19 April 2014

Boishakh 6, 1421 Jamadius Sani 18, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 2, No 20

SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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Siddique taken through rough roads He heard helicopter rotors several times over the hideout where he was kept Abu Bakar Siddique, the businessman and husband of BELA chief Syeda Rizwana Hasan, who was held captive for over 30 hours following his abduction on Wednesday, describes his ordeal to the Dhaka Tribune

n Abu Bakar Siddique Sitting inside the safe walls of his Central Road residence at 4:30am, only hours after he was released by his abductors near Mirpur’s Ansar Camp area, Abu Bakar Siddique said his kidnappers considered their options before finally deciding to let him go.

“Whether we kill or release you, both options have their problems…Let us move. We should release you now;

Conversations with some of the gang suggested that they regularly used the hideout for abduction purposes you have made the situation tough,” said Siddique quoting the leader of the kidnapping gang.

Siddique also recalled how he had been kidnapped near Fatulla in Narayanganj.

“It was around 2:30pm [on Wednesday]; a microbus rammed my car from behind when I was returning from office. When my driver got down from the car to check the damage, the abductors dragged me out of the car and pushed me inside the microbus, blindfolded me with a mask and tied up my arms and legs.

INSIDE News

4 The government is planning to provide adequate financial support for the children of motor mechanics and transport workers so that they can easily complete their higher education.

5 The road from Mirpur 11 to Kalshi became important during the ICC World T20 because foreign cricket fans staying in Radisson and Regency hotels came to the Mirpur stadium using this road.

Nation

6 Jatka Conservation Campaign is set to fail in Lakshmipur as fishermen are not getting the amount of rice the government had originally earmarked for them, forcing them to go fishing in the river.

Op-Ed

11 Bangladesh is mulling about exporting weapons and ammunition. We came to know about this following a news report.

Entertainment

12 After a long break celebrated TV actor Aupee Karim again started working on the small screen last year to revive her career.

Sport

14 Petr Cech insists Chelsea can cope with the demands of challenging for a Premier League and Champions League double as the Blues face Sunderland at the start of an eight-day period that could define their season.

“There were seven to eight ordinary looking people. When I asked why they were taking me this way, some of them replied they wanted Tk10 crore, some said Tk5 crore and some even demanded Tk4 lakh at different times…Their answers seemed to me to be in jest and I did not understand their motive,” Siddique said.

The kidnappers shifted him to a different car during the three-and-a-half hour trip before taking him to a location where he was kept captive for almost 30 hours, Siddique said, adding that the trip included two ferry crossings, while a large part of the journey seemed to be over potholed roads.

Asked how he was able to measure the time, Siddique said he had made the estimation by the light of dusk he saw when the abductors changed his blindfold for a brief period of time after reaching the location.

“They had kept me on the ground floor of a house,” he said, adding that prior to reaching the house, he felt that the vehicle was moving to a higher ground as it seemed to have been circling around a couple of times.

Siddique also said the sound of Azan coming from a nearby source suggested that there was a mosque near the place where he was held captive.

Another unique sound that Siddique heard was of helicopter rotors, which he said he had first noticed after a couple of hours after his arrival at the  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Rizwana: My activism with BELA will not stop n Kailash Sarkar

After two days of uncertainties, the family of AB Siddique can finally cherish their reunion

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Police take Siddique to abduction site n Kailash Sarkar BELA chief’s husband, Abu Bakar Siddique, who was abducted by miscreants on Wednesday, gave his deposition before a Narayanganj court yesterday.

Syed Nurul Islam, superintendent of police in Narayanganj, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The district magistrate has recorded his deposition under section 164. However, nothing should be disclosed for the sake of investigation.”

Earlier in the day, Siddique was taken to the court after a medical check-up.

Dr Sheikh Farhad, acting residential medical officer of Narayanganj Hospital, told the Dhaka Tribune: “He [Siddique] received injuries on his arms, legs and nose, as he had been blindfolded and tied up the entire time since the abduction.”

Meanwhile, although any substantial progress was yet to be made in solving the case, Narayanganj SP Nurul said the investigation was still going on, adding that it would continue until the mystery was solved.

He said the police force, along with

Ramu to see new cantonment n Emran Hossain Shaikh

Almost one year into the inauguration of a new Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Battalion [Battalion 50] the government is now going to set up a cantonment at Ramu Upazila of Cox’s Bazar district near the Bay of Bengal.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also defence minister of the country, has already approved the proposal for the cantonment.

Around 1800 acres of land known as reserved forest of the forest department is now under process of being transformed into a non-reserved area.

Chief Conservator of the Forest Department Yunus Ali has confirmed the initiative to set up a new cantonment at Ramu.

“There is an army unit at Ramu and it will be converted into a full-fledged cantonment,” Yunus Ali said adding that it is under process at the ministry level.

As an initial step on Wednesday the Environment Ministry issued a gazette that says: “A fter the notification the said area selected for cantonment will no more be considered as reserved forest.

According to the gazette notification signed by Forest Secretary Md Shafiqure Rahman Patwari of the total 1788.98 acres of forest land 1180 acres of Rajarkul Mouza, 264.55 acres of Khuniyapalang Mouza and 344.43 acres of Umakhali Mouza will be considered as no-reserved area.

The land selected for setting up a new cantonment has been marked as reserved forest since the British colonial rule. l

Siddique, yesterday visited the spot from where the businessman had been abducted, and some evidence was also collected from Siddique’s car.

When asked about the motive behind the abduction, the SP claimed to have some ideas, but refused to reveal details as the investigation was ongoing.

A gang of seven to eight armed criminals abducted Siddique from Fatullah on Wednesday afternoon, and released him in the capital’s Mirpur more than 30 hours after his abduction. l

Following the safe return of her husband from the captivity of kidnappers, BELA chief Syeda Rizwana Hasan yesterday expressed concerns about the security of her family members, but added that she will not end her involvement with the pro-environment organisation as a result of the incident.

“It is not right that by getting scared over of the abduction of my husband, I should roll up my activities with BELA. They [kidnappers] did it as an attempt to stop me from my activities,” said the chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) while addressing a press briefing at her residence in the capital’s Central Road.

“None of my family members are now feeling secure. We all need proection,” she claimed.

Replying to a query, she said, “It could not conclusively be said why my husband had been kidnapped. Besides, everything that we know should not be disclosed to the media for the sake of the investigation.

“I am not willing to say what I have told the law enforcers; but it can be said that they [abductors] are powerful and influential,” she added.

Expressing gratitude to the people of the country, the media, the law enforcement agencies and the government, Rizwana alleged that all abductions in the country do not receive the same level of attention or priority, although every incident of abduction is a crime.

The BELA chief said her husband would not have been abducted if the kidnappers – who had committed similar abductions in the past – had been tried for their crimes.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Tintin, Ricky rescued alive after four days n Muktasree Chakma Sathi The Joint Forces have rescued Sourav Deyya Chakma Tintin, a famous young musician, and another youth named Nabajit Chakma Ricky, alive – four days after they were abducted from Kengelchhari in the Manikchhari area of Rangamati for ransom.

They were rescued around 11:15pm on Friday and the law enforcers were transporting them to Rangamati when this report was prepared at 12:10am, sources close to the family of Tintin told the Dhaka Tribune, requesting anonymity.

Police said they had heard about the rescue operation but would not comment any further. “Until I see the victims, I cannot confirm the matter,” a high-ranked police official in Khagrachhari told the Dhaka Tribune.

It could not be confirmed immediately who had abducted the two. But locals suspect that alleged arms smuggler Rupendu Khisa aka Robi Chakma was behind the abduction.

Tintin and Ricky were picked up by unknown miscreants on April 14 evening while returning home on a CNG auto-rickshaw after celebrating the Biju, the biggest festival of some indigenous communities in Chittagong Hill Tracts, in Khagrachhari with friends.

Later the abductors demanded $200,000 from Tintin’s family over the

phone. However, it could not be confirmed immediately whether a ransom was paid for their release.

Ricky, a friend of Tintin, works at a private company in the capital.

Wishing not to be named, a number of locals from the Khagrachhari area told the Dhaka Tribune that Tintin was last seen with Rupendu.

Tintin and Ricky were picked up by unknown miscreants on April 14 evening while returning home on a CNG auto-rickshaw On March 9 last year, Rupendu’s name was mentioned in a report published in Mizoram, India for his alleged involvement in arms smuggling.

The whereabouts of Rupendu is not known and his mobile phone has been switched off since the incident.

“We do not know who abducted them. We contacted the local political parties and the law enforcement agencies,” Tintin’s wife Trimita, a women’s rights activist and professional IT expert, earlier said.

Khagrachhari Police Superintendent Mizanur Rahman earlier confirmed that the Joint Forces had been dealing with the matter. l

‘Police extort money in the name of vehicle requisition’ n Mohammad Jamil Khan Despite having high court ban on vehicle requisition police officials are allegedly extorting money in the name of requisition and in some cases they are using those vehicles for personal purposes.

Police officials let the vehicles go if the vehicle owners pay the money demanded. Such kind of irregularities

are allegedly committed by police sergeants, town inspectors and related officials.

Vehicle owners, drivers and staff aired their grievances to this correspondent over how they are harassed and exploited by police officials in the name requisition.

The high court in 2010 asked the government and police not to requisition any vehicle if it does not involve any

kind of public interest. However, police in violation of the order commandeer vehicles on the excuse of public interest but use them for personal purposes.

It was further alleged that police, after requisition, free the vehicles in exchange for Tk500 to Tk1000. As the rule goes, police are bound to give back the vehicles within three days but in most cases they do not do so.

Police even do not give any allow-

ance to drivers for meal nor any payment for refuelling. Not only police but also the government officials and their family members are using the requisitioned vehicles.

The court’s ban on vehicle requisition came following a writ on May 23 of 2010. Advocate Manjil Morshed filed the write petition with the High Court challenging the legality of vehicle requisition.

In this regard, Advocate Manjil Morhsed, said that requisitioned vehicles could only be used for state affairs but that too should be done in line with the HC order.

“The authorities concerned must pay the owners of the vehicle for its use and compensate for any damage done to the vehicle,” Manjil Morshed.

If anyone uses those vehicle for  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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Saturday, April 19, 2014

Government mulls banning Jamaat-eIslami soon

Foreign minister says decision would be made after completion of HC case n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman The government is planning to slap a ban on the politics of the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, the anti-independence political force in the country.

“This is a political decision. Our government is considering banning them,” Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali told the Dhaka Tribune.

He, however, said there is a case pending with the High Court and after completion of its process the government would think about it.

The minister said this yesterday after attending a programme on the occasion of flag-hoisting day in Kolkata mission on April 18, 1971.

Earlier, Ambassador Waliur Rahman in the programme proposed that politics of Jamaat-Shibir should be banned.

Walliur Rahman was posted as diplomat in Geneva in 1971 and he fought in the independence war from foreign soil.

The minister in the programme said many people are engaged in conspiracies and the opposition political parties resorted to anarchy to destabilise the country.

“They cut down trees and uprooted rail tracks. Some western countries termed such activities violence, but this is not violence, this is terrorism,” the minister said.

Citing example he said a police shot a boy in the US while he was playing with his toy gun as the officer thought the boy was trying to shoot him.

“But when we want to protect ourselves, it is termed excessive use of force. They now appear to have toned their voices down but still they are active,” the minister said. l

Members of IndustriALL Bangladesh Council form a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday, demanding compensation for the victims of Rana Plaza collapse DHAKA TRIBUNE

Experts, tourists stress beach safety plan n UNB

The government urgently needs to adopt an effective safety plan with modern warning systems and launch awareness drives to avert human tragedies in the country’s major tourist hotspots Cox’s Bazar beach and St Martin’s Island - as such tragedies discourage tourists from both home and aboard, according to tourists and experts.

They say a research can be conducted analysing the safety measures taken by other countries in the world to ensure safety for tourists so that tours for recreation and fun do not end up in disasters.

A stronger role played by the Beach Management Committee can also help avert repetition of such accidents that bring immense agony to the victims’

families apart from tarnishing the country’s image among global tourists, they observed.

“I think there’s a need for research and analyses on how safety issues are being dealt with in other beaches in the world,” Lt Shahid Al Ahsan, St Martin’s station commander of the Bangladesh Coast Guard, told UNB. Ahsan, who dealt with the rescue operations in the recent accident at St Martin’s Island in Cox's Bazar, thinks three safety measures must be there in beaches - lifeboats, lifeguards and safety swimmers (specialist swimmers to assist tourists).

“Most importantly, awareness at an individual level is a must,” he said adding that most of the victims are young and educated.

Former Civil and Tourism minister

Faruk Khan expressed disappointment at the non-implementation of some the initiatives taken during his tenure to ensure safety for tourists in Cox’s Bazar.

“I’ve directed them to install a protective wire (security net in seawater at a certain distance) in the entire beach area to avert accidents. But it remains unimplemented,” Khan, also chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry, told UNB. He said he will raise the safety issues in the next meeting of the JS body to take proper steps to ensure safety for every tourist.

In response to a question, Khan said he took some tourist-friendly steps like specification of foreign zones, swimming zones and sports zones.

The Beach Management Committee,

that comprises local businesspeople, local elite, the police, the coastguard and local administration, needs to play a stronger role to that end, he added.

Talking to UNB, Civil Aviation and Tourism minister Rashed Khan Menon said he has already directed the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) to look into safety issues and reasons behind the recent accident at St Martin’s Island.

“They (BPC officials) will make recommendations after the assessment and steps will be taken as per their recommendations,” he said.

Rashedul Hasan, a frequent traveller, said: “It’s usual for young guys to be adventurous. It’s true that risk is associated with any adventure.

But the authorities must ensure the safety of the tourists.” l

Government enacts laws to help disabled persons n BSS Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Abdul Latif Siddique yesterday said the government has enacted laws to protect the rights and facilitate the inclusion of physically disabled people in the country.

The minister said this as chief guest of the annual cultural event and dinner organised by the Parents Forum for the Differently Able at the Diploma Engineers Institution yesterday. State Minister for Social Welfare Advocate Promod Mankin was present as a special guest at the function.

Siddique said the government cannot do everything for the welfare of

disabled people alone, and encouraged others to come forward for to help people with disabilities.

Mankin said: “This time we've taken initiatives for the framing of additional laws in this regard after the current government was formed.”

Nasima Begum, secretary in-charge of the Ministry of Social Welfare, said the government would make an action plan to assist people with disability and two laws have already been enacted so far for this purpose. The government so far enacted two laws – “Disabled People's Rights and Protection Act, 2013” and “Neuro Disabilities Act, 2013” as per its 2008 election manifesto. l

$500m remittances flow in, 11 days into April Rizwana: My activism with BELA will not stop n UNB The country has received remittances amounting to about $500m within the first 11 days of the current month.

According to a Bangladesh Bank statement, non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) living abroad have sent a total of $495.86m from April 1-11 of the current year.

Of this, $160.63m came into the country in the first four days while the remaining $335.23m flowed in between April 5-11.

Of the $495.86m, remittances amounting $160.57m came into the country through four state-owned commercial banks while specialised banks brought only $7.15m, statistics showed.

The most significant portion of remittances entered the country through private banking channels. Of the 39 private commercial banks who brought $323.29m, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) played the leading role by bringing in $126.44m alone.

The IBBL was followed by National Bank ($23.48m), Pubali Bank ($17.37m) and Bank Asia ($14.56m).

Nine foreign banks operating branches in Bangladesh brought in $4.85m.

In the current fiscal year of 201314, Bangladesh received a total of $10.479bn in remittances until March.

Of this, it received $1.26bn in January, $1.173bn in February and $1.273bn in March. l

Gazipur gas fire victim dies at DMCH n Our Correspondent, Gazipur

At least 10 vehicles were vandalised and the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway was blocked for around two hours when a man, who had suffered burn injures in a gas fire in Gazipur, died at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, yesterday.

Anwar Hossain, 38, the son of Ali Majhi of Moura village in Dhaka's Dohar upazila, died in the burns unit of the hospital at 5:30am, said Mawna Highway police station's sub-inspector Saiful Islam.

The fire occurred earlier on Thursday evening when a gas supply line

leaked during the Dhaka-Mymensingh road expansion work at the upazila's Gargarhia Masterbarhi.

The fire spread, burning down 80 shops, two houses and a tin-shed mosque at the hawkers' market. Five people including Hossain were also injured. Of them, three were admitted to the hospital with critical injuries.

As Hossain died yesterday morning, this news soon spread through the upazila and locals blocked the Dhaka-Mymensigngh Highway and vandalised at least 10 vehicles at 7am.

They lifted their blockade at 9am only after police and administrative of-

ficials assured them that all the fire victims would be compensated, including the injured, for their losses. Firemen initially estimated the losses at Tk20 lakh.

Sripur Upazila Nirbahi officer Aziz Haider said they assured them of compensating the fire victims for their losses within three days.

Infratech Construction Company is expanding the highway on contract.

Its general manager Alok Barua said, "We will compensate the family of the deceased and those who fell victim to the gas fire. We will also bear the cost of treating the injured. In addition, we will build the mosque as locals wish." l

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

She said the abduction of her husband should be the last of such incidents in the country.

When asked about one of her remarks on searching for torture cells in Narayanganj to find her husband, Rizwana said she had no personal contact with Shamim Osman, a local ruling party lawmaker who had alleged links to such torture cells.

me they had no benefit in releasing or killing me.”

He also said the kidnappers were aged around 35 years and had stout bodies and were around five-feet-seven-inches in height.

A gang of seven to eight armed criminals abducted Siddique from Fatullah on Wednesday afternoon, and released him in the capital’s Mirpur after more than 30 hours after his abduction. l

‘Police extort money in the name of vehicle  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

officials or personal purposes it is tantamount to contempt of court and officials concerned must be punished for that, he noted.

A high official of police traffic department said they had requisitioned over 100 to 150 vehicles during election period.

This correspondent came across an incident of vehicle requisition while crossing Gandaria area on March 3.

Police stopped a Laguna (Dhaka Metro-Cha- 140760), checked its papers and then asked the passenger to get off.

After that they put a sticker on it and took it away.

A businessman in return for anonymity said his Noa microbus was req-

uisitioned on April 26 from Kanchpur Bridge area as he along with his family members was coming to the capital.

He said police kept his vehicle for 11 days and did not pay any money. The oil tank of the car was loaded when it was requisitioned.

Several owners of rent-a-car business establishments claimed that police had taken their microbus and when they contacted Rajarbagh Police Line they were asked to wait for one more week.

If any request is made in a bid to free the vehicle then police keep it for a longer period of time as a punishment.

During this period the vehicle, on average, is used for over 15 hours a day.

Not only traffic department of police but also police stations in the capital

are allegedly involved in such illegal requisition of vehicles.

Earlier, taxicab drivers clashed pitched battle with police on May 13, 2010 protesting illegal requisition of their cabs.

Taxicab drivers then charged that police forcibly took their vehicles and released those only when they were given money.

Contacted, Mainul Islam, deputy commissioner (transport) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said during the time of political programmes the demand for vehicle goes higher and they requisition vehicles to check violence.

“At present we are to requisition around 30 to 35 vehicles daily but we do so following all legal procedures like paying fare fixed by the government, he claimed. l

Siddique taken through rough roads  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

Communications Minister Obaidul Quader browse though vehicles on display at the three-day long Dhaka Motor Show 2014 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital yesterday RAJIB DHAR

Rizwana also claimed that no one had demanded any ransom for her husband’s freedom, although the kidnappers had reportedly discussed the possible amount among themselves.

At the press briefing, her husband Abu Bakar Siddique also answered different queries from the media.

Describing his release, Siddique said, “One of them [kidnappers] told

place. He heard the sound a few more times the next evening.

Siddique bore an injury mark on his nose, which he claimed was the result of the tight blindfold kept over his eyes for a long time.

“The abductors did not misbehave with me except for some scuffle, from which I received some minor injuries and my shirt was torn. They gave me food and water on a regular basis. They bought me medicines when I told them that I had high blood pressure,” he added.

The abducted businessman said the kidnappers had removed his blindfold when he needed to eat or relieve himself, but ordered him not to look behind and to walk backwards from the washroom, in order to make sure that he was not able to look at the faces of his abductors.

The kidnappers, however, did not go through his pockets for any money or valuables, Siddique said.

A person, who was apparently the leader of the gang, visited Siddique thrice during the captivity. The leader, who others referred to as “boss,” came

to the house on the second day and said there had been a massive outcry surrounding the abduction.

“Tell me what you do and what you have,” Siddique quoted the “boss” as saying, adding that the gang leader also demanded Tk10 crore as ransom.

However, when Siddique asked for a chance to call his family and arrange the ransom, the leader – who never stayed at the site for long – did not respond.

Later, the “boss” – who addressed Siddique “tui” instead of “apni” like the other kidnappers – asked Siddique about the profession of his wife.

The abducted businessman said he tried talking to the other members of the gang. The conversations with them suggested that they were professional criminals who regularly used the hideout for abduction purposes.

“One of the kidnappers told me that he was from the Chittagong region and had worked in the profession for a long time,” Siddique added.

Siddique said it might have been around an hour’s drive on smooth

roads before he was dropped off at Mirpur, and during the drive he was accompanied by two or three men.

Asked if the abductors told him anything before releasing him, Siddique said they mentioned his wife’s influence and the strong ripples his abduction had created.

Abu Bakar Siddique, the husband of the chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, was abducted on Wednesday afternoon near Fatulla on his way back to Dhaka from Narayanganj.

The abductors released Siddique near the Ansar Camp at Mirpur 1 around midnight last night and gave him Tk300.

