August 3, 2016

SECOND EDITION

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

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Shraban 19 1423, Shawwal 28, 1437

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 98

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

Will BNP finally cut Jamaat loose? n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Pro-BNP intellectual Prof Emajuddin Ahamed's sudden statement that BNP chief Khaleda Zia decided to sever ties with long-time ally Jamaat-e-Islami has created much confusion among the party leaders.

Several senior leaders of the BNP said they had no idea about any such issue while Jamaat-e-Islami leaders urged Prof Emajuddin to withdraw his statement.

The former Dhaka University VC, however, did not make it clear whether the separation was meant only for the time being – to take part in the all-party anti-militancy talks, or Jamaat will be dropped from the 20-party combine.

Issuing a press release, Jamaat protested and condemned the statement and asked Prof Emajuddin to withdraw his remark.

When contacted for their reaction, several BNP leaders felt  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

A double decker BRTC bus burns in Jatrabari during BNP-Jamaat enforced nationwide strike in 2013. Many believe the series of attacks on public transport during the hartals were carried out by Jamaat-Shibir activists and the demand that BNP should sever ties with Jamaat has since been very strong even within the party MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Tk40 lakh bounty for masterminds Tamim, Zia n Mohammad Jamil Khan Some of the arrested suspects were formerly active supporters of JamaatShibir

The IGP yesterday declared Tk40 lakh bounties for any information that would lead to the arrest of Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and Sayed Ziaul Haque, persons he termed masterminds of the Gulshan and Sholakia attacks respectively.

The identity of any person providing a tip-off would be kept secret, the police chief assured.

The total Tk40 lakh of bounty – Tk20 lakh for each of the suspects – is the largest ever reward offered by the police to capture suspects.

“The names [of Tamim and Zia] were found during investigation

into militant attacks and by analysing some concrete evidence,” Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque told a press conference at Police Headquarters.

Not only the masterminds, other second- and third-tier militants have also been identified by the police, he added.

Tamim, a Bangladesh-born Canadian, gave instructions to the five Gulshan attackers in a Bashundhara house he had rented, the IGP said, adding that Tamim even accompanied the attackers to Gulshan on the day of the attack.

Sacked army major Zia is allegedly a leader of Ansarullah Bangla  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

INSIDE IGP: Hasnat still a person of interest

Former NSU teacher Hasnat Reza Karim, a survivor of the Gulshan attack, is still a person of interest in the case, the country’s police chief has said.  PAGE 4

Unauthorised ‘Peace’ schools to go The government has decided to shut down all the unapproved Peace schools operating across the country, apparently in the face of controversy regarding their burdensome curriculum and radical views.  PAGE 32

Jamaat urges Emajuddin to withdraw statement n Tribune Report Soon after pro-BNP intellectual Emajuddin Ahamed's statement over the BNP-Jamaat tie, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, a party accused of war criminals, reacted sharply and urged the eminent educationist to withdraw his statement.

Issuing a press release, the party also raised question about the intention of Emajuddin Ahmed.

“Whose purpose is Emajuddin Ahmed serving by making 'objectionable and misleading' statement?” the press release posed the queston.

Jamaat leader Syed Abdullah Md Taher in the press statement expressed surprise and condemned the statement.

“The four-party alliance was formed in 2000 with a view to protecting country's democracy, human rights, religious values, country's independence and sovereignty,” he said.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

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‘Killed Kallyanpur militant Nayeem was in Libya’ n Tribune Desk

whether he had maintained contact with any international militant organisation,” said the CTTC chief.

Police were also trying to collect information about Nayeem’s jobs, his companions and meeting places in Patuakhali, Monirul Islam told the Bangla Tribune, sister concern of the Dhaka Tribune, adding that Nayeem had been staying in Kolapara upazila of Patuakhali district since 2013 and used to run militant activities from there.

Meanwhile, on returning from

Abu Hakim Nayeem, 24, who was killed with eight other militants during Kallyanpur drive, had been in Libya, says Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crimes (CTTC) unit chief Monirul Islam.

He could not, however, confirm whether Nayeem was trained by international militant organisation during his stay abroad.

“Nayeem was in Libya between 2009 and 2011. We are looking into

Libya in 2011, Nayeem had started a madrasa in his locality in Jahuail village under Gopalpur upazila of Tangail district. But locals had forced him to leave the area due to ‘misleading’ lessons he used to give in his institution.

Police are also trying to find out if the eight other militants killed in the July 26 raid in Kallyanpur had made such foreign visits, Monirul Islam told the Bangla Tribune. On July 26, nine militants were killed during Operation Storm 26 in Kallyanpur. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Tk40 lakh bounty for masterminds Tamim, Zia Team, who was also involved in planning the Sholakia attack and the recent blogger killings.

The Police Headquarters yesterday also released a series of images showing police renditions of how the fugitive suspects might look now.

The IGP said a single homegrown militant group was behind the three major militant incidents in Gulshan, Sholakia and Kallyanpur.

He added that members of this group claimed themselves to be

part of the so-called Islamic State, but were actually members of the “new JMB” – an offshoot of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh being led by Tamim.

Ansarullah members were also responsible for these militant activities, he added.

When asked whether Hizb ut-Tahir was also involved with the recent militant activities, IGP Shahidul said there was no concrete evidence that showed such a link.

However, he added that some

of the arrested suspects were formerly active supporters of Jamaat-Shibir.

Asked about SITE Intelligence’s reports on IS activities in Bangladesh, the police chief said SITE’s activities itself were mysterious and the watchdog’s role was also questionable.

Since 2013, a total 51 militant incidents took place in Bangladesh and 172 suspects were arrested, the IGP said, adding that many of the cases have already been solved.

Among the arrestees, 58 have given confessional statements to court, added the police chief.

According to the Police Headquarters, Tamim’s ancestral home is in Sylhet’s Bianibazar. He came to Bangladesh from Canada on October 5, 2013 and became a leader of “new JMB.” Meanwhile, sacked army major Zia – who hailed from Mostofapur in Moulvibazar – had conspired to stage a military coup in 2011, but went on the run after his plans were foiled. l

Jamaat urges Taher said it was now a question that why Mr Emajuddin had made such statements when the country’s independence and sovereignty were at stake.

“With due respect to Mr Emajuddin Ahmed we want to say clearly that the 20-party alliance did not appoint Mr Emajuddin Ahmed as a spokesperson of it. He does not have any right to talk on stance of the alliance.”

He must withdraw his statement. “We are urging Mr Emajuddin to refrain from making such unexpected statements in future,” the release said. l

Will BNP finally cut Jamaat loose? embarrassed to make any comment.

A Standing Committee member seeking anonymity told the Dhaka Tribune: “He [Emajuddin] does not hold any portfolio in the BNP; so he cannot say anything like this.”

Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, another Standing Committee member, said that he had no idea whether the party chief had taken such a decision at all.

A vice-chairman of the party wishing anonymity said the issue was unclear to him, but he confirmed that the BNP was yet to make any decision on cutting ties with Jamaat.

Another senior leader said that it was more or less clear that Jamaat would be kept out of BNP’s national unity initiative taken to curb militancy.

The top leaders of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami have been tried and some of them executed for their involvement in crimes against humanity during the country’s Liberation War. Jamaat is a key component of the 20-party alliance and they fought the general elections in 2001 and 2008 under the same platform.

Some Jamaat leaders were also accused of having ties to banned militant outfits including Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Several top Jamaat leaders earlier admitted that some leaders and activists had left the party and joined the JMB at different times.

Several countries have prescribed the BNP to cut ties with Jamaat after its members carried out violent attacks on people and law enforcers during the alliance’s anti-government movement in 2014 and 2015, and previously after the verdict in a war crimes case against its top leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee in 2013.

For these reasons, many leaders and supporters of the BNP find the presence of Jamaat in the alliance embarrassing. But the tie has remained intact.

Prof Emajuddin made the announcement speaking at a discussion in Dhaka yesterday, at a time when the ruling party has been refusing the call of the BNP chief to form a national unity against militant activities because of its ties to Jamaat.

He also said the national unity against militancy was a must in the current context.

“One particular political party is a hindrance to the national unity.

The government can ban that party any time, if it wants,” he said, without naming Jamaat.

“Khaleda Zia has decided that there is no need to keep that party in the [BNP-led] 20-party alliance for the sake of national unity,” he added.

They favour separation

Some pro-BNP intellectuals have always been pursuing Khaleda either

to sever ties with Jamaat or maintain a strategic distance with the party.

In mid-July, a group of intellectuals and professionals asked the BNP chairperson to leave Jamaat or give it a condition to apologise to the nation for the misdeeds the party and its members had done in 1971. They said that it was needed for forging a national unity with all parties to tackle militancy.

Appearing from the meeting, barrister Rafique-Ul Huq said that he had recommended that the BNP abandon Jamaat.

Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury said he had told the BNP chief that Jamaat must apologise for the role of its predecessors during the Liberation War. Zafrullah also said that Khaleda could also maintain relation with Jamaat, if she wanted, in the way they had been together in 1991.

In 1991, Jamaat was not a BNP ally, but it supported the BNP to form the government.

‘If Khaleda says’

Jamaat will not cut ties with the BNP until the three-time former premier asks them to do so, several BNP leaders observe. The BNP would sever ties with Jamaat when it is “convenient” for it and not under pressure from the government.

A senior leader told the Dhaka Tribune that the BNP should not abandon Jamaat as per the pre-

scription of the government. “The BNP should not be a victim of the government’s politics.”

Root of the confusion

After two back-to-back terror attacks last month – the July 1 Gulshan attack and the July 7 Sholakia attack, Khaleda called for a national unity as a means to curb militancy in Bangladesh.

At a meeting at her Gulshan office, some alliance leaders expressed grievances over Jamaat and said it should make its position clear. Some leaders suggested calling for a national convention against militancy. Jamaat leader Abdul Halim who was present at the meeting supported the idea.

Khaleda then reportedly said that Jamaat was the main barrier to this and her view was echoed by the alliance leaders.

As Khaleda mentioned Badruddoza Chowdhury, Dr Kamal Hossain and Kader Siddique who had severed ties with Jamaat, Halim questioned the importance of those parties during elections.

Khaleda replied that those parties were important in national politics.

Khaleda continued that her party had to accept criticisms for keeping ties with Jamaat. “You [Jamaat] formed an alliance with the Awami League and compelled me to step down from office. Why are you not disclosing the agreement you had with them?”

At that point, Halim said: “You are the alliance leader. You can fix who to stay in the alliance and who not?”

The discussion that day was stuck and no decision came from the meeting.

The next day, Khaleda held another meeting with noted intellectuals, most of who favoured keeping a strategic distance with Jamaat.

It began in 2001

The BNP formed an alliance of four parties including Jamaat before the 2001 elections and bagged majority votes to form government.

Jamaat was given two seats in the cabinet as it was the second largest party in the alliance.

Then Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami and senior leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid became ministers, first time for any Jamaat leader in Bangladesh’s history, and their induction created massive criticisms.

The two parties had similar ties in 1991 and Jamaat secured around 30 seats. Jamaat was not with the BNP before the 1996 elections, and the result was significant – it got only two seats.

In 1976, Ziaur Rahman, founder of the BNP, allowed Jamaat to be a part of national politics by withdrawing the ban on religion-based politics imposed after Bangladesh’s independence. l

Who is Tamim? n Mohammad Jamil Khan Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury is known to the international media as the local coordinator for Islamic State in Bangladesh but police say that he is a high ranking member of a faction of the local militant group called the “New JMB.” Tamim lived in Windsor, Canada from where he returned to Bangladesh on October 5, 2013. Investigators said hiding out in the northern districts, Tamim conducting a number of killing missions during that time.

Having gained sufficient confidence he finally executed both the Gulshan and Sholakia attacks, they said.

The lone militant captured from the Kallyanpur raid Rakibul Hasan alias Rigan confessed that a “Big Broth-

er” visited the flat to provide funds and give instructions.

Police say Tamim is one of these brothers and that they have filed a case against him.

Monirul Islam, chief of counter-terrorism and transnational crime unit, told the Dhaka Tribune that Tamim was in Dhaka during the raid and they think he was still in the country.

Police chief AKM Shahidul Hoque said that Tamim was

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Who is Maj Zia? the mastermind behind the Gulshan attack.

He is also accused of being a recruiter for banned militant group Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), an outfit allegedly responsible for the spate of targeted killings started two years ago.

The police have placed a bounty of Tk20 lakh on Tamim’s head.

Tamim is the grandson of Abdul Majid Chowdhury of Sadimapur in Borogram Union, Sylhet. Majid was a member of the infamous “Peace Committee” during the 1971 Liberation War, locals alleged.

Tamim’s father Shafiq Ahmed Chowdhury was a crew member in a ship. He moved to Canada with his family after the war. l

n Tribune Desk Bangladesh Police yesterday named two masterminds behind the recent militant attacks, particularly branding Maj (terminated) Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haque as the key player.

The law enforcers also circulated seven pictures of Maj Zia in different dresses and styles which proves that he is a master of disguise. The police have placed a bounty of Tk20 lakh on Tamim’s head.

His name first came in 2010 for instigating a mutiny in the army cashing in on the 2009 BDR Mutiny, and also the following year, along with over a dozen of army officers – linked to outlawed outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir – for attempting a failed coup in De-

cember 2011. Zia was from the engineer corps at Mirpur Cantonment and trained in special operations.

Investigators claim that Zia is now involved with banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team and is one of the masterminds behind the attacks in Gulshan and Sholakia, and the murder of secular bloggers.

Hailing from Mostofapur of Moulavibazar, Zia is the

son of Syed Md Zillul Haque.

According to the Bangladesh Army, Zia met a senior officer on December 22, 2011 and tried to provoke him into using the army against the state. The officer immediately informed the appropriate authorities, and his leave and transfer orders were cancelled.

He did not return to work and has been absconding.

Ansarullah started their activities with support of Ejaz Ahmed, a Bangladeshi descendent in Pakistan with close ties to al-Qaeda, while Zia has been working as the planner and decision maker of the outfit.

Zia is believed to be helping in the training of the members and also taught them bomb-making skills, intelligence agencies said. l

Police: Kallyanpur militants destroyed evidence n Tribune Desk Before the militants in Kallyanpur, Dhaka were killed in a police drive on July 26, they had destroyed important documents regarding their operations, police said yesterday.

They burnt all the documents just before a SWAT team stormed the flat in Taj Manzil, locally known as Jahaj Bari.

Those documents could have

helped the police with the investigation and perhaps led to the patrons of those militants, said Additional Commissioner Monirul Islam, chief of Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of the DMP. “However, we still have some leads in the investigation, which are being analysed now,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

Facing imminent death, the nine militants took photographs

wearing the so-called Islamic State attire before the operation, police sources said. They found the photos from the electronic devices recovered from the den.

Police suspect that the militants put on the black panjabis and keffiyehs following Fazr prayers, sensing that the police might move in after daybreak.

Saiful Islam, acting deputy commissioner at the CTTC unit, said

that they recovered several laptops and other devices in which they found some information.

In the raid, police also arrested one suspected militant while another managed to flee.

Requesting anonymity, a CTTC official told the Dhaka Tribune that the evidence as well as the information gleaned from detained militant indicated that the militants had been planning to attack places

where foreigners work or socialise.

The police are now looking for Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, the alleged mastermind of Gulshan attack who is also suspected to have visited the Kallyanpur den.

Another source in DB police told the Dhaka Tribune that they were carrying out raids in several areas of Dhaka to arrest militants who might have set up more hideouts in bachelors’ hostels. l

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IGP: Hasnat still a person of interest n Mohammad Jamil Khan Former NSU teacher Hasnat Reza Karim, a survivor of the Gulshan attack, is still a person of interest in the case, the country’s police chief has said.

Hasnat, however, was not in police custody, Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque told reporters, contradicting the home minister’s claim last week that the former North South University teacher was still being interrogated by law enforcers.

“But we have knowledge about his [Hasnat] location. If needed, we can bring him under custody any time,” the IGP said yesterday.

During a press conference at the Police Headquarters, Shahidul added: “We are analysing his previous history and his role on the day of attack.”

If the police are able to collect concrete evidence against him, Hasnat will be shown arrested, the police chief added.

Investigation sources told the Dhaka Tribune that they suspect Hasnat of having links with the Dhaka attack terrorists, based on a number of video footages they

Search for possible ties to Kallyanpur militant

Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque briefs reporters during a press conference organised at the Police Headquarters yesterday on the country's law and order situation DHAKA TRIBUNE

have analysed. But no concrete evidence has been found so far.

On Sunday night, Hasnat’s wife Sharmina Karim told the Dhaka Tribune that the family still had no idea about what had happened to Hasnat. “We only know that is he is

Death of one upheld in Shazneen murder n Ashif Islam Shaon The apex court has upheld the death penalty for one person and acquitted four others in the case filed over the rape and murder of teenager Shazneen Tasnim Rahman in 1998.

A five-member bench of the Appellate Division led by Chief Justice SK Sinha gave the verdict yesterday morning upholding the capital punishment of domestic help Shahidul Islam alias Shahid.

Those acquitted are Syed Sajjad Mainuddin Hasan, a contractor who was appointed to repair the house at that time; Sajjad’s assistant Badal; carpenter Shaniram Mandal; and two maids – Estema Khatun Minu and Parvin.

Of the two cases filed, the Appellate Division has resolved one and scrapped another which was pending with a lower court.

The top court said that after reviewing the High Court verdict, they had decided to uphold the death penalty for Shahid for the heinous killing. The other case is scrapped as two cases cannot be considered on the same incident on the same ground.

Shazneen, 15, a grade nine student of Scholastica and the young-

est daughter of Transcom Limited Chairman Latifur Rahman, was stabbed to death after rape at her home on April 23, 1998.

Her father filed a murder case the next day. On September 4, CID filed another case for rape and murder. The Appellate Division scrapped the first case, filed for murder, yesterday.

On September 2, 2003, the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal sentenced all the six accused to death. After hearing their appeals, the High Court acquitted Shaniram but upheld the death sentences for the other convicts.

“The five convicted by the High Court are in jail. We may seek review of the Supreme Court verdict after getting the certified copy and discussing the matter with Shazneen's parents and the prosecutors,” said plaintiff's counsel Nazrul Islam Chowdhury.

On the other hand, defence lawyer SM Shahjahan said that they were happy with the verdict.

After the death sentences of five convicts were maintained by the High Court, they moved the Appellate Division. The state challenged Shaniram's acquittal, but it was also turned down yesterday. l

yet to return home,” she said.

