27 March, 2016

SECOND EDITION

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

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Chaitra 14, 1422, Jamadius Sani 18, 1437

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 341

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

Mustafizur Rahman bowls during the World T20 cricket tournament match against New Zealand at The Eden Gardens Cricket Stadium in Kolkata yesterday. Mustafizur took five wickets to help Bangladesh restrict New Zealand to 145 for 8 AFP

Five-star Mustafizur Uddin Khan n Minhaz from Kolkata Pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman had a day to remember yesterday as he became the first Bangladesh bowler to bag five wickets in the World Twenty20.

The left-arm paceman dismissed five Kiwi batsmen at Eden Gardens in Kolkata to allow the Tigers restrict the

opposition to 145/8 from their stipulated 20 overs.

Mustafizur notched his maiden five-wicket haul in his 13th appearance in the shortest format of the game, taking his tally to a commendable 22 wickets.

The cutter specialist though narrowly missed out on registering the best ever bowling figure by a Bangladesh bowler in T20Is. That accolade still belongs to left-arm spinner Elias  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Independence Day observed n Tribune Report

INSIDE

The 46th Independence and National Day was observed in the capital as well as around the country and all the Bangladesh missions abroad yesterday in a befitting manner amid different programmes.

The nation paid glowing

tributes to the martyrs of the Liberation War, particularly to the freedom fighters who made supreme sacrifices to free their motherland from the clutches of the then Pakistani occupation forces in 1971.

On March 26, 1971, Bangabandhu declared Bangladesh's  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Hasina: Get united for prosperity

Detectives quiz Tonu’s family

Sheikh Hasina yesterday urged all to be united so that the nation does not lag behind.  PAGE 3

The DB has been given charge of investigation into Tonu’s murder after no progress was made in six days.  PAGE 32

2nd Round

Sport Page-28

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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Independence Day observed independence following the crackdown on unarmed Bangalis by the Pakistan occupation forces.

The call for independence was first raised on March 7, 1971, when Bangabandhu -- during his historic speech at Race Course Maidan (now known as Suhrawardy Udyan) -- urged citizens to join the struggle for independence.

“The struggle this time is for our emancipation, the struggle this time is for our independence,” Bangabandhu said in his 19-minute speech.

Thousands of people from all walks of life converged at National Memorial in Savar since early morning to recall the sacrifices of the martyrs with gratitude, and to take a fresh vow to uphold the spirit of the Liberation War and build a happy and prosperous Bangladesh.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid rich tribute to the martyrs of the Liberation War by placing wreaths at National Memorial in the morning.

The president first placed a wreath at the altar of the memorial, followed by the prime minister, BSS reported.

After placing the wreaths, the president and the prime minister stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect to the memories of the martyrs.

A smartly turned-out contingent drawn from Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force presented a state salute on the occasion while the bugles played the last post.

Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, ministers, advisers, parliament members, chiefs of the three services, freedom fighters, diplomats and high civil and military officials were present on the occasion as well.

Flanked by senior leaders of the party, Sheikh Hasina, also the president of Bangladesh Awami League, laid another wreath at National Memorial on behalf of her party.

Later, she paid her rich tribute to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by placing wreath at his portrait at Bangabandhu Bhaban in Dhanmondi. She

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pay tribute to the Liberation War martyrs at National Memorial in Savar on Independence and National Day yesterday BSS later placed another wreath there as the party president.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad also placed wreaths at National Memorial as a mark of respect to the martyrs along with their respective senior party leaders.

Earlier, the president and the prime minister issued separate messages greeting the nation on the occasion of Independence Day. The national flag was hoisted since sunrise atop all government, semi-government, autonomous and non-government buildings and different important buildings and establishments on the occasion.

Different political parties including the BNP, main opposition Jatiya Party, Awami League’s associate bodies and various socio-cultural organisations also observed the day with different programmes.

Commemorative stamp, first-day cover released

Prime Minister greeted freedom fighters of the country yesterday

President Abdul Hamid and his wife Rashida Khanam hosted a reception at Bangabhaban yesterday on the occasion of Independence Day. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina joined the reception at the lawn of the presidential residence,

along with Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha and Prime Minister’s Special Envoy HM Ershad, reported UNB. Freedom fighters and family members of Birshreshtha gallantry award recipients attended the reception as well.

Cabinet members, deputy speaker, advisers to the prime minister, ambassadors and high commissioners of different countries, chief election commissioner, state ministers, Supreme Court judges, cabinet secretary, senior lawyers, chiefs of the three armed services, members of parliament, senior political leaders, editors, journalist leaders, senior civil and military officers, academics, business community leaders, artistes and distinguished citizens also joined the function.

Country’s renowned artistes Fakir Alamgir, Bappa Mazumder, Yesmin Ali, Dinat Jahan Munni and Moutushi Islam presented patriotic songs at the function, among others.

and Shuvagata Hom would extract the maximum purchase from the wicket.

However, it was Mustafizur instead who ruled the roost.

The wicket turned out to be the stuff of dreams for the southpaw. Most of the deliveries were gripping, taking a lot of time to reach the batsmen and the Bangladesh wonder-boy ensured of availing the maximum advantage from the wicket. His cutters,

slower deliveries and variation of speed troubled the Kiwi batsmen throughout his quota of four overs.

Mustafizur struck the timber as many as four times as the digital scoreboard repeatedly showed the message “You miss, I hit” and every time he came on to bowl, he picked up at least one wicket.

One by one, Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson, Grant Elliott, Santner and McCullum made their way to the dressing room in the

face of some devastating bowling

by Mustafizur. The Kiwis never really settled down from thereon in as only three batsmen reached double figures.

Following yesterday’s clash, Tigers head coach Chandika Hathurusingha heaped praise on the Satkhira lad, saying, “Mustafizur is an intelligent cricketer despite not being that experienced. He has some variations which others don’t. He

is using those variations very well.

He was brilliant [yesterday] and the wicket was ideal [for] him. You should see his performance against India and the way he had kept [MS] Dhoni under control. Dhoni has played against him many matches in the last six-seven months but it hardly mattered. Mustafizur used yorkers, quickers, cutters to make it an unplayable combination. This shows how intelligent a bowler Mustafizur is.” l

PM greets freedom fighters

Five-star Mustafizur Sunny, who conceded 13 runs, nine less than Mustafizur, for his five wickets against Ireland in 2012.

The wicket at Eden Gardens yesterday was ideal for the spinners as the Kiwis decided to play three slow bowlers in their playing XI – Ish Sodhi, Nathan McCullum and Mitchell Santner.

The Tigers lost the toss and were asked to bowl first and it was expected that spinners in the shape of Shakib al Hasan, Mahmudullah

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

on the occasion of Independence Day by sending flowers, fruits and sweetmeats to them as a mark of her good wishes for them.

The prime minister’s Assistant Private Secretaries Jahangir Alam and Saifuzzaman Shikhar and Protocol Officer Khurshid Alam handed over the items to the warwounded freedom fighters at Freedom Fighters’ Rehabilitation Centre in the capital’s Mohammadpur, reported UNB. The freedom fighters thanked and expressed gratitude to the prime minister for remembering them on every occasion, including Independence Day, Victory Day and Eids.

President hosts reception at Bangabhaban

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also released a commemorative postage stamp, a first-day cover and a data card marking Independence Day, reported BSS. The premier released the stamp and the first-day cover of Tk10 and the data card of Tk5 at her official residence Ganabhaban in the afternoon. A special canceller was used on the occasion.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, State Minister for Post and Telecommunications Tarana Halim, Additional Secretary of Post and Telecommunications Muhammad Mahfuzur Rahman and Bangladesh Post Office Director General Prabash Chandra Saha were present on the occasion, among others.

The stamp, first-day cover and data card is available at Philatelic Bureau of Dhaka GPO and will be available at other GPOs and head post offices across the country later. l

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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Hasina: Get united for prosperity n Tribune Report Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday urged all to build the country through united efforts so that the nation does not lag behind any more.

“The government has taken all sorts of steps to make the country hunger and poverty-free… we’ll build the country, we’ll no longer lag behind – let’s build the country through united efforts,” she said while addressing a rally of children and juveniles at Bangabandhu National Stadium in the capital, arranged by Dhaka district administration to mark the 46th Independence and National Day. “The government wants to build the country in a way so that no one can neglect Bangladesh anymore.

We will build the country in such a way that we can move around the world with our heads held high,” the premier said.

She called upon children and juveniles to be prepared to lead the country in the future, reported UNB. “On this Independence Day, it is my wish that our children would build themselves as worthy citizens to uphold the dignity which Bangladesh has already earned, and move forward. Our children must remember that we are a victorious nation. We have earned freedom through the Liberation War.” Hasina said children are the future leaders of the country and they will have to prepare to lead the country by receiving education, obeying their guardians and taking part in different activities, including sports and cultural activities.

Recalling the long history of oppression and negligence of Pakistani rulers to the Bangali nation, the prime minister said children had no access to food, education

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina releases a pigeon to inaugurate the children’s rally held on the occasion of Independence and National Day yesterday at Bangabandhu National Stadium in the capital BSS and healthcare during those days of repression.

“People were in misery as the rulers exploited people and looted their wealth.”

Hasina said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had staged his protests against the repression and exploitations.

She said the March 7 speech of

Bangabandhu inspired people to forge a unity against the Pakistani rulers and get prepared for a guerrilla war. On March 25, the occupation forces swooped on the Bangali people and launched the history’s most barbaric genocide, she recalled.

The prime minister said in the early hours of March 26, 1971,

Bangabandhu formally proclaimed independence of Bangladesh and asked people to continue their fight against the Pakistani forces.

Soon after the proclamation of independence, the Pakistani junta detained Bangabandhu, but he prepared the people beforehand for the war and at his call people held arms and freed the nation from en-

emies on December 16 after nine months of a bloody war.

Hasina also inspected a parade of children arranged on the occasion and took salute. She witnessed a spectacular march past and colourful display by the children.

Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka M Salauddin gave the vote of thanks. l

Indian president greets BNP vows to restore democracy n Bangladesh Tribune Report

n UNB Indian President Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the government and people of Bangladesh on the occasion of 45th Independence and National Day, hoping the ties between Bangladesh and India to scale new heights.

In a message to his Bangladesh counterpart Abdul Hamid, the Indian president said: “On behalf of the government, the people of India and on my own behalf, it gives me immense pleasure to extend warm felicitations and best wishes to you and to the people of Bangladesh on the occasion of your National Day.” Mukherjee said the bilateral rela-

tions between India and Bangladesh have grown tremendously over the past few years, according to Press Information Bureau of India.

“I am confident that this relationship between our two countries will continue to expand and that our interaction and cooperation will scale new heights,” the message reads.

On this day in 1971, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared independence of Bangladesh through EPR wireless at 00-30 hours on March 26, the night following March 25 from his Dhanmondi 32 house.

The great leader also called upon the people to build a united resistance against the occupation forces. l

The BNP high-command has asked its leaders and activists as well as the people of the country to take vow to raise their voices to restore democracy.

“We fought the Liberation War to get a democratic state. But unfortunately, we still have to raise our voices 45 years after the independence for restoring democracy. Our people are sacrificing their lives for democracy even today,” said Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of the party, yesterday.

Fakhrul made the remarks while addressing a victory rally in front of the party’s Nayapaltan Headquarters.

“People of the country are not

safe today. We are observing the Independence Day in a situation when our freedom of speech has been snatched away … economy is plundered. Democracy is absent today in the country,” he said.

Fakhrul urged the people to get united to implement the spirit of the Liberation War, and restore democracy and people’s voting rights by eliminating all divisions.

Senior BNP leaders and thousands of party leaders and activists participated in the procession to mark the Independence Day. The procession ended at Malibagh intersection through Kakrail and Shantinagar.

Earlier in the morning, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia along with her senior party colleagues paid tribute to the martyrs of the

Liberation War at the National Memorial.

The former premier placed a floral wreath at the memorial around 8:30am.

After paying tribute, BNP leader Moudud Ahmed told reporters: “Now it is the high time to materialise the goals that Khaleda Zia has set to build a new society and a new country.”

Returning from Savar, Khaleda also paid respect at the grave of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman at the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.

The BNP chief had come serious criticisms for skipping the programme at the National Memorial last year as she was “confined” in her Gulshan office while a violent movement was going on across the country. l

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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Cause behind Shilpi's death still mystery n Kamrul Hasan Investigators have said they are yet to confirm whether singer Quazi Krishnakali Islam's housemaid committed suicide or was murdered.

The facts of the case can only be ascertained after the autopsy report is issued today.

Police also said the arrestee, Khalequr Rahman, Krishnakali’s husband, would not be facing further interrogation.

Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police sta-

tion OC Gopal Gonesh Bishwas told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that although the first information report and the physical appearance of the dead body did not indicate murder, police would wait until the autopsy before drawing any conclusion.

“We do not have any strong evidence yet and therefore he [Khalequr] will be produced before the court tomorrow [today] without a remand plea. But if the autopsy report shows anything different, the course of action will be changed,” he said.

Police detained Khalequr on

BNP brings out procession marking Independence Day n Tribune Report BNP brought out a colourful rally in the city, marking the 46th Independence and National Day yesterday.

Thousands of leaders and activists of BNP and its associate bodies carrying banners, placards and portraits of party top leaders joined the procession which started from the party’s Nayapaltan central office around 3:20pm, reports UNB. The procession paraded different roads through Bijoynagar, Kakrail and Shantinagar and concluded at Malibagh crossing.

In a brief address prior to bringing out the procession, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir urged party leaders and activists to be united, putting behind all conflicts and differences among them to “restore” democracy through a movement.

“Now people have no rights to expression. The press free-

dom has also been snatched.

The spirit of establishing democracy with which we’d taken part in the Liberation War is now missing. We all must get united forgetting all trivial misunderstandings and divisions to get back democracy and voting rights,” he said.

The BNP leader bemoaned that even after the 45 years of the country’s independence, the nations is still shouting to restore democracy.

“We’re still staging movements to realise our democratic rights. As a nation, it’s very unfortunate for us,” he said.

Mentioning that people have no democratic rights now in the country, the BNP leader said: “Our youths and our sons are now sacrificing their lives for democracy.”

Fakhrul said the country’s people have no security of their lives and property. “The money of central bank is also being looted.”

He called upon the country’s people to be vocal to have their rights restored. l

PSC member Phani Bhoushon dies n Tribune Report Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC) member Phani Bhoushon Choudhury, a decorated former police officer, died yesterday afternoon in a city hospital. He was 61 years old.

Phani Bhoushon, son of Nibaran Chandra Choudhury, died around 5:15pm at Dhaka Medical College Hospital 2. According to hospital authorities he was admitted to there on February 14 with bone marrow cancer.

After his death, the Inspec-

tor general of police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque and his colleagues from the police force and PSC visited him at the hospital.

Bangladesh police in a press release said Phani Bhoushon’s body will be taken to the Dhakeshwari Temple at 10am today and after completing rituals there, he will be taken to Rajarbag police lines at 12pm for pay respect.

His body will be taken to his home town of Chhatak, Sunamganj in the afternoon and will be cremated tomorrow. l

Wednesday after he had taken the girl to the hospital. Later, he was shown arrested under section 54 and sent to the court on Thursday.

The court granted the police two days for interrogation.

Jannat Akter Shilpi, 17, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at Krishnakali’s home at Mollapara, Taltala around 4:30pm on Wednesday.

Police said they found Khalequr's behaviour suspicious and a scratch mark on his face made the suspicions stronger.

However, Khalequr claimed that

Shilpi committed suicide as his wife Krishnakali told her that she would send her back to her village as she did not work properly.

Anjan, a family friend of the arrestee, told the Dhaka Tribune that her family wanted her to be married against her will. So she was sent to the house through a woman named Rasheda, who is also a housemaid.

He claimed that the marks that were found on Khalequr's face had been seen from long ago.

Associate Professor Abul Khair

of Dhaka Medical College Forensic Department said black spots had been found on the neck and back of the deceased in primary autopsy.

However, it cannot be ascertained yet whether Shilpi had been a victim of torture.

To clear up the facts the lab will be conducting histopathology tests, the doctor said. Tissues collected from Shilpi's stomach and neck had been sent to a chemical laboratory at city's Mohakhali to confirm whether the girl was strangled to death or committed suicide, he added. l

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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

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3 INDEPENDENCE DAY IN THE CAPITAL 1. Bangladesh Rowing Association organises a rowing competition at Hatirjheel on the occasion of Independence Day 2. With the national flag in one hand and a flower bouquet in another, a child visits National Memorial in Savar to pay respect to Liberation War martyrs 3. Students of Dhaka University’s Department of Theatre and Performance Studies stage a cultural programme on the DU campus 4. Visitors take a look around the photo exhibition on the Liberation War at Shwadhinata Museum at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital 5. Dhaka-dwellers swarm to National Memorial in Savar to pay respect to the martyrs of Liberation War

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SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN/MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK/RAJIB DHAR

TEMPERATURE FOREC AST FOR TODAY

Dhaka

DRY WEATHER WITH PARTLY CLOUDY SKY LIKELY SUNDAY, MARCH 27

38

24

Chittagong

32

25

Rajshahi

DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 6:13PM

38

26

Rangpur

35

23

Khulna

35

24

Barisal

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:55AM

36.0ºC Rajshahi

17.8ºC Srimangal

Source: Accuweather/UNB

36

24

PRAYER TIMES

Sylhet

36

21

Cox’s Bazar

31

26

Fajr: 4:37am | Zohr: 12:04am Asr: 3:31pm | Magrib: 6:16pm Esha: 7:43pm Source: IslamicFinder.org

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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Ershad blames politicians for holding back country

New CAAB chair joins today n Tribune Report

The newly appointed Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal Ehsanul Gani Chowdhury will take charge at his office today.

He will be taking up the vacated position of Air Vice Marshal Sanaul Huq, who was removed on March 13.

Before the apointment Chowdhury was the commander of Bangladesh Air Force Base Zahurul Haque in Chittagong.

Outgoing chairman Sanaul Huq attended office for the last day as CAAB chairman on Thursday.

