August 4, 2016

SECOND EDITION

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

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Shraban 20 1423, Shawwal 29, 1437

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 99

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

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DhakaTribune

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

|

Shraban 20 1423, Shawwal 29, 1437

|

Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 99

|

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

PM: Be vocal against those defaming Islam through killing n UNB

The file photo shows a police official helping an injured colleague to a police vehicle as the latter received injuries from a bomb hurled by militants during the July 1 Holey Artisan hostage situation MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Police hunt for Tamim’s 12 accomplices n Mohammad Jamil Khan Apart from their chief Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, the law enforcers have identified at least 12 second- and third-tier leaders of the New JMB and are now conducting raids to track them down.

Tamim, a Bangladesh-born Canadian citizen, maintains contact with these leaders for planning, re-

cruitment, training, and collection of funds and arms. He reportedly visited the Kallyanpur den of the group before the July 26 raid killed nine of his members.

Of them, four were leaders while the five others belonged to a suicide squad of the Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh faction, police say.

Inspector General of Police AKM

Shahidul Hoque on Tuesday said that they had identified the second- and third-tier militant leaders associated with Tamim.

Monirul Islam, chief of the DMP’s counter-terrorism unit, said that they had got information about some of the 12 suspects. “We are trying to locate them,” he said.

According to intelligence sources,  PAGE 4 COLUMN 3

Fakhrul repairs BNP-Jamaat tie n Tribune Report Pro-BNP think tanks suggested that the BNP should cut ties with Jamaat

The confusions and hullabaloo created after Prof Emajuddin Ahmed’s statement regarding BNP chief Khaleda Zia wishing to sever ties with Jamaat, apparently to forge a national unity against militancy, have finally been removed by the party’s secretary general.

“What he [Emajuddin] said is not the party stance,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir Fakhrul told reporters at the Nayapaltan Headquarters yesterday afternoon.

“It is completely his personal opinion. Professor Emajuddin Ahmed sent a rejoinder to the media yesterday [Tuesday] explaining his statement,” Fakhrul said in response to a query.

On Tuesday, Prof Emajuddin told a discussion: “One particular political party is a hindrance to the national unity. The government can ban that part any time, if it wants …

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].”

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 be dropped from the 20-party combine.

Following the statement, several senior leaders of the BNP said they had no idea about any such decision while Jamaat leaders demanded that Emajuddin withdraw his statement.

Khaleda had proposed formation of a national unity in her speech after the Gulshan and Sholakia attacks. Most of the allies of the 20-party alliance and Islamist parties echoed the view.

But the ruling alliance led by Awami League has rejected the proposal citing the BNP’s strong ties with Jamaat for the latter’s anti-liberation role and involvement in militant activities.

Fakhrul also termed it a “prediction” when the reporters asked him whether all parties would respond positively to Khaleda’s call with Jamaat as its key ally.

“BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia  PAGE 4 COLUMN 3

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday again urged the nation to be vocal against the culprits defaming Islam before the whole world through killing innocent people.

“Those undermining our holy religion getting derailed from the right path, I urge the whole nation to be vocal against them,” she said.

The prime minister made the plea while inaugurating the Hajj programme for 2016 at Hajji Camp in Dhaka’s Ashkona.

Sheikh Hasina said she always wants to keep unharmed the dignity and honour of Islam. “It’s my desire that our religion will always have its place as the best religion of the world... I request all, including fathers, mothers, and teachers, to remain alert so that no youth could be derailed.”

The prime minister mentioned that Islam is the religion of peace, and there is no place for militancy and terrorism in it. “I feel pain and sorrow when I see some derailed people killing innocent people in cold blood... Are they doing any-

Sheikh Hasina thing good for Islam? Instead, they are undermining it before others,” she said.

Hasina also mentioned that these culprits are creating a phobia among other people about Islam.

“They’re defaming the religion,” she added.

The prime minister also questioned about the achievement of the culprits through killing innocent people. “But, they’re making it tough for those performing our religious rituals regularly.”

She said the religion which always  PAGE 4 COLUMN 1

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Police: Gunfight victim was a JMB member n Dulal Abdullah, Rajshahi

The youth killed in an alleged gunfight with the detectives in Rajshahi city early Tuesday had been involved in the murder of university teacher AFM Rezaul Karim Siddique, police said yesterday.

The body of Nazrul Islam alias Bike Hassan has been identified by his family members. He is the son of Abdullah Mia from Sonarhat village under Debiganj in Panchagarh.

It is the death of third suspect in the sensational murder case. Earlier, another JMB member was killed in an alleged gunfight while an Islami Chhatra Shibir leader died in police custody while undergoing treatment.

“Nazrul was an active member of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh and a fugitive accused in Prof Rezaul murder case,” Rajshahi Metropolitan Police spokesperson Ifte Khayer Alam said.

Nazrul was one of the two wanted criminals on who the RMP authorities on July 29 declared Tk1 lakh bounty for each.

His name was mentioned by

JMB member Maskawat Hossain Sakib alias Abdullah who gave confessional statement in the case before a magistrate, police said.

Abdullah was arrested on May 15.

Police suspect that RU English department student Shariful Islam masterminded the killing. He could not be arrested yet Assistant Commissioner Ifte Khayer said that a team of the DB police was challenged by a gang of criminals while conducting a raid in Ashrafer Mor area around 3am.

The criminals opened fire and also hurled hand bombs at the police prompting the latter to retaliate with gunshots.

Nazrul was found on the spot with bullet injuries while his cohorts managed to flee. Police also

recovered a pistol and evidence of hand bombs. He was declared dead at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, the official added.

Rajshahi University English teacher Prof Rezaul was hacked to death with machetes by two assailants coming on a motorcycle in an alley near his house in Shalbagan area around 7:30am on April 23.

Besides teaching, Prof Rezaul was the editor of literary magazine “Komolgandhar” and adviser to a cultural organisation named “Shundorom.” He set up a music school in Shalbagan area and also wanted to start another at his village home.

International militant organisation Islamic State claimed responsibility for the murder for “calling to atheism.” Police, however, claim that members of the JMB and Chhatra Shibir were behind the murder, and so far questioned a dozen suspects in the case.

Police suspect that RU English department student Shariful Islam masterminded the killing. He could not be arrested as of yet.

“Four JMB men were involved in the killing mission. Three of

them hacked Prof Rezaul to death while the other was waiting for them near the killing site with a motorcycle,” RMP Commissioner Md Shamsuddin said earlier.

Hafizur Rahman, a second year student of public administration department of Rajshahi University and secretary of Chhatra Shibir of Ward No 19, was arrested on April 23. He died while undergoing treatment at RMCH on May 17.

On April 26, police arrested Raihan Ali, 32, the imam of Baghmara’s Dorgamaria village mosque, and Munsur Rahman, 48, a teacher of Gopalpur Madrasa – both under Bagmara of Rajshahi district. Police said Raihan had raised a group in the village to campaign against the music school.

Another prime suspect, senior JMB member Tarek Hossain Milu alias Osman who took part in the murder, was killed in a gunfight with a joint team of DB police and the CT unit at Kalshi of Dhaka early on June 7. Osman was also involved in the bomb attack on Dinajpur’s Kantaji temple on December 4 last year, police claim. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

PM: Be vocal against those teaches about peace, tolerance and rights of other religions is facing a disgraceful situation for these few derailed people. “Whose interest are they protecting, what are they achieving? This is my question.”

Hasina reiterated her firm stance not to allow any sort of terrorism and militancy on the soil of this country.

After the registration of the Hajj pilgrims, she said, the government has been given special attention on their security issue. “We’re strongly examining the security matter.”

Besides, Hasina said, the government is very much aware about those overstaying illegally in Saudi Arabia going there with Hajj visas.

“The Saudi government always comes up with its objection against

this unpleasant matter and we have given a special attention to it,” she said.

Chaired by Religious Affairs Minister Principal Motiur Rahman, the programme was addressed, among others, by Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Religious Affairs Ministry Bazlul Huq Haroon, Sahara Khatun, Abdullah HM Al-Mutairi and Religious Affairs Secretary M Abdul Jalil.

Some 1,01,758 Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims are expected to perform the Hajj this year. The hajj flights will be operated from Dhaka to Jeddah from August 4 to September 5.

The state-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines is expected to carry half of the total Hajj passengers, while Saudi Arabian Airlines would ferry the rest of the Hajj pilgrims from Dhaka to Jeddah.

The return Hajj flights would start on September 17 and continue till October 15.

A 292-member Bangladeshi Hajj team comprising physicians, pharmacists, nurses/brothers and assistants would go to Saudi Arabia to provide healthcare facilities to Hajj pilgrims. l

Police hunt for Tamim’s 12 accomplices Junayed Khan and his brother Ibrahim Hasan Khan are two of the suspects the police are searching for.

The six others are Azadul Kabiraz, Mamun, Khaled, Manik, Iqbal and Ripon. Identity of the four other militant leaders could not be confirmed.

Monirul said these could be fake names. Militants, especially the leaders, take many names to evade arrest.

After the Gulshan and Sholakia attacks, Tamim had plans to carry out more attacks in Bangladesh,

for which he had gathered some trained members at the Kallyanpur den.

Saiful Islam, additional deputy commissioner of the CT unit, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had already arrested a number of medium- and filed-level operatives of the New JMB. The detainees named Tamim as their chief. But there could be other top leaders.

“We will be able to get a clear picture of the organisational structure once we arrest Tamim,” he added. l

Fakhrul repairs BNP-Jamaat tie was a former [three-time] prime minister, opposition leader … she called for forging a national unity from that position. We have already started talking to other political parties to get their responses.

We will let you know once the initiative succeeds,” he told reporters.

Pro-BNP think tanks and different developed countries suggested the BNP to cut ties with Jamaat after its members carried out violent attacks on the people and the law enforcers during the anti-govern-

ment 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.

Khaleda and Fakhrul on several occasions previously stated that the party’s relation with Jamaat was electoral, not ideological. l

Tamim Ahmed, Ziaul Haque in disguise n Mohammad Jamil Khan

They might be driving CNG auto rickshaws in Dhaka, or making tea at a roadside tea stall or have managed a job at a factory – anything can happen.

The law enforcers think the top two masterminds of the Gulshan and Sholakia attacks – Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and Maj (terminated) Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haque, who they are looking for frantically are staying in Dhaka and leading ordinary life to evade arrest.

A Tk20 lakh bounty has been declared for each of the duo while the police have also alerted the airports and land ports so that they cannot leave the country.

Investigation sources say both Tamim and Zia are expert in changing their faces and lifestyles.

A high official of the DMP’s counter-terrorism unit told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that they were also looking for more than a dozen second- and third-layer leaders of Tamim’s New JMB group.

Bangladeshi-Born Canadian citizen Tamim is believed to be leading a new faction of the banned militant group Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which is responsible for many of the targeted killings took place since last year including the terror attacks in Gulshan and Sholakia.

On the other hand, Zia, who actively took part in the December 2011 attempted coup in army and had tried to instigate another the previous year, is the head of another banned outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team.

Investigators say both the groups took part in the Gulshan restaurant attack on July 1 that killed 22 people, mostly foreigners.

A CT unit official said that Tamim usually maintains French cut beard but always use surgical masks since he is very allergic to dust. Moreover, he does not like to use cars and takes a rickshaw in most of the time.

The investigators have got such information from the New JMB members now in custody.

The official said Zia is seen with beard in most of the pictures available, but “he has cut it off and wears jeans and T-shirts. He also does not wear shoes and prefer a pair of sandals,” the official said seeking anonymity.

Monirul Islam, chief of the CT unit, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that they believed that the two masterminds had been staying inside the country. l

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

Flood shelters in shambles in a year Nesa Alo and n Jebun Moazzem Hossain, from Kurigram The flood shelters in Kurigram’s Jatrapur union were supposed to protect villagers during their most desperate times.

But soon after they watched their homes being swept away by the raging flood water, locals also realised that the promise of safety was as frail as the cracked walls of those shelters.

Visiting two shelters named

vised by Bangladesh Army.

Now, distressed people were living there in inhumane conditions; around 1,200 flood-affected people from the nearby Porar Char, Airmari Char and Khaoralgar Char areas are crammed into the rooms that are still standing.

Locals blamed poor construction work for the quick deterioration of the shelters.

In 2012, the government initiated the project to build four flood shelters in Jatrapur on 90 acres of land. Jarif Enterprise was awarded

Brahmaputra and Begum Rokeya in Kurigram Sadar upazila, the Dhaka Tribune recently found that only 100 of the 220 rooms were still inhabitable.

There were cracks on the walls, while the roofs on top of many rooms had been blown away by the wind.

Parts of one shelter had already been washed away by the river as no protection dam was built surrounding that building.

Shockingly, both of the shelters had only just been opened a year ago, while the project was super-

the construction job, which they completed in 2015.

But the joy that was expressed by the locals during inauguration are long gone now.

Anwar, 35, said his family has been living at one of the shelter buildings for almost three weeks now. During this time, he has seen people risking their own lives by staying in rooms that might fall apart any moment.

“The shelter saved our life, but its construction was done in such a negligent manner that it was dam-

aged within a very short time,” he said.

Many people who had sought shelter here were now repairing the rooms themselves, Anwar said. If the buildings are not repaired, the shelter would be totally uninhabitable next year, added.

During the disaster period, each family received 10kg rice from the local chairman and some dry food from administration on one occasion. No NGOs or other organisations has provided relief so far, he said. l

Birth in the time of flood Nesa Alo and n Jebun Moazzem Hossain from Kurigram

Taramoni from Majhipara village in Kurigram, and her five-day-old child, born here in her home, have been cut off from any kind of medical attention by the flood DHAKA TRIBUNE

Brac to pay Tk404 crore in taxes n Ashif Islam Shaon The world’s largest non-governmental organisation, Brac, will have to pay Tk404.21 crore in income taxes accumulated during 11 fiscal years between 1993 and 2012, the country’s apex court has ruled.

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court Appellate Division led

by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha yesterday scrapped a previous High Court decision which had exempted the NGO from paying taxes on the grounds that it is a charitable organisation.

The court heard arguments on 11 separate government appeals filed against a 2014 High Court order to deliver the verdict, Deputy Attorney General Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir told reporters.

The authorities issued a total of 11 notices to the NGO seeking the

TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN THURSDAY, AUGUST 4

appeal pleas which were accepted by the court in September last year.

The top court has asked the NGO to pay half of the amount within a year in four equal instalments.

The appeal was then forwarded to the regular bench of the Appellate Division and was heard yesterday.

Brac counsel Md Asaduzzaman told reporters that they had already paid a portion of the income tax.

“Brac may file a review petition after getting the full text of the verdict.”

In a press statement issued last night Brac said it is a non-profit organisation and the income generated by Brac’s social enterprises supports its social development programmes. “Our social development programmes across the country and the millions of people who benefit from them will be adversely affected by the outcome of this ruling,” the statement added. l

amount due.

According to the case, the deputy commissioner of taxes fixed the income tax for the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (Brac) for 11 tax years – 1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97, 2005-06, 200607, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12. Brac later challenged the directives with the appellate commissioner.

As the appellate commissioner upheld the deputy commissioner’s decision, Brac moved the Taxes Appellate Tribunal. When Brac did not get a decision in its favour, it moved the High Court with separate income tax references.

On December 14, 2014, the High Court in its verdict said that the income tax was eligible for exemption.

The commissioner of taxes then moved the Appellate Division against the High Court order with 11 leave-toDhaka

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As flood water was on the rise in Majhipara, a fishing community in Kurigram’s Pasgasi union, the villagers fled to nearest school building on high grounds to save themselves.

But 30-year-old Taramoni could not leave her house. All odds seemed to be stacked against her.

She was pregnant with her fourth child, her house was submerged half in water, and there was no medical help in sight.

Taramoni was already in the final stage of her pregnancy when the water level began to rise around her house at an alarming rate.

But in her physical state, it was impossible for Taramoni to join others and seek safety on higher grounds. So she stayed and waited with her husband for the baby to arrive.

When Taramoni eventually felt she was going into labour, she desperately started phoning the local health worker who had been caring for her before. But no one answered.

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YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

TOMORROW SUN RISES 5:30AM

37.6ºC Sylhet

24.7ºC Rangamati

Source: Accuweather/UNB

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PRAYER TIMES

So after staying stuck in a half-submerged home for a week, on July 28, Taramoni gave unassisted birth to a healthy baby.

When the Dhaka Tribune met Taramoni in her home, the child was already five days old. But during that time, Taramoni had no access to any sort of medication or health service.

In the flooded village, it was also difficult for her to get the proper amount of food needed for a new mother.

Taramoni’s husband Kartik, a fisherman, was unable to do anything as his livelihood was put on pause during the flood.

Once every day, Taramoni’s mother Delo Bala was steering a boat from the nearby flood shelter to bring whatever food she could find to her daughter.

Villagers of Majhipara have stayed in the school for 10 days and only received one round of relief in the form of rice, Delo Bala said, adding that such little aid was not enough.

But despite the struggle and hardship, Taramoni counts her blessings as she looks at the face of her child. l

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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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THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

SP Babul in Police Headquarters but yet to join duty n Mohammad Jamil Khan Superintendent of police Babul Akter, expert in combating militancy, has finally appeared at Police Headquarters (PHQ) yesterday, after a 58-day absence.

SP Babul was originally supposed to join PHQ after receiving a promotion on June 5, on the day when his wife was killed by unidentified assailants in Chittagong.

According to PHQ sources, Babul entered the PHQ premises yesterday morning and met some high officials there. He apparently spent a long time within the office

of additional deputy inspector general Habibur Rahman, sources say.

An official on duty at the PHQ gate that day confirmed that SP Babul left PHQ premises on foot around 2.15pm.

Dhaka Tribune tried reaching SP Babul but he was not available for comment.