Hasnat, who holds dual British-Bangladeshi citizenship, as well as Canadian resident Tahmid Hasib Khan, a student at the University of Toronto, were taken into custody by the Detective Branch

GULSHAN ATTACK

Detained caretaker remanded for two days n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday placed detained Dawud Patwary, a caretaker of a house in Dhaka's Mirpur area, on a two-day remand in connection with the July 1 Gulshan attack.

Metropolitan Magistrate Nurun Nahar Yasmin passed the order after Inspector Humayun Kabir of the Counter-Terrorism unit of the DMP, also the investigation officer, produced him before it seeking a seven-day remand for interrogation.

Dawud is the caretaker of a house located in Arifabad Housing Society under Rupnagar police station of Mirpur.

In the remand prayer, the IO said in primary investigation they had found that the Gulshan restaurant attackers resided in Dhaka before the attack. Some of them might have resided in the Arifabad house.

Dawud rented the house to one named Ismail Hossain, one of the suspected militants.

The petition also stated that although Dawud rented the house but he did not collect the permanent address of Ismail. Therefore, he needs to be interrogated. l

of police for interrogation with the rest of the Gulshan attack survivors.

Although the rest of the survivors were later released, Hasnat and Tahmid’s families said they had not returned home.

Investigators are also analysing Hasnat’s possible connection to Taj-ul-Haque Rasik, one of the militants killed during the recent Kallayanpur raid.

According to Rasik’s family, Hasnat visited Rasik’s house several times last year. Rasik’s father Rabiul Islam said he did not know what the former NSU lecturer discussed with his son, who got his masters degree in engineering from North South University on December 15 last year.

Rasik went missing from home on April 5 this year. But before that, on August 15 last year, Rasik was arrested by Gulshan police for having links with Hizb ut-Tahrir, but was let go after signing a bond.

Officials of DMP’s Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) said Rasik was part of the suicide squad that was hiding in the Kallyanpur house.

CTTC chief Monirul Islam said they were still verifying whether Hasnat played a role in the terror attack, but pointed out that no concrete evidence against him has been found so far. l

Militancy reporting app gets 90 reports in two days n Arifur Rahman Rabbi “Hello CT” the militancy reporting mobile application has received 90 reports in just two days after it was launched.

The app is available on the Play Store for the time being while Apple and Windows compatible apps are being developed for the market soon Deputy Commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Masudur Rahman told Dhaka Tribune that they received 217 reports yesterday afternoon through the Hello CT app.

“This app lets people from around the country and the world report all kinds of criminal activity to the DMP,” he added.

He explained that the app can

be used to report different types of crimes such as terrorism, cyber crime, weapons, drugs etc.

It also has a section for transnational crimes such as forgery within the app.

“Yesterday we have received 217 complaints, 90 militancy reports, 35 cyber crime reports, 50 bomb related reports and 42 transnational complaints,” the deputy commissioner added.

He said every report is taken seriously and if there is enough evidence for an investigation then they start working on the case.

The police are encouraging everyone who might have some information relating to such crimes come forward using the app as the identity of the informer will remain secret.

The app is available on the Play Store for the time being while Apple and Windows compatible apps are being developed for the market soon.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal launched the Hello CT app at the DMP media centre on Sunday afternoon. l

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SC: Moudud must vacate Gulshan house n Ashif Islam Shaon

BNP leader Moudud Ahmed will have to vacate his Gulshan house as the apex court yesterday scrapped a High Court verdict which ordered the house’s mutation.

The Appellate Division bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha yesterday also scrapped a case proceeding filed for Moudud and his brother Monjur Ahmed’s alleged involvement in grabbing the land of the Tk300 crore house.

“After the verdict, I think it is clear that they have been staying there as grabbers. Certainly, Rajuk will take steps,” Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told reporters after the verdict.

Moudud alleged that the government moved the appeal upon vengeance

Dhaka’s housing regulator Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) filed an appeal against the High Court verdict that had ordered it for mutating the land. On the other hand, Moudud appealed against another order that upheld a lower court order accepting charges in the graft case.

Yesterday, the appeals court accepted both the appeals, which means, Moudud has no right on the house and the case filed over the land grabbing would be scrapped.

The BNP leader yesterday said he would file a review petition to get the house back.

The case was filed against Moudud and Manjur on December 17, 2013 by the Anti-Corruption Commission for grabbing the land with forged documents using his position as a civil servant during 1978 to 2006.

The charges were accepted by a trial court in Dhaka in September, 2014. Moudud moved the High Court seeking review of the charg-

es acceptance but that was rejected. He then moved a petition with the Appellate Division.

The case statement says the house on 1.13bigha (0.374 acre) land on Gulshan Avenue that Moudud has been living in since 1973 actually belonged to a Pakistani national Md Ehsan who had received the rights to the house from the then Dacca Improvement Trust (DIT) in 1960.

Ehsan along with his Austrian wife Inje Mariah, who was added as another owner of the house in 1965, left Bangladesh during the Liberation War in 1971.

As they did not come back, the government in 1972 listed the property as abandoned.

On the other hand, dockets of the house says Inje Maria Flaz died March 30 in 1985. But Moudud and his brother in their dockets showed that they singed an agreement to buy the house in August 10 that year.

As the deed was not implemented, they filed a case which was quashed in 1993.

Moudud’s brother moved the High Court in 2001 and the court in its order in 2005 asked for mutation. In 2010, the High Court accepted a petition to mutate the property under Manjur Ahmed’s name.

But, Rajuk challenged the High Court order which was rejected at the Appellate Division.

In 2014, Rajuk again filed another petition for reconsideration which was accepted and the Appellate Division yesterday passed the order scrapping the High Court decision of mutating the property for Moudud and his brother.

After yesterday’s verdict, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said that after the High Court’s mutation order, he had gone to Austria and collected the death certificate of Inje Mariah “which proves that she died before the advance deed was made.

“Now Rajuk will take action according to the law.”

Moudud, however, alleged that the government moved the appeal upon vengeance. “We have been living here since 1981. It is not a state property,” he claimed. l

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3

Dhaka

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A bus, apparently unfit for the road, lies flat on its side after it lost control under the Mayor Hanif Flyover in Dhaka’s Gulistan, killing a pedestrian yesterday. Recklessness of drivers and the impunity the bus owners receive are some of the major factors for which such accidents recur DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Ashif Islam Shaon

n Tribune Desk The government has appointed Mustafizur Rahman as the next High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Singapore.

Mustafizur Rahman, a career diplomat, is currently working as director general (UN Wing) in the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Ministry sources confirmed the news yesterday.

In his distinguished career, he served as the deputy permanent representative of Bangladesh to UN in New York and as the deputy high commissioner of Bangladesh in Kolkata.

He also served in the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the UN Offices in Geneva and the Bangladesh Embassy in Paris in different capacities.

Mustafizur Rahman obtained MBBS from Sir Salimullah Medical College. l 28

Rajshahi

DHAKA TODAY SUN SETS 6:40PM

Compensation ordered for drowned children’s families

Mustafizur Rahman new BD envoy to Singapore

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Rangpur

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The High Court yesterday issued a ruling based on a petition asking the families of the two children who drowned in sewage canals be compensated with Tk20 lakh each.

It also asked why the two Dhaka city corporations should not be ordered to properly cover manholes and sewerage canals under their jurisdiction within 15 days.

Petitioner Syda Shahin Ara Laili, a Supreme Court lawyer, named LGRD secretary, Dhaka WASA chairman, mayors of Dhaka city corporations, the inspector general of police, director general of fire service as defendants.

Khulna

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Barisal

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:29AM

36.4ºC Sylhet

24.2ºC Tetulia

Source: Accuweather/UNB

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PRAYER TIMES

A Six-year-old girl named Sanjida drowned after falling into a sewage canal near Mohakhali bus terminal on July 15. A week later, four-year-old Junayed Hossain Sabbir died the same way at Roopnagar.

Plaintiff ’s lawyer Eklas Uddin Bhuiyan told the court that most manholes and sewerage canals under the two city corporations lie exposed putting people at risk.

After the hearing, the bench of justices Md Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Ashish Ranjan Das ordered the city corporations and WASA to explain themselves by October 13 and submit a report on implementing its order. l

Sylhet

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Fajr: 4:55am | Zohr: 1:15pm Asr: 5:15pm | Magrib: 6:50pm Esha: 8:45pm Source: Islamic Foundation

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Ruling party men build market grabbing government land Islam Akand, n Raihanul Gazipur Some ruling party men of Bhogra area in Gazipur built up a market on the government land after grabbing it illegally.

Locals said a portion of a pond in the area had been filled for making Eidga filed. But recently some local influentials of ruling party set up 22 shops on the land illegally.

Nobody came to resist them as

they are influentials in the area, alleged the loals.

Recently local people urged the Prime Minister through a daily newspaper to recover the land from the illegal occupied.

They said the pond on three bighas land was the main source of water for household chores in the area.

After filling with sand , the people of the area have to face a critical situation for want of drinking water.

The people in the area also used the water for bath. Now they have to go a long distance as there is no large pond nearby their houses.

The pond was situated in industrial area. If there was any incident of fire, the firefighters can get water from the pond easily, now they have also face tough situation to douse fire.

Faisal Ahmed , a word councilor in the area , said he was not concern about the incident.

The people also had decided for making an eidgah on the khasland, said Faisal.

Alauddin Chowdhury, president of the eidgah committee, said they did not make eidgah on the Khas land.

We use a land of a school for eid.

But we did not use the land of pond.

When contacted, SM Alam, deputy comissioner, said If anybody tried to build up any establishbment on the khs, of course he would get punishment. l

Youth killed in ‘gunfight’

n Abdullah Al Dulal, Rajshahi A youth was killed in a gunfight in Rajshahi city’s Ashraf intersection in the early hours of yesterday.

Identity of the deceased could not be ascertained immediately.

Senior Assistant Commissioner of Rajpara Zone of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Ifte Khayer Alam said a team of police conducted a special drive in the area around 4:30am.

But sensing the presence of police, a gang of criminals opened fire to them prompting the law enforcers to take retaliation, triggering a gun battle.

Later, the police personnel found the youth in bullet-ridden condition and took him to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) where on duty doctor declared him dead. Ifte Khayer Alam also said police recovered firearms and bullets from the spot. l

Chittagong College authorityies takes additional security measures to ensure safety on the campus after a clash between two students’ groups at the university yesterday RABIN CHOWDHURY

Five suspected Ansarullah men placed on 3-day remand Mizanur Rahaman, n FM Chittagong

A Chittagong court yesterday placed five suspected members of banned Islamic militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team on threeday remand in a case filed under Anti-Terrorism Act with Patenga police station.

The accused are Md Akkas Ali alias Jahedul Islam Nayon, 23, Md Atiqul Hasan Emon, 26, Jamsedul Alam Hridoy, 21, Md Rubel, 26, and Md Mohiuddin, 18, said police sources.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (prosecution) Nirmalendu Bikash Chawakrabarty told the Dhaka Tribune that the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Abdul

Kader passed the remand order for each Ansarullah men after a hearing. Police produced them before the court seeking 10-day remand.

Of the accused, Akkas Ali is a Shithi (a top leader) of Shibir also a 2nd year student of Political Science at Chittagong Government College while Rubel is a fourth semester student of BBA department of city’s Southern University, Atiqul is a student of Chittagong Commerce College, Jamshed is the 2nd year student of Bangla department of Omar Gani MES College and Mohiuddin a dropped out madrasha student, said police.

Members of Detective Branch raided a flat at a four storied building in Chittagong city’s Katgor area under Patenga police station on

early Monday and arrested the five while they were holding a secret meeting.

Police later briefed the media that the arestees have also link with Musayeb Ibn Omayer alias Piklu Das who had been arrested along with four other members of the Ansarullah Bangla Team from Barabkunda area of Sitakunda upazila in possession of sharp weapons and laptops on July 11 on charge of plotting attack in the key installments in Sitakunda area.

Earlier, detectives arrested Abdul Hannan Abdullah alias Laden, a medical student of Dinajpur Medical College, from a mess in Kulgao area, Bayezid police station in the city on Friday along with Laptop and Jihadi books. l

Killer and Rapist Resistance day observed n JU Correspondent

The teachers and students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) yesterday observed the 17th Killer and Rapist Resistance day on the campus.

A procesion was rought out from ‘Amor Ekush’ sculpture around 11.30am protesting murder and rape which ended in front of business studies faculty parading the campus.

The leaders and activists of different students’ organisations spoke the programme. Zobair Tipu, president of JU Cultural Alliance, said : “On August 2, 1999, the killers and rapists had to leave the campus following the movement by the students. Now the previous situation has come back due to absence of justice. We have to take lession from August 2 and play our roles well against any kind of violence against women.”

JU unit Chhatra Union president Dipanjan Sidhanta Kajal said: “The green JU campus will not allow any killer or rapist.”

JU Government and Politics department teacher Prof Naseem Akhter Hossain, journalist Rashed Mehedi and former president of central unit Bangladesh Chhatra Union Luna Noor attended a discussion.

JU students on August 2, 1999 became succeed to drive out killers and rapist, two groups of the then JU unit Chhatra League, from the campus following the anti-killer and rapist movement which was launched in 1998, source said.

Since then, the left leaning students’ organisations along with the cultural organisations and activists observe the day as Killer and Rapid Resistance day. l

Exemplary punishment for child oppressors demanded n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong The child rights activists and child organisers demanded exemplary punishment to the child oppressors.

The demand was raised from a protest rally held at Prabartak intersection in the port city yesterday.

The protest rally was preceded by a human chain protesting at the gruesome murder of Sagar Barman.

10-year old Sagar Barman was killed recently by pumping air into his body through rectum. The minor from Narayanganj used to work at Zobeda Textile and Spinning Mills in Jatramura area of Rupganj. In August last year, 13-year-old Rakib was killed in a similar fashion for leaving his garage job in Khulna.

International Child Labour Elimination Day Observation Association, Chittagong organised the human chain programme.

The speakers expressed their grave concern over the increasing repression on the children from the protest rally.

With Nargis Sultana, child organiser of Bangladesh Shishu Academy, Chittagong in the chair, the protest rally was addressed by Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury, Anjuman Banu Lima, Tutul Kumar Das, Pijush Das Gupta, Asaduzzaman Sourav and Sirajul Islam, among others.

Nowadays child murder, rape and repression have become a commonplace in the country. Highest punishment should be meted to the child oppressors, the speakers said. l

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Flood situation improving in north n Tribune Desk

The flood situation in country’s northern region is continuing to improve as water level in the major rivers have dropped significantly.

Water Development Board’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) Executive Engineer Sajjad Hossain said the flood situation had improved in Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Sirajganj, Bogra and Kurigram because of the fall in water levels in the Brahmaputra and the Jamuna Rivers.

He said the water level in the Padma was remaining static, but it would recede in the next few days resulting improvement in the flood situation in low-laying areas of Rajbari, Manikganj, Munshiganj and Shariatpur.

The FFEC executive engineer said, during the last 24 hours ending at 9am today, water levels in country’s rivers rose at 28 points while fell at 54 points. Water level remained static at three points. Water is flowing above the danger level at 18 points.

In Rangpur, the flood situation improved significantly during the past three consecutive days in the Brahmaputra basin to bring normalcy at some of the affected areas, official and local sources said.

Normalcy started returning in most of the flood-hit areas of Rangpur, Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat while the situation improves rapidly in Kurigram, Gaibandha, Bogra and Sirajganj districts, sources in Water Development Board (WDB) said.

According to sources in the district administrations, some the displaced people have been returning homes at places in seven affected northern districts following further improvement of the flood situation during the period.

The major rivers were flowing be-

Flood-affected people wait for relief in a long queue at Molomganj High School, Islampur, Jamalpur for relief yesterday low the danger mark at most points, except at only eight points despite continuous fall in the water levels of the Teesta, Dharla, Ghaghot, Brahmaputra and Jamuna during the past 24 hours till 9 am today.

Executive Engineer of WDB for Kurigram Mahfuzur Rahman said sporadic erosion is being noticed with improvement of the flood situa-

‘Ninth wage board to be declared soon’ n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

Prime Minister’s Media Adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would announce the 9th Wage Board soon.

Sobhan came up with the announcement while exchanging views with journalists at Chittagong Press Club yesterday.

“Steps will also be taken soon for implementing the wage board where it has been implemented yet. The monitoring cell is going to be reconstituted. We will work for establishing the rights of the journalists,” said Sobhan who is also the editor of The Daily Observer.

Referring to the just-concluded polls of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalist (BFUJ), the senior

journalist said: “A voter can cast his or her vote for any candidate. The election should not create any disunity among us. All the pro-liberation journalists will always remain united. We have to stay alert so that none could take advantage of our disunity.”

Iqbal Sobhan called upon the journalist community to forge unity against the anti-liberation forces and militants so that they could not plot to destabilise the country.

With Reaz Hyder, president of Chittagong Union of Journalists in the chair, the view-exchange meeting was also addressed by former Abu Sufian, president of Chittagong Press Club, Kalim Sarwar, president of Chittagong Press Club, veteran journalist Arun Das Gupta and Md Ali, secretary of the CUJ. l

tion following recession in the water levels of all major rivers and tributaries during the past couple of days.

“Officials and employees of the WDB are closely monitoring the situation and we have kept adequate sandfilled bags and other necessary materials at the vulnerable points where river erosion might take place with recession of flood waters,” he added.

The Jamuna was still flowing 63cm above its danger mark at Bahadurabad, 52cm at Sariakandi, 52cm at Kazipur and 50cm at Sirajganj points in the Brahmaputra basin at 9am yesterday.

The Dharla was flowing just at its danger mark at Kurigram and Ghaghot was flowing above the danger mark by 27cm at Gaibandha

DHAKA TRIBUNE

points at 9am yesterday following further sharp falls in their water levels during the past 24 hours.

Officials in the district administrations and WDB said the falling trend in water levels of the major rivers and tributaries would continue during the next 72 hours to improve the situation further and bring normalcy in the affected areas. l

MITU MURDER CASE

Arms supplier Bhola put on 2-day fresh remand Mizanur Rahaman, n FM Chittagong

A Chittagong court yesterdayplaced Ehteshamul Haque Bhola, one of the accused in Mahmuda Akter Mitu murder case, on a twoday fresh remand.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (prosecution) Nirmalendu Bikash Chawakrabatry said the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Saleh Mohammed Noman had passed the order against Bhola after he had been produced before the court with a 10-day remand prayer by investigation officer of the case.

On July 17, Bhola was placed on

a three-day remand along with two other accused – Saiful Islam Saku alias Saku Sikdar, 45, and Shahjahan Mia, 28.

