07 May, 2016

SECOND EDITION

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016 | Boishakh 24, 1423, Rajab 29, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 15 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages plus 12-page Arts & Letters supplement | Price: Tk10

Poll a mixed review for Dhaka mayors n Tribune Desk When Dhaka city's two new mayors took office a year ago, residents welcomed their enthusiastic proposals to solve the capital's myriad problems.

There was a sense of elation at the promise of better days ahead.

A year on, that initial wave of optimism has lost some of its zeal.

Dhaka residents of the north and the south city corporations have differing views of their respective mayors, a recent poll has found.

Annisul Huq, the mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation, fared better in overall approval ratings with 69% of the 1,800 respondents

Sayeed Khokon

Annisul Huq

in his constituency saying they were happy with his performance.

For Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sayeed Khokon, 60%

of the 1,800 of his constituents surveyed said they thought he was doing a good job.

The survey, commissioned by

Egypt link found in BB heist n Kamrul Hasan Investigators looking into the Bangladesh Bank heist have found clues that suggest that one or more individuals in Egypt might have been involved in stealing the $101m in February.

Sources close to the investigation told the Dhaka Tribune that their probe has revealed that an Egyptian IP address was sent an “OK notification” from Bangladesh Bank immediately after the initial money transaction requests were processed by the hackers.

Egyptian authorities have already detained and interrogated the person who allegedly used the IP address, but no breakthrough has

been made so far by pursuing that lead, the source – a senior CID official – added.

He made the disclosure as a six-member Interpol team left Dhaka yesterday after collaborating with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the digital heist case.

The Egypt Interpol unit has already sent the CID an interim report on their findings, but it contains no details on IT forensic analysis, the source said.

Bangladesh authorities now fear that the IT forensic evidence might be contaminated if there is further delay in receiving details from Egypt.  PAGE 4 COLUMN 1

RCBC president resigns n Tribune Desk

INSIDE

President and CEO of Philippines’ Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation Lorenzo Tan resigned yesterday over the cyber heist of Bangladesh Bank's funds.

The Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation accepted the resignation of Lorenzo Tan as president and CEO of the Yuchengco-controlled financial institution effective immediately, the bank said in a statement yesterday evening.

Police looking into threat against DU professor The law enforcers are searching for the people who issued death threats against Dhaka University psychology teacher Prof Azizur Rahman on Facebook.  PAGE 5

“He resigned to give the board a free hand in directing the course of the bank’s future,” RCBC said, Philippines online newspaper rappler.com said quoting the statement.

In a separate statement, Tan said that “despite having been cleared of any wrongdoing, as president and CEO of RCBC, I take full moral responsibility for this sad incident in the history of the bank.”

Until Tan’s replacement is announced, Helen Yuchengco-Dee will oversee the bank’s operations, as president and CEO. RCBC said that their internal investigation into the stolen $81-million Bangladesh Bank funds cleared Tan of any breach of bank rules and policies.  PAGE 4 COLUMN 1

Arts & Letters Special supplement on Rabindranath Tagore’s birth anniversary

the Bangla Tribune, was conducted in every ward in both DNCC and DSCC by the Institute of Informatics and Development.

DNCC residents said they were happy with efforts to improve water stagnation, waste management, the management of risky trees and the work of local ward councillors.

By contrast, approval ratings in DSCC were comparatively grim: most residents said they were not impressed with DSCC's performance.

On key issues like water stagnation and waste management, Annisul enjoyed approval from the majority of his constituents. The

verdict for Khokon, on the other hand, was split down the middle.

So, while 58% of DNCC respondents said the management of stagnant water had improved, less than half, or 49%, of DSCC respondents could say the same about the situation in their city corporation.

Bus shelters were universally denounced as unfit for use by Dhaka residents. In the north, 83% and in the south 91% said bus shelters were unsuitable for use.

Asked whether waste management had improved, some 59% of  PAGE 4 COLUMN 1

RESULTS ON PAGE 2 AND 3 

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Opinion Poll

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

Popular peeves n Tribune Desk

The numbers show Dhaka City to be a commuter's nightmare.

Over four-fifths of respondents in DNCC and an astounding 91% in DSCC felt that bus shelters were unfit for use.

DNCC and DSCC residents were not particularly thrilled about other aspects of the public transportation system either, according to a Bangla Tribune poll.

The survey showed close to two-thirds of residents in both city corporations were unhappy with public transport failing to halt at designated stops.

Yet surprisingly, respondents did not put either of the two issues on their wish list of things they urgently want to see improved in the coming year.

The top two issues people wanted addressed were actually the two city services that fared best

in terms of favourable responses from both DNCC and DSCC respondents.

Close to 60% in DNCC and almost half of those polled in DSCC said they were happy with how authorities dealt with stagnant water and waste management.

These positive appraisals were followed up with demands for further improvement indicating their critical importance.

Roughly equal proportions of Dhaka North and Dhaka South respondents said that trash collection in their areas took place all through the day. Only a third said their garbage was collected before 8am, which is the preferred time.

A mere third of DSCC respondents said they were happy with the condition of pedestrian walkways.

And a third of respondents in both corporations felt that issues with footpaths needed to be addressed urgently. l

Has water stagnation in your area improved in the last year?

Has waste management in your area improved in the last year?

58%

49%

YES

42%

51%

NO

58%

46%

YES

42%

54%

NO

Are you happy with your mayor’s work last year?

Dhaka North | Dhaka South

69%

60% 40%

31% YES Have mosquitoes in your area decreased in the last year?

48%

42%

YES

52%

NO Are footpaths in your area suitable for walking?

58%

NO

46%

54%

66%

34%

YES

NO

North-South divide n Tribune Desk Dhaka South City Corporation residents did not express satisfaction with a single service provided last year.

Indeed, the only time a majority of respondents in DSCC answered in the affirmative was when asked if they knew their ward councillor's name – which they know whose work they are unsatisfied with.

By contrast, Dhaka North City Corporation respondents were satisfied with half of the services they were queried about.

Even though approval ratings for tackling water stagnation and waste management were the highest in both the corporations among issues polled, the two city corporations had very different levels of satisfaction with the services provided.

Some 58% of DNCC respondents approved of both cases above, while less than half of DSCC respondents expressed satisfaction in these categories.

DSCC respondents voiced displeasure with other issues as well where DNCC polled positively.

A notable difference is seen in how authorities dealt with risky trees. Close to 60% of DNCC respondents said they were happy, whereas 60% of DSCC residents were unhappy with the action taken.

Both corporations received negative reviews of footpaths. Some 46% of DNCC residents felt footpaths were alright, while nearly two-thirds of DSCC respondents rated footpaths in their areas poorly. Both corporations were deemed to be losing the battle to mosquitoes. l

Do you think city corporation efforts to clear footpaths have been sufficient?

49%

39%

51%

YES

61%

NO

Do you know the name of the ward councillor in your area?

63%

70%

37%

YES

30%

NO

Are you happy with the work the councillor did last year?

57% 47%

YES

53% 43%

NO

n Tribune Desk

Respondents across the city felt that Dhaka was not a child-friendly city.

Are there children’s playgrounds in your area?

45%

61%

39%

YES

NO

Over half of respondents said there were no playgrounds for children – 55% in the north and 61% in the south.

If there are playgrounds, are they suitable for children to play in?

49%

44%

YES

51%

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

Dear mayors, these are your targets

No city for children

55%

3

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Opinion Poll

56%

Garbage is on the minds of most Dhaka residents: they want to see less of it cluttering their city.

For most of the 3,600 respondents, drawn equally from Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), the most pressing concerns for improvement in the coming year involved basic services and utilities.

No less than 72% of residents of both Dhaka North and Dhaka South city corporations identified improving waste management as the top job in the coming year, in a recent Bangla Tribune survey.

Fixing the city’s persisting water and gas supply problems were a close second, with just under 72% of respondents listing this issue as the number-two priority for the coming year.

In third place, fixing roads that are prone to water stagnation was identified by 64% of respondents as a major issue for the coming year.

Nevertheless, during the past year a little over half of DNCC respondents, or 58%, said the problem of water stagnation had been adequately addressed. In DSCC,

a smaller portion of respondents, 49%, felt their city corporation had done the job well.

Safety, in a broad sense, was also a major concern.

Improving food safety by cracking down on adulteration was identified as a major goal for the coming year by just over 62% of respondents.

Nearly as many respondents – slightly under 62% – listed the security of women on public transportation as a concern requiring urgent attention.

Surprisingly, just a quarter of respondents felt improving street lights and street policing was a major concern. And only 40% of respondents said tackling mugging was a major concern.

Dhaka residents are, no doubt, a hardy lot and apparently are willing to put up with some inconveniences, provided their main concerns are addressed.

So, while just a third of DSCC residents think their city corporation has proper footpaths and less than half of DNCC residents approve of their city corporation’s sidewalks, just a third of those polled prioritised the improvement of the city’s pedestrian walkways. l

Beware of trees

NO

And some 51% of DNCC and 56% of DSCC respondents said existing playgrounds were unsuitable for children.

Over half of DNCC respondents, or 57%, said their city corporation took care to prune risky trees.

By contrast, 59% respondents in DSCC, where award-winning filmmaker Khalid Mahmud Mithu was killed by a falling tree, said their city corporation did not. l

Are risky trees in your area cut by city corporation staff?

59%

57% 41%

43%

AT WHAT TIME IS TRASH COLLECTED IN YOUR AREA?

YES

NO

72% Waste management 72% Water and Gas situation 64% Water stagnation in the city 62% Food adulteration 62% Security of women on public transport 60% Sexual harassment

BUS SHELTERS UNIVERSALLY DESPISED

Are bus shelters in your area suitable for sitting?

83%

91%

Bus shelters – the canopy covered benches at bus stops that are meant to shield commuters from 17% the elements – received 9% abysmally poor approval YES NO ratings. Some 17% of Does public transportation DNCC respondents and halt at designated stops in a staggeringly low 9% of your area?

DSCC residents polled said 59% 63% they were unfit for use. Yet, surprisingly, improvements to bus shelters did not come 41% 37% up among the top nine things people wanted fixed this coming year. l YES NO

Methodology Sampling method

Simple random sampling from market areas of city wards. All wards in both city corporations were sampled. Interviewer took one respondent every 5 minutes at random and changed location every hour. An equal number of male and female respondents were questioned.

DHAKA NORTH Before 8am Between 8am-10am Between 10am-12pm After 12pm

30% 33% 23% 14%

DHAKA SOUTH Before 8am Between 8am-10am Between 10am-12pm After 12pm

28% 29% 30% 13%

Confidence level: 95% Margin of error: 3.1% Level of significance: 5%

Calculated sample size was 1,799 for each city corporation. Round-

ed to 1,800.

Interview method

One-on-one interview.

Question method

Mostly binary and closed-ended.

Demographics

Gender Male: 50% Female: 50% Profession Businessman: 22.64% Housewife: 27.36% Service holder: 25.61%

Student: 16% Others: 8.39%

Respondents’ personal information

No personal information, for example phone numbers or email addresses were preserved. The questionnaires contained data regarding respondents’ ward of residence, area, gender, age and profession. l COURTESY: INSTITUTE OF INFORMATICS AND DEVELOPMENT

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SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

Prime accused in bamboo construction case caught n

Kamrul Hasan

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested the prime accused in a case filed for using bamboo sticks instead of iron rods in the construction of a government Biological Research Centre at Darshana, Chuadanga.

Acting on a tip off, a team of RAB 4 arrested Moni Singh, owner of M/S Joy International Construction, from his rented flat at Battala in Mirpur Section-10 around 9:30pm Thursday, said RAB 4 Operation Officer Mahfuza Khatun.

Maj Md Abu Sayeed Khan, deputy director of RAB 4, said Moni Singh was handed over to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday afternoon.

Joy Construction Ltd was building the two-storey research centre under the supervision of Engineering Construction Ltd for the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE). The construction of Biological Research Centre in Damurhuda began on November 5 last year. Construction of some 70 per cent of the work, including the main building, has already

been completed.

On April 6, the misappropriation first came to the attention of locals. Later, Merina Zebunnahar, acting project official and senior monitoring and evaluation officer of the DAE in Dhaka, filed a case with Damurhuda Model Police Station on April 11. The ACC has been investigating the case.

On April 29, a delegation of the standing committee on the Ministry of Agriculture visited the under-construction building, and found irregularities and corruption in building construction. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Poll a mixed review for mayors DNCC residents replied in the affirmative. In DSCC, 54% replied in the negative.

Respondents were bluntly honest in their disapproval of under-par conditions, but appreciative of efforts to fix them.

Less than half of all respondents – 46% in the north and 34% in the south – said they considered footpaths

in their areas suitable for walking. Nevertheless, 49% of northerners and 39% of southerners approved of their city corporations’ roles in freeing up footpaths.

Local ward councillor performed better in Dhaka North – over 57% of those polled said they were satisfied with their local councillor.

In Dhaka South, although

over 70% of respondents said they knew the names of their local ward councillor, over 53% of those questioned said they were not impressed with their performance.

Overall, the residents of this megalopolis of 15 million people seem to have a guarded optimism for their mayors – for the time being. l

RCBC president resigns Part of the stolen funds was found its way to several accounts in the RCBC branch in Jupiter in Makati City also ended with in three other local casinos.

RCBC Treasurer and Executive Vice-president Raul Victor Tan resigned in April, since Maia Santos-Deguito, one of the central figures in the case, had worked under him.

Like Lorenzo Tan, RCBC’s

internal investigation had cleared him of involvement in the money-laundering case.

Tan has denied this accusation, and filed civil and criminal cases against Deguito and her lawyer for libel and perjury.

He said: “As shown by RCBC’s own investigation, the allegations of my involvement in the current money-laundering issue are unfounded and baseless.”

Tan added: “Despite my resignation, however, I am committed to help uncover the truth, not only to clear my name but also to bring justice to the Bangladeshi people.”

RCBC’s investigation headed by its external lawyers and SGV & Co cleared Tan of any knowledge, involvement or participation in the unauthorised transfer to RCBC of the funds stolen from Bangladesh Bank. l

Egypt link found in BB heist Asked to comment on the issue, CID Additional Deputy Inspector General Shah Alam told the Dhaka Tribune that they have discussed the Egypt link with the visiting Interpol team.

Local authorities might work again with this Interpol team in Dhaka or the Philippines as the visiting group came to Dhaka for just a brief three-day trip, Shah Alam added.

During their visit, the Interpol team helped the CID analyse materials including computers and documents that had been seized from the

central bank premises.

Shah Alam also said the Interpol team was able to make additional findings – that the CID had not previously unearthed – by going through all the collected evidence.

The Interpol team, which included two FBI members, were helpful to Dhaka authorities as they had already visited Philippines as part of their investigation.

Meanwhile, another wellplaced source in the CID told the Dhaka Tribune that intelligence officials in Bangladesh might team up with Interpol

again for visiting Egypt to carry out an in-depth analysis on site.

At present, the CID is in charge of investigating the case that was filed by Bangladesh Bank with the Motijheel police on March 15.

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 later recovered from Sri Lanka. l

3 cops closed for plainclothes drive n FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong Three policemen of Chittagong’s Pahartali station were closed on Thursday for conducting a drive without wearing uniforms.

They are SI Champak Chawakrabarty, ASI Kajol Barua and Constable Abdul Wahid.

OC Ranjit Barua said: “The three were removed and attached to CMP deputy com-

missioner (West) office as they conducted a drive without uniforms. Higher authorities were not previously informed.”

He said the trio raided AK Khan Gate area on Thursday evening to arrest a yaba dealer.

They arrested Jahed with 60 yaba tablets.

Jahed is a professional yaba peddler who was accused in three cases filed with Pahartali and Akbarshah police stations. l

5

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

Police looking into threat against DU professor n Tribune Desk The law enforcers are searching for the people who issued death threats against Dhaka University psychology teacher Prof Azizur Rahman on Facebook.

The move came after he filed a general diary with Shahbagh police. Plainclothes policemen are now following his every move around the campus, reports Associated Press.

Recently he had asked a female student to remove her veil during his class. Following this, the Facebook page of an Islamic extremist group called Salauddiner Ghora, or the Horse of Salauddin, upload-

ed a video of the conversation on Facebook and called for his death, posting his personal details along with tips on how to kill. This week, the Facebook account appeared to have been blocked or deactivated and was not accessible.

Jamaat-e-Islami, its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir and radical Islamist platform Hefazat-e-Islam have also demanded that the teacher be arrested.

In an interview with the AP, Prof Aziz said that he had asked the student to remove her veil because “I should know whom I am teaching ... I told her if you show your face in the identity card, you can also do so in class.”

Family members meet Nizami n Raihanul Islam Akand, Gazipur

told the AP that he had no information about the group that had posted the threatening Facebook post.

DMP Additional Commissioner Monirul Islam yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune that they were looking into the matter sincerely to learn about the incident and source of the threats.

Prof Aziz told the AP that he believes extremists have had their eye on him for some time, and are “capitalising on the veil issue.”

“Militants and persons belonging to religion-based organisations have carried out a hate campaign against me in a planned manner,” said the professor who has been critical of Jamaat-Shibir. l

Among those coming to Prof Aziz’s defence is the student who refused to remove her veil.

Taposhi Rabeya, a third-year student, said that she was surprised by the threats made against her professor, and that the video posted online did not fairly capture the full exchange the teacher had with his students.

