19 Sep, 2015 by DhakaTribune

SECOND EDITION

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

NETAJI FILES DECLASSIFIED PAGE 3

Ashwin 4, 1422, Zilhaj 4, 1436

Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 156

HOLIDAY DRAWS RECORD CROWD TO TAX FAIR PAGE 5

www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

GOVT FAILING TO ERADICATE CHILD LABOUR PAGE 32

Armed robbers target cattle trucks n Mohammad Jamil Khan Modern-day highwaymen are striking fear into the hearts of cattle traders this Eid-ulAzha, as reports of armed robberies come in from around the country. In just the last 24 hours, robbers have attacked cattle trucks in Bogra and Gazipur. Some traders claimed that paying tolls to extortionists bought safe passage for their cattle trucks – this Eid-ul-Azha extortion is widespread as it is most years – but ambushes by robbers, a new phenomenon, has cattle traders worried.

In Bogra’s Shahjahanpur area, a truck loaded with 20 head of cattle was attacked around 12:30am yesterday while travelling to Laxmipur from Rangpur. The robbers made off with the cattle and left the cows’ owners unconscious on the roadside. Truck driver Iqbal Hossain pulled his livestock-laden vehicle up to the side of the road, complaining of engine trouble, according to a complaint filed later with Shahjahan police station. The driver told Yeasin Ali, Shapan and Abu Sayed, the owners of the cattle, to get out of the vehicle and push it from behind.

Cattle markets in capital start today n Abu Hayat Mahmud The cattle markets of the city are ready to start selling sacrificial animals from today as traders begin bringing in cattle to the capital from different districts. Apart from the permanent Gabtoli cattle market – the biggest one in the capital, there will be 22 makeshift markets set up in the city; six of those will be under the Dhaka North City Corporation, 10 under Dhaka South City Corporation, and six more under Dhaka dis-

trict administration. Cattle market organisers have already completed most of their preparations as they get ready to welcome the rush of traders and customers ahead of Eid-ul-Azha on September 25. Most cattle markets have been set up at the same locations as the previous years, but some changes have been made considering hygiene and other issues. DNCC officials said that unlike other years, cattle markets  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Policemen kill 3 as locals demand trial of rapist Correspondent, n Our Tangail At least three people were killed and 50 others injured in police firing after they blocked the Tangail-Mymensingh road demanding quick trial of a rapist. Police said Shamim, 35, from Kalia village of Ghatail, died on the spot while Faruk, 32, of Satia village of the same upazila, succumbed to his injuries at Tangail Sadar Hospital. “Another Nitai Chandra died when he was being taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital,” OC Md Shahidul Islam said.

More than 10 protesters sustained bullet injuries. The injured were admitted to nearby hospitals. The district administration and the police formed two probe committees. The clash ensued around 4:30pm when several hundred people from Ghatail and Kalihati areas brought out a protest procession on the road, suspending traffic movement. Police barred them from demonstrating on the road triggering a chase and counter-chase. At one point, police charged  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

As they took position behind the truck, a micro-bus appeared out of the darkness. The occupants of the micro-bus beat the cattle traders and rendered them senseless using sedatives. The unconscious men were rescued by police from the roadside next to Sultanganj High School and taken to a local hospital. After regaining consciousness, they filed a complaint with Shahjahanpur police station, Officer-in-Charge Abdul Mannan told the Dhaka Tribune. In separate incident, a truck carrying 19 head of cattle was raided by robbers in the Mir-

erbazar area of Gazipur on Thursday morning. Cattle traders Shahidullah and Nurul Haque filed a complaint with Joydebpur police station over the robbery. Abul Hashem, sub-inspector of Joydebpur police station, said a pick-up truck stopped the cattle truck at gunpoint and hijacked it along with the livestock it was carrying. “We recovered the truck from Konabari but found no trace of the cows,” he said.

Extortion rife ahead of Eid

As with most years, extortionists are active  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

2 NEWS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Saudi Arabia warns pilgrims against hajj unrest n Reuters, Mecca

Saudi Arabia has warned Muslim pilgrims attending next week’s hajj in Mecca to avoid exploiting Islam’s annual gathering for political reasons, reflecting its worry that turmoil in the region may prompt attacks or damaging displays of discord. “The security forces are ready to confront any irresponsible behaviour that might pollute the purity of hajj or endanger the lives of the guests of Allah,” Interior Minister Crown

Prince Mohammed bin Nayef was quoted as saying by state media. Wearing the clothes and speaking the languages of dozens of nations, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims flocked to Mecca’s Grand Mosque for Friday prayers in a show of religious harmony in a year when the region’s Muslim states are riven by conflict. The turbulence and sectarian infighting between Sunni and Shia Muslims that has plagued Arab countries since the 2011 uprisings has grown even more acute this year,

as Yemen and Libya joined Syria and Iraq in plunging into civil war. In Saudi Arabia, three suicide bombings of mosques by sympathisers of Islamic State this year have proved that even Muslim places of worship are at risk of attack by militants. In the Grand Mosque, worshippers of different nationalities said they hoped the hajj would provide a chance for Muslims to set strife aside. In past years, the hajj has drawn around

three million pilgrims. This year and last, Riyadh cut back on numbers - enforced through strict visa rules and a ring of checkpoints around the city - to prevent dangerous overcrowding during expansion works. About 1.2 million have arrived so far this year. The crashing of a crane into the Grand Mosque during a storm last week, killing 107, demonstrated the extent of those dangers. But the wider programme of construction over the past 15 years has helped stop repeats of once-common deadly stampedes. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Police kill 3

Armed robbers target cattle trucks

batons on them and fired from shotguns resulting in the death of Shamim on the spot. The locals were protesting the rape of a Ghatail woman in front of her son Al Amin on September 15. Rapist Rafiqul Islam Roma is the son of Mozaffar Hossain from Saturia under Kalihati upazila. Locals say Roma’s wife got engaged in a relation with Al Amin, 17, and they eloped several months back. Later she was brought back. But Roma’s wife again went to Al Amin on September 12, according to locals. Later Roma’s family members asked Al Amin, his mother and Roma’s wife to go to their house for discussing the matter on September 15. Around 11am that day, Roma and his associates stripped off Al Amin and his mother, and tortured them. Roma also raped the woman. Local police went to the spot on information, rescued the duo and also arrested Roma. The rape victim filed a case the same day against Roma, his brother-in-law Hafiz and another person named Kazi under the Women and Children Repression (Prevention) Act with Kalihati police. l

ahead of Eid-ul-Azha. Whether in uniform or not, extortionists are making money hand over fist, as they take a cut on every delivery of cattle that crosses their territories. Traders complained that they had been compelled to pay toll-takers, sometimes at as many as 14 points on the road, to get their cattle from the field to the market. Asked about reports of widespread extortion, Rustom Ali Khan, secretary of the Bangladesh Truck and Covered Van Owners Association, claimed assurances of security are routinely made at meetings with ministry officials, police and highway police before every Eid, but they are seldom enforced. Assistant Inspector General of Police Headquarters Nazrul Islam said the inspector general of police had directed his force not to stop cattle trucks without good reason. Violations of the order would be investigated and punished, he added. But cattle traders claimed their vehicles were stopped without fail on the journey to market.

Cattle trader Samir Uddin told the Dhaka Tribune he paid tolls at eight points on the road to get his 16 head of cattle from Chuadanga to Gabtoli cattle market. Samir said he had to pay the police, highway police, local strongmen and ferry terminals on both sides of the river to get his livestock to market. He says he paid Tk200 in Savar, Tk150 in Manikganj, Tk200 in Aricha, Tk500 in Dauladtia, Tk150 in Faridpur, Tk150 in Magura, Tk150 in Jhenidah, Tk200 in Chuadanga and Tk200 in Alamdanga, for a total of Tk1,900 in illegal tolls. Samir said it was less stressful to pay local gangsters extortion money than to pay unscrupulous policemen, who threatened to file drug cases or to impound trucks because of claims that the truck’s paperwork was incomplete. “You journalists quoted the police chief saying that no truck would fall into extortionists’ traps. Then what is this?” Samir asked. On September 7, Inspector General of Police (IG) AKM Shahidul Haque said the police

would not stop cattle trucks to check vehicle documents. They would only stop them if there was a good reason for doing so, he said. Traders said the reality on the highways was very different from the promise made by the police chief. Rubel, a cattle trader who arrived in Gabtoli from Kurigram with 21 head of cattle, said he had to pay Tk2,100 at various points. He claimed to have paid between Tk50 and Tk150 to various people, including the police. Shafiq, a truck driver from Chapainawabganj who overheard the discussion with Rubel, expressed anger over the reporting of this story. “It has nothing to do with you,” he said angrily. After calming down, he was coaxed into sharing his own experiences. He said he had paid Tk2,300 at 14 different points on the road to reach the capital Among other places, Shafiq said he paid off extortionists at Shibganj intersection, in Rajshahi’s Sultanganj, Godagari, Charghat, Julunpur, Kharkhari, Bagura Check Post, both ends of Jamuna Bridge and Gazipur. l

could be easily controlled and brought to Dhaka in a scheduled time,” he told the Dhaka Tribune on condition of anonymity. DSCC and DNCC official, meanwhile, said their responsibility was to control the designated areas of a makeshift market, but not its surrounding areas. DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah said the on-duty and petrol police personnel have been told to monitor the matter strictly. But an on-duty policeman near the Kamrangir Char market told the Dhaka Tribune that they could do nothing as ruling party men used their influence to give permission for keeping cattle beside the designated market sites.

should be no shortage of sacrificial cattle this year, cattle traders told the Dhaka Tribune. Besides the two permanent cattle markets – Sagarika and Bibirhat – in the city, five temporary markets have been set up in Karnaphuli, Saltgola, Steel Mill, Kamal Mohajon Hat areas and Patenga High School playground, said sources in Chittagong City Corporation. Outside the city, big cattle markets have been set up in Hathazari upazila’s Fateyabad area and Satkania upazila’s Keranirhat area, while smaller markets have been erected in other upazilas. Masud Hasan, lessee of Sagarika cattle market, said most buyers were just visiting the markets for now, checking the prices, but the sales was likely to pick up in a day or two. Nur Mohammad, resident of the city’s Halishahar area, is one of those visiting the market to check the prices. “The increasing supply of cattle is a good sign, but the prices are still high,” he said. Masud alleged that traffic police were extorting cattle-laden trucks on the highways, which was automatically increasing the prices. The city corporation’s land official Ahmadul Haque said the corporation was expecting to earn around Tk3.5 crore from the cattle markets this year. CCC Chief Conservatory Officer Shafiqul Mannan Siddique said around 100,000 cattle would be slaughtered in Chittagong city on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha this year. l

Cattle markets in capital start today will not be set up in areas adjoining the Shere-Bangla Nagar Hospital and other institutions in Agargaon or around Uttara Azampur Government Primary School. DNCC Chief Executive Officer BM Enamul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune they have shifted the cattle markets considering public interest. The locations of the DNCC markets are the open areas near Khilkhet-Banorupa Residential Project area, Eastern Housing at Mirpur 6, the bridge at Uttara 15 and 16, the Kuril-Purbachal 300-feet wide link road, Baunia Canal embankment, and near Rayerbazar graveyard. Meanwhile, DSCC Chief Executive Md Ansar Ali Khan said they have not shifted any cattle markets this year because there has been no objection against any of their makeshift markets. The DSCC cattle markets have been set up on the Jigatala-Hazaribagh ground, Rahmatganj playground in Lalbagh, Meradia playground, Sadek Hossain Khoka playground, the Maitree Shangho playground adjacent to North Shahjahanpur rail gate, the Dhupkhola East End Club playground, Balur Math adjacent to Brothers Union playground at Gopibagh, the open space adjacent to Postogola Shoshanghat, Hazi Delwar Hossain playground at Lalbag and near the Islam Chairman house near the Buriganga second channel embankment.

Cattle coming early

Although cattle traders were not officially allowed to bring their animals to the capital before Saturday, many of them were found to have been violating the rule for the past few days. Influential local political leaders have been allegedly providing support for these traders, allowing them to set up temporary camps near the cattle markets. Visiting the designated market spots over the last few days, the Dhaka Tribune found that traders were keeping their cattle outside the markets and on the footpaths. Earlier, Dhaka Metropolitan Police, the DNCC and the DSCC authorities announced that no cattle market would be allowed to set up before September 19. Suruj Ali, who arrived in the city on Thursday with 20 cattle from Chapainawabganj, said he has not entered the market near Sadek Hossain Khoka Playground to avoid extortion by the city corporation and police. He said the market’s lessees have told him it was okay to stay outside the designated market area until Saturday. When contacted, a lessee of a DSCC market said: “Most traders start for Dhaka three or four days early to avoid any trouble during the long journey from distant districts. So they reach Dhaka a couple of days ahead of schedule. I think it is not a violation of the rules. “The cattle are not human beings who

Cattle supply in Ctg increases, sales still slow

Supply is increasing in the cattle markets of Chittagong city, but the number of buyers are still small in the markets despite Eid-ul-Azha being less than a week away. The authorities of the cattle markets are happy with the inflow of the sacrificial animals and are hoping for the sales to pick up in the next few days. Sources at the port city’s cattle markets said supply of Indian cattle increased in the last few days, beside the supply from Myanmar. In addition, cattle from other parts of the country, especially Kushtia, Chapainawabganj, Dinajpur, Rajshahi and border districts. If the supply continues until Eid, there

NEWS 3

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

With six days left for Eid, a massive crowd gathers at Kamalapur Railway Station yesterday to purchase advance tickets for September 23

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Local supply good but cattle smuggling rising Showkat Kallol, Mohammad Jamil n Asif Khan and Syed Samiul Basher Anik Hundreds of thousands of Indian cows are being smuggled in to Bangladesh, despite government claims that local supply can satisfy Eid demand. There is no legal way for Indian cows to enter Bangladesh, but smugglers are not deterred from bringing in large consignments of cattle. The Dhaka Tribune’s Mohammad Jamil Khan and Syed Samiul Basher Anik visited the north-eastern border areas used as smuggling routes and found that cattle smuggling had increased five or six times compared to

last year. Cattle traders in the border areas said 200,000 Indian head of cattle had entered country in the last month and a half. Government figures showed that around 100,000 Indian cows had been smuggled in last month. According to the National Board of Revenue, before India banned the cross-border cattle trade, an average of 1.2 million cows came in every year. In July, August and September 2014, some 6,554 cows came through, according to the Roumari customs office in the northern district of Kurigram. In July, August and up to September 13 this

year, some 23,932 cows came through Roumari border point. Customs officials sell seized cows to cattle traders for Tk500 per cow. This money ends up in the state coffers as revenue and buyers receive tokens or receipts in return. The cattle smuggling figures provided by the customs office are based on this revenue collection. Roumari is one of 31 points through which cattle is smuggled from India. According to a letter from the director general of the Directorate of Livestock to the secretary of the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry on Monday, there is sufficient local supply to meet 90% of Eid demand.

If that is true, there should not be any demand for the imported cows, at least not during this Eid. People involved in the cattle trade say Indian cows are cheaper than local cattle, hence the great demand for them. Hedayet Ullah Al Mamun, secretary to the Commerce Ministry, said: “We … will take necessary action if any quarter tries to destabilise the market by artificially increasing prices.” He said the Eid cattle market is a nine-day rush, making it difficult to regulate. Since last year, India has been the world’s biggest beef exporter with a projected total of 2.4 million tonnes exported in 2015. l

Declassified files suggest Netaji was alive after 1945 n Tribune Desk

India’s West Bengal government has declassified 64 files on revolutionary leader “Netaji” Subhash Chandra Bose, which contain letters suggesting that he was alive after 1945 and that his family was under government surveillance, The Statesman reports. A digital version of the declassified files is being made available in a seven-DVD set. The original files are housed at the Calcutta Police Museum and will be accessible to the public from Monday. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the files on Netaji Bose contain ele-

ments supporting the theory that he was alive after 1945. “There are intercepts. I have seen the documents and it is clear from them that the family of Netaji was spied upon,” she said. On the surveillance, she said it was “unfortunate” that after India’s independence Netaji did not receive due honour. She said some letters said he was alive after his “disappearance.” Subhash Chandra had approached Germany and Adolf Hitler to form an army to oust the British from India and was wanted by allied forces. On August 22, 1945, Tokyo Radio announced the “death” of Subhash Bose in an air crash in Formosa (now Taiwan) on August 18, 1945, en route to Japan. But the crash theory has been rejected by scores of Netaji’s followers and admirers since no photograph of the body, which was said to have been cremated in Taiwan, was ever released. His death has been the subject of a number of conspiracy theories in India. Theories about

what really happened to Bose range from him being a Russian prisoner in Siberia to the claim that he spent his last years hiding in India as a holy man. Recently declassified files of the Union Home Ministry revealed that the family of Netaji was placed under intensive surveillance from 1948 to 1968 by the Indian government. It is not known how many more classified files on him the Indian central government is in possession of. Some analysts say the files in Kolkata are not as important as the still-classified files in Delhi. “Now the Centre [Delhi] has no other option but to declassify the files it has,” Netaji’s grandnephew and family spokesperson Chandra Kumar Bose told reporters. The BJP government, while in opposition, had demanded that the Congress government declassify 39 files pertaining to Bose.

