25 Oct, 2014

Kartik 10, 1421 Zilhajjj 29, 1435 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 201

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Ghulam’s Jamaat: Genesis of genocide

Pakistan Jamaat: Stop Bangladesh’s ‘illegal action’ Jamaat, on the wrong side of history in 1947 and 1971, had an outsize role in criminalising politics against Jamaat textual circumstances coupled with documentary evidence into consideration, we are led to observe that Jamaat-e-Islami, as a political party under the leadership of accused Professor Ghulam Azam, intentionally functioned as a criminal organisation especially during the War of Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.”

“Under the leadership of accused Professor Ghulam Azam almost all the members of Jamaat-e-Islami along with its subordinate organs actively opposed the very birth of Bangladesh in 1971,” said the judgement based on on-the-record evidence and facts of common knowledge.

The three judges of the tribunal said in the verdict: “We are convinced in holding that accused Professor Ghulam Azam was the pivot of crimes and all the atrocities revolved around him during the War of Liberation.”

The tribunal verdict said Ghulam had committed the crimes during the war through his party Jamaat-e-Islami and its wings.

The verdict said: “Having considered the attending facts, legal position and the gravity and magnitude of the

Ghulam Azam has crossed into permanent infamy after spending a lifetime at the helm of a political party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, which he wilfully used as a perpetrator of war crimes during the Liberation War of 1971.

Ghulam Azam never repented for his war crimes. Despite being accorded the protection of Bangladeshi law and due process, in contrast to the summary executions that he and his Pakistani allies presided over, he never recanted his statements against the state.

Ghulam’s Jamaat-e-Islami, its student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha (now Islami Chhatra Shibir) and their allies not only opposed the birth of Bangladesh by collaborating with the Pakistani occupation force, but also committed heinous premeditated crimes on a horrific scale during the nine-month War of Independence.

The verdict in the war crimes trial against convicted war criminal Ghulam Azam at last year’s International Crimes Tribunal 1, termed the Jamaat-e-Islami “a criminal organisation” over its wartime role.

Ghulam Azam gained added notoriety as a symbol of all war criminals because of his orchestration of the carnage and collusion that sought to cripple the liberation struggle.

The tribunal convicted Ghulam, who died of cardiac arrest at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Bangbandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University late

Thursday night, for his leadership role in committing crimes against humanity and genocide.

He was sentenced to 90 years in prison for five charges proved against him.

The tribunal awarded Ghulam 10 years’ imprisonment for each count of conspiring and planning to commit crimes against humanity and genocide.

It gave him 20 years each for incitement to and complicity in committing crimes against humanity, genocide and other war crimes. It also sentenced him to 30 years for torture and the killing of police officer Shiru Mia and three others.

During the Liberation War, Pakistani occupation forces, with active support from the Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muslim League, Nezam-e-Islami and other like-minded political parties killed 3 million Bangalees and violated more than a quarter million women.

Their reign of terror forced 10 million Bangalees to take refuge in neighbouring India, internally displaced millions more and laid waste the country’s economy.

In a section of the Ghulam Azam war crimes verdict titled “Role of Jamaat-e-Islami during independence struggles of Pakistan and Bangladesh,” the former chairman of Tribunal 1, Justice Fazle Kabir, and two judges, Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim and Justice Anwarul Haque, discussed the Jamaat and Ghulam Azam’s role during and after the Liberation War. The verdict said: “Taking the con-

4 Indian airports on alert over bomb threat

Dhaka to join China-led multilateral agency

Julfikar Ali Manik

Tribune Desk Security was ramped up at four major airports including Mumbai and Kolkata yesterday, following an email warning that suicide bombers would try to target an Air India flight.

Ahmedabad and Mumbai airports have been put on a high alert following an intelligence input which states that suicide bombers will try to board two Air India flights early today.

As per the letter from Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) headquarters in New Delhi, a copy of which Ahmedabad Mirror has access to, suicide bombers could board Air India’s Ahmedabad-Mumbai and Mumbai-Kochi flights scheduled for early morning departure today.

“An input received early yesterday morning says: Air India flight on the midnight of October 24 (early morning of October 25) from Ahmedabad to Mumbai and early morning flight from Mumbai to Kochi on 25th morning at PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Tribune Report Bangladesh has signed an initial instrument to join the proposed China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank yesterday in Beijing to secure access to alternative sources of development funds.

State Minister for Finance MA Mannan inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on establishing the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) along with twenty other Asian countries, with three major countries skipping the event, according to agency reports.

Australia, Indonesia and South Korea skipped the launching ceremony as the United States said it had concerns about the new rival to the Western-dominated multilateral lenders.

The state minister for finance told local media: “We want to join the newly established multilateral and accordingly Bangladesh has signed the MoU.” Bangladesh is a founding member

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

A donation receipt, right, signed by Ghulam Azam to raise funds for ‘safeguarding the ideals of Pakistan.’ Above, Ghulam Azam being publicly shamed by attendees at a janaza prayer as they hit him with slippers and shoes in front of Baitul Mukarram Mosque in 1981 PHOTO: COURTESY

of the bank and will enjoy some extra facilities when the infrastructure bank takes off, he added.

The proposed bank, whose approved capital is said to be US $100 billion, will provide Asian countries an alternative source of funds to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for infrastructure development.

The plan to form the bank was first announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang during their visits to south-east Asian countries in October last year.

AB Mirza Azizul Islam, an adviser to a past caretaker government, yesterday told Dhaka Tribune: “The China–led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will be complimentary to existing global lenders – World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) – for a developing country like Bangladesh.”

“We know the price of funds of the proposed bank will not be cheaper than at the WB, but AIIB offers an alternative PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

INSIDE

5 | News

7 | World

11 | Op-Ed

2 | News

students as they want for MBBS and BDS courses in the session 2014-2015.

12 | Entertainment

Workers of Rana Plaza staged a rally and formed a human chain in the capital yesterday demanding compensation for the families of the survivors and victims.

Within 14 hours of the convicted war criminal Ghulam Azam’s death his family members came up with another story of his last wish.

3 | News

Labour and Employment Ministry has taken an initiative to amend the existing labour laws to help labourers get proper justice from the labour court.

4 | News

Private medical and dental colleges are worried that they might not get as many

Irina Sobko points across a field of wilted sunflowers to a town controlled by Russian-backed rebels where she says there won’t be any voting.

5 | News

A group of agents of Jubok, a multi-level marketing company that embezzled clients’ deposits, have been said to be trying to lure cheated depositors into investing money again.

6 | Nation

Nearly 1,800 land phone users in Gaibandha suffer for more than a month as the BTCL office in the district fails to restore land phone lines.

Thousands of professional journals across the world testify to the position of the scientific method as the sole criteria for real knowledge creation.

A solo painting exhibition ‘Searching Myself,’ by Monjur Rashid is being held in Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD), and will continue till November 3.

13 | Sport

Clashes between Real Madrid and Barcelona are rarely short on drama and Saturday’s La Liga ‘Clasico’ may have more than its usual share with Luis Suarez poised to return from a biting ban and Barca team mate Lionel Messi on the brink of equalling the top-flight scoring record.

Muhammad Abu Bakar Siddique Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan has urged the Muslim world to stop Bangladesh from taking “illegal actions” against Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.

Pakistan Jamaat chief Siraj-ul-Haq made the call on Thursday night following the death of former Bangladesh Jamaat ameer and convicted war criminal Ghulam Azam.

Mastermind of many notorious war crimes of Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War with Pakistan, Ghulam Azam died of cardiac arrest at 10:10pm Thursday.

Pakistan Jamaat mourned the death of the war criminal who had been serving a 90-year jail term. Its official Facebook page also prayed so Ghulam Azam is granted heaven.

The Pakistan Jamaat ameer said: “Bangladesh government put him [Ghulam Azam] into jail because he stood against Indian conspiracies.

“Muslim world should stop bangladesh from taking illegal actions against Jamaat-e-Islami.”

The page calls for accepting Ghulam’s “good efforts for the Muslim world.”

The Pakistan Jamaat also announced a gayebi janaza (funeral prayer in absentia) for Ghulam for today.

Ghulam Azam, the guru of anti-liberation Jamaat-e-Islami, became the symbol of all war crimes of 1971. He was given 90-year imprisonment by a tribunal although he deserved death by hanging for committing heinous crimes, the trial court said in its judgement last year.

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Ghulam Azam’s burial now a family affair Tribune Report Within 14 hours of the convicted war criminal Ghulam Azam’s death his family members came up with another story of his last wish.

Ghulam Azam’s fourth son Abdullahil Aman Azmi yesterday evening said he would conduct his father’s namaz-ejanza according to his last wish.

The janaza will be held today after Zohr prayers at Baitul Mukarram national mosque. He will be buried following the lone janaza at Moghbazar family graveyard.

Aman said the decision had been made at a family meeting.

“Before his death father said his eldest son Abdullahil Mamun Azmi would conduct the janaza. If he is not available then Motiur Rahman Nizami or Delawar Hossain Sayedee will conduct it,” he said.

“As I told him Mamun was living abroad and might not manage to come in time, he named Nizami and Sayedee.

I told him that they were in jail and might not be available. Then he asked me to conduct the janaza.

“Our family members also wanted me to conduct the janaza. So, we did not apply to the government to realese Nizami and Sayedee on parole,” he said.

However, after Ghulam Azam’s death was formally announced on Thursday night, his lawyer Tajul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that Ghulam Azam had wished to be buried beside the grave of his father at the family graveyard on Moghbazar Kazi Office Lane.

But the family members were yet to make any plan about his namaz-ejanaza.

But shortly after the conversation, Tajul told reporters in a briefing that Ghulam had expressed his last wish that the janaza be conducted by incumbent Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami; if not possible, then Delawar

Emran Hossain Shaikh

The body of convicted war criminal Ghulam Azam being taken to his Moghbazar residence from Dhaka Medical College after autopsy yesterday Hossain Sayedee.

However, when contacted yesterday evening he said: “We are not going to seek their parole as his [Ghulam Azam] family finds it unrealistic.”

Nizami and Sayedee are both in jail. Sayedee was sentenced to imprisonment until death for committing crimes against humanity during the

1971 Liberation War. On the other hand, Nizami’s war crimes case is pending at a war crimes tribunal for verdict.

Asked if there was any possibility to release two war criminals to conduct Ghulam Azam’s janaza, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said: “A convicted criminal can be released on parole if his nearest relative

Latif Siddique expelled from Awami League, eventually Emran Hossain Shaikh Former posts, telecommunications and information technology minister Abdul Latif Siddique, who drew flak for his derogatory remarks on hajj and Tablighi Jamaat, was eventually expelled from the Awami League yesterday.

The Awami League Central Working Committee (ALCWC) made the decision at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

After the meeting, the party’s General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam told reporters that Latif had been expelled from the party for hurting religious sentiments of the Muslims.

“As his [Latif] reply to the showcause notice was not satisfactory, the party made the decision to expel him and cancel his primary membership in accordance with the party’s charter,” he said, adding that Latif would not be allowed to appeal against the decision.

Describing Latif as a former minister and former presidium member of the ruling party, Ashraful said he had attacked religion.

“He has hurt the hearts of the Muslims and his statement has embarrassed the countrymen,” he said.

Ashraful said the Election Commission would take the decision whether Latif would be able to retain the post of

lawmaker or not.

Sources said many ALCWC members, including Matia Chowdhury, Mohammed Nasim and Sheikh Selim, attended the meeting. They termed Latif’s explanation intolerable and recommended his primary membership be cancelled.

The Awami League chief agreed to the recommendation, saying that there was no chance to consider clemency as

The AL chief agreed to the recommendation, saying that there was no chance to consider clemency as Latif’s statement was against the party’s charter Latif’s statement was against the party’s charter.

“His offence is unforgivable. I agree with all of you to expel him,” an organising secretary of the party told the Dhaka Tribune quoting the premier.

Several ALCWC members told the Dhaka Tribune Latif had defended himself in his explanation and did not regret the controversial statement he had made even for once.

Sources said Latif only requested

the party not to cancel his primary membership on humanitarian grounds as he had been with the party for long.

While addressing a programme in the US on September 28, Latif made derogatory remarks on hajj, Tablighi Jamaat and Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of the prime minister.

The comments sparked widespread criticism in the country and abroad as well.

In the wake of the incident, the government fired Latif from the cabinet on October 12 and on the same day, Awami League removed him from its presidium body and temporarily cancelled his primary membership.

Latif got involved with Awami League politics by joining the Chhatra League. He was an elected vice-president of Korotia Sadat College student union in 1964-65. He was elected an Awami League lawmaker in 1970.

He was further elected MP in 1973, 1996, 2008 and 2014, and served as a minister from 2009 till his expulsion.

Latif was elected the party’s presidium member, the highest policy-making body, in 2009. He was a central committee member of the party and held a number of posts in the Tangail district unit committee at different times.

Latif has been in India for around two weeks after returning from the US.

Ghulam’s Jamaat: Genesis of genocide PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

offences committed by the accused, we unanimously hold that he deserves the highest punishment, i.e. capital punishment.”

But in consideration of Ghulam’s age and heath condition the judges took a lenient view in sentencing him and awarded him 90 years in jail.

“From the facts of common knowledge, we hold that any order or direction given by a religious leader like accused Ghulam Azam was always considered more powerful than that of an army general,” the verdict reads.

The judgement reads: “And after 42 years, it is noticed that some of the anti-liberation people are still staying at the helm of the Jamaat-e-Islami. As a result, the young generation belonging to the Jamaat-e-Islami are being psychologically reared up and nurtured with anti-liberation sentiments and communal feelings, which is a matter of great anxiety for a nation.

“There is no proof before the nation that those who played an anti-liberation role in 1971 have ever changed their attitude towards the liberation

Hasina: Khaleda losing ground by threatening government

war by expressing repentance or by showing respect to the departed souls of 3 million martyrs.”

After the death of Ghulam many justice seekers also raised this issue.

Shahriar Kabir, a leading war crimes researcher, told the Dhaka Tribune over the phone that according to his lawyer, Ghulam Azam expressed his last wish that his janaza be conducted by incumbent Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, or if that was not possible, then

by Delawar Hossain Sayedee.

“Sayedee is a convicted war criminal and Nizami is an accused war criminal.

Ghulam Azam wanted his janaza to be contacted by war criminals, not by any other person,” Shahriar said, “It proves that until his death Ghulam Azam’s commitment was to war crimes and war criminals. He did not even want to apologize for his criminal acts and anti-Bangladesh role.”

The tribunal judgement also said: “In the interest of establishing a democratic as well as non-communal Bangladesh, we observe that no such anti-liberation people should be allowed to sit at the helm of executives of the

government, social or political parties, including government and non-government organisations.

“We are of the opinion that the government may take necessary steps to that end for debarring those anti-liberation persons from holding the said superior posts in order to establish a democratic and non-communal country for which millions of people sacrificed their lives during the War of Liberation.”

The judges said in the judgment: “It is an irony to note that during the independence of both Pakistan and Bangladesh, Jamaat-e-Islami played a foul role on two great occasions having no contribution to the creation of the said two states.”

The judgement observed that the Jamaat-e-Islami had utterly failed to realise the pulse of the common people on both the historic occasions mentioned above, probably due to the lack of far-sightedness caused by fanaticism.

When the movement for the independence of Pakistan began, the then founding chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Abul A’la Maudoodi opposed the idea of a separate state for Muslims.

dies. They are not his relatives.”

Earlier on the day Ghulam’s body was taken to Dhaka Medical College morgue from BSMMU for autopsy. After autopsy his son Abdullahil Aman Azmi received the body at 7:40am.

He took the body to their Moghbazar house.

Sources said many absconding lead-

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

ers of Jamaat’s central and Dhaka city unit including acting ameer Mokbul Ahmed, city Nayeb-e-Ameer Hamidur Rahman Azad, Nurul Islam Bulbul, Abdullah Muhammad Tarek came to see the body.

Either they used cars of some media houses or lawyers for their secret visit to Ghulam Azam’s Moghbazar house.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is not aware that she is losing ground by making frequent threats of ousting the government.

“We have come to know that Khaleda Zia has been issuing threats very frequently. But, I would ask her if she is aware that she is losing ground by making such threats,” Hasina, the president of the ruling Awami League, said while addressing her party’s working committee meeting at the Ganabhaban yesterday.

She also said the BNP chief was never comfortable with the people of the country living in a good, peaceful condition.

Warning that destructive activities in the name of movements will not be tolerated, the premier said: “Anyone harming the people will not be spared.”

Replying to Khaleda’s remark that the economic condition of the people was worsening, the PM said: “Look at yourself, from where do you get these surprisingly valuable clothes and ornaments?”

Hasina also said Khaleda Zia had been holding public rallies and declaring new programmes to avoid appearing before the court.

She noted that Bangladesh made a new record in world history by being elected for the top posts of two global organisations - Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).

On Khaleda’s claim that the government has no global recognition, LGRD Minister and AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said the BNP chief made such comments based on her own political ignorance.

Dhaka to join China-led multilateral agency PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

source of funds for Bangladesh,” he said.

He said WB interest rates rarely topped 0.75 %.

In reply to a question on US reservations about the new multilateral agency, Mirza said: “I do not think there will be any retaliation from the US government or the World Bank because Bangladesh signed the MoU.” China, which is keen to extend its influence in the region, has limited voting power over these existing banks despite being the world’s second-largest economy.

The AIIB, launched in Beijing at a

ceremony attended by Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei and delegates from 21 countries including India, Thailand and Malaysia, aims to give project loans to developing nations. China is set to be the largest shareholder with a stake of up to 50 percent.

Indonesia, where President Xi Jinping first spoke of the AIIB during an October visit last year, was not present and neither were South Korea nor Australia, according to agency reports.

Media reports claimed US Secretary of State John Kerry put pressure on Australia to stay out of the Chinese bank.

The Australian Financial Review

said yesterday that Kerry had personally asked Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to keep Australia out of the AIIB. “Australia has been under pressure from the US for some time to not become a founding member of the bank and it is understood Mr Kerry put the case directly to the prime minister when the pair met in Jakarta on Monday following the inauguration of Indonesian President Joko Widodo,” the paper said.

South Korea, one of Washington’s strongest diplomatic allies in Asia, has yet to say whether it will formally participate in the bank.

Four Indian airports on alert over bomb threat 0500 hrs. Suicide bomber in each flight separately. Please check thoroughly,” reads the letter.

“Secondary security checks may be carried out at Ahmedabad and Mumbai airports for all flights around the concerned dates,” adds the letter forwarded to concerned officials on October 22 by regional deputy commissioner of security (Civil Aviation), Ahmedabad.

Reports said the new security measures included increased checks on passengers, tightening of access control and putting anti-hijacking units on alert. The two other airports mentioned in the email are Ahmedabad and

Kochi.

The email reached the Kolkata office of the Airports Authority of India on Thursday night, following which the security at these air ports were increased.

The Ahmedabad Mirror reported quoting a letter from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security that the email warned that the suicide bombers would try to board the Air India flight from Ahmedabad to Mumbai on Friday midnight and the Mumbai-Kochi flight this morning.

Airport director AKC Nair told PTI that they received the information from Kolkata. “There was a threat of bomb attack or bomb suicide attack,”

he said.

Soon after an alarm was raised, security was tightened in and around Kochi airport. “After intense search and combing operation we could not find anything unusual,” a senior airport official said.

A high-level meeting was convened this morning by CISF DIG Anand Mohan, who arrived in Kochi from Chennai, to review the security at the airport.

A bomb detection and disposal squad, Quick Response team, CISF and police are keeping a constant vigil at the airport.

Security at the airport perimeter entrance has also been further tightened.

The judgement reads: “In fact, Muslims of Bengal mainly fought for the independence of a separate homeland for Muslims. As soon as Pakistan got its independence in 1947, the Jamaat-e-Islami claimed itself as the only Islamic patriotic political party of Pakistan.

“While people of East Pakistan again started to struggle for self determination and independence, the Jamaat-e-Islami as a political party wholeheartedly tried to resist independence of Bangladesh in collaboration with Pakistan occupation army.

“But as soon as Bangladesh achieved its independence in 1971 at the cost of millions of lives, the Jamaat-e-Islami claimed itself as a true patriotic party of Bangladesh, terming the pro-liberation parties to be Indian agents.”

In separate verdicts of war crimes cases, Tribunal 2 also widely discussed the role of Jamaat in organising the collaborating forces named “Razakar Force, al-Badr, al-Shams and al-Mujahid” during the Liberation War in 1971.

The Jamaat, a self-styled Islamic party and brainchild of controversial Islamist thinker Maududi, was signifi-

cantly proactive in its mission to wipe out the Bangalee nation in the name of protecting Pakistan in collaboration with the Pakistan occupation army.

International Crimes Tribunal 2, in a judgement, said Ghulam Azam played a pivotal role in forming the Shanti [peace] Committee, Razakar, al-Badr, al-Shams [collaborating paramilitary forces]. Jamaat and its student wing were behind the formation of al-Badr, the force that planned the slaughter of Bangalee intellectuals.

Ghulam Azam, who was chief of Jamaat in 1971, masterminded all the heinous crimes committed by his party, by both its student wing and the leaders of the organisation.

Even after the birth of independent Bangladesh in 1971 Ghulam tried to revive East Pakistan. He collected funds for “safeguarding the ideals of Pakistan” and orchestrated a propaganda campaign against Bangladesh around the world.

Ghulam who fled Bangladesh before its victory in December 1971 returned to Bangladesh during General Ziaur Rahman’s regime in 1978, travelling on

a Pakistani passport. Initially he kept his activities limited to party programs.

In 1981 when Ghulam first appeared publicly to attend a janaza at Baitul Mokarram Mosque of two Bangladeshis who died in Palestine, some people beat Ghulam with their shoes to express their hatred and disgust towards the infamous war criminal.

