May 14, 2016

SECOND EDITION

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

|

Jyoishtha 1, 1423, Shaban 6, 1437

|

Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 22

|

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

Consumer data of 3 BD banks hacked Turkish hackers breach the banks’ servers before posting the obtained data online n Tribune Desk A Turkish hacker group dumped a considerable amount of secured consumer data of three Bangladeshi commercial banks online on Tuesday, claiming they were able to obtain the information by breaching the banks’ internal servers.

The three banks are Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd (DBBL), City Bank Ltd, and Trust Bank Ltd, reports cybersecurity-focused news website Data Breach Today.

Links to the file archives containing data from the above-mentioned banks have been posted from a Twitter account, supposedly operated by Turkish hacking group Bozkurtlar (Grey Wolves).

The notorious hacker group rose to fame after leaking data tied to Qatar National Bank and UAE’s InvestBank recently. Along with the Bangladeshi banks, it also leaked secured consumer data of two Nepalese banks – Business Universal Development Bank and Sanima Bank.

Cybersecurity analysts contacted

by Data Breach Today said while the data in the newest leak appears genuine, the volume of data from these banks is relatively small. The file archives posted 312KB for the DBBL, 11.2MB for City Bank, and 95KB for the Trust Bank, respectively.

When contacted, DBBL’s Deputy Managing Director Abul Kashem Md Shirin told the Dhaka Tribune that the bank usually makes a certain amount of data public on its website and the hackers leaked in-

formation that is already public.

He said the bank provided vendors some information for maintenance of ATMs and that information has been made public by the hackers.

“No confidential data of our bank has been leaked,” he told our reporter Jebun Nesa Alo. Ishtiaque Ahmed Chowdhury, managing director and CEO of Trust Bank, said: “We can confirm that the leaked data does not

match that of our clients. Our bank is completely protected and the system was not hacked.”

City Bank’s Additional Managing Director Mashrur Arefin said the leaked information was marketing data.

“We did not find any data from our server there and there was no trace of our system being hacked,” he added.

According to the Data Breach Today’s preliminary analysis, the

scope of the data varies widely.

Quoting some researchers, the website says the leaked data shows that each of the zip files contains at least some customer information or account credentials.

Although another independent researcher, who requested anonymity, told the news website that the data posted for each of the banks appears to be old – the latest being from the City Bank dates to August 2015. This, he said, raises a question about whether the leaks are the result of recent breaches, as claimed by Bozkurtlar, or if the group has simple aggregated data from older incidents and posted it.

Quoting a security engineer, who was able to conduct some initial forensic tests on the breach, the news website reported that the data points to a “webshell” upload being used at the DBBL and Sanima Bank of Nepal.

A webshell is a piece of code uploaded to a server or computer, allowing attackers to gain access,  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

SWIFT warns of more malware Ansar man killed in attacks as 2nd bank breached Rohingya camp attack n Tribune Desk

INSIDE

The theft of $81m from Bangladesh Bank was “part of a wider and highly adaptive campaign targeting banks,” SWIFT, the global financial messaging network, warns its 11,000 customers, as at least one other bank was also breached by the same attackers, reports Reuters.

The second case targeted a commercial bank, SWIFT spokeswoman Natasha de Teran said on Thursday, without naming it. Cybersecurity-focused news website Data Breach Today claims it was a Vietnamese bank.

It was not immediately clear how much money, if any, was sto-

The four steps hackers follow while breaching v

Attackers compromise the bank’s environment.

v

Attackers obtain valid operator credentials that have the authority to create, approve and submit SWIFT messages from customers’ back-offices or from their local interfaces to the SWIFT network.

v

Attackers submit fraudulent messages by impersonating the operators from whom they stole the credentials.

v

Attackers hide evidence by removing some of the traces of the fraudulent messages. [SWIFT says the main purpose of the Trojanised PDF reader was to effect step number four.]

len in the second attack.

The May 13 customer alert from Brussels-based SWIFT, a cooperative founded in 1973 and owned by 3,000 financial institutions, is based on an ongoing teardown of the malware that infected Bangladesh Bank, which is being conduct-

ed by British defence and security firm BAE Systems.

In both bank attacks, “the attackers have exploited vulnerabilities in banks funds’ transfer initiation environments, prior to messages being sent over SWIFT,” the  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

5 journos attacked by yaba traders gir Hossain were able to recognise n Abdul Aziz, Cox’s Bazar some of the members of the gang.

An Ansar member was killed after he was attacked by robbers at a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar’s Teknaf upazila early yesterday.

Five journalists, who had gone to cover the incident, came under attack of a yaba trader and were injured.

Ansar member Ali Hossain, 50, son of late Shukkur Ali of Tangail’s Shafipur area, was attacked as he attempted to resist armed robbers at Nayapara refugee camp at dawn.

Locals said the robbers emerged from a hill near the camp, and Ali and another Ansar member Alam-

Death by lightning on the rise

Bangla Tribune steps into 3rd year

Bus rides a constant curse for women

The number of deaths due to lightning has been on the rise around Bangladesh lately, with at least 40 people killed by lightning in the past few days alone.  PAGE 3

The second anniversary of Bangla Tribune was celebrated yesterday with eminent personalities including politicians, journalists, artistes and top law enforcers joining the festivities.

Travelling by public transport in Dhaka is a very uncomfortable experience for women, who say such forms of transport instead of CNG-run autorickshaws is safer but the journey involves many forms of harassment.  PAGE 32

 PAGE 7

Ali sustained severe injuries in the attack and was taken to a local clinic where doctors pronounced him dead.

Abul Kashem, in-charge of Nayapara camp police, said the robbers also took away 11 firearms.

Officer-in-Charge of Teknaf Model police station Abdul Majid visited the scene, and said additional police and Border Guard Bangladesh members had been deployed.

Five journos injured by yaba trader

Meanwhile, five journalists were  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

DT

2

News

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

PM to launch MRT work in June n Shohel Mamun

Consumer data of 3 BD banks hacked

The construction of the muchtalked about metro rail project has begun in Dhaka’s Uttara but it will be formally inaugurated by the prime minister next month.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader made the statement while talking to reporters while visitingto the Dhaka metro rail Uttara depot site yesterday morning.

The minister said the project consists of eight packages and construction will be complete in 2019.

The land development work for the metro rail will be completed by Tokyo Construction Limited and costing Tk567 crore. The total area for depot is 23.84 hectares.

The government took the project under a 20-year-long Strategic Transport Plan (STP), after Japanese consultants in 2011 found that the Uttara-Motijheel corridor was feasible for the first metro rail.

Japan International Cooperation Agency has committed Tk16,594.59 crore while the government will provide Tk5,390.48 crore. l

escalate privileges as admin/root and control the entire system. It can also be used to extract the entire information stored in the system, explains Data Breach Today.

Content of the leaks The researcher who asked not to be named shared some of his preliminary analysis on the Bangladeshi banks’ data with Data Breach Today.

DBBL’s 312KB archive appears to contain records of customer banking transactions – either physical or internet banking. The researcher said that using admin credentials found in clear text in the dump, he was able to gain access from the public internet to the bank’s ATM transaction analyser for research purposes.

The username/password appear to be very simple or default, he explained. “The website of DutchBangla Bank appears to contain vulnerabilities and could have been the point of penetration to the internal servers or files.”

City Bank’s 11.2MB dump has a single spreadsheet, which appears to contain the personal information of at least 1 million bank customers. Details include – full name, father’s name, mother’s name, date of birth, age, mailing address, contact number, permanent address and email. The most recent data is from August 2015.

Trust Bank’s 96KB data is the smallest archive of two spreadsheets that, among other things, contain user IDs, emails, usernames and encrypted passwords.

The latest file is from June 2015. l

While yesterday’s sudden bout of downpour brought much-sought relief to the city after a month of sweltering heat, people weren’t too happy when it waterlogged the streets, making the weekend commute difficult. The photo was taken at Nazimuddin Road in Old Dhaka SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

SWIFT warns of more malware attacks as 2nd bank breached cooperative’s customer alert says.

“The attackers have been able to bypass whatever primary risk controls the victims have in place, thereby being able to initiate the irrevocable funds transfer process.

In a second step, they have found ways to tamper with the statements and confirmations that banks would sometimes use as secondary controls, thereby delaying the victims’ ability to recognise the fraud.”

Attackers attempted to move $951m out of Bangladesh Bank’s account at the New York Federal Reserve via SWIFT messages, and ultimately did transfer $101m, only $20m of which has been recovered so far. On May 10, representatives from SWIFT, which stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, met with Bangladesh Bank and New York Fed officials in Geneva to discuss the attack and related investigations, and issued a joint statement pledging greater cooperation.

While SWIFT had previously warned that the Bangladesh heist was not an isolated incident, and said its core messaging system remained intact, confirmation of a second attack on a bank will likely increase scrutiny on the security of a network that is a linchpin of the global financial system.

The Brussels-based cooperative said in a statement that the attackers exhibited a “deep and sophisticated knowledge of specific operational controls” at targeted banks and may have been aided by “mali-

cious insiders or cyber attacks, or a combination of both.”

In both cases, SWIFT said insiders or cyber attackers had succeeded in penetrating the targeted banks’ systems, obtaining user credentials and submitting fraudulent SWIFT messages that correspond with transfers of money.

System manipulation by hackers

In the second case SWIFT said attackers had also used a kind of malware called a “Trojan PDF reader” to manipulate PDF reports confirming the messages in order to hide their tracks. SWIFT did not name the bank or the PDF reader software in question, or detail whether attackers successfully stole any money.

A May 13 BAE research report obtained by the Data Breach Today said based on the malware used in the attacks, it appears the hacking group is the same one that targeted Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014 and unleashed a devastating wiper malware attack.

To date, however, SWIFT says it is not clear if any insiders aided the attackers.

“In the meantime we would like to reassure you that the SWIFT network, SWIFT messaging systems and software have not been compromised,” it said.

Investigators have linked the two bank attacks together based in part on the “msoutc.exe” malware used by attackers in both cases.

“Our research into malware used

on SWIFT based systems running in banks has turned up multiple bespoke tools used by a set of attackers,” BAE Systems security researchers Sergei Shevchenko and Adrian Nish said in a May 13 blog post, which builds on Shevchenko’s previous research into the attempted theft of $951m from Bangladesh Bank’s New York Federal Reserve account.

The malware used in the attacks deletes its configuration and log files using wipe-out techniques that are designed to prevent the files from being forensically recovered, and also includes a file-delete function, and the BAE Researchers say both of the techniques used are quite unusual.

How bank malware ties to Sony hackers

BAE Systems researchers say the msoutc.exe malware also matches a known malware variant – dubbed “Sierra Charlie” – that was detailed in February as part of the Operation Blockbuster report by US-based anti-fraud and analytics firm Novetta, which coordinated an investigation by multiple researchers and organisations into “malicious tools and infrastructure” used by a hacking group it calls the Lazarus Group.

Sierra Charlie is “a spreader type of malware, presumably used to gain a foothold on multiple devices within a target environment before launching further actions,” the BAE Systems researchers say.

The Lazarus Group was respon-

sible for the November 2014 destructive wiper attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment, according to the Novetta report. “The malware analysed in this operation and attributed to the Lazarus Group has been used to target government, media, military, aerospace, financial and critical infrastructure entities in a limited geographic area, primarily South Korea and the United States,” the report adds.

Attribution isn’t ironclad though

But the discovery that the same, unique technical approaches – and even typos in toolsets – featured in both the SWIFT-using bank hacks as well as Sony is not ironclad attribution, the BAE Systems researchers warn.

“The overlaps between these samples provide strong links for the same coder being behind the recent bank heist cases and a wider known campaign stretching back almost a decade,” the BAE says. On the other hand, the clues could be a “false flag” designed to confuse researchers, or the tools could have been bought and sold by a third party.

But the BAE Systems researches don’t think those alternative theories hold water. “We believe that the same coder is central to these attacks,” they say. “Who the coder is, who they work for, and what their motivation is for conducting these attacks cannot be determined from the digital evidence alone. However, this adds a significant lead to the investigation.” l

Ansar man killed in Rohingya camp attack injured in an attack by a top yaba trader when they went to the camp to cover the news of the robbery around 05:45pm.

The journalists are Somoy TV reporter Suja Uddin Rubel and cameraman Fayez, Independent Television correspondent Towfiqul Islam Lipu and cameraman Sharif, and Ekattor TV cameraman Babu Dey. Rubel said journalists who went to the camp came to know that a person named Nurul Haque Bhutto was involved in the incident.

“Then we arrived in front of Nurul’s house in Nazir Para to collect information about him. Suddenly, Nurul and his henchmen attacked us with sharp weapons, leaving us injured. They also took away our cameras and mobile phones,” he said.

OC Abdul Majid said police were looking for the attackers. l

Death by lightning on the rise

n Tribune Desk The National Board of Revenue has urged consumers to collect a VAT receipt after purchasing any product.

The revenue authorities made the call as it observed that most sweetmeat shops in Dhaka were not collecting VAT from customers who came to buy sweets after the publishing of SSC and equivalent examinations results on May 11.

150

APRIL MAY

128

90 60 30 0

91 64

40

38 2013

(UNTIL MAY 12)

83

19 2014

2015

14 2016

SOURCE: BANGLADESH DISASTER MANAGEMENT FORUM

n Abu Bakar Siddique The number of deaths due to lightning has been on the rise around Bangladesh lately, with at least 40 people killed by lightning in the past few days alone.

According to a Bangladesh Disaster Management Forum study based on news reports, until Thursday at least 88 people have died after being struck by lightning this year.

The death toll caused by this single climatic event was 265, 210 and 285 in 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively, the study said.

Death by lightning has become increasingly common in the country over the years due to lack of awareness among people, said Gawher Nayeem Wahra, a disaster management expert.

These deaths could be avoided if the met office properly disseminated warning ahead of storms and thundershowers, he told the Dhaka Tribune.

“The death toll mentioned in the study are based on only

cases reported. There are a lot more causalities that go unreported,” he added.

The majority of the victims were killed in the northeast region of the country, mainly in the greater Mymensingh and haor areas.

Nayeem, who is also a faculty member at the Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies at Dhaka University, said the decreasing number of big, tall trees in the haor areas could be a reason why the number of people getting struck by lightning has increased in recent years.

Incidents of lightning has been increasing lately, especially during the months of April and May when the pre-monsoon nor'wester storm commonly known as kalboishakhi occurs frequently.

The number of deaths and injuries by lightning could be brought down if Bangladesh Meteorological Department issued lightning and thunderbolt warnings more efficiently as well as circulate precautionary measures among

people, said Ahsan Uddin Ahmad, executive director of the Centre for Global Changes (CGC).

However, when contacted, a meteorologist at the met office told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the office had been releasing weather warnings regularly, but people did not take them seriously.

“People pay attention to cyclone warnings only; that is the only climatic event they follow and prepare for,” he said, seeking anonymity.

Ahsan said the warnings issued by the met office are often too difficult to comprehend for most common people.

Nayeem, on the other hand, blamed the government for not consider lightning as a serious disaster issue.

“If the government took this issue seriously, it would include lightening in the National Disaster Management Plan,” he said. “Unfortunately Bangladesh considers tsunami as a more serious disaster, despite the limited risk, than lightening.” l

Fakhrul: BNP has no link with Israel Al-Masum n Mohammad Molla BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday condemned the media report that said the party has connections with Israel and its intelligence agency Mossad.

During a press conference in BNP's Nayapaltan Headquarters, he said: "BNP does not have any relation with Israel. BNP is in favour of Palestine and will remain in favour of them."

When asked about the ruling party leaders' allegation that BNP is hatching conspiracy to come to power, Fakhrul said: “BNP is a democratic and liberal political party.

We believe that the only way to change the government is through elections.”

Recently, Awami League leaders have alleged that BNP is plotting schemes to oust the incumbent government using Israel's intelligence agency Mossad and that BNP Joint Secretary General Aslam Chowdhury had a

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

NBR urges consumers to collect VAT receipt after purchase

DEATH BY LIGHTNING IN APRIL-MAY PERIOD 120

3

DT

News

meeting with the agency.

The BNP leader announced that they will stage demonstrations on May 15 in all the cities and district headquarters, and on May 16 in the capital protesting the cases filed against the party's Chairperson Khaleda Zia. When asked about the execution of Jamaat leader Motiur Rahman Nizami, Fakhrul said: "BNP is in favour of trials for war criminals, but it should be without any political motive. The trials should be transparent and fair." l

that most of the sweetmeat shops had a sudden rise in their sales volume which was significantly more than their last year's sales.

However, most of them did not collect VAT from the customers nor did they use their Electronic Cash Register (ECR) machines to receive payments. The shops did not even have necessary VAT documents.

During the drive, the VAT intelligence requested customers to collect the VAT receipt after purchase and warned the shop

In 2009, the NBR made it mandatory for 11 types of businesses, including sweetmeat shops, to set up and use the ECR machine and Point of Sales (POS) software to boost the VAT collection A press release issued on Thursday in this regard said four teams from VAT audit, intelligence and investigation directorate of the NBR visited renowned sweetmeat shops in Dhaka to oversee the VAT collection process.

