06 Dec, 2014

Agrahayan 22, 1421 Safar 12, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 242

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

16 pages plus 24-page supplement Avenue-T | Price: Tk12

AVENUE T

8 | PRESCRIPTION

9 | HERITAGE

12 | SPORT

SAFETY FIRST

COMMON CAUSES FOR COMMON COLD

WAS SHINTO BORN HERE?

RELIEVED SHAKIB LOOKING FORWARD

PM: Bangladesh needs no single country in its march forward Hasina also rejects the idea of severing ties with any nation n Abu Hayat Mahmud Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday rejected the notion that the country could not move ahead and develop without the help of some specific countries.

Hasina’s remark came following a media report that the relation with the US might deteriorate.

We believe in friendship to all and malice to none The prime minister, however, said her government does not want to sever diplomatic relation with any country either.

She said this after she was asked about the relation with Pakistan responsible for the massacre in 1971. “It is not the policy of Bangladesh to break up diplomatic tie with any country,” she said.

“We gave our reply to Pakistan during the Liberation War in 1971. We want to maintain good relations with all countries around the world.”

BR to procure 120 passenger coaches on Indian credit n Asif Showkat Kallol Bangladesh Railway is planning to procure 120 broad gauge passenger carriages at a cost of Tk837.84 crore under an Indian credit agreement that limits bidding for projects financed by it solely to Indian firms, officials said.

A Bangladesh Railway proposal for the purchase of the broad gauge coaches will be placed before the cabinet committee on public purchase tomorrow, officials of the state-owned railway company said yesterday.

According to the proposal signed by Senior Railway Secretary M Mansur Ali Sikder, the Haryana-based Indian firm, RITES Limited, was selected by the tender evaluation committee.

Kapurthala M/S Rail Coach Factory will supply 120 broad gauge passenger carriages, capital and maintenance spares and foreign training for Bangladesh Railway engineers.

The tender evaluation body said prices quoted by RITES Limited were lower than those previously quoted by Indonesia’s PT INKA Limited that had won BR tenders in the past.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

The premier was speaking at a press conference to brief the media about the outcomes of her recent Malaysia visit and the Saarc Summit in Nepal.

“Bangladesh is an independent country. We are a nation that cannot bank on any single country. Questions might be there in public mind if we can do without the US, which I think is wrong,” she said.

“We achieved our victory in 1971 that it [the US] opposed. It also tried to foil the January 5 polls but it could not.

Several countries helped us in our Liberation War. We believe in friendship to all and malice to none,” she said.

As she was asked about US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswa’s visit, she said: “if she [Nisha Desai] told anything to the BNP chairperson you [journalists] can question them.”

At the diktat of the US foreign minister the World Bank suspended the fund for Padma bridge on charge of graft allegations that were later proved wrong, she said.

At the press briefing Hasina called upon BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to stop holding meetings in the dark of night.

According to media reports, a group of incumbent and former public servants held a meeting with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office on Thursday night.

Citing the title of Hindi film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke she said: “Whatever you [Khaleda] want to do, do it in  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

The sluggish progress of the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane project has left the highway extremely dusty. The nuisance has doubled for the commuters as dry season is here

Janatar Moncho-like platform in the offing n Mohammad Al-masum Molla Pro-BNP-Jamaat government officials are mulling over a plan to float a platform to launch a non-cooperation movement to topple the Awami League-led government.

To execute the plan, a section of incumbent and former government officials, including joint secretaries, administrative officers and office assistants, held an hour-long meeting with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office on Thursday night.

The BNP has, however, termed the

news of the meeting false, fabricated, baseless and misleading.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told journalists that if any government official was found to have violated law, “legal steps will be taken against them.”

State Minister for Public Administration Ismat Ara too said the government would not take the issue lightly as it was a matter of discipline within the government service.

A senior BNP leader, seeking anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that the party was planning to wage a non-

stop movement from the first week of January.

Bodies of professionals loyal to the BNP might create a platform and government officials might join to give the movement an impetus, said the leader.

Before holding the meeting with Khaleda, the government officials had held several meetings with the party’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and former secretary and Adviser to BNP Chairperson MA Halim.

A party source said the government officials would finalise the strategy of executing the plan after holding meet-

n Reuters

n Abu Bakar Siddique

People swarmed the streets of New York and other cities for a second night to protest a grand jury’s decision not to indict a white police officer in the death of an unarmed black man.

The wave of protests began after no charges were brought against Officer Daniel Pantaleo for his role in a confrontation that killed Eric Garner. A bystander caught the incident on a video that has been shown repeatedly.

The reaction echoes the outrage after a grand jury also declined to indict a white policeman for killing an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri.

US Attorney General Eric Holder has mounted a civil rights review of the Missouri shooting and promised a full investigation of the New York case.

The protests began during the evening rush hour, with demonstrators weaving between cars and trucks and bringing traffic on city streets to a near-standstill.

The marches picked up recruits along the way, shifted directions, splintered and regrouped, but remained relatively peaceful for a second night.

The government has banned the extraction of certain forest products from the Sundarbans, the expansive mangrove forests that has been declared a UNESCO world heritage site, in order to protect its ecosystems from over-exploitation.

The ban to prohibit the harvesting of Golpata, Goran and other forest resources came into effect from the start of the winter season and will remain in force until further notice, Yunus Ali, the Forest Department’s chief conservator of forests, said. But fish, crab and honey may still be harvested on a limited scale because they are not covered by the ban.

The government hopes to protect the forest ecosystem by restoring depleted species, he said.

The largest single tract of natural mangrove forest in Bangladesh is the Sundarbans, with an area of 6,017 square kilometres, according to the forest department. It is 4.07% of the country’s land area and accounts for 40% of the country’s forest land.

The forest inventory of 1998 reported that there were 12.26 million cubic

Protesters in cities across the US denounced a New York grand jury’s decision to spare a white police officer from criminal prosecution in the choking death of Eric Garner. A female protester holds a placard in Brooklyn, New York, on December 4 REUTERS Tensions came as at least 3,000 protesters converged in Times Square about an hour before midnight. Blocking the major intersection of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue, they chanted at police: “Who do you protect?”

Soon hundreds of officers shoved them on to the footpaths. Dozens were

detained, although police declined to provide exact tallies.

Earlier, protesters in lower Manhattan staged sporadic sit-ins at intersections before police in riot gear warned them to move on or face arrest. Most complied.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

3 | News

Bail, repeatedly denied by the lower courts to Jannati Hossain, remains uncertain after a High Court bench said it was embarrassed to hear the matter.

It is 41 years, but Lakshmipur has still not been connected with Dhaka by railway. The authority carried out a study in 1973 whether any railway could be installed in the district with its connection with the capital.

ings with the BNP chairperson and then the message would be disseminated among the government officials and employees.

But as the news leaked in the media, grievances surfaced within different quarters including the party.

A Standing Committee member, seeking anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Those who attended the meeting were not from good social standing. How could officials of such level hold a meeting with Khaleda Zia? It is surprising!”  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Protests over New York chokehold Ban slapped on some death spreads to other cities Sundarbans resources

INSIDE

6 | Nation

RAJIB DHAR

5 | News

The Barisal Metropolitan Police (BMP) formed a three-member probe body yesterday over criticism of using excessive force to disperse Health Technology Institute students.

7 | World

Tens of thousands of people fled coastal villages and landslide-prone areas in the central Philippines yesterday. A powerful typhoon is expected to hit the island nation today.

11 | Op-Ed

It may sound very funny if someone proposed a yearly car-free day in this country. But there are many cities that are very enthusiastic about observing car-free days.

15 | Entertainment

A solo caricature exhibition titled ‘Meet the Faces” by Nasreen Sultana Mitu was inaugurated yesterday at the Alliance Française de Dhaka in the city’s Dhanmondi area.

metres of timber available in the Sundarbans including Sundari, Gewa, Keora, Baen, Dhundul, Passur and other species of trees that have a diameter greater than 15cm.

The Sundari is the most important species of tree in the Sundarbans forest and is distributed over 73% of the reserve, according to forest department statistics.

The illegal extraction of forest resources by the Forest Department itself has to be stopped A study titled River Salinity and Climate Change: Evidence from Coastal Bangladesh published earlier this year by the World Bank said the volume of Sundari tress had declined in the last few decades due to rising levels of salinity.

It said the Sundari tree cover had declined from 23,000 hectares in 1989 to just 16,400 hectares in 2010.

Non-wood forest products like Golpata, honey, wax, fish and crab are  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

2 Bhutanese PM arrives today n BSS Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay will arrive today on a threeday official visit at the invitation of his Bangladesh counterpart Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

An aircraft of Royal Bhutanese Airlines “Drukair” carrying the Bhutanese premier and the members of his entourage is scheduled to land at Shahjalal International Airport at 9am.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will receive the guest at the VVIP Tarmac of the airport, according to Prime Minister’s Office sources.

It would be Tshering’s maiden visit to Bangladesh after taking office as the prime minister of Bhutan in July last year. The Bhutanese PM will lead a 10-member high-profile team of ministers and be accompanied by a business delegation during the visit.

Tshering will hold different bilateral talks with the prime minister including power and hydro-electricity management, agriculture, trade and business, health, education and connectivity.

There is a possibility of renewal of the existing bilateral trade agreement between Bangladesh and Bhutan during the visit, said Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali. During his stay in Dhaka, the Bhutanese prime minister will also meet President Abdul Hamid, leader of the Opposition in Parliament Begum Rawshan Ershad and a number of cabinet members. He will leave Dhaka on December 8. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has said democracy established in the country through the sacrifices of the blood of hundreds of martyrs is not safe yet.

The former prime minister made the remarks in a message issued on the occasion of the Fall of Autocracy Day. On December 6, 1990, military ruler HM Ershad was forced to step down from power in the face of a mass upheaval.

Khaleda Zia also alleged that the government was shackling the nation with a one-party cruel rule.

“Our democracy has gotten stumbled again and again on its march forward. The democracy established by the blood of hundreds of martyrs is not yet out of danger,” Khaleda said.

She urged all to become united in order to resist the evil forces and give democracy a permanent shape. l

Tofail stresses need for efficient chartered secretaries n BSS Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday said efficient chartered secretaries were very important to bring transparency and accountability for establishing good governance in the country.

“Talented chartered secretaries having experiences and vast knowledge are needed to ensure transparency and accountability in the profession,” he said while speaking as the chief guest at a seminar at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city, said a press release.

The Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) organised the seminar titled Corporate Leadership: Enhencing Governing Excellence on the occasion of the fifth national convention with its president Mohammad Asad Ullah in the chair.

The minister said the government established the ICSB with enacting a law of Chartered Secretaries Act 2010 to improve and flourish the profession. l

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Hasan Mahmud: TIB’s report on corruption prepared on faulty information n BSS

Awami League Publicity and Publication Affairs Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud yesterday said Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) published its report on corruption assumption index based on faulty information to deliberately tarnish the country’s image to foreigners.

The Awami League leader said this while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion in the city.

Narayanganj District unit of Muktijoddha Projanma League organised the discussion at Dhaka Reporters Unity at Segunbagicha, protesting instigating statements of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and BNP-Jamaat leaders against the state and the Liberation War. President of the organisation Mahinur Sunny chaired the discussion and was addressed by Dhaka City AL Publicity Secretary Abdul Huq Sabuj and Muk-

tijoddha Projanma League President Asaduzzaman Durjoy, among others.

On Wednesday, TIB released a report on universal corruption assumption index at the National Press Club in which Bangladesh was placed on the 14th position as among the most corrupt states in the world.

Hasan Mahmud said: “There are some misled persons and organisations in the country. The aforesaid persons become active in different television channels after midnight while the said organisations are always engaged in tarnishing the country’s image to foreigners.”

“Thanks to these organisations if they, like TIB, want to point our mistakes. But, it cannot be accepted if their intention is anti-state activities.

So, investigation should be conducted regarding the sources of financing and real intention of these organisations,” he added. l

Champion Mursalin Habib from Notre Dame College, first runner-up Karishma Farhina from Shaheed Bir Uttam Lt Anwar Girls College and second runner-up Shweta Majumder from Maple Leaf International School pose for a photo with other achievers and guests yesterday at the College Mathematics Olympiad organised by ULAB computer science and engineering department. The aim of the Olympiad was to identify, encourage, promote and nurture young talents in mathematics in Bangladesh and promote national awareness for the development and the necessity of mathematics education COURTESY

Ershad: BNP to go extinct before next general polls

Khaleda: Democracy is not safe yet n UNB

n Tribune Report

News

Claiming that the BNP is facing a severe leadership crisis, Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad yesterday said Khaleda Zia’s party would go out of existence before the next general election.

“The general election will be held after four years or later, but Khaleda Zia’s BNP will have no existence before that election. Jatiya Party will be then the major opponent of Awami League to contest the polls,” he said.

The former dictator came up with the remarks while addressing a public meeting at Harati School ground in the city.

Ershad, also a special envoy to the

Prime Minister, expressed deep concern over what he said the sharp slide in law and order. “The country is in a bad shape. People across the country are not in peace.”

‘We are working to secure 151 seats to form the next government’ Accusing both Awami League and BNP of having failed to ensure peace and welfare of people, he said they want to get rid of the two parties. “Awami League and BNP are busy in killing, infighting and clashes. People want to see

Jatiya Party in power for peace.”

Taken aback at the leak of question papers of primary examinations, Ershad said, “I never heard before that the question papers of primary exams got leaked.”

He also alleged that the government is not taking any effective step to check the malpractice.

The former dictator claimed that there are only misrule, terrorism, tender manipulation and politicisation in the country under the current rule.

He also said his party will be able to fulfil the people’s expectations if they come to power in the next general election. “We are working to secure 151 seats to form the next government.” l

Sharon Gordon, 52, of Matawan, New Jersey, said she hoped politicians would take heed. “There’s been a confluence of social media and outrage,” she said. “I do believe for the first time we’re about to make a change.”

Waves of marchers also blocked traffic on two bridges between Manhattan and Brooklyn, then converged on the Staten Island ferry terminal at Manhattan’s southern tip. The main group headed west and temporarily shut the West Side Highway, resulting in at least a handful of arrests, before turning north toward Times Square.

A smaller crowd confronted police with taunts. Chesray Dolpha, 31, yelled at the officers: “We are not violent. We are not touching you. What are you

n BSS

Awami League Advisory Council member and former Railway Minister Suranjit Sengupta yesterday said an investigation team should be constituted at the instruction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to take action under the service rule against those bureaucrats who had secret talks with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia. “Apart from discharging their official duties, officers of the Republic can never say anything outside. Action should be taken against them under the service rule if they had any secret talks.

The state and its people want neutrality of the officers of the Republic. But, instead of maintaining their neutrality, some bureaucrats had a secret meeting with Khaleda Zia, which is tantamount to conspiracy,” he said.

Suranjit Sengupta, a senior parliamentarian of the ruling Awami League, said this while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion on current politics in the city. Bangabandhu Academy organised the discussion at the Liberation War Museum at Segunbagicha in the capital in memory of the first elected Mayor of Dhaka City Mohammad Hanif. l

PM: Bangladesh needs no single country

BR to procure 120 passenger

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

broad daylight and stop holding meetings at the dead of night.

“Law will take its own course. Actions will be taken against the officials if they are found to have violates the law.”

She criticised the Transparency International (TI) for its recent report that said corruption in Bangladesh was on the rise.

The TIB only raises silly issues but it kept mum during the military-backed caretaker government and said nothing about money laundering and corruption of the BNP chairperson and her son during the BNP tenure, Hasina vented her anger on the TIB. “If it [the TIB] has evidence, it can

expose the government’s corruption.

But it cannot do so as the government is going in the right direction.”

The sources of income and amount of assets of those who are bringing fake allegations will be unearthed, she warned.

Answering to questions about her political adviser HT Imam’s remarks about Chhatra League and January 5 polls, Hasina said: “The responsibility for the remarks goes to him, not to the party.”

Sheikh Hasina termed her Nepal and Malaysia tours successful.

The 18th Saarc conference was very important for the regional stability.

This is not all about rail link or connectivity, it also involves import, export,

curbing terrorism and others.

Hasina said she sat with the prime ministers of India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and others to develop bilateral relations, exchange manpower, develop business, and control terrorism.

She stressed the need for exporting manpower through proper way. The prime minister said Malaysia agreed to recruit 12,000 more Bangladeshi workers.

“An agreement was also signed on the manpower export to Malaysia,” said Hasina.

Positive progress was made in strengthening economic relations, developing housing sectors, business, education, and others between Bangladesh and Malaysia. l

Ban slapped on some Sundarbans resources  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

high-value products of the Sundarbans.

Calling the government initiative good, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), said the illegal extraction of forest resources by the Forest Department itself had to be stopped first, otherwise these efforts would not work.

The illegal extraction of resources, especially timber felling and the poaching of wildlife, has long been carried out illegally by Forest Department officials, she said. “This must be stopped.”

At the same time, the government must introduce alternative options for forest-dependent people who rely on

the Sundarbans for their livelihood, she added.

Poor people living around the Sundarbans are forced to enter the mangrove forest to collect wood, catch and trap fishes and crab, and collect honey, legally and illegally, to earn their livelihood.

The Royal Bengal Tiger, Gangetic Dolphin, Indian Fishing cat, Indian Otter, Spotted Deer and a variety of monkey species are among the prominent fauna of the Sundarbans.

Ecology and biodiversity researcher Pavel Partha said the government ban violates the traditional rights of forest-dependent people established in the Bangladesh Wildlife Protection and Safety Act, 2012.

The government should permit those traditionally dependent on the forest to use the forest for their livelihoods and ban non-forest dwellers, instead of imposing a blanket ban on everyone, he said.

Furthermore, banning all resource extraction can harm mangrove ecosystems because some species, like Golpata, require regular extraction for the regeneration of the forest, he added.

Yunus Ali said the forest department is working to provide alternatives for forest-dependent people to alleviate their hardship when the ban comes into effect.

The Sundarbans are home to 334 species of trees, shrubs and epiphytes and 269 species of animals. l

Protests over New York chokehold death spreads to other cities  PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

Suranjit for forming a probe body for Khaledabureaucrats talks

doing with that baton, brother?” The police made eye contact but did not reply.

Elsewhere, hundreds also demonstrated in Washington DC, chanting: “No justice, no peace, no racist police,” as they passed the Justice Department, neared the White House and headed to the Washington Monument. Protesters staged a “die-in” there, sprawling on the roadway to block traffic.

Protesters also blocked traffic on Interstate 35W in Minneapolis and on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. Other demonstrations prompted officials to close two Bay Area Rapid Transit stops in Oakland, California, and re-route bus traffic around part of San Francisco’s Market Street.

CHOKEHOLDS AND RETRAINING

Unlike the August 9 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Missouri, Garner’s encounter with New York police was captured on video by a bystander’s mobile phone. It showed Pantaleo wrapping his arm around Garner’s throat and wrestling him to the footpath as three other officers help subdue him.

Garner repeatedly gasped: “I can’t breathe,” a phrase protesters have taken up as a rallying cry.

He was being arrested for allegedly selling cigarettes illegally in Staten Island in July.

Pantaleo could still face disciplinary action from an internal police investigation, his lawyer said. That investigation is likely to focus on whether Pantaleo used a chokehold, which is

banned by police department regulations.

Pantaleo told the grand jury he used a proper take-down technique and never put pressure on Garner’s neck, according to his lawyer, Stuart London.

The city’s medical examiner has said Garner’s death was caused by compressing his neck and chest, with his asthma and obesity contributing.

Although chokeholds are officially prohibited, the police patrol guide is vague about whether they are permitted under certain circumstances, said Maria Haberfeld, who heads the law and criminal justice department at John Jay College.

That grey area, she said, may have influenced the grand jury and could be a factor in the departmental probe. l

The railway division secretary said: “We want to complete the procurement of the 120 broad gauge coaches within the stipulated time as it is related with direct communication with neighbouring India.”

According to an official of the Economic Relations Division, seven out of 15 projects which were undertaken under the $800m Indian line of credit, have been completed during the last three-and-a-half years.

Indian High Commissioner Pankaj Saran handed over a cheque for $25m equivalent to approximately Tk194 crore – the fourth instalment of the $200m grant committed by India in 2012 – to Finance Minister AMA Muhith at his Hare Road residence.

Saran briefed the minister on the latest status of 15 ongoing projects under the remaining $800m Indian line of credit, which are in different stages of execution.

Following Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina’s visit to New Delhi in January 2010, India extended a $1bn line of credit to Bangladesh for a range of projects that included railway infrastructure development, supply of locomotives and passenger coaches, the renovation of Saidpur railway workshop, the procurement of passenger vehicles including articulated buses, and river dredging.

