November 02, 2013

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Abdominal ectopic pregnancy Fallopian tube Tubal ectopic pregnancy Tubal ectopic pregnancy

Implanted egg in uterus in normal pregnancy

Uterus

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Kartik 18, 1420 Zilhajj 27, 1434 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 1 No 219

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Entertainment

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When pregnancy threatens life

Eito Prem finally sees light

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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BNP to resist ‘unilateral’ polls in three phases The government's life will be made tough and people discouraged to turn up at polling centres

n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla The BNP will launch a movement to resist polls the very same day the Election Commission announces schedules, from an apparent realisation that the Awami League cannot be persuaded to bring back the caretaker government.

The main opposition party is calling it the “unilateral polls resistance movement” that will span the next three months and be divided into three phases.

As a prequel, the party is likely to enforce three days’ blockade or hartal from November 4 and go for non-stop hartals after November 10. The announcement about these programmes may come today.

The plan is to primarily play with two ideas: making it tough for the government to run the country; and discouraging people from casting votes to make the election controversial.

BNP leaders believe the window of negotiation will remain open until the

last day for submitting nomination papers, and it will contest polls if the two parties reach consensus by that time.

Party leaders predict that around 40 days are left to reach that date and hence negotiations will have to take place before that. That is why they say the BNP will have to throw in the strongest dice over those 40 days to make the ruling party give in to the demand for a neutral polls-time government.

A standing committee member of the party said: “If we wage non-stop action programmes like hartals and blockades, Dhaka will be isolated from the rest of the country. That will lead to rocketing of prices of essentials and the farmers losing out. Eventually, the government will find itself in an awkward position.”

Having been tired of being on the field and checking non-stop unrest, the members of the law enforcement agencies might not continue to play along  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Three Bengal tigers move in the greens of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park at Gazipur’s Sripur, around 60km away from the capital. Implemented by the Department of Forest on a 1,493.3 hectares of land, the park was opened for visitors on Wednesday. The Forest Department has released tigers, lions, sambar deer, giraffe and many other animals. There are crocodile and lizard parks set up inside the park along with a parrot aviary, macaw land, marine aquarium and more. The authorities have also set up information and education centres and a nature history museum in the park, the second of its kind after the one set up in Cox's Bazar in 1999 SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

DGFI concerned about crime through mobile phone networks n

Muhammad Zahidul Islam

The Directorate General of Forces Intelligence is worried that fake registration of mobile phone SIMs, especially by criminals, will increase in the near future amid the current political crisis.

It has also requested the mobile phone operators to immediately block use of internet-based communication software to prevent criminals from communicating without being traced.

In letters to the home and telecom ministries, the agency said on October 22: “Different sources have confirmed that efforts are on to carry out subversive activities through mobile phone networks given the country’s current political situation.”

The DGFI worries have come at a time when threats over mobile phone networks have seen an increasing trend with targets ranging from common business people to even the home minister. In most cases, the callers go untraced mainly because of unregistered SIMs and the absence of the International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI) barring to detect handsets.

The letters signed by Brig Gen Rashedul Mannan on behalf of the

INSIDE News 4

The government will send inspection teams to three countries to review working conditions for expatriate Bangladeshis and investigate allegations of harassment and broken job promises.

International 8

The Kenyan military has said its warplanes bombed targets held by alQaeda-linked armed group al-Shabab in Somalia, in retaliation for an attack on a Nairobi mall that killed at least 67 people.

Sport 15

Comoros athlete Selim Abdu Hazi emerged as the champion in the male’s event of Ifad the Cox’s Bazar International Half Marathon while Uyri Lee Quairee of Japan clinched the women’s title at the longest sea beach of the world yesterday. The event was organised by the Big Bangla Run.

director general said the cheap price of mobile SIMs allowed criminals to change their numbers frequently and this would increase significantly in near future.

The DGFI requested the authorities concerned to take necessary actions to ensure real registration of mobile phone users.

Police and other security agencies had earlier expressed similar concerns.

Police said fake SIMs had been used mainly for extortion along with other crimes but this time it might also be used to create political anarchy.

An official of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said the commission had so far blocked 1.5m SIMs for fake registration upon complaints from Rapid Action Battalion and police.

When contacted on Wednesday, BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose told the Dhaka Tribune that the “open source” communication software was a problem and the commission had decided to talk about it with the operators.

He said the approval for this software had been given before he joined the BTRC, and the commission now needed to review under which situa-

tion the permission had been given.

On fake registration of SIMs, Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman recently told the Dhaka Tribune: “When we contact operators about fake registration they say retailers have not yet sent back the registration forms, so they cannot offer any details.”

Police observe that in most cases old SIMs are properly registered but the new connections are not.

Mobile operators, however, claimed that they had no access to the national database – which is under the Election Commission – and they had no alternative tools to detect real identification.

“The government has to decide whether it wants the fake users to be removed from the networks. As we have only national ID cards for people’s identity, the mobile operators should have access to the database,” said TIM Nurul Kabir, secretary general of Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh.

He said they had written about it to the BTRC and the home ministry.

Another source said the telecom regulator at its meeting on October24  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Manju's Jatiya Party to participate in polls n Manik Miazee Anwar Hossain Manju, chairman of a faction of the Jatiya Party, yesterday assured Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that his party would take part in the upcoming elections.

Manju conveyed his party's stand at a meeting with Hasina at her Ganabhaban residence, saying election was a must for the continuation of democracy and the constitution of the country.

Hasina told Manju that the upcoming elections and the transfer of power would be held in line with the constitution.

Although 90% of the parliamentary seats belong to Awami League, the all-party government would be formed with parties that had representatives in parliament, she said.

The prime minister in a televised speech on October 18 proposed an all-party government to oversee the upcoming national elections. As per the plan, she is holding meetings with political parties to discuss the issue.

Yesterday she met with a 12-strong delegation of the Jatiya Party led by Manju.

“We will initiate a tradition of holding elections constitutionally to

prevent people from taking power unconstitutionally,” Hasina said.

She told the JP leaders that in the last 38 years, state power was handed over peacefully only once, in 2001. She said all the elections held during the tenure of this government were impartial.

“We believe people are the power, and we are working to give them the privilege of chosing their representatives,” she added.

Regarding her telephone conversation with opposition chief Khaleda Zia, she said: “We urged the opposition leader repeatedly to withdraw the strike and offered to hold a dialogue, but she declined.”

Hasina also criticised Khaleda’s claim that the government had been running illegally since October 25, saying: “Section 123 and 57 [of the constitution] clearly state that the government will have the privilege to hold power until the next parliament is elected.”

JP Secretary General Sheikh Shahidul Islam and other leaders attended the meeting while from Awami League, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Amir Hossain Amu, Tofayel Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Motia Chowdhury and Syed Ashraful Islam were present. l

Schools open on weekend to make up for hartal losses n Mushfique Wadud Some schools and a number of private universities in the capital remained open yesterday to make up the loss of classes caused by the 60-hour hartal staged by the 18-party alliance last week.

Schoolteachers said the hartals were affecting the schools’ activities ahead of November, which is an important month for schools. Taking extra classes on the weekend is part of the attempt to make up the losses, they said.

With the BNP-led alliance having already hinted that hartals may be staged again on November 4-6, the teachers said classes and examinations would have to be taken on all the weekends this month, if the hartals continued to be staged at this rate.

Principal of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College Manju Ara Begum said the school’s class-five students yesterday sat for a model test for the primary terminal examinations. She said classes and examinations would be held in the next few weekends if hartals continued this way.

Most English medium schools also remained open yesterday to cover the lost classes.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Probe body finds involvement of 18 INTELLECTUAL KILLING CASE ‘Verdict could be a step Biman officials in gold smuggling towards justice’ n Kailash Sarkar

A probe body identified 18 officials of Biman Bangladesh Airlines as suspects in connection with two hauls of smuggled gold seized at the Hajrat Shahjalal International Airport.

The five-member probe committee was formed on September 30 to find out the owners of the smuggled gold and the smuggling networks at the country’s main airport.

“Suspected 18 Biman officials include three captains, three second pilots, three chief parsers, two air hostages, five engineers and two junior officials,” said Moinul Khan, director general of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID), who heads the committee.

Asked, the CIID director general said 11 of the Biman officials were on

n Muktasree Chakma Sathi

duty in three flights in which gold was smuggled and seven others travelled to Dubai by those same flights.”

In reply to a question he said: “Information extracted from those 18 officials will help unearth the mystery behind the smugglings.”

The five-member committee comprising five top officials from five government agencies working at the airport was constituted after a four-member committee formed by the Biman authorities failed to make any progress.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Leading campaigners demanding justice for the victims of 1971 and relatives of the martyred intellectuals are looking forward to Sunday, the day set for delivering verdict in the case against alleged war criminals Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan.

Fugitive Mueen and Ashraf were directly involved in the killings of intellectuals at the dawn of the independence of Bangladesh with an aim to cripple the newly born nation and country, according to the prosecution.

Both of them are now staying abroad and living apparently a normal life without being bothered by the heinous crime that they allegedly committed in December, 1971.

Relatives and friends of the martyred intellectuals said diplomatic steps could be taken to ensure rule of law by the Bangladesh government and justice for the martyred families” if the tribunal convicted the duo after being satisfied with the evidences.

They also observed that the verdict could be a step towards ending culture of impunity that had long been enjoyed by these war criminals who left Bangladesh just after the liberation fearing trial for their misdeeds.

Professor emeritus Anisuzzaman who also testified against Mueen in the International Crimes Tribunal-2 told the Dhaka Tribune that he was eagerly waiting for the verdict as it could bring some salvation to the victims’ families.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Public service act lying undecided

BCL men extort admission-seeking students n DU correspondent

Strong opposition from the bureaucracy, government’s unwillingness blamed civil administration. n Mohosinul Karim The government has already proThe proposed public service act is less likely to be passed within the tenure of the present government because of strong resistance from within the bureaucracy and the government’s unwillingness to proceed with very little time left in hand.

The public administration ministry prepared the draft act to regulate the civil service and make the bureaucracy “more transparent and accountable.”

But, neither the officials of the Cabinet Division nor the public administration ministry are aware of its current status.

The act proposes holding of examinations for promotion to all levels that include deputy secretary, joint secretary, additional secretary and secretary The draft has been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office, but no progress has been made since then because of opposition from a section of senior government officials who believe the law, if passed, may cause harm to them, civil servants alleged.

Public administration ministry’s Senior Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar refuted the allegation but could not say for sure whether the law would be passed in this tenure.

According to the draft, the government can “fully or partially” outsource to the private sector certain categories of activities currently undertaken by the government servants.

Ministry officials said the draft of the Public Service Act 2012 has been “shelved” in the Prime Minister’s Office as the government has apparently backtracked on its plan to reform the

moted a large number of officers in excess of the approved posts and, reportedly under pressure from parts of the bureaucracy, extended the retirement age of all public servants from 57 years to 59.

“We have no problem in passing the law. So, we have prepared the draft of the act and sent it to the Prime Minister’s Office,” the public administration senior secretary said.

He said they were yet to get the draft endorsed by the PMO. “Without getting it back, we cannot move forward,” he said. “It is true that there is not much time left to finalise it within the tenure of this government.”

Some civil servants believe that the government is not serious about finalising the act, which may hamstring its operation and limit its scope to dismiss the job of a civil servant if it wishes.

“If the law is passed, the government will not be able to force a public servant into retirement whenever it wishes,” said one of them.

Officials said there might be objections from within the bureaucracy, too, as the law might make government job tougher than now.

The draft public service act includes provisions for holding mandatory examinations before promotion of civil servants.

It proposes holding of examinations for promotion to all levels that include deputy secretary, joint secretary, additional secretary and secretary.

“Most of the civil bureaucrats are not interested in participating in the written test. They like to get a promotion using the influence of their personal links with high officials and government high-ups. So, they do not want the law to see the light,” said an official, who wished not to be named. l

A police wrecker is removing a city bus that ploughed through a road divider at Sat Masjid Road in the capital's Dhanmondi area yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

No option but election under non-party government: BNP n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla The main opposition BNP said yesterday there was no alternative to a non-partisan interim administration to oversee the next general polls, believing it the only way to “save the democracy of the country.”

The party also warned that its programmes would not be postponed or softened until their demand of election under a non-partisan government was met.

“There is no alternative to holding elections under a non-partisan interim government to save the democracy and to get rid of the government’s repression and suppression. No other path is open,” BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, before a Gayebana Janaza in front

of the party’s Nayapaltan headquarters yesterday.

The Janaza was held for the departed souls of those who were killed during the opposition BNP-led 18-party alliance’s 60-hour countrywide hartal. Fakhrul said the movement should move forward “vowing on the blood of the martyrs.”

The spokesperson of the party alleged the government had been destroying democracy and wanted to stay in power by repressing the opposition.

Earlier, at a programme at National Press Club,the party’s standing committee member Moudud Ahmed said a dialogue could take place to resolve the crisis but the movement would go on simultaneously.

“Action programmes will not be stopped or softened until the demand

‘Verdict could be a step towards justice’  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

When pointed out that none of the accused are in Bangladesh Anisuzzaman responded: “It is not abnormal. They were scared of their deeds and they ran away.”

Mentioning that the accused are living in countries where capital punishment is against human rights Anisuzzaman said: “If the verdict convicts them and hands down death penalty, we (Bangladesh government and people) could at least think of an extradition treaty with the countries where they are living now.”

Shahriar Kabir, cousin of martyred Shahidullah Kaiser, also noted that if

the verdict convicts the duo, the martyred families could at least pressurize the countries where the fugitive are living now.

“The tribunal in our country followed the laws. The tribunal held the trial in absentia which is allowed. Now we are waiting for Sunday. If the tribunal convicts them, at least a door would open,” Shahriar told the Dhaka Tribune.

“If the court is satisfied with the evidence and they find the fugitives guilty we could at least say to the UK and USA: “You claim yourself as the most civilized country, now prove it.

You cannot allow killers to roam as a normal person and pretend nothing

had ever happened. He was convicted in our court, at least arrest him and put him in trial under your law. I am looking forward to it because it doesn’t matter whether they are fugitive or here (in Bangladesh). What really matters is whether they are found guilty or not,” Shahriar said.

He also said (killing of intellectual in a systematic way) the gravity of the crimes they committed was so horrendous that it cannot be titled as mere war crimes.

“War crimes to me are such crimes which took place due to violating the norms of war. What they did it was horrible, they committed geno-

cide. They must be punished for their crimes against humanity, mankind.”

Mueen and Ashraf are believed to be living in London and New York, according to several news.

Both of them were jointly indicted for 11 charges that include abduction and killing of 18 intellectuals between December 11 and 15, 1971. The prosecution’s probe report says among the 18 intellectuals, nine were Dhaka University teachers, six journalists and three physicians.

In 1971, Mueen was in charge of alBadr’s operation and Ashraf the chief executor of the plan to eliminate intellectuals, according to the prosecution. l

Probe body finds involvement of 18 Biman officials in gold smuggling  PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

Representatives from the Civil Aviation Authorities of Bangladesh (CAAB), Customs Department, Biman Bangladesh Airlies and Airport Security Authorities are the rest other four members of the committee.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune Mominul Islam, general Manager (security) of Bangladesh Biman, who headed the first committee, said they could not conclude their probe as none of them was permitted to visit Dubai to collect information.

Another member of the committee said they were getting prepared to travel to Dubai to talk to the customs

officials concerned at Dubai Airport where they would also check the documents of clearing, forwarding and other papers.

He said an application had been submitted to the National Bureau of Revenue (NBR) chairman seeking his approval for Dubai visit.

Moinul Khan, the head of the present committee, said during enquiry at Dubai airport assistances would be taken from the officials of the Regional Intelligence Liason Office (RILO), the regional headquarters of the Hong Kong-based World Customs Organisation (WCO).

The committee chief said: “Many

more officials and outsiders are also suspected to have been involved in the smuggling ring.”

“The committee was given onemonth time. As the time limit has already crossed, more time would be sought,” he said and added: “We hope we would be able to make our findings public through a press conference.”

The 1065 gold bars weighing 124Kg worth Tk540m were recovered from a Biman flight on July 24 in an abandoned state after it arrived at Dhaka from Dubai and another 18kg was recovered a week later.

Sources said over 350kg of gold had

been seized in the last 10 months apart from various precious metals, currencies, electronic accessories and other valuables.

According to airport sources, over 3,600 people, including air crews and personnel of CAAB, customs, immigration, National Security Intelligence (NSI) and Ansar have been arrested in the last three years at airport for their involvement in the smuggling and other illicit acts.

The four-member committee has recently submitted the findings to its managing director mentioning that they neither could detect the gold owners nor others involved. l

BNP to resist ‘unilateral’ polls in three phases  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

with the government. The administration might also withdraw support, the BNP leader said.

He claimed that responding to party chief Khaleda Zia’s call for not cooperating with what she said was an illegal government, the administration and law enforcers had already started turning away.

Moreover, since the party is not fully confident about stopping the elections, as a backup plan, it is looking to ensure the slimmest possible turn out at the polling centres if the elections eventually take place.

“If less than 50% votes are cast, then the election will be deemed controversial in and outside the country,” said a senior leader.

Standing Committee Member Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune: “People are already participating spontaneously in our all-party polls resistance committees around

the country. Let the government hold the elections. The government will see what happens then.”

The Election Commission intends to hold the national polls by the second week of January.

According to the next three months’ action plan, the polls resistance movement will be divided into three phases.

The first phase will continue to press the demand for non-partisan polls-time government till the Election Commission announces poll schedules. In this phase, there would probably be breaks between agitation programmes because of the final examinations in educational institutions. The efforts for a dialogue would also go on simultaneously.

The second phase will start with the announcement of poll schedules and end with the completion of nomination submission. The party would continue to hold talks with the government in this phases as well. The transition to a polls resistance movement will occur at

this phase if there is no dialogue.

The third phase will begin as the candidates start electioneering and end on election day. During this period, BNP will wage non-stop programmes, much like what the Awami League staged against BNP in 1996. During this period, the all-party election resistance committees will work all over the country to resist unilateral polls.

Senior BNP leaders have hinted at a fourth phase that would start if the unilateral polls eventually happen. However, the party is still not clear about what will be the action plan for that phase.

WHY GOVERNMENT IS ILLEGAL The main opposition party believes that the incumbent government has become illegal on October 27. It also believes that continuing parliament sessions after that date is also illegal and therefore all the laws passed since are devoid of legality and will result in a constitutional crisis.

On Thursday night, senior party

leaders and pro-opposition lawyers held an hour-long meeting with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office to discuss the ins and outs of the constitution.

Reportedly, they agreed to brief the media soon to clarify why the party believed that the government was illegal.

In the meeting, pro-BNP lawyers said as per the constitution, the election time government would have become active on October 27 and so parliament session could not continue after that date.

“As per the constitution, no partisan government can hold office when election time starts. Although the prime minster has said the parliament would be dissolved on October 24, that had never happened,” MK Anwar told the Dhaka Tribune.

A senior pro-BNP lawyer said the EC should have started getting prepared for elections; but instead, it had been busy keeping the government happy. l

of election under a non-partisan government is met,” he said.

He claimed that the people of the country had taken to the streets spontaneously supporting the caretaker government demand. He also said the people were ready to “sacrifice everything” to oust the government from the office.

The former law minister alleged that the government had created the crisis intentionally and from the mentality of staying in office “forever.”

“Election under a non-partisan government is going on in Italy, Greece and Pakistan. So the government’s statement that no other country follows this system is not true,” he said.

The BNP leader reiterated that they would not take part in any election under a partisan government. l

Activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Dhaka University unit allegedly extorted admission-seeking students yesterday evening on the university campus.

The victims of the extortion, a group of students who came from Rajshahi to sit for the admission test for the D unit that was held earlier in the day, said a group of Chhatra League men stopped the two buses carrying the students.

They allegedly took away the keys of the vehicles and demanded Tk5,000 from each bus. The students were finally allowed to leave after paying a total of Tk2,500 to the men.

Sources said the Chhatra League activists who committed the extortion included Taky, Shah Alam, Sharif and Sarwar from the BCL’s Surja Sen Hall unit, Vice-President of Mohsin Hall unit Harun-ur-Rashid and SM Hall unit leader Niloy.

When contacted, Surja Sen Hall BCL unit President Mubarak Hossain said he had been informed of the incident, adding that appropriate measures will be taken after investigation.

Dhaka University Proctor Dr Amjad Ali said he was yet to be informed of the incident, but assured that perpetrators will be punished after a probe is carried out. l

18-party to stage demos today n Tribune Desk The BNP-led 18-party alliance will stage demonstrations across the country today protesting the killings and arrests of opposition leaders and activists and repression on them allegedly by the law enforcers and ruling party ‘cadres’.

The programme is also meant for forcing the government to restore the non-party caretaker government system, reports UNB. BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the programme from a protest rally of the opposition alliance at Suhrawardy Udyan in the city on Thursday. l

Shafi: Govt cannot be allowed to destroy Qawmi madrasas n Tushar Hayat, Chittagong Shah Ahmed Shafi, ameer of radical Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam, has said the Qawmi madrasas cannot be allowed to be destroyed by the government’s intervention, as it would eliminate the principle and ideology of Islam from the country.

In a statement issued yesterday, he also said the Muslim nation had faced damages for decades, caused by the disunity created by a section of betraying Islamic scholars, who have again revealed themselves in the recent times.

“A certain quarter of Islamic scholars have been creating confusion by delivering misinterpretations and conducting propaganda,” Shafi said, adding that no one would be able to harm the Qawmi madrasas if the teachers and students stayed united.

Meanwhile, the Islamist organiza-

tion is scheduled to hold a rally at Hathazari college ground today, protesting the government move to regulate Qawmi madrasas and for pressing home their 13-point demand.

'A certain quarter of Islamic scholars have been creating confusion by delivering misinterpretations and conducting propaganda' Shah Ahmed Shafi will be present at the rally as the chief guest, while Hefazat Secretary General Junaid Babunagari will be the special guest.

At a press conference held at the Hathazari Press Club, Mir Idrish, convener of the rally preparation committee, said tougher programmes would be called if the government interrupted the rally. l

DGFI concerned about crime  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

had also decided to emplement the International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI) barring to detect handsets.

“We will need to consult with the mobile operators about it – if we can emplement it, it will also ensure our

security,” the BTRC chairman said.

But Nurul Kabir said the IMEI barring is a tool to ensure security but SIM registration should be real before that.

Earlier in 2008, the BTRC ran a re-registration campaign for SIMs but as there was no credible ID card the drive was not effective. l

Schools open on weekend  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Abu Reza Nurul Haque, a teacher of an English medium school in Dhanmondi, said schools had many tasks to carry out this month and the repeated hartals had been making things difficult.

“If hartals continue, all schools will have to take classes on weekends,” he said.

Milestone School and College in Uttara also remained open yesterday to make up losses caused by hartals.

A teacher of the school said there was a good student turnout yesterday, despite it being a weekend-day.

Farhad Hossain, principal of Monipur High School and College, said they did not take classes yesterday but would conduct classes in the next weekends if the hartals continued.

Zahirul Islam, vice-principal of Mohammadpur Model School and College, said a university admission test

took place at the institution yesterday, but classes might be held from the next weekend to make up losses.

Guardians, however, expressed their frustration as classes were being taken on weekends.

“We have many tasks for the weekends, but these tasks cannot be done as we have to take our children to schools,” said Sabbir Ahmed, a parent whose child goes to Milestone School and College.

Meanwhile, speaking at a programme in Sylhet yesterday, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid urged political parties to refrain from calling hartals or any violent political programmes for the interest of 40 million students.