Rabeya said that she had worked out an understanding with Prof Aziz that allowed her to continue wearing the veil in class. “I hope all will realise the truth and uphold the dignity of the teacher, and refrain from further misinterpreting the issue,” the AP quoted her as saying.

Shahbagh OC Abu Bakar Siddique

14-party accuses Khaleda of leading secret killings n Abu Hayat Mahmud The Awami League-led ruling 14-party alliance yesterday claimed that BNP Chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia and her “foreign masters” were heading the secret killings in Bangladesh to occupy state power through the back door.

Health Minister Mohammed Nasim, also the alliance spokesperson, raised the allegation at a 14-party media briefing before a joint meeting at Awami League chief and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s political office in the capital.

The meeting was arranged for preparation of the alliance’s May 8 rally in Dhaka to resist those behind the recent secret killings at Kalabagan and at Rajshahi University.

“The recent murders were carried out in a planned way to create instability. They aimed at tarnishing the image of the government and the country in the global arena. The BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami alliance had been leading such terrorist activities and trying to establish militant groups in the country,” Minister Nasim claimed.

Senior Awami League leader Nasim vowed to arrange public gatherings led by the 14-party in the capital to resist terrorism and militancy led by BNP chief Khaleda. l

A policeman seizes a motorcycle carrying the sticker of the National Board of Revenue as the biker did not have necessary papers. Hydraulic horns were also collected as part of a drive yesterday at Dhaka’s Farmgate MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

The family members of death-row convict war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami met him at the Kashimpur Jail in Gazipur yesterday.

Nizami’s wife Shamsunnahar Nizami, sons Nazib Momen alias Nazibur Rahman and Naimur Rahman, and daughters-in-law Saleya and Raiyan, and his daughter Khadiza Mohsina went to the jail around 11:30am.

Jailer Nasir Ahmed said that they were given 40 minutes time to talk to Nizami.

The family members came out of jail at 12:05pm but did not speak to media.

Also chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Nizami sought review of his death penalty with the top court. It was rejected on Thursday. His party has announced daylong shutdown across the country for tomorrow in protest against the court order.

After he lost the last legal battle, Nizami now has the chance to seek presidential pardon. If he does not receive it or opts to not seek clemency, the government will carry out the death sentence.

Nizami filed the petition on March 29 seeking acquittal from the charges. The International Crimes Tribunal issued his death warrant on March 15 after the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court released its full verdict in the appeal case.

The war criminal was convicted in October 2014 by the tribunal for the atrocities he had committed during the 1971 Liberation War. He was given the capital punishment for genocide, murder and rape in Pabna and Dhaka. At that time, he led Jamaat’s then student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha, members of which formed al-Badr militia force to collaborate with the Pakistani occupation forces.

Former minister Nizami was also sentenced to death in the sensational 10-truck arms haul case. l

Iskcon temple staff hacked n Tribune Desk A staff of Shyamsundor Iskcon Temple in Satkhira’s Ashashuni area was hacked and beaten up on Thursday night for refusing to pay toll.

Pankaj Sarker, 50, was later admitted to Ashashuni Upazila Health Complex with critical injuries.

A group of criminals led by Debhata’s Ziaur Rahman alias Afghan

TEMPERATURE FOREC AST FOR TODAY

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN SATURDAY, MAY 7

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Dhaka

38

24

Chittagong

34

Zia swooped on Pankaj when he was sleeping inside a small hut near the temple. They hacked his head and also hit in the legs, his brother Samiron Sarker said.

Samiron alleged that Afghan Zia had been demanding Tk3 lakh from his brother for the last few months.

Ashashuni OC Munshi Asaduzzaman said that they were looking into the matter. l 26

Rajshahi

DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 6:30PM

39

28

Rangpur

35

23

Khulna

38

24

Barisal

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:19AM

38.2ºC Jessore

20.0ºC Rangpur

Source: Accuweather/UNB

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PRAYER TIMES

Sylhet

34

21

Cox’s Bazar

33

24

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

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SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

Three anti-coal plant activists held in Banshkhali n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong Police since Wednesday have detained at least three people who are part of a movement against the proposed coal-power plant at Banshkhali of Chittagong.

Of them, two were detained yesterday. They are Ali Nabi and Shafiqul Islam – both residents of Gondamara union under Banshkhali upazila.

Ali Nabi is a member of the Committee to Protect Homestead and Graveyard which is protesting against the coal-based power plant of local business conglomerate S Alam Group.

“We have to come to know that the police picked up two of our comrades and confined them at Banshkhali police station,” said

Liakat Ali, convener of the committee.

OC Mohammad Alamgir told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that a team of Banshkhali police had arrested some people. “I cannot say for sure whether the two persons were arrested or not since our drive is still on,” he said.

Earlier, Banshkhali police arrested Abdur Rahman, vice-president of the committee, from Banshkhali upazila sadar on Wednesday.

At least four protesters were killed in gunshots and over 30 others injured on April 4 when the anti-plant agitators were gathering on Gondamara school ground protesting against arrests of the protesters. Police later filed a case against 57 identified and 1,000 unidentified people.

Abdur Rahman was shown arrested in the case filed by the police.

However, no one has been arrested in connection with the two other cases filed by the victims’ families.

On April 17, ruling Awami League lawmaker of the area Mostafizur Rahman Chowdhury said that the four people had been killed in the firing of criminals not the police.

On February 16, the government signed a deal allowing the joint venture of S Alam Group, and China’s SEPCO-3 Electric Power Construction Corporation and HTG Group to build an ultra supercritical thermal power plant with a net capacity of 1,224MW at a cost of $2.4bn.

Earlier this month, the Department of Environment refused to issue an environmental clearance certificate for the plant. l

Imam held for slandering ministers, late president n Md Asaduzzaman, Satkhira An Imam at a mosque in Satkhira was handed over to police after he made derogatory remarks on two ministers and a late president during Jumma prayers yesterday.

Worshippers at the mosque, who beat Azmir Hossain up before handing him over to the police, said the Imam slandered late president Zillur Rahman, Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, and Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon.

They said they got very angry when Azmir described Zillur, Inu and Menon as razakars after finishing the prayers.

They also said the Imam slandered the government in his speech.

Emdadul Haque Sheikh, officer-in-charge of Satkhira Sadar police station, said Azmir had been named in a case filed on charge of subversion carried out by Jamaat.

“He has been staying outside his locality for long. After he slandered the two ministers and the late president, the people beat him up and handed him over to us,” he added.

Last year, police arrested an Awami League leader and also director of a local NGO in a case filed over hurting religious sentiment of the Muslims through his Facebook status. l

7

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

Fourth phase UP polls today, one dies while campaigning in Ctg UP POLLS

n Tribune Desk A Jubo League man was shot dead while conducting campaign in Chittagong as the fourth phase of local body Union Parishad (UP) elections to 725 UPs is going to be held today.

The voting will begin at 8am and continue till 4pm without any break.

The Election Commission (EC) has taken all preparations to hold the polls peacefully in a festive mood. All poll campaigns remained stopped since Thursday midnight.

Members of the law enforcement agencies, including police, Rapid Action Battalion and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) are working in the field and all election materials, including ballot papers and boxes reached the polling centers, EC sources said.

Election Commissioner Shah Newaz expressed hope that the fourth phase of UP polls would be more free and fair.

The law enforcers have been directed to be tough against the offenders of all levels, he said, adding that actions would be taken if anybody neglects duty.

A total of 3,245 chairmen candidates are contesting in the fourth phase of polls. Of them, 724 belong to Awami League, 619 to BNP, 156 to Jatiya Party, 42 to Jatiya Samajtantrik Dak (JSD) and 154 to Islami Andalon.

Out of 725 unions, chairmen have been elected uncontested in 33 unions. All of the elected were Awami League candidates. So far, the number of Awami League supported chairmen elected uncon-

tested reached 150.

EC Secretariat Deputy Director Shamsul Alam said the law enforcers were active in the field for the two days before polls. They have been directed to maintain the highest caution to prevent violence, he added.

The EC has directed the outsiders to leave the polling areas to avert any unexpected situations during the election.

The government has declared public holiday in the election areas on the day of polling. Ban on traffic movement excluding the vehicles having stickers of the Election Commission (EC) has been imposed in the areas.

But voters are apprehending that the election might not be held in a free and fair manner.

Rahmat Ullah, a voter of Toria union parishad, Panchagarh, said he would not go to polling centre to cast vote fearing violence.

Ashraful Alam, a voter at Sarai union parishad in Rangour, said he was panicked as a group of miscreants had hacked an independent candidate and his relative entering his house. A case has also been field in this connection.

In Khagrachhari, four people were injured as supporters of two UP chairmen candidates clashed at Ramgarh yesterday morning.

Jubo League man shot dead

Unknown assailants have fired on a chairman candidate’s campaign rally and killed an activist of Jubo League (JL) in Hathazari upazila, Chittagong.

The incident took place yesterday morning at Sarkar Hat Bazar area in Mirzapur union.

The deceased was identified as a local, Nur Elahi Jewel, 32, son of Sheikh Ahmed, said police sources.

Chittagong police’s Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mosiuddowla Reza said supporters of Awami League-backed chairman candidate Nurul Absar were campaigning at the area at Sarkar Hat Bazar area in the morning.

Around 10:30am, the supporters brought out a rally. Miscreants opened fire on the rally when it arrived at the Bazar, wounding Jewel.

He was taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital in critical condition where the on-duty doctors declared him dead, said Nayek Abdul Hamid of CMCH Police Outpost. l

AL Whip Atik asked to leave constituency n SA Shahriar Milton, Sherpur The Election Commission has ordered Awami League Whip Atiur Rahman Atik to leave his constituency in Sherpur as a punishment for violating electoral code of conduct.

The commission gave the order in an emergency message on Thursday night.

Atik, also the lawmaker for Sherpur 1, visited Gazir Khamar union parishad area in his constituency on May 3.

Sherpur Sadar upazila Election Officer Md Saiful Islam said Atik, in breach of electoral code of conduct, held a meeting with Awami League chairman candidate for the union Awladul Islam Awlad’s supporters during a visit to Gazir Khamar High School in the union under police protection.

“Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal can-

which triggered the Election Commission’s decision to ask Atik to leave the area,” he said.

Sherpur Sadar OC withdrawn

Atiur Rahman Atik didate Khalilur Rahman Khalil’s supporters requested Atik not to take part in any campaign during the visit, which led to an altercation followed by a clash. A number of people were hurt in the clash,

Labourers gather green mangoes from an orchard to sell those at local markets.

Traders said per maund of mangoes was selling at Tk700 as it had great demand to make pickle.

The photo was taken yesterday at Godagari, Rajshahi.

Ripe mangoes will be available by next month AZAHAR UDDIN

DT

News

Meanwhile, the commission in another letter ordered the withdrawal of Sherpur Sadar police station Officer-in-Charge Mazharul Karim for providing Atik with police protection during the visit to Gazir Khamar union in violation of electoral code of conduct.

The letter reached the office of the deputy commissioner of Sherpur yesterday.

Deputy Commissioner Dr AM Parvez Rahim said the commission took the action against OC Mazharul for acting in violation of electoral code of conduct.

“According to the 1990 polls act, no VIP should be given police protection in a polling area during polls,” he added. l

Transport workers call strike for Monday in Ctg

n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong Bangladesh Road Transport Workers’ Federation announced to enforce a 24-hour strike in greater Chittagong for Monday to press home their 6-point charter of demands, including not to create obstacle to the movement of unregistered CNG-run auto-rickshaws in Chittagong city.

The organisation leaders announced the programme after holding a press conference at Chittagong Press Club auditorium yesterday.

Addressing at the press conference, Mohammad Musa, Chittagong chapter president of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers’ Federation said the High Court has passed an order not to create any obstacle to the movement of the unregistered CNG-run auto-rickshaws in the city until the registration procedure ends.

“However, Chittagong Metropolitan Police authorities are not complying with the order. The CMP authorities seized many auto-rickshaws and lodged cases in the last couple of days. Therefore, we have been compelled to call the 24-hour strike,” said the transport workers’ leader.

“There are around 4,000 unregistered CNG-run auto- rickshaws in Chittagong city which have applied for registration. However, the authorities concerned have not given the registration yet,” alleged Musa.

“The purview of the strike is Rangamati, Khagrachari, Bandarban, Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong districts. Plying of all kinds of motorised vehicles will remain suspended during the strike,” said Musa.

The press conference was attended by the federation’s east zone president Mrinal Chowdhury, transport workers’ leaders- Ruhul Amin, Rabiul Mawala and Oli Ahmad and Md Harun. l

Ringleader of forest robbers killed in Bagerhat ‘gunfight’ Shamsur Rahman, n SM Bagerhat The ringleader of forest robbers, namely Alam Bahini, has been killed in a reported gunfight with Rapid Action Battalion in Chandpai Range of the eastern Sundarbans in the district.

The shootout as claimed by RAB took place on the bank of Shela River under the range yesterday morning.

The corpse of Alam Khan, 40, ringleader of Alam Bahini, was

handed over to Mongla police authorities.

RAB 8 Commander Faridul Alam said they carried out a drive in the river on a tip-off and the Alam Bahini robbers started firing at them sensing their presence.

RAB members fired back creating a 30-minute gunfight and at one stage the robbers managed to escape in the face of the retaliation.

Later, RAB discovered Alam’s bullet-hit body on the spot and local fishermen recognised the body as well, the commander added. l

DT

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News

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

150 families marooned in Satkhira 50 fish enclosures and paddy fields inundated Pratapnagar UP Chairman Japarishad member Golam Rasul n Asaduzzaman, Satkhira kir Hossain claimed the incident said. “About 200 villagers, led by Hundreds of villagers at Ashashuni upazila were marooned after high tide breached parts of an embankment on the Kapotakkho River and flooded the Chakla village.

A local madrasa, about 50 fish enclosures and paddy fields were inundated in the flash flood on yesterday morning.

A 100-foot stretch of the dyke broke in turbulent weather, union

the union parishad chairman, are trying to repair it with bamboos and soil during low tide,” he added.

But there was no word on distribution of relief material among the affected. It was also unclear how the district administration planned to help the affected villagers overcome loss once the water receded.

The extent of damage could not be immediately known.

Parshuram UNO assaulted by ruling party men n Rafiqul Islam, Feni An upazila nirbahi officer was assaulted allegedly by some ruling party men over a trivial matter at Parshurampur, Feni yesterday.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Parshuram Rakib Haider is now undergoing treatment at Feni Sadar Hospital.

Witnesses said local Awami League and Jubo League arranged a reception for Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan.

To receive the minister, UNO Rakib and local Awami League, Chhatra League and Jubo League leaders were waiting beside the Feni-Parshurampur road in Dhonikundo area.

At one stage, Awami League district unit Vice-President Khairul Basar Topon locked into an altercation with the UNO over a trivial matter.

Then, Topon along with his

cohorts assaulted Rakib indiscriminately, leaving him critically injured.

A witness seeking anonymity said: “At one stage, UNO Rakib took shelter in a car, but they dragged him out of the car and assaulted him mercilessly.”

Upzila Nirbahi Officer of Fulgazi Kasinger Chakma told the Dhaka Tribune that Rakib was firstly taken to Parshuram Upzila Health Complex and later on shifted to the Feni Sadar Hospital.

Deputy Commissioner of Feni Amin Ul Ahsan Kamal told the Dhaka Tribune that they would file a case in this connection.

But Topon denied his involvement with the attack.

He said: “I do not know who attacked the upazila nirbahi officer.” He also claimed that he had gone to hospital to visit the UNO. l

Launch catches fire Rahman Swapan, n Anisur Barisal Sundarban-8, a triple-decker launch, caught fire in the mid-river, from Dhaka to Barisal yesterday morning.

The crew members, however, successfully extinguished the flames and anchored at the Barisal port without any causalities.

Md Sujon, ticket clerk of the launch, said there were about 650 passengers who boarded from Dhaka at 9pm on Thursday.

Around 3:30am yesterday, two hours before reaching Barisal, passengers on the lower

deck noticed smoke emerging from the cargo hold.

The crew located the source of the fire and doused it within 30 minutes.

Shujon said the blaze was caused by a battery-charged fan stored in the hold, under intense heat.

Faruk Hossain, deputy director, fire service station in Barisal, said they visited the launch and will submit a report after investigation.

Sunil Saha, owner of Lanka Corporation at Girza Mahalla area of the city, said most of the electronic items he was expecting were damaged by the fire. l

was the result of negligence of the Water Development Board (WDB).

“They did not take any initiative to repair the risky embankment despite repeated requests, rather they embezzled the budget for such development works,” he alleged.

He said more areas would be flooded if they did not repair the damaged embankment before the next high tide.

WDB officials could not be reached for comments.

Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mohiuddin rejected the UP chairman’s claims. “The WDB is repairing the embankment but there is no allotment for working on dykes,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

He said he was scheduled to meet the prime minister next month and that he will request her to increase budget for works on embankments. l

Youth beaten dead

n Hedait Hossain An HSC candidate has been beaten to death by some unidentified assailents at Khalispur in Khulna city.

Md Mohibullah, 25, son of Tojibur Rahman, was an HSC candidate from Hazi Mohammad Dinesh College.

Police said some unidentified assailents beat him indescriminately near T&T office around 10:30pm on Thursday. Hearing his screams, neigbouring people rushed to the spot and took him to Khulna Medical College Hospital where on duty doctor declared him dead. l

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DT

Feature

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

Pages of success Now, GEEKY Social Limited is a 360-degree social and digital media marketing company which helps brands maximise their marketing ROI. We organise this summit every year as part of our commitment towards giving back to the society and contributing to the economic growth of Bangladesh.

