The majority of Germans want a motorway speed limit and environmental groups say it would help cut emissions. But are their arguments strong enough to convince those opposed to slower speeds on the Autobahn? Germany's motorways, internationally famed for their high speeds, are currently the subject of heated political debate. The topic has long been divisive in the country. In 1973, the introduction of a 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) speed limit in response to surging petrol prices during the oil crisis caused widespread outrage for the few months it was implemented. Germany's ADAC automotive club protested against the measure. Since then, various attempts to introduce a general speed limit have failed. But now more than half of Germans — including ADAC members — support a speed limit. Yet it remains a polarizing issue and faces stiff opposition. Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) party has even launched a petition against it. Motorway speed limits (almost) everywhere — except in Germany Certain stretches of Germany's Autobahn do have speed limits, but this applies to only 30% of the motorways. For the speed-unrestricted streches, the government recommends a voluntary top speed of 130 kilometers per hour, but drivers are free to go as fast as they want. Speeding on German motorways is even advertised as a tourist attraction by sports car rental companies. What are the benefits of a speed limit? The slower a vehicle drives, the less fuel it consumes. This means it also emits less pollutants, such as climate-damaging carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. A speed limit of 120 kilometers per hour on motorways would save 4.5 million tons of CO2 equivalent and equate to a 2.9% drop in emissions compared to 2018 levels, according to   calculations by the German Environment Agency, or UBA.They estimate this could increase to saving 6.7 million tons and 4.2% of emissions if a speed limit also encouraged people to switch to taking trains, choose shorter routes or even forgo certain journeys altogether. And if the speed limit on states road was reduced from 100 kilometers per hour to 80, this could save up to eight million ton of CO2 equivalent. Proponents also argue a limit would lead to fewer accidents as traveling slower reduces a car's braking distance. It would also cut noise pollution, because driving at 100 kilometers per hour is around half as loud as at 130 kilometers per hour. They also highlight it would allow more cars to be on the road simultaneously and therefore help ease traffic jams, particularly if cars went at 100 kilometers per hour or less. What are the arguments against a speed limit? According to an analysis from the German Economic Institute, 77% of people on German motorways already voluntarily drive slower than 130 kilometers per hour.  However, men, as well as those under 24 and frequent drivers (people clocking up over 50,000 kilometers per year), were more likely to be against speed limits, citing concerns about more traffic jams and longer journey times, according to a survey by Allianz insurance.  How many accidents could be avoided by the speed limit on German motorways is not fully clear. According to the ADAC, Germany doesn't have more serious accidents on their motorways than in countries with a speed limit. If you compare the number of fatalities per motorway kilometer driven, France, the United States and the Czech Republic saw more fatalities than in Germany in 2020. However, in absolute figures, Germany had the highest number in 2020, with 317 deaths on the Autobahn.  Who supports a speed limit in Germany? Environmental organizations are calling for a speed limit, as are the police union in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the German Road Accident Victim Support Association. They also support reducing the speed limit on state roads to 80 kilometers per hour, a move the insurance industry believes would help increase safety. Among political parties, it has received the support of the Greens, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Left Party. More than half of Germans are now behind a speed limit. 

Cyclone Mocha, which formed in the Bay of Bengal, has now become a 'very strong' cyclone. The maximum wind speed of the cyclone towards the center is now 140 km per hour. On Friday, May 12, Meteorologist Omar Farooq confirmed this matter. Mr. Farooq said, "The maximum sustained wind speed is 120 to 140 km per hour within 54 km of center of the cyclone. The cyclone is now 1,025 km away from Cox's Bazar. According to the latest special notification of Meteorological Department, "The strong cyclone 'Mocha' has condensed into an 'extremely strong' cyclone and is staying over the central Bay of Bengal and the adjoining Southeast Bay of Bengal.  It can be more severe. Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Mongla and Payra sea ports have been asked to show warning signal number 2. Warning signal number 2 means that a storm has created in the deep sea, where the sustained wind speed is 62-88 kilometers per hour. Currently, ports are not under the storm, but ships leaving the port may be in danger en route.