“Some 40 million students will sit for examinations this month. Violent political programmes cause students unbearable sufferings,” the minister said. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

3

Saturday, November 2, 2013

GOLD HAUL AT SHAHJALAL AIRPORT

Police suspect detainee of smuggling ring member n Kailash Sarkar The young detainee with 24 gold bars at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport might belong to a smuggling ring, police and customs officials suspect.

“The detainee’s passport shows that he used to frequent Dubai, which leads us to suspect that he is a member of smuggling gang,” said Zakiya Sultana, commissioner of Customs Department at the airport.

In most cases, the owners usually do not carry the smuggled gold or other precious items, she added.

Customs officials arrested the youth – Sohel Ahmed, 27, with gold bars Tuesday morning from inside the airport. The arrestee came from Dubai.

Following the arrest, Sohel was handed over to police who were quizzing him on a two-day remand.

The arrested youth hails from Sylhet Bianibazar.

Airport police station Officer-inCharge Samsuddin Saleh Ahmed Chowdhury said during interrogation,

Sohel claimed that he was carrying those valuables in exchange for money and some unknown persons in Dubai gave those to him.

However, Sub-Inspector Mazharul Islam, investigation officer of the case, said Sohel had travelled to Dubai frequently and one of his brothers ran a business there.

More than 350kgs of gold had been seized over the last 10 months from the airport during smuggling attempts.

Customs Commissioner Zakiya Sultana said so far they had deposited around 300kgs of gold to the Bangladesh Bank.

Of the gold smuggling incidents at the airport, the haul of 124-kg gold on July 24 was the biggest bust ever.

A number of smuggling rings are active at the airport and slip through the net of customs checks in an alleged collusion with a section of staff and crew members of different airlines.

More than 3600 of them were arrested in last three years. l

Policemen search a youth’s bag at the North Gate of Baitul Mukarram yesterday after Juma prayers following a pre-announcement of Hefazat-e-Islam’s protest procession which was, however, called off later RAJIB DHAR

BMA, Swachip doctors lobby for AL tickets n Moniruzzaman Uzzal At least 20 leaders of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) and Swadhinata Chikitshak Parishad (Swachip) are reportedly lobbying influential Awami League leaders and policymakers, in a bid to secure nominations from the ruling party for the upcoming parliamentary polls.

The BMA and Swachip doctors however expressed concerns about not being evaluated properly and losing out on nominations, because the recently-passed Representation of the People Order (amendment) Bill 2013 cleared the path for contenders for the next parliamentary polls to join a political party any time for nomination.

It was learnt that 11 doctors were elected as lawmakers in the last national polls, with several of them holding ministerial and state ministerial posts

in the departments of health, foreign affairs, and primary and mass education.

There are allegations that several doctor leaders have already started seeking election campaign funds from businesspeople and industrialists, as well as secretly seeking cooperation from officers and employees of the health sector.

However, many of those leaders refuted the claims and said the polls expenses will be met with personal funds, party donations and with the help of relatives and friends.

Sources said, Dr MA Aziz, joint secretary of BMA, wants nomination from Mymensingh; Dr Habibe Millat, executive member of BMA and the prime minister’s daughter’s relative on her inlaw’s side, is seeking a seat in Sirajganj; Dr Kamrul Hasan Khan, vice president of BMA’s Dhaka division unit, going for

Tangail’s Ghatail; Dr Nazrul Islam, exvice president of BMA’s Barisal division unit, going for Pirojpur’s Bhandaria; Abdur Rouf Sarder, vice president of Dhaka city unit of BMA, going for Narsingdi’s Monohardi; Dr Ehsanul Kabir Jaglul, BMA’s treasurer, going for Lakshmipur; Dr Jamaluddin Chowdhury, secretary general of Bangladesh Private Medical Practitioners Association (BPMPA), going for Sandwip; while a seat in Kishoreganj is being sought by Dr Mahbub Iqbal, executive member of BMA. Other nomination ambitions that have reportedly been much discussed in the medical community in recent times, include the potential nominations in the Chandina seat for Vice-Chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Dr Pran Gopal Datta and in Rajbari’s Pangsha constituency for BMA Secretary General Dr M Iqbal Arslan.

Seeking anonymity, a high-ranking

BMA leader told the Dhaka Tribune that there was very little chance for any of the two candidates to run in the polls, as they did not leave their jobs three years ahead of the elections.

Several doctor leaders, preferring to stay unnamed, criticised the recently-passed RPO amendment, saying the changes would make it difficult for the honest, devoted and professional candidates to secure nominations, and would instead encourage the dishonest and the corrupted.

Prof Dr Kamrul Hasan, vice president of BMA, expressed concerns that the changes to the RPO bill would result in financially sound candidates being given more preference than authentic political leaders.

Prof Dr MA Aziz, joint secretary of BMA, who quit his BSMMU job three years ago as per the condition to participate in the election, had been busy

strengthening communications with the constituents of the Mymensingh sadar seat.

He told the Dhaka Tribune: “I will seek a nomination ticket but the final decision will come from our beloved leader, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina.”

Prof Dr Nazrul Islam of National Heart Institute had retired to contest in the parliamentary polls from Pirojpur district. He said: “I had left public service to participate in the parliamentary elections. I am now communicating with the people regularly.”

Jamaluddin Chowdhury, secretary general of BPMPA, said he had been working at Sandwip for a few years.

Chowdhury informed that he had lost to another Awami League candidate in the previous election, said, but expressed hopes of winning in the next polls. l

Youth stabbed to death in capital n Mohammad Jamil Khan A youth was stabbed to death by unidentified assailants yesterday at a shop in the city’s Tikatuli area.

The deceased was Nepal Dash, 24, son of Gopal Dash, and a resident of Tikatuli.

Witnesses and police sources said at around 4:30pm, four to five armed assailants entered the refrigerator repair shop where the victim worked, stabbed Nepal indiscriminately and left the scene within 10 minutes.

Later, doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital declared Nepal dead on arrival.

Rajib, who brought Nepal’s body to the hospital, said the unidentified youths launched a sudden attack on

Nepal at the repair shop and stabbed him indiscriminately.

Tapan Chandra Saha, officer-incharge of Wari police station, told the Dhaka Tribune that the victim’s body had been sent to the Dhaka Medical College morgue for autopsy.

“We have started investigation regarding the issue and are interrogating the shop owners and relatives of Nepal for collecting information,” the OC said.

The police are primarily suspecting that the crime took place over previous enmity, but the motive would be clear after further investigation, he added. No one was arrested and no case was filed with the police station until filing of this report yesterday evening. l

Political violence has hit hard the transport sector of the country causing a loss of millions annually and if it continues it will wreak havoc on the sector.

A study carried out by state-run Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) over the last five years says it has lost 139 buses because of political violence.

The statistics show that BRTC has so far incurred a loss of Tk50m for damages done to the buses by pickets, for arson attacks Tk38.9m while its revenue loss has stood at Tk336m as it has had to take the buses off the roads fearing vandalism.

The total loss had stood at Tk440m in the last five years. BRTC has had to pay dearly for the last two years when vandalism has cost it around Tk330m including revenue.

The Dhaka Tribune has tried to contact BRTC bus depot authorities all over the country to enquire about injuries and deaths during the violence but they have failed to provide any such information.

In a latest attack unruly demonstrators set ablaze six BRTC buses at its Uthli Bus Depot at Gabtali.

Around 4.30am, some youths entered the depot by scaling the boundary wall and set fire to six double-deckers, narrated Shajahan, a staff of BRTC. The fire burnt the buses until the other depot staff rushed to the spot and doused the fire. They could manage to save four other buses parked inside the depot, he said.

One of the staff said repairs to two burnt double-deckers cost around Tk15m.

n Kailash Sarkar

A schoolgirl set ablaze by a rejected lover finally died from her injuries yesterday, after fighting for her life for a week at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

Ankhi Chowdhury, 15, had been admitted to the burn and plastic surgery unit of DMCH on October 24 with burns covering 96% of her body. She was set ablaze allegedly after she declined a relationship proposal made by a local youth named Uzzal. “Uzzal, along with two of his cohorts, poured kerosene all over her body while she was asleep and set her on fire,” said Nihar Bishwas, a brother-inlaw of Ankhi.

“Uzzal resided in the neighbouring village and had been stalking and disturbing Ankhi for the past several months. He was clearly infuriated by her constant refusal and finally, about a week ago, set her ablaze after sneaking in their house in the darkness,” said Nihar.

Ankhi was first rushed to the Gopalganj general hospital and then to DMCH. Police arrested Uzzal the day after the incident but Ankhi, a student of class ten, died around 11:30pm on Thursday.

She was the daughter of farmer Makhan Lal Chowdhury and Gitali Chowdhury at the Andarkota village in Gopalganj Sadar upazila. l

Youth electrocuted in Chittagong n CU Correspondent

Leaders of 11-party alliance in a meeting with CPB and BSD yesterday at the Workers’ Party office in the city

Political violence costs BRTC Tk444m in five years Jamil Khan and Abu n Mohammad Hayat Mahmud

Stalked schoolgirl succumbs to acid burns at DMCH

Another report prepared by police headquarters demonstrates that about 3,400 vehicles have been damaged over the last three years in political violence unleashed by BNP-Jamaat alliance.

As many as 943 buses were damaged in the year of 2011, 1147 in 2012 while 1349 the last year, the report shows.

Leaders of Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners Association say a little damage done to a bus involves at least Tk40 to 50 thousands and in the case of arson attack

File photo shows a BRTC double-decker burnt into ashes in the capital during the last 60hour hartal NASHIRUL ISLAM

minimum repair expense is Tk200000.

Secretary General of Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Samity Khondokar Enayetullah says when a political party is in power it speaks against hartal but as soon as it is out of power it enforces hartals. “They do not give a damn about people.”

According to the data of the association, around 215 buses have been set on fire between 2010 and October 2013 and 1160 buses were vandalized during that period.

Sources in intelligence departments say miscreants are now planning to launch attacks on bus depots across the country as they fail to do it in public places because of police vigilance.

Members of law enforcing agencies are planning to prepare a list of those attackers.

Monirul Islam, joint-commissioner of Detective Branch of Police, says they have already given instruction to all officials of different depots to remain alert and inform the law enforcers as soon as they sense something suspicious.

Contacted, Nikhil Ranjan Roy, director (operation and admin) of BRTC, tells the Dhaka Tribune that during political violence pickets target BRTC buses, which is not acceptable, as it is a property of the state and people of the country. l

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

A youth was electrocuted at his residence in Pahartali area of the port city yesterday. The deceased was Md Moslem, 28, son of Ruhul Amin of Zarnapara in Dakkhin Pahartali area. Sources said Moslem was electrocuted at his residence in the afternoon.

He was taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital where the on-duty doctors announced him dead. l

MP Meraj’s son held with Yaba tablets in Rajshahi n Tribune Desk Police arrested the son of Awami League MP Meraj Uddin Mollah and one of his associates along with seven Yaba tablets from the Rajshahi city’s Bypass area Thursday night.

The arrested were Mustaque Ahmed Tulu, 27, son of the ruling party MP from Rajshahi-3 (Poba-Mohanpur) constituency and also president of district Awami League, and Tulu’s aide Masud, reports UNB.

Officer-in-charge of Shah Makhdum Police Station Hafizur Rahman said a patrol team of police arrested Tulu and Masud along with the contraband drugs around 11:30pm while they were returning to the city by a motorcycle.

During preliminary interrogation, Tulu confessed to his involvement in trading drugs, the OC claimed.

The arrested were sent to jail yesterday morning through a court after a case was filed against them. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Government to inspect working conditions in three countries n Rabiul Islam The government will send inspection teams to three countries to review working conditions for expatriate Bangladeshis and investigate allegations of harassment and broken job promises.

Two teams will fly to Jordan and Hong Kong, from where many housemaids returned home in recent months allegedly because of abuse, overwork, inadequate food and cultural barriers, officials said.

Another team will fly to the Maldives to check the “ground realities” in the island nation, from where many migrant workers have also recently returned after failing to land suitable jobs and having suffered difficulties in their respective workplaces, a senior official of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) said.

2 intruding jeeps found abandoned in Sylhet n Tribune Desk Two mysterious jeeps that intruded into Bangladesh through Sutarkandi check post in Beanibazar upazila of Sylhet on Thursday were recovered in an abandoned condition from the city early yesterday.

Police recovered one of the jeeps from Shahjalal Upashahar area around 1:30am and the other from a garage at Kumarpara in the city around 2:30am, says a UNB report from Sylhet.

However, no one was arrested in this connection.

Police said occupants of the two luxurious jeeps having international registration numbers entered Bangladesh from India through the Sutarkandi check post on Thursday morning.

However, they evaded the immigration and decamped without providing any information to Border Guard Bangladesh at the check post.

Witnesses said there were two people in a jeep with one driving the vehicle and the other sitting by him and a lone person was driving the other jeep.

However, they could not say for sure whether there was any passenger in the back seats of the two jeeps as those have tinted.

District police officials on Thursday claimed that three occupants of the two vehicles are British citizens. They are Kabul Miah, Askir Ali and Amtar Uddin.

Soon, BGB Sylhet headquarters and district police were informed of the incident whereby special check posts were set up to seize the two jeeps.

Finally, the two vehicles were recovered from the city in the early hours yesterday. l

WEATHER

Dry weather likely n UNB Weather may remain dry with temporary partly cloudy sky over the country until 6pm today.

Light fog may occur in Rajshahi, Rangpur, Dhaka and Sylhet divisions during late night till morning, Met Office said.

Night and day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country.

The sun sets in the capital at 5:19pm today and rises at 6:06am tomorrow.

Country’s highest temperature 31.6 degree Celsius was recorded yesterday at Jessore and lowest 17.4 degrees at Srimangal, Jessore and Chuadanga.

Highest and lowest temperature recorded in some major cities yesterday were: City

High

Low

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

30.9 29.0 30.6 26.5 31.5 30.6 28.8 30.5

21.0 21.6 18.3 20.4 20.5 19.4 18.9 22.2

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:49am 6:04am 11:42am 3:42pm 5:19pm 6:36pm

Source: IslamicFinder.org

The teams will be comprised of senior officials from both BMET, and the Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry.

Some of the returnees alleged that additional fees were demanded of them by their recruiting agencies for arranging new jobs, after their Hong Kong employers had terminated their employments.

If such complaints were left unaddressed, officials said, these will have a negative effect on the entire Hong Kong-based manpower export sector.

So far, about 150 housemaids have gone to Hong Kong through two private recruiting agencies – SA Trading and Sadia International – after receiving two months of in-house training.

About 28,000 Bangladeshi workers have so far gone to the Maldives since 1976, of which around 8,000 went in the first nine months of the current

year. BMET has recently temporarily stopped giving emigration clearance for Maldives-going workers in order to observe the conditions of those who had earlier left for the country.

A worker generally has to pay between Tk180,000 and 250,000 for going to the Maldives, depending on the rates of the agencies hiring them.

Jabed Ahmed, additional director general of BMET, said they had come to know of the problems recently.

“We sent a file to the ministry for official approval to send three teams in the three countries to inspect the working conditions there and probe the harassment allegations.”

Members of the teams will talk to the employers, recruiting agents, workers and housemaids, and try to find solutions to the problems being created, he added. l

In an unusual scenario, a number of pedestrians are seen on top of the foot over-bridge at Farmgate yesterday using it to cross the road as the Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue below was opened after being off-limits to uses for a while due to VVIP movement SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Prime minister full of praise for youths

Two murdered in Munshiganj, Satkhira

15 young entrepreneurs awarded for self-help, job creation

n Tribune Desk

n Tribune Desk The Department of Youth Development has so far provided training to over four million youths on various trades and about two million of them have become self-reliant alongside creating employment opportunities for others.

Various financial institutions including the Department of Youth Development have distributed around Tk280 billion as youth loan side by side temporary employment for some 63,156 youths was created following the introduction of National Service Programme.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina disclosed the figures while addressing a function marking the inauguration of the National Youth Day, 2013 at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital yesterday, reports UNB. Underscoring the need for massive involvement of youths in creating self-employment opportunities to build poverty and hunger-free Digital Bangladesh by 2021, the Prime Minister asked them to be self-reliant availing themselves of the existing facilities of collateral-free loans up to Tk100,000.

Sheikh Hasina said youth training centres have been expanded in 29 districts and internet connections were given up to the offices of 64 districts and 476 upazila youth development centres.

Later, the Prime Minister distributed prizes among 15 successful youths who created employment opportunities for themselves and for others.

Chaired by State Minister for Youth and Sports M Ahad Ali Sarkar, the function was addressed, among others, by chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry Zahid Ahsan Russell. Secretary of the Ministry Noor Mohammad delivered the welcome address, while Director General of Department of Youth Development Asit Kumar Mukutmoni gave the vote of thanks.

Successful self-employed Mohiuddin Ahmed of Feni and Sabina Sultana of Narayanganj expressed their feelings at the function.

Hasina said whenever her government assumed office it gave priority to the development of youths as it believes that the real development of the country is not

possible without their proper and effective involvement.

Mentioning that the recent ODI series win against New Zealand has been possible due to the contributions of the country’s young cricketers, the Prime Minister expressed her hope that Bangladesh would also be able to clinch the cricket World Cup one day in the future.

She also underscored the need for winning the war against poverty where the youth force would have to play an important role.

Hasina also called upon all, including the youths, to put in their all-out efforts for building a hunger, poverty and illiteracy-free noncommunal Bangladesh and turn it into a middle-income nation by 2021, when the country will be observing its golden jubilee of independence.

Recalling the contributions of the youths in various movements including in the country’s war of liberation in 1971, Language movement in 1952, Education Movement in 1962 and Sixpoint Movement of 1966, the Prime Minister said the nation would never forget their contributions and sacrifice.

JOBS IN PLANTATION SECTOR

Employers irritated as 27 workers refuse to fly to Malaysia n Rabiul Islam A total of 27 Malaysia-bound workers refused to travel to work in the plantation sector in Malaysia, officials at Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) said yesterday.

Their refusal to fly to Malaysia was described by BMET as an “irritation” for their employers.

“We are yet to fly out 27 of 679 workers against whom Malaysia issued visas, and as a result we have to answer the whys and wherefores of the Malaysian employers,” a senior official of BMET told this correspondent seeking anonymity.

Some of the workers made excuses that they were ill and some said they had family problems, added the official.

According to the BMET official, it is very usual for aspiring migrant workers to change their decision.

Bangladesh labour counsellor in Malaysia Mantu Kumar Biswas told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday that “the employers feel irritated as they deposit levy against the workers.”

He, however, claimed that the number of renegades was tolerable.

Officials at BMET said a few Malaysia-bound workers also refused to go there earlier.

The deputy commissioner and local upazila chairman paid visit to the houses of those workers who slipped away from their residences, a director of BMET recently told this correspondent.

“We had become embarrassed in such cases,” he said.

A few days after arrival in Malaysia, a number of migrant workers alleged that they had to work hard in the plantation sector which once was overrun with poisonous snakes.

But a Manikganj woman Roksana whose husband went to Malaysia to work in that sector said her husband had now been working in good condition and sending money regularly.

Officials said the government was sending workers to Malaysia at a cost of only Tk30,000, setting an instance that labourers could go abroad with low migration cost.

Earlier, a migrant worker had to spend Tk200,000 to Tk300,000 by either selling his property or taking loan on high interest from local money lenders.

BMET additional Director General Jabed Ahmed said 91 workers travelled to Malaysia with Malaysian Airlines at 12:40am yesterday.

Sources said 109 workers were scheduled to fly to Malaysia on November 4, 88 on November 6, 98 on November 7 and 47 on November 8. l

Exhorting the youth not to step into the terrifying path of drug addiction, the prime minister urged them to devote themselves to the great duty of nation building upholding the ideals of morality, honesty, patriotism and humanity.

“I hope that the country’s youth forces will devote themselves to the great task of nation building upholding the ideals of morality, honesty, patriotism and humanism, and thus take the country to a dignified position at the global stage,” she said.

Terming drug addiction as a way towards destruction, Hasina stressed that the family members, teachers and guardians alongside religious leaders and Imam Muajjins through their preaching will have to play their due role in creating awareness among the youths against drug addiction.

Noting that a country could prosper and develop if its youths are properly educated and trained, she said the youth forces would have to build the country utilising their talents. “The Bangalees are highly talented, and we’ve to utilise the talents,” l

Two people, including a minor boy, were murdered in separate incidents in Munshiganj and Satkhira districts Thursday night.

In Munshiganj, an unidentified young man was chopped to death by miscreants in Baniabari area of Sadar upazila.

M Selim, in-charge of Muktapur police camp, told UNB that a gang of miscreants attacked the youth in the area around 10:30pm and chopped him with sharp weapons, leaving him injured.

He was rushed to a local hospital where doctors declared him dead.

In Satkhira, a minor boy was strangulated to death by miscreants at Pratapnagar in Ashashuni upazila.

The deceased was identified as Imon Hossain, 12, son of late Abdul Gafur Sardar of the village.

Victim’s mother Rasheda Begum said Imon went to Pratapnagar Bazar on Thursday evening to buy some food but he did not return home.

Locals spotted the body of Imon at a fish enclosure near Pratapnagar High School ground on Friday morning and informed the family members.

Pratapnagar UP Chairman Sheikh Zakir Hossain said the boy might have been killed for political reason. l

25 officials off to Korea for healthcare training n Tribune Desk Twenty-five senior officials left Dhaka yesterday for South Korea to participate in a 14-day healthcare management training.

They will participate in the course as a part of a project ‘Establishment of National Institute of Advanced Practice Nurses in Bangladesh’ supported by Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) with a budget of US$13.75 million, says a UNB report.

Kim Bok-Hee, the Resident Representative of Koica Bangladesh office, welcomed the participants at the predeparture orientation at its office and expressed her hope that all the participants will be equipped to use what they learned to promote the best nursing education system in Bangladesh.

The participants are comprised of doctors, nurses, instructors and senior managerial-level officials from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,

Directorate of Nursing Services (DNS), Economic Relation Division (ERD), Planning Commission, IMED, BSMMU, Nursing Colleges and Dhaka Medical College.

The training aims to share the current nursing education and practice, health care system and policy of Korea that will help the participants provide new standardised performance based education under the Koica-supported ‘National Institute of Nursing in Bangladesh’.

The program includes a series of lectures and group discussions on Korean Health Care System and Policy.

This training programme will provide the opportunity to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of both Bangladesh and Korean systems, and suggest the future direction of nursing education development in Bangladesh.

According to the agreement, Koica will invite a total number of 63 Bangladeshi nurse-teachers and manageriallevel officers, including three nurses for four-year PhD programme in Korea. l

Two more formulas for polls-time government n Tribune Desk

Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujan), a social organisation working in the area of governance, yesterday placed two formulas on the election-time government in a bid to resolve the ongoing political crisis in line with the constitution.

Sujan Secretary Dr Badiul Alam Majumder presented the two formulas at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club.

As per the first formula, a polls-time interim government can be formed with 10 elected MPs as its cabinet members – each five MPs from the ruling grand alliance and the opposition 18-party alliance.

A non-partisan person will head the interim administration.

Sujan also suggested formation of a search committee comprising former

SHUJAN President M Hafizuddin speaks at a press conference organised by the body at the National Press Club yesterday, on the prevailing political situation of the country MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

chief justices to pick the 11 persons.

According to the second formula, a 15-member interim cabinet comprising of five MPs each from the grand alliance, the 18-party alliance and five neutral persons can be formed. Of the five neutral persons, one will be the head of the interim government.

A search committee comprising former chief justices will be formed to find out the 15 members, provided that no member of interim cabinet shall run in the election or participate in electioneering.

In both the formulas, the 90-day interim government shall just carry out only routine works and assist the Election Commission to conduct a fair and free election.