Siddique said he took a rickshaw to Kazipara, from where he hired a CNG auto-rickshaw to go to his Central Road residence. He was stopped by police at the check post near the Kalabagan playground. When Siddique identified himself, he was taken to the Dhanmondi police station, while his family was informed of his safety. l

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Saturday, April 19, 2014

Directorate soon for madrasas n Mushfique Wadud The government will set up a separate directorate for the country’s madrasas to bring discipline into the religious education system.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid told the Dhaka Tribune the ministry had finalised the decision and got approval of other ministries concerned.

“We have finalised a decision to set up a separate directorate for the madrasas to bring their education into discipline,” Nahid said.

“Efforts are underway to ensure that the madrasa students read Bangla, English and other basic subjects along with religious and Arabic books. Setting up a separate directorate for madrasas will help us implement the decision.”

He said this would also help the government to monitor madrasas properly.

Asked when the directorate will start operation, he said the ministry was working on this, and everything would be completed soon.

Only the Alia madrasa would come under the new directorate.

The Education Ministry officials, however, told the Dhaka Tribune one of the purposes to set up the directorate was to bring the Qawmi madrasas to a monitoring system as well, but that might take some time.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Education Information and Sta-

tistics (BANBEIS), there are 9,441 Alia madrasas in the country and 2,247,983 students read there. These madrasas have 107,728 teachers.

Bangladesh has mainly two kinds of madrasas – Alia and Qawmi. In Alia madrasa, students read Bangla, English, Mathematics and other basic subjects along with religious subjects.

The Alia madrasas deserve recognition of imparting education up to degree level, meaning that after passing Alim (HSC), Fazil (Degree) students can enter general education system.

In Qawmi madrasa, students mainly read religious and Arabic subjects. At present, some Qawmi madrasas have general subjects till class eight.

At present, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education monitors Alia madrasa.

This directorate monitors school, college and madrasa education system.

The madrasa teachers and students want that the government set up a separate directorate to meet their demand.

The government formed an education commission for Qawmi madrasas to monitor the education system there and the commission report was approved in April, 2012.

The Education Ministry also issued a gazette notification on this.

But in the face of protest by the Qawmi madrasa teachers, the commission report was not implemented. l

Members of the Garo Students Union form a human chain with their mouths covered in black cloth in front of the National Press Club yesterday, protesting the rape of an indigenous woman DHAKA TRIBUNE

Jamaat still undecided about joining BNP long march Road accidents kill n two in capital Manik Miazee

The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is still undecided whether it will join the BNP-sponsored long march towards Teesta Barrage set to begin on April 22.

The BNP will hold the two-day programme demanding proper water sharing of the River Teesta.

The party at a joint meeting of its alliance on Thursday formally invited the Jamaat-e-Islami to join the long march.

But, Jamaat is yet to reach a final decision as to whether it will join the long march or not.

The party at a meeting yesterday could not come to a decision in this regard, a Jamaat leader, who attended the meeting, told the Dhaka Tribune.

However, Islami Oikya Jote, a Qawmi Madrasa-based political party, is keen to join the long march, said a party leader.

According to party sources, the government and the law enforcement agencies have softened their stance on Jamaat. If the party takes part in the long march, law enforcers may go tough on them, the sources added.

The highest policymaking body of Jamaat had a meeting yesterday where its leaders discussed several issues, including the long march.

Meeting sources said a group of leaders gave their opinion to take part in the programme. They argued that the party should take part in the long march to strengthen relationship with the BNP.

After completion of upazila polls, the leaders think, relations between BNP and Jamaat has worsened in the last few months.

But another group spoke against the long march. They said the BNP had taken decision on the long march without any discussion or meeting with the Jamaat. Even they did not express solidarity with the demonstration programme held on April 16.

They also think that the party should arrange separate programmes.

Jamaat working committee member Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher told the Dhaka Tribune that the party was yet to take any decision whether it would take part in the long march or not.

The final decision will be taken on April 20 after consultation with the grass roots level leaders, said a Jamaat leader. Earlier, the party asked its grass roots level leaders to inform them of their decision on or before April 20.

Jamaat leader Abdul Halim said: “We have no distance with the BNP, but the BNP should have taken decision after consulting the other partners of the 19-party alliance.”

Islami Oikya Jote Chairman Abdul Latif Nezami said they had got invitation to join the long march. “It is a national issue. We hope we will join the long march.”

Khelafat Majlish Secretary General Sakhawat Hossain said his party would participate in the long march. l

n Tribune Report Two people, including a minor girl, were killed and seven others received injuries in three separate road accidents in the capital yesterday.

Police said the incidents took place at Tejgaon, Uttarkhan and Demra in the early hours of the day.

A six-year-old girl, Sumaiya Akhter, was killed after being hit by a CNG-run auto rickshaw around 5pm at Bhuiyanbari of Uttakhan. She was on her way to a nearby kitchen market with her elder sister from their Maddyapara residence.

Locals rushed her to a local hospi-

tal where on duty doctors declared her dead at around 12:30am. In other incident, Samarjit Chandra Das, 60, an employee of Palli Bidyut Samity, sustained injuries after being hit by a speeding bus at around 11am in front of BAF Shaheen College. He was on the way to his office.

Passers-by rescued him and rushed to the DMCH where he succumbed to his injuries after one and a half hours.

Meanwhile, a CNG-run auto rickshaw, carrying six women passengers to a wedding ceremony, toppled over near the Konanapara bridge of Demra around 7am after being hit by a truck from behind. l

Imran: We will not go back home until demands are met n Tribune Report

Two factions of Gonojagoron Moncho, one led by Kamal Pasha, left, and the other by Imran H Sarker, take out separate processions on Dhaka University campus yesterday. The faction led by Pasha demanded punishment of the attackers of Moncho activist Shishir while the other faction pressed home its six-point demand RAJIB DHAR

Beware of roadside drinks!

Three killed in two weeks is admitted into the DMCH while some n Mohammad Jamil Khan others into different hospital including Drained and fatigued due to scorching hot on Thursday Anwarul Islam, 32, an undergarment trader, took a glass of lemon juice in Gulistan Bus Stand area and in no time he began to feel dizzy.

Before he reached the market he just sank down on the road. When he opened his eyes at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) around 11.00pm he slapped his pocket and found all his money and cell phone gone.

Anwarul came to the capital from Gazipur Konabari area to buy some products for his shop from Gulistan area with Tk1, 20,000.

He was lucky enough to have been able to go back home. According to the registrar of the DMCH three people have died and 146 taken treatment in the last 18 days of the current month after they fell victim to dope gangs.

Of the three deceased, one died on Thursday while two others on April 11.

Their bodies still remain lying in the hospital morgue and no one has come to claim them.

The figure of dope victim admitted into the DMCH in the month of March was 317. Every day at least eight people

Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital.

The trend is increasing due to sweltering heat as people tend to have cold drinks, coconuts and cheap lemon juice from roadside mobile shops,” Dr Mohammad Murad Hossain, assistant professor of the medicine department of the DMCH said.

Members of dope gangs mix sedative with such drinks to make their target people unconscious in a bid to rob them. Very often victims can become seriously affected within two hours as criminals use very high-powered sedatives, he said.

With a caution Dr Murad suggested that after being doped the victim should first inform his/her family members and then go to any nearby medical centre as if treatment is delayed the person might be badly affected and it even can take his/her life.

According to intelligence report around 20 dope gangs are active in the capital. Each gang has over six to eight people and they work as a team.

One of such gangs made CNG driver Towhid unconscious with food mixed

with sedative and took away his vehicle from the capital’s Jatrabari area in March. Later they took him to a hospital and contacted his family members and demanded Tk1, 20,000.

The gang admitted to the family members that they doped Towhid.

They told them if they got the money they would give them the address from where family members can take the victim back. The family then settled the matter by paying Tk50, 000.

Interestingly the gangs go by some strange rules. They divided the capital into several zones. If one gang operates into the zone of another it is a violation of their rules. If a victim is not unconscious even after he is doped and gets into the area of another gang then he is sold to the dope ring of that area.

If the members of a dope gang fail to rob the victim because of crowd they take the victim to a nearby hospital and take everything from him.

Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the Detective Branch of police, said law enforcers are always alert at every bus, train and launch terminal including different points of the capital and they have already arrested a good number of them. l

BGB hands over Indian national n Our correspondent, Chuadanga Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) officials have returned an Indian national to BSF (Border Security Force) at Darshana in Damurhuda of Chuadanga.

Uttam Mazumder, 45, was returned yesterday at a commander-level flag meeting held near 76 main pillar of Darshana border at 12pm.

The meeting was attended by Chuadanga 6 BGB battalion’s Darshana BGB camp company commander Subedar Abdul Awal Khan and immigration in-charge SI Mahbubur Rahman. Among the Indian officials were Inspector Dipak Thappa, company commander of Gede BSF camp in Chapra thana of Noida and immigration in-charge Partha Singh.

On January 10, BGB officials detained Uttam, son of Shibchand Mazumder from Gede village of Chapra thana in Noida district, as he was infiltrating into Bangladesh through 74/2 sub pillar near Nimtola border, said Awal Khan.

A case was filed with Damurhuda police station in connection with the infiltration.

After serving in Chuadanga jail for three months and eight days, Uttam was released yesterday morning. l

Gonojagoron Moncho spokesperson Imran H Sarkar yesterday said the platform wasn’t initiated to serve anyone’s purpose, so they would not go back home as per anybody’s wish.

“The platform was formed to realise the six-point demand and we will go back home only after the demands are met,” he said at a rally organised by the Moncho at Shahbagh Projonmo Chattar to protest at “delay” in implementation of the verdicts handed down to the war criminals and press home its six-point demand.

Speakers at the programme called upon its activists to resist all kinds of conspiracies against the movement and get united.

While another faction of Gonojagoron Moncho led by Kamal Pasha Chowdhury brought out a procession demanding punishment for the attackers on Gonojagoron activist Shishir and withdrawal of false case against the activists.

At the rally, Imran blamed few groups for making the Moncho controversial. He said, “The people on 8 February 2013 took oath to realise the six demands. But a few of them are now saying that there is no need of the activity of Gonojagoron Moncho.”

“Actually, they need Hefazat-e-Islam and Jamaat-e-Islami instead.”

Imran said, “The platform wasn’t initiated to install someone to power or oust someone from power. We will go

back home only after our six demands are met. Nothing can stop us.”

“They said they will fulfil our demands in the parliament. Now they have forgotten everything. They are taking money from Jamaat’s financial organisation in the name of different programmes. They are releasing Shibir leaders who were sentenced to death,” he said without naming anyone.

“Trial of Sayedee has not been finished yet. They took more than two months to appoint a chairman to the tribunal. They are trying to waste time.”

Among others, Janardan Datta Nantu, president of Chhatra Front, Probir Saha, president of Chhatra Federation, Faisal Faruq, president of Biplobi Chhatra Maitree, Shahjahan Ali Saju, secretary of Chhatra League (JSD), GM Hilali, organising secretary of Chhatra Union, and Lucky Akter, one of the leading organisers of the Moncho, addressed the programme.

Kamal Pasha said they urged the law enforcers to take immediate action against the attackers on Shishir and withdraw the false cases filed against the Moncho activists. He also urged the government to take immediate steps to fulfil the six-point demand.

However, the faction did not stage any rally. Kamal Pasha told the Dhaka Tribune that the law enforcers did not give them permission for holding the rally.

Among others, Jagrata Janata convener Habibullah Mesbha, FM Shahin, Mohammad Babul and Mehadi Hasan were present. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Government mulls financial support for transport workers’ children n Mohosinul Karim The government is planning to provide adequate financial support for the children of motor mechanics and transport workers so that they can easily complete their higher education.

Though the existing labour welfare foundation law has a provision of providing maximum Tk20,000, it’s inadequate for completing the higher education.

The labour ministry has already taken a move to amend the law, keeping the provision of providing assistance for the meritorious children of transport workers as much as they need.

Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune that the government would take the responsibility for the meritorious children of transport workers for their higher edu-

cation. Though the government is giving support for education up to higher secondary level, the government has yet to launch any programme on higher education.

“We will insert a provision in the labour welfare foundation law to give financial support for the meritorious students from the workers’ family. The students will get financial support until they complete their higher education.

But, it would be given only after their admission for higher education such as medical or engineering education,” he added.

“Under the existing rules, the ministry can provide Tk20,000 at a time from the welfare foundation fund. It’s inadequate for higher education. It should be increased if the government wants to extend support,” he added.

He, however, said the ministry had given Tk100,000 to all the victims as

assistance after the Rana Plaza building collapse. It was given without amending the provision. “We will have to amend the rules soon. It will be done, keeping all the issues in mind.”

Earlier, the government had launched the group insurance scheme for the motor mechanics and transport workers after group insurance for the construction workers.

Around 1,000 motor mechanics and transport workers would be covered by the group insurance scheme which took effect from April, 2014 as per the Labour Welfare Foundation Act, 2006.

A tripartite agreement between the government, Motor Workers Federation and Jibon Bima Corporation, a state-owned insurance company, was signed at the conference room of the labour ministry yesterday.

Labour Welfare Foundation’s Chair-

man Faizur Rahman and Motor Workers Federation’s President Mahbubur Rahman Ismail and General Secretary Anwar Hossain signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides.

State Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu, Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar and Managing Director of Jibon Bima Corporation Porikkhit Dutt Chowdhury were also present at the signing ceremony.

According to the agreement, the family members of the insured workers will get Tk200,000 for accidental deaths during the period of insurance.

But, the insured workers will get only 50% of the premium after completion of the agreement.

The annual premium of the group insurance would be Tk1,300 per head.

Of the premium, the Labour Welfare Foundation would provide Tk850 while Tk450 would be paid by the workers. l

Rizvi: Same abductors kidnapped Siddique and Ilyas Ali n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla The BNP yesterday alleged that the BELA chief’s husband, Abu Bakar Siddique, was abducted by the same people who had abducted the former BNP lawmaker Ilyas Ali. “The BNP firmly belives that those who abducted Ilyas Ali, also abducted Syeda Rizwana Hasan’s husband.

There is a similiarity between the two incidents,” Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, joint secretary general of the party, told journalists at a press briefing in the party’s Nayapaltan headquarters.

On Wednesday, Siddique was abducted by unidentified miscreants on his way home from Narayanganj. The kidnappers released him in the early hours of yesterday, more than 30 hours after his abduction from Fatullah.

CPB and SPB Teesta Barrage road march ends today

Tofail: Power crisis, river erosion to be resolved soon n Our Correspondent, Bhola Problems like river erosion and power crisis in Bhola will be resolved soon, said Tofail Ahmed, commerce minister and member of parliament from Bhola 1 constituency, at a meeting in the district office of Awamil League in Bhola yesterday at 11:30am.

The minister also said the construction of a river dam to prevent river erosion will be finished before summer, adding that the necessary funds have already been approved.

He said river erosion will be history in Bhola when work under the ORIO project funded by the Netherlands government is finished.

At the meeting, the minister asked the Water Development Board officials to make sure that the dam construction is completed soon so that people do not have to suffer from the flood this year.

About the power crisis, the minister said the out-of-service gas-fuelled rental power plant will be fixed and up and running by April 25.

The meeting, presided by Awami League General Secretary Abdul Momin Tulu, was part of the minister’s one-day tour in Bhola after several months.

The party activists also greeted the newly elected Sadar upazila chairman Mosharraf Hossain with flowers at the meeting. l

Meanwhile, BNP leader Ilyas Ali is yet to be traced, although two years have already elapsed since his abduction on April 17, 2012.

Rizvi alleged that the abduction of Ilyas Ali was a message to the opposition party, and an attempt at repressing them.

“By abducting and torturing Abu Bakar Siddique, a warning was sent to those who raised their voices in televsion talk-shows to protect the environment as well as freedom of expression,” he said.

On a separate note, the BNP leader urged people to join the longmarch towards the Teesta Barrage, and said: “Our programme will be peaceful. If anyone tries to hinder our programme, the people will give their reply.” l

n Manik Miazee

Asha was pregnant when her husband Abu Zafar died in Rana Plaza collapse. She gave birth to a baby boy and named him Kawsar. Asha and the 5-month-old boy are now facing an uncertain future. The picture was taken from Savar MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Protesting the “weak foreign policy” of the Awami League (AL) led government, the joint-road march of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and the Socialist Party of Bangladesh (SPB) from Dhaka to the Teesta Barrage, demanding a proper share of the Teesta river water from India, will end today at the Shadu Bazar in Hatibanda, Lalmonirhat.

The CPB and the SPB began the road march after holding a rally in front of the National Press Club on April 17.

The march also held several roadside rallies at different points along its route from Sirajgang to Rangpur highway yesterday. After ending its second day in Rangpur, the march will head for Lalmonirhat on this last day. The road march is expected to hold its concluding rally at Shadu Bazar today.

Earlier, at the roadside rallies, CPB and SPB leaders said there are 54 common rivers flowing between India and Bangladesh and the Indian government is obstructing the flow of water of these rivers by building barrages upstream, violating the international river law.

They also said the Indian government has no right to withdraw water from any river flowing unilaterally between the two countries. They also warned that India will not be allowed to do whatever they want with Bangladesh’s rivers. l

Inu: Hefazat’s Shafi won’t be spared Sirajul’s family demands justice n Our Correspondent, Kushtia Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu yesterday said Hefazat-e-Islam Ameer Shah Ahmad Shafi would not be spared from facing the consequences for his comments on girls and their education.

Inu said Shafi compared girls to tamarinds and advocated for girls’ education up to only grade 4, for which he must publicly seek apology.

The minister was addressing a discussion titled “Peace, development and democracy” held in the Kushtia Municipality auditorium.

Hosted by the Department of Mass Communication under the Ministry of

Information, the programme was attended by people from all tiers, including journalists, teachers and freedom fighters.

In his address, Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu urged Shafi to give up his opinion on women.

He branded the Hefazat chief as an “enemy of democracy.”

Inu, also JSD president, mentioned a series of development programmes implemented by the government.

He said this government has helped farmers to open an account in state banks with an initial deposit of Tk10 only, distributed 30 crore textbooks among students on the very first day of their academic year and took steps to

build deep-sea port.

In answer to a question, the minister alleged that the BNP in its last tenure tried to turn Bangladesh into Pakistan.

To distort the country’s history, the party counted on baseless propaganda, he said.

The discussion began with a welcome address by Kamrun Nahar, director general, Department of Mass Communication.

Among others, district commissioner Syed Belal Hossain, police super Mofiz Uddin Ahmed and municipality mayor Anowar Ali made speeches at the programme.

The programme was broadcast live on Bangladesh Television. l

n Tribune Report The family members and relatives of Sirajul Islam, whose death sparked a protest at Birdem General Hospital, formed a human chain in front of the National Press Club demanding punishment for the doctors responsible for his death, yesterday.

At the human chain, Farhana Nasreen, the daughter of the deceased, claimed that her father met his tragic end due to the negligence of some on-duty, intern doctors at the hospital.

“Such incidents will continue to rise in the country if the responsible doctors are not punished,” she said.

an hour from 11:00am, which was also attended by Press Club Employees’ Union president Rafiqul Islam, among others.

Earlier, at a press conference, Nasreen urged the prime minister to take steps to punish the doctors.

The death of Sirajul Islam, 57, raised an outcry among his relatives who allegedly assaulted some doctors on Sunday night leading to a two-day strike enforced by the physicians from Tuesday. The doctors are about to stage an hour of abstention from work today, demanding safety in their work place.

The strike caused a lot of suffering of hundreds of patients. l

Obaidul: Construction of Padma Bridge to be completed by 2017

Three held with Indian cloths in Chittagong n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-7) yesterday morning nabbed three persons when they were smuggling in 1,094 pieces of Indian sari and 302 pieces of Indian garment by a truck from Kadam Rasul area under Sitakunda upazila in Chittagong.

The arrestees were identified as Mohammad Arif, 23, Mohammad Sharif, 28, and Mohammad Alif, 44, the truck driver, all hailing from Chittagong, said a RAB7 press release.

Acting on a tip-off, a team from RAB7 conducted a raid at the Kadam Rasul area on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway and nabbed the smugglers.

Later, the arrestees and the recovered items, worth around Tk 77.82 lakh, were handed over to the Sitakunda Police Station, added the release. A case was lodged with the Sitakunda police station in this connection. l

She further added: “They killed my father by being negligent in his treatment. If the doctors were serious, then he would be home with us today.”

Addressing the prime minister and the health minister, Nasreen said: “I have lost my mother and father in a just span of 19 days. Then why are you taking side of the doctors and not ordering a neutral probe?”

At one stage, while recalling her father’s memory at the human chain, Nasreen fainted. Later, doctors at the press club provided her primary treatment. Doctors said she has been suffering from physical and mental weakness.

The human chain was formed for

n Tribune Report

Mahbub Jamil and his wife receive the Cholochitra Sangsad Andolon golden jubilee award from Mustafa Monwar at the capital's Shilpakala Academy auditorium yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Communications Minister Obaidul Quader said the construction of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge will be completed by 2017, yesterday.

He made the statement at the inaugural function of Nitol- Niloy Dhaka Motor Exhibition 2014 at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

The minister said the work order for the main structure of the Padma Bridge will be issued in June this year and both road and rail communication facilities will be available on the bridge.

“Construction of the link-roads of the Padma Bridge is nearly complete and hopefully we will be able to start its main structure very soon,” he added.

Obaidul also said the government will soon be starting the construction

of the metro-rail to make Dhaka city traffic congestion-free. He also expressed hope for starting the construction of the Joydebpur-Dhaka Elevated Express soon.

