2 Dhaka, Sunday, 6 November 2022 News Feature Dhaka, Sunday, 6 November 2022

'The Wagtail, in a winking, with

HSC, equivalent
November 3 to December 14 during the exams.
Candidates should enter the examination hall at least
30 minutes before the beginning of the examination,
the minister said. In case of late entry due to unavoid-
able reasons, the candidate’s roll number, time of
that even though it was the first time voting through
EVM, the voters did not face any problems.
Bangladesh – Japan Trade
Bangladesh’s export to Japan amounted to $1.35 bil-
lion in a modest rise from $1.18 billion in the previ-
ous year. On the other hand, in FY 2020-2021
non-implementation of Article 96 (2) of the
Constitution or the 16th Amendment, the law minis-
ter said a review petition is pending in the Appellate
Division of the Supreme Court in this regard.
Hopefully, the hearing of this review petition will be
completed within a few days, the law minister said,
adding: We will act according to the Supreme Court’s
headquarters for the welfare of the expatriates, with
hotline numbers which remain open round the clock.
“We have been giving assistance to expatriates when
they contact us with any problem. Besides, the rela-
tives of the expatriates are also provided with servic-
es even if they contact through the National
Emergency Service number 999,” the IGP said.

terror rose and disappeared'

entry, reason for delay etc, should be written in a reg-
ister and reported to the concerned education board
on the same day, she said, adding that which set of
question papers will be distributed will be informed
25 minutes before the start of the examination. Only
the Officer-in-Charge (Secretary) of the center will be
allowed to enter the center with mobile phone or elec-
tronic devices and such mobile phone must be a nor-
mal one that cannot take photograph, Dipu Moni said.
She said this year marks and duration of the examina-
tions have been reduced. Candidates of science
department have to answer 15 out of 25 multiple
choice questions (MCQs) in 20 minutes. Three out of
eight questions must be answered in the written or
theory part of the test in 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Candidates of Humanities and Business Education
will have to answer 15 out of 30 MCQs in 20 minutes.
Four out of 11 questions must be answered in the the-
ory part of the examination in 1 hour and 40 minutes.
The education minister said that despite the revised
syllabus, there will be full-time examinations in all
subjects next year.
BNP does politics of
Secretary Sujit Roy Nandi and Information and
Research Secretary Dr Selim Mahmud addressed the
program as the special guests. The AL general secre-
tary said BNP had made its utmost efforts to erase
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman’s name from Bangladesh’s history but they
failed. As much as BNP wanted to erase
Bangabandhu’s name, they got erased and contracted,
he mentioned. He said now BNP is trying to gather
people in their rallies in exchange of money as BNP
Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is
sleeping on sack of money. BNP always talks about
disaster but the party itself is in a great disaster and
the people should be saved from the hands of this evil
force, he mentioned. Pointing to BNP acting chair-
man Tarique Rahman, he said command is being
given from the bank of River Thames in London and
BNP leaders and workers are making daydreaming.
Their dreams will evaporate as like as camphor, he
said. Dubbing Tarique as the prince of Hawa Bhaban,
BNP government’s alternative power house, Quader
said Tarique, who is a fugitive convict in several
cases, masterminded the August 15 grenade attacks
on Awami League rally and other killings. The people
will not accept any convict, he said. Lawmakers Abul
Hasem Khan, Dr Pran Gopal Dutta, Nasimul Islam
Chowdhury Nazrul and Aroma Dutta, Comilla Zila
Parishad Chairman Mafizur Rahman Babul also
addressed the inaugural session of the council.
Cumilla City Awami League General Secretary and
city mayor Arfanul Haque Rifat delivered the wel-
come address.
AL is steadfast on the
barbed wire fence on both sides of the Awami League
office when the party (AL) was in opposition and its
leaders and activists were not allowed to go beyond
the wire fence. The minister said attacks were carried
out in the rallies of Sheikh Helal, MP, and Suranjit
Sen Gupta to kill them while attacks were also carried
out in the rallies of ASM Kibria and Ahsanullha
Master and they were killed. He said hundreds of
leaders and activists of Awami League were killed in
their regime. But, not even a firecracker was blasted
in BNP’s rally, he added. In the function, Hasan
congratulated the newly elected BCJA executive
members and hoped that they would work cordially to
move the country’s film industry ahead through their
writings. He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is a
cultured person and she was highly encouraged when
heard that about 200 cinema halls have reopened.