Sujan President M Hafizuddin Khan, vice president SM Shahjahan, execu-

tive members justice Kazi Ebaidul Haque, Syed Abul Maksud, Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, Dr Tofail Ahmed, were, among others, present at the function.

Addressing the press conference, Dr Majumder said the dialogue and compromise between two major political parties is a must to remove all the obstacles stood in the way of arranging an inclusive election with the participation of all political parties.

“With a view to breaking the ongoing political deadlock, we’ve placed the two alternative formulas within the ambit of the Constitution.”

He stressed the need for a permanent solution to remove the political instability. “We think that the two major parties should sit in comprehensive dialogue to find out a suitable permanent solution.” l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Prescription

5

Saturday, November 2, 2013

When pregnancy threatens life Fallopian tube Tubal ectopic pregnancy Tubal ectopic pregnancy

Complications

In the first few weeks, an ectopic pregnancy usually causes the same symptoms as a normal pregnancy, such as a missed menstrual period, fatigue, nausea, and breast tenderness. If you take a pregnancy test, the result will be positive. If the egg keeps growing in the fallopian tube, it can damage or burst the tube and cause heavy bleeding that could be deadly.

Uterus

The first warning signs of an ectopic pregnancy are abdominal or pelvic pain and light vaginal bleeding. If blood leaks from the fallopian tube, patient feels shoulder pain or an urge to have a bowel movement.

Heavy vaginal bleeding is unlikely, unless the ectopic pregnancy occurs in the cervix.

If the fallopian tube ruptures, heavy bleeding inside the abdomen is likely — followed by lightheadedness, fainting and shock.

FOOD THERAPY

Top anti-aging superfoods n Dr Sajol Ashfaq Everyone wants to stay young forever, and for this purpose people are taking help from surgery and exercise. It is quite impossible to stop aging. But we can slow down the process by adding a few foods to our daily lives. If we try to maintain a healthy lifestyle, these superfoods can help us to stay younger and healthier for a long time.

Olive oil

Researchers concluded that the monounsaturated fats in olive oil were largely responsible for the low rates of heart disease and cancer. Now we know that olive oil also contains polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that may help prevent age-related diseases.

BIGSTOCK

Yogurt Age-defying powers of yogurt never have been proven directly. Yogurt is rich in calcium, which helps stave off osteoporosis and contains “good bacteria” that help maintain gut health and diminish the incidence of age-related intestinal illness.

Tuna and other omega-3-rich fish may help keep your skin looking youthful and prevent skin cancer. EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), one of the omega-3 fats in fatty fish, has been shown to preserve collagen, a fibrous protein that keeps skin firm.

BIGSTOCK

Tuna

Nuts

BIGSTOCK

Tomatoes Tomatoes get their red hue from lycopene, a carotenoid that may help to keep your skin smooth. In a study published in 2008 in the European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, researchers found that of the 20 individuals studied, those who had higher skin concentrations of lycopene had smoother skin. Consuming more lycopene may also protect your skin from sunburn. In one study, participants who were exposed to UV light had almost 50 percent less skin reddening after they ate 2 1/2 tablespoons of tomato paste (or drank about 1 2/3 cups of carrot juice daily), in addition to their regular diet, for 10 to 12 weeks.

Nuts are rich sources of unsaturated fats, so they offer benefits similar to those associated with olive oil. They’re also concentrated sources of vitamins, minerals and other phytochemicals, including antioxidants.

Ovarian ectopic pregnancy

Exams and tests

If a woman is suspected to have a case of ectopic pregnancy, she should perform a pregnancy test, ultrasonogram and quantitative beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin levels immediately as per instructions of a gynaecologist. If the patient is pregnant, then a work-up to detect possible ectopic or ruptured ectopic pregnancy should be taken.

Treatment

There is no way to save an ectopic

pregnancy. It cannot turn into a normal pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancy is a lifethreatening condition. It is impossible to continue the pregnancy for the sake of the mother’s life.

Early treatment of an ectopic pregnancy can help preserve the chance for future healthy pregnancies. It is a medical emergency. A patient should be admitted to hospital immediately. She will need blood transfusion, so blood donors should be called.

Considering the condition of the pa-

Prevention

Most forms of ectopic pregnancy that occur outside the fallopian tubes are probably not preventable. The following may reduce the risk by: Avoiding risk factors for PID and taking precautions about Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs).

Avoiding repeated termination of pregnancy.

Early diagnosis and treatment of STDs and tubal infection.

Stopping smoking.

Istanbul, the capital of health tourism will host the 6th International Health Tourism Congress under the theme “Quality, branding, sustainability and human resource in health tourism.” The congress will be attended by an expected 600 participants from over 50 countries from November 22 till 25 at the Istanbul WOW Hotel.

Among the participants will be health institutions with an interest in health tourism, intermediary institutions and foreign authorities of the ministries of health from around the world.

The congress is being held with the assistance of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Economics, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Turkey.

Among the key issues to be discussed regarding the future of the region’s health industry is the free movement of patients within the European Union, what foreign patients prioritise – region, country, city or hospital, what makes a favoured destination for health tourism – individual effort, collective effort or government policy, how to best utilise state aid for health tourism, and how European people can benefit from the health services of Turkey as a part of their insurance coverage etc.

Parties from around the world concerned in health tourism will confer to answer these questions and plan a roadmap for the future at the congress. It will gather all global stakeholders of health tourism and enhance promotion, marketing activities and business deliberations.

The mission of the congress is to have Turkey lead the region in health tourism, given its perfect 10-year run in health, geographical and strategic position, climate, and its potential to be reached by one billion people who live within a 4-hour flight radius.

The congress will gather all relevant global stakeholders to create a roadmap to have Turkey not only lead the region in health tourism but by 2023 (coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish Republic) to have attracted two million international patients.

To do this health institutions need to provide services at international standards, employ well-qualified human resources and cooperate and exchange information internationally and integrate with the rest of the world. The congress has been organised to this end. l

Millions of people get the major warning signal of flu, or a bacterial infection like strep throat from sore throat. On a far less ominous note, allergies, dry air and pollutants can also cause them.

While there are lots of over-thecounter medications that can treat aching throats, there are also countless home and natural remedies to soothe the soreness for those who prefer more organic health care or just can’t make it to the pharmacy. Since it can often be difficult to separate scientific fact from fiction, we’ve compiled a guide of everyday affordable materials that have been shown to relieve pain and wipe out early infections.

Licorice root

Also known as “sweet root,” it has been used in medicine for thousands of years. Licorice is known to soothe sore

Have fibre, first up Breakfasting on fibre-dense multigrain toast or wholegrain cereal makes you less likely to feel empty by mid-morning.

Swap hands Using your nondominant hand when eating will slow your pace and help you realise when you’re full, making you more conscious of overeating.

Use less fat Instead of spooning fat or butter into the pan when cooking, put extra virgin olive oil in a mist sprayer and top up with water; use to spritz the pot or frypan.

Drink green tea It contains epigallocatechin gallate, a substance thought to curb appetite.

This simple trick effectively reduces the food you serve yourself. l

Natural sore-throat remedies n Gazi Kashif Yousuf

It’s easy to put on that extra 5 kilos, but it’s just as easy to lose them. Small changes are a big help in reaching a healthy weight, without feeling deprived.

Use a smaller plate

Dr Meherun Nessa is Associate Professor of the Gynae & Obstetrics Department in Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College Hospital, Dhaka.

6th International Health Tourism Congress to convene in Istanbul

Five ways to lose five kilos

throats, and helps eliminate phlegm and mucous in the nose, throat and lungs. A 2009 study found that gargling with a licorice and water mixture gave patients with post-operative tracheal tubes less severe sore throats than those who gargled with just water.

Chicken soup

Chicken soup is a staple food when it comes to being sick, but it turns out to be good for more than its comforting taste. Research suggests the chicken and vegetable combo helps reduce upper respiratory cold symptoms, including soothing sore throats.

Honey

Mixing warm water, honey and lemon is a time-honoured tradition to treat aching throats in many households. A 2007 study from Penn State University found that honey was as effective as dextromethorphan. l

Mouth ulcers: What can we do?

These pesky little sores cause more grief than anything in the oral cavity. You can buy topical anaesthetic gels or a solution that contains two active ingredients, salicyclic acid and rhubarb extract from the chemist, which have a mild numbing and anti inflammatory effect. Furthermore, you can try these kitchen cabinet cures. Chewable wafers of DeGlycyrrhizinated Liquorice (DGL) are available in health-food shops, and they help to coat the ulcers. Aloe vera, the trusty go-to plant for all things first aid, also brings relief. Squeeze a dab of gel from the inner leaf, dry the ulcer with a cotton bud, and dab on the aloe vera. l

Are these eggs fresh or not?

Place an unbroken raw egg in a tall glass of water. If it’s fresh it will sink, if not, it will float. Refrigerating eggs in their cardboard cartons will help keep them fresh. You should check and discard any eggs that have cracks in their shells, as they can contain bacteria that may be harmful. Dirt on the eggs should be cleaned before storing. l

| Compiled by: Shirsho Sikder

Intensity is more important than duration in exercise n Dr Mohammad Sayem Lots of studies are going on all over the world to show the association between duration, intensity of DID YOU exercise and body KNOW? weight.

Official NHS health guidelines advise that adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of intense exercise weekly and the exercise should be done in such a way, there should not be 2 consecutive exercise free days.

Researchers found that each additional daily minute men or women spent in short bouts of high inten-

sity exercise resulted in a small reduction in their Body Mass Index.

According to this study, if a 5 ft 5 inch woman regularly adds a minute of exercise to her daily regime she should weigh almost half a pound less.

Results were similar in men. The study was done on 2202 women and 2309 men in America. Research also found each daily minute of exercise also lowered the risk of obesity in women by 5% and in men by 2%. Jessie Fan, Professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah said: “What we learned is that for preventing weight gain, the intensity of the exercise matters more than the duration.” l

BIGSTOCK

Symptoms

In an ectopic pregnancy, without treatment, a ruptured fallopian tube could lead to life-threatening bleeding. The condition is the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the first three months of pregnancy. Approximately 30% of women treated for ectopic pregnancy later have difficulty conceiving.

The rate of repeated ectopic pregnancy is between 5- 20%.

Implanted egg in uterus in normal pregnancy

Causes

The specific cause of an ectopic pregnancy still remains a mystery. Usually ectopic pregnancy happens when a fertilised egg gets stuck on its way to the uterus. It is often caused by inflammation of the fallopian tube due to Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), and by many other means. Hormonal imbalances or abnormal fetal development might also play a role.

damage. If there is a rupture of the fallopian tube, surgery is done to stop bleeding and repair the tube. In some cases, the fallopian tube has to be removed.

If the ectopic pregnancy has not ruptured, treatment may include minilaparotomy and laparoscopy (surgery by making hole in the abdomen), a medicine called methotrexate, and close monitoring by the doctor.

BIGSTOCK

A normal pregnancy begins with a fertilised egg. Normally, the fertilised egg attaches itself to the lining of the uterus. With WOMEN’S an ectopic pregnancy, HEALTH the fertilised egg implants somewhere outside the uterus.

It typically occurs in one of the tubes that carry eggs from the ovaries to the uterus (fallopian tubes). This type of ectopic pregnancy is known as a tubal pregnancy. In some cases, however, an ectopic pregnancy occurs in the abdominal cavity, ovary or neck of the uterus (cervix).

QUICK TIPS

BIGSTOCK

An ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy that occurs outside the womb or uterus. It is also called a tubal pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancies occur once in every 100 pregnancies. It is a life-threatening condition to the mother, and the baby or fetus does not survive tient, surgery is planned to remove the Abdominal ectopic pregnancy n Dr Meherun Nessa abnormal pregnancy and to repair the

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Proper vet service can boost milk production

Shibir cadre held in Chittagong n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong n Tribune Desk Police yesterday arrested an activist of Islami Chhatra Shibir from a residence at Kala Mia Bazar area in Chittagong in the early hours of Friday, charging him in connection with the explosion at Bakalia on Wednesday.

The arrestee, Md Giasuddin, 30, is accused in five cases including a murder lodged with Bakalia police station, and was involved in many subversive activities in the area during recent political programme, said Mohammad Mohsin, officer-in-charge of the station.

He said a police team conducted a drive in the area around 5am after receiving a tip-off.

Earlier, Jamaat-Shibir men brought out a brisk procession from Rahattarpul area in the port city on Wednesday and blasted at least five crude bombs in the area.

A case was lodged with Bakalia police station in this regard.

Police were conducting drives to arrest the others who were involved with Wednesday’s incident, the OC added. l

If the community-based approach to delivering veterinary services could be ensured for the country’s small dairy farmers, they will able to give a tremendous boost to milk production.

“A large number of cattle are inseminated in the country every year, but the framers are not getting the desired result for lack of proper veterinary service delivery. If the veterinary service could be brought to the farmers’ level, they will be able to boost milk production in their firms,” said Prof M Musharraf Uddin Bhuiyan, chairman of Communitybased Dairy Veterinary Foundation.

About four million artificial inseminations were performed in cattle in 2012 in Bangladesh, of which 2.6 million were carried out by the Depart-

ment of Livestock Services, 1.3 million

by Brac and 100,000 by Bangladesh Milk Producers Cooperative Union Limited, with its brand name ‘Milk Vita’. Currently, artificial insemination services cover 40% of breedable cows in Bangladesh.

Musharraf Uddin said artificial insemination began in 1960 to increase milk production.

“High-yielding cattle, especially crossbreeds involving exotic breeds, suffer more from health problems and need more inputs of feed and health care than do native, locally-adapted cattle. Sometimes crossbred calves needs special care and more food,” he said.

Aiming to help farmers address this problem, he informed that scientists in 2000 at the Bangladesh Agricultural University worked with local stake-

holders established a Communitybased Dairy Veterinary Foundation to deliver production-related veterinary services in four dairy-producing areas of Bangladesh (Satkhira,Sirajganj, Chittagong and Mymensingh).

“We’ve started delivering a productivity veterinary service to small farmers at the community level. We help framers form associations so that they can market their firm-produced milk.”

He said farmer associations deliver milk to chilling centres set up by the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (Brac) Dairy and Food Project, and revenue for the CDVF is generated through a negotiated commission per litre of milk delivered.

The revenue is then used to pay dues for services to the CDVF. TheCDVF delivers a package of on-farm activi-

ties, not only to prevent infectious and zoonotic diseases, but also to sustain production.

Prof Musharraf Uddin Bhuiyan, also a teacher of the Department of Surgery and Obstetrics at Bangladesh Agricultural University, said the CDVF has appointed a number of veterinarians to provide services to the small dairy farmers at community level.

“One veterinarian works for one association and the community animal health assistant assists the veterinarian.

A veterinarian visits 10 farmers’ houses every day and provides emergency animal healthcare, routine vaccinations, reproductive animal healthcare and other.

Services, and feeds cattle medicine to check for worms,” he added.

A recent report released by the UN

Rab, police detain 56 bound for Malaysia

BGB recovers 8,000 yaba tablets from salt-laden truck, arrests three n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) arresting three people after seizing 8,000 yaba tablets from a truck apparently laden with salt at Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar, yesterday.

The yaba tablets were discovered when the BGB members searched the vehicle at a check post in Whoaikonk, Teknaf.

The three detainees were Dulal Kanti (35), son of Pulin Kanti from Anwara of Chittagong; Jahangir Alam (25), son of Ali Ajgar from Whoaikonk in Teknaf; and Jasim Uddin (29), son of Hossain Ali from Balu Khali of Ukhia.

Major Shafiqur Rahman, acting captain of 42 BGB at Teknaf said acting on a tip-off, the yaba was recovered while searching a salt-laden truck (Chittagong Metro 11-3732).

A case has been lodged with the Teknaf police station in this regard. l

Three youths arrested with arms, ammunition n Our Correspondent, Gazipur Members of Rapid Action Battalion arrested three youths from Kazi Market area of Anarkoli road in Tongi city on Thursday night.

A foreign-made pistol and two rounds of bullets were also seized from their possession.

The arrested were Sumon, 30, Kamruzzaman, 27, and Mamunur Rashid, 29.

Sub-Inspector Salah Uddin of Tongi police station said around 9:30pm on Thursday, members of Rab intercepted the three youths while they were travelling in the area.

The youths were handed over to Tongi police and a case was filed with the station in this connection. l

Sarbahara leader in Gournadi injured in rival attack n Our Correspondent, Barisal A leader of the outlawed Sarbahara Party was injured when activists of a rival faction attacked him yesterday at Singa under Gournadi upazila in Barisal.

The injured was Aslam Shikdar, a regional leader of the Sarbahara party’s Kamrul faction and son of late Sikandar Shikdar of the village. He was later admitted at Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in critical condition.

Witnesses said Aslam after attending a programme at Agarpur in Babuganj was returning home, when activists of Sarbahara Party’s Zia faction, led

by Manik and Masum, ambushed him near his house, and opened fire around 12:10am.

At least eight rounds of gun shots were fired before villagers came to the spot. They rescued Aslam in a critical condition and took him to Gournadi upazila health complex first, and later to SBMCH. Abul Kalam, officer-in-charge at Gournadi police station, said no case was lodged over the incident till the report was filed while police arrested two youths, Sujon Mir and Nurul Huq Pahloan as suspected Sarbahara activists, in this connection.

Injured Aslam was also a listed terrorist, police sources said. l

Food and Agricultural Organization shows that if individual farmers cannot pay the cost of PVS, members of a community of 250-300 farmers that collectively produces milk per day can put aside a small portion of their individual income from milk to enable them to pay together the cost of services.

Prof Musharraf Uddin Bhuiyan, and Taohidul Islam and Mohammed Shamsuddin (both from Animal Production and Health Section, JointFAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques, IAEA, Vienna) contributed to the Bangladesh case study in the report.

The report says that in Bangladesh framers organisations help them not only generate a commission to support the PVS, but also increase their bargaining power to get a better price for the milk. l

A number of hopeful students giving Gha-unit entrance exams yesterday in Curzon Hall marking the beginning of this year’s Dhaka University admissions

BNP, Jamaat clash with police n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong BNP and Jamaat-Shibir activists were locked into clashes yesterday with police at several points on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway in Sitakunda upazila under the district in protest against arrests of their party activists.

The opposition men blocked the highway and vandalised at least 15 vehicles during the three-hour blockade from 10:30am to 1:30pm, said police.

The blockade led to a long tailback on both sides of Dhaka-Chittagong road causing immense sufferings to commuters of different routes.

There were no report of any further arrests from the spot or any casualties in this connection.

Some activists of local BNP, Jamaate-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir put barricade on the highway in Barabkunda area under the upazila demanding

quick release of 19 their activists who were held Thursday night.

Syed Iqbal Ali, assistant superintendent of police (ASP) of Sitakunda Circle, told the Dhaka Tribune BNP and Jamaat-Shibir men were locked into clashes with police around 10:30am as members of law enforcement agency rushed to remove the blockade.

Police fired several rounds of blank shots to disperse the protesters, he said.

BNP and Jamaat-Shibir men also put barricade on the highway in Amirabad, Shuklalhat and bypass area while police rushed there and dispersed the protesters.

Police took control of the situation around 1pm while vehicular movement resumed half an hour later.

Border Guard Bangladesh troops deployed in the upazila earlier had been patrolling the areas to keep the situation calm. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Members of Rab, Police and BGB, in Cox’s Bazar, have detained 56 people who were allegedly on their way to Malaysia across the seas.

Law enforcement made most of the arrests on Thursday, from a bus terminal in Cox’s Bazar town, Ukhia, and from the Domdomia BGB Check Post Domdmia in Teknaf.

Of the 56, eight were arrested at in Domdmia, around 9pm in the evening.

The arrested came from different places in Dhaka, confirmed Major Shafiqur Rahman of BGB 42 Battalion.

Besides that, a team of Rab-7 arrested 40 people gathered at a bus terminal in Cox’s Bazar. Major Sarwar-e-Alam, in charge of Rab-7 said they were inhabitants of different districts.

Meanwhile, Police arrested 10 Malaysia-bound people from Ukhia on Thursday morning.

Officer in charge of the Ukhia police station, Gias Uddin Mia informed that the arrested were going to gather at the house of a middleman who lives in a village from Shonaichari.

The Malaysia-bound workers, about to board a trawler, were detained with help from the villagers. l

Engineering department of Kuet in stalemate for six months n Our Correspondent, Khulna

The academic careers of 119 students of the civil engineering department of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology is at stake as the teachers have retrained from academic activities for around six months now.

On April 4, while the Shahbag mass movement was going on, a third year student of civil engineering department of Kuet, Johana Sharmin, brought allegation against a teacher of the department of sexually abusing her.

She alleged that the Jamaat-supporting teacher harassed her during a viva exam.

Agitated by her move, teachers of the department went on an indefinite

strike demanding her suspension.

Through investigation, a probe body formed by the university authority found Johana’s allegation to be false and expelled her for three semesters.

However, Johana later received a stay order from the High Court allowing her to continue studying at KUET. Currently teachers are holding on to their abstention programme demanding immediate suspension of Johana.

They have boycotted taking classes and examinations to press home their demand.

They alleged that Professor Dr Mohammad Alamgir, Vice Chancellor of Kuet, was playing in favour of Johana as both of them were supporters of

Awami League.

Dipu, a student of the department said: “We want to attend classes but our teachers are adamant on their decision. At times, it was the students of the universities who boycotted classes but this time it is our teachers.”

Professor Mohammad Alamgir said the teachers had been served with notices several times.

“It is up to their ethics now. Considering the future of students, they should be able to forgive the girl and resume classes soon,” said the VC. Dr Mohammad Khandokar Shafiul Islam, an agitating teacher said they were keen to take classes but the authority was not sincere to solve the problem. l

Ruling party, opposition programmes held peacefully

Two fined for selling hilsa in Barisal

n Our Correspondent, Barisal

n Our Correspondent, Barisal

The local units of the ruling 14-party grand alliance and the opposition 18-party alliance observed their programmes in Barisal peacefully yesterday.

In the morning the Awami League led out a procession from its office at

Sohel Square and marched through the city roads before coming back for a rally. Parties under the grand alliance and their front organisations took part in the procession.

The procession was led by city Awami League President Shawkat Hossain Hiron and among others Secretary

Barisal city unit BNP brings out a procession yesterday, demanding non-party government during the next general election DHAKA TRIBUNE

Afzal Hossain, Zahid Faruk, Mahbubuddin Bir Bikram addressed the rally.

They called on the people to reject and resist the chaos and anarchy of the opposition and the anti-liberation forces to continue sustainable development in the country.

The BNP-led 18-party alliance and their front organisations held a Gayebana Janaza in front of Baitul Mokarram mosque in the city after Jumma prayer.

The programme was held for the departed souls of those who were killed during the last 60-hour shut down called by the alliance.

Among others, Barisal City Corporation Mayor Ahsan Habib Kamal, city BNP Secretary Kamrul Ahsan Shahin were present at the programme. Barisal Metropolitan Police sources said Airport and Kotwali police station arrested Jamaat’s upazila Amir Mawlana Ruhul Amin, Babuganj upazila treasurer Abdur Rob and two Shibir activists yesterday.

The arrestees were sent to jail after indicting in the cases lodged for ransacking, torching vehicles and other terrorist activities, said BMP Police Commissioner Md. Shamsuddin. l

On the first day of an eight-month ban on netting, transportation and marketing of hilsa fry, two fish sellers were fined in Barisal yesterday.

Md Wahiduzzaman, Barisal district fishery officer, said a mobile court led by administrative Farukul Hasan had conducted a drive and fined fish seller Sekandar Shikdar at Port Road Hilsa market Tk500 and Monir Hossain at Taltali Kitchen market

Tk500.

