22 June 20148

Ashar 14, 1421 Shaaban 29, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 2, No 88

SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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Delhi ready to work with Dhaka Change of govt will not affect friendship, says Sushma before leaving n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman The newly formed Indian government is ready to work with the Awami League-led government of Bangladesh, Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson of the Indian Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

He was talking to the press at the airport before Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj departed for New Delhi.

“All other issues internal to Bangladesh will need to be addressed and resolved by the people of Bangladesh,” Akbar said in response to a question.

Sushma arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday on a goodwill visit, her first trip abroad as the foreign minister.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Sushma had official talks on Thursday. Sushma also met President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Akbaruddin said Sushma had also met BNP Chief Khaleda Zia, Leader of the Opposition Rawshan Ershad and two advisers to the prime minister – Gowher Rizvi and Mashiur Rahman.

Khaleda to Sushma: Bangladesh lacking democracy n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla The BNP told visiting Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj yesterday that Bangladesh was lacking democracy and the “so-called” parliament does not reflect the people’s will.

“Regional development will be hampered in the absence of democracy in Bangladesh. We believe development is impossible without democracy and, therefore, it must be restored,” party standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan quoted Khaleda Zia as telling the Indian foreign minister.

In her 40-minute-long meeting with Khaleda Zia, the Indian foreign minister said India wanted to establish a good relationship with the people of Bangladesh, and not with any specific political party.

The meeting started around 10:25am at Hotel Sonargaon. Khaleda and Swaraj also had a 15-minute-long private meeting.

Khaleda had met Sushma once in 2012 during her Delhi visit. Sushma was then the opposition leader in India’s Lok Sabha.

Quoting the visiting Indian minister, Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury said: “The Indian government is interested in keeping a good relationship with the people of Bangladesh, not with any specific political party. It wants people-to-people contact, which was Saarc’s main goal.”

The Indian foreign minister said the new Indian government, in line with the Saarc goal, will take new initiatives so that the South Asian people can work together in a peaceful and democratic atmosphere.

The BNP has also urged India to take quick steps in order to resolve the longstanding bilateral issues between the two countries.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

“The external affairs minister goes back to India and hopes to build on what we feel is an excellent start in our new government’s relationship with Bangladesh,” he said.

Sushma hopes to continue to work with the leadership of Dhaka to take the India-Bangladesh relationship forward, he added.

“We take back home with us an understanding that across the widespread spectrum of Bangladeshi government and society, there is a desire for and feeling of greater friendship, greater cooperation and greater interaction with India,” he said.

Meanwhile, after the meeting with Sushma, prime minister’s Economic Adviser Mashiur Rahman said they had discussed cooperation in development.

“After the change of the government in India, the foreign minister reconfirmed that the friendship and cooperation with Bangladesh will remain intact, will move forward and deepen,” Mashiur said.

Leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League take out a procession from the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan after the party’s rally marking its 65th founding anniversary yesterday. The rally created huge tailbacks on all major roads in the capital RAJIB DHAR

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Health officials galloping for foreign trips n Moniruzzman Uzzal

With the fiscal year set to end on June 30, health officials have reportedly been busy over the last week to secure arrangements for making trips abroad with funds allocated under the outgoing fiscal.

Sources claimed that several teams of health officials were already off on foreign trips or were readying themselves for tours under different operation plans (OP) of the Health Ministry’s Health Population and Nutrition Sector Development Programme (HPNSDP).

Their destinations include countries

Have we seen the last of CR7 in a WC? from Brasilia, Brazil

Cristiano Ronaldo’s face was stone cold when he led his team onto the pitch of the National Stadium in Brasilia named after legend Garrincha. He left the pitch in the same mood.

The only difference was that there was a glimpse of hope in the beginning but at the end there was frustration.

The Fifa world player of the year failed to steer Portugal to the second round of the World Cup and now has to experience the agony of seeing his rivals Lionel Messi and Neymar shining for their respective countries.

Ronaldo probably knew his destination as he commented beforehand that his team was an average one and Portugal did not produce any electrical performances till date to change that tag.

He might have taken his team through the rigours of the qualifers but failed to spark in the ultimate stage.

In Portugal’s final Group G game

against Ghana, Ronaldo was not trying anything special. He simply appeared confident, was willing to wait for his chances and started in his favourite left flank as Portugal tactician Paulo Bento deployed a 4-3-3 formation.

His first touch was a typical inside-out movement and a quick sidefooter to his attacking partner Eder.

Ronaldo did not show much frustration when his cross-cum-shot kissed the Nigerian crosspiece but wore a demoralised look after seeing his powerful header from a Joao Pereira cross  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo reacts after missing a chance to score a goal during a Group G match against Ghana in the World Cup at the Estadio Nacional in Brasilia, Brazil AP

INSIDE 3 | News

College teachers are under huge pressure as influential people are lobbying to secure places for their children or relatives’ children in the higher secondary class, even though they do not qualify for the seats.

7 | World

Iraqi helicopters fired on a university campus in Tikrit on Friday to dislodge insurgents who overran the city in an onslaught that has given them control of most majority Sunni regions and brought them close to Baghdad.

6 | Nation

Moheshpur municipal authority has started construction work of a road in upazila headquarters but did not feel the need to float a tender invitation, which is illegal.

12 | Entertainment

A new production of the country’s leading theatre troupe Nagorik Natya Sampradaya titled “Nam Gotrohin Mantor Meyera” staged at the National Theatre Hall of BSA on June 26.

like Vietnam, China, Malaysia, USA and India.

The Health Ministry has already sent four letters to the Office of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) seeking permission to withdraw Tk1.86 crore in advance from the allocated funds under the outgoing fiscal, for arranging

foreign trainings for 51 health officials.

Two of the letters issued were dated June 18 and 19.

Ministry sources, however, could not confirm how many of the officials had been actually sanctioned for the foreign tours.

THREAT OF SHAMIM OSMAN

ASP Bashir Uddin fears for his life Islam Shaon and n Ashif Mohammad Zakaria The Narayanganj assistant police commissioner, who prevented a local union parishad chairman from ballot stuffing and allegedly received threats from lawmaker Shamim Osman for this, is now concerned about the security of his life.

ASP Bashir Uddin is scared of even carrying out his daily routine duty in Narayanganj as he thinks Awami League lawmaker Shamim Osman will anyhow avenge his refusal to allow Shamim’s man to rig votes.

Top police officials of the district are also silent over the alleged misbehaviour of the lawmaker and the Election Commission too said they would not intervene in the matter.

Bashir says the Special Branch of police is investigating his involvement with the Jamaat-e-Islami, the party which opposed the birth of Bangladesh, or the BNP. He claims he was a leader of Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the Awami League, and many of his family members are involved in the politics of the present ruling party.

“I am now in Dhaka and will go to Narayanganj tomorrow [today]. I fear that Shamim’s men might swoop on me or set a trap for me,” Bashir told the Dhaka Tribune last night.

Shamim allegedly threatened Bashir and hurled abusive at him over cell

phone on June 26 morning, the day of Narayanganj 5 by-election.

“But our police superintendent will be by my side as what I did was lawful and logical. But talking before the media was wrong,” he said.

The police official said he had updated SP Khandakar Mahid Uddin four to five times on the incident and the SP ordered him to arrest the UP chairman.

The SP assured him of being on his side.

‘I told Shamim bhai what he was planning to do would harm the party and the government’s image. I prevented them as my conscience dictated me to do so’ Bashir said Shamim was now trying to link him to Jamaat-Shibir or BNP politics to prove that I had done everything to tarnish the government’s image.

After the incident, admitting the fact of calling the ASP, Shamim Osman said: “A local chairman had brought allegations of unlawful activities against the police official. It was conveyed to the Election Commission and police high-ups.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Saturday, June 28, 2014

PM to Khaleda: Stop complaining to foreigners n Emran Hossain Shaikh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to stop complaining to foreigners about the country and shun acts of killing.

“It was your [Khaleda] mistake to boycott the January 5 elections and now you are crying before foreign lords. They will not put you in power. So I tell you to stop complaining about the country to foreigners,” Hasina said while addressing a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital organised by her party to mark its 65th founding anniversary.

“Awami League does not believe in foreign lords. Rather, we believe in the power of people and they have put Awami League in power several times,” she said.

The January 5 election was essential for continuity of the country’s democracy, said Hasina.

Describing BNP founder Ziaur Rahman’s family as “a family of killers”, the premier said Zia was a traitor as he resorted to arms to assume power following the assassination of Bangabandhu. “You [Khaleda] are a killer, your son is a killer and even you husband was a killer. Your whole family is a killer family,” Hasina said.

She also questioned Khaleda’s whereabouts when her husband was killed.

“I want to ask the BNP leader where she was during the killing of her husband. Why did not you and your son want to see the body of Zia?” she said.

Ismat Jahan reelected Cedaw member n UNB Ismat Jahan, ambassador of Bangladesh in Brussels, has been re-elected member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw).

Previously a member of the committee for the 2011-2014 term, she will now serve as the new member for the next four years (2015-2018), said a release of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The election was held at the United Nations on Thursday and 18 candidates contested for 12 vacant posts of the body. l

‘Delhi ready to work with Dhaka’  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

However, he said they did not discuss issues related to the Teesta water sharing, the land boundary agreement and the border killing.

When asked if they discussed internal politics, he said: “It was not discussed with us, but it has been conveyed by the Indian government that they have no intention of interfering in the domestic affairs of Bangladesh.”

When asked about Khaleda Zia’s meeting with Sushma, Mashiur said: “I do not deal with those issues. The foreign minister can say more about it.”

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s younger sister Sheikh Rehana and daughter Saima Wazed Putul too met Sushma at the Hotel Sonargaon yesterday morning. l

Hinting at Zia’s link to the killing of Bangabandhu, Hasina said now it was explicit who was involved with the conspiracy.

“Khandakar Moshtaque was the black sheep of Awami League. He along with Ziaur Rahman betrayed the nation,” she said.

Although there was no post of deputy chief in the army, Bangabandhu appointed Zia in the post to save his conjugal life, the prime minister said.

She said there were many conspiracies against Awami League but none would be able to destroy the party.

“Awami League is like flinders of diamond. It will shine more if attempt is to break the party,” said Hasina.

The Awami League president said the government would bring back the money deposited in Swiss Bank.

“We will draw up a list of Bangladeshi people who have money in Swiss Bank and undoubtedly we will see her name [Khaleda] on the list,” she said.

The premier reaffirmed her commitment to turn the country into a middle-income one by 2021.

“Although we planned for 2021, I believe we will be able to do that earlier.

Per capita income has already risen and the country has a reserve over $21bn,” she said.

Recalling the dream of Bangabandhu, the premier said her father dreamt of building the country like Switzerland. “Awami League has been working to achieve that goal,” she added. l

Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj meets with Opposition Leader Rawshan Ershad and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday

AL-backed candidates win in Madaripur Sadar, Banchharampur upazila elections n Tribune Report

Pavelur Rahman Shafique Khan, organising secretary of Awami League’s Madaripur unit, was unofficially declared elected chairman in the Sadar upazila election held on Thursday.

He received 107,770 votes, while his nearest rival, 19-party-backed Kazi Abul Bashar, bagged 10,794 votes, reports our correspondent in Madaripur.

Awami League-backed candidate Sahabuddin Hawlader was elected as vice-chairman. He got 77,769 votes, while his nearest rival, 19-party-backed Monirul Islam Tushar Bhuiyan, received 32,555 votes.

Parveen Jahan Sharif of Awami League was elected as vice-chairperson, bagging 96,375 votes against Awa-

Earlier this month, health officials were reportedly refusing to sign-up for foreign trips as reshuffling was going on at the top-level posts of the sector. The panic, however, has now vanished as there were no more changes of being made at the moment, sources claimed.

With time running out, a team of officials has reportedly gone abroad without withdrawing any money; while a company that is coordinating the trip has paid the costs “conditionally,” following assurances from health officials that the funds would certainly be approved.

There are allegations that only the influential officials of the sector were “repeatedly” being chosen to make

mi League rebel Amena Khatun Baby, who boycotted the election and later got 10,466 votes.

Voting in the seventh phase of the upazila parishad election started at 8am peacefully, but the voter turnout was comparatively low. More than 50% of the enlisted voters cast their votes.

Sadar upazila comprising Madaripur municipality and 15 unions has a total of 231,484 voters – 117,333 male and 114,151 female.

In Banchharampur upazila, Brahmanbaria, Awami League-backed candidate Nurul Islam was unofficially declared elected chairman, reports our Brahmanbaria correspondent.

Assistant Returning Officer Zahid Hossain Siddique said Nurul Islam bagged 122,043 votes, while his his

nearest rival independent candidate Sayeed Uddin Khan Zabed got 10,071 votes and BNP-backed candidate Mahbub Hasan Babu got 5,926 votes.

Awami League’s Mintu Ranjan Saha was elected as vice-chairman, receiving 120,678 votes against nearest rival Shafiqul Islam, who bagged 11,025 votes.

Joly Amir of Awami League was elected as vice-chairperson, bagging 101,115 votes against independent candidate Sonia Akter Suchi with 35,654 votes.

In Sherpur, BNP-backed candidate and former upazila chairman Mahbub Ali Chowdhury alias Munir Chowdhury was unofficially declared elected chairman in Nakla upazila, our district correspondent reports.

He bagged 22,320 votes, while his

nearest rival Jubo League leader Munir Hossain got 16,145 votes.

Awami League’s Sarwar Alam Talukder was elected as vice-chairman, while BNP-backed candidate Dewan Kohinur was elected as vice-chairperson. Sarwar got 22,211 votes, while Kohinur bagged 27,162 votes.

Voting started at 8am and continued until 4pm without any break. However, voter turnout was low due to fear of violence. There were a total of 132,604 voters in Nakla upazila.

Seven candidates contested for the post of chairman, while three candidates for the post of vice-chairman and five candidates for the post of female vice-chairperson. Two BNP and three Awami League rebel candidates contested in the elections. l

2-day-old found abandoned Policeman beats wife, mother-in-law n Mohammad Jamil Khan

A two-day-old newborn girl was found abandon, wrapped inside a cloth, in the capital’s Hazaribagh area yesterday.

After recovering the baby yesterday evening, police admitted her at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The girl is now undergoing treatment at neonatal ward no 211 of the hospital.

Dr Firoz Ahmed of the DMCH told the Dhaka Tribune that the baby was in good condition and seemed to be all right. However, some samples were sent to laboratory to trace whether the baby had any complications.

Emarat Hossain, officer-in-charge of Hazaribagh police station, told the Dhaka Tribune that locals informed police about the newborn. After recovering the baby from a lane beside house No 13 of road 4/A in the area, the girl was first admitted at Renesa Hospital in Dhanmondi and later shifted to DMCH as there were some laws regarding the

girl’s future, he added.

Visiting the neonatal ward of DMCH yesterday, Laizu, a lady constable, was found feeding the girl powdered milk, though the girl should be taking her mother’s milk at this stage. l

for divorce n Our Correspondent, Savar

An Ashulia police station policeman beat up his wife and mother-in-law, as his wife refused to divorce him 13 days after they tied the knot.

Jahidur Rahman, the policeman, beat up his wife Amena Akter, 20, and his mother-in-law, Shahina Begum. Both women were admitted to Enam Medical College Hospital in Savar since the beating had left them seriously injured. The incident happened on Thursday night.

The injured said, and police sources corroborated, that Jahidur had married Amena on June 14 at a kazi office (where marriages are registered) in Siddhirganj of Narayanganj and had rented a flat near Ashulia police station a few days later.

On June 20, Jahidur’s first wife Nasima Begum showed up at the flat but the

police official had beat her and forced her to leave that night.

“For several days, Jahidur had been requesting us to come to Ashulia to resolve the issue and we arrived at Ashulia police station on Thursday evening.

When we three went to home that night, he suddenly became violent and forced my daughter to sign the divorce documents. When I attempted to resist, he assaulted us,” said Shahina.

At one point during the attack, when Shahina managed to rush to the police station, she was able to get police to arrive and rescue Amena. Police sent Amena to Habib Clinic and Hospital.

Amena and her mother were later admitted to Enam Medical College Hospital.

Amena said she and Jahidur had started a relationship three years ago when he was working at Siddhirganj police station. He had then enticed her into

having a physical relationship with him, by promising that he would marry her.

“I kept pressing him to tie the knot but he was delaying it, making excuses about promotions. In the end, we got married on June 14,” said Amena.

The marriage documents showed that Jahidur had mentioned himself as an unmarried man and had completely kept the information regarding his first marriage hidden. He could not be reached for comment over the phone, despite several attempts.

Officer-in-Charge of Ashulia police station Sheikh Badrul Alam said he was aware of the incident, adding, “I suggested they should resolve it through a discussion, as it is a family issue.”

Rasel Sheikh, assistant superintendent of police of Ashulia and Dhamrai Circle, said steps will be taken after looking into the matter. l

Have we seen the last of CR7 in a WC?

ASP Bashir Uddin fears for his life

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 PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

from the right flank cleared to safety with a reflex save by the Ghanaian goalkeeper Fatawu Dauda in the 19th minute.

He was quite at ease when Dauda fisted away his free kick for a corner earlier.

Ronaldo’s excitement though was clearly evident when Portugal went ahead courtesy an own goal by John Boye.

Only a flurry of goals coupled with a defeat for USA against Germany would have been enough for Portugal to progress to the round of 16.

And so Ronaldo ran inside the post in desperation and collected the ball before kicking it towards the centre spot. Whilst doing this, a Ghanaian defender was seen hurling some words towards him.

Although Ronaldo was also involved in some defending acts when Ghana

earned a series of corners in both the flanks, he was never seen in the commanding role that he was duly expected to take up as the captain of the team.

It was clear that Ronaldo failed to transform his club form to the national frontier.

Who knows if he was suffering from the after-effects of his latest injury. He skipped training more than once and a Spanish newspaper claimed that the doctors advised him not to take part in the World Cup in fear of aggravating the injury further.

Ronaldo has so far scored only three goals in the three World Cups he has participated in. Three goals in 14 matches does not do justice to his extraordinary talents. In 2006 against Iran, he scored from the penalty spot in a 2-0 win. In 2010 against North Korea, it was the sixth goal in a 7-0 rout and on Thursday his left-footed winner came courtesy of the suicidal effort of the

Health officials galloping for foreign trips  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

trips abroad, while the others were being deprived.

Under the OP of National Nutrition Services (NNS), three teams consisting of 36 members will go to Hanoi Medical University of Vietnam to be trained in Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) and community-based nutrition programme management.

The Health Ministry has issued a letter to the CGA office to release over Tk1 crore in advance, to meet the expenses for the teams.

A four-member team under the OP of Health Education and Promotion has also been approved to withdraw Tk35.6 lakh and is now set to fly to Malaysia for a14-day training on information education and communication material development.