India seeks to speed up plans in Indian Ocean amid growing Chinese presence in region, say experts. India is looking to accelerate plans in the Indian Ocean amid growing Chinese presence in the region. Indian aims to transform the Andaman and Nicobar Islands into a shipping and tourism hub with connections to Southeast Asia, Malaysian publication The Star reported. In a recent meeting, Indian and Indonesian officials agreed to "encourage sail tourism, cruise ship visits, and interaction between tour operators" between the two countries to increase connectivity between the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Aceh where India is helping to develop the deep sea port of Sabang. Officials of both countries agreed to help create opportunities for investors. Strengthening the link between the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Aceh, 150 km apart, is part of a shared vision for Indo-Pacific maritime cooperation signed between the two countries in 2018, The Star reported. Rajiv Bhatia, former Indian ambassador and Distinguished Fellow at Gateway House, a think tank, was quoted by The Star as saying, “The broader context (of this cooperation) is closer political and economic ties and closer cooperation, the infrastructure for this should be put in place.” “India’s approach in the past (towards Andaman and Nicobar Islands) used to be so restrictive, not to do any development of the area and not allow foreign powers. Now there is an evolution in thinking,” Bhatia added. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have a population of about 400,000 people, including indigenous tribes and the Jarawas who have inhabited the island for years and live off the mainland.

With digital India in focus, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba has shot off a letter to all secretaries to the central government, asking them to focus on data, digitalization and the announcements made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech.   The letter by the cabinet secretary, which was written on September 20, two days after PM Modi held a meeting with all secretaries across ministries, emphasizes making sure that all schemes and programs of the Government of India have an inbuilt digital component.   The letter reads that the idea of "data as wealth" needs to be embraced and also focuses on how the governance of data can help transform the lives of countrymen.   The communication from the cabinet secretary goes on to say that the implementation of budget announcements needs to be taken forward in right direction, and also points out how capital expenditure needs to be speeded up to meet targets as progress in many ministries at the end of the first quarter of the financial year is not satisfactory.   The cabinet secretary further asked all the secretaries to identify and implement actionable points from PM Modi's speech and work to ensure implementation of the same in a time-bound manner. The ministries and departments have also been asked to report progress of implementation regularly on the e-Samiksha portal.   "The Government has established Capacity Building Commission (CBC) to reorient training of Civil Servants in line with evolving requirements. Ministries/Departments should reach out to the CBC and apprise them about their current training architecture/institutes and discuss in details their training needs, as also the need for continuation/reorientation of the extant training institutions. A nodal officer may be designated by each Ministry/Department for interaction with CBC," the letter read.   Source: India Today

40 broad gauge high speed rail engines will be collected for Bangladesh Railway (BR) from United States. The velocity of the engines is 130 kilometers per hour. Those are going to be available in the country from next month. In addition eight high speed meter gauge engines will be brought from Korea. Besides, the rail communication between Cox’s Bazar and other parts of the country will begin at the end of next year. The information was delivered by Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan while exchanging views with the leaders of Crime Reporters Association of Bangladesh (CRAB) at his office on Wednesday. Responding to the questions of newsmen the minister said, rail communication between Bhanga and Mawa will start on the inauguration day of Padma Bridge. There will be no rail gate between Dhaka-Jashore rail link road. There will be adequate overpass and underpasses. There will be a revolutionary change in rail communication of the country when Padma Bridge project is completed. He said, we are working on reducing rail crossing accidents. We have raised the amount of compensation from 10 thousand taka to one lakh taka. BR is working to reduce accidents on crossings for the sake of its own security interest. Nurul Islam Sujan said, Kamalapur rail station will be modernized further. At present fourth line, third line and double line upgrade works are going on under 33 projects. We hope that four lines from Kamalapur Rail Station to Tongi and Dhaka-Chattogram double line communication will start from next year. The work of Jamuna Rail Bridge has been started. Besides, feasibility study has been completed for Munshiganj-Satkhira-Khulna rail line. There will be unthinkable changes in railway sector if the ongoing projects are completed. Currently people’s interest and reliance have increased on railway due to the development work and also the number of passengers has increased. AH        