The government decided to replace the CAAB chairman after a crisis arose at the Shahjalal International Airport with the British government on March 8 putting an embargo on direct cargo flights from Dhaka raising concerns about airport security procedures.

Chowdhury’s job has been transferred to the Civil Aviation Ministry posting him as CAAB chairman on deputation.

In the same order, Air Vice Marshal Sanaul Huq was transferred back to the Armed Forces Division. l

n Tribune Report Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad yesterday said politicians had failed to resolve their differences and it was something that was holding back the country.

After placing wreaths at the National Memorial in Savar marking the 46th Independence Day, the former military dictator said the country was yet to reach its desired goals even after 45 years of independence.

“Bangladesh is lagging behind because of political conflicts,” Ershad told reporters after paying tributes to those who sacrificed their lives for independence during the 1971 War of Liberation.

Referring to the recent incidents of extremism, Ershad said he would choose to term those terrorist activities.

“I do not get the term extremism. Whatever happening or have happened

RAB to increase intelligence capability n Kamrul Hasan

Rapid Action Battalion is planning to adopt advanced criminal intelligence to curb militancy from the country.

Speaking at a briefing yesterday at RAB headquarters after inaugurating the events marking the force’s 12th Rising Day (founding day), RAB Director General Benazir Ahmed said intelligence was the key tool to fight terrorism.

Ahmed said in 2016 RAB would be priorotising five issues – curbing terrorism, preventing yaba trade, drives against pirates and robbers, criminal activities using cellphones and good communications with the public.

“To successfully prevent terrorism we need to increase our intelligence capacity,” The RAB DG said.

“The fundamental responsibility of the elite force is to curb terrorism and we are planning to increase that capability.”

Ahmed said RAB had the most advanced forensic lab in

the country and had recently created the biggest criminal database. A jail database was also created this year to give RAB an edge in investigation.

He said inclusion of helicopters had made the force capable of conducting its operations at air, land and water.

Asked about the recent terrorist attacks across the world, the DG said the incidents had taught Bangladeshi law enforcers how to prepare for similar attacks.

“The incidents tell us what sort of precautionary measures we need and how the force needs to be upgraded to prevent such attacks,” he said.

The DG expressed his satisfaction over the quality of the investigations that the force had carried out and said they would strive for improvement in investigating the cases.

Rab Additional Director General Col Ziaul Ahsan, media and legal wing Director Commander Mufti Mahmud Khan, Intelligence Director Lt Col Abul Kalam Azad were also present in the brief. l

in the name of extremism are terror acts. These acts are being described as extremism,” he said.

At a discussion at his Banani office later in the day, the Jatiya Party chief said democracy now exists in the country in name only.

“This is because the existence of democracy is at stake. We want security, a corruption-free society and adequate jobs for all in an independent country but killing and abduction have instead become regular phenomena. The society has faced degradation at all levels,” Ershad said.

Urging all to be united in their efforts to let people enjoy what it means to be an independent nation, he said: “A consensus cannot be reached between anti-liberation forces and real nationalists. Jatiya Party upholds the spirit of the liberation war and that is why all need to be united under this party.” l

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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

‘Padma Bridge construction PM's achievement’ n BSS Awami League presidium member and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said yesterday the construction of the Padma Bridge with own financing 45 years after the country's independence was a courageous achievement of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

"There wasn't any big courageous achievement of ours within 45 years of the country's independence," he said, adding that there should not be any doubt over completion of construction work of the Padma Bridge in schedule time.

Obaidul Quader said this after placing wreaths at the Mausoleum of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Tungipara in observance of the Independence and National Day. The minister said: "Our greatest achievement after 45 years of the country's independence was that the international recognition to the Prime Minister in the 10th place among the best world leaders.

Two fine arts students demonstrate their skills at the week-long fine arts exhibition oganised by the Department of Fine Arts of Rajshahi University yesterday. The exhibit, arranged to mark Independence Day, was inaugurated by noted writer Prof Hasan Azizul Haque, while RU Vice-Chancellor Dr Muhammad Mizanuddin and Assistant High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh Shri Abhijit Chattopadhyay AZAHAR UDDIN

Independence Day celebrated across the country n Tribune Report The 46th Independence and National Day was celebrated across the country in a befitting manner, with due respect and taking fresh vow to build a happy, prosperous and peaceful nation.

In Gaibandha

Our correspondent said in the celebration of the day, district administration, various cultural organizations, political parties and educational institutions chalked out the elaborate programmes.

The day's programme began through placing wreaths by district administration, police department, district Muktijoddha Sangshad, district unit Awami League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jatiya Party and other political parties, educational institutions and socio-cultural organizations at the monument of the Poura Park of the town at midnight around 12.01 am.

The day began with 31 gun salutes at Independence Square of the town at the time of sun rising and national flag was hoisted atop all the government and private buildings just after sun rise.

Later, an impressive march past by police, ansar, VDP, BNCC, scouts, students of Govt. Shishu Paribars, school and colleges was held at the local stadium around 9am.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) M Abdus Samad and Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashraful Islam took

salute as the chief guest and special guest respectively.

Later, the district administration in cooperation with Zila Parishad accorded reception to the freedom fighters and the members of martyred families at the stadium at 11.00 am with DC M. Abdus Samad in the chair.

In Faridpur

The day's programme began with 31-gun salute at Police line in the morning followed by hoisting of national flag atop all public and private buildings.

People of all walks of life paid tributes by placing floral wreaths at the plaque of the martyred freedom fighters of 1971 located in the Goalchamat area of the town.

A rally consisting of people of all sheds paraded the town streets from Goalchamat to Faridpur stadium and also paid tributes to a mass grave praying for the salvation of the departed soul of the martyrs killed by Pakistani Army in 1971.

Besides, another rally and march past by Police, Ansar, VDP, BNCC, Scout and students of educational institutions was held at the stadium where Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sardar Sharafat Ali took salute after hoisting the national flag ceremonially, reports BSS. A reception was accorded to the families of the valiant freedom fighters and martyred freedom fighters of the district at Kabi Jasimuddin Hall.

Special prayers will be offered at

all mosques, temples and churches praying for the peace and prosperity of the country. Improved diet will be served at jail, hospitals and orphanages of the district.

Bangladesh Shishu Academy, Faridpur unit has chalked out separate programme for the children in connection with the annual occasion.

A discussion meeting on Great Liberation War and independence will be held at Kabi Jasimuddin Hall in the evening followed by a cultural function. A number of sub-committees were formed for the preparation of the great event successfully.

In Chittagong

Different political parties, their associate organizations, educational institutions, professional and trade bodies and socio-cultural organizations celebrated the day through daylong programmes.

The day's programmes were heralded with a 21-gun salute from atop the court building around 12.01 am which was followed by playing of whistles simultaneously from rails, steamers and vessels of the port.

Placing of wreaths at Shaheed Minar at zero hours, hoisting national flag, holding discussion meetings, lighting of candle in memory of the 25th March crackdown, playing of recorded historic speech of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the 7th March, bringing out processions, cultural functions,

march pasts and physical displays, and reception to Freedom Fighters are the highlights of the day's programmes.

State Minister for land Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Jabed was the first to place a wreath at Shaheed Minar.

Mayor A JM Nasir Uddin placed a wreath at Shaheed Minar on behalf of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) after Jabed.

Chittagong City Awami League led by its President and former city mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury and General Secretary AJM Nasir Uddin, Divisional Commissioner of Chittagong Ruhul Amain, Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Additional Commissioners AKM Shahidur Rahman and Debdas Bhartacharzee, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Chittagong range, Shafiqul Islam, Deputy Commissioner, Chittagong Mejbah Uddin Ahmed, Superintendent of Chittagong District Police AKM Hafiz Akter, Chittagong Muktijoddah Sangsad, Administrator of Chittagong Jilla Pariad M A Salam and Chairman of Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) Abdus Salam, President of Chittagong North district AL Nurul Alam Chowdhury and GS MA Salam, Chittagong south district unit BNP, Jatiya Party, Workers Party, LDP, Chittagong Press Club, Chittagong Union of Journalists and different socio-cultural organizations and individuals placed wreaths at Shaheed Minar, reports BSS.

Vice-Chancellor of Chittagong University (CU) Prof Anwarul Azim Arif along with teachers, officers and employees of CU placed wreaths at CU central Shaheed Minar this morning.

In Rajshahi

Our correspondent said Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), divisional and district administration various political, social and cultural organizations along with educational institutions including Rajshahi University, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology and Rajshahi Medical College chalked out elaborate programmes to celebrate the day.

The day's programmes began with heralding of 31-gun salutes at Police Line and placing of floral wreaths at the altar of the city's Shaheed Minars at the zero hours.

Paying rich tribute to the martyrs Fazley Hossain Badsha, MP, and Akter Jahan, MP, placed floral wreaths at Collectorate Building Shaheed Minar. Commissioner of Rajshahi division Helaluddin Ahmed, Deputy Commissioner Kazi Ashraf Uddin and other officials followed them.

DIGP of Rajshahi Range Iqbal Bahar, Commissioner of RMP Md Shamsuddin and SP of Rajshahi Nisharul Arif placed wreaths at Police Line Shaheed Minar.

The day was celebrated in many other districts including Barisal, Madaripur , Shariatpur, Mymensingh, Netrakona, Thakurgaon,Pabna, Jessore and Panchagarh. l

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News

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Freedom fighters, journalists, traders boycott March 26 programme n Tribune Report Local freedom fighters in Bagerhat’s Kachua upazila yesterday boycotted the Independence Day programmes as the upazila chairman hoisted the national flag in the beginning of the main programmereports our Bagerhat correspondent.

They were angry as they said the chairman, SM Mahfuzur Rahman who is an Awami League leader, had faced female harassment and elec-

tricity theft charges and it was not acceptable for them to see that such a man had hoisted the national flag on the Independence Day. Hazra Delwar Hossain, commander of the freedom fighters in the upazila, claimed that Mahfuzur had been involved in a number of evil acts.

“This is why the freedom fighters boycotted all the programmes of the Independence Day,” he added.

In Gaibandha’s Sadullapur upazila, local journalists and a local trade

body boycotted the Independence Day programmes organised by the local administration yesterday, reports our Gaibandha correspondent.

Journalists announced the boycott after they accused the upazila nirbahi officer, Abdullah Al Mamun, of disrespecting them and collecting money in the name of the Independence Day programme.

The Sadullapur Upazila Banik Samity brought the same charge against Mamun and expressed soli-

Nurse accused of misbehaving with patient n Tribune Report

A nurse at Lalmonirhat Sadar hospital has been accused of harassing a female patient.

Mohsena Begum has faced accusations that she recently behaved unbecomingly with Rasheda, who was undergoing treatment at the hospital.

The hospital authorities on March 23 formed a two-member committee to probe the

allegation.

Rasheda was hospitalised on March 22 after she was thrashed by Mohsena’s sister Nilufa Begum and Nilufa’s husband Abu Bakkar Siddique over family feuds.

Mohsena went to ward 57, where Rasheda was admitted, and misbehaved with her. She also scolded the patient loudly and forced her to cancel hospital admission.

It was alleged that Mohsena did not have official duty on that day but only went to the hospital to harass Rasheda.

Rasheda later filed a complaint against Mohsena. Md Azmal, resident medical officer at the hospital, said a committee had been formed to look into Rasheda’s complaint.

He said the committee had got witnesses and a report would be submitted soon. l

darity with journalists.

Addressing an emergency meeting at Sadullapur Press Club on Friday night, the club’s General Secretary Zillur Rahman Palash said Mamun had been forcefully collecting money from traders, educational institutions and other establishments in the name of arranging programmes bearing national significance since assuming office.

“This has caused discontent and anger among locals,” he said, before

announcing the boycott of the Independence Day programmes.

Palash also said no programme organised by the local administration would be covered in the media until the upazila nirbahi officer was removed.

But Mamun could not be reached for comments over the allegations against him.

Gaibandha 3 lawmaker Dr Md Eunus Ali Sarkar said he would talk to journalists about the matter. l

9

DT

Career

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Are you nervous or unprepared?

Interview tips that could save your life Walking into an interview, it’s much more than just your employer assessing you for a job.

It’s an opportunity, maybe even the one you’ve been looking for all this time. You are getting a chance to pitch yourself to your potential boss and exhibit all your strengths that will help you contribute to the organisation. This is why it is stressed on that you complete the interview by leaving a lasting impression.

The question is, how can you present yourself in the best way possible, especially during a stressful interview? Here are some tips that could get you the job you’ve always wanted: Be confident From the moment you enter the interview room, confidence should be oozing out. Even if you’re just pretending, it still helps. Greet your employer, speak clearly and introduce yourself. Any employer will appreciate a confident person, and even if some nervousness slips through the cracks, your interviewer will appreciate the effort.

Be proactive Before you even step into the interview room, it is your duty to do some research about the company and job designation that you have applied for. This will allow your potential employer to see that you have taken the initiative to know exactly what you are getting into. This also increases the chances of you successfully fulfilling the interview, because when it comes to negotiations or when you are asked questions about the vacant position, you will have more clear and precise answers.

Keep track of words When speaking about your plus points, strengths and past experiences, make sure that you only speak of those aspects that you are sure of and will be able to explain in more detail if you’re asked to elaborate. You do not want to be caught up with a question that you are unable to answer.

Maintain eye contact Sometimes your body language speaks more than your actual dialogue, which is why it’s important to project positivity.

A small instance of projecting a positive outlook is by maintaining eye contact with the interviewer or anyone you are speaking to.

This not only creates a great impression on the employer, but

BIGSTOCK

also shows that you possess great communication/people skills, as long as you don’t overdo it.

Honesty is the best policy Whether the interview is a failure or success, honesty is always the best route to choose. Honesty, although not as often as it should be, is appreciated by an honest employer. It also shows that you yourself, as a candidate, have nothing to hide. Transparency has become a welcomed attribute in a responsible corporation.

Understand what the company wants from you One of the most important things to know about the job you apply to is the understanding of what the company truly wants

and needs from you. Once you understand what your employer wants, you have greater chances to successfully deliver the performance required.

Be open to criticism Being criticised is not always a bad thing; it leaves you more room to learn. If by any chance your interviewer critiques you or tells you anything that he feels you can improve, take it with positivity.

This will not only allow your potential employer to see that you are open to dialogue, but you are also exhibiting the fact that you are always open to learn more and improve.

Be you The most stereotypical piece

of advice that has been handed around hundreds and thousands of times is to be yourself. However, it is crucial to understand why this advice has gained popularity - because it’s important! Be yourself, let your employer understand that you are not just the university you went to, or your past experience; you are a whole person with much more to offer. So let it be known, and be the real person you are.

Implement and learn When all is said and done, advice can only get you so far.

Sometimes it’s completely up to you to make a difference and maneuver through difficult and uncertain situations during an interview. Not all circumstances

are the same, for each situation calls for different actions, and it is on you to decide what the best course of action in that situation is and improvise.

If the interview does not go well, learn from it, try to understand what went wrong but do not overthink it. You will definitely get another opportunity eventually to prove yourself once again, and that’s when you will be able to rectify your past mistakes and present yourself the way you wanted to. A bad interview is never the problem; the problem is not learning from it. l Find more career advice on the everjobs job journal: https://www. everjobs.com.bd/en/job-journal/

DT

10

Feature

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Talented yet useless Using talent management to make the most of the people you have

several HR outsourcing firms stationed at Dhaka city mainly are playing this role.

Numerous organizations are now suffering from a high employee turnover, and this is mainly due to the absence of TM. Hence, in order to reduce this turnover and ensure operational functionality, organisations need to have regular TM practice.

For this, three things are essential: talent acquisition, talent engagement and talent rewards.

It’s a continuous process starting from the hiring of an employee till the individuals’ career development plan.

Strategic employee hiring planning One of the most important components of TM is strategic employee hiring (SEH). SEH concerns itself on the return on investment from hiring an employee in the first place, whether he/she will be able to carry out the tasks assigned and add value to the firm over a period of time. It even highlights the organisation’s responsibility to help that employee in his/her career growth, possible methods of retention and much more.

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n Md Jahangir Alam In most instances, it the middle and upper management which represent the company better on a day-to-day basis than the owners themselves. Hence, developing future leaders for the organisations is one of the responsibilities of the managers.

The concept vital to carry this out is termed talent management, or as we call it in short, TM. The concept not only reflects on companies may earn greater profits, but also make the organisation’s human resources (HR) reputable inside and out.

In a broader sense, TM consists of two parts: the talent pool and the candidate pool.

The former refers to the

Nurturing the person who shall replace you while carrying out your responsibilities within an organisation does not necessarily have to hamper your work performance or decrease your service timeline

internal management while the latter refers to the interaction with stakeholders. Talent pool recognises the “brands” of talented employees and ensures to gear up their professionalism in the right manner.

On the other hand, the candidate pool ensures a smooth connection of all potential candidates in the business world, who will be available for hiring within very short time, even in the crisis moment. In this moment,

Talent acquisition and retention Talent acquisition and retention (TAR), the second component of TM, is equally important. Some organisations focus on getting the right people at the right time, but never bothering to create the right environment for them to excel.

On the other hand, if an employee is not found suitable for the specific task initially assigned, that person is no longer given another opportinuty in another role. TAR does not support such behavior at all, and it is time to give the internal work environment more importance.

Performance management Performance management (PM) lies at the heart of TM. PM does not only concern itself with output levels of an employee but also aims to illustrate a periodical overview of an employee’s performance.

This provides greater opportunities for justified promotions. It identifies all weaknesses associated with one’s current working level, and also reveals the strengths of a person to be utilised through proper nurturing.

Learning and motivating Learning does not only mean training, but should be a part of personal and professional development. Periodical job rotation and scopes offered to gain professional degrees, such as MBA degrees, can be a part of learning as well.

Compensation Compensation refers to more than just money. It should be guided by the desire of the employee in question. Moreover, it needs to be based on CSR (corporate social responsibility) as well. As one’s immediate personal requirements are fulfilled, self-esteem and selfactualisation needs determines his/her working levels to a larger extent. At certain times, a simple appreciation for a job well done or empathy shown in personal circumstances can do greater wonders than money ever can.

