professionalism of our peacekeepers," he said.
Read: FM greets UN chief Guterres on re-appointment
Also, Dr Momen said the government has facilitated the deployment of female peacekeepers in the UN peacekeeping operations.
A monument can be built in the Dhaka Cantonment to pay tribute to the sacrifices of Bangladeshi peacekeepers, he suggested.
During the visit to the UNMISS, he received a gun salute from a contingent of Bangladeshi peacekeepers and signed the visitors' book.
The Bangladesh contingent in the UNMISS comprises a good number of female peacekeepers along with male ones.
Later, the foreign minister interacted with the acting special representatives of the UN secretary-general of the UNMISS, the forces commander of the UNMISS, the mission chief and the deputy forces commander of the UNMISS.
During this time, the officials apprised the foreign minister about the activities of the UNMISS and highly praised the role of Bangladeshi peacekeepers in the UNMISS.
Dr Momen is now visiting South Sudan to meet Bangladeshi peacekeepers deployed in different contingents in the UNMISS and also meeting with the high political leadership of South Sudan.
The delegation of the foreign minister comprises non-resident Bangladesh ambassador to South Sudan, officials from the Armed Forces Division and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Bangladesh, South Sudan seek greater trade ties
Bangladesh and South Sudan are in discussion about establishing cooperation in agriculture, education, food security, health, education and vocational training sectors.
The two sides emphasised the need for increased bilateral trade and commerce for mutual benefit.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen met with his South Sudan counterpart Beatrice Wani-Noah at her office in Juba Thursday and discussed ways to build cooperation.
Read: UN to honour 2 fallen Bangladesh peacekeepers
Both sides agreed to collaborate in areas such as food security, social safety net, IT and ICT, health, medical education and vocational training.
Dr Momen invited Beatrice Wani-Noah to visit Bangladesh at her convenience.
The foreign minister also informed her of the enhanced and wider participation of women in the workforce and administrative positions in Bangladesh.
He briefed Beatrice about the tremendous socio-economic progress that Bangladesh has achieved during the last few decades.
Namely, Dr Momen mentioned the success of Bangladesh in agriculture and human resources development.
He informed that Bangladesh registered remarkable economic growth during the last decade and became one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
The foreign minister also mentioned the commendable role of Bangladeshi peacekeepers in UNMISS and other peacekeeping operations.
Earlier, Dr Momen was received by Deputy Foreign Minister of South Sudan Deng Dau Deng at the Juba International Airport.
He had a brief discussion with the deputy minister of defence of South Sudan. The two leaders reflected on the existing bilateral ties.
Bangladesh recognised South Sudan soon after the country came into being.
Bangladesh seeks Russian investment in Ishwardi Airport
Bangladesh has invited Russia to invest in Ishwardi Airport to make it functional.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam discussed the issue when newly appointed Ambassador of Russia to Bangladesh Alexander Vikentyevich Mantytskiy met with him at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thursday.
Bangladesh is firmly committed to taking bilateral relations with Russia to a higher level, the state minister said.
Also, he recalled the contributions of Russia during the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh.
The Russian ambassador said his country wants to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations with Bangladesh.
He also shared his country's commitment to expanding relations between the two countries.
The state minister mentioned that Bangladesh and Russia share the same view in various regional and international forums including in the UN to ensure global peace and security.
During the Second World War, the British government set up the Ishwardi Airport and in 1962 PIA operated the first passenger flight, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).
After the independence of Bangladesh, Biman Bangladesh Airlines ran regular flights to and from Dhaka till 1989.
In 2013 United airways resumed their flights to Dhaka, but flights to the airport were suspended in 2014, CAAB says.
Another Oxygen Express on its way to Bangladesh from India
Another Oxygen Express of Indian Railways has embarked on its journey to Bangladesh on Thursday with 198 MT Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) to help address respiratory distress caused by Covid-19.
This is 10th Oxygen Express of Indian Railways which will arrive here with the Liquid Medical Oxygen.
Read:Linde Bangladesh raises awareness on oxygen conservation
Nine other Oxygen Express trains delivered liquid oxygen to Bangladesh in July and August.
Linde Bangladesh is the importer of the medical oxygen exported by Linde India.
On April 24, this year he state-owned Indian Railways started operating the special oxygen trains service to supply liquid oxygen in 480 states across the country.
Read:India's fourth Oxygen Express arrives with 200 MT of medical oxygen
Bangladesh is the first foreign country where the Oxygen Express has been put into operation to deliver the life-saving gas amid rising Covid infections.