“She also told me to tell everyone to construct more
Bangladesh’s imports from Japan cost the country
$2.02 billion. The Japan-Bangladesh Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (JBCCI) recently conducted
a survey on 300 companies, local firms and Japanese
companies operating in Bangladesh, and found
majority of them expecting that the two nations
should sign a free-trade deal. Japan’s ambassador to
Bangladesh, Ito Naoki, at a recent event in Dhaka
hoped that bilateral trade between the two countries
might reach $20 billion by 2030 from the present vol-
ume of over $3 billion since garment export to the
East Asian country is growing fast. He said most of
the companies conducting trade between the two
countries wanted that the two nations sign an FTA to
retain duty privileges after Bangladesh will have
graduated from the world’s poor-country club in
2026. However, Naoki said Bangladesh would need
to improve business environment to sign any FTA,
PTA, or any economic-partnership agreement with
Japan. The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission
(BTTC) had earlier studied the pros and cons of sign-
ing such a deal with Japan which found that an FTA
with Japan would be immensely beneficial to
Bangladesh in the post-LDC era.
PM greets all concerned on
and improve livelihood of the rural people through
cooperatives.We think cooperatives are absolutely
essential for our agricultural production, life and
livelihood of people as cooperatives create enormous
scopes for us in a densely populated country like ours.
Paying attention to it, youths will have to strengthen
cooperatives,” she said. The premier was addressing
a function, arranged to mark the 51st National
Cooperative Day-2022 and distribute the National
Cooperative Award-2021 at Bangabandhu
International Conference Centre (BICC), joining it
through a virtual platform from her official residence
Ganabhaban. Sheikh Hasina stressed the need for giv-
ing utmost importance to cooperatives for the devel-
opment of the country’s people. “Our young genera-
tion have to come forward. If the young generation
comes forward and conducts activities through coop-
eratives uniting all the people of a village, we’ll be
able to go forward much,” she said. The PM said her
government has been working for the people and
wants to create scopes so that every individual can
improve their life and livelihood. She said her gov-
ernment opened every sector for private entrepre-
neurs so that employment is created. Talking about
inflation, Sheikh Hasina said prices of all commodi-
ties have soared throughout the world due to the
Russia-Ukraine war and Covid-19, which affected
Bangladesh also. “Now almost all the countries are
now suffering due to high inflation.” She said now
Bangladesh needs to procure fertilizers, fuel and edi-
ble oil at very high prices amid high transportation
costs for the sake of people and keep the agricultural
production uninterrupted. With the theme of “the
Philosophy of Bangabandhu is Development through
Cooperatives,” the day is being observed in the coun-
try this year. On behalf of the PM, LGRD and
Cooperatives Minister Tazul Islam handed over the
National Cooperative Award-2021 to nine coopera-
tive societies and an individual under 10 categories
for their contributions to the sector. Each awardee
was conferred with a gold medal and a certificate.
State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Swapan
Bhattacharjee presided over the function, while Rural
Development and Cooperatives Secretary Mashiur
Rahman and Director General of Cooperatives
Department Dr Tarun Kanti Sikder spoke on the occa-
sion.
verdict in this regard. Speaking about the relevancy
of keeping Article 70 of the Constitution intact, he
said a partisan lawmaker takes part in elections to
implement a manifesto of a specific political party.
Therefore, if the ruling party moves any bill in parlia-
ment to implement its manifesto and treasury bench
lawmaker casts vote against the bill, it ultimately
goes against the mandate, which he or she made dur-
ing the election campaign, Anisul said. But an inde-
pendent candidate can cast vote as per his or her wish,
he added.
Focus on taking two points
on Thursday in a dramatic, rain-affected match in
Sydney. "The timing of the losses proved costly for us
because we are still not in that top two position,"
Masood told reporters. "But we haven't lost hope.
