September 4, 2013

Long Form

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Syria: The unanswered questions

Bhadra 20, 1420 Shawwal 27, 1434 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 1 No 163

Syria refugees cross two million mark

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2013 | www.dhakatribune.com

BNP now looks towards Moon

Sport

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International

United sign Fellaini, Arsenal swoop for Ozil

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Opposition breaks silence on war crimes trial n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

LIVING ON THE EDGE

A delegation likely to meet UN chief; ready to make ‘maximum sacrifice’ to participate in the elections n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla The main opposition BNP has now turned to the UN with the hope of its role in settling the existing political stalemate arising out of the ruling Awami League’s “uncompromising stand on staying in power” during the next parliamentary elections.

A two-member delegation of the opposition party is likely to meet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his invitation.

Ban had earlier sent UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco to hold talks with the two feuding parties. The UN chief himself talked with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia over telephone recently and discussed possible ways out of the political standoff.

“We are a member of the UN, which has many instruments. It can advise us on the pros and cons. But I am not sure of any positive outcome,” MK Anwar, a member of the BNP Standing Committee, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Talking to a number of senior BNP leaders, it was learnt that the party was

PM to discuss polls-time government with DCs, UNOs n Mohosinul Karim Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to convey her plan on the polls-time government mechanism with the deputy commissioners and the upazila nirbahi officers (UNO).

The discussions may take place anytime soon to clear the confusions about the polls-time government.

The idea was put forward by a secretary during Monday’s meeting between the premier and the secretaries, and Hasina accepted it, a secretary who attended the meeting told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar admitted that the issue was discussed at the meeting, but denied to elaborate on it.

Hasina at the meeting hinted that the parliamentary election would be held by January 24. The current parliament would remain effective, but no session would take place. l

INSIDE News

4 Government will appeal against HC stay order on mandatory recruitment of manpower from the database.

Nation

6 Train tickets for the Dhaka-bound passengers of Kishoreganj are being openly traded on the black market at far more than the original prices.

Metro

7 The government yesterday invited the people of Shankhari Bazaar from Old Dhaka for talks about how to resolve a dispute over preserving the area’s archaeological heritage.

International

9 India plans to subsidise wheat, rice and cereals for some 800 million people under a $20bn scheme to cut malnutrition and ease poverty.

Business

B1 National Board of Revenue has turned down a request to allow 45% depreciation on around 2,500 reconditioned cars waiting at the Chittagong and Mongla sea ports.

ready to make “maximum sacrifice” to take part in the upcoming general elections.

They said they believed that no doors of understanding were left as the prime minister had told secretaries that she would not make any policy decisions during the election time – despite having the power – clearly meaning that she would stay in office at that time.

The leaders also said they had no other option except for taking tough stance to compel the government to meet the demand for an election under a non-partisan government.

Requesting anonymity, a senior leader said the UN would take some initiatives this month and the party’s next course of action would be determined after the fate of the UN moves.

BNP leaders said UN Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco was likely to visit Bangladesh mid-September and hold meetings with Hasina and Khaleda. The PM is likely to attend the UN General Assembly in the end of this month.

Opposition leaders said they believed that a solution would come from  PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

A man walks along the eroding bank of the Padma River at Louhajang in Munshiganj yesterday. The onset of erosion has been due to a huge rise in its water level. Story on page 16 NASHIRUL ISLAM

Rental power may continue until 2020 n Asif Showkat Kallol Expensive rental power looks set to stay as an enormous drain on the exchequer as little or no progress on longterm electricity generation projects is forcing the government to rely on the stopgap measures for some more years.

Power officials say contracts with rental and quick rental plants might

Islamist parties working on polls, certain about win n Manik Miazee Leaders of several Islamist political parties and platforms will seek nomination from the 18-party opposition alliance in the upcoming parliamentary polls, and if they fail to get it, they will contest individually.

They have already selected names of some leaders and decided on which constituencies they will contest as they are confident to win the polls because of the Awami League-led government’s downward popularity.

In this context, they point at the results of five city corporation elections where the ruling party-backed candidates faced defeats. Activists of the Islamists parties and organisations, mainly Hefazat, campaigned jointly in those polls against the Awami League-supported candidates.

In their campaigns for the parliamentary polls, the Islamist parties are now trying to draw sympathy of the voters using posters, leaflets and documentaries on the government’s

failures, especially, the law enforcers’ crackdown on Hefazat-e-Islam’s Dhaka-seize program on May 5 and 6.

Opposition ally Jamaat-e-Islami too is campaigning for the polls using the Hefazat issue and other issues that may disrepute the government.

All the top leaders of Hefazat, except for its chief Shah Ahmad Shafi, are involved in different Islamist parties of the opposition alliance.

Leaders of several Islamist parties and platforms – Hefazat, Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ), Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish, Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam, Nezam-e-Islami Bangladesh and Khelafat-e-Islami Bangladesh – have been campaigning across the country.

Among them, key components of the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance – IOJ, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish and Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam – are demanding a non-partisan interim government to oversee the polls.

Hefazat, which is a platform of  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Shahara suggests annual licence fee cut for IGWs n Muhammad Zahidul Islam Telecommunication Minister Shahara Khatun has requested the BTRC to slash the annual licence fees for the international gateway (IGW) operators from Tk75m to Tk25m, which will incur a yearly revenue loss of Tk1.45bn.

She has also allowed five IGWs to pay their fees in instalments, which is not allowed in the rules of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

A number of officials at the regulator confirmed the Dhaka Tribune that Shahara had requested them to cut the annual licence fee and that they were now changing the commission’s guideline to that end.

They said the change might come into effect after the 3G auction on September 8.

“According to the telecom act, the minister does not have any authority to make decisions or cannot make any request related to financial issues. The minister cannot request the regula-

tor for payment of annual licence fees in instalments,” a high official at the BTRC’s legal and licensing wing told the Dhaka Tribune.

When contacted, Shahara Khatun told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “Technology is changing frequently and we need to review our guidelines to adapt to those changes. At the same time, we need to take care of the operators’ business.

“If I need to do anything for them, I can assure I will do it as per the law,” she said.

Shahara made the request to the BTRC after a meeting with Health Minister Dr AFM Ruhul Haq and State Minister for Local Government Jahangir Kabir Nanak at her office on Monday.

An official at the BTRC said only eight of the IGW operators had paid their full annual licence fees of Tk75m each. Five IGWs, which the official said were backed by politically powerful people, had paid partial fees “upon recommendations of instalments from  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

be extended until 2020 when major electricity projects like Rooppur nuclear power plant are expected to go into commercial production.

“We will place a proposal to the Prime Minister’s Office within a few days seeking the PM’s consent for extending the tenures of the power plants for different periods,” said an official of the Power Division.

The Power Division will propose an extension until 2020 as it hopes that most of the long-term base-load power projects, including a series of coal-and gas-fired plants, as well as the nuclear power plant at Rooppur will be in a position to generate electricity by then.

Earlier, the division had proposed two options for extending the tenures  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

The opposition BNP has for the first time broken its silence on the war crimes trial, slamming the government decision to scrap the voting rights of war crimes convicts.

“The decision to drop the names of war criminals from the voter list is totally against humanity. This is illegal and against the rule of law,” opposition spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told journalists at a press briefing at its Nayapaltan office yesterday.

The cabinet on Monday approved the draft of the Voter List (second amendment) Act 2013 with provisions for disqualifying wartime collaborators and convicted war criminals from enlisting as voters.

The provision will apply for those convicted under the International Crimes Tribunal (amendment) Act 2009 and the Collaborators Act 1972.

Condemning the move, Mirza Fakhrul, also BNP’s acting secretary general, said: “The cases are still under trial with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. So, such a decision is a conspiracy against citizen’s fundamental rights.”

Fakhrul also urged the government to retract the decision.

BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdury and a former minister of Ziaur Rahman cabinet Abdul Alim are now facing trials at the International Crimes Tribunal for crimes committed against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

CEC says they are ready to hold polls

News

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

FLY TO FLEE

Incomplete works to be completed in due time

n Mohammad Zakaria Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad yesterday said they were prepared to hold the next parliamentary election any time within 90- day time frame stated in the constitution.

“Ninety days are enough for us for holding parliamentary election,” Rakibuddin told reporters after an emergency meeting at the EC secretariat in the capital.

“We have already completed major tasks of preparations for holding the polls.

We discussed the preparation at the commission meeting and we are satisfied.”

He said the EC has already completed the “major tasks” including printing updated voter list and re-demarcation of the parliamentary constituencies.

However, he said collecting transparent ballot boxes from abroad was under process and that the necessary electoral equipments would reach EC in “due time.”

The commission would start to train around 600,000 election officials, he said. Kazi Rakibuddin said the EC would announce the poll schedule keeping 3545 days in its hand to allow candidates sufficient time for campaigning.

When asked if the parliament completed its tenure of five years and no election was held before that what

Rimon gets AL ticket for Barguna 2

n Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee

Pathorghata upazila Chairman Shawkot Hasanur Rahman Rimon has got the ruling Awami League’s nomination to contest for the Barguna 2 by-polls due on October 3.

The party’s parliementary board at its meeting yesterday selected Rimon among 16 other party leaders.

The meeting was held at Ganabhaban yesterday night with party President Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

After the meeting, party’s Deputy Office Secretary Mrinal Kanti Das declared the name of Rimon while talking to reporters.

The constituency – comprising Patharghata, Bamna and Betagi upazilas – fell vacant following the death of lawmaker Golam Shabur Tulu in a road accident on July 26. l

‘Oishee 19 yrs old’ n Tribune Desk Oishee Rahman, who has been accused of killing her parents, is around 19 years old, police say quoting a medical report.

The age of Khadiza Khatun Sumi, a domestic help at the Rahmans’, has been put around 11 years.

Police’s Special Branch Inspector Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife Swapna Begum were found murdered at their Chamelibagh residence on Aug 16.

Oishee and Sumi had been held over the twin killings.

Police conducted several tests at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital to determine age of the duo after their interrogation on remand had opened up a barrage of criticism.

Court police’s General Recording Officer Gaffarul Alam told bdnews24.com the medical report was sent to Dhaka’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court yesterday.

A Dhaka court had initially ordered the two into jail but they were later shifted to the Gazipur’s Kishori Unnayan Kendra, a juvenile correctional home. l

would happen, the CEC said: “In that case we would have no other option but to hold election within the time frame that we would have.”

However, he did not clarify what he meant by the “time frame.”

He further said the EC has to be prepared to hold elections on a sudden notice if situation warranted.

About holding dialogue with the political parties before announcing the poll schedule, Rakibuddin said there was no procedure to sit with the political parties before announcing the schedule. “If needed, the EC will sit with the political parties before announcing the schedule,” he said.

“The EC wants to hold the next general election in free, fair and acceptable manner with participation of all political party,” Rakibuddin said.

Referring to a new electoral code of conduct for the upcoming JS polls, the CEC said that the EC would prepare the electoral code of conduct keeping in mind the “level playing fields for all.”

About providing National Identity (NID) cards to new voter, he said the commission would provide NID cards to the new registered voters before announcing the polls schedule. The inclusion and exclusion of voters would continue till the announcement of the schedule. l

Police lock a car, parked illegally on a road in Motijheel in downtown Dhaka yesterday

Hasina seeks vote for boat in Cox’s Bazar

18-party alliance rejects PM’s plan for polls-time government

n Tribune Desk

n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday sought voter for Awami League candidates in the next general elections to continue development activities.

“I want your vote for ‘boat’ in next elections,” she told a rally in Ukhiya under Cox’s Bazar district, according to BSS. “If you give vote to Awami League again, Inshallah, we will finish the remaining works and take more development programmes to build a hunger- and poverty-free Sonar Bangla by 2021,” she said.

The premier, who flew to the coastal district to inaugurate a number of development projects and reconstructed Buddhist temples, was addressing a huge public meeting at Ukhiya High School ground here. She also laid foundation of some projects.

Thousands of people braving rain joined the rally carrying placards, festoons and party symbol “boat.”

Hasina claimed that the militants were carrying out destructive activities across the country at the instigation of BNP chief Khaleda Zia. “The Quran clearly stipulates that

all people will enjoy their religious rights with full freedom. It is also the teaching of Prophet [SM]. So, why will we attack the people of other faiths?”

Criticising the Leader of the Opposition for her support to Hefazat-e-Islami, the prime minister said: “We called her to dialogue in May last to find out a way of holding the next elections. But she gave us an ultimatum to quit power, instigating the leaders of Hefazat to lay siege to Dhaka city.”

Extending her thanks to the people of Ukhiya and Teknaf for giving vote to the Awami League candidate in 2008 elections, Hasina said her government would do everything possible for development of the area.

She announced that a government college and a high school would be constructed in every upazila of the country. Ukhiya Bangamata Mohila College would be nationalised, she assured.

Chaired by upazila unit President Adil Uddin Chowdhury, the rally was also addressed by local MP Abdur Rahman Badi and Ethin Rakhain, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, Industries Minister Dilip Barua and Environment and Forests Minister Hasan Mahmud. l

3 foreign nationals held n Tribune Report

Detective Branch of Police arrested three foreign nationals with 72 cans of beer at a house in the capital’s Uttara early yesterday.

The detained were Kamara Kade, 38, and Konzi Lavonia, 40, of Ginny and Roberto Mili Monona, 32, of South Africa.

They were arrested from house 37, Sector 9 of Uttara around 2am, said the police.

Among the three, Konzi has been arrested earlier with cocaine in the capital’s Banani on May 28, said Mahfuzul Islam, assistant commissioner of DB

police. “None of those three foreigners could show their passports and other documents regarding permissions of staying in the country,” he added.

Two separate cases were filed against them with Uttara police station. One case was filed for possessing drugs and another for staying in Bangladesh illegally.

A larger number of freighters, mainly from North African countries, were engaged in smuggling and trading of illegal drugs and fake currencies in the country.

More than 200 foreigners were detained for staying in Bangladesh illegally and involvement with illegal activities. l

Islamist parties working on polls, certain about win  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

Islamist parties and organisations, has prepared a list of its 22 leaders who want to contest the polls from the opposition alliance.

Hefazat Secretary General Junaid Babunagari, who is also the vice-chairman of IOJ, is likely to contest from Chittagong 8 (Fatikchharhi) constituency while its central leader Maulana Mainuddin Ruhi from Chittagong 10 (Hathazari).

The IOJ, another platform led by Abdul Latif Nezami, has also finalised its candidates for the elections. Nezami is also the chairman of Nezam-e-Islami Bangladesh. He is likely to participate in the polls from Narsingdi 2 while IOJ Secretary General Mufti Fayez Ullah from Chittagong 3 (Rangunia).

Chief of Khelafat-e-Islami Bangladesh Abul Hasnat Amini, who is also the son of IOJ leader late Mufti Fazlul Haq Amini, will contest from Brahmanbaria 2 seat.

The Islamist leaders claim that the

DHAKA TRIBUNE

anti-government campaigns have been conducted to make sure that their candidates win the polls. They say it is possible since the people are enraged against the government.

They have been conducting door to door campaigns and focusing on the negative aspects of the current government, especially the law enforcers’ action on opposition leaders and involvement of the Awami League leaders in crimes and corruption. The campaigns are also conducted at mosques and madrasas.

Hefazat’s advisor Muhammad Zafrullah Khan, also the secretary general of Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We hope that the election will be held in time. We are ready to take part.”

IOJ’s Mufti Fayez Ullah told the Dhaka Tribune: “We are always ready to contest the polls. But in the same vein, I would like to reiterate our demand to install non-party caretaker government system without which we will not take

part in any polls.”

He claimed that now the country’s 90% people were against the ruling alliance for its anti-Hefazat activities and backing the atheists.

He also said: “The May 5 genocide at the Hefazat programme left a deep impression on the people’s mind. We are all Muslims, so it is my duty to inform the people what the Awami League-led atheist government did to the innocent Alems [Islamic scholars].”

According to senior IOJ leaders, they have produced a number of documentaries highlighting the current government’s failures, Hefazat crackdown and other activities that might give the people negative impression about the Awami League.

The campaigners are using mobile phones to show the videos of May 5 rally and photos that show police charging batons and throwing teargas shells on Hefazat supporters. They are trying to establish that the ballot is the best way to give a reply to the “genocide.” l

The BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance yesterday said no doors were left open for an understanding to resolve the prevailing political standoff after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s statement that the next general elections would be held by January 24 with the current parliament being functional.

“We want to say clearly that the BNPled 18-party alliance is not accepting such decision…” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of the BNP, said after holding a secretary general-level meeting with the allies at the party’s Nayapaltan headquarters.

The BNP spokesperson reiterated that they would not participate in any election except under a non-partisan interim government. “People too will not accept elections under a partisan government.”

He pointed out that the ministers on several occasions had said there was scope for an understanding. The problem could be solved only if the prime minister took the right decision.

Fakhrul said: “There is no example across the world where a parliamentary election is held, when a particular government is still functional. But the prime minister is repeatedly saying that elections will be held in Bangladesh like other democratic countries across the globe.”

He said the people were not only disappointed over the prime minister’s speech, but also worried. “The government wants to establish ‘Baksal-style’ [one-party] democracy in the country, not even a ‘controlled democracy.’”

On Monday, the prime minister said the upcoming elections would be held within the last 90 days of the government’s term. However, no policy de-

cisions will be taken during that time since the parliament will be dissolved once the election process begins.

Issuing a note of warning, Fakhrul said tough programmes would be waged to compel the government to ensure a non-partisan interim administration.

On the next course of action, he said: “We have our own strategy and you will be informed in due course.”

Fakhrul said global leaders, including the United Nations Secretary General had called upon leaders of the two major political parties to engage in talks to reach a mutual understanding over the poll-time government.

Condemning the arrest of Hefazat-e-Islam leader Mufti Md Wakkas, the BNP spokesperson said: “The allegations brought against him are politically motivated. Mufti Wakkas is a seasoned politician, former minister and an Islamic scholar.” l

Rental power may continue until 2020  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

of rental and quick-rental power projects—one is ‘no electricity, no payment’ and another ‘revision of tariffs.’ Power plant owners must agree on either of the options if they want to continue their business, officials concerned said.

The state-owned Power Development Board generally purchases power from rental power plants at high costs and sells it to consumers at considerably lower prices. This has forced the government to cover up the gap by giving huge subsidy.

Quick rental plants, which were set up on emergency basis to overcome the nagging outages, are the most expensive, followed by rental power plants— all run by private entrepreneurs on short-term contracts.

PDB owes quick-rental power plants around Tk16.88bn, while unpaid bills for rental power plants amounted to around Tk1.25 bn, raising the total dues to Tk18.13 bn for the last quarter (AprilJune) of the previous fiscal year.

The government generally does not pay any subsidy to the IPPs because these low cost power plants are powered by natural gas and have in fact made around Tk1.69bn profit during

the last quarter.

“Most of the subsidy is spent in payment for quick-rental power,” said an official of the Finance Division, which on Monday disbursed Tk 15.86 bn as subsidy to pay dues of quick rental and rental power plants.

He said the country’s budget deficit may widen if the rental power arrangements continue.

The total budgetary allocation for power sector subsidy in the immediate past fiscal year was Tk22bn.

To ease the subsidy pressure, the International Monetary Fund has repeatedly advised the government to hike power tariffs– a step the government always takes cautiously fearing political backlash. Although power tariff has been increased several times at consumer level, it is still far away from meeting the gap between the cost of production and the price consumers are paying.

The international lender said the government must stop giving subsidies in order to eliminate financial losses of power companies and public enterprises which burdens the public finances and pose a threat to macroeconomic stability.

On an average, PDB purchased

Shahara suggests annual licence fee cut for IGWs  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

the telecom minister” against the law.

The last date for renewing the IGW licences was April 11, but Shahara extended the time for two months although she did not have the authority to do so. The BTRC guideline gives a defaulting operator two months to pay the amount with late fees.

All deadlines expired on August 11.

A BTRC official said representatives from five IGWs had met the telecom minister and persuaded her to allow them to pay their fees in three instalments.

The IGWs are: Mos5 Tel Limited, which is owned by the son of Health

Minister Dr AFM Ruhul Haq; Sigma Engineers Limited, owned by a senior leader of the Awami League; Digicon Telecommunication Limited, owned by a lawmaker who is also a relative of the prime minister; Cel Telecom Limited and Global Voice Telecom Limited.

When contacted, the two commissioners of the BTRC disagreed to make any comments on the matter.

According to the BTRC guideline, the regulator has to serve a show-cause notice on an IGW if it fails to pay its licence fee on time and cancel the licence after serving two such notices.

The BTRC has served the first notice on a few IGW and ICX operators. l

around 1500MW of electricity every day from rental and quick rental power plants during the last fiscal year, board officials said.

At present the government purchases electricity from 12 rental and 15 quick rental power plants, powered either by furnace oil or diesel, and six IPPs. Last week, Power Division met the sponsors of five rental power projects including the 55MW Ashuganj gas-fired plant of Precession Energy Limited, 55MW Shikalbaha HFO-fired plant of Energies Power Company, 50MW Pagla diesel-fired quick-rental plant of DPA, 50MW Thakurgaon diesel-fired power of RZ Power Limited and the 55MW Khulna power plant. Of the power rental projects, the government earlier scrapped deal with the 55MW Sikalbaha power project for discharging ash that causes damage to the public-sector power plant at Sikalbaha. Earlier, committee formed by the division proposed not to extend the tenure of the old rental plants which are causing technical glitches to national grid.

