The supply of gas will be suspended for 8 hours in some areas of the capital due to gas pipeline replacement on Thursday, August 24. In a press release on Wednesday, Titas authorities, apologized to the residents of this area for the inconvenience. Gas supply to all categories of customers in Taltala, Goran, Sipahibagh, Tilpapara, Shantipur, Dakshin Bansree, northern side of Nandipara. The supply will remain suspended from 10 am to 6 pm, according to a statement issued by Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company. The consumers in the nearby areas will also experience low pressure in supply, it said.

Bhutan's spiritual leader, His Holiness the Je Khenpo has concluded the oral transmission of his self-composed Kabum, a collection of profound teachings and practices, according to The Bhutan Live. The event on Wednesday reached its culmination with His Holiness administering a Tsepaa Mey Wang, a sacred blessing ceremony, at Autsho Central School in Lhuentse. A colossal gathering of more than 10,000 devoted followers eagerly converged to receive the divine benediction. The atmosphere was charged with reverence and anticipation as His Holiness imparted the wisdom contained within his Kabum, a spiritual treasure he personally compiled. Over the past two weeks, devotees from far and wide flocked to Lhuentse, immersing themselves in the profound teachings, rituals, and practices transmitted by Je Khenpo himself, according to The Bhutan Live. Not only did the spiritual leader conclude the oral transmission of his Kabum, but he also undertook another momentous task. His Holiness inaugurated the revered Moelam Chenmo books in the districts of Trashigang and Trashi Yangtse. These sacred texts hold immense religious significance and are considered vital sources of wisdom for the Bhutanese people. His Holiness Je Khenpo now prepares to preside over a grand three-day Moenlam Chenmo, a prayer gathering, set to commence tomorrow at Autsho Central School. Devotees from various corners of the country are expected to attend this auspicious event to seek blessings, offer prayers, and engage in collective spiritual practices. Je Khenpo's spiritual leadership has long been a source of inspiration and guidance for Bhutanese citizens, fostering a deep sense of devotion and reverence. His teachings and practices continue to shape the religious fabric of the nation, enriching he lives of countless individuals, according to The Bhutan Live.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has shelved its plan to set up a substation at Trishuli Bazaar for the Nepal-China Cross-border Transmission Line as it plans to connect the power line with a Ratmate-based substation to be built with the assistance of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US aid agency. When the controversy over the MCC assistance was at its height before its eventual endorsement by the erstwhile House of Representatives early this year, the power monopoly had planned to set up a separate substation. One reason behind envisioning a separate substation was to save the cross-border transmission line from the China-US rivalry, according to officials of the NEA. Kul Man Ghising, managing director of the NEA, told the Post that no separate substation would be built for the Ratmate-Rasuwagadhi-Kerung Transmission Line Project. “As we are connecting this cross-border transmission line with the Ratmate-based substation, there is no need for a separate substation at Trishuli, which is close to Ratmate,” he said. According to NEA officials, they held a discussion with the officials of the Millennium Challenge Account, Nepal (MCA-Nepal), a special-purpose vehicle established to implement MCC-assisted projects in Nepal, to connect the cross-border transmission line with a Ratmate-based substation, which is to be built under the MCC grant. “The MCA-Nepal told us that they will set up two connecting points [bays] at the substation for Nepal-China Cross-Border Transmission Line,” a senior official of the power utility said. “We, however, have not given up on the new substation amid continued geopolitical rivalry between the two superpowers.” Dirghayu Kumar Shrestha, the chief of the transmission directorate at the Nepal Electricity Authority, the state-owned power utility, had told the Post in August last year that they planned a separate substation for the Nepal-China cross-border transmission line so as to ward off any geopolitical risks.” “By not building a separate sub-station, the NEA will save a significant amount of money. It takes Rs4–5 billion to construct a substation and it is not good to set up another substation at a distance of 15–20 kilometres,” said Ghising. A separate substation was to be set up at Trishuli Bazaar, near the site of the Trishuli Hydropower Project, for the cross-border power line, which is around 26 kilometres from Ratmate, Nuwakot. A 315km-long 400kV transmission will be built with a grant of $500 million from the MCC in the country’s mid-hills. One of the substations will be at Ratmate. The transmission project has five components—one segment starting from the northeast of Kathmandu at Lapsephedi, extending to the west of Kathmandu near Ratmate; a second segment runs from Ratmate to the industrial town of Hetauda located south of Kathmandu; a third segment will connect Ratmate to Damauli in the west; a fourth segment will link Damauli with Butwal in the southwest; and a fifth will run from Butwal to the Indian border, which