Elaborating future initiatives, he said: “We will bring in 650 environment-friendly taxicabs. Of them, 500 taxicabs will be for Dhaka city and 150 taxicabs for Chittagong.”

The minister said the country is witnessing a remarkable development in the communication sector due to the implementation of massive projects.

American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh president Aftab-ul-Islam, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Md Shahjahan Khan and Nitol-Niloy Group chairman Matlub Ahmed addressed the function, among others. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

5

Saturay, April 19, 2014

City facelift for World T20 still going on Contractors’ negligence, poor monitoring from city corporation to extend work untill June

n Abu Hayat Mahmud The road from Mirpur 11 to Kalshi became important during the ICC World T20 because foreign cricket fans staying in Radisson and Regency hotels came to the Mirpur stadium using this road.

It was part of a project undertaken to give the capital a facelift before the sporting event. However, nearly two weeks after the end of the event, the beautification work on the road is still going on.

On Wednesday, this reporter found that the works for widening the road and installing street lights had still not been completed, with the deadline being missed by more than a month.

Local residents alleged that the implementers had been slow in doing the work. The people travelling to the Mirpur Stadium along this road during the event had to glide past all kinds of ditches, heaps of soil, and dust for nearly a month.

Akbar Hossain, who lives near the Kalshi Graveyard, said: “The contractor’s negligence and lack of monitoring from the city corporation are to be blamed for the meaningless delay in work.”

Around noon on Wednesday, this

reporter saw that only five labourers were working at the site.

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) began the beautification work in early February, following approval from the government on January 19.

The ICC World T20 began on March 16 and ended on April 6. The project was supposed to be fully implemented

by March 8.

Under the project, 23km road was supposed to be widened, streetlights, traffic signs and road markers were to be installed on 23.5km road, and 20.5km road was to be beautified.

The Local Government Department is implementing the Tk115 crore project, with Tk92 crore from the government exchequer and the remaining from DNCC funds.

Brig Gen Md Abul Khair, chief engineer of DNCC, told the Dhaka Tribune that: “We were given only four-five weeks. Because there was not enough time, we could not complete some of the [beautification] works on time.”

Claiming 90% of the work had already been completed, he hoped to finish all the development work by June.

When Dhaka Tribune talked to him in February, he said he was confident that all the work could be finished by the March 8 deadline. l

Although two weeks have passed since the ICC World T20 ended, the beautification work on a road at Kalshi is still going on

Poor on-board facilities hit train commuters

Man dies from electrocution n CU Correspondent

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A man was electrocuted at the Charlakkha area of the port city under Karnaphuli police station yesterday.

The deceased, Md Rahim, 35, was the son of late Md Kabir Ahmed of the area, said police sources.

Nayek Abdul Bashar of Chittagong Medical College Hospital Police Outpost said Rahim was electrocuted when he was fixing wires for a football match near his residence around 3pm, leaving him critically injured.

He was later taken to the CMCH where the duty doctors declared him dead, added Nayek Bashar. l

Four female muggers arrested n CU Correspondent

Thousands of commuters of East Zone of Bangladesh Railway experience poor facilities on board the train that witnesses day by day reduction in the number of passengers.

The indifference of the railway authorities to maintaining service standards has led to such decrease of passengers unwilling to travel by train.

As most passengers are not aware of their on-board facilities, the train employees allegedly do not provide proper amenities for them.

The commuters alleged that they had to purchase food at a higher rate than that fixed by the Bangladesh Railway (BR), said railway sources.

The railway authorities attributed lack of manpower in the sector to the fall of service standard on board the train.

A total 192 intercity, local, mail, circular and demu trains are regularly plying through Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions under the zone, while 26 more trains are running between Dhaka and other divisions of BR (West) zones and India, said Mohammad Moqbul Ahmed, general manager (GM) of BR (East Zone).

According to the citizen charter of BR website, passengers have to be provided with necessary amenities while they are on board, but most facilities are unavailable in the trains.

“I had to buy a burger for Tk40 in Subarna Express train on March 6 when I was going to Dhaka from Chittagong.

But later I came to know that the fixed price of the snack was Tk20, according to BR,” said Mizanur Rahman, a government employee in the capital.

Tahera Sarkar Era, a college student, told the Dhaka Tribune she found her

seat in “Turna Nishita” at A/C compartment in bad condition while she was going to the port city on April 15.

A 60-year-old passenger Nur Nabi, retired government official, said he did not find any toilet tissue in his compartment’s washroom in “Mahanagar Godhuli” on April 6.

“The prayer compartment of train was found full of passengers who were boarding illegally; so, I could not say my prayer during my travel,” added the passenger.

A housewife Nasima Akhter travelling from Sylhet to Chittagong with her two-year-old daughter said she faced trouble to sit in her seat at “Jalalabad Express” on March 20 as a number of passengers were stooping down beside her seat while there was no system to board standing passengers in the train.

Belal Uddin, chief commercial manager of BR (East), said the commuters

n CU Correspondent

SUNNY

TODAY SUN SETS 6:20PM

TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:33AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY Dhaka

40

29 26

Chittagong

35

Rajshahi

42

25

Rangpur

41

25

Khulna

40

26

Barisal

39

26

Sylhet

39

22

Cox’s Bazar

35

25

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

39.5ºC Rajshahi

21.0ºC Srimangal

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:19am 5:36am 11:59am 4:26pm 6:21pm 7:39pm Source: IslamicFinder.org

At least two people were killed and three others injured in a road accident in Chittagong’s Potiya upazila early yesterday.

The dead were Toyab Ali, 45, and Munshi Mia, 40, and one of the injured Shohel, 28, was admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital in critical condition. The two other injured Siraj, 32, and Ramjan, 22, were given preliminary medical treatment, said police.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Morsheda Begum of Potiya police station said a Cox’s Bazar-bound pick-up van and a Poitya-bound CNG-run auto-rickshaw collided head-on near Simai Bridge area of the upazila around 6:45am, leaving two passengers of the autorickshaw spot dead and three others injured. l

CUTA issues ultimatum to take action

WEATHER

DHAKA

Road crash kills 2 in Chittagong n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

MP’S BROTHER ASSAULTS CU TEACHER

Police arrested four female muggers at Chairmanghata, Chandgaon in the port city, yesterday morning.

The arrested were: Rashida Begum, 18, Munni Beghum, 25, Fatema Begum, 25, and Rozi Begum, 26.

Monirul Islam, sub-inspector of the Panchlaish police station, said the muggers had snatched a mobile phone from a woman named Adnin Ara Chowdhury near Chittagong Community Centre in Panchlaish on Thursday night.

Later the victim filed a complaint with the Panchlaish police station.

Following the complaint, a team of police detained the four, Monir said. l

SATURDAY, APRIL 19

had to be aware of their facilities according to railway citizen charter.

“When passengers purchase any food from the train, they have to take receipt of the purchase; then there will be no chance for extra charge,” he said, adding that passengers had to lodge their complaints with the stations, which would help the authorities for taking action.

Omar Faruk, chairman of Bondhon Developers Limited in the port city, said he travelled by train on regular basis, but he did not find any complaint centre in Chittagong and Dhaka Railway Stations.

Admitting the matter, GM Moqbul of BR (East) told the Dhaka Tribune, “We are trying to ensure passengers’ facilities, but it will take time as railway had manpower shortage.”

“A fresh recruitment process is underway to meet the demand of commuters.” l

ABU HAYAT MAHMUD

A procession is brought out in the city yesterday, demanding opening of Dhanmondi playground for public

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Green activists demand opening of Dhanmondi playground n Abu Hayat Mahmud As part of the movement demanding the Dhanmondi playground be opened to the public, activists of nearly 50 environmental and social organisations rallied to the spot from the capital’s Shahbagh yesterday.

They forcefully entered the playground after the rally, organised by Green Voice, an organisation of green activists, who had reached the spot around 10am. There they formed a human chain to press home their 10-point demand, including a stop to construction of structures and removal of all illegal establishments.

“I’ve seen it as I walked past it many times. I’ve always wanted to play here but couldn’t. Today I’m very happy that I finally got the chance,” said Farha, 8, as she entered the playground with her parents. Mobasser Hossain, member of the national assembly of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa) and former

president of the Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB), said: “Despite a High Court order to free up the ground by removing illegal structures, no action has yet been taken by the city corporation.”

He said in 2004, after Bapa and IAB submitted a petition, the High Court directed the city corporation (now Dhaka South City Corporation) to free up the ground from the illegal occupation by Sheikh Jamal Club.

In March 2011, the court again ordered DSCC, the Public Works Ministry (PWD) and the club authorities to remove all illegal structures so that the ground remained open to everyone.

Iqbal Habib, joint general secretary of Bapa, said: “We heard that today a minister will visit the place. We fear the club authorities might convince the minister so that they can continue such illegal activities.”

The activists alleged the committee controlling the playground on behalf of Sheikh Jamal Club is headed by Dhaka

Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

A large number of law enforcers were guarding the area when activists entered.

Sheikh Jamal Club authorities erected some structures on the ground and have kept it under occupation without permission from the government.

Nearly three decades ago, PWD tasked the Dhaka City Corporation with maintaining and supervising the ground.

Locals alleged the club authorities had taken control of the ground gradually, with city corporation authorities continually playing a dubious role in this regard.

Anwarul Karim Helal, team manager of the club, said: “We are very surprised at the attitude of the activists.

They forced their way inside by breaking the lock of the main entrance. We could’ve resisted them but we didn’t.”

Abdul Gaffar, sports in-charge of the club, said a press briefing would be held at 11am today. He said the DSCC and the Local Government Division (LGD) are in charge of the construction work. l

Chittagong University Teacher’s Association (CUTA) yesterday issued a 7-day ultimatum to the university authority to arrest the culprits immediately who assaulted Kajol Debnath, a teacher of the university’s Fine Arts Institute.

The ultimatum came up when members of CUTA formed a human chain in front of the Chittagong Press Club.

Protesting the attack, the speakers demanded immediate arrest and exemplary punishment to the attackers who launched an attack on the teacher.

Professor Benu Kumar Dey, president of CUTA presided over the program while Mustafizur Rahman, secre-

tary of CUTA, Professor Imran Hossain, dean of Arts and Humanities faculty, Sankar Lal Saha, dean of Engineering faculty, Sekandar Chowdhury, former secretary of CUTA, addressed the human chain among others.

The speakers said if the demands were not met by the deadline set by the ultimatum, CUTA would launch tougher programme to press home their demand.

Kajol Debnath, an assistant professor of Fine Arts Institute of CU, was physically assaulted by Tanvir Sarwar Rana, the younger brother of Saimon Sarwar, a ruling party lawmaker from Cox’s Bazar Sadar constituency, at the campus premises in the city on April 10 allegedly over borrowing money. l

BU students demand removal of OC n Our Correspondent. Barisal Students of Barisal University (BU) yesterday demanded the removal of Kotwali police station’s officer-in-charge, protesting ‘police attacks’ on them.

They also threatened to carry out indefinite agitation unless Shakhawt Hossain was removed from his post.

The students voiced their demand at a human chain held on the temporary campus a day after 14 students and a teacher were injured by police action.

Jahirul Islam, Shamim Shikdar of the economics department, Firojul Islam Nayon of management, Uzzal Roy of sociology, Sharmin Akter of law, among others, spoke at the human chain.

The police action allegedly occurred after a student was assaulted by a transport worker after being prevented from getting off a bus in front of the university gate at Karnakathi, east of the Kirtankhola River.

Immediate after the assault, stu-

dents blocked Barisal-Patuakhali highway near the campus at Karnakathi.

Kotwali police were called in to disperse them and resorted to violence, leaving 17 people injured, of whom two were police officers.

Police baton-charged them, fired gunshots and threw teargas canisters at them, injuring at least 14 students and a teacher, according to statements.

They also allegedly shouted obscenities at the teachers and students and even assaulted a university official at the hospital..

The agitators also demanded the immediate construction of speed breakers, passenger sheds, and punishment of the transport worker who assaulted a student on Thursday.

Deputy Commissioner (north)Abu Raihan Md Saleh said the police action was an immediate necessity, saying this road connects to at least nine long routes linking five out of six districts in Barisal division. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Campaign to stop Jatka catching ‘fails’ n Our Correspondent, Lakshmipur Jatka Conservation Campaign is set to fail in Lakshmipur as fishermen are not getting the amount of rice the government had originally earmarked for them, forcing them to go fishing in the river.

Fishermen were to be given 40 kilograms of rice per month from March to June to keep them from catching Jatka -juvenile hilsa up to 23 cm long in the Meghna during the March-April period.

But Charromoni Mohon Union Parishad Chairman Abu Yusuf Saiyal is giving a fisherman only 25 to 27 kilogrammes of rice, embezzling the rest, in the union’s Mojuchoudhuryhat area, they say.

District and Upazila fisheries officials are colluding with him in this dishonest activity as they get a share of it too, they add.

Rice was doled out to governmentregistered 2950 fishermen in the area in first installment yesterday.

Our correspondent has visited the site and also found the authenticity of the allegation.

He found that Union Parishad Chairman Saiyal was distributing rice among the fishermen in presence of Sadar Upazila Fisheries Officer Sunil Chandra Ghosh.

Fishermen Mohin Uddin, Md Shahid, Md Hossain and some other fishermen say they were being given 25 to 27

kilograms of rice at the beginning.

As this came to the light and the fishermen expressed outrage, the chairman started distributing 30 to 32 kilograms of rice, they said.

Sadar Upazila General Secretary Chowdhury Majhi of Bangladesh Small Fishermen Association say, “We are not being given what we deserve.”

“We have been given only 25 to 27 kilograms of rice since morning. This is hardly enough for running a fisherman’s family and so they cannot but go catching Jatka in the river now.”

Asked about this, Union Parishad Chairman Saiyal denied the allegation, passing the buck to godown officials.

“A sack of 50 kilograms of rice is given to me as that of 51 kilograms from the godown,” he said, adding, “They do not exclude the weight of a sack of rice when weighing it.” “Besides this, they may be given a bit less rice than what they deserve to make up the cost of labour and transportation,” he said.

Sadar Upazila Food Godown Officerin-Charge Md Mahbubul Alam say, “We release rice from here after correctly weighing it. There should not be any shortage of rice in a sack.”

Sadar Upazila Fisheries Officer Ghosh say, “We are distributing rice as per rules.

There may be some fluctuations in weight, but that should not be significant.” l

Youths from Rakhain community celebrate Sangrai festival popularly known as Jolkeli in Amkhola village of Kuakata yesterday. The four-day festival began on Tuesday

Lack of transformer causes much suffering

Angry mob besieges magistrate’s house n Our Correspondent, Tangail Some 50,000 consumers under Betka sub-station in Tangail have been n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah power suffering from frequent load shedding An angry mob besieged the residence of a judicial magistrate and blocked the town road in Jhenaidah in protest of a night guard’s death from electrocution on the premises of Jhenaidah judicial magistrate court yesterday morning.

The deceased, identified as Akkas Ali, 50, had gone inside the court premises to collect vegetables from the garden around 9:30am yesterday.

As he climbed up a tree to pick up drumsticks (sajna), he came in contact with a live wire and was electrocuted, dying on the spot.

As word got out, locals assumed Akkas was employed at Judicial Magistrate Parvej Shahriar’s residence.

Angered, they besieged his house and demanded compensation for Akkas’s death.

However, it was later revealed that Akkas was, in fact, not employed by the magistrate. He was a night guard at Jhenaidah KC College.

Upon receiving information, police went to the the spot and brought the situation under control.

When contacted, the magistrate confirmed that the victim was not his employee and he did not know him.

Mohammad Hasanuzzaman, additional superintendent of police, said: “This was an unfortunate incident. The angry locals besieged the magistrate’s house based on wrong assumption.

They had also barricaded the town road for an hour.

“But the situation is under control now,” he said.

Iqbal Bahar, OC of Jhenaidah police station, said the the victim was a night guard at Jhenaidah KC College, not the magistrate’s residence. “He had gone to pick up vegetables without the magistrate’s knowledge,” he said.

Additional police had been deployed at the magistrate’s house, the OC added. l

for quite a long time, since the installation of a new power transformer has yet to become a reality.

According to local sources, the Power Development Board has been providing 43,787 consumers with electricity from Betka power sub-station through the Alenga feeder, Ainapur feeder, City feeder, Housing feeder, Zila Sadar feeder, Nalua feeder and VIP Hospital feeder.

Many consumers, who are supposed to get electricity from these feeders, said they were experiencing three to four hours of load shedding every day, disrupting their regular lives.

Sources at Betka power sub-station said the station was getting 18 megawatts of electricity daily, whereas the demand is for 25 megawatts every day.

Nepal Chandra Sarker, sub-assistant engineer of 132/33 KV grid sub-station in Boilla, told the Dhaka Tribune that they were capable of supplying 25 megawatts of electricity, but the Betka sub-station only

The photo taken recently shows that fans are set up beside transformers to keep the machines cool DHAKA TRIBUNE has the capacity to receive 18 megawatts.

Sources said two power transformers, with 10 megawatt capacity each, that had been set up four years back, are overloaded.

The transformers become over heat-

ed while running at full capacity. To keep the transformers cool, fans have been set up beside the transformers, and sometimes, water is sprayed on them to keep the machines cool.

A new transformer with 10 mega-

watt capacity has been brought to the sub-station a year back with a view to increase the capacity of the power station, but the authority concerned has yet to install the transformer.

There was an allegation that a contractor company, Shapla Enterprise, which was entrusted with the installation of the transformer has already taken 80% of the money but has yet to follow through with their commitment.

Speaking on the progress in setting up the transformer, Md Sahadat Ali, executive engineer (seals and distribution division-1) of the PDB, said the transformer will be set up under the supervision of the Japan International Corporation Agency.

Nurul Islam, owner of Shapla Enterprise, said: “almost 80% of the installation work has been done. Seven more days will be needed to complete the setup of the power transformer.”

But during a visit to the sub-station on Thursday this correspondent found that the new power transformer was laying idle. Seeking anonymity some PDB employees said it would take a minimum of two months to complete the remaining work. l

Khagrachhari residents reeling from water crisis Clients blame District Public Health Engineering for water shortage correspondent found that the peo- water crisis several times, but the authori- we very often get highest 320KV voltn Our Correspondent, Khagrachhari this age and that is the reason for not supple were collecting drinking water from ties did not pay heed to their pleas.

About 20,000 clients of the District Public Health Engineering (DPHE) in Khagrachhari have been suffering due to a water crisis for the last 15 days.

People of the districts now depend on sources of surface water such as waterfalls, canals and ponds, which are unsafe for drinking.

Local people said many people of the area are suffering from water-related diseases for lack of safe drinking water.

During a recent visit to Mollapara area under Khagrachhari Sadar upazila

wells and ponds to use on household purpose.

Mohammad Abul Kalam, a resident of Kalabagan of Khagrachhari district town, said: “We are not getting water to meet our daily demands as the DPHE fails to provide us sufficient water.

“We are compelled to fetch water from neighbouring areas, but the authorities concerned do not care to fulfil our daily requirements of water.”

Amena Khartun, a resident of Kadam Tali area of the town, said they had informed the DPHE authorities on the acute

Taslim Uddin, a resident of Monpura, said residents of the area did not get a single jar of water from the DPHE supply.

She urged the authorities concerned to take measures so that they could get rid from such sufferings.

When contacted, Executive Engineer of the DPHE Md Soharab Hossain acknowledged the water crisis, but he denied allegation of negligence.

“You know we need 380KV voltage to start our water lifting motors that are used for lifting underground water but

plying water to consumers,” he added.

Engineer of Power Development Board Md Abdus Salam said: “The Power Development Board needs 33,000KV voltage every day to full fill its clients’ demand but surprising all we get maximum 22,000KV voltage per day.

“We cannot upgrade the voltage if supply remains low, he said, adding that the government needs to take action in this regards, he added.

He said the problem would be solved if they got sufficient power supply from the national grid. l

Nor’wester hits different parts of the country n Tribune Report

Affected people roam around a damaged house at Bijoynagar in Kishoreganj after a nor’wester swept over the village yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nor’wester (Kaal Boishakhi) hit different parts of the country including areas of Gazipur, Kishoreganj, and Brahmanbaria, yesterday. At least 10 persons were injured by the nor’wester and it did a lot damage in the aforementioned places.

Our Gazipur correspondent reports that eight villages under three unions of Kapasia upazila in Gazipur were ravaged by the nor’wester in the early hours yesterday. The storm-hit the villages of Lohadi, Pachua, Goserkandi, Naya Sangun, Sultanpur, and Kushdi under Barisaboi union, Veeruzli under Toke union, and Belashi under Raed union in the upazila.

Abdul Jalil, chairman of Toke Union Parishad told the Dhaka Tribune that the village of Veeruzli was the most affected among the eight villages by the sudden nor’wester that swept through those areas around 3am yesterday.

Jamaluddin, a resident from the village of Naya Sangun said banana orchards, jackfruit trees and other fruitbearing trees were destroyed by the heavy rainfall. Mustafa Kamal, a farmer from the village of Belashi said crops would be benefitted by this heavy rain, but they had lost their valuable fruitbearing trees.

In the meantime, at least 10 people were injured and around 100 houses were destroyed by the violent storm which swept through Bhairab upazila in Kishoreganj district yesterday morning.

The affected houses include educational institutions and business establishments. A good number of trees were also uprooted in the affected areas by the hail and rain.