The ministry has also asked the CGA office to release Tk31 lakh for a seven-day trip to China by a four-member team under the OP of Hospital Services Management to be trained in a programme titled “Management Development Program for hospital services providers.”

Under the OP of in-service training of the HPNSDP, a two-member team has already been given Tk6.96 lakh for a 10-day exchange programme with the Massachusetts General Hospital in the USA. A separate five-member team under the same OP was also allowed over Tk5.4 lakh for a week-long exchange visit to India’s Bangalore.

Health specialists said the practice of arranging last-minute foreign trainings were immoral, even though the

Ghanaian goalie.

With very little time to go to the end of the game and with Portugal requiring more goals to go through as USA were losing 1-0 to Germany, Ronaldo did not celebrate the strike as he stood firm before his teammates surrounded him.

After the final whistle was blown, it was Germany and USA who went through as their game ended in a 1-0 loss for the Americans. And despite Portugal’s 2-1 victory over the Black Stars, the Iberian side’s run ended in the group stage.

Ronaldo took off his captain’s armband from the left hand, waved it in the air and was staring towards the bright blue sky. He is 29 now and will be 33 in the next World Cup in Russia. Is it then the last World Cup for the lad who grew up in the modest surroundings of Madeira? A burning question indeed that can only be answered with the passage of time. l

training was important for enhancing skills of the officials. The country could have benefited greatly if the authorities had properly planned the tours beforehand, they added.

Dr Md Shah Newez, line director of NNS operation plan, however claimed that they were always forced to plan tours at the end of fiscal years as funds were never given on time.

According to the Health Ministry, there are certain stipulations that need to be fulfilled, including following the Public Procurement Rules 2006 and the Public Procurement Act 2008, for spending money that was raised in advance. The touring team must also submit the expenditure details of the first instalment before receiving the second instalment of the fund. l

“I just asked him [over phone] whether he had done anything wrong. I have informed the higher authorities about his activities. By this time departmental inquiry is going on.”

When the Dhaka Tribune called Shamim OSman for his comment yesterday his cell phone was found switched off.

Asked if he had to face any kind of inquiry, Bashir said: “Officials of the Special Branch of police have started collecting information about my family’s political background. But, be sure they will not find anything suspicious.

“I was the president of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology unit Chhatra League during 2004-2006.

At present I am a member of Bangabandhu Prokousholi Parishad. There is no member of our family who do not hold a post either in the Awami League or its associated bodies. There was no

political purpose in my protest.

“But I cannot do what he [Shamim Osman] asked me to do wearing the uniform. I cannot open a polling centre for vote-rigging. I told Shamim bhai what he was planning to do would harm the party and the government’s image.

“I prevented them as my conscience dictated me to do so.”

When contacted, the SP of Narayanganj said they would not make any comment on the issue.

When asked about the matter, Election Commissioner Mohammad Abu Hafiz told the Dhaka Tribune that the commission would not intervene in the matter.

He also said the police official concerned should file a case as per the laws.

Returning Officer Mihir Sarwar Morshed told the Dhaka Tribune that the EC had not been informed about ASP Bashir having been threatened by Shamim Osman over telephone on the Narayanganj 5 by-election day. l

Khaleda to Sushma  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

Mobin said: “During the meeting, the BNP chief discussed a number of bilateral issues with the visiting Indian minister.

She requested the Indian foreign minister to take quick steps to resolve the longstanding bilateral issues between Bangladesh and India.”

In reply, Sushma assured her of looking into the matter sincerely, saying they have already made progress in solving the pending issues. “But, they are placing their efforts in forging a national consensus on the issues,” Mobin said, quoting Sushma.

Responding to a query about whether the party sought Indian assistance for the arrangement of midterm elec-

tions in Bangladesh, Mobin said: “We did not discuss the issue as it is our internal issue.”

Mobin said Khaleda congratulated the newly elected Modi government again saying a ray of hope has arisen among the people of Bangladesh which will open up a new chapter in the Bangladesh-India bilateral issues.

When asked about whether India invited Khaleda to visit India, Mobin said: “The issue was not discussed in the meeting.”

Among others, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Khaleda’s Advisers Shamser Mobin Chowdhury, Reaz Rahman and Sabih Uddin Ahmed and BNP Standing Committee Member Abdul Moyeen Khan attended the meeting. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

HSC ADMISSION

Hectic lobbying for the unqualified n Mushfique Wadud College teachers are under huge pressure as influential people are lobbying to secure places for their children or relatives’ children in the higher secondary class, even though they do not qualify for the seats.

Teachers said the pressure is more in the reputable and government colleges.

In some cases, local politicians and student leaders are demanding certain quotas to admit students according to their choice.

“We are in an awkward situation. If we give in to the student leaders and politicians, some deserving students will not be able to get admission,” said a Dhaka College teacher.

The HSC admission process began on May 28. Classes are scheduled to start on July 1. Admission based on the merit list has already been completed in most colleges, and now admission is going on based on the wait list.

Many students and teachers said there are many irregularities in the admission of the students on the wait list.

In Dhaka College, activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League’s unit in the college vandalised campus properties on Thursday because the authorities did not admit students of their choice.

Moniruzzaman, inspector at New Market police station, confirmed the incident.

Chhatra League activists in

Abducted trader rescued, 4 ‘Jubo League’ men held n Hasibur Rahman Bilu, Bogra An abducted businessman was rescued by the police yesterday evening from Fultala area of Bogra.

According to the police, four linked with local Jubo League were arrested in connection with the abduction and three others were on the run.

Officer-in-Charge Mizanur Rahman of Bogra Sadar police said businessman Jewel from Kaliganj village under Singra upazila of Natore came to Bogra in the morning.

The OC said Jewel was abducted from Shaktala area in the town with Tk19,000 around 12 noon. Later, the abductors contacted his family and demanded Tk1 lakh as ransom.

After receiving information from the family members, plainclothes police were sent with the ransom to Fultala area.

Two abductors, Hasan Shahid and Selim Reza, were arrested when they came to collect the money, OC Mizan said.

He said upon information gleaned from Hasan and Selim, two more involved with the kidnapping – Abdul Hannan and Poly Begum – were arrested from a house in the same neighbourhood.

Abducted businessman Jewel was rescued from the house. l

Rajshahi Government City College also vandalised the campus, alleging irregularities had been committed in the admission process.

However, Kabirul Islam, principal of the college, told the reporters that the Chhatra League activists vandalised the campus to create panic among students so that they could get the students of their choice admitted.

There were also reports of clashes in Rajshahi College on Monday and in Rajshahi New Government Degree College on Wednesday centring the admission process.

There are allegations that student leaders take money from students in exchange of the assurance that they would get those students admitted despite their not being qualified.

A teacher of a reputed college in the capital’s Baily Road area told the Dhaka Tribune that they were also receiving requests from local politicians to admit their children or their relatives’ children even though they do not have the required qualifications.

Another teacher of a reputed college in Motijheel area said his college was also under pressure to admit the children of local politicians.

When contacted, Taslima Begum, chairperson of the Dhaka education board, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had not received any complaints in this regard.

However, she said the board had instructed all colleges that students must be admitted according to the merit list, and nothing else. l

News

Saturday, June 28, 2014

3

Mystery of Jessore traders’ leg injuries revealed n Adil Sakhawat It was one’s flat refusal to part with the money allegedly demanded by the lawmen while another’s incapacity to comply with the demand cost the two dearly.

Such was the ordeal the two businessmen in Jessore went through and received serious gunshot wounds allegedly from police in the wake of their denial of meeting the demand.

The revelations came yesterday when the Dhaka Tribune correspondent talked to the injured traders – Salman Sikder Viky and Masudur Rahman – now admitted to National Orthopaedic Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre, running the risk of amputations of their legs.

The lawmen gave the version that they fired on them to repel their bomb attacks and branded them as the accused on police list.

The two injured traders claimed that they were not listed criminals and there were no cases against them with police station.

Salman Sikder Viky who deals in motor parts said: On June 15 night, some 10-12 policemen came to my house at Bejpara under Sadar police station and took me to Cacra area blindfolded.”

“They asked me to tell my father to part with Tk10 lakh to the police team led by Sub-Inspector Shoaib.”

Salman said as he turned down their demand outright and wanted to know the reason police started beating him mercilessly.

“The sub-inspector also told me if I was unable to pay the money he would make me lame forever, and as I denied again, he shot me in the left leg.”

Contacted, Reshma Sharmin, senior assistant superintendent of police (Sadar circle), said: “We had information that Salman was making preparation

One of the two traders from Jessore, who were allegedly shot by the police, receive treatment at the capital’s orthopaedic hospital yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU for hijack. We conducted a collective drive along with BGB. Sensing our presence he attacked us first and that is why we shot him.”

He was a listed terrorist in this area and locals were terrified for his act of terror, she said, adding that there were three cases filed against him earlier.

The other injured trader, Masudur Rahman, a fruiterer, in Monihar cinema hall area, was arrested on May 31.

Masudur said on the fateful day seven to eight plain-clothes policemen came to his shop and asked him to accompany them.

“As I asked the reason, SI Shoaib held me and forced me out of my shop.

He took me to many places blindfolded and demanded Tk25 lakh.”

“How can I give you so much money being a mere fruit trader?” I asked the police official.

“Without paying any heed, he threatened to kill me in a crossfire if I fail to come up with the demand.”

Masudur said since he kept expressing his inability to give them the money, police allegedly shot him in the leg.

“Not only they shot me but also filed cases against me,” he added.

Asked about it, Reshma Sharmin said: “Masudur was an accused in eight cases and he runs a hijacking gang under the cover of his fruit business.”

In reply to a question about demanding bribe by SI Shoaib, she said after coming across the report published in different media they investigated the matter and found no proof of wrongdoing by the police official.

Shoaib, however, denied all allegations against him when asked. He said both the businessmen were terrorists and all in Monihar cineman hall area knew about their activities. l

BTRC’s international call termination Electronic system to be introduced for land maps rate cut proposal rejected n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The Finance Ministry has rejected a BTRC proposal for lowering international call termination charges; a request that was reportedly based on false information about the volume of legal international incoming calls.

In a letter sent to the BTRC this week, the ministry recommended that Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) appoint a consultant to prepare a fresh proposal, saying: “The BTRC should conduct a comprehensive baseline study to analyse the impact on the industry and the risk to the stakeholders rather than suggesting piecemeal steps.”

Sources said the finance minister also sent a DO (demand order) letter to the Telecom Ministry and requested them to appoint a consultant and give the Finance Ministry a conclusive proposal about the different types of telecom license fees, charges and annual fees.

Earlier, the BTRC recommended the government to lower international call termination charges to 1.5 US cents ($0.015) per minute from the existing 3 US cents ($0.03) for the internation-

al gateway (IGW) operators. They also recommended reducing the government revenue sharing to 40% from the existing 51.75%.

Legal specialists, however, said the government cannot arbitrarily change the structure as the rate was fixed by an open auction.

In July last year, the BTRC sent its first round of recommendations that was rejected in March this year as it claimed that the cuts would cost the government around Tk1,073 crore. Later in May, the telecom watchdog sent another proposal – with changed numbers – to lower international call termination charges, but this time claiming that the change would allow the government to earn an additional Tk162 crore.

To make claims of potential profits, the BTRC allegedly manipulated the number of international incoming calls to show that 3.5 crore minutes of daily calls were being made on average.

However, separate BTRC figures show that the daily call volume had not gone below four crore minutes over the past year, while it is currently around six crore minutes per day.

Sources said the false estimations

were prepared reportedly to favour the cause of IGW operators who got licences with political backing.

In its previous proposal, the BTRC showed that the government would earn Tk777.99 crore every year if the rate was reduced to $0.015; however, in the latest proposal the estimated earning was changed to Tk2,012.72 crore.

In the second proposal, the telecom regulator also claimed that the existing daily 3.5 crore minutes of incoming international call volume would cross 9 crore minutes if the termination rate was halved from the existing $0.03 per minute.

Both the BTRC proposals claimed that the government was currently earning around Tk1,851 crore annually from this sector.

The BTRC’s recommendation also claimed that neighbouring countries’ call termination rates were much lower than Bangladesh, which sources said was also a lie.

According to the VoIP Service Providers Association (VSPA), international call termination rate in Sri Lanka is 9 US cents, 9.5 cents in Nepal, 8.8 cents in Pakistan and 25 cents in Maldives. l

n Mohosinul Karim

The government is likely to introduce an electronic system to ease the process of obtaining land maps using mobile payments.

People intending to get a land map from the Directorate of Land Records and Surveys will be able to collect it from their local Banglalink office, a mere three days after paying Tk310, once the system is introduced.

The Land Ministry is going to introduce the new electronic system after Eid-ul-Fitr in association with the United Commercial Bank Limited and Banglalink.

“We have already met the top officials of the bank and the mobile operator and they consented to introduce the system, considering how easy it will be for people to get things done,” State Minister for Land Saifuzzaman Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

He said: “It would be the primary step to reduce the inconveniences people face while receiving necessary services from the ministry and offices under it. We are planning to automate land services. It will also be introduced

for the mutation of lands.”

According to the proposed system, land owners who intend to get a land map from the department need to pay Tk310 to the local Banglalink centre.

An agent at the centre will note down the customers’ demands and will then submit the fees using a specific number through the ‘U-Cash’ method.

The customer will immediately get a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) requesting him to collect his desired land map from the centre after three days. Banglalink authorities will collect the map from the directorate and will later hand it over to the customer.

Saifuzzaman Chowdhury said, in addition to Tk310, the customers might be charged a minimal amount which would not be more than Tk10-15, thus making the total expense Tk325 at most.

According to ministry officials, the process of getting a map from the directorate takes at least a month. Applicants need to travel to the capital to apply for the maps but with the introduction of the new system, this drawback will be removed. l

Malaria vector elimination programme takes place in three hilly districts n Moniruzzaman Uzzal

Goods from an overloaded truck fall on the road in the capital’s Shahbagh intersection yesterday, after the driver abruptly stepped on the brake at high speed RAJIB DHAR

29,000km power lines to be installed n Aminur Rahman Rasel The government is planning to undertake four projects – with an estimated cost of Tk4,842 crore – to install 29,000km of new electricity distribution lines, including 96 new sub-station and 210 switching station in four divisions.

“We have sent the proposal through the Power Division seeking the approval of Ecnec [Executive Committee

of the National Economic Council],” said Rural Electrification Board (REB) Chairman Brig Gen Moin Uddin.

Expressing hopes that the proposal will be placed before Ecnec on July 1, he said: “After the completion of the projects, we will be able to provide electricity to 11.5 lakh new consumers.” If passed, the projects is expected to be implemented by June 2018.

The four projects are: rural elec-

trification expansion in Dhaka with 10,000km distribution lines including 35 sub-stations for Tk1,645 crore; in Rajshahi and Rangpur with 8,500km line including 30 sub-stations for Tk1,385 crore; in Chittagong and Sylhet with 10,500km line including 31 sub-stations for Tk1,687 crore, and 210 switching stations for Tk125 crore.

Moin said 11 ongoing REB were estimated to end by 2018. l

The health directorate carried out a week-long malaria vector control and elimination crash programme at 100 identified hotspots of malaria-carrying mosquitoes in three hilly districts – Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari.

The Communicable Disease Control (CDC) unit of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) carried out the programme at the hotspots. Each of the hotspots has around 100 households.

A group of entomologists, epidemiologists and medical technologists from Dhaka conducted the programme with the help from local NGOs, health workers and locals.

DGHS sources said malaria has been prevalent in 13 districts across the country, with most cases recorded in the three hilly districts of Chittagong division.

Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed, director of the CDC, told the Dhaka Tribune that an earlier pilot programme in four villages of Bandarban had achieved positive results in 2012, prompting the DGHS to go for a crash programme at the hotspots.

Under the programme, the entomologists first surveyed and mapped the reproductive sites of Anopheles mosquitoes – the vector for malaria – and

later cleared the places where the mosquitoes left their larvae, said the CDC director.

On the other hand, the epidemiologists met with the locals to seek out patients who may have malaria and provide them with necessary treatment.

Mass awareness programmes on malaria control and elimination were also carried out in the local communities.

“We want to build confidence among the locals and include them with the programme so that they do not think it is just a routine work of government, but consider it as their own job. We also sought army officials’ help in this programme,” Be-Nazir said.

Although a previous malaria control

programme had aimed at distributing special mosquito nets to residents of the hilly districts, the latest programme focused on eliminating malaria vectors.

Bangladesh has reportedly witnessed a 70% reduction in the number of malaria patients in the past five years.

In 2008, the number of malaria patients was 83,000, but it has now come down to 26,000. Over the same period, malaria-related deaths also dropped by 90%, coming down to 15 from 194.

Early detection, proper treatment and use of specialised mosquito nets were reportedly behind the success.

Bangladesh is expected to become a malaria-free country by 2020 if the trend continues. l

4

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Gas reserve won't affect Purbachal plot owners Rajuk unable to provide land to Bapex n Abu Hayat Mahmud The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha (Rajuk) has said plot owners of the capital's Purbachal New Town Project would not be affected by the recent discovery of a gas reserve in the area.

The city development authority also said some 24 plot owners in Sector 20, where the gas field had been discovered, have already been allotted alternative plots of the same size in other parts of the project.

On June 21, Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Bapex) discovered a new gas reserve at the Purbasha area in Rupganj, where it initially estimated the reserve to contain 50 billion cubic feet of gas, adding some 10-15 million cubic feet of gas per day to the National Grid.

The Purbasha field is located near the now-defunct Kamta gas field in Kaliganj upazila under Gazipur.

Following the discovery, Rajuk allocated three acres of land from Sector 20, which included 24 residential plots,

Housewife dies after being tortured n Our Correspondent, Barisal A housewife who was tortured for dowry on Thursday at Rajapur of Jhalakathi, died at Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH) yesterday.

Deceased Sumi Begum, 22, was the wife of Mithun Haoldar, 26, from Indrapasha village under Rajapur upazila of Jhalakathi. Matin Haoladar, the father of the deceased, said Sumi had married Mithun after divorcing her first husband four years ago.

Within few days of their marriage, Mithun and his family members had started torturing Sumi, demanding dowry and for other different family disputes.

On Wednesday night, Sumi was severely tortured by Mithun and his mother Hawa Begum. Neighbours hearing her scream and rescued her and took her to Rajapur Upazila Health Complex in a critical condition, he added.

Sumi was referred to SBMCH on Thursday morning when her condition deteriorated and she died there yesterday morning, he said. The body was sent to SBMCH morgue for an autopsy after an unnatural death case was lodged by Barisal Kotwali police.

Masuduzzaman, Rajapur police station officer-in-charge, said no allegation was lodged in that regard yet.

Police will take proper action if anyone lodges any case, he assured. l

two playgrounds and three plots, to Bapex to facilitate the drilling work at the reserve.

