Sunday, January 29, 2017

SECOND EDITION

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

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Magh 16, 1423, Rabiul Saani 30, 1438

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Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 272

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www.dhakatribune.com

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32 pages |

Price: Tk10

PM blasts anti-Rampal protesters again › 3 Journalists protest police assault on colleagues › 3 BNP divided over EC search committee › 3

Tk105cr down the drain

Protest held over textbook changes

›5

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Bills targeting protests in US fuel free speech fears › 9

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Mismanagement in gas exploration project throws Tk105cr down the drain n Aminur Rahman Rasel The government is facing a Tk105 crore loss due its futile efforts to explore gas at the sole exploration gas well in North Bengal, which does not have enough gas flow pressure for commercial production.

Sources said the hefty loss incurred by Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Bapex), the stateowned company in charge of the project, was caused by a lack of proper planning and internal mismanagement.

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday, a Bapex official said the company conducted two drilling stem tests in the exploration well at the Mubarakpur structure in Pabna this month and found the gas flow pressure to be around 10 PSIG (pound per square-inch gas) on the surface level, which is far lower than the 4,500-4,700 PSIG required for extraction.

The standard gas flow pressure at exploratory gas wells in Bangladesh is usually around 4,5004,700 PSIG. “Since the gas flow pressure is not viable, the well has to be declared abandoned. We are waiting for the official confirmation,” the official added, requesting anonymity.

The project, titled Mubarakpur Oil-Gas Exploration Well Drilling Project, has been riddled with problems since its inception.

Mubarakpur was identified as a prospective gas exploration site after a five-year joint seismic sur-

Mubarakpur gas exploration well vey conducted by Petrobangla and German company Prakla Seismos in 1984.

However, the project was not initiated until 2006; the Executive Committee of the National Eco-

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nomic Council (Ecnec) approved it on February 22, 2006 with a budget of Tk56.04 crore.

Even then, the project did not take off after being approved and was later revised and the budget

was increased to Tk89.26 crore, which Ecnec approved on March 30, 2010.

The project deadline was first set for June 2014 but the drilling did not begin until August 22, 2014.

This was the longest delay that any Bapex project has ever faced.

The deadline was later extended to June 2015 but the project could not meet that either due to several technical problems.

The first major problem that the project faced was in December 2014 when the drilling rig got stuck at approximately 4,200 metres due to a pipe casing problem, said another Bapex official.

“We needed to dig a sidetrack well to continue the drilling, but it took several months to obtain the government approval for that well and for the added cost,” he added.

In February last year, Bapex resumed the drilling work and found an eight-metre gas layer at a depth of 4,400 metres.

The company continued drilling but was forced to suspend it at 4,500-metre depth as it did not have adequate equipment to manage the high pressure of gas – around 10,500 PSIG – at that level.

Later, they discovered that what they had thought to be gas at 4,500 metres was actually groundwater.

In addition, the drilling was suspended for nearly 15 months due to different glitches and bureaucratic tangles. Initially aiming to drill up to 4,700 metres under the surface, Bapex drilled 4,629 metres but were forced to stop.

Mubarakpur well is the first

and only exploratory gas well in the northern region, the Bapex official said.

“This is the only site which we found to have high prospects in terms of gas exploration. But we found that the gas flow pressure is not adequate here. Now we believe gas exploration is unlikely in this region,” he added.

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Badrul Imam, energy expert and professor at the geology department of Dhaka University, said it was unfortunate that the project had failed.

“Sometimes, some gas exploratory wells do not have enough gas flow pressure for production,” he said.

“Bapex should be free of bureaucratic tangles when implementing its projects for oil and gas exploration. The delays happened because Bapex had to explain the obstacles it faced during drilling to the Planning Commission in order to get the additional funds, which took several months.”

Bapex has failed projects at Srikail in Comilla, Kapasia in Gazipur and Sunetra structure in Sunamganj-Netrakona, where it did not find gas in the exploratory wells.

It currently supplies 104 million cubic feet of gas to the national grid every day from seven gas fields in Saldanadi, Fenchuganj, Shahbazpur, Semutung, Sundalpur, Srikail and Begumganj.

Md Nowshad Islam, managing director of Bapex, could not be reached for a comment when the Dhaka Tribune contacted him. l

Bheramara dual fuel power plant to begin operation in April n Aminur Rahman Rasel The 414MW dual fuel (natural gas and diesel) power plant in Bheramara, Kushita will go into operation in the first week of April, using natural gas transported from Dhaka to the plant through a gas pipeline under the Padma River.

The 30-inch diameter, 1,000 PSIG pipeline, constructed by the Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL), goes from Dhaka to Bheramara via Hatikumrul, Sirajganj and Pabna.

It will supply gas local industries and two other power stations in Kushtia and Khulna as well, sources told the Dhaka Tribune.

At the initial phase of production, the combined cycle plant will add 287MW of power to the national grid, said an official from North-West Power Generation Company Ltd (NWPGCL),

the state-owned company that is in charge of the construction.

By June this year, the plant will begin production at its full capacity, he added, requesting not to be named.

“Around 90% of the construction work is done. The project will be complete and begin generating power from April this year,” said Project Director ATM Jahangir Kabir yesterday.

The main gas pipeline will end at City Gate Station in Bheramara, from which the gas will be supplied to the plant via a Regulating and Metering Station, he told the Dhaka Tribune.

The stations have already been commissioned; the construction of heat recovery steam generator is 90% complete, while the cooling tower is 80% complete, he added.

Production at the power plant was delayed by the delay in the installation of the pipeline under the river – at the

Hardinge Bridge point – due to strong current, which made the work difficult, said a NWPGCL official, requesting anonymity.

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, NWPGCL Managing Director AM Khurshedul Alam said: “If the power plant can start production on schedule, which is a peak time, we expect that there will be no load-shedding,” The project, worth Tk41,404 crore, was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on June 8, 2010.

Of the total estimated cost, Japanese donor agency Jica is providing Tk 32,210 crore. The government is funding the rest.

The NWPGCL has implemented two combined cycle power plants in the past – one in Sirajganj and the other in Khulna, both with 225MW power generation capacity. l

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Journalists protest police assault on colleagues Rahman Rabbi and n Arifur Mahadi Al Hasnat Journalists from several media outlets protested the police assault on their ATN News colleagues during Thursday’s anti-Rampal demonstration at Shahbagh by covering their mouths with black cloths and forming a human chain in front of the National Museum yesterday morning.

Police severely beat ATN News cameraperson Abdul Alim and reporter Kazi Ihsan bin Didar. A case was filed regarding the assault on Thursday night.

Bangla Vision reporter SM Foyez, the convener of the human chain, announced that another protest will be held in front of the Saarc Fountain intersection at 11am next Thursday.

While speaking to journalists at the end of a programme on Friday, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal had claimed that the police did not assault the journalists.

“Sometimes some pushing and shoving takes place. That is natural,” he said.

ATN News Head of News Munni Saha said: “If the culture of injustice stems from the authorities, then all the work we’re putting in to fight injustice is essentially for nothing. We have to work with the police during hartals, processions and meetings and this terrible trend of assaulting journalists is not helping.”

She also claimed that policemen often get promotions for attacking journalists.

Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists President Monzurul Ahsan Bulbul recalled the killing of journalist Gautam Das and said that other than that incident, no other cases of crimes against jour-

Journalists don black bandanas and form a human chain yesterday protesting police assaults on an ATN news cameraman and a reporter during the anti-Rampal hartal in Dhaka on Thursday MEHEDI HASAN nalists have seen justice till date.

He added that journalists have demanded a fair investigation into Thursday’s attack and punishment for the involved police officers from the government and the police chief.

During his speech at the programme, he denounced the Home Minister’s claim that it was just a tussle between the two journalists and the police.

Daily Samakal City Editor and National Press Club Joint Secretary Shahed Chowdhury concurred and said: “Soon after the incident took place, the Home Minister claimed that po-

lice did not attack journalists but rather, a mere tussle took place between them. This kind of response appears to be severely ill-informed when you see how brutal the attack was on television and media.”

“Earlier, a minister claimed that the incident was part of an international conspiracy. If this is true, then an international level probe committee should be formed to investigate and the guilty should be punished. If such action is not taken, then we need to decide whether we should cover police related news or not,” he added.

Alim was attacked verbally and physically when police noticed him recording footage of them as they beat up a supporter. Didar was then assaulted when he came to his colleague’s rescue. The police dragged them into the police station and continued to beat them.

Later, senior journalists from ATN News went to the police station and took the two journalists to the hospital.

After a primary investigation, the authorities suspended Assistant Sub-Inspector Ershad Mondol and identified 10-12 of the others who were involved in the incident. l

BNP divided over EC search committee n Manik Miazee Two senior BNP leaders had different things to say about the president’s search committee to find the next Election Commission yesterday.

While BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was completely cynical about the committee’s intentions, standing committee member Moudud Ahmed said he still hoped that it would pick a neutral EC. After visiting the mausoleum of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman in Dhaka in the morning, Fakhrul told reporters

the search committee would not be able to constitute a “courageous and neutral EC.” “Nothing good will come from this committee.”

Moudud on the other hand said that while the committee’s members do not meet BNP’s expectations, they could still pick an Election Commission that will be neutral.

“The president’s picks for the committee were the exact opposites of what we proposed,” he said.

“We didn’t give him any names. We just said the members should be retired

and not in profitable positions.”

But he added that he was still hopeful.

“I expect the committee to come up with neutral and qualified people for EC, who have no political affiliations and do not enjoy any state benefits,” Moudud said.

“I hope they will emphasise on wisdom, bravery and character.”

The senior leader said BNP would try till the end to come to an understanding with the government.

“There has to be a political consensus about the election and poll-time government, and that has to be

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between Awami League and the opposition. Otherwise there will be no other way for us but a movement,” he said.

Fakhrul meanwhile alleged that most of the search committee members were involved with Awami League’s politics.

“We do not know how they will work ignoring all their political links.

Right now we do not expect anything good from this committee,” he said.

The party raised doubts about the committee’s impartiality and credibility right after President Abdul Hamid formed it Wednesday. l

PM blasts anti-Rampal protesters again n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina criticised the protesters of the Rampal Coal-fired Power Plant again, saying that they have never visited the power plant site and are therefore unable to ascertain its impact on the Sundarbans.

The prime minister was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the 57th National Convention of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) at its Chittagong centre yesterday.

“Rampal power plant is being set up in Rampal, not in the Sundarbans,” the premier said, adding that since the plant is being built around 14 kilometers away from the outer boundary of the Sundarbans and about 70 kilometers away from the world heritage site, there is no possibility of causing any damage to the forest or the nearby Pashur River.

The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports has been protesting the construction of controversial Rampal power plant since 2011, as it is considered a great threat for the Sundarbans, but the government remains adamant.

During the committee’s Thursday’s half-day shutdown, police unleashed water cannon spray and tear gas on the Rampal protesters. At least 20 demonstrators were reportedly injured.

Police also severely beat up two on-duty journalists of private television channel ATN News.

Sheikh Hasina said her government has taken all kinds of measures to protect the Sundarbans and its surrounding areas to preserve the habitat and biodiversity of that region.

Referring to the construction of Barapukuria coal-fired power plant in Dinajpur, Sheikh Hasina said her government had started setting up coal-fired power plants in Barapukuria in 2000 and there has been no negative impact on the densely populated area.

The land of the area has become more fertile and more rice is being produced there, she said.

Nearly 4,000 engineers and technology experts from home and abroad joined the convention. l

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Schools preaching jihadist propaganda under RAB scanner n Kamrul Hasan

n Afrose Jahan Chaity

Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha yesterday urged Supreme Court’s Legal Aid Committee lawyers to provide and ensure legal assistance for the country’s indigenous people.

He made the call during a discussion with the panel lawyers at the Supreme Court auditorium.

The discussion was presided over

by National Legal Aid Services Organisation Chairman Justice M Enayetur Rahim.

Manusher Jonno Foundation Executive Director Shaheen Anam and Supreme Court Bar Association President Advocate Yusuf Hossain were also present at the meeting, among others.

SK Sinha said: “Everyone in Bangladesh is entitled to receive legal support and protection, however, it was seen that the reality is different in many cases.

“Moreover, at times, a court order takes two to three days to reach remote areas of the country and there are even places where there are no access roads. Therefore it becomes difficult for people of indigenous communities to seek assistance regarding court cases, making resolvable issues more difficult.”

The chief justice also said he would arrange a fund for the poor and helpless people so that they can afford experienced lawyers in legal matters.

“I will create the fund and hand it over to the chairman of the National Legal Aid Services Organisation,” he added.

Referring to the people who became rich by evading tax, SK Sinha urged them to come forward and help the poor people get justice.

During the discussion, he emphaised on the role electronic media can play in creating awareness among mass people regarding legal problems and its solutions.

Pointing out the appearance of Indian actors in documentaries and public service announcements without any remuneration, he said reputable actors in Bangladesh should also consider working for similar initiatives and advocate for awareness campaigns. l

drasa education system.

Sources at RAB, however, claimed that the force has been working on the matter for some time, and intensified their investigation after the Gulshan attack.

According to RAB, several schools have already been identified in Uttara area alone.

The elite force was gathering information about even more schools and could carry out raids following allegations of spreading militancy.

RAB is reportedly focusing especially on affluent neighbourhoods and the densely populated poorer areas, such as Gulshan, Bharidhara, Bashundhara, Mohakhali, Rampu-

ra, Dhanmondi and Old Dhaka.

More schools in these areas are involved in jihadist propaganda than any other part of Dhaka, suspects RAB. The law enforcement agency in a recent press briefing said some of the 10 people booked from the capital’s Uttara and Kalabagan areas had direct connections with Mainul Islam alias Musa, the suspected operational chief of New JMB. Musa was a teacher of Life School, where Engineer Mizanur Rahman, the principal, used to allegedly spread jihadist propaganda. l

Boi Mela knocking on the door Alam Durjoy and n Nure Kamrul Hasan All the stakeholders including publishers, law enforcers and Bangla Academy authorities have completed necessary preparations for the upcoming month-long Amar Ekushey Boi Mela 2017 scheduled to kick-start on February 1.

“This year the country’s biggest annual event of Boi Mela, with bigger space than the previous years, will be held in a neat and clean environment, with both portions of the fairground aesthetically decorated and completely free of dust,” claimed Boi Mela Committee’s Membersecretary Dr Jalal Ahmed.

He said: “In previous years, the Suhrawardy Udyan portion of the fair was often dusty which annoyed the book lovers while roaming the fair. But this year, water would be sprayed on regular basis to keep the dust on the ground.”

During a spot visit yesterday at the fair ground, dozens of workers were seen engaged in hectic efforts to meet the deadline, erecting stalls and pavilions both on Bangla Academy premises and Suhrawardy Udyan portion of the fair.

Besides the Bangla Academy premises, Jalal Ahmed said, the fair would be held on a vast section of Suhrawardy Udyan covering around five lakh square feet.

He also said, “This year there will be 11 more publishing houses are expected to take part in the fair, putting the total number of publishers at 450. Like the previous year, the children corner will be at the Suhrawardy Udyan’s portion, with a separate gate to enter into the corner.”

Meanwhile, publishing houses are passing hectic days to erect and

RAJIB DHAR

Chief Justice Sinha urges legal aid panel lawyers to assist indigenous people

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has said it has identified several schools in Dhaka that are functioning as English medium ‘madrasas,’ and decided to monitor their activities.

RAB stepped up their search for schools said to be involved in spreading jihadist ideology, following the detention of 10 suspected members of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) including a principal of a school in the capital’s Uttara.

It is reported that at least two schools – Life School and Knowledge Home – were engaged in such

activities. Five of the detainees are teachers of these two schools.

All the 10 detainees allegedly kept in touch with the militants responsible for the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery at Gulshan on July 1 last year.

RAB 4 Commanding Officer Khandaker Lutful Kabir told the Dhaka Tribune that they were keeping an eye on such schools to find out whether they were misleading youths through made-up notions of Islam.

RAB investigation found that the educational institutions, despite being registered as schools, were being run based on the ma-

With only a few days remaining before the Boi Mela, work is progressing steadily at the venue next to Bangla Academy decorate their stalls and pavilions as well as to complete printing new books.

Mazharul Islam, president of Academic and Creative Publishers’ Association of Bangladesh and also the publisher of Anyaprokash, told the Dhaka Tribune that preparation work of most publishers is almost finished.

International Literary Conference

This year Bangla Academy is organising a four-day literary conference as part of the book fair, scheduled to be attended by prominent litterateurs from Austria, Germany, Puerto Rico, Malaysia, Russia, China and India.

Bangla Academy Director Gen-

eral Shahmsuzzaman Khan told journalists: “This is a larger scale arrangement for the first time after 1974. Earlier we had been arranging literary conferences in a small scale.”

National Professor Mustafa Nurul Islam, language movement veteran and researcher Ahmad Rafik, Professor Burhanuddin Khan Jahangir, Professor Emeritus Rafiqul Islam, Serajul Islam Choudhury and Dr Anisuzzaman will be honoured at the first session of conference on February 2.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate both the book fair and literary conference, according to the Bangla Academy sources.

Tight security measures would be

Law enforcers are taking strict security measures in and around the fairground including bringing the whole area under the surveillance of CCTV camera.

Officer-in-Charge of Shahbag police station Abu Bakar Siddqui told the Dhaka Tribune: “Bangla Academy would provide all the CCTV cameras this year. Around 250 night vision cameras are being installed throughout the fairground.”

“Around 3,000 uniformed and 2,000 plain clothes police would be deployed for the security of the fair,” he added.

Sources said special security for the foreigners coming to the book fair would also be arranged. l

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Life School ‘a jihadi nursery’ Mahmud and Abu n Tarek Hayat Mahmud After arresting the principal of a school in Uttara in the first week of this month, law enforcers claimed to have unearthed that the educational institution was being used to indoctrinate young people in extremist jihadi ideology.

The principal, Engineer Mizanur Rahman, among ten people who were detained by Rapid Action Battalion while they were in a meeting in the school premises, are members of the terrorist group Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

In a press briefing later that week, the elite force said Mizanur himself was spreading jihadist ideology in the name of education and was involved in hiring fresh recruits for New JMB, the group responsible for the Gulshan attack.

Dhaka Tribune correspondents visited the school and talked to locals about its curriculum and teaching methods.

Life School, on Road 15 in Uttara Sector 13, was registered as an English medium school about five years ago. The school is housed on the fifth floor of a six-storey building with the landlord residing on its first floor.

Investigation revealed that eight engineers who had graduated from different reputed institutions including Buet and Cuet founded the school. Two of the co-founders

Eminent educationist Prof Anisuzzaman hospitalised

A shopkeeper in the area said he never saw any crowd in front of the school, which would be a common scenario for any educational institution. The main gate of the school remained shut most of the time, he said.

The correspondents managed to talk with two of the six residential students.

One of them, a class VIII student, said they were taught additional religious lessons besides the regular curriculum.

His guardians had recently decided to cancel his enrolment at the school. They took him back home from the hostel after the RAB raid took place.

Another student, a third grader, said their syllabus focused more on religious topics than general subjects, adding that the teachers used to force them to perform religious activities regularly.

When asked whether she was aware of the school’s activities, the owner of the building said: “I know nothing. I had just rented out the space to the school authorities.”

She refused to make further comments.

When contacted, RAB 1 Deputy Commanding Officer Lt Commander Quazi Mohammad Shoaib said: “We were monitoring the school, leading to the detention of its principal.”