Sources at police said Bhola supplied the firearms which believed to be used in killing of Mitu, wife of superintendent of police Chittagong Babul Akter, and Saku provided a stolen motorbike which was also used during the killing mission.

Saku is the brother of police informant Kamrul Islam Musa alias Musa Sikadar who is the prime accused of the case.

Police recovered the firearms from the possession of Bhola’s aide Monir on June 28 and the motor-

bike was recovered on June 6.

Police sources said a group of seven to eight murderers took part in the killing.

Police arrested six persons so far in connection with the murder.

Of the arrestees, Motaleb Mia Wasim and Anwar gave confessional statements before a court saying that Musa hired them and plotted the murder.

Based on their confessional statements, detective police arrested Shahjahan and Saku from Rangunia upazila on July 1.

Two other accused – Rashed and Nabi – were killed in a gunfight on June 4 while Musa and Kalu are still at large. l

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SOUTH ASIA

Pakistan LeT sending aid to Indian-held Kashmir A charity belonging to a banned terror group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, has dispatched an aid convoy for Muslims in Indian-held Kashmir. Deputy Commissioner Masood-ur-Rehman says the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation plans a sit-in at the cease-fire line dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan if its convoy carrying ambulances, doctors, medicines and activists isn’t allowed to cross the boundary on Tuesday.

-AP

INDIA

Uttar Pradesh government suspends top cops over gang-rape case The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday suspended several top police officers of Bulandshahr, after an alleged gang rape of a woman and her daughter on National Highway 91. The incident, which occurred on Friday night when the family from Noida was travelling on the Delhi-Kanpur National Highway.

-TOI

CHINA

China willing to explore free trade deal with Britain China has an open attitude towards a free trade deal with Britain and is willing to study it, China’s Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday.

British officials have floated the idea of free trade deals with countries including China, India, Canada and the United States once Britain formally leaves the EU. -REUTERS

ASIA PACIFIC

PNG court orders Australia to present asylum seeker resettlement plan

Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Australia to present a resettlement plan for nearly 900 asylum seekers held in what it says is an illegal detention centre on Manus island. The Supreme Court ruled more than 3 months ago that the detention centre, used to house asylum seekers trying to reach Australia, was illegal.

-REUTERS

MIDDLE EAST

Rebel shelling kills 28 civilians in Syria’s Aleppo Shells fired by Syrian rebel groups killed at least 28 civilians in southwestern districts of the battleground city of Aleppo over the last 24 hours, a monitor said late Monday. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said those killed “included six children and eight women” in two government-controlled neighbourhoods of divided Aleppo. He said dozens of people were also wounded.

-AFP

INSIGHT

The radical post-modernism of IS n John Lloyd

The murder last Tuesday of the Catholic priest Jacques Hamel as he celebrated morning mass in a church in the suburb of the French city of Rouen showed that Islamic State is the most aggressively innovative of the serious challenges that democratic societies confront today.

The violent act broke two powerful taboos. The first was that a priest was killed while kneeling at the altar in a chapel. Church sanctuary, recognised as a refuge of safety from the Middle Ages through the 17th century, no longer has any legal force. Yet its breach still shocks.

Catholic priests have been murdered in large numbers throughout the ages – at the hands of Protestants (it was mutual), Muslims, communists and Nazis. But the isolated fact of a savage murder on a suburban summer morning stuns by its immediacy, and by being bathed in artificial light by the news media.

The second taboo is age: The priest was 85. He had won permission to continue his duties after the normal retirement age of 75.

Age is no protection against murder by random shooting or by a truck weaving to kill as many people as possible, as in Nice, France, recently. But the nature of these methods of mass murder obscures the individual horror. In Father Hamel’s case, it was vivid – and the method of killing, his throat was cut, a signature of the assassin (for which a synonym is “cutthroat”).

The two young men who carried out the killing filmed it, a bloody selfie for later viewing. Though not by them, because both were subsequently shot dead by police.

In all these ways, Islamic State, as it is also known, is brutally post-modernist. This kind of post-modernism, however, should never be compared or confused with the kind of aesthetic post-modernism used to describe the work of, say, the Young British Artists of the 1990s – Damien Hirst with his shark in formaldehyde, titled “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,” for example, and Tracey Emin with “My Bed.” They took objects, framed them and assumed the media would also frame them – if often to condemn their works as rubbish.

But they were artists-cum-entrepreneurs, who now live peacefully as multi-millionaires. The shark in formaldehyde, for ex-

French nuns leave a tribute to French priest, Father Jacques Hamel in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen on July 28 REUTERS ample, sold for between $8m and $12m.

By contrast, Islamic State forces its murderous art upon the West, and also uses the media. It tells increasingly unsettled Western states that their taboos, conventions, courtesies and, above all, liberal institutions and mechanisms are under attack.

The political scientist Francis Fukuyama labelled the victory of liberal capitalist democracy over Soviet communism as “the end of history.” He didn’t say that nothing else important would happen.

He did say, though, that all societies would “end their ideological pretensions of representing different and higher forms of human society.”

Militant Islam, especially the form that Islamic State has decreed it should take, proves this is wrong. It bends all its strength to drag Western culture down to what it views as a “higher form” of human society.

Islamic State’s more monstrous innovation is that its message – “to target Crusader coalition states” in any way possible, with whatever comes to hand – is capable of rapid absorption.

The Nice truck-killer, Mohammed Lahouaiej Bouhlel; Omar Mateen, the Afghan-American who killed 49 at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida in June, and Ali

David Sonboly, the German-Iranian who killed nine in Munich last week all had, at best, tenuous connections to Islamic State. Each probably radicalised himself, over a short period of time, inspired by Islamic State propaganda on the Internet.

Islamic State is fast losing ground and fighters in Iraq and Syria, yet it’s succeeding beyond its hopes in Europe. It’s doing so because there are people, usually young men of Muslim background, who fall in love with violence, death and Islamic State. It has plugged into a hellishly rich vein of youths who feel that life has nothing better to offer them than a glorious murder, and a martyr’s death.

Islamic State acts within what a French radical, Guy Debord, called “The Society of the Spectacle,” in which representations are everything, a state of affairs that can only be combated “through radical action in the form of the construction of situations.”

The situations that Islamic State devotees construct smash through what they regard as the banal images and activities of daily life, to prepare for the victory of a pure Islamist society.

The crowning irony of the quest is that the jihadists use radical post-modernism to haul the democratic world back into an

authoritarian medieval inferno. In Iraqi cities controlled by Islamic State, from which some residents managed to escape, women were confined to their homes and covered from top to toe. Among other disciplinary practices, men caught smoking have a bar of red-hot metal pushed into their mouths.

Meanwhile, the strategy, to destabilise liberal societies, is working. New bills are progressing though the legislatures in France, Germany and Britain. France’s state of emergency has been extended. Churches may soon follow the example of many synagogues, and hire guards, or be given police or army protection.

The philosopher-activist Bernard-Henri Levy has recommended that Western societies emulate the citizens of Israel, and develop a “sixth sense” to detect impending danger. Israel is the target of Hams and Hezbollah terrorism, and its neighbours are confronting serious civil strife.

That a leading French public intellectual is seriously recommending Europeans and North Americans adopt an Israeli mentality illuminates how Islamic State has “framed” us. l

John Lloyd co-founded the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, where he is Senior Research Fellow.

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EXPLAINER

USA

Why so many German Turks support Tayyip Erdogan n Tribune International Desk The demonstrations in Cologne on Sunday in favour of Turkey’s president showed there are many Turks in Germany who support Recep Tayyip Erdogan, even after the failed coup. There are many reasons why.

“I often very clearly criticise Erdogan, but I do not forget how much he has improved Turkey from 2002 through his election as president,” Talat Kamran told DW. Many of Germany’s Turks hold views similar to Kamran, who was born in Turkey in 1959, grew up there and later moved to Germany to study political science. For her, Erdogan is the man who reined in Turkey’s military, sparked an economic boom and drove urbanisation and modernisation.

Kamran has led Mannheim’s Institute for Integration and Inter-Religious Dialogue since 1996 in an effort to strengthen understanding between Muslims and Christians, Germans and Turks.

Kamran strongly criticises the current personal attacks and has called for more calm and understanding.

Many, particularly young Turks, want not only to strengthen Erdogan himself, but send a signal for democratisation.

Simple people from the country

Kamran points to Turkey’s history following the coup in 1980. More and more people moved from the poorer Anatolia region into the cities, establishing a clear counterweight to the urban elite. “Many of Germany’s Turks have their roots in Anatolia. For them, Erdogan will always be one of their own.” Erdogan indeed hails from a modest, devout family, just like many of the first generation of guest workers who came to Germany from Turkey in the 1960s and 70s.

Now the second and third generations in Germany are siding with Erdogan, explains Bulent Bigli, the general secretary of the Union of European-Turkish Democrats, one of the organisers of Sunday’s demonstrations.

National pride plays a big role

Journalist Cigdem Akyol’s book “Generation Erdogan” offers insight into the current situation.

Above all, Erdogan has Sunni Muslims, and thus the conservative majority of society, on his side, she said. If the German media are asking how somebody could support a man who oppresses his opponents and restricts press freedoms then, according to Akyol, they need to remove their “German glasses.” After four military

Donald Trump is trying to claw back a string of inaccurate comments about Russian intervention on Ukraine, but he’s yet to get it right, reports The Associated Press.

On the weekend, Trump asserted in an ABC interview that Russia would not enter Ukraine, not seeming to know Russian troops were already there. He suggested the 2014 annexation of Crimea didn’t count because the peninsula’s people preferred being part of Russia, which was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stated reason for taking it.

Prodded by his interviewer, the Republican presidential candidate modified his statement afterward.

“Already in Crimea!” Trump tweeted Monday, referring to Russian forces. “That’s what I said!”

The attempted clarifications left much unclarified.

Donald Trump on Monday fired senior adviser Ed Brookover.

Brookover was appointed in June to serve as a liaison between the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee. Prior to joining Trump, Brookover served as campaign manager to Ben Carson during his failed bid for the Republican nomination. -REUTERS

Another mayor killed in Mexico, 3rd since July

A supporter of Turkish President Erdogan holds up a picture during a progovernment protest in Cologne, Germany on July 31 REUTERS coups, Turkey is longing for stability, and “that is why the people are thankful for Erdogan,” said.

Turkish perspective

Ludwig Schulz, a Turkey expert at the German Orient Foundation in Berlin, confirmed that many of Germany’s Turks saw the failure of the coup as a victory for Turkish society and democracy. Schulz explained the national pride and support for Erdogan came from many people of Turkish origin who were predominantly informed by Turkey’s gov-

ernment-regulated media.

In every conversation with a Turkey expert, it is always noted that not all German-Turks are supporters of Erdogan. Roy Karadag, a political scientist at the University of Bremen, for example, told “Die Welt” newspaper: “Among German-Turks there are increasing conflicts over who speaks in their name, who can act and mobilise.” l

[This is an excerpt for a DW article, which can be found at http://bit. ly/2aFRLp8]

Donald Trump gets much wrong on Russia Here’s how Trump’s comments comport with the facts: TRUMP on Putin: “He’s not going into Ukraine, OK. Just so you understand: He’s not going to go into Ukraine, all right?”

FACTS: Putin did go into Ukraine.

After Ukrainian protesters chased Viktor Yanukovych, their Russian-backed leader, from power in February 2014, Russian troops stationed at a base in Crimea seized strategic locations on the peninsula and replaced the local government with pro-Kremlin politicians. Russia annexed the territory after a widely discredited referendum a month later.

Moscow didn’t stop there, according to the central government in Kiev and its Western backers, sending troops and military equipment to help separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. They say Russia continues to train rebels and direct low-level attacks against Ukrainian forces on the front line.

Russia acknowledges it has some

Donald Trump fires senior adviser

THE AMERICAS

FACT CHECK

n Tribune International Desk

DT

World

military officials in Ukraine, but says no regular troops are there.

In his tweets Monday, Trump sought to explain himself: “When I said in an interview that Putin is ‘not going into Ukraine, you can mark it down,’ I am saying if I am President.”

TRUMP: “You know, the people of Crimea, from what I’ve heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were. And you have to look at that, also.”

FACTS: Trump is right that many Crimeans, being ethnically Russian, felt close to Moscow. But that is only part of the story.

The March 2014 referendum that officially showed 95 percent of Crimeans wanting to join Russia faced an avalanche of criticism.

It occurred as thousands of Russian troops were controlling Crimea. There were charges that people voted at gunpoint. No respected international election monitors supervised the balloting.

Crimea’s large Muslim Tatar minority, whose families were forcibly relocated to Central Asia during Soviet times,

defiantly opposed joining Russia. Many ethnic Ukrainians stayed at home. And the world community almost universally panned the annexation.

TRUMP: “As far as the Ukraine is concerned, it’s a mess. And that’s under the Obama’s administration, with his strong ties to Nato. So with all of these strong ties to Nato, Ukraine is a mess.”

FACTS: Ukraine is not a Nato country and is not covered under the alliance’s basic premise that “an attack against one ally is considered as an attack against all allies,” so Trump’s implication that Nato somehow failed Ukraine is incorrect.

Ukraine has never been part of the 28-member organisation.

And although Nato has mobilised for campaigns in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Libya, the self-described defensive alliance has never engaged in military action against Russia.

It probably would never do so unless a Nato member — such as Poland or one of the Baltic states — were faced with Russian aggression. l

A mayor was shot dead in Mexico’s central Puebla state, the 3rd mayor to be killed in the country in less than two weeks. Jose Santa Maria Zavala, the mayor of Huehuetlan El Grande, was found dead Monday night next to a bullet-riddled sport-utility vehicle. Some 40 mayors have been murdered in the country since 2003, according to the Association of Mayors of Mexico.

-REUTERS

UK

Britain’s Julian King named EU security commissioner The EU on Tuesday named top British diplomat Julian King to the new post of security commissioner tasked with fighting terrorism, organised and cyber crime as London prepares to quit the 28-nation bloc. European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said King takes office as Europe faces up to a series of deadly terror attacks, most recently in France and Germany.

-AFP

EUROPE

Spain faces spectre of 3rd election Spain’s 2 main political parties held fruitless talks to form a new government on Tuesday and acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said a new election - the third in less than a year - may be necessary. 7 months of negotiations to form a new government have so far come to a dead-end, following national elections in December and June that left Spain with a hung parliament.

-REUTERS

AFRICA

Bodies wash up in Libya as migrant toll climbs The bodies of 120 migrants have washed up on the shores of Libya in the past 10 days, not from previously known shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday. A total of 4,027 migrants or refugees have died worldwide so far this year, three-quarters of them in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe.

-REUTERS

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INSIGHT

Battle within tiny Indian Shia Bohra community on circumcising girls n Tribune International Desk

When Bilqis talks about having circumcised her daughter, she goes back and forth on how she feels - sometimes within the same sentence, reports The Associated Press.

The slender 50-year-old doctor defends what is widely known as female genital mutilation within her small, prosperous Shia Muslim sect in India, saying it’s a mild version that amounts to “just a little nick. No harm done.” Yet she also acknowledges regret and guilt at putting her daughter through a practice the United Nations calls a violation of girls’ rights.

“It’s really nothing, it changes nothing,” repeats Bilqis, who asks to be anonymous except for her religious name because of the personal nature of the subject. But she adds: “I have no doubt in my mind that it is not helpful. ... If I had a young daughter now there’s no way I would have her circumcised.”

The struggle within Bilqis and her Dawoodi Bohra community reflects a growing debate over the best way to address a custom that is proving stubbornly hard to eradicate. At least 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone some form of female genital cutting, according to the United Nations - 70 million more than in 2014 because of increases in both population and reporting. And the UN predicts the number of victims will increase significantly over the next 15 years because of population growth.

Faced with this prospect, experts in the respected international Journal of Medical Ethics in February proposed permitting small female genital cuts that “uphold cultural and religious traditions without sacrificing the health and wellbeing of girls and young women.” But this approach is already carried out in the Bohra community and is proving highly controversial.

Ranalvi remembers when she was 7, her grandmother promised her candy and ice cream. Instead, she was taken to a dingy room in a back alley. Her dress was pulled up and her legs and arms held down.

A sharp pain followed. She came home in tears.

She did not understand what had happened until her 30s, when she read about female genital mutilation. India has no laws banning female circumcision, and Ranalvi says the letters she has sent to Dawoodi Bohra leaders have been ignored.

The Dawoodi Bohras are an affluent trading community of about a million people concentrated mostly in Mumbai, but also seen across the United States and Europe. In

FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING IN ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST Female genital cutting is a global issue. Whilst it takes place in 27 countries across Africa, girls and women in parts of Asia and the Middle East are also subjected to the practice. It is a taboo and under-researched issue but has been shown to exist in the countries highlighted below.

IRAQ FGC is legal in Iraq which has a national prevalence of 8%. FGC is illegal in Iraqi Kurdistan where in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah 50% of women have been cut. In 2012 Iraqi Kurdistan set up the first hotline in the Middle East for cut women.

JORDAN

IRAN FGC is legal in Iran where small studies in regions bordering Iraq and in the South found 40-85% of women have been cut. In 2009, high ranking clerics issued Fatwas banning FGC. INDIA AND PAKISTAN FGC is legal in both countries. Whilst there have been no studies, opinion suggests 50% of Dawoodi Bohra women undergo FGC(known as Khatna) explored in the documentary “A Pinch of Skin”. The anti-Khatna movement has grown following an online petition in 2011.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

SAUDI ARABIA

Indicates a place where FGC has been shown to occur

MALAYSIA One small study of Malay Muslims in five rural villages in north Malaysia found 93.5% of women had undergone FGC. The Ministry of Health called for a need to standardise the procedure, contradicting its own ban on doctors performing FGC.

YEMEN OMAN A small study found that 78% of women were cut. There is a high rate of approval of FGC from both sexes. Anecdotally, FGC appears to be common in the North and South.

MALDIVES

Source: www.orchidproject.org the winding lanes of a Bohra neighbourhood, observant men are distinguished by white and gold embroidered caps and beards. Women wear a long, colourful tunic down to their ankles, and a scarf over their hair.

The Bohras are known for their liberal attitude toward the education of women. Yet the community is also tightly controlled by an entirely male clergy, with headquarters in upscale Malabar Hill in southern Mumbai. Here, alongside the homes of Bollywood stars and billionaire business tycoons, sits the sprawling Saifee Mahal, the home of the religious head known as the Syedna.

