August 21, 2015

SECOND EDITION

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

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Bhadro 6, 1422, Zilqad 5, 1436

CHILD WORKER’S DEATH SETTLED FOR TK50,000 PAGE 3

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 127

| www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages plus 24-page Weekend | Price: Tk10

MERS INFECTION LOOMS OVER HAJIS PAGE 9

EX-SHIBIR MEN FORMED HAMZA BRIGADE PAGE 32

Tale of an unending trial More than a decade of wait for August 21 grenade attack victims n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu Two years ago, on the ninth anniversary of the August 21 grenade attack, the persecution said they were hopeful that trial would end before the Awami League government completed its tenure.

Until then, the court recorded the depositions of only 72 out of the 491 prosecution witnesses. Over the next one year, only 26 more witnesses testified.

Last year, on the tenth anniversary of that deadly attack on an Awami League rally in Dhaka, the prosecution again hoped that trial would end before the next anniversary, that is today.

In the last one year, the court recorded the statements of another 78 witnesses, taking the tally to 176 since the trial began in 2008.

Pro-Awami League lawyer and former Dhaka Bar president Kazi Nazibullah Hiru told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “The slow pace of the trial has angered the victims and their families. Even the prime minister is astonished at the slow pace of the trial.”

He also said: “There is no need to make all the witnesses testify. The testimonies of more than 100 witnesses are enough to prove the

The tragic explosion of grenades at a public meeting of Awami League on August 21, 2004, leaves this man mutilated at Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN charges against the accused as many video clips are also available as evidence.”

At least 24 people, including Awami League’s women affairs secretary Ivy Rahman, wife of late president Zillur Rahman, were killed and 300 others injured in the grenade attack.

About a dozen grenades were exploded

when Sheikh Hasina, now prime minister then opposition leader, was about to finish her speech at the anti-terrorism rally in front of the Awami League’s central office. She escaped a close call and has since been living with hearing impairment.

Law minister: Probir’s remand unconstitutional n Tribune Report

The remand order given by a Faridpur court for veteran journalist Probir Sikdar was wrong, the law minister has said.

As he is a disabled person, the court should have granted his bail immediately in line with the constitution after the police produced him before the court, Law Minister Anisul Huq told reporters yesterday in response to a query.

“But it happened … somehow … perhaps mistakenly,” he said at his office. “I am sorry for this.”

Anisul, however, termed the bail order given the following day a correction.

“There is scope for correction if a wrong order is given for some reason. It is good that the mistake was fixed in the case of Probir Sikdar. There is nothing wrong [in the correction].”

Anisul also said that the local lawyers were wrong as they had decided not to stand for Probir Sikdar at the court “since access to justice is a constitutional right of all the citizens.”  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Greek PM Tsipras resigns Snap elections expected on September 20

n Tribune Desk Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned yesterday, hoping to strengthen his hold on power in snap elections after seven months in office

PAGE 3 Bullet-hit baby goes home

in which he fought Greece’s creditors for a better bailout deal but had to cave in.

Tsipras submitted his resignation to President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and asked for the earliest possible election date.

Government officials said the aim was to hold the election on September 20, with Tsipras seeking to quell a rebellion in his leftist Syriza party and seal public support for the bailout programme, Greece’s third since 2010, that he negotiated.

“I will go the president of the republic shortly to submit my resignation, as well as the resignation of my government,” Tsipras said in a televised address shortly before he met Pavlopoulos.

Faced with a near collapse of the Greek financial system which threatened the country’s future in the euro, Tsipras was forced to accept the creditors’ demands for yet more austerity and economic reform - the very

PAGE 4 Full-blown journalist welfare trust on the cards

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

PAGE 5 5.5 lakh women missing in voter list

PAGE 8 Only if he knew Modi would become PM one day...

PAGE 32 Experts caution against trying unproven nuke tech

DT

2 NEWS

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Mahbubey Alam: Lawyers Greek PM Tsipras resigns funding militants is alarming n Tribune Report

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam yesterday said that the involvement of Supreme Court lawyers in financing militant outfits was alarming.

“It will be proved in trial whether the three lawyers are guilty or not, he told reporters at his office yesterday. “No lawyers have been held over such allegations before,” he added.

About the arrest, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Khandaker Mahbub Hossain yesterday told reporters that they did not believe the three lawyers were involved in the financing. “The bar association will not support them if the allegations are proved,” he said.

Meanwhile, a group of pro-BNP lawyers yesterday formed a human chain at the SCBA

premises to protest the arrest of the lawyers.

On Tuesday, RAB claimed that Supreme Court lawyers barrister Shakila Farzana, 39 and Md Hasanuzzaman Liton, 30, and Dhaka Judge’s Court lawyer Mahfuz Chowdhury Bapon, 25, were arrested when they came out of their chamber “Law Cornerstone” on Dhanmondi 27 of the capital around 11pm.

The daughter of a former BNP whip and two of her associates, were held allegedly for providing Tk1.08 crore to hybrid militant organisation Shahid Hamza Brigade and were placed on a four-day remand on Wednesday.

Shakila is the incumbent joint general secretary of the Supreme Court wing of pro-BNP Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum. She is the daughter of Wahidul Alam, a former BNP lawmaker from Chittagong. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

policies he had promised to scrap when he was elected in January.

“I want to be honest with you. We did not achieve the agreement we expected before the January elections,” he told the Greek people.

“I feel the deep ethical and political responsibility to put to your judgment all I have done, successes and failures.”

His decision to return to the ballot box deepens political uncertainty on the very day Greece began receiving funds under its 86 billion-euro ($96 billion) bailout programme - five years after a previous government took the first bailout from the euro zone and IMF. But a snap election should allow Tsipras to capitalise on his popularity with Greek voters before the toughest parts of the latest programme begin to bite, and may allow him to return to power in a stronger position without anti-bailout rebels in Syriza to slow him down.

Tale of an unending trial The other victims – many of whom have been crippled for life by grenade splinters – and their families have now been waiting for more than a decade now, hoping to see the trial end and the perpetrators get punished.

The slow pace at which the case had been moving along has only added to their ever mounting frustration.

Awami League leader M Ata Ullah, a victim, testified before the court seeking exemplary punishment for the attackers. He was present at the rally on that day.

Ata Ullah said: “The then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina was speaking at the programme around 5:30pm.”

All of a sudden, two or three grenades exploded in the area, leaving them lying on the ground. “My legs and right hand were broken.

I crawled on my left hand and saved my life.”

He, like many others present at the rally on that day, later underwent lengthy treatments at different hospitals, but has never fully recovered.

Over the next few years, they saw a glaring example of how the state machinery could meticulously get involved in a heinous political crime and make desperate efforts to derail investigation.

According to witness depositions and case documents, the then BNP government put in all efforts to protect the masterminds by relentlessly trying to establish that the Awami League had killed its own men to tarnish the government’s image.

That BNP-led government tried feed public with a cooked-up story involving one Joj Miah, a petty criminal, who had been forced to make a confessional statement.

Joj Miah had later narrated before the court how he had been forced by three officials of the police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) into confessing falsely that he took part in the August 21 grenade attack.

The investigation took a new turn in 2007 after the BNP-led coalition government stepped down and the military-backed caretaker government took over.

On November 1, 2007, outlawed militant group HujiB (Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami, Bangladesh) commander Mufti Abdul Hannan confessed before a magistrate that he and 27 oth-

ers were involved with the grenade attack. Joj Miah was not one of them. Hannan was then in jail in connection with the Ramna Batamul blast case.

Further probe revealed that the attack was an outcome of a collaboration between Huji, influential leaders of the BNP-Jamaat clan, the infamous Hawa Bhaban, a number of senior officials of the Home Ministry, police and intelligence agencies.

According to the supplementary charge sheet, Huji leaders met Tarique Rahman, elder son of then prime minister Khaleda Zia, a few days before the 2004 attack and got the go-ahead.

According to the charge sheet, after the grenade attack, the BNP-led administration did not pay attention to the international community’s pressure for a fair investigation.

Huji leader Tajuddin, supplier of the grenades, and brother of BNP government’s deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu, left the country for Pakistan on instructions from the then junior home minister Lutfozzaman Babar, says the charge sheet.

Two cases were filed in connection with the blasts, one under explosive substances act and the other for killing people. In June, 2008, CID pressed charges against Abdus Salam Pintu, who later died in jail of a cardiac arrest, Huji chief Mufti Abdul Hannan and 20 others in the cases.

In the meantime, Awami League formed government in 2009 and submitted petitions in August that year seeking further investigation into the cases.

Following the plea, the court ordered CID for further investigation in the cases. In July 2011, CID submitted supplementary charge sheets against 30 people including Tarique Rahman, Lutfozzaman Babar, Harris Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid, who was later convicted as a war criminal.

In March, 2012, the court framed charges against Tarique and others. The second trial commenced the following month.

The trial in two cases against 52 accused is now being held simultaneously with the first Speedy Trial Tribunal of Dhaka at the makeshift court set up in a building near the Dhaka Central Jail.

Tsipras had long been expected to seek early elections in the autumn. But he was forced to move quickly after nearly a third of Syriza lawmakers refused to back the programme in parliament last week, robbing him of his majority.

Greece’s complex constitution has special stipulations for holding elections less than 12 months after the previous vote, meaning the president must first consult other major parties to see if they can form a government - a highly unlikely option.

Hugely popular among his supporters for trying to stand up to foreign creditors and with the opposition in disarray, Tsipras is widely expected to return to power.

A Metron Analysis poll on July 24 put support for Syriza at 33.6 percent, making it by far the most popular party, but not enough to govern without a coalition partner. No polls have been published since then due to the holiday season. l

Probir’s remand Of the 18 fugitive accused, Tarique is now in London. According to intelligence sources, among the other fugitives, Harris Chowdhury is now in India’s Assam, Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad in Thailand’s Bangkok, Mohammad Hanif in India’s Kolkata, Maj Gen (retd) ATM Amin in the USA, Lt Col (retd) Saiful Islam Joarder in Canada, Babu alias Ratul Babu in India, Anisul Morsalin and his brother Mohibul Muttakin are in an Indian jail.

Militant leaders Shafikur Rahman, Mufti Abdul Hai, Maulana Abu Bakar, Iqbal, Khalilur Rahman, Jahangir Alam alias Badar, Maulana Liton alias Zobair alias Delwar and Maulana Tajul Islam; former police deputy commissioners Md Obaidur Rahman and Khan Syed Hasan are also abroad. Most of them are now in Pakistan, intelligence sources said.

Of the accused, eight are now on bail while 26 others, including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, Jamaat leader Mujahid, HujI chief Mufti Hannan are behind bars.

When contacted, Syed Rezaur Rahman, chief prosecutor of the cases, said yesterday: “We are hopeful that the trial of the cases will be completed by December this year.”

In reply to a query, the state lawyer also said: “It is not necessary to testify all the witnesses, but we will ensure recording as many witness depositions as possible to prove the charges against the accused beyond doubt.”

Observance

Yesterday, in separate messages, President Mohammad Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid homage to those killed in the attack.

The Awami League, its associate bodies, its left-leaning allies and other political parties, social-cultural and professional organisations have chalked out different programmes across the country to mark the day.

Programmes will start with placing of wreaths at the temporary memorial at Bangabandhu Avenue, where the attack took place, at 4:30pm today. Sheikh Hasina will also take part at a prayer organised at the venue seeking eternal peace of the victims’ souls.

She is also scheduled to meet the family of the dead and wounded victims and take part in a discussion at the venue. l

Earlier, Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu and senior Awami League leader Suranjit Sen Gupta criticised the arrest of Probir Sikdar. Several journalists’ and rights organisations, war trial campaign groups and individuals have also condemned the arrest and subsequent remand of the journalist.

Editor of the daily Bangla 71 and online portal Uttoradhikar 71 News, Probir was picked up by Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police on Monday evening. Later he was taken to the DB office and then to Faridpur, where a case was filed by a lawyer for tarnishing the image of LGRD Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain.

A Faridpur court on Tuesday morning granted the police three days to interrogate Probir. But the police produced him before the court on Wednesday saying that they did not need to quiz the accused any more.

Son of a martyred family, Probir sustained severe injuries in a 2001 attack after revealing the complicity in war crimes of two people – business tycoon Moosa bin Shamsher alias Nula Musa and convicted war criminal Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar – in his series of investigative stories named “Sei Razakar” in the daily Janakantha.

In a Facebook post on August 12, Probir said that Mosharraf, Moosa and Bachchu Razakar and their supporters would be responsible should anything happen to him.

Probir mentioned that the police had refused to take down a general diary in July.

Recently, the Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikyo Parishad alleged that the LGRD minister had grabbed the house of a Hindu family in Faridpur and demolished the temple inside the house. The minister, however, claimed that he had not grabbed the land but bought it at a fair price from the owner.

In the last few weeks, Probir Sikdar also expressed concern over the land grabbing incident through his Facebook profile. He also shared the news story on Moosa several times, demanding he be tried for 1971 war crimes.

Asked if Probir Sikdar was granted bail following the massive criticism his arrest caused or because of intervention by government high-ups, the law minister said: “The judiciary is totally independent. I do not have the authority to answer if anything like this happened. It is a matter of the judiciary.” l

DT

NEWS 3

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Bullet-hit baby released from DMCH A checkup after two months will reveal whether baby Suraiya needs eye surgery ficult, she said the doctors could not have n Kamrul Hasan imagined the baby would have come around Suraiya Begum, a baby who was shot while in her mother’s womb, was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon.

Her mother Nazma Begum was hit by bullets when caught in a factional clash at Doarpara of Magura sadar upazila on July 23.

The bullet went through the unborn baby’s right shoulder and damaged her right eye. She was born after a three-hour-long operation at Magura General Hospital.

She was then taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital on July 24 for better treatment.

Health Minister Mohammad Nasim and Dr Kaniz handed over Suraiya to her mother around 2pm that day. The minister also handed over Suraiya’s discharge letter to her father.

Dr Kaniz Hasina, the Paediatric Department associate professor in-charge of her treatment, said Suraiya was formally discharged on Thursday around 4pm.

She said the baby’s father, Bachchu Miah, was told to come back two months after for a regular check up of the baby.

Terming the treatment procedure as dif-

within a short time.

“Finally we can discharge her and say she is now out of danger.”

As for sight in her right eye, Dr Kaniz said medicines have been prescribed for the eye, and two months later, when her father returns for a checkup, doctors will examine it to see if it needs to be operated on.

Suraiya was taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and her mother was taken to Ward 212 on July 31. Nazma was taken to the hospital seven days after Suraiya was born, as she was not in a condition to travel from Magura to Dhaka.

The baby was injured when her eightmonth pregnant mother was shot in the abdomen during an attack by a Jubo League faction on another faction on July 23 in Magura that left one dead and another injured.

On August 18, Mehedi Hasan Ajibor, the third person accused in the case, was killed in a gunfight with police in Doarpara. Nine others accused of the clash were also caught by the district police. l

Nazma Khatun gets back her daughter Suraiya after one month of treatment at the DMCH yesterday.

Suraiya was shot while in her mother’s womb on July 23 in Magura during a clash between two Jubo League factions MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Khilgaon, Hazaribagh OCs transferred n Kamrul Hasan

The officers-in-charge of Khilgaon and Hazaribagh police stations in the capital were transferred on Wednesday after they drew flak over the proper execution of their duties.

Khilgaon police station OC Mustafiz Bhuiyan was transferred to the Detective Branch while Hazaribagh OC Kazi Mainul Islam succeeded Mustafiz.

Inspector Alimuzzaman was made the OC of Hazaribagh, said DMP Deputy Commissioner Muntasirul Islam.

OC Mustafiz was slammed for not registering the general diary of blogger Niladri Chat-

SC upholds HC order on Brazilian wheat n Tribune Report The Supreme Court has upheld a High Court verdict that ordered the government to take back the wheat imported from Brazil if anyone wants to return it and that the government should not force the consumers to buy or consume the wheat.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order after rejecting a plea filed by the government challenging the High Court verdict.

According to media reports, around 200,000 tonnes of the wheat imported from Brazil and supplied by Singapore-based contractor Olam International were substandard.