Yesterday, Shyla Mosharraf, sister-in-law, said that SP Babul went to his office but she would not disclose anything more regarding the matter.

AKM Shahidur Rahman, Deputy Inspector General (media) of PHQ, told the Dhaka Tribune that SP

3 of a family to die for murder Islam Akand, n Raihanul Gazipur A court in the district yesterday sentenced three persons to death for killing a woman in Gazipur in 2008.

The convicts are Siddik Bhandari, hailing from Sonargaon in Narayanganj, his wife Ayesha Khatun and son Tarek alias Murad Hossain. They used to live at South Khailkoir in Gazipur city. All of them tried in absentia.

The court also fined them Tk10,000 each.

Besides, the court sen-

tenced them to three years jail and fined Tk5,000 each under another section in the case.

According to the prosecution, Safia Begum, 65, wife of Jakir Hossain, was found dead near her house at South Khailoir on May 15, 2008.

Jakir Hossain filed a case with Joydebpur police station.

After investigation, police submitted chargesheet against the three on February 26, 2009.

After examining the records and witnesses, Additional District and Session Judge Mohammad Fazle Elahi Bhuiya handed down the verdict. l

Bangalee settlers call hartal in CHT n Ziaul Haque, Rangamati

Several organisations of Bangalee settlers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) have announced a dawn to dusk hartal on August 10 in three CHT districts demanding that the government scraps the draft ‘Chittagong Hill Tracts Land Dispute Resolution Commission (Amendment) Act 2016’.

Parbatya Nagarik Parishad, Parbatya Bangalee Chhatra Parishad, Parbatya Chattagram Samaodhikar Andolon, Parbatya Gana Parishad and Parbatya Bangalee Chhatra OIkya Parishad, the organisations of the settlers will observe the hartal.

The programme was announced through a joint state-

ment of the five organisations yesterday.

The statement said the draft ‘Chittagong Hill Tracts Land Dispute Resolution Commission (Amendment) Act 2016’, which has already been approved by the Cabinet, will turn into a black law as no appeal can be filed against the decision of the CHT Land Dispute Resolution Commission.

Besides, the Commission does not include any representative of the Bangalee community in the CHT, it added.

The five organisations announced to organise protest rallies in the three CHT districts on August 4 and a human chain programme in the three CHT districts on August 8. l

Babul has not joined duty yet. He, however, refused to disclose information about his presence in PHQ. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, however, mentioned that he was aware of SP Babul’s presence in PHQ yesterday. “If SP Babul wants, then he can join duty,” the minister told the Dhaka Tribune.

It is still a mystery whether SP Babul has actually joined as neither any of the family members nor anyone from the police administration have affirmed the issue yet.

Previously, on July 22, Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul

Hoque, while addressing a program in Chittagong, mentioned that Babul Akter still remains employed but he has not been in contact.

We have so far been informed that he is mentally depressed ever since his wife was killed, but we can definitely take action as per departmental rule regarding his absence, he added.

Given his position, SP Babul should receive police protection, including a vehicle service from his job. However, police protection has been removed from his office on June 26 and no vehicle has been provided for him yet. l

Distribution of anti-militancy leaflets continues n Tribune Desk District Information Office (DIO) was distributing anti militancy and anti terrorism pamphlets yesterday among the people aimed at creating mass awareness against militancy and terrorism.

According to sources the Ministry of Information took the initiative to distribute leaflets among the people across the country to aware the countrymen against militancy and terrorism.

Accordingly, the DIO here started distributing the leaflets among the people of the district since Tuesday to attain the cherished goal, sources said. l

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RAJUK EVICTION

Sunnydale, EHA, Southbreeze schools closed n Abu Hayat Mahmud The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha (Rajuk) has shut down three schools and eleven business outlets during it's continuous eviction drive against unauthorised businesses in Dhanmondi and Gulshan's residential areas.

The Dhaka development authority conducted a drive yesterday, shutting down three English medium schools, two grocery shops, two leather goods showrooms and car dealership at Dhanmondi.

The eviction team led by Rajuk Executive Magistrate Nasir Uddin ordered to shut down a new branch of Sunnydale School and another school called Earth House Alternative in the drive that began around 11:30am.

The schools were housed in two separate three-storied residential buildings on the plot no 59 at Dhanmondi Road 6/A. The magistrate told the Dhaka Tribune: “The schools were housed in residential buildings. We did not find any official of Sunnydale, so we asked the owner of the buildings, Sabbir Ahmed, to convey the information to the school authorities.”

He said Sabbir owned the other school – Earth House Alternative - which was established at the residential building without any approval from Rajuk.

“We gave them 15 days to relocate the schools,” Nasiruddin added.

They also disconnected the gas and electricity connections of the two buildings.

Then the Rajuk eviction team demolished a worn out small build-

Rajuk’s workers demolish a groceries shop on Dhanmondi Road 6/A yesterday during an eviction drive ing on the same road which was being used as a grocery shop and another small grocery was shut down.

The team moved to road 7/A where it shut down and disconnected the power supply of another branch of an English medium school called Southbreeze School on plot 74.

Later, a leather goods showroom named Leferrare on plot 80 was demolished.

The shop and building owner Ismail Hossain Siraji's sister, mother and two employees of the shop tried to prevent the demolition.

Ismail's sister stood in front of shop for some time, stopping the bulldozer from breaking the establishment. Police later removed her.

Ismail Hossain arrived on the scene sometime later and apologised to the Rajuk team for his fmaily's behaviour.

The team also shut down and

demolished the front of a car showroom on plot 82 on the same road.

Owner of the business M Mahbubur Rahman was not present at the spot.

This was the third day of eviction drives in Dhanmondi. A restaurant named Dhaba was shut down on the second day while the shutters of a super shop, a restaurant, two Juba League offices and a retail outlet were demolished on the first day of the drive.

Meanwhile, another mobile court

MEHEDI HASAN

led by Rajuk's Executive Magistrate Khondokar Aliour Rahman carried out an eviction drive in Gulshan 1.

The mobile court shut down seven businesses on roads 7, 14 and 106, while power and gas connections of all the business outlets were disconnected, said a press release from Rajuk.

In July the capital development authority conducted drives two more times and shut down 10 businesses at Gulshan. l

Rajshahi, Rangpur get new power distributor PDB employees vandalise chairman's office in protest the assets of those regions will run A section of BPDB staff and offin Aminur Rahman Rasel as a separate company and a BPDB cials however, vehemently oppose More than a decade after forming the company by breaking the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), a new distribution company has been functionalised in some of the BPDB zones through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and power purchase and sales agreement.

As per the agreement signed on August 1, the Rajshahi and Rangpur zones of BPDB are now going to be run under the new company- North West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited (NWZPDCL).

Mohammad Zahirul Haque, secretary of BPDB and AKM Mushfiqur Rahman, secretary of NWZPDC, signed on behalf of their respective companies.

the formation of the new company and their protests have practically brought BPDB's day-to-day operations to a halt.

Yesterday, agitating BPDB employees vandalised the chairman's room and shouted slogans in front of the minister and the power secretary’s office. They also staged a demonstration in front of the Biddyut Bhaban.

Sources in the BPDB told Dhaka Tribune that on August 1, the board officially handed over their 1.8 million customers in Rajshahi and Rangpur regions which include power distribution of 16 districts through a deal with NWZPDC. As per the deal, NWZPDC, which is yet to take over the ownership of

subsidiary.

Zakiul Islam, managing director of NWZPDC, said all steps will be taken to run the company properly.

BPDB Secretary Mohammad Zahirul Haque said it will take time to hand over the assets to NWZPDC because a committee needs to be formed to do this and the transfers will be based on the committee's report.

A BPDB official told Dhaka Tribune that the Power Division has been trying to form this company in Rajshahi and Rangpur regions since 2003.

The official said the government had held back from forming the new company because of the protests within BPDB. However now

as the company is being formed, activities in those two regions will now be conducted as per the company rules.

The official added that the new company had been formed as part of a plan to take the electricity distribution system from the hands of BPDB completely.

The BPDB official also said that Mymensingh-Tangail and Sylhet-Chittagong zones which are still under the BPDB's distribution system will eventually be brought under separate companies.

NWZPDC was formed with sixteen districts of Rajshahi and Rangpur in 2003. The managing director and other senior officials were also appointed at that time.

But faced with protests from BPDB staff and officials, the com-

pany could not start its work. On August 12, 2015 the Power Division sent a letter to the board asking that they make NWZPDC functional, with no results.

Finally, on April 17 this year, the division sent another letter to BPDB and asked it to hand over the assets of the sixteen districts of Rajshahi and Rangpur zones to NWZPDC. The attempt was again foiled by the protest of BPDB staff.

In February 2014, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked to break up BPDB and make it a corporation like Petrobangla to facilitate electricity distribution and to make the board a profitable entity.

Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA) was formed by breaking away from BPDB. Then DESA was further broken down to DESCO and DPDC. l

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

SOUTH ASIA

Crowds rally in Pakistan against visit of Indian minister

Hundreds of Pakistanis have rallied in the capital, Islamabad, against the imminent visit of India’s interior minister, Rajnath Singh. Some 2,000 chanted slogans against India, claiming the predominantly Muslim region of Kashmir, now divided between the two countries, belongs to Pakistan.

-REUTERS

INDIA

Indian minister visits Saudi to repatriate stranded workers India’s junior foreign minister Vijay Kumar Singh visited Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to try to bring home thousands of laid-off Indian workers stranded without money for food or plane tickets.

The workers had been employed by troubled construction firm Saudi Oger, a conglomerate owned by the family of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, which had for months been unable to pay workers’ salaries. -REUTERS

CHINA

China Communist Party to rein in powerful youth wing China’s Communist Party is to impose tighter controls on its youth wing in what analysts said was a move to undermine a powerful political faction allied to Premier Li Keqiang. The Party’s central committee published a plan to downsize the CYL’s central and provincial committees and move more staff to areas which directly serve the country’s youth.

-AFP

ASIA PACIFIC

Thais to deploy 200,000 police for referendum Thai authorities will deploy about 200,000 police for a referendum on a contentious new constitution on Sunday but violence is seen as unlikely on Wednesday, despite widespread opposition to the charter. Authorities have arrested and detained dozens of activists and politicians in the run-up to the referendum, some for trying to hand out leaflets urging people to vote no.

-REUTERS

MIDDLE EAST

Emirates airliner with 300 onboard crash lands in Dubai An Emirates flight from India with 300 people on board crash landed at Dubai’s main airport Wednesday, sending black smoke billowing into the air and halting all flights at the Middle East’s busiest airport. No one was killed, and all passengers were safely evacuated before the plane was engulfed in a fireball. -AP

INSIGHT

The two avatars of Prachanda, Nepal’s new prime minister n Tribune International Desk As Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ takes over as Nepal’s Prime Minister on Wednesday, for the second time in seven years, he can look back at a remarkable life - of accomplishments and failures, of joy and frustration, of receiving adulation and being the object of hatred, of inflicting violence and striving for peace.

Prachanda was born in the family of a farmer, with marginal landholding, in Nepal’s mid-hills.

Like many other hill-origin families, they moved to the Tarai, in his case Chitwan, for better prospects.

He went on to study agriculture, and work - ironically enough - in a USAID-funded project, but his heart was in left politics.

He slowly rose up the ranks and when his one-time mentor and later ideological rival, Mohan Vaidya ‘Kiran’, led a failed revolutionary bid, Prachanda took over as the party’s general secretary in the mid 1980s.

Prachanda’s career can be divided into his war-time avatar and the open-politics avatar.

Four things stand out about Prachanda’s revolutionary insurgent politics, till 2006.

One, he led the party through the People’s War. Managing factional feuds, ideological rivalries, long-distance operations, an adverse external situation, and confronting onslaught from the army, he remained firmly in control. His leadership experience stretches over three decades now.

Two, he was underground hiding mostly in India - and few except his closest associates had met him. His colleague Baburam Bhattarai was far better known.

This gave him an aura.

Three, even as South Asian communists are known for fragmentation, through the war, Prachanda presided over a unified party - and expanded its organisational and military strength. In fact, the Indian Maoist factions PWG and MCC- are understood to have got inspired by Nepali Maoist experience and united in 2004.

Four, he displayed what the party called ‘strategic rigidity’ and ‘tactical flexibility’. Prachanda was a master at playing on contradictions within the existing mainstream polity. He had an unwritten alliance with the monarchy first - they shared the common goal of weakening the democratic centre.

He first battled the police - being careful not to antagonise the army and lulling it into complacence and then attacked an army barrack when he wanted to escalate the war.

He switched between war and talks - using the latter to regroup and reorganise. And when he recognised the limits of the war, he went along with Bhattarai’s advice and allied with India and democratic parties and India against the monarchy.

The Prachanda of peacetime is different. Or maybe it is just that Nepalis and the international community now know him better.

In over two dozen conversations with this writer over the years, Prachanda has come across as warm, sharp, charismatic, charming - but also inconsistent and insecure.

Five features stand out about his new avatar

For one, despite having waged a war and made peace, Prachanda is remarkably indecisive at key moments. There were two broad ideological schools in his party after entering the peace process.

One, led by Bhattarai, advocated firm commitment to democratic process, keeping to their promise of eventually doing away with the parallel army, and keeping warm ties with India. Another more radical faction, led by Kiran - Prachanda’s one time guru, was in favour of using open politics to establish party hegemony, taking on India and those perceived as close to it within the Nepali polity, and ushering in a ‘people’s revolt’.

Prachanda kept vacillating between the two schools. His decision to sack the army chief when he was PM derived from his turn towards radicalism. He later turned back to peace process. A more recent example of this indecisiveness was when he pulled out of the K P Oli government in May, only to return the following day. His credibility has dipped and he has the reputation of being unreliable.

Two, Prachanda has displayed poor judgement at key moments.

He has admitted to three big mistakes - breaking his alliance with Nepali Congress in the initial years of the peace process, attempting to sack the army chief, and not doing enough to push a constitution through the Constituent Assembly in 2012 when Maoists were stronger. Add to it his delay in resolving the issue of integration and rehabilitation of his combatants, his swing between a pro and anti India stance, and his decision to turn

NEPAL'S NEW PRIME MINISTER Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) Born on December 11, 1954 ( aged 61 ) FOUNDER

Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)

EDUCATION In the year 1975, Prachanda graduated from the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Nepal PRACHANDA CHILDHOOD Prachanda was born on December 11, 1954 in the small village of Kaski district which is 143km away from the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu. He comes from a poor family of farmers. His family moved to Chitwan when he was 11-year-old and he spent most of his childhood in this place.

CAREER 1980: 1990: 2006: 2008:

He headed the All Nepal National Free Students’ Union (Revolutionary) Party Prachanda remained mostly underground leading the clandestine wing of the Communist party of Nepal (Maoist) He came forward to negotiate the creation of a new government for the country with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala Prachanda was elected as the new Prime Minister. He was sworn in on August 18, 2008

OTHER EXPERIENCE His underground life of 25 years has been covered by Anirban Roy in his book, ‘Prachanda: Ek Agyat Bidrohi’. Anirban Roy is the ex-Nepal correspondent of the Hindustan Times.

Infograph: Dhaka Tribune/ Mohammad Razon

back on the agenda of inclusion and the marginalised communities - something he had maintained was non negotiable.

Three, Prachanda did not change Nepal’s mainstream political culture as Nepal’s mainstream political culture changed him.

When he was Prime Minister, and when he was the power behind the throne, Prachanda did little to show to Nepalis that he was committed to transforming lives through effective development and welfare interventions. In fact, he is understood to have got enmeshed in networks of corruption. As Bhattarai, who worked with him closely through this period, told this writer, “He surrounded himself with crony capitalists. If he wants to be successful as PM this time, he must avoid that.” A resounding electoral defeat in 2013 was a result of popular disillusionment and the failure to deliver change.

Four, Prachanda is no longer the uncontested leader of the unified party. The Maoists have now faced two serious splits. The radical faction first walked away in 2012, accusing Prachanda of revisionism. After the constitution last year, Bhattarai walked away saying it was time to start a new force which went beyond Maoist politics, and spoke to the people’s aspirations for change. Some radical leaders have returned but a key

faction led by a younger leader, Netra Bikram Chand, now poses a serious threat and may resort to armed rebellion. Prachanda is a much diminished figure of a much smaller party today.

And finally, Prachanda has become deeply insecure. Six months ago, he suspected India was hatching a conspiracy to kill him. He is constantly looking over his shoulder, worried he will be ensnared in a corruption case. But what worries him most is the prospect of war crimes and its resolution. He suspects that, supported by western human rights community, his rivals in Nepal aim to take him to an international tribunal for war time atrocities.

This is not on the cards - but just these calculations and fears have begun impinging strongly on Prachanda’s judgment. In this tenure, one of his major priorities is concluding this element of the peace process by addressing these cases under a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, with prosecution only in a fee emblematic cases of heinous crimes.

A long career in public life means that citizens are attuned to the strengths and vulnerabilities of a leader. In the next nine months, Nepalis will keenly be watching which qualities of Prachanda come to the fore. l

Sources: HT, REUTERS

9

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

Trump taunts GOP, refusing to back Speaker Ryan, John McCain n Tribune International Desk Donald Trump is openly taunting the leaders of his own party by refusing to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Senator John McCain of Arizona in their GOP primaries. Yet thus far, McCain, Ryan and other Republicans who’ve reluctantly declared that they plan to back Trump for president appear to be sticking with him, reports The Associated Press.

Trump’s stunning slap at two of the nation’s most prominent Republicans dramatically escalated GOP turmoil barely a week after a convention intended to promote party unity. With the general election campaign now squarely underway, Republicans found themselves once again forced to answer questions about the latest boundary-defying pronouncement from Trump at a moment when most would rather be talking about Hillary Clinton’s record.

