Weekend Tribune Vol 3 Issue 16

vo l 3 I ssu e 16 | F R I D AY, A u g u st 7, 2015

Dhaka Tribune

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The final frontier

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The Bong Momma

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Comic Consent

Editor’s note Dear Readers, It’s easy to open up the papers and feel overwhelmed at all the horror stories in them. It’s easy to want to give up and stop believing in this country’s future. It’s not so easy to keep the faith in the current generation of youth, and their ability to turn things around. And yet there are those that strive to make a difference. This week, we focus on problems and policies, and future change-makers of the country.

Meet Navid, a young innovator who is building his own guitar-effect pedals from scratch. Head on over to check out the Model Saarc summit, and what its young participants hope to achieve. The newly appointed state minister for post and telecommunications talks about her plans for the immediate future.

We talk about the problems on the road particularly in this rainy weather, and BRTA’s commitment to giving us safer buses. The recent meeting between our prime minister and the German ambassador, and Germany’s pledge to support education in Bangladesh gives us hope, not only for bilateral relations, but also for the student populace.

Finally, with the recent spotlight on sexual abuse in the country, we decided to do our own version of the popular consent comics to highlight a problem with attitudes towards the abuses.

Wishing you a fruitful week Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

Questions? Comments? Send them to weekend@ dhakatribune.com

Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

CONTENTS

Volume 3 | Issue 16 | August 7, 2015

Editor Zafar Sobhan Features Editor Sabrina Fatma Ahmad Asst Magazine Editor Farina Noireet Weekend Tribune Team Moumita Ahmed Faisal Mahmud Sakib Mridha Shaida Prodhan Saqib Sarker

4 Geekout

The final frontier

News 2 News 3 Meanwhile

Cartoonists Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy Priyo

Colour Specialist Shekhar Mondal

Features

5 Feature Tone Tech

Model SAARC Summit

7 Interview The new State Minister

8 The Bong Momma Tales from a first-time mom Vehicle fitness in Dhaka

15 Focus

Production Masum Billah

Foreign investment

16 Focus

Circulation Masud Kabir Pavel

Email your letters to: weekend@dhakatribune.com

6 Event

12 Feature

Advertisement Zia Ur Rahman

Website dhakatribune.com/weekend facebook.com/WeekendTrib

Comic

Consent

Contributors Saudia Afrin Minu Ahmed Jennifer Ashraf Kashmi Naveed Choudhury

Graphics Md Mahbub Alam Tahsin Momin

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Waterlogged streets

17 Road rage Crash and burn

9 Photo Story

Indigenous people

Regulars 14 Legalese 18 Stay In 19 Go Out

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2 News | This week

The world at a glance Russia bids for vast Arctic territories at UN

Russia has submitted a revised bid for vast territories in the Arctic to the United Nations, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry said in a statement that Russia is claiming 1.2 million square kilometers (over 463,000 square miles) of Artic sea shelf extending more than 350 nautical miles (about 650 kilometers) from the shore.

Russia, the U.S., Canada, Denmark and Norway have all been trying to assert jurisdiction over parts of the Arctic, which is believed to hold up to a quarter of the planet’s undiscovered oil and gas. Rivalry for Arctic resources has intensified as shrinking polar ice is opening new

opportunities for exploration.

Russia was the first to submit its claim in 2002, but the U.N. sent it back for lack of evidence.

It submitted a partial revision regarding the Okhotsk Sea in 2013 and the commission issued a recommendation the following year, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.

The ministry said that the resubmitted bid contains new arguments. “Ample scientific data collected in years of Arctic research are used to back the Russian claim,” it said.

Greenpeace responded by warning of the environmental risks.

Photo: AFP

Pakistan defies rights protests to hang ‘teen’ convict

Pakistan on Tuesday executed a man convicted of killing a child, brushing aside a storm of protests from rights groups that his confession had been extracted by torture and he was a minor at the time of the crime.

Shafqat Hussain was hanged shortly before dawn at a jail in Karachi for killing a seven-year-old boy in the city in 2004, his brother and a prison official told AFP. The case raised grave international concern, drawing protests from the United Nations, as his lawyers and family said he was only 15 at the time of the killing and was tortured into making a

false confession.

In Muzaffarabad, the main town of the Pakistani administered part of Kashmir, his family was distraught.

“Why did they hang my innocent brother, only because we were poor?” said his sister Sumaira Bibi, beating her chest and weeping.

His mother Makhni Begum, looked glassy-eyed, stunned by the news of the execution after seeing her son reprieved from the gallows four times since January.

“My son was innocent, only Allah will prove his innocence in his court,” she told AFP. “We can’t do anything but they (executioners) will face Allah on the day of judgement.”

- ‘I never touched the boy’ United Nations rights experts said Hussain’s trial “fell short of international standards” and urged Pakistan not to hang him without investigating the torture claims, as well as his age.

Photo: AFP

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Weekend Tribune Desk New Taliban leader facing tension as top official quits A top Taliban official announced his resignation on Tuesday amid a growing leadership struggle in the Afghan insurgent movement after news of the death of leader Mullah Mohammad Omar last week.

The swift announcement that Omar’s longtime deputy, Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour, would be the new leader has riled many senior figures angry about the implication that Mansour covered up Omar’s death for more than two years.

The infighting could split the Taliban and threatens tentative peace talks with the Kabul government to end 13 years of war

that began with a U.S.-led campaign after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Since Mansour’s appointment was announced by the Taliban leadership council based in Quetta, Pakistan, it has been denounced by several top members of the group, including Omar’s brother, who has called for an assembly to choose the leader.

On Tuesday, Taliban official Syed Mohammad Tayab Agha announced he was stepping down as director of the Political Office in the Qatari capital Doha, originally set up to enable the Taliban to negotiate in any peace process.

Photo: Reuters

Govt urged to withdraw VAT on private education Leaders of private universities’ association yesterday called upon the government to review the decision of imposing 7.5% VAT on private education, saying it will hamper the expansion of private tertiary education.

The government, on one hand, has been working on the expansion of education to ensure wider access, but on the other hand, was imposing VAT on private universities, they said adding that it was not expected.

“Ultimately the VAT has to be paid by the students which will be a burden for their parents,” said Sheikh Kabir Hossain, president of Association of Private Universities of Bangladesh.

He also said the imposition of the VAT will impede higher education of the country.

Kabir made the observation to Dhaka Tribune after a meeting with the association’s executive committee members. Around 35 chairman of board of trustees of different private universities attended

the meeting.

The association leaders will meet with the Finance Minister AMA Muhith and Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid within a day or two, seeking withdrawal of the VAT, said Kabir.

The government in fiscal year 2015-16 imposed 7.5% VAT on private universities, medical and engineering colleges, that came into effect from June 4.

The National Board of Revenue has already asked these institutions to immediately register as a VATpaying entity and submit their monthly VAT returns to the relevant circle offices in their areas by August 15.

This is the first time the government imposed a 7.5% VAT on the fees of private universities, medical and engineering colleges. In 2010, the government made a move to impose indirect tax on private tertiary education, but had to pull out in the face of student protests.