But since coming to power it has refused to declassify the files. The Times of India quoted a source in India’s Prime Minister’s Office as saying that it could “not declassify files related to Subhash Chandra Bose as it [would] adversely affect relations with foreign countries.” The Indian central government is yet to comment on the West Bengal government’s move to declassify the files in their possession. l

4 NEWS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

UGC official among 3 held for question leak n Mohammad Jamil Khan Police’s elite force Rapid Action Battalion yesterday raided the University Grants Commission office in Agargaon area and arrested an assistant director for his alleged involvement in leaking question papers of medical admission and job recruitment tests. RAB claims that Omar Shiraj, 32, was the ringleader of a gang involved in leaking admission test and job interview question papers. The two others arrested in the drive are store keeper of Judicial Service Commission Rezaul Karim, 32, and student Ihasan Imtiaz Hridoy, 22. A team of RAB 4 conducted the special on

a tip-off and arrested the trio from the second floor of the UGC office. They also recovered some questions of the medical admission exam, 23 answer sheets and two questions of 2014 assistant judge appointment exam, Tk2 lakh cash, an Exim Bank cheque of Tk4 lakh, stamp seals of different government offices, three mobile phones and a netbook. With the trio, the law enforcers arrested 42 people for their involvement in leaking question papers in the last seven days. On September 15, RAB arrested four people and recovered Tk1.21 crore from their possessions, earned from question paper leakage. The latest arrests came on information given by the

four arrestees. During interrogation, the arrestees admitted to supplying question and answer sheets of different admission and public exams to the candidates. Commander Mufti Mahmud Khan of RAB’s legal and media wing, told reporters that they used to supply question papers and answer scripts on the day of exams, but the applicants or their guardians had to pay Tk10 lakh before reaching a contract. “They brought modern technological device from China to use it in leaking the questions,” the RAB official said. According to the investigators, the process used to be conducted in three steps – first they

send a person inside the exam hall as applicant to collect the question paper. Once collected, the question paper is sent to the second group, who solves the questions quickly and sends it to the ringleader. In the final step, the ringleader using an imported MasterCard and a bluetooth device sends the answers to the candidates, who are given a tiny headphone beforehand. About the drive, UGC Deputy Secretary Md Omar Faruq told reporters that their office was closed during the drive. “We came to the office hearing about the operation, but the RAB members did not talk to us. We are not clear about the issue,” he added. l

Media employee’s body found inside suitcase n Tribune Report

Police have recovered the decomposed body of Jahangir Alam, an employee of a specialised Bangla daily, from inside a suitcase yesterday, three days after he went missing. The deceased was the circulation manager of Bangla commercial daily, Bonik Barta. SI Abdul Jalil of Khilkhet police station said: “Smelling an odour coming from a flat on the top floor of a five-storied building in Khilkhet, locals informed the police. “A team of Khilkhet police recovered the body from the flat on Friday morning. The house was locked and the body was in a suitcase.” Quoting the residents of the building, the SI said: “Four persons—SM Faisal, Nazmul Hasan, Raihan Sarwar and Fahim Hasan-used to live in the rented flat. They left the house immediately after the incident. “But the police took prompt action and detained Faisal, who is also a cousin of the victim, and his cohort Raihan from Dhamrai area. Acting on the information provided by the detainees, the police later arrested Nazmul and Fahim from Dhaka.” In primary interrogation, Faisal admitted that he killed Jahangir following dispute over business affairs. l

‘Govt using arms to curb opposition’ n

UNB

Alleging that the government is trying to curb opposition parties by using arms, BNP senior leader ASM Hannan Shah yesterday said it is impossible for such a government to establish democracy in the country. “The government has issued 7,000 licences of firearms to Chhatra League, Jubo League and Swechchhasebak League cadres. These arms are now being used frequently in different parts of the country. The government which uses arms to curb its opposition parties can never establish democracy in the country,” he said. Addressing a discussion by Zia Parishad at the Jatiya Press Club, the BNP leader said the government will have to bear the responsibility of the killing of opposition leaders and innocent people using arms provided to the party men. l

Artists perform a dance in Bokultola at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Dhaka University yesterday, as part of the Autumn Festival arranged by Chhayanaut, a leading cultural organisation of the country DHAKA TRIBUNE

BB revises Information and Communication Technology security guidelines n Tribune Report Bangladesh Bank (BB) has further revised its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) security guidelines for banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs). The central bank made several changes to its guidelines on ICT security in order to tackle IT risk. According to a BB circular issued yesterday, the revised guidelines are to be seen as the minimum safety requirement applied at the level appropriate to the technology used by financial institutions. Banks and NBFIs must ensure their ICT functions and operations are efficiently and

effectively managed, according to the circular. System documentation that supports financial transactions and reporting must be carefully maintained by the financial institutions, the circular said. Each financial institution must form an ICT steering committee that includes representatives of the ICT, Risk, HR, ICC/Audit, Legal and related business units. They must each also form an ICT risk management committee to manage ICT risk and mitigation measures. Financial institutions must strive to become aware of the capabilities offered by ICT in order to recognise opportunities and the risks of possible abuse, the circular said.

Banks and NBFIs must have an ICT Security Policy, compliant with the revised ICT security guidelines, approved by their respective boards. They must define their risk appetite – their willingness and ability to absorb financial losses and damages to their reputation – by frequency and magnitude of possible ICT risk factors. The BB circular said significant digitisation in the banking sector had caused ICT risk management to become increasingly complex, adding that the business of managing risk, so crucial to bank and NBFI operations, should include the management of ICT risk. l

NEWS 5

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Holiday draws record crowd to tax fair n Tribune Report

The third day of the National Income Tax Fair drew record number of crowds yesterday, but tax collection was around 50% less than the previous day. With Friday being a holiday, a large number of people found time to visit the fair. At the end of the day, authorities concerned said they had served 119,873 people across the country – which was the highest for a single day since the fair started on Wednesday. However, the amount of revenue collected from the fair dropped significantly as the NBR yesterday bagged only Tk223.6 crore, less than half of Thursday’s Tk526.78 crore collection. This was a result of fewer income tax returns being submitted yesterday, NBR officials said. A total 18,106 taxpayers filed their returns in the fair held at seven divisional headquarters, 53 districts, and nine upazilas yesterday. According to the National Board of Revenue, the first three days of the fair brought in Tk90,358 crore from income tax returns of 50,322 taxpayers, while a total of 282,277 people received different services at the fair venues across the country. Meanwhile, several members of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts visited the fair venue in Dhaka’s Officers Club yesterday. The committee Chairman Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir expressed hopes that the fair would reduce the distance between taxmen and taxpayers. Committee member Moin Uddin Khan Badal urged tax officials to monitor whether lawmakers were properly paying their own taxes. Lawmaker Rustom Ali Farazi said: “If tax are paid properly, we will be able to meet the revenue target and there will be no need to seek fund from the foreign donors then.” Educationist Prof Jamilur Reza Chowdhury said people should realise their responsibilities as citizens and voluntarily pay taxes. The NBR will keep the fair open today from 10am to 8pm to facilitate service-holders filing their income tax returns properly. However, the schedule will be 10am to 5pm for the following three days.

Taxpayers throng fair in Ctg

Much like Dhaka, the Friday holiday brought

Taxpayers fill out tax returns yesterday at the Income Tax Fair 2015 that is being held on the capital’s Officers Club premises in massive crowds to the Income Tax Fair in the port city. More than 50 booths under four tax zones of Chittagong Tax Department, different banks and other services continued to serve the overwhelming crowds throughout the day, our Chittagong correspondent reports. Kazi Emdadul Haque, commissioner (appeal) for the Chittagong tax region and also the convener of the Chittagong fair, said they expected the collection to be more than the previous years as the presence of visitors was remarkable. “The target of the fair is not only to collect taxes, but also to grow awareness among the taxpayers and provide service to them,” he added. The first three days of the fair in Chittagong

has brought in Tk142.76 crore of income tax, while the regional target is Tk8,000 crore for the ongoing fiscal year. The fair organisers said a total 87,741 people were provided different facilities during the first three days at the fair venue in Agrabad’s Government Offices Building 2. The fair is open for visitors from 10am to 6pm every day. This year, income tax fair is also being held at Cox’s Bazar district for four days under the supervision of Chittagong Income Taxation Department, while two-day-long fairs are being held at Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari districts.

Social media dialogue today

The NBR is set to organise a social media

DHAKA TRIBUNE

dialogue to mark the Income Tax Fair 2015 today with the theme “encouraging people to pay tax.” The dialogue will start at 7pm in Dhaka’s Officers Club premises and will continue until 8:30pm. Junaid Ahmed Palak, the state minister for information and communication technology, will attend the dialogue as chief guest. It will be chaired by NBR Chairman Nojibur Rahman. Other guests will include Post and Telecom Secretary Foizur Rahman Chowdhury, ICT Division Secretary Shyam Sunder Sikder, Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority Managing Director Hosne Ara Begum, Prof Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, and ICT expert Mostafa Jabbar. l

One killed as BSF opens fire on Joypurhat village

Tk21 lakh robbed from Agrani Bank in Jessore

n Tribune Report

n Our Correspondent, Jessore

A Bangladeshi national was killed and four others sustained bullet injuries as members of the Indian Border Security Force opened fire on people of bordering Paschim Ram Krishnapur village in Joypurhat sadar yesterday. Tozammel Haque, chairman of Dholahar union parishad, said that some teenagers of the village had gone to catch fish at a water body in Indian territory around noon. The two BSF men in patrol there hurled abuse at them. At this, the children chased them. But those BSF men gathered 25-30 colleagues, some four of them in plainclothes, around 12:30pm and launched an attack on the villagers. They fired at least eight bullets

and also charged three hand bombs. There is no fence along the border. The camps of the BSF and the Border Guard Bangladesh are also not nearby. Five people – Sayem, Abujar, Faruq, Porimal and Nirmal – sustained bullet injuries. They were first taken to Joypurhat Modern Hospital. Later Sayem was later shifted to Bogra Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital where he was declared dead around 4:30pm. Lt Col Abdur Razzak Tarafder, commanding officer of BGB Battalion 3, confirmed the incident. He said they held two meetings with their counterpart on the matter. Locals alleged that the BSF men had tortured villagers of the bordering areas by entering their villages two times recently. l

Robbers broke into Agrani Bank’s Rajarhat branch in the early hours of yesterday morning and stole Tk21 lakh as well as parts of the bank’s CCTV camera. Sub-Inspector Mahmud of Jessore Kotwali police station said a group of five or six masked men entered the bank by cutting the metal bars on the bank’s window around 3:30am and broke into the vault to take away the money. Police detained two security guards, Bishwajit and Shahidul Islam, who were on duty at the time of robbery. During primary interrogation, they said the robbers, carrying local weapons, had attacked them first – they tied up the two guards

and beat them before breaking into the bank. The sub-inspector said there were bruises on Bishwajit’s chest. However, the robbers did not take the double-barrelled rifle that was in the bank. Police will keep interrogating the guards, he added. The robbers used a blowtorch to cut the metal grilles on the window; they also stole parts of the CCTV camera installed inside the branch, said Wadud Ali Munsi, deputy general manager of Agrani Bank’s Jessore Zone. Kotwali OC Shikdar Akhtar Ali said Deputy Inspector General Moniruzzaman had visited the crime scene yesterday. KM Ariful Haque, additional superintendent of police in Jessore the robbery was being investigated. l

6 NEWS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Shahporir Dwip embankment broken for 3 years, 5,000 families homeless n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar The Shahporir Dwip embankment had been in a dilapidated condition for the last three years leading around 5,000 families homeless in Sabrang union under Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar. Among 40,000 residents of the island, the families had to take shelter elsewhere because of the delay in repairing the embankment caused by the alleged corruption of the contractor firm and local influential people. “They are intentionally delaying the process so that the government funds keep flowing in,” said Md Jasim, a resident of Shahporir Dwip. Around 20,000 people were marooned during high tide that submerged the area during full moon and new moon recently. Sabrang Union Parishad member Md Abdus Salam told the Dhaka Tribune: “In 1991, a cyclone damaged 200 metre of the embankment near folder number 68 on the southern part of

the island. In 1994, another cyclone damaged two kilometres of it and after that, due to the corrupt activities of the contractors, the embankment could not be protected. Since then, the islanders are living with constant fear.” Guda Ali, a resident of Dakkhinpara village, is currently living in Deil Para area. “Two months ago I had to move here with my family leaving my households in Shahporir Dwip. I also had some cultivable land there. As the embankment was broken, all the households in the area went under water,” said Ali with distress. Moulvi Abdus Salam, a resident of Poshchimpara village in Shahporir Dwip, who is currently living in Naittongpara in Teknaf, said: “If the embankment is not repaired by the next year, then many would have to leave their homesteads like me. Nothing can be more unfortunate than that.”’ Our Cox’s Bazar correspondent reports, almost five kilometre of the 13.7 kilometre long road that connects Shahporir Dwip and

Teknaf were inundated. The islanders have started using boats for communication, however, after evening, even the boats are not sailed. Two students died in accidents while crossing the route on feet. Locals claimed that influential contractors can derive money if they keep delaying the repair work. “They will be able to embezzle the money allocated for reconstruction. We have been living in watery areas for the last three years but no one seems to bother. Government allocates crores of funds every year. But contractor firms and local influential gobble up the money,” said Md Jasim. Sabrang Union Parishad Chairman Hamidur Rahman said although the embankment is being rebuilt by the fund allocated by the Water Development Board, the Bay of Bengal is engulfing it again and again. The island is becoming unguarded because of the corruption of the contractors.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Earthquake drills for schoolchildren in 2,600 schools

Three of a family killed in Rajshahi road accident

Three members of a family were killed and another injured as a truck hit a battery-run auto-rickshaw in Khorkhori bypass area in Rajshahi city yesterday afternoon. The deceased were identified as Ibrahim, aresident of Kukhondi Sonarpara area in the city, his wife Bpbita, 40, and their daughter Raima, 3. Mahabub Alam, station officer of Rajshahi University fire service, said the truck hit the auto-rickshaw, leaving the mother and the daughter dead on the spot and two others injured. On information, a fire fighting unit rushed to the spot and rescued the injured. Later, the injured were rushed to RMCH where Ibrahim succumbed to his injuries. – Tribune Report

n UNB

Woman drug trader jailed A mobile court yesterday sentenced a woman drug trader to two years in jail at Charghat upazila of Rajshahi. Convict Ganjera Begum, 35, is wife of Zinnat Ali of Lakshmipur village of the same upazila. Charghat police station OC Alamgir Hossain said a police team conducted a raid at Lakshmipur village and arrested Ganjera Begum on Thursday night. Police also recovered 15 litres of liquor from her possession. Later, Executive Magistrate Dr Russel Sabrin sentenced her to two years in jail. – Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

One killed in lightning strike A farmer was killed in a lightning strike at Harji Nalbunia village in Mathbaria upazila of the district on Friday afternoon. The deceased was identified as Bijoy Haldar, 40, son of late Montu Haldar from Harji Nalbunia village. Locals said Bijoy was stuck by a lightning strike while he was working in a paddy field near his house around 2pm, leaving him dead on the spot. Shohidul Islam, Harji Nalbunia word member of Daudkhali union parishad, confirmed the incident. – Tribune Report

Shahporir Dwip Protection Committee General Secretary Abul Hashem said: “Every year, the residents are losing their homesteads and lands. Hundreds of families are becoming homeless. In the last three years, salt cultivation on around 2,000 acres of land had been on a halt because intrusion of tides.” According to the Water Development Board, in 1996, Nuruzzaman and Sons, a Dhaka-based contractor firm started building the embankment with mud, sand and stones with Tk80 crore. In 2008, Tk4.42 crore, in 2010 Tk4.75 crore, in 2011 Tk7.21 crore, in 2013 Tk83 lakh and in 2014 Tk55 lakh – a total of Tk97.76 crore was spent on the embankment but still it could not be protected. Sub-Assistant Engineer of Water Development Board Gias Uddin said: “To build the Shahporir Dwip embankment a Tk106 crore project is waiting for funding by Ecnec [Executive Committee of National Economic Council]. Once it is approved, the work will start.” l

Two women are seen cooking on earthen ovens as severe gas crisis hits residents of Baluchar area, Chittagong. The photo was taken yesterday FOCUS BANGLA

Students of some 2,600 schools across the country are taking part in a nationwide earthquake drill that began from September 16 ahead of the International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction in October 13. The drills are being conducted at under a joint initiative of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP), the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief and the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, in order to make schools safe from disasters particularly earthquake, according to officials of the project. “We have organised this drill not only for the students but also for the teachers, to ensure we are well prepared in case a major earthquake occurs,” said Shahrin Khan Rupa, headmistress of Tejgaon Govt High School. l

Torrid heat takes toll on Ctg life n FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong

The sweltering heat felt in Chittagong over the past few days has made life miserable, especially for the low-income people whose jobs usually involve working under the sun. People have been seen taking shelter under shade of trees in parks as well as open spaces against the torrid heat. Chittagong Met Office said yesterday’s temperature was 34.5 degrees Celsius – the highest in the last couple of days. Assistant Meteorologist of the Met Office Abdul Hamid told the Dhaka Tribune that temperature at night remained almost unchanged compared to that in the daytime. Temperature in the port city stayed between 33.6 degrees Celsius and 34.5 degrees Celsius from September 12 till yesterday.