PHOTO: COURTESY

n Rad Sharar Bin Kamal Traditionally, Facebook deems its position as a “social network” by bringing us closer to our loved ones. However, marketers have taken a different view towards it, considering the gathering of people as an opportunity for business.

At first, thousands of Facebook pages of brands have achieved massive sales volumes by using it as a digital storefront, listing service, product demo site, customer relation touch-point and what not.

The word “F-commerce,” or Facebook commerce, is still quite unfamiliar as of yet, but remains as opportunity of immense potential among young Bangladeshi entrepreneurs.

Keeping this context in mind, GEEKY Social, one of the first specialised social media marketing startup with presence in other digital channels in Bangladesh, arranged the “National F-commerce Summit 2015,” along with the “GS F-commerce Award 2016.”

To gain an insight on the matter, we spoke to Mahadi Hasan Sagor, who is the co-founder of GEEKY Social. Here’s what he had to say.

How did GEEKY Social begin?

GEEKY Social incepted as a social media marketing company after a meeting at Shwarma House between two university buddies - Sagor and Saimum. It started its operation through a Facebook page.

Tell us about the National F-commerce Summit.

National F-commerce Summit is a national platform to promote and foster the budding F-commerce Industry. Our aim is to create more digital entrepreneur through F-commerce.

As we all understand, economic development for a country like Bangladesh requires innovative ideas and approaches in business.

Bangladesh, having 70% of its population under the age of 35, is poised for a double digit growth trajectory. Economic development of Bangladesh is thus largely dependent on its young population’s innovation and creativity in generating value for the economy.

In line with this hypothesis, hundreds of young entrepreneurs from across the country have come up with a very interesting and innovative approach of entrepreneurship - they have literally turned the mighty social media site into a very effective online marketplace for several categories of high-end goods. Due to their creativity, Facebook is no more a social networking site. It is much more than that.

For this reason, after a heavily successful episode in 2015, National F-commerce (Facebook commerce) Summit came back for a second season. This year, entrepreneurs, policymakers, industry insiders, media, and domain experts were again brought under one roof to discuss and create a unified voice for these businesses for the ultimate goal of economic prosperity of our beloved motherland Bangladesh.

20 businesses showcased their products and services and along with this, inspired and motivated other entrepreneurs doing business in Facebook. The National F-commerce Summit will host the “GS F-commerce Award 2016” as well.

To select the best five F-commerce businesses of this year, five categories were taken into account, including product/ service quality, pages to answer that question in the activity of customer (responsiveness), product/service delivery quality (delivery responsiveness), branding and post-sale service.

Winners were determined through the votes of two categories - public voting and jury voting.

Public voting was counted in these categories by multiplying the “total number of votes” and “points” on the basis of product.

For instance, if the average rating is 4.5 and total number of vote is 100, then total number of point will be 450. Public voting will be open till May 5.

Jury voting was scored on

Yes, you can start from just a Facebook page

the basis of the score from the respected panel of juries. Judges scored on the basis of same five public categories.

40% public voting and 60% jury voting were made with a net score to select winners.

What were the results?

20 F-commerce stalls were set up, along with over 1200 registrations and counting. 40 businesses enlisted for F-commerce Award.

In total, almost 7 millions impressions were made and is still on the rise!

How do you plan to keep such events sustainable and grow it?

We are talking to Facebook in order to partner with them.

Moreover, commitments were received from numerous local patrons (corporate houses), who shall sponsor us to run this event every year. l

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

DT

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Biz Info

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

| opening |

Krispy Kreme starts its journey

Having launched in over 26 countries around the world, the Krispy Kreme HOT light is finally here.

Starting today, Krispy Kreme is welcoming its first customers into the store at the heart of the Dhaka city’s eateries, Banani 11.

The North Carolina based mother company signed a franchisee agreement with local conglomerate Orion Group with the aim of opening 20 stores across the country in the next five years.

“We expect Krispy Kreme to become an integral part of

Bangladesh’s culture and we look forward to sharing the joy that is Krispy Kreme with customers new and old in Bangladesh,” said Dan Beem, Krispy Kreme’s president of International.

Orion Group’s unparalleled business aptitude along with brand and consumer understanding of Bangladesh’s market has led to this exciting franchisee agreement.

“We are privileged and ecstatic to be joining hands with such a world renowned and iconic brand such as Krispy Kreme and excited to welcome our first customers

on May 7,” Salman Obaidul Karim, managing director, Orion Group.

The doughnut culture is still very mild in this part of the region and with the brand and taste, Krispy Kreme hopes to share a perfect treat among family and friends.

Krispy Kreme is definitely a welcome addition to the selection available on the market to the country’s sweet tooths.With at least 20 stores set to open in the next five years, there is little doubt that the doughnut culture will never be the same for Bangladesh again.l

| food |

For the love of food

The second edition of “Dhaka Restaurant Week” was launched at Hotel Le Meridien yesterday, initiated by food portal www. foodiez.com.bd.

The launching event began with speeches from Syed Talat Kamal, deputy director of communication, GrameenPhone, Jesmin Zaman, senior marketing manager of Square Toiletries Limited, Tajdin Hassan, marketing head of The Daily Star and Olivier Loveaux, director of food and beverage, Le Meridien.

From May 5 to May 14, 55 restaurants across Dhaka shall offer their signature dishes at Tk499, Tk999 and Tk1499 only.

Ashiqur Rahman Rean, founder of Foodiez, is expecting more than 1,00,000 foodies

throughout the days of the event.

The food portal also launched its android app, which contains details of more than 2000 restaurants in Dhaka.

GrameenPhone and Square Toiletries are the main partners for the event, while Sepnil shall provide hand sanitisers in order to create health awareness.

Moreover, GP star customers can enjoy a 10% discount by texting “RW” to 9000 inside the hotel.

By being the top foodie throughout the “Dhaka Restaurant Week,” any foodie can avail daily coupons and smartphones. To top it off, The Daily Star, ABC Radio and Le Meridien shall give out exciting prizes. l

| exhibition |

A pilot's love for aerial photography An airforce pilot by profession, squadron leader Shamim Shorif Susom shall present his first aerial based solo photography exhibition, named “Blackbird’s eYe : Bangladesh & Beyond.”

The exhibition is taking place at the Drik Gallery in Dhanmondi today, and is open for all.

About the photographer: Squadron leader Shamim Shorif Susom started his photographic journey a long time ago. He loves to travel, and likes capture rare moments of beauty.

He has participated in 19 exhibitions at home and abroad.

He is also a part of numerous photography groups and has worked as an organiser with the “Grasshoppers” for quite long time.

He loves to shoot from the top and entertain people with his skill in aerial photography. l PHOTOS: COURTESY

DT

Editorial 11

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

INSIDE

America first?

PAGE 12

Where do we go from here?

PAGE 13

BIGSTOCK

Climate change PAGE 14

En route to catharsis PAGE 19

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

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

Time for Dhaka’s mayors to take it to the next level

T

he poll carried out by Bangla Tribune on the recently elected mayors of our city, and carried today in these pages shows that while Dhaka city-dwellers were overall positive in their assessment of the two new mayors, there is still considerable room for improvement.

The survey was carried out with 3,600 respondents which included a healthy variety of professions, including service holders, housewives, students, and business-people.

Annisul Huq, mayor of Dhaka North, came out with an approval rating of 69% while Dhaka South mayor Sayeed Khokon enjoyed an approval rating of 60%.

However, though the mayors’ initiatives are to be applauded, for instance, the recent clean up of the Tejgaon bus depot and the drive to rid of illegal shops in Dhaka South, the poll suggests that the high hopes with which the two were elected remain unfulfilled.

Waste management came out on top as the foremost concern on residents’ minds, with 70% of respondents wishing that proper waste management was implemented.

They also wanted a stop to the perennial water and gas crisis that plagues the city.

Other concerns were safety, road infrastructure, and public transport, with 62% being worried about the security of women and a third concerned with regards to the state of our footpaths.

What was interesting about the poll was that on individual issues the residents recorded more dissatisfaction than satisfaction, especially in Dhaka South, but that the overall approval rating for the mayors’ performances was positive.

This suggests that the public appreciates the difficulty of the tasks faced by the mayors and the effort they have put in so far, but are willing to be patient and give them time to fulfill their electoral promises.

We hope that the two mayors will take this trust and goodwill to heart, and that in the coming year our dreams of making Dhaka a more liveable city will take more concrete form.

The mayors’ approval ratings might be high, but the people’s patience won’t last forever. In the end, it is performance that counts, and the people will be looking for the mayors to deliver.

The mayors’ approval ratings might be high, but the people’s patience won’t last forever

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DT

Opinion

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

America first?

Is the world going to be a safer place under Donald Trump’s foreign policy?

Will Trump be able to cut down defense spending?

n Rasheek Irtisam

L

ast week, the Republican front-runner Donald Trump delivered a speech on his foreign policy plans, and seems like he has positioned himself as a rare isolationist presidential candidate.

The billionaire-businessman has vowed to put the interest of the American people first: “America first will be the overriding theme of my administration.” Trump was confident, well-prepared, and sensible enough not to utter guff like a “complete ban of all Muslims” or “building a wall.”

The term “America First” was originally coined by America First Committee in the 1940s, which put non-interventionist pressure on the US government to stop American entry into World War II. After being dragged into World War I, the United States adopted the “isolationistic” grand strategy and in 1935, congress passed the neutrality act to avoid any further entanglement in a European quagmire.

The logic underpinning isolationism is strong. The United States is remarkably safe because it is separated from all the great powers of the world by two giant moats -- the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Therefore, no region outside the western hemisphere is strategically important enough to intervene. However, the attack on Pearl Harbor changed everything and forced the United States to drop its isolationist policy, thereby

failing to keep them safe.

The other grand strategy, offshore balancing, which America had followed until 1989, predicated on the logic that Europe, Northeast Asia, and the Persian Gulf are the only three areas of the world that really matter.

REUTERS

had already emerged as the most powerful country on Earth. Being the leader of the unipolar world, the US adopted a policy to become a “global hegemon” under the Clinton administration.

Since 1989, the United States has been at war for a two out of every three years in every region

had no experience or interests in becoming a western democracy.”

Recognising the foreign policy mistakes, Trump added: “One day, we’re bombing Libya and getting rid of a dictator to foster democracy for civilians. The next day, we’re watching the same civilians suffer while that country

Trump also wants to stay out of military conflicts unless it is absolutely necessary. The real estate mogul wants to get out of the nation-building business and instead focus on building America’s infrastructure and creating a stable peaceful world

And the principle goal is to ensure that no single country becomes a hegemon in those regions.

America should be ready to use its troops and resources to neutralise any aspiring hegemon, otherwise stay offshore. Over the last century, the United States has successfully defeated all four potential regional hegemons: Imperial Germany, imperial Japan, Nazi Germany, and the USSR. “In the 1940s, we saved the world. The greatest generation beat back the Nazis and Japanese imperialists. Then we saved the world again. This time, from totalitarianism and communism,” Trump said.

By 1990, after winning the ideological battle against communist Soviet Union, the US

on the planet. As Trump pointed out rightly: “Unfortunately, after the Cold War, our foreign policy veered badly off course. We failed to develop a new vision for a new time. In fact, as time went on, our foreign policy began to make less and less sense.”

Global hegemony has two components: Ensuring that the US stays the most powerful state in the world and spreading democracy around the globe.

Not surprisingly, spreading democracy at the point of a gun barrel was bound to fail. “We went from mistakes in Iraq to Egypt to Libya, to President Obama’s line in the sand in Syria.

It all began with a dangerous idea that we could make western democracies out of countries that

falls and absolutely falls apart.

Lives lost, massive moneys lost.

The world is a different place.”

Since World War II, the US has played the role of sugar daddy to keep the Europeans out of brawling with each other. One of the major changes under the “America First” policy will be cutting down the massive defense spending that US tax-payers undertake to protect their rich European allies from Russian threat.

“In NATO, for instance, only four of 28 other member countries besides America are spending the minimum required 2% of GDP on defense. We have spent trillions of dollars over time on planes, missiles, ships, equipment, building up our military to provide

a strong defense for Europe and Asia. The countries we are defending must pay for the cost of this defense, and if not, the US must be prepared to let these countries defend themselves. We have no choice,” Trump said.

Trump also wants to stay out of military conflicts unless it is absolutely necessary.

The real estate mogul wants to get out of the nation-building business and instead focus on building America’s infrastructure and creating a stable peaceful world.

In his words: “However, unlike other candidates for the presidency, war and aggression will not be my first instinct.

The world must know that we do not go abroad in search of enemies, that we are always happy when old enemies become friends and when old friends become allies.”

Will the world be a safer place if Trump gets elected and pulls out US troops from Europe and Asia?

Or is the presence of US forces necessary to keep those regions stable?

Can America rely on their European and Asian allies to cohabit peacefully without US supervision?

Well, we can certainly hear Trump’s promise to keep the world a safer place: “America will continue and continue forever to play the role of peacemaker. We will always help save lives and indeed humanity itself.” l Rasheek Irtisam is a PhD candidate in finance at the University of Memphis.

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DT

Opinion

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

Where do we go from here?

Consider the root causes of traffic congestion, not only the gridlocked roads

n Ekram Kabir

A

Dhaka Tribune report recently detailed out how the authorities are mulling to enact a new law regarding traffic rules violation. The old law of on-thespot fines is likely to go away and the new law would send all the traffic offenders straight to jail.

The thought of sending all traffic-rule violators to jail means that all our efforts to manage the traffic have failed. Now, we’re thinking of using the last weapon for forcing people to obey the traffic rules.

The DT reports contained a quote by Dhaka’s Deputy Commissioner (Traffic West), Imtiaz Ahmed, where he said: “If we do not have the spot fining authority, then every year around one million people will be sent to jail. Is it realistic?”

So, he doesn’t seem to like the new initiative. And his quote raises the question on whether the traffic department of the country was at all consulted before thinking of formulating a new law.

Bangladesh is a country that has a chaotic traffic system and this issue has been bugging our national psyche for quite a long time. We’ve seen endless attempts for streamlining the traffic across the country.

The media has reported extensively on it and the experts have given their opinions on traffic management. Everything seemed to have failed and now we’re thinking of taking an extreme measure which would send people to jail if they don’t abide by traffic laws.

There you go. We will send all the traffic offenders to jail and our problem will be solved. Fantastic.

We all know that someone who’s driving a vehicle must know and abide by the traffic laws.

Take a few minutes, stand on a pavement in Dhaka city and watch the people who are not inside any vehicle. They are an incredible diverse lot. And they are one of the reasons for whom vehicle-drivers commit many offences on the roads.

I have seen in many countries that everybody knows traffic rules; the children are taught traffic laws at a very tender age; they even teach them about traffic rules through TV shows in the form of cartoons.

These cartoons are so interesting that I’ve seen children in those countries literally ogle at them and the impact is so intense that the knowledge gets imprinted in their minds. In this way, they develop a certain behaviour that guides them throughout their lives.

We haven’t done anything like this in any sector. Have we ever initiated any such program about abiding traffic laws to the members of the public?

We just take it for granted that the state has formulated laws and the citizens are bound to obey them. We never think of changing the behaviour of the citizens.

The problems of our capital city are multifarious. Due to the lack of decentralisation, the people flock only to this city for employment.

Nothing has been done to prevent the city from becoming a human molehill. Nothing has been done to keep the number of vehicles under control.

Nothing has been done to establish a good, effective public transport system. There are several aspects of this city that aren’t logical.

When you fine a vehicle owner for parking violation, you must ensure that there are plenty of parking spaces across the city in comparison to the number of vehicles that this city has. How

Our traffic-related problems are not just the problems on the roads; rather our problems are deep-rooted which we allowed to multiply Something has to be done to prevent the city from becoming a human molehill But what about the pedestrians?

Shouldn’t they also know and abide by the traffic laws as pedestrians, as they are also a big problem as far as our traffic is concerned?

can you define “parking violation” when there are not enough parking space in a city?

To my mind, our traffic-related problems are not just the problems on the roads; rather our problems

are deep-rooted which we allowed to multiply. Violation of traffic rules is not only responsible for our traffic anarchy.

We had taken some illogical decisions in the past for which we

arrived in this traffic situation. Our traffic issues are linked with many other issues.

Therefore, heading for an extreme measure without considering the root causes may

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

not solve the problems.

Let’s turn around now to fix the problems, and prepare for may be, 15 years into the future. l Ekram Kabir is a writer.

DT

14

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

Climate Change

Women are critical in finding solutions to climate crisis people adapt to climate change.”

As we’re currently seeing with Zika, and with the anticipated increases in vector-borne diseases such as malaria and stresses on infrastructure from floods and natural disasters, it is critical to have a health system that is prepared to respond to the many impacts of climate disruption.

Health system strengthening measures such as training medical professionals on emergency response; securing safe, dry storage for vaccines and equipment; and supporting capacity for primary care and preventative medicine will go a long way toward protecting communities from the impacts of climate disruption.

By addressing public health concerns surrounding climate disruption, public health initiatives help promote gender equality.