Source: Dhaka Tribune

Meanwhile

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Photo of the week

A fish-seller in Mohammadpur Bazar sprinkles water over his wares to keep them fresh.

Photo: Martin Hannan

You’re welcome

Say what?

Three things you need to now about September 2015

Similar UFOs appear over Japanese, US cities

There has been a lot of chatter regarding September 2015. Especially the time around September 9 and September 23, 2015. Many believe this will be a cataclysmic time. Some are predicting a meteor/comet strike, the arrival of Planet X/Nibiru, and more.

Here are three things you might need to know about September 2015 1. A meteor or comet will hit the Atlantic Ocean causing a tsunami.

Many are predicting that September 23, 2015 will be the date that a meteor or comet will hit the earth causing a tsunami, with the most likely location being the Atlantic Ocean near the North East coast of South America. There have been a lot of rumours going around about Comet 67P—that it is not a comet, can change trajectory, and has buildings on it – i.e. that it is of alien/ UFO origins.

Some historical facts about the comet: it was discovered on a photo taken on September 11, 1969. Its official discovery date is listed as

September 20, 1969. September 11, was the day of a solar eclipse and Elul 28/29 on the Jewish calendar, and on the same day, the USSR performed a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh.

2. Tomorrow world festival This is a satanic music concert festival/ritual that will be held in Atlanta this year beginning on September 25, 2015. The festival has many New World Order/ antichrist associations. One of their promo films shows a Batman logo, the symbol on the Hoover, has references to CERN (the European organisation for nuclear research) and focuses on a satanic rebirth.

3. CERN Many are saying CERN will be fully operational and will open a portal to the underworld in September 2015.

CERN was scheduled to restart on March 23, 2015 – 6 months before September 23, 2015. Some are saying that CERN was responsible for the Nepal earthquake.

Two separate cases of unusuallooking lights, over cities on different continents, were captured on video, prompting speculation that the objects were everything from alien life forms to popular Chinese lanterns.

The composite image above shows the aerial anomalies over Osaka, Japan, (left) and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, (right) within days of each other.

The first event was videotaped and posted to Facebook by a Wisconsin police officer near Milwaukee on July 25. Officer Gustavo Rojas said, he and his partner saw the lights slowly maneuvering around the sky, forming strange patterns before

they eventually vanished.

Days after the Wisconsin UFO video was posted, a second one arrived.

RT, the Russian television channel, published a story on July 29 about a lowquality video, showing 10 white, circular objects above Osaka.

It’s unclear when the video, shown below, was taken. RT says the footage shows “mysterious round objects moving quickly in the sky, while following a dancelike pattern.”

Of course, as is the case with so many UFO sightings, some believed Osaka and Milwaukee had been visited by passing extraterrestrials. At the beginning of the week, Milwaukee’s NBC News affiliate, WTMJ, wasn’t sure what the objects were that had been seen slowly gliding and falling from the sky on July 25.

Source: The Huffington Post

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4 geekout | the final frontier

Photo: Bigstock

To infinity and beyond Why the Pluto flyby is exciting news Naveed Choudhury

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luto. For most of us, it’s the planet that couldn’t make it. For the rest, it’s Mickey Mouse’s dog.

First discovered in 1930, Pluto remains one of our celestial neighbours which still has an identity crisis.

To put it to rest: No it isn’t exactly a planet, depending on your definition of a planet. It’s a tiny ‘dwarf planet’ made up mostly of ice and rock, orbiting the Sun as a part of the Kuiper belt(a belt of rocks all similar to Pluto). NASA’S New Horizon spacecraft recently took photos of this body, and these will take their place in history as some of the most distant photos ever taken directly. The probe has been travelling for a decade, and the journey it seems has come to

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fruition with the close approach to Pluto.

This is one of the reasons you need to be excited about the Pluto flyby: All those photos of galaxies and whatnot? They’re artist renditions. Artists and Scientists have a fairly good idea of what galaxies look like, and they draw them. Real telescope images are, by and large, quite boring to look at.

New Horizon moved around 12500 kilometres near the surface of Pluto and took some stunning images. We can see mountains and glaciers, and a first glimpse at Pluto’s ‘Big Heart’, a mountainous feature and forms a curious heart shape, surrounded by dark spots “Cthulh” and “Balrog”. We have deduced finally that Pluto is around 2370 Kilometers in

diameter, and its atmosphere has a large concentration of Nitrogen, which the spacecraft detected samples of during its approach.

We still don’t have all the images either! The high-res images are downloaded at a glacial 2kilobits / second, so roughly similar to Dhaka’s average mobile internet.

NASA’s mission control has been receiving the trickle of data since the July 14th Flyby, and will continue to do so and update us with more information.

Fun Fact: The mission is carrying ashes of the discoverer of Pluto, Clyde Tombaugh, who requested that his remains be sent to space upon his death. New Horizon will exit the solar system through the Kuiper belt, sending us as many photos as possible,

and then drift on aimlessly till the system reaches critical failure. This year, starting from the first asteroid landing to the pictures of Pluto, has been an exciting one for space enthusiasts, and the year’s not over yet.

So who cares? A probe out in the middle of nowhere in space taking pictures of a place you can’t get tickets to? Well, here’s why you should care: All of mankind is united in this one venture we call survival, and to ensure the survival of the human race we must look to the stars and beyond. We have to realise that this may be our home, but space travel is our calling. The more excited people are about space travel, the better the next generation will be to boldly go where we have not gone before. n

tone tech | Feature

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Navid:

the mad scientist of tone The story of a young innovator Saqib Sarker

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t was four in the morning. A young man of 27 years was bent over complicated looking electronics. He slowly latched the last switch onto the circuit board. Navid slowly got up, grabbed the cable, plugged it into the little device, plugged the device into the other end and turned on the switch.

It worked.

This was the experience of Navid Imtiaz Chowdhury who makes guitar effect pedals, the first of its kind in Bangladesh. “It was like conquering the highest mountain,” he said when asked about his feelings after successfully testing the first prototype of his pedal.

An electric guitar picks up the vibration of the strings and then sends the signal to a speaker unit.

The speaker unit typically has amplifying circuitry installed in it to translate the signal back into sound and then produce the sound through the speaker(s). This is why they are called amplifiers. A guitar effect pedal sits in between the electric guitar and the speaker unit

and modifies the signal. For instance, an echo pedal will modify the guitar signal so that the output through the speaker will add an echoing effect with the original guitar sound.

“I couldn’t afford to buy all the pedals I wanted. So, I decided to make them,” when asked about his motivation for starting to make these pedals. He also did not have any engineering background. “I learned everything by communicating with people on the internet forums and reading any materials that I could lay my eyes on” he said.

But he did have a real life mentor.

His partner in the pedal making venture Azizur Rahman did not only provide partial financial backing but

also taught Navid a lot about the technical aspects. Moreover, Badhon and Rashed, two of his friends helped him with his product photos and videos.

It hasn’t been long since Navid undertook his first project. He started to seriously pursue the idea in 2014, and the first prototype was ready by the early 2015. Navid frequently visited all the likely places for necessary electronic parts.

