Thursday, February 2, 2017

SECOND EDITION

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

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Magh 20, 1423, Jamadiul Awwal 4, 1438

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 276

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www.dhakatribune.com

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24 pages |

Price: Tk10

Curtain rises on Ekushey Book Fair amid policing of books › 2

‘New EC members must have a backbone’ › 3

BSS

Hasina: Literature can prevent youths from straying › 2

Suspected New JMB IT chief among four held › 5

British MPs to hold first vote on Brexit bill ›9

Palestinian President Abbas in city › 3

Trump picks conservative judge for SC › 8

Mustafiz rested, Liton, Shafiul return for solitary India Test › 18

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

‘Literature can prevent youths from straying’ n Tribune Desk Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called upon the nation to cultivate the study of literature and the reading of books, especially among young people, saying the practice can broaden their horizons and prevent them from straying to wrong paths.

Hasina made these remarks after inaugurating the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair at the Bangla Academy premises yesterday, reported BSS. The premier also launched a four-day International Literature Conference and handed over prizes among the winners of Bangla Academy Sahitya Puroshkar (literary awards) 2016.

Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor presided over the function, while Director General of Bangla Academy Shamsuzzaman Khan delivered the welcome address.

A collection of selected essays, ranging from Bangladesh’s political discourse to social reform, by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was unveiled at the opening ceremony of this year’s edition of Amar Ekushey Book Fair. The book titled “Nirbachito Probondho,” published by Agami Prokashani, is a compilation of 13 essays published in various platforms in different times

Professor Dong You Chen, a Chinese researcher and translator on Rabindranath Tagore’s works, Austrian poet Menfred Kebo, Luz Maria Lopez from Puerto Rica, German writer Tobaias Burghardt and Indi-

an essayist Chinmoy Guha joined the inaugural function as guests of honour.

At the outset of the function, a minute’s silence was observed to respect the memory of the Lan-

guage Movement martyrs.

Copies of her own “Nirbachita Prabandha,” a collection of essays, “Ocean of Sorrow,” a translation of Mir Mosharraf Hossain’s classic “Bishad Sindhu” and “Hundred Poems From Bangladesh,” an anthology published from Germany in Swedish, were presented to the prime minister.

Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, said that she was raised with a practice of reading books and had upheld that in her own household.

“In our childhood, we used to get Tk10 for buying books. First we bought children’s stories and folk lores and then novels.

“Our children were also addicted to reading books. I’m glad to see that my grandchildren have also picked up the habit,” she said.

Hasina said even though in the digital age, books do not need to

be carried around and can be read from electronic devices, she herself was more traditional in the way that she preferred the touch and feel of a printed book.

She lamented that she cannot visit the fair as she did in the past.

“What can I do if my hands are tied due to my work...when everybody comes to the fair, my heart yearns to come here.”

The recipients of Bangla Academy Sahitya Puroshkar for 2016 were Abu Hasan Shariar (poetry), Shahaduzzaman (literature), Morshed Shafiul Hasan (essay and research) Dr Niaz Zaman (translation), Dr MA Hasan (literature on Liberation War), Noor Jahan Bose (autobiography/ memories/traveling) and Rashed Rouf (juvenile literature).

Each winner of the Bangla Academy Sahitya Puroshkar received Tk1 lakh cash, a crest and a certificate from the prime minister. l

Curtain rises on Ekushey Book Fair amid policing of books Writers, publishers fear possible harassment from police

n SM Najmus Sakib As the curtain rose on the 2017 Amar Ekushey Book Fair yesterday, the unprecedented move for police surveillance over books raised eyebrows among publishers, writers and activists.

Such policing of books will limit freethinking in the country, they fear.

Their concern arose following an announcement by Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) that as part of security measures police will scrutinise books being released in the Ekushey Book Fair to find out whether their contents can hurt religious sentiment.

DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia on Tuesday also cited a section of the Penal Code as well as the ICT Act in support of the move.

The move came as a shock to many who believe freedom of speech is a fundamental and constitutional right.

“What I will write, what I will say is my basic right according to the country’s law, and police cannot control here.

It is a clear violation of citizen’s rights to excising literature,” said Mustafa Jabbar, publisher and noted IT specialist.

“If I do anything wrong according to the law of the land, police can take action, but before committing it, the move by the law enforcement agencies is unprecedented,” he added.

“Instigation and provocation are parts of art and literature in line with positive and progressive argument and logic, and readers will decide which is right and which is wrong, not the police,” Robin Ahsan, a publisher, told the Dhaka Tribune.

“Before getting the judgement from readers and the courts of the country,

how come police announce to take such action is a big question,” he said, adding that writers and publishers are in panic of possible harassment from police.

Robin also noted that police judging a book or work of literature as provocative is unprecedented in any other country of the world.

Because of “limited democracy,” influence and authority of police is increasing in recent times, and the new restriction in the book fair is just a continuation of it, said noted lawyer and rights activist barrister Shahdeen Malik.

“Such book fair is being arranged across the world, but such information of restriction and surveillance by police I have never heard before,” he added.

Writers also see the move as an authoritarian approach towards Bangladesh’s arts and literature.

Noted prose and fiction writer Rayhan Rhyne, who is also an associate professor at Jahangirnagar University, said it is a very ill sign to try to control art, literature and creative works, and the culture of control mainly originates from distrust and fear of losing power.

“Absence of true democracy in the country is allowing things like these to happen which is condemnable and a matter of concern. If the government tries to control intellectuals, freethinkers, writers, artists and educated people, the move for sure will not bring positive change for the country,” he observed.

In December last year, Bangla Academy banned five publishers from the fair for the next two years and reduced the stall size for 15 others for alleged breach of guidelines.

Srabon Prokashoni, a renowned publishing house of progressive books,

Visitors to the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2017 browse through books at a stall on the first day of the fair yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE was banned from the fair for raising voice against the closure of Ba-Dwip Prakashan’s stall and the arrest of its proprietor writer Shamsuzoha Manik last year on charge of selling a translated book titled “Islam Bitarka” (The Islam Debate), originally published in 2013, that allegedly hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslims.

However, Bangla Academy withdrew its decision to ban Srabon Prokashoni following protests by writers,

publishers and activists.

Publishers on tow A good visitor turn-up marked the opening day of the month-long book fair yesterday.

After the inauguration of the fair by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, book lovers began to pour in at the fair premises in the evening.

Publishers and staff at book stalls were on their tows with the last mo-

ment preparations.

Employees at Srabon Prokashoni and Ittadi Prokashoni said they have so far been able to complete 70 percent of the works for the stalls, and would come up with the full setup tomorrow.

The opening day of the fair also coincided with the celebration of Saraswati Puja and the 30th annual gathering by Jatio Kabita Parishad on Dhaka University campus that helped pull a crowd into the fair. l

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

‘New EC members must have a backbone’

Mahmud and n Tarek Adil Sakhawat Four eminent personalities from civil society yesterday suggested the search panel for the Election Commission (EC) to select people as chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners who they said must have a “backbone”.

They said the EC members have to be competent and honest, with the strength to remain out of political influence.

Claiming that they have their trust on the search committee, the four people expressed the hope that the panel will pick up the best names for 11th EC. According their suggestions, the selected people, aged below 70, must have non-communal mindset

and faith in the spirit of Liberation War. The next EC should have to be accepted by everyone and will have to be capable of organising a fair, free and neutral election, the four delegates further suggested.

The developments came when ex-CEC Abu Hena, Barrister Rokon Uddin Mahmud, Dainik Samakal Editor Golam Sarwar and The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam sat with the search panel at Supreme Court Judges’ Lounge.

However, the fifth eminent personality, Major General (retd) Abdur Rashid, also a security analyst, did not attend the meeting since his name was dropped from the list of invitees late Tuesday night.

Interestingly, the last-minute decision was made because Rashid has case against him pending at the High Court, said sources in the Cabinet Division, which is playing the secretarial role for the panel.

Yesterday’s meeting was the second of its kind where civil society members exchanged views with the search committee. Earlier on Monday, the panel search committee held talks with twelve representatives of the civil society.

Meanwhile, the committee will sit at the same venue around 4pm today to finalise 10 names out the initially shortlisted 20 names, said Cabinet Division’s Additional Secretary (administration and law) Md Abdul Wadud.

He said: “The 10 names will be submitted to the president who will appoint the CEC and four election commissioners.”

“Other than the suggested names, the search committee can itself choose others on the basis of the experience of its members,” added Wadud.

The four eminent persons suggested selecting such persons who are physical and physiologically fit to run the EC, he also said.

The ten names have to be finalised by February 8 since the tenure of the current EC will expire that day.

Previously, the six-member committee headed by Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain on Tuesday picked up 20 names out of 125 ones that were recommended by 27 political parties.

On January 25, the president formed the search panel after holding a series of dialogues with 31 registered political parties. The committee was instructed to sub-

mit finalised names and recommendations to the president within 10 working days.

Remarks of four eminent persons:

Former CEC Abu Hena said, “The persons who will lead next EC must be industrious and knowledgeable.

If we want an independent and effective EC, it is needed to find out capable and wise people.”

Hena, however, appreciated the search panel’s initiative to hold meetings with eminent people which he said will help gain public trust, suggesting such practice to repeat in future.

The committee did not disclose the shortlisted names during the meeting, he added.

Mahfuz Anam said: “ We suggested to the committee to place some recommendations as its guideline for the EC which will play a key role in the country’s future democracy.”

“The committee will place names before the president out of their wisdom,” he hoped, adding that the civil society did not recommend any names.

“The panel is selecting the names based on some criteria and trying to recommend the best names,” he further said, expressing

his confidence over the committee.

Golam Sarwar said, “We suggested not to select the persons with communal mindset and have no faith on our Liberation War. The article relating to the EC in the constitution has to expanded and clarified instead of adopting a law for the constitutional body.

“I suggested that the CEC be not aged more than 70 with the commissioners having a backbone so that they cannot bow down to any political or bureaucratic influence,” he also said.

“We also recommended that the civil society’s suggestions be considered for the EC reformation,” he added.

Rokon Uddin Mahmud said, “The committee agreed to consider some suggestions placed by the civil society.”

If the CEC and his deputies fails to perform as expected, the search panel must not be blamed. The committee’s decision will lead to the reconstitution of the EC, though, he stated.

“The commission has a challenge to organise next parliamentary election freely and fairly under a partisan government, which the EC has to overcome for the sake of the country,” he added. l

Palestinian President Abbas in city

Arrest warrant if Khaleda skips Feb 27 hearing

n UNB

n Md Sanaul Islaml Tipu

A red carpet was rolled out as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived yesterday on a threeday official visit at the invitation of his Bangladesh counterpart Abdul Hamid.

President Hamid received the Palestinian President near the VVIP Tarmac of Shahjalal International Airport amid a 21-gun salute.

A special flight carrying Abbas and his entourage landed at Shahjalal International Airport at 5pm.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury and State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam were present at the airport, among others.

The Palestinian president was taken to Hotel Le Meridien Dhaka on the Airport Road through a ceremonial motorcade where he will be staying during the visit.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali later met the Palestinian president at his hotel around 7pm yesterday.

During the meeting, he reaffirmed Bangladesh’s stance to support the cause of Palestine. l

A Dhaka court yesterday warned BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia of issuing arrest warrant if she fails to appear before the court on February 27 in connection with 10 cases including sedition.

Judge Md Kamrul Hossain Molla of the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court set the date after accepting separate time petitions of Khaleda’s lawyers in the cases.

Md Sanaullah Miah, counsel of the former PM submitted time petitions before the court mentioning that his client could not appear before the court due to her illness.

Earlier on January 9, the same court fixed yesterday for charge framing hearing against Khaleda and others accused in the cases.

Meanwhile, Khaleda Zia will appear before a Dhaka court today in connection with Zia orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust graft cases.

“The BNP chief will appear before the court around 11am,” her lawyer Md Sanaullah Miah said yesterday.