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Purbachal New Town Project Director Md Anwar Hossain said: “The new gas field discovery will not affect the plot owners. We have already handed over a significant area to Bapex some two years ago to develop the gas field.

Alternative plots had also been handed over to the land owners in Sector 20 long ago.”

When asked about Bapex's estimation that more land might be needed for the gas field, the Rajuk high-up said Bapex would not be allotted further land from the Purbachal project and added: “Roads and other infrastructure have already been built in the areas around the gas field. So it is not possible for us to provide any more land from the residential project.”

The 24,697-plot Purbachal housing project is situated between the Balu River and the Sitalakhya River in Rupgonj upazila of Narayanganj and Kaliganj upazila of Gazipur. l

Members of several organisations form a human chain at Chawkbazar in the capital yesterday, demanding an end to food adulteration including all iftari items MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Inflated power bill hits consumers Passengers suffer as rainfall damages Dhaka- in Chapainawabganj n Chittagong highway Anwar Hossain, Chapainawabganj

n Our Correspondent, Comilla Thousands of passengers have been suffering since Thursday night as heavy rainfall damaged the Iliotganj bridge and created big potholes on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway from Chandina to Madhaiya.

Sources said a long 50km traffic congestion was created from Podua Bazar to Raypur when a truck and a covered van broke down at Iliotganj bridge and Nimasa, respectively.

Iliotganj highway police Sargeant Md Asadul Islam said the vehicles broke down because of the potholes created on the highway due to heavy rainfall. Traffic movement resumed after the vehicles were removed from the

road that night, he added.

Though vehicular movement resumed, it was very slow because of the potholes on the road, the police official said.

All the vehicles on the highway were moving very slowly at the time of the filing of this report, yesterday evening.

When contacted, Sub-Divisional Engineer of Comilla zone Md Mazharul Islam said that contractor companies were responsible for the maintenance of the highway from Daudkandi to Moynamoti.

Meanwhile, Daudkandi highway police station Officer-in-Charge Md Mizanur Rahman said police had been trying to retain normal vehicular movement on the highway. l

The power consumers in the district are facing extra electricity bills for not installing digital meters in their houses.

The consumers alleged that they had not been notified that they had to pay extra.

The Power Development Board realises the extra charges though the consumers who are paying their electricity bill on time, the PDB subscribers say, adding that they have to count the extra till they set up digital meters.

The city residents laid blame on the PDB officials. They said they were yet to get anything in writing in regard to the payment of additional charges.

A power consumer, Rafiqul Islam, regretted that he had to replace the analogue meter he set up in his house

n Our Correspondent, Gazipur Two forest workers were injured in an attack yesterday when they went to evict two houses, made of corrugated iron sheets, from the forest land in Sripur upazila, Gazipur.

Rais protested and was confined and harassed

by Kamal and his men when he tried to resist the attack

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Chittagong

31

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Rajshahi

33

27

Dhaka

Rangpur

31

26

Khulna

32

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Barisal

32

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Sylhet

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Cox’s Bazar

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33.5ºC Rangamati

25.0ºC Feni

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

3:47am 5:13am 12:02am 3:20pm 6:50pm 8:17pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

The official claimed that the power subscribers were informed of the replacement of their analogue meters.

They were being charged extra as they had paid no heed to the directives, he added.

The engineer said 70% of the power consumers had installed digital meters in their houses in about three years and the rest would comply with the directive within the next one or two years.

He also said the government directive to install digital meters had been announced through mics in the city on last Wednesday.

There are some 44,000 power consumers in Chapainawabganj under the Power Development Board that earns revenues of Tk45,000,000 every month while the electricity bills the subscribers need to pay amounts to about Tk45,000,000. l

2 forest workers injured in attack by land grabbers

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seven years ago. Long-time power users said their analogue meters had not caused any problems thus far and had described the government plan to instal digital meters as a way of covering the system loss created by the PDB itself.

Some alleged that the digital meters produced readings of power consumption that were higher than they should actually be.

When questioned, Executive Engineer of Power Development Board Md Jakir Hossain turned down the consumers' allegations. He said the old analogue meters could hardly read the power consumption well enough and that was why the digital meters were needed to replace them.

He said; “We are acting on the directives issued in May 2011 by the ministry concerned.”

Police personnel enjoy at a concert arranged in observance of the 22nd founding anniversary of the Rajshahi Metropolitan Police yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Kidnapped boy rescued in Dhaka n Tribune Report Police rescued a two and a half year old boy, who was abducted from the port city on Sunday, from city's Mirpur area yesterday.

Police arrested four people – Mohammad Yahia, 27, Humayun Kabir, 26, Anupa, 26, and Sanju, 38 – in this regard.

Police said Mohammad Yahia, an aspiring migrant, paid some money to the victim's father Raju for getting an Oman visa.

When victim's father Raju failed to provide the visa, Yahia and three others had abducted the boy, Debraj, in order to pressurise his father into giving back the money. He also demaded Tk6 lakh as ransom.

“Raju’s family lodged a case with Kotwali poice station on that very day and after bargaining, the kidnappers agreed to lower the ransom amount to Tk3 lakh,” said SI Kamruzzaman. l

Injured Satkamair Bit boardman Rafiqul Islam, 50, and Sripur Sadar Bit gardener Shafiqul Islam, 45, were admitted to the upazila health complex,

Research gets less allocation in CU budget n CU Correspondent Chittagong University senate approved a budget of Tk168.5 crore for FY 201415 yesterday afternoon, allocating less funds for the education and research sectors, like previous years.

Alamgir Chowdhury, acting registrar of the university, formally announced the budget at the 26th senate meeting held at the vice-chancellor’s conference room.

CU Vice-Chancellor Professor Anwarul Azim Arif chaired the meeting while Pro-VC Professor Dr Iftekhar Uddin Chouwdhury was present, among others.

In the budget, the University Grant Commission allocated TK152.4 crore for the university, as opposed to its demanded TK193.66 crore, where the university would be able to contribute only Tk14 crore from its own fund.

Payment of teachers, officials and staff of the university got higher priority in the budget and was allocated Tk108.1 crore.

Only TK10 lakh was allocated for the research sector.

TK1.4 crore was allocated for buying and collecting assets, TK2 crore was allocated for maintenance and repair work, and Tk31 crore was allocated for pensions. l

Brazil fan dies from electrocution n Our Correspondent, Savar A schoolboy died yesterday afternoon at Dhaka Medical Collge Hospital (DMCH). He had been electrocuted earlier, when hoisting a Brazilian flag onto the rooftop of a building in Savar.

The victim, Rafil, who was the son of Anwar Hosen of Palashbari area in Savar

and a grade V student of Ashulia Cantonment Board School, used to live with his family in a rented apartment in the area.

Anwar Hosen told the Dhaka Tribune that his son was supporting Brazil in the football World Cup and he had climbed onto the building's roof on Monday around 4:30pm to hoist a Brazilian flag.

At that point, Rafil had come in contact

with an electric wire that passed through the building and had received an electric shock that had left him critically injured.

He was initially rushed to a local clinic but was shifted to DMCH when his condition deteriorated further, Anwar added.

Officer-in-Charge Sheikh Badrul Alam of Ashulia police station confirmed the news to the Dhaka Tribune. l

said Sripur Forest Range Officer Abuf Zafar.

He said around 11am, a team of forest staff, led by Satkhamair Bit Officer Rais Uddin, had gone to evict the two houses that were built on Tepirbari mouja of Satkhamir Bit by Kamal, a local influential person, when Kamal and over 100 people attacked them.

Rafiq and Shafiq were injured in the attack.

Rais protested and was confined and harassed by Kamal and his men when he tried to resist the attack.

Sripur model police station Sub-Inspector Saiful Islam said upon receiving information, they had stepped in and rescued Rafiq, Shafiq and Rais from the clutches of Kamal and his men. l

Indian sarees worth Tk61 lakh seized by BCG n Tribune Report Bangladesh Coast Guard (East Zone) seized a truck loaded with 2,050 pieces of Indian sarees yesterday from Chittagong city’s Kacha Rasta area under Double Mooring police station.

The paramilitary force, however, were unable to arrest anyone in this connection, said a BCG press release.

According to the release, acting on a tip-off, a team of coastguard conducted a drive in the area and seized the truck around 10:30am. Lieutenant Commander M Rajibul Islam of Bangladesh Coast Guard (East Zone) said the truck driver and the helper had fled the scene after sensing the team's presence.

The seized items, worth Tk61 lakhs, was handed over to Double Mooring police station and a case was lodged with the station in this regard, he added. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Saturday, June 28, 2014

No tender bid floated, but road construction begins in Moheshpur

Syndicate of middlemen active prior to Ramadan

n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah

A syndicate of middlemen has allegedly increased the prices essential commodities in Magura prior to the Ramadan in a bid to do brisk business.

Locals said the consortium every year raise the price of daily commodities before Ramadan because of a lax monitoring system implemented by the authority concerned.

This correspondent visited several kitchen markets in the district on Monday and found that rice of the coarse

Moheshpur municipal authority has started construction work of a road in upazila headquarters but did not feel the need to float a tender invitation, which is illegal.

According to LGRD construction rules, if any government organisation does development work that involves more than Tk2 lakh, it has to publish a tender invitation.

To complete the construction of the road, stretching about 800 metres from Mahespur upazila headquaters to Hamidpur area, Tk5 lakh will be needed.

Moreover, there was nobody to supervise the construction work and so labourers have been forced to use substandard materials in the road construction, which greatly reduces the longevity of the road.

Sources at the municipality office said they had started the construction work with a quotation instead of a tender invitation, although there is no provision that permits them to do any construction work worth Tk2 lakh with only a quotation.

Despite protests from local contractors, the municipality did not stop the construction.

Locals said they had witnessed that labourers were constructing the road with substandard materials.

Labourers are using old brick chips along with the fresh building materials for the construction, they said.

During a recent visit to the project site, this correspondent found that road construction work had been started in front of a livestock office in Moheshpur that led to Hamidpur road in the municipal area.

n Our Correspondent, Magura

Lack of government monitoring of market price blamed for the hike in price of essentials

A labourer is engaged in the construction work of a road at Mohespur upazila in Jhenaidah yesterday Nur Islam, a labourer said, the executive engineer of the municipality had ordered him to start the construction work there.

He said the labourers had dug up the road and placed some new brick chips with the old ones and then compacted the road with roller machines as per the engineer's orders.

He was reluctant to provide any further details about the construction process.

When asked about the violation of government rules regarding the construction work, Mijanur Rahman, executive engineer of the municipality, said sometimes emergency work in the in-

terest of the municipality's people can be done without tender invitations.

At one point he said they had selected Ruhul Amin as a contractor.

But Ruhul Amin could not say anything about the budget, the operation area or the name of his site. He claimed that his name had just been used there.

Some local contractors under the Moheshpur municipality, requesting anonymity, said the work done by the municipal authority was substandard in nature.

To ensure quality and road standards, the brick chips and other materials used on the roads, must be removed and fresh materials should be used as

DHAKA TRIBUNE

per the rules of construction work, they said.

The final thickness of the road should be at least four inches, they added.

A ward counselor of Moheshpur municipality Hazzel Haque said no approval was taken from any legal forum to start the construction work in his municipality.

The mayor of the municipality Amirul Islam Khan said the road construction work was necessary and so they had started the work on an emergency basis, using a quotation.

He said they would definitely try to ensure quality work. l

variety is being sold at Tk35 per kg while this quantity of rice was sold at Tk30 three weeks ago, onion being sold at Tk30 per kg against Tk24, potato sold at Tk22 against Tk14, aubergine is being sold at Tk40 per kg against Tk24.

Price of sugar and chickpea has also registered a sharp rise. One kilogram chickpea is being sold in the at Tk55 against Tk45 one month ago while sugar is Tk45 per kg against Tk42 two weeks ago.

Puffed rice is being sold at Tk55 to Tk60 per kg as against Tk45 to Tk50 two weeks ago in local markets.

The rise in price of daily commodities has raised concern among the people of the district. Abu Taher, a trader in Magura town, said, as middlemen were stocking necessities before Ramadan to cash in, as a result price of essentials are increasing.

He said monitoring by the government is not satisfactory to check prices

Schoolgirl is still missing in Kushtia n Our Correspondent, Kushtia

Five killed in separate road accidents n Tribune Report

Police have yet to recover a schoolgirl who went missing two days ago from the Garai River in Kushtia.

Sanya, 12, the daughter of Chand Ali of Char Thanapara area of the district and a grade VI student of Chand Sultana Girls’ High School, her elder sister Papya, a grade IX student and two of her friends, went for a bath at the Char Thanapara point of the Garai river on Thursday afternoon, said witnesses.

All the girls were swept away by tide.

Later, on Thursday night, locals were able to rescue three of the girls, including Papya, but they couldn’t trace Sanya’s whereabouts, said sources.

Supported by the local administration, the locals continued the search for the missing girl and early yesterday, they were joined by a team of divers from Khulna. l

Contraband items seized n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah The Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) seized Indian contraband items worth about Tk2 lakh on Moheshpur frontier in Jhenaidah yesterday.

The BGB men had run a drive at Shyamkur and Kushumpur villages in the early hours of the day.

During the drive, the law enforcers had seized 6,490 pieces of tablets and some abandoned clothes. l

Labourers busy with packing puffed rice at a factory in BISCIC area of Comilla yesterday as Ramadan starts in a couple of days

DHAKA TRIBUNE

PBCP leaders urge govt to Lime production in Jhalakathi drops stop conspiracy against CHT to half the target Correspondent, n Our Khagrachhari

Leaders of Parbattya Bangalee Chhatra Parishad (PBCP) urged the government to resist all sorts of conspiracies against the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and its people.

They also urged the government to take action against the conspirators, instigators and brokers, who have been acting against the CHT. They made the request at a discussion held in the hill town’s party office yesterday afternoon, with its central Assistant Secretary Engineer Abdul Majid in the chair.

PBCP leaders alleged that some ethnic leaders were involved in anti-state activities and wanted full autonomy for the CHT. Pointing at the recent attack on 51-Babuchhara BGB Battalion Headquarters, the PBCP leaders said us-

of essentials.

Abdur Rashid, an easy bike driver, said, “In recent time my expenditure has increased by 20%, but my income is still the same.”

He expressed concern that the market condition may deteriorate during Ramadan unless proper monitoring by the government is ensured right now.

Golam Rabbani, a rice whole seller in Notun Bazar area, denied making syndication. He explained that the price of rice had increased as millers could not supply rice to the market because of the recent heavy rainfalls.

Akram Mollah, a vegetable and spice whole seller in Katcha Bazar of Magura, said the government had increased duty on onion import and that is why the price of onion had increased.

The prices of potato and aubergine have risen as transport cost of the crops have increased as a result of waterlogging caused by heavy downpour.

Shimul Mollah, a whole seller, said consumers preferred to stock some goods like chickpea, sugar, pulse and puffed rice before Ramadan out of apprehension that prices of these commodities might increase during the period.

As a result, the demand of these types of commodities is higher than supply.

Mrinal Kanti, a whole seller of puffed rice in Puratan Bazar area, the prices of puffed rice increased because of the hike in the price of paddy in rural areas.

When contacted, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Magura AKM Tareq denied that there is a weakness in monitoring. He said, “We are properly monitoring the market price. Market prices are now more controlled compared to previous years.

He added, if specific allegation of illegal stocking comes against any trader, stern action will be taken in this regard. l

ing hundreds of females, some ethnic leaders had made their dirty plans successful.

“Now the same groups are trying to spread false propaganda against BGB personals through media,” they said.

Journalists have to know that some ethnic leaders do not want that the government should boost security along the 139 kilometre border between Bangladesh and India, so that criminal activities can be run smoothly, they added.

They also requested journalists and civil society leaders to visit Babuchhara BGB Battalion of Dighinala upazila in the district and write the actual facts of the issue.

Matiranga Upazila PBCP President Lokman Hossain and Mohalchhari Upazila PBCP President Shahdat Hossain, District PBCP member Anwar Hossain and Rafiqul Islam spoke on the occasion, among others. l

n Tribune desk Production of lime (Kagozi Lebu) has fallen fifty percent short of the target in the district this season thanks to unfavourable weather and onslaught of an unknown disease in the fruit’s orchards.

Farmers and agriculture officials said most flowers dropped from the lime plants during fruiting stage this year due to lack of rainfall and prolonged dry spell seriously affecting the fruit production.

Besides, some fruit bearing plants are dying following attack of an unknown disease, reports UNB. Sources concerned said the juicy and vitamin-C enriched fruit was cultivated on 10,000 hectares of land, including in homesteads and fish enclosures, in four upazilas of the district this season.

Farming of the lemon variety fruit

has increased gradually in the district due to its high demand and good market prices. Local farmers usually plant 100 lime saplings on one bigha of land.

Each of the trees yields 1,000-1,500 fruits after flowering.

One kind of lime tree, however, gives yield all the year round.

Local agriculture officials said farmers are cultivating limes on commercial basis after setting up orchards, adding that the orchards cover area ranging from 30 decimals to eight bighas.

Prashanta Howlader of Shatadashkathi village in Sadar upazila, who cultivated the fruit on his four bighas of land, said he did not get the expected yield this year due to prolonged dry spell and inadequate rainfall as well as spread of the disease.

“I’ve got 50 percent less fruits (than the expected amount) this year,” said the frustrated grower.

Echoing Prashanta, another big lime grower, Atul Mondal, of the same village said lime production has been low this year as the trees were infected with disease.

Contacted, A Aziz Khalifa, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Jhalakathi, said lime trees might have died being infected with one kind of disease named ‘Diebak’.

The DAE official, however, said the disease can be checked if branches of the trees are cut off and sprayed with insecticides in case of appearance of symptoms of the disease. l

At least five people were killed in separate road accidents yesterday in Barisal, Feni, Bogra and Gopalganj.

A school girl was crushed under the wheels of a “Tomtom,” a locally made human haulier, at Guthia in Wazirpur, Barisal yesterday.

The deceased Fatema Begum, 10, was the daughter of Saidur Rahman of Daroga Bari area, and was a class three student of a local primary school.

The deceased's father said Fatema was hit by a Tomtom when she was crossing the road. She was rushed to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College and Hospital where on duty doctors pronounced her dead. Sub-Inspector Humayun Kabir of Wazirpur police station said the body was handed over to the deceased's family members since they refused to lodge any case.

In Feni, two people were killed when two trucks collided head-on near Kalipal area around 12 noon.

However, police and hospital authorities could not confirm the identities of the deceased immediately.

Mohipal highway police station Officer-in-Charge Saleh Ahmed confirmed the incident, and said the bodies were sent to Feni Sadar Hospital for autopsies.

In Bogra, a motorcyclist was killed and his passenger was injured when the vehicle collided with a truck near Erulia area of the district town.