Life teaches us harsh lessons and this was one of
them. The way it affected the boys, they lost sleep,
their morale went down. And how we responded after
those setbacks showed our character and it was a big
thing. "The best to come out of failure is that you
learn from your mistakes. If we look at it from a bal-
anced point of view, then we see the team has
responded well since the loss to Zimbabwe."
Pakistan, currently third in the wide-open Group 2
table, can advance if India lose to Zimbabwe in the
last league match on Sunday. They are also in if South
Africa lose their clash against the Netherlands or the
match is a washout.
Masood said the way Pakistan fought back to post
185-9 against South Africa, after being in trouble at
43-4, and then winning by 33 runs via the DLS
method had lifted the morale of the team.
"Mood is good. South Africa dominated the early
stages of the game, but the way we came back and
bowled well, even after the rain break, we kept up our
momentum," said Masood.
"So we will focus on taking two points from the
Bangladesh game and that is in our hands. Hope will
always be there till the last ball is bowled in this
group."
Bangladesh, who had narrow wins over the
Netherlands and Zimbabwe, also have a slim chance
to advance if they win against Pakistan at the
Adelaide Oval.
The Tigers gave India a scare in their previous match
-- decided by the DLS method -- and are level at four
points with Pakistan, but with a far inferior run-rate.
But technical consultant Sridharan Sriram said he is
proud of the show his boys have put on in this tour-
nament.
"This is the best tournament Bangladesh has ever had
in a T20 World Cup," Sriram told reporters.
"We've never won two games in Super 12s in the his-
tory of Bangladesh cricket, so we've done that, so I
think the boys should be proud of themselves."
Areas that will face
Meghnaghat, Sonargaon, Haripur, Narayanganj and
Munshiganj. Gas Transmission Company Limited
(GTCL) will conduct “intelligent pigging” activities
in its 60km long Bakhrabad-Shiddhirganj 30-inch-
diameter transmission line during the period, said
Titas Gas.
Journo injured in clash
returned from the place, supporters of AKM
Bahauddin engaged in a series of chases and counter
chases,” he added. District Superintendent of Police
Abdul Mannan told the Bangla Tribune: "Several
clashes took place between the groups. The situation
is now under control.” He later added that he did not
know how the journalist was injured. The triennial
conference of the Comilla city unit of Awami League
began at the city's Town Hall ground on Saturday.
Later IGP sat in a special welfare meeting with the
members of Sylhet Range, Sylhet District Police,
Sylhet Metropolitan Police and all the police units
based in Sylhet as the chief guest. Meanwhile, the
IGP also inaugurated the third and fourth floors of the
Sylhet Divisional Police Hospital building and
Shaheed Police Inspector Chowdhury Mohammad
Abu Kaichar BPM building. He planted saplings of
Krishna Chura and Satkara trees in Sylhet Police
Lines.
Bangladesh Embassy in
of the day. Taking part in the discussion, Ambassador
Muhammad Imran described 'National Constitution
Day' as a historic day for the Bengali nation and high-
lighted its importance. He paid tributes to Father of
the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
and said the greatest Bangalee of all time presented
the long-awaited Constitution to the newly-independ-
ent nation within only 11 months of independence.
Ambassador Imran urged all to work unitedly under
the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to
build a hunger-and-poverty-free developed and pros-
perous Bangladesh being imbued with the spirit of the
great War of Liberation and the ideology of
Bangabandhu. Minister (Economic) Md. Mahadee
Hassan also took part in the discussion, while
Counsellor Mohammad Moniruzzaman conducted
the programme.
Jubo League to take
General Secretary of Jubo League Mainul Hossain
Khan Nikhil called the BNP a terrorist and extortion-
ist group and urged the Awami League to build a
resistance movement against them. Meanwhile, Tipu
Munshi, parliamentary member of the Rangpur-4
constituency and commerce minister, said that there
needs to be another war against BNP-Jamaat. Jubo
League will hold a youth grand rally at the historical
Suhrawardy Udyan on November 11 marking the
golden jubilee and 50th founding anniversary of the
party. Awami League President and Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina will be present there as the chief guest.