A picture of Ghulam’s face and head being beaten with shoes was published in a newspaper the following day.

After Ghulam died Saturday night at the age of 92, many people celebrated his death and some demanded that he not be buried in Bangladeshi soil, because he spent his life against this country and was loyal to Pakistan.

Some people in Ghulam’s home district of Brahmanbaria announced that they would prevent any attempt to bury his body in their district.

Ghulam’s family has decided to bury him at the family graveyard in Moghbazar in the capital, an area known to be a den of Jamaat activism as its headquarters, newspaper offices and other offices are located in this area.

PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

3

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Labour ministry to set time frame for quick case disposal Mohosinul Karim The Labour and Employment Ministry has taken an initiative to amend some provisions of the existing labour laws to help labourers get proper justice from the labour court.

State Minister for Labour and Employment Mojibul Haque Chunnu requested Law Minister Anisul Haq to take the initiative.

The law minister consented to my suggestion, said Chunnu.

He said: “The ministry wants to set a time frame for quick disposal of labour cases as the tribunals cannot take unlimited time. The time must not go beyond four to six months.”

The provision of filing writ petition with the HC to stay the order or verdict of the labour court will be scrapped, he said. The owners should not go to the HC to file a writ petition without exhausting the process in the labour appellate tribunal, he said. “There is no scope for filing writ petition against the judgement of administrative tribunal.”

The cases filed in the labour court are usually regarded as civil suit but the provision will also be changed, he noted saying that the cases be treated as criminal cases after the amendment.

The junior minister hoped the amendment will reduce the number of labour cases and ensure justice for workers.

At present a total of 16,092 labour cases filed under the labour act had remained under trial in eight labour courts of the country including the labour appellate tribunal until September 30.

The number of cases was 15,553 in last August. In September 1,147 more cases added to the previous figure. But

as 608 cases were disposed of by the time the number stood at 16092.

According to the Labour Ministry, the number of pending (under trial) cases is going up every day due to shortage of tribunals, negligence of the industry owners and loopholes in the existing labour law.

A total of 16,092 labour cases filed under the labour act has remained under trial in eight labour courts According to the officials of the labour ministry there is no time frame for disposal of cases in the existing labour law. As a result, the cases are disposed of at a slow pace.

Besides, factory or industry owners prefers High Court (HC) to that of the appellate tribunal for filing writ petitions against verdicts given by the labour court.

After they receive stay order from the HC they try to buy time resulting in delay in the total process.

As the justice is delayed the plaintiffs lose interest and do not want to run the case. In most cases they get into a deal with the labour court lawyers.

As per the deal the lawyers run the case and finally when the case is disposed of they go fifty-fifty on the compensation.

As the plaintiffs never get justice because of the owners’ delaying tactic most workers settle the issue amicably by a third party without filing any case against owners, officials of the ministry said.

Children playing on one of the large chars that recently emerged on the Padma River with a fall in its water level. The photo was taken from Berpara area in Poba upazlia of Rajshahi AZAHAR UDDIN

Kalpana Chakma abduction probe report deadline extended Our Correspondent, Khagrachhari A Rangamati court has extended the deadline for submission of the probe report on the abduction of Kalpana Chakma by a month.

Senior judicial magistrate of Rangamati District Sessions Judge Court Md Rokon Uddin Kabir passed the order on Thursday in response to a petition for extension of time.

The petition was submitted by Kotong police inspector Md Abul Kalam on behalf of Rangamati Police Super

Amena Begum, also the investigating officer in the case.

The probe report should be submitted on November 25, said the judge.

Kalpana, president of Hill Women’s Federation, remains missing after she was picked by army officials from her own residence in Baghaichhari on the night of June 12, 1996. The abductee’s elder brother Kalindi Kumar Chakma filed an abduction case with Baghaichhari police station the following day.

Hill organisations and the plaintiff have accused Lt Ferdous and three

VDP officials of kidnapping Kalpana for long. Several investigation reports have been submitted in the last 18 years but none contained the four names, causing the plaintiff to repeatedly submit no-confidence petitions.

On January 12 last year, CID submitted a probe report to Rangamati Chief Judicial Magistrate Court but the plaintiff filed a no-confidence petition again and demanded judicial probe into the case.

The court on January 16 ordered the Rangamati police super to carry out a fresh investigation.

Mixed reaction over Ghulam Azam’s death DU Correspondent

Members of different leftist organisations holding letter cutouts to pay tribute to Language Movement hero Abdul Matin at capital’s Central Shaheed Minar yesterday MAHMUD OPU

Did Indian ponzi scheme fund Bangladeshi terrorists?

Tribune Desk Investigators in India are taking a close look at links between an Indian ponzi scam and a Bangladeshi bank being investigated here for ties to terrorist funding.

The Times of India reports that Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited was in the spotlight for laundering money for Saradha Group, which is now under investigation for operating a ponzi scheme and siphoning money out of India.

Bangladeshi investigators have been trying to determine if Saradha funds managed to find their way to banned militant outfits like Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), as Indian investigators were investigating whether the funds were routed through Islami Bank.

Investigators in India were attempting to follow the money trail as media reports ask whether a portion of Saradha deposits was parked in the Bangladeshi bank and why.

“There are indications that some top officials of the Islami Bank have links with people in Kolkata who have subsequent links with the Saradha scam.

The name of this bank came up while trying to trace the money trail. There are some financial institutions operated by this bank that are also being probed by the home ministry in Ban-

gladesh for funding in terror activities.

The government of Bangladesh had sought a report from the Islami Bank on how it disbursed funds,” a source in India’s enforcement directorate said.

There is suspicion that some of Islami Bank’s customers may appear on international blacklists, the Times of India reported.

It said funds may have been disbursed to suspect individuals or organisations as a form of what the newspaper described as “corporate zakat,” adding that India might seek Bangladeshi assistance in determining whether the bank invested in the Gulf on behalf of a client.

“The key to terrorism is funds. The role of financial institutions, such as the Islami Bank, was suspect for quite some time now. The global intelligence fraternity has been trying to trace the source of money that flows into the hands of terrorists. Even the US Senate Committee has accused the Islami Bank of funding terror outfits. The bank is allegedly backed by the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh which has established links to the JMB. It has been alleged that the present chairman was once a leader of al-Badr and the former vice-chairman is being tried for his alleged involvement in war crimes in Bangladesh,” a source in India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) said.

Dhaka University (DU) students yesterday expressed mixed reactions over the death of war crimes mastermind Ghulam Azam, who breathed his last on Thursday night at the intensive care unit of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).

Soon after the news of his death spread on Thursday night, a group of DU students took out a procession in the Teachers and Students Centre (TSC) area of the campus and chanted slogans against Gulam Azam and other war criminals of the 1971 Liberation War. In the slogans, the students said the Pakistani collaborator had no right to be buried in Bangladesh and demanded that his body should be sent to Pakistan for burial.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday, some students expressed satisfaction over his death while many others said they were disappointed as Ghulam Azam was spared from punishment be-

cause of old age.

“We were not ready for the natural death of a war criminal, we expected him to be hanged for the crimes he committed during 1971,” said Hussain Saddam, a first-year student of the law department.

“A notorious war criminal like Ghulam Azam does not deserve a natural death, he should have been executed for his crimes,” said Bahar Uddin, a graduate student of the university’s philosophy department.

On Friday morning, general and former students of the university along with members from several cultural, political and social bodies organised a rally demanding quick punishment of all war criminals.

Meanwhile, several organisations, including Bangladesh Online Activists Forum, National Democratic League, Kazi Aref Foundation and a faction of Ganajagoron Mancho arranged rally in front of National Press Club demanding Ghulam Azam’s body to be sent to Pakistan for burial.

SAGAR-RUNI MURDER CASE

RAB: 2 guards concealed information Tribune Report The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on October 21 filed a petition with the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court seeking a seven-day remand for two security guards of the residence of journalist couple Sagar and Runi The court fixed October 30 for the hearing on the remand prayer.

The IO in the remand prayer said security guards – Enam Ahmed alias Humayun Kabir and Palash – concealed truth from apartment owners Nur Nabi about the murders of journalist couple on February 11, 2012.

Nur Nabi heard the sound of weeping in between 5am and 5:15am on the night of incident and asked guard Palash to find out the source of weeping, the IO mentioned in the plea.

But the guard provided misleading information to Nur Nabi saying that the sounds may have been generated from other apartments.

As the RAB found some important information after it quizzed witnesses to the case it is planning to further quiz the two accused to get further information on relatives, friends and associates of Sagar and Runi.

Humayun Kabir, a general recording officer of the CMM court, told the Dhaka Tribune The IO prayed for a seven-day remand. The hearing on the

prayer will be held on October 30.

Since April 2012 when the HC tasked RAB with the investigation into the murder case the elite force has repeatedly sought time to complete the probe citing different reasons.

Earlier, RAB told the media that the submission of the charge sheet had been delayed as they were yet to get the DNA report. They have received the report from the USA recently but now it says they need more time to analyse it considering sensitivity of the case.

Very recently, a Dhaka court has given the RAB time until November 2 to submit the probe report.

Sagar Sarowar, a news editor at Maasranga and his wife Meherun Runi, senior reporter of ATN Bangla, were killed on their rented flat in the capital’s West Rajabazar on February 11, 2012.

DB police detained four suspects and interrogated around 40 people. As they failed to make any progress, the HC in April 2012 handed the case over to RAB. Earlier, a Dhaka court fixed September 18 to submit the charge sheet but Investigation Officer Md Wares Ali Miah, also an assistant superintendent of police, failed to turn in the charge sheet on that day.

He submitted a progress report instead and sought more time.

The report says: “RAB sent different types of samples to the USA for DNA

tests in a bid to unveil the clues and motives behind the twin murders. RAB got the DNA test report recently and is now analysing the results.”

He, however, did not mention the specific date of getting the results.

Asked about delay in the investigation, earlier Wares Ali, also assistant director of investigation and forensic wing of RAB, denied making any comment without consent of the force’s media wing.

He said in the progress report that they were conducting the investigation carefully upon directives from the higher authorities of RAB. In response, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Amit Kumar Dey ordered the investigator to record statements of the couple’s only son Mahir Sarowar Megh and Runi’s mother and brother and scrutinise mobile phone records of the two guards who were working at the couple’s residence at the time of the incident.

He also sought the final probe report by November 2.

Protests held against Ghulam Azam’s burial in Brahmanbaria Our Correspondent, Brahmanbaria Freedom fighters and activists of the 14-party Alliance in Brahmanbaria staged protest against the burial of convicted war criminal Ghulam Azam in the district, which is his home district.

The protesters warned his family not to take his body to Brahmanbaria district, saying they would confront them if they did.

They also brought out a procession at the Nabinagar Upazila Complex premises and then arranged a rally in the upazila’s Press Club after marching different roads in the area.

Taking part in the protest, Jahir Uddin Chowdhury, a freedom fighter and a member of Awami League’s Nabinagar unit, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The people of this district feel ashamed that the top convicted war criminal is from this district.”

Shafiqul Islam, president of Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal’s Nabinagar unit, said: “His death will remove the stigma now. We will never allow his burial here if his family decides to do so.”

Residents of Azam’s village Birgao had little reaction over his death, however. Many said the last time he had visited the village was in 2008. At that time, he founded a madrasa near his house, they said.

Only the students and teachers at the madrasa and a few neighbours arranged his funeral in absentia, said a villager named Faruque.

Sainik League leader killed in Bogra Hasibur Rahman Bilu, Bogra A Sainik League Leader was killed in a factional clash between two groups of the organisation at Awami League office in Bogra yesterday.

The deceased’s name was Shimul Haque Rehan.

He was the convener of the new committee of Sainik League in Bogra.

Bogra Police Super (SP) Md Mozammel Haque said Shimul along with some of his followers went to the party office in the district yesterday evening.

Shimul had an altercation with Shabuj, the former convener, and his associates there.

A brawl ensued and at one point Shabuj stabbed Shimul with a sharp instrument and injured him critically.

Shimul was rushed to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital where the duty doctors declared him dead.

SP Mozammel told the Dhaka Tribune that police arrested Sabuj, the mastermind behind the murder, and four others around 8.15pm.

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Private medical colleges fear student shortage Moniruzzaman Uzzal Private medical and dental colleges are worried that they might not get as many students as they want for MBBS and BDS courses in the session 2014-2015.

This year, a total of 69,477 candidates applied for medical studies.

Public and private medical and dental colleges have a total of 9,623 seats, with 3,708 at 28 public medical colleges and nine dental colleges.

The remaining 65,769 candidates will vie to secure seats at 55 private medical colleges and 18 dental colleges.

‘We want at least 45,000 candidates to be eligible to apply to be admitted at private medical and dental colleges’ The Health Ministry, in a bid to ensure quality education at the private medical institutions, said candidates will have to get 40 out of 100 in the MCQ test this year.

Private medical institution officials, however, said they were concerned about the ministry’s decision as they believe such a decision would prove troublesome.

Sources say a number of top officials of Bangladesh Private Medical College Association (BPMCA) met the health minister on Thursday. It was said they would urge the minister not to publish test results before finding a solution if enough students failed to score 40.

A total of 29,650 students got 40 in the previous admission test. No mini-

Two found dead in Chittagong FM Mizanur Rahaman Two persons, identities yet to be known, were found dead in Chittagong yesterday.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Zafar Iqbal of Kotwali police station said they recovered the body of one person from the second floor of Scout Building of Polo ground area in the city.

The person might have died two or three days ago, he said.

Sitakundu police station Sub-Inspector Bashir Uddin said they recovered the body of a person beside the Dhaka-Chittagong highway at Fouzdarhat area around 11:30am.

He said the person might have been strangled to death and his body dumped here. Both bodies have been sent to the Chittagong Medical Hospital morgue for autopsy.

Cases were filed with Kotowali and Sitakundu police stations respectively.

Families of Natore road accident victims get Tk1 lakh each

mum pass mark was set as any candidate scoring 120 out of 200 was eligible to apply. Of the 200 marks, 100 is calculated based on a candidate’s SSC and HSC results (60% of HSC and 40% of SSC) and the rest comes from the admission test.

This year, however, no student will be allowed to apply if he does not obtain a minimum of 40 marks in the written test.

Last year, several hundred seats remained vacant, sources say. A total of 465 students preivatye who scored 110 were allowed to enrol in compliance with a High Court directive. The Health Ministry challenged the decision and the High Court later passed an order in favour of the ministry.

However, the order was again challenged by the BPMCA and it has not yet been disposed of.

BPMCA President Dr Moazzem Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune he was concerned about the number of candidates who would be able to score 40 in the admission test.

“We will propose to withdraw the pass mark bar. We want at least 45,000 candidates to be eligible to apply to be admitted at private medical and dental colleges. Last year, the ministry kept the option open for more than 50,000 students,” he added.

Professor Dr ABM Abdul Hannan, director of medical education at the health directorate, told the Dhaka Tribune there was no such plan yet to change the pass mark bar.

The medical admission test was held yesterday. Each year, test results are published within 48 hours of the exam but it will be published late this year, Health Ministry sources said.

Aspirants taking the admission test of Dhaka Medical College Hospital for session 2014-15 yesterday at the Arts building in Dhaka University

Housewife’s hanging body found in capital Tribune Report A body of a housewife hanging from a ceiling fan was recovered from a residence in capital’s Pallabi area yesterday.

The deceased is Tania Akter, 22, wife of Ratan Miji, an expatriate in Bahrain.

Hijras demand proper recognition as the third gender Adil Sakhawat The hijra community in the country demanded to be properly recognised as the “third gender” in a press conference at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity’s Sagar-Runi Auditorium in the capital yesterday.

At the event, organised by Bondhu Social Welfare Society and UNAIDS, hijra leaders urged the government to ensure safety and basic rights for their community.

Ananna Banik, a representative of the community, said: “On November 10 last year, the government recognised us as the third gender. We are really grateful for the decision, but since then we have seen hardly any progress to implement that decision.

“So we urge the government to take the next step to really recognise us as the third gender.”

Joya Shikder, president at Sex Workers’ Network of Bangladesh, said: “The government has not place a gazette in parliament after deciding to recognise

a third gender. The hijras in the country are still facing many problematic situations, and they are still deprived of basic rights.”

Bobi Hijra, executive director of Shustho Jibon, said: “We still do not get listed as a third gender in voter’s ID card or passport. We are still not entitled to our inheritance like our siblings under the rule of law. The sooner the government took action in this regard, the sooner it would get better for us.”

The speakers at the event also asked for quota system in academic and professional fields. The hijra activists also announced an upcoming event to raise awareness among people about the lifestyle, traditions and history of discrimination and oppression of the hijra community at the press conference.

Titled Hijra Pride 2014, the event, which aims to be the first colourful event to celebrate hijras, will take place on November 2 at the divisional level around the country, and on November 8-10 in the capital.

Pallabi police station Sub-Inspector Md Farooq-uz-Zaman said: “Yesterday Tania’s in-laws informed us that she had committed suicide at 10am. A team of police then went to the spot and recovered the dead body of the girl hanging from the ceiling fan. There were no marks of injury on her body.”

Tania’s uncles Abul Hossain and Jahir Uddin said Tania married to Ratan one-and-a-half years ago. Although she was supposed to go to Bahrain and live with her husband, her in-laws were creating obstacles.

“Ten days ago Tania had submitted all necessary papers to go to Bahrain.

She was expected to travel in the first week of next month. The annoyed inlaws killed her and hanged her body when they failed to cancel her trip,” said Abul Hossain.

They said they would file a case against Tania’s in-laws with Pallabi police station.

Shape the country’s history along its Liberation War spirit, historians urge govt Abu Hayat Mahmud Historians urged the government at a seminar yesterday to shape the country’s history along its liberation war spirit.

They also spoke for adding the country’s true history up to the year 1975 to the texts of all educations, including that of madrasa.

Bangladesh Itihas Sammilani (BIS) organised the seminar titled ‘Bangladesh’s study of history in new dimension: Liberation War’ at Sufia Kamal Auditorium of the National Museum in the capital.

BIS President Muntasir Mamun, Vice-president Prof Taibul Hasan Khan and Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee acting president Shahriar Kabir, among others, spoke at the seminar.

“After 1947, studying history based on Pakistani genre had influenced us for the movement demanding Bangla as a mother language and it also influenced us for the liberation war. So our history should be based on the liberation war spirit,” said Shahriar Kabir.

He said after 1947, Pakistani schol-

Tribune Desk

ars wrote their history fully based on Pakistani nationalism and spirit. On the other hand, Indian historians cited the liberation war between India and Pakistan, not between Bangladesh and Pakistan.

“The ‘Ga’ category history was written by Bangladeshis based on our liberation war. However, the books authored by pro-BNP writers seem to be the party’s manifestos because those books are written with distorting history for serving BNP’s agenda only,” he said.

“In the same category, Prof Muntasir Mamun’s books are pure and reflect on the country’s original history up to 1975, and all those books should be added in the curriculum of every level of all educational institutions” he added.

Shahriar Kabir pointed out that Bangabandhu’s March 7 speech is absent from Muntasir Mamun’s all books and suggested its inclusion in all his books.

Professor Muntasir Mamun, who also spoke at the seminar, said: “I have not added many items including Bangabandhu’s March 7 speech in my books due to chapters and words limitations.

However, I will consider this during the second edition of my books.”

He alleged that the country’s history was distorted during different military tenures but mostly during that of BNP founder Major Ziaur Rahman.

Dhaka University’s history professor Mesbah Kamal said:“A few leaders of those who led different sectors in our liberation war, had distorted the original history. AK Khandakar has recently followed the suit in his new book as like as BNP founder Major Zia did after Bangabandhu’s death in 1975.”

He also alleged that the conspirators had divided the country’s original history into two parts- Islamic History and General History, adding: “Islamic history was formed on the basis of Pakistani nationalism.”

Jagannath University’s history professor Mohammad Selim said: “After three decades of movements of Bangladesh Itihas Sammilani, the country’s original history has been added to the National University. It will also be added to the curriculum of every department at public and private university.”

Foreign minister terms Khaleda’s speech childish

Minister of Road Transport and Bridges Ministry Obaidul Quader distributed Tk1 lakh for each family of 35 victims who were killed in the road mishap on Monday in Natore yesterday.

The fatal accident occurred when two passenger buses collided head-on at Rajapur intersection under Boraigram upazila of Natore.

The minister distributed the money in a programme organised at Baraigram Upazila Auditorium around 5pm.

Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali at a press conference yesterday termed Khaldea Zia’s comment at a Nilphamary public rally completely childish.

Khaleda Zia on Thursday at the meeting said ‘no country has given recognition to the current illegitimate government’.

Bangladesh won Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Inter-parliamentary Union and UN Human Rights Council elections a few days back, the minister said adding: “If nobody has recognised the government then how we won those elections.”

The apparently annoyed minister also expressed his anger over the newspaper treatment on Prime Minister

4.44m students to get new books on January 1, 2015 Tribune Report Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said new books will distributed among 4.44 million students on the first day of next year. The education minister made the statement when he was addressing a meeting after inaugurating the new academic building of Brahmanbaria Government College yesterday.

Nahid said: “The numbers of boys and girls receiving primary education are now equal. ” MP RAM Obaidul Moktadir Chowdhury, Education Secretary Md Nazrul Islam Khan, VC of National University Dr Harun-or- Rashid also spoke to the meeting presided over by Prof Md Hanif.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sheikh Hasina’s press conference and Khaleda Zia’s Nilphamary meeting.

Many newspapers yesterday published the two news side by side; it is not right to do. “I have strong objection to such treatment. How come you publish the two news side by side,” he wondered.

Mahmood Ali got annoyed as he was asked about Bardhaman blast in West Bengal at the press conference organised to brief on the visits of President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to UAE. “Why do you want to divert my attention from the main issue. Today I came here to talk to you about the UAE visit. I have nothing to say about India.

