12 June, 2016

SECOND EDITION

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

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Jyoishtha 29, 1423, Ramadan 6, 1437

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 50

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

SP WIFE MURDER

One prime suspect held Mizanur Rahaman, n FM Chittagong Police in Chittagong say they have arrested one of the three assailants who brutally killed Mahmuda Khanam Mitu, wife of Superintendent of Police Babul Akter, in broad daylight last Sunday.

Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Commissioner Md Iqbal Bahar made the announcement at a press briefing at the CMP headquarters yesterday.

“Police arrested Shah Zaman Robin, 28, from Laksham upazila in Comilla, at Shital Jharna in the city’s Bayezid area this morning,” Iqbal told reporters, claiming that Robin is one of the three killers seen fleeing the murder scene on a motorcycle in CCTV footages.

“We suspect that Shah Zaman is one of the trio who took part in the killing of Mitu. He also may be the man who was seen in the CCTV footages crossing the road while talking on his mobile phone,” Iqbal said.

“Police have been trying to verify his identity using the CCTV footages. He is also

being interrogated since the footages are blurry.”

It is the second arrest made by police in the murder investigation; the first arrest was former Shibir man Abu Nosor Gunnu, caretaker of a shrine in the city’s Farhadabad area, on Wednesday on suspicion of being involved in Mitu’s murder.

The CMP chief said police have information on Robin’s suspicious activities that indicates that he may have links with criminals.

“He is unemployed, and according to his neighbours his movement is suspicious.

There is a possibility that he could be a hired assassin. He could also be a devoted follower of a certain ideological group. We are looking into his background to see if he has connections with criminals or militants.”

Asked about Ansar al-Islam, the Bangladesh wing of al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), condemning Mitu’s murder, Iqbal said: “Mitu was wearing Islamic attire when she was killed... al-Qaeda may have issued the message to  PAGE 4 COLUMN 3

SEHRI & IFTAR

Ramadan 06 07 08

June 12 13 14

Sehri – 3:38 3:39

Iftar 6:50 6:50 6:50

Source: Islamic Foundation

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the recent murder of a Hindu man in Bangladesh, reports SITE. Several hours after the killing on Friday, SITE ran a report citing the militant group-run Amaq News Agency that said “IS fighters in Bangladesh” had killed the Hindu monastery staff.

Nityanando Pandey,  PAGE 4 COLUMN 5

INSIDE

‘IS claims credit’ for ashram worker murder n Tribune Desk

Masterminds behind killings traceless

The masterminds behind the recent targeted killings could not yet be traced despite several drives by law enforcers.  PAGE 2

Hasina: Killers, patrons to pay the price

PM Sheikh Hasina has reaffirmed that her government will identify and arrest the culprits behind the recent murders.  PAGE 3

17 lakh children engaged in hazardous work A survey conducted in 2013 revealed that 17 lakh children aged 5-17 years are engaged in hazardous work.  PAGE 7

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SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

BNP lambastes anti-militancy drive n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Banpara students form a human chain yesterday in front of National Press Club protesting all recent murders by Islamist militants

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

The BNP sees the ongoing drive against militants as a government-provided “opportunity” for the law enforcement agencies to “make money”.

“So far, more than 1,200 people have been arrested but there are allegations that opposition leaders and activists are being arrested en masse,” Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, party’s senior joint secretary general, said yesterday.

At a media briefing at BNP’s Nayapaltan headquarters, Rizvi claimed that the law enforcers had collected a huge amount of money by threatening BNP activists and the general people with arrest.

Hundreds of suspects have been arrested across Bangladesh so far during the drive against militants that began on Friday.

“People think that the illegal government has given the opportunity of mass arrest to the law enforcement agencies before Eid as a gift,” he said.

Rizvi claimed houses of BNP leaders and activists had been raided without warrants and alleged that the Apex court’s verdict on section 54 (arrest under suspicion) was being ignored. l

Masterminds behind killings traceless Only 37 out of over 3,100 people arrested in the two drives are involved with militant organisations arrested a number of people for nounced verdict in the murder Even though there is no arrest arrested some 3,155 people but n Mohammad Jamil Khan their direct involvement in the reof blogger Ahmed Rajeeb Haider of the masterminds behind the killonly 37 of them are involved in milThe planners and financiers behind the recent targeted killings that took place widely across the country could not be traced or arrested despite vigilance and drives by different law enforcement agencies.

At least 49 killing incidents took place in 17 districts in the last one and a half years but the law enforcers are struggling to trace the masterminds behind the killings, which the police claim, were conducted mainly by two outlawed groups – Ansarullah Bangla Team and Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

In some cases, local people caught some of the attackers and handed them over to the police.

According to Police Headquarters database, the law enforcers have arrested 144 people for their suspected involvement in the killings while also recovered sophisticated arms and ammunition from their possessions.

Meanwhile, in the face of rising militant activities, the police on Friday started a seven-day-long special drive across the country.

Until yesterday, the law enforcers

itancy.

Of the arrestees, the police say 1,861 people are facing arrest warrants, 917 are accused in regular cases, 19 in illegal arms cases and 358 in drug-related cases.

ings, detectives claim that they are well aware of those top criminals.

Mashruqur Rahman Khaled, deputy commissioner of police’s detective branch, told the Dhaka Tribune that extremists usually

‘One regular drive started from June 7 to take action against the accused in drugs, arms and other cases since these crimes rise before any big festivals like Eid. The second drive was launched on Friday against militancy’ Asked why people having no militant connection are being arrested, Deputy Inspector General AKM Shahidur Rahman said that actually they were conducting two drives simultaneously.

“One regular drive started from June 7 to take action against the accused in drugs, arms and other cases since these crimes rise before any big festivals like Eid. The second drive was launched on Friday against militancy,” he clarified.

work in two strategies. “The sleeper cells conduct the field-level operations while the planners and financiers remain out of scene.”

In some cases, the executioners were found to have been involved with Islami Chhatra Shibir, the radical student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, he said, adding that they were trying to arrest the masterminds but it had became a tough job since they change location frequently.

A Dhaka court has already pro-

but the mastermind of the attack, Redwanul Azad Rana, could not be arrested. Rana allegedly planned some other killings including the fatal attack on Mukto-Mona blog founder Avijit Roy. Detectives think he has left the country.

Police say suspended Maj Ziaul Haque, believed to be the commander of Ansarullah, has been operating the group with nearly 200 trained members, but his location could not be traced.

In Oyasiqur Rahman Babu killing case, the police arrested two of the three attackers with help of locals, but the mastermind behind the killing remains at large.

The police are also in a dilemma as 22 of these attacks that killed 20 persons since September last year were claimed by international militant outfit Islamic State. On the other hand, al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) claimed their men had killed 11 others in 13 attacks since January 2013.

Monirul Islam, chief of police’s counter-terrorism and transnational crime unit, said: “We have

cent killings and attacks. But none of them admitted their allegiance to IS, although they confessed for the killings.”

He thinks that the killings are being carried out as part of a world trend. “The home-grown militants are inspired watching the militants activities happening in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.

“We have already traced location of some financiers and planners, and are hopeful to arrest them soon,” Monirul claimed.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said that these militant activities were nothing but a national and international conspiracy.

“Basically, the people now working for JMB or Ansarullah are also involved with Jamaat-Shibir politics.”

He went on to blame some international groups for patronising these militants with a view to embarrassing the government and foiling the war crimes trials.

“We hope to arrest the criminals during the ongoing drives and bring them to book,” the minister said. l

Hasina: Killers, patrons to pay the price n Abu Hayat Mahmud Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reaffirmed that her government will soon identify and arrest the culprits behind the recent targeted murders.

“We will take all necessary steps needed to stop secret killings. The killers, their leaders, finances and others involved with the killings will have to pay for such terrorist attacks. Where will they hide? We will find them because geographically Bangladesh is a small country,” the premier said while addressing an Awami League Central Working Committee (ALCWC) meeting at Ganabhaban yesterday.

She also asked the family members of the perpetrators to stop them from continuing such crimes, and urged the people to inform the law enforcers about any wrongdoings.

“Everybody has family members. The killers have been killing selected persons aimed at tarnishing the government's image nationally and globally. I urge the parents of the criminals ... please stop them. Otherwise, you will have to pay for your disobedient son,” Hasina said.

The law enforcers on Friday launched a seven-day-long crackdown to nab the militants com-

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Minority groups express deep concern over safety n Mohammad Jamil Khan

mitting murders. Until yesterday afternoon, some 3,100 people were arrested across the country for the alleged involvement in militancy and other crimes.

The premier alleged that the human rights organisations and activists had remained relatively inactive during the killings, and “they are energised whenever the government takes tough actions against the attackers, planners and financiers.”

She mentioned that BNP chief Khaleda Zia had been behind the many skirmishes last year and ordered her supporters to burn people to death. Khaleda has now given the same instructions because

of the hanging of the war criminals and Jamaat leaders.

“This is not new, BNP founder Ziaur Rahman killed a large number people including army soldier.

Khaleda Zia is doing the same as she ordered the terrorists of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami to kill innocent people to come to power through the back door,” the prime minister said.

Earlier, the Awami League central leaders led by General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam welcomed Hasina, also the party chief, with flowers for her release from jail after 11-month prison terms during the former army-backed caretaker government in 2008. l

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The recent targeted murders of secular bloggers, professors, activists and minority religious leaders has led the minority communities to express great concern over their safety.

Nityanando Pandey, an elderly staff of a Hindu monastery in Pabna was brutally killed on Friday, the first day of a week-long special drive against militants by law enforcement agencies.

According to sources, the recent militant attacks mainly target individuals from minority group.

Security has also been increased in several temples and churches but the killing have continued.

Goutom Chakrabarti, convener of Bangladesh Hindu Cristina Oikko Parishad, says the wave of attacks against minority groups has left them feeling insecure about their safety also because none of the attackers have yet been arrested.

Moreover, the law enforcement agencies has failed to curb the frequency of the attacks even after launching a special drive during which the Hindu monastery staff was killed, he also said: “The drive seems to be have no effectiveness.”

Proloy Samadar, organising secretary of Bangladesh Christian Association, told the Dhaka Tribune that they want a permanent solu-

tion to preventing these killings.

“We want actual trails after the arrests of the real culprits”, he added.

Subud M Basko, former president of Saotal Students Organisation, told the Dhaka Tribune that he believes that these murders is done to scare the minorities to leave the country.

He said: “These are not isolated incidents as they are being committed in a planned manner.”

In the last few of months, there were attacks on a temple in Dinajpur, a Christian businessman was killed in Natore, a Hindu Priest killed in Panchagarh and another priest killed in Jhenidaha. Along with failed attempts to kill Christian doctors in Dinajpore and Ishawardi.

Rana Dash Gupto, general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu-Buddha-Christian Oikyo Parishad, said the attacks on minorities is not a recent phenomenon however this kind of frequent targeted brutal attacks are new.

“It is nothing but a political conspiracy to rid Bangladesh of minorities,” he added.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, says steps have already been taken to ensure security and to stop these targeted killing, a special drive is underway to take action against members of militant groups. l

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SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

Govt to inject fund into Grameen Bank n Asif Showkat Kallol

Barrister Sara Hossain speaks at the National Press Club yesterday at a discussion programme to mark the 20th year of Kalpana Chakma abduction MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Suspected robber killed in gunfight n Sultan Mahmood, Narail A suspected robber was killed in an alleged gunfight between his cohorts and police at Dighalia Dokkhinpara village in Lohagara upazila of the district early yesterday.

The deceased was Rakib, 30, son of Mokles Hossain, a resident of Chanchai village of the upazila.

Biplob Kumar Saha, officer-incharge of Lohagora police station, said on a tip-off, a team of police launched a drive in the area around 2:30 am while a gang of robbers were taking preparation to commit robbery in the area.”

Sensing presence of the law enforcers, the gang members opened fire at them, prompting the police personnel to retaliate that

World Day against child labour today n Mohammad Jamil Khan The World Day Against Child Labour 2016 is being observed today, although the government has failed to eradicate child labour under the national plan of action.

The government has now set the target to 2021.

The government observes World Day against Child Labour today with the theme of “End child labour in supply chains—It’s everyone’s business!.”

The numbers from Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2015 show that there have nearly been 1.228 million children employed in hazardous conditions .

Syeda Munira Sultana, national project coordinator of the International Labour Organisation, told the Dhaka Tribune that she still believes that everything is possible in Bangladesh if there is cooperation and willingness.

When asked about the change in NPA target year, Munira says: “it has been revised but government has assured us that it will meet the task within 2021 and we are hopeful they will meet it.”

Visiting the New market area, Dhaka Tribune founds, a 12-year-

old boy Sumon, hanging on the back side of a human hauler as a helper. Sumon says that he earns Tk80 to Tk100 and sometimes Tk200 on a daily basis.

According to rules and regulations, police are in charge of making sure that there is no child labour but Yeasir Arafat, officer-in-charge of new market police station, told the Dhaka Tribune that he had no instruction to stop these children from working.

AS Mahmood, director of Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF), told the Dhaka Tribune that the eradication of child labour depends on the government’s willingness.

After the formation of NPA, the government has taken over three year to form child welfare committiees in every district, he says.

Mujibul Haque Chunnu, State Minister of Labour and Employment, says that the government has already taken different initiatives to remove child labour and that there has been some monitoring of children employed in hazardous conditions and 46 cases have been filed so far against these employers.

“Implementing a law is not going to solve this issue. Public awareness needs to be created then we we can overcome this,” said Mujibul. l

triggered a gunfight, leaving Rakib injured with bullets.

Rakib was rushed to Lohagora Upazila Health Complex where doctors declared him dead.

However, other associates of the robber gang managed to flee the scene.

Rakib was wanted in 12 cases, including for robbery, the OC added. l

The government is expected to inject Tk1.3 crore into Grameen Bank to maintain its stake in the microcredit organisation in accordance with the Grameen Bank law.

As per the Recapitalisation of State Banks Plan under the Bank and Financial Institutions Division, the Finance Division will be processing a distribution of Tk600 crore to the Grameen Bank, Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation, Sonali Bank UK, Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank and Ansar VDP Bank limited, among others, officials told the Dhaka Tribune.

Officials said the government was trying to maintain its 25% stake in Grameen Bank. As part of the plan it has decided to inject Tk1.3 crore and maintain a strong presence in the board of directors in Grameen.

The paid up capital of the micro-lender grew from Tk59.79 crore to Tk73.4 crore in 2013 but the government has not raised its stake since then. The remaining share is held by members of Grameen Bank.

The proposal of injection of the money to the Grameen Bank along with recapitalisation of BHBFC, Sonali Bank UK, BKB, RKUB and Ansar VDB Bank Limited will be

placed to Finance Minister AMA Muhith for approval, officials said.

The remaining part of the Tk600 crore recapitalisation fund from the 2015-16 revised budget will be disbursed in the last week of this month.

In a recent interview, Finance Minister AMA Muhith told the Dhaka Tribune he was planning to recapitalise big state banks from local stock markets but some allocations will remain in the budget for state financial institutions.

According to the Banking Division proposal, BHBFC will get Tk200 crore, Sonali Bank UK Tk178 crore, BKB Tk140 crore, Rajshahi Krishi Unnanyan Bank Tk20 crore and Ansar VDP Bank Tk25 crore.

On June 19, 2013, the government injected Tk13.2 crore into Grameen to raise it’s stake to 21.99% which dropped to 3.01% as the government did not pay against its share in the paid-up capital when its paid up capital was Tk597.9 million.

In 2013, the government wanted to acquire the majority share of at least 51% to have an influence over the organisation as per the recommendations of the Grameen Bank Inquiry Commission. But the move was put on hold because of a case filed by nine women directors of the bank. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

One prime suspect held protect their followers’ trust in their ideology.”

On Friday night, Ansar al-Islam issued a statement condemning Mitu’s murder, saying it was “impermissible under Islam,” according to US-based monitoring site SITE Intelligence Group.

Asked whether the black microbus that was seized by police on Wednesday had any link with Mitu’s murder, Iqbal said they had yet to find such evidence.

“From what we have found, the microbus usually goes to the area [GEC intersection] to pick up officials of Abul Khair Group every day.

We have not found any link between the microbus and the murder.”

However, the microbus driver Jane Alam is still in police custody and is being interrogated, as police believe he witnessed the murder.

Regarding the suspected militant who was arrested with two knives in a human chain event protesting the murder near Chittagong Press Club on Wednesday, the CMP commissioner said police are still investigating whether he has any connection with militants.

The suspect, Md Ibrahim, 24, claimed to be a rickshaw puller when he was apprehended, but police found two knives, a burner

phone and a USB flash drive in his possession.

“We are interrogating him to learn why he went to the demonstration carrying the knives,” Iqbal told reporters.

Meanwhile, a Chittagong court set the hearing of police’s remand petition for Gunnu in the murder case today.

On Thursday, the Detective Branch of police produced Gunnu before the court seeking to place him in remand for 10 days. The court set today for the hearing and instructed the investigation officer to submit all documents regarding Gunnu’s arrest, including the call detail records that police used to find Gunnu.

Mitu, 32, was stabbed and shot to death by three unidentified miscreants in Chittagong’s GEC Intersection area early Sunday morning in front of her son. The killers fled the murder scene on a motorcycle after killing her, as seen in the footages collected from the CCTV near the murder scene.

Her husband Babul, who was recently promoted to superintendent of police, filed a murder case with Panchlaish police station against the three killers and their cohorts. l

IS claims 62, was hacked to death at Hemayetpur near Sri Sri Thakur Anukulchandra Satsang Ashram where he had been working as an attendant for four decades.

Attacks on minorities have been on the rise in Bangladesh in recent times.

The latest murder took place barely three days after a Hindu priest’s killing in Jhenaidah, allegedly by IS militants, who have threatened more such attacks.

IS claimed credit for the killing of a Christian man in Natore on June 5 and a Buddhist monk in Bandarban on May 14. The group accepted responsibilities for other attacks in Bangladesh in recent months.

The government says local militant groups are carrying out the murders to destabilise the country.

Militants have killed more than 30 people in Bangladesh, including members of religious minorities, liberal bloggers and academics, since February last year.