Other such suspicious schools were under the scanner of RAB, he added. l

established another educational institution, Knowledge Home, in the same area.

A placard reading “Admission Open” with two contact numbers was seen hanging at the entrance of the school, but both the numbers were found switched off.

However, the correspondents managed to speak with Mohammad Nazim, accountant of the school, who described how the school started its journey.

“I was an employee of a mobile phone service providing company two years back, where Mizanur served as a general manager four years ago. He brought me here, saying that the school is a blend of English medium and Arabic education,” he said.

“With 125 students and 25 teachers, the school was run according to Islamic code, mainly to help guardians raise their children with both Arabic and English medium education,” Nazim said.

Locals said the atmosphere at the school had been suspiciously quiet.

Bakhtiar Ahmed, a businessman, said he often walked past Life School but he had never heard the usual din and loud sounds associated with a school.

“It was really suspicious.

Besides, the teachers and the residential students did not communicate with the locals,” he observed.

n Shadma Malik Noted writer and academician, Professor Anisuzzaman has been admitted in a private hospital in the capital with pneumonia, diabetes and lung problems.

His wife Siddika Zaman confirmed the matter, saying that the 79-year-old educationist was admitted at the Universal Medical College and Hospital, previously known as Ayesha Memorial Hospital, in Mohakhali at 8pm on Friday.

Anisuzzaman was being treated at the hospital under the supervision of Dr Prof Khandaker Kamrul Islam, said Ashis Kumar Chakrabarty, managing director of the hospital.

When contacted around 8pm last night, Anisuzzaman’s family sources, however, claimed that he was recovering and his physical condition was stable as of 10:45pm yesterday.

Born on February 18, 1937 in Kolkata, Prof Anisuzzaman is serving as the president of Bangla Academy.

The septuagenarian, an ex-professor of Bengali at Dhaka University, is a professor emeritus there. He has received the Bangla Academy Award and the Ananda Purashkar as recognition of his work in the field of Bengali literature.

In 2011 he received the Pandit Iswarchandra Vidyasagar Gold

Plaque from the Asiatic Society of Kolkata.

The eminent scholar has received many honours including the Nilkanta Sarkar Gold Medal from the University of Dhaka, Dawood Prize for literature from the Pakistan Writers’ Guild for research, and Ekushey Padak for his contribution to education.

He received an honorary D. Lit. by the Rabindra-Bharati University, Kolkata, Sarojini Basu Medal by the University of Calcutta and Pandit Iswarchandra Vidyasagar Gold Plaque and Rabindranath Tagore Birth Centenary plaque from the Asiatic Society, Kolkata.

In 2014, the Indian government conferred the Padma Bhushan, third highest civilian honour, on him; the first such award for any Bangladeshi. On 4 March, 2015, he received Independence Award — the highest civilian honour in Bangladesh. l

Protest held over textbook changes

‘Man-made hazards risking riverine livelihood’

n Shadma Malik

Al Hasnat n Mahadi back from Kuakata

Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMS) formed a human chain protesting the new changes in the textbooks yesterday at the National Press Club.

They demanded restoring the textbooks to their previous content, the new textbooks should be revised and the Ministry of Education identify those responsible for the change and remove them from their administrative position for having anti-liberation sentiments.

President of BMS Ayesha Khanam said students should be taught the history of Bangladesh, the ideology behind the of War of Liberation and the constitution of the country.

“We are moving backwards. It seems the demands of Hefazat-e-Islam

has been complied with and that is very evident in the textbook changes. We strongly oppose any move that create obstacles to a progressive open society,” Ayesha said.

Maleka Banu, general secretary of BMP said: “The new textbooks are full of contents that contradict the government’s position of having an inclusive society. There is such discriminatory patriarchal and communal content in the textbooks. Where is the ideology of the liberation movement in the textbooks?

“We demand exemplary punishment for those responsible for making these changes. We want textbooks where students learn about the political movement of 1969 in East Pakistan, Agartala Conspiracy,Liberation War and the constitution of 72,” She added. l

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Unplanned development in South Asia has been causing hindrance to the natural flow of trans-boundary rivers in the region, affecting millions of human lives and their livelihoods, speakers told a conference.

With rivers continuously losing navigability making farmers the worst victims, many professions of riverine people, mainly including fishing, are gradually facing extinction, they said, adding, coordinated measures from governmental and non-governmental platforms could help tackle the problem.

They were speaking at the concluding day of a 2-day conference on Water Democracy, an annual convention on water

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commons, held in Kuakata on Thursday, where a number of national and foreign delegates attended.

Blaming man-made hazards greatly for the death of rivers, ActionAid Country Director Farah Kabir, also the keynote speaker, said the number of local rivers has significantly dropped in last century, whereas, the figure was up to 500 in last five decades.

“Without river and water, any development is meaningless. It could be tough enough to ensure food and environmental security without river, posing a huge threat to existence of many animal species in the country as well,” she said.

According to her, the overall development must embody sectors especially including environment and river system.

She, however, said there must be

Khulna

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YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

TOMORROW SUN RISES 6:41AM

30.2ºC Teknaf

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moral development alongside the infrastructural one.

Moreover, the speakers urged the experts and policymakers to gather information from local people in developing river system.

Lipi Akhter, curator of Water Museum in Kalapara, said: “Many species of fish and, aquatic plants, and river-centric professions are at risk of extinction due to human-induced problems on river system.”

“Many people are changing their profession as rivers are drying up, increasing salinity and contaminating freshwater the in riverine area.”

ActionAid Bangladesh organised the conference which ended up vowing to involve people of all walks of life in movements to save the dying and polluted rivers. l

Sylhet

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Cox’s Bazar

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Fajr: 6:10am | Zohr: 1:15pm Asr: 4:30pm | Magrib: 5:50pm Esha: 7:45pm Source: Islamic Foundation

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Boro field drowned by toxic waste of ACI Md Abdur Rouf, n Khondaker Naogaon

Boro paddy, on around nine hectares of land situated beside Naogaon-Mohadevpur regional highway in Mohadevpur upazila of the Naogaon district, has been drowned by untreated poisonous water discharged by ACI Foods Limited.

Several farmers in the upazila alleged that their paddy went under water suddenly, as the rice unit of ACI Foods Limited had discharged untreated toxic water in a canal in the Saraswati area near Naogaon-Mohadevpur regional highway a few days ago.

Several hundred hectares of paddy land is also at risk of being flooded by the water, they claimed.

Local farmers Abdus Samad, Aslam Ali, Abu Bakar Siddique, Hasen Ali, Amjad Ali and others said the canal on Naogaon-Mohadevpur regional highway over-

Feud takes life of housewife in Bogra Nazmul Huda Nasim, n Md Bogra Police recovered the body of a mother of three children from the woods beside her husband’s house at Biswaharigachha village in Dhunat upazila of Bogra yesterday.

There were injury marks on the body of deceased Arzina Khatun, 38, said Mizanur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Dhunat police station.

The body was sent to Bogra Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital for post-mortem yesterday.

After getting the autopsy report, it would be clear whether it was a murder or suicide, said the OC. Rezaul Karim, husband of Arzina, has been absconding since yesterday.

Raju Ahmed, son of Arzina, and Abdur Razzak, her brother, said Arzina, hailing from the adjacent Bishnapur village, and Rezaul got married 18 years ago.

Soon after the marriage, Rezaul started to torture her physically and mentally, over which family members of the couple sat several times.

On Friday night, Rezaul beat Arzina severely as an altercation ensued between them over losing Tk10 from his shirt pocket on the night.

Rezaul put the blame on her.

Relatives of the housewife alleged that Rezaul hung the body on a tree beside his house after killing her by beating. l

flowed and flooded several areas in the upazila. Boro paddy is getting damaged as the water entered the paddy field and the low-lying areas.

The poisonous water has remained stagnant in the canals, covers and paddy lands for days.

Farmer Aslam Ali said: “The canals in the area were overflowed by the poisonous water. Hundred hectares of paddy land were still at great risk of flooding as the ACI Food Factory continued discharging poisonous water in the canal.”

To save their paddy land from the water, local farmers have sent a written complaint to the Upazila Nirbahi Officer’s office and the Bogra Environmental Department office.

When contacted, Rezaul Karim, admin officer of ACI Food Factory, however said: “We run the factory after having taken an environment certificate from the Environmental Department and the discharged water was clean and fully treated.” l

A farmer is working in his paddy field which was flooded by toxic water discharged by a rice factory of ACI Foods Limited. The photo was taken in Mohadevpur upazila of Naogoan yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Schoolboy hacked to death Rahman Swapan, n Anisur Barisal A gang of unruly youths stabbed to death a 10th grader on his school playground in the City for allegedly protesting against sexual harassment of a female student several days ago.

Shahidur Rahman Hridoy Gazi, 15, studied at Shaheed Abdur Rouf Serniabat Government High School. His classmate Golam Sajid Rafi was also injured in the Saturday morning attack.

Their classmates say Hridoy had protested against the sexual assault on a female student of the school several days ago.

They suspect this might have led to the murder.

However, school headmistress Papiya Jesmin said the reason behind the murder was still unclear.

Hridoy and Rafi were on the school playground just before class when a gang of youths called out Hridoy, students said.

As Hridoy approached them, the youths stabbed him repeatedly

with a sharp weapon.

Rafi rushed to his help his friend’s, but he too was injured in the stabbing.

Rafi is being treated at the Shere-Bangla Medical College and Hospital while Hridoy succumbed to his wounds en route.

Police say they are trying to arrest the murderers.

It is a stark reminder of the recent murder of a schoolboy in Dhaka’s Uttara earlier in January. Police had blamed ‘gang rivalry’ for the killing. l

2 suspected Huji men held Correspondent, n Our Chuadanga Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have arrested two suspected members of Harkat-ul-Jihad Bangladesh (Huji) from Karpashdanga village in Damurhuda upazila.

The arrestees are Abdullah Al Mamun and Rakibul Islam.

Major Monir Ahmmed, company commander of Jhenidah RAB-6, said: “Acting on a tip-off, a RAB team conducted a drive at the village on Saturday morning and arrested the duo, along with jihadi books and explosives.” l

Teacher killed in road crash Al Dulal, n Abdullah Rajshahi

Students of Gono Unnayan Academy High School, Gaibandha along with locals stage a demo on school ground yesterday protesting setting fire by miscreants on Friday DHAKA TRIBUNE

A school teacher has been killed when a CNG-run auto-rickshaw hit a parked truck in Rajshahi’s Bagmara upazila. The deceased is Sujit Kumar Mondol, 45, a teacher of Konopara High School of Bagmara.

Bagmara police station Officer-in-Charge Selim Hossain said the CNG-driven auto-rickshaw Sujit was travelling on hit a truck parked beside the road around 6am Saturday, leaving the teacher dead on the spot. Following the accident, angry mob vandalised the truck and blocked the road creating tailbacks for about an hour. l

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Khulna journalists also demand 9th wage board Hedait Hossain Molla, n Md Khulna Journalists of several news medias in southern region yesterday staged a street protest in Khulna city as Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists’ (BFUJ) is spearheading a nationwide campaign demanding formation of ninth Wage Board for higher pay structure for newsmen.

Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) and Khulna Union of Journalists (KUJ) jointly organised the programme to press the demand for formation of ninth wage board.

Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) president Shaban Mahmud said: “We will be forced to wage a tougher movement unless the ninth wage board is formed by January 31.”

He said the protests demanding the wage board would continue until February 5 but expected Information Minister Hasanul Huq Inu to respond to the call in line with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s repeated assurance.

Mahmud said the BFUJ and DUJ would launch a tougher movement

Dhaka Union of Journalists President Shaban Mahmud seen addressing a protest meeting in front of Khulna Press club yesterday demanding 9th wage board DHAKA TRIBUNE on February 5 unless the demand was met by then.

BFUJ Vice President Manotosh Basu accused the information minister of breaching his own words pledging to declare the new wage board by December 31.

The journalist leaders also condemned parliament member Shamim Osman’s ‘indecorous’ comments

about media and noted journalist and Prime Minister’s media affairs adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury.

Presided over by KUJ President S M Zahid Hossain, the meeting was addressed, among others’ by BFUJ Joint Secretary General Mozzammel Haque Howlader, Jessore Union of Journalists (JUJ) President Sazed Rahman, Ex-President of Dhaka Sub

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News

Editor Council Ashraful Islam, Khulna Press Club President S M Habib, General Secretary Subir Kumar Roy, JUJ General Secretary Habibur Rahman Milon, KUJ Vice President Mallick Sudhangsu, General Secretary Shah Alam, Ex-KUJ President Sheikh Abu Hasan and Mamun Reza. KUJ Vice President Koushik Dey Bappy conducted the meeting. l

Bad biscuits make school students sick n Ariful Islam, Kurigram Twelve students of Ulipur Government Girls High School fell sick, when lime was used instead of flour in a biscuits race during the annual sports of the school yesterday.

Moni, a student of class seven, was admitted to Kurigram Sadar Hospital with severe burns on her face and eyes from the lime.

Rifat Nanjiba, Toufiqua Haque, Nishat Tajrin, Barsha, Barno, Moumita, Rukaia Jahan, Anamika and Monira Jannat Mim were admitted to Upazila Health Complex.

Later, the injured students were released from the health complex.

Terming the incident unexpected, Principal Rita Sarker said: “The lime was used mistakenly instead of flour.”

UNO Md Shafiqul Islam said: “After inaugurating the programme, I went to the office of deputy commissioner of the district. I rushed to the spot being informed of the incident. We will take steps after an investigation determines whether it was an accident or not.” l

Boro cultivation gains momentum

Yunus Centre responds to PM’s allegations

n Tribune Desk

n Tribune Desk

Transplantation of Boro rice seedling has been going on in full swing as the farmers already completed the process on around 21 per cent of the targeted land area in Rangpur agriculture region this season.

According to sources in the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), steps have been taken to make the Boro rice cultivation programme successful ensuring smooth irrigation, supply of fuels, fertilisers, electricity and other facilities to the farmers.

Officials and experts of the DAE and other agriculture-related departments, organisations and institutions have been providing assistance to the farmers and working relentlessly to ensure smooth transplantation of Boro rice seedling in the region.

Under the programme, 7.17 lakh tonnes hybrid Boro rice will be produced from 1.51 lakh hectares of land, 13.49 lakh tonnes high yielding variety rice from 3.48 lakh hectares and 3.49 tonnes local variety Boro rice from 1,884 hectares of land this time in the region, reports BSS. The farmers have already prepared Boro seedbed on 28,111 hectares of land, higher by 4,459 hectares or 18.84 per cent than the fixed target of preparing the same on 23,652 hectares of land in the region. l

The Yunus Centre yesterday responded to allegations made by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina against Professor Muhammad Yunus in parliament on Wednesday.

The prime minister alleged that Yunus has a large undisclosed source of income and that he does not pay any taxes. The Yunus Centre responded with a detailed list of his sources of income.

The Yunus Centre said: “The allegation of avoiding paying taxes is completely false. Professor Yunus always pays his taxes in full and without fail. His tax files have been investigated repeatedly in order to find fault but has come out clean.”

They listed speaking fees from lectures given at various conferences around the world as his main source, followed by royalties from his books published in over 25 languages, and income from fixed deposits generated from both public speaking and royalty fees.

The prime minister also called Yunus a “cheat” saying that he breached a promise he made before setting up Grameenphone by not giving the profits to Grameen Bank which was supposed to be joint venture. She also claimed he owns 30% of Grameenphone shares.

The Yunus Centre responded by

saying: “Grameenphone was born as a Joint Venture Company with a Norwegian company, Telenor, owned by the Norwegian government. The second owner of Grameenphone is Grameen Telecom a non-profit company regis-

bers by US intelligence agencies in the name of probing corruption allegations against them.”

The centre responded: “This is an unfounded and baseless story. Professor Yunus rejects such a fictitious

The allegation of avoiding paying taxes is completely false tered under section 28 of the Companies Act. Grameen Telecom borrowed money from Soros Foundation to invest in Grameenphone. At no stage did Grameen Bank own any share of Grameenphone. Professor Yunus never owned any share of Grameenphone, nor does he own any share now.”

The Yunus Centre also responded to the accusation that Dr Yunus lobbied the World Bank (WB) with Hillary Clinton to stop the funding of Padma Bridge, saying: “Professor Yunus categorically rejected this claim in the past that he influenced the World Bank through a telephone call to his friend Hillary Clinton in withdrawing the WB funds for Padma Bridge.”

The prime minister also said: “Yunus was behind the harassment, repression and torture of my son, daughter, sister and my cabinet mem-

story.”

In response to being called a usurer by the prime minister, the Yunus Centre said: “The review committee of the Government did an in-depth review of Grameen Bank in 2011 and found that GB has the lowest rate of interest of any microlending organisation in the

country.”

The prime minister also accused Grameenbank staff of torturing people for installments during the floods of 1998, to which the Yunus Centre responded: “The standing policy of Grameen Bank is to suspend collection of weekly installments in a situation of disaster, and turn the bank into a humanitarian organisation to save lives.”

Yunus was also accused of evading taxes connected to some 40-50 Grameen companies by the prime minister and the finance minister.

The Yunus Centre responded: “This is a completely baseless accusation. All companies created by Professor Yunus strictly comply with the laws of the land and always pay due taxes. In fact, even after comprehensive attempts to find faults, no evidence of tax evasion has ever been found by the authorities.” l

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SOUTH ASIA

Missing Pakistani activist recovered Pakistani poet and activist Salman Haider who went missing from the capital Islamabad earlier this month, has been found, his family said on Saturday. The five missing liberal activists, some of whom have posted blogs criticising the political influence of the military and speaking up for the rights of religious minorities, had each gone missing separately since January 4. REUTERS

INDIA

Death toll in Kashmir avalanches climbs to 19 The death toll in avalanches in the heavily militarised Himalayan region of Kashmir has risen to 19 after the bodies of four more Indian soldiers were recovered on Friday.

Kashmir has seen heavy snow this week and authorities have warned of the “high danger” of avalanches over the next two days. Power and communication lines have also been cut in some areas. REUTERS

CHINA

China accuses EU of protectionism over new steel taxes Beijing has accused the European Union of “protectionist” behaviour after Brussels imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese steel products, as it seeks to protect struggling steel makers in Europe. The EU Commission said Friday it would impose taxes of between 30.7% and 64.9% on certain Chinese steel products which it says are being sold at a loss in Europe. REUTERS

ASIA PACIFIC

Mongolians stand in protest of air pollution Thousands of Mongolians stood in frigid weather Saturday for the second time this winter to protest the government response to smog that routinely blankets their capital. An estimated 7,000 people, many of them wearing air masks and gas masks underneath thick winter hats, braved temperatures that fell below minus 20°C. AFP

MIDDLE EAST

Iran’s Rouhani to Trump: Not the time to build walls ranian President Hassan Rouhani criticised his US counterpart Donald Trump on Saturday, saying now was “not the time to build walls between nations”. His remarks came after Trump ordered construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border and imposed tough new controls on travellers from seven Muslim countries, among them Iran. REUTERS

FACTBOX

What’s in Trump’s order halting refugee programme US President Donald Trump has barred all refugees from entering the United States for four months, and indefinitely halted any from Syria, saying the ban is needed to keep out “radical Islamic terrorists.”

Here is what Trump’s order on “extreme vetting” - denounced by civil rights groups as discriminatory - includes.