I will speak about it at an opportune time. I have nothing to hide.”

CU student killed in road crash FM Mizanur Rahaman

Environmentalist Rameen Firoz speaking at a training session on climate change organised by the International Centre for Climate Change and Development at the Dhaka Tribune yesterday RAJIB DHAR

A final year political science student of the Chittagong University was killed and another was injured in a road accident in the Fatikchhari upazila of Chittagong yesterday.

The deceased is Md Shahdat Hos-

sen, 23, son of late Haji Bashir of the same upazila.

Nayek Abul Bashar of CMCH police outpost said the motorcycle carrying the two overturned after losing control on road in the Barayarhat area around 4:30pm. The doctors declared Shahdat dead on being taken to the hospital.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Jubok agents on the hunt again They recently held a meeting with clients at a school in Beltala area Our Correspondent, Barisal A group of agents of Jubok, a multi-level marketing company that embezzled clients’ deposits, have been said to be trying to lure cheated depositors into investing money again by promising return of their previous deposits.

A number of depositors said some Jubok agents recently held a meeting with them at Mojammel Hossain Khan Junior School in Beltala area. The attendees were told they could get back a portion of their earlier deposits if they made fresh investments in Venus Shopping Centre on KB Hemayetuddin road.

Apart from residential units, the two-storey shopping centre built on an

18-decimal land has 43 shops of a range of categories and the office of Karnaphuli Insurance Company Limited.

The Jubok agents proposed those who want to get a refund should invest Tk1.20 crore altogether. They said 60 people could deposit Tk20 lakh each that could lead to the refund of previous deposits.

In return of the fresh deposits, the depositors were promised ownership of the shopping centre. The agents also said the fresh depositors could get back their previous deposits and fresh deposits along with profits by selling the “valuable” property in the future.

Anisul Huq Kamal, president of the school’s management committee, said he had allowed some locals to hold a

meeting at the school but had no idea of its agenda. The school’s Headmaster Md Shakil, however, said some Jubok men arranged the meeting.

Md Babul Mia, a Jubok client from Bogra road area, said Jubok agent Md Rezaul Islam assured him of a full return of his previous and fresh investments at the meeting.

Syed Shah Newaz Shanu, president of Venus Shopping Center Traders’ Association, said the traders pay rents at Rupali Bank’s Barisal branch.

Rupali Bank officials, however, denied this, saying they get no rent from any of the traders. They also said the rents are paid at Janata Bank’s Barisal branch.

However, Janata Bank officials said

no trader of the market deposit rent with their bank. Golam Kabir, secretary of the association, said Jubok client Rashida Begum occupied a residential unit of the shopping centre and said she was the owner of the whole property.

“In 2010, she pressed the traders to pay rents. The association then lodged a case against her,” he said.

“The court in a ruling said no portion of the market should be sold or rented till the case was disposed of. A signboard was also placed in front of the market stating the court order,” he added.

Advocate Azad Rahman, lawyer of the association, said none could sell or hand over ownership of the property until the case was disposed of.

CMP conducts cleanliness campaign in Chittagong FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong The Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) initiated a cleanliness campaign in creating awareness among the city dwellers yesterday.

CMP police personnel initiated the special campaign by sweeping and dumping dust and wastes from different city streets and roads around 11am.

CMP Commissioner Abdul Jalil Mandol inaugurated the campaign at the Jamilatul Falah Masjid premises Wasa intersection area in the port city.

Officers of different levels, including the commissioner attended the drive

Our Correspondent, Sylhet An activist of Jubo League, Abdul Ali, 40, was shot dead by miscreants in the Companyganj upazila of Sylhet yesterday.

The Companyganj police station Officer-in-Charge Delwar Hossain said that Abdul was indiscriminately shot by some miscreants near Katakhal estuary while returning from Fedargaon to Katakhal village by boat yesterday evening.

Abdul who was severely injured was taken to Osmani Medical College Hospital where the doctors declared him dead around 7:30pm.

He said the incident might have taken place following disputes over establishing supremacy in the area. After the incident residents of Katakhal village went into hiding.

The deceased was the son of late Abdul Monaf from Companyganj village. There were cases pending against him at Companyganj police station, he added.

Quoting sources in Jubo League, the OC said although Abdul was associated with Jubo League, he did not hold any position there.

Trader dies after being attacked by dope gang in Tongi Tribune Report A cotton trader died yesterday a day after he was found unconscious at Tongi, in the outskirts of Gazipur.

Arbindu Roy, 43, son of late Aroni Roy from Rangpur, died at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital around 2:30pm. He used to live with his family in the Tongi area.

His wife Swapna Roy said her husband was attacked by the Agyan Party (dope gang) while returning home by bus from Motijheel in the capital.

Tongi police station Officer-inCharge Ismail Hossain said they did not know anything about this because no case has been filed with them as yet.

WEATHER

SUNNY SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 DHAKA

TOMORROW SUN RISES 6:01AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY 31 30 30 31 30 30 32 31

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

22 23 21 22 19 20 21 23

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

34.0ºC Sitakunda

19.0ºC Ishwardi

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

along with five hundred police personnel at the city’s Wasa, Dampara and Kazir Dewri area.

While attending the campaign the CMP Commissioner said, “CMP took the initiative in a bid to create awareness among the people on community efforts and it is also our duty.”

“We always admit that government and city corporations are only responsible to clean the garbage dumps lying all over the city.

But it would be better for all of us if people came up with their responsibilities and dump their wastes in dustbins,” he added.

CMP will continue such special drives for people’s awareness, said the commissioner.

Two jailed for appearing as proxy in exam

Jubo League activist shot dead in Sylhet

TODAY SUN SETS 5:24PM

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Saturday, October 25, 2014

4:44am 5:59am 11:43am 3:51pm 5:26pm 6:42 pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

Commuters counting extra fares on boats as the bailey bridge near Muradnagar upazila of Comilla collapsed on October 14 snapping road communication between Comilla and Nabinagar DHAKA TRIBUNE

A mobile court sentenced two people to one year’s imprisonment for appearing as proxy at the exam held for recruiting supervisors at the Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) yesterday.

The convicts were identified as Monirul Islam, a fourth year student of Islamic History department in Dhaka University and Aktaruzzman, a graduate student of the Physics Department in Jagannath University.

Proctor of Rajshahi University Tarikul Hasan said Monir and Aktar had been detained from room No 321 of the university’s science building while they were taking part in intake examination.

The proctor said both of them came to the examination hall with admit cards which was issued for one Abul Bashar.

Magistrate Jayasri Rani Roy sentenced them to a year’s imprisonment and fined them Tk1,000 each, he added.

Officer-in-Charge of the Motihar police station Alamgir Hossain said they arrested the fraud and were sent them to jail.

'Khulna Shipyard to add new Muhith: Islamist parties call hartal dimension to economy' for creating anarchy BSS Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan yesterday said the construction of container vessels in Khulna Shipyard would add a new dimension to the national economy.

“Khulna Shipyard is proved our ability by building a warship for the first time on the soil of this country,” he said while inaugurating as chief guest the construction of two container vessels of BIDB-UTC at the shipyard.

The vessels will be of 76 meters in length, 15 meters in width and seven meters in depth. The construction of the two vessels would cost Tk75 crore.

The shipping minister said the government is pledge-bound for overall development of country’s transport system.

The initiative to build container ves-

sel proved the government’s sincerity about transportation of goods on the river routes, he added.

Because of the government’s farsightedness, Khulna Shipyard would be continuing to build ships of different categories and earn reputation for the country, he hoped.

Referring to the country’s potentials to become a middle income nation by 2021, the minister said Khulna Shipyard is playing an important role for the national economy and has already earned fame as a profitable organization.

Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, MP, Khulna City Mayor M Maniruzzaman, Assistant Naval Chief Rear Admiral RU Ahmed, BIUB-UTC Chairman M Mizanur Rahman and Khulna Shipyard Limited Managing Director Commodore S. Irshad Ahmed also spoke on the occasion.

Our Correspondent, Sylhet Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith yesterday said Sunday’s hartal is meant for creating anarchy in the country.

Some islamist parties have called the hartal with an aim to create anarchy, he

told reporters yesterday afternoon while visiting Kazirbazar Bridge in Sylhet.

He opined that Bangladesh has been on the right track.

Criticising the BNP, Muhith said people do not like any tougher movement, but the party has been threaten-

ing for the last one year to launch such a movement in the country.

Sylhet City Awami League President Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran, General Secretary Asad Uddin Ahmed and Sylhet Sadar Upazilla Chairman Asfaq Ahmed among others were present.

'Biggest sea port to be built in Barisal' Our Correspondent, Jhalakathi Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu said the greatest seaport in southeast Asia and a dockyard would be built in Barisal.

Industries minister made the statement yesterday while he was addressing a meeting organised by Rajarpur upazila unit of Juba League as the chief guest.

Amu expressed his hope that the seaport will enrich our industry sector and the ships constructed at the dockyard will be exported to foreign countries.

The industries minister also said: “The Awami League government already established a university and an education board in Barisal. When construction of Payra Seaport in Patuakhali and Pad-

ma Bridge is completed, the people of this region will be benefited more.”

Member of Parliament Bajlul Haque Harun, Juba League’s Organising Secretary Faruq Hasan Tuhin and its Assistant Secretary Millat Hossain were present at the meeting which was presided over by Aslam Hossain Mridha, convener of Rajarpur upazila unit of Juba League.

Fair compensation for Rana Plaza victims demanded Tribune Report Workers of Rana Plaza staged a rally and formed a human chain in the capital yesterday demanding compensation for the families of the survivors and victims.

Around 100 workers gathered in front of the National Press Club yesterday.

Nazma Akhter, president of United Garment Workers Federation, said victims of collapsed Rana Plaza building did not get fair compensation until now, one and half years to the disaster.

Some serious injured survivors are living subhuman conditions as they were not rehabilitated as yet, she said.

While speaking, other leaders said that a Rana Plaza trust fund has been formed, but the $40m that is required for compensation of these victims is yet to be provided by the government,

buyers, owners and the BGMEA. They urged the government to follow the ILO convention in providing compensation.

Meanwhile, different organisations working for the rights of garment workers held a rally at the Rana Plaza site demanding initiatives to provide immediate compensation to victims.

Speakers at the rally said although 1,700 people were killed in the Rana Plaza collapse, the government compensated only 332 people.

They said it has been one and half years since the Rana Plaza collapsed on April 25, 2013, but a total of 158 workers of the building still remained missing and government did not provide any compensation to their family members.

The Textile Garments Workers Federation and the Garments Shramik Front organised the rally marking 18th months of the disaster.

United Garment Workers Federation form a human chain in front of the National Press Club in the capital yesterday demanding compensation for the families of the survivors and victims of Rana Plaza disaster NASHIRUL ISLAM

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Nation

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Gaibandha BTCL office remains inoperative Our Correspondent, Gaibandha Nearly 1,800 land phone users in Gaibandha suffer for more than a month as the BTCL office in the district fails to restore land phone lines which went dead due to a problem with the software.

Gaibandha BTCL sources said all the connections provided by the company went dead for the first time on September 5 this year. Engineers from Dhaka office replaced the main hard disk drive at the telephone exchange on September 15, but it went kaput again on September 22.

According to BTCL sources, the analogue telephone exchange was upgraded to a digital one in 2002. The telephone exchange has capacity to provide 2,300 connections, though currently 1,800 subscribers use BTCL lines.

Upazila Election Officer Shahinur Alam said the land phone at the office is lying dead for more than a moth. Office

works were hampered for the nonfunctioning land phones, he added.

Assistant Director of Gaibandha Fire Service and Civil Defence Md Kobad Ali said public could not contact them in cases of emergency. Other government offices were facing the same problem, said Kobad Ali. Mahmudul Gani Rizon, a local subscriber, said he could not contact his relatives who live abroad, as the main means of communication with them was the land phone. He has no other way of communication with them as the all the land phone connections in the district were inactive, he added.

Assistant Director of Gaibandha BTCL Kofil Uddin said all the land phone connections provided by the exchange were dead because of a software problem.

The connections could not be restored until a new hard disk drive, which needs to be imported from China, is installed, said the assistant director.

Two men take care of their cabbage field at Hargram village in Rajshahi yesterday. Growers of the district are expecting bumper yield of winter vegetables including brinjal, tomato and cauliflower this year AZAHAR UDDIN

Gafargaon roads in bad condition Our Correspondent, Mymensingh Multiple roads in Gafargaon upazila have become dilapidated for not undergoing repair for long. The condition of Gafargaon-Bhaluka road, Gafargaon-Mymensingh road and Gafargaon-Hossainpur road is rather worse.

The onus is on the Local Government Engineering Department to repair and maintain the roads but it is unable to do so because of lack of adequate funding, say sources.

The roads in the municipal area have also become hazardous. Waterlogging prevails on College road and the recent monsoon rain has created a host of small and large potholes on it. This is not only increasing the woes of commuters but is also causing road accidents.

Executive Engineer of Gafargaon Municipality Md Ataur Rahman said the roads under the municipality's remit would be repaired soon.

Waterlogging prevails on College road and the recent monsoon rain has created a host of small and large potholes on it Potholes have also appeared on roads in Shibganj Bazar, Shantiganj bus stop, Shibganj rail crossing, Bawa intersection and Bhawaliajor.

Sohanur Rahman Sohagm, president

of Gafargaon Upazila Pickup-Leguna and Mini Truck Owners' Association, said thousands of people are forced to commute on these roads every day as they have no alternative roads to reach their destinations, including district sadar and the capital.

Locals believe the lack of coordination among the Local Government Engineering Department, district council, local municipality, and Roads and Highways Department is hampering repairs of the roads.

Executive Engineer of the Roads and Highways Department Shamim Al Mamun repair would be initiated once the rainy season is over.

Gafargaon upazila engineer of the Local Government Engineering Department Tofazzal Hossain said repair initiatives are underway.

One Bangladeshi shot dead by BSF, another found dead in Indian territory Tribune Report A Bangladeshi was shot to death by members of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) along Kiranganj frontier in Shibganj upazila, Chapainawabganj early yesterday.

BGB sources said BSF members from Churi Anantapur camp had opened fire on Soleman Ali, 25, son of Ajabul Haque of Jaminpur village, when he had gone to the bordering area around 5am. He died on the spot.

Later, his body was found near the pillar No 179 of the bordering area. The body was sent to Chapainawabganj Sadar Hospital morgue.

A flag meeting was held between

BGB and BSF along the border in the afternoon over the incident.

Our Panchagarh correspondent reported that a Bangladeshi was found dead inside Indian territory along Sardarpara frontier, Panchagarh yesterday.

Commanding Officer of 18 Panchagarh BGB Battalion Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Ariful Haque said people of Bangram village in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India found the body of Ershad Ali, 30, son of Mohammad Ali of Pramanikpara village under Debiganj upazila of Chapainawabganj, about 50 meters inside of Indian side near Sardarpara border and informed BSF about the matter.

When the BSF confirmed the de-

Over 200 primary school students compelled to study under open sky Our Correspondent, Chandpur

Garment workers form a human chain in Savar outskirts of the capital yesterday with a call to ensure rights of labourers

DHAKA TRIBUNE

NEWS IN BRIEF One held with fake notes Police held one with fake notes of Tk84,000 from Khulna. The arrested, Nazir Molla, confessed of being leader of a syndicate engaged in producing fake notes.

Khulna Detective Branch Officer-in-Charge TM Rokonuzzaman said on Thursday night, the DB police recovered 84 counterfeit notes of Tk1,000 from Nazir Molla’s house in Dhopakhola village. Police said Nazir has been involved in fake note trading for long.

A case was filed with Fultola police station in this regard. – Our Correspondent, Khulna

15 crude bombs recovered in Chapainawabganj Rapid Action Battalion-5 recovered 15 fresh crude bombs from a mango orchard in Moharajpur upazila of Chapainawabganj yesterday. RAB-5 Camp Commander Major Kamruzzaman said the bombs were found in an abandoned state from inside a pile

of stones in the orchard. They suspected that the bombs were stored there to use for subversive activists in Ramchandrapur village in Ranihati union of the upazila, he said. – Our Correspondent

18-month-old girl murdered in Tangail A minor girl was murdered in Sakhipur upazila of Tangail ysterday. The dead is Zannat, 18-month-old daughter of Ratan Shikder, an expatriate in Libia hailing from Kachua village of the upazila. Bazlur Rashid, officer-in-charge of Sakhipur police station, said on Thursday morning Zannat went missing from her residence while she was playing with other children. On Friday around 8:30am, her mother and relatives found her dead body kept in a polythene bag inside a paddy field. Police recovered the body and sent it to Tangail General Hospital morgue . – Our Correspondent, Tangail

Tajuddin Ahmed memorial laid in Gazipur Foundation of a sculpture built in memory of Bangladesh’s first prime minister and freedom fighter Tajuddin Ahmed was laid in Gazipur’s Kapasia upazila on Thursday.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque laid the foundation at the birth place of Tajuddin Ahmed. He also laid foundation of a liberation war museum there. – Our Correspondent, Gazipur

Ten Shibir activists held in Barisal Barisal Metropolitan Police arrested 10 activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir from a student mess in Rupatali area in Barisal yesterday.Kotwali police station Officer-in-Charge Shakhawat Hossain said Shibir activists were arrested from the mess while holding a meeting to plan anti-state activities. – Our Correspondent, Barisal

Over 200 students of Hotni Government Primary School in Chandpur's Hajiganj upazila have been compelled to study under the open sky since their school collapsed on the night of October 5.

The collapse took place at a time when the school was closed on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha and Durga puja.

After the festival vacations ended, the students were doing classes inside the risky building, but later upon the decision of the school managing committee, they were doing outside the classrooms – in the open.

Our Correspondent visited the site on Sunday and found students of Class iii and iv were attending classes in the open and sweating in the blazing heat.

The building was built by the Local Government and Engineering Department in 1986 and it cracked quite a few years ago, leading to the ultimate collapse of its wall into its adjoining pond in the first week of this month.

School authorities alleged that

they had notified the higher authorities about the imminent danger of the building but did not receive any response from them, leaving them with no option but take classes inside the rundown building.

Two Class iv pupils called Afroza Akhter and Mahmuda Akter said they could comfortably take classes in the morning but it felt like a hell with the sun moving over heads and then towards the east.

Headmistress Sheuli Rani Pal said: “We submitted an application to the Upazila Primary Education office about the rundown state of the school building a few months ago but have not yet got any response.” She added that she heard that her predecessor too had submitted an application to the same office.

Upazila Primary Education Officer Abdul Awal confirmed the collapse of the building and said: “We will arrange for an alternative structure for the students to study in with the help of the upazila parishad and locals as soon as we can.”

ceased was not Indian citizen, they informed BGB about the body.

In the afternoon, BGB officials sent letter to BSF asking it to return the body as they identified the victim with the help of local people.

Responding the letter BSF handed over the body to BGB through a company commander level flag meeting between two border guards held at the zero line on Sardarpara border at about 5pm.

Victim’s family members said he had been missing since Thursday afternoon. They also claimed that the BSF might have killed him with sharp weapon as they found several injury marks in this body.

DB held one with fake currency Tribune Report Detective Branch (DB) police of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) in a drive arrested a man in possession with fake currency worth of TK 31, 500 from Patenga area in Chittagong on early yesterday.

The arrestee was Rezaul Karim, 35, hailing from Pekua of Cox’s Bazar district, said police sources.

Two touchstones recovered Our Correspondent, Barisal The members of the RAB recovered two antique touchstones from Gournadi and Agoiljhara upazilas.

RAB and police sources said a team of RAB 8 on Thursday afternoon recovered a 24.3 kilogramme weighing antique touchstone statue of Shib-linga from Lakkhankathi village of Gournadi upazila.

Liton Mia, son of Nurul Huq Hawladar, was arrested in this connection. Meanwhile, another touchstone statue of Lord Bishnu weighing 6.4 kilogrammes was recovered from Rajihar village of Agoiljhara upazila of the district.

Young woman kills herself after boyfriend's rejection Our Correspondent, Gazipur A young woman died in the capital on Thursday evening, a week after she tried to commit suicide when her boyfriend refused to marry her in Betjuri village under Sreepur upazila, Gazipur.

The victim, Kakoli Akhter, 19, was in a relationship for two years with Shafiqul Islam, 25, of the same village, said her uncle Kamrul Islam. With a promise of marriage, they recently got intimate and she became pregnant.

“From what I found out from the recordings of their mobile phone conversation, after Kakoli told Shafiq about her pregnancy, he told her he would marry her after she aborted it, and she listened to him,” Kamrul told the Dhaka Tribune.

Shafiq even brought Kakoli abortion

medications twice, her mother Rahima Begum told the Dhaka Tribune.

However, after the abortion, Shafiq went back on his words.

The victim was in a relationship for 2 years with Shafiqul Islam, 25, of the same village “Shafiq refused to marry Kakoli when she brought it up again. So a meeting was arranged between the families after Eid-ul-Azha, where Shafiq's family showed reluctance to accept Kakoli as well. To resolve the matter, an arbitration with the local influentials was arranged on October 16.

In the arbitration, when Shafiq refused to marry Kakoli again, she went home and consumed poison,” Kakoli's uncle said.

Afterwards, Kakoli was taken to Sreepur Upazila Health Complex in a critical condition, and later transferred to Fortune Hospital in Uttara, Dhaka. When her condition remained the same, she was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Thursday afternoon, where she later died.

Since Kakoli's death, Shafiq has been in hiding, and his mobile phone has been switched off.