Trump made his declarations in an interview with The Washington Post in which he also lit into New Hampshire GOP Senator Kelly Ayotte. All three lawmakers are facing primary challenges from the right in coming weeks, though all are expected to prevail, and each had criticized Trump’s attacks on the Muslim American parents of an Army captain killed in Iraq.

Trump’s rebuke to Ryan carried particular derision.

“I’m just not there yet,” Trump said, closely echoing Ryan’s own demurral before eventually endorsing Trump, when he told CNN on May 6, “I’m not there right now.”

“I like Paul, but these are horrible times for our country. We need very strong leadership. We need very strong leadership. And I’m just not quite there yet,” Trump told the Post, offering praise for Ryan’s longshot opponent, Paul Nehlen, for running “a very good campaign.”

Trump also claimed Ryan had asked for his support, something Ryan’s aides denied.

“Neither Speaker Ryan nor anyone on his team has ever asked for Donald Trump’s endorsement,” said Zack Roday, Ryan’s campaign spokesman. “And we are confident in a victory next week, regardless.”

Of McCain, whom he’d previously criticized for being taken captive in Vietnam, Trump said: “I’ve never been there with John McCain because I’ve always felt that he should have done a much better job for the vets.”

Trump’s comments appeared to represent the most dramatic break yet with a Republican establishment whose support for their presidential nominee has been reluctant at best. It came on the same day that President Barack

DONALD TRUMP: REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE THE PERSON

POLITICS

70 years old From Queens, New York

Considered on the right of mainstream Republicanism Popular with grassroots conservatives, white working and middle classes

Billionaire real estate tycoon and former reality TV star PROMISES

REPUTATION

A wall on the Mexican border

Reputation for talking tough, “say-it-as-it-is” honesty

Deport millions of illegal immigrants

Disdain for the “political class”

To “stand up to China”

Controversial comments about women, Mexicans and Muslims

“Make America great again” Obama declared Trump unfit to serve as president and questioned why McCain, Ryan and other GOP leaders continued to support him, especially in light of Trump’s attacks on a pair of bereaved Army parents who took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to oppose him.

McCain had been particularly incensed over Trump’s insults against the parents of US Army Captain Humayun Khan, chiding Trump’s decision to “defame those who are the best among us.”

Yet it was not clear that, even as

Trump found another line to cross and another political norm to defy, any Republicans would rescind their support. None did so publicly and aides to both Ryan and Ayotte made clear their plans hadn’t changed. McCain met privately Tuesday night with Trump’s vice presidential running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence.

For his part, Trump sent a Twitter post from @realDonaldTrump early Wednesday proclaiming, “There is greater unity in my campaign, perhaps greater than ever before.” l

North Korea fires missile into Japan waters n Reuters, Seoul

North Korea launched a ballistic missile on Wednesday that landed in or near Japanese-controlled waters for the first time, the latest in a series of launches by the isolated country in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The main body of the missile landed in Japan’s economic exclusion zone, a Japanese defence official said, escalating regional tensions that were already high after a series of missile launches this year and the decision by the United States to place a sophisticated anti-missile system in South Korea.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described the launch as a “grave threat” to Japan and said Tokyo “strongly protested”. Japan also said its self-defence force would remain on alert in case of further launches.

A US State Department spokesman condemned the launch, and said it would “only increase the in-

The launch showed North Korea’s ambition to “directly and broadly attack neighbouring countries and target several places in the Republic of Korea such as ports and airfields”, the South Korean office said, referring to South Korea by its official title.

The missile appeared to be a Rodong-type medium-range missile that flew about 1,000km, it said.

Tensions high

Kim Jong Un ternational community’s resolve to counter” North Korea’s actions.

The US Strategic Command said it had detected two missiles, one of which it said exploded immediately after launch.

The missile that landed in the

REUTERS

Sea of Japan was launched at about 2250 GMT Tuesday from a region in South Hwanghae province to the southwest of North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, South Korea’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

DT

World

The United States will begin largescale annual drills with its ally South Korea later this month that it bills as defensive in nature and not provocative. North Korea typically protests against the drills, which it says are a rehearsal for invasion.

“The North Koreans seem to have been timing their recent shortrange and medium-range missile tests to the weeks ahead of USSouth Korean joint exercises,” said Joshua Pollack, editor of the USbased Nonproliferation Review. l

USA

DC police officer charged with helping IS A Metro transit police officer in Washington, DC was arrested on Wednesday morning on charges he attempted to provide material support to Islamic State. In July, Nicholas Young, who lives in Virginia, sent codes for gift cards worth $245 to an FBI informant. The gift cards were intended for mobile-messaging accounts that IS uses to recruit its followers -REUTERS

THE AMERICAS

Brazil impeachment trial closer to sealing Rousseff fate A Senate report found on Tuesday that Brazil’s suspended President Dilma Rousseff violated the constitution by manipulating government accounts, moving her drawn-out impeachment trial closer to deciding her fate. The report is expected to be approved by the impeachment committee on Friday and by the full Senate next Tuesday, leading to the final trial phase.

-REUTERS

UK

Britain’s UKIP in chaos Britain’s anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) was plunged into disarray Wednesday after the favourite to take over its leadership was barred from the race for submitting his application 17 minutes late. Immigration spokesman Steven Woolfe was excluded from the contest to replace Nigel Farage, who stood down after achieving his life’s mission of Brexit in the June 23 referendum on Britain’s EU membership.

-REUTERS

EUROPE

Turkish police raid science council Turkish police have raided the offices of the national science research counci on Wednesday, as authorities widen an investigation into followers of the US-based cleric accused of masterminding last month’s coup attempt. More than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and education have been detained, suspended or placed under investigation following the July 15 coup attempt.

-REUTERS

AFRICA

Tunisian president names new prime minister Tunisia’s President Beji Caid Essebsi on Wednesday named Youssef Chahed as the new prime minister after parliament ousted Habib Essid in a vote of no-confidence because of his handling of economic reforms and security. Chahed, 41, is an agricultural sciences specialist and academic who has taught in France and Tunisia.

-REUTERS

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10

World

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

INSIGHT

Suu Kyi tackles military land grabs in test of new Myanmar government n Reuters, Hta Ni, Myanmar By the standards of her village in Myanmar’s swampy Ayeyarwady Delta, Than Shin was a prosperous woman. She had 20 acres of farmland on which her family grew rice.

But her fortunes changed in 2000 when the military government informed her it was taking possession of her land. Over the next year, Than Shin watched as the fields that for decades had provided her family with a living were cleared to make way for fish farms.

Today, Than Shin and her family live in a thatched shack along the main road leading to Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon.

Her 67-year-old husband goes door to door on his bicycle selling soybeans. “We depended on that land our whole lives. When they grabbed it, we had nothing, no income. We had to eat curry made from leaves,” she told Reuters.

Than Shin’s story is just one example of what the ruling party of Aung San Suu Kyi says was the systematic confiscation of land from farmers by the army and the placing of that land in the hands of crony companies close to the military junta that ruled Myanmar for half a century. The fish farms that were built on her land were owned by a company linked to then regional military commander Shwe Mann, who is now one of Myanmar’s most powerful political figures, according to a Reuters review of corporate filings.

When Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) stormed to power in elections last November, its victory was fuelled in part by rural anger over land seizures and the party’s pledge to provide redress.

Just days after the NLD formed the first government since 1962 that is not backed by the military, the new deputy agriculture minister told local media that returning land to its rightful owners was the duty of the government.

Now the NLD is moving to make good on that promise. The parliament member overseeing the effort, Sein Win, told Reuters the party aims to solve all land-grab cases within one year.

That’s an ambitious time frame.

In untangling land disputes, the new government will have to contend with powerful business interests, many linked to the military.

That could put Suu Kyi on a collision course with the generals and threaten Myanmar’s fragile transition to democracy.

Virgin land

The NLD’s Sein Win estimates that the number of land-grab cases is in the hundreds of thousands. Based on surveys conducted by the party’s branches around the country, he says that between three to five million acres of land was forcibly taken by the military.

Shwe Mann, the former army commander, held the powerful post of speaker in the previous military-dominated parliament. Today, he is a close confidante of Suu Kyi. In a rare interview, he defended the junta’s actions, saying that vast swathes of land were allocated to him in his capacity as the regional commander and to local authorities by the government as part of a national project by Myanmar’s military rulers in the 1990s to bolster food security and agricultural production. All the land in the area he oversaw, he said, was “vacant, fallow or virgin” and so the junta’s actions were not illegal.

Still, Shwe Mann said there could be a discrepancy between “what’s on the map in the land record office and the situation on the ground.”

In the past, he said, farmers did not want to register land as agricultural to avoid participation in a socialist economy.

The military did not respond to questions from Reuters.

The previous military-dominated parliament set up two bodies to investigate and mediate land-grab cases, but was criticized for dragging its feet. In total, the government reviewed 17,000 cases, but only resolved around 1,000, according to local media reports.

With Suu Kyi’s party now taking the lead, the new government has formed a taskforce to deal with land-grab cases. In June alone, 6,434 acres of land that was seized in the Ayeyarwady Delta was returned to 324 villagers, according to the state-owned Myanma Alinn Daily and local media.

The vast majority of land was taken in the 1990s and early 2000s, amid a military-led transition from socialism to a market-driven economy. The state owned all land, but farmers were granted rights to cultivate it.

“The land grabs were done by the (junta) government, with most of it going to the military, companies, government departments and ministries,” the NLD’s Sein Win said.

Military connections

Hta Ni village, a collection of hamlets about two hours from Yangon, encapsulates the challenge facing Suu Kyi.

Than Shin poses with copies of her land documents Ma-ubin township at the Ayeyarwady Delta in Myanmar on April 5 In the late 1990s and early 2000s, local authorities under then-Southwestern Regional Military Commander Shwe Mann seized roughly 1,000 acres from about 200 homes, according to local paralegals who base their estimate on statements and documents from villagers.

It was during this period that 474 acres of land in Hta Ni was handed to Asia Might Co Ltd., the company with ties to Shwe Mann, for an aquaculture project. The former commander confirmed that Asia Might was linked to him and that it took part in the project at his request.

He also confirmed that the company was run at the time by Min Naing, whom he described as a “close friend.” A brother of Shwe Mann served as a company director and was a minority shareholder, according to corporate filings.

With the start of Myanmar’s transition away from military rule in 2011, villagers began actively demanding the return of land. After its November election victory, the NLD instructed its branches across the country to gather information on land dispute cases. Now that the review has begun, the NLD’s Sein Win is hoping his party’s massive parliamentary majority will forestall any

resistance from the military.

It won’t be easy. The country’s constitution still reserves key ministerial posts for the military, including defence, border affairs and internal affairs. And Suu Kyi’s relationship with the army is strained: The constitution drafted by the military in 2008, for instance, bars her from the presidency.

Like selling stolen Goods

Frustration has already boiled over.

A police officer was killed and 40 people injured in a 2013 land protest in the village of Ma Let Toe, not far from where Than Shin lost her land 16 years ago. Villagers are still occupying a tract of land they say was stolen by the army and forms part of a fish and rice farm owned

by Orchard Co Ltd. Orchard’s owner, Myint Sein, says his entire concession was either “virgin land” given to him for free by the military or land that he legally purchased from farmers. He showed Reuters a 2003 aerial map of some of the concession area, which shows a section of the land as empty swamp. But the map did not include the area currently occupied by protesting farmers.

Adding to the challenge of ad-

REUTERS

dressing land disputes is the sheer complexity of the cases and often the absence of a clear paper trail.

In many areas of the country, documents such as land tax receipts, government loan books, land use permits and witness statements from village elders have been destroyed by the damp climate. Cyclone Nargis, which killed as many as 140,000 people in the Ayeyarwady Delta in 2008, also destroyed many of the documents kept by locals in their homes.

Land-grab victims often don’t know who now owns the land they once farmed. In many cases, the land has been divided and sold on several times, further complicating efforts to settle disputes.

None of the Hta Ni villagers or NGO workers interviewed by Reuters were aware that Asia Might was linked to Shwe Mann. What’s more, Asia Might no longer owns the land. In the mid2000s, the company transferred ownership, according to the chief land office official in the area.

Even if companies that were originally given the land have sold it on, the transfer should be viewed “like selling stolen goods,” Namati’s Millar said. “It’s not theirs to sell in the first place.” l

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

FBI took months to warn Democrats of suspected Russian role in hack n Reuters, Washington, DC The FBI did not tell the Democratic National Committee that US officials suspected it was the target of a Russian government-backed cyber attack when agents first contacted the party last fall, three people with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.

And in months of follow-up conversations about the DNC’s network security, the FBI did not warn party officials that the attack was being investigated as Russian espionage, the sources said.

The lack of full disclosure by the FBI prevented DNC staffers from taking steps that could have reduced the number of confidential emails and documents stolen, one of the sources said. Instead, Russian hackers whom security experts believe are affiliated with the Russian government continued to have access to Democratic Party computers for months during a crucial phase in the US presidential campaign, the source said.

As late as June, hackers had access to DNC systems and the network used by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, a group that raises money for Democratic candidates and shares an office with the DNC in Washington, people with knowledge of the cases have said.

A spokeswoman for the FBI said she could not comment on a current investigation. The DNC did not respond to requests for comment.

In its initial contact with the DNC last fall, the FBI instructed DNC personnel to look for signs of unusual activity on the group’s computer network, one person familiar with the matter said. DNC staff examined their logs and files without finding anything suspicious, that person said.

When DNC staffers requested further information from the FBI to help them track the incursion, they said the agency declined to

provide it. In the months that followed, FBI officials spoke with DNC staffers on several other occasions but did not mention the suspicion of Russian involvement in an attack, sources said.

The DNC’s information technology team did not realise the seriousness of the incursion until late March, the sources said. It was unclear what prompted the IT team’s realisation.

Emails captured in the DNC hack were leaked on the eve of the July 25-28 Democratic Party convention to name Hillary Clinton as the party’s presidential candidate in the November 8 election against Republican Party nominee Donald Trump.

Those emails exposed bias in favour of Clinton on the part of DNC officials at a time when she was engaged in a close campaign against US Senator Bernie Sanders for the party’s nomination.

The DNC said on Tuesday that three senior officials had resigned after the email embarrassment.

Last week, Debbie Wasserman Schultz stepped down as DNC chairwoman as criticism mounted of her management of the party committee, which is supposed to be neutral.

US officials and private cyber security experts said last week they believed Russian hackers were behind the cyber attack on the DNC. The Obama administration has not yet publicly declared who it believes is responsible.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said last week the US intelligence community was not ready to “make the call on attribution.”

It was not immediately clear how the FBI had learned of the hack against the DNC. One US official with knowledge of the investigation said the agency had withheld information about details of the hacking to protect classified intelligence operations. l

Buses plunge into river after India bridge collapse, 20 people missing n Reuters, Mumbai More than 20 people aboard two buses and other vehicles are feared missing after a colonial-era bridge in western India was washed away in the early hours of Wednesday in a river swollen by recent heavy rains.

The two buses were on their way to Mumbai when the older of two parallel bridges on the Mumbai-Goa highway, said to have been built under British rule, collapsed near Mahabaleshwar, media reports quoted eyewitnesses as saying.

“The primary reason seems to be the high pressure caused due to flooding of river Savitri due to heavy rains,” Devendra Phadnavis, chief minister of Maharashtra state, said on Twitter.

Mahabaleshwar is a hill station 230km south of Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra.

“There is no confirmed assessment about casualties since the area is very dark. Admin-

istration will ensure speedy rescue and relief operations,” Fadnavis said in another tweet.

OP Singh, chief of the state-run National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), said 80 rescuers, including divers, had rushed to the area but their efforts were being hampered by heavy rains.

“We have not even spotted the buses so far,” said Rakesh Ranjan, deputy commandant of operations at the NDRF. He said the river’s current was very strong.

Ranjan said 183 people have died and 7.7 million people have been displaced in four northeastern Indian states alone due to monsoon rains and floods so far this season.

In neighbouring Nepal, 84 people have died and 37 were injured in incessant rains, with another 10 still missing.

At least 42 people have died in the flooding in Bangladesh, while around 1.5 million people have been affected, officials said. l

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

Britain to look beyond London to help boost economy Britain aims to tackle the economic divide between London and the rest of the UK, the government said as part of efforts to boost the economy.

PAGE 14

Global tablet market continues to shrink Worldwide shipments of tablet computers shrank anew in the second quarter of this year, International Data Corporation reported yesterday.

PAGE 15

Capital market snapshot: Wednesday DSE Broad Index

4,576.0

0.5% ▲

Index

1,123.5

0.5% ▲

30 Index

1,793.7

0.6% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk

4,521.4

2.6% ▲

Turnover in Mn Vol

109.5

4.4% ▲

All Share Index 14,059.5

0.5% ▲

30 Index

0.4% ▲

CSE

Selected Index

12,949.0 8,558.6

0.5% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk

297.5

41.7% ▲

Turnover in Mn Vol

9.3

23.8% ▲

BANGLADESH RMG MARKET SHARE TREND 5.9% 6 5.1% 5.1% 4.8% 4.7% 5 4 3 2 1

5 201

4 201

3

0 201

Voter rebellions? A protectionist wave? Looming recession? Islamic militancy? Perhaps the biggest shock to world markets now would be if central banks met their inflation goals.

PAGE 14

Despite all odds, Bangladesh remains as the second largest exporter of clothing products after China as its market share rose to 5.9% in 2015.

According to the World Trade Statistical Review 2016 released last month by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Bangladesh global market share in clothing rose to 5.9% in 2015, which was 5.1% in the previous year.

China’s market share stood at 39.3% topping the list, which was 38.6% in 2014.

The global market size of the RMG products is around $450 billion However, there are threats for Bangladesh as its competitors like Vietnam and India are getting more share and posting better growth in export earnings.

Vietnam is the third largest market share holder, of which the market share stood at 4.8% in 2015 from 4.0% in the previous year.