The intelligence wing took the initiative as there were allegations that sweetmeat businesses were not depositing their due VAT to the government exchequer though they collected it from the customers.

During the drives, which continued until 10pm on Wednesday, the teams observed

visit our website @

www.dhakatribune.com

owners to comply with the VAT act to avoid any legal action in the future.

In 2009, the NBR made it mandatory for 11 types of businesses, including sweetmeat shops, to set up and use the ECR machine and Point of Sales (POS) software to boost the VAT collection. However, it was reported that most of such shops were not complying with the law.

According to the VAT Act 1991, there is 15% VAT on sweets but the shops are not collecting it from the customers, resulting in a huge loss of revenue for the government. l

DT

News

4

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

Pre-Ramadan police drives to begin in Dhaka n Mohammad Jamil Khan A group of criminals carrying arms and explosives are using cars, micro-buses and motorbikes to sabotage and disrupt the law and order situation in Bangladesh.

According to the police, the culprits are reportedly using official police, press, advocate and Secretariat stickers while committing criminal activities.

In a bid to stop these felonies, the DMP launched a special drive that begins today, according to a document signed by DMP Commission-

er Asaduzzaman Miah. The document stated the drive will be operated to stop theft, robbery, shooting, mugging and Oggyan Parties in Dhaka, especially ahead of ShabeBarat, which will be observed on May 22, followed by Ramadan, 15 days later.

The DMP has taken these measures to stop extortion and eve-teasing during the month of Ramadan.

Along with this, a block raid will be organised in all residential areas, slums, mess and hotels.

Searching the belongings of motorbike riders who car-

ry bag-packs was also mentioned in the document. Motorbikes carrying over two passengers and those without helmets will be penalised.

Necessary action will also be taken against those who do not possess licenses and registration. Soon after the drive begins, the patrol team will increase their search activities, especially between 5pm to 9pm.

In this regard, Krishna Pada Roy, joint commissioner (crime and operation) of DMP, said they have given special instructions to check on crimes based in particular areas. l

Bangabandhu Satellite to be launched on Dec 16, 2017 n BSS State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim yesterday said Bangabandhu Satellite would be launched into the space on the country’s victory day on December 16 in 2017.

“High speed internet connection and optical fibre internet will be provided to

across the country. Internet connectivity will mushroom in the country,” she said while inaugurating a four-day annual sports competition of Tetulia Kazi Shahabuddin Girls High School and College in the afternoon in Panchagarh district.

Deputy Commissioner Amal Krishna Mandol, Superintendant of Police

Giasuddin Ahmad, Tentulia Upazila Parishad Chairman Rezaul Karim Shaheen and College Principal Emdadul Haque, among others, addressed the function with founding chairman of the school Kazi Habibur Rahman in the chair.

Later, a colourful cultural function was held on the college premises. l

5

DT

News

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

Four JMB men remanded n Arifur Rahman Rabbi A Dhaka court has sent four members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) including the terrorist group’s Dhaka unit chief, arrested on Wednesday night for planning subversive activities in the country, to police interrogation.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Syed approved their remand when Rubel Hawlader, sub-inspector of Khilgaon police station, produced them before his court seeking a ten-day remand for each.

The court ordered each of men to six days of remand in an anti-terrorism case, four days in an explosives case and a four day remand for JMB Dhaka ameer Abdul Baten only in an arms case, said SI Wahidur Rahman, general recording officer of the CMM Court.

No bail petitions were filed with the court for the four suspected militants as there was no defense counsel for them.

Two little boys join a human chain in front of National Press Club in Dhaka yesterday protesting the widespread use of harmful preservatives and chemicals on seasonal fruits. The event was organised by Green Mind Society MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

The JMB Dhaka unit ameer and three other members were arrested

by RAB on Wednesday night from two different areas of Dhaka.

The detainees are JMB Ameer Md Abdul Baten alias Khairul Islam alias Mamunul Hoque, Md Monir Mollah alias Monir, Md Golam Kibriya alias Akter and Md Roman Khan alias Rumon. Of them, Abdul Baten and Monir were detained from Dhaka’s Khilgaon area and the other two were held from Kamalapur.

RAB sources said a pistol, four rounds of bullets, 31 petrol bombs, splinters, one kilogramme of explosives and jihadi books were found in their possession.

“We arrested the four militants based on intelligence information that they were planning to carry out subversive activities in the country,” RAB Legal and Media Wing Director Mufti Mahmud Khan told reporters at a press conference held in RAB Headquarters yesterday. l

WHO: Pedestrians, car passengers most vulnerable in road crashes n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Pedestrians and car passengers in Bangladesh are at the most risk of falling victims to road accidents, a WHO analysis has found.

According to the 2015 road safety report by the World Health Organisation’s South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO), 32% of road crash fatalities in Bangladesh are pedestrians and 28% of them are passengers of four-wheeled cars and light vehicles.

Among the South Asian countries, only Maldives has a higher fatality rate of 33% for pedestrians, while Bhutan has the highest fatality rate of 49% for car passengers.

Bangladesh, however, fared better than most of its neighbours when it came to an overall road crash fatality rate.

For every 100,000 people in Bangladesh, the WHO estimates that at least 13.6 people die in road crashes. Only Maldives – an island nation with less roads – had a lower rate of 3.5, while the overall regional rate was 17.0.

The WHO-estimated fatality rate for every 100,000 people is 20.3 in Myanmar, 17.4 in Sri Lanka, 17.0 in Nepal, 16.6 in India, and 15.1

in Bhutan.

Thailand had the worst road safety performance in the WHO SEARO zone, with the road fatality rate as high as 36.2 for every 100,000 people.

But despite the lower fatality rate, the overall death toll in Bangladesh became bigger as the country has a bigger population than its neighbours on the WHO list – with the exception of India.

“Compared to other neighbouring countries, the road crash situation in Bangladesh is good; but we have a huge population, so when the absolute number comes, it frustrates us sometimes,” said Syed Mahfuzul Huq, an official of the WHO Bangladesh office.

The WHO report also showed that a large number of road fatalities in Bangladesh went unreported.

According to police first information reports (FIR), a total 2,538 people had died in 2012. But the WHO estimated that real number could be as high as 21,316.

The report also criticised Bangladesh’s performance on road safety legislation.

Of the five key risk factors – speed, drink-driving, helmets,

TEMPERATURE FOREC AST FOR TODAY

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN SATURDAY, MAY 14

Dhaka

36

27

Chittagong

33

DEATHS BY ROAD USER CATEGORY

Drivers/passengers buses (8%) Drivers/ passengers heavy trucks (6%)

Passengers 4-wheeled cars and light vehicles (28%)

Pedestrians (32%)

Riders motorised 2 or 3-wheelers (11%)

Cyclists (2%)

Source: Road Transport Authority Annual Report (data from 2012)

to formulate a good and international standard law, and time-befitting rules should also be enacted to implement the law,” Mahfuzul said.

seat-belts, and child restraints – the WHO found that Bangladesh either had no law on this issues or that the law did not meet best practice.

“To reduce road crash, we have 29

Rajshahi 40

DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 6:34PM

Drivers 4-wheeled cars and light vehicles (13%)

28

Rangpur

32

24

Khulna

38

26

Barisal

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:16AM

38.6ºC Jessore

21.2ºC Ishwardi

Source: Accuweather/UNB

37

28

PRAYER TIMES

All agencies concerned should have to be enhanced so that they can implement the act properly.

“Otherwise it will remain in paper and will not bring any benefit.”

The report also quoted findings made by the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory in 2003 that Bangladesh loses around 1.6% of its GDP because of road traffic crashes.

The WHO also mentioned that there was neither any emergency room injury surveillance system nor any emergency access telephone numbers in Bangladesh when it came to road crashes.

The report also mentioned that the South-East Asia region contributed 25% of the total global road traffic deaths.

The WHO recommended promulgating and enforcing laws based on best practice that relate to key behavioural risk factors of road crashes. They also urged governments to meet minimum international vehicle standards and carry out road safety audits on both new and existing roads.

The organisation also stressed on the need for better post-crash care in the region to mitigate consequences of road accidents. l Sylhet

32

23

Cox’s Bazar

34

Fajr: 4:45am | Zohr: 1:15pm Asr: 5:15pm | Magrib: 6:40pm Esha: 8:30pm Source: Islamic Foundation

28

DT

News

6

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

Judicial inquiry demanded into Banshkhali killings n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong Rejecting the government probe report that blames the locals, left-leaning organisation Jatiya Mukti Council has demanded a judicial inquiry into the killing of four anti-coal plant protesters at Banshkhali on April 4.

The party alleges that apart from local police, criminals hired by S Alam Group also opened fire on the locals who gathered at Gondamara to attend a rally that day. But the probe report claims locals were misguided by vested interests under political provocation to join the protests, and the persons killed in police firing.

The local administration and police earlier labelled the attacks as clash between two groups centring the establishment of the 1,224MW coalfired power plant.

After the incident that drew severe criticisms at home and abroad, a local Awami League lawmaker said that it was the criminals not the police who killed the protesters.

In the probe report submitted on May 9, the government investigation committee concluded that the law enforcers had been compelled to open fire to maintain law and order.

Chittagong Additional District Magistrate Md Mominur Rashid, who headed the probe body, said: “We have recommended that the confusion and misunderstanding created over the proposed project be dispelled and the local administration must get involved in the process.”

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Mesbah Uddin said that the firing incident in Banshkhali happened due to

a political provocation. Some people had misguided and instigated locals against the project. “The law enforcers were left with no other option but to open fire to save people’s lives and properties,” he claimed.

The probe body has recommended convincing the locals about the benefits of the plant.

It should be built upon consent of the locals, he added.

The locals protesting the project say that S Alam Group started acquiring land in the area in 2013 saying that they would build textile industry where many people would get jobs and that it would not destroy their livelihood. Many of the locals are fishermen and salt farmers.

In a joint statement issued on May 12, Jatiya Mukti Council’s East 3 unit President Bhulan Bhowmick and Member Secretary Amir Abbas said that the government and local administration must shoulder responsibility for the killings.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Abbas said that they had visited the area and talked to the locals. “They told us that took part in the protests consciously; there was no provocation. The residents are concerned about the possible loss of homesteads and livelihood.”

The probe report proves that the government, local administration and the police have sided with the S Alam Group, he said, adding that it is a “pack of lies and made to legitimise the killings.”

Condemning the arrest of three protesters including a vice-president of the group leading the protest, Abbas urged the government to stop harassment and intimidation of the protesters. l

Tofail: Khaleda stigmatised nation making Nizami minister n UNB Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday said BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia had stigmatised the nation through awarding the national flag to the vehicles of executed war criminals Motiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed.

“It was the BNP chairperson who had attached stigma to the nation by awarding the national flag to the cars of war criminals Nizami-Mujaheed, whereas it’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who freed the

nation from the stigma by bringing the war criminals to justice,” he told a views-exchange meeting with Awami League leaders at his Gazipur road residence in the morning.

District AL General Secretary Abdul Matin Tulu and President of Sadar upazila unit AL and upazila chairman Mosharref Hossain were, among others, present on the occasion.

Addressing the party men, the Commerce Minister reiterated the government’s firm commitment to establish a special economic zone (SEZ) in Bhola. l

7

DT

News

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

Bangla Tribune steps into 3rd year n Tribune Report Bangla Tribune, the fastest-growing Bangla online news portal in the country, has stepped into its third year.

The news portal’s second anniversary held yesterday was marked by the participation of eminent personalities including politicians, journalists, artistes and officials of different law enforcement agencies.

During the celebrations, the Bangla Tribune’s house located at West Panthapath was flooded with bouquets from the readers and well-wishers. Publisher Kazi Anis Ahmed and acting editor Zulfiqer Russell welcomed the guests and exchanged greetings with them.

The promising news portal started its journey on May 13 in 2014.

Renowned Rabindra Sangeet artiste Ameena Ahmed, who is also the mother of Publisher Kazi Anis Ahmed, graced the occasion with her presence.

The anniversary celebrations began with the cutting of a cake.

Ameena Ahmed, Dhaka North Mayor Annisul Huq, the publisher and the acting editor of Bangla

Tribune did the honour.

Publisher Kazi Anis Ahmed said: “Bangla Tribune will not bow down to pressure from anyone. It will continue to publish news behind the news.

“Online news portal has gained popularity very quickly. People are now able to know the news through mobile phones from any place. Almost all the world’s newspapers are now available online … they give special emphasis on this.

Now just a few of the top newspapers are only online.”

He said that there are plans to release a more modernised form of publishing. “The plans will be implemented slowly.”

The news portal also published a special sixteen-page newspaper to mark the day.

Acting editor Zulfiqer Russell said: “We wanted to surprise our online readers by publishing this special issue. Soon we will go for an online e-paper to give our readers a newspaper flavour. This special issue is part of that plan.”

He said: “Bangla Tribune has always wanted to do something new in the horizon of the news world. A

Eminent personalities joined celebrations at the Bangla Tribune house yesterday as the online news portal marked its second founding anniversary. The festivities were launched with the cutting of a cake

by Publisher Kazi Anis Ahmed, his mother Ameena Ahmed, Dhaka North Mayor Annisul Huq and Bangla Tribune acting editor Zulfiqer Russell.

The photos were taken by Nashirul Islam newspaper can be read when you sip a cup of tea, but you cannot smell that mood when you read an online news portal. But the online has gone way too far.”

The colourful festivity to mark the popular portal’s anniversary began formally in the evening by cutting a cake in presence of the well-wishers. l

DT

8

News

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

Two extraordinary tales of victories Jamil Khan and n Mohammad Moazzem Hossain With his SSC exams only a few months away, Minhazul Islam Anik’s dream of becoming an engineer almost shattered when he sustained severe injuries when he got caught in the middle of a firebomb attack in Feni in early 2015.

On the other side of the country, Arifa Khatun faced an uncertain future, with no idea how she was going to survive in the world when she was missing half her limbs – her two hands.

Anik and Arifa have one thing in common – showing extraordinary determination that borders on superhero abilities, they both overcame their unique situations and successfully passed the SSC exams this year.

“My only aim for the past year has been to appear in the [SSC] exam so that I could become an engineer someday. My journey got delayed for a while, but I am happy that I was finally able to start it,” said Anik, 17.

Anik appeared in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations from Feni Government Pilot High School and scored a GPA 5 in science group.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Anik said he was supposed to ap-

Arifa Khatun

Minhazul Islam Anik

pear in the exam last year. “I was returning from my maths tuition on January 5, 2015 when a firebomb suddenly hit me. The right side of my head was heavily injured, including my right eye.”

The government took responsibility of Anik’s treatment. He had to go through three surgeries in Chennai, India, and a false retina was implanted in his damaged eye.

He still had bandages around his head when he sat for the exams this year.

“Thanks to the Almighty and everyone who helped me. Because of their help, I was able to appear in the exam; I was able to take the first step towards my dream to

study at Buet,” Anik said.

His mother Jesmin Rahman said she was grateful to the government for funding her son’s treatment.

“During the exam, he could not study for long because it pained him. But he has strong will and he kept on studying, ignoring the pain,” she told the Dhaka Tribune.

“Thanks to the Almighty that he was able to give the exams and score such a wonderful result too.”

His father Mizanur Rahman, who is a migrant based in Oman, said the pain of his injuries were forgotten because of his results.

“We are grateful for all the help.”

While Anik suffered at the hands of humans, Arifa was helpless be-

fore nature.

She lost both her hands to an unknown disease soon after she was born. Youngest among five siblings and born to ultra-poor families, no one hoped that Arifa would be able to make it through.

But she did. Being without hands never phased her; she uses her feet to write, to draw, to comb her hair – to do just about anything. The only time she needs help is when she needs to eat, dress herself and take baths. That is when her mother Mamtaz Begum lends her a hand.

Seeing how determined their youngest child was to lead a normal life, Mamtaz and her husband Abdul Ali, who is a locksmith, made

sure she had access to education, because among their five children, Arifa is the brightest.

And Arifa did not disappoint.

She scored a GPA 4.11 in humanities group from Phulgachh High School in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila this year.

Her family is overjoyed with her academic success. “My daughter has made all of us proud,” said her father, Ali. Earlier, she attained the fifth position on the merit list during her Primary School Certificate exams and scored a GPA 4.4 in her Junior School Certificate exams.

Asked what her aim in life was, Arifa said she wanted to become a lawyer. “I want to fight against injustice. I want to help people.”

But despite scoring such a good result, Arifa was more worried than happy. “Girls like me who come from poor families seldom get the opportunity to carry on the journey to their goals.”

Shahjahan Ali, headmaster at Arifa’s school, said it was her sheer determination and strong will that brought her this far. “Now it must be ensured that her extraordinary journey does not get halted because of poverty. I hope she overcomes every obstacle in life and her dream comes true.” l

CCC to set up modern food testing lab n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

Being angered by the deaths of two siblings, people set a bus afire at Chandana intersection, Gazipur yesterday. The siblings died after a collision between the bus and a motorcycle DHAKA TRIBUNE

Trader shot dead in Comilla n Mohiuddin Molla, Comilla

A businessman was shot dead and three others were injured by their rivals in Noapara area, Comilla Sadar upazila in the early hours of yesterday.