ICMAB holds daylong
financial institutions services, Mutual Trust Bank
Ltd. presented a paper on "Introduction to Trade
Finance" in the first technical session. Pinaki Roy,
senior adviser of 360tf, Singapore presented paper on
"Digital journey of Trade Finance" while its co-
founder and chairman CA Pankaj Mundra presented
paper on "Business Opportunities and Challenges in
Trade Finance, 360tf-Enabling Trade Finance
Globally" in the second and third technical sessions
respectively. Vice-President of ICMAB and
Chairman of Infinity Group of Companies Imtiaz
Alam, Head of Transaction Banking of BRAC Bank
Ltd Md. Jabedul Alam and Country head Bangladesh,
360tf, Singapore attended different technical sessions
as discussants. Former SAFA President and Chairman
of ICMAB Seminar and Conference Committee
AKM Delwer Hussain delivered the welcome speech.
ICMAB Vice-President Md. Munirul Islam, Secretary
AKM Kamruzzaman, Treasurer Md Ali Haider
Chowdhury and Council Member Kazi Muhammad
Ziauddin were present in the programme.
Dengue death toll rises to
recoveries so far this year. On Thursday, the country
reported nine dengue deaths, the highest death toll
from dengue in a day this year. Dengue outbreaks in
Bangladesh exceeded all previous records in 2019,
mostly in the capital city of Dhaka. A total of 101,354
dengue cases with 179 dengue-related deaths were
officially recorded.
FBCCI against
Desk Report
The Wagtails are unusual birds that constantly wag
their tails for no good reason; at least, for no reason
we know of. Its English name ‘Wagtail’ and Latin
name ‘Motacilla’ meaning moving-tail, obviously,
refer to its peculiar habit of tail-wagging We were
pleased to see two White Wagtails sprinting around a
puddle created by the workers employed to make the
elevated expressway over the railroad at Banani. It
was a foggy October morning and too early for the
workers to show up with their winches. The birds
were running wildly and feeding on tiny insects on
offer at that puddle-restaurant. While we enjoyed
watching those migratory Wagtails so near our home
we questioned their wisdom for feeding out of that
ghastly puddle. The site was overflowing with oil,
grease and god knows what other contaminants! The
tiny bits of chemical poisons picked up by the insects
could accumulate in the vital organs of those insect-
eating birds and kill them. We felt more remorseful
when we remembered that before the construction
work began, there used to be a tiny waterhole fringed
by wild-grass between the main-road and the railroad.
That waterhole was probably the winter home of the
two Wagtails. Perhaps on their first migration to
Bangladesh as juveniles they found that waterhole;
and have been visiting it ever since. Possibly out of
sheer nostalgia, the Wagtails came to visit their old
winter-home even after that was mangled by men.
And, perhaps, on their sentimental tour there the poor
birds could not resist the temptation of snacking on
the fast food on offer at the curbside. We hoped that
the birds would move on and soon find a less pollut-
ed and less trodden place to settle in. As the sun raked
the fog, we were happy to train our cameras on the
Wagtails sunning, preening, cheeping and dashing
after the insects. They totally ignored the stray dogs
them don beautiful yellow feathers in the breeding
season. Bangladesh has seven species of Wagtails;
and only one of them lives here the year round. The
other six species including the White Wagtail live in
Bangladesh only in winter. In summer the White
Wagtails fly northwards to breed in cooler climes.
Many of them travel as far northeast as Kamchatka
and, even, Alaska to breed. We do not know if a
Wagtail chick fledged at Alaska ever travelled as far
southwest as Bangladesh! To find that we have to go
to Alaska and put a few colour-flags on the legs of
Wagtail fledglings. Most of the White Wagtails win-
tering in Bangladesh probably do not go very far
beyond the Himalayan highlands to breed. We once
saw the Wagtail nesting in a fissure of the stone-wall
of Khumjung Monastery in Nepal. We were thrilled
to see the clever bird use that man-made structure as
its nesting site. The chances of its survival improve as
it adapts to man-made objects. At Khumjung we
could not help question whether the Wagtail incubat-
ing its eggs in the nest was wagging its tail or sitting
motionless! The Wagtails are unusual birds that con-
stantly wag their tails for no good reason; at least, for
no reason we know of. Its English name 'Wagtail' and
Latin name 'Motacilla' meaning moving-tail, obvi-
ously, refer to its peculiar habit of tail-wagging.