India later wrote off $200m of the $1bn credit as a grant which the Bangladesh government could use for any development project. The Bangladesh government last year decided to use the grant amount towards the construction of the $2.9bn Padma Bridge.

According to the deal for the $800m line of credit, Bangladesh will have to procure 85%-100% of goods and services from the Indian market.

The state-owned rail service provider has undertaken 13 projects under the $800m credit line to upgrade its infrastructure and service facilities. l

Janatar Moncho-like platform  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Many have already branded Thursday’s meeting as “Gulshan Conspiracy” in the manner of what is popularly known as the “Uttara Conspiracy,” in which 13 government officials had secretly met at the Uttara house of former energy adviser Mahmudur Rahman on November 24, 2006.

Sources at the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office said former bureaucrats and officials still in service – many of whom have job tenures of only two months to 15 months while some are OSD (officer on special duty) – joined the meeting.

Maruf Kamal Khan Sohel, press secretary to the BNP chairperson, however, said some former and in-service officials met Khaleda Zia but it could not be called a meeting.

Asked if government officials can hold any meeting with the chief of a political party, Maruf said: “How was then Janatar Moncho formed?

Were the service rules not violated then?”

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir too slammed the media for broadcasting and publishing “false news.”

“This was a completely false, fabricated and motivated news aimed at misleading people. There is no basis for such news,” he said.

Meeting sources said Khaleda Zia listened to the opinions of the government officials and sought their suggestions on how to wage an anti-government movement.

Khaleda reportedly told them that whenever the BNP assumed office all problems would be fixed. She asked everyone to participate in the movement.

Party leaders hinted that the BNP was planing to bring all professionals to a single platform like the Janatar Moncho which was launched in 1996 by the then Dhaka city unit Awami League president Mohammad Hanif.

A good number of government officials led by Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir had joined the Moncho to mount pressure on the government to hold election under a non-partisan government.

Khaleda and other senior BNP leaders have alleged on different occasions that the government had politicised the administration and made meritorious and competent government officials OSDs. They also called upon such government officials to take to the streets protesting the government’s “misrule.”

On September 16, the state minister for public administration told parliament that 138 officials were made OSDs in nine months. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

3

Saturday, December 6, 2014

HC embarrassed to hear Jannati’s bail petition n Ahmed Zayeef

Bail, repeatedly denied by the lower courts to Jannati Hossain, remains uncertain after a High Court bench said it was embarrassed to hear the matter.

Rumeen Farhana, Jannati’s lawyer in the High Court, contends that her client, who has been incarcerated for five months and remanded for nine days, is eligible for bail.

She told the Dhaka Tribune: “Last Sunday we moved for bail with the High Court for the first time. But the bench comprised of Justices Borhanuddin and Abdur Rob felt embarrassed to hear the matter.”

Despite police eyewitness accounts that described the fatal crash as an accident, the victim’s family filed a murder case “We have not decided what our next move will be,” she added.

Jannati was taken into custody in an accident case, a bailable offence, filed by police after her involvement in a car crash that resulted in a fatality.

Eleven days later, despite police eyewitness accounts that described the fatal crash as an accident, the victim’s family filed a murder case against her.

The ordeal began in the early hours of July 11, when Jannati Hossain, 23, was driving her 27-year-old friend, Mostamsir Ashraf, son of former district court judge and current Inspector General of Registration (IGR) Khan Mohammad Abdul Mannan, from Uttara

to Dhanmondi.

After descending from Mohakhali flyover, the car, which reportedly suffered a brake failure, ran into the back of a police van parked on the roadside opposite Shaheen School and College.

The left side of the car sustained a devastating impact and Mostamsir, who was sitting in the passenger seat beside Jannati, was severely injured and later died in hospital.

Jannati and three law enforcers who were inside the van were also injured in the accident.

Later that day Tejgaon police station Sub-Inspector Sarder Nizamul Haque, who witnessed the incident, filed an accident case against Jannati for reckless driving and hitting the police van.

Eleven days after the incident, Mostamsir’s uncle filed a murder case against Jannati, her husband, and her brothers with a Dhaka court, reportedly after having failed to convince local police to accept a murder case.

Mizan Mollah, Jannati’s lawyer in trial court, earlier told the Dhaka Tribune that she was being targeted because Mostamsir was the son of a very powerful man.

“I have been working as a lawyer for 30 years and I can say that this is plain and simple case of an accident. Reckless driving is a bailable offence and Jannati has been denied her rights for the past four months. The police are first-hand witnesses to the accident and they have said in their report that it was an accident. The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority report stated that the car suffered a mechanical failure,” he said.

“Whenever we tried to hold a hearing in the accident case, we were told the investigation was ongoing and that Jannati would be taken into remand for further questioning,” he said. l

Thousands of Islami Andolon activists kept the Paltan intersection of the capital occupied for hours yesterday while staging demonstrations demanding capital punishment to sacked minister Abdul Latif Siddique over his comments on hajj and Tabligh Jamaat MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Strike on 10 routes causes suffering for commuters n Tribune Report Thousands of commuters suffered immensely as transport workers of the Jangalia bus terminal in Comilla went on a strike yesterday.

The transport workers enforced the strike demanding punishment of the people who attacked their fellows in the Alekhar Char area of the district on Thursday.

During the strike, movement of buses from Comilla to Feni, Noakhali, Laksh-

In line with the Global Dignity Day this year, Bangladesh Harijan Oikya Parishad brings out a rally at the Central Shaheed Minar premises in the capital yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

‘Consider inter-generational equity for legally binding climate deal’ n UNB Civil society leaders from Asia, Africa and Latin America yesterday urged government delegates attending the UNFCCC COP-20 in Lima to consider the urgency of a legally binding climate deal while super typhoon Ruby is about to thrash on the Philippines.

UNFCCC (United Nation Framework for Climate Change Convention) COP (Conference of Parties)-20 began in the capital city of Peru on December 1 and it will continue till December 12.

The civil society leaders also urged the global leaders to consider inter-generational equity ensuring zero percent discount on fossil fuel by respecting human rights, particularly of ingenious people.

They raised the demands at a press conference held in Lima at the media centre of UNFCCC COP-20, according to a message here received yesterday afternoon.

Civil societies from MVCs (Most Vulnerable Countries) and LDCs (Least Developed Countries) organised the press

conference titled “Expectation from COP-20 in view of MVC and LDC interest: A civil society perspective”.

They raised the demands at a press conference held in Lima at the media centre of UNFCCC COP-20, according to a message here received yesterday afternoon Moderated by Tetet Lauron of Ibon International from the Philippines, the press conference was addressed by Mrinal Kanti Tripura of BIPNetCCBD of Bangladesh, Tania Guillén from Centro Humbold of Nicaragua, Asha Sitati from Kenya, and youth activist from Bangladesh Risalat Khan of Avaz, a global campaign organisation, among others.

The press conference was organised by a coordination body of Bangladeshi

climate activists and climate alliance namely Bapa, BIPNetCCBD, CDP, CCDF, CPRD, CSRL, BCJF, FEJB and EquityBD in COP-20, led by Jahangir Hossain Masum of CDP and Md Shamsuddoha of CPRD at Lima.

Risalat Khan read out a written statement on behalf of the group that expressed worried about loose coordination and leadership among the delegation, especially among MVCs and LDCs. Marinal Kanti Tripura of BIPNetCCBD and Maleya Foundation of Bangladesh, representing IPCCSD and IIPFCC, demanded the recognition of the role of indigenous people in adaptation and mitigation.

Tetet Lauron reminded the global delegation about the Super Typhoon Haywanhit Philippines during Warsaw Climate Conference (COP-19) and now another typhoon Ruby to landfall during Lima COP-20 is signaling an urgency of legally binding climate deal.

She also urged the global leaders to take step to stop anymore climate related death. l

mipur, Chandpur and Chittagong was halted, our Comilla correspondent reported.

Alamgir Hossain, organising secretary of Comilla Transport Workers’ Union, said a group the activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra Legue and Jubo Legue, associate bodies of the ruling Awami League, in the presence of the officer-in-Charge of Sadar Dakhshin police station Prashanta Pal assaulted their President Mohammad Ali and General Secretary Motaher Hossain as they had

refused to provide extortion to them.

“We are also demanding the removal of OC Prashanta Pal who remained silent without taking any action against the goons,” he said.

He also threatened to extend their strike to the entire district if their demands are not met. Sheikh Shahjahan, assistant police super, told the Dhaka Tribune that they would take action against the OC, if he was found guilty.

Protesting the attack, angry workers barricaded the Dhaka-Chittagong High-

way near Alekhar Char area on Thursday evening, causing a tailback on the highway. Our Chittagong correspondent adds: Executive President of the Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Malik Samity’s Kafil Uddin said transport from Chittagong to other districts had plied like other days while no transport from Comilla came into the port city.

“The strike is imposed following local dispute amongst local transport owners and workers which did not affect port city’s transport movement,” he said. l

‘Ensure dignity for all underprivileged people’

12 Hizb-ut Tahrir men held in Chittagong

n Abid Azad

Police yesterday detained 12 activists of banned outfit Hizb-ut Tahrir in Anderkilla Shahi Jam-e Masjid area when they were distributing leaflets of their organisation and preparing for a march.

The arrestees are two Hazi Muhammad Mohsin Government College students - Yasin Iqbal, 28, and Ariful Islam, 27 – and 10 International Islamic University Chittagong students - Sufian, 27, Raihan, 24, Iftekharul Islam, 27, Arif Mohammad Bilwal, 25, Nur Mohammad, 32, Abdul Kaiyum Sabuj, 30, Mohiul Islam, 24, Ainul Islam, 26, Kamruzzaman, 27, and Mahmudul Islam, 22.

Assistant Commissioner (Kotwali circle) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police Shah Mohammad Abdur Rouf told the Dhaka Tribune police detained the 12 who were part of a group organising a march after the Jummah prayer.

Other members of the group fled while police found some leaflets and a banner they left behind, he said, adding that legal action would be taken against them once interrogation ended.

Police sources said activists of the banned outfit dodge police and operate in different parts of the city, mostly in front of mosques on Friday. Around 10,000 activists are believed to be operating across the country. About 300 Hizb-ut Tahrir men have been detained in different parts of the port city in the last five years, according to sources. l

Bangladesh Harijan Oikya Parishad at a discussion yesterday demanded that dignity be ensured for all underprivileged people in the country.

Speaking at the discussion at the auditorium of Bangladesh Medical Association in the capital, they also said despite the fact that the constitution says to establish equal opportunities for all citizens, the reality speaks differently.

The discussion was a part of a daylong event organised by the Harijan Oikya Parishad along with NGOs Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) and FAIR to promote equality for all.

A large number of underprivileged people like Harijans, Dalits, indigenous people, sex workers, transgender people, physically and mentally challenged people and more suffer discrimination both socially and nationally based on their situation and condition.

To tackle this, they also demanded the approval of the Elimination of Discrimination Act. The proposed act, the draft of which was presented for the first time at the discussion by FAIR Director Dewan Aktharuzzaman, was prepared by the Law Commission with the assistance of Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), FAIR and MJF, the FAIR director told the Dhaka Tribune.

The draft proposed that any kind of

discrimination against any people considering their caste, class, gender, sex, physical condition, age, birth, birth place, occupation, etc should be considered illegal and punishable offence.

Expressing solidarity with the Harijan Oikya Parishad, ASK Executive Director Sultana Kamal said: “It is unfortunate that we need to create an act to eliminate discrimination. But it is also true that if such an act is implemented, people will get a legal framework to protest discrimination and demand punishment when they face discrimination.

“There are a lot of work to be done to uphold the true sense of liberation, and ensuring equal rights for every citizen regardless of gender, caste, religion, physical condition, etc is a significant step in that direction. We demand not only the approval of the act, but also its full implementation,” she said at the discussion.

The draft act has been sent to the Ministry of Law, which will place it before the cabinet, the FAIR director told the Dhaka Tribune.

Presided over by Harijan Oikya Parishad President Krishnalal, the organisation’s Secretary General Nirmal Chandra Das, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad President Kajal Debnath and MJF Director Rina Ray also spoke at the discussion.

The programme began with a rally and ended with a cultural programme following the discussion. l

Mother, daughter raped Correspondent, n Our Habiganj Miscreants have gangraped a girl and her mother at gunpoint in Habiganj’s Chunarughat upazila.

The victims were critically injured and admitted to Habiganj General Hospital.

Locals said they rushed to the house and rescued the girl and her mother after hearing their shout for help on Thursday night.

They could not catch any of the miscreants as they had run away before the locals arrived.

The girl’s father was away on a duty when she

and her mother faced this ordeal, they added.

Residential Medical Officer Mohsin Kabir said it was not possible to say for sure whether they had been raped unless any test was done on them.

He said both the girl and her mother were now admitted to the gynaecology department of the hospital.

Chunarughat police station Officer-in-Charge Amulya Kumar Chowdhury however could not confirm whether any such incident, saying they were not yet made aware of it.

So far, nobody has filed any case in this regard, he added. l

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Saturday, December 6, 2014

BNP sees govt failure behind manpower export fall Mirza Fakhrul doubts whether any manpower deal was signed in Malaysia not specified in the treaty that how n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla many people will be sent to Malaysia The BNP sees the government’s failure behind the decrease in the country’s manpower export to Malaysia and the Middle East.

“We believe that it is the government that is responsible for this,” the party’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told reporters after placing floral wreaths at the party founder Ziaur Rahman’s grave to mark the founding anniversary of Jatiyatabadi Mukktijhodher Projonmo, a pro-BNP group.

‘The government, boycotted by the people, are controlling the judiciary, parliament and administration’ Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently visited Malaysia and inked four deals, including manpower export. According to her, the South-east Asian country agreed to take in 12,000 more Bangladeshi workers.

Fakhrul said: “So far, we have come to know that an ordinary deal was signed. But we have noticed that it is

for work.”

He expressed doubt over whether any manpower deal was signed with Malaysia, saying the government just said they had signed deals but had not yet disclosed them before the nation.

The BNP leader asked the party leaders and activists to take a vow to wage tough anti-government movement and to establish people’s government in the country.

At a discussion at the National Press Club, he said the government had become unsuccessful and was standing on quicksand. And so they were now so afraid that they were seeing a nightmare like conspiracy everywhere.

“The government, which was boycotted by the people, are controlling the judiciary, parliament and the administration. They are also plundering everywhere,” he said.

Claiming that an autocratic government has been ruling the country, he said: “If Ershad is labelled as an autocrat, then Sheikh Hasina is ahead of him. During Ershad’s regime, 50-150 people were killed while over 2000 were killed during Sheikh Hasina’s.”

“Today’s slogan should be: Down with Neo-Autocrat Sheikh Hasina, Down with Autocrat Awami League,” he said. l

Three electric transformers have tilted and got tangled with a tamarind tree by the Amanura Road in Godagari upazila of Rajshahi district. If not addressed immediately, the situation can bring hazards to the residents of the nearby villages AZAHAR UDDIN

Palak: Country to see 1m ICT workforce in 4 years n DU Correspondent

The country’s ICT sector is likely to see a workforce of one million within the next four years through increase in the number of internet users.

The view was exchanged

by State Minister for Post and Telecommunications Zunaid Ahmed Palak yesterday while addressing a seminar titled “Asian Governance:

Paradox of Development” organised by Bangladesh Policy Research Center at Dhaka University Senate building.

He said: “By promoting internet to one crore people each year, the government is planning to create a workforce of a million people in the ICT sector in the next four years.”

The government has planned to increase GDP by 1% through the export of information and technology based

products, he said adding that he hopes to bring all upazilas and unions under internet coverage within 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Palak said: “With an attempt to amplify ICT based knowledge and earnings, we have trained 15,000 freelancers in the last 10 months and it will be increased to 55,000 within the next two years.”

Chaired by Policy Research Cen-

Ex-marine cadets demand removal of visa hindrances n Tribune Report

In observance of the International Volunteer Day 2014, different organsations bring out a rally from the Central Public Library in the capital yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

CJ: Ensure justice to violence-victim women n UNB

Chief Justice M Muzammel Hossain yesterday urged all concerned to be more cautious and responsible so that the women who fall victims to violence get justice.

He made the call while addressing the inaugural session of a workshop at a city hotel as the chief guest.

International Women Judges’ Association and Bangladesh Women Judges’ Association jointly organised the workshop “Family and sexual violence victims’ rights to justice”.

Observing that violence against women is a global phenomenon, the chief justice said only law is not enough to curb this menace. “All must be responsible and conscious, too.”

He also underscored the need for ensuring education, empowerment and employment for women to bring an end

to violence against them. “All -- from the family to society and state -- must be mindful about it.”

Muzammel Hossain observed that there will be a marked decline in violence against women if the media increasingly run anti-discrimination reports.

Speaking on the occasion, the country’s first female justice, Nazmul Ara Sultana, currently an Appellate Division Judge of the Supreme Court, identified poverty as a barrier to justice for women although the constitution safeguards equal rights of both men and women.

She also said a violence-victim woman has to face harassment everywhere, including police stations.

Nazmun Ara noted that the persons concerned have no training as to how a sexually-harassed victim should be interrogated, saying court can play a greater role in meting out justice to such victims. l

Ex-cadets of Bangladesh Marine Academy yesterday formed a human chain in the capital’s National Press Club yesterday demanding the alleviation of the visa complexity to join foreign shipping companies and also protesting the alleged corruption in the marine sector.

They urged the government to reopen the ‘Okay To Board’ (OTB) visa facilities for China, Singapore, Malaysia and the Middle East, which was recently closed for Bangladeshi mariners.

Spokesman of the organisation Imran Wahid said: “The government is not aware of the marine sector. We are facing lots of problems to find a job after graduation. Even if we do, the visa complication is a huge hurdle.”

‘After joining a foreign shipping company, they order us to board the ship in one or two weeks. But we often do not get visa in time,” he added.

The speakers alleged that some dishonest companies were hurting the reputation of the mariners by forging certificates and trafficking manpower illegally to the Middle East. “And because of that many countries have stopped appointing Bangladeshi mariners,” they said.

According to the academy, at present Bangladesh has only 38 ships whereas two years ago it was 70. Job opportunities in this sector is decreasing in Bangladesh.

They also criticised the government for approving new public and private marine academy without ensuring jobs for the graduates. l

Two women killed in road accident in Chittagong, four injured n FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong Two women were killed and fours others injured after a covered van collided head-on with two CNG-run autorickshaws on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway in the district’s Mirsari upazila yesterday The dead were Rina Jhol Dash, 35, and Tasunnesa, 65, Sub-Inspector Md

Mustafiz of Mirsarai police station said.

Quoting locals, the SI said the accident had occurred near Sufia Road area of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway under Mirsarai municipality area around 5am, leaving two women dead on the spot and four others injured.

Being informed, police went to the spot and seized the covered van. The injured were sent to Chittagong Medi-

cal College Hospital (CMCH) and other local hospitals, said the SI. Nayek Shilbrata Barua of CMCH Police Outpost said two injured - Mohiuddin, 35 and Alam, 50, - were admitted to CMCH’s causality ward.

SI Mustafiz said the driver and the helper fled the scene soon after the incident. A case will soon be filed with the station, he added. l

Muggers loot Tk2.36 lakh stabbing two in city n UNB In separate incidents, muggers stabbed two people and took away cash money, including foreign currency, worth about Tk2.36 lakh in the city’s Guran and Palashi areas yesterday.

The first incident took place at Palashi crossing where a group of three snatchers riding a motorcycle intercepted Md Rasel, 30, a fish trader, around 6am.

The gangsters stabbed him indiscriminately and snatched Tk20,000 from him, said victim’s sister Sheuly. He was

taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

In the other incident, Muhit Khan, a Malaysia expatriate, fell victim to mugging when he came out of Haji Mosque at South Guran after Juma prayers.

A gang of hoodlums, numbering 4-5, waylaid him at Hajji Mosque Gali on his way to Labaid Hospital at Dhanmondi to visit an ailing relative.

The muggers took away US$ 2,700 along with his passport after stabbing him indiscriminately, said Himel, a friend of Muhit. He was first rushed to a local clinic and then shifted to the DMCH, Himel added. l

Ex-cadets of Bangladesh Marine Academy form a human chain in front of the National Press Club in the capital yesterday protesting the alleged irregularities and corruptions in the marine sector MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

ter Chairman Dr Akbar Uddin Ahmed, the seminar was also addressed by DU Vice-Chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique, among others.

Earlier in the programme, Zunaid Ahmed Palak was awarded with “Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury National Award” for his outstanding achievement in the ICT sector.