The court also seized one maund of the fish fry and later gave those to two government orphanages, he said.

The ban on hilsa netting, selling and transporting started from early hours of Friday to increase hilsa production.

Aminul Islam, deputy director and divisional fishery officer, said they had planned to form vigilance teams to monitor restriction on hilsa fishing. l

Four held in Chittagong n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Police arrested two alleged auto-rickshaw thieves and two drug peddlers in separate drives at Bakalia area in Chittagong early yesterday.

Mohammad Mohsin, officer-incharge of Bakalia police station, told the Dhaka Tribune that a team from the station apprehended two alleged thieves – Humayun Kabir Rasel, 20, and Natu Kan-

ti Dey, 40, – with an auto-rickshaw from Kala Mia Bazar area around 12:30pm.

In another drive, a team arrested two alleged drug peddlers – Auyub Ali, 50, and Ismail, 22, – with 200 pieces of Yaba tablets from Shah Amanat Bridge area around 2:30pm, the OC said.

Two cases were lodged with Bakalia police station in these connections, the OC added. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

7

Saturday, November 2, 2013

TB kills 170 in 4 years in Bagerhat n Tribune desk At least 170 people have died from tuberculosis while 12,634 have been affected by the disease in several parts of the district in four years to 2012.

The above statistics were revealed at a roundtable discussion titled ‘TB Control and Role of All Levels’ at the District Press Club on Wednesday.

A speaker citing a report of Brac, one of the country’s leading non-government organisations, said the organisation carried out examinations of coughs of about 75,903 people in the district from 2009 to 2012. The tests found 12,634 of them had TB. About 170 of them, including women, died during the period, the report said.

According to the report, at least 34 people died of TB in 2009 in the district while 49 in 2010, 46 in 2011 and 41 in 2012.

Under a Brac programme, TB patients are identified in 456 mobile ceantres through testing coughs in 17 laboratories.

Organised by National Tuberculosis Control Programme, Directorate General of Health Services, Bagerhat Press Club and Brac, the roundtable was attended, among others, by Additional Deputy Commissioner Habibul Haque Khan.

Bagerhat Deputy Civil Surgeon Dr Rafiqul Islam presided over it. l

BGB seizes hilsa, detains 31 in Benapole n Our Correspondent, Jessore

Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, waves at supporters during a rally at Srinagar upazila in Munshiganj yesterday

FOCUS BANGLA

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh yesterday morning seized about 2,000 kilograms of hilsa fish being smuggled out to India.

On receiving information, a team of BGB 26 battalion conducted a drive at Benapole Bazar and seized the fish worth about Tk1.7m, said Lieutenant Colonel Matiur Rahman.

BGB could not arrest anyone as the smugglers managed to escape sensing presence of border guards.

The seized hilsa was deposited to Benapole customs office.

A case was filed in this connection.

Earlier, members of BGB 23 battalion detained a total of 31 Bangladeshis while they were going to India through Putkhali frontier on Thursday night.

Of the arrestees, 13 are women, four children and 14 men.

Lieutenant Colonel Tayef-ul-Haque, commanding officer of 23 BGB battalion, said the BGB men picked up the Bangladeshis while they were illegally going to India with the help of traffickers.

“Sensing the presence of border guards, the traffickers fled the scene,” he added. l

Fake medical certificates being sold PM to inaugurate 16 development at Gaibandha Sadar Hospital projects in Rajbari today n Our Correspondent, Gaibandha A section of unscrupulous doctors and employees of the emergency department at Gaibandha Sadar Hospital are allegedly involved in the business of selling fake medical certificates for money.

Sources said the demand for medical certificates is high among victims of clashes, as a medical report is required to file criminal cases with the police stations or the courts.

A number of unscrupulous doctors of the hospital’s emergency department allegedly take advantage of this urgency, and write medical certificate according to the clients’ wishes and later sell them in collusion with other staffs of the department.

A complaint letter to the district civil surgeon, dated sometime last month, and filed by a victim named Abdul Latif, revealed that Dr Sardar Ahsanul Kabir, a medical officer at the hospital serving for 25 years, used a staff member named Shahinoor as his agent for running illegal certificate trades.

The letter also stated that Dr Kabir, in exchange of money, gave two separate certificates to latif and his rivals with opposing medical findings.

On October 10, Abdul Latif, son of Karim Bakhos from Folia village under sadar upazila, was seriously injured in an attack by his rivals and was later admitted to the hospital for treatment, his family sources said.

Dr Kabir, who was on duty in the emer-

gency department, allegedly charged Latif’s family Tk5,000 in exchange for a medical certificate (grievous) with which an attempt to murder case could be filed.

However, Dr Kabir subsequently collected Tk15,000 from Latif’s opponents and produced an opposing medical report certifying the victim’s condition as normal, the letter complained.

When contacted, Dr Kabir denied the allegations against him, adding that Shahinoor – who worked at the emergency department – might have committed such a misdeed.

Replying to a query, Gaibandha Civil Surgeon Dr Ahad Ali said disciplinary action would be taken against the doctors and the employees of the hospital, if investigation found them to be guilty. l

n Our Correspondent, Rajbari Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of several development projects in Rajbari today.

This is her first visit in the district since the Awami League-led alliance assumed power in January, 2009.

The prime minister will address the rally at Pangsha University College grounds in Pangsha upazila in the afternoon.

She is expected to inaugurate 16 projects with a combined cost of Tk4.95bn and will lay foundation stones for five projects.

Some of the projects which will be inaugurated by the premier are

Bhatiyapara Rail Project, Chandana Brashiya River Excavation Project, Pangsha River project, Flood Protection Project, Pangsha Sub-Registry Office, Goalondo police station building, Rajbari Press Club building, Pangsha Upazila Livestock office, Kalukhali Upazila Health Complex, Rajbari Government College examination hall, technical training centre, youth complex building and a hostel for blind students.

Local people and activists of different socio-cultural organisations formed a human chain in front of the Rajbari press club, demanding inauguration of the second Padma bridge.

Earlier, the BNP activists held a rally

Barisal education office National Youth Day observed n almost empty Tribune Report

n Our Correspondent. Barisal Five out of the six officer positions and over half of the staff positions at the Barisal divisional office of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education are vacant.

Dr. Mustafizur Rahman, a deputy director and in-charge of the office, acknowledged the acute shortage of officers and staff, and said it was hampering the monitoring and regulation of the high schools and colleges in the division.

Barisal DSHSE sources said the positions of two inspectors of schools and colleges, two assistant inspectors of schools and colleges and the post of accounts and audit officer have been vacant for the last two years.

Due to this shortage of staff, not only have the secondary and higher secondary educational institutions in the division remained out of inspection, their accounts have also not been audited in a while.

Three posts in research and evaluation section and seven of the 17 other posts are also vacant.

Deputy Director Rahman said many of the staff were getting their salaries and benefits from different projects, while the posts from revenue sector were vacant.

“We have informed the higher authorities several times to fill up the vacancies and now field level activities have almost stopped. It has become difficult to do regular office duties due to the acute shortage of manpower,” he said. l

National Youth Day 2013 was observed in Khulna and Noakhali with rallies, discussions, tree plantations and the distribution of certificates among young, successful entrepreneurs.

In Khulna, the department of youth development, under the ministry of youth and sports, organised a rally around 10am at the Shibbari Moar area, which ended at the department’s district headquarters.

It also organised a discussion which was attended by Begum Monnujan Sufian, state minister for labour and employment. In her speech as a chief guest, Monnujan said national growth in any country depends mostly on its young populace. ”The youth of today are the future of our nation. Those in the age group of 18-35 years are youths according to our National Youth Policy, and are usually

the most energetic and productive lot around. They are the ones who build our future through their initiatives.”

She also distributed Tk520,000worth of cheques among ten male and female entrepreneurs. Among others, Deputy Commissioner of Khulna Majbauddin and Additional Director of Youth Development Monirul Islam were also present on the occasion.

In Noakhali, the day was observed in a similar spirit. The department of youth development organised a rally, discussion and a painting competition, and disbursed financial aid among young entrepreneurs.

Deputy Commissioner of Noakhali Shoel Imam Khan attended the discussion as the chief guest while Farhad Nur Deputy, director of Noakhali youth development department, chaired it.

About 30 youths received entrepreneurship certificates for the successful completion of trainings on different

skill subjects. Tk440,000 worth of cheques were also disbursed among several entrepreneurs. Earlier in the day, a colourful rally was brought out from in front of the DC Bhaban, which moved through the streets and drew participants from different walks of life.

The day was observed with equal fervour in Kurigram, where the slogan for the observance was “Trained Youths, Foundation of Development.”

Activities marking the day included a colourful rally, plant distribution, distribution of certificates among trained youths, blood donation, and essay and painting competitions.

In Sherpur, the day was also observed in the district amid befitting manners.

District administration arranged ralies, discussions and cultural programmes to mark the day. A procession also paraded main roads of the district on the occasion. l

with the demand. At the rally, Ali Newaz Mahmood Khaium, former lawmaker of Rajbari said people of southern district, including Rajbari, had been demanding the bridge for long, but the prime minister, who was visiting the district for the first time in five years, would not inaugurate or lay a foundation stone for the mega project.

It is a failure of the Awami Leagueled government, he said adding that if BNP comes to power after winning the elections, it will construct the bridge.

When questioned regarding the second Padma bridge project’s inauguration, Deputy Commissioner of Rajbari Hasanuzzaman Kallol said the project was not included in the list of the 16 projects to be inaugurated. l

Housewife strangled in Lalmonirhat

n Our Correspondent, Lalmonirhat

A housewife at Etapota village, under Lalmonirhat sadar upazila was allegedly strangled by her husband on Thursday.

Local people have said that the deceased, Shahina Begum, 19, daughter of Shah Jamal Miah of Bongram village in Lalmonirhat sadar upazila, was married to Abu Taleb, 28, son of Abdur Rafique, three years ago.

Abu Taleb has been known to be torturing her for the last six months, demanding dowry money, locals said.

On Thursday night, a quarrel ensued between the couple over dowry money and her hanged body was found yesterday morning.

Father of the deceased said: “After killing our daughter, he hanged the body to tree to make the incident look like suicide, he alleged.

Abu Taleb went into hiding soon after the killing. l

NEWS IN BRIEF Youth held with snatched motorcycle in Gazipur

Two youths held with yaba in Rajshahi

Minor boy burnt to death in Natore

Police arrested a youth along with a snatched motorcycle from Nargana Bazar under Kaliganj upazila in Gazipur early yesterday. Officer-in-charge of Kaliganj police station Nazmul Islam Bhuyan said the three youth had snatched a motorcycle from Rafiqul Islam. But when the youths reached Nargana Bazar, local people blocked road and managed to catch Kajal, 28, son of Faizuddin of Nargana village, along with the motor cycle. Two other associates of him managed to flee the scene. Later, the locals handed him over to police. A case was filed.

–Our Correspondent

Two youths were arrested with some yaba tablets from Nawdapara Mango crossing under Shah Mukhdum police station in the city Thursday night.

The arrested were identified as Mostaque Ahmed Tulu, 25, and Mamunur Rashid, 30.

Hafizur Rahman Hafiz, officer-in-charge of Shah Makhdum police station, said police nabbed them while they were doing a transaction of the contraband drugs. The two were produced before the court this morning, the OC said. A case was filed against them with Shah Makhdum police station in this connection, the OC added. –BSS

A minor boy was burnt to death in a fire that broke out at Goalbatan in Singra upazila on Thursday night. Local people said the fire had originated from an electric short circuit at the house of Moyez Uddin at about 10:30 pm and soon engulfed three other adjoining houses. All the house inmates except Rahul son of Moyez Uddin, who was then asleep, managed to come out. Later locals doused the flame and recovered the charred body of Rahul. –UNB

One jailed for life for killing in Kishoreganj

The 18-party alliance holds a Gayebana Janaza in Chittagong yesterday for the departed souls of those who were killed during the last 60-hour shut down called by the alliance FOCUS BANGLA

A Kishoreganj court on Thursday convicted two people and sentenced one to life term imprisonment while another to seven years for killing a man in 2008. The court also fined the lifer, A Quddus, Tk 10,000, in default, to suffer two years more imprisonment. Hira Miah, who was awarded seven years imprisonment, was also fined Tk 10,000, in default, to suffer two years more RI. According to prosecution, Shamsul Haq was stabbed to death by the convicts at one stage of altercation at Jonsai haor in Astagram village on April 26, 2008. –UNB

Woman found dead in Jhenaidah A woman was found dead in a bamboo garden at Solemnapur village under Moheshpur upazila in Jhenaidah yesterday morning. Local people found the body of Rokeya Begum, 50, wife of Ibrahim Mandal of the village and informed police about the matter. Police recovered the body and sent it to Jhenaidah sadar hospital morgue for post mortem examination. The deceased’s body bore several injury marks, police said.

No case was filed in this connection.

–Our correspondent

One held with Yaba in Rajbari A team of Rab Faridpur 8 arrested a drug peddler on Thursday evening at the entrance of Daulatdia Brothel in Goalondo Upazila. They seized 147 pieces of Yaba tablets from the possession of the arrestee, Rasheed Mandal, 39. In another drive, Baliakandi police arrested seven gamblers from Garakola village under Narua union in Baliakandi upazila on Sunday night. Sub-Inspector Hasan Ali and another constable of Baliakandi police station arrested the seven people from the home of one Harunur Rasheed. Police said they had been gambling there for four days at same house, ignoring the complaints of the neighbours.

–Our Correspondent

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

Kenyan warplanes bomb al-Shabab camp n Agencies The Kenyan military has said its warplanes bombed targets held by al-Qaeda-linked armed group al-Shabab in Somalia, in retaliation for an attack on a Nairobi mall that killed at least 67 people.

The Kenya Defence Forces said on Thursday that they had destroyed a training camp used by the members of the al-Shabab group who attacked the Westgate Mall on September 21.

“This was part of a broader mission by the AMISOM [the UN-backed African peacekeeping mission in Somalia], targeting where the Shabab were training,” Colonel Cyrus Oguna, a spokesman for the Kenyan military, told Reuters.

“Those attackers at the Westgate did their training there. We have been monitoring this particular area over a

period of time, and we moved in when we got the green light.”

The camp had more than 300 fighters, many of whom are believed to have been killed or injured, the KDF said in a statement.

Oguna said raids on the rebel strongholds would be sustained.

Kenya’s military said the “major aerial offensive” in the Dinsoor region completely destroyed the training camp at Hurguun and at least four “technicals” - improvised fighting vehicles - and a weapons store.

Two leading members of al-Shabab were killed on Monday in a Kenyan drone strike.

However, al-Shabab denied there had been any attack.

“We do not know where they [Kenyan army] are getting that from. No at-

tack happened in our area. Not in Dinsoor, not anywhere else,” an al-Shabab spokesman told Al Jazeera, adding that the group’s fighters had attacked Badhaadhe and Kismayo in the Jubba regions in the south.

Meanwhile, a top UN official has said that the war against al-Shabab fighters in Somalia has “ground to a halt” and needed a surge of almost 4,400 more African Union troops and massive UN assistance to break the stalemate and avoid failure.

Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told the Security Council on Wednesday that the UN-endorsed African Union force now in Somalia, and the Somali military, lack “the capacity to push beyond areas already recovered” from al-Shabab in the last 18 months.l

Germany says ready to talk to Snowden but rejects asylum n AFP, Berlin The German government said Friday it would like to talk to US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden in Russia but that he did not meet the requirements for asylum. After a meeting between a German lawmaker and Snowden in Moscow in which the former NSA contractor offered to provide insider knowledge on US espionage activities, Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Berlin was interested.

“If the message is that Mr Snowden wants to give us information, then we would gladly accept,” he told reporters.

Amid speculation that Snowden would like to exchange secrets for asylum in Germany, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said that Berlin had already rejected an asylum request from Snowden earlier this year on the grounds that any applicant must be in the country.

Turkey, Iran signal thaw in ties amid concern on Syria n Reuters, Istanbul Turkey and Iran said on Friday they had common concerns about the increasingly sectarian nature of Syria’s civil war, signaling a thaw in a key Middle Eastern relationship strained by stark differences over the conflict.

Iran has been a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the start of the 32-month-old uprising against him, while Turkey has been one of his fiercest critics, supporting the opposition and giving refuge to rebel fighters.

But the election in June of President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate who says he wants to thaw Iran’s icy relations with the West, and shared concern over the rise of al Qaeda in Syria, have spurred hopes of a rapprochement.

“Sitting here together with the Iranian foreign minister you can be sure we will be working together to fight these types of scenarios which aim to see a sectarian conflict,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a

Uzbek first daughter escalates family feud with poison claim

n AFP, Moscow

The eldest daughter of Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov on Friday suggested she had been poisoned and accused a top official of plotting against her, after the reclusive Central Asian state took steps to curb her media empire.

Gulnara Karimova, 41, a fashion designer and pop singer who is believed to have wielded significant power until recently, took to Twitter to hint that a top official was plotting to succeed her father.

“If the first person in the special services does not rejoice but is afraid of (my) popularity among the people, then he has his own personal ambitions and plans,” she wrote.

The comment was interpreted as referring to Rustam Inoyatov, the long-serving chief of the Uzbek national security service.

Asked if 69-year-old Inoyatov would like the presidential job, Karimova said simply: “He would.”

“He’s already fighting! Can’t you see from outside?” she added. l

Iraq deaths last month most since 2008: official data

n AFP, Baghdad

October was Iraq’s deadliest month since April 2008, figures compiled by government ministries showed Friday, with 964 people killed last month as the country grapples with a spike in bloodshed.

According to data compiled by the Iraqi ministries of health, interior and defence, a total of 855 civilians, 65 policemen and 44 soldiers were killed.

A further 1,600 were wounded – 1,445 civilians, 88 policemen and 67 soldiers.

The figures also showed that 33 militants were killed and 167 arrested.

The overall death toll was the highest since April 2008, when government figures showed 1,073 people were killed.

At the time, Iraq was slowly emerging from a brutal sectarian war that claimed tens of thousands of lives, with concerns reemerging that the country is on the brink of sliding back into another round of bloodletting. l

Iran’s new Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, left, and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu greet each other AP conference in Istanbul.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who held talks with Turkish President Abdullah Gul in Istanbul and was due to meet Prime

Minister Tayyip Erdogan later in Ankara, echoed the comments, saying that sectarian unrest posed an even greater risk than the use of chemical weapons.

“I believe sectarian conflict is even a

Kerry To Visit Egypt, Tensions High Before Mursi Trial n Reuters, Cairo US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Egypt a day before deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi goes on trial, the next likely flashpoint in the struggle between his Muslim Brotherhood and the army-backed interim government.

Ties between Washington and strategic ally Cairo have deteriorated since the overthrow of Mursi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president.

The state news agency said Kerry’s visit to Egypt, the first since Mursi’s fall, would only last several hours.

A mass uprising which toppled authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak, a longtime US ally, in February 2011 had raised hopes that military men would no longer dominate Egypt.

But the man who removed Mursi, army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has become a wildly popular figure and many Egyptians have turned against the Brotherhood and anyone

perceived as its supporter, including the United States.

State-run newspapers often carry conspiracy theories which suggest Washington backed the Brotherhood to ensure US domination of Egypt and the rest of the Middle East. One even reported that President Barack Obama is a Brotherhood member.

Those dynamics could make it difficult for Washington to lobby successfully for democracy in Egypt.

In a sign of the tension, the United States said on Oct. 9 it would withhold deliveries of tanks, fighter aircraft, helicopters and missiles, as well as $260 million in cash aid to Egypt, pending progress on democracy and human rights.

Mursi’s removal has posed a dilemma for Obama in dealing with a longstanding strategic ally.

On the one hand, he wants to maintain ties with the most populous Arab country, which has a peace treaty with Israel and controls the Suez Canal waterway linking Europe and Asia. l

greater threat and it is not confined to one region,” Zarif said.

“If the flames of sectarianism rage in the Middle East, you will see the results in the streets of London, New York, Rome and Madrid,” he told the conference.

While deep divisions remain between Ankara and Tehran over the conflict in Syria, particularly over the role of Assad in any transitional government, diplomats and government officials say both sides want to mend a relationship which could be key to wider diplomatic efforts towards a solution.

“Both Iran and Turkey are at a point where they think they can work together on Syria,” a senior Turkish official said.

“Both countries believe the situation needs an urgent solution. But the big question is how,” he told Reuters.

A long-delayed international peace conference in Geneva, first proposed in May, would be high on the agenda in Zarif’s conversations with Erdogan, government sources said. l

“That is the state of play,” he told a news conference when asked whether Germany would offer refuge to Snowden, whose US passport Washington revoked following his extensive intelligence leaks. An interior ministry spokesman noted that the German government had received an extradition request for Snowden on July 3 should he arrive in Germany and that Berlin has an extradition agreement with Washington.

The German deputy, Hans-Christian Stroebele of the opposition Green party, met with Snowden at a secret location in Moscow Thursday after classified documents indicated that the NSA had tapped the phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel for several years. “He proved that he knows many things. He is willing in principle to help shed light” on the spying, Stroebele told public television, adding Snowden declared his willingness to testify in Germany or in Russia. l

A South African court on Friday sentenced a 21-year-old man to two life terms in prison for his role in the gangrape and murder of a teenage girl that shocked the country.

A court sentenced Johannes Kana for the brutal murder of 17-year-old Anene Booysen, who was found disembowelled at a construction site east of Cape Town in February.

She was attacked after visiting a pub and found by a security guard and later died in hospital.

Kana pleaded guilty to punching, kicking and raping Booysen, but denied killing her.

He also denied causing “extensive genital injuries” which, according to prosecutors, caused “her intestines to protrude from her genital area and, ultimately, caused her death.”

Before her death Booysen had reportedly named a number of her attackers, but charges were dropped against two other suspects for lack of evidence. l

n AFP, Washington

n AFP, Moscow

A Russian man unhappy with a prior conviction walked into a Urals courtroom on Thursday and detonated a grenade, killing himself and one other person, news agencies reported.

Two others were injured in the incident, which occurred in the Kurgan region, about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) east of Moscow.

The local bailiff service said the man pulled the ring cap on the grenade and threatened to set it off at the courtroom’s entrance unless the guards let him through.

He appeared to be carrying three military grenades, ITAR-TASS reported.

“When the bailiffs tried to detain him, three explosions went off,” the news agency quoted the local bailiff service as saying.

RIA Novosti said the man had a prior conviction for threatening violence against a government official. l

Israel bombs Syria as envoy presses peace talks bid: Report n AFP, Damascus Israel has reportedly bombed a Syrian base to halt an arms shipment to Hezbollah, while the international Syria envoy said Friday there could be no peace talks without the opposition.

The reported air strike on a military base in regime stronghold Latakia on Wednesday would be the first Israeli strike on Syria since a US-Russian accord on chemical weapons averted punitive US military action last month.

Israel did not comment on the reports that emerged Thursday, but it has struck Syria in the past and warned it will continue to take action to prevent sophisticated weapons from falling into the hands of Hezbollah – a key Damascus ally – and other militant groups.

Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television said Israel had targeted a shipment of surface-to-surface missiles destined

overnight clash killed a fourth Palestinian gunman and wounded five Israeli soldiers.

It was the worst violence between Israeli and Palestinians in the coastal enclave since a ceasefire was agreed last November at the end of an eightday conflagration.

The Israeli military said its aircraft

for Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese Shia movement fighting alongside the regime.

A US official confirmed to AFP that “there was an Israeli strike” but gave no details on the location or the target.

Syria, which has cooperated with international disarmament efforts, has vowed to retaliate against any attack but did not respond when Israel carried out two air strikes in May. Hoping to build on the momentum of last month’s US-Russian accord to destroy Syria’s chemical arsenal by mid-2014, UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has meanwhile been criss-crossing the region to rally support for the so-called Geneva II talks.

