August 13, 2016

SECOND EDITION

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

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Shraban 29, 1423, Zilqad 9, 1437

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 108

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

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Home Minister: Hasnat has been facing interrogation.

Photos of Hasnat with Tahmid and attacker Rohan on the roof of Holey Bakery suface

Marjan coordinated Gulshan attack n Mohammad Jamil Khan The law enforcers yesterday released the photograph of a suspect who they believe was the field-level coordinator of the July 1 Gulshan terror attack.

The suspect in his twenties had been identified as Marjan, DMP’s counter-terrorism unit chief Monirul Islam told reporters. He is a second-tier leader of the new faction of banned outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, now known as “New JMB.” He said that the militants had sent “protected text,”

which likely included photos and regular updates from inside the Holey Artisan Bakery, to a link and Marjan had

JULY 2

Hasnat and Tahmid were shown arrested, put on remand

the password to access them.

“He worked as a coordinator between the attackers and the mastermind during the events of July 1,” Monirul said, adding that Marjan is a Bangladeshi and likely highly educated.

He, however, did not clarify how they had got the picture of Marjan or assured about his link to the attack.

A highly-placed source told the Dhaka Tribune that they had learnt about Marjan scrutinising some 30 mobile phones recovered from the restaurant after the Operation  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

n Arifur Rahman Rabbi

Sharmina Parveen, wife of Hasnat Reza Karim, has issued a statement claiming her husband is innocent and a victim of the terrorist attack in Gulshan.

In this statement, sent to some media outlets yesterday, Sharmina has provided some details of her family’s experience inside the Gulshan restaurant during the hostage situation on July 1.

FULL STATEMENT Police: Hasnat and Tahmid were let go Police: Hasnat and Tahmid were being interrogated

JULY 26

JULY 16 JULY 8

DB lets hostages go home.

Hasnat and Tahmid's families say the two were not released

(Evening) All survivors taken to the DB office for debriefing

JULY 3

(Morning) Attackers allow survivors, including Hasnat and family, to leave

AUG 1

custody, as arrested in the case, said Monirul Islam, who leads the DMP’s Counter-terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) Unit.

Asked if the police had found anything linking them to the July 1 attack, Monirul told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday the investiga-

Terrorists attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, Gulshan

AUG 4

Hasnat Reza Karim, the Holey Artisan Bakery attack survivor who is also being considered as a person of interest, may soon be shown arrested in the Gulshan terror attack case, the DMP’s counter-terrorism chief has said.

However, there was no immediate plan of showing Tahmid Hasib Khan, another suspect-survivor in

tion was still under way and details could only be released after the end of the two men’s remand.

Also asked about whether the two men had provided any leads during their questioning in remand, the counter-terrorism chief said suspects do not usually give any information during the primary stage of remand but only start cooperating near the end; so the police were still hopeful about gleaning information from them.

“We are also taking help from experts, including psychologists, to interrogate them; and if necessary help from other experts such as body language analysts would also be sought,” Monirul said.

Hasnat – a former teacher of North South University – and Tahmid – a student of University of Toronto – have been under an eight-day remand since August 4 after they were both shown arrested under section 54.

Sources at the counter-terrorism unit said the two men would be produced before a court today with a request for a fresh remand.

Investigation sources told the Dhaka Tribune that they found that a mobile app named Wickr Me – which is a free end-to-end encrypted messenger – had been downloaded on Hasnat’s mobile phone

AUG 7

Jamil Khan and n Mohammad Arifur Rahman Rabbi

JULY 1

Hasnat likely to be shown arrested in Gulshan case

Hasnat’s wife: My husband is innocent

IGP: Hasnat is still a person of interest, but denies keeping him in police custody.

PAGE 4

“Throughout the night we were all held at gunpoint and my husband was forced to obey the commands of the attackers,” she wrote.

Detectives interrogated Hasnat, his family and other survivors after the Gulshan attack. Then they were released, except Hasnat and another survivor – Tahmid Hasib Khan – who police said were kept for at least for a week.

But the families say they had no contact with the two until they were arrested on August 3. They were put on remand the next day.

In the remand petition, police identified Hasnat as an active member of banned militant outfit Hizb utTahrir and Tahmid as his associate.

Police also claimed that Hasnat had downloaded secured private messenger WICKR ME on his phone, which the militants used to  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Khaleda plans to ‘reshape BNP committees’ n UNB BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia plans to slightly reshape her party’s newly-formed 592-member committees of three bodies and reconstitute its associate bodies soon to quell the discontent among some leaders deprived of their desired posts and positions in the committees.

Leaders close to Khaleda said she is now closely observing the overall situation and party leaders’ displeasures over the party’s executive and standing committees and chairpersons’ advisory council.

Some senior leaders also spoke with Khaleda over the issue and gave her various suggestions, including extending the size of the party’s standing committee and bringing some changes in the executive body and accommodating the mid-ranking leaders in different associate bodies, to tackle the situation.

Assuring them of taking effective steps in this regard, she asked them to send out a message to the

aggrieved leaders to have patience and not to make any comment in the media that can mislead the party rank and file.

Party insiders said some aggrieved leaders, including Abdullah and Al Noman, Hafizuddin Ahmed, Golam Akbar Khandaker, Abul Khayer Bhuiyan and Shaheeduddin Chowdhury Anee, have already directly or indirectly informed Khaleda that they do not want to stay in their current posts.

On August 6, BNP announced its 502-member executive, and 19-member standing committees and 73-member chairperson’s advisory council.

After the announcement of the committees, newly-made party Vice-Chairman Mosaddek Ali Falu, Assistant Publicity Affairs Secretary Shamimur Rahman Shamim and Executive Member and ex-Magura MP Quazi Salimul Haq Kamal quit their respective posts.

Besides, Rangpur district BNP Vice-President and ex-MP Paritosh Chakrabarti also resigned from the party for not being “evaluated” in

the committee. Around 30 other leaders are reportedly planning either to distance themselves from the party or resign from their current posts.

Under the circumstances, a BNP standing committee member, wishing anonymity, said Khaleda is now thinking of increasing the size of the standing committee to 21 or 23 from 19 to accommodate the aggrieved leaders. She is also likely to bring minor changes in the executive committee.

Besides, she will also soon announce the names of some leaders

in the vacant posts of the standing and executive committees.

He said the BNP chairperson is also planning to gradually announce the committees of the party’s different associate bodies, including Jubo Dal and Swechchhasebak Dal, incorporating the mid-ranking party leaders who did not get posts in the central committee. Some other leaders will be included in various sub-committees on different ministries.

Contacted, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said: “No political party can form its committees perfectly making all leaders and activists happy. There can be minor flaws and inconsistencies in our committees, but there’s also a scope for correcting those.”

He said their chairperson is observing everything and she will take steps to this end whenever it is necessary.

BNP standing committee member Hannan Shah said senior leaders were in the dark about the formation of the committees. “I think

the errors could have been avoided and the committees could have been better if the senior leaders were consulted.”

Mentioning that that they were getting some reactions from their party men over the committees, Hannan said the chairperson would take proper steps to address the resentment.

Party standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy said: “Wait and see. There is a scope for making minor changes in the committees. There is no bar to the party charter to change posts of the committee members. Our chairperson can do that.”

Meanwhile, a group of nearly 40 leaders – known as reformists of the 1/11 changeover and ignored in the new committees – are going to send a letter to the BNP chief requesting her to evaluate them.

But according to BNP insiders, Khaleda is determined not to include the reformist leaders in the party’s committee, fearing they may create further trouble in the party. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Death anniversary of Hasnat likely to be shown arrested Tareque, Mishuk today half an hour after the Gulshan attack was launched.

Asked about the Wickr Me app, Monirul said investigators analysed the evidence to find that the attackers had rarely used Hasnat’s phone; instead they

used phones belonging to Sri Lankan hostages and Italian victims to communicate with outside sources.

Regarding media reports that quoted investigators saying that attackers had used Hasnat’s phone,

Marjan coordinated Gulshan attack n Tribune Desk The fifth death anniversary of acclaimed filmmaker Tareque Masud and cinematographer Mishuk Munier will be observed today.

The two died in a road accident on the Dhaka - Aricha highway in Ghior Upazila of Manikganj on August 13, 2011 while returning Dhaka from Manikganj.

To mark the day, Federation of Film Societies of Bangladesh (FFSB), Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and Projonmo ‘71 have organised different programmes.

Tareque Masud was born in Faridpur on December 6, 1956. He completed his HSC from Notre Dame College and MA in History Department from the University of Dhaka.

Masud was an independent film director, film producer, screenwriter and lyricist. He first found success with the films ‘Muktir Gaan’

in 1995 and ‘Matir Moina’ in 2002.

He won three international awards, including the ‘International Critics’ FIPRESCI Prize’ at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for ‘Matir Moina’.

The film also became Bangladesh’s first film to compete for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Mishuk Munier was a media specialist and broadcast journalist.

He was one of the three sons of the martyred intellectual Prof Munier Chowdhury. He served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Editor of satellite TV channel ATN News.

He also worked for BBC as a freelance photographer.

As the director of news operations of the first satellite TV channel Ekushey Television, Munier played a key role in developing broadcast journalism in Bangladesh. He studied Mass Communication and Journalism in Dhaka University. l

Thunderbolt on July 2 morning.

Most wanted Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury is the coordinator of the JMB faction, blamed for carrying out the deadly attack that killed 23 people including 17 foreigners and two police officers.

Police have announced Tk20 lakh bounty for Tamim, and another Tk20 lakh for sacked Maj Syed Ziaul Haque, the alleged chief of Ansarullah Bangla Team. Both are believed to be hiding in Dhaka.

The investigators have also identified at least five persons for financing the New JMB group, which the police say is also responsible for conducting the Sholakia attack on Eid Day. Monirul said: “We are not sure about his true identity but the arrested JMB members have identified him as Marjan, which is possibly his organisational name.

“Our investigators do not have more information about Marjan at the moment.”

Asked about his presence during the Gulshan attack, Monirul said that Marjan had not been present

in the area. “So far we have found that he was present in Kallyanpur area of Dhaka at that time. Basically, Tamim was present in Gulshan.

“Tamim took the five attackers from the rented house in Bashundhara residential area to the restaurant in two phases. He was present there to inspire the attacker.”

Investigation sources said that the attackers used to address Tamim as “Sir.” Entering the restaurant, they stopped communicating with him. They sent photos and updates to Tamim using protected text from a specialised application. Marjan had the password of the protected text.

He opened the ID and distributed the photos among the planners and masterminds of the New JMB, added the sources.

The investigators have released Marjan’s photo on the CT unit’s “Hello CT” android application as a most wanted militant and the DMP website. Anyone with information about the suspect has been requested to contact with the police. l

the CTTC chief said no media person had contacted them before publishing such stories.

The Gulshan attack – the worst terrorist attack in the country’s history – left 24 people, mostly foreigners, dead. l

My husband is innocent communicate with their superiors and send photos and videos of the attack.

Sharmina wrote that the gunmen ordered Hasnat to download the app, but he failed, at which point they took his phone.

Detectives say they will conduct a forensic test of the mobile.

Around morning, the gunmen told Hasnat and another male hostage to go to the roof with them, Sharmina wrote. They returned after 15 minutes.

Several photos of Hasnat, Tahmid and a terrorist on the roof have appeared in the media. Tahmid is seen holding a gun. Police say they are assessing those photos.

After half an hour they again took Hasnat, gave him a key and told him to unlock the gate. This was when all the hostages were released.

On Hasnat’s reported termination from North South University for involvement with Hizb ut-Tahir, Sharmina said the reports were false and said he retired to help with his father’s business. She also pointed to NSU’s statement on this issue. l

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

PM to open 8-lane highway, Tamim, Zia in Dhaka n Payra seaport today Mohammad Jamil Khan

n Tribune Report Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to open five development projects including the country’s first ever eight-lane highway and operational activities of Payra seaport.

The premier will inaugurate a total of five uplift schemes through a videoconferencing from her official residence Gonobhaban, official sources said.

The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) executed the eight-lane highway project from Jatrabari to Kanchpur aimed at easing traffic congestion on the eight-kilometer stretch on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader told jour-

nalists after visiting the road that the government spent Tk 132 crores for its construction.

Sheikh Hasina will also inaugurate the construction works from Jatrabari intersection to Mawa, including Ikuria-Babubazar link, and upgradation of Pachhar-Bhanga Highway to a four-lane one with a separate service lane on both ways for the slow-moving vehicles which is also known as Padma Bridge link road.

The operational activities of the Payra Port will begin through unloading goods from a commercial ship at Ramnabad channel of the port.

The first commercial ship “MV-Fortune Bird” has already arrived at the outer anchorage from

China with 53,000 metric tons of stones for the Padma bridge project.

After the inauguration, the port activities will continue for providing some specific services until the full-fledged functions commence in 2018.

During the initial period, ships can unload goods at the outer anchorage while lighterages will carry those to the different parts of the country.

Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate 100 per cent electrification of six upazilas under Rural Electrification Board (REB) with a view to supply electricity on Saturday to every house and bring 100 per cent people under power coverage by 2021. l

Two passenger buses pass each other with a great risk of accident on a road that is too narrow for big vehicles. The photo was taken yesterday at Daniyapara in Sirajdikhan, Munshiganj MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Three killed in ‘gunfights’ n Kamrul Hasan

At least three suspects have been killed in ‘gunfights’ between criminals and law enforcers in Dhaka, Khulna and Jhenaidah yesterday.

Delwar Hossain Liton, 35, a resident of Kadamtali area, who was a suspected drug peddler, was killed in a ‘gunfight’ between his cohorts and members of RAB in front of Kadamtali Wasa office.

RAB 10 Commanding Officer Jahangir Hossain Matabbar said they had information about a local drug peddling group that were gathering in the area. A RAB 10 team conducted a raid near Wasa around 4:15am.

The drug peddlers opened fire at the team, prompting the team to retaliate. At one stage Liton was shot and died on the spot.

After the gunfight RAB recovered one pistol, 510 pieces of Yaba tablet, one bullet and a sharp

weapon from the spot, he added.

Meanwhile, in Jhenaidah, one Shahidul Islam Pocha, 43, died during a supposed exchange of fire between robbers and RAB in Harinakundu upazila around 1:40am yesterday, said Deputy Director of RAB legal and media wing Maj Hussain Roisul Azom Moni.

Local RAB unit sources said a RAB patrol team raided the Bottala area of Folshi village where a gang of robbers were holding a meeting.

The gang opened fire at the law enforcers, forcing RAB to fire back.

After the gunfight, RAB members found Pocha with bullet injuries and he was rushed to Harinakundu Upazila Health Complex where doctors declared him dead.

RAB said Shahidul was accused in 11 cases including murder and robbery. A firearm, bullets and local weapons were recovered from the spot.

A suspected member of a Sundarbans-based bandit group was killed in an alleged gunfight within hours of his arrest in Khulna.

Koyra police OC Shamsher Ali said three constables were also injured in the skirmish on the banks of Kharkharia River early yesterday.

A locally-made gun, five cartridges and two machetes were recovered from the spot.

He identified the ‘Zonab Bahini’ member as Anarul Sana, 44, accused in 10 cases including murder and robbery. He was arrested on Thursday afternoon.

The skirmish took place when police raided the gang’s hideout in the Sundarbans with Sana. Sana was later found to have been hit by a bullet.

Constables Aminur, Jahidul Islam and Shah Alam were also injured.

They were rushed to the Koyra Health Complex where doctors pronounced Sana dead. l

The investigators are now certain that the top two masterminds of two like-minded militant outfits responsible for the recent terror attacks have been staying somewhere in Dhaka.

Bangladesh-born Canadian citizen Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury masterminded the Gulshan and Sholakia attacks while suspended Maj Syed Md Ziaul Haque is the man behind the murder of bloggers across the country.

On August 2, police chief AKM Shahidul Hoque disclosed their names and announced Tk20 lakh bounty for each of them.

“We are trying to arrest them tracing their location but we are also seeking information from the people. This is why we have already declared Tk20 lakh bounty on them,” Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit chief Monirul Islam told reporters at his office yesterday.

Monirul said that they were getting much information about the duo’s possible location from the people. Since the Gulshan attack, “we have conducted drives in at least 10 houses at different parts of Dhaka and recovered some militant-related evidence.

“The duo are changing their location frequently but drives to arrest them is also under way.”

Regarding the New JMB, operated by Tamim, Monirul said: “There are two factions of the JMB [Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh]. Primarily, all the members join the group under the leadership of Maulana Saidur Rahman [have been in jail since 2010], but some of them refused to accept him as their leader. So they floated a new group, now known as New JMB.” According to investigators, Tamim came to Bangladesh from Canada in 2013, taking special assignment to reorganise the distracted militants. He stayed in a northern district for long and took guidance from a spiritual leader there.

Two militant leaders Rajib and Ripon from Gaibandha joined Tamim, and they started planning

attacks on different places by collecting members. They also gave the recruits training in their different hideouts.

The New JMB members were inspired through videos of Islamic State fighters and their operations in the Middle-East and elsewhere, Monirul said.

Tamim also received funds for his group from Abul Hasanat, father of IS’ external operations planner Saiful Islam Sujan alias Abu Khalid al-Bengali who was killed in Raqqa of Syria in December last year. Hasnat and four others were arrested on December 9 in Dhaka with Tk39 lakh in their possessions.

The investigators have also found five other financiers of the New JMB group and are conducting raids to arrest them.