“I found most of the stuff from the Stadium market”, he said. The casing for the pedal were made by local makers in Old Dhaka. When asked if he could find everything he needed in the country. He said, “Well, initially I used to make shift

parts. But now I have a supplier who imports these things from China.

He also brings me the ICs, and transistors from Japan.”

Navid has so far made four different types of effects pedals: an overdrive pedal (that distorts the original signal and creates the crunchy rock guitar sound), a compressor pedal (that controls the dynamics of the sound), delay pedal (that adds the delay effect to the guitar sound), and a bass distortion pedal (that distorts the sound of a bass guitar). He is also planning to make “amp in a box” type pedals which will emulate the sounds of famous and historic guitar amplifiers.

“I received huge response on Facebook. I have already sold four pedals and the buyers are very pleased with the quality,” Navid said with apparent satisfaction, when asked how the response was from the guitar player community.

He also added by saying that if there are more demands he will be able to reduce the price by 15-25%.

Currently, the pedals are priced five thousand taka, which is already less than all big name foreign brands.

Navid is not afraid to dream big. He is confident that with the appropriate marketing and financing, he can expand his business internationally. “I want to pave the way for the future generation and create a precedence for them,” he said confidently. Navid named his brand “Daddy’s Pedal”. n

Photos: Courtesy

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6 Event | Model SAARC Summit

regional cooperation Young diplomats play in Model SAARC Summit Rakibul Hasan

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etting foreword a milestone achievement, Bangladesh successfully arranged the first ever Model SAARC Summit 2015 bringing together a delegation of 28 young diplomats and development workers from eight South Asian countries in Dhaka at the end of July.

Simulating United Nations and SAARC formulas, the summit rendered unique spontaneity to deal with shared challenges for mutual benefits in a period of three consecutive days, from July 25 to 27 at the Edward M Kennedy Center and Brac Inn Center in the city.

South Asian Youth Society (SAYS) in collaboration with the US Embassy Dhaka and in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh, whipped the conference into shape of budding diplomacy in the region.

The summit started with opening ceremony and culminated forth through committee sessions, workshops and guests’ sessions on first two days and later on it ended up with closing ceremony on the final day.

The entire conference branched into three committee sessions, encompassing disaster management and rehabilitation committee, socioeconomic development committee and finally education, science and cultural committee.

The young diplomats represented other SAARC countries, instead of the countries they belong to, which technically enabled them to step into the shoes of their counterparts.

This practice also aided in their experiencing a common feeling of responsibility and understanding for their neighboring countries under SAARC.

The committee on disaster management and rehabilitation was in charge of reassessing the role of SAARC in regional disaster mitigation. In this respect, the committee emphasised upon ushering in collective fund to lower post-disaster casualties. They suggested that this fund be spent on tackling natural calamities, which nations in the region suffer often.

To that end, regional exchanges of experiences, for example in fields of volunteer-swapping to newly affected areas, can be replicated in any urgency of probable natural fatalities of other SAARC countries.

On the other hand, the committee on education, science and culture puts particular emphasis on the threatening phenomena of cultural extinction in the region. The tropical nation in the Indian Ocean, Maldives, has to face towering costs coming

out of climatic degradation. Recently, nation is also struggling to maintain its cultural identities amidst the probability of oceanic submerging.

Highlighting the case of Maldives as an example, the committee urged the region and the world as well to immediately find out possible options available to cope up with the deteriorating status of losing cultural identities there.

The socio-economic committee stressed the concept of Blue Economy, if not entirely, but mostly. Delegates in the committee debated and had dialogues together in a chorus that the concept and principles of, and mutually supportive with the Green Economy, is a tool that offers specific mechanisms for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and coastal countries to address their sustainable development challenges.

Even the concept can be brought to bear in landlocked countries like Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal and countries accessing coasts and seaports like Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka, which can equally embrace blessings out of Blue Economy.

SAYS Founder President, Towfique A Khan mentioned, “The Model SAARC Summit 2015 hands out ample interaction among policy makers and strategists of tomorrow in a bid to advance the dream of more connected and integrated South Asia.”

“The conference addresses a couple of unanswered questions in a constructive way towards creative application of those experiences in the region,” says Model SAARC Secretary General Zunayeed N Alam Tawfique. n

Photo: Courtesy

Rakibul Hasan is Head of Media Affairs, South Asian Youth Society (SAYS). He can be reached at pr@says.org.bd

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The new State Minister | Interview

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Tarana Halim’s 90 day crash programme In conversation with the new State Minister about coping with the new responsibilities and making changes for the better Hitlar A Halim

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fter taking over the responsibility as state-minister for the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, Tarana Halim made a list of work-plans in order to achieve speedy improvements in certain areas. The pace has been slowing down because the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and the IT Ministry has been without a cabinet minister for a long time.

Tarana Halim took this initiative to speed up the whole system.

The State minister’s table has been piling up with books, notes and foreign magazines relating to the technical aspects of her new area of working. “Trying to learn the technical aspects and jargon. Some terms are entirely new to me. Hoping to learn as fast as I can,” she said, with a smile. She emphasised how it is really important for them to set the priorities and how to achieve them.

“There will be ‘zero tolerance’ on corruption,” said Tarana Halim.

She thinks that the rate of project completion speeds up by 30% if there is no corruption, and so far, she has been successful in her initial effort.

“If there is no room for corruption the people at that work place are bound to stop considering that as an option. And that forces them to work. This consequently speeds up the whole work process,” she added.

Halim talked about her ‘90 day

plan’ with us on Wednesday, at her office at the Secretariat. She informed us that some plans have been made prioritising certain work and full effort will be made to realise these plans. “You can’t have pace without clear targets,” she told us.

Among the prioritised tasks, the project for launching Bangabandhu – 1 satellite is on top. “We want to launch the satellite by December 2017.

The Minister also plans to recover the outstanding money the government owes to the international gateways (IGW). There is a lot of unremitted money in the telecommunication sector.

The state minister also talked about digitising the postal service.

She is specially focused on modernising the postal service and starting e-services and expressed her desire to make 3G service available from the state owned mobile network service TeleTalk. She thinks this must be done otherwise TeleTalk will not get a strong footing in the market. She also stressed on

Photo: BSS/Saiful Islam Kallol

If there is no room for corruption the people at that work place are bound to stop considering that as an option making broadband internet service available throughout the country.

“We must take broadband service to the upazilas and unions through fibre optic cable. Otherwise creating a digital Bangladesh will be delayed,” she said.

She told us that the Telecommunications Act 2001 will be updated because the old laws are outdated. A lot of amendments need to be made because the technology is always changing.

She has also made plans to speed up the telecommunication regulatory body BTRC and Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited.

Halim also talked about building a specialised website. “People seeking

services will share their demands and wishes through this site. We will act according to these demands.

This will ensure accountability of the ministry. This will also provide an opportunity for the ministry to interact with the public,” she added.

She also assured that she will pay particular care to meeting the deadline for installing the second submarine cable of the country.