But Syria’s opposition has refused to attend unless President Bashar al-Assad’s resignation is on the table – a demand rejected by Damascus – and powerful rebel groups have warned that anyone attending the talks will be viewed as a traitor. l

Jeffrey, until last year the US ambassador to Iraq and now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

General David Petraeus, who led the troop surge that quelled the last sectarian explosion in Iraq, warned in a Foreign Policy article the situation was so dire the sacrifices of US troops could be squandered. l

men were in the tunnel at the time of the attack and were killed in the blast.

Hours earlier, one Palestinian militant was killed and five Israeli soldiers wounded after violence broke out when Israeli forces detonated part of a separate tunnel that they had recently uncovered stretching from Gaza into Israel. l

WORLD WATCH McDonald’s Japan ‘sorry’ over homeless ban

McDonald’s Japan issued an apology Friday after it was revealed one of its outlets had posted a notice banning homeless people for more than a year. The notice, which had triggered an online debate, said staff at the west Tokyo branch “would refuse entry to people deemed improper,” citing poor hygiene and homelessness as examples. But the global fast food giant said Friday that following complaints, the sign had been replaced, and now made no mention of homelessness.“Even though the purpose of the notice was for other customers to be able to feel comfortable in the outlet, some of the words it used were inappropriate, and we apologise for that,” a company spokesman told AFP.

Is it a boy or a girl? Germany allows babies to be neither

according to data from the Iraqi ministries of health, interior and defense.

The vast majority of the deaths were civilians.

“The security situation is not only bad... it not only could reverse all of the gains of 2008, it could tear the country apart if both Maliki and the United States do not act quickly,” said James

Two killed in Russian courtroom grenade attack: report

South African man Four Palestinians killed in Gaza gets life for brutal targeted a tunnel used by militants to n Reuters, Gaza facilitate attacks on Israelis and acrape, murder An Israeli air strike killed three mili- cused Hamas, Gaza’s rulers, of breachtants in the Gaza Strip on Friday, the ing the terms of the ceasefire. n AFP, Johannesburg A Hamas source said three of its Islamist group Hamas said, after an

Obama to meet Maliki at the White House US President Obama’s proud political boast is that he ended the Iraq war. But on Friday, he will come face-to-face with a man who is still fighting it – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

The Iraqi leader visits the White House as Al-Qaeda sows terror in Iraq’s Shia community, with a surge of suicide and car bombings, drawing analogies to the darkest days of sectarian bloodletting during the US occupation.

Two years after the last US soldier left Iraq, Americans have largely moved on from a war which killed nearly 4,500 US troops, tens of thousands of civilians and drained the US Treasury.

But the carnage in Iraq – where more than 900 people died in violence last month alone – is stirring fears the country may again slide into an abyss exacerbated by the brutal war rending Syria next door.

In fact, October was Iraq’s deadliest month since April 2008, with 964 people killed and another 1,600 wounded,

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Germany on Friday became the first European country to allow babies born with characteristics of both sexes to be registered as neither male nor female, but advocates called for broader reforms.

Under the new legislation, the entry for gender can be left blank on birth certificates, effectively creating a category for indeterminate sex in the public register.

But activists promoting the rights of socalled ‘intersex’ people said they hoped the creation of a third gender option would open the door to broader changes limiting genital surgery on newborns with both male and female characteristics.

“It’s a first, important step in the right direction,” said Lucie Veith, an intersex person from the northern German city of Hamburg. The German law is intended to remove pressure on parents to quickly make a decision about controversial sex assignment surgeries for newborns.

US woman questions ticket for wearing Google Glass

An early adopter of Google’s Internet-connected eyeglasses may soon become a test pilot of a different sort. Cecilia Abadie was pulled over for speeding Tuesday evening in San Diego, and a California Highway Patrol officer noticed she was wearing Google Glass. The officer tacked on a citation usually given to drivers who may be distracted by a video or TV screen.

Abadie plans to contest what may be a first-of-its-kind citation, and in doing so push authorities on the question of how to regulate evolving gadgetry that will one day be mainstream. The eyeglasses, which are not yet widely available to the public, feature a hidden computer and a thumbnail-size transparent display screen above the right eye.

De Villiers, prolific French spy author, dead at 83

Prolific spy novelist Gerard De Villiers, the creator of the top-selling SAS series with a hero often described as France’s answer to James Bond, has died aged 83 in Paris.

De Villiers’s wife Christine said he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May and had been undergoing chemotherapy.

“The last weeks he was conscious but very weak. He could not endure the chemotherapy,” she told AFP. “It is exactly the death that he did not want.” Never a darling of the critics, De Villiers was nonetheless a publishing phenomenon, claiming his books sold between 120 and 150 million copies worldwide. The 200th book in the series – “SAS: The Kremlin’s Revenge” – was released last month. Instantly recognisable by their lurid covers inevitably featuring a femme fatale brandishing a handgun or assault rifle, his work was shunned by France’s literary establishment.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

Indonesia, China pressure Australia n AFP, Beijing China and Indonesia demanded explanations from Australia Friday over reports that Canberra’s missions were involved in a vast US-led surveillance network, as the row souring US-Europe relations spread in Asia.

US Secretary of State John Kerry admitted US spying had sometimes gone too far as a dispute erupted in the region following a story in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The newspaper reported a top-secret map leaked by fugitive intelligence analyst Edward Snowden showed 90 US surveillance facilities at diplomatic missions worldwide, amplifying an earlier story by German magazine Der Spiegel.

The centres in China included the US embassy in Beijing and US consulates in the commercial hub Shanghai and Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan, the SMH said.

The SMH reports focused on secret US intelligence facilities in Asia and also said Australian diplomatic posts were being used to monitor phone calls and collect data as part of the American surveillance network.

“We require the Australian side to make a clarification,” Hua Chunying, spokeswoman of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters at a regular briefing.

“We also urge the diplomatic missions and personnel in China to strictly abide by international treaties including the Vienna Convention,” she said.

Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Greg Moriarty, front, arrives at Indonesian Foreign Ministry in Jakarta AP Her comments came a day after she said China required the United States to “make a clarification and give an explanation,” adding foreign diplomatic missions and personnel must not engage in any activity that may “jeopardise China’s security and interests.”

Indonesia – where the US and Australian embassies in Jakarta were both identified as surveillance facilities – summoned Australian ambassador Greg Moriarty to the foreign ministry on Friday for a 20-minute meeting on the accusations.

Afterwards Moriarty told a scrum of reporters: “I just spoke to the secretary general, and from my perspective, it was a good meeting and now I have to go and report directly to my government.”

Earlier this week Jakarta summoned the US ambassador over the issue.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa described the reported spying activities as “just not cricket.”

Natalegawa, speaking Friday after talks with his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop in Perth, said his government was “obviously deeply concerned.”

“Most of all, it’s about trust,” he said, adding: “I’m not sure what’s the right term in Australian terminology, I guess it’s not cricket to do this kind of thing.”

Bishop said that Natalegawa had “raised his concerns, I took them on board and I take them seriously, but the Australian government does not

and will not comment on intelligence matters.”

The row is another blow to ties between Canberra and Jakarta, which have been tested by new Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s hardline policies on trying to stop asylum seekers who board boats in Indonesia from arriving in Australia.

Widespread reports of US National Security Agency spying based on leaks from Snowden, including that the agency was monitoring German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone, have already sparked a major trans-Atlantic rift.

In Malaysia, the foreign minister said it had “sought clarification” from the US ambassador to Malaysia, Joseph Yun, over the allegations.

The reaction from other Southeast Asian nations mentioned in the Sydney Morning Herald report was more muted, however, with Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar seeking to downplay the issue.

Washington has been seeking to improve ties in Asia in recent years to counter growing Chinese dominance.

Kerry sought to calm the row by admitting that spying had sometimes gone too far and by offering assurances that such steps would not be repeated.

“I assure you, innocent people are not being abused in this process, but there’s an effort to try to gather information,” Kerry told a London conference via video link.

“And yes, in some cases, it has reached too far, inappropriately.” l

Saturday, November 2, 2013

‘Peeping Tom’ US risks own security by spying on allies: China n Reuters, Beijing The United States country risks its own security by refusing to trust even its own friends and spying on its allies, China’s official Xinhua news agency said on Friday, labelling the latest revelations heart-stoppingly fascinating.

“The sole superpower’s spying saga is spicy on a heart-attack scale. It is particularly hurtful to those supposed to trust America the most - its allies,” Xinhua said in an English-language commentary, peppered with colourful language.

“What is counter-intuitive in the NSA forage is its nonsensical approach: relentless and indiscriminate like a vacuum cleaner. It just bugs everybody, even its closest allies in Europe,” it added.

‘Uncle Sam needs to remember what happened to the tailor in the Lady Godiva story - Peeping Tom was struck blind’

The head of the US National Security Agency (NSA) defended his beleaguered organisation on Tuesday, saying it acts within the law to stop militant attacks and calling reports that the NSA collected data on millions of telephone calls in Europe false.

China accuses Japan of ‘dangerous provocation’ at sea n AFP, Beijing Beijing’s military accused Tokyo of a “highly dangerous provocation” by interfering in Chinese live-fire drills in the Pacific last week, warning that Japanese lives could be at stake, state media reported Friday.

Japanese ships and aircraft tailed Chinese navy vessels conducting the exercise in the western Pacific ocean, the defence ministry said, according to reports.

“The actions of the Japanese ships and planes not only interfered with our normal exercises but also endangered the safe navigation of Chinese ships and planes, and might lead to misjudgment and accidental injuries,” the state-run China Daily quoted defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun as saying.

Yang made the comments at the defence ministry’s monthly press briefing, which foreign media are barred from attending.

According to China’s state-run Global Times, the People’s Liberation Army Navy was conducting drills in the western Pacific last Friday when a Japanese warship “broke into the drill zone” and

remained in the area for three days.

An unspecified number of Japanese aircraft also entered the area several times, tailing and monitoring the Chinese vessels, the report said.

The ministry had lodged a “solemn representation” over the action, it added.

China gave advance warning through the International Maritime Organization on October 23 of its plans to conduct the drills, the Global Times said.

Tokyo took issue with the complaint, with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato saying: “Japan is conducting warning and surveillance activities in the surrounding waters appropriately.

“It is not true that Japan interfered with military drills by Chinese naval vessels,” he said, adding Tokyo had already made its case to Beijing.

The furious Chinese response – and implicit threat – marks a further deterioration in their already fraught relationship, which has soured in recent years as the two Asian giants exchange tough rhetoric over disputed islands in the East China Sea and Japanese leaders’ visits to a controversial Tokyo war shrine. l

TEPCO, US to cooperate in Japan nuke plant cleanup n AP, Tokyo The utility operating Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant says it will work with the US Department of Energy in the decommissioning of the site and in dealing with contaminated water problems. Tokyo Electric Power Co. President Naomi Hirose says the agreement with US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz was made Friday during Moniz’s

visit to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. Moniz inspected the plant’s preparation to remove fuel rods from an uncontained cooling pool at Unit 4 — one of four reactor buildings damaged in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and the one considered the highest risk.

The fuel removal at Unit 4 is the first major step in a decommissioning process expected to take decades. l

A tourist takes photos near a partially damaged stone bridge, surrounded by potted plants, in front of Tiananmen Gate

AP

Islamists ‘behind-the-scene supporters’ of Tiananmen attack: Chinese official n AFP, Beijing China’s top security official has named an Islamic movement as “behind-thescenes supporters” of this week’s fatal attack in Tiananmen Square, in Beijing’s first claim of an organised link to the incident.

“Its behind-the-scenes supporters were the terrorist group the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) based in Central and West Asia,” Meng Jianzhu said when asked about the Tiananmen incident on a visit to Tashkent in Uzbekistan, video posted online Thursday showed.

A high-profile car crash on Monday killed two tourists and injured dozens

Gunmen kill six Shias in southwest Pakistan

n Agencies

n AFP, Quetta

Thailand’s parliament has moved another step closer to passing controversial political amnesty legislation that opponents fear would allow ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to return.

Thousands took to the streets on Friday to protest against the draft bill, raising fears of possible violence.

The House of Representatives voted 310-0 early on Friday to pass a draft of the amnesty bill after 19 hours of heated debate during which lawmakers opposed to it walked out. The legislation must be approved by the Senate before it becomes law.

Critics argue the bill would whitewash crimes of Thaksin, who lives in self-imposed exile in Dubai to avoid prison for a corruption conviction.

Others are opposed because it would grant amnesty to those responsible for the killing of around 90 protesters during a wave of anti-government rallies that brought the heart of Bangkok

The White House has moved to limit some NSA programmes, including one that monitored the cellphone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“Ironically enough, the bugging undermines the very thing it is supposed to protect - national security. As America pins its security on alliances, the tapping tale would sour its relationship with allies - and thus erode its security bedrock - more than any terrorist would be capable of,” Xinhua wrote.

Xinhua commentaries are not official policy statements, but can be read as reflections of Chinese government thinking.

The Chinese government is often accused, most vocally by the United States, of hacking into computer networks overseas, targeting both companies and government departments.

China consistently denies the accusations, saying it is one of the world’s biggest victims of hacking.

Xinhua said that the US prevarications about the spying accusations was deeply hypocritical, especially considering the allegations about hacking thrown Beijing’s way by Washington.

“The apparent application of a double standard only reinforces the image of a Janus-faced America. In the sunlight, it preaches; in the dark, it pries.

On the offensive, it orates; on the defensive, it equivocates,” it wrote.

“Uncle Sam needs to remember what happened to the tailor in the Lady Godiva story - Peeping Tom was struck blind.”l

Sri Lanka ‘wipes data’ as Australia journalist expelled n AFP, Colombo

Thai MPs pass political amnesty bill to a standstill in 2010.

Thaksin remains highly polarising seven years after being ousted by a military coup over allegations of corruption and disrespect for Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Unrest anticipated The ruling Puea Thai Party of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra - Thaksin’s sister - had ordered all its lawmakers to support the amnesty bill, which would cover crimes related to political unrest since 2004.

She garnered large majorities in winning office, especially from rural voters who gained from Thaksin’s populist policies.

Anticipating possible unrest as lawmakers readied to debate the bill, Thailand’s interior minister earlier this week ordered provincial governors to be on alert for violent protests or disruptions to public utilities.

Before dawn on Friday, more than 5,000 opposition Democrat Party supporters opposed to the amnesty plan rallied outside their headquarters. l

9

Gunmen shot dead six Shia Muslims on Friday, officials said, in what appears to be the latest in a wave of sectarian attacks in Pakistan’s troubled southwest.

The incident took place on a road in Muchh town, southeast of Quetta, the capital of the oil and gas rich Baluchistan province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.

“The gunmen attacked a vehicle carrying eight Shias, who were returning to their work in coalmines, killing six of them and wounding another one,” senior local administration official Waheed Shah told AFP. He said the gunmen who were hiding along the roadside fled after the attack.

Another local official, Mumtaz Khatran, confirmed the incident and casualties.

No-one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Baluchistan has been a focus for rising sectarian violence targeting Shias, who make up around a fifth of Pakistan’s predominantly Sunni Muslim population. l

at the popular site and symbolic heart of the Chinese state. The three people in the car – a man, his wife and his mother – all died in the crash, police say.

They said the vehicle had a licence plate from Xinjiang, the far western region where China’s mostly Muslim Uighur minority is concentrated, while the names released of the three people inside and five other detained suspects sounded Uighur.

ETIM is known as a militant Islamic separatist group that seeks an independent state in Xinjiang.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying on Friday called the group “the most immediate and realistic security threat in China.”

It and other organisations “have long been engaged in central, east and west Asia, and have colluded with other international terrorist organisations,” she said at a regular press briefing, without elaborating or confirming any ETIM tie to the attack.

The United States and the United Nations both classified ETIM as a terrorist organisation in 2002, during a period of increased US-Chinese cooperation following the 9/11 attacks.

But ETIM’s strength and links to global terrorism are murky. Some experts say China exaggerates its threat to justify tough security measures in Xinjiang, which has seen sporadic ethnic clashes and anti-government sentiment. l

Pakistan criticised over drone victim numbers n Agencies International human rights groups have criticised Pakistan for lowering civilian casualty numbers of US drone strikes, contradicting its past calculations and the estimates by independent organisations.

Amnesty International researcher Mustafa Qadri said on Thursday that government figures were questionable because the numbers conflicted with their research while the London-based human rights group, Reprieve, described the government’s civilian casualty figures as “inaccurate.”

Pakistan’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that only 67 of 2,227 people killed during the 317 attacks since 2008 were civilians, insisting there have been no civilian casualties since 2011.

The new numbers contradict a UN report released earlier this month, that, quoting Pakistani foreign ministry officials, said the number of civilian deaths were as

high as 400 since the drone programme started in 2004.

Responding to the contradictory figures, Ben Emmerson, a UN expert investigating drone strikes, wrote in an email to the Associated Press news agency: “If the true figures for civilian deaths are significantly lower, then it is important that this should now be made clear, and the apparent discrepancy explained.”

Amnesty’s Qadri says the new, lower figures indicated a failure of the state to adequately investigate alleged civilian casualties. The drone attacks, which mainly target suspected armed fighters near the northwestern border with Afghanistan, are widely unpopular in Pakistan, because they violate the country’s sovereignty and have resulted in civilian casualties.

The Pakistani government regularly criticises the drone programme in public, even though it is known to have secretly supported at least some of the strikes in the past. l

Sri Lankan authorities on Friday wiped all the data from the computer of an Australian media rights activist as she and a colleague were kicked out of the country, a local rights group said.

Jacqui Park and fellow Australian Jean Worthington were packed onto a plane that flew out of Colombo airport a day after authorities ordered their expulsion for for “anti-government” activities.

But, according to members of the local Free Media Movement (FMM), Park was only allowed to board after planeclothes investigators removed all data from her personal laptop at the end of two days of questioning.

“They were told by the immigration officials today that it was all a big misunderstanding,” FMM spokesman Sunil Jayasekera told AFP. “They went through everything in the computer. When they gave it back to her, everything had been erased,” Jayasekera added.

There was no immediate comment from immigration authorities who detained the pair – both members of the International Federation of Journalists – during a meeting with FMM colleagues at a hotel in Colombo on Wednesday.

FMM spokesman Sunil Jayasekera said Park was on holiday and was simply meeting with her local colleagues and not breaking any visa conditions.

Sri Lanka has blacklisted many foreign journalists over their reports on the country’s human rights record and alleged war crimes in the final stages of the Tamil ethnic war in 2009.

Local journalists have also been the victims of crimes and many say they practise self-censorship.

An anti-establishment editor fled the country in August, less than a month after armed men held her at knifepoint. l

Data recorder of crashed plane recovered in Laos n AP, Bangkok The flight data recorder from a Lao Airlines plane that crashed last month has been recovered from the Mekong River and the cockpit voice recorder has been located, officials said Friday.

The plane crashed Oct. 16 during a heavy storm as it approached Pakse Airport in southern Laos. It struck a riverbank before plowing into the swift-running Mekong, killing 49 people.

The digital flight data recorder was recovered Thursday, said Yakua Lopangkao, director-general of Laos’ Department of Civil Aviation. He said on Friday that the divers were able to see the cockpit voice recorder but they have not been able to recover it.

He said earlier that the cockpit voice recorder was found but corrected that.

He said the confusion was caused by a misreport of officials. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Letters to

www.dhakatribune.com

the Editor

LETTER OF THE DAY

Good news for print

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he government’s decision to reduce the duty on newsprint for the publication of newspapers from 10% to 5% was a step in the right direction. As per the approval of the finance ministry, an official order will be issued.

Our newspaper industry, already tackling various financial problems, is being hurt by the high duty on newsprint as it is, along with printing plates, the primary While a reduction in the raw material for the product. duty for newsprint is a Bangladesh is a country good move, we urge the where the majority of peogovernment to make ple still rely on newspapers imports of newsprint for news and information. completely duty free This free flow of knowledge and information is not only so that this highly desirable for our growing beneficial industry may and vibrant economy, it is a thrive cornerstone of democracy.

High duties on newsprint hurt that free dissemination of information by making it harder for print media to thrive.

Out of 67 paper mills in the country, only two are capable of producing the type of roll newsprint used by newspapers. Local newsprint tends to be of fairly low quality.

High quality newspapers, therefore, are forced to rely heavily on imports. Import duties faced by publishers make it very hard for this key industry to pull themselves out of the crises they have had to face in recent decades.

While a reduction in the duty for newsprint is a good move, we urge the government to make imports of newsprint completely duty free so that this highly beneficial industry may thrive.

BTRC must not allow the IGWs to escape justice

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he BTRC must track down and hold accountable the owners of the internet gateway operators (IGW) – telephone gateways through which calls are routed for cheaper rates on international long distance calls – who have absconded with the Tk9.11bn they owe to the BTRC and to the other groups whose services they utilise.

Whereas each IGW ought to share 51.75% of its earnings with the BTRC, 20% with the mobile operators whose services There are allegations they use to complete the that these IGWs are international calls, and using their political 15% with the Interconnecconnections to make tion Exchanges (ICEX), instead, these IGWs have it easy for them to get disappeared with their away with their crimes, earnings intact. which the BRTC has a And there are allegaduty to put a stop to tions that these IGWs are using their political connections to make it easy for them to get away with their crimes, which the BTRC has a duty to put a stop to.

The BTRC has acted responsibly by filing legal notices against the IGWs, seeking government permission to cancel their licenses, and planning to file money recovery cases against them under the Public Demand Recovery Act 1913.

However, it must move more quickly and diligently.

Unfortunately, as we are well aware, the process of seeking justice in our country is slow, and political pressure plays a role. That is something the BTRC cannot allow to happen. It must bring the IGW owners to justice.

CROSSWORD

Opening free legal aid cell for workers October 29

It is heartening that the government has recently opened a free legal aid cell in the capital’s Srama Bhaban for the impoverished workers with a view to providing free legal assistance to and lodging cases on behalf of the workers. We all are aware of the immense suffering of the down-trodden workers, due mainly due to the blatant violation of labour laws by the employers and their unacceptable indifference to the workers’ legal rights and safety. The situation is worsened by the aggrieved workers’ inability to have resort to the law court for the redress of their grievances as they are, in most cases, unable to shoulder the associated costs involved. Launching a free legal aid cell for workers is, therefore, a good initiative and we hope that it will make significant contribution to the protection of the legal rights of the poor and vulnerable workers.

Asaduzzaman (Jewel) University of Rajshahi

Nay we say October 28

Resisting confrontations October 26

nina You think the two bickering ladies get to have downtime with newspapers? Well, they don’t. It is pointless to write about what they are doing.

They don’t listen and they don’t care about what the deshi or bideshi people are thinking. They have been caricatured, made fun of, but nothing seems to get their attention to do the right thing.

All you columnists are burning your midnight oil in finding logical solutions and what their respective roles should be as the current and a previous leader of the country. You all are wasting time. They neither read nor hear anything.

DOWN 1 Acrimonious (6) 2 Snare (4) 3 Cold dish (5) 4 Pungent (3) 5 Gather for oneself (5) 6 Limb (3) 7 United (3) 11 Metal (5) 13 Kingly (5) 16 Boil gently (6) 18 Portion (5) 20 Work into a fabric (5) 22 Slender support (4) 23 Mineral spring (3) 24 Traveller’s aid (3) 25 Was ahead (3)

Waliul Haque Khondker

October 28 Saudi Arabia is still a medieval country.

Maud Trad Sayyeda If Khadijah (ra) could run her own business, then why can’t a woman drive a mere car? The Saudis have the whole concept of Islam wrong.