On the other hand, Zia is a top leader of outlawed group Ansarullah Bangla Team, which is responsible for over a dozen attacks on bloggers and publishers. He was from the engineer corps at Mirpur Cantonment and trained in special operations, according to sources.

A high official of an investigating agency has said that Zia created a strong network of militants in Sylhet, which is also his home district. “But the network is almost destroyed in the district now,” the officer added.

Zia’s name first came up in 2010 for instigating a mutiny in the army cashing in on the 2009 BDR Mutiny, and also the following year, along with over a dozen of army officers – linked to outlawed outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir – for attempting a failed coup in December 2011.

Detectives in 2014 said that the JMB was receiving expertise from Zia in reorganising, planning and conducting anti-state activities as the two groups had agreed to work together.

Saiful Islam, additional deputy commissioner of the CTTC unit, said: “We have arrested a number of Ansarullah members from different parts of Sylhet. They gave us sensational information and names of some leaders of the outfit.”

He hoped that they would be able to arrest the absconding militants soon. l

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Statement of Hasnat’s wife My husband is innocent and is the victim of a terrorist attack, along with all the other hostages that night. The only reason we were at the restaurant that night was to celebrate my daughter’s 13th birthday, I cannot believe anyone would suggest otherwise.

The children are Hasnat’s life and he would never put us in harms way. Once the attackers found out we were Hasnat’s family, they took advantage of it. They knew he would not abandon us. That is why they chose him to carry out several tasks during the night.

Throughout the night we were all held at gunpoint and my husband was forced to obey the commands of the attackers. They threatened us if he did not do as they said.

We realised there was an attack when we heard gunshots and screams coming from the seating outside the restaurant.

I was very scared and then suddenly the gunmen entered the restaurant. We were immediately asked if we were Bangladeshi and if we were Muslim. When we said yes, they asked us to put our heads down and said, “We love Muslims, you can trust us, we will not harm you.” Some of the other hostages had to remind the attackers about this promise they had made throughout the night.

After that they made us sit at a table with some of the other hostages they had brought from outside. We were always with our heads down. I sat with my two children on either side holding their hands tightly the whole time; my husband was made to sit across from us. They asked everyone at the table for their phones. Only Hasnat and two young women who had been brought to sit at our table handed their phones over, the two other male hostages said they did not have their phones. The gunmen ordered Hasnat to unlock his screen and download an app they wanted, but he could not download it. They then took his phone. The gunmen asked the restaurant staff for the WiFi password.

The gunmen kept talking to us about Islam and giving us lessons about it. At one point one of the terrorists sat down at our table, pointing his gun at us while some of the others continued to move around and search for anyone hiding.

He asked us if we knew the Sura Fatiha. I nodded yes, my husband nervously started to recite it without being asked.

The terrorist then asked if we

knew the meaning of it. My husband started trying to say the meaning, but made some mistakes. The terrorist said “you know the Sura, without knowing the meaning?” We were waiting for something bad to happen, but he didn’t say anything else.

They pointed at me and my children and asked “whose family is this?” my husband replied that we were his family. After that we sat in silence.

I prayed and kept holding my children; we were all terrified.

Throughout the night, in order to raise our heads, use the washroom or anything else, we had to ask for permission first. If they gave permission, they would follow the person with a gun to keep them under guard. They also told two young women at our table to cover their heads with their dupattas and gave me a white cloth and made me cover my daughter’s head.

Everything my husband did he was forced to do at gunpoint. At around 10 pm his uncle called his phone.

The terrorists noticed this told Hasnat to talk to his uncle and tell him to tell the police that if they entered the restaurant they would shoot all of us.

They took his phone back after that and used it again. They took pictures of the dead bodies lying around us with the phones. They also told everyone to give them their I.D. cards. Some people said they did not have their I.D. cards on them. The women did not respond to this request and we stayed quiet with our heads down. My husband had his I.D., so he handed that over, not wanting to take the risk of angering them.

Near the morning, the gunmen told my husband and another male hostage to go with them up to the roof of the building. I thought they must have changed their minds, and that they were taking them to shoot them after all.

Both of them were very scared but the gunman said, “don’t worry we will not do anything to you, just follow us.” I was very worried that I would not see him again. I was so relieved when they returned after 15 minutes but then we went back to waiting for something terrible to happen again. After half an hour they again took my husband and gave him a key and told him to unlock the gate. My husband followed their instructions exactly as he was told to do. He unlocked the gate and came back. Then they

told him to stand in front of the glass door, again he did exactly what they told him to do.

At last they asked the rest of us to get up and leave the room one by one. My husband who was still standing by the glass door gestured to me with his hands, to get the children and start moving quickly. We left the restaurant one by one.

We had no idea if they were going to shoot us as we left the restaurant. I was holding my son’s hand and Hasnat was holding my daughter’s, who still had the white cloth covering her head. We had to cross a lawn and then walk for a long while till we reached safety. I fell behind and Hasnat looked back and told me to run. I was exhausted and could not walk properly.

The rumours about my husband being fired from NSU are completely false. He retired from his position to help with his father’s business as a civil engineer in 2013. In fact NSU has released a statement clearing his name (see below).

They also released a circular the week following the attack which also clears his name (also attached).

We have and will continue to cooperate with the police in their investigation in order to speed up his release. We are all very tired and worried about him and we only want him back home with us.

We are fully confident that any further investigation will exonerate him, as he is innocent. My children really miss their father and ask about him every day. We just want him to be back home with us so that we can start recovering from this terrible attack.

NSU Statement clearing Hasnat’s name: “Belal Ahmed, spokesperson for the NSU, said Hasnat had joined the university as a full-time business faculty member in 2008. In August 2012, he wanted to become a part-time teacher so that he could lookafter his father’s businesses. With his request under process, he worked as a part-time teacher since the first semester of 2013. Later, he quit the university.

Asked whether he was fired for his involvement in militant outfit Hizb-ut Tahrir, the NSU official said Hasnat was not among the four teachers sacked for their involvement with the outfit.”

Source: The Daily Star, July 6, 2016 http://www.thedailystar.net/dhaka-attack/ attackers-were-among- dozen-missing-youth-1250803. l

PM: Prepare Qawmi madrasa curriculum quickly n Tribune Desk Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the religious affairs minister to take initiatives for reconstitution of the commission to prepare a curriculum for Qawmi madrasas.

Sheikh Hasina said: “We have constituted the commission by issuing a gazette.

Its work will have to be completed quickly by extending time and incorporating more members, if necessary,” she said.

The prime minister gave the directives while addressing an Ulema (religious scholars) conference at Kris-

hibid Institution, Bangladesh at Farmgate.

Bangladesh Jamiatul Ulema, a social organisation of ulema, mashaikh and aimma established with a commitment to constitute an enlightened society, arranged the conference titled “Terrorism and Militancy in Islam’s Outlook and Our Steps”.

Sheikh Hasina said her government has formed the commission to provide certificates to Qawmi madrasa students on the basis of the curriculum to be prepared by the commission.

Pointing out the estab-

lishment of the Arabic University in the country, Sheikh Hasina said this university has been set up to provide higher education and certificates to the Qawmi madrasa students.

Seeking cooperation of all to this end, the PM said it’s very much needed at this time so that the government can start the work on providing certificates fast.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was present at the function as the special guest, while Religious Affairs Minister Alhaj Principal Motiur Rahman presided over the function. l

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Five new JMB men remanded n Arifur Rahman Rabbi The five suspected members of a new faction of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (New JMB) were remanded yesterday, a day after their arrest from Dhaka.

Members of Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit arrested them with explosives and detonators from Mirpur technical intersection in Dhaka on Thursday night.

The arrestees are Atikur Rahman alias IT Atik, Abdul Karim Bulbul alias Dr Bulbul, Abul Kalam Azad, Motiur Rahman and Shahinur Rahman Himel alias Tarek.

During the raid, some of their accomplices including Nannu, Sajib, Imran and Jinsi managed to escape sensing the presence of the police.

Dhaka’s Metropolitan Magistrate Sharfuzzaman ordered six days’ remand for each of them after SI Mohammad Ali Hossain of the CT unit produced them before it seeking 10 days for o interrogation.

Among them, Atik is an upper-level leader. The rest are foot soldiers and members of a suicide squad, police said.

“They all were trained in a northern district and brought to Dhaka for further training to conduct largescale subversive activities in the metropolitan area,” CT unit chief Monirul Islam told a press conference.

“The group has been facing crisis after nine of its members were killed in an operation at Kallyanpur [on July 26],” he said.

The New JMB is a faction of the JMB, formed in 1998, and its members are the followers of Islamic State. Police blame this group for the

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Prothom Alo, Jugantor asked to give original photos n Mohammad Jamil Khan, Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

Detectives escort five Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) activists to a press briefing at the DB office in Minto Road, Dhaka yesterday. A team of Police’s Counter-Terrorism unit arrested the five JMB men with explosives during a raid in Dhaka’s Darus Salam area on Thursday night DHAKA TRIBUNE Gulshan and Sholakia attacks.

Additional Commissioner Monirul said that during the raid, some of their accomplices including Nannu, Sajib, Imran and Jinsi had managed to escape sensing the presence of the police.

They were carrying 25 detonators and 875gm explosive gel to make bombs. “They were planning to carry out destructive activities to deteriorate law and order across the country,” the CT chief told reporters.

Asked whether anyone of the five were on the lists of missing persons, Monirul said that some of them had left home several months ago. “We are trying to get their addresses.”

He said that the police had raided at least 10 places to arrest the mas-

terminds behind the recent terror attacks including Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and sacked Maj Syed Md Ziaul Haque, and found the trace of the New JMB. Asked why they called it New JMB, Monirul said that some leaders of the old JMB had refused to follow their chief Maulana Saidur Rahman, who was detained in 2010, and formed the new group.

Death-row convict Salauddin alias Salehin alias Sajeeb, a majlish-e-shura member snatched from a prison van in February 2014, is the new leader of the old group, according to a statement JMB released on June 27.

In the statement, the group claimed responsibilities for over

1,100 attacks they had carried out during 2002-2016, but denied having any connection with the attacks claimed by the Islamic State group.

Since September last year, IS claims their members have carried out 25 attacks that killed 45 people including 23 at a Gulshan eatery on July 1. But no one took credit for the Sholakia attack.

Maulana Saidur, a former Jamaat leader who took the helm of JMB on July 21, 2006, has been in jail since 2010, while JMB founder Shayakh Abdur Rahman was executed along with four other top leaders and a suicide bomber in March 2007.

JMB was banned on February 23, 2005 for carrying out series of attacks across the country. l

A Dhaka court has ordered popular Bangla language dailies Prothom Alo and Jugantor to provide investigators the original pictures of Gulshan attack suspects Hasnat Karim and Tahmid Khan which they ran on August 7.

The images were showing Tahmid and Hasnat on the roof of Holey Artisan Bakery on July 2 with one of the Gulshan attackers, Rohan Imtiaz. In the photos, Tahmid was seen holding a pistol, while Rohan had an AK-22 rifle dangling from his neck.

Metropolitan Magistrate Sadbir Yasir Ahsan Chowdhury gave the order on Thursday after the counter terrorism unit had moved the court seeking the photos to help the investigation.

General Recording Officer Farid Mia, also a sub-inspector of the metropolitan magistrate court, confirmed Dhaka Tribune about the development.

Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit chief Monirul Islam on Friday said he hoped the editors would comply with the court order.

“We will send the pictures to our forensic lab to ascertain their authenticity,” he said.

Monirul said if the photos were fake, publishing them would be considered a criminal offence and “the court will give necessary order on the matter”.

“But if they are genuine, we will take help from experts including body language specialists.” l

Professor Yunus talks on Social Business at ULAB n Tribune Desk Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus delivered a keynote speech on Social Business on Thursday, at University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh (ULAB).

Yunus said the purpose of social businesses is to collaborate with each other and everyone should ultilise their creativity to develop themselves and the society. He stressed on the idea of three zeros – zero poverty, zero unemployment

and zero net carbon emission. He also encouraged ULAB students to envision a future beyond regular jobs and start their own social business ventures.

There was a question-answer session with students where he answered various questions on social business. Lamiya Morshed, executive director of the Yunus Centre, provided an overview of the mission of the Yunus Centre to the audience.

Earlier, Assistant Professor Niaz Morshed Patwary from ULAB School

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of Business gave a presentation on Dr Yunus who was welcomed on stage by Juditha Ohlmacher, Member of Board of Trustees ULAB. The programme ended with a vote of thanks by Professor Imran Rahman, vice-chancellor of ULAB. Member of Board of Trustees Ms Taheerah Haq, pro-Vice Chancellor Professor HM Jahirul Haque, Registrar Lt Col Foyzul Islam (Retd), many other distinguished guests, foreign dignitaries and professors of ULAB were also present in the talk. l 28

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Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus with the participants of a seminar on social business at the University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh in Dhaka COURTESY

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Fajr: 5:00am | Zohr: 1:15pm Asr: 5:00pm | Magrib: 6:44pm Esha: 8:30pm Source: Islamic Foundation

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Dacope post office in dire state, immediate repair demanded n Hedait Hossain Molla, Khulna Dacope post office, the lone medium to transfer and receive money for rural people in the locality, lies in a dire state for long due to lack of maintenance and repair works posing risk to both service providers as well as service receivers.

In rainy season, staff of the post office often hang polythene under its roof, as rainwater enters into the office through small holes that have devolved on rooftop.

Local sources said everyday hundreds of people came to the post office to take different services, as it was the only post office for upazila’s residents. The post office building was established in 1980 at Chalna Ba-

zar, said a local resident Golam Khan.

“The post office has been severely damaged and often rainwater enter into its building. Consequently, post office staff cover papers and others valuable resources with polythene,” he added.

All the six rooms at this post office are in poor condition, said Dhiraj Shah, another local resident.

Bijon Kumar Saha, a postman, said they had to deal a huge amount of money everyday, but there was no safer place where they could keep the money and documents during rainy days.

“Consequently, money as well as documents can be damaged by rainwater,” added the employee of the post office. He demanded im-

mediate repair of the building.

“Although the post office is not in good-shape, we have to visit it taking our own risk since we do not have any other option,” said Rofiqul Islam, a local resident.

Postmaster Haidar Ali said: “We afraid to continue our duty inside the building. Sometimes, customers do not want to enter into building. Already many goods have been damaged. We face a great problem to accommodate its valuable papers and others things.”

Deputy Postmaster General Aminur Rahman said: “We already informed Dhaka office to repair Chalna upozila post office building, but we are yet to get any response form Dhaka office.” l

An art completion was arranged on the premises of Tungipara Shilpakola Academy, Gopalganj yesterday, marking the 46th Martyr Day of Bangabangdhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members

Woes immense as B’baria bridge’s work stuck halfway n UNB

There has been no initiative from the authorities in sight yet to complete the construction of a bridge over the Pagla River in Nabinagar upazila of the district, whose fate seems to have been stuck in a web of long uncertainty.

The construction work of the long-cherished bridge was started around four years ago but it was stopped soon afterwards blocking the

chance for the local residents to be relieved of their sufferings in movement.

The work on the bridge was stalled reportedly over fund crisis and a political row just after the construction of its nine pillars was completed.

Five of the nine pillars have already got damaged in rainy weather and the rest four might collapse any moment during monsoon, fear locals.

Some 4000-5000 peo-

ple from 22 villages in Shibpur, Amtoli, Birgaon, Tilokia, Kishorepur, Daskandi, Shobharampur, Sitarampur, Daulatpur, Satghar Hati, Hazir Hati, Thanar Kandi, Gazir Kandi of Birgaon and Krishnanagar unions and residents of Nabinagar East, Nabinagar West and some villages of Raipura upazila of Narsingdi district have to cross the river on their way to Brahmanbaria, Dhaka and Sylhet everyday. l

Two schoolgirls rescued after 16 days of abduction Mizanur Rahaman, n FM Chittagong Members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on Thursday night rescued two schoolgirls, who were abducted from Brahmanbaria by unidentified miscreants, from Chittagong city’s Pahartali area.

Fatema Akter, 14, daughter of Md Sajid Mia and Soma Debnath, 14, daughter of Rakhal Debnath, are the students of class VIII at Nasir Nagar Government Girls High School, Brahmanbaria Sadar upzila, RAB sources said.

Assistant Director Chandon Debnath of RAB 7 Media Wing told Dhaka Tribune the victims were picked up on their way to the school by unidentified miscreants on a microbus on July 27, 2016.

Then Sajid Mia registered a general dairy (GD) with Nasir Nagar police station in this connection.

“After a few days of the abduc-

tion, Fatema’s father Sajid came to know that both the victims are in Chittagong and he filed another complaint with RAB 7 office in the city,” said the RAB official.

Upon receiving allegation, RAB members traced out the location of the abducted girls in Pahartali’s Ambagan area and raided the place and rescued the girls from there around 9:30pm.

The RAB official said during primary investigation RAB suspected that the girls were abducted for trafficking to neighbouring country. The kidnappers, however, left the victims, sensing the presence of the elite force.

“The kidnappers did not physically assault the schoolgirls, but confined them in a house,” said the RAB official, adding that they were trying to arrest the kidnappers.

The victims were handed over to their family members. l

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WORKERS’ LEGAL AID CELL IN CTG

Most workers in the dark about the service n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong Due to lack of vigorous publicity, many workers are still in the dark about the existence of the free legal aid services provided by the Workers’ Legal Aid Cell in Chittagong.

The labour rights activists and trade union leaders suggested undertaking an intensified public information campaign and setting up a separate a publicity wing to make the government-sponsored cell effective.