Meteorologists argued that temperature of this range was usually tolerable but the heat felt excessive because of unplanned urbanisation and imbalance in the environment. Sexagenarian Piara Begum, a housewife living in Chittagong Port colony, said her family members had to have several bottles of cold water every day because of scorching heat. The heat was intolerable during blackouts, she added. Rickshaw puller Abdur Rashid told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that pulling rickshaw in the blazing daytime heat was a very painful thing to do. He said he earned Tk1,000 in the last two days, which was a paltry sum in proportion to how much he had made at the beginning of the week. “I could not make long-haul trips because

of the sultry weather,” added Rashid. Musa Miah, who drives a human haulier on the CEPZ-AK Khan route in Chittagong city, said he had to drink saline water as a precautionary measure while driving. “Otherwise, I might lose focus on the road and that could lead to accidents.” Meanwhile, holidaymakers braved heat to stand in queues at Chittagong rail station yesterday to collect train tickets ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, which will be celebrated on September 25. Physicians have suggested that people drink sufficient water to ward off dehydration and stay at home if it is not very necessary to go outside. Nasir Uddin Mahmud, an associate professor of the children ward at Chittagong Medical College Hospital, said the number of diarrhoea patients had increased in the last two days. l

NEWS 7

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Quader: No quota for VIPs in bus, train during Eid n Our Correspondent, Sirajganj Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday said no quota facilities would be provided to very important persons (VIP) in buses and trains in advance tickets before and after the Eid-ul-Azha. He said: “There is no quota facilities for VIPs in Saarc countries. But this kind of quota system creates trouble for home-bound passengers during every Eid. So, VIPs have to collect their advance tickets standing in ques like general passengers.” The minister said this while visiting newly-constructed central reservoir in Saidabad area on the Dhaka-Rajshahi Highway in the western side of Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge in Sirajganj yesterday. He said stern actions would be taken if any unfit vehicles were seen plying highways during Eid. He said: “Stern actions would be taken against the owners, case would be filed even license could be cancelled whose vehicles would be found defective and unfit to run on highways. There is no compromise” Assistant Director of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority Ashrafuzzaman, General Secretary of Awami League district unit Abu Mahammad Golam Kibria accompanied the minister. l

WEATHER THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 DHAKA TODAY

TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:59PM

SUN RISES 5:46AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY 34 32 35 35 32 32 35 30

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

26 26 26 26 26 26 25 26

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

38.2ºC

25.5ºC

Bogra

Hatiya Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:28am 5:45am 11:53am 4:17pm 6:00pm 7:30pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Rajshahi City Corporation has taken a scheme to plant flowering trees on central reservation after cutting down big tress from there. The photo taken yesterday shows workers cut down such types of trees in Bandho Gate area, yesterday AZAHAR UDDIN

Dhaka-Barisal Highway turns perilous n Our Correspondent, Madaripur The lack of maintenance and repair has left the Dhaka-Barisal highway in a dilapidated condition, increasing the risk of accidents. Parts of the 24ft wide highway in Faridpur and Madaripur have developed numerous potholes, making journeys risky and multiplying the suffering of passengers as well. There have been several accidents on the highway near Bhurghata bus stop in the last one month because of the road’s narrow width and also because there is no soil on each side. The accidents that involved head-on traffic collision and also buses plunging into roadside ditches took place in Madaripur’s Kalkini, Barisal’s Gournadi, Gopalganj’s Muksudpur and Faridpur’s Bhanga. More than 50 people have been killed in road crashes in the last 30 days, including six who died on Wednesday when two buses collided head on in Faridpur’s Jamtala area.

Yunus Sarder, a local in Bhurghata, said road accidents continued to claim lives on the highway because of its very poor condition but no steps had yet been taken to repair it. From Bhurghata bus stop to the upazila parishad, pedestrians are forced to get down to roadside fields to allow two buses to run simultaneously on the highway. The roadside areas from Bhurghata to Gournadi are also covered with dense bushes and there have been no steps to clear those. “Most of the highways are 24ft wide but the Dhaka-Barisal highway is only 18ft. This clearly increase the odds that accidents will happen and people will die thereby,” said Akhter Hossain, who lives in Kalkini’s Gopalpur. He called on the road transport and bridges minister to initiate repairs on the road. Monwar Bepari, a driver, said driving on the highway puts motorists in serious peril. Meanwhile, Roads and Highways Department officials have been accused of misap-

Plying of goods-laden vessels banned during Eid n Our Correspondent, Barisal

Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan yesterday said goods-laden vessels would not be allowed to ply during the upcoming Eid-ulAzha with a view to ensuing safety for homebound passengers. The shipping minister said this while visiting Barisal river port yesterday afternoon. The minister also urged passengers not to be extra passengers on vessels as it could be deadly for them. He said passengers should be aware of their safety and security during travel time. He called upon the passengers not to depend only on transport owners, workers, port authorities for safe and secured travel, but also refrain themselves from boarding on over loaded water transport and travel on rooftop of the vessels to avoid any fatal accident. He said the Bangladesh Water Transport Authority provided sufficient water transport in all river routes.

He said the government had taken various steps, including formation of marine police, to curb accidents on the river route across the country. He said: “In 2004, the country witnessed 31 launch accidents, but during the tenure of the present government since 2009, only 16 launch accidents took place across the country.” He said officials alongside the river police, who have already been deployed for the security of river vessels, would oversee different river routes to ensure hassle-free journey of home-bound passengers ahead of Eid. Officials and employees of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation, Barisal District Awami League Secretary and lawmaker of Barisal 2 constituency Advocate Talukder M Younus, vice-president of Central Launch Owners Association and Sadar upazila Chairman Saidur Rahman Rintu accompanied the minister during the visit. l

propriating a boatload of money in the name of repairing the road but no substantial repair has been carried out yet. Madaripur Executive Engineer Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal refused to directly respond to the accusation but said the authorities had been informed of the highway’s run-down state. “The highway needs reconstruction, not just repair, and we are awaiting official approval to initiate that. We will float a tender to appoint a contractor for the task,” he said. Kamal blamed torrential rains and cyclone Komen for the damage done to the highway. “A 3km part of the road was heavily damaged and reconstructing that portion is imperative,” he told the Dhaka Tribune. The government official said he was not aware of how much money was spent on repairing the highway since the previous fiscal year until now. “I do not have that information.” l

Earthquake drills for schoolchildren in 2,600 schools n UNB

8 WORLD

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

EU nations refusing Asylum seekers in the EU to help refugees 32,675 won’t get money Germany

n Reuters, Berlin Countries that do not share European values of human empathy and solidarity cannot count on receiving money from the bloc, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said in an interview with the German newspaper Bild. Renewing a threat issued this week by his cabinet colleague, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, Gabriel said that while Germany was opening gymnasiums, barracks and homes to refugee families, other countries were “laying barbed wire on their borders and closing the gates”. The comments were a thinly veiled jab at Hungary, which has built a fence along its border with Serbia and is building one on its border with Croatia to prevent refugees fleeing war in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, to make it into Europe’s frontier-free Schengen zone. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s closing of the border and introducing laws making it easier for his government to crack down on migrants has helped reduce the flow of asylum seekers travelling through Austria and into Germany. But images of Hungarian police blasting refugees with tear gas and water cannon have also tarnished Europe’s image and underscored divisions over how to respond to the influx of hundreds of thousands refugees. De Maiziere announced a new head of Germany’s refugee office after the previous incumbent resigned on Thursday following criticism of his poor handling of the crisis. l

An election campaign in Greece ends on Friday with opinion polls giving no clear winner, setting the stage for a cliffhanger vote on Sunday between the political left and right, and the near-certainty the next government will be a coalition. Five opinion polls on Thursday and Friday underlined the tightness of Greece’s election campaign, offering different outcomes but all pointing to no outright winner when ballots are cast. The winner of Sunday’s vote will need to oversee deep economic reforms required for a €86bn bailout brokered in August, a recapitalisation of the country’s banks, and the unwinding of capital controls imposed this year to prevent an implosion of the financial system. All the polls showed the leftist Syriza party of former prime minister Alexis Tsipras and the conservative New Democracy of Vangelis Meimarakis within spitting distance of each other. In each poll, however, neither party came close to the 38% threshold widely believed to be needed to establish a majority in the 300seat parliament. Of the five polls published on Thursday

Applicants per million inhabitants + than 3,000 1,500-2,000 300-1,500

April-June

% of EU total

Austria

Hungary

Italy

France

100-300 Less than 100

Refuse migrant quotas UK

Sweden

80,935 17,395

14,895

14,685

14,295 7,470

15.3%

8.2

Netherlands Belgium

6,270

2.9

Romania

375

38%

0.2

Bulgaria

5,040

2.4

4,050

275

0.1

1.7

Portugal

250

0.1

6.9

Greece

3,675

1.9

Czech Rep.

Spain

Luxembourg

3.5

6.7

Denmark

Poland

Finland

Ireland

2,865

2,495

1,765

1,605

855

1.3

1.2

0.8

0.4

Slovenia

Slovakia

Croatia

Latvia

Estonia

Lithuania

245

105

0.1

Cyprus Malta

400

0.2

380

0.2

Source: Eurostat

Greece campaign ends as winner too close to call n Reuters, Athens

New applications Jan-Mar

213,200 new applications in total April - June 2015

and Friday, two put Syriza ahead, two had New Democracy ahead, and one was a tie. Given that Greece’s compliance with the €86bn bailout programme is at issue, many at EU headquarters in Brussels and in other European capitals would like to see a broad coalition emerging from the election. But Syriza and New Democracy, while both pledging to uphold the bailout terms, disagree on pivotal matters such as freeing up the labour market, collective bargaining and immigration. Syriza, forced to concede the bailout in August with the threat of a disorderly exit from the euro zone looming over the country, has ruled out any pact with New Democracy. It regards that party as part of an old guard partly responsible for Greece’s economic woes. On the other hand, New Democracy has been keen to highlight perceived credibility issues under Syriza, which swept to power in January on the promise of ridding the country of bailouts, only to agree to new stringent austerity terms six months later. One analyst said the biggest question mark surrounded undecided voters, many of whom backed Syriza and Tsipras in January but have been turned off by his failure to rid Greece of stringent EU austerity conditions in the bailout accord. l

FACTBOX

Greece’s possible post-election scenarios Heavyweights - Syriza allies with New Democracy Such an alliance would secure a strong parliamentary majority in the 300-seat house, helped by the electoral system which gives a bonus of 50 seats to the first party. It would probably please Greece’s creditors, who have in the past sought proof of commitment to the bailout by political leaders. It would be very difficult, however. The two parties are expected to clash on issues such as specifying reforms, leading to delays in their implementation, and on immigration. Another risk is that such an alliance would very likely make the far-right Golden Dawn the main opposition, bringing greater visibility to a movement whose leaders have been charged with setting up a criminal organisation.

Split the bill - New Democracy or Syriza with Potami, Pasok Although an alliance with only one of the smaller parties, the centrist To Potami (River) or the once dominant Socialist Pasok - may be possible depending on the results, the two leading forces have suggested a wider partnership, for the sake of political stability making such a coalition more likely. It is estimated that around 38% of the vote will be needed for a party to get a ruling majority in parliament. To Potami, which was founded last year by a former journalist and strongly favours Greece staying in the eurozone, has said that it is willing to strike a pact with leftists or conserva-

tives. It is taking between 4% to 7% in polls. The ratings of the once powerful Pasok party, which came to power with about 44% when the crisis broke out in 2009, have dropped to 4%-6%. Pasok participated in governments with New Democracy and smaller parties during the crisis. But having bitter experience of fragile coalitions, Pasok may not easily risk its already low popularity.

Repeat performance - Syriza with the Independent Greeks Syriza has said it would like to ally with its former coalition partner, the Independent Greeks - who have also ruled out an alliance with New Democracy. But polls suggest the right-wing party may not cross the 3% threshold needed to enter parliament. Neither Pasok nor To Potami would want to ally with them.

Another election No one wants one. For one thing, voters are getting weary. Sunday’s national ballot will be the third this year after the national election in January and the referendum on the bailout in July. Tsipras has already hinted at a blame game if another vote gets called. He said this week that To Potami and Pasok would need to consider taking the responsibility of a repeat election if they demanded that New Democracy join any coalition with Syriza. Source: Reuters

WORLD 9

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

42 killed in Taliban attack in Pakistan air force base n Reuters, Peshawar Taliban gunmen killed 29 people, including 16 praying in a mosque, when they stormed a Pakistani air force base on Friday, a military spokesman said, in the deadliest Taliban attack on a military installation in the country’s history. The 13 gunmen were also killed in the attack on Badaber air base, close to the northwestern city of Peshawar. The assault shows the Taliban retain the capability to mount devastating attacks despite a military campaign and a government crackdown against them following the massacre of more than 150 people, mostly children, at an army-run school last December. Twenty-two of those killed in the attack were serving in the Pakistan air force, four were civilians and three were army soldiers responding to the attack, Major General Asim Bajwa told a news conference. Twenty-nine people were wounded, he said. “The terrorist group used two gates. They came close to the gate and disembarked from their cars and then they used rocket launchers and grenades and fired as they entered the gate,” said Bajwa, who said the attack has been masterminded in Afghanistan.

A reaction force arrived within 10 minutes and the attackers were contained close to the areas where they entered, he said. But they were still able to enter the mosque and killed 16 of those inside, he said. Mohammad Ikram of the Pakistani Air Force, who offering his morning prayers at the time the attack began, said most of those inside the mosque were hit by gunfire in the attack claimed by the Taliban. “We were offering prayers when we first heard the gunshots and then, within no time, they entered the mosque where they began indiscriminately firing,” he said by telephone from a hospital bed where he was being treated for gunshot wounds. “They killed and injured most of the worshippers. I fell on the ground. Then the gunmen went to other places in the base. After a long time, we were shifted to the hospital.”

Afghan links?

The attack may worsen already chilly relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, after Bajwa said communication intercepts showed the attackers were receiving directions from Afghanistan, where many Pakistani Taliban have bases. “This operation was planned in Afghan-

India readies power rescue plan n Reuters, New Delhi

istan, and was executed from there. And it was being controlled from Afghanistan,” he said. “No one can say that the Afghan state has encouraged this, but the fact is that it was launched from Afghanistan.” Afghanistan and Pakistan have separate but allied Taliban insurgencies. The two nations frequently accuse each other of not doing enough to stamp out insurgent havens on either side of their porous border. Bajwa released pictures of some of the attackers’ bloodied bodies in the uniform of the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary, black traditional Pakistani clothes. The Taliban released a video about the attack featuring Umar Mansoor, the same commander who claimed responsibility for the Peshawar school massacre. “We proudly claim responsibility for the attack on Pakistani air base,” Taliban spokesman Muhammad Khorasani told Reuters. “This base is being used by fighter jets for bombing us.” Attacks by the Taliban have fallen about 70% this year, following a military offensive against the militants’ bases along the Afghan border that began in June 2014 and the government’s redoubled efforts to combat them after the Peshawar school attack. l

India is preparing a rescue package for power utilities owing tens of billions of dollars, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi must first convince states to make politically hard choices as he seeks a victory for reforms needed to galvanise the economy. Modi has prioritised tackling a problem that is stifling bank lending needed for a revival, three senior government sources with direct knowledge of the plan said. Problematic utility debts account for a quarter of all restructured bank loans in India. In total, utilities owe $66bn. New Delhi has identified about Rs1.5tn ($22.7bn) of debt held by financially stretched utilities as most at risk, one of the sources said, adding to the urgency to relieve a banking system weighed down by bad loans. Under the proposal, New Delhi wants to persuade state governments to take over some of their utilities’ debt. In return, the electricity distributors would commit to re-investing interest savings in new lines and metering, improving billing and cutting rampant power theft, the sources said, declining to be named because the plan is not public. To make it work, the distributors are likely to come under pressure to raise electricity tariffs for consumers used to low prices. l

2nd Republican presidential debate: A night of spatula madness Republican White House hopefuls held their second presidential debate Wednesday, a charged and at times highly personal political joust. Here are some notable moments:

Money, money, money

Trump leads US Republican contenders

School yard fights “His visceral response to attack people on their appearance, short, tall, fat, ugly, my goodness, that happened in junior high. Are we not way above that?” Senator Rand Paul takes issue with Trump’s personal insults on the campaign trail. “I never attacked him on look, and believe me, there is plenty of subject matter there.” Trump shows gives no quarter in response.

They heard “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr Trump said.” Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina addresses Trump’s comments about her face.

Does your mom know, Jeb?

“Forty years ago I smoked marijuana... I’m sure other people did it and didn’t want to admit it in front of 40 million people... My mom’s not happy that I just did.” Bush comes clean on his pot use.

Ben Carson

20.0 20

Hitting Hillary

Getting personal “She’s absolutely the love of my life, and right here, and why don’t you apologise to her right now.” Former Florida governor Jeb Bush demands an apology from Trump for the suggestion he is soft on immigration because he has a Mexican-American wife, who was in the audience.

30.5 30%

The billionaire businessman is still the man to beat, according to polls

“I say not in a braggadocious way, I’ve made billions and billions of dollars dealing with people all over the world.” Donald Trump lays on his characteristic bombast from the outset.

Bush raises eyebrows by coming in defence of his brother, who was president during 9/11 and the Iraq War.