India and Turkey are also seen to jump to 4.1% and 3.4% from 3.7% and 3.5% respectively.

Trade analysts and RMG manufacturers termed it positive indication for the future of apparel industry.

They attributed safety improvement after the Rana Plaza incident, government incentives for export to non-traditional markets and also relaxation of rules of origin by the European Union to the rise of the market share.

“It is a result of combined efforts of owners and workers as well as the government policy support for exploring new markets. Improvement of workers safety has acted as catalyst in placing more orders with boosted confidence,” Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) vice-president Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu told the Dhaka Tribune.

Manufacturers are ready to take advantage from the China shifting to grab more market share, but the proposed hike in gas price will leave the sector in a great challenge to achieve the $50 billion export target by 2021, he said.

He argued if gas price is hiked, it will hurt backward linkage and also expansion of existing business.

Bangladesh needs over 13% growth for achieving the $50 bil-

2

The ‘what if’ spooking markets

n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

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Instead of the mobile phone operator, the government will soon decide the ultimate fate of the country’s oldest mobile phone operator Citycell.

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RMG market share rises to 5.9% defying odds

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Not BTRC, Government to decide fate of Citycell

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Source: WTO lion export target. In the last fiscal year, Bangladesh earned $28 billion with over 10% growth.

“I think the market share would be about 7% within the next two years as a good number of green factories are in the offing for production, which would add new volume to the country’s production capacity,” Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) president Abdus Salam Murshedy told the Dhaka Tribune.

If the government ensures utility services including gas and electricity, the target market share can be achieved, said Salam.

But it would also depend on the recovery of economy from the recession in the export destinations, he added.

Bangladesh has enormous opportunity to enlarge global market share as it started producing higher- and medium-end products.

Though China shifting opens new opportunity for manufacturers, they have to come up with new steps to grab more market share.

Buyers relocating their business from China is an advantage for Bangladesh.

To cash in on the China shifting, Bangladesh government and the manufacturers platform have to identify those relocating their business and build network with them, Khondaker Golam Moazzem, additional research director of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) told the Dhaka Tribune.

Since the non-traditional export markets are playing an important role in RMG export, the government and manufacturers

have to concentrate on non-traditional markets, he said.

On the other hand, RMG export to non-traditional markets rose by 10.48% to $4.31 billion, which was $3.9 billion a year ago.

Woven products have more contribution to export than those of knitwear. The market share of clothing products would be better if knitwear export growth had been similar with that of woven, Moazzem added.

For restoring the buyers’ confidence, Moazzem suggested finishing the reforms of the RMG sector by next year to give a clear message that Bangladesh is safe for sourcing.

He also urged the government to take steps to relax the rules of origin for RMG products by importing countries and negotiate with the counties like India and Japan to reduce tariff as it helps boost export.

In the just-concluded fiscal year, Bangladesh earned $28.09 billion, exporting clothing products, which is 82% of the total export of $34.24 billion. l

Bangladesh extends 250MW power import deal with India n Asif Showkat Kallol The power-starved Bangladesh has extended 250MW power purchase agreement with India by another six months. The deal expires this month.

The cabinet committee on public purchase, presided over by Finance Minister AMA Muhith, approved the Bangladesh Power Development Board’s proposal for extension of three years deal yesterday.

After the meeting, additional cabinet Secretary Mostafizur Rahman briefed reporters on the cabinet’s decision. He said the new tariff rate has been proposed at Tk6.21 per unit electricity.

Under the existing contract with the Power Trading Corporation (PTC) of India, Bangladesh currently imports electricity at Tk6.3 per unit.

“If the proposed tariff rate is agreed, it will save Bangladesh’s Tk8.17 crore in six months and under the proposed rate, the government will have to pay total Tk648.75 crore,” said Mostafizur.

Since October 2013, India has been supplying electricity to Bangladesh. Earlier, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said Bangladesh planned to import 2,000MW of electricity from India.

At present, Bangladesh is importing a total of 750MW electricity, including above 250MW, from India. l

More power plants in offing n Asif Showkat Kallol

Cabinet committee on public purchase yesterday approved the Power Division proposal to set up three more power plants, including two solar power.

The government expected to  PAGE 13 COLUMN 5

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

Not BTRC, government to decide Citycell fate n Ishtiaq Husain

Instead of the mobile phone operator, the government will soon decide the ultimate fate of the country’s oldest mobile phone operator Citycell.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Chairman Dr Shahjahan Mahmood disclosed this while addressing a press conference at his office in the city yesterday.

Earlier on July 31, in a surprising move, BTRC had served a notice to Citycell to pay its all dues, including regulatory fees and fines worth Tk477 crore by August 16.

BTRC Chairman had earlier stated that Citycell would have to manage an alternative way for giving its customers services and

must pay its dues.

“We have discussed with the representatives of Citycell about its debt, future of the existing subscribers. We are preparing a set of recommendations, observations, which will be sent to the government,’’ says Mahmood.

He said: “The government will make the final decision about the fate of Citycell as to whether it would be shut or be continued services.”

BTRC Chief informed the journalists that the total number of Citycell subscribers is approximately 1,50,000 after the biometric RIM registration, BTRC Chairman said: “Whatever the number of the subscribers is, as a regulator we are very much concerned about its valued

subscribers.”

Responding to a question, Mahmood said the commission wants to ensure level playing field for all the mobile operators as BTRC does not favour any operator.

Industry insiders have apprehended that Citycell is likely to be closed down after a latest move by the regulator.

BTRC Director (licence) MA Tayab Hossain served the notice to the operator to explain why it should not face legal action for not paying dues.

According to BTRC, the Citycell has not paid the second and third instalments of the renewal fees of Tk229 crore for 8.82 megahertz spectrum since spectrum renewal in 2012, which has breached the licensing terms.

Tofail: RMG buyers praise Bangladesh for curbing terrorism n BSS

The other dues include Tk10 crore annual licence fees, Tk27.14 crore for annual spectrum fees from 2013 to 2016, Tk27.84 crore revenue sharing from 2014 to 2016, Tk8.92 crore corporate social responsibility fund from 2011 to 2016 while Tk39.92 crore VAT and Tk13.5 crore late fees.

BTRC Vice-Chairman Ahsan Habib Khan said: “More voice and internet blackout drill will be held in the coming days as part of a security measures.”

The regulator held its internet blackout drill in different areas of Dhaka city at midnight of Monday last. The commission exercised the blackout operation to tackle any emergency situation like the Holey Artisan Bakery attack in Gulshan area. l

BTRC develops GIS Interactive Optical Fibre Map

n Ishtiaq Husain

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has developed a web-based map styled ‘GIS (Geographical Information Service) Interactive Optical Fibre Map,’ which will help identify district, upazila and union level connectivity line across the country.

“GIS Interactive Optical Fibre Map was much-needed to bring everything under a same umbrella. To get an overall picture of the fibre optical line, it will help us,” said BTRC Chairman Dr Shahjahan Mahmood.

Previously, there was no such map even in the operators’ end in details about their fibre optical lines.

GIS has these facilities which will be made public in June 2017, he added.

He said: “It took two months to collect all the information for preparing the map. Previously established optical fibre line info will be available in the map. Those lines not included in the map will be considered as illegal.

Now, a total 464 Upazilas came under optical fibre network at a project cost of Tk20 lakh.

BTRC prepared the GIS map following the necessity of domestic network planning as there was no comprehensive picture of fibre optic cable laid by different operators.

Under the supervision of BTRC, Center for Environmental and Geographical Information Service (CEGIS) of Water Resources Ministry formulated the map. The CEGIS will also update the map every two years. l

City Group announches its new product launching at a press conference in a city hotel yesterday

COURTESY

City Group launches new product in food segment n Tribune Business Desk City Group, one of the country’s business conglomerate, has launched new product in the food segment under its brand, Teer, said the company in a statement yesterday.

With the launching of new food product ‘Whole Wheat Atta’, the company has lined up a series of food products like Atta, Maida, Semolina, Soybean oil, Sugar, Mustard oil and Jibon drinking water in line with its promise to cater to the requirements of consumers.

The product was launched at a ceremony in a city hotel yesterday.

The group directors Mohammad Hassan, Shampa Rahman and other top officials were present at the event.

Former principal of Home Economics College and chairperson of Food & Nutrition Department Professor Shaheen Ahmed was present as a special guest.

Teer Whole Wheat Atta is made from grinding the wholegrain completely without losing any part of it.

According to doctors, 50% of total diet should consist of whole grains.

To fulfill this nutrition requirement, Teer Whole Wheat Atta is

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carefully prepared from the world’s best quality wheat which contains vitamins, minerals and natural fiber.

This in turn helps keep your heart, colon and stomach healthy.

The natural ingredients also significantly lower the risk of colon cancer.

With the addition of this factory unit, City Group has the largest milling capacity in the country and this fortifies the group’s commitment to provide a steady supply of the highest quality product for a very long time. Teer Whole Wheat Atta will be available at all retail and super shops in Bangladesh. l

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday said foreign buyers of ready-made garments (RMG) have praised Bangladesh for its measures to curb terrorist activities.

“The foreigners are happy after seeing that people of Bangladesh have stood courageously against terrorism,” the minister told newsmen after having a view-exchange meeting with Netherlands Ambassador to Dhaka, Leoni Cuelenaere, at his secretariat office.

He said the buyers of the apparel sectors are satisfied with the efficient handling of the terrorist incidents in Gulshan, Sholakia and Kalyanpur.

The minister added that the Netherlands envoy expressed her satisfaction over the security measures taken by the government for the foreigners living in Bangladesh.

Terming Netherlands a trusted friend and big business partner, Tofail said it has placed proposal of cooperation to build the county’s RMG sector as more modern and sustainable.

“They (Netherlands) will organize a seminar tilled Sustainable Sourcing in the Garments Sector in September in Dhaka.”

Export volume of Bangladeshi products in Netherlands stands at more than $1 billion which is increasing gradually.

Lauding Bangladesh’s security measures for foreigners, the Netherlands ambassador said her country wants to see Bangladesh as a secure country.

Netherlands is keen to help Bangladesh modernize its apparel sector, Leoni Cuelenaere said, adding that their foreign trade and development cooperation minister would visit Bangladesh soon. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

More power plants in offing purchase total 505MW from three power plants—300MW from combined cycle power plant to be set up in Khulna, 200MW solar power plant in Rangpur and another 5MW in Gaibandha.

Beximco Power company Limited and Chinese firm TBEA Xinjiang SunOasis Company Ltd will develop combined cycle power plant at a cost of Tk 2,370.14 crore.

China based ‘Consortium of Hardy Electric International and Zimusu International” will construct solar power plant and another by Eiki Shoji Company Ltd & Sun Solar Power Plant Ltd. l

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

The ‘what if’ spooking markets

‘Made in Equality’ launched in Bangladesh n Reuters, London Voter rebellions? A protectionist n Tribune Business Desk wave? Looming recession? IslamAn online initiative called ‘Made in Equality’ was launched in Bangladesh yesterday, which takes the form of a website and Facebook page featuring people working within the Bangladeshi RMG sector, especially garment workers.

Images of individuals and small groups of individuals are presented alongside a quote from those photographed illustrating their life experiences in their own words.

‘Made in Equality’ aims to generate public interest in improving the garment industry, one of the largest contributing sectors to Bangladesh’s economy, says a press release issued yesterday.

The project aims to show garment workers and others in the industry in a light in which they have not been shown in before. This can lead to public advocacy on their behalf and greater consideration by consumers of their role in the garment industry. l

Citi named Best Bank for transaction services n Tribune Business Desk Citi yesterday announced that it has been named “Best Bank for Transaction Services” in Asia by Euromoney magazine in the 25th edition of their Awards for Excellence program.

In their citation for the award, Euromoney commended Citi for its “enthusiastic tide of innovation and ideas”.

It singled out the Treasury and Trade Solutions’ innovation lab in Singapore for demonstrating that “its brainy ideas can hit critical mass” and pointed out that “the staid world of cash and trade is enlivened now by discussions of robotics, predictive analytics, distributed ledger technologies and digital identity solutions”.

Euromoney also highlighted that Citi is doing the basics right – “Greenwich surveys put Citi in front for domestic and international cash management in the region, while from a bottom-line perspective an impressive level of cross-selling success has helped the transaction services business hit nine consecutive quarters of year-on-year revenue growth, and 10 of margin growth.”

Some of the other achievements highlighted by Euromoney include the CitiDirect BE mobile solution, which saw $425 billion transactions in Asia and $130 billion in India, as well as the liquidity management team growing cross-border structures by 180% year-on-year. l

ic militancy? Perhaps the biggest shock to world markets now would be if central banks met their inflation goals.

After nearly 10 years of near zero or even negative interest rates and trillions of dollars in new cash stimulus, the world’s top central banks have just about kindled a spluttering, sub-par expansion with jobs to boot.

But they have failed to get wages growing for large parts of the population or to sustain consumer price gains above targets of about 2% for any length of time.

Financial markets have stopped believing they will - in some cases not for the remainder of our working lives.

Inflation expectations embedded in interest rate derivatives and inflation-linked bond markets are below target to at least 2026 and even, where visible, 2046. Nominal sovereign yields out three and even five decades into the future for Japan, Germany, Britain, France and Switzerland are all below these targets too.

Some suspect the extraordinary bond-buying intervention used to flood banks with all that newly-minted cash - still in full flow in Japan and the euro zone, and possibly relaunched in Britain this week - has skewed all pricing to make it unreliable.

But the US Federal Reserve stopped its ‘quantitative easing’ almost two years ago and has been no more successful in either meeting its inflation targets since or in convincing its markets it will manage to do so over time.

The Fed’s favored household inflation gauge - the core Personal Consumption Expenditures index - has remained stubbornly below a presumed 2% goal now for eight years.

People walk through the lobby of the London Stock Exchange in London “Inflation expectations at 2% would be bordering on irrational at this point given the Fed’s inability or unwillingness to achieve its target year after year,” wrote Morgan Stanley economist Ted Wiseman, adding his forecast for this year and next meant there would be a full decade of misses.

Failure to generate enough economic activity to get wage and inflation expectations rising clearly matters to governments, households and business for a whole host of reasons - coaxing the public to buy goods today rather than saving for tomorrow, getting private firms to invest in future production and innovation, debt sustainability and even political stability.

And for financial markets, a deeply-embedded belief that central banks will not meet their targets over the coming decades has led to extraordinary changes of behavior and herding that mean any sign of success could be seismic.

With monetary stimuli now looking inadequate on their own, governments may resort to a combination of budget spending and monetary pumping to get a grip.

Japan nodded to that tilting policy mix this week with plans for 7.5tn yen of new government spending - likely funded by the sale of 40-year bonds, just after the Bank of Japan said on Friday it would expand purchases of equities rather than bonds.

That change of policy tack may jar ossifying market expectations.

The 25 basis point rise in 10-year Japanese government yields this week the biggest such move in three years - is eye-catching as a result.

Inflated assets

But how exposed are world markets to shifting assumptions?

Equity prices have been nudging record highs again even though underlying corporate earnings growth has stalled and global money man-

REUTERS

agers polled by Reuters last month are drifting away, their holdings of bonds and cash exceeding equities for the first time since the credit crisis seven years ago.

And yet, bonds too have never been more expensive, with record low yields undermining their critical fixed income function. German 10-year Bunds now have zero percent coupons and that means any move higher in yields involves significant losses on this supposedly ‘risk free’ asset.

Put another way, if markets believed the ECB would meet its near 2% target over those 10 years and 10-year Bund yields at least matched that level, then Bund holders would suffer a capital hit of over 20%.

Fitch estimates that a rapid reversion to just 2011 levels for almost $38tn of investment-grade government bonds could crystallize market losses of as much as $3.8tn. l

CORPORATE NEWS

Kazi Javed Islam has recently joined Doreen Developments Ltd as its chief operating officer, said a press release.

Kazi Javed Islam has overall 27 years of experience in marketing, sales, HR and admin functions

BRAC Bank Limited and Universal Financial Solutions Limited (UFS) have recently signed a custodial agreement for UFSPragati Life Unit Fund, said a press release. The bank’s head of corporate banking, Mahmoodun Nabi Chowdhury and MD of UFS, Sayed Hamza Alamgir have signed the agreement

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Global tablet market continues to shrink n AFP, San Francisco

Worldwide shipments of tablet computers shrank anew in the second quarter of this year, International Data Corporation reported yesterday.

A total of 38.7 million tablets were shipped during the April-June

quarter, a 12.3% drop from the 44.1 million a year ago, the research firm said.

The IDC Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker report has shown declining sales since 2015 when the once-hot market cooled.

In the second quarter this year, Google-backed Android soft-

ware powered 65% of the tablets shipped.

Tablets using the Apple iOS operating system came in at second place, representing 26% of shipments.

Tablets running on Microsoft Windows software accounted for the remaining shipments, but there

were early signs that device makers were warming to Windows tablets as a hedge against declining interest in Android, according to IDC. Tablet makers are evidently targeting people who want to get work done instead of simply using devices for entertainment.

Multi-tasking and productivity

have long been strong suits for Microsoft products.

“The market has spoken as consumers and enterprises seek more productive form factors and operating systems - it’s the reason we’re seeing continued growth in detachables,” said IDC senior research analyst Jitesh Ubrani. l

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Life of a delivery man Bringing smiles to your doorstep

n Fariha Afroz

D

elivery men are underrated workers of the society. They make it possible for us to receive goods at home instead of having to pick it up ourselves. They are the people who make sure we do not have to starve, and deliver food to our home. Travelling under the scorching sun, braving the Dhaka traffic, all so that we can have things we want in the comfort of our own home, delivery men are the unsung heroes.

Nazim Uddin is one such worker who works tirelessly, catering to our demands. He moved to Dhaka from Bagerhat, two years ago, and started working at the age of twenty-two.