Career development “I want better opportunities to develop my career” is a common answer in interviews when asked why they want to join the organisations in question. Every company wants to retain their potential employees and wish to provide career development opportunities. In spite of having a serious job crisis in the market, employees with the right talent are not motivated enough to continue their jobs without a challenging environment (to their own definitions). Hence, every organisation needs to take this issue seriously. Seriously.

Succession planning Succession planning is part of career development planning and a functional component of TM. It encourages employees and motivates them towards achieving their goals. It also allows superiors to develop a second hand for operations as a back-up at times of emergencies.

It is important to note that no employee shall retain in a certain organisation indefinitely, regardless of their designation.

The natural phenomenon is that seniors have to leave the organisation earlier than the rest, and have to leave someone to take up their capes to lead on their behalf. Nurturing the person who shall replace you while carrying out your responsibilities within an organisation does not necessarily have to hamper your work performance or decrease your service timeline (they’re not replacing you that fast). It rather gives you peace of mind and upholds your personal and professional image, resulting in the ultimate benefit for the organisation itself. l Md Jahangir Alam is a human resource practitioner. He may be reached at jahangir736@yahoo.com

DT

Editorial 11

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

INSIDE

Ministry of silly ideas It is willfully obtuse to suggest the ad was for a network of cyber Fagins training Bangladeshi hackers PAGE 12

The great Bangladeshi emancipator BIGSTOCK

His leadership, in particular his sixpoint demand, posed a massive threat to the government of that time. He felt the wrath of the martial juntas -- they confined him behind bars many times to try and bring him under their control PAGE 13

Time to move forward on new deep sea port

Congratulations, prime minister We hope her government enforces zero tolerance for human rights violations, and violence against girls and women in the country. The inclusion in Fortune’s list, created by Geoff Colvin, gives the people’s leader of Bangladesh a further obligation in this regard PAGE 14

Be heard Write to Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Send us your Op-Ed articles: opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com www.dhakatribune.com Join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/ DhakaTribune.

The views expressed in Opinion articles are those of the authors alone. They do not purport to be the official view of Dhaka Tribune or its publisher.

C

hina’s offer to become a part of an international consortium to build a deep sea port at Paira is a further indication of the strong case for Bangladesh to develop a new port.

In a speech to diplomatic correspondents, the Chinese ambassador expressed willingness to co-operate with any country as contractors to help the Bangladesh government build a new port.

It follows similar expressions made by the Netherlands government and companies from the UAE and Denmark in developing Paira and Chittagong ports.

It is vital that the government take note of such international interest and speed up consideration of the various alternative locations and offers which have been discussed over the years.

Bangladesh urgently needs new deep-sea port facilities to increase the capacity and efficiency of our ports to meet the growing needs of our own exporters.

Building a new deep-sea port is imperative to improve the regional connectivity sought by the BIMSTEC and BCIM corridor intransitives.

It is also vital to attract further foreign direct investment. There is a real risk that competitiveness may be jeopardised and investment diverted elsewhere as neighbours like Myanmar and Sri Lanka proceed with plans to develop new port facilities.

The wide interest expressed in helping Bangladesh develop better deep sea port facilities is a reflection of confidence in the future growth of our economy and in the huge benefits offered by our key location between the growing markets of South and Southeast Asia.

Bangladesh needs to take advantage of this interest now.

A deep sea port is a critical investment with huge potential benefits for Bangladesh.

The government should press ahead more quickly in building new port facilities.

Take advantage of the international interest in helping Bangladesh improve port facilities

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DT

Opinion

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Ministry of silly ideas Satire will not die so long as politicians keep giving comics material the military regime’s most famous political prisoners were popular Burmese comedians Par Par Lay of the Moustache Brothers, and Maung Thura “Zarganar.”

Not that I’m suggesting the education minister’s foray into adjudicating advertising copy is a precursor to anything similar.

Still, it’s a useful reminder that censorship is no joke.

Take President Francois Hollande for example, who failed to report recently he had privately awarded the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest honour, to visiting Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef.

If the Saudi News agency had not afterwards praised the award, for “efforts in the fight against terrorism and extremism” (sic), he would not have had to justify the bauble to a sceptical public.

It is willfully obtuse to suggest the ad was for a network of cyber Fagins training Bangladeshi hackers

Never regret a bad joke if it gets a reaction

n Asif Baul

I

f a stand-up comic tells a brilliant joke in a forest and no one is around to hear it, is it still funny?

Not really.

A joke without an audience is a bit like the koan of imagining the sound of one hand clapping.

If there’s no one there to laugh, groan, or moan, they don’t like it, all you hear is silence and the sound of no hands clapping.

The proof lies in the paradox that if a comic tells a bad joke to an audience and they appreciate it regardless, a fun time can be had by all, but if the audience is not in the mood, even the most tried and tested gag can fall flat, however capable its teller.

Never regret a bad joke if it gets a reaction, is the lesson many performers take away from such philosophical pondering.

I think it’s a pity, then, that a

spokesperson for Saifur’s coaching centres felt the need to apologise after the education minister announced he was taking legal action against the business for saying: “If you want to learn hacking, you will have to know English as well.”

Its ad printed in Bangla explicitly referred to the hackers in the Bangladesh Bank cyber heist tripping up because Deutsche Bank sought clarification of a instruction for $20 million to be sent to a Sri Lankan non-profit, after the fraudsters had written “fandation” in the NGO’s name.

According to the minister, Saifur’s advertisement should not be tolerated, as it is confusing, misleading, and apparently “trying to influence hackers” by claiming skills in “creating thieves.”

Which is plainly ridiculous. It was a joke. A bad, good, or ugly one, that’s a question of taste. But as an advertisement, it achieves its

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prime goal of getting attention.

It is willfully obtuse to suggest the ad was for a network of cyber Fagins training Bangladeshi hackers. Mind you, had that been the case, given doubts about the state of the nation’s cyber security measures, it could have been a good source of recruits for intelligence agencies, trying to catch up with the Philippinesbased hackers who made off with $101m.

I can well understand why Saifur’s general manager feels the need to clarify the ad had no intention other than stressing the importance of learning English.

After all, getting a legal threat from the Education Ministry was presumably not the reaction they had in mind.

But regretting any “misunderstanding,” when the meaning was so transparent, that was not necessary.

More to the point, it might

undermine confidence in the very language skills the advertisement is trying to sell.

Be that as it may. Surely the minister’s priorities might be better focused on other matters, like, say, why do so many parents and pupils feel the need to shell out for coaching centres in the first place?

This joke itself, however, needs no explanation to be understood.

Unlike for instance, the remark reportedly muttered off-air last week by Aung San Suu Kyi, after an interview by BBC presenter Mishal Husain: “No one told me I was going to be interviewed by a Muslim.” One can only hope this was said in jest, the world has higher expectations of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate than it has of Donald Trump.

It would be remiss for a stand up to mention Myanmar without recalling that until amnesties for prisoners of conscience, two of

Satire is dead, ran the predictable headlines, which the president had presumably been trying to avoid. Oh, for a simpler world, where comics can get their material from mere trifles like the British competition to name a new 200m pound polar research vessel.

While that still has a few weeks left for voting, James Hand, the former radio presenter who suggested calling it “RSS Boaty McBoatface,” has already apologised profusely to the organisers after his idea stormed into a possibly unbeatable lead over more worthy suggestions like Sir David Attenborough, or my favourite, “Usain Boat.”

See, comedy can simply be silly.

It doesn’t have to be all Daily Show satire and analysis. But it will, so long as politicians keep giving us material.l Asif Baul is an occasional compere and stand-up comedian.

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DT

Opinion

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

The great Bangladeshi emancipator Throughout his many struggles and hardships, Bangabandhu never wavered from his goal Bhutto, and others.

The East Pakistani people’s great friend, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, raised his head above the dictators with utmost courage and firm determination.

He founded his political party, the Awami League, in 1944 with assistance from Suhrawardy and Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani. His leadership, in particular his six-point demand, posed a massive threat to the government of that time. He felt the wrath of the martial juntas -- they confined him behind bars many times to try and bring him under their control. In 1958, he had to undergo an imprisonment of 14 months in connection with a trumped-up case.

In 1965, Pakistani Islamist fascists brought forth a charge of sedition against Mujib, which awarded him a one-year imprisonment. On May 8, 1966, he was arrested at the end of a speech in the meeting of the Narayanganj jute mill labourers.

On January 17, 1968, he had hardly stepped out of the jail gates after being released, that he was incarcerated again. Finally, on March 1971, he had to go through a three-day detention in Dhaka Cantonment before being carried to a Pakistan jail -- in Faisalabad jail he was handed the death sentence in the verdict of his trial.

To his oppressors, Sheikh Mujib was a barrier that was as steady and towering as the Himalayas.

On the other hand, he was an unfathomable ocean of humanism to the oppressed.

An inspiration to all Bangladeshis

n Emdadul Haque

B

angabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is a name that evokes humanism and patriotism. He and independent Bangladesh are co-related in the same way that Nelson Mandela and South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi and India, President Abraham Lincoln and the US are.

I’d be selling the man short if I did not say that the contemporary generation needs to know what he stood for.

Sheikh Mujib’s academic career was rather uneven, but it’s impossible to determine the specific time when he embarked on his career as a politician.

Whatever may be the time, it’s worth mentioning that he always had a natural proclivity towards politics, even from an early age.

History tells us that those were the painful times, under the

British regime where Muslims were routinely subjected to deprivation, and hunger. This situation reverberated in the mind of the young Sheikh Mujib, so much so that he decided to join then Muslim league -- a welfare organisation for Muslims.

As a big fan of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Sheikh Mujib moulded his mind with the ideology, philosophy, and knowledge of politics that befitted the time.

He embroiled himself in sub-continent-wide anti-British agitation. His motto behind his activities was the emancipation of the people of this sub-continent from the shackles of British tyranny. He had his recurrent visits to the East and West Bengals, with the expectation of getting the masses mobilised against the English predators.

His political career reached the highest pinnacle during the era of our exploitation at the hands of

His leadership, in particular his six-point demand, posed a massive threat to the government of that time. He felt the wrath of the martial juntas -- they confined him behind bars many times to try and bring him under their control. In 1958, he had to undergo an imprisonment of 14 months in connection with a trumped-up case

Pakistan. In 1952, when the then Pakistani ruler hatched a heinous conspiracy to make Urdu the state language of the country, shrugging off Bangla, he, as a member of the Rashtrabhasa Sangram Parishad, lead a relentless protest against such linguistic oppression.

To silence him, Pakistan’s then prime minister Khawaja Nazimuddin had Sheikh Mujib incarcerated in Dhaka jail, and subsequently in Faridpur jail, where he held a hunger strike.

For this reason, on February 21, 1952, Sheikh Mujib simply got wind of the massacre as a prisoner instead of joining the language movement himself. As if trying to snatch away our language wasn’t enough, the rulers went about violating every possible right that we as a people were entitled to as human beings.

It turned out that injustice was the thrust of the governance of the martial administration of Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zulfikar Ali

As a spiritually ever-alive entity, he is a perennial source of patriotism, inspiration, and humanity to everybody. He was a paradigm to be followed, a road to be taken. He should be enshrined in the heart of our heart.

Let his ideology, philosophy, and greatness guide our lives and be a catalyst for a positive change in our society. l Emdadul Haque is a Lecturer, Moheshpur Government College.

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DT

Opinion

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Congratulations, prime minister Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s inclusion in the top ten of Fortune’s magazine’s list of greatest leaders is a cause for celebration Rafiqul Islam n Mohammad Talukdar

L

et us celebrate our success.

It is a momentum of inspiration. It appears in a time when the nation is celebrating its independence.

At this moment, a new global recognition of the achievements of the daughter of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the people’s leader as well as the honourable prime minister of the country, is pleasing and encouraging for the nation.

Sheikh Hasina, honourable prime minister of Bangladesh, ranked 10th on a list of the world’s greatest leaders, compiled by the world-famous business magazine Fortune in its third such annual list, published on its website on Thursday, March 24 with a note: “In business, government, philanthropy and the arts, and all over the globe, these men and women are transforming the world and inspiring others to do the same.”

A picture of Sheikh Hasina, taken by Mike Segar of Reuters, is used in the magazine.

It shows the people’s leader of Bangladesh addresses a plenary meeting of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

According to the magazine, she, as the only female leader among the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation member states, has deftly navigated the competing demands of Islamic tradition and women’s rights.

The magazine also points out that “she has committed Bangladesh, the nation with the world’s fourth-largest Muslim population, to securing legal protections for women and helping them attain more education, financial freedom, and political power.

About 30% of adult women in Bangladesh now have at least a secondary education, and the nation scores better on the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index than any other South Asian country.”

It is not a surprise that Sheikh Hasina became 10th among top 50 global leaders as a distinguished social change-maker.

She strongly deserves it. She is a visionary leader and is now the prime minister of our country for the third time.

Moreover, she has won many outstanding global awards for her visionary leadership and governance ability. For instance, she received the “Champion of the Earth” 2015 Award, the UN’s highest environmental accolade, in the Policy Leadership category for her outstanding leadership on the front-lines of climate change.

She received this award in the time to set and adopt global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the next 15 years.

We hope her government enforces zero tolerance for human rights violations, and violence against girls and women in the country. The inclusion in Fortune’s list, created by Geoff Colvin, gives the people’s leader of Bangladesh a further obligation in this regard

The only female leader in the OIC member states In the United Nations Summit for the Adoption of the SDGs or Post-2015 Development Agenda, the prime minister received the “ICT Sustainable Development Award” from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), for harnessing the potential of ICT for sustainable development.

She also received the “South-South Award” for her government’s achievement in alleviating poverty in Bangladesh, in September 2013.

She has also received many

other notable global and regional awards.

And she devoted all of her awards to the people of Bangladesh.

The concern, however, is about the practical status of women’s rights.

Definitely, women here have made significant strides in literacy, health, economic, and development, but girls and women are still suffering from sexual violence and other social injustices.

As Sheikh Hasina is the prime minister who initiated the “National Women Development Policy” (2011), we hope her government enforces zero tolerance for human rights violations, and violence against girls and women in the country.

The inclusion in Fortune’s list, created by Geoff Colvin, gives the people’s leader of Bangladesh a further obligation in this regard. l Mohammad Rafiqul Islam Talukdar is a columnist, political analyst, and author.

REUTERS

DT

Business 15

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

INSIDE Traders to get e-BIN from April 1 The National Board of Revenue will start issuing electronic business identification number (BIN) from April 1 as part of implementation of new value-added tax law. NBR said the e-BIN would facilitate online submission of VAT returns under the VAT and Supplementary Duty Act which will come into effect from July 1. PAGE 16

Menon: Aviation ministry keen to take back the helm of Biman An overhauling is needed for Biman...

The government or the ministry has no control over it. But finally, as a minister, all liabilities go to me

awaiting Finance Ministry nod.

I hope, we would get a response from the ministry soon.

Basel further reins in banks’ use of capital models The world’s largest banks will have less discretion over how much capital to hold against loans turning sour, global regulators proposed last week. PAGE 17

Japanese business mood expected to worsen

Japanese manufacturers’ confidence probably deteriorated to the lowest in nearly three years and it is expected to worsen in the coming quarter due to exporters concern over a strong yen and worries over the global economy, a Reuters poll showed. PAGE 18

Capital market snapshot: Past Week DSE Broad Index

4,446.3

-0.9% ▼

Index

1,080.4

-0.5% ▼

30 Index

1,693.3

-1.6% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk

15,103.9

-6.5% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

439.0

-5.1% ▼

All Share Index 13,700.9

-0.7% ▼

30 Index

12,332.7

-1.3% ▼

Selected Index

8,323.1

-0.7% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk

1,088.6 -12.8% ▼

CSE

Turnover in Mn Vol

39.2

-7.2% ▼

What’s the latest update of Bangabandhu International Airport?

Rashed Khan Menon

n Ishtiaq Husain The Ministry of Tourism is one of the lowest budgetary sectors contributing 2% to the total GDP of the country. Certainly, we want to raise it to 4% despite all odds, said Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon.

The seasoned politician also focused on a major overhaul of Bangladesh Biman, and preferred reinstating previous Biman management in which the ministry will have 100% control.

The Workers Party president and former DUCSU vice-president, Menon, shares his thoughts exclusively with the Dhaka Tribune.

Dhaka Tribune (DT): What is your plan for the tourism year 2016?

Menon: Already two months have passed, but we are yet to get any budgetary allocation. I raised the issue at the Parliament. We will have to complete our tasks based on the private sectors’ initiatives as the government is yet to allocate the fund as planned.

Could you please focus on what you would like to achieve in the tourism year?

The government has a series of programmes at hand to promote the tourism industry and attract foreign visitors. The programmes will not be hampered in the wake of lackluster budget. I am trying hard to execute all our plans in keeping with our budget.

There was an apprehension

DHAKA TRIBUNE

that tourists will not come to Bangladesh following the killing of an Italian citizen in Dhaka last year, but scenario is totally different. Some 10,000 additional tourists visited Bangladesh 2015 compared to that in previous year.

More and more tourists are coming to our country. I hope the flow of foreign tourists will keep rising.

Please, talk about Sabrang exclusive tourist zone in Cox’s Bazar?

We have already signed an agreement with Bangladesh Export Progressing Zone (BEPZA) while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared Sabrang an ETZ. Now we are trying to attract foreign investment in this special project. Meanwhile, many foreign companies have shown their interest.

As of now Sabrang is still a virgin land and yet to come under road connectivity. It takes two and a half hours to reach the vicinity. However, work for marine drive is underway while four lanes will be developed and railroad tracks laid to get there. The development works of Cox’s Bazar airport is also going on in full swing aiming for Sabrang.

Have you any plan to resume Dhaka-New York-Dhaka flight soon?