The body of Rakibul Islam Mukul, 48, owner of a decoration materials’ shop, was kept in the morgue of Comilla Medical College

Hospital (CMCH) for an autopsy.

Three people who were injured during the firing were got admitted to the CMCH in a critical state. The three are Saiful, Rifat and Ripan.

Witnesses said about eight people led by local UP member Gafur’s son Arif swooped on Mukul before dawn and shot at his head while he was returning home after Fazr prayers. He died on the spot.

Later, the alleged killers shot Mukul’s friend Saiful, nephew Rifat as well his employee Ripan at their residences.

Comilla Assistant Superintendent of Police (Sadar circle) Emtiaj Mahbub visited the spot and said: “The reason for the killing cannot be confirmed yet. Additional policemen have been deployed in the village to prevent any untoward incident.” l

Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) is going to set up a modern food-testing laboratory in the port city with a view to ensuring hygienic and adulteration-free foods for the city residents.

At a cost of Tk28 crore, the laboratory is going to be constructed with the financial assistance from Asian Development Bank in city’s Bibirhat area.

Different types of chemical and microbiological tests of milk and milk products, oil and oil products, edible ice and ice-cream, foods and vegetable products, food grains, sweet and sweet products, meat and meat products, bakery items, egg and egg products will be conducted in the laboratory.

The laboratory is going to be equipped with over 100 state-of the-art chemical and microbiological equipment like Protein/ Nitrogen Analyzer, Milk Analyzer, High-performance Liquid Chromatography, Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, Moisture Analyzer, Auto Titrator, Soxhlet Apparatus, Digital Autoclave Machine, Shaking Water Bath, Incubator, Laminator Air Flow Cabinet and different

types of homogenizers.

Mayor Chittagong City Corporation AJM Nasir Uddin said they were going to launch the laboratory to get rid of the city dwellers of the rampant food adulteration.

“We have already written to the concerned ministry seeking legal authority so that every commercial food manufacturers will be legally bound to test their food products from the laboratory,” said the city mayor.

Ismail Hossain, chemist of the laboratory, said: “We are hopeful about launching of the laboratory by the end of the year.”

Ashish Kumar Das, microbiologist of the laboratory, said: “The lab will be furnished with the cutting-edge equipment. We have already procured almost all equipment and accessories required for running the laboratory.”

Moreover, the laboratory will be a revenue generating sector for Chittagong City Corporation,” added the microbiologist.

Welcoming the move, SM Nazer Hossain, vice-president of Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said the maximum and proper use of the under construction modern laboratory has to be ensured. l

9

DT

Feature

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

The startup numbers game Ambareen Reza’s wise words in finance

yourself in the beginning, and see how things progress from there.

Hiring an accountant becomes a necessity once the business grows and the statements become exponentially complicated for the founders to keep track of, making it quite impossible to handle the business and the financial side at the same time. Frankly, the basic statements are all you will ever need. They are ledgers, income statements, cash flow statements and balance sheets.

n SK Farhan Rahman Clueless when it comes to organising your financial documents? Do you have stacks of unopened bills, a lacklustre system, and a dreadful fear of taxes? Fear not, Ambareen Reza, the managing director of Foodpanda, is here to help.

Foodpanda is a global online food ordering marketplace where people can discover, choose and order from the widest range of food places around their respective areas. Foodpanda, a venture of Rocket Internet, was founded in Bangladesh in 2013.

It is now operating in more than 40 countries and also in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet.

“Whenever you start a business, you are more focused on perfecting the product, the service, and ways to grow the business. Caught up in that endless loop, most startups forget to keep tabs on the business and maintain proper financial documents,” says Ambareen

Reza. She stresses on how her background in finance helped her and Foodpanda gain an edge over other startups, and on the importance of financial documents, and how to properly set them up.

Organisation While preparing financial documents is a hectic job in itself, it’s even worse when all relevant information and documents get misplaced, lost or simply remain undocumented. The foremost task would be, of course, to organise everything, even the most irrelevant of things. This includes all kinds of paperwork, bills and unopened mails, all of which should be properly filed and labeled for prompt access whenever necessary.

Back to basics All startups start with limited capital of course, and naturally try to keep costs at a minimum. The smart move would be to only set up basic financial statements by

Financial statements The ledger is the first and foremost statement to be set up. It is a simple account specifying the debits and credits of the startup, basically how much it owes to creditors, and how much receivables they are obligated from other parties. It is an uncomplicated account involving day to day entries in separate categories of debit or credit.

The income statement, also known as the profit and loss statement, enables the business to project or forecast sales and expenses for a period of a few months. Net profit, or loss, for that matter, is calculated by subtracting the sum of all expenses from the sum of all revenues. Bear in mind though that this particular document usually records revenue as soon as it is earned, but not yet received. This means that, at any given point in time, your net profit will not be equal to your cash in hand.

This is where the cash flow statement comes in. This statement highlights how much money is coming into the business (cash inflow), and how much money is going out of it (cash outflow). Inflow includes cash sales, collected receivables, loans and other investments.

Outflow includes any kind of cash purchase, expenses paid and inventory. Helpful hint though, the cash flow statement only incorporates cash dealings and absolutely nothing on credit.

The absolute last financial document to be recorded is the balance sheet. Unlike the rest, balance sheets are recorded at the end of the year or at the end of the accounting period, simply because it provides an overall snapshot of your entire business. The basic equation must add up. Assets minus liabilities equals to owners equity. Assets and liabilities are pretty self-explanatory, whereas owner’s equity represents the

owner’s investment in the business, the net profit generated from the business, and lastly, their drawings.

Transparency Enron, an American energy company, learned the hard way; you cannot afford to be deceitful with your accounts. For the sake of your business, transparency is a must. Every year, taxes and audits will be the sole cause for ear splitting headaches, and fully maintained accounts that haven’t been tampered with are a must.

Furthermore, a startup cannot survive on its own by internal capital only. External capital becomes a necessity once the business starts to grow.

One possible source of such funding may be in the form of venture capitals. Incubation requires full disclosure, and any venture capitalist will insist on it. Therefore, not maintaining proper financial documents for your startup increases the risks of incubators pulling out.

friends. Once gone, they’ll never come back, no matter how hard you try,” says Ambareen Reza.

It is also necessary to sign a partnership agreement when starting a business. Everyone should be aware of their responsibilities and roles and, in particular, they should decide who to trust with the money and all the financial documents. A signed agreement ensures no future quarrels among the founders.

Ambareen Reza also advises on contacting a lawyer while setting up financial documents. Let’s face it, very rarely is a startup founder familiar with country laws. A lawyer, a good one at that, knows where the loop holes are in terms of tax breaks and other benefits, nothing illegal of course.

While maintaining financial documents and handling the business seems daunting, it doesn’t necessarily need to be.

The founders should be mentally prepared from day one, accept it as an obligation and a responsibility, and start keeping track of things.

There is no shame in asking for

Value your money, value your startup and value your friends. Once gone, they’ll never come back, no matter how hard you try

Legal aspects Startups are usually founded and co-founded by friends.

Everyone invests heavily in the business, physically, mentally and monetarily. The problem starts when a discrepancy in the cash balances show up, and when handled improperly, money can ruin your life. Maintaining and updating financial documents is extremely important to avoid messy altercation with your partners. “Value your money, value your startup and value your

help from your employees, or your co-founders.

“At the end of the day, even the CEO is an employee of the company. Business is a huge learning curve, and you need to learn continuously in order to thrive and to grow,” concludes Ambareen Reza. l Content was reprinted from www. startup-bd.com

DT

10

Biz Info

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

| education |

| anniversary |

ELRC inaugurated at IUB

BASE Technologies celebrates 4 years BASE Technologies, one of the leading EPC contracting and systems integration solution providers in Bangladesh, celebrated its fourth year anniversary.

The organisation celebrated its anniversary through a resplendent celebration.

The Department of English of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) inaugurated the English Language Resource Center (ELRC) at its campus in Bashundhara, Dhaka. The opening ceremony for the launch was held on Thursday, May 12.

The ELRC is an innovative solution for imparting English language skills to students. It will equip them with skills for their present and future academic pursuits and also prepare

them to function effectively in professional, social and daily situations.

Prof M Omar Rahman, vice chancellor of IUB, formally inaugurated the center as the chief guest in the event. He mentioned that learning any language is a lifelong process and we need to learn from best practices. With this objective, he urged upon all concerned parties to make this center meaningful.

George Mesthos, cultural affairs

Members of the board of directors and other employees, including CEO and co-founder Md Jubair Ahmed, were present during the celebrations.

In addition to Bangladesh, BASE Technologies provides their services in a few other countries across the globe. l

officer of American Center, Dhaka was present at the ceremony as the special guest. Katy Mc Alary, English language fellow at IUB also spoke on the occasion.

Towhid Bin Muzaffar, head, Department of English of IUB, delivered the introductory remarks and explained the purpose of opening this center while Prof Razia Sultana Khan from the department of English, IUB, remarked her appreciation for the cause.l

| tech |

| food |

Samsung introduces 2016 editions for the J series

HAKKA DHAKA’s new drinks menu

handsets are designed for better performance with extended 3,300 mAh (J7 2016 edition) and 3,100 mAh (J5 2016 edition) batteries.

The devices with their exceptional performance, spectacular camera and fantastic display are the perfect combination for providing an entirely new and redefined smartphone experience to consumers. These smartphones are now available in the market.

Samsung Mobile Bangladesh has announced the launch of two new additions to its Galaxy J series handsets - Galaxy J7and Galaxy J5 2016 edition - in Bangladesh.

The new 4G LTE enabled

Both Galaxy J7 and Galaxy J5 2016 editions have 5.5” and 5.2” HD super AMOLED displays respectively, with an exceptional 13-megapixel rear camera that enables brilliant

photography in any lighting condition.

The phones have f1.9 and LED flash with both front and rear camera, manual aperture settings, and advanced photo settings to take the beautiful shots.

The 64-bit octa-core (1.6 GHz) and quad-core (1.2 GHz) processors respectively with 2GB RAM ensure faster and effortless processing and performance.

Moreover, the additional features of S-bike mode and UDS mode will not compromise safety and convenience for the users. l

The Hakka Chinese joint of Dhaka has introduced a new drinks menu for their customers.

The menu includes: Apple Iced Tea - Tk180 Lemon Iced Tea - Tk180 Cookies n Cream Shake - Tk250

Double Chocolate Shake - Tk250 Lychee Mojito - Tk250 Lime Mojito - Tk200 Apple Juice - Tk200 Watermelon Juice - Tk200 Orange Juice - Tk200 Pineapple Juice - Tk200 Lemonade - Tk150 l

DT

Editorial 11

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

INSIDE

Reasons to celebrate Sadiq Khan’s victory PAGE 12

Keeping an eye out PAGE 13

Investing in women is key to a sustainable future PAGE 14

Climate change 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.

Turkey has no right to interfere

I

t is highly regrettable Turkey has withdrawn its ambassador to Bangladesh following the execution of Motiur Rahman Nizami for his role in atrocities committed during the 1971 Liberation War. Although no reason was officially provided ahead of the withdrawal, reports from Ankara make clear the Turkish government not only disapproves of the sentence, but that it also does not believe “Nizami deserved such a punishment.” In addition, President Erdogan has been quoted saying he believes the convicted war criminal “has no earthly sin.”

This is not acceptable.

The International Crimes Tribunal process exists to end impunity for crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 war and to provide a necessary public record and remembrance for victims.

There is nothing wrong with overseas politicians expressing their views on the process, or professing principled objections to the death penalty, but dignity demands they refrain from making inflammatory comments and interfering in the internal matters of an independent and sovereign country.

Bangladesh and Turkey have a long-standing history of friendly relations. There is no justification for President Erdogan’s government to ignore this relationship and transgress diplomatic norms.

We have grown used to poor diplomacy on Pakistan’s part through its ritual disingenuous denunciations of the war crimes trials, which reflect its nationally embedded mindset of denial about the Bangladesh Independence war.

It is disappointing the Turkish government has now also chosen to interfere in Bangladesh’s judicial process.

As friendly nations with fast-growing bilateral trading relationships, it is important this incident does not prejudice the close links and ties shared by Bangladesh and Turkey.

We hope the Turkish government will recognise that it is one thing for it to profess an objection to the death penalty on principle, and quite another for it to take a stance against Bangladesh’s judicial process.

There is no justification for the Turkish government to transgress diplomatic norms

12

DT

Opinion

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

Reasons to celebrate Sadiq Khan’s victory His triumph is not one of religion or race

Sadiq Khan’s win stands for fair elections and tolerance, a win impossible in almost any Muslim country

Unless you are decidedly, unambiguously, and transparently in favour of the rights of all individuals to be treated equally before the law, you are nothing more than a hypocrite par excellence in celebrating the win of Sadiq Khan as the mayor of London in 2016

n Esam Sohail

A

s the social media landscape in Muslim countries and Muslim diasporas lights up with hosannas on the victory of former Labour Member of Parliament Sadiq Khan as the mayor of London, it is hard not to chuckle at the incredible hypocrisy of such celebrations.

At the end of the day, it was a British politician who ran in a free and fair British election to win the top political prize of the British capital, albeit a city which my father, like many others, has long considered the centre of modern civilisation.

Yes, Sadiq Khan never shied away from his identity as a

Muslim. But those pious Muslims around the world who suddenly find in his mayoral triumph a kindred spirit are celebrating the wrong theme in this victory of the former member from London’s Tooting constituency.

Long before the issue was making global headlines, Mr Khan was ardently defending the rights of homosexuals to dignity and equal protection under the law; as a human rights lawyer he was at the forefront of the movement to make same-sex marriage legal in the United Kingdom.

To the utter anger of Islamists and their smooth-faced apologists, the new mayor of London has had record of opposing informal “Sharia” courts in England where the rights of women are

REUTERS

often trampled under the guise of arbitration and community harmony.

Put it bluntly, in the social sense, the man is against just about everything that fundamentalist Muslims hold dear and, given the chance and impunity, will probably dispatch him swiftly to his heavenly reward for such “apostasies.”

Yet, there is much to celebrate in Sadiq Khan’s win, and I will say it even as someone who, in regards to British politics, has a decided pro-Tory bent as a matter of principles and policies, and also finds Mayor Khan’s closeness with certain Salafist groups very troubling.

Were I a London voter, my preference would have been solidly for the Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith.

That the non-Christian son of immigrants of modest means was elected in a free election as the mayor of the West’s most iconic metropolis is something to celebrate for those who value pluralism, fair elections, and equality before the law.

Compare this to Pakistan where Khan’s parents were born, where an entire sect of Muslims

is forbidden by law to utter “Assalamualaikum” in public, to say nothing of political access. Or to Saudi Arabia, where an entire city is off limits for non-Muslims to even enter. Or even “progressive” Bangladesh where the concept of free and fair elections would be a joke, except that jokes are supposed to be funny.

Long before it was in the mainstream, Sadiq Khan the lawyer was advocating for acceptance of LGBTQ individuals as full participants in British society and taking on cases for clients alleging police misconduct.

How long will a person with that kind of record of advocacy last in almost any Muslim country, in literal or figurative terms?

The truth, as unpalatable as it is to many, is that Sadiq Khan’s historic victory as the mayor of Western civilisation’s greatest city is a victory of the values that many of his latter day champions find utterly offensive.

Even as a dyed-in-the-wool Tory partisan, I celebrate his victory because it is a victory of the values of individual liberty, fair elections, and tolerance; what exactly are the fundamentalists of his faith or the closet backers of one-party dictatorship celebrating here?

Unless you are decidedly, unambiguously, and transparently in favour of the rights of all individuals to be treated equally before the law, unless you believe and act on the side of free, fair, substantive, and competitive elections held under credible auspices, unless you want religion and the cult of family ties to be irrelevant to the governance of a city, state, or country, you are nothing more than a hypocrite par excellence in celebrating the win of Sadiq Khan as the mayor of London in 2016.

There are plenty of good things to celebrate in Sadiq Khan’s accession to the mayoralty of London; unfortunately, too many of his co-religionists and ethnic brethren in Pakistan and Bangladesh seem to be celebrating the wrong things.

Sadiq Khan’s triumph was not one of religion or race: It was a decided victory of the British system of fair elections, tolerance, and pluralism. It is a system that need not remain British and, until recently, was also the Bangladeshi way. l Esam Sohail is an educational research analyst and college lecturer of social sciences. He writes from Kansas, USA.

13

DT

Opinion

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

Keeping an eye out Would media-monitoring necessarily curb our freedoms?

n Ekram Kabir

R

ecently, Bangladesh’s Information Minister Hasanul Huq Inu said that the government had taken an initiative to set up a media-monitoring centre to watch what was being published in the media.

The minister claimed that a section of media was trying to create theist-atheist division in society by writing against Hindu, Muslim, and other religious sentiments. The rights organisation Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) has already criticised it, saying it feared that the step could curb media freedom.