The storm-hit areas are Srinagar, Kamarkanda, Shibpur, Kalikaproshad, Shimulkandi, Bhobanipur villages in Bhairab upazila.

The storm also uprooted many electric poles, cutting off the electricity

supply of the affected areas, said Md SorafatUllah, officer-in-charge of the Bhairab police station.

At least 40 houses were demolished by the seasonal storm at Bijoynagar upazila in Brahmanbaria in the early hours yesterday. Different types of trees and crops were damaged during the storm.

Locals said the electricity connection of the entire Bijoynagar upazila was severed when trees fell on the transmission lines. The damage is estimated to be around Tk10 lakh, they claimed.

Forty houses in the village of Binnighat under Budhri union in the district were torn apart by the sudden storm. Liton Mia, a victim and resident of the village said a mill house and a home that belonged to him were wrecked by the nor’wester.

Bashirul Haque Bhuiya, upazila nirbahi officer of Bijoynagar said they were going to visit the affected areas. The losses had not been estimated yet. l

FOCUS BANGLA

NEWS IN BRIEF 19,000 yaba tablets seized, 3 held Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel arrested three Myanmar nationals along with around 19,000 pieces of Yaba in the Nyitangpara area near the River Naf estuary in Teknaf upazila, Cox’s Bazar, yesterday. The arrested are Abeda Begum of Khaikhali, Hajera Begum of Daliapara, and Kulbil area’s Mohammad Anas, from Mongdu, a Myanmar city. Teknaf BGB 42 commander lieutenant colonel Abujar Al Jahid said a BGB petrol team, acting on a tip-off, nabbed 24 Myanmar nationals who were intruding into Bangladesh illegally.

There were 16 men, six women and two children and three of the intruders were caught with around 19,000 pieces of Yaba, said Jahid. The arrested were handed over to the Teknaf police station and a case has been lodged against the three drug peddlers. Another 21 intruders will be sent back to Myanmar soon, Jahid added. – Our Correspondent

Minor boy burnt alive in Natore

A minor boy was burnt to death in a fire that broke out at Telkupi Hazatipara village in Sadar upazila, Natore, in the early hours of yesterday. The deceased, Shihab Shah, 12, was the son of Shahidul Shah of the village. Police said the fire had originated from a piece of dung that was kept burning in Shahidul’s cowshed to drive away mosquitoes. At about 12:15am, the fire started, and soon engulfed two other dwellings as well.

All the residents of the house except Shihab managed to escape. Later, locals doused the flame and recovered Shihab’s charred body. – Our Correspondent

Bangladeshi arrested for laundering Tk4 lakh in India Indian immigration police arrested a Bangladeshi man at a Petrapole check post for laundering Tk4 lakh, on Thursday evening. The arrested was identified as Lokman Hossain, 40, the son of Abdus Samad of Kajpukur village. Acting on secret information, a team of Petropole immigration police arrested Lokman and recovered Tk4 lakh from his possession in the afternoon, said Mohammad Moniruzzamna, officer-in-charge of the Benapole Check Post Immigration. Moniruzzaman said he was aware of the arrest of another Bangladeshi national in India, referring to the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) arrest of Kamal Hossain at a Petrapole check post for carrying six gold bars on April 12. – Our Correspondent

Minor boy drowns in Comilla

A minor boy drowned in a pond in Singadda village, Comilla Sadar upazila, yesterday morning. The deceased was identified as Md Abdullah, the son of Moktar Hossain of the village. Locals said Abdullah slipped into the water suddenly while playing near the pond.

Later, divers were called in to recover the body. An unnatural death case was filed. – Our Correspondent

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

7

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Divers enter sunken Korean ferry in hunt for survivors n AFP, Jindo, South Korea

A South Korean relative (R) sprays alcohol as she prays for the missing passengers of a capsized ferry at a harbor in Jindo as South Korean rescue teams, including elite navy SEAL divers, raced to find up to 293 people missing, mostly high school students bound for a holiday island. Emotions boiled over yesterday with angry parents confronting President Park Geun-Hye as prospects dwindled of finding survivors AFP

Snowden defends participation in Putin phone-in n AFP, London Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden yesterday defended his decision to question President Vladimir Putin in a televised phone-in over the extent of Russia’s surveillance activities.

Snowden, writing in Britain’s Guardian newspaper, said he was taken aback at criticism of his decision to take part in the show during which Putin greeted him, to laughs from the audience, as a fellow “former agent.”

Snowden asked Putin: “I’d like to ask you: does Russia intercept, store or analyse in any way the communications of millions of individuals?” Putin replied: “We have strict legal regulation of the use of special surveillance by special services, including tapping phone conversations, surveillance on the Internet and so on.”

Snowden, who appeared via video-link, said in the article that Putin “denied the first part of the question and dodged on the latter.” The man behind the US National Security Agency leaks said he was surprised by the criticism of some people. l

Modi reaches out to Mamata, hopes of cooperation if he wins n Agencies BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi yesterday expressed the hope that if he comes to power at the centre, he would get cooperation of Mamata Banerjee government in creating a conducive atmosphere for industrialization in West Bengal including resolving the Singur problem.

“I hope I will get all sorts of cooperation from West Bengal chief minister in solving the Singur tangle. Not only Singur, I hope I will get cooperation from the state government in creating a conducive atmosphere for industrialization in the state.

“I also hope Trinamool Congress will not indulge in vote bank politics on the question of development of the state,” he told Bengali daily ‘Anandabazar Patrika’.

On the Nano project, he said, “I gave

land to the Tatas when they were in trouble. But I had some guilty feeling towards West Bengal because it was not my intention to deprive it (of the project).

“Now when I am thinking of the development of the entire country coming out of Gujarat, I have a thought on Singur also,” he said.

The Tatas had shifted their Nano small car project to Gujarat in 2008 in the face of agitation by Trinamool Congress against acquisition of farmland in Singur by the then Left Front government.

Terming the criticism against each other by BJP and TMC as “natural” during election campaign, Modi said, “BJP and TMC are two different parties.

Ideologically, they are different.

“It is only natural that they will criticize each other during the election time. But if I come to power I will not be revengeful against any state.” l

Pakistan to hold fresh talks with Taliban negotiators n AFP, Islamabad The Pakistani government is planning a fresh round of talks with Taliban negotiators at the weekend, officials said yesterday, despite the militants’ refusal to extend a ceasefire called to help peace efforts.

Talks to end the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) bloody seven-year insurgency have been under way since February, with little clear progress made so far.

On Wednesday the militants said they would not extend the ceasefire they began on March 1 to help talks, complaining of a lack of movement from the government side.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said in a statement that he has called a meeting with the TTP’s talks committee to decide how to proceed.

He said only dialogue could overcome reservations and objections, but warned there was little chance of progress without a ceasefire.

“If Taliban have certain objections, we also have reservations,” he said, adding the government pushed forward the peace process against serious logjams.

(But) I don’t think the talks process will move forward in the absence of a ceasefire,” said Khan, who has been an ardent supporter of the talks.

Members of the government negotiating team are also likely to attend Sat-

urday’s talks, a senior official told AFP. In the country’s restive northwest, which has borne the brunt of the violence of the last seven years, militants opened fire on government paramilitary troops, killing one and wounding two others.

The incident, confirmed by local security and intelligence officials, took place at Bara Shaikhan village which lies on the edge of Khyber tribal district, bordering the city of Peshawar.

Since the TTP began their campaign of violence in 2007, more than 6,800 people have been killed in bomb and gun attacks around Pakistan, according to an AFP tally, destabilising the nuclear-armed state. l

Divers battled strong currents and murky waters yesterday to finally enter a South Korean ferry two days after it sank, as investigators revealed the captain was not at the helm when the vessel capsized with hundreds on board.

The unfolding tragedy was compounded by the apparent suicide of a high school vice principal who had been rescued from the 6,825-tonne Sewol that sank Wednesday morning with hundreds of his students trapped inside.

More than 48 hours after the ferry suddenly listed and capsized, exhausted dive teams – who waded through powerful currents – finally managed to access the interior.

After several attempts, two divers managed to pry open a door and enter the cargo section, a senior coastguard official said, briefing relatives of the missing. Hours later another two-man team accessed one of the cabins, but found nothing.

“The search operation will continue through the night,” the official said.

“Visibility is almost non-existent. You can hardly see your hand in front of you face,” said one diver when he returned to the harbour at nearby Jindo island.

The confirmed death toll stood at 28, but the focus of concern remained on the 268 still unaccounted for.

Of the 475 people on board when the Sewol capsized, only 179 were rescued and no new survivors have been found since Wednesday.

Three giant, floating cranes reached the rescue site, but regional coastguard commander Kim Soo-Hyun stressed they would not begin lifting the multideck ferry until they were sure there were no survivors inside.

“I want to be clear: There won’t be any salvage work done against the will of the families,” Kim aid.

More than 350 of those on board were from the Danwon High School in Ansan city just south of Seoul.

Among the parents of those students still missing there was bitter resentment at what they saw as the inadequacy of the official response.

“It’s been two days but no one has

been brought out alive,” complained Lee Yong-Gi, whose son was among the missing students.

“I firmly believe that the kids are alive. We need to rescue them as soon as possible. But officials are dragging their feet,” Lee told AFP. Another father accused the authorities of indifference and deception in an appeal broadcast live on television.

“The government lied yesterday,” he said, speaking from a podium in a Jindo gymnasium where hundreds of blanket-wrapped relatives have been sleeping on the floor since the tragedy unfolded.

Local police said they found the body Friday of Danwon High School vice-principal, Kang Min-Kyu, who had managed to escape the Sewol as it sank.

Police said the cause of death was under investigation, but sources cited by local media said he was found hanging by his belt from a tree next to the gymnasium.

The initial public backlash has centred on the captain, Lee Joon-Seok, and his 28 crew, most of whom survived the disaster. l

13 killed in Everest avalanche n Agencies A massive avalanche struck Mount Everest yesterday killing at least 13 Nepalese Sherpa guides and injuring several others in one of the most lethal mountaineering accidents in recent history on the world’s highest peak.

An official from the mountaineering division at the Nepalese tourism ministry said 13 bodies had so far been recovered and ferried to base camp, while a further three injured climbers were being taken to Kathmandu. As many as seven climbers are still thought to be missing.

“The avalanche hit the Nepalese Sherpa guides and climbers as they were heading towards Camp I from the Base Camp of the Everest,” said Tilak Pandey, an official at Mountaineering Division of Tourism Ministry.

“There were around 15 climbers from six different expeditions including Alpine Ascent and Summit Nepal, when the avalanche swept them away,” he said.

The accident comes during the

peak climbing months of April and May as hundreds of climbers converged at base camp in the hope of scaling the 8,848-metre-high summit. Nearly 100 Sherpa guides and climbers have been trapped above the avalanche site. Ethnic Sherpas act as guides for the mostly-foreign clients.

A spokesman for Nepal’s tourism ministry said that some missing climbers had been rescued, but more are still missing.

The avalanche occurred at around 6:45 am at an altitude of about 5,800 metres in an area known as the “popcorn field” which lies on the route into the treacherous Khumbu icefall.

The local guides had climbed up the slope early in the morning to fix ropes for climbers and prepare the route for mountaineers when the avalanche hit, officials said.

Himalayan Rescue Association in association with Nepal army, armed police force personnel and mountain guides carried out the rescue operation at the site, Nepal Trekking Association said. l

Avalanche on Everest Deadly accident on Friday Camp VIII 7,894 m Camp IX 8,504 m

Lhotse Face

Camp V 6,706 m

South Col

Camp IV 6,462 m

Western Cwm Camp VI 7,010 m

Mount Everest summit 8,848 m

Camp II 5,913 m

Camp VII 7,315 m

N

Camp III 6,157 m Khumbu Icefall

Approximate p position

Base Camp 5,364 m

Avalanche struck at about 5,800 metres early Friday CHINA NEPAL

60 km

Kathmandu

Mount Everest

INDIA

Source: Royal Geographical Society/8000ers.com/NatGeo*

Malaysia, Australia in deal on black box custody

At least 58 killed in S Sudan attack n AFP, Juba

n AFP, Kuala Lumpur

At least 58 people were killed and more than 100 others wounded in Thursday’s attack on a UN base in South Sudan sheltering thousands of displaced civilians, a UN official said. “Forty-eight bodies, including children, women, men, have been recovered from inside the base. The bodies of 10 attackers have been found outside the base, the top UN official in the country,” Toby Lanzer said yesterday.

In the clearest account yet of the incident in the government-controlled town of Bor, Lanzer said a group of around 350 armed youths in civilian clothes “used extremely violent force to breach the perimeter” of the UN base.

They opened fire on terrified civilians with the apparent aim of killing as many people as possible. l

Malaysia and Australia will sign a deal specifying who handles any wreckage from missing flight MH370 that may be recovered, including the crucial “black box” flight data recorders, local media reported.

Malaysia is drafting the agreement “to safeguard both nations from any legal pitfalls that may surface during that (recovery) phase,” the New Straits Times reported.

The government hopes the deal can be finalised soon and endorsed in a Cabinet meeting next week. Canberra is studying the memorandum of understanding, it said.

“The MoU spells out exactly who

does what and the areas of responsibility,” civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman was quoted as saying.

Azharuddin added that Malaysia would lead most of the investigation, with Australia and others helping. Details of the MoU will not be made public, the report said.

The Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 239 people inexplicably veered off course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 and is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean far off western Australia.

But a massive international search has failed to turn up any wreckage so far. The crisis has brought intense international scrutiny on Malaysia’s government. l

Russia, West still far from breakthrough in Ukraine crisis n AFP, Moscow

A Ukrainian student shouts slogans during a nationalist and pro-unity rally in the eastern city of Lugansk. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday announced a deal had been reached with Ukraine, the United States and the European Union to ‘de-escalate’ dangerously high tensions in the former Soviet republic AFP

The four-way agreement on Ukraine thrashed out in Geneva is the first sign of progress between Russia and the West in a months-long standoff, but a litany of problems remain unresolved, analysts said. Russia is clearly keen to avoid sanctions that could hurt its already fragile economy and President Vladimir Putin is wary of provoking a military conflict with the West or a civil war in Ukraine, they added.

But with Putin still insisting that the pro-West Ukrainian government which took over after the fall of president Viktor Yanukovych is illegitimate and the rights of Russian-speakers in Ukraine violated, it is hard to see a rapid end to the crisis.

The turbulence in Ukraine, which began in November 2013 with pro-EU protests against Yanukovych, has spiralled into the worst confrontation between Russia and the West since the

Cold War and led to the annexation of Crimea by Russia from Ukraine.

“This agreement is not a breakthrough, but it is a step towards having dialogue,” said Viktor Kremenyuk, deputy director of the US-Canada Centre at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Maria Lipman of the Carnegie Centre in Moscow said: “It is important that the sides showed a desire to normalise the situation. But the question is how it is going to be implemented.”

By coincidence or design, the document was agreed in Geneva between the top diplomats of Russia, the US, Ukraine and the EU a few hours after Putin finished a marathon phone-in session with Russians where he spoke about Ukraine in tones of both conciliation and thinly-veiled menace.

Putin said he favoured dialogue to solve the crisis but warned that there needed to be guarantees about the Russian-speakers in east Ukraine and

Moscow still reserved the right to use military force.

Yet the Russian strongman is hardly going to be indifferent to threats of stinging Western sanctions that would follow any Russian intervention in eastern Ukraine and cause problems to the ailing Russian economy that would feed into social discontent at home.

“Russia wants to quell this crisis and this can only be done alongside the West,” said Kremenyuk.

While Russia has shrugged off initial sanctions like travel bans on some top officials, measures affecting economic cooperation with the West would be a different matter. This concern appears to have prompted Russia to take a less ferocious line at the Geneva talks.

The European Union is also notoriously divided on this issue with some key nations clearly wanting to protect the presence of their champion firms in Russia. l

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Heritage

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Bangladesh at the centre of the world

For millennia, Bangladesh had been the epicentre of much maritime trade

T

n Tim Steel he study of maps of the ancient world, as I never tire of saying, can prove very instructive to any student of the heritage and cultural history of the lands that now are Bangladesh.

And beyond those maps is the steadily accumulating archaeological, documentary and circumstantial evidence of the way in which the peoples of the Ganges, especially of the Ganges deltaic lands, have, over the millennia, interacted with the rest of the world.

In Australia, for example, recently published research calls into question the traditional view that there was no human contact between the original arrival of the Aboriginal peoples, over

now beyond doubt, both from Han dynasty documentation, and archaeological evidence in China itself.

There is some evidence of an unusual linkage of Shamanism, Animism and Buddhism, a linkage that lies at the foundation of the great Japanese Shinto tradition, from artefacts recovered from excavations at Wari Bateshwar. This certainly predates the development of Shinto culture in Japan. And such evidence suggests that not only did merchants propagate the Buddhist traditions out of the Ganges basis of its genesis, into many lands of South East Asia, but also, through them and China itself, into ancient Japan.

There is also little doubt that it was through the lands of Bangladesh, up the great Brahmaputra River, that, not

There is some evidence of an unusual linkage of the Shamanism, Animism and Buddhism, a linkage found in the great Japanese Shinto tradition, from artefacts recovered from excavations at Wari Bateshwar

45,000 years ago, and the arrival of the Europeans in the eighteenth century.

Tests have shown that some Aboriginals can trace as much as 11% of their genomes to migrants from India about 4,000 years ago. Migrants who probably also brought the Indian dog in Australia, now identified as the dingo, and possibly tool-making skills as well.

In some ways such an arrival should not really surprise us. The 3,000 year old Hindu script, the Mahabharata, in the story of the rescue of Shita from Sri Lanka, describes the rescue forces as, in their hundreds, boarding ship.

There is plenty of reason to suppose that such a voyage may well have originated from the Ganges Delta, not only because the Sanskrit of the writing developed, most probably, in the lands of the Ganges basin, but also because of the accumulating evidence of early trade along the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers from such an early period.

That the Ganges Delta was also a trading centre in rice, spices and gems, amongst other commodities, with links to such developing areas of civilisation as those in Thailand and Indonesia, from at least the late first millennium BCE, there is also plenty of evidence.

Trade into the vast hinterland beyond the Ganges and Brahmaputra, with the great Tibetan lands, China, and lands of central Asia, certainly during the last millennium BCE, is

only Buddhism, but, a thousand years later, Islam reached central Asia.

It was not, therefore, simply a simple matter of trade between the Ganges delta and such nations and empires, nor just ideas and philosophies. The fact that the unique structure of the Pahapur Vihara in North Bengal, the largest such structure in south India, was replicated in Indonesia and Cambodia is clear evidence of the strength and richness of the influence of the societies of the Ganges was substantial, across a large area of the ancient world.

It can, it seems, be asserted with reasonable confidence that the ancient peoples of these lands of the Ganges delta both influenced, and probably were influenced by, a wide diversity of what we now know as the Asia Pacific region.

That traders from great swathes of Arabia, Asia Minor, North Africa and Europe, found their way to the Ganges delta from at least the middle of the last millennium before the Common Era, there is also no doubt. We have both Greek and Roman writers to support that view, and plenty of emerging archaeology.

But if what the people of the Ganges basin and Ganges delta gave, in terms of genepool, religious and philosophical beliefs, means of communication, amongst its other influences, to the world of Asia Pacific, what it gave to the west was both trade and

ILLUSTRATIONS: NAJMAL A NADVI

the luxuries that adorned the lives of their changing civilisations.

It can be no coincidence that when rewriting, in the third century BCE, the famous Homeric legend of Jason, the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece, the Greek writer, Apollonius of Rhodes, introduced “Datis, a Chieftain of the Gangaridai” to his exotic cast of characters. Already, it seems, the people of the Ganges delta had achieved, in the Mediterranean world, legendary status as warriors. Even today, the Bangladesh Army, despite its worldwide role in United Nations peacekeeping activities seems not to have reaquired such status in the literary world!

The great Roman poet Virgil also appears to have been well aware of that legendary reputation of the people of the delta, who, at his time, were known as the Gangaridai. “On the doors I will represent in gold and ivory the battle of the Gangaridai and the arms of our victorious Quirinius,” he celebrated at the end of the first century BCE, writing of a battle in Galatia in Asia Minor.

That the British novelist, Daniel Defoe, in his enduring novel, Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, nearly fifty years before the Battle of Plassey confirmed a rising interest by the English in the lands of the Ganges, especially, positioned his eponymous hero’s last adventure around the delta, “trading in opium and diamonds, and very satisfied with the trade,” tells us something of the almost mythical reputation that these lands had acquired

Syed Zakir Hossain silks both woven in the deltaic lands, and traded from China, and, of course, Muslin, the gem stones, the precious metals, the herbs and spices, similarly traded, and, rapidly, such valuable chemicals as salt petre for gunpowder, were the tangible benefits of such trade between Bangladesh and the western world, but, in many ways, for centuries, these lands of Bangladesh were, surely, at the very centre of the romance of this mystic orient.

The British novel, Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, nearly fifty years before the Battle of Plassey confirmed a rising interest by the English in the lands of the Ganges amongst the people of Europe.

And even the immortal bard, the great Shakespeare, just over 100 years earlier, found a reference to the late 16th century voyage of the merchant, Ralph Fitch, that took him through the lands of the “great Mughal,” to those of the delta, a crowd-pleaser in his great dramatic work, Macbeth.

The expensive fabrics, such as the

Only the slowly opening routes beyond, following da Gama’s opening of the Cape route, took traders, themselves, beyond the trading centre of the delta to the very origins of luxury in China, Japan and the Spice Islands.