Donald Trump

Jeb Bush

7.8

0 15/6

30/6

15/7

30/7

15/8

30/8

Source: RealClearPolitics, poll average

Graphic

6.8 5.3 4.5 3.3 3.3 3.0 2.5 16/9 1.5

Ted Cruz Marco Rubio Mike Huckabee Carly Fiorina Rand Paul Scott Walker John Kasich Chris Christie

“A fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain. This is about the character of our nation.” Fiorina gets rapt applause for an impassioned attack on Planned Parenthood -- government-funded reproductive health clinics that have become a lightning rod for conservatives because they also provide abortions.

Donald and Carly’s career, for the 55-yearold construction worker who doesn’t have a job, who doesn’t have money to fund his child’s education, I gotta tell you the truth. They could care less about your careers. They care about theirs.” New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is unimpressed by a back-and-forth between the campaign’s two CEOs on their business record.

Corporate takeover

Brotherly love

“I’m (as) entertained as anyone by this personal back and forth about the history of

“As it relates to my brother, there is one thing I know for sure, he kept us safe.”

“I, too, have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles around the globe but unlike Mrs. Clinton, I know flying is an activity, not an accomplishment.” Fiorina offers a curt dismissal of Clinton’s frequent travel as secretary of state.

Code name

Each candidate was asked what they would choose as their Secret Service code name. Christie opted for “True Heart,” John Kasich for “Unit Two” (his wife was unit one), secretary-turned-CEO Fiorina went with “Secretariat”, Scott Walker chose “I love riding Harleys.” Bush tried a drop of self-deprecation with “Ever ready,” joking at Trump’s criticisms about the tempo of his campaign. “Very high energy, Donald,” he quipped. The real estate mogul opted for “Humble,” raising laughs, Ben Carson (“One Nation”), Cruz (“Cohiba”), Floridian Marco Rubio (“Gator”), Mike Huckabee (“Duck Hunter”), Paul (“Justice never sleeps”) -- which the moderator noted was a mouthful. l Source: AFP

10 WORLD

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

German intelligence: US, Russian militaries launch talks on Syria Salafists trying to n AFP, Washington, DC recruit refugees The United States and Russian militaries ren Reuters, Berlin newed high-level contacts on Friday to disUltra-conservative Islamists are seeking to recruit Sunni Muslims among the refugees in Germany by offering to help them, the head of domestic intelligence agency (BfV) said in a newspaper interview. “We’re observing that Salafists act like philanthropists and helpers, deliberately seek contact with refugees and then invite them to the relevant mosques to recruit them for their cause,” BfV head Hans-Georg Maassen told a regional German newspaper. He played down fears that Islamic State would try to send terror squads disguised as refugees to Germany, saying they had followed up on lots of leads, they had found no sign that this was the case. Maassen said the routes that refugees take were too dangerous for “terrorists” as they would risk death or being exposed. Security specialists have said the risk that groups like Islamic State could smuggle militants into Europe under cover of a huge wave of migrants is much smaller than some politicians suggest. l

cuss their roles in the conflict in Syria. US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke by telephone, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said. “They agreed to further discuss mechanisms for deconfliction in Syria and the counter-ISIL campaign,” he said, referring to the Islamic State group. In military terms, “deconfliction” means rival armies will talk to one another to avoid accidental encounters between their forces. The United States is leading a coalition of allies in air strikes against the Islamic State jihadists. Russia, meanwhile, is providing military support to Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime, a build-up which has raised concerns in Washington. The United States and Nato broke off direct military contacts with Moscow in April last year in protest at Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. l

EDITORIAL 11

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

INSIDE

An open letter to Michael J Delaney PAGE 12

BIGSTOCK

Payback time PAGE 14

The Bengali tristate PAGE 16-17

Arts & Letters PAGE 18

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Invest in vocational training to rise up value chain

t this week’s launch of the Skills for Employment Investment project, the finance minister commented that the expenditure by businesses in Bangladesh on overseas workers to make up for shortages of skills in the local workforce is estimated to cause an outflow of $4bn a year. It is a telling indicator of the urgent need to help make our growing workforce more widely skilled and productive. Boosting skills is absolutely essential if the economy is to become more globally competitive and take full advantage of the potential of our demographic dividend. In this regard it is welcome to see the $8.5 million of support being given by the Korea International Cooperation Agency to establish a new academic building and workshops at the government’s Technical Training Centre in Rajshahi. This is a welcome addition to the initiatives being taken by the government to scale up skills training initiatives for the country’s workers. Building capacity to strengthen vocational training is a vital priority for Bangladesh. Less than 3.5% of boys and only 1.2% of girls in Bangladesh choose to undertake vocational education. On a national scale, the Ministry of Finance is working with the Asian Development Bank and business organisations to spend over $1bn to equip over 1.25 million young people with employable skills by 2021. It aims to focus on supporting skills training in 15 priority sectors, starting with garments and textiles, leather, construction, light engineering, information technology and shipbuilding. Such training is essential to help equip the workforce with the skills it needs for future economic growth and job creation. While technical schools and colleges are more expensive than conventional high schools, they are cheaper than universities and offer a proven path to employment for students who want to avoid more expensive higher education. Improving vocational training will allow the country to create more higher value jobs at home. It will also increase choice for workers who go abroad by equipping them with more marketable skills. The government should work with businesses to increase awareness of and participation in vocational training.

Boosting skills is essential to make the economy more globally competitive and reap the potential of our demographic dividend

12 OPINION

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

An open letter to Michael J Delaney Improving the state of our democracy is the first step to earning the US GSP back

Getting the GSP back will benefit Bangladesh's economy by a great length

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

that protect the rights of workers to associate freely or to work in safe environs. On the contrary, with Bangladesh’s major business associations now slowly being brought in line, quite the opposite is true. Nor is it prudent to place much stock in the law enforcement mechanism. Given the relatively low numbers of prosecutors, police, civil servants, or judges who serve outside the ambit of the official administration, the concept of “rule of law” exists far more in proceedings of academic seminars in Dhaka’s posh hotels than in the reality of the lives of the people of Bangladesh. The few human rights organisations who have pointed this out -- Transparency International, Odhikar, BHRC -- have been immediately subjected to a crackdown, as the 2015 recipient of the RFK Human Rights Award, former Bangladeshi prosecutor Adilur Rahman Khan pointed out in his acceptance remarks for the august prize. The sad reality, as witnessed by abundant scholarly literature, is that, without proper democratic governance, the fundamental accountability needed for the sustained protection of labour rights simply cannot exist in any meaningful fashion. If indeed the goal of President Obama’s administration and the USTR is to create a sustainable environment where the fundamental human rights of textile workers are respected in law and enforced in fact, there is no other choice but to emphasise to Bangladesh its moral and constitutional duty to restore the actual independence of the courts, rein in its paramilitary terror squad “BCL,” and arrange for free, fair, and internationally monitored national elections. As a university lecturer of political science, I am under no illusion about the efficacy of trade-related talks to bring about the restoration of democracy in far-away

n Esam Sohail

ear Mr Delaney, Please accept my advance apologies for the “out of the blue” nature of this communication where I am taking the liberty of bringing up a relatively overlooked perspective on the upcoming General System of Preferences (GSP) review talks that your team will be having with the Bangladeshi regime soon. The concerns raised by your office -and indeed the administration as a whole -- pertain to certain verifiable facts on the ground that simply cannot be wished away, notwithstanding the continuing posturing and haranguing of the regime in Bangladesh. As an individual who once called Bangladesh his home, and continues to maintain deep ties with her, I appreciate the principled stand that the Office of the United States Trade Representative has taken in this regard; as an ardent believer in free trade’s many benefits, I am sensitive to the tough situation this impasse creates for businesses and consumers in both countries. Yet, free trade without accountability creates hazards of the kind that your team

Free trade without accountability creates hazards of the kind that your team has been observing in Bangladesh for several years, the best of laws written on paper whither in implementation when there is very little evidence of the responsibility that stems from democratic governance

has been observing in Bangladesh for several years, the best of laws written on paper whither in implementation when there is very little evidence of the responsibility that stems from democratic governance. Unfortunately, such lack of accountability and responsibility is precisely at the kernel of the dilemma of labour rights and safe workplaces that your colleagues have pointed out previously. The current government barely has much incentive, internally, to enforce regulations

shores. Nonetheless, I am also confident that the current context of the upcoming GSP review talks gives you and your team a unique niche in encouraging the Dhaka regime to respect the rights of the people of Bangladesh. I thank you for your years of outstanding public service and hope we continue to benefit from it for many more years to come. l Esam Sohail is a research analyst and college lecturer who writes from Kansas, USA.

OPINION 13

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Forgive us, teachers We have failed to treat our teachers with their due respect

Muhammed Zafar Iqbal’s hopes were washed away that day

They must think themselves immune to punishment. And can you blame them? Are members of student political groups ever brought to justice?

n Nibir Mostafa Khan

ast month, an act of the most unacceptable kind took place at Shahjalal Institute of Technology. A group of “students” assaulted, abused, and harassed their teachers on campus because of some reason or another, involving politics and the VC. I refrain from even elaborating on the reason properly because it’s not important. There can be no justification for what has been done. Under no circumstance can a student harass his or her teachers. I am ashamed to be in the same ranks as these students after what has happened. I condemn this act and demand justice. It’s not enough, but I offer my sincerest apology to the teachers who have had to go through this ordeal. After the torturing and killing of multi-

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

ple children in Bangladesh recently, I had thought nothing that happened in this country would faze me. But I stand corrected. I am amazed at what we as a nation are capable of doing. If killing those kids was the maximum extent to which a human being could physically damage another human being, students harassing and abusing their teachers in a university campus is the psychological equivalent, and this has damaged the core of the morals and standards that we Bangladeshis are so proud of. Each and every one of us must feel responsible for what has happened. It is my understanding that the “students” who were behind this are linked to a certain political party. They must think themselves immune to punishment. And can you blame them? Are members of student political groups ever brought to justice? All we can do is hope that this time things will be different. We must now ask ourselves how this was allowed to happen. Why on Earth should we have to see this happen to our teachers? Where did we go wrong? Our conscience as a whole has taken a dive somewhere in the last decade or so, and we are only realising it now due to recent events which have come to the surface. A significant decrease in our sense of morality has taken place; we must find the cause and stop it while we still can. The damage though, has been done. We, along with the teachers, will never recover from this occurrence. Though we may forget it from time to time, being the goldfish memory nation we are, I believe most of us will take this to our

graves. For me, personally, I will never be able to erase the image of Zafar Iqbal sir sitting in the rain, broken and alone like so many of his characters have been in the past, protesting what had happened to him and his wife, going on record to say things like: “I should hang myself if any of those men were my students” and “I don’t want any trials, I can endure it, I have very thick skin.” The ever optimist magician of words, forced to use sentences that should never escape a teacher’s lips. It is one of the most depressing things I have ever seen in my life. The fact that he could’ve chosen to stay abroad and preferred to teach here makes it worse. There were other teachers who were victims of this act, especially the teacher whose shirt was torn in the most savage way possible. What is the use of building drones, going to the top universities, winning science and math Olympiads, if we can’t even teach our students the basics of courtesy and morality? What is the value of success if we are not even proper human beings? I wish there was an instant solution for this, but there isn’t one. This time, we aren’t even sure where we went wrong, just that we have strayed from the path. But being the optimist that I am, I still have faith in this generation and, hopefully, we’ll pull through, much like how the characters of Dr Muhammed Zafar Iqbal always do. l Nibir Mostafa Khan is an intern at the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute.

14 OPINION

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Payback time The unrest in Syria alone does not explain the sudden surge across Europe

Will they find a better life?

n FS Aijazuddin

mmigration can be a messy business. It leaves stains. It is a subtle challenge to the notion that the world is a global village. The recent exodus by refugees fleeing insecure poverty in southern Europe to the stable affluence of its north puts this misconception to the test. Without warning, a human horde has swept across the continent of Europe. This phalanx of disturbed humanity has floated across seas, swum through rivers, trudged over mountains, permeated through city streets, and barged blithely through border check-posts in search of a German Paradies. Countries in their way like Hungary have been subjected to pressures they have not had time to anticipate. Consequently, their resources are being strained, their public services overburdened, and their patience stretched. Nations that had cocooned themselves comfortably within the EU are now questioning the very fundamentals of the EU, in particular its egalitarian commitment to free movement across invisible borders. The combustible unrest in Syria alone does not explain this sudden surge. There have been other wars in the region -- in Lebanon, for example, which its harried citizens quit in Mercedes over-laden with monogrammed suitcases. Or Iraq, from which its nationals -- bombarded and harried by US-led Coalition forces -- fled to neighbouring countries. This latest influx of migrants though is different. It is determined. It is coordinated. And it seems to have foreknowledge which countries should be targeted, and where their vulnerabilities lie. Such information does not come off the Internet, nor can it be bought in the grey market. How and where did these displaced persons obtain this crash-course in gate-crashing? Euro-cynics contend that this could be a covert attempt by inimical powers to

REUTERS

destabilise the complacency of European societies, using desperate civilian families in lieu of trained military forces. Euro-optimists are convinced that this flood will recede, as tsunamis do. Whenever it does, it will leave behind a detritus of disorder and discontent for host governments to manage. No political bleach has yet been invented that can remove these lasting stains. They will remain. Recall: West Germany reunified with East Germany in 1990, but a united Germany has yet to absorb its Turkish guests. France quit its Muslim colony Algeria in 1962, yet it still has difficulties with non-designer headscarves. The UK has done more than most to accommodate West Indians, East Africans, South Asians, and now Russian oligarchs. But even Great Britain has geographical limitations. Shakespeare described his island home as a “precious stone set in the silver sea / which serves it in the office of a wall / or as a moat defensive to a house / Against the envy of less happier lands.” Shakespeare had not foreseen the Chunnel. Envious refugees at Calais peer into it, attracted like moths by the light at the British end -- alluring, irresistible, and maddeningly within reach. The vast Atlantic Ocean once separated the continents of Europe and America, but even that expanse of seawater could not prevent tenacious migrants navigating across it, landing on its eastern shores, and then cloning New England, New York, New Prague, New Vienna, New Orleans. “Give me your tired, your poor / your huddled masses yearning to breathe free/ the wretched refuse of your teeming shore ...” beckons the Statue of Liberty. Shoals of immigration have now forced the United States to reconsider this open invitation. In 1847, it tried to reverse the flow. It created Liberia in West Africa for its African and Caribbean freed slaves. Not all of them wanted to return. None agreed with Liberia’s national motto: “The love of liberty brought us here.” Today’s Americans are hyphenated with

every nationality in the world. This ethnic diversity contributes to its super-power strength; yet, in that mix lies its weakness, its Kryptonite. By 2050, the US’s population will exceed 430 million. Whites will reduce from 67% (2005) to 47% (2050). Blacks will remain static at 13% of the total. Asians will creep up from 5% to a projected 9% (blame it on Muslim fundamentalists). Hispanics, however, will increase dramatically from 14% in 2005 to almost 30% by 2050, to become the US’s largest ethnic community.

Without warning, a human horde has swept across the continent of Europe. This phalanx of disturbed humanity has floated across seas, swum through rivers, trudged over mountains, permeated through city streets, and barged blithely through border check-posts in search of a German Paradies That explains why President Obama felt the need to restore ties with Cuba. It was not an act of belated condescension by a superpower to a villain with a Spanish accent. It was a far-sighted admission by the US of its geographic, ethnic, linguistic affinity with Hispanic countries in South America. Future historians will interpret the unfurling of the US flag in Havana as a defining moment in its history, when the US -- not in war, not in retaliation, not out of folie de grandeur, but voluntarily -- shifted its wordview from a West-East axis to a North-South one, from military interventions to neighbourly co-operation. l FS Aijazuddin lives in Lahore and is a columnist for Dawn, Pakistan’s main English-language newspaper. This article first appeared in Dawn.

