Saudi Arabia has expressed interest to take the existing bilateral relations with Bangladesh to a new height. President of the Shura Council of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Sheikh Dr. Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Ibraheem Al Sheikh paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Ganabhaban on Wednesday (January 31). The delegation of Saudi Arabia expressed its interest there. After the meeting, Prime Minister's Deputy Press Secretary KM Shakhawat Moon briefed the reporters. By this time, he said, the Saudi delegation congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for decorating the Prime Minister's seat again. "The President of the Shura Council praised the unprecedented development in Bangladesh under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina" Moon said to the reporters.

The World Health Organization has called on governments worldwide to increase taxes on alcohol and sugary drinks in order to drastically curb the number of people dying from drinking and unhealthy diets. The World Health Organization (WHO) called on governments around the world to increase taxes on alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). After studying taxation rates, the WHO said Tuesday that it believes the average global tax rate on "unhealthy products" was too low, while items such as wine are completely exempt from tax in some European countries.   Can taxes reduce deaths? According to the WHO, 2.6 million people die from drinking alcohol and 8 million people die due to unhealthy diets every year. The UN health agency said higher taxes would help reduce consumption of the products and incentivize companies to make healthier products. "Taxing unhealthy products creates healthier populations. It has a positive ripple effect across society, less disease and debilitation and revenue for governments to provide public services," said Rüdiger Krech, the WHO's health promotion director. "In the case of alcohol, taxes also help prevent violence and road traffic injuries." The WHO added that while 108 of its 194 member states already impose some taxes on SSBs, they account for an average of just 6.6% of the price of soda. Half of those countries, the WHO noted, also tax water, which is not recommended by the UN agency.   WHO: Less cheap booze means fewer alcohol-related deaths The WHO said minimum pricing alongside taxation could curb consumption of cheap alcohol and reduce drink-related hospitalizations, deaths, traffic violations and crimes.  "A significant body of research has demonstrated that people who engage in heavy episodic drinking tend to drink the cheapest available alcoholic beverages," the WHO said. "However, wine is exempted from excise taxes in at least 22 countries, most of which are in the European region."   Do alcohol taxes hit poorest hardest? Globally, on average, the tax on the price of the most sold brand of beer is 17.2%, while for the most sold brand of the most sold type of spirits, it is 26.5%, the WHO reported. While the drinks industry often cites alcohol taxes as affecting the poorest communities hardest, the WHO countered that such a view ignores the "disproportionate harm per litre for alcohol consumers in lower socioeconomic groups." "A pressing concern is that alcoholic beverages have, over time, consistently become more affordable," WHO Assistant Director-General Ailan Li said. "But increasing affordability can be curbed using well-designed alcohol tax and pricing policies."

The US Embassy, through its EducationUSA platform, in partnership with EdPrograms, will host US University fairs and tours in Dhaka, and Chattogram.  The program aims to provide prospective students, teachers, and college counsellors with a unique opportunity to learn about the US higher education application process from admissions officers of 31 accredited higher education institutions, according to a press release US Embassy.  The tour entails two university fairs – the first one will be held at the Radisson Blu Chittagong Bay View on Thursday, September 7, and the second one at Banani's Sheraton Dhaka on Saturday,  September 9. Chattogram Fair:  September 7, 2023: 04:00 pm to 06:00 pm  Both Undergraduate and Graduate applicants can attend this fair  Dhaka Fair:  September 9, 2023:  Undergraduate Fair: 11:00 am to 01:00 pm  Graduate Fair: 03:00 pm to 06:00 pm  Register here: https://edusafair.com EducationUSA is the official source on US higher education Follow the EducationUSA Bangladesh's Facebook page for more information about the fair at www.Facebook.com/EdUSABangladesh or by emailing [email protected].