On June 30, the High Court asked the authorities concerned to clarify whether the wheat, imported for Tk4 billion, was suitable for human consumption. On July 8, it ruled that the government should take back the wheat if any consumer wants to return it. l

terjee, who was hacked to death in his Khilgaon house on August 7.

Niladri earlier wrote on Facebook that he went to Khailgaon police station in mid-May after he received threats but police did not register the general diary and rather asked him to leave Bangladesh.

DMP then formed a committee to investigate the allegation. Muntasirul said transferring OC Mustafiz was part of administrative procedures.

Meanwhile, OC Mainul was also blasted after teenager Raja was beaten to death in Hazaribagh by Chhatra League leader Arju on charge of stealing mobile phone and laptop.

Raja’s family, reacting to OC Mainul’s transfer, said there were apprehensions that they might be attacked.

They observed that OC Mainul was transferred because he took the case filed over the death of Raja and the transfer could earn Arju’s family advantages.

Raja’s sister Reashma Akhter, who filed the case, said Arju’s family members were spreading a rumour that they would Raja’s family to leave the area.

But OC Alimuzzaman denied the allegation and said police would provide Raja’s family with security if they were in fear and filed a complaint. l

Child worker’s death settled for Tk50,000 n Our Correspondent, Lakshmipur

The case of Md Ramjan, a 12-year-old child worker in Lakshmipur’s Baghbari who was beaten by his employer and died eight days later, has been settled for Tk50,000 but the family is yet to get the money.

Ramjan’s family chose not to file any case with police as the local municipal councillor, Shipon, promised to pay the money.

“We have not yet received the money and do not know when we will,” said Tazul Islam, father of Ramjan.

Shipon could not be reached for comments over the phone.

Police did not file any case in this connection either, and Md Giasuddin Miah, officerin-charge of Lakshmipur Sadar police station, said a probe had been launched. “Police will lodge a case even if the victim’s family does not file any,” he said.

Ramjan’s mother Shukkuri Begum said her son, who died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on August 18, told doctors that his employer Ali Hossain had struck him twice in the backbone with a rod, fracturing two bones.

Ramjan was laid to rest in the village home, Banchanagar, on Wednesday afternoon but no autopsy was carried out before the burial.

His mother said she feared that disclosing the Tk50,000 settlement to police would eventually lead to a post-mortem of her son.

“I was too fragile mentally to accept that doctors would dissect my son’s body to determine the cause of his death. That is why we buried the body without any delay,” she said.

Ramjan worked at the shop of Ali, who on August 10 loaded two milk cartons onto the boy’s head to take those elsewhere. But Ali beat Ramjan as the cartons fell from the child’s head because he [Ramjan] could not withstand the weight. l

BNP: Government using crossfires to maintain law and order n Tribune Report The BNP has blamed the government of using so-called gunfights to try and maintain the country’s law and order as the situation has now gone beyond their control.

The party also apprehended that opposition leaders and activists may also become future targets of extrajudicial killings.

“Extrajudicial killings cannot be accepted.

We are apprehending that after the deaths of two to four Awami league-Chhatra League activists [in gunfights], opposition leaders will be the [next] victims,” said Asaduzzaman Ripon, international affairs secretary of the BNP. Addressing a press briefing at the party’s Nayapaltan headquarters yesterday, Ripon said the government wanted to create terror through incidents of crossfire. “We condemn all sorts of crossfire. Criminal activities have increased across the country. Crossfire is not a solution.”

Since it was formed during the tenure of the past BNP government, crime-busting elite force Rapid Action Battalion has regularly been criticised by human rights activists for carrying out alleged extrajudicial killings in the name of crossfire or gunfights.

Claiming that the absence of democracy has created an imbalance in the country, Ripon said: “If the problems stemming from the January 5 election are resolved and the media can enjoy freedom, then crossfires will not be needed and balance will be restored in the country.”

On another note, the BNP leader condemned the expulsion of BNP-backed mayors from various cities, saying that local government bodies were being destroyed through the expulsion of elected mayors.

Ripon further demanded the release of BNP’s arrested leaders and activists including standing committee member MK Anwar and BNP chairperson’s Adviser Shawkat Mahmud. l

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4 NEWS

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Full-blown journalist welfare n trust on the cards

Changes at BD mission of UN

n Asif Showkat Kallol The Information Ministry has sought Tk10 crore from the Finance Division as seed money to start a full-blown trust for the welfare of insolvent, wounded and ailing journalists and the families of deceased media professionals.

The ministry is also thinking about reducing the minimum amount of allowance or grant to Tk10,000 from the existing Tk50,000 floor that journalists can avail from the government by applying to the ministry.

Moreover, there is also a plan for making membership of the proposed Shangbadik Kalyan Trust (journalists’ welfare trust) mandatory for availing the grant or allowance facilities.

Last month, these matters were discussed at an inter-ministerial meeting at the ministry which was presided over by Information Secretary Mortuza Ahmed.

Shah Alamgir, director general of the Press Institute of Bangladesh; Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, president of a factor of the Bangla-

desh Federal Union of Journalists; and Altaf Mahmud, president of the Dhaka Union of Journalists, were present at the meeting.

The journalist welfare policies were revised into a full-fledged bill called the Shangbadik Kalyan Trust Bill 2014, which was passed in parliament in May last year.

At present, there is an ad-hoc journalist welfare trust from which media people can avail financial benefits for ailments, compensation, etc by applying through the Information Ministry.

But that trust does not have any fund of its own and arranges the money for the applicants from various government funds such as that of the prime minister or the ministry’s own budgetary allocations.

The bill has a provision for forming a 13-member board of trustees with the information minister as the chairman and information secretary as the vice-chairman.

The trust would be a statutory body; its managing director will be appointed by the

Govt efforts to prevent human trafficking inadequate n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman The Bangladesh government has made limited efforts to prevent human trafficking, said a recent US report on trafficking.

The government continued to allow Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) to set extremely high legal recruitment fees for overseas job-seekers, the report said.

The US State Department has recently launched the “Trafficking in Person Country Report 2015.”

Regarding awareness programmes, the report states: “The government did not fund anti-trafficking awareness campaigns.”

Thousands of people get overseas jobs through Baira, an association of nearly 1,000 licensed recruiting agencies. The government cancelled the licences of four recruitment agencies in 2014 and another four in 2013, and awarded compensation of Tk1.4 million to seven trafficking victims, the report said.

Concerning the manpower agreement signed with Saudi Arabia in February, the report said the deal stipulated that employers

should cover migration costs but the government did not stipulate the maximum cost or eliminate the processing fee that remained the responsibility of the migrant.

“Some Bangladeshi men and women who migrate willingly to work in the Middle East, East Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States subsequently face conditions indicative of forced labour,” the report said.

Before their departure, many migrant workers assume debt to pay high recruitment fees, imposed legally by recruitment agencies belonging to BAIRA and illegally by unlicensed sub-agents.

Some recruitment agencies and agents also commit recruitment fraud, including contract switching, in which they promise one type of job and conditions, but then change the job, employer, conditions, or salary after arrival, the report said.

“The government of Bangladesh does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so,” the report added. l

Transport strike begins in Ctg n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Local transport owners and workers have called an indefinite strike in the district protesting the picking up of a transport worker by unknown people in the name of law enforcers.

Chittagong Sarak Paribahan Malik Samity Secretary General Manjurul Alam Manju confirmed the strike that was started from 6pm yesterday and would continue for the indefinite period.

“Some people introducing themselves as law enforcing agency personnel picked up Nurul Islam from his residence in Saltgola area in the port city on Wednesday morning and since then he remains traceless,” Manju continued.

“We have wanted to know Nurul’s whereabouts from different law enforcing agencies, but they denied their involvement in the arrest,” he went on adding that the transport strike would remain in enforced until the missing transport worker would be found. l

government who would also serve as the member-secretary of the board of trustees.

Information Secretary Motuza told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the Bangladesh Sangbadik Kolyan Trust Policy is now being revised and will be put in place shortly in accordance with the Bill.

“A committee has already been formed to revise existing policy,” he said.

According to that bill, the following would be the members of the board of trustees: a director general-level officer to be nominated by the Prime Minister’s Office; a finance division officer with the rank and status of not below a joint secretary; director general of the Press Institute of Bangladesh; a joint secretary to the Information Ministry; two representatives from the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists; and three government-nominated journalists.

The board will decide on financial assistance to journalists, stipend for special contribution and special stipend to meritorious children of journalists. l

Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

The government has decided to bring changes to the top level of the Bangladesh Mission at United Nations.

According to the plan, the current Permanent Representative AK Abdul Momen is expected to return to Dhaka after completing his tenure in October.

Momen, a brother of Finance Minister AMA Muhith and a political appointee, is the longest-serving Bangladesh permanent representative at the UN. He joined the mission on August 26, 2009, replacing career diplomat and multilateral expert Ismat Jahan, and got an extension twice.

His tenure was supposed to end on August 25 this year, but it was extended this week by another 80 days, said a government official.

“The UN General Assembly to be held in September will be his last assignment,” he added.

It has been decided that the government will send a senior career diplomat as the next permanent representative, said another government official.

A senior diplomat working at a very important mission in Asia has been selected as the next Bangladesh PR to the UN, he added. l

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Road accident kills 2 blind people in city n Kamrul Hasan Two blind beggars were killed yesterday after being hit by a BRTC bus on Airport Road in the capital.

The deceased are Mujibur Rahman, 40, son of Abdul Karim Sheikh, hailing from Lalmonirhat, and Julekha Begum, wife of Late Anser Ali, who hailed from Rangpur.

They both were beggars and lived in Gazipur’s Tongi.

They were attempting to cross the road when a BRTC bus struck them.

The driver of the bus was detained and the bus also seized by the police.

Airport police station OC Mohammed Kamaluddin said both died at Kurmitola General Hospital in the morning.

Kamaluddin said the two were hit by the bus late on Wednesday night near the VIP gate of the airport.

The OC added that police have asked the Society for the Visually Impaired to come and identify the deceased.

A blind person was killed in a similar accident and had been identified by them.

The police hoped they could identify these two as well, said Kamaluddin.

The bodies were kept at the Dhaka Medical College morgue. l

WEATHER THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

FRIDAY, AUGUST 20 DHAKA TODAY

TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:29PM

SUN RISES 5:35AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY Dhaka

32

26

Chittagong

30

26

Rajshahi

32

26

Rangpur

31

25

Khulna

33

26

Barisal

32

26

Sylhet

26

24

Cox’s Bazar

28

26

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

34.4ºC

24.2ºC

Sayedpur

Rangamati Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Jumma Asr Magrib Esha

4:14am 5:34am 12:02am 4:37pm 6:29pm 7:59pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Latif now moves to Supreme Court on JS membership n Tribune Report

Sacked Awami League minister Abdul Latif Siddique yesterday appealed to the apex court after the High Court rejected his previous writ petition challenging the jurisdiction of the Election Commission to hold hearing over legitimacy of his parliament membership.

Earlier in the day, the bench comprising Justice Md Emdadul Haque and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar rejected the petition allowing the Election Commission to hear the dispute, Latif’s lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua said.

The lawyer then appealed to the chamber

judge seeking a stay order on the EC’s notice.

Chamber judge Justice Hasan Foyez Siddiqui fixed August 23 to hear the petition at the Appellate Division’s regular bench.

The EC on August 9 fixed August 23 to hear the matter. It sent a notice to the former minister and Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam to be present during the hearing at its Agargaon office.

Lawyer Jyotirmoy said that the Supreme Court and the EC set the same date for hearing but it would not make any trouble as the Appellate Division sits at 9am and the EC will hold the hearing at 11am.

“The court will decide whether Latif Siddique will have to attend the Election Commission hearing or not,” he said.

The EC began the process after the parliament speaker on July 13 sent them a letter on the matter. Shirin Sharmin Choudhury on July 5 received a letter from the Awami League about Latif’s termination from the party.

Latif filed the writ petition with the High Court on August 16 challenging the legality of EC’s notice.

Following his remarks on hajj, Tabligh Jamaat and the PM’s son, Latif was sacked from the cabinet on October 12 last year. l

5,50,000 women missing in voter list n Kamrul Hasan

The Women Count, an alliance of nine non-government organisations, yesterday expressed concern over the exclusion of a large number of women in the latest voter list updated by the Election Commission.

It said a campaign to increase the number of women on the voter list was launched in the wake of what it described as an underrepresentation of women in the list.

Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club, Abdul Alim, director of

Two Dhaka-based drug peddlers caught n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Chittagong’s Bakalia police early yesterday arrested two Dhaka-based drug peddlers with 3,000 pieces of yaba tablets from the port city.

The two were trying to smuggle the contraband drug into the capital from Cox’s Bazar.

The arrested Amir Khan, 32, and Saiman, 35, both hailing from Shariatpur district, operated in the capital, police said.

Bakalia police station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Moshin said they arrested the two from a Shymoli Paribahan bus in the city’s Shah Amanat Third Karnaphuli Bridge area around 3am, following on a tip-off.

He said yaba peddling and smuggling using a bus has increased nowadays.

Police said a drug case was lodged in this regard with Bakalia police station.

According to Department of Narcotic Control, around 37 yaba factories are located at Mongdu in Myanmar, which is close to Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar district. About 90% of smuggled yaba enter the country crossing the Naf River and it is being distributed across the country through Chittagong city.

Chittagong is treated as a golden transit point by the drug smugglers especially for yaba. Admitting the increase of yaba smuggling in the port city, the OC said they have intensified vigilance and drives to stop the smuggling.

“We also enhanced our monitoring at the entry point of the city from Cox’s Bazar,” he said adding that the smugglers were coming up with new techniques to peddle their illegal drugs. l

Election Working Group which is a partner of the alliance, said: “We are concerned because over 0.55 million women voters are missing from the list even though it has been updated by the Election Commission.”

“This trend of not including women in the voter list has been around since 2008 and if it continues, the integrity of the voter list will be thrown into question. Also, the women whose names do not appear in the list will not be allowed to vote, which is a democratic right,” he said.

The Women Count, as part of its campaign,

will be visiting different areas to help women complete their registrations. It has also launched a website [www.womencountbd. org] to provide all the latest information on the update of the voter list.

Maleka Banu, general secretary of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad which is another partner of the alliance, called on the Election Commission to take extra cautions while updating the voter list. “The task of updating the list began recently and the commission should ensure that all the eligible women have been registered,” she said. l

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Flood situation likely to worsen n Tribune Report Flood situation across the country may deteriorate within the next 24 hours as major rivers of the country were showing rising trend as of yesterday.

“All the major river systems are in rising trend which is likely to continue in next 72 hours,” said a statement of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, adding that rivers were flowing above their danger in 13 points across the country.

The FFWC found water levels in 73 points to have risen out of 85 stations it monitored across Bangladesh in the past one day while the water level receded only in nine points.

The met office, meanwhile, issued a statement predicating “heavy to very heavy falls at places over Chittagong and Sylhet divisions and moderately heavy to heavy falls at places elsewhere over the country”. It feared that as a result of the heavy downfall “the flood situation in some parts of Sylhet, Sunamganj, Netrokona, Feni, Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban Districts may deteriorate in next 48 hours”.

Flash flood hits lower parts of Khagrachhari, Feni

Around 100 villages in Khagrachhari have

gone under water due to rain and onrush of water from upstream.

Thousands of people in the district are left marooned as well as road communications between the district and other parts of the country remained snapped since yesterday morning.

As a result, thousands families have become homeless and taken shelter on embankment and different cyclone centre. Farmers of the district are passing days with anxiety as vegetables on around 200 acres of land have been submerged by the rainwater. Moreover, fish resources from around 100 ponds have been washed away putting traders in huge losses.

According to Department of Agricultural Extension, standing crops at Kaladeva, Battali, Golabari, Ganjapara, Muslimpara and Mehedibug areas under Sadar upazila while Chhoto Merung, Bachha Merung, Boro Merung, Sobahanpur, Shantipur, Kobakhali of Dighinala upazila, Fatemanagor, Pujgangmukh, Latiban of Panchhari upazila, Tabalchhari, Gumti, Natunpara of Matirnga, Gachhabil, College Para and Tintahori of Manikchhari upazila were damaged by rainwater.