IS has claimed responsibility for 21 of the attacks since its first claim in September last year and Al Qaeda has claimed most of the rest, according to SITE. The government denies either group has a presence in Bangladesh and says domestic militants are responsible. l

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‘Hold Felani murder trial in open court’ Koltaka-based rights group Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) is among the organisations and individuals working to ensure justice for the extrajudicial killing of Bangladeshi teenager Felani Khatun by the Indian Border Security Force on January 7, 2011. The self-confessed killer, constable Amiya Ghosh, was acquitted twice by a special BSF court that held the trials secretly. In the face of protest by Felani’s family and public outcry after the second verdict pronounced on July 3 last year, the BSF chief said they would consider holding a fresh trial under a new bench. MASUM Secretary Kirity Roy, also the national convenor of Programme Against Custodial Torture and Impunity, responded to the email queries sent by Dhaka Tribune’s Probir K Sarker regarding killings and other crimes along the Bangladesh-India border ing areas, especially for the minority communities. This will reduce crimes and cross-border migration.

It can also push the Indian government to stick upon earlier commitment that no lethal weapon would be used at the Bangladesh border.

The BSF-BGB DG-level meet in Dhaka and the subsequent home secretary-level meet agreed on no fire arms. But the decision has been violated by the BSF regularly.

It is alarming that kids and farmers working near the border are also becoming victims of BSF firing.

Why do the BSF men kill unarmed people?

MASUM Secretary Kirity Roy

What is the latest status of the writ petitions pending with the Indian Supreme Court?

MASUM and Felani’s father Nurul Islam filed a petition while the other was filed by Salma Ali, executive director of Bangladesh Women Lawyers’ Association, and Nurul Islam demanding punishment of the perpetrators and seeking compensation for the victim’s family.

Both the cases are pending with the court. On the last hearing day, the court issued a rule upon the state agencies to explain their stance in affidavit. The court has granted their time petitions on several occasions.

Do you think the BSF themselves will or will be advised to initiate a fresh trial in a new court this time?

What about the Indian NHRC’s order on compensation?

In principle, we always demand trial in regular and open criminal courts, instead of the BSF or any security force’s courts. Now the BSF Security Courts’ proceedings are over and the matter is pend-

The file photo shows Felani’s body suspending from the barbed wire border fence ing before the Supreme court. If it orders fresh investigation by any investigating agency and criminal proceeding against the accused that will be good.

As a writ court, the Supreme court can also pass an order for compensation. But the Indian government has already rejected the recommendation of our National Human Rights Commission to pay the victim’s family Rs5 lakh.

MASUM moved the petition with the NHRC India. The Bangladesh NHRC also filed a petition before its Indian counterpart seeking justice in the case.

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

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Chittagong

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Rajshahi

DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 6:47PM

How do Bangladeshi smugglers, war crimes accused, top militant leaders, wanted killers and political criminals cross the border evading arrest?

We have the answer; they are bribing the Indian and the Bangladeshi border guards to enter India.

This is also a reality that the border guards of Bangladesh are equally involved; one has to grease their palms too to cross the border. l

Human initiatives can clear many stumbles. Our continuous efforts have decreased the number of killings in the bordering areas under Murshidabad district. The path is not so smooth ... hardship and intimidation from system is a common phenomenon for us, but we

In our calculation the number must be higher. Human Rights Watch documented and published a report named Trigger Happy in 2010, in which they stated that nearly 1,000 persons were killed in 2000Dhaka

have to try to minimise torture and killings in India-Bangladesh border.

The governments have to solve few things which are actual reasons behind the violence. We are trying to advocate and campaign over those issues. For example, smuggling of goods can be checked by opening haats in the bordering villages twice a week under the surveillance of BSF, BGB and customs of both the countries.

The Bangladesh government has to create more job opportunities and address poverty in the border-

As the first-ever trial of border killing has stumbled so many times and the killing spree continues, is it possible to stop killing of innocent people along the border?

What is your opinion about the Bangladesh home minister’s claim that a total of 591 Bangladeshi nationals have been killed by BSF and Indian citizens in the last 10 years?

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY

SUNDAY, JUNE 12

2010. It was a joint venture report with MASUM. This number is not all the causalities. The BSF personnel are not only restricted in killing the Bangladeshi nationals; extrajudicial killings of Indian nationals at the hands of BSF personnel are also frequent. But we do not have many instances of killing of Bangladeshi nationals by Indians. Rather we have records that Bangladeshi dacoits looted Indian farmers in the border areas. Of the people killed by firing of BSF, 80% are Indians and 20% are Bangladeshi citizens.

This is a big WHY. There are hundreds of purposeful reasons but the most eminent reason is the culture of impunity; it is rampant in our sub-continent. In Indian law, no person can be killed for illegal trespassing in our country. What the BSF is doing now is unconstitutional and illegal. To save their skin, BSF always manufacture a story that they fired for self-defence.

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Khulna

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Barisal

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:10AM

36.6ºC Satkhira

22.4ºC Badalgachi

Source: Accuweather/UNB

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Sylhet

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Cox’s Bazar

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Fajr: 3:49am | Zohr: 1:15pm Asr: 5:15pm | Magrib: 6:59pm Esha: 8:45pm Source: Islamic Foundation

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SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

Nine mighty rivers drying up due to land grabbing in Kushtia Khoda Sobuj, n Kudrote Kushtia Once nine mighty rivers in Kushtia, are now running dry as a section of local influential have grabbed the land of watercourses illegally.

According to local sources, influential people made establishments on both sides of the Padma, Garai, Kali, Hisna, Chandana, Mathabahanga, Kumar, Dakua and Sagorbali rivers in the district.

The rivers, once home to many species of fishes, are now dotted with shoals of various sizes and shapes.

The drying water bodies are bad news for the population, more than 80% of whom are dependent on the rivers for water.

Fisherman Romis Uddin said he had been living off the rivers for about two decades.

“Due to silt accumulation those rivers ceased to be navigable resulting in loss of various species of fishes,” he said.

“Loss of navigability means less water in the rivers, which in turn, is affecting agricultural production in the district,” The rivers have never been dredged, locals claimed.

Environmentalist Goutum

Kumar said the water level in the rivers had declined due to illegal establishments on both sides of the rivers.

“We are thinking of taking swift action,” he said without elaborating.

Crops are being cultivated in the riverbed as there is no flow of water. Though the rivers flow in thin stream in the rainy season, in another part of the year, there is no water.

So local influentials cultivate crops grabbing the river bed.

Razu Biswas, a resident of the Hisna River area, said local influential had cultivated fish after making embankment in the middle of Mathabhanga and Hisna rivers under the nose of administration.

Masud Karim, a teacher of a school, said one could not find the existence of the mighty river Chandana now as it had been grabbed by the influential people long ago.

They built houses, markets and many other establishments on the riverbed.

The administration knew everything, but they did not take any steps, he said.

In many areas of the rivers, they had planted tobacco and various crops. So the biodiversity in the area totally

Cops shoot ex-UP member Tauhid-Uz-Zaman, n Md Jessore A former union council member was allegedly shot by uniformed police after he was picked up from his house in Bagharpara upazila under the district early yesterday.

The victim was Abu Isa, 45.

He was an independent member candidate in the election of Raipur union parishad in Bagharpara upazila.

Isa’s wife Afroza Begum blamed police for picking up her husband from their house and shooting him.

Afroza said:”Some 8-10 uniformed police members came to our Naldanga house aroun 2am.

They asked him to put on his shirt and picked him up. I came to know in the morning that Isa was admitted to the hospital with a bullet on his leg.”

Police, however, claimed that Isa was injured in police firing while preparing to commit robbery.

Bagharpara police station Officer-in-Charge Sayeruddin Ahmed said a team of police conducted a drive in the area around 4am when a gang of robbers were taking preparation to commit robbery felling tree trunks on the Jessore-Magura Road.

“Sensing the presence of law enforcers, the gang blasted bombs that prompted police to open fire. At that time, Isa received a bullet on his right leg,” the OC said.

He also said, Abu Isa, a former BNP leader, was accused of several cases.

Bullet-hit Isa was first admitted to Jessore General Hospital. He was later referred to National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation in Dhaka. l

damaged.

Fisherman Jalal Ahmed said once they led their lives by catching fish. But now they have to fight with poverty as their profession collapsed due to dire state of the rivers.

Abul Kalam, fisherman in Sadar upazila, said fishermen in the area had changed their profession as there was no fish in the Gorai River like before.

Many fishermen became helpless as they had no work.

Dakua and Kali rivers had turned into canals in Kumarkhail as a dam had been built up near Shashanghat area in Kushtia’s Borobazar.

The influential quarter had taken the land of the Kimar River as lease from government officials and made establishments in Jhaoudia and Boiddonathpur area under Sadar upazila, locals said.

Liton Ahmed who had grabbed the land of the Sagorkhali River in Mirpur said if the government asked him to return the land, he would do it.

Water Board Development Engineer Obaidur Rahman said: “To bring back the biodiversity, at first the rivers will have to be freed from the clutches of the grabbers and it is the task of the local administration.” l

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SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

1.7 million children engaged in hazardous work n BSS A survey conducted in 2013 revealed that 17 lakh children aged 5-17 years are engaged in hazardous work and 91 per cent of them are male.

Child force of Bangladesh is at high risk due to toxic chemicals used almost at every workplace, said experts.

“In our country indiscriminate use of chemicals at almost every workplace is a common phenomenon. Hundreds of people die annually due to their hazardous work particularly in ship- breaking, tanneries, chemical industries and farming which are in the top death ranks,” said National expert on Chemical Safety Dr Shahriar Hossain.

Mentioning different studies in Bangladesh, the expert said,

“Around 85 per cent farmers exposed to toxic and hazardous pesticides and other chemicals during their work where their children were also involved and more than 30 per cent of them become seriously ill.”

In the ship-breaking industries more than 1000 workers, including children, died due to chemical poisoning since 1996 in the country, he said adding around 20,000 tannery workers are at high health risk.

Almost all children are exposed to toxic chemicals at their work places while three to five hundred workers lose their jobs due to serious illness every year.

Chemicals can enter human body in three ways -inhalation (when chemical is in gas, vapor or fume and that enter by breathe) absorption (when it passes through the skin, eyes and ingestion (when

chemicals enter through mouth).

The toxicity of chemicals affects respiratory, renal, cardiovascular, reproductive, nervous, immune systems of human body and also cause skin problems, said health experts.

The government listed 38 categories of work as hazardous for children, including butchery, chemical, working in bidi-cigarette factories, handling goods in ports and ships and working as driver’s assistant for bus, truck and other vehicles.

Ten years old “Sohel” was seen assisting the driver of a human hauler at Mirpur-10 intersection at around 10 am right in front of a police box.

Under the stormy weather, Sohel was thumping on the roof of the make-shift passenger carrier and calling for commuters. He was coughing from the vehicle’s emis-

sions and in the rain.

However, when asked whether fumes, dust and rain were bothering him, Sohel proudly answered, “No, I am not a kid,” and argued that as he earns his own livelihood, he is a grown up guy.

Sohel, who was unaware of the existence of the list of hazardous jobs, does not know that his profession has been marked as dangerous and risky for people under 18 years of age.

The National Child Labour Elimination Policy 2010, provides a framework to eradicate all forms of child labour from the country and fixed five hours work per day so that the work could not create pressure on a child’s physical and psychological development.

Child rights specialist Executive Director of Manusher Jonno Foundation Shaheen Anam pointed out sev-

Revamped Motel Saikat opens for tourists n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong The newly renovated Motel Saikat has been opened for tourists with all the latest amenities in the heart of Chittagong, the city that offers a unique panoramic natural beauty of sea, river and hills.

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, the state-run tourism promotion authority, constructed the 10-storey motel – the largest motel in the port city – near Chittagong railway station.

The mega project was undertaken in 2005, after the old motel was demolished to make way for the new one.

This is also the biggest tourist hotel or motel constructed by Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation.

The project, financed by the Asian Development Bank and approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in 2010, was finished in December last year.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon formally inaugurated the motel on May 3 this year.

“The first phase of the construction is complete. A swimming pool and a training centre – affiliated with the National Hotel and Tourism Training Centre – will be constructed in the second phase,” said SM Mizanur Rahman, manager of the motel.

He further said he was hopeful that the motel would help boost tourism in the port city. “Chittagong has a huge potential to grow as an attractive tourist region and the motel will play an important role in promoting the tourism sector in greater Chittagong.” l

eral loopholes in the policy including supply and demand. She said lack of awareness among guardians and socio-cultural practices might lead to the failure of the framework.

“Employers want to appoint children since they can be exploited with low salary and without facilities. The guardians are sending their kids to meet this demand, with a hope that they might be raised in a comparatively better condition.”

“So long as such vicious circles are not broken by law, child labour cannot be eliminated, she added.”

Expressing concern over the use of chemicals at work places, Shaheen Anam said, “Lack of knowledge and awareness of owners and labourers are also responsible for the hazard ... both the owners and workers have to be conscious to minimize the health risk.” l

Kidnapped Hindu priest rescued n Liakat Ali Badal, Rangpur

Khasia community people’s livelihood is under threat after an eviction notice asked 700 indigenous people to leave their ancestral homes MORSHED JAHAN MITHUN

Eviction notice against Nahar Punji likely to be invalid Jahan Mithun back n Morshed from Sreemangal The eviction notice issued to the residents of two Khasia villages in Moulvibazar may not be legal due to an ongoing civil case on the land in question.

Moulvibazar District administration said it was unaware of the case, but if the case is in court, the eviction notice that was issued from the office would not be effective.

Deputy Commissioner Kamrul Hasan told the Dhaka Tribune that he did not have any information about the case or the court’s orders.

“I need to check the court documents and if the court ordered to stop any temporary eviction notice in Nahar Punji until the final

verdict we must follow it and the eviction notice will not be valid,” he said.

A Moulvibazar court issued a legal notice on November 30 last year against a case lodged by Lutmon Polong in 2012 on behalf of Nahar Punji residents seeking a government lease for 200 acres of land.

The court asked the district administration to show cause within 15 days why a stay order would not be placed on eviction orders to the residents of the land.

But an eviction notice was nevertheless issued on May 30 to more than 700 indigenous Khasi people living in Nahar Punji to leave their ancestral land by today, June 12.

The notice says if they fail to leave the land the administration

will evict them and take possession.

Asked why the court’s order had not come to the administration’s notice in six months, the deputy commissioner and Additional Deputy Commissioner (revenue) Prakash Kanti Chowdhury who signed the eviction notice could not come up with an explanation.

The Khasia families have been living on the government land long before Nahar Tea Estate was set up in 1964 in an adjacent land leased from the government.

Since the garden’s ownership changed hands in 2007, the new authorities have allegedly been harassing the villagers in many ways trying to take control of the land to expand the tea estate and implement other schemes. l

A priest who was abducted on Thursday from Pirganj upazila of the district was rescued by police in Lalmonirhat yesterday.

Superintendent of Police Abdur Razzak said the kidnappers abducted Uttam Kumar Mohntha of Usmanpur village while he was going to Kalibari in Gaibandaha to perform ritual mantra in a wedding ceremony.

Later, the miscreants demanded Tk1.5 lakh as ransom to free him.

The family members informed the incident to police.

On a tip-off, the police conducted a drive at the house of Anwar Hossain in Mogolhat in Lalmonirhat district and rescued the priest.

A man was arrested in this connection. A case was filed. l

Youth’s burnt body found Mizanur Rahaman, n FM Chittagong

Police recovered the burnt body of a young man from a drain in Khulshi area of Chittagong yesterday.

Nizam Uddin, officer-in-charge of Khulshi police station, said some children were playing football in a field adjacent to Railway canteen gate in Ambagan area around11am.

One of the children found the body when he went to pick up the ball fell into the drain. On information, police recovered the body around 12.30 pm.

The different parts of the body were burnt while the hand were tied up and eyes were gouged out, said the OC. Police suspected the man might have been killed elsewhere and the body was, later, dumped into the drain. l

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8 World

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

SOUTH ASIA

Al-Qaeda pledges allegiance to new Taliban leader Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in an online audio message, pledged allegiance to the new head of the Afghan Taliban Haibatullah Akhundzada, who was appointed last month after his predecessor was killed in a US drone strike. However, the authenticity of the recording could not be immediately verified. -REUTERS

INDIA

Police: Sedition clips of Kanhaiya authentic The raw video footage of the controversial February 9 event at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, based on which a sedition case was registered against the university’s students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar and two others, has been found to be authentic by the CBI forensic lab, the police has claimed.

-REUTERS

CHINA

Merkel to press China on business conditions German Chancellor Angela Merkel heads to Beijing on Saturday for the ninth time since taking office amid growing pressure from industry and rights groups to confront the Chinese more forcefully. After a golden decade for economic ties between Germany and China, concerns are growing in Berlin over barriers to foreign firms in China, Beijing’s more muscular foreign policy and its increased authoritarianism at home.

-REUTERS

ASIA PACIFIC

Indonesia to give weapons training to Bali gangsters Indonesia’s army will give semi-military weapons training to people including unemployed men and gangsters on the island of Bali, under a programme that has raised concern about the re-emergence of military influence. President Joko Widodo’s administration has become increasingly uneasy about the military-run Bela Negara or Defend the Nation programme aimed at guarding against “foreign influences” like communism, religious extremism and homosexuality.

-REUTERS

MIDDLE EAST

Turkish artillery kill 31 IS members in Syria US-led coalition jets and Turkish artillery killed 31 IS militants in Syria, the local news agency reported on Saturday, without saying when the attacks occurred. The Turkish army fired howitzers at 33 targets in northern Syria to take out IS weapon systems as the militants prepared to shell sites across the Turkish border.

-REUTERS

Islamic State likely to target Southeast Asia in coming months The terrorist group could carry out Paris-style attack in tourist hotspot or at a key infrastructure point such as an airport somewhere in Southeast Asia that Kong, it would be a “strike at the n Tribune International Desk is seen as being inspired, linked or heart of the dragon”, according to Indicators show terrorists are likely to strike Southeast Asia’s tourist attractions this summer, security experts have warned.

Recent developments concerning Islamic State (IS) across Asia suggest the group have recruited locally and were likely to carry out a major strike, according to Alex Bomberg, group chief of Intelligent Protection International, part of Intelligent (UK Holdings).