But the division decided to continue negotiations with all the rental and quick-rental power sponsors, officials concerned sources said. l

BNP now looks  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

those meetings as Ban would talk to the PM and the opposition delegation to settle the crisis. As the BNP believes that a solution would come through the UN mediation, it announced public meetings at divisional headquarters instead of waging a tough movement, which they had hinted before Eid-ul-Fitr.

However, following the prime minister’s statement on Monday, leaders of the 18-party alliance were now also considering tough programmes.

“After the prime minister’s statement, no door is left open for an understanding, but we want a solution through dialogues. Tough programmes will be announced soon,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

JS body asks for reconsidering jail term for teachers

HC rejects BTCL MD bail petition n Nazmus Sakib

It recommends passing the Education Bill 2013 in the last session of parliament starting September 12 ministry finish the draft of the law n Kamran Reza Chowdhury within the next 15 days as parliament A parliamentary body yesterday suggested that the education ministry consult all stakeholders opposing provisions for imprisonment of teachers and owners of educational institutions guilty of unlawfully running branches of overseas institutions and unauthorised educational bodies and other offences.

At its meeting the parliamentary standing committee on the education ministry also asked the ministry to prepare a fresh draft of the education law within 15 days.

Its members unanimously recommended passing the Education Bill 2013 in the last session of the ninth parliament starting September 12.

Teachers have already warned of an agitation if the provisions for imprisonment were not dropped from the bill.

The government had initiated the bill in line with the education policy adopted to introduce a uniform education system in Bangladesh.

Committee Chairman Rashed Khan Menon yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have suggested that the

goes into session [on September 12]. It should consult with teachers and other parties and place a fresh law.”

He said a few committee members had suggested that the bill should use some other term rather than “Offence and Punishment” in the title of the schedule annexed to the draft law.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid told the Dhaka Tribune that his ministry would work in line with the recommendations of the standing committee.

The schedule of the Education Bill 2013 contains seven sections, stipulating jail terms from six months to five years for different offences relating to education.

The ministry prepared the draft and uploaded it on its website for feedback.

Menon said the standing committee had also recommended creating posts of education counsellors at all Bangladesh missions as the number of Bangladeshi students abroad was increasing.

Committee members Mirza Azam, Biren Shikder, Md Shah Alam, Ziaur Rahman and Mamtaz Begum attended the meeting at the parliament building. l

Police cracks down on workers of Narayanganj’s Fuji Garment Factory who had gathered at the town’s Chashara Roundabout demanding their unpaid salaries and asked to open the closed factory DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Tribune Report

At least 25 people, including a trade union leader, were injured yesterday in clashes between workers and law enforcers at Chashara in Narayanganj.

The workers of Fuji Knitwear Sweater Factory allegedly blocked the Chashara roundabout, suspending traffic protesting the closure of their factory.

Clashes broke out when police used truncheons on the agitators, as they did not heed police request to clear

the street. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas canisters to disperse the workers.

Among the injured were Bangladesh Trade Union Centre President Montu Ghosh, Communist Party leader Hafizul Islam, and Gonoshonghoti Andolon leaders Amol Akash and Anjan Das. Gonoshonghoti Andolon district unit Convener Tariqul Sujon claimed that police, without any provocation, started clubbing the protestors being instructed

by BKMEA President Selim Osman.

ACC to probe Tk6bn embezzlement throu’ illegal VoIP n Syed Samiul Basher Anik The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday appointed investigation officials to probe into allegations against a section of BTCL officials and some Ericson Bangladesh Ltd officials, of embezzling Tk6bn through illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) business.

ACC Commissioner M Shahabuddin told Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the commission appointed ACC Deputy Directors Mahamudul Hasan, SM Shahidur Rahman and Jahangir Alam as investigation officials, who will also coordinate with ACC Directors Tawhidul Islam and M Moniruzzaman.

On August 29, the ACC filed four cases against 23 people, including SOM Kalim Ullah, the current Managing Director of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL), and four former managing directors of BTCL, for their alleged involvement in the embezzlement of over Tk6bn through illegal VoIP business and erasing information from call detail records The ACC has found that a group of BTCL officials colluded with officials of the multinational company Ericsson Bangladesh Ltd to embezzle money by erasing incoming international call minutes from call detail record of ITX-5 and ITX-7 at the capital’s Mohakhali. l

Several women’s rights organisations stage human chain in the capital’s National Press Club yesterday demanding an end to all kinds discrimination against women and implementation of the Cedaw agreement SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Prosecution ends hearing on charge-framing in Azhar case n Udisa Islam The war crimes tribunal yesterday heard the prosecution on the framing of charges against Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General and alleged al-Badr leader ATM Azharul Islam.

Prosecutor Nurjahan Begum placed six charges including genocide, killing, rape, abduction and confinement which Azhar allegedly committed in Rangpur in 1971.

Then prosecutor AKM Saiful Islam spoke on the legal aspects of the case and pleaded for framing the charges under International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973. He also placed a list of 34 witnesses.

Later, defence counsel Tajul Islam sought adjournment for

The High Court yesterday rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited’s Managing Director SOM Kalim Ullah and three other officials of Ericsson Bangladesh Limited in the case of embezzling money through erasing international call minutes from details of call records.

An HC vacation bench of Justice Nizamul Huq and Justice Kashefa Hussain passed the order as “not-pressed.”

Anti-Corruption Commission Counsel Khurshid Alam Khan told the Dhaka Tribune that according to the High Court rules, any “not-pressed” rejected bail petition could not be moved to any other benches of the High Court.

He said Ericsson Bangladesh Limited’s Contract Manager Asif Jahid, Relations Manager Nazrul Islam and Engineer Masrurul Hakim were the three others who were refused bail. l

25 injured in police-workers clash in Narayanganj

Police seek Wakkas remand n Tribune Desk Police have sought 10-day remand for Hifazat-e Islam leader Mufti Muhammad Wakkas in each of the two sabotage cases lodged against him.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Erfan Ullah on Tuesday fixed Sep 9 for a hearing on the police plea, according to bdnews24.com.

Wakkas was detained from Dhaka on Monday in connection with cases filed over the Chittagong-based group’s May 5 mayhem in the capital.

He is the Secretary General of Jamiyate Ulamaye Islam, a member of the opposition 18-Party alliance.

The court ordered Wakkas, a former State Minsiter during HM Ershad’s dictatorship, to jail responding to a defence plea to defer the order.

The remand pleas, in the cases filed with Motijheel police, claimed lots of vehicles and government offices were damaged at Dhaka’s Motijheel, Fakirapool, Paltan, Ittefaq More, Gopibagh, Kamalapur, Dilkusha on May 5 at the direct instigation of top 18-Party alliance leaders for toppling the government.

Police wanted to quiz the Hifazat Naeb-e-Ameer over the atrocities.

The defence filed three pleas –bail for Wakkas, giving him division in jail and arranging treatment of the 61-yearold suffering from heart complications.

Judge Erfan Ullah ordered police to take necessary measures as per the jail code to arrange for the treatment of Wakkas and giving him division. l

3

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

one week to prepare his case. The three-member International Crimes Tribunal 1 headed by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir then set September 8 for the defence hearing.

The prosecution on August 29 began hearing on the charges and presented facts on the background of the Liberation War and involvement of Jamaat leaders in war crimes.

On July 25, the tribunal took into cognisance the formal charges, which the prosecution submitted against the Jamaat leader on July 18.

During March 24-27, 1971, Azhar abducted freedom fighter AY Mahfuz Ali and 11 others and tortured them.

On April 3, they were taken to Dokhiganj cremation ground and shot.

On April 16, Azhar was involved in the mass killing of at least 15

unarmed civilians at Dhappar of Badarganj and the genocide at Jharua Beel in the same area on April 17, when at least 1,200 people were killed.

On April 17, four lecturers of Carmichael College and the wife of one of them were shot dead near Damdam Bridge. During March 25-December 16, women from different areas were brought to Town Hall, confined, raped and tortured.

The last charge involves torture and abduction of people in mid-November in Rangpur College.

According to the investigation team, Azhar was an HSC student of Carmichael College during the war.

He was a member of Islami Chhatra Sangha and later became a part of al-Badr group. l

“Authorities sacked the workers and locked the factory without paying the dues, violating labour law,” he said.

However, Fuji Knitwear Factory Director Delwar Hossain denied the allegation.

Manjur Kader, OC of Narayanganj Sadar Model police station, said police “mildly” charged truncheons on the protesters to free the highway.

Communist Party of Bangladesh denounced the police attack.

Meanwhile, in Dhaka, garment

workers yesterday besieged the BGMEA Bhaban in the city’s Karwanbazar, demanding punishment against their factory owner for his alleged role in hiring local goons to beat up workers.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said they have negotiated with the workers and promised them to solve the issue through discussion between the workers and the owner in the shortest possible time. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Overseas recruitment database under-utilised Government plans to appeal against HC stay order

n Rabiul Islam The government will appeal against the High Court stay order on mandatory recruitment of manpower from the database.

“We will appeal against the High Court stay order as we have not got fair justice,” Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune at his office yesterday.

The minister said the aspirant migrant workers would be able to go abroad in a transparent manner and with low migration costs if the workers are selected from the government database.

Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies President Md Shahjalal Majumder had filed a writ petition, challenging the government circular prohibiting recruitment of

Professor Abdul Matin dies n DU Correspondent Professor Abdul Matin,72, a retired professor at the botany department of the University of Dhaka, has died in a hospital in the capital yestarday. He had been suffering from cancer and other ailments.

He was buried in the capital’s Shahjahanpur graveyard after his namaze-janaza at Dhaka University central mosque, held after Zuhr prayers. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Professor Abdul Matin was born on the first of January in 1941 at Bhola. He joined the botany department on january 11, 1973 as a lecturer. He completed his BSc and MSc degrees from the same deparment in 1969 and 1970 respectively.

He used to conduct research and teach students of microbiology. He worte a textbook titled ‘Virus Theory’ for BSc and MSc students. He was also a published poet. He retired from the department in 2006.

Dhaka University Vice-Chencellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique and the teachers,students and officials of the botany department have expressed grief on the death of the professor.

VC Siddique said ‘With his passing away, we have lost a veteran teacher, researcher and a poet who was very kind-hearted and benevolent.”

He served Dhaka University through his excellent teaching. He will remain etched in the memory of his countrymen through his contribution to the sectors of education and research, he said.

The DU family has expressed deep shock at his demise. l

manpower from beyond government database and the circular providing for selection of manpower from the database.

Earlier, the government had taken a decision that the private recruiters would mandatorily select workers for jobs abroad from the government database, which would help eliminate the involvement of middlemen in the migration process and reduce the migration costs.

On March 28, the expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry issued a circular to implement the government decision. On April 7, the government issued another circular for selection of manpower from the database.

On Monday, a division bench of the High Court, comprising Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice Md Zafor Ahmed, issued a rule and stayed op-

eration of circulars for a period of three months.

The government has created a database of 1.4 million workers who intend to go to Malaysia to work in plantation sector.

Currently, the private recruiting agencies, on their own, choose aspirant migrant workers and send them abroad for jobs.

Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit founding chief Tasneem Siddiqui said it would be better if the private recruiting agencies selected workers from the government database, adding that this would decrease instances of cheating those aspiring to work abroad.

“The government should have done more work on the database to make it accessible even to foreign employers,” Tasneem told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday. l

Hajj flight begins Sept 7 n UNB, Dhaka The hajj flights carrying Bangladeshis to Saudi Arabia will begin on September 7.

Three flights of Bangladesh Biman will carry about 1,502 Bangladeshis on the first day.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Faruk Khan disclosed this to reporters after a meeting with the Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) President Mohammad Ibrahim Bahar at the secretariat yesterday.

The minister also said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would inaugurate this year’s programme and exchange greetings with the pilgrims at the Hajj Camp at Ashkona in the city on Friday.

Around 90,000 pilgrims will perform hajj from Bangladesh this year.

Of them, 2,000 will go under govern-

ment management.

Biman will carry half of the pilgrims while Saudi Airlines will do the rest in several phases.

Saudi Airlines will start flights on September 8. The return Hajj flights will begin on October 19 and continue till December 12.

Bangladesh Biman has decided to provide holy water (Jamjam water) to each Hajj passenger on their return.

Besides, Bangladesh Biman announced two plane fare packages for the pilgrims. Under the packages, the pilgrims, who will stay in Saudi Arabia for 18-20 days will have to pay US$ 2,500 for Business class ticket while US$ 2,000 for economy class.

Bangladesh Biman also fixed US$1475 as fares for those who would stay in Saudi Arabia for 42 days. l

BRIBERY CASE AGAINST DC DB

Businessman, MP grilled n Syed Samiul Basher Anik Ruling party lawmaker Kabirul Haque and businessman Abidul Islam yesterday gave written statements to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against former detective branch deputy commissioner Mollah Nazrul Islam, who is facing allegations of taking Tk10m bribe, an ACC official said.

ACC Deputy Director Nasim Anwar questioned the two, who brought the allegations, after they submitted statements to the commission for consideration, the official said.

The ACC in July formed a body to investigate the allegations. It will summon the police officer soon, the official said.

Nazrul Islam allegedly extorted Tk10m from Abidul Islam after threatening to kill him in “crossfire”.

Nazrul was transferred to the protection and protocol division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police after the bribery allegations against him surfaced.

Later, Kabirul Haque, a relative of the victim, filed complaints with the home ministry and police headquarters against Nazrul Islam. He is an Awami League parliamentary member from Narail. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday greets Buddhist monks with crests in the presence of foreign diplomats after inaugurating temples in Ramu of Cox’s Bazar PMO

PM inaugurates Buddhist temples, calls for communal harmony in Ramu n Tribune Desk Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday urged everyone to work together, irrespective of class and creed, to preserve thousands of years of communal harmony at any cost in Bangladesh.

The prime minister was speaking at Cox’s Bazar yesterday and said although non-communalism is deeprooted in our society, but still violence occurs. She added: “I don’t want further attacks to come and people of all religions should live with equal rights in the country.”

The PM inaugurated 12 Buddhist temples and viharas, rebuilt after extremist groups destroyed then about a year ago in Ramu and Ukhia of Cox’s Bazar. UNB reports the PM visited the various buildings including the Bimukti Bidarshan Bhavana Kendra, Kendriyo Sima Bihar and the Moitree Bihar.

At a function held at the Ramu Kendriyo Sima Bihar, the Prime Minister said the government would have to ensure security and safety for the minority communities.

Principal of the Sima Bihar Satyapriya Mohathero and general secretary of the managing committee Tarun Barua were present at the event, along with foreign envoys from USA, Russia, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan as well as diplomats from South Korea, China and Australia.

On September 29 and 30 last year, a rumour about the Koran being insulted lead to extreme elements vandalising

and burning down ancinet Buddhist temples and the homes of Buddhists living in the area.

The attacks came as a shock to the Buddhist community and raised concerns at home and abroad about the safety of minorities, which prompted a visit by Hasina to the area on October 8 last year, when she pledged to rebuild the houses and the temples.

The Bangladesh Army was charged with rebuilding the temples and viharas under a project titled ‘Rebuilding and Renovation of damaged Buddhist viharas and temples’, at the cost of Tk200m.

They rebuilt and renovated 19 buildings, which incorporated traditional designs by architects from the Bud-

REB to procure concrete poles to Temperature unlikely expand service to change n Asif Showkat Kallol Rural Electrification Board (REB) has n UNB proposed to procure 31,925 concrete

Three ICL directors quizzed over Tk3bn scam

WEATHER

Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at most places over Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions and at many places over Dhaka, Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions until 6pm today.

Moderately heavy to heavy falls were also likely at places over the country, Met Office said. Day and night temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country.

The sun sets in the capital at 6:14pm today and rises at 5:41am tomorrow. Country’s highest temperature 33.5 degree Celsius was recorded at Ishwardi and lowest 23.5 degrees at Kutubdia yesterday.

Highest and lowest temperatures recorded in some major cities yesterday were: City

High

Low

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

32.5 30.5 33.0 31.5 31.6 31.9 30.1 31.2

27.0 25.2 26.2 25.2 25.5 26.0 25.5 25.5

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:24am 5:40am 11:58pm 4:28pm 6:15pm 7:32pm

Source: IslamicFinder.org

poles to expand electricity in rural areas under a project titled “1.8 Million Consumer Connection through Rural Electrification Expansion.”

The REB project evaluation committee selected the lowest bidder Castle Construction Company Ltd to supply the poles, said a senior official of REB on Monday.

He said a proposal will be placed at next week’s cabinet committee on public purchase for approval.

Castle Construction will supply 31,925 concrete poles for Tk625.1m, which was signed by Power Division Secretary Monawar Hossain.

Two months back the purchase committee approved a proposal to purchase 12,050 wooden poles under the same project, and the project worth Tk280.8m was given to Nordic Woods Ltd. l

n Tribune Report

Student and human rights organisations yesterday hold a candle light vigil at TSC intersection on the Dhaka University campus protesting the attacks on tribal communities at Taindong of Matiranga in Khagrachari RAJIB DHAR

Dredging not helping Daulatdia-Paturia ferry services n Our Correspondent, Rajbari Authorities have started dredging the Daulatdia and Paturia channels of the Padma River, but water transport officials said ferry services on the route were unlikely to return to normal immediately.

Sources said ferry operations between Daulatdia and Paturia were disrupted because of poor navigability due to siltation, submerged shoals, strong currents and low water level in the two river channels.

Frequent suspension of ferry ser-

dhist community.

Hasina said she hoped through the renovation of the buildings, the wounds inflicted by the attacks would be healed. She said Bangladesh has always been recognised as a nation with moderate religious values and the constitution guarantees equal rights for all religions.

She mentioned that her government has given equal importance to the development of all religions, including mosques, temples, churches and pagodas.

Hasina said her government has already completed renovation several viharas in Dhaka and Chittagong, and land to build a vihara in Dhaka’s Uttara has also been allocated. l

vices on the route has been hampering communications between the capital, Dhaka, and 21 southwestern districts.

Md Zillur Rahman, assistant general manager of Daulatdia river terminal, said a ferry, the Bir Shreshtho Motiur Rahman, carrying four heavy vehicles and a dozen microbuses, was stranded in shoal near the No:2 jetty overnight Monday. The vessel was salvaged yesterday morning.

Daulatdia-Paturia ferry services improved somewhat on Monday using an alternative channel. But navigability

of the main channel remained poor, restricting ferry movement on both channels.

Long queues of cars, buses and trucks were seen yesterday afternoon at the Daulatdia ferry terminal, waiting for hours to travel on the Dhaka-Khulna highway.

Meanwhile, dredgers could not be operated properly due to strong currents in the channels, said Tarequl Hasan, executive engineer of BIWTA (Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority).

A BIWTC (Bangladesh Inland Water

Transport Corporation) official said a fully-loaded ferry needs two to three metres of water to move, whereas the current depth of the channels was below two metres.

The water level was falling by eight to 10 centimetres every day, which calls for long-term dredging to restore navigability, he added.

However, BIWTA officials claimed that the depth of the newly-opened channel was above two metres, and it would be possible to restore normal ferry operations soon. l

The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday interrogated three directors of Ideal Cooperative Society Limited on charge of their alleged involvement with money laundering complaint of Tk3bn from around 70,000 people.

The commission’s inquiry team led by its Deputy Director Nasir Uddin interrogated the directors of Ideal Cooperative Society M Ashraful Islam, Sheikh Ahmed and SM Morshed Jewel at the ACC headquarters.

The graft-busting agency on Monday questioned the company chairman and two directors on the same issue.

Company Director Fakhrul islam said they had already repaid its clients Tk4bn and the repayment of other Tk4bn was underway.

Earlier on June 4, the company Managing Director HNM Shafiqur Rahman admitted that the company swindled its depositors out of around Tk10bn.

The ACC sources said Ideal Cooperative Society Limited, a sister concern of ICL Group, offered high interest to its depositors and swindled its clients out of around Tk10bn violating the cooperative’s rule. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

5

Syria: The unanswered questions

A rebel fighter points his weapon at regime forces in an industrial area of Syria’s eastern town of Deir Ezzor, on September 2. US President Obama launched an intense lobbying effort to sway skeptical lawmakers weighing whether to support a military strike against Syria AFP

D n Ali Riaz

id President Obama ever draw a line in the sand saying that if the Syrian regime crosses the “red line” there will be serious consequences? His statements until recently have been ambiguous, at best.

The issue of chemical weapons and the Syrian regime was referred to on August 20, 2012, during a news conference at the White House. Obama said: “We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilised.”

The president, at that time, didn’t lay out the consequences of crossing the red line. He said: “That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.” Thanks to the media and the military establishment, soon this statement was reinterpreted as “drawing a red line.”

Evidently Obama was trying to put pressure on Bashar al-Assad, but Assad called Obama’s bluff. Whether Obama wanted or not, now he has owned the “red line” ultimatum.

There is palpable unease both at home and abroad about any military action. The long shadow of the Iraq War is omnipresent.

Information leading to the Iraq war was manipulated. Is it happening again? – a question many are asking

President Obama has already made it clear that the US will strike. After the British Parliament’s decision not to be with the US, it is increasingly likely that the USA will engage in a unilateral action, primarily airstrikes, in Syria.

Obama has up to now been an ardent opponent of unilateral action.

As a Senator and as a Presidential candidate he opposed such efforts. He expressed the opinion that unilateral action, particularly without a UN mandate, would constitute a violation of international law.

That’s what served as a guideline

for US involvement in Libya in 2011.