Considering ASK’s worry, yes, it’s possible that the authorities might try to restrict media freedom. There are examples galore of this kind across the world when the authorities might get tempted to curb media freedom.

However, I think our minister didn’t want to mean what ASK has read between the lines.

To me, he meant that the government should remain alert about the media organisations which may have the content to create division, confusion, or controversy in society. From the government’s point of view, this doesn’t seem too much to ask for. The government won’t be curtailing the freedom of the media if it wants to prevent the creation of division, confusion, or controversy in the country.

In fact, either the government should monitor the media itself or get a monitoring service from a private company in order to know what is actually going on across the country. The British government does it through BBC Monitoring; the state department has a good media-monitoring mechanism.

Although the UK and the US don’t monitor local media, they monitor the media in almost every country in the world. The news on selected topics from selected newspapers, televisions, radios, and online portals are compiled in a huge platform.

This is open-source information that immensely helps these countries on issues of business, foreign relations, health, environment, human rights, terrorism etc. The information that they acquire by monitoring the media becomes a great tool as far as statecraft is concerned.

How does Transparency International, Bangladesh find its corruption index? By monitoring

Keeping an eye on what’s out there doesn’t always mean freedom of speech is at stake the media, of course. How does ASK itself know about the rights violations in Bangladesh? That, too, mostly by monitoring the media! Why do you think almost all the successful companies in the world have their own mediamonitoring mechanism?

It’s because they need to know about their own sectors. There are thousands of media-monitoring companies across the world that provide services to governments and businesses.

Media-monitoring is a process of reading, watching, or listening to the editorial content of media sources on a continuous basis, and then, identifying, saving, and analysing the content that contains specific keywords or topics. Almost all the renowned newspapers of the world have media-monitoring on a 24-hour basis.

There are also organisations that are monitoring the media to know how fairly the media is performing. Take Fair.org (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) for example. FAIR is an American media-watch group that has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship.

BIGSTOCK

What you do with the information from monitoring the media is more important than simply concluding that the government would curb freedom. Media-monitoring has various beneficial aspects

They work to invigorate the US’s First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinising media practices that marginalise public interest, and minority and dissenting viewpoints.

FAIR works with both activists and journalists. They maintain a regular dialogue with reporters at news outlets across America, providing constructive critiques when called for and applauding exceptional, hard-hitting journalism. They also encourage the public to contact the media with their concerns, to become media activists rather than passive consumers of news. There are many like this in many countries.

This also helps with soul-searching for the media houses themselves.

So, what you do with the information from monitoring

the media is more important than simply concluding that the government would curb freedom. Media-monitoring has various beneficial aspects. Our information minister, perhaps, wanted to mean that.

One can assess their own reputation in the media through monitoring. What the media says significantly affects people’s thoughts and conceptions of companies and their products.

With a media-monitoring service, one can closely follow what is written about his/her company and what the tone is. Media monitoring also helps you notice the pitfalls in your company.

It is increasingly becoming important in communications to spot different kinds of silent social signals. Monitoring the media would help you notice

which topics are discussed in your industry and what expectations your customers have.

It’s important to know what your competitors are doing. A media monitoring service would help you to understand how effective your own communication is.

To me, Bangladesh’s Tourism Ministry should monitor the media in every country and utilise the information and analyses for its own purpose. The police department would go a long way if it monitored media on crimes.

Almost all sectors of Bangladesh should have well-thought-out media-monitoring. If it’s possible, the government could plan for a centralised media-monitoring mechanism. l Ekram Kabir is a writer.

14

DT

Opinion

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

Investing in women is key to a sustainable future for all The 2016 Women Deliver Conference presents a unique opportunity to promote gender equality Fugl Eskjær, n Hanne Argentina Matavel Piccin,

B

and Christine Hunter

angladesh has set out on a journey to become a middle-income country.

Many impressive results have been achieved, and a high growth rate has been registered on a consistent basis. To make this development inclusive and sustainable -- in Bangladesh and globally -- it is crucial that girls and women participate on an equal footing in the journey.

Strong evidence shows that investing in girls and women is not only the right thing to do, it is also the most effective investment for sustainable development, with the impact reaching far beyond the individual women. Evidence shows that when an additional 10% of girls go to school, a country’s GDP increases by 3%.

When women are paid fairly for their work, households benefit.

Research shows that women invest a large majority of their earnings on their children and the health, education, and well-being of their families while men often have other priorities. Supporting women’s economic participation and ensuring fair working conditions is not only a pathway to gender equality, but also to poverty reduction and inclusive economic growth.

Girls and women constitute more than half of the world’s population and they contribute greatly to the world economy as consumers, employees, and entrepreneurs. World economies rely on a healthy workforce now and in the future, but the work women do to ensure this by producing food and caring for others, is unpaid and largely unrecognised.

Despite their contributions to sustainable growth, girls and women constitute the majority of the world’s poor, earn far less than men, work longer, and are often much worse off when it comes to access to land, natural resources, education, and health.

Denmark and Bangladesh have been partners in development for more than four decades. The two countries have different histories and backgrounds but we share the same values in terms of the importance of gender equality.

Denmark is a country where gender equality ranks high on the

agenda. The ideal of treating men and women equally and giving boys and girls equal opportunities has greatly influenced the development of our society and driven it to where we are today.

Last year, Denmark celebrated the 100th anniversary of the right of Danish women to vote in parliamentary elections, which was the culmination of a long and persistent struggle for women to have a formal voice in society equal to that of men.

Step by step, women’s influence and opportunities have increased.

In 1976, equal pay for equal work became a requirement by law, and in 2011, Denmark saw its first female prime minister.

But the gender equality battle has not been won yet. Denmark continues to face challenges. A de facto pay gap between men and women exists, women are

Denmark and Bangladesh have been partners in development for more than four decades disproportionately exposed to partner violence, and the existence of gender stereotypes occasionally constitutes a barrier to gender equality. The struggle to eliminate these patterns must and will continue.

For the past two decades Bangladesh has been at the forefront in improving the situation for girls and women. The voice of women is being heard at the highest levels in politics, business, culture, and media.

The proportion of seats held by women in the national parliament doubled from 10% in 1990 till 20% in 2015. The health of women has also improved. Women’s life expectancy increased from 54 years in 1980 to 73 years in 2014, one of the largest increases in the region. In terms of enrolling girls at secondary school, progress has been remarkable.

Massive expansion of schools, targeted stipends to bring the poorest and girls into schools, and continued investments in education, have helped set in place

Gender equality is a pre-requisite for human progress a virtuous cycle in Bangladesh.

Healthier and better-educated women are a major resource for the labour market. The importance of increasing women’s work opportunities is particularly clear in the RMG sector where women make up around 80% of a workforce four million strong.

In spite of significant achievements, challenges remain. Unfortunately, girls and women continue to be subject to harassment and violence.

Bangladesh has taken a number of initiatives to protect and safeguard women from violence and Denmark is also partnering with Bangladesh on this agenda. This is being done through building effective institutions that can help raise public awareness that violence against women is not acceptable and by treating the victims and their families.

Denmark has supported the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to establish a help line that offers anonymous counselling, legal advice, police assistance, and referrals to relevant institutions.

The number is 10921. We call upon readers of this op-ed to disseminate the number to your families, friends, colleagues, and to join in preventing violence against women and girls in your community.

Six months ago, heads of state and governments adopted 17 goals for poverty reduction and sustainable development -- the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development. Crucial for the success of these goals is the extent to which they result in investments in girls and women.

The goals deliver promises for the young girl who desperately wants an education, for the millions of women still without access to family planning and proper health care, and for the woman who wants to own the land she is farming and have access to financial services.

Together with Bangladesh, Denmark, UNFPA, and UN Women are firmly committed to using the 2030 Agenda to push for sustainable societies where everybody will have the opportunity to determine their own destinies, make their own choices, and live the life they want.

From May 16 to 19, political leaders, policy-makers, communities of health practice, academics, and the media will converge in Copenhagen for the 3rd Women Deliver Conference.

The conference will be preceded on May 15-16 by a Midwifery Symposium and on May 16, concurrent Ministerial and Parliamentarian segments will take place. The Copenhagen Conference will be the third WDC, preceded by the 2007 in Washington DC, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur.

The main focus is on health -- in particular maternal, sexual and reproductive health and rights -- and gender equality, education,

BIGSTOCK

environment, and economic empowerment.

The key objective will be to discuss how to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, so it matters most for women and girls. Denmark is hosting the conference, which is organised by Women Deliver, UNFPA, and UN Women.

The 2016 Women Deliver Conference presents a unique opportunity for a wide range of stake-holders to share ideas and best practices and develop partnerships that will deliver for girls and women across the globe.

It is our hope that stakeholders will seize the moment and take active part in shaping the future on how health and rights of girls and women can be improved and upheld. Together, we are sending this message not only to world leaders but also to all citizens, companies, civil society organisations, research institutions, and more. Invest in girls and women, and everybody wins.

More information on the Women Deliver 2016 Conference, including program, high-level speakers, and registration, can be found at the conference website: http://wd2016.org/. l Hanne Fugl Eskjær is Ambassador of Denmark to Bangladesh. Argentina Matavel Piccin is Representative, UNFPA, Bangladesh. Christine Hunter is Country Representative, UN Women, Bangladesh.

15

DT

Arts & Letters

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

After wearing personal attires Abul Hasan Ceaselessly searching for each other during the scene I’m echoed somewhere else I’m calling out someone else, and constantly so -torn eyes, hoarse voice -We’re watching and hearing each other in the same circle of time.

Yet we’re stranger to each other When we put on our personal costumes!

And say, “Come see what lunatic plucked the first fruit!”

Wrinkled age, broken mirror, dust amassed on scrawny lines of the neck -in the same circle of time -We’re watching, and truth be told, everyone is leaning toward himself, somewhat self-absorbed: as if we’re following a funeral procession.

Waiters, office cars, cool house like a church We’re watching, we’re listening, Hitting it off amiably, smiling gracefully at each other in the same circle.

We need not know each other anymore, We need not know our friends, And near and dear ones anymore.

Yet we don’t know each other When we cover ourselves in our personal costumes.

We do not know each other After putting on our personal costumes.

Translated by Rifat Munim

The rind of orange tends to erase memories

INSIDE

16

Short fiction: Perspective

17

Reflection: On Indifference

18

Tribute to Safia Manto

Send your submissions to: anl@dhakatribune.com

DT

Arts & Letters

16

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

SHORT FICTION

POETRY

‘EARTH ILL. STOP LIVING SOON.’

n Abdullah Al Muktadir The most ancient rainy days and the most recent clouds Towards my land, to my lonely windowpane Are sending telegrams with no news Of no man, no job, of no woman.

‘SKY DYING. STOP FLYING SOON.’ While living in the smiling city of tomorrows, We wrote the saddest songs.

We used to send funereal letters Lamenting every birth of every infant, While living in the glaring city of the coming days.

Perspective n Marzia Rahman And I saw death sneaking into her room, like the cat Mini entering the house in search of food. I saw death settling on her face, making it paler, more yellowish and crooked.

Then it spread everywhere. Her stomach swelled like a balloon

W

hen I was a child, Death fascinated me. Not sure which part of it caught my fancy—the horror, the loss, the after-death rituals, or all of them together.

I was young. I thought less, cared little. Mostly did what I liked.

That’s the advantage of being the youngest child of elderly parents.

And I hardly missed any chances.

For years, grandmother, our Dadi ruled the house. Even when she retired to her cot, she dominated her domain with a shrill voice and a malicious look. Then she fell down, broke her waist, and lost both her voice and power. She remained like this for a very long time—like a half-rotten vegetable— with sunken eyes, still body, no voice.

Last year, she died twice. Almost.

Her five married daughters and two sons arrived at our place. Because she lived with her eldest son, my father. They came to bid her good bye and perform the required rituals.

But then, she didn’t die.

I thought Dadi would never

die. She had turned into one of those immortal creatures—half man, half God of Greek mythology – who elude death. But then she fell terribly sick again. And I saw death sneaking into her room, like the cat Mini entering the house in search of food. I saw death settling on her face, making it paler, more yellowish and crooked. Then it spread everywhere. Her stomach swelled like a balloon. Her earlobes dropped like they were broken.

There were tiny insects crawling on her bed, even on her body but she didn’t mind. But the most horrible thing was the sticky smell. I didn’t know Death smelled so bad. She groaned and opened her eyes that we thought would never open. But it did open and closed again. Then, she died. Finally.

I had little idea her Death would bring so much fun. All my uncles and aunts arrived along with my cousins—a total of twelve boys and fourteen girls. Since elders were busy, we were free birds, having a blast. In that smattering period of time, two of my cousins fell in love, three boys smoked for the first time, one tried to elope, and one decided not to sit for the HSC

exam. And as for me, I found Death appealing. *** Years later, far from home, living alone in a condo, Death seemed luminously lovable once again. I sought it in the form of twenty-nine pills, despising my twenty-nine years of wasted life, two break-ups, one abortion, a few promises -- beautiful but broken -- and memories, plenty of them, some sweet, some bitter.

There were thirty five before. I spent six to kill six sleepless nights.

Now twenty-nine blue sleeping pills are shimmering in a sea green bottle. It reminded me of sea, the white beach, life, love, reading Hamlet by the shore, To be, or not to be?

That is the question— I always wondered why in Hamlet, Shakespeare made his protagonist so absurdly confused, a pathetic reminder of human failings!

Why Anna Karennina or Madam Bovary had to die to seal the novels as unforgettable tragedies? Why did I watch my grandmother die when my cousins played outside?

Memories can be treacherous.

It can bring back hope, I thought, staring at the twenty-eight sleeping pills. l

While dying in the weeping countryside of the yesterdays We sang the songs of ecstasy and love.

The telegrams we were writing those days Used to celebrate the death of every human, While dying in the mourning village of the past years.

‘EARTH ILL. STOP LIVING SOON.’ Hence smiling we died. So we will never live alive.

DT

Arts & Letters

18

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

TRIBUTE

Remembering Safia Manto, the woman who stood by the writer n Nandita Das

S

o little is known and even less written about the women who have unflinchingly supported their celebrated men. It is true that Safia Deen would not have been known had she not married Saadat Hasan Manto and become Safia Manto. But on her centenary today, May 11, let it be known that Manto may not have been a hero had it not been for Safia, who stood by him, through the best and worst of times. The best were few and the worst, many.

Both Manto and Safia were born on May 11 (the husband in 1912, the wife in 1916), wore black-rimmed glasses, had Kashmiri origins and had first names that started with an S. But the similarities probably ended there. He was a man of fine taste – be it silver capped Sheaffer pens or gold embroidered juttis. He wanted

nothing but the best, whereas Safiawas simple to a fault, needing less and less through their hardships.

He was a provocateur and left no opportunity to be noticed, while she was self-evasive and shy.

What began as an arranged marriage in 1936, about which Manto writes a whole essay, titled, Meri Shaadi (My Wedding), soon turned into great fondness and camaraderie. Their best days were spent in Bombay, a city they returned to, after Manto worked in Delhi at the All India Radio. It is there that they lost their first child, Arif. It devastated them, but also brought them closer. They then went on to have three daughters.

Manto once wrote, “I may be a writer of obscene stories, a clown, but I am also a husband and a father.”

He often wrote in the middle of chaos – children playing all around him and taking part in conver-

Nandita Das with the daughters of Safia and Saadat Hasan Manto

sations with friends and family.

Once, he told everyone in Bombay that the Lahore policemen were issued ice-packed uniforms to battle the summer heat. He spread a rumour in Amritsar that the Americans had bought the Taj Mahal and were planning to shift it brick by brick. While others easily bought into his stories, Safia knew her husband’s ability to spin them.

Unlike many writers and artists who have had muses galore and history has forgiven them for their transgressions, Manto was a family man. This was quite uncharacteristic for a writer who defied norms, challenged social morality and poked a finger in the eye of the establishment. This contradiction was rather unique. He had deeply wished that Saadat Hasan would always be loved and Manto would be forgiven. But as his nephew Hamid Jalal said, “Manto usually led

What began as an arranged marriage in 1936, about which Manto writes a whole essay, titled, Meri Shaadi (My Wedding), soon turned into great fondness and camaraderie Sadat Hasan by the nose.”

Manto was a modern man and it was clearly reflected in his relationship with Safia. He would iron her saris, cook at a time when men didn’t enter the kitchen, braid her hair when she was unwell and would feed their daughters. He also read out all his stories to Safia and took her to all the mushairas and public readings. He insisted on being called by his first name, an absolute blasphemy at the time.

His mother disapproved of this, so Safia decided to address him as Sa’saab (a short for Saadat Sahab).

Why Manto decided to move to Lahore after Partition is still a mystery and while many have made their conjectures, as have I in my film, there are no two ways about the fact that those were their hardest days. Probably more so for Safia, who silently suffered, both her pain and his. Manto’s mind and body were ravaged by cheap alcohol, as the pain of Partition seeped into him and the loss of his beloved Bombay became a reality. Repeated

court cases relating to the alleged obscenity in his stories sent him spiralling downwards, leaving little hope for Safia. Manto would tell her, “ I am writing enough so you will never starve.” Little did they know that it was his writings that would make them starve.