Her position on voice over internet protocol (VOIP) will be very strict. Also, given advice to all not to allow any more VOIP. She warned against setting up illegal VOIP and said that strict measure will taken against anyone trying to get pass the law. n

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8 The Bong Momma | Tales from a first-time mom

To toss one’s cookies

Thank God for lemon-lime drink, ginger tea and neem toothpaste!

Minu Ahmed

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hile writing this, I was thinking about the nicest way to write about “emesis”, a.k.a vomit, a.k.a the inevitable bomi. I poured over the online thesaurus, only to find there were several ways to describe this act.

Among my favourites are – spew, upchuck, and lastly, to toss one’s cookies. And now you know why this piece is titled so – I wasn’t really discarding chocolate chip remnants into the trashcan. No sirree!

I’d always heard about morning sickness, and well, in my case, they hardly came in the morning. It was mostly at night, and half of the time after dinner. I had ‘lost’ so many dinners; I eventually ended up losing weight. As cool as that sounds, I hated it. I, for one, live to eat, so to miss out on a scrumptious meal was just the worst thing. No actually, the worst thing was having to throw up after eating something absolutely delicious. I remember consoling myself, thinking that it might taste as good coming up, as it was going down! Hah! In the movies they show that the pregnant woman gets all these crazy urges, and wants to eat Ben & Jerry’s chocolate ice cream in the middle

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of the night, and the husband runs around crazily trying to fulfill his wife’s desire. In real life, that’s far from the truth. While The Husband was busily gorging on extra helpings of biriyani, I was busy suppressing reverse peristalsis. There was this one time when I had to throw up and there wasn’t enough time to go to the bathroom. So there I was, kneeling on the floor, and throwing up into the bin in our room. The Husband stared at me half shocked and half bemused, and I could see in his face that he wanted to help, but was too disgusted to. Don’t worry dear husband, one day you’ll be old and wrinkly and might soil yourself, and I won’t forget to look at you the same way.

After three months of heaving, I noticed the first physical changes.

The womb had swelled a little and the uterus walls became firm enough to feel from the outside. I never thought I’d have to use ‘womb’ and ‘uterus’ in the same sentence, but hey we all grow up at some point right?

I remember when my friends and I had first encountered the sixth grade biology book and would snigger at the chapter on reproduction. Boy, what an eye-

opener that was! Or in the eighth grade when our biology teacher mentioned that labour pains were as painful as breaking bones.

Thank you Miss, for doing a better job than any contraceptive ever could.

Coming back to my womb, now that it was growing, I couldn’t sleep on my stomach anymore. I found this to be in great distaste, as I was an avid stomach-side Photo: Bigstock sleeper. I switched to sleeping on the side, with the aid of a body pillow or kolbalish as it is better known. Or the infamous gautakiya, according to my Urduspeaking mother.

Once I let slip the word gautakiya in front of my in laws. Not familiar with such a strange word, when I told them what it meant, it left them in stitches. Needless to say, it has become a long-standing joke in the family, where they love to quiz our extended family members on what a gautakiya is.

Going back to my ‘pillow talk’, I used to search online for pregnancy pillows and I didn’t find anything right then, so I bought myself a kolbalish. We couldn’t find adequate parking and had parked on the other side of the road in front of the shop.

The Husband went in to choose something for me, while I waited in the car. He couldn’t decide on which one I’d like, so he gathered three kolbalishes under his arms and ran across the road to the car to show me. I couldn’t stop laughing at the sight. I chose a medium sized blue

one and it became my best friend for the next seven months. As soon as I had Jellybean, my blue kolbalish was stolen from me, and has now become The Husband’s best friend.

My other best friend was a tiny red bucket that I kept under the bed.

I had learnt my lesson after the bin incident, and so my little bucket would come to my rescue from time to time. The doctor did prescribe anti-emetic tablets, but they could only help for so long. I searched for more natural ways to stop nausea, and discovered that lemon-lime drinks and ginger tea worked like a charm.

For someone who loves eating shutki and didn’t mind the smell of it being cooked, I became extra sensitive to smells during my pregnancy. The one thing I absolutely hated was the smell of oily, masalafilled curry cooking in the kitchen.

The minute I heard the spices hitting the oil, I would run away to the farthest room in the house. In spite of my escape attempts, the pungent odour would hit my face and my face would scrunch up in disgust. Then I would feel a rumble before wrath would reach my throat from the depths of my belly and would erupt in the form of whatever I’d eaten till that point. The curry smell would cling onto everything, my clothes, my bed, and loiter around my nostrils with a vengeance.

I didn’t have as many cravings as I expected to, but I did grow an affinity for this Neem toothpaste my in-laws used. Many a times my mom-in-law would walk into her bathroom to find me squeezing toothpaste onto my brush. One embarrassed giggle later, I would be in my bathroom, happily getting high on Neem toothpaste.

Dear God, thanks for giving me such chilled out in-laws, and an even bigger thank you, for giving them a sense of humour. Amen! n

Minu Ahmed is your not-so-average homemaker, norm-shirker and abomination of awesomeness, juggling a career in communication, motherhood and a fatter half. Questions? Send to thebongmomma@gmail.com

indigenous people | Photo story

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we are family

Photos: Syed Zakir Hossain Bangladesh’s indigenous communities comprise about 2% of the country’s population, and are spread out all across the nation – from the Garo, Barman and Santal people of the North Bengal region, the Rajbangshii and Noonia in the Sylhet-Mymensigh region, to the

Bawm, Chakma and Marma communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

In light of the International day of the world’s indigenous people on August 9, this week’s photo story features images highlighting the daily lives of our own native communities.

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10 Photo story | indigenous people

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12 Feature

| Vehicle fitness in Dhaka

Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

fit to drive Plan for motor workshops to inspect vehicle fitness Faisal Mahmud

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uring the ICC World Cup 2011, which took place in the Subcontinent including Bangladesh, the transport regulator of the country took an initiative to give the country’s roads a facelift, particularly those in Dhaka, although it was not involved with the road itself, rather with the vehicles plying on it.

In a meeting with the communication ministry and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), the transport owners were asked to remove their old buses from Dhaka and Chittagong streets during the World Cup. They were also asked to spruce up their

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existing buses to give the city road a better look.

The BRTA in that meeting also raised the proposal to stop the entrance of the old and non-aesthetic buses from the outside of Dhaka.

These buses usually make trips inside the capital and ply in the local routes for some extra cash.

During the world cup, that plan was successfully implemented. The residents of Dhaka and Chittagong surprisingly found very few old buses on the roads of the capital.

Even the ones which were found, had major facelifts.

However, the old buses didn’t vanish into thin air. The laws for

monitoring the activities of these vehicles on the highways are very weak. Besides, there are numerous uncharted routes inside the districts which the law enforcement personnel are not aware of, and the old, dilapidated vehicles take advantage of this situation.

The result of this is fatal. Even now transport regulators are not aware of the number of unfit vehicles working the highways even though those vehicles are one of the major reasons behind the increasing number of accidents.