is part of the cross-border transmission line. The Ratmate-Rasuwagadhi-Kerung transmission line is the first such connectivity project between Nepal and China. The two countries had in 2018 formed a joint technical team to expedite the construction of the transmission line. A Joint Technical Group comprising representatives of the NEA and the State Grid Corporation of China held two rounds of talks in China and Nepal for the transmission line before the start of the Covid pandemic. Another meeting scheduled to be held in China could not happen due to continued Covid restrictions in China. “As Covid cases spiked in China, we are in discussion with the Chinese side if another meeting could be held in Nepal sometime in February next year,” said an official of the NEA. According to the NEA, once the cross-border line is built, it will open an alternative market for Nepal’s electricity. Currently, Nepal has only India as its foreign market to buy and sell electricity. India has allowed Nepal to sell a maximum of 452MW of electricity from 10 hydropower projects. The 400 kV transmission line from Ratamate (Nepal) to Kerung (China) will allow power trade between Nepal and China, the NEA said in its annual report 2021-22. Currently, the project’s Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) process is underway.  Source: The Kathmandu Post

Education Minister Dr. Dipu Moni has said that if Coronavirus transmission rate increases in the country after reopening of educational institutions then those will be made closed again. She said this at Jamalpur circuit house on Saturday morning. The education minister said, all the educational institutions of the country will be reopened from Sunday. If lessons are given abiding by the health safety guidelines then there is possibility of less virus transmission. If the transmission rate increases then the educational institutions will be declared closed. She said, though teaching in the classrooms was suspended but online teaching was going on. Lessons were being continued through television and online platform. She also requested all not to allow children for going to schools if any student or member of the family is infected with Coronavirus. AH

The National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 has recommended "complete nationwide shutdown" for 14 days to contain the transmission of COVID-19.      The recommendation came at NTAC's 38th meeting held Wednesday night, said a press release issued Thursday afternoon. The committee also said that they had a discussion with top Indian experts to know their experience of the latest spike in transmission and lockdown in India. "As per their [Indian experts'] opinion, the transmission came under control where complete shutdown was imposed. The committee unanimously recommended complete shutdown for at least 14 days countrywide to stop the spread of the virus to protect lives of the people," the press release added. Source: BSS AH 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Thursday) urged the people to celebrate the forthcoming Eid-ul-Fitr at their present locations to stop the further spread of coronavirus throughout the country. “Traveling may expedite the spread of coronavirus further. So, my request to all of you is for maintaining health safety protocols and refraining from traveling if it is not obligatory,” she said. The premier was addressing the launching ceremony of different types of vessels of the Shipping Ministry and house handover under the rehabilitation project at Paira Port, joining virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban. Referring to the government’s measures to limit movements, she said “Whenever people go to any place from their existing location, they could infect other people with Covid-19 and thus life would be endangered. And that is why movement has been restricted.” “You all would get the opportunity to meet your near and dear ones if they survive from this deadly virus attack,” she added. In addition, the government is also trying to help the people continue their socioeconomic activities in a limited scale following the health safety protocols, Sheikh Hasina said. The Prime Minister said coronaviurs has really created difficulties for the country’ people, but the government is trying to stand beside them with assistance. She also mentioned that the cash support of Taka 2,500 each was provided to 36.50 lakh families who are affected most such as the poor, temporary jobless people, destitute, day-labourers, rickshaw- and van-pullers, transport workers, transgender people, beggars and a few others in urban and rural areas. Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister moderated the ceremony from Ganabhaban while State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury chaired it from the ministry office at Secretariat. Shipping Secretary Mohammed Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury delivered welcome address. A documentary on the activities of the Shipping Ministry and its subordinate organizations was screened at the ceremony. Besides, on behalf of the Prime Minister, Mahibur Rahman, MP, and Kaniz Sultana, MP handed over the document of houses to the rehabilitated people at the Paira Port end. The inaugurated vessels and infrastructures include TS Ilias Ahmed Chowdhury Dada Bhai Training Ship, 20 cutter section dredgers, different types of 83 vessels, newly constructed dredger base in Narayanganaj and special inspection vessel “Paridarshi”, over 500 houses constructed under the rehabilitation project in Paira Port, two passengers vessels “MV Tajuddin Ahmad” and “MV Ivy Rahman”, and four marine academies in Pabna, Barishal, Rangpur and Sylhet. About the passengers’ safety in waterway communication, the Prime Minister urged the operators, businessmen and passengers of the vessels to remain careful and vigilant over their safety and lives. “Passengers’ safety has to be considered by those who run or operate the vessels. Besides, the passengers themselves will have to be careful about their own safety,” she said. Sheikh Hasina said sometimes vessels fall in accidents and people lose lives due to carrying passengers beyond the capacity. “So, all will have to be careful and vigilant to this end,” she added. She emphasized on bringing all the vessels under the registration system, as it creates problems to identify the vessels in the time of compensation process due to lack of registration. “If we can run vessels giving the operators appropriate training, the occurrence of accident will go down,” she opined. The primer urged all not to allow excess passengers on board as it is indispensable for their safety. “Think once about the pain of those who remain alive losing their dear ones. So, you’ve to keep patience,” she added. “I would like to request all – both passengers and operators—to remain careful,” she continued. Briefly highlighting the development carried out by her government in this sector, the Prime Minister said the government wants to revive the waterways communication as a strong means of transportation. She said the country has over 24,000km of waterways but nearly 6,000km would have been used and later that reduced to half in the dry season. But, the present government has raised it to over 4,500km and also adopted a scheme to extend the waterways to 10,000km by 2024-25, she added. Sheikh Hasina criticized the governments that had ruled the country after the association of Father the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as they put concentration on the business of bus and truck ruining the waterways communication. She said Bangladesh is a delta and that is why the government has adopted “Delta Plan-2100” to develop it overall. Source: BSS AH

Bangladesh’s first geostationary communication satellite Bangabandhu-I (BS-I) is set to start its maiden transmission on Tuesday through broadcasting of South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship. “We are set to broadcast the SAFF Championship using BS-I through Bangladesh Television (BTV),” said Dr Shahjahan Mahmood, Chairman of Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company Limited (BCSCL), the organization responsible to operate the satellite. He added, “We will provide feed to BTV after receiving it from a private satellite TV station which wins broadcasting rights for the tournament.” Mahmood, however, termed this broadcast as “pre-test” for commercial operations while all previous tests required were completed successfully since the satellite took position into the orbit. “Now, the time has come to move ahead . . . and we would observe the operation of BS-I in next two weeks through this trial test,” he said Asked about the preparedness of local satellite TV channels for receiving the service, he said BCSCL engineers were working with them to install the necessary equipment. “Some equipment regarding the satellite connection is needed to be installed for switching over to Bangabandhu-I from other satellite,” said the chairman. He said Thales Alenia Space, the manufacturing company of the satellite, is yet to handover the control of the two ground stations – primary one in Gazipur and secondary one in Rangamati, to the BCSCL. The 12th edition of the SAFF Championship is the biennial international men’s football championship of South Asia organized by the SAFF and Bangladesh is hosting it from September 4 to 15. Bangabandhu-I was successfully launched from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida of United States at 16:14 local time (02:14 BST) on May 11. Most modern rocket “Block 5” version of the Falcon 9 of SpaceX lifted the satellite for the orbit located at 119.1 degree east and after ten days of launch, it took position in the desired location (orbital slot). According to the agreement, Thales Alenia Space of France will handle the satellite along with local engineers for next three years. To this end, an 18-member team of local engineers has been trained up. Bangladesh will operate satellite from 119.1 degree east using a payload comprising 26 Ku-Band and 14 C-Band transponders to deliver focused telecommunications coverage to Bangladesh. One transponder is equivalent to 36 MHz. Ku-band covers Bangladesh and its territorial area of the Bay of Bengal, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines. C- band covers Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan,Turkmenistan, and portions of Kazakhstan. The government took the Bangabandhu-I project in May 2015 and assigned the Thales Alenia by signing a $248-million deal in November the same year. The satellite has 15 years for mission life span while another three years for its design. The satellite will offer video services for Direct-to-Home (DTH), e-learning, Tele-medicine, Family Planning, Farming etc while voice service to cellular backhaul and disaster recovery, and data service for internet, SCADA, SOHO as well as business-to-business (VSAT). Source: BSS AH