OPINION 15

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

To devalue or not to devalue? The missing links in the discussion surrounding the potential devaluation of the taka

n Moazzem Hossain

t this moment, the Bangladesh taka is one of the stronger currencies of the region. Although the taka is not pegged with the dollar, it has been coping well with the recently found strength of the dollar. Against the Indian rupee, the taka has been appreciating strongly in the recent months. What caused this strength? Certainly, the demand for taka in the Forex market has been increasing at a steady rate. This demand has generated from at least two sources: Remittance and exports. As a result, in recent weeks, some commentators have been engaged in a passionate debate surrounding the taka: To devalue or not devalue. It appears that the arguments have been put forward with the lessons learned from intermediate macro text books, keeping in mind the likely impact of currency devaluation on imports and exports (trade), in particular. In other words, devaluation means imports become expensive and exports earn more money, given that the terms of trade (ToT) and price ratio of imports and exports (price paid for imports vs price received from exports) remain unchanged in the short-to-medium term. Without going through this economic phenomenon ToT, carefully, uttering the “d word” is likely to be a futile exercise. Having said that, the ToT is an important element of international trade theory and is a major area of concern for trade policy-makers or trade analysts in both good and bad times. There is another dimension to trade which, sometimes, policy-makers in developing nations are not genuinely interested in to include in this debate: Trade strategies. These are import substitution (IS) and export promotion (EP) strategies. Politicians in this region passionately talk about the Look East policy, but perhaps ignore the fundamental trade issues of the miracle economies in East Asia which contributed in achieving double-digit growth in the early days. First, the major rationales for the IS strategy in the early days, on the one hand, are: To stimulate industrial growth and imports need to be cheaper for the import of capital goods, and needs a strong currency. It is relatively easy to launch an IS strategy, initially simple and administratively straight-forward. Second, the major rationales for the EP strategy, on the other hand, are: Industrial growth rate and output of agricultural commodities grow more rapidly, EP strategy provides less vulnerability on exchange rate movements because foreign exchange earnings grow rapidly with a relatively undervalued currency, and EP strategy, once stabilised, is more likely to be self-sustained and gather momentum. Third, the mixture of both IS and EP strategies. The mixture of these strategies mainly utilise the major features of both the strategies in order to bring balance and to make the economy stable, particularly at the time

Trade is an important factor in the decision to devalue our currency

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

What is important, at this stage, is to make exchange rate policies transparent, while the regulator/Bangladesh Bank needs to be watchful, and also let stake-holders know early if there are any short-term uncertainties looming

of economic shocks. In some circumstances, the mixture works better than either IS or EP policies by themselves, because it is possible to have inefficient EP policies as it is to have inefficient IS policies. For example, excessive protection is said to lead to high profits, excessive profit remittances, excessively high urban wages, and excessive rural-to-urban migration. At the same time, inefficient use of resources, underutilisation of capacity, and waste also, generally, contribute to excessive protection. Inefficient policies with respect to exports can take the form of excessive subsidies to

inputs into export industries, so that negative “value-added” can occur. “The ultimate test of the respective merits of the EP strategy and IS strategy is not their ability to allocate resources between sectors, but their power to mobilise domestic resources and skills and to create and activate incentives, attitudes, and institutions for development.” Bangladesh certainly applies a mixture of IS and EP for the expansion of trade, in the era of globalisation. For example, it keeps subsidising the energy sector and tries to promote exports in textile and related industries by keeping the currency value as low as

possible in the past. The recent strength of the taka can be viewed as a reflection of the country-wide infrastructure projects currently in place, for example, the Padma Bridge, elevated road projects in the capital, and the construction and restoration of highways. With such big initiatives in recent years, more imports of capital goods and services has been all but a requirement. Under such circumstances, it is indeed not harmful in having a strong taka. However, it needs a close watch to see that this strength does not transform into losing the relative comparative advantage enjoying by the RMG industry. Creating a balance between IS and EP strategies is the beauty in advancing trade in the era of economic globalisation in a developing country like Bangladesh. What is important, at this stage, is to make exchange rate policies transparent, while the regulator/Bangladesh Bank needs to be watchful, and also let stake-holders know early if there are any short-term uncertainties looming due to unexpected shocks like increase in salary and wages, and utility price increase. For example, the premature increase in energy prices could create some uncertainty in consumer confidence and could be politically damaging as well. While one can see the legitimacy in increasing the prices of natural gas, it is not certain if the increase in the price of power is going to be friendly to the manufacturing industry or to the consumers at-large, at a time when the global price of oil is on a downward trend and has dropped to almost half from that of last year. At this stage, if the economic departments of the government are in a mood to double dip (enjoying lower import bill for oil and higher tariff per unit of electricity) to minimise subsidy, it may turn out to be giving the wrong signal to the present growth momentum. This move would restrict aggregate demand to rise (except public servants and college teachers, due to doubling of their salary from July 2016) and, in turn, increase unemployment, potentially working as a threat to our new-found growth momentum. It is time that Bangladesh Bank provided its overall position known to businesses, large and small, in terms of any uncertainties in the Forex market, or how long it is going to tolerate the taka’s relative appreciation, keeping in mind the inflation and unemployment figures in the short-to-medium term. Transparency about the exchange rate policy is very important right now. “To devalue or not,” should not be guided by the mushrooming round-table conferences on this subject, but by the trade strategies warranted in our current finest hour of economic performance, about which Bangladesh Bank knows better, whilst letting our businesses and farmers be made aware of any uncertainties. l Moazzem Hossain teaches trade courses at Griffith Business School at Griffith University, Australia.

16 HERITAGE

SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

The Bengali tristate Dhaka was indubitably a major hub of both the Mughal and British empires

Dhaka was not only the administrative capital of Bengal, but of what, it may be reasonable to suppose, was effectively the first such tristate in the world, that of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa

Locally raised revenues, from Zamindari lands and trade, were doubtless major contributors to the wealth of Mughal administrators, but it is interesting that only the wealth of administrators with a Dhaka base, such as Shah Shuja, Mir Jumla, and Shaista Khan, ever seems to attract the special attention of European writers of contemporary journals

n Tim Steel

t around the time of the early, colonial settlement of New York City (New Amsterdam), in the latter half of the 17th century, now the hub of the best known metropolitan conglomeration in the world, regularly known as the “tristate,” was probably evolving the first such complex of administrative areas with Dhaka as its hub. Dhaka, we are often told, is not only, today, the capital of the free nation of Bangladesh, but was also, once, the capital city of Bengal. In fact, although overshadowed, today, by a history of the British period, in which Kolkata became, for one and a half centuries, the capital city, Dhaka was not only the administrative capital of Bengal, but of what, it may be reasonable to suppose, was

effectively the first such tristate in the world, that of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. It may, perhaps, be presumed to have significance that, “general” histories of the latter two states tend to gloss over the Mughal period of their past. The Indians who upload much of such material to the Internet are well known for their glossing over anything that might shine a light on the rich history that is unique to Bangladesh. Indeed, even much of the shared history, such as the Silk Road that ran through much of north-east of today’s India, but, of course, eventuated in the lands that are now Bangladesh, as one of the world’s most ancient and great trading centres, does not feature in their histories, or, despite the international significance for heritage tourism, their tourist promotion. It is not hard to guess the reason for that, as it would inevitably reflect well on Bangladesh. Clearly, all three states, Orissa, Bihar, and Bengal -- or should we write four states to distinguish between East and West Bengal? -- have very rich and unique histories that go well back beyond the Common Era. But it is the Mughal period that sees a common history, much of which, at least until following the death, in 1707, of the sixth, and arguably the last, of the truly great Mughal Emperors, revolved around an administration based on Dhaka. Orissa (Odisha), in pre-historic times, was the Kingdom of Kalinga, overthrown in 261 BCE, by the Mauryan Emperor, Ashoka, in a war so bloody that it is said over 100,000 people were killed and 150,000 captured and enslaved. So bloody was the last battle of the war that it is also said that when Asoka

viewed the battlefield he exclaimed: “If this is victory, what is a defeat?” He eventually converted to Buddhism. Like most of India, it resisted, hard, the advance of the Mughals, having maintained a high degree of independence following the fall of the Mauryans; however, like the rest of north-east India, eventually, it finally fell, in 1568. Its lengthy coastline of 450km, and proximity to the Hoogly river, which was, effectively, the southernmost distributary of the delta of the Ganges, attracted the earliest of the European arrivals. The shippingfriendly anchorage of Balasore offering a safe harbour for European vessels which were not, apart from the Portuguese, in the earliest years of the 17th century, permitted the use of facilities closer to Dhaka. Amongst the historic attractions of Orissa is its diamonds. Indeed, it is said that, until the discovery, in 1728, of diamonds in Borneo, it was the world’s only known source. Certainly, writing his famous work, Robinson Crusoe, in 1719, Daniel Defoe had his eponymous hero’s last adventure, “dealing in Opium and Diamonds” in Bengal. A reference that focuses on a reality of much business from Orissa under the Mughals being conducted through a Bengal of which Dhaka was the acknowledged administrative capital. Indeed, the contemporary journals of European merchants, including those based in Balasore, and even, eventually, Hoogly, make clear the pre-eminence of the governors based in Dhaka as “overlords” of those located in the individual states. Appeals, often of a financial variety, to the Dhaka regime, it appears, from journals, could usually be relied upon to trump local problems. Bihar is another modern Indian state with its very own rich heritage and history. Great kingdoms and empires grew from bases around Patna, including the great and historic Maghada kingdom and the Mauryan Empire. Once again, however, general histories of Bihar during the Mughal period are somewhat limited. Astride the great Ganges river, the heart of one of the sub-continent’s earliest

HERITAGE 17

SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

civilisations, that of the Ganges Basin, its importance was, perhaps, overshadowed by the significance of the delta lands themselves, that also offered linkage through the Brahmaputra and Meghna to central Asian civilisations, especially China. As well, of course, to coastal markets of the Indian sub-continent, and those further afield, across Asia, Africa, and even Europe. It is difficult to know whether the Mughals appreciated the importance of the vast deposits of saltpetre that were located in the Ganges basin, throughout Bihar, and Bengal itself. Certainly, there may have had some awareness of its importance to their own armies, sometimes referred to as “the armies of the Mughals, the gunpowder empire.” Some suspect that, in fact, of the nations of Europe who gathered around the region, all with representative bases in Dhaka, the English, who, following the 1707 Act of Union, also encompassing the Kingdom of Scotland, may be more properly referred to as Britain, were the most aware of the importance of that natural resource. This, of course, was not only a commercial cargo, which, interestingly enough, could, and often was, carried in ballast without interfering with other commercial cargoes such as fabrics, especially fine silks. But that the Mughal administrators appreciated its significance to the East India Company, who had the remunerative, tax-free contract to supply the British Navy, is clearly suggested by regular references to cargoes on the Ganges being impounded until extra payments were made to release them. That these cargoes of goods shipped out of Bengal, Orissa, and Bihar were enormously valuable there can be no doubt. Of course, locally raised revenues, from Zamindari lands and trade, were doubtless major contributors to the wealth of Mughal administrators, but it is interesting that only the wealth of administrators with a

Dhaka base, such as Shah Shuja, Mir Jumla, and Shaista Khan, ever seems to attract the special attention of European writers of contemporary journals, who seem to almost revel in the vast wealth accumulated by these governors, amounting, in modern equivalent terms, to billions of dollars. It is also probably significant that the last such governor, under Aurangzeb, Ibrahim Khan, was “promoted” from Bihar to the gubernatorial base of Dhaka. It was not until the last years of the reign of Aurangzeb that any serious attempt was made to relocate the centre of governments of these three states to somewhere that, perhaps, may have seemed a little more central, but was also, maybe, dependent on the vicissitudes of the flows of Ganges distributaries to facilitate rapid riverine communications. The fact that the relocation to a city known, named after its founder, Murshid Quli Khan, as Murshidabad, was also much closer to the commercial centres, and especially such as the silk manufacturing mills, of the Europeans, may also have influenced the move. There had been a number of episodes of violence against the administration, and there is no doubt that, by the end of the 17th century, especially following Child’s War, after the attempt by the English to seize Chittagong, increasing suspicion regarding the pacifism and intentions of these foreign settlements. But even the move to Mushidabad did not, at the time, strip Dhaka of its administrative significance. And the fact that, following Plassey, in setting up a puppet governance of the tristate over which, in 1764, the British finally gained full effective control, a palace was constructed in Dhaka for “their” appointed Nawab, Mir Jafar, suggests that even the British regarded Dhaka as the heart of the region. Kolkata, of course, with its already

There is, however, little doubt that, for almost a century, Dhaka played the role of the hub of three states, just as New York does today

well-established British bases, such as Fort William, for protection, inevitably became, slowly, but surely, the centre of, not only the tristate of their initial control, but, eventually, the heart of its administration of the growing areas of their domination in the entire sub-continent and beyond. But that, too, may well have had as much to do with the state of the river flow of the Ganges as anything else. There is, however, little doubt that, for almost a century, Dhaka played the role of the hub of three states, just as New York does today. l Tim Steel is a communications, marketing and tourism consultant.

18 ARTS & LETTERS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Send your submissions to: anl@dhakatribune.com

Road to happiness Clouds invite you to comply for rain on the wasteland. You fear the beautiful sky, and shadows make you bland. Youths yearn to see birds ornamenting the universe. They chirp, and sing songs spurring the poets to verse. Hungry for honey, butterflies look for flowers. The world of money indulges in morbid showers.

Road to happiness is blocked with barbed thorns. Road to harmony is clogged by evils with horns. Stranded on the edge of time, birds and poets bypass rhyme. Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, author of Wings of Winds, teaches English at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet.

Four Somebody’s dying tonight. I found her body, calm like a storm, fists clenched on her sides, tight blond hair, face like a blueprint of things to come, lips that almost opened, eyes that didn’t see, hands that waited. I almost knew her, the way she laughed and cried, her past lovers, a voice that melted mountains, the movement of her mouth, how she dotted her i’s, the jokes she tried to make, her favourite leather jacket.

Nobody’s crying tonight. SN Rasul is a writer. Follow him on Twitter @snrasul.

BIGSTOCK

I tried to remember her name, the life she might have lived, her weary memories, her almosts, the lost possibilities, a few imagined conversations, a heart she could have mended, and stranger things.

CLIMATE CHANGE 19

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Adaptation to climate change -- how well is Dhaka doing? n Malcolm Araos A recent article by researchers working at the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in the Tribune explained the challenges Dhaka will face due to climate change. The city has a population of over 18 million residents and continues to grow at an explosive 6.9% yearly rate. Climatic pressures are a major driver of Dhaka’s population growth as rural inhabitants come to the city after facing cyclones or riverbank erosion in the coastal regions. The capital, however, is not immune to the impacts of climate change: Most of Dhaka is less than three metres above sea level and many of the city’s slums are located in areas assigned for flood drainage and are exposed to chronic water logging. Scientists predict that river flooding and monsoon rains will become more frequent and intense due to human-induced climate change, putting extra pressure on flood prevention and drainage infrastructure. Addressing expansive infrastructure demands, deficits in housing and

basic services, especially of the 40% of the population who live in slums, remain significant challenges for government authorities. It is unclear whether Dhaka is prepared to face the impacts of climate change. Adaptation is the process of adjustment in response to extreme climatic events and long-term changes in weather patterns, such as heavy storms and erratic temperatures. In Dhaka’s context, adaptation refers to policies and practices put in place to protect people and infrastructure from the impacts. Many cities around the world have climate change adaptation plans, outlining the government’s planned initiatives to prepare for the impacts of climate change. Examples of these initiatives include raising awareness about the future effects, identifying deficits of green areas in the city, or upgrading air pollution control, among many others. Dhaka North City Corporation has a Climate Change, Environment, and Disaster Management department, established in 2011. The department has completed small-scale adaptation projects, such as producing educa-

Dhaka is not immune to the impacts of climate change. The residents of these informal settlements constantly face water-logging in their homes

tional videos about climate change for children. This is progress, but it is far from sufficient to address the large-scale threats the city faces. RAJUK, the agency responsible for planning land use and development in the city, has already prepared its Master Plan for 2016-2025, but the impacts of climate change receive only cursory mentions. This is a missed opportunity and now the agency will have to wait until its next Master Plan in 2026 to tackle climate change in a meaningful manner. The national government has made more progress to engage with the issue of climate change in urban areas, but there are no concrete plans in place for Dhaka yet. On August 2, 2015, a workshop on introducing climate change concerns into national urban policies was held jointly by UN Habitat, the Bangladeshi Ministry of Housing, and the Urban Development Directorate, a national level agency tasked with co-ordinating urban development across cities. The objectives of the workshop were to discuss a common agenda for climate change, prioritise issues in order of importance, and enhance commitment of national and local governments to incorporate climate change concerns into national urban policies. This progress is important, because it means that governments at the national and local level are laying the building blocks for action on climate change in cities. There is a lot of work to be done. Policies at the national level must trickle down to local governments in Dhaka, but questions remain about how this will be done. The responsibilities of government in Dhaka are fragmented across institutions. For example, the City Corporations have expressed the need for more green space in Dhaka, but RAJUK is the institution responsible for land use development, including planning for parks and other green spaces. Lack of co-ordination across these institutions is a barrier towards adaptation planning. Another question concerns the role of research in supporting policy. Do we know which areas of the city are the most flood-prone, or who are the most vulnerable individuals to extreme weather? Answering these questions requires that policy-makers engage with climate change researchers and students. These issues will have to be addressed before Dhaka can call itself “climate change proof.’’ l Malcolm Araos is a visiting researcher at ICCCAD, Project Leader on Tracking Urban Adaptation at www.trac3.ca and Master’s Candidate at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

DJ Wena’s co-broadcasters in the radio booth

We need to hear children’s voices when adapting to climate change n Pia Treichel and Corinne Schoch

“It is very important for people to know about climate change because it will matter to their survival in the coming days,” says DJ Wena, aged 12, from a small village in the Philippines. She is one of the main anchors of a local radio program called Voice of the Youth, Sound of the Truth. It is a weekly children’s radio program on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. While many initiatives linking radio and climate change focus on information to farmers, this program is targeted to children, by children to promote the engagement of children through their sharing of information. Communities across the globe are already experiencing the effects of extreme weather events and unpredictable variations in seasonal weather, with poor communities, women, children and marginalised groups disproportionately affected. The perspectives of children within the field of climate change adaptation have remained largely sidelined and yet, as a recent report from Plan International and Save the Children illustrates, children’s needs, voices and capacities can and should be heard in our efforts to adapt. This will ultimately lead to long term, more robust community and political frameworks and solutions to tackle the impacts of climate change. Child-centred community based adaptation arises from a child-rights approach. It seeks to ensure the concerns and priorities of children and youth are heard in decision-making around climate change adaptation. It is an approach that works with children and young people to facilitate their understanding of climate change, drawing on their voices and empowering them with the knowledge, skills and confidence to catalyse action at home, at school and in the community. As communities in the Philippines experience the increasing impacts of climate change, innovative methods of advocacy and action that harness the voices of children are being explored. Community radio connects local communities with climate change information through a low cost and accessible medium and empowers children and youth. There are more examples of child-centred community based adaptation where children design, implement and monitor adaptation actions appropriate for their age and context. These range from planting vegetable gardens at school -- where the profits from selling harvests were channelled back to the children’s climate clubs to fund further actions, to mangrove or tree planting to protecting waterfront structures from floods and storms. Children are working with adults and their municipal governments on improved waste disposal systems. They are conducting education and community outreach, based on the improved knowledge, understanding and resources they gained through the projects. Through her participation, DJ Wena has built her confidence in public speaking and leading important conversations around climate change. “This radio program changed me a lot. I’m a completely different child now. I was too shy and timid before. I was literally trembling during my first time holding and speaking into a microphone,” she says. “But now, my confidence has really soared! I can write my scripts and run it on air! I have realised that radio is a useful tool to educate my friends and their families in the community on climate change and disasters. People can hear the radio even if the electricity is out.” Climate change is an issue of inter-generational justice. Children are least responsible for its causes and yet will bear the brunt of future impacts. Today’s children form one of the most vulnerable groups exposed to the impacts of climate variability, but they are also the adults of the future. Engaging with them now helps to safeguard all our futures. l Pia Treichel is the Program Manager Climate Change Adaptation at Plan International Australia. Corinne Schoch is a Climate Change Advisor with Save the Children.