Temporary suspension The order bars the entry of seven Muslim majority nationals for 90 days. While no countries are specifically named in the order, it refers to a statute that would apply to seven Muslim-majority nations: Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Iran. There is an exception for certain types of visas, including for diplomats and the United Nations.

The temporary halt is aimed at giving the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department and the Director of National Intelligence time to determine what information is needed from each country to ensure that visas are not issued to individuals posing a national security threat.

Changes to screening for immigration programs The order calls for a review to create a single process for screening people entering the country, which could include

holding more in-person interviews, searches of an expanded database of identity documents or longer application forms.

Under the current system, some visa applications require interviews but others do not. The government already has extensive databases but some believe they need to be expanded.

The order suspends the Visa Interview Waiver Program, which allows consular officers to exempt some applicants from face-to-face interviews if they are seeking to renew their temporary visas within a year of expiration.

TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON REFUGEES Draft executive order, entitled “Protecting the nation from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals” Halt visa requests from 7 Muslimmajority countries seen as terrorist threats for 30 days

Indefinitely ban all refugees from war-torn Syria

Cut the number of refugees to be admitted in 2017 from 110,000* to 50,000

Donald Trump

Executive order, Jan 25: Build US-Mexico border wall LIBYA

Suspend the US Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days

SYRIA

IRAN

IRAQ

MEXICO SUDAN

YEMEN SOMALIA

Restricting refugees The order calls for the temporary halt of all refugee admissions for four months so the government can study the process and determine if additional checks are necessary, although there will be case-by-case exceptions.

The order also implemented a blanket ban of all Syrian refugees until “sufficient changes” have been made to the refugee program, without giving more details.

Once refugee admissions resume, fewer will be allowed. The 2017 cap was set at 50,000 people, compared to 85,000 designated by President Barack Obama for 2016.

In a nod to certain states and cities

that have objected to refugee resettlement, the order also seeks to give state and local jurisdictions a role in deciding whether or not to allow people to live there.

Biometric entry-exit tracking system The system is aimed at tracking foreign visitors’ arrival and departure using information like finger prints. Former President Barack Obama’s administration had aimed to start implementing

biometric exit checks at the country’s largest airports by 2018.

Some experts have said that for the system to work properly, it would need to cover all land, air, and sea ports of entry, which is a major undertaking.

According to a 2014 report from the Bipartisan Policy Centre the system would be expensive to implement and would “offer mixed value for enforcement objectives.” l

Source: REUTERS

Trump refugee ban causes anger worldwide n Reuters, Washington, DC US President Donald Trump’s sweeping ban on people seeking refuge in the United States and visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries caused confusion and panic among travellers on Saturday, with some turned back from US-bound flights.

Immigration lawyers in New York sued to block the order, saying numerous people have already been unlawfully detained.

The new Republican president on Friday put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travellers from Syria and six other Muslim-majority countries.

He said the moves would protect Americans from terrorism.

The executive order prompted fury from Arab travellers in the Middle East and North Africa who said it was humiliating and discriminatory. It drew widespread criticism from US Western allies including France and Germany,

US President Donald Trump Arab American groups, human rights organisations.

“This is a stupid, terrible decision which will hurt the American people more than us or anybody else, because it shows that this President can’t manage people, politics or global relationships,” said Najeed Haidari, a Yeme-

REUTERS

ni-American security manager for an oil company in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

The bans affect travellers with passports from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and even extends to green card holders who are granted authorization to live and work in the

United States, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman.

In Cairo, five Iraqi passengers and one Yemeni were barred from boarding an EgyptAir flight to New York on Saturday, sources at Cairo airport said.

The passengers, arriving in transit to Cairo airport, were stopped and re-directed to flights headed for their home countries despite holding valid visas, the sources said.

Lawyers from numerous immigration organizations and the American Civil Liberties Union sued in federal court in Brooklyn on behalf of two Iraqi men, one a former US government worker and the other the husband of a former US security contractor.

The two men had visas to enter the United States but were detained on Friday night at New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport, hours after Trump’s executive order, the lawsuit said. l

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

INSIGHT

USA

Bills targeting protests in US fuel free speech fears n Reuters, Chicago Republican lawmakers in several central US states are pushing bills that would crack down on demonstrations, drawing criticism from free speech campaigners and underlining the polarisation over protests in the era of US President Donald Trump.

Bills have been introduced over the past month in states including North Dakota, Indiana and Iowa that would impose measures such as harsher penalties for demonstrators who disrupt traffic, and scrapping punishment for drivers who unintentionally strike protesters blocking their vehicles.

The push for stricter laws comes as opponents of Trump have vowed to take to the streets to demonstrate against his policies on issues ranging from immigration to abortion and climate change. Hundreds of thousands of people took part in women’s marches on January 21 in cities across the country.

While the fate of the bills was not immediately clear, supporters say they sum up the frustration some people feel about protests that get in the way of their daily lives.

In Iowa, Republican state senator Jake Chapman is the lead

Trump vows ‘new vetting’ to weed out Islamic radicals US President Donald Trump signed an order Friday to strengthen the vetting of would-be immigrants or refugees and to keep “radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America.” At a ceremony at the Pentagon to swear in James Mattis as his secretary of defence, Trump signed a decree entitled: “Protection of the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States.” REUTERS

THE AMERICAS

Trudeau to end Canada’s secret political fundraisers

Protesters block the southbound lane in protest of the killing of Philando Castile in Minnesota, US on July 13, 2016 sponsor of a bill that would make it a felony to block traffic on roads with speed limits of 88km or more.

Offenders would face up to five years in jail and a $7,500 fine.

“People are really fed up with it,” Chapman said of the disruption caused by demonstrations.

‘Truly alarming’

Free speech advocates said the proposals are worrying.

“What’s happening is a truly alarming spread of state legislation that, if passed, will have the intent or impact of criminalising peaceful protests,” said Lee Rowland, an

attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union rights group.

The bills were “unconstitutional right out of the gate,” Rowland said, adding that protests should be seen as a “success of representative democracy,” not a problem to be solved.

Gregory Magarian, a professor at Washington University in St Louis School of Law, said the bills present a “major First Amendment problem,” referring to the section of the US Constitution that guarantees the right to free expression.

Defenders of the proposals, however, argue that they were for-

REUTERS

mulated out of concern for public safety above all.

One bill by Indiana Republican state senator Jim Tomes calls for police “to use any means necessary” to clear roads of people unlawfully blocking traffic no more than 15 minutes after law enforcement learns of the obstruction.

In North Dakota, where hundreds have been arrested during protests against a pipeline, a bill by Republican state Representative Keith Kempenich would shield motorists from liability if they unintentionally hit a protester on a roadway, injuring or killing them. l

Trump, Putin to speak on sanctions n Tribune Desk US President Donald Trump’s first conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin since taking office is sparking concern among European allies and his own Republican Party about the future of US sanctions on Moscow, reports the Associated Press.

Ahead of the call planned for Saturday, Trump was noncommittal about whether he was considering lifting the economic penalties. He told reporters: “We’ll see what happens. As far as the sanctions, very early to be talking about that.”

Trump made those remarks Friday alongside British Prime Minister Theresa May, whose country — as part of the European Union — also levied sanctions on Russia following its provocations in Ukraine. Voicing the view of many in Europe, May said, “We believe the sanctions should continue.”

Vice President Mike Pence was expected to be on the Putin call with Trump. He wasn’t expected to join other diplomatic calls the president planned for Saturday.

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A picture taken on January 25, 2017 shows a mural, vandalized with paint, depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and US President Donald Trump and bearing the Cyrillic letters reading 'Kosovo is Serbia', in Belgrade AFP

‘Reckless course’

Two top Senate Republicans — John McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Rob Portman, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee — also warned the White House about easing any punishments on Moscow and vowed to turn the sanctions into law.

“I hope President Trump will put an end to this speculation

and reject such a reckless course,” McCain said in a statement. “If he does not, I will work with my colleagues to codify sanctions against Russia into law.”

Portman said lifting the sanctions “for any reason other than a change in the behaviour that led to those sanctions in the first place would send a dangerous message to a world already questioning

the value of American leadership and the credibility of our commitments after eight years of Obama administration policies.”

US intelligence officials have concluded that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election to help Trump become president.

Obama in late December ordered sanctions on Russian spy agencies, closed two Russian compounds and expelled 35 diplomats the US said were really spies. The new penalties add to existing US sanctions over Russia’s actions in Ukraine, which have damaged Russia’s economy but only limited impact on Putin’s behavior.

In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea in Ukraine, drawing widespread condemnation in Europe and the United States and a raft of penalties.

For his part, McCain has emerged as a frequent critic of Trump among Capitol Hill Republicans. He takes a dim view of trying to reset relations with Moscow and says Trump should remember that Putin is “a murderer and a thug who seeks to undermine American national security interests at every turn.” l

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will lift the veil of secrecy around cash-for-access fundraisers, a government source said on Friday. The move comes after months of media scrutiny and criticism of the meetings between Liberal government leaders and donors, often at elite social events, that had tarnished Trudeau’s image as a youthful reformer. REUTERS

UK

‘Britain becoming US vassal state’ Britain is becoming subservient to a United States that will be extremely difficult to cooperate with judging by President Donald Trump’s “serious and worrying” first acts, French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron said on Friday. Macron said Trump’s early policy moves suggested the United States might become a destabilising force on the world stage. AFP

EUROPE

Council of Europe to investigate bribery allegations The Council of Europe (CoE) is to investigate possible corruption in its assembly in response to reports that Azerbaijani members had bribed others to influence votes on human rights there. The council voted down a resolution in January 2013 that would have condemned Azerbaijan for its policy on political prisoners.

The council said on Friday the assembly had decided to set up an independent investigation. REUTERS

AFRICA

Merkel: Migrant deal with Libya needed Europe should work with Libya to control illegal migration, but cannot sign a deal similar to that reached with Turkey last year until political stability is restored in the North African country, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday. Merkel said it was important to work with Libya given that more than 4,000 migrants had died in the Mediterranean while en route from Libya to Italy. REUTERS

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Brexit and Trump top southern EU nations summit discussions n AFP, Lisbon Leaders of seven southern European Union nations met in Lisbon on Saturday, seeking a united front against Brexit and the new protectionist administration of US President Donald Trump.

The mostly centre-left leaders taking part – the second summit of southern EU leaders in four months – are also expected to renew action to boost flagging growth and tackle the migrant crisis.

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa shook hands and embraced Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, French President Francois Hollande and the other leaders as they arrived.

Faced with the rise of “protectionism and populism”, the EU needs urgent reforms to “surpass the economic, social and political legitimacy crisis which is weakening it,” Costa said ahead of the event.

Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Malta are the other countries present.

Hollande warned Friday after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin that Trump’s administration poses “challenges” to “our trade rules, as well as to our

From left to right, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Spanish Prime Minister Maiano Rajoy, French President Francois Hollande, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Cupriot President Nicos Anastasiades, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni pose for a group photo at Belem cultural center in Lisbon on January 28 AFP ability to resolve conflicts around the world”.

Trump has rattled America’s traditional European allies with a range of radical policy plans.

He has called Nato “obsolete”, announced he would rip up a planned transatlantic trade plan and supported Britain’s move to leave the EU, calling it a “wonderful

thing” on Friday during a meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Politically weak leaders

It includes some of the nations hardest hit by the financial crisis.

Portugal and Greece both got international bailouts worth tens of billions of euros which came with

demands for tough austerity measures and economic reforms.

The leaders will issue a joint statement after the meeting. It is expected to focus on the need to boost growth and investment in Europe.

Economic growth “must be at the centre” of the EU’s policies, Gentiloni said Friday in Madrid after talks with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

He also urged Brussels to show “flexibility” when it enforces deficit rules.

“Simply I think Italy needs expansionary economic policies,” he said.

The Lisbon summit comes ahead of a February 3 meeting of EU leaders in Malta to look at the future of the bloc without Britain, its second-largest economy and its richest financial centre.

Analysts said forging a common front will be hard as southern EU nations have different priorities and many of the leaders who will be at the Lisbon summit are politically weak.

Hollande is not a candidate in France’s presidential election later this year and his Socialist party is trailing in the polls. l

Iraq roots out Islamic State? n Reuters, Mosul More than two years after the militants took over Mosul and proclaimed a caliphate for all Muslims, Iraqi forces backed by a US-led coalition have retaken the eastern half of the city, and now have the west in their sights.

Although thousands of militants have been killed since the start of the campaign three months ago, Islamic State is expected to live on, going back underground and reverting to its insurgent tactics of old.

That means the enemy will be less visible to Iraqi forces, and the fight against it more covert.

As Iraqi forces rout Islamic State from the east, they are learning more about the workings of the militant group, which left behind a formidable paper trail.

On Fatlawi’s desk was a stack of documents recovered from Islamic State bases in northern Mosul, including diagrams for making unmanned aircraft and two Russian passports from which the pages containing personal details had been torn out.

The passports appeared unused, except for a single stamp upon entrance to Turkey in 2013.

There were also internal commu-

nications sent from senior Islamic State members to mid-ranking commanders, with instructions not to use earphones whilst on duty, and to smile and speak nicely to their subjects in order to “increase affection amongst all”.

‘Dying of fear’

Iraqi forces have relied on locals to inform on those who collaborated with Islamic State as they enter each new district, but the security apparatus is beginning to conduct more systematic checks.

In one of the last neighbourhoods to have been cleared on the eastern side of the river, billboards still welcome visitors to the Islamic State, and the corpses of militants lying in the road have not been rotting for long enough to smell.

“He is called Abu al-Harith,” said captain Aras, identifying a militant who drew his last breath near a dumpster as Yemeni before turning away to retch.

On a street nearby, children play as though nothing has happened, and men emerge from their houses acclimatising to the new reality of Iraqi soldiers patrolling the streets instead of Islamic State.

One resident still had a full beard

Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi, centre, celebrates with Iraqi people as they raise the Iraqi flag in the same place where Islamic State militants raised their flag two years ago in Mosul on January 27 REUTERS and wore his trousers tucked into his socks, in keeping with the dress code imposed by Islamic State – modelled on the way the Muslim Prophet Mohammed is thought to have dressed in 632 AD. The rules were enforced by the Hisba or vice squad, which cut people’s trousers if they fell below the ankle, and whipped or fined those who trimmed their beards.

A trail of spent bullet casings marks the route by which the mili-

tants were driven back by Iraqi forces down a narrow alley towards the river Tigris.

As the army advanced, the militants forced some residents out of their homes, using the dwellings to mount a futile defence of the area, and torching them as they withdrew.

“They were dying of fear,” said Abu Malek, describing how a small group of fighters had threatened him to get out of his house at gunpoint.

“They were all young children”. l

Britain’s May meets Erdogan to seek stronger ties with Turkey

n AFP, Ankara

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Saturday was holding talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a first visit to Turkey as premier aimed at forging a new trading relationship before Britain leaves the EU. Fresh from meeting new US President Donald Trump at the White House, May held some three hours of talks with Erdogan and was also to meet Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on a one-day visit to capital Ankara.

As is traditional for any visiting leader, she started the visit by laying a wreath at the mausoleum of Turkey’s modern founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

May is looking to strike a delicate balance between showing Britain’s keen interest in expanding trade with Turkey while echoing European alarm over the magnitude of the crackdown since the July 15 failed coup.

Following Britain’s June vote to leave the European Union, both sides are now looking to bring a new dynamic to relations, with London seeking to firm up post-Brexit trade deals with non-EU states.

May’s visit is also seen as the first to Ankara by a top Western leader since the uprising, although then US vice president Joe Biden held talks with Erdogan in August.

Her visit came hours after Erdogan had hosted the American actress Lindsay Lohan – a keen supporter of Erdogan’s vision of a multipolar world – in his vast presidential palace in Ankara.

‘Engagement with Turkey’ May’s spokeswoman said increased security cooperation, especially on aviation, and a new trade relationship post-Brexit would top the agenda at the talks.

Countering criticism from MPs that Britain was cosying up to Turkey while turning a blind eye to its human rights record, the spokeswoman emphasised that there were no issues May would steer away from.

“She thinks it’s important – and in the UK’s national interest – to engage with Turkey on a range of issues from defence and security cooperation to capitalising on trade opportunities,” she said.

She added: “I don’t think there are any issues that the prime minister is afraid to bring up.”

The spokeswoman said Britain was quick to express its support for the Turkish government after the coup bid but indicated London was closely following the extent of the crackdown. l

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Colombia and Farc insurgents to wage joint fight n Reuters, Colombia’s government and Marxist FARC rebels announced a plan on Friday to substitute illegal crops and eradicate vast tracts of coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine, over the next year as part of a peace deal to end a half-century conflict.

Colombia, which according to the United Nations has more than 96,000 hectares (237,000 acres) sown with coca, manually de-

stroyed 17,642 hectares last year and seized a record 378 tonnes of cocaine.

Planting of coca was up 39 percent in 2015 after the government halted aerial fumigation with the chemical glyphosate, which was a key part of its U.S.-backed counternarcotics strategy. Colombia and neighbouring Peru are the world’s leading producers of cocaine.

“The goal is to replace approximately 50,000 hectares of illicit crops during the first year of im-

Trump’s envoy warns UN: Back us or we’ll take names

United Nations Secretary-General Antunio Guterres shakes hands with new US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley AFP

n AFP, United Nations Washington’s new ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, vowed Friday to show US strength, bluntly warning those who oppose President Donald Trump’s policies that she is “taking names” and will respond.

The former South Carolina governor served notice that the new US administration will push for an overhaul of the United Nations, in her first remarks at UN headquarters.

“Our goal with the administration is to show value at the UN, and the way that we will show value is to show our strength, show our voice, have the backs of our allies and make sure that our allies have our back as well,” Haley said.

The 45-year-old daughter of Indian immigrants made clear that some cuts were in store at the world body, which critics describe as a bloated, ineffective bureaucracy.

“This is a time of strength.

This is a time of action. This is a time of getting things done,” Haley said.

“Everything that is work-

ing, we are going to make it better. Everything that is not working we are going to try and fix. Everything that seems to be obsolete and not necessary, we’re going to do away with,” she said.

The United States is by far the UN’s biggest financial contributor, providing 22 percent of its operating budget and funding 28 percent of peacekeeping missions, which currently cost $7.8bn annually.

Fresh eyes, new strength -

In his pledge to pursue an “America First” foreign policy, Trump has dismissed the United Nations as “just a club for people to get together and have a good time.”

Relations became tense after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution in late December demanding that Israel end settlement construction.

The previous US administration declined to use its veto to block that measure, prompting Trump to promise that “things will be different” at the United Nations under his administration. l

plementation in more than 40 municipalities in the most affected departments,” the government and the rebels said in a joint statement.

The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, was considered one of the biggest players in Colombia’s drug business.

President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leadership agreed on the crop substitution programme as part of last year’s peace agreement.

Post-Conflict Commissioner Rafael Pardo said the government would invest $340 million in the substitution programme, which he said would benefit 50,000 families.

Cacao and fruit trees are among crops that will be planted instead of coca, depending on soil characteristics.

Colombia’s conflict, pitting leftist rebels against right-wing paramilitaries and the military, has lasted almost 53 years and taken

more 220,000 lives.

The FARC initially “taxed” coca production by farmers in rural areas under its control but it went on to dominate trafficking in those same areas.