Higher discounts on crude oil offered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to wean India away from Russian crude may soon see Indian refiners ramping up purchases from the Gulf nation, officials at multiple refiners said. They also pointed to the recent agreement on trade settlement in national currencies signed between India and the UAE as a reason for this. “While discussions are underway, the UAE has offered discounts on crude, which will be more than that of the current level of Russian discounts. "There have been periodic talks on the issue but the pace has intensified in recent months as discounts from Russia have reduced,” an official said. Crude imports into the country touched a record high of $16.8 billion in 2022-23 (FY23), up from $12.3 billion in the previous year. But this made the Emirates only the fourth-largest source of crude for India in FY23. It knocked down one spot from FY22 due to the emergence of Russian Urals grade crude in the Indian market. Last month, Business Standard had reported that the government anticipated that West Asian sellers such as Iraq and the UAE were keenly watching the situation and may raise their level of discounts. Last year, Baghdad had undercut Russia from June, by supplying a range of crudes that on average cost $9 a barrel less than Russian oil. The extremely price-sensitive market, therefore, had shifted heavily in favour of Iraq. Currently, the price of Russian Urals grade crude is trading close to the $60 limit, beyond which sanctions take hold. Since April, the majority of Russian oil sold to India has been on the Dubai benchmark, with an average discount level of $8-10 per barrel. Industry insiders said Moscow won't change terms by a wide margin at a time when it is pressed for cash. But the level of discounts has continuously shrunk in 2023 as China snapped up large volumes of Russian crude. “Discounts on Russian oil are still continuing but the levels have dropped. "Refiners would look at favourable terms wherever they exist. Right now, that is the West Asian countries,” a senior official with a major refiner said. Currency arrangement Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to settle trade in local currency. This enables the use of the rupee and UAE’s dirham for cross-border transactions. Crude oil forms the single-largest component of India’s $84-billion bilateral trade with the UAE. As a result, the government has nudged refiners to expedite more purchases from the country, sources said. The UAE is India’s third-largest trading partner globally, after the United States and China. The country has also become India’s second-largest source of imports after the pandemic. Source: rediff.com

Chief minister N Biren has informed that the government would soon launch free coaching classes for technical education in order to promote technical education among the students and bring about a conducive environment in tune with the changing technological advancement in today’s world. The CM flagged off a team of 30 students of the state along with three faculty members on a five-day exposure tour to Nagpur, Maharashtra under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat – Yuva Sangam programme from the CM’s secretariat in the presence of Dr RK Ranjan union minister of state for education and external affairs Th Basanta kumar education minister and professor Krishnan Baskar director IIIT Manipur, Speaking on the occasion, Biren said that the state had created a vacuum in the higher education sector due to disturbances like bandhs, blockades and strikes in the past. But today, the government is putting efforts to bridge the gap by implementing schemes like the School Fagathansi and added that the government is going to start College Fagathansi to bring development in colleges. Speaking to the young students, who are taking part in the tour, Biren said that, “We need to know each other in order to achieve the goal of ‘One India, United India and Strong India’ as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is the main objective of the exposure tour”. He also mentioned about the free coaching classes for civil services aspirants and added that the new scheme is to promote technical education among the aspirants, who want to pursue higher studies in IITs, IIITs and NITs among others. Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister of state for education Dr RK Ranjan said the tour is a good opportunity for the young students and urged them to project their best behaviour, expose the very best of Manipur and to learn the best of the host state during the trip He said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is using the unity in diversity as a powerful plank to make a strong India and he has confidence in the youth of creating a united and strong India. A total of 30 students representing from various districts and institutions and three faculty members from NIT, Manipur, who will accompany the students, are travelling to Nagpur, Maharashtra as a first batch of the programme.  Around 1000 youths will participate in the pilot project of Yuva Sangam conceptualised by the ministry of education. Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Manipur is coordinating the programme in association with NIT, Nagpur. During their visit, the students will have a multi-dimensional exposure under five broad areas of tourism, tradition, development, technology and people-to-people connect. It’s a youth exchange programme where 70 students with five faculties from Maharashtra would also be visiting Imphal on February 27 and tour several parts of the state till March 3. Source: YENDA News Agency 