This page has been developed in collaboration with the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) and its partners Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) and International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). This page represents the views and experiences of the authors and does not necessarily reﬂect the views of Dhaka Tribune or ICCCAD or its partners.

20 FEEDBACK

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Atheism is not a dirty word September 12

etter

September 16

It is not a crisis

Molla A Latif A unique article by itself. Religions have some set rules for human beings to act morally of which the main one is belief in one or more gods whatever may be. Islam sticks to one Allah and many other religions have one or multiple gods. But most religions have mainly set the rules for acts of their followers with the belief that ultimately they have to die and face a trial before their Lords or creator to be rewarded or punished for the acts done by them here in the temporary world and live in the eternal world in peace or pain. So the believers must act accordingly. It is strictly ordained in the religious ethics that anyone who will violate the ordains of the religions shall become an atheist first and then do the crime whether a murder or a theft. Most probably, the writer may know but I do not, the atheists have got such obligation to have faith on any one or multiple gods and a life hereafter with reward or punishment for eternity. They have no set rules to follow for moral or even immoral activities as the writer has vividly explained both. But thing comes otherwise, because anyone who does a wrong harmful to others or society or humanity at large does not do it when he remains a believer in God or theist and the atheists have or naturally should not have such a rule or sub-rule in their ethical constitution. The question remains, the believers do act morally in fear of punishment or in lure of reward, they do good by compulsion for reward or to escape punishment that does not compare to those of the atheists, because they have no such place to go. after this life. I don’t know if I have tried to prove athiesm a dirty word, but simply tried to show some ignored conceptions in the article which may appear as an effort to undermine the writer’s ideas but actually essential to diversify the argument. All interested people in religion and atheism should read this article for their own thoughts. Nirjhor Molla A Latif: Then tell me sir, why are the more religious parts of the world so messed up, yet the more non-religious

parts of the world (Scandinavia for example) are more peaceful, have more gender-equality, lesser crimes and so on? Netherlands recently shut down one of its prisons because of the lack of offenders. If you think you need a belief in god or religion to be a moral and ethical person, you lack empathy. That person who would do evil if he did not believe in god, is a very bad person. Golden-rule is something people learn whether he or she is religious or not. Humans knew not to kill, rape and torch each other and to live in groups, way before they traveled towards the bottom of mount Sinai, where the ten commandments where handed out. Molla A Latif Nirjhor: There should be clear line between religion and atheism. Religious and non-religious, if I have understood you, may not mean believers and atheists. A non-religious man may not be an atheist necessarily. It is hard to believe Scandinavians and Netherlands people are totally atheists. They might have religions to follow or belief in God or gods. Atheist as the writer meant and I understood necessarily should not have any belief in any God and they should not follow any religion or its rites and beliefs. But it is not that atheists deny the state and constitutional laws of their own country or world orders. If the jails of the Netherlands are empty or being emptied for want of prisoners then it is the efficiency of their administration and civic sense of their citizens that crimes are less or not committed. It should not have relation with atheism or theism. However, thanks for the discussion and interest. Mr Gandolf, please go through my reply here and I think it is applicable for your queries too. Being an atheist one is free to deny the creator or god and His directions as there is no instant reward or punishment here itself. But he may not be allowed to defy the laws of his own country without punishment. So he is not free to do whatever he wishes as the believers also do. Thanks for interest and the good debate.

There can and have been said many things about refugees and migrants’ motivation to leave where they come from. The right-wing parties, both the moderate and the radical, take the perspective that people are fleeing because they want to achieve something -- they want something. And that the choice of destination is made by a rational calculation about where they can get the most. Basically, an economist-like thinking. We all know that life is far more complex, and not reducible to cost/benefit and profit maximisation. That right-wing parties view human practice in this way is, of course, not a surprise, it is in their ideological foundation. But it is on this basis they have managed to spin the whole society into a middle-class mentality in which everything is done up in financial terms and people are divided into groups. A mentality that fears the masses which corrupts and takes what we, the “original people,” have achieved. A mentality that sees “them” as a threat to an imagined and idealised community, where they forget that it was our grand-parents who built this society which we since have maintained at the best of our ability. A view where they can simultaneously be offended when “they” take lowpaying jobs and when “they” are not working. Be offended when “they” come to our borders but choose not to stay here on their way to other destinations. A belief that we can isolate ourselves from the outside world and, like an ostrich, stick our heads in the ground in the hope that people and challenges will disappear. As this view of fear and self-satisfaction grows, it shadows our insight and empathy. It is not a crisis. Morten Koch Andersen

DT PM: Bring private universities under strict monitoring

September 16 Khaled Mahfuz Saeef Appreciated PM, but, why only private universities? All universities must bring under strict monitoring. Rashedul Alam Right decision, quality should be ensured thereby.

Five things we learned from the VAT protest

September 14 Gorky Sakhawat Sobhan A good read. The analysis is impartial with a positive mindset. Irfanul Haque Khan It is you, the people, who can change it. It is of no use if you say idolise Kazi Nazrul or the freedom fighters. What matters is what you do. One day I believe one will rise from these people who stood on the road in the sun or fought with their parents to get the chance to protest or at least spread the news to various groups who will change Bangladesh. It will not be one of those who ride in buses gifted by the government. Samia Tariq Sign of political maturity as Zafar Sobhan aptly put it. All hope is not lost. Adnan M. S. Fakir While the decision itself was erroneous and unethical, its reversal shows an incident of political maturity. Hoping this is built upon and becomes the norm.

The Hindu dilemma September 13 Salim

The minorities in Bangladesh are marginalised. It’s a fact, but I have to say I agree with the author’s view that it’s a pure case of the powerless usurped by the powerful, and religion rarely is the sole reason. You see, along with religious minorities, millions of socially and economically disenfranchised people are oppressed in our country on a regular basis. This affliction is due to weak rule of law. The irony is that our well heeled Hindu compatriots have a choice to duck over to the other side of the border (as many choose to retire in West Bengal), whereas the poor (Hindus and non-Hindus) don’t have that luxury. We need to fix our own house so our minority cousins don’t feel insecure.

Bangladesh launches drive against pirated software of Microsoft

September 16 Ishtiaqe Hanif Piracy needs to stop immediately in Bangladesh! The music industry, film industry, software industry, etc are not developing in Bangladesh because artists and creators are not receiving the fruits of their hard work. Piracy is stealing. Don’t be a thief.

SATURDAY, SEP 19, 2015

T-JUNCTION INSIDE

22 issues

When the grade fades PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

Grade dropper

letters to Mars

Bestie vs bae

24 diy

George Smith: Step into my kitchen

22 T-JUNCTION

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Tell

issues

Grade dropper n T-Junction desk My son had always been a topper in school. He always got straight A’s all throughout his school years and his board exam results were also exemplary. I never had to worry about him; he would sit quietly in a corner and study, never demanding anything. Obviously, I had high expectations from him and I always let him know he is capable of doing great things. However, ever since he joined university, he has been deteriorating in his studies severely. He got admitted into a very reputed university, and at first, I dismissed it thinking this kind of pressure is normal at his age and he will catch up. But his condition has been alarming. He has not been attending classes for two months now. There has been severe plunge in his confidence and he is not being able to accept the fact that he is no longer the

ace student he used to be. His teachers seem worried about him too. I think I am to be blamed here. Did I pressurise him too much with my expectations? I don’t want anything else but for him to be normal again. Issues like these are not uncommon. Many a time, good students find it difficult adjusting to the fact that they are no longer the best because that is how they had always been perceived. They suffer from an identity crisis. What you can do here is let him know that there is more to him than just his academic excellence. Let him know that he is appreciated no matter what. He might have succumbed to your high expectations hence simply try to boost his confidence by saying you still believe that he can make a comeback. Nurture him and help him overcome this phase. l

Photo: Bigstock

TAURUS (APR 20-MAY 20): Be ready for an emotional roller-coaster ride this week, as tears will flow and words will jab the thickest of skins. Try not to shield yourself from a much-needed emotional confrontation with loved ones.

HOROSCOPE

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): You’re a magnet attracting minds of a similar nature this week. Perhaps you could form a braintrust and rid the world of poverty? CANCER (JUNE 21-JUL 22): The rebel in

ARIES (MAR 21-APR 19): Your heart will be pouring out tumultuous honesty this week. However, before you blabber everything out to yourself and to the world, ask yourself this: Will you be ready to handle the truth?

you rises this week in a boisterous and enraging tone and tells the world that you are anything but ordinary. Having said that, you may want to tone down that hubris of yours.

LEO (JUL 23-AUG 22): Grab a shovel and dig a little deeper into what’s really going on with you. They say you can bury the past

but the it always comes back to haunt you.

VIRGO (AUG 23-SEP 22): Let the sunshine in and illuminate your soul. This is a terrific week for you to just let your creative energies flow and merge together with the energies in the present. LIBRA (SEP 23-OCT 22): You’re a map, you’re a guide and yet you’re the one who’s always so alone. Perhaps it’s about time you pave the way for yourself and find light through the darkness. SCORPIO (OCT 23-NOV21): Somebody’s fit as a fiddle. Will being physically fit suffice? How sharp is your mind? Sometimes in order to win a war one must master a few diabolical tricks. SAGITTARIUS (NOV 22-DEC 21): Busy week for you ahead as you’ll be dealing with a

wide range of social and political issues. Keep yourself guarded and safe.

CAPRICORN (DEC 22-JAN 19): Body language is an integral part of interaction, and you may present yourself to someone with the sweetest of words. However, your body language may show hostility that would defeat the purpose of your intention. AQUARIUS (JAN 20-FEB 18): This week you’ll meet someone whose wit will charm you beyond belief. Such characters are very rare; try to hold on to them for as long as you can. PISCES (FEB 19-MAR 20): Something smells fresh. Is that your new outlook on life? Well, let’s hope it stays that way for a while. l

T-JUNCTION 23

Tell

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

letter to Venus

Worth the risk? n T-Junction desk I have always been very career-oriented and focused. Ever since my dad died, I have not thought about anything else but my work, hence dating was not in the cards for me because I couldn’t afford any distractions and planned to keep it that way. That was until I met a guy. He is in my class and we connected over group studies. We got into talking and

letters to Mars

I started having feelings for him. We both seemed to want the same things in life and I liked how he was very driven as well. But I am still scared about giving it a shot. What if things don’t work out? I am a very sensitive person and always get too involved in all my relationships. In case things don’t work out, I don’t want to disrupt this amazing streak I have. I have been excelling in all that I have been doing lately and I really don’t know if it’s

worth the risk. But at the same time my head can’t function when I am around him and I keep thinking about him all day. Please help me. First and foremost, stop being so pessimistic. You have almost taken it for granted that things won’t work out for you two. That may not be the case, right? Since you mentioned you both have common

Photo: Bigstock goals and views, he might even turn out to be the one! These days it’s tough finding someone who is compatible with you so don’t run away from him just because you are scared. We are all scared in times like these but isn’t it better to give it a shot and know for yourself. Give it a shot, see how it goes. If it doesn’t work out, well, that’s just life. You cannot stop living for the fear of getting hurt. l

Bestie vs bae n T-Junction desk My best friend and my girlfriend can’t seem to get along at all. And no, my best friend is not a girl. The problem my girlfriend has with my best friend is that he always keeps me busy. She hates it when we have our “guy time” playing football or just hanging out. She also thinks he is a bad influence on me and she has this weird idea that he wants to hook me up with someone else. I can’t blame her entirely because he has never been nice to her either. He seems to think I could’ve done

better than her and she manipulated me into dating her. I find their tiff ridiculous and I think they are both being very unreasonable. They both mean a lot to me and I just want a way to have them both in my life peacefully. Hmm, this is a tough one. Do you think their mutual dislike may have sprouted from any particular incident Of it? Try to talk to both of them to find the root. But from what I have read, your best friend seems to be the one with issues here. Although he is your best friend and is protective towards you, he is no one to judge your girlfriend. He should probably have trusted your instincts and at least given her a chance. As for your girlfriend, she should also understand that you need your space too. Of course her being insecure is not absolutely redundant as your best friend does have an influence on some level over you. So talk to both of them, ask them to hang out with each other, in your absence to get to know each other better. If they truly care about you, they will make the effort. Hope things work out for you. l

24 T-JUNCTION

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Profiles

stepintomykitchen

George Smith’s shares his moments n N Anita Amreen

chocolate.

This week, we decided to step inside the kitchen of George Smith, owner and chef of George’s La Dolce Vita.

One celebrity you would love to cook for?

Tell us a little about your background and how you got into the restaurant business.

The best meal of your life?

I guess you could call my parents early foodies and they both worked in New York City, so I grew up around some of the best food. When I was at university I got a job cooking and now, here I am.

What is your opinion on salads? Love ’em.

One culinary trend you wish Bangladesh would catch up on?

Paul Simon.

First time my parents and I took my wife to our favourite NYC Italian restaurant. We ordered all our favourites and could barely walk by the time we were done.

Describe your dream restaurant.

Lots of wood and golden light; sumptuous and inventive food.

One sweet dish you wish would be banned?

Any dessert with shredded coconut. l

Get pesticides and chemicals out of the food!

Your favourite midnight snack? Half-frozen mangoes.

Have you ever cried in the kitchen? As a kid, sure.

Favourite all-time chef? Larry Forgione.

Best thing about being a chef?

Sharing all my favourite kitchen experiments.

Tell us how to cook the most perfect brownie.

A lot of good butter and a lot of good

Photo: Courtesy

news

‘Keep calm and love weddings,’ says The Peninsula Chittagong Wedding – a dream event for every girl, every father for his daughter, every mother for her son. In our country, wedding is one of the largest social events where the host wants to give his/her utter effort to make one’s wedding ceremony one of a kind. Especially the people in Chittagong are known for grand weddings. When we see the beautiful bride and the groom sitting on the stage and greeting their guests, we forget what the entire family had to go through to make this moment a perfect one. The Peninsula Chittagong is the finest business hotel at the Port City. The hotel is lauching the first-ever complete wedding package to take all the trouble and tension away from the family, the bride and the groom. The Peninsula Luxury Wedding Package offers a venue, food catering,

wedding cake, candle light dinner for the newlyweds, a honeymoon package in Cox’s Bazar, wedding photography and cinematography, bridal makeover and unique venue decoration. In addition, there will be various discount offers on hotels, jewelry, lifestyle, and household renowned brands. Also, there will be special discounted rates for the bride, groom and their family for airline and bus services. “Our goal is to give the guests an enjoyable memory at their loved one’s wedding. It’s a memory they will cherish their entire life. So we plan to make it a special one,” says Mushtak Luhar, general manager of The Peninsula Chittagong. The Package will be launched at the end of this month.l

Dr Eva Carneiro, who was banned from the Chelsea bench after being criticised by manager Jose Mourinho, has been told to report for work at the club’s training ground on Friday morning

Sport 26

NASIR STRIKES DOWN INDIA A, SERIES LEVEL AT 1-1

INJURED HEMANTA SHOW-CAUSED, TO REPLY TODAY

NOW WHAT JOSE?

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

CR7 BEARS DOWN ON RAUL AS REAL’S ALL-TIME BEST

Sylhet middle-order batsman Rajin Saleh glides one towards the leg-side during his undefeated knock of 72 against Chittagong in the National Cricket League at Fatullah’s Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

NCL’s sporting wickets a breath of fresh air n Minhaz Uddin Khan The opening day of the 17th National Cricket League yesterday was marked with a century, eight half-centuries and two five-wicket hauls. The tournament committee of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, in collaboration with the grounds and facilities committee, had earlier insisted on introducing sporting wickets in all the venues and the expectation was met. According to several cricketers, the wickets were tough for stroke-making and aided the bowlers, albeit in patches. The true nature of the wickets however, will only be determined as the matches progress. Among the four matches in tier one and two, only Sylhet and Dhaka managed to survive the first day while Barisal and Dhaka Metropolis were bundled out. Barisal middle-order batsman Mosaddek Hossain hammered the lone hundred of the day while Rajshahi spinner Sanjamul Islam was the most impressive bowler with his six-wicket haul.

Dhaka v Khulna

Batting first, Dhaka posted 174/8 against a precise Khulna bowling attack. Speedster Mustafizur Rahman and veteran spinner Abdur Razzak bagged three wickets apiece and were it not for Saif Hasan’s patient 68, featuring 10 boundaries, Dhaka would have been skittled out much earlier on the day. In his first NCL game in three years, maverick all-rounder Shakib al Hasan picked up a wicket while national discard, paceman Robiul Islam also took one.