We have a slot (aircraft landing approval) and an office in New York which is not closed yet as the government wants to resume flight in this route. Before resumption of such flight, Bangladesh will have

to elevate into Category 1. As per the instruction of FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) in USA, it is an urgent need to have the aviation law and CAAB organogram passed by the Parliament.

Recently, the cabinet approved the aviation law. Immediately, the government would take an initiative to re-audit the main hub of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and CAAB to achieve Category 1 status.

When will the ministry start building 3rd terminal and 2nd runway at the airport?

At this moment, we do not have any plan to build 2nd runway at the airport, according to the latest feasibility study report. As per the report, the 2nd runway is needed after 2018. We have to build 3rd terminal as air traffic is increasing rapidly. The ministry is ready to start work, but the proposal is

Before finalising the location, the ministry will have to conduct a feasibility study. Meanwhile, people of Char Janajat have already told the prime minister that they are ready to handover their land documents to the government to build the airport. We will have to conduct a feasibility study on it as it is an island in Padma river.

The situation of Biman Bangladesh Airlines is still not quite good. What type of measures will be taken to run the airlines smoothly?

An overhauling is needed for the state-owned Biman. The then caretaker government has enacted a company law which is not valid for Biman. According to the law, Biman is 100% state-owned organisation. The government or the ministry has no control over it. But finally, as a minister, all liabilities go to me. Whenever Biman management wants to buy a new aircraft, it requests the ministry to provide a sovereign guaranty. l

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Traders to get e-BIN from April 1 n Tribune Report The National Board of Revenue will start issuing electronic business identification number (BIN) from April 1 as part of implementation of new value-added tax law.

NBR said the e-BIN would facilitate online submission of VAT returns under the VAT and Supplementary Duty Act which will come into effect from July 1.

The law will introduce electronic system for VAT payment. All the businesses will have to register with a nine-digit BIN instead of the current 11-digit numbers.

In 2012 the law was passed in the Parliament to automate the

country’s VAT administration and boost revenue collection.

After that the revenue board in 2013 undertook VAT online project to introduce a client-friendly and a service-oriented automated system.

The new and automated system is expected to encourage voluntary compliance, ensure paperless and online VAT system and higher revenue yield.

To obtain the new e-BIN, taxpayers will have to enter the dedicated website of the VAT online process.

They will have to register with a user-identification number and password to ensure submission of VAT returns online.

Heavy sell-off weighs on stock market n Tribune Report Stock market suffered heavy sell-off mainly on heavyweights in the past week, pulling all the indices down.

Investors released their holdings in fear of further losses as the market remained downtrend for long.

During the past week, the benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, lost over 75 points or 1.7% to 4,370. With this loss, it declined around 115 points in two weeks.

The blue-chip comprising index DS30 slipped 37 points or over 2% to 1,655.

The DSE Shariah Index, DSES, dropped over 20 points or 2% to 1,059.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, closed at 8,182, tumbling 141 points or 1.7%.

All the large-cap sectors lost their solid ground during the week except low-cap engineering sector that moved up 1.8%.

The large-cap and mid-cap stocks took a beating, offsetting gains in small-cap stocks in the week.

The large-cap stocks like BATBC, Titas Gas, Square Pharma, United Power, Lafarge Surma Cement, ICB and GP lost 4.9%, 4%, 3.7%, 3.5%, 3.3%, 2.4% and 1% respectively.

Food and allied, the week’s biggest loser, slumped over

3%, extending its losing streak for the second straight session due to sharp fall in share prices of the sector heavyweight BATBC due to dividend adjustment.

Power sector also witnessed steep fall of 2.8%, followed by pharmaceuticals, non-banking financial institutions and telecommunications and banks, which declined by 1.7%, 1.4%, 1% and 0.6% respectively. Other losing sectors were food and allied and cement.

The DSE daily average turnover in the week was Tk368 crore, down 2.7% over the previous week’s average of Tk378 crore.

Pharmaceuticals, textiles and engineering sectors dominated the trading throughout the week, as they together made up more than 51% of the total trade.

LankaBangla Securities said decline of prices of largecap shares was one of the reasons of decline in the broad index.

Sheltech Brokerage said the market faced a heavy selloff in large-cap stocks which drove the market down and DSEX mostly remained negative amid lack of confidence among the investors.

Share prices of majority issues closed negative during the week as out of 326 issues traded, 221 closed lower, 80 higher and 25 remained unchanged on the DSE. l

The VAT online project is currently working on the website which will have provisions of all VAT-related procedure including VAT registration, submission of returns, online payment etc.

Currently, only around 32,000 businessmen out of 840,000 BIN holders submit their VAT returns regularly, according to the NBR. The online system is expected to substantially increase the revenue collection as the system will help the NBR identify VAT evasions in a more efficient way.

The revised VAT contribution to gross domestic product is expected to increase to 4.7% from 3.7% at the end of first year of the reforms. l

Brexit campaign backed by 250 business leaders n Reuters, London The campaign for Britain to leave the EU has been backed by 250 business leaders including the former chief executive of HSBC, the Vote Leave group said on Saturday, hoping to counter the view that UK businesses back staying in the bloc.

The camps arguing for and against Britain staying in the European Union ahead of a referendum on British membership on June 23 have both made the economic impact of a ‘Brexit’ a cornerstone of their campaigns.

Last month, the bosses at more than a third of Britain’s biggest companies including oil giants Shell and BP, and its largest telecoms group BT said leaving the EU would put jobs and investment at risk.

On Saturday, Vote Leave, one

of the groups supporting a British exit, unveiled its own list of backers including Michael Geoghegan, former Chief Executive of HSBC Group, John Caudwell, founder of Phones4U and Tim Martin, the boss of pubs group JD Wetherspoon.

“With our growing list of business supporters, Vote Leave will make that case that whilst the EU might be good for big multinationals, for smaller businesses it acts as a job destruction regulatory machine,” Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of Vote Leave, said.

That group will be headed by John Longworth who quit as director general of the British Chambers of Commerce lobbying group after he spoke out in favor of leaving the EU, accusing PM David Cameron of trying to scare voters into backing his case to stay in the bloc. l

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Basel further reins in banks’ use of capital models n Reuters, London The world’s largest banks will have less discretion over how much capital to hold against loans turning sour, global regulators proposed last week.

Regulators want to cut complexity and inconsistency in capital requirements among big banks that use their own models, rather than methods set out by regulators, to add up credit risks.

Models typically point to lower capital requirements, a big advantage as credit risk accounts for 70% of a bank’s capital buffer. Regulators suspect big banks of using models to make capital ratios appear stronger than they are.

The proposals from the Basel Committee of banking supervisors, whose rules are applied in all the world’s main financial centers, mark a further erosion in the use of models.

Banks fear a “Basel IV” or step change in capital requirements compared with Basel III, which was introduced after the 2007-09 financial crisis.

Basel said the proposed rules wouldn’t significantly increase overall capital requirements, and stopped short of the complete ban on models some Basel members had wanted since the crisis.

“The measures announced today largely retain the use of internal models for the determination of credit risk weighted assets, but with important safeguards that will promote sound levels of capital

Appartment buildings are backdropped by scyscrapers of banks at Canary Wharf in London and comparability across banks,” the committee’s chairman Stefan Ingves said.

Basel is proposing to scrap models for loans to other banks and financial institutions, for equities holdings, and for loans to companies with total assets of more than 50 billion euros, a threshold that would capture about 200 companies.

Banks would also not be allowed to use models for credit valuation adjustment (CVA) risks from counterparties to their derivatives trades.

Instead, banks would have to use the more conservative standard approach set by regulators.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association said it was disappointed with the decision to eliminate the use of models for CVA risks, saying the standard approach has not been thoroughly tested to create the right incentives.

Basel also proposed a floor, meaning banks using models cannot hold less than 60-90 percent of the capital the standard approach recommends for credit risk.

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REUTERS

The committee aims to finalize the rules by the end of this year but has not set a timeframe for when they would be introduced.

It offered further incentives to rein back model use.

Basel said it was reviewing a rule that requires banks using models to apply them to all calculations where models are allowed.

This rule was aimed at stopping banks from using a mix of models or standard approach, depending on which came up with the lower capital requirement. l

AIIB: More than 30 countries await membership

n Reuters, Boao

More than 30 countries are waiting to join the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), adding to its 57 founding members, its president said on Friday.

The AIIB, first proposed by President Xi Jinping less than two years ago, has become one of China’s biggest foreign policy successes.

Despite the opposition of Washington, almost many major US allies - Australia, Britain, German, Italy, the Philippines and South Korea - have joined.

China says it will be an international institution and not used to boost its influence.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Boao Forum on southern China’s Hainan island, AIIB president Jin Liqun said the bank was working on accepting the new members.

“Over the past two years, we have achieved the purpose of convincing all the members – now we have 57, with more than 30 countries on the waiting list eager to join,” Jin said, responding to a question about whether member countries were convinced the bank was not being used by China to draw countries into its orbit.

The Chinese territory of Hong Kong may also be allowed to become a member, he said.

“Hong Kong is an international financial center,” Jin said. “We believe Hong Kong has a role to play in facilitating the financing of the AIIB. “For instance, the AIIB can issue bonds in Hong Kong and can also have currency swaps with Hong Kong.” l

Foreigners scoop up Asian equities as growth concerns ease n Reuters Foreign investors are starting to make a beeline for Asia, buying up regional stocks at their fastest clip in almost a year thanks to attractive valuations, signs of stability in Chinese markets and fresh liquidity support from the world’s top central banks.

What is significant for Asian businesses in particular is that much of the money is coming from longer-term focused funds, which - barring significant deterioration in fundamentals - would have a greater tolerance for brief spells of volatility.

Having dumped Asian stocks for most of the past year, overseas investors purchased $2.65bn of regional equities this month, the most since the whole of May 2015, according to EPFR data.

“Compared to the gloom earlier in the year, investors are now less

fearful,” said Paul O’Connor, co-head of multi-asset strategy at Henderson Global Investors in London, which has recently reduced its underweight position in emerging market equities, including Asia.

Vigilance is of course the name of the game as the global economy faces a myriad of challenges including a slowdown in China, flagging growth in Europe, risks of Britain exiting the European Union and the ever present threat of terrorism - Brussels this week became the latest target of Islamic State attacks.

All the same, investors starved of growth opportunities are making the most of some signs of stability in China’s economy and its markets. Aggressive steps by policymakers to stabilise their economies, including the Bank of Japan’s historic shift to negative rates in late January, stepped-up stimulus by the European Central Bank and more

support measures in China have also helped calm nerves.

Most offshore funds are zeroing in on attractive valuations on offer in Asian equities as corporate earnings growth estimates in the region pull up ahead of even a brightening United States after lagging last year.

“We thought markets over reacted in January and have reduced our cash levels in March,” said Sean Taylor, Asia-Pacific chief investment officer at Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management in Hong Kong, which has upgraded emerging market equities to neutral, with a preference for Asia.

Scary january January was indeed a scary month for investors as a sharp decline in the Chinese yuan - coming after a summer crash in mainland equities and a surprise currency devaluation in August - stoked fears of policy missteps and a hard landing for the world’s

second-biggest economy.

On top of this, a collapse in oil prices and stronger dollar led to concerns the Federal Reserve may have miscalculated when it raised rates in the United States - a big market for many of Asia’s trade-reliant economies - for the first time in almost a decade.

The MSCI Emerging Asia index fell 13% from the start of the year to its low point on Jan 21. In the nine months to the end of February, foreign selling of Asian equities totalled $51bn.

Fast-forward to the present, and the palpable bounce in sentiment is evident in the MSCI Emerging Asia index, which is up 14% since the mid-January trough.

Global investors held 5.4% of portfolios in cash in January and 5.6% in February, a 15-year high, according to fund manager surveys by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. That’s down to 5.1% in March.

Volatility watch

Markets have also taken note of last week’s change of stance by the Fed, which in a nod to growth concerns halved its estimate for interest rate hikes to two quarter-point increases this year.

These positive signals appear to have supported commodities. Oil prices, which dragged stocks down when they slumped to record lows earlier this year, are up more than 50% from those troughs.

To be sure, the risk factors around global growth haven’t suddenly evaporated, so investor resilience will be tested by fickle markets.

Volatility “could be the norm through this year, as the market grapples with the interplay between poor fundamentals and extremely low valuations,” said Kannan Venkataramani, senior portfolio manager for Asian emerging markets equity at NN Investment Partners in Singapore. l

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Vietnam’s GDP growth slows in first quarter n AFP, Hanoi

Businessmen walk in Tokyo’s business district, Japan

REUTERS

Japanese business mood expected to worsen n Reuters, Tokyo

Japanese manufacturers’ confidence probably deteriorated to the lowest in nearly three years and it is expected to worsen in the coming quarter due to exporters concern over a strong yen and worries over the global economy, a Reuters poll showed.

Big firms are likely slash their capital spending plan for the new fiscal year beginning in April, according to the survey.

Firms tend to be cautious in their spending plans at this time of year, but concern over the outlook for profits makes it unlikely that they will become more ambitious in their capital expenditure budgets later in the year, analysts said.

Date due for release next week includes industrial production, which likely declined for the first time in two months in February due to weak demand in Japan and overseas.

The Bank of Japan’s quarterly tankan business sentiment survey was expected to show the headline index for big manufacturers’ sentiment slipped by 4 points to plus 8 points from plus 12 points three months ago, the poll of 23 economists showed.

It would be the lowest reading since the June 2013 survey when big manufacturers’ mood stood at plus 4 points.

“Worsening sentiment among big manufacturers likely became apparent due to the economic slowdown overseas and the yen’s sharp appreciation,” Tsuyoshi Ueno, senior economist at NLI Research Institute said in the survey.

“Domestic consumer spending in the doldrums is depressing the mood among non-manufacturers, but strong demand from foreign visitors and the benefits of the BOJ’s negative interest rate on the real estate industry will probably moderate

that pressure to some degree.” The sentiment index for big non-manufacturers was expected to slip to plus 24 from plus 25 three months ago, worsening for the first time since the September 2014 survey.

The poll also showed the sentiment of both manufacturers’ and non-manufacturers will worsen in the coming three months due to uncertainty over the market outlook and the state of emerging economies, as well as sluggish wage recovery.

Big firms were forecast to slash their capital spending plan by 0.7% for the coming fiscal year, according to the poll.

The BOJ will released the tankan survey at 8:50 am on April 1 (2350 GMT March 31).

Earlier this week, the Reuters Tankan monthly survey, which shows a close correlation with the BOJ’s quarterly tankan survey, showed Japanese manufacturers’

confidence waned in March and was unlikely to change much over the next three months.

The poll also found industrial production, which will be released on Wednesday, likely fell 6% in February from the previous month after it increased 3.7% in January.

Retail sales were seen rising 1.7% in February from a year earlier after a revised 0.2% slip in January.

Household spending was likely down 1.5% in February, falling for a sixth straight month.

The jobs-applicants ratio probably improved further at 1.29 in February, its highest since December 1991, and the jobless rate was probably steady at 3.2% last month, the poll showed.

The internal affairs ministry will release household spending and jobs related data at 8:30 am on Tuesday and the trade ministry will announce retail sales at 8:50 am on the same day. l

Vietnam’s economy slowed in the first quarter of 2016, official figures showed Friday, hampered by low oil prices and an ongoing drought that has hit the agricultural sector hard.

The dip followed last year’s record GDP growth at 6.68%, a boom fuelled by a flurry of international interest in the communist country.

The first three months of 2016 saw GDP growth drop to 5.46%, down from 6.12% for the same period last year, according to data released by the General Statistics Office.

“Cold spells in the north, drought... had a major impact on domestic production, especially agriculture, industry and exports during the period,” GSO director Nguyen Bich Lam told the official VietnamPlus news website.

Lower global oil prices have also weighed on growth, affecting the country’s income from crude production, independent economist Le Dang Doanh told AFP. “The price of the global crude oil, a lengthy holiday for Lunar New Year (in February) and a slide in the price of agricultural products” have all affected growth, he said.

Crude oil exports have accounted for around one tenth of state income in the past, according to Bloomberg News.

Earlier this week, the government said it was aiming for growth of between 6.5 and seven percent by the end of 2016.

“If there are no further efforts on economic reforms, the government may not be able to meet the set target,” economist Doanh said to AFP. Communist Vietnam is part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the world’s largest free trade deal between 12 nations, including the US and Japan, which is grinding slowly towards ratification. l

Myanmar stock exchange begins trade, FMI closes limit up n Reuters, Yangon

Myanmar’s stock exchange began trading on Friday with a single listed company some three months after it opened in the country’s commercial capital Yangon.

The Southeast Asian nation’s economy was devastated by nearly 50 years of economic mismanagement under the military government, which ended direct rule of the country in 2011.

The outgoing semi-civilian government that replaced the junta ushered in numerous economic reforms. One of them was to launch

the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) in December.

“For 50 years there has not been a stock exchange, today is a historic day,” said local tycoon Serge Pun, just before he rang the bell on trading at 11 am (0430 GMT) inside a renovated colonial building that once housed the country’s central bank.

His firm First Myanmar Investment (FMI), one of Myanmar’s largest companies, made the inaugural listing.

The exchange was a “farewell gesture” from President Thein Sein, said Deputy Finance Minister

Maung Maung Thein. The outgoing government had emphasised the stock market as a way to catch up to more developed countries.

The president will hand over to the government of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) in a ceremony on March 30, after the NLD won a landslide electoral victory in November.

The FMI listing involved no initial public offering, nor did it raise fresh capital. FMI has transferred shares to list on the YSX that it had already sold to the public through direct subscription.

FMI shares rose to 31,000 kyat

($25.70) at the open on Friday, the upper limit for trading for the day after they were listed at 26,000 kyat.

A total volume of 112,845 shares changed hands, for a trading value of 3.498bn kyat ($2.90mn). FMI’s market cap was 727,880mn kyat ($603.55mn).

FMI’s sister company, Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd, is listed in Singapore.

Maung Maung Thein has said previously that Thilawa SEZ Holdings, which controls a new industrial zone jointly run by the government and a Japanese consortium,

would be the next company to join the exchange, but it is unclear as to when this will happen.