When integrated public health initiatives are implemented, with clean air and water, reproductive healthcare, energy access, and access to education, women and girls -- those currently most affected by and most at risk from the effects of climate change --

n A Tianna Scozzaro

G

lobally, 1.3 billion people, a majority of which are women, are without access to electricity. Close to 75% of Bangladeshis in rural areas have no electricity in their homes, forcing these villagers to complete their work during daylight. By scaling up clean energy solutions like solar, we can reach vulnerable communities.

Without running water or light at night, everyday activities take longer, making time for schooling or occupations outside of the home almost impossible.

This lack of energy hits women harder by keeping girls out of school, limiting economic prospects and contributing to infant and maternal mortality.

But with access to clean energy, women no longer have to use expensive, inefficient, and dangerous fuels like kerosene.

In many places, grid extension takes years if not decades, leaving women waiting in the dark. The solution is a combination of grid and off-grid renewable.

With renewable energy access, women have increased access to education, economic opportunities, and healthcare.

Solar-powered homes, which provide clean, reliable electricity to more than 16 million people in off-grid areas, have provided rural Bangladeshis access to all of the benefits of electric lighting.

With off-grid electricity,

children can study in the night, shop owners can extend the hours of their businesses, and mobile phones can be charged at any time.

Just as a lack of energy access hits women harder, so do the effects of climate disruption.

As our climate worsens, there will be more malaria, asthmaimpacting pollutants, fatal heat waves, extreme weather events, and poor water quality.

These risks will disproportionately impact those least able to adapt, especially women.

Women make up 70% of the world’s one billion poorest people.

This poverty compromises their ability to recover from extreme weather events and adapt to climate disruption. When natural disasters hit, women are 14 times more likely to die than men.

Typically having less access to medical care, property ownership, and employment, women are less likely to be alerted to a pending disaster, know how to swim or climb, and they often stay behind with children when evacuated.

According to the Women’s Environmental Network, women constitute up to 80% of global refugee and displaced populations, and typically in emergencies 7080% of those needing assistance are women and children.

To solve the climate crisis, we need to focus on the holistic needs of communities, we need to ensure healthy communities. We

can’t have healthy communities without healthy women. To support healthy communities, it is critical that integrated public health initiatives work to increase gender equality.

By providing clean energy access to communities who rely on kerosene lamps, we can significantly decrease indoor air and carbon pollution. Because women and children spend more time at home, kerosene pollution has the highest implications for women and children.

The World Bank estimates that 780 million women and children breathing particulate laden kerosene fumes inhale the equivalent of smoke from two packs of cigarettes a day.

It is estimated that nearly 2 million children are killed in developing nations each year because of acute respiratory infections like influenza and pneumonia.

By promoting the safe use of public transportation and active movement -- such as cycling or walking as alternatives to using private vehicles -- we can reduce carbon emissions, and cut the burden of household air pollution, which together cause about eight million deaths per year.

Along with clean air, healthy communities need access to clean water.

Water scarcity already affects more than 40% of the global population and that number is expected to rise. A lack of safe

Women are central to healthy communities and healthy communities are central to solving the climate crisis water can compromise hygiene and increase the risk of diarrhoeal disease, which kills about 760,000 children under age five each year.

In extreme cases, water scarcity leads to drought, famine, and migration.

Interventions such as improved water and sanitation and providing point-of-use disinfection and sufficient toilets and latrines would reduce the current burden of disease and ameliorate the health impacts of decreasing water supplies.

Healthy communities need access to health care, especially reproductive health care.

Currently, only half of women in developing regions receive the recommended amount of health care they need. More than 225 million women globally do not have access to contraceptives they want.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change explicitly cites women’s health as a consideration in adaptation, stating that “meeting the need for family planning services in areas with both high fertility and high vulnerability to climate change can reduce human suffering and help

can act as leaders against climate disruption.

The benefits of this are cyclical: When women are included in the sustainable development process not only do they bring in a unique perspective as the primary resource managers in their communities, but they also are more likely to take part in solutions.

Women are central to healthy communities and healthy communities are central to solving the climate crisis. l A Tianna Scozzaro is Director, Global Population & Environment Program at Sierra Club.

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

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Opinion

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

The healing touch Pakistani politics through the Hubble telescope

Men who had spent their careers tightening the Gordian knot of Indo-Pak relations tried to untie it.

Understandably, all they could agree upon was that both countries should ‘continue talks at all levels’

Where’s his inseparable partner Nawaz Sharif?

n FS Aijazuddin

T

o put politics in Pakistan in perspective, one needs to view it through a telescope, preferably the Hubble telescope. Only then can one understand the significance of the current maelstrom between the PTI and the government in the universal scheme of things.

Over the years, scientists using the Hubble telescope have enlarged our comprehension of the universe, reminding us that we are but one planet in just one galaxy. They tell us there are millions of galaxies between us and the Ultra Deep Field (the farthest Hubble can peer into in outer space). This U-D Field lies 78 billion light years away from Earth. It contains over 10,000 galaxies, and each galaxy in turn accommodates million of stars.

It is conceivable therefore that a life-form akin to ours must exist somewhere on another planet. Those life-forms may well replicate ours, which forces us to admit the probability that out there, in the gaseous turbulence of

the vast cosmos, there is another Imran Khan agitating against another Nawaz Sharif.

Whatever will be the result of the conflict between that duplicate pair, Hubble will reveal only millions of light years from now. For the moment, though, the outcome of the Imran Khan/ Nawaz Sharif contest on earth appears clear enough, even to the naked eye. Despite Imran Khan’s determined exertions to dislodge Nawaz Sharif from the prime minister-ship, he is having as little success as a dentist-intern might have extracting an unreachable molar.

No one doubts the purity of Imran Khan’s motives, nor his chaste integrity. No Pakistani advertises his patriotism with more fervour. Yet, one suspects he sees the prime minister-ship of our country as a re-modelled World Cup, which he can win and hold until the next electorate tournament.

Cricket matches, as every school-child knows, are won on a majority of runs scored. Elections

depend, as every voter knows, not on the turnout at public rallies but on the turnout and votes cast in polling booths. It is not the heavyweights on a public platform that count; it is the MNAs and MPAs who matter when they stand up to be counted in their assemblies.

Democracy may be a Joseph’s “coat of many colours.” It is not bespoke tailoring. That technicolour coat is meant to fit every Joseph, equally.

Will Imran Khan succeed where Air Marshal Asghar Khan failed?

Or will he too become another Don Quixote, tilting at windmills?

Imran Khan cannot be dismissed so easily. He is not some fictional Spanish knight. He has become too powerful a presence in Pakistan’s politics, too formidable an opponent, and too adept at container-top chicanery to be relegated so lightly. He has an agenda, and the propellant drive to see it through. Whether he has the fortitude to wait as long as the Myanmar leader Aung Sun Suu Kyi to claim the reward for his patience, only time will tell.

Until then, saner democrats

1984-88) to Salman Bashir (high commissioner, 2012-14). Nine represented India, from K Shankar Bajpai (ambassador, 1978-80) to TCA Raghavan (high commissioner, REUTERS 2013-15). Their cheerleader was in Pakistan, both inside his party the redoubtable Mr SK Lambah, and outside, it wish that he would once Tariq Aziz’s counterpart in the ventilate his grievances against a Indo-Pak secret channel and now sitting prime minister in the forum chairman, Ananta Aspen Centre. from which that prime minister These 15 diplomats with an derives his authority -- the National aggregate of 70 years of Indo-Pak Assembly. experience between them sat and For Imran Khan willfully to talked to each other, not at each discount today the National other. Men who had spent their Assembly is for him to careers tightening the Gordian forfeit tomorrow the premium knot of Indo-Pak relations tried to of constitutional authority that untie it. Understandably, all they it offers to every legitimate could agree upon was that both government, including in time his. countries should “continue talks at Sensible democrats pray that all levels.” Winston Churchill said all political parties will return to it with more flair: “Jaw-jaw is better the National Assembly, to listen as than war-war.” much as to talk, to legislate as much Perhaps the governments of as to debate, to answer as much India and Pakistan and, at another as to accuse. Otherwise, they may level, Mian Nawaz Sharif and his find themselves as much an object inseparable partner Imran Khan of public ridicule as the prattle of should learn from the therapists retired parrots assembled recently Drs Masters and Johnson. They in New Delhi by the Ananta Aspen advocated “sensate focus.” It Centre. achieved wonders curing such Fifteen former ambassadors/ cases of conjugal incompatibility. l high commissioners from both India and Pakistan were assembled FS Aijazuddin lives in Lahore and is a under one roof to revivify Indo-Pak columnist for Dawn, Pakistan’s main relations. Pakistan fielded six, from English-language newspaper. This article Dr Humayun Khan (ambassador, first appeared in Dawn.

DT

16

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

Film Review

Keeping hope alive Jalal’s Story provide a stellar cinematic experience n SM Shahrukh

A

s Miraj, a timid villager, is bathing in the river one afternoon, he hears the cries of an infant.

On getting up from the water, he notices a sizeable cooking pot floating on the river; the cries are coming from it he surmises and panics. He runs to his pregnant wife and tells her about it. He then gathers other villagers to approach, with caution, the floating cooking pot containing the infant.

Amin, a friend of Miraj, gathers the courage to lift the baby from the pot and gives it to Miraj to take care of it; the latter accedes, reluctantly. Needless to say, his wife is not pleased as the family is already poverty ridden. But the baby stays with the family. As a mere coincidence, the river is found to be teeming with fish. The river has all this time been considered a curse as its hunger has been eroding the banks mercilessly. The villagers consider the arrival of the baby as a boon from God and consider it a miracle.

Pretty soon Miraj, “the father,” starts selling water, into which the baby’s feet had been dipped, as a panacea against all ills. With a series of coincidences the “holy water” seems just that -- holy.

Miraj starts a booming business of “porra paani,” he starts wearing a shirt instead of a tattered undershirt that used to be his usual garb. Amin demands his share of the take but Miraj declines and an enmity results. The coincidences couldn’t last as the village is ravaged by an outbreak of cholera. The village council now deems the baby as a curse and forces Miraj to abandon the baby just as it had been found, and he is again set floating on the river in a cooking pot. He was named Jalal during the course of events. A note bearing his and his “father’s” name is placed inside the pot.

Jalal is now an adolescent kid and his new “father” is a rich landlord who aspires to win a political position but the villagers are reluctant to vote for a childless man. He marries a young woman for the specific purpose of having a child. Jalal, out of curiosity, peeps into the bridal room to see the goings on. The new wife of the landlord fails to bear him a child.

He decides to consult a fakir.

The fakir tries his usual mumbo jumbo but the wife shows no signs of pregnancy. He then tries the “normal” method and shuts himself with the landlord’s wife in her bedroom. After several such

In the cacophony of regular Bangladeshi mainstream commercial movies, Jalaler Golpo stands out as a breath of fresh air. The movie purist, which I am not, would have issues with it for sure but the direction and photography are crisp, the background music is refreshing

purported “treatments” of which Jalal gets a sniff, the confidencetrickster decides to blame Jalal of being possessed and forces the landlord to let him go, in spite of pleadings from the grief-stricken wife who has by now come to love the little boy. Wrapped in a gunny sack, Jalal is set off in a raft.

Jalal, now a young man, has a thug for his new “father.” He is now part of the gang of henchmen working for the thug but in spite of carrying out his master’s orders, he is found suffering from pangs of conscience. The henchmen abduct a young woman who is forcefully made a mistress by the thug. The thug uses subterfuge to make the abducted young woman to feel for him and, subsequently, she gets

pregnant.

Jalal takes care of the sad pregnant girl during her pregnancy while his “father” is gearing up to run as a candidate in the upcoming elections. The young girl dies or is murdered at childbirth, not made clear by events, and the thug tells his men to get rid of the newborn. Jalal tries to salvage the baby floating away, once again in a cooking pot, but fails.

Jalal has never learnt to swim and in a desperate bid to catch hold of the baby carrying pot, he perishes. The cooking pot goes floating away.

The cycle begins anew.

The movie can be considered as of three segments of abandonedat-birth Jalal’s sad life.

The life of Jalal can be seen as an allegory: He is the conscience trying badly to survive in a society steeped in superstition, the oppression of women and the total criminalisation of politics.

The story ends as it had started -- a baby floating in a cooking pot. The life of Jalal ends trying to save a baby in the cooking pot, the pot floats away to be picked up again somewhere else; one may safely assume that, keeping alive the hope of rebirth of conscience.

There are no guarantees of success but one lives in hope.

That is the storyline of Jalaler Golpo (Jalal’s story), the debut film by Abu Shahed Emon who also wrote the script. Produced by Impress Telefilm, the film received

the Asian Cinema Fund at the 19th Busan Film festival earlier and premiered as the first Bangladeshi film at the festival’s New Currents section. The film also won best film at the AVANCA Film Festival at Portugal with Mosharraf Karim winning best actor. It has also been shown at Goa and Jaipur festivals, winning at the latter festival’s best film by a debutant director. It was released in Dhaka on September 4, 2015.

In the cacophony of regular Bangladeshi mainstream commercial movies, Jalaler Golpo stands out as a breath of fresh air.

The movie purist, which I am not, would have issues with it for sure but the direction and photography are crisp, the background music is refreshing and poignant. Good locations but the screenplay sags a bit at times. I am, however, pleased to see the efforts made to produce good cinema.

Mosharraf Karim, Tawkir Ahmed, Moushumi Hamid, Shormi Mala, Nure Alam, Mitali Das et al do startlingly in their roles and Arafat Rahman and Mohammad Emon in the two latter stages of the life of Jalal are superb.

A must see. l SM Shahrukh is a freelance contributor.

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DT

Feature

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

For the love of DJ-ing The popularity of EDM, besides Bollywood music, is rising rapidly.

When people open up to different styles or genres of music, it makes the industry more interesting.

However, I have different plans altogether. I wish to make Bengali music more appealing in the sense that people can dance to it. Creating a bridge between EDM and Bengali music is needed for the youth to gain a feel of Bengali tracks as well as bring back old hits with a more international flavour.

There are a lot more deejays in the country who are trying hard to make proper Bengali music to be enjoyed worldwide.

I sincerely appreciate their initiatives.

n Features Desk “A majority of people in Bangladesh have little idea about being a disc jockey. They know it for all the wrong reasons,” shared DJ SUNNY. “The good thing is, Bangladeshis are opening up to new alternatives in music.”

Md Neazul Hoque (aka DJ SUNNY) is a renowned name in the music industry, particularly in Chittagong. His polished taste and refined skill in music has gained him a name among the youth of Banhladesh in the last decade.

A DJ by profession, Md Neazul Hoque holds a BBA and MBA from IUB and CIU. Moreover, he is a Human Resource professional.

A tête-à-tête with Neazul shed light on his thoughts about deejaying as a profession, his love for music and the music scene in Bangladesh.

Is it difficult to be a DJ in Bangladesh?

A majority of people in Bangladesh are ignorant about deejaying. They know it for all the wrong reasons - spiked hairs, studded ears, eccentric T-shirts etc. People often associate deejaying with drugs and alcohol. That is not true.

I think this generalisation is unfair to the deejays who are passionate about music and spend hours searching for good tunes every day. It’s an art and deserves respectful recognition.

Are there specific songs for each of your performances?

People in Bangladesh are opening up to new alternatives in music.

In your last answer you mentioned EDM? What is it?

EDM stands for Electronic Dance Music, and nowadays, it has become immensely popular in the West as well as in many parts of Asia.

EDM has the power to unite people and spread love; the music contains few lyrics, and concentrates solely on the tune.

It’s all about good music.

Without words, people of different countries are being able to come together and spread happiness. This is why I wish to create a bridge between EDM and Bengali music.

How do you plan to create that bridge?

I plan to launch my own show soon named “Super Sunny Show,” where performers shall play with me on stage and sing Bengali songs to the tunes of electronic music.

A beta version has already been completed.

My plan is to promote the show in different hotels as well as universities. Bengali music will slowly evolve through initiatives as such and be recognised for underground artistes who produce refined Bengali music.

The fame, money and glamour attracts a lot of youngsters.

Only people who are passionate about music can survive in this competitive industry

What message do you wish to spread to aspiring DJs? Enter the industry for the right reason - the love for music. The fame, money and glamour attracts a lot of youngsters. Only people who are passionate about music can survive in this competitive industry.l

PHOTOS: COURTESY

DT

18

Feature

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

'The Blockade' documentary American Quakers and Bangladesh’s struggle for independence

n Nadia Afrin Although small in numbers, Quakers have played a pivotal role in American history. Time and time again they have risen up against persecution and violence. They have fought for the abolition of slavery and run the underground railroad.

A young Bengali expat in the US, Sultana Alam, was filled with anguish as she followed the news from afar. She couldn’t feel content for the newborn she had just brought home. After all, the rest of her family was in Dhaka, living in the midst of an unspeakable horror. Meanwhile, her adoptive country was not

(like Sultana) and Quaker peace activists joined forces to stop US military aid to Pakistan. Armed with just canoes and kayaks, they blockaded Pakistani freighters carrying ammunition. In cities across the US, they organised peaceful demonstrations. The lobbyists among them put pressure on congress to ban

Together, they kept stories about Bangladesh alive in the media till public opinion began to sway. In the process, they saved thousands of lives halfway across the world

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK They have struggled for equal rights for women and promoted peace. But what do Quakers have to do with Bangladesh’s independence struggle? The Blockade documentary tells the David-versus-Goliath story of how Bangladeshi expats and Quaker peace activists came together in 1971. Together, they changed US policies and stopped military aid to Pakistan.