“My first job was a very short one, and I quickly moved onto working as a delivery man for Pizza Factory. The job appealed to me because it meant that I could go to various places and have new experiences, instead of manning a desk or a gate all day,” he says.

Although most delivery men have to be present for nine hours every day, Nazim Uddin likes to stay a few extra hours to help his supervisor till they close up. “I just hang around to see if there is anything they need help with. I live alone, away from home and really think of them as family so I am happy to do it!”

Traffic is a delivery man’s worst enemy. It takes the joy out of going places and delivering happiness to people. While most delivery men use the bikes provided by the establishment they work for, Nazim Uddin likes to take his cycle for delivering.

He says, “I am comfortable riding my cycle and have gotten used to it. It is also easier to go through the narrow openings with a cycle than a bike in traffic. I am not very good with the bike and it just slows me down, so I use my own cycle. It is a great form of exercise too.”

Ashraf Khan, is another delivery man who works for an online makeup shop. He loves his job but recognises the difficulties as well. ‘Working around noon, when the sun is shining with all its might is hard, but every job has its drawbacks. It does get harder during Ramadan, so it is a relief that most orders are for iftar. That is not a fully good thing

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

Traffic is a delivery man’s worst enemy. It takes the joy out of going places and delivering happiness to people

too since it can only mean one of two things, either I reach after iftar and deliver late, or I deliver in time for iftar, and have to break my fast in the road. But that is the story of half the working population so it is not a big deal,”

complained Khan.

Once we get our hands on the goods, we pretty much forget the delivery man. Nazim Uddin says, “I am almost always greeted with a huge smile. The way they light up when they see me with their

pizzas in my hand! I understand the enthusiasm is because of what I am carrying, but it is always nice to be greeted nicely isn’t it?”

“I believe it also has a lot with how I present myself. If I show up with an attitude, I cannot expect

to be treated nicely. So I always make sure to have a smile on my face. Our work may seem a little hectic and a lot of hard work, it surely is. But, I am very happy with my job. My boss is a very nice person and I like riding my bike to new places every day. I am very satisfied with everything at the moment,” Ashraf khan adds.

A day in the life of a delivery consists of hours of trying to find the right addresses, and the pressure of delivering your things to you on time. Greeting them with a smile and exchanging a few pleasantries, is the least we can do for their services.

Remember, a little kindness goes a long way! l

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The shackles of literacy Can our teenagers deal with the pressures of our education system?

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

n Shuprova Tasneem

F

Scott Fitzgerald once famously said, “Youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness.” Your younger years are often immortalised in prose and poetry as the best time of your life, when you are infected by the curiousity and vitality of youth as you take your first steps into an adult world.

But in the modern age, and especially in our beloved city, many of these youth are lost in their dreams while stuck inside a classroom. Of course, education is key to youth, and while learning is a noble pursuit that one should pursue their entire life – this is the crucial time to develop creative and critical thinking and expand your horizons. However, are the youth of Dhaka spending too much time in the classroom, and are the pressures of education dampening what should be the best times of their lives?

This reporter spoke to students and teachers from some of Dhaka’s educational institutions, both English and Bangla, in an effort to find their views on the pressures teenagers face while getting the

‘best’ education the city has to offer.

Non-stop pressure Almost every teenager this reporter spoke to complained about struggling with their schoolwork and having very little for themselves, since each and every one of them went to school and a separate coaching centre afterwards. All the interviewees were studying for either O & A levels, or SSC/HSC exams.

“I leave the house at 8 am and come back at 8 pm. Those 12 hours are comprised of school, coaching and an hour or two of being stuck in Dhaka’s horrendous traffic. I only have a couple hours to spend with family. Even during those few rare moments I’m just too tired to do anything but lay in bed,” said 15 year old Mohammed Sakib Hasan.

“I go to school at 7:30 and stay till 5, and the teachers still expect you to finish all the homework and function the next day,” added Sheikh Warda Marium.

According to 16 year old Urbi Rahman, “we have homework or test assignments almost every single day, either from school or from the coaching centre. I had to

Are the youth of Dhaka spending too much time in the classroom, and are the pressures of education dampening what should be the best times of their lives?

give up on dancing classes because of the pressures of my routine.

Forget about dancing, I’m too tired to even read before bed.”

The worrying reports of the pressures faced by these youngsters are nothing new for us. Most of us have accepted the fact that coaching centres are a reality for most children at these educational institutions, including the students themselves.

Because of the small windows of opportunity to relax, youngsters often take this opportunity to unwind by solely being on social media. This can often be the only avenue for them to cultivate relationships as well,

and can often create unhealthy dependencies. There is also almost no room in their lives to pursue creative efforts, or even read outside their curriculum.

“I remember last year during my exams, my parents would scold me whenever I read a storybook, because that would mean I wasn’t focusing on my schoolwork,” shared 17 year old Sadia Karim.

A flawed education system But should this daily pressure really be the reality of these teenagers’ lives, and are the things they learn to sit for these exams, the only things that should be put into the minds of young people at

this critical age?

According to educationist and futurist Shakil Ahmed, students should ideally be tested based on what is taught in the classroom, and the assessment should follow the curriculum. However, what is essentially happening today is that what is taught in the classroom is based on what is going to be tested - the curriculum follows the assessment, and the nature of assessment is such that rote memorisation is sufficient to score well in those exams.

“It’s all a race to cram information so that they can blurt it out in these tests. If creative and critical thought was actually built, we probably wouldn’t need the coaching centres because there would be the capacity for independent learning. It could also be the case that market dynamics force tests to be easy/rote memory based, but in this case educationists have to be strong and demand change,” he added.

Ifra Iqbal, an educator from a well-known private school, was also of the opinion that teenagers are breaking under pressure because of the high expectations to score the best in all their assessments. “It’s not even just the teenagers, children from seventh grade and onwards are all studying from morning to night, so that they can all be A* students one day. Parents and schools are both failing to focus on stress management and building meaningful relationships in their lives, and aren’t worried about teaching them things outside of their curriculum.”

“We put too much pressure on children given that schools have become a business. Teachers must undertake courses in order to acquire affective teaching methods and incorporating the latest technology. You must know that sometimes as a teacher, you can push your students but also provide them with a break when it is required, “ added Ashfaque Zaman, also an educator in Dhaka.

“Because of the nature of the assessment, we see teaching techniques that do not promote critical or creative thinking to the extent that it should be. Ideally we can try to change curriculum or people’s lack of dependency on the assessment, but given the current culture, I feel this is the practical away to go about things. We also need to do more research on assessment strategies, and what types of assessments actually encourage critical or creative though, ” said Shakil Ahmed l

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A ‘Traitor’ with a purpose Islamophobia in Hollywood

nMahmood Sadi

I

n the early 2000’s, I read a letter in the ‘letter section’ of the popular Masud Rana paperback series. I can still remember the content of that particular letter because it was not like those usual ones, praising or hating the story lines of the earlier books.

In that letter, one reader asked Kazi Anwar Hossain, the writer of Masud Rana series why he had been depicting Israel as the ‘only villain’ in several of his last books of the series?

The reply of Kazi Anwar Hossain gave me something to ponder, even at that age when I was just a high school student.

He replied that Bangladesh had friendships with most of the countries in the world except Israel, so he had no option but to portray Israel as the lone enemy against which the valiant spies of the Bangladesh Counter Intelligence (BCI) fought tooth and nail in the world of espionage.

After reading that letter and Kazi Anwar Hossain’s reply, I realised something. I understood that choosing enemy in fiction matters because things shown or illustrated in popular culture shapes views as well as perspectives in such manners that sometimes even facts or hard news fail to garner.

This phenomenon of choosing the ‘opponents’ or ‘enemies’ is predominantly evident in Hollywood movies - the biggest media of the world which influences human mind like no others - as Noam Chomsky have once said.

Over the last few decades, Hollywood has chosen it’s preferred ‘enemies’ and it is the Muslim world. After the fall of Soviet Union, the Russian spies have lost their appeal to the US movie viewers whereas the Muslim terrorists have evidently taken the mantle of becoming the ‘public enemy’ of theirs.

Since Hollywood shapes the global views, the rest of the world gladly adopts that stance of identifying the same ‘public enemy’ as theirs as well.

Ironically, post 9/11, terrorists with Muslim names have taken the responsibility of consolidating that ‘view’ with sheer vehemence!

Amidst this hoopla, came out hundreds of movies, depicting bearded and turbaned man, as the chaos creators and the destroyers of peace across the world,

especially in North America and Europe.

One movie amongst those has caught my attention-not because of its thrilling storyline but also because of its portrayal of a good Muslim- a rarest feature in the bunch.

Its name is Traitor.

Traitor is the story about a guy who infiltrates an Islamic terrorist group on behalf of an independent intelligence contractor, working in secret for the US government. Don Cheadle plays the lead character of Samir Horn.

At the beginning, Samir Horn was portrayed as an American citizen who seemed to live nowhere and everywhere all at once. Moving around, among terrorist cells in the Middle East, he did business selling detonators and befriending men along the way.

Surprisingly, we soon learn, he was also a devout Muslim. There was this scene in the movie where he was asked whether he was a devout Muslim or not. He replied, “I think the world devout is inherent with the word Muslim.”

In the middle of the story, Samir was found having a business meeting with an old friend in Yemin, who head a small portion of a large terrorist cell. The FBI infiltrated the meeting, and Samir was arrested. It was in the Yemin prison that Samir first met FBI Agents, Roy Clayton (Guy Pierce) and Max Archer (Neal McDonough), who became his pursuers later in the film as Samir went to work with a large terrorist organisation.

As the film progressed, we learned the truth behind what Samir was involved in, and were forced to consider thoughts we might find uncomfortable as the characters on screen have to ask themselves what the differences are between the actions of US and the terrorist cells wishing to destroy her. As Samir himself, at times, seemed torn with which side were the right side and which side was wrong.

The movie ended with a spectacular sequence of scenes.

A terrorist group of which Samir was shown as a member planned to detonate bombs on a single day in greyhound buses bound to each of 50 different states across the US. Samir orchestrated the suicide bombers in such a way that they all got into the same bus.

That arrangement created the one of a kind scene in the film.

Each one of the suicide bombers got ready to push the button.

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

Over the last few decades, Hollywood has chosen it’s preferred ‘enemies’ and it is the Muslim world

One-by-one, they all stood up and screamed out “Allah-u-akbar!” and pushed the button; only too late did they realise they were all on the same bus. On a country road, the bus exploded, killing all of them.

Traitor is a unique movie in comparison with other ones because of several reasons. Here,

the viewers are given a window into the lives of religious-minded terrorists who hate their enemies so much that they will sacrifice their own lives if only they can also kill ‘infidels’ in the process.

However, as it turns out, this broad brushstroke picture of militant, Islam is presented only to provide a foil for Samir’s

commitment to the Muslim faith and his belief that he must protect life, not destroy it. The film’s true purpose, then, is to make the statement that both good and bad actions can come from one’s personal interpretations of teachings from any given religion.

Samir is devoted to his Islamic faith and maintains that those who would commit terrorist atrocities are not true Muslims, but instead have ‘hijacked’ Islam for evil purposes.

I believe, Traitor means to make its audiences think in between bites of popcorn—and not just about whodunit. In this film, the audience had to deal with something which is actually out there. What it really wanted to do is to illustrate the truth that bad apples don’t have to always spoil the whole barrel.

That’s refreshing, because Hollywood has the tendency of vilifying the ‘whole’ for ‘some.’ l

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| launch |

Launching of ‘Nogor’ Application Yesterday, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) launched a mobile application, called “Nogor.”

LGRD Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, the chief guest launched the application, at Dhaka’s Krishibid Institute Bangladesh (KIB) auditorium.

DNCC mayor Annisul Huq, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT Division; and Jamil Azher, chairman of Board of Trustee of BU; were also present during the launching event.

Assuring quality service and heightening security to the dwellers within a short time are the prime goals of the application.

The best part of the application is that the citizens can file

complains on roads, garbage, drainage, illegal occupations, and many other things; through posting photographs. Through this application, citizens can track himself or other close people. By pressing “SOS” for three seconds, one can send an alert message to his family members and the nearest police station, about the problems faced by that individual.

Besides, the application has addresses of hospitals, police stations, bus station, fire service, ATMs, etc.

A combine effort of Urban Lab of Bangladesh University and DNCC, the app can be downloaded from Google Play, by any Android phones. l

| learning |

Commencement of NARI Project Training Program in EPZ Training program of the Northern Area Poverty Reduction Initiative (NARI) project taken to train unemployed women of North Bengal, and to reduce poverty through employment generation has been commenced. Md Mujibul Haque, State Minister, Ministry of Labour and Employment; formally initiated the training program on August 1st, 2016, at Dhaka EPZ in Savar. The project was undertaken as per direction of the Prime Minister, to facilitate the poor and vulnerable women from lagging areas of North Bengal through this training program, and also access to employment opportunities in the garment sector. The project became reality funded by World Bank, supervised by Ministry of Labour and Employment, and operated by Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA). Major General Mohd Habibur Rahman Khan, Executive Chairman, BEPZA; presided over the program. Mikail Shipar, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment; attended as special guest.

Chief Guest of the program State Minister, Md Mujibul Haque said in his speech that the project has been undertaken by the initiative of the Prime Minister, funded by World Bank for poverty reduction through skill development and job opportunities of poor women of Northern region of the country. He said to the trainees, your contribution, side by side employment, to the family and

Md Mujibul Haque, State Minister, Ministry of Labour & Employment (MoLE) commenced the training program of the Northern Area Poverty Reduction Initiative project on 01.08.2016 in Dhaka EPZ, Savar to implement the vision 2021 and 2041 of the Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to facilitate the poor and vulnerable women of the Rangpur Division.

Major General Mohd Habibur Rahman Khan, ndc, psc, Executive Chairman, BEPZA presided over the program. Mikail Shipar, Secretary, MoLE attended as Special Guest. Among other, Miah Abdullah Mamun, Additional Secretary, MoLE and from BEPZA, Abdul Halim Molla, Member (Investment Promotion), Nazma Binte Alamgir, GM (Public Relations), Nafisa Banu, DPD (NARI) and CA&FO, Md Lokman Ali, GM (Security), Mr. Md. Abdus Sobhan, GM of DEPZ were present. society will be brighter if you successfully utilise this training.

You will be self-dependent and empowered. He also said that this is the first project of its kind in Bangladesh for training of women of garments industry including accommodation facilities. If the project is successful, it would be the role model for establishing modern training center in the other places of the country gradually.

Mikail Shipar, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment; said, Honurable Prime Minister Show the dreams,

women of the northern region go forward on that means. She has established EPZs in the northern region, and this training center with dormitory became truth by her initiative for the poor and vulnerable women of Rangpur Division.

Major General Habibur Rahman Khan, ndc, psc, and the Executive Chairman of BEPZA, said that we are determined to build the Golden Bengal of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Accordingly, the present government is working to implement Vision of Honourable

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to be a middle-income country by 2021 and developed Bangladesh by 2041 in order to make the country prosperous. Consequently, BEPZA is marching ahead to build economically stronger Bangladesh and contributing a lot as a proud partner and playing a pivotal role in socio-economic development.

General Habib said that, they are happy to initiate the training program of Northern Area Poverty Reduction Initiative project.

BEPZA is proud as the maker of skilled workforce to continue the future economic growth of

Bangladesh. Mentioning the EPZs as bonanza of expert labour force and dream entry of women development he said, so far more than 450 thousands workers are employed in the eight EPZs of the country out of which 65% are female.

Executive Chairman of BEPZA said that half of the population of Bangladesh is women; therefore the women development will make the country flourishing.

General Habib said to the trainee, “You will go forward containing the motto that women’s solvency depend on earning. I am confident you will set an example from your own position in economic development of the country.

Therefore the dream of the Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to build developed Bangladesh will be implemented, and you will be the proud partner of it.”

Among other, Miah Abdullah Mamun, Additional Secretary; Ministry of Labour and Employment and from BEPZA Abdul Halim Molla, Member (Investment Promotion); Nazma Binte Alamgir, General Manager (Public Relations); Nafisa Banu, Deputy Project Director (NARI) and Chief Accounts and Finance Officer; Md Lokman Ali, General Manager (Security); Md Abdus Sobhan, General Manager of Dhaka EPZ; including the higher officials of Ministry of labour, BEPZA; and concerned personnel of the project were present in the program. l

DT

20 Editorial

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

TODAY

On solid ground?

A 3-D model of the Bengal Basin needs to be prepared from different deep drill-hole data of the country to fully understand the severity of earthquakes in different parts of the basin PAGE 21

Malaysia has been betrayed Neither Turkey nor Malaysia can hide behind the usual excuses about Western intervention or historical colonial crimes. Both have come into the postWWII world as confident, independent nations PAGE 22

Bangladesh is still the place to invest

A tale of two conventions The road ahead for the American public is critical, because this election gives them a stark choice between a maverick, unpolitical, untested scaremongering candidate, and a seasoned, rationalstatesman PAGE 23

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

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

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T

he Bangladesh economy is on the rise.

Our country has received the highest amount in foreign aid it has ever gotten since the nation’s independence 45 years ago.

According to new data released by the Economic Relations Division, the nation saw an increase in foreign aid of up to 13% from the last fiscal year, which now stands at $3,449.97 million -- well surpassing the government’s target of receiving $3,415m.

It is hardly any surprise, of course. Bangladesh has displayed a tremendous track record of staying resilient even in the face of the greatest of economic blights.

The fact that we are considered an excellent destination for foreign investment, even during times of great national crisis, is testament to Bangladesh’s exceptional economic growth trajectory.

In the last fiscal year, Bangladesh made a repayment of $1,044.44m, including $842.01m in principal amount and $202.44m as interest. Whereas in the previous fiscal year, it was $1097.19m, including $187.73m as principal amount and $187.73m in interest.