Thankfully in Bangla the Wagtail is called 'Khonjon'
or 'Khonjona' which, unlike the English and the Latin,
overlooks the bird's peculiar habit of tail-wagging. In
arguing over the crumbs dragged out of a garbage the Baltic country of Latvia the White Wagtail is the
national bird; and in the Baltic folklores, it symbolis-
dump nearby. The two Wagtails were also not trou-
bled by the crowing House Crows attempting to pinch es dexterity and resolve. In the Latvian language the
bird is called Balta Cielava; and hopefully, it does not
morsels from the dogs. We had a unique opportu-
nity to photograph the jolly Wagtails in the company mean tail-wagging. For the coming winter the resident fowls that would not migrate and continue to
of the rancorous street dogs. But those cordial Wagtails of the Baltic region are migrating now to
northern Africa. And on their southward journey they
live in the lines of fire. We wonder how the horrors
of war were impacting the birds that, in Thomas
moments between the birds and the beasts came to an
abrupt end as soon as two lumbering workers wearing have to fly, sadly, over the war-torn Ukraine. The Hardy's words, were terrorized even by 'a perfect gen-
tleman.'
hard hats emerged out of a distant hut. The two migrating birds may, however, be better off than the
Wagtails quickly turned tense, screamed 'tsee-tsee'
and took off in a flurry. We were sad but not sur-
prised to see the Wagtails go. We know that wild birds
do not react to human incursion with the calmness
they do to that of other animals. The birds usually see
us as vicious predators or creepy aliens; not as crea-
tures they could coexist with. People wishing to
watch, study or photograph birds must stay far away
and as discreet as possible. In a deceptively simple
poem titled 'Wagtail and Baby' the great Victorian
poet and novelist Thomas Hardy underscored that
alienation of humans. The poem narrated how a baby
understood the alienation when she saw a merry
Wagtail unafraid of giant bulls in the field fly away in
fright as soon as a human came near. Here is a part of
that intriguing poem:
A perfect gentleman then neared;
The wagtail, in a winking,
With terror rose and disappeared;
The photos we took of the two White Wagtails looked
like the dated snapshots from the era of black-and-
white photography. The plumages of the Wagtails
were all black and white and grey, and had no touch
of colour. They looked very elegant and appealing all
the same; and confirmed the adage that the two most
attractive 'colours' in the world are black and white.
All Wagtails, however, are not black and white. There
are 13 species of Wagtails in the world; and several of

Ruse, rumour, and reality around a GPS-

halls. A loan fund of Taka 1,000 crore has been
formed as per the directives of the Premier to con-
struct new Cineplex, cinema halls and to renovate old
halls. If anyone wants to build a Cineplex in a market
then he would get a loan of up to Taka ten crore,” he
added. Hasan hoped that the films of the country
would get a place on a global screen. Shafiqur
Rahman, MP, BFUJ former president Molla Jalal,
Shilpakala Academy director general Liakat Ali
Lucky, Chlachithra Parichalak Samity president
Sohanur Rahman Sohan, Ekushey Padak winner
Pavel Rahman, actor Omar Suny and BCJA general
secretary Riman Mahfuz, among others, addressed
the function with BCJA president Raju Alim in the
chair. Earlier, the minister handed over the BCJA
Award-2022 to eminent personalities. They are
Rabeya Khatun (posthumous), Syed Shamusl Haque
(posthumous), Gazi Mazharul Anwar (posthumous),
Alauddin Ali (posthumous), Selina Hossain,
Nasiruddin Yousuf, Liakat Ali Lucky, Masum Reza,
Pavel Rahman, Ilias Kanchan, Mozammel Babu,
Habibur Rahman Khan, Piplu R Khan, Mamunur
Rashid, Sheikh Sadi Khan, actor Sakib Khan, singer
Konal and Imran Mahmudul.
Fakhrul and his father
chairman of the Peace Committee, formed by the
Pakistan government. Meanwhile, Sheikh Fazle
Shams Parash said Bangladesh will be under the con-
trol of Jubo League after its grand rally on November
11. “The leaders and activists of Jubo League will
take over each and every corner of the country and
will continue the Awami League government’s devel-
opment and democracy like a watchman,” he added.