The story In March 1971, news broke about the campaign of atrocities that the Pakistan army had unleashed on its Bengali counterparts in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

only turning a blind eye to the massacre of Bengalis, the NixonKissinger administration was, in fact, secretly supplying the Pakistani dictatorship with arms and ammunition.

Sultana felt compelled to do something about it. She decided to go through the telephone directory and make a hundred calls a day till a movement gelled.

Eventually, she found allies in two young Quaker activists. Richard Taylor and Bill Moyer had been the staff of Dr Martin Luther King’s civil rights organisation in the 1960s.

The Blockade captures the story of how Bangladeshi expats

military aid to Pakistan. Together, they kept stories about Bangladesh alive in the media till public opinion began to sway. In the process, they saved thousands of lives halfway across the world.

Through the narratives of Richard Taylor, Sultana Alam and others, the documentary provides a moving insight on the power of non-violent resistance. It recounts how young Americans from different faiths and backgrounds, stood up against their government and coalesced to support the Bangladeshi cause. Most of them had little prior knowledge of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

Yet many of them risked getting

arrested and even death as they took on the freighters carrying ammunition.

The making of the documentary The seeds of the documentary were planted in 2008. Arif Yousuf and his friends, Mridul Chowdhury and Rashid Mamun Pallab, read Richard Taylor’s book about the Blockade movement.

Arif was an IT specialist working at Colombia University. He had no prior experience in film-making but had a keen eye for a good story. Moved by Richard’s account, Arif and his friends decided to video tape interviews of several Blockade activists. This was no

small task, given that the activists had long scattered. They even tracked down Sultana Alam, who had ended up moving back to Bangladesh. Over the next few years, Arif painstakingly collected Blockade-related photographs, newspaper stories and video clips from various news outlets and university archives.

After sitting on the footage for several months, he eventually teamed up with Washington DC based Tasbir Imam Shakkhar to edit the documentary. Shakkhar inherited his father’s film-making gene and was a self-taught jack-ofall-trades working on story telling, video editing and animation. Over the course of six years, numerous New York/DC trips and countless Skype sessions, Arif and Shakkhar gradually pieced together a story from hours and hours of footage.

A California based musician, Sujan Bin Wadud, composed the soundtrack for the documentary.

The film-makers had day jobs and volunteered their time for this passion project. So there were times when the project stalled, sometimes for months.

Finally, after eight long years, the documentary was finally completed in February 2016.

Since then, the documentary has been screened in several US cities including New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Washington DC. A few of the Blockade activists, who are now in their seventies and eighties, attended the screenings and spoke to the audience. One noteworthy screening was hosted

by Philadephia’s deputy mayor, Nina Ahmed, on the occasion of Bangladesh’s Independence Day. In the months ahead, more screenings are planned in the US, Canada as well as in Bangladesh. l Nadia Afrin is a Washington DC-based communications professional and the official “cha-wali” for the Blockade team

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DT

Heritage

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

En route to catharsis Much of Rangpur’s rich heritage is disappearing into oblivion no doubt built for the foreign railway workers, appears to be in the process of sinking slowly into potential oblivion.

Such travels through the division might well have produced a somewhat depressed feeling of ennui in, even, the most enthusiastic traveller, despite the fact that the residue of the Tajhat museum still contains evidence of culture and society over the past two millennia. And arrival in Dinajpur will probably do little to relieve that feeling.

It could be another of the potentially fascinating, unquestionable ancient, communities of the area. But, despite the maintaining of a vibrant Hindu Temple within the

n Tim Steel

T

here is something very cathartic, about travelling through the rich cultural and social heritage of Bangladesh. Arriving at some great artefact and monument that is an important part of that heritage, to be surprised, and pleased at the first sight, then, almost, overwhelmed by its visual condition, and the history it portrays.

Visiting so many such sites, across the country, the state of preservation, far less conservation, can induce a degree of depression.

Perhaps, after Rajshahi, the most endowed possessor of traces of such heritage, Rangpur division of North Bengal is also rich in millennial vestiges of that heritage, but so much of it betraying a real neglect. Amongst the three greatest attractions to tourists, heritage has the greatest appeal, together with cuisine and shopping opportunities.

Travelling through Rangpur division, it is not difficult to know that the land is full of history and heritage, but so little of that heritage is either visible, or well presented.

Such advertisements as the cannon that “defend” the National Museum in Dhaka, originating from the Zamindar palace of Dinajpur, cannot truly compensate for the ruinous reality of that palace itself.

It is very hard to imagine a palace, the main residence of a local ruler, so powerful should, now, appear so trivial.

En route to Dinajpur, such as the fine, oriental baroque of the early 20th century magnificence of Tajhat Palace in Rangpur, despite its rapidly vanishing museum

contents, and somewhat shabby appearance, presents something real, very visual, and tangible for the tourists.

It seems rather sad that a mere century or so ancient -- the present palace replaced one brought down in the 1897 Great India earthquake, incidentally crushing the then Zamindar beneath its ruin -- should be amongst the most notable of treasures of human existence. Any enthusiastic reader of the history of Bengal may well seek the whereabouts of the famous Bhutanese market which was conducted in Rangpur.

Famous for the annual descent by merchants from that previously somewhat reclusive Himalayan state, for centuries, on the town to trade an array of international merchandise. It was a market encouraged for over a century by the East India Company. No trace of it remains, either physically, or even in most local histories.

North of Rangpur, across the famous Teesta River, once a major route of trade into the states and empires of the Himalayas, close to Lalmonirhat, the site of what is known, locally, as, “the Lost Mosque,” merits a visit. If it is the site of a mosque built in the late seventh century, presumably by early converts who were Arab traders, it would be the most ancient such site with tangible archaeological evidence in south and eastern Asia.

But that site, too, despite its potentially enormous archaeological and religious significance, is neglected, except by devoted villagers. They are the people who unearthed the site whilst clearing jungle in the 1980s.

There are those who suspect it is too distant from Dhaka to merit any real regard by authorities.

workers on the Hindu Temple can inspire, perhaps, a flicker of fading hope; arrival beside a rather dull wall does nothing to redeem it.

Then there is a gateway to the compound that hides the temple.

Walk through, and all might be forgiven. The construction may have commenced in 1704, before the troubled period that ensued following the death of Aurangzeb, the last of the great Mughals -- but this is, by any standard, a terracotta masterpiece. It is similar, in style and execution, to the main Shiva Temple at Puthia in Rajashi Division.

Its terracotta friezes may be said to rival any in India. Suggested to be designed to support the claims of divine descent by Pran Nath

How could the soul fail to be elevated, humour restored, and hope fulfilled. In fact, this is a tour de force of sculptural craftsmanship and architecture, in honour of faith, encasing enduring symbols of that faith

The poor condition of such a possible treasure, and the evident poverty of the villagers who have erected above the site their own, rough hewn, concrete act of faith, is, partly, compensated by a real gem of an unaltered Mughal period, brick and terracotta mosque, nearby.

Another surge of expectation can readily rise in gazing upon its form, unaltered save for some timber frame to shelter the mosque madrassa school.

Even the nearby banks of the “Holy” Brahmaputra, one of the few areas in Bangladesh where its wide waters can be readily admired before it bifurcates into Old Brahmaputra and Jamuna rivers are ill maintained, and not easily visited.

In Saidpur, Bangladesh’s own “city of railways,” once the hub of the railway system that developed across the country in the latter half of the 19th century -- what remains of its Victorian workshops and housing, and even machinery, is much neglected.

The so-called “ceramic mosque,” and act of faith in glorious mosaic colour from the mid-19th century built by early specialists in mosaic work is clearly a piece in two or three “halves,” with mosque extensions -- sadly is visually deteriorating as they progress in modernity.

The small Christian church,

site of the palace, it manages to simply enhance any growing sense of disappointment.

Robert Louis Stevenson, the great Victorian novelist and traveller wrote: “To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive.”

Whilst the state of all the apparent attractions, thus far, in travelling, may have produced substantially mixed emotions -who could not but be inspired by the splendour, in any condition, of Tajhat or the “Lost Mosque” of touching stones laid by those who had actually met the Holy Prophet (pbuh).

Or, wondered at the mighty width of the waters of the great Brahmaputra as it nears the end of its thousand mile journey. Or revelled in the intricacy of the Saidpur mosque, or imagined how fine, how powerful, was, once, Dinajpur Palace, guarded by those cannon?

Thus far, however, that hopefulness may well have somewhat diminished.

Arriving a little north of Dinajpur, heading towards the border gateway that offers a brief passage across Indian territory to visible Nepal, in the community of Kantanagor, at the site of Kantaji Temple -- there is little, visibly, to restore hope.

A small mosque, built in the 18th century for the Muslim

of Dinajpur palace, it represents a wide variety of inspirational sources.

Domestic scenes, such as a woman massaging her husband’s legs, and a lady combing for lice, vie for attention with humorous scenes, such as a demon swallowing a monkey that promptly reappears from his ear.

Scenes from rural life and triumphal processions compel the eye of the casual visitor, and eager social historians alike.

How could the soul fail to be elevated, humour restored, and hope fulfilled. In fact, this is a tour de force of sculptural craftsmanship and architecture, in honour of faith, encasing enduring symbols of that faith.

Leaving the site, with a renewed sense of hopefulness for all the great cultural heritage of Bangladesh, this little masterpiece, might, even, seem to tempt consideration of further exploration of the area around it.

Someday, perhaps, this masterpiece of heritage may not prove too distant from Dhaka, or too boringly historic, to be revealed in all its potential fascination.

But, for now, surely, one catharsis at a time is quite enough for anyone? l Tim Steel is a communications, marketing and tourism consultant.

DT

Downtime

20

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Main actor (4) 5 Not working (4) 10 Way out (4) 11 Corn spike (3) 12 Possessed (5) 13 Consumed (3) 14 Male honey-bee (5) 16 Ineffective (6) 18 Happenings (6) 21 Sanity (5) 23 Be victorious (3) 24 Lift up (5) 26 Also (3) 27 Transgressions (4) 28 Nidus (4) 29 Facial features (4)

DOWN 2 Dogma (5) 3 Tool (3) 4 Enigmas (7) 6 Faculty head (4) 7 Hid (6) 8 Before (3) 9 Sport (4) 15 Daydream (7) 17 Bearlike (6) 19 Clamour (5) 20 Prophet (4) 22 Extremities (4) 23 Pallid (3) 25 Whichever it may be (3)

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 21 represents S so fill S every time the figure 21 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

SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2016

INSIDE INSIGHT

EU-Turkey deal, complicated by PM’s exit, stumbles on terror laws n Reuters, Istanbul/Ankara Bombay HC strikes down beef ban The Bombay High Court, the apex court of the Western Indian state of Maharashtra, on Friday struck down a tough law that had banned the consumption of beef in the state, dealing a blow to right-wing Hindu groups.

PAGE 23

Chagrined anti-Trump Republicans seek to recruit 3rd-party candidate Now that Donald Trump is the last man standing in the Republican presidential race, his critics in the party are intensifying their search for a candidate they could back as a serious third-party alternative.

PAGE 24

Resource-rich Venezuela struggles to keep lights, taps on Venezuela’s energy and water problems have escalated in the last few weeks: yet another headache for the Opec nation’s 30m people already reeling from recession, the world’s highest inflation rate, and scarcities of basic goods.

PAGE 24

European demands that Turkey bring broad anti-terrorism laws in line with tighter EU standards risk undermining their agreement to curb illegal migration, a deal made more fragile by the premier’s departure.

The European Union asked member states on Wednesday to grant visa-free travel to Turks in return for Ankara stopping migrants reaching Europe, but said Turkey still had to change some laws first.

On Thursday, PM Ahmet Davutoglu, who negotiated the deal for Ankara and has largely delivered Turkish compliance with its conditions so far, announced he was stepping down, throwing the agreement into uncertainty.

His departure consolidates the power of President Tayyip Erdogan, who has been highly critical of the EU in the past and who is seen in Brussels as a far tougher negotiating partner.

To win visa-free travel, Turkey must still meet five of 72 criteria the EU imposes on all states exempt from visas, one of which is narrowing its legal definition of terrorism.

In a speech on Friday, Erdogan indicated that would not happen.

Referring to the EU demand to change the law at a time when Turkey was under threat, he said: “We will go our way, you go yours.”

Rights groups say Turkey has used broad anti-terror laws to silence dissent, including detaining journalists and academics critical of the government. But Ankara insists the laws are essential as it battles Kurdish militants at home and the threat from Islamic State in neighbouring Syria and Iraq.

“It’s not possible to make any revision to the legislation and practices on terrorism while our country continues its intense fight against various terrorist organisations,” EU Minister Volkan Bozkir was earlier quoted saying by the Daily Sabah on Thursday.

He said Turkey had already made some changes requested

by Europe, including reference to “the concept of immediate and obvious danger that threatens public security”.

“However, we don’t have the luxury of making (further) changes,” he was quoted as telling local reporters in Ankara.

Germany said it expects Tur-

Turkish riot police scuffle with a group of protesters as they attempted to defy a ban and march on Taksim Square to celebrate May Day, in Besiktas neighbourhood of Istanbul, Turkey, May 1, 2016 REUTERS key to uphold the deal, which was pushed by Chancellor Angela Merkel and which she hopes will shore up support for her conservatives ahead of a federal election next year.

Hard act to follow?

Erdogan is aware that visa-free travel is for many Turks the biggest benefit of Ankara’s deal with the EU, and is unlikely to want to be seen as scuppering a deal which appeared, at least until Thursday, to have largely been secured.

But he bristles at suggestions that Turkey uses its anti-terror laws indiscriminately. He has re-

peatedly stressed his determination to crush Kurdish militants fighting an insurgency in Turkey’s southeast, and is unlikely to sanction Ankara backing down on the European demands.

Much may depend on the ability of whoever replaces Davutoglu, a decision to be made at an extraordinary congress of the ruling AK Party on May 22, to convince European allies that Turkey has already done enough.

Transport Minister Binali Yildirim, a close Erdogan ally, appears to be the president’s current preference, according to three senior AKP officials, although

they said that could still change.

Government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus and Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, also Erdogan loyalists, have also been touted, as has Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, Erdogan’s son-in-law, sources in the party have said.

The head of the European Commission delegation in Ankara, Hansjorg Haber, also said he expected cooperation to seal the migration agreement whatever the shape of the new government.

“To finish the deal we need continuity... We expect that from any subsequent government,” he told reporters. l

LEGAL HURDLES TO EU-TURKEY MIGRANT DEAL EU visa liberalisation for Turks The EU wants to waive visa requirements for Turks only once the Ankara government fulfils 72 conditions. Three notably need to be implemented: sign a pact with EU police agency Europol; adopt EU data protection rules; and waive visa requirements for all EU citizens whatever their nationality. Any agreement on visa waivers requires endorsement by the European Parliament, where many lawmakers are uneasy about the risk of Turks abusing short-stay rules or seeming to reward Turkey while accusing its leaders of turning more authoritarian.

Turkey as a safe third country For Greek and EU authorities to deport people arriving on Greek islands back to Turkey without processing their claims for asylum, it is necessary to consider Turkey a “safe third country” -- ie neither the country of arrival nor the migrant’s home country -- where they will be treated as refugees under the Geneva Convention. Such determinations are made not at EU but at national level and the plan is to carry out such expulsions under a bilateral “readmission” pact between Greece and Turkey. But Greek officials have said it has as yet no list of safe third countries. And lawyers note that, Turkey has limited itself to applying the protections of the Geneva Convention only to people fleeing from Europe, not other parts of the world.

Deportation and resettlement The UN top human rights official says the plan to send back to Turkey everyone, even Syrians, who lands without the right papers on Greek islands, risks consisting of illegal “collective and arbitrary expulsions”. Under EU law, all those who claim asylum have a right to have their individual case considered, and to have an ability to appeal -- a process incompatible with swift mass deportations from remote islands. The legal underpinning of any final accord on expulsions from Greece, as well as for the return to Turkey of migrants picked up at sea by Nato warships, may well come down to an EU or Greek declaration that Turkey is a safe third country capable of handling the relevant asylum claims.

Sources: REUTERS

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India’s Congress rallies in show of defiance against ruling BJP n Reuters, New Delhi India’s opposition Congress party staged a show of defiance on Friday, with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi leading a rally and march to parliament to resist what they called Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bid to destroy democracy.

The opposition party hit back after facing a slew of corruption accusations leveled by Modi’s ruling party over a helicopter order made when Congress was last in power.

Addressing the Save Democracy March, Congress leaders accused Modi of trampling on civil rights and of failing to alleviate the impact of a drought under which 400m Indians are suffering.

“The Indian National Congress will never bow down before injus-

tice,” said Sonia Gandhi.

Rahul said Modi had promised 20m new jobs every year but in reality the Indian economy had created only 130,000.

“Modi talked about good days to come but today the country is reeling under drought and farmers are committing suicide,” said the 45-year-old heir apparent of the main opposition Congress.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dismissed the rally as an attempt to divert attention from the helicopter scandal, know as “Choppergate”, that has dominated news headlines for weeks.

“The Congress is accusing Modi ji because we have proof to show that the Gandhi family was involved in series of scams,” Shrikant Sharma, BJP national general sec-

retary, said.

Congress has rejected accusations from Modi’s allies that Congress leaders were either complicit in, or blocked investigations into, corrupt payments linked to an order of a dozen helicopters from Italy.

A Milan appeals court recently sentenced the former bosses of Finmeccanica and its AgustaWestland unit to jail terms for false accounting and corruption in the $640m order that was scrapped just before the 2014 general election.