When they reach puberty, Bohra boys and girls take an oath of loyalty to the Syedna, and he has a say in almost every aspect of their lives, including marriage and funerals. From Mumbai to New York, medical professionals receive the Syedna’s blessings to perform circumcision for girls, known as khatna. The procedure goes back to the community’s roots in Yemen and its proximity to northern and northeastern Africa, where the practice is deeply entrenched.

Circumcision has become a battleground for the two Bohra men vying for succession, the half-brother and the son of the former Syedna. The half-brother says it is time to end the practice. The son, whom

Drivers that perpetuate FGC include tradition, culture, social pressure and religion. Although FGC pre-dates Islam, is not mentioned in the Qur'an and is not practised by the majority of the Muslims worldwide, FGC is often believed to be an Islamic imperative in some places.

most Dawoodi Bohras accept as their new leader, says the tradition must continue and notes that Bohra men are also circumcised. He declined to comment, but laid out some of his views in an earlier speech.

As the Dawoodi Bohras have travelled the world, they have taken the closely held ritual of circumcision with them. Alefiya, a 34-yearold social worker in the United States, remembers the khatna being done by her grandmother’s sister in a cold basement in New York. It was awkward and painful, she says.

Alefiya, who asked for her full name not to be used for privacy, objects as much to the message sent as to the act itself. Older Dawoodi women call the clitoris sinful flesh - the flesh that can lead a woman astray.

Bilqis, dressed in slim pants and a sleeveless blouse, comes across as the epitome of the modern Indian woman. She lives in a swanky highrise apartment building with views of manicured gardens, a luxury in a city of matchbox homes. And she talks openly about her sex life, breaking a taboo that runs deep in Indian culture.

She grew up in an observant Bohra family in central India, the only girl among 10 brothers and cousins. Her father wanted them all to get a good education. It was almost drilled into her that she had to become a doctor.

THAILAND

SINGAPORE

INDONESIA Small studies find prevalence rates of 70-92%. The top Muslim clerical body (MUI) ruled FGC is not mandatory but “morally recommended”. Despite banning FGC, the Ministry of Health released BRUNEI guidelines advising how to cut. These were apparently revoked in 2014 after international outcry, but the government’s position is unclear.

It was a childhood more liberal than most girls in India can dream of.

Her father never forced her to dress or behave a certain way. Her mother was a much more silent presence, but she never pushed her daughter toward traditional female roles either.

Bilqis did not set foot in the kitchen.

“When I got married, I could barely boil an egg or make tea,” she says.

She was circumcised as a child, but has only the faintest memory of it. It was neither harmful nor traumatic for her, she says, and has not hurt her sex life.

As a doctor, however, she knows that the circumcision of a little girl - sometimes by midwives and older Bohra women in the community can be traumatic. She remembers a time when a child came to her after being cut too deep, requiring blood vessels to be cauterised.

She does not have religious sanction to actually perform circumcisions. But in the past she has given certificates of circumcision to non-Bohra women who wanted to marry men in her community, even though many had never had the procedure.

She tells her female patients that circumcision has no benefits and potential risks. Yet by the time they talk to her, with their mothers or mothers-in-law, they’ve usually made up their minds to go forward.

Fifteen years ago, she felt the same way. There was no nail-biting self-doubt or anxious buildup. She says she acted out of a sense of religious obligation.

Bilqis told her daughter Sameena she would get a small injection. A nurse snipped off a tiny bit of skin.

The girl did not cry, Bilqis says. She remembers thinking “one social milestone passed. One responsibility dealt with.”

Sameena, now 22, is a graduate student at an Ivy League school in America. She has not had sex, which is not unusual for women her age in India. But like her mother, she talks about it without the coyness or shyness of most young Indian women.

Sameena is gradually coming to terms with the knowledge that she was circumcised at age 7.

They agree that the custom should be abolished but differ on how. Bilqis fears that the few vocal activists speaking out may only drive it deeper underground.

But Sameena does not want slow and silent change - she wants the religious leadership to come out against the practice.

“It’s not going to end by not talking about it. You have to keep bringing it up as something that should not be done,” she says. “That’s the only way to tackle it. l

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TOP STORIES Ecnec okays projects worth Tk1,488cr The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday approved seven projects worth over Tk1,488 crore related to communication and construction works in educational institutions.

PAGE 13

May resurrects industrial policy as Britain prepares for Brexit Prime Minister Theresa May, later yesterday, will outline her bid to reshape the British economy for a post-Brexit world, reviving the once unfashionable concept of industrial policy 30 years. PAGE 14

Japan approves stimulus for sluggish economy Japan’s cabinet yesterday approved a mammoth 28tn yen ($273bn) package in its latest attempt to stimulate lacklustre growth, including cash to improve infrastructure and raise the birthrate in the ageing nation.

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Capital market snapshot: Tuesday DSE Broad Index

4,552.4

0.4% ▲

Index

1,117.8

0.4% ▲

30 Index

1,782.7

0.4% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk

4,408.4

16.7% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

104.9

8.3% ▼

All Share Index 13,990.2

0.3% ▲

30 Index

0.4% ▲

CSE

Selected Index

12,903.1 8,515.5

0.3% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk

210.0

-6.7% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol

7.5

1.9% ▲

Foreign aid hits record high in FY16

n Tribune Business Desk Bangladesh has received a record foreign aid for development spending in the immediate past fiscal year.

The foreign aid stood at $3449.97 million in FY’15-16, an increase of more than 13% a year earlier, according to the latest data of Economic Relations Division (ERD) released yesterday.

The foreign aid received during the period surpassed the government’s target of $3415 million.

Of the total aid disbursement, $2903.68 million came as credit and $546.29 million as grant while it was $2472.20 million as credit and $570 million as grant in the previous fiscal.

The disbursement of foreign aid made a record due to the project implementation as public entities have done well due to stable political situation In the last fiscal year, Bangladesh made a repayment of $1,044.44 million, including $842.01 million in principal amount and $202.44 million as interests.

In the previous fiscal year, it was $1097.19 million, including $187.73 million as principal amount and $187.73 million in interest.

State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan said the disbursement and commitment for foreign aid made a record due to the project implementation as public entities have done well due to stable political situation.

He also said the development partners disbursed fund due to scaling up the implementation work of foreign funded projects.

About the record in foreign aid disbursement, ERD senior Secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin wrote the finance minister that the country received the record highest foreign aid after independence. l

Japan eyes bulletproof cars for safety of its aid workers abroad n Japan Today Japanese officials on Monday said the government is mulling ramping up bulletproof vehicles and other equipment to protect the country’s aid workers overseas in the wake of a terrorist attack in Bangladesh that killed seven Japanese.

A Foreign Ministry panel said in its interim report the ministry is also planning to call on foreign governments to strengthen the safety measures of their police and military.

“Japanese people can also be targets of terrorism and we need to renew our thinking that safety does not come without costs,” Seiji Kihara, Japanese senior vice foreign minister, said at a meeting of the panel at which he presented

the interim report to Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.

Kishida expects concrete and effective measures to be worked out as “Japan needs to continue offering support to developing countries, including Bangladesh.”

Other suggested steps include strengthening intelligence-gathering capabilities and conducting emergency communication drills, and a final report will be compiled by the ministry later in the month, ministry officials said.

The terrorist attack in Bangladesh capital Dhaka last month killed 20 people including the seven Japanese involved in a project for the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which conducts projects in developing countries financed with Japanese aid.

Also last month, a vehicle carrying Japanese aid workers travelling in a bulletproof vehicle in conflict-ravaged South Sudan came under gunfire.

Japanese diplomats were airlifted out of the country’s capital due to safety concerns. l

Norwegian-US firm to conduct 2D survey in offshore areas n Tribune Business Desk A Norwegian-US joint venture firm will carry out a two-dimensional (2D) multi-client seismic survey in offshore areas of Bangladesh from December this year, according to sources concerned.

A proposal of Energy and Mineral Resources Division on the matter will be placed at the meeting of the cabinet committee on economic affairs for approval tomorrow.

According to the proposal, Petrobangla will sign an agreement with TGS-NOPEC and Schlumberger, a Norwegian-US joint venture, to conduct the 2D seismic survey.

The agreement will be signed this month.

Foreign oil and gas companies, who are now involved with offshore areas, will collect data from the Norwegian-US firm for drilling, the proposal said.

Prime Minister’s Office already approved the proposal last month.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is also minister of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.

The objective of the survey is to provide the country’s oil and gas industry with 2D seismic data of the offshore areas to help with basin evaluation, prospect generation and robust bid-round participation.

The survey, first of its kind in the country, was deemed necessary after Bangladesh’s maritime boundaries with Myanmar and India were settled.

The state-owned Petrobangla, on behalf of the government, invited re-tenders to conduct the survey on December 10 last year and received proposals from five global geophysical companies by January 31 this year.

The companies are Norway-US joint venture TGS-NOPEC and Schlumberger, Chinese company BGP, Russian firms Dalmorneftegeophysica (DMNG) and Marine Arctic Geological Expedition (MAGE) and UK-based Spec Partners Ltd. l

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Ecnec okays projects worth Tk1,488cr PM for constructing concrete road instead of tar road roads through making slabs, the munication network for marketing n Tribune Business Desk both farm and non-farm products state minister added.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday approved seven projects worth over Tk1,488 crore related to communication and construction works in educational institutions.

The approval came at the Ecnec meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair at the NEC conference in the city yesterday.

After the meeting, State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan disclosed the outcome of the meeting.

He said the premier again put emphasis on constructing concrete roads instead of tar roads that are often damaged due to rain.

The prime minister also suggested constructing these concrete

Of the approved projects cost, Tk1,430.77 crore will come from the public coffer and Tk57.37 crore from the project-related public agencies’ own fund.

Rural infrastructural development of Jamalpur and Sherpur districts is one of the seven approved projects, of which the estimated cost is nearly Tk389 crore.

Local Government Engineering Department under the Local Government Division will implement the rural infrastructural development project by June 2020.

The government will bear the entire fund for implementing the project.

The main objectives of the project are creating rural road com-

side by side ensuring social and economic development.

Besides, the project will also aim at creating short and long-term employment opportunities through rural infrastructural development.

Under the project, there will be upazila, union and village road developments alongside submersible road development as well as constructing bridges, road maintenance and tree plantation protection work.

Commenting on the project, the state minister said there is no denying the fact that there is a huge lack of rural infrastructures. That is why infrastructural development and setting up communication network for important areas like Jamalpur and Sherpur are imperative.

Another project titled construction of residential buildings for female prison guards with an estimated cost of Tk93.97 crore also got the nod of Ecnec.

The Bangladesh Jail and Department of Housing and Public Works will jointly implement the project

by June 2019.

Under the project, 14 residential buildings would be built for female prison guards at 14 district jails, some 18 residential buildings in nine central jails, new residential building at Manikganj district jail, upward extension in existing residential buildings in 26 districts, construction of 1955.21 running meter compound drain, construction of 5144.45 square meter approach road, construction of 2421.78 running meter boundary wall and 21415.37 square meter land development.

About the project, Mannan said in recent times, the number of prison inmates have been increasing day by day.

As a result it has become essential to develop the accommodation, water supply and power system for female warders. Under the circumstances, the project has been approved to create accommodation facilities for the female prison guards, he said.

The other projects approved in the meeting are construction of some 11 secondary schools and six government colleges in Dhaka metropolis (3rd revised) with Tk293 crore, Special Development of Haji Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University with Tk156.84 crore and further development of Patuakhali Science and Technology University (2nd revised) with Tk120.05 crore. l

BSEC to open new wing Bangladeshi Sonia gets Microsoft Founders Award on financial literacy n Tribune Report Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has decided to open new department to operate financial literacy-related programme across the country.

“The commission has approved a proposal to create a separate division titled Financial Literacy Department aiming at running financial literacy programme in the country in an organised way,” said the regulator in a statement yesterday.

To bring pace in financial literacy programme, a steering committee and technical committee have already been formed.

The securities regulator has undertaken the initiative for launching financial literacy programme as part of its master plan to make people literate on financial instruments.

An official said the regulator will formulate new rules and make the programme mandatory for every

institution and use its resources to disseminate financial education.

A committee member said the committee already recommended executing the financial literacy programme into three phases — shortterm, mid-term and long-term.

According to the recommendation, the short-term plan might be implemented between 2016 and 2018. Investors and stakeholders will be trained so that they could make appropriate investment decisions under the plan.

The mid-term plan might be implemented between 2018 and 2019.

Investors other than existing stakeholders will be trained on financial issues to make them understand capital market investment well under the mid-term plan.

Under the long-term plan to be implemented between 2020 and onwards. Officials in all government and non-governmental organisations will be trained under the long-term plan. l

n Tribune Business Desk Sonia Bashir Kabir, managing director of Microsoft Bangladesh, has won the highly prestigious Founders Award given by Bill Gates, the company said in a statement yesterday.

This award is the highest honour to any Microsoft employee. Of the 100,000 employees of Microsoft, 15 won this award this year.

Sonia was chosen from Asia Pacific and given the award at Microsoft’s annual general meeting held in US last week before an audience of over 10,000 enthusiastic employees. Sonia Bashir Kabir Founders award is given for suIndividuals are selected from perior leadership, innovation and significant contributions to the the Platinum Club Outstanding business with outstanding impact. Achiever winners for giving this

honour.

Founders Award winners receive a Rolex watch with Bill Gates initials and awardees initials.

Sonia has also been awarded Microsoft’s highest award for Outstanding Achievement, the Circle of Excellence Platinum Club.

Less than 2% of the Microsoft’s nearly 1,00,000 employees received this award this year, which recognizes the company’s strongest contributors and top performers.

Sonia said: “I was truly humbled and surprised by both the awards. It is a great recognition and I am super excited about the future of Microsoft in Bangladesh especially aligning with our prime minister’s digital Bangladesh initiative.” l

Menon for bolstering adventure in Bangladesh Stocks rally for 2nd day tourism n n Tribune Business Desk

Stocks closed higher yesterday led by mainly large cap sectors.

The DSE benchmark index DSEX rose 18 points to settle at 4,552.

The blue-chip comprising index DS30 was up 8 points to 1,782. The DSE Shariah Index DSES inched 4 points up to 1,117. The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX gained 23 points to 8,515.

All the large cap sectors except banks showed positive performanc-

es. Banks dropped by 0.15%. Power sector posted the highest gain of about 1%, followed by pharmaceuticals 0.53%, food & allied 0.5%, telecommunication 0.4%, non-banking financial institutions 0.3% and engineering 0.17%.

Lanka Bangla Securities said stocks closed modestly higher opening although the mood is suggestive of uneasy optimism. After holding on the early gain of the day, the benchmark index recovered some of its losses in previous trading sessions, it said. l

Tribune Business Desk

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon has underscored the need for boosting adventure tourism in Bangladesh as 36% of the global tourists are now very much interested in adventurism.

“As 60% population of Bangladesh are youths, it is an urgent need for us to bolster adventure based tourism to attract more tourists.”

Tourism minister was addressing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony held at Ho-

tel Obokash in the capital yesterday.

Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) and The Base Camp, the first outdoor activity camp of the country, signed the MoU. The ceremony was addressed, among others, by Additional Secretary of Tourism Ministry Rafiquzzaman, BPC Chairman Aparup Chowdhury and Base Camp Managing Director Tamzid Siddiqui.

“As adventure tourism is experiencing an unprecedented growth globally, our neighbouring countries like Nepal and Maldives are

earning a huge amount of revenue by offering this tourism,” said Menon.

According to tourism expert, Bangladesh has huge opportunity in adventure tourism if the government can arrange mountaineering, rafting, rippling, paragliding, parachuting, hiking and trekking.

Bangladesh offers tourists trekking in Chittagong Hill Tracks (CHT) and enjoyment of rivers and rill crossing throughout the world’s largest mangrove forest the Sunderbans. l

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May resurrects industrial policy as Britain prepares for Brexit n Reuters, London Prime Minister Theresa May, later yesterday, will outline her bid to reshape the British economy for a post-Brexit world, reviving the once unfashionable concept of industrial policy 30 years after Margaret Thatcher killed it off.

May will chair the first meeting of the “Cabinet Committee on Economy and Industrial Strategy” in her Downing Street Offices, bringing together the heads of 11 other ministries to set out her vision for a state-boosted industrial renaissance.

“If we are to take advantages of the opportunities presented by Brexit, we need to have our whole economy firing,” May said ahead of the meeting in a statement released by her office.

“We also need a plan to drive growth up and down the country – from rural areas to our great cities.”

After a referendum campaign that revealed dissatisfaction in many of Britain’s struggling post-industrial regions, May is pitching a plan to reunite the country by raising the prospects of those who she casts as “hard-working people”.

The June 23 vote to leave the European Union has raised serious questions about the future of the world’s fifth largest economy, with some surveys indicating a reces-

Britain’s Prime Minister, Theresa May, speaks to the media outside number 10 Downing Street, in central London REUTERS sion, a hit to consumer confidence and a possible fall in investment.

“We need a proper industrial strategy that focuses on improving productivity, rewarding hard-working people with higher wages and creating more opportunities for young people so that, whatever their background, they go as far as their talents will take them,” May said ahead of the meeting.

The challenge is to find a formula that arrests a decades-long decline in Britain’s manufacturing sector by helping firms tackle the challenges posed by globalization without blunting the market forces that make them competitive.

She will make a priority of developing the industries already based in Britain - a push that could help carmakers like Jaguar Land Rover, GM-

owned Vauxhall and Nissan, and aerospace industry leaders like BAE Systems to weather the Brexit storm.

The strategy will also involve finding new ways to rebalance the economy away from its reliance on the services sector, and ensure wealth is distributed away from the prosperous south east of England.

Whilst policy detail is scarce, the strategy is likely to combine state-backed investment in traditional infrastructure like roads and rail with funding for modern essentials like broadband and lower energy costs, along with a push to train more of the highly-skilled workers industry says it needs.

Industrial policy has a toxic legacy in Britain.

It was once used to help failing national champions through a series of flawed policies in the 1960s and 1970s that sought to arrest a decline in manufacturing influence.

“We’re not getting into the business of picking winners: it’s more about creating the right environment,” a government source who spoke on condition of anonymity said.

May’s office said the strategy would promote a range of industrial sectors with a focus on addressing long term productivity growth; encouraging innovation and focusing on the industries and technologies that give Britain a competitive advantage. l

Walton declares 2016 ‘service year’

n Tribune Business Desk Walton, local manufacturer of electronics products, has declared the year 2016 as ‘service year” to become customer-friendly by ensuring swift and world-class post sales services for the users of its products.