He added: “BNP now talks about human rights, they
actually have no shame. I lost my parents at the age
of five and was deprived of justice for 21 years. BNP
prevented that justice from taking place.”
Shahadab wins Faridpur-2
26. The Presiding Officer of Chandakhola
Government Primary School Centre in Saltha Abul
Khair said that 13% of people cast their votes
between 8am-12pm. On the other hand, 400 votes
have been cast at 12pm out of 1,800 votes in Fulbaria
Government Primary School Centre. Upazila
Agriculture Officer Jeevanshu Das, presiding officer
of Saltha Government Primary School Centre, said
Bangladesh U-15 girls
nation are having a good run in the tournament as
they also defeated Bhutan 7-0 in their opening game
to be considered one of the favorites alongside
Bangladesh. Bangladesh and Nepal will take on
Bhutan again Monday and Wednesday respectively
before the two sides face off in the last game of the
round-robin league which would decide the champi-
ons. Nepal never won the regional age-group compe-
tition while Bangladesh won once in 2017.
Decision on Gaibandha
Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath, who
headed the committee, submitted the report to EC
Secretary Humayun Kabir Khandaker. The EC sus-
pended the election because of “widespread malprac-
tices” on the election day on October 12. It also
extended the deadline for holding any fresh election
to the Gaibandha-5 parliamentary seat by three
months, or till January 20, 2023. While there was no
concrete decision over if a new election will be held,
pending an investigation into malpractices on the
election day, the EC said that the deadline has been
extended to follow the rule of 90 days in holding an
election after a seat falls vacant. Following the death
of Gaibandha-5 lawmaker and Deputy Speaker of the
Parliament Fazle Rabbi Miah on July 22, 2022, it
became a constitutional obligation to hold election for
the parliamentary seat by October 20, 2022.
Government has no plan
she said. Later, in response to the question of whether
an appeal will be made in the High Court to extend
the jail sentence of Tarique Rahman in connection
with the August 21 grenade attack, the minister said:
Wait and see what happens. The minister later said
that the government has brought back many things
from the Constitution of 1972 through the 15th
Amendment and is now working to get back the orig-
inal constitution, reports BSS. Through the 15th
Amendment, we got back much of the original
Constitution of 1972. We tried to get more things
back through the 16th Amendment, which is now a
sub judice matter. We are thinking about it since we
want to get back the original Constitution of 1972, he
said/ The law minister added: The party (Awami
League) and the government will decide when and
how it will be done in terms of which
reality.Responding to another question regarding the
The event was inaugurated by Awami League
General Secretary Obaidul Quader, also the road
transport and bridges minister. Presidium member of
the party Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim spoke as the
chief guest while another presidium member
Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya was present as
special guest. Mahbubul Alam Hanif, joint general
secretary of Awami League, and Abu Saeed Al
Mahmud Swapan, organizing secretary of the party,
among others, joined the council.
Digital healthcare stressed
devices could open easier ways for commoners to get
better treatment facilities at the quickest time, he said.
Mamun said there is a huge potentiality of technolo-
gy-based healthcare facilities through adjusting it
with the upcoming Fourth Industrial Revolution
(4IR). He classified three key areas -- community
based services, digitization of pharmacies and work-
places -- for introducing digital healthcare services at
a very reasonable cost. Sumaiya Mutiatur, an official
of CMED, said Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation
(PKSF) is implementing different projects of digital
healthcare facilities at 65 unions in the countries.
Nearly 17 lakh people are receiving treatment facili-
ties under these projects. The CMED is providing its
supports to implement these projects aiming to pro-
moting digital healthcare services, she added. Other
speakers said Bangladesh lacks efficient medical pro-
fessionals, which is ultimately creating an obstacle to
provide proper healthcare services to the people.
Digital healthcare services could play an important
role in providing quality treatment facilities to the
people living both in urban and rural areas, they
added.
Stern action against
have an obligation to perform their duties as per the
instructions of the Election Commission during the
election period. “During the election, the police will
perform their duties according to the rules and regu-
lations of the Election Commission,” he said. In
response to another question regarding drugs, the IGP
said that drugs are a social problem. Police operations
against drugs are continuing. Most of the detainees in
the jail are on drug charges. He hoped that, with the
joint efforts of all, the drug problem would be solved.