The guerrillas vowed to abandon the lucrative drug trade once a peace deal was reached but other armed groups, including paramilitary groups and other crime gangs have been looking to replace the FARC and take over its old income stream wherever possible. l

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CAPITAL MARKET SNAPSHOT: PAST WEEK 5,618.6 0.0% ▲ Index DSE Broad Index CSE All Share Index 17,398.3 0.0% ▲ 30 Index

1,292.5 15,183.1

0.0% 0.0%

▲ ▲

30 Index Selected Index

2,038.5 10,549.0

0.0% 0.0%

▲ ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk Turnover in Mn Tk

86,571.7 4,961.6

0.0% 0.0%

▲ ▲

Turnover in Mn Vol Turnover in Mn Vol

2,737.2 175.7

0.0% 0.0%

▲ ▲

Eight Bangladeshi companies receive SAFA award n SM Najmus Sakib

President Abdul Hamid addresses SAFA Regional CFO Conference 2017 organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh in the capital yesterday PID

President for ensuring financial transparency n Tribune Business Desk Calling upon the chief executives of financial institutions to ensure transparency and accountability in their institutions, President Abdul Hamid yesterday said lack of vigilance, transparency and accountability in financial activities puts the country at risk, reports UNB. “A huge amount of money is being swindled out of the country’s financial institutions through forgery. Ensuring security of public money is the responsibility of all,” he said.

The President was speaking at the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) Regional CFO Conference 2017 organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) in the capital yesterday.

Abdul Hamid said the sustainable use of ICT can play an important role in ensuring transparency and accountability in the country’s financial sector.

He hoped that the regional conference will help owners, directors and officials of the countries under

the SAFA ensure transparency and accountability in their companies, and as a result, a culture of security will take place in financial sector.

About the corporate social responsibility, the President said private sector along with the public one can play a vital role in socioeconomic development and enhancing economic growth in the era of globalisation.

At present, corporate culture is playing an important role in production and employment, Hamid said, adding that financial sector must contribute to social development under the corporate social responsibility.

With the span of time, corporate culture has emerged as an important driving force to boost and expand economy along with the government venture.

Huge investment has been made in the economy, both from domestic and international sources, for attaining sustainable development, he said.

South Asia is one of the most potential sectors in the world where one-forth of the world’s pollution

lives, the President said, adding if the population of these countries could be transformed into human resources, a new dimension will be added to the development of this region.

As you all know that the main challenge to this region is poverty.

The members of SAARC are fighting against this menace to free their people from the curse of poverty. The governments of this region have taken various initiatives and strategies in this regard.

He stressed the need for taking concerted efforts to address the issue both from public and private corners.

Hamid said he believes that the chartered accountants of this region have the opportunity to ensure transparency and accountability in financial management and good governance.

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, commerce senior secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, president of International Accounting Standards Board Hans Hoogervorst and ICAB president Adeeb Hossain Khan, among others, spoke at the function. l

A total of 46 organisations from SAARC countries, including eight from Bangladesh, received prestigious South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) award for their best presented annual reports of 2015.

In addition, 41 institutions and entities also received Certificates of Merit at a programme, organised by the Institute of Charted Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) at a city hotel in the capital on Friday.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith handed over the awards to the recipients under 13 different categories including banks, non-banking financial institutions, insurance companies, manufacturing, financial services, ICT and non-government organisations.

Sri Lanka secured first position while Bangladesh and Pakistan became 1st and 2nd runners-up respectively in consideration of the number of awards, certificates of merit and positions.

A total of eight Bangladeshi companies received 10 awards.

In his address as the chief guest, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said Bangladesh made tremendous development in its business and financial sectors improving standard, transparency and accountability which are now worldwide acceptable.

Muhith termed Bangladesh a

highly populated country but with tremendous opportunity to develop business and economy competing with other developed countries.

“Transparency and accountability are needed in business and economy to flourish across the world, and healthy competition is also necessary to attain sustainable development,” the minister said, adding that financial and business companies bear responsibilities to contribution to the society and its people.

As the special guest, Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir said investments from home and abroad are required to fulfill the goal announced by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to turn Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021.

He also said private sector, corporate sector and industries should come ahead to take the challenge and meet the goal.

ICAB president Adeeb Hossain Khan and SAFA present ASM Nayem addressed the function, which was attended by presidents of different CA institutes and heads of different organisations in SAARC countries, delegates from IFAC, CAPA, and ICAB council members.

SAFA is an apex body of SAARC formed in 1984. It is a forum of professional accountancy bodies in the SAARC region to improve transparency, accountability and governance. l

LIST OF AWARD-WINNING BANGLADESHI COMPANIES Sector Private Sector Banks Financial Services Sector

Non-Governmental Organisations

Company Prime Bank Limited

Sector Rank Joint Winner

United Commercial Bank Ltd

Joint First Runner-up

LankaBangla Finance Limited

Joint Winner

IDLC Finance Limited

Joint Winner

Uddipan

Joint Winner

BRAC

First Runner Up

Sajida Foundation

Joint Second Runner-up

SAARC Anniversary Award for Corporate Governance

IDLC Finance Limited

Winner

Prime Bank Limited

First Runner Up

Public Sector Entities

Infrastructure Development Company Limited

Joint Winner

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

RMG makers keen to include all stakeholders into new initiative n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi RMG makers want that all stakeholders including the government, ILO, brands and representatives of trade union leaders be included in the new initiative to inspect apparel industry after the expiry of Accord and Alliance tenure.

According to the steering committee’s draft proposal for Version 2, BGMEA representatives, International Labour Organisation (ILO), Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishment (DIFE), Trade Unions and Brands would find place in the proposal to continue safety inspection for sustainability.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the apex trade body, has prepared the draft proposal which is being discussed with the stakeholders.

The new initiative will replace Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh and Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, the tenure of which will expire by June 2018.

According to the draft proposal, factory assessment would be done on an individual basis. The failure of remediation in any particular unit will not affect other production units belonging to the same group.

Following the identification of safety hazards and providing corrective action plans, manufactures have to be given sufficient time to address them, the proposal reads.

Besides, new factories entering the pool of suppliers will have to pay for their inspections based on the square footage of their facility, it noted.

Independent third party auditors, having prior audit and certi-

fication experience with Accord or Alliance, will be contacted to undertake all structural, fire and electrical audits.

Where applicable, locally existing trained human resources, having prior evaluation experience would also be absorbed in Version-2.

“Based on the proposed new initiatives, we are talking with the stakeholders. We also held meeting in Hong Kong with the Accord,” BGMEA senior vice-president Faruque Hassan told the Dhaka Tribune.

“We want to make the inspection process a continuous and sustainable one.”

The Version-2 will be registered in Bangladesh under the relevant act of the land. From 2021, the new initiative will become fully self-financed.

For the initial period, June 2018 to June 2020, the signatory buyers

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will contribute with a reduction of 50% of their annual dues that they have been paying to the Accord and Alliance since 2013.

In October last year, BGMEA formed a five-member committee to set a strategy for post-Accord and Alliance inspection to ensure safety in workplace and the inspection process a sustainable one.

The outcries over safety issues began after the Rana Plaza factory disaster that killed over 1,135 workers and injured over 2,500 people on April 24, 2013.

Accord, a platform of European buyers, and Alliance, another platform of North American buyers, started inspection in mid-2014 to improve electrical, fire and structural safety in Bangladesh RMG sector.

The tenure of the inspection by the both platforms will come to an end by June 2018. l

New monetary policy for H2 today n Tribune Business Desk

Bangladesh Bank will announce the monetary policy for January-June period of the current fiscal year 2016-17 today.

The new monetary policy will be revealed at a press conference scheduled to be held at the central bank headquarters at 11am.

The central bank governor, Fazle Kabir, will chair the function.

This is the second monetary policy the governor is going to announce since his joining the Bangladesh Bank in March 2015.

The upcoming monetary policy will focus on boosting private sector credit growth. The credit space for private sector may remain unchanged to 16.5% for FY17 as inflation trend is downward.

Though the private sector credit growth is on the rise reaching 15% as of November, it is still well below the target of 16.6% set for December at its earlier monetary policy. l

n Tribune Business Desk Bangladesh Bank has awarded gold crests to its 23 employees for their best performance during the year 2015.

Fazle Kabir, the central bank governor, handed over the awards to the winners at a function held recently at the Bangladesh Bank headquarters.

The employees were awarded in two categories, highest standard and second highest standard of performance.

In the highest standard category, six employees were awarded, of

which four got the awards individually while two jointly, according to Bangladesh Bank. In the second highest standard of performance category, 17 were awarded, and all of them were in five team.

Nazim Uddin from the Governor Secretariat Department, Ranjit Kumar Roy from Financial Integrity and Customer Service Department, Amir Uddin, Rafeza Aktar Kanta and Shilpi Rani Das from Banking Regulation and Policy Department, Firoz Mahmud Islam, Naima Nazneen Rikta from Off-site Supervision Department are among the award winners. l

COURTESY

BB awards gold crests to 23 employees

Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir seen with award-winning employees at a function held in BB headquarters recently

DSE weekly turnover falls by 3.58% Parliamentary watchdog n Tribune Business Desk

The weekly turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) has seen a 3.58% fall to Tk8,657 crore as investors went on sell-off to book profits at the end of the week.

Last week, the DSE recorded Tk8,657 crore, down by 3.58% compared to Tk8,979 crore in the previous week.

In the past week, Dhaka Stock Exchange witnessed major events in terms of turnover and index.

First, the broad index went through a major resistance on Wednesday bringing it down to almost 87 points. Second, the Monday turn-

over was the highest daily turnover in the last six years, exceeding Tk2,180 crore In first three sessions of the week, DSEX, the key index of the DSE, has seen a substantial gain by 175 points, but in the last two sessions, it witnessed a 90-point correction.

DSEX moved up by 85 points or 1.53% to finish the week at 5,619 points.

DS30, the blue chip stock, gained by 55 points or 2.76% to end at 2,038 points while DSE Shariah Index rose 17 points or 1.33% to close at 1,293 points.

Among the issues traded throughout the week, 150 ended in

the black, 168 in the red while 12 remained unchanged.

“The first three trading sessions of the week saw positive movement.

During the last two trading days, the market, however, went through a major correction phase. The index had been fluctuating in the last two days of the trading session this week,” said Lanka Bangla Securities in its market commentary.

During the trading sessions over the week, large cap sectors showed positive performances.

Banks gained by 9.25%, the highest gainers, followed by Telecommunications 2.58%, NBFIs 1.77%, Pharmaceuticals 0.27%. l

keen to know write-off status of state banks n Tribune Business Desk Parliamentary Standing Committee on Estimates asked the authorities concerned recently to prepare a detailed report on how much loan was written off by the government commercial banks in the last five years.

The committee also asked the authorities to submit the report including how many write-offs were recovered during the period. The

report will be placed in the next meeting.

It also asked the banks to identify and make sure people involved with financial graft get exemplary punishments, take steps to recover money from institutions concerned and take steps so that such incidents do not happen in future.

The 8th meeting of the standing committee was held at the parliament building led by its Chair Abdul Matin Khasru on January 26. l

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Japan preparing for all possible United States trade contingencies n Reuters Japan is preparing for all possible contingencies regarding trade talks with the United States, the top government spokesman said on Friday, after US President Donald Trump ditched the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal this week.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is arranging to visit Washington next month, and an official in Trump’s administration said Trump would seek quick progress towards a bilateral trade agreement with Japan in place of the broader Asia-Pacific deal.

“It is true that we are preparing to be able to respond to any possible situation,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.

He refrained from commenting on US trade policy until it becomes clear.

“The alliance and the economy between Japan and the US is very important, so we would like to have talks with various levels with the US (about) how we can develop.”

Some Japanese officials said Abe’s government should still try to convince Trump of the benefits of the TPP and multilateral free trade deals, while adding that they were not ruling out bilateral trade talks with the United States.

“We still stick to our best scenario (in pursuit of TPP), but that does not mean that we’re inflexible,” Masahiko Shibayama, an adviser to Abe, told Reuters.

“We need to prepare umbrellas for a rainy day. It’s too early to decide what kind to umbrellas to bring, though.”

Trump, who took office last Friday, reiterated on Thursday he would strike numerous bilateral deals, as opposed to multilateral accords, such as the TPP.

Post-Brexit trade deals ‘will take years’ n AFP, Brussels

US president Donald Trump speaks at a debate Japanese officials were cautious about any Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Japan and the United States, as it could encourage Trump to step up pressure on Tokyo while providing few benefits for Japan’s economy, they said.

Trump has threatened a “border tax” on imports into the United States and has said Japan has “unfair” barriers to foreign auto imports. Japanese officials pointed out that there are no tariffs on foreign car imports into Japan and maintain there are no discriminatory non-tariff barriers, either.

“We’ll calmly explain the fact that Japanese carmakers are in-

vesting in America and create a lot of jobs there,” Shibayama said.

The TPP, which took years to negotiate among 12 countries, has often been described as being, at its core, a deal between the United States and Japan, the world’s largest and third-largest economies respectively.

Abe has touted TPP as an engine of economic reform and a counterweight to a rising China but said on Thursday it was possible Tokyo and Washington could hold bilateral free trade talks.

Trump called the TPP bad for American jobs, but proponents of the pact worry that abandoning

REUTERS

the project could further strengthen China’s economic hand in the region.

Suga also said Japan would continue to monitor closely how the relationship between the United States and Mexico affects Japanese companies.

On Thursday, the White House floated the idea of imposing a 20% tax on goods from Mexico to pay for a wall at the southern US border, sending the peso plummeting and deepening the crisis between the two neighbours.

Japanese manufacturers, including major automakers, operate factories in Mexico. l

The former US ambassador to the European Union warned that securing a trade deal between the US and post-Brexit Britain could take years.

Anthony Gardner, who was forced to step down when Donald Trump took office last Friday, spoke as British Prime Minister Theresa May travelled to Washington to sketch the outlines of a future trade relationship between Britain and the United States.

Gardner also said that securing a trade deal between the EU and Britain could take years and would depend on the divorce terms worked out in what are expected to be fraught negotiations.

“A true free trade agreement between UK and EU won’t be easy or fast for many reasons. It will be a question of many years,” Gardner, who is no longer a US diplomat, said on his personal twitter account.

“A US-UK (trade deal) won’t be quick or easy either. It will take several years at least and depends on UK-EU trade relationship,” he added.

Britain is banking its economic well-being after the EU divorce on securing swift trade deals with partners around the globe.

The British government has already laid the groundwork for future negotiations with India, Australia and New Zealand.

A supporter of Brexit, Trump has promised to push through a fast deal with Britain, but the EU has insisted this cannot be done until London has formally left the bloc.

Gardner, a former private equity head in London, was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2013. l

World Bank sees further rises for oil and metals in 2017 n Reuters

Industrial commodities such as oil and metals are set for further price rises this year, while precious metals prices are likely to fall and agricultural products flatline, said World Bank senior economist John Baffes.

Baffes, speaking in the Global Markets Forum after the release of the Bank’s latest Commodity Markets Outlook report, also said US President Donald Trump’s policies were unlikely to have a major impact on prices.

Here are excerpts from the conversation:

Q: Are you expecting commodity prices to rise this year overall?

A: We expect oil to average $55 a barrel this year from $43 last year and metals prices to increase 11%.

However, agriculturals to remain flat, if up slightly. Precious metals should drop.

How do you see the dynamics between the OPEC cuts and the US shale producers playing out?

The more that OPEC and nonOPEC countries cut supplies, the greater room that will give to US shale oil producers to fill the gap.

If prices exceed $60, the shale oil industry will certainly respond

with more production.

environmental considerations.

Do you see Trump’s policies having much of an effect across the commodity space, and if so, where in particular?

Is the weakness in gold that you see for 2017 a reflection of the strength of other markets or something else?

There might be an effect on metals prices due to increased spending on infrastructure, if that materialises. However, the US is a small consumer in world metals markets, so any effect would be marginal. On coal - US government policies will not have much of an effect because coal has been displaced by the cheaper alternative, natural gas.

Also, coal-importing countries are going to import less coal because of

It’s because of the likely tightening of monetary conditions in the US and perhaps elsewhere. Investors’ appetite will most likely shift to other assets, away from gold.

You’ve taken a special focus on the investment weakness in commodity-exporting emerging market and developing economies: can you tell us more about that and what has been

behind it?

Most middle income and developing countries depend on commodity exports for revenues. The post-2011 downturn in commodity prices has slowed investment considerably. Given that prices are unlikely to reach 2008 or 2011 highs, then countries must find alternative ways of financing investment.

Such as?

Given the limited room for monetary and fiscal policies to boost investment growth, structural policies such as governance and transparency reforms and open trade policies could help. l

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

German engineers see no big hit from Trump, Brexit n Reuters

Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks while Bill Gates looks on at Columbia University in New York

German engineers expect no hit to business from the presidency of Donald Trump or Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, the head of industry body VDMA told a German newspaper.

“We don’t expect that engineering will be the focus of President Donald Trump and that significant trade barriers will be built in the short-term,” VDMA President Carl Martin Welcker told Suedwest Presse in an interview.

“One reason is that hardly any American competitors exist for our products.”

The United States is the most important export market for German engineers, accounting for 11%, or 17.8bn euros ($19.1bn), the paper said.

REUTERS

Buffett, Gates have hope for America after Trump ascension n Reuters Bill Gates and Warren Buffett on Friday expressed optimism that the United States will move ahead as a nation, even as it works through political differences and gets used to the new Trump administration.

The world’s two richest people were speaking to students at Columbia University after US President Donald Trump started to unwind the work of his predecessor Barack Obama in a series of executive orders, prompting concern from critics over what the actions mean for Americans and their place in the world.

“I am confident that America will move ahead,” Buffett said.

Gates, meanwhile, said the de-

sire for innovation and support for research are “strong” and “largely bipartisan,” despite differences on how to accomplish and fund both.

“This administration is new enough; we don’t know how its budget priorities are going to come out,” but there is much intensity to ensure that the executive branch and Congress encourage “amazing things,” Gates said.

Gates co-founded and was the first chief executive of Microsoft Corp, while Buffett runs the conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Forbes magazine said on Friday that Gates is worth $85.2bn and Buffett is worth $73.9bn.

An estimated 1,300 people attended Friday’s event to watch

the close friends, who have known each other for a quarter century.

Gates is also a Berkshire director, while Buffett is donating much of his wealth to the charitable foundation set up by Gates and his wife, Melinda.

Both told students it is important to invest and focus on doing good works over the long term, despite the impulse or perceived need for shorter-term thinking.

Gates said this was particularly true in areas such as climate change and vaccinations, calling it just as important to be sure people can get vaccines as it is to develop them.

Buffett said: “It’s very hard to have politicians think of something that’s wonderful for the country 20 years from now” if the short-term

impact might cost them reelection, with their decisions often tainted by too much money, which he called “bad news.”

He also stressed the importance of immigration, a central issue for Trump, whom neither Buffett nor Gates discussed.

Buffett said the country has been “blessed” by immigrants, and might have come out quite different had the physicists Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard not in 1939 urged US President Franklin Roosevelt to develop a nuclear program to counter threats from Nazi Germany.

“If it weren’t for those two immigrants, who knows if we would be sitting in this room,” Buffett said. l

‘One reason is that hardly any American competitors exist for our products’ VDMA said in December it expected muted growth in 2017, with an uncertain outlook for business in the United States and China offsetting a recovery in exports to some markets such as Russia and India.

The industry group, which represents large engineering companies such as Siemens as well as thousands of medium-sized industrial goods makers, sees sector sales edging up to 224bn euros in 2017 from 220bn in 2016.