The trade union leaders also bemoan the fact that efficient and senior lawyers do not feel encouraged conducting legal aid cases of the workers due to the paltry fees fixed for them.

The officials of the newly launched cell, however, said that they took up some plans to take the services of the cell to the workers’

doorsteps.

Legal aid is the assistance provided to the people otherwise unable to afford legal representation or access to the court.

The cell, launched on July 21 of this year, aims to ensure free legal aid services to thousands of workers working in ready made garment, ship breaking, ship building, steel manufacturing industries in Chittagong, the commercial capital of Bangladesh.

At present, a law officer and an office assistant are providing services to the workers at the cell housed at Chittagong Labour Court.

Welcoming the move of setting up a legal aid cell in Chittagong, Tapan Dutta, president of Bangladesh Trade Union Centre (TUC), Chittagong said the cell would help workers of limited income group for taking step to protect their ser-

vice and seek legal assistance.

“Vigorous publicity campaign is required to make the cell functional. Workers hailing from all districts under Chittagong and Sylhet divisions will receive services from the cell. But it will be really difficult for a worker to come all the way from Sylhet to Chittagong to seek legal aid. Therefore, the workers coming from a long distance should be given some travel allowance,” said the trade union leader.

“The fees fixed for a lawyer should also be raised so that they do not fell reluctant to move a legal aid case in favour of a worker,” suggested Dutta who is also a member of 1st Labour Court, Chittagong.

Echoing with the suggestion of the trade union leader, Rajib Dey, a panel lawyer of the legal aid cell said intensified campaign should be

conducted in the industrial zones of Chittagong like CEPZ, Sagarika, Pahartali, Bayezid and Kalurghat.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Abul Hasnat, law officer of Workers’ Legal Aid Cell said that they had already taken some plans to let the workers know about the services provided by the cell.

“We have already submitted an action plan to the higher authorities to disseminate information about the cell. We are planning to distribute pamphlets and leaflets among the workers advertising the legal aid services,” said the legal officer.

“Besides, we have a plan to put up billboards in areas with high concentration of industrial workers displaying the services offered by the cell,” said the law officer, adding that they would arrange training programmes for trade un-

ion leaders.

The cell is supervised by National Legal Aid Services Organisation (NLASO) with the technical assistance from UNDP under its Justice Sector Facility project.

The cell provides legal advice, assist to conduct mediation to settle disputes, assist to draft grievance petition, engage legal aid panel lawyers and represent cases.

A worker can seek legal aids over compensation for workplace injuries, illegal layoff, dismissal and discharge, minimum wage, non-payment of wage and other benefits, payment for overtime, holidays, maternity leave, provident fund and other rights guaranteed by Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006.

As many as 22 workers have so far applied seeking legal assistance from the cell. l

Schoolgirl raped in Mathbaria

n Arif Mostafa, Pirojpur A schoolgirl was raped at Mathbaria, Pirojpur yesterday.

Local people caught the alleged rapist Rubel, 25, and later on handed him over to the police.

Locals said Rubel forcibly picked up the girl on an auto-rikshaw in Tuskhali area while the girl was returning home from private tuition in the morning. Then, the culprit took the girl to one of his friends’ house located at Jiniya village of the upzila and raped the girl.

Being informed by neighbouring people, police went to the spot and rescued the girl. The victim has been admitted to Pirojpur general hospital.

Officer-in-charge of Bhandaria police station Kamruzzaman Talukdar said the girl’s father filed a case against Rubel with the police station. l

Hearing the news of his son’s death, father of Moshiur Rahaman Siam, a student of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, bursts into tears at their residence at Shikhpara in Rajshahi city yesterday. Siam drowned in the Piain River, Syhlet while taking bath with their friends AZAHAR UDDIN

GRAFT ALLEGATIONS

LGRD Ministry seeks explanations from Chittagong mayor n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong Chittagong City Corporation Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin yesterday said he made the allegation remarks against LGRD Ministry with full responsibility and he would officially reply to the ministry within the stipulated time.

The city mayor said this while talking to journalists after a programme at Muslim Institute in the

port city.

“I have heard that the ministry sent a letter. I will give reply of the letter within seven days,” said the city mayor.

Responding to a question, the mayor said: “I am not a man of street. I have made the remark with all responsibility and I will speak with responsibility.”

The Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development (LGRD)

and Cooperatives sought explanation from the city Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin over his comments that the ministry officials sought bribe for allocating funds for Chittagong City Corporation.

Signed by LGRD and Cooperatives Additional Secretary Jyotirmoy Datta, the ministry sent the letter on Thursday.

The ministry urged the mayor to submit his explanation within sev-

en working days.

The graft allegations leveled by Chittagong City Corporation Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin against some corrupt bureaucrats have sparked a furor in the country.

The city mayor alleged that the allocations for the corporation were lowered for not paying bribes to bureaucrats.

AJM Nasir said made the allegation against LGRD Ministry’s

high officials while addressing a programme titled ‘Chittagong City Dialogue’ at Theatre Institute, Chittagong in the Chittagong city on Wednesday.

At the programme, the mayor said he had been told by LGRD Ministry officials that he would be given as much money as he required as a block allocation. But he had to pay them 5% from the amount of allocation. l

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SOUTH ASIA

Afghanistan govt in crisis amid political standoff Afghanistan’s long-running political crisis took a new turn on Friday when key allies of Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah threatened to withdraw their support for the government just weeks before a US-brokered power-sharing agreement between the two men is due to expire. Abdullah’s supporters say that he will no longer tolerate being marginalised by the president. -AP

INDIA

Modi accuses Pakistan over Kashmir violence India’s PM Narendra Modi accused Pakistan Friday of fomenting trouble in the Kashmir valley, claiming there was enough evidence to prove it was fuelling unrest in the region. Modi promised to look into the grievances of those living there in a statement issued after meeting with national political parties to find ways of ending the ongoing violence in the troubled state. -AFP

CHINA

Chinese FM: THAAD exceeds Seoul’s defense needs

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has said the deployment of THAAD in South Korea exceeds Seoul’s defense needs, and no explanation justifies the move. Wang made the remarks during his official visit to Sri Lanka earlier this week.

Wang called on South Koreans to reconsider whether the decision is really good for the safety of their country.

-XINHUA

ASIA PACIFIC

10 dead in jailbreak in Philippines 10 prisoners in the Philippines were killed when a suspected jailbreak and attempt to kidnap the warden went wrong in a Manila suburb. The prisoners, including 2 Chinese, were meeting with the warden of the Paranaque City jail in his office when the explosion occurred on Thursday evening, killing the inmates and wounding the warden.

-AFP

MIDDLE EAST

IS abducts around 2,000 civilians in Syria Islamic State group fighters seized around 2,000 civilians to use as human shields Friday as they fled their stronghold of Manbij in northern Syria. The civilians who were taken were residents of AlSirb and other districts, including a central neighbourhood known as the ‘security quarter’ in the centre of Manbij.

-AFP

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds up a placard while addressing supporters during a campaign rally at Silver Spurs Arena, inside the Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida on August 11 AFP

Republicans, in revolt, urge party to de-fund Trump n AFP, Washington More than 70 influential Republicans have signed a letter urging the party to stop spending money on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and direct it instead to November’s congressional races, a news report said on Friday.

“We believe that Donald Trump’s divisiveness, recklessness, incompetence, and record-breaking unpopularity risk turning this election into a Democratic landslide,” read a draft text of the letter to Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, which was obtained by the Politico newspaper.

It called for an “immediate shift” of party funding to Senate and House races, to aid down-ballot Republicans whose own election prospects have been harmed

by Trump’s unpopularity.

“This should not be a difficult decision, as Donald Trump’s chances of being elected president are evaporating by the day,” the letter said.

The letter cited various actions

by Trump that the signers said have “alienated millions of voters of all parties.”

“Those recent outrages have built on his campaign of anger and exclusion, during which he has mocked and offended millions of voters, including the disabled, women, Muslims, immigrants, and minorities,” the letter said, ac-

cording to Politico.

“He also has shown dangerous authoritarian tendencies, including threats to ban an entire religion from entering the country, order the military to break the law by torturing prisoners, kill the families of suspected terrorists, track law-abiding Muslim citizens in databases, and use executive orders to implement other illegal and unconstitutional measures.”

So far, the letter has been signed by a number of key former party staff members and officials.

Politico reported that it began circulating this week and is expected to be sent to Priebus next week.

Meanwhile, Politico reported in a separate article that a meeting is planned Friday between Trump advisors and Republican Party officials at the request of the nominee’s campaign, in a possible sign

that Trump is seeking help in rescuing his foundering campaign.

“They want to patch up a rift that just keeps unfolding,” a source told Politico, speaking about Friday’s sit-down, which is to be held in Orlando.

“They finally realise they need the RNC (Republican National Committee) for their campaign because, let’s face it, there is no campaign,” the source said. l

Trump says comment on Barack Obama founding IS was sarcasm n AFP, Washington Donald Trump backtracked Friday from his assertion that President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton founded the Islamic State group, saying he was just being sarcastic.

As he often does, the Republican presidential nominee accused the news media of misconstruing something he said.

In this case he targeted CNN, although his comments on the jihadist group and the president were picked up across the news spectrum.

“Ratings challenged @CNN reports so seriously that I call President Obama (and Clinton) “the founder” of ISIS, & MVP. THEY DON’T GET SARCASM?,” Trump wrote in a tweet.

Trump first made the accusation Wednesday at a rally in Florida, and repeated it in interviews Thursday.

He appeared to be mimicking the argument that the US troop withdrawal from Iraq under Obama, with Clinton serving as secretary of state, created a vacuum that allowed the Islamic State group to emerge and flourish in Iraq and Syria. But Trump did not explain fully what he meant.

He also said he considered Clinton, his Democratic rival for the presidency, to be the co-founder of the Islamic State group.

The Clinton team responded Thursday by calling the assertion outlandish.

“Anyone willing to sink so low, so often should never be allowed to serve as our commander-in-chief,” Clinton wrote in a tweet.

Trump tends to stand pat by his often freewheeling accusations and assertions. But last month he used the same defense as this time -- he was just being sarcastic -- after seeming to appeal to Russian hackers to find deleted emails at the center of a controversy dogging Clinton’s campaign.

And last week he did actually acknowledge an error, which was very rare for him. Trump acknowledged August 5 he was wrong in claiming to have seen secret Iranian footage of $400 million in cash being delivered to Tehran as payment for the release of US prisoners.

But that widely viewed footage is believed instead to show the moment in January when three of five American prisoners freed by Iran get off a plane in Geneva. l

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Four dead as string of blasts hit Thai tourist resorts n AFP, Hua Hin

A string of bomb attacks hit popular tourist towns across Thailand, leaving four dead and many wounded, with authorities Friday ruling out terrorism despite suspicions insurgents in the kingdom’s deep south are responsible.

In the normally peaceful resort town of Hua Hin, blood-spattered tourists were treated by rescue workers as forensic teams picked through the rubble, with police scrambling to reassure visitors the situation was under control.

“This is not a terrorist attack.

It is just local sabotage that is restricted to limited areas and provinces,” national police deputy spokesman Piyapan Pingmuang said in Bangkok.

No one has claimed responsibility for the 11 bombings, and the seemingly coordinated attack across five provinces does not match common patterns of violence in the turbulent nation which is currently under military rule.

Analysts said Muslim insurgent groups could be responsible, but that the targeting of tourists far from their stronghold would be an unprecedented escalation in a simmering conflict largely contained to the southern border region.

Some observers said that anti-junta forces could be plotting to discredit the regime, which has staked its reputation on bringing stability to the kingdom after a decade of unrest.

“The bombs are an attempt to create chaos and confusion,” Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha told reporters as he called for calm.

Britain and Australia reacted by advising their nationals to avoid public places.

Royal retreat

Worst-hit was the upscale resort of Hua Hin which was rocked by two sets of twin bombs in the past 24 hours – one pair on Thursday night and the second on Friday morning.

Two people were killed and more than 20 wounded, including foreigners.

A further two blasts struck Friday at Patong beach on the popular tourist island of Phuket while three more were reported further south – two in the southern town of Surat Thani, killing one, and one more blast in Trang, which also left one person dead.

A Thai police spokesman said a total of 10 foreign tourists were wounded, including two Italians and one Austrian. Embassies in Bangkok said four Dutch and three Germans were also among

DT

World USA

Billionaire posts reward for ice cream thieves Ice cream thieves are on the rampage in New York and one billionaire has had enough. The supermarket tycoon on Friday offered a $5,000 reward leading to their arrest and prosecution.

John Catsimatidis, who owns the Gristedes chain of grocery stores, tweeted out the reward, saying “ice cream bandits are wreaking havoc on NYC supermarkets”. -AFP

THE AMERICAS

Venezuela and Colombia agree to border opening

An investigation official collects evidence from the crime scene after a small bomb exploded in Hua Hin on August 12 AFP the junta’s bans on debate and campaigning in the lead up to the poll, calling it far from free or fair.

‘Record tourism’

A man is treated for injuries at the scene of a bomb explosion in the upscale resort town of Hua Hin on August 12 AFP

The attacks came less than a week after the junta saw its draft of a new constitution approved in a referendum the wounded.

“It was very shocking. There was a loud noise and police were running everywhere, it was terrible,” said Michael Edwards, an Australian tourist staying in a guest house in Hua Hin close to where one of bombs detonated.

“I was just surprised that it happened here... now I’m thinking if it’s worth staying,” he told AFP. Hua Hin, which lies about 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of Bangkok, is popular with both local and foreign travellers and was for years the favourite seaside retreat of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest reigning monarch.

The 88-year-old is currently hospitalised in Bangkok for a number of health issues, a source of anxiety for many Thais and a

key factor in the kingdom’s past decade of political turmoil.

The blasts erupted on the eve of Queen Sirikit’s 84th birthday, which is also celebrated as Mother’s Day in Thailand.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political expert with Chulalongkorn University, said the attacks were a “blatant challenge to the military”, which has ruled over Thailand since ultra-royalist generals seized power in a 2014 coup.

“A military government like this is supposed to be about law and order,” he told AFP. The attacks came less than a week after the junta saw its draft of a new constitution approved in a referendum, giving the generals a fresh claim to popular legitimacy.

However rights groups criticised

One region that voted down the constitution was the “deep south” – the three southern border provinces home to a long-running Muslim insurgency against the majority-Buddhist state.

Zachary Abuza, an expert on Southeast Asian militant groups, said that while the southern insurgents had not carried out coordinated attacks for years, it was possible “a small cell” was behind this assault.

“Whoever has perpetrated these wants to do serious damage to the Thai economy. That is where the junta is the most vulnerable.”

Thailand’s deputy police spokesman Krissana Pattanacharoen told AFP the improvised explosives were similar in style to those used in the deep south, but that it was “too early to draw conclusions”.

The country’s reputation as the “Land of Smiles” has suffered in recent years from political unrest, including small-scale bombings, transportation accidents and a number of high-profile crimes against foreigners. But tourists continue to flock to its white, sandy beaches. The kingdom is expecting a record 32 million visitors in 2016 – a bright spot in an otherwise lacklustre economy.

The latest blasts came just days before the first anniversary of the last major attack on tourists in Thailand – an August 17 bomb that killed 20 people, mostly ethnic Chinese tourists at a crowded Hindu shrine in Bangkok. l

Venezuela and Colombia have agreed to the gradual reopening of their border one year after the Venezuelan government closed crossings to crack down on smuggling. The announcement came after President Maduro of Venezuela and Santos of Colombia met in the Venezuelan city of Puerto Ordaz.

The two agreed to begin the process starting on Saturday. Officials will open five border checkpoints for pedestrians from 6am to 9pm each day.

-THE GUARDIAN

UK

Northern Ireland activist challenges Brexit A Northern Ireland human rights activist named Raymond McCord has launched a legal challenge against any British attempt to leave the European Union, saying it would be in breach of the 1998 peace deal that brought peace to the British province. His move is one of several attempts being made to use the courts to stave off a British exit from the EU. -REUTERS

EUROPE

Gulen: I will return only if independent body finds me guilty A US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen accused by Ankara of masterminding last month’s failed coup said on Friday he would only hand himself over to Turkish authorities if an independent international investigative body first found him guilty.

-REUTERS

AFRICA

Uganda declines to send troops to UN mission Uganda announced Friday it would not contribute troops to a regional brigade designed to bolster the UN mission in South Sudan, hours before a Security Council vote authorising the deployment. A key ally of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, Uganda’s government said it did not want to be seen as interfering in another nation’s affairs by joining the UN protection force due to be deployed in the capital, Juba.

-AFP

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What’s behind the latest flare-up between Russia and Ukraine? n AFP, Moscow Simmering tensions between Russia and Ukraine have soared unexpectedly in recent days after Moscow accused Kiev of attempting armed incursions into the Crimea peninsula it annexed in 2014.

Ukraine has fiercely denied the allegations but the war of words between the two sides has sparked fears of a wider conflict as fighting drags on between Kiev and pro-Russian rebels in two other eastern regions bordering Russia.

While the details of the incident remain extremely murky and with both sides making claims and counter claims, here is an analysis of what the latest flare up could mean:

What do the sides say?

Russia’s security service on Wednesday said it had thwarted “terrorist attacks” in Crimea over the weekend

by Ukrainian military intelligence and beaten back armed assaults.

The FSB said one of its officers died in a firefight while arresting infiltrators and a soldier was killed in further clashes.

An irate President Vladimir Putin accused Kiev of “practising terror” and pledged not to let the death of the servicemen go unpunished.