Khagrachhari Municipality Penal Mayor ATM Rashed Uddin said they had opened five flood centres aiming to serve flood affected

One killed by RAB n Our Correspondent, Gazipur An unidentified man, aged about 34, was killed allegedly by Rapid Action Battalion in the district Wednesday evening while three youths were taking meal at a restaurant near Mosjid market under Chandana Intersection.

The elite force also brushed off the allegation. RAB officials also said they saved the man from several unidentified attackers and took him to a hospital where doctors declared him dead.

Locals said several men, wearing jackets of RAB, beat up the man to death. The owner of ‘Ma Biriyani House’, Zobayer said three men entered his restaurant around 5:45pm.

“Several men entered the restaurant and started beating them when they were about to leave after finishing their meals.

The attackers wearing jackets with RAB inscribed on them,” he said. At one point, one of them called someone over mobile phone and asked him to come to the scene, Zobayer said.

Several more men wearing the black RAB uniform came in a car after a while and then left with the severely injured man.

However, RAB-1 Commander Lt Col Maksud said a team RAB was patrolling at the Chandana Intersection while they saw several men beating a man.

The attackers fled the scene seeing the RAB members.

“The duty doctor at the Shaheed Tajuddin Medical College and Hospital declared the man dead after he was rescued and rushed there,” he said.

The hospital’s Resident Physician Dr Md Abdus Salam said there were injury marks on both thighs and left side of the neck of the dead. l

BNP leader killed n Our Correspondent, Patuakhali

A local leader of BNP was killed by unidentified miscreants at Bauphal upazila in the district yesterday.

The deceased Raqibul Ahsan Shamim,45,was son of Altaf Master, hailing from Kamalapur village. He was a joint convener of Keshabpur union BNP unit.

Azam Shamsuddin, officer-in-charge of Bauphal police station, said the miscreants hacked Shamim to death near SN High School in Kamalapur area while he was going to his house.

On information, police went to the spot and recovered the body. The police said Shamim might have been killed over family feud. l

people and they would distribute dry foods among them within shortest possible time.

Deputy Director of Khagrachhari District Agriculture Extension Office Jugal Pado Dey said farmers becoming worst victim of flash flood as most of the vegetable gardens were inundated.

Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Wahiduzzaman said he had asked officials of Department of Agricultural Extension to take measures to asses loss of farmers. The assessment report would be sent to higher authorities so that they could take measures to help farmers of the affected areas.

Meanwhile, vast tracts of farmlands and thousands of dwelling houses have been gone under water in Feni as a dam collapsed at several points.

According to the Water Development Board, water of the Feni River was flowing above 120cm of danger level yesterday afternoon.

The rural flood victims had been suffering from acute food, shelter and drinking water crisis because of the flood, said Harun 0r Rashid Majumdar, chairman of Anandapur union parishad.

Sources at the Water Development Board said many areas of the locality might flooded further due to onrush water from the upstream. l

3 cases filed over C’nawabganj lynch

n Our Correspondent, Chapainawabganj Three separate cases were filed in connection a lynch-mob attack which left four suspected robbers dead in Gomastapur upazila on Wednesday.

The three cases were filed with Gomastapur police station at night.

On Wednesday night four suspected robbers were killed and another was injured in a lynchmob attack in Boalia area of Gomastapur upazila allegedly while trying to lift a motorcycle.

The deceased were identified as Golam Rabbani, 40, son of Bazlur Rahman, resident of Kornokhali village of Shibganj upazila, Ator Ali, 40, son of Naim uddin, Sohel, 30, son of Kaiful Islam, Alamgir, 30, son of Bodor Ali, resident of Durgapur area of Bholahat upazila, Firoz Ahmed, officer in-charge of Gomastapur Police Station, said a gang of 10/12 bandits intercepted a motorcyclist in Boalia area.

Hearing victim’s screams, locals managed to catch four of them.

Later, the angry mob gave them a good beating.

On information, police rescued the injured robbers and took them to Gomastapur upazila health complex where they died. l

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Hasni, Nargis, Manju elected CCC panel mayors n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Three ward councillors of the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) have been elected the corporation’s panel mayors through a secret voting yesterday.

The elected panel mayors are Chowdhury Hasan Mahmud Hasni from ward 20, Jobaira Nargis Khan from reserved ward 2, and Nisar Uddin Ahmed Manju from ward 10.

The voting was held at KB Abdus Sattar Auditorium in Nagar Bhaban. Councillors from 54 wards cast their votes from 11:30am to 12:30pm.

Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin, also the general secretary of Awami League Chittagong unit, announced the names of the winners.

Chowdhury Hasan Mahmud Hasni received 39 votes while Jobaira Nargis Khan and Nisar Uddin Ahmed Manju received 31 and 30 votes respectively. Chowdhury Hasan Mahmud Hasni was elected panel mayor during the tenure of immediate past mayor M Manjur Alam.

According to the City Corporation Act, the councillors have to choose two male councillors and a female councillor as panel mayors through either agreement or secret voting. l

Law and order situation deteriorates in port city n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Apparently it seems that law and order situation in the port city has deteriorated alarmingly with the killing of four people in a week, much to create worry among city dwellers.

Yesterday, an executive of a real estate firm was stabbed to death in Chittagong’s Bakalia area following a dispute over construction of a building in that area.

In the latest incident, Aftab Uddin Al Kader, 36, managing director of One Properties Ltd and son of Shafiq Ahmed, was murdered.

He hailed from Harisapara area under Lohagara upazila of Chittagong and used to live in Belakhan Mosque area in the city.

Bakalia police station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Mohsin told the Dhaka Tribune that a man named Saifur Rahman Siddiqui Akash, resident of the same area, stabbed Aftab.

“Akash’s father Syedur Rahman, who had a dispute with Aftab, died due to old age complications at CMCH yesterday around 1am.

When Aftab came to Akash’s house to express condolence, Akash started stabbing him with

a knife indiscriminately. He fled the spot leaving Aftab critically injured.

“Aftab was taken to CMCH where the doctors declared him dead,” he said. Aftab and Syedur were in a disagreement over construction of a building in a land owned by the latter, said the OC quoting Akash’s family members.

Earlier on Sunday, a construction worker was hacked to death by unknown miscreants in Kadamtali area.

On Saturday, a drug addict readymade garment worker was stabbed to death by his friend at one point of an altercation in the city’s Export Processing Zone. An accused in seven cases was slaughtered in Sagarika area on Friday following personal enmity.

Chittagong Metropolitan Police Commissioner Abdul Jalil Mandal told the Dhaka Tribune that the murders took place mostly because of personal conflicts.

“We are responding promptly to people’s calls. I think people should be more patient in handling their personal conflicts. I convene them to inform police in such cases rather than taking the law into own hands,” he said. l

6 CU students awarded with AM Mujibur Rahman medal n Tribune Report Six students of Mathematics department of Chittagong University (CU) yesterday were awarded 7th AM Mujibur Rahman foundation gold medal for their outstanding results.

Vice-chancellor sociologist Professor Dr Iftekhar Uddin Chowdhury handed over the medal among the students. The awarded students are Masuda Akhtar, Misa Billah, Md Aminul Islam, Md Ruhul Amin, Santa Dey and Farhana Akhtar Lopa, said CU sources.

Addressing as the chief guest the VC said the students would be inspired through the programme while such kind of positive initiative by the foundation will take the country’s education and research sectors forward.

Presided by CU Mathematics department head Professor Dr Mohammed Asraful Islam over the programme, Arts and Humanities faculty’s Dean Prof Dr Sekandar Chowdhuhry, Science Faculty’s Dean Prof Dr Abdul Karim, BBA Faculty Dean Prof Dr Jahangir Alam, Law Faculty’s Dean Prof Dr Abdullah Al Faruk and AF Mujibur Rahman Foundation’s CEO Dr Firoj I Faruk were present. l

Kader Siddique prays at Bangabandhu’s grave n Our Correspondent, Gopalganj Krishak Sramik Janata League President Kader Siddique offered prayers in front of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s grave in Gopalganj’s Tungipara from Wednesday night to early yesterday morning.

His entourage included family members and party members, and they all reached Tungipara on Wednesday afternoon.

Kader, after paying homage to Bangabandhu upon his arrival, said he was the first person to protest after Bangabandhu and most of his family members were killed on August 15, 1975.

“No one raised voice against the killings but I was the first to do so on August 19. That is why I am here today in remembrance of the date,” he said.

The veteran politician said August did not seem to be the month of mourning for all but it was so for him.

“The assassination of Bangabandhu turned my life upside down, and people also lost their dignity. Besides, his death destroyed the country’s strength and independence,” said Kader.

The Krishak Sramik Janata League president said he had urged BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia not to celebrate her birthday on August 15.

“I suggested that she arrange birthday celebrations either before or after the National Mourning Day. I heard the other day that she was contemplating delaying the celebrations gradually but that does not seem to be the best step to take because this is a matter of feelings,” added Kader.

Officer-in-Charge of Tungipara police station Md Mahmudul Haque said yesterday Kader and others left Tungipara around 7am. l

Indefinite transport strike begins in Jhenaidah n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah

A transport strike for indefinite period began from yesterday morning at Shailkupa upazila in the district in protest of plying illegal three wheelers on roads.

Bus-Minibus Owners Association and Transport Workers Unity took the decision at an emergency meeting at a meeting.

Workers’ leader Ujjal Biswas said if the concerned authority did not take step immediately they would announce tougher movement soon. l

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Bangkok blast: Thai authorities downplay global terrorism link n Reuters, Bangkok International terrorists were not suspected of a bomb attack in Bangkok this week that killed 20 people and China was not the target, Thai authorities said on Thursday, as police said they believed at least 10 plotters were involved.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the Monday evening attack on a famous shrine crowded with tourists, which the government has said was designed to wreck the economy. Authorities have not blamed any group for carrying out Thailand’s worst bombing.

“Security agencies have cooperated with agencies from allied countries and have come to the preliminary conclusion that the incident is unlikely to be linked to international terrorism,” said Colonel Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for Thailand’s ruling junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order.

The Erawan shrine is particularly popular with tourists from China and other East Asian

Protests erupt as police kills another US black man n AFP, Chicago

Protests broke out and US police responded with teargas after an 18-year-old black man was shot dead in a confrontation with white officers in St Louis, Missouri, officials said Wednesday.

The city is close to the trouble spot of Ferguson, where a police killing of an unarmed black man last year prompted angry protests and renewed discussion of race and policing in the United States.

Police said Wednesday’s deadly shooting took place when the suspect pointed a gun at officers.

Shortly aftwards, protesters began gathering at the site.

St Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said they threw bottles and bricks at police and refused to move from an intersection.

“A group of protesters came together and started to do acts of violence directed not only towards law enforcement but towards the neighborhood,” Dotson said in recorded remarks released by the police department.

After other attempts to clear the area failed, Dotson said police used teargas to reopen the intersection.

“Peace was restored after a total of nine arrests,” he said.

Early on Thursday, police released edited video of the protest which appeared to show demonstrators throwing rocks and water bottles at a phalanx of police who hid behind riot shields.

Officers could be seen patrolling the streets late Wednesday as an abandoned building near the protests went up in flames, images on Twitter showed.

Overnight, police received reports of burglaries and a car being set alight in the area. l

countries, and 14 foreigners were among the dead, including seven from mainland China and Hong Kong, but Winthai said Chinese tourists were not believed to have been the target.

He did not elaborate or say who might have been responsible.

China is an important ally and trade partner for Thailand and the biggest source of foreign tourists.

Police said on Wednesday a young man who was caught on grainy security camera footage planting the backpack bomb was believed to be European or Middle Eastern.

On Thursday, authorities said the man in a yellow shirt and shorts, with thick, dark hair and a wispy beard and glasses might actually have been Thai and disguised to look foreign.

The apparent elimination of foreign militant involvement will feed speculation that either Muslim separatists waging a low-intensity insurgency in southern Thailand, or domestic political activists, were involved.

Police said at least 10 people were suspected of involvement and despite the focus of

suspicion apparently shifting to a domestic plot, they appealed to Interpol for help in finding the man in the video.

National police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said the investigation showed the attack was planned at least a month in advance by a “big network.”

“This includes those who looked out on the streets, prepared the bomb and those at the site and ... those who knew the escape route. I believe there must have been at least 10 people involved,” Somyot told reporters.

Referring to speculation about the origin of the man in the video, he said: “The criminal could be someone from inside the country but was disguised to make himself appear a foreigner.”

Checks at airports and other exit points found that no one matching the description of the main suspect had left the country since the attack, a police spokesman said.

Somyot did not say who he believed the plotters were, or elaborate on the investigation, but said no possibilities were being ruled out. l

Only if he knew Modi would become PM one day... n AFP, Ahmedabad A senior police officer who accused incumbent Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being complicit in deadly anti-Muslim riots in the prime minister’s home state of Gujarat in 2002, has been fired from his job.

Sanjiv Bhatt, the officer, on Thursday confirmed that he had received a letter terminating his employment of 27 years after being found guilty of indiscipline.

He was suspended from duty in 2011 after filing a petition in the Supreme Court implicating Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat, and his government in the 2002 violence.

In his affidavit, Bhatt said Modi had ordered police to allow rioters to vent their anger against the state’s Muslim community after the deaths of nearly 60 Hindu pilgrims in a train fire that was blamed at the time on Muslims.

Modi, who took power last year after a landslide election victory, has always denied any responsibility for the riots which left more than 1,000 people dead, most of them Muslims.

A Supreme Court investigation cleared the prime minister of any wrongdoing, but suspicions persist that he failed to do enough to stop the violence.

Bhatt said he had received the termination order, dated August 13, on Wednesday.

It states that he failed to respond to charges of indiscipline levied against him in 2012 and subsequently upheld by an official inquiry conducted in his absence.

The charges relate mostly to his absence from work in the wake of the suit, although he is also accused of coercing a fellow of-

Sanjiv Bhatt

CREATIVE COMMONS

ficer to lie about his presence at the meeting attended by Modi.

“The government of the day has decided to remove me from service after conducting a sham, ex parte inquiry on completely fabricated charges of ‘unauthorised absence from duty’,” Bhatt posted on his Facebook page.

“If the government of the day does not require my services... so be it. I pray to God that he may continue to kindle and stoke the passion and fire that has possessed me all these years.”

Modi was effectively blacklisted by a number of foreign powers in the aftermath of the riots, which happened shortly after he took over as the state’s chief minister.

The European Union and then the United States only ended their boycott of the right-wing Hindu nationalist when it became clear he could be elected leader of the world’s largest democracy. l

One CCTV suspect freed over Bangkok bomb explosion n AFP, Bangkok

Thai police on Thursday said they had questioned and freed one man who handed himself in after being seen on CCTV at the Bangkok shrine moments before a deadly bomb blast, but the prime suspect remains at large.

A Thai man wanted for questioning after he was seen on security camera footage “met police and was released,” national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri told reporters, adding a second man from China in the same shot had already left the country – but neither were “likely involved.”

The main suspect, believed to be a foreigner in a yellow shirt seen depositing a backpack at the scene was still at large, he added.

The two men – the Thai in a red shirt, and the Chinese in white – were initially believed to be possible accomplices of the suspected bomber.

They were seen standing in front of the lead suspect as he took a backpack off and placed it under a bench. They then left the crowed shrine in central Bangkok.

Thai authorities have given conflicting and contradictory snippets of information on their quest for the bomber. l

Pakistan air strikes kill 43 militants n AFP, Islamabad

Pakistan air strikes killed 43 suspected militants near the Afghan border on Thursday, the military said, part of a major ongoing operation against Taliban and other insurgents.

The attacks took place in Gharlamai and Shawal areas of North Waziristan tribal region, where the army has been waging a major offensive to clear militant hideouts since June last year.

“Twenty-eight terrorists were killed in Gharlamai area and another 15 were killed in Shawal in precise aerial strikes,” the military said in a statement.

The conflict zone is remote and off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to verify the army’s claims, including the number and identity of those killed.

Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency for over a decade following the late 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

The Pakistan army began a major campaign in North Waziristan in June last year and authorities have now vowed to intensify operations both in the border regions and across the country.

Officials say nearly 3,000 militants have been killed since the launch of the latest offensive.

Since May, the military has stepped up operations in the deeply forested ravines of the Shawal valley, which straddles the Pakistani region of North and South Waziristan along the border with Afghanistan, and is dotted with militant bases.

