05 May, 2016

SECOND EDITION

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

BB heist: Interpol team begins probe in Dhaka Rahman Rabbi and n Arifur Jebun Nesa Alo A team from Interpol has joined investigators in Dhaka to probe into the digital heist of Bangladesh Bank's funds at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The six-member team, led by Brad Marden – Interpol's coordinator of digital crime investigative support, arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday and started working with the Criminal Investigation Department yesterday, said CID Additional DIG Shah Alam.

The Interpol team is providing the CID with technical support such as analysing materials including computers and documents that had been seized from the central bank premises, he added.

The Interpol team, which consists of different nationals including officials from Interpol's Singapore office, would stay in Bangladesh and work with the CID until Friday, the CID additional deputy inspector general said.

INSIDE

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

|

Boishakh 22, 1423, Rajab 27, 1437

|

Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 13

|

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

Trump now presumptive GOP nominee n Reuters, Indianapolis Billionaire reality TV star Donald Trump completed his transformation from long-shot White House candidate to presumptive Republican presidential nominee after his commanding win in Indiana's primary forced his main rival Ted Cruz to drop out of the race.

US media reports also suggested that Trump's last remaining challenger, Ohio Governor John Kasich, was also suspending his campaign after his dismal third place finish in the Midwestern state.

There was no immediate word on this from Kasich's campaign, but he canceled a news conference in the Washington area and planned to make a statement later in the day in Columbus, Ohio.

Trump, the New York billionaire who has never held public office, had repeatedly defied pundits' predictions that his campaign would  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets supporters after speaking during a campaign rally at the Century Center in South Bend, Indiana yesterday REUTERS

Ahsanullah teacher placed on remand

No update in Hefazat mayhem cases

Ambagan slum fire burns 12 houses

Associate Professor Mahfuzur Rashid Ferdous was placed on a two-day remand for allegedly harassing his female students.

The law enforcers have failed to complete investigation in almost all the cases filed over the May 5, 2013 mayhem by the radical Islamist group in Dhaka and elsewhere.  PAGE 5

Just two days after the Karwan Bazar blaze, another fire broke out at Ambagan slum behind Green Super Market in Dhaka’s Farmgate area yesterday morning.  PAGE 32

 PAGE 3

Inu: Media monitoring cell in the offing n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla The government has taken an initiative to set up a media monitoring cell to supervise news contents published by print and online newspapers, and blogs, Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu told parliament yesterday.

“An initiative has been taken to establish a media monitoring cell to oversee the news reports published in the media,” he said while replying to a scripted question from ruling Awami League MP Pinu Khan during the question-answer session.

Inu alleged that a section of news media and blogs were trying to create theist-atheist division in the society by writing against the sentiments of Hindus, Muslims and other religious beliefs.

Claiming that the print and electronic media were enjoying full freedom, the minister said: “Taking advantage of the freedom, a section of media or online newspapers, social networking sites and blogs are instigating communalism.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

DT

2

News

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

DRIVING ON WRONG SIDES

Bangladesh, Kuwait sign 4 deals

High Court issues ruling against n UNB government Bangladesh and Kuwait yesterday inked four agreements in different n Ashif Islam Shaon fields, including investment and The High Court yesterday asked the government as to why it should not be directed to take steps to stop vehicles from driving down the wrong sides on Dhaka city’s roads.

The HC bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice AKM Shahidul Huq sought explanations from the authorities concerned within two weeks after a writ petition was filed in public interest.

The writ petition was filed by Supreme Court lawyer Mohammad Ali who attached a copy of a newspaper that ran items on the issue. The writ petition urged the HC to stop vehicles from plying the wrong sides of roads.

In the petition, he said driving vehicles on the wrong side is a punishable offence under the motor vehicles law of 1983. But on Dhaka roads, vehicles carrying some influential persons - ministers, secretaries, high police officials, etc take the wrong lane to avoid traffic.

This tendency creates traffic congestions and accidents frequently, he said.

Vice-Chancellors of Dhaka University, Jagannath University and Jahangirnagar University, secretaries of the cabinet, Home and Education Ministry, Inspector General of Police, BRTA chairman, Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner and his deputies (traffic) have been made respondents to the ruling. l

Audi R8 seized for duty evasion n Tribune Report The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) has seized an Audi R8 from Dhaka’s Banani on charge of duty evasion.

The car was imported in 2013 by concealing correct information on its cylinder capacity, model and price, thus evading Tk8.5 crore in duty, officials said.

The car was seized from the garage of Versatile Automobile on Road 7 in block G yesterday.

The luxurious vehicle was imported by Auto One of Turag in Dhaka from the UK and was brought into the country through Mongla port as an Audi TT, which is a 2,500 cc car.

But after analysing the documents, the authorities found that the car is actually an Audi R8, which is a 5,200 cc car.

“The car importer paid the duty of 451% through false declaration although they were supposed to pay 841%. The authorities are taking legal action against the car owner,” said CIID Director General Moinul Khan. l

military cooperation.

The instruments were signed after the official talks between visiting Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina at the Prime Minister’s Office in Dhaka in the afternoon. The two prime ministers witnessed the signing of the agreements.

Kuwaiti Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Bader Hamad Al-Essa and Industries Minister of Bangladesh Amir Hossain Amu signed “The Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investment” on behalf of their respective sides.

“This agreement will open up a new door for investment in Bangladesh,” Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque told a press briefing after the signing.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina greets visiting Kuwait Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah yesterday after he reached the Prime Minister’s Office in Dhaka BSS Kuwaiti Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Ambassador Khaled Sueliman Al-Jarallah and Bangladesh Home Ministry Senior Secretary Dr Md Mozammel Haque Khan inked “The Agreement on Mutual Exemption of Prior Entry Visa for Holders of Diplomatic, Spe-

cial and Official Passports.”

The agreement between Bangladesh and Kuwait on Cooperation in Military Fields of Training and other areas was signed by Kuwaiti Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Ambassador Khaled Sueliman Al-Jarallah and Principal Staff Office of the

Armed Forces Division of Bangladesh Lt Gen Md Mahfuzur Rahman.

The loan agreement between the government of Bangladesh and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) for Financing of Paira Bridge Project was inked

by Director General of KFAED Abdulwahab Al-Badar and Economic Relations Division (ERD) Additional Secretary Mahmuda Begum.

It is the 2nd loan agreement in favour of the Paira Bridge Project.

Under this deal, the Kuwait Fund will provide a loan amounting to 15 million Kuwaiti Diner equivalents to $50 million. Earlier, a loan agreement was also signed with KFAED on March 13, 2012 for 14 million Kuwaiti Diner equivalents to $48 million.

The construction of the proposed bridge would establish a direct road link between the capital and the southern region of the country, which will ease movement to Paira Sea Port and to one of the most important tourist centres Kuakata, Patuakhali. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Interpol team begins probe The CID is currently in charge of investigating the case that was filed

by Bangladesh Bank with the Motijheel police on March 15.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Bank Executive Director Subhankar Saha has told the Dhaka Tribune that the central bank’s governor, Fazle Kabir, is scheduled to visit Switzerland next week where the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, William Dudley, is also expected to come.

The issue of the heist might be discussed there, Subhankar said.

News agency Reuters, on the other hand, reported that the governor would also meet a senior executive from global financial messaging service SWIFT in Basel, Switzerland.

Subhankar, however, could not confirm to the Dhaka Tribune whether any representative from SWIFT would be present there.

On February 4, hackers stole $101 million from Bangladesh Bank’s accounts in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and transferred $81m to Philippines’ Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, from where the money was moved to local casinos. Around $20m was recovered from Sri Lanka.

After much criticism, central bank governor Atiur Rahman resigned and the government made reshuffles in key posts of the bank.

Julia Bacay-Abad, director general of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) of Philippines, has said they hoped to return $81 million to Bangladesh in three months. l

Trump now presumptive GOP implode. He prevailed despite making outrageous statements along the way that drew biting criticism but still fed his anti-establishment appeal.

Trump now can prepare for a match-up in the November 8 election. Hillary Clinton is expected to be his Democratic opponent, though her march to the nomination was slowed by rival Bernie Sanders’ victory over her in Indiana.

Trump’s immediate challenge is to unite deep fissures within the Republican Party, easing tensions with party loyalists who are appalled at his bullying style, his treatment of women and his signature proposals to build a wall on the border with Mexico and deport 11 million illegal immigrants.

The New York businessman himself called for unity in a speech at a victory rally that was free of his usual bombast and flamboyance.

He also directed fire at Clinton.

“We are going after Hillary Clinton,” he said. “She will not be a great president, she will not be a good president, she will be a poor president. She does not understand trade.”

Support for Trump among national Republicans had soared in recent weeks to the highest level of the primary campaign, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. A recent poll found Trump with the support of 53% of Republican participants, well above Cruz at 25%. Ohio Governor John Kasich, the third Republican in the race, had support of 16%.

In a potential general election match-up, however, Clinton led Trump by about 10-percentage points among likely voters. The poll included 623 Democrats and 556 Republicans and had a credibility interval of 5-percentage points.

Trump’s victory put to rest a belief that Republicans would choose their nominee at a contested convention among party leaders in July.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Trump the party’s presumptive nominee in a tweet and said, “We all need to unite and focus” on defeating Clinton.

Cruz: ‘Voters chose another path’

As the vote returns flowed in, Cruz announced that he had ended his campaign in Indianapolis, with his wife, Heidi, at his side. Cruz, 45, sounding beaten but defiant, said he no longer saw a viable path to the nomination.

“We gave it everything we got.

But the voters chose another path, and so with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism for the longterm future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign,” said Cruz, a US senator from Texas.

Cruz’s exit came as a surprise, and many Republicans who had denounced Trump were grappling with what to do next.

Reuters/Ipsos polling in April found Cruz supporters split on whom to support if their candidate quit. Thirty-eight percent of the 1,639 Cruz backers said they’d vote for the New York mogul in a match-

up between Trump and Clinton, while 21 percent chose Clinton.

About 40% of the Cruz supporters would not select either candidate. The poll had a credibility interval of 3-percentage points.

Lanhee Chen, who had adviced former Republican candidate Marco Rubio, on Tuesday night floated the possibility of a third-party candidate.

“Tonight’s outcome raises seriousness & urgency of discussions about third-party alternative; how real it is depends on who steps up to run,” he tweeted.

Other prominent Republicans said they would support Trump.

“It’s binary now. It’s Trump or Clinton, my vote’s for Trump,” former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who dropped his own White House bid in November 2015, said on Fox News.l

Inu: Media monitoring cell in the offing “The government has adopted tough stance against any conspiracy and provocation of creating unrest or hurting the religious sentiment of the citizens.”

He said that the government was working on preparing an online media support policy to oversee the websites. Under the policy, the online-based newspapers would be brought under a registration process, Inu said. l

3

DT

News

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

'Bangladeshi group met in parks, plotted attacks' n Reuters, Singapore Eight Bangladeshi men held in Singapore for allegedly plotting attacks in their homeland had formed an jihadist cell that met in parks and open fields and shared radical propaganda and videos, authorities in the city-state said on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said it had issued two-year detention orders for the men, who it says called themselves the Islamic State in Bangladesh (ISB), under Singapore's colonial-era Internal Security Act, which allows suspects to be held for lengthy periods without trial.

"The ISB is the first group comprising all foreigners to be detained under the ISA for terrorism-related activities in Singapore," the ministry said in a statement.

Wealthy, multi-ethnic Singapore, which has not faced any successful militant attacks in decades, had announced the arrests on Tuesday, saying its investigations showed the ISB had identified several possible targets in Bangladesh.

Giving further details on Wednesday, authorities said the group had a hierarchical structure with a leader, deputy leader and members assigned specific roles such as finance.

Its members had each worked in Singapore for between three and 10 years and generally lived in different accommodation, the MHA said, adding they were not known to have been radicalised when they arrived in the city-state.

There were no indications that they had planned to carry out attacks in Singapore, it said.

Five deported, held in Dhaka Five other Bangladeshis who came to the authorities attention during the same investigation had been sent back to the South Asian nation, the MHA said. Police in Dhaka said they had been arrested since their return.

They were not involved with the ISB group, the MHA said, but had been found to be in possession of jihadi-related material or to support the use of armed violence for a religious cause.

Dhaka city police spokesman

Maruf Hossain Sardar said the five, who travelled to Singapore between 2007 and 2011, were being investigated for possible connections with local militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).

They were returned to Bangladesh on April 29 and were arrested in different parts of Dhaka on Tuesday, Sardar said. "We monitored their activities and then arrested them. A court granted seven-day police remand to them," he added.

Islamist militants in Bangladesh have targeted atheist bloggers, academics, religious minorities and foreign aid workers in a series of killings that dates back to February 2015 and has claimed at least 20 lives.

Bangladesh authorities have said the ABT was behind the attacks on online critics of religious extremism and the killing last month of a gay rights campaigner and his friend.

The latest detentions were the second group of Bangladeshis investigated in the past six months in Singapore, which is host to around 150,000 workers from Bangladesh.

In January, Singapore said it

had arrested 27 Bangladeshi construction workers who supported Islamist groups including al Qaeda and Islamic State late last year. All 27 have been deported.

Bangladesh said the same month it would charge 14 of those deported with membership of ABT. Radicalised online Singapore said there was no indication of a group connection between the eight men recently detained and those arrested last year, although some of them were personally acquainted.

It identified the leader of the ISB group as Rahman Mizanur, who has been working intermittently in the city-state since 2007 and was employed as a draftsman in a local construction firm at the time of his arrest.

"Mizanur's radicalisation began around 2013 when he read radical material online," the MHA said. "He became more radicalised after a Bangladeshi shared ISIS propaganda material with him when he was in Bangladesh in 2015."

Workers' rights groups say Bangladeshis are among the most

Ahsanullah teacher placed on remand n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday placed Mahfuzur Rashid Ferdous, an associate professor at the Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology in Dhaka, on a two-day remand in a case of sexual harassment of female students.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Delwar Hossain passed the order after Kalabagan police Sub-Inspector Md Shamim Ahamed, the investigation officer of the case, produced him before the court seeking seven days for interrogation.

The officer told the court that on March 2, Ferdous took a first year female student of the electrical engineering department to his home in Kalabagan where he physically harassed her, took explicit or demeaning photographs of the student and threatened to release them on the Internet if she disclosed the incident.

On November 22, 2015, Ferdous did the same things to a fourth year female student, SI Ahamed said in his petition.

He also accused Mahfuzur of sexually harassing a first year female student at his office at the university on February 19, 2016.

The officer said the teacher needed to be interrogated in police custody to find the photographs of the students and also to investigate the incidents.

Mahfuzur's counsel Kazi Md Nazibullah Hiru opposed the remand and filed a bail petition for Mahfuzur that the court rejected after a hearing.

economically vulnerable migrant groups in Singapore. NGOs say many work for wages as low as S$2 ($1.48) an hour and some do not get a day off.

Many mortgage their properties to pay fees to recruiting agencies to get jobs in the construction and marine industries or as cleaners.

The fees can reach up to $15,000, the NGOs say.

Singapore said efforts to engage with the foreign worker population in the city-state were "ongoing".

"MHA has worked with MOM (Ministry of Manpower) and an advisory was sent to dormitory operators for them to engage the foreign workers living in their quarters," the statement said.

The ministry also said that there were currently 23 people detained for terrorism-related activities in Singapore under the Internal Security Act, a legacy of British rule that has been criticised by some rights groups.

Human Right Watch said in its 2015 World Report the act allowed authorities to detain people "for virtually unlimited periods without charge or judicial review". l

AQIS warns against supporting LGBT rights

n Tribune Desk

A policeman takes Ahsanullah university teacher Mahfuzur Rashid Ferdous to metropolitan magistrate's court in Dhaka yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE Opposing the bail plea of the defence counsel, advocate Fahmida Aktar Rinky, a member of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association, took part in the hearing on behalf of the plaintiff.

Ferdous, a electrical engineering teacher and the university's as-

sistant proctor, was arrested from his house on Tuesday night.

A former student of the university named Asafudoullah Sayem filed the case with Kalabagan police station.

Students allege that the teacher has a long record of sexually har-

assing female students of the university. They have held demos at the campus against Mahfuzur.

On April 30, some students presented evidence of harassment to the university authorities. The same day, the university suspended Mahfuzur from his duties. l

Bangladesh affiliates of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) have warned the US, India and local media including the Dhaka Tribune against supporting LGBT rights in Bangladesh.

Ansar Al Islam issued a statement yesterday apparently to justify the brutal murders of LGBT rights activist Xulhaz Mannan and his friend Mahbub Tonoy that took place on April 25.

Ansar Al Islam is believed to be the same banned militant outfit known as Ansarullah Bangla Team.

The statement sent by its spokesperson Mufti Abdullah Ashraf alleged that Xulhaz, also a USAID official, had been working to popularise homosexuality in the country through his Roopbaan magazine with the help of “crusader America and its allies.”

It claims that Xulhaz organised a “secret” workshop on homosexuality last year in association with an Indian organisation named CREA. Roopbaan also published a book of poems named “Rupongkti” from Shuddhashar publications, the publisher of which survived a machete attack by AQIS members last year.

In the statement, the AQIS asked local media, particularly naming the Dhaka Tribune, to refrain from spreading homosexuality in Bangladesh or else “Muslims of the land will not forgive you.” l

DT

News

4

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

DMP: 4m tenants’ ‘Locals turning radicals in Singapore’ n information received Mohammad Jamil Khan

n Arifur Rahman Rabbi Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia has said 4 million residents of Dhaka who live in rented homes have turned in personal information to the police as part of an ongoing crime prevention effort.

DMP has been verifying this information and will take legal actions if incongruities are found, the commissioner told reporters at a press conference at the DMP Media Centre yesterday.

Following a series of busts in flats around the city involving militants, terrorists and bomb-making operations, police decided to collect personal information from landlords and tenants in November last year.

Although the plan was to finished data collection by March 15, Commissioner Asaduzzaman said people had been discouraged to give information because of a petition filed at the High Court challenging the project.

However, the court has dismissed the petition and the police do not have any barriers to the collection of infor-

mation, he said.

“When we spot information that seems suspicious, we are verifying it by visiting the persons concerned,” he said.

“Legal action will be taken against those providing false information.”

The commissioner urged Dhaka’s citizens who had not yet provided their information to the police to collect the Tenant Information Form, fill it up and send it to the nearest police station.

“This will help us prevent many crimes,” he said.

“Even though crimes might take place, we will be able to easily identify the responsible persons,” he added.

The DMP chief said police had taken an initiative to create a surveillance team at each locality with public representatives in each ward, journalists, professionals, politicians and the police to prevent crimes.

“This work started seven days ago. The teams will monitor who comes into the area, their behavior, their movement, involvement in any crime, any suspicious behavior etc. and give information to the police,” he said. l

Apart from Bangladeshis, local Singaporeans are also turning radicals in the city state, claimed Monirul Islam, chief of Counter Terrorism and Trans National Crime (CT).

“It does not mean that terrorism only exists in Bangladesh. Singapore is also tackling the same problem,” he told reporters yesterday.

He was updating the media about the arrest of five Bangladeshis, who were sent back from Singapore after arrest for their suspected involvement with militancy.

These men went to Singapore between 2009 and 2011.

The Detective Branch has sought time from court to interrogate them, accused in a terrorism case.