DU VC handed over the crest to Palak. l

PSTU admission seeker killed in road accident n Our Correspondent, Barisal A Patuakhali Science and Technology University (PSTU) admission seeker was killed in a road accident on Boga-Dumki road in Rajkhali bridge area in Patuakhali yesterday.

The victim was Solaiman Khan, 18, son of Hazrat Ali Khan, a resident of Dhushkhali under Bamna upazila in Barguna, police said.

The accident took place as a locally improvised three wheeler (Tomtom) carrying the victim turned upside down near the bridge. The driver was unable to see clearly ahead due to foggy weather.

Solaiman was travelling in the vehicle to the PSTU to attend the admission test held yesterday. Locals rushed him to the university’s medical center.

He was later shifted to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH), Barisal where doctors declared him dead around 9:00am.

The body was sent to the SBMC morgue for an autopsy. l

Democracy Day today n UNB Major political parties, including the ruling Awami League and BNP, will observe the Democracy Day today, marking the fall of autocratic ruler HM Ershad in 1990.

On December 6, 1990, military dictator Ershad stepped down in the face of a mass upsurge, and handed power over to a caretaker government ending his nine years of autocratic rule which began through grabbing power in a coup on March 24, 1982.

Different political parties and socio-cultural organisations have taken various programmes to mark the day.

BNP held a discussion at the Jatiya Press Club yesterday on the occasion.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia have issued separate messages greeting the countrymen. In her message, the prime minister said December 6 is a remarkable day in the history of reclaiming democracy.

Claiming that Awami League played a responsible role in protecting democracy and people’s voting rights in two decades since 1990, she said the scope for usurping power has been blocked with the 15th amendment to the constitution.

Hasina paid homage to those who laid down their lives to establish people’s democratic rights.

In her message, Khaleda Zia urged all to get united to resist the evil forces and give democracy a permanent shape. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

5

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Meagre pay makes DU students disinterested in part-time work n DU Correspondent The part-time job programme introduced over a decade ago at the Dhaka University now gets little response from students, who describe the remuneration as nominal.

The scheme was launched in 2001 by the university authorities to enable impoverished yet bright students to pay tuition fees. Tk500 was offered for a monthly labour of 30 hours.

The part-time jobs include recording information about freshers in the register, library maintenance, categorising books and so on Student advisers who were also responsible in counselling interested students and department consultants were tasked with maintaining the programme.

The part-time jobs include recording information about freshers in the register, library maintenance, categorising books, and so on.

Response to the programme, however, has been considerably poor these days as students say the pay is not in line with current expenses.

“For a student, Tk500 was enough to get by for around 15 days ten years ago, but the amount is really inadequate now. You cannot pay for little expenses for even three days with this

amount,” said a student.

Salauddin Ahmed, a student of English who hails from Jessore, termed the amount too little.

“The money will be of no help in terms of the current prices of goods.

We will just be wasting our time if we take part in the programme,” he said.

Even though the allowance of teachers, officials and other staff was increased several times, payments for part-time jobs still remain the same.

In 2009, academic council members had a discussion on raising the amount but the proposal is yet to be approved by the syndicate.

Sources said at least 150 students can participate in the programme in an academic year but the low pay attracts no more than 15 students. Interestingly, half of them do not show up at the oral test, after which the final decision is made on applicants.

Deputy Director of the Student Adviser and Counselling Office Md Ashrafuzzaman said recommendations were made several times to the syndicate to increase the amount to Tk1,000 but it had not been approved as yet.

“The amount is paltry compared to the monthly expense of a student. This is why students are not enthusiastic in utilising the opportunity,” he added.

Professor Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique, vice-chancellor of the university, told the Dhaka Tribune financial constraints bar the authorities to increase the payment in line with the demand.

He also said there would be efforts to raise the allocation in the upcoming budget. l

Bangladesh Women Riders Club brings out a rally in the capital yesterday calling for an end to violence against women. The photo was taken from the Manik Miya Avenue MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Gas and electricity to every household within 3 years

9 BCL men sent to jail

n Our Correspondent, Gazipur

n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

Every household in the country will have gas and electricity within the next three years, said State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid Bipu.

“We are working towards building the ‘Sonar Bangla’ of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,” he said adding that Gazipur’s popular leader Ahsanullah Master had not died but continued to live in the hearts of the people of the country.

Nasrul Hamid was delivering a

speech as the chief guest at an event to mark the 64th birth anniversary of Ahsanullah Master yesterday.

The social and cultural organisation ‘Chetona’ arranged the event at Tongi rail station.

With the president of the organisation Zahid Al Mamun in the chair, the event was also addressed by parliament member Zahid Ahsan Rasel, MD of Haq & Co Adam Tamiji Haq, former MP Kazi Mojammel Haq, freedom fighter Fazlul Haq and convenor of district Swecchashebok League Matiur Rahman Moti among others. l

CLASH ON SUST CAMPUS

A Sylhet court has sent nine members of Bangladesh Chhatra League, a student body of ruling Awami League, to jail for their involvement in the recent clash at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (Sust).

Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate 1 Md Anwarul Haque passed the order after police produced them before the court after end of a two-day remand.

The accused are: Joyonto Das, Ashik Mursalin, Uzzal Ahmed, Naeem Ahmed, Belal Ahamed, Sajal Das Anik,

Mehedi Hasan, Emran Hossain, and Sultan Ahmed.

Earlier on Monday, the court placed the BCL activists on a two-day remand after the police produced them before it seeking a five-day remand each.

On November 20, a private university student was killed and 20 people were injured in a gunfight between two Chhatra League factions of the Sust over establishing supremacy on the campus. The deceased, Suman Chandra Das, 22, was a student of Sylhet International University. Four cases were filed in this connection. l

Fair investigation on HTI students' attack demanded n Our Correspondent, Barisal

In protest against the merciless baton charge on students of Barisal Institute of Technology on Wednesday, Bangladesh Jubo Union forms a human chain in the capital’s Shahbagh area yesterday RAJIB DHAR

WEATHER

6th National Math Olympiad at CU n CU Correspondent

DRY WEATHER LIKELY SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 5:11PM SUN RISES 6:29AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 29 29 27 28 28 29 29 29

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

18 18 15 15 14 17 15 19

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

30.5ºC Sitakunda

12.5ºC Srimangal

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

5:08am 6:27am 11:49am 3:35pm 5:11pm 6:31 pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

The 6th National Math Olympiad in Chittagong region was held at Chittagong University (CU) yesterday.

CU Vice-Chancellor Prof Anwarul Azim Arif inaugurated the programme at the Gallery No 2 of the university’s science faculty building around 9:30am.

Addressing as the chief guest, the CU VC said mathematics is the mother of science. Modern science is not complete without it.

Some 45 students took part in the region’s Olympiad yesterday.

Of the participants, 25 were from the university’s mathematics department, said Dr Aman Ullah, member secretary of the programme, also a teacher of the department.

Ten participants were selected for the next stage of the programme, which will be held at Dhaka University (CU) on December 12, he said.

With Dr Asraful Islam, chairman of mathematics department of CU, in the chair, CU Pro Vice-chancellor Prof Iftekhar Uddin Chowdhury and Science Faculty’s Dean Prof Abdul Karim were present as the special guests.

Prof Dr Munibur Rahman, convener of the 6th National Math Olympiad, and also a teacher of Dhaka University’s mathematics department, gave the welcome speech at the programme. l

The Barisal Metropolitan Police (BMP) formed a three-member probe committee yesterday in the wake of criticism for using excessive forces to disperse agitating students of the Health Technology Institute.

The committee headed by Shoyeb Ahmed, BMP’s deputy commissioner, has been asked to submit its report within three working days, said Shoibal Kanti Chowdhury, BMP commissioner.

Other members of the body are Abu Raihan Md Saleh, deputy commissioner (traffic) and Runa Laila, assistant commissioner (city special branch) of BMP. Some 20 protesters, mostly females, were injured in a baton charge by police when law enforcers got into action to disperse an agitation rally of the students blocking roads in front of Barisal

Sher e Bangla Medical College campus on Wednesday afternoon.

The programme was called by the Bangladesh Diploma Medical Technology and Pharmacy Students’ Association to press their 10-point demands,

Some 20 protesters, mostly females, were injured in a baton charge by police when law enforcers got into action to disperse an agitation rally including forming a separate education board, upgrading job status and expanding employment scopes.

On other hand, a nine-member team, including Dilip Kumar Das, vice-president, Samir Kumar Bepari,

JU Butterfly Fair draws thousands n JU Correspondent Thousands of butterfly lovers thronged the fifth Butterfly Fair held at the Jahangirnagar University (JU) yesterday.

“Urale Akashe Projapoti, Prakriti Pay Natun Goti” – with this slogan, the entomology section of JU Zoology Department, in collaboration with International Union for Conservation of Nature and Prokriti O Jibon Foundation, arranged the day-long fair with around 1000 butterflies on display.

Butterflies of 125 species including Plain Tiger, Common Crow, Dingy Bush Brown, Common Duffer, Ape Fly, Pea Blue, Tiny Grass Blue, Oak Blue, Common Sailor, Common Rose, Blue Mormon, Striped Albatross, Mottled Emigrant, Monkey Puzzle, Blue Pansy and Painted Lady caught the sight of visitors.

JU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Farzana Islam inaugurated the fair around 10am by releasing balloons and live butterflies in front of the Zahir Raihan Auditorium of the university.

Zoology department teacher and convener of the fair Prof Dr Monwar Hossain, IUCN representative Ishtiaque Uddin Ahmed, Prokriti O Jibon Foundation chairman Mukit Mazumder Babu were present among others.

Written by JU Prof Dr Monwar Hossain and Chittagong University Prof Shafique Haider Chowdhury, a pictorial book on butterflies titled, “Butterflies of Bangladesh-Inventory Third Phase,”

A visitor takes a look at the butterflies put on display inside a ‘Butterfly Hut’ at the Butterfly Fair 2014 held at the Jahangirnagar University yesterday FOCUS BANGLA was unveiled while the foundation stone of a Butterfly Research Centre and Park was laid by the VC. VC Prof Farzana Islam said: “Butterflies are not only beautiful to look at but also play an important role to maintain the ecological balance. So we should be aware about their safety and habitats.”

She convened the teachers and students of JU to carry on researches on butterflies and ensured that all necessary assistance would be provided by the university authorities.

“We have already taken many steps

to protect the natural bio-diversity of the university,” VC Farzana said.

Prof Md Sohrab Ali of Rajshahi University Zoology Department was honoured for his extra-ordinary contribution in the field of studies and research on butterflies.

Abu Galib Imtiaz, a butterfly lover who came to visit the fair, told the Dhaka Tribune: “It is a fantastic arrangement for butterfly lovers. As a photographer, I am much excited and happy to have found such plethora of elements to capture.” l

office secretary, Abdul Mannan, treasurer, Shamsuddin Palash and Moniruzzaman, joint secretaries of the Bangladesh Diploma Medical Technology and Pharmacy Students Association, visited the injured HTI students at SBMCH yesterday.

Condemning the attack they said probe-committee formed by the attackers would be mockery.

They said investigation should be done under separate neutral authorities to ensure justice for the victims.

They also suggested that among the injured Suriya, Koli, Akhi and Tuli, should be sent to Dhaka for better treatment immediately.

Kumud Ranjan Bala, principal of Barisal HTI, acknowledging the fact said injured 14 students were undergoing treatment at the SBMCH and a decision regarding sending critically injured students to Dhaka would be taken today. l

Mawa-Kawrakandi ferry service halted for 8 hours n Our Correspondent, Madaripur Dense fog kept ferry services suspended for about eight hours on the Mawa-Kewrakandi route across the Padma River until 9am yesterday.

Passengers’ sufferings were beyond description as hundreds of vehicles remained stranded in the fog on the Kaorakandi ghat.

Salam Hossain, manager of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) at Kaorakandi ghat, said they had suspended the ferry service and plying of water vessels from around 1am due to blurred vision because of dense fog, but was resumed at 9am as the fog cleared. l

Two held with 4,500 yaba n Our Correspondent Police arrested two persons with 4,500 tablets of yaba and seized a covered van from Chittagong city’s Bakalia area yesterday morning.

Officer in–Charge Mohammed Mohsin of the Bakalia police station said a covered van coming from the Cox’s Bazar district and nabbed Shah Alam, 30 and Imam Hossen, 22 around 9:30am. l

6

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Nation

Saturday, December 6, 2014

41 years later, Lakshmipur still not connected with Dhaka n Our Correspondent, Lakshmipur It is 41 years, but Lakshmipur has still not been connected with Dhaka by railway.

The authority carried out a study in 1973 whether any railway could be installed in the district with its connection with the capital.

The study found that it is worthwhile to establish a railway in the district but it never made any progress.

Lakshmipur is famous for coconuts, betel nuts, soyabeans and Hilsha. Locals believe that a railway connection could help fetch fair prices for their produce.

On August 27, the district Awami League president wrote to Railway Minister Md Mazibul Hoque about the railway.

The minister instructed the eastern

Muggers attack ambulance on DhakaMymensingh Highway n Our Correspondent, Gazipur An ambulance carrying a corpse came under the attack of muggers on the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway yesterday.

The muggers snatched away gold jewellery, cash money and mobile phone sets from the relatives of the deceased.

The ambulance of National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease was carrying the corpse of Shahjahan Talukder to his home in Gazipur. On the way, near the Bashpotti area in Tongi, it came under the attack of 4/5 muggers.

Rajib Talukder, younger brother of the deceased, said on Friday at 1am, Shahjahan, 65, died in Dhaka’s National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease.

Around 2pm, they started for Shataish area in Tongi, Gazipur.

“Around 3pm, the driver mistakenly went ahead crossing the Shataish area.

While getting back, around four to five muggers with knives and machete surrounded the ambulance,” he said.

They snatched away three gold chains, two pairs of earrings, Tk10,000, a wallet with the death certificate inside and three mobile phone sets from the relatives.

Eight relatives including the deceased’s wife and sister were present in the ambulance.

“A group of petrol police officers were on-duty nearby, however, they did not come to help us,” Rajib claimed.

“Police came to the spot after the muggers fled. After we reached home, Sub-Inspector Abdul Mannan handed over my mobile phone and my brother’s death certificate,” he said.

When contacted, Sub-Inspector Abdul Mannan said: “We were present on the spot when the mugging took place. While we were chasing the muggers, they left the mobile phone set and the death certificate. Later I handed them to the deceased’s family members.” l

railway zone authority to take up necessary steps about it immediately.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held a video conference while inaugurating a passport office in Lakshmipur on August 12, when State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan, and four local MPs also demanded her of establishing a railway in the district.

When asked, MP for Lakshmipur 3 AKM Shahjahan Kamal said: “I brought up this issue in Parliament quite a number of times and even it was discussed at the parliamentary standing meeting, but no rail line is yet to be established here.”

Deputy Commissioner AKM Tipur Sultan said: “I have also presented this issue before the prime minister during the deputy commissioners’ conference with her. The issue is now with the railway minister.” l

A farmer takes care of his onion field in Katakhali Hariana area of Rajshahi yesterday. A good number of farmers of the district are cultivating onion on their land this year as the Department of Agricultural Extension provided seeds and fertiliser in time AZAHAR UDDIN

Kishoreganj 25 mass graves Policy for soil management lie in complete disregard stressed n

Mob beats two policemen over parking dispute n Our Correspondent, Jessore

n Our Correspondent, Barisal

An angry mob of transport workers beat up an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police and a constable over a parking dispute at Sadar upazila in Jessore.

The duo were Uposhohor police outpost ASI Abdul Kuddus and constable Aminul Islam.

Publicity Secretary of the Jessore Motor Workers Association (Jmwa) Rafiqul Islam however said Kuddus and Aminul saw a covered van parking beside the road near Truck Stand and asked its driver of Tk15000 as a bribe about 8:30am on Thursday.

After he refused their demand, they abused, handcuffed him and were trying to take to the police outpost, leading to a bedlam, when other transport workers rushed in. They gave the two police men a good beating, leaving them with minor injuries.

Kotowali police station Officer-inCharge Enamul Haq and Jmwa President Alamgir Siddiquem heard of it, rushed there and rescued the policemen. l

WORLD SOIL DAY OBSERVED

Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj

The World Soil Day was observed in Barisal yesterday with a call to adapt soil usage policy for saving the soil to maintain biodiversity.

Speakers at the programme said soil was the base for food, fuel and fibre production. It was the reservoir for at least a quarter of global biodiversity and so it requires the same attention as above ground biodiversity.

Soil play a key role in the supply of fresh water and resilience to floods and droughts. The largest store of terrestrial carbon is in the soil and its preservation may contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation, the speakers observed.

But soils have been neglected for long.

We fail to connect soil with our food, water, climate, biodiversity and life. We must invert this tendency and take up some preserving and restoring actions, they said.

Therefore the World Soil Day is cel-

ebrated every year to connect people with soils and raise awareness about its importance in our lives. The participants also compiling their seven-point suggestions called to adapt policy for soil management and using soil in best way and utility, execution of sustainable planning for using soil to boost agricultural production and ensuring food security and maintain environment and biodiversity.

A gathering of farmers was organised on this occasion at Durgapur under Chandpur union of Barisal Sadar upazila.

Development organisations – the Association for Sanitation and Economic Development, the Prantojon Trust, the Democratic Development Centre, Kamfist, Development Organisation of Coastal Area’s people (DOCAP), SHIELD, RUPSA organised the programme.

It was presided over by Shawkat Ali Khan Badal and addressed among others by Liakat Hossain Khan, Mizanur Rahman, Shakhawat Hossain and SM Shahjada. l

Some 25 identified mass graveyards in the district have remained without any care for long as the authorities did not pay due heed to the historically rich sites centring our glorious 1971 Liberation War. The local freedom fighters urge upon adopting necessary steps for the graves in which our Liberation War martyrs had been buried by the Pakistan occupational forces.

It was learnt that most of the graves have no memorial containing the identity, statement of the incident and the names of the martyrs to convey necessary message about our glorious war to the next generation.

Thousands of people including freedom fighters who had been killed at the hands of the Pakistani forces and their local collaborators during the war were buried in the spots while those have still been left neglected, said Kabir Uddin Ahmed, a company commander of freedom fighters of the district.

Local people vow to say no to drugs at a programme organised by the Setubandhon Sangothon in Chandpur yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

NEWS IN BRIEF Vishnu statue stolen in Sylhet

Miscreants stole a Vishnu statue and some jewellery of Radha Rani statue from Debota Mandir of South Surma in Sylhet’s suburb on Thursday night. Local resident Sindu Ranjan Chanda said, a group of robbers entered the mandir by tampering the metal grill ar around 3am. They vandalised the mandir properties and also looted cash Tk5-6000 from the donation box of the mandir. Officer in-Charge of Moglabazar police station Shafiqur Rahman said they would take action after filing of a case.

– Our Correspondent, Sylhet

Laptop, mobile set looted from GP customer service centre in Gazipur A laptop, more than hundred mobile phone sets and Tk20,000 cash were looted from a GrameenPhone customer service centre at Yakub Ali market in Mawna Chowrasta under Sreepur upazila in Gazipur district yesterday during the Juma prayer. Manager of the service centre Shamsuzzaman Mamun said the employees of the centre had gone to the mosque for the Juma prayer followed by lunch. Upon returning, they found the lock

of the centre broken. No complaint was filed with the police station in this connection till filling of this report at 4pm.

– Our Correspondent, Gazipur

Clash between rival AL groups injure 10 in Shariatpur

At least 10 people were injured in a clash between two rival groups of local Awami League over establishing supremacy at Rongerbazar area of Shariatpur Sadar upazila on Thursday night. Police shot 20 rounds of bullet to bring the situation under control. 11 people were also arrested at the time. Palong police station said, there had been a long standing rivalry between former district convenor of Krishak League and chairman of Tulshar union Amin Uddin Fakir and former Chhatra League leader Zahid Fakir. At around 8pm on Thursday, the two groups locked in clash with locally made weapons. At least 200 people of the adjacent Binodpur union and Chitaliya union engaged in the clash. Upon information, police went to the spot and brought the situation under control after an hour. Those injured in the incident

were admitted to Shariatpur sadar hospital. Some local weapons were also recovered at that time.

– Our Correspondent, Shariatpur

AL leader shot in Savar, Motorcycle snatched Miscreants shot an Awami League leader and snatched away a motorcycle from him on Thursday night. The victim Alauddin is the general secretary of local Awami League (AL) chapter of Hazratpur union of Keraniganj.

Alauddin said while he was returning home from Hazratpur village, a private car hit his motorcycle at Bank Town area on Dhaka-Aricha highway. Four youths rushed out of the car and snatched his mobile phone, cash and the motorcycle. Later they fired some empty rounds and left the area. Local people rescued Alauddin in a critical condition and took him to Savar’s Enam Medical College and Hospital. Officer in-Charge of Savar Model police station Mostafa Kamal acknowledged the incident. However, police could not arrest anyone in this regard yet.