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko dismissed the claims as “fantasies” aimed at providing a “pretext

for the next military threats” and put his troops on high alert.

Russian TV has aired footage of explosives and alleged Ukrainian military intelligence Evgen Panov, whom Moscow says was captured and confessed to plotting attacks.

Ukraine says Moscow kidnapped Panov and has even blamed drunk Russian soldiers for the incident.

Whatever the truth of the incident, analysts say, far more telling is how both sides have reacted.

What could Russia gain?

Putin’s furious reaction fuelled fears that Russia might use the incident as a pretext to start a broader war against Ukraine. Moscow has long been accused of harbouring desires to conquer a land bridge to Crimea through Ukrainian territory.

But analyst Alexander Baunov from the Moscow Carnegie Centre wrote that any attempt to start a broader conflict “contradicts the logic” of Moscow’s recent moves aimed at tamping down tensions with the West over Ukraine and convincing Europe to drop punishing economic sanctions.

Instead the Kremlin appears keen to gain leverage over Kiev in any further negotiations on a stalled peace deal for the conflict in the east. Putin said the incident made a mooted fresh round of peace talks next month “senseless” and blasted Kiev as an unreliable partner for the West.

What could Ukraine gain?

Ukraine understands it cannot wrest back control of Crimea from Russia through armed conflict. So any suggestion that this could be part of a broader push to recapture the territory seems highly unfeasible.

Russia has said Ukraine might be trying the disrupt the tourist season on the peninsula and Putin accused Kiev of attempting to deflect attention from domestic woes.

Ukrainian analyst Volodymyr Fesenko at Kiev’s Penta think-tank told AFP however that he did not see any “benefits for Ukraine” in raising the stakes so dramatically and tempting a full-scale conflict with Russia. l

Russian deploys S-400 to Crimea n AFP, Moscow The Russian military on Friday said it had delivered its most advanced air defence system to Crimea after pledging last month to deploy it to the disputed region.

Russia’s southern military district said in a statement carried by state news agencies that troops in Crimea had “received the modern S-400 ‘Triumph’ air defence system”.

The announcement comes as tensions between Ukraine and Russia have soared over the contested peninsula. l

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a news conference with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (not seen) following their meeting in St Petersburg, Russia, August 9 REUTERS

Putin dismisses Ivanov n AFP, Moscow Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday unexpectedly dismissed his close ally and powerful chief of staff Sergei Ivanov, in the highest-level change inside the Kremlin in several years.

Ivanov – who served with Putin in the Soviet-era KGB spy agency – was replaced by his deputy Anton Vaino.

Many observers had considered Ivanov a leading candidate to take over from Putin as president when his second term ended in 2008.

But the Kremlin strongman handed over the top job to current

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev before reclaiming it in 2012.

The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin had “decreed to relieve Ivanov of his duties” and handed him a job as a special representative for conservation, environmental and transportation issues.

Russian state-media quickly aired footage of Putin thanking a smiling Ivanov for his work and presenting the move as a mutual decision.

Ivanov, a reputed hawk who served as defence minister from 2001 to 2007, was appointed Kremlin chief of staff in late 2011, months ahead of Putin’s 2012 re-election. l

As Earth swelters, global warming target in danger of being missed n Reuters, Oslo The Earth is so hot this year that a limit for global warming agreed by world leaders at a climate summit in Paris just a few months ago is in danger of being breached.

In December, almost 200 nations agreed a radical shift away from fossil fuels with a goal of limiting a rise in average global temperatures to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times while “pursuing efforts” for 1.5C (2.7F).

But 2016 is on track to be the hottest year on record, also buoyed by a natural El Nino event warming the Pacific, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organization. The first six months were a sweltering 1.3C above pre-industrial times.

“It opens a Pandora’s box,” said Oliver Geden, of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “The future debate about temperature targets will be about overshoot.”

Many climate scientists say the Paris targets are likely to be breached in the

“There is a risk that ‘overshoot’ is a slippery slope towards lower ambition,” said Emmanuel de Guzman, secretary of the Climate Commission of the Philippines, which chairs a group of 43 emerging nations in the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF).

Olympics Campaign

An iceberg floats near a harbour in the town of Kulusuk, east Greenland August 1, 2009. Picture taken August 1 REUTERS/BOB STRONG coming decades, shifting debate onto whether it will be possible to turn down the global thermostat.

Climate scientists will meet in Geneva from August 15-18 to plan a UN report about the 1.5C goal, requested by world leaders in the Paris Agreement for publication in 2018. Overshoot is among the

issues in preparatory documents.

Developing nations see overshoot as a betrayal of commitments by the rich and a recipe to worsen heatwaves such as in the Middle East this year or a thaw of Greenland’s ice sheet that could swamp island states by raising global sea levels.

Backing that view at the Rio Olympics, some athletes have signs saying: “1.5 - the record we must not break” in a campaign partly run by the CVF, whose members includes Bangladesh, the Maldives and Guatemala.

Developing nations say overshoot lets world leaders pay lip service to 1.5C while failing to act on pledges made in Paris for a trillion-dollar shift from coal and other fossil fuels towards renewable energies.

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump doubts climate change is caused by human activities and has said he will pull out of the Paris Agreement if elected. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton strongly backs Paris.

The 1.5C threshold could be in jeop-

ardy within five years on current trends of world greenhouse gas emissions, led

by China and the United States, and 2C within about 25 years, according to UN calculations of the amount of carbon that can be emitted into the atmosphere.

Brazilian scientist Thelma Krug, who will lead the Geneva meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said a “wholesale transformation” of economies and society will be required to achieve the Paris targets.

The IPCC report will look at both the damage to nature from a 1.5C rise and ways to rein in rising temperatures.

Many IPCC scenarios in recent years discuss ways to extract heat-trapping carbon dioxide from nature. If applied at a wide enough scale, such “negative emissions” could reduce temperatures after an overshoot. But there are many pitfalls.

The simplest natural aid - planting trees that absorb carbon dioxide from the air to grow - would probably require too much farmland to be feasible. Industrial technologies for extracting carbon from the air are costly and in their infancy. l

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World

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

UN: Israel steps up demolitions of Palestinian buildings n AFP, Ramallah Israel has razed more Palestinian homes and other structures so far this year than in all of 2015, the United Nations said Friday, as the United States and France expressed concern.

Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem have demolished 726 structures this year, displacing 1,020 Palestinians, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

In the whole of 2015 there were 533 demolitions and 688 people displaced, OCHA said.

The structures included houses, shelters for livestock and installations such as solar panels.

highest number since B’Tselem began documenting home demolitions on grounds of ‘lack of building permits’ in 2006.”

France on Thursday condemned Israel’s destruction last week of structures it funded in the West Bank village of Nabi Samuel.

It was the third time this year that Israel has torn down French-financed structures, said a French foreign ministry statement, “which includes the dismantling of a school in February.”

“France is deeply concerned by the accelerated pace of demolitions and confiscations of humanitarian structures that should benefit the Palestinian population living in Area C,” it added.

‘If the Israeli government proceeds with demolitions in Susiya, it would be very troubling and would have a very damaging impact on the lives of the Palestinians living there’

Many were funded by foreign donors such as the European Union and its individual member states, which say they are working to meet urgent humanitarian needs of people under military occupation.

Israel says it forbids unlicensed construction, invoking treaties with the Palestinians that give it full control over 60 percent of the West Bank designated as “Area C” and asserting sovereignty over all of Jerusalem.

Between August 2 and 8, OCHA said, “in 14 separate incidents in Area C and east Jerusalem, the Israeli authorities destroyed, forced owners to destroy, or confiscated 42 structures for lack of building permits, displacing 30 people.”

Israeli NGO B’Tselem said that since the start of the year Israel razed at least 188 homes in the West Bank alone, “the

“We call on the Israeli authorities to put an end to these practices which are contrary to international law.”

In Washington, the US State Department said it was worried about Israeli plans to raze the tiny Palestinian village of Susiya, in the southern West Bank.

“If the Israeli government proceeds with demolitions in Susiya, it would be very troubling and would have a very damaging impact on the lives of the Palestinians living there who have already been displaced on other occasions,” spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters.

The village has been torn down before and its homes are mainly tents, caves and makeshift structures, along with a children’s playground.

Israel says Susiya does not have a permit. l

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Heritage

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

The advertising man from Manikganj Though largely forgotten, Hiralal Sen was a trailblazer in the film industry

n Tim Steel

M

anikganj, in the latter part of the 19th century, was an area of flourishing agricultural activity, of which traces still exist in some of the lavish palaces of the Zamindari of the area. Baliati and Teota palaces, amongst others, even in their semi-ruinous state today, bear testament to that affluence.

Born in 1866, in Manikganj, Hiralal Sen was the son of a successful lawyer and judge, from a zamindar family, like so many.

His father’s work, eventually, took him to Calcutta. It was there that he developed a fascination with the relatively new art and technology of photography.

Such an interest, alone, together with the opportunity to indulge it offered, presumably, by his family wealth and connections, would identify him as, what we now know as “an early adopter,” ready to embrace and explore

innovation in its early stages.

But it was moving film that became his true vocation following his first exposure to

Edwards Tonic.

Such, “commercials” were, just as today, aired during public showings in the developing, early

of Bengal; and the film finished with the rousing slogan: “Vande Mataram!” It was aired at Calcutta Town hall in 1905.

In 1899, Sen, together with his brother Motilal Sen, formed The Royal Bioscope Company, based in Calcutta. They had immediately recognised the potential for using the small spools of film that the machine included for recording brief episodes with which to intersperse live stage performances

it in 1898. He was to go on to become, it is believed, the first maker of film for entertainment, advertising, and even political propaganda “commercials” in India, advertising, amongst other popular consumer products of the time, Jabakusum Hair Oil and

cinematic world.

He might be regarded, especially, as the innovator of such film material for political propaganda purposes, influencing viewers’ political attitudes.

This was made for the Swadeshi Movement, resisting the partition

In the international pantheon of early film makers, no doubt Sen would have had even wider recognition … not least for his turning his hand to using the medium for advertising, were it not for the fact that the entire collection of his work was

accidentally destroyed by fire, a few days before his death, in 1917.

Advertising, of course, is an ancient form of communication.

My former business partner in the advertising business we founded in London, the late great Don White, president of the Creative Circle in London, and former creative director of McCann Erickson Advertising, in its heyday of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, in London, always swore, when lecturing on the history of advertising, that the earliest piece of “modern” advertising material was to be found in the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Ephesus, in Asia Minor.

The material comprised footprints engraved in a pavement, leading to a bawdy house; even in my life in advertising I have seen such promotional form of the floors of supermarkets, leading to a particular product display!

Even the United States had to wait, it seems, until the 1904 advent of “Cohen’s Advertising

Scheme,” for film to be used as an advertising medium, which puts Sen’s efforts right at the leading edge of advertising innovation, worldwide, in his work with film.

By the time Sen arrived in Calcutta, photography had already, certainly, become a popular passion. The chemical processes of photography arrived in India early in the 19th century, and there is no doubt that, by the time of Sen’s arrival, probably in the late 1870s, it had become a popular pastime, especially amongst the better educated and wealthier, for whom Calcutta was the main Indian social and economic honey pot of the time.

Official photography, in the early days, had become the prerogative of the British, and, even for official photographic purposes, skills were often imported from Britain.

There can, however, be no doubt that, by the time Sen decided to make his career in the art, he was already pioneering in making a living from it as a photographic specialist. Indeed, his life might well be considered that of a technical and commercial pioneer.

By the time he was first exposed to moving images, in 1898, he had already created his own flourishing photographic business.

It was in 1898, that, alongside a stage show, “The Flower of Persia,” at the Star Theatre in Calcutta, he saw a presentation of film -- the moving image -- by Professor Stevenson, one of the earliest protagonists of this innovative entertainment.

Recognising, immediately, the appeal of this new form of visual communication, Sen teamed up with his brother to acquire an Urban Bioscope, projector, and camera, from the Warwick Trading Company of London.

The kit had been developed, in 1897, by Walter Isaacs, for Charles Urban of the Warwick Company. It was based on patents held by the French developer George Demeny and development work in the USA. In 1899, Sen, together with his brother Motilal Sen, formed The Royal Bioscope Company, based in Calcutta. They had immediately recognised the potential for using the small spools of film that the machine included for recording brief episodes with which to intersperse live stage performances.

It was an entirely new medium, for both entertainment, and, as Sen had immediately appreciated, for information, and an evidently compelling one. A fact that the brothers determined to exploit.

Initially, Sen, the man who managed the business, was reliant on imported film recordings to fill the theatrical spaces, but he was soon recording his own material.

Between 1901 and 1904, his material was, mostly, recordings of stage productions at the Classic Theatre, but, in 1903, he produced his longest piece, Alibaba and the

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Heritage

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

BIGSTOCK

There can, however, be no doubt that, by the time Sen decided to make his career in the art, he was already pioneering in making a living from it as a photographic specialist. Indeed, his life might well be considered that of a technical and commercial pioneer

Forty Thieves, based, also, on a stage presentation at the Classic.

He quickly found that the demand, for both public and private entertainment, was enormous. It was in that early period that he evidently realised, also, its potential as a medium for publicising products, services, and political beliefs.

By 1913, however, newer forms of film-making and projection were arriving on the Indian, especially the Calcutta, market, and Jamshedji Framji Madan of the Elphinstone Bioscope Company had taken from him much of his market.

His growing disappointment and financial difficulties were then compounded by the discovery that he was suffering from cancer.

Between 1900 and 1912, Sen, and two of his brothers, made 12

films, 10 documentaries, and three “commercials.”

There is little doubt that, at the leading edge of such innovation, Sen blazed a trail that others rapidly followed. There is, of course, a saying in the communications business: “Pioneers are the ones the Indians kill!”

In the case of Sen’s innovative business, it was, literally, true.

The cliché was, of course, being of American origin, a reference to American Indians, but, sadly, in Sen’s case, it was both the unhealthy atmosphere of late 19th and early 20th century Calcutta, together with the unquestionable stresses of commercial and technical innovation, that combined to contrive his somewhat early demise, both physically and commercially.

But, equally, there is no doubting his early appreciation of the cultural and commercial potential of moving images, and his unquestionable skills in production.

Were it not for the loss of his archive of work, one suspects that Sen would, today, be a name that might resonate in the international world of film and television advertising, the multi-billion dollar industry that can nowadays afford to pay its most senior executives upward of $80 million a year as a reward for the endeavours of their businesses.

Sen was, perhaps, yet another of those world leaders in innovation, born in Bangladesh. l Tim Steel is a communications, marketing and tourism consultant.

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Climate Change

Creating solar villages in Bangladesh n Sebastian Groh

F

or nearly 50 million people in rural Bangladesh, access to modern electricity and lighting remains a distant dream. That’s about a third of the country’s entire population, not including yet another large part of the population still suffering from frequent load shedding and power outages.

Unfortunately, the dream of many of finally getting connected to the electric grid has little to do with receiving a good service.

In the last few years, the world-renowned Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL) has brought solar home systems to more than 20 million Bangladeshis. These consist of small solar panels that are easy to install in rural households, providing enough electricity to charge a phone, run a fan, turn on a light or a TV for the evening hours. Often, in fact, these solar panels perform better than the country’s electric grid, despite their shortcomings.

Now a Dhaka-based BanglaGerman company, ME SOLshare, has developed a new technology with the potential to unlock energy access for millions still in the dark.

Built on the past success of the solar home systems, this technology will improve the services for those with meager electricity supply -- basically, through a peer-to-peer solar village nanogrid.

This new system allows households with or without solar panels to trade electricity with each other over safe, low-voltage nanogrids. These grids work the same way the electric grid functions: The main difference being that no centralised big power station is necessary to transmit power over hundreds of kilometres.

Instead, the grid is built from the bottom-up in each village by connecting existing solar home systems of which there are more than four million throughout the country.

The system works like a swarm of bees in that it is selforganised. This means that energy sharing across the nanogrid is not controlled from above. Rather, the energy sharing occurs through individual users deciding when they want to trade surplus solar energy and when they want to keep it. When a user’s solar panel is not working, through this system they can still access energy from other users. Like a swarm of bees, the system is resilient against external shocks.

The nanogrid also results in more

SOLshare builds on existing solar home systems to expand renewable energy throughout rural Bangladesh

It can once more set the international standard for smart rural grids. As SOLshare’s motto goes: Create a network. Share electricity.

Brighten your future power for everyone, enabling higher electricity activities, such as grinding, milling, irrigation, or cooling.

The trading of electricity is facilitated by SOLshare’s proprietary smart electricity metre. The German Ambassador to Bangladesh, Dr Thomas Prinz, when asked about the project, explained it this way: “This ambitious project demonstrates how innovative German companies can support the development of Bangladesh.

By giving more people access to electricity this project addresses a basic demand of the rural population in Bangladesh. The more households join the grid, the better the allocation of electricity and the more reliable.”

The SOLshare approach is attractive to Bangladesh because it serves dense populations in remote village clusters while providing a high degree of energy security. The solar village grids reduce greenhouse

gas emissions from existing infrastructure. Additionally, the nanogrids encourage demandled private-sector investment in solar-photovoltaic generation, supporting other climate change mitigation activities. Each SOLshare nanogrid can stand on its own but will also be able to be integrated to the main grid when so desired.

The ‘Uber’ of the off-grid world -the business case

A technology may be all well and good - but without a solid business case and the right partnerships, it is unlikely to get very much off the ground. SOLshare is supported by the Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL), which overlooks the country’s solar home system program.