The Walton Service Management System (WSMS) started the current year with the challenge of ensuring swift and best post sales service for Walton brand customers, along with delivering highest standard products, said a press release issued recently.

To this extent, the local brand undertook multifarious initiatives, including raising service center’s workforce by more than 50% this year, opening new centers across the country, providing adequate trainings to the technicians and engineers, motivating the workforce by incentives and so on, it added.

The WSMS authority also dedicated two e-mails for receiving desired customers’ suggestions on the further development of post sales service. The two e-mails are: support@waltonbd.com and info@ waltonbd.com.

“We have very much succeeded in the improvement of our overall post sales service activities during the last six months of the current year,” said Md Neamul Haque, additional director of Walton Group.

Walton would be a role model in Bangladesh in terms of providing best after sales service to the customers, said Haque. l

Myanmar tourism boom set to bring 7.5m visitors a year n AFP, Yangon Myanmar is hoping to lure 7.5 million tourists a year by 2019, an official said yesterday, as the impoverished former junta-ruled nation emerges as one of Southeast Asia’s hot destinations.

Travel to the once-cloistered country used to be reserved for the well-heeled and intrepid, prepared to endure the travails of a country under military rule with patchy electricity and limited communications.

But foreign tourists have flocked

in since the country began opening up in 2011, with a celebrities such as pop stars Beyonce and Jay Z helping to popularise the message that the country is open for visitors.

This year Myanmar is on track to welcome 5.5 million tourists, nearly a million more than 2015, Tint Thwin, director-general of Ministry of Hotels and Tourism told AFP. “We hope the number will grow to 7.5 million tourists per year within three years,” he said on the sidelines of a major tourism conference in Yangon. l

Mubina Asaf, head of legal and external affairs of British American Tobacco Bangladesh and Abu Hossain Khan, chairman of AH Khan & Co. are exchanging documents after signing a deal recently in Dhaka. Under the deal, AH Khan & Co. will provide end to end state of the art logistics services under one umbrella both inbound and outbound for BAT Bangladesh all over the country

China insurers’ worst habits go almost unchecked n Rachel Morarjee

China’s insurance watchdog is looking for trouble in the wrong places.

The regulator is raising warning flags over the industry’s riskiest investments from corporate raiding to large-scale deal-making. But it could do more to rein in high-yield-

ing products insurers offer that underpin the hunt for outsize returns.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) has fired a series of salvos at wayward insurers this month. It has cautioned that companies are not “automatic teller machines” for major shareholders looking to finance acquisi-

tion sprees. Earlier this month, the CIRC asked the industry to tighten risk controls, scale back on related party transactions and improve disclosure.

Insurers have been up to plenty of shenanigans. Financial conglomerate Baoneng was little known for its insurance business

eight months ago before it started building up a large stake in top property developer Vanke, riling the company’s chairman. Meanwhile, Waldorf Astoria-owner Anbang Insurance dropped a $14bn non-binding bid for Starwood Hotels & Resorts amid speculation that the CIRC wanted it to cap its

overseas acquisitions.

The regulator did tighten the noose in March limiting the proportion of one-year policies insurers can sell to less than 60% of the total, and requiring insurers to hold additional capital for policies which can be cashed out in full in under five years. l

Japan approves stimulus for sluggish economy n AFP, Tokyo Japan’s cabinet yesterday approved a mammoth 28tn yen ($273bn) package in its latest attempt to stimulate lacklustre growth, including cash to improve infrastructure and raise the birthrate in the ageing nation.

The stimulus plan announced last week is the latest in a series in recent years designed to fire up the world’s number three economy.

“We have been able to put together a strong package that includes bold investment for the future,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said yesterday before the cabinet meeting which gave it the green light.

It includes 6tn yen in low-interest loans and just 7.5tn yen in fresh spending - about a quarter of the total - by the national and local governments over the next several years.

About 4.6tn yen is for spending in the current fiscal year ending March 2017.

The package is expected to be approved by parliament next month.

It comes after the Bank of

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe makes a speech in Fukuoka, Japan REUTERS

Japan disappointed markets with modest tweaks to its own stimulus measures last Friday.

The government’s stimulus includes help for small firms expected to be hit by Britain’s vote last month to exit the European Union.

About 1,000 Japanese companies, big and small, do business in Britain and many use London-based offices as a staging point for the European market.

Britain’s shock vote to leave the EU also sparked a

rally in the yen as investors flocked to an asset seen as a safe haven.

A stronger currency hits the repatriated profits of Japan’s exporters and makes their products more expensive overseas.

Cash payouts to low-income earners and for disaster relief were also on tap, with money set aside for areas of southern Japan hit by deadly quakes in April that left 49 dead and caused widespread damage. l

CORPORATE NEWS

NRB Global Bank Limited has recently opened a training institute in Dhaka, said a press release. The bank’s chairperson, Nizam Chowdhury inaugurated the training institute as chief guest

Hamdard Laboratories (WAQF) Bangladesh has recently celebrated its 111th anniversary by holding a meeting, said a press release

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Inspiration within the pages The literary women all little girls wanted to be more ‘womanly’ as they grow up.

Jo taught all of us that you don’t need to be a little lady - it’s okay to be loud and boisterous and march to your own beat, as long as you stay true to yourself and dream big.

Lucy Pevensie

n Tasneem Chow There are very few bookworms out there who don’t know this earth-shattering news already, but for those of you who haven’t bothered to read any news updates thrown at you lately, or have been stuck with your noses inside a book (the latter excuse is more acceptable) – there is a new Harry Potter book out. Based on a play written by J K Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, the play is set in the Hogwarts universe and will include the main characters of the original story. Harry Potter fans across the world have gone into a frenzy at the new release, whether they’re schoolchildren discovering the series for the first time, or adult children reliving their fondest memories from the much-loved magical saga.

For many not-so-little girls out there, the person they will miss the most is not Harry, but good old Hermione Granger, the geek turned unbeatable legend from the Harry Potter series, because let’s face it Hermione did save the day, every single time. And while looking back at some of Hermione’s best moments, we at Tribune began to relive the stories of all the other fiery young girls who inspired us in our childhoods with their bravery and spirit. Here is only a few names of the incredible female literary characters that most of us wanted to be when we were little girls.

Matilda

For many of us, Roald Dahl’s stories for children were our first steps into a literary magical realm of enigmatic characters in chocolate factories and friendly giants who collaborated with the

queen to save the world. And which Dahl fan can forget the lovable Matilda? The little girl who was constantly bullied, at home and at school by the tyrannical Miss Trunchbull, realised that her superior intellect allows her to move objects with her mind.

Hilarity ensued when she used her telekinetic powers to give the bad guys their comeuppance. Every schoolchild who has ever suffered under a mean teacher’s ‘discipline over education’ strategy couldn’t help but cheer Matilda on.

Jo March

The March sisters from L M Alcott’s Little Women were the constant companions of many little bookworms once upon a time, and their daily adventures and mishaps were something that most of us could relate with.

But the tomboyish Jo March hold top place for many little girls, especially when they’re at the awkward age between childhood and teenage years, and they are faced with social pressures to be

For many notso-little girls out there, the person they will miss the most is not Harry, but good old Hermione Granger

The curious and good-natured Lucy Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia series is a character you can’t help fall in love with. The baby of the Pevensie family, she instantly becomes the favourite of any Narnia reader, if only for her unwavering loyalty to her friend Mr Tumnus. As the story progresses, the good-natured Lucy goes on to protest against injustices, love all her semi-human and animal friends in Narnia, show extraordinary courage in the

face of adversity and eventually become known as Queen Lucy the Valiant, co-ruler of Narnia.

man” - to Angmar’s final taunt of being unbeatable by any living man.

Eowyn

Nancy Drew

Speaking of valiant rulers, the first lady to conquer the literary battlefield can only be named as Lady Eowyn of Rohan (and eventually Gondor) from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Born at a time when women tended to stay at home while the men went off to fight, shieldmaiden Eowyn refused to be locked up in a guilded cage, and instead went to battle dressed as a man. During the epic battle of the Pelennor fields, it was Eowyn who eventually slayed the Witch King of Angmar, lord of the Nazgul and one of the most fearsome foes in the trilogy, with the now legendary response - “I am no

The teenage sleuth was a shelf favourite for many a teenager once upon a time – who wouldn’t want to be smart, witty and the only one in the vicinity with the capability to solve the mysteries related to any number of robberies, murders, international conspiracies and much more? Nancy’s no-nonsense attitude and her ability to get to the bottom of things, regardless of the obstacles that faced her, inspired many little girls in her time to follow her footsteps and aim for their goals, whether its to solve the neighbourhood crime or ace your next exam. l

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5 steps to positivity Turn that frown upside down Training your brain to notice and appreciate the positive things in life can transform your energy and help reduce stress

4

A happy break

n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad Terror threats, security measures, economy taking a hit from restaurants and malls shutting down, and let’s not forget all the toxicity on social media...even a blind man can see the dark cloud hanging over Dhaka right now, figuratively and metaphorically.

While there’s not much one can do about what’s happening, what you can (usually) control is how much energy you spend on negativity. Here are a few ways in which to make sure life doesn’t seem so bad after all.

1

A “thank you” a day

Here’s a life-lesson from the dearly departed Ishrat Akhond: every day, think of one thing you’re thankful for.

It could be a general thing like having a job, food to eat, roof over your head, or specific, like the time when your boss congratulated you for a job well done, or your significant other surprised you with flowers, whatever floats your boat. It might seem like a chore at first, but soon it will become instinctive. Training your brain to notice and appreciate the positive

things in life can transform your energy and help reduce stress. As a bonus, it will also make you more enjoyable to be around.

2

Forgive

Life’s too short to grow ulcers by holding onto grudges. Waiting for someone to atone for their wrongs can often keep you - the wounded party – from healing. It’s difficult, but ultimately more healthy to forgive and move on. It’s even more difficult if the person you have to forgive is yourself, but

once you do, you are better able to open up yourself to giving and receiving love.

3

Here and now

Nostalgia is comforting, but if you’re always stuck in the “good old days”, you’ll never be satisfied with your life at present. Similarly, if you’re always worrying about the future, you’ll miss the golden little moments of today. So focus on the present, and what’s great about today, and you’ll be sure to find reasons to smile

City life can be super busy, and your next burnout is always lurking around the corner. Stave it off by scheduling regular breaks and by putting some self-care into those breaks. Whether it’s simply five minutes of focusing on that absolutely amazing cup of coffee, or a ten-minute power nap, pencil in the time to take care of yourself, and you’ll add more mileage to your good mood.

5

Write it down

There’s nothing that hits the self-esteem worse than letting yourself down. So when you set a goal for yourself, write it down. Break it down to a checklist of tasks that you tick off, so that you’re less likely to procrastinate. The kick you get from achieving your intentions will give you a boost of confidence like no other. l

DT

18

Feature

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

Hive-a new coworking space in town have an excellent team to run the operation in Dhaka.”

The intention behind Hive

n Mahmood Sadi

Working from a place without having to spend a huge portion on security deposits, purchasing fixtures, fittings, furnitures, air-conditioning and monthly overheads, gives people enough reason to embrace this new culture in Dhaka

Given the intense interest in startups these days, more and more young entrepreneurs are looking towards co-working facilities to grab relatively inexpensive office space.

In addition to WiFi, fax, conference rooms, kitchen and snack-prep areas; these ‘rental’ business studios also offer new companies the opportunity to rub elbows with others in their world.

‘Hive’ is the latest addition to Dhaka’s relatively new co-working space culture and its founders have said that they are here to stay.

Rubaiyat Kamal Khan, one of the founders of Hive, said that this is the first co-working space in the Dhanmondi Green Road area.

“You have three other co-working spaces - The Wave, HubDhaka and Moar - two of which are in Banani and one in Mirpur. There were none to cater to the entrepreneurs and young businessmen here.”

Despite all the partners of Hive living in Gulshan and Banani, they still chose to open Hive in Dhanmondi to create an engaging community in this part of the city.

The founders

Hive is founded by four friends, Ashiq Rahman, Rubaiyat Kamal, Fuad Quader and Abir Chowdhury.

All of them are working in different sectors in the USA. Rubaiyat is an aeronautical engineer working with Boeing, Ashiq works with Morgan Stanly as an investment banker, Fuad works with a Chicago based start-up and Abir works with the federal government’s data department.

“We wanted to do something in our homeland and the idea of creating Hive came from that intention,” said Rubaiyat.

Fuad said that they are not permanently back in Dhaka. “We all have ties in USA and we can’t leave those completely. But we are committed to run Hive and we

Ashiq Rahman, also one the founders, said that the idea behind opening Hive is to create an ecosystem that helps the technology, digital, freelancing and consultancy community to grow.

“The idea is to create an open space buzzing with thriving individuals, where you can work in a professional environment without it taking a toll on your wallet.”

Their intention was to give people the platform where they can work with peers and likeminded individuals, be part of a greater community and draw on the strength, aspirations and motivations of the community.

“We want to broaden the horizon of networking by bringing together the right people and building mutually prosperous relationships.”

The challenges for co-working space

According to Ashiq, people in Bangladesh are still not very accustomed to the culture of co-working spaces. “But we are definitely going there. People have now started to understand the

value of networking and working with like-minded people.”

And most importantly, working from a place without having to spend a huge portion on security deposits, purchasing fixtures, fittings, furnitures, air-conditioning and monthly overheads, gives people enough reason to embrace this new culture in Dhaka.

He added that the way they have designed Hive and the rates they are charging will just get enough to cover the overheads and expenses in a majority occupancy situation.

“We are satisfied with that because we are not looking to make short-terms profits for Hive; we have bigger plans and visions around it and we will unveil and implement those as time progresses.”

Ashiq said that Hive is “all about diversity”. They have just opened their doors and in this short span of time, they have people involved in non-profit social work, marketing, IT, technology, research-based work and photography.

“If in this timeframe we see so many diversified professionals, then I am sure we will see all sorts of professionals working from Hive and we are absolutely open to host everyone at Hive.”l

What’s in Hive?

Hive is divided into four parts: The open space with 18 workstations, the silent zone with 12 workstations, a meeting room that can host 6 people and a conference room for 10+ people.

If you are using the workstation for a day, for a week or for a month all the below services are included with the renting of a workstation: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k.

Internet – three active internet lines have been installed.

All sorts of utilities (electricity/water).

Pantry usage/ kitchen services.

Tea, coffee & water.

Snacks/refreshments.

Lockers.

Markers to write on glass partitions (or whiteboard, if preferred).

Printer, scanner & copier (Fair Usage Policy).

Administrative support & errands assistance.

Business name tag/cards on our business board and locker.

24/7 generator and IPS support.

There are also additional perks for monthly members: a. Conference room rental at discounted pricing for larger team meetings. b. Renting the entire space of Hive on Fridays for events and activities at a minimal price. c. In house team geared to help you get started with mobile app development, web-based/website development, backend engineering, digital marketing and content creation. d. Dealing internationally? Hive can help send/receive payment through PayPal and other international services with no added cost.

19

DT

Biz Info

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

| empowerment |

| eco-awareness |

Supporting Asia’s next generation of women leaders

Inauguration of navy’s tree planting programme to celebrate “National Plantation Campaign 2016”

In her book Lean In, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg states,“Fear is the root of so many of the barriers that women face.

Fear of not being liked. Fear of making the wrong choice. Fear of drawing negative attention. Fear of overreaching. Fear of being judged. Fear of failure.”

Sandberg articulates one of the root causes for the lack of women leaders in the world - fear. Fortunately, MetLife Foundation has teamed up with the Asian University for Women (AUW) to ensure more women can gain the skills and confidence they need to shed such fear and achieve their dreams.

AUW is the first liberal arts university for women in South Asia. Based in Chittagong, Bangladesh, AUW educates women from 15 different Asian countries and provides scholarships, so that talented

but underprivileged women may become future leaders.

AUW also offers a yearlong preuniversity bridge program called Access Academy, which prepares students for AUW’s rigorous English-medium undergraduate program. Throughout, Access Academy students take intensive courses in English language and composition, text interpretation, computing, mathematics, science and world history.

Maria Qazi Azmi recently completed Access Academy and says, AUW is her “home away from home.” She elaborates “Meeting new people here is my favorite part of AUW. There are so many languages to learn, and different cultures that seem fascinating. Next year I would like to join the Debate Club, Martial Arts Club, Japanese Circle Club, Model United Nations, and the basketball team.”

| movement |

NSU students unite for solidarity On Sunday, July 31, 2016, students of North South University (NSU) congregated at the university’s campus in a bid to portray unity and solidarity.

They came together under one single identity as proud Bangladeshis for the event, titled ‘North South er bukey Bangladesh’ or ‘Bangladesh in the Heart of North South’.

1000 students gathered together dressed in the national colours – red and green – to form the flag of Bangladesh.

5000 students also gathered at the premises to collectively sing the national anthem. The participating students included members from all 22 clubs of NSU.

Prof Atiqul Islam, vice chancellor of North South University, said “Students of NSU are keenly aware of and continuously uphold the tradition and heritage of Bangladesh. The whole fabric of the university campus reflects this every time there is a national occasion – whether it is Independence Day, Pohela Boishakh, International Mother Language Day or National Mourning Day. As an educator, it gives me immense pride to see students of this generation so united behind their shared identity as Bengalees, and in their dedication towards the country.” l

Before Maria learned about AUW, she was unsure if she would be able to pursue higher education after her father fell ill and lost his employment.

Now studying Public Health on a generous scholarship, Maria aims to become a healthcare practitioner and help people.

MetLife Foundation has recently joined forces with the Asian University for Women to support students like Maria succeed in Access Academy and gain access to knowledge. This MetLife–AUW partnership is just the first of many initiatives that will allow diverse women from Asia to earn higher education and become leaders. With a broad range of opportunities to engage in the campus community, the local region and abroad, AUW and MetLife are offering women a chance to choose their own journey without fear. l

The Bangladesh Navy has planned to carry out a tree-planting programme across the country, including at Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Mongla and Kaptai and more, in order to contribute towards the success of “National Plantation Campaign 2016”. Navy chief Admiral Nizamuddin Ahmed, OSP, NDC, PSC inaugurated this programme at the Navy Headquarters Complex at Banani, by planting a sapling. Prayers were held for the success of the programme. Principal staff officers of Navy headquarters, area commander of Dhaka, military and civilian officials, staff and sailors

were among those present at the event.