When contacted, Sreepur police station's Officer-in-Charge Mohsinul Kadir said they had heard about Kakoli's death, but no official complaint had been filed with the police station in this regard until yesterday afternoon.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

7

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Study: Ebola could kill 90,000 One million Ebola vaccine doses in Liberia by year-end unless by end of 2015 efforts scaled up BBC

Reuters, London Efforts to control the Ebola virus in Liberia must be quickly and dramatically scaled up or tens of thousands of people will die in the coming months, said a study published on Friday.

Nearly 4,900 deaths have been recorded across West Africa since the virus was first detected in Guinea in March, according to the World Health Organization. Liberia has been the hardest hit of the countries most affected by the virus, with 2,705 deaths and 4,665 recorded cases.

Without accelerated efforts to control the disease, Ebola will kill 90,000 in Liberia and infect 171,000 by mid-December, a study in medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases said.

“Our predictions highlight the rapidly closing window of opportunity for controlling the outbreak and averting a catastrophic toll of new Ebola cases and deaths in the coming months,” Al-

ison Galvani, one of the authors of the study, said in a statement.

Additional medical facilities for Ebola treatment, a fivefold increase in detection of new cases, together with allocation of protective kits for households could avert as many as 98,000 cases by mid-December, the study said.

Researchers based their analysis on a study of Liberia’s Montserrado County, which encompasses the capital Monrovia and where the vast majority of cases have been recorded.

Without expanded efforts to control the epidemic, the national toll would be even higher, they said.

“The scale of interventions that are currently being implemented are still paltry in comparison to what we anticipate is needed,” Joseph Lewnard, one of the authors of the paper told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview.

The United States has pledged an ad-

ditional 1,700 beds for Ebola treatment centres in West Africa, however 4,800 beds could be needed for Montserrado County alone, said Lewnard.

Even a two-week delay could greatly limit the effectiveness of interventions and result in tens of thousands of people dying, he said.

Controlling the outbreak is especially difficult in Monrovia’s West Point slum, where over 75,000 people live without running water, making it difficult to implement World Health Organization’s recommendation to wash hands with water and soap while caring for sick family members.

A team of 51 doctors and nurses from Cuba arrived in Liberia on Wednesday to help to fight the epidemic.

The United States is also gradually deploying troops to Liberia as part of a 3,000-strong mission to help West African nations cope with the epidemic by building Ebola treatment units and training local medical staff.

It said “several hundred thousand” would be produced in the first half of the year.

And vaccines could be offered to health workers on the frontline in West Africa as soon as December 2014.

However, the WHO cautioned that vaccines would not be a “magic bullet” for ending the outbreak.

There is no proven cure or vaccine for Ebola.

In response to the largest epidemic of the disease in history, the WHO is accelerating the process of vaccine development.

It normally takes years to produce and test a vaccine, but drug manufacturers are now working on a scale of weeks.

Correct dose

Two experimental vaccines, produced

by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and the Public Health Agency of Canada, are already in safety trials.

The GSK vaccine is being tested in Mali, the UK and the US. Research on the Canadian vaccine is also under way

in the US with further trials expected to start in Europe and Africa soon.

The results are expected in December. After that, trials will move to countries affected by Ebola, probably starting with Liberia.

That will allow researchers to assess how effective the vaccine is and what dose is needed to provide protection.

Healthcare workers, who place themselves at risk when treating patients, will take part in the first trials in West Africa.

The WHO says we should have the first hints of how effective these experimental vaccines are by April.

There are no plans for mass vaccination before June 2015 but the WHO has not ruled it out.

The WHO says vaccines are likely to be key to ending the outbreak, even if cases fall in the next few months.

‘Prudent to prepare’ Dr Marie Paule Kieny, a WHO assistant director-general, said: “While we hope that the massive response, which has been put in place will have an impact on the epidemic, it is still prudent

Russia's Putin accuses US of damaging world order

US: Ground offensive against Islamic State months away in Iraq Reuters, Florida

Reuters, Laura, Russia President Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Friday of making the world a more dangerous place by imposing a "unilateral diktat" in international diplomacy and denied Russia wanted to build a new empire.

In a speech laced with language reminiscent of the Cold War, Putin shifted blame for the crisis in Ukraine to the West and portrayed Russia as a strong power that would not be forced to beg the West to lift sanctions imposed over the conflict.

"Statements that Russia is trying to reinstate some sort of empire, that it is encroaching on the sovereignty of its neighbours, are groundless," Putin told a group of political scholars known as the Valdai Club in a resort above the Black Sea city of Sochi, which hosted the Winter Olympics this year.

Warning that Washington was trying to "remake the whole world" around its own interests and that the risk of international conflicts was growing, he said: "We did not start this."

Dismissing the US and European Union sanctions on Russia as a mistake, he said: "Russia will not be posturing, get offended, ask someone for anything. Russia is self-sufficient."

Putin said the threat of arms control treaties being violated was growing and called for talks on internationally acceptable conditions for the use of force.

The speech included some of Putin's fiercest rhetoric against the West since he first rose to power in 2000 and underlined how far apart Moscow and the West are on a range of matters.

Putin said the threat of arms control treaties being violated was growing and called for talks on internationally acceptable conditions for the use of force.

The West has accused Russia of violating Ukraine's sovereignty by annexing the Crimea peninsula and says it has sent troops and weapons to help pro-Russian separatists fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow denies the accusations.

Ukrainian soldiers load cartriges mounted on their armoured vehicle in the village of Bugas, in the eastern Ukranian Donetsk region, on October 24, 2014. Ukraine wraps up campaigning for a weekend vote on October 26 AFP

In eastern Ukraine, parliamentary election deepens divide Reuters, Novotroitske, Ukraine Standing at the village polling station where she will oversee Ukraine's parliamentary election on Sunday, Irina Sobko points across a field of wilted sunflowers to a town controlled by Russian-backed rebels where she says there won't be any voting.

"We're Ukraine's last polling station, the front line, so to speak," said Sobko, 53, who is on the election committee at one of three polling stations in the pro-Kiev village of Novotroitske in eastern Ukraine.

"We want to be part of Europe, and I so hope the vote will be one small step closer," she said, speaking over the clear plastic ballot boxes decorated with blue and yellow tridents, one of Ukraine's national symbols, laid out for Sunday's voters. The vote will be the first parliamentary election in Ukraine since street protests ousted former Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovich and replaced him with a pro-European government, plunging ties between Russia and the West to Cold War-era lows.

The poll seems set to reinforce Pres-

ident Petro Poroshenko's position in Kiev, but it will likely deepen the divide that exists in eastern Ukraine between places like Novotroitske, controlled by Ukrainian forces, and its closest neighbour Dokuchayevsk, now in the hands of pro-Russian rebels.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, a hawk in Kiev's leadership, warned the country's security council this week that Russia, whom he and the West accuse of aiding the separatists with weapons and soldiers, may try to disrupt the election.

Separatists are looking to hold their

own elections on Nov. 3 that will select a prime minister of the self-declared republic and a lawmaking body as the separatists aim to create the trappings of a functioning government.

Only about 30 km (18 miles) from the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, towns like Novotroitske and Dokuchayevsk, both of which straddle the front line, are surrounded by checkpoints manned either by Ukrainian troops or separatist fighters. When night falls the two sides exchange artillery or rifle fire, despite a loosely observed Sept 5 ceasefire agreement.

EU strikes compromise to set new climate target Reuters, Brussels European Union leaders struck a deal on a new target to cut carbon emissions out to 2030, calling it a new global standard but leaving critics warning that compromises had undermined the fight against climate change.

Talks in Brussels stretched into the small hours of Friday as Poland battled to spare its coal industry and other states tweaked the guideline text on global warming to protect varied economic interests, from nuclear plants and cross-border power lines to farmers whose livestock belch out polluting methane.

In the end, an overall target was agreed for the 28-nation bloc to cut its emissions of carbon in 2030 by at least 40 percent from levels in the benchmark year of 1990. An existing goal of a 20-percent cut by 2020 has already been nearly met.

EU leaders called the 40-percent target an ambitious signal to the likes of

to prepare to have as much vaccine available as possible, if they are proven effective.

“If the massive effort in response is not sufficient, then vaccine would be a very important tool.

“And even if the epidemic would be already receding by the time we have vaccine available, the modelling seems to say vaccine may still have an impact on controlling the epidemic.”

As well as the two vaccines already in trials, there are a further five in the pipeline which could yet play a role in the outbreak.

The World Bank and the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres will help finance the vaccine.

There are also suggestions that an “indemnity fund” could be set up in case people have a serious adverse reaction to a vaccine being rushed through.

But until a vaccine is found to prevent the virus from spreading, treating and isolating sufferers will remain the key strategy for containing the outbreak.

the United States and China to follow suit at a UN climate summit France is hosting in December next year.

“Europe is setting an example,” French President Francois Hollande said, acknowledging that it had been a hard-won compromise but calling the final deal “very ambitious.”

“Ultimately, this is about survival,” said summit chair Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council.

But environmentalists had already complained that the deal could still leave the EU struggling to make the at least 80-percent cut by 2050 that its own experts say is needed to limit the rise in global average temperatures to two degrees Celsius.

Natalia Alonso of Oxfam welcomed the 40-percent goal but said: “(It) falls far too short of what the EU needs to do to pull its weight in the fight against climate change. Insufficient action like this from the world’s richest countries places yet more burden on the poor-

est people most affected by climate change, but least responsible for causing this crisis.”

Renewable energy

The European Union accounts for about a tenth of world greenhouse gas emissions and has generally done more than other major industrial powers to curb the gases blamed for global warming.

But Green campaigners said Friday’s deal signalled the EU was becoming less ambitious.

Aside from the headline emissions goals, they were disappointed by a softening in the final agreement of targets for increasing the use of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources and for improving efficiency through measures such as insulation and cleaner engines.

Diplomats said bargaining by Poland’s new prime minister Eva Kopacz, who faces an election next year, secured a complex set of financial incentives. They include free allowances in

the EU system for trading carbon emissions to soften the impact of the target on Polish coal miners and the coal-fired power stations on which its 38 million people depend.

Concerns in Britain and some smaller states about additional EU regulation that might, for example, crimp a new expansion of emissions-free but controversial nuclear power, saw targets for increased use of renewable energy and for energy efficiency softened.

Van Rompuy said the two targets would be for at least 27 percent. They would also only apply across the bloc as a whole, unlike the broad 40-percent target that binds each state individually.

Renewable energy sources produce about 14 percent of the EU’s energy at present.

Brook Riley of Friends of the Earth said: “This deal does nothing to end Europe’s dependency on fossil fuels or to speed up our transition to a clean

Iraqi forces are months away from being able to start waging any kind of sustained ground offensive against the Islamic State and any similar effort in Syria will take longer, officials at the US military's Central Command said on Thursday.

In Iraq, the timing will depend on a host of factors, some out of the military's control - from Iraqi politics to the weather.

Iraqi forces also must be trained, armed and ready before major advances, like one to retake the city of Mosul, which fell to the Islamic State in June.

"It's not imminent. But we don't see that that's a years-long effort to get them to a place to where they can be able to go on a sustained counter-offensive," a military official said, instead describing it as a "months-long" endeavor.

The officials, briefing a group of reporters, said the priority in Iraq was halting the Islamic State's advance but acknowledged Iraq's western Anbar province was contested, despite US-led air strikes.

Iraq's main military divisions in Anbar - the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and twelfth - have been badly damaged. At least 6,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed through June and double that number have deserted, say medical and diplomatic sources.

Asked about whether US military advisers in Iraq might head to Anbar, the first official acknowledged discussions were underway broadly about efforts to enable the Iraqis "as far forward as we can" but did not disclose details.

The official said talks were also underway with coalition partners about where their advisers might be placed.

Anbar’s dominant Sunni population resented former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Shi’ite majority government but the officials saw positive signs among tribes since Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was sworn in this September.

Kurds deny Erdogan report of deal with Syrian rebels Reuters, Istanbul/Beirut

energy future. It’s a deal that puts dirty industry interests ahead of citizens and the planet.”

Some industrialists have complained that EU climate regulations risk discouraging business and investment in the bloc at a time when its faltering economy can ill afford to lose it. But others, echoed by EU officials on Friday, see changes in energy use as an opportunity to develop new industries.

Portugal and Spain succeeded in getting a harder target for the level of cross-border connections, something they had been pushing France to accept so that they could export more of their spare energy across France and to the rest of the continent.

In the middle of a confrontation with Russia over Moscow’s role in the Ukraine conflict, the EU also took the opportunity to set out strategic objectives for “energy security” - code for reducing its heavy reliance on Russian natural gas.

A senior Syrian Kurdish official on Friday denied a report from Turkey's president that Syrian Kurds had agreed to let 1,300 Free Syrian Army fighters enter the border town of Kobane to help defend it against besieging Islamic State insurgents.

President Tayyip Erdogan has long championed the relatively secular Free Syrian Army in the complicated, faction-ridden insurgency against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has repeatedly advocated FSA intervention in Kobane.

Turkey's unwillingness to send its powerful army across the border to help secure Kobane has angered Kurds, but appears rooted in a concern not to strengthen Kurds seeking autonomy in adjoining regions of Turkey, Iraq and Syria.

Erdogan said on Friday said 1,300 FSA fighters would enter Kobane after the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) agreed on their passage, but his comments were swiftly denied by Saleh Moslem, cochair of the PYD.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Prescription

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Ebola, a virus, a threat to humanity How is Ebola diagnosed?

Prescription Desk

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if a person has Ebola from the symptoms alone.

Doctors may test to rule out other diseases like cholera or malaria.

Tests of blood and tissues also can diagnose Ebola.

If you have Ebola, you’ll be isolated from the public immediately to prevent the spread.

Ebola is a rare but deadly virus that causes bleeding inside and outside the body.

As the virus spreads HEALTH through the body, it FLASH damages the immune system and organs. Ultimately, it causes levels of blood-clotting cells to drop, leading to severe, uncontrollable bleeding.

The disease, also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever or Ebola virus, kills up to 90% of people who are infected.

How is Ebola treated?

Ebola Facts

BIGSTOCK

There are five types of Ebola virus. Four of them cause the disease in humans.

The Ebola virus first appeared during two 1976 outbreaks in Africa. Ebola gets its name from the Ebola River, which is near one of the villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the disease first appeared.

How do you get Ebola?

How you can’t get Ebola

You can’t get Ebola from air, water, or food. A person who has Ebola but has no symptoms can’t spread the disease, either.

You can’t get Ebola from casual contact, like sitting next to an infected person. Air, food, and water don’t carry the virus. But kissing or sharing food or a drink with someone who has Ebola

FOOD THERAPY

BIGSTOCK

But you don’t need to limit yourself to prunes. Other vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains will also do the trick.

BIGSTOCK

The world can get blurry for a lot of older people. To save your eyes from age-related macular degeneration or cataracts, start upping your intake of lutein during middle age, suggests a researcher.

According to some research, the nutrient, which is related to betacarotene and vitamin A, may also help fend off cognitive decline. You can get your allotment of lutein by eating more green, leafy vegetables like spinach and broccoli, fruits like grapes and oranges, and egg yolks.

Bananas to control blood pressure

BIGSTOCK

There’s no vaccine to prevent Ebola.

The best way to avoid catching the disease is by not traveling to areas where the virus is found.

Health care workers can prevent infection by wearing masks, gloves, and goggles whenever they come into contact with people who may have Ebola.

Prescription Desk Energy drinks are raising health researchers’ blood pressure, with a World Health Organization report warning that the booming market could have major public health consequences.

A study published in the Frontiers in Public Health Journal, has recommended that caffeine levels be capped as new “extreme, highly caffeinated” drinks enter the market.

Excessive caffeine can cause heart palpitations, hypertension, vomiting, convulsions and in extreme cases heart failure leading to death.

Although some coffees have comparable levels of caffeine as some energy drinks, the study points out that the latter can be drunk cold and therefore more quickly and that caf-

feine levels in energy drinks are variable and sometimes “extreme.” Furthermore, the drinks are aggressively marketed to children, adolescents and young people.

The impact of caffeine on children is of particular concern, with potentially “harmful adverse and developmental effects.” The report also recommends that the restriction of sales to children and adolescents be considered.

Energy drinks often claim to improve performance and may include other ingredients like guarana, taurine and B vitamins, which the researchers say require further investigation, particularly their interaction with caffeine.

Also a growing global trend is combining the drinks with alcohol, which poses separate risks of injury, excessive intoxication and alcohol poisoning.

Snoring is the noise made when air causes the throat area or the nas a l pas-

sages to vibrate.

When you snore, structures in the mouth and throat — the tongue, upper throat, soft palate, and uvula — vibrate against the tonsils and adenoids. There are many possible causes. Overweight people are more likely to snore, and experts think it’s because the extra fatty tissue compresses the air passages. And whenever you have nasal congestion from a cold or allergies, you’re more likely to snore, because inflamed tissues and extra mucus interfere with airflow.

Tricks to prevent snoring

Try the following preventive measures to reduce or eliminate snoring. Changing your sleeping position may be all it takes, but a larger project — namely, losing weight — is often the real ticket to tranquil nights.

Use few extra pillows and prop yourself up in bed, rather than lying flat on your back. You’ll prevent the tissues in your throat from falling into your air passages.

Sleep on your side. Of course, there’s no guarantee you’ll stay in that position, but at least start on your side with your arms wrapped around a pillow. In that position, your tongue and soft palate rest against the back of your throat, blocking the airway.

If nasal congestion is causing your snoring, take a decongestant or antihistamine before you turn in. If your nose blocked in a regular manner then consult with your ENT specialist .

| Compiled by: Shirsho Saaeadat

Seven day diet guide to reduce your cholesterol Prescription Desk

Get lutein for vision

Blood pressure tends to rise as we age. To combat this problem and lower stroke and heart attack risk, you should eat less sodium and more po-

Early on, Ebola can feel like the flu or other illnesses. Symptoms show up 2 to 21 days after infection and usually include: High fever Headache

How can you prevent ebola?

How to manage snoring

tassium. Further, many hypertension medications have a diuretic effect that lowers both sodium and potassium levels in the body. Both of those electrolytes are necessary in a certain amount, but you need more potassium than sodium. To replenish potassium, look to fruits and vegetables. A banana is always a good choice, as are broccoli and baked potatoes.

| Compiled by Dr Kazi Mahbuba Akhtar

It’s important to keep your cholesterol levels within healthy limits. If you have other risk factors for developing heart disease, you need to be even more careful — especially HEALTH with your low-density lipoprotein ALERT (LDL), or “bad,” cholesterol level.

Here is a week plan to take a control over cholesterol in your body.

Saturday

Eat oatmeal for breakfast. Whole oats are packed with heart-healthy dietary fibre and nutrients such as B vitamins, vitamin E and iron. Oats are an excellent source of soluble fibre, which lowers cholesterol and reduces the risk of heart disease.

Sunday

Snack on nuts. They are rich in unsaturated fats.

Choose nuts that are higher in unsaturated (mono and poly) fats and lower in saturated fats. These include almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts and pistachios.

Monday

Increase your fruit and vegetable intake. They are rich in important nutrients, low in saturated fats and are cholesterol-free. They are also rich in fibre, which has a cholesterol-lowering effect. Aim to have at least five serves a day, and to eat a variety of different coloured fruits and vegetables each day.

Tuesday

Reduce your intake of unhealthy fats. Saturated and trans fats raise blood cholesterol levels. Trans fats are the worst, so limit your intake of processed and fast foods. Choose low-fat dairy products, healthy oils such as olive oil, and flaxseed oil instead of butter. Trim fat from meat and skin from poultry.

Wednesday

Cook with olive oil, a source of healthy monounsaturated fats. It has a higher oxidation threshold

BIGSTOCK

BIGSTOCK

in their blood than those who drink cow’s milk, according to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Non-cow’s milk is becoming increasingly popular because of perceived health benefits, milk allergies or lactose intolerance. Among children who drank non-cow’s milk, every additional cup of non-cow’s milk was associated with a 5% drop in vitamin D levels per month, said researchers.

Vitamin D is an essential nutrient produced through sun exposure or found in fortified cow’s milk, fish and other foods. It plays an important role in the development and strengthening of bones. In children, low levels of vitamin D can cause bone weakness and, in severe cases, rickets – a condition causing the bones to become soft and weak and potentially leading to bone deformities.

Focus on fiber Our grandparents may have been onto something with their ever-present packages of prunes: The fiber in the shriveled fruit helps the digestive tract run smoothly.

Overall, fiber intake is key for normal bowel function and may lower the risk of gastrointestinal inflammation. Plus, it can lower cholesterol and blunt the rise in blood sugar that occurs after eating.

What are the symptoms of ebola?

Joint and muscle aches Sore throat Weakness Stomach pain Lack of appetite As the disease gets worse, it causes bleeding inside the body, as well as from the eyes, ears, and nose. Some people will vomit or cough up blood, have bloody diarrhoea, and get a rash.

WHO warns about energy drinks

Cow’s milk are rich in vitamin D Children, who drink non-cow’s milk such as rice, almond, soy or goat’s milk, have lower levels of vitamin D

could be a risk, since you might get his saliva in your mouth.

BIGSTOCK

Ebola isn’t as contagious as more common viruses like influenza, or measles.

It spreads through contacts with skin or bodily fluids of an infected animal, like a monkey, chimp, or fruit bat. Then it moves from person to person the same way. Those who care for a sick person or bury someone who has died from the disease often get it. Other ways to get Ebola include touching contaminated needles or surfaces.

There is no approved medicine or vaccine to treat or prevent Ebola.

Scientists have tested some drugs on animals, which seemed to work.

But they haven’t studied how the medications affect humans. Researchers are also studying two new vaccines that could prevent Ebola, but they still need to test them in more people to see if they’re safe and if they work.