But it is clear that such support for action against Syria will not be forthcoming. The anti-intervention decision by the UK parliament, although not the final say of the British government because there will be another vote after UN observers return and submit their report, reveals the lack of appetite for another war in the Middle East.

There is palpable unease both at home and abroad about any military action. The long shadow of the Iraq War is omnipresent. Information leading to the Iraq war was manipulated. Is it happening again? – a question many are asking. Despite John Kerry’s assurances, many are yet to be convinced.

Obama’s decision to seek Congressional approval is being viewed both as a weakness and a strength. The Congress will not meet until September 9 and a decision might take a few more days. Perhaps this will provide some time to work out a plan.

Seeking a Congressional approval is not only meant to appease his critics, but also to have a broader authorisation, in case the conflict escalates to a different level. Whether Obama can build a coalition during the G20 Summit at St Petersburg is also something to be watched closely.

The legality of the “impending war” is being debated in the media and elsewhere. Those who would like to find a justification are referring to the Kosovo episode in 1999. British human rights lawyer and author Geoffrey Robertson (Crimes against Humanity – The Struggle for Global Justice) argues that: “There has never been any need for a security council resolution approving action to stop, punish or deter a crime against humanity.”

Others cite the Responsibility to Protect (R2P); according to this line of argument: “If the Syrian authorities have committed mass killings of its own population, they have committed crimes against humanity. In such situations, the obligation of states to take action is clear on the basis of the Responsibility to Protect, which has been approved by member states of the UN, without having firm legal provisions.”

The UN mission in Darfur is a case in point. But one is entitled to question whether the R2P document endorsed by all UN members in 2005 is intended for this kind of situation. Paul Heinbecker, who promoted the doctrine while he was Canada’s UN ambassador in the early 2000s, says a coalition acting on the basis of R2P could “at least put some minds at rest,” even without

the UN Security Council’s unlikely approval. He feels that it will be an error if the US does not take time to form a coalition.

Furthermore, according to the UN doctrine, R2P should be acted upon only if the force used is proportionate to the threat and likely to succeed, and unlikely to cause more harm than good. One cannot guarantee these, particularly the latter, in the Syrian case, especially after two years of civil war. Had this argument been used at the beginning of the civil war, two years ago, there would have been more justification than now.

Other options are being deliberated by legal analysts, such as getting a resolution from the UN General Assembly. In the 1950s, it was done for the Korean War. Another option is to hold Syria responsible for violation of the 1925 Geneva Protocol banning the use of chemical weapons. But there is at least one instance where the world looked the other way, and the US might have knowingly aided the perpetrator.

Whether the legal issue is resolved or not resolved, the consequence of any US airstrike remains uncertain.

According to press reports, US officials hope that any military assault on Syria will be “surgical” and “limited.” What will a limited airstrike achieve? No one, including the President, has yet described the goals of the mission.

If the objective is to send a message to Assad (as President Obama said “The Assad regime, which is involved in a civil war trying to protect itself, will have received a pretty strong signal”), what if Assad reads the message differently – “you attacked and I survived.” Will there be retaliation from the Assad regime? If so, will that outweigh the US military action? Will we see a war spiraling out of control with non-state actors becoming key players? How will Russia react to an attack on its ally?

In previous instances, for example Kosovo or Iraq, the Russian reaction was muted, but this is not a guarantee that it will be the same this time around. The leadership has changed and the US-Russia relationship has deteriorated.

Any military action is bound to have some humanitarian consequences. The country has been suffering for the past two years and almost 100,000 have already died. Adding more deaths to an ongoing war will not help anybody. Is there a difference between being killed in US air strikes or by the

Assad regime? Will a foreign military action embolden Assad and weaken the resistance’s cause? Is there a risk that more people will die if foreign intervention is not carried out, or the reverse?

Any military action is bound to have some humanitarian consequences. The country has been suffering for the past two years and almost 100,000 have already died. Adding more deaths to an ongoing war will not help anybody

These questions need to be reflected on before any decision is made about military intervention. But, after all the belligerent rhetoric and posturing in recent days, can the US step back? The president said the military action is needed to stop the “escalating use of chemical weapons, or their proliferation to terrorist groups.” But it is not inaccurate to assume that it is designed to put Iran on notice, because of its alleged nuclear weapons programme.

The other side of the entire issue is the people inside Syria who are fighting for the past two years “to remove a dictatorial system of governance” and “a tyrant.” The world has stood by and done nothing other than supply arms to both sides. Should it continue to be passive after the heinous chemical attacks and deaths of hundreds of innocent children?

If a Syrian asks why the international community has failed them what answer does the world give?

This is a no less serious question than asking who has made the US the global police. Both questions deserve to be answered. l Ali Riaz is professor and chair of the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University, USA.

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Father gets life term for killing daughter n Our Correspondent, Barisal

Political activities banned at Comilla University n UNB, Comilla

A court in Barisal yesterday sentenced a father to life term imprisonment for killing his 14-month old daughter.

Md Jasim Uddin from Norerkathi of Laharhut in Barisal sadar Upazila was fined Tk30000, failure to pay it would add another 6 months to his term in prison.

Additional district and session judge Md Matiar Rahman passed the verdict in the presence of the accused after examining statements given by witnesses, the accused’s confession statement and other evidences related to the case.

Jasim and his wife Eliza Begum were married in 2006. In 2008 Eliza gave birth to fraternal twin babies – a boy and a girl. But Jasim started to demand dowry and tortured Eliza, for money to cover the cost of child rearing. At one stage Eliza fled her husband’s home with the twins and went back to her father’s home, she eventually returned with the children after a social arbitration.

On November 11, 2009, Eliza went to take a bath, and left the children in her husband’s care. When she came back, she found her daughter bleeding from the nose and Jasim was not at home.

Eliza took the child to a local health complex, where attending doctor announced she was dead.

That same day Eliza lodged a case accusing her husband of killing their daughter. l

The authorities of Comilla University have imposed a ban on all kinds of political activities for an indefinite time on the campus from yesterday.

On Monday night, the authorities made the announcement, saying all kinds of rally and procession would be prohibited on the campus from Tuesday morning until further notice.

Saiful Islam, in-charge of Kotbari police outpost under Comilla sadar Dakkin upazila, said they received a letter signed by the university registrar, Mujibur Rahman, and would take necessary steps in this regard.

On the other hand, Udbatul Bari Babu, president of Comilla Dakkin district unit of BNP’s student wing Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, alleged the university authorities imposed the ban to foil their pre-scheduled rally marking the Jail Release Day of BNP Senior Vice-chairman Tarique Rahman. l

Girl still missing after seven days n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah Seven days have passed but Jhenaidah police are still unable to trace the whereabouts of the “abducted” adolescent girl who has been missing from her house since last Wednesday.

Her parents apprehend that she might have been abducted.

The father said his daughter Sumaya Akter Sikha, 12, who was studying in class six at Ramchandtapur high school, left the house to attend private tuitions around 6am. She never returned home in the evening.

Later, he filed a General Diary in connection with the matter at local Katlamari police out post. l

Agitated people blockaded Sylhet-Sunamganj road at Koitak of Chhatak yesterday following the death of two people in a road accident

Train tickets being sold ‘openly’ in black market

Residents of Char Aicha on the outskirts of Barisal city yesterday formed a human chain, protesting a decision by authorities to acquire private land instead of Khas land, for the construction of Barisal Marine Academy.

The rally was organized by Dakkhin Char Aicha Land Acquisition (proposed) Prevention Committee at Bibir Pukur Par area at noon in Barisal city, when they took out a procession and handed a memorandum to the district administration.

Javed Ali Molla, convener of the committee, presided at the rally, and various committee members including Mustafa Kamal, Emadul Huq, Abdus Shahid and Fazlul Huq spoke.

They said the deputy commissioner of Barisal had served a notice for land acquisition (case no.1/2013, dated 3007-2013) asking land owners to vacate 11 acres of private land to construct the Barisal Marine Academy at Dakkhin Char Aicha Mouza.

Residents from the area complained to the deputy commissioner on August 10 because residential, institutional and agricultural establishments are located on the land to be procured.

Among them are Barisal Housing Society, a madrasa, an orphanage, secondary school, a hospital, and a couple of cold storage units, provide employment and livelihood to people in the area. People from the area said the acquisition of private land will lead to a humanitarian crisis in the area.

Train tickets for the Dhaka-bound passengers of Kishoreganj are being openly traded on the black market and being sold at far more than the original prices.

Sources said, black marketers are increasingly targeting train tickets after train journey has become popular with local residents. They move openly in the Kishoreganj Railway Station with tickets “sold under the counter.”

Passengers are forced to buy tickets from them since there are hardly any tickets at the ticket counters. Sometimes they cannot get a ticket even one week prior to a scheduled journey.

There are allegations that some corrupt railway officials are involved in this illegal trading, with passengers paying dearly for that. Sometimes one

out.

According to sources, a significant portion of the tickets available on the Kishoreganj-Dhaka route, in the Agarosindhur Intercity train, are handed to the black market traders.

The actual price of a first-class ticket is Tk185, although it is being sold at Tk250-Tk300 on the black market. The price of a Subhan-chair ticket is Tk140 but it is selling at Tk200-Tk250.

Some black marketers, on the condition of anonymity, told this correspondent that they usually purchase tickets from the station authorities one week ahead of the schedule – at Tk20 more than the original price.

Then, they sell those to desperate passengers at increased prices.

Md. Abdur Razzak, a passenger,

on the black market by those who afford to pay extra.

He also said despite various promises of the minister concerned, there has been little progress in the railway sector which had become “entrapped” by corrupt officials and their agents.

During a recent visit to the station, Dhaka Tribune found people collecting the tickets of Agarosindhur Intercity Train from the black marketers, after getting no tickets in the counter.

Commenting on the matter, Kishoreganj station master Jyanta Mazumdar denied allegations of the involvement of the station authorities in illegal ticket sale.

He, however, admitted some tickets might have “landed in the wrong hands” without their knowledge. l

Residents have suggested suitable alternative sites for the academy, including 13.76 acres of Khas land which is an abandoned brick field of the Water Development Board, located about 300 yards away from the land proposed for acquisition, and large public land at Kalijira on the banks of the Suganda River.

On August 14, the deputy commissioner sent land officials to survey the alternative sites proposed by the committee.

However, private owners alleged corrupt officials have submitted a report to support acquisition of private land, so they can illegally allot various businesses private and public lands.

Deputy Commissioner of Barisal Shahidul Alam said the proposed site was selected by a committee connected with the construction of the Marine Academy.

He said land acquisition officials reported that the proposed site is better suited than the alternative locations suggested. l

Faridpur has embraced jute harvesting whole-heartedly and its yield has crossed the targeted production.

However, the growers are not satisfied since the yield is still low for a district, famous for producing highest amount of jute in the county and the market prices have remained low.

Sources at the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Faridpur said a target was set to bring about

houses were vandalised and looted in different villages under Harishankarpur union, Jhenaidah sadar upazila in last few days.

Awami League leader Sanar Uddin of village Arja Narayanpur was hacked to death on August 22, allegedly by his rivals on his way home at 8:30pm.

His family members filed a case against 56 people of different villages including Harishankarpur, Panami and Arja Narayanpur.

Most of the accused people fled from their homes, leaving their families behind, to avoid arrest and harassment by the police.

Taking advantages of the situation, some miscreants vandalised their houses and looted the valuables.

Local people form a human chain in Barisal city yesterday, protesting the government’s move to acquire private land instead of government land for Barisal Marine Academy DHAKA TRIBUNE

73,610 hectares of land under jute cultivation in the district to produce 410,610 mounds of jute, reports UNB. During a visit to different villages under Madhukhali upazila, the farmers could be seen busy tending to their jute crops in the hot weather.

However, the farmers who have already harvested their jute crops expressed dissatisfaction over the low yield of the crop and attributed it to unfavourable weather conditions and lack of good quality seeds.

Bhaskar Chakraborty, deputy director of local DAE office, also admitted that there had not been good production of jute.

The growers said depending on the quality, jute was selling at Tk1,1001,500 per mound in markets of the district.

However, newly harvested jute was being sold at Tk1,120-1,550 at the government buying centres.

Expressing frustration over the low market price of the golden fibre, the

growers said jute mills were yet to start buying jute. Besides, they said there were not sufficient government buying centres at the jute markets for purchasing the crop, adding that as a result the intermediaries were buying jute from them at cheaper prices.

A middleman at the Kamarkhali jute market said they were purchasing jute, at a very low margin of profit, as they are likely to face losses if the present market price of jute remains unchanged. l

They also compelled the relatives of the accused to hand over cash to them. The houses of the political rivals of the deceased, including that of his principal rival, Ibdat Hossain, and that of others such as Akbar Hossain, Baka, Nayeb Ali, Nazrul Islam, Abdul Barek, Abdus Satter, Haider Ali were burnt. Besides, the miscreants cut down several trees of the houses, said Marjina Khatun, a villager.

Farooquzzaman Farid, chairman of Harisankarpur union parishad, said they had arranged a meeting of the villagers at Panami high school ground on Monday to ensure that nobody could benefit out of the killing and there was no further unrest.

Participants of the meeting has also requested the police and district administration to take necessary measures against those who were involved in these activities. Three persons were arrested in this regard. l

NEWS IN BRIEF Three to die for killing in Madaripur

A Madaripur court yesterday sentenced three people to death for killing a man at Shikarmangal village in Kalkini upazila in 2006. The condemned convicts are Nazrul Choukidar, 25, Mannan Choukidar, 28, and Didar Choukidar of Shikarmangal village in Kalkinini upazila. Public prosecutor Sujit Chatterjee Bappi said Hafizur Rahman, 25, son of Haji Joynul Abedin of the same village, went missing from his house on October 9, 2006. Later, police recovered the floating body of Hafizur from the Arial Khan River near Kosba village in Gouronadi upazila of Barisal district the next day. On October 12, the victim’s family filed a case against Nazrul, Mannan and Didar. Victim’s elder brother Al-Amin said the convicts killed Hafiz as he made deposition against them in a burglary case. After examining the records and witnesses, judge of the District and Sessions Judge Court Bimal Chandra Sikder handed down the verdict. – UNB

CNG driver shot dead in Noakhali

Faridpur farmers happy as jute yield exceeds target n Tribune Desk

50 houses vandalised in Jhenaidah following killing of AL leader

Some officials are allegedly involved in this illegal trading n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah avail a ticket by paying extra mon- said train tickets are hard to find in the Following the killing of a ruling party n Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj can ey even when tickets are said to be sold counters. But they can be easily availed Awami League leader, 50 dwelling

Move to acquire private land for marine academy protested n Our Correspondent, Barisal

FOCUS BANGLA

A group of people gunned down an auto rickshaw driver at Chandraganj under Begumganj upazila in Noakhali on Monday night. The deceased was Kamal Uddin, 26, hailing from Sujayetpur village in Aliapur union. A source who wished to remain anonymous said a group of men- Shoag, Abdulah Harun, Manik, Basher, Ajgor and Ibrahim- forcibly dragged the CNG driver from his vehicle and took him to the East Chandraganj Bazaar, where they opened fire at him in front of Chandragonj Govt Primary School around 8pm. Local people took Kamal to Noakhali General Hospital where he died around 9pm. Nazim Uddin, officer-in-charge of Begumganj police station, acknowledged the incident and said they have started their investigation to identify the reasons behind the killing. – Our Correspondent

Four jailed for life in Netrokona Netrokona Additional District and Session Judge Mohammad Abdul Hamid yesterday sentenced four individuals to life term imprisonment and fined Tk20,000 each,

in default to suffer two more years of imprisonment for killing a man. The convicts were Mohammad Haiul, Mohammad Lotif, Mohammad Abdul Rejjak and Mohammad Lotu Mia from the village of Ashuari in Kandua upazila, Netrakona. On December 20, 1999, the convicts killed one Rokun Uddin, 35, of the same village, with sharp weapons over some prior enmity. The judge, after examining the witnesses and evidence, found them guilty and pronounced the verdict. – Our Correspondent

Piranha seized in Chittagong A mobile court of the directorate of fisheries seized a tonne of banned piranha fish from the Chittagong city’s Fishery Ghat area yesterday morning. Pravati Deb, a deputy director of the directorate, led the drive at around 8am. Later, she told the Dhaka Tribune that some fish traders were selling the fish when they launched the drive, ignoring a government restriction.

However, no one was arrested in this connection, the cost of the seized fishes is estimated at Tk100,000. – Our Correspondent

Slaughtered body found in Rajshahi Police recovered slaughtered body of a divorced woman from a student mess at Mirjapur area under Matiher Police Station of the city last night. Locals identified the body as Fazila Khatun, 35, daughter of Asaduzzaman of the same area. Abdus Salam, Officer-in-Charge of Motiher Police Station, said Fazila Khatun remained missing since Monday. At one stage of hectic search, the local people found her slaughtered body in a room of the nearby Omor Faruque Students Mess in unclothed state. Quoting the family sources he also said Fazila Khatun was married with Nawshad Ali, son of Hazrat Ali of the nearby Sonadanga village, around two years back.

But around two months ago, she became divorced following family feud. Since then, she was staying in her parents’ house at Mirjapur. “The former husband Nawshad Ali might have been involved in the killing,” the OC suspects. A murder case was recorded with the police station in this connection. – BSS

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Metro

7

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE ISSUE

Rajuk invites Shankhari Bazaar residents for talks n Abu Hayat Mahmud The government yesterday invited the people of Shankhari Bazaar from Old Dhaka for talks about how to resolve a dispute over preserving the area’s archaeological heritage.

The invitation came after a meeting between community leaders and government delegates who were visiting the area.

The delegation sat with community leaders of Shankhari Bazaar Bhumi Shartharaksha Panchayet Committee to hear their concerns.

Dr Khondaker Showkat Hossain, secretary at the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, led the delegation which included Khandaker Shafiqul Islam, additional secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Rajuk Chairman Nurul Huda and Sheikh Abdul Mannan member (planning), Shirin Akhtar, director general of the Department of Archaeology and others from the housing ministry and Rajuk.

Ajay Kumar Nandy, convener of the Shankhari Bazaar Bhumi Shartharaksha Panchayet Committee, and secre-

tary of the committee Udbhab Kumar Nag, along with other leaders of the Hindu community attended the meeting.

Housing Secretary Showkat Hossain said they were supposed to visit during Ramadan, but failed to do so due to some problems. He said they had come now to solve the existing crisis.

“We know that cancellation of a gazette notification is your prime demand, but it is not possible because archeological sites have a great significance for Bangladesh and also across the globe.”

The Ministry of Law is also concerned about the gazette notification, but the housing ministry cannot declare the gazette null and void, he said.

But assured the community the gazette would be reviewed to protect the interest of all parties.

The secretary said that it would not be fair to convert the entire Shankhari Bazaar area into an archeological site, nor would it be fair if residents were to build high rise buildings by demolishing heritage sites dating back one hundred year.

Ajay Kumar Nandy said: “The number of families in the area is rising day by day, but we cannot build new houses because of the government ban.”

Many families are living in old and risky dilapidated buildings, they are compromising with the accommodation crises and many are upset with the government’s decision, he said.

‘We know that cancellation of a gazette notification is your prime demand, but it is not possible because archeological sites have a great significance for Bangladesh and also across the globe’ The housing secretary said if the community agreed with the government proposal, then they would be given better facilities in the same area.

The government officials underscored the importance of negotiation to solve disputes.

Nandy however expressed disappointment with the Awami League government’s move declaring Shankhari

Bazaar as a heritage site.

“We are very shocked that the incumbent government did so despite our political affiliations with the Awami League. We cast 100% votes for the party in every poll,” he said. He said he was willing to sit for further talks.

The delegation said they could meet on September 12 or 15 at the housing ministry for further talks about the issue.

The Ministry of Housing and Public Works in a gazette notification dated 2009 February declared Shankhari Bazaar an archaeological site.

Built over a century ago, many of the buildings are dilapidated, with cracks in the roofs, pillars and walls, which threatens people’s safety, in case there is a high-magnitude earthquake in Dhaka.

In many instances trees have grown on the walls of the buildings and makeshift bamboo pillars have been used to support the rickety old structures.

Over 142 Hindu families live in the area; most of them earn a living from the traditional conch shell (Shankha) handicrafts and jewellery. l

A government delegation visited Shankhari Bazar yesterday

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Present wetland leasing system depriving fishermen Child-marriage main n Syed Shoeb

Around 90% fishermen are denied access to government-owned water bodies under the existing system of leasing wetland areas, professionals said yesterday.

Saying that the leasing process only allows a small quarter of fishermen to catch fishes and bars the rest of the fishing community, they added that the government needs to establish a community-based management that will benefit all families whose livelihoods depend on fishing.

The observations came at a roundtable titled “Strengthening Governance in Wetland and Water Bodies Management Policies” at city’s Daily Star conference hall. Brac University Vice-Chancellor Prof Ainun Nishat moderated the programme, organised by the university’s Institute of Governance Studies.

Speaking at the discussion, National Fishermen Association President Md Islam Ali said the existing wetland management policy, which was prepared by land ministry, is not fishermen-friendly and does not safeguard the livelihood of genuine fishermen.

“Let’s say some 20 fishermen signed

Professor Ainun Nishat addressing a rountable on wetland management in the city RAJIB DHAR

a paper and created a cooperative to take lease of a water body in line with the existing provision. If there are 200 fishermen living near the swampland, 180 of them who did not join the cooperative - are no longer able to fish there,” he said.

Moreover, politically influential non-fishermen are also manipulating the leasing process and taking possession of water bodies, Ali pointed out.