Residents have reported continuous bombing since Sunday, when a provincial minister was among the 19 people killed by a suicide bomber in Punjab province, the stronghold of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. l

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Saudi Mers infections soar ahead of hajj pilgrimage n AFP, Riyadh Mers coronavirus infections have soared in Saudi Arabia ahead of the hajj pilgrimage, killing three people and forcing a Riyadh hospital to close its emergency ward, officials and newspapers said Thursday.

The Saudi Gazette said authorities shut the emergency ward at one of the capital’s largest hospitals, King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC-R), “after at least 46 people, including hospital staff ” contracted the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.

The health ministry has said it registered 21 confirmed Mers infections, all but one of

them in Riyadh, between August 9 and 15.

There was no immediate explanation for the difference in the figures, but the ward closure at KAMC-R was confirmed by a hospital employee.

The executive director of its Infection Prevention and Control Department, Hanan Balkhi, confirmed in a statement on the facility’s website that there were Mers cases amongst health workers.

“In view of ... the increasing number of cases of Mers-coronavirus, and due to the around-the-clock large numbers of patients in the ER at KAMC-R and the difficulty of applying quarantine measures, preventive

measures have been upgraded,” he said.

These include reducing the number of patients and allocating “three wings to accommodate the quarantine of suspected/ confirmed cases.”

Cases ‘still limited’

Health Minister Khalid al-Falih said late Wednesday that the hospital “has faced a spread of the coronavirus during the past few weeks, which started as one case.”

However, in remarks carried by the official SPA news agency, he gave reassurances that the cases were “still limited.”

He urged “vigilance when contacting peo-

ple with respiratory illnesses” and preventive measures when visiting Mers patients.

The latest deaths occurred in Riyadh, and the three victims were all Saudis aged between 65 and 86, the health ministry said.

This raises to 483 the number of deaths out of 1,118 Mers infections in Saudi Arabia, where the virus first appeared in 2012, according to the ministry.

Saudi Arabia, preparing to host more than two million Muslims from all over the world for the annual hajj to Mecca and Medina, Islam’s holiest sites, expected to start on September 21, is the country worst hit by the coronavirus. l

White House hires first openly transgender staff

n Thomson Reuters Foundation, London

The Stad Amsterdam (L) clipper sails during the Sail-In Parade marking the beginning of the Sail Amsterdam 2015 nautical festival held every five years in Amsterdam, Netherlands August 19 REUTERS

Paris climate summit: EU to back only a strong, legally binding deal n Reuters, Brussels The European Union will support a UN deal to cap global warming only if the agreement is legally binding and includes regular reviews to ensure words translate into deeds, Europe’s climate boss said on Thursday.

With just 10 days scheduled for formal negotiations before landmark talks begin in Paris on November 30, preparations are painfully slow.

Technical work to pare back an unwieldy negotiating text, still more than 80 pages long, is behind schedule and big economies, such as India and Saudi Arabia, have yet to deliver promises on emissions cuts.

European Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete urged those governments and other “key G20 economies” to submit pledges to the United Nations without delay and said technical work must accelerate to keep pace with strong political will.

Countering concerns the two biggest emitters, China and the United States, could dominate the Paris talks, he said the EU could not accept a deal “on the basis of a minimal level of common agreement.”

“It must be an ambitious agreement. I have established our priorities and we are going to fight for them,” he told a news conference in Brussels.

“It will be an extremely difficult negotiation, but what I have seen is that there is political will.”

Arias Canete laid out his priorities as legal certainty, a review every five years, clear enforcement rules, and an interim 2050 goal of cutting global emissions by 60% versus 2010, plus the more remote target of virtually zero emissions by 2100.

While the EU and developing nations are among those urging an internationally binding text, others, such as the United States, want only national enforcement.

UN climate negotiations are haunted by the memory of a failed Copenhagen summit in 2009, the last attempt to reach a global climate deal.

Arias Canete said the Paris talks had to be different and bring in nations representing at least 80% of all emissions, rather than a small club.

The EU was the first major economy to deliver its emissions pledge in March. It promised to cut emissions by at least 40% by 2030 versus 1990 levels.

Arias Canete said that was the most ambitious yet, although the United States and China say they are taking huge steps.

So far the global pledges fall far short of the action needed to limit global warming to 2ºC (3.6ºF) above pre-industrial times.

The 2º limit, which the EU wants cemented into any Paris deal, is what scientists say can prevent the most devastating consequences of global warming. l

The White House has hired its first openly transgender employee, according to a US official, winning praise from activists for President Barack Obama’s support for lesbian, gay and transgender people.

Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, 28, a longtime advocate for transgender rights, will be an outreach and recruitment director for presidential personnel, according to a statement from the Obama administration.

“Raffi Freedman-Gurspan demonstrates the kind of leadership this Administration champions,” Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to the president, said in a statement.

“Her commitment to bettering the lives of transgender Americans, particularly transgender people of color and those in poverty, reflects the values of this Administration.”

Freedman-Gurspan holds a degree in political science and Norwegian and formerly worked as a policy advisor at the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE).

The appointment comes amid a wider push from the Obama administration to promote equality for transgender US citizens. l

Brazil Senate passes austerity bill in win for Rousseff n Reuters, Brasilia

Brazil’s Senate approved a bill to roll back payroll tax breaks on Wednesday that is a key measure in President Dilma Rousseff ’s efforts to reduce a gaping fiscal deficit and restore confidence in her government’s accounts.

The Senate voted 45-27 to pass the bill. It was received from the lower house with no changes, so it will go to Rousseff to be signed into law without delay.

The vote puts an end to months of heated debate over the final major piece of legislation in Rousseff ’s fiscal austerity plan aimed at saving Brazil’s threatened investment grade credit rating.

These changes to the government’s original bill reduced the generation of new fiscal revenues to R$10bn ($2.8bn) a year from the planned R$13bn. l

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Study: China’s carbon emissions overestimated n AFP, Paris The United Nations and other international bodies have vastly overestimated China’s greenhouse gas emissions over the last decade or more, according to a study released Wednesday.

In 2013, for example, China’s total carbon emissions were 14% less than the figures used by the UN’s panel of experts tasked with providing the scientific framework for global climate talks, the research showed.

However, the new estimate does not change China’s rank as the world’s top carbon polluter.

From 2000 to 2013, the country produced nearly three billion tonnes less carbon than previously thought – a figure equivalent to roughly a third of current global annual emissions.

“China’s total emissions as a country are still well above the second big emitter, which is the United States,” commented Corinne Le Quere, director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in East Anglia.

Nor does it change the overall climate picture – scientists have long tracked the atmospheric increase in heat-trapping carbon dioxide with great precision.

But only months ahead of UN talks tasked with forging a planet-saving climate pact, it does highlight the importance of having good data, experts say.

The error in this case comes from the difficulty of measuring China’s massive consumption of coal, said the study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.

Previous calculations did not sufficiently take into account the fact that China – which consumes nearly as much coal as the rest of the world combined – produces and uses a particularly poor grade of the fossil fuel.

“China burns much lower quality coal, which has a lower heat value and carbon content compared to the coal burned in the US and Europe,” explained co-author Dabo Guan, a researcher at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Even if this “dirtier” coal creates more local air pollution, in other words, its lower energy content also translates into lower carbon dioxide emissions.

The other factor that allowed for the new, more accurate estimate is China’s efforts in gathering data, experts say.

‘China deserves praise’

“Good accounting is hard enough for a single factory, but for a nation the size of China the sheet number and diversity of emissions sources” makes it a monumental task, said Dave Reay, a professor of carbon management at the University of Edinburgh.

“China deserves praise,” said Le Quere. “It is a big country, they have a lot of different industries. It shows a desire to improve on the statistics they provide.”

Nearly three-quarters of the growth in global carbon output from the burning of fossil fuels and cement production between 2010 and 2012 occurred in China.

And about 70% of China’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from coal, far more than in the United States or the European Union.

The earlier figures for China’s emissions were calculated by the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Centre (CDIAC) in the United States and the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) in the EU, both official data sources for the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change.

At the end of November, 195 nations will gather in Paris under the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) to forge a plan for capping the increase in global temperatures and helping poorer nations deal with climate impacts already in the pipeline.

One of the challenges is creating standards and tools for measuring the scope of the problem and tracking national actions.

“For climate change, the business adage of ‘You can’t manage what you don’t measure’ has never rung more true,” said Reay. l

DT

EDITORIAL 11

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

INSIDE

Lather, rinse, repeat Bangladesh owes its existence to a culture that criticised and fought the status quo when it became unjust. It is a very different country to the one that entered the world in the winter of 1971 PAGE 12

Machete attacks on free speech Bangladesh needs to change course, adopt international standards, and uphold constitutional freedoms and do it fast

PAGE 13

If you are discriminated against on the basis of your mother tongue, are you independent or free? You are not PAGE 14

Write to Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Email letters.dt@ dhakatribune.com

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Let’s make Dhaka a city we can call home

O

Cutting off the mother tongue

Be heard

NASHIRUL ISLAM

nce again, Dhaka has earned the unenviable distinction of being ranked as one of the least liveable cities on the planet. According to a survey conducted by The Economist’s global liveability ranking, Dhaka is the second worst city in the world to live in, only slightly better than Syria’s war-torn capital of Damascus.

While the methodology used in the study is not beyond reproach, there can be very little doubt that Dhaka is indeed not a very resident-friendly city. High levels of petty and violent crime, political instability, and the lack of quality health care, public transport, and water provision have all contributed to the dismal state Dhaka finds itself in. The unacceptably high amount of pollution in our capital also poses a severe threat to public health, and deters many foreign visitors from coming here.

The worst threat to Dhaka’s liveability, however, is the state of our congested roads. The traffic problem is getting more unmanageable day by day, and is causing great misery to city-dwellers. Combating traffic, then, is a matter of utmost urgency.

In the four months since the Dhaka mayoral election, we are yet to see any significant improvements in our liveability indicators. In fact, things only seem to be getting worse. Mayors Annisul Haque and Sayeed Khokon have vowed to make improvements to the quality of life in our overpopulated capital, and we must start holding them to their word.

We realise that improving the liveability standards of a city with as many overwhelming and complex problems like Dhaka is a tall order.

Our expectations must be realistic -- we cannot demand that our city be transformed overnight.

However, we pray that the new mayors make good on the promises they made during their campaigns, and make it a priority at the top of our list to get off this list.

The worst threat to Dhaka’s liveability is the state of our congested roads.

The traffic problem is getting more unmanageable day by day

DT

12 OPINION

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Lather, rinse, repeat We should never accept violence as the norm

There is blood on our hands

BIGSTOCK

Bangladesh owes its existence to a culture that criticised and fought the status quo when it became unjust. It is a very different country to the one that entered the world in the winter of 1971

n Ibtisam Ahmed

I

n eight months, four bloggers have been killed for practising their right to speak.

They expressed views that a handful deemed controversial and undesirable, even though countless others across the world, including people in this country, shared their thoughts. They were not so much anti-religion as they were pro-humanity, engaging in intellectual debates which challenged the norms and hoped to improve how society worked.

The response to this debate was not any type of proportional rebuttal. They were not confronted with coherent and thought-out responses to prove why they might be wrong.

They were not even greeted with slurs and insults. Instead, their very lives were extinguished in a series of shockingly similar assaults. The only difference was that the attackers became bolder, as each crime went

unpunished, culminating in a murder inside someone’s own home.

Halfway across the world, in a supposedly civilised nation that sets the standard for the less fortunate, those same eight months have seen 205 mass shootings. They might not have garnered the same level of attention as Columbine or Sandy Hook, following which empty promises to fix the system were made, but they did happen.

Once again, the pattern was the same.

Public outrage would follow each incident, followed by well-intentioned attempts to change things that would finally end in the same toothless platitudes. Lather. Rinse.

Repeat. It gets the blood stains out after all.

Through it all, the anger always comes back. The protests continue, whether they are in Shahbagh or in Washington, DC. People hold on to hope, that most painful and malignant of cancers, thinking, surely, this will be the last time this brutality happens. The knives and the gun-shots need to be confined to the history books.

But history repeats itself and, in doing so, the harsh truth begins to come out. The biggest tragedy is not that individuals are dying -- it is that the world is more willing to accept that violence than try to change. Human lives are expendable, but ideas are not. That is our greatest failure.

The Second Amendment cannot be changed. Never mind the fact that it was enshrined in the US constitution over two centuries ago. The right to bear arms is an integral part of life even though it can end in unwarranted death. Of course, the situation is much more complex than what liberals

would have us believe and a blanket ban on weapons is no real solution.

However, that should be no reason to end the discussion completely. The world has changed significantly since the US constitution was first thought up and to deny that evolution is equal parts foolish, stubborn, and destructive. Attempts at limiting ammunition, regulating the 3D printing of guns, and strengthening background and mental health checks should not be ridiculed as being un-patriotic and, therefore, unworthy.

Similarly, talking about how religious misinterpretation has caused irreparable damage to communities should not be a death sentence. Bangladesh owes its existence to a culture that criticised and fought the status quo when it became unjust. Much like the US, it is a very different country to the one that entered the world in the winter of 1971.

These changes not only consist of shifts towards a more developed nation, but also of challenges that have sadly gone unsolved.

Ideas and ideals come from a specific point in time where they are the best solution to contemporary problems. They are utopian because they are tangible answers to concerns of the age. However, if we refuse to acknowledge that those concerns have since changed, we risk turning the answers into a dystopian system of oppression. The longer this practice goes unopposed, these archaic norms will become more sacred and casualties will continue to be just another superfluous statistic. l Ibtisam Ahmed is a freelance contributor.

DT

OPINION 13

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Have we lost the freedom to blog?

BIGSTOCK

Machete attacks on free speech Our track record when it comes to freedom of speech is a shameful one

n Meenakshi Ganguly

F Bangladesh needs to change course, adopt international standards, and uphold constitutional freedoms and do it fast

ree speech in Bangladesh is under attack as never before, held hostage between angry, machete-wielding radicals on one hand, and a government, quick to take offence, on the other.

Four bloggers have been murdered this year by religious extremists for promoting secularism, a principle which these groups consider to be anti-Islam.

Following the killing of blogger Niloy Neel earlier this month, Ansar Al Islam, an insurgent group linked to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility, saying they had the “permission of Allah,” and warned of further attacks.

While police were aware of threats to Niloy Neel and the other slain bloggers, they failed to properly protect them.

Niladri Chatterjee was a Bangladeshi blogger who wrote about religious fundamentalism and secularism. He was hacked to death on August 7.

A reasonable government would have swiftly condemned these murders and would have tried to hunt down the attackers.

Instead, the police’s first instinct was to urge self-censorship, with Bangladesh’s inspector general of police, AKM Shahidul Hoque, warning that “hurting religious sentiments is a crime.”

It took more than a week for police to arrest three suspects in Niloy Neel’s murder case, despite the alleged perpetrators’ identities being known to the police.

The police chief’s comments were shocking, but not surprising, given that Bangladeshi authorities are increasingly seen to be cracking down on freedom of expression.

Probir Sikdar was arrested by the dreaded Detective Branch, a specialist police intelligence unit, for his Facebook posts accusing a cabinet minister and other politicians of committing war crimes during the country’s war for independence. The prosecutor said Sikdar had “cast aspersion on the minister using information technology.”

Last week, a Bangladesh court sentenced IT lecturer Muhammad Ruhul Amin Khandaker, in absentia, to three years in prison for a Facebook post he made in 2011 on the death of an acclaimed Bangladeshi film-maker in

a road accident, blaming politicians for not ensuring road safety and wondering how the prime minister was spared such mishaps.

For this remark, judges found him guilty of sedition.

And just two weeks ago, the police issued a statement criticising two prominent human rights groups. It took more than a week for the police to arrest three suspects in Niloy Neel’s murder case, despite the alleged perpetrators’ identities being known to the police for reporting on extra-judicial executions and other abuses by security forces.

They said that any activity that harms the police’s reputation amounts to defamation, and can be considered subversive.

Bangladesh needs to change course, adopt international standards, and uphold constitutional freedoms and do it fast.