Though there’s no cure for Ebola, doctors manage the symptoms of Ebola with: Fluids and electrolytes Oxygen Blood pressure medication Blood transfusions Treatment for other infections

QUICK TIPS

BIGSTOCK

Ebola is a deadly disease caused by a virus. There are five strains, and four of them can make people sick.

After entering the body, it kills cells, making some of them explode. It wrecks the immune system, causes heavy bleeding inside the body, and damages almost every organ. The virus is scary, but it’s also rare. You can get it only from direct contact with an infected person’s body fluids

than most monounsaturated oils and remains stable at higher temperatures, so is more resistant to hydrogenation and the formation of trans fats.

Monounsaturated fats help to lower total cholesterol levels.

Thursday

Eat more garlic. Studies show that, as part of a lowfat diet, it can help reduce cholesterol levels - lowering levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol and raising “good” HDL cholesterol. It also helps to thin the

blood, which helps reduce the risk of heart attacks.

Studies show countries that eat more garlic have lower rates of heart disease.

Friday

Eat more legumes. Legumes such as chickpeas, lentils, beans and peas are good for people with high cholesterol levels. They are low in fat and rich in nutrients such as B vitamins, iron and unsaturated fats. They are also a rich source of soluble fibre, which helps to lower cholesterol levels.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Heritage

Saturday, October 25, 2014

9

An enduring cure for sadness

Buddism – the first major revolution that added to the schools of thoughs that were otherwise predominantly hindu otherwise

“T Tim Steel

he best thing for being sad is to learn something.

That’s the thing that never fails ... you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds.

Including those in Bangladesh?

Bangladesh, alongside its very rich and ancient heritage of trade and commerce, and the manifestations of conspicuous affluence, has, probably, one of the most ancient traditions of learning.

If Sanskrit, one of the world’s earliest forms of writing, developed in the Ganges region, it almost certainly did so in the richest part of that area,

From the Shamanic aspects of Animism from the Hindu Brahmanic traditions, through the philosophical development of both Jainism and Buddhism, to the embrace, of Islam, and Christianity has enriched the lands of Bangladesh There is only one thing for it then – to learn. Learn why the world wags, and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.”

Thus wrote TH White, in his great work, “The Once and Future King,” as advice from wise Merlin.

Might it not have been written for a world of, especially, youth today?

the delta lands. It was to these lands to which traders arrived from around the world for centuries, perhaps millennia, before the common era. And there is little doubt that teaching, in its broadest definition, began in those ancient days. Ancient days which may well have pre-dated even those of that famous centre of leaning in ancient Greece.

It seems self evident that the extensive inclusion of Sanskrit in both Greek and Latin, the ancient languages of Europe, derives from historic trading relationships. And even that the subsequent inclusion of such words, as well as those of both Greek and Latin themselves, in today’s common

learning would have, in any way, have resembled the very broad philosophical base of Buddhist traditions at their best.

The first of the Islamic rulers may have simply had devout commitment to religious study, or not. But there is no doubting that the almost simultaneous arrival of Sufi missionaries would probably have seen a renewed commitment to a broader education such as the traditions developed, especially, in the Abbasid Caliphate; traditions that, in their time, led the world, scientifically and culturally.

We cannot doubt that education would have played a large part in society in the lands that are now Bangladesh over millennia. A tradition of education that has continued, even until comparatively recent times, and through the vicissitudes of cultural fortune with the revival of Hindu power and influence under the British.

It did not take the British long to recognise that, with the limited numbers of administrators of British birth, willing to both take the risk of working in these lands, and to survive the climate, it required education to lay the foundations of an administrative class of functionaries.

Whilst it may seem to be the case that education, the teaching of both practical and intellectual skills, may have been the foundation upon which education has been built in the lands of Bangladesh, probably over at least 3000 years, the development of philosophy, learning for societal sake was, almost certainly, a significant part of the origins.

Why else would Bangladesh, almost uniquely in the world, have been home to the evolution of so many

DRIK NEWS

foundation of European education, emulating, for sure, the best of education in ancient times, across the world.

Post industrial revolution, European education tended to bifurcate, to stimulate thought processes and skills for leadership, and teaching skills for a labour force.

Today, around the world, there seems to be more of a focus on training for employment, rather than educating in its true sense.

The 1944 Education Act, in Britain, calling for universal secondary education derived, to a great extent from an idealistic sop to a coalition government, united to fight a war, but contriving to keep more socially orientated members happy. It had one significant flaw, as it started to be implemented, especially in the early post war period. There were far too few teachers to carry out the noblest intentions.

To compensate, as servicemen, especially, were demobilised after the war, and offer was made for a career in teaching to those who has spend the previous years fighting. “Emergency trained” teachers began to fill the already burgeoning classrooms. On that foundation has Britain built both its Secondary education system, and, to a considerable degree, its present Tertiary system.

The inherent weaknesses are, today, all too apparent, both in the labour force, and in society in general.

Why then, should anyone expect that the educational system in Bangladesh, especially following the systematic slaughter of, particularly, the young and the educated, be in any better state. It is widely acknowledged that much of the education system in Bangladesh fails to develop many faculties beyond that of memory, rather than simply learning, for learning’s sake.

White might well have cause to reflect on the state of society around the world, today, wracked by fear, turmoil and sadness, and wonder whether Merlin’s advice to the young king might not have been better more widely read, understood, and appreciated.

Like this nation’s incredibly rich history in philosophy, and in both trade and in learning, it may, perhaps, come as no surprise that many of today’s Bangladeshi’s would rather not know, because learning, for the sake of learning, once a wellspring of Bangladeshi society, is yet another lost, or at least disappearing, part of the rich heritage of the country.

When, especially, young Bangladeshis speak to me with some evident sorrow and sadness about their country, I am reminded, often, of the advice that learning is, indeed, a great cure for sadness. And, usually, an enduring cure, too.

Tim Steel is a communications, marketing and tourism consultant.

A tradition of education that has continued, even until comparatively recent times, and through the vicissitudes of cultural fortune with the revival of Hindu power and influence under the British

Durga, the manifestation of the supreme being for the Hindus

WIKIMEDIA

lingua franca of English language derives, like Sanskrit itself, as much from law and administration as from common communication.

In Bangladesh, such early learning, clearly gave way to the development of Pali, which became an international language in Buddhist traditions worldwide. And there is no doubting, too, that the concentration of Buddhist monasteries, schools and universities, renewed Bangladesh’s earlier pre-eminence in international education.

There are even those who believe that one of the world’s greatest ever teachers, Jesus Christ, was familiar with, influenced by, and perhaps even experienced, Buddhist learning and education.

The 12th century fall of the Pala Dynasty saw a brief resurgence of Brahmanic Hinduism with the Sena dynasty, and whilst there were certainly Temple schools, it does seem unlikely that the commitment to

great belief groups, from the Shamanic aspects of Animism that underlies the Hindu Brahmanic traditions, through the philosophical development of both Jainism and Buddhism, to the embrace, particularly, of Islam, especially Sufi Islam, and Christianity?

The occupational requirements for such learning has certainly been a part of all that, but the philosophical strains seem, also, to run through the ages.

And the educational traditions developed by the British overlords would certainly have encompassed both vocational and philosophical aspects.

Many of the best known schools, colleges and universities, with their 19th and early 20th century buildings especially in Dhaka and Chittagong, as well as other cities in Bangladesh, today, have a conspicuously lengthy tradition of educating for knowledge, and for the body and soul, too. Which had been, for a few centuries, the

A Sufi whirling to music – sufism was a major educating influence in this delta WIKIMEDIA

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Saturday, October 25, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Bankrupt state banks should be privatised

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n average, state-owned and controlled banks have six times the rate of non-performing loans as private banks.

Bangladesh Bank’s latest quarterly review notes that around a quarter of all loans (23.2%) by state-owned commercial banks are classified as non-performing (NPL). For state-run banks, it is even worse at nearly a third (33.1%).

This contrasts sharply with rates of 5.7% for private commercial banks in the country and 6.2% for foreign commercial banks.

All available indicators suggest that there is no improvement, and, if anything, a slight worsening in the endemic losses suffered by state owned and run banks.

State banks have inadequate capital to manage their losses on bad loans. Despite this, state banks are continuing to flout rules that guard against undue risks. At Rupali Bank, for instance, Bangladesh Bank has found major irregularities in its loan approval process, and notes the bank has breached the law restricting the loaning of more than 25% of the bank’s capital to a single individual or group.

Without the government’s promise of Tk5,000 crore ($625 million) set aside to bail out state-owned banks in the coming year, the state banking sector would be completely bankrupt.

State-run banks should not continually be propped up in this manner. Taxpayer funds can be far better spent on education and health rather than on subsidising the poor management and corruption which state banks, unlike their private counterparts, have proved institutionally unable to root out.

The government must spend taxes prudently. It should privatise state-run banks to stop these unacceptable losses.

Without constant bailouts, state-run banks would be completely bankrupt

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

Behind the harassment October 15

Momoaswan So, once upon a time, Bangladesh was a pristine conservative society where no girl was ever harassed or abused. And it is only via what the writer calls evil elements such as alien and Western culture that is causing harassment.

Keep believing your fairy tales – there have always been good and bad individuals in every society. You cannot improve Bangladesh if you keep shifting the blame to foreigners. Calling Western culture an evil element is a self-righteous delusion. If the writer truly wants to change men’s psychology, he should start with himself.

Shamim Hasan We can blame the internet, Western culture, or whatever we wish for the harassment towards

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 1 represents G so fill G every time the figure 1 appears.

You have one letter in the control grid to start you off. Enter it 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

women. But the truth is we lack education, more specifically education about respect. We do not have the minimum education on how to respect women. We just have this concept that women are mere products, which we will use for as long as we have feelings for “it.” Shame on us.

The world is moving ahead, and we are still stuck in the stage of securing women’s rights. We just cannot accept that they too have the right to pursue justice, and the right to be respected.

RS I strongly believe that women and women alone can also bring changes in this society by supporting each other and also by having a better grasp of their own rights, and yes, also by working hard and being very industrious.

SUDOKU

GP withdraws free Facebook browsing after having 5cr clients

90% physicians slip through tax net

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.

October 16

October 16

Better procurement needed to modernise our railways

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t is deeply concerning that the railway ministry’s Tk460 crore purchase of 20 sets of Diesel-Electric Multiple Unit (Demu) passenger trains is failing to deliver promised improvements in speed and comfort for passengers.

A full year after the Demus were introduced, their reliability is still susceptible to frequent breakdowns and their ventilation systems are proving unfit for purpose.

Their lack of reliability and discomfort for passengers means these expensive new trains are mainly being used on unprofitable off-peak services, so they are not even bringing in new revenues to justify their purchase cost.

It is wholly unacceptable that more research was not carried out ahead of their purchase to anticipate problems and ensure their fitness.

Bangladesh Railways badly needs to improve its procurement policies and procedures. Action should be taken against any officials found to have been complicit in wasting taxpayer money through the apparent errors involved in this purchase.

This is not to say that the country does not need new investment to modernise and reinvigorate the railway network. The poor state of tracks and overcrowded older trains certainly need improving.

However, taxpayer monies must be spent efficiently and wisely.

With our small and largely flat land area, the railway system should be a national asset.

Having safe and reliable modern trains with higher average speeds would be hugely beneficial. By allowing people to commute longer distances, it would open up new economic opportunities by facilitating decentralisation.

Bangladesh Railways must invest more wisely to fulfill this vision in the national interest.

The railway system should be a national asset

MCS #grameenphone such a shame!

Asief Amier What are they saying?!

Niazul Islam Khan The market leader put a single-coloured low priority advertisement in the inner pages of only a few newspapers, informing subscribers about the suspension.

Slum dwellers facing eviction

October 17

Mahmudul Hoque Khan Dulal A praiseworthy move by NBR, and here I would like to convey my thanks to the authorities concerned for this. Nobody is beyond the law. So those who have taxable incomes should also come under the tax net. With this, the country would be much more benefited.

SE Let the physicians be made more aware about paying taxes on a regular basis.

2 schoolgirls raped in Natore October 15 rose When will the rape of girls end in this country? Do all the rapists get punished for the crimes they commit? Don’t think so.

Mohdud Ul Huq “People look on as Bangladesh Railway authorities evict illegal establishments along the rail tracks at Azampur in the capital’s Uttara area.”

Clean all slums around the city. These are the breeding grounds for all sorts of health and social disorders.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

Saber Hossain elected IPU President

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Employer (4) 5 Tribal symbol (5) 8 Being (6) 9 Incline (4) 10 Spoil (3) 12 Mob (6) 13 Country (6) 15 Emphasise (6) 18 Weapons (6) 20 Everyone (3) 21 Employ (4) 23 Musical instrument (6) 24 Barrier (5) 25 Amount owing (4)

DOWN 1 Girdles (5) 2 United (3) 3 Raised platform (5) 4 Wrongdoing (3) 5 Unjust rulers (7) 6 Burial place (4) 7 Female horse (4) 11 Relief for the needy (4) 12 Reticence (7) 14 Plaintive cry (4) 16 Banishment (5) 17 Perfume (5) 18 Hasty (4) 19 Ran away (4) 21 Bricks carrier (3) 22 Curved bone (3)

October 16

Malcolm Arnold Here, I quote Saber: “Politics and public service is about helping people to solve their problems, to live their dreams. My belief is to always improve upon what you find and leave a better, more peaceful world.”

Barca looking to ‘MSN’ to eclipse Real’s ‘BBC’ October 16

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

PEANUTS Tanvir Ahsan Siddiqui Pavel “Ancelotti’s Barca counterpart, Luis Enrique, must come up with a plan to snuff out Real’s devastating counter attacks.”

Best of Latin America vs best of Europe.

Unfortunately, I am going to cheer for the European Trio.

Charge against Limon dropped October 16

PB Finally, the charge against #Limon has been dropped in the 2nd false case filed by #RAB.

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Just a child Nadia Afrin Shams

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am one of those Dhaka residents who constantly complain about gaining weight for lack of exercise, and how we are deprived of any scope of physical activity in this city. So to resolve this problem, a year ago, I decided to start walking home from my office in the evening.

Let’s work together for the sake of doing something right, for all those Rashidas out there

Data analysis does not have the luxury of blind faith

BIGSTOCK

A culture of evidence

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Esam Sohail

or all the consternation about the University of Dhaka – what to say about all the other institutions in the country – not being in the list of the world’s noted 2,000 universities in the Global Shanghai rankings, it comes as little surprise to those who have seen the negative evolution of the culture of knowledge in Bangladesh and elsewhere in the Muslim world. The problem is structural and financial to some extent; but it runs far deeper and much more dangerously so.

One of the less heralded achievements of the twin phenomena of Reformation and Enlightenment was the consolidation of the scientific method as the globe’s gold standard for knowledge creation, validation, and diffusion across a multiple array of disciplines.

Drawing strands from the methodologies of Greeks, Arabs, Persians, and Indians, the philosophers, physicists, historians, and social scientists of that era, gave posterity what is today the only valid criteria for producing, affirming, challenging, and improving knowledge through an iterative process of observations, propositions, hypothesis testing, empirical data, theory construct, replication, and independent professional peer review.

Millions of articles, studies, and reviews in the thousands of professional journals across the world every month

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testify to the position of the scientific method as the sole criteria for real knowledge creation in the realm of learned men and women.

Put it another way, in the world of real knowledge, regardless of the subject matter, evidence and independent verification matters while beliefs, anecdotes, hunches, emotions, and hearsay do not. That many people do not understand the difference between evidence and data on one hand, and hearsay and anecdotes on the other, does not make properly discovered knowledge any less valid.

therapy, chances are they have some legs to stand on. The sheer number of believers or the raw volume of vocal chords has no relevance to the currency of Truth, as far as the sciences – physical, social, and biological – are concerned.

This cultural problem has only been exacerbated by the polarisation in politics where the dictum of “if you are not with us, you are the enemy” holds sway stronger than ever before, and debates are often waged on the basis of wild accusations and unalloyed assertions unencumbered by fact.

We have come to a point that even

Thousands of professional journals across the world testify to the position of the scientific method as the sole criteria for real knowledge creation

Just because 3 million people believe that mustard seeds will cure cancer because their neighbour had a relative who had an in-law who had a friend who was rumored to be cured thus, does not mean cancer can be cured by mustard seeds; but if three clinical researchers provide peer reviewed and heretofore unchallenged evidence that cancer can be arrested by chemo-

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ostensibly educated people look at the world around them informed by nothing more than worn-out conspiracy theories which are, then, used as crutches to explain away all the ills that befall their own fates. Ask yourself honestly: When was the last time you engaged in a dialogue with friends, colleagues, or family when someone did not blame England,

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America, Jews, Hindus, India, or Pakistan for something? You see, blaming someone who is the “other” is much easier than the discipline it takes to find answers to problems, and humility to admit one’s own shortcomings.

The craft of rational knowledge creation is, by nature, an exercise in humility, for it does not have the luxury of certitude that blind faith or rigid ideology brings. Written oracles, fiery speeches, and quotes gleaned from Facebook memes do not constitute the validation of any argument, notwithstanding the passion or pathos contained therein.

The culture of evidence relies on data analysis rather than (misplaced) historical analogies like the oft-repeated “Oxford of the East” moniker.

Granted, such a culture of evidence is not built overnight, but it is unlikely to be built at all without the doyens of education and journalism saying “enough is enough.”

Journalists worth their salt should be challenging demagogues – political or otherwise – to prove fanciful accusations, and conspiracy theories with verifiable evidence, while professors should be expecting their students to back up their statements with fact rather than faith.

Faith and ideology have their place; genuine scholarship is not that place.

At least, not in the year 2014.

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

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I have to say, when you start walking on the streets of Dhaka, you get to see the city more closely than ever. One such day, while crossing a major intersection, I noticed a woman in front of me, crossing the street, holding the hands of a barefoot toddler.

When we reached the island in the middle of the street, she pushed the sobbing child in a sitting position with a bowl, clearly for begging purpose. As a mother of two, I was abhorred by this scene, thinking: “What kind of mother does that?”

As if she could hear my thoughts, the woman turned around and looked straight at me. With a shock I noticed, she was an adolescent girl – hardly 16 years old, with another newborn on her lap. Almost like a reflex, I asked her her name and age. Her name was Rashida, she was from Gaibandha, her age was 16. She was one of those million girls who never got to know the fun of being a child – a victim of child marriage.

According to Unicef data, Bangladesh ranks second in terms of under-18 marriages in the world, so we have crossed that point when we can say that this is a problem, rather the pervasiveness has made it a crisis.

A national survey by Plan Bangladesh and ICDDR,B found a strong correlation between child marriage and place of residence, education, and employment status.

The problem is more acute in rural areas (71%) compared to urban areas (51%), illiterate women (86%) are more vulnerable than those who completed secondary or higher secondary (26%), and of course employed women are less likely to fall victim than women without jobs.

It can be identified as the single most vicious plague that impacts the achievement of almost every single MDG. Even from a financial perspective, it has a direct impact on our GDP – because of marriage, girls lose their opportunity to contribute to the national economy.

We are taking many initiatives to stop this, government has started free education for girls up to higher secondary level, there are stronger laws against child marriage, NGOs are taking targeted initiatives for adolescents, however the development in the area has been sluggish.

The issue is far more deep-rooted than the eye can see. Why would a parent decide to wed off their girl children so young? Marriage has evolved into

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many different things. In our context, it is working as an organically-grown Social Safety Net program created by society.

Now you may question why I am using the term “program,” because a society cannot create a program; it creates practices, norms. However, if you look at the objective of these early marriages very closely, you would see that it is providing specific services to the girl who is being married off.

Through the marriage, the girl is ensuring her security, shelter, food, and social status, everything that the state is expected to provide to its citizens.

On the other hand, I will be really naïve and ignorant if I claim failure of government to be solely responsible for this problem.

Our view towards women has a significant role to play. Our society views women as caregivers, not providers.

So naturally, they are not considered worthy of making an extra investment.

In many cases, community pressure works as the agent of early marriage.

Acceptability in the community is vital for survival, especially in rural areas. So, even if a parent holds a different view, or has an aspiration about his/her girl child, in many cases, they have to bow before the collective pressure. It’s not merely a systemic failure issue – strong socio-psychological components are playing a role.

So, how do we resolve this problem? We surely cannot eradicate poverty overnight; neither can we fix the safety issue just by strengthening the law. Any strategy, plan, or program that aims to make a significant impact needs to have a strong social mobilisation component. The government should adopt a bottom-up approach with extensive community involvement along with effective implementation of the anti-child marriage law, and a zero tolerance policy for violators.

Development partners like DFID and Unicef are showing their support for the cause through campaigns and mass awareness event such as UK Girl Summit, and the upcoming Bangladesh Girl Summit. The one-of-a-kind event Bangladesh Girl Summit arranged by Brac along with MWCA, DFID, and 21 other organisations has created great aspiration among the stakeholders. It is expected to create a common platform where young girls will voice their dreams and aspiration, where pledges will be made to end child marriage.

Bangladesh ranks second in terms of under-18 marriages in the world

Let’s not make it just about achieving a development target, or about becoming the model example for the world. Let’s work together for the sake of doing something right, for all those Rashidas out there. Let them have what they deserve, and be who they are supposed to be – not a mother, wife, or caregiver, but a child, just a child.

Nadia Afrin Shams is Senior Policy Analyst, Advocacy for Social Change, Brac.

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Are we doing it right?

Ekram Kabir

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friend of mine, working in an international NGO, recently shared an interesting piece of information. There was a time, he said, when the development sector tried to raise awareness on planning the family. The development activists, for a long time, were preaching for keeping the size of the family small, spending a huge amount of money.

Their slogan was: “Chhoto poribari shukhi poribar” (a small family is a happy family). However, as my friend said, the people of this country got it all wrong. To their mind, “poribar” (family) means “wife.” Therefore, they started marrying underage girls. The development sector has recently found out that this practice has been going on unnoticed for a long time. And now, the development practitioners have again started a new discourse on how to prevent the new challenge.