– Our Correspondent, Savar

He continued that due to lacking of proper maintenance some of the graves have been turning into abandoned places.

Information available in the Muktijoddhha Sangsad says the authorities concerned have identified 25 mass graves across the district, which include even remote haor areas of areas of Itna, Mithamoin, Nikli, Tarail and Austagram upazilas.

During the war, the Pakistani forces not only run massacre also looted and damaged hundreds of houses in the district that, however, has seen only one memorial in Boritola area in Sadar upazila last few years.

In some cases, unscrupulous land grabbers have been occupying the land of the graves, local freedom fighters alleged.

When asked, Kishoreganj unit Muktijodhha Sangsad Commander Md Asad Ullah acknowledged the sorry state of the graveyards, saying:“We have submitted the list of the mass graves to the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs urging to take steps to establish memorials in the spots and to conserve them properly.” l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Militants unleash terror in Kashmir n Agencies After two weeks of enthusiasm over an exceptionally high voter turnout in the two phases of the ongoing assembly elections, terrorists struck at four different places across the Kashmir valley yesterday, killing over 11 security forces including a lieutenant colonel.

Six terrorists have been killed in retaliation at two places, official sources said.

Two days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled public rally in the summer capital, six to seven terrorists attacked an Army camp at Mohra, Uri in Baramulla district, over 100km from Srinagar, in the wee hours of Friday killing seven soldiers and three cops including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI). Five of the terrorists were killed in retaliation by the troops.

Uri is close to the line of control (LoC) between India and Pakistan.

In Ahmad Nagar in Soura, Srinagar district, terrorists traveling in a car opened fire on police during a routine check. A terrorist was killed when police retaliated while another took refuge in a residential house. Police and paramilitary forces cordoned off the house and an encounter has ensued.

Over 50km from Srinagar, in Shopian, a hand grenade attack on a police station shattered the window panes of the DSP’s residential quarter. There were however, no casualties.

The attack on the 32 Field Regiment

in Uri sector of Barmulla district in north Kashmir killed at least 14 people including a lieutenant colonel, assistant sub-inspector of police and five Pakistani terrorists.

Speaking on the condition anonymity, a senior Army officer commanding the operation confirmed to TOI that it was a “fidayeen” (suicide) attack. “The exact number of terrorists is not known but they are believed to be Pakistanis.

They killed three police men on the road outside our Army camp, ASI Mohammad Akbar Lone, head constable Abdul Majid and constable Sanjay Koul.

We believe they entered the camp from the gate through the road which lacks a concrete boundary,” he said.

“Lt Colonel Sankalp Kumar of 24 Punjab Regiment of Raipur was also killed in the exchange of fire besides three other soldiers. We have killed five terrorists so far and a combing operation is underway for the remaining fidayeen,” he added.

The infiltrators were divided into two groups with one group entering the Army camp and the other engaging the troops at the gate. The officer said that the operation is headed

by Lt Col Gurawah Jain and Lt Col Surinder Singh.

The attack comes just days ahead of PM Modi’s December 8 visit when he is scheduled to address an election rally in Srinagar. The third phase of assembly elections are under way in the state with Uri and Baramulla district going to polls on December 9. l

Tens of thousands evacuated from path of Philippines typhoon n Reuters

People take shelter inside a evacuation centre after evacuating from their homes due to super-typhoon Hagupit in Surigao city, southern Philippines yesterday REUTERS

Hong Kong protesters weigh next move n Reuters Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters were weighing their options yesterday, whether to call off more than two months of street demonstrations or change tactics, as one leader suggested a campaign of withholding tax to “block government.”

The Hong Kong Federation of Students will decide in the next week whether to call on protesters to pull up stakes

from camps which straddle some of the Chinese-controlled city’s main thoroughfares and have tried residents’ patience.

Chan Kin-man, joint founder of the “Occupy Central” protest movement that has called for the students to pull back, said the federation had a “very major decision” to make.

“I sense that they are going to retreat. They understand that sooner or later they have to end and they also understand the risk of further escala-

tion or radicalisation of the occupation,” he told Reuters.

About 20 protesters dressed in thick jackets waited out cooler temperatures in the main Admiralty protest site, next to the Central business district, while tents were covered in plastic bags and tin foil for insulation and protection from the rain.

Student Keith Ng, 17, who has his first exam on Monday, reflected the overall mood, nursing a heavy cold. l

China asks US to help hunt more than 100 ‘economic fugitives’

ICC drops Uhuru Kenyatta charges

n Reuters

n BBC

China has asked the United States to help it track down more than 100 people suspected of corruption and who China believes are in the United States, a US official said yesterday.

The official, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said those on the list had

Chinese names but it was not clear if they were all Chinese nationals.

“The majority of them are related to crimes of corruption or economic malfeasance,” he said. “The list is not precisely clear in terms of the details of the nature of the crimes, the evidence or the whereabouts” of the accused.

Chinese law enforcement authorities have not provided sufficient evi-

dence or background information for US police to track down the suspects in most cases, he said.

China has vowed to expand a “fox hunt” for corrupt officials and business executives beyond its borders but it does not have an extradition treaty with the United States, which China has said is one of the most popular destinations for so-called economic fugitives. l

THE LAUNCH OF THE ORION

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague have said yesterday they are withdrawing charges against Kenya’s leader Uhuru Kenyatta.

A statement said the evidence had “not improved to such an extent that Mr Kenyatta’s alleged criminal responsibility can be proven beyond reasonable doubt.”

President Kenyatta was indicted for crimes against humanity in connection with violence after elections in 2007.

He had denied the charges.

On Wednesday, the court had given prosecutors a week to decide whether to pursue their case or to drop charges.

Further delays in President Kenyatta’s case would be “contrary to the interests of justice,” it had said.

‘Bribed and intimidated’

Mr Kenyatta was the first head of state

to appear before the court, after he was charged in 2012.

The prosecution repeatedly asked for more time to build its case, saying witnesses had been bribed and intimidated, and the Kenyan government had refused to hand over documents vital to the case.

Kenyatta denied inciting ethnic violence following the disputed 2007 elections in order to secure victory for then-President Mwai Kibaki.

He said the ICC case was political.

Kenyatta won presidential elections in 2013, with the backing of Mr Kibaki.

He used the case against him to rally nationalist support by accusing The Hague-based court of meddling in Kenya’s affairs.

Some 1,200 people were killed in the violence in 2007-8 and 600,000 were displaced. l

In N Korea, hackers are a handpicked, pampered elite n Reuters

The Delta IV Heavy rocket with the Orion spacecraft lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, yesterday

REUTERS

Pakistani Taliban squeezed by Afghan revolt, US drone strikes n Reuters, Peshawar Pakistani Taliban militants holed up in Afghanistan are being squeezed by a series of US drone strikes and a revolt against them, a trend that could disrupt the insurgents’ capability to strike inside Pakistan.

For years, Pakistani Taliban commanders fighting against the Pakistani state have been hiding in remote areas of eastern Afghanistan, planning attacks and recruiting fighters.

But in recent weeks, officials say the insurgency has been weakened by a spate strikes by US drones and a rebellion by tribesmen in Afghanistan’s Kunar province.

The Pakistani and Afghan Taliban are allied and share the goal of toppling their respective governments and setting up a strict Islamist state across the region.

Their presence on both sides of the border has long been a bone of contention between Afghanistan and Paki-

stan, with the two trading accusations of sheltering insurgents and not doing enough to stop them.

But the ascent to power of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani this year has raised hopes the neighbors could do more to tackle the insurgency together.

Four Pakistani Taliban commanders told Reuters drone strikes and tension with tribesmen had forced them to move from small Afghan towns to mountainous border areas.

Two of them said they narrowly missed being hit by US drones last month. There is no complete record of drone strikes in Afghanistan so it was not possible to verify their claims.

A strike on November 24 hit a house where Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah had stayed the night before and killed two commanders, one Taliban commander said.

Relations between Pakistani Taliban fighters and tribesmen have also deteriorated - a trend Afghan forces are trying to exploit.

7

Kunar governor Shuja-ul Mulk Jalala said there was an uprising in the Dangam district 11 days ago.

“Villagers, backed by a unit of Afghan police and army launched an operation against the Pakistani Taliban,” he said.

Jalala said villagers had complained of Pakistani Taliban harassment and the militants sometimes attacked Afghan forces.

“Villagers asked for some support and weapons to fight them. Tribal elders complained that there were no difference between good or bad Taliban and decided to drive them out,” Jalala said.

A militant commander in Pakistan’s Bajaur border region, opposite Kunar, said Afghan forces had recently detained a number of Pakistani militants.

“Previously, they would avoid visiting areas where our people were staying and even provided food to some of our people but now they’re creating problems,” said another militant commander said of Afghan forces. l

Despite its poverty and isolation, North Korea has poured resources into a sophisticated cyber-warfare cell called Bureau 121, defectors from the secretive state said as Pyongyang came under the microscope for a crippling hack into computers at Sony Pictures Entertainment.

A North Korean diplomat has denied Pyongyang was behind the attack that was launched last month but a US national security source said it was a suspect.

Defectors from the North have said Bureau 121, staffed by some of the most talented computer experts in the insular state, is part of the General Bureau of Reconnaissance, an elite spy agency run by the military. They have said it is involved in state-sponsored hacking, used by the Pyongyang government to

spy on or sabotage its enemies.

Pyongyang has active cyber-warfare capabilities, military and software security experts have said. Much of it is targeted at the South, technically still in a state of war with North Korea.

But Pyongyang has made no secret of its hatred of the United States, which was on the South’s side in the 1950-53 Korean War. Military hackers are among the most talented, and rewarded, people in North Korea, handpicked and trained from as young as 17, said Jang Se-yul, who studied with them at North Korea’s military college for computer science, or the University of Automation, before defecting to the South six years ago.

Speaking to Reuters in Seoul, he said the Bureau 121 unit comprises about 1,800 cyber-warriors, and is considered the elite of the military. l

Maldives hit by water crisis, India sends help n Agencies With the Maldivian capital facing an acute water crisis after a fire in the city’s water treatment plant, India yesterday sent an IAF transport aircraft and naval vessels carrying a large consignment of water to meet the immediate requirement of over 100,000 people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj are seized of the crisis and have promised full assistance to the people

and leadership of Maldives, a statement by the Indian high commission in Male said.

“Mindful of the strong, friendly and close relations between India and the Maldives, India reacted with alacrity and promptness to the request from the Maldives for timely provision of water,” the high commission said.

The first aircraft, an IL-76, arrived in Male on Froday at 1.15pm carrying a large consignment of water to meet the immediate requirement. l

Tens of thousands of people fled coastal villages and landslide-prone areas in the central Philippines yesterday.

A powerful typhoon is expected to hit the island nation today, in the very place where thousands were killed in a devastating storm 13 months ago.

Typhoon Hagupit had weakened slightly as it churned slowly across the Pacific and was no longer a category 5 “super typhoon,” the Philippine weather bureau PAGASA said, but was likely to remain destructive when it makes landfall on Saturday.

Ports were shut across the archipelago, leaving more than 2,000 travelers stranded in the capital Manila, the central Bicol region and Mindanao island in the south, after the coastguard suspended sea travel ahead of the typhoon. l

Mamata Banerjee’s ‘bamboo’ cuss outrages Bengal n Agencies Even as Trinamool Congress on Thursday staged a walkout in Parliament to protest against the derogatory remarks

by Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, back home in Bengal, the party was mum on its leader’s culpability at a public forum where she used rank bad language.

At a public rally in Jalpaiguri on Wednesday, Mamata had used crass words replete with invectives and accompanied by gestures that were downright vulgar. Upset with CPM for approaching PM Narendra Modi on the Saradha probe, Mamata had said, “Nijera 34 bochhor khamatai chhilo.

Kichhu korte pareni, aar jara korche tader bamboo diye berachhe. Bamboo jangale hoi, ghar bari toirir kaje lage, jane na bamboo jake tara kore she palate path pai na. Amader chamkale amra garjai...” (They were in power for 34 years, but could do nothing. Instead they are trying to figure out how to shove bamboos up the *** of those who are doing it)”

‘“Bamboo on the backside”: I nominate it for Phrase of the Year.

Thank you, Mamata Banerjee’ A day after her crude outburst, artists, writers and academics — a group she had actively courted till not so long ago — were united in saying that she had embarrassed them and the state of Bengal.

“This was never seen in Bengal,” said theatre actor Chandan Sen. “Politicians here had often towered over others. But this chief minister’s continued use of road slang isn’t only demeaning her, but also each one of us.

This has to stop. This isn’t politics any more. This isn’t Bengal either.”

Painter Wasim Kapoor said the chief minister herself was a writer and a poet. Writer Shobhaa De tweeted: “‘Bamboo on the backside’: I nominate it for Phrase of the Year. Thank you, Mamata Banerjee.”

“We have some expectations from our leaders,” said academic and author Nabanita Deb Sen. “The time, place and social responsibility of the speaker matters. You have to treat your language with care, otherwise you embarrass people. One is disappointed to hear such language...”

Linguist Pabitra Sarkar was more scathing. “For the last three years, there has been a decay in the political language in Bengal. While I shudder to think what my grandchild will make of such comments, I hope that the younger generation will dismiss such street language.”

Use of such street lingo is, however, nothing new when it comes to Trinamool. State transport minister Madan Mitra had said while warning a police inspector, “Kaner gorai debo na... (Will box your ears).” Trinamool leader Sonali Guha had also used such slang while she was in the opposition.

Experts wonder whether the use of street lingo — once restricted to raucous gatherings, and strictly banished by the true-blue bhadralok — is an attempt to connect with those who attend the chief minister’s rallies.

Professor Achinta Biswas of Jadavpur University said: “People clapping and appreciating such comments is the bigger concern to me. It’s not only the language; the gestures she made are also vulgar.” l

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Prescription

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Common causes for common cold If that nasty bark has lingered in winter, it’s time to learn what’s behind it and beat it for good. Here common cough causes and their treatments

Medication cough

Symptoms: A dry, niggling cough that’s often worse at night.

Causes: ACE inhibitors, a drug used to control high blood pressure, can cause a chronic cough in up to 20% of patients.

Treatments: If your cough coincided with starting medication, ask your doctor about an alternative drug.

Heart problems

Symptoms: Persistent coughing or wheezing, plus tiredness, breathlessness on exertion and fluid retention.

Causes: With heart issues, fluid can build up in the lungs and cause a cough.

Treatments: See your GP now. If they suspect heart problems, you’ll be re-

Symptoms: An irritating cough following a cold.

Causes: It’s normal to have a cough with a virus as it’s triggered by mucus draining down the back of the throat. The inflammation this causes often stays long after the initial illness.

Treatments: 90% of cases aren’t bacterial, so antibiotics won’t help. Opt for an over-the-counter syrup (such as Bisolvon Chesty to loosen phlegm. Even a hot drink can promote secretions in the airways, soothing irritation. If your sinuses are still inflamed, your GP can prescribe a steroid nose spray.

Heartburn

Symptoms: A “throat” cough following a meal or a cough that wakes you up at night, often with a nasty acid taste in your mouth.

You will eat lots of fruit and vegetables, combined with low-fat dairy foods, lean meat, poultry, fish, some nuts and beans, and grains. The plan is: n Low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Most saturated fats, including trans fatty acids, are associated with increased risk of heart disease. Saturated fats make up only seven per cent of daily calories in the DASH diet. n Moderate in protein and healthy fats. Studies show that getting enough protein helps to lower blood pressure. A weight-maintenance version of the DASH diet will provide about 20 per cent of calories from protein. Heart-healthy fats are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (which include omega-3 fatty acids).

lose 500 grams to one kilogram per week, you will need to reduce your intake by 500 calories per day.

Recommended foods

Fruits and vegetables: Aim for four to five serves in each day.

Many of the beneficial nutrients that lower blood pressure are found in fruit and vegetables, in particular fibre, potassium and magnesium. Potassium-rich fruit and veg include oranges, bananas, potatoes, asparagus and tomatoes. (Note: Some people are on blood-pressure medication that can interfere with excreting potassium, and their doctors may recommend limiting potassium intake.)

Low-fat dairy: Aim for three serves a day. Reduced-fat or non-fat dairy foods allow you to add calcium and protein without overdoing saturated fats.

Lean meat, fish and poultry: Aim for 200 grams a day. Most fish and seafood is very low in saturated fat. While prawns may be high in cholesterol, most fish contain the omega-3 fatty acids that are considered to be very heart healthy.

Wholegrains: Aim for three serves a day. Wholegrain foods tend to have a high fibre content. Good options are whole wheat bread, rolled oats, brown rice and pasta.

Foods to limit

n Rich in minerals and fibre. Calcium, magnesium and particularly potassium all help to regulate blood pressure. Fibre is essential to keep blood pressure low as well as control blood-sugar and cholesterol levels.

Fatty meat and full-fat dairy: These are the two main sources of saturated fat in the Western diet.

n Portion and calorie controlled.

Weight loss is a critical part of controlling blood pressure. The DASH Diet serving guidelines and menu plans listed here have been designed to meet 2000-calorie (8400-kilojoule) daily intakes, but options for 1200- and 1600-calorie diets daily.

A general rule of thumb is that to

Salt and salty foods: Recent DASH studies have shown that the lower the salt intake, the more the blood pressure declines. The DASH Diet recommends a daily sodium limit of 1750mg. Avoid canned vegetables, cured meats and adding salt to meals. l

| Compiled by Dr Kazi Mahbuba Akhtar

Causes: Heartburn (acid reflux) occurs when stomach acid flows back up the oesophagus, irritating the throat and triggering a cough. Large or rich meals late at night are triggers.

Treatments: Sleeping with an extra

pillow can help reduce the backflow of acid. If it’s occasional, a simple overthe-counter anti-reflux treatment, such as Zantac, will reduce the production of stomach acid. If it’s frequent, talk to your GP who may want to investigate.

Symptoms: It’s easy to get used to a smoker’s cough, but if it changes in any way − for example, becomes more frequent or you cough up blood − it needs to be checked out immediately.

Causes: Smoking irritates the airways, causing a cough which in the long-term can be a sign of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or lung cancer.

Treat it: If you’re a smoker or ex-smoker with a persistent cough, your GP should send you for an X-ray. It’s never too late to quit. Giving up will lessen or abolish a cough in 94 per cent of people in four weeks. It will also stop the rate of deterioration in COPD and cut the risk of lung cancer death.

Watch for a whoop

Whooping cough has been on the rise in recent years and may produce coughing fits with a “whoop” sound.

It’s most dangerous for babies, so see a GP for treatment immediately. l

C-sections and antibiotic usage during pregnancy causes of childhood obesity n Prescription Desk A new study led by Columbia University scientists suggests two possible causes of childhood obesity: taking antibiotics during RESEARCH pregnancy and getting a Caesarean section.

The research, published online in International Journal of Obesity, found that children who were exposed to antibiotics during the second or third trimester of pregnancy had a higher risk of obesity at age 7. Authors say the study is the first to explore the effect of antibiotics during those time frames. Previous research has shown that antibiotics administered in early life are liked to an increased chance of childhood obesity.

In the new study, elective and non-elective C-sections were also associated with a higher risk of obesity in offspring. Antibiotics impact microbes in the body and may enter fetal circulation by way of the placenta, researchers noted. The bacteria that naturally live in the colon help maintain health, and any

imbalance in these populations can produce illness. Disturbances in the transmission of bacteria from mother to offspring can increase the child’s chances of developing various ailments, including obesity, the researchers said.

Children who were exposed to antibiotics during the mother’s second and third trimester of pregnancy had an 84 percent higher risk of obesity, compared with children who were not exposed.

The study considered 727 healthy, non-smoking pregnant women recruited at a New York clinic between 1998 and 2006. Study authors tracked 436 of those mothers and their offspring until the children turned 7 years old.

According to the press release, 16 percent of the monitored mothers used antibiotics during the second or third trimester of their pregnancies.

Study authors say their conclusions are consistent with previous research. l

BIGSTOCK

Symptoms: A hacking cough with greenish phlegm, plus a fever that follows a cold.

Causes: A chest infection or acute bronchitis affects the lower airways. It’s generally caused by the same viruses that give rise to colds, but in this case inflammation spreads lower into the lungs, leaving the area open to attack by bacteria.

Treatments: Drink plenty of fluids and take paracetamol to reduce a fever. Because most bronchitis is caused by a virus, your doctor will only prescribe antibiotics if he suspects a secondary bacterial infection has occurred.