After the inauguration of the planting programme, the Chief of Navy urged all members of the Bangladesh navy to come forward and help realise the programme, which has been organised by the government. He also emphasised the importance of planting trees in coastal areas in order to protect the locality from natural disasters and preserve the local ecosystem. Finally, he opined that such plantation programmes can make an important contribution in reducing the damages from cyclones and tsunamis. l

DT

20 Editorial

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

TODAY

Rio by numbers Bangladesh will take part in the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games with five athletes, who will compete in the following sports modalities: Archery, swimming, golf, and shooting PAGE 21

Smell of loot in the air

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Air India is a sign of the Union government’s limitless power and control over resources of the Indian Union. It’s time that the Union government leaves our resources in the states and stops the present waste of public resources PAGE 22

Clean it up

A tear for a procession While as recent as 2012 many could take to the streets, systematic obstructions -- betrayal, detention, harassment, torture, disappearance, and persecution -- have yielded finally the result the authorities were looking for: A complete acquiescence and obedience 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.

D

haka can take a lesson from Chittagong’s recently launched door-to-door garbage collection and removal program.

Our capital is badly in need of better waste management. Littering is a common sight, and even more serious problems are caused by garbage being dumped in rivers and water bodies.

It is expected that as our economy grows, so does our waste.

There is a great need to manage that waste in a proper and environment-friendly manner.

Managing household waste with better garbage collection is a good place to start. We need initiatives which enable garbage to be collected from households and transferred directly to landfills of the city. Neighbourhoods would be cleaner as a result, and the problem of citizens being faced with overflowing amounts of waste in huge containers on the sides of the streets would be mitigated.

Cleaning up Dhaka has never been easy -- every stake-holder needs to co-operate. Citizens must make sure that they utilise the waste bins that have been placed around the city, and littering must stop. Households need to put their garbage out on time for the collectors to pick them up, and collectors have to dilligently carry out their duties of showing up daily and transferring the waste to its respective landfill.

It is time to take our country’s environmental matters seriously, and join in the initiatives to make Bangladesh a greener and cleaner place.

It is time to take our country’s environmental matters seriously, and join in the initiatives to make Bangladesh a greener and cleaner place

DT

21

Opinion

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

Rio by numbers The world’s greatest sporting event is all set to commence on August 8

Hosting the Olympic games is a first for Rio de Janeiro

n Julio Silva

T

he 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held for the first time in South America. Rio de Janeiro was chosen at the International Olympic Committee General Assembly which took place on October 2, 2009 in Copenhagen. There were four candidate cities: Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio. Chicago was the first city to be eliminated. Then, Tokyo was also eliminated. Finally, Rio de Janeiro beat Madrid in the final voting process by 66-32 votes.

Today, Africa is the only continent that never had the opportunity to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games will start at 8pm (Brazilian time) on August 8. It will be 5am in Dhaka. One billion people will watch the opening ceremony and five billion people will watch the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The closing ceremony of the RIO 2016 Olympic Games will take place on August 21. The slogan of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games is “live

your passion.” Rio de Janeiro, the hosting city, will have 39 sports events in the areas of Deodoro, Copacabana, Maracanã, and Barra da Tijuca.

The Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games expect about 10,500 athletes from 206 countries around the world. For the first time, Kosovo and South Sudan are taking part in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In Beijing (2008) and in London (2012), 204 countries took part in the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Some 7.5 million tickets were sold for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The cheapest ticket costs around $12 and the most expensive costs about $1,400 for the noble seats of the opening ceremony.

About 3.8 million tickets cost less than $21.5 dollars (about 70 Brazilian reals).

In order to sustain this amount of people, the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Committee will need to make 11 million meals.

During the Games, 315 horses will take part in the competitions and 25,000 tennis balls will be used.

At the end of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, 306 sets of medals

REUTERS

will be distributed in 39 sports competitions: 161 in men’s events and 136 in women’s events.

This edition of the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be historic thanks to two sports that were included: Rugby and golf.

More than 130,000 people are already working in the preparation of the Olympic and Paralympic Rio 2016 Games. 45,000 are volunteers. The final cost of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games was $12 billion.

Brazil will have its highest number of athletes in the Olympic and Paralympic Games: 462. Until today, Brazil achieved 108 medals among them, 23 gold medals, 30 silver medals, and 55 bronze medals.

The sports that Brazil has the largest number of medals are volleyball (20 medals, nine medals in the indoor volleyball and 11 medals in the beach volleyball), judo (19 medals), sailing (17 medals), and swimming (13 medals).

Presently, Brazil is 37th in the Olympic ranking. Brazil started its participation in the Olympic Games in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium. Since then, Brazil was out of the Olympic Games only

Bangladesh will take part in the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games with five athletes, who will compete in the following sports modalities: Archery, swimming, golf, and shooting once in Amsterdam, in 1928.

The Olympic torch was taken into 326 Brazilian cities in all 27 Brazilian states. 12,000 people carried the Olympic torch in Brazil.

This was the fourth largest domestic route in the history of the Olympic Games.

Bangladesh will take part in the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games with five athletes, who will compete in the following sports modalities: Archery, swimming, golf, and shooting.

The head of the Bangladeshi delegation will be the Minister of Youth and Sports Dr Biren Sikder.

The delegation will also be led by the president of the Bangladesh Olympic Association Mr Abu Belal Muhammad Shafiul Huq. l Julio Silva is Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Brazil.

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DT

Opinion

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

Smell of loot in the air India needs to stop funding its white elephant airline

A huge waste

n Garga Chatterjee

I

n spite of having the most bloated personnel structure in the industry, Air India continues to provide the worst service on the skies. Just recently, its on-time performance was shown to be much lower than other carriers that employ far less people per aircraft.

In short, Air India does less work through more personnel.

And this colossal waste is funded by public money, that is, money hard-earned and produced by the Indian people.

That Air India still continues to be funded by public money with its very high employee per aircraft number, and low on-time performance, is a matter of shame.

However, the government seems to be in no mood to stop funding Air India, and stop haemorrhaging public money.

Thus, in an age of republicanism and democracy, the expensive maharajah burns public money like all maharajahs have done in the past. The turbanned maharajah icon of Air India is now a cruel, cruel joke.

The amount of subsidy that has been injected into Air India by the people of the various states of the Indian Union is huge. Since the government extracts this money directly from states and puts them in a common pool, this element of states is not apparent.

REUTERS

Since April 2012, the Union government has pumped in more than Rs22,280 crore to Air India’s core equity as part of its turnaround plan. This is part of the Rs30,000cr committed to Air India. Let’s realise what this subsidy is for.

This is for passenger air services -- a service that less than 5% of the population will ever avail and that too is the top 5% earning group of the population.

However, the subsidy for this would come from the people of the states at large, and hence this is the worst form of regressive subsidy where the poor are subsidising a company that provides services to the rich.

That scandal in broad daylight is probably a huge sign of the classist nature of public discourse and policy-making in the Indian Union.

But there is a huge hidden subsidy that no one talks about and that doesn’t seem to matter.

I am employed in a governmentfunded institution.

One would think that public funds or government funds, since they are funds of the people, should be held to the highest level of thrift and value-for-money when spending, and should not be wasted one bit since I am spending money given in trust by the public.

The standards of responsibility would have to be high.

So, let’s say you want to travel

damaging lengths when international travel is concerned.

Again, any sane individual or institution would opt for cheapest tickets by shortest route. Makes sense right?

Not if the travel is funded by the government. That is, the money managed by government of India, after it has been collected from the peoples of the states.

So, the travel has to be on Air India, whatever the price.

Recently, I’ve checked that on certain India-Europe flights, the lowest Air India economy class fares were double that of the cheapest available option.

That is the colossal waste that is done such that Air India receives indirect subsidy.

What if Air India doesn’t go to a place? Then one needs to go to the nearest place where Air India does go, and from there, take a flight by one of its codeshare partners to the destination.

In short, it doesn’t matter how far from the final destination this “nearest” point is, this is what has to be done. Efficiency, financial

and must be challenged in court.

The reason that the Union government of India doesn’t want to stop subsidising Air India and divest it is because that will stop the use of Air India as a tool of politics. Air India is subsidised by people of all states of the Indian Union in proportion to the revenue such states produce.

Which is why Kolkata and Chennai, both major metros and capitals of states where none of the so-called national parties, namely Congress and BJP, have held power in the last nearly 50 years, or have any chance of winning power in the next 10 years, have no direct connectivity to London, in spite of the respective state government’s long standing request on this.

Contrast this to the direct flight to London from Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, announced by the ex-chief minister of Gujarat and the present prime minister of the Indian Union during his pubic rally amongst cheering NRIs in the Wembley stadium of London.

Aren’t route announcements

Air India is a sign of the Union government’s limitless power and control over resources of the Indian Union. It’s time that the Union government leaves our resources in the states and stops the present waste of public resources

from point A to point B. The best use of public money for such travel is obviously to find the cheapest ticket. However, that’s not what the government of India has stipulated.

It says, whatever the cost, the travel has to be on Air India. And Air India is not known for offering the cheapest tickets.

So for every ticket that is bought by a person of the government of India for official duty or otherwise, money is wasted, since Air India needs to get the business.

Think of the number of government employees and employees in government-aided institutions including state governments.

The number is huge, and this huge business goes to Air India without competition, without any concern for saving public money.

This farce of indirectly subsidising Air India by huge amounts goes to even greater farcical and economically

management, and plain and simple logic be damned.

The Air India’s subsidy and loot of public funds has now been given a more organised structure through its special Leave Travel Concession (LTC) fares. Tens of lakhs of government employees are eligible for holiday travel costs by air, and this too has to be booked by Air India.

Shamefully, in this captive market, rather than give discounts to save money, Air India actually charges 50% to even 140% more than normal Air India fares, which aren’t the cheapest anyway.

Should citizens of the Indian Union just stand aside and see this loot happening every day?

It is very clear that the Union government ministries are in connivance in this scheme of wasting public money through these indirect subsidies to Air India.

Does the government have no shame? This should be the subject of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL),

supposed to be matters of Air India’s corporate policy and not a matter of political decision-making? How does the government get to politically decide where to spend what money, which routes to start where, when the money for Air India comes from all the states of the Indian Union?

Air India is a sign of the Union government’s limitless power and control over resources of the Indian Union.

It’s time that the Union government leaves our resources in the states and stops the present waste of public resources, including indirect subsidies, by selling off Air India to the highest bidder.

In a federal democratic republic, the people shouldn’t be forced to fund a white elephant called the Maharajah. l Garga Chatterjee is a political and cultural commentator. He can be followed on twitter @gargac.

DT

23

Opinion

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

A tear for a procession Tear gas is no way to break up a pro-environment demonstration

n Qamrul Huda

A

t last, we have seen a procession on Dhaka streets.

With assassins lurking in many disguises, with oppositions crushed, with heavyhanded treatments meted out to protesters, there have not been processions and slogans in Dhaka for a while.

Instead, opportunism and intellectual subservience have possessed us, in our civil living.

Yet, merely a few decades ago, a kid growing up in my generation would have seen so many processions and agitations, often lively and spontaneous, and against an army dictator.

Those protests received hard resistance from the authorities, and it was almost a given that opposition to a government decision would be expressed in processions and marches, and later in hartals, in those days -- the 80s -- the golden era of agitations in post-independent Bangladesh.

But this medium of appealing to the general public has lost its way amid the advent of “democracy,” development, technology, social media, and above all, disempowerment and apathy.

Tales of political parties hiring picketers to enforce their activities have become common in the postdemocracy decades. As the general public, the “naive, idealist” youth, students, recedes in numbers, as the country forges towards development to become a middleincome nation, its opportunistic middle class, as usual, knows which side its bread is buttered.

If the educated, the enlightened, the wise had been the lighthouses for energetic youth in the past, at present, they themselves are entangled in mires of a shadowy maze. A trance of frantic skullduggery has gripped them.

It would just not be possible for them to get out of the immediate comforts of recognition, awards, and acknowledgement, let alone taking “a path less travelled” to challenge the authorities, to challenge the status quo, to lead us with their well-endowed intellect towards the brightness, to be the beacon of our hope -- to stimulate us, to shake us out of our current inertia.

No, that is not possible. We have ushered in a demon upon us. While as recently as 2012, many could take to the streets, systematic obstructions -betrayal, detention, harassment,

torture, disappearance, and persecution -- have yielded finally the result the authorities were looking for: A complete acquiescence and obedience.

Subjugation has seized us. Free expression, even amongst friends, let alone in print, on TV, radio, or on social media, has disappeared.

We see very few, if any, insightful commentary.

And physical protests have become relics from a distant past.

Protests are occasionally tolerated when it suits the administration, or, for example, when desperate labourers take to the streets spontaneously to demand their wages.

Against this backdrop, when a few unselfish, dedicated men and women gathered for an apolitical campaign, called on by the National Committee to Protect Oil Gas Mineral Resources Port and Power, to save the environment and a national heritage, they meet an iron fist that is only seen in dictatorships; not in democracies -- nominal or real. What would

Dissenting voices are important in a democracy

While as recent as 2012 many could take to the streets, systematic obstructions -- betrayal, detention, harassment, torture, disappearance, and persecution -- have yielded finally the result the authorities were looking for: A complete acquiescence and obedience

have happened if the few gathered to raise their objections to the development of a coal-based power plant close to a UNESCO declared heritage mangrove forest were allowed to proceed to the PM’s Office?

The protesters were peaceful, orderly, and were merely expressing their democratic right to raise their concerns to their leader.

In fact, in democratic nations, PMs have the responsibility to engage with dissenting voices -- to counter opposing views, to explain situations, to elaborate on pros and cons, and to sell economic cases for the projects that they have envisaged for their nations.

Yet, as with many others across the world, our rulers often prefer to resort to suppressing voices than engaging in dialogue, debate, and discussion.

They do not cede any ground to dissenting groups, as though it conveys weakness and their inability to govern, displays their

ineptitudes for quashing uprisings.

They fear for their uncertain future, as if they are on borrowed time.

Few days earlier, a play scripted to exhibit the grave dangers facing the Sundarbans was not allowed to be staged, on an absurd premise that a play should not be preceded by a speech, calling for a cause.

Anu Muhammad, a professor of economics from Jahangirnagar University, who is leading this almost impossible, unwinnable, solo campaign -- to generate public awareness and support against building the coal-based power plant in the Sundarbans -- was going to say a few words before the play.

This, again, shows the fear of the administration. That, even if they allow minor, apparently dormant, and meagre gestures against their destructive decisions, a sea of resistance will be reborn; unearth uncontrollable upheavals that would lead to their demise.

The situation is dire and highly

discouraging for our long-term economic development. If history is any indication, powerful neighbours, regional, or global forces seldom leave lasting and positive effects on a poor country’s’ prosperity.

In addition, outsiders’ influence and interest in us has always been covertly strategic, primarily to benefit them at our expense or our resources.

We have either lacked the administrative sophistication and maturity to bargain and negotiate improved deals for us, or we have been purposefully self-deceiving as a vested part and found ways to make moolah out of national projects.

The authority’s intentions are also not too difficult to fathom.

They want to keep a tight reign on these protests, especially any protest activities in Dhaka.

If we are allowed to protest and influence public opinion, they fear, the events would snowball into something bigger and more

RAJIB DHAR

problematic. They would rather nip it in the bud.

They are further aided by a total silence from most of the community leaders, commentators, and energy and environment specialists.

This intellectual reticence has not only helped the administration but also demoralised the spirit of the general population. However, I hope, this is not too overwhelming to our present, young generation.

Our ancestors had survived oppressors. Kings and kingdoms that toiled them, extracted the last bit of sweat from them to prosper personally at the expense of their subjects. Those rulers, too, had their acolytes.

To the youth of my generation, our present PM herself and her counterpart were the epitomes of feisty, courageous leaders who had led so many protests and processions to achieve, in their words: Freedom, democracy, and the wish of the people.

Today, people are bewildered, and scared to express their wishes.

As the Dhaka demonstration to protect the Sundarbans was dispersed using tear gas, a tear rolls off my eye to realise how far our democratic rights have fallen.

We are being held hostage by an administration fearful of political competition. An administration that is unwilling to see democratic practice take root. l Qamrul Huda is a freelance contributor.

DT

24 Sport

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

Abahani keep on winning, MSC held

TOP STORIES

n Tribune Report

English forward Lee Andrew Tuck netted the all-important goal and was later sent off as Abahani Limited continued their winning run in the Bangladesh Premier League, defeating Team BJMC 1-0 at MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong yesterday.

Tuck struck from a free kick 20 yards away from goal in the 36th minute but received his marching order nine minutes from the final whistle. Earlier in the day at the same venue, powerhouse Mohammedan Sporting Club were held to a goalless draw by Feni Soccer Club.

Both the sides got a number of chances to break the deadlock but the profligacy of the attackers ensured the two sides had to be content with a share of the spoils. l

Stylish Soumya’s big test awaits There is a long list of Bangladeshi cricketers to have made a flying start in the international stage and then quickly getting off due to falling form. Soumya Sarkar is still on the right side but it is important to keep him at the highest level. PAGE 25

Sane joins City in £37m deal German winger Leroy Sane has agreed to a five-year deal to join Manchester City from Bundesliga side Schalke 04, the Premier League club said yesterday. No financial details of the contract were disclosed. PAGE 26

Saudi female runner breaks barriers in Rio Pioneer Saudi sportswoman Sarah al-Attar has already raced at the Olympics, but now her campaign will become a marathon as she uses the Rio Games to break down barriers in the conservative kingdom. PAGE 27

Ibtihaj pierces bigotry in Olympic first Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad is aiming to drive her sabre through bigotry when she becomes the first American athlete to compete at the Olympics wearing a hijab. The articulate 30-year-old AfricanAmerican Muslim was catapulted to prominence in January. PAGE 28

RESULTS Mohammedan

0-0

Soccer Club

Abahani

1-0

BJMC

Tuck 36

TODAY’S MATCHES

An action of the Bangladesh Premier League match between Abahani Limited (R) and Team BJMC at MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong yesterday RABIN CHOWDHURY

Uttar Baridhara v Arambagh, 4:30pm Brothers v Muktijoddha, 7:30pm

New coach Bauza plans to woo Messi, Tevez back for Argentina n Reuters Argentina’s new coach Edgardo Bauza has set his mind to wooing Lionel Messi back from international retirement as he ponders his squad for next month’s South American 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

Bauza was named on Monday to replace Gerardo Martino, who resigned a month ago after steering Messi’s side to two successive Copa America finals which ended in penalty shootout defeats to Chile.

The more recent of those results in the Copa America Centenario in the United States in June led to Messi deciding to quit the team. It was his fourth defeat in a major final with Argentina.

“I’m optimistic about Messi,” Bauza said. “I hope the chat with him will help for him to carry on in the national team.