Too few personnel for monitoring Saiful Haque, BRTA Director of

Engineering, said their hands are tied in checking the fitness of the vehicles. He said that currently just 70 BRTA inspectors are tasked with examining the fitness of above 15 lakh vehicles across Bangladesh, admitting that the whole exercise is nothing but a fruitless formality.

“With only 282 officals and 70 inspectors in 62 circle offices across the country, we can’t properly do the job,” he said.

He also said that around 313,000 vehicles out of a total of 2,105,140 are operating across the country without fitness certificates; also some 93,600 out of about 800,000 vehicles working the roads in Dhaka, are not

13 fitness certified.

He even admitted that BRTA officials have been issuing fitness certificates to vehicles without properly following the inspection procedures set by the transport regulatory body. The main conditions for fitness are unchanged original designs, proper functioning of brakes and gears, proper functioning of lights, no emission of black smoke and proper paint.

“But in most cases, it’s not possible for the inspectors to check all these factors,” he stated. Many unfit buses, most of them without any route permits, are plying on the highways to ferry passengers across the country. “Large numbers of vehicles are on the road without route permits, and most of these are old and unfit,” he added.

He further said that the regional transport committee, headed by the respective deputy commissioner of each district, is in charge of issuing route permits to vehicles that ply on inter-district routes, while the divisional committee headed by him, is in charge of issuing permits for vehicles working on inter-district routes.

“For inter-district routes, bus-owners usually have goodconditioned buses and take route permits from the BRTA. But buses plying on these routes are poorly monitored because of lack of law enforcement. There are many unfit buses that operate on such routes,” he added.

A best laid plan Saiful Haque, said that to tackle the

situation, the government plans to outsource vehicle fitness checking through the authorised and BRTA licensed motor workshops.

As the transport regulator now has the provision to give license and registration to those, BRTA came up with the idea of getting the fitness check done through the motor workshops, he said.

It is to be noted that in March 2011, the BRTA has amended Rule 70 of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance, 1983, and included sub-section 70-A, where it is stated that the “licensing and registration of motor workshops should be given by the transport regulator, in accordance with the existing number of vehicles”.

Previously, trade licences for motor workshops were issued by the ministry of commerce and the registration was done under related municipal or metropolitan authorities.

Director Haq said that every motor workshop will not be given the mandate of checking the fitness of all sorts of vehicles. BRTA will issue the license and registration to the motor workshops as per their capacity and compatibility.

Moror workshops will be categorised in three sections- namely A, B and C. “A grade workshops will have to have the capacity to check the fitness of heavy vehicle including bus, truck, lorry and minibus. B grade workshops will need the capacity for SUVs and sedan cars, and grade C workshop will require the capacity for motor cycles and autorickshaws,” Haq said.

BRTA director informed that each

category motor workshops must have enough space to accommodate at least five vehicles of the type for which they are given the provision to check the fitness.

“The motor workshops will be categorised and given the mandate of checking fitness only after the transport regulator become certain about their capacity,” director Haq said adding that the capacities include sufficient machinery for checking the fitness of motor parts and enough space to conduct test run.

Currently, BRTA is preparing a list of all motor workshops across the country, Haq said. “Also the approved form for catagorising the workshops is in publication. We have already conducted several meetings with the workshop owners. As soon as the forms are printed, the BRTA offcial will start categorising the workshops and issue license and registration to those,” he stated.

A feasible process A separate official from the BRTA who prefered anonymity said that, now that the fitness and licensing record of the transport regulator has been digitalised, the whole process of outsourcing the fitness checking through the motor workshops could be monitored remotely.

Already in June 2013, BRTA had brought some changes to fitness inspection regulations, allowing long-distance buses, minibuses and trucks registered in Dhaka city to have their fitness inspection done outside Dhaka.

Truck and lorry owners benefit

Photo: Nashirul Islam

from this system, as those types of vehicles are not allowed to enter Dhaka city during daytime which made it difficult for them to go to BRTA offices during office hours and obtain fitness certificate, said the BRTA official.

Officials said that this was possible, as a database of the vehicles having their fitness inspections done outside Dhaka and photographs of each vehicle was sent to Dhaka BRTA office, which made the job easy for the BRTA inspector to issue the fitness certificates to the vehicle owners.

The same procedure will be maintained here. The motor workshops will check the fitness of vehicles and they would maintain a database of those which will later be sent digitally to the BRTA office.

BRTA inspector will re-check the facts and finally issue the fitness certificates, BRTA official said.

When asked whether the motor workshops will engage themselves in malpractice of clearing a vehicles through bribery without proper inspection, BRTA official said that the ultimate issuance of fitness certificates is in the hand of transport regulator. So if any workshops are found malpracticing, his license and registartion would be cancelled, officials added.

What the automobile workshops say?

M Belayet Hossain, president of Bangladesh Automobile Workshop Owners’ Association, welcomed this attempt of the transport regulator.

But he said that there are about 20,000 automobile workshops across the country, and out of those, only 800 are registered with their organisation.

“Some workshops are illegaly supporting the car-jackers and they sell the stolen vehicles and their parts. If BRTA starts a drive against these workshops, then this illegal operations would end. From our association , we would give full support to BRTA,” Hossain said.

About fitness checking, Hossain said that there are many workshops with the full capacity of checking the fitness of the vehicles. “In other countries, authorised workshops have long been successfully checking the fitness of the vehicles. BRTA has conducted several meetings with us and we, the motor workshops owner said that we are ready to do that,” he said. n

WE E K E N D TR I BU N E | FR I DAY, AU G U ST 7, 20 1 5

14 LEGALESE | Jennifer Ashraf Kashmi

Writ Petitions (Part 2) Got a problem?

Q

I am a high school student and have an avid interest in law (aiming to be a lawyer sometime in the near future!). Consequently, on most days, I find myself perusing the legal pages and legal articles in newspapers and magazines. Most of the issues are clearly explained and that makes it easy to follow.

However, I also keep reading about “Writs” and “Writ Petitions”. Whilst the verdicts and related news is fascinating, I would appreciate if you would kindly explain more about the subject of Writ Petitions. What exactly is a Writ?

Write to Jennifer at weekend@ dhakatribune.com

A

Dear Reader Following on from last week, this week we will concentrate on the process involved with initiating and conducting writ petitions. The law of Writs is a relatively straightforward path of law and is entirely conceptual, which means that once this is understood properly, it stays with you for life. Let us now look at the procedures involved with conducting Writ Petitions.

The initiation of any Writ Petition is done by virtue of a Petition drafting. This petition is then drafted and neatly typed on stout bluish/ cartridge paper of A-3/legal size with a margin of two inches, containing about 20(twenty) lines on each full page and the application shall be divided into paragraphs, and numbered consecutively and shall be typed only on one side of the paper.

Every such petition shall be filed together with two (unstamped) plain of A-3/legal size.

Every such petition shall set out concisely, in numbered Paragraph the facts upon which the Petitioner relies, the grounds upon which the petitioner relies, the grounds upon Jennifer Ashraf Kashmi is a barrister and solicitor of England and Wales. She is currently Senior Partner at Legacy Legal Corporate.