The government policy defines “fisherman” as people who depend on catching and selling fish from natural sources for livelihood.

Strongly disagreeing with the definition, Ali said, “If it is enforced, the country will have no fishermen left in the long run.”

Rezaul Islam, a fisheries officer from Natore, also said the definition needs

revision to help implement the policy in grassroots level.

“Recently one of our upazila fisheries officer was assaulted at his own office, over a dispute on who should be regarded as fishermen. Candidly speaking, most members of fishermen association in my district are non-fishermen,” he said.

World Fish Center Senior Fisheries Coordinator Dr Golam Mustafa said many fish species are at the risk of extinction in the country’s 27,896 wetland and water bodies.

“You cannot find 240 species of fish anywhere in the wetland nowadays.

Only 10-12 species are found in abundance,” he said.

Addressing the programme, Prof Ainun Nishat said flood management, which is supportive of agriculture, did much harm to the country’s fisheries and biodiversity.

“Those who cultivate Boro paddy in raised beds require more water to facilitate irrigation, while people growing onion in low-lying land seek closure of sluice gates to control water flow. Since agriculture is high-priority for the government, fisheries are not getting the kind of attention it requires,” he said. l

barrier to women empowerment: Chumki n Tribune Desk State Minister for Women and Children affairs Meher Afroz Chumki, MP, yesterday said child-marriage is one of the main impediments in women empowerment and implementation of the government’s vision-2021.

“Equal participation of women and their male counterparts in all the national development process could be ensured and Bangladesh could play an important role as a middle-income country if the child and adolescent marriages could be prevented,” she said while inaugurating a workshop.

The Ministry of Women and Children affairs and the Unicef jointly organised the workshop on “Defining the steps to develop a national adolescent strategy” at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the capital.

Calling upon the guardians to be more attentive towards their children of the 14-18 adolescent age group alongside taking more care of their children

Stinking dustbins make school hours unbearable

Owner of pharmaceutical company jailed for two years n UNB, Dhaka

n Tazlina Zamila Khan Attendance at T&T High School of Moghbazar has been erratic as students have been falling ill due to waste disposal containers placed near the school by Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC).

Guardians have spoken of their concerns about the serious health hazards posed by the bins’ proximity to the school, which is causing many students headaches, diarrhoea and other illnesses due to the malodour.

Many students have left the school.

Nazmul Hasan, a guardian of a student said he refuses to compromise his child’s health: “I am afraid my child’s education is being hampered because she is often sick due to the stench. The government should take immediate measures to shift the dustbins somewhere else.”

Students are reluctant to attend classes, and the school’s principal AKM Nazrul Islam said: “Students cannot attend classes because the air is heavy with the stench of waste rotting in the bins and it is making everyone sick.”

Mahmuda Khatun a student of class VI at the school said: “I can’t sit in the classrooms because of the bad smell.

During rainy season we have to cross the road in knee-deep dirty and foul smelling water that floods the road outside the school. At first there was one dustbin, now there are two!”

Guardians taking away children from Moghbazar T&T High School. School authorities appeals to Dhaka South City Corporation remain unheeded Her classmate Meghla said she has been vomiting because of the foul smell.

She said: “I couldn’t sit for an exam because I fell sick. I have stomach aches and difficulty in breathing, but we are forced to attend classes despite the terrible stench.”

They said several students have

up to five years of age, the state minister said the mentality of male and female children should be built with conscience so that they could be prepared to face any situation.

“Giving emphasis on the significant matter, the government is going to formulate for the first time in the SouthAsia the National Adolescent Strategy,” Chumki added.

Secretary to the Minister of Women and Children affairs Tariqul Islam chaired the inaugural session of the workshop in which Chief of Child Protection of the Unicef, Bangladesh Rose Anne Papavero presented the keynote paper on the topic.

Joint Secretary of the Women and Children affairs Ministry Ashrafunnessa and Deputy Country Representative of the Unicef, Bangladesh Louise Mvono were the discussants in the workshop.

The National Adolescent Strategy will be formulated incorporating the opinions of the participants of the workshop. l

A Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) mobile court yesterday sentenced the owner of a pharmaceutical company to two years’ jail and sealed off the company for manufacturing low quality of medicines.

Besides, the court also fined the own-

The company has been manufacturing and distributing the low quality medicines although the Drug Administration on March 14 in 2011 imposed ban on production and delivery of medicines suspending the Bengal Techno Pharma’s license

Waste are dumped near T&T High School at Moghbazar, posing health hazards to students changed schools because of the health hazards.

Teacher Mohammad Abdus Sattar said they tried to have the bins removed back in 2004 but failed.

The principal since he took over in 2010 he has made repeated pleas to the city corporation to remove the bins.

On June 9, a letter was sent to the chief waste management officer of the DNCC Captain Bipan Kumar Saha about the issue but he has not replied, said the principal. A letter was sent in July last year as well, and in 2011, a letter

was sent to mayor. But all attempts have been in vain, the principal said in despair.

“In December last year, Awami League lawmaker Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal visited the school to lay the foundation stone for a new building, when he assured us the problem would be solved as soon as possible, but nothing has been done yet,” said the principal.

The same month the teachers and students organised a blockade in the area to raise awareness about the issue.

NASHIRUL ISLAM

The local conservancy inspector (CI) Abdul Kuddus Khan said: “Higher authorities are aware of the matter.

Moreover, DNCC has taken a project to relocate the dumpsters from Moghbazar area to Noyatola Park last month.

But, DNCC authorities had to cancel the project as locals made protested allocation of the dumpsters beside the park.”

He said authorities were ready to shift the dumpsters if the locals could find alternative spots for them.

“AL lawmaker Asaduzzaman Khan

sent a letter to Chief Waste Management Officer of DNCC to take urgent steps to solve the issue, while DNCC authorities replied that they would soon relocate the dustbins upon finding a suitable place,” he said.

The placements of the dumpsters have also resulted in traffic jams in the area, blocking movement of vehicles on the road and leading to garbage being scattered all over the roads.

We have been cleaning the dumpsters daily to mitigate the sufferings of students and inhabitants, said the CI. l

er and three others Tk 100,000 each and seized low quality medicines worth about Tk2.5m during the drive.

The mobile court, led by RAB headquarters executive magistrate AHM Anwar Pasha, conducted the drive at Bengal Techno Pharma in the city’s Panthapath at about 2:00 pm.

RAB magistrate Anwar Pasha said the owner of Bengal Techno Pharma Mohammad Ali Khan, 53, was sentenced to two years’ simple imprisonment.

Besides, he said, Mohammad Ali and three of his employees - Nuruzzaman Chowdhury, 30, M Musharraf Hossain, 58, and AKM Borhan Uddin alias Sumon, 32 - were also fined of Tk 100,000 each.

The fines were realised on the spot.

During the drive, the RAB mobile court found that the company has been manufacturing and distributing the low quality medicines although the Drug Administration on March 14 in 2011 imposed ban on production and delivery of medicines suspending the Bengal Techno Pharma’s license.

Maj Himadri Shekhar Ray of RAB-2 and Drug Administration representative M Mahbub Hosssain were present during the drive by RAB mobile court. l

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Syria refugees cross two million mark UN sees worst crisis since Vietnam war said in a statement on Tuesday that a n Reuters, Geneva near tenfold increase over the past 12 The number of Syrian refugees has passed the two million mark, a United Nations agency said on Tuesday, warning that the world faces its greatest threat to peace since the Vietnam war.

As President Barack Obama wrestled with doubters in Congress ahead of votes next week on possible US strikes on Syria, Israeli forces training with the US navy in the Mediterranean set nerves on edge in Damascus with a missile test that triggered an alert from the Syrian government's ally Russia.

Obama has asked lawmakers to back military action to punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for killing hundreds of people with poison gas last month - a charge Assad denied on Monday as he warned Washington and its French allies of retribution.

With many Americans, including legislators from his own Democratic party, fearful of embroiling the United States in a third major war in a Muslim country this century, Obama has insisted he is not seeking "regime change" in Syria.

But that is precisely what Syrian rebels and their backers among Washington's Arab allies want as they struggle to hold their ground, let alone advance. According to one opposition report, government forces took the strategic northwestern town of Ariha on Tuesday, though others said the battle was not over.

Assad's enemies point to the toll that two and a half years of war have taken on Syria's people, of whom 100,000 have been killed and nearly one in three driven from their homes in fear.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR

months in the rate of refugees crossing Syria's borders into Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon - to a daily average of nearly 5,000 men, women and children - had pushed the total living abroad above two million.

That represents some 10 percent of Syria's population, the UNHCR said. With a further 4.25 million estimated to have been displaced but still resident inside the country, that leaves close to a third of all Syrians living away from home.

Comparing the figures to the peak of Afghanistan's refugee crisis two decades ago, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, said: "Syria has become the great tragedy of this century - a disgraceful humanitarian calamity with suffering and displacement unparalleled in recent history."

Speaking of the acceleration in the crisis, he said: "What is appalling is that the first million fled Syria in two years. The second million fled Syria in six months."

At a news conference in Geneva, Guterres noted that a total of six million were displaced by the war: "At this particular moment, it's the highest number of displaced people anywhere in the world. And if one looks at the peak of the Afghan crisis we have probably very similar numbers of people displaced.

"The risks for global peace and security that the present Syria crisis represents, I'm sure, are not smaller than what we have witnessed in any other crisis that we have had since the Vietnam war," said Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister. l

An aerial view shows the Zaatari refugee camp, near the Jordanian city of Mafraq

Russia raises alarm over Israeli missile test n Reuters, Moscow Russia raised the alarm on Tuesday after detecting the launch of two ballistic “objects” in the Mediterranean Sea but Israel later said it had carried out a joint missile test with the United States.

There were no reports of missile strikes on Syria. Syrian state sources said the missiles had fallen harmlessly into the sea and there were no explosions in the capital Damascus, Russian news agencies reported.

Initial reports of the launch by Russian news agencies had ruffled financial markets because the United States is preparing for a possible military strike on Syria over what it says was a chemical weapons attack by government forces in their conflict with rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

But the Israeli Defence Ministry said it had tested a missile used as a target in a US-funded anti-missile system at 9:15 a.m (0615 GMT), about the same time as the Russian radar picked up the launch.

“The trajectory of these objects goes from the central part of the Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern part of the Mediterranean coast,”

Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted a Defence Ministry spokesman as saying.

The spokesman said the launch was picked up by an early warning radar station at Armavir, near the Black Sea, which is designed to detect missiles from Europe and Iran.

He did not say who had carried out the launch and whether any impact had been detected, but RIA news agency later quoted a source in Syria’s “state structures” as saying the objects had fallen harmlessly into the sea.

The Russian Defence Ministry declined comment to Reuters.

The Russian Embassy in Syria said there were no signs of a missile attack or explosions in Damascus, state-run Itar-Tass reported.

Syria’s early warning radar system did not detect any missiles landing on Syrian territory, according to a Syrian security source quoted by Lebanon’s al-Manar television.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin of the launch but it was not immediately clear how he reacted.

Brent crude oil extended gains to rise by more than $1 per barrel and Dubai’s share index fell after Russia said it detected the launches.

WORLD WATCH London driver says skyscraper “melted” his car

A cluster of new skyscrapers transforming the London skyline are often blamed for spoiling the view. Now one has been accused of “melting” a car. A motorist said intense sunlight reflected from the “Walkie Talkie” - one of several flashy towers under construction in The City, London’s historic financial district warped his Jaguar which he had parked across the road.

US box office scores record summer

The US box office hit a record $4.7bn (£3bn) over this summer with a 10.2% increase in revenue from last year. Films such as Iron Man 3, Man Of Steel and Despicable Me 2 helped boost numbers, despite a summer of flops including The Lone Ranger, After Earth and The Wolverine. An unusually large number of summer releases also saw cinema attendance rise by 6.6% to about 573 million.

Promoted tweet used to complain about British Airways

Fed up with the way British Airways was handling the issue of his father’s lost luggage, businessman Hasan Syed decided to complain about it. But rather than just put out a normal tweet, he paid to have one promoted. Using promoted tweets in this way could represent a new trend, experts believe.

The promoted tweet bought by Mr Syed reads: “Don’t fly @BritishAirways.

Their customer service is horrendoUS” The decision to highlight BA’s customer service came following a trip his parents made from Chicago to Paris at the weekend, during which his father lost his luggage.

Six hours after the tweet went live, and was picked up by news website Mashable, it had been read by thousands of Twitter users, retweeted and commented on. But it took another four hours for British Airways to pick up on it: “Sorry for the delay in responding, our twitter feed is open 09:00-17:00 GMT. Please DM [direct message] your baggage ref and we’ll look into this.”

Mammals harbour ‘at least 320,000 new viruses’

There could be at least 320,000 viruses awaiting discovery that are circulating in animals, a study suggests.

Researchers say that identifying these viral diseases, especially those that can spread to humans, could help to prevent future pandemics.

The team estimates that this could cost more than £4bn ($6bn), but says this is a fraction of the cost of dealing with a major pandemic.

A related project called PREDICT has so far discovered 240 new viruses in areas of the world where people and animals live in close contact.

Commenting on the research, Prof Jonathan Ball from the University of Nottingham, said: “The authors focused on bats because they have been the original source of a number of virus outbreaks in people.

Russia opposes any outside military intervention in the Syrian

Israel confirms it held missile test with US n AP, Jerusalem Israel says it has carried out a joint missile test with the US in the Mediterranean Sea amid heightened tensions as Washington weighs sea-launched strikes against Syria.

The Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it, together with the US Defense Department, had carried out a “successful test” in the Mediterranean and on an air force base in central Israel.

Russian state-owned news agencies earlier said Russian radar systems had detected two “ballistic objects” fired from the central Mediterranean toward the eastern part of the sea.

The United States, which has warships in the Mediterranean, is considering strikes against Syria for an Aug. 21 alleged chemical weapons attack in a Damascus suburb. l

Bosnian Miners Stage Protest 250 Metres Below Ground n Reuters, Sarajevo Around 140 miners have barricaded themselves 250 metres below ground at a mine in northern Bosnia and threatened on Tuesday to go on hunger strike in a row over recruitment and pay.

Workers at the Djurdjevik mine, near the town of Tuzla, are angry at the hiring of an administrative official, which they say violates an agreement with the government to hold off recruitment of non-production staff until the wages of miners can go up.

“The situation is really dramatic,” the mine’s trade union president, Said Muhic, told state radio, saying the miners were threatening to launch a hunger strike. The union has long complained over pay, conditions and delayed modernisation plans at the mine.

The Djurdjevik brown coal mine, operating under an umbrella of Bosnia’s top utility EPBiH, employs more than 1,000 workers and churns out around 600,000 tonnes of coal per year, supplying the nearby Tuzla coal-fired power plant.

Officials at EPBiH and the Djurdjevik mine management were not immediately reachable for comment.

The government of Bosnia’s autonomous Muslim-Croat federation, which is majority owner of EPBiH and the mines, was due to discuss the situation at a cabinet session on Tuesday. l

civil war, and a Defence Ministry official had earlier criticised the United States for deploying warships in the Mediterranean close to Syria.

Assad’s government denies responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of people in the alleged poison gas attack on Aug. 21.

Russia, Assad’s most powerful backer during the more than two-yearold conflict in Syria, says it suspects the attack was staged by rebels to provoke military intervention and is critical of US naval deployments in the Mediterranean.

Five US destroyers and an amphibious ship are in the Mediterranean, poised for possible strikes against Syria with cruise missiles - which are not ballistic. US officials said the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and four other ships in its strike group moved into the Red Sea on Monday.

“The pressure being applied by the United States causes particular concern,” Itar-Tass quoted Russian Defence Ministry official Oleg Dogayev as saying.

He said “the dispatch of ships armed with cruise missiles toward Syria’s shores has a negative effect on the situation in the region.” l

REUTERS

Egyptian helicopters strike militants in Sinai n AP, Egypt Egyptian helicopter gunships fired rockets early Tuesday at militants in the northern Sinai Peninsula, killing at least eight and injuring 15 others in an ongoing campaign to put down Islamic radicals who have escalated attacks in the largely lawless region, Egypt’s official news agency said.

Egyptian troops have stepped up their crackdown on militants in the peninsula bordering Gaza and Israel, arresting suspects and destroying tunnels along the Gaza border used for smuggling weapons and people. Attacks by Islamic militants surged in Sinai after the toppling of Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi in a July 3 coup.

Security officials said military helicopters targeted multiple locations along the borders with Gaza and in northern Sinai. The state news agency MENA said the strikes hit hideouts where militants were meeting in two villages, Touma and Moqataa, along with a car carrying suspects.

At least eight were killed and 15 wounded, MENA reported.

But a military official put the death toll at 13, saying the strikes also hit hideouts and vehicles in two other villages, Joura and Mahdiya.

One helicopter fired on a moving car, apparently killing the occupants, said another official. Two weapons caches were destroyed and three suspects running from airstrikes were arrested at a nearby checkpoint, he said.

Forces cordoned off the area to prevent militants from escaping as troops combed the villages, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the media. Three houses were destroyed and part of a nearby mosque was damaged, said a witness who spoke anonymously for fear of reprisal.

Ali Hassan Khalaf, who lives just outside Moqataa, said he saw helicopters flying over targeted areas a day earlier, taking aerial images. He said the main family in the village has given militants a safe haven. The increase in Egyptian counterinsurgency operations in the Sinai started after the overthrow of Morsi, whom the military accused of turning a blind eye to militant activity. l

Romanians protest for second day against gold mine n Reuters Protesters gathered in Romania’s capital Bucharest on Tuesday for a second day of protests against the government’s support for a plan to open Europe’s biggest open-cast gold mine.

The more than 1,000 protesters were surrounded by riot police as they sat down on the street, tapping plastic bottles on the ground, chanting “United we will save Rosia Montana.”

The planned gold quarries would use cyanide and would destroy four

mountain tops and wipe out three villages. Campaign groups say it would destroy ancient Roman sites and could cause an environmental disaster.

On Sunday, protests were held at several cities across the country to oppose the gold mine project and a move to start shale gas exploration.

Some protesters on Monday called for the resignation of President Traian Basescu and of Prime Minister Ponta who said he had made a “brave and controversial decision” to approve the draft law and send it to parliament. l

Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration against the opening of the Rosia Montana open cast gold mine in Bucharest REUTERS

Assange asks Sweden to investigate lost luggage

n AP, Stockholm

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has asked Swedish police to investigate what happened to a suitcase he suspects was stolen from him when he travelled from Sweden to Germany in 2010.

Assange’s lawyer, Per Samuelson, says he filed a criminal complaint with an affidavit by Assange to police at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport on Tuesday.

The move comes a day before President Barack Obama’s visit to Sweden.

WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said similar complaints would be filed in other countries, including Germany and Denmark, alleging potentially unlawful US intelligence operations against Assange.

The affidavit says the suitcase contained laptops with WikiLeaks material, including evidence of a “war crime” allegedly committed by US troops in Afghanistan. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

9

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

India passes $20bn law to expand food welfare

Sri Lanka Sees New Threats Of Terrorism, muslim extremism

n AP, New Delhi

n Reuters

India plans to subsidize wheat, rice and cereals for some 800 million people under a $20 billion scheme to cut malnutrition and ease poverty.

The Food Security Bill, sent this week by India’s parliament to the president for approval, guarantees citizens a legal right to food.

India has some of the world’s worst poverty and malnutrition with twothirds of its 1.2 billion people poor and half of the country’s children malnourished. But the $20bn annual cost of the bill, which consolidates and expands existing subsidies, has drawn renewed attention to strained government finances at a time when India is flirting with an economic crisis as its currency falls and debt mounts.

Food Minister KV Thomas called the bill a first step toward improving food distribution in a country where poor transportation and lack of refrigeration mean up to 40 percent of all grains and produce rot before they reach the market.

The legislation, long promised by the governing Congress Party, was passed by India’s upper house of parliament on Monday after being passed last week in the lower house.

It allows those who qualify to buy 5 kilograms of rice a month for 3 rupees (4.5 cents) a kilogram. Wheat will cost 2 rupees a kilogram, and for cereals the cost is 1 rupee.

Egypt military court sentences 11 Brotherhood members to life n AFP An Egyptian military court Tuesday sentenced 11 members of the Muslim Brotherhood to life in prison after accusing them of "aggression" against the army in the city of Suez last month.

In the first such sentencing since the July 3 ouster of former president Mohammed Morsi, the military court also sentenced 45 Brotherhood members to five years in jail while acquitting eight others.

The Islamists were accused of shooting and using violence against the army in Suez on August 14 following a military crackdown on Morsi's supporters in Cairo.

The military court delivered the verdict on Tuesday after holding two hearings against the accused on August 24 and 26.

The military had also accused the defendants of carrying guns and throwing molotovs at soldiers.

On August 14 the military carried out a deadly crackdown on Morsi supporters in the Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares, killing hundreds.

It was the deadliest such crackdown in Egypt's recent history.

Since August 14 Egyptian authorities have carried out a relentless crackdown against Islamists in which more than 1,000 people have been killed and some 2,000 members of the Brotherhood arrested. l

Pregnant women and new mothers will also receive at least 6,000 rupees ($90) in aid. In a deviation from India’s patriarchal traditions, the scheme designates the eldest woman in each home as the head of the household, hoping to prevent rations from ending up on the black market. This would also help keep subsidy costs from escalating, the

government said.

The very poorest families, already receiving subsidized rates for up to 35 kilograms of grains a month, will continue to receive those benefits, the government said.