The two were critically injured and Shahidul Islam, 48, died after he was taken to a hospital, while Emdadul Haque was under treatment at Bogra Medical College and Hospital, said duty officer Sufia Begum.

An unidentified person, aged 45, was crushed under the wheels of a bus yesterday morning near Debgram of Kotalipara upazila, Gopalganj.

Kotalipara police station Officerin-Charge Md Abdul Latif said the deceased was a mentally challenged person, adding that the bus had run him over while he was crossing the road. The body was sent to Gopalganj morgue, he added. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

7

Saturday, June 28, 2014

EU signs ‘historic’ accords with Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova n AFP, Brussels The European Union signed “historic “association accords with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova Friday as the three former Soviet republics pledged themselves to a future in Europe in the face of bitter Russian opposition.

“This is a great day for Europe... the European Union stands by your side today more than ever before,” European Council head Herman Van Rompuy said at the ceremony with Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko and prime ministers Irakli Garibashvili of Georgia and Iurie Leanca of Moldova.

Van Rompuy said the deals contained “nothing that might harm Russia in any way” and offered all sides the chance “to chart together a safer future.“ EU officials insist Russia has no reason to fear the accords, which offer closer political and economic ties, but Moscow condemns them as harmful to its interests and an intrusion into what has traditionally been its sphere of influence.

It did so again Friday immediately after the signing ceremony in Brussels, warning of “serious consequences” to follow.

“We will take all the necessary measures to protect our economy,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the ITAR-TASS state news agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Ukrainian society is split after being forced to choose between Europe and Russia.

Friday’s signing is a bitter pill to swallow for Putin who wanted Ukraine to join his own Eurasian Customs Union, aimed at bringing the former Soviet states back into the Russian fold.

Even if Ukraine has eluded him, Putin can, however, claim partial success.

The EU originally offered the same deals to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus but they changed tack once Moscow warned of serious consequences.

Accords offer new future Poroshenko said the deal would open up a whole new future for Ukraine, including Crimea which Moscow annexed in March, adding it set the country firmly on course for membership of the European Union.

Ukraine had paid a high price in recent months for its ambitions to become part of Europe, he said, but it was worth it because the country’s future as a European state, sharing European values, was at stake.

“Long Live Ukraine, Long Live Europe,” he said in closing his address at the ceremony, attended by all 28 EU leaders.

Garibashvili said Georgia shared the European values of democracy and freedom, switching into his native language so he could “share his emotion with the Georgian people.

“Significantly, he said Abkhazia and South Ossetia, breakaway regions recognised by Russia as independent since a 2008 war with Tbilisi, would also see the advantages of closer ties with the EU. “You are sharers in this project,” he said.

Leanca pledged Moldova would make the most of its association agreement, promising that after “many ups and downs ... we will do everything to modernise” the country.

The accords open up the huge EU market of 500 million consumers to its new partners and offers them aid and help in modernising their economies.

In return, they have to match EU norms on protection of human rights, civil society, good governance and an independent judicial system. l

NEWS BITES

China explores security cooperation with Pakistan, India: report

n Agencies

The site of a blast and fire at a gas pipeline at Godavari district in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh

REUTERS

Andhra pipeline blast: 16 dead, locals accuse GAIL of negligence n Agencies In a second industrial disaster this month, a state-owned gas pipeline in Andhra Pradesh exploded on Friday morning, killing at least 16 people, injuring 18 others and gutting scores of homes.

The fire that set off the blast around 5am in East Godavari district’s Nagaram village broke out apparently after a tea vendor lit a stove, said inspector general of police (north coastal zone) Atul Singh.

A GAIL official, quoting its chairman BC Tripathi, however, said only an inquiry will ascertain the exact cause of the blast.

Television pictures showed flames at least 30 feet high leaping into the

dawn sky, scorching trees in a surrounding coconut grove and burning flimsy huts.

Bodies of 13 people were recovered from these huts. Three others succumbed to injuries during treatment at various hospitals. Among the dead are five women, three girls and a boy.

The fire on the 18-inch pipeline, which feeds gas to Lanco’s Kondapalli power plant near Vijaywada, was extinguished by mid-morning. The blaze occurred barely a few hundred metres from ONGC’s Tatipaka Refinery located at the village.

“Fire has been controlled. The gas pipeline has been shut. This is a very serious situation and I have ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident,”

petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in Delhi.

A group of angry local residents reportedly entered an office belonging to GAIL near the accident site and pelted it with stones.

State finance minister Y Ramakrishnudu was quoted by PTI as saying that the local residents were angry because “they feel GAIL authorities did not bother though smell was coming from the rusting pipeline.”

Two weeks ago, six people were killed by a poisonous gas leak in Chhattisgarh’s Bhilai Steel Plant. But Friday’s incident was the deadliest to hit India’s energy sector since last August, when 28 people were killed in a fire at an oil refinery in nearby Vishakhapatnam. l

UN report: Over one million out-of-school children in India n Agencies

Shi’ite volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical ISIL

India has more than one million outof-school children, according to a UN report. The report says global progress towards universal primary education has halted.

The policy paper, jointly released by the Unesco Institute for Statistics and the Education For All Global Monitoring Report, says, “New data show that the world will not fulfil one of the most basic commitments: to get every child in school by 2015.”

According to the report, India is among countries like Indonesia, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sudan which face the greatest challenge.

It shows that, as of 2011, India has 1.4 million out-of-school children. The country brought in the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 to make it mandatory for all children between six and REUTERS

Iraq helicopters fire on university campus in insurgent-held city n Reuters, Baghdad Iraqi helicopters fired on a university campus in Tikrit on Friday to dislodge insurgents who overran the city in an onslaught that has given them control of most majority Sunni regions and brought them close to Baghdad.

Tikrit, the hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein, fell a fortnight

ago to Sunnis led by fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which split from al Qaeda.

A rights group said analysis of photographs and satellite imagery “strongly indicate” that ISIL staged mass executions in Tikrit after seizing it on June 11 early in their offensive.

ISIL killed as many as 190 men in at least two locations over three days,

Human Rights Watch said. Numbers may be much higher but the difficulty of locating bodies and getting to the area had prevented a full investigation, it added.

Iraqi forces launched an airborne assault on Tikrit on Thursday, flying commandos into a stadium in helicopters, at least one of which crashed after coming under fire from insurgents. l

Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric calls for prime minister to be chosen by Tuesday n Reuters, Baghdad The most influential Shi’ite cleric in Iraq called on the country’s leaders to choose a prime minister before parliament sits next week to begin forming a government, to blunt a Sunni insurgency that threatens to dismember the country.

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who commands unswerving loyalty from many Shi’ites in Iraq and beyond, said political blocs should agree on the next premier, parliament speaker and president before the newly elected legisla-

ture meets on Tuesday.

Sistani’s extraordinary intervention into politics forces the pace of a process that took nearly 10 months after Iraq’s last election in 2010, and means the fate of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki serving as caretaker after an election in April and battling to keep his job - could be decided within days.

The United States and other countries are pushing for a new, inclusive government to be formed as quickly as possible to counter the insurgency led by an offshoot of al Qaeda, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

14 years to attend school.

The report also says the problem of children dropping out of school is significant. Sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia have the highest rates of early school leaving. “Across these regions, more than one in every three students who started primary school in 2012 will not make it to the last grade,” the report said.

In Central, South and West Asia, most out-of-school children would probably never receive any formal education, the report says.

The silver lining is that while India is still in the red, the report puts it among the countries that have shown the way forward by showing rapid progress in reducing the number of out-of-school children in relatively short time. India has reduced its out-of-school population by more than 50% compared to a decade earlier. l

Over the past fortnight, militants have overrun most majority Sunni areas in north and western Iraq with little resistance, advancing to within an hour’s drive of Baghdad.

Iraq’s million-strong army, trained and equipped by the United States, largely evaporated in the north after the militants launched their assault with the capture of the north’s biggest city Mosul on June 10.

Thousands of Shi’ite volunteers have responded to an earlier call by Sistani for all Iraqis to rally behind the military to defeat the insurgents. l

EU, Cameron face summit showdown over top job for Juncker n AFP European leaders meet in Brussels on Friday facing a damaging row over Jean-Claude Juncker’s likely nomination as European Commission president which has left Britain isolated and angry.

Although Juncker’s appointment is expected to be confirmed at the summit, Prime Minister David Cameron will force an unprecedented vote on the issue, playing out in public major disagreements about the EU’s future.

While leaders could try and appease Cameron by offering London a top job in Brussels, the dispute threatens to fuel eurosceptic sentiment in Britain before a referendum on leaving the EU slated for 2017.

Leaders are clearly expecting to be able to announce a decision on Friday.

A draft of the summit conclusions obtained by AFP and dated Wednesday contains the paragraph: “The European Council adopted the decision proposing to the European Parliament X for the President of the European Commission.”

But Cameron could “retaliate” against Juncker’s nomination by refus-

ing to sign the conclusions, according to the EU Observer website.

The disagreement comes a month after anti-EU parties made sweeping gains in European elections, with outright victories for the UK Independence Party in Britain and the National Front in France.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe’s most powerful leader, on Thursday urged EU colleagues to “compromise” with Britain to defuse tensions.

“I think we can find compromises here and make a step towards Great Britain,” she said.

“I repeatedly spoke of a European spirit which is needed and which will help us to find good solutions.”

Her comments came shortly before EU leaders gathered in the Belgian town of Ypres, among World War I’s bloodiest battlefields, to mark 100 years since the conflict started.

Facing a rising tide of euroscepticism at home, Cameron has vowed to keep fighting for EU reforms including the repatriation of powers ahead of a likely referendum despite his campaign against Juncker being abandoned by allies like the Netherlands and Sweden. l

Beijing is exploring a trilateral security cooperation with its neighbouring countries India and Pakistan, said a report published on NDTV on Friday.

Journalists representing the Global Times, an affiliate of the ruling Communist Party of China’s (CPC) People’s Daily publication group, paid a visit to Pakistan and sought views from scholars of Islamabad Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) on a likely India-China-Pakistan trilateral cooperation.

Analysts based in Beijing consider it a vital initiative on China’s part to further its relations with India over rising concerns of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the possible shattering effect it could posit to the region, particularly China’s Xinjiang province where security forces were currently engaged in dealing with attacks launched by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. l

Thousands march on Afghan president’s palace to protest elections

n Reuters, Kabul Thousands of angry protesters marched on the Afghan president’s palace on Friday in support of candidate Abdullah Abdullah’s allegations that mass fraud had been committed during the presidential election by organisers and state officials.

The run-off pitting the former Northern Alliance leader against ex-finance minister Ashraf Ghani on June 14 has fallen into a deadlock over Abdullah’s decision to drop out last week.

The impasse has revived longstanding ethnic tensions in Afghanistan because Abdullah’s base of support is with the Tajiks, the second largest ethnic group while Ghani is Pashtun, the largest group.

“Our beloved president is Abdullah Abdullah,” shouted many supporters, along with additional cries blaming the incumbent, President Hamid Karzai, for the political stand-off.

Karzai was constitutionally barred from running for third time.

Abdullah has accused Karzai, provincial governors and police of complicity in efforts to rig the election.

At least 10,000 people joined the protest, according to Reuters witnesses. Some demonstrated their outrage by destroying posters of Karzai and shouting angry slogans against the president and the independent election commission.

The march was otherwise largely peaceful and well coordinated by its organisers. l

Hong Kong lawyers to march in defense of rule of law

n Reuters, Hong Kong

Hundreds of Hong Kong lawyers are expected to stage a silent march on Friday in protest against Beijing’s policy towards the judiciary, in a sign of growing concern about the rule of law in the former British colony.

Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under the formula of “one country, two systems,” with the promise of a high degree of autonomy. Unlike on the mainland, Hong Kong’s judiciary enjoys a level of independence similar to that in the West.

But Beijing raised alarm when it released a white paper this month, spelling out its interpretation of the one country, two systems model, in which it said “loving the country” is a basic requirement for the city’s administrators, including judicial personnel, enraging many in the city’s legal circles.

“They’re redrawing the boundary,” said Dennis Kwok, a lawyer and a member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, who is organising the march.

“They’re lumping everyone together, because in their eyes, they’re no different.

“That’s how it works in the mainland. Judges are no different from government officials. But they have seriously misunderstood the legal system in Hong Kong.”

Kwok said he expected 500 legal professionals to show up for the march, which will end at the Court of Final Appeal. l

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Prescription

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Taking medicines in Ramadan

The compatibility of fasting with the various drug administration routes and their choice during Ramadan remains a matter for the doctor’s own judgment. The differences of opinion and the choice of routes have been settled for now n Prescription Desk

QUICK TIPS FOR WC

Guideline for diabetic patients

n Mouthwash, gargle, or oral spray, provided nothing is swallowed into the stomach.

A majority of participants added

n Nose drops, nose sprays, and inhalers n Anal injections n Surgery involving general anaesthesia, if the patient decided to fast.

Dosing schedule

Dosing schedules of a medicine have to be altered during Ramadan. In fact, drug doses can be taken only between sunset and dawn. Nowadays, a lot of medicines are available, which are enough to control different acute and chronic diseases with a dose of once or twice daily. So, according to the opinion of religion experts and medical practitioners, that Ra-

Healthy Ramadan dietary plan for adults

n Dr Sajol Ashfaq

Researchers said, a diet that is less than a normal amount of food intake, but balanced diet, is sufficient enough to keep a person healthy and active during the month of Ramadan.

According to Sunna (the practices of Prophet Muhammad, Pbuh) and research findings a dietary plan is given below:

It is commonly known that blood cholesterol and uric acid levels are sometimes elevated during the month of Ramadan.

MYTH & Contrary to popular FACT thinking, it was found that intake of a moderately high-fat diet, around 36% of the total energy (calories), improved blood cholesterol profile. It also prevents the elevation of blood uric acid.

During Ramadan, increased gastric acidity is often noticed, exhibiting itself with symptoms such as a burning feeling in the stomach, heaviness in the stomach, and a sour mouth.

A person taking whole wheat bread, vegetables, humus, beans, and fruits in Iftar, dinner and Sehri can get rid of gastric acidity.

These foods are excellent sources of dietary – fiber triggering muscular action of stomach, churning and mixing food, breaking food into small particles, binding bile acids and enhancing movement of food particle to small intestine.

Thus, dietary fiber helps reduce gastric acidity and excess bile acids.

In view of dietary fiber’s role in moving food particles, it prevents constipation. It’s strongly suggested that peptic ulcer patients avoid spicy food and consult a doctor for appropriate

3 dates, 1/2 cup of fresh orange juice, 1 cup of vegetable soup, 2 plain cracker biscuits or Bakorkhani or small amount of any other dry food made of wheat or flour.

The body’s immediate need at the time of iftar is to get an easily available energy source in the form of glucose for every living cell, particularly the brain and nerve cells.

Dates and juices are good sources of sugars.

Dates and juice in the above quantity are sufficient to bring low blood glucose levels to normal levels. Juice and soup help maintain water and mineral balance in the body.

BIGSTOCK

Two or more daily doses

During Ramadan, accurate distribution of drugs prescribed twice a day is difficult to achieve between the break from fasting, and the beginning of fasting. Refraining from fasting according to the Islamic rules could be a wiser

prescription. Nonetheless, patients with two doses could take the first one at the break of fasting and the second one before the beginning of fasting, in which case the dosing time and the time span between the doses are both altered. These alterations could affect the drug’s efficacy. l

| Source: BMJ. Oct 2, 2004

Medical misconceptions about Ramadan

FOOD THERAPY

Items in iftar

madan is not any obstacle on the way of any treatment of many diseases.

Dinner

BIGSTOCK

It is better to cook main dishes in dinner with 3 tea spoon of oil. Dinner may have 2 oz of meat (chicken/ beef/lamb/ goat) or fish, 1/2 cup of okra (Lady’s fingers), 4 oz of cooked whole chana (chickpea) or any other beans.

Meat and beans are a good source of protein, minerals, and certain vitamins.

Beans are a good source of dietary fiber, as well. 2 slices of whole wheat bread or 1 cup of cooked rice or combinations can be taken. This group is a good source of complex carbohydrates, which are a good source of energy and provide some protein, minerals, and dietary fiber.

Complex carbohydrate provides energy very slowly and for a long time which is needed in Ramadan fasting.

One cup of mixed vegetable salad (lettuce, carrot, parsley, cucumber, broccoli, coriander leaves, cauliflower or other vegetables as desired) with two teaspoons of corn oil and two teaspoon of vinegar should be added with the BIGSTOCK meals.

3/4 cup of plain yogurt/ lassi without sugar is ideal as the finishing of dinner. Milk and dairy products are good sources of protein and calcium, which is essential for body tissue maintenance and several physiological functions.

Then take one orange or any citrus and other fruits like 1/2 cup grapes, 1 oz of nuts-mixed roasted-without salt. Eat fruits as the last item of the dinner or soon after dinner, to facilitate digestion and prevent many digestive problems.

Pre-dawn Meal (Sehri)

BIGSTOCK

Consume a light sehri. Eat 2 slices of whole wheat bread or 1 cup of rice, 1 cup of milk, 1/4 cup of vegetable salad with two teaspoons of corn oil and two teaspoons of vinegar, 1 skinned apple or any fruit, 2 teaspoons of sugar with tea or coffee. It is better avoiding tea/coffee because they are act like diuretics, increase urine production and body gets dehydrated.

| Source: Int J Ramadan Fasting Research, 3:1-6, 1999

Diabetics who control by diet alone, can fast and hopefully, with weight reduction, their diabetes may even be cured or at least improved. Diabetics who are taking oral hypoglycemia agents along with the diet should exercise extreme caution if they decide to fast. They should reduce their dose to one-third and take the drug not in the morning, but in the evening at the time of ending the fast. If they develop low blood sugar symptoms in the daytime, they should end the fast immediately.

Diabetics taking insulin should not fast. If they do, at their own risk, they should do so under close supervision and make drastic changes in the insulin dose. Diabetics, if they fast, should still take a diabetic diet during the pre-dawn meal, the ending of the fast meal, and dinner. The sweet snacks common in Ramadan are not good for their disease. They should check their blood sugar before breakfast and after ending their fast.

Guideline for hypertensive or cardiac patients

BIGSTOCK

Those who have mild to moderate high blood pressure along with being overweight should be encouraged to fast, since fasting may help lower their blood pressure. They should see their physician to adjust medication. For example, the dose of water pill (diuretic) should be reduced to avoid dehydration, and long acting agents can be given once a day before the pre-dawn meal. Those with severe hypertension or heart diseases should not fast at all.