IS had developed localised organisations and operations in Southeast Asia and was active in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh. In addition, fighters recruited from Asia to fight in Syria and Iraq were starting to return home, as the extremists’ war in the Middle East was facing defeat.

“I think they are ready to do something in Asia. I think it’s go-

Flag of Islamic State

REUTERS

ing to happen very soon,” Bomberg said.

Last week the United States warned of possible summer terrorist attacks in Europe, saying targets could include the European soccer championship in France or the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day events, based on an accumulation of information.

Raffaello Pantucci, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said he wouldn’t be surprised “if we saw an attack

maybe even directed by IS”.

Bomberg said an attack would likely target tourist hotspots and be paired with a strike on infrastructure such as a subway or airport.

To maximise damage and casualties, IS had adopted an “active shooter” tactic, where multiple gunmen simultaneously open fire with automatic weapons and quickly move from one location to the next, as was seen in Paris in November, he said.

“They are not going to waste opportunities,” he said. “They are going to want it to be spectacular.”

His company, which provides protection services to British royals and high net worth individuals, urged Asian countries to improve information sharing and be more open with the public.

If there were an attack in Hong

Bomberg.

But given a lack of support for terrorist groups in the financial city, Hong Kong was at less of an immediate risk than were Indonesia, Malaysia or the Philippines, said Pantucci.

Li Lifan, a researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said airports authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing were effective in using biometric information shared by the international community to screen out dangerous people upon entry.

Mainland China had also become vigilant and awareness about terrorism in the country was high, Li said. l

[This is an excerpt from a South China Morning post article, which can be found at http://bit.ly/24HNrry]

Al-Qaeda regrouping worries Pakistan n Tribune International Desk

Five years after most senior al-Qaeda leaders are thought to have fled this port city, officials in Karachi worry that the organisation is regrouping and finding new support here and in neighbouring Afghanistan. They are especially concerned about the recruitment of potential foot soldiers for the next major terrorist attack.

The resurgence has been managed by a South Asian offshoot called al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), created by al-Qaeda’s top leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in 2014 in order to slow advances by rival Islamic State militants in the region.

Initially, AQIS struggled to gain traction in Pakistan’s north-western tribal belt. But it is now finding its footing in southern Pakistan, powered by fresh recruits and budding alliances with other militant organisations.

“They are making a comeback of sorts,” said Saifullah Mehsud, executive director of the FATA Research Centre, which monitors militant groups. “But it’s a different, more localised al-Qaeda.”

In Bangladesh, banned militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team or Ansar al-Islam is representing AQIS, and their members have carried out at least 13 attacks since

Kabul

AFGHANISTAN

PAKTIA

Islamabad Fed. admin.

Tribal areas

Kandahar

PAKISTAN Quetta

Lahore Punjab

Ahmad Wal IRAN

New Delhi

Baluchistan Sindh Arabian Sea

INDIA

KARACHI

Source: The Washington Post

January 2013 in which 11 people – mostly secularist teachers, bloggers, publishers and LGBT rights activists – were killed, according to US-based SITE Intelligence Group.

After the fall of Afghanistan’s Taliban government in 2001, many al-Qaeda leaders spilled into northwest Pakistan or attempted to blend in in Karachi. A significant number of those core leaders were eventually killed or captured, or fled to the Middle East, officials said.

But the formation of AQIS is again allowing al-Qaeda to tap into Karachi’s wealth and network of madrassas in search of recruits and technical expertise — and sparking deadly clashes with Pakistani security forces.

In Afghanistan, there are also signs that elements of al-Qaeda are trying to come together.

In Pakistan, officials say al-Qaeda is also re-adapting through enhanced alliances with established militant groups, including the Sunni-dominated Pakistani Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a sectarian group that had been focused on attacking Shiite Muslims.

The coordination comes as Pakistan’s military has stepped up its operations against various militant groups, prompting them to seek out support from al-Qaeda “for survival,” said one Pakistani law enforcement official seeking anonymity.

But officials say that the threat from al-Qaeda extends far beyond

Sunni militant groups rebranding themselves. Instead, they say, al-Qaeda is finding new recruits from some unlikely Karachi neighbourhoods.

Although ethnic Pashtuns and foreign fighters have historically formed the backbone of al-Qaeda in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, some ethnic Bengalis and other Urdu-speaking Mohajirs — Muslims who migrated to Pakistan from India after the 1947 partition — are also being lured into the group, officials said.

Counter-terrorism officials in Karachi have a list of several hundred active al-Qaeda members, which makes them assume there are at least a few thousand on the streets.

In Karachi, AQIS has divided itself into three operational segments — recruitment, financial and tactical — made up of four-to-sixperson cells. The recruitment cells work in madrasas and schools, casually preaching Islam before targeting certain students for potential recruitment, officials said.

Cells solicit local businesses for donations, often under the guise of supporting Islamic charities, officials said. Militants are often found carrying hundreds of dollars in cash. l

[This is an excerpt from a The Washington Post article, which can be found at http://wapo.st/1RTklOL]

9

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

Stung by criticism, Trump vows to work for ethnic harmony n Reuters, Washington, DC US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump offered a message of ethnic harmony on Friday at a Christian evangelical conference as he sought to calm concern about his criticism of a Mexican-American judge.

In a departure from his usual free-wheeling style, Trump read a carefully scripted speech from a teleprompter as part of a new push by his campaign to tone down the outspoken New Yorker’s harsh rhetoric.

Trump’s remarks included a wide-ranging attack on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, and he said money aimed at resettling Syrian refugees in the United States should instead be spent on tackling poverty in US cities.

Speaking to the annual conference of the conservative Faith & Freedom Coalition, Trump did not mention the controversy over his charge that US District Judge Gonzalo Curiel cannot treat him fairly because of his Mexican heritage. But Trump did make a point of saying he would represent all Americans if elected president on November 8.

Paul Ryan, the top elected US Republican, had criticised Trump

Clinton leads Trump by 11 percentage points, nearly the same as a week ago, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday.

Syrian refugees

Donald Trump gestures after addressing The Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road To Majority” conference in Washington on Friday REUTERS for what he called a “textbook definition of a racist comment” for his remarks about the judge.

Other Republican leaders warned Trump to change his tone or risk losing their support.

Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who led a movement to derail Trump’s nomination, told CNN he would not consider running for the White House.

Romney blasted Trump for comments that he said denigrated Mexicans, women and religion.

Romney said he expects Trump to get the Republican nomination,

but said that he will not vote for either Trump or Clinton. He left open the possibility of casting a ballot for the Libertarian Party candidate, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson.

As Trump sought to rally more Republicans behind him, Clinton met with US Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts to try and shore up support from the left wing of the Democratic Party.

Clinton later addressed the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the non-partisan arm of the women’s health group, and had Trump trained in her sights.

Trump on Friday criticised Clinton’s willingness to accept thousands of Syrian refugees into the United States and challenged her to “replace her support for increased refugee admission” in favour of a new jobs program for inner cities.

He stopped short of repeating his call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, a proposal that has drawn heavy fire from Republicans and Democrats.

At the funeral on Friday of boxing champion Muhammad Ali, a convert to Islam, one speaker, a rabbi, inveighed against politicians promoting intolerance of Muslims.

“We will not tolerate politicians or anyone else putting down Muslims and blaming Muslims for a few people,” said Rabbi Michael Lerner, the editor of Tikkun magazine, who said he attended the ceremony in Louisville, Kentucky, as a representative of American Jews.

Trump said Clinton’s refusal to use the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” - favoured by Republicans to describe violent Islamist militants - makes her unfit to be president. l

EU referendum: Over 400,000 register to vote during extension period 11 DAYS TO GO

n Tribune International Desk More than 400,000 people applied to register to vote in the EU referendum during the 48-hour extension period after the registration site was overwhelmed with demand, reports The Guardian.

Downing Street said the total number of registrations over the past week had been 1.5 million voters, though not all would be eligible or new voters, with many using the system to check they are definitely registered.

The new deadline of midnight on Thursday night passed without the technical issues that plagued the final hours of the original one on Tuesday. Emergency legislation allowing registration to

The EU referendum voter registration website continue for 48 hours, rushed through both the Commons and the Lords without a vote.

Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin said on Tuesday the surge of applications was “three times as intense a spike [as the one] that oc-

REUTERS

curred before the general election”.

On Wednesday, more than 135,600 people under 35 applied to register, according to the registration tracker on the official site.

Overall, the site received 242,000 applications on Wednesday and

DT

World

a further 195,000 applications on Thursday. Five minutes before the deadline at midnight on Thursday, just under 5,000 people were still on the site attempting to register.

Leave campaigners have said Downing Street’s willingness to allow an extension to the registration deadline is because younger voters are more likely to back the UK remaining in the EU and are also more likely to have registered at the last minute. The Leave, EU campaign chief, Arron Banks, highlighted an earlier problem with ineligible voters receiving postal votes and polling cards. He said: “Taken together, we believe that the above constitutes a clear attempt to rig the referendum or, at a bare minimum, to load the dice. We believe it is unconstitutional at best and have been advised that with legitimate cause we could challenge this extension.” l

USA

Poll: Clinton leads Trump by 11 points in White House race Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 11 points in the US presidential race according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday. The online poll, conducted from Monday to Friday, shows 46% of likely voters support Clinton while 34.8% back Trump. Another 19.2% support neither candidate.

-REUTERS

THE AMERICAS

Mexico, Singapore leaders back TPP ratification Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Friday that he and Singaporean counterpart Tony Tan will promote the ratification of a trans-Pacific trade pact. After talks at the capital’s ornate National Palace, Pena Nieto said the two agreed to deepen bilateral relations, bolster ties between Southeast Asia and Latin America and promote the ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

-AFP

UK

UK Nobel winners back EU after Brexit poll boost Thirteen of Britain’s top scientists signed a letter backing the campaign to remain in the EU Saturday after a dramatic new poll boosted the momentum behind the Brexit campaign less than two weeks before the June 23 referendum. Nobel Prize winners including Peter Higgs and geneticist Paul Nurse said the loss of research funding would be one consequence of leaving the bloc.

-AFP

EUROPE

Thousands protest against US drones in Germany Several thousand demonstrators formed a human chain along the perimeter of a US Air Force base in southwest Germany on Saturday in protest against drone operations by the US. The demonstration was organised by the alliance “Stop Ramstein - No Drone War”, which says the Ramstein base transmits information between operators in the US and unmanned drone aircraft in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Syria.

-REUTERS

AFRICA

Libyan forces claim port in IS stronghold of Sirte Forces aligned with Libya’s unity government said on Friday they had taken control of the port of Sirte, making further gains in Islamic State’s North African stronghold. Brigades largely composed of fighters from Misrata advanced this week to the perimeter of Sirte’s city centre, after launching a counter attack against IS last month.

-REUTERS

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World

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

INSIGHT

How Yemen’s wartime central bank keeps country afloat n Reuters, Dubai As civil war engulfs Yemen, the central bank is so committed to staying neutral that it pays salaries of soldiers on both sides.

The bank distributes money to public-sector workers in both government and rebel-held areas, and guarantees payments for vital grain and flour imports.

Central banks play an important role in many economies but in Yemen, which has been plagued by a war for more than a year, it is keeping the country from financial collapse and the population from running out of food.

The Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) is based in the capital Sanaa, which isn’t even controlled by the internationally recognised government.

The city was seized by Houthi rebels in late 2014.

The CBY represents the last bastion of the financial system in the impoverished country and is effectively running the economy, according to central bank officials, foreign diplomats and Yemeni political sources on both sides of the war.

Its independence is not just an institutional need; to safeguard imports and forestall a looming famine, international lenders and traders must have confidence in the bank’s ability to manage Yemen’s riyal currency and foreign exchange reserves free of political interference, said the sources.

The country relies on imports for 90% of its food, but shipments have been falling since the war began; 21 million out of its 28 million people need some form of humanitarian aid and over half the population suffer from malnutrition.

The CBY regularly disburses riyals to pay soldiers loyal to the Houthis and other state employees on ministry payrolls in territory held by the group.

The amounts involved are unclear, and no official statistics have been released by the CBY since the war began.

The bank also sends money to the port of Aden - declared the “temporary capital” by the government - to pay doctors, teachers and some soldiers in government-run areas in southern and eastern Yemen, the CBY sources, diplomats and political sources said.

Though no civilian flights fly the same route, every few weeks a plane from state airline Yemenia flies several million dollars in riyals from the central bank in Sanaa to Aden in the south, they added.

Central bank sources declined to be named as they are not author-

ised to speak publicly. A spokesman for the central bank said it had decided not to conduct interviews during the crisis.

The diplomats and political sources also asked to remain anonymous, citing the sensitivity of the situation.

Food shipments

The crisis began in September 2014 when the Iran-allied Houthis seized Sanaa. An Arab military alliance led by Saudi Arabia intervened last year, seeking to restore ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and has launched thousands of air strikes against the Houthis.

The fighting - which has killed more than 6,400 people and displaced 2.5 million - has also allowed al Qaeda to consolidate its presence in the country.

The conflict has hit access to basic supplies like food, fuel and medicine amid the coalition’s near-blockade on ports. The central bank plays a key role in keeping vital goods coming in, guaranteeing imports of flour and grain at official rates, but it cancelled such pledges for rice and sugar in February as its dollar reserves dwindled.

Western banks have already cut credit lines for traders shipping food to Yemen due to the security chaos and fragility of the financial system, Reuters reported in March.

They are increasing unwilling to offer letters of credit, which guarantee sellers will be paid on time.

Any sign that Yemen’s fiscal policies and dwindling foreign exchange reserves - used to pay for imports - are being mismanaged could lead to a further fall in shipments, central bank and political sources said.

The Houthis are likely to have received more central bank cash for their troops than the government, as when they seized Sanaa thousands of their militiamen were added to army rosters and became entitled to state pay, political sources say.

Many pro-government troops were recruited after the war erupted, however, so were not on existing rosters. They were therefore not eligible for official pay but instead receive salaries from the Saudi-led alliance.

Hero’s welcome

Much of the credit for the central bank’s survival lies with Mohammed Bin Humam, its 69-year-old governor who has cordial ties to both sides in the civil war.

When the Gulf Arab alliance intervened in Yemen, Hadi and many of his ministers fled to luxury guest houses in Riyadh.

People stand next to food aid they received from a local charity in Sanaa, Yemen on June 5

REUTERS

BATTLE FOR YEMEN Clashes

Previous Previous AQAP (al-Qaeda in air strikes the Arabian Peninsula) attacks

Saudi-led air strikes

Munabiah Shada

Monwakh

al-Buqa

Abs Hodaida

SANAA

al-Mahwit

Hodeidah Raymah

Taiz

Al-Maharah

al-Siddah Shabwa

Mukalla

Al-Bayda CONTROLLED BY Houthi militia

Al-Dhalea Sharqa

Lahej Bab el-Mandeb

YEMEN

Marib

Dammar

Zabeed Ibb

Hadramout

Al-Jawf

Amran

Aden

Bin Humam stayed in Sanaa.

Diplomats and central bank officials say an unwritten “economic truce” was agreed between the warring sides by which the CBY would remain free of political interference to avert economic collapse.

When government forces retook Aden from rebel forces in July 2015 and Hadi pledged to set up a temporary capital there, uncertainty spread over whether the CBY would shift base. Bin Humam then suddenly left Sanaa.

“In Sanaa they (the Houthis) were afraid. They thought he defected,” a senior Yemeni security official told Reuters.

“He travelled to Saudi Arabia and met government officials there.

He received guarantees that the neutrality of the bank would still be

Warplanes struck the Houthi-held presidential palace

Contested Undetermined With AQAP presence

respected. Then when he returned, they greeted him like a hero.”

Videos posted on YouTube showed central bank employees mobbing him as he returned to its headquarters, with men kissing him on both cheeks and women ululating in joy.

Low reserves

Despite efforts to shore up the economy, the central bank may be running out of options.

Yemen faced daunting economic challenges even before the war, but had one saving grace: oil. Its energy industry accounted for 80% of its state budget and nearly half of the inflow of foreign currency.

But exports stopped over a year ago and foreign companies have pulled out; the country’s largest oil

export terminal was only wrested back by the government from al Qaeda fighters in late April and its main natural gas port is still in territory under the sway of the militants.

With little means of replenishing its foreign exchange reserves, the central bank has burned through its dollars to pay for imports and keep up Yemen’s foreign debt obligations.

The reserves have fallen to around $1.1bn from $4.7bn at the end of 2014. The IMF put them at well below two months’ of imports, which it told Reuters was “very, very low”.

“Economic collapse is a genuine, imminent threat,” a European diplomat said, adding that only a swift peace deal in floundering UNbacked talks in Kuwait may forestall disaster. l

11

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SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

Islamic State claims blasts near Damascus Shia shrine n Reuters, Amman

Islamic State claimed responsibility for suicide and car bomb blasts that struck a Damascus suburb on Saturday near Syria’s holiest Shia Muslim shrine, and a monitoring group said at least 20 people were killed.

State television showed debris, mangled cars and wrecked shops in a main commercial thoroughfare near the Sayeda Zeinab shrine, in an area where at least three bomb attacks claimed by Islamic State have killed and wounded scores of people this year.

The ultra-hardline Sunni militants of IS, whose many foes are advancing on a number of fronts in both Syria and Iraq, are avowed enemies of Shia’s, whom they consider a heretical group within Islam.

State media said at least eight people were killed. But the UKbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll had risen to at least 20, including at least 13 civilians, with the other victims coming from pro-government militias. It said

the number was expected to rise because many of the scores of wounded people were in critical condition.

Islamic State said two of its suicide bombers had blown themselves up and operatives had detonated an explosives-laden car, according to the IS-affiliated Amaq news agency.

The Sayeda Zeinab shrine is a magnet for thousands of Iraqi and Afghan Shia militia recruits who go there before being assigned to front lines, where they fight against the Sunni rebel groups trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad. Almost every Shia militia fighter bears insignia on his combat fatigues with the words “For your sake, Sayeda Zeinab”.

Sectarian split

The heavily garrisoned area near the shrine is also a well known stronghold of Lebanon’s powerful Shia Hezbollah group, an Iranian-backed movement that is one of Assad’s chief allies.