A lot of this positive outcome can be attributed to the relatively stable political situation that the country has enjoyed as of late -- allowing development partners to disburse funds and scale up implementation of foreign-funded projects along the way.

The numbers make it clear: In spite of the many domestic challenges this country has faced, Bangladesh is doing the best it ever has. Any hurdles in the way of our economic rise have nothing to do with the economy at all, but ever-present issues such as safety, security, poor infrastructure, bureaucracy, and corruption.

The fact that we are considered an excellent destination for foreign investment, even during times of great national crisis, is testament to Bangladesh’s exceptional economic growth trajectory

DT

21

Opinion

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

On solid ground?

Is a mega earthquake imminent in Bangladesh?

n Sirajur Rahman Khan

R

ecently, some research was shared across print and electronic media where it was predicted that a 9.0 magnitude megaearthquake will hit the centraleastern part of Bangladesh, especially in and around Dhaka city.

This prediction not only puts the 140 million residents of the capital city at risk, but also raises immense concerns as to the fate of the costly public and private civil structures, industries, flyovers, and other necessary public amenities.

In fact, the prediction is even more ominous because most of the recent infrastructure was designed and built to withstand 7-magnitude earthquakes that may hit this region.

Understandably, the prediction of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake is frightening news to the government, since all the mega-projects such as power stations, multi-storied garments manufacturing factories, airports, sea ports, mega-bridges, dams, satellite towns, economic zones, etc in Bangladesh were undertaken to withstand a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, not 9.0. This is a grave concern for the investors in both the public and private sectors.

The outcome of the research and several interviews of the

We need a better understanding of the science of earthquakes

A 3-D model of the Bengal Basin needs to be prepared from different deep drill-hole data of the country to fully understand the severity of earthquakes in different parts of the basin

authors shared across social media have become viral, causing quite a bit of anxiety among the residents.

One of the authors even suggested a complete abandonment of the city. Thus, in this pretext, it is necessary to examine the outcome of the scientific study which was published recently in the reputed Nature Geoscience journal.

The research paper postulated the existence of a plate boundary in and around Bangladesh.

This is an extremely odd finding since other maps created by scientists from a number of reputed institutions and organisations across the world

(GSB, USGS, GSI, DU, RU, etc) do not show any kind of plate boundaries (birthplaces of all earthquakes) or deformation zones in and around Bangladesh.

As a matter of fact, the aforementioned maps, known as the geological and tectonic maps of Bangladesh, were prepared by many renowned local and foreign geo-scientists in the past on the basis of geo-physical, borehole, and outcrop data.

What is more baffling is that the researchers took the liberty of shifting the meeting place of plate boundaries several hundred kilometres west of the actual

place known to the scientists of the world. They did it on the basis of ground movement which was estimated by several GPSs. The shifting of subduction zone is also up for debate, as it is an established fact that the plate in the location of interest is moving side by side and not subducting (the downward movement of the edge of a plate beneath another plate).

If the plates are not subducting, then there is an extremely low probability of earthquake, which contradicts the published research. Additionally, the westward movement of the plates was ascertained using only the GPS data interpretation.

But predicting an earthquake of any intensity not only requires long-term GPS data observation, but also requires detailed geophysical survey (beyond basement), borehole (for 3-D basin modeling), and outcrop data interpretation along with historical records of earthquake occurrences in that region.

Thus, to bring everything into

BIGSTOCK

context, the published research in Nature Geoscience clashes with the existing knowledge regarding the geological and tectonic maps of Bangladesh, such as: a) the existence of subduction or deformation zone which was never mentioned or determined before (therefore not yet established); b) whether that locked up deformation zone can produce an earthquake of that magnitude; c) will the megaearthquake have the intensity to shake Dhaka along with the Bengal Basin as predicted; and d) whether the casualties of life and properties will be as much as predicted or later opined by authors.

Government agencies dealing with earth science, especially geology (as earthquake is a geological phenomenon), need to address this issue by undertaking projects to conduct detailed studies urgently.

Detailed geophysical surveys of several tens of square kilometres followed by drill holes that were done for oil and gas in the past will help immensely in finding

subsurface plate boundaries or deformation zones.

A 3-D model of the Bengal Basin needs to be prepared from different deep drill-hole data of the country to fully understand the severity of earthquakes in different parts of the basin.

If data is gathered in this manner, only then will the people of the country, especially the residents of Dhaka city, come to get a clear idea about the total earthquake scenario.

This study will also help the public and private investors to upgrade their project status.

It is advisable not to panic from the published research outcome at this moment and there is no need to change existing earthquake probability (seismic hazard zoning map) until further studies like geophysical surveys, especially seismic, borehole data interpretation, and basin modeling, are done. Only then can a full picture be formed. l Sirajur Rahman Khan is a freelance contributor.

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DT

Opinion

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

Malaysia has been betrayed Najib Razak, the Malaysian prime minister, has a lot to answer for

Najib rode a wave of popular support, but later milked the country for his own gain

REUTERS

Neither Turkey nor Malaysia can hide behind the usual excuses about Western intervention or historical colonial crimes. Both have come into the post-WWII world as confident, independent nations

n Azeem Ibrahim

I

have argued time and again that the greatest threat to the Muslim world is not the West but rather corruption and incompetence of administration in the Muslim countries themselves.

To this argument, there were a number of crucial pieces of evidence.

First of all, there is a clear inverse correlation between corruption and economic development, not just in the Middle East, but globally.

Secondly, Muslim countries are among the most corrupt countries in the world, and this maps well to the problems we know well from the region.

In this sense, the abundance of natural resources has served to mask much of the problem, as per capita wealth in the region comes out as much higher than it would have been for a given level of corruption, and that distorts the perception of societal problems in these countries.

For another, that abundance of wealth can be used to buy-off the acquiescence of the population to an otherwise questionable regime, as is the case with the benefits that these states lavish upon their population.

Alternatively, it can be used to fund extensive repressive police and intelligence apparatus to keep the population in check, as was the case in Saddam-era Iraq.

But there was also plenty of converse evidence, specifically states on the periphery of the Islamic world which did not conform to the region’s reputation for corruption.

Most notably, we had the examples of Turkey and of Malaysia.

In both the cases, the countries have inherited and sustained, over the span of the 20th century, an ethos of modernism and civicmindedness which emulated that in the successful countries in the West.

And they reaped the benefits of social and political stability, and economic development, both having been the most economically developed Islamic countries in international rankings.

But I fear we are about to be witnesses to a very cruel experiment, which I believe will prove my argument.

It is yet too early to make a definitive judgment on the direction Turkey is heading in after the failed coup, even if the omens do not look good.

In the case of Malaysia, we are

already seeing the breakdown in institutional functioning and credibility which will likely see the country join the other Middle Eastern countries in the infamous club of corrupt and barely functioning states.

Malaysia has been betrayed not so much by its institutional traditions, as by its populist Prime Minister Najib Razak.

He has ridden a wave of popular support into power on the back of promises of economic liberalisation, growth, and opportunity, but has seemingly wasted no time in milking the state dry for his own personal gain and the gain of his family.

An ongoing Wall Street Journal investigation is looking into evidence that as much as $1 billion has been siphoned into the prime minister’s and his relatives’ bank accounts, most of it from the coffers of the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, allegedly started by Mr Razak soon after he took charge in the country in 2009.

And a further $5bn is unaccounted for.

Neither Turkey nor Malaysia can hide behind the usual excuses about Western intervention or historical colonial crimes.

Both have come into the post-WWII world as confident, independent nations, and both carved a way in the world for themselves through hard work and diligence, efforts which have yielded a good life to the majority of their citizens.

Turkey currently finds itself in a complex political, economic, and security crisis from which we cannot draw too many general conclusions.

But Malaysia is suffering entirely from self-inflicted wounds. It is a secure and naturally wealthy country with a track record of success in development. But it has let its guard down, and has let corruption infest the highest levels of government.

Malaysian civil society must now take firm and immediate action to put the country back on track.

If not, I fear that the country will tragically end up as the perfect case study into how the problems of the Islamic world stem primarily from domestic corruption. l Azeem Ibrahim is an RAI Fellow at Mansfield College, University of Oxford and Research Professor at the Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College.

He tweets @AzeemIbrahim. This article previously appeared in alarabiya.net.

DT

23

Opinion

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

A tale of two conventions The theatrics of this year’s US presidential race surpass that of any in the past in securing the nomination of the Republican Party by garnering enough delegates, however, came at a cost to the party. Trump, who was not a favourite of the Republican establishment, destroyed too many eggs in making his omelette.

He not only upended the Republican party stalwarts and past presidents, he also offended them as well his other presidential contestants with his rough-andtumble behaviour, insulting and mocking remarks, and use of language unfit for a presidential candidate. Unfortunately, the more combative and abusive remarks he used, the more he was cheered by his supporters.

To them, his politically incorrect behaviour became the cornerstone of his personality.

Hillary supporters don’t lack passion

n Ziauddin Choudhury

T

he two major US political parties recently concluded their presidential nomination conventions back-to-back over two separate weeks. This is a formal process in the US presidential election nomination to put the final seal of approval on the respective party’s official candidate for the election this November.

This year has been more intense and dramatic than other election years in recent history. This was made interesting because of the entry of two mavericks in the race, the flamboyant business mogul Donald Trump as a Republican, and a self-declared socialist and a mesmerising speaker, Senator Sanders as a Democrat.

A principal reason why this year the American public interest has been riveted by the presidential race is the unusual characteristics of the two contestants. Donald Trump, the loose-lipped Republican presidential hopeful who turned to politics only last year, and Bernie Sanders, a lifelong independent politician and a senator from Vermont who sought Democratic nomination for presidency.

Trump, a wealthy business tycoon who made fortunes in real estate and entertainment industry, made his entry into the presidential race by attracting a vast majority of white workingclass Americans with his rhetoric against immigration, free trade, and fears of terrorism mostly centring on the Middle East Muslims.

Senator Sanders, although is in his mid-70s, appealed to a mostly

Cleveland and Philadelphia, over the last two weeks of July consecutively. The conventions were held with usual fanfare, but there was a lot of anxiety over the Republican convention in Cleveland with apprehensions of severe anti-Trump protests by both the Never Trump group from within the Republican Party, and other groups who did not like Trump’s message.

The feared riots or massive protests did not happen, but the scene within the arena of the Republican convention did not portray a placid gathering of happy campers either. A good number of Republican stalwarts refrained from attending the convention, included among whom were former Presidents George HW Bush, George Bush, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, and gover-

REUTERS

young voting population with his strident criticism of growing income inequality in the country, blaming it on the big corporations and their oversized influence over US politics. His vision of a more equitable distribution of wealth, support for a universal health care system, and free higher education for all, inspired a whole new generation, and made the youths rally around him.

On the other side, Trump was able to draw into his camp large sections of disgruntled white Americans who had pent up frustration against the Republican establishment for its perceived inability to help them. Trump successfully played upon this frustration by planting and stoking their fear of immigrants, terrorism, Muslims, and blaming free trade for job losses in America.

The main attraction of this year’s presidential race is the success of the two mavericks in the nomination process. At the beginning of this process, more than a year ago, most political analysts believed that Trump would be rejected in the primaries and caucuses (party elections for choosing a nominee) sooner than he had begun. Yet, Trump showed his appeal to the Republican voters, ultimately winning the majority of the votes necessary to claim the nomination.

Bernie Sanders was also considered a remote challenge to the Democratic Party favourite, Hillary Clinton. Although he did not end up getting the majority primary votes, he was able to keep up the fight till the very end and kept on gathering a large loyal following to his ideas.

The success of Donald Trump

The road ahead for the American public is critical, because this election gives them a stark choice between a maverick, unpolitical, untested scare-mongering candidate, and a seasoned, rationalstatesman

The more criticism Trump received from the press or other leaders, the more defiant Trump became, brandishing them as conspirators who were out to deprive him of his rightful claim to nomination. His way of attacks and thoroughly repulsive comments on his opponents crossed all limits of decency.

Within the party, a sizeable opposition grew to deny him the nomination, which came to be known as the Never Trump movement. The movement did not, however, succeed to the point of actually finding an alternative to Trump, but it was enough to bring dissension in the party against him. The Republican Presidential Convention exposed this intraparty dissension.

The Democratic Party -although initially divided between two camps, Bernie’s and Hillary’s -- was able to bridge over the difference after Bernie conceded victory to Hillary toward the end of the race. Due to the fact that the party’s division was not deeprooted and Hillary herself was not a divisive leader, there was much less intra-party tension within the Democratic Party than its rival.

This was the overall background under which the two parties held their respective conventions, in

nor of Cleveland Kasich who was also a contender for presidential nomination this year.

The most significant sign of a seriously fractured party came from Senator Cruz, the runner-up in the presidential nomination race, who did not endorse the party’s nominee Donald Trump to the dismay and shock of his supporters. Contrast this with the Democratic Party convention held a week later in Philadelphia.

Where the Republican convention was marked by a nearly all-white representation (the Republican Party is 90% white), the Democratic Party convention was represented by a mélange of colour and race; white, black, brown, and a diversity of cultures and beliefs.

Where the Republican convention was marked by intra-party tension and strife, the Democratic convention was of unity and solidarity. Where the Republican Party convention was marked by non-endorsement of the party nominee by the runnerup, the Democratic convention was marked by an enthusiastic and whole-hearted embrace of the party nominee Hillary by the second running Bernie Sanders.

Apart from the political differences between the two conventions, the other significant

dissimilarities between the two were the messages and tonal differences.

Almost all speakers in the Republican convention, starting with Donald Trump, spent more time in criticising Hillary Clinton, dwelling on her perceived failures and illegal acts, than on any substance or policies. They painted a picture of doom-andgloom and warned people of a dire future if the party nominees were not elected. It was, as some columnist stated, a name-calling and insult-a-thon fest where policy took a back seat. The Democratic convention was just the opposite.

It was built on a promise of hope for a country that has achieved substantial progress over the years through relentless efforts and hard work of all its citizens irrespective of race, colour, or religion.

Unlike the Republican convention, it was attended by an impressive array of Democratic stalwarts and leaders including President Bill Clinton and President Obama. The message they gave, in particular, nominee Hillary Clinton, was to not to succumb to fear and prejudices, but to forge ahead to strengthen the country working together, not separated by race, religion, or colour. She gave a message of hope against one of fear and scare.

The road ahead for the American public is critical, because this election gives them a stark choice between a maverick, unpolitical, untested scare-mongering candidate, and a seasoned, rational, and internationally known statesman.

This is unique as never before a hitherto unknown person has successfully raided an established political party, and wrested the party’s nomination for president.

It is unique because never before in the history of the United States a woman has been nominated as president by a major political party.

Who will the American public elect? A flamboyant, rabble-rousing, scare-mongering, and irrevocably insolent man, or an experienced, sober, and highly-skilled woman who has been in public service for the last four decades?

We can only hope that in November the populace vote for sanity against insanity, pragmatism against irrationality, and nation against parochial party interests. l Ziauddin Choudhury has worked in the higher civil service of Bangladesh early in his career, and later for the World Bank in the USA.

DT

24 Sport

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

Bangladesh’s first Test in India on Feb 8 next year

TOP STORIES

n Tribune Report BCB pressers now ‘invitations only’ BCB president Nazmul Hasan said all press conferences will be through ‘invitations only’.

The BCB boss yesterday held a press conference at his Beximco office where four journalists were initially restricted. PAGE 25

Neymar tasked with delivering gold Brazil has barely got over its World Cup disaster and now it is counting on Barcelona star Neymar to finally deliver a treasured first football Olympic gold medal.

Olympic gold is the only int’l title to elude Brazil. PAGE 26

Bangladesh bowler Shafiul Islam smiles to the reporters during a practice session in Mirpur yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Tamim to play in Oslo on Aug 19 Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal is set to appear in the ‘Play for Peace’ Twenty20 game in Norway’s capital Oslo scheduled to be held on August 19. The left-handed opener will play for the World Stars team. PAGE 27

China send biggest team, hopes limited China are sending their largest team to an overseas Olympics, but forecasters predict the 416 athletes will fail to match the country’s greatest haul. Eight years after leading the world with 100 medals at Beijing, China are expected to win 89 medals in Rio. PAGE 28

Bangladesh will tour India for a one-off Test, their first in the country, from February 8 to 12 next year. The match will be played in Hyderabad.

India is the last of the Full Members to host Bangladesh for a Test. Bangladesh have only featured in two limited-overs tournaments in the country - the 2006 Champions Trophy qualifiers and the 2014 World T20 - since getting Test status in 2000.

“As a leading Test playing nation it is BCCI’s responsibility to give opportunity to every Test playing nation. It is my pleasure to announce the historic one-off Test match against our neighbours - Bangladesh early next year,” Anurag Thakur, the BCCI president, said. “This will be a great addition to our home season 2016-17.”

In all, India’s 2016-17 home season will include 13 Tests, eight ODIs and three T20Is; 13 Tests equals the world record for the highest number of Tests in a home season. Apart from Bangladesh, New Zealand, England and Australia will also visit during the season.

The one-off Test against Bangladesh will be played a week after the limited-overs series against England concludes in Bangalore on February 1.

“This [Bangladesh’s first-ever Test in India] is certainly a big relief,” BCB president Nazmul Hassan said. “It is just one Test match, it is nothing big. It won’t be doing much for the development of Bangladesh cricket. But this will be the first Test in India. It was a huge challenge for the board. It was supposed to happen earlier but we are happy that the date has been announced. At least we are starting to play there.” l

Who is Bangladesh’s mystery bowling coach? n Mazhar Uddin Bangladesh’s new bowling coach has been finalised and is all set to join from September but there’s a catch.

The BCB president Nazmul Hasan said yesterday that his name cannot be revealed as he is currently working with another board.

“The good news is that our search is over. We know who we will take. But unfortunately because of some obligations, we cannot announce his name. We are hoping he will come to Dhaka any time in the last week of this month. But since he is working somewhere, we shouldn’t be making any announcements. Once his contract is over, we will announce

it together,” said Nazmul.