Now, if this is true, our way of starting a campaign or project seems to bear many flaws. The chief among them is “research” or “survey” before

introducing a new concept for the people to practice. Clearly, in this case, the project pioneers who ran the survey didn’t perhaps have a clear idea about Bangladeshi society.

This brings the thought of microcredit in Bangladesh. Many analysts have shown that microcredit had contributed to the escalation of dowry in this country. Yes, of course, microcredit has benefitted large sections of the rural people in many different ways, but it has also worked against women’s solidarity and contributed heavily to the inflation of dowry.

It has been often heard that women are sent home to persuade their parents to borrow money, from an NGO, for their husbands to invest in business, including buying items such as rickshaws, vans, grocery shops, or irrigation pumps. Although in theory, microfinance institutions do not lend money for the purposes of dowry payment, in practice it has been going on for a long time.

We haven’t yet done anything to address this problem, have we?

Similarly, there are many such

projects, both development and social, that we tried to accomplish without proper research in the last four decades. Take the example of mammoth-sized vehicles, especially the SUV-like that the rich like to purchase.

There’s no doubt that those who have money would buy luxurious cars.

This has been the case in all ages in all countries. However, in most countries, the rich had first created the road for those cars to ply on, and then they bought those cars for their own smooth communication. In our case, it seems, it’s always the cart before the horse. If we don’t have the horse, how would we carry the cart?

It’s been observed that we always tried to emulate practices in other countries in everything. We tried to follow their democratic practices, their way of beautifying the country, their way of using technology, and of course, their way of education.

We have seen our leaders trying to beautify our cities after they have seen something in a foreign land. When one of our leaders visits a different country and he/she sees something nice there,

on his/her return, he/she tries to implement exactly the same thing here.

But is that really logical? Do we ever think whether something similar would actually fit in our country? Do we really run a research before emulating others?

When it comes to using technology, we lag behind. I remember about two decades ago, we used typewriters in our office work. Suddenly, we saw that manual typewriters were replaced by electronic typewriters. When we brought the electronic typewriters, the entire developed world had switched to computers.

My question is: Why didn’t we think of skipping electronic typewriters and go for computers straightaway? Was it because we had to follow the steps that they took? Funny, really funny!

Imagine the amount of money we spent purchasing electronic typewriters that became useless in about three years!

Our way of doing things is infested with the lack of thinking. Implementing any work without proper R&D is our style. And after a few years, we

Obviously we are doing something wrong actually repent doing that. Why do we do that? Is it because we lack vision? Is it because we are very short-sighted?

Maybe. Our traffic system is perhaps the best example of our way of doing things wrong. We seem quite nonchalant about the amount of man hours that we waste in the traffic. Why

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

can’t we fix the traffic? Is it our own behaviour that is the biggest problem?

If that’s the case, why don’t we do something about it? How much time would it take to fix our weaknesses, to make them right?

Ekram Kabir, a journalist, is a DT columnist.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Searching Myself starts at AFD

The Last Airbender Zee Studio, 9:30pm

Entertainment Desk

Band members of Warfaze

WARFAZE to celebrate 30th anniversary Hasan Mansoor Chatak Warfaze is throwing its fans a party to celebrate three decades of making music with a mega reunion concert planned for January 2015, several singles slated to be released and more!

Sheikh Monirul Alam Tipu, the band’s founding member and drummer, said to the Dhaka Tribune: “We are going to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band in January 2015. Since we are currently busy working on a few shows, we will lay the groundwork for the anniversary celebrations shortly.”

The most active heavy metal act today in Bangladesh is also planning to release a few singles on the occasion.

Tipu said: “We are planning to release one or two singles for the occasion.”

The band’s last album “Shotto” came out in 2012 and Warfaze is work-

ing on another which could come out in 2015. About their upcoming project, Tipu said: “We have some music pieces and songs and now we are putting them together to meet the album’s concept.”

Disputing reports that Warfaze vocalist Mizan would not be continuing his career with the band because of some legal matter, Tipu confirmed that Mizan performed with the band at the South Asian Rock Fest on October 24 and would likely continue with the band. He said: “If all goes well, he will continue with us.”

When asked what the secret to the band’s success was despite frequent line-up changes, Tipu said: “Though Kamal and I never wanted changes to the line-up, they were unavoidable. We made sure that every one we played with possessed the required skills. We strictly maintained a policy of upholding the standard of the band. And we

A solo painting exhibition “Searching Myself,”

by Monjur Rashid is being held in Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD), and will continue till November 3.

In his debut sole gig, the artist has showcased a series of 37 works. His works show the nature of human beings. The title of the exhibition refers to discovering oneself ahead of society and surroundings.

The media he has used in his works are watercolour, acrylic and mixed media.

A promising artist, Monjur did his BFA and MFA in the painting from the University of Development Alternative. The artist has already participated more than thirty group exhibitions in home and abroad.

Cultural personality Nasiruddin Yusuf Bacchu, Manzurur Rahman, joint secretary, Ministry of cultural Affairs of Bangladesh and Shahjahan Ahmed Bikash, associate professor and Chairperson, Faculty of Fine Arts, UODA were present in the opening ceremony on November 3.

emphasised a high standard in song selection too. So despite frequent changes to the line-up we have maintained our fans’ expectations.”

Although the band was formed in 1984, it took seven years to launch its first album. After launching “Warfaze,” the band released five more albums including “Obak Bhalobasha,” “Jibondhara,” “Oshamajik,” “Alo,” “Moharaj” and “Path Chola,” a compilation album, in quick succession. Each one was a success.

The present line-up of the band has Mizan Rahman on lead vocals, Ibrahim Ahmed Kamal on lead guitar, Sheikh Monirul Alam Tipu on drums and percussion, Shams Mansoor Ghani on keyboards and vocals, Naim Haque Roger on bass guitar and Oni Hasan on guitar.

Warfaze’s concert titled "Oporanne Uchchhash" will be telecast today at 8:45pm on ATN Bangla

Exhibition

Stones

By Hamiduzzaman Khan Time: 11pm to 8pm Gallery Kaya House 20, Road 16 Sector 4

Film

Annabelle Into The Storm Hercules 3D Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3D Valkyrie The Maze Runner Amra Korbo Joy Kistimaat Jack Ryan Blockbuster Cinemas Ka- 244, Pragati Avenue Kuril,

ARCHIE to be adapted as TV series

ANNE HATHAWAY’S brush with hypothermia Entertainment Desk Anne Hathaway has revealed how she almost suffered hypothermia shooting in icy waters for “Interstellar.”

The 31-year-old actress plays an astronaut in Christopher Nolan’s new sci-fi epic and one of the scenes was shot on location in freezing water in Iceland, substituting for a foreign planet.

Anne told the Hollywood Reporter: “We had tested the suit a few months prior; it was not successfully waterproofed the first time. And when I went under and submerged, the outer suit filled up, and then I was wearing a suit that kayakers wear, called a dry suit. And human error, we didn’t close it all the way. And you’re in the suit for hours and hours and hours, so there was about an inch opening in it, and I’m sitting in the water, which is not very warm. It filled up to my shoulders.

“Everybody was cold at that point. We’d been shooting in the elements, and it’s not like I was the only one in pain. I was just the only one in specific pain, and I didn’t want to hold up shooting.

“But at some point, I wasn’t sure if I could feel my toes, or they started to tingle, and then I was feeling all sorts of weird flashes and things were getting a little hazy around the edges, and that’s when I turned to our first assistant director, and I said, ‘Hey, I don’t know that much about hypothermia, but what are the symptoms?’ And I explained what was going on, and he said, ‘Oh! Like, right now?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah!’ And so then he went over to Chris, and Chris was like, ‘OK - let’s roll, let’s roll, let’s roll right now!’ And we were done shortly thereafter.”

Explaining why he finished filming the scenes, the director added: “ There wasn’t anywhere to go in the vast expanse of water— vehicles adrift and stuff—so there wasn’t any quick solution.” The film also stars Matthew McConaughey and Jessica Chastain. The adventure drama, “Interstellar” is scheduled to be released next month.

Fast Five

Star Movies, 9:30pm

Former cop Brian O’Conner partners with ex-con Dom Toretto and they have blown across many borders to elude authorities.

The Expendables 3 How to Train Your Dragon 2 3D The Equalizer Guardians of the Galaxy 3D Kistimat Star Cineplex, Level 8 Bashundhara City 13/3 Ka, Panthopath

Zookeeper HBO, 5:32pm

Theatre

Bhongobongo Time: 7pm National Theatre Hall Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy

Music

Stone Free - Takin’ it to the Streets Time: 9pm Mozzaria,101 Gulshan Avenue RM Centre 2nd Floor

A group of zoo animals decide to break their code of silence in order to help their lovable zoo keeper find love.

Lalon and Abbasuddin’s songs at BSA

Entertainment Desk The popular characters from the Archie comics are reportedly headed for the small screen as an adaptation based on the comic book is in progress.

Fox broadcasting company is apparently collaborating with Archie comics to develop the modern-day one-hour drama “Riverdale” based on the characters from the strip, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

Set in the fictional town of Riverdale, New York, the TV series will focus on the love triangle of Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge.

Warner Bros TV-based Berlanti Productions will produce the project, while Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa will write it.

The show will also feature characters like Reggie Mantle, Jughead Jones, Kevin Keller, and Josie.

Join Aang, an extraordinary boy with incredible “bending” powers, as he journeys through an exotic land filled with magical creatures and powerful friends.

Entertainment Desk The timeless songs of legendary bard Fakir Lalon Shah and iconic folk singer Abbasuddin Ahmed will be presented by artistes of Bangladesh Lok Sangeet Parishad today at the Music and Dance Centre of

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA).

The programme, which will be followed by a discussion, will feature an array of solo performances and several choral renditions. Exponent and an icon of folk music, Mustafa Zaman Abbasi, will grace the event. During the month of October, connoisseurs and enthusiasts alike of folk music are celebrating the birth anniversary of folk singer Abbasuddin Ahmed and Lalon exponents, devotees and singers are observing the 124th death anniversary of Lalon Shah.

JENNIFER ANISTON bride-to-be soon Entertainment Desk

DHAKA THEATRE to stage new play Entertainment Desk Dhaka Theatre, one of the leading theatre companies in the country, is all set to bring audiences a new play titled “Ushautshob.” The technical show of the 41st production of Dhaka Theatre was held on Wednesday at the Shilpakala Academy.

The play is based on the life of the Garo people. Shimul Yusuf, Milu Chowdhury, Shahzada Samrat

and many others will perform in the experimental play.

The premiere showing of Ushautshob, directed by Samiun Jahan Dola, will be held at the Selim Al Deen Theatre Festival scheduled to be held this November. The festival will also feature three plays by young Dhaka Theatre directors: Rubaiyat Ahmed’s Iti Potromita, Wasim Ahmed’s Amit Upakhyan and a new play by Esha Yusuf.

Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston and fiance Justin Theroux have finally set the date after getting engaged way back in August 2012.

A source told the US OK! magazine: “It’s really happening! Jennifer is excited beyond belief.

She says it will be the best day of her life.”

However, despite having decided on a date and venue, the Friends star—who was previously married to Brad Pitt—is said to be remaining tightlipped about the nuptials.

The couple met while starring alongside one another in 2012 film “Wanderlust” and are said to have revealed that they want it to be a low-key affair.

The source added: “Neither of them wants a huge, glitzy wedding.”

Meanwhile, 43-year-old Justin previously confessed he felt a lot of pressure from the public to marry his fiancee of two years, but that he wasn’t bothered by it.

Did you know?

Ronaldo has now scored in 10 successive matches; he has never recorded a run of 11

Sport

Saturday, October 25, 2014

14 Real, Barcelona

set for titanic ‘Clasico’ battle

Mazhar Uddin

Minhaz Uddin Khan

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim (R) and Zimbabwe skipper Brendan Taylor holds the Bashundhara Cement Test series trophy at Jamuna Hall, Sonargaon Hotel yesterday MUMIT M

Tigers’ spin worries Taylor Mazhar Uddin Speaking of the challenge they will be facing in the first Test match starting today Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor termed spin bowling from the hosts as the major threat. Taylor pointed to the Bangladesh spin department that has been bolstered with the return of Shakib al Hasan.

“I think spin is always going to be the main threat to us. Our preparation coming in to the first Test has been solely focusing on spin,” said Taylor before adding, “I am not disregarding anything else. They can bat very well in these conditions and they have got a couple of good seamers, so we have to worry about all three departments.”

Taylor, who is well accustomed to the conditions here having played in the Bangladesh Premier League and

the Dhaka Premier League, also shed light on his pace bowling department and said the seamers will be vital with reverse swing likely to play a role in the latter stages of the Test match.

Meanwhile, the three-match Test series that has already earned a name among the players of the two teams as the Ashes (referring to the infamous Ashes series between England and Australia) will also test the physical and mental aspect of the players. This will be the first time in a decade that Zimbabwe will play here.

“It’s been 10 years, over 12 years, since we played three-Test series. The guys are physically fit, they have worked very hard on the fitness. The conditions are always challenging with the humidity. That’s the way it goes. Test cricket is never going to be easy. It’s always going to be a challenge,” said Taylor.

Emily leapfrogs Alfaz in highest scorers’ list Shishir Hoque The day could have ended in a better fashion for Bangladesh striker Jahid Hasan Emily. The veteran forward netted Bangladesh’s only goal of the international friendly game against Sri Lanka yesterday to become the highest goalscorer for the national side.

Although there is no official record of the highest number of goals scored in the official website of the Bangladesh Football Federation, captain Mamunul Islam informed the news at the post-match conference yesterday.

Emily stated that he has indeed made the record his own, surpassing former striker Alfaz Ahmed’s tally of 16 goals.

Hosts held as Lankans salvage draw

Bangladesh forward Jahid Hasan Emily exults after scoring against Sri Lanka at Shamsul Huda Stadium, Jessore yesterday COURTESY

Shishir Hoque from Jessore Despite a dominating display, a misfiring Bangladesh national team were held to a 1-1 draw by Sri Lanka in the first match of the SS Steel Fifa International Friendly Series at the over-flooded Shamsul Huda Stadium in Jessore yesterday.

Veteran forward Jahid Hasan Emily became the country’s top scorer when his 17th international goal put the hosts ahead at the quarter-hour mark before Sri Lanka midfielder Roshan equalised in the same half.

gives Proteas series over Kiwis

15 Maria out of WTA

Finals, Serena year-end No 1

Tigers ready for Zimbabwe Test

Another chance to win: Mushfiq After Shakib al Hasan on Thursday, it was Bangladesh Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim yesterday who shrugged away any possibilities of being over confident and expressed their will of winning the Test to change the “losers” tag from their back.

Mushfiq believes the series against Zimbabwe starting today is an opportunity to brush the negativities aside of the recent past.

“No we are not at all overconfident because of the kind of year we had. We had so many chances this year, but we were unlucky not to have been able to take them. So similarly this is another opportunity,” said Mushfiq at SBNS yesterday.

“The Zimbabwe team have said on paper we are a better side but there is no point of thinking in that way because last year a number of their players played in the Dhaka Premier League, so from that aspect they know our conditions and are used to it,” he added.

The 26-year old informed of having the Test ranking in mind but their major focus is on the Test series where they will look to do the basics right. He believes the return of Shakib al Hasan alongside spinners Taijul Islam and Jubair Hossain will strengthen the spin department and the results will eventually come their way if things on the field are carried out accordingly.

Mushfiq was the Bangladesh captain in all three formats of the game before being relieved off the ODI post after their recent tour of the West Indies. Mushfiq said he is enjoying the current responsibility before adding that he will be the first person to leave the duty if the team achieve results without his leadership.

15 Amla century

13

DHAKA TRIBUNE

The result will frustrate the home side as they had the most ball possession, dominated the midfield and controlled the game. However, an ineffective attacking line coupled with a solid defensive performance from the visitors meant the hosts had to be content with the draw.

It was Bangladesh’s first match after the end of the Lodewijk de Kruif era and new head coach Saiful Bari Titu drafted a few changes in the starting eleven giving senior players the precedence. Mithun Chowdhury, Monaem Khan Raju, Ariful Islam and Rayhan

Hasan got the nod while youngsters like Sohel Rana, Jamal Bhuiyan, Hemanta Vincent Biswas, Topu Barman, Wahed Ahmed, Toklis Ahmed and Yousuf Sifat were left on the bench.

The home side began the game brightly and created the first attack with just five minutes into the clock but Mithun shot the ball over the bar from close range following a header from Nasir Uddin. Sri Lanka’s first chance on the other hand came three minutes later when captain Sanjeewa headed over the crossbar from a long ball.

Bangladesh’s best chance came in the 12th minute. A defence-splitting through pass from talismanic midfielder Mamunul Islam found winger Zahid Hossain who entered the box through the right flank and tried to pass it to an unmarked Emily but an opposition defender intercepted and cleared the ball for a corner.

The hosts, however, did not take long to take the lead. Yeamin Munna provided a cross from the left flank which was headed home beautifully by Emily in the 15th minute. The Sri Lankan goalkeeper touched the ball slightly but was unable to prevent it from entering the net.

The islanders though, against the run of play, equalised in the 28th minute through their midfielder Roshan.

Roshan’s angular free-kick from the edge of the box curled into the near post after Raju fouled Johar in the preceding moments.

The second and final match of the series will be held in Rajshahi this Monday.

Hosts Bangladesh will be looking to start afresh in the new international cricket season when they take on Zimbabwe today in the first of three Test matches at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

The three-match Test series is likely to provide the home side an added incentive to do well as a series win will elevate the Tigers to ninth place in the Test rankings, pushing Zimbabwe down to the bottom.

The Test series will be an intense battle. Indeed, for Zimbabwe to lose to Bangladesh would be as much damaging as it would be for Bangladesh to lose to Zimbabwe at their own backyard.

If the expectations of home fans were not enough, Bangladesh will also have to contend with the pressure of being winless in Tests and ODIs in 2014. The most frustrating time the Bangladesh team have gone through in the last 10 months was between June and September. Within this duration, the national side lost to a second-string India in three ODIs in Dhaka among which includes Bangladesh being bundled out for a shambolic 58 in the second game.

The misery was compounded when ace all-rounder Shakib al Hasan was suspended for almost three months due to his indiscretions. To make things worse, both batting and bowling were a letdown

in the recent tour of the West Indies.

Bangladesh Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim informed that he will count on his spin attack – Shakib leading the way alongside rookie leg-spinner Jubair Hossain and Taijul Islam, still a fresh name in the circuit. In the batting department, the wicketkeeper-batsman will have to take up the leading role. Senior players like Shakib, opener Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah will also have to play responsibly.

Zimbabwe on the other hand will look to improve their recent run of form. After returning to the Test arena

BAN-ZIM HEAD TO HEAD Total BD Won Zim Won Draw In BD

4

1

1

2

In Zim

5

0

4

1

Total

9

1

5

3

in 2011 following six years of self-imposed exile, Zimbabwe have taken part in three overseas bilateral series and are yet to win a single game.

A good number of senior players from the Zimbabwe side have spent some quality time in Bangladesh playing in the domestic leagues and skipper Brendan Taylor stated that they will try to utilise their experience. Taylor, Elton Chigumbura, Vusi Sibanda, Hamilton Masakadza and Sean Williams have taken part in the Bangladesh Premier League and the Dhaka Premier League at different times.

‘What more’ can you ask for?

Bangladesh from 2003 to 2007.

The Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, born cricketer said he has been following Bangladesh cricket through news.

“They have had a tough time of late, but that’s fine. Everyone has to go through ups and downs. It hasn’t been easy for them, but now is the start of another season and I am sure the team is hoping to start on the right foot and string a few wins together,” he said.

It was under Whatmore’s guidance that Bangladesh grew from a minnow to a team holding the capability of matching the powerhouses. Whatmore departed ways with the Bangladesh cricket team after the conclusion of their matches in the 2007 ICC World Cup where Bangladesh reached the Super 8s eliminating India from the group stage in the process.

The national players at the indoor and the journalists present at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday encountered a pleasant surprise after meeting former Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore who literally popped up from nowhere.

Whatmore, who holds a very high place among the Bangladeshi players and media for his good work and humble behaviour, is in the country not to coach this time, but “to do some commentary” during the Zimbabwe series.

Bangladesh cricket probably enjoyed one of its finest moments under Whatmore in the 2007 ICC World Cup which remains the most successful ICC event the Tigers have played in. But before that, Bangladesh earned their

maiden Test series win under him in 2005 and guess who the opponent were – Zimbabwe.

“I have to say I have been looking forward to re-acquainting with so many people. It has been good to look at the home team practicing and meet so many people. Many many more to meet and I am looking forward to a good series against Zimbabwe, the old enemy,” said Whatmore, making it clear that he still cares for his former players.

“I remember the first Test win (against Zimbabwe in Chittagong, 2005). It was very good. The one after (in Dhaka) was even better when we drew it because we had to bat long time - four and a half sessions as far I remember - in the fourth innings to ensure the draw. Those were some good times,” said Whatmore who coached

Six girls included in senior squad

Crowd the real winner

Minhaz Uddin Khan

Raihan Mahmood Promising performances in the just concluded AFC Under-16 Women’s Championship 2015 Qualifiers helped six youngsters to attain places in the senior national team that will feature in the SAFF Women’s Championship scheduled to be held in Islamabad next month.

However, the major name missing from the 20-member list, announced by the Bangladesh Football Federation yesterday, is winger Sanjida Akhter who shone in the qualifying tournament. “She (Sanjida) was in the list.

Japanese head coach Norio Tsukitate was eager to keep her in the squad but her parents insisted that Sanjida should appear in her JEC exams. they took her home. We have nothing to do now,” said assistant coach Golam Rabbani Choton.