Best ways to prevent infectious diseases

Smoker’s cough

Chest infection

Beat blood pressure and high cholesterol by diet

DASH basics

Symptoms: A chronic dry cough that’s worse at night, disturbing sleep, and sometimes accompanied by wheezing and shortness of breath.

Causes: An irritating night cough is often the first sign of asthma, especially in children, but you can develop it at any age.

This type of cough can also be an indication that asthma is worsening or not being adequately controlled.

Treatments: The first thing your GP will try is a reliever inhaler, which releases medication to open the airways. In more severe cases, a preventer inhaler is prescribed, which contains a steroid to reduce airway inflammation.

Post-viral cough

FOOD THERAPY

When you were a child, your grandmother probably told you to drink your milk, eat your fruit and vegetables and go outside and play. This is still great advice.

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet, better known as the DASH diet, is a healthy eating plan that has been proven to help reduce blood pressure and cholesterol.

Asthma

BIGSTOCK

Coughing is a reflex that keeps your throat and airways clear. Although it can be annoying, coughing helps your body to heal or protect HEALTH FLASH itself. But too much coughing may mean you have a disease or disorder.

Coughs can be either acute or chronic. Frequent coughing usually indicates the presence of a disease.

Many viruses and bacteria augment evolution by causing the host to cough, which helps to spread the disease to new hosts. Most of the time, irregular coughing is caused by a respiratory tract infection but can also be triggered by choking, smoking, air pollution, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease, post-nasal drip, chronic bronchitis, lung tumors, heart failure and medications such as ACE inhibitors.

ferred for an ECG and blood tests.

Treatments include ACE inhibitors to prevent fluid build-up and beta-blockers to slow the heart rate.

BIGSTOCK

n Prescription Desk

QUICK TIPS

Infectious diseases are conditions caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites. These can be spread through various different routes, depending on which specific organism or disease it is. Common modes of transmission include: n Through droplet infection (e.g. when someone coughs or sneezes near you). n Through direct skin to skin contact. n Through contact with blood or body fluids. n Indirect contact, such as when you touch something that has been touched previously by someone who is infected, and then touch your eyes, mouth or nose, thereby transferring the infection to yourself. n Through consuming contaminated food or water. n Through insects or animals, such as mosquitoes, ticks or bats.

How to protect yourself The key to preventing infection is being aware of these modes of transmission and modifying you behaviour to minimise your exposure. When you are sick yourself, the focus is on minimising other people’s exposure to you. n Washing hands effectively with soap and water, especially before eating, preparing food or touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Done properly this should take about twenty seconds – or the time it takes to sing Happy Birthday – and you need to make sure you clean the fingertips and under the nails well. n Coughing and sneezing into your elbow or sleeve rather than into your hand. n Ensuring you and your family are all up to date with the appropriate vaccines. n Take care with your own hygienic food preparation practices and when eating out err towards foods that have been thoroughly cooked and served steaming hot. n Don’t share toothbrushes, razors, combs, brushes, nail clippers, eating utensils, cups, drink bottles and the like. n If it is you who is unwell stay home and avoid close or intimate contact with household members where feasible. l

| Compiled by: Shirsho Saaeadat

The health benefits of psyllium husk aka Isabgol It’s time to introduce psyllium husk into your diet. As far as health goes, consider psyllium husk a friend of your digestive sysDID YOU tem. For over 70 years, KNOW? psyllium husk has been the primary source of both soluble and insoluble fibre worldwide and has a long history of use in traditional and herbal medicines. Fibre is key in helping keep you regular and also in aiding your body in getting rid of nasty toxins. Here’s why you should include it in your diet: 1. Lowers cholesterol levels: Studies have shown that a diet low in saturated fat which includes 7 grams of soluble fibre from psyllium husk, may lower cholesterol levels.Metamucil which contains 100 per cent psyllium husk has recently been approved by Heart Research Australia to help lower cholesterol levels.

2. Cleanses your insides: Psyllium husk is a great source of water-soluble fi-

When you’re taking a fibre supplement it’s important to remember to drink plenty of water bre that expands to several times its original size when mixed with water. It quickly transforms from powder form into a gooey substance called mucilage. This moves through your colon, bulking up and softening your stool.

The thick, toxic fecal matter that lines your colon is then loosened and pulled out along with the psyllium.

3. Assists your body’s natural toxin removal process: As psyllium husks travel through your digestive system they absorb water along with any toxins. On coming into contact with water, psyllium seeds swell 10-20 times their size, and this results in bulkier as well as softer stool. This in turn leads to fewer bowel movement issues. When you’re taking a fibre supplement it’s impor-

BIGSTOCK

tant to remember to drink plenty of water.

4. Makes you feel lighter: Did you know the size of the stomach decreases after the removal of fecal matter from your body? Consuming psyllium

husks helps to eliminate the fecal matter from your body on consumption, which when combined with a healthy diet and exercise, helps make you feel lighter. l

| Compiled by Dr Ishrat Shormy

Heritage Was Shinto born here?

DHAKA TRIBUNE

By the time Bodhisena went to the royal courts of China, he must have been paid a visit to the Shompur Mahabihar at Paharpur

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n Tim Steel

t may be no coincidence that the oldest, formal, “Account of Ancient Matters”, which is the earliest known written description of Japan’s famous mystical “religion”, or belief system, Shinto, was defined on the orders of Japan’s fourth Empress regnant in the eighth century.

Certainly, the arrival of “Indian” born Bodhisena, in the eighth century, bringing with him formalised versions of Buddhist philosophy, must have confused a nation, of which, today, some 80% claim adherence to the traditional Shinto, whilst, at the same time, most of those comprise the, around 80%, who also claim adherence to Buddhism.

Recovered during excavations at Wari Bateshwar, the site of the ancient trading centre on the banks of the old Brahmaputra, in Narshingdh, some two hours north of Dhaka is a dish inscribed with a remarkable assembly of symbolism. It is not hard to interpret the tripartite decoration as referring to Animist, Shamanic and Buddhist beliefs. And, in such mysticism, it is not hard to see the foundations of Shinto.

It is clearly remarkable to find such a unique combination in an

that what was “Indian”, centuries ago, does not necessarily make them that today.

Since his education was clearly undertaken in “North East” India, whence he travelled to China, from where he was invited by the then Emperor of Japan to support the development of the Buddhist belief groups, we may assume, both that he was probably educated, at least in part, within the two great universities in the lands that are now Bangladesh, at Paharpur and Jahagadal, and that he travelled to China along the Southern Silk Road, along the Brahmaputra.

Online references are unsparing in their ability to confuse the reader between lands that were once, ancient Indian subcontinent, and today’s nations now sharing that subcontinent. This is, clearly, a reflection of today’s India’s mastery of the internet, especially compared with that of Bangladesh. It is also, of course, something of a reflection of the achievements of Indian archaeologists and historians, with far superior resources to those available to those in Bangladesh. Sadly, of course, it results in the hijacking of so much of the history that was, in fact, uniquely that of the lands that are now

WIKI COMMONS

Bangladesh.

Shinto, a little like both Sufism and Baul, is a belief based on mysticism.

It is surely no coincidence that such mysticism, deriving, at least in part from, the “Great Tidal River” that is so strongly represented in, especially, Mahayana Buddhism, that underlies such mysticism, continues to find a home in the lands that are now Bangladesh.

Certainly, we have every reason to believe that, with foundations in flourishing international trade and social intercourse millennia ago, such mysticism found a natural home in Bangladesh.

Mysticism, of course, underlies some part of all great religions. A simple belief in the existence of, and the influence of, what cannot be seen, touched, tasted, inhaled or heard. The celebration of such belief manifests itself in so many cultures in a wide diversity of ways.

It is clearly not beyond the bounds of possibility that the empathy between modern Japan, and modern Bangladesh, reflected in the rapid recognition by Japan of Bangladesh as an independent nation in February 1972, has roots set deep long ago. At least from the time of the arrival of

It was, in fact, pursuit of his study of the more mystical aspects of Mahayana that took Bodhisena to China in the first place, seeking the incarnation of Manjusri, identified as the earliest, and most important bodhisattva

artefact recovered from an ancient trading centre on the banks of the old Brahmaputra, from which, we have every reason to believe, Buddhist emissaries set out, both into prehistoric China heading up the Brahmaputra, on what Chinese archaeologists call, the Southern Silk Road. And also from where other Buddhists certainly embarked to travel by sea across South east Asia, from early times.

Bodhisena is described, online, as being born in South India in the early eightth century. He is also described, rightly, as “an Indian Buddhist” and scholar. As ever, when reading such online, we need to remind ourselves

An idol depicting Bodhisena

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Saturday, December 6, 2014

Courtesy

Bodhisena, in Japan, in the eighth century. And there is no doubt of his role in ensuring the compatibility of Shinto and Buddhism as belief groups.

By the time that Bodhisena travelled, first, to the Imperial Court in China, there is little doubt that Shomapur Mahabihar at Paharpur, now a Unesco world heritage site, and acknowledged as the largest such Buddhist centre in the subcontinent, would have been on his itinerary.

the influence of Sanskrit in the development of the Japanese vocabulary; a travel companion, Kibi no Makibi, a Japanese Buddhist monk, is credited with the development of Katakana, one of the main components in Japan’s distinctive writing systems. The identifiable influence of Sanskrit in this system is credited to the influence of Bodhisena.

There is little doubt that Bohisena,

Kibi no Makibi, a Japanese Buddhist monk, is credited with the development of Katakana, one of the main components in Japan’s distinctive writing systems. The identifiable influence of Sanskrit in this system is credited to the influence of Bodhisena

Since we may also be reasonably sure that, at the time, the most used route to China was, indeed, the Brahmaputra, Pahapur was, in all likelyhood, his point of departure from India, to which it appears he never returned.

That he took with him some appreciation of the mystic similarities between Buddhism, with a Hindu tradition that grew out of Animism and Shamanism, appears more than likely. Especially since the more “liberal” and mystic Buddhist school of Mahayana Buddhism seems to have developed in the lands of Bangladesh, which were less vulnerable to the more authoritarian traditions of both Brahmanic Hindu tradition, and the more conservative traditions of Theravada Buddhism.

It was, in fact, pursuit of his study of the more mystical aspects of Mahayana that took Bodhisena to China in the first place, seeking the incarnation of Manjusri, identified as the earliest, and most important bodhisattva, one of the four sublime states to which a Buddhist may aspire, in the Mahayana tradition.

Arriving at the Imperial Court in China, he found that the incarnation of Manjusri was, in fact, to be found in Japan.

It is unclear just how he succeeded in receiving an invitation to travel to Japan to pursue his ambition to develop his studies, but there is little doubt that, when he did so, he played a key role in cultural developments in Japan.

Not the least of these was

in the work he undertook to promote Buddhism in Japan, played a significant role in reconciling what might, otherwise, have developed into a conflict between two such belief and practice groups.

That, even today, the Shinto and Buddhism, especially mystic traditions of Buddhism, exist and flourish side by side in Japan, has its foundations in that eighth century arrival of the “Indian”, Buddhist monk. And that his work was influenced by mystical belief traditions that have deep roots, even today, as they did in his own lifetime, in the eighth century Asia.

One wonders also, if the credit given to Bodhisena for some of the elements of traditional courtly dance and music, owe something to the traditions that continue to be honoured by many, even today, in Bangladesh.

Tim Steel is a communications, marketing and tourism consultant.

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Saturday, December 6, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Implementing LBA key to bilateral links

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e welcome indications from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that her party will throw its weight behind implementation of the Bangladesh India Land Boundary Agreement.

This may help smooth the way to India being able to finally ratify and implement the key LBA treaty originally agreed between Sheikh Mujib and Indira Gandhi in 1974.

It is vital to people in both our countries that we move forward with full implementation of the boundary agreement. The lives of many Bangladeshi citizens living in border and enclave areas are drastically impacted by India’s failure to ratify the agreement.

Ratification is vital to ensure the long overdue implementation of this treaty and to resolve the highly sensitive concerns relating to killings of Bangladeshi civilians by Indian border forces.

Equally, if not more important, it is needed to build confidence that India and Bangladesh can fairly work together on issues relating to water sharing and the Teesta agreement.

Both Bangladesh and India potentially have much to gain by trading more together. However, without satisfactory settlement of the LBA and water issues, relations may continue to be seen as onesided and unfair.

With Saarc and SAFTA still slow to make progress on their goals, it is important that Bangladesh and India act by other means so that our nations can take advantage of the improved connectivity and trade links offered by the BCIM corridor and BIMSTEC initiatives.

Ratifying the LBA is key to building confidence and improving bilateral relations.

Build confidence so connectivity can benefit both our countries

Save our ecosystem

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veryone can benefit from efforts to preserve and enhance our country’s biodiversity and natural environment.

According to the most recent tiger census, Bangladesh is home to approximately 440 tigers, but the number is dropping every day. Likewise, the vulture population stands at less than 500, and only one of the three native species of vulture can still be found here.

The government’s move to improve conservation by declaring two safe zones for endangered vultures comprising of 47,000sq-km of land in the Sylhet and Khulna divisions is commendable. Similarly, Interpol’s interest in helping Bangladesh to investigate and root out wildlife trafficking is also welcome news.

We need to ensure adequate funding is made available to facilitate such conservation efforts. These should include anti-poaching activities, restoration of habitats, research on diseases affecting endangered animals, and educating local communities on the role they can play to help.

It is important to update conservation efforts to reflect our growing knowledge on climate change and its consequences on different species.

Many iconic species are fast disappearing due to climatic changes and man-made causes. Improving scientific understanding of the threats to survival is important to help maintain biodiversity generally in the country.

A healthy ecosystem is not only in the best interest of endangered animals, but also provides valuable services to humans as well.

Sanctuary spots for wildlife are points of attraction for visitors. By helping generate new opportunities for our tourism industry, they can also help pay for important conservation efforts as well as providing places of reflection and relaxation.

Biodiversity is important for humans as well as endangered species

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

The last stylist

November 20 doing the tie knot well. Most men in the Indian nasrin abbas subcontinent do not know how to knot a tie, and it “Nehru had sexual charisma. He was a man is always crooked. With a tie, a jacket is a must, if you unafraid of being attractive.” are going to take a photo. If you want to go business This author is my guy. I mean, we think alike. casual, then skip the tie. If you went to high school in I always suspected Gandhi to be as someone of the UK, or boarding school in India, there they teach a similar mindset, surrounded by all the young those things very early on. Sorry, I am a fashion maidens and devotees. police. Very critical of how others dress.

About pandit Nehru and Lady Viceroy, it is I also noticed that the wives of many historical debatable. Undoubtedly Nehru was in “love” figures look very solemn and depressed. They with her, and they had written hundreds of “love never smile, and I wonder why. Most sad-looking letters” to each other. But my point is the Viceroy was Nehru’s wife, and once I saw Jinnah’s wife in himself was a very good-looking man! We don’t some faded photograph. Men are not very faithful know what goes on in the minds of people. if you ask me. No one can beat Modi, though. He Nehru’s wife was not pretty, and looked very ruined a young woman’s life. When he married her, depressed, and that, perhaps, is why he went it was because his family arranged that marriage. after the charismatic Edwina! After Edwina’s death Then after three years, he divorced her and asked the Viceroy took custody of those letters and her to continue with her education. Good thing now their daughter has them, and was thinking she did. I think the only reason Modi asked her of publishing them. I am sure they are more to study is so that he didn’t have to pay spousal X-rated than the letters to Sartre from Simone de support. He makes me angry for ruining her life.

Beauvoir. I would love to read the Nehru/Edwina During the election, he denied being married, until letters. The Beauvoir letters lifts me up anytime. the ex-wife gave an interview where she exposed Great piece. The author is a great orator as well. him. In India back then women didn’t remarry.

I once saw his interview.

Do write about Modi and his cruelty. I don’t think Indian women believe him about women’s raji empowerment. nasrin abbas: I give the author high marks for

Build new towns to reduce slums November 30 Arch Bishop “We need effective policies to deliver affordable, decent housing for all.”

Actually, we have policies aplenty; we need implementation, evaluation, and monitoring of those policies in a professional manner – something that is improbable, if not outright impossible, in a one-party system.

Police campaign against jaywalking November 30 Syed Jawad Quader “Clearly much action needs to be taken to improve public transport to get our cities moving.

However, if we are to make any meaningful difference to reducing accidents and congestion, educating vehicle users and owners needs to be the top priority, not scapegoating pedestrians.”

I agree with everything, except the last sentence. Both are equally required. Jaywalkers urgently need to be reined in.

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 23 represents G so fill G every time the figure 23 appears.

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

Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.

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

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

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

Seven years in jail for reckless driving restored November 21

HA Harb Too many cars, and to keep going, one should not obey rules. When I come to Dhaka, I rent a car and a driver. rasheed I disagree with increasing the jail term to seven years. The road safety can be better controlled if individuals stop getting licences through illegal means, and the original 3-year jail term is properly followed. The sad bit is no matter how many years you increase the jail term, it can be avoided, depending on how big the accused’s wallet is.

Police to launch manhunt November 21

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 European capital (5) 4 Narrate (4) 7 Part of the eye (6) 8 Sound reasoning (5) 10 Says further (4) 11 On the move (5) 12 Newt (3) 14 Copied (4) 17 Require (4) 19 Anger (3) 20 Select group (5) 23 Rotate (4) 25 Ventured (5) 26 Lithe (6) 27 Yield (4) 28 Citrus fruit (5)

DOWN 1 Fertilising powder (6) 2 Flower (4) 3 Cult (4) 4 Ornamental coronet (5) 5 Conclude (3) 6 Scaling aid (6) 9 Takings (4) 13 Punishment cane (6) 15 Jetty (4) 16 Numb (6) 18 Thick (5) 21 Worshipped image (4) 22 Docile (4) 24 Disencumber (3)

Case filed over journo Zaglul’s death November 30 PB The bus that ran over Zaglul couldn’t be identified!

Go check the CCTV camera footage, and talk to drivers and helpers at Gabtoli and Mirpur; it’s that simple. Road accidents are murders.

rose The killers of professor Shafiul should be arrested and punished.

Sex education matters

CALVIN AND HOBBES

November 21 Dreampie “Everyone can benefit from breaking the silence.”

As an individual who’d never been the recipient of “the talk,” I have not-so-fond memories of stumbling my way through the motions until I eventually pieced the puzzle right. Agreed wholeheartedly with this editorial.

RS Yes indeed, the silence could be broken if parents come forward and provide sex education to their children.

PEANUTS

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

Congrats to our democratic armed forces November 21

SUDOKU SR “Talking of UN missions is nothing but a matter of great pride. Our soldiers have won the hearts of the people wherever they have gone.”

It is indeed good to know that our soldiers enjoy such a good reputation, and people truly respect them.

Op-Ed

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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Saturday, December 6, 2014

Hell for breakfast n FS Aijazuddin

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n October 1968, Robin Knox-Johnston had almost reached Australia on his solo voyage around the world when his 32-foot boat Suhaili (the smallest vessel to attempt such a daunting trip) was so battered by the inclement gales and savage waves that he thought of giving up.

Preparing an escape in his life-boat, he suddenly recalled the lines of Robert Service’s ballad “The Quitter”: “In hunger and woe, oh, it’s easy to blow/ It’s the hell-served-for-breakfast that’s hard.”

He is their Apollo. To the sycophantic television channels and his own mirror, he is Narcissus

NASHIRUL ISLAM

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Why not a car-free day?

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n Ekram Kabir

n the Bangladeshi reality, it may sound very funny if someone proposes a yearly car-free day in this country. Most of the luxury-seekers would rebuke the person who would propose a day without cars, for that matter any motorised vehicle. But there are many cities in many countries that are very enthusiastic about observing a car-free day, and the citizens of those places are observing such a day with perfect merriment.

Look at what London Mayor Boris Johnson said the other day. He announced that he would consider car-free days on Sundays for their capital city. He got the idea while visiting Jakarta as part of his tour of Southeast Asia, where Indonesian people left their cars behind, taking their bikes or walking around the city on a Sunday.

London did have an annual traffic-free day, which was called VIP (Very Important Pedestrians) Day, in its West End for Christmas shoppers.

But the government scrapped it in 2013. The day did show declining car use over the last few years. Londoners are now hoping that a new carfree day will become quite popular there.

But it was a great scene in Jakarta in September. Tens of thousands of residents from across the city came to the city centre on Sunday mornings to jog, bike, walk their dogs, or simply to enjoy the capital’s wide and tree-lined

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streets that are usually packed with private vehicles on weekdays.

Bangkok sealed off a few main roads in order to celebrate the car-free day and to encourage dwellers to switch from motor to pedal power.

The car-free day was observed in all 77 provinces of Thailand. According to reports, traffic jams were reduced by 40%, people’s quality of life was better, and the city became more liveable.