Among the candidates, Champaka Ramanayake is Sri Lanka’s bowling coach while curently,

dies great Curtley Ambrose is also in the running for this post.

Another Sri Lankan fast bowler Chaminda Vaas and Indian pacer

But unfortunately because of some obligations, we cannot announce his name former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald is Australia’s interim bowling coach. Former West Indies fast bowler Ottis Gibson could also be the one as he is currently contracted with the ECB as England’s bowling coach. West In-

Venkatesh Prasad are also among the probables however both are not contracted with any board at the moment.

Meanwhile Hasan also informed that former Pakistani fast bowler Aaqib Javed who is

now working with the pacers as the fast bowling consultant, will help the two Bangladeshi suspected action bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Arafat who are almost ready to appear for the bowling action test.

“Since Aaqib Javed is here, he will also take a look at their progress as we get some very positive response from the bowlers working under him in the High Performance camp,” he said.

He also said that former Indian left arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju will join the HP camp later this month as the spin bowling consultant.

“He will arrive in mid-August as HP’s spin bowling consultant. We will also bring more consultants,” Nazmul said.l

25

DT

Sport

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

BCB pressers now ‘invitations only’ n Tribune Report Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan said all press conferences will be through ‘invitations only’.

The BCB boss yesterday held a press conference at his Beximco office where four journalists were initially restricted from entering the conference room. BCB had, on June 25, sent an email saying that all press conferences will be through invitations though during this period, such invitations were not sent to any media house. Tuesday’s media conference was also through word of mouth to most reporters including the four who were not allowed entrance.

“This is not a press conference.

We had given a circular to the media. From now on all press briefings will be invitation only. It so happened that I wasn’t in the country, and I came the day before. I was asked to speak for a minute or two but I don’t want to talk to anyone separately, I said that I want to speak to everyone together. I am sure those who are invited, defi-

nitely they are here. There is no reason to keep anyone away,” he said.

Hasan said that the restriction is not for certain houses.

“The issue is not with anyone in particular. The time is sensitive in Bangladesh and Bangladesh cricket is within Bangladesh. One false interpretation, a negative news will damage our cricket. We don’t want to be part of it.

I was asked to speak for a minute or two but I don’t want to talk to anyone separately “Anybody can write anything.

We are open but we don’t want a different explanation to a comment we make which will hurt our cricket. I don’t want anyone to blame me for it. For now, we can be a little selective,” he said.

The media personals at Sher-eBangla National Stadium yesterday were suddenly told by a BCB official about the BCB president’s press conference at his corporate office. l

An action from the match between Muktijoddha KC and Brothers Union at the MA Aziz Stadium yesterday. Muktijoddha thrashed Brothers 2-0 in the last JB Bangladesh Premier League match in Chittagong. Nkowcha Kingsley and Ahmed Kolo Musa scored for the winners. Earlier Nigerian forward Kester Akon hit a brace to steer Arambagh KS to 2-1 victory over Uttar Baridhara RABIN CHOWDHURY

Mountain in front of Chelsea’s Conte n Ali Shahriyar Bappa New Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has established himself as a brilliant coach in his ten-year long coaching career. The Italian won three consecutive Serie A titles with Juventus and during his national duty, the tactician surprised everyone in the Euro 2016 defeating tournament favorites Spain and Belgium convincingly. But this is surely going to be one of the biggest challenges of Conte’s managerial career as everyone is eager to know how he will manage Chelsea in arguably the world’s ‘toughest’ league.

Chelsea’s downfall started with the beginning of last year’s English Premier League. The then Jose Mourinho-led Chelsea side consisting Eden Hazard, Cesc Fàbregas, Diego Costa, Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry and Nemanja Matic clinched the title in the 2014-15 season. But the scenario changed drastically later.

Things went worse when Mour-

inho clashed with team doctor Eva Carneiro and later criticized players in media following several losses. Rumors were spreaded that players were revolting against the special one. Just after few days, the same Chelsea squad under the same manager seemed like forgot how to play football as a team and produced some shocking results. The defending champions stunningly had dropped near the relegation zone after earning just 16 points from their opening 15 matches. Eventually Mourinho lost the job and the club body brought Guus Hiddink as interim coach to stop further decline for Chelsea who later finished at 10th position.

Now it’s time for Conte to fix a lot of things for Chelsea in his fresh campaign. In every department midfield, defence or striking - some key problems need to be solved soon. Many of the players lost their form dramatically recently and lost their confidence too. Conte needs to from a deadly combination with Costa, Hazard and Pedro Rodriguez in the front. The ill-tempered Costa played awfully last season scoring just 12 goals. His rough attitude on the pitch often brought some bad results for the team’s reputation.

Pedro was inconsistent in his first EPL season.

Two of the main architects of

Chelsea’s success in 2014-15 were midfield duo Cesc Fàbregas and Matić. The Spaniard Fabregas managed 18 assists and 3 goals in 2014-15 but managed only 7 assist last season. Matic also was so poor that at one point he was dropped from the playing eleven. Conte has to build a solid midfield again with these players.

The defence was woeful as only Aston Villa and Bournemouth conceded more home goals than Chelsea (30) in the Premier League in 2015/16. Ivanovic was horrific in throughout the season. Terry and Gary Cahill could not able to produce solidity in the back four and

even goalie Thibaut Courtois had lost his confidence under the bar.

These things should be sorted out very soon.

This will be interesting to see how the new manager will apply his preferable 3-5-2 formation with Chelsea. Conte was successful with this formation in both Juventus and Italy. But in EPL this has not been proven yet. And now the question is whether Conte will stick to this formula or bring something new? In the pre-season friendly Conte played almost 4-2-4 formation meaning more attacking approach. But these are only friendly and surely Conte will try

something new with quality wingers on his squad that also includes Willian, Cuadrado Marko Marin and Victor Moses.

However, Conte has signed some key players like N’Golo Kanté, one of the best players last year, from Liecester City. It will be interesting to see how he will use Kante in playing eleven as they already have Matic, Fàbregas, Oscar, Loftus-Cheek and John Obi Mikel in midfield. He also signed striker Michy Batshuayi form Marseille after his impressive display in Euro 2016 who will challenge Costa upfront. Media reports suggest Chelsea have made a bid for PSG striker Edinson Cavani which was rejected later and also lnking with Everton striker Romelu Lukako.

Conte wants to bring back the Belgian forward to Stamford Bridge.

That means if Chelsea able to bring Lukaku or Cavani then Costa’s place in the starting eleven will be under threat or Conte can use two strikers in front.

Conte, who is often considered as a master tactician, will surely face an uphill task in the most competitive league especially where the of world-class managers likes of Pep Guardiola, Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp, Arsen Wenger, Mauricio Pochettino, Claudio Raneiri will run for the elusive EPL crown. l

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Russian doping ban appeals rejected n AFP, Rio de Janeiro The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Tuesday rejected a challenge made by 17 Russian rowers against their exclusion from the Rio Olympics over doping, a tribunal official told AFP. The rowers were part of a group of Russian sportsmen to appeal Olympic bans ordered after an investigation revealed state-run doping in Russia.

Daniil Andrienko and 16 other rowers lodged a case against the World Rowing Federation and International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday and a hearing was held on Tuesday.

The group had demanded to be allowed to take part in the Rio Games which start Friday.

“The appeal by the 17 was rejected,” the CAS official said.

The tribunal has still to give a verdict on appeals by three swimmers, a wrestler and the Russian weightlifting federation.

The tribunal has been holding special hearings in Rio to clear the appeals before the Olympics begin.

Russian has been at the centre of a new doping storm after an independent investigator, Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, said in a report that there had been widespread state-backed doping in Russia. In reaction, the IOC ordered sporting federations to draw up lists of Russians who could compete in Rio. Canoeist Andrey Kraytor and wrestler Viktor Lebedeve made their own appeals against the order along with swimmers Vladimir Morozov, Nikita Lobintsev and Yulia Efimova. Decisions on the swimmers had been expected on Tuesday.l

Brazil captain Neymar (L) and Gabriel Barbosa, play the ball during a Brazil Olympic football team training session, in Brasilia, Brazil on Tuesday

AP

Neymar tasked with delivering elusive gold n AFP, Rio de Janeiro

Brazil has barely got over its World Cup disaster and now it is counting on Barcelona star Neymar to finally deliver a treasured first football Olympic gold medal.

Olympic gold is the only international title to elude Brazil in an illustrious history that has seen A Selecao win five World Cups.

And Brazilian football is in desperate need of a pick-me-up after the humiliating 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany at their own World Cup two years ago and a group stage exit at the Copa America Centenario in June.

Golden boy Neymar has been untarnished by the failures.

Two broken vertebrae in his back suffered near the end of a

quarter-final win over Colombia left Brazil without their talisman against the Germans two years ago.

And as part of an agreement between Barcelona and the Brazilian federation, Neymar skipped the Copa America.

Rogerio Micale will take charge after leading Brazil to the under-20 World Cup final last year. Like the fans he also expects Neymar to de-

liver. He said: “I want to be dependent on Neymar. What coach in the world would not want a Neymar in their team?

“Neymar has exceeded my expectations. He is appreciated, he’s a good guy with a huge heart especially around the younger players.

“He has shown that he is more than just a great player -- he’s a great man admired by everybody.”l

Wedding bells for Rio tennis love matches n AFP, Rio de Janeiro

Play the French Open and Wimbledon? Check. Plan for the Olympic Games in Rio? Check. Squeeze a wedding date in the weeks between? Check.

Early days of wedded bliss have been cut short for a host of top tennis stars during a hectic summer on and off the court.

Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic, one-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Tsetvana Pironkova and colourful Italian Fabio Fognini who all said ‘yes’ before saying their goodbyes and reaching for the passports once again.

Ivanovic, 28, married German football star Bastian Schweinsteiger in a lavish ceremony in Venice in the week after Wimbledon last month.

The Serbian star, a former world number one and the 2008 French Open champion, has been dating the Manchester United player since 2014. She had been previously romantically linked with Australian golfer Adam Scott.

“I am completely overwhelmed by all the beautiful wishes and congratulations posts. Thank you all!

We are very happy and excited for future!,” tweeted Ivanovic after her wedding which was also splashed over German Vogue. A week later, and with the honeymoon over, it was business as usual.

“OK Back to work,” she tweeted.

Ivanovic will be hoping for a better start to married life on the court than Schweinsteiger, who had his locker in United’s first-team dressing room cleared out and ordered to train with the reserves by new

(From Left) Ana Ivanovic, Tsetvana Pironkova, Fabio Fognini boss Jose Mourinho on his 32nd birthday on Monday.

Bulgaria’s world number 76 Pironkova married her long-time boyfriend Mihail Mirchev, a former Bulgarian footballer also in July.

Pironkova is one of two Bulgar-

ians in the Olympics tennis event alongside Grigor Dimitrov in the men’s singles.

Unlike, the social media savvy Ivanovic, the private Pironkova made no mention of her nuptials on either her Twitter feed or Face-

book page.

Fiery Italian Fognini also arrives in Rio as a newlywed.

Fognini, who famously dumped Rafael Nadal out of the US Open in five sets last year, married longtime girlfriend Flavia Pennetta in June in Brindisi. Pennetta won her only Grand Slam title in New York in 2015 and promptly announced her retirement.

“More than yesterday, less than tomorrow,” gushed Fognini beside a photo of him and Pennetta sitting in their wedding car.

World number 11 Dominika Cibulkova would have been another newlywed at the Games before injury intervened.

The 27-year-old married Miso Navara in her hometown of Bratislava on the day of the women’s singles final at Wimbledon.l

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QUICK BYTES Arsenal-target Draxler wants out of Wolfsburg Arsenal-target Julian Draxler says he wants to leave Wolfsburg, just 12 months into his five-year contract - slamming the Bundesliga club’s coach and sports director in the process. The 22-year-old Germany winger joined to much fanfare last August for 35 million euros ($39m) from Schalke, the club which nurtured him through their academy to become a Germany international.

–AFP

Bayern open door to possible Schweini return Bastian Schweinsteiger has been told there could be a place for him back at Bayern Munich in the wake of his fall from grace at Manchester United. Schweinsteiger turned 32 on Monday, the same day his locker in United’s first-team dressing room was cleared out and he was ordered to train with the reserves by new United boss Jose Mourinho.

–AFP

Midfielder Boateng joins Las Palmas Midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng has joined La Liga club Las Palmas on a one-year deal after being released by AC Milan at the end of last season, the Spanish side said in a statement.

The 29-year-old made 11 league appearances for Milan in his second spell at the club after joining on a free transfer in January. Boateng was released by Schalke 04 in May, 2015 for what the Bundesliga side said was a breakdown in trust between club and player.

–REUTERS

Sohail claims 4 wickets to give Pakistan the edge Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Khan took four wickets as England moved on to 184 for five at tea on the first day of the third test in Birmingham on Wednesday. Sohail, recalled to the side, removed Alex Hales, Joe Root, James Vince and Jonny Bairstow after Pakistan had won the toss in overcast conditions at Edgbaston. England captain Alastair Cook made 45 and Gary Ballance was unbeaten on 49 at the interval with Moeen Ali on 15.

–REUTERS

DAY’S WATCH CRICKET TEN 3 10:30AM Australia Tour of Sri Lanka 2nd Test, Day 1

SONY SIX 4:30AM CPL T20: Eliminator St Lucia vs Trinbago

ECB security team due Aug 15 to 20, says board president n Minhaz Uddin Khan Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan said the England’s security inspection tour will take place later this month.

England are schedule to lock horns with Bangladesh in two Tests and three one-day internationals after their scheduled arrival on September 30. But the bilateral series was pushed into uncertainty following the Dhaka terror attack on July 1. ECB then in a prompt statement said that they will “closely observe the situation”.

Hasan said that England’s dele-

gation ahead of the tour could arrive between “August 15 to 20”.

“We sent the ECB the security proposal but they haven’t given us a feedback. What we are guessing is that since the security insepction team will be traveling to India in mid-August, they will visit Bangladesh too during that trip,” said Hasan yesterday.

“They said that they would give the feedback to our proposal when they are here, possibly between August 15-20,” he added.

Meanwhile, injured Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman will meet doctors suggested by the ECB. Naz-

Tamim to play in Oslo on Aug 19 n Minhaz Uddin Khan Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal is set to appear in the ‘Play for Peace’ Twenty20 game in Norway’s capital Oslo scheduled to be held on August 19. The left-handed opener will play for the World Stars team.

Tamim has already obtained permission from the Bangladesh Cricket Board to participate.

Play for Peace is part of the culture and sports festival being held for the past few years in Oslo. Christiania cricket club is the main organiser of the event.

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhter, India’s Pathan brothers Yousuf and Irfan, Sri Lanka legend Sanath Jayasuriya are the other members of the team World Stars team which will take on Pakistan Stars at the Bislett Stadium later this month.

Pakistan Stars is likely to be led by Pakistan skipper Misbah Ul Haq. l

‘BCCI against two tier Test system’ n Cricinfo BCCI president Anurag Thakur has said his board will oppose the proposed two-tier Test system to “protect the interests” of smaller member nations. As the head of the powerful BCCI, Thakur’s statement lends heft to the criticism of the proposal by Sri Lanka Cricket and the Bangladesh Cricket Board, even as the boards of Australian and New Zealand have welcomed the move.

“The BCCI is against the two-tier Test system because the smaller countries will lose out and the BCCI wants to take care of them,” Thakur told the New Indian Express.

“It is necessary to protect their interests.”

The proposal to split Test cricket into two tiers - with seven nations in tier one, and five, including two new Test nations, in the second tier - was mooted at the ICC’s annual conference, in Edinburgh, where ICC chief executive David Richardson advocated a “proper competition structure”, with promotion and relegation, for Test cricket to have greater context. “Unless we can give some meaning to these series beyond the rankings and a trophy, then interest in Test cricket will continue to waver,” Richardson said. l

mul said that they suggested two doctors, one of whom (Dr Lennart Funk) is on holiday.

“Dr Lennart Funk is going on holiday and won’t be back before August 22. So since the ECB suggested two names, we will look into the other doctor, whose name is Andrew Wallace of London’s Fortis Hospital. We will see who is our best option and that can even be in Australia,” he said.

On the other, Hasan said he is upset with the irregular players’ payment in the Dhaka Premier League 2016 which concluded in June. Players of Brothers Union,

which finished 10th this season, are the latest to have complained of irregularity to the BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury on Tuesday.

“It is very unfortunate that players went to meet the CEO despite being given a deadline. The board will pay even if the club doesn’t.

It shouldn’t have been so delayed.

The board will deal with the legal procedure with the clubs later.

Players shouldn’t suffer, because the system we have used this time, the board has taken responsibility.

It was our mistake, we must pay them immediately,” said Hasan. l

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China send biggest team but hopes limited n AFP, Beijing China are sending their largest team to an overseas Olympics, but forecasters predict the 416 athletes will fail to match the country’s greatest medal haul.

Eight years after leading the world with 100 medals at Beijing 2008, China are expected to win 89 medals in Rio de Janeiro, according to a study from Dartmouth College.

Of those, 38 are predicted to be gold, behind an expected US tally of 48, said Camila Gonzales of Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.

In traditional strengths such as table tennis, badminton, weightlifting, shooting, gymnastics and diving, ageing or injured stars and fiercer competition have dampened expectations.

Fans are pinning their hopes on figures such as Ma Long, the world’s top-ranked table tennis player, and controversial star swimmer Sun Yang.

The towering 1.98m Sun, 24, will be the most recognisable member of China’s team after winning the 400m and 1500m freestyle at London 2012, but his current form is largely unknown after he missed the national championships in April with a foot injury.

His biggest challenger could be Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri, 21, who registered the second fastest swim in history -- just three seconds behind Sun’s 2012 world record -- when winning the European Championship 1500m this year.