Judge Md Abu Ahmed Jamadar of Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-3 on Monday asked her to appear before the court today for defending herself in the Zia Orphanage Trust case. l

Maksumul Hasan

Shubhashish Bose

Hedayetullah Al Mamun

Faizur Rahman Chowdhury

Government makes major reshuffle in administration n Asif Showkat Kallol In a major reshuffle in the administration, the government appointed two secretaries to two divisions under the Home Ministry and transferred the Commerce Ministry’s Senior Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamun to Finance Ministry.

The public administration ministry issued separate orders in this regard yesterday.

Besides, six additional secretaries were promoted to acting secretaries of different ministries through separate orders.

According to the orders, Hedayetullah Al Mamun was transferred to the finance ministry as the ten-

ure of Senior Finance Secretary Mahbub Ahmed ended on December 29 last.

Cultural Affairs Secretary Aktari Mamtaz was transferred as the secretary to Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC).

Secretary of the Posts and Telecommunications Department Faizur Rahman Chowdhury was transferred to Livestock and Fisheries Ministry while Livestock and Fisheries Secretary Maqsudul Hassan Khan was transferred to the Textiles and Jute Ministry.

In addition, Secretary of the Information and Communication Technology Division Shamsundur Sikder was transferred to Posts and

Telecommunications Division.

Acting secretary of the ministry of Textiles and Jute Shubhashish Bose was transferred to Commerce Ministry as acting secretary while director general of the Government Employees’ Welfare Board was promoted to the acting secretary.

DG of NGO Affair Bureau Asadul Islam was promoted to the Ministry of Youth and Sports as acting secretary and Registrar of the Cooperatives Directorate Mofizul Islam to the IMED as acting secretary.

Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration Ibrahim Hussain Khan was transferred as acting secretary of the ministry of cultural affairs.l

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

Gas supply interruption in parts of Dhaka n Aminur Rahman Rasel

Gas supply will be interrupted today from 9am to 5pm at several places in Dhaka city due to pipeline shifting work under Dhaka Metro Rail construction project.

“The supply is expected to return by 6pm after completion of the development work,” Md Shahjahan, deputy general manager of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Mirpur 10, Agargaon, Kazipara, Shewrapara, Pirerbagh, Barabagh and Senpara Parbata would face the interruption, said a press release of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited yesterday. l

Lawyers’ explanation sought for court vandalism n

Tribune Desk

Bangladesh Bar Council yesterday issued a show-cause notice seeking explanations from nine lawyers over the incident of vandalising a Chittagong court on January 18.

In the notice, the licensing and regulatory body of lawyers of the country asked those lawyers, all members of Chittagong District Bar Association, to respond by February 14.

If they fail to give reply, it warned, the case will proceed against the lawyers according to the law.

The lawyers are Advocate Jannatul Ferdous Mukta, Advocate Chandan Biswas, Advocate Shakil, Advicate Awal khan, Advocate TR Khan, Advocate Prodip Das, Advocate Shibli, Advocate Masud Parvez and Advocate Mustafiz.

It requested to submit reply to the allegations to the secretary of Bar Council.

Deputy Secretary of Bangladesh Bar Council Md Afzal-ur Rahman issued the notice. It was served being instructed by High Court Division’s Registrar Abu Syed Dilzar Hossain following a petition of complaint.

The petition of complaint along

with the replies will be placed before the executive committee chairman of Bar Council for scrutinising as to whether there is any prima facie case for reference to Tribunal for disposal.

If they fail to give reply, it warned, the case will proceed against the lawyers according to the law On January 18, a group of agitated lawyers vandalised the court after it rejected bail to a lawyer and his wife in a human trafficking case. The couple was arrested from Chittagong airport on allegation of providing support to one Rohingya woman and a Bangladeshi man to fly for Saudi Arabia with fake documents.

The following day, the chief justice formed a three-member committee to probe the vandalism incident, and on January 23 Supreme Court authorities asked Bar Council to take action against the rowdy lawyers. l

3 on a bike attack policemen at Bongshal, 2 injured n Arifur Rahman Rabbi Two policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), have been injured in an acid attack by miscreants in Dhaka’s Bongshal area early yesterday, while one of the attackers were shot and detained.

The injured are Bongshal police out-post ASI Nuruzzaman and constable Rafiqul Alam, while the detained attacker was identified as Jubair, 26.

Bongshal OC Nure Alam Siddique said: “Three people riding on a motorcycle threw acid at Rafiqul and hit Nurruzzaman on his head with a bottle when they were signalled to stop at the check post around midnight.

“Their faces were covered and even the number plate of the motorcycle was covered with a black piece of cloth.”

Sources from the Detec-

tive branch later said that Jubair, a student of Hathajari Madrasa, is a member of Ansar-Al-Islam.

Rafiqul was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) while Nuruzzaman was taken to Midford Hospital.

Jubair, was shot in the leg but his two accomplices managed to flee the scene.

Police recovered acid, gun powder and a torchlight from the spot.

The OC said: “We suspect that the riders might have militant links.”

Earlier in the day, four suspected members of a new faction of banned militant outfit JMB were arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion from Jatrabari.

Asked if the two incidents were connected, OC Nure Alam said: “The incidents might be linked but we are not sure. The detectives are investigating the matter.” l

Berc chairman, three officials appointed n Aminur Rahman Rasel The government appointed former power division secretary Monowar Islam as chairman of the Bangladesh Energy Regularity Commission yesterday.

A gazette, signed by Additional Secretary Mohammad Ahsanul Jabbar of the Energy and Mineral Resources division and published yesterday, confirmed the news.

In a separate gazette, Berc members Md Abdul Aziz Khan, Md Mizanur Rahman, and Md Mahmudul Haq Bhuiyan were also appointed the same day.

The gazette states the appointed officials will serve in the commission over the next three years.

It also states they cannot take part in any business related to the power and energy sectors. l

Death anniversary of advocate Bazlar Rahman observed n Tribune Desk

The 22nd death anniversary of Mohammad Bazlar Rahman, former senior advocate on record, Bangladesh Supreme Court and Bar Association, was observed yesterday.

A milad mahfil was held on the occasion and food was distributed among the destitute at his Indira Road residence in Dhaka.

Bazlar Rahman was father

of Dr Afroza Akhtar, Khaleda, engineer Dina, engineer Afreena, engineer Faizur and Dr Ababil. l

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Suspected New JMB IT chief among four held n Arifur Rahman Rabbi Four suspected members from a new faction of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, widely known as New JMB, have been detained by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

Md Ashfak-e-Azam alias Apel alias Abdullah, Mahbubur Rahman alias Rumi, Ashraf Ali, and Shaniuzzaman alias Shaon were booked around 4am yesterday, from the Jatrabari area of Dhaka.

In addition, two foreign firearms, four magazines, 21 bullets, seven knives, 2.75 kgs of explosive powder of different types, five containers of explosive jell, seven mobile phones, three electric detonators, two circuit breakers and a huge supply of bomb-making instruments were also recovered from the house in the Dholaipar area.

RAB’s Legal and Media Wing Chief Mufti Mahmud Khan said:

named Faruque for questioning.

RAB also took their mobile phones, he added.

Mufti had said earlier that IT section chief Mostafizur Rahman Sifat was apprehended by RAB on August 9 last year. Afterwards, Apel took charge the IT section.

Apel received a BSc in computer engineering from a private university in 2012. He then served as a programmer in different companies in the capital.

At Rangpur’s Haragacha, Apel was introduced to Kamal and Sakib Master in a mahfil programme in 2011, through whom he joined JMB. He had attended secret meetings at Rangpur and Bogra, Mufti added.

Apel received arms training in Chittagong. Then he worked in the IT section of JMB. There he grew close to Manik, later known as Sarwar Jahan, who died in the force’s October 8 raid in Ashulia.

Sarwar was the ameer of the terror-

living in Malaysia while he himself was an SSC exam candidate.

Saber added that RAB knocked on their door around 4am on Wednesday, asking where the rent-

“All the detainees belong to JMB’s Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and Sarwar Jahan faction. We suspect that Apel is the head of the IT section of the faction.”

‘All the detainees belong to JMB’s Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and Sarwar Jahan faction.

We suspect that Apel is the head of the IT section of the faction’ ers were. They then proceeded to the first floor and detained the four suspects.

Saber said: “The arrested rented the house at Tk7,000 per month and gave Tk2,000 in advance on January 20. They told us that he, his wife and brother would be living at the flat and that they would give their national ID soon, but today [yesterday] RAB detained them.”

Furthermore, RAB took his mother and a ground floor renter

He added that the suspects, identifying themselves as construction workers, had rented the house on January 23.

“We suspect that they were planning some attacks,” he further said.

The landlord was Mokhlesur Rahman, a former officer of Wasa who died in 2012. Subsequently, his wife Shailu Begum took over maintenance of the house.

Saber Hossain, one of their three sons, said that his brothers were

ist group New JMB and went by the name Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif, RAB claimed.

Apel provided training to senior leaders of JMB who were unable to operate apps, internet or mobile phones. In addition, he collected funds for JMB and had already provided Tk3 lakh to the organisation, said the RAB official.

Shaniuzzaman is also a member of the Sarwar-Tamim group.

He joined JMB through Mahmudul Islam in 2014. Mahmudul was the ameer JMB branches in the southern region, RAB claimed.

Of the remaining, Mahbubur joined JMB after he met Apel in 2015. He later on became a specialist courier for delivering secret documents for the militant faction.

On the other hand, Ashraf Ali had an 8th grade education and joined JMB through a local contact, though RAB did not disclose his name. He also received firearms training in Chittagong in 2015. l

WB okays $300m for local government support n Tribune Desk The World Bank has approved $300 million financing for Bangladesh to strengthen local government and enable communities to decide and implement local development priorities.

Covering all 4,550 union parishads, the Local Governance Support Project 3 (LGSP 3) will benefit over 115 million people, the global lender said in a statement yesterday.

The project will also pilot a fiscal transfer system in 16 municipalities, of which the eligible ones will receive block grants with discretionary power to select sub-projects aiming to improve service delivery.

“The World Bank has been a longstanding partner in supporting the government’s vision of advancing decentralisation and empowering the local governments,” said Rajashree Paralkar, World Bank acting country director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.

The project will establish the national budget transfers as a norm to the union parishads (UP), the lowest tier of local government.

“A predictable and transparent financial resource transfer system will help the UPs and participating municipalities to further improve planning, participatory budgeting,

public finance management and accountability.”

“Like its predecessors, LGSP-3 will also place a strong emphasis on gender empowerment. At least one third of the Ward Committees and Supervision Committee members will continue to be women,” said Shenhua Wang, World Bank team leader for the Local Governance Support Project - 3.

To ensure that women’s decisions are implemented, 30% of the grant will be earmarked for schemes prioritised by women, said Shenhua.

To institutionalise the fiscal transfer system, starting from the fourth year of the project, the government will fully finance the Union Parishad block grants out of the national budgetary allocations.

Since 2011, all UPs have been receiving annual block grants with full discretion through LGSP to deliver local services after undergoing rigorous audit process.

LGSP-3 will maintain the momentum and continue to support transfer of enhanced fiscal resources to rural councils.

The credit from the World Bank’s International Development Association has a 38-year term, including a six-year grace period, and a 0.75% service charge. l

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY

DRY WEATHER LIKELY

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2

Dhaka

28

14

Chittagong

27

Immediately before Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came there to inaugurate the book fair, police towed away these motorcycles from Dhaka University for ‘illegal’ parking MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU 16

Rajshahi

DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 5:45PM

27

13

Rangpur

27

13

Khulna

29

13

Barisal

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

TOMORROW SUN RISES 6:39AM

30.0ºC Sitakunda

11.0ºC Srimangal

Source: Accuweather/UNB

29

14

PRAYER TIMES

Sylhet

28

11

Cox’s Bazar

28

16

Fajr: 6:5am | Zohr: 1:15pm Asr: 4:30pm | Magrib: 5:56pm Esha: 7:45pm Source: Islamic Foundation

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

AL leader grabs Joypurhat Library’s land Alamgir Chowdhury, n Md Joypurhat

A local leader of Joypurhat unit of ruling party Awami League with malign intention grabbed the lands of 70-year-old Joypurhat Library and Club through secret lease system.