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, AUGUST 7, 201 5

Cartoon: Priyo/Dhaka Tribune

which the court is asked to issue the direction, his right in the matter in question, his demand of justice and the denial thereof and shall conclude with a prayer stating, as clearly as the circumstances permit, the exact nature of the relief or relieves sought for. Every such application /petition shall contain a statement at the end of the averments to the effect that the application/petition was not previously presented before any other bench.

Each petition shall be verified by an affidavit of the petitioner himself and/or the person injured or by person who is competent to represent the aggrieved person with the prior leave of the court on its being satisfied that the said aggrieved person is unable to swear such an affidavit personally. Such affidavit shall contain a deceleration to the effect that the statements made in the petition are true to the

best of the deponent’s knowledge and belief. Every affidavit should clearly express how much the statement is of the deponent’s knowledge and how much is a statement made on his information or belief and must also state the source of ground of the information of belief with sufficient particularity.

In case of a writ petition, every application/ petition for motion shall be filed with the concerned Section, which will examine the application /petition and, if satisfied that it is in order, record the same as a writ petition with a number and year and shall send to the affidavit commissioner for searing in affidavit by deponent. At the beginning of the working week, it is necessary to send the application/petition to the Bench before which a mention slip has been filed by the petitioner or the petitioner’s lawyer. In case of urgency, the concerned Bench may

accept a mention slip for the purpose of hearing an application/Petition as Motion on any other working day.

Once this is done, the court will fix a date for the motion hearing, hear the matter and issue a Rule Nisi which is an interim rule). Another date is then set, where the matter is finally heard and decided, followed by the court then issuing the final rule. If the court deems it fit, an order or a direction may be issued in place of the rule as well.

Please bear in mind that the law of Writs is a broad legal area and there are a lot of details, which would span hundreds of pages if explored properly. For now, I do hope this will suffice to satisfy your curiosity regarding this subject. If you wish to delve further into this subject, please don’t hesitate to let me know and I would be happy to recommend some decent reading material. Happy reading! n

Foreign investment | Focus

15

Road to the future How German investments in Bangladesh can help pave the path to future stability Shaida Prodhan

W

e’ve seen the likes of Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia reform significantly over the past decade.

While Bangladesh has failed to replicate itself at their neighbours’ pace, it is certainly making acceptable progress at present.

We are not the same country we were shortly after 1971.

Bangladesh has been praised by German Ambassador to Bangladesh, Thomas Heinrich Prinz, for its overall successes in development of infrastructure and energy retention.

Having met with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on July 22, Prinz proposed 200 million euros to be given to Bangladesh due to its extreme climate and to fund energy maintenance; he also mentioned that the funds would be provided to ensure good governance. Bangladesh had a high degree of potential in the biogas industry, he added.

The Ambassador mentioned that Bangladesh has made admirable strides in both economic and social fronts, and that Germany would like to assist in its development.

He added that himself and his country are long-time admirers of iconic Bangladesh founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and of his vision for the country.

A host of European countries with renowned universities, including Germany, have special programmes for non-native students, many of which include hefty scholarships and similar benefits.

The German Ambassador said that his country would increase the number of German scholarships offered to Bangladeshi students from the current figure of 1500 a year.

This is especially significant, given that several German institutions provide low-cost education for international students provided they can demonstrate the ability to speak German fluently.

If Bangladeshi graduates from German universities were to bring their experiences and knowledge from abroad to their motherland, this would surely propel the country in the right direction in terms of the applicant pool for jobs.

Many local students are incapable of going abroad due to the extensive financial burden of travelling and tuition costs. Due to this, many capable students miss out on quality education.

Hasina thanked Prinz whilst adding that Bangladesh was “an attractive place for investment” for German entrepreneurs. This is especially due to its largely untapped potential – a significant portion of which it has found in

Photo: PMO

the garments sector. Increasing the number of investments in specific areas could significantly improve exports and quality of goods and services of Bangladesh – this is especially important since the country is burdened with an increasing reliance over imports.

The Ambassador also mentioned that Berlin wished for providing Bangladesh with burn units and similar facilities, given recent political allegations that have resulted in some severe injuries.

Bangladesh and Germany will also establish a partnership in the shipbuilding industry, according to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Such ventures are imperative to our country’s development. If Bangladesh were to continue relations with Germany, the cooperation between the two nations would surely compel potential investors to step forward. Over time, Bangladesh

has had a few investors approach them. In terms of hotels, the renowned Westin and Radisson have taken up shop in Bangladesh with The Marriot undergoing construction and soon to follow. The former two hotels are among the most popular and successful in the country, attracting guests both foreign and local. The Marriot is likely to impress as well once it makes its debut.

Surely, the task set ahead of us will be difficult – we bear possibly the worst brunt of global warming and other natural disasters such as soil erosion and floods. Thus, we need to take countermeasures against for the safety of our residents. However, given these circumstances, we still have the capacity to deliver and exceed expectations. With the aid of foreign nationals, we can easily achieve that level and establish ourselves in a positive light and embark on the road to the future. n

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16 Focus | water logged streets

water, Water everywhere The water-logging crisis of Dhaka city Saqib Sarker

A

Photo: Nashirul Islam

crisis is a time of great

“The intervening ditches, swamps

damages to the shack type houses,

is related with this problem, as

difficulty or danger. Water

and marshes were filled in, not in any

water pollution, water born diseases,

contaminated ground water and

logging in Dhaka city

planned manner, but as exigencies

increase in mosquito population,

malaria are the major causes for this

creates great difficulties

arose and private initiatives

damages to trees and vegetation

mortality”, the paper also pointed

for city dwellers and consequently

dominated the process,” writes

among many others. Tawhid found

out.

causes danger to the health and lives

Khondokar Golam Tawhid in his

that normal traffic movement is

of the inhabitants. The problem

research paper written as his Master

hampered during rainfall over 25

The solution

has been a part of life in Dhaka

thesis at the Department of Land

mm, creating traffic jam in the city

The obvious primary response to

for decades, yet there is no visible

and Water Resource Engineering

area and people lose their valuable

this problem should be addressing

efforts to alleviate this situation.

at Royal Institute of Technology in

time. Where the storm water cannot

the main causes that creates water

We see news reports of flooded

Stockholm.

drain out, puddles will form.

logging; namely, the destruction

This is not just inconvenience for

of natural drainage system and

streets and roads during the rainy

Tawhid notes that the growth

season but no effective actions are

of Dhaka has been in a haphazard

pedestrians but also dangerous for

water bodies, the lack of waste

being taken. With the increase in

manner and the topography of the

road users.

management system, and urban

population in Dhaka, the problem is

area dictated the terms and direction

actually getting worse.

of the growth. “By 1981, the area of

Diseases

Dhaka SMA surpassed the Mughal

One of the most devastating effects

wetland for ecological balance and

Bangladesh. The flooding in Dhaka

Capital period by 12.4 sq. km at

of the ensuing pollution is of course

sustainability of habitats. But Dhaka

occurs mainly due to rainfall. The

155.4 sq. km (Census of Bangladesh,

the spread of water born diseases.

has less than 10 per cent wetland,

consequence of the flooding and

1981). Population also had tripled to

The poor people are forced to rely

which too is threatened,” according

water logging is hugely exacerbated

3,440,147. The 2001 census recorded

on surface or shallow groundwater

to the Chief of the Biodiversity

by the fact that Dhaka is one of the

9,912,908 inhabitants (Census of

sources that are polluted, as they

Unit of the World Conservation

most densely populated cities in

Bangladesh, 2001).”

don’t have access to portable water

Union (IUCN), Anisuzzaman

during the period of monsoon.