Myanma Economic Bank owns 51% of the exchange, presenting another potential problem if foreign investors should be allowed to invest in the future. For now, only Myanmar citizens can trade.

The bank is among several lenders on the US Department of Treasury’s list of sanctioned entities due to its ties to the former junta.

Japan’s Daiwa Securities Group Inc and Japan Exchange Group Inc, which operates the Tokyo Stock Exchange, own the rest of the YSX. l

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Connection between managerial communication and emotional intelligence Exploring its impact on organisational performance Empathy Managers with high levels of empathy are aware of the right moment to present their ideas which will result in employees and managers being more open to listening and understanding their arguments carefully.

n Rounak Ahmed Communication is one of the preeminent facts of today’s world upon which human relationships survive. Though technology has grown in importance, so has the importance of human relationships and this can be seen in the managerial communication aspect. Previously, before the 1950s, the relationship between the manager and employee was essentially a bureaucratic and a superior-subordinate one. However, as organisations became more decentralised and multinational since the 1980s, the emphasis shifted more towards viewing workers as “human capital owners and investors,’’ and there was more stress on motivating workers in order to bring out their true potential.

Consequently, in today’s business environment “behaviour” is almost treated synonymously with communication. Paradoxically, though internet communication has increased and organisations have become more globally integrated through technology, increased competition has also pushed organisations to treat employees better at the workplace.

This is because companies have come to realise that a peoplecentered strategy is an important source of competitive advantage because, unlike, technology, costs, or new product development, it is difficult to imitate. Effective communication has the ability to positively influence employees, make them feel more determined and content about their jobs, and

to better utilise their passions, skills and knowledge at work, and thus bring better organisation performance.

Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive accurately, appraise, and express emotion; the ability to access and/or generate feelings when they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth.’’

Weisinger (1998) considered the following dimensions of emotional intelligence: • Self-awareness = self-awareness reflects an accurate perception of how one projects oneself. It includes self-monitoring, selfunderstanding, knowledge of true feeling at the moment, and knowing one’s internal states.

• Self-management = selfmanagement is defined as the ability to shake off negative emotions and get back on a constructive track for problem solving.

• Self-motivation = individuals with a high degree of self-motivation tend to stay intrinsically motivated and do not rely on outside forces for reinforcement.

• Empathy = empathy is defined as the ability to understand and be sensitive to the feelings of others.

• Social skills = social skills are defined as the ability to read social situations, interacting with others and forming networks with ease.

Companies have come to realise that a people-centered strategy is an important source of competitive advantage

Emotional intelligence or EQ plays an important role in interpersonal relationships. Individuals with higher emotional intelligence succeed in communicating their goals, ideas, and intentions in a more interesting and assertive manner. They are also successful at teamwork and have more satisfying social relationships. A good manager with high emotional intelligence is trusted and listened to, and is able to keep people motivated at work and offer meaning to their tasks.

Thus, emotional intelligence is the ability to control and manage one’s emotions as well as understand those of others.

Managerial Communication and Emotional Intelligence go hand in hand to shape interpersonal relations at the workplace and drive organizational performance Self-awareness Middle managers with a high level of self-awareness have the ability to motivate and encourage employees through the skillful use of the manifestations of

emotions, which can increase the persuasiveness of their communication and contribute to employees’ trust in their vision of organisational development and ways of achieving organisational goals.

Managing emotions Staying cool helps managers to have improved quality of work results and being guided towards better problem solving.

This also helps to better their communications skills with employees and helping them to be more productive in understanding work tasks and in performing better.

Self-motivation Managers whose words are backed by action develop a high level of employees’ trust, and their ability to be motivated even in cases when the work is uninteresting, which helps such managers to serve as role models for employees so that they in turn become motivated to complete their work tasks.

Social skills Managers who have the ability to establish a consensus with others and help others feel good are desirable partners for communication because they do not insist on their arguments being accepted. Communication with such managers is much less stressful for employees since the awareness that their manager will give their arguments due consideration helps them to communicate freely and establishes trust in the appropriateness and benefits of presenting arguments thus improving the effectiveness of communication and increasing the quality of the media.

Thus, managerial communication and the components of emotional intelligence are intricately connected to each other, and positively correlates with organizational performance.

Studies have shown that ‘’employees consider emotional comfort as one of the major elements of motivation and love to be managed by people-centric leadership.’’ Factors, such as, trust and respect, which are grown out of emotional intelligence surface significant predictors of employee satisfaction and productive job performance. In other words, they value managers who have the ‘’human factor,’’ who treat employees with respect, grants recognition both financial and social, and understands their intrinsic worth. This helps to drive both individual productivity and organisational profitability.

A people-centred strategy is a competitive advantage for an organisation as it cannot be replicated: “Great leaders through effective communication create connection cultures that meet the emotional needs in the people they lead.’’ It minimises the difference between superiorsubordinate relationships and creates a comfortable environment. l

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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Tibetan priest (4) 5 Wrath (5) 8 Book of the Bible (6) 9 Sell (4) 10 Frozen treat (3) 12 Corroded (6) 13 Bacon slice (6) 15 Stanzas (6) 18 Exploded mildly (6) 20 United (3) 21 Short letter (4) 23 Pacific (6) 24 Male honey-bee (5) 25 Period of time (4)

DOWN 1 Prise (5) 2 Tool (3) 3 Religious (5) 4 Say further (3) 5 Guaranteed (7) 6 Way of walking (4) 7 Regretted (4) 11 Surrender (4) 12 Daydream (7) 14 Soon (4) 16 Glistened (5) 17 Small spot (5) 18 Body of water (4) 19 Mexican dollar (4) 21 Fresh (3) 22 Neckwear (3)

Downtime CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 13 represents H so fill H every time the figure 13 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 DE FG H I J K L MN 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

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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

INSIDE

Thousands of Yemenis protest year-long Saudi-led aggression n AFP, Sanaa

Aung San Suu Kyi in anti-Muslim spat with BBC presenter Mishal Husain Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi is globally revered for her patient, peaceful struggle for democracy, which will finally see her take power next week – but a clash revealed in a new biography of her paints a rather different picture.

PAGE 22

Football pitch suicide attack kills 30 in south of Baghdad A suicide attacker blew himself up on a football pitch as trophies were being presented after a local tournament south of Baghdad Friday, killing at least 30 people.

PAGE 23

Thousands of Yemenis rallied in the rebel-held capital on Saturday to denounce the Saudi-led coalition that launched a military aggression against the country’s insurgents a year ago.

The intervention in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi that began on March 26 last year has yet to deal a decisive blow to the Huthi rebels and their allies, who still control the capital Sanaa and key parts of the country.

“Together against the tyrannical Saudi aggression,” said a large banner in Sanaa’s Sabaeen Square where protesters gathered, as coalition warplanes flew overhead, breaking the sound barrier in an apparent show of force.

Former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is allied with the Iranbacked rebels and whose party had called for the protest, appeared briefly at the rally.

The Huthis have called for another protest later in north Sanaa.

Rebel chief Abdulmalik alHuthi addressed his supporters in a defiant televised speech on Friday.

“One year on, we look at the outcome of this aggression... It was said to be aimed at helping and serving the Yemeni people.

(But) this help came in the form of criminal killings and genocide,” he said.

“The aggression and those criminal aggressors have only caused huge damage at all levels in our country and in the rest of the region,” he added, in an apparent reference to increased tension between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The Huthis seized Sanaa in September 2014 then advanced

Yemenis wave national flags and hold placards during a protest against the Saudi-led coalition, commemorating one year of the alliance's military campaign against insurgents on Saturday AFP south, raising fears in Riyadh that the Shiite rebels from Yemen’s highlands would extend Iran’s influence in its southern neighbour.

Riyadh and its Sunni Arab allies in the coalition vowed to restore Hadi’s government to power after he was forced to flee into exile in March last year.

Loyalists backed by the coalition have since managed to drive the rebels out of five southern provinces including second city Aden, where Hadi has established a temporary capital.

But the rebels have stubbornly held on to eight of Yemen’s 22 provinces and heavy fighting has

been raging for months in five others.

The Dae’sh and Al-Qaeda have exploited the chaos, widening their footholds in the south and carrying out deadly attacks, mostly against forces loyal to Hadi.

Dae’sh claimed suicide bombings on Friday on checkpoints of loyalist forces in Aden that killed at least 22 people, including 10 civilians, according to a security official.

The UN says about 6,300 people have been killed in the conflict since the coalition launched its campaign, more than half of them civilians.

International rights groups have repeatedly criticised the coalition for civilian deaths, and urged the United States and other world powers to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh’s key ally Washington has expressed concerns over civilian life losses.

Hopes for a breakthrough in the conflict emerged on Wednesday when UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said warring sides had agreed on a ceasefire to be observed before peace talks on April 18.

Previous negotiations have failed and several ceasefires were never respected. l

that are not respected.

February 18, 2016: UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed tells the UN Security Council that “deep divisions persist that prevent me from calling for the next round of talks”.

shortages, it says.

August 20, 2015: The United Nations strongly criticises Saudi-led air strikes on the Yemen port of Hodeida, a lifeline for imports of food, medicine and fuel.

October 27, 2015: UN chief Ban condemns strikes on a hospital at Saada, operated by international charity Doctors Without Borders.

September 28, 2015: A suspected coalition air strike kills at least 131 civilians at a wedding near the Red Sea city of Mokha.

The coalition denies involvement.

TIMELINE

What a President Cruz would do The US senator from Texas promises to cut taxes, slash regulations, crack down on illegal immigration and stick up for gun owners if he wins the White House. Here is a look at how Cruz has pledged to handle major issues should he become the Republican nominee and then win the November 8 election.

PAGE 24

A year of conflict in Yemen A Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen a year ago after Iran-backed Huthi rebels overran the capital Sanaa in September 2014 and later advanced to seize most of the country.

Here are some key datesSaudi intervention March 26, 2015: Saudi Arabia begins Operation Decisive Storm with air strikes on the rebels after forging a coalition of nine countries to defend embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has taken refuge in Riyadh.

Iran opposes the intervention.

April 17, 2015: UN chief Ban Ki-moon calls for an immediate ceasefire in Yemen, two days after world powers impose an arms embargo on Yemeni rebels and demand they relinquish territory seized in a sweeping offensive.

Fruitless peace talks Mid-June 2015: Yemen’s warring factions come together for the first time in Geneva in a bid to resolve the conflict.

The talks are followed in December by a fruitless session with several ceasefires

Humanitarian emergency July 1, 2015: The United Nations declares Yemen a level-3 humanitarian emergency, the highest on its scale. At least 2.5 million people have been internally displaced with 14.5 million – more than half of the population – facing food

 PAGE 22 COLUMN 1

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Aung San Suu Kyi in anti-Muslim spat with BBC presenter Mishal Husain n Tribune Desk Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi is globally revered for her patient, peaceful struggle for democracy, which will finally see her take power next week – but a clash revealed in a new biography of her paints a rather different picture, Telegraph reports.

According to the book, Suu Kyi lost her temper in 2013 after a robust interview with BBC Today programme presenter Mishal Husain and muttered off-air: “No-one told me I was going to be interviewed by a Muslim.”

The book reveals that the 70-year-old president of Myanmar’s National League for Democracy refused to condemn anti-Islamic sentiment and massacres of Muslims in Myanmar when she was repeatedly asked to do so by Husain, the first Muslim presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme, during the interview.

Her response was: “I think there are many, many Buddhists who have also left the country for various reasons. This is a result of our sufferings under a dictatorial regime.”

The incident, which took place in 2013 after the interview about anti-Muslim violence, is the latest to raise eyebrows internationally about Suu Kyi’s attitude towards Myanmar’s Muslim minority.

Her National League for Democracy party sailed to victory in November’s 2015 election but it did so without any Muslim candidates, and her government will have no Muslim ministers.

She has also been criticised for her failure to condemn the persecution of the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority, 140,000 of whom still live in miserable conditions in internally displaced persons camps more than three years after violent clashes with the local Buddhist majority.

While Suu Kyi, affectionately known as “The Lady”, will not be Myanmar’s president after the still-powerful military refused to budge on a clause in the constitution, she is set to rule by proxy through her nomination Htin Kyaw and remains by far the most influential politician in the country.

The latest indication of her at-

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 February 2016: New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch accuses the coalition of using US-supplied cluster bombs.

March 15, 2016: Saudi-led air strikes on a market kill at least 119 people – including 106 civilians of which 24 children -- in the northern rebel-held province of Hajja.

March 18, 2016: UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein says a year of Saudi-led strikes has caused the vast majority of civilian deaths in the conflict. The World Health Organization says fighting in Yemen has killed almost 6,300 people since March 2015.

Reclaiming territory July 17, 2015: Yemen’s exiled Prime Minister Khaled Bahah announces the liberation of the southern province of Aden. It is the first success of pro-governmental forces backed by the coalition.

Loyalists backed by Saudi air strikes strengthen their hold on southern provinces until mid-August, but struggle against an influx of jihadists.

February 18, 2016: Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir says the coalition has helped the government reclaim more than three-quarters of Yemeni territory from the rebels and their allies.

March 2016: Loyalists partially break a months-long rebel siege of third city Taez in the southwest of Yemen.

Coalition losses and jihadists The Saudi-led coalition has suffered losses, notably during a rebel missile strike that killed more than 60 Gulf soldiers on September 4, 2015. The United Arab Emirates says that it has lost more than 70 soldiers since the beginning of the intervention.

March 12, 2016: For the first time, the coalition conducts air strikes on jihadists in Aden. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Dae’sh are exploiting a lack of security in the south to broaden their influence there.

The authorities blame IS for an attack on March 4 in Aden on a missionary hospice, in which 16 are killed, including four nuns, while an Indian priest is kidnapped.

New hopes for peace March 23, 2016: UN envoy Ould Cheikh Ahmed announces a ceasefire to be observed across Yemen on April 10, followed by peace talks on April 18. l

Source: AFP

Aung San Suu Kyi titude comes in a new biography called “The Lady and the Generals: Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar’s Struggle for Freedom”, written by journalist Peter Popham.

“I thought it was worth including in the book because it just feeds into the ambiguity of her position regarding this issue,” he said.

“One has great admiration for her and her life story and courage, but nobody believes anymore that

REUTERS

Mishal Husain

she is a person without any faults and without her own prejudices and limitations.”

However, he does not believe she is prejudiced against Muslims, pointing out for example that her first serious boyfriend was from Pakistan and that one of the people who persuaded her into politics in 1988 was a prominent Burmese Muslim intellectual.

In a country which remains

WIKI

largely anti-Muslim, he believes she has kept quiet on her own views in order to secure power for her party, which takes power officially next week.

For Muslims in Myanmar though, the story is more complex.

Many still support Ms Suu Kyi, but there are increasing concerns that she may not have as much sympathy for their plight as they had hoped. l

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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Football pitch suicide attack kills 30 in south of Baghdad

SOUTH ASIA

Pakistan, Iran aim to boost trade to $5bn Pakistan and Iran aim to increase annual trade volumes between the two countries to $5bn by 2021, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Saturday. Sharif spoke at a business conference with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who arrived in Islamabad on Friday for two-day talks focused on increasing Pakistan’s electricity imports from Iran, boosting trade relations and reviving plans for a gas pipeline between the two countries.

-REUTERS

n AFP, Hilla, Iraq A suicide attacker blew himself up on a football pitch as trophies were being presented after a local tournament south of Baghdad Friday, killing at least 30 people, police and medics said.

The Dae’sh claimed responsibility for the attack that wreaked carnage on the field where supporters, officials and security forces were gathered after the game.

“They were just handing the trophy to the winners, when the suicide attacker blew himself up in the crowd,” a police captain from the village, Al-Asriya, Said.

The village is near Iskandariyah, a town about 40km south of the capital. The police captain said more than 65 people were also wounded in the blast.

A medic at Iskandariyah hospital confirmed the toll and warned it could rise further.

The US State Department condemned the suicide bombing and sent condolences to the bereaved.

“The United States remains committed in its support to the Iraqi people and the unity of Iraq,” State

INDIA

Pathankot case: Pak probe team to meet witnesses Iraqi security forces gather on March 26, 2016 at the site where a suicide bomber blew himself up in a village near Iskandariyah, a town south of the capital Baghdad AFP Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said in a statement.

Strewn across the field

Pictures posted on social media of the blast site showed mangled goal posts smeared with blood.

“The suicide bomber cut through the crowd to approach the centre of the gathering and blew himself up as the mayor was presenting awards to the players,” said Ali Nashmi, an 18-year-old eyewitness.

The mayor, Ahmed Shaker, was

among the dead.

“The mayor died in hospital as a result of the serious wounds he suffered in the blast,” the medic said, adding that one of his bodyguards and at least five members of the security forces were also among those killed.

The jihadist Dae’sh group promptly released a statement on social media claiming responsibility for the attack and posted a picture of the purported bomber.

“Our knight immersed into

their crowds, until he detonated his belt, turning them into scattered parts,” the statement said, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group.

The bomber was named as Saifullah al-Ansari. He looks like a teenager on the attached picture, which shows him wearing a black scarf on his head and raising his right index finger.

Dae’sh claimed in its statement that the blast had killed more than 60 and wounded more than 100. l

Syria army edges forward in Dae’sh-held Palmyra Regime forces March 25

TURKEY

Aleppo

SYRIA

1 km

To Deir Ezzor

Palmyra

Palmyra airport airbase

Citadel

Palmyra DAMASCUS

IRAQ

Valley of the Tombs

Temple of Bel Orchards of Palmyra

JORDAN

India plans to provide the probe team from Pakistan access to all witnesses in the Pathankot terror attack case but not security personnel from National Security Guard or the BSF. On the eve of the arrival of Pakistan’s Joint Investigation Team visit, official sources said India will also press for visit of its probe team to that country for carrying out investigations there.

-TOI

CHINA

Chinese flotilla heads to Indonesia for joint drills Chinese ships left the port of Qingdao on Saturday to take part in naval exercises off the coast of Indonesia, China’s Ministry of Defence said, a week after a dispute between the two countries over contested waters in the South China Sea. The ministry said the Chinese navy flotilla will hold joint blue-water training with 16 nations, including Indonesia, US and Russia.