Sources said the Joypurhat Library and Club was established in 1947 in the district town near Dr Abul Kasem parade-ground aiming to build reading habit among the inhabitants. After 70 years of its establishment, the authorities were trying to build new buildings for the library and club on January 22, but the district adminis-

tration stopped the construction works saying that the lands were leased by Joypurhat District Awami League unit’s Organising Secretary Zillur Rahman Khan.

The administration also ordered the library and club authorities to remove their equipments from the lands immediately.

Later, the authorities came to know that the district administration had allotted the land in the name of Zillur Rahman on October last year through a hidden lease system.

Utpol Kumar, cultural secretary of the library, said: “This place was the baby crib of culture and sports of the district. Some renowned cul-

tural personalities performed here.

But on January 22, we knew that the land was not ours anymore.

District administration gave lease it to Awami League leader Zillur Rahman without knowing us. This was a great loss of the culture.

“We along with the culture loving people in the district will go for movement for recovering the lands,” he said.

Raja Chowdhury, general secretary of the library and club, said: “The district administration forced us to stop the construction works.”

When contacted, Zillur Rahman said on Wednesday over mobile phone that, “I had leased the land for newspaper office on October

last but did not get the land yet.”

Ex-district administrator SM Solaiman Ali said: “The library and club authorities used the lands without proper documents for about hundred years. We informed them several times to take necessary steps to complete the paper works but they did not response on our calls. Later we gave the land to Zillur Rahman.”

Chief Executive Officer of the district administration Md Abu Bakar Siddique said: “Building any establishments on the land of district administration is totally illegal. That’s why we stopped construction works of the library and club.”l

Housewife shot during morning walk in Jessore n Md. Tauhid-Uz-Zaman, Jessore

Miscreants shot a housewife in Jessore’s Old Koshba Ghoshpara area when she was having a morning walk yesterday early morning.

The victim was - Shanta Begum, 30, wife of Torikuzzaman Suman, residing in city’s Palbari area.

Sub-inspector of Kotwali police station Kayum Munsi said: “Shanta went out for morning walk in the early morning. When she was crossing the Ghoshpara Government Primary School, some miscreants shot at her left leg and ran away, leaving her injured.”

Hearing her scream, local rescued her from the spot and rushed Jessore General Hospital around 7:15am first. Later, she was transferred to Khulna Medical College and Hospital. l

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

Swarswati Puja celebrated n Tribune Desk Saraswati Puja, one of the main festivals of Hindus, was celebrated in Bangladesh yesterday with traditional gaiety, religious festivity and spirit of pursuit of art and knowledge which Goddess Saraswati provides.

In Dhaka, Saraswati Puja was celebrated at Jagannath Hall and at Faculty of Fine Art, Rokeya Hall, Begum Shamsunnahar Hall, Bangladesh-Kuwait Maitree Hall and Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall of University of Dhaka, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka Medical College, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka College, Eden Girl’s College, Shakhari Bazar, Tanti Bazar and different places of Old Dhaka, Khilgaon Tilpapara Deb Mandir and different educational institutions.

Students from different departments and institutes of University of Dhaka arranged the puja at 60 Mandaps on the Jagannath Hall playground this year.

In Rajshahi

The people celebrated the Saraswati Puja befittingly through daylong programmes amid huge enthusiasm and due to religious fervour in the divisional city, reports our correspondent.

Puja mandaps, mandirs and a large number of educational institutions were colourfully decorated as hundreds of devotees seek blessings since morning from the `Devi Swaraswati’, the Goddess of knowledge.

In Rajshahi metropolis, a large number of images of Goddess Swaraswati, symbolizing a graceful woman riding on a swan, were erected at different puja mandaps, mandirs and educational institutions.

Particularly, Swaraswati Puja was celebrated at Rajshahi University, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Rajshahi College, Rajshahi Medical College, Teachers Training College, Polytechnic Institute side by side with different educational institutions and many other points and open places in the city.

The celebration also included offering of Devi Aradhona, Pushpanjoli, `archanas’, `anjolis’, `aratis’, distribution of `Prasad’, `Arati Competitions’, cultural functions and staging of drama.

To mark the celebration, Rajshahi University Central Puja Udjapan Parishad (RUPUP) arranged a bani archana programme at central puja modap premises today. Assistant Indian High Commissioner in Rajshahi Avijit Chottopaddhya was present there.

RU Vice-chancellor Prof Mijanuddin addressed the meeting

DT

7

News

Three killed in ‘gunfight’ with police in two districts n Tribune Desk

Students of Fine Arts Faculty of Dhaka University build a statue of Swarswati, the Hindu Goddess of Knowledge, at Jagannath Hall’s pond during Saraswati Puja. The photo was taken yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU as chief guest with RUPUP President Prof Biswanath Shikder in the chair. RUPUP Adviser Prof Ananda Kumar Shaha, Students Adviser Mijanur Rahman and Proctor Mujibul Haque Azad Khan also spoke.

In Rangpur

A large number of Puja mandaps, mandirs and educational institutions were decorated and hundreds of devotees thronged there to seek blessings of the ‘Devi Saraswati’, the Goddess of knowledge, since this morning.

The devotees, especially students of different educational institutions, attired in traditional colourful dresses, offered special prayers and observed fasting as per ritual of the religious festival to seek knowledge from goddess Saraswati.

In Rangpur divisional city, dozens images of Goddess Saraswati, symbolising a graceful woman, was erected at different puja mandaps, mandirs, educational institutions and makeshift places for worships.

The Puja was celebrated at ‘Sammya Sangaha’ on the Rothbari Road in Mahiganj, Laksmi Narayan Zeu Shiva Mandir, Poresh Nath Mandir, Dharmoshava Ashram, Kalibari Mandir, Guptapara Puja Mandap, Khhatriyo Samity, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur Medical College, Dental College, Begum Rokeya Government College, Technical School and College, Carmichael College, Lions School and College, Samaj Kallyan Biddya Bithi, Koilash Ranjan High School, Afan Ullah High School, Teachers Training College, Rangpur Zila School, Government Girls’ School and many other educational institutions.

The Puja was also celebrated at

Guptapara Puja Mandap, Mulatol, Paulpara, Lalbag, Modern Mour, Tazhat, Boiragipara, Machuapara, Kallyanpara, Shalban, Burima Mandir, Textile crossing, Polytechnic Institute and many other places in the city.

It was celebrated through offering ‘Devi Aradhona’, ‘Puspoanjoli’, ‘archanas’, ‘anjolis’, ‘aratis’, ‘Prashad’ distribution, ‘Arati competitions’, discussions, different competitions, cultural functions, staging of drama and distribution of prizes.

Trusty of Hindu Religious Kallyan Trust and President of district unit of Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parisahd Advocate Rothish Chandra Bhowmick attended a discussion followed by and prize distribution at the ‘Sammya Sangha’ in the city as the chief guest.

With President of Mahiganj Press club Bablu Nag in the chair, Hindu community leaders Ajay Prashad Babon, Ramakrishna Somani, Banamali Paul, addressed the discussion, among others.

In Chittagong

Different religious, professional and social-cultural organizations organized Bani Archana, discussion meetings, distribution of Prashads, cultural functions and illuminations at temples, educational institutions and other makeshift places for worshipping the goddess.

On the occasion of Saraswati, a large number of devotees including female students converged at the J M Sen Hall premises, the traditional venue of different religious functions of the Hindu community, and offered worships to Debi Saraswati seeking her blessing for knowledge, reports BSS.

Besides, Bani Archanas were held at Chittagong University, City University College, Chittagong Government College, Hazi Mohammad Mohsin College and a good number of educational institutions celebrating the Saraswati Puja.

A series of programmes were held at Ramkrishna Sebasrham in the city with beginning of Puja in the morning followed by Puspanjali, distributions of Prashads and singing religious songs.

During the Saraswati Puja, parents introduced the children to alphabets through ‘Hate Khori’ ceremony.

The priest gives children a pen made of Kans flower and symbolic ink. The children start their formal learning by writing on a clay pot.

Other programmes include drawing competition for children, blood donation, prayers, prize distribution and cultural function.

The festive was celebrated in many other districts including Chapainawabganj, Natore, Naogaon, Bogra, Joypurhat, Pabna, Sirajganj, Madaripur, Bagerhat, Barisal, Khulna, Shariatpur, Narayanganj and Munshiganj districts.

The devotees of Hindu people assembled at the puja mandaps and sought blessings from the Goddess of Learning for education.

The celebration also included offering of Devi Aradhona, cultural functions and staging of dramas at temples, educational institutions and domestic residences in the country.

The puja mandaps and temples were decorated with light and colourful decorative stuffs in celebration of the festival and thousands of devotees sought blessings from the Goddess of Learning. l

At least three people were reportedly killed in ‘gunfight’ in Rangpur and Magura districts yesterday.

According to reports of our Rangpur correspondent, two members of a gang of inter-district robbers were killed in a gunfight with police near Lengtichhora Bridge on the Rangpur-Dinajpur Highway under Taraganj upazila.

The deceased were Mashiur Rahman, 40, son of late Zakaria of Bhimpur village under Taraganj upazila and Bijoy Chandra, 32, of Kursha Baloram village under Sadar upazila.

Officer-in-Charge of Taraganj police station Abdul Latif Mian said a special police squad raided the area based on information that a group of robbers gathered there for committing robbery around 3:20 am.

“However, sensing the presence of police, the miscreants opened fire on them, forcing the policemen to retaliate that triggered the gunfight. Two robbers were killed on the spot,” the OC said adding that the other dacoits managed to escape the scene.

Police recovered the bodies and sent those to Rangpur Medical College Hospital (RMCH) for autopsy.

“At least 21 cases have been pending against Mashiur and 12 cases against Bijoy with Taraganj police station,” the OC said, adding that many similar cases were also pending against them with other police stations in the region.

In Magura, a miscreant was killed in a gunfight with the police in Dhalhara-Binodpur Road area in Sadar upazila in the morning..

The deceased Juban Ali, a resident of Chaulia-Guchhagram of the upazila, was accused in 13 cases for murder, rape, drug peddling and other criminal conducts, said Officer-in-Charge of Sadar Police Station Ajmal Huda, erports BSS. Being informed, a team of police conducted a raid in the area while the terrorist group was staying in the area, the OC said.

When the police team reached near Magura-Binodpur road, sensing the presence of police, the terrorists opened fire on them. In retaliation, the law enforcers also opened fire leading to a gunfight for sometimes.

Juban Ali was caught in the line of fire and injured critically while his associates managed to flee the scene.

He was sent to Magura Sadar Hospital where on duty doctor declared him dead.

Police also recovered a foreign made pistol, seven bullets and some local weapons from the spot. l

DT

8 World

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

Trump picks conservative judge for SC n AFP, Washington, DC Donald Trump has nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, seizing an unusual early opportunity to put conservatives back in the majority on America’s top court.

In a primetime address late Tuesday that was part jurisprudence, part reality show, Trump tapped the 49-year-old appeals court judge from Denver, Colorado.

If confirmed by the Senate, he will fill the seat made vacant by the death of Antonin Scalia nearly a year ago and tilt the balance of the court five-to-four in conservatives’ favour.

The elegant, silver-haired jurist with a flair for writing incisive rulings is the youngest nominee in a generation. His appointment could have a major impact on cases ranging from business regulation to gender rights to gun control.

After unprecedented hyping of the announcement, Trump invited Gorsuch and his wife to emerge dramatically before an audience in the

NEIL GORSUCH

Aged 49 Federal appeals court judge Supreme Court clerk for sitting justice Anthony Kennedy and late justice Byron White Ideologically aligned with late justice Antonin Scalia, who strictly adhered to the text of laws Favours religious freedom, e.g. the denial of services like contraception on religious grounds East Room of the White House.