The suspects are Mizanur Rahman Galib alias Galib Hasan, 38, of

Branhambaria, Rana Miah Pilot, 29, of Bogra, Alamgir Hossain, 31, of Meherpur, Tanzimul Islam, 24, of Chandpur, and Masud Rana, 31 of Pabna.

Additional Judge Ali Masud Sheikh granted DB seven days to interrogate.

Singapore also arrested eight other Bangladeshis, who were reportedly plotting to carry out subversive activities at home. Singapore Home Ministry said they recovered a hit-list from the suspects.

Asked about the list, Monirul said Singapore was yet to share additional information they might have gleaned from the suspects. “We are still in the dark,” he said.

Replying to a question on whether the suspects contacted people from other countries, he said, “From our primary investigation and questioning, we have learned that the five sus-

pects used to contact their associates in Bangladesh only.”

He promptly added that investigators needed time to verify the information. Asked how the Bangladeshis might have turned radicals, the CT chief said they were not sure at this stage.

Last year, Singapore arrested 27 Bangladeshis on similar charges and repatriated them.

Monirul said it was not clear whether the latest arrests had links with the previous ones.

He said: “We have not found evidence of these people’s direct involvement with militant groups. They supported activities of various militant groups including the banned Ansarullah Bangla Team.

“We hope to glean information from the suspects during further interrogations.” l

5

DT

News

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

BD travel to Indonesia now visa-free n Adil Sakhawat

Workers remove waste products and plastic from a canal adjacent to a city protection embankment near Hazaribagh yesterday on instruction of Dhaka Wasa MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

No update in Hefazat mayhem cases n Mohammad Jamil Khan The law enforcers have failed to complete investigation in almost all the cases filed over the mayhem perpetrated in Dhaka and elsewhere by the members of radical Islamist platform Hefazat-e-Islam on May 5, 2013.

Several investigating officers said that they made no progress in the cases while the Police Headquarters has little information about the case developments. So far, the police have filed charge sheet in three cases.

Police and affected people filed at least 80 cases with different police stations in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Chittagong accusing the Hefazat supporters of launching attacks on law enforcers and journalists, damaging public property and burning the Qur’an during the demonstrations on that day.

On May 5, 2013, Hefazat held a rally at Motijheel to press home their 13-point demands that include formulation of the anti-blasphemy law. But the supporters turned violent from noon and unleashed a reign of terror in the nearby areas causing deaths of around two doz-

en people and damaging properties worth Tk2 crore.

Later the law enforcers flashed away the supporters from Motijheel at midnight as they had refused to leave the spot in the afternoon as per the conditions set by the police. According to the police, Hefazat with the help of opposition parties including BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami wanted to continue the sit-in programme until the government was removed from power.

The Hathazari Madrasa-based platform has members from the Islamist parties as its leaders. Its Secretary General Junaid Babunagari and 77 others were arrested in the cases, but all of them secured bail.

Babunagari made confessional statement before a court describing how the BNP-Jamaat men had tried to take control over the movement to uproot the government.

At that time, Hefazat also censured the Awami League-led government for patronising the atheists who its radical leaders think should be killed for defaming Islam and the Prophet. They launched the anti-atheist movement after youths started non-stop demonstrations at Shahbagh on February

TEMPERATURE FOREC AST FOR TODAY

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN THURSDAY, MAY 5

Dhaka

35

24

Chittagong

34

26

Rajshahi

DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 6:29PM

at after the May 5 demonstrations because of a yet undisclosed understanding between the sides. In the last three years, Hefazat has become an important factor in the country’s religion-based politics and they campaigned against the ruling party during the local government elections.

Hefazat Press Secretary Maulana Munir Ahmed refuted the claim of understanding as baseless. “We are a non-political organisation. It is no our headache to keep someone in power or not. The issue of keeping a good relation with the government is totally irrelevant in such position,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

He said that the government had not released all the Hefazat leaders from jail as per their demand. “So, there is question of reaching an understanding with the government,” Munir added.

Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal too said that there had been no understanding with Hefazat. “Police have already filed charge sheets in some cases and investigation in the other cases is under way to identify the real culprits,” added the minister. l

5 the same year demanding death penalty of all war criminals.

Of the 80 cases, 53 were filed in Dhaka. Fifteen of those cases are being probed by the Detective Branch of police while the others

by Motijheel, Paltan, Ramna, Shahbagh, Jatrabari, Kalabagan and Kamrangirchar police stations.

Police have so far completed investigation in three cases – one with Ramna police and others with Kalabagan police.

When contacted, Paltan police OC Morshed Alam said that he needed time to check the latest status of the cases.

DMP Additional Commissioner Monirul Islam said that investigation of all the 50 cases was under way. “The investigation is taking time since it was a big gathering and the number of accused is also huge. It is hard to find clues behind the incidents of attacks.

“It is not possible to investigate all the cases within a time frame; some cases take two days whereas some may take more time,” said Monirul, also spokesperson of the DMP. There are allegations that the government is soft towards Hefaz37

26

Rangpur

31

22

Khulna

37

27

Barisal

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:21AM

35.0ºC Ishwardi

19.4ºC Rangpur

Source: Accuweather/UNB

34

25

PRAYER TIMES

Bangladeshi tourists and businessmen are now eligible for visas upon arrival in Indonesia for trips lasting up to 30 days.

Indonesia waived visa requirements for nationals of Bangladesh and 78 other countries, expanding its list of visa-free nations to 169.

Confirming the matter of visa exemption, Bangladesh Ambassador to Indonesia Nazmul Quaunine told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “Bangladeshi travellers will be granted a 30-day stay in Indonesia upon payment of a $30 entry fee.

“Visa-free arrivals have begun at Jakarta and Bali airports, but are expected to be offered at other airports soon. Our embassy has requested the Indonesian authorities to inform us of visa-free opportunities for Bangladeshis at other ports of entry as they become available.”

Bangladeshis who wish to visit Indonesia must have hotel bookings, return tickets and be able to demonstrate financial solvency.

Travellers who overstay their visas will be charged $30 per day.

Earlier, a statement released on March 18 from the Indonesian cabinet secretary said President Joko Widodo had signed the decree into a law, granting visa-free entry to tourists from these 169 countries.

The statement said the presidential decree will come into effect once it is ratified, adding that the Legal and Human Rights Ministry authorised it on March 10.

Another statement released on March 18 from the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Jakarta said the waiver was made to continue government efforts to boost the number of foreign visitors.

The government seeks to fulfil a target to attract 20 million tourists every year by 2019, in order to improve economic growth.

“Last year alone, 9.73 million tourists visited Indonesia,” it said.

Ambassador Nazmul Quaunine warned the general public to avoid middlemen who may be involved in human trafficking, taking advantage of the fact that Australia and Malaysia border Indonesia.

Nazmul said: “This opportunity is for prospective tourists and businessmen from Bangladesh who can build a positive relationship between the two countries.”

The Indonesian Embassy in Dhaka has already sent a note verbale to the Foreign Ministry regarding the approval. l Sylhet

30

22

Cox’s Bazar

33

24

Fajr: 4:55am | Zohr: 1:15pm Asr: 5:00pm | Magrib: 6:34pm Esha: 8:30pm Source: Islamic Foundation

DT

6

News

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Mahmudur Rahman on another 5-day remand n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka court yesterday placed Mahmudur Rahman, acting editor of Bangla daily Amar Desh, on a five-day remand rejecting his bail petition in a case filed on charges of plotting to abduct and kill prime minister’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy. Metropolitan Magistrate Pranab Kumar Hui gave the order when Detective Branch Senior Assistant Commissioner Hasan Arafat, also investigation officer of the case, produced him before the court and sought a seven-day fresh remand.

On April 25, Metropolitan Magistrate Md Golam Nabi granted police five days to interrogate Mahmudur. The court also directed the investigation officer to follow the High Court’s directives during interrogation.

The IO claimed Mahmudur had given important information regarding the case and sought time to further question him about conspires to abduct and kill Joy.

Defence counsel Md Sanaullah Miah filed a bail petition but the court rejected the plea.

On April 18, DB appealed to a Dhaka court to show Mahmudur arrested in the case and 10 days to interrogate him. The court fixed April 25 for hearing the petitions.

Pro-BNP journalist and former energy adviser Mahmudur has been in jail in connection with other cases since his arrest on April 11, 2013.

On April 16, in the same case, DB arrested senior journalist Shafik Rehman, former editor of Bangla daily Jaijaidin from his Eskaton house. He is now on a five-day remand.

On August 3 last year, DB inspector Fazlur Rahman filed a case with Paltan police against Mohammad Ullah Mamun, vice-president of JASAS, for his alleged involvement in a ‘conspiracy to abduct and kill Joy’.

The case was filed after conducting an investigation into a general dairy filed with Ramna police on May 31 that year. l

Civil society members demand new Forest Act n Abu Bakar Siddique Civil society members urged the government yesterday to formulate a new Forest Act as opposed to amending the existing one as it is not time-befitting and pro-people.

A consultation regarding the amendment of the law with the communities who depend on the forest was also demanded before placing it to the parliament, as the draft version of the changed law named the Forest Act 1927 (Amendment 2015) violates the interest of the forest-dependent people.

“The government should formulate a new version of the Forest Act, instead of changing elements of the existing one which was passed in 1927, as the current situation is different now,” said Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association (BELA).

Terming the amendment of the law “old wine in new bottle,” she said the revised version of the draft law does not contain anything new except

certain terms such as “conservation.”

She also said there is no clarification of the word “conservation” while addressing a round-table discussion named “Forest Act 1927 Amendment and Rights of the Forest Dependent People.”

In addition, the delegates from Chittagong Hill Tracts and other forest areas expressed their concern for losing their land due to the modified law.

Blaming the government, Information and Publicity Secretary of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti Mongol Kumar Chakma said: “The government has nearly finalised the amended version of the law but they don’t feel the need to consult with us even though CHT is considered one of the largest forest areas in Bangladesh.”

The program was jointly organised by Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD), BELA and CHT Forest and Land Rights Protection Movement and held at National Press Club. l

7

DT

News

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Water crisis hits Chittagong city dwellers hard Mizanur Rahaman, n FM Chittagong

Pahartali, Motijarna, Badurtala, Jamal khan and Muradpur areas, this correspondent found that people were facing acute water crisis as the CWASA failed to supply them abundant water.

Residents of EPZ, Double Mooring, Patenga, Agrabad, CDA, Patharghata, Madarbari, Bakalia, Chaktai and Katalganj areas are also suffering immensely from water shortage and they are meeting up their daily water needs from deep tube walls.

Slum dwellers are the worst suffers of the situation. They are often seen locking into fight with each other while supplying water from Wasa pipelines.

Halima Begum, a tenant of Poura Colony of Lalkhan Bazar area, said: “Water supplied by Wasa is too little against our daily demand.

Now, we are collecting water from deep tube-wells.”

Rashedul Tushar, a resident of Halishahar area, said: “The level of the water in Halishahar area has been declining every year Gradually and for this reason Wasa cannot supply us sufficient water. Now, we are compelled to buy water for our daily use.

“We have already informed the authority concerned about our suffering, but there is no solution from Wasa,” said Asif Uddin Raju, another dweller of Halishahar area. l

The scorching heat plus acute crisis of water in different parts of the port city have made the lives of townspeople unbearable over the last several days.

The Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (CWASA), however, has blamed low level of ground water, uninterrupted electricity supply and technical glitches for the crisis.

According to the CWASA officials, they have been supplying around 20 crore liters of water from Mohora Water Plant through pipelines per day against the demand of 50 crore to 55 crore liters.

The demands of the water would be increased if the temperature continues to rise.

Currently, the CWASA has 10% non-domestic and 90% domestic users, said the sources.

Apart from water treatment plant, Wasa is supplying water in the port city from 45 deep tube wells.

Meanwhile, around five to six deep wells remain dysfunctional and most of tube wells face disruption in supplying water due to frequent load shedding.

In this circumstance, several projects are undergoing to tackle the water crisis in the city, but,

could not bring any visible solution to the city dwellers.

Chief Engineer of CWASA Jahrul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune that the frequent load shedding had caused disruption of smooth water supply in the city and they were trying to cover up the problem.

3 day remand for mayor Mannan

Forest official suspended over recent fires in Sundarbans

Islam Akand, n Raihanul Gazipur

A court granted police three days to interrogate Gazipur City Corporation Mayor and BNP leader MA Mannan.

Inspector Rabiul Islam of the Gazipur Court said Mannan was presented in front of the Gazipur Judicial Magistrate’s Court – 3 yesterday by Joydebpur police in a case of vandalism.

Police asked for seven days of remand in the case while the court granted one. In another case, police sought seven days of remand for Mannan and his brother from Gazipur Senior Judicial Masitrate’s Court – 2. The court granted police two days.

BNP Chairperson’s Adviser Mannan was arrested on April 17 in Kaliakair along with seven of his party colleagues as he was heading back to Dhaka. The mayor had been released from jail in March by a High Court order after over a year of imprisonment. In April the High Court also put a stay order on the government’s suspension of Mannan, reinstating him as the mayor of Gazipur. l

With summer at its peak, crisis of water is seen in many areas of the port city in Chittagong. Locals of the city’s Lalkhan Bazar area are seen queue up yesterday and collect water in containers from roadside taps ROBIN CHOWDHURY

n Hedait Hossain, Khulna A station officer of Chandpai range in Sundarbans has been suspended over recent fire incidents in the mangrove forest.

Divisional Forest Officer (east) Md Saidul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that Dhan Sagar Station Officer Sultan Mahmud was suspended.

The Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and a Unesco world heritage site, saw four fire incidents in just one month. Three cases were filed against 22 people in connection

“The Karnaphuli project of Wasa is expected to be ended by June,” he said, adding that the city people would get water throughout the entire day after inception of supplying water from the project.

To serve the city dwellers with pure drinking water and ensure the

with the fire incidents.

Local people alleged that villagers living nearby the Sundarbans often entered the forest and set fire to it to collect firewood and when the burnt area of the Sundarbans goes under water during monsoon they use it to catch fish. They also use the fire-damaged area as cattle grazing ground during the dry season.

They also said people who set fire to forest were very influential as they had connection with political high-ups. Nobody dared to raise voice against them.

On April 27, a fire broke out at

sewerage system for Chittagong city the CWASA was established in 1963, but the 53-year-old water supply authority could not establish the sewerage system till the date.

While visiting several spots in the port city including, Chawakbazar, Halishahar, Lalkhan Bazar,

Dhan Sagar of Chandpai range burning down forestry on hundreds acres of land.

Earlier, on April 19, another fire broke out in Nangli area under the same range.

On April 14, a fire originated at Dhansagar station and gutted forestry on several acres of land before the forest officials, firefighters and locals managed to extinguish the blaze.

On March 27, a fire broke out in Nangli area. Firefighters managed to bring the fire under control by the morning of March 28.

The probe body formed over

March 27 fire submitted its report on April 4.

The probe blamed carelessness of local people for the fire incident.

Six people have also been sued in connection with the fire incident.

Prime accused of the case was Shahjahan Hawladar, vice-president of Swarankhola upazila unit Awami League.

Forest officials also filed a case against five people in connection with April 19 fire incident.

In the last 14 years, there have been 25 fire incidents in Chandpai and Sharankhola ranges of the Sundarbans. l

Four to die for killing in Pirojpur n Arif Mostafa, Pirojpur

A Pirojpur court yesterday gave death penalty to four people for killing a man at Polaran village in Jianagar upazila of the district five years back.

Session Judge of Pirojpur district M Golam Kibria handed down the verdict against Sheuli Begum,

30, Asad Majhi, 30, Farid Ahmed Foni and Belal Gazi after examining all the documents and cross-checking the witnesses. The court also fined them Tk50,000 each.

According to the prosecution, Sheuli Begum was married to Manik Majhi in 1995. At some point during the marriage, she fell into an extramarital relationship with

Asad Majhi, a resident of the same village.

On May 25, 2010, Asad Majhi in association with Sheuli, Farid and Belal hacked Manik and slaughtered him. Victim’s brother Mizanur Rahman Majhi filed a case with Indurjani police station the following day.

Sub-inspector Mahbubur

Rahman of Indurjani police station, also the investigation officer of the case, submitted a charge-sheet against the four individuals convicted today on March 31, 2011.

Asad Majhi and Belal Gazi gave confessional statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before the court. l

DT

8

News

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Violence over Union Parishad polls continues One killed in Madaripur, scores injured Jamalpur The OC said he might have been In Madaripur, a supporter of a n Tribune Desk killed over rivalry centring the upUnion Parishad (UP) chairman asViolence over the fourth phase of union parishad elections which are going to be held on May 7 continued yesterday with the death of a man and injury of scores of people.

Elections would be held at 743 union parishads across the country on the day, said sources at Election Commission.

As per the EC schedule, the first phase of the election was held to 739 UPs on March 22, second phase to 643 UPs on March 31 and third phase elections to 685 UPs on April 23.

The final phase of the election will be held on June 4 to 733 union parishads.

pirant was hacked to death at Sahebrampur union parishad Kalkini upazila yesterday.

The deceased is Abul Kalam, a supporter of independent chairman candidate Assaduzzaman Jamal Mollah.

Officer-in-Charge of Kalkini police station Kripa Sindhu Bala said some unidentified men had called Kalam outside his house. As soon as he came out of his house, the miscreants hacked him indiscriminately. Family members rushed him to Kalkini upazila health complex where on duty doctor declared him dead.

comming UP polls.

Bakshiganj turns battlefield as rival groups clash

In Jamalpur, at least 10 people, including police officials, were injured when supporters of two chairmen candidates in Jamalpur’s Bakshiganj upazila clashed with each other on Tuesday night.

Police fired 73 rounds to bring the situation under control after the supporters of Hasan Jubayer Hitler, Awami League-backed chairman candidate of Bakshiganj’s Kamalpur union, and independent candidate Mostafa Kamal

Panel mayor from Jubo League flexes muscle n Our Correspondent, Bogra A local Jubo League leader, who is a Bogra municipality panel mayor, allegedly abused his position to prevent contractors from procuring a Tk14 lakh group development work tender.

Aminul Islam bought 30 tenders himself, causing discontent among contractors but nobody raised voice as he belongs to the ruling party.

Municipality sources said 29 group tenders were floated on April 15 for development works at 21 wards. Tuesday was the last date for procuring tenders. The municipality’s listed contractors said they managed to buy schedules of 28

groups but failed to get tender of ward 15.

Aminul, councillor of ward 15, rejected the allegations.

Tarafdar Builders owner Saiful Islam said he had also failed in getting the group tender. Several other contractors made similar claims, alleging that Aminul had bought it.

Local government rule prohibits municipality mayors, panel mayors or councillors, who have contractor licences, from taking municipality jobs. Their licences could be suspended for flouting the rule.

Contractors said Aminul would likely do the job with licence of someone from his family and that the work quality would be very

Teacher rapes tenth grader in Chuadanga n Mehdi Hasan, Chuadanga A girl was allegedly raped by her teacher in Chuadanga city after he asked her to come to his house for class notes.

She was a student of Jhinuk Girls High School, studying in class 10.

The victim’s family alleged that the English teacher Ahad Ali, after class on April 28, asked the girl to come to his house on April 29 evening, saying that he would give her notes. When the girl went to his place, the teacher raped her in his empty house.

After the victim informed her family about the incident yesterday morning, they went to the school premises and

beat the teacher.