The expanded spending will increase food subsidies from 0.8 percent of gross domestic product to 1.2 percent.

Japan has pledged nearly $500 million to help Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, filter and contain massive amounts of radioactive water accumulating at the site.

Japan will allocate 15 billion yen ($150 million) to upgrade a stalled water treatment system co-developed

by Toshiba Corp and U.S.-based EnergySolutions that can greatly reduce the amount of harmful radioactive elements in water.

Three reactors had meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant north of Tokyo after the March, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Tepco uses a jerry-rigged cooling system to flush water over melted uranium fuel rods.

That water leaks into a maze of basements and trenches beneath the reactors and mixes with groundwater flowing into the complex.

Excess contaminated water is stored in hastily built tanks, at least one of which started leaking recently.

The government on Tuesday decided to install a second water filtering system, similar to ALPS, in the year from next April.

Sri Lanka, under heavy pressure to end human rights abuses four years after the end of a brutal civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels, said on Tuesday it faced a new threat of terrorism and Muslim extremism.

The comments came three days after U.N. Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay said people were still suffering amid signs the country was becoming more authoritarian.

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, younger brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said groups linked to the Liberation of Tamil Tiger rebels had been trying to undermine government reconciliation and development efforts.

“These include winning of international opinion for the separatist cause... and pushing for the resumption of conflict through reorganizing of local militant activities in Sri Lanka,” Rajapaksa told a defence seminar.

Rajapaksa said Pillay’s visit was mostly due to pro-rebel linked groups.

He also said there had also been Muslim extremist elements found in transit in Sri Lanka.

“The possibility that such extremist elements may try to promote Muslim extremism in Sri Lanka is a cause for concern,” he said.

Rajapaksa said Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka faced possible threats from groups involved in previous insurgencies, trying to mobilise people to once

Egypt court bans four TV stations An Egyptian court on Tuesday ordered Al-Jazeera’s local affiliate to stop broadcasting along with three other stations known for their coverage of Islamist protests, saying that they had operated illegally, the state news agency said.

The decision by the administrative court was expected amid an escalating campaign by the government against the TV station and other media it considers sympathetic to ousted President Mohammed Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood group. Al-Jazeera officials were not immediately available for comment.

Last week, three government ministries issued a statement calling the broadcasts of Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr a “national threat” and accusing it of spreading rumours. They said that the station would soon be ordered closed.

The ministers also said the channel used satellite transmission without a license and spread “rumors and claims which are harmful to Egyptian national security and threaten the country’s unity.”

Three government ministries issued a statement calling the broadcasts of Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr a ‘national threat’ and accusing it of spreading rumours The station extensively covered Brotherhood protests following the July 3 military coup that ousted Mor-

Features:

The Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) can remove 62 different types of radionuclides, including strontium and cobalt from contaminated water.

It doesn’t extract tritium, which is considered one of the less dangerous radioactive elements for humans.

Radioactive materials are filtered out of contaminated water as it flows through 14 steel cylinders that contain active carbon, artificial minerals and other absorbents.

Waste materials like the absorbent and remaining sludge are then transferred to high-integrity containers (HICs) that are transported to a temporary storage facility.

Tepco said last year highly radioactive waste would need to be stored for around 20 years in such containers.

The three lines of the ALPS system have the capacity to treat up to 1,500 tonnes of contaminated water every day.

The chairman of Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has said ALPS-treated water with tritium levels below international regulatory limits may have to be released into the Pacific Ocean to make more room for highly radioactive waste water accumulating at the Fukushima site.

again take up extreme leftwing causes.

The Tamils, mostly Hindu with some Christians, are the largest minority in Sri Lanka, followed by Muslims.

Marxist rebels of the Janatha Vimukthi Peremuna (JVP), or People’s Liberation Front, launched the second phase of an insurrection in the late 1980s.

Security forces responded ruthlessly and many rebels were killed or disappeared. The JVP later transformed itself from a rebel group into a political party.

More recently, there has been increasing violence against Muslims, mirroring events in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

The government battled separatist Tamil guerrillas from 1983 to 2009.

Tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the final months of the war, according to a UN report, as government troops advanced on the rebels’ last stronghold and many hundreds of people, most of them Tamils, simply disappeared.

The United Nations has urged Sri Lanka to carry out credible investigations into the killings and disappearances.

Pillay, after ending her controversial visit, raised concerns about the degree to which the military has been involved with civilian activities and said she was surprised at the government downplaying violence against religious minorities, including attacks on churches and mosques. l

14 killed in shootings and car bombing in Iraq

n AP, Cairo

n AP, Baghdad

A supporter of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi, holds a national flag as he stands next to burning tires during a protest in Cairo, Egypt AP si after millions took to the streets demanding he step down. In recent weeks, it began broadcasting recorded messages from Brotherhood members who are wanted by authorities and are hiding.

Egyptian officials and media say the station is biased toward the Brotherhood, a charge Al-Jazeera denies.

The three other stations include

Japan to fight radioactive water n Reuters, Japan

Moody’s credit ratings agency said last week that the food bill would hinder the government’s ability to consolidate its finances. The Reserve Bank of India also warned in its annual report that the bill could exacerbate strains on the government budget and limit its room for manoeuvre in the future.

“Given the macroeconomic situation ... the timing is not right,” Bimal Jalan, a former RBI governor, told Press Trust of India, though he acknowledged that the food program is otherwise a “desirable thing to happen.”

The government has said it can afford to pay for the 61.2 million tons of grain required, and that recent measures such as a cut to diesel subsidies would help. It said it would cover most of the program’s annual $20 billion cost, which includes existing subsidies, but it will be up to India’s states to decide who will qualify.

With elections looming next year, the opposition has criticized the bill as a gimmick for winning votes while also saying the plan itself was not ambitious enough to improve nutrition.

India has offered free midday school meals since the 1960s in an effort to persuade poor parents to send their kids to school. That program now reaches some 120 million children.

The country gives a similar promise of a hot, cooked meal to pregnant women and new mothers — a promise the new bill extends to children between 6 and 14 years old. l

Problems:

ALPS was installed at Fukushima in August-September last year, but did not begin “hot tests” until the end of March.

The NRA ordered Tepco to make sure the HICs that would hold radioactive waste can withstand shock. It told the utility to run multiple drop tests with the containers.

The NRA also said Tepco must make sure any leak of highly radioactive material from the ALPS system or any of its waste containers can be isolated in the facility and would not harm any workers.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in April that the system still had not “accomplished the expected result of removing some radionuclides” in tests, and noted Tepco needed to develop long-term storage plans for waste created by treating water.

On April 4, the system shut down for an hour due to an operator error.

On June 15, a Tepco worker found a leak at the bottom of one of the tanks in an ALPS line. Tepco halted the system again for inspections and found signs of corrosion in the stainless steel tanks.

Tepco halted all three lines of the ALPS filtering system on Aug. 8 for further inspections.

Japan has ordered Tepco to fix the system and begin operating ALPS as early as the middle of this month. l

a channel affiliated with Hamas, the Islamist group ruling the Gaza Strip, and an Islamist network based in Jordan.

The third station, Ahrar 25, is affiliated with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, and sprung up after authorities shut down their licensed Misr 25 television channel and four Islamic TV networks sympathetic

to the deposed president on the day he was ousted.

Al-Jazeera’s local offices were raided after Morsi was deposed, and 28 staffers were detained. They were later released.

Officials have earlier said that the Al-Jazeera affiliate continued to broadcast live from protests using via a stolen van owned by Egyptian state TV. l

Indonesian Islamic hardliners incensed

by Miss World n AFP, Jakarta About 150 Islamic hardliners protested in the Indonesian capital Jakarta Tuesday against the Miss World beauty pageant, the latest outburst of anger about the contest in the Muslimmajority nation.

Just days before the pageant is due to start on the resort island of Bali, the demonstrators called on authorities to cancel it and brandished banners reading “Miss World Go to Hell”.

They also waved banners reading “Boycott Miss World sponsors” as they marched in central Jakarta to the offices of media group MNC, which will broadcast the show.

“The contest will invite danger and vice. Muslims must never let this happen,” one protester shouted to the crowd, who responded with chants of “God is great”.

“We call for war against Miss World.

We urge the Indonesian government to call off the Miss World event,” added

Irfan Awwas, chairman of radical group the Indonesian Council of Mujahideen.

Anger has been growing at the decision to stage the Miss World beauty pageant in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.

A decision by organisers to drop the famed bikini round this year has failed to appease hardliners, who have pledged to stage huge demonstrations when the final takes place outside Jakarta on September 28.

The country’s top Muslim clerical body and even the religious affairs minister have expressed anger at the pageant, which opens Sunday in Bali.

While most Indonesians in the nation of 240 million people practise a moderate form of Islam, a vocal hardline fringe has succeeded in getting events cancelled in the past.

Last year, pop sensation Lady Gaga axed a concert after hardliners threatened to burn down the venue and criticised her for wearing only “a bra and panties.” l

Shootings and a car bombing in and south of Baghdad killed 14 people Tuesday, the latest deaths in a surge of sectarian killings and other violence this year, Iraqi officials said.

The deadliest attack came when gunmen stormed the house of a member of a Sunni militia opposed to al-Qaida, killing him and his wife and three children in a southern suburb of the capital, police and hospital officials said.

The militia, known as the Sahwa, helped US troops fight al-Qaeda at the height of the war and since been a target for hard-line insurgents who consider them traitors. Prominent Sahwa leader Wisam al-Hardan managed to escape unharmed an assassination attempt on Monday by two suicide bombers, but six of his bodyguards and a bystander were killed.

Shiite religious leaders and politicians have called for calm in response to the wave of violence, but some attacks on Sunni mosques are raising fears that Shiite armed groups are starting to retaliate Elsewhere in Iraq Tuesday, a car bomb blew up at a restaurant in the town of Jbala just south of the capital, killing two people and wounding seven others.

Gunmen shot two people dead in Baghdad’s southern Dora neighborhood and four bodies with gunshot wounds to the back were found in different locations around the Iraqi capital, the officials said. The discovery of the bodies was reminiscent of the sectarian violence that engulfed the country several years ago, when corpses were commonly dumped on the streets.

No one claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attacks in Baghdad, but they bore the hallmark of al Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni insurgent groups.

Shiite religious leaders and politicians have called for calm in response to the wave of violence, but some attacks on Sunni mosques are raising fears that Shiite armed groups are starting to retaliate.

In the southern city of Basra, gunmen shot and killed Sunni cleric Abdul-Karim Mustafa as he was walking near the al-Taqwa mosque, said police and other officials in the city.

Violence in Iraq has intensified since April to levels not seen since 2008.

More than 4,000 people have been killed over the past five months alone, including more than 800 in August, according to figures provided by United Nations officials based in Iraq.

Hospital officials confirmed the casualty figures, and all of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media. l

10 DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Letters to

www.dhakatribune.com

the Editor

LETTER OF THE DAY

Anatomy of open heart surgery

Stay the natural course

August 31

G

iven that there are already concerns about the next general elections being held on AL’s watch, stirring the pot further by suggesting polls could also be held in March if need be, is unnecessarily divisive and detracts considerably from the real issues.

According the constitution, elections have to be held within 90 days prior to the end of the current term, which means anytime between October 25 and January 24 next year. However, there is a provision that allows elections to be held within 90 days after parliament is dissolved, in the The government event that this happens under should not consider extraordinary circumstances going down a route and before parliament runs its that does nothing to natural course. allay doubts about In other words, the AL it’s ability to be an could if it wanted to, dissolve honest broker parliament a day or two before January 24, and get up to another 90 days to hold elections. While this may be in keeping with the letter of the law, it is quite a large departure from the spirit of it.

At a time when the most pressing question is whether the BNP and other opposition parties will accept elections held under an AL government at all or continue to press for a caretaker system, attempts at this sort of political chicanery not only demonstrates poor judgement but also perpetuates the antagonistic atmosphere that has brought us to this impasse in the first place.

The government should not consider going down a route that does nothing to allay doubts about it’s ability to be an honest broker, but instead furthers the notion that it is incapable of paying attention to the word on the street.

Still waiting for BGMEA leadership

T

he US ambassador has stated “America will not buy shirts stained with the blood of Bangladeshi workers.”

His statement was a necessary reminder of the urgent need to improve safety in the industry, following the horrifying deaths at Tazreen and Rana Plaza. He rightly also expressed the hope that the RMG sector can transform itself into a industry associated with good working conditions rather than negligence.

BGMEA is reported to be employing only 10 inspectors to inspect 2,500 member factories by December. While this work needs to be conducted carefully by qualified personnel, BGMEA should have trained or hired more inspectors to speed up the task.

Similarly, while wage issues have constantly caused At a time when discontent, BGMEA has been new funding slow in submitting its proposal is potentially on minimum wage for garment available to fund workers to the wage board. steps, which It would be wrong to suggest are required to that BGMEA members are not transform the concerned about such issues. industry, BGMEA Bangladesh would not be a should be leading leading apparel exporter if many more from the owners did not have world class front factories with good working conditions and relationships with buyers.

Too often however, the association publicly can seem complacent and overly defensive.

At a time when new funding is potentially available to fund steps, such as factory relocations, which are required to transform the industry, BGMEA should be leading more from the front, rather than responding to other stakeholders’ initiatives. To win confidence, it must show it has the vision and commitment to transform the industry.

CROSSWORD

Engr Omar Faruk’s full page detailed and realistic account of his surgical and post operative experiences, published over a page by you on August 28 is indeed a realistic and rational presentation. Like the lines of the poem “Charge of the Light Brigade” Engr Faruk “rode to the valleys of death” without faltering and with full faith on Allah! I wish him the best to carry on with life, on maybe “borrowed times” as in a sense he is twice born!

It impressed me, and maybe your medical links may help you to present the picture of cardiac post operative rehabilitation practiced in our country.

He rightly states that it is an important part of full recovery; and staying healthy afterwards.

This reader, a fellow engineer, looks forward to more details from Faruk in future, as promised in his quite objective presentation! Finally congratulation to you, for publishing this first person account of the most critical surgical procedure.

Engr SA Mansoor Dhaka

Acceptance of lesbian love: Too much to expect?

August 28

fardeenameen great article abinash LGBT rights are the human rights. There is no exception. People shouldn’t have to be prosecuted by the law for loving another human being. Thanks for this awesome informative article Sagir Khan Excellent article. :) Most people in Bangladesh assume homosexuality is a cultural thing that has been influenced by the west but it’s been around for thousands of years. Some people are born hetero and some people are born homo. You can’t change who you are, there’s been plenty who tried and failed.

Social norms change with time. Question is at what direction and rate can that change happen in a society that is both progressing and regressing at the same time?

Rafsan It is safe to say that while the government acknowledges the fact that LGBT rights need to be protected, nothing worthwhile is/will be done about it because of the country’s ‘conservative’ attitude on such matters.

It is an absurd assumption to say that the government acknowledges the so-called LGBT

DOWN 1 Customs 2 Horseplay 3 First man 4 Solitary 5 Is carried 6 Taker of excessive interest 7 Digit 13 Printers’measure 14 Charge with gas 16 Denial 17 Intertwines 19 Flaxen cloth 20 Behold!

23 Dull, heavy sound 24 Container 26 Land measure 27 Sheltered side

rutland waters If the girl were 10 years old, her marriage would be cause for great concern, as it would be against the law. but in your article you imply that it would have been okay. Please don’t support one wrong to right another. fellow yin I dont understand why people even get to comment or decide about the sexuality of any human being! They are not LGBT people! They are simply people! Any compromise with their rights is simply a compromise with human rights which renders you a criminal! Other than that, what happens in their bedrooms is none of ur business! There is not even a need for explanation, nobody owes it to anybody! I hope these cruel inhumans get a lgbt child, may b that wud open up their mind, tho I wud hate it fr d poor child to b born in such hell!

August 28 Ali Asgur Rakeeb What a difficult life! :-) Tunazzina Iqbal Sahaly Its a Tannery dumping area. I have been there and it reeks of putrid stench. The children born there are immune to the stench. However, are they immune to the health problems underlying this? That is the question.

After you, please!

August 27

Welcome to Dhaka central Jail may not be a satisfactory call for many. But it is fact that many new guests were entertained there on the Eid day and day before it or day after it. The guests are there always.

Still then the real guests and relatives of the officials and relatives of the inmates also go there on this holy occasion. So, a welcome call is most welcome.

Haji AB Mannan Howlad

Be Heard

Write to us at: Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath Sukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Email us at: letters@dhakatribune.com Send us your Op-Ed articles: opinion@dhakatribune.com Visit our website: www.dhakatribune.com Come join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

CODE-CRACKER ACROSS 1 Hourly 5 Corrosion 8 Handsome youth 9 Started 10 Low sand hill 11 Measuring instrument 12 Beverage 15 Transmitted 18 One of the senses 21 Argument 22 Disturbance 24 Refuse of grain 25 Stops 28 Time of holding 29 Small secluded valley 30 Exploits

rights. When it is said “we do not condone any discrimination or violence against any human being on any pretext.” it includes human beings in a “very general sense” including sex offenders. To recognise human rights in a generic sense doesn’t mean to recognise their criminal acts. It is a very reasonable stand – not to condone discrimination or extra-judicial violence against even law-breakers or criminals. Proper legal procedure should be followed.

Children play near a sewage canal

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS Crossword

Sudoku

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Israel and Saudis join hands over Syria?

Heller and Angus n Jeffrey McDowal

I

Obsession with female bodies n Syeda Samara Mortada

Y

ou have to be tall, fair, and slim, with flowing jet black hair, small feet, hands and nose. Such is the body image of the ideal Bangali girl.

Of course there are other attributes that add to her perfect nature such as being social, but not too chatty, working but not a careerist, a homemaker but one who can also be the centre of a party etc.

But I am not going to get into all that today. What I wish to explore is the obsession over the female body.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not only us Bangalis who have this, although our clan is more likely to have the nerve to say things such as “Koto moto hoye geiyecho! (Look, how fat you have become)” to one’s face.

Body images have been an obsession since time immemorial. The hour-glass figure was once the epitome of beauty as shown by glamour icons such as Marylyn Monroe. The latest trend has been the size-zero fetish shown by Victoria Beckham and Kareena Kapoor.

If I get it right, the only purpose of having a Goddess like body is to make men fall in love with her, to make men ‘pursue’ her so she can get married The media lies on the forefront of such obsessions and directs audiences to strive for their construed image of perfection, thereby influencing people to constantly alter their definition of beauty, in tandem with changes in fashion.

Media comes from all directions; advertisements, movies, magazines and of course products such as Barbie dolls are major influencers from which people derive their definition of beauty. Children, as young as seven

and eight play with such dolls and it is from these dolls that they are taught to believe 36-24-36 statistics are the perfect body proportion.

Thus, the obsession over the body gets etched in the mind of young girls from a very early age. While boys play ball in open fields, girls are encouraged to remain inside and play house. Hence children, from a very young age are exposed to much of the stereotyping that underlies the battle of the sexes.

This is also blatantly related to the fact that from very early on, girls are told that they ought to be fair and shy; a rule book with guidelines on how to eat, sit, talk and walk is also shoved on to them. To be marriage material, they ought to be all these things and more.

They constantly hear and are told if they do not fit into this set type, they will fail to find love. Such perimeters are not set for boys, especially in our country. Fat men, bald men, aged men are all marriage worthy and will still demand wives who fall under the specifications listed above.

It is said “one should never ask a women her weight, and a man his salary.” I wonder why no one thought it could be the other way around for I notice a lot of men around me who are as conscious about gaining a few pounds as their female counterparts.

Yet, women remain the subject of discussion, especially when it revolves around the body. It is they who are forced to fit into such man-made categories, while men simply do it out of choice. But the oxymoron lies in the fact that while a woman is deemed socially unacceptable for being chubby, she is called names if she shows off too much skin!

So, if I get it right, the only purpose of having a Goddess like body is to make men fall in love with her, to make men “pursue” her so she can get married.

What is she told to do with her

“perfect” body after this mission is accomplished? Why, cover it all up in five layers of a cotton sari, of course!

While such discrepancies do exist, a lot of work is now being done to help people break free of such mis-constructed body images. Lately, plussize models have become quite the phenomenon, although there are only certain labels that have taken up this initiative.

A rule book with guidelines on how to eat, sit, talk and walk is also shoved on to them. To be marriage material, girls ought to be all these things and more

Yet, I will remain positive in my outlook and choose to believe that change is around the corner. Thinking objectively and helping the younger generation talk freely about body image and gender inequality is a start.

The media of course has a large role to play. We should learn to only change our personal definitions of beauty for our own benefit, not at the direction of others.

Shows such as “Ugly Betty” where the lead character is portrayed as far from a glamourous seductive damsel, can help also. Although she is often an object of ridicule in the show, she always achieves her goals at the end.

More shows like this that break stereotypes can help broaden the definition of beauty, not keep it locked behind doors. l Syeda Samara Mortada is the Associate Editor of ICE Today, a lifestyle magazine, a freelance writer and a strong believer in all things equal

srael and Saudi Arabia have little love for each other but both are pressing their mutual friend in the White House to hit President Bashar al-Assad hard. And both do so with one eye fixed firmly not on Syria but on their common adversary - Iran.

Neither US ally is picking a fight with Obama in public. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the nation was “serene and self-confident;” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal simply renewed a call to the “international community” to halt Assad’s violence in Syria.

But the Saudi monarchy, though lacking Israel’s readiness to attack Iran, can share the Jewish state’s concern that neither may now look with confidence to Washington to curb what Riyadh sees as a drive by its Persian rival to dominate the Arab world.