Despite the razzmatazz, Gorsuch was a remarkably orthodox pick for a president who has scythed through norms and precedent during his brief time in office. Like Scalia, Gorsuch is considered an “originalist”, guided in his legal thinking

by the constitution’s original intent and meaning.

For Trump, the selection is payback to evangelical Christian and conservative Republicans who backed his bid for the presidency – at times reluctantly.

Job for life

The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of many of the most sensitive issues of US life and law. Its members are named to life terms so their influence is long-lasting.

Given the advanced age of several sitting justices, Trump could potentially make several appointments during his term, shaping the court’s direction for a generation.

Once confirmed, however, justices enjoy independence and some have proved politically unpredictable.

With an eye to a bitter Congressional fight, Gorsuch presented himself as someone who is fair-minded and self-deprecating.

‘Very serious doubts’

Much Democratic opposition to Gorsuch is likely due to the refusal

US raises alarm at UN over Iran missile test

by Congressional Republicans, following Scalia’s death, to give then president Barack Obama’s court pick a confirmation hearing.

Democrats, who are in a minority in both chambers of Congress, are still smarting from Republican treatment of Obama’s pick, Merrick Garland.

Garland has since returned to his old job as chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington, but Democrats could yet pick a fight.

REUTERS

Although Republicans hold 52 seats in the Senate, they need 60 to confirm a nominee.

That means Gorsuch must be able to win some Democratic votes – a task made tougher by the row over Trump’s ban on travellers from several Muslim countries.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said it was up to Gorsuch to “prove himself to be within the legal mainstream” and “vigorously defend the Constitution” from presidential abuses. l

‘EU court might make changes to any Brexit deal’

n AFP, United Nations

The US on Tuesday raised alarm at the UN over Iran’s test-firing of a medium range missile, calling it “absolutely unacceptable,” after Tehran warned the US against fuelling tensions.

New US Ambassador Nikki Haley had requested the urgent consultations at the UN Security Council – the first action taken by the envoy just days into her mandate.

The row comes against a backdrop of already strained relations between Washington and the Islamic republic over US President Donald Trump’s travel ban on citizens from Iran and six other Muslim-majority countries.

The ambassador accused Iran of trying to convince the world that “they are being nice” before adding: “I will tell the people across the world that is something we should be alarmed about.”

Under a council resolution that endorsed the historic nuclear deal with Iran, Tehran is barred from developing missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads.

Any violation of that resolution could trigger a snapback of sanctions that were lifted under the nuclear agreement, opening up the Iranian economy to investment and opportunities. l

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Neil Gorsuch, left

n Reuters, Luxembourg

Protesters stand atop a roof as a shed burns during an eviction by Israeli police from the Israeli settler outpost of Amona in West Bank on February 1 REUTERS

Violence erupts during eviction of Israeli settlers n Reuters, Amona, West Bank Rightist protesters scuffled with Israeli police carrying out a court order to evict settlers from an illegal outpost in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, hours after the government announced more construction in larger settlements.

Around 330 Israeli settlers live in Amona, the largest of scores of outposts built in the West Bank without official authorisation. The Supreme Court ruled in November, after a lengthy legal battle, that settlers had to leave Amona because their homes were built on privately-owned Palestinian land.

With no weapons visible, but wearing backpacks, hundreds of

police walked past burning tyres and pushed back against dozens of nationalist Israeli youths who flocked to Amona in support of the settlers.

Several protesters were detained by police during the scuffles and there were a few instances of stone-throwing. A police spokesmen said at least 10 officers were injured slightly by rocks and caustic liquid thrown at them.

“A Jew doesn’t evict a Jew!” the youngsters chanted.

The Amona settlers themselves stayed largely put inside their homes after erecting makeshift barriers in front of their doors and vowing passive resistance to eviction. l

Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union seems likely to end up under review by the EU’s top court, which might insist on changes to any Brexit treaty, its chief justice said in an interview.

Koen Lenaerts, president of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ), stressed that the political process was still in its early stages. It was impossible to foretell what aspects of Brexit might be referred to the ECJ by national courts handling cases raised by interested parties.

But asked if such a momentous EU political crisis was likely to end up at the Luxembourg-based court, the Belgian jurist said: “Yes, it is.”

Even “a lawyer with the wildest imagination” would be unable to anticipate exactly how, he emphasised: “But it probably will, one day or another, end up on the docket of the Court – not because of the Court, but because of parties bringing the case.”

Citing a judgement two decades ago that forced a change to EU banana trade pacts with Latin American states, Lenaerts said the ECJ could ultimately amend any post-Brexit EU-UK trade deal – though he stressed this was a purely speculative reflection.

His comments raised the possibility that Britain’s divorce terms from the

European Court of Justice president Koen Lenaerts REUTERS EU could ultimately be shaped by the very court whose jurisdiction it is determined to escape, as Prime Minister Theresa May spelt out in a speech last month.

The prospect of court battles going on well after Brexit, expected to take effect in about two years’ time, underlines the uncertainty surrounding the process, which is outlined in a bare 261 words in Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty.

British judges have already upheld some private complaints to oblige May to change tack on how the government launches the process and at least one case is under way, in Ireland, which campaigners hope can trigger an ECJ review of her plan. l

9

DT

World

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

British MPs to hold first vote on Brexit bill n AFP, London British MPs are expected Wednesday to approve the first stage of a bill empowering Prime Minister Theresa May to start pulling Britain out of the European Union.

The House of Commons will

hold its first vote on legislation allowing the government to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which would begin two years of exit negotiations.

The opposition Labour party has said it will not block the bill and, although dozens of its MPs could re-

bel, it should easily pass the next debate stage scheduled for next week.

May is under intense pressure to push the bill through quickly, having promised EU leaders that she will trigger Article 50 by the end of March.

The government had sought to ex-

clude parliament, insisting it had the power to trigger Article 50 on its own, but the Supreme Court last week ruled it must consult lawmakers.

The majority of MPs campaigned to stay in the EU ahead of last June’s referendum, but during the first day of debate on the bill Tuesday,

many said they would, however reluctantly, bow to the result.

The bill could be delayed in the upper House of Lords, where May’s Conservative party does not have a majority, and where the unelected peers have no fear of a public backlash. l

DT

10 Business

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

CAPITAL MARKET SNAPSHOT: WEDNESDAY 5,473.9 0.1% ▲ Index DSE Broad Index CSE All Share Index 16,945.8 0.0% ▲ 30 Index

1,272.8 14,771.8

0.4% 0.0%

▲ ▲

30 Index Selected Index

1,993.6 10,276.4

0.0% 0.0%

▲ ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk Turnover in Mn Tk

8,825.6 508.2

-7.8% 2.5%

▼ ▲

Turnover in Mn Vol Turnover in Mn Vol

272.5 19.3

2.2% 5.8%

▲ ▲

Brac to work for low-cost migration of workers n Asif Showkat Kallol

BASIS Softexpo 2017 begins yesterday at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Speaker: Software a tool for economic development n Nure Alam Durjoy The Speaker of the Parliament, Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, yesterday said software technology empowers people and can be a tool for an overall economic development.

She said this after inaugurating the four-day BASIS Softexpo 2017 that kicked off yesterday at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital.

Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) is hosting the IT and ITES showcase.

In her address as the chief guest, the Speaker said a good number of youths are earning money engaging themselves with outsourcing.

She urged women and new generation to get involved with the software industry.

The government is working to establish an IT-business friendly environment as the sector can contribute more to the national economy.

Terming the software industry a specialised sector, she said: “The sector has attained remarkable progress following right and timely decision of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.”

“Information and Technology has become the driver of all social development. Since 1997, BASIS has taken the sector to today’s level facing huge challenges,” said Sharmin.

Shirin opined that software

should be nurtured in a way, so the young people can be easily involved in this promising sector.

To create an ICT-friendly environment in the country, the government has given the highest priority on software sector as software and technologies have largely influenced the live of the people in different ways, she added.

‘Information and Technology has become the driver of all social development. Since 1997, BASIS has taken the sector to today’s level facing huge challenges’ Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, MP and State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP also spoke as special guests with BASIS President Mustafa Jabbar in the chair.

Mustafa Kamal said: “The value of global software market is around US$ 3 trillion. BASIS has been working together with government to expand the footprints of local software firms in abroad and Planning Ministry will support BASIS at all square to lead the local

tech outlets.”

Zunaid Ahmed Palak said government is working together with private sector to create a business-friendly environment for the technology sector to achieve the milestone of US$1 billion revenue from ITES export by 2018.

The junior minister also demanded 20% cash incentives against the export of software.

As a whole, Bangladesh is exporting software worth $700 million, which would reach at $1 billion by 2018 while the sector would employ 10 lakh more people by 2021, said Ahmed.

Palak observed that the young people will lead the nation and the expo is aimed at making entrepreneurs from the young generation.

“We prefer Bangladeshi software firms in most of the public procurement and the Planning Ministry will support BASIS at all square,” he added.

In the four-day expo, about 20 seminars will be arranged, which will cover different topics including Level Playing Field Cover for the local companies, digital education and e-learning, mobile application development, internet of thinks, access to finance, cloud computing, data networking security, export market promotion, developing innovation ecosystem, digital services delivery, IT market research and quality certification. l

Brac has decided to help Bangladeshi workers go abroad for jobs at reduced cost while the process will start from March, said officials.

“We have decided to help in sending workforce abroad at reduced cost,” said Asif Saleh, Brac senior director (strategy, communication and empowerment), at a views-exchange meeting titled “SDG and Future” with journalists yesterday.

He said a job seeker has to pay Tk8-9 lakh to the recruiting agencies for migration, which is “too high” compared to other countries.

Asif said Brac has already got licence from the authorities concerned.

He said Brach provided migration loans to potential Bangladeshi expatriates.

“But due to high cost of migration the borrowers could not make the loans of use. That’s why we decided to intervene in the process,” Asif said.

In Bangladesh, there are currently 978 recruiting agencies and handling workers’ migration for overseas jobs, according to the

data of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira).

Brac director (research and evaluation division) Prof Abdul Bayes discussed how Brac could help the authorities achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“But bad governance is a barrier to achieve the SDGs,” he emphasised.

Prof Bayes said the NGO has targeted to help about 1.2m ultra poor come out of poverty in 2017.

Brac director (advocacy for social change, technology and partnership strengthening) KAM Morshed also spoke on the occasion.

Brac, an international development organisation that creates opportunities for the world’s poor, was ranked the number one NGO in the world in 2017 by the Geneva-based NGO Advisor.

Brac retained the top spot among top 500 NGOs for the second consecutive year.

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed founded Brac in 1972 to assist the people in coping with crises.

Its activities are now spread across 12 countries in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean region covering 126 million people. l

Microsoft to host coding for kids n Tribune Business Desk Microsoft Bangladesh will organise computer coding for local schoolchildren to teach them the basics of programming at the ongoing BASIS SoftExpo in the city.

As part of the initiative, Microsoft Bangladesh will host a twohour workshop titled “Coding for Kids” tomorrow at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

The event is open for all school-going kids from Grade 1 to Grade 8.

Tarana Halim, state minister for

Posts and Telecommunications, will attend the programme as the chief guest.

Around 400 children from different schools are expected to participate in the workshop that will run from 10:30am to 12:30pm while Wellington Perera of South East Asia New Markets would be present as speaker.

In her address, Microsoft Bangladesh Managing Director Sonia Bashir Kabir said: “We are inviting school students and urging their parents to bring their kids to the coding workshop on Friday.” l

DT

11

Business

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

BEZA gets Tk7cr fund for Sylhet Economic Zones n Asif Showkat Kallol The government has given Tk7 crore loan to Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) for earth filling of Sylhet Economic Zone land, officials said.

The interest rate of loan is 6% to be paid in equal installments in 15-

year period, according to Finance Division. The division issued a letter yesterday on providing loan to BEZA for development of Sylhet economic zone land.