For millennia, Bangladesh had been the epicentre of so much maritime trade, and drew to its shores an ever more powerful collection of wannabe

conquerors and exploiters. From nations of Arabia, like Yemen, and from Africa, Ethiopia, and Somalia came soldiers of fortune; from Morocco, as we know, the great traveller of the 15th century, Ibn Battuta, eventually also found his way to these shores.

The study of the rich, emerging, history of Bangladesh is, itself, fascinating, but its place in the world, as a cross roads, not merely for traded luxuries, but also ideas and philosophies, even architecture, and the influence in the world that extends from the lands of the delta, even down to the present day, with influence in both international and domestic affairs if countries across the world, must surely lead, even the most jaded and pessimistic viewer, to a reappraisal of the people, the nation, and the lands of Bangladesh.

This is a nation, and a people, for sure, who are not simply the denizens of some forgotten, disaster-ridden and poverty-stricken neighbour of modern India. It has been, for millennia, not merely a large part of the foundation of civilisation in South Asia, but also a significant contributor to the social, cultural and economic development of much of the entire, wider world.l

Tim Steel is a communications, marketing and tourism consultant.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Prescription

9

Saturday, April 19, 2014

How do you manage summer sickness?

Though summer is not a major season for sickness, there are a number of illnesses that occur only in the warm months. Viral fever, diarrhoea, typhoid, urinary tract infection, hepatitis and summer migraine are the common problems

n Dr Sajol Ashfaq

BIGSTOCK

are infected recover completely with no permanent liver damage. A vaccine is available, but to protect yourself better. Practicing good hygiene — including washing your hands often — is one of the best ways to protect against hepatitis A.

UTI

Preventing urinary tract infections during the summer months is very important. Your chances of developing urinary tract infection symptoms are high, because during the summer months you are more likely to become dehydrated, and drinking less water to flush out your bladder is the perfect condition that causes bacteria to grow and thrive in your bladder.

Health benefits of bananas

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Bananas for blood pressure and heart disease

also associated with a reduced risk of stroke, protection against loss of muscle mass, preservation of bone mineral density and reduction in the formation of kidney stones. l

Banana is good for asthma, diabetic and diarrhoea patients

BIGSTOCK

It’s a type of headache. In summer many are affected by migraine and giddiness. This type of headache is caused by exposure to the naked, hot sun without any protection for your head, and giddiness and dryness of throat due to dehydration. Drink plenty of fluids and carry an umbrella in your outdoor journey.

The permanent state of water scarcity also causes an increase in watery diarrhoea cases. In summer, the water will not have the same purity as the normal water we consume. A diet, filled with boiled and cooled water and fruits is prescribed to avoid summer diarrhoea.

People should drink plenty of fruit juices, coconut water, a liberal amount of water and water filled fruits like watermelon.

Anything to cool down the body and keep you hydrated hygienically should be ensured. People should drink only boiled and cooled water, or have a reverse osmosis plant or water filter at home. Foods that shorten a diarrhoea

Moreover, if you get sick due to summer illness, first try with home remedies like oral saline for diarrhoea, paracetamol for fever and anti emetics for vomiting.

Then consult with your physician.

Never delay to attend in emergency room of a hospital if you already have severe vomiting, diarrhoea and high fever. l

n Prof MU Kabir Chowdhury

Bananas are one of the most widely consumed fruits in the world for good reason. The curved yellow fruit packs a big nutritional punch. Some scientists believe that the banana may have even been the world’s first fruit. The possible health benefits of consuming bananas include lowering the risks of cancer and asthma, lowering blood pressure, improving heart health and promoting regularity. Bananas are naturally free of fat, cholesterol and sodium. Bananas provide a variety of vitamins and minerals. l

A study conducted by the Imperial College of London found that children who ate just one banana per day had a 34% less chance of developing asthma.

Studies have shown that type 1 dia-

Summer migraine

Diarrhoea

How to relieve prickly heat

FOOD THERAPY

Maintaining a low sodium intake is essential to lowering blood pressure, however increasing potassium intake may be just as important because of its vasodilation (widening of blood vessels) effects. The fiber, potassium, vitamin C and B6 content in bananas all support heart health. An increase in potassium intake along with a decrease in sodium intake is the most important dietary change that a person can make to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease. High potassium intakes are

To prevent UTI, the easy way is to have Eight Glasses Of Water a day. Water flushes bacteria out of your bladder so it doesn’t have a chance to multiply and does not cause the painful symptoms associated with urinary tract infections.

Food poisoning is more prevalent in warmer weather. First, there are the natural causes. Bacteria are present throughout the environment in soil, air, water, and in the bodies of people and animals. These microorganisms grow faster in the warm summer months.

Most foodborne bacteria grow fastest at temperatures from 90°F-110°F. Bacteria also need moisture to flourish, and summer weather is often hot and humid. Given the right circumstances, harmful bacteria can quickly multiply on food to large numbers. When this happens, someone eating the food can get sick. Food poisoning can cause vomiting and diarrhoea and may be quite serious for children and older people.

To prevent food poisoning the measures to be taken are: l Get food home quickly. l Don’t leave hot foods to completely cool before refrigerating. l Don’t overfill your fridge. l Refrigerate or freeze perishable foods within two hours of purchasing or preparing them. l Store the leftovers in refrigerator immediately.

betics who consume high-fiber diets have lower blood glucose levels and type 2 diabetics may have improved blood sugar, lipids, and insulin levels.

One medium banana provides about 3 grams of fiber. Bland foods such as apple sauce and bananas are recommended for diarrhoea treatment. Electrolytes like potassium are lost in large quantities during bouts of diarrhea and may make those affected feel weak.

Bananas can help to promote regularity and replenish potassium stores. l

Banana should be taken cautiously, if Beta-blockers, a type of medication most commonly prescribed for heart disease, can cause potassium levels to increase in the blood. High potassium foods such as bananas should be consumed in moderation when taking beta-blockers.

Consuming too much potassium can be harmful for those whose kidneys are not fully functional. If your kidneys are unable to remove excess potassium from the blood, it could be fatal. l

| Dr Kazi Mahbuba Akhtar

Prickly heat, heat rash or miliaria is a common condition that occurs mostly in hot and humid weather.

DID YOU It occurs when the KNOW? sweat ducts under the skin are blocked.

This causes the perspiration to remain trapped beneath the skin.

Prickly heat can be mild or severe.

It may lead to superficial bumps on the skin or deeper, red lumps. The rash may lead to a slight prickly sensation or intense itching. Heat rash is usually a mild condition and subsides on its own.

However, in some cases prickly heat may be severe and medical attention is required. In most cases, prickly heat can be easily relieved at home by cooling the skin and preventing excessive sweating.

Prickly heat usually develops in the folds of the skin or in places where the skin rubs against clothing. Babies commonly develop prickly heat on the neck and chest. In some cases it can occur on the elbow creases, groin and armpits.

Protect yourself from prickly heat with the following tips: l Dress in light, cotton clothing dur-

Signs and symptoms of sunburn usually appear within a few hours of exposure, bringing pain, redness, swelling and occasional blistering.

Because exposure often affects a large area of your skin, sunburn can cause headache, fever and fatigue.

If you have sunburn then take a cool bath or shower. You can also apply a clean towel dampened with cool water. Apply an aloe vera or moisturising lotion several times a day. Leave blisters intact to speed healing and avoid infection. If they burst on their own, apply an antibacterial ointment on the open areas. If needed, take an paracetamol. Don’t use petroleum jelly, butter or other home remedies on your sunburn. They can prevent or delay healing. If your sunburn begins to blister or if you experience immediate complications, such as rash, itching or fever, see your doctor. l

Choose Plain toilet papers

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It is better to avoid scented toilet paper. Scented toilet paper has the same effect on you as the scented feminine hygiene products. Scented toilet papers only give you a pleasant feeling, but they can cause urethral irritation that allows bacteria to grow over there. So, try using plain white, unscented toilet paper, and always wipe from front to back, lowering the chance of irritation. l

Manage body odor in summer

BIGSTOCK

Actually it should be called Hepatitis A. It is a water-borne disease caused mainly by contaminated water supplies and food cooked in unclean places. Jaundice is a symptom of hepatitis, which is caused by the Hepatitis A virus. This virus affects the liver causing over-production of bile, and the affected people present with the initial symptoms of jaundice include yellow discoloration of the skin, mucous membranes, and the whites of the eyes, light-colored stools, dark-colored urine, and itching of the skin.

Mild cases of hepatitis A don’t require treatment, and most people who

BIGSTOCK

Food poisoning

Typhoid

Jaundice

Self help for Sunburn

episode are: rice, bananas, apple stew, potatoes and carrots. Yoghurt not only prevents diarrhoea but also helps in its treatment. The bacteria in yoghurt produce acids that make the environment unfavourable for the infectious bacteria.

With temperatures crossing 35 degrees Celsius on a daily basis, dehydration is the most common summer feature to hit people.

HEALTH Dehydration can maniFLASH fest in different ways ranging from giddiness and exhaustion to even shock. To manage dehydration people drink contaminated water and get infected by different water born diseases.

Typhoid fever is also known as enteric fever, or commonly just typhoid. Typhoid is caused by bacteria called Salmonella typhi. It is a water borne disease that easily spreads through contaminated food and water supplies. It’s common symptoms include high fever, fatigue, and weakness, pain in the abdomen, headache, loss of appetite, and sometimes rashes. Stool and blood culture test, or a test named widal test can confirm the diagnosis. Typhoid is treatable with specific antibiotics. Typhoid fever can be prevented through proper sanitation and hygiene. There are two types of vaccines available to protect you against typhoid.

QUICK TIPS

Prickly heat can be mild or severe. It may lead to superficial bumps on the skin or deeper, red lumps ing the summers. Avoid donning too many layers of clothing. Make sure that you dress your children in light, comfortable clothes as well. l Try to stay in an air-conditioned environment when the climate is

too hot. You can also use a ceiling or table fan for air circulation. l Dust talcum powder on your skin after your bath or after a shower.

This will absorb excess moisture from the body and prevent prickly heat. It is advisable to use nonperfumed talcum powders. l Wear light, comfortable clothing especially when the weather is hot and humid. l Drink plenty of water to keep your skin healthy and hydrated. l Keep your skin clean by washing regularly, but avoid using harsh soaps. l

Bad body odor due to excessive sweating is an unpleasant condition in summer. To minimise body odor, choose antibacterial bath soap.

Washing thoroughly with an antibacterial soap bar will reduce the bacteria count, in turn reducing the odor. Once you are clean and dry, use a strong deodorant or antiperspirant on your underarms. While deodorants do not prevent sweating, they mask the smell of bacteria on your skin. Antiperspirants contain aluminum chloride, a chemical that reduces sweating, and often also contain a deodorant. l

| Compiled by: Shirsho Saaeadat

Ultra-long acting insulin now in Bangladesh

n Prescription desk

The new basal insulin developed by Novo Nordisk for the treatment of diabetes, is commercially available in Bangladesh.

This insulin is marketed as a name of

Tresiba®.

The advantage of this new generation insulin is, it reduces blood glucose levels with a lower risk of nighttime hypoglycaemia compared with other insulins. Tresiba® is a new oncedaily basal insulin with a duration of action beyond 42 hours, allowing for flexibility in day-to-day dosing time when needed, without compromising efficacy or risk of hypoglycaemia.

A particular problem people with diabetes face, when taking insulin, is suffering a hypoglycaemic episode (an episode of too low bloodsugar). Hypoglycaemic episodes are unpleasant and experiencing them might lead to a lower compliance

with insulin therapy, leading to increased risk of long-term complications. Night-time hypoglycaemia is of particular concern for people living with diabetes, as these are often unpredictable and difficult to detect and react upon.

The launch event of the New Generation once daily ultra-long acting insulin Tresiba® was held at a hotel in Dhaka on last 10th April, in the presence of the Chief Guest from Bangladesh, Prof A K Azad Khan, President, Diabetic Association of Bangladesh.

Prof Hajera Mahtab, Professor Emeritus and chief Consultant Medicine, BUHS was the Chairperson. Maj. Gen. Md. Jahangir Hossain Mollik, Director General, DGDA, graced the occasion as special guest. Prof Arpandev Bhattacharyya and Prof Manash P Baruah Endocrinologists from India shared real time experiences with Tresiba in India. Dr Avideh Nazeri, Director, Clinical, Medical, Regulatory and Quality Novo Nordisk, Malaysia elaborated the science behind Tresiba. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Letters to

www.dhakatribune.com

Full investigation needed to end all abductions

W

e are pleased that Mr Abu Bakar Siddique has been safely found after being released by his abductors.

Mr Siddique was held captive and blindfolded for 30 hours by unidentified captors, but otherwise suffered relatively minor injuries.

It is a welcome relief to his family and friends that there has been a happy end to his harrowing ordeal. We share their relief that, in this case, the high level of media coverage and law enforcement has resulted in a positive outcome.

However, this should only be the beginning of official efforts to investigate this case, and others like it, in order to end the scourge of abductions.

It is concerning that Mr Siddique’s wife, Rizwana Hasan, who is the executive director of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), reports that she was threatened twice over the phone following the abduction of her husband.

There is high enough public concern as it is about the increasing number of abductions for ransom. If this case is found to have involved deliberate targeting to intimidate BELA for business or political reasons, then that would only add to the list of questions which need answering.

This incident is a reminder that law and order is a pre-eminent concern for all citizens.

There is an urgent need for an autonomous and credible investigation into the rise in forced disappearances in Bangladesh.

The government must help law enforcers and rights groups to facilitate investigations so that perpetrators are brought to justice.

This should only be the beginning of official efforts to end the scourge of abductions

Local democracy needs better governance

A

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) study reports that nearly half of all cooperative societies in Bangladesh (47%) are ineffective or being mismanaged.

Members of cooperatives are regularly being cheated or overcharged for registration fees and interest on loans. Management committee members are often being found to be abusing their positions, and there is a lack of effective oversight in making sure that these organisations are run according to the law.

The concentration of power in small groups of locally influential and politically connected persons is identified by TIB as a major factor in encouraging such poor governance.

Steps must be taken to prevent the massive waste of resources and corruption, which is enabled by the prevalence of bad governance and corruption within grassroots and locally based organisations.

This is in part institutionalised by procedures giving MPs and local council leaders excessive influence over development projects.

Administrators are frequently recruited for political connections and studies note high levels of use of public funds being used for personal benefit or gain, even to the extent of incidents of illegal occupancy of council property by council members.

If run effectively, local government can play a key role in the economic development of the country. However, this will be hindered if the seriously poor state of accountability and management at local government level is not improved.

The government must improve local governance by strengthening anti-corruption measures and improving accountability so that officials who abuse their position can be more easily replaced.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

the Editor

LETTER OF THE DAY

The land of lost content April 10

Let’s love them April 15

It was midday and the sun was shining brightly. 10-year-old Sumon was breaking bricks and sweating profusely. A few days back, I found him near a construction site at Hatirpool. Sumon told me: “If I break bricks from dawn to dusk, I may earn Tk100. I start from nine o’clock. My mother packs me some food for lunch. Since my father left us after marrying another woman, my mother has worked as a maid. Though I wanted to go to school, poverty has gotten in the way.” I asked Sumon’s supervisor about him. Akkas Mia (not his real name) replied: “Children labourers are better because they never raise their voice against what I give them as wages and do honest work.”

Stories like Sumon’s are very common in this city. It is heartbreaking for our nation that she still fails to provide a safe and sound place for them. Our national constitution says children under 14 years of age cannot enter into any unsafe labour work, should have the opportunity of education, and are not permitted to work more than five hours. But most owners are not concerned about this. Can our great minds and organisations come forward to help establish their basic rights?

Bipul K Debnath Dhaka College

Does it make a difference?

April 9

Mohammad Munshi Yes the writer is right. It will make absolutely make no difference to Bangladesh which party eventually wins the elections in India. Foreign policy will remain the same with both the Congress and BJP seeking hegemony and domination over South Asia.

I describe this as a vision of an Akhand Bharat. This necessarily poses certain dangers for Bangladesh as the BJP is likely to adopt a more militaristic attitude and also promote a chauvinistic Hindu nationalism which could clash with the aspirations of Bangladesh to remain a sovereign and independent nation. deep purple blue Well, yes, what could Bangladesh lose as Congress governments never gave us any concessions? so congress or bjp - we need better diplomacy to wrest concessions from india. however, bangladeshi electorate’s response to bjp government in india will likely be the ascendency of fundamentalist parties like jamaat in our politics as was the case post - 1998 when bjp came to power for the first time in india. in 2001 the bnp-jamaat alliance came to power in bangladesh. nds deep purple blue: Yes,BJP’s victory might have a psychological boost up for both BNP and Jamat. It may also excite the sentiment of the people here to the effect that fundamentalism have no clash with the democratic polity. If the largest democracy in the world can accommodate the fundamental forces with peoples choice why they can’t accommodate BNP-Jamat combine without causing any harm to democracy. Exactly that is why both BNP and

Jamat expecting a better future for them if BJP wins the election in India. As a matter of fact peoples sentiment other than any other consideration plays the vital role in democracy.

123 deep purple blue and nds: Are you suggesting fight fight fire with fire, where everyone will get burnt ! are you suggesting fight fight Extremist with Extremist, where everyone will become and extremist ! are you saying an Eye for and Eye, where everyone will become blind ! Is this your solution ?

The Gandhi nonviolent movement idea came from Bangladesh believe it or not ! ‘The Indigo Movement’ Here’s an excerpt from the Wikipedia page on this The effect on the British rulers in India “The ‘History of Bengal’ goes so far as to call it a forerunner of the non-violent/passive resistance later successfully adopted by Gandhi. The revolt had a strong effect on the government, which immediately appointed the ‘Indigo Commission’ in 1860. In the commission report, EWL Tower noted that ‘not a chest of Indigo reached England without being stained with human blood.’ Evidently it was a major triumph of the peasants to incite such emotion in the Europeans’ minds even though the statement might have been an overstatement.”

Bengal was the pioneer of non violence ! so you are saying fight violence with violence are you ?

WaliulHaqueKhondker Foreign policy of India doesn’t change with every change in the political party in power. The functionaries of state power in India is the all-pervading and powerful bureaucracy in New Delhi.

nds Bangladesh now appears to be a land of saviour turned destroyers. Mujib in 1971 emerged as the saviour of democracy and turned into its destroyer in 1974 by forming Baksal. Next came Zia as a saviour of pluralistic politics and turned himself into a dictator under the garb of reconciliation policy. Next in line a great saviour came on the stage, riding a bicycle to purge all forms of corruption, nepotism and offer a clean and democratic governance, but within a very short time turned into a super tyrant.

Then came a historic change in 1991 and a new saviour of democracy in the form of Khaleda, but within a few years she chose to bury democracy through the Magura by-election and one-party election in 1996 to become the PM for a second term. A new saviour was in high demand and to fulfil that demand, the stage was occupied by Bangabandhu’s daughter but being unhappy with her style of democracy, people were again looking for a new saviour to replace her. And this time a precocious child along with her great mother appeared on the stage as the greatest protagonist of democracy but turned themselves into deadly villains. Now the author predicts for a new saviour for the nation.

Curious reader nds: Agreed on most points, if not exactly, with a sad mind. When you launch attacks on moderate forces of the society, you forget that they are my friends in democracy. You then invite extremists who will not spare any of the moderate forces. But if you are more extremist than me, you may be the first target of the third force (extremists) you are instigating now. The ones like newspaper readers who have dissenting views would prefer the life of a recluse in such scenario or “martyrdom” if someone embraces the path of extremists. nds Curious reader: Where did I invite the extremist? Either you have misread my comments which is just an expression of my intense frustration or I have failed to express my desperation in an unambiguous manner. In this country have I any freedom?

Be Heard

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CALVIN AND HOBBES

Improve accountability so that officials who abuse their position can be replaced

PEANUTS

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU ACROSS 1 Tracking system (5) 4 Fasting period (4) 7 Incentive (6) 8 Drive forward (5) 10 Festivity (4) 11 Unsuitable (5) 12 Little devil (3) 14 Pace (4) 17 Require (4) 19 Metal-bearing rock (3) 20 Wickednesses (5) 23 Mountain lake (4) 25 Barrels (5) 26 Pamper (6) 27 Yield (4) 28 Saloon car (5)

DOWN 1 Dried grape (6) 2 Prayer ending (4) 3 Acting part (4) 4 Elevates (5) 5 First woman (3) 6 Lower (6) 9 Tube (4) 13 Threat (6) 15 Throw (4) 16 Individual (6) 18 Thick (5) 21 Frozen treats (4) 22 After due time (4) 24 Slender stick (3)

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS Crossword

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

Sudoku

Op-Ed

DHAKA TRIBUNE

11

Saturday, April 19, 2014

A stand on Crimea n Tanbir Uddin Arman

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Why export weapons?

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n Ekram Kabir

angladesh is mulling about exporting weapons and ammunition. We came to know about this following a news report. Bangladesh Ordnance Factories have written to the commerce ministry, seeking approval following the same approval from the army headquarters.

The government hasn’t yet given its go-ahead, but it is expected that the government would think about the proposal.

Bangladesh is now capable of manufacturing automatic rifle BD-08, tracers, blank and API ammunition for rifles, SMG and LMG, blank and API ammunition for HMG, blank ammunition for NATO Rifle G-3, hand grenade Arges-84 and its fuze, 105mm artillery HE and blank ammunition, small arms spares and repair of small arms, ammunition boxes, and wooden parts for rifles.

This is not the first time we thought about exporting weapons. We did that in 1984 and earned about $40 million.