Saudi Arabia, like Israel heavily dependent on the United States for arms supplies, is engaged in a historic confrontation with Iran for regional influence – a contest shaped by their leading roles in the rival Sunni and Shi’ite branches of Islam.

Saudi King Abdullah’s wish for US action against Iran was memorably contained in leaked US diplomatic cables, including one in which a Saudi envoy said the monarch wanted Washington to “cut off the head of the snake” to end Tehran’s nuclear threat.

Israel does not share the Saudi enthusiasm for the Syrian rebel cause, despite its concern about Assad’s role as a link between Iran and Lebanese and Palestinian enemies. The presence in rebel ranks of Sunni Islamist militants, some linked to al-Qaeda, worries the Jewish state – though Riyadh, too, is keen to curb al-Qaeda, which calls the royal family American stooges.

More quietly, Israel has been engaged in direct discussions with the White House, urging Obama it is time to act on Syria.

An official briefed on US-Israeli discussions said Israeli intercepts of Syrian communications were used

by Obama administration officials in making their public case that Assad was behind the August 21 gas attacks and must be penalised.

Netanyahu, whose frosty rapport with Obama blossomed into a display of harmony on the president’s visit to Israel in March, has ordered his ministers not to criticise Obama publicly after the president’s decision to take the Syrian issue to Congress.

“There is no room here for individual comments,” he said. “I’m asking you not to behave irresponsibly when it comes to our ally, just so you can grab a fleeting headline.”

Israel clearly hopes still that Congress will give Obama the green light for strikes against Assad but is also likely to be wary of deploying its own lobbying power among lawmakers.

That risks being counter-productive and, in any case, the president has made clear that threats to Israel from Syrian chemical weapons are among his own arguments for war.

For all the unease that Israel has about Syria’s rebels, who have at times fired into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, it is pushing hard against Assad now after learning to live with the Syrian leader and his father over the past 40 years. One Israeli official said the message from Netanyahu was clear: “There is a man in nominal control of Syria who is using chemical weapons against civilians. That has to be stopped.”

That sentiment is echoed in Riyadh. Abdullah al-Askar, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Shoura Council, said that US strikes should aim to end Assad’s rule.

Askar, who said he was speaking in a personal capacity, told Reuters: “If the attack is just a punishment to show that the international community will not stand for chemical attacks, Assad will just remain in his place and do his bloody work.

“The second scenario is to finish the business.”

Mustafa Alani, a Gulf analyst with good connections to Saudi officials, said the kingdom was also warning Washington that a failure to attack

Neither US ally is picking a fight with Obama in public, but both are pressing their mutual friend in the White House to hit President Bashar al-Assad hard

Assad would benefit their common enemy al-Qaeda: “No action will boost the extremist position,” he said, explaining that rebel despair at US inaction on Syria would push more fighters to switch allegiance to Islamist militants.

Paraphrasing what he said was a Saudi argument, Alani said: “Without a punishment of the regime, extremists will enjoy wider support and attract more moderate fighters.”

Riyadh already shares rebel frustrations with the shortage of US military aid reaching Syria, despite Obama’s commitment in June to step up assistance after poison gas was first used.

A senior US official spoke of a “stable relationship” with Riyadh “on core national security areas.” But the official also conceded: “While we do not agree on every issue, when we have different perspectives we have honest and open discussions.”

As with Israel over Iran, those are likely to continue.

Robert Jordan, US ambassador to Riyadh in 2001-03, said intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan and ambassador to Washington Adel Jubeir had been “very outspoken” in their belief that the rebels can be trusted and should get military backing.

Obama denies seeking the “regime change” Riyadh wants. But Jordan added: “It doesn’t mean they won’t keep pushing for it.” l This article was first published on Reuters.

Take charge of your life

L

n Tasnim Mustaque

ife after graduation is a thought that torments every graduate. Of course, there is excitement about being unshackled from early morning classes, night-long cramming, and dreadful grade announcement days.

However, the “blues” engendered by the brusque realisation of adulthood are inescapable – now what?

A myriad of career advices and warnings from deeply concerned well-wishers inevitably accompanies your bane. It is only human to get daunted and confused amidst this pandemonium, eventually losing sight of who you really are and what you really want to do.

An insufferable barrage of questions, the spectrum of which stretches from the utterly practical (How do I get a job?) to the immensely profound (What is my life’s purpose?), stares at you.

Unsurprisingly, every graduate faces the same questions, but the answers are unique to each. There’s no silver bullet, no magic solution. Nonetheless, mistakes and miscalculations made at this crucial time are often irreversible.

To get a bit more perspective, it is worth knowing some facts. Every year a graduate enters the job market as just one in a group of 1.8 million other soldiers. Every year, the employment situation worsens in a country where a sixth of the population is already unemployed or underemployed.

Recent ILO reports state further grim realities. Between 2000 and 2006 about 250,000 jobs were created for every point of GDP growth in Bangladesh. Assuming this estimation is fairly valid, with GDP growth rate of about 6%, annual job creation would be about 1.5 million. But even that does not match the 1.8 million new job seekers every year let alone those who are already unemployed.

With so much difficulty in securing a credible job, no wonder entrepreneurship is the new popular kid on the block for young graduates these days.

However, the facts here according to the World Bank, is that only about 9,000 businesses get registered in Bangladesh annually and the Doing Business 2013 study ranks Bangladesh as 129th among 185 countries!

I know the facts above aren’t exciting but I shift uneasily at them too. The

writing’s on the wall. It truly is survival of the fittest. The point that I am trying to make is that unless you take charge, your state of confusion based on what other people say is bound to get worse as you strive to enter a fiercely competitive and difficult post-university life irrespective of which profession

institute, has been dedicated to sensitising and training tomorrow’s young leaders since 2008. The organisation believes that the multi-faceted and convoluted predicaments facing our country can only be mitigated by a generation of compassionate and competent leaders. In accordance with

Long burdened by its unjustly awarded political and authoritative connotation, the word “Leadership” holds the answers to all of Bangladesh’s problems

you might choose to take up. The very people, who will be spearheading our front-lines and giving us direction in a few years’ time, need some direction for themselves right now.

This is the cue for leadership. Long burdened by its unjustly awarded political and authoritative connotation, the word “leadership” holds the answers to all of Bangladesh’s problems.

Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC), the country’s first leadership

that vision, BYLC has implemented an impressive number of youth leadership programmes already, uniting students from different academic and socio-economic backgrounds.

The application of leadership in our lives is grossly misunderstood and underestimated. Leadership, when wrongful connotations are ignored, refers to the collective mobilisation of a system towards a common purpose.

Notwithstanding, the concept of

leadership application in our individual lives is largely unpracticed. BYLC believes that the practice of that very concept is what our young graduates need to succeed in their personal and professional lives. Youth Leadership Bootcamp (YLB), a brand new leadership programme has been launched with the view of realising this vision.

Youth Leadership Bootcamp, as the name suggests, will be a rigorous, fast-paced programme on leadership and its application in personal and professional life. The programme will consist of lectures on the exercise of leadership, simulative negotiation sessions, team-building games, visits to public and private organisations and non-profit projects, peer learning, and other networking opportunities.

BYLC has always believed that people are most effective when they are exercising leadership on behalf of the issues they are truly passionate about.

Youth Leadership Bootcamp will therefore emphasise self-discovery and self-motivation, concepts which are underestimated in our increasingly mechanical post-university lives.

The workshop is designed around

three central attributes of leadership: exploration, experience and expression. The programme will put you in situations where you will be compelled to open your mind, rediscover yourself, set your imagination free; interact and work with other bright young minds and see firsthand how real life problems are solved in leading organisations; and articulate your thoughts and feelings to engender meaningful change. 100 full-time undergraduates, selected from a competitive pool of applicants, will spend three full days in Chittagong, lodging at BRAC Learning Center (BLC), Kazir Dewri.

BYLC acknowledges that a threeday Bootcamp isn’t enough for you to find answers to your innumerable introspective questions, but it could be an important “turnkey” in unlocking your potential as a confident young mind, in charge of his own life to say the least. Youth Leadership Bootcamp will give participants a well-rounded experience which will leave them refreshed and ready to take on the world. For more information, go to www.bylc.org/bootcamp l Tasnim Mustaque is a freelance contributor.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Rhythm of Reality displays abstract landscapes n Yusuf Banna A 12 day solo exhibition of the recent works of eminent Indian artist Ganesh Haloi titled “Rhythm of Reality” is going on at Bengal Shilpalaya Hall of Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts. For the art lovers of the country, it is a special treat, since the reputed abstract artist has displayed simple yet stunning artworks

that are unique and thought provoking.

Haloi was not always an abstract painter, his journey as an artist began with painting figures in landscapes, gradually, he moved towards creating landscapes and finally he found his true splendor in abstract exposé of landscapes.

At the ongoing exhibition, the gifted painter has on display a staggering 67

artworks, for a charitable cause. This is the artist’s first solo exhibit in the country and all the money collected will be funding for establishing an Art Centre in his birth district of Jamalpur.

Ganesh Haloi is one of the most noteworthy artists of India, who is substantially working by defining his own language through painting and style of his art. Hs artworks are done

mostly in watercolor, pen and ink and gouache, which have a simple geometric pattern in composition with limited palette. The simplicity of his art is achieved through his various experiences and is not quite easy to master.

A devoted artist to nature, he tries to simplify things and present it in its purest form, which is easier for people to appreciate.

Such quality in painting demands a lot of experience that is inherent to the artist. The exhibition inaugurated on August 28 by the Cultural Minister Abul Kalam Azad, along with the Indian High commissioner Pankaj Saran, eminent artist Rafiqunnabi was the special guest on the occasion. The exhibition will remain open till September 8, 2013. l

Haloi was not always an abstract painter, his journey as an artist began with painting figures in landscapes, gradually, he moved towards creating landscapes and finally he found his true splendor in abstract exposé of landscapes

Mrittika Maya in cinemas from September 6 n Entertainment Desk

“Mrittika Maya,” a movie about the heartbreaking life of an old potter will debut for the mass audience on September 6, at the Uthshob Movie Theatre in Blockbuster Cinemas of Jamuna Future Park. The film’s script, screenplay and direction are done by Gazi Rakayet and the cast includes Lutfor Rahman George, Mamunur Rashid, Piyush Bandhopaddhay, Akhteruzzaman, Wahida Mollik Jolly, Mrinal Dutta and many more.

Khirmohon is an old man and a potter by profession. All his life, he has struggled to keep his head above water and now is the owner of his own pottery house and a banyan tree. His two sons Satten and Nikhil stay in the city and prefer urban life. They have no interest in their father’s business and want to sell up his life’s work for financial gain.

The silver lining in Khirmohon’s life is his granddaughter Poddo, who is an eye catching dusky beauty. They stay in the pottery house with another person named Boishakh, who was adopted by Khirmohon when he was just a mere child.

Boishakh is a passionate character, who is loyal to Khirmohon and is more interested in keeping the pottery business afloat then Khirmohon’s own sons.

There is a spark between Poddo and Boishakh, but it is not expressed. The story moves forward with Boishakh trying to protect the business from going into ruins by unwanted invaders and village politics.

“Mrittika Maya,” is an Impress Telefilm production. Uthshob is amongst the seven movie theatres of the Blockbuster Cinemas and will play only Impress Telefilm’s productions all year round. l

TODAY IN DHAKA Exhibition

Automated Subjectivity

By Mustafa Zaman and Shuvo Rafiqul Time: 12pm–8pm Bengal Art Lounge House No 60 Road No 132 Gulshan Avenue Circle 1, Dhaka Jol Bindu

By Shahnoor Mamun Alliance Francaise de Dhaka Time: 3pm–9pm 26 Mirpur Road Road no-3, Dhanmondi Rhythm of Reality Ganesh Haloi Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts House 275, Road 27 Old Dhanmondi Symphony of Colour Rahima Afroz Time: 3pm – 8pm Dhaka Art Center House-60, Road-7/A Dhanmondi

Film

The Wolverine in 3D Nishwartha Bhalobasa Fast & Furious 6 World War Z in 3D Despicable Me 2 in 3D Star Cineplex Bashundhara City, Panthapath

Grand Theft Auto V out in two weeks n Anik Kabir The sixth main game in Rockstar Games’ critically acclaimed, and equally controversial, Grand Theft Auto series (not counting handheld spinoffs) will be re-

ON TV

Nagorik airs on Channel 9 tonight

n Entertainment Desk Channel 9 presents drama-serial “Nagorik” at 8:15pm, directed and written

by Alvi Ahmed.

Three families reside in an old building within the city. The first one consists of four bachelors, each and every one of them has his own outlook about life. They are a vicious circle of four, closest of friends yet worse enemies. They have a parallel universe of their own. The second home is occupied by an amnesiac writer named

Ranbir and Shahid in Andaz Apna Apna sequel n Entertainment Desk

surrounded by morons” and Trevor, with the cryptic description of “the less said about him, the better.” It follow the series’ traditional structure of playing out “missions” that are both tied to the central narrative and otherwise,

Matin, his wife Sharmin and maternal cousin Lata. The third family’s head is the homeowner Mahbub, an old man bereft of greed, and he lives with his son Poltu and daughter Jotee. Another person is connected with them like a thread, an unfortunate girl named Toma and lastly a retired old heroine named Sobita Ray. The story of the drama-serial “Nagorik” revolves around the dream, hope, love and growing up of these people, at the same time how they are drawn backwards in the process. l

Rajkumar Santoshi has been planning to make a sequel to his 1994 cult classic “Andaz Apna Apna” for quite some time now. However, to get Aamir Khan and Salman Khan-who immortalised the characters of Amar and Prem in the rib-tickling comedy-on board is proving to be a major challenge.

And now it seems Santoshi might just replace the two.

With his Shahid Kapoor-Ileana D’Cruz starrer, “Phata Poster Nihkla Hero,” almost ready for release, Santoshi is eager to put the sequel on floors. Mirror has learnt that instead of waiting for the two Khans, the director has decided to revamp the film with a contemporary storyline and a younger cast.

He has bounced off the idea to Shahid, who has already

impressed him with his comic turn in Phata Poster. For the parallel lead, Santoshi is keen on roping in Ranbir Kapoor, with whom he has previously worked in “Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.”

A source close to the production said: “Although Rajji ideally wants to do the film with Aamir and Salman, he is keeping his options open. Since it has almost become an impossible task to get combination dates from the two, Rajji might go ahead with Ranbir and Shahid - who are both young and commercially feasible.”

However, no official announcement has been made yet.

Santoshi said, “It’s very early for me to take the call on the actors. I am still in the process of putting together the script, so wouldn’t like to comment on the casting of ‘Andaz Apna Apna 2.’” l

The Hangover will air on WB at 9:30pm leasing worldwide on September 17 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Set in the fictional American city of Los Santos, “Grand Theft Auto V” is being billed by developer Rockstar North as “a sprawling, satirical reimagining of modern Southern California” and is the first game to buck the series trend of having a playable protagonist by instead offering three different, playable characters.

In the game, players will be taking control of Michael, described as “a once successful bank robber and now less successful family man.” Franklin “a hungry street hustler convinced he’s

while also offering various other activities such as sports, racing, para-gliding, and more to indulge in the fully explorable open world.

“Grand Theft Auto V” comes out five years after the last game of the series, “Grand Theft Auto IV,” came out in 2008 and went on to become a massive critical and commercial success for publisher Rockstar Games.

“Grand Theft Auto V” is rated “M” for Mature by America’s Entertainment Software Ratings Board and “PEGI 18” by Europe’s Pan European Game Information video game rating boards. l

Food Safari will air on Fox Traveller at 4:30pm

Ranbir Kapoor

Shahid Kapoor

Did you know?

Mesut Özil has 72 goal assists in the last five seasons - more than any other player across Europe’s top five leagues

Sport

De Kruif slams referee

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

14 United sign Fellaini, Arsenal swoop for Ozil

14 Kaka love affair ‘never’ over for Milan

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 Federer stunned while Nadal rolls on at US Open

THE HEARTBREAKING INCIDENT

Mahmood, n Raihan from Kathmandu Bangladesh’s head coach Lodewijk de Kruif blasted Sri Lankan referee Crishantha D. Perera for his biased attitude against his team at the post match press conference at the Armed Forces Ground, Kathmandu yesterday.

“The Sri Lankan referee and the Jordanian fourth official destroyed our game. They were attacking towards us from the very beginning and was looking for faults - looking at our costumes and even shoes. Maybe (he) had a quarrel with his wife or did not have a good sleep,” said an angry de Kruif.

The coach’s outburst was not unwarranted. The referee’s biased attitude was evident throughout the game and even after being shown a yellow card, Indian defender Nirmal Chhetri repeatedly charged Bangladesh forward Toklis Ahmed, but was only give a slap-on-the-wrist “verbal warning”.

In another questionable incident, Bangladesh captain Nasiruddin was elbowed in the forehead by Chhetri and later required three stitches. De Kruif stood up to protest the call but was quieted by 4th official Crishantha.

The coach was full of praise for his team while dissatisfied with the officiating. “I found the 100% fighting spirit in my team. The free kick was not there and Mamunul told me that he did not hit Sunil Chhetri instead Sunil fell on him. If the refereeing in this subcontinent goes this way it will never develop.

“Indian team tried to play power football. Our players were also tried it, but the boy’s need more experience.

However we are still in the tournament and we have the plans to implement against Pakistan in the next match.

However the players are upset and they are crying. I have to boost them up for the next challenge,” said the Dutch coach. l

Bangladesh striker Jahid Hossain Emily breaks into tears after India secured a dramatic draw in Nepal yesterday

Bangladesh skipper Mamunul Islam (R) reacts as Indian forward Sunil Chhetri (C) falls after a tussle. The resulting free kick saw India score a late equaliser

Last gasp India deny Bangladesh Controversial last–minute injury time equaliser results in draw Mahmood, n Raihan from Kathmandu Bangladesh were robbed off a well deserved victory over defending champions India as Sri Lankan referee Crishantha D. Perera’s controversial call allowed India to pull out a 1-1 draw in the group A match of the Saff Championship at the Armed Forces Stadium yesterday.

Bangladesh were just seconds away from registering a notable victory over India in a match that was crucial for the men in red and green when the Sri Lankan referee awarded India a free kick in the last minute of match.

Perera’s hostile attitude was evident as he made the decision that led to the defending champions leveling the contest at the eleventh hour.

Bangladesh skipper Mamunul Islam was about to clear an aerial ball when Indian forward and skipper Sunil Chhetri tumbled upon him. Mamun failed with his clearance attempt – but the crowd were left stunned by the referee’s decision to award India a free kick.

Chhetri curved the ball low into the

Razzaq takes four, Mushfiq unbeaten after first day n Mazhar Uddin The Green team finished the first day of the three day practice match ahead of the New Zealand series at 156/4 at the Sheikh Abu Naser stadium Khulna yesterday. Left arm spinner Abdur Razzaq claimed all four wickets, while the captain Mushfiqur Rahim remained unbeaten on 64 at close of play.

National skipper Mushfiqur won the toss for the Greens and chose to bat first on day that saw two rain breaks.

Paceman Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who is playing in a three day match for the first time since 2009, bowled ten overs but failed to take a wicket and did not look particularly penetrative.

It was left to Razzaq to break the opening partnership of 42 between Jahurul Islam and Shahriar Nafees by clean bowling the latter for 23 runs.

Razzaq went on to add the wickets of Jahurul Islam (19), Roqibul Hasan (17) and Mominul Haque (14)to mark a successful day.

MUMIT M / FROM KATHMANDU

Mushfiqur Rahim showed his character and played a very composed innings where he reached his half century and held the innings together.

The captain smashed seven boundaries

Brief Score

BCB Green 156/4 Jahurul Islam 19, Shahriar Nafees 23, Roqibul Hasan 17, Mominul Haque 14, Mushfiqur Rahim 64*, Mehrab Hossain 9* Abdur Razzaq 36/4, Mashrafe Mortaza 26/0 and four sixes and is set to resume tomorrow with his score on 69, with Mehrab Hossain nine not out at the other end.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) arranged the practice match ahead of the upcoming series against New Zealand series in October in consideration of the cricketers not having played anything longer than 50 over games since the Zimbabwe series in March. l

near post net to salvage a draw for India.

Earlier, Bangladesh put on a solid performance which demonstrated determination and fighting spirit. The team made three changes from the last game - Ariful, Wahed and Jahid making way for Mobarak, Sohel Rana and debutant Omar Faruk Babu - in the starting eleven.

Bangladesh appeared to be a tough nut to crack as Indian stars Sunil Chhetri, JeJe Lalpekula and Mehtab Hossain failed impose the dominance for which they are known, while Bangladesh focused on maintaining possession of the ball in the context of a defensive strategy.

India missed a good chance in the 10th minute when right back Francisco Fernandes neat curved cross reached Sunil Chhetri, whose volley flew over the goalpost. Bangladesh’s best chance of the first half came in the 29th minute when Emily’s surprise back-heel from a low corner was saved by Indian keeper Subrata Paul. India also threatened to score in the 36th minute when Fernandez’s side volley again flew over the top.

The second half saw some thrilling moments as well. In the 60th minute, Mobarak’s low cross was guided towards goal by Sohel Rana but a deflection saw it go for a corner. At the other end, Fernandez skipped through the Bangladesh defence with superb footwork but his shot from close range his the outside of the net in the 71st minute.

Bangladesh put pressure on the Indian defence in the last 15 minute and won a series of corners in the process.