“I want to explain to Messi what my (tactical) idea is. The

least of my worries is his position on the pitch,” Bauza was quoted as saying in the Argentine daily La Nacion yesterday.

“There’s no need to convince Messi of anything, the plan is to

Argentina’s new coach Edgardo Bauza

talk about football,” said Bauza, speaking in Brazil where he has coached Sao Paulo for eight months.

Bauza, who quit his job with Sao Paulo to accept the Argentina

vacancy and will sign his contract in Buenos Aires on Friday, has only a couple of weeks to decide on his squad for qualifiers at home to Uruguay and away to Venezuela in the first week of September.

“There isn’t much time. My first squad won’t have many changes but I want to talk with five or six of the leading players,” Bauza said, no doubt referring to the likes of Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain.

He also opened the door for Carlos Tevez, overlooked by Martino since a World Cup qualifier against Paraguay in Asuncion last October where he won his 76th cap.

“I’m thinking of Tevez as I am about other players ... Tevez is a player good enough for the national team,” Bauza said.

Bauza, a former central defender, rejected a tag as a defensive coach, saying: “I’m one of those who think that all (the team) have to defend. Football today is like that.” l

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Self-management crucial for pacers, says Al Amin n Minhaz Uddin Khan A fast bowler should maintain good self-management in order to avoid injuries, believes Bangladesh paceman Al Amin Hossain.

The Tigers are often affected by injuries to key pacers, including the likes of limited-over captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza, Taskin Ahmed and Rubel Hossain. Left-arm pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman was the latest pacer to pick up an injury.

“It is crucial for a pacer to manage himself. Diet, proper rest, the physio’s instructions and the fitness training routine should not be tampered with at any cost. All these are really important for a pacer,” Al Amin told the media at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

“For instance, if you talk about Mustafizur’s injury, overuse can be one of the reasons. So at the end of the day, self-management plays a crucial part for a pacer,” he said.

Al Amin is of the opinion that physical development also plays a role behind the injuries of the Bangladesh pacemen.

“Obviously the background of a pacer matters. Those in Dhaka are brought up differently while those like me from the villages had a different childhood. There is difference in body structure and the capacity of taking stress,” explained the right-arm pacer.

“Rubel, Taskin bowl at 140+ kph while I bowl at around 130. So naturally there is a difference. Those trying to bowl fast fall prey to injury more,” he added. l

Bangladesh U19 duo Mehedi Hasan (L) and Nazmul Hossain take a break from their cricketing chores at Mirpur Swimming Complex yesterday

Brothers cricketers still unpaid n Mazhar Uddin The Brothers Union Club players met the Bangladesh Cricket Board CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury yesterday to inform that they have not been paid their promised payment from the Dhaka Premier League.

According to Brothers captain and national discard Shahriar Nafees, they have received only 30 percent of their total payment.

The BCB had instructed the clubs to clear 30 percent payment before the start of the league, 30 percent at the end of the league’s first phase, and the remaining 40 percent within six weeks of the Super League’s completion.

“We have received 30 percent of our payment. We were supposed to get our full payment by this time.

But we haven’t even received our second instalment. All the Brothers players informed the situation to the CEO as the board was very strict regarding the payment issue,” Shahriar told the media.

“The BCB promised us that if we don’t get paid by the club, the board will take care of the matter.

Ninety percent of the Bangladesh players are fully dependent on this league. If the players don’t receive their payment then it’s hard for the cricketers to continue playing the game,” he said.

Shahriar also raised questions

over the new players’ draft system, stating that it’s disappointing for the cricketers not to receive their payment, even after accepting the new system.

The 31-year old went on to express hope that the Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh will take some decision regarding the issue in the coming days.

“They (CWAB) have contacted us during the BPL (Bangladesh Premier League) and played a very good role at that time. And by this month the clubs will have to pay the full payment to the players and if it takes long enough then I am sure the players’ association will take some decision,” said Shahriar.

Stylish Soumya’s big test awaits

n Minhaz Uddin Khan There is a long list of Bangladeshi cricketers to have made a flying start in the international stage and then quickly getting off due to falling form. Soumya Sarkar is still on the right side but it will take a lot of his determination and the support of his teammates and family members to keep him at the highest level.

After a fine 2015, Soumya has gone off the boil somewhat this year, culminating in a mediocre World Twenty20 and a tepid Dhaka Premier League campaign for Legends of Rupganj. The second

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

season or year is usually a tough period for Bangladeshi players who often get lost at this stage.

Soumya made it into the 2015 World Cup following his impressive show in the DPL which had ended on the day the squad got declared. What should worry him is Bangladesh’s upcoming international commitment.

A cricketer often looks for a home series to make a return to form in international cricket. With the home series against England in October pushed into uncertainty, Soumya will have the challenge intensified with the upcoming series of away tours which include tour of New Zealand, India, Ireland and England.

Soumya, who was originally picked as Bangladesh’s No 3 in the World Cup, joined Tamim Iqbal as an opener after Anamul Haque picked up a shoulder injury during Bangladesh’s match against Scot-

land. His courage with the bat got everyone’s attention. The Satkhira lad, who went to BKSP, scored 175 runs in the World Cup and stuck onto the form as he scored an unbeaten 127 to aid Bangladesh whitewash Pakistan in the ODI series at home last year.

He continued being a hero for the Tigers even for the next two series at home, against India and South Africa, both won by Bangladesh. But a switch in format of the game made the high-flying cricketer soon face the horror. With the 2016 World T20 approaching, Bangladesh concentrated more on the shortest format which became Soumya’s worry.

Bangladesh has played only T20 matches this year and Soumya has not been able to shine the way he did in the ODIs. Except for two 40plus scores, he had failed to deliver the way he was expected to do.

Soumya thought that he would

get back into the runs through the DPL but he ended with 349 runs in 15 innings at an average of 23.26 with a single half-century. The performance has been below par compared to Soumya’s calibre and the cricketer himself is aware of that.

Failing to get the right mentality to bat in the format has held him back. He consulted the coaches, opening partner Tamim and his elder brother Pushpen Sarkar, a former cricketer who has been Soumya’s inspiration, trying to find out the key to break the jinx. Recently he met his guru, BKSP cricket coach Akinur Rahman Rusho and has taken tips to get back to the purple patch and the work is in progress.

Soumya should be aware of the challenges ahead and having played only a few matches out of the sub-continent, the batsman knows that the road ahead will be tough. l

On the other hand, CWAB general secretary Debabrata Paul said they are already in talks with the board and are hopeful of getting a positive outcome.

“We are in constant touch with the board regarding the players’ payment issue, not only for Brothers but for all the other clubs as well. We are hopeful as the BCB has taken the responsibility and already paid the payment of the two clubs. But if things don’t go well, we will once again talk to the board,” Debabrata told Dhaka Tribune.

BCB CEO Nizamuddin informed that the board will take action if the clubs do not settle the matter soon. l

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10 MOST EXPENSIVE GERMAN TRANSFERS 1. Leroy Sane from Schalke 04 to Manchester City in August 2016 for 43m euros, plus add-ons which are expected to take figure to 55m.

2. Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid to Arsenal in September 2013 for 47 million euros.

Sane joins City in £37m deal n Reuters German winger Leroy Sane has agreed to a five-year deal to join Manchester City from Bundesliga side Schalke 04, the Premier League club said yesterday.

No financial details of the contract were disclosed but British media reported that City had paid 37 million pounds ($48.96 million) for the 20-year-old, who is the club’s fifth signing of the close season.

Sane scored eight goals and made six

3. Mats Hummels from Borussia Dortmund to Bayern Munich in July 2016 for 38 million euros.

4. Mario Goetze from Borussia Dortmund to Bayern Munich in July 2013 for 37 million euros.

5. Julian Draxler from Schalke 04 to VfL Wolfsburg in August 2015 for 35 million euros.

6. Mario Gomez from VfB Stuttgart to Bayern Munich in July 2009 for 35 million euros.

7. Andre Schuerrle from VfL Wolfsburg to Borussia Dortmund in July 2016 for 32 million euros.

8. Ilkay Gundogan from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City in July 2016 for 30 million euros.

9. Toni Kroos from Bayern Munich to Real Madrid in July 2014 for 30 million euros.

10. Manuel Neuer from Schalke 04 to Bayern Munich in 2011 for 22m euros.

Ilkay Gundogan posted this picture of him and Leroy Sane on Instagram yesterday

assists for Schalke last season as the club finished fifth in the standings.

“I feel really good, I’m happy to be here and happy that it has all worked out. Now I can settle here in Manchester and play for City,” Sane told the club’s website.

Manager Pep Guardiola, who spent the last three seasons at German champions Bayern Munich before taking over at Manchester City in July, says Sane is a welcome addition to the squad.

“He is a special talent, and an exciting player that I think our supporters will enjoy watching. He has great technical ability, is comfortable on the ball and there is much to admire about the way he plays football,” Guardiola said.

“He is fast, enjoys creating chances for others, works hard for the team and scores goals, too. He also has a very positive attitude and will fit in well with our squad.”

Sane was also part of Joachim Loew’s Germany team for the 2016 European Championship, where he made a late substitute appearance in their 2-0 semi-final defeat to France last month. City kick off their 2016-17 campaign against Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium on Aug. 13. l

Klopp: Guardiola faces biggest challenge n Reuters The Premier League will offer a tougher challenge to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola despite his success in the La Liga and Bundesliga, Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp said.

Guardiola, who succeed Manuel Pellegrini as City coach after spending three years as Bayern Munich boss, won 14 trophies at Barca before leading Bayern to three straight Bundesliga titles and two German Cups before his move to

Neymar and Brazil team-mate Gabriel Jesus showed off their matching tattoos on Instagram

England.

“The competition makes it really interesting. Winning the title in England is the biggest challenge of them all,” Klopp told British media.

“If you are three times in a row Spanish champions, three times in a row Bundesliga champions, then you think okay, let’s try something else. If you are looking for the biggest challenge, then you need to go to England.”

City have boosted their squad by adding five players to their ranks, including wingers Leroy Sane and

Nolito and German midfielder Ilkay Guendogan after the club stumbled to a fourth-place finish last season.

CITY’S SUMMER SIGNINGS Ilkay Gundogan (Dortmund)

£21m

Leroy Sane (Schalke)

£37m

Nolito (Celta Vigo)

£14m

Oleksandr Zinchenko (undisclosed - Ufa) Aaron Mooy

(free transfer)

Total spent:

£72m

“It’s not easy in Germany. If you want to be in front of Bayern Munich, you have to win all the other games and then a minimum of one against Bayern. They don’t lose,” the former Borussia Dortmund boss added.

“In this country it’s a very different kind of difficulty. Here you have a number of clubs who think they should be No 1.”

Guardiola, 45, will start his managerial career in England with a home game against David Moyes’ Sunderland on Aug. 13. l

FIVE FACTS ON SANE FRANCE’S LOSS Sane junior could have just as easily begun his career in the French Ligue 1 had his father Souleyman Sane done his military service in France and not Germany. Under the rules the talented footballer could have been allowed to serve in the French Army close to his Paris base but the French Football Federation filed the papers too late and Souleyman ended up donning French Army uniform in Germany.

FOOTBALL IN THE GENES Souleyman was hopefully more obedient to his superiors during his national service than he was to his Senegalese diplomat of a father, who didn’t want him to pursue a career in football. He enjoyed a successful career in Germany and was capped 55 times by Senegal. He didn’t hold back though when he was playing for Nuremberg and head-butted a journalist who made a racist remark.

FOOTBALL IS THE ONLY FRUIT OF HIS YOUTH Souleyman’s confidence his son won’t have his head turned like many of his age by the money being offered is based on solid ground.

For Leroy eschewed the many attractions teenagers jump at so he could focus on succeeding in football.

BURNING IMPRESSION IN THE BERNABEU Sane showed his extraordinary gifts almost straight away and in the cauldron of Real Madrid’s stadium in a Champions League last 16 second leg clash in March 2015. Sent on as a substitute, he unnerved his opponents and scored a quite brilliant goal to draw them level at 3-3 on the night.

LOEW HIGH ON PRAISE Credit Joachim Loew for going with the talented youngster for his Euro 2016 squad but he expects Sane’s full potential to be realised in time for the 2018 WC. l

Neymar, Jesus show off matching tattoos

Clement turns down Eng role n AFP, Berlin

n Agencies

Bayern Munich’s assistant coach Paul Clement yesterday revealed he has turned down a possible role in the England set-up under Sam Allardyce to remain with the German champions.

The 44-year-old Englishman was sacked as Derby County coach in February while Allardyce was confirmed as Roy Hodgson’s successor last month and he has appointed Sammy Lee as his assistant coach. Clement was offered a job-share role with the senior side in Allardyce’s back room staff, but has turned it down to focus on his work at Bayern.l

Neymar and Brazil team-mate Gabriel Jesus have shown off their matching tattoos, as the talented duo prepare for the Summer Olympics.

Barcelona attacker Neymar showed off a tattoo on his left calf in December, which depicts a youngster looking towards a town possibly Mogi das Cruzes, where he was born - and dreaming of playing football, a brand new house and the Champions League trophy.

And it appears Palmeiras for-

ward Jesus has copied the 24-yearold, in having an almost identical inking on his forearm.

Last Wednesday, Sportsmail reported that Neymar has thrown a spanner in the works of Manchester City’s transfer plans by trying to tempt 19-year-old Jesus to Barcelona.

City have spoken to Jesus with the intention of landing the whizzkid in a £20million deal that would see the striker loaned back to Palmeiras, the club for whom he has scored 26 goals in 67 appearances since last year. l

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Saudi female runner breaks barriers in Rio

QUICK BYTES Sri Lanka’s Pradeep doubtful for Galle Test Sri Lanka suffered another injury setback ahead of the second Test against Australia in Galle with seamer Nuwan Pradeep suffering a hamstring strain during practice, acricket board official said yesterday.

Angelo Mathews’ side are reeling from injuries to their fast bowlers with Dhammika Prasad and Dushmantha Chameera ruled out of the three-match series, while Suranga Lakmal was also absent from the opening Test at Pallekele due to an ankle complaint.

n AFP, Rio de Janeiro Pioneer Saudi sportswoman Sarah al-Attar has already raced at the Olympics, but now her campaign will become a marathon as she uses the Rio Games to break down barriers in the conservative kingdom.

Attar turned heads in the headto-toe outfit she patched together with her mother to race in the 800 metres at the 2012 London Games, where she was one of the first Saudi women Olympians.

This time Attar, now 23, will take on the gruelling 42 kilometer (26 mile) marathon race in Rio, where four Saudi women will take part.

The women and seven Saudi men arrived in Rio on Monday, but were kept away from prying media.

Gender divisions are so sensitive that the Saudi Olympic Committee website did not name the women who will represent the country.

Along with Attar, they are judoka Wujud Fahmi, fencer Lubna alOmair and 100m runner Cariman Abu al-Jadail.

None qualified directly for their

–REUTERS

Former Newcastle defender Taylor joins MLS side Portland Portland Timbers have signed former Newcastle United centre half Steven Taylor, the Major League Soccer club said on Monday.

The 30-year-old Taylor made 10 Premier League appearances last season but could not help Newcastle avoid relegation from England’s top flight. Taylor was a free agent after his contract expired at Newcastle, who were relegated to the English championship (second tier).

Pioneer Saudi sportswoman Sarah al-Attar

competition, but will take part with special invitations from the International Olympic Committee.

Attar has no regrets and no doubts about running in London and Rio. “I was going for the women in Saudi Arabia, for all the young girls to have someone in the Olympics representing them, giving them a picture of something they could one day strive for,” she said in a recent article for the Like The Wind runners’ magazine.

The Californian with Saudi-US nationality has never run under three hours in four attempts on the Boston marathon, but can no doubt expect a similar acclaim in Rio. Taking part in sport is not easy for Saudi women and finding women to go to the London Olympics was a challenge. Someone knew of the half-Saudi girl in California who liked running and so an invitation was made.

“My mom and I pieced together an outfit: a long-sleeve shirt, fulllength running tights, and a head cover we found online,” Attar told Marie-Claire magazine. l

–REUTERS

Schalke sign Chelsea’s Baba on loan Schalke 04 has signed Ghana international left-back Abdul Rahman Baba on loan from Chelsea for the coming season, both clubs confirmed yesterday. Last season, Baba made 23 appearances for Chelsea, 19 of them starts, including his debut in the Champions League, but has been sent on loan by new Chelsea coach Antonio Conte to Schalke, who finished fifth in Germany’s top flight last season.

–AFP

DAY’S WATCH FOOTBALL SONY ESPN International Champions Cup (Thursday) 12:00AM Barcelona v Leicester 5:30AM Bayern Munich v Real Madrid 7:30AM Chelsea v AC Milan

CRICKET SONY SIX 4:30AM CPL T20: Qualifier 1 Guyana v Jamaica

TEN 2 8:00PM India Tour of West Indies 2nd Test, Day 5

Father may not go with Woakes n AFP, Birmingham England all-rounder Chris Woakes hopes his current good form will last long enough to persuade his father to conquer his fear of flying.

The Warwickshire all-rounder heads into Wednesday’s third Test at his Edgbaston home ground in arguably the best form of his career.

His father, Roger, saw his son take 11 wickets in England’s 75-run defeat in the first Test at Lord’s and is set to be among the crowd when the hosts look to go 2-1 up in the four-match series at Edgbaston following their 330-run win in the second Test at Old Trafford.

But travelling overseas is a different story for Roger Woakes, although son Chris hopes that might change if he is selected for England’s 2017/18 tour of Australia.

“They (my parents) follow me as much as possible, (but) not overseas - my dad has never flown at all,” said Woakes at an event staged by series sponsors Investec.

“He’s never left the country, but (my parents) drive all over the UK. “He’s a little bit claustrophobic, so flying has always been a no-no.

He doesn’t get in lifts and things like that (either).”

Woakes would be delighted if his father saw him in action in Australia, but thinks it unlikely.

“I don’t think I would (be able to persuade him) - unless he went on a boat,” Woakes added.

“I’m sure he’d love to, but don’t think he’d be able to. I’m sure he’ll be happy sat on his sofa watching it on TV with a cup of tea. “(But) don’t get me wrong - I’ll ask the question if I’m in the Ashes squad.”

Woakes’s Test debut at The Oval at the conclusion the 2013 Ashes

also presented his father with a problem.

“He always gets the stairs,” Woakes explained.

“I booked them a hotel by the river, and they put him on the 17th floor.