The company is not only investing in a new technology, but also creating a new business model with a special focus on IDCOL’s partner organisations, who are SOLshare’s direct business

partners.

The ability of households to earn an income from their solar systems through the nanogrid opens up innovative business possibilities. For instance, households could reinvest their profits from solar energy trading to upgrade their solar technology to generate even more electricity and thus, profit.

Overnight, simple solar users are turned into smart entrepreneurs earning money real-time once their solar systems start producing a surplus of solar electricity.

This surplus can easily be directly credited to their mobile money accounts. For its operation model, SOLshare has long been hailed as the “Uber” of the off-grid world.

Uber is an app for smartphones that allows customers to connect to drivers willing to offer a ride for a small fee. Similar to the car sharing company, SOLshare doesn’t own its fleet of solar home systems but still match makes and provides a payment platform for the efficient allocation of clean electricity in the country’s rural areas. It is a micro scale energy transition model, spreading renewable energy throughout the villages of Bangladesh.

Recently, ME SOLshare, along with its partners (IDCOL,

UBOMUS, UIU/CER), was awarded the 2016 Intersolar Award for Innovation in the International Solar Industry. The Intersolar AWARD recognised SOLshare’s peer-to-peer solar village grid in Shariatpur as one of the globally outstanding solar projects that set a particularly inspiring example in driving the global energy transformation forward.

SOLshare is confident that after the country’s success with its solar home system, it can once more set the international standard for smart rural grids. As SOLshare’s motto goes: Create a network.

Share electricity. Brighten your future. l Dr Sebastian Groh is the Managing Director ME SOLshare Ltd. He can be reached at sebastian.groh@mesolshare.com.

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

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Feature

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Re-framing the existing scenario Building transformative thoughts among the youth, Humanitarian Talent Development Trainee scheme, endorsed by Save the Children, is helping encourage passion and competence for humanity, thus educating citizens that can contribute to society in a meaningful way

nFeatures Desk

W

hat is the best way of providing good quality education to the upcoming generation? Answers will always vary. However, by looking at the contemporary education scheme in our country, rote-based learning systems seems to be widely practiced everywhere.

Neglecting the importance of gathering knowledge on realtime situations, attaining good marks in exams and later getting the best job becomes the only priority. From parents to children, everyone aspires to achieve great results but without confirming whether individuals properly understand the lessons taught or not. Without having practical knowledge for real life situations, where you can apply those lessons learnt?

Most Bangladeshis would agree that these sorts of learning techniques mostly focus on

acquisition of knowledge by through memorisation.

Treating learning as a shortcut route, students, parents, and everyone else who is affiliated, are learning towards memorisation when learning. Whatever subject it may be, many try to gulp it down in the form of memorised text, without understanding the core essence of the lesson.

Memorising only stamps lessons down in our heads, without allowing us to critically analyse the topic.

Thus, individuals from rotebased education systems in Bangladesh have little opportunity to develop core competencies like relationship building, collaboration, analysis, reproducing and communication.

Unable to build their skills in the aforementioned points, the tendency to memorise restrains them from learning how to develop diverse perspectives, understand context and develop tolerance. This is probably the biggest drawback of the rote-based education system in our country.

An education system that emphasises on textbook learning is fundamentally another obstacle to building a generation that can

think on its feet. Our generation can create strong connections and grow more only if they are allowed to think out of the box.

How is it possible to provide real education for real life challenges to our next generation?

To bring a flow of change into an existing system, Save the Children has endorsed a new program named Humanitarian Talent Development Trainee scheme. Under this program, Save the Children UK, in association with Oxford Brooks University UK, is delivering a 60-credit master’s level degree to fresh graduates in Bangladesh. The best part of the scheme is it provides thought provoking learning, as opposed to the rote-based system, while nurturing the learning process.

The scheme follows four basic steps. To foster self-directed learning system, the trainee scheme introduced problem-based learning.

Number one, self-improvement based learning on core humanitarian competence framework to allow learners to become good leaders.

Second, developing critical thinking ability by applying knowledge in preparing critical

research assignments.

Third, building knowledge on a global humanitarian context by analysing practical case studies consisting of contextual information on the world’s most burning issues, ie refugee rights and management.

Lastly, deployment in the field to learn through building relationships with the community.

Shahana Hayat, manager of Humanitarian Talent Development Project, says, “The said process of self-directed learning system is helping trainees adopt to critical thinking and reasoning skills. Thus, the trainee scheme enables trainees to be involved in interesting experiences that may produce contradictory conclusions and a consequent reorganisation of today’s youth’s understanding of the humanitarian context in the present world.”

The Talent Development project helps build the capacity of young people who are best placed to respond to humanitarian crisis by ensuring their necessary skills and knowledge to improve the impact of crisis response.

Being a graduate from wellknown public and private universities in Bangladesh, a good number of trainees’ biggest challenge is struggling with selfdirected learning systems.

About adoption of this new scheme, humanitarian trainee Tasnim Nishat, says, “At the beginning of the program, we are taught how to embrace a new learning system. While working, we’re taught how to reach a solution whenever we are in a situation that has deficiencies.”

Despite developing personal skills to be able to put forth their own argument, views and innovative ideas, trainees are provided with hands-on experiences after theoretical lessons through residential training such as Emergency Foundation Course (EFC), AFT

and deployment with host organisations.

Appreciating the system that encourages one to think logically, trainee Allama Al Naim Bin Nasry, says, “The structure of the program is so strong that this scheme made us understand the system easily and effectively.

There were a few difficulties for us earlier in the program, especially when it came to personal skills to reflect ourselves, put forward different views and create innovative ideas etc.”

The scenario-based trainings and assignments helped trainees improve their technical skills and personal competencies. Also, several assignments on thought provoking learning made them well acquainted with this kind of learning culture. To break free from the typical learning system of Bangladesh, everyone affiliated with the scheme helped in every step of the learning modules to develop skills and adjust to the system.

Another humanitarian trainee, Nusrat Reshmeen, found this thought provoking learning is designed in a balanced way, helping everyone attain professional goals while at the same time also maintaining the essence of fun.

Allowing trainees to access and study global context, diversified cultures and plenty of references/ sources, they have now gotten a greater scope to learn and explore a wide range of sectors/topics, as opposed to the conventional learning process.

Despite the challenges, at the end of the scheme, trainees aspire to be competent at reaching a solution through communication, relationship building, collaboration, analysis and making a better conclusion.

Save the Children’s initiative will not only create job opportunities but will also create a positive impact in our education system. l

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Kids

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

color it

ical creature myth

The howling monster nTasnuva Siddique

J

acob could feel the blood rushing though his veins. His heart was pounding abnormally.

He recalled with dread what these symptoms meant. He rushed out into the woods with the usual things. When he reached the specific place, he chained himself to the big oak tree.

Jacob slowly took apart his clothes and waited with patience, while looking earnestly at the full moon that had already steered clear of the soft white clouds. He felt his heart pounding faster than ever, and the blood rushed to his head. A terrible pain, similar to when bones crack, engulfed his burly body. He screamed with horror and despair. It had started.

His spine had protruded from the middle and took an arched shape. Slowly but surely, auburn hair grew out from all parts of his suffering

body. His limbs and hands had transformed from mere human ones to the hideous claws of a wolf. Jacob waited with patience till the end of the painstaking process. As soon as it was over, and he had completely transformed, the wolf looked sympathetically at the bright shining moon embedded on the clear star ridden sky, and howled.

Werewolves are mythological

creatures that have the ability to shapeshift into wolves. They are forced to do this when under a curse. The process is initiated when the person under the curse sleeps outside on a summer night, with the full moon shining directly on his or her face.

Werewolves are said to be vulnerable to silver and highly resistant to any form of injuries.l

great people

Pride of China China is famous for a lot of talented Hollywood actors, and you may even know some of them or have seen some of their movies. Let’s take a look at two of the most famous ones.

Bruce Lee He was a famous Chinese film actor and

well known for teaching martial arts.

Bruce Lee’s father was a famous opera star. By the time he was 18, Lee had already acted in 20 films!

While in the United States, Lee wanted to pursue martial arts instead of acting, but he got an offer to play the role of Kato in the TV series The Green

Hornet. That is when Bruce Lee’s career took off, and now the man we know as the greatest martial artist of all time was just a boy not too long ago.

Jackie Chan Chan is a famous Chinese actor and martial artist who is best known

for different styles of fighting and performing his own stunts. He hurt himself badly because of performing deadly stunts, and did so many times. He once broke his skull, his neck, ribs and even fingers. Chan is an actor so attached to the job that he never thinks twice about risking his life for it. l

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Kids

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

b o ok

movie

From brilliance to stardom

Inhuman

From humble singers in a British television show called The X Factor to singing sensations with their concerts selling out in mega arenas, One Direction is a world famous boy band, stealing the hearts of millions.

Popularly known as 1D, they are a group performing melodious tracks with meaningful lyrics.

They created a documentary movie named This Is Us, casting their journey to success with a lot of backstage scenes and highlights of their first international tour. The documentary also covered numerous tours in European countries including the O2 arena in London.

The film is bound to be a great watch. l

nSama E Deen music

Author: Kat Falls Genre: Science Fiction

videogame

The story The United States has been hit by a disease. Ferals or human-animal crossbreeds, have taken over the east of the Mississipi, and the people who are still healthy and human have been forced to hide behind a massive wall built along the river. But some of the survivors, all humans, animals and those in between, remain captured in the east by the invaders.

The heroine of the story, Lane, has got to save her father’s life no matter what, who was captured as well.

Will Lane be defeated by the terror waiting outside the walls or will she fight to win till the end?

Get your feet tapping

The Incredible Flexible You is an album by Tom Chapin.

The album was created to help kids understand the principles of social thinking.

Featuring 12 catchy songs, these songs make learning experiences more memorable, enjoyable and fun.

This album is as entertaining as it is educational. It consists of various kinds of music. It tells us the significance of having an open mind. It encourages children to be nice and friendly with others.

The album, as a series of songs, can stand alone with valuable messages that kids will take pleasure in dancing and singing to.

Feathers and snouts The Angry Birds is now out on handheld consoles. The Winged Warriors are calling for revenge against The Mean Pigs in a totally different style.

Angry Birds Star Wars (iOS|Android|Windows Phone) is a sequel that continues the

Star Wars theme as you fling birds at evil pigs. But this time, the game explores the prequel movies, with new birds like Jango Fett, a young Obi-Wan Kenobi, and even characters from the “Pork Side.”

You’ll use slingshots to fire birds into structures and try to destroy all of the enemies in the fewest shots to get the perfect three-star rating. It may not be completely new, but it still is suprememly fun to play. l

The verdict Inhuman is certainly a great page turner. With realistic and bright descriptions, a great deal of suspense, drama and action with a strong story plot, this book ticks all the points for a good sci-fi read.

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Kids

fun science

Forking in for a chime Science can be fun right? If it happens to be your passion, you need to experiment more to learn better. We have one such experiment for you to try out at home. It’s called the ringing fork.

What you’ll need: • String or thread varying from two to three feet in length • Fork • Spoon What to do: • At first, you tie the fork to the centre of the string.

• Then, tie one end of the string around your right index finger and the other on your left index finger.

• Bring your fingers close to your ears and let the fork swing in front of you.

• Get someone to tap the fork with the spoon to finally hear a loud ringing in your ears. l

d iy

Decorative sock wreaths It never harms to decorate your room once and a while.

One thing which always sets a good impression even before people enter your room is a sock wreath. Here’s how you can make one.

What you’ll need: • Cardboard • Colourful old socks • Scissors • Bows What to do: • Take a long sheet of cardboard and cut a circular wreath out of it with the help of an adult.

• Take your old socks and cut them at the heels and toes.

• Next, cut the longest sections of your socks in half.

• Cut the wreath at the top for a place to slide your socks on.

• When you are done, scrunch up your socks and slide them on the wreath one by one.

• After all your sock sections have covered the wreath, spread the socks evenly and maybe place a bow at the top.

And your sock wreath is done!l

science facts

animal facts

Irrawaddy dolphins 1. Irrawaddy dolphins are also known as “Orcaella Brevirostris.”

2. Some people of Laos still believe them to be reincarnated humans, or people who came back to life as Irrawaddy dolphins!

3. These dolphins can spit water to herd fish.

4. They are also known to paralyse large fish with their lower jaw. Why? To play with them.

5. Their blowhole is U-shaped.

6. They love bony fish.

7. They have round heads, small eyes and large flippers.

8. They look a lot like Voldemort!l

In space 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

When astronauts leave footprints on the moon, they stay there forever! There is no wind to blow them away.

As there is less gravity on Mars, a person weighing 100kg on earth would only weigh 38kg there!

Uranus is the only planet rotating on its side in a barrel-like manner.

Venus is the only planet that spins backwards compared with the others.

As there is no gravity to pull them under, humans become a little taller in space.l

Speedy’s Zone Speedy might be a turtle, but he’s not slow.

Travelling the world and staying fit are his favourite things.

Show me the money!

O

ne fine morning, Speedy went to the shop on his street to buy some chips.

When Speedy was paying the shopkeeper, he looked at the money and wondered, “Where does money actually come from?”

He knew money came from the bank, but where does the bank get the money from? Speedy decided to call up his friend Martin the squirrel who works at the bank. Martin told him that money is made at the mint, and the largest mint in the world is in Philadelphia.

Speedy decided to visit Philadelphia to see for himself how money is made. Martin told him that his friend Teddy the bear works there, and he would love

to show Speedy around. Speedy packed his bags and sets off for Philadelphia the next day!

At the mint, Speedy saw how money was made. A special stamp with the design of money is made first and paper is stamped with that, leaving the design on the paper. The papers then pass through a printer which adds colour and other details.

Next the paper is neatly cut into single money bills using a machine, and exactly 32 money bills are made from each paper.

Speedy always wondered why money was stronger even though it was made out of paper. Speedy got the answer to that too!

Money was made from fibers from cotton, linen and silk, so that

it does not tear as easily as normal paper. The notes are even washed and ironed as well!

Teddy the bear gave Speedy some freshly printed dollar bills which made him very happy. He was very hungry and he wanted to spend some of his new money, so he decided to have a Philly cheesesteak.

Sadly, it was now time for Speedy to go back home. He thanked Teddy the bear for his kindness and gave him some bills as a gift.

After coming back, Speedy told all his friends about his adventures in Philadelphia and told them how money is actually made. Now, you know it too! l

19

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Kids

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

DT

20 Editorial

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

INSIDE

Five-ring circus There was a time when the Olympics were all about competition in sports.

Today, it is about economics in shorts.

Gone are the days when the Olympics could be staged -- as they were in London in 1948 -- for under a million dollars PAGE 21

Watch what you watch Just because a character is likeable does not mean that he or she is a saint.

Be that as it may, owing to being able to relate to characters, it becomes harder to criticise them and treat their tragic flaws with the scrutiny which we reserve for less enigmatic personalities

DHAKA TRIBUNE

PAGE 22

Opportunity for all

D

Jute means jobs Currently, the Bangladesh jute industry employs about 500,000 people and earns an annual revenue of $620 million. However, local demand has almost doubled 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.

espite some progress that has been made in the past two decades, Bangladesh has still been unable to fully integrate its population of indigenous peoples into the mainstream workforce by equipping them with the skills necessary for gainful employment.

The unemployment problem is part of a larger problem of the failure of government policy to respect and protect the rights of indigenous peoples.

The numbers speak for themselves -- only 2.63% of the country’s indigenous peoples are skilled workers, according to a recent survey.

Because of the extremely low skill level in the country’s indigenous population, informal employment among indigenous peoples stands lower than the national average.

It is a sad commentary on the state of our economy that over 80% of the indigenous population has very little or no skills training.

Therefore, it is a matter of urgency that the government takes action to improve the skills level and employability of indigenous peoples. It is through planning action which provides necessary skills that indigenous communities will be lifted out of poverty and made valuable contributors to the national economy.

To that end, government action can focus on job creation, microenterprise development, and closing the gap between vacancies and jobseekers by improving the flow of information.

For far too long, indigenous communities have been marginalised, their rights not fully recognised. They are still more likely to be subject to violent attacks and forceful land grabbing.

It is much more common for indigenous women to be victims of sexual violence. They are also less likely to get justice.

As a nation, we need to ensure peace and equality for all citizens. This means protecting human rights, and making sure everyone has a fair chance to earn a living and be a part of the national workforce.

It is through planning action which provides necessary skills that indigenous communities will be lifted out of poverty and made valuable contributors to the national economy

DT

21

Opinion

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Five-ring circus Do the IOC and the IPC deserve gold medals for hypocrisy?

Medals over morals

REUTERS

There was a time when the Olympics were all about competition in sports. Today, it is about economics in shorts. Gone are the days when the Olympics could be staged -- as they were in London in 1948 -- for under a million dollars

n FS Aijazuddin

Q

ueen Elizabeth I had a subtle way of bleeding her English nobility of their wealth.

Periodically, she would invite herself with her ponderous court to stay at their homes, living at their expense until she moved to the castle of another victim. For her it was cost-effective; for her hosts, ruinous.

The International Olympics Committee (IOC) follows a similar practice. Every four years it chooses a country for the Summer and Winter Olympics and, more often than not, leaves the host ruing the purse-breaking hospitality involved.

There was a time when the Olympics were all about competition in sports. Today, it is about economics in shorts. Gone are the days when the Olympics could be staged -- as they were in London in 1948 -- for under a

million dollars.