Skipper Mamunul Islam entered the field in the 80th minute and presented Bangladesh a golden chance with his first touch on the ball. He took two corners and curved a low one flew to the feet of Atikur Rahman Mishu, whose fierce left footer crashed into the Indian net to give Bangladesh a 1-0 lead.

Bangladesh was just seconds away of registering its first victory over India since 2003 when the Sri Lankan referee’s questionable call led to the match being leveled. Many of the Bangladeshi players cried openly when the final whistle blew.

Bangladesh, who lost their first match 0-2 to Nepal, will play Pakistan in their last group match on Thursday.l

Tidbits Mamunul jokes it should have been a penalty Bangladesh skipper Mamunul Islam made his long awaited comeback to the field in the 80th minute of the match against India yesterday and his arrival raised the spirit of team Bangladesh, who on the attack in the last 10 minutes of the game.

His first two touches on the balls were corner kicks and the second one led to Mishu scoring a goal.

Nonetheless, Mamun was left speechless at the end of the match after a controversial last minute free kick saw India level the game.

“In fact Sunil Chhetri stumbled upon me .I fell down inside the box. Why did the referee call for a free kick outside the box? Instead he would have awarded a penalty, I am stunned with the decision.

It was a biased one,” said Mamunul, who took the field with some pain in his right foot and took two painkilling injections after the match.

Curiously, head coach Lodewijk de Kruif did not stand by the side line during the game as is usually the case for coaches

and it was left to assistant coach Rene Koster to guide the team from just outside the field of play. Perhaps de Kruif deviated from the norm as a mark of respective for his counterpart and former teacher – Indian coach Wim Koevermans.

Another notable fact was that de Kruif and Koevermans were both attired in a light coloured shit and black trousers.

10% attendance only The picturesque Armed Forces Stadium of Halchowk that hosted the match between Bangladesh and India match only attracted about 300 spectators and the stands were mostly covered by uniformed police personnel. While the pitch was good, there was no press box and the press were seated at the far corner of the tin shed stands and the internet connection was sub-par again.

Though the Saff Championship is supposed to be of international standard, the facilities fell short of what is expected.

The stadium is located in a deep restricted area and despite ticket prices being relatively cheap – NR 300-700 – attendance was poor. l Raihan Mahmood, from Kathmandu

Match Highlights India Chhetri 93

1-1

Bangladesh Meshu 82

10’ India attacks, Sunil Chhetri volleys over the top 36’ Maharaja’s long throw-in is punched away by Bangladesh goalie Mamun Khan, only to land at Fernandez’s feet – whose shot flies over the crossbar 39’ Emily’s back heel from a Mobarak corner is reflexively saved by Subrata 55’ Mobarak’s curved cross is headed by Emily straight to Subrata 60’ Sohel Rana flicks a low cross from Mobarak towards the Indian goal, but is deflected off away by Indian defender 71’ Fernandez sneaks through the Bangladesh defence but his shot hits the outside net 82’Goal! Meshu scores for Bangladesh with a left footed shot from a Mamunul Islam corner 90+3’ Goal! Sunil Chhetri curves a free kick into the near post to square the match at the death

Nepal earn dramatic draw against Pakistan Mahmood, n Raihan from Kathmandu

Hosts Nepal salvaged a 1-1 draw with a goal in injury time against Pakistan to consolidate their position at the top of Group ‘A’ in the Saff Championship at the Dashrath Stadium yesterday.

Pakistan forward Hasan Bashir put Pakistan ahead in the 14th minute and Nepal’s U-15 forward Bimal Bharati Magar equalized in the first minute of the three minutes of added time at the end of the match.

Pakistan

1-1

Hassan Bashir 14

Nepal B Magar 92

Nepal and India both have four points after today’s matches, but the host nation stand first on the grounds of having scored three goals – one more than defending champions. Bangladesh and Pakistan meanwhile, have one point each.

Bangladesh play Pakistan and the two leaders clash on Thursday. Bangladesh’s slim chances of making the semi-finals rest on beating Pakistan by a large margin and hoping that either Nepal or India beat the other by a similar score line. l

Prime Minister inaugurates Cox’s Bazar cricket stadium n Mazhar Uddin Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Cox’s Bazar stadium as the “Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium and Complex” yesterday at Ukhiya Cox’s Bazar, while Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan said that the stadium, which is scheduled to be inspected by the ICC on September 30, will need 15 more days of work beyond the deadline.

The construction of the stadium, which is located in the seaside resort town of Cox’s Bazar, is being funded by the BCB. Once completed, it will be the first international standard cricket centre in Cox’s Bazar and will have a capacity of approximately 7,800.

Bangladesh are scheduled to host the T20 World Championship next year and the Cox’s Bazar stadium is will

host the women’s T20 World Cup at that time. BCB boss Nazmul Hasan who is confident to hand over the stadium to the ICC just on time, “We are scheduled to hand over the stadium to the ICC on September 30 and the way work is progressing, I think it will take another fifteen days from the deadline to finish the work. So we have asked for some additional time from the ICC and sent a letter. I hope it will be done on time,” said Nazmul.

While Nazmul was prioritizing the building of a temporary stadium for the World Cup over a permanent one at another site in Cox’s Bazar, he admitted that the under-construction work could easily be converted into a long-term venue for cricket. “With the type of infrastructure that is being built here, there is always a chance to build a permanent stadium here,” said Nazmul. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

United sign Fellaini, Arsenal swoop for Ozil n AFP, London Arsenal smashed their transfer record by luring German playmaker Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid on Monday, while Manchester United made a late move to sign Marouane Fellaini from Everton.

Amid dizzying activity in the closing hours of the close-season transfer window, Arsenal grabbed the headlines with a sensational swoop for Ozil worth a reported fee of £42.4 million ($66 million, 50 million euros).

The move came on the day that Gareth Bale was presented as a Madrid player after leaving Arsenal’s arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of around £80 million, paving the way for Ozil’s exit.

Arsenal said Ozil had signed a “longterm contract,” with a reported duration of five years, after he underwent a medical examination in Munich.

“We are extremely pleased to have signed Mesut Ozil,” said long-serving Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who had come under pressure from the club’s fans to deliver a major signing.

“We have watched and admired him for some time as he has all the attributes I look for in an Arsenal player.”

Ozil told the Arsenal website: “I am thrilled to be joining a club of the stature of Arsenal and am looking forward to playing in the Premier League.”

Arsenal, who had never previously spent more than £15 million on a player, also announced the signing of 27-yearold Italy international goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano from Palermo on a seasonlong loan.

Transfer deadline day signings Marouane Fellaini (L) and Mesut Ozil (R) pose with their new club jersey after joining Manchester United and Arsenal respectively on Monday Ozil’s transfer was the most significant development on a day when gross spending by Premier League clubs during the close-season transfer window surpassed £500 million for the first time, according to financial consultants Deloitte.

After a frustrating first summer as United manager, David Moyes brought in Belgian midfielder Fellaini, with whom he worked at Everton, in a deal worth £27.5 million.

Blatter says Bale deal is free market in action n

AFP, Zurich

Real Madrid’s record outlay of a reported 101 million euros ($133.5 million, £86 million) for Gareth Bale is a sign of the free market in action, FIFA chief Sepp Blatter said Tuesday.

Pressed on the symbolism of the incredible transfer fee to bring the Welshman from Londoners Tottenham Hotspur to the Spanish capital, Blatter declined to comment directly.

“You’ll have to ask Real Madrid,” he told reporters at FIFA’s headquarters in the Swiss city of Zurich.

The Bale deal, which comes as Spain is locked in the deepest economic crisis in a generation, has been described

by Barcelona boss Gerardo Martino as showing “a lack of respect” given the current climate.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, has described it as a “joke”.

But Blatter said he was reminded of the debate over Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo’s £80 million move from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009.

“Manchester United is delighted to announce the signing of Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini from Everton,” said a statement on United’s website.

Manager David Moyes added: “He is a player with great ability and strength and I think he will make a real difference to our squad.”

Fellaini said he was “thrilled” with the move and that he “jumped at the chance” to renew his relationship with

former Everton boss Moyes.

Everton earlier confirmed the sale, adding that the price tag was £27.5 million. However, the reigning English champions missed out with approaches for Madrid’s Portuguese left-back Fabio Coentrao and Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera.

Britain’s Press Association claimed United were too late in submitting their request to sign Coentrao on loan, while

Sturridge, Wilshere sit out England training

Kaka love affair ‘never’ over for Milan

n AFP, London

“At the same time, in Sotheby’s in London, there was an auction where they sold a painting of Spanish artist Picasso’s Blue Period for 50 million pounds, which at the time was $100 million,” he said.

“At that time I said the man who acquired this painting, he will put it somewhere under closed circuit, because it’s dangerous to lose it. But Ronaldo, you’ll see at least twice a week in a stadium." l

bizarre reports from Spain said the move for Herrera collapsed after three imposters claiming to represent the club found their way into the Spanish league offices.

Everton also sold striker Victor Anichebe to West Bromwich Albion for a fee that could rise to £6 million, but they signed Irish midfielder James McCarthy in a £13 million deal from Wigan Athletic.

Moyes’s successor, Roberto Martinez,

Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge and Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere both missed England’s training session on Monday morning, Britain’s Press Association reported.

Sturridge recently sustained a thigh injury, while Wilshere was substituted in the first half of Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday due to stomach cramps.

Both players are nonetheless expected to remain with the squad for Friday’s World Cup qualifier at home to Moldova and the trip to Ukraine four days later.

Cardiff City centre-back Steven Caulker and Spurs striker Jermain Defoe were also absent from the morning session at St George’s Park in central England, but they were due to take part in light fitness exercises later in the day.

England manager Roy Hodgson has already seen three players withdraw from his squad. l

n AFP, Milan Dozens of delirious AC Milan supporters took to the streets of the city late Monday to herald the return of Brazilian midfielder Kaka following his arrival from Real Madrid.

Kaka was one of Real’s most expensive signings in 2009 when the club paid Milan 65 million euros for him after a highly-succesful six-season spell with the Rossoneri.

After being left on the sidelines under Jose Mourinho, Kaka’s chances of more regular first team action at the Santiago Bernabeu faded further when his former coach at Milan, Carlo Ancelotti, took over the ‘Galacticos’ for the new season.

With Brazil hosting the 2014 World Cup, Kaka launched a plea to leave Real and the Spaniards allowed the 31-yearold to return to his former club on a free transfer.

Kaka was met by dozens of fans upon his arrival at Milan-Linate airport on Monday, a scene that was repeated when he met club vice-president Adriano Galliani late on Monday.

At the Giannino restaurant, a favourite haunt of AC Milan and its players,

were dozens of fans noisily convened to celebrate Kaka’s arrival.

The player sipped Champagne and was presented with a cake adorned with the words ‘Some love affairs never end’.

Kaka, who has signed a two-year

Top 10 Premier League transfer deals Clubs in the Premier League spent in excess of £500 million ($780 million, 590 million euros) on new players during the close-season transfer window; a record for the English top flight. Here, we look at the 10 biggest transfers involving English clubs to have taken place since the end of the 2012-13 season (all transfer fees as reported by British media) AFP, LONDON GARETH BALE

MESUT OZIL

ERIK LAMELA

WILLIAN

FERNANDINHO

(Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid/ ESP; £77-86 million)

(Real Madrid/ESP to Arsenal; £42.4 million)

(Roma/ITA to Tottenham Hotspur; £30 million)

(Anzhi Makhachkala/RUS to Chelsea; £30 million)

(Shakhtar Donetsk/UKR to Manchester City; £30 million)

For all the money lavished on new players over the past three months, the most high-profile transfer involving an English club was a sale. Welsh forward Bale, 24, swapped White Hart Lane for the Bernabeu after a dazzling season with Tottenham in which he scored 26 league goals. Reports in England claimed he had broken the world transfer record established by Cristiano Ronaldo’s £80 million move from Manchester United in 2009, but Spanish reports said the fee was lower.

One downside of Bale’s move to Madrid for the selling club was that it persuaded the Spanish giants to allow Germany international Mesut Ozil to leave for Spurs’ arch rivals Arsenal.

Manager Arsene Wenger has been criticised by Arsenal’s fans for his reluctance to spend money on new players in recent years, but he smashed the club’s transfer record to bring the immensely gifted 24-year-old playmaker to the Emirates Stadium.

After being pipped to a Champions League place by Arsenal last season, Spurs spent around £110 million on seven players, with Lamela the third new recruit to break the club’s transfer record. The 21-year-old Argentine attacking midfielder is a talented dribbler with a fine left foot and will be expected to soften the blow of Bale’s departure.

Tottenham also hoped to add Brazilian schemer Willian to their ranks, but after completing a medical at the club, his move to White Hart Lane was hijacked by Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.

The tall attacking midfielder with the afro haircut scored against Chelsea twice for Shakhtar Donetsk in last season’s Champions League and left Anzhi as part of a fire sale sanctioned by the Russian club’s billionaire owner Suleiman Kerimov.

A former team-mate of Willian’s at Shakhtar, Fernandinho arrived in England two months earlier after signing for 2012 league champions Manchester City. An industrious box-to-box midfielder, the 28-year-old will hope to form an understanding with Ivorian powerhouse Yaya Toure in the centre of the City midfield.

MAROUANE FELLAINI

ROBERTO SOLDADO

was also able to seal loan moves for Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry and Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, who was allowed to leave Chelsea despite impressing on loan at West Brom last season. Current Premier League leaders Liverpool completed three transfers earlier in the day.

Defenders Mamadou Sakho and Tiago Ilori joined from Paris Saint-Germain and Sporting Lisbon respectively, while winger Victor Moses arrived on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

Liverpool reportedly paid a combined amount of £25 million to sign Ilori and France international centre-back Sakho, who had fallen down the pecking order at PSG. “I came here because the project that is in place at Liverpool interests me,” Sakho, 23, told Liverpool’s official website.

Aston Villa made Czech international striker Libor Kozak their seventh new recruit of the close-season, signing him from Lazio on a four-year contract for a reported fee of around £7 million.

West Brom broke their transfer record to take Benin midfielder Stephane Sessegnon from Sunderland, who signed Italian striker Fabio Borini on loan from Liverpool and left-back Andrea Dossena from Napoli.

Seven months after his aborted exit from West Brom on the final day of the January transfer window, when he drove to Loftus Road in hope of joining Queens Park Rangers, Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie left the Hawthorns to join Cardiff City on a two-year contract. l

STEVAN JOVETIC

ALVARO NEGREDO

ANDRE SCHURRLE

(Everton to Manchester United; £27.5 million)

(Valencia/ESP to Tottenham Hotspur; £26 million)

(Fiorentina/ITA to Manchester City; £22 million)

(Sevilla/ESP to Manchester City; £20 million)

(Bayer Leverkusen/GER to Chelsea; £18 million)

New Manchester United manager David Moyes saw approaches for several transfer targets rejected before finally turning to Fellaini, with whom he worked at previous club Everton.

The 25-year-old Belgian international will bring brawn and aerial presence to a central midfield that has looked short of power in recent seasons.

After scoring over 25 goals in three consecutive seasons for Valencia, Soldado took a risk by moving to England as he looks to nail down a place in the Spain squad for next year’s World Cup. He has made a convincing start to life in north London, however, scoring the winning goal from the penalty spot in his first two league games.

Jovetic, a 23-year-old Montenegro international, was signed to bolster City’s forward line following the departures of Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tevez. A creative second striker, who had previously been linked to Arsenal, he is still to make his competitive debut due to a hamstring complaint.

Negredo, a rival to Soldado at international level, alighted at the Etihad Stadium on the same July day as Jovetic after four consistently impressive seasons with Sevilla. An athletic target man, the 28-year-old scored his first City goal with a stoppage-time header in a 3-2 defeat at Cardiff City on August 25.

Germany international Schurrle joined Chelsea in June, adding to the dizzying array of forward players at Mourinho’s disposal. The hardworking 22-year-old can play in several positions across the front line and was used as a lone striker in the recent 0-0 draw at Manchester United.

contract, was delighted to be back.

“I really wanted to come here and now I’m back I am so happy. I’ve returned home!” said the Brazilian, who took a significant pay cut to facilitate his move to the San Siro.

Kaka’s first spell at the Rossoneri, from 2003 to 2009, coincided with his rise to prominence that culminated in him winning the 2007 Ballon d’Or after leading Milan to the Champions League title that year.

Coach Massimiliano Allegri on Friday said: “He’s versatile, and his technical attributes would be a big plus to the team.”

Although brought in as a replacement for playmaker Kevin-Prince Boateng, who was sold to Schalke 04 last week, it remains to be seen how Allegri slots Kaka into his system.

Kaka began his previous spell at Milan playing just behind striker Andriy Shevchenko, but went on to occupy the main striker’s role as well as variously changing position in Ancelotti’s preferred 4-3-1-2 system.

Allegri usually deploys a 4-3-3 formation with Mario Balotelli in the central striker’s role flanked by, for example, Robinho and Stephan El Shaarawy. l

European transfer briefs n AFP, Paris Russian champions CSKA Moscow signed Brazilian forward Vitinho, 19, from Rio giants Botafogo on a five-year deal for an undisclosed sum.

Czech international midfielder Jaroslav Plasil, 31, is loaned from France’s Bordeaux to Catania in Italy.

Former Croatia defender Danijel Pranjic, 31, who only took international retirement a year ago, has joined Greeks Panathinaikos on a three-yeardeal for an undisclosed fee from Sporting Lisbon in Portugal.

Former France defender Gael Givet, 31, joins French second division Arles-Avignon from English Championship outfit Blackburn on a free transfer.

Argentine forward Silvio Romero, 25, has joined French Ligue 1 Rennes on loan from Lanus in his homeland.

Greece international defender Giorgios Tzavellas, 26, has joined Greeks PAOK Salonika from France’s Monaco.

Benfica’s Paraguayan back Lorenzo Melgarejo signs in a five million euro deal with Russian outfit FC Kuban.

Serbian striker Marko Scepovic has been acquired by Olympiakos for an undisclosed fee, the Greek Super League champions announced. The Piraeus club did not announce the duration of the contract with local media estimating the transfer fee at 3.5 million euros.

Midfielder Florian Thauvin moves to Marseille without having played a single game with fellow French Ligue 1 side Lille, having jonied them in January and ending the season on loan with Bastia. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Federer stunned while Nadal rolls on at US Open

Quick Bytes

Sagar takes sole lead in chess tourney International Master Minhazuddin Ahmed Sagar led the Bishal Trade & Rupahali Sarees 39th National ‘B’ Chess Championship-2013 after a win over Javed in the 8th round at the federation hall room yesterday. The Dhaka Mohammedan player now has seven points with one round left. Fide Masters Sk Nasir Ahmed of Titas, Debaraj Chaterjee of Access Group and Md Saiful Islam Chowdhury were in joint second position with 6.5 points, with a further twelve players sharing 3rd position with 6 points.

- SH

n AFP, New York

PSG release Mali’s Sissoko Big-spending French giants Paris Saint-Germain have released Mali midfielder Mohamed Sissoko, the club said Tuesday. The 28-year-old is now free to join the club of his choice despite the transfer window being closed. Sissoko, who previously played for Liverpool and Valencia, joined the Parisians from Italian giants Juventus in 2011 but made only 28 appearances, scoring twice, in Ligue 1 over two years.

– AFP

England open way for IPL window The England and Wales Cricket Board’s decision to scrap the May Tests which have been a part of their home fixture list since 2000 by shifting next year’s two-match series against Sri Lanka to June could have wider implications for the world game. By playing the Tests later in the season, with the T20 match and five-one-dayers beforehand, the ECB has given the likes of England’s Kevin Pietersen a chance to enjoy longer stints in the lucrative Twenty20 Indian Premier League. The scheduling move should also avoid the problem many touring sides have experienced in recent years of either being denied their best players for the May Tests because of IPL commitments or their stars only arriving shortly before the start of a series. When Sri Lanka last visited England, in 201l, five players including leading batsmen Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara missed one of the two warm-up matches due to IPL commitments. Sri Lanka lost the first Test of that series by an innings and 14 runs in Cardiff after a stunning collapse saw them bowled out for 82 on the final day. It was a similar story this year, with New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and senior batsman Ross Taylor both arriving late for the tour of England because of their IPL stints.

– AFP

Ex-heavyweight champ Morrison dead at 44

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Morrison, who was diagnosed with the HIV virus that causes AIDS in 1996, has died, the Tulsa World reported on Monday. He was 44. Tony Holden, Morrison’s former promoter, told the newspaper that the fighter, who appeared in the fifth Rocky film as the main rival for Sylvester Stallone’s fictional fighter, died on Sunday night in Omaha, Nebraska. A cause of death has not been revealed by the family or authorities. Morrison, an Oklahoma native, won a 12-round decision over a 44-yearold George Foreman to claim the World Boxing Organization heavyweight title in 1993 but lost the crown four months later. In 1996, just before Morrison was to have fought in Las Vegas, he was suspended after testing positive for HIV. Morrison finished his career 48-3 with one drawn and 42 knockouts.

– AFP

India to play five Tests in England India will play five Tests in England for the first time since 1959 during next year’s tour, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced Monday. The tour schedule also sees 50-over world champions India, who beat England by five runs in the Champions Trophy final at Edgbaston in June, involved in five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 international. Later Monday, the ECB confirmed Sri Lanka would be England’s initial visitors in the 2014 season. Sri Lanka’s programme of international fixtures against England will start with a Twenty20 match in May followed by five one-day internationals and two Tests, the first at Lord’s in London and the second at Yorkshire’s Headingley headquarters in Leeds, northern England.