“He was in his late 60s then, so he had to get moved - but they couldn’t do it until the next day, so he was walking up and down 17 floors. He was knackered.” l

Rain gives West Indies lifeline n Reuters The weather gods gave West Indies a lifeline in their quest to avoid defeat in the second Test against India when rain washed out the final session of day three in Kingston, Jamaica on Monday.

India built a first-innings lead of 304 runs before captain Virat Kohli declared at 500 for nine just before tea as light rain fell at Sabina Park.

But the showers persisted and the India bowlers did not get a chance to have a crack at the West Indies top order.

2ND TEST, DAY 3 WEST INDIES 196 v INDIA 500/9 dec (Rahul 158, Rahane 108*, Chase 5/121) India lead by 304 runs

James Anderson (R) and Chris Woakes during nets in Edgbaston

REUTERS

Play is scheduled to resume 30 minutes early on Tuesday at 9.30 AM local time (1430 GMT), but the forecast is for more rain, with a tropical wave heading towards the island.

India lead the four-Test series after winning the first match in Antigua last week.

Ajinkya Rahane scored his seventh Test century, and the third in four innings, compiling an unbeaten 108 off 237 balls. He made 127 and 100 not out against South Africa in Delhi in December. l

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Muslim fencer pierces bigotry in Olympic first n AFP, Rio de Janeiro Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad is aiming to drive her sabre through bigotry when she becomes the first American athlete to compete at the Olympics wearing a hijab.

The articulate 30-year-old African-American Muslim was catapulted to prominence in January after clinching her place on the US Olympic team at the World Cup in Greece.

Muhammad’s participation in Rio comes in the midst of a US presidential election campaign marked by anti-Islamic rhetoric while incidents of threats and vandalism at mosques reached an all-time high last year.

The ugly atmosphere is all-too familiar for Muhammad, who has faced discrimination since childhood, when her skin color and hijab would often draw stares or abuse.

Indeed, part of the attraction of fencing was the fact that Muhammad could blend in more or less seamlessly.

“I played different sports grow-

ing up and my mum and I just happened to be driving past a high school and saw fencing from the car window,” she recalled.

“She saw that the athletes had on long tops and long pants and she didn’t know what the sport was but she wanted me to try it because she thought it would be accommodating for my religious beliefs.”

Muhammad was unconvinced at first but persisted when she realized the sport could be a passport to a college education.

“I saw that the top 10 schools in the country all had fencing programs so I saw fencing as a way for me to get to school so that’s why I stuck at it initially,” said Muhammad, who graduated from prestigious Duke University in 2007 with a degree in International Relations and African Studies.

Muhammad hopes that her Olympic journey may play a small role in shifting the kinds of attitudes that have surfaced during the US election campaign.

“It’s a tough political environment that we’re in right now, it’s not easy,” Muhammad said.l

Proud Kuwaiti soldier refuses to carry Olympic flag n AFP, Rio de Janeiro

Nadal remains doubtful over Rio participation n Reuters, Rio Di Janeiro Rafael Nadal has conceded he is not yet sure that he will be able to represent Spain at the Rio Olympics as his fitness concerns linger.

The 2008 gold medallist withdrew from the French Open with a wrist injury and missed Wimbledon.

“I will not be at the best level in any of the categories,” Nadal told journalists after arriving in Brazil. “I have not competed for two months and I have not trained a lot.”

“I will train a few days here to see what I can do and then decide what is best, to be more positive for me and the team,” he said.

Nadal’s Spanish team mate David Ferrer acknowledged last week that the 14-time grand slam champion’s fitness situation was “delicate”.l

Legendary Kuwaiti shooter Fehaid al-Deehani has refused to carry the Olympic neutral team flag at the Rio Games opening ceremony, where the Gulf state’s athletes cannot march behind their own emblem.

Kuwait is suspended by the International Olympic Committee and other leading federations such as FIFA, football’s world body, over government interference in sport.

Despite last-minute calls for dialogue to get the Kuwait government to make a concession, al-Deehani, winner of Kuwait’s only

Olympic medals, and seven other athletes are resigned to having to compete in Rio as so-called Independent Olympic Athletes.

According to Kuwaiti media, the IOC asked al-Deehani, who took trap shooting bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney and 2012 London Games, to carry the Olympic neutral team flag.

But the Kuwait army officer turned down the request.

“I am a military man and I will only carry the Kuwait flag,” he said.

“I cannot carry the IOC flag.”

The IOC and FIFA have now suspended Kuwait three times since 2007 over government interference.

The latest dispute has caused anguish across the Gulf state, pitting the government even against global sporting powerbroker Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, a member of the IOC and FIFA, who is from Kuwait.

The government has launched court action in Switzerland seeking $1 billion in damages from the IOC over its suspension, which Youth and Information Minister Sheikh Salman al-Humoud al-Sabah has called “unjustifiable”.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has already ruled against the government, and a UN envoy’s efforts to mediate have also come to nothing.

The Kuwait parliament amended its controversial sports law in June, but the government still has the power to dissolve sports associations and federations.

The Kuwait Olympic Committee on Sunday called on the government to start dialogue in a last-gasp bid to get the Kuwait flag in to the Rio opening ceremony.

Hussein al-Mussallam, vice chairman of the committee’s legal and international relations commission, told AFP it was time “to sit down together and review things in a positive way”.

He said “the interests of Kuwaiti athletes should come above all else”. l

Most British athletes to shun Rio opening n Reuters, Rio De Janeiro Most of Britain’s Olympic athletes will stay away from Friday’s opening ceremony for the Rio Games at the Maracana Stadium, team officials said on Monday.

“It will be a fairly small delegation of athletes marching,” British Olympic Association chief executive Bill Sweeney told reporters at the Olympic Park in Barra.

“We’ve got a big crew still up in Belo Horizonte training and athletes who are competing 24 or 48 hours after the opening ceremony.

“So we expect the marching athletes to be in the region of about 55 or so. Given the fact that we’ve got a total team size of 366, it’s quite a small number but their priorities are on competition.”

British team head Mark England expected golfer Justin Rose and tennis player Andy Murray, the 2012 Olympic champion, to be among those who did attend the ceremony.

TeamGB is hoping for the country’s best away Games, with a target of at least 48 medals - one more than Beijing in 2008.

Brazil’s interim president, Michel Temer, will declare the first Games held in South America open on Friday after the televised ceremony that culminates with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. l

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Venom-teeth (5) 4 Two together (4) 7 Plunder (6) 8 Small branch (5) 10 Microbe (4) 11 American state (5) 12 Tree (3) 14 Easy pace (4) 17 Skin eruption (4) 19 Make a mistake (3) 20 Is adjacent to (5) 23 Monetary source (4) 25 Locations (5) 26 Required (6) 27 Rules of conduct (4) 28 Prepared (5)

DOWN 1 Promote (6) 2 Network (4) 3 Long detailed story (4) 4 Prejudiced person (5) 5 United (3) 6 Extreme fear (6) 9 Edges (4) 13 Cavity (6) 15 Repose (4) 16 Reliable (6) 18 Abode of the dead (5) 21 Consumer (4) 22 Season (4) 24 Fresh (3)

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CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 12 represents T so fill T every time the figure 12 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.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SUDOKU How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

PEANUTS

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

DILBERT

SUDOKU

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Showtime

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

Sunny-Rukh to be banned

n Showtime Desk The special song in which Sunny Leone stars with Shah Rukh Khan in the much anticipated film Raees, is likely to be banned in Pakistan. Rumour mills are abuzz that Pakistan Censor Board has decided to ban the said song

in which Sunny will be seen grooving to the tunes of “Laila O Laila” which was originally picturised in the 80s sensation Zeenat Aman.

The original score was composed by Kalyanji-Anandji while the version in Raees is directed by Ram Sampath. It is

believed that this step by the Pakistan Censor Board is taken following the recent murder of Pakistani social media celeb Qandeel Baloch by her brother.

Raees, which also stars Pakistani actress Mahira Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, is set to hit theatres on January 26, 2017. l

Tiger Shroff to take lead role in Student of the Year 2 Margot Robbie held her breath underwater for five minutes n Showtime Desk n Farhan Shahriar The trending young star of Bollywood, Tiger is currently busy promoting the film A Flying Jatt, after which he will start shooting Baaghi 2. If things go his way, he might shoot for Student of the Year 2, right after that.

For the first time Tiger Shroff will be starring in Student of

the Year 2. We already have confirmation that the project will commence very soon. The Baaghi actor said he met with Karan a couple of times to discuss the film and was given a brief idea about the film. He plans to sign the film soon.

Moreover, when he was asked what it means to be working with Karan Johar so early in his career,

he replied, “Who would not want to work with Karan sir? If this works out, it will be fab.” So far the actor has had two releases till date: Heropanti and Baaghi, both of which have been stunningly successful films. Maybe that’s what Karan Johar is focusing on - that the actor can continue his successful form at the box office.l

While Suicide Squad is filled with CG, many moments are not, including Margot Robbie’s underwater fight. The Harley Quinn actress told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show she learned to hold her breath for five minutes, even though the scene required she do so only for one.

“I worked with this amazing free-diver, and he came in and I did four sessions with him. His name’s Kirk,” she said, adding that she called him Captain Kirk.

“It’s all about lowering your metabolic rate…You kinda, like, meditate underwater. It’s what free-divers do, but it’s amazing.”

Admitting to her competitive nature, Robbie described how she would try and hold her breath longer than her stunt double. “I got to five minutes and I was like, ‘You know what?

This is above and beyond what I thought I’d get to. I’m good, I’m good with five.’” She says she tried pushing it even further when her double got to fiveand-a-half minutes, but she was advised against it. l

Waterness to be staged in India

n Showtime Desk Marking the 75th death anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, Turongomi - Repertory Dance Theatre will present it’s dance drama Waterness at the Satyajit Ray Auditorium

of Indian Council for Cultural Relations ICCR in Kolkata this week.

To be held on August 8, the program is jointly organised by the Sree Arvinda Institute of Culture and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

Shumona with Tagore song

The production’s fifth staging is sponsored by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Bangladesh.

Pooja Sengupta has designed the concept, choreography alongside directing the production, which is scripted

Cumberbatch to star in Rogue Male n Showtime Desk

n Showtime Desk Shumona Hoque, the famous jingle queen has made a comeback to the world of music.

This time she is introducing her new album that consists of a collection of Tagore songs. Not only that, sources inform that she will be recording the song

“Tumi Robe Nirobe” on August 3 for BTV’s special program, “Bhalo Jodi Basho Shokhi” based on Tagore songs celebrating Shravan 22.

“I really love Rabindro shongeet and that’s why I am working on my second album full of Tagore songs,” she added. l

by Dheeman Bhattyacharya and music by Suman Sarkar.

The dance theatre production is even more significant this time around as it tries to capture the creative journey of the Noble Laureate from 1890-1941. The production attempts to display a relationship between woman and water. The story deals with how the poet juggled with various responsibilities during the post “manashi” period.

The production also tries to capture the influence of Padma in making him realise the insignificance of human ego. In addition to this, it sheds light on how Tagore explored multiple arenas of abstraction through his paintings.

Waterness makes use of classical Indian dance, contemporary dance, classical jazz, Tagore school of dance, poems, prose, paintings and letters by Rabindranath to capture the magical journey of the poet l

Benedict Cumberbatch is undertaking an adaptation of the classic British novel Rogue Male.

The star of Sherlock and Doctor Strange will star in and produce the film.

Michael Lesslie of Macbeth and Assassin’s Creed fame has been hired to write the screenplay for the project, which is set up at Fox Searchlight.

The survivalist thriller told of a hunter who attempts to assassinate a dictator but is caught, tortured and left for dead. When he escapes back home to England, he must hide out in a harsh countryside with the enemy agents as well as the police in hot pursuit.

Rogue Male was published in 1939 and the author, Geoffrey Household, said the dictator was intended to be a stand-in for Adolph Hitler.

“I am thrilled both as an actor and producer to be working on bringing this most treasured of English novels to the big screen,” said Cumberbatch, who read the novel several years ago.

The novel has fascinated directors and actors from the day it came out. Twentieth Century Fox adapted it in 1940 as Man Hunt, directed by Fritz Lang and starring Walter Pidgeon (and with Hitler as the dictator) and Peter O’Toole starred in a BBC production made for television in 1977.

Household specialised in thrillers and wrote 28 novels.

Rogue Male was a bestseller and is regarded as his masterpiece. l

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WHAT TO WATCH

Titanic Star Movies 9:30pm A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind, but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated RMS Titanic.

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Frances Fisher The Amazing Spider Man-2 Z Studio 12:45pm When New York is put under siege by Oscorp, it is up to Spider-Man to save the city he swore to protect as well as his loved ones.

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Meet the Spartans Movies Now 5:25pm The heroic Spartan king Leonidas leads a ragtag bunch of 13 Spartan misfit warriors to defend their homeland against thousands of invading Persians.

Cast: Sean Maguire, Carmen Electra, Diedrich Bader, Method Man

Constantine WB 7pm Supernatural detective John Constantine helps a detective prove her sisters death was not a suicide, but something more.

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Djimon Hounsou

The Intern HBO 9:30pm 70-year-old widower Ben Whittaker has discovered that retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Seizing an opportunity to get back in the game, he becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site, founded and run by Jules Ostin.

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Robert De Niro, Rene Russo, Anders Holm l

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Back Page

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

FOREIGN AID HITS RECORD HIGH IN FY16 PAGE 12

STYLISH SOUMYA’S BIG TEST AWAITS PAGE 25

SUNNY-RUKH TO BE BANNED PAGE 30

Unauthorised ‘Peace’ schools to go n Tribune Desk The government has decided to shut down all the unapproved Peace schools operating across the country, apparently in the face of controversy regarding their burdensome curriculum and radical views.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid recently requested the Home Ministry to close those schools immediately, a ministry statement said Tuesday.

In another order, the ministry has asked the Dhaka Education Board to cancel the approval given to Peace International School at Lalmatia for its involvement in “controversial activities.”

This English-medium school was founded by Abdullah Zaman, its managing director, and Mufti

Kazi Md Ibrahim, its principal, in October, 2011. In the beginning, the PIS had two campuses – at Lalmatia and Uttara. Earlier this year, the Uttara campus was bought by another person and it was renamed as Leader’s School.

Ibrahim, also an anchor of Peace TV which was banned in Bangladesh in mid-July, is believed to be one of the key players behind establishment of Peace schools.

Intelligence sources say these schools preach radical views and engage the students in different activities of Peace TV, run by controversial India-based televangelist Zakir Naik.

The exact number of Peace schools across the country could not be known immediately.

After the PIS, more people later

established schools in Dhaka and elsewhere bearing the title “Peace” that include Invite Peace School and College, Peace Islamic School, Peace School and Peace School and College.

Some of these are run under a company named Invitos Peace Limited, owned by a former president by Islami Chhatra Shibir, says an intelligence report.

Only a handful of the schools are linked to each other or follow the same curriculum. In most of the cases, the school authorities used the word “peace” and the logo of Peace TV for larger publicity. Among the issues that triggered controversy is that the Peace school students do not perform the national anthem as they are taught that it is “un-Islamic.”

The authorities of several schools told the investigators that their teachers had been trained by the followers of Zakir Naik who came from India.

The government has been monitoring the activities of these schools since December last year after allegations were raised about teaching unauthorised subjects and books. It is also concerned about the schools’ involvement with Jamaat-e-Islami as the intelligence sources confirm that a part of their income goes to the party fund.

Mahbubur Rahman, chairman of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, said they would take necessary action to shut down peace schools after getting official order from the Education Ministry. l

Bongo? Name change mooted for West Bengal n Reuters, Kolkata Fed up with having to speak last, or not at all, at meetings of Indian regional leaders, the chief minister of West Bengal wants to ditch the state’s first name so that she can get her say.

Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet approved a resolution yesterday to call the state “Bengal” in English – one of India’s official languages.

State lawmakers would also get to choose between the Bengali names “Bangla” or “Bongo,” said State Minister Partha Chatterjee.

The feisty Banerjee, 61, had complained that she barely got a chance to speak in meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi because West Bengal came at the end of a list of India’s 29 states arranged alphabetically.

An earlier initiative to rename the state Paschim Banga was never approved by the New Delhi government.

Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, was once the headquarters of the British East India Company. But a decision to relocate the capital of imperial India to Delhi in 1911 ushered in a period of relative decline.

Independence and partition in 1947 then led to the division of the province of Bengal into predominantly Hindu West Bengal and mostly Muslim East Bengal, which is now part of Bangladesh. l

A hydraulic breaker of Rajuk demolishes an ‘illegal’ establishment in Gulshan’s residential area during its eviction drive in the area yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

Rajuk shuts three businesses down n Abu Hayat Mahmud

The Rajuk mobile court, led by the executive magistrate, also shut down three businesses in Gulshan 1 yesterday when they conducted a drive to evict unauthorised commercial establishments in the area.

The drive, which began around 11am, also demolished six illegal ramps which had been built illegally occupying parts of the footpaths

along Road No 13 and Road No 14.

“A super shop named BTI and a showroom of Modern Furniture, housed in a building on Road No 7, were evicted as well,” the magistrate said.

BTI Manager Mahbubur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that they had not received any prior notice from Rajuk regarding the eviction.

Asked about the allegation, the executive magistrate said: “We

published an advertisement in newspapers announcing the eviction drive. So it was not necessary for us to send out notices.”

The BTI manager further said 10 to 15 people who had been employed at the shop were not out of jobs because of the eviction.

Including the evictions yesterday, Rajuk has shut down 10 businesses in Gulshan since the drive was launched last week. l

Prof Yunus to be torchbearer at Olympics opening

n Tribune Desk Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus has been chosen to be an Olympic Torchbearer for the Olympic Games 2016 taking place in Rio, Brazil.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach chose Yunus to join the mission of spreading the spirit of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games throughout the world, said a media statement issued by Yunus Centre.

The Rio Olympic Torch relay began with the traditional Olympic flame lighting ceremony in the Greek city of Olympia, birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games, on April 21 this year. In Brazil, the Torch Relay started in the Brazilian capital of Brasília on May 3.

After travelling more than 300 cities, the relay will end on Friday when the opening ceremony of the games take place at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio. Yunus will bear the Olympic torch at the final leg of the relay tomorrow.

He will also address the International Olympic Committee (IOC), attended by representatives of the national Olympic Committees from around the world, in Rio tomorrow, and will speak on “Athletics, Social Business and SDGs – the New Vision of the World.”

Yunus will be jointly working with the IOC to develop a social dimension to the athletics and the sports world, right from the grassroots level to the global level. This will include all IOC events, venues and organisations to participate and create social businesses to address human problems around them.

He will be in Brazil until August 9. l

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