When students of the school got to know of the incident, they boycotted classes and started protesting the incident, demanding immediate punishment of the teacher. Later, guardians of other students and locals joined the protest, aggravating the agitation following which school authorities stopped academic activities and closed the school.

After being informed, police high up went to the scene and brought the agitation under control.

An emergency meeting was held between teachers, managing committee members of the school and Additional Deputy Commissioner Anjuman Ara. l

poor as the whole process is rigged.

Mamta Begum, the municipality office assistant, confirmed that Aminul had procured 30 tenders of the number 31 package. “He had forbidden sale of the tenders to others. I was forced not to sell them,” she said.

Executive Engineer Najrul Islam said a panel mayor or councillor cannot obstruct the sale. “He [Aminul] has violated the law if he had done so,” he said, claiming that he did not receive any complaints in this regard.

The accused panel mayor claimed the contractors were running a smear campaign to tarnish his image. l

got into a clash following altercations at Mridhapara area.

Two election offices of Kamal were also vandalised and police detained 10 people for questioning, said Bakshiganj police station Officer-in-Charge Md Aslam Hossain.

He said the residence of Mahbubul Haque Babul Chisty, research secretary of Muktijoddha Sangsad’s central command council, was also vandalised and nearby shops were ransacked.

Four cases were filed with Bakshiganj police station against 500 people, including Bakshiganj Awami League unit’s Organising Secretary Abdullah Al Mokares Khokon and the unit’s Chhatra League Pres-

ident Jahidul Islam Juman.

Three platoons of police were deployed in the union to avert further unrest.

BNB candidates in Manikganj apprehending massive rigging

Chairman candidadates who are contesting in the upcomming polls from BNP’s tickets alleged that many of their leaders and candidates has left their houses and had been staying other places for the last couple of weeks fearing arrest as well as attack.

While talking to the Dhaka Tribune many of them said they were fearing that the elections would not be impartial. l

9

DT

Feature

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Wheeling in a new revolution How the Working With Women project is addressing sexual and menstrual health of garment workers in Bangladesh

Photo: Courtesy

n Syeda Samira Sadeque Twenty six year old Tania fidgets with the end of her orna (scarf) as we sit down to chat.

Behind her, an entire floor of workers are on production lines in a factory of one of Bangladesh’s biggest export industries: RMG. The RMG sector in Bangladesh has revolutionised the women workforce in the past decades.

While this meant greater independence and empowerment of women, certain conversations – such as sexual health – have stayed hidden.

But for workers like Tania, this is changing. Today, Tania, who grew up in a household where she couldn’t openly talk about issues such as sexual health and menstruation, can address the issue without any inhibition.

“When I first came here, the girls couldn’t even talk about these things. Now they approach us themselves,” says Kulsum, a medical assistant who has worked for three years at the clinic at the factory where Tania works.

Now, Tania and her co-workers, working at Comfit Composite Knit Ltd in Gazipur, don’t only openly talk about it, they also help spread the word among the other workers regarding sexual and menstrual health issues.

With the RMG sector in Bangladesh being dominated by female workers, with 3.8 million women working in the sector, issues of sexual and menstrual health are bound to rise. This may often cause illness – temporary

or long-term – for many workers.

And this has an effect on the garments industry as a whole.

A recent study by Kaizen CRS claims that worker absenteeism costs the RMG industry 22.5M USD per year, given its effects on levels of productivity of workers.

It has thus become an incentive for factory owners as well to address workers’ health, a large part of which is female workers’ sexual and menstrual health.

Women who work at these

patients,” says AKM Rezaul Huq, a physician at Gonoshasthaya Kendra in Savar. “We’re noticing that the frequency of their visits is a lot higher.”

Working with women Rezaul has noticed this difference since last August when SNV Netherlands Development Organisation started their Working With Women project with Gonoshasthaya Kendra to facilitate a system wherein textile

Through this agreement, the workers of these factories pay a very little amount for all sorts of health facilities, while their factories bear the rest of the cost

RMG factories have to participate in intense labor work for hours on end, especially when there are deadlines ahead. This can be difficult for women who are on their menstrual cycle or suffering from sexual health-related illnesses.

“Women working in garment factories have more gynecological issues than other regular

workers are provided highly subsidised healthcare at local health facilities.

“Through this agreement, the workers of these factories pay a very little amount for all sorts of health facilities, while their factories bear the rest of the cost,” says Rezaul.

The workers pay Tk25 per month, for all sorts of services,

while their factory pays Tk75 per month for each worker, which includes all tests, consultation, investigations, radiological imaging, pathological investigations, hospital admissions, menstrual regulations, post-abortion care, normal delivery, and caesarian sections.

Given that it’s a pilot project

by SNV, the organisation currently pays 60% of the workers’ portion as well.

“The reality is that a lot of these women are not well-informed regarding their health issues, and even if they are, they are deprived of their rights due to certain constraints,” says Farhtheeba Rahat Khan, team leader of the Working With Women project at SNV. “Availability, accessibility and affordability are three factors that stand as obstacles to seeking SRHR services and products for these women.”

In order to address this issue, the Working With Women project was launched in July 2014.

“SNV is one of the pioneers in the inclusive business. We don’t directly intervene,” says Farhtheeba. “We mobilise the local partners and enhance their capacity, so that when we leave the project, the local partners are there to sustain it.”

As part of this, SNV invited service providers who are interested to work and invest in ensuring health care for female garment workers.

This has significantly helped workers such as Tania who now have access to healthcare at a much lower cost.

“The situation is much better than it used to be,” says Masuda, 20, who works at Mashiat factory in Savar. She comes to the Gonoshasthaya Kendra for her health concerns.

“Now we can come whenever,” she adds. “We can talk openly about our health issues.”

A revolution oncoming Accessing healthcare at such low cost is further helping women break the stigma surrounding sexual and menstrual health in the community by having open conversations about these issues.

Now more than ever, women are talking openly about these issues among themselves, sharing their experiences with each other, and helping each other out with suggestions.

This changing pattern has helped women bring in behavioural change in their

menstrual hygiene as well. As part of the SNV project, women are being able to buy sanitary napkins at a much cheaper rate – and are thus moving away from the traditionally used cotton scraps.

Khaleda, 28, who also works at Comfit Composite, tells me how she has helped spread awareness about the advantages of using sanitary napkins among her coworkers.

A lot of these women, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford sanitary napkins, have traditionally used cotton scraps during their menstrual cycle.

“Some may use cotton scraps they pick up from the factories, but they’re usually full of chemicals and that causes infection,” says Afroza, 27, another Comfit Composite worker. “Even then, many use those because sometimes you start menstruating while at work so there is no option.”

However, that’s changing, given SNV’s project now allows these women to buy sanitary napkins from the medical center at the factory.

As I sit down to talk to the nurses, they mention to me that these women are now using sanitary napkins that middle-class women across the country have access to.

Building this access for the RMG workers is wheeling in a new revolution that unites the women across class boundaries on the same struggle they all have – sexual and menstrual health, and the stigma and silence surrounding it. And projects such as Working With Women is helping break the stigma by sparking off conversations – whether at the medical centre, or amid the women working in production lines, or just at home.

And for people like Tania, Khaleda, and the doctors they frequent, the conversations are becoming more free, more about themselves, and less about the shame.

As Tania finishes her conversation with me, she smiles politely and tells me she will teach her daughter to talk about these matters openly. And to definitely use sanitary napkins.

As she disappears into the distant murmurs of the factory behind her, there is a silhouette – of a mother, a garment worker – who has the awareness to shape the future daughters of the country. There is a silhouette of a revolution slowly – but surely – wheeling in. l

DT

10

Health

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Bowel cancer: a killer disease How it is preventable, treatable and even curable Professor Raqibul n Mohammad Anwar Cancer of the colon and rectum is preventable and if detected early, completely curable. However, it is causing death, disability and financial ruin in Bangladesh.

This is happening because of our failure at spreading awareness, our tendency of becoming a nation of couch potatoes, our distrust in our own health care system and our mental image of the Utopian health care overseas.

Bowel cancer is increasing worldwide and is rapidly becoming one of the vicious killer diseases in the modern era.

Causation seems to be related to westernisation of diet, the lack in fibre intake such as vegetables and fruits, high fat and protein diet consisting of red meat and the lack of physical exercise where simply walking and swimming can prove to be the best modes of exercise.

Colon and rectal cancers are one of the most common causes of death worldwide and is the second most common cause of death from cancer in the UK preceded only by lung cancer.

My concern is also because of the research findings of bowel cancer among the immigrant Bangladeshi community in the UK as well as the increasing number of rectal cancer among the youth in Dhaka. Ever since I started my clinical practice at RA Hospital in Gulshan, I noticed that a lot of young patients are coming in with symptoms, even those as young as 26 years old.

The Bangladeshi community in the West are reluctant to know

prevented by detecting polyps through screening and if it is detected early, patients can be completely cured. Bowel cancer starts as polyps in the bowel and over a period of years, and the growth turns into cancer. It is vital to try to diagnose bowel cancer symptoms as soon as they appear, when the cancer is in its earliest stages - the polyp stage. This is done routinely in the developed world by various investigative modalities.

For people with a family history of bowel cancer, particularly in young close relations as well as people above the age of 50 years, are advised by experts to seek screening to detect polyps. In the US, this is done though colonoscopy, the camera test of the bowel that can detect polyps which also allows removal or can detect early stages of the cancer through a biopsy, for which a sample can be taken at the same time to refute the diagnosis. In the UK, on the other hand, the first test that is done is the detection of blood that is not obvious in the stool sample and if blood is detected, a colonoscopy is then referred.

When patients have symptoms of bowel cancer, immediate investigative measures should be undertaken to detect or exclude bowel cancer.

Rectal bleeding is the most important symptom of cancer of the colon and rectum (bowel) and these symptoms are becoming widespread in our society.

Awareness of its significance in the population should be given the utmost importance as data suggests that about 10% of the

High risk of colon and rectal cancer • Rectal bleeding with change in bowel habit- all ages • Persistent rectal bleeding without anal symptoms, age >60 years • Persistent change in bowel habit to increased frequency or looser stool for at least six weeks, age >60 years • Easily palpable rectal or RIF mass- all ages • Unexplained iron deficiency: Haemoglobin <11g/dl in men all ages Haemoglobin <10g/dl in women post menopause

more about their cancer and avoid screening due to beliefs and attitudes of fatalism, lack of knowledge regarding cancer and lack of early screening.

These factors are commonly seen in Bangladesh despite the fact that bowel cancers can be

adult population in a country has a history of bleeding from the anus in the previous six months.

Majority of them would have bled from their ‘piles’ which are cushions at the lower end of the ano-rectum. A significant number of people with rectal

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK bleeding will however, have cancer in their colon and rectum will require management by expert surgeons who specialise in colon and rectal cancer surgery.

Failure to seek help from such experts will cause disability, physical, psychological, social and eventually might lead to the untimely death which brings misery for the families, particularly if the sufferer is young or the important breadearner of the family.

Prevalence of bowel polyp rises between 30-60 years of age, then appears to plateau at about 11%. The main rise in cancer starts few years later and reaches to almost 20% by over the 90 year age group.

Among the last two young patients with rectum cancer whom I treated recently, one was a 35 year old and the other was just 26 years of age. The latter required chemotherapy and radiotherapy which was given at the most optimum stage of the disease and I performed a crucial surgery after he received a long course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy which eventually cured him.

The first patient, a medical practitioner himself, was not as lucky. He travelled to Singapore, where had a major operation followed by a prolonged recovery period after which, he was not feeling better, which meant that he had developed complications following the operation. A series

of mistreatments took place both in Singapore and Bangladesh. He had radiotherapy in Singapore, which was not only unnecessary given the stage of his cancer, but positively harmful and had caused more harm to his rectum.

Any good colo-rectal surgeon or expert colo-rectal oncologist would have never suggested such a wrong modality of treatment.

His misery knew no bounds as surgeons in Bangladesh reversed his ileostomy, without appropriate tests. Ileostomy is the opening created on the abdomen at the time of original operation to allow healing of the joining in the lower rectum by diverting the stool away from the joining. Before any such ileostomy is closed, it is prudent that a special contrast x-ray is performed which confirms that the joining has healed completely. After the closure of his ileostomy, he started passing stool to up to 50 times a day. Instead of trying simpler remedies, the oncologist started him on morphine injections.

Not surprisingly, he became dependent on morphine and life was no better.

He then consulted me and I tried to improve his frequency of bowel action by weaning him off morphine. Initially, he started to show improvements but it did not sustain. Few months ago, I consulted with my consultant colo-rectal colleague from Bristol, England and he

too was shocked like me by the callousness of the management of his cancer both here and in Singapore. I operated on him recently and he seems to be making good progress but he will require further surgeries in the future. He most definitely would have had a completely different life, being able to contribute to the society by championing the medical profession if his disease was managed properly.

Health should be a major concern for individuals which can easily be maintained with a better diet and by avoiding food that is rich in fat and protein, increasing the intake of fruits, vegetables, drinking more water and regular exercise.

It is important for our health departments to make the members of the society aware of cancer and its early screening, provide screening methods, train and educate adequate number of healthcare professionals to be able to provide cancer care. l

Professor Raqibul Mohammad Anwar is a Colorectal Surgeon at Bart’s and The Royal London Hospital, Ambassador and Convener of Examinations, The Royal College of Surgeons of England, Colonel, UK Armed Forces (RAMC), and President and CEO of RAHETID (RA Hospital, Education and Training Institute Dhaka)

DT

Editorial 11

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

INSIDE

The radical religious rationale There has been a string of murders in Dhaka and other places of Bangladesh in the last two years. The victims were people from a cross section -- some were writers, some publishers, some foreign nationals PAGE 12

How Trump has shaken US relations The president is the face of the nation, freely chosen to represent all Americans.

Trump’s election would likely place every American serving or traveling abroad in the uncomfortable position of explaining why we picked someone who disses so many PAGE 13

Women form roughly half the number of eligible voters. That is a fact everyone agrees on PAGE 14

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.

Free trade with Myanmar

T

What about the women?

Be heard

BIGSTOCK

he Foreign Relations Committee of Myanmar’s parliament has announced that Myanmar wants to improve relations with Bangladesh and take steps to remove all barriers.

It is an important signal of change by the new Myanmar government and bodes well for both our nations.

As neighbours with fast growing economies reaching out for foreign investment, Bangladesh and Myanmar have much in common, and much to gain by increasing peaceful and friendly co-operation.

This is also vital to help bring about a peaceful restoration of rights for people from Rohingya minorities in Myanmar who have sought refuge in Bangladesh.

Improving relations and geographical proximity offer huge scope to grow bilateral trade and investment as Bangladesh’s trade with Myanmar is still tiny compared to other nations.

The government should follow up the interest shown by working to negotiate a free trade deal between Bangladesh and Myanmar. This offers the quickest way to bring down borders and encourage cross border investment.

As neighbours sharing a land border, both Bangladesh and Myanmar stand to benefit greatly from encouraging and growing mutual investment. This would not only assist both countries in attracting more FDI, but would also help reduce dependence on other countries by complementing our economies’ competitive advantages.

Bangladesh should make opening up trade and borders with Myanmar a high priority.

In the longer term, better communication and overland links are vital to opening up mutually beneficial opportunities. It is in both nations’ interest to improve regional connectivity via the BCIM corridor and Bimstec, and develop our shared border as a hub for international trade at the crossroads of the growing economies of ASEAN and SAARC. A free trade deal is the best way to help attract the further international cooperation and investment that is needed to maximise improvements to regional connectivity.

Bangladesh and Myanmar can both gain by increasing co-operation and opening up trade

12

DT

Opinion

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

The radical religious rationale Bangladesh’s growing religious extremism needs to be acknowledged … before it’s too late

Radicalism can be bred anywhere, not necessarily locally

n Ziauddin Chowdhury

I

n 2007, Maulana Fazlullah, leader of a Frontier-based militant Islamic organisation known as Tehreek-e-Nafaz-eShariat-e-Mohammadi (who later became the leader of Taliban-ePakistan) established a parallel government in about 59 villages of Swat Valley in Pakistan and introduced Sharia Law. This came not in one fell swoop, but after a long run in with the Pakistan government and its feckless law enforcement agencies in that part of the country that began with US operations in Afghanistan in 2002.

Maulana Fazlullah, also known as Radio Mullah -- because of his broadcast over clandestine radio in the Malakand Agency (where Swat valley is) -- began propagating Islamic jihad against the Pakistan government and its allies for the establishment of Sharia Law in Pakistan.

His ultimate success in driving out Pakistan government forces from Swat valley came after years of threats, both verbal and real, to the people in the area who dared to oppose him and his armed militants who continued to swell in number.

He would be the supreme leader of the region for close to two years until the Pakistan Army, mainly under pressure from the US, which was worried that the rise of another militant group and its sway over the area close to Afghanistan would stymie its efforts to eradicate the Taliban from Afghanistan.

During Fazlullah’s reign in Swat Valley, he not only drove out the Pakistan law enforcement but also civilian agencies, and established his own laws that he termed as

“Sharia” inspired laws. Some of the draconian measures he took in the name of Sharia were closing cinema halls, DVD shops, banning music, and, incredibly enough, his supporters attacked barbershops for their “un-Islamic” practices (because barbers shaved beards).

Sufi mystics and dancing girls were killed and dumped in the city square, and girls were not allowed to go to school. Fazlullah later issued fatwa against Malala Yousafzai, the girl who bravely stood up girls’ education, and had her shot by his supporters even after he had been ejected from Swat Valley.

Fazlullah’s rise was enabled by a government that ignored the early signs of his group’s growth, in part but largely because of indulgence of radicalism by succeeding Pakistan governments by way of coddling religious leaders and religious institutions in preference to progressive and liberal institutions, purely for short-term political goals.

The government of Ziaul Huq sowed the early seeds of radicalism through thousands of madrassas that he helped grow ostensibly to feed the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan.

He and his successors used the products of these madrasas later to form the Taliban group who would, in future years, topple the Afghanistan government and rule there.

The break-up of the Taliban in 2002 by US intervention drove their leaders to the mountains, including the North West of Pakistan, and lead to the formation of a diverse group of religious militants in Pakistan, including that of Maulana Fazlullah.

While the US was busy eradicating Afghanistan of the

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Taliban, they and their ilk would find shelter in Pakistan, more precisely the Pakistan Army, which had helped the original Taliban grow in the first place.

Maulana Fazlullah and his armed militants thrived because the Pakistan government, at that time, was headed by a president (Asif Zardari of Pakistan People’s Party) who was busier defending his presidency against political foes than defending his country from religious militants.

His government was one of compromise, in particular with the powerful Pakistan Army, and he dared not take the army to task for their apparent unwillingness to tackle the rising religious menace in Swat Valley.

What this all means for Bangladesh The discussion on Fazlullah and his group is relevant for Bangladesh, not because there is such a figure on the horizon of Bangladesh, although there was such a threat some years ago posed by a militant in northern Bangladesh.

It is relevant because leadership for religious militancy and terrorism does not have to originate locally. The attraction that IS or its affiliates have on youths inclined to similar views can come from anywhere.

Their proliferation can also happen in many countries, where youths are easily brainwashed or misled from parochial and illiberal education, biased interpretation of religion and its message, and paranoid ideas about the world where one is led to believe that their co-religionists are subject to a worldwide persecution.