Sasa Braun has seen a lot in the 28 years he has worked as an investigator. But it's the past six years as a criminal intelligence officer with Interpol's environmental security program that have shocked him the most. "The brutality and profit margins in the area of environmental crime are almost unimaginable. Cartels have taken over entire sectors of illegal mining, the timber trade and waste disposal," he said at a recent press conference, held together with German politicians. Braun listed examples. Villages in Peru that had resisted deforestation efforts had been razed to the ground by criminal gangs in retribution, he said, while illegal fishing fleets had thrown crew overboard to avoid having to pay them. And much of the timber and fish acquired through illegal means ended up in Germany, he said. Environmental crime has many faces and includes the illegal widelife trade, illegal logging, illegal waste disposal and the illegal discharge of pollutants into the atmosphere, water or soil. It is a lucrative business for transnational crime networks. Illegal waste trafficking, for example, accounts for $10 to 12 billion (€10.28 to 12.34 billion) annually, according to 2016 figures from the United Nations Environment Program. Criminal networks save on the costs of proper disposal and obtaining permits. For some crime networks, the profits from waste management are so huge that it has become more interesting than drug trafficking. Is wood the new gold? The profits from illegal logging have also grown. Well-seasoned tropical hardwood, which is used to build yachts, for example, is increasingly rare and demand is high. Katharina Lang, project manager for forest crime at the German branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said that consumers could never be certain if the wood in a product they had bought had been acquired through legal means. According to a 2021 study by the German Association of Engineers (VDI), illegal logging accounts for 30% of activities in the global forestry sector. This figure can rise to almost 90% in countries that produce tropical timber. German timber regulations call for a certificate of origin, but labeling fraud is frequent, as WWF has demonstrated many times. For example, wood might be labeled as being hardwood from Vietnam but actually it might be low-grade waste wood. WWF Germany uses genetic and isotopic fingerprinting to verify the declared origin of wood. Sasa Braun from Interpol says that cooperation with NGOs such as WWF is invaluable, but, he says, the activities of these organizations aren't always appreciated, particularly in countries where there is corruption at all levels. Environmental crime is seen as petty crime According to the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), environmental crime — the third most lucrative area of crime worldwide after drug trafficking and counterfeit goods — generates profits of between $110 billion and $280 billion each year. It is difficult to be more precise because there is an extremely high number of unreported cases. And it's not like nature can sue. "This certainly also has to do with the fact that we speak of administrative offenses in the case of environmental crime. Cases of environmental crime often aren't uncovered at all. They are only discovered when deliberate and targeted controls are carried out," said Moritz Klose, head of the wildlife program in Germany and Europe for WWF. Even when such crimes are revealed, penalties tend to be light. Experts seem to agree that there is also a problem of staff shortages, as well as possibly a lack of political will. "A few years ago in [the western German state of] North Rhine-Westphalia, we had an environmental crime unit in the Environment Ministry," explained Klose. "It was very successful. An experienced investigator and a public prosecutor worked together to coordinate on cases of environmental crime in North Rhine-Westphalia, advise the authorities and conduct some of the investigations themselves." However, it was closed down "for political reasons," he told DW, saying that the state is now trying to reverse this decision. The eastern German state of Brandenburg has had a special prosecutor's office for environmental crime for two years. However, people there also complain of staffing shortages. Experts say that Europe-wide operations centers are needed, with judges, public prosecutors, police and customs officers who have been trained in tackling environmental crime. Sasa Braun of Interpol says that environmental crime has to be fought with the same tools, including undercover investigations, wiretaps and GPS tracking, as other serious crimes. "It is often still considered as petty crime and not as a crime against our future," he told DW. Activists put pressure on German justice minister Some are hoping that new European legislation, to be introduced next year, will tighten compliance with EU environmental laws. "Too often in Europe, there is no real penalty for environmental crime. Lawbreakers can go unpunished and there are too few incentives to observe the law," European Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius said last year. "We want to change that by proposing a new directive on environmental crime that will strengthen the environmental rule of law." But Germany's leading environmental associations fear sanctions won't be as tough as they should be. In an open letter to German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, they urged him to ensure that the EU adopts modern and effective legislation. They also criticized Buschmann for  advocating for lower maximum penalties for serious environmental crimes as well as for lowering fines that companies might be liable for. Stephan Sina, a lawyer specializing in environmental law at the Berlin-based Ecologic Institute, told DW that other measures would be much more effective. "When it comes to sanctions, it is important that profits gained from a crime be systematically seized. That usually hits criminals harder than the actual penalty," he said. Environmental advocates still have some time to make their case. The EU is only expected to adopt the new directive by the middle of next year.

Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in May were 50 percent higher than during the pre-industrial era, reaching levels not seen on Earth for about four million years, the main US climate agency said on Friday. Global warming caused by humans, particularly through the production of electricity using fossil fuels, transport, the production of cement, or even deforestation, is responsible for the new high, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said. May is usually the month with the highest carbon dioxide levels each year. In May 2022, the threshold of 420 parts per million (ppm) -- a unit of measurement used to quantify pollution in the atmosphere -- was crossed. In May 2021, the rate was 419 ppm, and in 2020, 417 ppm. The measurements are taken at the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii, ideally located high on a volcano, which allows it to escape the possible influence of local pollution. Before the Industrial Revolution, levels of CO2 held steady at around 280 ppm, a level maintained for approximately 6,000 years of human civilization that preceded industrialization, according to NOAA.   The level now is comparable to what it was between 4.1 and 4.5 million years ago, when CO2 levels were near or above 400 ppm, the agency said in a statement. At that time, sea levels were between five and 25 meters higher than now, high enough to submerge many of today's major cities. Large forests also occupied parts of the Arctic, according to studies. CO2 is a greenhouse gas that traps heat, gradually causing global warming. It remains in the atmosphere and oceans for thousands of years. Its warming effect is already causing dramatic consequences, noted NOAA, including the multiplication of heat waves, droughts, fires or floods. "Carbon dioxide is at levels our species has never experienced before - this is not new," said Pieter Tans, a scientist with the Global Monitoring Laboratory. "We have known about this for half a century, and have failed to do anything meaningful about it. What's it going to take for us to wake up?" Source: AFP/BSS AH

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today (Thursday) said the government's expansionary monetary policy has played a vital role to achieve higher growth in the last fiscal 2020-21 despite the Covid-19 pandemic.      "Our expansionary monetary policy has played a role in this regard. We followed this policy when many countries in the world didn't dare to take this path," he said.      The finance minister said this virtually while replying to a volley of questions after chairing the meetings on the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).      According to the final report of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the size of the GDP in the last fiscal year (FY21) stood at Taka 35,302 billion or US$416 billion,      As per the data, the GDP growth rate of the country reached 6.94 percent in FY21 while the per capita income increased to $2,591.      Kamal said Bangladesh has been able to reach close to the growth target in the fiscal due to an increase in import-export, revenue, and remittances.      "Our economy has never been down. Our inflation did not increase; the interbank exchange rate was also stable. Revenue collection is the most difficult task, there has also been a 15 percent growth," he said.     He mentioned that Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics assesses GDP in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's System of Accounts 2008.       The whole world follows this method. The planning minister has already explained why and how the GDP growth has increased," he added.      Kamal said that while the global economy was heading for negative growth due to the coronavirus, Bangladesh's economy was still on a positive trend.      "In the last financial year, exports have increased by 30 percent and imports have also increased. Remittances have also increased. Although remittances are not included as GDP, they have contributed to the increase in per capita income," he added. Source: BSS AH

The Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) in Kerala, an institute under the Department of Science and Technology has developed a multiplex RT-PCR kit, where the validation shows the kit has 97.3 per cent sensitivity and 100 per cent specificity in the Covid-19 detection. This means it is unlikely to show any false positives and has only a 2.7 per cent chance of showing a false negative. The Indian Council of Medical Research has validated the kit at the National Institute of Virology in Pune, and found it satisfactory. "The kit developed by the SCTIMST targets two SARS CoV2 genes: RdRp and ORFb-nsp14, and the human RNAse P gene as the internal control. The kit is based on multiplex Taqman chemistry, amplifying all three genes in a single reaction. The amplification time for the assay is 45 minutes, besides the time required for the RNA isolation from nasopharyngeal swab samples," the statement said. ORFb-nsp14 is one of the least mutated genes in Covid-19. Currently, there are no kits in the market having ORF-nsp14 as the target. The mutations on the commonly used S, R and N gene of the virus interfere with the result of an RT-PCR test. For example, the changes in the spike protein of B.1.1.7 (first found in the UK) resulted in the failure of probes for the S gene. The turnaround time using the kit developed by SCTIMST is also faster. A normal RT-PCR takes about five to six hours to be completed. Source: Khaleej Times AH

Education Minister Dr. Dipu Moni said, there is no link between our textbooks and the reality. For this reason higher degrees are not being effective in the real situation at the moment. So education system has been turned based on the reality. She said this on Wednesday at a program organized by Education Reporters Association of Bangladesh (ERAB) at the International Mother Language Institute. The Education Minister said, once upon a time it was a challenge to bring everyone under coverage of education. As that was succeed, so now emphasize has been given on quality education. Our children will be made experienced through providing quality education. For this reason a huge change has been brought in the textbooks for the students. Dipu Moni said, not only that excess examination methods have been made in the education system. Not only for the students but it also has created much pressure on the guardians. To run for fascination of GPA-5 they are being fallen into physical, mental and social pressure. To overcome this dependency on examination and certificate has to be lessened and learning will be made enjoyable. For this reason, to ensure quality education it is necessary to ensure financial security and dignity for the teachers. Currently we are working on it. Teachers will be responsible if we can ensure the matters. Learning will be made efficient by not making it based on textbooks. AH