Welcker also expects no dramatic impact from Brexit, he said.

“The industrial base there is no longer strong enough for German machines to be particularly in demand.” l

US dollar continues Trump-related broad uptrend n Reuters

The dollar rose against the yen on Friday, extending a broad trend that has been in place since US President Donald Trump’s election in November on expectations of more pro-growth policies to bolster an economy that has improved but sputtered at times.

The greenback has climbed for two straight days, pulling it back from seven-week lows against a basket of currencies on the view that it would gain from a rise in border tariffs, tax reform and fu-

ture spending.

“Donald Trump’s ambitious fiscal plans point to stronger growth in the coming quarters,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com in London.

“He has hit the ground running, making a number of executive orders in his first week as the president. So hopes that he will boost economic growth are alive and this may keep the dollar bid,” he added.

Increasing expectations of tax reforms and fiscal stimulus are easing concerns of trade protectionism, analysts say.

“The heavily abstracted threat of a trade war is unlikely to shake investor confidence until the reality arrives,” said Karl Schamotta, director of global product and market strategy at Cambridge Global Payments in Toronto.

The dollar briefly wobbled after the US Commerce Department’s first estimate of fourth-quarter gross domestic product showed that growth slowed more than expected, to a 1.9% annual rate due to weak exports. The market was expecting growth of 2.2%.

The economy grew only 1.6% in

2016, the weakest pace since 2011.

Dennis de Jong, managing director at online currency broker UFX.com in Limassol, Cyprus, described Friday’s US GDP number as “solid but not spectacular,” and said it should keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates multiple times this year.

The 4% fall in the dollar in the three weeks from Jan 3 reflected doubts about how the new administration’s policy mix would play out for the currency, particularly after both Trump and Treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin hinted at

concerns over the dollar’s strength.

But many analysts cast it simply as a necessary adjustment to market positioning before the dollar can deliver on what were widespread expectations of a strong rally in 2017.

In late trading, the dollar was up 0.5% against the yen, to 115.11 yen JPY, after touching a one-week high of 115.37 yen.

The dollar also rose against sterling, which fell 0.3% to $1.2559 GBP. The euro, however, gained 0.1% against the dollar to $1.0693 EUR, leaving the dollar index at 100.6, or 0.2% higher on the day. l

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What’s wrong with the new Dhaka structure plan? n Qazi Azizul Mowla When it comes to the issue of a structured city, Dhaka’s name will be far from that list. The chaotic capital of Bangladesh, that accommodates over 16 million people, also has problem in implementing any plan properly because of the uncontrollable influx of population from the countryside.

Several structure plans have been launched since Patrick Geddes first presented his ideas for the development of Dhaka in 1917. Unfortunately, none of the past successive plans were implemented and we never tried to learn anything from our past failures.

The newest Dhaka Structure Plan (DSP) 2016-35 borrows heavily from the immediate past structure plan and instead of improving on it, the proposed new one has deteriorated further and has altogether discarded the Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan of 1995.

What’s wrong with capital’s planning?

Dhaka Improvement Trust (DIT), the predecessor to Rajuk, was formed without planning being a part of its original charter; however, the 1953 Town Improvement Act was finally modified in 1987, transforming DIT into Rajuk (Rajdhani Unayon Kortipakhya - Capital Development authority) with planning, coordination and directive powers.

Rajuk, in fact could never understand its role and remained primarily a ‘public real estate developers agency’. Its biggest failures are, not to understand the real problem or to have a vision on which to work, but also its failure or inability to combine planning and implementation process.

Because of Rajuk’s incapacity, its efforts to intervene in planning and development have been made by one or another set of interests - each grasping the elephant by only one of its parts and misunderstanding the whole. DSP 2016-2035 is no exception; rather worst of the series of attempts it made for the planning of Dhaka since the beginning of the last century.

Any development plan requires a vision before it is conceived and implemented but in the case of DSP 2016-35, there is neither a vision nor any implementation

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

strategy. It looks more like a real estate developer’s wishful road map for increasing buildable land at any cost.

What’s inside the Dhaka Structure Plan 2016-2036?

To facilitate long-term sustainability through better urban planning and demand-led development within DMDP area, Rajuk had selected a joint venture (JV) of International and National Consultants through international bidding procedure guided by ADB. The members of JV partners are Saman Corporation and Han-A Urban Research Institute, Republic of Korea, Sheltech (Pvt) Ltd and DevCon Ltd, Bangladesh.

Some of the main issues covered under the DSP are: Setting the Context, Future Growth Direction, Effective Land Use Management for Livable Dhaka, Transport for Efficient Connectivity, Enhancing Dhaka’s Employment and productivity, Public Facilities for Better Living, Protecting Natural and Healthy Environment, Preserving Open Space for Recreation and Aesthetics, Resilience through Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Historically and Enhance the Cityscape with Urban Design and

Landscape.

Geographically and economically, Dhaka is a dynamic entity. Dhaka is not a virgin land and a lot of diversified issues are in play to keep it dynamic; therefore, existing conditions and constraints are to be taken care of, which Patrick Geddes called ‘conservative surgery’ and not amputation or transplantation as has been proposed in the DSP. At one end, Rajuk is encouraging speculative price hike of land in and all around Dhaka, providing site and serviced plot to the existing landowners of Dhaka.

At the other end, it is advocating for acquiring more private land and providing it for housing schemes – these approaches have already failed to solve the housing problem.

Moreover, as mentioned before, Dhaka is not a virgin land where fresh transport oriented developments (ToD) can be proposed without massive amputation. Existing context need to be carefully studied and causes of migration to Dhaka (biggest cause of population explosion of Dhaka) needs to be checked – to keep pace with the housing needs.

The recommendations to

make it better

In a nutshell, most of the basic ingredients of a typical structure plan are missing in DSP 2016-35. It failed to assess the failures of the past structure plans of Dhaka and to take lessons from those.

Experts and stake holders were not consulted let alone the general public. Besides, it did not have a continuation of immediate past plan, thus loosing the context and objectivity.

The DSP also ignored the setting and the context, while ratifying the past misdeeds of both private and public sector.

I would recommend the government to: Set a clear vision for Dhaka’s development and implementation strategy (visualise what city we want at macro, intermediate and micro level within the existing context).

• Capacity building of Rajuk is needed to manage DSP implementation efficiently.

• DSP is to be nested in national physical planning policies and strategies, and must be compatible with other relevant national issues.

• Follow DMDP 1995-2015 as a guideline and framework to

• •

•

• •

•

update DSP for 2016-2035 as desired by the funding agency.

Set strategies to rectify/recover that have gone wrong in previous plans.

Consider Geo-morphological context (flooding, earthquake, wet land, ecology, etc) during land use adjustments.

Consider conservation of natural and man-made heritage in the planning and design framework.

Consider long-term sustainability instead of shortterm economic gains in the DSP. Consider various traffic and transportation plans by other agencies during land use adjustments / distributions.

Develop and consolidate peripheral municipal areas (Naryanganj, Savar, Tongi etc) as a Dhaka’s decentralisation strategy and connect them adequately with the central region (DNCC & DSCC) without increasing built-up areas. l

The writer is a Professor of Architecture Department of BUET

17

DT

Feature

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Growing Together Program Social Results:

P

hilip Goodwin, CEO of VSO, visited the “Growing Together Programme” which is a three and a half year partnership between VSO and Syngenta that makes farming more profitable for 7,000 small-scale rice, potato and vegetable farmers in the north western Bangladesh, and is expanding to reach 100,000 farmers in the next couple of years. This program has led to the opening of the first retail banking branch in the community, which gives farmers access to proper financing, away from high interest micro finance.

Outline of the project

The Growing Together program is a unique program co-created

by Syngenta and VSO, which aims to sustainably improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Bangladesh and to create thriving rural communities.

The 3.5-year partnership combines Syngenta’s agricultural expertise and technology with VSO’s international development expertise and provision of volunteering opportunities for employees.

Growing Together aims to address the issues faced by smallholder farmers by: Providing training - replacing existing techniques with more efficient methods that produce higher yields through use of demo plots and field days.

Working with farmers to diversify their crops, enabling farmers to better react to market demand as well as helping them become more resilient to changing conditions.

Support the development of farmers’ groups that have greater access to markets and benefit from increased bargaining power leading to better prices.

Syngenta has a strong commitment to sustainability and helping smallholders to increase productivity. In its Good Growth Plan, Syngenta has set itself the

highest sustainability targets to be reached by 2020 and is working closely with multiple partners to find common solutions in addressing global challenges of food security. The Growing Together program aims to increase internal awareness about the challenges of smallholders and to contribute in helping improve the community’s economic and food security.

Since it began at the end of 2015, the Growing Together project benefited 7,000 marginalised farmers and over 1,300 young people in the northwestern part of the country. Farmers adopted more effective methods of rice and vegetable production, which increased their yields.

They received quality seeds and training, and achieved a fair price for their produce, leading to increased incomes.

Farmer Centres provide smallholders with access to various services, boosting farmers’ productivity and income through better inputs and access to market. One Farming Centre supports dozens of Farmer Groups with approximately 30 members in each group. There are 230 farmer groups in the project at the moment, and approximately 30% of the famers are women. The Farming Centres act as a hub for sales and learning; farmers elect board members to support the management and communication with stakeholders, receive training, have access to fair price seeds, machinery for rent, fertilisers and pesticides, and learn to sell their products as a group to obtain much higher incomes.

A key focus of the program is the development of a Social Franchise Model that allows the Farmer Centres to operate sustainably. Its success means this model can be replicated in other parts of Bangladesh and has the potential to be adopted in other countries.

VSO have already seen changes in farmer behaviour in just one year. 80% of farmers have reported practicing new agronomic techniques and technologies, which are designed to reduce their reliance on inputs, improve yields and increase productivity.

These are farmers who prior to this program had never received any Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) training, support, or had any exposure to NGO program.

60% of farmers are now engaged in value chain initiatives, which have already resulted in increased income from their crops. For the first time ever, farmers are fully aware of the dangers of pesticides, and are starting to use personal protective equipment. They have set up farmers’ groups, opened bank accounts for the first time in their lives, and have started group savings accounts.

At the end of the first year (2015), 450 farmers were surveyed and the results were impressive: • Farmers involved in the program saw yields increase by 20% or more • 90% of farmers increased net income by at least 50%

• 70% of farmers at least doubled their income • Participant farmers diversified crops by more than 20% • Pesticide and chemical fertiliser use was reduced by up to 23% and 13% respectively The program is currently assessing the results from 2016 and, as part of this, will carry out a social impact assessment to fully understand the difference the program has made.

Access to finance:

Before Growing Together, farmers received high-interest loans (15-30% interest) from microfinancing institutions and did not meet the criteria to receive bank loans. Collectively as a farmer group, they receive a single loan to be divided among the members while making monthly deposits to be used as capital for the next growing season.

Santal Tribe is among the most marginalised and ultra-poor in the community, who usually work as seasonal labourers on farms and earn less than $200 a year. With the initial micro-loan provided by the Growing Together project, 13 members had enough money

to rent a plot of land, which they farmer jointly as a farmer group.

“We eat one meal per day, and if we’re lucky, a meal with meat every three months. Now we can afford to have three meals per day and eat meat or maybe fish once a month,” said BanuAra, 45.

Libli Banu, a 24-year-old with two kids, who admits, she never dares to dream about her family future, said, “I’ll collect enough money and buy my own land someday. Maybe we will own cattle and sell their milk. I also want to open a small shop in the market and plan for my kids’ education because I never really had one.”

The opening up of retail banking branches in the hubs through the partnership with Bank Asia is the next big step in moving farmers to proper financing, and away from back-street moneylenders and high-interest micro-finance.

These branches will be operated by selected local youth club members, providing real job opportunities and future prospects to the youth. The first two bank branches will be ready to open in mid-January. Also, four Farming Centres are currently being constructed and will be open at the same time.

Upcoming:

PHOTO: ANIK RAHMAN/VSO

Interview with Philip Goodwin: What is the difference between VSO and other organisations?

We work with international volunteers, national volunteers, corporate volunteers, youth volunteers because we have big focus on youth and those volunteers are so close with the community that we work seem to work with. They are technically very well qualified but they are prepared to put themselves beside those communities we serve. Our volunteers work closely with the farmers so they know what the farmers actually need.

What are your goals for the next three to five years with this project?

Currently, we are working with 7000 farmers. We want to reach to 100,000 farmers.

How many countries are VSO operating and any plans of expanding?

Currently VSO is running their projects in 25 countries and we do look forward to expand. I am hoping to operate in 40 countries within the next three years. The good news is we are thinking to send Bangladeshi volunteers to other countries as well to share their experience. Lot of works can be done!

With nearly 10,000 farmers currently in scope, the Growing Together project recently revised its ambition and now intends to reach 100,000 farmers in the next couple of years. The sustainability of the project revolves around a social franchise which will service a network of potentially 100 Farmer Centres, managed by local entrepreneurs, allowing farmers to access quality inputs, mechanisation and national/international markets for aggregated outputs (crops).

The key to sustainability is a different perspective towards value chains, which are often seen as linear and transactional – meaning everyone wants to buy at the cheapest price and sell at the greatest profit without caring about the health of the entire value chain. Growing Together is based on a “nested value chain” approach that puts the famer at the centre. By reaching out to a wider range of businesses through the social franchise (e.g. agricultural businesses, food businesses, banking and insurance companies) Growing Together aims to establish direct relationships between smallholders and private sector companies with a mutual vested interest in the health of the communities. l

DT

18

Biz Info

SUNDAY,JANUARY 29, 2017

| launch |

Symphony brings ‘unselfish selfie’ smartphone – Symphony ZVIII Symphony unveiled its new flagship device ‘Symphony ZVIII’ on Friday, at Bangabandhu International Convention Centre.

This smartphone features an 8-megapixel wide angle front camera and 13-megapixel rear camera with dual LED flash, which brings pictures to life even in low light. The all new “Blue-glass” feature filters out excess light for crystal clear images. Other camera features include face beauty mode, panorama mode, night mode, professional mode and flash lamp mode.

This smartphone represents perfection in terms of its premium design, featuring a metal body and 2.5D curved glass, which creates a round-like surface for stronger grip. The front panel contains a selfie camera with flash, earphones and fingerprint sensor.

The power and volume buttons can be found on the right side, while the SIM and memory card slot is on the left side.

Symphony ZVIII features a 5 inch full HD display for sharp and colourful images, and provides the optimum dimensions for single hand operation. Touch response is super-fast due its five finger multitouch feature. Its superior viewing

angle makes viewing video content much more enjoyable.

Symphony ZVIII is powered by the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system. It has no app drawer, so all apps can be easily accessed directly from the Home screen. Smart action and smart gesture mode allows the user to use double-tap to open or close the screen and open dedicated apps by using alphabet draw.

The home button acts as a highly accurate and fast fingerprint sensor, ensuring maximum security for the user.

Personal files, images, videos and messaging apps can be locked by using the user’s fingerprint, and the phone can be unlocked at an amazing speed of 0.48 seconds.

Symphony ZVIII brings in the biggest surprise for customers in its hardware panel, launching a smartphone powered by Qualcom Snapdragon 430 and 1.4 Ghz Octacore 64 bit processor, for the very first time in the market.

Powerful DDR3 3GB RAM allows blazingly fast data processing, leading to smoother gaming and a heavy multitasking experience.

The phone also features a 16GB ROM expandable to 128GB, where users can have a huge store of

Symphony ZVIII unveiled by Edison Group’s director of Marketing, Ashraful Haque, national sales manager, M A Hanif, deputy general manager, Asaduzzaman and President of BIJF (Bangladesh ICT Journalist Forum) Mohammad Khan. music, images and games.

The Symphony ZVIII houses a powerful 3000 mAh li-polymer battery for longer, uninterrupted performance. The phone also features power sharing option for users to share charge with any other phone, along with Eco Mode (Super power saving mode) and Power optimisation.

This handset also has a

powerful Gyro Sensor for users to experience virtual reality. Other exciting sensors include G-Sensor, Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor, Light sensor, Compass and Hall sensor. Above all, the phone has the OTA update feature for software updates and OTG feature so that users may operate other portable devices using this handset.

Symphony ZVIII is available in

space grey and gold in all outlets of Symphony Mobile, with an attractive power bank as a free gift.

Symphony always promises its users the best experience at an affordable price, and this time it’s no exception. Symphony ZVIII, packed with the latest features, hardware and a high quality camera, is priced at Tk13,990 only. l

| launch |

Daraz.com.bd brings Infinix ZERO 4, the Pro, after the success of NOTE 3 and HOT 4 The Infinix Zero 4 brings exciting features, specs and design. It comes with an amazing display, with its 2.5D Glass design that completely covers the front screen and gives the illusion of curved edges, making it a pleasure to hold. The Gorilla protected screen makes it impossible to get scratched with keys or coins.

Fingerprint security is now a hot feature that has been adopted by phone manufacturers across the globe. The Infinix Zero 4 comes with a fingerprint scanner at the back, which allows you to scan your fingerprint and unlock your phone.

This amazing number is going for only Tk21,990 and has 0% EMI available for 6 months for all The City Bank customers. l

19

DT

Biz Info

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

| talk |

BRACU brings Boeing engineer Dr Ashraf Ali for talk

PHOTO: COURTESY

BRAC University (BRACU) brought in on an invitation, a senior engineer working at The Boeing Company, Dr Ashraf Ali to talk on the “Essential aspects of aircraft design and analysis” at

the university auditorium, in the capital.

Professor Syed Saad Andaleeb, PhD, vice chancellor of BRACU, presented the introduction, reiterating the need for students

to look beyond their classrooms and certificates, and to take notes of the changing world and the competitions it presents.

He asked students to write an essay on what they have learned

from the program, offering Tk5,000 for the one adjudged to be the best by Dr Ashraf. Moreover, he said BRACU would bear airfare expenses if any student achieves an internship at Boeing.

Dr Ashraf started off by urging students to build their foundation, as he had done during his graduation at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), and assuring them that every bit they were learning now would surely come to use in their later life.

He said to have been a manager for more than a decade at Boeing, which has around 200,000 employees, for which he happened to gain experience on a myriad of disciplines.

On aircraft configuration, he said it was determined from prior knowledge of similar aircraft currently in existence, combined with theories of aerodynamics, aircraft stability and control, handling and flying qualities, as well as wind tunnel test results of full-scale and scaled-down aircraft models.

The design and actual sizing of the components is performed by the stress and design groups in which loads computed by the

loads and dynamics group are utilised, he said.

Once the design is stabilised, multiple full-scale prototypes are built per specifications and tests including that for static, fatigue, and ground vibration are carried out, helping to create theoretical models to predict various aerodynamic, aero-elastic and other relevant characteristics, added Dr Ashraf.

A series of prototypes go for test flights to prove the design’s validity, and the final results summarised in documents for final certification, he expressed.

Dr Ashraf said research and design was a continuous process at Boieng and many outcomes did not go into production for not having demand and since the whole issue was business driven.

Replying to questions from a good number of students and faculty members, he said Bangladesh had a lot of uses to engineering applications involving core knowledge in real life production processes.

On another question, he expressed his interest to teach at BRACU during his visits to Bangladesh.l

| opening |

Asian Fusion Food Court opening at Radisson Blu Chittagong Bay View with peanut and chilli sauce, and the sweet, salty, sour and spicy papaya salad that originated from Thailand has an exceptional taste.