-REUTERS

ASIA PACIFIC

Deir Ezzor

Homs B.

Syrian troops backed by Russian ground and air forces on Saturday pushed deeper into the Dae’sh stronghold of Palmyra, as Washington considered boosting its anti-jihadist fight in neighbouring Iraq.

Dae’sh, behind a string of attacks in the West including this week’s Brussels bombings, is under growing pressure from Syrian and Iraqi military offensives to retake two key bastions in its self-proclaimed “caliphate”.

Pro-government Syrian forces battled Dae’sh fighters Saturday in northern and western neighbourhoods of Palmyra, a strategically located ancient desert city, under the cover of Russian and Syrian artillery fire.

In a boost to their campaign, regime forces captured the town of Al-Amiriyah on the northern outskirts of Palmyra.

The military source said Russia was “widely involved in the battle for Palmyra, whether in fighting directly on the ground, with their planes, or by intercepting communication” among Dae’sh fighters.

Despite a major drawdown last week, Russian warplanes have continued their bombing campaign around Palmyra, conducting more than 150 air strikes in

Syrian government forces advance on Dae’sh-held Palmyra

LE

n AFP, Palmyra, Syria

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World

50 km

To Homs Palmyra Triangle

To Damascus

Dae’sh overran the ancient city in May 2015 and has since blown up UNESCO-listed temples and looted relics The Syrian army, backed by Russian warplanes and allied militia on the ground, launched a desert offensive in early March

North Korea warns of strike on Seoul’s presidential palace North Korea warned Saturday that its military is ready to attack Seoul’s presidential palace unless South Korean President Park Geun-hye apologizes for treason and publicly executes officials responsible for what Pyongyang says are plans to attack its leadership. The warning, issued by state media in the name of a unit of the Korean People’s Army.

-AP

MIDDLE EAST

recent days.

But with pro-government forces now engaged in street battles with the jihadists, raids have markedly decreased.

First major defeat?

It said pro-government forces were also fighting Dae’sh in Palmyra’s airport, to the city’s east.

If Syrian forces take the city, “it will be the first major defeat of Dae’sh by the Syrian army,” the

military source said.

The northern city of Raqa is the de facto capital of Dae’sh selfstyled “caliphate” across swathes of territory in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

The Pentagon on Friday said it will propose boosting the US military presence in Iraq to help government forces there battling Dae’sh.

“We have a series of recommendations that we will discuss

with the president in the coming weeks to further enable our support for the Iraqi security forces,” said General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The recommendations will include ways that the US can “enable” Iraqi forces in their efforts to recapture Mosul, the largest urban centre in Dae’sh territory - an operation that’s expected to be long and difficult. l

Red nose protests for jailed Palestinian clown Circus performers around the world are mobilising in support of a Palestinian clown, Mohammed Abu Sakha, held by Israel without trial for more than three months on unspecified grounds. They are showing solidarity with red noses and fluorescent wigs in Europe and with a colourful caravan outside an Israeli prison.

-REUTERS

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USA

Obama: Muslims plays into hands of jihadists Barack Obama on Saturday urged Americans not to stigmatise Muslims following this week’s deadly attacks in Brussels, saying that doing so is counterproductive in the fight against radical Islam. In his weekly media address, Obama said Muslim-Americans are our most important partners in the nation’s fight against those who would wage violent jihad.

-AFP

THE AMERICAS

Mexicans to burn Trump effigy to celebrate Easter Residents of Mexico City reportedly plan to burn an effigy of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump over the Easter weekend as part of their traditional holy week celebrations. Trump has courted controversy throughout the 2016 campaign by repeatedly making anti-Mexican and anti-Muslim statements in addition to comments that many have labeled as racist and sexist.

-THE GUARDIAN

UK

Brexit referendum forces EU summit delay The British referendum on whether to leave the European Union has prompted Brussels officials to plan to postpone an EU summit scheduled on the same day, several EU sources said. The regular June meeting of the European Council would convene on Monday and Tuesday, June 27-28, a four-day delay, although that was yet to be confirmed by all the participants. European Council officials had no official comment.

-REUTERS

EUROPE

No terror link in murder at Belgian nuclear centre The murder this week of a security guard at a Belgian nuclear research centre is a purely criminal affair unrelated to any terrorist threat, prosecutors said Saturday. The Charleroi prosecutor’s office in charge of the case formally denied any connection between the murder of Didier Prospero, who was shot dead on Thursday at his home in Froidchapelle and a planned terror attack.

-AFP

AFRICA

17 killed in Ivory Coast clashes Seventeen people have died in clashes between arable farmers and nomadic herdsmen in Ivory Coast’s northeastern town of Bouna, the government announced Friday warning that the toll could rise. A further 39 people were injured in the fighting, including 5 members of the security forces who intervened, it added. Around 900 defence and security personnel were deployed in the town to restore order.

-AFP

FACTBOX

What a President Cruz would do n REUTERS

US presidential candidate Ted Cruz says he is the most consistent conservative left in the Republican race.

The US senator from Texas promises to cut taxes, slash regulations, crack down on illegal immigration and stick up for gun owners if he wins the White House. Here is a look at how Cruz has pledged to handle major issues should he become the Republican nominee and then win the November 8 election.

The policies are drawn from a review of his website, stump speeches, debates, legislative proposals and televised interviews.

Immigration

Cruz would boost border security by completing 1,130km of priority fencing along the US-Mexico border, tripling the number of Border Patrol agents and adding aircraft for border surveillance.

He would rescind President Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration, which allow certain undocumented immigrants to stay in the country without fear of deportation.

Cruz would ramp up deportations and would expand US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention space in the United States.

He would withhold federal funding from “sanctuary cities” that do not prosecute undocumented immigrants.

The candidate would end birthright citizenship, in which children born in the United States are automatically citizens.

Cruz introduced legislation placing a moratorium on accepting Syrian refugees and letting states opt out of accepting refugees. He supports prioritizing Syrian Christians for refugee status.

Trade

Cruz opposes the Export-Import Bank, which finances US exports.

He opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, saying in a March debate that the United States is “getting killed” in international trade.

He voted against giving Obama fast-track authority to secure the TPP, which Cruz said became enmeshed in backroom political deals.

Economy and taxes

Republican presidential candidate Sen Ted Cruz Cruz would abolish the Internal Revenue Service. He would establish a flat personal income tax of 10%, keeping deductions for charitable contributions and mortgage interest payments and the Child Tax Credit.

He would eliminate the corporate income tax and payroll taxes, replacing them with a flat business tax of 16% that critics say resembles a value-added tax.

Cruz would repeal the healthcare plan commonly known as Obamacare, and would eliminate

AFP

other regulations.

He would audit the Federal Reserve and move to a rules-based monetary policy.

Foreign policy

Cruz would repeal the Iran nuclear deal, and would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

He has said he would “carpet bomb” the Dae’sh militant group.

Cruz has said he would oppose efforts to oust foreign dictators, which he says create power vacuums and enable terrorists. l

INSIGHT

Brussels attacks: what we know so far n AFP, Brussels Belgian police are hunting two suspects in the Brussels bombings as investigators establish more and more links between the bloody events in Europe’s symbolic capital and November’s carnage in Paris.

Belgian police staged fresh raids late Thursday and Friday, detaining nine people in all, including three linked to the Paris attacks in which 130 people died.

This is what we know so far about Tuesday’s suicide attacks at Brussels airport and a metro station that left 31 people dead and 300 wounded and were claimed by the Islamic State group.

Airport bombings

The first suicide bomber struck at 06:58 GMT in the departure hall at Zaventem airport, followed nine seconds later by a second bomber, federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said.

Both men were captured moments before on security cameras, pushing trolleys with dark bags through the busy airport.

A man wearing a dark hat and white jacket walking next to them

is believed to be a third assailant whose bomb failed to go off and who fled the scene.

Metro attack

A suicide bomber struck in Maalbeek metro station, just a few 100 metres from the main European Union offices and many diplomatic missions.

The explosion ripped apart a train, sending a cloud of smoke and dust onto the street above where dazed and bloodied survivors got first aid.

Casualty toll

The health ministry said Wednesday 31 people died in the attacks, with 300 wounded, a toll that could rise further with 61 injured in critical condition.

Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said around 40 nationalities were among the dead and wounded but the process of identifying the victims is slow.

Suspects identified

Following fingerprint analysis, the prosecutor Wednesday named Belgian national Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 29, as one of the airport bombers.

Federal prosecutors identified the second airport bomber as Moroccan-born Najim Laachraoui, said to be a top IS bombmaker who had fought for the group in Syria and whose DNA was found on explosives used in Paris.

Bakraoui’s younger brother Khalid El Bakraoui was named as the metro bomber.

Prosecutors said Khalid rented properties in the southern city of Charleroi from where suspected Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud set off to lead the assault in the French capital.

There, investigators found 15 kilos of explosives, an unexploded bomb, an Islamic State flag and bomb-making materials.

They also found a computer containing a “will” by Ibrahim El Bakraoui who said he was under pressure to act as the police closed in and he did not want to end up in a jail cell.

Manhunt

Besides the third man at the airport who fled, police are also seeking a second suspect over the metro attack after sources said a man with a large bag was seen on CCTV footage at Maalbeek station.

The bombings took place just four days after the arrest in Brussels of key Paris attacks suspect, Belgian-born Frenchman Salah Abdeslam, after four months on the run.

Belgium’s federal prosecutor said Friday Abdeslam has “invoked his right to silence” and has not spoken to investigators since a brief interview the day after his arrest.

Paris link

The jihadist networks behind the Paris and Brussels attacks are “in the process of being destroyed”, French President Francois Hollande said Friday after police foiled what they described as an imminent attack.

On Friday, the Belgian authorities made three fresh arrests in Brussels, after picking up six people overnight Thursday.

The Belgian federal prosecutor meanwhile revealed Friday that Laachraoui’s DNA was found on a suicide vest and a piece of cloth at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, and on a bomb at the Stade de France stadium, strengthening suspicions that he was the network’s bombmaker. l

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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

SCORECARD

INSIDE

‘Mr Finisher’ continues to be overlooked Bangladesh team management’s decision to include Nasir Hossain in the playing XI for just one game in the ongoing 2016 World Twenty20 has raised quite a few eyebrows, leaving many to wonder about his future in the national dressing room. PAGE 26

Luis Suarez scored on his return from a worldwide ban for biting as Uruguay fought back from 2-0 down to grab a 2-2 draw with Brazil in a pulsating World Cup qualifying battle. Suarez struck in the 48th minute to complete a remarkable fightback. PAGE 29

145

BANGLADESH R Tamim Iqbal run out (Munro) 3 Mithun b McClenaghan 11 Sabbir c Santner b McCullum 12 Shakib c McCullum b Santner 2 Soumya Sarkar st Ronchi b Sodhi 6 Mahmudullah b Sodhi 5 Mushfiqur Rahim b Elliott 0 Shuvagata Hom not out 16 Mashrafe Mortaza lbw b Elliott 3 Mustafizur c Ronchi b Elliott 6 Al-Amin Hossain b Sodhi 0 Extras (lb 5, w 1) 6 Total (all out, 15.4 overs)

B 8 17 18 6 8 8 2 17 5 3 2

70

Fall of wickets 1-4, 2-29, 3-31, 4-38, 5-43, 6-44, 7-48, 8-59, 9-65, 10-70

New Zealand's Kane Williamson bats during a match against Bangladesh at the ICC World Twenty20 2016 cricket tournament in Kolkata, India yesterday AP

Suarez strikes as Uruguay hold Brazil

Total (for 8 wickets, 20 overs)

Bowling Mashrafe Mortaza 3-0-21-1, Shuvagata Hom 3-0-16-0, Shakib Al Hasan 4-0-33-0, Mustafizur Rahman 4-0-22-5, Al-Amin Hossain 4-0-27-2, Mahmudullah 2-0-21-0

India’s batting mainstay Virat Kohli suggested Australia will make the grave mistake of adding “fuel to fire” if they needle him in the win-or-bust World T20 contest but asserted he is good enough to excel without provocations. The 27-year old has featured in several on-field spats with them. PAGE 27

Barcelona fans, players and officials paid tribute to the memory of former player and manager Johan Cruyff in front of a memorial space set up inside the club’s Camp Nou stadium. He passed away at the age of 68. PAGE 28

R B 7 11 42 32 35 33 28 24 0 3 9 7 9 5 3 3 0 1 6 1 6

Fall of wickets 1-25, 2-57, 3-99 ,4-100, 5-122,6-127, 7-139, 8-139

'I can perform without provocations'

Barcelona pays tribute to Cruyff

NEW ZEALAND H. Nicholls b Mustafizur K. Williamson b Mustafizur C. Munro b Hosain R. Taylor c Mithun b Hossain C. Anderson b Mortaza G. Elliott c Hom b Mustafizur L. Ronchi not out M. Santner b Mustafizur N. McCullum b Mustafizur M. McClenaghan not out Extras (b 4, lb 1, w 1)

Hathurusingha disappointed, but still counting positives Uddin Khan n Minhaz from Kolkata Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha yesterday expressed disappointment following the Tigers’ 75-run defeat against New Zealand which brought an end to their journey in the ongoing 2016 World Twenty20.

Hathurusingha though believes there were some improvements made in the flagship event and said the Tigers have come quite a way in the shortest format of the game, especially in the last year or so.

The men in red and green might have given a poor account of themselves with the willow against the Kiwis but before that, the Bangladesh bowlers put in a commendable display with pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman the bright highlight with his five-wicket haul.

“We are obviously disappoint-

ed for losing all the matches (in the second round). But we were close to winning two matches. We have proved our improvement in Twenty20 cricket. We were never a good team in this format but this time we fought well being in a tough group. But there is still a long way to go,” Hathurusingha informed the media at Eden Gardens.

We were never a good team in this format but this time we fought well “[Yesterday’s] game should sum up the tournament for us. We were in the field [yesterday] but without any spirit. But there were some good moments too, like the bowlers did very well. So this match has portrayed the whole World Cup campaign for us. We were brilliant at times, we had put

up a fight in few parts and sometimes we were bad,” the former Sri Lanka cricketer explained.

He continued, “I think before this game we had batted as per the merit of the condition. We didn’t bat bad in our previous matches but [yesterday] we had the wrong approach. We should have had scored some more runs when we went to bat against Australia. So overall, I am happy with the approach of our batsmen minus the game [yesterday].

“The wicket we played on [yesterday] was never one for 140 runs. It should have been 120-130.

The ball was getting low after the first four or five overs. It also had two different paces. We are not taking away the credit from New Zealand, their bowlers were brilliant and had adjusted well to the condition. But at the end of day I will say again that our batting approach was wrong.” l

Bowling McCullum 2-0-6-1, Anderson 2-0-7-0, Santner 3-0-16-1, McClenaghan 1-0-3-1, Elliott 4-0-12-3, Sodhi 3.4-0-21-3 Result: New Zealand won by 75 runs MoM: KS Williamson (New Zealand)

WHAT HE SAID KANE WILLIAMSON New Zealand captain

ON 75-RUN WIN It was pretty tough, it spun and kept low, batting in the first six (overs) was nice but it got a lot tougher. I think it was a good batting effort all around. Guys came in and played good cameos. It’s very tough, going into each game it’s important to read the wicket and opposition as best you can and pick the best team accordingly.

ON MUSTAFIZUR RAHMAN Mustafizur is brilliant, especially on these wickets, his very good slower ball is responsive on such wickets and he bowled very well [yesterday]. We have done a lot of travel but the boys have been great and have embraced the schedule and the pitches.

We knew [yesterday] was going to be a scrap and it was. The bowling was clinical again.l

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England in semis, knock out SL, SA n AFP, New Delhi

SCORECARD

England qualified for the World Twenty20 semi-finals and knocked the holders Sri Lanka and South Africa out yesterday after a nailbiting 10-run victory in their do-or-die showdown in New Delhi.

Jos Buttler smashed 66 in a 37ball knock as England posted a commanding total of 171 for four that ultimately proved too much for Sri Lanka despite a brave, undefeated innings of 73 by injured skipper Angelo Mathews.

Wicketkeeper Buttler smashed 66, including eight fours and two sixes in a 37-ball knock, providing some much-needed firepower at the tail-end of the England innings who are seeking to secure their place in next week’s semi-finals.

He and skipper Eoin Morgan (22) put on 74 in a brutal fourth-wicket partnership as Sri Lanka’s bowlers struggled to contain the onslaught at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. l

M

W

L

3

3

0

6

England (Q)

4

3

1

6

South Africa

3

1

2

2

Sri Lanka

3

1

2

2

Afghanistan

3

0

3

0

Bangladesh team management’s decision to include Nasir Hossain in the playing XI for just one game in the ongoing 2016 World Twenty20 has raised quite a few eyebrows.

In the flagship event, the Tigers have played seven matches and Nasir only got the opportunity to feature in the game against the Netherlands in Dharamsala on March 9.

