Private university students turned the tide of the mass movement on July 18, said Shafiqul Alam, the press secretary to the chief adviser to the interim government.

He made the remarks at a seminar titled ‘The Role of New Media in Revolution and Re-building’ at North-South University (NSU) on Friday (November 22). The session was organized by NSU’s Media, Communication and Journalism (MCJ) program.

The press secretary said that private university students had staged a resistance on the morning of July 18. As a result, the movement gained a new dimension.

He said that students of private North-South University gave their hearts to the movement in July. But it did not come across in the media that way. This is a failure of the media. July 18 and 30 are very important days in this movement. The resistance of private university students on July 18 and showing a ‘red card’ to Sheikh Hasina on July 30 are two of its major aspects. This has been possible because of ‘new media’.

The Press Secretary said that the students of private universities had taken up the movement on the issue of 'dignity', and that the students of private universities turned the tide of the movement on July 18. Their resistance gave momentum to the movement.

At the event, Supreme Court lawyer and a well-known face of the movement, Manzoor Al Matin, said that students of private universities, schools, colleges and madrasas played a big role in the movement. Apart from this, ordinary people and rickshaw pullers all played an important role. Stating that the fight will continue, he said, we have to maintain this position against injustice.

The seminar was presided over by Dr. Shariful Islam Imshiat, a teacher of the MCJ program of North South University. Teachers and students from different departments were present at the seminar.

Bangladesh is keen to work and collaborate with Orbis International, a non-profit organization, to expand eye care and services, said Professor Muhammad Yunus, the interim government's chief adviser.

In a meeting with Derek Hodkey, President and CEO of Orbis International, he said, eye care services need to be expanded in Bangladesh and for this purpose we are ready to work with Orbis International.

This information was given in a press release today (November 22).

Derek is visiting Bangladesh as part of the training program of Orbis Flying Eye Hospital. Derek met Professor Yunus at his office in the capital on Wednesday (November 20).

Orbis Bangladesh Country Director Dr. Munir Ahmed was present on the occasion. The Orbis President presented a model version of the Flying Eye Hospital to the Chief Adviser. Professor Yunus who highly appreciated it.

Derek briefed the Chief Adviser about the work of Orbis International. Orbis started its global vision conservation program in 1982. The organization has been working with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in Bangladesh for the past 39 years.

Derek said that during this period, Orbis has so far conducted more than 7.8 million eye screenings in community outreach events, provided medicines and optical treatment to more than 4.5 million people, including adults and children, performed more than 2,58,000 eye surgeries and trained more than 40,000 people in Bangladesh on eye care.

Professor Yunus acknowledged Orbis’ contribution to the eye health sector in Bangladesh and expressed his gratitude to the Flying Eye Hospital. Orbis is now conducting its 11th training program in Chattogram.

Dr. Yunus said, “I love Orbis. I love Flying Eye Hospital. Orbis is one of the leading organizations in the eye health sector in Bangladesh.”

Derek said that Orbis is implementing vision conservation programs in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide to help individuals, families and communities.

Noting that nearly one billion people worldwide live with completely preventable blindness and vision loss, Derek said that Orbis has been addressing this challenge for more than four decades with strong and sustainable eye care systems.

The Orbis president said that the non-profit organization runs special programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America and provides training and technology.

He said that for the past four decades, Orbis has helped improve the skills and knowledge of local partners in Bangladesh, with a focus on pediatric eye care, microsurgery, retinal surgery, corneal diseases and retinopathy of prematurity and diabetic retinopathy.

Derek also informed the Chief Adviser that Orbis has engaged the community with eye care by establishing 42 vision care centers across the country, especially in rural areas, and has helped establish or improve 17 secondary hospitals, four tertiary hospitals, two wet labs, a quality resource center, and a digital training hub. In addition, Orbis has equipped 400 community clinics with vision screening tools and developed Bangladesh's first national guidelines for the screening and management of retinopathy of prematurity, a leading cause of childhood blindness.

Dhaka: Bangladesh has urged the European Union (EU) to support the proposal to allocate 200 billion US dollars for the least developed countries (LDCs) and the most vulnerable countries to address the challenges of the climate crisis.

The call was made at a bilateral meeting between LDC ministers and EU ministers on the final outcome of COP29 in Baku on Friday (November 22). The meeting emphasized the need to achieve a balanced and equitable agreement through cooperation between both sides to resolve the remaining issues.

In this meeting, Bangladesh's representative, Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, said that many issues still remain unresolved. She also called on both sides to work together to ensure a meaningful and inclusive agreement at COP29.

At the meeting, the LDC ministers highlighted their main positions, emphasizing the need for financial and technical assistance to address the impacts of climate change.

EU ministers acknowledged the concerns of LDCs and reiterated their commitment to addressing climate risks and ensuring sustainable development.

The meeting discussed key issues such as climate finance, adaptation, emission reductions and the global stock take process. The meeting marked an important step forward in ensuring that the voices of the most vulnerable countries are heard and that effective action is taken in the final negotiations of COP29

Dhaka: The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare has warned Bangladeshi citizens about going to Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Some unscrupulous individuals and several scam organizations established in these countries are advertising and distributing recruitment notices through various online channels (fake websites, emails, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.) to recruit people for various positions including computer operators, typists, call center operators, etc., with attractive salaries.

In these cases, scam centers are skillfully taking citizens of different countries, as well as Bangladeshis, into the scam centers and forcibly taking them hostage at gunpoint and engaging them in scam activities.

The Bangladesh Embassy in Bangkok has already been able to send back several Bangladeshis who were released and escaped from scam centers established in Myanmar and Cambodia.

The governments concerned have been requested to take necessary measures in this regard. In addition, the Bangladesh Embassy in Thailand and Myanmar is in constant contact with NGOs and related organizations working on cyber scams in these countries.

Bangladeshis who want to go abroad for employment have been advised to be more careful if they receive job offers related to computer operation in these countries. If necessary, they are requested to verify the detailed information of the employing organization in cooperation with the relevant branches of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment or the relevant branches of the Manpower, Workplace and Training Bureau in Bangladesh embassies abroad.

In addition, citizens of different countries, including Bangladeshis living in different countries and abroad, are being targeted through Facebook and WhatsApp IDs from scam centers. When Bangladeshis living in the country and abroad invest in the accounts of the fraudsters through crypto currency, the fraudsters immediately embezzle the money by closing the accounts of these transactions. In this regard, Bangladeshis living at home and abroad have been advised to be more careful when using social media.