On problems faced by expatriates, the IGP noted that
remittances are earned by the country through expa-
triates. A desk has already been set up in the Police
hiking lending
interest rate
Staff Reporter
President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers
of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Md Jashim
Uddin today said that domestic industries would fall
in difficulties if the current lending rate is increased.
He said this while speaking at 'ERF's Dialogue' as the
chief guest, organized by the Economic Reporters'
Forum (ERF), at its auditorium in the capital today.
Jashim said that the interest rate of bank loans cannot
be increased for the sake of expanding investment
and keeping all the industries running in the country.
"If the interest rate is raised, many of those will lose
the capacity to operate and to produce goods." He
said the capacity of the bank is needed to be
increased by reducing the additional expenses.
Expenditures should be reduced in other areas of the
bank, including through reducing expensive branch-
es. In this context, the FBCCI president also said the
US has increased interest rates to strengthen the dol-
lar. "Their formula will not be implemented in
Bangladesh. Policies should be adopted keeping in
mind the industry of the country." He also urged the
government to solve the energy crisis by encouraging
the use of coal in power generation. "We have to use
our own coal. In addition to increasing investment in
industry, environment-friendly energy cooperation
will be needed for the development of the country,"
the FBCCI chief said. Mentioning that Bangladesh is
the ninth largest consumer markets in the world.
tagged migratory bird named Feeroz
Desk Report
The adventurous and astounding 8,000 km round jour-
ney between Bangladesh and China met a tragic end
for a GPS-tagged bird. The death highlighted a glaring
gap between men and wildlife of Bangladesh In the last
week of September 2022, my PhD research on migra-
tory shorebirds stumbled upon a very unusual phenom-
enon. A GPS-tagged bird was caught near the coastal
flats of Maheshkhali, Cox's Bazar. The GPS tag —
which is only the size of a small square and can let
researchers have real-time data to help reveal scientif-
ic information — was attached to the bird's back. It
stirred curiosity among locals, and fueled rumours.
The ill-fated bird, a black-tailed godwit, the national
bird of the Netherlands, faced libel. The locals
unknowingly created a ruse — that neighbouring coun-
tries had sent a spy bird! It spread so much that sev-
eral TV channels picked it up and broadcast it without
any verification. The bird, already sapped after flying
thousands of miles, eventually died notwithstanding
handling stress and heaps of attention. But what was
the reality? The remarkable journey of Feeroz The
bird, named Feeroz, after Professor Mohammad
Mostafa Feeroz of Zoology, Jahangirnagar University,
was a long-distance migratory shorebird. A lightweight
GPS tag (4.5 gm) from Nijhum Dweep was mounted
on its back like a backpack on 30 December 2021, for
collecting data on the still largely unknown migration
ecology of this species. Its left leg was ringed with two
yellow flags indicating that the bird has been tagged in
Bangladesh. The right leg was ornated with a unique
combination of blue, yellow, and green coloured rings
that gave a unique, individual identity. After safe
release, Feeroz wandered around Nijhum Dweep for
the next five months. On 23 May 2022, Feeroz started
his northward migration. He reached Inner Mongolia,
China, after travelling about 4000 km in just two
weeks. He spent around a month and a half there. On
24 July 2022, he started his flight back to Bangladesh.
Between 6–19 August 2022, the bird was located in
Ningxia, China. The next signal came from Assam,
India, on 10 September 2022. Then, it entered
Bangladesh. The adventurous and astounding 8,000
km journey from Nijhum Dweep to China and back to
Nijhum Dweep met a sad end. Feroze died untimely on
26 September . GPS tracking birds A GPS tag is a
device that communicates with a satellite to know the
location of the device. Using similar technology, we
can see locations on Uber or Google Map. GPS tags
are often used in wildlife research to answer important
zoological questions related to animal movement and
behaviour. Such devices have long been used in stud-
ies of many animals, including elephants, tigers, lions
and bison. The GPS tag used for Feeroz is specially
designed for birds by the Global Messenger Company.
Along with GPS, it has altitude and speed sensors. The
tag has a small solar panel to charge the tiny battery.