India’s Supreme Court on Friday heard a petition brought by a New Delhi lawyer calling for it to set up a special investigation team to open a judicial probe. It gave the government and India’s Central Bureau of Investigation four weeks to respond. l

INSIGHT

Pakistan’s tribal councils in spotlight after brutal honour killing n Reuters, Makol Shock across Pakistan at the murder of a 16-year-old girl accused of helping a young couple run away and elope has turned to anger over the role played by a “jirga”, or tribal council, which police say ordered the punishment.

Jirgas are often convened, particularly in conservative rural areas, to settle local disputes especially between poor families, and although they operate outside the law, their decisions are often honoured and ignored by authorities.

In the case of Ambreen Riasat, who was drugged, killed and burned by a group of men in a so-called “honour killing” in the village of Makol, just 50km from the capital Islamabad, the mayor questioned whether the jirga was even genuine.

“This barbarity has never happened before,” Makol mayor Zardad Khan said.

Other residents confirmed the village of around 5,000 people had no history of “honour killings”, and said in other elopement cases the punishments meted out were relatively minor.

Whoever made up the group that ordered Ambreen’s death, the case has underlined how weak the tentacles of formal Pakistani justice are even close to the centre of government.

Tribal councils, called jirgas in ethnic Pashtun areas and “panchayat” across Punjab and elsewhere, can act to fill that vacuum, and their decisions are usually without controversy.

But events in Makol just over a week ago

have highlighted the risks they pose.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the opposition PPP party and son of Pakistan’s only female prime minister, the late Benazir Bhutto, called for a “revolt” against the jirga system after Ambreen’s death.

Rights groups say men who run jirgas often barter women and hand down punishments that have included rape and forced marriage of young girls.

More than 500 people are killed in Pakistan each year in so-called “honour killings”, usually carried out by members of the victim’s family meting out punishment for bringing “shame” on the community.

Most Pakistani newspapers reported Ambreen’s death on their front pages, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called for her killers to be swiftly prosecuted.

Initial reports said that Ambreen was burned alive, but police now believe she was drugged and suffocated before her body was placed in a van and set alight.

The murder took place on April 29, but has only come to light after investigators pieced together what happened. Riasat said Ambreen had no link to Saima, the young woman who had eloped with another man from Makol.

The police have arrested 13 of 15 members of the alleged jirga, and paraded them blindfolded and shackled before the media. They also arrested Ambreen’s mother, saying she was connected to the jirga. l

Members of a tribal council accused of ordering the burning death of the teenager are shown to the media after they were arrested on Thursday REUTERS

India’s main opposition Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, right, and former prime minister Manmohan Singh cross a police barricade during a protest march to parliament in New Delhi on Friday REUTERS

WILDFIRE RAVAGES THROUGH CANADA’S ALBERTA Canada’s government sent trucks and helicopters on Friday to safely remove thousands of evacuees stranded north of a wildfire that ravaged nearly a quarter million hectares around the Canadian oil town of Fort McMurray, Alberta. The out-of-control wildfire has consumed entire neighborhoods in Fort McMurray, forcing 88,000 to evacuate, and threatened two oil sands sites south of the city. While the main fire have turned southeast, away from town, parts of Fort McMurray were still burning. It also knocked out as much as a third of Canada’s daily crude capacity and closed some pipelines 1

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SOUTH ASIA

Myanmar jade mine landslide kills 13 A landslide in at a jade mine in Myanmar’s Kachin State has killed 13 people, a local official said Friday. The men died when a wall of unstable earth collapsed inside the mine and buried them.

Rescuers pulled out 13 bodies buried by debris early Friday but later called off the search.

-AFP

INDIA

India to impose $15m penalty for doctored cartograph Anyone distributing a map the Indian government deems to be “wrong” could be liable for a $15m fine and jail time under a new draft bill published this week. Maps are a highly sensitive issue in India, which has long-running border disputes over the divided Kashmir.

The bill lists penalties, including a prison term of up to seven years and a fine of one billion rupees. -AFP

CHINA

China’s military deploys its first corruption inspectors 1) A member of Canadian Mountain Rangers surveys the damage on a street in the devastated city of Fort McMurray in this twitter image posted on May 5. 2) The massive wildfire, which caused a mandatory evacuation, rages south of Fort McMurray near Anzac, Alberta 3) Wildfire is worsening along the adjoining highways of Fort McMurray REUTERS

Bombay HC strikes down beef ban n AFP, Mumbai The Bombay High Court, the apex court of the Western Indian state of Maharashtra, on Friday struck down a tough law that had banned the consumption of beef in the state, dealing a blow to right-wing Hindu groups.

Last year the government of Maharashtra, home to India’s commercial centre Mumbai, made the sale or possession of beef an offence punishable by a fiveyear jail term or a Rs10,000 ($150) fine.

It was one of the strictest such laws in India, where several states ban the slaughter of cows, considered sacred by the Hindu majority.

However Mumbai’s top court ruled Friday that it was no longer illegal to possess or eat beef, as long as it had been brought into Maharashtra from outside the state.

But it upheld the part of the law, introduced in March 2015, that had extended a 1976 ban on slaughtering cows to cover bulls and bullocks, according to the ruling published on the court’s website. As per the ruling, restaurants will now be allowed to sell imported beef again.

Right-wing Hindu groups in India have long demanded a complete ban on the slaughter of all cattle, citing religious scriptures.

They celebrated last year when Maharashtra, governed by nationalist BJP in alliance with the far-right Shiv Sena party, toughened its laws.

While the slaughter of cows, bulls and bullocks remains illegal in Maharashtra, the slaughtering of water buffalo remains permissible.

Friday’s ruling, which came after the court heard a number of petitions against the legal amendment, made no concessions to those in the slaughter trade.

The decision caught the attention of social media with opinion predictably divided on Twitter. l

China’s military has for the first time sent dedicated teams of corruption inspectors into its units, state media said on Thursday. Previously, corruption investigations in the People’s Liberation Army were handled in a more ad hoc fashion.

But under reforms started last year the military now has a dedicated graft-fighting division.

-REUTERS

ASIA PACIFIC

Australia compensates aid group after Nauru claims Australia said Friday it had offered compensation to Save the Children staff after “regretting” relying on allegations the charity had encouraged asylum-seekers held on the Pacific island of Nauru to harm themselves. Save the Children welcomed the confidential financial settlement, but said it still had concerns about those living on Nauru, where two refugees set themselves on fire this week. One of them died, while the second was in a critical condition in hospital in Australia.

-AFP

MIDDLE EAST

Air strikes on Syria camp kill 28 Air strikes killed at least 28 civilians Thursday in a camp for the displaced in northern Syria near the Turkish border as a 48-hour ceasefire took hold in Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said air strikes struck the camp for internally displaced people near Sarmada, in Idlib province, which is controlled by Syria’s al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front.

-AFP

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USA

US House Speaker won’t endorse Trump US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday he is not ready to support or endorse Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. “I’m just not ready to do that at this point.

I’m not there right now,” Ryan, a Republican, said in an interview with CNN. -REUTERS

THE AMERICAS

Colombia authorises air strikes against drug cartels Colombia on Thursday authorised the use of all military force, including air strikes, against the country’s three biggest criminal gangs in a major escalation against “organised armed groups.” Defence Minister Luis Carlos Villegas announced the directive late Thursday after a special session of a Senate committee in a violence-torn region of northwestern Colombia.

-AFP

UK

Trump: Britain would be better off outside EU Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday he thought Britain would be better off out of the European Union.

Britons will vote in a referendum on June 23 on whether to leave the 28-nation bloc. “I would say that they’re better off without it personally, but I’m not making that as a recommendation - just my feeling,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News. -REUTERS

EUROPE

Algerian man cleared of New Year’s sex assault in Cologne A German court Friday threw out sexual assault charges against an Algerian man stemming from New Year’s Eve violence in Cologne after the victim said she could not identify the defendant. The panel said it had no evidence that the 26-year-old was part of a group of about 10 men who allegedly surrounded, groped and robbed the woman at Cologne central railway station.

-AFP

AFRICA

Kenya to stop hosting Somali refugees Refugees from Somalia will no longer be accepted in Kenya, the government said Friday citing security fears. Under a directive, newly-arrived asylum seekers will not automatically receive refugee status, and the government will step up efforts to have those already living in the country removed. Kenya hosts around 550,000 refugees in two camps, the world’s largest.

-AFP

INSIGHT

Chagrined anti-Trump Republicans seek to recruit 3rd-party candidate Washington, DC/ n Reuters, New York Now that Donald Trump is the last man standing in the Republican presidential race, his critics in the party are intensifying their search for a candidate they could back as a serious third-party alternative.

Political operatives are courting donors, calling potential candidates and developing legal contingency plans for overcoming onerous ballot qualification laws.

“This is as much as anything a battle for the future of American party politics,” said Republican strategist Joel Searby, who is working with conservative writer Bill Kristol, among others, to identify a third-party candidate for the November 8 presidential election.

The group Conservatives Against Trump, which includes blogger Erick Erickson, has been holding calls and meetings to discuss third-party candidates as well as other options to stop the New York billionaire

Bush and is working with Conservatives Against Trump, said her group was trying to find a candidate who would be high-profile enough to compete with Trump and Clinton.

No easy task

People march with posters against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during an immigrant rights rally in Los Angeles on May 1 REUTERS from winning the White House.

The hurdles for a third-party candidacy are high. No independent candidate has ever won a presidential election, although some have played spoilers. But the efforts by the Republican groups underscore the unusual divisiveness of Trump’s candidacy within Republican ranks ahead of a likely general election fight with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Trump’s opposition to free trade is at odds with therf views of many Republicans, especially in

the party’s business wing. Many of Trump’s critics also find his rhetoric offensive, including his call to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the country and his comment describing Mexican immigrants to the US as rapists and drug dealers.

Some Republicans say they worry that any third-party candidate would only siphon votes away from Trump and help Clinton win the election.

Deborah DeMoss Fonseca, who recruited donors for former Republican presidential candidate Jeb

But finding a candidate of that caliber who would be willing to run is no easy feat. Searby’s group has reached out to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, among others, but both declined after discussions.

In March, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, said he had considered jumping into the race as a third-party candidate but opted against it, saying he feared it would only serve to help get Trump elected.

One of the biggest obstacles to a third-party run is simply getting on the ballot in enough states to mount a viable campaign.

Texas requires more than 79,000 signatures from voters who did not participate in either primary. Its deadline is Monday. Among other states, North Carolina’s deadline is the end of May, and Illinois and Florida in mid-July. l

INSIGHT

Resource-rich Venezuela struggles to keep lights, taps on n Reuters, Puerto Ordaz Residents of Venezuela’s southern city of Puerto Ordaz enjoy pleasant views of the Orinoco and Caroni rivers and are a half hour’s drive from one of the world’s biggest hydroelectric dams.

Yet most days they suffer water and power cuts.

Venezuela’s energy and water problems have escalated in the last few weeks: yet another headache for the Opec nation’s 30m people already reeling from recession, the world’s highest inflation rate, and scarcities of basic goods.

Officials in President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government say they can hardly believe their bad luck.

After the global oil price collapse slashed revenues by more than half, along came the drought-inducing El Niño weather phenomenon.

That has sent water levels at the all-important Guri dam and hydroelectric complex, just southwest of Puerto Ordaz, to a record low and nearing a critical 240-meter level where some turbines would be inoperable.

“It’s like having a car without any fuel,” Electricity Minister Luis

This March 20 file photo shows women cook with candlelight at a street food stall, during a power cut in Tinaquillo in Cojedes REUTERS Motta said, showing where waters at Guri had receded to reveal long-sunken boats, form sand dunes, and even expose roads flooded in the 1960s when the dam was formed.

Already unpopular and facing an opposition push to remove him, Maduro has launched an energy-saving campaign and imposed rationing, although he euphemistically calls it a ‘Plan for Load Administration.’ But the government’s main hope is pinned on late rains in the south, forecast for May or June.

Critics say the government is using El Niño as a convenient scapegoat to hide incompetent management of the electricity sector: insufficient investment, poor maintenance, corruption, and a failure to diversify away from the Guri which provides two-thirds of Venezuela’s power.

After a 2009-10 drought that also led to electricity rationing and hurt late president Hugo Chavez’s presidency, the government poured investment into thermoelectric projects to try to prevent a repeat.

Stalin Gonzalez, a lawmaker who heads the opposition-run National Assembly’s administration and services committee, said $21bn had been put into the electricity sector since 2010. “What did they do during all this time?” he asked.

Opposition politicians have lambasted Maduro’s power-saving measures, including giving state workers a two-day week, urging women to reduce the use of hair-dryers, and changing Venezuela’s time-zone so there is half an hour more light in the evenings.

So bad is the situation that thieves ambush water trucks to siphon off their load. Schools close early, malls and hotels have been ordered to rely on their own generators, and plastic water tanks are multiplying across the nation.

Opposition lawmakers say the lack of water is increasing health risks, with scabies on the up for example.

And protests are proliferating.

For a nation used to considering itself a rich kid on the block in Latin America - thanks to its oil wealth - the indignities from failing services are a blow to the national psyche. l

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INSIDE

MSC 2nd, Kalabagan KC open account Mohammedan rose to joint second position in the DPL points table following the conclusion of the fourth round yesterday. The traditional Black and Whites are now just two points behind tabletoppers Prime Doleshwar. PAGE 26

Mickey Arthur new Pakistan coach Pakistan yesterday appointed South African Mickey Arthur as head coach of their national cricket team, replacing Waqar Younis who resigned after a disastrous World Twenty20 last month. PAGE 27

Chittagong Abahani’s foreign recruit Tarik el Janaby (L) controls the ball during training at the Buet ground yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

KFC INDEPENDENCE CUP

Abahanis clash for title, bragging rights n Tribune Report

Liverpool set up Sevilla final Liverpool romped into the Europa League final with a 3-0 win over Villarreal on another magical night at Anfield to tee up a showpiece clash with holders Sevilla who swatted away visitors Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 on Thursday. PAGE 28

Mahrez tells Foxes he wants to stay Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez has given the Premier League champions a boost by telling the owners he wants to stay at the club next season, British media reported on Thursday. Mahrez has played a key part in Leicester’s success. PAGE 29

Star Abahani forward Sunday Chizoba (C) passes the ball during a training session in Dhanmondi yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

The dominant force of Bangladesh football not so long ago, Abahani Limited will be desperate to end their five-year trophy drought when they face rising powerhouse Chittagong Abahani in the grand finale of the KFC Independence Cup today. The final of the season opening tournament kicks off at 5:30pm at Bangabandhu National Stadium and BTV World will telecast it live.

The traditional Sky Blues, who are the only unbeaten side left in the competition, have reached their first final since clinching the cash-rich Super Cup title in the 2010-11 season.

Chittagong Abahani on the other hand will be contesting their first final since the club’s incep-

tion in the professional circuit.

Both the sides will be confident about their chances but it is Abahani who will start as the slight favourites, thanks to their unbeaten run and 6-0 thrashing against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in the semi-final.

To add to that, Abahani’s deadly trio of English forward Lee Andrew Tuck, Nigerian striker Sunday Chizoba and national winger Jewel Rana are likely to cause Chittagong Abahani’s backline plenty of problems.

Abahani’s defence, comprising captain Ariful Islam, Waly Faisal and Topu Barman, is also in good form, having shipped only three goals in their six matches, the fewest any side have conceded in the competition.

ROAD TO FINAL ABAHANI LIMITED

v Feni Soccer Club (1-1) v Team BJMC (5-0) v Arambagh (0-0) v Rahmatganj (2-2) v Sheikh Russel (1-0) SF v Sheikh Jamal (6-0)

CHITTAGONG ABAHANI v Muktijoddha (2-0) v Uttar Baridhara (2-1) v Brothers Union (3-0) v Mohammedan (1-5) v Sheikh Jamal (1-1) SF v Sheikh Russel (1-1, 4-2)

In contrast, Chittagong Abahani’s defence has its work cut out as it has leaked eight goals so far.

The port city outfit’s attack, meanwhile, will be spearheaded by foreign duo Leonel Preux and Tarik el Janaby.

Considering everything, Chittagong Abahani head coach Jozef Pavlik is expecting a “very hard job” against a formidable Abahani side but said they will not merely be making up the numbers today.

“I followed all the matches in this tournament and saw many good games but the best two teams of Bangladesh (Sheikh Jamal and Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra) are not in the final,” said Pavlik before adding, “[Today] is of course the final but I don’t feel any extra pressure.”l

PROBABLE XIs ABAHANI LIMITED Shakil; Ariful, Waly, Topu, Mamun; Emon, Faisal, Jewel; Tuck, Camara, Sunday

CHITTAGONG ABAHANI Rana; Reza, Arman, Udoka, Saikat; Kawshik, Rubel, Janaby; Zahid, Noel, Preux

WHAT THEY SAID AMALESH SEN Abahani coach

We played really well in the last match (against Sheikh Jamal DC).

We improved in every department.

Every player is confident and we should be able to keep up the spirit.

If we can continue to play like the way we did in the last two matches and avail our scoring chances we will surely win the final and return home as champions.

ARIFUL ISLAM Abahani captain

Both the sides have 50-50 chance of winning the final. Our team have had no success in recent years. We have balance in every department of the team and every player is working hard. As we have already reached the final we want to win it.