– AFP

Day’s Watch Ten Sports 9:00pm US Open 2013 LIVE Men’s & Women’s Quarterfinal

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Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Roger Federer of Switzerland waves to the crowd after being defeated by Tommy Robredo of Spain in the fourth round of the men's singles of the 2013 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Monday AFP

Roger Federer crashed out of the US Open in the fourth round on Monday while Rafael Nadal captured his 19th hardcourt win in a row to reach the quarter-finals without having allowed a service break.

Federer suffered a stunning upset at the hands of Spanish 19th seed Tommy Robredo, whose 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-4 shocker was his first victory in 11 matches against the 17-time Grand Slam champion and five-time US Open winner.

“I’m going to feel like I beat myself,” Federer said. “It was up to me to make the difference and I just couldn’t.

“I self-destructed, which is really disappointing. When things came to the crunch I just couldn’t do it. It’s frustrating.”

Federer’s failure, which came on the heels of a shock second-round Wimbledon exit, thwarted a potential quarterfinal match with 12-time Grand Slam winner Nadal in what would have been their first meeting on the New York hardcourts.

“If I’m playing like this, I’m not going to beat Rafa,” Federer said. This was the first year since 2002 that Federer has not made a Grand Slam final.

Instead, it will be Robredo in his first US Open quarter-final against secondseeded countryman Nadal, who dispatched Germany’s 22nd-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-3, 6-1.

“It was very tough conditions, very humid. I sweat too much,” Nadal said.

“But the opponent was great. Lucky to be through I think. I fought a lot to get through this match.”

Nadal leads the ATP with nine titles this season and a 56-3 record since ending a seven-month injury layoff last February, his sore knees having kept him out of last year’s US Open.

Nadal has won all six career meetings with Robredo, but Federer was

10-0 against Robredo before being sent home.

“He will come to my match with big confidence,” Nadal said. “I hope to be ready for that.”

Robredo suffered seven prior fourthround US Open defeats and matched his best Grand Slam performance with the dramatic upset.

“To beat Roger, it’s something amazing,” Robredo said. “It’s like a dream. I am so happy. It was a great day.”

Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer reached his eighth consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final, beating Serbian 18th

US Open results Men’s singles, 4th round Gasquet bt Raonic 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 7-6 (11/9), 7-5 Ferrer bt Tipsarevic 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) Robredo bt Federer 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-4 Nadal bt Kohlschreiber 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-3, 6-1

Women’s singles, 4th round R Vinci bt Giorgi Pennetta bt S Halep Hantuchova bt Alison Riske

6-4, 6-2 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) 6-3, 5-7, 6-2

seed Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3).

Ferrer will face French eighth seed Richard Gasquet, who outlasted 10th seed Milos Raonic 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 7-6 (11/9), 7-5 after four hours and 40 minutes and despite the Canadian’s 39 aces, the third-most ever in a US Open match.

Ferrer is 8-1 all-time against Gasquet, whose only prior fourth-round Slam win in 17 attempts came on his way to a 2007 Wimbledon semi-final.

In taking as many sets off Federer as he had in 10 prior losses combined, Robredo also raised questions about the future of the former world number one, who had not missed the US Open quarter-finals since a 2003 fourth-round exit.

Federer, 32, won only two of 16 breakpoint chances. l

Zimbabwe bowlers shock Pakistan n AFP, Harare Zimbabwe’s unheralded bowling attack plunged Pakistan into deep trouble on the first day of the first Test at the Harare Sports Club on Tuesday.

Pakistan were floundering at 182 for eight before tailenders Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan added an aggressive 67 for the ninth wicket to enable the tourists to finish the day on 249 for nine.

Opening bowlers Tendai Chatara and Tinashe Panyangara, who went into the match with only five Test caps between them, started the Pakistan slide with some disciplined bowling at the start of the day. They were well backed up by off-spinner Prosper Utseya and medium-pacer Shingi Masakadza.

But Chatara and Panyangara were guilty of some loose bowling with the second new ball as Ajmal (49 not out) and Junaid (17) gave the Pakistan innings some respectability. Junaid was out to the fifth ball of the final over of the day when he flashed at Panyangara

and was caught behind.

Azhar Ali, who made a patient 78 off

Score Card Pakistan, first innings Manzoor lbw b Panyangara 11 Hafeez c Sibanda b Chatara 5 Azhar c Sibanda b S. Masakadza 78 Younis b Panyangara 3 Misbah c Sibanda b Utseya 53 Shafiq c Mawoyo b Utseya 4 Adnan Akmal b Chatara 18 Rehman lbw b S. Masakadza 7 Ajmal not out 49 Junaid c Mutumbami b Panyangara 17 Extras (lb3, w1) 4 Total (9 wkts, 89.5 overs) 249 Bowling Chatara 22-6-64-2, Panyangara 19.5-2-71-3, S. Masakadza 22-8-40-2, Chigumbura 2-0-15-0, Utseya 23-1-552, H. Masakadza 1-0-1-0 Match situation: Pakistan are 249 for nine in the first innings

185 balls, and captain Misbah-ul-Haq (53) were the only Pakistan top-order batsmen to shine. They put on 93 for the fourth wicket.

Hamilton Masakadza, standing in for regular captain Brendan Taylor, was justified in his decision to send Pakistan in as the tourists lost their first three wickets for 27 runs inside the first hour, with both Chatara and Panyangara taking advantage of early life in the pitch.

Chatara struck first when Mohammad Hafeez was caught at second slip off a ball which lifted sharply. Panyangara followed up with the wickets of Khurram Manzoor, who went back on his stumps and was leg before wicket to a ball which cut back, and Younis Khan, who was bowled when he played forward tentatively and the ball trickled back onto his stumps.

Utseya dismissed Misbah and Asad Shafiq in quick succession during the afternoon, with both batsmen falling to ambitious shots, and Shingi Masakadza was rewarded for some accu-

rate bowling when he took two wickets after tea, including that of Azhar, who was drawn into a drive and caught at first slip.

Taylor withdrew on the morning of the match after his wife gave birth to the couple’s first child. Pakistan-born Sikandar Raza replaced him, earning his first Test cap.

The withdrawal of Taylor, Zimbabwe’s leading batsmen, was the latest setback for the host nation following a pay dispute which threatened to prevent the match from taking place.

The players only agreed on Monday to play following a commitment by their board to pay outstanding salaries before next week’s second and final Test in Bulawayo.

Zimbabwe fielded an inexperienced bowling line-up, following the retirement of Kyle Jarvis in order to pursue a county cricket career in England and Graeme Cremer’s unavailability because of the pay issue. Batsman Sean Williams also withdraw because of the pay dispute. l

No beer logo for Muslim Fawed Ahmed n AFP, Sydney Cricket Australia has agreed to a request by Muslim leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed not to wear the sponsorship logo of beer brand VB because of his faith’s ban on alcohol.

Pakistan-born Ahmed, who became an Australian citizen in July after his application was fast-tracked, did not have the brewer’s logo on his shirt during his international debut in last week’s T20 matches against England.

Mike McKenna, Cricket Australia’s executive general manager for operations, said Tuesday the player first raised the issue when he was selected for the Australia A tour of Britain in June.

“Fawad expressed discomfort with the conflict this created for him, due to his religious beliefs,” he said.

“Cricket Australia and Carlton United Breweries (CUB) are respectful of Fawad’s personal beliefs and have agreed with his request to wear an unbranded shirt.

“CUB have been a long-standing partner of Australian cricket for more than 17 years and Fawad was thankful for their understanding of his personal situation.”

South African batsman Hashim Amla, also a Muslim, is another player in a similar situation and has been permitted not to wear the logo of Cricket South Africa sponsor Castle, a beer company, on his kit. l

Finch and Marsh run riot against Scotland n AFP, Edinburgh Aaron Finch scored his second big century in a week as Australia piled up a colossal 362 for three in their lone one-day international against Scotland in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

Finch made 148 — his maiden ODI century — and Shaun Marsh 151 as the duo shared an Australia record 246 for the first-wicket in a match granted full one-day international status despite Scotland being a largely amateur side.

Victoria batsman Finch’s latest hundred followed his Twenty20 world record 156 against England at Southampton on Thursday. The total was the highest Scotland had ever conceded at this level, with Finch’s runs coming off just 116 balls with 16 fours and seven sixes befire he holed out off spinner Majid Haq. Marsh, whose father Geoff helped set the previous Australian first-wicket record of 212 together with David Boon against India at Jaipur in 1986, was slightly more sedate. He faced 149 balls including 16 fours and five sixes. l

PCB to review evidence in Kaneria case n AFP, Lahore Pakistan cricket officials agreed Tuesday to review evidence provided by former captain Rashid Latif in his bid to help banned spinner Danish Kaneria.

The 32-year-old Kaneria, Pakistan’s most successful spinner with 261 Test wickets, was last year banned for life by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for spot fixing.

Kaneria was named as the middle man in a fixing deal between his Essex team-mate Marvyn Westfiled and alleged Indian bookie Anu Bhatt during a 2009 county match.

Latif, a well-known campaigner against corruption in cricket, is backing Kaneria’s fight to overturn the ban and has handed information to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Latif had irked officials by saying that Bhatt had been a PCB guest on some tours and during 2005 and 2006 home series. The PCB rubbished the claim and sought an apology from Latif.

The Board said Tuesday that its of-

ficials had met Latif and would review the evidence provided by him.

“During the meeting Latif submitted certain material pertaining to Kaneria’s case, which shall be reviewed in detail by the PCB and in case the need arises another meeting will be scheduled in the near future,” it said in a statement.

Kaneria has had two appeals against the ban and a third looking to reduce the ban rejected earlier this year.

Last month he filed another appeal in a London commercial court and vowed to carry on his fight.

Latif has accused the ECB of making Kaneria a scapegoat to save county cricket.

Pakistan is the country worst hit by allegations of match fixing.

It was forced to ban former captain Salim Malik and paceman Ata-ur Rehman after a judicial inquiry in 2000.

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer are also serving five-year bans in connection with a 2010 spot-fixing case. l

Ireland's William Porterfield (L) bats as England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler (R) watches during a ODI match between Ireland and England at Malahide Cricket Club in Malahide, Ireland yesterday. Porterfield scored 112 AFP

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Online registration for medical and dental colleges begins today n Moniruzzman Uzzal Online registration for admission in public and private medical and dental colleges for 2013-14 session begins today.

Interested candidates will be able to fill-up the necessary forms online on the website of the Directorate General of Health Services – www.dghs.gov.bd.

Students will have pay Tk600 as registration fee through Teletalk balance transfer.

The online registration form will remain open till September 18 and the admission test will be held on October 4. It will be a 100-mark test consisting of 100 multiple choice questions.

Questions will be set and marks will be allocated in the following order: physics 20, chemistry 25, biology 30, English 15 and general knowledge 10.

Professor Dr ABM Abdul Hannan, director (medical admission) of DGHS, said students who had come out successful in the 2010 Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations and 2011 or 2012 Higher Secondary

Certificate (HSC) examinations would be able to apply. For applying, they must have aggregate grade point average (GPA) of at least 8. The aggregate is the sum of the GPA obtained in SSC and HSC examinations.

However, someone with a GPA of less than 3.5 in any of the examinations, would not be able to apply. Tribal and non-tribal residents of the hilly districts should have an aggregate GPA of 7, without any less than 3.5, for being eligible.

Five marks will be deducted from the scores of those students, who had already got admission a public medical college and would be sitting again for a better placement. 0.25 marks would be deducted for each wrong answer in the test, Prof Hannan said.

At present, there are 2,812 seats available at 22 government medical colleges in the country, while 55 private establishments offer 4,800 places. There are one public and 18 private dental colleges with 532 and 1,050 seats respectively. l

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Wednesday, September 4, 2013

IRON(IC)

Workers put their lives at risk, working at a rerolling mill with little safety features and equipment. The picture was taken at Narayanganj’s Pagla area on Tuesday

Too many board exams, too much burden Students take three board exams in just five years; guardians and educationists worried n Mushfique Wadud Too many board examinations have put an intolerable burden on school students, much to the chagrin of parents.

Students from Class V to Class X have to appear for three board examinations in just five years.

The exams include Primary Terminal Examination in Class V, Junior School Certificate Examination in Class VIII and Secondary School Certificate Examination in Class X. This is followed by the Higher Secondary Certificate Examination in Class XII. Guardians and educationists believe that four public examinations in a span of seven years imposes a heavy burden on the students and might have adverse effects on themboth physically and psychologically-

leading to ‘exam phobia’ Earlier, the students had to appear for only two board exams till the intermediate level.

A good result for their children has now become a prestige issue for the guardians. As such, they are putting extreme pressure on their children In the year 2009, the present government introduced a board exam for Class V students called Primary Terminal Examination, with the proviso that these exams would be scrapped as soon as a board examination is introduced in Class VIII The officials of the primary and mass education ministry had pointed out that under the Education

Policy-2010, it was intended to extend primary education up to Class VIII, and hence the board exams would be held on completion of Class VIII. Despite the instituting of board exams in Class VIII, the government decided to continue the public examination in Class V. A number of primary school teachers said a public examination for 10 to 12 year-olds is creating extreme pressure on them.

“A good result for their children has now become a prestige issue for the guardians. As such, they are putting extreme pressure on their children,” said a primary school teacher in city’s Mohammadpur area.

Alal Hossain, a guardian whose children study in Monipur High School, said the surfeit of board examinations has also spawned a culture of private

tuitions.

“I spend Tk1,500 every month on private tuition for my children especially for primary terminal examinations,” he said.

Rasheda K Choudhury, executive director of Campaign for Popular Education, also thinks that dependency on private tuitions has increased.

Earlier, there used to be a scholarship examination for which some students were singled out and trained intensively, she said.

“In a board exam, everyone is afforded an opportunity. But truly speaking, it is putting a heavy burden on children.”

Prof Siddiqur Rahman, former director of the Institute of Education and Research at the Dhaka University, said a public examination for 10 to

12 year-olds is “an abnormal and harmful” system.

“While some developed countries are trying to reduce the number of examinations for children we are doing otherwise,” Siddiqur, who was a member of the committee that formulated Education Policy-2010, said.

He said that there should not be more than two public examinations for students as too many of them can create fear of exams in the students.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid,while speaking at a report launching programme recently, defended the government’s move by claiming that board examinations for Class V students is helping to remove fear of examinations among children.

He said students welcomed the examinations and appeared for them with great enthusiasm. l

Boy found in Kurigram, police searching for parents

Padma crosses danger mark after 10 years in Rajshahi n Our Correspondent, Kurigram Police are yet to trace the next of kin of n Tribune Desk a boy, who was found by them in KuriWater level in Padma River last night crossed its danger mark, for the first time in 10 years, as deteriorating flood situation continues to affect hundreds of people.

Harun-or-Rashid, an executive engineer of Water Development Board (WDB) in Rajshahi, said the water-level reached the red mark on Monday evening, but rose to 18.51cm yesterday morning.

The river water crossed the danger mark for the first time in 10 years, officials said.

Meanwhile, floodwater from upstream is further deteriorating the flood situation. Six points in Rajshahi city protection embankment are now under risk, in the wake of swelling water levels. The WDB officials are repairing the points with bamboo piling and geo bags.

Four upazilas Godagari, Paba, Charghat and Bagha are losing hundreds of acres of land to river erosion every day, caused by downstream water rush.

More than 1,000 families have fell victims to flooding in char areas under Paba upazila. The affected families are struggling with their domestic animals, as pastures in the area were submerged.

Nazrul Islam, the chairman of Haripur union parishad under Paba, said floodwater entered many areas including Char Mazar Diar, Bashari, Nabaganga, Sonaikandi, Berpara and Kasba.

More than 600 houses have been affected so far, while crops of 2,000 bighas of land have been inundated.

The low-lying areas were flooded on Sunday night after the protection dam inside the city protection embankment in Zia Nagar area was inundated. More than 400 destitute families took shelter on the embankment.

Abdus Sobhan, upazila nirbahi officer of Bagha, said more than 1,600 families have so far been affected by the flood in the upazila.

Officials added that around 2,000 families – living in char areas of Godagari upazila – are facing immense sufferings because of the flooding. l

gram about two weeks ago and could be the victim of a human trafficking attempt.

The eleven-year-old boy, who identified himself as Al-Amin, was picked up from the Gubtoli bus terminal in Dhaka on August 21 and left in Kurigram the following day.

Police suspect it is the handiwork of an unidentified group engaging in child trafficking, who then abandoned the boy for some unknown reasons.

“We’ve sent word to all police stations of the country, but there is no feedback yet. No one approached us claiming to know him or his next of kin,” said Azizul Haq, a sub-inspector at the Kurigram Sadar police station.

All that the police know about AlAmin’s background is the description

of his parents, siblings and area of residence, which they have obtained from the boy himself. However all this has proved to be ineffective in tracing his roots.

According to Al-Amin, he is the only son of his parents, has three sisters and had been a student of Hazrat Abu Ba-

kar Madrasah in Gabtoli. He lived with his parents Shah Alam and Nargis who have a furniture shop called Maa Furniture.

He also said his uncle Afzal works at an iron store while his brother-inlaw Rocky, married to his eldest sister Sathi, lives at a Bangla Hotel in Gabtoli. He bought a portable audio player from a local market on August 21 and was returning home when the incident occurred.

“I was about to cross the street near the Gabtoli bus stop when someone grabbed my hand and dragged me into a bus. I can’t remember what happened next,” said Al-Amin.

He had apparently travelled about 360 kilometres from Dhaka to Kurigram without knowing anything, before being rescued by a tax inspector in front of the Kurigram office of Islamic Foundation on August 22.

“It was morning and I had just come

out of a local mosque after my Fajr prayer. A long-distance SP Paribahan bus (travelling between Dhaka and Kurigram) suddenly stopped and the conductor dropped him off in front of me,” said former inspector Abdul Khaleq.

“The conductor told me to take the boy home which he said was at a little distance from there. But that isn’t true,” Khaleq mentioned, adding he had lodged a general diary with the police in this connection.

The boy is now living at the house of his rescuer in the Kurigram town.

The mystery surrounding the boy seems to be deepening. Khaleq said the whereabouts of the boy’s parents and relatives could not be discovered at the places described by Al-Amin.

Even the authorities of Hazrat Abu Bakar Madrasah, of which Al-Amin claimed he had been a student, could not verify his identity. l

DEEP-SEA EXPLORATION

Cabinet okays PSC contract n Asif Showkat

The cabinet committee on economic affairs approved the energy ministry’s proposal for production sharing contract of deep-sea gas exploration and civil aviation ministry proposal to set up a new radar systems at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport under public private partnership.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith told reporters after the cabinet committee on economic affairs meeting at the cabinet division yesterday.

He also said the civil aviation ministry will initiate to set up the new radar systems in Shahijalal International Airport as two radars at the airport are 19 and 28 years old respectively.

“Foreign airliners will not use Bangladeshi air navigation services after 2015 if Shahjalal International Airport is not updated in line with ICAO guidelines,” the minister also said.

About Production Sharing Contract -2012 model for deep-sea exploration, drilling and production the finance minister said the energy division relaxed its PSC condition as the international gas exploration firms termed Bangladesh’s PSC condition rigid.

The minister also said the price of 1,000 cubic feet of gas from deep-sea rigs will be increased every year by two percent and the oil companies be allowed to sell half of their share of the production to anyone in Bangladesh at their negotiated price without requiring Petrobangla’s refusal to buy it.

Muhith said the development works of a mega-project to tap tourism potential would soon start in Bangladesh’s sea beach town of Cox’s Bazar which will be constructed under PPP initiatives.

The project includes construction of some structures like setting up of tourism villages, a three-star and a five-star hotels on 160 acres of land owned by Hotel Shaibal.

An 18-hole golf course of international standard will also be set up there, the minister pointed out. l

PM assures top bureaucrats of permanent pay commission n Mohosinul Karim Top-level bureaucrats were assured by the prime minister of the formation of a permanent pay commission with a rise in civil servants’ pay to attract meritorious candidates.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina spoke about the changes on Monday at a meeting held at the secretariat, attended by top-level civil bureaucrats.

Those who attended the meeting told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday seeking anonymity about the premier’s comments.

The government may form and announce a permanent pay scale for public servants by October 25 as it has committed not to take any major decisions after that day.

The commission decides on pay rises and other benefits for civil servants after

analysing the market, prices and taking into consideration inflation rates across the country each year.

The annual inflation report by the Bangladesh Bank will be considered when the issue is analysed, said one of the secretaries to the Dhaka Tribune.

He said a secretary raised the issue before the prime minister and requested her to form the commission as was pledged by her government. In response, Hasina asked the finance ministry to form the pay commission.

Accordingly, the ministry started work on the commission. It is expected to be announced within this government’s tenure, said the civil servant official.

Secretaries said if the pay scale of civil servants was not increased, the civil services would not attract meritorious candidates as they could earn three or four times higher salaries at entry level

RAJIB DHAR

in private companies.

Hasina responded to the secretaries that the government would take steps in this regard if her party formed the next government. But, she warned that civil servants would have to work attentively and honestly.

A secretary quoted Hasina as saying that she had assured the secretaries of generous promotion on the basis of annual and general performance reports. She, however, said nobody would be given special privileges.

“Some senior-level secretaries will be promoted to senior secretaries as three posts of senior secretaries are lying vacant now,” said the high-level secretary.

The other senior-level secretaries will also be considered, and if needed, new posts for senior secretaries may be created, he said. l

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