Non-jihadist rebels say Iran’s strong military intervention on the

side of Assad, alongside its backing of other Shia militias, is fuelling the sectarian dimension of the nearly six-year Syrian civil war by drawing even more radical foreign Sunni jihadists into the country.

Separately, US-backed Syrian forces made new territorial gains against Islamic State on Saturday, moving closer to another of its major strongholds in northern Syria, according to the monitoring group.

The Observatory said the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), bringing together Kurdish and Arab fighters, were now almost 17km from the city of al-Bab, an Islamic State stronghold north east of Aleppo.

The SDF on Friday cut off the last route into the encircled town of Manbij from al-Bab after over a week of advances around that area, allowing it to lay siege to the large town from all directions, the monitor said..

In other frontlines in northern Syria, two rebel sources said Russian and Syrian jets stepped up their relentless aerial bombing of their positions in the northern city of Aleppo. l

Men and Syrian Army members inspect a damaged site after a suicide and car bomb attack in south Damascus Shia suburb of Sayeda Zeinab on Saturday REUTERS

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12 Business

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

TOP STORIES IMPORT DUTY FOR RECONDITIONED AND NEW HYBRID CARS

Cylinder Capacity Slab

Reconditioned Hybrid Car

New Hybrid Car

45% 100% 200% 350% 500%

30% 60% 150% 300% 500%

Till 1500cc 1501cc to 2000cc 2001cc to 2750cc 2751cc to 4000cc Above 4000cc

Barvida seeks special duty benefit Reconditioned vehicle importers and dealers want special duty benefit on the import of reconditioned hybrid cars to increase the sale of eco-friendly vehicles in the country PAGE 13

Draghi call for governments to boost growth sends markets lower World stock markets fell last week as European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi again called for urgent action by politicians to breathe new life into the tepid eurozone economy.

PAGE 14

MD crisis hits financial sector hard n Jebun Nesa Alo The bank and insurance sectors have long been facing crisis as there is a lack of managing directors in the market.

On the other hand, the age limit on service set by the respective authorities add salt to the wounds.

Due to age restriction, the seasoned managing directors for banks and insurances fail to contribute to their service sectors despite having capacity to work with dexterity.

The job contract of four stateowned banks’ managing directors – Sonali, Janata, Rupali and Agrani – will end soon this year, but they have a chance to get an extension till they are 65 as per the Bangladesh Bank rule.

The four are M Farid Uddin of Rupali Bank, Pradip Kumar Dutta of Sonali Bank, Abdus Salam of Janata Bank and Syed Abdul Hamid of Agrani Bank.

Unlike Bangladesh, in India and Pakistan, the age limit for the top

It is a sign of the caution that permeates the global economic outlook when four of the world’s top central banks, all due to meet within days of each other, are almost unanimously expected to make no change to their extraordinary stimulus programmes.

PAGE 15

Capital market snapshot: Past Week DSE Broad Index

4,419.0

-0.6% ▼

Index

1,082.9

-1.3% ▼

30 Index

1,738.1

-1.3% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk

17,257.8 -20.5% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

443.9 -35.6% ▼

CSE All Share Index 13,597.9

-0.7% ▼

30 Index

12,550.5

-0.1% ▼

Selected Index

8,274.3

-0.7% ▼

Turnover in Mn Tk

1,263.8 -14.3% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

38.1 -37.7% ▼

still serving the country with efficiency even at his 86.

So, the government can extend the age limit for the MD posts considering the real scenario in the market, Mustafa said, adding that at the same time the government has to put more effort to create skilled manpower for a long-term solution.

‘The government should utilise skilled manpower as long as they can serve the companies amid skilled manpower shortage in the financial sector’ He suggested that the government consider relaxing the age restriction of 65 years for managing director posts as the average life expectancy and working ability have increased.

Referring to the finance minister’s age, he said AMA Muhith is

Though the age limit for the post of managing director in the banking sector is set at 65 by the central bank, it is 67 for the insurance sector.

The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) set the age limit for the top post,

FBCCI ashamed of ever complicated budget n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

Caution pervades at four of world’s top central banks

post of bank companies is 70 years.

Mustafa K Mujeri, economist and former director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, said: “The government should utilise skilled manpower as long as they can serve the companies amid skilled manpower shortage in the financial sector.”

The Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) feels ashamed of the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2016-17 as the budget proposal did not reflect its recommendations.

The country’s apex trade body has also termed the proposed budget ever complicated as, what it said, it is full of obscurity.

The apex trade body leaders came up with the remark at a press conference on the proposed national budget held at its office in the city yesterday.

“As a president of the trade body, I really feel ashamed that only 11% of the recommendations from the business community were reflected in the proposed budget,” said FBCCI president Abdul Matlub Ahmed while addressing the press conference.

He said: “The platform for the country’s business associations and chambers had earlier placed a total of 447 recommendations to the government including their demands, of which only 11.85% or 53 were reflected in the budget proposal.”

“As the time we spent doing dozens of meetings with the National Board of Revenue (NBR)

went in vein, it is a matter of consideration whether the FBCCI will sit with the NBR in future budget discussion or not,” said Ahmed.

“It is high time that the NBR came on the right track,” he added.

Addressing the press conference, the FBCCI leaders once again demanded implementation of the proposed registration of retailers under the value added tax (VAT) law with a provision of paying 0.5% package VAT on turnover.

The body also claimed that it had hold dozens of meetings with the NBR to place their demands during the last four months.

“As the NBR has imposed its own decisions on the business people, the dialogues were nothing but farcical,” said Ahmed.

“If the government wants to increase VAT, it has to consider the demands of the business people,” he noted.

For the retailers or shop owners, the apex chamber had demanded to set up turnover VAT at 0.5% of package VAT. It also requested the government to set turnover VAT at 3% in production stage for turnover from Tk36 lakh to Tk 1.5 crore, and setting VAT at 4% for traders who are unable to get rebate and to set turnover VAT at 2% for traders who sell products at fixed prices.

Regarding the package VAT, Matlub said: “The country’s small traders will be able operate factories, if only 0.5% VAT is offered to them. It will also help to increase government’s revenue income several times.”

“The new proposed VAT is creating problems for the mass people and hurting the business especially the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the government has doubled the package VAT without considering business environment,” said FBCCI First Vice President M Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin.

He also urged the government to continue the tax at source at 0.60% and to lower the corporate to 10% to attract more investment. l

considering the skilled manpower shortage in the sector, a source said.

Currently, a total of 15 insurance companies including life and nonlife are running with just acting managing directors due to lack of manpower.

While Bangladesh’s financial sector is suffering from a complete lack of experienced manpower, the Finance Ministry fixed the age limit for deputy governors at 62 years.

Moreover, the ministry is also thinking about setting the same age limit for the post of managing directors.

Bangladesh Bank is the authority of setting the service age limit for MDs of bank companies and it approves the appointment of Mds as per the bank company act, said a top manager of the central bank.

He added that sometimes the Ministry of Finance tries to intervene in MD selection process specially in the case of state-owned banks, making the appointment politicised. l

NUSDAT-UTS receives BAB accreditation n Tribune Business Desk The country’s first ever testing lab for electronics and electrical good’s quality called ‘NUSDAT-UTS (Universal Testing Services)’ has received accreditation from the Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB).

With an aim to test the quality of electronics and electrical products, the country’s first ever world-class testing lab NUSDAT-UTS had earlier begun its journey in 2015.

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu handed over the BAB accreditation certificate to Walton Group’s Executive Director SM Zahid Hasan at a programme on “World Accreditation Day” held at the conference room of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) in the capital on Thursday. l

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Business

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

Barvida seeks special duty benefit for reconditioned hybrid cars n Syed Samiul Basher Anik Reconditioned vehicle importers and dealers want special duty benefit on the import of reconditioned hybrid cars to increase the sale of eco-friendly vehicles in the country.

At a press conference yesterday, they said although the government offered such benefit for new hybrid cars in the proposed budget, reconditioned ones were omitted.

Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (Barvida) termed the move as “discriminatory” and called on the government to offer special duty benefits for reconditioned hybrid cars.

Barvida Secretary General Mahbubul Haque Chowdhury Babar said the duty waiver for new hybrid cars, that has been for last eight

IMPORT DUTY FOR RECONDITIONED AND NEW HYBRID CARS

Cylinder Capacity Slab

Reconditioned Hybrid Car

New Hybrid Car

45% 100% 200% 350% 500%

30% 60% 150% 300% 500%

Till 1500cc 1501cc to 2000cc 2001cc to 2750cc 2751cc to 4000cc Above 4000cc years, didn’t benefit the buyers much due to their high prices. He said only 300 new hybrid cars were imported in last three years despite the facility.

In the FY2016-17 budget, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said concession of duty for hybrid cars on the basis of engine cylinder volume has been proposed for revision because of “their importance as a fuel-efficient and environment-friendly vehicles.”

As per the proposed budgetary measures, the supplementary duty

on import of new hybrid cars will be 30% for 1500cc cars, while it is 45% for reconditioned hybrid cars.

For cars between 1501cc to 2000cc, the regular duty rate is 100% and for new hybrid cars it is 60%.

For cars between 2001cc to 2750cc, the regular duty rate is 200% for reconditioned hybrid cars and for new hybrid cars it is 150%. The duty rate for reconditioned hybrid cars between 2751cc and 4000cc is 350% and for new hybrid cars it Is 300%. Duty for cars of above 4000cc remains same for

both new and reconditioned hybrid cars.

Of the total car import at present, 85% are reconditioned and 15% new. But 14% of the new cars are being used by the government offices, Barvida says.

“The government earlier told us that duty benefit will be given to the import of reconditioned hybrid cars. But that did not happen. So we demand same duty benefit given to new hybrid cars for reconditioned ones to see more eco-friendly cars on the streets of Bangladesh,” said Barvida President Abdul Hamid Sharif.

Hybrid cars are popular across the world because of less carbon emission and less dependence on fuel fossil. However, the cars are yet to gain popularity in Bangladesh due to prices. Consumers

Google co-founder fuels flying car labs n AFP, San Francisco Google co-founder Larry Page has secretly poured more than $100 million into building flying cars, Bloomberg reported last week.

Page has backed Zee.Aero while striving to keep his involvement hidden, according to the report that cited unnamed sources described as having intimate knowledge of the flying car startup launched in 2010.

“Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, Zee is developing a revolutionary new form of transportation,” the startup said on its website, which invited people with engineering skills to apply for jobs.

Zee is “working at the intersection of aerodynamics, advanced

manufacturing, and electric propulsion,” it said.

As part of a bid for secrecy, Zee.Aero employees referred to Page as “GUS,” a play on “Guy UpStairs” since, for a time, the Google co-founder had a private hideaway on the second floor of their facility, according to Bloomberg.

It said Zee.Aero has nearly 150 employees and expanded operations to an airport hangar a little more than an hour’s drive from Alphabet-owned Google’s headquarters in the California city of Mountain View.

Page has spent more than $100 million on Zee.Aero, according to Bloomberg.

It also reported that Page was backing a second flying car start-

up, Kitty Hawk, that began operating last year not far from Zee.Aero and is taking a different design approach.

Neither Zee.Aero nor Alphabet responded to AFP requests for comment.

Page is pursuing a flying car dream on his own, not as part of Alphabet’s investments in “moonshots” such as self-driving cars, Bloomberg said.

Google announced plans last month to open a Detroit-area technology center for its self-driving car program.

The new center in Novi, Michigan, will house engineers and others testing vehicles provided by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, according to an Alphabet statement.

Google added 100 new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid vehicles to its fleet of self-driving vehicles in a major expansion earlier in May. The collaboration with Fiat Chrysler marked the first time the California-based Internet giant has worked directly with an automaker to build self-driving vehicles.

Google has said it would not license its autonomous car technology nor sell the self-driving minivans.

The tech titan began testing its autonomous driving technology in 2009 using a Toyota Prius equipped with Google equipment.

It now has some 70 vehicles, including Lexus cars, adapted by Google in addition to its in-house designed cars unveiled in 2014. l

Lenovo looks beyond computers with slick new phones n AFP, San Francisco Chinese computer titan Lenovo showcased a series of new smartphones, including a keenly-awaited Tango handset and new Moto Z models that can be transformed into video projectors or powerful speakers.

A market-ready PHAB2 Pro smartphone imbued with Google-created Tango augmented reality technology was given star treatment at a Lenovo Tech World gathering in San Francisco.

PHAB2 can sense and map its surroundings, enabling holograms to be overlaid on real world settings for anything from game play to fig-

uring out which size sofa would fit in a room.

The big-screen gadget will be available globally in September for $499.

“It is a pretty incredible piece of technology for, really, a great price,” said Tango engineering director Johnny Lee.

Transforming smartphones

In what Lenovo chief executive Yang Yuanqing billed as perhaps the most important announcement at the event, Lenovo also unveiled new Moto Z smartphones that can be customized with “mods” - specialized pieces of hardware that snap into place magnetically to

give handsets added capabilities.

For example, one mod let a Moto Z project video on walls or ceilings at sizes as large as a 70-inch television screen.

Another mod turned Moto Z handsets into powerful speakers.

“This phone can transform itself,” said Hollywood star and Lenovo spokesman Ashton Kutcher.

“This is actually a full-blown game-changer.”

Lenovo also launched a smartphone mod program for developers, enticing them with a million-dollar prize for a mod that best integrates handsets with services hosted in the Internet cloud.

Moto Z will be available in the

United States in coming months through carrier Verizon, with models debuting globally later in the year, according to Lenovo.

Pricing was not disclosed.

Moto Z is made by Motorola, which Lenovo bought from Google in early 2014 in a deal valued at $2.91 billion.

The acquisition was part of a strategy by Lenovo to look beyond personal computers, where it is a market powerhouse, to a future of nearly everything being smart and connected to the Internet, according to Yang.

“Devices will become entry points for diverse content and services,” he said. l

have to pay about 21% to 25% higher to get a new hybrid car than a same model reconditioned car.

“A hybrid car costs a consumer $5,000 to $10,000 more compared to a standard version of petrol car.

The extra amount can be offset with lower running cost and tax exemption,” said Barvida president.

“Last eight years of experience tells us that less supplementary duty only on new vehicles is not enough to grow a market. Less tax benefit has to be extended to reconditioned cars too so more people buy hybrid vehicles.”

If the import duty benefit is given to reconditioned hybrid cars, it can reduce fuel consumption by 60% along with reduction of petroleum import that can help Bangladesh use its fuel and CNG in productive works, said Barvida. l

Stocks see subdued postbudget week n Tribune Business Desk

After several weeks of poor performance, the stock markets, following the FY2016-17 budget announcement, finished the last week flat.

There was modest profit-booking coupled with disappointment over the budget and hype over the debutant ACME Laboratories, according to dealers.

The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX lost 27 points or 0.7% to close at 4,419.

The blue-chip comprising index DS30 fell 23 points or 1.4% to finish at 1,738.

The DSE Shariah Index DSES was down 14 points or over 1% to 1,083.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX closed at 8,274, shedding 55 points or 0.7%.

Trading activities remained poor as the DSE daily turnover average stood at Tk345 crore, down over 20% compared to the previous week’s average.

ACME, which made debut on Tuesday, attracted the investors who cashed fund to take position on the stocks releasing other holdings.

Supported by ACME Laboratories, pharmaceutical sector performed well and accounted for 25% of the week’s total turnover.

“The market passed a week of consolidation after the declaration of FY2016-17 budget,” IDLC Investments said. l

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Business

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

Draghi call for governments to boost Investors avoiding risk on weak global GDP outlook growth sends markets lower n Reuters, New York

The prospect of a British vote on June 23 in favor of Brexit exiting the European Union - remains a dark cloud over markets

ECB President Draghi delivers a speech at the Brussels Economic Forum REUTERS

n AFP, New York World stock markets fell last week as European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi again called for urgent action by politicians to breathe new life into the tepid eurozone economy.

Eurozone lawmakers must enact fiscal reform and stimulus, Draghi said, adding “the cost of delay is simply too high.”

The demand for governments to act rather than rely on central banks to boost growth came as billionaire investors Carl Icahn and George Soros made bearish statements about the world economy, and as Britain’s looming EU mem-

bership vote continued to dampen on investor sentiment.

In New York the markets ended a three-day streak of gains with the S&P 500 losing 0.2%.

Germany’s DAX led the main European bourses lower, off 1.3%, and earlier in Asia the Nikkei in Tokyo fell 1%.

“Draghi’s warning that governments are not doing enough to stimulate growth feeds into the belief that the recovery is going to be extremely slow and weak,” Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA trading group, told AFP. “Draghi appears to be suggesting that the ECB is nearing the limit of what it can do, which may indi-

cate that the central bank won’t be as aggressive with future stimulus as they have in the past.”

The losses came as the rate on British 10-year government bonds hit a new all-time low, while US treasury yields retreated to multi-month lows.

Falling interest rates “are starting to create a sinking feeling because they are not aligned with a healthy economic outlook at all,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

The prospect of a British vote on June 23 in favor of Brexit - exiting the European Union - remains a dark cloud over markets. A study by a Dutch government thinktank said the Netherlands could suffer a 1.2% fall in GDP by 2030 and a 10bn euro trade loss if Britain leaves the EU. With interest rates so low expected to drag on bank profits, banking shares were hammered again Thursday. Germany’s Commerzbank lost 3.2%, France’s Societe Generale 2.1% and US giant Wells Fargo 1.7%.

Mining shares retreated with tumbling copper prices. Anglo American lost 4.5%, BHP Billiton 4.5% and Freeport-McMoRan 5.9%. l

Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive of DoubleLine Capital, said on Friday that investors are dropping risky assets from their portfolios because of falling global Gross Domestic Product expectations, fueled by China’s slowing growth, and the intensifying US presidential race.

“Falling global GDP expectations, fueled by China having trouble holding it together, are affecting financial markets,” Gundlach said in an email to Reuters. “And then, there’s the unfolding Trump ‘victory scare narrative.’”

On Friday, global growth worries and a sharp drop in oil prices

sent jitters through Wall Street, leading the three major US indexes lower for the second straight day on Friday.

The yield on the US Treasury note plunged to 1.633%, it’s lowest since February 11, on Friday.

“If the 10-year Treasury note’s yield breaks below the three-year resistance, then it is a big game changer,” Gundlach said. He said he did not think it would happen on Friday but could do so in coming weeks.