The green chicken curry is cooked in authentic Thai-style, featuring sliced chicken breast in a creamy coconut sauce. They will also serve Tom yum Goong soup – the large bowl is piled high with prawns and the tangy broth will warm your soul. Their unique steaming hot pot also delivers delicious seafood and

PHOTOS: COURTESY

A new Asian fusion food court will open on February 1 at Radisson Blu Chittagong Bay View.

The Asian Fusion food court is a unique combination of cuisines offering a new, tantalising experience of diversity from the Far Eastern region – the style and delicacy of Thai and Japanese cooking, the famous culinary

heritage of China, the diversity of tastes from India to Sri Lanka and the freshness and simplicity of Bangladeshi culinary delights.

They will induce your palate with an incomparable selection of flavours and textures from the Far East. Blended chillies, spices like garlic, ginger and curry sauces will add more flavour to native Chinese

dishes, making them delicious and highly addictive.

The menu is a collation of the favourite Asian dishes, so you can travel to Japan, China, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh all in one meal. To begin with, you must order the chicken satay or the slow cooked Yakitori chicken skewers. The fried chicken comes

meat broths, accompanied by fresh side dishes making them a one-ofa-kind experience in town.

The restaurant features a modern contemporary décor and a unique ambience on the fifth floor of the hotel. In order to bring Asian fusion cuisine in the mainstream food market, Asian Fusion Food Court believes it can only be achieved through client satisfaction and serving best quality food at an affordable price.l

DT

20 Editorial

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

TODAY

Alarm bells are ringing in Europe In 2017, the debate on Brexit and the UK will be monitored very carefully, not only in Europe but also within Britain itself PAGE 21

Goa and the 40 thieves The church never encourages voters to vote for a particular party or a particular candidate; but it has publicly deplored and condemned the increasing attacks on Christian churches in several parts of India in recent years PAGE 22

As he attacks their standard of living and doesn’t have the political skills necessary to calm their anger, they will see through him to the delusion, insecurity, and vanity within PAGE 23

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 and they are not the official view of Dhaka Tribune or its publisher.

A better way to spend public funds

L

Donald Trump is going to snap

Be heard

BIGSTOCK

oss-making state-owned banks and industries have long been propped up by the government.

The fiscal burden placed on the government has become untenable, with SOEs accumulating large amounts of debt, and many debtors skipping repayment.

A number of state-owned banks, for example, have been allowed to increase expenditure, and even open up new branches while sustaining losses.

Latest numbers show that outstanding debts in the future could come to a staggering Tk2.12 trillion.

No country can afford to waste resources in this way -certainly not Bangladesh.

Allowing SOEs and SOBs to drain the public coffers in this way is one of the reasons why Bangladesh continues to lag so far behind its economic potential.

In spite of showing tremendous dynamism in places such as our exporting sector, Bangladesh remains a low-income country, with a long way to go to reach its middle-income aspirations.

There are so many better ways that public funds could be used, like education, health care, and other development projects.

Re-directing these resources into more efficient sectors would be good for the people, good for the country, and good for the government.

There are so many ways to spend tax-payer money while lessening the burden on the government. There is also the obvious option of privatisating some of these SOEs, so that can start making profits.

The continual drain on public resources is not sustainable.

There are so many better ways that public funds could be used, like education, health care, and other development projects

DT

21

Opinion

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Alarm bells are ringing in Europe Complex factors will affect Europe in 2017

Will Brexit prove Europe’s undoing?

POST B R E A K FA S T

n Muhammad Zamir

S

everal factors -nationalism, populism, conflicting strategic interests, low economic growth, and high unemployment -- have been driving wedges among EU member states over the past few years. To this evolving paradigm has been added issues related to high levels of debt, fragile banking sectors, and growing Euroscepticism.

Despite this, the EU has survived and continues to be an important stake-holder in international relations.

Nevertheless, it is being suggested that this year the Eurozone crisis could enter a new, more dangerous stage as risk begins to affect its largest political and economic players -- Italy, France, and Germany.

We have already seen how a pro-nationalist force has cast its shadow on Austria. One wonders how it will influence elections in Germany and France -- and potentially Italy. It is possible that the ultra-nationalists might fail to win some or all of these elections.

However, the growing nationalists’ popularity will pressure future decisions of their countries’ leaders and might contribute towards the furthering of political fragmentation. That will then increase risks of some European member states demanding the return of sovereignty to national governments.

Brexit will consequently

BIGSTOCK

miss the European Union’s deficit targets. Security and immigration is already featuring prominently in the on-going German electoral campaign and polls are indicating that German voters are willing to support smaller parties on the left and on the right. Such a trend might lead to a more divided parliament and concomitant difficulties in creating a coalition government.

Such an evolving situation would have strategic dimensions because of possible Moscow attempts to exploit divisions within the European Union. In such a situation, Germany would possibly try to keep sanctions against Russia in place (over Ukraine). Such a course of action will probably face resistance from

In 2017, the debate on Brexit and the UK will be monitored very carefully, not only in Europe but also within Britain itself. Those in Scotland, in particular, will examine every connotation associated with this exercise

be monitored carefully and cautiously, especially in the banking sector and others interested in global order -- the reliability of NATO’s security umbrella and the increasing number of terrorist attacks, particularly with Trump entering the White House. Some are already advising that the EU, particularly West Europe, should revisit the measures on how EU members need to work together on security and defense.

One thing however is certain.

Germany, France, and Italy -- the three biggest economies in Europe -- will not only coordinate with each other’s engagement within the economic matrix, but will also leave their imprint on the economic activities of all the other Member States of the EU. France, presently preoccupied with its elections (to be held over two rounds it is scheduled for April and May this year) is not expected, according to economists, to introduce any significant financial measures or reforms. That might change swiftly with the new government as most of the presidential candidates in France appear to have similar views on security issues. They tend to agree on supporting tough measures to fight terrorism and limiting immigration. They, however, tend to have different opinions

on economic issues, particularly associated with deregulation, liberalisation, and enhanced protectionism.

This might affect France’s future courses of action even if the moderates win and reduce France’s support for providing free trade facilities. Brussels might then be asked to redesign the Schengen agreement. A post-presidential election France with a farright National Front government might even not only introduce measures to limit the free movement of goods, people, services, and capital throughout the European Union -- but also announce plans for a referendum on France’s continued EU membership.

Next to be considered is Germany with its own general election in September or October this year. Angela Merkel has been trying her best to retain the European Union as a united force but this might not be so easy in the coming months with members of the ruling coalition, composed of centre-right and centre-left legislators, each trying to prove that they are separate entities before the vote. This will reduce Berlin’s desire to undertake significant decisions on evolving EU reform issues related to the European Central Bank regarding granting of debt relief to Greece or allowing Eurozone members to

some EU members (Italy, France, and Austria), which would rather lift sanctions to improve their relations with Moscow. Trump’s arrival might lead to some level of sanctions being eased by the EU by the end of the year.

Italy is presently suffering from political uncertainty, low economic growth, and high debt levels. This is raising questions about the future of Italy as well as the Eurozone as a whole. Italy’s present caretaker government will be unlikely to actively push for flexibility on EU fiscal targets.

They also have the difficult task of having to deal with the immigration crisis.

On the other side, if there is an early election and antiestablishment forces win, it would hurt Italian banks, raise borrowing costs, and generate pressure on the Euro. This will create uncertainty and might encourage Italy towards a collision course with the European Union by putting membership in the Eurozone to a vote. This might then persuade Germany and other relevant EU institutions to contain the brewing crisis by accommodating the new government in Rome.

Wealthy Netherlands, an important player in Northern Europe, will also be holding a general election in March.

Eurosceptic and anti-immigration

forces are already playing a prominent role there and there are signs that even if they fail to access power, their influence will cast a shadow on further integration within the European Union. This equation would assume more complex dimensions, if events initiated in France and Italy raise prospects of collapse of the Eurozone.

In 2017, the debate on Brexit and the UK will be monitored very carefully, not only in Europe but also within Britain itself.

Those in Scotland, in particular, will examine every connotation associated with this exercise.

The British prime minister has already had to deal with the sudden resignation of the British ambassador to the EU and the question of appointing a new envoy.

The British Parliament, it may be recalled, is divided on how its government approaches the negotiations with the European Union. The Parliament wants a greater say in the process. The issue is bound to generate the threat of not only early elections but also possibility of delay in implementing the required process related to Brexit. There might be difficulties but it is more likely that the government and the Parliament will eventually reach an understanding that would enable the UK to formally announce its intentions to leave the EU. It would also initiate the dynamics of the UK in seeking negotiations towards a comprehensive trade agreement that would include as many goods and services as possible. Such an agreement would probably require Britain either signing a free trade agreement with the EU or EU agreeing on Britain’s membership in Europe’s customs union, an area where member states share a common external tariff. A transitional agreement would also have to focus on the status of British citizens in the EU and the status of EU citizens in the UK. Given the seriousness of these issues, and the enormity of the elections in France and Germany, several of the most important decisions might consequently be delayed until at least 2018. l Muhammad Zamir, a former Ambassador and Chief Information Commissioner of the Information Commission, is an analyst specialised in foreign affairs, right to information, and good governance. He can be reached at muhammadzamir0@gmail.com).

DT

22

Opinion

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Goa and the 40 thieves Goa’s political mosaic is a fractured one

Can the smaller players make an impact in Goa?

REUTERS

The church in Goa issues ‘guidelines’ to the faithful about what they should consider when casting their ballot. The church never encourages voters to vote for a particular party or a particular candidate, but it has publicly deplored and condemned the increasing attacks on Christian churches in several parts of India in recent years

n Kenneth Bo Nielsen

T

he political landscape in Goa is unusually fragmented. The State Assembly is small with just 40 seats. As of today, the BJP occupies 21 of these, while the Congress party has seven. The rest are filled by the Goa Su-raj Party, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Goa Vikas Party, and some independent candidates.

In addition the Shiv Sena, the Aam Admi Party, Goa Forward, and even more independent candidates are waiting in the wings, hoping to be elected.

The constituencies in Goa are small. There are less than 50,000 inhabitants in each, while an average constituency in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh is home to more than half a million.

And in many cases as little as a thousand votes can be decisive.

Coupled with the high degree of fragmentation, this theoretically

provides independent candidates and the smaller parties with a base in just one or a few constituencies with good opportunities for making an impact.

And, given the political fragmentation, even a party with just two or three seats in the state assembly may end up as a kingmaker.

The political fragmentation has, over the past decades, made it extremely rare for one party to come to power on its own.

Fragile coalition governments and frequent opportunistic “defections” -- particularly from the 1990s -- has been the order of the day and have led to considerable instability. As the political scientist Arthur Rubinoff has laconically noted: Between 1963-1989, Goa had only three chief ministers; but in 1990 alone it had four. From 1990 to 2005, the state was governed by no less than 14 different state governments and many different chief ministers.

Allegations of corruption and opportunism are often heard among the common people -- just as in many other places in India and South Asia -- and inspired by the story of Ali Baba, people ironically refer to their elected representatives as “the 40 thieves.”

In recent years, however, we have witnessed more stability in the government. Since 2005, Goa has been governed by the Congress Party for seven years and by the BJP for five.

And there have been just four chief ministers. But suspicions of widespread corruption at the highest political level persist.

At the last elections in 2012, the voters were, for example, so tired of the (seemingly) thoroughly corrupt Congress-led government that the BJP, which appeared as the only genuine alternative, could win a parliamentary majority.

The BJP did unprecedentedly well in south Goa, where a large part of the population is Christian.

Christians have traditionally been sceptical of the BJP because of the party’s hostility towards religious minorities, but in 2012 many were so disillusioned with the Congress Party that they gave the BJP the benefit of the doubt.

Now, however, some south Goan voters appear to be having second thoughts and are likely to abandon the BJP. The church in Goa issues “guidelines” to the

faithful about what they should consider when casting their ballot.

The church never encourages voters to vote for a particular party or a particular candidate; but it has publicly deplored and condemned the increasing attacks on Christian churches in several parts of India in recent years, that is during the period in which the BJP has been in power in Delhi.

The simmering discontent with the BJP among parts of the electorate opens new possibilities for new parties like AAP and Goa Forward to make an impact -- and there is not much evidence to suggest that the Congress party has regained all of its lost turf.

There are speculations that the time may be ripe for the emergence of a “genuine” regional party -- a party which is not bogged down by the national compulsions of the BJP and the Congress; and which can therefore more strongly represent “Goa’s interests.” But it remains unclear which party that would be, and the AAP is for sure rather unlikely to fill that role.

Most likely, the BJP and the Congress will emerge as the largest parties in the next assembly; but there should be plenty of room for the smaller players to make an impact. l Kenneth Bo Nielsen is the Coordinator of the Norwegian Network for Asian Studies.

DT

23

Opinion

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Donald Trump is going to snap very soon And here is how I know

n Richard Willmsen

I

believe that rather than smashing our own glass houses to pieces in the act of destroying Donald Trump’s presidency, we need to be aware of our own inner Trump, to reflect on our own tendencies to think and behave in catastrophically immature, venal, and insecure ways.

I therefore offer up this short account of my own personal emotional development, and then explain why I think it helps explain why Trump is heading for a breakdown very, very soon.

I used to suffer from a quite disabling insecurity, particularly when it came to things like being creative and forming relationships with other people. I got better, partly by virtue of living in and studying Portugal, learning about its people’s tendency to swing between moments of

A president in name only

REUTERS

As he attacks their standard of living and doesn’t have the political skills necessary to calm their anger, they will see through him to the delusion, insecurity, and vanity within. He’ll have no more defences and will be unable to hide from the stark fact that his flatterers don’t respect him

self-aggrandisement and selfabnegation, from “we are great” to “we are nothing.”

I also learnt about my own habit of projecting my own feelings onto others, both people and countries.

I identified strongly with the philosopher Eduardo Lourenço’s diagnosis that Portuguese people tend to suffer from taking on too many identities, and I took enormous inspiration, consolation, and guidance from his insights that Portugal is “marvelously imperfect” and that progress comes from accepting one’s limitations.

Living in China taught me to accept the existence of other perceptions of my own identity, even if I feel embarrassed about it, particularly in terms of my national identity. Writing about my misunderstandings of Chinese society and about my role there helped me accept that I, like everyone else, have an ego, and also that I can use writing as a vehicle for making connections between things and to help find people who have noticed the same things, who share my perspective.

I got better (although not

necessarily good) at identifying and cultivating friendships with other people. I met the woman who later became my wife, who loves me for who I am rather than who I pretend to be. Through my job I became better at listening to people and more accepting of others and myself.

I learnt that honest selfreflection is a more effective medium for personal development than alcohol. Through acquiring other languages I discovered that learning is one of the things I most enjoy and value about being alive.

I still screw up, as we all do, but I accept that doing so is part of life, and when I do or get something wrong I try to apologise without fear or recrimination. I accept that I have some ability to write entertainingly and insightfully, and I have less fear than I did before of saying what I want to say.

I know that what I write doesn’t and doesn’t have to please everyone. I accept that everyone is fallible, and that it takes hard work to produce writing of quality.

I’ve matured, to the point where I can now face the prospect of becoming a father, something

which, say, 15 years ago was (so to speak) inconceivable.

All this means that I understand something of the fragility of Donald Trump’s ego. Having struggled to maintain friendships in the past, I can see how Trump can get to a point where he has, according to a piece in Newsweek, no close friends. It’s essential for us to have the humility to recognise that we don’t have the ability to diagnose Trump at a distance. But that there’s something of the manchild about him is inescapable.

The first two days of his “presidency” saw paranoid and recriminatory tweets, a speech to the CIA in which he ranted bitterly about media reports of his coronation, and his press spokesperson being sent out to deliver another paranoid selfpitying rant. People are mercilessly taking the piss out of the pisspoor attendance at his pitiable inauguration, and Trump appears to be following every single one of them on Twitter.

It’s clear to me that whatever means he’s used to survive up until this point aren’t going to work in his new role. He’s too

much of a shallow narcissist to ignore it. Trump is going to learn the wisdom of Jacques Lacan: “The madman is not only a beggar who thinks he is a king, but also a king who thinks he is a king.”

Trump is famously hostile to the notion of learning: No one has anything to teach him. He was born rich, and that means he’s a genius and that everyone must respect him. He appears to have no ability for self-reflection. The mirrors he has in his mansion may be framed in gold, but he’s never been able to bring himself to look into them for more than a few seconds.

Instead, he’s surrounded himself with people who tell him what he wants to hear. But it’s his inner voices that are the problem, the ones that tell him that he’s nothing, a failure, that everyone sees him as a joke.

His tweets in particular reveal that at some level he knows that his self-aggrandising self-image is hollow and brittle. So he lashes out, including physically. And it’s getting worse. People are laughing louder. He’s now put himself in a position where the entire world knows that he is venal, insecure, stupid, and deluded.

He’s become in two days the paranoid and deluded ruler of so many novels by Latin American and African writers. He’s the kind of leader that the US has imposed on so many other countries; there is an element of chickens coming home to roost.

He obviously took enormous consolation from his media image,

the idea that he was “America’s CEO.” He believed this and seems to have internalised it, but is also taunted by a nagging awareness that it was little more than a joke, a stupid slogan to sell a TV show.

His supporters may not know that, but some will learn. He’s already starting to turn some of them against him.

As he attacks their standard of living and doesn’t have the political skills necessary to calm their anger, they will see through him to the delusion, insecurity, and vanity within. He’ll have no more defences and will be unable to hide from the stark fact that his flatterers don’t respect him.

Putin in particular is evil but not stupid. He knows that Trump is an absolute moron. And he can’t control that smirk of his.

Lacan said that what matters in psychoanalysis is not so much what the client says, but what falls out of his pockets while speaking.

Trump appears to have absolutely no idea what he has in his pockets, and now everyone on the planet is picking up things, inspecting them, and telling him what they are. They are teaching him things about himself that he cannot bear to learn. He also knows that he is president in name only, and that’s not enough to sustain his ego.

He will snap very, very soon.

Our job is to increase the tension. l Richard Willmsen is a teacher and examiner from Sheffield, UK. This article was previously published on infinitecoincidence.com.

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Mukund to lead India A against Bangladesh

TOP STORIES

n Agencies Draw, loss, win for U-16 girls in Japan Bangladesh U-16 women’s football team won one, drew one and lost the other in their three straight matches in the opening day of the J Green Sakai U-16 Football Festival in Japan yesterday. PAGE 25

Nadal, Federer renew Slam rivalry Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal make their return as Grand Slam finalists today in an Australian Open decider that nobody saw coming but which has sent tremors through the sport. PAGE 26

Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim bats in the nets in Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday

Wolves stun Liverpool in FA Cup Jurgen Lopp’s Liverpool fell to a third home defeat in eight days as they exited the FA Cup in a humbling 2-1 loss to second-tier Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield yesterday. PAGE 27

Serena beats Venus to set Slams record Serena Williams said it was “awesome” to clinch a record 23rd Grand Slam title after beating her sister Venus in the Australian Open final, a result which also took her back to world number one. PAGE 28

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Injury-hit Bangladesh dressing room settling down n Tribune Report Bangladesh Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim had his first net session in Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday ever since picking up an injury in the first Test against New Zealand at Basin Reserve in Wellington earlier this month.

It was a possible sign of relief to an injury hit Bangladesh dressing room, that is getting ready to tour India this Thursday for the solitary Test match, starting February 9 in Hyderabad. The Tigers are also scheduled to play a twoday warm-up game in the same city.