The six U-16 players included in the preliminary squad are defenders Masura Parvin and Khadija Akhter Shima, midfielders Misrat Jahan Mousumi and Lipi Akhter and forwards Krishna Rani and Bipasha Mali.

Shishir Hoque from Jessore An immense crowd was once again seen in a Bangladesh football game as the southwestern city of Jessore hosted spectators three times more than its capacity during the Fifa international friendly against Sri Lanka yesterday.

The friendly in Jessore was no different than the one between Bangladesh Under-23 and Nepal U-23 which took place in Sylhet last month in front of a boisterous crowd. The friendly in Sylhet opened the eyes of the Bangladesh Football Federation and inspired them to organise more friendlies out-

side the capital.

Similarly to Sylhet, the crowd broke into the field 10 minutes within the kick off despite a three-layer security force. More than 30,000 fans watched the game inside the stadium whereas the capacity is barely 12,000. There was hardly any space inside the stadium.

Despite a 3:30pm kick off, the avid football fans started to gather outside the venue in the afternoon. There were police, Ansars, RAB and Border Guard Bangladesh personnel stationed in and outside the venue but all of them failed to stop the excited fans from streaming into the stadia in large numbers.

20-member Bangladesh squad

Sabina Akhter, Rowshan Ara, Trishna Chakma, Mirona, Sui-Pru Marma, Khadiza Akhter Shima, Nuby Ching Marma, Misrat Jahan Moushumi, Maynu Marma, Krishna Rani Sarker, Sabina Khatun, Bipasha Mali, Masura Parvin, Munmun Akter, Aungmra Ching Marma, Khaleda Khatoon, Baly Khatun, Lipi Akhter, Surovi Akter Eity, Asia Khatoon Bithi.

A big section of crowd wait outside the Shamsul Huda Stadium, Jessore while Bangladesh were playing Sri Lanka yesterday SHISHIR HOQUE

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Real, Barca set for ‘Clasico’ battle Reuters, Madrid Clashes between Real Madrid and Barcelona are rarely short on drama and Saturday’s La Liga ‘Clasico’ may have more than its usual share with Luis Suarez poised to return from a biting ban and Barca team mate Lionel Messi on the brink of equalling the top-flight scoring record.

Watched by millions around the world, meetings between the European heavyweights have, over the years, showcased the spectacular talents of the game’s best, while occasionally being marred by ugly controversy.

The matches are also played out against the background of national politics and the latest edition has an added edge given the ongoing battle between the central government in Madrid and the Catalan administration in Barcelona over the region’s independence drive.

It is not for nothing that a recent book chronicling the Real-Barca rivalry by Spanish soccer specialist Sid Lowe was entitled ‘Fear and Loathing in La Liga’.

Those who have graced the ‘Clasico’ over the years include Real greats Alfredo Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas and Raul and Barca legends Ladislao Kubala, Cesar Rodriguez and Diego Maradona, while the current crop of players boasts multiple Ballon d’Or winners Cristiano

Record-chasing Messi faces unstoppable Ronaldo AFP, Madrid Lionel Messi can become the all-time leading goalscorer in La Liga this weekend when Barcelona travel to face Real Madrid.

The Argentine is just one goal behind Telmo Zarra’s 59-year-old record of scoring 251 goals for Athletic Bilbao.

However, his Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo has also started the season in record-breaking fashion.

Here, let us look at the numbers behind the rivalry between the two best players in the world:

Messi highest scorer in Clasicos

Messi already knows the feeling of breaking a significant record at the Bernabeu. On his last visit he passed compatriot and Madrid legend Alfredo di Stefano by scoring a hat-trick to be-

Suarez to return in clasico: Barca coach Reuters, Barcelona Luis Suarez, whose four-month ban for biting an opponent expires on Friday, will make his official Barcelona debut in Saturday’s La Liga clasico at Real Madrid, coach Luis Enrique said.

Suarez will play some part in the match at the Bernabeu, his first competitive action since he sunk his teeth into Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder at the World Cup finals in Brazil, Luis Enrique told a news conference.

“He will play some minutes,” added the former Spain midfielder, who will preside over his first clasico since taking over as Barca coach at the end of last season.

“How many? That is the million dollar question. It is an important event

Ronaldo and Messi.

The unseemly side of one of the biggest fixtures in club soccer has seen Barca fans toss the head of a suckling pig at Real midfielder Figo - who left Barca to join their arch rivals - and his Portuguese compatriot Jose Mourinho,

at the time in charge at Real, poking Barca assistant coach Tito Vilanova in the eye during a mass brawl.

Saturday’s game at the Bernabeu, the 169th La Liga meeting between the world’s richest clubs by income, is unlikely to produce incidents of similar magnitude and Barca will be hoping Suarez and Messi make headlines for the right reasons.

Suarez’s four-month ban for biting an opponent at the World Cup expires on Friday and the Uruguay forward could make his official Barca debut in a formidable three-pronged attack with Messi and Neymar.

Messi, meanwhile, is one goal short of the Liga scoring record of 251, set six decades ago by Telmo Zarra, and the 27-year-old Argentina captain is the leading scorer in ‘Clasicos’ with 21 goals in all competitions, two more than Di Stefano.

Barca midfielder Ivan Rakitic, who joined from Sevilla in the close season and could feature in his first Real-Barca game, summed up what taking part in a ‘Clasico’ means to a player.

“I dreamed about it as a child but now I don’t want to dream about it I

for him and he will have some time on the pitch.”

The 27-year-old netted a double for Uruguay in this month’s 3-0 friendly win over Oman, his second appearance for the South Americans on their tour of the Middle East after he featured in a 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia.

Luis Enrique, who had stints at both Real and Barca as a player, said he was confident the referee would be able to control the players in a fixture that has often been marred by brawling and poor sportsmanship in recent years.

Barca would be attempting to play their customary possession game at the Bernabeu and avoid allowing their opponents chances to counter attack, he added.

come the leading goalscorer in El Clasicos with 21 in 28 matches.

Ronaldo is down in seventh on that list with 13 in 21 games against Barca since he joined Madrid in 2009.

Ronaldo averaging over two goals a game in La Liga

Ronaldo’s incredible run of scoring 15 goals so far this season in La Liga is an all-time record after eight games.

Even more amazingly, Ronaldo has only taken seven appearances to reach that mark having missed Real’s defeat to Real Sociedad due to injury.

By contrast, Messi’s record of seven goals in eight games seems humble, however, he has also provided a league high nine assists.

Ronaldo the hat-trick king

One of the few feats so far beyond Ron-

want to experience it,” Rakitic said in an interview with Spanish television broadcaster Gol Television this week.

After an early-season wobble, Real have been on scintillating form in recent weeks and Ronaldo has netted a jaw-dropping 15 goals in seven La Liga outings.

FIXTURES Almeria Real Madrid Valencia Cordoba Eibar

v v v v v

Athletic Bilbao Barcelona Elche Real Sociedad Granada

Messi and Neymar have also been typically prolific, with the Argentine on seven goals and the Brazilian on eight.

A win for leaders Barca, who have yet to concede a goal in eight La Liga matches this term and won both fixtures last season, would stretch their advantage over third-placed Real to seven points.

The stage is set then for another titanic battle when there will be far more than a mere three points in the La Liga title race at stake.

aldo in his Madrid career has been a hat-trick against Los Blancos’ eternal rivals. The Portuguese bagged three hat-tricks in four league games this season to move level with Zarra and Di Stefano on 22 in La Liga.

Messi has 19, but two of those came against Madrid in a 4-3 win last season and a 3-3 draw in 2007.

Ballon d’Or decider?

Between them Messi and Ronaldo have won the World Player of the Year for the last six years. Ronaldo in 2008 and last year, whilst Messi picked up the award a record four times in between.

With the vote for Germany’s World Cup winners likely to be split amongst a number of players, Messi and Ronaldo are the favourites once more and Saturday’s spectacle provides the ideal stage to make a late case to voters.

CLASICO IN NUMBERS

1

The number of ‘Clasico’ victories Real coach Carlo Ancelotti has presided over in three meetings since taking over from Jose Mourinho at the end of the 2012-13 season, a 2-1 win in April’s King’s Cup final.

2

Barca won both La Liga ‘Clasicos’ last term, a 2-1 success at the Nou Camp and a 4-3 victory at the Bernabeu, and have since replaced coach Gerardo Martino with Luis Enrique, a former Spain midfielder who played for both Real and Barca.

18

The number of cards the most booked player, former Real and Spain defender Fernando Hierro, collected in official ‘Clasicos’ (17 yellow and one red). Real’s current centre back Sergio Ramos has 14 yellow cards and two red.

21

The number of goals scored

by Barca’s Argentina forward Lionel Messi in 28 official ‘Clasicos’.

30

The number of goals Real have scored in eight La Liga outings this season. Ronaldo has netted 15 in seven games.

32

The number of ‘Clasico’ appearances made by Luis Enrique for Real (1991-96) and Barca (1996-2004).

44

The record number of ‘Clasico’ appearances made by Real’s Paco Gento. Among active players, Barca playmaker Xavi has the most with 40, ahead of Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas on 35, Barca midfielder Andres Iniesta on 29 and Messi on 28.

91

Real have beaten Barca 91 times in official matches, with 89 wins for Barca and 48 draws.

228

The number of official ‘Clasicos’ played since the pair’s first encounter in the last four of the Spanish Cup on May 13, 1902, which Barca won 3-1.

250

Messi’s La Liga goals tally, putting him one short of the record of 251 set by former Athletic Bilbao forward Telmo Zarra six decades ago.

385

The number of goals Real have scored in official ‘Clasicos’, 14 more than Barca.

Five classic El Clasico clashes in history AFP, Madrid Real Madrid meet Barcelona for the 229th time on Saturday in one of the most anticipated El Clasicos in recent times as Luis Suarez prepares to make his Barca debut.

Here, AFP Sports looks at five famous matches from the historic rivalry between Spain’s two biggest clubs:

Real Madrid 5 Barcelona 0 (La Liga, January 7, 1995)

Just a year after guiding Barca to a 5-0 win over Real, Danish midfielder Michael Laudrup sealed his controversial switch to Los Blancos by sealing revenge for his new side by the same scoreline thanks to an Ivan Zamorano hat-trick and further goals from future Barca favourite Luis Enrique and Jose Emilio Amavisca.

Barcelona 3 Real Madrid 3 (La Liga, March 10, 2007)

Lionel Messi announced his arrival on the Clasico stage by scoring a hat-trick as 10-man Barca came from behind three times to snatch a dramatic draw.

The Argentine’s brilliance couldn’t spark a revival in the title race, however, as Madrid went onto win the league, finishing 18 points ahead of thirdplaced Barca.

Real Madrid 2 Barcelona 6 (La Liga, May 2, 2009)

Pep Guardiola’s first game in charge of Barcelona at the Bernabeu was also billed as a title decider as Madrid came into the game just four points behind Barca’s eventual treble winners and on a run of 17 wins and a draw in 18 league games.

They even scored first through Gonzalo Higuain, but Barca responded emphatically as goals from Catalan born centre-backs Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique added to doubles from Thierry Henry and Messi.

Barcelona 5 Real Madrid 0 (La Liga, November 29, 2010)

Barca’s best performance of the Guardiola era destroyed Jose Mourinho’s Madrid to move top of the table and they never ceded that advantage on their way to a third consecutive title.

Messi was once again the driving force, although he didn’t get on the scoresheet, as he provided two glorious assists for David Villa after Xavi and Pedro Rodriguez had put Barca in control before Jeffran Suarez rounded off a famous night for the Blaugrana.

KEY HEAD-TO-HEADS IN THE LA LIGA ‘CLASICO’

Real Madrid 3 Barcelona 4 (La Liga, March 23, 2014)

Billed as a potentially decisive match in the Liga title race, the game swung back and forth as Andres Iniesta gave Barca an early lead before a Karim Benzema double put Real in front.

Messi brought Barca level before half-time only for Madrid to retake the lead through Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty.

However, Messi was to have the final say as he completed a hat-trick with two more penalties to become the top goalscorer in the history of the fixture.

Defeat for Real was gratefully received across the Spanish capital as Atletico Madrid moved to the top of the table on the same day and held off Barca on the final day of the season to break the big two’s 10-year domination of La Liga.

Ramos back for Real, Bale sits it out Reuters, Madrid

RONALDO v MESSI

BENZEMA v SUAREZ

Ronaldo, 29, and Messi, 27, are two of the most consistently lethal goalscorers in soccer history and a match rarely passes without them getting on the scoresheet.

Portugal captain Ronaldo, who has succeeded Messi as World Player of the Year after four consecutive awards for the Argentina skipper, has netted an incredible 15 goals for Real in seven La Liga outings this season. Messi has seven in eight games and is one short of the Spanish top-flight scoring record of 251 goals set by former Athletic Bilbao forward Telmo Zarra six decades ago.

Messi plays with schoolboy enthusiasm, making darting runs and exchanging quick passes with team mates. Ronaldo is more of a showman, making muscular charges down the pitch, and his powerful, swerving freekicks are a threat from any range.

Benzema is enjoying one of his best seasons since joining Real in 2009, while Suarez is poised to make his official Barca debut after a four-month ban for biting an opponent at the World Cup finals in Brazil.

As well as scoring goals, the pair are known for their work rate off the ball, tracking back to challenge for possession and making intelligent runs that open up space for team mates.

France forward Benzema, 26, is an established force in Spain and has the firm backing of Real coach Carlo Ancelotti, while Uruguay’s Suarez, 27, who joined Barca from Liverpool in the close season, still has everything to prove.

Saturday’s clash at the Bernabeu will be the ideal opportunity for him to start winning over the Barca fans if coach Luis Enrique decides to include him.

RODRIGUEZ v NEYMAR

TONI KROOS v RAKITIC

CASILLAS v BRAVO

Neymar has started his second season at Barca with a bang after a fine performance for Brazil at the World Cup that was interrupted by a back injury.

Considered more of an out-and-out goal scorer than Rodriguez, the 22-yearold’s on-field partnership with Messi is flourishing and he has spoken of his confidence that this season could his best yet at club level.

Rodriguez, 23, has yet to consistently reproduce the form that helped him net a tournament-best six goals for Colombia at the World Cup but flashes of brilliance suggest he is not far off his best.

Playing just behind the forwards, he is expected to make the assists that will release the likes of Ronaldo and Benzema into space and a powerful left foot means he can also find the net from distance.

The two midfielders, gifted passers who operate in slightly different central roles, will be expected to dictate play for their respective teams and their success or failure could go a long way to deciding the game’s outcome.

Both are set to make their debuts in a ‘Clasico’ after Germany’s Kroos joined Real from Bayern Munich and Rakitic of Croatia moved to Barca from Sevilla.

Kroos, 24, has the unenviable task at Real of filling the position vacated by former Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso, now at Bayern. While Kroos mainly excels at long-range shooting, Rakitic, 26, can also score from distance but has the ability to time his runs into the box to finish off one of Barca’s trademark passing moves and is generally more effective than the German at playing the killer pass to create a scoring chance.

Real captain Casillas has endured a torrid time over the past couple of years and was widely criticised when Spain crashed out of the 2014 World Cup at the group stage before being whistled at the Bernabeu by disgruntled home fans at the start of this season.

The 33-year-old appears to have settled down in recent weeks and Ancelotti has restored him as undisputed number one.

Chile keeper Bravo, who Barca recruited from Real Sociedad to replace Victor Valdes, has made a record-breaking start to his stint at the Nou Camp and is yet to concede a goal in eight La Liga outings.

Bravo is perhaps more accomplished at dealing with crosses than his Real counterpart and his ball-playing skills mean he has settled comfortably into a Barca team that likes to begin their attacks from the back.

Real Madrid will have their combative Spain centre back Sergio Ramos available for Saturday’s “clasico” against Barcelona but Wales winger Gareth Bale is out, coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday.

Ramos, who has twice been sent off in recent clasicos, has shaken off a calf injury and should partner Pepe in the middle of defence after missing Wednesday’s 3-0 Champions League victory at Liverpool, Ancelotti told a news conference previewing the game at Madrid’s Bernabeu home.

However, Bale has not recovered sufficiently from a buttock muscle strain that also kept him out of the game at Anfield, the Italian added.

Barca top the standings with 22 points after eight matches and have yet to concede a goal in the league this season.

Real, after a wobbly start, have come into form in recent weeks and are four points behind their arch rivals in third, one adrift of Sevilla.

Ancelotti said Real would have to play a “perfect” game and team work would be crucial if they were to secure victory in the 169th Spanish top-flight meeting between the two European heavyweights. Real have won 70 to Barca’s 66 with 32 draws.

Sport

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Pakistan in command after day 3 AFP, Dubai Pakistan’s spin bowlers shared six wickets between them to take control of the first Test against Australia despite a brilliant hundred by David Warner on the third day on Friday.

Warner smashed 133 for his ninth Test century and his third in as many innings to match the indomitable Don-

SCORECARD, DAY 3 Pakistan Ist innings 454 (Sarfraz Ahmed 109, Younis Khan 106, Asad Shafiq 89, Misbah-ul Haq 69, Azhar Ali 53; M. Johnson 3-39) Australia 1st innings (overnight 113-1) C. Rogers b Rahat 38 D. Warner b Shah 133 A. Doolan run out 5 M. Clarke c Ali b Babar 2 S. Smith c Hafeez b Shah 22 M. Marsh lbw b Babar 27 B. Haddin b Khan 22 M. Johnson c sub (Masood) b Rahat 37 P. Siddle lbw b Hafeez 0 S. O’Keefe c Misbah b Shah 6 N. Lyon not out 4 Extras: (b4, lb2, nb1) 7 Total: (all out; 103.1 overs) 303

ald Bradman.

But Pakistan hit back to dismiss Australia for 303 in their first innings, for a first innings lead of 151, after they had made 454.

By the close, Pakistan had made 38-0 in their second innings with Ahmed Shehzad (22) and Azhar Ali (16) at the crease, stretching their lead to 189.

Debutant leg-spinner Yasir Shah (366) led the spin attack while left-armer Zulfiqar Babar (2-81) and Mohammad Hafeez (1-54) also chipped in as, apart from Warner, none of the other batsman made big scores.

Michael Clarke failed with a 13-ball two and so did Alex Doolan (five).

It was Warner who anchored the innings, becoming seventh Australian

batsmen to score three consecutive hundreds, the feat last achieved by Adam Gilchrist (2005) and Bradman (1948).

But with his third ball after lunch, Shah spun sharply to bowl Warner, who had hit 11 fours and two sixes during his 174-ball knock, but his fall saw Australia slump against spinners.

Warner saw Australia lose Chris Rogers (38), Doolan and Clarke in the space of just 30 runs before he and Steven Smith (22) added 48 for the fourth wicket.

Warner drove Khan to cover boundary for his eighth four to complete his hundred off just 128 balls.

The left-hander had hit a century in each innings against South Africa at Cape Town in Australia’s last Test in March this year.

Australia, resuming on a strong position at 113-0, lost Rogers when he played on to seamer Rahat Ali who finished with 2-55. Clarke, short on match-practice after failing in the warm-up game, survived just 13 balls before giving a bat-and-pad catch to short-leg off Babar, who had figures of 2-77.

Smith helped Warner to take the score to 206 before he fell in the penultimate over before lunch, playing straight into the hands of point to give Shah his first wicket.

Pakistan took another four wickets in the post-lunch session and despite Mitchell Johnson (37) and Steve O’Keefe (six) adding 32 for the ninth wicket, wrapped up the innings with 15 overs remaining in the day.

Fall of wickets 1-128 (Rogers), 2-151 (Doolan), 3-158 (Clarke), 4-206 (Smith), 5-207 (Warner), 6-249 (Haddin), 7-262 (Marsh), 8-267 (Siddle), 9-299 (Johnson) Bowling Rahat 19-0-55-2, Hafeez 25.4-5-54-1, Khan 15-3-41-1, Babar 27-2-81-2, Shah 16.3-1-66-3 (1nb) Pakistan 2nd innings Ahmed Shehzad not out 22 Azhar Ali not out 16 Total: (without loss, 13 overs) 38 Bowling Johnson 3-1-9-0, Siddle 3-1-8-0, Lyon 5-0-15-0, O’Keefe 2-1-6-0

DAY’S WATCH Star Sports 1 7:55 PM English Premier League Sunderland v Arsenal

The bails fly as Australian batsman David Warner is clean bowled during the third day of the first Test against Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai yesterday AFP

7:20 PM Hero India Super League Delhi v Chennai 10:00 PM La Liga Real Madrid v Barcelona 12:40 AM Serei A Sampdoria v As Roma

Star Sports 4 10:30 AM Moto GP qualifying 5:35 PM English Premier League West Ham United v Manchester City 7:50 PM Liverpool v Hull City 10:00 PM Swansea City v Leicester City 1:55 AM La Liga Cordoba CF v Real Sociedad

Neo Prime 7:30 PM Bundes Liga Borussia Dortmund v Hannover 96 10:30 PM Bayer 04 Leverkusen v FC Schalke 04

Neo Sports 7:30 PM Bundes Liga Eintracht Frankfurt v VfB Stuttgart

Ten Action 2:30 PM A League Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City 5:15 PM Sky Bet Championship Millwall v Cardiff City French League 1 9:00 PM Paris Saint-Germain v Bordeaux 12:00 AM SC Bastiais v AS Monaco

Ten HD 8:00 PM Sky Bet Championship Leeds United v Wolverhampton Wanderers

Ten Sports 12:30 PM, 4:00 PM BNP Paribas WTA Finals SF 1, SF 2 6:30 PM ATP World Tour 500 Swiss Indoors Basel SF 1, SF 2

Ten Cricket 12:00PM Pakistan v Australia 1st Test Day 4

Amla century gives SA series over Kiwis Reuters, Wellington Hashim Amla’s composed century helped South Africa to within a sniff of reclaiming the one-day top ranking after they beat New Zealand by 72 runs to wrap up their three-match series with a game to spare on Friday.