Even the number of drug-dependent criminals was reduced.

bikes as part of their daily activities, and enjoy a better quality of life. There are many countries like these that try to improve the quality of the atmosphere around the people.

Yes, of course there would be several aspects to think of if you introduce a day without cars. How would you move the people, especially the elderly, and the freight? How would you carry patients to hospitals? Venice uses its canal network to move freight internally and between the city and the

Imagine, how much gas we would be able to save in just one day! Imagine, how many calories we can burn on that day!

Every year on September 22, people across the world are encouraged to get around without cars. China focuses on the impact of transport on the quality of urban life, and encourages the reallocation and design of streets and public spaces, promoting a variety of ways to balance the traffic on the road space.

Copenhagen has been voted the world’s most liveable city for the second year in a row in one survey. More than 60% of its residents ride their

mainland. Similarly, every city would be able to evolve a way for movement.

The people will move on bicycles and metro trains.

Having said all this, I must say that Bangladeshi cities and towns badly need their car-free days. Considering the traffic congestions, unruly behaviour of the vehicle drivers, and the lack of civic education, we can go a long way if we observe an annual car-free day.

Imagine, how many barrels of fuel

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and how much gas we would be able to save in just one day! Imagine, how much the rickshaw-pullers would earn on that day! Imagine, how the people would become conscious about their health, as well as the environment. On that day, no Dhaka-dweller will die of a traffic accident! Imagine, how many calories we can burn on that day!

The car-free day is likely to become a way of promoting the use of alternative transport on a daily basis, increase awareness of environmental issues around car use, recognise health benefits of walking and cycling, demonstrate the benefit to business of a decrease in car use, and to create a better sense of community within the city.

In many places across the world, the day has proven quite successful in raising public awareness around the issue of sustainability in the transport sector in a region that is heavily dependent on private cars. The movement for more sustainable transport policies is growing steadily everywhere, with a number of initiatives designed to break the dependence on private vehicles.

The critics might say that the car-free day wouldn’t work, as the office-goers would prefer to remain home if there was no vehicle to take them to work. I believe this isn’t an excuse. I would request our policymakers to think about it. Please. l Ekram Kabir is head of program, ABC Radio 89.2, and a Dhaka Tribune columnist.

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For Knox-Johnston, failure was not an option, even after his publishers assured him before he set out that they would be handling his book if he made it, and his log books if he did not.

Navigating single-handed, he steered his boat south along the west coast of Africa, past the Cape of Good Hope, skirted the south coast of Australia, and after a fleeting glimpse of Cape Horn, he sped northwards parallel to South America until he reached the port of Falmouth (UK) and won the Sunday Times’ Golden Globe trophy. He had left the same port 313 days earlier. He returned to it, a year older at 30, having covered over 30,000 nautical miles.

His narrative of that epic journey – A World of My Own (1969) – is a chronicle of his determination, his endurance, and his ineffable courage, a quality John Kennedy once defined as “grace under pressure.”

When he ran out of books to read (he had taken with him such weighty tomes as Tolstoy’s voluminous novel War and Peace, Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and Shakespeare’s Complete Works), he exercised his mind by learning poetry, which he recited aloud to “a wondering audience of albatross and petrels.”

Alone but not lonely, he had his journal as a companion. Reading his entries from it is akin to eavesdropping on a conversation between him and himself. It occasionally borders on the poetic: “We sailed 10 yards ahead of a wall of hail for close to a minute. It was a weird experience. Suhaili was sailing quietly, and yet the air was full of the explosive noise of the hailstones hitting the sea all round.”

Knox-Johnston’s solo voyage around the globe contrasted dramatically with another manned journey, this one made at the same time as his, in 1968, when Mission Apollo 8 encircled the moon.

Pakistan’s equivalent of Knox-Johnston’s solitary journey is Imran Khan’s lone-wolf mission to circumnavigate Pakistan’s petty, unsettled world of politics. He too has set out on what

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others would consider a hazardous journey fraught with danger.

Like Knox-Johnston, Imran Khan navigates by taking his readings from the stars, and his firmament tells him that he is on the right course. His Falmouth is Islamabad, his prize a gilt-plated trophy inscribed the prime ministership of Pakistan.

Imran Khan’s demands for a citywide strike in the major provincial capitals of Karachi and Lahore and then, if they fail in ousting Nawaz Sharif, a nation-wide shut-down are shortterm plans rather than long-term, sage strategies. The very fact that his Plan C envisages a fall-back to a nation-wide strike anticipates the failure of the Lahore and Karachi strikes. Political power is not wrested on presumptive ifs.

One does not need to be a captain of business or industry to predict that bringing the country to a halt even for a day will hamstring our faltering economy. This cannot be wise politics or sensible economics.

It cannot be in the interest of any party, especially one like the Tehreeki-Insaf that has not exercised governance at the national level, to deconstruct the economy with an immature hope of reconstructing it.

That was done once before in Pakistan’s history. Between 1972 and 1977, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto wrought five years of havoc. He emasculated private entrepreneurship, nationalised anything that needed a man or motor to move, pillaged life insurance funds, demoralised the bureaucracy, and spayed the judiciary.

Having dismantled the grandfather clock of Pakistan’s machinery of governance, he sought re-election in the 1977 general elections without any plan on how he proposed to re-assemble it.

Its parts are still scattered about our landscape, rusting from neglect, dulled from misuse, and like the Pakistan Steel Mills, unfit for productive service.

Mr Bhutto, at the end of his political career, had the misfortune of being friendless. Those who had befriended him he alienated; those whom he had befriended betrayed him.

Pakistan’s equivalent of Knox-Johnston’s solitary journey is Imran Khan’s lone-wolf mission

Imran Khan, at the beginning of his political career, has the luxury of youth on his side – if not his own, then of a generation of young Pakistanis. He is their Apollo. To the sycophantic television channels and his own mirror, he is Narcissus.

His musical jamborees serve as an effervescent alternative to a Pakistani public tired of a fare of hell served for breakfast and brimstone served as a nightcap. l FS Aijazuddin lives in Lahore and is a columnist for Dawn, Pakistan’s main Englishlanguage newspaper. This article was first published in Dawn.

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With Yunus, always n Mamun Rashid

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y the time I cleared immigration at the airport in Atlanta and stepped out to the arrival lounge, my host, after welcoming me, asked me a question: “Brother, how can we get Muhammad Yunus to come here and speak to us?” I told him, knowing the Nobel laureate, that he usually avoided Bangladeshi community programs, as they ended up revealing the country’s political divide. The gentleman, a marketing professional at a leading mobile phone company, humbly protested, saying: “We only have Muhammad Yunus to show to the rest of the world.”

Courtesy of Citigroup, more importantly its senior leadership – Secretary Bob Rubin and economist Stanley Fisher – I got to know Professor Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Trust very closely. In the late 90s and early 2000s, Citigroup thoughtfully decided to support Grameen replica projects in Asia and Latin America, but predominantly Asia. Citi Foundation started allocating large sums of money to support the roll-out of the “Grameen model” of poverty-alleviation and creating

synergy at the bottom of the pyramid.

Though I have met the professor a few times, we mainly had to work with his dedicated comrades – Professor HI Latifee, Lamiya Morshed, Mohammad Shahjahan, Ashraful Hassan, and Nurjahan Begum.

Unfortunately, or rather incidentally, the reason behind my departure from Citigroup was also rumoured to be Professor Yunus. The problem with being a humble professional is that one has to always be on-guard and operate within limited parameters.

When the “anti-Yunus” propaganda was launched by a section of the ruling government, supported and driven by a particular intelligence agency, a section of the media also wanted to make the most out of it.

I was dragged into many programs as a finance professional to comment on what had been going wrong with transfer-pricing, asset/liability management, inward remittance, or fund diversion. My discussions were sufficiently on-point and well reasoned. The banking regulator, a few influential journalists, and the political adviser to the honourable PM did not like them, and obviously worked through the banking regulator to reach

out to my seniors to tell them that “their man on the ground is more into politics than banking.”

I would have been rescued if it was the DGFI instead of the NSI, or if the honourable finance minister was in charge of decision-making. The finance ministry never allowed the political machinery to play around with me.

Professor Yunus is one of a kind – so humane, so humble, so helpful, and so kind – a largerthan-life being

The ministry even offered me senior regulatory positions in recognition of my knowledge within the relevant fields. DGFI clearance was given in the shortest possible time, but the political adviser found it too risky to put up a “Yunus man” in such a sensitive regu-

latory position.

He was obviously backed-up by some so-called journalists and professors. Do I regret it? Of course not. I am proud that I had always been with the most well-known and respected Bangladeshi in the world, possibly the best human being I have come across in my life.

My friends ask me, since I have also worked with the other great NGO affiliates, how do I compare them? I usually keep mum and tell them that it is not the right time to make comments or open new controversies. But deep within my heart, I know that Professor Yunus is one of a kind – so humane, so humble, so helpful, and so kind – a larger-than-life being.

Let me clue you in with an anecdote: A senior general in the Bangladesh army was nominated in running for the highest military job in the UN peacekeeping forces. He was reported to have been competing with a Pakistani general and another from Brazil. Our UN envoy told me that the chances of the Bangladeshi general was very slim, since the under-secretary responsible for peace operations was also from Bangladesh, and more importantly, because Malala Yousafzai

was working for the Pakistani general.

The envoy thought that only a push from nobody less than Yunus could work in this case. I really wanted to be of some help to the general, a well-wisher and a longtime friend of mine, so I called Yunus stalwart Lamiya Morshed to help out. Lamiya, known and respected for her esteemed nature, had asked me a humble question: “Was this general not the DGFI chief when the anti-Yunus campaign was launched?” I didn’t have much of an answer, other than insisting her to issue the letter if possible.

She forwarded me to the professor, who asked me how I knew the general.

I told him that the general was quite possibly the finest armed forces official I had come across – sharp, composed, and articulate. I also mentioned that the general had fought for our liberation in the war against Pakistani occupation forces, and was the “last of the Mohicans” in the Bangladesh Army.

That was all it took, and a letter was soon issued with the signature of the only Bangladeshi Nobel Laureate to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Those of you who don’t know better, or unnecessarily rebuke Yunus, this should be all it takes. He is a true Bang-

ladeshi, a fighter for the establishment of the rights of the common people.

My health conditions did not permit me to participate in the sixth Global Social Business Summit in Mexico City.

On my way to the airport, I requested the chauffeur to stop by Expo Bancomer, where the summit was being held.

It was Saturday, 10:45am, and Professor Yunus was supposed to deliver a public lecture at 12pm. I saw a long queue of almost 500 in front of the place where he was supposed to give the lecture, and later learned the number had reached 2,000. All these people, sacrificing their weekend leisure, had come to listen to a humble man from Bangladesh.

I was a humble student of economics. I studied Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman, and Milton Friedman – all great economists. But nobody, I repeat, nobody has ever made economics as relevant to the common people in the world as Muhammad Yunus. A second Nobel Prize would be too little a recognition for the economist of the common people. l Mamun Rashid is a business professor and financial sector entrepreneur.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE Saturday, December 6, 2014

13 Djokovic top

dog in 2015, says Agassi

14 Chelsea, City seek

pre-Christmas consolidation

14 Moyes stays

unbeaten, 9-man Villarreal win

Sport

Did you know?

After their win over NZ last Thursday, Pakistan now have 50 wins in Twenty20Is. South Africa are in second place with 42 wins

Relieved Shakib looking forward n Mazhar Uddin A huge weight has been lifted from the shoulders of Shakib al Hasan after Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan withdrew the talismanic all-rounder’s overseas league ban last Thursday.

Shakib was earlier suspended for six months from all kinds of cricket activities on July 7 this year owing to indiscipline although the ban was later reduced by three months. The 27-year old made a glorious return following his three-month suspension leading the Tigers to a clean sweep at home against Zimbabwe in both the Test and ODI series.

And after the BCB supremo withdrew his overseas league ban, which was supposed to expire at the end of next year, Shakib is expectedly a relieved man these days.

“Obviously, I am happy. No one wants his hands and legs tied down and I am happy for this. I would like to thank BCB for taking the decision as I always get inspired while playing for my country. My performance will improve if I play all over the world which will, as a result, help me when I will play for my country. That is the reason why I want to play overseas,” Shakib told the media at a shopping mall yesterday.

With the 2015 ICC World Cup in Australia-New Zealand knocking at the door, Shakib believes the global showpiece event will be a challenging one for the Tigers. The champion all-rounder thinks preparation will be key.

“Honestly, if I say personally, it will be tough and I think preparation will be important. We have to be there early and utilise those times that I think will be quite important for us. And, as long as we are in Bangladesh, we will be practising according to the conditions there.

“Who does not want to play well in the world cup? If we can give our best and play according to our ability it is possible to do well,” he said.

While addressing the media personnel, the lad from Magura also praised the performance of the Bangladesh spinners in the recently concluded bilateral series against Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, Shakib, who turned out for Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash Twenty20 league last year, informed that he is yet to confirm his place in a team this season. “It is not yet confirmed. Maybe it will be confirmed soon. Although I had a contract with them (Adelaide), it was terminated after my suspension. Let’s see what happens. We are in touch and if I can play then it will be good. However, if I can’t then I will not feel bad,” he added. l

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan spent yesterday evening accompanying the street children at a shopping mall in the capital

The disbanding of India’s World Cup class of 2011 n Cricinfo India at the 2015 World Cup will be minus the solid core of players that carried them through the years between World Cups 2003 and 2011 - those players, it is now confirmed, had run their course by end of the victorious 2011 campaign “Now we can close the chapter. We need to build a team again.” These were MS Dhoni’s words after India won the 2011 World Cup. The remnants of the class of 2003, who had suffered the shock of the 2007 first-round exit, had run their course by 2011 in his eyes.

The absence of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh in the list of 30 probables for the 2015 World Cup marks the formal closing of that chapter. Somewhere you knew this was likely to be a formality, that a replay was unlikely. None of the five has played an ODI in 2014. Zaheer has not since August 2012, Harbhajan since as far back as June 2011. And barring an injury to an eventually shortlisted player, and extraordinary form shown by one of the five, none of them is going to Aus-

tralia and New Zealand.

Sachin Tendulkar has retired. Sreesanth has been banned for life. Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel have drifted so far back in memory it is hard to believe they are still playing domestic cricket.

Yusuf Pathan and Piyush Chawla have

link to that chapter he talked about in 2011. For the rest, all we have for now are memories.

Sehwag started the 2011 World Cup with 175 against Bangladesh. Gambhir ended it with 97 in the final. Yuvraj, soon to go undergo treatment for can-

Gambhir have made 21,840 ODI runs among themselves. Zaheer and Harbhajan have taken a collective 541 ODI wickets. Yuvraj has 111, Sehwag 96. Staggering as these numbers are, they were also a major part of the narrative of Indian one-day cricket for more than a decade.

fallen somewhere in the crevice between potential and performance. The class of 2011 has been well and truly disbanded.

Only four have made it through to the 2015 list. Of them, Suresh Raina and R Ashwin had bit roles in 2011. Virat Kohli was the future steadily becoming the present. Dhoni was not there in 2003, but he went through the humiliation of 2007, and is the last remaining

cer, carried India on his shoulders in between with bat and ball. Zaheer gave us the knuckle ball and took the most wickets in the tournament. With young Ashwin a popular choice for playing ahead of him, Harbhajan came out India’s most economical bowler.

The second ODI double-hundred.

Six sixes in an over. Probably the most under-rated but significant innings in a World Cup final. Sehwag, Yuvraj and

They took the class of 2011 that one last step ahead of the class of 2003. They had fallen at the final hurdle eight years ago, they were not going to let that happen again. They finished under Dhoni what had begun under Ganguly.

Four of these five had made their international debuts by 2000. By the time the World Cup came to India, they weren’t young anymore. The class of 2011 was possibly one of the most un-

KOBI NAZRUL CLUB, FLAME CLUB FACE OFF IN WOMEN’S RUGBY FINAL TODAY

athletic to win a global tournament.

The combination of Zaheer, Nehra and Munaf is as big a fielding liability as your pace attack can become. The senior batsmen were not quick either. India were expected to be run ragged and almost lost after posting 338 against England in Bangalore before escaping with a tie.

“We could have defended this total if we had a better fielding side,” Dhoni had said bluntly, “but we have to make do with what we have got.” And make do they did, giving it everything in the knockouts. Ageing bodies threw themselves around on the field, saving singles, cutting off boundaries, so much that the might of the Australian line-up was restricted to 260 in the quarter-final. It led coach Gary Kirsten to say it was the best fielding performance he had seen from the Indian team in his three years with them.

After the semi-final win against Pakistan, Dhoni said all he hoped for now was for his tired, not-so-young men to hold up for one more game. “After that, even if some of the cars fall down, it is okay,” he had said, using one of his automobile metaphors. l

COURTESY

Bangladesh U12s held by Sevilla n Shishir Hoque

Bangladesh Under-12 football team were held to a 1-1 draw by Spanish top flight club Sevilla in the opening match of Group D in the Super Mokh U-12 Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday.

However, Bangladesh lost their second match of the group, against Thai club Chonburi FC, on the same day.

Rashedul put Bangladesh ahead with just eight minutes into the match before Ruben grabbed the equaliser for Sevilla in the 22nd minute.

Bangladesh, who are taking part in this kind of tournament for the very first time, though conceded a huge 6-0 defeat against Chonburi.

The kids in Red and Green will play their last Group D match against the hosts, Malaysian club Cougars, today.

Bangladesh must win if they are to have any hopes of progressing to the last eight.

The top two teams from each group will go through to the Cup Competition, or quarterfinals. The bottom two sides of each group on the other hand will contest in the Plate Phase. l

Disappointing Siddikur misses cut, finishes 109th n Tribune Desk

Just like the recently concluded King’s Cup, Bangladesh golfer Siddikur Rahman once again missed the cut in the Indonesia Open following the second round in Jakarta yesterday.

Siddikur hit five-over-par 76 on the second day of the $750,000 tournament to finish at 109th position. The 30-year old golfer had an overall score of six-over-par 148.

Siddikur began the day in a disappointing fashion striking a double bogey on the fourth hole.

He struck four bogeys and half as many birdies.

The Madaripur golfer fared similarly in the King’s Cup where he ended at joint 110th position.

Alongside Padraig Harrington of Ireland, Thailand golfer Thanyakon Khrongpha jointly leads the standings with an overall 12-under-par 130. l

City to join Real Down Under n AFP, Sydney

Bangladesh Army and Flame Boys will face other in the men’s final of the Walton Home Appliance Victory Day Rugby at the Paltan ground today. Meanwhile in the women’s final today, Flame Rugby Club will take on Kobi Nazrul Rugby Club at the same venue. Valiant freedom fighter Mohammed Tojmur Ali will be present today as the chief guest. Walton additional director FM Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn will also grace the occasion as one of the guests. The women rugby players in action in the Walton Home Appliance Victory Day Rugby yesterday at the Paltan ground. Flame Rugby Club will take on Kobi Nazrul Rugby Club in the women’s final today. The women’s rugby event is the first of its kind in the country RAJIB DHAR

English Premier League champions Manchester City will join European champions Real Madrid at next year’s International Champions Cup in Melbourne, organisers said on Friday.

Manchester City is the second team announced for the three-team tournament to take place at the 100,000-capacity MCG from July 18-24.

The third team for the series has yet to be confirmed, but reports have

linked Italian Serie A side Inter Milan.

Owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan has invested over £1 billion ($1.5 billion) since acquiring Manchester City in 2008. Since Mansour’s arrival, City have won two Premier League titles, in 2012 and 2014, as well as the 2011 FA Cup and this year’s League Cup. Manchester City also have a stake in Australia’s A-League after the club’s Abu Dhabi-based owners purchased and re-branded Melbourne Heart as Melbourne City early this year. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

13

Saturday, December 6, 2014

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BRIEF SCORE, 1ST T20I

Argentine Diaz named as Paraguay coach

New Zealand 135/7 in 20 overs (Anderson 48, Ronchi 33, Guptill 32; Tanvir 2/24, Irfan 2/27) Pakistan 140/3 in 19.1 overs (Sarfraz 76*; McClenaghan 1/21) Pakistan won by seven wickets and lead series 1-0

Paraguay named Argentine Ramon Diaz, who won the Argentine league title with River Plate this year, as their coach on Thursday. “Ramon Diaz and the Paraguayan Football Association (APF) have sealed a four-year work accord,” APF president Alejandro Dominguez told a news conference in the capital. “It’s one of the biggest challenges of my career... There’s a lot of work to do,” said former River, Inter Milan, Monaco and Argentina striker Diaz.