These ideas are further cemented in a country that has weak law enforcement, lack of

The rise of Fazlullah and his group in Pakistan and the menace they caused and continue to cause was possible because of political exigencies. Bangladesh now does not have any known exigency of the kind Pakistan went through in the 80s and 90s that contributed to the rise of religious radicalism in that country.

What we have here are instances of some horrific murders that, till now, have remained unsolved but clandestine groups claiming loyalty to foreigninspired militant organisations have reportedly claimed responsibility for these crimes.

There is no proof of these claims, but the apparent similarity of the victims (they were either

There has been a string of murders in Dhaka and other places of Bangladesh in the last two years. The victims were people from a cross section -- some were writers, some publishers, some foreign nationals

personal security, and absence of good governance. In such societies, a section of youth can be easily deluded to believe that a strong government can only be enforced through religion and a religion-based system. Anybody who opposes this is an enemy of religion and has to be eliminated.

There has been a string of murders in Dhaka and other places of Bangladesh in the last two years. The victims were people from a cross section -- some were writers, some publishers, some foreign nationals.

Quite a few were from the minority section. There has been no arrest, let alone any conviction in these murders.

What we have instead is speculation about the reasons for these murders from our political leaders and persons in authority.

But more importantly, we have assertions of responsibility for these murders (at least the majority of them) from affiliates of radical Islamic groups that are rooted thousands of miles away from Bangladesh.

But strangely, these claims are refuted by our government leaders because admitting these assertions would be acknowledging the presence of militant groups with foreign loyalty in our midst.

bloggers of liberal thought, writers with secular reputation, or minority community members), should give hints to our law enforcment agencies that these murders are not random acts.

These acts may be pre-planned and the perpetrators could be organised militants.

I do not know when or if at all the perpetrators of these murders will be arraigned. But I do know that a first step to close the gap could be the acknowledgment by our government that these murders are not necessarily the shenanigans of their political opposition to embarrass the government.

To embarrass the government, a political opposition has many other weapons in their arsenal other than killing bloggers, writers, and foreign nationals without any rhyme or reason.

Let us start from the assumption that the murders could be the handiwork of a group of fanatics who want to establish their laws in the country by terrorising people and anyone who opposes their belief. l Ziauddin Choudhury has worked in the higher civil service of Bangladesh early in his career, and later for the World Bank in the USA.

13

DT

Opinion

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

How Trump has shaken US relations with friends and foes If elected, Trump spells bad news for Americans abroad The institutions that the US helped build after World War II are what have kept us from World War III: The UN, the WTO, Nato, and many more. The Great Recession of 2008 did not evolve into another Great Depression because, unlike in the 1930s, central banks around the world pulled together to prevent economic collapse.

Without the grease of goodwill, the machinery of co-operation freezes.

Some commentators liken Trump to President Andrew Jackson, a populist who also stoked public anger and invited mobs with muddy boots into the White House. But in foreign relations, the analogy doesn’t hold. In 1828, the year Jackson

nomination set alarm bells clanging globally.

Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev called the Goldwater candidacy “a strange phenomena.”

A more forthright commentator said Russians “feel they must be on their guard more than ever.”

Allies were blunter. A West German newspaper editorialised that Goldwater would “be more dangerous for world peace than Mao Zedong.” A British editorial warned that if Goldwater tried “to put his policies into effect, the whole Western alliance could be undermined.” One French newspaper commented that the senator sent “cold chills up your back.”

President Lyndon B Johnson

already weakened confidence in, and increased fear of, America.

Rebuilding trust will complicate the foreign policy goals he has begun to articulate, including the reform of important institutions and agreements.

If elected, Trump would face animosity whichever border he crossed. Half a million Britons have already signed a petition to ban him. Trump would most likely face long odds in negotiating with foreign leaders, having already flaunted his disrespect.

Average citizens might find themselves similarly disadvantaged. The president is the face of the nation, freely chosen to represent all Americans. Trump’s election

The president is the face of the nation, freely chosen to represent all Americans. Trump’s election would likely place every American serving or traveling abroad in the uncomfortable position of explaining why we picked someone who disses so many Take a moment to consider this person as POTUS

n Elizabeth A Cobbs

D

onald Trump says he doesn’t care what the world thinks of him. The whole world.

Has any presidential candidate ever exhibited such boorishness?

Does it matter?

Bad manners are the antithesis of diplomacy. They weaken international coalitions essential to physical security. But then, Trump discounts the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and key bilateral treaties with US allies in Asia and Latin America.

Bad manners also undermine economic security. Trump advocates the same beggar-thyneighbour tariffs that deepened the Great Depression in the 1930s and sparked World War II. Strangest of all, Trump delights in offending. This would also make it hard for him to sustain friendships or co-operation with allies that are as proud of their independence -- and as sensitive to slight -- as Washington is.

Trump demeans Mexico by threatening to build a wall along its border with the US. He offends France by faulting

REUTERS

it for the “Charlie Hebdo” and concert-hall massacres. He scoffs at Germany’s “insane” Syrian immigration policy and affronts Britain by smearing critics there as panderers. He scorns Japanese and Chinese trade policies as rip-offs, and insults all Muslims, a third of the world’s population, by proposing to bar them from the US. Foreign nations have not accepted Trump’s disdain with the humility of losers on his reality TV show, The Apprentice. British Prime Minister David Cameron calls the New York real estate developer “divisive, unhelpful, and quite simply wrong.” The French ambassador to the US dubs Trump a “vulture” whose tweet about the brutal “Charlie Hebdo” attack lacked “human decency.”

Many more see Trump as a threat to peace.

If global warming, global terrorism, and global economic uncertainty didn’t exist, this might not matter. That’s not today’s world, however. Trump’s contempt feeds enmities that threaten Americans and poisons friendships upon which Washington relies.

won the presidency, there was no telegraph, telephone, television, or Internet to speed news. Jackson offered no commentary on foreign affairs and no one would have known, or cared, if he had. As a young, weak country, the US then had few speaking lines on the world stage.

Former Republican presidential nominee Barry M Goldwater is the better comparison. Like Trump, the Arizona senator brashly wooed controversy. “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice,” he declared at the 1964 Republican National Convention. Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, opposed mandatory Social Security contributions, and commended the extreme rightwing John Birch Society.

In foreign affairs, Goldwater praised atomic “brinksmanship,” suggested that Nato’s commander be authorised to use nuclear weapons, and advocated “bombing the living hell” out of Vietnam. He rejected peaceful coexistence with the Soviet Union.

In the tightly-interconnected world of the 1960s, when the US aspired to effective leadership of the “Free World,” the Goldwater

welcomed Goldwater’s challenge.

He knew the Arizona extremist would be easier to defeat than anyone else the Republicans could nominate. Johnson’s campaign ran the infamous “Daisy” commercial -- a little girl counts flower petals as she plucks them, which turns into the countdown for an atomic bomb explosion over her head.

“These are the stakes,” Johnson intoned.

Goldwater lost. Since then, no candidate has prompted such overt international controversy.

Normally, foreign leaders refrain from commenting on US elections, given that they hope to co-operate with whoever is selected.

Goldwater developed a more centrist position over time. Today, he would fit somewhere between Mitt Romney and Senator Rand Paul (Republican-Kentucky) in the GOP. Had he been elected, his policies might have become more sensible than his rhetoric.

The same could be true of Trump, who pledges to be reasonable in office. But Goldwater refrained from ad hominem attacks on nationalities, religions, and individuals. The New Yorker has trumped the Arizonan. He has

would likely place every American serving or traveling abroad in the uncomfortable position of explaining why we picked someone who disses so many.

Perhaps more important, America’s greatest successes have resulted from its ability to inspire. Since 1776, the US has made democracy look inviting and capitalism attractive. The world has become more stable as a result. Arrogance dims the nation’s appeal as a model, and undermines faith in humanity’s common future.

A remarkable image from the 20th century was the photograph of Earth taken by American astronauts on the moon. It revealed a beautiful blue marble in the immensity of space -- and reminded all peoples that the planet isn’t really that big. Getting along is important to security and prosperity. l Elizabeth A Cobbs is the author of American Umpire. She is the Melbern G Glasscock chair in American History at Texas A&M University and a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. This article previously appeared in Reuters.

14

DT

Opinion

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

What about the women?

Proper representation is necessary to fight exclusion

n Garga Chatterjee

I

njustice and exclusion flow along various axes: Gender, language, caste, religion, and so on. In the politics of the Indian Union, dismal representation of women, especially women from socio-economically depressed communities, has been a persistent feature.

While proper representation is not an automatic cure for such injustice and exclusion, it is an essential component that cannot be bypassed.

Representation is a necessary pre-condition in the fight exclusion. In the West Bengal elections, rapes against women have been an important charge that opposition parties have hurled against Trinamool -- to claim that women are extremely unsafe under Trinamool rule. With this context in mind, it’s important to look at some of these issues of political representation and sexual crimes against women through numbers.

Let us first look at representation. The parties of the Left Front are altogether fighting for 209 seats. There are 25 women candidates in those 209 seats, which works out to be about 12%.

This works out to be lower in comparison to 15% representation in the Trinamool candidate list.

There are 44 women candidates that the Trinamool has put up in the 294 seats it is contesting.

These numbers are in line with the prominence that women have in Trinamool vis-a-vis the Left Front in the top political leadership, not counting Mamata Banerjee.

Like most political parties which have an aggressive, religiously-divisive ideology, the women’s representation in the BJP list is lower than both the Trinamool and the Left Front -- standing at slightly under 10% with its 28 women candidates in 291 seats.

The minor Muslim issue

The difference becomes even more stark when Muslim women are concerned, especially in a state like West Bengal where Muslims form upwards of 27% of the population. So a good measure of Muslim representation among women candidates will tell us something, in spite of the underrepresentation of Muslims across genders in general in the party candidate list, with significant variations.

In the Trinamool women’s

Statistics say women are safer in Kolkata, but are they really? candidate list, Muslim women form about 23% (10 out of 44), not too different from the percentage of Muslims in the general populace. That percentage for the Left Front is 8% (2 out of 25) and that for BJP is at slightly less than 4% (1 out of 28).

As far as sexual violence against women goes, Mamata Banerjee’s government and the certain comments by Mamata Banerjee herself (“shajano ghotona” -- a set-up event) when she made light of the now well-known Park Street rape incident.

The Kamduni rape incident, and Mamata Banerjee’s initial conduct when she went to meet the family of the raped and murdered victim at Kamduni, also was a source of serious charges brought about by the opposition about her being insensitive in case of sexual violence against women.

This theme has played in media outside Bengal too, as a matter of fact, that the state under Mamata Banerjee’s chief leadership has really plunged in terms of women’s safety from sexual violence.

It is important that we look at data here to assess some of these things, because lived experiences of people are still far bigger deciders in election outcomes than media narratives about people’s experiences.

One rape is a rape too many. No one disagrees on that. However, difference in rate of rapes gives us some hint about women’s public safety issues in a certain

REUTERS

Women form roughly half the number of eligible voters. That is a fact everyone agrees on

area in the context of sexual violence. West Bengal, being the fourth largest state in terms of population, is among the highest in terms of any crime, in terms of absolute numbers.

But it’s not absolute or total number that matters. It’s the rate, that is, the number of incidents per a certain fixed number of women, that matters.

In terms of number of reported rapes as per official data of National Crime Records Bureau, New Delhi, West Bengal actually has a lesser number compared to most states.

It is clearly less than the Indiawide average while the CPI(M) rules Tripura state score quite high up. This is true for the years of the post-2011 period. While there is surely under-reporting of rape cases, there is no evidence to show that under-reporting of rape is particularly different or high in West Bengal.

Media and its misleading ways

Kolkata, in the same way, has been branded by sections of media and opposition as being particularly unsafe for women with a steep deterioration in the safety of

women from sexual violence and rape.

It is important that we then do a comparison here of Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru in terms of reported rapes per 1 lakh women population as per NCRB data for the years 2013 and 2014.

What about the rate of reported rapes which speaks in a strong way to the question of relative safety or lack of safety?

In comparison to Kolkata, the number of rapes per 1 lakh women is 47 times more in Delhi, 14 times more in Mumbai, six times more in Hyderabad, five times more in Bengaluru. Has the media narrative for the past two to three years around Kolkata given us an inkling of this picture?

It is perhaps important to understand what structures and interest groups in media build and sustain certain narratives and why and how that happens.

On the question of Kolkata getting unsafer by the day, the number of reported rapes have decreased in Kolkata from 2013 to 2014 and increased in each of the above-mentioned cities. These crime rates of West Bengal and

Kolkata are broadly comparable with the Left Front era.

However, I do have a disclaimer -- in any context of discussing sexual crimes against women, we must remember that a stupendous majority of such crimes have family members or previouslyknown people as perpetrators.

It is possible that there is a broader truth out there that these numbers don’t capture, and, if that is true, that might find expression against the Trinamool.

On the other hand, the Trinamool has launched a series of exclusively women, especially young women and girl-targetted schemes that the ruling party claims has benefited millions.

Which of these narratives are true will be known when the West Bengal assembly elections results are out.

Women form roughly half the number of eligible voters. That is a fact everyone agrees on. Whether the women agree on what is being told about them is unfolding in the ballot boxes as you read. l Garga Chatterjee is a political and cultural commentator. He can be followed on twitter @gargac.

DT

Business 15

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

INSIDE Demand for below 10% VAT rate Representatives from different professional chartered and management accountants have urged the government to fix a uniform value-added tax rate at below 10%. PAGE 16

Grameenphone launches lifestyle app Grameenphone launched a renewed WowBox, a lifestyle app developed by Telenor. The mobile phone operator has added new functionalities and customer offers to its popular lifestyle application for Bangladesh. PAGE 17

Digital farming could spell shake-up for crop chemicals sector Global pesticides, seeds and fertilizer companies may be forced to re-engineer their business models as farmers adopt specialist technology that helps maximize harvests while reducing the use of crop chemicals. PAGE 17

Rich and powerful warn robots are coming for your jobs Some of the richest, smartest and most powerful humans have an important message for the rest of us as they convened this week to discuss pressing global issues: the robots are coming. PAGE 18

Capital market snapshot: Wednesday DSE Broad Index

4,258.2

Index

1,042.2

-0.2% ▼

30 Index

1,641.8

-0.2% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk

4,007.7

-1.3% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

-0.3% ▼

104.5 -16.3% ▼

CSE All Share Index 13,105.2 30 Index Selected Index

-0.2% ▼

12,142.0

0.1% ▲

7,969.4

-0.2% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk

251.8

8.6% ▲

Turnover in Mn Vol

11.2

9.6% ▲

BSEC to revise merger rules n Kayes Sohel Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission has moved to revise merger and acquisition rules to protect investors’ interest.

To make the process faster, it has formed a four-member body to recommend on bringing changes in the existing rules, said the regulator in a statement yesterday.

The body was asked to submit its recommendations within 30 working days.

The move comes as the existing Substantial Share Inheritance, Acquisition and Takeover Rules of 2002 are not appropriate for the existing market, said an official.

Currently, the companies intended to merge or acquire are exempted from complying with the

securities rules, as the rules are not up to the mark, he added.

The rules will be framed in line with the international practice for protecting investors interest.

At present, both listed and non-listed companies need to take permission from the regulators concerned before placing proposal of merger and acquisition before the court by following Companies Act of 1994.

The companies usually go for merger and acquisition to raise profit by reducing costs, such as those of distribution and administrative expenses.

In reality, the profit of the entities declined to maintain the trend of profitability in most cases after merger or acquisition.

Summit Power, the first private power producer, is the latest com-

pany that has announced to merge three of its subsidiaries.

Business conglomerate Beximco Group is the pioneer in merger and acquisition in Bangladesh.

Currently, the firms intended to merge or acquire are exempted from the securities rules, as the rules are not up to the mark In 2005, the group first amalgamated two of its units—Beximco Pharma and Beximco Infusions— into one, Beximco Pharma.

In 2006, Beximco Textiles,

Beximco Denims and Beximco Knitting merged with Padma Textile Mills, which later was renamed Bextex and again merged with Beximco.

Bangladesh Online merged with Beximco in 2009. Besides, Dhaka-Shanghai Ceramics, Shinepukur Ceramics, Shinepukur Holdings and Beximco Fisheries also merged with Beximco in different times.

In 2014 Keya Cosmetics initiated the process of merger with its associate companies - Keya Knit Composite, Keya Cotton Mills and Keya Spinning Mills.

Tripti Industries merged with Olympic Industries in 2008, while Keya Detergent was merged with Keya Soap Chemicals in 2010, and Ocean Containers was merged with Summit Alliance Port in 2012. l

Remittance slides by 7% in April n Jebun Nesa Alo

Remittance inflow into Bangladesh dropped by around 7% in April compared to the previous month due to fall in oil price in global market which hurt the Saudi Arabian economy, the largest labour market of Bangladesh.

The expatriates sent a total of $1.19 billon remittance in April, down from $1.28 billion in March.

The inflow was $1.29 billion in April of the last year, according to the Bangladesh Bank data.

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, the world’s largest oil exporting countries are reportedly planning to diversify their revenues amid volatility in oil prices for a long time.

Instability in the economy of gulf countries is feared to be hindering Bangladesh’s remittance inflow as a lion’s share of remittance comes from those countries.

If oil prices continue to fall, Saudi Arabia may run a large budget deficit next year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has

BIGSTOCK

warned, reported The New Arab.

The IMF urged the kingdom to limit spending and discontinue some high-cost projects.

Manpower export to overseas market fell by 9% to 58,993 in April compared to 64,846 in March, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) of Bangladesh.

Stock market remains volatile Volatility prevailed during the n Kayes Sohel day’s session as the key index Stocks closed lower amid volatility yesterday after sharp rally in previous session.

Concern over earnings and profit-taking dominated the market despite relaxing bank’s stock exposure adjustment rules by the central bank for which the market witnessed bull-run in previous day.

nosedived and lost around 30 points after hitting an intraday high of 10 points.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange benchmark DSEX index fell 13 points or 0.4% to end at 4,258, after steep rise of over 100 points, which was its single day biggest  PAGE 16 COLUMN 5

Bangladesh experienced a notable increase in manpower export to the Saudi Arabia last year after the country lifted ban on hiring Bangladeshi workers in February 2015.

But remittance inflow remained slower due to falling oil price in the international market as oil export is the only revenue

source of gulf countries.

The number of total overseas employment rose to 5.55 lakh last year wheareas the figure was hovering within 4 lakh in previous two years, showed BMET data.

The higher manpower export resulted in record remittance inflow of $15 billion in year 2015 compared to $14.94 billion in 2014. l

DT

16

Business

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Demand for below 10% VAT rate n Syed Samiul Basher Anik

Representatives from different professional chartered and management accountants have urged the government to fix a uniform value-added tax rate at below 10%.

They have also requested the revenue authorities to implement the new Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 in phases, so the consumers do not face the pinch of the VAT hike.

The professionals came up with the demand to the revenue authorities at a pre-budget meeting held at NBR headquarters in the city yesterday. NBR Member (income tax policy) Parvez Iqbal presided over the meeting.

Representatives from Institute

of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) said: “The VAT rate should not be more than 10% not only to reduce the tax burden but also to increase VAT compliance and encourage taxpayers to pay the VAT voluntarily.

The government is all set to implement the new VAT law from July 1 which will have no provisions for package VAT or truncated value-based VAT system. With the introduction of the new law, all levels of business have to pay a unique and a flat VAT rate at 15%.