Top-order batsman Mominul Haque is also in track with his recovery and is expected to be ready for Bangladesh’s maiden bilateral tour of India. Opening batsman Imrul Kayes can return to the field this Wednesday but there are con-

cern over whether he will be given enough rest to recover from a Grade One muscle tear.

Mushfiq is recovering well from his thumb injury that ruled him out from the second and final Test against the Kiwis. According to the Bangladesh Cricket Board's chief physician Dr Debashish Chowdhury, Mushfiq’s recovery is going well and that he should be ready to return to the field this Wednesday.

Dr Debashish also informed that Mushfiq might still feel the pain but that is how it is with this injury.

“There was no fracture on his thumb but he's still suffering from pain. He will need some time to recover from that. It is always different for the wicket-keepers as they continuously have to catch the ball. They are not fully cured from this kind of pain as they do not get enough time to recover. So there will be pain but it should not stop

him from playing,” Dr Debashish explained to the media yesterday.

Dr Debashish said it will solely depend on Mushfiq as to whether he can play the India game or not. “But given his character, I think he will play the game,” Dr Debashish added.

Imrul, who picked up a Grade One tear on his left thigh during the first Test against New Zealand, is also recovering well. At this point, Dr Debashish expects the left-handed batsman to return to business this Wednesday.

“But we should keep in mind that he hurt his muscle. The injury might reappear if he does not return fully recovered. We have a fitness test this Tuesday so we will be able to know the latest on him,” said Dr Debashish.

Meanwhile, Mominul is also recovering well from a bruised rib cage and is very much on path to be part of the Test squad in India. l

Abhinav Mukund was named captain of the India A squad to take on Bangladesh in the two-day warmup game, ahead of the one-off Test that begins in Hyderabad on February 9.

The squad also comprises India A regulars like Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer and Vijay Shankar.

The two-day warm-up match is set to be played at Gymkhana Ground in Secunderabad from February 5-6.

Mukund, 27, last featured in India’s Test side during the tour of England in 2011. He scored 849 runs in 14 innings in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy season, where he led a relatively young Tamil Nadu side to the semi-finals.

Priyank Panchal, who scored 1310 runs to end as the highest run-getter of the season, was among the top performers rewarded with a spot in the 14man squad.

Jayant Yadav, the India all-rounder who suffered a hamstring injury during the fifth and final Test against England, has been given a chance to prove his fitness before the only Test against Bangladesh.

Shahbaz Nadeem and Kuldeep Yadav are the two left-arm spinners in the side. While Nadeem collected 107 wickets across the last two Ranji seasons, finishing as the highest wicket-taker on both occasions, Kuldeep finished as the leading wicket-taker in the Duleep Trophy before becoming the lone Uttar Pradesh bowler with 30-plus wickets, and ending as the team’s best batsman with 466 runs in eight matches.

Aniket Chaudhary, who took 21 wickets in seven matches for Rajasthan, and Chama Milind, who finished as Hyderabad’s second-highest wicket-taker with 35 scalps in nine matches, are the two left-arm seamers in the side.

Although Ishan Kishan, who played a key role in Jharkhand’s maiden semi appearance, has been named as the wicket-keeper, the squad also features two other glovesmen in Rishabh Pant and Nitin Saini.

SQUAD

Abhinav Mukund (C), Priyank Panchal, Shreyas Iyer, Ishank Jaggi, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan (WK), Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya, Shahbaz Nadeem, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Aniket Choudhary, CV Milind and Nitin Saini

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Sport

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Hira, Bonya reach archery finals

Jayed stars for East Zone with five-for

Hira Moni and Bonya Akter are the only participants from Bangladesh who reached the final of their respective events in the second day of the opening edition of the ISSF International Solidarity Archery Championship 2017 yesterday.

Hira will face Ramozamova of Azerbaijan in the gold-medal deciding match in the recurve individual women’s event tomorrow while Bonya will take on Iraqi archer Fatimah in the compound women’s individual event on the same day.

In the elimination round, Hira defeated compatriot Radia Akter Shapla 6-2 in the individual recurve semi-finals. Radia lost to Gasimova of Azerbaijan 6-0 in the bronze-place deciding match.

Bonya beat compatriot Sushmita 130-129 in the semis while Fatimah beat Bipasha of Bangladesh in the other semi. Bipasha and Sushmita will fight for the bronze medal tomorrow. Archer Milon Molla of Bangladesh won the silver medal in the men’s individual compound events. l

East Zone pacer Abu Jayed’s five-wicket haul marked the opening day of the Bangladesh Cricket League 2016-17 yesterday. Jayed registered his ninth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket to give his side the edge over Central Zone.

Central Zone v East Zone, Bogra Jayed led from the front to get East off to a dominating start against Central. At stumps on day one, East trailed by 129 runs without losing any wickets in the first innings. Aided by Jayed’s five-for East, opting to field first, restricted Central to 224.

East paceman Ebadat Hossain initiated the first blow as he removed Central opening batsman Shamsur Rahman (seven) in the sixth over. Shaken by the dismissal, Central batsmen failed to settle and put up a partnership. Central captain Mosharraf Hossain topped the innings with an unbeaten 46.

Jayed, who has been in the limelight in the domestic circuit recently, notched five wickets in 15.2 overs conceding 37 runs. Ebadat and spinner Saqlain Sajib picked up two wickets each.

Later, Liton Das’ unbeaten 60 enabled East to 95 in 19 overs without any loss. Opener Mehedi Maruf was unbeaten on 32.

North Zone v South Zone, Sylhet A slow and steady approach by the North Zone batsmen saw the side end day one with 210 runs on the board for the loss of three wickets. They lost opener Junaid Siddique for two in the second over of the innings but came back strong as captain Jahurul Islam and Naeem Islam registered halfcenturies.

Jahurul added 65 to the tally while Naeem was unbeaten on 54.

Abdur Razzak, Ziaur Rahman and Sohag Gazi bagged a wicket each. l

n Tribune Report

n Tribune Report

Action from the ISSF International Solidarity Archery Championship at Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium in the capital yesterday MD MANIK

Draw, loss, win for U-16 girls in Japan n Tribune Report

Bangladesh U-16 women's football team won one, drew one and lost the other game in their three

straight matches in the opening day of the J Green Sakai U-16 Women’s Football Festival in Osaka, Japan yesterday.

Each game was played for a du-

Bangladesh U-16 women's football team captain Srimoti Krishna Rani Sarkar presents a badge to the opposition prior to one of their three practice matches in Japan yesterday COURTESY

ration of 40 minutes. The girls in red and green faced different teams involving football academies and professional clubs in Japan.

Bangladesh began the day with a goalless draw against a Japan Football Association-funded academy, AC Imabari, in the morning at Dream Camp in Sakai Academy.

Bangladesh goalkeeper Mahmuda Akter made two fine saves during the game to end the tie with a clean sheet.

The visitors however, could have opened the scoring in the 19th minute when defender Shamsunnahar missed a penalty hitting the woodwork.

The Bengal girls conceded their first defeat in the Japan tour when they lost 2-0 against Cerezo Osaka Sakai girls' team in their second game in the afternoon. After a barren opening half of 20 minutes, they leaked two goals in the mid-

dle of the second half, including one from a free-kick. Cerezo are a Osaka-based professional women’s club who have several national Japanese players in their line-up.

Srimoti Krishna Rani Sarkar and Co ended the busy day on a positive note by winning their third match 2-1 against Naguya Ladies team. But it was anything but easy as they trailed 1-0 in the first half.

Bangladesh gave away an early goal with only five minutes into the clock before forward Sirat Jahan Shopna netted Bangladesh’s first goal of the tournament to equalise the margin in the 24th minute.

Shopna bagged her brace to seal victory in the 32nd minute after Krishna’s initial effort was blocked by the opponent custodian.

Bangladesh will play their fourth match today morning and are scheduled to return home a day later. l

5TH BCL, 1ST RD, DAY 1 CENTRAL ZONE 224 in 65.2 overs (Mosharraf 46*, Jayed 5/37) lead EAST ZONE 95/0 in 19 overs (Liton 60*, Maruf 32) by 129 runs NORTH ZONE 210/3 in 93 overs (Jahurul 65, Naeem 54*) v SOUTH ZONE

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Stars align as Nadal, Federer renew Slam rivalry ROGER FEDERER

RAFAEL NADAL

World ranking: 17 Age: 35 (8/8/1981) Career titles in total: 88 Career Grand Slam titles: 17 Wimbledon: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012; US Open: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008; French Open: 2009; Australian Open: 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010.

Career prize money: $98,830,819

World ranking: 9 Age: 30 (3/6/1986) Career titles in total: 69 Career Grand Slam titles: 14 Wimbledon: 2008, 2010; US Open: 2010, 2012; French Open: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014; Australian Open: 2009.

Career prize money: $78,737,293

Path to Final

Path to Final

1st rd: bt Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 2nd rd: bt Noah Rubin (USA) 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) 3rd rd: bt Tomas Berdych (CZE) 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 4th rd: bt Kei Nishikori (JPN) 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 QF: bt Mischa Zverev (GER) 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 SF: bt Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3

1st rd: bt Florian Mayer (GER) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 2nd rd: bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 3rd rd: bt Alexander Zverev (GER) 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-2 4th rd: bt Gael Monfils (FRA) 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 QF: bt Milos Raonic (CAN) 6-4, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 SF: bt Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (4/7), 6-4

n AFP, Melbourne Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal make their unexpected return as Grand Slam finalists today in a classic Australian Open decider that nobody saw coming but which has sent tremors of excitement through the sport.

Even the two combatants would never have predicted they would meet again in the Melbourne final, but the stars have aligned after the early exits of top seeds Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.

It promises to be a final to savour between the two old warriors, who have both returned from injury to set up their 35th career meeting and ninth for a Grand Slam title.

Either Federer, 35, will expand his record haul of major singles titles with his 18th, or 30-year-old Nadal will close the gap on the Swiss legend by winning his 15th.

“It is special to play with Roger in a final of a Grand Slam, I cannot lie,” Nadal said, after surviving a nailbiting, five-set semi-final with Grigor Dimitrov.

Federer, who also needed five sets to get past world number four and fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the semis, spoke of the “magnitude” of his match against Nadal.

But Dimitrov described it best. “I just know that two of the greatest players of tennis are going to square off on Sunday, and it’s going to be a freakin’ amazing match,” he said.

Nadal appears to hold the edge over his great rival, at least on paper, with a 23-11 win-loss record against Federer, 6-2 in major finals

and 3-0 at the Australian Open.

But Nadal insists his past Grand Slam supremacy over Federer will have no bearing on the outcome.

The Mallorcan has spent well

over five hours more on court than Federer, and has one fewer day of rest before the final after his epic semi-final wrapped up in the early hours of yesterday.

Yet Nadal has done it before in Melbourne in 2009, when he pounded out a longer five-set semi-final against Fernando Verdasco, and two days later con-

Federer v Nadal head-to-head (Nadal leads 23-11) Year 2015 2014 2013 2013 2013 2013 2012 2012 2011 2011 2011 2011 2010 2010 2009 2009 2008 2008 2008 2008 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2005 2005 2004

Tournament Basel Australian Open London Cincinnati Rome Indian Wells Indian Wells Australian Open London French Open Madrid Miami London Madrid Madrid Australian Open Wimbledon French Open Hamburg Monte Carlo Shanghai Wimbledon French Open Hamburg Monte Carlo Shanghai Wimbledon French Open Rome Monte Carlo Dubai French Open Miami Miami

Surface Hard Hard Hard Hard Clay Hard Hard Hard Hard Clay Clay Hard Hard Clay Clay Hard Grass Clay Clay Clay Hard Grass Clay Clay Clay Hard Grass Clay Clay Clay Hard Clay Hard Hard

Round F SF SF QF F QF SF SF RR F SF SF F F F F F F F F SF F F F F SF F F F F F SF F R32

Winner Federer Nadal Nadal Nadal Nadal Nadal Federer Nadal Federer Nadal Nadal Nadal Federer Nadal Federer Nadal Nadal Nadal Nadal Nadal Federer Federer Nadal Federer Nadal Federer Federer Nadal Nadal Nadal Nadal Nadal Federer Nadal

Result 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-3 7-5, 6-3 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 6-1, 6-3 6-4, 6-2 6-3, 6-4 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 6-3, 6-0 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-1 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 6-3, 6-2 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) 6-4, 6-4 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-2 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (8/10), 9-7 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3 7-5, 7-5 6-4, 6-1 7-6 (9/7), 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 2-6, 6-2 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 6-4, 6-4 6-4, 7-5 6-0, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (2/7), 6-3 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) 6-7 (0/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5) 6-2, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 2-6, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 6-1 6-3, 6-3

quered Federer in the final - in another five-setter.

Perhaps significantly, in five out of the past nine years, the man who has played his semi-final second has gone on to win the final.

Both players stand to make plenty of history in the final.

At 35 years, 174 days Federer can become the second oldest Grand Slam champion in the Open era, after Australia’s Ken Rosewall. Meanwhile Nadal is bidding to become the first man since 1968 to win each of the four major titles twice.

It will be Federer’s sixth Australian Open final and 28th Grand Slam decider in total, and caps a marvellous comeback after the second half of last season was ruined by a knee injury, with his ranking dipping to 17. Nadal, the ninth seed in Melbourne, has also been out of the Grand Slam limelight since his last title success at Roland Garros in 2014, as injuries sidetracked his glorious career. Both have a deep respect and admiration for each other. Federer even travelled to Mallorca for the opening of Nadal’s tennis academy last October.

“I just think he’s an incredible tennis player. He’s got shots that no other one has. When you have that, you are unique and special,” Federer said of Nadal.

“Plus he’s got the grit. He’s got the mental and physical ability to sustain a super high level of play for years and for hours and for weeks. I think he’s been tremendous for the game. I have a lot of respect for him on many levels and that’s good for our sport.” l

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Sport

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Gragarious lift Fed Cup Basketball

South Africa crush Sri Lanka in 1st ODI

The Gregarious clinched the title of the Federation Cup Basketball Tournament 2017 after beating Dhaka Gladiators by 70-66 points in the final at Dhanmondi Basketball Gymnasium in the capital yesterday.

The victors led the first half 3932. Mithun and Rashed caged 23 and 17 points respectively for the champions while Avi and Soyeb scored 29 and 14 points respectively.

Earlier last Thursday night, the Gregarious beat favourites Dhaka Gladiators 68-49 while previously, the high-flying Gregarious defeated the Gregs Club 80-47. l

Wayne Parnell and Imran Tahir took three wickets each as South Africa cruised to an eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first one-day international in Port Elizabeth yesterday.

South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl, restricting the tourists to 181 all out in 48.3 overs on a slow wicket.

The home side never looked troubled in their reply, reaching their target with 94 balls remaining to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Kusal Mendis (62) provided lone resistance for Sri Lanka, who were rocked by two early strikes from left-arm seamer Parnell (3-48), before leg-spinner Tahir (3-26) ripped through their middle-order.

The touring side managed just 18 boundaries. l

n Tribune Report

DAY’S WATCH CRICKET STAR SPORTS 1 7:20 PM England Tour of India 2016 2nd T20I

FOOTBALL STAR SPORTS SELECT HD 2 8:16 PM Bundesliga 2016/17 Freiburg v Hertha Berlin 10:16 PM FSV Mainz 05 v Borussia Dortmund

n Reuters, Cape Town

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Jon Dadi Bodvarsson shoots at goal against Liverpool during their FA Cup match at Anfield yesterday REUTERS

Wolves stun Liverpool in FA Cup n AFP, Liverpool

Liverpool fell to a third home defeat in eight days as they exited the FA Cup in a humbling 2-1 loss to second-tier Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield yesterday.

First-half goals from defender Richard Stearman, his first for the Midlands club in nearly three years, and Andreas Weimann saw

Paul Lambert’s side join Swansea City and Southampton in tasting success at Anfield in the space of just over a week.

But, after seeing their team knocked out of the League Cup

by Southampton in midweek, this latest loss was a particular disappointment for home supporters.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp opted for an under-strength

team against a team currently positioned just four places above the relegation zone in English football's second-tier Championship.

Only Georginio Wijnaldum, Ragnar Klavan and Roberto Firmino could be classified as first-team regulars among Klopp’s starting XI and the gamble backfired before even a minute of the fourth round tie had elapsed. l

1ST ODI SOUTH AFRICA 185/2 in 34.2 overs (Amla 57, Du Plessis 55, De Kock 34) beat SRI LANKA 181 in 48.3 overs (Mendis 62, Tahir 3/26, Parnell 3/48) by eight wickets

TEN 1 HD 7:50 PM French Ligue 1 2016/17 Nice v Guingamp 10:00 PM Toulouse v Saint- Etienne 1:50 AM Paris Saint-Germain v Monaco

Dhaka Metropolitan Police team celebrate with the champion trophy after winning the fourth edition of the Walton National Baseball Championship in the capital's Paltan ground yesterday

TEN 3 12:00 PM A-League 2016/17 Adelaide United v Wellington Phoenix

SONY ESPN 5:00 PM La Liga Santander 2016/17 Real Betis v FC Barcelona 10:30 PM The Emirates FA Cup 2016/17 Manchester Utd v Wigan Athletic 2:00 AM Serie A TIM 2016/17 Napoli v Palermo

MD MANIK

SONY SIX 9:10 PM La Liga Santander 2016/17 Espanyol v Sevilla 11:30 PM Athletic Bilbao v Sporting Gijon 1:40 AM Real Madrid v Real Sociedad

SONY SIX HD 8:00 PM The Emirates FA Cup 2016/17 Sutton Utd v Leeds Utd

TENNIS SONY SIX 11:00 AM Australian Open 2017 Day 14: Mixed Doubles Final 2:30 PM Mens Singles Final Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal

Stamford, Green post wins in ULAB Cup T20 n Tribune Report

Stamford University and Green University Bangladesh registered wins in their respective matches yesterday in the ongoing 10th ULAB Fair Play Cup T20 Tournament.

In the first game, Stamford defeated University of Asia Pacific by 52 runs. Asia Pacific won the toss

and elected to field first. Stamford scored 145 runs for eight wickets in 20 overs riding on Saddam’s 54 runs off 44 balls.

In reply, Asia Pacific scored 93 runs before losing all of their wickets in 19.1 overs. Joy of Asia Pacific scored 35 runs off 30 balls.

In the second game of the day at the same venue, Green won against

Eastern University by 83 runs. Winning the toss, Green elected to bat first. Green scored 151 for six wickets with Shimmon leading the innings with 64 off 42 balls while Saiful added 27 from 21 balls to the tally.

Chasing the target, Eastern lost all wickets for 68 runs on the board in 14.3 overs. Saiful of Green picked up four wickets and earned the

player of the match award for his all-round performance.

Stamford will face IUBAT in the first game tomorrow while BRAC University will take on Independent University Bangladesh in the second game.

A total of 12 private universities are participating in the tournament this year. l

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Sport

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Serena beats Venus to set new Slams record n AFP, Melbourne

US’ Serena Williams poses with her Australian Open trophy after winning her women’s singles final against Venus Williams in Melbourne yesterday REUTERS

A jubilant Serena Williams said it was "awesome" to finally clinch a record 23rd Grand Slam title after beating her sister Venus in the Australian Open final, a result which also took her back to world number one.

The dominant American won her seventh Aussie title 6-4, 6-4 to finally surpass Steffi Graf's Openera milestone of 22 major wins, nearly 18 years after she lifted her first Slam trophy at the 1999 US Open.