Gina Zf At least Saudi women have some real guts, which Saudi men lack.

Mahmud Rahman And all this is because Islam supposedly thinks women driving is haraam? Please people, stop abusing religion!

Syeda

LETTER OF THE WEEK

Six months of Rana Plaza disaster October 25

Mahmudul Islam nina: Newspapers aren’t for just publishing political and business rhetoric, they must go for real-life stories, stories that reach out to people, touch and win their hearts and make a lasting impact. They need stories that do speak for a wide variety of people. That is what this newspaper has already done and is still doing.

Still a long way to go. Unfortunately, there is no major development to ensure safety of the workers at their workplaces.

I wish there will be no more tragedies.

Nur Elahee

matthewislam nina: I am sure they don’t care but I guess those who write do and therefore do the best they can to express it in the “hope” that one day things will change. Thank you for reading my op-eds and thank you so much for commenting. It’s feedback that we most crave as writers, good and bad.

PS: I agree with the first five lines of your response.

Write to us at: Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath Sukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Email us at: letters@dhakatribune.com Send us your Op-Ed articles: opinion@dhakatribune.com Visit our website: www.dhakatribune.com Come join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

Be Heard

More rewards for Mominul October 28 The state minister for youth and sports had also declared it for Abul Hossain. We don’t know if Abul Hossain got his reward. If yes, than it will encourage our players.

Md Mustafa Mamun In a country like Bangladesh children are not nourished. But for a game like cricket, children need to be raised with good health. Children must be raised with proper coaching and mentoring to be sound cricketers when they grow up. In each village, a support centre can be established to coach children with a talent for playing cricket. They need to be given special nutritious diet, and a combination of study and cricket.

Shanta Jesmina He always declares but never pays.

Tauhid Ahmed Bappy

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

CODE-CRACKER ACROSS 1 Wagers (4) 4 Circle of light (4) 8 Narrow beam (3) 9 Augury (4) 10 Small duck (4) 11 Raised platform (5) 12 Separate (4) 14 Female deer (3) 15 Distress signal (3) 17 Corded fabric (3) 19 Tree (3) 21 Beverages (4) 23 One of the senses (5) 26 Minute particle (4) 27 Step (4) 28 First woman (3) 29 Copied (4) 30 Eastern ruler (4)

If a “No vote” wins, there has got be another election with all new candidates.

This would be quite messy, no doubt, but worth a try, to compel political parties to stop “nomination trades” and field acceptable candidates to the electorate.

Saudi women fined for defying driving ban

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS Crossword

Sudoku

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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Saturday, November 2, 2013

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Our ‘Fifth Estate’

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an established definition and this is partly the reason I find it so mysteriously beautiful. It is loosely defined to consist of a group of people outside the mainstream that have a counter opinion that, in certain instances, is used to organise to bring about considerable change within the policy-making process.

While some assert that the Fifth Estate consists of political pundits and commentators, it is a popularly established fact now that the term more aptly describes “networked individuals” by means of technology, such a weblogs, Facebook or Twitter, who can hold the other estates accountable.

Is the Fifth Estate any good to any of us? There is a lot of debate to that end. Without a doubt it has been hugely influential around the world in recent years, encouraging historical movements, many of which have led to “reactions and corrections, and crackdowns and reversals,” says Ivan Sigal, Executive Director at Global Voices.

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message of violence to make a point, Bangladesh’s Fifth Estate is anything but established.

In fact, it lacks the confidence, substance and organising influence compared to our neighbours in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal and is leagues behind the abilities of the same sort of forces around the world.

Those in the Bangladeshi blogosphere who did wield considerable influence have now been brought into line jointly by the First and Second Estates through actions on insignificant players and enactments of the ICT. Our traditional Estates pretty quickly recognised from examples worldwide that the rise of the Fifth would pose considerable pain to the status quo and therefore didn’t spare time to address and block the rise of this perceived problem.

It remains to be seen whether there will be strong groups from within the Fifth in Bangladesh who will rebel and break through to organise and wield their influence over substantive

The term more aptly describes, “networked individuals” by means of technology such a weblogs, Facebook or Twitter, who can hold the other estates accountable

Hard to pin down, the Fifth Estate is digital

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n Matthew Islam

ost of us are aware of the four estates. Three of which were coined in post-medieval era France, also known as Ancien Régime, where the “estates of the realm” were demarcated dividing society into three parts. The First Estate being “clergy” consisting of religious men making up a significant part of the political hierarchy.

The Second Estate being “nobility,” consisting of all royal lineage excluding the monarch, who oversaw all estates. The Third Estate belonging to the “commoners” consisted of everyone else. Then came the Fourth Estate, first used albeit debatably by Edmund Burke in 1787 to describe the press.

Thomas Macaulay, I think, best put

it in his essay in 1828 titled, “Hallam’s Constitutional History,” where he stated in reference to parliamentary proceedings, “The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm.”

The Fifth Estate doesn’t really have an established definition and this is partly the reason I find it so mysteriously beautiful

Curiously, Samuel Adams, one of the US founding fathers, once said, “There is nothing so fretting and vexatious, nothing so justly terrible to tyrants, and their tools and abettors, as a free press.”

BIGSTOCK

Indeed, that is how powerful the press has been and continues to be in many nations including for a short period in the 90s in our very own Bangladesh.

In Bangladesh, we have a slightly different division to the Estates with the change that the First Estate is the one consisting of “politicians and those in uniform.” The Second Estate being “the clergy,” in our case different religious groups and depending on your interpretation and bias, holding differing amounts of power.

The Third Estate being “us,” the commoners. Note how our position throughout history remains unchanged anywhere in the world.

Mostly always oppressed, bound and ruled upon.

Therefore, the Fourth Estate, the press, remains in place but with wisdom from Sam Adams, heavily managed by the First Estate (for our own

good and security) and, unlike other nations in the world, very much in equal positioning to the Third Estate, meaning “bound” by invisible shackles for the forthcoming future where “freedom” has a very defined parameter with a set of stringent rules. It is because of that very limitation that the Fourth Estate, even though very much a growing part of our society, all have similar voices with uniform tones in their official output.

Whenever someone breaks the choir pitch, they are either privately reprimanded to correction or demoted from the Estate altogether. Conformity is survival to fight another day to make small victories and baby steps ahead.

So it is with the backdrop of a partial failure to function with full freedom from the fourth that a new Estate finds life, called the Fifth Estate.

The Fifth Estate doesn’t really have

He goes on to add, “There is also much debate over whether the Fifth Estate is something to be lauded or feared: On the one hand, it facilitated political uprisings, as in Tunisia and Egypt; on the other hand, those uprisings have led to vigourous and vicious reactions from state power, as in Egypt and Syria.”

In stark contrast it has also served as a fantastic means to organise for philanthropic causes that have led to solutions for a lot of socioeconomic challenges. So to that extent it’s a good thing. In terms of an organising and propaganda tool for terrorists, it’s also been a bad influence which has been significantly problematic to combat and served as a destructive weapon for the villains of the world.

Notwithstanding “Shahbagh,” in my opinion a very poor example of the Fifth Estate’s power, and outrageous commentators in the media of the likes of Mr Farhad Mazhar, who believes it’s okay to promote the

Standing with Saudi women activists

Obama risks losing his aura

n Syeda Samara Mortada

n Stephen Collinson

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n Saudi Arabia, when there is an eligible bachelorette in the house, a green flag is hoisted outside so that prospective grooms and their families can send marriage proposals. Whether they are allowed to see and talk to each other, or if they rely on the judgment of their family members remains a mystery to me.

Here are some fun facts about Saudi Arabia, some of which you might know already. Women in the country do not step outside of their homes without male companionship, whether it is the hospital, or the grocery store.

Every man has an ID, formally known as the ekama, while women do not as men in their families act as their guardians. Women in Saudi Arabia, irrespective of nationality or personal choice for that matter, remain burkha-clad when around men. Note: White women are often exempted from this rule but if a brown woman does not have her hair “properly” covered, men in beards suddenly appear and warn the husband/guardian.

There are two professions that women can choose to pursue: Teaching and healthcare. It is not uncommon for Saudi men to take as many as four wives, and live with all of them, along with their respective children together, in one household.

These simple pointers must be enough to hint at the position of women in Arab land. That they are given no priority, no rights or even no say about any matter, doesn’t come as a surprise.

But what is surprising is the brave path that some Saudi women activists have treaded on when they took up driving on the streets.

This was probably their first claim to independence, to pursue something outside their comfort zone, without worrying about the consequences.

There have been three such incidents in which women in a combined and

organised nature took to the roads, whereby they were stopped by government officials, the last one being on October 27 this year, and the first being in 1990.

This third and final attempt can be termed as more or less successful as dozens of women have posted their videos online, although the numbers can’t be confirmed. How these women learned to drive in the first place, without being able to go anywhere without a male chaperone, remains a story that fascinates me.

women who attempt it and lock them up in prison.

For me, Saudi women deserve praise simply for defying a redundant law, and taking matters in their own hands. Nothing substantial has been achieved through this incident. Yet, many changes have occurred even though the ban is yet to be lifted.

Women will be allowed to vote and run in municipal elections starting 2015. Women will also be allowed to join the Shoura Council, a, national decision-making body, starting 2013.

Saudi women deserve praise simply for defying a redundant law, and taking matters in their own hands. Nothing substantial has been achieved through this incident. Yet, many changes have occurred even though the ban is yet to be lifted

The archetypical attitude of the patriarchal society is about as bad as it can get in Saudi Arabia. That they want to remain clutched to the lifestyle, behaviour and monotonous mindsets of their forefathers, and that they refuse to grow out of the 7th century Middle Eastern mentality cannot be appraised.

But while they are circumferenced by what they term as the “Islamic way of life” they do not refrain from modern technologies and forms of what can only be termed politely as “entertainment” in the private spheres of their life. Men are allowed to go beyond the prescribed ways, to break laws even whereas women remain enslaved in the four walls of their homes.

There is no written law in Saudi Arabia that bans women from driving cars. Yet it is an unacceptable form of behaviour in their country and thus remains reason enough to arrest

Saudi Arabia for the first time ever sent female Olympic athletes, a runner and a judo fighter, to compete in London.

When I look back at my days as a young child in Saudi Arabia, I am unable to fathom how for years women have continued to walk behind their husbands, eyes cast down literally and metaphorically. According to the World Economic Forum’s gender report, Saudi Arabia is one of the worst countries in the world for women to live in.

I am proud to be a Bangladeshi for many reasons. The development of women’s emancipation, along with better healthcare and education facilities, in comparison to many other countries around the world, is one that tops the list. l Syeda Samara Mortada is the associate editor of ICE Today, a lifestyle magazine.

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s his political woes mount, Barack Obama risks squandering two assets no president can do without: Public trust and the aura of a man firmly in charge.

Flaps over the implementation of his signature health law and National Security Agency snooping have done more than dump Obama’s approval ratings to new lows.

They call into question the president’s governing style and personal candor at a time when his political window to revive a stalled second term agenda is fast closing.

Obama’s problems may also squelch a precious chance to capitalise on public disgust at Republicans over the recent government shutdown and debt default debacle. And the president’s tumbling poll ratings will also spook Democrats early in the race to the 2014 mid-term elections.

Obama insists that the healthcare law is more than just a wonky sign-up website, and that all will be well once technical issues are sorted out.

The revelation that Obama did not know US spy agencies were snooping on the phone of his friend, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have offered ammunition to Republicans claiming that Obama is running an aloof “bystander” presidency.

Brookings Institution scholar William Galston said Obama faced two immediate political threats.

“One of which is that the president could appear less than fully candid.

The other ... is that he could appear less than fully briefed,” said Galston, a former aide to Bill Clinton and Al Gore.

The row over Americans losing their policies could linger and Republicans know it. “This isn’t fair. It’s not what Americans were promised,” Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday.

The White House says Republicans are not telling the full story, arguing

that only around 5% of Americans are affected by the cancellations and that many policies are being discontinued because they do not meet the higher standards required by Obamacare.

Americans who lost their insurance will be able to purchase better programs through Obamacare, officials say, though do not discount they may pay more in some cases.

A new Wall Street Journal/ ABC News poll showed Obama’s job approval ratings at a new low of 42% “This has been the latest flurry in the news,” Obama said in Boston on Wednesday. “There’s been a lot of confusion and misinformation about this.”

But in Washington politics, perception is often more important than reality, and the damaging soundbite of Obama saying over and over that Americans can keep their health insurance plans is on a continuous loop on cable news stations.

A new Wall Street Journal/ABC News poll showed Obama’s job

Halloween at the White House

political and socio-economic policy development going forward.

For the former, we have seen individual breakthroughs, mostly behind masks, everywhere but they haven’t translated into meaningful group action yet and, for the latter, wonderful examples have manifested in social media even though not nationally significant as of yet.

It’s my contention though that it is simply a matter of time, largely promoted by cheap and speedy digitisation (irony behold), that our Fifth Estate, long dormant, will finally find a cause worth the fight and effort that allows us to experience and participate in breaking the shackles to establish a society that we consider to be just and fair.

Let the Estates keep failing our expectations and see where that leads! l Matthew Islam is a barrister-at-law, a textile businessman and a columnist at the Dhaka Tribune. He can be contacted on Twitter via @matthewislam.

approval ratings at a new low of 42%, and his hitherto resilient personal ratings, which have helped him ride out of trouble before, have also taken a hit.

While Obama will not face voters again, such numbers will still worry the White House, as the president seeks to stave off the lame duck status common to all second-term presidents.

They may also doom long-shot hopes that Democrats could take back the House of Representatives in 2014 and conjure an Indian summer for Obama’s presidency. As Obama’s stern fightback in Boston showed Wednesday, his aides realise they have a serious political problem.

“If there’s a perception that he’s not on top of his own program, that he’s not cognisant of what’s going on in major issues, such as surveillance of top world leaders and his healthcare program, that does damage his reputation,” said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history at Princeton University.

In a presidency torn by economic, political and foreign policy crises, Obama has rarely had time to catch his breath. He is beginning to sound fatigued. l This article has been syndicated from AFP.

REUTERS

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Young photographers present positive Bangladesh

Shakib Khan and Bindu starrer film Eito Prem

Eito Prem finally sees light n Mahbub Hasan Joyti Four years after the Muharat (official announcement of shooting of a film), the editing of Shakib Khan and Bindu starrer film “Eito Prem” has been finished, and it is in the process to be submitted in the censor board soon.

Debutant director Sohel Arman says: “We are close to the finest finish. We are working hard, and the target is to release it on December 16.” The film depicts a love story on the backdrop of the Liberation War in 1971.

While talking about taking such a long time to finish the film, the director’s take was: “We had to take time to

get schedules from the cast.

Produced by Shaheen Kabir, the cast of the film also features Ramendu Majumder, Shahiduzaman Selim and Afroza Banu.

Composed by popular musician Habib the song “Ami Tomar Moner Bhitor Ekbar Ghurey Ashtey Chai,” from the movie was released almost three year earlier and it was a big hit. The director hopes that the film would surpass the popularity of the song. “The audience will get a quality movie that combines our culture and history along with a beautiful depiction of romance. The sizzling chemistry of Shakib and Bindu will be a treat for the movie lovers.” l

n Shadma Malik

Gaurob and Nobonita’s music show today n Entertainment Desk

The splendor of Bangladesh in different aspects and angles have been portrayed through the works of a bunch of young photographers who are displaying their talents in an ongoing exhibition titled “Colours of Bangladesh.” The threeday show, organised by Amateur Photography Bangladesh, will continue till 8:00pm today at the Drik Gallery.

A total of 82 photographs by 75 photographers are being displayed at the gallery. The theme of the exhibition is “colours” and the subject was open to all the aspiring photographers in the context of Bangladesh.

A participant, Rifat J Eusufzani, has captured a divine moment of praying during Bishwa Ijtema (global congregation of Muslims) in his piece “Munajat.”

Interestingly the photo portrays people praying on a moving train. “I took the photo in a moving train, where people were praying to Allah at the final phase of the congregation. A moment like this is hard to find.”

Farhana Jabin’s street photography “I am Not Alone” shows the companionship between a human and nature.

Fusion singers Labik Kamal Gaurob and Nobonita Chowdhury will perform this evening at the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre in Gulshan.

Gaurob is the founder member and lead vocalist of the rock fusion band Ajob. Formed in 2001, Ajob released their debut album in 2006 under the leading Bangladeshi record label Ektaar Music. His solo album “Paar Koro,” comprising baul songs, was released in 2009, and was acclaimed by both listeners and critics at home and abroad.

Ajob’s second album “Hajar Bhooter Rajar Doya” is complete and waiting to be released soon.

Nobonita Chowdhury is an expert in both Tagore and folk songs. She has found philosophical resemblance between the works of Tagore and the Bengali folk mystics like Lalon Shai, Hason Raja and others and has started practicing and performing folk songs. Nobonita’s first album “Ami Jontro Tumi Jontree” was released in 2007. It was a compilation of Lalon songs and the music was arranged by the famous rock musician Ayub Bachchu. l

ON TV DRAMA 2:30m Zee Café

Private Practice

According to her, a human being is never alone since the person is always accompanied by nature.

Riduanul Islam Riduan has presented a nostalgic moment in his photo titled “Wish to Hold”where a man holding an umbrella amidst rain. Riduan shares: “In the rain, most of the time, we cherish the best days from our memory.”

Amin Khan and Janvi star in Na Bola Bhalobasha n Entertainment Desk

9:00pm Star Plus Arjun

Dhallywood actors Amin Khan who has made a niche for himself in the industry, has paired up with Janvi once again, in a telefilm named “Na Bola Bhalobasha.” The telefilm is written

by Amin Khan himself and directed by Taju Kamrul. The actors were last seen together in “Ami Tumi Shey,” also directed by Kamrul.

The shooting of the telefilm has been completed recently in some eye-catching locations throughout Cox’s Bazar.

The plot revolves around a fifty years old man named Borno who waits by the sea-side for his longstanding love Parita. One day, during one of his waiting sessions, he saves a girl from drowning and on a whim, shares his age-old love story with her.

When Borno was young, he used to work as a manager in a hotel located in

MISC 2:30pm Discovery Rhodes Across Asia 8:30pm FTV F Men

COMEDY 10:30am Comedy Central MASH

9:00pm Z Cafe The Big Bang Theory

TODAY IN DHAKA Music

Concert

By Stone Free Time: 7pm Red Shift Coffee Lounge Radius Centre, 5th Floor, Bay’s Galleria 57 Gulshan Avenue, Gulshan

Exhibition

Rhythm of Xylography Group Art Exhibition Time: 11am – 7pm Gallery Cosmos-2, New DOHS, Mohakhali Nishobdo Solo Exhibition

By Shabekun Nahar Time: 3pm - 9pm Alliance Francaise de Dhaka, Dhanmondi When Silence Eats Sound Group Exhibition Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Art Lounge 60 Gulshan Avenue

Film

Titanic (3D) Purno dhorgho prem kahini Nishwartha Bhalobasa Riddick Level 8, Bashundhara City Panthapath

Festival

Urban Youth Festival II Time: 11am – 8pm Goethe Institut Bangladesh Road 9 (new), House 10, Dhanmondi R/A

Theatre

Chandidas

By Ethik Time: 7pm National theatre Hall Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Konthonalite Surjo

By Tirondaj Natyadal Time: 7pm Studio Theatre Hall

Gwyneth Paltrow: Move to Hollywood is experiment n Entertainment Desk Gwyneth Paltrow has decided Hollywood is no good for her children and will move them back to England.

The Oscar-winning actress is making sure there is no chance of her daughter Apple, 9, and son Moses, 7, turning into Hollywood horrors and says she

has no plans to try and establish herself as the next Oprah Winfrey back in the States.

However, the 41-year-old admitted the move was an “experiment” and she now plans on bringing them back to Blighty in a couple of years along with hubby and Coldplay singer, Chris Martin.

Gwyn said: “I don’t want my children to be teenagers in LA. No way. I am looking at this move to America like two years, three years tops – then we will go back. It’s part of my parenting philosophy that children should get the opportunity to reinvent themselves at a few points in their childhood to see where their strengths and weaknesses lie and to experience living in different cultures. It’s an experiment.”

In the rather frank interview with Red magazine, out November 6, she added: “I feel the work-life balance of a woman should be exactly what feels right to her. It doesn’t matter what they think.”

The star of Sliding Doors and Shakespeare in Love lived in England for a decade before heading to the States and called the capital her “adoptive home.”

She said: “I love London – it’s my favourite city in the world. I love my house and my life there. But in California, I have the girls I grew up with and my family. I’ve got a real posse.

I don’t know, there was something about turning 40 and feeling like I needed to go home for a year or so.”

The star has also shelved plans to have a third kid with the Coldplay frontman after being haunted by the memory of nappies. l

Tutul Chowdhury’s “Shekol” satires the urban lifestyle of the current society where the children are deprived of playgrounds and open sky. The photograph shows a child behind the bars of a window of a modern apartment.

Also, the photographs are displayed in a beautiful manner in the gallery where these are segmented on the basis of the dominating colours. l

Cox’s Bazaar. He was in love with the daughter of the owner of the hotel. But the difference in their status prevents him from sharing his feelings with his beloved.

About the telefilm, newcomer Janvi said: “I am totally new to acting and believe that I have a lot to learn yet. I learned acting by starting my career in the industry, prior to this, I had no professional training whatsoever. This is my second telefilm with Amin. I am hopeful about this project as the audience has appreciated our chemistry in the previous telefilm. Also, I am playing the role of both lead females in the story.”

Amin Khan said: “Janvi is a new comer, but she is already giving remarkably good performances. I have written the story and I really hope that the audience will appreciate my effort and also like the chemistry between Janvi and myself.” l

Kapoor cousins top the Times Celebex n Entertainment Desk In a recent list of most popular celebrities by Times of India and Zoom!, the Kapoor cousins Ranbir Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor topped the list of the most popular celebrities male and female respectively.

Interestingly, at the second spot on both the lists are Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif.

Ranbir Kapoor’s popularity soared through the list because of the promotional events of his movie “Besharam;” the pre-diwali party in New York which he attended with his parents; his popular endorsements and his other movies “Jagga Jasoos” and “Bombay Velvet.”

Shahid Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi and Riteish Deshmukh gained significantly and moved up to single digit ranks because of their respective movies “Phata

Poster Nikhla Hero” and “Grand Masti.”

New entrants in the top 50 are, Sharman Joshi at number 35 due to promotions of “War Chhod Na Yaar,” Boman

Irani at number 36 due to his role in “Happy New Year” and Kamal Haasan at number 40 due to “Vishwaroopam 2.” l

Don 2 in legal trouble after 2 years n Entertainment Desk Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar who hailed over the success of the Shah Rukh - Priyanka starrer “Don 2” is now a victim of legal controversy wherein the producers have been accused of criminal breach of trust.

According to the complainant, Nariman Films, who has originally produced “Don,” had given the rights of “Don” to Farhan Akhtar only till 2009. Thus, “Don 2” which released in 2011 was ideally against their contract. Nariman Films therefore filed a civil suit alleging “Don 2” of violation of copyright laws as elements of the original Don like the tune, characters, parts of the script, songs etc were used in the sequel.

But the case was dismissed back then owing to the fact that multiplexes and theatres had already been booked for the release.

However, recently on Thursday, the magistrate asked the police to continue the investigation and passed an order under Section 202 of the Criminal Procedure Code wherein an FIR was asked to file to carry out the investigation and the police was asked to submit the report.

The complaint has been filed against Red Chillies, Reliance Entertainment, Baba Arts, Bipin Salva and others involved in the second installment of “Don.” l

Did you know?