Brexit fears and mixed messages from Federal Reserve officials are adding to the risk aversion in financial markets. Britain will vote on a referendum on June 23 to decide whether the country should remain in the European Union. l

CORPORATE NEWS

LankaBangla Finance Limited and MasterCard has recently launched LankaBangla Titanium MasterCard Credit Card, said a press release. Mohammed Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, managing director of LankaBangla Finance Limited and Syed Mohammad Kamal, country manager of MasterCard Bangladesh were present at the launching ceremony

Oil sinks as investors flee risk on growth worries n AFP, New York

Swept up in a global markets selloff on concerns about economic growth, oil prices tumbled Friday as investors snared profits from a recent rally.

Risk aversion dominated ahead of the Federal Reserve’s US interest rate decision next Wednesday and Britain’s vote on leaving the European Union the following week.

“We definitively have seen concerns about the global economic outlook ... generally speaking there’s a kind of flight to quality,” said Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group. “You have people buying gold, selling the stock market and selling oil because of the concerns.”

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery dropped $1.49 to $49.07 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, ending be-

low $50 for the first time since Monday.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August, the European benchmark, fell $1.41 to $50.54 a barrel.

Looming over the markets was Britain’s June 23 referendum that could lead to the country splitting from the 28-nation EU. The potential Brexit raises concerns it would hurt European economic growth, pushing investors to cut risk exposure, said Tim Evans of Citi Futures.

“The oil market is seeing its own flow of related selling, with traders inclined to cash profits off recent gains ahead of the weekend,” Evans said.

Earlier in the week, WTI reached its highest level in nearly a year supported by production outages in Nigeria caused by militant attacks, and, more broadly, by the

notion that the global oversupply was easing.

“We still have a lot of oil on the market,” said Gene McGillian of Tradition Energy McGillian said.

“You can’t completely ignore the fact we still have near-record inventories in the US and around the world ... even though there are signs of falling production in the US and unplanned supply disruptions in countries like Nigeria and Libya.”

With prices nearly doubling from February lows, there were indications that US production was beginning to stabilize. Official data showed Wednesday the first weekly output increase in three months.

On Friday, the number of active US oil rigs rose for the second week in a row, according to oilfield services firm Baker Hughes. The count rose by three last week to 328, still far below 635 a year ago. l

Social Islami Bank Limited has recently held a business review meeting to evaluate the bank’s business position, said a press release. The bank’s chairperson Major Dr Md Rezaul Haque (retired) was present at the meeting as chief guest while its managing director & CEO, Md Shafiqur Rahman presided over the meeting

Marcel has recently opened an exclusive distributor showroom named Niamot Motors and Electronics at Singra in Natore, said a press release. The company’s brand ambassador, film actor Amin Khan inaugurated the showroom

DT

15

Business

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

Sterling hit after survey puts Brexit camp 10 points ahead n Reuters, London

A taxi and buses queue outside the Bank of England in London, Britain

REUTERS

Caution pervades at four of world’s top central banks n Reuters, London It is a sign of the caution that permeates the global economic outlook when four of the world’s top central banks, all due to meet within days of each other, are almost unanimously expected to make no change to their extraordinary stimulus programmes.

While the US Federal Reserve, Bank of England, Swiss National Bank and the Bank of Japan are all dealing with varying amounts or shortages of inflation, none are expected to act ahead of one of the biggest risk events of 2016.

Britain’s referendum on whether to remain in or leave the European Union has been creeping from the back to the front of investors’ minds. During the last full week of campaigning before the June 23 vote, it may dominate most discussion.

Janet Yellen’s Fed has spent most of the past month or so dropping hints that a summer rate hike was on the way. However, disappointing May hiring data and a UK vote that is too close in the polls to have confidence in the outcome have toned down her message,

making a rate rise on June 15 now highly unlikely.

That leaves financial markets stuck in a holding pattern with renewed fears about global growth pushing against safety nets that central banks have built up over the years, according to Valentin Marinov, head of G10 FX strategy at CA-CIB. So a packed week of data releases for the world’s largest economy, including retail sales, housing starts, building permits as well as inflation, will at best be able to help build the case for a Fed rise as soon as July, rather than September.

“Weak labor market data have messed up the carefully-prepared script for the Fed’s next rate move.

An interest rate rise at the meeting next week is off the table,” wrote Christoph Balz, economist at Commerzbank, in a note.

“However ... the US labour market recovery is not over yet and a rate hike at the meeting in July is therefore still on the agenda.”

A recent Reuters poll showed four-fifths of a sample of 90 economists expect a rate rise in either July or September, with most leaning toward the latter month, and

with many saying a hiring rebound could seal an earlier move.

June jobs data won’t be released until early July. But for the most part, the economy has been performing well: an analysis of key economic releases since the last Fed meeting shows 70% have come in at or above Reuters poll forecasts.

US retail sales may stage a milder 0.4% rise on the month after a 1.3% surge in April, while housing starts and permits will be watched closely after a blowout month in April for pending and new home sales.

Core consumer price inflation is likely to remain on a relatively steady course a few ticks above 2%.

In Britain, where not a soul expects the Bank of England to change policy just ahead of the EU referendum but instead focus on contingency planning and market liquidity in the event of a vote to leave, price pressures are weaker.

Headline inflation, which the BoE targets, is forecast to rise to 0.4%, with core inflation at 1.3%.

The UK jobless rate is forecast to hold steady at 5.1%, close to what many would call full employment.

But with a slowdown this year in the UK economy which a majority

of analysts attribute to jitters ahead of the referendum, talk about interest rates has shifted from the next rate rise to whether they will need to be cut.

In Japan, the dearth of inflation is much more severe, much as it has been for the better part of two decades and there is little hope for a revival any time soon.

So while the Fed is forecast to take a pass in June and possibly lift its federal funds rate gingerly in July, the Bank of Japan is forecast to take a pass on June 16 and do the opposite in July by piling on more stimulus.

Much of it will depend on the yen exchange rate, which appears now to be out of the BOJ’s control, having surged earlier this year when it surprised the markets by introducing by a narrow majority a negative deposit rate policy.

In Zurich, the SNB is also expected to leave its negative key rate unchanged at a midpoint of -0.75%, according to a Reuters poll.

There may be some signs of inflation turning but again, what the Swiss Franc does will matter a lot and what drives it is not completely within the SNB’s control. l

Betting odds on a British vote to exit the European Union shortened on Saturday after an opinion poll put the “Leave” camp 10 points ahead of “Remain”, hitting the value of the pound.

Sterling weakened by as much as 1.2% against the dollar immediately after the poll, by ORB for the Independent newspaper, was published on Friday evening.

The pound fell from $1.4343 to $1.4177, but later recovered about half of the loss.

Britons will vote on June 23 referendum on whether to leave the world’s largest free trading area, a decision with far-reaching implications for politics, the economy, trade, defence and migration in Britain and the rest of the EU. The ORB poll put support for “Leave” on 55%, against 45% for “Remain”.

Bookmaker Betfair cut the odds of a vote to stay, giving a probability of 70%, down from 78% earlier this week.

Financial markets have been paying close attention to bookmakers’ odds, especially as opinion polls failed to predict last year’s outright election victory for Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives.

However, he did say that recent referendums in Scotland, Ireland and Canada showed that opinion polls had a tendency to underestimate support for the status quo.

Biggest ‘leave’ lead Friday’s survey gave the “Brexit” camp their biggest lead since the poll series started a year ago, the Independent said. But the official Vote Leave campaign reacted cautiously, tweeting: “We don’t believe the ORB online poll, our data suggests it’s closer to 50-50.”

Bookmaker Ladbrokes said the ORB poll had caused it to shorten its odds on Brexit to 9/4 from 11/4 previously, implying a rise in the likelihood of a “Leave” vote to 30% from 27%.

“We thought the Brexit rally was finished, but the ‘Leave’ odds have tumbled again on the back of the eye-catching 10-point poll,” said a Ladbrokes spokesman.

Asked about the contradiction between the betting odds and the poll, he said the former reflected the weight of money in the market.

“Since we first started taking bets on this, 80 percent of the money we’ve taken has been for ‘Remain’. This is like any other market, the money moves the market,” the spokesman said. The mixed picture has heightened market jitters about the outcome, with sterling repeatedly reacting to poll results. l

DT

16

Career

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

Ready, set, done bringing the power of logistics to the masses.

The founders

n Nusaira Amreen Hassan Dhaka being the traffic capital of the world makes it an extraordinarily difficult place to navigate. It is frustratingly difficult to deliver or send goods from one part of the city to another.

That’s where Pathao comes in. A logistics service provider by trade, Pathao was founded with the sole intention of solving this very problem.

One of the co-founders and the managing partner of this firm is Hussain M Elius, a dynamic personality who took time out of his busy schedule to discuss his foray into the world of logistics.

an estimated rate of 300% per annum. Pathao, being a logistics service provider, immensely contributes to the growth and development of online shopping in Bangladesh. As a matter of fact, Pathao provides logistical services to the online shopping website, Bikroy, a major client of theirs. Initially, Bikroy had its own Logistics support, but now relies on the expert hands of Pathao.

three friends decided to come up with a solution for the logistical issue faced by consumers in Bangladesh. According to Elius, they wanted to make logistics as easy as sending an email. Just about a month later, the Pathao app was released. The easily accessible app can be downloaded from the company’s website, or by accessing this link http://pathao. com/downloads .

The inception

The aims

With a background in technology,

Using the tagline, “Delivery made

easy,”Pathao and its founders aim to revolutionise the way things move by ensuring fast, secure and easy delivery services for its customers, be it E-commerce vendors or individual clients.

There are a lot of couriers operating in Bangladesh, all of whom are generally slow and inefficient. Elius and his fellow co-founders wanted to leverage the wonders of technology to bring a paradigm shift in how goods are transported. They believe in making the world a better place by

Fahim Saleh is a successful entrepreneur from New York who envisioned a venture on Bangladeshi soil, a venture intended to help, rather than focus on profit maximisation. Through Pathao, Saleh wanted to create jobs and provide employment opportunities for people. On the other hand, Hussain M. Elius and Shifat Adnan, the chief technology officer, have been working together for a long time, creating tech solutions for foreign and domestic business entities.

With the help of Pathao, Adnan and Elius believe they have the opportunity and the scope to change the world as we know it. Their years of hard work and unrivalled expertise in the field of technology have allowed them to come up with the operational concept of Pathao. In fact, what sets Pathao apart as a logistics service provider is the proprietary technology that the founders have developed themselves. As Elius proudly states, the strongest part of Pathao is their team and said team can not only dream, but make those dreams a reality. l

The business

Time constraint coupled with heavy traffic greatly hinders the delivery of goods, creating numerous problems for the Bangladeshi E-commerce industry, an industry that is growing at

Elius and his fellow co-founders wanted to leverage the wonders of technology to bring a paradigm shift in how goods are transported

PHOTOS: COURTESY

DT

17

Internship

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

Change your life over the summer Finished with school or university for the summer? Sitting around at home all day? Get a head start on your career with these options

n Muzakkir Hossain If you are someone like me, having finished the academic year with an intense bout of exams and enjoying a couple or so weeks loafing around, know that you still have about two months of inactivity ahead of you. Although you may be looking forward to sleeping through the next few weeks, play that new game you’ve been looking forward to or try out all the new and hip places to eat out, what you haven’t realised is that this free period will be longer than you ever thought.

To make proper use of it, you can do something productive during the summer and help our thriving economy as well as your CV at the same time. Is you’re thinking it’s too late to join the club, fear not. There’s still time to rescue your summer with these options.

Get an internship

Sounds complicated. Let’s get the basics covered. Internships are formal programs held by employers to provide practical experience for beginners in any industry. Internships can be both paid and unpaid, and internship periods can last from a year to even just a month. It all depends on the employer and the field.

If you are a student right out of high school, your options are limited. Don’t get your hopes down though. Your lack of intensive knowledge in a field means you will probably be doing basic tasks like filing and report drafting. This, again, varies depending on the employer, the field, and most importantly, your competence. This form of internship will usually be unpaid, but as an intern, you will get more out of this experience than your employers themselves. An internship lets you experience firsthand how working in your aspired field feels so you can

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

decide on your dream career.

If you are in a university or just graduated from school, you can look for jobs in a specific field depending on your courses. An internship at this level can go unpaid, especially if you are still in university, but it can give you an insight into the field of work you will be getting into. Moreover internships allow you to build on your CV so you are better equipped to compete in the job market later on.

like TV companies or newspapers).

Approaching employers you already know can help (like a school you used to attend, or your parents’ employers.) Sounds arduous? Giving up hope? Don’t.

This process mostly requires browsing on the Internet, so lay off Facebook for a couple of hours and

an organisation with your skill set.

Bangladesh, being a developing country, is home to NGOs of different scales and fields so all you have to do is go out and find your dream gig.

From personal experience, I can say that smaller, newer NGOs benefit more from people with

How to apply

First, you decide which field you want to work in. If you are a student, you may still be going back to the dreaded question of “What do I want to be when I grow up?” As a university student, however, you are probably past that stage and have a vague idea on which industries appeal to you. If not, ask yourself the aforementioned question.

Once you have that figured out, list out the companies that wish to work for and note down their contact information. A computer with Internet and a web browser should help you do this. Bangladesh is a bit behind on the internship market compared to other countries (read: developed countries) so most companies don’t list internships on their websites. You have to go about your internship quest by emailing these companies with an appropriate cover letter, a CV and a portfolio (useful in creative fields

If you are a student right out of high school, your options are limited. Don’t get your hopes down though

make a future for yourself.

Volunteer

This sounds like it is for the benevolent among us, but volunteering can help you too.

Volunteering for an NGO is one of the easiest ways to land a summer gig, where you can help

varying skill sets, like graphic design, accounting, web design, marketing, and an extra pair of hands on the field is always welcome. Volunteering is a great way to build relevant work experience and get karma points.

To find an NGO to join, the easiest way would be to look around

Facebook and message them.

NGOs are usually very active on social media and always have events during the summer for which you can volunteer.

Expand your knowledge

Can’t get an edge on your CV by working over the summer? Try expanding your knowledge when you’re at home. The Internet provides a vast library of free resources and courses you can enroll yourself into. You wont be gaining any real world experience but adding this to your CV shows commitment to your field and keeps your brain working.

Coursera (https://www. coursera.org/) and Udemy (https:// www.udemy.com/) are hot favourites right now and their catalogs showcases courses from top Ivy League universities as well as computer-based skills like web design and data management.

If computers and the Internet aren’t your thing, you can opt for reading. J P Morgan’s summer reading list (https://am.jpmorgan. com/private-bank/public/gl/en/ summer-reading-list-2016) can help you out.

This is not, by any means, an exhaustive list of what you can do over the summer, but merely the tip of the iceberg. Summer is all about taking a break from your normal life and exploring something different, but whatever you do, don’t forget to relax and revaluate before moving on to the next step. l

DT

18

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

Ramadan Special

Ramadan: Be just a Muslim n Shireen Pasha When I was talking about love, someone asked me if I was a Sufi. When I was talking about beloved [Prophet] Mohammad’s birthday, someone asked me if I was a Shia. When I was talking about wudu, someone asked me if I was a Sunni. Over the years the questions continued. Are you a Twelver? A Niner (is there such a thing)?A 49er (never mind, that is an American football team). How about Ahmadiyya? Quadriya? Ismaili?

No. I am just a Muslim. No class. No distinction.

Just a lot of sweet delirious love for the divine, Allah, and His beloved Wali (friend). Before you jump on me - yes I believe in the five pillars. But stop there. I am curious about history, I am willing to delve into events but I refuse to be divided from

Iftar in Istanbul

you at a time when Muslims face the subtlest of holocausts with the greatest of consequences. If there is any movement worthwhile for Muslims right now it is this - “we are all just Muslims - ones who submit to Allah and the deepest knowing of consciousness and peace.”

Do you ever wonder why the division grows daily? The one who divides usually wants to steal from the divided: power and wealth (physical and metaphysical). So come into form, people. The next time someone asks you which Islamic caste you belong to, do the British thing of not dignifying that question with an answer. If the person asks a second time, give the person a vague and disinterested look signalling that the question is quite irrelevant and boring. If the person persists a third time, say “I am just a Muslim.” l

Photo: DOGAN NEWS AGENCY

19

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

| training |

| food |

Everjobs holds workshop at UIU

Iftar at Iram’s Cafe

Everjobs Bangladesh, a German based job portal company, arranged a workshop focusing on career building. The event was held at United International University (UIU) and organised

by UIU HR Forum.

The workshop mainly focused on CV writing techniques, interview techniques, corporate

| meals |

Iftar at Coffee World Coffee World has prepared an iftar menu which is balanced, healthy and also tasty. This platter offers a range of items from beverages to desserts.

It consists of a sandwiches, summer vegetable salads, pasta, vegetable pie, chips, beverages, desserts, dates and mineral water.

You can choose sandwiches, pasta, beverages and desserts from different flavors.

The sandwiches have four options; grilled chicken, smoked chicken, beef steak and smoked beef.

For the pasta, you can order either beef bolognese or chicken basil pesto.

Beverages can be chosen from a choice between mango smoothies, iced coffee, iced tea and ice cream floats.

Desserts include shahi tukda or ice cream sundae.

The platter is priced at Tk785 (vat excluded).

You can also order this from your home by foodpanda or hungrynaki.com. In that case the price will be 725 and no beverages will be included in the platter. Moreover, only shahi tukda may be provided as a dessert. l

dealing, career building, human resource management, international opportunities and personal motivation.

There were also instant walkin interviews with Everjobs. With few posts available, students of UIU were given the opportunity to apply for it.

The trainers were Gijs

Verheijke, CEO, Everjobs Asia; Sabirul Islam, managing director, Everjobs Bangladesh; Mohsinul Haque, director of Human Resource, Coca-Cola Bangladesh; Ali Ahsan Khan, head of human reasources and admin, Arla Foods Bangladesh Ltd and Araf Habib, head of marketing and branding, Kaymu Bangladesh. l

DT

Biz Info

Iram’s Café will serve iftar items for the first time this year. They have four iftar platters that include a main course, appetisers, snacks, salad, soft drinks and desserts, all for an affordable price. Each of their platters are served with a complimentary bottle of water and dates.