After development of the land, the land price of Sylhet Economic Zone will be increased keeping consistency with demand of the local

Lake City Restaurant and Party Center along with Lake City Fitness Center and Spa makes its first foray in the Lake City Shopping Mall in the capital yesterday. The celebrity cook, Raima Sultana Rita, and popular pop star Hridoy Khan along with Concord Group Managing Director Shahriar Kamal are seen at the inaugural ceremony

GP profit crosses Tk2,000cr in 2016 n Tribune Business Desk Grameenphone Ltd earned Tk2,250 crore net profit after tax in the year 2016, increasing from Tk1,970 crore in the previous year.

Mobile phone operator also reported revenue earning of TK11,490 crore with 9.6% growth from the previous year. The data revenue growth was around 70%. Dilip Pal, chief financial officer of Grameenphone Ltd, revealed the figures at a press conference on Tuesday in Dhaka.

Grameenphone CEO Petter Furberg said the “expansion of networks” and “affordable

prices” are the main reasons behind growth in data consumption in 2016.

Peter said: “2016 has been a solid year for Grameenphone with encouraging all-round business performance. Data revenue continued its growth momentum and the dominant voice segment also experienced growth.”

“During the year, we also completed bio-metric verification successfully and rolled out 90% of the sites with 3G capability,” he added.

Dilip Pal said globally Bangladesh is the lowest in data pricing and second lowest in voice pricing after Sri Lanka. l

Stocks slightly up amid choppy trading n Tribune Report Stocks prices at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) showed a slight gain yesterday as investors were cautious about going on buying spree.

The prime bourse, DSEX, went up by only 5.5 points to close at 5,474.

DS30, the blue chip index, ended flat at 1,9934 points while DSES, the Shariah-based index, rose by 4.49 points finishing the session at 1,273.

The daily turnover has seen

a 7.75% decline to Tk882.5 crore, which was 956.7 crore in the previous session. Of the 327 issues traded, 183 advanced, 112 declined while 32 remained unchanged.

“Dhaka stocks closed flat amid choppy trading as investors were active on both sides of the fence throughout the session. Investors were in the midst of optimism and watchfulness in the current melancholy market scenario,” International Leasing Securities said in its market commentary. l

land, officials said. Finance Minister noted: “There is a difficulty in setting up the Sylhet Economic Zone due to the problem of land price.”

According to the letter, the development cost of 214.55 acre land in Sherpur upazila of Sylhet district will be Tk7 crore.

Earlier, it was said that after fix-

ing land tariff by the BEZA board the cost of the land development would be Tk13.88 crore. But Finance Division was not willing to provide the money because of fund shortage.

As a result, the division decided to give Tk7 crore for the work.

In the last budget announcement, finance minister disclosed that they

were plan to establish 100 economic zones in phases over the next 15 years across the country to create new opportunities for investment, industrialisation and employment.

BEZA officials predict these have the potentials to increase export earnings by $40bn and generate up to 10m additional jobs. l

DT

12 Editorial

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

TODAY

Trump is creating the enemy within When the inner city ‘carnage’ Trump described in his inauguration speech slips out of his deranged mind and into the streets because he is fanning the flames of a new race war in America PAGE 13

Our rivers are dying If the country wins in ‘river diplomacy,’ it will be possible to protect the rivers and water bodies. We must do everything to protect the rivers, which are vital to our life, nature, livelihood, and culture PAGE 14

The path to radicalisation Private universities had become the foremost scouting grounds of many extremist groups. In order to fight back the virus of brainwashing, we need to find the cause of it PAGE 15

Be heard Write to Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Send us your Op-Ed articles: opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com www.dhakatribune.com Join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/ DhakaTribune.

The views expressed in opinion articles are those of the authors alone and they are not the official view of Dhaka Tribune or its publisher.

BIGSTOCK

Putting an end to the culture of dowry

T

he practice of dowry has long been culturally entrenched, and its harmful side is particularly visible in rural areas.

Originally meant to provide financial security for the newlyweds, the practice has taken a dark turn, and has become the source of much abuse and violence directed at women.

The cabinet’s approval of the draft of the new anti-dowry law is a welcome legislation, with a provision to imprison those found guilty of inflicting harm, which may include physical abuse, or emotional abuse leading to suicide.

This is a change from the current anti-dowry law, enacted in 1980, which punishes the demanding of dowry, but does not recognise the subsequent abuse that comes in relation to dowry demands.

However, implementation is key. In spite of the existence of numerous laws, Bangladesh time and again has failed to protect women from violence and harassment, whether within the household, or out on the street.

Exemplary punishment for violators would send a clear message -particularly in rural areas -- that it is certainly not OK to engage in spousal abuse, whatever the provocation may be.

Even in this day and age, women are being beaten, tortured, burnt alive, or driven to suicide for dowry demands, and all too often, the men involved are getting away with impunity, and are being emboldened to do it again.

The culture of dowry conflates women with property, and fosters a sexist mindset that is holding back our social, cultural, and economic development.

The new dowry law is the kind of progressive legislation we expect from the government, and while it is not always easy to implement, it is certaintly a step in the right direction.

It is heartening to see the government take a more enlightened approach.

The culture of dowry conflates women with property, and fosters a sexist mindset that is holding back our social, cultural, and economic development

DT

13

Opinion

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

Trump is creating the enemy within The new US president will always find someone to blame and evidence after decades of indoctrination from Fox News and conservative talk radio, their wellbeing and their political support bear almost no correlation.

What is actually important is Trump’s image as the “man of the people,” the man who has their back.

Fail to deliver

Putting America first?

REUTERS

n Azeem Ibrahim

T

en years ago mentioning Hitler and the Nazis in a political debate was considered hyperbolic and in poor taste. And rightly so.

Today, it has become almost passé.

No less than the president of the United States has accused the American intelligence agencies of behaving as if they were in Nazi Germany over “fake news leaks” in a tweet, for example.

And yet it seems that Trump seems more determined than anybody to make comparisons to Nazi Germany apposite in the 21st century.

One of the executive orders he has signed in his frenzied first week in office was to require his administration to, “on a weekly basis, make public a comprehensive list of criminal actions committed by aliens and any jurisdiction that ignored or otherwise failed to honour any detainers with respect to such aliens.”

So then: Drill into the heads of the public the association between immigration and crime, ignoring context, such as the fact that immigrants are noticeably less likely to commit crimes and have lower rates of incarceration

He will fail to deliver what he has promised. That much is certain.

This is something his team knows, and something he himself knows and is not too troubled by. But for that failure to not affect his image, and thus the support of his base, any responsibility for those failures must be deflected away from his administration and towards … well, anyone else will do.

But his base are already inclined to blame immigrants and liberals for everything, so those two groups will do just fine as scapegoats.

When the inner city “carnage” Trump described in his inauguration speech slips out of his deranged mind and into the streets because he is fanning the flames of a new race war in America, that will be “immigrant

When the inner city ‘carnage’ Trump described in his inauguration speech slips out of his deranged mind and into the streets because he is fanning the flames of a new race war in America, that will be ‘immigrant criminal gangs,’ and ‘weak Democrat local government’ like Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel than native US citizens. Bully any local or state jurisdiction that refuses to indulge your fantasy by threatening to name and shame them -- and, I presume before long, accuse them of being “unAmerican” and “un-patriotic.”

And lay the ground for scapegoating these “criminals” and their “traitor,” “liberal” accomplices for any of your domestic policy failures on crime, social cohesion, and public order.

Threats to national security

So far, so good, but this is rather closer to Putin than Hitler. Not to worry, Trump has us covered: Increase the number of detention centres, for these “threats to national security,” so we can fit all “illegals” in, irrespective of whether they are dangerous criminals or just kids trying to get an education.

Trump was elected to the Office of President by promising the sun and the moon to a vast cohort of Americans that have been left behind by globalisation and who feel their very identities are under attack from a relentless “liberal culture war” to strip them of their “masculinity” and their conservative values.

These people feel that they have been robbed of everything, and that only Trump can rebuild America into a country where they can belong, by taking a hammer to “liberal economics” and liberal cultural sensibilities. They expect the maverick businessman to “shake things up.”

The problem is that Trump has little to no interest in the wellbeing of his base. He wants their electoral support, sure, but in a post-fact world and with a base that is clinically resistant to facts

criminal gangs,” and “weak Democrat local government” like Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel.

When another loner goes on a shooting spree and he just happens to be from a Muslim background, that will be all American Muslims. And everything that cannot be pinned on any “foreign” American, can easily be pinned on China. Brace yourselves for the best presidency, and it will be tremendous, because the new American president will never do anything wrong, and even though everyone is out to get him, he will put America first -- and he will successfully run a business empire in parallel too. l Azeem Ibrahim is Senior Fellow at the Centre for Global Policy and Adj Research Professor at the Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College.

He tweets @AzeemIbrahim.

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Opinion

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

Our rivers are dying Rivers are our lifeblood. We need to save them before it’s too late

Bangladesh needs to get better at ‘river diplomacy’

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

If the country wins in ‘river diplomacy,’ it will be possible to protect the rivers and water bodies. We must do everything to protect the rivers, which are vital to our life, nature, livelihood, and culture

n Md Ashik Sarder

T

he history of civilisation is the history of rivers.

The remarkable and most influential civilisations in human history like Sindh, Iraqi, Chinese, European, and Egyptian were built on the banks of the Sindh, Euphrates, Yangtze, Danube, and Nile rivers.

The culture, traditions, and values of the denizens of any civilisation and society fundamentally used to depend on the direct effects of the respective rivers. Along with this process, social practice, belief, livelihoods, the agricultural system, urbanisation, and industrialisation of the countries have been developed, based on the rivers, all over the world.

Being located in the Indian subcontinent, Bangladesh is branded as a riverine country. Most of the rivers of Bangladesh originate from the Himalayan valleys traversing India, Nepal, and

Bhutan and have merged into the Bay of Bengal, flowing through the country. The thousands of years of culture of the country’s area owe it to the surrounding rivers.

Bangladesh is also recognised as the “sap of Asia” to some extent, as it has many trans-boundary rivers flowing through the country.

Livelihoods have always benefitted from the curving rivers and the urbanisation of Bangladesh has also been river-centric.

Major cities like Dhaka, Rajshahi, Barisal, Sylhet, Khulna, and Narayanganj have been built taking advantage of the rivers around them.

Though many numbers of rivers had existed before, now we have only about a hundred rivers still running.

The rivers are degrading due to many reasons. Many rivers in the northern and south-western part of Bangladesh have already died, and some have seen their water flow reduced considerably. There have been many reasons as to why

our rivers are so threatened.

Rivers from other parts of the country have lost the navigability, which is responsible for flood and river erosion, as well as becoming threat to livelihoods.

If this situation continues, then in the near future, it will be difficult for the country people to get the advantages of the rivers.

To protect the existing rivers and to ensure the sustainability of the water from the rivers, some measurements need to be taken as soon as possible.

People should be made aware of the negative consequences of destroying rivers and the kinds of activities which are harmful to them.

Finally, Bangladesh needs to be prepared to win “river diplomacy.”

There are many trans-boundary rivers in Bangladesh, and most of the rivers enter through India.

India utilises its geographical advantages and the Indian River Commission is building dams by the side of almost every river.

This is having adverse effects on the water management system of Bangladesh. The water flow, supply, and management of any country depends on the transboundary rivers management system. In this case, Bangladesh has not been able to bring fruitful results in the last few decades.

The water flow, supply, and management system depends on four river systems: The

Ganges, Jamuna, Borak-Meghna, and Karnaphuli. Water is being withdrawn from the very beginning, starting from the Himalayan valleys, resulting in Bangladesh always receiving a small amount of water from the trans-boundary rivers.

The water flow is not only needed, but also keeps the rivers alive. But the amount of water in the rivers is reducing day by day. As such, it is great that the National River Conservation Commission (NRCC) has been formed in our country.

This commission has a big role to play in protecting our rivers and in conducting negotiations with other countries.