Nicolas Anelka has scored 18 times against his former clubs in the English Premier League; more than any other player has managed

Sport

Saturday, November 2, 2013

14 Costa, Villa keep Atletico on trak

14 Perfect 10 for rampant Roma

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 Hazi, Quairee clinch Half Marathon

‘I am still the same person as before‘ The first man in the history of Test cricket to score a hundred and claim hat–trick Sohag Gazi has not rested on the laurels of his record breaking performance. Instead, Sohag went on to earn the man-of-the-match award in the second ODI against New Zealand on Thursday to give Bangladesh its 15th ODI series win. The off-spinner spoke to the Dhaka Tribune’s Mazhar Uddin afterwards about his life and career.

Brigadier General Abidur Reza Khan (Retired), chairman of Kurmitola Golf Club tournament committee, (L) yesterday speaks at a press conference of Bangladesh golfer Siddikur Rahman, who is set to play in the World Cup Golf this month MUMIT M

World Cup debutant Siddikur looks to finish season strong n Shishir Hoque Siddikur Rahman has been the first Bangladeshi to do a great many things in the golfing arena and the latest of these is to play in the ISPS Handa World Cup Golf tournament, which starts on November 21 at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia.

Siddikur will play two tournaments – one in India, the other in Australia – before the big event. On Monday, he will leave the country to take part in the Hero Indian Open in New Delhi from November 7-10. Later, he will travel to play in the Australian Masters, which gets underway on November 14.

The golfing sensation previously failed to qualify for the World Cup in the last two years, but was included in

the tournament in Australia as one of the top 300 players in the world. Siddikur is currently ranked 251 after his 25th place finish in the CIMB Classic in Indonesia – a result that saw him rise nine places in the world rankings. He is also currently placed 9th in the Asian Order of Merit and is one of 13 Asian golfers to participate in the US$8 event in Australia.

“I’m satisfied with my performance in the last five tourneys and still working on my mistakes to overcome them so that I can perform better in the World Cup. My target is to finish at a respectable position in the World Cup,” Siddikur told the media at a city hotel yesterday, adding that his ultimate goal was to make it into the top 20 in the world.

Siddikur is scheduled to play in six tournaments for the rest of the season.

After the Hero Indian Open, Australian Masters and World Cup, he will also take part in event in Indonesia, Hong Kong and Thailand. A top finish in the Hong Kong Open will earn him a place in the European tour.

He has already played in 17 international tournaments this year and has been showing a newly found consistency. In his last five outings, Siddikur finished in the top three at the Mercuries Taiwan Open.

The 28-year-old explained how the work he had put in to reach the next level. “It’s true that I failed to perform consistently after winning the Brunei Open in 2010 but I have improved a lot recently. I consulted with a swing

coach recently, also with a physiologist and nutritionist to surmount my errors. I’m doing everything I can to bring back my consistency and now I’m seeing the improvement.

“After performing badly in the last year after playing in many tournaments, I thought that it would be better if I reduced my participation. Now I realize I was wrong because my performance has improved since I start taking part in every meet,” he said.

Recently, Siddikur got an opportunity to play with his idol, South African Ernie Els in the third round of the Macau Open. Siddikur said he learned a lot from his idol. “Sometimes you can’t learn things from someone just by asking but you can learn a lot watching him play up close,” explained the Bangladeshi. l

DT: Tell me about yourself.

Gazi: Usually I am quite type of person. I like to sit in a corner and try to observe whatever is happening. You can say that I am a shy person.

What were your recent goals and what have you done to achieve them?

At the moment, my goal is to break into the top ten in the world rankings, and I want the opposition to feel pressured when I come onto bowl – the way they did with Muttiah Muralitharan or Saqlain Mushtaq.

What has been the toughest challenge you’ve faced?

I had been a stand-by for nine years.

When I didn’t make it into the Under-19 World Cup, I wanted to see what happens in the end. I had given so much of my life to cricket and I just wanted to see it was worth it. Those days were the toughest days.

What was the turning point?

I think my second national league season was the turning point of my life.

I scored a hundred and picked up seven wickets, including a hat trick against Khulna division, which I think helped to me to get into the national team.

Who was the inspiration of your life?

My father is the inspiration of my life. He was a government employee and we belong to a middle class family.

My father was a very honest man and he always told me to remain honest whatever I do, which I always remember. My family is my everything and today, I am what I am because of him and my family.

How much has life changed after playing for national team?

To be honest, I have never changed but yes my life has changed. At the moment I am able to contribute to my family very well and it’s because of cricket I am able to do that. Life was very different when I was not playing for the national team. You can say life is great for me at the moment.

Where were you when Bangladesh whitewashed New Zealand the last

Contrasting wins for Doleshwar, MSC n Reazur Rahman Rohan

An all-round performance from Sabbir Rumman led Prime Doleshwar to a convincing 7 wicket win over Brothers Union at Bogra, while bottom-of-the-table Khelaghar SKS suffered another narrow defeat as Mohammedan SC came away winners by 10 runs at BKSP-3 in yesterday’s Dhaka Premier League matches.

The wicket at Shaheed Chandu Stadium has favoured batsmen this season and this continued to be the case as Doleshwar strolled to their target of 252 to win with nine overs to spare.

Imtiaz Hossain (54) and Mehrab Hossain Jr. (36) gave Brothers a good start as they put on 95 for the first wicket after being put in to bat. Nafees Iqbal at number three scored 58 while Sri Lankan Thilan Samaraweera and Alok Kapali made 42 and 32 runs respectively to take the orange outfits well past 200. Sabbir, after claiming both Nafees and Alok, later returned to remove Nazmus Sadat and Sohrawardi Shuvo and finished with figures of 4/36, in addition to having a hand in Gareth Cross’ run-out. Brothers made 251-9 from their 50 overs.

In reply, Doleshwar lost Joshua Cobb early but Mehedi Maruf’s 43-ball 54, and Rony Talukder’s run-a-ball 57 kept the chase on course. Later, Middlesex player Dawid Malan and Sabbir added 105 runs for the fourth wicket to take Doleshwar to their fifth win of the competition.

The hard-hitting left-hander Malan struck 83 from 90 balls while Sabbir made 51 from 54 balls.

Meanwhile at BKSP, opener Rajin Saleh’s 60 was neutralised by three run-outs as Mohammedan were reduced to 106/5. However, late contributions from Samiullah Shinwari (39), Delwar Hossain (33) and Muktar Ali (24*) helped Mohammedan recover to finish at 205/8.

In reply, most of Khelaghar’s batsmen got starts, but were unable to push on to a big score. Daniel Housego made 53, Niaz Morshed 21, Faisal Hossain 20, Nizamuddin Ripon 30, Mahmudul Islam 24 and Masum Khan 27 as Khelaghar were bowled out for 195 in the last over.

Delwar Hossain claimed four wickets and Samiullah Shinwari three for the bowling side. l

Brief Scores At Bogra

Brothers Union: 251/9 in 50 overs Nafees Iqbal 58, Imtiaz Hossain 54; Sabbir Rahman 4/36 Prime Doleshwar: 257/3 in 41 overs Dawid Malan 83*, Rony Talukder 57, Mehedi Maruf 54 Result: Prime Doleshwar won by 7 wickets MOM: Sabbir Rahman (Prime Doleshwar) At BKSP Mohammedan SC: 205/8 in 50 overs Rajin Saleh 60, Faisal Hossain 2/34 Khelaghar SKS: 195 all out in 49.1 overs Dan Housego 53; Delwar Hossain 4/25, Samiullah Shenwari 3/55 Result: Mohammedan won by 10 runs MOM: Delwar Hossain (Mohammedan)

time in 2010?

(Smiles) I was playing for Orient Sporting - a first division club - and I watched the matches on TV but never thought about how it feels to play for Bangladesh and win a series. Now, when I received the man-of-the-match in the series win against New Zealand, sometimes I remember those days and thank the Almighty.

Tell me about the dressing room reaction after the series win.

It was crazy in the dressing room.

Everyone was shouting and dancing all over. I can’t even describe what happened that day, we all went crazy and some of us also prayed to thank Allah for this series win.

Are you enjoying stardom?

Absolutely, I think it’s a gift from Allah. Not everyone gets stardom but I honestly never felt that I was a star. I am still the same person I was five years back, but yes, back then whenever I saw people asking for autographs and photos with the cricketers, I always wished that one day I would be in that position.

I never refuse anyone who wants an autograph, I enjoy the thing very much.

Any plans to get married?

(Smiles) At the moment I am not thinking about marriage. I am the youngest in my family and my elder brothers and sisters are already married.

I am not thinking about that at the moment but yes I have a girlfriend, that’s all I can say at the moment. I will let you guys know when it will happen. l

Shamsur confident but wary n Mazhar Uddin

Shamsur Rahman Shuvo (C) celebrates with his teammates after their victory in the 2nd ODI against New Zealand on Thursday

MUMIT M

Bond predicts bright future for Tigers n Mazhar Uddin Former New Zealand fast bowler and current bowling coach of the same team Shane Bond said yesterday that Bangladesh deserved their 2-0 lead in the ongoing ODI series, praised the development of the Bangladesh team and claimed that the Tigers would be a threat to any team in very soon.

“We played some good cricket in patches, but not for long enough. There were times when we had Bangladesh under pressure and they responded very well. They totally deserver their 2-0 lead,” said Bond.

The 38-year old also informed New Zealand were concerned about another whitewash defeat, following the 4-0 hiding they received in 2010. “Oh yeah we talk about this and stuff, we talk about what we’ve learnt from the last

series and what we can do differently, but that doesn’t change the fact that if the opposition outplays you, you get beaten. We have got a good side, we just need to play better,” said Bond.

Bond, who retired just before the previous tour of Bangladesh in 2010, praised the development and improvement of Bangladesh cricket and thought they were on the cusp of being a force in world cricket soon.

“I think they have come a long way.

I played one of the early test matches against Bangladesh, you can see the confidence and experience grow. Although Bangladesh will be very difficult in home conditions, but the biggest challenge is how they will go when the wickets are a bit faster and bouncier. If they can get exposed to those kinds of wickets - history has shown what Sri Lanka has achieved - there’s

no doubt about Bangladesh’s passion for cricket and the talent, that they will be a force wherever they play in the world,” he said.

Bond went on to specifically appraise Bangladesh’s pace bowlers. “I know Mashrafe (bin Mortaza) is a good new bowler, quite an experienced bowler. He had an injury but he looks fit and he is bowling fast and he has bowled well. Rubel (Hossain) gave us a demonstration of exactly how to bowl on these wickets and in these conditions. I thought he was exceptional. So no, I am not surprised. These guys have set a tone for the team up front. We always knew that spinners were going to be a challenge, but they have done a great job supporting the spinners. As a bowling unit, even though I think we bowled okay, I think they bowled better,” he said. l

Shamsur Rahman Shuvo, who made his ODI debut in the second match against New Zealand where he scored 25 runs and put on 63 for the first wicket with Tamim Iqbal, said Bangladesh will look to finish the series positively but was also wary of the Kiwis striking back.

“At the moment, we are on a high after winning the series but we are not overconfident as we all know New Zealand is a good side and they will try to come hard against us in the next match, so we have to play well and finish the series positively,” he said.

The 25- year old said the pitch in his debut game was difficult to bat on and determined his patient approach. “Initially, the ball was not coming on to the bat and we had to adjust to the wicket.

Then we realized if we can spend time in the middle, we can play our shots later,” said the opener, who took 54 balls to score his 25 runs.

Reflecting on the innings, Shamsur said he remained calm through the turgid early period but gained confidence after striking two sixes, “I was focused and remained calm when I was not getting the runs initially, but those two sixes helped me to get settled at the wicket and I was feeling much better at the crease.”

Nonetheless, Shamsur accepted responsibility for his awkward dismissal to a full toss from off-spinner Nathan McCullum. “To be honest I don’t know what happened on that delivery. I think I totally misjudged the ball and I hope I don’t make these types of mistakes in future and play long innings,” he said.l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Costa, Villa keep Atletico on Barcelona’s heels

Ancelotti wants balance to Bale, Ronaldo brilliance

n Reuters, Madrid

n AFP, Madrid

Atletico Madrid kept pace with leaders Barcelona and restored their fivepoint lead over thirdplaced city rivals Real when Diego Costa and David Villa each scored a penalty in a 2-1 win at Granada in La Liga on Thursday.

Atletico, King’s Cup winners last season, have won 10 of their 11 league games this term, a record only bettered by unbeaten champions Barca, and their only setback was this month’s 1-0 defeat at Espanyol.

Transformed into genuine title contenders by Argentine coach Diego Simeone, they have 30 points in second place, with Barca, who won 3-0 at Celta Vigo on Tuesday, on 31 and Real, 7-3 winners at home to Sevilla on Wednesday, on 25.

Spain forward Villa won both of Atletico’s penalties at Granada’s Los Carmenes stadium, La Liga top scorer Costa netting the first in the 38th minute for his 12th goal of the campaign.

Villa converted his spot kick in the 78th before Atletico fullback Felipe Luis was shown a second yellow card and sent off and Odion Jude Ighalo pulled a goal back for the home side in the first minute of added time.

“I am delighted with the effort the players are putting in,” Simeone said at a news conference.

“It’s not easy to win, win, win and continue winning,” the former Atletico and Argentina midfielder added. l

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti will be looking for more of the same from his star-studded front line when his team travel across town to face Rayo Vallecano in La Liga today.

The Italian lauded the offensive explosion of his front three of Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema as they combined to smash seven goals past Sevilla on Wednesday.

Ronaldo bagged his 22nd Madrid hat-trick, whilst Bale and Benzema scored twice and had two assists as both men produced easily their best performance of the season so far.

However, Ancelotti was less enamoured with his side’s defending as Real conceded twice in quick succession before half-time and, after losing a third goal to a sweet strike from Ivan Rakitic, also saw the Croat miss a second-half penalty before eventually running out 7-3 winners.

“It was a bit of a crazy game and we scored a lot of goals,” said Ancelotti.

“But we lacked a bit of balance because when you are leading 3-0 you have to be more careful to avoid problems.

“We had a lot of great individual performances, particularly up front. I think the three there have played very well and tried to pressure very high up.

We lacked balance because we didn’t press as well in midfield and we had problems on the wings. “We need to look for that balance with the other seven players because I want those three to keep pressing high.”

There should be plenty of opportunities for Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema to rack up their goal tally again on Saturday when they face the worst defence in any of Europe’s major leagues.

Rayo have conceded 27 goals in their 11 league games to date and, after an eighth defeat of the season at Osasuna on Wednesday, coach Paco Jemez said

Results Granada

1-2

Villarreal

0-2

Athletic Bilbao

2-2

Real Betis

0-0

Ighalo 90

Susaeta 55, Aduriz 69

Atletico Madrid

Diego Costa 38-pen, Villa 78-pen

Getafe

Marica 5, Sarabia 90

Elche

Lomban 9, Niguez 48

Levante

Atletico Madrid's Brazilian forward Diego da Silva Costa (L) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a penalty during the Spanish league football match against Granada FC at Nuevo Los Carmenes stadium in Granada on Thursday AFP

Pirlo looks to Parma test n AFP, Milan

Andrea Pirlo insists Juventus will put their upcoming Champions League clash against Real Madrid on the back burner until the Serie A champions deal with a tricky away trip to Parma.

Juventus sit in third place in Italy’s Serie A with a five-point deficit to record-setting leaders Roma and on the same tally as second-placed Napoli ahead of their home fixture against Catania.

Roma dominated basement side Chievo throughout a 1-0 win at the Olympic Stadium on Thursday to make it 10 wins from 10 opening games, extending the all-time Serie A record of nine they set last weekend.

Juventus, who fell to a 2-1 defeat on their recent visit to Madrid, host Real in Turin on Tuesday when Antonio Conte’s side need a win if they are to realistically have a chance of qualifying for the last 16 knockout phase.

Before then the Bianconeri travel to Parma, where midfield veteran Pirlo said it will be crucial to build on a positive return of six goals from their last two home wins since a stunning 4-2 reverse to Fiorentina two weeks ago.

Juventus are tipped to collect all three points but Parma would would be forgiven for feeling confident of an upset following a 3-2 win at home to AC

Milan last week. Pirlo, whose side face Napoli away following their home clash against Real, said Juve need to focus.

Napoli suffered a first shock of the season in a 1-1 home draw against new boys Sassuolo last month but since then Rafael Benitez’s men have claimed 12 of a possible 15 points including a precious win away to Fiorentina in midweek.

Benitez’s men will also be tipped to keep in touch with Roma when they host a Catania side which is still reeling over an injury suffered by key striker Gonzalo Bergessio which has sidelined the Argentinian for two months.

Bergessio suffered a fractured shinbone in a clash with Juventus defender

Fixtures Parma v Juventus AC Milan v Fiorentina Napoli v Catania Giorgio Chiellini in Wednesday’s defeat and is not expected to return until after the Christmas break.

It is a significant blow for the Sicilians, who sit third from bottom with one win and six points from 10 games, and prompted club president Antonino Pulvirenti to hit out.

Fiorentina are still fuming over a 2-1 defeat to Napoli on Wednesday, at the end of which Colombian Juan Cuadrado saw red after alleged simulation despite being fouled in the area. l

Leaders Arsenal set for Liverpool title test n

AFP

After consecutive home defeats, Premier League leaders Arsenal will look to reassert their title credentials when they host third-place Liverpool in a top-of-thetable affair today.

Arsenal have been in superb form in the league, winning seven and drawing one of their last eight games to establish a two-point lead over Chelsea at the summit.

However, after losing at home to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and then falling to Chelsea in the League Cup, questions are being asked about their capacity to go the distance.

In Liverpool they face a team brimming with confidence after a 4-1 win over West Bromwich Albion in which Luis Suarez claimed a hat-trick and Daniel Sturridge scored with an extravagant chip.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who will recall stars including Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud to his starting XI, says the game represents an ideal opportunity for his side to show their worth.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers

has revealed that Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho has been given the “all clear” to return to action, having been sidelined since September 16 with a shoulder problem.

Arsenal could be in second place by the time the game kicks off at the Emirates Stadium, if Chelsea win at Newcastle United in Saturday’s early match.

Fixtures Arsenal Fulham Hull City Man City Newcastle Stoke City West Brom West Ham

v v v v v v v v

Liverpool Man United Sunderland Norwich City Chelsea Southampton Crystal Palace Aston Villa

The Europa League champions won all six of their games in October, scoring 18 goals, but right-back Cesar Azpilicueta has warned his team-mates not to get carried away.

Newcastle enjoyed a 3-2 win over Chelsea in last season’s corresponding fixture in February, but they may be hampered by the after-effects of

Wednesday’s 2-0 extra-time defeat at home to Manchester City in the League Cup. City are six points off the pace after going down 2-1 at Chelsea last weekend and will hope to make up ground on the teams above them when they tackle Norwich City at the Etihad Stadium.

Joe Hart is fighting to hold onto his place as City’s first-choice goalkeeper, having committed the latest in a succession of blunders to hand Chelsea victory at Stamford Bridge.

Despite that setback, City can console themselves with the knowledge that they remain two points above crosstown rivals Manchester United, but the defending champions have shown signs of improvement in recent weeks.

United’s 4-0 win over Norwich in the League Cup in mid-week extended their run of games without defeat to six and on Saturday they visit a Fulham side who were dumped out of the League Cup by second-tier Leicester City.

Fifth-place Southampton will look to sustain their excellent recent form away to Stoke City, while Everton and Tottenham Hotspur will both be gunning for a third consecutive victory when they meet at Goodison Park on Sunday.l

his side “looked like a team of kids in an adult league.”

Ancelotti has a fully fit squad to choose from for the short journey to Vallecas and he hinted that Xabi Alonso could start after making his first appearance of the season for the final 25 minutes against Sevilla.

“I am very happy. Now I don’t have any problems and I expect to improve bit by bit by competing and being useful for the team,” Alonso said.

“I have the feeling that the team is already formed, although there are things to polish up on, but the season is very long.

“We are reinforcing what we are doing well and correcting what we can do better, we expect to get to where we want to this season.”

Fixtures Real Sociedad Almeria Vallecano Sevilla

v v v v

Osasuna Valladolid Real Madrid Celta Vigo

Sergio Ramos will also be available despite picking up his fifth booking of the season in midweek as his ban will not be enforced until next weekend.

Madrid could be nine points behind Barcelona by the time they kick-off on Saturday though as Barca have the chance to continue their storming start to the season when they host Espanyol at home in the Catalan derby on Friday.

Following their victory over Real in El Clasico last weekend, Barca have now won every league game at the Camp Nou for the past year and will be able to welcome back a host of star names, including Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Neymar after they were rested from the 3-0 win against Celta Vigo in midweek.

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid, who lead Real by five points in second place, are in action on Sunday when they host high-flying Athletic Bilbao at the Vicente Calderon. l

More records in sight as Bayern go to Hoffenheim n AFP, Berlin

Bayern Munich have their eyes set on equalling a 30-year-old record for the Bundesliga’s longest unbeaten run as they prepare to go to Hoffenheim today.

Following their treble-winning 2012-13 campaign in which they broke one record after another, the outgoing Jupp Heynckes appeared to have left his successor Pep Guardiola with a thankless task. But Guardiola has picked up where Heynckes left off and has already equalled Bayern’s longest ever unbeaten start to a Bundesliga season, set in 1968/69.

As a result, the reigning champions are now undefeated in their domestic league in 35 games in over a year and a draw or a win at the Rhein-NeckarArena in Sinsheim on Saturday will see them match the previous best mark set

by Hamburg between January 1982 and January 1983.l

Fixtures Nuremberg Hoffenheim Hamburg Eintracht Hertha Berlin Frankfurt

v v v v v v

Freiburg Bayern Munich M'gladbach Leverkusen Schalke 04 Wolfsburg

Perfect 10 for rampant Roma n AFP, Milan

Cristiano Ronaldo poses during the launch ceremony of his CR7 by Cristiano Ronaldo underwear line at Madrid's city hall on Thursday REUTERS

Marco Borriello headed his first goal of the season to secure a 1-0 win for Roma over Chievo and extend the leaders’ new all-time Serie A record of opening season wins to 10 on Thursday.

Roma, who have scored 24 and conceded just once this campaign, restored their lead of five points on secondplaced Napoli and Juventus after their wins over Fiorentina and Catania respectively on Wednesday.

Rudi Garcia’s side were afforded the honour of being the first Italian team to record nine opening wins in succession last weekend thanks to a late 1-0 win away to feisty Udinese.

However with Juventus also having achieved that feat during the 20052006 season, when the Turin giants were stripped of the title and any other related honours, fans of the Giallorossi packed the Olympic Stadium on Thurs-

day to see more history being made in the capital. Roma have so far played down talk of challenging for what would be their first scudetto (title) since 2001.

Despite missing captain Francesco Totti and Gervinho through injury and with defender Douglas Maicon suspended, Roma dominated throughout but found Chievo a tough nut to crack.

Chievo, sitting bottom with one win and only four points and also missing French striker Cyril Thereau due to a

Result Roma

Borriello 67

1-0

Chievo

late injury, proved hard to break down in a first period in which Roma should have hit the net several times.

The visitors’ goalkeeper Christian Puggioni punched away a long-distance drive from Dutchman Kevin Strootman, while Daniele De Rossi missed the target with a header and Marquinho flashed an angled drive wide.l

AS Roma players celebrate after winning 1-0 against Chievo Verona during their Serie A match at Olympic Stadium on Thursday

AFP

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Quick Bytes

MSC booters likely to boycott again

Sport

15

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Eight out of eight for Paris, London

The Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited footballers are likely to boycott their pre-season training camp once again if they don’t get their advanced contact money by tomorrow. Earlier before Eid-ul-Azha, the players of the Motijheel based club boycotted the camp in demand of advanced payment of their wage, but returned only after getting financial assurance from the officials, who promised to pay them before the players’ transfer process. However, as the inter-club players’ transfer window deferred for 15 days, the officials are also delaying the payment, hence putting the players in a tricky situation once again.