Thankfully, towards the end, the silent sufferer began to defy him but it was all too late. Their daughters, who were 5, 7 and 9 when Manto died, have faint memories of their childhood. They strangely think of it as being a happy one, where their mother and other family members never let them feel the hardship. They fondly remember their father as the one who recited nonsense verse, made little figurines out of cigarette packet foil, cut guavas and peeled pomegranates and put them on his stomach so they could ride their horse.

Safia was often his first reader and what she thought mattered to him. He once published a short story Hameed aur Hameeda in her name. He has always acknowledged her role in his life so one wonders why he wrote so little about her. I am fortunate to have gotten many precious nuggets from his family that I could never find in any book. One that stood out to me was that this explosive, outspoken man never raised his voice at Safia and was quick to say sorry as many times as needed.

There will always be many mysteries about the man. But the more I research, the more I discover, I feel, slowly, some of them are beginning to unravel. The film I am working on intends to give you a glimpse into that – Manto and his world. l This article first appeared in scroll.in

DT

Arts & Letters

18

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

TRIBUTE

Remembering Safia Manto, the woman who stood by the writer n Nandita Das

S

o little is known and even less written about the women who have unflinchingly supported their celebrated men. It is true that Safia Deen would not have been known had she not married Saadat Hasan Manto and become Safia Manto. But on her centenary today, May 11, let it be known that Manto may not have been a hero had it not been for Safia, who stood by him, through the best and worst of times. The best were few and the worst, many.

Both Manto and Safia were born on May 11 (the husband in 1912, the wife in 1916), wore black-rimmed glasses, had Kashmiri origins and had first names that started with an S. But the similarities probably ended there. He was a man of fine taste – be it silver capped Sheaffer pens or gold embroidered juttis. He wanted

nothing but the best, whereas Safiawas simple to a fault, needing less and less through their hardships.

He was a provocateur and left no opportunity to be noticed, while she was self-evasive and shy.

What began as an arranged marriage in 1936, about which Manto writes a whole essay, titled, Meri Shaadi (My Wedding), soon turned into great fondness and camaraderie. Their best days were spent in Bombay, a city they returned to, after Manto worked in Delhi at the All India Radio. It is there that they lost their first child, Arif. It devastated them, but also brought them closer. They then went on to have three daughters.

Manto once wrote, “I may be a writer of obscene stories, a clown, but I am also a husband and a father.”

He often wrote in the middle of chaos – children playing all around him and taking part in conver-

Nandita Das with the daughters of Safia and Saadat Hasan Manto

sations with friends and family.

Once, he told everyone in Bombay that the Lahore policemen were issued ice-packed uniforms to battle the summer heat. He spread a rumour in Amritsar that the Americans had bought the Taj Mahal and were planning to shift it brick by brick. While others easily bought into his stories, Safia knew her husband’s ability to spin them.

Unlike many writers and artists who have had muses galore and history has forgiven them for their transgressions, Manto was a family man. This was quite uncharacteristic for a writer who defied norms, challenged social morality and poked a finger in the eye of the establishment. This contradiction was rather unique. He had deeply wished that Saadat Hasan would always be loved and Manto would be forgiven. But as his nephew Hamid Jalal said, “Manto usually led

What began as an arranged marriage in 1936, about which Manto writes a whole essay, titled, Meri Shaadi (My Wedding), soon turned into great fondness and camaraderie Sadat Hasan by the nose.”

Manto was a modern man and it was clearly reflected in his relationship with Safia. He would iron her saris, cook at a time when men didn’t enter the kitchen, braid her hair when she was unwell and would feed their daughters. He also read out all his stories to Safia and took her to all the mushairas and public readings. He insisted on being called by his first name, an absolute blasphemy at the time.

His mother disapproved of this, so Safia decided to address him as Sa’saab (a short for Saadat Sahab).

Why Manto decided to move to Lahore after Partition is still a mystery and while many have made their conjectures, as have I in my film, there are no two ways about the fact that those were their hardest days. Probably more so for Safia, who silently suffered, both her pain and his. Manto’s mind and body were ravaged by cheap alcohol, as the pain of Partition seeped into him and the loss of his beloved Bombay became a reality. Repeated

court cases relating to the alleged obscenity in his stories sent him spiralling downwards, leaving little hope for Safia. Manto would tell her, “ I am writing enough so you will never starve.” Little did they know that it was his writings that would make them starve.

Thankfully, towards the end, the silent sufferer began to defy him but it was all too late. Their daughters, who were 5, 7 and 9 when Manto died, have faint memories of their childhood. They strangely think of it as being a happy one, where their mother and other family members never let them feel the hardship. They fondly remember their father as the one who recited nonsense verse, made little figurines out of cigarette packet foil, cut guavas and peeled pomegranates and put them on his stomach so they could ride their horse.

Safia was often his first reader and what she thought mattered to him. He once published a short story Hameed aur Hameeda in her name. He has always acknowledged her role in his life so one wonders why he wrote so little about her. I am fortunate to have gotten many precious nuggets from his family that I could never find in any book. One that stood out to me was that this explosive, outspoken man never raised his voice at Safia and was quick to say sorry as many times as needed.

There will always be many mysteries about the man. But the more I research, the more I discover, I feel, slowly, some of them are beginning to unravel. The film I am working on intends to give you a glimpse into that – Manto and his world. l This article first appeared in scroll.in

19

DT

Climate Change

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

Expediting direct access to the GCF for LDCs n Neha Rai and Andrew Norton

E

mpowering communities will require building capable local governance systems and ensuring that stable, predictable, and flexible finance is directly available to communities most in need of adaptation finance.

Accessing climate finance via the Green Climate Fund

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is one of the largest sources of climate funding. It had received pledges from developed countries totalling $10.3 billion by the end of 2015.

The GCF can be accessed by developing countries through two different channels: 1 The indirect channel involves using international or regional implementing entities 2 The direct channel uses National Implementing Entities (NIEs).

These could be local or national governments, civil society or private sector agencies. Under the direct access route, a country can select one or more NIEs to access, manage and distribute GCF funding -- without going through multilateral agencies Giving countries direct access to funds is designed to increase ownership over projects and improve institutional capacities; each entity seeking to direct access funds is also expected to adhere to stringent accreditation requirements.

Direct access also places climate finance under the democratic accountability and control systems of the country concerned.

The GCF is now in the process of accrediting entities that will be able to access finance and channel it to countries and projects.

If local governments are to benefit from the GCF they will require access to finance and support from national agencies that engage directly with local governments.

Where are the gaps?

While there is a recognised need for engaging agencies that are closer to local communities, the last three tranches of the GCF prioritised and fast tracked international entities from developed countries.

Out of 33 entities accredited

by March 2016, almost 60% are international organisations, including multilateral development banks and banks such as HSBC, Credit Agricole, and Deustche Bank.

Of the nine NIEs accredited, six are from emerging economies and none specifically cater to subnational projects or sub-national executing entities.

Women in Tongaradha village saved 500 households from flooding by rebuilding a 12km embankment Only three national agencies in least developed countries (LDCs) and small island states have acquired eligibility to access finance directly: Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE) in Senegal, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (MOFEC), and the Ministry of Natural Resources in Rwanda.

While multilateral agencies may have managed to quickly demonstrate better fiduciary standards and procedures in their accreditation applications, these agencies are not the most appropriate for investing in national and local projects that are closer to communities for five main reasons: 1 They are expensive and have large administrative fees 2 They tend to prioritise businessas-usual, large-scale investments because of perceived lower transaction costs compared to small-scale projects, and perhaps because this kind of investment fits comfortably within their operational model. As a result, most international agencies have been accredited for large scale projects (see figure above), and 3 Although they have high fiduciary standards on paper, their track records remain weak as far as environmental and social standards are concerned. For example, HSBC has provided nearly US$5.4 billion in financing for coal since 2010.

4 The IFC has on paper an excellent set of environmental and social performance standards, but implementation has not always matched the theory. Despite controversies, these agencies have managed to clear the accreditation process.

5

Questions have been raised over dual standards, as the board seems to be less willing to accredit a national entity with a similar track record. In fact, during the 12th GCF board meeting in March 2016 in Songdo, the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance was relegated because it lacked a demonstrable track record.

What the GCF could do

The limited amount of public finance available through the GCF should ideally be used to support innovative, community-driven projects in poor countries that will drive long-term change.

Direct access is the best bet for this because spending is democratically accountable and the learning by doing which results stays in national and local institutions.

The best chance of delivering adaptation finance in such a way that it reaches the local actors who do the bulk of the heavy lifting in terms of adapting to climate impacts -- at least in countries with reasonably functional governance -- is to channel funding through local government.

Delivering funding effectively to the local level is not necessarily easy to achieve -- but it can build capacity and sustained action if done well. In practice there is a limit to the number of entities that can be accredited.

Because many sub-national agencies don’t have the capacity to access finance directly, there is a clear need to prioritise national entities that already have experience of delivering finance to communities.

Supporting smaller scale agencies, projects, and technologies is key to solving

access problems, but it requires a different financing infrastructure.

The GCF could prioritise national funding agencies that have experience in channelling funds to smaller scale projects or executing agencies such as local or national governments.

This could deliver support where large-scale infrastructure projects have failed for decades.

The GCF’s Readiness Support Program should provide more assistance to prepare the NIEs. Now that nearly 60% of the agencies are international, the most suitable strategy in the short term would be to put a cap on international organisations and focus on preparing national agencies.

Similar to the GCF readiness sessions organised last week, the secretariat could focus on a batch of prospective NIEs particularly from LDCs. This will provide a good signal to these countries.

What is IIED doing in Bangladesh?

IIED is providing short courses and trainings on GCF. Together with the National Designated Authority to the GCF in Bangladesh, we have prepared a practical handbook on the GCF that is designed to be an all-in-one resource for prospective NIEs. IIED facilitated a south-south experiential learning visit between Bangladesh and Senegal to share experiences of GCF accreditation.

In collaboration with the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), Acclimatise and the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCCAD), IIED is also engaged in a project to build the capacity of local private sector entities to access GCF directly.

WFP/REIN SKULLERUD

These initial readiness support activities offer some hope for the possibility of broadening GCF accreditation to national agencies, particularly those that have experience of working with local governments.

To prevent GCF resources from consolidating within well-established international institutions, it will make sense to scale up and speed up readiness activities for building capacities of national agencies that can work effectively at the local level.

Without this change in orientation, the GCF will not achieve its objectives of spending half of its funding on effective support to adaptation –- and then a further half of that in climatevulnerable countries.

It is time to take direct access seriously. l Neha Rai is a senior researcher in the International Institute for Environment and Development’s Climate Change Group. Andrew Norton is the director of IIED. This article was originally published on www.iied.org and has been reprinted with permission. For a link to the original article, please go to - http://www.iied. org/expediting-direct-access-gcf-forleast-developed-countries.

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.

DT

Downtime

20

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Shy (5) 4 Catch the breath (4) 7 Metal-bearing rock (3) 8 Deity (3) 9 Less well (5) 12 Probability (4) 13 Showed contempt (7) 15 Fish (3) 16 Fish eggs (3) 18 Perform (3) 19 Obscure (3) 21 Goes back (7) 24 Faithful (4) 26 Strong thread (5) 27 Droop (3) 28 Meshed fabric (3) 29 Stagger (4) 30 Casts off (5)

DOWN 1 Pulls along (4) 2 Seemingly mocked by fate (6) 3 Nothing more (4) 4 Virtuous (4) 5 Sat further (3) 6 Adhesive (5) 10 Dry, of champagne (3) 11 Wear away (5) 14 Decree (5) 17 Laid bare (6) 18 Thespian (5) 20 Gull (3) 21 Actual (4) 22 Have dinner (4) 23 Becomes firm (4) 25 Employ (3)

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 16 represents N so fill N every time the figure 3 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 14, 2016

INSIDE

INSIGHT

Greenhorn lawmakers may make or break Iran’s reform drive Iranians to miss hajj amid rift with Saudi Iranian Muslims will miss the annual hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in September, media reported on Thursday, as Tehran and Riyadh traded blame over a failure to agree organisational details.

PAGE 22

Maharashtra bans social boycotts against women, dalits India’s Maharashtra state has become the first in the country to ban village councils from imposing “social boycotts” that ostracise individuals or families for defying tradition.

PAGE 23

Democrats up pressure on Sanders to exit Pressure is mounting on Bernie Sanders to end his campaign for president, with Democratic Party leaders raising alarms that his continued presence in the race is undermining efforts to beat presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump this fall, reports Associated Press.

PAGE 24

n Reuters, Dubai Iran’s parliament reconvenes in late May with dozens of first-time lawmakers who will hold the key to accelerating reforms to boost foreign investment and trade - but whether they eventually make or break the modernisation drive is hard to predict.

Elected in February, the 290-seat assembly replaces one dominated by hardliners suspicious of detente with the West and who curbed pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani’s plans to liberalise the economy and raise lacklustre productivity.

Pro-Rouhani candidates raised their representation and 60% of MPs are first-timers.

Yet independent tallies suggest this will be the first parliament in more than 20 years without either a conservative or reformist majority, and the novices’ allegiances may switch between Iran’s many factions.

“On the one hand (this) is a positive sign of ...the possibility of fresh forces reaching parliament and new people gaining experience in lawmaking,” said Jamileh Kadivar, a reformist former lawmaker now living in London.

“On the other ..., until the new representatives are able to gain the necessary experience, parliament could be outmaneuvered by other state bodies, or become susceptible to outside influence.”

Even within the chamber the picture is unclear.

Iran does not have rigid party affiliations and some election candidates were backed by both camps, while deal-making ahead of the opening of parliament on May 27 could see independent MPs throw in their lot with one side or the other.

The contest to elect a speaker, one of parliament’s first tasks, will be an early test.

If veteran reformist Mohammad Reza Aref can oust incumbent Ali Larijani, a conservative with broad appeal, that could herald a more actively pro-Rouhani chamber, with more power to push for his policies.

A centrist, Rouhani is under pressure to create jobs, boost the private sector, reduce graft and make the flagging economy more attractive to foreign investors not least if he hopes to contest presidential elections in June 2017.

In this April 27 file photo, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses workers in Tehran, Despite having enormous state power, he may face tough challenge ahead since reformists took over the parliament in last polls REUTERS

IRAN’S NEW PARLIAMENT First-time lawmakers make up three fifths of Iran’s new parliament that will have the power lawmakers make or break President Rouhani’s economic reforms.

Iran’s new lawmakers

Women 18

Gender

Men 272

New/Returning

New 179

Education Age Group*

Returnning 111 Masters 147

Doctorate 111

Bachelor 25 Clerical 7

75 50 25 0

30-35

Source: Iran Interior Ministry

Hope and inexperience

Both conservative and reformist camps worry the new faces may lack the clout to push -- or to block -- Rouhani’s reforms and the experience to stay united in the face of setbacks.

Morale appears higher among reformists, despite the fact that their main parties remain banned after an uprising in 2009, with many prominent figures in jail or under house arrest.

The Guardian Council, a unelected 12-member clerical body, barred nearly all known reformist figures from standing in the elections. Their supporters then rallied around a slate of little-known candidates known as Hope List.

Hope Listers united during the

36-40

41-45

46-50

51-55

56-60

61.65

66-70

71-75

* Under-30s and over 75s constitutionally barred from running campaign. Backed by Rouhani’s moderate allies, former presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, their candidates ended a decade of conservative dominance of parliament by ousting many hardliners.

But there is no guarantee reformists can sustain that harmony, and some analysts doubts the newcomers can challenge Iran’s powerful religious establishment.

Rouhani is not free to steer economic policy, with the Guardian Council able to vet all laws, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - who has in the past closed down parliamentary debates by decree - given the last word on important matters of state.

Picking his battles

Either way, without a majority Rouhani’s government will have to pick its battles. Analysts say the president is likely to focus on pushing economic reform rather than social liberalisation.

That could bring a fresh set of problems, frustrating millions of young, well-educated Iranians who voted for him in 2013 hoping for more political and social freedoms.

Just 12% of incoming lawmakers are aged 40 or under, according to ministry data, whereas around 60% of Iranians are under 30.

And the record number of women elected to parliament still accounts for just 6% of the total, while they make up around 60% of university students. l

DT

22

World

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

‘Terrorism suspects among refugees may have entered Germany’ n Reuters, Berlin German authorities are investigating 40 cases in which jihadist militants are suspected of having entered the country with the recent flood of refugees from the Middle East, the federal police last week.

That represents a doubling of such cases since January and is likely to deepen concerns about the threat level in Germany, which has not suffered a large-scale terrorist attack like those that have rocked neighbouring France and Belgium in recent months.

In the past, the German government has played down the risks of Islamic State fighters entering Europe with the tide of migrants, in part to avoid exacerbating public concerns about the influx, which

hit a record 1.1m last year.

But the head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency HansGeorg Maassen told a conference last week that although there were more efficient ways to smuggle in fighters, Islamic State appeared to have sent some via the Balkan route from Greece in order to fan fears about refugees and “send a political signal”.