Many of the rivers have been badly encroached, and the government is planning and implementing many laws against this encroachment of rivers.

They are working with the environmental activists in this regard, which is commendable.

These hands should be dealt strongly and assertively.

Finally, if the country wins in “river diplomacy,” then it will be possible to protect the rivers and water bodies. We must do everything to protect the rivers, which are vital to our life, nature, livelihood, and culture. l Md Ashik Sarder is a development practitioner and researcher. He is currently working at UNDP, Bangladesh.

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15

Opinion

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

The path to radicalisation How can we stop young people from falling prey to extremism?

n Tamanna Sultana

W

hy are cases of missing youths piling up in every police station of Dhaka in

recent years?

A trend of radicalisation of youths by extremist groups has accelerated recently.

This time, it is not the madrasa students who are being trapped in the vicious circle, rather, students of private schools and universities.

Every year, public universities fail to accommodate all the high school graduates in the country.

That gap between the students who are accepted into public universities and those students who aren’t, is filled by private universities.

The mounting success of private universities gave rise to the establishment of numerous private universities in the capital within a few years, however, with great prosperity comes its drawbacks.

The reputation of many private universities has been tarnished since July 1, 2016, after a deadly attack that included the involvement of a few students from different private universities.

Since then, the cases of missing students became more apparent; except now, there’s a possibility looming around the youths getting involved with extremist groups.

Private universities had become the foremost scouting grounds of many extremist groups.

In order to fight back the virus of brainwashing, we need to find the cause of it, and provide effective antidote to eliminate it completely from our society.

There are four bonds that promote socialisation and conformity: Attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. The stronger the bond, the less likelihood of delinquency.

Young people of Dhaka spend most of their time in the visual swamp of online portals.

Attachment to family has deteriorated due to the lack of intimacy in communication, and insufficient time spent with the family.

Private universities are less involved with social activities that tie individuals to the society’s moral and ethical codes. As a result, no commitment bonds form.

Private universities do not organise enough extra-curricular activities besides the academic curriculum, with which students can keep themselves busy.

A student who is busy doing

We can fight the virus of extremism

BIGSTOCK

Private universities had become the foremost scouting grounds of many extremist groups. In order to fight back the virus of brainwashing, we need to find the cause of it, and provide effective antidote to eliminate it completely from our society

recreational tasks has little time for deviant activities. As a result of the lack of extra-curricular activities, no involvement bond is established.

Lastly, the case of belief depends on one’s own ideology and opinions.

If we can make those bonds stronger, then no matter how the radicalisation process might go, it would be proven ineffective in the face of strong social bonds.

Beside the four social bonds, human beings have four basic wishes which include: The desire for new experiences, the desire for security, the desire for response, and lastly, the desire for

recognition.

Private university students suffer from monotony due to regular day-to-day activities and not having enough sources of entertainment in the educational institution.

When someone preaches to them about something very fascinating and adventurous, they may give it a try even if it is something related to terrorism.

Recruiters may give them some incentive to go towards the path of extremism. Involvement with extremist groups would fulfill at least two of the basic wishes -- they will be able to experience something very new

and adventurous, and they will be recognised for being martyrs.

These kinds of incentives are often very influential.

If educational institutions can cover the basic wishes, then youths will no longer divert towards other sources to meet these desires.

In Bangladesh, most private universities are guided by absolute profit seeking motivations.

They provide limited disciplines which are mostly in-demand and do not provide the disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, political science, philosophy, history, and so on, and as a consequence it renders a lack

of diversity and pluralism in the society.

It is high time for private institutes to overhaul its functions and structure.

Many youths today have little to no proper religious knowledge.

When someone is devoid enough of knowledge in a particular field, it becomes easy to shape their mind by words of motivation and determination.

Extremist groups usually target youths with shaky religious knowledge.

Youths should not only gain knowledge of their own religions, but it would be wise to gain knowledge of other religions as well.

It will be one of the real obstacles in the path of radicalisation.

If the assortment of aforementioned causes can be addressed with appropriate solutions, then it would help to solve the problem of radicalisation, at least to some degree. l Tamanna Sultana is a freelance contributor.

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16

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Looped band of leather (5) 6 Neckwear (3) 7 Respond (5) 10 Silly (5) 12 Agitate (4) 13 Sways to and fro (5) 15 Ireland (poet) (4) 16 Greek letter (3) 18 Finish (3) 20 Observed (4) 22 Makes a mock of (5) 23 Citrus fruit (4) 25 Praises (5) 27 Supple (5) 28 Fish eggs (3) 29 Sediment (5)

DOWN 1 Smother (6) 2 Metal (3) 3 Brought up (6) 4 Exact (7) 5 Perform (3) 8 Donkey (3) 9 Tinge (4) 11 And not (3) 14 Genuflected (7) 16 Make certain (6) 17 Degrades (6) 19 Fastener (4) 21 Period of time (3) 22 Type of aircraft (3) 24 Put together (3) 26 Domestic animal (3)

Downtime CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 2 represents B so fill B every time the figure 2 appears.

You have two letters in the control grid to start you off. Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.

Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.

As you get the letters, fill in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check off the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SUDOKU How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

PEANUTS

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

DILBERT

SUDOKU

17

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DLAB

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

Art through expression The 1st Dhaka Live Art Biennale begins

n Saudia Afrin The 1st Dhaka Live Art Biennale organised by Back ART, an artists’ run collective practicising and promoting contemporary art in Bangladesh, kicked off yesterday at four different locations on the Dhaka University campus. The first international performance based exhibition in Bangladesh, day one of the three-day exhibition featured performance art by artists from Portugal, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Diniz Sanchez, an artist from Portugal, featured the struggle and social oppression faced by a widow. His works explored gender, sexuality and most importantly individuality, with symbolic aspects.

Bangladeshi artist Joydeb Roaja focused on the CHT Peace Accord and land disputes as his main theme, combining the feel of soil from his village with the human touch to communicate his own emotions.

Considering performance to be an extremely personal phenomena, Nazia Andaleeb Preema of Bangladesh expressed her feelings of unfulfilled motherhood through her performance ‘fetus’, along with a sculpture of an unborn five month fetus, created by her.

“Not having a child at the age of 41 feels very strange, I often think I might not be able to be a mother

in my life,” she said. Sometimes on the verge of loneliness, she walks around at home with the fetus, thus infusing it with warmth and motherliness, simply by her touch.

In his work Rokkho Juhasz, an artist from the Slovak Republic, aspired to add those elements that express a lot about our country.

Out of this motivation, he included rickshaws and their drivers, as well as a few local people as passengers. But, the unusual

aspect he brought was exchanging the responsibility.

Over a span of twenty years with art, Kamruzzaman Shadhin has worked upon a lot of themes; however, for this live performance he chose Sundarban and the Royal Bengal Tiger. Using the roaring of tigers, Shadhin wanted to portray the power of the creatures who have been taking care of the forest for hundreds of years. He said, “being sensitive about recent PHOTOS: MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

issues regarding Sundarban with the assistance of any medium, and expressing those feelings, is my way of showing support to its long-lived survival without any destruction.”

Possibly one of the youngest artists at the Biennale, Kelvin Atmadibrata from Indonesia mostly does performances using installations like sculptures or paintings, and he also loves to include human beings in his performance. His work explored power structures as a subtle response to religious conflict occurring around the world.

There were also performances

by Emran Sohel, Abs Xem, Prachyanat, Farzana and Sadia.

Prachaynat is also providing technical support for the Biennial. l

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

Mushfiq: We want to play in a way that India invite us again and again n Mazhar Uddin

Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim does catching practise

MD MANIK

Mustafiz rested, Liton, Shafiul return for solitary India Test n Minhaz Uddin Khan Wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Das and pacer Shafiul Islam have made their way back to the Bangladesh dressing as the duo were named in the 15-member squad for the oneoff Test against host India.

The Tigers are set to fly off to their neighbours today for their first ever bilateral tour of the country since achieving the Test status in 2000.

Liton has been awarded a spot in the squad for his 219-run innings for East Zone in the ongoing Bangladesh Cricket League.

Shafiul, who missed the tour of New Zealand due to injury, has retuned fully recovered. However, sensational left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman has been kept out of the squad due to the bowler not being mentally fit at the moment.

Stumper-batsman Nurul Hasan had to lose his place to make way for Liton, who last played for Bangladesh in November, 2015. Pacer Rubel Hossain lost his place to Shafiul, who was thrown out due to the injury that he suffered in the fourth edition of the Bangladesh

Premier League T20.

According to national chief selector Minhajul Abedin Nannu, Liton has been under consideration way before the England series but injury and later, off-form, had kept him away from the reckoning.

“He has recently scored a double century. We thought he will be

play, Liton will come in as a better option,” he added.

The full recovery of Test captain Mushfiq, opener Imrul Kayes and top-order batsman Mominul Haque has come in as a relief. The trio had picked up injuries in the final leg of the New Zealand tour and were in a race against time to be fit

SQUAD Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Shakib al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Kamrul Islam, Taijul Islam, Subashish Roy, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das and Shafiul Islam In: Liton Das and Shafiul Islam Out: Rubel Hossain, Nurul Hasan and Nazmul Hossain Shanto playing under similar conditions in India for which he got selected.

But this does not mean that Nurul has gone out of the pool. We had to exclude Nurul because of the combination,” Minhajul explained.

“There are now doubts over whether Nurul is a better wicket-keeper (compared to Liton).

But here, we thought of the batting strength. In case of a situation where Mushfiqur [Rahim] cannot

for the India Test.

Mushfiq has recovered well from the injured thumb while Mominul recuperated from a bruised rib. Imrul, who had suffered a Grade One tear on his left thigh, is pain free too.

Nazmul Hossain Shanto, who made his debut against the Kiwis in the longest format, is out. This is understandable as he had come in as a replacement for the injuries in the dressing room.

Mustafiz’s exclusion however, remained technically unexplained.

According to the Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, the selection committee had no option to keep him in the squad.

“You cannot do anything about it because he had a major operation and it will take time for him to come back. We are planning to take him for the Sri Lanka tour. It was not serious because we got the medical clearance. It’s a different thing when you are under pressure in the middle to bowl and stick to your skills,” said Hathurusingha.

“We have to see how he feels because medically we cannot find anything, we have to go by his word.

Most players when they get injured are a bit reluctant, even if you break a leg once you feel it will take time.

Bowling is another skill, we have to give him more time,” he explained.

The selection panel has decided to take a pacer as the 16th member for the two-day warm-up game to be played against India A team starting today.

The solitary Test between the two sides next Thursday in Hyderabad. l

Ever since getting the Test status 17 years back, this will be the first time Bangladesh will play a fiveday series in India. According to many, the one-off Test match against India is a historical one and Tigers captain Mushfiqur Rahim informed that it’s the best time for Bangladesh to play a match there.

Mushfiq said they are ready to play in such a way that the Indian board will invite Bangladesh more in the coming days.

“I get a little surprised, I don’t believe that this is a historic Test.

For example, when we play against Zimbabwe, the pressure is more because if we lose against them then there is nothing more shameful than that. We have a good team now. The team that we have, at least we want to tell world cricket what we can do after going to India,” Mushfiq told the media yesterday in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium before heading to India.

“I don’t think about how many years later we are going to play in India. We want to play in such a way that India invite us again and again. This to me is just another Test match,” he said.

Bangladesh will depart today morning for Hyderabad where the Tigers will take part in a two-day practice match against India A, before the only Test starts from February 9. According to Mushfiq, the Tigers will put emphasis on playing consistent cricket in all the five days.

“The target is obviously to do well. We want to improve with every match. And in Test cricket, we haven’t been playing well in the last two years, but in the last series we did well. There were individual brilliances. But the thing that we have learnt from the last series is that despite individual brilliance, you may lose a match,” said Mushfiq.

“This is our aim, everyone has to pitch in, this is our target that everyone plays well. India have fielded their best team. We will try, not to compete just for three days but all five days,” he said.