Because, as long as authorities continue to crush free speech, those who speak out risk losing their lives. l Meenakshi Ganguly is South Asia Director of Human Rights Watch. This article first appeared on www.hrw.org

DT

14 OPINION

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Cutting off the mother tongue When one’s own mother tongue is being squashed, it is not anti-patriotic to protest cater to the poorest (like MNREGA information) or government TV channels that cater to farmers (like Kisan TV) to have anything in their mother tongue (as Mohammed Shafi points out: “Farmers of non-Hindi states have real challenges to overcome. Let’s not include ‘learning Hindi’ and ridicule them.”)

The list goes on and on. When a nation-state treats huge sections of its citizens as second class, do those citizens have the same obligation of loyalty to that system as the first class citizens? Only a twisted and hypocritical supremacist can claim to believe in “diversity” and then unilaterally dictate the “common” interface that needs to be developed.

If you are discriminated against on the basis of your mother tongue, are you independent or free? You are not

Is it right for a multi-lingual country like India to have sign-boards is only one language?

n Garga Chatterjee

W

hile the Indian Union and Pakistan celebrated the transfer of power from London to New Delhi and Karachi respectively (something that goes by the name independence in these parts of the world), a Twitter hashtag made the news. On August 15, #stopHindiImposition was trending. This was a well co-ordinated campaign from citizens who wanted to bring their demands for linguistic equality to be brought into public notice.

Such an act, especially on August 15, was termed by some as being “anti-national.”

From when did asking for linguistic equality and fighting against imposition of something become an anti-national act -- unless being patriotic and being for Hindi imposition are one and the same? It is precisely this right to protest uni-lateral impositions, among other things, that were supposed to have been achieved on August 15, 1947, or so we were made to believe.

Freedom also means equality. This means no one should have more or less advantage in any sphere of life because of his or her mother tongue. I will give two sets of examples.

There are a million things that a non-Hindi mother tongue person can’t do in the Indian Union, and this becomes especially stark when one goes down the socio-economic ladder.

One can’t write to parliamentary committees in their mother tongue (thus cutting out a majority of the people from the legislative process); can’t expect public sector banks to provide forms, documents, and ATM choices

in their mother tongue even in their own states and areas; can’t expect airplane safety announcements to be in the major languages of the origin and destination even when both are in non-Hindi regions (ironically, foreign airlines have announcements in Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, etc for flights to Indian destinations where these languages dominate).

One can’t expect that their prime minister will go abroad and open a non-Hindi language centre in a foreign country as part of PR and “soft-power” projection; can’t have passports and other documents in their own language (Canada does, Switzerland does in five languages, even neighbouring oppressor-of-minorities, Sri Lanka, mentions both Sinhalese and Tamil); can’t argue in their courts in their mother-tongue, even in non-Hindi states; can’t take competitive exams like IIT, IAS, and a host of other “national” exams in their mother tongue.

One can’t expect, in an age of increasing digitisation of information, that “national” websites will also be in their mother tongue; can’t expect that “national” institutions do essay competitions for children in any other language but Hindi; can’t expect that the income tax website and forms to be intelligible in the mother tongues of the majority of tax-payers; can’t expect signboards in Lok Sabha in their own language (Singapore parliament house, ironically again, has signs in Tamil and three other languages).

One also has to put up with disrespectful things like the reservation chart of trains between Chennai and Coimbatore being in Hindi but not in Tamil; can’t expect that central government and PSU bank employees will be paid cash incentives to learn some Indian

BIGSTOCK

language other than Hindi (hence non-Hindi speakers fund the cash-incentive based promotion and learning of Hindi -- clearly a Bengali learning Tamil won’t link anyone in any way that “matters” or results in “national integration!”); can’t expect their own mother-tongue signage in trains and metros in areas where they are linguistic minorities. Hindi signs exist everywhere in Bengaluru’s Namma Metro, a city where Hindi doesn’t figure in the three most spoken languages.

One can’t expect central government schemes and missiles to have names that mean nothing in Hindi but are meaningful in other Indian languages (while the reverse seems to be the rule); can’t expect that CISFCRPF-RPF-Army-BSF will speak and understand the language of non-Hindi locals (but you can’t find a government-paid Khaki in UP who doesn’t understand Hindi); can’t expect government adverts about cleaning India, greening India, making India, and whatnot in non-Hindi languages to be in newspapers and billboards of Hindi regions (while the reverse is true).

One can’t expect that their population proportion will at least hold somewhat constant, if not grow (no points for guessing whether the population proportion of major non-Hindi language speakers have decreased or increased since 1947 -- and the decrease closely parallels the increase in Hindi speakers); can’t expect the central government to fund World Kannada Conference or Tamil Language Day; can’t expect a Bangla film to have a CBFC certificate in Bangla; can’t expect someone to “break into” their non-Hindi mother tongue in English language TV channels; can’t expect government websites that

Who are these “non-Hindis” anyways? They are people with individual populations as large as Canada, Mexico, Italy, and Egypt, depending on which state we are talking about.

Five of their languages figure among the top 20 languages, with some of the largest numbers of native speakers.

If you are discriminated against on the basis of your mother tongue, are you independent or free? You are not. Who rules over you then? Well, those who oppose linguistic equality and hence, want to continue the discrimination against your mother tongue, that is, against your mother, you, and your coming generations till your kind gives in to this discrimination as “normal” and considers New Delhi-sponsored promotion of a particular language as being “normal.”

If one learns to speak, think, write, and feel in that imposed language, can sing Bollywood tunes to be included in “national” antaksharis on TV and feel included in informal settings among cosmopolitan friends in Mumbai, Delhi, and, increasingly, Bengaluru, one becomes the kind of citizen the state wants one to be.

This is not accidental. It is by design. This is not some new design either. Macaulay had something similar in mind but he is now dead. His ghost now speaks official Hindi and writes that in Devanagari script. Any imposition works best using the resources of the people on whom the imposition takes place.

Curzon knew that then. The powers-that-be know that now. l Garga Chatterjee is a political and cultural commentator. He can be followed on twitter @ gargac.

BEXIMCO COMMUNICATIONS SET TO LAUNCH DTH SERVICE FOR TV VIEWERS

16

17

STOCKS FINISH WEEK MARGINALLY HIGHER

20

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

IMF FREEZES BENCHMARK CURRENCY BASKET

Call to register unique products for Geographical Indication

PRICE TO NAV OF CLOSE-END MUTUAL FUNDS (as on August 13, 2015)

6th ICB M.F.

2nd ICB M.F.

Prime Finance 1st

8th ICB M.F

7th ICB M.F

5th ICB M.F.

ICB AMCL 1st NRB

Aims 1st M.F

3rd ICB M.F.

Grameen M.F. 1

1st ICB M.F.

4th ICB M.F.

ICB AMCL 2nd NRB

NLI First M.F.

ICB E.P.MF1:S1

ICB AMCL SBL 1st

Southeast Bank 1st

First Bangladesh FIF

IFIL Islamic M.F.-1

A.T. Sandhani Life G.F.

Phoenix Finance 1st

Grameen1 : Scheme2

PB 1st ICB AMCL M.F. 5

ICB AMCL 3rd NRB

RELIANCE ONE M.F.

EXIM Bank 1st M.F.

ICB AMCL Second M.F.

EBL First M.F.

Trust Bank 1st M.F.

First Janata Bank

IFIC Bank 1st M.F.

AB Bank 1ST M.F.

PHP First M.F.

LR Global B. M.F. 1

Popular Life 1st

AIBL 1st

EBL NRB

MBL 1st

F Green Delta

DBH First

n Tribune Report NCC Bank

125% 115% 105% 95% 85% 75% 65% 55% 45% 35%

DT

Business

15

Most closed-end funds traded at unprecedented discount rate to NAV n Kayes Sohel More than 90% closed-end mutual funds are being traded at lowest-ever discount rates, deepening investors losing appetite for the funds over the last four years.

As of last week, 36 out of 41 closed-end mutual funds were traded below their respective net asset values (NAVs), widening the discount rates over the last four years, according to the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).

NAV is computed daily based on the closing market prices of the securities in the fund’s portfolio. Closed-end funds are mutual funds that act much like stocks. Fund managers issue a finite number of shares which trade on stock exchanges.

Among the closed-end funds now trading at significant discounts, NCCBLMF1 and DBH1STMF had the highest discounts and both were trading at 60% discount as of last week, according IDLC Investments analysis.

However, 6THICB and 1STPRIMFMF were traded at higher multiple than others, at 16% and 10% premium, respectively.

“Such deep discounts to so many closedend mutual funds for so long are unprecedented in the history of capital market anywhere in the world,” says Shahidul Islam, CEO at VIPB Asset Management Company.

Despite the fact that returns from the stock market have been higher than the falling bank interest rate in the recent months, investors are reluctant to bet on the funds.

About dismal performance of closed-end funds, Islam said: “The main reason, I think, is that investors have witnessed clear violations of basic contracts by some fund managers. Some funds continued to operate before stated maturities. No depositors would deposit money to a bank that does not allow depositors to encash their FDRs at maturity. Similarly, investors would not invest in closed-end funds that continue to operate after their stated maturities.”

Also, perhaps investors don’t trust the NAV figures reported by the fund managers because some fund managers don’t disclose their holdings, according to Islam.

He also blamed investors’ lack of understanding of mutual funds. “For example, lack of understanding resulted in mutual funds being traded at even 500% premiums to NAVs around six years ago. Only insanity can explain mutual funds trading at such premiums to NAVs” Former chairman of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission Faruq Ahmed Siddiqui said mutual funds remained under pressure for long, denting investors’ confidence.

“Expertise and professionalism fail to grow up to the mark so far. There remained a high level of skepticism about the rally of mutual funds and skepticism was bullish.”

Total market capitalisation of mutual funds accounts for only more than 1% or Tk27bn of the total DSE market capitalisation, which is more than 50% in many markets. l

BIDS to get additional funds

BGMEA wants to help employ autistic youth in RMG sector

The government will give an additional fund worth over Tk15 crore to Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) for conducting 30 research surveys in the current fiscal year, said a planning commission statement released yesterday.

The additional fund allocation for the public research organisation is massive increase for the fiscal year 2015-16 as the BIDS received Tk2 crore on an average in the past years.

AHM Mustafa Kamal disclosed it at a BIDS board meeting yesterday. He said expenditure on research-oriented work is seen by the government as an investment. l

n Tribune Report

n Tribune Report

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association is interested to extend help in recruiting autistic youth in the country’s ready-made garment sector.

“Like others, autistic people also should have a better and respectable life. To achieve this, BGMEA wants to help them get jobs in the RMG sector and provide related training,” BGMEA President Atiqul Islam told a dialogue held yesterday.

He sought cooperation from garment manufacturers in the matter, which could only

add more glory to the industry. “Then we can utter ‘Made in Bangladesh’ with more pride. But it will be possible only when efforts are made together.”

Saima Wazed Hossain, chairperson of National Advisory Committee on Autism and NDDs, said urged all to think how autistic people could be turned into a workforce than recruiting one or two sporadically. l

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday said Bangladesh has to include its unique products into the Geographical Indication (GI) of Goods in order to brand the country and bring premium prices for producers.

The minister made the call at a seminar on “Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 2013: Significance of GI, Implementation Challenges and Needed Initiatives,” held in DCCI auditorium in the city.

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI) jointly organised the programme.

The event aimed to provide a basic idea about the GI and to identify the economic rationale of having GI registration, besides showing prospect of Bangladeshi GI products.

Geographical Indication (GI) identifies a good as originating in a particular region, where a specific characteristic and quality of the goods is essentially attributable to its place of origin.

Bangladesh has some unique products like Jamdani, Buffalo curd of Bhola, Hilsa of Padma and Mango of Chapai.

“We have register those for GI to protect ownership,” said Tofail.

It is high time concentration should be given to brand Bangladesh through GI products in line with its world-wide identity by readymade garments, he said.

The commerce minister urged DCCI president for taking initiative to identify traditional products especially of Dhaka District.

“GI protects right holders from the acts of reinforcement or unfair competition. National GI regime and its enforcement will help Bangladesh protect the country’s ownership on its unique products under treaties,” said Mohammad Abu Yusuf, former senior fellow of BFTI. Bangladeshi GI will work as a brand for Bangladesh and help build consumers’ confidence and improve market access with premium price, said Yusuf. l

DT

16 BUSINESS

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Beximco Communications set to launch DTH service for TV viewers n Ishtiaq Husain

Beximco Communications Limited is set to launch a new service called “Direct-to-Home (DTH), a method of receiving television signals directly from the satellite, from January 2016 to overthrow the existing transmission through cable system.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has recently finalised a guideline in this regard.

“We are ready to provide DTH services across the country from January next,” said Bobby Dias, area manager of Beximco Communications Limited, while talking to the Dhaka Tribune.

He said, “Beximco, which will initially launch the DTH service in the metropolitan areas, will also cover the entire country gradually.”

Monthly approximate bill of the DTH will be Tk500 under a few packages to be available for the viewers.

Customers can change his/her monthly package that will include over 100 channels for the clients.

In December 2013, the government award-

ed two licences to Beximco Communications Limited and Buyers Media Limited.

But, both the two companies had to wait for more than one and a half year to launch their new services in absence of the required guideline. Both the two companies paid Tk2 crore each as licence fees in 2013.

Initially, Ministry of Information awarded the DTH licence. Later on, the government ordered the BTRC to formulate a guideline.

Spectrum management department of the commission worked for 8 months to formulate a guideline in this connection.

DTH is a digital satellite television distribution services where consumers receive television signals directly from the satellite through a device installed at their homes.

The DTH services will eliminate the need for cable infrastructure, which the television viewers of the country now use to watch satellite television channels.

The BTRC has decided to waive Beximco’s spectrum charge, as the company could not launch its services due to lack of a guideline.

In this regard, a policy will be finalised soon.

Similarly, Buyers Media Limited will also

get this waiver, according to a BTRC source.

Viewers, who cannot watch High Definition (HD) picture through general cable line, would be possible to watch HD picture through DTH services.

The commission officials said the total pay back period of the set-top-box or customer premises equipment of DTH would be three years.

The equipment will be installed in the consumers’ premises, which customers can return within 15 days if they are not satisfied with the service. Once installed, there will be a lock-in period for 12 months.

Direct-Broadcast Satellite Television (DBSTV) also known as Direct-to-home television (DTHTV) is a method of receiving satellite television by means of signals transmitted from direct-broadcast satellites.

All the major services including PrimeStar, United States Satellite Broadcasting, Bell TV, DirecTV, Dish Network, SkyTV use direct-broadcast satellites. Signals are transmitted using Kuband and are completely digital, which means they have high picture and stereo sound quality. l

Oil approaches key $40 level in Asian trade n AFP, Singapore Oil prices slid to a fresh six and a half year low in Asia yesterday, approaching the key $40 a barrel level after a surprise rise in US inventories added to concerns of a supply glut.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in September, which expires Thursday, dipped 26 cents to $40.54 in midday trade after falling sharply in New York to its lowest level since March 2009.

Brent crude for October dropped 24 cents to $46.92 a barrel.

“US stockpiles unexpectedly expanded when the market was looking at a contraction, which heightened the global oversupply concerns,” said Bernard Aw, a market strategist at IG Markets in Singapore.

“This added pressure to crude prices, and we see WTI drop below $41, heading towards the key $40 level. We could see more downsides, given that the current conditions remain unfavourable to oil.”

The US Department of Energy on Wednesday said oil stockpiles rose 2.6 million barrels in the week ending August 14, and reported a 300,000 barrel rise at the closely watched Cushing, Oklahoma trading hub.

The surprise jump in inventories at a time when they normally fall added to concerns of a global surplus, particularly as signs emerge that demand is faltering in top energy importer China.

US banking giant Citigroup said WTI could fall to $32 a barrel, levels not seen since the throes of the financial crisis, pressured by ex-

Chinese slowdown sends ripples across Asian banks n Reuters, Hong Kong Asian lenders are seeing their loan books rapidly deteriorate across the region as China’s slowing economy dampens trade and hurts companies that had borrowed heavily from the banks.

Among 23 major non-Chinese lenders, all but 6 reported an increase in soured loans in the first half of 2015, the strongest indication yet of how China’s slowdown is infecting banks’ balance sheets, data compiled by SNL Financial for Reuters show.

That trend accelerated in the second quarter, the banks’ data show.