President Donald Trump’s announcement in May of plans to develop a Covid-19 vaccine by year’s end is near realization — despite a setback among one of the six candidates that the US supported. The president described the effort as “a massive scientific, industrial and logistical endeavor unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project,” alluding to the US program during World War II to develop a nuclear bomb. At the time Trump was accused of caring only about the US as the pandemic raged worldwide in what some derided as “vaccine nationalism.” Trump called the vaccine project Operation Warp Speed, putting at its head a US army general and a former executive of pharmaceutical giant GSK. It brought together the scientific expertise of the Department of Health and Human Services and military logistics experts. Six months later, what Trump has termed “a miracle” is at hand: a vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is being examined by the Food and Drug Administration for approval, some time shortly after December 10. And another vaccine developed by Moderna, a small US company, could follow suit quickly. In January the US multinational Johnson & Johnson could present its own clinical trial results to US regulators — boosting the US goal of having vaccines available for all Americans by April. The operation relied on six projects, two each for three kinds of vaccine technology so as to spread out the risk of one or more failing. Pfizer and Moderna worked on a new technology involving a molecule called messenger RNA. Meanwhile Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, working with the University of Oxford, focused on “viral vectors.” And Novavax and Sanofi/GSK centered on a protein-based product to defeat the coronavirus. At first, the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford was out in front, with its CEO announcing in June that the team would know if it was effective by September. It suffered a first snag in early September when a participant in its clinical trials fell ill. It took six weeks for the trials to resume in the US. Then questions emerged over good efficacy results announced by the developers, due to a dosage error. The team announced Thursday it needed to do another study. – ‘An accelerating effect’ – The US can probably afford to go without the AstraZeneca candidate as it awaits new data, as millions of Americans will be vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna shots by December 31 if the FDA gives the green light. The rest of the world is also banking on the six Warp Speed vaccines, among dozens of other candidates. The European Union has ordered doses from six manufacturers, five of which are backed by the operation. “The force of investment has had an extremely important accelerating effect,” Loic Chabanier of the consulting firm EY told AFP. US government money allowed for the financing of clinical trials and the retooling or construction of facilities to churn out vaccines. “The Americans financed clinical trials for the entire planet,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told AFP. The US ordered 100 million doses from the company, with bill payable even if the vaccine had turned out to be a dud. “I am not Pfizer or AstraZeneca,” Bancel said. “I need a lot of cash and do not have it.” But experts generally avoid giving any credit to Trump, whose handling of the pandemic is criticized as disastrous, relying solely on vaccines to end the pandemic and failing to push public health measures that could have saved tens of thousands of lives. “America is very good at this sort of thing. Not good at prevention. Not good at public health management, in this case a pandemic, but good at life science,” said Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, who is highly critical of Trump. “This is a strength of the US. It isn’t Trump. Okay, they throw money at it, billions of dollars contingent on the vaccines working. But it was the companies that drove this,” Topol said. He also praised the National Institutes of Health, the government agency that co-developed the Moderna vaccine and managed its clinical trials and those of others. Source: AFP/BSS AH

Bangladesh Meteorological Department has said that very severe cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ is going to begin hitting Bangladesh coastal belts on Friday evening. But its wind speed will decrease. On Friday morning ‘Fani’ with 200 kilometers per hour speed hit Puri coastal belts of Odisha state in India. Indian met office said, the devastation of ‘Fani’ will continue in Odisha till Friday afternoon and then it will proceed towards West Bengal of India and Bangladesh with a decreased wing speed in the center. Bangladesh met office said, severe cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ will enter Bangladesh with half of its previous wind speed. At that time the wind speed may be 100 to 120 kilometers per hour. ‘Fani’ will proceed towards Meghalaya state of India after passing through Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Barishal, Faridpur and Dhaka. Meanwhile, rain has been occurring from Friday morning throughout the country including Dhaka influenced by ‘Fani’. Mongla and Payra seaports are advised to hoist danger signal number 7 and Chattogram seaport is advised to hoist signal number 6. Cox’s Bazar seaport is asked to hoist local cautionary signal number 4. Bangladesh government has taken all out preparations in advance to protect lives and properties from the upcoming natural calamity. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who is visiting United Kingdom, has urged concerned authorities to take all sorts of preparations to face the cyclonic storm. AH  