The association also proposed the NBR to increase the corporate tax on income of non-listed foreign banks to 45% and reduce the tax rate for non-listed local banks at 40% from the existing 42.5% to

keep the tax gap by 5% between the two sectors.

Though the foreign banks are making huge revenue by doing business in the country, they are yet to be listed to the stock exchange, said the ICMAB representative while arguing in favour of their demand.

The ICMAB, however, hoped that the tax hike would encourage foreign banks to be listed in the country’s stock market.

The association also demanded raising the tax-free limit for individual taxpayers at Tk3 lakh from the existing Tk2.50 lakh.

At the same meeting, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh also suggested the revenue authorities to allow a sixmonth time period for the taxpay-

ers after implementation of the law and implement it in phases, so the taxpayers can complete their preparations to comply with the new law.

Besides, the ICAB recommended the NBR to make submission of income tax returns mandatory for registration and renewal of motor vehicles to ensure potential income tax from the car owners.

Bangladesh Indenting Agents Association sought exemption of 15% VAT on the commission that the members of the association earn in foreign currencies against the export of indenting services.

“Indenting service is considered as export and the earnings come in form of foreign currency, so, VAT should not be imposed on the earnings,” it said. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15

Stock remains rally seen in previous day.

The Shariah index DSES was marginally down about 2 points or 0.2% to 1,042. The blue chip comprising index DS30 dropped by over 2 points to 1,641.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX ended at 7,969, shedding over 12 points.

According to the Lanka Bangla Securities, the index closed lower as Dhaka stock market routed by price correction after one of the biggest one day gains in previous session.

Meanwhile, market participation remained flat with a total turnover of Tk400 crore, with block transactions of over around Tk23 crore and over Tk12 crore in Islami Bank and Olympic Industries respectively. l

67% of trade licence fees still remain unchanged n Tribune Business Desk Around 67% of trade licence fees in various sectors of business remain unchanged though the government reduced them in January this year.

A public-private dialogue platform styled “Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD)” came up with the observation while presenting different papers at its 5th Trade and Investment (T&I) Working Committee Meeting held at the conference room of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) in the city on Monday last.

Though the government had earlier hiked the fees by an average rate of 263% in March 2015, it had to reduce the fees again in January 31 this year in the wake of huge protests by the business and trade leaders and organsiations.

According to the revised city corporation tax schedule, sector-wise trade licence renewal fee hike ranges from 40% to 110% for 299 business sectors.

“Despite the cut in fees, 66.78% trade licence fees still remain unchanged as some of the fees for licences have been increased due to the new imposition of 15% Value Added Tax on fees and surcharges,” said BUILD Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ferdous Ara Begum in a statement.

She also said: “All these policies will increase the cost of doing business.”

During the meeting, BUILD CEO Ferdaus Ara Begum presented several time-bound policy papers on simplifica-

tion of export documentation for bringing simplicity in doing business, simplification of policies for service export - a case of indenting service, export subsidy guidelines: maximising export support, non-tax revenue (NTR), trade and business license fees and simplification of policies for diversified jute products.

During her presentation, Ferdaus Ara underscored the need for setting up a high-powered inter-ministerial committee involving all agencies supporting exports and to deal with some suggestions for merging some documentation to improve the overall ranking of doing business.

She also suggested that the country required a comprehensive Export Subsidy Guideline that should be prepared and circulated along with all qualifying criterion of exporters, its lengths, and rates, impacts along with the preparation of the private sector.

BUILD has also suggested for simplification of the certification process to catch up huge demand of jute goods in the developed countries, establishing a service export promotion council soon under the leadership of commerce ministry.

During the meeting, Senior Secretary of Commerce Ministry Hedayetullah Al Mamoon also stressed the need for the simplification of business policies for substantial growth of business sector. He also underscored the need for building a trustworthy relationship between public and private sector to have the benefit from the reform. l

17

DT

Business

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Olympic Industries to set up new unit for producing cookies n Kayes Sohel

Grameenphone officials during the launch of WowBox lifestyle app in Dhaka yesterday

GP

GP launches lifestyle app n Ishtiaq Husain Grameenphone launched a renewed WowBox, a lifestyle app developed by Telenor.

The mobile phone operator has added new functionalities and customer offers to its popular lifestyle application for Bangladesh.

The app, available exclusively for Grameenphone subscribers, enables easy access to a wide range of Grameenphone products, discounts from popular outlets, as well as news and lifestyle articles, competitions and games.

Yasir Azman, chief marketing officer (CMO) of Grameenphone, announced WowBox new design yesterday. The

use of the app is free.

“Since the official launch in May last year, the WowBox has experienced growth rates that previously have been unheard-of in Bangladesh,” said Yasir Azman.

He added: “Currently over 3m subscribers use WowBox. We are excited to offer an even better and easier app for our customers, and for creating common value together with our partners.”

Holger Hussmann, head of WowBox at Telenor’s product and innovation unit, said: “Of the 3m, over 1.2m are using the app on a regular basis.”

“It is a result of a continuous effort to improve the WowBox experience and with this new version, we

aim to create even more excitement,” he said.

He said WowBox provides a valuable channel to engage with the fast growing community of young mobile Internet users in Bangladesh.

“And we are confident that they will enjoy the new improved user experience, increase in relevant offers and the cool new look.”

Besides, the customers can enjoy the special benefits of the WowBox reward programme. Here the user accumulates points, called tokens, when purchasing Grameenphone products within the WowBox app.

These points can later be redeemed for free Grameenphone products. l

Digital farming could spell shake-up for crop chemicals sector n Reuters, Irlbach Global pesticides, seeds and fertilizer companies may be forced to re-engineer their business models as farmers adopt specialist technology that helps maximize harvests while reducing the use of crop chemicals.

New businesses are springing up that promise to tell farmers how and when to till, sow, spray, fertilize or pick crops based on algorithms using data from their own fields.

Their emphasis on reducing the use of chemicals and minerals known as farming inputs is a further challenge for an industry already struggling with weak agricultural markets worldwide.

“If our only goal is to sell as much inputs as possible by the liters of chemicals, I think we would have a real problem going forward,” said Liam Condon, head of Crop Science at Bayer, the world’s second-larg-

est pesticides supplier.

Bayer bought proPlant, a developer of software for plant health diagnostics, earlier this year. Rivals are also investing in digital farming with the aim of generating service revenues that could offset any future drop in chemicals volumes.

“If you only spray half of the field that’s much less inputs,” Condon added. “The knowledge to get to the fact that you only spray that part of the field - that, you can sell.”

After an aborted takeover move for Syngenta, US seeds giant Monsanto says data science and services are the “glue that holds the pieces together” of its strategy for future growth.

Monsanto’s $1bn purchase in 2013 of the Climate Corporation, which analyses weather conditions, was the digital farming sector’s biggest deal to date.

DuPont is investing in digital farm management services under its Encirca brand, which it said in March had customers representing more than 1 million acres of farmland.

Monsanto’s failed swoop on Syngenta triggered a bout of M&A activity that has left the global seeds and pesticides industry in turmoil. The sector has annual sales of more than $100bn, while fertilisers are worth around $175bn.

Dow Chemical and DuPont are set to merge in the second half of this year while stateowned ChemChina agreed a takeover of Syngenta in February.

Risks and challenges

According to market research firm AgFunder, venture capital investments in food and agriculture technology nearly doubled to $4.6bn last year, with “precision agriculture” startups raising $661m in 2015, up 140% from 2014. l

Olympic Industries Limited – a leading consumer goods manufacturing company in the country – yesterday said it has decided to set up a new manufacturing unit for producing premium varieties of cookies at a cost of Tk13.3 crore.

The new unit will be its ninth production line, which will have an estimated annual capacity of 7,200 metric tons.

“The company has decided to import a new cookie line, complete with ancillary and packing machinery from Italy and India,” the company said in a filing with the stock exchanges.

Of the total cost, the company itself will provide some portion of the project cost and the rest will be taken as loan from bank to finance the project, according to the filing.

The news hit the stock exchange during

the trading hour, which gave a boost to its stock price. At the Dhaka Stock Exchange, it rallied 2.6% to Tk310.6 a share.

The company is currently the market leader in the biscuit market and second in the battery market of Bangladesh, according to the company website.

Starting with steel production dating back to 1,950, Olympic has steadily diversified over the years into various consumer goods including biscuits, confectioneries, batteries and ball pens. In 2008, the company merged with its another concern Tripti Industries for adding strength to its production under the same name of Olympic Industries.

The company along with its group of affiliated companies and sister concerns spans across several key industries including pharmaceuticals manufacturing, power generation, agriculture, trading, investing, information technology and film production. l

DT

18

Business

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Rich and powerful warn robots are coming for your jobs n Reuters, Los Angeles Some of the richest, smartest and most powerful humans have an important message for the rest of us as they convened this week to discuss pressing global issues: the robots are coming.

At the Milken Institute’s Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, at least four panels so far have focussed on technology taking over markets to mining - and most importantly, jobs.

“Most of the benefits we see from automation is about high-

er quality and fewer errors, but in many cases it does reduce labor,” Michael Chui, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute, said on Tuesday during a panel on “Is Any Job Truly Safe?”

The four-day annual conference, which began on Sunday,

CORPORATE NEWS

Social Islami Bank Limited has recently donated an ambulance to SIBL Foundation Hospital and Diagnostic Center as a part of the bank’s CSR activities, said a press release. The bank’s managing director and CEO, Md Shafiqur Rahman handed over keys of the ambulance to Dr Lily Amin, managing director of SIBL Foundation Hospital and Diagnostic Center

NRBC Bank and Hotel Graver Inn International has recently signed an agreement to provide the bank’s cardholders with special discounts at the hotel, said a press release. The bank’s senior vice president, Kazi Safayet Kabir and Dr SK Mogol Jan Rahman, managing director of Hotel Graver Inn International have signed the agreement

National Bank Limited has recently held a 5 daylong course on perspective of core banking software for cash management, said a press release. The bank’s senior executive vice president, Abdus Sobhan Khan distributed certificates amongst participants at the closing ceremony of the course

Partex Agro Limited has recently signed an adaptive market agreement with USAID’s AVC (Agricultural Value Chain) projects for developing new product line of seeds, said a press release. Chief of party of USAID’s AVC, Michael Field and KM Ali, CEO of Partex Star Group (Complex-2) have signed the agreement

has 3,500 invite-only participants exploring “The Future of Human Kind.”

Technology has not only done away with low-wage, low-skill jobs, some of the more than 700 speakers said. They cited robots operating trucks in some Austral-

ian mines; corporate litigation software replacing employees with advanced degrees who used to sift through thousands of documents prior to trials; and on Wall Street, the automation of jobs previously done by bankers with MBAs or PhDs. l

19

DT

Biz Info

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

| event |

| event |

BUFT team visits universities in Netherlands and Germany

Managing Director & CEO of Popular Life Insurance honoured

BM Yusuf Ali, managing director and CEO of Popular Life Insurance Co and president of Bangladesh Insurance Forum, is receiving the Letter of Felicitation from AKM Shahidul Haque, inspector general of Bangladesh Police.

As part of an ongoing educational collaboration, from April 24 to 28, a delegation from BGMEA University of Fashion & Technology (BUFT) visited Saxion University of Applied Sciences and Nyenrode Business University of Netherlands and Hochschule Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences of Germany.

The delegation was headed by Muzaffar U Siddique, founder chairman of BUFT. On behalf of Saxion University, Mirjam Koster, director of school of creative technology cordially welcomed them.

In a formal meeting session, the BUFT team talked about the role of the university in promoting RMG, fashion and textile related education in Bangladesh. The team further discussed various

issues relating to the Textile and Fashion education in Netherlands.

Moreover, they urged to initiate a joint research initiative and joint international projects on textile, apparel, fashion, faculty and student exchange programs, credit transfer facilities, research and training facilities and so on.

BUFT members of the board of trustees Tipu Munshi, MP, Md Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin), Prof Dr Engr Ayub Nabi Khan, the first vice president of FBCCI and pro-vice chancellor of BUFT, Erna Englen, the team leader and course director of Fashion Technologies, Evelyn Eijkelenkamp, exchange coordinator/ Internationalisation, Ger Brinks, lecturer of smart functional materials were present in the meeting.

Starting from this September,

a group of four students will start a semester at Saxion University studying in Textile Engineering (TE) and Textile Technology Management (TTM) in order to consolidate and implement the present collaboration agreement.

The team also expressed their desire of extending the educational collaboration agreement with Nyenrode Business University of Netherlands. In addition, in order to build mutual interest such as faculty and student exchange programs, credit transfer facilities, research and training facilities, internship programs in Bangladesh and Germany, the team signed a Letter of Intent with Hochschule Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences of Germany. l

| food |

Mouthwatering fillets at The Dining Room

Steamed Bhetki fillet delicately flavored with lime, gondhoraj and coconut is a special delicacy that is only served at The Dining Room.

For reservations at The Dining Room, contact: Email: reservations@ thediningroombd.com Tel: 0 2 9895729 Mobile: 01984-332299 , 01984221199

The Community Policing Assembly 2016 & Cultural Evening arranged by Shariatpur District Community Policing Forum took place at district stadium of Shariatpur.

Honorable Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, MP, was the chief guest of the program. Col (rtd) Shawkat Ali MP, B M Mozammel Haque MP, Nahim Razzak MP, Advocate Navana Akhtar MP and D Md Mojammel Haque Khan, senior secretary of the home ministry were invited as special guests. The main speaker of the

assembly was A K M Shahidul Haque, inspector general of Bangladesh Police.

Sheikh Himayet Hossain, additional IGP (CID), Abu Kamal Siddique, additional DIG of Dhaka Range, Md Mahmudul Hossain Khan, deputy commissioner of Shariatpur, Sabedur Rahman Khoka Shikdar, president of District AL, Babu Anal Kumar Dey, GS of district AL and Md Rafiqul Islam Kotowal, mayor of Shariatpur City Corporation were also present. l

| offer |

Great offers at Hotel Highgarden

The newly established Hotel Highgarden in Uttara is offering special discounts with a host of complimentary services which include buffet breakfast, airport pick-up or drops, WiFi connectivity in rooms, a basket of fresh fruits on arrival, a wellequipped fitness center and eclectic safety lockers in the rooms.

The restaurant at offers guests with a wide range of dishes of multiple cuisines such as Continental, Thai, Chinese,

Indian and Bangali prepared by the expert in-house chefs.

The Highgarden Conference Hall and Meeting room is able to facilitate and small meetings and is equipped with multimedia and modern equipments.

For more information, contact: Houese 40, Road 03, Sector 13, Uttara, Dhaka-1230.

Hotline: 01977712378, 01977712382 E-mail: info@hotelhighgarden.com www.hotelhighgarden.com

DT

Downtime

20

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Miss achievement (4) 4 Quick (4) 8 Spirit (3) 9 Musical instrument (4) 10 Refuse of grain (4) 11 Male honey-bee (5) 12 Back of the neck (4) 14 Rodent (3) 15 Faucet (3) 17 Undermine (3) 19 Corded fabric (3) 21 Snare (4) 23 Tale (5) 26 Large volume (4) 27 Tree (4) 28 Energy (3) 29 Copied (4) 30 That following (4)

DOWN 1 Myths (6) 2 Country (4) 3 Of the moon (5) 4 In favour of (3) 5 Concerning (5) 6 Offspring (3) 7 Golf mound (3) 11 Discourage (5) 13 Social event (5) 16 Powerful (6) 18 Naturally inclined (5) 20 Communion plate (5) 22 Church leader (4) 23 Mineral spring (3) 24 Helpful hint (3) 25 Colour (3)

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 17 represents R so fill R every time the figure 17 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

DT

World 21

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

INSIDE

WB: Economies could shrink by 2050 due to scarce water Reuters n Thomson Foundation, New York

The European Commission proposed a system to distribute asylum seekers across the EU on Wednesday that aims to ease the load on states like Greece and Italy but drew immediate condemnation from governments in Eastern Europe.

PAGE 23

India SC rules cigarette packs must carry bigger warnings India’s top court told tobacco companies on Wednesday they must adhere to a new federal rule requiring much larger health warnings on cigarette packs, in a major setback for the $11bn industry that opposes the new policy.

PAGE 23

Clinton exploring how to win Republicans With Donald Trump all but clinching the Republican nomination for president, Hillary Clinton is beginning to explore ways to woo Republicans turned off by the brash billionaire.

PAGE 24

Economies across large swathes of the globe could shrink dramatically by mid-century as fresh water grows scarce due to climate change, the World Bank reported on Tuesday.

The Middle East could be hardest hit, with its gross domestic product slipping as much as 14% by 2050 unless measures are taken to reallocate water significantly, the Washington-based institution said in a report.

Such measures include efficiency efforts and investment in technologies such as desalination and water recycling, it said.

Global warming can cause extreme floods and droughts and can mean snowfall is replaced by rain, with higher evaporation rates, experts say.

It also can reduce mountain snow pack that provides water, and the melting of inland glaciers can deplete the source of runoff, they say. Also, a rise in sea level can lead to saltwater contaminating groundwater.

“When we look at any of the major impacts of climate change, they one way or the other come through water, whether it’s drought, floods, storms, sea level rise,” Richard Damania, World Bank lead economist and lead author of the report, told reporters in a telephone conference.

Fresh water shortages could take a toll on sectors from agriculture to energy, the World Bank said.

“Water is of course at the center of life, but it’s also at the centre of economic activity,” Damania said.

Water scarcity would not have the same impact worldwide, and Western Europe and North American economies would likely be spared, according to the World Bank models.

But rising economies such as China and India could be hard hit, it said.

In the Sahel belt that stretches across Africa below the Sahara, GDP could well dip some 11% with water scarcity, the World Bank said. A similar impact would be felt in Central Asia, it said.

But measures to reallocate fresh water could show gains in some regions, the bank said.

For example, a shift in allocation could lead to GDP growth of about 11% by 2050 in Central Asia, the bank said.

Ü Water scarcity, exacerbated by climate change, could cost some regions up to 6% of their GDP, spur migration, and spark conflict. Ü The combined effects of growing populations, rising incomes, and expanding cities will see demand for water rising exponentially, while supply becomes more erratic and uncertain. Ü Unless action is taken soon, water will become scarce in regions where it is currently abundant - such as Central Africa and East Asia - and scarcity will greatly worsen in regions where water is already in short supply - such as the Middle East and the Sahel in Africa. These regions could see their growth rates decline by as much as 6% of GDP by 2050 due to water-related impacts on agriculture, health, and incomes. Ü Water insecurity could multiply the risk of conflict. Food price spikes caused by droughts can inflame latent conflicts and drive migration. Where economic growth is impacted by rainfall, episodes of droughts and floods have generated waves of migration and spikes in violence within countries. Ü The negative impacts of climate change on water could be neutralized with better policy decisions, with some regions standing to improve their growth rates by up to 6% with better water resource management. Ü Improved water stewardship pays high economic dividends. When governments respond to water shortages by boosting efficiency and allocating even 25% of water to more highly-valued uses, such as more efficient agricultural practices, losses decline dramatically and for some regions may even vanish. Ü In the world’s extremely dry regions, more far-reaching policies are needed to avoid inefficient water use. Stronger policies and reforms are needed to cope with deepening climate stresses. Ü Policies and investments that can help lead countries to more water secure and climate-resilient economies include-l Better planning for water resource allocation l Adoption of incentives to increase water efficiency, and l Investments in infrastructure for more secure water supplies and availability.