“Second-quarter results have seen banks across Asia suffer rising bad loans after a period of historic lows in NPL levels,” said Josh Klaczek,

JPMorgan head of Asia financials research.

“China’s slowing growth has particularly hit shorter duration trade-related loans, but is likely to have a broader impact on commodity credit, given its importance as an end-user.”

The data indicate how banks regionwide are suffering even when, like in Indonesia, they are not lending much directly to Chinese companies, as trade across Asia stutters.

Indonesian banks saw provisions against bad loans as much as triple in the first half of 2015.

“Most of the Indonesian banks said their increasing non performing loans (NPLs) are because of the mining and construction sectors, which have been hit the most by slowing demand from China,” said analyst Syaiful Adrian at Ciptadana Securities. l

cess supplies.

“Oil balances point to further oversupply throughout 2015 begging the question how low can oil go,” it said in a market commentary, adding that hitting the 2008 low of $32.40 a barrel “is a conceivable reality”.

But Daniel Ang, an investment analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore, said he expects WTI to be supported at $40 a barrel in yesterday’s trading session.

“Technically, we are still seeing a very bearish momentum, however for prices to break below $40 is going to be an arduous task,” he said.

“We see $40 for WTI to be a strong psychological support. Thus, we would unlikely think that this would break during Asian hours.” l

Get used to cheap oil, derivatives markets say n Reuters, London Oil prices will stay low for years to come, derivatives markets say, keeping a lid on inflation and helping boost global growth.

Oil has more than halved in value over the last year, thanks to huge oversupply, and many oil companies, particularly in the United States, say they may soon have to rein in production, tightening supply, unless the market recovers.

That has led many analysts to predict that oil - on average around 5% of companies’ costs - will see price rises later this year or in 2016, pushing up inflation.

But oil derivatives tell another story.

Contracts for delivery of crude oil in the future on the big commodities markets such as the New York Mercantile Exchange (CME.O) and the InterContinental Exchange (ICE.N) show the price of oil in five years’ time has collapsed in recent months.

US crude now costs around $42 a barrel for delivery next month, and only about $20 more for delivery in 2020.

Prices of oil for future delivery are usually much more stable than volatile near-term prices, holding their value even when the spot market crashes.

But the recent oil-price rout looks different.

Prices for all futures months for years to come, also known as the futures price “curve”, have come down sharply.

“The curve is saying prices will stay low for some time,” said Amrita Sen, oil analyst at consultancy Energy Aspects.

Futures prices are not forecasts, not least because liquidity tends to be low for longterm forward contracts.

But they are good indicators of sentiment because they are a market where speculators bet on forward prices, and also allow large producers and consumers to hedge future business.

Analysts say the futures curve is saying the current collapse in oil prices will be sustained because it has been driven by massive oversupply that is likely to persist. l

CORPORATE NEWS

Bangladesh Coast Guard has recently signed an agreement with Trust Bank Ltd regarding salary payment to its officers and sailors through the bank’s online banking system. Captain of Bangladesh Coast Guard, AM Kudrotullah, (S), psc, BN, Director (Logistics) and the bank’s deputy managing director, Abu Zafar Hedaytul Islam have signed the agreement

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BUSINESS 17

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Stocks finish week marginally higher n Tribune Report

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company LafargeS Cement-A Square Pharma -A Shahjibazar Power-N BD Building Systems -A Islami Bank BD - A C & A Textile -N Ratanpur Steel -N SAIF Powertec-N United Power-N Apex Tannery -A

BATBCL -A SummitAlliancePort.-A IFIC Bank - A BSRM Ltd. -A Mithun Knitting -A

VolumeShares 2,787,811 1,246,176 859,100 2,997,432 5,090,306 7,027,171 1,928,822 1,476,794 779,584 746,888

Value in Million 321.06 307.88 167.11 157.15 154.57 144.01 130.58 123.21 123.05 122.72

% of TotalTurnover 5.38 5.16 2.80 2.63 2.59 2.41 2.19 2.06 2.06 2.06

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

35,320 1,885,023 4,382,695 846,031 1,125,525

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company LafargeS Cement-A Shahjibazar Power-N United Power-N Square Pharma -A BSRM Ltd. -A Islami Bank BD - A People`s Leasing-A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Olympic Accessories -N Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A

UNITED AIR-A Takaful Islami Insu-A SummitAlliancePort.-A SAIF Powertec-N BD Building Systems -A

362,080 79,324 90,179 54,257 105,306 359,704 644,258 320,762 165,275 643,671

848,673 497,545 157,375 99,153 154,070

108.92 105.18 103.79 100.51 99.66

41.68 15.34 14.22 13.38 12.44 10.87 10.77 10.35 10.05 9.05

8.99 8.96 8.77 8.26 8.12

1.82 1.76 1.74 1.68 1.67

10.06 3.70 3.43 3.23 3.00 2.62 2.60 2.50 2.42 2.18

2.17 2.16 2.12 1.99 1.96

ClosingP 116.30 247.20 194.20 53.00 30.40 20.40 67.10 84.10 157.50 161.60

2950.10 56.60 24.20 120.80 89.30

ClosingP

Change % -1.36 1.90 2.43 4.33 -0.98 0.49 -1.76 4.08 -0.13 -2.00

0.13 5.40 7.56 5.23 4.57

Change %

115.90 194.80 157.20 247.00 120.60 30.20 16.70 31.90 60.60 14.00

10.60 17.70 56.60 84.10 53.00

-1.53 2.74 -0.06 1.90 5.60 -0.98 0.60 -1.24 -0.16 -2.10

0.95 -0.56 5.79 3.83 4.54

ClosingY 117.90 242.60 189.60 50.80 30.70 20.30 68.30 80.80 157.70 164.90

2946.30 53.70 22.50 114.80 85.40

ClosingY

117.70 189.60 157.30 242.40 114.20 30.50 16.60 32.30 60.70 14.30

10.50 17.80 53.50 81.00 50.70

DHIGH 116.70 249.00 197.80 53.40 30.70 20.80 68.90 84.50 159.90 168.90

3085.00 57.00 24.70 121.60 90.20

DHIGH

118.00 197.90 159.40 248.70 121.00 30.50 17.00 32.80 61.50 14.30

10.70 17.70 56.90 84.50 53.40

DLOW 113.60 242.80 190.50 50.70 29.80 20.20 66.60 81.30 156.60 158.90

2950.0 53.70 21.50 114.30 86.00

DLOW

113.50 190.00 156.90 243.00 114.00 29.90 16.30 31.70 60.30 13.90

10.50 17.50 53.70 81.70 51.20

AvgPrice 115.16 247.06 194.52 52.43 30.36 20.49 67.70 83.43 157.84 164.31

3083.78 55.80 23.68 118.80 88.54

AvgPrice

115.10 193.35 157.64 246.59 118.18 30.21 16.72 32.28 60.79 14.06

10.59 18.00 55.72 83.29 52.70

Daily capital market highlights DSE Broad Index : DSE - 30 Index : CSE All Share Index: CSE - 30 Index : CSE Selected Index :

12515.45650

(+) 0.48%

1850.94740

(+) 0.09%

14824.34950

(+) 0.41%

12515.45650

(+) 0.71%

9027.44910

(+) 0.40%

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

Stocks finished the week marginally higher yesterday, extending their gaining streak for the third session in a row.

The market was in the negative territory almost the entire session.

However, early losses were offset by the rally of mainly banking issues in the final minutes.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange benchmark index, DSEX, rose 23 points or 0.5% to 4,840.

The Shariah index, DSES, inched over 2 points or 0.3% up to 1,191.

The blue chip comprising index, DS30, settled at 1,851, rising 1.6 points.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, was up 36 points to 9,027.

The heavyweight banking sector was back on track after profit-booking fall in the previous session as the sector experienced the highest gain of 1.2% on the day.

Banks came under the spotlight a few days back after the news that its bad loan declined to a single-digit.

Pharmaceuticals, non-banking financial institutions, food and allied continued to register marginal

gain.

Cement, power and telecommunication experienced a skimpy correction.

At the same time, activities ramped up a little, generating a total turnover on DSE to Tk600 crore, which was 8.5% higher than the previous session’s value.

The gainers took a marginal lead over losers as out of 318 issues traded, 138 advanced, 127 declined and 53 remained unchanged.

IDLC Investments said the bourse marginally gained with the help of large and mid-cap stocks as some money flew into these scrips in expectation of relatively certain payoff.

Lanka Bangla Securities said while trading activity was somewhat subdued, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day.

“The upward move on the day came on the heels of the buoyant move in the banking stocks.”

Lafarge Surma Cement was the most traded shares with a turnover of Tk32.2 crore.

It was followed by Square Pharmaceuticals, Shahjibazar Power Company Limited, Bangladesh Building System, Islami Bank and CAN Textile. l

ANALYST

The bourse marginally gained with the help of large and mid-cap stocks as some money flew into these scrips in expectation of relatively certain payoff

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Continued on Page 20

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

IMF freezes benchmark currency basket n Reuters, Washington The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday it will freeze its benchmark currency basket until October 2016, giving markets more time to adjust to the possible addition of China’s yuan as part of a review of global reserve currencies.

The IMF board is scheduled to decide in November whether the yuan will join the Special Drawing Rights basket.

Beijing loosened government controls on the yuan this month, allowing its value to fall sharply. The IMF saw the policy shift as a step toward a freer exchange rate, potentially setting the stage for the yuan to become part of the SDR basket.

The decision announced in a statement on Wednesday, however, would defer the implementation of any move to include the yuan.

Beijing, keen for its currency to have equal billing with the euro, yen, pound and dollar, has been pushing for the yuan to be included in the SDR basket, which determines the mix of currencies that countries like Greece receive as IMF disbursements.

The United States, which is the IMF’s largest shareholder, has not said if it will support the yuan’s inclusion. China’s currency policies have been a bugbear between the two countries since China devalued the yuan in the 1990s and unleashed a flood of exports to the United States.

This month’s yuan devaluation could help China’s slowing economy but raised hackles From Page 19

Doubts over Chinese yuan put BOJ in a bind n Reuters, Tokyo

Foreign currency banknotes are placed on a basket for counting during a photo opportunity at the bank’s headquarters in Seoul REUTERS from US manufacturers. To be included in the SDR basket, IMF policymakers must decide the yuan is “freely usable,” or widely used to make international payments and widely traded in foreign exchange markets.

An IMF staff report released earlier this month, which recommended extending the basket, showed that although the currency is increasingly used in cross-border transactions and heavily traded in Asia, it is only thinly traded in North America and is not commonly

used in international debt securities.

Staff said freezing the current basket, which had been due to expire on Dec 31, would avoid disrupting financial market trading on the first day of the new year and give parties more lead time to adjust to any changes.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in March asked IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde to push for inclusion, saying Beijing would speed up the convertibility of the yuan and liberalize cross-border investment rules. l

China’s devaluation of the yuan exposes an undefended flank in the Bank of Japan’s efforts to jolt its flagging economy out of decades of deflation, which rely heavily on a solid pick-up in overseas demand.

A growing number of Japan’s central bankers are privately voicing concern that the problems behind China’s currency move will hit Asian demand harder than expected, threatening a Japanese export rebound they hope will stave off the need for another splurge of monetary easing.

Since April 2013 the bank has ploughed 170tn yen ($1.37tn) into a radical quantitative easing programme that some, including some policymakers on the bank’s board, think has gone far enough - particularly given its questionable returns. Inflation remains barely above zero, for all the firepower thrown at it.

Many are wary of the rising costs of the programme, the potential for asset bubbles, and the distortion to markets - especially the government bond market, which is increasingly dominated by the BOJ. Some also fear the programme lets central government off the hook on fiscal reform, too.

When the BOJ reviews its long-term forecasts in October, sources familiar with its thinking say it would be very reluctant - and at this point still unlikely - to act again, but if China’s woes hit exports enough to push Japan into recession this quarter, it cannot be ruled out. l

INSIDE

news

Amari Dhaka offering unlimited pizza at Tk1,499 (net) This August Amari Dhaka is all set to whet the appetite of pizza lovers with an unlimited offer at Cascade Lounge.

This unlimited offer includes different delicious flavours of pizza at Tk1,499 net per person with a free soft drink. Their chef Krisna’s creation of Pizza Margherita, Pizza Hawaiian,

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Photo; Bigstock

T-JUNCTION

Full-bodied brews

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Pizza Vegetarian, Pizza Lamb kofta alongside a full show kitchen will surely not fail to satisfy pizza lovers everywhere. This promotion will continue until further notification.

For more information or reservation, please call 880255059620 or visit www.facebook.com/AmariDhaka

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Tantalise

Coffee Confessions

24

listology

10 ways to successfully lose your job

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22 T-JUNCTION

Tantalise

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Review

Coffee Confessions Something hot with something cold, taking a visit to Columbus Coffee

n Stefan Duarte Comparisons will be made. Contemporary takes on a buzzing cafe growing in every corner can become an eye sore. Some people tend to believe making instant coffee entitles them to master the art of roasting beans to produce an exquisite cup of coffee.

Columbus Coffee, on the other hand, isn’t pretentious at all. In fact, it’s uncomfortably floating under the radar. Drifting castaway in the Atlantic, if you will.

The interior The dim lit entrance leaves plenty of mystery, but still obtains today’s so called modern standards. There is no glorious aroma of fresh beans snaking its way down the street from the Louvre at the Cafes Verlet. There is no vintage romance or that tempting coma induced fragrance.

It’s, well, a standard cafe. We’re talking about Columbus after all. That’s the city of Columbus, capital of the state of Ohio.

Famous for the sports driven Ohio State University and Midwest mediocrity. Sorry, the Cleveland fans made me say that.

In all honesty, it would have been nice to see them take a page out of the many Columbus Coffee joints all over the world.

We were left a tad underwhelmed. Then again, this isn’t Starbucks (we’re still waiting for you folks), the uber popular Seattle empire. As mentioned before, comparisons will be made. Unfortunately, the employees writing your name on their Crimsons Cups is the only similarities between the counterparts. And that’s good to know, unlike Starbucks, they actually spell your name correctly. Kind of.

Overall, the place is spotless and polished, as if nothing had changed from the grand opening. Cleanliness doesn’t seem to be an issue with the folks from CC. Hats off to those keeping genuine care and integrity in a legitimate cash flow establishment. And this service extends to their well-mannered employees. They are warm and welcoming, just like the seating arrangements. In other words, a book shouldn’t be judged by its cover. You really won’t understand the actual experience, until you’ve given the place a shot.

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exaggerated designer hat off the runway, or ornaments presented on a Christmas tree. Cheesecakes smaller than a flagship smartphone, cookies as thin as the baking sheets it was probably made on and donuts the size of pool table corner pockets. We’re assuming this only the beginning and there are plenty of improvements to be made. Let’s hope.

The people The employees can take pride in knowing they were very helpful, in front and behind the counter. And so it should be because the only menu you’ll see is on chalkboards, strategically placed on the walls. Any questions you have, they’ll answer it. No complications, just straight to the point. The drinks themselves, however, was a confusing affair. We’ll get to that in a bit.

The crowd, gradually filling up the shop, was an odd assortment. In some popular digs, you’ll find a distinct crowd, leaving you a clear picture of what kind of people actually tend to visit. We saw nothing but a unique group of folks filling up the cozy corners of the floor. Nothing but happy faces indulging their healthy caffeine fix.

The drinks And when asking frequent visitors, it seemed we weren’t the only ones who favoured the iced drinks over the hot variety.

It’s a tad odd that the hotter siblings weren’t as rich in flavour. They were toned down and harnessed like prized thoroughbreds groomed to perfection. The Irish Cream Latte was okay but not great. It

was like dealing with Bostonians claiming to be from the Emerald Isle who have never left the Atlantic Coast in their entire lives.

We wanted to give them another chance and ordered an iced drink alongside the warmer choices. And as one of the regular costumers had stated in the elevator, their colder drinks are why people come back for more. The strawberry smoothie was a perfect example. That initial sweet and sour kick entices you to slurp a bit more for a brain freeze.

When all is slurped and done, we found that the prices aren’t really justified. A companion had stated it would have been better to sink our teeth into Nando’s chicken for the price we were charged at Columbus.