Platter one includes one chicken shashlik, vegetable fried rice, one chicken spring roll, one chicken wonton, green salad, one chocolate tart and one soft drink.

The price for this platter is Tk399+.

Platter two includes one chicken cheeseburger slider, one beef cheeseburger slider, two bbq chicken wings, potato wedges, green salad, one chocolate chip cookie and one soft drink. The

price for this platter is Tk499+.

Platter three includes one smoked chicken waffle, two bbq chicken wings, potato wedges, green salad, one chocolate chip cookie and one soft drink. The price for this platter is Tk549+.

Platter four includes one mexican chicken wrap, one jalapeno cheese popper, one thai fried chicken, french fries, green salad, one lemon tart and one soft drink. The price for this platter is Tk599+.

The platters are available round the clock and can also be taken away. All other menu items will still be available throughout the day.

For details, look up facebook.com/ iramscafe l

| dining |

Iftar at EmmaNuelle’s Inn

EmmaNuelle’s Inn is a boutique hotel accompanied by a restaurant. They provide a-la-carte menus on French, Continental and Thai cuisines as well as open air charcoal barbecue with a wide selection of imported and local fish and meat.

During Ramadan, EmmaNuelle’s

Inn has an iftar offer with variety of special items including crispy jilapi, mutton tehari with a buffet dinner and buffet seheri. They are also offering a 25% discount on group programs.

The place is loacted on road 71, house 9/C, Gulshan 2, right beside United Hospitals. l

DT

20 Editorial

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

TODAY

What if we stopped paying taxes?

Recurring ditch-digging on roads, use of substandard raw material in road construction every year, and carelessness in maintenance of government-issued vehicles, such as BRTC buses, are clear signs of public money being squandered PAGE 21

India struggles to keep women at work India needs an attitude change in the government to improve the conditions for women. This year’s budget is one sign that this is still missing PAGE 22

Don’t be a bully It is time we started caring about the people who fall victims to cyber bullying. We should not justify our lack of interest in such cases by saying that he/she is not my friend or family member PAGE 23

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.

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Focus on positive peace, not just curbing violence

T

he culture of violence has again expressed itself given a series of incidents, with the latest one being the murder of a staff member in a Hindu monastery in Pabna.

The findings of this year’s Global Peace Index are sobering -- Bangladesh ranked 83 out of a 163 countries, with 1 being the most peaceful. Surely, we can do much better.

The study claims that the national cost of violence is $13 billion, 30% of the national budget. We scored particularly poorly when it came to violent demonstrations, political terror, political instability, and terrorism impact. Even the perception of the public that criminal activity is going on scored pretty high.

While it has been said before that the rule of law has to be strengthened in order to reduce violence, the change needs to come along with a change in the culture of violence which has become normalised in Bangladesh.

We can learn from certain insights offered by the study on how we can tackle this.

In order to address violence, it is not sufficient for the government to work on just reducing violence, ie work on negative peace, but instead, it must also work on positive peace, ie the attitudes, institutions, and structures which create and sustain peaceful societies.

In order to figure out what creates sustainable peace, it is not sufficient to just study violence alone.

In order to work on positive peace, the recommended pillars to focus on are a sound business environment, good relations with neighbours, high levels of human capital, acceptance of the rights of others, low levels of corruption, a wellfunctioning government, the free flow of information, and equitable distribution of resources.

If the government invests wisely in positive peace, there is hope that the levels of violence and criminality will also go down.

The government must also work on positive peace, ie the attitudes, institutions, and structures which create and sustain peaceful societies

DT

21

Opinion

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

What if we stopped paying taxes?

People should have a say in what the government is doing with their money

Bureaucracy and corruption are only some of the concerns tax-payers should have

n Hasnat Lycan

W

e have seen many movements in the history of our nation, but we have yet to see any movement against paying taxes on the part of those who actually do pay taxes.

Here’s a hypothetical for you: What if there is an all-out movement where everybody just stops paying taxes altogether?

What effect will that have on our country’s economy?

The state exchequer is actually in charge of public money stored in its coffers. The public’s hardearned money is the bloodline and backbone of a country’s economy, and it should be spent or invested with proper evaluation and apt justification. The following are just a few issues, spelt out in brief, which should be taken into account by the government: 1. Mega projects such as Padma Bridge, the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Payra Sea Port, large coal-powered energy-generators like Matarbari and Rampal, and the Metro Rail and LNG terminals are being funded with tax-payer money, but those same tax-payers barely get any opportunity to share their own views in any similar government decisions of such magnitude.

2. The Tk300 crore hit on the

yearly national budget due to the implementation of 100% increment in the 8th national pay scale could have been discussed with tax-payers, or, at the very least, a referendum could have been placed on it since it is taxpayers who have to shoulder such a financial burden.

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every year, incomplete/unfinished bridges, dykes, and culverts, flawed building infrastructure, and carelessness in maintenance of government-issued vehicles, such as BRTC buses, are clear signs of public money being squandered.

5. We know that tax, as noun, means a compulsory

with regard to the quantity and quality of work). Ask yourselves: Are we really getting our fair share of what we are supposed to be provided with, according to our constitutional rights?

7. Despite the prevalence of unemployment in our country, a Tk30,000cr hit on the yearly

Recurring ditch-digging on roads, use of substandard raw material in road construction every year, and carelessness in maintenance of government-issued vehicles, such as BRTC buses, are clear signs of public money being squandered

3. Some of our state-run banks are reportedly now dependent on tax-payer money -- this is a clear sign of their under-performance, making losses every year, and thus makes a stronger case for their strict supervision and monitoring by the country’s regulatory bank, to exert some much needed pressure on these financial entities and set a standard for them to achieve. Otherwise, what motivation is there for the average tax-payer to keep paying taxes?

4. Recurring ditch-digging on roads, use of substandard raw material in road construction

contribution to state revenue. But it doesn’t take a financial genius to realise that tax money is not being utilised with the proper evaluation, transparency, and accountability that it deserves. No wonder the majority of our people are hesitant about paying taxes.

6. Under provision of the Basic Necessities Act 15 (a) & (b) in the Constitution of Bangladesh, there is (a) provision for the basic necessities of life, including food, clothing, shelter, education, and medical care; and (b) the right to work (ie the right to guaranteed employment at a reasonable wage

budget, owing to a 100% increase in the new national pay scale, was approved, paying, seemingly, less attention to the minimisation of the unemployment rate, whereas our constitution talks of guaranteed employment. There is little justification for placing this financial burden on the shoulders of tax-payers when it comes to the issue of unemployment, let alone the unnecessary promotion of bureaucrats increasing that burden on tax-payers.

A democratic country should be democratic in all aspects, not only in terms of how its leaders are

elected.

If eradicating corruption and attracting brilliant heads to make the country a better place justifies the 100% increase in the pay scale for some 2 million (if I’m not mistaken) employees -- which, apparently, impacts the majority population of the country adversely as prices of essential items, other commodities, food items, house rent, and cost of living are becoming high every day -- then ours can hardly be called a proper democracy (as if that wasn’t apparent already).

In a nutshell, it has seemingly created a vicious cycle of shoulders being burdened, with the general public on the receiving end -- an increase in pay will require more money from the state exchequer, which will then be in need of more funding and will then be managed by increasing VAT rates and income tax rates, which in turn means that nongovernment citizens will lose even more money in paying increased VAT rates and so on and so forth.

Yes, the government has the right to utilise public money according to their own decisions, but what does it say about democracy when there is no scope for tax-payers to ask how their money is being handled? l Hasnat Lycan is a writer who works for an NGO.

22

DT

Opinion

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

India struggles to keep women at work Labour force participation in India is far from equal

n Trine Mordal Jørgensen

I

ndia has experienced stable economic growth in recent years. However, fewer and fewer women are participating in the labour market.

Out of India’s female working age population, only 25.5% have a job, or are currently looking for a job. The proportion of employed women in Bangladesh is two times higher than that of India. Both Nepal and Sri Lanka also have female labour force participation rates higher than India.

The reason for this low participation is complex and consists of cultural factors, gender discrimination, and lack of resources.

According Shamika Ravi, a researcher at Brookings India, India needs an attitude change in the government to improve the conditions for women. This year’s budget is one sign that this is still missing. For the new fiscal year of 2016-2017, the central government allocated 4.5% of the government spending on women.

Women are lagging behind men when it comes to social indicators such as education, health, and economic mobility, and this year’s budget does not do enough to tackle this inequality.

MGNREGA leading the way

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which delineates the right to work, was enacted by law in 2005, and is giving women access to jobs in rural India.

According to the law, at least one-third of the workers under the program should be women, but official statistics show that the average is just over 50%.

Women are also entitled to equal wage as men, and the work site is required to have day care centres. MGNREGA acknowledges that there are gender differences in India, and that these must be accounted for when women enter the labour market.

Women who work under MGNREGA have said that the income they earn gives them a more important role in the household, and a voice in household decisions.

Research shows that increased female participation under MGNREGA leads to increased school attendance for children, and that both women and children’s health is improved.

MGNREGA still lags behind when it comes to facilitating work that is more appropriate for

Putting more women to work would give India’s GDP a massive boost women, as most of the work is targeted toward fit males.

The work carried out under MGNREGA must be manual labour, which includes digging wells, making irrigation systems, and roadwork.

This work is at times difficult to manage for women, and more gender-specific work would be a good way to improve the gender acknowledgement under MGNREGA.

Increased maternity leave

India recently changed the law for maternity leave, by increasing the leave for women in the private sector from 12 weeks to 26 weeks.

Increased leave will have a positive effect on female wages and labour force participation in the long term, through the improvement of job security for women.

The fear, however, is that the

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India needs an attitude change in the government to improve the conditions for women. This year’s budget is one sign that this is still missing change in the law could lead to increased discrimination against women in the labour market, and therefore reduce female participation further.

Very few women are employed in the formal sector in India today, therefore the law will have minimal effect for most women, who are employed in the informal sector and are not covered by labour laws.

net increase in its gross domestic product if equal amounts of women and men participated in the labour market.

Considering the effects female labour force participation also have on women and children’s health and school enrolment, increasing the labour force participation of women should be the first priority of the Indian government. l

Why is it important to have more female workers?

Trine Mordal Jørgensen is an intern at JustJobs Network, New Delhi, and a student of South Asia Studies at the University of Oslo.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde believes India could get a 27%

DT

23

Opinion

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

Don’t be a bully Bullying takes new forms in the digital age

All it takes is a tap of the screen to harass someone

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another, if not directly.

I guess we all have, to some extent, without even realising it.

Cyber-bullying is not a widely talked-about topic in Bangladesh, which makes us a little bit confused whether we should consider it a good thing or a bad thing.

This attiude of “not so much discussion on the issue” neglects to look whether this crime is prevalent in the country, or if people are well aware of it.

However, a lot of attention is being drawn to cyber-bullying in Europe, North America, and many other places, especially when it affects women and young girls.

A report titled Cyber Violence against Women and Girls: A WorldWide Wake-Up Call was published by the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development Working Group on Broadband and Gender in 2015.

According to the report, 76% women and 72% men in the world use social networking sites.

Among those women, 73% claimed to have been abused online.

Moreover, the report revealed that 9 million women have experienced some form of serious cyber violence since the age of 15.

Considering the number, it is a serious issue which needs dire attention and quick action.

Now, what is the situation like in Bangladesh?

Well, we all remember the incident of a well-known television actor whose private video was deliberately leaked on the internet by an alleged ex-lover a few years ago.

We also know what happened later. We all clicked and the video went viral, and, worse, it became a source of entertainment for young folk for quite some time.

The victim could not expect for any more attention. Unfortunately,

It is time we started caring about the people who fall victims to cyber bullying. We should not justify our lack of interest in such cases by saying that he/she is not my friend or family member

n Nitol Dewan

R

ecently, while I was watching Monica Lewinsky’s Ted Talk “The Price of Shame” on YouTube, I was compelled to rethink the invasion of information and communication

technology in our lives.

During the talk, when Ms Lewinsky was going through her examples (including her own story) and the aftermath of socalled “cyber bullying” on affected people around the world, I realised that I myself have contributed to this phenomenon in some way or

the culprit did not have to face jail time or any sort of punishment.

That is when the so-called culture of humiliation merged with our own culture. Such incidents continued to take place in our society, with the culprit getting away every time.

A research carried out on

students aged 12-18 years in three countries -- Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia -- by Telenor Group in the beginning of this year revealed some horrifying facts about cyber bullying in these nations: It found that 49% of school students in Bangladesh have been victims of cyber bullying in some way or another, 38% mentioned consulting their parents if faced with online issues that they cannot solve.

Now, the thing is, this scenario is only a small part of the whole picture, as the women aged beyond 18 years are left out in the research.

I mentioned in the beginning that we are somewhat responsible for the increase of cyber crimes.

How? By clicking.

It is that simple.

No wonder the perpetrators find it very easy to use the internet to humiliate a person if their purposes do not get served.

What do we do? We make more harassing comments about the victim or speak against for him/ her.

Why can’t we stop ourselves from clicking such links which contribute to further humiliation of the victim?

Do we realise that we are letting some people make money out of this? And who pays the biggest price?

The victim, as cyber bullying comes with a nice package of mental trauma, extra harassment, and shaming by the society.

It is time we started caring about the people who fall victims to cyber bullying.

We should not justify our lack of interest in such cases by saying that he/she is not my friend or family member.

Most importantly, we should be careful in taking advantage of advanced information and communication technology.

Instead of creating more hassles for the victim, let us be more compassionate, a quality which is lacking severely these days.

During the talk, Monica Lewinsky said something that I think is worth sharing: “We talk a lot about our right to freedom of expression, but we need to talk more about our responsibility to freedom of expression. We all want to be heard, but let’s acknowledge the difference between speaking up with intention and speaking up for attention.” l Nitol Dewan works in the development sector.

DT

24 Sport

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

TOP STORIES

Ukraine speed to test Germany Germany’s defence will be put to the test in their opening Euro 2016 group match against Ukraine in Lille today with major questions still to be answered about the world champions’ new-look rearguard. PAGE 26

Croatia out to banish memories of 2008 Croatia will seek to erase the bitter memories of their Euro 2008 failure against Turkey, described by key players as their most painful defeat ever, when they meet in this year’s Group D opener in Paris today. PAGE 27

A fan runs on to the field to greet Argentina midfielder Lionel Messi (L) after their match against Panama in the group play stage of the 2016 Copa America Centenario at Soldier Field on Friday AP

Messi scores 19-minute hat-trick Ctg Abahani, Sheikh Russel share spoils Chittagong Abahani played out a 1-1 draw with Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra in the Federation Cup yesterday. Mamunul Islam, Rayhan Hasan and Yeamin Ahmed Munna all started for the port city outfit for the first time this season. PAGE 28

Rahul ton lifts India to Zimbabwe victory Seamer Jasprit Bumrah led the way with four wickets before KL Rahul marked his one-day international debut with an unbeaten century to take India to a nine-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first ODI at Harare Sports Club yesterday. PAGE 29

Argentina romp into quarters, Chile beat Bolivia n AFP, Chicago Lionel Messi scored a magical hattrick in 19 minutes as Argentina cruised into the Copa America Centenario quarter-finals with a 5-0 rout of Panama on Friday.

Messi had been forced to delay his debut in the tournament after a slow recovery from a lower back injury, with Argentina coach Gerardo Martino surprisingly naming him amongst the substitutes once more.

But Messi wasted no time in stamping his genius on the tournament after coming on in the 61st minute to replace Augusto Fernandez with Argentina leading the Group D game 1-0.

An electrifying cameo from the Barcelona superstar began with his first goal of the tournament on 68 minutes, finishing with aplomb after Gonzalo Higuain’s shot bounced off a Panamanian defender into his path. But there was no question of luck with his second, with Messi curling a won-

derful free-kick into the top corner to bring the Soldier Field crowd to its feet in the 78th minute.

With Panama’s heads down, Messi then duly completed his quick-fire hat-trick - skipping clear of a marker inside the penalty area to finish emphatically for 4-0.

There was still time for Messi to have a hand in Argentina’s fifth goal of the evening, providing a sublime pass in the build-up to Sergio Aguero’s close range headed effort in the 90th minute.

Aguero’s Manchester City team-mate Nicolas Otamendi had opened the scoring for Argentina in the seventh minute, heading home an Angel Di Maria free-kick from close range.

“I’m happy to be playing again, I really wanted to play tonight,” a satisfied Messi said. “I’m very happy with the result and the goals,” added Messi, whose entrance was accompanied by a loud ovation and chants of his name.

Shellshocked Panama coach Hernan Dario Gomez, the experi-

enced Colombian, was left in awe

by Messi’s masterclass. “Messi is a monster,” Gomez said. “Before he came on the match was quite even. But with Messi you make one mistake, and you pay for it.”

Aguero’s Manchester City team-mate Nicolas Otamendi had opened the scoring for Argentina in the seventh minute, heading home an Angel Di Maria free-kick from close range.

The victory sees Argentina, convincing 2-1 winners over Chile in their opening game, guaranteed a spot in the last eight with one group game remaining.

The only blemish on the evening was an injury to Di Maria, who limped off in the first half to extend his miserable record of injuries in major tournaments.

The Paris Saint-Germain winger was injured in the 2014 World Cup, missing the final, and was also injured during last year’s Copa America in Chile.

Argentina are now firmly on course to top Group D. l

TODAY’S MATCHES USA v PARAGUAY

5:00AM at Philadelphia

COLOMBIA v COSTA RICA 7:00AM at Houston

RESULTS 2-1

Chile

Bolivia

Vidal 46, 90+10-P

Campos 61

5-0

Argentina

Panama

Otamendi 7, Aguero 90, Messi 68, 78, 87

GROUP D P

W

D

L GD Pts

Argentina

2

2

0

0

6

Chile

2

1

0

1

0

3

Panama

2

1

0

1

-4

3

Bolivia

2

0

0

2

-2

0

6

25

DT

Sport

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

UEFA condemns Marseille fan violence n AFP, Paris UEFA said Saturday it “firmly condemns” the street battles involving rival fans before the England-Russia European Championship match on Saturday which left an Englishman in a critical condition.

“UEFA firmly condemns the incidents in Marseille,” said a UEFA spokesman. “People engaging in such violent acts have no place in football.”