The 29-year old wicketkeeper-batsman informed that his thumb injury has improved a lot and that he is hopeful of keeping wickets against India. l

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Sports

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

Mustafiz: Difficult to play with such feelings n Mazhar Uddin

Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman warms up during training in Mirpur’s Sher-eBangla National Stadium yesterday MD MANIK

Left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman has been rested for the upcoming one-off Test match against India, starting February 9 in Hyderabad, despite getting the green signal from the physio Dean Conway and trainer Mario Villavarayen.

It was learned that the cricketer expressed discomfort and is mentally not ready to return in the longest format.

According to the national chief selector Minhajul Abedin Nannu, Mustafiz is not fully fit for fiveday cricket at the moment and the board is not willing to take any risks. Cricket's governing body in the country wants the fast bowling sensation to recover fully before making a comeback.

When the selectors were announcing the 15-member Bangladesh squad in the press conference room for the only Test against India yesterday, Mustafiz was busy practising fielding skills with his team mates under the supervision of fielding and assistant coach Richard Halsall in Mirpur's Sher-eBangla National Stadium.

Mustafiz, who will take part in the next Bangladesh Cricket League match for South Zone, informed Dhaka Tribune that he is not getting the positive feeling, despite there being hardly any pain on his shoulder. He added that there is some pain on his back.

“Actually, there is very less pain on my shoulder. But to be honest, I am not feeling comfortable as before. It’s difficult to play with such

feelings. There is also some pain on my back and I think I am not mentally prepared to make a comeback at the moment. Although there is nothing major, still, I really want to recover hundred percent,” said Mustafiz in the dressing room area at the home of cricket.

The Satkhira cricketer made his return to competitive cricket after a five-month layoff against New Zealand in December last year. Since then, he has played two ODIs and as many T20Is against the Kiwis but was rested for the subsequent two-match Test series.

The news comes as a blow to the Tigers fans, who were expecting their trump-card to be fully fit for the India Test. With that said, they would rather see Mustafiz return completely recovered rather than half-fit. l

Japan tour 'great experience' for Bangladesh U16 girls n Tribune Report

Bangladesh U-16 women's football team's first ever camp in foreign conditions turned out to be a “big test” and “immense experience”, expressed key players and head coach Golam Rabbani Choton yesterday.

The girls in red and green participated in the Women’s Football Festival in Osaka and played a total of seven matches during their fiveday stay in Japan. They played six matches in two days as the officials treated the tour as part of their

preparation camp, ahead of the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship in Thailand in September this year.

The difference in facilities, academy and grounds between Bangladesh and Japan was beyond comparison. For instance, the academy, named “Dream Camp of Sakai”, has as many as 16 fields in their boundary.

Choton, captain Srimoti Krishna Rani Sarkar and in-form striker Sirat Jahan Shopna shared their experience with the media with regards to their Japan Tour. They expressed

Canada skip Bangladesh hockey event over security n AFP, Dhaka Canada's field hockey players have become the latest international team to refuse to travel to Bangladesh over security fears by pulling out of an eight-nation tournament being held in Dhaka next month.

A senior official said yesterday that Bangladesh's national association had been told of the decision by hockey's world governing body in what is the latest blow for the country's sports fans after several other similar pullouts.

"The FIH (International Hockey Federation) has informed us that Canada will not participate in this tournament due to security concerns," the Bangladesh Hockey Federation's general secretary Abdus Sadeque told AFP. "It's a blow for us because they were the highest ranked team in the tournament."

Canada, who are 11th in the world, had been drawn along with Bangladesh, Oman and Fiji in one of two groups for the World League Round 2 event. China, Egypt, Ghana and Sri Lanka are in the second group.

Sadeque said Bangladeshi authorities had drawn up a comprehensive security plan for all the teams in the tournament which runs from March 4-12 but it had not been enough to allay Canadian concerns.

Canada is the second country to pull out of a hockey tournament in Bangladesh since militants killed 22 people in an attack on a cafe in Dhaka last July. Most of the victims were foreigners.

Japan withdrew their team from the Under-18 Asia Cup in August on security ground as seven of their citizens were among the victims of the cafe attack. l

their satisfaction praised the facilities they enjoyed over there.

The Bangladesh girls put up a brave and praiseworthy display in their seven matches, winning four, drawing two and losing only one.

The members from the other participating teams were full of praise after watching the amazing performance of the Bangladesh girls.

Some even wondered if Shopna really hails from Bangladesh.

“Never before has a women's team from Bangladesh went abroad for such purpose. There were lots

of teams. We also never played three matches in one day ever before. It was a huge experience for us,” said Shopna, who scored a total of seven goals from six matches.

Krishna termed their tour as a “dream camp” and said they learned a lot off the field as well.

“It was like a dream academy the place where we stayed. From morning to night, we were involved with football all the time,” said Krishna.

Choton said, “We played against Thailand U-16 team there. We scored and dominated against

them. It was a big test as we have to face them in the tournament proper in September. It has been hectic times but overall, it was a great experience for the girls.”

Bangladesh U-16 team are likely to fly off to another country in the shape of Singapore. They may play a three-day tournament starting from February 16. It would be tagged as “Tier One International Friendly Matches” and four players from the senior team would be included in the tour, along with the 16 girls from the current U-16 team. l

Sharma leads after Bashundhara Bangladesh Open first round n Tribune Report Young Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma rode on his recent run of good form to sign for a superb seven-under-par 64, grabbing a share of the opening round lead with Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand at the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open yesterday.

The 20-year-old Indian, who finished third on his own in the last edition, fired nine birdies against two bogeys to lead by two shots alongside 21-year-old Jazz, who was equally impressive with one eagle and six birdies against a bogey, at the Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka.

Panuphol Pittayarat of Thailand carded a 66 to sit in third place while Singapore’s Koh Deng Shan lurks three shots off the pace in fourth following a 67 at the $300,000

event, which is the third leg of the Asian Tour schedule this season.

Singapore’s Mardan Mamat, who won the tournament two years ago, returned with a 72 while

Indian star Jeev Milkha Singh carded a 74. Local hero Siddikur Rahman, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, battled to a 71 to tie in 29th position. l

Action from the opening round of the third Bashundhara Bangladesh Open at Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka yesterday MD MANIK

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

EPL RESULTS Arsenal

1-2

Iwobi 59

Bournemouth

Watford Kaboul 10, Deeney 13

0-2

Crystal Palace

Dann 46, Benteke 90+2

Burnley

1-0

Leicester

1-1

Chelsea

Vokes 86

Liverpool Wijnaldum 57

Middlesbrough

Luiz 25

1-1

Negredo 17-P

West Brom Morrison 6

Sunderland

0-0

Tottenham

Swansea

2-1

Southampton

Mawson 38, Sigurdsson 70

Long 57

Chelsea striker Diego Costa has his penalty saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet during their Premier League match at Anfield on Tuesday REUTERS

Mignolet denies Chelsea, Watford stun Gunners n AFP, London

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet went from zero to hero as Premier League leaders Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw at Anfield, while Arsenal's title challenge was torpedoed by Watford's shock 2-1 win on Tuesday.

Antonio Conte's Chelsea grabbed the lead in the 25th minute when David Luiz cheekily took a quick free-kick that flashed past Mignolet, who was caught out while he lined up his defensive wall.

Mignolet looked bewildered that the Brazil defender's effort wasn't ruled out, but referee Mark Clattenburg allowed Luiz to celebrate his first goal since rejoining Chelsea from Paris Saint-Germain in August.

Georginio Wijnaldum came to Liverpool's rescue as the midfielder equalised with a 57th minute header from James Milner's cross. Costa should have won it for Chelsea in the 76th minute when Joel Matip fouled him in the penalty area.

Arsenal are nine points behind Chelsea in third place and Wenger said: "It was obvious we were not sharp enough. It looked mentally that we were not ready for the challenges.

Mauricio Pochettino's side, who lost England left-back Danny Rose to a first half injury, rarely got into top gear in their second successive draw. l

Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi in action with Watford’s Sebastian Prodl during their EPL match at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday REUTERS

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

West Indian Russell banned over whereabouts violation n Reuters, Kingston West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell was banned on Tuesday for one year for a doping whereabouts rule violation.

Russell appeared to be in tears when the decision was announced at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.

The two-times Twenty20 World Cup winner was revealed to have committed the violation 11 months ago after registering three filing failures in 2015. That constitutes a failed drugs test under World Anti-Doping Agency rules.

"Mr Russell was found guilty of a doping violation," Hugh Faulkner, chairman of the independent anti-doping tribunal that handed out

Aubameyang again hints at Dortmund exit n AFP, Berlin

Star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has again talked about leaving Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season - with the Spanish league his most likely destination.

Last month Aubameyang, the Bundesliga's top scorer this season with 16 goals in 16 games, told sports daily Fussball Bild he could leave Dortmund in June, but insisted he would never join rivals Bayern. l

West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell sits at a desk during a meeting of an independent anti-doping tribunal at Jamaica Conference Centre next to his lawyers Patrick Foster (L) and Donovan Walker, in Jamaica on Tuesday REUTERS

Lazio end Inter’s winning run n Reuters, Milan Inter Milan’s run of nine successive wins in all competitions ended when they lost 2-1 at home to Lazio in their Italian Cup quarter-final on Tuesday.

Lazio lost 3-0 to the same opponents in Serie A little more than a month ago and had an early letoff when Inter hit the post with a long-range shot

COPPA ITALIA Inter Milan Brozovic 84

1-2

Lazio

Anderson 20, Biglia 56-P

from Geoffrey Kondogbia.

But the visitors went ahead in the 20th minute when Felipe Anderson beat two defenders to a cross and scored with a glancing header. Lucas Biglia added Lazio’s second from a penalty in the 56th minute. l

the punishment, said in a statement.

The 28-year-old Jamaican, who helped the West Indies win their second World T20 title in 2016, will be banned for a year from Jan. 31.

WADA rules state that athletes across all sports must inform their local anti-doping agencies where they will be for at least one hour each day to facilitate drug tests.

A visibly upset Russell did not comment on the ruling, but his lead attorney, while disappointed his client did not beat the case, took comfort that Russell avoided a maximum two-year ban.

"Relieved it's one year, but not two years. But I genuinely thought given the circumstances and the evidence that was before the panel that he would have been exonerat-

ed," Patrick Foster told Reuters.

The attorney has not ruled out Russell lodging an appeal to the Court of arbitration for Sport within the allowed 21 day period.

"Haven't made a decision like that as yet. We have considered it but we wouldn't really consider that seriously until we have had a chance to speak with the client and look at the (written) decision," Foster said.

Russell's ban means he will miss a lucrative year of T20 cricket, including the Indian Premier League, where he plays for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

The 28-year-old Jamaican earlier this month completed a stint with the Sydney Thunder in the Australian Big Bash league. l

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Showtime

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

Leonardo DiCaprio to hunt US Secret Society in next film n Showtime Desk Leonardo DiCaprio will star in an adaptation of The Black Hand.

The Oscar-winning actor will also produce the adaptation of Stephan Talty’s novel.

Its story follows Joe Petrosino, played by DiCaprio, an NYPD detective who goes after the Black Hand gang in early 1900s America.

The book titled The Black Hand: The Epic War Between a Brilliant Detective and the Deadliest Secret Society in American History, is set in New York City in the summer of 1903, when a crime wave hits the city. The perpetrators leave a calling card of the symbol of a black hand. Detective Joe Petrosino, dubbed the “Italian Sherlock Holmes,” is determined to capture the members of the criminal organisation, and his task takes him all the way to Sicily.

DiCaprio was last seen in The Revenant, for which he finally won the Oscar for Best Actor.l

Raees wins Singapore

Dakota Johnson and Jimmy Fallon turn Fifty Shades into a hilarious comedy n Showtime Desk Dakota Johnson visited The Tonight Show on Tuesday to promote her upcoming sequel, Fifty Shades Darker. The 27-yearold actress could not control her giggles when she turned her raunchy movie franchise into a comedy on the TV show with Jimmy Fallon.