Sources: WORLD BANK

Fresh water shortages could take a toll on sectors from agriculture to energy The World Bank also advocated pricing water consumption, a proposal that has stirred controversy and is opposed by those who do not think water should not have any price tag.

“If you’re making money out of water, particularly if you’re using a lot of water as a commercial user, then it’s reasonable to suggest that you pay minimally enough to cover the cost of providing you with that water,” Damania said.

“This might well mean free water if you are exceedingly poor,” he said.

About a quarter of the world’s population, or some 1.6bn people, live in countries where water already is scarce, according to the World Bank.

Last month, 175 nations signed a deal reached last year in Paris to slow global warming and cut greenhouse gas emissions. l

CLIMATE-RELATED IMPACTS ON GDP IN 2050 15

11.5

10 5 0 -5 -10

3.32 0

-0.01

-0.02

-0.02

-0.82 0.38

North Western -6.02 America Europe

-15

1.46 -1.98

-7.08

-10.72 -11.7 Central Africa Central 14 Sahel Asia Middle East

0.09 -0.49

World Southeast -7.05 Asia East Asia

Range of variation in GDP (%)

EU’s scheme to share asylum seekers

KEY FINDINGS

Note: The figure shows the range that climate changes effects on water will have on GDP for selected regions.

Source: World Bank 2015a.

Mohammad Razon/ Dhaka Tribune

EFFECTS OF WATER SCARCITY ON GDP IN 2050

Business as usual

Note: The top map shows the estimated change in 2050 GDP due to water scarcity, under a business-as-usual policy regime.

Source: World Bank calculations.

DT

22

World

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

INSIGHT

Tensions surface between Turkish president, PM n Tribune International Desk Long-denied tensions between Turkey’s president and prime minister are beginning to surface publicly, leading to speculation from political observers that the country’s powerful leader may be considering replacing the premier with a figure more willing to take a backseat role.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hand-picked Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to succeed him

as premier and leader of his ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, after he was elected president in 2014.

The president, who has dominated Turkish politics for more than a decade, is pressing for a new constitution to change Turkey’s political system to a presidential one, which would push his prime minister deeper into the shadows.

Davutoglu, an independent-minded former professor, ad-

viser to Erdogan and foreign minister, is struggling to be his own man.

He has offered half-hearted support at best to an all-powerful presidential system and has also established himself as a moderating influence on an array of issues, by opposing, for example, the pre-trial imprisonment of academics or journalists.

He has also addressed the possibility of the resumption of a peace process with Kurdish rebels. Some observers even call him the voice of

reason in the party.

Tensions between the two men were exposed this week, when the AKP’s executive committee — dominated by Erdogan loyalists — seized Davutoglu’s powers to appoint local and provincial leaders, further weakening his grip on the party.

This development was billed as a “coup” against Davutoglu by independent media.

Divisions between the Erdogan and Davutoglu camp spilled into

the open over the conflict with Kurdish militants in the southeast.

Erdogan took issue with Davutoglu after he spoke of the possibility of resuming peace talks with the PKK if it withdraws its armed fighters from Turkish territory. Erdogan said in a public speech that it was out of the question for the peace process to restart, saying military operations would continue until the very last rebel is killed and the PKK threat is removed. l

23

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

EU’s scheme to share asylum seekers n Reuters, Brussels The European Commission proposed a system to distribute asylum seekers across the EU on Wednesday that aims to ease the load on states like Greece and Italy but drew immediate condemnation from governments in Eastern Europe.

The European Union executive published legislative proposals to reform the so-called Dublin system of EU asylum rules that includes a “fairness mechanism” under which each of the 28 states would be assigned a percentage quota of all asylum seekers in the bloc that it would be expected to handle.

The quotas would reflect national population and wealth and, if a country found itself handling 50% more than its due share, it could relocate people elsewhere in the bloc. States could refuse to take people for a year -- but only if they paid another country €250,000 per person to accommodate them.

“There is no a la carte solidarity in this Union,” First Vice President Frans Timmermans told reporters.

“This is a way to be able to show solidarity in a situation where ... you are not able to take the refugees which were allocated to you.”

But at a meeting in Prague, ministers from influential Visegrád Group, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic all repeated their opposition to the idea of relocation: The proposals, which also include measures to speed up the process of handling asylum claims

Top EU court upholds restrictive cigarettes law

n Reuters, Luxembourg/London The European Union’s highest court on Wednesday upheld a tough EU law that will standardise cigarette packs, ban menthol flavouring and restrict e-cigarette advertising, paving the way for its adoption this month and dealing a blow to Big Tobacco.

The European Court of Justice’s rejection of a legal challenge brought by Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco means the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) will take effect on May 20, though wholesalers will be given a year’s grace to sell stocks manufactured before that date.

The TPD will ban menthol cigarettes by 2020, standardise packs and impose rules on e-cigarettes, such as limits on nicotine strength, tank size and advertising.

The impact of TPD remains unclear because of limited precedent.

When it comes to plain packaging, only Australia serves as an example. l

KEY POINTS OF EU SCHEME TO SHARE OUT ASYLUM SEEKERS Ü An EU asylum system overhaul approved by the European Commission on Wednesday would oblige member states to resettle migrants from countries receiving a ‘disproportionate’ number of applications or else pay a fine of €250,000 for every migrant they refuse. Ü The proposals would assign each member state, which has been granted an opt-out, a percentage quota of all asylum seekers in the EU that it would be expected to handle. Quotas would reflect national population and wealth and, if a country found itself handling 50% more than its due share, it could relocate people elsewhere in the bloc. Ü The “corrective fairness mechanism” would complement the existing Dublin II regulation that requires all migrants arriving on EU soil to remain in the first member state they arrive in. Ü The proposed overhaul must be approved by the European Parliament and European Council of Ministers before it comes into effect. Ü The UK and Ireland can opt out of asylum policies, and the British government has already indicated it will not take part. Denmark is also exempt. Ü Countries refusing to accept their quota would effectively be fined - with the money going to frontline states such as Italy and Greece that have carried the burden. Ü Poland had agreed to take some 7,000 asylum seekers and could face a fine of at least €1.75bn if the proposals go through. Ü Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were outvoted when the quota plan was agreed.

Sources: REUTERS, BBC, TIMES OF MALTA and tighter controls on the movements of migrants themselves, need backing from governments and the European Parliament -- a process that officials expect to be an uphill battle and involve many amendments.

Germany, the bloc’s main paymaster and destination for the bulk of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, has pushed hard for a permanent relocation system and has voiced frustration with the refusal of governments in the east

who benefit the most from EU subsidies to take in asylum seekers.

Poland, Hungary and other formerly communist states say immigration, especially from the Muslim cultures of the Middle East, would disrupt their homogeneous societies. Governments also object to paying as an alternative to taking people in.

A similar proposal last year to set a payment of 0.002% of GDP was not taken up in the temporary scheme. The Commission did not

issue its quota figures. Last year’s tables gave Germany a roughly 18% share, France 14%, Poland 5.6% and Hungary 1.8%.

Any reform of the system, from which Britain, Ireland and Denmark are exempt, will require majority approval by EU governments. But senior officials say EU leaders will try to avoid forcing a deal through over strong minority objections, as happened with the temporary relocation scheme last September. l

India SC rules cigarette packs must carry bigger warnings n Reuters, New Delhi India’s top court told tobacco companies on Wednesday they must adhere to a new federal rule requiring much larger health warnings on cigarette packs, in a major setback for the $11bn industry that opposes the new policy.

The Supreme Court turned down a plea to stay implementation of the new rules introduced from April 1, which require health warnings to cover 85% of a cigarette pack’s surface, up from 20% earlier.

In a packed court room in New Delhi, a two-judge bench rejected the industry’s plea to extend a stay it had obtained from Karnataka High Court but agreed to a request to move the rest of the appeals to the Karnataka HC. “You have duty towards the society,” the judges told a team of industry lawyers, which included some of the most expensive attor-

BIGSTOCK

neys in the country.

The industry “should not violate any rule prevailing as of today”, they said.

The Supreme Court also directed the Karnataka HC to hear dozens of pleas filed against the new rules in several Indian courts and decide on the matter within six weeks.

ITC, Godfrey and the industry lobby group Tobacco Institute of India did not respond to requests seeking comment.

Battle in courts

The Supreme Court’s ruling can leave the industry in limbo. It was not immediately clear whether

DT

World

it will start complying with the new rules or sell old stock while it waits for the Karnataka court to decide.

When the rules came into force last month, the industry shut down factories in protest for days.

India’s traditional hand-rolled cigarette makers also joined in the protest.

The rules were initially supposed to come into force on April 1, 2015 but were delayed.

The rules make India’s health warnings on tobacco products the world’s most stringent, along with Thailand. Smoking kills more than 1m people a year in India, according to BMJ Global Health.

The World Health Organisation says tobacco-related diseases cost India $16bn annually.

The tobacco industry filed 27 cases against the federal rule in several courts around the country, according to lawyers involved in the case. l

SOUTH ASIA

Pakistan army launches inquiry into political worker’s death Pakistan’s army chief on Wednesday ordered an inquiry into the death of a political activist in custody of the paramilitary Rangers force. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a secular party that has long dominated the port city of Karachi, has accused the Rangers of having carried out dozens of extra-judicial killings of party members since 2013, something the Rangers deny.

-REUTERS

INDIA

Delhi schools to close early due to heat wave All schools in Delhi have been ordered to take a mandatory summer vacation from 11 May amid a heatwave that has swept the city.

Officials say temperatures will continue to rise in the coming weeks, after reaching 44°C on Monday – the hottest day of the year so far. Schools in other parts of India have already been forced to close because of heatwaves and a drought. -THE GUARDIAN

CHINA

China slams UN criticism of controls on foreign NGOs China on Wednesday denounced UN criticism of its new law on foreign NGOs as prejudiced and unfounded allegations, demanding that the statement be withdrawn.

The law, passed last week, gives police wide-ranging powers over overseas charities. Three UN human rights special rapporteurs said they feared the law’s can be wielded as tools to intimidate, and even suppress opinions in the country. -AFP

ASIA PACIFIC

Australia to go to polls on July 2 Australia’s election campaign will officially start soon with climate change policy and union corruption in the national building industry shaping into key battlegrounds for the July 2 poll. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Wednesday that he was likely to visit Governor-General Peter Cosgrove this weekend to lock down the date and officially start the election campaign.

-AP

MIDDLE EAST

Israel to open permanent mission at Nato HQ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel would upgrade its ties with the 28-member Nato military alliance by opening a permanent mission to its Brussels headquarters. Nato announced on Tuesday that it agreed that an official Israeli mission be established at Nato headquarters with the Israeli envoy to Belgium as head of the mission.

-AFP

DT

24

World

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

USA

Senator Warren unleashes Twitter storm on Trump Senator Elizabeth Warren has taken to Twitter to attack what she calls presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s “toxic stew of hatred & insecurity.” The Massachusetts Democrat issued a series of tweets Tuesday night as results from the Indiana GOP primary forced Senator Ted Cruz from the race and left Trump as the overwhelming favorite for the nomination.

-AP

THE AMERICAS

Wildfire forces mass evacuation in Canada An out-of-control wildfire destroyed much of one neighborhood in the remote Canadian city of Fort McMurray and badly damaged other areas, the local government said on Wednesday, hours after it ordered all 80,000 residents to leave in the biggest evacuation in the area’s history. Hot, dry weather has made it more difficult to being the fire under control.

-REUTERS

UK

UK to take more Syrian child refugees British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday Britain would take more Syrian child refugees who had made it to Europe, in a move to quell a rebellion in his party before a referendum on EU membership. Cameron has said children fleeing the conflict in Syria are relatively safe once they reach Europe and that the government does not want to encourage more Syrians to attempt the hazardous journey to the West.

-REUTERS

EUROPE

Russia warns of possible Nato deployment in Poland, Baltics Russia will be forced to take retaliatory measures if Nato deploys 4 extra battalions in Poland and the Baltic states, a senior Russian Foreign Ministry official said on Wednesday. Russia will form 3 new military divisions to counter what it believes is the growing strength of Nato near its borders, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu announced on Wednesday. -REUTERS

AFRICA

16 villagers hacked to death in DR Congo Attackers armed with machetes and axes hacked at least 16 civilians to death in a night-time assault on their village in the volatile east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Local administration said the brutal attack took place late Tuesday in the Beni region of North Kivu province, an area which has witnessed numerous massacres in the past.

-AFP

INSIGHT

Clinton exploring how to win Republicans n Tribune International Desk

Candidates battle high negatives

With Donald Trump all but clinching the Republican nomination for president, Hillary Clinton is beginning to explore ways to woo Republicans turned off by the brash billionaire.

The Democratic front-runner’s campaign believes Trump’s historically high unfavourable ratings and penchant for controversy may be enough to persuade a slice of GOP voters to get behind her bid, in much the same way so-called Reagan Democrats sided with the Republican president in the 1980s.

Even before Trump was declared the winner Indiana’s GOP primary, there were some early signs that a sliver of the party might see Clinton as the only option.

“I’m with her,” tweeted Mark Salter, a top campaign aide to 2008 Republican nominee John McCain, on Tuesday.

Democrats caution their effort to win over Clinton Republicans — or Hilla-cans, perhaps — is in its earliest stages, but could grow to include ads and other outreach targeted in particular at suburban women in battleground states.

Already, aides say, a number of Republicans have privately told Clinton and her team they plan to break party ranks and support her as soon as Trump formally captures his party’s nomination.

While such bipartisan support would expand Clinton’s base of potential voters, a series of high-profile endorsements from Republican officials could also raise questions about her liberal credentials and threaten to dampen enthusiasm among some in her own party.

For months, primary rival Bernie Sanders has criticised Clinton’s record from the left, highlighting her 2002 vote in favour of Iraq war and support from Wall Street. The Vermont senator won the Indiana primary Tuesday, demonstrating her lingering weaknesses within her own party.

Clinton has begun casting her candidacy in recent days as a cry to unify a divided country. After a series of victories last week, which all but ensured she will capture her party’s nomination, Clinton called on Democrats, independents and what she called “thoughtful Republicans” to back her bid.

While a vocal segment of the Republican Party has denounced Trump, few have been willing to go as far as saying they would

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is held in low regard by the public, but ratings for Republican front-runner Donald Trump are even lower, a new AP-GfK poll shows: Americans described their impression of the candidates as: Favorable

Unfavorable

Clinton

40%

55

Trump

26

69

When it comes to the general election, voters said they: Definitely would vote for Clinton

24%

Trump

17

Would consider voting for

Definitely would not vote for

26

51

19

63

Clinton outscores Trump when asked how well the following words describe each candidate: Very well

Somewhat well

Slightly well

Not at all well

Civil Clinton

21%

Trump 4

11

27

21

17

28 66

Compassionate 20%

Clinton Trump

7

22

10

22

34 64

16

Competent 28%

Clinton Trump

14

21 16

19

17

30 50

Decisive Clinton

24%

Trump

21

24

23

22

16

27 39

Honest Clinton

12%

Trump

10

17

18

15

50

16

56

Likable Clinton Trump

16% 8

20 14

22

16

40 60

Results based on a survey of 1,076 U.S. adults conducted March 31-April 4.

Margin of sampling error is ±3.3 percentage points for all respondents, higher for subgroups. Numbers are rounded.

SOURCE: GfK Public Affairs & Corporate Communications

back Clinton in the fall.

Endorsements from prominent GOP backers could potentially pave the way for Republican voters to back Clinton, particularly woman.

A February poll of likely Republican voters commissioned by a Democratic firm led by Stan Greenberg, a former pollster for former President Bill Clinton, found that 20% of Republicans are “uncertain” whether they would back Trump or Clinton in a head-to-head match-up.

A quarter of GOP voters in Indiana said they would not vote for Trump in a general election,

AP

according to exit polls. Half of Republicans who didn’t vote for Trump said they would be scared and another third said they would be concerned about Trump occupying the White House.

There is some irony in Clinton playing the role of a unifier: She’s long been one of the most divisive figures in American politics. But while 55% of Americans said they had a negative opinion of Clinton in an Associated Press-GfK poll released last month, 69% said the same of Trump.

For some voters, that leaves them feeling like they have few good options. l

UN: Syria regime withholds aid to thousands n Reuters, Geneva

Syria’s government is refusing UN demands to deliver aid to hundreds of thousands of people including many in Aleppo, the city at the centre of an eruption of fighting in the past two weeks, UN humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said on Wednesday.

“We seem to be having new possible besieged areas on our watch, we are having hundreds of relief workers unable to move in Aleppo,” he told reporters after chairing a weekly meeting of nations supporting the Syria peace process.

“It is a disgrace to see that while the population of Aleppo is bleeding, their options to flee have never been more difficult than now.”

The first major ceasefire in Syria’s five-year civil war, sponsored by the US and Russia, was struck in February but has virtually collapsed in recent weeks, with Aleppo bearing the brunt of the renewed bloodshed.

The humanitarian task force chaired by Egeland enjoyed some success in opening up access for aid in April, ensuring it reached 40% of people in besieged areas in Syria, compared to 5% in the whole of 2015.

It has also overseen 22 airdrops of aid into the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, where 110,000 people are besieged by Islamic State insurgents, Egeland said, about half the previous estimate of 200,000 people trapped there.

But progress has stalled and requests to the Syrian government to greenlight aid convoys to six remaining besieged areas in May have largely fallen on deaf ears.

“We got an answer back that is not good news,” Egeland said.

“Half of the places in the May plan were not accepted, including east Aleppo.” That part of the city is under rebel control.

President Bashar al-Assad’s government put major conditions on aid to another 25% of the people the UN had hoped to help, Egeland said.

Among those getting a partial approval was the town of Daraya, where 4,000 people including 500 children are on “the brink of starvation”. The government said baby milk and school supplies could go in, Egeland said.

“But to some extent it’s an improvement - the government earlier said there were only terrorists in Daraya and they are now admitting there are children there.”

The UN has appealed to Assad’s government to change its mind and allow aid without conditions to all places that were refused or got only a partial green light, he said. l

DT

Sport 25

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

INSIDE

Abahani thump archrivals MSC Abahani Limited swept into the semifinals of the Club Cup Hockey Tournament as the group champions after they outplayed archrivals Mohammedan Sporting Club 4-2 at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium. PAGE 26

Sania autobiography to hit stands in July Ace tennis star Sania Mirza has documented her journey to become the World No. 1 in the women’s doubles rankings in an autobiography set for release this July, according to publishers Harper Collins. PAGE 27

Prime Bank allrounder Sabbir Rahman hits big on his way to a 97-ball century during their Dhaka Premier League match against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in Fatullah yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Abahani claim thriller, Doleshwar atop n Minhaz Uddin Khan

Atletico ready to write UCL history Atletico Madrid are not seeking revenge for their 2014 Champions League final defeat but instead want to write a new chapter in the club’s history with their first European Cup after getting past Bayern Munich. PAGE 28

Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club hit the top of the charts after winning four consecutive matches in the Walton Dhaka Premier League yesterday, by defeating Brothers Union by seven wickets.

In Fatullah, Abahani Limited clinched a nail-biter against Victoria Sporting Club while Prime Bank Cricket Club, after setting a record total, defeated Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club by 113 runs.