Within 50 years, in Atlanta 1996, the billion dollar ceiling had been reached. For Beijing 2008, China splurged a colossal $44 billion. Six years later, Russia, like some competitive nouveau riche oligarch, squandered $51bn on the Sochi Winter Games. Brazil, already teetering under the burden of a financial crisis, is expected to pay bills of up to $12bn for the ongoing games at Rio. It is conceivable that, in future, any country intending to bid for the Olympics may need to apply simultaneously to the IMF for fiscal support.

Pakistan, having just weaned itself away from dependence on the IMF, has taken a wise decision to send only a token seven member representation to Rio. It has declared to the sporting world that, whereas it once aspired to host the Asian games, it is now content to share a back-bench in the Olympic stadium with

countries like Djibouti, Malta, St Kitts & Nevis, and the Virgin Islands.

It does not feel the need to explain why, with over a thousand kilometre sandy coastline, it cannot produce a single beach volleyball team, or with the highest number of men with guns (in and out of uniform), it cannot produce one Olympic-level marksman who can hit a bull’seye.

Such anomalies are not unique to Pakistan. It is a sign of Olympics-to-come that the IOC, for the first time in its history, has admitted a new category of athletes -- refugees. 43 applied, out of whom 10 were permitted to participate in the Rio games under the Olympic flag. Another category -- self-described “neutrals” (whom the Russian president Putin called Judas) -- consisted of a couple, Vitaly and Yulia Stepanov, who revealed (for an undisclosed sum of silver dollars) that drugs had been used by Russian athletes.

That simple disclosure was not enough.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) wanted to go further.

And in a perverse echo of Indian efforts to have Pakistan declared a terrorist state, WADA pressed that such doping had been statesponsored and therefore Russia as a country should be banned from participating in Rio. Forced to give a decision

just days ahead of the opening of the games, the IOC reacted by permitting the Russians to compete in the main Olympics and then in an incomprehensible, reprehensible, inhuman gesture, it banned the entire Russian delegation of disadvantaged athletes from participating in the Rio Paralympics.

According to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), “the move was punishment for the country running a doping operation that polluted sports by prioritising ‘medals over morals’.”

Both IOC and IPC deserve all three medals -- the Olympic bronze, silver, and gold -- for hypocrisy. They have forgotten that the West boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980 as a punishment for Russia invading Afghanistan.

Yet, they have chosen to ignore the presence in the same war-torn Afghanistan of US-led coalition troops from countries that are competing with impunity this fortnight in Rio. Shouldn’t the IOC and the IPC add another category to its list of approved Olympic sports: Russian bear-baiting?

In self-respecting countries, sports are a national pastime. In Pakistan, the neglect of sports has taken the force of a national policy.

Sports stadiums are gradually degenerating to a level midway between utility and tourism. It will not be long before, like the Coliseum in Rome, tourists will replace athletes in Pakistan’s derelict stadiums.

Meanwhile, the country waits for cricketer Imran Khan to redeem PTI’s manifesto promise to introduce a “national youth policy, with emphasis on a comprehensive sports policy for setting up in each district international level facilities for cricket, hockey, football, and other sports.”

The public has forgotten, as cricketer-PM Nawaz Sharif himself has done, PML (N)’s electoral commitment to “depoliticise sports bodies to provide scholarships for the youth excelling in sports to encourage sporting activities among women and special persons and to construct modern gymnasium at the District and Tehsil levels.”

Pakistani politicians may not break Olympic records. They deserve an Olympic gold for breaking electoral promises. l FS Aijazuddin lives in Lahore and is a columnist for Dawn, Pakistan’s main English-language newspaper. This article was previously published in Dawn.

22

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Opinion

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Watch what you watch To what extent does TV influence our values?

n Abrar Farhan

W

hen it comes to identity formation, one must not underestimate the part television has to play.

What with the advent of technology, TV sets have become increasingly accessible and the shows that are broadcast are readily digestible.

As a result, it is now possible for the youth to internalise foreign values at an impressionable age, which in turn makes it possible for the phenomenon known as “Californication” to occur.

Given that most shows require minimal effort to watch, few viewers, if any at all, critically reflect on the nature of the message that is being shared with them.

Furthermore, to escape the monotony of day-to-day life, individuals seek out shows purely for shock value rather than doing so for a meaningful plot.

While vicariously experiencing emotions does have its merits, it can also desensitise people.

In the same vein, portrayal of war scenarios can influence the perception of the viewers.

If multifaceted personalities are portrayed as two dimensional, it can sway the audience to simplify the thought process of characters

TV isn’t life

BIGSTOCK

Just because a character is likeable does not mean that he or she is a saint. Be that as it may, owing to being able to relate to characters, it becomes harder to criticise them and treat their tragic flaws with the scrutiny which we reserve for less enigmatic personalities

as well as to undermine the torrent of feelings being experienced by real soldiers and civilians on the battlefront which would be detrimental to society as it could not possibly benefit from this change in mindset.

By the same token, if the war is shown to be glorious then the youth will be misguided and see multi-lateral confrontation with rose tinted glasses.

There is a plethora of World War II movies, each with its own narrative and tone.

The sheer variety of content gives viewers the chance to be exposed to a number of

perspectives, all of which are added to their repertoire of influences that can then be drawn upon in conversation, be it of a casual or an erudite nature.

On the other hand, it is not only the youth that is susceptible; in fact, adults too have been trapped by the sphere of influence that these TV shows have.

To exemplify this point, one must only take note of the tragic “pakhi dress” incident in which a woman took her own life because her family could not procure a dress for her that looked similar to the apparel of a Hindi serial protagonist.

Much in the same way, senior citizens, including octogenarians, are likely to internalise foreign values.

For instance, in the portrayal of Kolkata’s households in certain Hindi serials, it is shown that the bride has to be subject to a host of difficulties and overcome the trials and tribulations set up by her in-laws.

Unfortunately, the archetypal viewer may not be informed that these serials do not reflect the quintessential household, but rather just one of many aspects of life in Kolkata.

This phenomenon is not

exclusive to the Indian sub-culture but even extends to other subcultures including the American one, with shows like Suits which glamourise the life of a lawyer and choose narrative over facts.

The viewers are more likely to tilt towards morally supporting the protagonists who throughout the course of the series commit morally objectionable acts bordering on felony.

Just because a character is likeable does not mean that he or she is a saint.

Be that as it may, owing to being able to relate to characters, it becomes harder to criticise them and treat their tragic flaws with the scrutiny which we reserve for less enigmatic personalities.

As these shows are available en masse, it is not always possible for parents to monitor their children and stop them from being convinced that their existing lifestyle is mediocre compared to what they see on television.

However, that is not to say that children should be shielded from anything that does not conform to worldview as that would only serve to limit their viewpoints.

Further so, because until a certain age is reached, the youth are ill-equipped to filter everything they encounter to get to the heart of the matter as with experience comes the ability to filter content and the intuition of when to and when not to suspend disbelief.

It is fairly certain that many people believed at first that wrestling was genuine, and it was not until they grew older and in turn more sceptical that it became crystal clear that it was not the case.

The Doraemon Hindi dub proved to be controversial because some kids who tuned in regularly learned to speak Hindi words before they could utter a fully formed sentence in Bangla.

Keeping all of this in mind, one can only hope that viewers will be more alert to what ideas they allow to shape their views and influence their actions.

As life is much less forgiving than fiction, it would be best to be more careful about what we watch. l Abrar Farhan is a freelance contributor.

DT

23

Opinion

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Jute means jobs Close the skills gap, generate employment for all

There has been a great rise in the local demand for jute

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Currently, the Bangladesh jute industry employs about 500,000 people and earns an annual revenue of $620 million. However, local demand has almost doubled

n Haripada Das

A

ccording to Gem Jute’s COO, Retired Colonel Munayem: “To produce 50 tons of jute a day in India requires 1,000 people. The same quantity requires 2,000 people in Bangladesh because of their lack of skills.”

Currently, the Bangladesh jute industry employs about 500,000 people and earns an annual revenue of $620 million. However, local demand has almost doubled, with the new government policy to package rice paddy, wheat, fertiliser, and sugar in jute sacs.

Gemcon Group established Gem Jute, a jute-processing factory (spinning and weaving) in Panchagarh -- the economicallydepressed northern-most district

of Bangladesh -- in order to create jobs and alleviate poverty, in 2003.

Gem Jute procures about 60 million kilograms of raw jute to process annually for the export market. It can, potentially, enhance production, but cannot due to several challenges such as load shedding for five-six hours, unavailability of gas, and a lack of skilled labour.

Skilled workers are able to perform better and improve productivity, but in Bangladesh there is a lack of training opportunities available, so most of the training is conducted onthe-job, which is not an effective method at all.

“Our factory has a demand for about 200 new workers every year, due to turnover,” -- that means that with 250 jute factories

in the country, an average of 50,000 workers with these skills are needed annually, even if the market doesn’t expand. Gem Jute currently has 2,000 employees and is looking to double their workforce soon.

To address the lack of skilled workers, Gem Jute has partnered with the Panchagarh Technical School and College (TSC).

Together they have developed the curriculum for a training course for jute mill workers and piloted the course with two batches of students.

Panchagarh TSC administers the course, and graduates from the course are guaranteed jobs with Gem Jute and are paid more than entry-level workers.

The curriculum has been submitted to the Bangladesh Technical Education Board for approval, and once approved, this course may be taught at other technical schools and colleges.

The course includes technical skills such as how to operate the machines, and soft skills such as health, safety, basic numeracy, and literacy.

Panchagarh TSC did not have the machinery needed to teach the students, so the course location

was split -- half (the academic, theoretical, soft skills portion) was taught at the TSC while the other half (the technical part) was taught at the mill itself.

This public private partnership, facilitated by the International Labour Organisation and supported by the Canadian government, is a model of how industries may play a role to help address the skills gap in Bangladesh.

Other industries may learn from this example and reach out to government technical training institutes to provide training support and jobs for students.

Such partnerships can lead to a better match of skills available among the young working population -- a win-win situation for all.

ILO Bangladesh Skills for Employment and Productivity (B-SEP) Project, funded by Canada, is working with the government of Bangladesh to create a skilled labour force by making skills accessible to all. l Haripada Das is a Program Officer, Bangladesh Skills for Employment and Productivity (B-SEP) Project, ILO Country Office for Bangladesh.

DT

24 Sport

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

TOP STORIES

RIO TIDBITS GREAT BRAWL OF CHINA

Kazakh weightlifter Nijat Rahimov snatching gold from China’s Lyu Xiaojun was too much to take for a couple of Chinese journalists who engaged in a full-on brawl in the mixed zone afterwards. An armed policeman guarding the entrance to the venue had to be quickly called to break up the pair who went careering through the barriers separating athletes from journalists, trading proper punches to the face and even drawing blood.

Fantasy Premier League is upon us!

The wait is nearly over. The EPL stars will take the field for the new season. Parallel to that, millions of football fans are on the verge of taking part alongside the players by participating in the Fantasy Premier League. PAGE 25

GOLD COMES FIRST

US gymnastics star Simone Biles made it clear where priorities lie when fleeing a burning building.

Biles, who won her first Olympic title on Tuesday, grabbed the medal before evacuating the Athletes Village, she revealed on Snapchat.

Teammate Laurie Hernandez had her gold around her neck during the evacuation which turned out to be a false alarm. “The fire alarm’s going off, but we got our gold,” Biles said in the video. After they realised it was a fire drill, Biles, 19, posted on Twitter: “When a fire alarm goes off in your building, grab your medal and gym bag. #everythingisokay”.

Biles wins all around gold in coronation As Simone Biles stood locked in an embrace with team mate Aly Raisman, waiting for her score on the screen, the concerned look in her eyes suggested she had no idea who would be crowned Olympic all around champion. PAGE 26

COLOUR ME BLUE

Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh watches his tee shot on the third hole during the second round of the men’s 2016 Olympic golf competition in Rio yesterday REUTERS

Shafiq leads Pakistan resistance Asad Shafiq put the disappointment of a pair last time out behind him with a stylish unbeaten half-century as Pakistan made inroads into England’s firstinnings lead in the fourth Test at The Oval. PAGE 27

Champions Leicester fire EPL starting gun Three months and six days after their coronation as EPL champions, Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester launch the new season with a trip to promoted Hull today.

Their 5,000-1 triumph is still to wear off, but Leicester are looking to the future. PAGE 28

Sagor, Shirin exit 2016 Rio Olympics n Tribune Report Despite a good start, Bangladesh golfer Siddikur Rahman slipped to the back nine as he teed off his 2016 Rio Olympics campaign with a tied 56th position in the opening round of the men’s individual golf event at Olympic Golf Course in Brazil on Thursday.

Siddikur, the first ever Bangladeshi to qualify for the Olympics directly, began his second round mission yesterday with the aim of rectifying the mistakes from the opening day.

The 31-year old carded fourover-per 75 to finish the first round above only four participants out of 60. Although the two-time Asian Tour winner

started his front nine well scoring two birdies on the fifth and eighth holes, he stumbled in the back nine where he struck five bogeys.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh swimmer Mahfizur Rahman Sagor made his second Olympics appearance as he finished 54th among 85 participants in the heat of the men’s 50-metre freestyle event.

The 23-year old swimmer however, kept his promise by recording his best ever personal timing.

Sagor clocked 23.92 seconds on Thursday. His previous best was 23.93 seconds which he recorded in an open swimming competition in Thailand this year.

The opponents proved to be a bridge too far for the man from Pabna, whose best ever timing

was only good enough to earn him fifth position in heat number five. He was subsequently ruled out in the preliminary round.

Earlier on Wednesday, Shyamoli Roy failed to qualify from the round of 32 in the recurve bow event after the 22-year old archer lost in straight sets against Gabriela Bayardo of Mexico.

The fastest man of the country, Mezbah Ahmed, will begin his Olympics campaign today at 6:30pm in the men’s 100m freestyle heat.

Meanwhile, athlete Shirin Akter was eliminated from the Rio Olympics after Bangladesh’s fastest woman finished fifth in the heats of the women’s 100m event yesterday. l

The Rio Games diving pool was gradually turning a lighter shade of green Thursday, but was still far from the normal aqua-blue. Its sudden transformation to a disturbing green this week prompted concerns, but officials said tests proved the water safe. They blamed a chemical imbalance caused by the sudden infusion of humanity for the competitions and said it would be normal again within days.

But that may give some athletes the blues. The British and American men’s 3m synchronised springboard competitors both said the deep-green hue helped with visualizing the pool’s surface, which can aid divers. “The water was easy to see that’s for sure,” said the USA’s Sam Dorman.

MY BAGS ARE PACKED, I’M READY TO STAY

British tennis player Heather Watson was on the verge of leaving Rio when she and men’s star Andy Murray unexpectedly found themselves in the mixed doubles draw after the withdrawals of Romanians Florin Mergea and Monica Niculescu.

“I had a flight tonight. I had all my stuff packed but I came here with my bags just in case. I had no idea, wasn’t sure if we’d get in and then just got told, ‘Get your kit on, you’re on’.” l

25

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Sport

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Raqibul remembers idol Hanif

‘We can win a Test and the ODIs’ n Mazhar Uddin n Mazhar Uddin

Sk Russel open account, finally n Tribune Report

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan returned to Dhaka yesterday morning after winning the Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 title with Jamaica Tallawahs.

The southpaw was instrumental with the ball, picking up 12 wickets in 13 matches including two scalps in the final against Guyana Amazon Warriors, but below-par with the bat, scoring 160 runs.

“I think I did pretty well. I didn’t get enough overs to score many runs. I tried to contribute whenever my team required and I am happy to do that. So, I am satisfied,” Shakib told the media following his arrival.

The 28-year old, who will take some time off before joining the ongoing national camp, also talked about the upcoming home series against England. He expressed hope that the Tigers would win at least one of the two Tests and the ODI series.

“I think we should definitely win the ODI series and I also believe that we have the ability to win a Test match as well. We will obviously look to win a Test and draw one against England. Overall, we want to win both the series so we should all focus on that,” he said.

The poster boy of Bangladesh cricket also wished for a quick recovery of Tigers pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who underwent a shoulder injury in England on Thursday.l

Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra earned their first point in the Bangladesh Premier League when they played out a 1-1 draw against Team BJMC at Rafiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh yesterday.

Sheikh Russel, who suffered defeats in their first four matches, remained at the bottom of the points table with only one point, from yesterday’s draw, while BJMC are eighth with four points.

BJMC went close to scoring in the 22nd minute when Nigerian attacker Samson Iliasu, receiving a cross from Khan Mohammad Tara, saw his right-footer from inside the box tipped away for a corner by Sheikh Russel goalkeeper Ziaur Rahman.

Three minutes later, it was Sheikh Russel though who went ahead as Cameroonian striker Jean Jules Ikanga headed home a free-kick by midfielder Monayem Khan Raju. BJMC cancelled out the lead five minutes into the second half through Zakir Hossain Ziko. Forward Mehedi Hasan Tapu threaded a defence splitting through pass to Ziko at the left edge of the box and the latter found the back of the net with an angular shot. l

The young generation these days might not have witnessed the stylish batting of the original “Little Master” but the name Hanif Mohammad will definitely strike everyone who follows the game.

Hanif, who played the longest innings in Tests and was loved by cricket fans all over the world, especially the subcontinent, breathed his last on Thursday. He was 81. He scored 3915 runs in 55 Tests at an average of 43.98, including 12 hundreds and 15 half-centuries.