“I am not telling you a secret when I say that I am concerned about the high number of migrants whose identities we don’t know because they had no papers when they entered the country,” Maassen said.

Paris attacks

The number of migrants entering Germany reached peaks of more than 10,000 a day last autumn, but

Iranians to miss hajj amid rift with Saudi

Hajj pilgrims performing tawaf in Mecca

BIGSTOCK

n Reuters, Ankara Iranian Muslims will miss the annual hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in September, media reported on Thursday, as Tehran and Riyadh traded blame over a failure to agree organisational details.

The regional rivals cut diplomatic ties in January.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted Tehran’s Islamic Guidance and Culture Minister Ali Jannati as blaming Riyadh for the impasse. Last year’s haj was marred by the death of over 2,000 pilgrims, 464 of them Iranian, in a crush during the crowded pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.

“The arrangements have not been put together and it’s now too late,” said Jannati, whose ministry oversees arrangements for Iranian pilgrims. “The sabotage is coming from the Saudi side.”

The Saudi hajj ministry said Tehran’s delegation had refused to sign an agreement laying out arrangements for this year’s hajj, according to a statement carried by state-linked news site Sabq.

The statement said Iran’s demands included the granting of visas inside Iran and transport arrangements that would evenly split the pilgrims between Saudi and Iranian airlines.

“Iran is the only country that refused to sign the agreement on the hajj. It insisted on a number of unacceptable demands,” concerned Saudi minister Mohammed Bintin told state TV. The two countries severed ties after protesters in Iran attacked Saudi diplomatic missions there following the execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric in the Sunni-led kingdom.

Saudi Arabia’s conservative Sunni monarchy sees Shia-dominated Iran as the paramount threat to Middle East stability.

Iranian and Saudi officials have held talks to resolve the rift but so far failed to make progress, Iranian officials said.

A culture ministry official said Iran was “very concerned over the security of Iranians during the holy ceremony” and that talks with Saudi authorities were continuing.

Tehran expressed outrage last year after the deaths of Iranians at the haj, which drew about 2m pilgrims from around the world, and politicians in Tehran suggested Riyadh was incapable of managing the event. l

has fallen dramatically in recent months due to the closing of the Greek border with Macedonia and a deal between the European Union and Turkey that has discouraged refugees from crossing the Aegean Sea. The reduction in the numbers has eased pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who came under fierce criticism last year for welcoming hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing war in the Middle East with the optimistic slogan “We can do this”.

A spokeswoman for the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), or federal police, said there had been 369 warnings about possible extremists entering the country since the influx of refugees accelerated last year, of which 40 merited further investigation by federal and state

authorities.

That represents a sharp increase from the 213 warnings and 18 investigations that the police had recorded in early January.

“German security officials have indications that members and supporters of terrorist organisations are being smuggled in with refugees in a targeted, organised way in order to launch attacks in Germany,” the BKA spokeswoman said, noting however that there was no definitive confirmation of this.

Two of the suicide bombers from the November 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people came into Europe through the Balkan route and so did two men who authorities believe were meant to participate in those attacks but were delayed and arrested in a refugee

centre in Salzburg in December.

There is also evidence that Saleh Abdeslam, believed to be the lone surviving suspect from the attacks, picked up three unidentified militants who entered Europe with the refugees in the southern German city of Ulm in October of last year.

In early February, German authorities arrested a 35-year-old Algerian man and his wife at a refugee centre in the town of Attendorn. The man, a suspected Islamic State member, reportedly posed as a Syrian when he entered Germany in the autumn of 2015.

Days later, a 32-year-old man was arrested in the city of Mainz who is suspected of having fought with the militant group in eastern Syria before travelling to Germany via Turkey. l

23

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

Brazil’s interim president calls for unity n Reuters, Brasilia Brazil’s interim President Michel Temer called on his country to rally behind his government of “national salvation,” hours after the Senate voted to suspend and put on trial his leftist predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, for breaking budget laws.

Temer, a 75-year-old centrist now moving to steer Latin America’s biggest country toward more market-friendly policies, told Brazilians to have “confidence” they would overcome an ongoing crisis sparked by a deep economic recession, political volatility and a sprawling corruption scandal.

“It is urgent we calm the nation and unite Brazil,” he said, after a ceremony for his incoming cabinet.

Brazil’s crisis brought a dramatic end to the 13-year rule of the Workers Party, which rode a wave of populist sentiment that swept South America starting around 2000 and enabled a generation of leftist leaders to leverage a boom in the region’s commodity exports to pursue ambitious and transformative social policies.

But like other leftist leaders across the region, Rousseff discovered that the party, after four consecutive terms, overstayed its welcome, especially as commodities prices plummeted and her increasingly unpopular government failed to sustain economic growth.

In addition to the downturn, Rousseff, in office since 2011, was hobbled by the corruption scandal and a political opposition determined to oust her.

After Rousseff ’s suspension, Temer charged his new ministers

with enacting business-friendly policies while maintaining the still-popular social programmes. In a sign of slimmer times, the cabinet has 23 ministers, a third fewer than Rousseff ’s.

Temer quickly named respected former central bank governor Henrique Meirelles as his finance minister, with a mandate to overhaul the costly pension system.

Rousseff defiant

The Senate deliberated for 20 hours before voting 55-22 early on Thursday to put Rousseff on trial over charges that she disguised the size of the budget deficit to make the economy look healthier in the runup to her 2014 re-election.

Rousseff, 68, was automatically suspended for the duration of the trial, which could be up to six months. Before departing the presidential palace in Brasilia, a defiant Rousseff vowed to fight the charges.

In her speech, she reiterated what she has maintained since impeachment proceedings were launched against her last December by the lower house of Congress.

She denied any wrongdoing and called the impeachment “fraudulent” and “a coup.”

Rousseff ’s mentor, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who now faces corruption charges, stood behind her and looked on dejectedly.

Rousseff ’s Workers Party rose from Brazil’s labour movement in the 1970s and helped topple generals who had held power for two decades ending in 1985. l

SOUTH ASIA

Rights groups slam Nepal deal on war crimes amnesty

A member of Brazil’s Homeless Workers’ Movement, holds a sign that reads “Temer Coup,” after the Brazilian Senate voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff in Sao Paulo on Thursday REUTERS

ANALYSIS

The economic challenges Temer will face n Reuters, Brasilia Brazil’s interim President Michel Temer has spent decades in politics and is known for his quiet yet calculating demeanor, fine suits, and a penchant for poetry.

But challenges before him are daunting. Brazil is mired in its worst recession since the 1930s and he will have to make rapid moves to restore confidence.

Temer aides said the incoming government would soon announce a series of austerity measures to help reduce a massive budget deficit. An immediate goal is a reform of Brazil’s costly pension system, possibly setting a minimum age for retirement, said one adviser.

Temer, of the grab-bag Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, must stabilise the economy and restore calm at a time when Brazilians, increasingly polarised, are questioning whether their institutions can deliver on his promise of stability.

In addition to the gaping deficit, equal to more than 10% of its annual economic output, Brazil is

suffering from rising unemployment, plummeting investment and a projected economic contraction of more than 3% this year.

“Only major reforms can keep Brazil from moving from crisis to crisis,” says Eduardo Giannetti da Fonseca, an economist and author in São Paulo who has written extensively about the country’s socioeconomic problems.

But those changes, including the pension effort, overhauls of tax and labor laws and a political reform to streamline fragmented parties in a mercenary Congress, could remain elusive at a time of turmoil.

Wild cards remain for Temer himself, including still-pending investigations by an electoral court into financing for his and Rousseff ’s 2014 election campaign.

Then there is the far-reaching kickback probe around state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, which has ensnared dozens of corporate and political chieftains, and helped set the scene for the discontent that engulfed Rousseff. l

Maharashtra bans social boycotts against women, dalits Reuters n Thomson Foundation, Mumbai India’s Maharashtra state has become the first in the country to ban village councils from imposing “social boycotts” that ostracise individuals or families for defying tradition.

Women and dalits often bear the brunt of such judgments, passed as punishment for perceived misdeeds such as marrying between castes or dressing immodestly.

The western Indian state last month passed the law against a decades-old practice of village panchayats, or councils, ordering social boycotts.

“The Act was required against

Tea garden workers, who are often considered as dalits, carry sacks of tea leaves on the outskirts of Agartala REUTERS the backdrop of atrocities inflicted on people in the name of tradition,

DT

World

caste and community,” said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra

Fadnavis. Under village council orders, individuals and families have been banished from the community, and denied access to temples, wells, markets and celebrations.

In some cases, panchayats have even branded women as witches, and ordered gang rapes or killings as punishment.

Maharashtra’s new law declares social boycotts a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison, a fine of Rs500,000 ($7,500), or both.

Human rights campaigners called for other Indian states to follow Maharashtra’s example.

India’s top court in 2011 described khap panchayats as “kangaroo courts” that are entirely illegal. l

Human rights groups on Friday slammed a deal between Nepal’s ruling parties to withdraw civil war cases from courts and offer amnesty to people accused of abuses during the country’s decade-long Maoist insurgency. Rebels and security forces have been accused of carrying out torture, killings, rapes during the conflict, which ended in 2006 leaving more than 16,000 dead. -AFP

INDIA

India passes bankruptcy law in long-awaited reform India has overhauled its archaic bankruptcy laws in a key reform that will make it vastly easier to wind down companies and help banks to recover bad loans. The bill that cleared the Rajyasabha replaces several outdated legislations with a single law. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 sets out a 180-day deadline to resolve bankruptcy cases -- currently it takes 4.3 years on average. -AFP

CHINA

Personal data of Chinese elites leaked on Twitter The purported personal details of numerous Chinese business moguls and poltically-connected elite have been posted to an anonymous Twitter account. The data disclosure includes national identification numbers, birth dates and addresses. The data exposed in a series of Twitter posts this week, published under the handle @shenfenzheng, which means “identity card” in Chinese. -REUTERS

ASIA PACIFIC

Indonesia mulls microchips for child rapists Indonesia is considering microchipping convicted child rapists after the brutal gang rape and murder of a schoolgirl sparked demands for tougher punishments, authorities said Friday. Local media reported that the microchip could be implanted in rapists’ ankles. The decree could be signed in the coming days, Asrorun Niam Sholeh, head National Commission for Child Protection, said.

-AFP

MIDDLE EAST

Blast kills Hezbollah military chief in Syria Lebanon’s Hezbollah announced Friday that its top military commander, Mustafa Badreddine, had been killed in an attack in Syria where the militant group has deployed thousands of fighters backing the Damascus regime.

Hezbollah said it was still investigating the cause of the blast near Damascus airport.

-AFP

DT

24

World

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

USA

Trump surprised US Speaker Ryan didn’t endorse him Presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump said Friday he was “a little bit surprised” US House Speaker Paul Ryan didn’t endorse him after their “great” meeting. “I think it’s a process,” he told NBC’s “Today” show.

“I think that will come and if that doesn’t come, I’ll go my separate way and win the election.” Asked if he was disappointed, he said “no.” -AP

THE AMERICAS

Venezuela tense as antipresident march blocked Riot cops fired tear gas to head off a protest march Wednesday by opponents of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, who were demanding a referendum on removing him from office. Protesters were demanding electoral authorities quickly approve their call for a vote on dumping the socialist leader.

-REUTERS

UK

John Major warns over use of immigration in Brexit debate Former UK prime minister John Major warned Friday against using immigration as a political football ahead of next month’s referendum on British membership of the EU, saying it risked “fuelling prejudice”.

The former Conservative leader, who wants Britain to stay in the bloc in the June 23 vote, said supporters of a so-called Brexit were peddling “absurd falsehoods” about how mass immigration would end if Britain left the bloc.

-AFP

EUROPE

German spy service blames Russia for major cyber attacks Germany’s domestic secret service accused Russia on Friday of a series of international cyber attacks aimed at spying and sabotage The operations cited by the BfV ranged from an aggressive attack called Sofacy that hit Nato members and knocked French TV station TV5Monde off air, to a hacking campaign called Sandstorm that brought down part of Ukraine’s power grid last year.

-AFP

AFRICA

Nigeria holds security summit on Boko Haram Nigeria hosts a security summit Saturday on ending the threat from Boko Haram. French President Francois Hollande, and Britain’s top diplomat Philip Hammond are among the senior foreign dignitaries expected in Abuja. The leaders of Nigeria’s neighbours and delegations from the EU and the West African and Central African blocs are also invited.

-AFP

INSIGHT

Democrats up pressure on Sanders to exit n Tribune International Desk Pressure is mounting on Bernie Sanders to end his campaign for president, with Democratic Party leaders raising alarms that his continued presence in the race is undermining efforts to beat presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump this fall, reports Associated Press.

The new concerns come after Sanders’ recent wins over front-runner Hillary Clinton in Indiana and West Virginia. While those victories have provided his supporters a fresh sense of momentum heading into next week’s primaries in Kentucky and Oregon, they did almost nothing to help Sanders cut into Clinton’s nearly insurmountable lead in the delegates who will decide their party’s nomination.

Clinton, her aides and supporters have largely resisted calling on Sanders to drop out, noting that she fought her 2008 primary bid again Obama well into June. But now that Trump has locked up the Republican nomination, they fear the billionaire businessman is capitalising on Sanders’ decision to remain in the race by echoing his attacks and trying to appeal to

A Bernie Sanders supporters, wearing a merchandise hat with signs, which says “Feel the Bern” listening to the Vermont senator at a campaign rally in Oklahoma on February 24 REUTERS the same independent, economically frustrated voters that back the Vermont senator.

Though Clinton has for the past few weeks largely focused her rhetoric on Trump, campaign aides say the two-front effort hampers their ability to target both Sanders supporters and Republican-leaning independents that may be open to her candidacy. It also means she’s spending time in primary states, rather than battlegrounds that will decide the general election.

While they can talk up Clinton, Sanders’ determination to contest every state remaining has

kept Obama and Vice President Joe Biden largely on the sidelines, benching two of her most powerful advocates.

Sanders is having none of it, frequently telling the thousands of supporters who attend his rallies that he still has a narrow path to the nomination.

Yet there is no question his campaign is on its last legs. His fundraising dropped by about 40% last month and he’s laid off hundreds of staffers. Biden said this week he “feels confident” that Clinton will be the nominee. Even Obama is pointing out the realities of the delegate math, which puts

Clinton on track to capture the nomination early next month.

By every measure, Clinton is handily winning the Democratic contest. She has won 23 states to Sanders’ 19, capturing 3m more votes than her rival along the way.

She has 94% of the delegates needed to win the nomination, which means she could lose all the states left to vote by a landslide and still emerge as the nominee — so long as all her supporters among the party insiders known as superdelegates continue to back her.

White House officials believe Obama has the ability to coax some die-hard Sanders’ fans into the Clinton camp, particularly young people and liberals. But if he moves before Clinton officially captures the nomination, he risks angering those voters and undermining that effort.

Clinton faces a similar calculus.

While her international expertise could attract foreign policy-focused Republicans and suburban women, highlighting her record on those issues now might encourage Sanders to resurrect attacks on her vote in favour of the Iraq war.

Clinton backers say there’s plenty for Sanders to do in his old job — and a lot of good reasons for him to join forces. If Democrats regain the majority in the Senate, he’d likely become chairman of the powerful Senate Budget Committee. l

IMF sees no economic upside to Brexit n Reuters, London

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said on Friday there were no economic positives to Britain leaving the European Union and that the impact would range from “pretty bad to very, very bad”.

Her blunt warning came as the IMF said the country risks falling into a spiral of weaker economic growth, lower house prices and diminished foreign investment if voters opt to leave the European Union after the referendum next month.

The fund, in an annual report on Britain’s economy, said an exit vote would “precipitate a protracted period of heightened uncertainty, leading to financial market volatility and a hit to output.”

A sudden stop to investment in key sectors of the economy such as commercial real estate and finance could exacerbate Britain’s record-high current account deficit, the report said.

“Such market reactions could sharply contract economic activ-

A woman walks past Brexit related graffiti that reads ‘do U want 2 B a servant of Brussels’ in Britain on Thursday REUTERS ity, further depressing asset prices in a self-reinforcing cycle,” the Fund said. It also repeated a warning that a Brexit shock could upset the global economy.

British voters have been bombarded with Brexit warnings in recent weeks. On Thursday, the Bank of England said the economy would slow sharply, and possibly even enter a brief recession, a possiblility backed by Lagarde on Friday.

The Organisation for Economic

Co-operation and Development has also warned that British voters risk paying a “Brexit tax” equivalent to a month’s salary by 2020 if they leave the EU. Lagarde said the Fund would publish detailed forecasts for the size of a Brexit hit to Britain’s economy probably on June 16, a week before the referendum and the same day that finance minister George Osborne and BoE Governor Mark Carney are due to make high-profile speeches at the annu-

al Mansion House dinner.

‘Laughable’ Anti-EU campaigners hit back at the IMF quickly, questioning the Fund’s authority when it comes to forecasting.