Amla’s 119 led South Africa to an impressive, but not overly daunting, 282 for nine in the second match at Mount Maunganui before the home side failed to get going against a bowling attack that put them under constant pressure.

With Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor out injured, none of New Zealand’s top-order batsmen did themselves any favours in the jockeying for World Cup selection as they were dismissed for 210 in 46.3 overs.

Wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi, who top-scored for the hosts with 99 in the first game, again led his side with 79 and shared in another record final wicket partnership, this time with Mitchell McClenaghan (34 not out) as they put on 76 runs.

Ronchi and Trent Boult had scored 74 runs, a New Zealand record against all countries for the final wicket, in the first game.

South Africa had been well set to score in excess of 300 courtesy of Amla’s 16th one-day international century and Faf Du Plessis’ 67 before the wheels fell off their innings.

Amla was dismissed in the 45th over with his side on 257 for four and exciting stroke-makers JP Duminy, David Miller and Rilee Roussouw still to come.

Duminy and Miller took the visitors through to 279 in the 48th over before a spectacular collapse when they scored just three singles off the final 14 balls and lost five wickets causing some concern at their frailty ahead of the World Cup.

SCORECARD South Africa Hashim Amla b Southee 119 Quinton de Kock b McClenaghan 26 Faf du Plessis c Ronchi b Neesham 67 AB de Villiers c Ronchi b Southee 37 JP Duminy lbw Boult 19 David Miller b Anderson 7 Rilee Rossouw c Guptill b Boult 0 V Philander c Brownlie b McClenaghan 1 Dale Steyn c Ronchi b Anderson 0 M Morkel not out 0 Imran Tahir not out 0 Extras (w4, nb2) 6 Total (9 wickets; 50 overs) 282 Fall of wickets 1-56, 2-169, 3-235, 4-257, 5-279, 6-279, 7-282, 8-282, 9-282 Bowling Boult 10-0-70-2, Southee 10-1-50-2, McClenaghan 10-0-49-2, Anderson 4-1-30-2, Vettori 10-0-41-0, Neesham 4-0-32-1, Guptill 2-0-10-0 New Zealand Martin Guptill c Rossouw b Philander 11 Jimmy Neesham b Morkel 10 Dean Brownlie b Steyn 20 Tom Latham c Amla b de Villiers 16 Brendon McCullum lbw Tahir 12 Corey Anderson c Miller b Steyn 1 Luke Ronchi c du Plessis b Philander 79 Dan Vettori b Duminy 1 Tim Southee b Tahir 5 Trent Boult b de Villiers 10 Mitchell McClenaghan not out 34 Extras (lb3, w7, nb1) 11 Total (all out: 46.3 overs) 210 Fall of wickets 1-25, 2-29, 3-61, 4-65, 5-69, 6-90, 7-95, 8-104, 9-134, 10-210 Bowling Steyn 9-1-35-2, Philander 7.3-0-27-2, Morkel 9-1-44-1, Duminy 7-0-41-1, de Villiers 6-0-28-2, Tahir 8-0-32-2 South Africa win by 72 runs and lead the three-match series 2-0

Dortmund far from perfect City want to avoid Hammer blow despite flawless run: Klopp AFP, Manchester

Star Sports 2 9:45 AM Duleep Trophy East Zone v South Zone

15

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Reuters With three wins in three Champions League games and a better goal difference than any other team in the competition, Borussia Dortmund are enjoying a perfect start in Europe despite their domestic slump.

The Germans crushed hosts Galatasaray 4-0 in Istanbul on Wednesday to take complete control of Group D with a maximum nine points and their best-ever start in the competition with nine goals scored and none conceded so far.

With Hanover 96 awaiting on Saturday, Dortmund are fully aware they

Channel 24, Jamuna reach cricket final Raihan Mahmood Channel 24 and Jamuna TV will face each other in the final of the Pepsi-DRU Cricket Tournament after defeating Alokito Bangladesh and Daily Ittefaque respectively at Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium yesterday.

In the first semifinal, Channel 24 won by 12 runs as they successfully defended their total of 78/2 in six overs.

Alokito Bangladesh could manage 66 in their stipulated six overs.

In the second semifinal, Jamuna TV won by 10 runs. Batting first, Jamuna TV posted 80 runs for the loss of three wickets and later restricted Ittefaque to 70/3.

The final will be held this Monday.

need to bring some of their European sparkle to Germany as their injury concerns slowly abate.

Playmaker Ilkay Guendogan looks to be improving by the day after a 17-month injury absence while Marco Reus, also back from injury, was on target in Istanbul for Dortmund’s third goal.

FIXTURES Dortmund Augsburg Hoffenheim Hertha Berlin Frankfurt Leverkusen

v v v v v v

Hanover 96 Freiburg Paderborn Hamburg VfB Stuttgart Schalke 04

Goalkeeper Joe Hart expects Manchester City to recover from their midweek Champions League disappointment to keep their challenge for domestic honours on track at inform West Ham on Saturday.

City’s away record in the Premier League is as good as Chelsea’s, with three wins and a draw from their opening four games.

The defending champions haven’t lost in their last 10 games against West Ham and will have happy memories of their last meeting - a 2-0 win in May which saw City clinch their second Premier League title in three seasons.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers

FIXTURES Liverpool Southampton Sunderland Swansea West Brom West Ham

v v v v v v

Hull Stoke Arsenal Leicester Crystal Palace Man City

Liverpool remain without England striker Daniel Sturridge, who is continuing his rehabilitation from a calf problem. French centre-back Mamadou Sakho will miss out a thigh injury while Spanish midfielder Suso (groin)

Lamela wonder goal sparks Spurs win, Everton held by Lille AFP, Paris Argentina star Erik Lamela scored a memorable wonder goal while Harry Kane grabbed a hat-trick before taking over in goal as Tottenham beat Asteras Tripolis 5-1 in the Europa League Thursday.

The 22-year-old Lamela, who has struggled to settle at White Hart Lane since moving from Roma, had only scored once for Spurs before Thursday but he made up for lost time in spectacular fashion.

After Kane had put the Londoners in front, Lamela hit the target from 20 yards with a stunning “rabona” goal

AFP, Singapore

Singapore. I really wanted it today, it was so tough in that second set.

We’ve always had such tough matches against Radwanska and today was no

different,” she said.

Sharapova is also now unable overtake Serena Williams and become year-end world number one for the first time, meaning the 18-time Grand Slam-winner earns the honour for a fourth occasion.

Sharapova’s elimination brought an end to a disappointing campaign for the Russian, who lost her earlier matches against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.

Sharapova had a 10-2 head-to-head record against Radwanska going into Friday’s match and won their last three meetings, but the world number six was unfazed.

and defender Jon Flanagan (knee) are long-term absentees.

Rodgers must decide whether to start with Italy striker Mario Balotelli, who was substituted at half-time on Wednesday, having controversially swapped shirts with Real Madrid defender Pepe.

Arsenal will seek to cement their fragile confidence when they travel to Sunderland in the Premier League on Saturday. Arsene Wenger’s side clinched only their fifth victory in 14 games when two goals in the final two minutes secured a 2-1 Champions League win at Anderlecht on Wednesday.

The Gunners will attempt to build on that when they go in search of their first Premier League win in four games at the Stadium of Light.

RESULTS M’gladbach

5-0

Apollon Limassol

Traoré 11, 67, Hrgota 56, Herrmann 83, T. Hazard 90+1

Villarreal

4-1

Cani 6, Vietto 57, Bruno 60, G dos Santos 78

where he wrapped his left leg around his standing right leg, poking the ball into the top corner.

Everton retained top spot in Group F as they battled to a 0-0 draw at Lille following a day of trouble in the French city centre between fans and police ahead of the tie.

The Merseysiders enjoyed the lion’s share of possession but lacked a cutting edge up front as Nigerian number one Vincent Enyeama kept the visitors at bay.

Celtic remained in second spot in Group D on seven points after a 2-1 win over Astra Giurgiu of Romania with Salzburg still top on goal difference after breezing past Dinamo Zagreb 4-2.

Sharapova out of WTA Finals, Serena year-end number one Maria Sharapova finally got a win at the WTA Finals Friday but it wasn’t enough to stop her crashing out of the tournament and blowing her opportunity to be crowned year-end world number one.

The Russian star needed to beat Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets to stay alive but after winning the first set, she agonisingly lost three match points and a tie-breaker in the second.

Second-ranked Sharapova rallied to win the match 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2 but the 2004 champion exits the end-of-season tournament in Singapore after her two earlier round robin losses.

“It’s so great to get a win in

wants to see an all-round improvement in his side’s defending when they face Hull City in the Premier League at Anfield on Saturday.

Club Brugge

1-1

FC Copenhagen

2-0

HJK Helsinki

Vázquez 90+2

Torino

FC Zurich Schonbacher 43

Amartey 89

Molinaro 35, Amauri 58

Partizan Belgrade

0-4

Besiktas Kavlak 18, Ba 45, Ozyakup 52, Töre 54

Tottenham

5-1

Kane 13, 75, 81, Lamela 29, 66

Salzburg

Barrales 89

4-2

Alan 14, 45, 52, André Ramalho Silva 49

Celtic

2-1

Scepovic 73, Johansen 79

BCB XI flies off to Kolkata Tribune Desk The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) XI left here for Kolkata yesterday to participate in the upcoming SK Acharya Memorial Trophy 2014.

The tournament has been arranged by the West Bengal Cricket Association (CAB) to commemorate 150 years of Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata.

Due to some last-minute changes by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the tournament was shifted to Jadavpur University Cricket Ground.

BCB XI will begin their campaign in the four-team tournament facing Mumbai this Monday. In the following days they will face Karnataka and Bengal. The final will be held on November 2.

PSV Eindhoven

Ademi 81, Henriquez 89

Astra Giurgiu

1-1

Panathinaikos

1-2

Dinamo Moscow

Karelas 87

Yohan 90+4

D Dnipropetrovsk

Dinamo Zagreb

Enache 81

Depay 43

Estoril

Asteras Tripolis

Kokorin 53, Zhirkov 80

0-1

Qarabag Muarem 21

Inter Milan Rijeka

0-0 3-1

Kramaric 63, 71, 76-P

FK Krasnodar

Young Boys

Feyenoord Toornstra 67

2-4

Granqvist 51-P, Docarmo 86

Lille

Saint-Etienne

VfL Wolfsburg Granqvist 37-o.g., De Bruyne 46, 80, Luiz Gustavo 64

0-0 2-0

Everton

Napoli

Hoarau 52, Bertone 90+2

Slovan Bratislava

0-3

Sparta Prague Lafata 56, Konate 61, Krejcí 81

PAOK

0-1

Fiorentina Vargas 38

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Dhaka hopeful about reopening of labour market in UAE Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Bangladesh is hopeful of reaching an agreement with the United Arab Emirates to reopen the labour market in the gulf country during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Dubai.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali made the comment while speaking at a press conference yesterday on backto-back visits of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and President Abdul Hamid to the UAE this month.

“We are negotiating with them over the issue. We hope that with the twin visits, the bilateral relationship will be strengthened further,” he said in reply to a question about reopening of the labour market.

The gulf country hosts over a million Bangladeshis who send billions of dollar as remittances every year. It stopped recruiting Bangladeshis on a massive scale since August 2012 following an allegation that some Bangladeshis were involved with criminal activities.

UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum invited Hasina to visit the country. She will fly to Dubai today and come back on October 27.

Hasina visited the UAE in 2009 and 2011 to attend two multilateral events and met her counterpart on the side-

lines of the two events. The last bilateral visit took place in 2006.

President Abdul Hamid will fly to Dubai on October 27 to attend the 10th World Islamic Economic Forum to be held from October 28-30. The UAE vice-president and prime minister invited him.

In reply to a query, Mahmood said Bangladesh and the UAE had overcome the relationship hiccup that they had over the issue of Expo 2020.

“If the issue had not been resolved, the visits would not have taken place,” he said.

Last year, the gulf country sought Bangladesh’s support in holding the mega event – Expo 2020 – to be held in 2020 where three others were also contenders.

Dhaka pledged to support Russia in the Expo election, but considering all the factors, later Bangladesh committed to the UAE that it would support Russia in the first round and then the gulf country in the following round.

The election continued for three rounds and eventually Dubai won the election.

The minister said: “The prime minister will discuss recruitment of more skilled and semi-skilled workers with the UAE authorities as they will need a lot for the Expo 2020.”

A senior official of the Foreign Ministry said issues of terrorism and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant will be discussed during the visit of the prime minister.

“The top leadership of the two countries will discuss terrorism issue especially ISIL one,” he said.

A threat to peace and security in the Middle East region in particular and the whole world in general, ISIL took control on a vast area in Iraq and Syria and a US-led coalition where the UAE, one of the important partners, is fighting with them.

About setting up of a hospital and nursing institute in Rangunia by the Nahyan Foundation, the minister said the issue would be discussed during the visit.

Dhaka agreed to hand over 110 acres of land to the foundation to set up a hospital in 1984 when late UAE president Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan visited Bangladesh.

About setting up of a deep-sea port

by Dubai-based DP World, the minister said some countries have made proposals and a powerful committee, headed by the principal secretary, is looking after it.

Agreements

Consular access in Thailand

Terrorism

Bangladesh hopes that several deals are likely to be inked during the visit.

Agreements on security cooperation, transfer of convicted persons, handover of a plot to the UAE embassy in Dhaka, foreign office consultation and a memorandum of understanding between BMET and Amala Group on recruitment of domestic workers are expected to be signed, the minister said.

“Until the agreements are signed, we don’t want to say what are deals that would be signed,” he said.

Dhaka has also proposed issuing a signed joint statement and it is under consideration of the UAE side, he added.

Bangladesh will interview 30 persons in Thailand who have claimed that they are Bangladeshis.

“We are going to send a team from the Bangladesh embassy to Thailand on October 28 to start the identification process of our own,” said Mustafa Kamal, secretary (bilateral) of the Foreign Ministry.

A total of 118 persons were found in Thai jungle in recent times and the Thai authorities are still identifying their origins, he said.

“They are kept in five or six detention centres and the embassy officials would first interview the 30 persons,” he added.

BMET to ink MoU with UAE firm to send housemaids Rabiul Islam The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training is set to sign a memorandum of understanding with Amala, a UAE-based company, to send domestic workers to the gulf state.

“The MoU will be struck during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to the United Arab Emirates from October 25-27,” BMET Director General Begum Shamsun Nahar told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

A three-member delegation, led by Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, will accompany the prime minister who is scheduled to leave Dhaka this (Saturday) morning for the UAE. Shamsun Nahar who will also go with the delegation said Amala is an agency under the Interior Ministry of the UAE. The company will place demand for female workers, she added.

Meanwhile, US-based rights organisation, Human Rights Watch, in its report released on Thursday showed how female workers mostly from Asian countries, including Bangladesh are exploited and abused in the UAE. When asked how the housemaids would be protected from exploitation and abuse, the director general of the

BMET, a regulatory body of overseas employment, said Amala would monitor the issue. Each housemaid would be provided with a SIM to lodge complaint to the Amala authority, she added.

Preferring anonymity, a senior official concerned said the government would stress the need for reopening the labour market in the UAE. The issue of female migrants’ abuse is unlikely to be raised during the prime minister’s visit. This issue might be addressed through another diplomatic channel, he added.

While finalising the draft MoU, Amala had put demand for 1,000 housemaids, he said, adding that they had agreed to send 200 workers.

As per the agreement, Amala would ask the employers to place demands on housemaids and later would inform the BMET about it.

The official said aspirant female migrants would be able to go to the UAE free of cost and one would get Tk18,000 a month.

According to BMET website, 54,878 female workers went to different countries, including the UAE, Jordan, Lebanon and Oman between January and September this year. Of them, 16,691 female workers went to the UAE during the period.

President to inaugurate international economic conference today Tribune Report President Abdul Hamid will raise curtain of the two-day international conference on global economic recovery and Asian economy in Dhaka today.

The conference is expected to bring together 500 participants including globally reputed dignitaries, ministers, industry and business leaders, experts, economists and academics from home and abroad.

The Bangladesh chapter of International Conference Centre (ICCB), the world business organisation, is hosting the conference at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel and Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka to mark 20 years of its presence in Bangladesh.

Earlier, the ICCB has arranged four similar events in the capital in 2000, 2004, 2005 and 2010.

The participants will have brainstorming sessions on topics such as global economic recovery, Asian growth and investment and contemporary realities to devise strategies to sustain economic growth of the Asian countries amid geopolitical risks, according to the organisers.

Highlighting the importance of the conference, ICCB President Mahbubur Rahman said the conference would be a leaning platform for local policy makers and businesses, as it brings together both local and foreign expertise and provides an opportunity for interaction on economic recovery and sustainable growth.

The world economy, five years after the global financial crisis, is showing signs of bouncing back this year where Asia, led by China, Japan and India, play a significant role, the ICCB president said.

“It is expected that Asia will continue to lead the way for sustained world growth, and world leaders

have to prioritise development of an integrated global strategy to sustain the projected world growth momentum,” he said.

The conference has been divided into four sessions to focus on particular themes: global economic recovery as a contemporary reality, realities and challenges to Asian growth, investment promotion in Asia, and effects of the Bali outcome on future trade.

The business sessions to be held on the second day have been divided into four sessions to deliberate of the conference.

The foreign dignitaries to attend the event include UNCTAD Secretary General Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, Deputy Prime Minister of Kuwait Dr Abdulmoshen Al-Medeij, Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Professor GL Peiris, Minister for Industries and Commerce of Sri Lanka Rishad Bathiudeen, Commerce and Supplies Minister of Nepal Sunil Bahadur Thapa, Minister of Economic Affairs of Bhutan Lyonpo Norbu Wangchuk, ICC Research Foundation and Chairman of Fung Group Victor K Fung, President of Chaudhary Group of Nepal Binod K Chaudhary, ICC Secretary General John Danilovich, and ICC Vice Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal.

The big event is being organised for the first time by all the major chambers and associations of the country, including Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

The Paris-based ICC was established in 1919 to promote free market economy and facilitate cross-border business transactions.

It most thoroughly represents business organisations of the world. Member companies in over 127 countries have interests spanning in every sector of private enterprise.

Workers working on a steel structure of a pillar of the under construction Moghbazar-Malibagh-Mouchak flyover in capital’s Malibagh area yesterday

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

First New York Ebola victim confirmed Reuters A doctor who worked in West Africa with Ebola patients was in an isolation unit in New York City yesterday after testing positive for the deadly virus, becoming the first person diagnosed with the disease in the city and the fourth in the US. The victim, Dr Craig Spencer, 33, who worked for Doctors Without Borders, was taken to Bellevue Hospital on Thursday, six days after returning from Guinea, renewing public jitters about transmission of the disease in the

country and rattling financial markets.

Three people who had close contact with Spencer were quarantined for observation – one of them, his fiancée, at the same hospital – but all were still healthy, officials said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo sought to reassure New Yorkers that they were safe, even though Spencer had ridden subways, taken a taxi and visited a bowling alley between his return and the onset of his symptoms.

“There is no reason for New Yorkers to be alarmed,” de Blasio said at a news conference at Bellevue. “Being on the

same subway car or living near someone with Ebola does not in itself put someone at risk.”

Health officials emphasised that the virus is not airborne but is spread only through direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person who is showing symptoms.

After taking his own temperature twice daily since his return, Spencer reported running a fever and experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms for the first time early on Thursday. He was then taken from his Manhattan apartment to Bellevue by a special team

wearing protective gear, city officials said.

He was not feeling sick and would not have been contagious before Thursday morning, city Health Commissioner Mary Travis Bassett said.

“We consider that it is extremely unlikely, the probability being close to nil, that there would be any problem related to his taking the subway system,” Bassett said.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will confirm Spencer’s test results within 24 hours, she said.

Surgeons transplant ‘dead heart’ BBC

Two men with a gun ride a motorbike to hunt migratory birds in Rajshahi’s haor area yesterday violating the Wildlife (Protection and Safety) Act 2012 AZAHAR UDDIN

Surgeons in Australia say they have performed the first heart transplant using a “dead heart”.

Donor hearts from adults usually come from people who are confirmed as brain dead but with a heart still beating.

A team at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney revived and then transplanted hearts that had stopped beating for up to 20 minutes.

The first patient who received a heart said she felt a decade younger and was now a “different person”.

Hearts are the only organ that is not used after the heart has stopped beating - known as donation after circulatory death.

Beating hearts are normally taken

from brain-dead people, kept on ice for around four hours and then transplanted to patients.

‘Significant development’

The novel technique used in Sydney involved taking a heart that had stopped beating and reviving it in a machine known as a “heart-in-a-box”.

The heart is kept warm, the heartbeat is restored and a nourishing fluid helps reduce damage to the heart muscle.

The first person to have the surgery was Michelle Gribilas, 57, who was suffering from congenital heart failure. She had the surgery more than two months ago.

“Now I’m a different person altogether,” she said. “I feel like I’m 40 years old - I’m very lucky.”

There have since been a further two

successful operations.

Prof Peter MacDonald, head of St Vincent’s heart transplant unit, said: “This breakthrough represents a major inroad to reducing the shortage of donor organs.”

It is thought the heart-in-a-box, which is being tested at sites around the world, could save up to 30% more lives by increasing the number of available organs.

The breakthrough has been welcomed around the world.

The British Heart Foundation described it as a “significant development”.

Maureen Talbot, a senior cardiac nurse at the charity, told the BBC: “It is wonderful to see these people recovering so well from heart transplantation when, without this development, they may still be waiting for a donor heart.”

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