Three of his 12 tons were scored in Dhaka while the wicketkeeper-batsman also took 40 catches in his fiveday career.

Going back in time, Raqibul Hasan is the only Bangladeshi cricketer to have represented Pakistan before the liberation war. In one of the Dhaka Tests against New Zealand in 1969/70, Raqibul was the 12th man of the side that was captained by Hanif.

And following the passing away of the batting genius, Raqibul, the former Bangladesh captain, went down memory lane, informing that it was a dream come true for him to see Hanif in flesh.

“Hanif Mohammad was my idol and it was because of him that I started playing cricket. He was my inspiration and luckily, I had the opportunity to share the same dressing room when I was the 12th man. To me, it was the biggest thing that happened in my career. I also had the opportunity to play against him, for East Pakistan against Karachi, in 1968,” Raqibul told Dhaka Tribune.

Hanif’s solid defensive technique and great temperament were the signatures of his batting and his 970-minute 337-run marathon knock against the West Indies in Bridgetown in 1957-58 describes the aura of his batting.

A year later, he smashed a mammoth 499 in firstclass cricket.

“I can remember when I played against him. I was

standing at gully when he was batting. I was following every single move of his – the way he touched his pads, adjusted his cap before every delivery, and his batting stance, which I also tried when I used to bat. And interestingly, I was concentrating so much on Hanif that I am sure if a catch came my way, I would have definitely missed it,” said Raqibul.

Most of his family members, including brothers and son, played Test cricket for Pakistan but undoubtedly it is Hanif who shone the brightest. The cricketing world, including Bangladesh, will definitely miss one of the greatest batsmen the game has ever produced. l

RESULT Sheikh Russel

1-1

Ikanga 25

BJMC Zakir 49

TODAY’S MATCH Mohammedan v Muktijoddha, 4pm

Fantasy Premier League is upon us! n Fazley Rabbi Moon The wait is nearly over. The English Premier League stars will take the field, after a two-month break, for the new 2016/17 season within a few hours. Parallel to that, millions of football fans are on the verge of taking part alongside the players by participating in the Fantasy Premier League.

There are many sites which host fantasy football nowadays but in Bangladesh, most of the fans rely on the official league (fantasy.premierleague.com), brought to us by EA Sports Fifa 17, and associated by the premier league website. Already, more than 25 lakh people have created their own teams and many more are in the process of doing so as the deadline is not far away.

For those who are not accustomed with the topic - fantasy football is a game in which participants

assemble an imaginary team of real life footballers and score points based on those players’ actual statistical performance or their perceived contribution on the field of play. This is the main concept but there are some different rules and designs in different platforms. One can also join customised public and private leagues of his own interest.

In the official FPL, one will get 100m pounds to make a team of 15 players. Four of them will warm the bench. Player prices change during the season, dependent on the popularity of the player in the transfer market. The formation is flexible here as you can field 4-4-2 or 3-4-3 or any other relevant set-up with three defenders at the back. The final points will be counted from the performance of the on-field XI and if anyone misses the match, a player who matches the priority and formation will be counted for points.

A captain is required in the team, who will give double points, and in his absence, the vice-captain does the same. You can change the captain and vice-captain before the start of every game-week.

Changing the substitutes and transferring the players can be eli-

gible at the same time. Sometimes there happens to be a double-game week where the change can be made only before the first one.

There will be a free transfer after each game-week and if you do not

use that, you are able to make an additional free transfer the following game-week. But you can never have more than one saved transfer.

Other transfers will cost four points each from your total. You will get

two wildcards in a whole season that allows one to make unlimited free transfers throughout a week.

Wildcard can be used once in the first half of the season and once in the second half of the season.

There are many clauses you will find in the game website, like a forward gets four points for scoring a goal but a midfielder bags five for the same feat. A defender or goalkeeper scores even more for a goal and they get four points for each clean-sheet. So you need to distribute your budget according to your plan and formation in order to produce maximum possible points.

To give one a clear idea, for the first few weeks the Manchester duo and Tottenham have easy fixtures.

Keeping this in mind, you can build a team taking most number of players from these squads who are fit and will surely start. You will get expert guidelines and scouting across the web and there are many more local and international communities and media to give you the updates on players and games. So what else do you need and what are you waiting for? If you have not started yet, this is the perfect time to join this ninemonth long virtual adventure.l

DT

26

Sport

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

MEDAL TALLY COUNTRY UNITED STATES

16

12

10

38

CHINA

11

8

12

31

JAPAN

7

2

13

22

GREAT BRITAIN

6

6

6

18

AUSTRALIA

5

5

6

16

SOUTH KOREA

5

3

4

12

GERMANY

5

3

1

9

HUNGARY

5

1

1

7

RUSSIA

4

8

8

20

ITALY

3

6

4

13

FRANCE

3

4

5

12

KAZAKHSTAN

2

2

3

7

NETHERLANDS

2

2

2

6

THAILAND

2

1

1

4

SPAIN

2

0

1

3

Updated yesterday (9pm)

DAY EIGHT EVENTS TO WATCH BANGLADESHI ATHLETES

Siddikur Rahman (Golf) Men

Individual

4:30pm

GOLD MEDAL EVENTS ROWING Men

Single Sculls

7:32pm

Women

Single Sculls

7:45pm

Women

Coxed Eight

8:06pm

Coxed Eight

8:27pm

Men

ATHLETICS Men

Discus Throw

Men

Long Jump

7:50pm 5:53am

Men

10,000m

6:27am

TRAMPOLINE Men

Individual

12:42am

SHOOTING Men

25m Pistol

9:30pm

Men

Skeet

12:25am

CYCLING (TRACK) Women

Team Pursuit

2:14am

Women

Keirin

2:33am

Marathon man Nadal in last-eight, Murray survives scare n AFP, Rio de Janeiro Rafael Nadal reached the Olympics quarter-finals Thursday, winning the first of 10 matches he’ll need to sweep in just four days if he is to secure triple gold as Andy Murray survived a major scare.

Nadal, the 2008 champion, defeated Gilles Simon 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 for his eighth win over the Frenchman in nine meetings.

Fourteen-time major winner Nadal is playing in his first tournament in two months after a wrist injury caused an early withdrawal from the French Open.

“I won, that’s what’s important.

I’m in the quarter-finals, which is very good news,” said Nadal.

“A few days ago I wouldn’t imagine being in this position, but we have the desire and the energy high to give my best at every moment and that’s what I am doing.”

Nadal is partnering French Open champion Garbine Muguruza against Lucie Hradecka and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic.

The Spanish star will face Brazil-

ian number one Thomaz Bellucci for a place in the singles semi-finals. Bellucci beat Belgian eighth seed David Goffin 7-6 (12/10), 6-4.

Murray, the second seed and bidding to be the first player to defend an Olympic singles title, came back from 3-0 down in the deciding set to defeat Italy’s Fabio Fognini.

The Wimbledon champion won 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 and will next face American 12th seed Steve Johnson who brushed aside Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy 6-1, 6-1.

Japan’s fourth seed Kei Nishikori eased past meets Andrej Martin of Slovakia 6-2, 6-2 and awaits the winner of the tie between Gael Monfils and Marin Cilic.

Juan Martin del Potro, who put out world number one Novak Djokovic in the first round, made the last-eight with a 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-2 win over Taro Daniel of Japan.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova defeated Elina Svitolina, the conqueror of defending champion and world number one Serena Williams, 6-2, 6-0 in just 48 minutes.l

Coronation complete as Biles wins all around gold n Reuters, Rio De Janeiro As Simone Biles stood locked in a tight embrace with her team mate Aly Raisman, waiting for her final score to come up on the big screen, the concerned look in her eyes suggested she had no idea who would be crowned Olympic all around champion.

The American, however, was the only one still in the dark in the brightly lit Rio Olympic Arena on

Thursday as the hollering cheers and standing ovation that greeted her final tumbling pass on the floor exercise confirmed what everyone knew long before the judges’ verdict came up - Biles was the new champion.

When a stupendous score of 15.933 confirmed she had beaten Raisman by 2.100 points with a total of 62.198, the coronation that had been in the planning stages ever since she won the first of a record three successive world titles

TENNIS Women

Singles

2:20am

FENCING Women

Team Sabre

3:15am

WEIGHTLIFTING Men

94kg

4:00am

SWIMMING Women Men

50m Freestyle

7:03am

1,500m Freestyle

7:11am

Women

100m

7:37am

Women

4*100m Relay

7:49am

Women Men

Heptathlon

7:50am

4*100m Relay

8:04am

Rafael Nadal of Spain in action against Gilles Simon of France during their men’s singles third round in 2016 Rio Olympics on Thursday REUTERS

Simone Biles of USA competes on the beam during the women’s individual allaround final in 2016 Rio Olympics on Thursday REUTERS

in 2013 could finally take place.

Then the woman who had remained stoic throughout the previous two hours as she showcased her jaw-dropping skills across four apparatus, finally let her guard down and burst into tears.

As the realisation hit home that she finally owned the biggest individual prize in the sport, the crowd saluted a gymnast who had just become the first woman in 20 years to win the Olympic all-around title as the reigning world champion.

“Every emotion hit me at once so I was just kind of a train wreck,” Biles said after scooping a second gold in Rio following her success in the team final on Tuesday.

“Everything was going through my head but mainly it was like I had finally done it and when that hits you, you can’t really stop the emotions.” For Raisman, claiming silver with a total of 60.098 meant redemption after she suffered a gut-wrenching disappointment to miss out on the bronze four years ago to Russia’s Aliya Mustafina on the tiebreak rule. This time, the American was all smiles as she stood one step higher than Mustafina on the podium.l

First major doping cases revealed in Rio n AFP, Rio de Janeiro Michael Phelps won a 22nd Olympic gold but doping reared its ugly head again yesterday as Chinese swimmer Chen Xinyi and Bulgarian athlete Silvia Danekova became the first major cases of the Rio Games.

Chen’s failed test after narrowly missing a bronze medal in the women’s 100-metre butterfly was announced as athletics headed into the Olympic spotlight needing an antidote to its own doping scandals.

But track and field’s dented reputation was hit by the announcement that Danekova had failed a doping test of her own, with Bulgarian television saying she tested positive for the blood booster EPO. The news came before the first track and field events of the Games yesterday, with three gold medals up for grabs at the Olympic stadium. The Chinese Swimming Association said Chen tested positive for the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide after Sunday’s 100m butterfly final, Xinhua news agency reported.

Chen came fourth just 0.09 seconds behind bronze medalist Dana Vollmer of the United States. Diuretics can be used to mask other banned substances. l

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Sport

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Participants of the Dhaka Women’s Marathon in action DHAKA TRIBUNE

Shafiq leads Pakistan resistance n AFP, London Asad Shafiq put the disappointment of a pair last time out behind him with a stylish unbeaten half-century as Pakistan made inroads into

DAY 2, AT TEA ENGLAND 328 v PAKISTAN 196/3 (Shafiq 79, Younis 26) Pakistan trail by 132 runs England’s first-innings lead in the fourth Test at The Oval.

Pakistan were 196 for three in reply to England’s 328 at tea yesterday, a deficit of 132 runs, as they battled to square the four-match series at 2-2.

Shafiq was 79 not and

Younis Khan 26 not out, their unbroken stand so far worth 69 runs.

Shafiq, dropped on seven, had twice been out for nought during England’s 141-run win in the third Test at Edgbaston last week.

Pakistan resumed on three for one following the loss of opener Sami Aslam late on Thursday after England’s middle-order, led by Moeen Ali’s 108, had bailed the side out from their latest top-order collapse after captain Alastair Cook had won the toss.

Azhar, promoted to open after his century at Edgbaston, and nightwatchman Yasir Shah were both nought not out.l

DAY’S WATCH OLYMPICS STAR SPORTS 1, 2, 3, 4 4:00 PM, 12:30 AM Rio Olympic Games Daily live coverage

FOOTBALL STAR SPORTS 4 5:30 PM Premier League 2016/17 Hull City v Leicester City 7:50 PM Everton v Tottenham Hotspur 10:20 PM Manchester City v Sunderland

STAR SPORTS SELECT HD 2 7:50 PM Premier League 2016/17 Southampton v Watford

TEN 1 8:00 PM

Sky Bet EFL 2016/17 Wigan Athletic v Blackburn Rovers 11:50 PM French Ligue 1 2016/17 Metz v Lille

SONY ESPN 12:00 AM International Champions Cup Celtic v Inter Milan

CRICKET STAR SPORTS HD 4 4:00 PM Pakistan Tour of England 4th Test Day 3

TEN 1 HD 10:30 AM Australia Tour of Sri Lanka 3rd Test Day 1 8:00 PM India Tour of West Indies 3rd Test Day 5

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Sport

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Champions Leicester fire Premier League starting gun n AFP, London Three months and six days after their glittering coronation as Premier League champions, Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City launch the new season with a trip to promoted Hull City today.

The novelty of their 5,000-1 triumph is still to wear off, but Leicester are already looking to the future.

Midfield lynchpin N’Golo Kante and transfer mastermind Steve Walsh have both left, but the club have signed several new recruits and Ranieri is determined to ensure they do not fall off the map.

Ranieri could hand league debuts to several players today.

Nampalys Mendy, Kante’s replacement, and 16.6 million pounds ($21.5 million, 19.3 million euros) record signing Ahmed Musa are among those in contention.

Ranieri’s men had a mixed

pre-season, losing heavily to Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona, but Manchester United needed a late Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal to beat them in last Sunday’s Community Shield.

Leicester’s odds of retaining the title are 33-1 and with United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool all strengthening, they are tipped to fall out of the Champions League places. In any case, they could scarcely have asked for better opening day opposition than crisis club Hull. l

FIXTURES Burnley Crystal Palace Everton Hull City Manchester City Middlesbrough Southampton

v v v v v v v

Swansea City West Bromwich Tottenham Leicester City Sunderland Stoke City Watford

Defending champions Leicester City will start the new Premier League season against Hull City today

Turkey seeks arrest of Hakan Sukur n Reuters Turkey has issued an arrest warrant for one of its most celebrated soccer players, former international striker Hakan Sukur, ordering the seizure of his assets as part of an investigation into last month’s failed coup, state media said.

Prosecutors accuse Sukur of “being a member of an armed terror group”, a reference to the organisation of the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen whom Ankara says was behind the abortive putsch.

Gulen denies the accusation.

After football, Sukur went into politics and was in 2011 elected to parliament for President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party. He resigned in 2013 after a corruption probe that targeted Erdogan and his inner circle, siding with the movement of Gulen.

The player’s father, Sermet Sukur, was detained yesterday in the northwestern province of Sakarya. l

FACTFILE OF SEVEN PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE CONTENDERS LEICESTER

Manager: Claudio Ranieri (ITA) 2015-16 position: champions; FA Cup: third round; League Cup: fourth round Transfers in: Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow/RUS £16m) Nampalys Mendy (Nice/FRA, £13m), Bartosz Kapustka (Cracovia/POL, £7.5m), Luis Fernandez (Sporting Gijon/ ESP, free transfer) Transfers out: N’Golo Kante (Chelsea, £30m), Joe Dodoo (Rangers/SCO, £250,000), Andrej Kramiric (Hoffenheim/GER, Undisclosed fee) - After masterminding the most unexpected title triumph in English football history last season, Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri insists his main aim this term is to avoid relegation. Few other clubs crowned champions so recently would adopt such a modest approach, but Ranieri’s attempts to keep the pressure off Leicester worked a treat last season and it would be no surprise to see them mount a strong title defence.

ARSENAL

Manager: Arsene Wenger (FRA) 2015-16 position: second; FA Cup: quarter-finals; League Cup: fourth round; Champions League: last 16 Transfers in - Granit Xhaka (Borussia Monchengladbach/ GER, £35m) Rob Holding (Bolton, Undisclosed), Tamuka Asano (Sanfrecce Hiroshima/JPN, Undisclosed)

Transfers out - Isaac Hayden (Newcastle, Undisclosed), Wellington (Fluminense/BRA, Undisclosed) - It’s now 12 years since Arsenal were last crowned English champions and last season’s underwhelming campaign further stoked the fires of frustration among the club’s increasingly angst-ridden fans. Arsene Wenger has taken the brunt of the abuse but, despite their latest low-key transfer window, the Gunners boss remains steadfast in his belief that his current squad are good enough to end their title drought.

TOTTENHAM

Manager: Mauricio Pochettino (ARG) 2015-16 position: third; FA Cup: fifth round; League Cup: third round; Europa League: last 16 Transfers in - Vincent Janssen (AZ Alkmaar/NED, £17m), Victor Wanyama (Southampton, £11m) Transfers out - Grant Ward (Ipswich, Undisclosed), Alex Pritchard (Norwich, free) - Having emerged as unexpected title challengers, Tottenham choked in the final furlong and squandered a chance to win their first top-flight crown since 1961. Even so, Pochettino’s young team look capable of building on that near-miss, especially if Harry Kane can retain his goal touch and Dele Alli continues to fulfil his promise.

MANCHESTER CITY

Manager: Pep Guardiola (ESP) 2015-16 position: fourth; FA Cup: fifth round; League Cup: winners; Champions League: semi-finals Transfers in - John Stones (Everton, £47.5m), Leroy Sane (Schalke/GER, £37m), Ilkay Gundogan (Borussia Dortmund/ GER, £21m) Nolito (Celta Vigo/ESP, £13.8m), Alexander Zinchenko (FC Ufa/RUS, Undisclosed) Transfers out - Seko Fofana (Udinese/ITA, £3.8m), Martin Demichelis (released) - The Pep Guardiola era is underway at the Eastlands as the Spaniard gets his first taste of the Premier League after trophy-laden spells at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

With old rival Jose Mourinho installed across town at Old Trafford, Guardiola faces an intense battle for local bragging rights, but City’s ambitions are more global these days and a spending spree of over £100 million has them well positioned to go for gold.