“Very few people in the media ever pause to ask that question, but its track record is laughable,” Arron Banks, a co-founder of the Leave. EU group, said. “Its forecasts are never right, it backed the euro and it didn’t see the financial crisis coming.”

Vote Leave, the official “Out” campaign, said Britain was being bullied by the IMF. So far, the barrage of warnings about the economy do not appear to have swayed many voters.

Opinion polls show Britons believe staying in the EU would be best for the economy but they are more or less evenly split on how they intend to vote.

Lagarde defended the Fund’s decision to publish a report that closely echoed the warnings of Prime Minister David Cameron and finance minister Osborne who worked closely with Lagarde when she was France’s finance minister. l

DT

Sport 25

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

INSIDE

How Kusal Perera cleared his name from doping charges Details of Kusal Perera’s suspension and the case to have his name cleared, as told by SLC chief Thilanga Sumathipala and Kusal’s manager Ravi de Silva. PAGE 26

Djokovic v Nadal as Murray meets Goffin Defending champion Serbian Novak Djokovic overcame a firstset scare to set up a Rome Masters quarter-final with Spaniard Rafael Nadal thanks to a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Brazilian Tomaz Bellucci yesterday. PAGE 27

Vardy named Player of the Season Leicester striker Jamie Vardy has been named Premier League Player of the Season after his role in the club’s remarkable titlewinning campaign. The Foxes defied the odds to lift the topflight crown. PAGE 28

Klopp promises summer of hard work Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp has asked his players to gear up for a challenging pre-season schedule, as the German looks to build up the squad’s fitness ahead of next season. Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool boss in October. PAGE 29

Real Madrid's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo (C) trains with teammates during a training session at Real Madrid sport city in Madrid yesterday, on the eve of their Spanish league match against Deportivo de la Coruna AFP

Barca on brink of title in final day showdown

They beat Granada.

n AFP, Madrid

They lose to Granada and Real do not win at Deportivo.

Barcelona have the upper hand in a final day showdown with Real Madrid for the Spanish title today as they know a victory at Granada will ensure them a 24th La Liga crown.

Madrid are a point behind and have to stretch their winning La Liga run to 12 games at Deportivo la Coruna and hope for a Barca slip up to land the title.

The battle between the two richest clubs in the world has come down to the final day thanks to Barca’s incredible slump of three consecutive league defeats in April, the first time in 13 years they had gone on such a run.

However, the world champions have bounced back in style with four straight victories by a combined 21-0 scoreline to take them to the brink of a sixth Spanish title in eight seasons.

“It is essential for us to keep a clean sheet because we know from middle to front we can make the difference,” Barca striker Luis Suarez said on Thursday.

“Mentally we have to be very strong and be aware of the fact that it is in our own hands.

“We have 93 or 94 minutes to win one match and we have already won a lot this season.”

Suarez has come up big when

Barca most needed him with 11 goals in his last four games to get the Catalan giants back on track.

Moreover, the Uruguayan is now well set to become the first player other than teammate Lionel Messi and Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo to win the Pichichi award for La Liga’s top scorer in seven seasons.

FIXTURES Deportivo Granada Atletico Madrid Athletic Bilbao

v v v v

Real Madrid Barcelona Celta Vigo Sevilla

Suarez’s 37 La Liga goals as part of a tally of 56 in all competitions this season is four more than Ronaldo.

However, the former Liverpool striker claimed that individual glory will mean nothing if it is not accompanied by his second La Liga title.

“I am happy to help the team, but I don’t care about the Pichichi or the golden boot if we are not champions and not able to achieve our objectives as a group.”

Crucially, Barca are facing a Granada side with nothing left to play for after they sealed their survival with a 4-1 win at Sevilla last weekend.

“If I were a Barcelona player I would say the opponent doesn’t

matter. They have the team to be able to beat anyone, but we won’t roll over,” insisted Granada goalkeeper Andres Fernandez.

However, build-up to the final games has as ever in the final weeks of La Liga been dominated by whether teams going for the title or battling relegation should be allowed to pay bonuses to their rivals’ opponents to win.

“I am a player that always goes out on the pitch motivated and to enjoy myself,” added Fernandez.

“For me the subject of bonuses is difficult. The league ought to take action.”

Despite a looming Champions League final against Atletico Madrid, Real are set to recall Gareth Bale and goalkeeper Keylor Navas from injury in Coruna against a Deportivo side also with nothing to play for.

“I don’t think they will go out on the pitch relaxed,” said Madrid defender Marcelo.

“Teams always play their best against Madrid and I am sure Deportivo will want to win.”

The situation at the bottom is just as tight with Getafe, Sporting Gijon and Rayo Vallecano battling to avoid joining Levante in being relegated. Getafe have matters in their own hands as victory at Real Betis tomorrow will secure their place in the top flight. l

BARCELONA WIN THE TITLE IF.....

They draw with Granada and Real Madrid do not win at Deportivo la Coruna.

REAL MADRID WIN THE TITLE IF.....

They beat Deportivo and Barcelona fail to win in Granada.

POINTS TABLE Team

GP W D L GD PTS

Barcelona

37 28 4 5 80

88

Real Madrid

37 27 6 4 74

87

Atletico

37 27 4 6 49

85

Villarreal

37 18 10 9 11

64

Celta Vigo

37 17 9 11 -6

60

Athletic Bilbao 37 17 8 12 511

59

Sevilla

37 14 10 13 3

52

Malaga

37 11 12 14 0

45

Real Sociedad 37 12 9 16 -4

45

Las Palmas

37 12 8 17 -5

44

Valencia

37 11 11 15 -1

44

Eibar

37 11 10 16 -10

43

Deportivo

37 8 18 11 -14

42

Real Betis

37 10 12 15 -19

42

Espanyol

37 11

Granada

37 10 9 18 -20 39

Getafe

37 9

9 19 -29 36

Sporting Gijon 37 9

9 19 -24 36

7 19 -36 40

Rayo Vallecano 37 8 11 18 -23

35

Levante

32

37 8

8 21 -31

DT

26

Sport

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

How Kusal Perera cleared his name from doping charges n Cricinfo A timeline of Kusal Perera’s suspension and the case to have his name cleared, as told by Sri Lanka Cricket president Thilanga Sumathipala and Kusal’s manager Ravi de Silva

December 6, 2015

Kusal is having dinner in Dunedin ahead of Sri Lanka’s first Test against New Zealand, when he gets a call from the International Cricket Council instructing him to check his email. He does so upon his return to the hotel and learns that he has been provisionally suspended for failing a doping test.

Mid-December 2015

Kusal and De Silva, retain the services of President’s Counsel Dinal Philips. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan chemical pathologist Priyanka Dayanath is also consulted.

Dayanath looks over the report from the ICC and advises Perera to contest the findings, as he feels the amount of 19-Norandrostenedione found in Perera’s sample is insubstantial.

Early January 2016 Sri Lankan cricketer Kusal Perera plays a shot during a practice session at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo yesterday AFP

Mamunul, Sohel join national camp n Tribune Report Former captain and midfielder Mamunul Islam and winger Sohel Rana joined the national team’s training camp yesterday after the Bangladesh Football Federation lifted their suspensions last Thursday.

The duo trained with the rest of the preliminary squad at the BFF House yesterday afternoon.

Mamunul and Sohel were earlier suspended from the national side by football’s governing body in the country in March this year after the duo, along with Zahid Hossain and Yeasin Khan were punished for breaching team protocol.

The BFF overturned their bans following the submission of their letters of apology.

Following the addition of Mamunul and Sohel, the total number of members taking part in the national camp has now increased to 36.

Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club trio Mohammad Linkon, Kesto Kumar and Mazharul Islam Hemel did not join the camp till this report was being filed yesterday.l

Sumathipala is elected president of SLC. Sumathipala asks De Silva if he believes Kusal is innocent.

When De Silva says he trusts Kusal, Sumathipala and his board offer Kusal their full assistance.

“In early January I was in Dubai, and I requested a full report of the lab’s findings on Kusal from the ICC,” Sumathipala said. “As a result of that we began discussions with the ICC. I came back and spoke to Kusal and recommended that he get legal advice about challenging the findings. He then came back to us and said he would like the board to intervene and handle the issue with his full consent. He said he’d like to act on our advice.” One of Sumathipala’s first suggestions was to hire an overseas law firm, and Morgan Sports Law in the UK was sounded out. They would consult for Kusal through the remainder of his case, and were paid for by SLC.

March 2016

Kusal flies to England with De Silva and undertakes a polygraph test, a hair analysis commonly undertaken in forensics, and also has a separate sample of his urine tested.

According to De Silva, the polygraph test returns a “no deception” result, and both the hair and urine analyses suggest “no abuse of steroids”. These results are then used to leverage the ICC and prompt the

Kottan mulling Abahani return n Tribune Report Austro-Hungarian coach George Kottan is likely to return to Abahani Limited to take up the position of head coach after the Independence Cup runners up side failed to acquire the services of Serbia-born Croatian coach Drago Mamic.

Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu informed Dhaka Tribune yesterday that Kottan, who also worked as the Bangladesh coach, is

Bangladesh Under-19 cricketers Pinak Ghosh (L) and Zakir Hasan (2R) pose for a photograph alongside national Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim (2L) and Waibee LLC CEO Yousuf Rahman Babu yesterday COURTESY

interested in joining the Sky Blues.

“Kottan wants to return to the club as the head coach. I will talk to him again [today] and may be we can finalise his appointment by [tomorrow],” said Rupu.

“Drago Mamic has been facing some family problems and is yet to confirm whether he will return or not.”

Abahani roped in Mamic as their head coach on April 17 this year, during the group stages of the re-

cently concluded Independence Cup but the veteran tactician left the country before the end of the season-opening tournament.

Kottan, on the other hand, was appointed by the four-time professional league champions at the beginning of the previous season. The 69-year old coach managed Abahani in 15 top-flight matches before leaving the country to join a Fifa Goal project on July 16 last year. l

governing body to look more closely at their own processes and the Qatar-based lab’s initial findings.

“Kusal first underwent a polygraph test in England. He was 100% successful in that, which was to our advantage. The second test he went through was a hair analysis, which helps discern the substances that have been through your body over a long period of time. That was very expensive. The sample was taken in England and the test was done in France,” said Sumathipala.

April 2016

More experts are consulted. They suggest the amount of 19-Norandrostenedione in Kusal’s sample was too low a concentration to conclude the player took a banned substance. The ICC hires its own “independent expert” who looks through the evidence, and determines that the “adverse analytical finding by the laboratory was not sustainable... for various scientific and technical reasons”.

May 11, 2016

The ICC clears Kusal, stating: “We wish to make it clear that there is no evidence that Mr Kusal has ever used performance-enhancing substances.”l

FIFA congress seeks to clean up mess n AFP, Mexico FIFA’s new president Gianni Infantino will preside over world football’s annual congress in Mexico City yesterday to push through reforms aimed at rehabilitating the scandal-tarred organization.

Infantino - who was elected in February after his predecessor Sepp Blatter was brought down by the corruption crisis - wants to turn the page and put the focus back on football.

“We will show to the world we are serious with the reforms, with our democratic process and football development,” Infantino said Thursday at an opening ceremony for the congress.

In another attempt at restoring trust, the North and Central American and Caribbean football confederation, which has been in the eye of the corruption storm, elected a new president on Thursday.

Canadian football chief Victor Montagliani became CONCACAF’s fourth president in five years after his three predecessors were ensnared in corruption allegations, with the last one arrested in December. l

27

DT

Sport

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

Djokovic v Nadal as Murray meets Goffin in Rome n AFP, Rome Defending champion Novak Djokovic overcame a first-set scare to set up a Rome Masters quarter-final with Rafael Nadal thanks to a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Tomaz Bellucci on Thursday.

Fresh from victory over British rival Andy Murray in the Madrid Masters last weekend, Djokovic is looking unstoppable as he seeks to build form for the tougher challenge of the French Open at Roland Garros later this month.

But the Serbian top seed left watchers puzzled in a one-sided opening set on Centre Court at the Foro Italico, where his service game, and his return of serve went awry as Bellucci raced to 6-0 af-

ter converting all three of his break points. Djokovic said he was seeing the ball “like a watermelon”, and admitted: “It was a complete Bellucci storm and I was blown away from the court.”

Earlier, Nadal, a seven-time winner in Rome, overcame losing the first set on tie break to Australian Nick Kyrgios to win their third round clash 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-4. Both his and Djokovic’s path to victory have been cleared by the absences of Swiss pair Roger Federer, a four-time finalist, and Stan Wawrinka. A troublesome back injury that forced him out of Madrid last week meant Federer just wasn’t in the game as he sunk to a 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 third round defeat to Austrian 13th seed Dominic Thiem. l

QUICK BYTES Dortmund sign rising French star Dembele

Borussia Dortmund signed France’s young player of the year Ousmane Dembele from Rennes on Thursday, the German club fighting off strong English Premier League interest in the teenage forward.

Dortmund called the 18-year-old “one of Europe’s most sought after talents” in a statement announcing the transfer on a five-year contract. The Bundesliga side did not give a figure for the deal, but German media said the fee was in the region of 15 million euros (£11.8m, $17.1m).

–AFP

Manager Flores to leave Watford Manager Quique Sanchez Flores will leave Watford after their final match of the season tomorrow, the Premier League club said yesterday. Under the 51-year-old Spaniard, Watford achieved an unexpected FA Cup semi-final berth and have secured safety in the Premier League where they currently sit 13th with a match to go.

Flores, who joined the club during the close season, recently revealed there was a break clause in his contract. He is the fifth manager in the last two years to part the club under Italian owner Gino Pozzo.

–REUTERS

Forster and Ward-Prowse sign new deals Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster and midfielder James WardProwse have signed new contracts, the English Premier League club announced yesterday. Forster, who is set to be named in England’s Euro 2016 squad on Monday, has committed himself to five more years at St Mary’s, while Ward-Prowse has signed on for a further six seasons with the Saints. The pair have followed defender Virgil van Dijk in prolonging their time at Southampton, with the Dutchman signing a a new deal that will see him stay with the south-coast side until 2022 during the past week.

–AFP

La Liga to investigate alleged match-fixing Spain’s professional soccer league will investigate allegations that last Sunday’s La Liga game between Real Sociedad and Rayo Vallecano may have been fixed, LFP president Javier Tebas said yesterday.

Newspaper El Mundo earlier reported that irregular betting patterns had been observed on the match, which finished 2-1 to Real Sociedad and left Rayo on the brink of relegation.

–REUTERS

Rafael Nadal of Spain serves the ball to Nick Kyrgios of Australia during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome on Thursday AP

DT

28

Sport

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

Clubs ready cheque books for Ibrahimovic n Reuters, Stockholm

I am very proud. I came like a king, I leave like a legend but I will be back

Ibrahimovic announces departure from PSG n AFP, Paris

Barcelona and AC Milan star’s next destination.

Ibrahimovic, who last weekend was crowned France’s player of the year for a record third time, has enjoyed enormous domestic success with PSG since moving to the French capital from Milan in 2012, winning the Ligue 1 title in each of his four seasons.

“I am very proud of the last four years. I have loved every day I have spent here,” Ibrahimovic said.

“PSG has become a star club internationally and I have played a major part in that transformation.

“The time has now come for me to take a different path. This is not a farewell but simply a goodbye for now. I came here like a king and leave

as a legend. But I will come back!”

Ibrahimovic scored his 36th league goal of the season in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Bordeaux, leaving him just one away from equalling Argentine striker Carlos Bianchi’s club record of 37 in a topflight campaign, set back in 1978.

He has 46 in all competitions and has 152 goals in total as a PSG player in 178 appearances, having overtaken Portuguese great Pauleta as the club’s all-time leading scorer back in October.

Ibrahimovic has also become the club’s all-time leading scorer in the league and in Europe, but he never really managed to reproduce his brilliant domestic form in the Champions League.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic confirmed yesterday that he will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this season, but the French champions said the Swedish star will eventually return in a “management” role.

“My last game [today] at Parc des Princes. I came like a king, left like a legend,” wrote Ibrahimovic on Twitter, ending speculation that he could extend his contract with PSG beyond this season.

Ibrahimovic, whose existing deal expires on June 30, will make his final home appearance for the club in their last Ligue 1 game of the season against Nantes today.

However, he will then run out in a

PSG shirt one more time when they face Marseille in the French Cup final on May 21 at the Stade de France.

“After discussions between Paris Saint-Germain and the agent of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the club and the player have mutually decided not to renew his contract,” PSG said.

“They have also agreed that once his playing career is over, Ibra will join the management of the club in a position of responsibility.”

In the meantime, Ibrahimovic will make his French swansong as a player when he turns out for Sweden at Euro 2016 in June.

There has been widespread speculation about the 34-year-old former Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan,

Terry ponders new Chelsea deal n AFP, London

Leicester’s Vardy named Premier League Player of the Season

Chelsea captain John Terry has been offered a new one-year deal, the English Premier League club said yesterday.

The 35-year-old centre-half, who has spent his entire senior club career with the west London side, is out of contract at the end of the season. In January, Terry said he would not be extending his time at Stamford Bridge. However, Chelsea countered that a new offer was possible.