Doleshwar v Brothers Union

Little Messi appeals to UN after threats The young Afghan boy who captivated hearts after he was pictured wearing a plastic bag as an improvised Lionel Messi jersey has appealed to the UN refugee agency after fleeing Afghanistan. Murtaza Ahmadi became an Internet sensation in January.

PAGE 29

Opener Imtiaz Hossain’s unbeaten 100 off 128 balls aided Prime Doleshwar to the seven-wicket victory .

Chasing 230 runs, Doleshwar made a shaky start losing opener Rony Talukdar for a first-ball duck. But Man of the Match Imtiaz held one side as he pulled four substantial partnerships. The biggest was for the fourth-wicket with Nasir Hossain (48*) as they added 101 runs before he had put on 82 for third wicket with Chamara Silva (46).

Earlier Brothers Union, with Imrul Kayes’ 57 and Tushar Imran’s 55, posted 229 runs.

Off-spinner Robiul Islam Robi picked up two wickets.

Abahani v Victoria

Abahani survived yet another close game, this time winning against Victoria by just nine runs.

Chasing 222 to win, Victoria were on track despite a shaky start losing their openers early.

But Al Amin’s 56 runs followed

by Suhrawardi Shuvo’s 45 had steadied the chase and with three overs left in the innings, Victoria needed 16 with a wicket to spare.

Abahani pacer Taskin Ahmed however made a halt to that after

BRIEF SCORES BROTHERS UNION 229 (Imrul 57, Tushar 55, Robi 2/24, Nasir 2/49) lost to PRIME DOLESHWAR SC (Imtiaz 100*, Nasir 48*, Tushar 1/3) by seven wickets ABAHANI LIMITED 221 (Tamim 63, Mitra 44, de Silva 6/35, Kamurl 3/38) won against VICTORIA SPORTING CLUB 212 (Al Amin 56, Shuvo 45, Taskin 2/29) by nine runs PRIME BANK CC 318/9 (Sabbir 100, Shanaj 66, Nurul 63, Mahmudullah 5/66) won against SHEIKH JAMAL DHANMONDI CLUB 205 (Nazmus 76, Nazmul 3/36) by 113 runs

removing Kamrul Islam Rabbi, the last Victoria wicket to end the chase on 212.

Earlier, Abahani captain Tamim Iqbal’s 63 complemented by Avishek Mitra’s 44 and Abul Hasan’s 43 gave them fighting total . Victoria’s Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Chaturanga de Silva took six wickets while Kamrul bagged three.

Prime Bank v Sheikh Jamal

Sabbir Rahman’s first List-A century in five years and a sharp bowling attack got Prime Bank to a 113-run win over Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club. Batting first, Sabbir’s 97-ball 100 with Shanaj Ahmed’s 66 and Nurul Hasan’s 63 got Prime Bank to 318-9, the season’s highest total so far.

Sheikh Jamal captain Mahmudllah bagged five wickets but that was never enough to stop his opponents set a mammoth total.

Later, Prime Bank bowlers picked regular wickets to deny Sheikh Jamal batsmen put up partnerships and the chase was exhausted by the 47th over.

Najmus Sadat made 76. Leftarm spinners Raihan Uddin and Nazmul Islam picked three wickets each. l

Mustafizur’s Sussex stint delayed?

n Tribune Report The start of Mustafizur Rahman’s stint at Sussex could be delayed to give the pace sensation some time to rest after the grueling IPL campaign for the Hyderabad Sunrisers.

It was learned yesterday that the BCB would consider his physical condition before letting him travel to England. Mustafizur has only recently recovered from a side strain which he suffered during the Asia Cup. It kept him out of most of the WT20.

The Sunrisers’s last league stage match is on May 22 while the IPL final will be held on May 29. Mustafizur was supposed to join Sussex right after the IPL but the Natwest T20 blast begins on May 20 and the group stage ends on July 28. The Royal London Cup one-day tournament, for which he is also available, has the group stage from June 6 to August 2.

In any case, if he decides to come back to Bangladesh after his IPL stint, it would delay his travel since he has to obtain the UK visa from Dhaka. But the BCB’s cricket operations committee chairman Akram Khan said that the board hasn’t pushed back on his deal with Sussex. “A decision is still pending on Mustafizur’s participation in county cricket this season but then again it is his personal decision, we can only make suggestions,” Akram told Dhaka Tribune yesterday. l

DT

26

Sport

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

CLUB CUP HOCKEY

Abahani thump MSC, top group n Tribune Report Abahani Limited swept into the semifinals of the Club Cup Hockey Tournament as the group champions after they outplayed archrivals Mohammedan Sporting Club 4-2 at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium yesterday.

Both the rivals confirmed their place in the last-four earlier before the game and yesterday’s last group match confirmed the semifinal line-ups as Group B champions Abahani will take on Mariner Young’s Club in the second semifinal on May 7 after Mohammedan face Group A champions Usha Krira Chakra in the other semifinal a day before.

With the addition of five foreign recruits, Abahani began the game on bright note and dominated the

opening half thoroughly while Mohammedan played without any foreign players who arrived in the capital but didn’t get their names registered yet to play.

Maksud Alam Habul put the Sky Blues ahead with six minutes into the clock after Roman Sarkar’s hit from outside the box met Habul, who neatly sent the ball into the net. Pakistani forward Shafqat Rasul doubled the lead two minutes later following a cross from Roman.

Habul netted his second to extend the lead in the 11th minute.

Mohammedan pulled one back in the five minute into the second half through Taposh Barman but Roman scored in the 51st minute with a solo effort to maintain the gap. Deen Islam reduced the margin in the 58th minute for Mohammedan. l

An Abahani player (L) attempts to dribble past several Mohammedan defenders during their Club Cup Hockey match at Maulana Bhashani Hockey Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Ctg Abahani into final after shootout n Shishir Hoque Rising powerhouse Chittagong Abahani set up the final clash with Abahani Limited in the KFC Independence Cup after they defeated Sheikh Russel 4-2 in a tie-breaker in the second semifinal at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

After the 120-minute of the game had ended 1-1, former national forward Mithun Chowdhury and midfielder Shahedul Alam Shahed missed their chances for Russel in the penalty shoot-out to allow the port city outfits reach the final for the first time in the Independence Cup. Chittagong Abahani continued to prove becoming one of the powerhouses in domestic arena after yesterday’s feat. They also clinched the title of Sheikh Kamal Interna-

tional Club Cup beating top clubs from South Asia. They will face Abahani in the final on May 7.

Earlier, Ethiopian striker Fikru Teferra put Sheikh Russel ahead moments before the first half and Rubel Mia cancelled out the lead in the second half. The game rolled into the extra time where barely any effort made by any side to alter the result.

Maruful Haque had to field a starting eleven without his two regular attackers Paul Emile and Jahid Hasan Ameli but got back Shakhawat Rony and Monaem Khan Raju from injury. Haitian forward Fabrice Noel didn’t start for Sheikh Russel.

The Blues had a better start to the game and they created three chances in three minutes

INDEPENDENT CUP Sheikh Russel

1-1

Ctg Abahani Rubel Mia 66

Fikru 45+

PLAYING ELEVEN SHEIKH RUSSEL Liton; Moni, Meshu, Valery, Bablu; Arup (Rajon), Raju, Shahed; Ikanga, Rony (Mithun), Fikru.

CHITTAGONG ABAHANI Rana; Reza, Arman, Udoka, Shaikat (Sharif); Kawshik (Manik), Biplob, Janaby; Zahid, Rubel (Sumon), Preux Chittagong Abahani skipper Zahid Hossain attempts a header towards Sheikh Russel goalpost during their Independence Cup semifinal at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

but poor finishing touch denied them from the opener. Fikru hit on target in the 14th minute when his looping effort from 20 yards allowed Ashraful Islam Rana make an easy save.

A minute later, Arup Kumar Baidya found unmarked Shakhawat Hossain Rony inside the box but Rony headed wide just before midfielder Shahedul Alam Shahed shot wide from the centre of the box following Fikru’s short pass.

Chittagong Abahani’s Haitian forward Leonel Saint Preux squandered a great chance in the 27th minute when he managed to beat onrushing Sheikh Russel keeper Liton right outside the box but lost the control while shooting. Liton was beaten once again but this time Kaushik Barua shot wide.

Fikru put Sheikh Russel ahead at the stroke of the first half. Following a cutback of Atiqur Rahman Meshu, Rony’s initial effort from the middle of the box was blocked

by Rana and Fikru headed into an empty net on the rebound.

Rubel Mia leveled the margin in the 66th minute tapping home from two yards following a low cross of Leonel Preux from right side. Minute later, Kaushik’s powerful strike from just outside the box flew inches over the bar.

Zahid Hossain took the fourth and last penalty in the tie-breaker which sealed the victory after Tarik El Janaby, Alison Udoka, Leonel Preux all scored from the spot while only Fikru and Nahayo Valery managed to convert their chances for Russel. l

Tigers remain at No 7 in ODIs n Tribune Report Bangladesh retained seventh place in the ICC ODI team rankings after the International Cricket Council announced the annual update yesterday. They gained just one point from the previous update and now have 98 points.

Bangladesh were also unmoved in the ICC T20 team ranking behind Afghanistan in 10th position.

Australia sitting at the top of the chart with124 rating points followed by New Zealand in the second position with 113 points.

South Africa (112), India (109), Sri Lanka (104) and England (103) are at the third, fourth, fifth and sixth position respectively while Afghanistan (51), Zimbabwe (47) and Ireland (42) are at the bottom of the ODI team rankings.l

ICC RANKINGS ODI

1 Australia (124 points), 2 New Zealand (113), 3 South Africa (112), 4 India (109), 5 Sri Lanka (104), 6 England (103), 7 Bangladesh (98), 8 West Indies (88), 9 Pakistan (87), 10 Afghanistan (51), 11 Zimbabwe (47), 12 Ireland (42)

T20I

1 New Zealand (132 points), 2 India (132), 3 West Indies (122), 4 South Africa (119), 5 England (114), 6 Australia (110), 7 Pakistan (104), 8 Sri Lanka (98), 9 Afghanistan (78), 10 Bangladesh (74), 11 Netherlands (67), 12 Zimbabwe (58), 13 Scotland (57), 14 UAE (54), 15 Ireland (48), 16 Oman (37), 17 Hong Kong (29)

27

DT

Sport

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

QUICK BYTES Cole set to swap Coventry for NASL Former Chelsea and Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole is set to leave Coventry City and join Tampa Bay Rowdies in the North American Soccer League. The 34-year-old joined Coventry on a free transfer from Aston Villa in January after completing a loan spell at the League One (third-tier) club. “Joe’s going to join Tampa Bay and it might happen pretty quickly if he can get international clearance, etc,” Coventry boss Tony Mowbray told the Coventry Telegraph.

Sevilla players attend a training session yesterday in Seville, Spain prior to their Uefa Europa League semifinal second leg against Shakhtar Donetsk

–REUTERS REUTERS

Barca's Adriano in trouble over taxes Brazilian defender Adriano is the latest Barcelona player to be embroiled in a tax scandal after a Spanish court said on Wednesday he had been accused earlier this year with defrauding the Spanish state of 646,086 euros ($742,927).

The Brazilian paid the full amount owed to the tax authorities on March 7, the court added in a statement. A judge must now decide whether to pursue the matter in court.

–REUTERS

Renegades may bring back Gayle The Melbourne Renegades are considering bringing back Chris Gayle for another ‘Big Bash’ cricket tournament despite the furore the West Indies batsman caused by asking a reporter out on a date during a televised interview. Gayle was fined A$10,000 ($7,500) and slammed by Renegades’ management in January after directing personal comments at Channel Ten reporter Mel McLaughlin. “To see your eyes for the first time is nice,” the 36-yearold said. “Hopefully we can have a drink afterwards. Don’t blush, baby.”

–REUTERS

Toni retires at end of Verona season Veteran Italian striker Luca Toni will hang up his boots after a final Serie A game with Verona against Juventus on Sunday, after announcing his retirement from football on Wednesday.

The 2006 World Cup winner has scored a total of 156 Serie A goals for eight different clubs.

Last season Toni, at 38 years old, became the oldest player to win Serie A’s top scorer (Capocannoniere) award with 22 goals in the season. Verona were relegated from Serie A last week.

–AFP

Klopp chases lost spark in Villarreal reunion n AFP, London Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has vowed that his team will rediscover their mojo in time for Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg at home to slick Spanish opponents Villarreal.

After a 1-0 first-leg defeat, Klopp saw a much-changed side beaten 3-1 by Swansea City on Sunday and goes into the biggest game of his seven-month tenure on the back of the first successive losses of his Anfield reign.

Including a 2-2 draw against Newcastle United, Liverpool have now gone three games without victory in all competitions, but Klopp is confident that they will rediscov-

er their poise when the moment comes.

Reflecting on the defeat by Swansea, he told the Liverpool website: “We played like we played and I saw it for the whole 90 minutes and there was not a lot I enjoyed, to be honest.

“We have to think about it and we have to recover, which is very important, and we will play much, much better than we did on Sunday.

“We have to accept the result, which is what we do, and then we work and we will be better on Thursday.”

Following the euphoria of the astonishing 4-3 second-leg win over Borussia Dortmund in the

previous round, Liverpool found themselves drawn into a more cagey affair in last week’s first meeting with Villarreal.

After both teams had hit the post, Liverpool looked set for a creditable draw, only for an injury-time counter-attack to culminate in Adrian Lopez giving Villarreal a slender advantage.

Seeking to reach a first continental final since the 2007 Champions League decider, Liverpool approach the second leg needing to cancel out Villarreal’s lead but without exposing themselves on the counter.

Liverpool remain without captain Jordan Henderson, whose season has been ended by a knee lig-

Sania autobiography ‘Ace Against Odds’ to hit stands in July n PTI Ace tennis star Sania Mirza has documented her journey to become the World No. 1 in the women’s doubles rankings in an autobiography set for release this July, according to publishers Harper Collins.

Titled, ‘Ace Against Odds,’ the book has been penned by Mirza with her father Imran Mirza. “Sania’s is an extraordinary achievement and her autobiography is as compelling as it is inspirational. We are privileged to be able to work

with her on the book,” says Karthika V K, Publisher and Chief Editor, Harper Collins.

The 29-year-old sportswoman was ranked as India’s No. 1 player by the Women’s Tennis Association, both in singles and doubles circuits.

“I hope the book is a useful roadmap to guide the next generation of tennis players from India.

If my story can inspire even one youngster to the heights of winning a Grand Slam in the future, I will feel blessed,” says Mirza.

The autobiography chronicles

her rise to the top, and is peppered with anecdotes where she talks about the difficulties and hardships as well as the joys and triumphs that came her way.

Mirza, who announced her retirement from the singles circuit in 2012 underwent a remarkable transformation between August 2015 and March 2016, during which she pocketed 41 consecutive wins with her doubles partner Martina Hingis, and went on to become the World No. 1 in the Women’s Doubles rankings. l

ament injury, and central defender Mamadou Sakho, who has been provisionally suspended by UEFA after failing a drugs test.

Striker Divock Origi, who scored twice across the two legs against Dortmund, remains sidelined with an ankle problem.

Villarreal travel to Liverpool full of confidence after securing a return to the Champions League for the first time in four years with a 2-0 win at Valencia in La Liga on Sunday.

Coach Marcelino, whose club have never reached a major final, could even afford the luxury of making 10 changes at the Mestalla from the side that beat Klopp’s men in the first leg.l

DT

28

Sport

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

TALKING POINTS Outstanding Oblak

Jan Oblak was arguably the top performer of the match as the Slovenian international showed great reflexes, alertness, presence of mind and nerves of steel to steer his side to the final.

Gimenez conceded a penalty as he brought down Javi Martinez in the box. The keeper rescued Atleti once again as he went the right way to block Thomas Muller’s shot.

Oblak also denied Xabi Alonso on the rebound.

A battle of tactics

Bayern Munich started the game with blazing guns. The German giants caught Atletico Madrid off guard with their relentless pressing high up the pitch. Franck Ribery and Douglas Costa threatened on the flanks while Muller and Lewandowski continually found gaps in Atletico’s defense.

Full-backs David Alaba and Philipp Lahm were effective upfront on the overlap, while centre-backs Jerome Boateng and Javi Martinez played a high line.

All this while, Atletico Madrid absorbed pressure brilliantly, continuously outnumbering and isolating Bayern’s front-men whenever they looked to create a chance. There were times when almost nine blue shirts could be seen guarding the Atletico box.

Drama on the sidelines

Drama is inevitable when Atletico Madrid are playing a crucial game.

Los Rojiblancos boss Diego Simeone is quite a character on the sidelines, but he absolutely crossed the line in the match against Bayern.

The controversial manager was involved in a physical tussle with Bayern Munich’s winger Franck Ribery early on in the game, with both of them going for each other’s throats following a heated exchange of words between the Atletico manager and Bayern’s bench.

Atleti still have work to do

Atletico Madrid go into the final as clear favourites regardless of which team triumphs in the second semi and rightly so. Diego Simeone’s men have managed to knock-out Barcelona and Bayern Munich, two of the best teams in the world on their way to the final of Europe’s elite competition.

Having emerged victorious over the course of two legs, the Colchoneros must learn from their away defeat in order make sure they don’t throw another European final away.

Semi woes continue for Bayern

Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich succumbed to a third successive semi-final defeat to a Spanish side in the UEFA Champions League.

The Germans last won the coveted prize back in 2013, with Jupp Heynckes at the helm.l

BAYERN v ATLÉTICO Bayern Munich

2-1

Atletico Madrid

Alonso 31, Griezmann 54 Lewandowski 74 Aggregate score 2-2. Atletico win on away goals

68 34 12 13 9 0 12 3 1 0 14 10 668 591

Possession (%) Total attempts on target off target blocked against woodwork Corners Offsides Yellow cards Red Cards Fouls committed Fouls suffered Passes completed

32 7 4 2 1 0 2 2 1 0 10 14 212 154

Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann shoots to score against Bayern Munich during their Uefa Champions League semifinal second leg match at Allianz Arena, Munich on Tuesday REUTERS

Atletico ready to write UCL history n Reuters, Munich Atletico Madrid are not seeking revenge for their 2014 Champions League final defeat but instead want to write a new chapter in the club’s history with their first European Cup after getting past Bayern Munich.

The Spanish side, who also lost the 1974 European Cup final to Bayern, advanced to the showpiece match on the away goals rule after losing 2-1 on Tuesday for a 2-2 aggregate result.

They got to the final two years ago, losing to Real Madrid, who face Manchester City at the Bernabue in the other semi-final on

Wednesday after a goalless first leg.

“We are not out for revenge,” said Atletico striker Fernando Torres, who set up the first goal and missed a late penalty.

“We want to write history. We have not won this trophy and we do not care who it will be, whether Real or Manchester City.

“It was not about revenge for 1974 tonight nor is the final about revenge. It is a new chance and maybe we can write some memories,” he added.

Diego Simeone’s Atletico, who can still win La Liga this season, eliminated Champions League holders Barcelona in the last round and their win over Bayern, who

were chasing a treble, will further boost their confidence going into the final.

“It was good how we defended.

We were disoriented in the first half and we could not find our footing.

But we improved after the break and made it difficult for them,” Torres said.

“Then came the goal and that calmed us down. It was very difficult to play this game and we suffered but it is always important to score an away goal.”

Frenchman Antoine Griezmann netted in the 54th minute from a Torres layoff to cancel out Xabi Alonso’s first half opener and force Bayern to look for at least two more goals.