This is, indeed, a great piece of news that we have become capable of manufacturing weapons, and also earning money. Perhaps we’ll find international customers and start earning from exporting weapons.

However, we believe we need to do some serious discussions and analysis before we decide to export arms. We

also need to find answers to a few questions.

The first question that pops up in my mind is: Do we really need to exports “weapons”? We need a very strong logic behind this. If our objective is to earn money and help the economy, then we must say that we have been, and still are neglecting several sectors from which we could become a global market leader. There are many conventional products that we never thought of exporting at all.

countries always try to keep the wars going for their business.

Indirectly, they fuel wars in order to keep their sales going. Our experience says these countries actually don’t play any true role in propagating global peace. We think weapons are a source of violence, and reasons for millions of deaths across the world.

To my mind, weapons are a big obstacle to establishing peace.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, has always been known as a peace-loving

How can we ensure that our weapons don’t fall into those wrong hands? What if the local demand increases once we start exporting?

The business community has been trying to convince the government about developing those sectors, but hardly any work is being done. Why aren’t we seriously focusing on the conventional products? Why are we losing out on the immense potentials that could bring us billions?

Apart from that, exporting weapons holds some serious risks as well. We need to think whether we’d be working against global peace by becoming a weapons exporter. We know that commonly the biggest weapons exporting

country. Our foreign policy is based on “peace and friendship.” We have earned accolades by keeping global peace by sending our peacekeepers across the world.

Our forces are plucking those same weapons which the big arms-producing countries have sold to many buyers. We should really think seriously whether we want to join that league.

We also need to keep the risk of “terrorism” in mind. Weapons are a reason for the spread of international terrorism. We’ve already seen what

might happen if weapons find their way to the wrong hands.

How can we ensure that our weapons don’t fall into those wrong hands? One of the reasons behind our local terrorism is also illegal weapons.

We’ve also seen how Bangladesh holds the risk of being used as a corridor of weapons smuggling. What if the local demand increases once we start exporting arms and ammunition? We need to analyse this aspect.

Having said that, we must also analyse whether we could utilise our newfound capability for strengthening our own defence system. We have been importing military hardware from countries like China, Russia, and many others. If we really have the ability to export weapons, why don’t we first think about becoming self-sufficient in this sector?

At least that would save a huge amount of foreign currency. We’d love to see our ordnance factory developing our own tanks, missiles, and even aircraft. If others can manufacture them, we also can.

Weapons are not like apparels, or food grains, or leather goods. We haven’t discussed this issue of exporting arms and ammunition in the parliament or outside it. We believe a thorough discussion is needed before taking the final decision. l Ekram Kabir is Executive Editor of Natunbarta.com.

n the very recent past, Bangladesh’s refraining from voting on a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on Ukraine’s territorial integrity and Russia’s occupation of the Crimea peninsula has raised some questions among the people on whether or not Dhaka’s decision on abstention from voting was decisive and right. The resolution which has been passed with 100 votes in favor, 11 opposed, and 58 abstentions, represents the world general opinion that Russia’s seizure of Crimea is illicit and an egregious infringement of international law.

Russia is happy with Bangladesh’s abstention because it may perhaps consider abstention by its friendly nations like Bangladesh as mute support for its actions in the Crimean peninsula. However, it ought to be recalled that kinship between Bangladesh and Russia is not anything new.

Russia (the then Soviet Union) was one of the few countries which Bangladesh had found in time of need during the liberation war. It was a world with two-recognised superpowers: the US and the USSR, when Bangladesh found latter as an ally. But the fall of communism in 1990 resulted in the collapse of USSR. So, now it would be wrong to equate the present-day Russia with the then USSR, as time and situation have both changed. However, irrespective of Russia’s position in the 21st-century world, Bangladesh ought to cooperate with her and other friendly nations on all issues, complying with international law and moral righteousness.

Bangladesh should have crystallised its stand on the Crimea episode as it is now one of the most burning issues of international politics. What it has done vis-à-vis the resolution is now being interpreted in different ways by different countries. While Russia is happy with Bangladesh’s abstention, the US regrets it. Some argue that Bangladesh has done the right thing refraining from voting on the issue.

Yes, Bangladesh’s foreign policy is based on the principle of “non-interference” in the internal affairs of other countries. But the policymakers of Dhaka ought to empathise in the right way with the Crimea crisis, which is no longer confined within Ukraine only, but affects interests and policies of other countries beyond the region.

Russia tried to legalise its occupation of the island calling it “reunification,’’ and saying it was for the protection of the ethnic Russians in Crimea. Nevertheless, Russia’s action in Crimea is a flagrant violation of international law.

Things do not end there. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the possession of the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world by Ukraine left it with a strategic decision on whether to return the weapons to Russia, or to become a nuclear weapon state itself.

Ukraine’s possessions of nuclear arsenals vexed the US, the UK, and Russia a great deal, as at the time it had the potential to challenge their territorial integrity.

Ukraine agreed to forfeit its nuclear activities in return for a solemn commitment by the US, the UK, and Russia

to protect her territorial integrity and sovereignty, and signed Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) and Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1992 and 1994 respectively. As these were the agreements, Russia had now not just violated the pledge, but undermined the international legal frameworks for preventing nuclear proliferation.

Bangladesh should have crystallised its stand on the Crimea episode

Russia’s subversive behaviour towards international legal frameworks and territorial integrity of an independent country must be condemned. However, Bangladesh, which is a big name in UN peacekeeping operations throughout the world, could have very manifestly shown respect towards international law, and should have helped the friendly nation of Russia frankly understand that what she is doing in Crimea are misdeeds, simply by casting a vote in favour of the UN resolution.

Doing that does not necessarily show malice towards a friend. Even Bangladesh has a history of telling its friendly nations when they are wrong.

It was unhappy when the friendly nation of Soviet Union invaded another friendly nation – Afghanistan in 1979.

Another instance may be Bangladesh’s vote against Iran when some Iranian students and soldiers seized the US diplomatic mission in Iran in 1979.

Bangladesh’s relations with the US and the EU are far greater than that with Russia on issues like counterterrorism, trade, and immigration. The US and the EU are two major destinations for Bangladesh’s RMG products. However, the RMG sector is now undergoing some hassle due to the cancellation of GSP facility by the US on grounds of poor safety and working conditions of workers. Consequently, Bangladeshi exporters are now to pay a 15.3% duty to enter the US market, which might be a factor in contracting the country’s national income.

So, now Bangladesh’s pressing need is to come closer to the US so as to restore the GSP facility. A vote in favour of the resolution and hence joining the majority on the issue could have facilitated the way for Bangladesh not only in retrieving the GSP facility, but to secure other national interests and to warm up relations of the current Hasina regime with the US and the West.

However, it is not surprising that the current regime of Bangladesh would not do anything that contradicts Russia’s interest as the regime has very warm ties with Russia. Nonetheless, policymakers should bear in mind that securing only the highest national interests – not regime interests – can make a regime successful. l Tanbir Uddin Arman is a Research Assistant, Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies.

Acting locally n M Abdul Latif Mondal

T

he people dreamt of a Bangladesh in which democracy would flourish unabated, where their participation through elected representatives at all levels of the administration would be ensured. Their expectations have yet to be fulfilled.

The history of local governments in what is now Bangladesh, has not been very pleasant since the Pakistan days. They have seen many ups and downs. The three-tier democratic local government system, introduced during the British rule, was suspended by the military dictator Ayub Khan. It was reintroduced as a four-tier system through the Basic Democracies Order 1959, which provided for the appointment of bureaucrats as chairmen at the district level and the sub-division level local government bodies in place of elected chairmen. This resulted in the loss of the democratic nature of these two very important local government bodies.

In the early years of independent Bangladesh, the AL government dissolved all existing local government bodies through the President’s Order Number 7 of 1972, and appointed administrators to take over their functions. The government appointed certain committees for performing

the functions of these defunct bodies.

Major changes in the constitution were made and the provisions relating to the local bodies were scrapped. As a result, the local government system suffered a temporary setback.

Narrow party interest must not prevail upon greater national interest

After the changeover of August 15, 1975, the local government system found a new hope. In 1976, the Local Government Ordinance (LGO) issued by the government of General Ziaur Rahman made provisions for the formation of three types of rural local government – Union Parishad (UP), Thana Parishad (TP), and Zila Parishad (ZP). The TPs were created during the period of Ayub Khan, under the title of Thana Council. As per the above LGO, a UP had both elected and nominated members and was headed by an elected chairman.

General HM Ershad upgraded

thanas to upazilas. The upazilas (UZPs), headed by directly-elected chairmen, were abolished by the BNP government soon after it came to power in 1991. The UZPs, reintroduced by the immediate past AL-led, grand alliance government, have lost their independence to the MP advisers who have the last say in running the affairs of the UZPs. The ZP system revived by Ziaur Rahman was replaced by Ershad through the Zila Parishad Act 1988. It provided for appointment of a chairman in each ZP by the government whilst MPs, UZP, and Paurashabha chairmen of the concerned district were to act as members. The ZP system, which ceased to exist with the fall of the Ershad government, was revived by the immediate past AL-led, grand alliance government.

Although the AL government-enacted Zila Parishad Act 2000 provides for election of chairmen and members of the ZPs, the AL supporters were appointed administrators in the ZPs in December 2011. Elections in two Dhaka City Corporations (DCCs) have become uncertain. They are being run by the bureaucrats for the last few years.

The above narrative is given to show that the constitutional provision for running the local government

bodies is not being followed in some cases. Article 59 (1) of the constitution says that the local government in every administrative unit of the republic shall be entrusted to bodies composed of persons elected in accordance with the law. The ZP, the most important tier in the rural local government structure, had no election in the past four decades of our independence.

While appointing the administrators in December 2011, it was stated by the government that election to the ZPs would be held within a period of six months. Even after two and a half years, election in the ZPs remains uncertain. The Election Commission has said that the government has not yet made rule under the Zila Parishad Act 2000, so they cannot hold election in the ZPs in the absence of rule.

A recent study by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) says that all developmental activities in a district are coordinated by the deputy commissioner of the concerned district. The district administrator has practically no role in them. The role of the administrator in the Zila Parishad Act 2000 is not clear on this point. The TIB study also says that, in light of the fact the administrators belong to the ruling AL, and their offices have virtually become political party offices.

The TIB study has recommended that, according to the constitution and the Zila Parishad Act 2000, the ZPs should be run by the elected persons, so the suggestion made in the meeting held by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on April 7 at the secretariat for running the ZPs through the elected representatives, deserves full consideration.

tenth national election are haunting the government. The government may not go for elections to the two DCCs unless it is sure of victory.

An elected parliament at the national level alone does not speak for full-fledged democracy at work in the country. Actually, elected local government bodies act as pillars for establishing democracy at a grassroots

The election results of the five city corporations held prior to the tenth national election are haunting the government

For more than two years, the two DCCs have been run by government-appointed administrators who are bureaucrats. Although there is reportedly no legal bar, the government is in no mood to hold elections for the two DCCs. Recent media reports suggest that the government is thinking of appointing individuals other than bureaucrats as administrators.

Actually, the election results of the five city corporations held prior to the

level. This calls for immediate elections to the zila parishads and the two DCCs. The government should also go for amending the Upazila Parishad Act 2009 to delete the provision for appointing the MPs as advisors to the UZPs. Narrow party interest must not prevail upon greater national interest. l M Abdul Latif Mondal is a former government secretary.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Audience does not watch TV plays nowadays: Aupee Karim n Afrose Jahan Chaity After a long break celebrated TV actor Aupee Karim again started working on the small screen last year to revive her career. But, the “halfhearted” working style of the industry people left her frustrated and the actor has currently lost her interest to work.

“I am not happy with the recent situation of our media. I don’t think the audiences watch TV plays nowadays. If no one watches my work, for whom should I work?” said a frustrated Aupee Karim. Justifying her comment, she further said: “There are too many channels, too many advertisements and too many productions. On the other hand, the budget has become very low. The industry people are always in a hurry to complete a production in a haphazard manner. That made a negative impact on the audience and they don’t actually watch TV plays these days.”

She said: “I should not only blame the artists, directors and producers. The channels do not also provide them proper budget to produce quality plays. Both the parties have to work to improve the situation.”

Aupee Karim is now a full time faculty of AIUB in the Department of Architecture. Currently, she is busy with her teaching profession and also working as a free lance landscape architect.

“Being a teacher was always my dream. Besides, I will also work on screen if I get good script and dedicated production unit.”

Aupee Karim also confirmed that she will work on some Eid special TV plays if she can manage her schedule. She said: “My father used to say, a person should always respect and nourish the quality she has been conferred by the almighty. So, I always have nourished my ability of acting and I will continue working on small screen.” l

Amateur photographers display talent in Freezing Moments

n Hasan Mansoor Chatak

An array of lively and colourful photographs are featured at the debut exhibition of Photo & Fun, a platform of amateur photographers, at the DRIK Gallery in Dhanmondi.

Three foreigners, five non-resident Bangladeshi and 54 photographers from different parts of the country are participating in the exhibition titled Freezing Moments. As the photographers came from diverse place with diverse psyche, the viewers can enjoy a wide range of varieties in terms of subject, composition, genres and more in the displayed photographs.

Few photographs portraying the diaspora life of the expatriates and the serenity of nature of abroad add additional twist in the exhibition. Besides the natural beauty of the country, the local photographers focused on subjects like environmental degradation, religious practices of people, daily life and festivals.

Though mostly amateur photographers took part in the exhibition, but few photographs might mislead the spectators’ eyes as those were taken by professionals. Experimentation and perfection create a unique combination in those photographs. The exhibition will end todayl

A photograph displayed at the exhibition

Exhibition Exile in Calcutta

by Thomas Meyer Time: 3pm – 8pm Drik Gallery, House 58, Road 15/A (New), Dhanmondi Water Colour Exhibition

By Mintu Dey Time: 3pm – 8pm Dhaka Art Center (DAC) House-60 Road-7A Dhanmondi

Serenading Suchitra Time: 12pm – 8pm Shilpangan Gallery House-7, Road-13, Dhanmondi Last Summer

by Iffat Ara Dewan Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Art Lounge, Gulshan Avenue Freezing Moments Time: 3pm to 8pm Drik Gallery House 58, Road 15/A (New), Dhanmondi

Film Captain America: The Winter Soldier (3D & 2D) Jonakir Alo Boishommo The Legend of Hercules 3D Avatar in 3D Frozen in 3D Ender’s Game Time: 10am – 10pm Star Cineplex, Level 8 Bashundhara City 13/3 Ka, Panthopath

n Shadma Malik A solo art exhibition titled Bagher Deshey Boishakh by Nazir Hossain is going on at the Gallery Chitrak and will continue till April 20. Traditional folk motifs dominate the vivacious canvases and the simplicity of the attractive artworks are definitely aimed for the mass people of the country and represents the culture of Bangladesh. His debut show was on Baishakh in 1994, after twenty years, once again his paintings pay tribute to this rich traditions of Bangladesh.

The artist’s signature work, the Bengal tigers are seen celebrating Pahela Baishakh in different avatars, just like humans. The unique quality of Nazir’s work is his ability to portray this ferocious beast as man’s friend. Nazir’s vibrant scroll paintings narrates the story of rural Bangladesh and the artist with his expert touch incorporated a song on canvas, which he has prepared specially for the celebrated occasion of Pahela Boishakh.

His scroll painting Bagher Deshey Boishakh depicts a mermaid arriving in Bengal and celebrating the occasion of Boishakh, the friendly tiger is seen singing to the tune of an Ektara and an array of activities that is common during the festival. It is noticeable that his male characters are always wearing the flag of Bangladesh around his forehead and the womenfolk are carrying water-vessels.

About his work, the artist said: “The fascinating male and female in my artworks represent the culture of rural Bangladesh.” He said: “The bird at the end of my tiger’s tail is put there as a symbol of being the bearer of good news for the people of Bangladesh. My tiger is a symbol of vic-

Kona to perform at Late Night Coffee

n Entertainment Desk

tory,” he added.

One of his scroll painting is aimed at creating awareness to protect the rivers of Bangladesh.

“Our riverine country is losing the scenic beauty of the rivers. I have portrayed the beautiful female face as a symbol of the river.”

His painting on Sundarban shows that the tiger is protecting the beautiful place. Apart from these, the story of Behula is on display.

The exhibition was inaugurated on April 14. Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Shiro Sadoshima opened the exhibition as chief guest. Eminent artist Quayyum Chowdhury presided over the inaugural session. Art critic Moinuddin Khaled was present as special guest. l

Popular singer Kona will grace her presence at Late Night Coffee, a life style guideline and amusement program with a celebrity on RTV which will be aired on April 19 at 12:01am.

The live program will be presented by Nusrat Faria Mazhar and Abir.

Kona will perform songs on request of the audience alongside few from her much loved. The Late Night Coffee programme is designed for the audiences who stay sleepless at late night and seek out the resolution of their problem of life. As the life style of the people is changing rapidly, the programme is designed to give some guideline to the audience about accommodating of the contemporary life style and values. l

Chitrangada Singh and husband divorced n Entertainment Desk

SADIA MARIUM

The singer tweeted that she is “miserable” and “can’t quit crying” after she was hospitalised for a severe reaction to antibiotics and forced to cancel an April 17 concert in St Louis.

Now it looks like Miley could be stuck in her hospital bed for up to 27 more days.

Miley was placed under doctor’s care recently due to what her representative has described as an allergic reaction to sinus infection medicine.

But In Touch Weekly makes it pretty clear on the following cover: Cyrus actually has a heart condition that gets worse when she does drugs - and it may prove to be her fatal downfall.

Indeed, Cyrus was “born with a heart defect” and the 21-year old needs to “change [her] life or [she’ll] die,” physicians said. l

TODAY IN DHAKA

Nazir Hossain’s tigers celebrate Pahela Boishakh

Tareque Masud Cultural Center’s first theatre production Ashchorjo Sundor Ei Beche Thaka will be staged today at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy at 7pm in the capital.

Adapted and directed by Rubayet Ahmed, the story of the play revolves around a young poet and a young female dancer. Both of them come to a certain place to commit suicide as they are frustrated with life. Two fictional characters Death and Life engross themselves in a rusty game making the boy and girl pawns

Miley Cyrus ‘can’t quit crying’ n Entertainment Desk

Fusion band Chirkutt mesmerised the audience at the 6th Berger Award for Excellence in Architecture (BAEA) at the Bangabandhu International Convention Center on April 17. Prominent architect, poet, and trustee of Muktijuddho Jadughar, Rakibul Hussain was honoured with Lifetime Achievement award for his excellent contribution in the field SADIA MARIUM

Rocknation Overload concert today n Entertainment Desk The third installment of Live Square’s Rocknation concert series will be held today at the Winter Garden of Ruposhi Bangla Hotel.

Performances of Artcell, Black and Cryptic Fate is the key feature of the concert. Besides, few more leading rock bands Nemesis, Shunno, Powersurge and Arbovirus will also rock the stage. The tickets are available at all the outlets of Apex and also at the venue and in order to attend the show, one has to be 18 years and up. The gate will open at 2:30pm, the show starts from 4pm and will continue till 11pm. l

After much speculation, Bollywood sensation Chitrangada Singh has been finally divorced from Jyoti Randawa yesterday.

Their wedding had been on the rocks for a while now and the two were regularly seen visiting a Gurgaon family court.

The couple had applied for divorce in 2013, and the Gurgaon family court has apparently finalised the divorce.

Chitrangada Singh married golfer Jyoti in 2001. The couple have a five-year-old son Zorawar Randhawa, whose custody has been granted to Chitrangada.

The stunning actress, who was last seen in I, Me, aur Main, has been juggling between Mumbai and Delhi because of her work commitments. Chitrangada is currently working on a Tamil film Anjaan, where she will be seen doing a cameo.

Chitrangada has worked in Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, Sorry Bhai!, Yeh Saali Zindagi, Desi Boyz, Joker and more. But it seems managing both marriage and work were quite difficult for Chitrangda, especially as she was located in Gurgaon and not Mumbai. The actor had once mentioned in an interview to Mumbai Mirror: “I love cinema, it completes me.” So, it can be assumed that Chi-

trangda is going to follow her filmy passion after divorce and her fans will get to see more of Chitrangda onscreen. l

Did you know?

Since Pulis took charge of Palace, they have conceded 20 goals in 22 games. Only Chelsea (14) have conceded fewer in that period

Sport

Saturday, April 19, 2014

14 Sydney loss raises

14 Liverpool trio

doubts over Del Piero future

in PFA awards shortlist

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 Nadal knocked

out by Ferrer in Monte Carlo

Twin–role Nasir rescues Jamal

Sk Jamal come from one goal down to maintain their unbeaten streak have confident if I have such players in n my team,” said Afusi who used to play Shift in position saw Nasir Uddin Chowdhury rescue his side Sheikh Jamal DC with a brace as the Dhanmondi outfit come from behind to earn a 2-1 victory over Chittagong Abahani and remain unbeaten in the Nitol Tata Bangladesh Premier League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Sohel Mia gave the visitors an early lead which the port city outfits defended till the 73rd minute before Jamal captain Nasir shifted from right-back to centre forward to equalise with a lovely header. He netted the winner just a minute before the stipulated time to seal full points and save Sheikh Jamal from blushes in their first match of the second phase in the league.

The hard-fought win strengthened their position at the top of the league table with 24 points from 10 games while Chittagong Abahani remained ninth with only five points.

Jamal’s Nigerian coach Joseph Afusi was full of praises of Nasir after the game. “It’s not the first time. We also put him upfront in the Federation Cup and he gave us the win. He is a good player, he is a fighter, a soldier, he believes in playing till the end. I always

as striker for Mohammedan along with Bukola and Emily in the 2009-10 season.