Khan, as quoted in the paper.

Malaria, the Dengue fever,

Tawhid recommends that the concerned authorities like RAJUK,

Flooding is a part of life in

the world. And a sizeable number of the population lives in slums and

The causes

planning. “A densely populated city like Dhaka requires 25 per cent

other unprotected dwellings. So, the

In the research paper Tawhid

respiratory problems, eye and skin

suffering is hundred folds more for

identified the main causes of the

disease are the worst impacts in

DCC, DWASA, BWDB should take

people whose houses get flooded

water logging problem as excessive

Dhaka City, Tawhid indentifies in his

immediate measures to protect

with dirty, disease-bearing water.

rainfall, disappearance of natural

paper.

the wetlands, low lands, natural

The heart of the problem After the independence in 1971, a huge migration of people from rural areas, started to move towards

canals, water bodies and river in

drainage system, waste management

To make things worse solid

system, lack of policy guidelines and

waste blocks the drainage system

and around the city area for its

implementation.

and creates flooding in the streets

survival. Tawhid also recommended

resulting in increases mosquitoes,

developing a community based

bad odor, and inconvenience because

waste management system and Comprehensive Drainage

Effects of water logging

Dhaka spreading northward. The

The apparent effects of water logging

we also do not have a nearly non

undeveloped and deserted areas

are deterioration of the already

functioning waste management

Development Plan among other

of the city started to get inhabited.

devastating traffic congestion,

system. “Most of the child mortality

necessary steps. n

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Crash and burn | Road rage

17

How much do we know about our rights?

Rights mean nothing when people are unaware of them Saudia Afrin

F

our years ago, on July 11, 2011, at least 40 people were killed in a road crash at Mayani in Mirsharai

Upazila. There were 38 students among the dead.

Many years have gone by but the situation of road safety remains the same. According to police reports, at least 3,000 people die in road accidents and 3,000 more people suffer grievous and lighter injuries annually. However, not many really care to know about what we can do to combat the situation and how we can enforce the law.

Even though it is not possible to compensate for the loss of family members or close ones, there are laws in place that provide for

Photo: Rajib Dhar

material compensations for the progress in a direction, there are

police investigates the matter and

The victim or victim’s family and the

many procedural delays involved

if sufficient evidence is found they

perpetrator reach a quasi legal and

contains provisions through

that make the entire procedure

submit a charge sheet which usually

potentially illegal agreement. Usually

which the victim or the family

lengthy. Our case is taking too long

contains the names of the accused

the money goes into the pocket of

of a deceased victim may claim

to resolve even though it happens to

and the offence under which they are

the middle person so the victim or

compensation. The law also provides

be a high-profile one,” said Catherine

charged. In the absence of evidence

the victim’s family don’t get the

for a special tribunal that may be

Masud.

the police submit a final report that

benefits. The compensation money

essentially exonerate any potential

in such situation is small in amount

victims of road accidents.

The Motor Vehicle Ordinance

constituted under this provision that

Most people don’t know about the

will hear the matter of such claims.

Motor Vehicles Act 1983, which holds

perpetrator. For motor accident a

and unable to bring any changes in

Unfortunately this law is hardly ever

vehicle driver, owner and insurance

driver may be charged under section

their massive losses of life,” says

used due to its unpopularity.

liable under civil law. This law was

279, 337, 338-ka, 304, and 427 of the

Illias Kanchan.

meant as an endeavour to make

penal code. The maximum penalty is

country was shocked when Tareque

an example and allow the victims

10 years imprisonment and/or with

the Road, Transport and Traffic Act,

Masud and Mishuk Munir died

and their families to legally attain

fine, as Mily Mannan, a Research

2011 that makes investigation legally

on spot with their crew members

compensation for their loses without

Associate at Dr. Kamal Hossain and

mandatory. Also drivers causing a

in a tragic road accident. Family

the lengthy process of a criminal

Associates explained.

death in a motor vehicle accident

members of both filed two cases on

procedure.

On August 13, 2011 the entire

There is a new proposed Act called

“There are no effective laws for

may be sentenced up to 3 to 7 years

the victim. Where maximum exists,

imprisonment under this law. They

under the Penal Code. This is usually

there is a minimum as well. Many

are also subject to fine between

done by the police as a police case

times, the accused is punishment

Tk15,000 and Tk150,000. However,

hard to decide what to do. Many

and later the trial takes place before

stays merely for a few hours. After

this Act has not been given effect

don’t know about their right to file

the Session Judge at the Session

the accident the owners are told to

because of the opposition of Owners

a compensation claim against the

court. Usually after the FIR (first

give compensation under mediation

and Worker Association. n

party at fault. Even though they

information report) is lodged the

by third party, mostly by the police.

February 12, 2012 to Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Manikganj.

“For the general people it is

The alternative is to file a case

WE E K E N D TR I BU N E | FR I DAY, AU G U ST 7, 20 1 5

18 stay in

Saqib Sarker

Farhad Khan was born in Kushtia, in 1945. He completed his B.A. (Hons) and M A in Bengali language and literature from Rajshahi University between 1968-1969 respectively.

He was the director of the language - literature, culture, and journal department of the Bangla Academy and retired in 2002. He has written books on language and linguistics and worked as an editor for three Bangla Academy publications.

This book, despite its name, is not a traditional dictionary at all. It is written as an accessible book that can be read by anyone interested in the etymology(the study of the development of words) and history of language.

It provides the readers with a list of Bengali words and phrases and how they evolved to their current uses and meanings.

These are words that all Bengali speakers use to varied degrees.

It is intriguing to be able to see the “story” behind these words and expressions.

So, for instance, the first word of the book is “aukalkushmando.”

The literal meaning of the word is an untimely/immature pumpkin but in its contemporary usage the word means a sloppy, careless, imprudent or indiscreet person. The origin of the word is in the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata.

In Mahabharata Gandhari, the wife of Dhritarashtra, became very

resentful because Kunti and Madri gave birth to children, whereas she had been pregnant for two years without giving birth to a child. She decided to abort the baby and a lump of tissue came out that looked like a pumpkin. Rumour spread that Gandhari untimely gave birth to a pumpkin. This ‘lump’ gave birth to a hundred sons who later caused the Kurukshetra battle. And this story gave birth to the word “aukalkushmando”.