JOZEF PAVLIK

Chittagong Abahani coach Final match is a very hard job but I’m not feeling any pressure because we played and won a big duel against Sheikh Russel and Mohammedan. So I think my team has no pressure and I believe they are ready for the final.

ZAHID HOSSAIN

Chittagong Abahani captain Despite not having our five key players, we have been improving in every match. I feel no pressure for the final. Both the sides have similar chance of winning the game.

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Usha KC into Club Cup Hockey final n Tribune Report Usha Krira Chakra swept into the final of the Marcel Club Cup Hockey Tournament beating Mohammedan Sporting Club 7-5 in the tiebreaker at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium yesterday. The score was level at 3-3 after stipulated time.

Usha will face the winners of today’s second semi-final between Abahani Limited and Mariner Young’s Club in the grand finale, scheduled for this Monday at the same venue. It was Usha who took the lead in the eighth minute when Krishna Kumar’s soft push hit the back of the net. Tasawar Abbas equalised the margin at the half-hour mark when the Pakistani forward placed home with a reverse hit following a Kamruzzaman Rana pass.

Taswar put the Black and Whites ahead in the 38th minute but the delight lasted for only two minutes when Malaysian defender Shafik bin Cholan levelled the margin from a penalty corner. Mohammedan went ahead again in the 69th minute through Omar Bhatta but Pushkor Khisa Mimo restored parity 25 seconds before the final whistle.l

Three uncapped players in Brazil squad n Reuters, Rio De Janeiro A goalkeeper with Benfica, a versatile Sao Paulo centre half and a teenage forward with Santos were the three uncapped players named on Thursday in Brazil’s squad for the centenary Copa America.

Benfica’s Ederson, Sao Paulo defender Rodrigo Caio and 19-yearold striker Gabriel, also known as Gabigol, were coach Dunga’s surprise inclusions for next month’s tournament in the United States.

“Ederson has personality, comes out well and has good vision,” Dunga said. “Rodrigo Caio is versatile, he is good in the air, can play the ball out of defence and has played as a holding midfielder.

“Gabigol is quick, he can cut in, he has a nose for goal. And what we really like in Brazilian football, he is good at a one-on-on8e, he can dribble.

“They deserve to be here,” said Dunga. “They are international players and they have to take advantage of their chance.”

Brazil will face Ecuador, Haiti and Peru in Group B in the first

stage of the tournament. The event marks the start of a busy few months for the nation that will host the Olympics in August.

Dunga selected seven players who will play in both competitions but Barcelona striker Neymar was left out of the Copa America squad at the request of his club. Neymar will, however, be one of the three over-age players allowed in the Olympic squad.

Former captain David Luiz was excluded by Dunga after the Paris St Germain defender played poorly in Brazil’s 2-2 draw against Paraguay in a World Cup qualifier in March.

To mark the centenary of the Copa America, the 10 South American sides will be joined by six more teams from the northern half of the Americas.

The tournament will be held from June 3 to 26.

Squad: Alisson, Alves, Ederson; Miranda, Gil, Marquinhos, Rodrigo, Dani, Luís, Fabinho, Santos; Gustavo, Elias, Renato, Coutinho, Lima, Willian, Casemiro, Alcantara, Costa, Hulk, Gabriel, Oliveira. l

4- 0-17-2

Sunrisers Hyderabad's Bangladeshi pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman bowls during their IPL match against Gujarat Lions yesterday BCCI

Mohammedan second, Kalabagan KC open account n Mazhar Uddin Mohammedan Sporting Club rose to joint second position in the Dhaka Premier League points table following the conclusion of the fourth round yesterday.

The traditional Black and Whites are now just two points behind table-toppers Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club after their convincing seven-wicket win over Gazi Group Cricketers.

Kalabagan Krira Chakra, meanwhile, registered their first win of the campaign - a 49-run victory over Cricket Coaching School – while midtable Legends of Rupganj posted a 29-run triumph against Kalabagan Cricket Academy.

Mohammedan v Gazi Group, Mirpur

Mohammedan Sporting Club left-arm spinner Naeem Islam Jr in action during their Dhaka Premier League match against Gazi Group Cricketers at Mirpur’s Shere-Bangla National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

At the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, early pacesetters Gazi Group suffered their second hiccup in their pursuit of the Dhaka League title.

Asked to bat first, Gazi Group were skittled out for a paltry 141 in just 37.1 overs with only captain Alok Kapali (48) and opening batsmen Anamul Haque (23) and Shamsur Rahman (26) offering some sort of resistance.

Left-arm spinners Enamul

Haque Jr and Naeem Islam Jr bagged four wickets each while Habibur Rahman took two to ensure Mohammedan would not have a big total to chase.

In reply, Mohammedan coasted to their target with 18.1 overs to spare, opener Saykat Ali (42) and Sri Lankan batsman Upul Tharanga (47) helping their side to their third win.

Kalabagan KC v CCS, Fatullah

Elsewhere at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, Zimbabwean

BRIEF SCORES GAZI GROUP CRICKETERS 141 (Enamul Jr 4/26, Naeem Jr 4/38, Habibur 2/27) lost to MOHAMMEDAN SPORTING CLUB 142/3 (Tharanga 47, Saykat 42, Ariful 25*) by seven wickets LEGENDS OF RUPGANJ 239/9 (Asif 82, Sajjadul 70, Jayed 4/50) beat KALABAGAN CRICKET ACADEMY 141/7 (Taposh 37*, Bishwanath 32*, Nahidul 2/15) by 29 runs (D/L method) KALABAGAN KRIRA CHAKRA 270/9 (Masakadza 115, Shadman 47, Nasum 3/47) beat CRICKET COACHING SCHOOL 221/8 (Uttam 63, Pinak 42, Razzak 4/32) by 49 runs

batsman Hamilton Masakadza hammered a 104-ball 115 to enable Kalabagan to open their points account.

Invited to take first guard, Masakadza propelled his side to a fighting total of 270/9 from their 50 overs.

In pursuit of 271, CCS were replying well and were 89/2 in 21.1 overs before veteran spinner Abdur Razzak wrecked havoc, picking up four wickets. Winless CCS eventually ended their chase on 221/9.

Rupganj v Kalabagan CA, BKSP 3

Rupganj recorded their second win in what was a rain-curtailed affair in Savar. Batting first, Rupganj put up a modest 239/9, thanks to half-centuries from middle-order batsman Asif Ahmed (82) and Sajjadul Haque (70).

Young Kalabagan paceman Abu Jayed notched 4/50.

Rain then intervened as Kalabagan were set a revised target of 171 from 25 overs. However, Kalabagan, the only other winless side along with CCS, were able to manage only 141/7.

Asif’s day turned from good to worse as he was reported for suspected bowling action, becoming the eighth bowler to be reported in the ongoing DPL.l

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Immature Tomic not committed enough: Djokovic n AFP, Madrid

QUICK BYTES ‘Ibra’ could return to AC Milan – agent Paris Saint-Germain’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic could consider a return to AC Milan in Serie A, according to the Sweden striker’s agent in a report on Thursday. Ibrahimovic is set to leave the French champions at the end of the season, with reports claiming the 34-goal striker could be headed for England’s Premier League. Ibrahimovic’s agent Mino Raiola told men’s magazine GQ Italia that the Swede could return to Italy where he also starred for Juventus and Inter Milan.

–AFP

Bale to miss Valencia clash with knee sprain In-form Real Madrid star Gareth Bale is set to miss the Spanish giants’ crucial La Liga clash with Valencia tomorrow after the club confirmed yesterday he has suffered a knee sprain. “Bale has been diagnosed with a sprained right knee joint,” Madrid said in a statement. “His recovery will continue to be assessed.” The Welsh star reportedly picked up the injury as Madrid progressed to the Champions League final against Manchester City on Wednesday.

–AFP

Fellaini and Huth handed three-match suspension Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini and Leicester City defender Robert Huth have been banned for three matches by the Football Association for their violent conduct during Sunday’s 1-1 Premier League draw. Fellaini appeared to elbow Huth in the 21st minute of the game at Old Trafford after having his hair pulled by the German defender. The ban means Huth will miss Leicester’s final two fixtures and their first league game of next season.

–REUTERS

Injured Gundogan to miss Euro 2016 Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan will miss Euro 2016 after suffering a dislocated kneecap in training with Borussia Dortmund, his club announced yesterday. “Season - and European Championship - finished!...Get well soon, Illy,” said Dortmund on their official twitter feed, revealing the news of the serious injury suffered by the 25-year-old. The former Nuremberg player has been capped 16 times by Germany but already missed his country’s triumph at the 2014 World Cup because of a longterm back injury.

–AFP

Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut during their Madrid Open match at the Caja Magica (Magic Box) sports complex in Madrid on Thursday. Djokovic won 6-2, 6-1 AFP

World number one Novak Djokovic has encouraged troubled Australian star Bernard Tomic to take his profession more seriously after he spectacularly gave up in losing to Fabio Fognini at the Madrid Masters.

Tomic held his racquet the wrong way round and made no attempt to return Fognini’s serve in bowing out in the first round in the Spanish capital on Tuesday.

Djokovic has been a regular practice partner for Tomic and believes he is capable of far more than his current ranking of 22nd in the world.

“I’ve seen what he has done.

It’s not right and I hope he realises that,” said the 11-time Grand Slam champion.

“The sooner the better for him because he is still relatively young and he can definitely be a better player and better ranked than he is now.” l

Pakistan appoint Mickey Arthur as new coach n AFP, Karachi Pakistan yesterday appointed South African Mickey Arthur as head coach of their national cricket team, replacing Waqar Younis who resigned after a disastrous World Twenty20 last month.

Arthur “has confirmed his acceptance of the post of Head Coach of the Pakistan National Cricket team” after a “detailed and transparent process”, the PCB said in a statement.

“The modalities vis-à-vis his contract are being finalised. It is expected that Arthur will be able to join the PCB toward the end of this

month,” the statement continued.

Arthur, who turns 48 later this month, successfully coached his native South Africa from 20052010 before migrating to Australia, where he remained coach for 19 months. But he found his job in danger after Australia lost a Test series in India followed by a poor showing at the Champions Trophy in England, and was sacked just before the 2013 Ashes.

Arthur’s first task will be to prepare his team for their upcoming tour of England, where Pakistan plays four Tests, a Twenty20 and five one-day internationals.

He is faced with the difficult task of lifting his players from their lowest-ever world ranking of ninth in one-day cricket.

But the PCB expressed faith in their new coach, saying he has an outstanding record and led South Africa to world number one rankings across all formats.

Arthur’s tenure in his home country was good - winning 22 of the 45 Tests and lifting South Africa to series wins in England in 2008 (the first in 40 years) and Australia the same year, while his team remained unbeaten in away series between 2006 to the end of his stint.

Cameo role ideal solution for Totti n Reuters AS Roma appear to have solved the dilemma surrounding Francesco Totti by giving the 39-year-old stalwart a cameo role.

Both Totti, in his 24th season at his only professional club, and coach Luciano Spalletti are delighted with the new setup, so much so that Totti is expected to sign a new contract in the next few days.

“I’ll be delighted if Francesco carries on playing. If he does what he wants to do, I’m right behind him. If he wants to keep on playing, I’m with him,” said Spalletti.

Some critics have even suggested Italy should call up Totti and give him a similar role at Euro 2016.

Totti, who has played under 16 different coaches at the club,

will reach another milestone if he plays at home to Chievo Verona on Sunday when he will chalk up his 600th league appearance for Roma, who are third.

Yet, when Spalletti took over for his second stint at the club in January, Totti, who was returning from injury at the time, was something of a headache.

As Roma reeled off eight league wins in a row, Spalletti preferred not to change his side by re-introducing Totti, who publicly complained about his lack of playing time.

This led to a debate about whether Totti deserved special treatment, or whether he was becoming bigger than the club itself.

Fans generally sided with Totti, greeting him with cheers at home

matches and whistling Spalletti.

But a loss of form prompted Spalletti to look for alternatives, and one of them was to bring on Totti in the second half, starting with the 1-1 draw at Bologna on April 11.

Totti, whose only previous goal this season was in September, has scored four goals in his last four matches, even though he has played a total of only 56 minutes.

Including a late assist against Napoli, Totti’s late interventions have been worth eight points for Roma, a priceless contribution as they chase for a place in the lucrative Champions League.

“Totti played a big part,” said Spalletti. “He’s been doing that for us recently and that’s how it should be. He’s capable of stuff like that.” l

But his record as Australia’s first foreign coach left his CV dented as they lost to South Africa at home and were routed 4-0 in India before a win-less Champions Trophy in England in 2013. He was unceremoniously sacked two weeks before the Ashes series started in England in June 2013, with two years to run on his contract, and replaced by Darren Lehmann.

He will be Pakistan’s fifth foreign coach following Richard Pybus (twice in 1999 and 2002-03), Bob Woolmer (2004-07), Geoff Lawson (2007-08) and Dav Whatmore (2012-14).l

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LIVERPOOL v VILLARREAL Liverpool

3-0

Villarreal

Bruno Soriano 7-og, Sturridge 63, Lallana 81 Liverpool won 3-1 on aggregate

57 24 12 8 4 0 11 3 1 0 12 523 461

Possession (%) Total attempts On target Off target Blocked Against woodwork Corners Offsides Yellow cards Red cards Fouls committed Passes Completed

43 6 2 2 2 0 3 1 4 1 6 333 271

Liverpool's English striker Daniel Sturridge scores the second goal against Villarreal during their Europa League semi-final second leg at Anfield on Thursday REUTERS

SEVILLA v SHAKHTAR Sevilla

3-1

Shakhtar Donetsk

Gameiro 9, 47, Eduardo 44 Mariano Ferreira 59 Sevilla won 5-3 on aggregate

47 12 4 4 4 0 3 0 2 0 19 319 265

Possession (%) Total attempts On target Off target Blocked Against woodwork Corners Offsides Yellow cards Red cards Fouls committed Passes Completed

53 10 2 5 3 0 7 3 7 0 14 441 396

Liverpool sink Villarreal to set up Sevilla final n Reuters

Liverpool romped into the Europa League final with a 3-0 win over Villarreal on another magical night at Anfield to tee up a showpiece clash with holders Sevilla who swatted away visitors Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 on Thursday.

Five times European champions Liverpool reached a 12th continental final thanks to an own goal from Bruno Soriano and further strikes from Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana to overturn a first-leg deficit and go through 3-1 on aggregate.

Villarreal were largely anonymous throughout and seemed

to wilt in the face of a raucous atmosphere and early onslaught by the hosts, while their demise was hastened by a sending off for Victor Ruiz for a second booking after 71 minutes.

It was a superb evening for Sturridge, whose place in the starting lineup had been in doubt after he was left out of key recent fixtures, but he was instrumental in a one-sided victory that prevented Spanish dominance of Europe’s two major finals.

With Real Madrid and city rivals Atletico set to contest the Champions League showpiece, Sevilla ensured there would also be a

Spanish team in the continent’s second-tier competition, while staying on course for a record third straight title.

They had Kevin Gameiro to thank for a comfortable 5-3 aggregate win over Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar with the France striker scoring twice and Mariano Ferreira grabbing a third to book Sevilla’s spot in the final in Basel on May 18.

Villarreal might have fancied their chances of reaching their first major European final, having snatched an advantage in the first leg that ensured an away goal would leave Liverpool needing to

score three times.

The fact that the hosts managed that total without Villarreal finding the net was no mean feat.

The Spanish side were on a club record 12-match unbeaten run in Europe and boasted a watertight defence that had not conceded a goal in 280 minutes in all competitions, before the damn was burst just seven minutes into the encounter at Anfield.

Liverpool, backed by a ferocious home crowd, broke the deadlock with an own goal from Soriano, who turned in Roberto Firmino’s cross from the left with Sturridge lurking. l

9 THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN EPL WEEKEND 37 Will English football ever see a bigger party?

Today’s match at the King Power Stadium between Leicester City and Everton should be the mother of all celebrations. Premier League winners Leicester will be presented with the trophy after the match, and the whole occasion promises to be like one of Jamie Vardy’s legendary parties. In all likelihood the game itself will feel like a bit of a chore, but seeing Claudio Ranieri’s reaction during the ceremony will be one of the great Premier League moments.

Can Arsenal secure CL spot?

Arsene Wenger spoke last month of the importance of finishing third to avoid having to play a Champions League qualifier next season so soon after Euro 2016. Arsenal’s main rivals for third place are tomorrow’s opponents Manchester City, and the Gunners can all but wrap up third spot with a point at the Etihad.

Will Spurs end 21-year wait?

Not since the 1994-95 season have Tottenham Hotspur finished above their north London rivals Arsenal, but that could all change tomorrow. If Tottenham better Arsenal’s result against City in their home match against Southampton then they will have an unassailable lead over Wenger’s team.

Southampton though will likely provide obdurate opposition.

Will Newcastle keep the pressure on Sunderland?

The upturn in form has taken the Magpies out of the bottom three, though Sunderland have a game in hand, and suddenly safety looks a realistic possibility. With a tough final match against Tottenham to come, Newcastle United must win away at already relegated Aston Villa today. If they don’t, they can’t really say they deserve to be in the Premier League.

Will Liverpool suffer hangover?

Surely no-one would begrudge Jurgen Klopp and his players feeling

a little flat tomorrow against Watford after Thursday night’s heroics against Villarreal? Liverpool have nothing to play for in the league, and Klopp will likely give pretty much every one of Thursday’s starters a rest.

Will United keep their CL hopes alive?