Paying around Tk350 for a cup of Joe may make sense on the corner of Venice Beach, but for something unspectacular in a crimson coloured cup would leave many dissatisfied.

The array of sweet treats left us perplexed.

They looked like little trinkets on an

The verdict A star collegiate player, superstar prospect falls flat at the professional stage. The situation occurs more often than not.

Without sounding too bourgeois (which has been a failure so far), this has been a balanced visit, no positive or negative outweighing the other. Worth the visit?

Only if you’re looking for a quick fix under their “Frozen” menu. We’ve seen and been to worse, Crimson Coffee isn’t in that category. l

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24 T-JUNCTION

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Listology

10 ways

to successfully lose your job n Tasnia Khandaker Want to quit your job but you’re too awesome to be let go of ?

Here are 10 ways to successfully lead your boss into kicking you out the door.

Trying to be the boss Even if you think your ideas are brilliant and you deserve a Nobel Prize for simply existing, over-riding your boss’ decision is definitely going to prove be a horrible idea.

Raising your palm up like a traffic sergeant to interrupt your boss while he’s speaking is also not a great idea. If you act like you’re on Unicorn Island and you’re the one who sits on the big, comfy chair, you’re definitely going to get fired.

Chronic conjunctivitis Showing up at your office with blood-shot eyes that fire bacteria into your colleague’s eyes isn’t really a smart idea. People start avoiding you and before you know it, HR calls you and starts rambling about some made up reason, (made up because they don’t want a law-suit in their hands) for letting you go.

Failing to be James Bond Two words: corporate espionage. We all get pumped up listening to background scores from spy movies, but that doesn’t mean we’ll make a great spy. Stealing your

company’s trade secrets and selling them to the competition, and of course getting caught while doing so, is the easiest way to lose your job, and not to mention, find yourself behind bars.

tone - “A wizard is never late, nor is he early.

He arrives precisely when he means to.” If you manage to pull this stunt, you can earn a lot of respect but it’s time to say goodbye to your cubicle.

Lying on your resume Don’t be shocked when your boss calls you into the conference room to help communicate with important French individuals who can’t speak any other language. You brought it upon yourself when you included “Fluent in French” in your resume, even though the only French word you know is “Bonjour.” Your boss loses the deal, you lose your job.

Flirting with the wrong people Flirting with the wrong people is an absolute no-no. This can either lead to you getting fired or you ending up behind the bars for your misdemeanour. So, tread wisely and remember you’re no Barney Stinson.

Dissing the boss on social sites We all hate on our bosses every once in a while, but doing so on a social networking website, is very, very stupid. Your Quoting LOTR when late “trustworthy” colleague will have the Late by 45 minutes, you twirl into your office laugh of his life at the clever joke you made singing, and when asked why you are late at your boss’s expense, but he also won’t for the 4th time this week, you grab hold of hesitate to send the screenshot to your boss. the nearest chair, stand on it and declare the You can throw your calendar away, because famous Lord of the Rings quote in a deafening after your boss finds out, you’re going to have all the free time in the world.

No excel, just disco With your assignment deadline closing in, it’s best to shut the party animal inside you in a cage, far, far away. Presentations while you’re recovering from a hangover isn’t a cute sight. Failing to be more diligent is only going to make you your boss least favorite person in the world, and soon after that don’t be surprised if you get kicked to the curb. Your mantra should be- “Less partaay, more work” - if you want to keep the job, that is.

Beach wear Read and repeat- “I’m going to my office, not a dress-as-you-like competition.” I know you love your shorts and your multicoloured t-shirts, but your office is definitely not the place to parade around as a colourful bird. Not dressing properly for work is a serious offense. It doesn’t have to go as far as shorts, even lose ties and creased shirts can get you severely humiliated in certain work places.

Calling the trophy wife, a trophy wife In big organisations, the bosses are known to be filthy rich, but calling them out on it and their “elite” tendencies is not going to do you much good. Your 60 year old boss might marry a 25 year old super model and boast about it, but don’t think he’ll appreciate you and colleagues laughing about it in your lunch hour. Remember he bathes in money, you hardly get hot water.

So next time you want to giggle about your boss’ personal life, remember how it feels to take a cold shower in winter. l

Pedro has agreed to join EPL champions Chelsea from Barcelona, the clubs said on Thursday. Chelsea will pay 30 million euros for the player, three of which will be based on performance

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GAZI, AL AMIN HOPEFUL OVER ELITE CALL

27

HUSSEY TO LEAD PM’S XI IN PINKBALL MATCH

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OTAMENDI SIGNS ON FOR MANCHESTER CITY

GENERATION NEXT

Bangladesh Under-16 goalkeeper Faysal Ahmed shares their 2015 Saff U-16 Championship glory with the over-excited budding footballers at the BFF House yesterday

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Demonstrators gather outside the Oval to protest against the way in which world cricket is run ahead of the first day of the fifth Ashes Test at the Oval in London yesterday

DAY’S WATCH Ten Sports 12:30AM ATP 1000 Masters 2015 Western & Southern Open, QF 3 5:00AM ATP 1000 Masters 2015 Western & Southern Open QF 4

Ten Cricket 9:00PM ATP 1000 Masters 2015 Western & Southern Open QF 1, 2 12:45AM Sky Bet Championship Birmingham City v Derby County

Ten Action 12:20AM French Ligue 1 Montpellier Herault SC v PSG

Sony Six 10:30AM India Tour of Sri Lanka 2nd Test, Day 2

Star Sports 1 4:00PM Australia Tour of England 5th Test, Day 2

Star Sports 2 Pro Kabaddi League 8:20PM SF 1: Mumbai v Patna 9:30PM SF 2: Bengaluru v Hyderabad

Gazi, Al Amin hopeful over making use of Elite call n Mazhar Uddin Despite an impressive start to their international careers, paceman Al Amin Hossain and all-rounder Sohag Gazi slipped out from the Tigers side owing to suspect bowling action. The national duo however, successfully corrected their bowling action and received yet another lifeline yesterday as they were drafted into the Bangladesh Cricket Board's 27-member Elite Players' Conditioning Camp.

And according to Al Amin, the call-up would inspire him to continue training and preparing himself for a return to the national team while Gazi said it would be a tough challenge for him to stake a claim for himself in the side as the Tigers are brimming with consistent performers at the moment.

Al Amin, who was sent back home from Australia during the 2015 ICC World Cup for breaching team protocol, said, “It was very important for me to be in touch with cricket and train hard. And my inclusion in the conditioning camp will only help me,” he said.

The first and only cricketer in the history of Test cricket to score a hundred and pick up a hat-trick in the same five-dayer, Gazi made a brief comeback in the 1st Twenty20 international against South Africa last month but failed to impress, remaining wicket-less. While with the willow, Gazi was unlucky to be run out for three.

And after being called up to the conditioning camp, Gazi informed that it was a welcome relief.

“I was a bit upset after not getting calls for any such programmes previously. But since I was picked up for the conditioning camp, it feels good. There were a few questions with regards to our fitness and I think I can work on that in the training camp,” said Gazi before adding, “Bangladesh are playing brilliant cricket at the moment, especially in the ODIs, and I think there is a huge competition in the team. Everyone is performing. There is a good set of players who can come in as a replacement if someone fails to perform. I have to work hard and correct my mistakes and I am working both on my bowling and batting.” l

AFP

Protest hits out at ‘Big Three’ takeover n AFP, London Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside The Oval ahead of the start of the fifth Ashes Test between England and Australia on Thursday in protest against the way in which world cricket is now run.

The protest was initiated by Sam Collins and Jarrod Kimber, the co-directors of ‘Death of a Gentleman.

Their documentary attacks what they see as the maladministration of the International Cricket Council since India, England and Australia the sport’s three wealthiest nations - effectively took over the global governing body last year.

Demonstrators including Damian Collins, a lawmaker with Britain’s governing Conservative Party, held a three minutes’ silence -- a minute each for India, England and Australia.

‘Death of a Gentleman’ alleges that international cricket lacks transparency, with former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president turned ICC chairman N. Srinivasan, England and Wales Cricket Board president (and former chairman Giles Clarke) and Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards running the world game primarily in the interests of their own countries, with other nations having to fight for scraps off the tale.

Damian Collins, no relation of Sam, and a member of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport select committee which slammed the running of football governing body FIFA under Sepp Blatter, said cricket’s present set-up was damaging the interests of the sport as a whole.

“This is very detrimental to the game,” he told reporters.

“I will ask the sports select committee to summon Giles Clarke to explain his role.” l

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QUICK BYTES Hussey to lead PM’s XI in pink-ball match Former Test batsman Mike Hussey will captain the Australian Prime Minister’s XI against New Zealand in Canberra in October under lights with a pink ball, Cricket Australia said Thursday.

Hussey, who retired in 2013, played 79 Tests for Australia and 185 one-day internationals and was picked late last year to be captain for the PM’s XI against England in January, but injury ruled him out and Chris Rogers took the role.

–AFP

I’ve not been good enough, admits Rooney Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has admitted that his performances to date this season have not been up to scratch, but he is confident the goals will start flowing soon. With Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao having left Old Trafford during the close season and Javier Hernandez out of favour, Rooney has started the season as the lone striker in manager Louis van Gaal’s 4-2-3-1 system.

–AFP

Leicester sign Swiss captain Gokhan Inler Leicester City have confirmed the signing of Switzerland captain Gokhan Inler on a threeyear-contract from Italian club Napoli for an undisclosed fee. The 31-year-old midfielder, who has 84 caps for Switzerland, becomes the Foxes’ sixth summer signing and could debut against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend if his registration is confirmed, according to a statement on Leicester’s website.

–REUTERS

Marseille appoint Spaniard Michel as coach Olympique de Marseille have hired Spaniard Michel as coach after the shock resignation of Marcelo Bielsa over a contract dispute earlier this month. The former Real Madrid and Spain player, whose full name is Jose Miguel Gonzalez Martin del Campo, has started immediately, Marseille said on their website (www.om.net) on Wednesday.

–REUTERS

Mueller laughs off United’s ‘crazy’ reported 100m bid Bayern Munich’s Thomas Mueller has laughed off reports Manchester United want to sign him for up to 100 million euros (£70m, $109m) with the Germany star describing the exorbitant sum as ‘crazy’. German daily Bild has quoted the figure, but Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has said the 25-year-old forward is not for sale and the Germany international laughed off the figure.

–AFP

Newcastle sign Thauvin Newcastle United have completed their fifth signing of the transfer window with French winger Florian Thauvin joining on a five-year deal from Marseille on Wednesday. The deal for the 22-year-old included Remy Cabella moving in the opposite direction on loan.

–REUTERS

England captain Alastair Cook (R) shakes the hand of outgoing Australia skipper Michael Clarke (2R) as he comes out to bat in his farewell match - the fifth and final Ashes Test - at the Oval yesterday REUTERS

Honours even as England remove Rogers and Warner n

Reuters, London

Australia battled grimly to 184 for two at tea on the first day of the final Test against England at The Oval on Thursday as they bid for a consolation victory to end the Ashes series.

David Warner made 85 and Chris Rogers 43 to give the touring side a solid start but England removed both openers in the afternoon session to leave the match nicely poised.

DAY ONE, AT TEA AUSTRALIA 1ST INNINGS C. Rogers c Cook b Wood D. Warner c Lyth b Ali S. Smith not out M. Clarke not out Extras (b1, lb11, nb1)

R B 43 100 85 131 29 65 14 23 13

Total (2 wkts, 53 overs, 242 mins)

184

Fall of wickets 1-110 (Rogers), 2-161 (Warner)

Bowling Broad 13-3-32-0; Wood 12-2-34-1; Stokes 9-338-0; Finn 13-2-43-0 (1nb); Ali 6-1-25-1

Steve Smith was unbeaten on 29 at the interval with captain Michael Clarke, given a standing ovation on his way to the crease in his final Test match, on 14 not out.

Rogers and Warner had adopted a risk-free strategy after being asked to bat in overcast conditions with memories of their collapse to 60 all out on the first morning of the last Test fresh in their minds.

They scored only 19 runs in the first hour and the first boundary came in the 15th over, the pair trying hard to lay a platform for their team after England regained the Ashes last week in Nottingham. Australia took lunch on 82 for no wicket and the openers increased the scoring rate after the interval.

They looked in control until Rogers was surprised by a lifting ball from Mark Wood, edging a catch to first slip which Alastair Cook took at the second attempt to end a stand of 110.

Warner, closing in on his first century of the series, pushed forward to spinner Moeen Ali and nicked the ball to Adam Lyth at slip, swishing his bat in frustration before trudging off.

Clarke was given a standing ovation by the crowd and a guard of honour by the England players as he walked out to bat in his 11th Test.

The hosts are 3-1 up in the series. l

Amla 124 sets up Proteas win over Kiwis n AFP, Centurion Hashim Amla returned to form with a century which set up a 20-run for South Africa in the first one-day international against New Zealand at SuperSport Park on Wednesday.

Amla (124) and Rilee Rossouw (89) shared a second wicket partnership of 185 as South Africa scored 304 for seven after being sent in to bat.

New Zealand several times threatened to get close before they were bowled out for 284 with 11 balls remaining.

Tom Latham (60) and captain Kane Williamson put on 104 for New Zealand’s second wicket after Luke Ronchi had been caught at first slip off Dale Steyn in the first over.

An injured Martin Guptill made an aggressive 25 after Williamson was dismissed for 47 but New Zealand then lost three wickets in the space of 12 balls. l

BRIEF SCORE South Africa 304 for 7 (Amla 124, Rossouw 89, Milne 2-51)

New Zealand 284 (Latham 60, Williamson 47, Tahir 2-40) South Africa win by 20 runs

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28 Sport

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

Pakistan’s Asif, Butt cleared to return: ICC n Reuters Pakistani cricketers Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt will be free to return to competitive action on Sept. 2 after serving bans for involvement in match-fixing, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Wednesday.

The pair, suspended in 2011 for their part in attempting to fix the 2010 Lord’s Test against England, have fulfilled the conditions laid down by the ICC’s independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal.

Fast bowler Mohammad Amir will also be eligible to return to international cricket at the same time. He started playing domestic cricket again in Pakistan earlier this year.

The three players were found guilty in 2011 of various offences of corrupt behaviour and their punishments were backdated to start in September 2010. Amir, 23, was banned for five years, 32-year-old Asif for seven with the final two years suspended on specified conditions and 30-year-old Butt, who was Pakistan captain, for 10 years with the last five suspended.

They all served jail sentences in Britain. l

INDvSL, DAY 1 INDIA 1ST INNINGS M. Vijay lbw b Prasad L. Rahul c Chandimal b Chameera A. Rahane c Karunaratne b Prasad V. Kohli c Mathews b Herath R. Sharma lbw b Mathews S. Binny c Chameera b Herath W. Saha not out Extras: (b8, lb8, w2, nb3)

R 0 108 4 78 79 10 19 21

Total (for six wickets, 87.2 overs)

319

B 4 190 11 107 132 40 43

Fall of wickets 1-4 (Vijay), 2-12 (Rahane), 3-176 (Kohli), 4-231 (Rahul), 5-267 (Binny), 6-319 (R. Sharma).

Bowling Prasad 20-5-72-2 (w1), Mathews 10.2-4-17-1, Chameera 13-0-59-1 (nb2, w1), Herath 21-2-73-2, Kaushal 23-2-82-0 (nb1)

Otamendi signs on for Manchester City n AFP, London Argentina defender Nicolas Otamendi has signed for Manchester City, the Premier League side announced on Thursday after a deal was agreed with his current side Valencia.

The 27-year-old has signed a five-year contract although no financial details of the transfer were released.

Otamendi will bolster central defensive ranks at City that include two familiar faces in former Porto team-mate Eliaquim Mangala and international colleague Martin Demichelis, as well as captain Vincent Kompany.l

India’s Lokesh Rahul plays a shot during the first day of their second Test match against Sri Lanka in Colombo yesterday

REUTERS

Rahul, Kohli revive India in Sri Lanka Test n AFP, Colombo

Lokesh Rahul hit a century as India overcame early shocks to post 319-6 on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Thursday.

Rahul scored 108, his second Test century in four Tests, and shared a third-wicket stand of 164 with skipper Virat Kohli (78) after the tourists had slumped to 12-2 by the fifth over of the match.