Diaz, River’s most successful coach ever with six league titles and the 1996 Libertadores Cup plus a league crown with San Lorenzo, takes over from caretaker Victor Genes. Genes had been in charge since Uruguayan Gerardo Pelusso was sacked in late 2013 after Paraguay failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup in Brazil. Paraguay achieved their best World Cup placing in 2010 when they reached the quarter-finals in South Africa under Argentine Gerardo Martino, who is now in charge of his home country.

–Reuters

Donovan seeks fairytale finish in MLS Cup final The Los Angeles Galaxy can give Landon Donovan a fairytale ending to a storied career on Sunday when they take on New England for Major League Soccer’s MLS Cup crown. Donovan, the United States’ all-time leading scorer with 57 international goals, was crushingly denied a fourth World Cup appearance this year when Jurgen Klinsmann left him out of the squad for Brazil. In the wake of that snub, Donovan announced this MLS season would be his last, and the 32-year-old has done all he can to insure he finishes on a high note. Days after Klinsmann announced the World Cup squad in May, Donovan became Major League Soccer’s all-time leading scorer, and by the end of the regular season he had extended his record total of MLS goals to 144.

–AFP

Celtic FC target unbeatable run to title Celtic defender Adam Matthews is aiming to increase his side’s lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership by going on an unbeaten run between now and the end of the season. The Hoops moved three points clear in the race for the title after a 1-0 win over Partick Thistle on Wednesday. The Glasgow giants have won their last six matches in the league as they look to claim their fourth championship in a row. And Matthews, who was part of the side who only lost once in the league during their last campaign, wants to go on a similar run to give Celtic some breathing space at the top. “It’s going to be tough, given the amount of games we play and the fact that everyone raises their game when they play us,” admitted Matthews.

–AFP

Pakistan batsman Sarfraz Ahmed hits a six during the first International T20 cricket match against New Zealand at Dubai International Stadium in Dubai on Thursday

AFP, Adelaide

n AFP, Adelaide Australia captain Michael Clarke faces a fitness test at training on Saturday to check on his chances of playing in next week’s first Test against India, coach Darren Lehmann said.

Clarke, troubled by a third hamstring setback since August, ran at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday before heading to Adelaide to join the Australia squad later in the day.

The skipper, who was one of the pallbearers and led the tributes at the funeral of his close friend and Test batsman Phillip Hughes on Wednesday, will be given every chance of taking the field in the series opener against India at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday.

“As long as he’s fine to do the running and can bat (he’ll play),” coach and selector Lehmann told reporters on Friday.

“He flies in this afternoon. We’ll get

Star sports 1

American legend Andre Agassi said Novak Djokovic could be poised for a period of dominance in men’s tennis after showing he can rise “a level above” his peers without even trying too hard.

Eight-time Grand Slam-winner Agassi said barring mishap, the world number one looked set for a long stay on top of the rankings after moving out in front this year.

The 27-year-old Serb won seven titles this season, including Wimbledon, and finished with a flourish at the World Tour Finals in London.

“I have to (tip) Djokovic heading into the next year or two,” Agassi told reporters at the International Premier Tennis League in Singapore late on Thursday.

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him batting tomorrow and see how he goes. It’ll be case of if he’s fine, he’ll play. We’ll just have to wait and see.

“We’ll be guided by medical staff, the captain himself, selectors. We’ll get together and assess what the plan is tomorrow.”

Clarke and the entire Test squad attended Hughes’s funeral in Macksville in northern New South Wales on Wednesday. On Thursday, Clarke attended a private cremation service with Hughes’ family in their home town while his teammates began to make their way to Adelaide.

“He’s pretty mentally strong, as you saw throughout the week,” Lehmann said of Clarke should he lead Australia in what is shaping up as an emotional Test.

“He held himself together really well and led the team really well.”

Batsman Shaun Marsh has been added to Australia’s Test squad as cover for Clarke.

Lehmann said it was too early to speculate who would be emotionally ready to start the Adelaide Test, given the traumatic lead-in to the series.

“Time will tell, but today we’ll get out there and see how we go,” he said prior to Australia’s first training session since Hughes was fatally struck by a bouncer in a domestic game.

Hughes, 25, died last Thursday from bleeding on the brain, two days after being knocked unconscious by a bouncer in Sydney, throwing the cricketing world into mourning.

“Now it’s a matter of rallying around each other, rallying around his family and the whole CA (Cricket Australia) family,” Lehmann said. He said he wouldn’t expect Australia to be trained at full intensity for a few more days.

“Probably not today, but certainly by the weekend. By Sunday or Monday I’d expect them to be going 100 percent,” he said.l

India’s batsmen gained valuable match practice as their two-day tour match against a Cricket Australia XI ended in a draw in Adelaide on Friday.

The tourists compiled 375 off 90 overs with stand-in captain Virat Kohli (66), Murali Vijay (60), Ajinkya Rahane (56) and Wriddhiman Saha (51) all scoring half-centuries.

The local selection finished the match at 83 for five off 21 overs with Test paceman Ishant Sharma taking two for eight off five overs in an encouraging lead in to Tuesday’s opening Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval.

Vijay and Kohli both retired before lunch after reaching their half-centuries and to enable some of the other batsmen to get valuable batting practice ahead of the opening Test.

The CA XI were made to pay for dropping Kohli on Thursday’s opening day, when the stand-in skipper edged his first delivery to Ashton Turner at the first slip.

Vijay and Kohli shared a 123-run stand, steadying India’s innings after the tourists slumped to 36 for two on the opening day. In the corresponding fixture at the same venue last week, the opener and No.4 batsman also looked a class above most of their teammates.

Tasmania paceman Evan Gulbis tested the duo with a series of shortpitched deliveries.

Vijay wore one bouncer on the body that flicked up and hit the helmet, but composed himself quickly.

Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav shared the new ball in CA XI’s second innings with Aaron following up his first innings haul of four for 41 with one for 28 off six overs, while Yadav claimed one for 30 off five overs.

“Players will probably be talking about what they saw and did, which will be passed onto other (Test) players,” CA XI coach Troy Cooley said.

“It’s a great little network of information being transferred. We’ll make sure the most up to date information is given to our big brother.”l

Djokovic top dog in 2015, says Agassi n AFP, Singapore

1:45AM Italian Serie A Torino v Palermo

Opener Sarfraz Ahmed made a career best 76 not out to guide Pakistan to a comfortable seven wicket win over New Zealand in the first of two Twenty20 internationals in Dubai on Thursday.

Chasing a modest 136-run target, Pakistan were lifted by Ahmed’s 64-ball innings which had eight fours and two sixes as they completed the win in 19.1 overs for a 1-0 lead.

The second and final Twenty20 will also be played in Dubai on Friday.

Ahmed added a quick 51 for the first wicket with Awaiz Zia who made 20 with two boundaries and then continued the good work with a dominating 43-run stand for the fourth wicket with Umar Akmal who made a 24-ball 27 not out.

Akmal finished the match with a huge six off Jimmy Neesham.

In between Pakistan lost Mohammad Hafeez (two) and Haris Sohail (11) but Sarfraz kept one end intact and bettered his previous best of just five in his previous four Twenty20s.

“It was a positive and aggressive decision to field first. The bowlers did well and then Sarfraz was outstanding,” said Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi of his team’s 50th win in 84 Twenty20 matches. l

Vijay score half-tons Clarke faces decision day Kohli, as India draw tour game ahead of first India Test n

DAY’S WATCH 4:30PM Indian Tennis Premier League

AFP

Sarfraz stars in Pakistan’s T20I win over New Zealand n AFP, Dubai

“He seems like he just can hit cruise control and be a level above, and that’s a huge luxury.

“He doesn’t have to play lights-out to beat the top guys, he just has to play contained which is a big statement to how well he’s playing.”

Djokovic had a winning record against all of his “Big Four” rivals - Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray - in 2014 and he finished ranked top for the third time in four years.

With Federer now 33, Nadal returning from his latest lay-off and Murray struggling for form, the seven-time Slam winner, who recently became a father, could now stay on top, Agassi said.

“A lot of things can happen, as we know. One minor injury at the wrong time and that tournament’s gone and maybe that part of the season’s gone,” Agassi said.

“I don’t underestimate how much has to go right, but if everything goes right for everybody I’ve got to say he’s the one I’ll point to,” he added.

When Djokovic seeks his fifth Australian Open title in January, one of his chief rivals could be Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who broke through by reaching this year’s US Open final against Marin Cilic.

But Agassi said it was imperative for Nishikori to move smoothly through the early rounds in Melbourne if he is to become Asia’s first male Grand Slam singles winner.

“If he can get through the first four matches without tapping too far into his tank, it’ll be a big difference for him,” said Agassi, who played an exhibition with Nishikori last month.

“He works really hard and that was ultimately what stopped him from winning in New York. Marin was playing some serious tennis but the truth is, Kei went into that match with a lot of energy spent.l

Policemen stand guard in front of the Grimaldi Forum Monaco where the International Olympic Committee extraordinary session took place in Monaco yesterday AFP

Silva confident PSG will beat Barca n Reuters, Paris

Pep, Loew welcome goalline technology in Germany

Paris St Germain centre back Thiago Silva says the French club has what it takes to win their Champions League Group F after Tuesday’s decider at Barcelona.

PSG top the group with 13 points, one ahead of Barca, whom they beat 3-2 at home in their first encounter.

The French champions need only one point to secure top spot, which Silva is confident they will get.

“It’s a special game and I think we can win at Barcelona or at least get a draw,” the Brazilian international told L’Equipe. PSG are unbeaten in 22 competitive games this season.

They will be with talismanic striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was rested for Tuesday’s Ligue 1 game at Lille, and influential midfielder Marco Verratti who has returned from injury.l

n AFP, Berlin Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola and Germany’s Joachim Loew have both welcomed the decision to introduce goal-line technology into the Bundesliga for next season.

The 18 clubs in Germany’s top-flight on Thursday voted to use the HawkEye system, which notifies the referee if the ball has crossed the goal-line, for the 2015/16 season.

“If I find any technical change or innovation good, then it’s goal-line technology,” said Loew, who coached Germany to their fourth World Cup title in Brazil in July.

“Everything else I don’t really like, as the game should be left the way it is, but that’s not the case with goal-line

technology.

“There have been many refereeing decisions which have led to lots of discussions, so if you can get a quick and clear decision on a goal, then that’s good.”

Bundesliga clubs had originally voted to reject goal-line technology last season, but a fresh proposal from champions Bayern Munich led to a 15-3 vote from Germany’s top 18 clubs to adopt the system. “It’s a good decision, I agree with it,” said Guardiola on Friday in a Bayern press conference.

“It only takes a second to decide a goal, we want to make sure the decisions are correct and this will help the referees. I believe that this is a step forward for German football,” said Reinhard Rauball, president of the German Football League (DFL). l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Chelsea, City seek pre-Christmas consolidation n AFP, London With the frantic Christmas fixture schedule looming on the horizon, Chelsea and Manchester City will look to consolidate their positions as Premier League pace-setters in this weekend’s matches.

The two teams enjoyed breezy wins in mid-week, Chelsea beating Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 and City winning 4-1 at Sunderland, and while the London club remain six points clear of the champions, both sides look a class apart.

Chelsea visit Newcastle United on Saturday, when they will attempt to set a new club record by extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to 24 matches.

Jose Mourinho’s side will welcome back top scorer Diego Costa after he sat out the Tottenham game through suspension, although he was barely missed in Wednesday’s match at Stamford Bridge.

“We know that we can score at any time,” said French striker Loic Remy, who scored Chelsea’s third goal against Spurs after replacing Didier Drogba in the second half.

Newcastle have gone two games without victory, having previously won five matches in a row, but they have been beaten only once at home this season - by City on the opening weekend.

Following a poor run of results, City appear to have rediscovered the form that swept them to last season’s title, having won their last four games in all competitions, scoring 12 goals in the process.

The second game of that run was a rousing 3-2 win at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League that gave Manuel Pellegrini’s side a fighting chance of reaching the last 16 ahead of next week’s showdown with Roma.

Ahead of Saturday’s home match with Everton, Stevan Jovetic said that the victory over Bayern could prove a turning point in City’s campaign.

“Honestly, in the Champions League we have not played well this season, but the game against Bayern helped us

FIXTURES Hull City Liverpool Man City Newcastle QPR Stoke City Tottenham

v v v v v v v

West Brom Sunderland Everton Chelsea Burnley Arsenal Crystal Palace

a lot,” the Montenegro forward told the club website.

Third-place Southampton lost ground on the top two after going down 1-0 at Arsenal on Wednesday and now find Manchester United breathing down their necks ahead of the two sides’ confrontation at St Mary’s on Monday.

United currently trail Chelsea by 11 points but although midfielder Marouane Fellaini is eager to bridge that gap, he acknowledges that Louis van Gaal’s side must first safeguard their

position in the top four.

“I think we wait for a mistake (from the leading teams), but we have to look after us,” he said after his side’s 2-1 win at home to Stoke City.

“After Boxing Day (December 26), we have a lot of games and we have to keep winning. Southampton as well, they are better in the table than us and we’ll see on Monday as well.”

Arsenal’s victory over Southampton kept them within two points of the top four ahead of their trip to Stoke on Saturday.

Alexis Sanchez continued his fine start to life in England with an 89th-minute winner against Southampton and team-mate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain believes the Chilean forward’s will to win is becoming contagious.

“He has brought that winning mentality to the side and I think it definitely rubs off on a lot of players,” said the England midfielder.

“He has been brilliant for us and a breath of fresh air, so hopefully he can stay in the form that he is in and we can help him out to keep producing goals like he has been.”

Two other teams with designs on a top-four spot face off at Upton Park on Sunday, when fifth-place West Ham United entertain seventh-place Swansea City.

Liverpool, five points adrift of the top four after a 3-1 win at Leicester City, welcome Sunderland to Anfield on Saturday.l

Red hot Aguero best on the planet: Zabaleta n AFP, Manchester

AGUERO

in 2014–15

Match

Goal

Premier League

14

14

Champions League Total:

5

5

20

19

Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta has warned Everton they will face the best player on the planet in their Premier League clash at Eastlands on Saturday.

Zabaleta believes City forward Sergio Aguero is currently the most dynamic force in world football after the Argentine took his goal tally to 19 in 16 starts this season with a brace in a 4-1 win at Sunderland on Wednesday.

That victory ensured Manuel Pellegrini’s side kept the pressure on unbeaten Premier League leaders Chelsea.

But without Aguero’s impressive form, champions City would be struggling to retain the title and his compatriot Zabaleta is more than willing to declare him better than Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

“I think, on current form, Sergio is the best player in the world,” Zabaleta said ahead of this weekend’s visit from Everton.

“I’ve known him a long time and at the moment he’s showing the finest form of his career. Long may it continue.

“Everything he does, he makes it look so easy.

“He’s sharp, clinical but he also works really hard for the team off the

Rampant Real eye new record territory n AFP, Madrid

Atletico Madrid’s Argentine coach Diego Simeone poses after receiving the ‘IberoAmerican Community Trophy’ from Spanish King Felipe VI during the 2013 Spanish National Sports Awards at El Pardo Palace in Madrid on Thursday AP

La Liga leaders Real Madrid will look to continue their sparkling form with a record-equalling 18th consecutive victory in all competitions as they host Celta Vigo on Saturday.

The European champions surpassed their previous club record of 15 straight wins with victory over Malaga last weekend and, following a 5-0 Copa del Rey thrashing of Cornella in midweek, Los Blancos now have Barcelona’s Spanish record stretch of 18 victories from the 2005/06 season in their sights.

Madrid have now scored 64 goals on their winning streak, conceding only nine, but they know they will face a stern test against a Celta side that took all three points at the Camp Nou last month and secured a draw away to Atletico Madrid in September.

James Rodriguez’s double against third-tier outfit Cornella meant that he is the only Madrid player to score in four competitions this season and his impressive start to life in the Spanish capital has not been lost on manager Carlo Ancelotti.

Cristiano Ronaldo was given a rare night off on Tuesday, but the World Player of the Year will return looking to continue his lethal form in front of goal, having netted 20 goals in just 12 league appearances thus far.

Jese Rodriguez, who made his

Marseille, PSG in race for Christmas bragging rights n AFP, Paris

No gifts from Bayern in busy pre-festive period

With three matches until the Ligue 1 winter break, the enthralling battle between Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain promises more twists in the race to be top of the table at Christmas.

Marcelo Bielsa’s Marseille pacesetters cling to their one point lead over Laurent Blanc’s unbeaten PSG side after both sides were held to a draw on the road in midweek.

The two-time defending champions blew a chance to return to the summit on Wednesday when they were held 1-1 at struggling Lille while Marseille also wasted two points after settling for the same scoreline at Lorient. PSG host Nantes at the Parc des Princes on Saturday with a chance to at least take temporary possession of top spot.l

Christmas is rapidly approaching, but Bayern Munich are determined not to gift their rivals any points as they tackle five games in 15 days, starting with Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.

Despite the season of giving, the Bavarian giants are determined to maintain their iron grip on the Bundesliga title as they look to maintain their seven-point lead going into the winter break, which starts on December 21.

“We must be extremely focused and motivated to go about our work and keep our lead,” insisted Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

Bayern have a busy period coming up as they host CSKA Moscow in their final Champions League group match next Wednesday, then play Augsburg, Freiburg and Mainz with a league game every three days.

Leverkusen were the last German team to win in Munich in October 2012, but Bayern want no repeat for Saturday’s Bundesliga clash.

“We have nothing to give away,” insisted goalkeeper Manuel Neuer ahead

FIXTURES PSG Bordeaux Saint-Etienne Rennes Caen

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Nantes Lorient Bastia Montpellier Nice

n AFP, Berlin

of the Allianz Arena clash.

Roger Schmidt’s Leverkusen have climbed up to third in the table and Bayern boss Pep Guardiola expects a battle royal.

“It’s a top match. When two teams play on the attack, then it’s always a spectacle,” said the Spaniard.

Schmidt coached his former club Red Bull Salzburg to a shock 3-0 defeat of Bayern in a friendly last January before taking charge of Leverkusen in July.

Guardiola is a big fan of the 47-yearold and says he expects Bayern to be under pressure and will need to deny Leverkusen’s dead-ball specialists Hakan Calhanoglu and South Korea’s Son Heung-Min the chance to show off their skills.

“We have no time to think, we must make decisions quicker and it will be important to keep them away from our penalty area,” said Guardiola.

The benefit of Bayern’s huge star-studded squad is apparent as Guardiola can cope without the injured Philipp Lahm, Javier Martinez, Holger Badstuber, David Alaba and Claudio Pizarro.l

comeback from a nine-month injury layoff in midweek, could also feature in La Liga for the first time this season, while Sami Khedira, who was forced off with concussion, should also be fit.

Barcelona host Espanyol in the Catalan derby on Sunday as they look to keep pace at the top of the table and build on their run of six successive victories.

Andres Iniesta, who had not featured since limping off in the 3-1 Clasico reverse in October, made his comeback as the Blaugrana swept aside Huesca

FIXTURES Elche Athletic Bilbao Real Madrid Deportivo

v v v v

Atletico Madrid Cordoba Celta Vigo Malaga

4-0 on Wednesday evening in the Copa del Rey, scoring his first goal in eight months in the process.

“It’s never easy to come back after so long, but I felt fine and that’s the most important thing. I was able to play without feeling any trouble and that’s calmed me down a lot,” said the Spain midfielder.

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets will all return having sat out the trip to Aragon, while Claudio Bravo is expected to start in goal.

Champions Atletico Madrid can,

temporarily at least, leapfrog Barcelona as they travel to struggling Elche on Saturday.

Back-to-back home wins over Malaga and Deportivo have seen the champions remain in contention to retain their title, four points behind city rivals Real, but their indifferent away form this season will be put to the test at the Martinez Valero.

After struggling to break down a resilient L’Hospitalet side in the first half in Cup action on Wednesday, the introduction of Antoine Griezmann at the break provided the spark that Diego Simeone’s side needed as they went on to seal a comfortable 3-0 victory and almost certainly set up a Madrid derby in the last 16.

Simeone, who was shortlisted for the World Coach of the Year award earlier this week, used the opportunity to give some of his fringe players a run out, and the performances of both Griezmann and Alessio Cerci will give the Argentine food for thought regarding his team selection.

Meanwhile, former Manchester United manager David Moyes faces his first difficult away test as coach of Real Sociedad as they travel to Villarreal on Sunday.

Fifth-placed Valencia are badly in need of a win after taking just one point from their last three games when they visit Granada and fourth-placed Sevilla travel to Rayo Vallecano.l

ball. That’s something you have to appreciate from Sergio.

“Normally strikers want to play with the ball but he works ever so hard for the team, he’s been great.