Dhaka Metro v Rangpur

Dhaka Metro would be indebted to triple half-centuries from Shamsur Rahman, Marshal Ayub and tail-ender Elias Sunny as they were dismissed for 238. Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, the trio of national discards ensured their side would have some total to defend. Right-arm off-spinner Mahmudul Hasan starred for Rangpur, nearly recording his best bowling figure in first-class cricket.

Mahmudul accounted for half the Dhaka Metro side, including the scalp of Mahmudullah, who made 16. Rangpur trail Dhaka Metro’s tally by 226 runs as they ended the day’s play at 12 without loss.

Chittagong v Sylhet

Unbeaten half-centuries by Rajin Saleh and Ruman Ahmed guided Sylhet to a respectable 240/4 at stumps on opening day. Coming together at 111/4, Rajin (72 not out) and Ruman (70 not out) added 129 unbroken runs for the fifth wicket.

Barisal v Rajshahi

Riding on Mosaddek’s 149-ball 122, featuring as many as 11 fours and half a dozen sixes, Barisal registered 302 before losing all of their wickets. At stumps, Rajshahi trailed Barisal by 283 runs as they put on 19 for the loss of two wickets. Out-of-favour national cricketers Shahriar Nafees and Sohag Gazi provided Mosaddek valuable support, scoring contrasting

half-centuries. Sanjamul was the wrecker-in-chief for Rajshahi, picking up 6/123. l

BRIEF SCORES, DAY 1 Barisal v Rajshahi - SKS, Rajshahi Barisal 302-allout (Mosaddek 122, Shahriar 75, Gazi 52; Sanjamul 6/123) Rajshahi 19/2

Sylhet v Chittagong – KSOAS, Fatullah Sylhet 240/4 (Rajin 72*, Ruman 70*)

Dhaka v Khulna – SANS, Khulna Dhaka 174/8 (Saif 68; Mustafizur 3/24, Razzak 3/60)

Dhaka Metropolis v Rangpur – SCS, Bogra Dhaka Metro 238-allout (Marshal 65, Shamsur 54, Elias 52*; Mahmudul 5/44) Rangpur 12/0

26 Sport

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Booters to play China’s 8-nation int’l tournament

SCORECARD

n Tribune Desk Bangladesh will travel to China this November to take part in an eight-nation tournament titled the Yunnan Open Football Championship. The 10-day competition will be a warmup for the men in red and green ahead of the 11th edition of the Saff Suzuki Cup, scheduled to be held in India late December this year. The tournament will get underway on November 20 in Yunnan, south-western China. Bangladesh Football Federation confirmed their participation last Thursday. The other participating countries are Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The Bengal Tigers were originally slated to play in the Pomis Cup in Maldives as part of their preparation for the regional south Asian competition but the tournament later got postponed, paving the way for the BFF to opt for the Yunnan Championship. The much-awaited Saff Suzuki Cup will begin on December 23 in Kerala. Earlier in the draw ceremony last Wednesday in New Delhi, Bangladesh were pitted in Group B along with defending champions Afghanistan, Maldives and Bhutan. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal make up Group A.l

BANGLADESH A INNINGS Rony Talukdar c Chand b Kalaria Soumya Sarkar b Dhawan Anamul Haque c & b Sharma Mominul Haque c Samson b Dhawan Liton Kumar Das c Nair b Dhawan Sabbir Rahman b Sharma Nasir Hossain not out Arafat Sunny lbw b Raina Shafiul Islam run out (Gurkeerat) Rubel Hossain not out Extras (lb 1, w 11, nb 1)

R 0 24 34 3 45 1 102 17 4 9 13

Total (8 wickets; 50 overs)

252

B 5 30 53 7 57 3 96 27 11 12

Bowling Kalaria 7-0-35-1, Aravind 10-0-56-0, Dhawan 101-44-3, Gurkeerat 10-0-55-0, Sharma 10-0-40-2, Raina 3-0-21-1

INDIA A INNINGS Agarwal c Liton b Rubel Chand c Liton b Nasir Pandey b Rubel Raina st Liton b Nasir Nair st Liton b Nasir Gurkeerat b Al Amin Hossain Samson b Rubel Dhawan b Nasir Sharma b Rubel Kalaria st Liton b Nasir Aravind not out Extras (lb 5, w 4)

R 24 56 36 17 4 34 0 0 2 5 0 9

Total (all out; 42.2 overs)

187

B 27 75 70 21 10 30 1 2 5 13 0

Bowling

Bangladesh A vice captain Nasir Hossain is congratulated by India A’s Suresh Raina for his unbeaten century during the second one-dayer in Bangaluru yesterday COURTESY

Shafiul 7-2-32-0, Al Amin 5.2-0-35-1, Rubel 9-033-4, Sunny 8-0-29-0, Soumya 2-1-12-0, Nasir 10-0-36-5, Mominul 1-0-5-0 Bangladesh A won by 65 runs, square series 1-1

Nasir strikes down India A, makes it 1-1 with ton and 5-for n Tribune Desk Nasir Hossain single-handedly inspired Bangladesh A to a 65-run win over India A yesterday as the three-match unofficial one-day international bilateral series between the two countries are poised for an intense decider tomorrow. Rony Talukder (0), Soumya Sarker (24), Anamul Haque (34), Mominul Haque (3) and Sabbir Rahman (1) made another “nothing” out of their tour so far and coming in at 82 for 5 in the 19th over, Nasir saved the skin of his national teammates by striking an unbeaten

hundred, his third in List A matches. Nasir's defiant unbeaten 96-ball 102, that included 12 fours and a six, helped the visitors post 252 for eight before the off-spinner played tormentor-in-chief, picking five for 36 to demolish the home side's chase at 187 in the second ODI at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Initially there was a sense of deja vu for Bangladesh A as they suffered a collapse identical to the one in the first ODI on Wednesday. Karn Sharma struck twice to reduce them to 82 for five in the 19th over. The onus of pulling them out of misery once again fell on the

shoulders of wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Das and Nasir, who had added a fighting 120-run stand to give India A a genuine scare in the previous encounter. The duo once again showed the level of awareness to the situation, that the top-order lacked, stitching together another innings-defining 70-run partnership for the sixth wicket. The India A chase looked on course when they were 119 for one in the 28th over, with Unmukt Chand on 56, and even when Suresh Raina smacked Rubel Hossain for a six three overs later with the hosts needing 116 runs from 19 overs.

But four wickets fell inside the next six overs as Rubel and Nasir took turns to dismantle the Indian line-up and effectively derail what looked like a straightforward chase. Karun Nair (4), Sanju Samson (0), Rishi Dhawan (0) and Sharma (0) fell in quick succession to leave Gurkeerat Singh, India A's best performer in the first ODI, with 96 runs to chase from 78 deliveries and just two wickets in hand. Rush Kalaria became Nasir's fifth victim and Al-Amin Hossain wrapped up the India innings with the dismissal of Gurkeerat with more than seven overs to spare. l

U16s end qualifiers with big loss Bangladesh Under-16 forward Sarwar Zaman Nipu (L) vies for the ball with United Arab Emirates defender Manea Aydh during their 2016 AFC U-16 Championship qualifier at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

n Shishir Hoque Bangladesh Under-16 football team concluded their AFC U-16 Championship 2016 qualifying campaign with a 6-1 loss against United Arab Emirates in their last group match at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. The young Bengal Tigers lost to Saudi Arabia 5-1 in their first qualifier last Wednesday and they began their second and final qualifier conceding four goals in the opening half. It was then that all hopes of the home side had evaporated. Mohammad Shawon netted Bangladesh's only goal early in the second half but it proved to be a mere consolation. UAE captain Majid Rashid netted a hattrick for the visitors. The home side conceded all their goals through the left flank. A blunder by defend-

er Shawon Hossain led to the first goal in the 12th minute. Abdulla Alnaqbi slided home an Ali Khamis cutback to open the scoring. UAE skipper Majid doubled the lead six minutes later placing home a Hamad Jassim cross. A neat header by Sultan Saeed following an Ali Saleh corner extended UAE's lead. Saleh made it 4-0 in the 38th minute after Khamis slid the ball on to his path. All Saleh had to do was tap in from close range. Shawon pulled one back for the hosts six minutes into the second half when the midfielder slotted home after a Sarwar Zaman Nipu backpass from the left side. Majid scored two more in the 62nd and 68th minutes to kill the game off. The first of the two quickfire goals came from a penalty while the second was scored from a brilliant free-kick from 25 yards out. l

Sport 27

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

QUICK BYTES Haddin to coach next generation in Australia Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin will move into coaching to pass on his knowledge to the next generation of local cricketers, coach Darren Lehmann has said. The 37-year-old Haddin retired last week after keeping wickets in 66 Tests, scoring 3,266 runs at an average of 32.98 and taking 262 catches. “We can’t afford to lose those blokes to the game,” Lehmann told Adelaide radio station 5AA. –REUTERS

India board chief in hospital after heart scare The head of India’s powerful cricket board Jagmohan Dalmiya was in intensive care Friday after being rushed to a hospital in Kolkata with chest pains, medical officials said. The 75-year-old president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was treated for clotted arteries after undergoing a coronary angiography at the city’s B.M Birla Heart Research Centre on Thursday night, the hospital said in a statement. –AFP

Legendary Bayern Munich coach Cramer dies Dettmar Cramer, the coach who led an unforgettable Bayern Munich side to European Cup glory in 1975 and 1976, has died at the age of 90, the Bavarian club said on Friday. Cramer took over Bayern Munich in 1975 and won the European Cup twice in his only two seasons at the club. –AFP

Murray pledges to count every ace for refugees Andy Murray has pledged 50 pounds ($77.59) to children’s charity UNICEF for every ace he hits for the rest of the year after being moved by television images of refugees fleeing to Europe. His sponsors Standard Life, along with tennis bodies the LTA and ATP, have pledged to match the world number three’s donations so that every ace will be worth 200 pounds. –REUTERS

Szczesny out for six weeks Roma’s on-loan Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny could be out for up to six weeks after injuring his left hand in the Serie A side’s 1-1 Champions League draw at home to Barcelona on Wednesday. –REUTERS

FIFA reels as Valcke suspended in fresh blow FIFA reeled from fresh scandal on Thursday as Secretary General Jerome Valcke was dramatically suspended over allegations of involvement in a ticketing scam and placed under investigation. Valcke, the right-hand man of outgoing FIFA President Sepp Blatter, was immediately relieved of his duties as the latest wave of sleaze crashed into world football’s governing body. Valcke “has been put on leave and released from his duties effective immediately until further notice,” said a FIFA statement. –AFP

(From L-R) FIFA’s Director of Competitions Colin Smith, Russian national goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, former player of the Russian national team Alexey Smertin, former player of the Spanish national team Fernando Hierro, former player of the Italian national team Gianluca Zambrotta and other participants attend a ceremony to launch the clock, counting down 1000 days to the beginning of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Manezhnaya Square in central Moscow, Russia yesterday REUTERS

Afridi wants PCB to stop pushing for India series n AP, Islamabad Pakistan Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi said Friday he wants his country’s cricket board to stop advocating for a Test series against India and concentrate more on persuading other teams to tour Pakistan. The Pakistan Cricket Board is still waiting for the green light from its Indian counterpart for December’s planned Test and limited-overs series in the United Arab Emirates. Both countries’ cricket boards have signed

an agreement to play at least six times from 2015-2023, but the India board needs its government’s approval to revive cricketing ties with Pakistan. “I don’t know why we are pushing for series against India again and again,” Afridi told reporters in Lahore during Pakistan’s short training camp ahead of next week’s limited-overs tour to Zimbabwe. “I don’t see any reason to play (against India) if they don’t want to play. We have invited them and if they do not want to play then it shouldn’t be

Injured Hemanta showcaused, to reply today n Shishir Hoque Hemanta Vincent Biswas received a showcause notice from the Bangladesh Football Federation yesterday for taking part in a local football tournament in Dinajpur without informing the team management. The Sheikh Russel midfielder has to reply to the showcause letter by today. News of Hemanta’s participation in the tournament made the team management furious as the juvenile midfielder is recovering from a hamstring injury that he incurred against Australia in the 2018 Fifa World Cup second round qualifier in Perth. He played for Dinajpur Sadar as captain. However, he only played for 10 minutes keeping his recovery process in consideration.

Due to injury, Hemanta was absent when the training camp of the national side began last Thursday. He is expected to join the camp tomorrow. The federation however, informed the player not to join the camp until further notice. Hemanta, whose home is located near the Dinajpur district stadium, said he had to play the game after several requests from the local organisers. He later admitted his mistake but refused to admit that he was recruited as a “hired” player. “As my home is in Dinajpur town, the local organisers wanted me to wear the captain’s armband of local Dinajpur Sadar team. But I was on the field for only 10 minutes. I had to keep the local crowd content. Now I realised that I made a huge mistake,” said Hemanta yesterday. l

any worry, we are still happy.” The last time both teams played a Test series was in 2007 when Pakistan toured India. Pakistan last hosted India for a Test series in 2006. Pakistan has scheduled Twenty20 internationals against Zimbabwe, England and New Zealand ahead of the World Twenty20 tournament in India next March and April, after which Afridi has said he will quit playing the shortest cricket format. Afridi has already stopped playing ODIs. l

28 Sport

English Premier League

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Frailties abound as Chelsea, Arsenal converge n AFP, London The old maxim that a week is a long time in football rings true for both teams ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday. Arsenal won 2-0 against Stoke City last weekend to move into the top four for the first time this season, while Chelsea’s 3-1 loss at Everton - their third defeat in four games left the defending champions a huge 11 points below leaders Manchester City in 17th place. But while Chelsea were beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 4-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday, Arsenal were crashing to an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb, realigning - albeit subtly - their respective trajectories. “We come with a different feeling. We can wake up with a different state of mind,” Jose Mourinho told Chelsea TV after his side’s midweek win at Stamford Bridge. “Saturday is a big match; it’s a great rival. This result can put us in a better situation.” If Wednesday’s Group G victory demonstrated the strength in depth that Chelsea possess, the opposite was true in Zagreb, where Arsene Wenger’s decision to make six changes blew up in his face.

HEAD-TO-HEAD League Record

Chelsea wins 14, draws 14, Arsenal wins 18 Chelsea are unbeaten against Arsenal in their last seven Premier League encounters (W4 D3). The Gunners have failed to score in their last four Premier League matches against the Blues and have managed just two goals in their last seven league games against them. Arsene Wenger secured his first win over Jose Mourinho in the Community Shield on his 14th attempt in all competitions (D6 L7). Eden Hazard has scored in the Blues’ last two PL clashes with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, with both goals coming in the first half from the penalty spot. Jose Mourinho has never lost successive league home games as a manager – he lost his last home league game against Crystal Palace (1-2). Theo Walcott has scored 11 goals in his last 11 Premier League starts for Arsenal. The Gunners have won seven and lost none of their last eight Premier League away matches. Chelsea have kept five clean sheets in their last seven Premier League games against Arsenal, including the last four in a row. Arsenal have fired in the most shots on target in the Premier League (39), while Chelsea have allowed their opponents the most in the top flight (38). Only David James (169) has kept more clean sheets than Petr Cech (165) in Premier League history and the Czech has not been beaten in his last three league outings.

5 things to look out for this weekend Wenger looks for repeat performance

Eight weeks ago Arsène Wenger finally got his first win over José Mourinho and he enjoyed it so much that he jeopardised his Champions League chances in a bid to repeat it this weekend. Wenger rested several players for the trip to Dinamo Zagreb and found that he couldn’t count on his squad as much as he had hoped. He could still salvage some vindication, however, if Arsenal win at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Petr Cech will return to his old stomping ground and the performances of Mathieu Debuchy and Kieran Gibbs in Croatia should ensure that Héctor Béllerin and Nacho Monreal start as well. Francis Coquelin has got to come back and Theo Walcott should start in place of the slower and deflated Olivier Giroud.

A story of what-might-have-beens at Old Trafford

If Louis van Gaal had his way, Luke Shaw and Sadio Mané would be Old Trafford teammates or at least coming up against each other this weekend. But Shaw’s injury sadly deprives him of that option and us of that spectacle; it will be interesting to see what the United manager decides to do instead. On Tuesday he chose to break up a central defence that has done better than expected this season, shifting Danny Blind to left-back and putting Marcos Rojo alongside Chris Smalling instead.

City may start their Fab Four

Having already won at Arsenal and Liverpool, West Ham will travel to the Etihad with high hopes of staging another smart counterattacking away win. They certainly have the

speed to cause problems on the break to a City side who have not yet conceded in the Premier League this season but showed against Juventus that they are still vulnerable to lapses of concentration. Sergio Agüero could be fit, which means Manuel Pellegrini may, for the first time, be able to start with a front-four of Agüero, David Silva, Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne.

Naismith sets sights on a start

While the egg-chasers of Ireland and Canada get amongst each other 44 miles away at the Millennium Stadium, two of the Premier League’s better teams will be going toe-to-toe in Swansea in what ought to be a considerably more aesthetically pleasing spectacle. High on the hog after their unexpected demolition of Chelsea, Everton travel to take on a Swansea City team who came out on the wrong end of another surprise scoreline, losing 1-0 against Watford. Roberto Martínez must decide whether or not to give Steven Naismith an extended run in the team following his hat-trick heroics at Goodison Park, beginning at the Liberty.