One of the Mohammedan players, who chose anonymity, said they will boycott the camp from Monday if the club fails to give them their assured contact money.

– SH

MSC face Navy in chess opener Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited will take on Bangladesh Navy Chess Team in the opening round of the Premier Division Chess League which will get underway at the Bangladesh Chess Federation hall-room today. The Mohammedan team consists of four Grandmasters - Amonatov Farrukh of Tajikistan, Volkov Sergey of Russia, Ziaur Rahman and Niaz Murshed – while their opponets will have three GMs - Abdullah Al Rakib, Reefat bin Sattar and Enamul Hossain. The draw of the tournament was held yesterday. A total of nine teams are taking part in the meet.

– SH

A year on from Sandy, NY marathon returns The New York City Marathon returns to the streets of the Big Apple on Sunday, a year after Hurricane Sandy forced organizers reluctantly to cancel. The New York Road Runners Club came in for criticism last year as they pressed ahead with plans for the race in the face of widespread devastation. Nearly 100 people died amid the flooding and property damage wreaked by Sandy, much of the damage located on Staten Island, where runners would have made the traditional start to the 26.2-mile (42.2km) event that winds through all five boroughs of New York. When race and city officials finally realized on the Friday before the race that they just couldn’t go, New York Road Runners President Mary Wittenberg called it a “crushing” decision.

– AFP

‘MoustAshes’ battle gets hairy for Aussies Australia’s cricketers will be having their own battle of the ‘moustAshes’ when they take on England during the Ashes series starting this month. Matthew Wade, David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and head coach Darren Lehmann will vie with each other for the hairiest upper lip as they raise funds for the Movember charity. The cricketers are beginning their moustache-growing from November 1 to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health.

– AFP

Day’s Watch Star Sports 2:00PM India v Australia 7th and Final ODI 1:00AM La Liga 2013/14 Rayo Vallecano v Real Madrid Star Sports 2 6:45PM F1 World Championship 2013 Abu Dhabi GP, Qualifying 9:00PM Barclays Premier League Man City v Norwich City Italian Serie A 2013/14 11:00PM Parma v Juventus 1:45AM AC Milan v Fiorentina ESPN 6:45PM Barclays Premier League Newcastle v Chelsea 9:00PM Fulham v Man United 11:30PM Arsenal v Liverpool 3:00AM La Liga 2013/14 Sevilla FC v Celta de Vigo Ten Sports 7:00PM BNP Paribas Masters, Paris Semi Finals Ten Action Ligue One 2013/14 11:00PM Stade Rennes v Marseille 1:00AM Lyon v Guingamp

1 NADAL

2 DJOKOVIC

n AFP, Paris Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer reached the Paris Masters quarter-finals on Thursday as the lasteight line-up mirrored the same men heading to London next week for the World Tour Finals.

World number one Nadal made the ATP points system look true to form after his 7-5, 6-4 victory over last year’s runner-up Jerzy Janowicz completed the line-up in the last match of the day.

The Spaniard, who is also looking for a record sixth Masters title in the same season, joins Djokovic, David Ferrer, Juan Martin Del Potro, Tomas Berdych, Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet in the Paris quar-

Tamim doubtful for final ODI n Mazhar Uddin

Tamim Iqbal played the first two ODI matches against New Zealand despite suffering lower abdomen pain but an MRI scan yesterday has put the dashing opener in doubt for the third match tomorrow. The 24-year old played the first two matches on pain killers. Yesterday, he complained the condition has gotten worse and underwent an MRI. The report will likely come out today. If the report reveals anything potentially serious, Tamim will likely miss the third and final ODI of the series against New Zealand on Sunday, in which the hosts will look to complete back-to-back series whitewashes over the Kiwis.

The manager of the Bangladesh cricket team Akram Khan, however, was not in a hurry to rule Tamim out.

“There was some problem on Thursday so we have done his MRI today (yesterday). So far, we have not received the medical report and only after seeing the report will we know his exact condition,” he said. l

3 FERRER

5 DEL POTRO 6 FEDERER

ter-finals and in the London shake-up.

Wawrinka and Gasquet claimed the final two World Tour Finals places after Canadian Milos Raonic saw his chances go up in smoke in a tough defeat at the hands of Berdych.

Nadal endured a ferocious serving onslaught from Wimbledon semi-finalist Janowicz before finally taming the 22-year-old, who was trying to become the first Polish player since Wojtek Fibak in 1980 to break into the yearending top 20.

A first set of the highest quality swung at 5-5 with Janowicz serving and a game of numerous deuces that finally went Nadal’s way for the first break of the match.

The Mallorca left-hander then held

8 WAWRINKA 10 GASQUET

classed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, 6-3, 6-4.

Swiss seventh seed Wawrinka beat Spain’s Nicolas Almagro, 6-3, 6-2, and his place in the London field was later secured when Czech sixth seed Berdych defeated Raonic, 7-6 (15/13), 6-4.

Raonic’s defeat also meant Gasquet was assured of the last available London place even before the Frenchman had defeated Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-2.

It will be Gasquet’s second appearance at the World Tour Finals after his maiden appearance in 2007.

Djokovic, who won in Paris in 2009 and is chasing a 40th ATP title and also the world number one spot, next meets

Hazi, Quairee clinch Half Marathon n Shishir Hoque

Comoros athlete Selim Abdu Hazi emerged as the champion in the male’s event of Ifad the Cox’s Bazar International Half Marathon while Uyri Lee Quairee of Japan clinched the women’s title at the longest sea beach of the world yesterday. The event was organised by the Big Bangla Run. Hazi, the lad from third-smallest African nation, took 1 hour and 29 minutes to complete his run of 21.1km to win the champion’s pot of $1,000. Hazi currently stays in Bangladesh and is studying in Islamic University of Technology (IUT).

“I took part in the Big Bangla Run for the first time. I knew I would perform well, but never thought of finishing 1st,” said Hazi after the triumph.

Md Sujan Mia from Netrokona finished 2nd to win $700. Sujan clocked 1 hour and 33 minutes while Md Nasir from Cox’s Bazar took a minute more to bag $500 in the third place.

Meanwhile in the women’s section, Japanese Lee Quairee took 1 hour and 58 minutes to finish 1st followed

Boxer, ex-football star at slain Mexican drug lord party n AFP, La Paz Former Mexican soccer star Jared Borgetti and boxer Omar Chavez attended a party where a former drug lord was killed by a gunman disguised as a clown two weeks ago, an official said Thursday.

Borgetti and Chavez have given statements to investigators since the murder of Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix in the west coast resort of Cabo San Lucas, said Gamill Arreola, attorney general of the state of Baja California Sur. Arellano Felix, 63, was the eldest brother in a once powerful crime family that ran the Tijuana drug cartel but that has since seen most siblings sent to jail or killed. Chavez is the son of boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez, while Borgetti played in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and is the national team’s all-time scorer with 46 goals.

“They attended the (October 18) party where Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix

to close out the set after solving the Pole’s thunderbolt serve and paving the way for a straight sets victory.

“It was very difficult to deal with his serve but I was able to get the win and I’m very, very happy,” said Nadal, the French Open and US Open champion, who will tackle Gasquet for a semi-final spot.

“Tomorrow, I’m playing against my friend (Gasquet) and it’s going to be a great match but I’m really happy for him that he made it to the World Tour Finals,” said Nadal, whose best performance at the Paris Masters was losing the 2007 final against Argentina’s David Nalbandian.

Second seed Djokovic overcame American John Isner 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-2 while Federer, the fifth seed, out-

7 BERDYCH

Jared Borgetti and Omar Chavez was murdered,” Arreola said, refusing to give more details because the investigation is ongoing.

Prosecutors have heard more than 40 statements from witnesses who said a man dressed up as a clown gunned down Arellano Felix at a party in his honor.

The Arellano Felix brothers once dominated drug trafficking between Mexico and California through their brutal Tijuana cartel in the early 1990s and 2000s. l

Wawrinka, whom he defeated in epic five-set marathons at the Australian Open and US Open this year.

“It is a big challenge for me and Wawrinka,” said Djokovic, who also has the Davis Cup final to consider on November 15.

“He has been enjoying probably the best season in his career and he has one of the best one-handed backhands in the world.”

Federer, the 17-time Grand Slam title winner, celebrated his place at the Finals in London with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kohlschreiber.

He now meets Argentine Del Potro who defeated rising Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a high quality match on court one. l

Mills to lead NZ in Sri Lanka n Reuters, Wellington

Comoros runner Selim Abdul Hazi (C) poses with his country flag and the organisers after clinching the 1st spot in the Cox’s Bazar International Half Marathon yesterday COURTESY

Swing bowler Kyle Mills will captain New Zealand for the first time on his country’s limited overs tour of Sri Lanka later this month after Kane Williamson was ruled out with a broken and dislocated thumb.

Williamson suffered the injury in Bangladesh earlier this week and had already returned home for treatment, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said.

He had been expected to lead the side for their three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches in Sri Lanka after NZC decided captain Brendon McCullum and his predecessor Ross Taylor would return home after the Bangladesh tour to prepare for series against West Indies and India.

Rob Nicol will replace Williamson in the squad, while all rounder Andrew Ellis has been called up due to a back injury to Otago bowler Ian Butler.

“It’s disappointing that Ian’s back didn’t settle in time for the Sri Lanka tour,” national selection general manager Bruce Edgar said. l

by Dhaka’s Ratna Mandal Mitu who clocked 2 hour and 14 minutes. Bangladeshi born Australian surgeon Yumna Talikdar made it to the third place in 2 hours and 25 minutes.

A total of 1521 participants around home and abroad took part in the half marathon stretching 21.1km. Apart from the top three finishers, all the par-

ticipants who completed the distance were acknowledged by a medal.

The run started from Niribili Masjid point in Cox’s Bazar city and ended at Inani beach point.

Actor Ferdous, the brand ambassador of the Big Bangla Run and Abidur Rahman Shimu, the chairman, distributed the prizes among the winners. l

MCG on track for Boxing Day world record crowd n AFP, Sydney

Cricket fan-police clash hurts 20 in Narayanganj

All tickets for the opening day of the Ashes Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground have sold, raising the prospect of a world record crowd, Cricket Australia said Friday.

The rush to see Australia face England in the fourth Test has raised the possibility that the official record attendance at a single day of cricket will be smashed, eclipsing the 90,800 who watched Australia’s Test against the West Indies at the MCG in 1961.

The maximum capacity at the ground is approximately 100,000, according to its website.

Tickets have been on sale since October 23, and CA said some were still available for the second, third and fourth days of the Test. CA Executive General Manager Operations Mike McKenna said the sales set the scene for an incredible start to the match.

Australia, who have lost the past three Ashes series, are fighting to reverse a 3-0 defeat in England earlier this year.l

At least 20 people, including a policeman, were injured after cricket fans went on a rampage butting heads with police at the city’s Chashara on Friday, after failing to collect tickets for the Bangladesh-New Zealand game, reports UNB. Police said several cricket fans staged a demonstration on Bangabandhu Road, in Chashara area, when the guards of United Commercial Bank (UCB) Narayanganj branch told them that the tickets for the third one-day match between Bangladesh and New Zealand would be sold on Saturday, instead of that day.

Failing to avail tickets, the agitated cricket fans hurled brick chips at the bank’s office and vandalised some 1520 vehicles passing through the area.

When police, upon being informed, arrived at the scene and tried to disperse them, a chase and counter-chase initiated, triggering a clash that left 20 people injured.

n Tribune Desk

Police fired several gunshots in an attempt to bring the situation under control while traffic on the busy road came to a halt for one hour following the incident.

Failing to avail tickets, the agitated cricket fans hurled brick chips at the bank’s office and vandalised some 15-20 vehicles passing through the area Manjur Quader, officer-in-charge (OC) of Narayanganj Sadar Model Police Station, said the enraged fans had started queueing under the UCB bank building since morning, getting incensed when they learned about tickets for the Bangladesh-New Zealand 3rd ODI cricket match would be sold on the day before the match.

A police constable was injured in the clash with the cricket fans, added the OC, arresting nine people from the scene. l

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DGHS’s hasty last moment recruitment n Moniruzzaman Uzzal

The Directorate General of Health Services is reportedly trying to hurriedly recruit people for more than 2,000 third and fourth class vacancies in the health sector as the current government nears the end of its tenure.

The DGHS has fixed November 22 for the written examination for filling up 1,1,40 vacancies in 18 districts. Sources said the results would be published within 48 hours of the written tests and the viva voce would begin within a week.

Reportedly, it has already received more than 60,000 applications against those 1,1,40 posts in 48 different categories.

The health directorate has also plans for taking recruitment tests on the same date for 1,020 vacant posts of sub assistant community medical offers (SACMO) in the grassroots level.

The initial plan, however, was to recruit 2,200 people; but the DGHS could not do so because of a High Court ruling following the filing of a writ.

The writ was filed by a group of students who graduated from the technical education board.

They accused the DGHS of ignoring them in the SACMO recruitment be-

KSA rules out extension of amnesty time n

Tribune Report

Saudi Arab government has ruled out any extension of the amnesty period given to illegal migrant workers, turning down requests from seven Asian nations.

It also warned illegal workers and their Saudi employers that countrywide raids would start on November 4.

Bangladesh was among the seven Asian countries that asked the Saudi government to extend the amnesty period for illegal workers who were waiting for their paperwork to be processed despite applying on time, reported Arab News yesterday.

Although diplomatic missions have not been using the word extension, they said their workers had done their part and it was now “up to the other side to act.”

According to sources, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines have approached the Saudi authorities through diplomatic channels to give their workers more time.

Saudi authorities have already deported more than 800,000 illegal expatriate workers and the ministries of interior and labour have warned citizens and companies against hiring illegal expats. l

‘Bangladesh better place to live than India’ n Tribune Desk Bangladesh is still a better place to live than India, the next door neighbour considered as one of the 21st-century superpowers, says a recent study.

According to the new study, the Legatum Prosperity Index, Bangladesh fares better than India when it comes to the “joy of everyday life,” and “the prospect of being able to build an even better life in the future,” reports UNB. The study, released by the UK-based Legatum Institute and reported by journalist Heather Timmons on the website Quartz, ranks Bangladesh 103rd out of 142 countries. India is ranked 106th and falling.

In Bangladesh, people “not only live 3.4 years longer than their Indian counterparts, but fewer are undernourished, a lower number die in infancy and more have access to sanitation.”

In the eight categories used to measure prosperity, India is ahead of Bangladesh in health, safety and security, and personal freedom. In other categories, such as education and governance, Bangladesh is ahead.

Norway ranks No 1, a position it has locked down since 2009, followed by Switzerland and Canada, which had the survey’s top score for personal freedom and was third in education. l

cause they had passed from the technical education board.

The High Court, however, has recently given permission to the DGHS to recruit for 1,020 SACMO posts.

Seeking anonymity, a DGHS high official told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have had bitter experiences in the past while lingering with the recruitment process.

We spent more than Tk10m for the recruitment tests to appoint 915 third and fourth class employees in nine districts. But we could not finish the recruitment as the High Court had imposed a six-month ban.

The ban was imposed following bribery allegations.”

The written test for recruiting those 915 people was held on April 26. The viva voce ended August 26. But the DGHS failed to finalise the results because of huge pressure of recommendations from influential individuals.

Dr Md Shahnewaz, director (administration) of DGHS, told the Dhaka Tribune: “It is true that we are planning to recruit about 2,200 employees in different districts very soon because we had been facing serious manpower crisis.

Unfortunately, all our initiatives to recruit manpower have failed because of the High Court ban.” l

A group of schoolchildren, though smiling after the end of the day’s classes, had to go through the trouble of attending school on a weekend, as they had to miss scheduled classes because of recent hartals and country’s political unrest. The photo was taken yesterday in front of Kakoli High School at Sat Masjid Road in Dhanmondi RAJIB DHAR

Bangladesh wants result-oriented Editor wrote ‘do his phone’ steps for Indian Ocean Rim nations n UK PHONE-HACKING TRIAL

Reuters

Andy Coulson, then editor of Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World, instructed a journalist working on a story about a celebrity to “do his phone”, a jury trying Coulson and others for phone-hacking was told on Friday.

Coulson, fellow former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, and two senior employees of Murdoch’s British group News International are accused of conspiring to intercept voicemails for stories.

Coulson, who after leaving the News of the World went on to be Prime Minister David Cameron’s media chief, and Brooks, who rose to be chief executive of News International, also face two charges each of making illegal payments to public officials.

In total, eight defendants are in the dock on various charges related to phone-hacking, illegal payments for stories, and hindering police investigations. They all deny the charges.

The Old Bailey, England’s Central Criminal Court, heard that in May 2006, the paper was planning to run an exclusive story about the private life of Calum Best, the son of former Manchester United soccer star George Best.

During an email exchange with Ian Edmondson, a former journalist also

on trial, Coulson discussed whether Best might leak the story to others.

“Do his phone,” Coulson wrote in an email shown to the jury.

Prosecutor Andrew Edis told the jurors they would have to weigh up what he meant.

Earlier, the court heard the News of the World had hacked the phones of politicians, royal aides, celebrities, actors and high-profile sportsmen.

They included England soccer star Wayne Rooney, actors Jude Law and Sienna Miller, and Tom Parker Bowles, the son of Prince Charles’s second wife Camilla.

The court also heard the paper had hacked the phone of Hannah Pawlby, an adviser to former Home Secretary Charles Clarke, wrongly believing the two were having an affair.

Pawlby was put under surveillance and Coulson tried to confront Clarke with the allegations. Prosecutor Edis said Coulson clearly knew about the surveillance operation and the question was whether he knew about hacking.

“He says not, we say ‘yes he does,’” Edis told the jury of nine women and three men.

The jury has been told that three senior journalists from the News of the World have already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hack phones. l

Islam Chowhdury, n Shahidul from Perth, Australia

Australia believes that “injecting dynamism” in the Indian Ocean Rim Association, of which Bangladesh is also a member, is essential for “peaceful use” of the resources of the ocean for stability, peace and security in the region.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop MP, who took over as the chairperson of the association yesterday, said this at the 13th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the regional body in Perth.

The meeting adopted a communiqué with provisions, including changing the name of the organisation to Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) from Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation. Delegations of the 20 member states and six dialogue partners attended the meeting.

Injecting dynamism in the IORA was essential, said Julie Bishop, adding that the association had delivered only relatively modest outcomes although it had huge potentials.

“Our future lies, individually and collectively, in the Indian Ocean that unites us,” she said.

“Peaceful, productive and sustainable use of the magnificent Indian Ocean re-

Yet another minor falls victim to cocktail blast in capital n Mohammad Jamil Khan A 10-year-old boy suffered splinter injuries to his hands as a crude bomb exploded in the city’s Panthapath area on Friday noon, only four days after a minor girl lost vision in her right eye in a similar way.

The victim was named as Mohammad Murad, an assistant to a CNG auto rickshaw driver.

He is the son of Jamal Hossain, a CNG driver, from the city’s Ambagan slum on Green Road. Murad is now undergoing treatment at National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (Nitor).

His father Jamal Hossain told reporters on the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) premises that Murad found a cocktail wrapped in red tape beside the central reservation near Panthapath intersection.

He was playing with the cocktail as he mistook it for a ball. As soon as he bounced it on the ground it exploded, he said.

Immediately after the incident his father rushed Murad to a local clinic and from there he was shifted to

DMCH. The DMCH doctors after having primary inspection sent him to Nitor for further treatment.

Haripad Saha, on-duty doctor of DMCH emergency unit, said they had sent Murad to Nitor as the explosion badly affected Murad’s wrists.

Maruf Ahmed, officer-in-charge of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, said investigation was on.

He, however, said no complaint had been filed with the police station till filing of this report on Friday evening.

Asked about the cocktail, he said the cocktail might have been dumped in the area by some hartal pickets.

Earlier on Tuesday, nine-year-old Rahima Akhter suffered splinter injuries following a cocktail blast in the capital’s Jurain area while she reportedly mistook a cocktail for a plaything and began to unwrap its’ tape right before its explosion.

The five-member medical board formed for her treatment sent her to National institute of Eye Science and Hospital on Wednesday night and the doctors of the hospital operated upon her eye on Thursday noon. l

Injured Murad crying in pain in front of his house in the city’s Pantha Path area

sources is essential” for protecting interests of the two billion people and stability and security in the region, she added.

Outgoing chairman of the association Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid stressed the need to focus on economic synergies among the member states.

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque, who led the three-member Bangladesh delegation, said effective, efficient, functional and non-discriminatory way forward was crucial, instead of keeping IORA activities limited to changing name.

He proposed expediting the process of preferential trade arrangement, investment and knowledge-based sharing of resources among member states.

Haque also proposed “carefully selecting” the “result-oriented” projects in IORA activities.

The heads of the delegations, according to the 26-point communiqué, stressed the need to work on maritime security and safety through information sharing and other activities in both civilian and non-civilian dimensions.

They agreed on trade facilitation and customs simplifications to promote economic integration in the region.

They expressed commitment for enhancing cooperation and taking “high

quality projects” in six priority areas to deliver “sustained economic growth and broad-based and balanced development in this strategically vital region”.

They also agreed to strengthen security measures by member states in their ports in order to enhance safety of shipping across the Indian Ocean.

The IORA leaders agreed to draw the “best practice” models, developed in respective member states and other regions, to face disaster in the maritime domain, including tsunamis, through search, rescue and response to oil spill.

They strongly encouraged the private sector in IORA activities to enhance regional trade and investment, and commit to develop business-friendly initiatives in the region.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Canberra Lt Gen (retd) Masud Uddin Chowdhury and foreign ministry Director General Tarik Ahsan were the other members of the Bangladesh delegation.

Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Seychelles, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE and Yemen are members of the IORA, while China, Egypt, Japan, France, UK and USA are dialogue partners. l

‘Live ammo was used against Morsi supporters’ n AFP, Cairo Egyptian security forces used live ammunition on October 6 to disperse supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi who were also attacked by men with firearms and swords, Amnesty International said Monday.

At least 49 people were killed and hundreds wounded in Cairo alone as security forces used “excessive and unwarranted lethal force” to disperse pro-Morsi crowds, said the human rights watchdog.

The Egyptian health ministry said at least 57 people were killed nationwide on the day of the bloody crackdown, including 48 in the capital.

Quoting witnesses, Amnesty said that in some instances, security forces stood by as men in civilian clothing used firearms, knives and swords to attack the Islamist demonstrators.

On October 6, security forces clashed with pro-Morsi crowds in Cairo as they tried to reach the capital’s Tahrir Square where supporters of the military were celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Arab-Israeli war.

“The Egyptian security forces patently failed to prevent the loss of life.

In a number of cases bystanders or non-violent protesters were caught up in the violence,” Amnesty’s Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said in a statement.

“Although some pro-Morsi protesters threw rocks, burned tyres and used fireworks or other incendiaries against security forces and local residents, the security forces... resorted to the use of lethal force when it was not strictly necessary.”

Amnesty said no members of the security forces were killed during the clashes. The clashes were the deadliest since security forces stormed two Cairo protest camps of Morsi supporters on August 14, leaving hundreds of people dead.

Amnesty said the worst bloodshed was in the Cairo district of Dokki, where 27 people died as a result of live rounds and three from shotgun pellet wounds.

At Dokki, the security forces used “teargas, shotguns and live ammunition against protesters attempting to reach and cross a bridge leading to Tahrir Square,” said the London-based watchdog.

Amnesty said another 16 people were “shot dead” near Ramses Square when security forces used live ammunition to disperse protesters trying to reach Tahrir. l

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