Yesterday, the men in red and green faced New Zealand in what was a game of mere formality and bearing in mind that this was their last game of the tournament, the majority had expected to see Nasir

171

SRI LANKA INNINGS Chandimal c Buttler b Jordan Dilshan c Hales b Willey Siriwardana c Morgan b Willey Thirimanne run out (Stokes) Mathews not out Kapugedera c Stokes b Plunkett Perera c Willey b Jordan Shanaka c Root b Jordan Herath b Jordan Vandersay not out Extras (lb 2, w 7)

R B 1 3 2 2 7 7 3 5 73 54 30 27 20 11 15 9 1 2 0 0 9

Total (8 wickets; 20 overs)

161

FoW: 1-3 (Dilshan), 2-4 (Chandimal), 3-15 (Siriwardana), 4-15 (Thirimanne), 5-95 (Kapugedera), 6-137 (Perera), 7-155 (Shanaka), 8-157 (Herath) Bowling Willey 4-0-26-2, Jordan 4-0-28-4, Plunkett 4-0-23-1, Stokes 4-0-19-0, Rashid 2-0-31-0, Ali 2-0-32-0

England's Jos Buttler hoicks one towards the mid-wicket region during their ICC World Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka at the Feroz Shah Kotla cricket stadium in New Delhi, India yesterday AP

‘Mr Finisher’ continues to be overlooked Uddin Khan n Minhaz from Kolkata

Total (4 wickets; 20 overs)

B 39 4 24 37 16 1

Bowling Mathews 4-0-25-0, Herath 4-1-27-1, Vandersay 4-0-26-2, Siriwardana 1-0-9-0, Chameera 4-0-36-0, Perera 2-0-27-0, Shanaka 1-0-15-0

Pts

West Indies (Q)

R 42 0 25 66 22 6 10

FoW: 1-4 (Hales), 2-65 (Root), 3-88 (Roy), 4-162 (Morgan)

SUPER 10 GROUP 1 Teams

ENGLAND INNINGS Roy lbw b Vandersay Hales lbw b Herath Root c Thirimanne b Vandersay Buttler not out Morgan run out (Perera) Stokes not out Extras (b 1, lb 5, w 3, nb 1)

in the starting XI but the expectations were not met.

The right-handed batsman, who occasionally bowls off-breaks, was kept out of the Tigers’ home T20I series against Zimbabwe last January. Back then, the think tank had said they wanted Nasir to rest so that they could try out different combinations ahead of marquee events like the Asia Cup T20 and World T20. The all-rounder did return to the side in the Asia Cup only to play one game – the grand finale against India.

As a result, Nasir’s repeated omissions from the side is being discussed widely now in the Bangladesh cricketing fraternity. Many are wondering whether Nasir, who

not so long ago earned the moniker “Mr Finisher”, is walking the same dreaded path as national discard Anamul Haque.

Following the suspensions of fast bowler Taskin Ahmed and spinner Arafat Sunny, the team roped in all-rounder Shuvagata Hom and spinner Saqlain Sajib as their replacements. The duo came into the side on the eve of their Super 10 game against Australia last Monday. Just when it was being thought that Nasir will make it into the XI, it was Shuvagata instead who got the nod.

Shuvagata retained his place in the side for the crucial match against India. The right-hander was on strike when the Tigers needed

two runs off the final delivery. A single would have enabled Bangladesh to at least level the scores but Shuvagata failed to connect a juicy short ball dished out by seamer Hardik Pandya.

Many believes if Nasir was in the middle, the story might have been different. There are many occasions in the past when Nasir found himself on strike at a crucial moment of the game. And more often than not, the 24-year either rescued his side or inspired a comeback victory when the chips were down.

But of course, only the Tigers team management can best describe the reasons behind Nasir’s repeated exclusions.l

England won by 10 runs MoM: Jos Buttler (England)

Bangladesh fined for slow overrate against India n AP, Kolkata Bangladesh have been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during their World Twenty20 Super 10 group match which they lost to hosts India by a mere one run at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

Chris Broad of the Emirates Elite Panel of International Cricket Council Match Referees imposed the fine after Mashrafe bin Mortaza’s team was ruled to be one over short of its target when time allowances were taken into consideration during the match last Wednesday.l

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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Versatile Kohli says can perform even without provocations

QUICK BYTES BKSP clinch three-onthree basketball BKSP emerged as the champions in the Independence Day Under-18 three-on-three basketball tournament beating the Josephites 18-14 at Dhanmondi Basketball Gymnasium yesterday. A total of 12 teams participated in the competition. Tutul Kumar Biswas, Shahnur Rahman, Ali Hossain and Mehedi Hasan turned out for BKSP. Fiba’s (Federation of International Basketball Association) head of sports (Asia), Mageshwaran Saba, distributed the prizes among the winners as the chief guest.

n Reuters, Mohali

–TRIBUNE REPORT

‘I knew nothing’ before Cruyff: Guardiola Pep Guardiola said Friday that Johan Cruyff had taught him everything about football and often shocked his players with his half-time pep talks. The Bayern Munich boss, who was part of the Barcelona "Dream Team" that Cruyff coached to the club’s first European Cup triumph in 1992, said: “I knew nothing about football before knowing Cruyff.”

Other top European coaches also hailed Cruyff, who died on Thursday from lung cancer aged 68. Germany’s World Cup winning manager Joachim Loew said Cruyff “revolutionised football.” “He protected me in my early days as a footballer. He gave me a footballing lesson in how to conduct myself, to keep my distance from the media,” Guardiola, 45, told Catalan radio station Rac1.

–AFP

Djokovic continues winning run in Miami Novak Djokovic barely got out of first gear but had more than enough in the tank to beat Briton Kyle Edmund 6-3 6-3 in the second round of the Miami Open on Friday.

The top seed, who is trying to join Andre Agassi as a six-times Miami winner, improved his record since the start of 2015 to 105-7, picking up 14 titles along the way. Just five days after an emphatic victory at Indian Wells, the Serb adjusted well to the steamy conditions in south Florida. He was broken once, in the first set, but broke 21-yearold Edmund four times. Earlier in the day, Juan Martin del Potro had two surprises - the first when his scheduled opponent Roger Federer withdrew with illness, and the second when he fell 6-4 6-4 to lucky loser and fellow Argentine Horacio Zeballos. World number 112 Zeballos did not face a break point en route to his first tour-level win of the year.

–REUTERS

India's Virat Kohli bats in the nets during a training session at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali yesterday AFP

India’s batting mainstay Virat Kohli suggested Australia will make the grave mistake of adding “fuel to fire” if they needle him in today’s win-or-bust World Twenty20 contest but asserted he is good enough to excel without provocations.

A self-admitted admirer, as well as practitioner, of Australia’s passionate, aggressive brand of cricket, it was almost inevitable that the 27-year-old has featured in several on-field spats with them.

With a place in the semi-finals at stake, sparks may fly again in today’s mouth-watering contest between inaugural T20 champions India and reigning 50-over world champions Australia.

“I’ve always said that I sort of thrive on those situations,” Kohli told reporters on Friday. “But you just can’t go in with that sort of mindset only. You need to be versatile...”

“If I get into a debate with anyone, if I have to take a certain stance, that doesn’t necessarily put me off my game. If anything, that motivates me more,” said India’s

Test captain.

“It doesn’t mean if I don’t get into a debate with someone, I won’t be motivated to win the game for my team.

“It’s better to plan your innings without that situation and if that situation comes in, you have to take in as more fuel to the fire.”

Kohli gave an animated sendoff to Steve Smith in an Adelaide T20 earlier this year while the Indian also featured in an on-field spat with James Faulkner, telling the Australian all-rounder “I’ve smashed you enough in my life”.

He, however, has enough respect for rival captain Smith, who anchors Australia’s top order teeming otherwise with power-hitters.

“Obviously he’s been a very important player for Australia,” Kohli said. “The way their batting unit works, someone like Steve Smith gives them solidity in the middle order which is great for any team.

“If we can have a person who can play the least number of dot balls and still keep the scoreboard ticking while the others are having a go at a few bowler, it always helps as a batting unit.”l

Australia take on India in do-or-die clash n AFP, Mohali Australia will look to dump hosts India out of the World Twenty20 tournament today in a do-or-die clash between cricket’s two biggest teams.

A narrow win by India over Bangladesh, followed by Australia’s 21-run triumph against Pakistan, has effectively reduced today’s group encounter into a knockout, with the winner making it to the semi-finals.

“We’ve got a massive game com-

ing up against India, whoever wins that goes through,” said Australian paceman James Faulkner after Friday’s win against Pakistan.

“It was on our shoulders to turn the ship around and start winning.

“We have won two in a row, now we need to win another three to win the World Cup,” said the bowler, who enjoyed a five-wicket haul against Pakistan, the first Australian to do so in T20 cricket.

Australia are the reigning 50over world champions and the

number one Test side, but have failed to win the World T20 in five previous attempts.

If they do manage to win the trophy this time around, it would be a fitting tribute to all-rounder Shane Watson, who is set to quit international cricket at the end of the tournament.

India were also handed a thrashing by the Black Caps, who are sitting on top of Group 2 and are clearly one of the better-looking sides in the tournament.

The home side, which won

the inaugural World T20 edition in 2007, bounced back to defeat arch-rivals Pakistan before pulling off a nerve-wracking one-run win against Bangladesh.

The Indians will be praying for a full game today because a washout would throw the hosts out of the tournament, since Australia enjoy a better run rate.

India’s star batsman Virat Kohli admitted the players would have to raise their game against the Aussies and not let themselves be overwhelmed.l

Afghans bid to sign off in style n AFP, Nagpur Afghanistan will hope to catch the West Indies with a hangover today as they look to sign off from cricket’s World Twenty20 with a much-deserved consolation victory.

West Indies’ captain Darren Sammy said his team would have a party after qualifying for the semi-finals with their third straight win of the tournament on Friday - a nervy last over victory against South Africa.

Afghanistan have won new ad-

mirers in India with their aggressive and carefree brand of cricket that has caused some anxious mo-

TODAY'S MATCHES 3:30PM, Group 1, Nagpur

Afghanistan v West Indies 8:00PM, Group 2, Mohali

India v Australia

Maasranga TV, Gazi TV, Star Sports 1

ments for their opponents.

Afghanistan have yet to be beat one of cricket’s big guns but leg-spinner Rashid Khan said they would become more competitive if they get more game time against top opposition.

Afghanistan’s progress in the last few years has been one of cricket’s feel-good stories but after the highs of competing in last year’s 50 over World Cup and the World T20, they have no fixtures against major teams on the horizon once they leave India.l

Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi catches a ball in training yesterday

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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Barcelona pays tribute to Johan Cruyff n AFP, Barcelona Barcelona fans, players and officials paid tribute yesterday to the memory of former player and manager Johan Cruyff in front of a memorial space set up inside the club’s Camp Nou stadium.

The eulogies for the Dutch legend, who died from lung cancer on Thursday at the age of 68, were led after a minute’s silence by club president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Standing in front of a giant photo of a smiling Cruyff, Bartomeu said that it was a sad day not only for everyone who loved Barcelona football club, but also for everyone who loved football.

“In agreement with the Cruyff family we set up this memorial to allow everyone to express their feelings and say a final farewell to this legend,” he said.

Hundreds of people of different nationalities, many in tears, filed past the memorial, which was bedecked with flags and bouquets of red roses, and signed a condolences book.

Johan Cruyff “came to Barcelona when Barcelona was winning nothing ,” said one of them, Ignace Mosengo, a 45-year-old from the Congo who was on holiday in Barcelona with his wife.

“He gave them a new style of game, with intricate passing, to keep possession of the ball. What we admire in the current Barcelona team all harks back to him,” he said.

The memorial will remain in place until Tuesday evening with Barcelona football club observing a period of mourning until April 2.

Fans as well as tourists had already placed tributes at the entrance to the Camp Nou stadium on Friday, including roses and lollipops.

Cruyff often patrolled the touchline sucking on a lollipop which became his prop after he stopped smoking cigarettes.

On Friday night, the Nether-

lands’ international against France in Amsterdam was halted in the 14th minute as a mark of respect.

A huge portrait banner showing Cruyff and his familiar Dutch orange number 14 shirt was hauled across one end of the ArenA stadium in his home city as fans and players applauded.

A seat covered with flowers and a number 14 shirt was left empty in the VIP stand at a game which saw the Dutch slip to a 3-2 defeat against the hosts of the Euro 2016 tournament this summer.

It was the first time that an international has been halted for such a gesture.

“It was special,” said France coach Didier Deschamps. “A great

man like Johan Cruyff deserved such a tribute and the stadium responded to him.”

Leading football figures have meanwhile continued to pay tribute to the the Dutch star and highlight the importance of Cruyff ’s impact on the game.

“I knew nothing about football before knowing Cruyff,” said Pepe Guardiola, the Bayern Munich coach who played under Cruyff at Barcelona and later became its most successful coach.

“He helped us to understand football ... and he encouraged you to trust your instinct, your nose.

To make decisions,” Guardiola told Catalan radio station Rac1.

“He revolutionised football

and, in particular, he embodied everything about Barcelona’s playing philosophy,” said Joachim Loew, coach of the German team who won the 2014 World Cup. A one-time heavy smoker who gave up after double heart by-pass surgery in 1991, Cruyff revealed in October last year that he had lung cancer. The Cruyff family said it was arranging “a private farewell to Johan.” But they did not say when it would be held.

The family also said it would soon announce a public memorial for the player who won three European Cups as a player with Ajax Amsterdam and European player of the year titles in 1971 with Ajax and 1973 and 1974 with Barcelona.l

FC Barcelona's president Josep Maria Bartomeu (L) and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez walk past a picture of soccer great Johan Cruyff during a memorial at Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain yesterday REUTERS

02:Who won the first World T20 in 2007?

Ans: India Zimbabwe Afghanistan 03:In which year did Bangladesh host the World T20?

Ans: 2014 2004 2015

The Netherlands’ international against France was halted in the 14th minute on Friday to lead global tributes to Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff, one day after his death.

A huge portrait banner showing Cruyff ’s back and his familiar Dutch orange number 14 shirt was hauled across one end of the ArenA stadium in his home city of Amsterdam.

Fans and players applauded the footballer and coach who died on Thursday from cancer at the age of 68.

A seat covered with flowers and a number 14 shirt was left empty in the VIP stand at a game which saw the Dutch slip to a 3-2 defeat against the hosts of the Euro 2016 tournament this summer.

It was the first time that an international has been halted for such a gesture.

“It was special,” said France coach Didier Deschamps. “A great man like Johan Cruyff deserved such a tribute and the stadium responded to him.”

A Dutch newspaper for whom Cruyff wrote a column said the footballer’s funeral was held Friday in Barcelona.

But while his family said they had been “deeply” moved by the many accolades, they did not confirm the report.

Fans flocked to the Cruyff statue in Amsterdam to leave flowers, portraits and footballs bearing his name and messages.

Dutch and French fans put their rivalries aside to pay their respects to Cruyff in bars around the stadium.

In his childhood home area in the Amsterdam working class Betondorp (Concrete Town) neighbourhood, fans laid hundreds of flowers and other tributes.l

Terms & Conditions:

Prizes: (Second Round)

The lucky winners among all the participants who have answered correctly will be selected in an official lottery and will have their picture published in the newspaper. v Answers must be sent in only the coupon (photocopy will not be accepted). v Quiz coupon should be submitted in the Dhaka Tribune newspaper address. v No one affiliated with Dhaka Tribune and Walton will be able to participate. v Coupon submission deadline April 4, 2016. v A person can send as many coupons as he/she wants. v Walton-Dhaka Tribune T20 World Cup should be written on top of the envelope.

1st prize 2nd prize 3rd prize 4th prize 5th prize

v

01: Who scored the first T20I century for Bangladesh?

Ans: Tamim Mashrafe Taskin

Match halted for tribute to ‘Dutch Master’ Cruyff n AFP, Amsterdam

Name...................................................................................................

Father's Name.....................................................................................

Address...............................................................................................

Phone/Cell...........................................................Age.........................

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: Walton LED Television 40” 01pcs : Walton Refrigerator (11.5 CFT) 01pcs : Walton LED Television 24” 01pcs : Walton Blender 03pcs : Walton Rice Cooker 05pcs

29

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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Guatemala shock USA in qualifier n AFP, Los Angeles Guatemala dealt a lackluster United States a devastating 2-0 defeat in a 2018 World Cup qualifier on Friday in Guatemala City.

With goals in the first 15 minutes from Rafael Morales and Carlos Ruiz and an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Paulo Motta, Guatemala earned their first ever World Cup qualifying victory over the USA and leapfrogged over Jurgen Klinsmann’s men into second place in Group C in the fourth round of qualifying in North and Central America. l

RESULTS 2-2

El Salvador

Honduras

Punyed 47, Bonilla 88

Elis 19, Lozano 59

0-3

Canada

Mexico

Hernandez 32, Lozano 40, Corona 72

0-0

Haiti

Panama

1-1

Jamaica

Costa Rica

Watson 16

Acosta 68

2-3

Grenadines

T and T

Samuel 45-P, Shandel Samuel 77

Jones 58, Garcia 71, 82

2-0

Guatemala

United States

Morales 7, Ruiz 15

DAY’S WATCH CRICKET STAR SPORTS 2 3:30 PM ICC World T20 2016 Afghanistan v West Indies 7:30 PM India v Australia

STAR SPORTS 2 3:30 PM ICC Women’s World T20 2016 West Indies v India

FOOTBALL TEN ACTION 12:00 PM A-League 2015/16 Adelaide Utd v Central C Mariners

BASKETBALL SONY SIX 5:30 AM NBA season 2015/16 New York v Cleveland 8:00 AM Phoenix v Boston

TENNIS SONY SIX HD 9:00 PM ATP 1000 Masters 2016 Miami Open Day 5

Uruguay forward Luis Suarez (R) shoots to score as Brazil defender David Luiz looks on during their Russia 2018 Fifa World Cup South American Qualifiers' match, in Recife, northeastern Brazil, on Friday AFP

Suarez strikes as Uruguay hold Brazil n AFP, Recife Luis Suarez scored on his return from a worldwide ban for biting as Uruguay fought back from 2-0 down to grab a 2-2 draw with Brazil in a pulsating World Cup qualifying battle here Friday.

Barcelona star Suarez - playing his first international since infamously chomping on Italy’s Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup - struck in the 48th minute to complete a remarkable Uruguayan fightback.

Uruguay had looked to be sliding to a heavy defeat after Brazil went 2-0 up inside the first half an

hour thanks to goals from Bayern Munich striker Douglas Costa and Renato Augusto.

But Edinson Cavani pulled a

RESULT Brazil Douglas Costa 1, Augusto 26

2-2

Uruguay Cavani 31, Suarez 48

goal back for Uruguay to allow Suarez - installed as captain by coach Oscar Tabarez - his moment of glory at the Arena Pernambuco.

The draw left Uruguay in second place in the South American stand-

ings, three points behind leaders Ecuador with 10 points from five games. Brazil moved up to third, level on eight points with Argentina and Paraguay but ahead on goal difference.