Police fired tear gas at hundreds of English and Russian fans to end a third straight day of fighting in the southern French port.

Marseille’s police prefect said an English fan was in a “critical” condition after the clashes.

AFP journalists saw a man with a bloodied face receiving treatment on the ground after suffering a cardiac arrest. l

Spain’s De Gea calls sex scandal claims ‘a lie’ n AFP, Saint-Martin-de-Ré Manchester United and Spain goalkeeper David De Gea on Friday dismissed as “a lie” claims that he organised a party at which women were forced to have sex with footballers.

“I am the first one to be surprised by this report. I deny it, it is false and nothing more, it is a lie and false,” De Gea told a press conference at Spain’s training base.

De Gea, 25, said he was “desperate” to take part in Euro 2016 and would not be put off his team duties.

The Eldiario.es news website reported that De Gea and Athletic Bilbao’s Iker Muniain were named in the testimony of a “protected witness” as part of an investigation into Spanish porn producer Ignacio Allende. The producer was detained in April for alleged crimes including heading a prostitution ring, sexual abuse of under-age girls and human trafficking.

The witness reportedly said she and another woman were forced against their will to participate in a party in 2012 organised by De Gea. l

Wales forward Gareth Bale shoots to score against Slovakia during their Euro 2016 Group B match at Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France yesterday

Bale, Robson-Kanu give Wales win over Slovakia n

AFP, Bordeaux

Substitute Hal Robson-Kanu scored a joyously celebrated 81st-minute winner as Wales marked their major tournament return by edging Slovakia 2-1 in Saturday’s Euro 2016 opener in Bordeaux.

Playing their first game at a major championship since the 1958 World Cup, Wales took a 10th-minute lead courtesy of Gareth Bale’s fine free-kick, only for Slovakia substitute Ondrej Duda to equalise.

But with nine minutes remaining, Robson-Kanu, released by Reading at the end of the season, scuffed a shot past Matus Kozacik to send Chris Coleman’s side striding towards the last 16.

His strike ended Wales’s fourgame winless run and tees the European Championship debutants up perfectly for Thursday’s hotly anticipated second Group B fixture against neighbours England in Lens.

The match at the elegant Stadium Bordeaux had been billed in some quarters as a battle between

Real Madrid star Bale and Marek Hamsik, and the Slovakia playmaker was the first of the pair to catch the eye.

After robbing Bale, he surged past Ashley Williams, David Edwards and James Chester before

RESULT 2-1

Wales Bale 10, Hal Robson-Kanu 81

Albania

0-1

Slovakia Ondrej Duda 61

Switzerland Schaer 5

drilling a left-foot shot past goalkeeper Danny Ward, making his first start in place of the injured Wayne Hennessey, but Ben Davies slid in almost miraculously to divert the ball behind for a corner.

When Bale’s moment arrived 10 minutes in, there was to be no such reprieve for Slovakia.

Presented with a free-kick 30 yards from goal, he slammed the ball over the wall and as Kozacik moved to his left, it darted in the other direction and plunged low

into the net.

Bale tore down the touchline in celebration of his 20th Wales goal, which came almost 10 years after he opened his international account with a free-kick against the same opposition.

The teams exchanged chances early in the second half -- Robert Mak drilling over, Bale sending Kozacik scrambling with a downward header -- before a double substitution brought Slovakia back into the game.

Slovakia coach Kozak sent on Adam Nemec and Duda, with Michal Duris and Patrik Hrovosky giving way, and within a minute Duda had scored, arrowing a shot past Ward’s left hand from Mak’s right-wing cut-back.

It made him the first player to score past Wales at a major tournament since a 17-year-old Pele at the 1958 World Cup. After crossing for Aaron Ramsey to head over, the roles were reversed to decisive effect, the Arsenal man skipping past Skrtel and Robson-Kanu steering the ball home. l

REUTERS

Schaer goal seals Switzerland win n AFP, Lens Fabien Schaer’s powerful header gave Switzerland a narrow 1-0 win over 10-man Albania on the second day of the European Championship finals on Saturday.

The Group A match, in the spotlight with brothers Granit and Taulant Xhaka playing for opposing sides, was decided by the sending off of Albania captain Lorik Cana. The Albanian underdogs were continually scrambling to get back into the game while Switzerland, who now lead the group with France, never took firm control.

After just five minutes, Hoffenheim centre back Schaer rose above the Albanian defence to head in from a corner by Xherdan Shaqiri.

He was also a rock in defence and was booked in the 12th minute for chopping down Emir Lenjani.

Referee Carlos Velasco Carballo had a busy time dishing out six yellow cards and a red. He showed a first yellow card to Cana in the 13th minute for sliding in on Haris Seferovic. Former Marseille player Cana was again in trouble in the 36th minute. Carballo produced a second yellow and a red. l

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Sport

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

5 THINGS WE LEARNED Tearful Payet pulls the strings

There were doubts as to whether the West Ham playmaker would even start as he battled with Manchester United’s Anthony Martial for a place in Didier Deschamps’s line-up. However, Dimitri Payet rewarded Deschamps’s faith in style with a brilliant overall display.

24-team Euros remain competitive

Fears that extending the European Championship to 24 from 16 teams could lead to many more uncompetitive clashes between giants and minnows were dispelled for the opening night at least as Romania more than held their own.

France’s defence raises doubts

Shorn of Raphael Varane and Jeremy Mathieu through injury and Mamadou Sakho due to a provisional doping ban, fears over France’s ability to win the competition with an understrength backline look justified as it creaked against a Romania side that scored just 11 goals in 10 qualifying matches.

Giroud makes his mark

The much-maligned Arsenal striker had attracted boos from French fans in some of Les Bleus’ warm-up friendlies as serious doubts were raised over his ability to fire the hosts to glory in the absence of Real Madrid star Karim Benzema - who has been excluded from the squad over his role in a sex-tape blackmail scandal of then international teammate Mathieu Valbuena.

Deschamps vindicated

Despite recognising his side’s performance had been “far from perfect”, Deschamps got all the big calls right.l

France forward Dimitri Payet (C) scores during their Euro 2016 Group A match against Romania at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Friday

AFP

Payet’s tears of relief after rescuing France n AFP, Paris Dimitri Payet left the field in tears of joy after scoring the sensational last-gasp goal in France’s 2-1 win over Romania to launch their European Championship campaign in style on Friday.

“It was a lot of stress, a lot of pressure, if someone had told me it would have gone like that I don’t think I would have believed them,” said Payet.

“It was that emotion that came

out in the goal,” added the 29-yearold who has broken into the France team this year after a stunning season with West Ham United in the English Premier League.

Payet was France’s standout performer throughout as he also set up Olivier Giroud’s opening goal.

After Romania had equalised and seemed to be holding on for a draw, Payet struck in the 89th minute with a curling 25 metre shot to take the tournament opener.

Payet left the field in tears in stoppage time as he was substituted to a standing ovation at an emo-

RESULT France Giroud 57, Payet 89

2-1

Romania Stancu 65-P

tional Stade de France, just seven months after the stadium was targeted in the attacks that killed 130 people in Paris in November.

After the final whistle, Pay-

et embraced his small son on the field.

Payet said he had been overcome by the way he has fought his way into the French team.

“At the start of the season, a lot of people would have found it hard to believe I would be here,” said the attacking midfielder.

“I have got here by working hard,” added the hero of the night, who is determined to “soak up the experience” of playing in Euro 2016. l

Ukraine speed to test Germany defence n Reuters, Evian

Germany's goalkeepers Manuel Neuer (R) and Bernd Leno warm up during a training session in Evian-les-Bains on Thursday AFP

Germany’s defence will be put to the test in their opening Euro 2016 group match against Ukraine in Lille today with major questions still to be answered about the world champions’ new-look rearguard.

Coach Joachim Loew’s team will be without key central defender Mats Hummels, still recovering from a muscle injury, as they kick off their Group C campaign.

Hummels’ replacement Antonio Ruediger was ruled out with torn cruciate knee ligaments this week.

Holding midfielder and captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, still working on his comeback from injury, is also absent, further complicating

Loew’s defensive conundrum.

Benedikt Hoewedes and Jerome Boateng are the two likely central defenders but both had a long injury break late in the season and are in desperate need of match practice.

Jonathan Tah, the 20-year-old who was only called up this week following Ruediger’s injury, is expected to be on the bench.

Toni Kroos, who will shoulder the biggest responsibility of connecting Germany’s defensive and attacking game, is brimming with confidence following his Champions League win with Real Madrid.

Assistant coach Thomas Schneider sounded confident on Friday that the team would quickly find their cohesion at the back. l

GROUP C

V GERMANY

UKRAINE

Pierre-Mauroy Stadium, Lille 8pm local time (1am BST) * Bangladesh standard time

HEAD-TO-HEAD GERMANY

4 5 2 0 3 10 5

UKRAINE Fifa ranking Matches Wins Losses Draws Goals scored Goals against

19 5 0 2 3 5 10

27

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SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

GROUP D

QUICK BYTES Hazard limps out of training session

V

Eden Hazard has suffered a knock and is expected to return to training for Belgium after limping out of their behind-closed-doors session on Friday, coach Marc Wilmots said. Hazard, who will captain Belgium at the European Championship, left the pitch after 50 minutes after having his foot stood on during a practice match.

“I don’t think it is serious, just a knock,” Wilmots told reporters on Monday.

TURKEY

Parc des Princes, Paris 2pm local time (7pm BST) * Bangladesh standard time

HEAD-TO-HEAD TURKEY

18 6 0 2 4 4 8

–REUTERS

Everton release South African veteran Pienaar Former South African international Steven Pienaar saw his second spell at Premier League side Everton come to an end on Friday when he was released by the club. The 34-year-old, who burst onto the European club scene when he featured in the star-studded Ajax side that won two league titles in 2011/02 and 2003/04, suffered from a spate of injuries in the past two campaigns and played just 17 games.

–AFP

Misfit Falcao returns to Monaco Colombian striker Radamel Falcao confirmed Friday that he was returning to Monaca, where he played in 2013 and 2014, after two mediocre seasons on loan at Manchester United and Chelsea.

Falcao’s time in England was compromised by serious injury in 2014 and his career never recovered.

–AFP

Pistorius faces return to jail for lover’s murder Disgraced South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius will appear in court tomorrow for a sentencing hearing set to send him back to jail for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp three years ago. The double-amputee killed Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013.

–AFP

Former Nigeria coach Amodu dies Tragedy has hit Nigeria football again as former Super Eagles coach Shuaibu Amodu died just days after another national team coach Stephen Keshi passed away.

The Nigeria Football Federation announced yesterday that Amodu, 58, died after complaining of chest problems.

–AFP

CROATIA

CROATIA Fifa ranking Matches Wins Losses Draws Goals scored Goals against

27 6 2 0 4 8 4

Croatia midfielder Marcelo Brozovic (C) flicks the ball during a training session in Deauville on Friday AFP

Croatia out to banish memories of 2008 failure n Reuters, Paris Croatia will seek to erase the bitter memories of their Euro 2008 failure against Turkey, described by key players as their most painful defeat ever, when they meet in this year’s Group D opener in Paris today.

The Croatians had one foot in the last four eight years ago, after taking a 1-0 lead in the final minute of extra time in an epic quarter-final clash in Vienna, only to

concede with the last kick of the game before they lost in a penalty shootout.

“The bitter feeling of that loss can only be compensated by winning the European Championship,” the 30-year-old centre back told a news conference in the team’s Deauville base camp in northern France on Friday.

“It’s the distant past and not really in the focus of our preparations but we can push it further back in our minds and, more importantly,

make the right start if we beat them at the Parc des Princes.”

Influential playmaker Luka Modric, who missed the opening penalty for Croatia in the 2008 shootout, added: “I cried like a baby that night, it was the biggest setback of my career.”

Turkey have failed to qualify for a major tournament since their impressive Euro 2008 campaign, having been knocked out in the 2012 European Championship playoffs after a 3-0 aggregate defeat

by Croatia.

Their coach Fatih Terim, who steered his battling team to the semi-finals eight years ago, acknowledged that beating the Croatians was imperative ahead of matches with holders Spain and Czech Republic.

“Winning this game would pave the way for a last-16 berth,” Terim was quoted as saying by Turkish media.

“I believe that if we work hard, we can advance.”l

Poland face test of patience n Reuters, Nice Poland face a test of patience and their nerves when they open their Euro 2016 campaign against a Northern Ireland side who want to make themselves “horrible” to play against.

Today’s group C match will pit one of the most attack-minded of the 24 teams at Euro 2016 against a team who have made no bones about their intentions.

Spearheaded by the attacking duo of Robert Lewandowski and Arkadiusz Milik, Poland were the highest-scoring team in the qualifying competition with 33 goals, 13 of them coming from Bayern Munich’s Lewandowski.

Coach Adam Nawalka has turned them from a counter-attacking side into one that keeps possession and build attacks carefully.

He has also bucked the trend of teams playing with a single, or no, striker, expressly to give Lewandowski more support, a tactic

which has worked wonders so far.

The huge expectations back home, however, will put Poland

GROUP C

V POLAND

N IRELAND

Nice Stadium 5pm local time (10pm BST) * Bangladesh standard time

HEAD-TO-HEAD POLAND

27 9 3 4 2 13 13

N IRELAND Fifa ranking Matches Wins Losses Draws Goals scored Goals against

25 9 4 3 2 13 13

under considerable pressure as they attempt to pass the group stage at the Euros for the first time, and Northern Ireland are just the team to play on their anxiety.

Northern Ireland have limited resources but manager Michael O’Neill clearly knows their place and makes no apologies for a playing style which is likely to prove a test of endurance for spectators as well as the opposition.

“We are going to have to be horrible to play against,” he said recently. “We are going to be really good without the ball, run further than any other team, drill all the statistics back in their face.

Sixty-five per cent possession? We don’t expect to have that.”

The Euro debutants’ squad includes 13 players based with lower-tier sides in England, five from the English Premier League, four from the Scottish Premier League and one from Australia’s A-League.

None of them play in continental Europe. l

Poland forward Robert Lewandowski takes part in a training session on Friday AFP

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Sport

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

Ctg Abahani, Sheikh Russel share spoils

Helmot joins BCB’s HP programme

n Tribune Report Simon Helmot joined the Bangladesh Cricket Board yesterday as the head coach of the High Performance programme. The 44-year old Australian is currently the head coach of the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel franchise in the Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 and assistant coach of the Indian Premier League side Hyderabad Sunrisers and Big Bash League’s Hobart Hurricanes.

Helmot will be in charge of the High Performance camp, which will run from August-October this year.

A coach with nearly two decades of experience, Helmot had been employed in various coaching positions at state and national levels. He had previously worked as Australia A head coach and assistant coach of Australia’s World T20 side. l

Sk Jamal hit Uttar Baridhara for six largely through the deadly combinan Tribune Report tion of Landing and Wedson.

Big win for Mariner, Sonali edge Azad

n Tribune Report Mariner Young’s Club defeated Wanderers Club 6-2 in the Green Delta Premier Division Hockey League at Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium yesterday.

Waqas Sharif, Ashraful Islam, Fazle Hossain Rabbi and Mohammad Mohsin scored one field goal each for Mariners while Mamunur Rahman Chayan and Shafiul Alam added one each from penalty corners.

Prince Lal Samonto and Khalilur Rahman netted one each from field goal and penalty corner respectively for Wanderers. Meanwhile in the day’s other match, Sonali Bank came from behind to beat Azad Sporting Club 2-1 at the same venue.

Rohan Sabbir put Azad ahead before Ishan Ullah Khan and Prosenjit Roy added one each for Sonali. l

Chittagong Abahani defender Yeamin Munna (L) attempts to clear the ball against Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra in the Federation Cup at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

DPL Super League begins today n Minhaz Uddin Khan The Dhaka Premier League’s six-team Super League phase gets underway today.

In the opening round, table-toppers Victoria Sporting Club will take on Prime Bank Cricket Club at Fatullah’s Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium.

Elsewhere, second-placed Mohammedan Sporting Club will lock horns with Legends of Rupganj at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium while Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club will face Abahani Limited at the BKSP 3 ground.

And on the eve of the Super League,

Prime Doleshwar’s middle-order batsman Nasir Hossain said the race for the championship will be an intense one, given that only three points separate Victoria from sixth-placed Prime Bank.

“The championship is wide open and anyone can win it. Whichever team wins the majority of the five matches in hand will be the winners but it will be anything but easy,” said Nasir.

“There is no pressure. Our job is to play in the right manner. Preparation is the same for all the teams. A game against Abahani garners the maximum focus because they are a big name but as a player, I do not think it makes much of a difference,” he added.l

Rising powerhouse Chittagong Abahani played out a 1-1 draw with Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra in the Federation Cup at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Bangladesh captain Mamunul Islam, Rayhan Hasan and Yeamin Ahmed Munna all started for the port city outfit for the first time this season after joining from Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club. However, the national trio were unable to inspire their side to a win in their Group B opener.

Juvenile forward Mohammad Ibrahim put Chittagong Abahani ahead with only five minutes into the clock.

Sheikh Russel though equalised the margin at the stroke of the first half through Cameroonian forward Jean Ikanga’s powerful header.

Earlier yesterday at the same venue, Landing Darboe slammed a sensational hattrick as Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club kicked off their campaign with a comprehensive 6-2 win over Uttar Baridhara.

It was the Gambian midfielder’s first treble of the season while Haitian forward Wedson Anselme, midfielder Enamul Haque and defender Yeasin Khan added one apiece to almost take the premier league holders through to the knockout stage.

Sheikh Jamal dominated proceedings throughout the entire game,

Landing put Sheikh Jamal ahead in the 23rd minute and bagged his second two minutes into the second half. In between all the action,

Landing Darboe slammed a sensational hattrick as Sheikh Jamal kicked off their campaign with a 6-2 win over Uttar Baridhara

RESULTS Sheikh Jamal

6-2

Landing 23, 47, 64 Wedson 30 Enamul 55 Yeasin 90+1

Ctg Abahani Ibrahim 5

Uttar Baridhara Sobuj 53 - P Rohit 70

1-1

Sheikh Russel Ikanga 44

Wedson doubled Sheikh Jamal’s lead at the half hour mark.