Both batsmen fell on either side of the tea break, but Rohit Sharma boosted the total with a typically aggressive 79 that contained three sixes and five boundaries.

Sharma was leg-before to Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews off what became the

last ball of the day, leaving Wriddhiman Saha unbeaten on 19.

The 23-year-old Rahul, who hit a century against Australia in Sydney in only his second Test earlier this year, made amends for scores of seven and five in the first Test with delightful strokeplay.

Dropped at gully by Jehan Mubarak off Dushmantha Chameera when he was on 11, Rahul hit 13 boundaries and a six before a loose shot cost him his wicket after tea.

Rahul top-edged a hook off Chameera and the ball ballooned in the air before landing safely in the hands of wicket-keeper Dinesh Chandimal.

Some 6,000 home fans at the P. Sara Oval applauded warmly when Sri Lanka’s batting

great Kumar Sangakkara was welcomed on to the field in his last Test with a guard of honour by young children holding raised bats.

India, seeking a series-levelling win after losing the first Test in Galle by 63 runs, were in for a rude shock after Kohli won the toss and elected to bat on a moistureladen pitch.

Opener Murali Vijay, who replaced the injured Shikhar Dhawan in one of the three changes made by India, was trapped leg-before by Dhammika Prasad off the fourth ball of the innings, before he had scored.

Prasad struck again in his third over when Ajinkya Rahane drove at a wide ball and edged an easy catch to Dimuth Karunaratne at third slip. l

Valencia in driving seat RESULTS Basel

n AFP, Paris

2-2

Delgado 39-P, Embolo 88

Rapid Vienna

0-1

Maccabi Tel Aviv Zehavy 31, 90+6

Shakhtar Donetsk Marlos 44

Valencia

3-1

Rodri 4, Parejo 59, Feghouli 86

Skenderbeu

1-2

Shkembi 37

Celtic Griffiths 3, 61, Biton 10

Monaco Pasalic 49

Dinamo Zagreb Soudani 66, Pivaric 90+3

3-2

Malmo Jo Inge Berget 52, 90+5

Celtic may come to regret not making Jo Inge Berget’s loan a permanent move as his double for Swedish side Malmo saw them only lose 3-2 away in their Champions League play-off first leg match on Wednesday and leave the Scottish champions hopes of a place in the group stage in the balance.

Elsewhere Valencia’s hopes of a return to the lucrative group stages after a three year hiatus look more assured after beating last season’s quarter-finalists Monaco 3-1 in Spain, the impressive Algerian international Sofiane Feghouli creating one and scoring the crucial third goal.l

FC Basel’s Breel Embolo reacts after scoring against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Wednesday REUTERS

29

DT

Ascent Cup 2015

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

CUP FIXTURES 21st August QF-1, 9:30AM Gemcon Group Ascent Group

21st August QF-2, 10:30AM 22nd August SF-1, 9:30AM

22nd August SF-2, 10:00AM

QF-1 winner

Anchor Exim US Securex

QF-2 winner Final

21st August QF-3, 10:00AM

22nd August QF-3 winner

QF-4 winner

21st August QF-4, 11:00AM

Sajeeb Group

Bangla CAT

Beximco Pharma

Bando Design

PLATE FIXTURES 21st August QF-1, 1:30PM Green Delta Beximco Tex

21st August QF-2, 2:30PM 22nd August SF-1, 10:30AM

22nd August SF-2, 11:00AM

QF-1 winner

HRC Group FAS Finance

QF-2 winner Final

21st August QF-3, 2:00PM

22nd August QF-4 winner

QF-3 winner

21st August QF-4, 3:00PM

IMDhaka.com

Dhaka Tribune

Metlife

bKash

BOWL FIXTURES 21st August QF-1, 3:30PM MTB Le Meridien

21st August QF-2, 4:30PM 22nd August SF-1, 11:30AM

22nd August SF-2, 12:00PM

QF-1 winner

Bengal Blueberry Adcomm

QF-2 winner Final

21st August QF-3, 4:00PM

22nd August QF-3 winner

QF-4 winner

21st August QF-4, 5:00PM

Edge Consulting

Asiatic EXP

Enargy Pac

Bitopi

DT

30 DOWNTIME

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Of the kidneys (5) 4 Fowls’ enclosure (4) 7 United (3) 8 Bundle of notes (3) 9 Minute particles (5) 12 Fasting period (4) 13 Least amount possible (7) 15 Loud noise (3) 16 Secret agent (3) 18 Early freshness (3) 19 Cover (3) 21 Withdrawn (7) 24 Assumed attitude (4) 26 Be merciful to (5) 27 Discharge a debt (3) 28 Perfect score (3) 29 Small duck (4) 30 Very poor (5)

DOWN 1 Wander (4) 2 Tempt (6) 3 Illuminated sign (4) 4 Tranquil (4) 5 Lyric poem (3) 6 Insignificant (5) 10 Central (3) 11 Show amusement (5) 14 Single amusement (5) 17 Looked narrowly (6) 18 Storehouse (5) 20 Immerse (3) 21 Actual (4) 22 Scold (4) 23 Refuse to admit (4) 25 Mineral spring (3)

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 23 represents J so fill J 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.

A B C D E FG H I J K L M N O P Q RST UVWXYZ

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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.

PEANUTS

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

DILBERT

SUDOKU

DT

SHOWTIME 31

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

D23 2015

CELEBS ON SOCIAL

n Mahmood Hossain Oh, the geek news has no end. Better for us geeks I think. Disney is laying out an entire takeover plan to rule the film world, as they take the Star Wars universe and plant it in their theme parks in Anaheim, California and Orlando, Florida.

Without getting into too many details, the company will be placing a Star Warsthemed land in Disneyland (Anaheim) and Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort (Orlando). They have stated the park will be inhabited by various aliens, humanoids and droids throughout the area to stay within the lines of storytelling. So far we’ve only been treated to the concept art of the new park. Fans will also be treated to a ride where they will be able to control the Millennium Falcon on a customised secret mission.

The actual work on the park won’t be seen until 2018, conveniently before episode nine is to be released shortly after in 2019. Apart from the Star Wars gifts, Disney also debuted new footage of the upcoming Marvel film, Captain America: Civil War. Doctor Strange was another film discussed, however the shooting of that film doesn’t begin until November. All we know is that it’s weird as hell. Think, Inception mixed with Harry Potter. Imagine that. Another franchise gold runner, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is slated to be released in 2017.

More to come from Disney, stay tuned, fellow geeks! l

Congratulations are in order for Joseph Gorden-Levitt

Salman Khan @BeingSalmanKhan Mere Heroes @soorajpancholi9 and @ theathiyashetty in the heartbreak song of the year. http://bit.ly/YadaanTeriyaan #YadaanTeriyaanOutNow NICKI MINAJ @NICKIMINAJ Caring 2 much about what others think will have u cursing your blessings. Be careful.

Seth Rogen @Sethrogen I think I’ve been watching HGTV for the last 179 hours straight.

WHAT TO WATCH

King Khan to be romancing Alia Bhatt on screen n Showtime Desk Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar were reportedly seen hanging out at Karan’s office. Apparently, the two weren’t just spending quality time, they were discussing an upcoming movie together.

King of romance Shahrukh Khan has signed

a film by the Dharma film to be directed by Gauri Shinde. Exciting news is, SRK will be romancing his female lead and Bollywood sweetheart Alia Bhatt in the film.

The question is, will the collaboration between Alia Bhatt and King Khan be able to outdo the most-talked and much loved onscreen chemistry of Kajol and Shakrukh? l

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Star Movies 3:30pm In the Far East, Alex O’Connell, the son of famed mummy fighters Rick and Evy O’Connell, unearths the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin-a shape-shifting entity cursed by a witch centuries ago.

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, John Hannah Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles HBO 4:20pm When a kingpin threatens New York City, a group of mutated turtle warriors must emerge from the shadows to protect their home.

Cast: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner

AROUND TOWN Look Good Feel Good Venue: Amari Hotel, Gulshan Time: August 21-22, 5pm-8pm

The heart-throbbing romantic from 500 days of summer is now a proud father of a newly born baby boy. Together with wife Tasha McCauley, Joseph Gordon-Levitt welcome their first born this month, accepting the challenging of the off-screen role of a father. The baby’s name and birth date has not been revealed yet.

The couples were reported to wed secretly at their home on December 20 last year. Joseph Gorden-Levitt keeps his personal life very private and as a consequence this addition to the celebrity baby boom is as much of a surprise as was the news about their wedding.

Details: La Rouge, a premium handbag e-commerce store will be hosting an open house event for Lidia May - a luxury brand that sells in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin and London. The two day event will showcase some of Lidia May’s impressive selection of designer bags that boast of exquisite quality and unsurpassed craftmenship.

DT

32 BACK PAGE

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015

BGMEA WANTS TO HELP EMPLOY AUTISTIC YOUTH PAGE 15

GAZI, AL AMIN HOPE TO MAKE USE OF ELITE CALL PAGE 26

KING KHAN TO ROMANCE ALIA PAGE 31

Ex-Shibir men formed Hamza Brigade n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Twenty members of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the radical student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, left the party, and sat for a meeting in Foy’s Lake area of Chittagong city in November 2013.

They agreed to raise an armed group under the cover of a non-government organisation named Love for Rohingya, RAB personnel have said.

They later designed the new militant outfit named Shahid Hamza Brigade, appointed chiefs for its five wings – three army teams, a media and another to collect new members, bought arms and ammunition, and later trained the recruits, most of who belonged to Chhatra Shibir and radical Islamist platform Hefazat-e-Islam.

The investigators said that each of the teams had seven members, all trained as “one-man army.” The Chittagong-based outfit was styled as Syria-based international militant outfit Mujahideen with an aim to toppling the Awami League-led government through an armed revolution.

“They had plans to conduct massive subversive activities across the country as part of their armed revolution,” Rapid Action Battalion (RAB 7) Commanding Officer Lt Col Mifta Uddin said.

To implement their operations, Hamza

Brigade received money from the three lawyers held on Tuesday in the capital, and another Dubai citizen named Allama Libdi. RAB suspects that its chief have fled to Malaysia.

The outfit’s five accounts were managed by its leader Moniruzzaman Masud alias Don, a former Shibir activist.

Supreme Court lawyer barrister Shakila Farzana’s name came in Don’s confessional statement, RAB sources said. Names of the

ed a training camp of the outfit in a remote area of Chittagong’s Banshkhali on February 21.

Two days back, RAB conducted drive at Hamza Brigade’s theoretical training centre “Al Madrasatul Abu Bakar” in Hathazari of Chittagong where the members had been given training using audio-visual materials in the guise of an Arabic language coaching centre. The madrasa-like coaching centre was run by Mohammad Fattah – who is currently on the run.

The outfit spent money to purchase arms, ammunition, explosives, training materials and paying house rent. In the drives since February, RAB 7 seized 25 sophisticated local and foreign-made arms including eight AK22 rifles two other arrestees were found in confessional statements given by 27 other members of the group, who were arrested since February.

Shakila is the joint general secretary of proBNP lawyers’ body Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum. She is the daughter of Syed Wahidul Alam, a former BNP lawmaker from Chittagong. Shakila and two of her associates were later put on remand in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The case was filed after RAB personnel bust-

RAB claims that Shakila deposited Tk25 lakh and Tk27 lakh for the outfit in two phases while Md Hasanuzzaman Liton deposited Tk31 lakh and Mahfuz Chowdhury Bapon Tk25 lakh. They found that Hamza Brigade’s bank accounts had a total of Tk1,38,70,000.

“We are interrogating the lawyers about the source of money, their motive behind the funding and the other members of the outfit,” Mifta said yesterday.

He said that most of the 29 Hamza Brigade

ROOPPUR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

Experts caution against taking chances with unproven nuclear technology n Aminur Rahman Rasel The Russian firm that is building Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) is pushing the government to install an untested new reactor instead of the proven reactor originally agreed upon, a Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) director, seeking anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) wants to install the VVER-TOI reactor which uses Third Generation Plus technology and has a capacity of 1200MW. The VVERTOI reactor is the export version of Russia’s VVER-1200 reactor.

The VVER-TOI reactor, developed by Russian scientists, has not been used in any nuclear power plant in the world except for one in Russia which is on a test run.

It was originally planned that the Third Generation VVER-1000 reactor, with a capacity of 1000MW, would be installed at Rooppur.

At a high-level meeting on August 12 presided over by the prime minister’s economic affairs adviser, Mashiur Rahman, it was decided that only proven technologies would be

used at the Rooppur plant.

Nuclear expert Kamal Hossain, a reactor safety and scientific computation specialist of AREVA GmbH, Germany, advised the government not to switch from the previously agreed VVER-1000 reactor to the new technology.

“The VVER-1000 is currently the best-selling nuclear reactor worldwide – mainly due to the features it offers for its price. But the VVER-1200 has not yet been certified by any western country and has had no operational experience,” Kamal, who is a Bangladeshi, said yesterday at a seminar in the capital on nuclear energy in Bangladesh.

Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman, BAEC member Mahmudul Hasan, RNPP Project Director Mohammad Shawkat Akbar, Commandant of Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) Major General Md Siddiqur Rahman Sarkar and Major Md Altab Hossain, head of the nuclear science and technology department, addressed the seminar.

“Bangladesh agreed with Russia to build two VVER-1000 reactors at Rooppur. VVER1000 is a pressurized water reactor designed

by Russia’s Rosatom,” Kamal told the seminar

organised by the nuclear science and engineering department of MIST. “The most significant additions [to the VVER-1200 reactor] are a passive heat removal system and a core catcher to contain the molten reactor core in the event of a severe accident. These important features of the VVER1200 can be added to Rooppur power plant.

“They were added to VVER-1000 reactors in Kudankulam in India,” he said.

“I think that considering the capacity of our national power grid, smaller reactors are more suitable for Bangladesh. In case of an emergency shutdown, the oscillation produced by big reactors could be high enough to make the grid collapse,” Kamal said.

“Radiation exposure in case of a severe accident from a bigger reactors is higher as well,” he added.

RNPP is a proposed 2,000 megawatt nuclear power plant scheduled to go into operation by 2021.

Rosatom will build, operate and provide fuel for the plant. BAEC, under the Science and Technology Ministry, will implement the project. l

detained since February were activists of Shibir, Qawmi madrasa-based platform Hefazat-e-Islam and other local militant organisations.

The law enforcement agencies are now investigating whether the outfit has connection with any political party or international militant outfit, he said.

The outfit spent money from the accounts to purchase arms, ammunition, explosives, training materials and paying house rent. In the eight drives since February until June, RAB 7 seized 25 sophisticated local and foreign-made arms including eight AK22 rifles.

The three sub-wings of its Army Wing were led by Moniruzzaman, Khaled alias Rakib and Aziz alias Tareq. Its Media Wing was run by Abdullah while Dawa by Nasir, RAB sources said.

All these wing chiefs were activists of Chhatra Shibir.

Moreover, the investigators have learnt that Hamza Brigade’s arms supplier was Mozaher while Anwar worked as the explosives maker.

They had plans to form several other wings, said RAB 7’s media wing In-Charge Assistant Superintendent of Police Sohel Mahmud.

Claiming that the RAB was successful in arresting most of the members, Mifta said that though the outfit’s activities were limited within greater Chittagong, most of the members were from outside the district. l

Brac Bank teams up with EC for NID verification n Tribune Report Brac Bank has signed an MoU with the Election Commission on National ID Card verification, the bank said in a statement yesterday.

Under the agreement, the Election Commission will provide National ID Card verification services for the bank’s customers. Brac is the first commercial bank to enter such a deal.

The bank’s Deputy Managing Director Md Mamdudur Rashid and EC Director Md Mohsin Ali signed the deal on behalf of their respective organisations at a city hotel.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman, EC Secretary Sirajul Islam, World Bank Country Director Johannes Zutt and Director General of the EC’s National Identity Registration Wing Brig Gen Sultanuzzaman Md Salehuddin were present at the signing ceremony.

Brac Bank will be able to verify the National IDs of all its customers for transparency and accountability in banking services.

It will help prevent identity frauds and ensure the authenticity of Know Your Customer forms.

The service will also facilitate smooth operations of mobile banking services as bKash will also avail the verification services through the bank. l

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