Entertainment on the cards at Stoke v Foxes

Bojan Krkic could make his first Premier League start for eight months. Xherdan Shaqiri and Riyad Mahrez could make their first starts for one week. Three excellent reasons to follow what could be the most entertaining match of the weekend. Goals are likely to flow, and if the visitors exploit Ryan Shawcross’ continued absence and claim more than the hosts, Mark Hughes will likely to be asked again whether he regrets letting Robert Huth go. l

FIXTURES Aston Villa v West Brom Bournemouth v Sunderland Chelsea v Arsenal Man City v West Ham Newcastle v Watford Stoke v Leicester Swansea v Everton Sunday Liverpool v Norwich Southampton v Man United Tottenham v Crystal Palace “We need to move on now,” said Theo Walcott, who rose from the bench to score Arsenal’s goal at the Maksimir Stadium. “We have got a big, important game at the weekend. Goalkeeper Petr Cech is also due a recall, on his return to a club where he made 486 appearances over 11 richly successful years, along with Hector Bellerin, Nacho Monreal, Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin. Chelsea are set to be without Willian, who injured his hamstring against Maccabi, and Pedro Rodriguez, while Oscar is a doubt with a knee complaint. l

POINTS TABLE Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Club Man City Leicester Man Utd Arsenal West Ham Crystal Palace Everton Swansea Norwich Liverpool Southampton Spurs Watford West Brom Aston Villa Bournemouth Chelsea Stoke Sunderland Newcastle

Pld 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Pts 15 11 10 10 9 9 8 8 7 7 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 2 2 2

Ranieri offers players pizza for a clean sheet n Reuters, London Claudio Ranieri knows his Leicester City players are hungry for success so the Italian has offered them all a free pizza if they keep a clean sheet at Stoke City this weekend. “I told them ‘The clean sheet and I pay a pizza to everybody’,” Ranieri told reporters on Thursday. “But I think they wait until I improve (the offer)... OK, the pizza and a hot dog.” l

Sport 29

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

RESULTS

1-3 Ajax (NED) 2-2 1-1 Bordeaux (FRA) Sion (SUI) 2-1 0-0 Qabala FK (AZE) 2-1 Dortmund (GER) Midtjylland (DEN) 1-0 Napoli (ITA) 5-0 2-1 Rapid Vienna (AUT) Viktoria Plzen (CZE) 2-0 Slovan Liberec (CZE) 0-1 FC Groningen (NED) 0-3 1-1 Dnipro (UKR) Saint-Etienne (FRA) 2-2 Sporting Lisbon (POR) 1-3 0-1 Skenderbeu (ALB) Fiorentina (ITA) 1-2 0-0 Lech Poznan (POL) Anderlecht (BEL) 1-1 3-1 Tottenham (ENG) APOEL (CYP) 0-3 1-1 Asteras (GRE) Partizan Belgrade (SRB) 3-2 Athletic Bilbao (ESP) 3-1 Fenerbahce (TUR)

Molde (NOR) Celtic (SCO) Liverpool (ENG) Rubin Kazan (RUS) PAOK (GRE) FC Krasnodar (RUS) Legia Warsaw (POL) Club Brugge (BEL) Villarreal (ESP) Dinamo Minsk (BLR) Sporting Braga (POR) Marseille (FRA) Lazio (ITA) Rosenborg (NOR) L Moscow (RUS) Besiktas (TUR) Basel (SUI) Belenenses (POR) Monaco (FRA) Qarabag (AZE) Schalke (GER) Sparta Prague (CZE) AZ Alkmaar (NED) Augsburg (GER)

DAY’S WATCH Star Sports 2 Barclays Premier League 5:35 PM Chelsea v Arsenal 7:50 PM Swansea City v Everton 10:20 PM Manchester City v West Ham

Star Sports 4 6:55 PM FIA F1 World Championship Qualifying : Marina Bay Circuit Singapore 8:00 PM Barclays Premier League Aston Villa v West Bromwich Albion

Star Sports HD 4 Bundesliga 7:15 PM Darmstadtv FC Bayern Munich

Ten HD 12:00 AM French Ligue 1 SC Bastiais v OGC Nice Cote D Azur

Ten Action 8:50 PM French Ligue 1 Stade De Reims v Paris Saint-Germain

Sony Six HD Liga Bbva 8:00 PM Real Madrid v Granada CF 10:30 PM Valencia CF v Real Betis Serie A TIM 12:30 AM AC Milan v Palermo

Sony KiX Liga Bbva 12:30 AM SD Eibar v Atletico Madrid 2:00 AM Real Sociedad v RCD Espanyol

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Erik Lamela (C) shoots to score past Qarabag goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic during their Uefa Europa League Group J match at White Hart Lane in north London on Thursday AFP

Spurs make winning start in Europe, Liverpool held n AFP, Paris Tottenham Hotspur kicked off their Europa League group stage campaign on Thursday by coming from behind to beat Qarabag 3-1, while Liverpool conceded a late equaliser as they drew 1-1 at Bordeaux. Azerbaijani champions Qarabag grabbed a surprise seventh-minute lead at White Hart Lane when Richard Almeida converted a penalty after being bundled over by Spurs debutant Kieran Trippier. But two goals in the space of two minutes from South Korean striker Son Heung-min and a late strike from Erik Lamela spared Tottenham’s blushes as Mauricio Pochetti-

no’s side made a winning start to Group J, as Anderlecht against Monaco finished 1-1 in the other match. Earlier, Adam Lallana’s sublime second-half goal in France looked destined to hand Liverpool all three points in their Group B opener. But the visitors were pegged back nine minutes from time when substitute Jussie slammed a loose ball beyond Simon Mignolet to salvage a point for Bordeaux. Celtic twice led against Ajax before settling for a 2-2 draw in Amsterdam after they were forced to play the final 15 minutes a man down following the dismissal of Emilio Izaguirre.

Ronaldo bears down on Raul as Madrid’s all-time best n AFP, Madrid Another piece of Real Madrid history awaits Cristiano Ronaldo as he can become the club’s all-time leading scorer when they host Granada at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday. Ronaldo is officially just two goals shy of Raul Gonzalez Blanco’s 323-goal record despite having played over 400 games fewer than the Spanish legend. However, the club claim he is just one goal behind Raul as they credited Ronaldo with a goal back in 2010 that was awarded to Pepe in the referee’s report. The World Player of the Year has struck eight times in his last two games to categorically silence the critics for

his slow start to the campaign as he failed to score in either of Madrid’s opening two La Liga fixtures or in two games for Portugal. Atletico Madrid visit Eibar on Saturday hoping to end the Basque minnows unbeaten start to the start to the season. Sevilla are looking to add their first league win of the campaign backed by the confidence of a resounding 3-0 win over Moenchengladbach in midweek. l

FIXTURES Real Madrid Valencia Eibar Real Sociedad

v v v v

Granada Real Betis Atletico Madrid Espanyol

Borussia Dortmund made it 10 straight wins under new coach Thomas Tuchel after the Bundesliga leaders recovered to beat Russian outfit FC Krasnodar 2-1 in Group C. Elsewhere, Basel got the better of former coach Paulo Sousa and Fiorentina with a 2-1 victory over the Italians in Group I. Napoli thumped Club Brugge 5-0 in Group D as Jose Callejon and Dries Mertens scored twice apiece with Marek Hamsik also on target. Marseille made an encouraging start in Group F as they won 3-0 away to Dutch side Groningen through goals from Georges-Kevin N’Koudou, Lucas Ocampos and Romain Alessandrini. l

30 DOWNTIME

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Writer of verse (4) 6 By way of (3) 7 Skin opening (4) 9 Frenzied (4) 10 Faithful (5) 11 Flying toys (5) 12 Wrath (3) 14 Storehouse (5) 17 Prescribed amounts (5) 20 United (3) 21 Essential (5) 23 Mature (5) 25 Peel (4) 26 Soon (4) 27 Success (3) 28 Not cheap (4)

DOWN 1 Calm (6) 2 Calls up memories (6) 3 Maori charm (4) 4 Bashful (3) 5 Slippery fish (3) 7 Assumed attitude (4) 8 Artificial silk (5) 10 Was ahead (3) 13 Bird (5) 15 Well-mannered (6) 16 Offer (6) 18 Level (4) 19 Wrongdoing (3) 22 Dry (4) 23 Male sheep (3) 24 School of whales (4)

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 6 represents F so fill F every time the figure 6 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

SHOWTIME 31

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

Jalaler golpo: A boy and three mothers

WHAT TO WATCH

n Mosabber Rahman This film is one that truly struck a chord with the audience, many of them coming out of the theater with a tear running down their cheek. Jalaler Golpo is either three stories about one boy named Jalal, or three stories about three boys named Jalal. In either case, any discerning audience will perceive that the stories are really about three women, Jalal’s three “mothers,” the only people to show unconditional affection towards the orphan. It’s a world where men are deemed to be crazy dogs immersed in superstition and greed and women are sensitive swans, or rather sitting ducks – some melancholy blue and some blood red. It’s ironic that while one man is desperate to have a child for winning the election, another man is desperate to get rid of a child for the same purpose. As the stories progress the men become more beast-like and the women suffer more. Jalal has a special gift, something that no man in his milieu possesses, he has empathy: the ability to feel the pain of others as if it was his own. He must pay the debt of the love of the women and

The Paul Walker Foundation

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge Sony MAX 4:14pm A young man and woman – both of Indian descent but born and raised in Britain - fall in love during a trip to Switzerland. However, the girl’s traditional father takes her back to India to fulfill a betrothal promise. Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Amrish Puri

somehow end their suffering, and by saving them he will be saving himself. We see visual metaphors of life and freedom such as a running horse, flying pigeons, flower gardens, but we do not see any real action. This inactivity spells a curse on him unless he completes his prophetic-task, he will be forever trapped in an eternal vicious circle of life and death. He needs to act. He needs to follow his soul. He needs to answer his calling. But what can he do? In a way we

ourselves become cursed, since as the audience, we are also doing nothing – we are just sitting there watching. Every time the film is projected in the theater ,we hope perhaps this time Jalal’s story will be different. The terrific performances and the realistic source-of-light photography enhanced the power of the film. But the best part about the film is Mosharaf Karim, who is clearly among the finest actors working in our country today. l

Kabali – the shooting begins!

Transporter 2 Star Movies 5:30pm Mercenary Frank Martin, who specializes moving goods of all kinds, surfaces again this time in Miami, Florida when he’s implicated in the kidnapping of the young son of a powerful USA official. Cast: Jason Statham, Amber Valletta, Kate Nauta Sherlock Holmes HBO 6:02pm Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England. Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams

n Showtime desk The late star, known best for his role in the Fast and the Furious series, had a passion to quote: “For the ocean, rescuing animals, spontaneous goodwill.” In regard to her father’s interests and to pay a tribute on his 42nd birthday, Paul Walker’s 16-year-old daughter, Meadow Walker, launched “The Paul Walker Foundation.” “Reflecting on my father, I found myself reflecting on his passions. His passion for the ocean, his passion for rescuing animals, his passion for helping people and his passion for spontaneous goodwill,” said Meadow in an Instagram post. On the official sight of the foundation, they promise “to serve as an enduring light of Paul’s unique spirit,” and that Meadow is excited to carry out her father’s legacy. “I wanted to start this foundation because I want to share that piece of him with the world. I want to share that part of him with others. I am tremendously proud.” Paul Walker passed away in a highspeed car crash in 2013 after his notable contribution to his last blockbuster film Fast 7. l

n Showtime desk After the leaked pictures of the set and numerous rumors flying out in the air on the new movie Kabali, the mystery and suspense has been brought down among the fans. Action hero Rajnikanath has begun shooting the film. Kabali is an Indian (Tamil) mob film written and directed by Pa Ranjith. The music in the film is composed by Santosh Narayanan and produced by the talented Kalaipuli S Thanu. And with that in mind, we can expect the film to live up to the hype. Moreover, with the assistance of eminent production companies and Kalaipuli S Thanu and Parveen K L on editing, the viewers can always expect the best. The film stars Rajnikanth as the leading role, who is co-starred on the set

by Radhika Apte, Prakash Raj, Kishore, Kalaiyarasan, Dhansika and Dinesh Ravi. As announced on twitter, August 21 is set to be the principal phorotgraphy day for the film, which will take place in the AVM Studios in Chennai. The anticipated movie, which was initially set out to be shot in Malaysia, is taking place in Chennai due to the unavoidable circumstances occurring in Malaysia. Words came from the staff who reported that the foreign schedule of the movie will begin once the Chennai shooting is completed. Rajnikanth has managed to create an uprising suspense before the filming even started. He occasionally shared pictures of the set, first looks of the movie as well as fascinating news about the staff, all of which grabbed the attention of most movie-goers. l

Transformers: Dark of the Moon Zee Studio 9:00pm The Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden on the moon, and race against the Decepticons to reach it and to learn its secrets. Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie HuntingtonWhiteley, Tyrese Gibson The Dark Knight WB 11:36pm When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, the caped crusader must come to terms with one of the greatest psychological tests of his ability to fight injustice. Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart

32 BACK PAGE

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

FORGIVE US, TEACHERS PAGE 13

NASIR STRIKES DOWN INDIA A PAGE 26

JALALER GOLPO: A BOY AND THREE MOTHERS PAGE 31

Govt failing to eradicate child labour n Mohammad Jamil Khan

Despite setting to eradicate child labour from the country by 2016, the government has hardly made any progress due to a general lack of willingness, experts has said. The government formulated the National Child Labour Elimination Policy in July 2011 in a bid to diminish child labour – in all shapes and forms – by next year. But the project has failed, thanks to the authorities concerned and the lack of cooperation among them. “We know that the government has put a policy in place. But we cannot see any visible change; there is still a huge number of children out there working hazardous jobs around the country,” said Khandakar Rebeka Sultana of the Coalition of the Urban Poor, a network of NGOs. Unicef and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics jointly conducted a study on the status of child labour in the country. The results of the study, which were disclosed on July 29, revealed that there are at least five million children between the ages of 5 and 17 years who are actively involved in child labour. Among them, at least two million do hazardous work. They can be found working as automobile mechanics, cleaners, garbage collectors, transport helpers, domestic help and so on.

No monitoring, no intervention

This correspondent recently visited the capital’s Dholaikhal area to change his motorcycle’s tyre, where a 13-year-old boy named Ashiq offered the service all by himself. Asked to get an adult to do it as the motorcycle would be too heavy, the boy, named Ashiq, smiled and said: “Why? I can do it alone.” And he proved it by heaving the motorcycle to his workshop all by himself and change the tyre. Asked why he did such a job that was clearly too dangerous for him, he solemnly replied: “What choice do I have? I have a mother and a sister at home to take care of. My father left

This archive photo from last year shows Yasin who has been working in a balloon factory in Kamrangirchar, Dhaka since he was 8. Covered from head to toe in dust by-products, he said he has to continue in the hazardous job to support his ultra-poor family. Visiting the factory recently, the Dhaka Tribune found the 11-year-old still working there, but the factory authorities did not allow taking photos this time MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU us years ago. I’m the sole breadwinner of my family.” The Dhaka Tribune asked Rezaul Hasan, OC at Sutrapur police station in the capital, why police was not intervening in such cases and stopping children from taking up hazardous jobs. “No one has filed a complaint in this regard,” he said, adding that it is supposed to be the Ministry of Labour and Employment’s responsibility. Asked if the ministry had issued any instruction in this regard, Rezaul said he needed to check the documents before saying anything about it. “We have not seen any willingness

among the relevant government agencies to implement the policy properly,” Shabira Nupur, national advocacy coordinator of World Vision, told the Dhaka Tribune. “Since it was formulated, we have had only two meetings. The government is also reluctant to provide funds for this project, which is why it may not be able reach anywhere near its goal.” The government made a list of 38 types of work that are hazardous for children, which include jobs in ship-breaking yards, leather industries, construction and automobile workshops. “We don’t need a priority list of hazardous

work,” said Abdus Shahid Mahmud, director of Bangladesh Shishu Odhikar Forum, a platform working on children’s rights. “All forms of child labour is hazardous, so we have to focus on all of them. We have enough resources to implement the policy; it is just our lack of motivation that is making us fail.” When contacted in this regard, Labour Secretary Faizur Rahman admitted that they were going to miss the policy implementation deadline. Asked whether the time of implementation would be extended, he said: “Nothing definitive can be said right now as we are still working on it.” l

Two Bangladeshis killed in mortar attacks in KSA n Tribune Report Two Bangladeshi nationals were killed in mortar attacks launched from Yemen around Samtah General Hospital in Jizan region of Saudi Arabia early yesterday. State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam confirmed the death of the two Bangladeshis, the UNB reported. The deceased – hospital cleaning staff Nuru from Tangail and Baten from Brahmanbaria – died on the spot, the state minister posted on his official Facebook page. He also said there had been more victims

of the attacks who were admitted to hospital. According to international media reports, the Yemeni army, backed by popular committees, have entered Saudi military bases in the kingdom’s southwestern region of Asir. The video footage released by Yemen’s al-Masirah television network yesterday showed Yemeni forces advancing into Saudi military bases in the region, destroying the vehicles and equipment of the Saudi army. The attack was part of Yemen’s retaliatory measures against Saudi Arabia over Riyadh’s unabated military campaign in the impoverished Arab country. l

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