The crucial tactical change came in the 70th minute when 35-year-old Nasir stepped forward bringing in a defender Mohammad Linkon in place of debutant striker Daniel Onyekachi.

Afusi, however, gave the credit to team manager Helal as he said, “My team manager Mr Helal called me and said, remember he (Nasir) is a striker, do you want to try him upfront? I replied, yes. So I believe Helal is the man of the match today.”

Earlier, it was Chittagong forward Sohel Mia who pounced on to a weak back header from Didarul Haque to score inside eight minutes.

Jamal’s Nigerian forward Onyekachu outpaced three defenders to enter into the box in the 20th minute before having a go at target, but goalkeeper Salim Ullah thwarted the attempt with a diving save. Salim made another save in the 41st minute by punching away Sohel Rana’s free-kick from 25 yards out.

After heading on Wedson’s cross to equalise, the combination of Nasir and the Haitian forward paid dividend in the 89th minute again as it was another cross from Wedson that saw Nasir volley home from inside the box. l

Sheikh Jamal player Nasir Uddin Chowdhury celebrates a goal during their Nitol Tata Bangladesh Premier League match against Chittagong Abahani at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday MUMIT M

Dhaka Division step away from title n Table toppers Dhaka Division are a step away from clinching the 15th National Cricket League title when they play third placed Khulna Division in the final round at the Sheikh Kamal International Stadium in Cox’s Bazar today.

Just behind the league leaders, Rajshahi, with three wins and equal draws in six matches having 90 points, will be eying for full 24 points against Dhaka Metropolis, who are fifth in the

table, at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. Sylhet will be facing Chittagong at BKSP-3 while Rangpur will take on bottom placed Barisal at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah in the other matches starting today.

Four wins along with one draw and defeat apiece kept Dhaka above all other teams with 111 points, 21 more than Rajshahi. Dhaka has been in terrific form and its captain Mohammad Sharif aims another win to lift the title.

“Definitely we will go for a win against Khulna tomorrow (today), but

we also have equations on our mind and the wicket here kept a bit low and had some small totals recently so if we can score at least over two hundred and get them all out once, we can get five points easily. But of course as I said we will play to win and win the title,” said Sharif to Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Khulna managed a five-wicket win over Dhaka Metro in the last round where Khulna skipper Abdur Razzak claimed 13 wickets with 9/91 in the second innings.

Khulna will be facing Dhaka Division on the same ground in Cox’s Bazar and with two wins and four draws they will be looking for a huge upset which would

hand the title to them.

Dhaka Division’s Abdul Mazid averaging 54.96 is the leading run scorer in the tournament so far scoring 614 runs including two centuries and two fifties while Dhaka Metro’s middleorder Asif Ahmed (556) Khulna’s Tushar Imran (552) are second and third respectively in the list.

Barisal haven’t registered a single win this season but their left-arm spinner Monir Hossain leads the wicket takers list with 28 wickets, one more than Nazmul Hossain of Dhaka Division.

Sylhet’s left-arm spinner Enamul Haque is third with 24 wickets. l

Top players axed from table tennis World Cup n

Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation (BTTF) has cited ‘disciplinary and fitness’ grounds and ruled out women’s number one Moumita Alam Rumi and men’s number two Mahbub Billah from the World Cup team which is scheduled to be held in Japan later this month.

The federation earlier ruled out defending national champion and number one men’s table tennis player Manash Chowdhury from the Commonwealth Games squad and with the new addition of exclusion of top players from World

Vacant ‘Abahani Gallery’ n

The Western gallery which is also known as ‘Abahani gallery’ at Bangabandhu National Stadium remains vacant, as a protest from supporters for the side’s poor results, during their Bangladesh Premier League match against Brothers Union MUMIT M

Abahani Limited suffered their first defeat in the Nitol Tata Bangladesh Premier League as an own goal of Nasirul Islam allowed Brothers Union edge past the Sky Blues 1-0 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

The start to the second phase couldn’t have gone more wrong as it was the first time Abahani played

in front of an empty Western gallery which is also known as “Abahani gallery” following a protest from the supporters for their poor form, while the defeat was their first in 10 games. They are now five points behind table toppers Sheikh Jamal DC with 19 points. On the other hand it was Brothers’ third victory in the league and they now moved to sixth place with 13 points from number of outings.

Abahani attacking option Ghanaian striker Osei Morrison failed to convert

few chances while Cameroonian forward Ekele Patrick and new Portuguese signing Leonildo Suares were also not up to the mark to turn the fate of the game around after falling behind.

The Gopibag outfits were handed the lead in the 37th minute after a silly blunder from Abahani’s defender Md Nasirul Islam. The defender attempted a back pass to Abahani goalkeeper Shahidul Alam Sohel, who was not in position to receive the ball, and the ball rolled into their own net.

Abahani had the best chance to re-

Siddikur 37th at halfway n

The supporters of four-time professional football league champions Abahani Limited boycotted the club’s Bangladesh Premier League match against Brothers Union yesterday as a protest of the side’s poor results.

The traditional Sky Blues played their first match of the second phase of the Premier League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium but not a single supporter of the club was present in the western gallery also known as “Abahani gallery”.

Abahani Supporter Forum staged a protest by waving a black flag in front of the Western gallery instead of Sky Blue flags during the match against Brothers Union. The fans were furious after Abahani lost to archrivals Mohammedan SC 1-0 in the semi-final of the Independence Cup on April 9 before the angry group also blocked the exit gate of the

players for more than an hour.

Though Abahani officials claimed few frustrated supporters tried to beat the players and club officials for the debacle, but the Supporters Forum blamed some senior players - including captain Mohammed Sujan – who apparently pushed them to leave the field, in return making them annoyed.

The Supporters Forum however refused to make any further comments about their protests but it was learnt the protest and not present at the gallery was a form expressing their displeasure against Abahani manager Sattyajit Dus Rupu. The Abahani fans claimed that they sent a letter to the club’s director in-charge demanding investigation to the issue and justice as well.

A fan is after all a fan and it was hard for few to avoid watching their team play while they also had an ongoing protest – as a result few watched the game from the Eastern gallery. l

store the parity in the 75th minute but Portuguese forward Leonildo Soares squandered the chance. The Portuguese found Brothers goalkeeper Md Sujon in a one-on-one situation inside the penalty area, but saw his shot fly over the crossbar.

Goalkeeper Sujon produced another save a minute later to deny Abahani from equalising the margin.

Abahani’s Cameroonian forward Ekele Patrick took a shot from the box, but Sujon punched the ball away for a corner. l

Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh in action during the second round of the Maybank Malaysian Open at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club yesterday INTERNET

Brothers deepen Abahani wounds n

Cup squad created controversy in the table tennis arena.

The federation officials claimed that Mahbub is axed for breaking discipline while Rumi is unfit. Mahbub said he did break discipline code but that was during national championship in February for which he also apologised while his visa for the World Cup has also been procured by the federation last month.

Rumi also claimed she is fully fit and said, “I had back pain but it was when my visa was procured. Now I am fully fit but they have not even consulted me before excluding me from the team. l

Siddikur Rahman staged a comeback at the Maybank Malaysian Open yesterday as the Bangladeshi golfer carded a twounder-70 for a total in the second round to make the cut at the halfway stage.

Siddikur, got a bogey in the 18th hole earlier when he had to complete the rain-affected first round with a oneover 73, totalled one-under 143 to share the 37th spot at the $2.75m showpiece event.

The 29-year-old, who carded three birdies alongside a bogey in the second round, will group with Italian Matteo Manassero and Danish Soren Kjeldsen for the penultimate round at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club today.

Meanwhile, Lee Westwood set his sights on ending a two-year title drought by shooting a dazzling six-under-par-66 to take a commanding four-shot lead. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Brazil set Chinese date with Argentina Brazil and Argentina will hold a South American “Superclassico” gala match on October 11 at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium, the countries’ respective federations and South American confederation Conmebol said Thursday.

Brazil won the last two editions of the occasional friendly series in 2011 and 2012. However, there was no game last year with Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari keen to give his players a free week in an already crammed schedule.

–AFP

Sport

Saturday, April 19, 2014

JADCO admit errors in Campbell case The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) has admitted to procedural breaches during its collecting of a sample from two-time 200 metres Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown in 2013. The 31-year-old Jamaican athletics great’s sample taken at last May’s Jamaica Invitational Meet in Kingston, tested positive for a diuretic HCT and resulted in her being handed a two-year ban by the IAAF, which was overturned in February by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

–AFP

Safarova, Errani to open Fed Cup semis Lucie Safarova and Sara Errani will open the Fed Cup semi-final tie between the Czech Republic and holders Italy in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava starting on Saturday, following Friday’s draw. Safarova, the world number 26 and the Czech number two, will face 11th-ranked Italian number one Errani on the hardcourt of Ostrava’s CEZ Arena at 1100 GMT. Sixth-ranked Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic will then take on 54th-ranked Camila Giorgi. On Sunday, Kvitova will play against Errani and Safarova will then take on Giorgi.

–AFP

'Blues can cope with double bid' n AFP, London

Petr Cech insists Chelsea can cope with the demands of challenging for a Premier League and Champions League double as the Blues face Sunderland at the start of an eight-day period that could define their season.

Jose Mourinho’s side go into the latest round of Premier League matches in second place, two points behind leaders Liverpool.

Victory at Stamford Bridge over bottom of the table Sunderland will ensure Chelsea increase the pressure on Liverpool, who travel to Norwich the following day.

Mourinho’s men will temporarily claim top spot if they beat Sunderland, leaving them in control of their own destiny in the title race ahead of the crucial trip to face Liverpool at Anfield on April 27.

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Chelsea’s position was strengthened in midweek by Gus Poyet’s Sunderland who held third placed Manchester City to a draw at Eastlands, four days after City had lost at Liverpool.

But the west Londoners also have a European campaign to consider however, as they travel to Atletico Madrid for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final next Tuesday.

The coming days will test the depth of Mourinho’s squad, although Eden Hazard is the only significant injury concern and the Belgian winger could yet recover in time to face Sunderland. l

Referee Felix Brych gestures during the German Bundesliga match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Hanover 96 in Frankfurt on Thursday. Hanover won the match 3-2

Bayern eager for Real confidence boost Liverpool trio in PFA n awards shortlist AFP, Berlin

Bayern Munich need a convincing win at Bundesliga bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig on Saturday to dismiss talk of a mini-crisis ahead of their Champions League semi-final at Real Madrid.

With only two wins in their last six games, Bayern have suffered a dip since winning the Bundesliga nearly a month ago with a record seven games to spare.

Bayern booked their place in next month’s German Cup final with a 5-1 drubbing of second division Kaiserslautern in Wednesday’s semi-final in Munich.

But Munich’s director of sport Matthias Sammer said while the scoreline was impressive, the performance was lacking spark.

Bayern have lost back-to-back league matches, an obvious concern ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final, first leg at Real Madrid.

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“I had the feeling that we’re not really running hot at the moment,” said Sammer, who questioned Bayern’s desire to win the Champions League and German Cup finals.

“For the tasks we are facing, that’s not enough. We have to ask ourselves if we still want to win these two titles.”

On paper, Bayern’s trip to Braunschweig looks straightforward, but the hosts have picked up seven points in their last four games to boost their survival bid.

Second-placed Borussia Dortmund host Mainz looking to pick up their fifth straight win having booked their German Cup final berth against Bayern on May 17.

Dortmund enjoyed a 2-0 win over Wolfsburg in Tuesday’s semi-final but both goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller (groin) and striker Robert Lewandowski (thigh) are carrying knocks.

Wolves are without defensive midfielder Junior Malanda who tore knee ligaments in Tuesday’s cup defeat at Dortmund.

There will be a similar points battle when Nuremberg host Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday with the visitors eager to hold off Wolves and stay fourth. l

n AFP. London Luis Suarez was one of three Liverpool players nominated Friday for England’s Professional Footballers’ Association player of the year award.

The Uruguayan, the leading scorer in the Premier League so far this season, was joined on the shortlist Friday by team-mates Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge, with all three men having played a key role in guiding Liverpool to the top of the table ahead of this weekend’s matches.

Also vying for the award are Chelsea forward Eden Hazard, Manchester City dynamo Yaya Toure and Southampton midfielder Adam Lallana.

However, Suarez is the favourite to win the award, having already scored

REUTERS

Barca’s Neymar, Alba out for a month n Reuters, Madrid

29 league goals to help put Liverpool in sight of their first English title in 24 years.

Hazard and Sturridge were also nominated for the young player of the year award, along with Southampton left-back Luke Shaw, Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey, Everton midfielder Ross Barkley and Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling.

Luis Suarez has told Liverpool fans to stay calm as the Premier League club attempts to overcome the pressure of the title run-in and clinch their first championship in 24 years.

The Uruguayan striker, whose 29 league goals have underpinned Liverpool’s challenge, admitted he cannot bring himself to follow the climax to the season through the media. l

A nightmare eight days for Barcelona was compounded on Thursday when forward Neymar and defender Jordi Alba were ruled out for up to a month with foot and thigh muscle injuries respectively.

Brazil international Neymar has a bruise on his left foot which has caused a build-up of fluid while Spain left back Alba has a strain in his right thigh, Barca said on their website.

The injuries were sustained during Wednesday’s King’s Cup final defeat to Real Madrid, with Neymar sidelined for about four weeks and Alba for three to four weeks, leaving them in a race to regain fitness before the end of the season.

With five games left, Barca are third in the standings, four points behind Atletico and one behind second-placed Real. l

Juventus edge closer to scudetto, Roma lick wounds n AFP, Milan

German bicycle designer Didi Senft, also known as 'El Diablo', rides his new bicycle creation to commemorate the 2014 FIFA World Cup, in the town of Storkow, southeast of Berlin yesterday. Senft, who has had an entry in the Guiness Book of Records for world's largest bicycle, worked some 100 hours on this bicycle, he said REUTERS

Hodgson fears Pirlo in Italy World Cup clash

n AFP, Rome

England coach Roy Hodgson admitted Thursday that he fears the damage Italian playmaker Andrea Pirlo could cause when the countries clash at the World Cup. “The player I fear the most? We respect everyone but if I have to name someone it would be Andrea Pirlo,” said Hodgson in an interview with Mediaset.

“Pirlo has played in Italy for 10 years. I coached him for six months (1998-1999 at Inter Milan). He has had an incredible career.”

England and Italy have been drawn in the same group at the World Cup finals along with Uruguay and Costa Rica and will meet on June 14 at Manaus. l

Pressure on PSG ahead of Lyon Cup final date n AFP, Paris If they had their way, France’s leading clubs would have done away with the League Cup a long time ago, but Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon both need the boost of winning Saturday’s final.

The sides meet at the Stade de France in the final of the country’s secondary knockout competition just six days after Lyon beat the capital club 1-0 at the Stade de Gerland in Ligue 1.

PSG would be the heavy favourites, but a difficult last 10 days have considerably increased the pressure on Laurent Blanc’s side. Following the agony of their Champions League

elimination at the quarter-final stage on away goals to Chelsea, Paris will have to wait until next Wednesday’s meeting with Evian at the earliest before retaining the title.

“The last week has been difficult.

That’s the way it is. We have to move on,” says midfielder Yohan Cabaye.

“We have the chance to play for a title. It’s a different competition and there is no doubt that the players are ready and determined.”

Failure could have serious consequences for the coach himself, who has said he will not give a definitive answer to the offer of a contract extension until after the final. l

Juventus will look to a possible slip-up by closest challengers Roma at Fiorentina as the Turin giants begin the countdown to claiming a third consecutive Serie A title.

Roma’s faint hopes of a first scudetto since 2001 were kept in check on Monday when Juve restored their eight-point lead at the top with a comfortable 2-0 win away at Udinese.

Antonio Conte’s Juve side would be forgiven for hoping Roma, who on Thursday failed in their bid to reduce a three-match ban handed down to top scorer Mattia Destro, concede defeat away at a Fiorentina side which still has a mathematical chance of challenging third-placed Napoli for the league’s final Champions League place.

Such a scenario would put Juve, who host Bologna, 11 points ahead

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with four games remaining, and allow the title party preparations to begin.

Roma coach Rudi Garcia, however, has refused to throw in the towel: “We’re playing in Florence and on paper it’s a difficult match, while Juve look like they have it easier.

“But you never know... just when it seems there can be no more surprises, that’s when they happen. As long as

there is life, there is hope.”

One is keeping Fiorentina, fourth at nine points adrift, at bay while hoping Gonzalo Higuain, who sits third in the league scoring charts, two behind the 19-goal tally of Torino’s Ciro Immobile, recovers from a training ground knock.

Parma, Torino, Milan and Lazio are all between one and five points adrift of fifth-placed Inter.

Inter are away to Parma, Lazio host Torino while AC Milan arguably have the pick up the bunch when they host a Livorno side whose battle to climb out of the drop zone continues.

Yet given Milan’s recent resurgence from the depths of arguably their worst season of the modern era, that seems an unlikely scenario.

Juve coach Conte, for one, says his side won’t be taking their foot off the pedal just yet. “We know Roma aren’t giving up and although we’re in front we have to have the same attitude.” l

Sydney loss raises doubts over Del Piero future n AFP, Melbourne Italian great Alessandro Del Piero may have played his last game for Sydney FC after they bowed out of the ALeague title race to Melbourne Victory on Friday.

Brazilian Gui Finkler knocked Del Piero’s Sydney FC out with a stoppage time goal in a 2-1 win in Melbourne. The first play-off looked headed for extratime until Finkler’s late intervention.

A pulsating game, in which Archie Thompson opened the scoring for the home side before Seb Ryall’s first-half equaliser, was fizzling out until Adama Traore’s cross found the Brazilian unmarked in the penalty area. l

Sydney FC player Alessandro Del Piero says good bye to his fans after losing to the Melbourne Victory in their A-League elimination match in Melbourne yesterday AFP

DHAKA TRIBUNE

QUICK BYTES

Zia wins first round in UAE

Bangladesh Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman defeated Al Mutairi Hassan of Saudi Arabia in the opening round of the Asian Continental Chess Championships on Thursday in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. In the women’s section, WFM Nazrana Khan Eva lost her first game against WGM Swaminathan Soumya of India. A total 64 players from 21 countries including 32 Grandmasters and 11 International Masters are participating in Open section and 32 players from 16 countries including 9 women Grandmasters and 4 International Masters and 10 International Women Masters are participating in the women section.

Top five players will qualify for the World Cup Chess 2015 from Open section and champion of the women section will qualify for the World Women Chess.

–TRIBUNE DESK

Van Basten to become AZ Alkmaar coach Former Dutch star Marco van Basten will take charge of AZ Alkmaar on a two-year deal from this summer, the Eredivisie side announced on Friday.

“AZ and Marco van Basten verbally agreed on Thursday a contract through to the summer of 2016,” the club said in a statement. “The formalities will be sorted out in the coming days.” Van Basten, 49, will succeed Dick Advocaat, who returned to the club for a second spell last October and led them to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, but they lie an underwhelming seventh in the Dutch top flight with two games remaining. Van Basten’s coaching career has never matched the heights of his distinguished years as a player.

–AFP

Ajmal cleared for county cricket Star Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has been given clearance by his home board to play a shortened stint with Worcestershire in the English season.

The 36-year-old’s departure was held up after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) discussed the matter following confirmation of Pakistan’s tour to Sri Lanka in July-August. “We have given NOC (no-objection certificate) to Ajmal but want him to return in mid-July so that he can be part of team’s tour to Sri Lanka,” PCB chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed told AFP late Thursday.

–AFP

Sport

Nadal knocked out by Ferrer in Monte Carlo n

David Ferrer produced a major upset at the Monte Carlo Masters as the persistent Spaniard stunned eight-time champion Rafael Nadal 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 in the quarter-finals on Friday.

Ferrer, seeded sixth, handed the top seed only his third loss at the tournament a day after Nadal had won his 300th clay match of his career and 50th at the Monte Carlo Country Club.

Ferrer came to the court with a 5-21 deficit against his compatriot, whose form has dropped this season.

He will now face off on Saturday against Australian Open winner Stanislas Wawrinka, who beat Nadal in that grand slam final and booked his place 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 over Canadian Milos Raonic.

Nadal’s only other losses at the tournament occurred in the 2003 third round against Guillermo Coria and last year when he went down in straight sets to Novak Djokovic in the final.

Prior to that final, he had won eight straight editions.

Nadal was well off the boil from the

start in a contest where the opening set took 75 minutes and the third game required a quarter of an hour.

The top seed ended his quest with a forehand to the net, his 44th unforced error.

Ferrer battled his nerves as he served for victory leading 5-2, but was broken. On his second chance, the 32-year-old got the job done after two hours, 11 minutes.

The win was the first on clay for Ferrer against Nadal in a decade.

Wawrinka, who had a walkover in the previous round when Spain’s Nicolas Almagro pulled out with a foot injury, took control as Canadian Raonic twice lost leads in the opening set tiebreaker.

The mistakes gave an opening to Wawrinka, who took the first set on his initial opportunity and then broke to start the second as the frustrated Raonic let go of a 40-15 lead in the first game.

From that point on, momentum totally shifted to the Swiss world number three, who broke the Canadian again for 5-2 before serving out for the match

Coaches’ survival rate lowest in Greece says UEFA n Top-flight coaches in Greece keep their jobs for a mere four months on average, according to UEFA’s club licensing report, while the average across the continent is 17 months. Of the big five European leagues, France and England offer the most stable environments for coaches at 24 months, followed by Germany (22), Italy (19) and Spain (11).