In the 53rd minute, Khalekuzzaman Sobuj reduced the arrears from the penalty spot.

Veteran midfielder Enamul extended the lead just two minutes later before Landing completed his hattrick in the 64th minute.

Young forward Rohit Sarkar pulled one back in the 70th minute while Yeasin completed the rout in injury time. l

BFF signs ‘historical deal’ n Tribune Report

Bangladesh Football Federation yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Saif Global Sports Limited, a sister concern of Saif Powertec Limited.

As per the five-year agreement, Saif Global Sports will sponsor the Bangladesh Premier League, starting from this season, and provide Tk40m (4 crore) each year for the marketing and branding rights of the top-flight.

Saif Global Sports is also likely to introduce a new format for the BPL. The MoU signing ceremony between the two parties took place at Hotel Radisson in the capital yesterday where BFF

president Kazi Salahuddin and Saif Powertec managing director Tarafder Ruhul Amin signed on the dotted line on behalf of their respective organisations.

Saif Global Sports will sponsor the Bangladesh Premier League Salahuddin termed the signing a “historical deal” and went on to inform that the league will be held at five different venues for the first time ever in the country’s history.

“This is a new concept. We

have been trying to decentralise football across the country. To develop the game, it’s not possible to hold the league in only one venue,” said Salahuddin yesterday.

Saif Global Sports chairman Tarafder on the other hand said, “We are going to host 110 (out of a total of 132) matches outside the capital which means the people from the division and district levels can be involved with the premier league.”

Deputy minister for youth and sports Arif Khan Joy pledged to provide the best possible assistance on behalf of the government and said all the venues will be ready before the kick off date – July 15. l

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SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

Warriors beat Cavs, move to brink of NBA title NBA FINALS

n Reuters, Cleveland The Golden State Warriors bounced back from an embarrassing road loss two days ago to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-97 on Friday and move one win away from a second consecutive NBA championship.

The win was a devastating blow to LeBron James’s Cavaliers, who lost their first home game of the postseason and now trail the bestof-seven NBA Finals 3-1 with Game Five scheduled for Monday in Oakland. Stephen Curry powered Golden State, who lost by 30 points on Wednesday, by scoring a game-high 38 while Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers with 34 points. James had 25 points and 13 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the postseason.

Of the 32 teams that have faced a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals none have ever come back to win the championship. But Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue, well aware that the odds are stacked against his team, had a blunt message.

The Warriors, who fell behind by as many as 20 points after a miserable start to Game Three, responded with a much stronger effort to start this one as each team traded shots

DAY’S WATCH FOOTBALL SONY SIX Euro Cup 2016 7:00PM Turkey v Croatia 10:00PM Poland v Northern Ireland 1:00AM Germany v Ukraine

SONY ESPN Copa America Centenario 2016 5:00AM Ecuador v Haiti 7:00AM Brazil v Peru

CRICKET

GAME 4, GS LEADS 3-1

WARRIORS 108-97 CAVALIERS 73-9, 34-7 Away

GS CLE

PLAYERS D. Green H. Barnes S. Curry K. Thompson A. Iguodala

2 21 27

3 4 T 29 29 108 22 20 97

MIN 42 40 40 39 37

FG 3PT FT REB AST PTS 2-9 0-4 5-8 12 4 9 5-11 4-5 0-0 8 2 14 11-25 7-13 9-10 5 6 38 7-14 4-9 7-7 4 1 25 4-12 2-5 0-0 6 7 10

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (L) shoots the ball against Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (C) in game four of their NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on Friday REUTERS for much of the first two quarters.

The tightly-contested first half, easily the most intense 24 minutes of the series so far, included 15 lead changes, which was more than the

previous three games combined.

The Warriors quickly took over in the final quarter when they shored up their defense and kicked their offense into a higher gear.

PLAYERS R. Jefferson L. James T. Thompson K. Irving J.R. Smith

MIN 25 46 29 43 43

With just under six minutes to play Harrison Barnes gave the Warriors their largest lead of the night up to that point when he drained a three-pointer for a 93-84 lead.

Ton-up Rahul makes India history in Zimbabwe romp n AFP, Harare Opener KL Rahul became the first Indian to hit a century on one-day international debut as he secured a comfortable nine-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first ODI at Harare Sports Club on Saturday.

With just two runs required for victory, Rahul launched Hamilton Masakadza for six to finish unbeaten on 100, as India chased down a target of 169 with more than seven overs to spare.

Such a dramatic finish was in stark contrast to an otherwise lethargic match on a sluggish

wicket that followed the expected trajectory, with India’s secondstring side proving too good for a full-strength Zimbabwean outfit despite Zimbabwe interim coach Makhaya Ntini’s pre-series comments about sweeping the tourists under the carpet.

While Rahul has already scored two centuries in five Tests, this is his first tour with the limited overs side and he made an immediate mark.

“It’s a great thing to get an ODI hundred, but to get it in my first match is something very special to me,” he said. l

4:00PM Sri Lanka Tour of England

ZIMvIND, 1ST ODI ZIMBABWE P Moor lbw b Sran C Chibhabha b Bumrah H. Masakadza c Dhoni b Kulkarni C Ervine c sub (Fazal) b Patel V. Sibanda c Dhoni b Bumrah Sikandar Raza b Sran E Chigumbura b Bumrah R Mutumbami c Rahul b Chahal G Cremer b Kulkarni T Chatara c Rayudu b Bumrah T Muzarabani not out Extras (3lb, 14w, 3nb)

R 3 13 14 21 5 23 41 15 8 4 1 20

Total (all out, 49.5 overs)

168

B 5 42 21 45 21 54 65 27 11 10 1

Fall of wickets 1-8 (Moor), 2-30 (Masakadza), 3-47 (Chibhabha), 4-69 (Sibanda), 5-77 (Ervine), 6-115 (Sikandar Raza), 7-140 (Mutumbami), 8-156 (Cremer), 9-167 (Chigumbura), 10-168 (Chatara).

Bowling Kulkarni 10-1-42-2, Sran 10-0-42-2, Bumrah 9.5-2-28-4, Patel 10-1-26-1, Chahal 10-1-27-1.

3rd Test Day 4

FORMULA 1

INDIA R B KL Rahul not out 100 115 K Nair c Sikandar Raza b Chatara 7 20 A Rayudu not out 62 120 Extras (1lb, 3w) 4

STAR SPORTS 4 11:25PM F1: Main Race Montreal Grand Prix

Total (1 wkt, 42.3 overs)

173

Fall of wicket: 1-11 (Nair)

TENNIS TEN 3 5:30PM Mercedes Cup-Final

1 29 28

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS

STAR SPORTS 1

ATP World Tour 250

57-25, 33-8 Home

Indian opener KL Rahul clips through leg side during their 1st ODI against Zimbabwe in Harare yesterday AP

Bowling Chatara 7-1-20-1, Muzarabani 6-0-18-0, Chibhabha 8-1-14-0, Cremer 10-0-47-0, Chigumbura 4-0-34-0, Sikandar Raza 5-020-0, Masakadza 2.3-0-19-0.

India won by nine wickets

FG 1-2 11-21 5-7 14-28 3-10

3PT FT REB AST PTS 0-0 1-2 6 0 3 1-5 2-4 13 9 25 0-0 0-5 7 0 10 2-6 4-5 4 4 34 2-8 2-2 2 1 10

It marked a 17-point turnaround from the third quarter when Cleveland, who went without a field goal for a six-minute stretch of the fourth, led by eight points. l

Pradeep treble rocks England in third Test n AFP, London Nuwan Pradeep took three wickets and did some serious damage to a couple of England careers as Sri Lanka fought hard to avoid a series whitewash in the third Test at Lord’s on Saturday.

England in their second innings were 109 for four at the close of the third day, a healthy but not impregnable lead of 237 runs.

Alex Hales was 41 not out, having been dropped on 19 and 39, with nightwatchman Steven Finn, missed on one, unbeaten on six.

Earlier, England all-rounder Chris Woakes started and finished a collapse that saw Sri Lanka, 162 for one overnight, dismissed for 288.

That gave England, who made 416 in their first innings, a lead of 128. Woakes, who took a wicket with his first ball Saturday, ended the innings with the opening delivery of a new spell when Eranga was caught in the slips. Warwickshire all-rounder Woakes took three for 31 in 17.1 overs. l

BRIEF SCORES ENGLAND 416 and 109 for 4 (Hales 41*, Finn 6*) SRI LANKA 288 (Silva 79, Woakes 3-31) England lead by by 237 runs

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Downtime

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SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Sermon (6) 5 Adhesive (3) 7 Greek letter (3) 8 Revolve (6) 11 Tavern (3) 12 Lettering contract (5) 14 Persian fairy (4) 16 Waterway (5) 18 Regions (5) 20 Hawaiian garlands (4) 21 Like a weak old woman (5) 23 Do wrong (3) 24 Stretches tight (6) 27 Top card (3) 28 Sorrowful (3) 29 Starndards of perfection (6)

DOWN 1 Pronoun (3) 2 Encountered (3) 3 Language (7) 4 After due time (4) 5 Mourn (6) 6 Persons under age (6) 9 Cricket team (4) 10 Corn spike (3) 13 Muteness (7) 14 Documents (6) 15 Brought up (6) 17 Irish republic (4) 19 Use a chair (3) 22 Heavy substance (4) 25 Briny (3) 26 Distress signal (3)

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 10 represents A so fill A every time the figure 10 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

31

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Showtime

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

The tragic loss of a voice n Showtime Desk Singer Christina Gimmie, who starred in the six season of The Voice, tragically passed away early Saturday. Following a performance in Florida, she was shot by a lone gunman while signing autographs, and succumbed to her injuries a few hours later.

Her publicist told E!News, “It is with a heavy heart that we can confirm that Christina has passed and went home to be with the Lord. She was shot at her show in Orlando and, unfortunately, didn’t survive the gun shot wounds. We ask at this time that you respect the privacy of her family and friends in their time of mourning.

If you’d like to give back to Christina’s family in her memory, please consider donating to the

families GoFundMe page in their time of need.”

She, along with the members of her band Before You Exit, were busy signing autographs at Orlando’s Plaza Live when a lone gunman suddenly opened fire.

The male suspect proceeded to shoot himself afterward, while Grimmie was rushed to a local hospital in Orlando. A spokesperson of the Orlando Police told E!News, “Upon arrival officers found the male suspect, who was deceased and one victim who was gravely injured. That victim, singer Christina Grimmie, was transported to the hospital with critical injuries.” She continued, “Detectives were told the suspect, who is not being identified at this time, walked toward Christina and shot her. Christina’s brother

immediately tackled the suspect stopping him from causing any more harm to Christina and her fans. During the struggle, the suspect shot himself.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.”

After news of her death broke, The Voice tweeted, “We are heartbroken. @ TheRealGrimmie is a loved member of our family. Our thoughts are with her and her family. #PrayForChristina.” l Source: E!News, CNN

Typecast, this Hollywood

n Mahmood Hossain It’s actually quite baffling to how Hollywood continues to “whitewash” their films. The latest uproar comes from the

rumoured casting of a biopic based on the 13th century Persian poet, Rumi. Let’s think about this. Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, a poet born in the early 1200s in Balkh, Afghanistan and died in Konya,

Turkey. Played by, none other than, our favourite Leonardo DiCaprio. Wait, what?! That’s right, David Franzoni, writer of the critically acclaimed and blockbuster hit Gladiator wants to approach DiCaprio for the role.

Here’s what infuriated the media even more. Franzoni told the Guardian that he hopes to, “challenge the stereotypical portrayal of Muslim characters in western cinema.” He wants to give a face and a story to go along with it. We know, you’re sitting there with your best “resting b*tch face” as you read this. Shooting of the film won’t begin until early next year, but Franzoni and producer Stephen Joel Brown plan on approaching both DiCaprio and Robert Downey Jr for the parts of Rumi and Iranian mystic Shams of Tabriz respectively. Surely, we all see what’s wrong here. Casting a fictional character, like a comic book superhero, is completely different from casting a role that is based on true historical figures.

It’s almost as if the outcry of film enthusiasts and people with common sense over the all-white casting of Exodus and mostly an all-Caucasian cast of Gods of Egypt went unnoticed. Also, remember that one film Aloha?

Oh, you know, the lovely Emma Stone playing a generations deep, native Hawaiian. Yeah, that one.

Go ahead, there’s plenty of time to practice your “resting b*tch face.”

It’s like casting a Caucasian actor to play the late, great Muhammad Ali in a remake of Will Smith’s portrayal as one of the most icon

figures in history. That’s like cinematic blasphemy. Although you can’t help play a little devil’s advocate.

From a studio’s standpoint, they simply have to make money.

Get butts on those seats and watch the cash flow roll in through the box office. Their argument is that they would love to have a face that is marketable. It’s as simple as that. And they aren’t completely wrong, to a certain extent. In order to make an international release, a feature-length film takes a lot of money to create. On top of that, you need to be true to the source material and actually try and make the film successful. Making a good film, believe it or not, is a very difficult task. You’ll have to excuse the Hollywood execs for not having too much faith in investing

money on someone who isn’t a movie star or household name all over the world.

The diversity in Hollywood is an on-going battle. Even when established actors like Kerry Washington and comedian Aziz Ansari get together to express their frustrations on shows like Actors on Actors by Variety, you can only wait in anticipation that maybe Hollywood will finally get it. They will finally make the right choice. Unfortunately, just like how Ansari tackles these race issues in Hollywood on his hit Netflix comedy series Master of None, we’ve got a long way to go before the folks above our paygrade actually make the multimillion-dollar risk of casting the appropriate actors for significant, leading roles. l

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SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2016

MD CRISIS HITS FINANCIAL SECTOR HARD PAGE 12

MESSI SCORES 19-MINUTE HAT-TRICK PAGE 24

20 YEARS INTO KALPANA CHAKMA ABDUCTION

‘Faulty probe delaying justice’ n Kamrul Hasan Although 20 years have elapsed, the investigation into the murder of indigenous rights activist Kalpana Chakma is yet to see any light.

After the two committees formed to investigate the abduction failed to identify the abductor the Rangamati district judge court formed the third committee four years ago to re-investigate the case but the committee is yet to submit a report.

The previous two committees did confirm the abduction but they did not interview the accused in the case. The first information report said the third committee led by the then Rangamati Superintendent of Police Amena Begum would conduct the interview of the accused.

Barrister Sara Hossain said: “Faulty investigation procedure has delayed justice to Kalpana. Kalpana was abducted on June 12, 1996 following which a case was filed by her family members. Although there were witnesses, her two brothers, the investigators failed to identify the abductor. The first two committees did not even talk with the main accused in the case.”

“As the investigators failed to get any headway, it can be said that there must be some lacking that led the investigation into the dark,” she added.

She said at least 30 hearings have already taken place under the third investigative committee and another hearing is scheduled on July 17 this year.

She also urged the government to protect the witnesses of such cases.

On the issue, human rights activist Professor CR Abrar said: “If the governments in the last 20 years had taken proper action against this abduction, the current situation of the country’s law and order would have been different. The culture of impunity by the governments had led the country to this state where people are being murdered, arson taking place on the streets along with occurrences of abrupt disappearances.”

Another rights activist, Nur Khan Liton, said: “To do justice to Kalpana, everyone has to stand together in a row and fight for the purpose. The government, on the other hand, has to ensure that criminals cannot evade the

law regardless of who he is.”

On June 12, 1996, Kalpana, the then organising secretary of Hill Women’s Federation, was abducted allegedly by Lt Ferdous from her home at New Lalyaghona of Baghaichhari in Rangamati. She was abducted several hours before the seventh national election.

She was then campaigning for independent candidate Bijay Ketan Chakma, the then senior presidium member of Pahari Gana Parishad, who was supported by the all hill peoples’ organisations active at that time.

Earlier, CID filed a report 16 years after the abduction. The report was rejected by the court since it neither identified the abductors of the hill woman activist nor gave information about her whereabouts. Upon an objection petition by the victim’s brother, the court appointed the Rangamati SP Amena Begum to probe into the incident.

After 14 years of investigation, Baghaichhari police had submitted a final report to the court on May 21, 2010.

Chaitali Tripura, vice-chairperson of Kapaeeng Foundation, also a co-activist of Kalpana Chakma, told the Dhaka Tribune that if the government wants they believe Kalpana can be found alive, if she is and if she is dead then the government should find the killers.

He also said that the current investigating committee has not yet disclosed their progress in the probe.

Kalpana’s brother Kalindi Kumar Chakma, a witness of the abduction, said: “I do not understand why my statement is not being recorded in any report prepared by the law enforcement agencies. I have mentioned the names of the three men I identified that day every time I was called. The people I saw were Lt Ferdous, commander of village defence party (VDP) Nurul Haque and its member Saleh Ahmed.”

“I am still hopeful, but I am getting tired too,” Kalindi said.

The current Rangamati Police Superintendent Sayeed Tarikul Hasan said they were investigating into the matter in accordance with direction from the court. They were interrogating the accused and other people concerned with the case, and are hopeful about submitting a report soon.

The directives are to try rescue Kalpana Chakma; to take statements of witnesses and those involved in the case; to take statements of the accused – Lt Ferdous of Kojoichhari army camp, and Village Defence Party (VDP) members Nurul Haque and Saleh Ahmed; and to present the correct report to the court.

However, he could not say when he will be able to submit the report. l

THE TRAGIC LOSS OF A VOICE PAGE 31

Muhith: Farmers to come under tax net n Asif Showkat Kallol Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said country’s farmers would have to pay tax to the government.

He said the farmers had so far been out of the purview of taxes over the last several years but now they would have to pay taxes.

Bangladesh’s farmers have made tremendous improvement in the production of food grain, Muhith

said at a discussion held at the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council.

The discussion was titled ‘Jatiya Budget 2016-17: Prospect of Bangladesh Agriculture.’

Chairman of the Standing Committee on the Finance Ministry Abdul Razzak also attended the post-budget discussion meeting.

The minister further said that while agriculture land has not increased over the years, there has been

noticeable advancement in the agriculture sector in the country.

“The number of farmers who have the financial capability of paying taxes has increased,” he pointed out.

Finace Minister MA Muhith said the government should impose tax on local farmers in phases.

While this could increase the prices of agricultural goods, it was an unavoidable consequence, he said. l

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