Director of Meteorological Department Md. Shamsuddin Ahmed said, ‘Fani’ is staying in its position as a strong cyclone on the Bay of Bengal. Its wind speed is 160 to 180 kilometers per hour. It is a very severe cyclonic storm. As per our analysis when it will remain in Bangladesh then the wind speed may not be 160 to 180 kilometers per hour. It may be weakened to 100 to 120 kilometers per hour. But that is also a matter of concern for us.     He delivered the information at the inter-ministerial meeting about preparation to face the cyclone ‘Fani’ at the secretariat on Thursday. The meeting presided over by State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr. Md. Enamur Rahman where Principal Secretary of Prime Minister’s Office Nozibur Rahman, disaster management and relief Secretary Md. Shah Kamal and other senior officers of different ministries and departments were present. Shamsuddin Ahmed said, the cyclone has come within 850 kilometers. It is heading towards Indian coastal areas. It will touch Bangladesh coastal belts alongside Khulna. He said, till 6 pm on Friday Khulna region and south-western regions of Bangladesh are going to be under coverage of the cyclone. From 6 pm to the whole night Bangladesh will be under coverage of the cyclone. It will be the most critical time for us. He also said, it needs continuous electricity and internet service to maintain communication. Meteorological Department’s website was down as 1 lakh 50 thousand people at a time hit it between 11 am to 12 pm. The capacity should be 5 to 7 lakh but it was not. In response to question of hoisting extreme danger signal the meteorological department Director said, we can declare about landfall of extreme danger signal about 10 hours in advance. That specific time has not come. We have kept tonight and the morning of tomorrow for observation. AH        

The vehicle movement speed has come down to 7 kilometers per hour from 21 kilometers in the last 10 years due to traffic congestion; whereas the walking speed is 5 kilometers per hour. In Dhaka 32 lakh working hours are being spoiled due to this traffic congestion. The scenario was upheld in a report of World Bank. The World Bank in a program published the report at hotel Sonargaon in the capital on Thursday. The organization performed a research on how Dhaka can be established as ‘power house of economics’ as part of global city. There it was said, Dhaka can be managed for dwelling more 50 lakh people. Besides, employment opportunities can be created for more 18 lakh people. In this regard three steps should be taken. These are- an embankment should be erected on the bank of Balu river to get rid of flood and divert flow of the river, coordination for development of growing general and public transport management and a ‘business district’ should be developed in the eastern part of Dhaka. The report said, to implement these three steps it will cost one thousand five hundred crore dollars. With this expenditure economic activities yearly worth 5 thousand 300 crore dollars can be achieved by the year 2035. World Bank said, this economic activity will increase income of the city dwellers. The per capita income which is at present below 8 thousand dollars will reach at 9 thousand 200 dollars by the year 2035. The program was presided over by World Bank Country Director Qimiao Fan where its South Asian affairs Chief Economist Martin Rama, PPRC Chairman Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahma, Oxford Professor Anthony Venable were present. World Bank said, Dhaka city’s development activities were not adjusted with the expansion of the metropolitan area. As a result a disorderly situation is prevailing. A good number of inhabitants including 35 lakh slum dwellers are deprived of basic services and other infrastructural facilities. While presenting the report Anthony Venable said, people are increasing every day in Dhaka at an average rate. If the rate goes on then the population of Dhaka will be three and half crore by the year 2035. Dhaka is facing a great number of challenges which will increase in future. AH               

Internet speed will be 3 to 5 times higher in the fourth generation internet service 4G. That means internet speed will be 3 to 5 times more from the existing one mbps service. The auction for 4G spectrum was held at Dhaka Club at Ramna in the capital on Tuesday. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) organized the program. In the auction mobile phone operator Grameenphone has bought 5 MHz radio spectrum with a rate of 31 million US dollars per MHz. After the auction Grameenphone held a press conference at a city hotel in the afternoon. There they said that they will bring the 4G service in the country very soon. Responding to a question about the speed one official said that the speed will be 3 to 5 times higher than the subscribers are getting the service at present. In the post auction press conference Grameenphone CEO Michael Foley said, we have reached in a strong position by adding with the new spectrum with our existing spectrum for providing 4G service with our most modern network. Grameenphone is saying, after buying the spectrum the subscribers will get uninterrupted HD video and live streaming, clear video call and hi speed internet service. To enjoy the modern network the company has requested subscribers to collect the 4G capable SIM instead of the 3G SIM. Grameenphone CEO said, the government has moved one step ahead to implement digital Bangladesh through organizing the auction. We hope that they will take logical policy for expanding 4G service and ensuring its commercial success. AH