Robert Lewandowski got Bayern’s second in the 74th minute but, despite waves of attacks, they failed to score again.

“The first half saw a tremendous Bayern team with pressure, possession and us showing little response to the situation,” said coach Simeone.

“The second half was more even. We did a super counter-attack for the goal and that allowed us to get that advantage.”

“Becoming champions is very nice but very hard. We played with two of the top three teams in the world,” he said. “We have gone through a lot of suffering in Barcelona and here. But we advance to the final with a lot of joy.” l

Third time unlucky for Guardiola’s Bayern n Reuters, Munich Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola was brought to the club to extend their European dominance, but will leave at the end of the season having lost three successive Champions League semi-finals.

“That is football. You can play better and still be eliminated,” said Guardiola, who will move to Manchester City next season.

“I feel sorry for my players be-

cause they deserved the very best.”

“We missed one more goal in the game today. That was all. We played the game we wanted, did it well but it was not enough. It hurts, of course. Every time it hurts. But my track record in Munich is not up to me to decide. I was very happy here. I worked for the players, not for a track record.” he said.

His players, who won the Champions League before Guardiola arrived in 2013, were equally disappointed.l

Bayern players react after their defeat against Atletico in Munich on Tuesday AFP

29

DT

Sport

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Nadal, Murray through in Madrid n AFP, Madrid

Fourteen-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal stretched his perfect start to the European claycourt season to 11 matches with a routine 6-3, 6-3 win over Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov to reach round three of the Madrid Masters on Tuesday.

Defending champion Andy Murray began his defence of the title with a 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-1 win over 37-year-old Czech Radek Stepanek to remain on course for a semi-final meeting with Nadal.

Fresh from victories in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Nadal will continue his quest for a fifth title in Madrid against American Sam Querrey or France’s Lucas Pouille on Thursday.

Nadal is looking for a record 50th career clay-court title in the Spanish capital and was rarely troubled by the world number 39 Kuznetsov.

The Spaniard raced into a 3-0 first-set lead and one break was enough to seal the set as he staved off break points in the fourth game.

Kuznetsov made a more positive start to the second to lead 3-2, but was blown away as Nadal, ominously for his rivals later in the week, found his rhythm to win the last four games.

Nadal’s path to the final was eased as his potential quarter-final opponent Roger Federer withdrew due to a back injury on Monday.

However, he could face Murray in the last four in a repeat of last year’s final.

Little Messi flees home, appeals to UN after ‘threats’ n Agencies The young Afghan boy who captivated hearts after he was pictured wearing a plastic bag as an improvised Lionel Messi jersey has appealed to the UN refugee agency after fleeing Afghanistan.

Murtaza Ahmadi became an

Internet sensation in January after his older brother posted the picture on Facebook, with the Argentine superstar sending autographed jerseys to his tiny fan via UNICEF. But his family has now fled with him to Pakistan, with his father Mohammad Arif Ahmadi telling AFP in Quetta Tuesday that they have appealed to the UNHCR after receiving threatening phone calls.

“I felt my family and I were in danger so decided to leave Afghanistan,” he said, adding that they had first travelled to Islamabad before arriving in Quetta.

“I do not have any choice,” he said, adding he wants a life for his family that has some “sense of security”.

A UNHCR spokesman in Quetta confirmed the family had applied for emigration and said the agency was investigating their application.l

DAY’S WATCH FOOTBALL TEN 1 12:45AM

WTA: Mutua Madrid Open 05:30PM Quarterfinals 1

UEFA Europa League

1:30AM

Sevilla v Shakhtar Donetsk

Quarterfinals 2

TEN 2 12:45PM UEFA Europa League SF: Liverpool v Villarreal

TENNIS TEN 3

CRICKET SONY SIX 8:30PM Indian Premier League 2016 Delhi v Pune

Eleventh seed Milos Raonic also booked his place in the last 16 with a 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 win over Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov.

World number one Novak Djokovic begins his campaign after a three-year absence in Madrid on Wednesday against Borna Coric.

In the women’s Madrid Open there was a better day for the favourites after a series of high-profile exits left just five seeds left in the draw. World number seven Simona Halep thrashed Karin Knapp 6-1, 6-1 to set up a third-round clash with Timea Bacsinszky as the 10th seed overcame Ekaterina Makarova 6-4. 5-7, 6-4.

Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro booked her place in the last 16 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Germany’s Sabine Lisicki.l

Andy Murray of Britain returns a backhand against Radek Stepney of Czech Republic during their Madrid Open match in Madrid, Spain on Tuesday REUTERS

DT

30

Showtime

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

WHAT TO WATCH Warm Bodies HBO Hits 7:24pm A funny new twist on a classic love story, Warm Bodies is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.

Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, Dave Franco, Analeigh Tipton, Cory Hardrict

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows HBO 11:27pm Sherlock Holmes is investigating terrorist attacks in London alone since his old partner Dr John Watson will get married a few days later with Mary.

His investigations point to Professor James Moriarty as the person responsible for the explosions. When Dr. Watson and Mary are attacked in the train while traveling for their honeymoon in Brighton, Holmes delivers Mary to the protection of his brother Mycroft. Soon Holmes and Dr Watson disclose that Professor Moriarty has bought arms and ammunition factories and is trying to start a war in Europe killing political leaders and politicians. Now Sherlock and Watson have to stop Moriarty and his dangerous associate, the skilled former Colonel Sebastian Moran to avoid the imminent war.

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris, Noomi Rapace, Rachel McAdams Bears Zee Studio 9:30pm Bears is a 2014 nature documentary film about a family of brown bears living in the coastal mountain ranges of Alaska who are taught life’s most important lessons.

Shankhachil: A tale of wandering tales n Nasimul Hasan Directed by the talented Gautam Ghosh, Shankhachil is a tribute to the legendary Bengali filmmaker Rittwik Kumar Ghatak. The reason behind this homage could be the affiliation of the subject (of Shankhochil) to Rittwik’s great trilogy on the pain and angst of the division of Bengal. Rittwik previously got almost everything right for his films like Meghe Dhaka Tara, Komolgandhar and Shuborno Rekha. He revisited the unjust miseries of the partition.

The protagonists of these films portray the struggle, cruelty and social reality faced after settling in India. Shankhachil has a similar concept (going back to India during the time of the partition), but obviously on a different time and context.

Shankhachil tells the story of the Bangladeshi rural family of Muntasir Chowdhry Badol aka Badol Master (played by Prosenjit), his wife Layla Chowdhury (played

by Kusum Shikder) and their only

child Rupsha Chowdhry (played by Shajhbati), living in a village close to the Indian border. So close, that few of the village dwellers even have to sleep in the Bangladeshi part of their homes and bathe in the Indian part. The 12 year old Rupsha is close to nature, unable to understand the barriers of land. So innocent that she doesn’t have any problem in becoming friends with an Indian border guard. However, Rupsha has a fatal heart disease that is unknown to her parents. So when she falls ill, the family does not have enough time to take her to Khulna or Dhaka. Instead they chose a risky option to hide their identity and go for medical assistance in Indian territory. The film depicts the aftermath of the journey by Rupsha and her family.

Technically, the film is a near perfect one. The cinematography was excellent; one may well be reminded of Lubezki, famous for his visual wonders on films like Birdman and The Revenant) by the camera work since the style

of capturing landscapes along with character is similar to that of Lubezki. The background music was touching at times and the editing was also convincing.

There are some bravura performances in this film. Kushum Shikder was surprisingly good, as she blended with her character easily. Prosenjit was good as usual, but the performance by Shajhbati really left a mark on the audience.

A debutant, Shajhbati matched the character perfectly and held a look of depression in her eyes all throughout. But let’s not come into a conclusion so early, not everything is good and fancy in this joint venture.

The plot was interesting but the script had some serious flaws in different parts of the film. In the first half of the film, the story telling was very slow and subtle.

It’s understandable because establishing important characters is necessary in that half. But it did not do any good because we don’t get emotionally connected with any of the characters apart

from Rupsha, that too, on the frantic second half of the film.

The character of Badol Master, who is the catalyst of the story, is not convincing at all. We do not get what his philosophy or desire is, or why he is crying over India’s partition after reading a century old (almost) letter, or why he chose India for his daughter’s treatment rather than going to Khulna or Dhaka. It seemed forceful at times. The ending, which consisted of a few hospital scenes seemed hurried and as a result, there wasn’t much drama on screen. The script was quite abrupt in that regard. The story could be of the daughter who has a heart disease as bad as the politics of subcontinent, a father who is still heart-broken after 70 years of the partition or it could also be the story of a pointless border line that divides two countries. Not choosing any particular subject, rather trying to convey all of it, only derails the film.

The spoken language of the film was disturbing at times.

The way Badol Master and his daughter Rupsha converse are is not convincing at all (surprising since they are two of the main characters of the film). Rupsha talks like a 21st century urban girl and it’s quite surprising that no one noticed it before the film’s release. The audience face a problem while trying to relate to the character of Badol Master, because he speaks like typical Prosenjit, and not like a rural teacher.

Even though there were good performances and stunning camera work, after watching Shankhachil, the audience can get a fuzzy feeling, wandering about, since they don’t have any direction to follow.

With the current IndoBangladesh relationship, we really needed a film that gives us hope instead of pessimism and vulnerability. Unfortunately, Shankhachil is not that film. l

31

DT

Showtime

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Samina Chowdhury and SI Tutul pair up for a playback n Showtime Desk

Event on human development TV programmes n Rumpa Farzana Zaman As part of “The Project for Capacity Building in Human Development Television (HDTV) Programmes,” Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), one of the key partners of this project, has unveiled the muchawaited Human Development TV Programmes (HDTV). The promotional event took place at a local hotel amidst much fanfare on May 3, Tuesday.

The concept of Human Development is somewhat unique by nature.

Contrary to the popular development theories, the idea of human development aims

to enhance human capabilities by enhancing opportunities for them. In 2015, the Bangladeshi government adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and to achieve this, it is expected the HDTV Programmes made on varied topics like education, farming, health and sanitation, gender issues, environmental conservation and community building will be of immense help for the Bangladeshi people to enrich their skills.

The TV programmes are to be aired on Bangladesh Television.

The event is a partnership between the Ministry of Information, the Prime Minister’s Office, BTV and the Japan

International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Under the project, JICA initiated a number of training workshops for BTV staff members in Bangladesh and Japan. The aim of those workshops was to help develop the capacity of BTV crews and staff members to produce highquality HDTV programmes.

In the promotional event, two episodes of the TV programmes were shown, as distinguished speakers spoke on the occasion. The speakers included Mikio Hataeda, JICA chief representative, Kabir Bin Anwar, DG of PMO, SM Haroon-orRashid, DG of BTV, Naimuzzaman Bhuiyan, people’s perspective specialist, a2i and Taeki Takahashi, team leader, JICA Expert Team. l

The “Shoptobingsho Jatiyo Rabindra Sangeet Utshab” kicked off yesterday at the Shawkat Osman Auditorium, Public library, Dhaka. The five-day festival has been organised by Bangladesh Rabindra Sangeet Shilpi Sangstha.

PHOTO : MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Two seasoned singers of the country – Samina Chowdhury and SI Tutul – have again paired up for a playback.

The duo will lend their voices to a track in the upcoming film Dolil by talented director Chotku Ahmed.

Shipon Mitra and Tania Brishti are going to play lead roles in the film.

The recording was recently done in Sruti studio in the capital’s Moghbazar area. A Mizan has written the lyrics while Saleh has composed the tune of the song.

Samina Chowdhury said, “It is a very sweet song. There is a great blend between the lyrics

and music. I hope that listeners will like the song.”

According to SI Tutul, “I have sung many songs with Samina Chowdhury. This is a new addition to the trend.”

Samina Chowdhury will leave the country for the United States on May 12 to perform in a show.

She is scheduled to perform in Canada after finishing the show in the USA. l

Bollywood split n Rupkotha Chowdhury It was quite certain that on screen “M S Dhoni” actor Sushant Singh Rajput and Ankita Lokhande were going to split. What followed was a lot of speculation on what went wrong between the once muchin-love couple. Some said that Ankita was too “clingy” while others suggested that Sushant had a “roving eye.” However, reality seems to explain a different scenario. Reports hint that Sushant was upset about Ankita’s lack of motivation to work.

A source informed that Ankita and Sushant both want different things. Ankita wanted to start a family, while Sushant was not ready. In fact Ankita was very upset because she felt that she

missed out on an important film with a major superstar because of Sushant’s tiff with one of Bollywood’s top production houses, with whom the actor had debuted.

After Pavitra Rishta, Ankita Lokhande had auditioned for Salman Khan‘s Sultan.

Regardless, the couple refrained from commenting on the split, but a look through their social media accounts seems to show that all isn’t well in this paradise.

Once upon a time, all we got to see were mushy pictures of the two on their Twitter wall and Instagram page, but now there are subtle hints about their separation.

It’s being rumored that Sushant has moved on and even found love.

Sushant was also reached out to for a comment, but to no avail. l

DT

32

Back Page

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

REMITTANCE SLIDES BY 7% IN APRIL PAGE 15

ABAHANI CLAIM THRILLER, DOLESHWAR ATOP PAGE 25

SHANKHACHIL: A TALE OF WANDERING TALES PAGE 30

Rohingya repatriation will take more time Shahariar Zaman, n Sheikh from Yangon Repatriation of Rohingyas living in Bangladesh will take more time than expected due to the hatred of the society towards them.

The powerful Myanmar army, locally known as Tatmadaw, wants to keep the dispute alive as they perceive it to be a form of nationalism.

Against this backdrop, it is difficult for Aung Sun Suu Kyi’s new government to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the near future.

Former ambassador and now Senior Member of Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies (MISIS) Wynn Lwin said the issue can be discussed but it is

a disgrace that Suu Kyi cannot handle the case.

He insisted that the word Rohingya “did not exist” and claimed that the Muslim minority in the Rakhine state came from Chittagong area in Bangladesh and in his opinion should be called “Chittagong Muslims.”

“It is difficult for the 135 ethnic groups to accept this word [Rohingya],” he said.

As long as Bangladesh does not use this word, it can lead to a better bilateral relationship, he added.

Subscribing to the same view, MISIS Chairman Nyunt Maung Shein said there are many areas in bilateral relationship and Bangladesh should set the Rohingya issue aside and focus on other issues.

Executive Director of Myanmar Journalism Institute Thiha Saw said in earlier days the word ‘Rohingya’ was used in documents, but it is ridiculous that now they are saying there is no Rohingya.

Meanwhile, Rakhine State’s Chief Minister U Nyi Pu in an interview with The Myanmar Times recently said, “It will take more than one five-year term under the NLDled government to bring the state’s divided Buddhist and Muslim communities together again.”

“It is impossible to unite them at once. We will have to do it step by step. So we need to give the process a lot of time. Therefore we cannot say it can be accomplished in our five-year term,” the chief

minister said.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Rohingya Muslims started to flee Myanmar in a mass scale in 1978 and again in 1991-92.

After a long negotiation and with the help of UNHCR, a deal was sealed and repatriation process started after the 1991-92 influx.

In 2012, more Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh during sectarian clashes in the Rakhine State.

At present, about two to five lakh Rohingyas are staying in Bangladesh, creating social and security problems for the country.

In 2014, during a meeting between Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque and

Myanmar Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs U Thant Kyaw in Dhaka, Naypyitaw agreed to take back 2,415 Myanmar nationals for repatriation, but is yet to act on its word.

The Myanmar government on 29 March, 2014 banned the word Rohingya and instructed officials to register the minority as Bengalis in the 2014 Myanmar Census.

An extremist monk group, commonly known as Ma Ba Tha, protested a US statement on Rohingya and staged a demonstration in front of the US embassy in Yangon last week.

According to Myanmar media, the group will hold another protest rally in front of the US embassy today. l

DMP chief: No unofficial sticker on vehicles n Arifur Rahman Rabbi

A resident of Rajarbagh Aambagan slum breaks down in tears seeing the damage caused by the fire that broke out yesterday morning, gutting several slum homes SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Ambagan slum fire burns 12 houses n Arifur Rahman Rabbi Just two days after the Karwan Bazar blaze, another fire broke out at Ambagan slum behind Green Super Market in Dhaka’s Farmgate area yesterday morning.

Warehouse Inspector at the Fire Service headquarters Mahmudur Rahman said 12 firefighting units worked to douse the fire.

He said it was not clear what caused the fire, which was put out around 9:45am. “The reason behind the fire can be known after an investigation.”

Mahmudur said the fire destroyed 12 houses containing a total of 55 rooms.

“The amount of damage is estimated to be Tk30 lakh but nobody was injured in the incident,” he added.

Locals said the slum was allotted to third- and fourth-grade employees of Dhaka University but the employees rented the rooms to low-income people such as rickshaw-pullers and garment workers.

They said the fire originated at a house and quickly spread to other houses.

Rahima Khatun, who lives in the slum, told journalists she was able to come out of the house after the fire broke out. “But the fire reduced my possessions to ashes.”

Another slum dweller named Ja-

hangir said: “I was sleeping. When I woke up, I saw the fire and hurriedly came out to escape.”

Witnesses said the fire caused panic among the slum dwellers as they ran to safety. Many also tried to take with them whatever possessions they could while running away.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Huq visited the spot and said the victims would be provided with financial assistance.

Earlier, a devastating fire broke out on Monday night at Hasina market in Karwan Bazar. It took two hours of frantic efforts to douse the blaze. l

Attaching unofficial vehicle stickers that describe the owner’s profession – such as police, journalist or lawyer – on cars or motorcycles would result in stern action against the owner, the DMP chief has warned.

“Terrorists can commit crimes by using such stickers. Many try to take their vehicles on the wrong side of the road using such stickers.

It will not be tolerated any more,” DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said.

“We have already ordered against using such stickers on any kind of police vehicle or police member’s personal vehicle. We have been taking action against vehicles that have such stickers,” the Dhaka Metropolitan Police chief told a press conference at the DMP media centre yesterday.

He instead advised members of different professions to use permanent stickers that mention names of their own organisations on vehicles.

Asaduzzaman said cars of lawmakers and vehicles related to parliament secretariat can use five new types of stickers that are provided by the parliament secretariat.

The MPs and their family members would use two types of stickers while the staff of the parliament secretariat would use three types of stickers on their vehicle, he added.

On another issue, the DMP chief also issued a warning against the

use of hydraulic horns on vehicles.

Between April 24 and May 2, the police carried out special drives against hydraulic horns and filed 407 cases for the use of such horns, he said.

Asaduzzaman also cautioned against the use of car hooters and beacon lights, saying there would be zero tolerance for the use of hydraulic horns or beacon lights by private vehicles.

The commissioner criticised the influential people who misused their authority to drive on the wrong side of the road. Letters with proper evidence have been sent to authorities concerned so that action can be taken against them, he said.

Describing the traffic situation of the capital, Asaduzzaman said Dhaka city had only 8% road coverage when the minimum should be at least 25%.

“An ideal city has 25% of its area devoted to the road network, but Dhaka has only 8%. Although some 300,000 fit vehicles officially operate on the roads here, the actual number could be three times greater.

“Some 4,000 traffic police are assigned to ensure smooth vehicular movement. But a lack of public transport and parking spaces are causing tailbacks,” said the DMP commissioner.

He added that a total 31,673 cases have been filed for traffic violations between April 24 and May 2. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com