For overweight people BIGSTOCK

n Eye and ear drops n All substances absorbed into the body through the skin, such as creams, ointments, and medicated plasters n Insertion into the vagina of pessaries, medical ovules, and vaginal washes n Injections through the skin, muscle, joints, or veins, with the exception of intravenous feeding n Oxygen and anaesthetic gases n Nitroglycerin tablets placed under the tongue for the treatment of angina

BIGSTOCK

While fasting, one can take many medicines like drops and ointments and can go through important investigations, provided it is advised by a doctor. Many people think that taking this type of medicines and going through investigations during fasting are strictly prohibited. On the confusion about taking medicines and doing medical tests during fasting, there was a religious-medical seminar entitled “An Islamic view of certain contemporary medical issues” was held in Morocco in June 1997. In this seminar, one of the main topics discussed was the substances and actions that nullify fasting which was published in renowned British Medical Journal in 2004.

The participants – distinguished Muslim jurists and religion experts, medical practitioners, pharmacologists, and specialists in other human sciences – agreed unanimously that the following administration routes do not nullify fasting.

medicine and diet. Diabetic subjects, particularly severe type I (insulin dependent) or type II (non-insulin dependent), must consult their doctor for the type and dosage of medicine,

and diet and precautions to be taken during the month.

Generally diabetes mellitus, type II, is manageable through proper diet during Ramadan. l

Normal or overweight people should not gain weight. For overweight people Ramadan is an excellent opportunity to lose weight. Underweight or marginally normal weight people are discouraged from losing weight.

Analyzing a diet’s energy and nutritional component, using food composition tables or computer software, will be useful in planning an appropriate diet.

| Compiled by: Shirsho Saaeadat

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Heritage

Saturday, June 28, 2014

A panoramic view of the Shat-gumbad mosquein Bagerhat, Shatkhira

WIKIMEDIA

The thoroughfare of Islam

I

n Tim Steel

have often been told that Islam arrived in the lands that are now Bangladesh in the 13th century, under the protection of Turkic invaders, who were, most probably, seeking refuge from the Mongol hordes who were sweeping across Asia at the time.

This is, clearly, to deny these lands their true place in the history of Islam.

Not only is there evidence, from at least a thousand years before the lifetime of the Prophet, of trade from these lands with Europe and Africa, and certainly with Arabia, from long before the Common Era, but the history of Islam in Central and East Asia gives a fair indication that Islam spread, even during the Prophet’s lifetime.

Amongst the most interesting pieces of tangible “evidence” for the spread, even during the Prophet’s lifetime, are mosques in Kerala, and

A mosque in Kashgar, Xinjiang, China

the famous Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou, China.

Whilst there appears to be little archaeological evidence to support the early claims of either of these mosques the circumstantial evidence to support the claims is substantial.

The denizens of Kerala tell of Arab traders of the time constructing the mosque; well, there is a great deal of compelling evidence that, in fact, Kerala was, at best, a trading centre itself, but, above all, was a stopping place on the voyages to the region’s main centre of trade in the Ganges Delta.

Guangzhou, previously known as Canton, stands on the famous Pearl river, with origins in Yunnan Province of China.

Since I commenced my researches into the Silk Road that runs through Bangladesh, I have often wondered why, if water is widely acknowledged as the highway of the ancient world, early traders would have willingly tak-

en to their feet to traverse the hazards of the northern foothills of the Himalayas, along and dangerous route by all accounts, when they could travel by water to north Assam.

From north Assam, the route across northwest Myanmar would take them, a comparatively short trek, to Yunnan, and the waters of Pearl river.

It is claimed that the founder of the Huaisheng Mosque, said to be the Prophet’s maternal uncle, Sa’d ibn Ali Waqqas, a merchant, himself travelled through the lands of Bangladesh to reach China.

Such evidence confirms what we already knew, from the shrine in Chittagong, dedicated to the Persian Sufi, Bayazid Bostami, that Islam certainly arrived in these lands earlier than commonly accepted tradition maintains.

Born early in the ninth century, it remains debatable whether Bostami ever actually left his homeland, and the shrine represents a memorial built by his adherents. Nevertheless, it is certainly three centuries earlier than the 13th century of conventional wisdom, that there would appear to have been sufficient of an Islamic community in Chittagong to construct such a shrine.

In fact, of course, logic defies the conventional wisdom. It is, clearly, very unlikely that early converts to Islam were not amongst the Arab traders who, we now know, were doing business in, and almost certainly through, the Ganges Delta from, in all likelihood, at latest the middle of the last Millennium BCE. Since, living as they do, so close to death, in their travels, merchants throughout the world have often been early, and devout adherents, to religious causes, and it seems absurd to suggest that early converts to Islam were not amongst those traders.

By that definition, we may assume that Islam arrived, almost certainly, in the lands that are now Bangladesh, in the early to mid-seventh century.

Certainly, the Chinese development of early Islam suggests that, like Buddhism, nearly a thousand years

WIKIMEDIA

We may assume that Islam arrived, almost certainly, in the lands that are now Bangladesh, in the early to mid 7th century

Chinese-style minaret of the Great Mosque, Xian, China

WIKIMEDIA

Mosque_in_Quanzhou, Fujian, the oldest mosque in China

9

WIKIMEDIA

Prayer hall of the Tara Masjid, Dhaka

WIKIMEDIA

The Prophet’s maternal uncle, Sa’d ibn Ali Waqqas, a merchant, himself travelled through the lands of Bangladesh to reach China

earlier, Islam spread into Central Asia along what is now widely accepted as, perhaps the first, Silk Road that ran through Bangladesh.

It also seems reasonable to suppose that this trading centre may have accounted for the spread beyond, into South East Asia.

That the religion was not established in the lands of the Delta itself for another six or seven hundred years seems improbable. The question I have asked, many times, therefore becomes, where is the evidence for such an establishment?

If, and it may still be a rather big if, mosques were founded, both en route to the Delta, at Kerala, and at the ultimate destination on the east coast of China, why was none founded at the crossroads of such trade, where, presumably, subject to the vagaries of the monsoons, merchants were left idle for weeks and months?

The question I have asked before in Bangladesh is, “Where are the mosques.”

The, now somewhat infamous, and much disputed, “Lost Mosque” near Lalmonirhat has been dismissed as being too early in the accepted history of Islam. Increasingly, my response would be, that it is, perhaps, rather late, its dating tablet, in Tajhat Museum in Rangpur, suggesting Hijri 69, would give us a foundation date of 691, about 50 years after the death of the Prophet.

Whilst it is the dating tablet that suggests its period, it is more the circumstances of its finding, in close proximity to a fine, early period Mughal Mosque, and the bricks and style of construction that persuade me of its origin. I doubt, in view of its proximity to the Mughal masterpiece, a suggestion that the ruin is, in fact, 17th century.

Its location, too, is interesting.

Close to the junction of Brahmaputra and Teesta rivers, both widely acknowledged as ancient river trading routes, it also lies close to the location of the sixth century, Buddhist city of Bhitagarh, described as a flourishing trading centre in itself.

There remain, however, real mysteries that surround the identification of the lands of Bangladesh as both an early centre of Islam, and a base from which

this great religion reached places north and east from the Delta, along ancient, well established, routes of trade.

The first of those mysteries is why a secular, though Muslim dominated nation like Bangladesh should be in so much denial about its own, rich history. Especially, denial about 600 years of Islam.

It may be understandable, though reprehensible, to deny its extraordinary history as a major foundation of both Hindu and Buddhist faith groups, and, possibly, Jain as well. After all, as the Prophet, himself, is reported to have instructed his adherents, “Go in quest of knowledge, even unto China.

Seek ye knowledge, from the cradle to the grave.”

Clearly, this was not advice to seek only Islamic knowledge, but rather, an instruction for education. The reference to China, however, may be regarded as significant; at the very least, it may make it easier to accept his maternal uncle’s foundation of the Guangzhou Mosque.

As great a mystery may well be the absence of any early mosques, other than the possible at Lalmonirhat.

We have every reason to believe that, until the Sunga Dynasty, religious, or communal, warfare was unknown in these lands. And we have no reason to suppose that rulers, even of the Sunga dynasty, were in the business of threatening their own sources of wealth ... trade. And, certainly, there is plenty of evidence that much of the religious heritage survived changes in the religion of rulers and overlords.

A far more likely explanation for the absence of mosques may well be that their remains lie beneath the great alluvial flood plains of the country.

The evidence seems conclusive that the lands that are now Bangladesh was once a great thoroughfare of philosophies, as much as of cargoes. Whether Islam flourished before the ninth century, has yet to be established, but certainly seems probable. Yet another aspect of the incredibly rich, but much neglected, heritage of these extraordinary lands.l Tim Steel is a communications, marketing and tourism consultant.

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Saturday, June 28, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

BNP should seek a middle ground

T

he BNP chief Khaleda Zia is once again threatening to take a tough and non-cooperative stance, coupled with hartals and blockades, if the ruling Awami League government refuses to sit for dialogue about holding fresh elections under a non-partisan government.

Ever since the run-up to the January 5 elections, the BNP has been adamant in its demand for a non-party caretaker government, refusing to listen to other possible options. The party’s chairperson has unequivocally announced that elections under a non-partisan system must take place whether talks between the two parties take place or not.

This unyielding stance is a throwback to the grim political deadlock the country witnessed last year during the BNP’s stubborn refusal to participate in the national elections. The party’s stance only ended in a largely uncontested, but constitutionally valid election taking place, where the BNP did not participate and was subsequently left out of parliament without a legitimate political voice. The AL’s victory, though not beyond reproach, was seen as legal and constitutional.

It would not be a good strategy for the BNP to go down the same road again. As the nation is poised to suffer from political déjà vu, we sincerely hope the BNP would consider alternative avenues of negotiation.

We are supportive of the BNP’s demand for reinstatement of the caretaker government, as polls suggest that that is what the public would prefer. However, a caretaker government system is not the only way to ensure a free and fair election, and the BNP should be open to other solutions as well. A middle ground can be reached between the two parties if they negotiate in good faith.

A caretaker government system is not the only way to ensure a free and fair election

Invest in our workers

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ur labour productivity and GDP growth rate have slowed down significantly. In order to turn things around, the government needs to invest in programs that will increase the skill level of our workers, the foundation of which lies in improving our education system.

First of all, the government needs to spend more, and wisely, on education. Second, it needs to focus more on training programs with the goal of training and teaching students to increase their value and marketability.

As we have editorialised before, when it comes to education, money is still being spent inefficiently, leading to unimaginative and poorly delivered curricula, the hiring of poor quality teachers, and inefficiently run and managed school administrations.

Our focus should be on improving the quality of our schools, hiring better teachers, and thus creating an environment that encourages learning. Existing training centres need to be developed, and new ones built, with capable instructors who can teach workers new skills, and help them to improve on their skill sets.

With a better educational foundation, employment opportunities will open up, and future workers will be able to contribute better to our economy.

At the moment, the key reason our export partners are attracted to our businesses is because of the low wage level. If, in the future, living standards were to rise, we would lose that competitive advantage.

Therefore, improving our labour productivity is crucial. This will not come about if we do not make education and training for our workers a priority.

Existing training centres need to be developed, and new ones built, with capable instructors

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

Fakhrul: President betrayed nation June 21

HB Readout of the secretary-general’s meeting with HE Abdul Hamid, President of Bangladesh, in New York, on June 19.

“The secretary-general met with HE Mr Abdul Hamid, president of Bangladesh, on June 19.

They discussed Bangladesh’s achievements in disaster risk reduction, lowering mortality rates and reducing extreme poverty.

The secretary-general thanked the president for Bangladesh’s contributions to UN peacekeeping operations. President Hamid informed the secretary-general that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would participate in the climate summit in September.

The secretary-general expressed his regret at the failure of political parties to reach an agreement that would have allowed for inclusive elections in January 2014.

He emphasised the importance of engaging the extra-parliamentary opposition and encouraged

Teach, don’t preach June 24

Fahad Finally, someone has the guts to call out the reliance of religion in schools to teach morals! Morals are universal but the minute someone imposes an identity on them, it implies that others cannot have them. I applaud the writer for this piece and I hope he keeps up his honesty and hard-hitting style.

Amit Schools have long been used to manipulate thought and stifle creativity, rather than foster a genuine love of learning. I recently completed university abroad and the nature of education could not be more different from my own experiences in Bangladeshi high school and my friends’ university experiences in Dhaka. An overhaul of the system is definitely required; it is shameful that children are so often scared of school and a large part of it is exactly the problems highlighted by the writer here.

Madiha A wonderful and extremely important piece. There are many times when I question the teaching of Islamiat in our secular schools, not because the lessons themselves are necessarily “bad,” but because it forces children of different faiths to conform to a faith-based syllabus. Not to mention the fact that it does not allow for any discussions on what faith and belief really are. I think the UK has been making many mistakes with its current government and, as we rightfully laugh at them, we should also learn from these errors and fix our own.

ZA I cannot stress enough how absolutely relevant this article is in the context of our country! Very well written.

Shabnaz Very well written, again, and a topic that is so relevant and yet so ignored. Thank you for this!

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 10 represents L so fill L every time the figure 10 appears.

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

Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.

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

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

progress in social and political reconciliation.”

Someone I hadn’t known of this. But if President Abdul Hamid’s reported remarks to UNSG Ban Ki-Moon, about the January 5 election and inter-party dialogue are true, then clearly Mr Fakhrul’s reaction is entirely appropriate.

It’s no exaggeration at all to say that the president’s remarks are patently partisan, and frankly, a dishonour and diminution of the dignity of his office.

Whatever semblance of credibility he had has now completely deserted.

Tangled Abstract Fallacy The shameless proponents of anti-liberation forces (of Jamaat/Shibir/al-Badr/Rajakar/BNP) criminals and thugs have no moral authority to question the honesty and integrity of our honourable president.

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

We don’t need no education June 21

VHS Just one of the many ways in which our primary education system is failing our children.

Lisa_54 The school teachers should realise how much they affect their students’ lives. Even after growing up, we can all remember our teachers who influenced us either positively or negatively. School teachers can shape the minds of their students, but not by punishing them. They can do so by setting good examples for them and by being patient with them. Hitting someone is out of the question here.

Ronnie Teachers hitting students is absolutely indefensible and unacceptable in all circumstances, anywhere in the world. The fact that this abhorrent practice is still prevalent in many of our country’s schools is an indictment of the abysmal state of many teachers’ own education, their low levels of competence, a pervasive lack of accountability, a traditionally tacit tolerance of physical punishment shaped by our cultural attitudes, and sundry other issues that conspire to perpetuate this dark side to the teacher-student relationship in our schools.

All forms of physical punishment and humiliation of students by teachers are intolerable, and ought to be stamped out by social opprobrium and legal enforcement.

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Helpful hints (4) 3 Defect (4) 7 Wrath (3) 8 Decree (5) 11 Exploit (4) 12 American elk (5) 13 Abnormally fat (5) 15 Wild male pig (4) 18 Disencumbers (4) 19 Become void (5) 20 Select group (5) 21 To let stand! (4) 23 Danger (5) 24 Vegetable (3) 25 Specialised skills (4) 26 Second-hand (4)

DOWN 1 Vibration (6) 2 Charged (6) 4 Falsehood (3) 5 Sporting enclosures (6) 6 Marry (3) 9 Pamper (6) 10 Digit (3) 11 Discussion (6) 14 Acrimonious (6) 16 Musical dramas (6) 17 Staggered (6) 19 Pouring edge (3) 21 Mineral spring (3) 22 Consume (3)

Seven things we learned so far June 23

TJ A good read. The writer pointed out the most noticeable incidents of this World Cup. So far, this year’s games have been the most unpredictable and most exciting ones! Looking forward to the next games.

CALVIN AND HOBBES The elephant in the room June 24

PEANUTS

Zeenat Okay, let’s look into Bangladesh. We can blame it on rice, because after consuming large portions of it, we sit and do not move.

Which means the people’s activity level is not compatible with the huge amount they are eating every day. Chinese and Japanese people eat rice, but how are they thinner?

Because they eat it as a side dish, not a main course! If people don’t increase their activity level, and not eat controlled portions of rice, they are going to get fatter and fatter.

We need high-energy foods, such as rice, to fuel our bodies, but we need to do portion control. Or is it still a new concept in Bangladesh? After eating, instead of sitting in front of the television to watch endless games of soccer or cricket, go for a walk and burn some calories. If we continue to eat carbheavy diets and live sedentary lives, we are going to be significantly more overweight by time we reach 2015. Happy walking!

Jay The solution is simple: Either work out or eat less if you want to get thinner, or be ok with the fact that you are fat. Doesn’t matter what others think about you. But if you have health problems then you should try new diets and exercises.

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Saturday, June 28, 2014

On the verge of breakdown n Dwitiya Jawher Neethi

Rickshaws need to be regulated

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opulation: Over 15 million. More people arriving every day. Dhaka is on the verge of a breakdown.

It becomes even more obvious during monsoon when waterlogged roads make commuting unbearable. Add Eid shoppers to that and voila! Shonar Bangla it is!

This is an everyday agony. But is there no solution to this problem?

Like almost every other problem, there is.

Of course such an expanding city needs sky trains, trains, more flyovers, highways, etc. But how many more governments will promise us that and not deliver is unclear. So what can be done now?

Public transportation can be improved

Choice of wardrobe is not the real issue

BIGSTOCK

Clothes maketh a woman?

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n Esam Sohail

everal rather painful lessons come to the fore when the recent Shakib Al Hasan dustup incident is looked at in hindsight: A lack of sportsmanship, resorting to violence to retaliate for uncouth language, and the power of money and connections in getting the police and courts to move faster than they would for ordinary people.

But the greatest lesson of all – and the most shameful – is found in the Facebook pages of the various news media, where the story generated comments that should worry us far more.

Across the social media websites of half a dozen reputed news organisations – in Bengali and English – I read hundreds of comments from readers in Bangladesh who blamed the former cricket skipper’s wife for being inappropriately dressed, flirtatious, or otherwise deserving of the teasing she received. And those were just the kindest comments, scores upon scores of other comments called for her to be abused, beaten, raped, and even killed. Granted, this may not represent the majority of people in Bangladesh, but the fact that even a cross section of the population with access to the internet has such feelings is troubling.

Many of the commenters, as I looked at their visible profiles, were physicians, businessmen, lawyers, students, and political activists of all stripes … in other words, the educated elite of society. Can we blame outsiders then, when we are stereotyped as misogynistic?

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Those of us who grew up in middleclass households will hardly find such reasoning shocking. We are a people obsessed with how women dress and liberally apply terms like “behaya” and “nirlojjo” to those whose fault is no more than having an outfit that does not meet the censorious scruples of society’s self-appointed monitors of sartorial morality.

czars (and czarinas).

Three decades removed from that telling lesson on how our society viewed women, I had hoped that the times had changed for the better, that men and women are judged more by their respective knowledge and skills rather than the shape and size of their everyday clothes. If anything, the comments on the news media’s

Does the manner of a woman’s attire reflect her knowledge or skills or professional competence?