And yesterday a Chelsea spokesperson said: “We met with John and his agent this week and offered him a one-year contract extension."l

n Reuters Leicester City’s England striker Jamie Vardy has been named Premier League Player of the Season after his pivotal role in the club’s remarkable title-winning campaign.

The East Midlands club, which announced the award in a tweet yesterday, defied the odds to lift their first top-flight crown having begun the season as 5,000-1 outsiders.

The prolific Vardy is also in the race for the golden boot awarded to the league’s top scorer, having

netted 24 goals so far, one behind his international team mate Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur with one round of matches remaining tomorrow.

The 29-year-old’s Vardy’s phenomenal form this season led to him winning his first England cap and he is certain to be included on Monday in Roy Hodgson’s squad for next month’s European Championship in France.

Vardy beat Leicester team mates Riyad Mahrez, N’Golo Kante, Kasper Schmeichel and Wes Mor-

gan, as well as Spurs trio Kane, Dele Alli and Toby Alderweireld, Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil and West Ham United’s Dimitri Payet for the Premier League award. He was also voted Player of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association, an award he received at a dinner in London on Thursday.

Vardy was named in the Professional Footballers’ Association team of the year but Leicester’s Algeria international winger Mahrez won the PFA Player of the Year award.l

Sweden’s larger-than-life captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic will play his final game for Paris Saint Germain today, he said in a social media post that is likely to send clubs around the world reaching for their cheque books.

With an ego in keeping with his imposing physique, the ageing but still prolific striker announced his departure in typically flamboyant style.

The 34-year-old Swede joined PSG in 2012, adding four Ligue 1 titles to an already impressive trophy cabinet, though some questioned his decision to compete against teams of lesser means in France, rather than move to England or back to Italy.

MLS side LA Galaxy are now widely rumoured to be leading the race for his signature, and Ibra has also been linked to clubs in the Premier League, the Middle East and China. l

The Swede performed poorly in PSG’s quarter-final exit to Manchester City last month, missing a penalty in the 2-2 first-leg draw at the Parc des Princes before Paris went out 3-2 on aggregate.

In Paris speculation will now turn to who PSG will sign to replace their talisman. They have in the past been linked with moves for Real Madrid and Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Brazil forward Neymar.

However, moves for these two players would be extremely complex and costly, and a report in sports daily L’Equipe yesterday indicated that the Qatar-owned club will instead turn their attentions to Antoine Griezmann.l

29

DT

Sport

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

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

FOOTBALL

Klopp promises a summer of hard work n Reuters Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp has asked his players to gear up for a challenging pre-season schedule, as the German looks to build up the squad’s fitness ahead of next season.

Klopp, who replaced Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool boss in Oc-

tober, has promised his players a summer of hard work on the training pitch and will bring in a second member of Bayern Munich’s backroom staff in pre-season.

“It will be triple training sessions, of course,” Klopp told British media.

“The problem with pre-season

STAR SPORTS 1 7:16 PM Bundesliga 2015/16 FC Bayern Munich v Hannover 96

STAR SPORTS 2 7:16 PM Bundesliga 2015/16 Borussia Dortmund v 1. FC Koln

STAR SPORTS 4 7:16 PM Bundesliga 2015/16 Bayer Leverkusen v FC Ingolstadt

TEN 1 HD 5:30 PM Sky Bet Championship SF: Derby County v Hull City 10:30 PM Semi Final: Barnsley v Walsall 12:50 AM French Ligue 1 2015/16 Paris Saint-Germain v FC Nantes

TEN 3 12:50 AM French Ligue 1 2015/16 De Reims v Olympique Lyonnais

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

SONY SIX HD 12:40 AM Serie A TIM 2015/16 Napoli v Frosinone

TENNIS TEN 3 4:00 PM WTA Tour 2016 Internazionali BNL d’Italia: SF1 9:00 PM Internazionali BNL d’Italia: SF2

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

FORMULA 1 STAR SPORTS 4 5:55 PM FIA F1 World Championship 2016 Qualifying: Barcelona, Spain

BASKETBALL SONY SIX 6:00 AM NBA season: Semi Finals Miami Heat v Toronto Raptors

Nacional's Mauricio Victorino (L) and Boca Juniors' Carlos Tevez in action during their Copa Libertadores quarterfinal first leg in Montevideo on Thursday. The match ended 1-1 REUTERS

Roma fight Napoli for second n AFP, Rome It is a picturesque town 100 km south of Rome and notorious for high levels of pollution, but little Frosinone play the Serie A kingmakers today when Roma battle Napoli for runners-up spot and a sure Champions League place.

Despite Juventus securing a record-equalling fifth successive crown last month, there is still plenty at stake in Italy’s top flight with Champions League and Europa League places up for grabs on the final weekend of action.

Frosinone have already been relegated along with Verona to Serie B, and for the sceptics there is arguably one more reason to believe they won’t rise to the occasion at Napoli’s San Paolo Stadium today.

Yet Napoli, sitting second with a two-point lead on Roma in third, are already firmly in the driving seat and heading towards an estimated 30m euros jackpot generated by qualifying directly to the Uefa Champions League's group stages. A hat-trick would see striker Higuain make history, and help soothe the pain of coming so close Juventus v Sampdoria to a first scudetto AC Milan v Roma since the heyday Napoli v Frosinone of legendary Diego Maradona in 1990.

Sassuolo v Inter Milan Roma’s Greek defender Kostas Manolas said: “We Team GP W D L GD PTS know it will be difficult against Juventus 37 28 4 5 50 88 Milan, because Napoli 37 24 7 6 44 79 they need points.

Roma 37 22 11 4 40 77 But we are a top side and, as usual, Inter Milan 37 20 7 10 14 67 we’re going there to Fiorentina 37 17 10 10 16 61 win." l

FIXTURES

POINTS TABLE

is that for the first three weeks we have 15 players who will have been away at the Euros and we also have to see how the squad is changing.

“On another planet we would have six weeks together training because in this league it is the only time that you can train.”

Liverpool head to the Unit-

ed States for a training camp in mid-July and will play friendlies against Chelsea and AC Milan.

The former Borussia Dortmund manager, who has already hired fitness coach Andreas Kornmayer Bayern, will bring in the Bavarian side’s nutritionist Mona Nemmer in the close season. l

DT

30

Showtime

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

You don’t mess with a desi and get away with it of tweets. She wrote in one, “I’m going to call you a Punjab, you dirty b****.”

She then shared a tweet from Capital Breakfast about playing a song of Malik’s “Pillow Talk” on their show. The tweet included a picture of Malik, to which the rapper responded by saying, “This is the face he made when Capital FM held auditions at the refugee camp for refugees best talent!”

Jasmeet “JusReign” Singh, an

n SK Farhan Rahman Former One Direction star Zayn Malik recently released a music video of his song “Like I would” and was instantly accused by rapper Azalea Banks for copying her from her music video to “Yung Rapunxel.” Things escalated dramatically once Malik responded with a couple of tweets seemingly aimed at Banks, one

Indian-Canadian comedian, blew up the feud on Twitter after taking it upon himself to roast Banks for every racial and homophobic undertone she used. One of his tweets included, “Damn, the word Punjab is an insult now? Has anyone notified Urban dictionary yet?”

However, it was the term “curry scented b****” that severely angered the desis, who then decided that it was time to shut

of which read, “No lies, I see you reaching, but I don’t care.”

The outspoken rapper who has been accused of homophobia in the past, took things personally yet again and hit back at Malik instantly with a rant that contained a lot of racial and homophobic slurs. Believing the cryptic tweets to be aimed at her, Banks branded Zayn a, “curry scented b****,” in a series

Marriage is a “double-edged sword” nShowtime Desk 43-year-old actress Cameron Diaz wed Good Charlotte rocker Benji Madden in January 2015, and the pair appear to be happier than ever. When she appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday to promote her new book The Longevity Book: The Science of Aging, the Biology of Strength, and the Privilege of Time, Cameron spoke about how much her relationship has changed her as a person.

“I do think that marriage, when you can grow with someone, is

very important,” said Cameron.

“Someone asked me, ‘What’s your favorite thing about being married?’ and I said, ‘I just learned so much about myself. I didn’t know these things. I would have never known them if I didn’t have my husband to help me.’”

“They replied, ‘What’s the worst thing about being married?’ It’s like, well, I learned all these things about myself that I wish I didn’t know. And I wouldn’t have learned them if I didn’t get married.’ So it’s like this double-edged sword.”

Later in the interview, Cameron was asked by a fan if she uses any pet names to refer to her spouse.

Cameron has also found different ways to honour her husband, such as dedicating her new book to him. In a note penned in the preface of The Longevity Book, she wrote: “I never knew what love was until I found you. How did I ever live without your love, your friendship, your brilliant mind, your genius sense of humor, and your enormous, loving, beautiful heart?”

Benji, who wed the actress last year, posted a similar message to his wife when she turned 43 in September, 2015, writing: “My best friend and everything else - there’s so much I could write. I’m the luckiest guy alive. I get to spend the rest of my life right here. I love this woman! Many more, baby!”

Meanwhile, Cameron recently told TV and radio host Andy Cohen that they didn’t need a long engagement, because both she and Madden knew they were supposed to be together.

Cameron has taken a step back from her career after her marriage, but she has made time to release a follow up to her 2013 bestseller The Body Book. The Longevity Book: Live Stronger, Live Better, the Art of Ageing Well is something Cameron is extremely proud of, but she insists she hasn’t turned her back on Hollywood for good.l

things down. Arti Sood tweeted, “Why wouldn’t you want to be a curry scented b****?” Jasmeet “JusReign” Singh continued, “The fact that curry scented is an insult when it tastes 100% delicious is ludicrous.”

The hashtag “#curryscentedb ****andproud” eventually blew up on Twitter and became a worldwide trend. l Source: BuzzFeed

Kishore trekking Nepal

31

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

WHAT TO WATCH

n Showtime Desk The recently released music video of Closeup 1 star Kishore came as a surprise since the video features Nepalese model Surbina Karki, who was cast opposite the singer.

The song titled “Tolpar” comes with the lines, “Ei buke tolpar, bhangchhe pahar, beshamal ami,” with the video being shot at different places in Nepal to reflect the song’s content.

The video was released on CMV’s YouTube channel last Thursday. Shahriar and Kishore co-wrote the lyrics, while the tune was composed by Kishore.

Kishore said CMV had already released the track back in February on Valentine’s Day, which was recorded for a mixed album.

“Toplar” is said to be the title track of that album.

The music video was directed

by FI Shahin and has been jointly produced by CMV and The Rain Pictures.

Tolpar is Kishore’s third mixed album. Before this, he composed music for two albums titled Dhulor Gaan and Kishore Featuring Various Artists. The singer famous for “Jaccho Dure” is set to release his latest duet with Elita very soon.l

Emraan continues with ‘Murder’

n Farhan Shahriar As franchises have become quite the norm in the Indian film industry, news has reported that Emraan Hashmi will star in the fourth part of popular thriller Murder, after being a part of the first and second instalments.

“The film is already on the mark, and they are working on the script. It’s going happen for sure but I don’t know exactly about when the film will begin,” said Emraan.

The 37-year-old actor starred in Murder 2 in 2011, opposite Jacqueline Fernandez. Murder 3, however, featured Randeep Hooda as the lead.

That’s not all.

Hashmi went on to talk about the fourth film of the Raaz franchise as well, named Raaz 4, in which he will also be taking part.

“Raaz 4 will be a spook fest, the way horror films are supposed to be. It will definitely take the horror genre further forward in India,” the actor explained. l

DT

Showtime

Mission Impossible II Zee Studio 3:10pm A secret agent is sent to Sydney, to find and destroy a genetically modified disease called “Chimera.”

Cast: Tom Cruise, Richard Roxburgh, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Ving Rhames Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 HBO 6:34pm As Harry races against time and evil to destroy the Horcruxes, he uncovers the existence of three most powerful objects in the wizarding world: the Deathly Hallows.

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane The Transporter Star Movies 7:32pm Frank is hired to “transport” packages for unknown clients

and has made a very good living doing so. But when asked to move a package that begins moving, complications arise.

Cast: Jason Statham, Shu Qi, Matt Schulze, Ric Young, Doug Rand, François Berléand Spider-Man WB 9:30pm When bitten by a genetically modified spider, a nerdy, shy, and awkward high school student gains spider-like abilities that he eventually must use to fight evil as a superhero after tragedy befalls his family.

Cast: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Rosemary Harris, JK Simmons Ice Age: The Meltdown Star Movies 11:14pm Manny, Sid, and Diego discover that the ice age is coming to an end, and join everybody for a journey to higher ground. On the trip, they discover that Manny, in fact, is not the last of the woolly mammoths.

Cast: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck

Salman Khan and Iulia Vantur planning to attend Preity Zinta’s reception

n Farhan Shahriar B-town is buzzing with the possibility of Salman and Iulia’s relationship to unfold at Preity Zinta’s wedding reception.

According to a report, our very own “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” is all set to make his relationship with Iulia Vantur official at Preity Zinta’s wedding reception in Mumbai.

The most eligible bachelor of Bollywood is rumoured to attend the bash with his rumoured girlfriend, who is often spotted in his company and was last seen at the airport with Salman’s mother, and sister.

In fact, this would be their first official public appearance as a couple, which explains why everyone is so excited. However, despite making things official, word on the street is that the couple has decided to arrive in separate cars at the party – the reason behind that is only known to them.

Nevertheless, now that Salman and Iulia are officially starting to appear in public, fans are already thinking about the possibility of marriage? Not to forget, Iulia has even been a frequent visitor on the sets of Sultan where insiders further revealed how she would pay close attention to Salman’s acting and give him timely feedback. l Source: The Times Of India

DT

32

Back Page

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

KEEPING AN EYE OUT PAGE 13

BARCA ON BRINK OF TITLE PAGE 25

YOU DON’T MESS WITH A DESI AND GET AWAY WITH IT PAGE 30

Wasfia makes history n Tribune Desk Bangladeshi adventurer Wasfia Nazreen has made her homeland proud again. This time, she is being awarded National Geographic Society's prestigious Emerging Explorer award which recognises her efforts in making a difference and changing the world.

With it, Wasfia has carved a niche in history as the first woman to hold both the National Geographic Adventurer and Emerging Explorer designation, her spokesperson said in a media statement.

For female passengers in Dhaka, it is always a terrible experience to board and travel by public modes of transport as they have to face various hassles

RAJIB DHAR

Bus rides a constant curse for women Dhaka North Mayor Annisul Huq and Dhaka South Mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokon have passed their first year in office initiating many short- and long-term schemes to make Dhaka a liveable city. But have they been able to solve the never-ending harassment faced by women on the city’s public transports? Shadma Malik explores the issue as part of Dhaka Tribune’s coverage on the mayors’ performance.

Travelling by public transport in Dhaka is a very uncomfortable experience for women, who say such forms of transport instead of CNGrun autorickshaws is safer but the journey involves many forms of harassment.

But still they have to board public transport as not all of them can afford private means of commute.

Here we publish the experiences shared by some female passengers who regularly use public transport in Dhaka:

“Even though there are designated seats for women, men most of the time tend to occupy those.

Some women argue with male passengers who occupy their seats but many avoid doing so and prefer standing as they travel by bus,” said 30-year-old Suraiya Jannat, who works for World Vision and uses public transport to travel from Eskaton to Mirpur.

“Waiting for long at bus stops to board transports also hampers workplace productivity,” she added.

Hiyam Sayed Hiya, a master's student of development studies at Bangladesh University of Professionals who commutes from Dhanmondi to Mirpur, said: “If none of the seats reserved for women is empty, I have to sit on the foam placed right above the engine, knowing that it is extremely hot to sit there. I do not prefer standing either as I know male passengers may physically bump into me when the driver suddenly hits the brake. I feel disgusted in such situations.”

Nusrat Purno, 27, a housewife, said: “I prefer standing when all women seats are occupied as it is not possible to sit on that intolerably hot engine seat.”

Naima Akhter Keya, a 24-year-old dental student who travels from Motijheel to Abdullahpur, said: “Bus conductors often firmly touch the upper back of female passengers at the time of getting on the bus, which feels very awkward. They pretend that they do it for safety reasons but I do not agree.”

“Male passengers often grope us when the bus is jam-packed. Many women remain silent when this happens and do not protest as such situations are mostly unavoidable,” she added.

Wasfia became the first Bangladeshi to scale the seven summits last year National Geographic made the announcement on its website yesterday. The $10,000 prize money can be used for research or exploration of the adventurer's choice.

Morshed Mishu, Wasfia's spokesperson, said the award will be handed out at the 10th Annual Explorers Symposium in Washington in June.

Wasfia became the first Bangladeshi to scale the seven summits last year. In 2014, she was selected as a National Geographic Adventurer.

She is building a foundation called Ösel, which roughly translates as “luminosity”, and plans to offer outdoor education and mindfulness training programmes for adolescent girls in Bangladesh, Nepal, and, in the long term, the greater Himalayan region, according to her National Geographic profile.

Mishu said Wasfia has decided to invest the prize money for sponsoring the first batch of students in her upcoming foundation set to launch later this year. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com