All these are encased into a mere 4 grams of package.
This tag can send data to our server periodically when
it is within a GSM (Global System for Mobile
Communications) mobile network. A tag costs around
Tk1.5 lakh but the information obtained through this
tiny device has allowed ornithologists to explore many
unknown (and priceless) aspects of bird migration.
Ornithologists initially placed aluminium rings on the
legs of migratory birds to find out why they suddenly
disappeared and where they went. Each ring has a
unique identification number so that scientists can
know the details of the bird's origin. But understanding
the bird's migration through these rings is time-con-
suming and all this information is available only when
the bird is caught or found dead. The chances of receiv-
ing data from ringed birds are thus really slim. First,
the scientists thought that if a combination of coloured
plastic rings on the bird's leg could be released, it
would be easily seen by a bird watcher. It can be easi-
ly and quickly known about the presence and move-
ment of the bird. Bangladesh is uniquely positioned
between two flyways of migratory birds: the East
Asian-Australasian and Central Asian flyways.
Ornithologists from all the countries that make up the
East Asian-Australasian Flyway have decided on a dif-
ferent coloured flag for each country. The designated
colours for Bangladesh are two yellow flags.
However, the detailed identification of each bird can-
not be obtained by using only the yellow flags. That's
why some write a combination of alphabets and num-
bers on the flag. The advantage of this is that the bird's
country of origin detailed identity can be known from
the researchers. But the disadvantage is that not all
birds can be watched very closely, especially shore
birds. That's why the combination of alphabets and
numbers is not often easy to read. An alternative is to
attach a combination of coloured rings with a designat-
ed coloured flag to the leg of a bird so that the bird can
be easily identified by colour even when viewed from
a distance. But if two researchers from the same coun-
try use the same colour combination, they will get con-
fused again. The solution to that is an integrated data-
base. Tell the East Asian Australasian flight coordina-
tor which colour scheme you want to use and he will
check the database to see if anyone else is using it. If
someone else uses it, a new combination has to be
used. For example, for Bangladesh, I currently use a
combination of two yellow flags designated for
Bangladesh on one leg of the bird and three coloured
(red, blue, lime and yellow only) rings on the other leg.
Later, technological advances in recent decades have
made GPS tags lightweight. Studying small animals
like bats, rodents and birds with GPS tags have now
become possible. For example, Bangladesh Bird Club
and IUCN Bangladesh have used GPS tags on migra-
tory ducks for years. Why Feeroz died Feeroz was
weak. Maybe he had rested for a day or two at
Maheshkhali before his scheduled trip to Nijhum
Dweep. But the bird was caught on 26 September 2022
in Maheshkhali by a local man, who, perplexed by the
colour-coded flags and GPS device, took Feeroz to the
local chairman. Chaos soon ensued with the poor bird
even having to attend a press conference. The chair-
man, who thought the bird was carrying a camera-
equipped device, took the matter very seriously and
called the Upazila Nirbahi Officer to inform about it.
Local and national media picked up the "news" with
outlets publishing sensational headlines like 'Unknown
bird in Cox's Bazar, digital device strapped on the
back'. Initially, the local administration ordered the
bird to be handed over to the Forest Department. But
the chairman refused to hand it over to the field staff of
the Forest Department. After a whole lot of commo-
tion, the bird was handed over at midnight. But it was
too late. Being exhausted in captivity, and shock of the
events must have caused the death of Feeroz. Why
researching migratory birds is important for
Bangladesh Birds like Black-tailed Godwit are our
friends and guardians. They are like a sentinel always
giving early indications about our environment and the
health of water bodies, changes and impacts due to sea-
sonal changes and use of water bodies. They give real
direction to environmental changes (both good and
bad). Therefore, they are very important to understand
the changes in the environment. Godwit is a coal
miner's canary bird. Before the modern age of technol-
ogy, coal miners kept a canary bird in a cage while they
worked in the mines. If the canary had become ill, it
was a portend to the poisonous air inside the mines.
Similarly, godwits are always giving us a message
about the environment, surroundings and seasonal
changes in large areas including the water bodies of
Bangladesh and many countries in Central and East
Asia. South Asia lacks research in bird migration.