Lost in the excitement of their opponents’ title challenge was the implication for Manchester United of their draw with Leicester last Sunday. United really needed the win to keep the pressure on City and Arsenal in the race for the top four, and are now four points behind City, albeit with a game in hand. Today’s trip to Norwich City is an absolute must win, and to not qualify for the Champions League after spending £250m in two years would represent a massive underachievement for Louis van Gaal.

Will Sunderland complete their annual great escape?

As sure as night follows day, come

spring Sunderland begin their annual charge towards safety. And sure enough this season they have put together their best run of the season as the clocks moved forward. That said they’re still drawing far too many games (six out of their last eight), but have their fate in their own hands, a point behind 17th-placed Newcastle with a game in hand. Today, Chelsea are at the Stadium of Light.

Will the Olympic Stadium be hosting Barcelona next season?

As you may have heard, West Ham United are soon to move out of Upton Park, making today’s match against Swansea City the penultimate fixture at the old stadium.

After an excellent season, Slaven Bilic’s team retain hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League, but to stand any chance they must take the three points at the weekend. Swansea are sitting snugly in 13th so should provide very beatable opposition.

Who will win battle of the beach?

Crystal Palace and Stoke City are two teams anyone would love to be facing right now, and interestingly enough they face each other today. Both sides have been “on the beach” in recent weeks, with Palace prioritising their FA Cup run, and Stoke players seemingly content with another mid-table finish.l

FIXTURES TODAY

Aston Villa v Newcastle Bournemouth v West Brom Crystal Palace v Stoke Leicester v Everton Norwich v Man United Sunderland v Chelsea West Ham v Swansea TOMORROW Liverpool v Watford Man City v Arsenal Tottenham v Southampton

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DAY’S WATCH CRICKET SONY SIX 4:30 PM Indian Premier League Bangalore v Pune 8:30 PM Punjab v Delhi

FOOTBALL STAR SPORTS 1 5:35 PM Barclays Premier League Norwich City v Manchester United 7:50 PM Sunderland v Chelsea 10:15 PM Leicester City v Everton

STAR SPORTS 2 7:16 PM Bundesliga 2015/16 Ingolstadt 04 v Bayern Munich

STAR SPORTS 4 7:16 PM Bundesliga 2015/16 Frankfurt v Dortmund

STAR SPORTS HD 4 7:16 PM Bundesliga 2015/16 Monchengladbach v Leverkusen

TEN 1 1:00 AM French Ligue 1 Olympique de Marseille v Stade de Reims

TEN 1 HD 12:50 AM French Ligue 1 Ajaccio v Paris Saint-Germain

TEN 3 12:50 AM French Ligue 1 Olympique Lyonnais v AS Monaco

SONY SIX 12:40 AM Serie A TIM 2015/16 Bologna v AC Milan

MOTO GP 4:30 PM Moto GP: Qualifying Grand Prix de France

TENNIS TEN 1 HD 10:00 PM WTA Tour 2016 Mutua Madrid Open Final

SONY ESPN 12:30 AM ATP 1000 Masters 2016 Mutua Madrid Open: Semi Final 2

Boca Juniors forward Carlos Tevez (R) in action against Cerro Porteno's Rodrigo Rojas during their Copa Libertadores match at Alberto J Armando stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Thursday. Boca won 3-1 REUTERS

Get in the kitchen! Life as a female football referee n AFP, Lima A rough tackle, the whistle blows and a foul is given. “Get back in the kitchen!” the player yells at the referee.

It’s one of the kinder things male players have said to Melany Bermejo, one of the rare women referees in the macho world of Latin American football.

Shoved, spat at, insulted and flirted with on the field, she and a handful of other women are nevertheless close to the top of their profession in men’s football games.

“You have to make double the effort a man makes,” says Lixy Enriquez, 42, an assistant referee in Mexico. Bermejo, a 37-year-old PE teacher, has served as referee at second-division masculine games in her native Peru. Like most of her female counterparts around the world, she has yet to break into the top league, where so far women serve only as lineswomen or fourth officials. There are exceptions.

In Uruguay, Claudia Umpierrez, 33, made her top-flight debut in February as a referee in men’s games.

In Venezuela, Emikar Caldera and Yersinia Correa have been refereeing such games for three years.

Outside Latin America, Gladys Lengwe of Zambia is among the

very few women to have reached the top level as a referee. In Ukraine, Kateryna Monzul is expected to do the same. World football body FIFA has 720 women registered as referees for professional football games - 324 main referees and 396 assistants.

But of 209 national federations, 60 have no female referees registered, according to FIFA’s data.

Anyone who passes the tests set for male referees by FIFA and South American football governing body CONMEBOL can do the job, he said. Those who want to referee men’s matches must be fit enough to keep up with top male athletes charging up and down the field.

But when a woman does make the grade, an different challenge begins. The worst insults from the stands come from women fans,

Lixy Enriquez says. The male fans yell: “I want to take home the assistant.”

The reception on the field is not always better.

In Argentina, referee Salome di Iorio says players have asked her to take down their phone numbers when she gets out her notebook.

Others just spit at her.

The pressure of verbal abuse turns the job into a psychological as well as a physical challenge.

For women who make the grade, the psychological pressure can even turn to violence.

“One player jumped on me when I gave a foul and he didn’t like it,” says Tatiana Guzman, a 28-year-old referee in Nicaragua.

“There is always the fear that someone foolish will do that. You have to be ready to run.” l

Melany Bermejo, one of the rare women referees in Latin American football

Winger Mahrez tells Leicester he wants to stay n Reuters Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez has given the Premier League champions a boost by telling the owners he wants to stay at the club next season, British media reported on Thursday.

Mahrez has played a key part in Leicester’s success but doubts about his future were sparked when his agent said it was “50-50” whether the winger would leave in the close season.

However, club vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, son of billionaire owner Vichai, said he has already been given reassurances by the Algeria international.

“I want the players to enjoy this moment and not be concerned about their contracts,” Srivaddhanaprabha was quoted as saying by The Telegraph website.

“They are good boys and they understand. Even Mahrez, I talked to him and said, ‘Are you concerned?’ He said ‘No, no, I want to stay’. This is what he wants, he wants to stay.

“It depends on the players and the clubs who want them, but we have no policy to sell the players and we don’t have a problem with money.

“We will try everything that we can to build the team and to secure the same group of players and add some quality.”l

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Divided they fall, together they rise it really isn’t hard to see why this movie came out to be so successful and raved about. The balance was well struck throughout the entire film. No film is perfect, but this comes pretty darn close for the film’s genre.

duo was not felt at the least bit.

The Russo brothers delegated the right amount of screen time and significance to each of the characters without sacrificing their importance. Although everyone got a fair chunk, it was still clear

some of the most popular superheroes beating the crap out of each other.

As mentioned, the film isn’t perfect. As usual, Marvel does what it does best and fails in the same category as well. The

a bit. Clearly, Marvel has a few things to learn from DC and vice versa. However, this won’t leave too big of a dent to the experience that is Civil War. You may reserve judgement; you may not even love this film. You may, however,

Two main characters of the original Avengers squad, Thor and The Hulk, were replaced by the introduction of Black Panther and Spider-Man. And let’s just say the absence of the former

this was Captain America’s movie.

Ultimately, his outcome was the main focus. And for all those legitimate comic book nerds and geeks out there, plain and simple, it was simply beautiful watching

main villain, you could say, wasn’t utilised or presented as a larger threat. Without spilling spoilers, the antagonist uses the superheroes against each other but his conviction seemed to lack

enjoy yourself very much. With the fantastic fight scenes and performances, the audience will not be left disappointed. This is the perfect segue for the next blockbuster Infinity War. l

n Mahmood Hossain Captain America: Civil War will officially go down as arguably one of the best Marvel Cinematic Universe films to date, if not the best. The Russo brothers (co-directors) have put together possibly the finest superhero/comic book genre film of the past five years. Many would argue, it lives up to (or even better) the original 2012 film The Avengers. Okay, maybe we’re reaching a bit. The Avengers was ‘a one of a kind’ - a film that presented an incredible ensemble cast that was executed brilliantly.

When the team of superheroes got together to take down evil, they now find themselves fighting each other. Two different ideals, with plenty of political elements, clash against each other. And the rest, as they say, is history. With a 91% approval on Rotten Tomatoes,

Fans not pleased with the new ‘Power Rangers’ costumes

n SK Farhan Rahman Your childhood as you knew it is over. The Power Rangers crew revealed their new uniforms today,

and the Internet is not pleased.

The Power Rangers reboot that comes out in March 2017, gave the Rangers a serious update, making everyone miss synthetic fabrics.

With Twitter in a frenzy, fans cried out, calling the new Rangers slightly sexist, and Iron Man rip-offs. Ever since the photo was released by Entertainment Weekly,

people were keen to point out the glaring differences in the outfits of the Yellow Ranger, Trini, and the Pink Ranger, Kimberly.

Fans are furious about the

dramatic “chest armor” these new uniforms provide. On a serious note though, it’s ludicrous how the Rangers are expected to move around in such heavy armors. At the very least, the old spandex bodysuits provided some flexibility. Not to mention, the female Rangers are also wearing heels in the new movie; wedges, to be exact. Andrew Menzies, the production designer, confessed to Entertainment Weekly, “It’s tricky finding a new language for a superhero costume. Ours is an alien costume that grows on them, that’s not man-made. You can’t win everyone over, but we are trying to appeal to a more mature audience and gain new fans.”

Looks like fans will just have to stomach their displeasure, and just get used to the new costumes. l Source: E! News

‘Ostitto’ released with Shuvoo and Tisha

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Anisuzzaman Sohel’s ‘Intimate Fears’ starts today

n Showtime Desk

n Nishi Faruq Yesterday, Arifin Shuvoo and Nusrat Imrose Tisha starrer Ostitto was released countrywide.

In the film, the two popular actors have appeared as a pair on screen for the first time.

Directed by Anonno Mamun, Ostitto is a story on the struggle of a mentor who helps a bunch of intellectually disabled children to win the Olympic.

Mamun says, “As the director, I just want to a say one thing. Both Arifin Shuvoo and Nusrat Imrose Tisha have their own set of fans.

However, anything new attracts all groups of viewers. In Ostitto, the surprise comes through the fresh uncut chemistry of Tisha and Shuvo.”

Arifin Shuvoo said, “To find my new look, viewers shall have to go to the cinema to watch the film. I really like the story. I think more films should be made with this kind of storyline.”

“Ostitto highlights many lessons which I wish for viewers to know, but for that, they have to go to theares to watch the film,” said Tisha.

The screenplay and dialogues

were written by Carlos Saleh, Shomeshwar Oli and the director himself. Tisha will be seen as an intellectually disabled girl while Arefin Shubho plays her mentor.

Shuchorita, Shujata Azim, Kabila, and Nijhum Rabina have also acted in the film.

The songs were written by Kabir Bokul, Jahid Akbar, Mehedi Hasan Limon, Arjin Kamal and Priyo Chatterjee. Ibrar Tipu, Pritom Hasan, Nahid and Akash have directed the music while Ibrar Tipu, Dinat Jahan Munni, Pritom and Lemis have sung the playback tracks. l

A solo exhibition of Anisuzzaman Sohel titled “Intimate Fears” will be inaugurated at the Bengal Art Lounge in the capital today.

The exhibition featuring creative drawings, objects and installations will be jointly inaugurated

by Greg Wilcock, high commissioner of Australia to Bangladesh and artist Shishir Bhattacharjee, professor, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka.

The exhibition will continue until June 4.

The second solo exhibition of Anisuzzaman Sohel aims to delve

upon the foundational themes in the artist’s oeuvre: the alienation of the individual, the yearning for nature, the overwhelming power of systems – be the economics, political or military.

“Intimate Fears” also comes as the last exhibition that the gallery is going to organise under its banner and in this premise, but the mission to encourage and nurture the development of the newest forms of artistic expressions in Bangladesh will continue through other, entirely non-profit, endeavours supported by Bengal Foundation. l

WHAT TO WATCH

Real Steel Star Movies 4:39pm In the near future, robot boxing is a top sport. A struggling promoter feels he’s found a champion in a discarded robot.

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Kevin Durand

Performers sing at the “Shoptobingsho Jatiyo Rabindra Sangeet Utshab,” which kicked off on May 4 at the Shawkat Osman Auditorium, Public library, Dhaka. The five-day festival has been organised by Bangladesh Rabindra Sangeet Shilpi Sangstha PHOTO : RAJIB DHAR

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Rush Hour HBO 7:32pm Two cops team up to get back a kidnapped daughter.

Cast: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Ken Leung, Tom Wilkinson, Chris Penn Six Days Seven Nights Zee Studio 7:45pm

Robin Monroe, a New York magazine editor, and the gruff pilot Quinn Harris must put aside their mutual dislike if they are to survive after crash landing on a deserted South Seas island.

Cast: Harrison Ford, Anne Heche, David Schwimmer, Jacqueline Obradors, Temuera Morrison Snakes on a Plane WB 9:30pm An FBI agent takes on a plane full of deadly and venomous snakes, deliberately released to kill a witness being flown from Honolulu to Los Angeles to testify against a mob boss.

Cast: Samuel L Jackson, Julianna Margulies, Nathan Phillips, Bobby Cannavale, Rachel Blanchard Transformers: Age of Extinction HBO 11:25pm Autobots must escape sight from a bounty hunter who has taken control of the human serendipity. Unexpectedly, Optimus Prime and his remaining gang turn to a mechanic, his daughter, and her back street racing boyfriend for help.

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Sophia Myles, Li Bingbing

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Back Page

BOMBAY HC STRIKES GET IN THE KITCHEN! LIFE AS ‘OSTITTO’ RELEASED WITH DOWN BEEF BAN PAGE 23 A FEMALE REFEREE PAGE 29 SHUVOO AND TISHA PAGE 31 Pakistan treating two brothers who become paralysed each night n Tribune Desk

Samajtantrik Mahila Forum organises a human chain in front of the National Press Club ahead of the Mother’s Day demanding a six-month paid maternity leave at all organisations and introduction of area-based daycare centres RAJIB DHAR

Taka’s real exchange rate gap widens to Tk32.06 n Asif Showkat Kallol In March, the gap between the real and the market exchange rates for US dollar in Bangladesh became Tk32.06 – meaning taka is now vastly overvalued to dollar, according to a report prepared by the monitoring policy department at Bangladesh Bank.

A former central bank governor told the Dhaka Tribune that such a wide difference of value might have a negative impact on export items and remittance inflow.

According to the BB report titled “Indices of Nominal & Real Effective Exchange Rate,” the real exchange rate for the US dollar stood at Tk110.54 in March even though the central bank had estimated the rate to be Tk90.68.

But as the US dollar is trading at Tk78.68 at the moment, the difference of value between the real and market currency exchange rate is currently Tk32.06.

has managed to keep the market exchange rate stabilised so far through market interventions like injecting or withdrawing dollar from the market.

Ex-BB governor Salehuddin Ahmed says taka is now overvalued as its real exchange rate to US dollar crossed Tk110 To put it into perspective, the difference used to be only Tk7 to Tk10 in the past. For example, in 2013, the real exchange rate was Tk87.90 compared to the US dollar.

Bangladesh Bank officials are now conducting a study on why the gap between the real and the market rate was so high.

Sources said the central bank

A source in the bank also told the Dhaka Tribune that Bangladesh Bank usually determines real and market exchange rates by comparing it to currencies of nine foreign countries and the European Union – with whom Bangladesh conducts almost 80% of its trade.

The countries are: the US, the UK, Canada, Malaysia, China, India,

Japan, South Korea, and Sri Lanka.

Former central bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune that the Bangladeshi market exchange rate was effective in local and foreign transactions. But the real exchange should be considered to understand the true economic situation of Bangladesh.

Local currency taka was now overvalued as its real exchange rate to US dollar crossed Tk110, he said, adding that it would definitely have a negative impact on remittance inflow.

The lack of investment in the country has a major role in widening the gap between the real and market exchange rate and Bangladesh Bank should find the real cause behind that, the former governor said. l

The two brothers have come to be known as the “solar kids” and their case has completely mystified Pakistani doctors.

Aged nine and 13, the boys are normal active children during the day. But once the sun goes down, they both lapse into a vegetative state — unable to move or talk.

Javed Akram, a professor of medicine at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, on Thursday said that he had no idea what was causing the symptoms.

“We took this case as a challenge. Our doctors are doing medical tests to determine why these kids remain active in the day but cannot open their eyes, why they cannot talk or eat when sun goes down,” he said, as he visited the pair at his hospital.

Akram said the government was providing free medical care to the siblings, who come from an impoverished family.

The brothers are undergoing extensive medical testing in the capital, Islamabad, and samples of their blood have been sent to overseas specialists for further examination, he said. Researchers are also collecting soil and air samples from the family’s home village.

Mohammad Hashim, the father of the two brothers, comes from a village near Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province. He and his wife are first cousins and two of their six children died at an early age. Their other two children have not displayed any unusual symptoms.

His simple theory: “I think my sons get energy from sun.”

But doctors have already dismissed the idea that sunlight plays a role, noting that the boys can move during the day even when kept in a dark room or during a rainstorm.

During the day, 13-year old Shoaib Ahmed and his brother Abdul Rasheed did indeed seem normally active, energetic and cheerful as they emerged from their hospital room on Friday and walked to a nearby canteen to have tea.

“I will become a teacher,” Shoaib Ahmed said, while his younger brother said he wants to be an Islamic scholar. l

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