MANCHESTER UNITED

Manager: Jose Mourinho (POR) 2015-16 position: fifth; FA Cup: winners; League Cup: fourth round; Champions League: group stage; Europa League: last 16 Transfers in - Paul Pogba (Juventus/ITA, £89m), Eric Bailly (Villarreal/ESP, £30m), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Borussia Dortmund/ GER, £26.3m), Zlatan Ibrahimovic

(Paris Saint Germain/FRA, free) Transfers out - Ashley Fletcher (West Ham, free), Nick Powell (Wigan, free) Victor Valdes (released), Donald Love and Paddy McNair (Sunderland, £5.5m) - As statements of intent go, spending a world record £89 million on France midfielder Paul Pogba was a typically extravagant way for the spotlight-hogging Mourinho to announce his arrival at United. Mourinho is desperate to restore his reputation after last season’s sacking by Chelsea and appears to have found the perfect match in United, a club so traumatised by the woeful reigns of Louis van Gaal and David Moyes that spending any amount of money seems justifiable if it means they return to the top.

LIVERPOOL

Manager: Jurgen Klopp (GER) 2015-16 position: eighth; FA Cup: fourth round; League Cup: runners-up; Europa League: runners-up Transfers in - Sadio Mane (Southampton, £34m), Georginio Wijnaldum (Newcastle, £25m), Loris Karius (Mainz/GER, £4.7m), Ragnar Klavan (Augsburg/GER, £4.2m), Matip (Schalke/GER, free) Transfers out - Jordon Ibe (Bournemouth, £15m), Joe Allen (Stoke, £13m), Martin Skrtel (Fenerbahce/TUR, £5m), Jerome Sinclair (Watford, £4m), Brad Smith (Bournemouth, £3m), Kolo

Toure (Celtic/SCO, free) - Frustrated by final defeats in the Europa League and League Cup last season, Reds boss Jurgen Klopp has embarked on a significant overhaul of his squad, with Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum brought in to add pace and poise.

But finding the balance between his desire for a relentless pressing game and the demands of a gruelling English fixture list could be the key to Klopp’s attempt to emulate his Bundesliga success at Anfield.

CHELSEA

Manager: Antonio Conte (ITA) 2015-16 position: 10th; FA Cup: quarter-finals; League Cup: fourth round; Champions League: last 16 Transfers in - Michy Batshuayi (Marseille/FRA, £33m), N’Golo Kante (Leicester, £30m) Transfers out - Papy Djilobodji (Sunderland, £8m), Stipe Perica (Udinese/ITA, £3m), Mohamed Salah (Roma/ITA, Undisclosed) - Stunned by his team’s miserable title defence last term, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has turned to former Juventus and Italy coach Antonio Conte to revitalise a squad of disenchanted stars. Conte’s most important move may prove to be the signing of N’Golo Kante, the France midfielder whose aggressive all-action style was crucial to Leicester’s title success. l

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Prejudice (4) 4 Assists (5) 8 Incentive (6) 9 Innermost being (4) 11 Ugly amphibians (5) 12 Not fast (4) 14 Drink (3) 15 Come forth (6) 19 Vegetable (6) 21 Corn spike (3) 22 Chime (4) 24 Joint (5) 27 Desert dweller (4) 29 Reluctant (6) 30 Flaxen cloth (5) 31 Whirlpool (4)

DOWN 1 Public transport (3) 2 Talisman (6) 3 Alone (4) 4 Success (3) 5 Cell up memories (5) 6 Meadow (3) 7 Sibling (6) 10 Capital of Norway (4) 13 Raining (3) 14 Call for aid (6) 16 Cleaning implement (3) 17 Brought up (6) 18 Festive (4) 20 Over (5) 23 Comfort (4) 25 Prohibit (3) 26 Lump on the skin (3) 28 European laurel (3)

29

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Downtime

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODECRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 15 represents R so fill R every time the figure 15 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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30

Showtime

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Flip the script n Showtime Desk We’re seeing more and more films being rebooted for the newer generations of moviegoers, and the role reversals in gender-bending characters are up front and centre.

The past month, Hollywood has announced four different films that are being rebooted with female lead stars, being the opposite of the original blockbuster hits, starring the most successful male actors (Splash being the odd one out).

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels In the 1988 comedy, Steve Martin and Michael Caine starred as two con men — one unsophisticated and one suave — scamming their way across the French Riviera.

In the MGM reimagining, Rebel Wilson will star as one of two female con artists who team up to bamboozle a tech prodigy out of his earned fortune.

Ocean’s Eleven The Warner Bros. movie is more of a spinoff as opposed to a remake of Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s franchise, which starred George Clooney, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt.

Currently titled Ocean’s Ocho, the Gary Ross-directed ensemble has cast seven of the eight spots, including Cate Blanchett and

Sandra Bullock, who will head up the cast. Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling and Helena Bonham Carter will also star, along with Rihanna and Awkwafina. Plot details are being kept under wraps.

Splash Channing Tatum will star in the mermaid (now, merman) role made famous by Daryl Hannah in the 1984 film, while his 22 Jump Street co-star Jillian Bell will take over the role of the land-bound love interest, originally played

by Tom Hanks. Ron Howard and his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer will produce the gender-swapped remake for Disney.

The Rocketeer Disney is developing a new take on its 1991 action-adventure, which will be fronted by a black female. The movie — which is being produced by Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers and Ryan Kalil of the Carolina Panthers — will take place six years after the events of the original film, when a young female pilot takes up the mantle after the original Rocketeer vanishes while fighting the Nazis.

She will go head-to-head against a corrupt rocket scientist that is trying to turn the tides of the Cold War. It is unclear which actress will don the jet pack for the part. l

Three singers in Shotek Bhul

Dhoom 4: Abhishek out, Ranveer in n Showtime Desk

n Showtime Desk On the occasion of Eid, three talented young singers are coming together for the first time. Minar, Shovvota and Tanjeeb have completed the entire process of a brand new album ready for music lovers all over. The title of the album is Shotek Bhul. The album is being released under the CMV banner. Jhoom singer Minar says that he and Joy Shahriar, the music arranger and composer of this album, have been very close for a while now. But in all this time, they have never actually worked together. Minar is really excited

about his new album.

Minar said, “I hope audiences will like the different taste of the album.” Joy Shahriar added, “I have never seen an idle lyricist like Mahmood Manzoor. He does not write often but when he does, that becomes amazing with tune. I hope I have done justice to his lyrics. Minar, Tanjeeb and Shovvota are very close to my heart. I felt very comfortable working with them.”

CMV, the producer of the album, stated that this album will be published on both GP music apps and on music CDs before Eid. l

According to sources, the makers of the Dhoom franchise have decided on the title of the next installment. Dhoom Reloaded: The Chase Continues will not only take the franchise to the next level, they’ve also decided to mix things up in the casting. The original buddy-cop duo of Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra will not be a part of the next film. The head of Yashraj Films, Aditya Chopra, wants to make the Dhoom franchise fresh and relatable to the current generation. The biggest studio in Bollywood has now decided to cast Filmfare’s Best Actor winner Ranveer Singh to play the lead role, alongside superstar Salman Khan. The buzz is both actors have already signed on the dotted line for the upcoming installment(s).

To no surprise, Ranveer, one of Yashraj’s favourite actors, has raked in millions at the box office, and that’s why Aditya Chopra has considered him for

the film. Now, Salman seems to have been cast as the main villain in the film. Ranveer, is no doubt, the younger generation’s go-to hero with not only the acting chops, but is capable of putting up a demanding physical performance. Ranveer is also going through the finalised stages of the new project, as his

combo of comedy and action will only play to his advantage in a franchise such as Dhoom.

So far the production team has not made any official announcements as of yet. The news of the revamp in the Dhoom franchise might be a very welcomed one, after the second sequel’s abysmal ratings. l

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Showtime

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

The loss of a beacon in a very dark phase

n Gopa Biswas Caesar The legend Tareque Masud never thought he would end up with a career in making films. When he, along with Mishuk Munier, started following S M Sultan with a camera, neither Bangladesh nor they themselves had any idea how an auteur was "under construction." That documentary, shot in 16mm film, was his "firstborn" and it took him seven years to make it.

Later on, in many of his interviews, he affirmed that if he knew that he was going to be a

filmmaker, then he would rather take seven months to wrap it up to concentrate on another.

His urge to prove himself as a director would not have let him waste seven long years with Sultan. Therefore, he viewed his first venture Adam Surat as a by-product at a phase of selfexploration. He, Mishuk Munier and their camera were in a journey to know life at its true features along with a most enlightened soul of our time. They intensely studied the painter, his paintings, and his vision along with their own. After Adam Surat, he took a

break. Then, co-incidentally, the magical footage of Muktir Gaan and Tareque Masud found each other. In 1995, he returned to Bangladesh to change its filmscape for the next few decades. The release of Muktir Gaan, ie the song of freedom, literally freed our audiences from being catered to only formula films. Bangladeshi cinema halls experienced something very new with awe.

Never before had our cinema halls been flooded with such audiences to see a documentary.

Tareque Masud, the beacon of modern Bangla films, had found a

reason to make films then. Since then, till the day we lost him, he kept living films for us, the many who waited in long queues to see Muktir Gaan.

Masud will always stand out as an idol to the aspiring filmmakers for several reasons.

He believed in film grammar and knew it thoroughly. In spite of being technically way more sound than most of his contemporaries, he was the most humble one.

Whenever he was approached to advise, he always said he cannot instruct us to do things and preferred to tell us what not to do because he wanted to give priority to individuals and refrained from intruding.

He believed in proper film schools. As many believe, film is something to be born with; they

often get very rigid and elitist.

They often think film is not everybody’s cup of tea and restrict mandatory film viewing in only classics. They often consider the popular genres as untouchables.

But Masud believed in learning filmmaking as well as liked to accommodate "bazaari" films in the viewing list with an open mind. He was the most optimistic of the lot about the future of Bangladeshi films, but he was also fearful that an entire generation of filmmakers might get trapped.

He envisioned that the new generation would only be capable of producing artificiality instead of art, unless compassionate measures are taken. And, right there we mourn his untimely demise. l

Mad Max: Fury Road HBO 7:08pm A woman rebels against a tyrannical ruler in postapocalyptic Australia in search for her home-land with the help of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshipper, and a drifter named Max. Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult

Rumble in the Bronx Movies Now 7:35pm A young man visiting and helping his uncle in New York City finds himself forced to fight a street gang and the mob with his martial art skills.

Cast: Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, Francoise Yip

WHAT TO WATCH

I, Robot Star Movies 9:30pm In 2035, a technophobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, which leads to a larger threat to humanity.

Cast: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood

Underworld: Evolution WB 10:27pm Picking up directly from the previous film, vampire warrior Selene and the half-werewolf Michael hunt for clues to reveal the history of their races and the war between them.

Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Bill Nighy

Thor 2: The Dark World Zee Studio 7:15pm A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston

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Back Page

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

THE ADVERTISING MAN FROM MANIKGANJ PAGE 12

SAGOR, SHIRIN EXIT THE LOSS OF A BEACON IN 2016 RIO OLYMPICS PAGE 24 A VERY DARK PHASE PAGE 31

Dhaka R/As can be commercialised for high fees n Abu Hayat Mahmud The government is planning to increase commercial space in Dhaka's residential areas by taking high land conversion fees to turn residential establishments into commercial ones.

Taking recommendations from the country's apex business leaders, self-made business owners and prominent urban planners and architects into consideration, the government decided to expand commercial spaces in the city's posh areas, sources told the Dhaka Tribune.

The decision comes a few weeks after Dhaka's development authority Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) launched a drive to evict unauthorised establishments in Dhanmondi, Gulshan and Uttara residential areas on July 25. Rajuk plans to run the drive until August 31.

The eviction drive was launched in the wake of the July 1 terror attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, which was set up in a residential buildingin Gulshan. The government decided to shut down around 2,400 business which had been set up on residential plots in Gulshan, Dhanmondi and Uttara.

Since the drive began, Rajuk has evicted about 100 business, most of which were owned by self-made entrepreneurs. The eviction resulted in the loss of their investment, while around 2,000 people employed at those establishments lost their jobs.

A large number of educational

and said the proposal would be placed before the Cabinet.

High conversion fees required

Land conversion fees 1 2 3 4 5

Gulshan/ Banani/ Baridhara – commercial: Tk50 lakh per katha Banani Road 11 – non-residential: Tk30 lakh per katha Uttara/Nikunja – commercial: Tk25 lakh per katha Uttra/Nikunja – non-residential: 15 lakh per katha Dhanmondi: Not confirmed

Rajuk demolishes an unauthorised shop built in the illegal extension of a residential building in Dhanmondi during its eviction drive. The photo was taken recently MEHEDI HASAN institutions have been shut down or given a notice to move immediately, putting the academic future of hundreds of students at risk.

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Rajuk Chairman Bajlul Karim Chowdhury said the government took such decision considering the rapidly increasing population of the capital city.

He said Rajuk sent a proposal to the Ministry of Housing and Public Works seeking approval to

changethe status of residential establishments on 11 roads in Uttara and one in Gulshan 2 for commercial use.

“The ministry is currently processing the list. If they approve the proposal, the status of residential plots on those roads will be converted to non-residential and their owners will be able to use them for business purposes,” he added.

Decision on such establishments in Gulshan 1, Uttara and

Dhanmondi has yet to be made, he further said.

He said the Dhanmondi residential area was developed by the Public Works Department, not Rajuk. “But if the government deems it necessary to change the status of residential establishments there, then steps will be taken accordingly.”

When contacted, Housing and Public Works Minister Mosharraf Hossain acknowledged the matter

The government has increased the fees to convert land category from residential to non-residential in the upscale areas of Dhaka by 750% over the last few years, apparently to discourage commercialisation of the neighbourhoods.

Following recommendations from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, Rajuk increased land conversion fees for converting a katha of a plot from the category of residential to non-residential or commercial in the residential areas of Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, Nikunja and Uttara.

When the conversion system was initiated in 2004, Rajuk fixed the conversion fees to be Tk8 lakh in Gulshan and Banani and Tk4 lakh in Uttara.

In 2011, the fees were increased to Tk5 lakh in Uttara. For Banani Road 11, the fee was fixed as Tk10 lakh per katha.

Currently, the conversion fee is Tk50 lakh residential to commercial conversion and Tk30 lakh for residential to non-residential conversion in Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara. In Uttara and Nikunja areas, the fees are Tk 25 lakh and Tk15 lakh.

Rajuk authorities did not mention the fixed rate for Dhanmondi area, but an official, seeking anonymity, said the conversion fee is Tk25 lakh per katha.

Phelps clinches 22nd gold, breaks 2,000-year-old record n Tribune Desk

Michael Phelps of the United States won the Olympic 200 metres individual medley on Thursday to capture the 22nd gold medal of his career and become the first swimmer to win the same event at four consecutive Games.

The Baltimore Bullet now has enough golds to further cement his status as the most-decorated Olympian of all time and somehow even more impressively enough individual victories to break a more than 2,000-year-old Olympic record, set

by Leonidas of Rhodes in 152 B.C. The win gives Phelps an unprecedented 13th individual Olympic victory (which is to say, not counting his relay wins), one more than

Leonidas’ 12 individual victories.

The ancient Greek runner won three different events in four consecutive Olympics, stretching from 164 B.C. to 152 B.C. Meanwhile, Japan's 400 IM champion Kosuke Hagino won silver and Wang Shun of China took bronze, both moving dramatically through the field on the final length after turning in fifth and seventh place.

It was yet another extraordinary swim for Phelps, 31, who has now won two individual and two relay golds at his fifth Olympics, two years after coming out of retirement, reports Reuters.

His medal haul has now risen to 26, including two silvers and two bronzes, with the 100 butterfly

final still to come yesterday. Thirteen of his golds have come in individual races, the rest in relays.

"Right now I don't know how to wrap my head around that. I don't know what to say. It's been a hell of a career," Phelps told reporters, while acknowledging the strain on his 31-year-old body.

"That hurt a lot ... my body is in

pain, my legs are hurting, I'm tired."

Despite winning four golds in London in 2012, Phelps has said he was dissatisfied with his preparation and results there and wants to bow out on his own terms.

"The biggest thing for me through the meet so far is I've been able to kind of finish how I wanted to. I've been able to come back and I've been able to accomplish things that I just dreamt of," he said.

There was little time to savour the moment, however, as he raced back off the pool deck to get ready for the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly, which he also has the chance to win for a fourth successive Games.

He finished second in his semi-final to qualify fifth fastest for yesterday's final.

In the medley, Brazil's Thiago Pereira went off fastest, leading from Phelps after the butterfly leg, with Ryan Lochte of the United States and Hagino neck-and-neck just behind.

With the Rio crowd's excitement mounting, the three turned almost together after the backstroke, with Lochte just 0.01 seconds ahead.

Phelps led from Pereira and Lochte at the final turn and powered on as the other two faded, opening the way for Hagino and Wang to grab the two other medals.

Phelps' four consecutive golds in the same event are unique for a swimmer, and place him in the same Olympic pantheon as fellow-Americans Al Oerter in the discus and Carl Lewis in the long jump. l

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