The book is filled with interesting origin stories like this. For instance, “oli” in the word “oli-goli” (streets and alleys) came from the English word ‘alley’. The word ‘akkelgurum’ (dumbfounded) makes use of the sound a cannon makes: “gururm” (boom). Just like a cannon’s booming expulsion of a shell from its body, an event or an incident can expel the ‘intellect’ from someone’s head; thus ‘akkelgurum’.

There are a lot of other words including “jelapi”, “chatro”, “jogakhichuri”, “shutorang” and hundreds of other words. Farhad Khan is an excellent writer and the whole book reads like a fiction. His academic and scholastic background makes this very authoritative and reliable.

The book was first published in February 2000. The copy of the book being reviewed is the second edition.

It was published in January 2012 by Protik Publications at 38/2Ka, Bangla bazaar, Dhaka. n

Clues ACROSS 1 Work the soil and renew danger (6) 6 The measure of a King? (5) 7 MIlitary junior acted strangely (5) 8 Stayed different and solid (6) DOWN 2 Shorten a card game (7) 3 Diet lad arranged and became wider (7) 4 Slim projectile follows last of beaten (6) 5 Endless debate on athletics equipment (6)

Solved it? Email answers to weekend@dhakatribune. com and win one free month of the Dhaka Tribune.

Last week’s solutions

Dictionary of Bengali Word Origins (Bangla Shobder Utsho Obhidhan) by Farhad Khan

Mini cryptics

ACROSS 1 The chat about chopping tool (7) 4 Note wobbling a lot more, strangely (7) 6 Peninsula discovered by stranger i.e. Brian (7) 7 First lady rang around in cut (7) DOWN 1 Special phone ordered in hotel (7) 2 Little Emily is in the topic (5) 3 Win easily, confusing counter (7) 5 French and Germans agree to board (5)

Sudoku

Use the numbers 1-9 to complete each of the 3x3 square grids such that each horizontal and vertical line also contains all of the digits from 1-9

Last week’s sudoku solutions

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, AUGUST 7, 201 5

Go out Aug 8-29

Art | Realms of Memory” - A solo exhibition by Bipasha Hayat

When 12-8pm Where 60, Gulshan Avenue (Ground floor), Road 131, Circle 1 What Bengal Art Lounge cordially invites you to the inauguration ceremony of Realms of Memory a solo exhibition of paintings and drawings by Bipasha Hayat on Saturday, 8th August 2015 at 6pm.

Bipasha Hayat studied painting and drawing at the Institute of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka (MFA 1998). A polymorphous artist, she has since pursued a successful career as an actress and playwright alongside her initial vocation as a visual artist.

In Realms of Memory, a solo

exhibition of paintings and drawings, Bipasha endeavours to translate the emotions contained in forgotten memories on to the canvas. Her use of a wide-ranging palette of colours aims to recreate past impressions; while her distinctive painting technique, which combines the application of colour with the scratching of selected parts of the painted surface, constitutes a symbolic attempt to penetrate to the essence of memory and to awake the feelings it contains.

For further information, contact: +88029895135, artlounge@ bengalfoundation.org n

19

Aug 8

Culture | LITERARY BRUNCH

When 11am-12pm Where Red Shift Coffee Lounge, Radius Centre, 5th Floor, Bay’s Galleria, 57 Gulshan Avenue, Gulshan What As part of the writing-inEnglish community’s continuing efforts to share its work with interested potential readers, Red Shift Coffee Lounge is hosting A

Wave of Words, a Literary Brunch. The programme schedule is as follows: 11:00 Welcome + introductions 11:10 - Murder mystery – performed by Pen Warriors, written by Shazia Omar 11:30 - Poems

by Sabahat Jahan 11:40 - Dialogue enacted 11:45 - Discussion with audience 12:00 - Brunch + mingling There will also be a book sale

by Charcha Books. An exhibition of lively pop art by Samira KenwardTharani is on view at the Radius Gallery. n

Weekly Planner Aug 8

Music | Jatra Biroti Live Performances August 6th-8th When 7-11pm Where Jatra Biroti, 60 Kemal Ataturk Ave, Banani What This week’s Jatra Biroti’s Electro/Acoustic session features Chillectronic audio visual Set by Zunayed Sabbir Ahmed Dewan Anamul Hasan and Yameen Khan and their regular, The Speakeasy crew, Fahadzaman Don Donadoni and more.

Entry is 500tk only. Tea and Phuckha are included in the ticket price.

Aug 12

Film | Film Screening: Town of Runners When 6-8pm Where EMK Center, House 5, Road 16 (New) 27 (Old), 9th Floor, Midas Center, Dhanmondi What On the occasion of the

International Youth Day, USAID Bangladesh, Women and Girls Lead Global (WGLG) and EMK Center will jointly organise the screening of Town of Runners under the Gender Seminar and Women of the World Film Series.

Town Of Runners is an Ethiopian feature documentary about three young runners from Bekoji keen to follow in their heroes’ footsteps, as they move from school track to national competition and from childhood to adulthood. Set against the background of the seasonal rhythms of this farming region, and the impact of increased urbanisation and globalization on agriculture the film shows rural young Africans striving to make their own future.

The duration of the film is 54 minutes and it was directed by Jerry Rothwell.

Entry is free, subject to preregistration here: goo.gl/bzXYyV

Culture | Naveed’s Comedy Club When 7-9pm

Where Alliance Francaise, Dhanmondi What Naveed’s Comedy Club comes to Dhanmondi with its stand-up comedy performance at Alliance Francaise de Dhaka, Dhanmondi on August 12 at 7pm. Naveed Mahbub and Ahmad Ashik, both leading stand-up comedians in Bangladesh, are all set to rock the stage in Dhanmondi. The show will be in Bangla and is suitable for all ages.

Tickets are priced at Tk300 (available at Alliance Francaise de Dhaka, Dhanmondi on first come first serve basis). For more information, please contact: 01755618541; 01777330642

Aug 13

Music | EMK Happy Hour presents: Colliding Worlds – a show by The Armeen Musa Band When 7pm Where EMK Center, House 5, Road 16 (New) 27 (Old), 9th Floor, Midas Center, Dhanmondi

What Armeen Musa, a singer songwriter from Dhaka and a recent graduate from Berkeley College of Music. Armeen rose to fame with her hit single Bhromor Koio (remake of Radha Raman’s classic) right out of high school after which she released an original album of Bengali songs named Aye Ghum Bhangai. She has been performing music for a long time.

Armeen has teamed up with guitarist Kaartik, pianist Saad Chowdhury, Ashraf on bass, Shihab Chowdhury on drums and Airtel Buzz Studio famed Ariba Chowdhury and Jannat Ul Ferdous - two young Rabindra Sangeet singers on backing vocals. Together they will present the songs of the album Simultaneously as well as some of Armeen’s older tracks.

Ticket is on Tk100, will be available at EMK Center before the event.

WE E K E N D TR I BU N E | FR I DAY, AU G U ST 7, 20 1 5

20 Comic

| consent

What if we treated all consent like sexual consent? The deshi edition Written by Sabrina Fatma Ahmad Artwork by Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, AUGUST 7, 201 5