Brazil took the lead in the opening minute with a well worked goal created by Chelsea winger Willian.

However Brazil had to wait until the 26th minute to grab their second, which arrived after more sorcery from Neymar.

The Brazilian captain split Uruguay’s defence with a wonderful pass that Alvaro Pereira could only deflect into the path of Renato Au-

France defeat Dutch in friendly n AFP, Paris

France claimed an exciting 3-2 friendly win over the Netherlands on a night of emotion in Amsterdam on Friday, the day after Dutch legend Johan Cruyff died at the age of 68.

The match at the Amsterdam ArenA was preceded by a minute’s silence in memory of the 31 people killed and 300 injured in the Brussels attacks on Tuesday.

The game was then paused in the 14th minute for 60 seconds of

applause, as the players and supporters remembered Cruyff, the man who pioneered ‘Total Football’ and inspired the Netherlands to the 1974 World Cup final.

Before that though, Euro 2016 hosts France had taken control on their way to a win that sends a real message to their rivals for the continental title.

Antoine Griezmann sparked the match into life early on as he gave France the lead with a precise left-footed free-kick, and Olivier

Giroud lashed home from close range to make it two in the 13th minute.

Home manager Danny Blind responded by making two changes at half-time, and his men dragged themselves back into the match through Luuk de Jong.

Substitute Ibrahim Afellay drove the Netherlands level in the 86th minute, but there was still time for Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi to snatch the victory for Les Bleus.l

gusto. Augusto then pulled off a magical dummy to wrong-foot the advancing Fernando Muslera before firing high into the net for 2-0.

Yet Uruguay came roaring back to score with their first attack of the game and what turned out to be their only attack of the half. But in the opening minutes of the second half Uruguay drew level with another goal against the run of play.

Pereira released Suarez, and the striker drilled a low shot that the advancing Brazil goalkeeper Alisson couldn’t grasp. The goal galvanised Uruguay who showed far greater resilience thereafter.l

RESULTS Luxembourg

0-3

Bosnia

Chanot 73-og, Djuric 75, Pjanic 90+2

Armenia

0-0

Netherlands

2-3

De Jong 47, Afellay 86

Belarus France Griezmann 6, Giroud 13, Matuidi 88

1-0

Switzerland

Slovakia

0-0

Latvia

Portugal

0-1

Ireland Clark 2

Bulgaria Marcelinho 19

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Showtime

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

Batman v Superman: a bitter aftertaste n Mahmood Hossain Hold your horses, folks. Yes, critics have given a 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, yet 73% from the general audience. But let’s not forget that film is subjective.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a missed oppurtunity that had the potential to be a one of the best superhero films of all time. And if you do rely on opinions from sources like Rotten Tomatoes, you can see that the verdict has never been so vastly different. When’s the last time you saw a blockbuster film that rated on opposite ends, dividing fans from critics? Zootopia rated 99% from critics and 95% from the audience for goodness sake.

So where did Zack Snyder’s recent project go wrong?

Before raving like a lunatic or throwing tantrums about how they ruined certain characters for you, take a step back and try to understand the survival story that is the trainwreck of a film called Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. First thing is first, stop comparing other DC Comic/WB films to The Dark Knight. It’s a losing battle, and these two films are completely different. The only thing connecting these comicbook adapted films are well, they have superheroes in them. The genres, however, differ. Unfortunately, BvS is a complete mess – a one of a kind film that we are required to watch.

For the first time in cinematic history, two of the biggest and most popular superheroes of all-time do battle. Well, kind of.

Without giving out spoilers, there

wasn’t much of the versus battle between the two. On the plus side, when the battle does happen, it’s one heck of a show. And that’s where Snyder shines. This man is

Partha featured in ‘Mora Ekti Phul Ke’ n Showtime Desk

Partha Barua

Popular musician Partha Barua sang a popular duet with veteran singer Apel Mahmud on the occasion of Independence Day. The duo sang “Mora ekti phul ke bachabo bole juddho kori,” an iconic number signifying the 1971 Liberation War. The song was originally sung by Apel Mahmud and written by Gobinda Halder.

Country’s leading mobile phone operator, Teletalk has produced a video of the song under the title “Partha Barua featuring Apel Mahmud” which was published on YouTube recently.

Partha said: “I have added new dimensions to the tunes of this timeless track. I have lent my voice to the song alongside Apel bhai and we both performed in the video. I feel proud to be part of this. Thanks to Teletalk for such an initiative.”

This historic song of Liberation

War was listed as the 7th among top 20 songs based on listeners’ choice in “Shorbokaler Shorbosreshthho Bangla Gaan,” produced by the BBC. l

a visionary, his skills in aesthetics are magnificent. His storytelling, on the other hand, is left to be desired. Snyder has always struggled with this, no surprise there. Either the script wasn’t good enough (and it’s apparent onscreen) or Snyder simply couldn’t put the pieces together. Let’s say both for argument’s sake because the editing is horrendous.

The only real performance that most people were looking forward to was Ben Affleck’s take on Bruce Wayne/Batman. While it isn’t an unanmous decicions, most people actually loved his performance as The Batman. Comicbook loyalist will tell you this is a pretty good adaptation to Frank Miller’s Batman back in the mid 80s. The new take on Batman is absolutely brutal and raw, and possibly the darkest in the character’s history on screen. Stating these facts, these elements set up the theme for the entire film. It’s pretty dark.

In fact, it’s highly recommended that you do not bring your children to watch with you.

Even though this film looks like a total mess, it does leave glimpses of hope. The battle sequences are what you would expect; it’s pure entertainment. The film is actually still entertaining with so many nagging issues. Although the film is 20 minutes too long (of its two hours and 30 minutes runtime), the set-up for the upcoming Justice League film was actually well done.

We can’t say the same with the involvement of Wonder Woman.

Gal Gadot isn’t the greatest actress (nowhere near it), which is a cause for serious concern once her standalone film comes out. Her presence in the film neither hurt nor helped the film. Whatever screentime she managed to get was good enough, but not horrible.

And poor Henry Cavill, once again, is given room to deliver lines that make him look more alien than human. Then again, that could possibly be the objective.

He is from Krypton after all, but who knew Superman could be as tolerable as Bella Swan? Cringe. It’s a shame such a good actor is put to near waste in a costume where little is left for the imagination.

Let’s not forget the short intros or cameos by the other four major superheros joining the Justice League. Let’s just say it could have been handled better.

This film might leave many of us perplexed, not understanding completely why we are drawn to watch it again for a second or third time. If too much is thrown into this movie, with bad storytelling and drab dialogue, how are we still desiring to watch this epic clash of the two biggest superheroes of all time? Well, the answer is within the question itself. It’s Batman.

It’s Superman. Why wouldn’t you want to see a spetacular show between two titans of the game? If a fan really had to rate honestly, he or she could give it a 7 out of 10.l

Who do you share your horoscope with The impulsive nature of Aries often tends to be a pitfall on their way to success. This week is just right for you to put your energy into action. To spare you the worries of ending up getting in trouble, know that your intellectual abilities and focus will lead your will towards the right way. With a clear mind which is full of ideas, you will also come up with proper solutions to any given situation. This is the beginning of something new.

Famous Arians:

March 27: Renuka Shahane (Actress) March 28: Shakib Khan (Actor) March 28: Akshaye Khanna (Actor) March 30: Celine Dion (Singer) April 15: Raghu Ram and Rajiv Laxman April 16: Akon (Rapper)

Apel Mahmud

Rolling Stones’ landmark gig in Cuba after decades of ban

n Showtime Desk Veteran British rock band The Rolling Stones rocked the Cuban capital Havana on Friday, March 25, where most foreign rock music following a lift on the decadeslong ban on foreign rock music in

the country.

“Finally, the times are changing,” lead singer Mick Jagger said in Spanish to a vast, euphoric crowd.

With the free concert, The Rolling Stones completed their world tour. Fans travelled from

many parts of Cuba and other countries to witness what can be described as a historic moment for a generation of Cubans.

The Stones formed in London in 1962, three years after Fidel Castro’s bearded rebels toppled a pro-American government.

Castro’s revolutionary government came to see counterculture bands like the Stones and the Beatles as dangerously subversive and prohibited their music on TV and radio.

The concert came days after a historic visit by US President Barack Obama in Cuba.

The band rocked and seduced hundreds of thousands in Havana through 18 songs in a two-hour gig, including Sympathy for the Devil and Satisfaction.

“We know that years back it was hard to hear our music in Cuba, but here we are playing,” Jagger said to a roar from the crowd.

The crowd flowed across the Ciudad Deportiva, a huge sports complex in Cuba with a capacity of 450,000.

The human tide then spilled further into the streets, some even standing thick on neighbouring rooftops.

When fans raised their mobile phones and cameras to get snapshots of Jagger strutting across the giant stage, the flashes looked like a new galaxy. l Source: Reuters, AFP

Continuing the Bollywood legacy n

Showtime Desk

Being born to a Bollywood star comes with a lot of privileges and also, expectations from fans and family. Some of these star-born children have followed the footsteps of their parents to the showbiz industry. With the support and encouragement of their superstar parents, the starlings are all set to hold onto their legacy in Bollywood. Five of our picks are:

soon. No official statement has been made about the news of Karan’s debut since it was delayed keeping the release of Ghayal Once Again in mind.

Harshvardhan Kapoor

Jhanvi Kapoor debut as an assistant director in Rajkumar Hirani’s PK. Currently studying at the Los Angeles film school, Junaid takes keen interest in his work.

Karan Deol

Sunny Deol’s son, Karan Deol (aka Rocky), has assisted Sangeeth Sivan in directing Yamla Pagla Deewana 2. Besides his interest in football, the grandson of Dharmendra, has joined Rahul Rawail’s acting school and is training to enter the silver screen

New York, will take the Amazon India Fashion Week A-W’16 ramp for the Maybelline New York presents Namrata Joshipura show.

Athiya Shetty Sridevi and Boney Kapoor’s daughter Jhanvi Kapoor, 18, has already been spotted by the media with her mother at various Bollywood events. While rumours of Jhanvi making her debut in a film still await confirmation, the teen is currently taking acting training from The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in Los Angeles.

Junaid Khan

Junaid Khan is Aamir Khan’s eldest son with his first wife Reena Dutta. Quite a perfectionist like his father, Junaid made his Bollywood

Athiya Shetty, Sunil Shetty’s daughter, made her Bollywood debut through Subhash Ghai’s Hero. The 23-year-old was studying filmmaking and liberal arts in New York Film Academy (NYFA). Athiya Shetty, who is the brand ambassador of Maybelline

Anil Kapoor’s youngest son Harshvardhan Kapoor will make his Bollywood debut in acting in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s film Mirzya. He has also worked as an assistant director in Anurag Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet.

Following the footsteps of his father, Harshvardhan will play the lead role in the sequel of Mr India, produced under the banner of his uncle Boney Kapoor.

The fresh faces were never completely invisible under the Bollywood limelight. Hopefully these little stars will shine bright and live up to the expectations of their fans and respective families. l

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SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

WHAT TO WATCH

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! AXN 8:30pm The classic returns, serving up new tales of the bizarre, the outlandish and the seemingly impossible.

In addition to reports from around the globe, each episode will feature amazing stunts, recorded live without the use of camera tricks or electronic fakery.

Host: Dean Cain Masterchef Canada TLC 8:30pm Canada’s top 50 home cooks are on a quest to become the first Canadian Master Chef ever. The competition is for $100,000 and the prestigious Master Chef Canada trophy. With friends and family by their sides, the contestants battle it out in the Master Chef kitchen, as the judges take them on an exciting culinary journey to create the extraordinary.

Judges: Claudio Aprile, Michael Bonacini, Alvin Leung Taken 2 Star Movies 7:36pm Liam Neeson returns as Bryan Mills, the retired CIA agent who stopped at nothing to save his abducted daughter in Taken. When he is targeted by a vengeance-seeking crime lord, Bryan must employ his particular set of skills to protect his family against an army who’s out to kill them.

Cast: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser, Jon Gries Jackie Chan’s First Strike HBO 7:49pm Inspector Chan Ka Kui is out to catch an international spy ring. He takes part in a sting operation that rounds up most of them.

But Jackson Tsui gets away.

Chan gets his orders to catch the spy and he starts in Australia where Tsui’s sister Annie lives. Watch the film to see Chan juggling to keep alive while doing his best to catch Tsui.

Cast: Jackie Chan, Jackson Liu, Annie Wu, Bill Tung

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Back Page

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2016

TRADERS TO GET E-BIN FROM APRIL 1 PAGE 16

HATHURUSINGHA DISAPPOINTED PAGE 25

PARTHA FEATURED IN ‘MORA EKTI PHUL KE’ PAGE 30 Dejected Tigers exit meekly against Kiwis n Minhaz Uddin Khan from Kolkata

Protesters raise candles in front of National Parliament building on the first hour of Independence day yesterday, demanding justice for Sohagi Jahan Tonu SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Detectives quiz Tonu’s family Jamil Khan in n Mohammad Dhaka and Mohiuddin Molla from Comilla The Detective Branch of police has been given the charge of investigation in Comilla Victoria College student Sohagi Jahan Tonu murder case as the local police could not unearth the mystery in six days.

“The case has been transferred to the DB police to speed up the investigation. We have got some clues and are now analysing those to solve the mystery behind the murder. We hope to arrest the real culprits as soon as possible,” Md Shah Abid Hossain, superintendent of police of Comilla, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Apart from the DB police, elite force Rapid Action Battalion is also investigating the case that has created much hype across the country since the murder took place inside Comilla’s Maynamati Cantonment on March 20.

In a statement issued on Friday night, the army authorities said that they were providing full support to the police in investigating the murder case.

The statement issued by Inter-service Public Relations (ISPR) says that the unconscious body of Tonu was

found in the bordering area of the cantonment by her father and he then informed the military police.

Tonu was taken to the Combined Military Hospital there and the duty-doctor declared her dead, it reads.

“Efforts have been taken to dig out the reason behind the murder.”

The body of theatre activist Tonu, a second year history student of Victoria College, was found only 100 yards from their house inside the cantonment around 10pm on March 20. She was reportedly raped before being murdered while returning home from tuition.

Her father, Yaar Hossain, an office assistant of the Cantonment Board, filed a case with the Kotwali police the next day against some unidentified people.

Students and people from all walks of life including cultural activists have been demonstrating in Comilla, Dhaka and elsewhere demanding that the culprits be arrested immediately and given exemplary punishment. They are also campaigning on Facebook and blogs.

Family members interrogated Meanwhile, members of RAB and DB police separately interrogated the victim’s family members regarding the murder.

A team of RAB 11 took away

Tonu’s parents, two brothers and paternal cousin around midnight on Friday for interrogation. They were later brought back to the house around 4:30am, sources said.

Dhaka Tribune tried to contact with the family members but they were unavailable.

Alal Hossain, an uncle of Tonu, said that the RAB team had interrogated Tonu’s family members and also his daughter, who used to live in the same room with Tonu.

RAB 11 chief Khorshed Alam said that the victim’s family members were brought to the RAB office for some information. He refused to disclose any further details about it.

However, Benazir Ahmed, director general of the elite force, said that they launched a shadow investigation after the murder had taken place.

“We hope to give you some good news regarding the case shortly,” he said in response to a query at the RAB Headquarters in the capital.

After RAB, DB police members also picked up Tonu’s family members around 2pm yesterday and brought them back home after interrogating them for an hour at the Kotwali police station. AKM Manzur Alam, OC of district DB police

who is investigating the case, confirmed it to the Dhaka Tribune.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday said: “We have solved many cases and hope that the mystery behind Tonu murder will also be solved. But it may take some time.”

Protests continue

Gonojagoron Moncho is set to start a road march from Shahbagh towards Comilla at 8am to protest against the murder. The activists would stage roadside rallies to drum up public support, a statement said.

The platform formed in 2013 to demand death penalty for war criminals has been demonstrating at Shahbagh for the last couple of days demanding punishment of the killers.

Meanwhile, thousands of students staged a demonstration in the town for the third consecutive day. The protesters earlier blockaded Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to demand the immediate arrest of the killers.

Moreover, a human chain was formed in front of the district Town Hall by Bangladesh Kobi Forum.

Protest programmes were also observed at different educational institutions across the country yesterday. l

Bangladesh’s journey in the ongoing 2016 World Twenty20 ended in disappointing fashion as they were skittled out for their lowest score in T20 internationals.

The Tigers failed to meet their ambition of finishing the tournament with a consolation win after being bundled out for just 70 runs in pursuit of New Zealand’s fighting total of 145/8 at Eden Gardens. The 75-run loss meant pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman’s heroic five-for went in vain.

Yesterday, it was the Kiwi spinners who assessed the conditions perfectly at the iconic venue and made all the difference.

New Zealand were spot on with their team combination having decided to include three spinners in the starting XI – Mitchell Santner, Nathan McCullum and Ish Sodhi.

They had already secured their place in the semi-finals and yesterday’s win saw them conclude their Super 10 campaign at the summit of Group 2 with maximum points.

However, the wicket at Eden Gardens also troubled the Kiwi batsmen early on after they opted to take first guard. The wicket was tailor-made for the spinners with the deliveries gripping and taking time before eventually reaching the bat.

And Mustafizur Rahman exploited the conditions perfectly, bagging a five-wicket haul to become the first Bangladesh bowler to take a five-for in the World T20.

When Bangladesh came in to begin their chase, the bowling-friendly wicket had hardly changed and the batting debacle started in the very second over when in-form opening batsman Tamim Iqbal got run out for just three runs.

The Tigers needed more than seven runs per over for the majority of their innings and for that to happen, they needed to outsmart the Kiwi spinners who were making the best use of what was on offer. The opponent’s miserly and economical bowling though frustrated the Bangladesh batsmen from thereon in as only three batsmen – Mohammad Mithun (11), Sabbir Rahman (12) and Shuvagata Hom (16*) - reached double digits.

The chase, which was briefly interrupted for 13 minutes due to floodlight failure, finally came to a sorry end in the 16th over. l

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