Northern Ireland provides the greatest hope for survival in Europe with coaches remaining an average of 86 months in the same post, according to the report released on Thursday.

The study, based on coaches in place at 624 top-flight European clubs in November, found that all 18 in Greece at

the time had been in their jobs for less than one year. Georgia and Romania were little better, with coaches lasting five months. The average survival time was six months in Cyprus, Faroe Islands and Macedonia. Following Northern Ireland as the most stable countries were Finland (54 months), Norway (31), Iceland (30) and Sweden (28).

“Everyone involved in football wants to win,” said UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino in a statement.

“But when we look at the last three years of club football and see almost 2,000 head coach changes and combined club losses of more than 4bn, it is clear that the football family needs more stability, less short-term thinking and better financial sustainability.” l

Cardiff City have demanded the Premier League annul a 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace over allegations of cheating, the BBC said Thursday. Cardiff ’s lawyers allege in a five-page letter that Palace’s sporting director Iain Moody tried to obtain information about the Welsh club’s starting line-up before the game this month, the BBC said.

–AFP

DAY’S WATCH Sony Six Pepsi IPL 2014 4:30PM Bangalore v Mumbai 8:30PM Kolkata v Delhi Ten Golf 9:00AM Malaysian open Day 3 2:00AM Coupe de la Ligue, Final Olympic Lyon v PSG Star Sports 4 12:00PM UBS Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying English Premier League 5:35PM Tottenham v Fulham 8:00PM Cardiff v Stoke 10:30PM Chelsea v Sunderland 1:00AM Serie A Fiorentina v AS Roma Star Sports 1 Italian Serie A 7:00PM Udinese v Napoli 10:30PM Juventus v Bologna Star Sports 2 La Liga 8:00PM Osasuna v Valencia 10:00PM Levante v Getafe 12:00AM Real Sociedad v Espanyol

in 90 minutes.

“I showed him on every point that the match will be tough for him,” said the winner. “Even in the first set he was staying with me. He was close to winning the tie-break.

“But it was a tough set for him because he had to play his best, he had to always try something.

“I felt strong from the baseline, I feel good physically. I know that on clay courts if I play my best tennis I can beat those guys.

“I know it’s never easy, but I’m really happy the way I did today.”

Wawrinka finished with 30 winners and 28 unforced errors and never faced a break point. The Swiss was playing his third consecutive quarter-final at the event which marks the start of the European clay season and the run-up to Roland Garros which begins on May 25.

He now stands 3-0 over Raonic, who was playing his first clay court quarterfinal at the Masters 1000 level.

Wawrinka duplicated his 2009 result by reaching the semi-finals and improving his season record to 18-3. l

David Ferrer reacts after winning his Monte-Carlo ATP Masters Series match against Rafael Nadal in Monaco yesterday AFP

Pakistan probes stars for playing with shamed spinner n Pakistani cricket authorities have launched an investigation after a number of current international stars played in exhibition matches in the United States with banned spinner Danish Kaneria.

Kaneria was given a lifetime ban for spot-fixing in an English county game, which under International Cricket Council (ICC) rules effectively bars him from playing anywhere in the world.

But he represented the Houston Eagles in a series of Twenty20 games last weekend in Houston, Texas, with Test players Wahab Riaz and Nasir Jamshed taking part for rival team Boom Boom

Blasters.

Other Pakistani players involved in the games were Fawad Alam, who staged a comeback in the national team in last month’s Asia Cup, Abdul Razzaq and Shahzaib Hasan.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed said the matter was under investigation.

“We are looking into how these players featured in these matches -authorised or unauthorised -- without our permission,” Ahmed told AFP late Thursday.

The United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) could also have questions to answer as banned players such as Kaneria are not allowed to play

Maxwell blitzkrieg wins it for Punjab

Cardiff cry foul over Palace loss

Ten Action

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Saturday, April 19, 2014

Chennai's Glenn Maxwell used the reverse sweep to devastating effect against Punjab in the Indian T20 league, Abu Dhabi, yesterday BCCI

Alonso cheer, Raikkonen woe for Ferrari n

Fernando Alonso brought some welcome cheer to Ferrari after a troubled week by setting the fastest time in first practice for the Chinese grand prix on Friday.

However it was a mixed morning for the Italian giants and their new team principal Marco Mattiacci, who was installed after Stefano Domenicali dramatically quit on Monday, as Kimi Raikkonen was unable to complete a timed lap after mechanical problems.

Alonso clocked 1min 39.783sec with championship leader Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes second, 0.398sec behind, and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo third, 0.989sec behind the Ferrari.

On a chilly morning with temperatures in Shanghai hovering around the 13 degrees Celsius mark, many drivers suffered from lack of heat in their tyres and struggled with braking in the cool conditions. In the first half-hour on the harder medium-compound tyres, Rosberg became the first driver to dip

below 1min 41sec for the 5.451km lap of the Shanghai International circuit.

He was followed closely in the initial laps by Alonso, just 0.464sec behind and already showing good pace.

But at this stage the times were mere benchmarks as the teams sought to finetune their aerodynamic set-ups, tyres and brakes and gather valuable data in the coldest conditions of the season so far. Raikkonen’s mechanical misfortune did, however, give him a chance to make the acquaintance of new boss Mattiacci, who finally made an appearance in Shanghai this week when he strolled into the Ferrari garage at the start of the session looking relaxed.

Mattiacci was due to meet the media later on Friday and face his first inquisition as chief of the struggling Formula One giants. Raikkonen’s car spent most of the 90-minute session on jacks with mechanics frantically working on the front end of the car, which has a new chassis after cracks were discovered in the old one after Bahrain. l

in any match under the auspices of an ICC member country’s association.

The England and Wales Cricket Board banned Kaneria two years ago for his part in a spot-fixing case during a 2009 county match between Essex and Durham.

A disciplinary board found he had enticed his Essex team-mate Mervyn Westfield to concede an agreed number of runs in an over in return for money.

Three other Pakistani players -Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer -- are also serving fiveyear bans in a separate spot-fixing case of 2010. Asif was also stopped from playing an exhibition match in Norway last year. l

Bolt hails Bale’s Spanish Cup final stunner

n

SCORECARD

n

Glenn Maxwell’s 43-ball 95 powered King’s XI Pujab to a six-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings in their IPL match in Abu Dhabi on Friday with an over to spare.

Maxwell hit 15 fours and two towering sixes to reach his score. He also shared a massive 115-run partnership with David Miller (54 runs off 37 balls) that finally took the game away from the Chennai team.

In the earlier innings, Chennai Super Kings kicked off their campaign in IPL 7 with a flurry of fours and sixes as Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith hit blazing half centuries in a run feast, which powered them to a daunting 205 for four.

Electing to bat, CSK’s innings was built on a solid 123-run opening-wicket partnership between McCullum and Dwayne Smith, and a 11-ball 26 cameo by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni towards the end at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

The final over saw 18 runs being scored.

While the veteran Kiwi McCullum

Punjab 206 for 4 (20ov) Maxwell 95, Miller 54* Chennai 205 for 4 (18.5ov) McCullum 67, Smith 66 Punjab won by six wickets

Olympic champion Usain Bolt has hailed Gareth Bale’s brilliant winner for Real Madrid in Wednesday’s King’s Cup final against Barcelona, saying it was the kind of goal any sprinter would be proud of.

Wales winger Bale picked up the ball wide on the left on the halfway line five minutes from time and galloped away from Barca centre back Marc Bartra before slipping the ball between the legs of goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto to secure a 2-1 victory.

“It was a great goal,” the Jamaican was quoted as saying in Spanish sports daily Marca on Friday.

“He showed the fantastic speed he has to leave the defender behind and then incredible calm to put the ball between the keeper’s legs,” added the keen Manchester United supporter who retained the 100 and 200 metre titles at the London Games in 2012.

“It’s the kind of goal any sprinter in the world would want to score one day.” l

struck a 67 off 45 balls with the help of four boundaries and five sixes, Smith scored a 43-ball 66 with the help of six fours and three sixes.

The openers sent a lacklustre KXIP bowling attack on a leather hunt and that helped CSK reach 100-run mark in 10th over itself and set the team on course for a massive total.

Both McCullum and Smith played some effective shots to keep the Punjab attack at bay. While McCullum was at his dominating best, Smith was steady at the other end, making sure that the loose deliveries did not go unpunished. It was the slow left-arm orthodox bowler Akshar Patel who finally gave KXIP the breakthrough by seeing off McCullum. l

Trott to take ‘break’ from cricket n

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Friday confirmed that batsman Jonathan Trott is to take another break from all cricket with immediate effect.

Trott, who pulled out of England’s tour of Australia and spent four months out of the game with what the ECB described as a “stress-related illness”, experienced a repeat of the same symptoms after playing for his county Warwickshire against Sussex on Wednesday.

A statement released jointly by the ECB and Warwickshire said Trott “will now undergo further treatment to assist with his long-term rehabilitation.”

Trott himself said: “It was with the best intentions and hope that I returned to cricket with Warwickshire this month.

“Much to my disappointment, since my first game, I have felt the same anxieties that occurred during my time in Australia. Unable to function at 100 percent’ “It is not fair on my team-

mates or myself to continue when I am unable to function at 100 percent. In order to play at the highest level you have to be at 100 percent and be able to concentrate fully at all times. Sadly I am unable to do this.

“With this in mind I have decided it is best for all involved that I continue my recovery on the sidelines for the time being.”

Trott, who turns 33 next week, pulled out of the Ashes tour after the first Test in Brisbane and spent four months away from the game working with a psychologist and the ECB’s medical team in a bid to rebuild his career.

The South African-born player later described his Ashes exit as a case of “burn-out”, rather than depression, and said last month he hoped to return to England duty this season.

But his comeback with Warwickshire has lasted one game, in which he scored 37 and 26.

Trott has played in 49 Tests for England, scoring nine centuries and 18 half-centuries. He has scored 3,763 Test runs at an impressive average

of 46.45, with a highest score of 226 against Bangladesh at Lord’s in 2010.

Trott was twice dismissed cheaply by fast bowler Mitchell Johnson in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane and appeared to struggle with the short ball. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

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Saturday, April 19, 2014

6 new public med schools approved since February ‘Political consideration’ behind the approvals for ‘unplanned’ colleges n Moniruzzaman Uzzal Since the current government came into power in January, “political considerations” have allegedly played a key role in granting administrative approval for six new public medical colleges in the country, including one each in the home districts of the minister and state minister for health.

In February, the ministry gave approvals for five medical colleges in Tangail, Jamalpur, Manikganj, Patuakhali and Sirajganj; while administrative approval was also given to Rangamati Medical College on April 10. Sirajganj and Manikganj are the constituencies of Health minister Mohammed Nasim and state minister for Health Zahid Maleque, respectively.

The ministry also approved the admission of 50 students for MBBS courses at all the new colleges from the upcoming 2014-15 academic session.

The latest move reportedly came without proper planning by the ministry, while there are allegations that most of the new public medical colleges did not have the proper infrastructure, manpower or clinical facilities.

According to the existing medical and dental council act, both public and private medical colleges have to meet similar requirements in order to get approval from the ministry and conduct their operations.

However, the health ministry has recently been criticising public medical colleges for ignoring the existing requirements, said several medical education specialists, seeking anonymity.

The country had eight public medical colleges at the time of its independence in 1971, while a total of only six more colleges were set up over the next 34 years; among them were five colleges in Comilla, Khulna, Bogra, Faridpur and Dinajpur in 1992, and the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College in 2005.

However, since 2005, the health ministry has approved 15 more public

medical colleges in the country.

When asked about the reason behind the sudden increase in approving new public medical colleges, Motiur Rahman, joint secretary (medical education and manpower development) of the Health Ministry, refused to comment on the issue.

Preferring to stay unnamed, a medical education specialist who is also a senior figure in the health sector, told the Dhaka Tribune that the approvals were given based on “political consideration.”

Dr Rashid-e-Mahbub, president of Health Rights Movement of Bangladesh and also former president of Bangladesh Medical Association, told the Dhaka Tribune that the government’s practice of “giving approval before proper planning” was detrimental to the country’s medical education.

Acknowledging that opening new public medical colleges meant better opportunities for students to study at lower costs, Dr Mahbub said it was essential that the government planned before opening new colleges in order to ensure quality medical education.

Dr Abu Shafi Ahmed Amin, president of Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council, echoed Rashid and said the rampant increase of public medical colleges was not good, but added that the newly approved colleges were comparatively better than private medical colleges.

Admitting that the public medical colleges had their own limitations, Amin said it was possible to overcome the problems if the government addressed the issue seriously.

Moazzem Hossain, president of Bangladesh Private Medical College Association (BPMCA), told the Dhaka Tribune that the government should publish details on the lapse and gaps of the medical colleges. It is not correct to blame only the public sector, as there are lots of good medical colleges both in public and private sectors, he added. l

Rickshaw-pullers wait at the starting line of a rickshaw race titled Dhaka Rickshaw Fiesta in the capital’s Manik Mia Avenue yesterday

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Mobile courts ‘estimate’ fine for violating speed limit n Tazlina Zamila Khan The executive magistrates of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) have been handing down penalties to drivers instantly for exceeding speed limit based on estimation without using any speedometer.

Cars to be fined are determined at random although the amount of fine is fixed at Tk300.

Jamal Uddin, a car driver, told the Dhaka Tribune that a traffic policeman stopped his car while he was crossing Mirpur 10. After he got out of the car, an executive magistrate accused him of violating the speed limit and fined him Tk300.

“I had no idea of any speed limit set for this area. I acted out of fear and paid the fine,” he said.

A passenger named Selima Yasmin questioned the logic behind penalising drivers and said: “If magistrates are not using any speedometer, how are they measuring the limit?”

Apart from the speed limit, the BRTA magistrates have been charging Tk1,000 for driving while drunk, Tk100 for unsafe driving, Tk250 for emitting black smoke, Tk5,000 for not having registration and fitness documents, Tk500 for not having licence and Tk500 for illegal parking.

Nearly three mobile courts have been conducting drives in Mirpur, Shahbagh, Motijheel, Gulistan, Airport Road and Manik Mia Avenue in the capital every day.

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Md Abul Basher, executive magistrate of

BRTA court 1, said the fine was imposed based on their estimation.

“If a car is running faster than the car beside it, we stop that. We do not use any machine. The government did not provide us with any speedometer either,” he said.

Last month, court 1 filed around 138 cases for violation of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1983 and the total amount of fine stood at Tk422,000.

Speaking about the drive, Basher said: “We have been conducting such drives since late January this year. Previously, the drives were not frequent because only one mobile court was in operation. Now there are three.”

Mohammad Sirajul Islam, chief town planner of the Urban Planning Department under Dhaka South City

Corporation, said: “There is no signboard that mentions the speed limit in different areas in Dhaka. I do not know how BRTA magistrates are penalising without using any speedometer.”

The department’s Assistant Director (engineering) Md Enayet Hossain Montu told the Dhaka Tribune: “Around 20 drives were conducted in different parts of the capital last month. Of those, court 2 carried out 11 and court 1 conducted nine drives. The two courts have so far filed around 250 cases.

The total sum of fines amounted to Tk600,900. The new court came into operation this month.

“The magistrates know how they determine if a vehicle should be fined or not for crossing the speed limit. I have no idea of that.” l

Saleemul: Demonstrate eligibility, money will flow Colombian Nobel winner Saleemul Huq, a Bangladeshi scientist, is a senior fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London. In an exclusive interview with the Dhaka Tribune on April 10 at the ICCCAD in the capital he said Bangladesh needs to demonstrate its eligibility to get international funds meant for mitigation of emissions and adaptation to climate change.

Shahidul Islam Chowdhury conducted the interview “The ball is in our court to demonstrate that we can use money well, and if we can do that getting money will not be a problem. Money will flow to Bangladesh,” said Saleemul Huq, also chairman of Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies and founding director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development at the Independent University, Bangladesh.

“There is a competition for international fund for climate change and it is only on performance based.”

Born on October 2, 1952, Saleemul Huq is also a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

DT. The IPCC recently published its fifth assessment report on climate change. How would you relate the report with Bangladesh’s interests and realities?

SH. Wide varieties of clear signals are there that the climate change has been happening. In the next 10 or 20 years these changes will be more severe and frequent. May be by 50 years, we are heading towards a four degree rise of global temperature that people cannot cope with.

The latest IPCC report has discussed if the nations can limit the rise of the

temperature to two degrees that people may cope with.

On Bangladesh, this time around the report also has incorporated regional approach.

Bangladesh, for a variety of climatic impacts, comes up among top five vulnerable countries in all IPCC reports. I believe interpretations based on information provided on Bangladesh in the latest report will come up within next few months.

DT. We emit very less in comparison to many other countries. How will you assess our effort for mitigation of emission, if there is any?

SH. The Least Developed Countries including Bangladesh and even the larger developing countries have been saying we are small emitters, and we should not take actions. The rich nations are main emitters and they should go for many actions for mitigation.

But this perception has been changed over the years. Because reducing emission is everybody’s responsibility. If we emit by using Green House Gases or using fossil fuel, and if we can reduce that, we should do that.

Even though Bangladesh’s emission is not very big, if it can be reduced, it should be reduced, and Bangladesh has officially accepted that.

DT. Should there be any personal responsibility to reduce emission?

SH. There are almost 7 billion people on earth now and every single human being has a carbon footprint, directly or indirectly. Each one of us has responsibility to reduce emission.

DT. What is the situation on the ground on questions of adaptation by people on the grassroots in Bangladesh?

SH. A good thing is that awareness on climatic problems in Bangladesh is very high within the government and the outside. We are now gradually moving from awareness on problems to tackling of the problems and solutions to the problems. There are many solutions to problems at the local level, almost everywhere, and also for everybody.

DT. Bangladesh has established two separate funds on our own initiative.

How do you assess operations of the funds?

SH. Bangladesh has created two separate funds. One of the funds is for using money from internal sources. We have a separate fund for money from international partners. It is said that the funds are used to support the Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan. The design is very good and we are spend-

ing a lot of money. But the situation is a bit tricky.

There are some elements not awarded properly. Performance, in some cases, is good and in some cases is not as good as expected.

My question is if we are learning enough in utilisation of funds and in doing things including capturing the knowledge. We also need to learn from our own mistakes. As long as we correct mistakes, it is fine. If we do not learn and repeat the mistakes, then we are misusing the funds.

Another point is Bangladesh legitimately wants international funds as we are a vulnerable country. But we will not get it by just pleading for the funds.

We will get money only by effectively persuading that we can use it well. So, if we get one million dollars and use that well, we can get five million dollars. After using that properly, we can claim fifty million dollars. If we use that well, we can get five billion dollars.

But we will not get five billion dollars by only asking for it.

DT. What is your expectation from CoP20 to be held in Lima?

SH. The CoP20 in Lima in December this year will be an important stepping-stone for CoP21 to be held in 2015 in Paris. During CoP21, we will focus on getting a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

DT. What role do you expect from Bangladesh delegation in Lima and Paris?

SH. What I want to say is the next two years leading to CoP21 in Paris, everything will become high profile.

It is a big issue, for not now alone, for future too. Bangladesh has played very important leadership in the 48-member LDC group for several years in climate negotiations.

All of us including the government and the non-government organisations need to follow the flow. For next 18 months, we need to go for all-out efforts diplomatically and politically with proper importance. l

Garcia Marquez dies at 87

n Reuters, Mexico City Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Colombian author whose beguiling stories of love and longing brought Latin America to life for millions of readers and put magical realism on the literary map, died on Thursday. He was 87.

A prolific writer who started out as a newspaper reporter, Garcia Marquez's masterpiece was "One Hundred Years of Solitude," a dream-like, dynastic epic that helped him win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982.

Garcia Marquez died at his home in Mexico City, where he had returned from hospital last week after a bout of pneumonia.

A heavy smoker for most of his life, he was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1999, although the disease went into remission after chemotherapy treatment.

Known affectionately to friends and fans as "Gabo," Garcia Marquez was Latin America's best-known and most beloved author and his books have sold in the tens of millions.

Although he produced stories, essays and several short novels such as "Leaf Storm" and "No One Writes to the Colonel" early in his career, he struggled for years to find his voice as a novelist.

A stocky man with a quick smile, thick mustache and curly hair, Garcia Marquez said he found inspiration for the novel by drawing on childhood memories of his grandmother's stories laced with folklore and superstition but delivered with the straightest of faces.

Although "One Hundred Years of Solitude" was his most popular creation, other classics from Garcia Marquez included "Autumn of the Patriarch", "Love in the Time of Cholera" and "Chronicle of a Death Foretold".

Tributes poured in following his death.

"The world has lost one of its greatest visionary writers - and one of my favorites from the time I was young," said U.S. President Barack Obama.

"Your life, dear Gabo, will be remembered by all of us as a unique and singular gift, and as the most original story of all," Colombian pop star Shakira wrote on her website alongside a photograph of her hugging Garcia Marquez.

In Aracataca, a lone trumpet played on Thursday night as residents held a candlelight vigil for the man who made the town famous.

Magic and Reality

Garcia Marquez was one of the prime exponents of magical realism, a genre he described as embodying "myth, magic and other extraordinary phenomena."

His most prolific years coincided with a turbulent period in much of Latin America, where right-wing dictators and Marxist revolutionaries fought for power.

Garcia Marquez is survived by Mercedes Barcha, his wife of more than 55 years, and by two sons, Rodrigo and Gonzalo. His last public appearance was on his 87th birthday in March. l

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