I went to school in one of Dhaka’s oldest English medium institutions, where the students were drawn largely from the upper middle classes, even there such a bizarre mentality was present and thriving amongst teachers who had no problems humiliating their pupils for imagined transgressions of the length and snugness of their outfits. In one of the more idiotic edicts of our principal – who still holds sway at the said school – there was a mandate that from the following week, skirts would no longer be allowed to be worn since they were “immoral” attire … the coeds had to change their uniforms to “shalwar kameez” in the space of a weekend to accommodate the phony morality

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Facebook sites assure me that not only have we not moved forward, but perhaps even taken a step or two backwards.

The proverbial icing on the cake was an op-ed from a well known and unabashedly “secular” journalist in another English daily earlier this month, where this British-educated gentleman commented on the Shakib Al Hassan incident by bemoaning disapprovingly about the “Westernised” habits of modern Bengali women. If this kind of commentary is the pinnacle of intellectual secularism, I shudder to think what intellectual fundamentalism looks like.

Does the manner of a woman’s attire reflect her knowledge or skills

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or professional competence? Should she be subject to violence because her clothes on a given day don’t conform to the prudish dictates of beholders?

The answer to both those questions should be a vehement “no” in 2014, at least in civilised societies. The fact is that in Bangladesh the answer is, at best, ambivalent. At worst, when such questions are raised, we tend to immediately go into defensive mode and either deny the seriousness of the concerns or bring up the tried and tested tripe of how our culture/religion/ heritage is the most “pro woman” of all, etc etc.

At the end of the day, such an obsession with what a woman wears is unbecoming at best, and indecent to the core. The fix lies not in government mandates but in parents and schools raising children who are respectful of the sartorial choices of their siblings, cousins, friends, and coworkers. Defining deviancy downward by accommodating the sick mentality of pathologically obsessed “eve teasers” is not the way forward to ensuring greater gender equity.

Some clothes are certainly inappropriate or in poor taste in some circumstances, but neither that lack of propriety, nor the deficiency in taste, rises half to the level of the utter immorality of blaming the victims of sexual harassment in lieu of calling into account the depravity of their perpetrators. l

The mark of a good city is not when everyone drives a fancy car, but when the rich can also use public transportation. Public transportation in Dhaka is unpredictable, unsafe, and uncomfortable. Only one of these three is enough to rule it out.

Buses in good condition (with more parts than a brake and a steering) that operate on a schedule and from a given bus stand is ideal for commuters during office time. Dhaka-sufferers saw such buses come and go (and burn), but this needs to be a permanent option.

Carpooling should be made mandatory Offices and schools must have carpooling and/or buses. Massive traffic congestion is caused in areas such as Dhanmondi, primarily because almost every student arrives at school in a private car. School buses are a simple solution to this problem.

Exclusive lanes for public transport can be introduced Such lanes which are reserved only for public buses will make buses a more reliable mode of transportation.

They will be able to avoid congestion, run faster, and thus be able to stay on schedule.

Parking restrictions should be effectively imposed

Parked private vehicles can take a long time to maneuver in and out of their space and are a major cause of delay and congestion. Strict rules for parking and loading along with turn restrictions can improve the traffic condition.

Restricting rickshaws to certain areas only is necessary because fast and slow paced vehicles on the same lane not only increase congestion but are also highly unsafe. This is already in practice but a better and stricter design is required given current conditions.

Such regulations will mean that some rickshaw pullers will lose their jobs. This shows the urgent need to create jobs and diversify out of Dhaka. It does not fall into this list of short-term solutions, but the state of desperation in Dhaka will not end unless migration to this city can be controlled.

Improved drainage and waste management

It rains in Bangladesh. This is not news.

Dhaka needs a better drainage system. Even Baridhara, one of the more posh areas in the city, is easily waterlogged. This exhibits negligence not only on the part of the government, but also the community. Surely resourceful residents of such areas can take a stand against it.

While fixing drainage systems can take time, waste management plays a crucial role during monsoon.

Plastic bags and other such materials block existing drainage systems and cause severe waterlogging and traffic congestion. This can be prevented through efficient waste management by the government and by the community.

A good reflection of our broken system is a CNG ride. The driver will demand almost twice that of the metre rate and then say: “Apa, police jigaile koiben metre e” (Apa, if the police officer asks, tell them you are paying the metre rate). The police officers will almost never ask, and if and when they do, you are faced with the ethical dilemma of breaking your verbal contract with the CNG driver or reporting the driver’s delinquency. Reporting also means that you have to get off and wait for the officers to find you another such CNG. The plight of Dhaka commuters!

The strategies mentioned above can help mitigate the problem, if not solve it. In the short run and at minimum expenditures, they are effective solutions.

After work and my formalin-infused lunch, can it also not take hours to get home? l Dwitiya Jawher Neethi is Research Focal Point at DFID Shiree.

Esam Sohail is an educational research analyst and college lecturer of social sciences. He writes from Kansas, USA.

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Poverty of on-air ideas n Ekram Kabir

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t won’t perhaps be unfair to comment that sometimes a few enforced-upon ideas on a Bangladeshi TV audience evoke quite a lot of laughter. Some programs don’t at all seem very well thought-out shows – shows which could convince the audience to watch that particular channel again.

The discussants at these talk shows are all the same people. Sometimes, we watch a single person talking on three different TV channels

This became obvious in the evening of World Cup 2014 kick-off, when two news presenters of a TV channel showed up wearing football jerseys of Argentina and Brazil. Maybe the

planners of that day’s bulletins and programs had the World Cup craze and emotions in their minds, but to the common audience, it was unexpected.

It seemed like a gimmick.

The planners surely thought this would grab quite a lot of attention from the audience. But ultimately, it didn’t seem to work out as the TV channel wanted. The channel was criticised for this.

This showed the lack of good ideas among the program planners of our TV channels. I remember watching a show on an Eid evening with four celebrities of different ages. The presenter was asking them about how they had spent Eid festivals when they were children and how they celebrate it as adults.

Fine, we don’t have any problem with that. We would love to know about how our celebrities used to have fun on Eid days. But when the presenter asked one celebrity about her children’s whereabouts during the Eid, it became truly irritating. The celeb replied that one daughter was spending her Eid in Japan and another was in

Canada. Now, the question is: Why on Earth did the program planners think the audience would want to know about that particular celeb’s daughters? Quite difficult to answer.

Then, I switched on to another channel. I saw two lady presenters talking to two well-known musicians.

First, it bit my wits to see two presenters on a show. And then, I heard the two musicians explaining what good friends they were and the presenters were grinning. It seemed the presenters were enjoying the show a lot. Now the question is: Do we, the audience, want to know about their (two musicians) friendship? Again, quite difficult to answer.

When any program is planned, most TV channels think in the same manner. If one channel starts a new program with some new ideas, almost every channel tends to emulate that particular show with a slight difference. Almost all TV programs in this country look the same, all talk shows look the same, all bulletins look the same. There’s hardly any difference

between one and the other.

The reasons for this, perhaps, could be the lack of professional program committees in these TV channels and their unwillingness to spend for making a good program. Most of the programs are designed by the program departments where the decisions of the heads of the program get the priority. I haven’t seen any TV channel (maybe there is) hiring a firm for running a real survey on the expectations of the audience.

Research of that kind would have made their task much easier and more interesting. However, at the moment, there’s no evidence to work on. Day in and day out, the TV channels are churning out programs which they think are interesting.

I spoke to a few people in the industry and they replied that most of the times the channels are compelled to follow the instructions of the sponsors and advertisers. If that’s true, the advertisers might also rethink their strategies. The sponsors also need to do real research work before

they prescribe any program for the TV channels.

Now, coming back to what TV channels are doing, the talk shows are a good case to think about. These shows occupy quite a lot of on-air chunks, especially during the evenings and nights. We all take it for granted that the people are watching these talk shows, but do we have any real evidence of how many among the audience are actually watching them?

Not really. The discussants at these talk shows are all the same people.

Sometimes, we watch a single person talking on three different TV channels.

By now, we can also assume what the discussants would talk about, and which political line they would be taking.

Perhaps, the time has come for a change in our TV media. Otherwise, our TV channels will continue to remain cocooned inside a box – they will continue to be criticised, and they might continue to lose their audience. l Ekram Kabir, a journalist, is a Dhaka Tribune columnist.

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

The bold women of Manto

From left, Aupee Karim and Pantho Shahriar in Kaali Salwar, Shriya Sharbojoya and Mostafiz Shahin in License and Sara Zaker and Pantho Shahriar in Hatak

n Hasan Mansoor Chatak A new production of the country’s leading theatre troupe Nagorik Natya Sampradaya titled “Nam Gotrohin Mantor Meyera” staged at the National Theatre Hall of BSA on June 26 in the capital.

Based on Saadat Hasan Manto’s novellas “Kaali Shalwar,” “License” and “Hatak,” the play is directed by famed Indian theatre activist and director Usha Ganguly.

The 44th production of the troupe saw a house-full audience and though the staging started late, the patience of the audience was well rewarded.

The play opened with six narrators on stage who stated their reason for staging Manto’s stories and introduced the characters to the audience.

“Kaali Salwar,” the first story portrays Sultana, a sex worker who recently migrated from Ambala to Delhi with her escort Khodabox. Because of war and poverty, Sultana and Khodabox suffer and she presses Khodhabox to return to their previous living arrangement. But he refuses her as he was busy spending time with fakirs in pursuit of a better future. In a while, Sultana meets a male sex worker Shankar and they become well acquainted. He promises to get her a black salwar which she saw on her friend Anwari. On the day of Moharram, Sultana gets the salwar but in return she sees that Anwari is wearing her earrings. Sultana realises that Anwari had been exploited by Shankar and the vulnerable situation of women in a male dominated society becomes clear to her. Manto was sued for writing

this novella which represents the suppression of women.

The second story was on Manto’s “License,” which showed how a woman cannot get a license to drive a horse carriage but can easily get to sell her body and dignity on the backdrop of a patriarchal society.

In the third story “Hatak,” Sugondhi is approached by a police constable who promises to meet all her expectations and demands, in return he wants her to leave her profession as a sex worker and lead an honourable life.

The impressed Sugondhi starts living in a fantasy. The menageries of sorrow in her life seems to lift as she begins to believe that someone truly cares for her.

About the play, Sara Zaker said: “We planned on co-producing a play for

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Tishma remakes Shakira’s La La La

SADIA MARIUM

quite a long time. Usha Ganguly and I both feel that Manto’s stories are relevant to both our societies and that is why we agreed to work on them.”

The drama is dedicated to AK Azad, an associate of Nagorik Natya Sampradaya who died recently. He did the background music which adapted to the mood and milleou of the stories quite remarkably.

Saka Zaker was prominent on stage and gave a brilliant performance as is expected from an actor of her calibre.

As a debutant on stage, Shriya Sharbojoya made quite an impression with her superb acting and smooth dialogue delivery. Aupee Karim played the character of Sultana. Pantho Shahriar, Mostafiz Shahin, Rajib Dey, Naomi Kamrun Bidhu and others formed the rest of the cast. l

n Entertainment Desk Tishma remakes Shakira’s world cup hit “La La La.” The “Rock Princess of Bangladesh” sings a Bangla version of the song with music composition done by the singer herself. A music video is made of the song as an initiative of the news portal Banglanews24.com and Tishma is one of the models of the video along with commoners.

The music video will launch today at 11am at the office of Banglanews24.com located at the Basundhara residential area. Jewel Mazhar translated the song from English and Portuguese while Jayonto Rojario directed the music video. l

Nekabborer Mohaproyan: Anxiety of food and love

n Mosabber Rahman The nicest thing anyone can tell us is not “I love you,” the nicest thing anyone can tell us is “Have you eaten?” Whoever asks this question the most, loves us the most. After all, everything we do is ultimately to put food on the table, for us and our loved ones. All of us - man, beast, bird, insect and even bacteria - need food to survive. Man and nature are inextricably interwoven by the struggle for food.

The main theme of “Nekabborer Mohaproyan,” a film based on Nirmalendu Goon’s poem, is the struggle for survival in rural Bengal. Peasants are working hard to make ends meet but are subdued by the evil Munshi who cheats them out of fair prices. One of the peasants, the Christ-like

Nekabbor- straight out of Pasolini’s “Gospel According to St Matthew” and trained in SM Sultan’s “Gymnasium” - rises up to the challenge of facing evil Munshi. The second theme is love: Nekabbor’s passionate love for Fatema; and his unconditional love, the greatest kind of love, for nature. Fatema’s father happens to be evil Munshi’s close associate and soon it turns out Munshi himself wants to marry her. This dual food/love clash with evil Munshi lead Nekabbor to leave his beloved village which for him is akin to leaving one’s planet. Just as we are bound to mother-earth by the umbilical cord of gravity, so is he bound to the earth of his village. In the background of all this is the war theme which becomes the heart breaking prologue and epilogue. It begins and ends with the real poet Nirmalendu Goon in a blood-red punjabi walking on deep green grass, weeping for an unknown man who just died.

The film has a certain rawness, it has Ritwik Ghatak’s not-clinically-disinfected-poverty feel, that makes it look realistic; but the night scenes have such low-contrast photography it is difficult to make out what is going on. The approach is quite original; but the story is a cliché spun a million times. The songs are quite good, I particularly liked “Istetion” and “Tomar Sobuj Jole,” but it felt incongruous with the hard-hitting filmmaking. Non-actors gave fine performances, for example, the poet Asim Saha’s speech to the farmers brought a rare authenticity; but veteran actor Mamunur Rashid’s evil Munshi is nonchalant at best. The jewel in the crown, however, is Nekabbor himself. Jewel Jahur in “Nekabborer Mohaproyan” is as good as Prosenjit Chatterjee in “Moner Manush.” It is his terrific performance that made it worth the trip to the cinema- an actor to watch out for.

Ultimately the film is a mess. It feels that the director does not really care for the narrative, he is more interested in forming images, framing painterly shots, stitching up a montage of visual metaphors. The story is just an excuse, a framework for some abstract ideas. Thus we have shots of a huge tree of life, a top spinning, frog in a bowl, birds in a cage, a mouse trapped - that sort of things. Unfortunately, these could not be tied up with the film itself and the whole thing becomes an editor’s worst nightmare, completely alienating the audience as a result. It feels someone did not do the homework.

“Nekabborer Mohaproyan” got a barebones release in Balaka 2 and it was projected from a computer. The marketing was minimum, so I am guessing they depended on word of mouth publicity. It is important to realise that films might get only two weeks to get back their cost, so how it is released is extremely important. Cinema is the commercialisation of an idea usually tied up in a story and the producers want enough people to buy tickets so the film industry would continue to exist.

Cinema is not the Pharaoh’s tomb that ensures immortality. l

Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan to reunite in Ithaca n Entertainment Desk If all goes well, Hanks will make a cameo in the film adaptation of William Saroyan’s classic 1943 novel “The Human Comedy,” which also marks the directorial debut of Meg Ryan, said the Hollywood Reporter.

Ryan, 52, will start shooting for the film next month in Virginia. The actor is also in talks to executive produce the film. Hanks, 57, and Ryan gave hits like “Joe Versus the Volcano,” “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail.”

Erik Jendresen has adapted the story, which is set in a small town in California’s San Joaquin Valley in 1942. The film recounts the story of 14-year-old Homer Macauley, a telegraph bike messenger. His elder brother has gone to fight in World War II, leaving him to care for his widowed mother, his older sister and his four-year-old brother, Ulysses.

The effects of the war are revealed as Homer delivers messages of love, friendship, pain and death, including one message that alters his own life forever. Hanks would play the boy’s father. l

TODAY IN DHAKA Exhibition

Bear Grylls shares survival techniques n Entertainment Desk Watch out for “Man vs Wild” on TLC today at 3:30pm. In this thrilling series, host Bear Grylls shows the viewers how to survive the toughest and most visited environments on the planet by putting himself in the position of a stranded tourist. He parachutes into rainforests, abseils into deserts and lakes, and onto the highest, most inhospitable peaks in America. Using his specialist survival techniques to find his way out of these wildernesses he climbs sheer cliffs, navigates white water and icy crevasses, encounters snakes, spiders and predators and forages for food, from maggots and raw fish, to roots and berries. l

Second Sight Time: 12pm – 8pm The Daily Star Centre 64-65, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue Artistic Musings of Great Collector Nasir Ali Mamun Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Road No 16 Dhanmondi Print & Art Exhibition Time: 10am – 8pm Gallery Chitrok Shadow of Concave Time: 12pm – 8pm Gallery Shilpangon

Film

X-Men: Days of Future Past The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (3D) Pompeii 300 Rise of an Empire Tarkata Time: 10am – 10pm Star Cineplex, Level 8 Bashundhara City 13/3 Ka Panthopath

Ben Kingsley to Andaz Apna Apna 2: Salman and voice Bagheera in Aamir are ready to work in the film The Jungle Book n Entertainment Desk n Entertainment Desk Jon Favreau has been collecting A-list stars left and right to join the cast of his upcoming adaptation of “The Jungle Book.” The process began back in March when Idris Elba was hired to play the story’s central villain, Shere Kahn the Tiger, but the production has since kept busy by adding both Scarlett Johansson and Lupita Nyong’o as Kaa, the hypnotic python, and Rakcha, the wolf mother who raises Mowgli as her own, respectively. Now the Walt Disney Company has announced yet another big casting coup for the project, revealing that Academy Award-winner Ben Kingsley has signed on to provide the voice of Bagheera, the friendly black panther.

Based on the classic story written by Rudyard Kipling and adapted by screenwriter Jason Marks (“Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li”), “The Jungle Book” will tell the story of a young boy named Mowgli, his adventures with various animals in the rainforest, and, presumably, his reintroduction to human society. Bagheera is classically one of the good guys, having spent years as Mowgli’s protector and ward. Disney’s classic animated version of the story from 1967 featured the character voiced by British performer Sebastian Cabot, also known for being the narrator in 1977’s “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.” l

Director Rajkumar Santoshi, who is working on the sequel of “Andaz Apna Apna” says both Salman Khan and Aamir Khan are ready to work in the second installment, and that he will repeat them if the they produce the movie.

Released in 1994 “Andaz Apna Apna” didn't fare well at the box office. But over the years it's funny one-liners, entertaining drama and melodious songs have turned it into an all-time favourite comedy.

When asked about casting Salman and Aamir in “Andaz Apna Apna” sequel, he said: “It is not possible to repeat them in the sequel. It was a different scenario at that time but today they are big stars of the industry.”

However, he is ready to rope in Sal-

man and Aamir if they will produce the film.

“They both (Salman and Aamir) keep saying that they will love to do the film, so once I am ready with the script, I will approach them,” he said.