The 35-year-old Serena, who had equalled Graf's mark at Wimbledon last year, now stands just one behind the all-time record of 24 won by Margaret Court, who was in the president's box at Rod Laver Arena.

"I don't like numbers during a tournament when I am trying to reach a big milestone. Now we can talk about it," she told ESPN, after posing in shoes branded with '23' on the heel.

"It's pretty awesome. I really wanted to get to 23, more than you can ever imagine. And I kept telling myself, 'Serena, 22 isn't bad'.

"To get to number 23 here is really rather special, against Venus as well because my first big match was against her here on this court.

Going into this match, it felt like it was all full circle."

Serena's astonishing achievement also means she ends the brief stay at world number one of Angelique Kerber, who displaced Williams in September after threeand-a-half years at the top.

Fittingly, her sister and clos-

est confidante, Venus, was on the other side of the net to share the moment of victory, another chapter written in their amazing family history.

"There is no way I would be at 23 without her. There is no way I would be at one (title) without her," said Serena.

"She is my inspiration. She is the only reason I am standing here today and the only reason that the Williams sisters exist."

Showing the single-mindedness that has propelled her to greatness, Serena, seeded two, overcame a scratchy and nervous start in which all four opening games were breaks and when she smashed a racquet in frustration.

But she soon settled to get a decisive break to go 4-3 in front with an unstoppable backhand, and served out the set with an ace.

Serena was fired up and she worked three break points in the third set, only for her sister to negotiate her way out of trouble with some big forehand winners.

The tense battle went with serve to 3-3 before Serena cranked up the pressure to break with a scintillating crosscourt backhand and take a 4-3 lead.

With history beckoning, she wasn't about to throw it away and she served out the match, falling to the floor in celebration before a long embrace with Venus to share the biggest moment of her career.

Despite the loss, being in the final was a big achievement for Venus, whose career went off the boil for several years after she was diagnosed with the energy-sapping Sjogren's syndrome in 2011. l

MATCH STATS Time: 1hr 22min Venus Serena 7 Aces 10 3 Double Faults 5 21 Winners 27 25 Unforced Errors 23 2/3 Break Point Conversions 4/11 59 Total Points Won 69

LIST OF LEADING WOMEN’S GRAND SLAM WINNERS IN PROFESSIONAL ERA Serena Williams (United States) 23 Steffi Graff (Germany) 22 Martina Navratilova (U.S.) 18 Chris Evert (U.S.) 18 Margaret Court (Australia) 11 * Monica Seles (U.S) 9 Billie Jean King (U.S.) 8 ** * Court leads overall with 24 grand slam titles but won 13 of her titles before the professional era ** King won a total of 12 grand slam singles titles, four of them before the professional era

ROLL OF HONOUR 2017 - Serena Williams (USA) 2016 - Angelique Kerber (GER) 2015 - Serena Williams (USA) 2014 - Li Na (CHN) 2013 - Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 2012 - Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 2011 - Kim Clijsters (BEL) 2010 - Serena Williams (USA) 2009 - Serena Williams (USA) 2008 - Maria Sharapova (RUS)

Upbeat Venus ready to 'kill it' after loss to little sister n Reuters, Melbourne

Venus Williams was in bullish mood after she was denied the chance to end her eight-year grand slam title drought by her younger sister Serena at the Australian Open yesterday.

The seven-times grand slam winner went down 6-4 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena but said she had proved she had the game to reach more major finals and to return to the blue courts of Melbourne next year for an 18th tilt at the title.

"I, God willing, would love to come back," she said to cheers from the crowd.

At 36 and five months, Venus was the oldest woman's grand slam finalist since Martina Navratilova, aged 37, lost the 1994 Wimbledon final to Conchita Martinez.

"Ready to kill it this year. That's my goal," she said.

"It's a great start to the year. I'm looking forward to the rest of year.

"This is like tournament number two and it's already a lot of work.

I'm looking forward to tournament number three and four. It's going to be awesome."

On the back of her run to a 15th grand slam final, Venus will move up the world rankings from number 17 to 11th tomorrow.

"I didn't lose a set until the semi-finals. Played against a lot of players who were in form," she added.

"I feel I played very well this week, pulled a lot of things out of my pocket," she said with a smile.

"I got more stuff in my pocket."

Venus's first grand slam final appearance in eight years was a stunning victory of perseverance following her struggles to manage Sjogren's syndrome, an auto-immune disease that causes fatigue and joint pain.

"She's the toughest player I've ever faced," said Serena, who clinched her seventh Melbourne Park crown to surpass Steffi Graf as the most prolific grand slam title winner of the open era. "There's no way I would be at 23 without her, there's no way I would be number one without her."

Venus also paid tribute to her sister, who is set to regain her number one ranking.

"Your win has always been my win. All the times I couldn't be there, couldn't get there, you were there," she said, her eyes sparkling with emotion as she clutched the runners up trophy," she said.

When asked if the sisters were the greatest sporting siblings of all time, however, Venus smiled.

"I don't think we're going for the greatest story in sports. We're just going for some dreams. In the case that we are, what an honour, what an honour." l

Serena Williams and Venus Williams embrace each other after their Australian Open women’s singles final in Melbourne Park, Melbourne yesterday REUTERS

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Not bright (3) 3 Threat (6) 8 Worshipped image (4) 9 Spanish nobleman (3) 10 Abstract (6) 11 Fish (6) 14 Chemical compound (5) 17 Footwear (5) 20 Capable of producing crops (6) 24 Shrewd (6) 26 Look at (3) 27 Taverns (4) 28 Bring into helpless position (6) 29 Make lace (3)

DOWN 1 Percussion instrument (4) 2 Factory (4) 3 Fashion (4) 4 Select group (5) 5 Highly skilled (5) 6 Long-leaved lettuce (3) 7 Go in (5) 12 Flying Saucer (3) 13 Fate (3) 15 Mineral spring (3) 16 Slippery catch (3) 17 Alloy (5) 18 Exterior (5) 19 Glossy fabric (5) 21 Tear (4) 22 Prime (4) 23 Direction (4) 25 Become firm (3)

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Downtime

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

CODE-CRACKER How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 18 represents M so fill M every time the figure 18 appears.

You have two letters in the control grid to start you off. Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.

Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.

As you get the letters, fill in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check off the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SUDOKU How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

PEANUTS

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

DILBERT

SUDOKU

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Showtime

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

Actors who’ve never been nominated for an Oscar n Showtime Desk

Globe nominations in movies without getting an Oscar nod once. Blunt had already broken through in My Summer of Love, but it was her pitch-perfect comic support as Miranda Priestly’s hatchet-faced assistant in The Devil Wears Prada, which should have catapulted her into the nominees’ club.

A good number of talented and skilled actors are now in business but somehow their best works have not been recognised for the most prestigious accolade of the industry.

Here, we picked a few good actors who are yet to be nominated for an Academy Award.

is legitimately the great American character actor of the 1990s, more or less the Elisha Cook, Jr of that era. William H Macy was nominated, but Buscemi’s unforgettably scuzzy Carl Showalter in Fargo should have shared the honour.

Jim Carrey

We needn’t pretend all of Carrey’s comic roles are of nomination-worthy; in fact, he’s made a lot of dross amid the jewels. In 2004, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is Carrey’s most intimate and profound lead role for which he should have been nominated.

Richard Gere Isabella Rossellini

Rossellini’s mother Ingrid Bergman won three Oscars, and while few would argue that Rossellini is anything like such a major star, she’s given several mesmerising performances. In 1986, she was brilliant as bewitching masochist Dorothy Vallens in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, Rossellini probably just scared everyone too much to vote for her.

Robin Wright

Hugh Grant

Hugh Grant could have been be recognised for his wonderfully snobbish support in Small Time Crooks (2000), but Four Weddings and a Funeral is clearly the movie he was born to own.

Robin Wright’s had a funny sort of career: she was seemingly destined for megastardom in the 1980s and 1990s with first The Princess Bride and then Forrest Gump, but often seemed to shy away from it, only to become a household name, and Golden Globe and Emmy nominee.

But it still feels odd that she’s never been Oscar-nominated, given how good she is not just in the two movies above. She’s definitely become better over time. Rebecca Miller’s disappointingly underseen The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee and Ari Folman’s animated misfire The Congress, a strange, messy movie where Wright is undoubtedly fantastic in.

An old-school movie star and, to say the least, not the world’s most consistent actor, Gere has still been unlucky not to enjoy even one Oscar moment. He’s not been far off lately with The Hoax and Arbitrage– it’ll come, maybe, when he finds his Wall Street.

Top Gere is in his shadiest performance, as the vicious cop in Mike Figgis’s Internal Affairs.

Ewan McGregor

Well, there is a saying-- when McGregor’s films are good, they’re very good, and when they’re bad they’re Mortdecai. However, for this Scottish actor, an Oscar nomination could easily have come for Rogue Trader or Young Adam or The Impossible or the widely beloved Beginners. And do not forget the Renton in Trainspotting, still the most unforgettable role on his resume and a true masterpiece.

Scarlett Johansson

Emily Blunt

Blunt is becoming one of the most respected actresses of her generation, in an increasingly broad spectrum of parts.

Her tough, thwarted turn in Sicario was noticeable and she has managed four Golden

Steve Buscemi

For years best-known as that weaselly guy in the films with all those other guys, Buscemi

One really hopes that the Academy finally stops snubbing Johansson soon. During her big run with the Globes, she was omitted from Oscar lineups time and time again.

The snub for Lost in Translation especially stings, even though she recently blew us all away with her role in 1.l

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2017

6th Lux-RTV Star Awards Ramendu Majumdar recieves Lifetime Achievement Award language drama) was awared to Lubaba Diya. The award for the Best Scriptwriter (liberation war and language drama) was given to Masum Shahriar while the Best Director award (liberation war and language drama) went to Abu Hayat Mahmud.

Bipasha Hayat was awarded as the Best Actress in central character in one hour drama and telefilm, Shahnaz Khushi, Tariq Anam Khan and Shahadat Hossain were jointly awarded for best lead actor and Argo as best child artist, while Anisul Hoque was recognised as the best scriptwriter and Animesh

n Afrose Jahan Chaity Bangladeshi actor, stage director and theatre producer Ramendu Majumdar received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the Lux-RTV Star Awards 2016 at a gala event held at the Basundhara International Convention Centre in the capital’s Pragati Sarani recently.

Commerce Minister Amir Hossain Amu handed over the award

to Ramendu Majumder.

The Lux-RTV Star Awards 2016 was conferred on playwrights, directors, actors, singers, dancers and bands in 28 categories.

The Best Actor in a central character (liberation war and language drama) was awarded to Tariq Anam Khan, the award for Best Actor in lead role (liberation war and language drama) went to Fazlur Rahman Babu, the Best child artist (liberation war and

Aich as the best director.

Folk singer Salma and Yusuf won the award for Best Promising Singer. Priyanka Gop and Atik Hasan won the award in the senior category, while Tasauf was awarded as the best child singer.

Feedback won the Best Band award while Tareen Jahan won the best dance artist award.

Celebrities Purnima, Mim, Sojol, Sadia Islam Mou performed at the ceremony while notable playback singer Sabina Yasmin and rock band Miles also entertained the audience at the event. l

PHOTOS: RAJIB DHAR

Discrimination in B-town

n Showtime Desk It’s not surprising that, even though Bollywood has a lot of talented actresses but when it comes to finding a “ruler,” it is a male actor who takes the glory. It does not matter if the Khans end up with massive flops or if the Roshans become hopeless, they tend to remain as the rulers of

the industry. Especially when it comes to their paychecks, there’s a notoriously wide gap between male and female actors. It’s mainly because in Bollywood, actresses aren’t viewed in the same way as actors — the films often feature women in sexualised roles.

While Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone, Meryl Streep and Patricia Arquette have spoken

out on the disparity in Hollywood, some top-billed Bollywood actresses’ uncorked grievances on the wage gap.

Recently, in an interview with BBC, Priyanka Chopra said, “I don't like the fact that I get paid much less than the boys.

I don't like the fact that the disparity is so massive.” She also said that while films with a male lead made $40 million at the box office, those with a female lead would earn less than a quarter in Bollywood. “When womencentered films become hits, then the disparity will end.”

Of course, in the past few years, audiences have shown interest in female-led films such as Kangana Ranaut’s Queen, Priyanka Chopra’s

Mary Kom, Vidya Balan’s Kahaani and Anushka Sharma’s NH10. But Bollywood has been less-thanentertaining in compensating its female stars. There is a consensus that pay discrimination exists in Bollywood but, with most salaries are veiled in secrecy, no one knows how bad it really is.

In 2014, Queen, in which Ranaut plays a jilted bride who embarks upon her honeymoon in Europe alone, grossed over $16 million (1.2 billion rupees) at the box office.

In 2015, Padukone and Choprastarred Bajirao Mastani earned over $25 million at the box office.

Although films led by women have fallen behind in box office collections, several films starring Deepika Padukone, Kangana Ranaut and Priyanka Chopra have crossed the 1 billion rupees ($15 million) gross earnings mark — which is considered a hit in Bollywood.

Delivering three consecutive mammoth hits — Piku, Bajirao Mastani and Tamasha, Padukone’s paycheck is said to be about $1.2 million per film, according to observers of the film industry.

That’s way less than what top

actors can rake in, which is about $4.5 million per film. There were rumours that she is being paid more than her male co-stars in the upcoming Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s historical film Padmavati, as she plays the title role. But soon Bhansali’s representative vociferously denied that any of this was true — as if it was an unbecoming conduct of the film industry.

Perhaps it was because of her status as one of the industry’s highest earners, making it difficult to address the issue of pay disparity, Padukone has a different perspective on wage gaps. In an interview with Outlook Business magazine, she said, “Instead of whining about it, I look at how different things were earlier and how the situation has improved already.”

But when Bollywood talks about the business of 3 Idiots, they never talk about Kareena Kapoor Khan, when they talk about Sultan- they completely forget about Anushka Sharma.

So the bias regarding gender exists everywhere, including Bollywood!l

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RMG MAKERS KEEN TO INCLUDE ALL STAKEHOLDERS IN NEW INITIATIVE PAGE 13

BUFFETT, GATES HAVE HOPE FOR AMERICA AFTER TRUMP ASCENSION

PAGE 15

Hungry locals squandering Tanguar resources Alam Durjoy, back from n Nure Tanguar Haor Every day he has to spend sleepless night fishing at Tanguar Haor in Sunamganj only in search of a bit of livelihood.

Although fishing and hunting birds at the 10,000-hectare wetland are prohibited as it has been declared an Ecologically Critical Area in 1999 and a Ramsar Site by Unesco the following year, he said he has no option but to do that to support a three-member family, with poverty and unemployment messing him up.

The woes of 21-year-old Abul Hasan were compounded after he had been abandoned by his father some two years back as he had married against his parents’ will.

Hasan, who cannot even certainly say if he attended school at his early age, can only write his name.

He lives in a shanty at Sreepur near the water body with his wife and a four-month-old baby.

“I need at least three hundred taka a day to feed my family. It is too difficult for me to meet the expenses as fishing is no longer lucrative since the fish stock at the haor is now scarce,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

“On top of that I have to pay the Ansar members, who guard the wetland, four hundred taka a week from whatever small earnings I can make by fishing and hunting birds,” he added.

“I know what I am doing is il-

Fishermen fishing at Tanguar Haor where fishing and hunting are prohibited as that has been declared an Ecologically Critical Area. The picture was taken recently SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN legal. My wife Jesmina too insists that I quit fishing there. But, should we [fishermen] not be allowed to catch fish, we will not survive,” a teary Hasan lamented.

“If I had around ten thousand taka, I could set up a tea stall anywhere in my locality to earn livelihoods in lieu of fishing,” he added.

The poverty-stricken man echoes hundreds of other people who

are doing the same to make their ends meet, albeit knowledgeable about the bans.

Mir Badan, a 60-year-old man of village Mujraigram, said: “In my childhood I saw a wide variety of fish caught in the haor, most of which are now teetering on the verge of extinction.

“In the past my grandfather Panka Barban used to catch fishes

weighing from 10kg to 30kg. The haor also used to be home to other aquatic animals. But now you could hardly see them.”

Environmental degradation caused by the indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources is in part responsible for their extinction, Badan further said.

Rocked by a sudden closure of Takerghat Limestone Mining Pro-

ject, thousands of locals who had previously worked there became heavily dependent on the water body for their livelihoods, this correspondent came to know after talking to the locals.

Starting in 1966 on a 132-hectare of land near the haor, the mining project had been a source of earnings for them. However, in 1996, the authorities closed down the project after incurring a huge financial loss, leaving all its workers in a state of uncertainty.

Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmed, country director of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), said ecosystem in the haor area is degrading because of an absence of coordinated management system, on the one hand, and the locals’ dependency on the wetland is increasing day by day, on the other.

“If there are alternative livelihood programmes, their dependency will gradually decrease. The government should provide them with necessary support,” Ishtiaq suggested.

Echoing Ishtiaq, Executive Magistrate ATM Morshed, who is in charge of the Ramsar site, said: “There are so many people who are solely dependent on its resources.”

When asked about the Ansar members letting the locals fish in exchange for money, the magistrate said: “Many are raising such allegations, but there is nothing as such. In fact, the Ansar and police have been working hard to save the site and its resources.” l

NHRCI chief: Issue of border killings a political matter n Kamrul Hasan National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRCI) Chairman Justice HL Dattu declined to comment on the killing that regularly occurs at the India-Bangladesh border, as it was a “political matter.”

The visiting dignitary made the statement at a seminar titled “Experience sharing of NHRIs' challenges and the way forward” held in Dhaka yesterday. The seminar was attended by the NHRC chief of Bangladesh and Law Minister Anisul Huq, among others.

Border killing has long been an uncomfortable issue for the two governments and, despite several calls from Bangladesh, the killing has continued.

Justice HL Dattu The issue gained particular prominence after the Felani murder by uniformed Indian law enforcement officials in January 2011. The case is yet to be settled following a second acquittal in 2015.

Speaking as a special guest at the seminar, Dattu along with the Bangladesh National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairman shared their organisational activities, experiences and limitations, from which it was found that both nations receive complaints of a similar nature, especially regarding crimes by law enforcement agencies.

The NHRCI Chairman said that their commission was headed by a former chief justice of the country and two current justices, with two civil members.

Asked if this format could benefit Bangladesh going forward, he said it did not matter if the chief was from the judiciary but rather that he or she was committed to establishing human rights.

United Nations Development Pro-

gramme Country Director to Bangladesh Sudipto Mukerjee said the core objective of the NHRC is to gain public trust, adding that prevention of extremist violence is also needed to bring peace.

Meanwhile, Law Minister Anisul Huq said despite significant efforts and government assistance, the NHRC was still struggling to protect human rights in Bangladesh.

Anisul Huq identified violence against children and human trafficking as the core problems of Bangladesh and urged the NHRC to increase its contribution regarding the latter.

The minister also asked the NHRC to work together with National Legal Aid, the second institution having been formed as the poor often lacked the financial means

to pursue judicial proceedings.

Some key measures to be taken included an expansion of NHRC regional offices, more fact finding missions and broader awareness programs, while increases in funds allocated to the NHRC highlighted the government's positive attitude towards the institute, the law minister said.

The law minister did not blame the NHRC for human rights violations in Bangladesh, instead lauding their sincere effort and dedication in the face of limitations within the NHRC act.

“In spite of [the NHRC's dedication], Bangladesh is facing challenges in the protection of human rights,” he said.

The minister did not elaborate on what sorts of challenges these were. l

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