“He’s the best striker in the world at the moment and we’re very lucky to have him in our team.”

Zabaleta also hailed Aguero’s contribution in helping him score his first goal since April against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light as second placed City stayed within six points of Chelsea thanks to a fourth straight win.

“I’ve taken a few lessons in finishing off Sergio,” he added.

“I told him not to be worried about me scoring my first of the season - I’m only goals 18 behind him!

“We are not giving up on the title.

We are six behind Chelsea and it’s going to be difficult but nothing is done yet.

“We still have belief.”

Aguero came off against Sunderland, but it is understood to only have been as a precaution, and there are no injury concerns over City’s leading scorer.

Everton boss Martinez should have midfielder McCarthy and striker Steven Naismith available after hamstring injuries, but midfielder Darron Gibson (knee) is absent along with centre-backs Antolin Alcaraz (shoulder) and John Stones (ankle).l

Moyes stays unbeaten, 9-man Villarreal win n Reuters, Madrid David Moyes continued his unbeaten start at Real Sociedad when he rested a host of regulars in a 0-0 draw at third-tier Real Oviedo in a King’s Cup last-32, first-leg match on Thursday.

Moyes took over as coach of the Basque club last month and has presided over a draw and a win in La Liga, as well as the stalemate in Oviedo which gave Sociedad a slight advantage ahead of the return in San Sebastian in two weeks.

Villarreal have one foot in the last 16 after they held on with nine men for a 2-1 success at third-tier Cadiz.

Defender Adrian Marin was shown a straight red card in the 59th minute and Israel Puerto was forced off due to injury when Villarreal had already used up their three substitutions.

Valencia, the 2008 winners, gained the upper hand over Rayo Vallecano in their first leg when they fought back from a goal down to beat their La Liga rivals 2-1 in Madrid.

Holders Real Madrid and 2010 winners Sevilla are through to the last 16 after completing crushing aggregate wins against third-tier Cornella and second-division Sabadell respectively.l

Members of the Salvadorian amputee soccer team take part in a training session at La Estrella soccer field in San Salvador on November 21, 2014. The El Salvador amputee team was founded in 1987 by veterans who lost their limbs during the civil war REUTERS

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

ZERO DEGREE’s audio album launched

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Caricature exhibit Meet the Faces at AFD

n Entertainment Desk The digital audio album of upcoming thriller movie “Zero Degree”, directed by Animesh Aich, was launched at a hotel in the capital on December 4.

Subscribers of mobilephone operator ‘Robi’ can listen to the songs by dialling at 28777 on their phones. The album contains six tracks.

Sharing his experience in making the film, producer and actor Mahfuz Ahmed said: “It is in no way a television drama; fairly, we have given out our best to make it a total movie.”

Talking to journalists at the album launching ceremony, actress Jaya Ahsan, who played the lead female role in the film, said: “This film is not something like so called ‘formula movie’, which

we have seen in recent days in our country. It is, indeed, something out of the box.”

“As an actress, I feel I have done really something that I never did before in my life,” she said.

Music composer Prince Mahmud, singers Samina Chowdhury and Nancy, among others, were present on the occasion.

Rock star James gave his voice in the title number “prem o ghrina” [love and hate] penned, tuned and composed by Prince Mahmud.

In his first big screen production, director Animesh also wrote two songs.

Nancy, Samina, Audit, Probor Ripon, Prithwi Raj and Swandhi, gave voices to the other songs.

Music director Emon Saha has done the background score of the movie. l

Battle Los Angeles HBO Defined, 6:40pm

search at Rajshahi University.

She found her flair for drawing caricature in 2011. Her extraordinary and unorthodox interpretation of human faces is a celebrated item in the social media. Mitu explains an exclusive form of art that conveys human characteristics beyond politics and pop culture.

One of her most popular works was the 2013 Rana Plaza incident. Her cartoon, where a Denim jeans price tag is depicting the price as blood drops, was an immediately hit on the social media. Several national television channels featured this cartoon . Its theme and concept is still being used and mentioned in columns and statements by journalists, writers and social change makers. l

n Entertainment Desk

n Entertainment Desk Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon, who’s made a career out of playing America’s sweetheart types, drops the pink-bowed chihuahuas and hits the road in Jean-Marc Vallée’s downward spiral drama, “Wild.”

The movie, based on Cheryl Strayed’s best-selling memoir, follows her quest for recovery from addition and grief by embarking on a 1,600-kilometre journey along the Pacific Crest Trail.

Witherspoon goes all in playing a recovering heroin addict. She will be seen figuratively and literately naked: gaunt, tired and struggling under her massive pack and the perceptions of others.

Laura Dern warmly plays Strayed’s late mother who appears in flashbacks, inspiring her daughter to overcome her hardships. l

A squadron of U.S. Marines becomes the last line of defense against a global invasion.

Miami Vice

Star Movies Action, 10:30pm

The film focuses on vice detectives Crockett and Tubbs as their respective personal and professional lives become dangerously intertwined.

A solo caricature exhibition titled “Meet the Faces” by Nasreen Sultana Mitu was inaugurated yesterday at the Alliance Française de Dhaka in the city’s Dhanmondi area.

In the exhibition, her artworks on display portray most of the noted artists of Bangladesh, with exaggerating portraits of SM Sultan, Runa Laila, Priyabhashini, Marilyn Monroe and others, containing wit and sarcasm.

The inaugural ceremony was graced by Ahsan Habib, editor of satirical magazine Unmad, eminent artist Shishir Bhattacharjee, and sculptor Ferdousi Priyovashini, among others.

The exhibition will remain open until December 18.

Mitu has been professionally drawing cartoons and caricatures since 2006. She began cartooning while working at Unmad, where she is currently an assistant editor. She is also a lecturer at the Institute of Education and Re-

REESE WITHERSPOON portrays a recovering heroin addict in Wild

15

Due Date

WB, 11:15pm

High-strung father-to-be Peter Highman is forced to hitch a ride with aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay on a road trip in order to make it to his child’s birth on time.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH confirmed to play Doctor Strange

ANANTA and BARSHA embrace parenthood

n Entertainment Desk

Marvel confirmed Thursday that Benedict Cumberbatch will star as Doctor Strange in the superhero movie of the same title.

Cumberbatch, the British star of TV’s “Sherlock” and the new movie “The Imitation Game,” was long-rumored to be in line for the part: a former surgeon entrusted with the power to protect Earth from mystical and extraplanetary forces. It’s an apt choice, and not just because of the actor’s distinctive look; as early box-office returns for “The Imitation Game” have borne out, Cumberbatch’s fan base is unusually ardent.

The announcement about the film, which will release on Nov. 4, 2016, puts an end to months of speculation on who would play the character and sets in motion the foundation for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Actors ranging from Johnny Depp to, most recently, Joaquin Phoenix have previously been tied to the role of Doctor Strange before Cumberbatch. l

n Entertainment Desk Celebrated couple Ananta Jalil and Barsha have welcomed their first baby boy, Aariz on November 23 in Bangkok, Thailand.

A source revealed that mother and child were in close observation in the Bumrungrad International Hospital, Bangkok while both are fine now. Ananta, the action hero of Dhallywood, took his newly born baby and wife Barsha in an apartment in Bangkok.

Origin from Arabic, Aariz means good intellectually and powerful. The sources also said that the couple will arrive in the capital soon. l

Swiss film festival at Goethe Institut n Entertainment Desk A Swiss film festival will begin tomorrow at the Goethe Institut in the capital’s Dhanmondi area.

Organised by the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh in cooperation with the Goethe Institut, the festival will run until Tuesday, December 9.

The festival’s opening film, “Die Schwarzen Brüder (The Black Brothers),” will be screened at 6pm. Set in the 19th-century backdrop, the film tells an adventurous story of the young chimney sweepers in Italy and their spectacular escape back to Switzerland.

The second film of the festival, a Swiss documentary titled “More than Honey,” will be screened at 6pm on Monday. The film embarks on a journey to meet with people whose lives depend on bees.

The last film of the festival, “Der Verdingbub (The Foster Boy),” will be screened at 6pm on Tuesday. The film depicts the difficult life of an orphan boy in his foster house, where he is treated badly, and his emotional journey.

All the films are in German with English subtitles. The film festival is open for all. l The Black Brothers will be screened today

SHRADDHA KAPOOR: I feel like one of the ABCD 2 boys now n Entertainment Desk At choreographer-turned-director Remo D’Souza’s dance studio in suburban Mumbai, the waif-like Shraddha Kapoor is easy to miss in a crowd of boys, all dressed identically in vests, track pants and sneakers. “I feel like one of the boys,” says a breathless Shraddha revealing that her ABCD 2 journey began with a new gym membership and plenty of apprehensions.

“I was afraid that I won’t be able to pull of the super-fast hip-hop dance steps that have made ABCD a brand.

But however difficult the moves, Remo tells me to go for it,” she smiles, insisting that the director’s confi-

dence in her has worked wonders.

The svelte actress says that she’s never felt fitter in her life and although she’s working out too, the real sweating happens on the dance floor.

Just then, Remo calls out to her. She has to jump, followed by a balancing act.

Bursting with energy, the actress leaps into the air effortlessly, as if she is riding a trampoline. And when she’s up there, Shraddha goes “Whooooo!” Then, as she climbs the human pyramid, one of the troupe members calls out, “Shraddha Kapoor, don’t fall.” Within seconds, she is riding the shoulders of two fellow dancers and strikes a pose. The girl is clearly having fun.

“It’s kids’ stuff. Now, I can do everything!” boasts the actress, who won rave reviews for her turn in the dark drama “Haider.” l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Mugging on rise across country despite IGP order

Back Page

Saturday, December 6, 2014

THE SMART SQUIRREL

More than 50 incidents of mugging took place on highways in the last six months But Sub-Inspector of Bashpatti pan Mohammad Jamil Khan trol police Abdul Mannan denied this, In spite of an order from the inspector general of police to ramp up vigilance, people across the country continue to fall prey to muggers, who are coming up with new ways to commit crimes.

During the quarterly meeting of the police department at police headquarters on last Sunday, Inspector General of Police Hassan Mahmood Khandker directed to heighten patrol to check robbery and mugging, including street crimes.

Nearly 400 mugging victims were treated at DMCH from January to November this year But a week is yet to go by since the order was given and muggers yesterday attacked an ambulance carrying a dead body in Bashpatti of Tongi. They took away all the valuables of the relatives of the deceased.

Rajib, who was in the ambulance, said his brother Shahjahan Talukdar died at a hospital in the capital on Thursday night and the ambulance was hired to transport the body to Gazipur.

“We set off at night and a group of muggers intercepted the ambulance in Bashpatti around 3am. They took away Tk10,000 in cash, gold ornaments, my brother’s death certificate and three mobile phones,” he said.

He claimed the crime was committed in the presence of police but they did not take any action.

The family members also claimed that police had connection with the criminals as law enforcers returned the death certificate immediately after they had reached home.

saying police tried to capture the culprits immediately but they managed to flee.

“While escaping, the muggers threw the death certificate out on the street.

We picked it and returned it to the victim’s family,” he added.

Police sources said over 50 incidents of mugging took place on highways in the last six months. A special team was formed to stop such crimes but the move was unfruitful.

Like Shahjahan’s family, many alleged links between police and muggers but Deputy Inspector General Asaduzzaman Mia, chief of highway police, termed the allegations baseless.

“We are trying our best to stop such crimes,” he said.

The register book of Dhaka Medical College Hospital shows that nearly 400 mugging victims were treated at the hospital from January to November this year.

Sources said at least 300 people in 30 groups are involved in robbery and mugging, with most of the highway robberies committed after 11pm and mugging before 8am.

Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said police vigilance was beefed up in crime-prone parts of the capital but some incidents were still taking place.

“We are working to prevent such crimes and also to arrest the criminals,” he added.

Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, state minister for home, said mugging and robbery were not commonplace in the country.

He said those were isolated incidents and police had been asked to crack down on criminals involved in such crimes. l

A squirrel enjoys the ‘fruit’ of the date sap collectors’ toil, who prepared this date tree to collect the sweet syrup that drips out during winter-a long, painstaking process. Winter is the peak time to collect date syrup. The photo was taken from Arani area of Charghat upazila in Rajshahi AZAHAR UDDIN

Surgery with suspected infected tools blinds 15 in India n Reuters Fifteen Indians lost their sight after a doctor used suspected infected equipment to remove cataracts at a free eye surgery camp, the latest incident to highlight the dangers of shoddy medical treatment in the country.

A criminal investigation has been launched against the non-governmental organisation and the doctors who carried out the operations, mainly on elderly women, without consulting health authorities.

The government is trying to check the condition of 45 other patients operated on at the camp in Punjab state in northern India, according to Rajiv Bhalla, a senior government surgeon in the city of Amritsar, where the patients are being treated.

“The cause was probably using un-

sterilised instruments – that can be the only reason for the infection in the eye,” said Bhalla. “There are no chances of them having their vision restored.”

Calls to the organisation that organised the camp and the hospital where it took place went unanswered.

The botched operations draw attention to the poor state of healthcare in India, which has one of the lowest rates of public spending on medical care anywhere, according to the World Health Organization.

Last month, at least 13 women died after treatment at an unhygienic mass sterilisation camp in central India. An independent investigation found that the doctor used the same needle on each patient and staff never changed their gloves.

The mishandled surgeries at the eye

camp were discovered when the 15 patients came to a government office on Wednesday asking for medicine and financial help. The operations took place in a village outside Amritsar in early November.

“They were very upset and helpless,” said Ravi Bhagat, the deputy commissioner of Amritsar. “It took them a while to come to see us because they never knew it was going to be such a serious issue.”

India has the world’s largest number of blind people and cataracts are one of the leading causes of people losing their sight, according to Sightsavers, a British charity.

In order to combat the problem, mass cataract camps are organised.”It is just a minor surgery, the results are normally very good,” said Bhalla. “This should never have happened.” l

James Watson’s DNA Nobel Prize sells for $4.8m n BBC The Nobel Prize gold medal awarded to the US scientist James Watson for discovering the structure of DNA has sold at auction for $4.8m (£3m).

The 1962 prize was awarded to Watson, Maurice Wilkins and Francis Crick, with each receiving a gold medal.

The medal is the first Nobel Prize to be put on sale by a living recipient.

Watson recently said he was selling it because he had been ostracised by the scientific community after remarks he made about race in a 2007 interview.

Discovery of the DNA’s structure was made by Watson and Crick, using data gathered by Maurice Wilkins, Raymond Gosling and Rosalind Franklin.

Christie’s auction house had said the gold medal could fetch between $2.5m and $3.5m. l

Woman who came back to life dies

National Mobile Hackathon starts today

n Tribune Report

Around 1,745 young mobile application developers will get together to find solutions for 10 social and national problems in the National Mobile Hackathon 2014 starting today.

The Hackathon, to be held at the Institute of Diploma Engineers in the capital’s Kakrail area, will start at 9:30am today and run for 30 hours straight, ending tomorrow at 3:30pm.

Organised by the Information and Communication Technology Division, the coding fiesta, the biggest of its kind in Bangladesh, will address 10 specific local problems. State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak will inaugurate the event.

The Hackathon has been organised under the ICT Division’s National Mobile Application Development Awareness and Capacity Building Programme.

Besides the ICT Division, MCC Ltd, a2i BASIS, Symphony, Grameenphone, Robi, Sol Quest, Google Developer Group, Better Stories Ltd, BD Ventures Ltd, HiFi Public, Social Geeky Advantage are also partners at the event.

The 10 problems that the participants will tackle are question paper leakage, corruption, sexual harassment, traffic jam, security on the highways, sanitation, water transport

The woman who showed signs of life after she had been declared dead died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday.

DMCH authorities pronounced her dead around 4:30pm yesterday following some pathological tests, said DMCH Deputy Director Mushfiqur Rahman.

The identity of the 45-year-old woman, who had suddenly started moving her toes three hours after she had been “mistakenly” declared dead on Thursday afternoon, was still unknown.

Earlier in the morning, a four-member probe committee was formed to investigate how the “mistake” of declaring the woman dead took place. The committee headed by Dr Enamul Karim of the Medicine Department was asked to submit the probe report within three working days.

“Action will be taken against the doctor responsible on the basis of the probe report,” DMCH Director Brigadier General Mustafizur Rahman said yesterday.

Suffering from malnutrition and old age complications, the woman had been picked up from the street in a critical condition and brought to the hospital on December 2.

On Thursday afternoon, Dr Nilufa Nila, an honorary physician at the DMCH, declared her dead. A death certificate was also issued and a ward boy named Belal went to the morgue with the certificate.

When the morgue attendants came to pick up the body, the “deceased” woman started moving her feet.

According to the victim’s registration file, Brig Gen Mustafizur Rahman himself had referred her for admission.

The director told the Dhaka Tribune that he had noticed the woman lying on a footpath adjacent to the hospital gate when the hospital authorities were conducting a drive against illegal vendors and establishments. He asked his staff to get her admitted and take proper care of her. l

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

Seven organisations and residents of Chawkbazar, under the banner of ‘Islambag Onirban Samaj Kalyan Sangstha,’ staging demonstrations in front of the Chawkbazar police station in Old Dhaka yesterday demanding trial into the rape and killing of 10-year-old mentally challenged girl Monowara Akter Moni RAJIB DHAR

Residents demand punishment to rapist-killer of mentally challenged girl n Abu Hayat Mahmud Several hundred residents of the capital’s Chawkbazar area took to the street yesterday to demand punishment of the perpetrator who allegedly killed a mentally challenged minor girl after raping her.

In response to a call from various social and human rights organisations, people brought out a rally and gathered in front of the Chawkbazar police station to lay siege.

‘Bangladesh Projonmo Bachao Andolon’ and 13 other organisations brought out the rally at around 10:30am. Although their initial program was to cordon off the police station but some high officials and senior

people of the area stopped them from doing so and invited for a dialogue.

Tareq Hossain Mithul, convener of social organisation ‘Jono Uddog’, who led the human chain in front of the police station, said they did not mean any violence but wanted exemplary punishment of the culprit.

Earlier on November 23, a 10-yearold mentally challenged girl was allegedly killed after being raped in the capital’s Chawkbazar area. A case was filed with the police station after the incident accusing Delwar Hossain, 25, a worker of a local plastic factory.

After the incident, police detained Delwar but did not take any punitive steps. As such, the social organisations arranged the protest programme after

getting permission from the victim’s parents – Chan Mia and Renu Begum.

When contacted, Azizul Haque, OC of Chawkbazar police station said: “We have already arrested Delwar and sent his sperm and DNA for forensic test to verify his involvement in the matter.

It is not true that we are neglecting the case. We have already shown Delwar arrested in the case and remanded him for three days.”

Mithul and seven other members of the organisations held a meeting with the police officials, who assured of all out support. During the time of meeting, OC Azizul Haque showed a photo of Delwar to the girl’s family, who confirmed that Delwar indeed was the perpetrator. l

safety, cyclone centre management, reproductive health and personal health.

They will try to build the solutions using IT, particularly mobile technology.

The participants – who include programmers, freelancers, students and mobile application developers – will be divided into 340 teams, the organisers said. Each team will include five members, comprising both coders and designers. Around 49 professional companies will also take part in the competition.

30 veteran IT specialists and programmers will evaluate the projects. The winning team will be awarded with Tk20 lakh of innovation fund to materialise their project. BD Ventures Ltd will also provide them with financial support.

Besides, the winners will receive several prizes from Microsoft Mobile, Symphony, Robi and Grameenphone.

Better Stories Ltd will help them market their product for a year.

The Hackathon will start with a workshop on Vision 2021, which will be conducted by State Minister Palak. This will be followed by a session on design sprint and paper prototype, and then the primary coding. Different technical sessions will be held as well.

The closing ceremony will take place at 4pm tomorrow, where presentations from participants will be showcased and the winners will be announced. l

Robbery gang leader dies in gunfight with RAB n Our Correspondent, Pirojpur The leader of a robbery was killed in an alleged gunfight with the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Pirojopur’s Kaukhali upazila yesterday.

Killed 40-year-old Sabuj was son of Abdul Awal from Jogairhat village in Jhalakathi’s Rajapur upazila.

Captain Abul Bashar of RAB 8 Barisal said a team of them, led by DAD Ruhul, as usual went to patrol Kaukhali town around 7pm yesterday.

Just as they arrived near the town

college premises, Sabuj and his accomplices fired at them, triggering a gunfight. Sabuj died on the spot while his accomplices were able to run away, he said.

Bashar said they also recovered some arms and ammunition – one magazine, one foreign pistol, one bullet-loaded gun and two one-shooter guns, four cocktails and two machetes – from the scene.

He claimed that there were 18 cases, including murders, filed with police against him. l

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