Ma, who has dominated the ping-pong rankings, was controversially omitted by China’s selectors for the 2012 Olympics singles.

Ma finally won a global singles title at his fifth world championships last year, after a career that has raised questions about his mental resilience in showpiece finals.

- Golden hat-trick bid Lin Dan, the 32-year-old badminton gold medallist in 2008 and 2012, looks to complete a golden hat-trick in his fourth and almost certainly final Olympics.

He will probably have to defeat his eternal rival Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, who is back atop the world rankings after returning from a doping ban last year.

Lin beat Lee in both the Beijing and London Olympic finals but is in Rio drawn to meet him in the semi-final, with world number two Chen Long seeded to face Lin in what would be an all-China final.

China have won the men’s gymnastics team golds at both the last two Games, but will face a Japan line-up who won the world championships last year.

In golf, Feng Shanshan and Lin Xiyu have strong medal hopes for the women while Wu Ashun and Li Haotong, who have both won on the European Tour in 2016, will fancy their chances of getting on the men’s podium.

On the track, the men’s 4x100m team, who won silver at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, aim to become the first Chinese team to reach the Olympic sprint relay final.

- Diminished returns China came second in the medal table four years ago in London, with 88 in all, 38 of them gold.

The Dartmouth forecast represents a marginal improvement, but

This file picture taken on July 31, 2011 shows China’s gold medalist Sun Yang holding China’s national flag as he poses during the award ceremony for the final of the men’s 1500-metre freestyle swimming event in the FINA World Championships AFP authorities have sought to dampen expectations, with Gao Zhidan, China’s deputy chef de mission, telling the official Xinhua news service the country faces diminishing returns from its investment in training programmes.

“After Beijing was selected as the (2008) host city in 2001, China started a long-term talent training plan for the Games,” he said, adding that while the plan continues it “is not as vigorous as then”.

Reports in state media have also highlighted problems in the country’s state-run sports

academy system, which takes in children at a young age and trains them intensively in sports such as gymnastics.

Academies have supplied 95 percent of China’s Olympic gold medallists, the state-run Global Times newspaper reported.

But Chinese parents are more reluctant to take their children from an academic track and send them to the gruelling institutions.

Except for the rare stars who have lucrative corporate sponsorships, long-term career prospects for athletes are dim, retirement

Sibling rivalry without tears for Campbell sisters n AFP, Rio de Janeiro Sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell give Australia a formidable onetwo punch in the Olympic pool, with none of the angst endured by tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams when they have to face each other across the net.

“I think it’s very different to Serena and Venus,” said younger sister Bronte, 22. “We’re swimming in a swimming pool with six other swimmers in the race. I’m not really swimming against Cate, I’m racing against myself and trying to do my best race.”

While the Williams sisters found it famously difficult to play each other early in their careers, the swimming set-up gives the closeknit Campbells, who live and train together, more of an us-againstthem opportunity.

“We’ve always enjoyed racing together, against the rest of the world, not necessarily against each

other,” Bronte added.

But the stakes are high with each sister a legitimate contender.

Bronte, the reigning 100m freestyle world champion, was sidelined by a respiratory infection when Cate clocked a world record 52.06sec in the 100m free at a meet-

ing in Brisbane on July 2, eclipsing the 52.07sec set by Britta Steffen in the era of now-banned supersuits.

“I thought my dad was joking,” Bronte said of his call to tell her the news. “I didn’t think he was telling the truth.”

But she said her sister’s feat

doesn’t alter her approach to their races.

“We’re all there to compete,” she said. “We’re all there to win, and breaking the world record doesn’t change that for me.

“It’s all about what happens in the final and who can be the fastest on the night. I knew Cate was swimming well. Breaking the world record is an amazing thing and I’m really proud of her for doing it but it doesn’t change anything for me.”

The world record has intensified the spotlight on Cate ahead of the individual 100m free.

But the 24-year-old said she’s really looking forward to teaming with her sister when Australia defend their 4x100m free relay title on the first night of competition in Rio. The two were on the Aussie squad that set the world record in the event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

“I think that will be a really great night,” she said. l

benefits are limited, and athletes who have not attended conventional schools can struggle for years to secure normal jobs.

China’s anti-doping procedures have also been in the spotlight, after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) suspended the accreditation of its national testing laboratory in Beijing in April.

In March, China’s state media reported that six Chinese swimmers had failed doping tests -- including two who were let off with warnings for taking the banned muscle-builder clenbuterol.l

Pele asked to light Rio pyre n Reuters, Brasilia Pele has been invited to light the Olympic pyre for the Rio Games on Friday but the Brazilian soccer great is checking with his sponsors to see if he is free to lead the torch ceremony in the Maracana stadium.

“I have a contract that I am bound to fulfil,” Pele told Globo TV late on Tuesday, adding that he was consulting the U.S. company that holds the rights to his brand name whether he can take up the invitation from the Olympic organising committee.

“As a Brazilian, I’d love to do it,” said the 75-year-old.

Pele later told reporters that International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and the head of the Brazilian committee Carlos Arthur Nuzman had personally asked him to light the pyre and that he would have an answer on Thursday. l

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Pale (3) 3 Wicked giant (4) 6 Summit (4) 9 Erudite (4) 10 Floor covering (3) 11 Stringed instrument (4) 13 Best part (5) 16 Make amends (5) 18 Slender support (4) 19 Large (3) 20 Purplish brown (4) 21 Weep convulsively (3) 23 Direction (4) 24 Separate (4) 25 Blushing (3)

DOWN 1 Cleat (5) 2 Tool (3) 4 Firm hold (4) 5 Day before (3) 6 Month (5) 8 Snow colour (5) 9 Bird (4) 12 Minute particles (5) 14 After due time (4) 15 Correct (5) 17 Flowed back (5) 18 Cicatrix (4) 20 Explode mildly (3) 22 Be indebted (3)

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 7 represents R so fill R every time the figure 7 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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THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

Showtime

Jimmy Fallon to host Golden Globes 2017

Shuvo in search of a female singer

n Showtime Desk Television network NBC is turning to one of their own to host the 2017 version of the Golden Globe Awards. The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon has been booked to emcee the 74th annual ceremony, NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt announced on Tuesday.

Fallon follows Ricky Gervais, who returned last year after three previous stints, and his former Saturday Night Live cast-mate Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, who also hosted the prestigious awards show three times.

“We’re thrilled to announce Jimmy as the host of The 74th Annual Golden Globes,” Greenblatt said in a statement.

“This is the most spontaneous and uninhibited award show on television, and Jimmy’s playful, disarming comedic brilliance makes him the ideal host to enhance and elevate the sense of fun and irreverence that’s made the Golden Globes one of the premier events of the entire broadcast year.”

The Golden Globe Awards, which are given out on the basis of votes by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are set to air live on both coasts from the Beverly Hilton on Sunday, January 8, 2017. Fallon previously hosted the 2010 Emmy Awards, when the ceremony was aired on NBC. Fallon quipped about his upcoming hosting gig on Tuesday morning on Twitter shortly after the news broke: “And I’m really looking forward to spending time with the Hollywood Foreign Press before Donald Trump has them all deported.”l

n Showtime Desk Niyoti has created a great hype within the Indo-Bangla film industry. As a result, actor Arifin Shuvo is now a known face in Tollywood also. With Niyoti, Arifin is wishes to give something more to his fans. He will sing exclusively for the movie which will be an additional treat for the Bangladeshi audience. The film’s soundtrack which includes a remake of the classic Dhallywood song “Onek sadhonar pore” from the 1998 film Bhalobashi Tomake starring Riaz and Shabnur, has created quite a stir on the social media.

Arifin will sing this song only for the Bangladeshi release and is currently looking for a female voice through social media. Any girl who wants to be a part of this contest has to sing this song and upload it on YouTube by August 6 by 12 midnight. Aspiring artists have to use the hashtags #SingWithShuvoo #Niyoti. Arifin Shuvo says, “this is an awesome opportunity for any girl who wishes to become a singer. Not

only that, she will also win a chance to watch this movie with me if she wins the contest.”

In the original soundtrack of Niyoti, this song is sung by Nancy and Imran. Results will be announced on August 7.

Production house Jaaz Multimedia will release the Indo-Bangla joint production in Bangladesh on August 12. The film has had a booming start in Kolkata with its mix of superb music and action.

Abdul Aziz, chairman of the Bangladeshi production house for the film Jaaz Multimedia said, “The film is doing well in the box office in Tollywood where it is being screened in 83 cinemas.” He further added that there was some doubts regarding its reception across the border, since the director and leading cast members are Bangladeshis, and the film was shot entirely in Bangladesh (apart from the songs), but the numbers have been very encouraging.

Directed and scripted by Zakir Hossain Raju, Arefin Shuvo and Jolee are playing the lead roles in the film. l

Kumar Bishwajit to release another Tagore song n Farhan Shahriar Marking the 75th death anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, popular singer Kumar Bishwajit is set to release a rendition of the maestro’s song, “Ami chini go chini tomare ogo bideshini,” under the record label, CMV. The music arrangement is by Kumar Bishwajit himself along with some of his friends, including Sohel, Pulok, Bappi and Selim. The track can be found in GP music as well. Moreover, the music video for the track will be released shortly.

While expressing his thoughts about the initiative, Kumar said, “The track is a tribute to Rabindranath Tagore marking his upcoming death anniversary on the 22th of Shrabon.” He further mentions how has been connected to Tagore’s works since childhood and that, he is tired of doing only modern Bangla songs. He expects his listeners to like the upcoming track and hopes that it will receive proper exposure as well.

Kumar is currently in America for a family tour. He also recalled that exactly eight years ago, he released another popular Tagore song titled, “Amar bela je jay.” l

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

Trailer Talk: Porimoni gets tough for Rokto

n Showtime Desk Will Porimoni surpass all her previous achievements with the success of her latest Rokto?

Well, time will tell. The actress’ appearance in the recently released first-look teaser video of the Jaaz Multimedia produced movie seems sparkling in all senses and she looks tough

enough to rule.

On its official Youtube channel, the production company released the one-minute and 18 seconds teaser on Monday, which features no dialogue, but some snazzy action scenes with sizzling glimpses from a movie song. Donned in army track pants and a crop top, the actress is seen fighting the antagonists, a

Bad reviews? Bring it on! n Showtime Desk On Tuesday night, after a day of reviews for the highly anticipated anti-superhero film Suicide Squad hit, director David Ayer tweeted: “Prefiero morir de pie que vivir de rodillas Emiliano Zapata.”

The quote translates to: “I’d prefer to die standing, than to live always on my knees.”

He then followed that up with an explanation, “Zapata quote is my way of saying I love the movie and believe in it. Made it for the fans. Best experience of my life.”

Early reviews of Ayer’s Suicide Squad came in on Tuesday and as a whole, they were discouraging to fans.

The Hollywood Reporter’s review said, “the film starts with promise but disengages as it loses its creative bearings” and

that it’s a “puzzlingly confused undertaking that never becomes as cool as it thinks it is.”

Still, it remains to be seen if the reviews will hurt its performance when in theatres this weekend: THR’s Box office review says the Warner Bros./ DC Comics movie is still “almost assured of nabbing the top August debut of all time in North America.”

Suicide Squad follows an all-star team of incarcerated supervillains who are released by a secret government agency to save the world. It stars Will Smith (Deadshot), Jared Leto (The Joker) and Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), as well as Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood and Cara Delevingne, l

common scenario in Dhallywood films, but rare in the depiction of the female character as the dominant aggressor.

The plot is yet to be revealed, however the scenes in the teaser lead to the belief that a desperate Porimoni seeks vengeance and hunts down all the villains in retribution for some wrong done to her.

The shooting of Rokto,

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Showtime

reportedly worth Tk70 million, is almost wrapped up. The film has Porimoni paired up with debutant Ziaul Roshan. Seasoned actors Amit Hasan and Ashish Vidyarthi plays supporting roles in it while it’s music is composed by Savvy Gupta and Akaash.

Directed by Wazed Ali Sumon, the movie is scheduled to be released on September 12, 2016.l

WHAT TO WATCH

Equilibrium WB, 6:58pm Delivering awesome hightech action in the powerpacked style of The Matrix and Minority Report, Equilibrium stars Christian Bale and Taye Diggs in a thrilling look at a future where the only crime is being human!

Cast: Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs, Sean Bean, Angus Macfadyen

Brett Lee under fire

n Showtime Desk Former Aussie speedster Brett Lee is all set for Bollywood screen debut, but the cricketer has been in the news for some controversial scenes in his upcoming flick UnIndian.

Lee will star opposite gorgeous Tannishtha Chatterjee, but one of the scenes of the movie has been chopped by the industry’s censor board from 68 seconds to 26 seconds, and even the director Anupam Sharma’s request to the board to insert a line declaring that “the scene has been modified for the Indian audience” has been rejected.

According to the source, Anupam had to adhere to the board’s diktat that the “sideways visual and end climactic shot” of the sex scene has to be eliminated

and “not be synchronised with mantra chanting”.

Meanwhile Brett Lee was in the city for a few days to promote his upcoming film UnIndian. Given his tight schedule, the Aussie incorporated as much media interaction as possible.

However, a source revealed, he had one request. “Brett was extremely friendly and accommodating. He shot for promotions late in the night as well. However, it was on one condition — he must be given two hours a day for himself. No matter how busy, he dedicated an hour in the gym in the morning and an hour for lunch in the noon without fail.

He won’t compromise on that, come what may. All are waiting for the movie, that’s why he did not want to talk about that censor issue much on camera.

After recent chaos with censorship, Anupam and the film’s producer Krian Pictures feel that the scene has ended up being extremely diluted as they had no option but to not pursue the fight with the censors since they want to meet their deadline of the worldwide release on August 19. “They will try to retain the scene in most countries, but it will again depend on the local censors. However, the scene will be seen in full in the theatres in the US where there is a Rating System.” l Source: Bollywood Gossip

Transformers: Dark of the Moon Zee Studio, 9:30pm Autobots Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide, Mirage (aka Dino), Wheeljack (aka Que) and Sideswipe led by Optimus Prime, are back in action taking on the evil Decepticons, who are eager to avenge their recent defeat.

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Due Date HBO, 5:00pm Robert Downey Jr. stars as an expectant father stuck with a slacker on a hilarious cross-country road trip as he rushes home for the birth of his baby.

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis Resident Evil Movies Now, 3:50pm Raccoon City thrives on its industries. The Hive is a bioengineering facility which works in the underground.

An accident at The Hive unleashes a deadly and mutating T-virus that kills all the employees working there.

DT

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016

RMG MARKET SHARE RISES TO 5.9% PAGE 12

WHO IS THE NEW MYSTERY BOWLING COACH? PAGE 25

PORIMONI GETS TOUGH FOR ROKTO PAGE 30

‘Bangladesh a growing IS hub’ n Tribune Desk A recent classified document of the United States State Department shows Bangladesh as a growing hub of the Islamic State, NBC has reported.

A counterterrorism ‘Heat Map,’ as it is called, shows six countries as ‘aspiring branches’ of IS which includes Bangladesh besides Egypt, Indonesia, Mali, the Philippines and Somalia.

Obtained by the NBC, the heat map also indicates a sharp rise in IS presence across the world since 2014 when State Department documents indicated IS operations in seven countries.

The heat map is part of a classified briefing document for the White House dated “August 2016” and prepared by the National Counterterrorism Center. It shows IS operations in 18 countries.

Bangladesh has witnessed attacks by Islamist militants claiming to have pledged allegiance to IS in recent times. A terrorist attack at a

Gulshan restaurant saw 20 hostages executed and two policemen killed.

The 12-hour standoff ended with a commando operation on July 2.

Pictures of the five terrorists smiling with their semiautomatic weapons clad in black and sporting red chequered keffiyehs were released by IS as well as pictures of mangled bodies from Holey Artisan, the Gulshan restaurant several hours before the commando operation took place.

A few days later on July 7, the day of Eid ul Fitr, two more policemen and a woman were killed by terrorists near the largest Eid congregation of Bangladesh.

Last week special police units busted a suspected militant den in Dhaka. Released pictures showed the signature black IS flag with Arabic inscription.

However, the authorities have insisted there is no IS presence in Bangladesh and that the terrorists are “homegrown” linked with such outfits as the banned Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh. l

Five members of ‘new militant outfit’ held n Arifur Rahman Rabbi RAB forces yesterday arrested five suspected militants who allegedly belong to a newly-formed militant outfit called Al Ansar.

Based on a tip-off, the suspects were arrested from a house in Dhaka’s Hazaribagh area, while a large number of books on jihad, laptops and training manuals were found in their possessions.

The detainees include the outfit’s chief coordinator Hafez Maulana Md Rashidul Alam alias Babu, 24; and his four associates – Md Abu Bakkar Monir, 23; Abdullah Al Mamun Mia, 26; Raisul Islam alias Rasel, 25; and Md Abdul Malek, 35.

Rapid Action Battalion said all the suspects used to be members of banned outfit Harkat-ul Jihad alIslami Bangladesh, but formed the new group two years ago.

Mufti Mahmud Khan, director of RAB’s legal and media wing, told a

press conference yesterday that the detained militants believed in the ideology of al-Qaeda and were trying to create a new outfit called Al Ansar as an offshoot of HujiB. He added that the militants wrongfully thought that the new outfit’s name would stay out of the law enforcers’ radar. The suspects were carrying out their publications and communications disguised as rickshaw pullers, the RAB director said.

Meanwhile, police yesterday also detained 14 suspected members of Islami Chhatra Shibir from Modhubazaar of Hazaribagh during a raid. The identities of the detainees could not be confirmed.

Hazaribagh OC Meer Alimuzzaman said: “The 14 were detained in a block raid conducted from 12:30am to 3am Wednesday.”

He said they also seized some radical books and leaflets from their possessions. l

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