“They want the script to be good and full of comedy so the ball is in my court now and I have to get the script ready for them,” he added while speaking at the first-look launch of "Chaarfutiya Chhokare."

However, he is working on the script with Salman-Aamir as well as young actors in mind.

“I am working on the script considering the two point of views. I am working on the characters keeping the age factor of Salman and Aamir and also youngsters. Let's see what comes as the end product,” Santoshi said. l

Sp rt DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, June 28, 2014

13

Muslim World Cup players face Ramadan decision With the knockout rounds of the World Cup coinciding with the beginning of Ramadan, Muslim players must decide whether to observe the month-long religious fast which begins this weekend.

France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Algeria and Nigeria are among the teams that have Muslim players who may choose to observe the 30-day period of fasting and reflection.

During Ramadan, the ninth and holiest month in the Islamic calendar, all healthy adult Muslims are expected to refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours.

Such a scenario could play havoc with the tightly-controlled diets of elite professional athletes, especially in the hot, humid conditions in which some World Cup games in Brazil are being played.

“The challenge is mainly trying to maintain hydration on a daily basis, and secondly trying to maintain energy levels,” Emma Gardner, performance nutritionist at the English Institute of Sport, told Reuters.

“Muscle mass is also an issue. Research suggests that people can lose muscle mass through the period of Ramadan, although it tends to be during the early period,” she said.

Gardner’s comments appear to be at odds with those of Jiri Dvorak, FIFA’s chief medical officer, who told a media briefing on Monday that players ob-

BENZEMA (FRA)

MUSA (NIG)

serving the fast should not suffer any deterioration in their physical condition.

“We have made extensive studies of players during Ramadan, and the conclusion was that if Ramadan is followed appropriately, there will be no reduction in the physical performances of players,” Dvorak told reporters.

SHAQIRI (SWISS)

All healthy adult Muslims are expected to observe the month-long fast, although exceptions can be made and the fast postponed.

One player who has made up his mind is Germany’s Mesut Ozil.

“Ramadan starts on Saturday, but I will not take part because I am working,” he told a press conference on

OEZIL (GER)

FELLAINI (BEL)

Wednesday.

Nutritionist Gardner has previously worked with a player from the British hockey team who fasted during a major tournament. She describes her experience with the athlete as being “a case study” in how to handle the issue.

“For players observing the fast during the World Cup, the optimal tim-

FEGHOULI (ALG)

ing for games would be evening kickoffs, as it’s closest to the time when they can replenish and rehydrate,” she said, explaining strategies to offset the impact of fasting.

“Some athletes choose to use mouth rinsing, where they basically rinse their mouth our with water but don’t ingest any,” said Gardner, who has previously

worked with English soccer club Blackburn Rovers.

“There is research to show that there are cognitive benefits, it makes them feel like they’re drinking. Otherwise you can use things like cold towels to help them cool down.”

Dehydration can have a negative effect on performance, with a loss of one to two percent of body fluids by weight leading to problems with concentration.

However, the nutritionist said that the best way to help fasting players was to consult with their coaches to ensure that their physical activity and recovery were properly planned, recommending they train only once a day.

“Ideally, from looking into research, the best time for athletes who are partaking in Ramadan to train is either early in the morning or late at night, as near to a time when they can hydrate and eat.”

Refueling the body under such circumstances is not easy, as a whole day’s intake has to be made up during the hours of darkness.

“I found at the break of the fast, to get back to a hydrated state the athlete had to drink around six liters of fluid,” Gardner said. “Standard guidelines say two and a half to three liters of fluid a day, so many people are surprised when they hear six.

“On its own, that amount of water can have a diuretic effect, so we had to make sure there was some sodium or that it was consumed with food.” l

Early childhood development Useful stuff if done right

We all hope that our progeny do not engage in violence. At least most of us do. As much as we may wish otherwise, the brutal truth is that our offspring will, at some point in their childhood, get into a fight. Now the question you must ask of yourself is, should your precious baby get into a playground scuffle, do you want him or her to win or lose? The answer is where footballers as role models kick in.

I grew up in a sports friendly environment, yet neither of my parents expected me to take behavioral cues from multimillionaire athletes running around a football field as if their lives, much less the hopes of a nation, depended on it.

Yet after Suarez did what he did with his over-developed dentures, there has been a chorus of complaints from parents all over the world. What do we tell our children, they ask. If my child’s favorite player bites someone, how can I tell him to keep his teeth to himself, they contemplate. First of all, let me tell you that if your child is biting people at a precocious age, it is probably the right time to give him some counseling or take him to a counselor. That is possibly the kind of intervention that might have helped Luis in his formative years.

Amongst the flood of complaints pouring in from concerned parents all over the world in the last 48 hours, however, I have failed to notice a single one regarding the Adonis-like striker Olivier Giroud from France. This perfectly coiffed gentleman tried every kind of manual trick in the book to ward off his defenders in the game against Ecuador. He tried to slap them like a weak and enraged partner. He tried

to elbow them like an enervated Massotti encountering Luis Enrique in 1994. Yet Giroud continues to take part in the World Cup because he was violent without succeeding to cause physical or psychological damage (the only damage caused was, ironically enough, to his hair).

Seriously parents, what are we implying to our children here? That it is okay to engage in animalistic behavior so long as you don’t draw blood? That is the kind of lesson that will get a child pulverized in the playground. Trust me when I tell you this, if your child gets into a fight for the right reasons, and I have been bullied plenty, it is much better if he or she is the one who delivers the killer blow. Should the shoe be on the other foot, prepare for several trips to the emergency room and hefty medical bills, not to mention the psychological trauma that accompanies the knowledge that your offspring is a taker not a giver of pain.

A sucker punch is not a killer blow. A bite

that leaves the victim stunned out of Virgin Mary or a Leonardo elbow, which leaves the recipient bloodier than the reign of terror, is. Therefore, on grounds of childhood development education, if anyone deserves to be punished it is Giroud. Suarez stopped Chiellini in his tracks, Massoti made Enrique a feed for vampires, and Leonardo pushed back US football for another decade or so.

Yet Leonardo got banned from the World Cup, Massoti got an 8 game ban, and Suarez cannot play for Liverpool for the first nine games of next season. Olivier, on the other hand, roams the world free to meekly elbow people while cheating on his wife with supermodel girlfriends and scoring the occasional goal for Arsenal.

Seriously, what are we teaching our children here? l

Rain refused to dampen the spirit of the Kolta Bazar residents at Old Dhaka as they still visited their nearest projector to watch the World Cup games on Thursday night MUMIT M

Farshed Mahmud made some ‘beautiful changes’ to this article and is thus credited as a co-author. Sub-editors of the world rejoice your efforts are worth it.

An amazing tale of a passionate fan

Ataur Rahman waves a Bangladesh flag during the Nitol-Tata Bangladesh Premier Football League game between Sheikh Jamal and Feni Soccer Club at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Tuesday MUMIT M

It was June 24, 2014. Local powerhouse Sheikh Jamal were playing against a bottom-ranked side in Feni Soccer Club. There were only 42 spectators in the western gallery but they were paying little attention to the game. One exception though was an old man on the brink of being a septuagenarian, clad in the traditional black and white jersey of Mohammedan. He was the oldest of the lot but the most cheerful as well.

On his right wrist he was wearing an Argentina wristband and a Brazil one on his left wrist. There was also an Argentina headband on top of a Brazil one on his forehead which was slightly covered by a red and green cap over his head. The Mohammedan jersey had his name on the back. He was wearing a Bangladesh flag on his chest. The surroundings were very familiar to him.

He has been there since most of the spectators were not even born.

Ataur Rahman, usually referred to as Ata bhai inside the stadium, will be

70 next month and has been following Dhaka football for more than 50 years and is still going strong. He is a die-hard Mohammedan faithful but his identity is more than that of a passionate fan.

He rarely misses any domestic football game, no matter whether it involves Mohammedan or an unglamourous tie between two relegation battling sides, say, for instance - Uttar Baridhara v Chittagong Abahani. He is there with two flags in his hand - one of Mohammedan and the other is that of Bangladesh.

Once in every four years, the World Cup ushers in memories of his past, his family and his passion for football, of which, he cannot clearly remember all due to his old age. He is not a fan of Brazil or Argentina but he wore their colors to keep his nearest ones close. His wife was a fan of Argentina and passed away 11 years ago, a few months after the 2002 World Cup and his only daughter supports Brazil and is happily leading her own life after marriage.

Like every top-flight game at the stadium, Ataur is also following this World

Cup closely on television. He is amazed by the performance of Chile, Costa Rica and Ghana and believes in the power of Dutch football this time around. “Chile are playing beautiful football and the players are giving their best on the pitch playing as a proper team. Costa Rica and Ghana also impressed me but the Netherlands look most threatening in this World Cup,” said Ataur at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Monday.

Despite backing the Dutch, Ataur still thinks either Brazil or Argentina will eventually clinch the crown but among the South American giants, he wants Argentina to win. Why, of course, for the memory of his deceased wife.

Courtesy Bangladesh Football Federation president Kazi Salahuddin, Ataur managed one ticket to watch Argentina against Nigeria in action at the Bangabandhu National Stadium three years ago. He saw Lionel Messi in flesh.

He, however, put Portuguese goalmachine Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of Messi as his favourite player and both Neymar and Messi are tied for second

place. But, for now, he wants Messi to lift the title because of his wife.

The glory days of football in Bangladesh seem long gone and what still remains in the heart of football lovers are the ashes of the memories of the late 1970s or 80s. Talks and questions surrounding the loyalty of football fans in world football is often discussed and in this regard, Bangladesh were never a formidable force.

The reason is understandable. The Bangabandhu National Stadium is rarely found to be half-packed in any domestic football game. Not even the high-voltage derby between archrivals Abahani and Mohammedan can pull crowds like the yesteryears. Even then there are a few football devotees like Ataur who still come to the stadium regularly.

Ataur believes match-fixing is very common here which, in his words, is destroying Bangladesh football. He urges the federation to organise international matches and keep alive the game of football in the country that has long lost its glory days. l

14

Sp rt DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, June 28, 2014

Algeria seal historic last-16 qualification

Controversy overshadows Algeria win Algeria progressed to the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time in their history with a 1-1 draw against Russia on Thursday, but controversy surrounded Islam Slimani’s equaliser as Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev appeared to have been distracted by a laser pen.

Russia boss Fabio Capello said there was no doubt Akinfeev had been distracted by the laser beam.

“He was blinded by the laser beam.

There are pictures and you can see that in the footage,” said the Italian, who for a second successive time has failed to translate his success as a club coach onto the World Cup stage.

“About the lasers it is not an excuse.

The goalkeeper was unable to do his job. The laser beam was in his face.”

Algeria boss Vahid Halilhodzic said he has not seen the laser beam incident, but is relishing the chance for the Desert Foxes to avenge their controversial exit from the 1982 World Cup when they face Germany in Porto Alegre on Monday.

Back then West Germany and Austria played out a mutually beneficial 1-0 win for the Germans to ensure Algeria were eliminated on goal difference.

“We have not forgotten about it. Everyone talks about Algeria and Germany from 1982,” said Halilhodzic.

“Thirty-two years is a long time, but I am very proud of what we have achieved tonight and we deserve to be here.

“Algeria played a heroic match and our qualification for the second round is perfectly deserved.”

Belgium topped the group with a maximum nine points from three games after they beat South Korea 1-0 in the other game.

Algeria had gotten off to the worst possible start as with Sofiane Feghouli off the field receiving treatment for a head injury, Russia used the extra space afforded to them down Algeria’s right to open the scoring. l

Belgian PM offers Obama beer bet over WC clash Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo challenged U.S. President Barack Obama to a bet over Belgium’s impending World Cup knock-out match against the United States, offering the prospect of some “great Belgian beers” should the U.S. team win.

On Thursday, Belgium beat South Korea 1-0 to top Group H, setting up a clash with the United States after Juergen Klinsmann’s team pipped Portugal to second place in Group G on goal difference despite losing to Germany.

“Hey @BarackObama, I am betting some great Belgian beers that our @ BelRedDevils will make it to the quarter final!” Di Rupo tweeted in the early hours of Friday. l

Algeria progressed to the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time in their history as Islam Slimani’s second-half header was enough to earn them a 1-1 against Russia in Curitiba.

Alexander Kokorin had put the Russians in front after just six minutes with an accurate header into the top corner.

However, Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev’s nightmare tournament con-

MATCH STATS Goals scored Total shots Shots on target Corners Offsides Fouls committed Yellow cards Red cards Ball possession

Algeria 1 8 6 3 2 15 3 0 47%

Russia 1 11 7 4 3 13 2 0 53%

tinued when he tried to claim Yacine Brahimi’s free-kick on the hour mark and missed the ball completely allowing Slimani the easiest of tasks to nod home his second goal of the tournament.

However, television replays showed the CSKA Moscow ‘keeper may have been distracted by a green laser pen being shone in his eye seconds before the goal was scored.

The Desert Foxes will now have the chance to avenge their controversial exit from the 1982 World Cup when West Germany and Austria played out a mutual beneficial 1-0 win for the Germans when they face Joachim Loew’s men in Porto Alegre on Monday.

Belgium topped the group with

a maximum nine points from three games after they beat South Korea 1-0 in the other game.

Algeria had gotten off to the worst possible start as with Sofiane Feghouli off the field receiving treatment for a head injury, Russia used the extra space afforded to them down Algeria’s right to open the scoring.

Left-back Dmitry Kombarov sauntered forward and his cross was expertly nodded into the top corner by Kokorin.

Feghouli immediately tried to make amends with a bustling run past a host of Russian defenders, but the Valencia man was eventually crowded out and the ball cleared to safety.

Oleg Shatov then came within inches of doubling Russia’s advantage with a dipping shot from range that flew just past the post.

However, Algeria were posing the greater threat and Akinfeev went some way to redeeming himself for an awful error which cost his side a goal in their opening game against South Korea with a fine save from Slimani’s first effort of the evening.

Russia came flying out of the traps in the second period, though, looking to kill the game off and should have done when a lovely one-two between Kokorin and Aleksandr Samedov put the latter clean through on goal, but Rais Mbolhi stood up well to block his effort.

And that save was to prove vital on the hour mark as Akinfeev flapped at Brahimi’s free-kick and Slimani headed home into an unguarded net.

Russia continued to push for a winner, but when Aleksei Kozlov’s header sailed wide in stoppage time their last chance was gone. l

WORLD CUP IN NUMBERS

7.7

Greece have the worst chance conversion rate (7.7%) of the 16 teams to make it past the World Cup Group Stage

31

Colombia have converted the highest percentage of chances (31%) into goals in the Group Stage

2

Germany have lost both international games against Algeria

3

Russia have failed to qualify for the World Cup knockout stage for the third time in a row (1994, 2002, 2014)

6

Algeria became the 6th African team to make the knockout stages of a World Cup tournament (Morocco, Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal & Ghana)

67

Thomas Muller has the best shot conversion rate (67%) at this World Cup so far

17

Leo Messi is the player with the most dribbles (17) completed in this World Cup group stage

68

The Netherlands conceded 68 fouls in the group stages of this World Cup, at least 9 more than any other team

1

Fabio Capello has won only one of his seven matches as a World Cup manager

2

This is the first time that two countries from Africa have progressed beyond the First Round at the same World Cup finals

6

Brazil have allowed fewer shots on target (6) against them than any other team in the World Cup 2014

3

Portugal are the first team to use three goalkeepers in a single World Cup since Greece in 1994.

6

Asamoah Gyan is now the top-scoring (6) African in World Cup history.

9

Honduras have played more matches (9) at the World Cup without winning than any other side

Belgium send South Korea packing Jan Vertonghen led 10-man Belgium to a 1-0 victory over South Korea on Thursday that gave them top place in their World Cup group and ended Asian hopes in the competition.

The stand-in captain hit the winner 12 minutes from time as Belgium finished with a perfect three wins in Group H. They now play the United States in the last 16.

South Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-Gyu could only parry a fierce shot by substitute Divock Origi and it went to the feet of Vertonghen, who buried the rebound and leapt into the stands to celebrate.

Belgian coach Marc Wilmots dismissed criticism over the style of the victory and said his team had “made history” by winning all three group games.

“We fulfilled our mission with nine points,” he said. “It’s never happened before and what’s important for me is whether we can get into the quarter-fi-

MATCH STATS Goals scored Total shots Shots on target Corners Offsides Fouls committed Yellow cards Red cards Ball possession

S Korea Belgium 0 1 18 15 12 10 7 4 1 4 16 11 1 1 0 1 51% 49%

nals. I don’t care about anything else.”

South Korea had needed a big win to stand any chance of qualifying, and they were given hope when Steven Defour was sent off for a stamp just before half-time.

But they failed to create clear-cut opportunities and depart the tournament winless, as did regional rivals Japan, Iran and Australia.

“My goal was not to have any regrets. I think we weren’t good enough but we nevertheless did our best,” said South Korean coach Hong Myung-Bo. “More than anything, I think it was important for our players to play on such a big stage and gain experience.”

Wilmots made seven changes from the team that beat Russia 1-0, giving Manchester United 19-year-old Adnan Januzaj his World Cup debut, to keep players fresh for the knock-out stages.

Despite their extra man, South Korea could not penetrate the packed Belgian defence and Lee Chung-Yong and Koo both saw dangerous opportunities snuffed out before they could shoot.

And they paid for their failures when Vertonghen scored. l

Referee shows Belgium’s Steven Defour red card during their 2014 World Cup Group H match against South Korea at the Corinthians arena in Sao Paulo on Thursday REUTERS

10 players who excelled in group stage Messi, Robben, Van Persie, Neymar, Valbuena and Pjanic have all impressed

Pupils of Kishori Club took part in a football game at the Motijheel T & T school field yesterday. Organised by BRAC, the two teams played as Argentina and Brazil with Argentina winning the game 2-1 MEHEDI HASAN

The World Cup has lived up to its billing. The standard of football has been scintillating, with only five goalless draws from the opening 48 games. This comes despite highly revered attackers Marco Reus, Falcao and Franck Ribéry, among others, missing the tournament through injury.

Lionel Messi is our highest rated player (9.2) after the group stages, having dragged La Albiceleste to the round of 16. He scored four of Argentina’s six goals, with Marcos Rojo and an own goal from Sead Kolasniac making up the other two.

Messi is the leading goalscorer in the tournament, but he also created more clear-cut goalscoring chances (four) than any other player. While he failed to register an assist, that in part due to poor finishing from his team-mates.

Messi won the man of the match award in all three of Argentina’s group games, a feat matched only by Arjen Robben.

Robben was vital to Holland’s progression as Group B winners, providing three goals and one assist, and his rating of 8.95 was the second highest of the group stages.

Robin van Persie, like Robben, also

scored three times as the Oranje became the leading goalscorers (10) in the opening three games of the tournament. This came despite the striker missing the last game of Group B due to suspension, so he may have added to his goal tally had he been available to face Chile.