Though Johnson was there to promote the latest movie of the

n Showtime Desk Shah Rukh Khan playing a gangster and Hrithik Roshan a vengeful husband seem to have given Bollywood exactly the January it would have hoped for.

Khan’s Raees and Roshan’s Kaabil both released on Wednesday, 25 January — in a bid to take advantage of the extended weekend, with Republic Day falling on a Thursday. The trick

seems to have worked. While Rajiv Dholakia directed Raees raked in Rs 93.2 crore, Kaabil, made by Sanjay Gupta, earned about Rs 55 crore till Sunday.

Raees has been raking in the moolah since its worldwide release. While the film is said to have zoomed past the 100-crore mark in the domestic box-office, it has also set cash registers ringing in other corners of the globe. According to latest

reports, the film has officially been crowned as the highest earning Bollywood weekend grosser in Singapore, with its weekend collections pegged at an estimated USD 226,000 (Rs 1.52 crore) Last year, Shah Rukh’s actionromance film ‘Dilwale’ had reportedly become the highest grossing and the only Bollywood film to cross $1 million mark at the box-office in Singapore. l

franchise, she ended up crying with laughter while doing Mad Lib Theater with Jimmy Fallon.

After picking out some funny words to insert into an unknown dialogue, Johnson reprised her role as Anastasia Steele to Fallon’s Christian Grey. The duo re-enacted the scene from Fifty Shades of Grey when Anastasia Steele meets Christian Grey for the first time in his office, with hilarious results.l

Shakib Khan and Paoli Dam starring Swatta gets censor board nod

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Showtime

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

WHAT TO WATCH

n Showtime Desk Swatta, starring Shakib Khan and Paoli Dam, was completed in December last year, and this mid-January, it was submitted to the censor board. Just in two weeks, they were given all the affirmation they needed to release it in theatres.

The film, directed by Hashibur Reza Kallol, is an adaptation of Sohani Hossain’s novel Maa. Kallol has revealed that the members of the censor board were so content with the film that they awarded it an uncut certificate. The filmmaker hoped the audience will find it quite enjoyable.

He also revealed that the film is set to hit theaters in a couple of months.

Swatta has a romantic story line, where a bohemian, played

by Shakib Khan, encounters a worker, played by Paoli Dam. Besides the romance of the two outcasts, the film will also focus on struggles of underprivileged people.

Rogue Assassin Movies Now, 5:55pm FBI agent Jack Crawford is devastated when his partner Tom and his family are killed by the elusive assassin Rogue. Jack becomes obsessed with revenge.

Then finally Rogue resurfaces when he sets off a veritable war between mob rivals Chang and Shiro.

Cast: Jet Li, Jason Statham, John Lone, Devon Aoki Shakib Khan and Paoli Dam joined shooting of the film back in 2014; however, because of scheduling conflict, the pair could not wrap it up until December 2016, when they shot their last effort in the film.

Apart from Shakib and Paoli, Swatta also casts Ahmed Rubel, Shamima Naznin, Rina Khan, Shimul Khan, and Don, among others. Popular singers Samina Chowdhury, James, Kona, Mumtaz, Mila, Pantha Kanai,

and Pooja, have lent their vocals to the six tracks in the film.

Bappa Mazumder composed and arranged music for all the songs in the film.l

Things that made BB10 unique

n Showtime Desk It’s not new for controversial reality show Bigg Boss to be panned. The criticism, however, has never been a deterrent in its popularity. In fact, the more the criticism, the higher the ratings.

From common people to celebs from the showbiz, Bigg Boss has earned its loyal audience, mainly for bringing out different psyches and personalities of its contestants on screen.

The show is currently in its tenth season and raking in TRPs. But, something’s amiss when the same viewers, episode after episode, are either switching channels, or left complaining about the crassness being shown.

This season had common people as its participants along with the celebrities – a move aimed at making the show more inclusive and interesting. But it seems to have backfired with the show’s followers. Though the show is over, Bigg Boss season 10 is still making news as it had a new dimension this year. Adding commoners with the celebrities made the show colourful, and sometimes mean at the same time. As a result, some things happened on the show, which were never seen in the history of Bigg Boss.

On a funny note, two commoners Manu Panjabi and Manveer seduced each other in the show, which made the

audience think about their preference. This happened during a truth and dare game, when Manu was dared to seduce his buddy, Manveer Gurjar. The two got seriously intimate during the dare and everyone enjoyed watching the two. The girls sang “aaj phir tumpe pyar aaya hai” for the buddies.

Before Manu-Manveer, the same dare had required two girls to act out a seductive performance.

During the show, host Salman Khan got so irritated that he threw two contestants out from the show. He asked Priyanka Jagga to leave and then Swami Om the same. He didn’t even bother to meet Om as he got so

angry with him.

After abusing Lopamudra Raut and talking ill about Manu Punjabi’s deceased mother, Salman told Priyanka “Leave my home” after she started creating drama on the show. The show reached a new low when Swami Om stooped to throwing his pee on Bani J and Rohan Mehra. After which, Swami Om was kicked out of the Bigg Boss house. Whatever the situation was, no one can deny that the Bigg Boss house became a platform for the eight commoners. It was like a shock to the celebrities. Most of the tasks got cancelled this time, either for not understanding or getting violent in some way. l

The International WB, 7:48pm An international bank – one of the world’s most powerful – is into a number of illegal activities such as money laundering, dealing in arms and even destabilisation of governments.

Interpol Agent Louis Salinger and Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman are determined to nail the bank as they run from Berlin to Milan to New York and Istanbul to gather evidence. But the bankers are ready to stoop to even murder to continue their business.

Cast: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts The Sixth Sense Star Movies, 9:30pm

Cole Sear is all of eight and is undergoing a traumatic experience that he is not able to talk to anyone about. He is able to see dead people wherever he goes. The experiences scare him no end and he is not even able to confide in his mother.

The terrified Cole is taken to Dr Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist.

Cast: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams l

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SPEAKER: SOFTWARE A TOOL FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PAGE 10

SHAKIB KHAN AND PAOLI DAM STARRING SWATTA GETS CENSOR BOARD NOD PAGE 23

Uproar as AL upazila chairman walks over ‘human-bridge’ of students n Ibrahim Roni, Chandpur In a bizarre incident, the chairman of Haimchar Upazila Parishad in Chandpur, allegedly walked across a “human-bridge” formed by students of a local school during an award distribution ceremony on Tuesday.

The incident came to light after its video footage and photo went viral on social media along with special coverage on mass media, leading to growing criticism.

The upazila chairman, Nur Hossain Patwari, is also the general secretary of the Awami League's upazila unit.

Sources in the area said Patwari, as chief guest, attended the programme following an annual sports competition of Nilkamal Osmania High School.

Building an emblematic human-bridge is one of the events at the competition and was included in it back in 2003.

Sources, quoting eyewitnesses, also confirmed that Patwari talked through the human-bridge ostensibly formed by the tenth and ninth graders of the school, which the school authorities named after Padma Bridge.

However, the public representative first refused to walk through the bridge, but agreed to do so in his response to requests by the headmaster and his

pupils, the sources added.

In a similar incident, the Haimchar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mukesh Chandra walked over a human-bridge also built by students of the school after the introduction of the event.

The headmaster, Mosharraf Hossain, said to the Dhaka Tribune: “This (event) is just a display. Such human-bridge has been being built since 2003 in the sports competition.

This time around, we have named it Padma Bridge.”

He, nevertheless, claimed that Patwari, who primarily refused to walk over the bridge, did it after being requested by the students. But, the accused could not be reached over mobile phone to talk about the matter since his personal contact number was switched off.

In another development, a television channel yesterday evening reported that he issued a public apology for his deed.

upazila unit and also the upazila chairman. His name is Nur Hossain Patwari.”

Expressing his resentment on the issue, he also added, “Is it an uphill task to imprison this savage?”

A local college teacher on a Facebook status said: “This is a public representative. Watch what he did. The society is becoming troubled. Is not there anybody to help the society get rid of such people. While child labour is prohibited, a man being a public representative walks on the back of minors.

It's a circus. What is the point in having such public representatives?”

A local Chhatra League leader Robin Patwari also on Facebook said: “ What did I just see? Where do we, the Chandpur residents, hide this shame?”

Probe body formed

Criticism over the incident Gonojagaran Mancha spokesperson Imran H Sarker strongly condemned the matter on his Facebook account.

He posted a photo of the incident on the timeline saying: “ Such a scoundrel is also a public representative. He is the AL general secretary of Haimchar

Chandpur’s Haimchar Upazila Chairman Nur Hossain walks on the ‘bridge’ formed by students at the annual sports programme of Nilkamal Osmania High School DHAKA TRIBUNE

DMP promises action against officers who assaulted journalists n

Arifur Rahman Rabbi

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said the DMP would take action against its members found involved in the attack on two ATN News journalists after having reviewed the investigation report.

At an event held yesterday at Shahbagh to mark DMP’s 42nd founding anniversary, he said: “Regarding the attack, as a commissioner I am saddened and have expressed my condolences. This is not acceptable.”

The DMP commissioner said: “Police officers work for 16 hours instead of eight, and hence, their natural behaviour changes. Not only we, but also the state and society should bear these things in mind.

But I must iterate that professional behaviour is crucial, and harassment of the public is unacceptable.”

The DMP punished 400 policemen for various offences last year.

But the media were not informed to ensure that discipline and chain of command are maintained, he said.

“We believe counseling and changes in attitudes are necessary to overcome such a situation, and for this, we need all quarters to act responsibly,” he added.

The commissioner also said 34,000 DMP officers are working to control crime and traffic in the capital and have been successful in preventing militant activities and various crimes.

He added: “The biggest problem they face is traffic jam. The number of vehicles and people in the city

has increased. A city ideally requires a 25% road system, but ours is at 7%.”

Investigators looking into the January 26 assault filed their report on Tuesday.

ATN News cameraperson Abdul Alim and reporter Kazi Ihsan bin Didar were attacked while recording footage of some policemen beating up an anti-Rampal activist in front of Shahbagh police station.

After a primary investigation, the authorities suspended ASI Ershad Mondol and identified 14-15 others involved in the unprovoked attack. On the same day, police assaulted a Dhaka Tribune journalist at Mirpur when he approached them to confirm reports of a traffic sergeant ordering a bus to charge at anti-Rampal protesters.l

In the wake of the news being taken the social media by storm coupled with massive media coverage, the Chittagong Divisional Commissioner's office formed a one-member committee to investigate the matter.

Additional Divisional Commissioner (development) Syeda Sarwar Jahan, who was assigned to probe, will be visiting the spot today, while she has been asked to submit the report in three days.l

Another case filed against cricketer Arafat Sunny n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu Another case was filed yesterday against national team cricketer Arafat Sunny and his mother under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. Nasrin Sultana, 23, who claims to be married to Sunny, filed the case against him and his mother Nargis Akter for allegedly physically assaulting her after she refused them dowry money.

After recording a statement from the plaintiff, Judge SM Rezanur Rahman of Dhaka Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal 4 directed Mohammadpur police station’s officer-in-charge to investigate the allegation.

According to the case statement, Sunny married Nasrin on December 4, 2014 with a Mahr (mandato-

ry Islamic marriage contract payment) of Tk5.1 lakh at Grand Prince Hotel Ltd in Mirpur 1.

The couple were living at a rented house in Katasur area of Dhaka.

On July 29, 2015, Nasrin claimed Sunny and his mother demanded a dowry of Tk20 lakh, and he tortured and deserted her for refusing to pay. Later, on January 22 this year, Sunny’s mother, along with others, intercepted Nasrin on a road near Mohammadpur police station and physically assaulted her.

This is the third case filed by Nasrin against Sunny.

Sunny was arrested from his Amin Bazar residence in Savar in a case filed with Mohammadpur police under ICT Act by Nasrin on January 5, 2017. He is now in jail after completion of a one-day remand in connection with the case.l

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