France may well rival Holland as the best European team in the last 16.

Karim Benzema has endured his troubles on the international stage and after a shaky start for Real Madrid last season, has proven to be one of the stars of the tournament so far. No player has bettered Benzema’s combined tally of

goals and assists (five: three goals and two assists).

His France compatriot Mathieu Valbuena also features in the top 10. With Didier Deschamps opting against calling up Samir Nasri to the France squad, and Ribéry sidelined for the competition, the pint-sized Marseille star has shouldered the creative responsibility.

Valbuena is one of only 15 players to have both scored a goal and registered an assist in a single game at the competition, something Miralem Pjanic also achieved. The 24-year-old recorded the feat in Bosnia’s 3-1 win over Iran. The Roma player excelled under Safet Susic

TOP 10 RATED PLAYERS (GROUP STAGE) Lionel Messi Arjen Robben James Rodriguez Karim Benzema Robin van Persie Oscar Neymar Miralem Pjanic Alexis Sanchez Mathieu Valbuena

APPS 3 3 2(1) 3 2 3 3 3 3 2

GOALS 4 3 3 3 3 1 4 1 1 1

ASSISTS 1 2 2 2 1 1 1

MOTM 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 -

RATING 9.2 8.95 8.68 8.57 8.56 8.4 8.39 8.2 8.13 8.13

despite their early exit, with no player executing more key passes (12) in the group stages than Pjanic.

James Rodríguez has also shone for Colombia. Despite starting from the bench in Colombia’s 4-1 win over Japan, Rodríguez registered two assists and scored late on after coming on as a half-time substitute; his rating of 9.37 was the best of all substitutes in the group stages.

Rodríguez will hope to help Colombia reach the quarter-finals, where they could face Chile and Alexis Sánchez. Only Messi (5.7) has averaged more dribbles per game than Sánchez (5.3) and he will need to maximise this quality if they are to overcome Brazil in their last-16 match.

The hosts secured safe passage to the last-16 with relative ease and have both Oscar (8.4) and Neymar (8.39) to thank for that. While Neymar has had his moments of brilliance, Oscar was vital to Brazilin their opening 3-1 win over Croatia. His performance was the highest rated (10.0) of every individual display, while only Daley Blind (nine against Chile) made more tackles in a single group stage match than the Chelsea man (eight against Mexico) to reinforce his credentials on the international stage. l

Sp rt DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, June 28, 2014

15

Uruguay seek to stop flying Colombians Uruguay must recover from the shock of losing star player Luis Suarez, who was kicked out of the World Cup for biting an opponent, if they are to stop high-scoring Colombia in an all-South American, second-round clash on Saturday.

Uruguay have long relied heavily on Suarez in attack and the controversial striker scored half of their four goals so far in the competition in Brazil.

He was thrown out of the World Cup on Thursday for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in a group match, dealing a huge setback to Uruguay, who battled their way to the semi-finals of the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

Colombia head to the Maracana sta-

V Colombia

Uruguay

Estadio do Maracana, Rio De Janeiro (BRA) 28 Jun 2014 - 17:00 Local (02:00 AM BST)

KEY STATS Uruguay will be without star player Luis Suarez after he was kicked out of the World Cup by Fifa, banned for four months and Uruguay’s next nine competitive internationals for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini on Tuesday.

Colombia and Uruguay have met 38 times with Uruguay winning 18 times, Colombia 11 times with nine games drawn.

Their last meeting was on Sept. 10 2013 in Montevideo with Uruguay winning 2-0.

The last time Uruguay played a World Cup match at the Maracana they beat Brazil 2-1 in 1950 to become world champions.

dium in Rio de Janeiro in more buoyant mood, having won all three of their group games and racked up nine goals in the process, a tally surpassed so far only by the rampant Netherlands.

There had been fears that the loss of striker Radamel Falcao to injury before the tournament would be a big blow for Colombia, appearing at their first World Cup in 16 years.

But Falcao’s understudy Jackson Martinez has been one of the tournament’s revelations so far, helped in large part by playmaker James Rodriguez.

With those two in fine form, Colombia, under Argentine coach Jose Pekerman have wowed crowds in Brazil with the kind of fast, flowing play that the locals demand of their own team. They have also entertained fans with their salsa-inspired goal celebrations.

A place in the quarter finals against either Brazil or Chile is at stake on Saturday and Uruguay will be seeking to channel the spirit of 1950 - when they shocked Brazil by beating them to win the World Cup in Rio. It will probably fall to veteran striker Diego Forlan to take the place of Suarez in the starting 11 in the Maracana as he did in their shock opening loss to Costa Rica in Group D while Suarez was still completing his recovery from injury.

Uruguay played poorly in that match which they lost 3-1 but looked better in their next, a 2-1 win over England when Suarez scored both their goals.

After overcoming Italy 1-0 in the now infamous game in which Suarez lost his self-control, they must now cope without him again. Captain Diego Lugano vowed the team would not be distracted by his loss.

“Nothing will hold us back,” Lugano wrote on his Facebook page. “We will press on with humility, unity, determination, aware of the mistakes that have been made and with our heads always held high.” l

Fans of Uruguay’s national team await the arrival of Uruguay player Luis Suarez at Carrasco International Airport in the outskirts of Montevideo, Uruguay on Thursday

Suarez flies home Luis Suarez flew home to Uruguay on Friday after being thrown out of the World Cup in Brazil and banned from soccer for four months for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in a Group D match earlier this week.

The Liverpool striker was met by President Jose Mujica when he landed at a military base next to Uruguay’s main airport before dawn, an air force spokesman said.

Mujica had joined hundreds of fans who gathered at the airport on Thursday night to show their support for Suarez but they left after a few hours when it became clear he had not yet left Brazil.l

Suarez ban ‘excessive’: Chiellini Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini has said the ban FIFA handed down to Luis Suarez is ‘excessive’ and that he feels no anger towards the controversial Uruguay striker.

Suarez was given longest sanction imposed at a World Cup by soccer’s governing body on Thursday, suspended from all football-related activity for four months and banned for nine international matches for biting Chiellini in their final Group D match in Natal on Tuesday.

Suarez will miss the first two months of Liverpool’s Premier League and Champions League campaigns, and may not appear for his country in a non-friendly match again until 2016.

“Now inside me there’s no feelings of joy, revenge or anger against Suarez for an incident that happened on the pitch and that’s done,” Juventus centre back Chiellini said in a statement on his website.

“There only remain the anger and the disappointment about the match.

“At the moment my only thought is for Luis and his family, because they will face a very difficult period.

“I have always considered unequivocal the disciplinary interventions by the competent bodies, but at the same time I believe that the proposed formula is excessive.

“I sincerely hope that he will be allowed, at least, to stay close to his team mates during the games because such a ban is really alienating for a player.”l

Subs set scoring record Record-breaking Shaw joins United Year

SUPER SUBS

2014 2010 2006 2002 1998 1994 1990 1986 1982 1978 1974 1970

Goals by subs

(out of total goals)

24 (out of 133, 18.05%) 15 (out of 145, 10.34%) 23 (out of 147, 15.65%) 21 (out of 161, 13.04%) 14 (out of 171, 8.19%) 13 (out of 141, 9.22%) 20 (out of 115, 17.39%) 11 (out of 132, 8.33%) 16 (out of 146, 10.96%) 6 (out of 102, 5.88%) 5 (out of 97, 5.15%) 5 (out of 95, 5.26%)

Substitutes at the World Cup in Brazil have already scored more goals (24) in the group stage than the total number scored in entire tournaments before, surpassing the record of 23 goals set for all of the 2014 World Cup. Just over 18 percent of the 133 goals scored at the finals in Brazil so far were by substitutes, according to data provided

by Fifa. The previous highest percentage was in 1990, when 17.4 percent (20 out of 115 goals) were scored by substitutes.

Following is a table provided by FIFA with goals scored by substitutes in the World Cup since 1970. Prior to that tournament substitutes were not allowed. l

England left-back Luke Shaw became the most expensive teenage footballer in history after joining Manchester United from Premier League rivals Southampton on Friday in a four-year deal worth a reported £30 million ($51 million).

The fee for the 18-year-old, who has just returned from England’s worst-ever World Cup campaign, surpassed the £25.6m fee United paid Everton for Wayne Rooney in 2004.

“Manchester United is delighted to announce the signing of Luke Shaw from Southampton Football Club,” a United statement said.

While both clubs refused to confirm

“We are going to appeal today ... there isn’t definitive evidence that allows us to say that this kind of sanction can be applied.

We are talking nine games, four months and a financial penalty, so to me it really seems like a completely exaggerated and abusive sanction.”

Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce: “I think the punishment handed out by Fifa to Luis Suarez is fully justified. Hopefully, he will realise now that behaviour of this type will not be tolerated under any circumstances.”

DAY’S WATCH BTV, Maasranga TV, Gazi TV

Uruguay captain Diego Lugano: “Indignation, impotence, I think that’s what we all feel. We’d all like a fairer world, but that world simply does not exist. Those who rule, rule, and the strong ones are the strong ones... Keep feeling proud of him, he deserves it. Nothing will stop us. We will carry on with humility, union, determination, recognition of mistakes, and with our heads always high.”

Brazil forward Fred: “It was unfair because it could end a player’s life. Four months, nine games, everyone on top of you, criticising his error.

2:00AM Colombia v Uruguay Star Sports 2 3:00PM Moto GP: Assen Main Race Star Sports 1, 4 4:30PM & 6:00PM Wimbledon Championship Ten Cricket West Indies v New Zealand 3rd Test, Day 3

show, and it is really bad for Uruguay and the world of soccer.”

Sports equipment firm Adidas:

Former Brazil striker Ronaldo:

“Adidas fully supports FIFA’s decision.

Adidas certainly does not condone Luis Suarez’s recent behaviour and we will again be reminding him of the high standards we expect from our players.

We have no plan to use Suarez for any additional marketing activities during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.”

“I never bit anyone, I know bites hurt. (If) my kids bite me they are punished in the dark room with the big bad wolf: that’s the soccer equivalent of not playing soccer for four months.”

“This is really bad for the World Cup, for the

Diego Maradona blasted FIFA’s ban on Uruguay striker Luis Suarez as “criminal” and said world soccer’s governing body might as well handcuff the striker and lock him up in Guantanamo prison.

“Who did Suarez kill?” Maradona said during his soccer commentary programme broadcast on Venezuela’s Telesur and Argentine public television on Thursday night.

“This is football, this is contact,” the Argentine legend said. “They may as well handcuff him and bring him to Guantanamo directly.”

The controversial U.S. prison in Cuba, opened during the Bush administration, is heavily criticized by human rights groups for indefinite imprisonment of many detainees without charge or trial.

Temperamental 1986 World Cup winner Maradona, known for his flamboyant declarations, is echoing outrage in Uruguay, where many are fuming at a ban they deem exaggerated, hypocritical or outright biased.

Many abroad, however, were horrified by brilliant but volatile Suarez’s biting of Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini on Tuesday.

Suarez was given longest sanction imposed at a World Cup by soccer’s governing body on Thursday, suspended from all football-related activity for four months and banned for nine international matches.l

Send us your photographs to WorldCupBD@dhakatribune.com

Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre: “Liverpool Football Club will wait until we have seen and had time to review the FIFA disciplinary committee report before making any further comment.” l

Djokovic survives, Li knocked out

World Cup 2014 10:00PM Brazil v Chile

He has to be punished, yes, but I’d like to see Suarez still playing in this World Cup.”

Chile forward Alexis Sanchez:

Fifa may as well throw Suarez into Guantanamo, says Maradona

WORLD CUP IN BANGLADESH PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

REACTION TO SUAREZ’S NINE-GAME BAN Uruguayan Football Association president Wilmar Valdez:

the exact transfer fee, a statement on Southampton’s website said Shaw had become “the most expensive teenager ever”.

His arrival at Old Trafford meant United had taken their spending on new players to an estimated £60m in two days as they rebuild after a dire 2013/14 season.

Thursday saw United complete their first signing since Louis van Gaal, currently coaching the Netherlands at the World Cup, became their manager after midfielder Ander Herrera joined from Athletic Bilbao for a reported £28.5m.

“I am thrilled and excited to be joining Manchester United,” Shaw told his new club’s website after passing a medical. l

AP

Top seed Novak Djokovic survived a shoulder injury scare to reach the Wimbledon fourth round on Friday with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over France’s Gilles Simon, his seventh successive victory over the Frenchman.

Djokovic, the 2011 champion, needed a medical timeout to receive treatment and take a painkiller after hurting his left shoulder in a spectacular diving attempt to reach a Simon drive in the sixth game of the third set on Centre Court.

But the Serb overcame the scare to set up a clash with French 14th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a place in the quarter-finals.

Djokovic admitted he was shaken by his fall and finished the match in some discomfort, but the world number two hopes the damage isn’t severe enough to impede his chances of continuing in the tournament.

Djokovic has won 10 of his 11 meetings with the big-serving Tsonga, including in the 2011 Wimbledon semi-finals and the quarter-finals at the 2012 Olympic Games, which were staged at the All England Club.

But the Serb knows the flamboyant Tsonga, twice a Wimbledon semi-final-

ist, is a dangerous opponent on grass.

Chinese second seed and Australian Open champion Li Na was knocked out of Wimbledon on Friday, losing 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5) in the third round to Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic.

The defeat followed a first round exit for Li at the French Open last month as Wimbledon again proved her undoing.

In eight appearances at the All England Club, the 32-year-old has still never got beyond the third round.

The match ended in bizarre circumstances with Li, facing match point, successfully challenging a forehand which had been called long. l

My lovely son is a Brazil fan!

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DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, June 28, 2014 DHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, June 16, 2014

13 An amazing tale of a passionate fan

14 Algeria seal historic last-16 qualification

Sport

15 Uruguay seek to stop Colombians

Chile face nemesis Brazil in knockout FACT BOX Probable teams: Brazil

12-Julio Cesar; 2-Daniel Alves, 3-Thiago Silva, 4-David Luiz, 6-Marcelo; 5-Fernandinho, 11-Oscar, 17-Luiz Gustavo, 7-Hulk; 9-Fred, 10-Neymar Chile

1-Claudio Bravo; 4-Mauricio Isla, 17-Gary Medel, 18-Gonzalo Jara, 2-Eugenio Mena; 20-Charles Aranguiz, 21-Marcelo Diaz, 5-Francisco Silva, 8-Arturo Vidal; 7-Alexis Sanchez, 11-Eduardo Vargas Key stats:

Brazil have eliminated Chile three times in previous World Cups.

The Brazilians beat them in the semi-finals when Chile hosted the tournament in 1962 and again in the last 16 at France 1998 and South Africa 2010.

The two sides have met 68 times with Brazil winning 48. Chile have celebrated just seven wins against their fellow South Americans with 13 matches ending in a draw.

Brazil forward Neymar and Chile striker Alexis Sanchez are team mates at Barcelona and close friends. They are both carrying the hopes of their nations to score.

Last meeting

Toronto, Canada, November 19, 2013, Brazil 2 Chile 1

World Cup favourites Brazil have rediscovered their swagger and boast a superb past record against Chile but go into Saturday’s do-or-die game knowing their rivals have enough attacking prowess to wreck the hosts’ party.

Seeking a sixth World Cup on home soil, Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men hit their stride in a 4-1 demolition of Cameroon that won them Group A and showed striker Neymar at his very best with two great goals and crowd-pleasing trickery on the ball.

Now facing Chile in the first game of the tournament’s knockout round, Brazil will be encouraged by recent history.

They easily knocked out Chile at the same stage in the last two World Cups “La Roja” (The Red) featured in, 1998 and 2010.

Brazil have in fact won nine of their last 10 meetings.

Yet this fast and attack-minded Chile side could be the best version yet, claiming one illustrious scalp already when they beat reigning champions Spain 2-0 en route to their own qualification behind the Netherlands in Group B. The Brazil of their opening two group games, a win but an unconvincing one against Croatia and a draw against Mexico, have not struck fear into the Chileans.

“Brazil has often been Chile’s nemesis but football changes, new generations come and new players appear,” said midfielder Arturo Vidal, known to fans as “King Arthur”, who

returns from a knee injury that kept him out of the match against the Dutch.

“We’ve beaten the world champions, so we can beat Brazil.”

For that to happen, strikers Eduardo Vargas and Alexis Sanchez will have to be at their cut-throat best as they were against both Spain and Australia whom they also beat, 3-1, before the Dutch got the better of them in the final group game.

V Brazil

Chile

Estadio Mineirao, Belo Horizonte (BRA) 28 Jun 2014 - 13:00 Local (10:00 PM BST) Like other Latin American nations’ fans, Chileans have flooded Brazil in their tens of thousands and are dreaming of at least emulating their best ever showing of third in 1962.

They were knocked out then by, guess who, Brazil.

With both teams more comfortable in attack than defence, the match in Belo Horizonte’s Mineirao stadium could be a rip-roarer

as they go straight for each other’s defensive weak points.

Political protests and worries over infrastructure have faded into the background now, so Brazilians are embracing the World Cup in the way foreigners assumed they would - with parties, fireworks and yellow national colours everywhere.

Even the normally staid state capital and business centre, Belo Horizonte, is turning ever more yellow in the run-up.

The team, who are confidently predicting World Cup glory, are likely to reshuffle a bit from the Cameroon game, with Fernandinho set to replace Paulinho from the start to give the midfield more thrust and fluidity in feeding Neymar and Hulk. l

We will fight like pitbulls: Sanchez Chile will go into their World Cup round of 16 game against hosts Brazil on Saturday with all guns blazing as they look “to make history” against the tournament favourites, forward Alexis Sanchez said.

The Chileans, eliminated three times

by Brazil in past World Cups, are eager to confirm their status as dark horses in this tournament with a major upset.

“We came here to make history. We already beat World Cup holders Spain (in the group stage),” Alexis told reporters at their training base in Belo Horizonte.

“The next game is about who has more endurance and who has the mentality to go a long way. We may not all be friends but on the pitch everybody runs for the other and this team is like a pitbull dog.”

Alexis and teammate Mauricio Isla were asked repeatedly by Chilean reporters whether they had thought about the referee and the potential influence he could have on the outcome for a game that is of massive importance to the hosts and the tournament.

“The best defence at this moment is Brazil’s. I am really happy to play against Brazil but I am worried about the referee. But we will see,” Alexis said without elaborating further.

Several of his teammates have faced similar questions regarding the referee, who has yet to be announced, on Wednesday. Sanchez said if Chile were to outmuscle five-time champions Brazil at the Mineirao stadium they only had to look at neighbouring Argentina’s winning mentality and finally start believing in themselves. l Brazil players Neymar (L), Daniel Alves (C) and Thiago Silva share a light moment during a training session in Teresopolis on Wednesday REUTERS

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